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HISTORY     OF     EUROPE 


FALL    OF    NAPOLEON 

IN   MDCCCXV 

TO  THt 

ACCESSION    OF    LOUIS    NAPOLEON 

IN    MDCCCLII 


BY 

SIR  ARCHIBALD  ALISON,  BART,  D.C.L 

Author  of  the  •  History  of  Europe  from  the  Commencement  of  the  French 
Revolution  in  1769,  to  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,'  4c.  Ac. 


VOL.    IT. 

EIGHTH    THOUSAND 


WILLIAM    BLACKWOOD    AND    SONS 

EDINBURGH    AND    LONDON 

MDCCCLXIV 


6e£ 
-& 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.  II. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RUSSIA   AND   POLAND,    FROM  THE   PEACE  OF   1815  TO   THE   ACCESSION   OF 
NICHOLAS  IN  1825. 


Page 
Growth  of    Russia,  America,  and 

British  India  in  recent  times,  .  1 
Increase  of  Russia  by  the  treaties  of 

1814  and  1815,  ....  ib. 
The  grand-duchy  of  Warsaw,  .  2 
Establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 

Poland, 3 

Biography  of  the  Grand-duke  Con- 
stantino,       ib. 

His.  first    acts  of   administration, 

and  training  of  the  army,  .  .  4 
Advantage  to  Poland  from  its  union 

with  Russia,         ....      5 
Failure  of  the  representative  sys- 
tem,      6 

Influence  of  Russia,  .  .  .  ib. 
Wisdom  of  its  external  policy,  .  7 
Statistics  of  the  empire,  .  .  8 

The  clergy, 12 

Rank  in  Russia  :  the  Tchinn,          .    ib. 
Caste  of  the  nobles,        .        .        .13 
Of  the  bourgeois  and  trading  classes,     14 
The  serfs,  their  number  and  condi- 
tion,    ......    ib. 

The  -  Tieglo :    its   advantages   and 

evils, 15 

Contrast  of    English  and  Russian 

cultivators, 16 

Evils  of  the  serf  system,  .         .     17 

Foreign  conquest  ever  forced  upon 

Russia  by  its  climate, .         .         .18 
General  use  of   corporal  chastise- 
ment, ......     19 

Great  effect  of  the  distances  in  Rus- 
sia,       21 

Civilisation  depends  entirely  on  the 

higher  ranks,        ....    ib. 
Strong  imitative  turn  of  the  Rus- 
sians,   22 

Military  strength,  ....  ib. 
The  Cossacks,  .  .  .  .23 
The  navy, 24 


The  revenue,  ....  25 

General  corruption,         .        .  26 

Great  impulse  to  agricultural  in 
dustry  fronyfree  trade,  .  28 

Probable  destiny  of  Russia,     .  29 

Ideas  with  which  the  troops  return 
ed  from  France  and  Germany,  .  30 

First  steps  of  Alexander  on  his  re- 
turn in  1814,  .  .  .  .  ib. 

Marriage  of  Alexander's  sister  to 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  of  the 
Grand-duke  Nicholas  to  the  Prin- 
cess of  Prussia,  .  .  .  .31 

Arrival  of  Alexander  at  Warsaw  in 
1818, 32 

His  efforts  for  the  enfranchisement 
of  the  peasants,  ....  34 

Expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,         .        .    ib. 

Changes  in  the  Emperor's  mind 
from  the  revolution  of  1820,  .  35 

Congress  of  Troppau,     .         .         .36 

Congress  of  Laybach,      .        .        .37 

Attitude  taken  by  England  on  the 
occasion, 39 

War  declared  against  the  revolu- 
tion in  Naples ib. 

Subjugation  of  Naples,  and  return 
of  the  King,  ....  40 

Suppression  of  the  insurrection  in 
Piedmont, 41 

Meeting  of  the  Allies,  and  fresh  re- 
volution in  Genoa,  .  .  .  t&. 

Reaction  in  Italy,    ....     43 

Revolt  in  a  regiment  of  guards  at 
St  Petersburg,  .  .  .  .44 

Alexander  refuses  to  support  the 
Greeks, 45 

Extension  of  the  Russian  empire  in 
North  America,  .  .  .  .46 

Suppression  of  secret  societies,       .    ib. 

Failure  of  the  Emperor's  philan- 
thropic projects,  .  .  .  .47 


iv 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Dreadful  flood  at  St  Petersburg,     .  47 
Charity  of  the  Emperor  and  nobles,  49 
Internal  measures  of  1824,  and  set- 
tlement of  the  boundaries  of  Rus- 
sian America,       ....  ib. 
The  Empress  of  Russia,  .        .        .50 
Death  of  Alexander's  natural  daugh- 
ter,        51 

Reconciliation  of  the  Emperor  and 

Empress,      .         .        .         .         .  ib. 

His  arrival  at  Taganrog,          .         .  53 

His  last  illness  and  death,       .         .  ib. 

Death  and  burial  of  the  Empress,  .  55 

Character  of  Alexander, .        .        .  ib. 

Constantino  refuses  the  throne,       .  56 

Conspiracy  against  him,          .        .  59 


Page 

Conduct  of  Nicholas  on  the  occasion,    62 
The  Emperor  gains  the  victory,       .     65 
Leaders  of  the  revolt,      .        .         .67 
Arrest  of  the  Mouravieffs,  and  out- 
break of   the  conspiracy  in  the 
army  of  Poland,  .         .         .         .68 
Conduct  of  the  Princess  Troubetz- 
koi  and  the  other  wives  of  the 

convicts, 70 

Condition  of  the  exiles  in  Siberia,   .     71 
Conduct  of  the  Emperor  to  the  re- 
latives of  the  convicts,         .         .    ib. 
Reforms  in  all  departments,   .        .     72 
Coronation  of  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press  74 

Character  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas,    75 


CHAPTER  IX. 
ROYALIST   REACTION   IN   FRANCE. 

FRANCE  PROM  THE  COUP  D'ETAT  OF  5TH   MARCH   1819,   TO  THE  ACCESSION 
OF  THE  PURELY   ROYALIST  MINISTRY  IN  DECEMBER  1821. 


Page 
Evils  of   France    at    the    close  of 

1816, 77 

Prosperity  which  succeeded  them  in 

the  next  year,      ....    ib. 
Establishment  of  representative  in- 
stitutions,     78 

Acts  of  the  new  ministry,       .         .     79 
Return  of  Maret  and  many  other  of 

the  proscribed,  .  .  .  .80 
Increasing  strength  of  the  Liberals,  ib. 
Law  regarding  the  press,  .  .  ib. 
Debate  on  the  return  of  the  pro- 
scribed persons,  .  .  .  .81 
Increasing  violence  of  the  press,  .  82 
Budget  of  1819,  ....  ib. 
The  elections  of  1819,  .  .  .  ib. 
The  Abbe"  Gregoire,  ...  84 

General  Foy, ib. 

M.  de  Serres, ib. 

Change  in  the  ministry,  .        .        .86 
Attacks  on  the  new  ministry  by  the 

press,  .  ,  .  .  "  .  .  ib. 
King's  speech,  .  .  .  .87 
Comparative  strength  of  parties,  .  ib. 
Designs  of  the  Liberals, .  .  .88 
New  electoral  law,  .  .  .  .89 
The  Duke  de  Bern,  .  .  .  ib. 
His  assassination,  .  .  .  .91 
Sensation  which  it  produced,  .  .  93 
Resignation  of  M.  Decazes,  and  the 

Duke  de  Richelieu  sent  for,  .  95 
The  Countess  du  Cayla,  .  .  .96 
Character  of  M.  Decazes,  .  .  97 
Division  of  parties  in  the  Assembly,  98 


Page 
Funeral  of  the  Duke  de  Bern,  and 

execution  of  Louvel,    .         .         .98 
Ministerial    measures  of   the    ses- 
sion,      99 

Censorship  of  the  press,  .         .         .  100 
State  of  the  country,  and  defensive 

measures  of  Government,     .        .  103 
Denunciation  of  the  secret  govern- 
ment, .         .         .         .         .         .    ib. 

Ministerial  project  of  a  new  elec- 
toral law, 104 

Disturbances  in  Paris,     .         .         .  108 

The  budget, 110 

Military  conspiracy,  .  .  .  Ill 
Lenity  shown  in  the  prosecutions, .  112 
Birth  of  the  Duke  of  Bordeaux,  .113 
Rupture  with  the  Doctrinaires,  .  114 
Views  of  the  Doctrinaires,  .  .115 
Views  of  the  Royalists,  .  .  .  ib. 
Disturbances  in  the  provinces,  .  116 
Changes  in  the  household,  .  .  ib. 
New  organisation  of  the  army,  .  117 
Ordonnance  regarding  public  in- 
struction,   ib. 

Result  of  the  elections,  .         .         .  119 
Accession  of    Villele,  &c.,  to  the 

ministry, 120 

Speech  of  the  King,         .         .        .    ib. 
Measures  of  the  session,          .         .    ib. 
Law  for  additional  ecclesiastical  en- 
dowments,    121 

Modifications  in  the  corn-laws,        .    ib. 
Law  for  the  indemnity  of  the  Im- 
perial donatories,         .        .        .  122 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Law  regarding  the  censorship  of  the 

press, 122 

Rupture  with  the  Royalists,  and 

fall  of  the  Richelieu  ministry,      .  124 


Page 

The  new  ministry,  ....  124 
Ascendancy  of  the  Parti- Pretre,  .  126 
Reaction  against  Liberal  institutions,  127 
Last  days  and  death  of  Napoleon,  .  ib. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DOMESTIC  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,   FROM  THE  PASSING  OP  THE  CURRENCY 
ACT  OF  1819  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  LORD  LONDONDERRY  IN  1822. 


Page 
Objects  of  the    Liberal    party  in 

France  and  England,  .        .        .133 
The  causes  which  produced  discon- 
tent in  the  two  countries,    .        .    iS. 
Effects  of  the  change  in  the  mone- 
tary laws, 134 

Effects  of  a  paper  currency,   .        .  136 
Effect  of  variations  in  the  currency,  137 
Importance  of  an  inconvertible  cur- 
rency,   138 

Causes  which  brought  about  the  bill 

of  1819, 139 

Dangers  with  which  the  resumption 

of  cash  payments  was  attended,  .  141 
Strain  on  the  money  market,  .  .  142 
Prosperity  of  England  in  end  of 

1818  and  spring  of  1819,       .        .    ib. 
Disastrous  contraction  of  the  cur- 
rency,   143 

Increase  of  disaffection,  .         .         .145 
Meeting  at  Peterloo,       .        .        .  147 
Conduct  of  Lord  Sidmouth  on  the 
occasion,      .        .         .        .         .148 

Hunt's  trial, 149 

Seditious  meetings  in  other  quarters,  151 
Augmentation  of  the  Chelsea  pen- 
sioners,       .....  152 
Meeting  of  Parliament,  and  measures 

of  Government,   ....  153 
Lord  Sidmouth's  Acts  of  Parliament,  ib. 
Death  of  the  Duke  of  Kent,    .        .  154 
Death  of  George  III.,      .        .        .155 
Birth  of  Queen  Victoria,          .        .  156 
Illness  of  George  IV. ,               .         .    ib. 
Questions  regarding  the  omission  of 
Queen  Caroline's  name  in  the  Li- 
turgy,   ib. 

Speech  of  Mr  Brougham,  .  .157 
Cato  Street  conspiracy,  .  .  .  ib. 
Disturbances  in  Scotland  and  north 

of  England,  .  .  .  .160 
Death  and  character  of  Mr  Grattan,  1 62 
Increase  of  the  yeomanry  force,  .163 
The  budget  for  1820,  .  .  .  ib. 
Statistics  on  education  in  England 

and  Wales  by  Mr  Brougham,       .  165 
Disfranchisement  of  Grampound,    .  167 
Rise  of  free-trade  ideas  among  the 
merchants,  and  Lord  Lansdowne's 
declaration  on  the  subject,  .         .168 


Lord  Liverpool's  memorable  speech 
in  reply, 

Committee  on  agricultural  distress, 

Opinion  of  Mr  Brougham  on  this 
subject, 

Answer  by  Mr  Ricardo,  . 

Commencement  of  the  troubles  about 
the  Queen, 

Sketch  of  her  life  prior  to  this 
period, 

Her  landing  and  reception, 

Views  of  the  Radical  leaders, . 

Commencement  of  the  inquiry, 

Her  trial, 

Failure  of  the  bill,  .... 

Consternation  of  the  Ministry, 

Return  of  popularity  of  Government, 
and  causes  of  it,  . 

Meeting  of  Parliament,   . 

Debates  on  foreign  affairs, 

Sir  James  Mackintosh's  efforts  to 
improve  the  criminal  law,  . 

Mr  Canning's  speech  on  Catholic 
emancipation,  .... 

Lord  John  Russell's  motion  for  par- 
liamentary reform, 

Committee  to  inquire  into  agricul- 
tural distress,  .... 

Bank  Cash  Payment  Bill, 

Demand  for  a  reduction  of  taxation, 

Agricultural  committee  reports, 

Increase  of  the  desire  for  reform 
among  the  agriculturists,  . 

Coronation  of  George  IV., 

The  Queen  is  refused  admittance : 
her  death, 

King's  visit  to  Ireland,    . 

Dismissal  of  Sir  R.  Wilson  from  the 
army, 

Changes  in  the  Cabinet.  . 

Lord  Wellesley  appointed  Viceroy 
of  Ireland, 

Cause  of  the  wretchedness  of  Ireland, 

Effect  of  the  contraction  of  the  cur- 
rency there,  .... 

Agrarian  disturbances,    . 

Lord  Wellesley's  able  conduct, 

Dreadful  examples  in  the  disturbed 
districts, 

Famine  in  the  south  and  west, 


169 
170 


ib. 
171 


173 

ib. 
175 

ib. 
176 
177 
179 
180 

ib. 
181 
ib. 

182 
ib. 
184 

ib. 

ib. 
185 
186 

187 
188 

189 
ib. 

190 
ib. 

191 
192 

193 

ib. 


ib. 
195 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus 
Act,  and  Insurrection  Act, .  .  196 

Divisions  on  the  Catholic  claims,    .    ib. 

Increasing  strength  of  the  minority 
on  parliamentary  reform,  .  .  197 

Sir  James  Mackintosh's  motion  re- 
garding the  criminal  law,  .  .  198 

Great  fall  in  prices,          .        .         .    ib. 

Measures  for  the  relief  of  the  agri- 
cultural classes,  ....  ib. 

Motion  on  the  currency,          .         .  199 

Repeated  defeats  of  Ministers,        .  203 


Page 
Great  reductions  of  taxation, .         .  204 

The  budget, ib. 

Small  Notes  Bill,     .        .         .        .206 
Six  Acts  relating  to  commerce  and 

navigation, 207 

Visit  of  the  King  to  Edinburgh,      .    ib. 
Death  of  Lord  Londonderry,  .         .  208 
Changes  in  progress,  from  the  re- 
sumption of  cash  payments,         .  210 
Simultaneous  outbreak  of  the  revo- 
lutionary spirit  in  different  coun- 
tries,     211 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ENGLAND,  FRANCE,  AND  SPAIN,  FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  VILLELE  IN   1819  TO 
THE  CONGRESS  OF  VERONA  IN  1822. 

Page 


Divergence  of  France  and  England  in 

regard  to  the  Spanish  revolution,  212 
Character  of  Mr  Canning,  .  .  213 
Viscount  Chateaubriand,  .  .  216 
M.  de  Villfele,  .  .  .  .219 
M.  de  Corbiere,  M.  Mathieu  de  Mont- 

morency,  M.  dePeyronnet,Victor,  221 
Law  regarding  the  press,         .        .  222 
Rise  of  the  Carbonari  and  secret 
societies,      .....  224 

Conspiracies, 225 

Trial  and  execution  of  the  conspira- 
tors,      227 

Insurrection  at  Colmar,  Marseilles, 

and  Toulon 228 

Budget  of  1822,  ....  ib. 
Result  of  the  elections,  .  .  .229 
Attempted  restoration  of  the  royal 

authority  at  Madrid,    .         .         .  230 
Opening  of  the  Cortes  and  new  Min- 
istry,    231 

Outbreak  of  revolutionary  fury  in 

the  east  of  Spain,         .         .         .232 
Murder  of  the  priest  Vinuesa,         .  233 
Institution  of  the  order  of  the  Ham- 
mer,    ......    ib. 

Insurrection  in  Navarre,  and  ap- 
pointment of  Murillo  at  Madrid,  ib. 
Proceedings  of  the  Cortes,  .  .  234 
State  of  the  finances,  .  .  .  ib. 
Fresh  tnmults  in  Madrid,  .  .  235 
Resignation  of  Murillo,  .  .  .  ib. 
The  secret  societies,  or  Communeros,  ib. 
Riego's  plot  at  Saragossa,  and  his 

arrest, 236 

Suppression  of  the  tumults  at  Madrid,  ib. 
Yellow  fever  at  Barcelona,      .         .  237 
Fresh  agitation,       .         .         .        .    ib. 
Refusal  of  Cadiz  and  Seville  to  re- 
ceive the  King's  governors,  and 
revolt  at  Corunna,       .        .        .  238 


Opening  of  extraordinary  Cortes,    .  238 

Resolutions  of  the  Cortes,       .         .    ib. 

Conduct  of  the  King,  and  Royalist 
insurrection  in  the  north,  .  .  239 

Proposed  laws  against  the  press  and 
patriotic  societies,  .  .  .  ib. 

Riots  in  Madrid,      ....    ib. 

Composition  of  the  new  Cortes,       .  240 

New  ministry,         ....  241 

State  of  the  finances,      .        .        .    ib. 

General  disturbances,      .         .         .    ib. 

Proceedings  of  the  Cortes,  and  pro- 
gress of  the  civil  war, .  .  .  242 

The  Trappist :  his  appearance,  and 
character,  and  followers,  .  .  243 

Assault  of  Cervera,          .        .         .    ib. 

Defeat  of  Misas,       ....    ib. 

Severe  laws  passed  by  the  Cortes,  .  244 

Extension  of  the  civil  war,      .        .  245 

Riot  in  Madrid,  and  death  of  lianda- 
bura, 246 

Strife  between  the  guard  and  the 
garrison, ib. 

Departure  of  the  royal  guard,          .    ib. 

Negotiations  with  the  insurgents,  .  247 

Attack  of  the  guards  on  Madrid, 
and  its  defeat,  ....  ib. 

Defeat  of  the  insurgents  in  Andalu- 
sia and  Cadiz,  ....  249 

Triumph  of  the  revolutionists,         .    ib. 

The  new  ministry,  ....    ib. 

Murder  of  Geoiffeux,       .         .         .    ib. 

Second  trial  and  execution  of  Elio,    250 

Civil  war  in  the  northern  pro- 
vinces,   251 

Vigorous  measures  of  the  revolu- 
tionary government,  .  .  .  ib. 

Capture  of  Castelfollit,  and  savage 
proclamation  of  Mina,  .  .  ib. 

Disasters  of  the  Royalists,  and  flight 
of  the  regency,  ....  252 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CONGRESS  OF  VERONA — FRENCH  INVASION  OF  SPAIN — DEATH  OF  LOUIS  XVIIL 


Page 
Effect  of  these  events  in  France  and 

Europe, 253 

Repugnance  to  French  intervention,  255 
Influence   of  the  South   American 

and  Spanish  bondholders,    .         .  256 
Views  of  the  Cabinet  on  the  subject,  ib. 
Congress  of  Verona,        .        .        .  257 
Treaty  for  the  evacuation  of  Pied- 
mont and  Naples,         .         .         .  259 
Resolution    regarding    the    slave- 
trade,  260 

Note  of  England  regarding  South 

American  independence,  .  .  ib. 
Instructions  of  M.  de  Villele  to  M. 

de  Montmorency  regarding  Spain,  261 
Mr  Canning's  instructions  to  Duke 

of  Wellington,  .  .  .  .  ib. 
Measures  adopted  on  the  subject,  .  262 
Warlike  preparations  of  France,  .  266 
Failure  of  the  negotiations  at  Ma- 
drid, and  departure  of  the  French 
ambassador,  ....  267 
Speech  of  the  King,  .  .  .268 
King  of  England's  speech,  .  .  ib. 
Reply  of  the  Spanish  Government,  ib. 
Speech  on  the  war  by  Mr  Brougham,  270 
Mr  Canning  adopts  the  principle  of 

non-interference,  .  .  .  273 
M.  de  Chateaubriand's  reply  in  the 

French  Chambers,  .  .  .  274 
M.  Talleyrand's  speech  on  the  war,  278 
Vote  of  credit  of  100,000,000  francs,  279 
Affair  of  M.  Manuel  in  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies,  ....  ib. 
Enthusiasm  excited  by  the  Spanish 

war, 281 

Preparations  of  the  Liberals  to  sow 

disaffection  in  the  army,  .  .  282 
Feelings  of  Mr  Canning  and  the 

English  people  at  this  crisis,  .  283 
Views  of  George  IV.  and  the  Duke 

of  Wellington,  .  .  .  .285 
Difficulties  of  the  French,  .  .  286 
Forces,  and  their  disposition  on  both 

sides, 287 

Scene  at  the  passage  of  the  Bidassoa,  288 
Rapid  success  of  the  French,  .        .    ib. 


Page 
Entry  of  the  Duke  d'Angouleme 

into  Madrid,  .  .  .  .290 
Advance  into  Andalusia,  .  .  ib. 
Proceedings  of  the  Cortes,  and  de- 
position of  Ferdinand  VII.,  .  291 
Reaction  over  all  Spain, .  .  .  292 
State  of  affairs  in  Cadiz,  .  .  ib. 
Decree  of  Andujar,  .  .  .  ib. 
Irritation  of  the  Royalists  in  Spain,  293 
Siege  of  Cadiz,  ....  294 
Operations  of  Riego,  .  .  .  295 
His  defeat  and  capture,  .  .  .  296 
Deliverance  of  the  King,  and  dis- 
solution of  the  Cortes,  .  297 
First  acts  of  the  new  Government,  298 
Execution  of  Riego,  .  .  .  299 
Entry  of  the  King  and  Queen  into 

Madrid, ib. 

State  of  Spain,  .  .  .  .300 
State  of  Portugal  during  this  year,  ib. 
Return  of  the  Duke  d'Angouleme  to 

Paris, 301 

Offer  of  assistance  by  Russia  to 

France  rejected,  ....  302 
Recognition  of  the  South  American 

republics  by  Mr  Canning,  .  .  304 
Effects  of  this  measure,  .  .  .  305 
Chateaubriand's  designs  in  regard 

to  the  South  American  states,  .  ib. 
The  elections  of  1824,  and  strength 

of  the  Royalists,  ...  306 
Great  effect  which  this  had  on  the 

future  destinies  of  France,  .  307 
Measures  announced  in  the  royal 

speech, ib. 

Law  of  septenniality,  .  .  .  ib. 
Law  for  the  reduction  of  interest  of 

the  national  debt,  .  .  .309 
Position  of  Chateaubriand,  .  .  ib. 
His  dismissal,  and  that  of  Marshal 

Victor, 310 

Statistics  of  France  in  this  year,  .  ib. 
Last  days  of  Louis  XVIIL,  .  .  ib. 
His  character,  .  .  .  .312 
Inferences  from  the  result  of  the 

Spanish  revolution,  .  .  .  313 
The  invasion  was  justifiable,  .  .  315 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

ASIA   MINOR  AND   GREECE:    THEIR  SOCIAL,    POLITICAL,  AND 
STATISTICAL  STATE — TURKEY. 


Page 

Wars  in  the  West  and  in  the  East,    316 
Conquests  of  the  East  over  the  West,  317 


Wars  of  races  in  the  east  of  Eu- 
rope,     


Page 
318 


CONTENTS. 


»  "ti*' 

Division  of  the  Christians  and  Mus- 
sulmans,       319 

Turkish  system  of  government,  .  ib. 
The  military  strength  of  the  empire,  320 
Civil  business  conducted  by  the 

Greeks, 321 

Increase  of  the  Christians  compared 

to  the  Turks,  .  .  .  .  ib. 
Picture  of  the  Servians,  .  .  .  322 
Decrease  of  population  in  Turkey,  .  323 

Statistics, ib. 

Turkish  oppression,  .  .  .  324 
Venality  in  the  holders  of  office,  .  327 
Weakness  of  the  Executive,  .  .  ib. 
Venality  and  corruption  of  justice,  328 
Contrary  principles  of  good,  .  .  ib. 
Excellent  qualities  in  the  Turkish 

character, 329 

The  theory  of  the  central  government,  ib. 
Institution  of  Ayams,  .  .  .  330 
The  village  system,  .  .  .  ib. 
Population  of  the  towns,  and  decline 

of  the  country,     .        .        .         .331 
Multitude  of  idle  servants,       .         .    ib. 
Variable  strength  of  the  Turkish 
empire, 332 


Page 

Position  of  the  larger  pachas,  .  333 
Influence  of  Constantinople,  .  .  ib. 
Forces  of  Turkey  and  Greece,  .  336 
Turkish  fortifications,  and  mode  of 


defending  them,  . 
Russian     mode    of 
Turks, 


fighting     the 


Barrier  which  defends   Constanti- 
nople, . 
Schumla, 
The  Caucasus, 


339 
340 

ib. 
343 
344 


Asia  Minor,     .         .  .  345 

The  Caucasian  tribes,  .         .  346 

Russian  policy  of  intervention,        .  347 
Establishment  of  the  Russians  in 

the  Caucasus   and  on  the  Cas- 

pian,   ...... 

Fresh    rupture   with    Turkey   and 

Persia,          .....  349 
Battle  of  Elizabethpol,    .        .        .    ib. 
Peace  with  Persia,  .... 
Affairs  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia, 
Repeated     insurrections     of     the 

Greeks,  ..... 
Insurrection  of  Ali  Pacha,  .  . 
Statistics  of  Greece,  .  .  . 


348 


350 
ib. 

351 
352 
354 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

GREEK  REVOLUTION — BATTLE  OF  NAVARINO — ESTABLISHMENT  OP 
GREEK  INDEPENDENCE. 


Page 
Recent  favourable  circumstances  in 

the  condition  of  Greece,  .  .  356 
Spread  of  information,  and  passion 

for  independence,         .        .         .    ib. 
Society  of  the  Hetairists,         .        .  357 
Cession  of  Parga,    ....  359 

Debates  on  this  subject  in  Parlia- 
ment, ......  360 

Effect  of  the  Spanish  revolution  on 

Turkey  and  Greece,  .  .  .  ib. 
State  of  Turkey,  ....  ib. 
Commencement  of  the  insurrection,  362 
Measures  taken  against  Ipsilanti,  .  364 
Commencement  of  the  insurrection 

in  Greece  Proper  and  the  Islands,  365 
Excitement  at  Constantinople,  and 

murder  of  the  Patriarch,  .  .  ib. 
Measures  of  Sultan  Mahmoud,  .  367 
Acts  of  cruelty  in  Asia  Minor,  .  ib. 
Massacres  in  Cyprus,  .  .  .  368 
Spread  of  the  insurrection,  .  .  ib. 
Official  declaration  of  Russia  against 

Ipsilanti,  ...  .  369 

Treachery  and  death  of  Theodore,  .  ib. 
Disasters  of  Ipsilanti,  .  .  .  370 
Naval  successes  of  the  Greeks,  .  371 


Page 

Action  in  Cydonia,  .  .  .  372 
Successes  of  the  Turks  in  the  Morea,  ib. 
Battle  of  Valtezza,  .  .  .373 
Raising  of  the  siege  of  Athens,  and 

defeat  of  the  Turks  in  Thermopylae,  i b. 
Siege  of  Tripolitza,          .         .         .  374 
Massacre  of  the  Christians  in  Smyrna,  376 
Operations  of  Chourchid  Pacha  be- 
fore Janina.     Fall  and  recapture 

of  Arta, ib. 

Failure  of  the  Greeks  before  Napoli 

di  Romania  and  Patras,  .  .  ib. 
Forcing  of  the  line  of  Cassandra,  .  377 
Operations  in  Crete,  .  .  .  ib. 
War  with  Persia,  ....  378 
Negotiations  with  Russia,  .  .  379 
Efforts  of  Lord  Strangford  to  avert 

a  rupture,  .....  380 
State  of  Constantinople,  and  efforts 

of  the  ambassadors,      .         .        .    ib. 
Constitution  and  proclamation  of  in- 
dependence,         ....  381 
Seizure  and  death  of  Ali  Pacha,      .  382 
Success  of  the  fleet,  and  defeat  of 

Chourchid  Pacha  by  the  Souliotes,  383 
E  x  t  cnsi  o  n  of  the  insurrection  to  Chios,  384 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Massacre  in  the  island,    .         .         .35 
Operations  of  the  Greek  fleet,          .  386 
Renewed  massacre  in  Chios,    .         .  387 
Expedition  of   Mavrocordato    into 

Epirus, 388 

Insurrection  in  Macedonia,  .  .  ib. 
Grand  invasion  of  the  Morea,  .  389 
Position  of  the  Turks,  and  measures 

of  the  Greeks,  ....  ib. 
First  siege  of  Missolonghi,  .  .  390 
Operations  in  Cyprus  and  Crete,  .  391 
Fall  of  Napoli  di  Romania,  .  .  ib. 
Fresh  naval  successes  of  the 

Greeks, 392 

Earthquakes  in  Asia  Minor,  .  .  393 
Negotiations  with  Russia,  .  .  394 
The  Congress  of  Verona  declines  to 

recognise  the  Greek  state,  .  .  ib. 
Revolution  at  Constantinople  in  fa- 
vour of  the  janizaries,  .  .  395 
Fire  at  Constantinople,  .  .  .  ib. 
Preparations  of  the  Turks,  .  .  396 
Destruction  of  part  of  Drama- Ali's 

corps, ib. 

Plan  of  the  campaign  on  the  part  of 

the  Turks, 397 

Successes  of  the  Greeks,  .  .  398 
Divisions  among  the  Greeks  in  the 

Morea, ib. 

Revolt  of  the  Albanians,  and  ad- 
vance of  the  Pacha  of  Scodra,      .  399 
Surprise  of  the  Turks,  and  death  of 

Mark  Bozzaris,  ....  ib. 
Siege  of  Anatolico,  .  .  .  400 
Operations  in  Candia  during  1823,  .  ib. 
Naval  campaign,  ....  401 
Increased  dissensions  in  the  Morea,  ib. 
Arrival  of  Lord  Byron  at  Missolon- 
ghi,   402 

The  Greek  loan,      .        .        .        .403 
Preparations  and  plan  of  the  cam- 
paign by  the  Turks,     .         .         .    ib. 
Operations  in  the  Archipelago,        .  404 
Attack  on  Spezzia  and  Ipsara,        .  405 


Page 

Conduct  of  the  Greeks  after  this  dis- 
aster,   406 

Defeat  of  the  Turks  in  the  Straits  of 

Samos, ib. 

Junction  of  the  Turkish  and  Egyp- 
tian fleets, 407 

Naval  victories  of  the  Greeks,  .  ib. 
Land  operations  in  eastern  Greece,  403 
Results  of  the  campaign,  .  .  ib, 
Renewed  dissensions,  .  .  .  409 
Death  of  Odysseus,  .  .  .  ib. 
Statistics  of  Athens  and  Attica,  .  410 
Prospects  of  Greece  in  the  opening 

of  1825, ib. 

Preparations  of  the  Turks,  .  .  ib. 
Landing  of  Ibrahim  Pacha,  .  .411 
His  successes,  ....  ib. 

Naval  successes  of  the  Greeks,  .  413 
Victory  of  Sakhtouri  over  the  Capi- 

tan  Pacha, ib. 

Successes  of  Ibrahim,  .  .  .414 
The  second  siege  of  Missolonghi,  .  415 
Effects  of  the  siege  of  Missolonghi, 

and  despondence  in  Greece,         .  420 
Condition  of  Greece  in  the  end  of 

1825  and  opening  of  1826,  .  .  421 
The  negotiations  for  the  indepen- 
dence of  Greece,  .  .  .  .  ib. 
Operations  in  Attica,  .  .  .  422 
Naval  operations,  ....  423 
Siege  of  Athens,  ....  424 
Treaty  of  6th  July,  .  .  .425 
Counter  manifesto  of  the  Porte,  .  ib. 
Strength  of  the  allied  squadron,  .  426 
Final  note  of  the  Allies, .  .  .  427 
Ibrahim's  war  of  extermination,  .  ib. 
Plans  of  the  admirals,  .  .  .  ib. 
Battle  of  Navarinp,  .  .  .  428 
Ibrahim'sproceedingsafterthebattle,430 
Sensation  produced  by  the  news 

over  Christendom,        .         .         .  431 
Difficulty  of  the  Eastern  question,  .  433 
Condition  of  Greece  since  its  inde- 
pendence,   .        .        .        .        .    ib. 


HISTORY   OF   ETJKOPE, 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


RUSSIA  AND  POLAND,   FROM  THE  PEACE  OF   1815  TO  THE 
ACCESSION  OF  NICHOLAS  IN  1825. 


1.  GREAT  as  have  been  the  changes, 
marvellous  the  events,  of  recent  times, 
in  all  countries,  the  most  wonderful 
have  occurred  in  different  and  distant 
pails  of  the  world,  where  they  exceed 
everything  not  only  witnessed  by  con- 
temporaries, but  recorded  by  history 
of  former  periods.  We  are  too  near 
them  to  measure  their  proportions 
with  the  eye ;  future  times,  which  be- 
come acquainted  with  them  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  ear,  or  are  witnesses, 
after  the  lapse  of  ages,  of  their  effects, 
will  more  correctly  estimate  their  rela- 
tive magnitude  and  importance.  The 
simultaneous  growth  of  the  Russian 
power  in  Europe  and  Asia,  of  the 
United  States  in  America,  and  of  the 
British  empire  in  India  and  Australia, 
stand  forth  pre-eminent  in  this  age  of 
wonders.  Great  changes  in  human 
affairs — the  overthrow  of  aged,  the 
rise  of  youthful  empires — the  realisa- 
tion of  the  dreams  of  the  Crusaders — 
the  dwindling  away  of  the  Mohamme- 
dan faith,  the  boundless  extension  of 
the  Christian  —  the  restoration  of  a 
European  and  civilised  empire  on  the 
shores  of  the  Euxine — vast  transplan- 
tations of  mankind  to  the  East  and 
the  West — the  rolling  back  of  the  tide 
of  civilisation  to  the  land  of  its  birth 
— the  peopling  of  a  new  world  with 
the  race  of  Japhet — are  obviously  cou- 

VOL.  II. 


nected  with,  or  the  direct  consequence 
of,  these  events.  The  effects  they  have 
produced  will  always  be  regarded  as  a 
decisive  turning-point  in  the  annals  of 
mankind;  not  less  memorable  than 
the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  Empire — 
not  less  prolific  of  consequences  than 
the  Reformation  in  Europe,  and  the  dis- 
covery of  America.  Nor  have  the  gifts 
of  Providence  been  wanting  to  aid  in 
the  mighty  movement,  and  carry  it  out 
in  accordance  with  the  welfare  and  hap- 
piness of  mankind.  If  to  the  age  of  Co- 
lumbus it  gave  the  compass  and  the  art 
of  printing,  to  that  succeeding  Napoleon 
it  gave  steam  navigation,  railway  com- 
munication, and  the  electric  telegraph ; 
and  if  the  activity  of  the  former  period 
was  stimulated  by  the  grant  to  man  of 
the  silver  mines  of  Potosi  and  Mexico, 
the  enterprise  of  the  latter  was  still 
more  powerfully  aroused  by  the  dis- 
covery of  the  gold-laden  fields  of  Cali- 
fornia and  Australia. 

2.  Vast  and  powerful  as  the  Russian 
empire  was  when  its  children,  in  emu- 
lation of  those  of  Numantium,  applied 
the  torch  to  the  palaces  of  Moscow,  or 
earned  their  victorious  arms  to  the 
heights  of  Montinartre  and  the  banks 
of  the  Seine,  it  had  not  then  attained 
half  the  influence  and  importance 
which  it  has  since  acquired.  The  vic- 
tory of  Alexander  doubled  its  power — 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viti. 


the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  halved  its 
enemies.  Independent  of  the  immense 
increase  of  influence  and  importance, 
which  necessarily  and  immediately  re- 
sulted from  the  destruction  of  the  vast 
armament  which  Napoleon  had  mar- 
shalled for  its  destruction,  and  the 
proud  pre-eminence  conceded  to  it  in 
the  diplomatic  negotiations  of  Vienna, 
the  physical  resources  and  territorial 
extent  of  Russia  had  been  enormously 
augmented  during,  and  by  the  results 
of,  the  struggle.  It  was  hard  to  say 
whether  it  nad  prospered  most  from 
victory  or  defeat.  The  carnage  of  Ey- 
lau,  the  overthrow  of  Tilsit,  led  only 
to  the  incorporation  of  Finland  with 
its  vast  dominions,  the  acquisition  of 
a  considerable  territory  from  its  ally 
Prussia,  the  consolidation  of  its  power 
in  the  Caucasus  and  Georgia,  and  the 
incorporation  of  Wallachia  and  Mol- 
davia, and  extension  of  its  southern 
frontier  to  the  Danube.  And  although, 
during  the  first  agonies  of  the  French 
invasion,  these  valuable  provinces  were 
in  part  abandoned,  and  the  Pruth  was 
fixed  on  as  the  boundary  in  the  mean 
time  of  the  empire,  yet  it  was  at  the 
time  evident,  what  the  event  has  since 
abundantly  proved,  that  this  unwonted 
retirement  of  the  Russian  eagle  was  for 
a  time  only;  and  that  their  march  to- 
wards Constantinople,  conquering  and 
to  conquer,  was  destined  to  be  not  per- 
manently arrested. 

3.  But  the  great  and  lasting  acqui- 
sition of  Russia,  from  the  results  of  the 
war,  was  that  of  the  GRAND-DUCHY  OF 
WARSAW.  This  important  territory, 
which  brings  the  Russian  outposts 
within  a  comparatively  short  distance 
of  both  Vienna  and  Berlin,  and  rend- 
ers the  influence  of  its  diplomacy  irre- 
sistible in  eastern  Europe,  was  virtu- 
ally annexed  to  Russia  by  the  treaty 
of  Vienna  in  1815  ;  for  although,  by 
the  strenuous  efforts  of  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  and  M.  Talleyrand,  its  immedi- 
ate incorporation  with  the  dominions 
of  the  Czar  was  prevented,  yet  this 
was  done  only  by  its  establishment  as 
a  state  nominally  independent,  but 
really  part  of  his  vast  territories.  The 
grand -duchy  of  Warsaw  was  erected 
into  a  separate  monarchy,  but  the 


Emperor  Alexander  was  at  its  head ; 
his  brother,  the  Grand-duke  Constan- 
tine,  was  his  viceroy,  and  Russian  in- 
fluence was  predominant  in  its  coun- 
cils. A  constitutional  monarchy,  and 
the  form  at  least  of  representative 
institutions,  were,  by  the  strenuous 
efforts  of  France  and  England,  estab- 
lished at  Warsaw  ;  but  it  was  the 
form  only.  National  habits  and  char- 
acter proved  stronger,  as  is  ever  the 
case,  than  diplomatic  changes ;  free- 
dom was  found  to  be  unavailing  to  a 
nation  when  it  was  conferred,  not  by 
domestic  effort,  but  by  foreign  inter- 
vention ;  and  the  prosperity  commu- 
nicated to  the  Poles  by  the  vigour  of 
Russian  rule,  and  the  organisation  of 
Russian  power,  proved  only  an  addi- 
tion to  the  strength  of  Russia,  when, 
after  an  unsuccessful  and  ill-judged 
revolt,  the  grand-duchy  was  formally 
incorporated  with  her  dominions. 

4.  The  grand  -  duchy  of  Warsaw, 
which  the  treaty  of  Vienna  in  this 
manner  handed  over  to  Russia,  con- 
tained, in  1846,  4,865,000  inhabi- 
tants ;  it  extends  over  47,000  square 
geographical  miles  (about  half  more 
than  Ireland),  the  people  being  thinly 
scattered  over  it,  at  the  rate  of  100  to 
the  square  mile ;  and  the  land  under 
cultivation  within  its  limits  amounts 
to  5,444,000  dtssiatines,  or  14,000,000 
English  acres,  being  at  the  rate  only 
of  1.12  dessiatine  (three  acres)  to  each 
inhabitant.*  As  the  soil  is  generally 
rich,  everywhere  level,  and  for  the 
most  part  capable  of  yielding  the 
finest  wheateu  crops,  it  is  evident 
that  the  inhabitants  might  be  five 
times  their  present  amount,  not  only 
without  any  diminution,  but  with  a 
great  and  durable  increase  in  their 
comfort  and  wellbeing.  But  the  char- 
acter of  the  Poles,  like  that  of  the 
Celts,  ardent,  enthusiastic,  and  daring, 
but  gay,  volatile,  and  insouciant,  had 
rendered  these  gifts  of  nature  of  little 
avail,  and  retained  the  nation  in  a 
state  of  internal  poverty  and  external 
weakness,  when  the  means  of  attain- 
ing the  reverse  of  both  were  within 

*  The  Russian  dessiatine,  by  which  all  their 
land  is  measured,  contains  .2J  acres  nearly, 
the  acre  being  37  of  a  dessiatine. 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


their  power.  Great  part  of  the  coun- 
try was  overshadowed  by  dark  forests 
of  fir ;  vast  swamps  extended  along 
the  margin  of  the  rivers,  and  formed 
morasses  and  lakes  in  the  interior, 
•which  chilled  the  atmosphere  around ; 
and  even  where  cultivation  had  crept 
into  the  wilderness,  it  was  in  such  a 
rude  and  imperfect  manner  as  bespoke 
rather  the  weakness  of  savage  than  the 
powers  of  civilised  man. 

5.  The  new  Kingdom  of  Poland,  on 
the  throne  of  which  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  was  placed,  was  proclaimed  at 
AVarsaw  on  the  20th  June  1815.  It 
•consisted  of  the  grand-duchy  of  "War- 
saw, as  it  existed  in  the  time  of  Napo- 
leon, with  the  exception  of  the  city 
and  little  territory  of  Cracow,  which 
was  erected  into  a  separate  republic, 
the  salt  mines  of  Wicleiza,  which 
were  ceded  to  Austria,  and  the  grand- 
duchy  of  Posen,  which  was  set  apart 
to  Prussia.  Still  the  portion  left  for 
Russia  was  very  great,  and  formed  an 
immense  addition  to  its  already  co- 
lossal strength ;  for  it  brought  its 
dominions  almost  into  the  centre  of 
Europe,  and  left  the  capitals  of  Austria 
and  Prussia  within  ten  days'  march 
of  its  frontiers,  without  a  fortified 
town  or  defensible  frontier  between. 
It  added,  too,  the  military  strength 
of  a  warlike  race,  celebrated  in  every 
age  for  their  heroic  exploits,  to  the 
Russian  standards — men  whom  Na- 
poleon has  characterised  as  those  of 
all  Europe  who  most  readily  become 
soldiers.  They  formed  at  this  time  a 
willing  and  valuable  addition  to  the 
Muscovite  legions,  for  the  Poles  clung 
to  this  little  kingdom,  as  a  nucleus 
from  which  might  arise  the  restora- 
tion of  their  lost  nationality  ;  and  the 
benevolent  dispositions  and  known 
partiality  for  Poland  of  the  Emperor 
Alexander  inspired  the  warmest  hopes 
that  this  long-wished-for  result  might 
take  place.  The  strength  and  vigour 
which  were  ere  long  communicated  to 
the  new  kingdom  by  the  Russian 
administration,  caused  the  country 
rapidly  to  prosper  in  the  most  re- 
markable manner  in  all  its  material 
interests  ;  while  the  shadow,  at  least, 
of  representative  institutions,  which 


was  obtained  for  it  by  the  efforts  of 
Lord  Castlereagh  at  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  flattered  the  secret  hope  that, 
with  its  lost  nationality,  the  much- 
loved  liberties  of  Poland  might  one 
day  be  restored. 

6.  The  GRAND-DUKE  CONSTANTINE, 
who  was  placed  as  viceroy  at  the  head 
of  the  Government  of  this  infant  king- 
dom, was  one  of  those  strange  and 
bizarre  characters  which  occur  but 
seldom  in  history,  and  can  be  pro- 
duced only  by  a  temporary,  and,  in 
some  degree,  fortuitous  blending  of 
the  dispositions  of  various  races,  and 
the  feelings  produced  by  different 
states  of  society.  The  second  son  of 
the  Emperor  Paul  (son  of  the  cele- 
brated Empress  Catherine)  and  the 
Princess  Sophia  of  Wurtemberg,  he 
was  born  on  8th  May  1779,  and 
christened  Constantino,  from  the  de- 
sign of  that  aspiring  potentate  to 
place  him  on  the  throne  of  Constan- 
tinople, and  restore  the  Byzantine 
empire,  as  an  appanage  of  the  im- 
perial house  of  Russia.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  26th  February  1796  to  a  prin- 
cess of  the  house  of  Saxe-Coburg ;  but 
the  marriage  proved  unfortunate,  and 
was  soon  followed  by  a  separation. 
The  savage  manners  and  despotic  in- 
clinations of  the  Grand -duke  were 
speedily  felt  as  insupportable  by  a 
princess  accustomed  to  the  polished 
and  considerate  manners  of  European 
society.*  He  soon  after  entered  oa 
the  career  of  arms,  and  in  it  from  the 
very  first  he  greatly  distinguished 
himself.  His  first  essay  in  real  war- 
fare was  in  1799,  under  Suwarroff  on 
the  banks  of  the  Po,  where  his  daring 
character  and  headlong  valour  were 
very  conspicuous.  Subsequently  he 
joined  the  Allied  army,  at  the  head  of 
his  splendid  regiment  of  cuirassiers, 
in  the  plains  of  Moravia  in  1805  ;  and 
by  the  glorious  charges,  in  which  he 
defeated  the  best  regiments  of  the  Im- 
perial Guard,  and  captured  an  eagle, 

*  The  author  has  been  informed  by  a  lady, 
to  whom  the  Grand-duchess  herself  recounted 
it,  that,  in  some  of  his  fits  of  passion,  he  used 
to  make  her  rise  during  the  n'ght,  and  lie 
across  the  threshold  of  the  door  of  their 
apartment ! 


4 


had  all  but  changed  the  face  of  Europe 
on  the  field  of  Austerlitz.  Subse- 
quently he  arrested  the  triumphant 
march  of  Napoleon  at  Eylau,  and 
nearly  closed  his  career  amidst  the 
snows  of  Poland.  He  went  through 
the  whole  campaigns  of  1812,  1813, 
and  1814,  in  Russia,  Germany,  and 
France,  and  attended  the  victorious 
march  of  his  countrymen  from  Mos- 
cow to  Paris.  *  He  did  not  accompany 
them  to  London,  but  attended  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  from  whence  he 
proceeded  to  take  possession  of  his 
new  kingdom  in  June  1815. 

7.  His  character  and  habits  but  ill 
qualified  him  for  the  task.  Born  on 
the  confines  of  Europe  and  Asia,  in- 
heriting the  Tartar  blood,  warmed  by 
the  Sclavonian  temperament,  his  Ori- 
ental character  had  never  yielded  to 
the  manners  or  civilisation  of  Europe. 
He  was  an  emblem  of  the  nations  of 
which  he  was  so  nearly  the  head  :  re- 
finement had  neverpenetrated  the  inte- 
rior— the  delicacy  and  graces  of  polish- 
ed manners  were  on  the  surface  only. 
His  countenance,  which  was  strongly 
characterised  by  the  Tartar  features, 
and  severely  marked  by  the  small- 
pox, was  ill-favoured  and  ungainly; 
but  his  manners  were  polished  in  so- 
ciety, and  no  one,  when  so  inclined, 
could  be  more  winning  and  attractive. 
But  the  real  disposition  was  widely 
different ;  he  had  nothing  mild  or 
gentle  in  his  temperament.  He  rival- 
led Richard  Coeur -de  -  Lion  in  his 
valour  in  the  field,  but  he  surpassed 
him  also  in  the  vehemence  with  which 
lie  ruled  the  cabinet,  and  the  acts  of 
tyranny  by  which  both  his  public 
administration  and  private  life  were 
characterised.  Violent,  capricious,  and 
irritable,  he  could  never  brook  contra- 
diction, and  when  inflamed  by  passion, 
indulged  his  vehement  disposition  by 
frightful  and  disgraceful  acts  of  cruelty. 
He  was  an  untamed  savage,  armed 
with  the  power  and  animated  by  the 
imperious  disposition  of  an  Eastern 
sultan,  imperfectly  veiled  over  by  the 
chivalrous  manners  of  modern  Europe. 

*  The  author  met  him  frequently  there  in 
1814,  and  the  chief  traits  in  this  description 
are  taken  from  his  own  observation. 


[CHAP.  vnr. 

Yet  was  the  savage  not  destitute  of 
generous  sentiments ;  he  could  occa- 
sionally do  noble  things  ;  and  though 
the  discipline  he  maintained  in  his 
troops  was  extremely  severe,  yet  it 
was  redeemed,  and  their  affections 
won,  by  frequent  acts  of  kindness. 
The  close  of  his  public  career  was 
very  remarkable,  and  afforded  a  me- 
morable proof  of  what  is  the  real  van- 
quisher of  the  savage  dispositions  of 
man,  and  how  love  can  melt  even  the 
most  ferocious  bosoms.  Such  was  the 
influence  which  a  Polish  lady  of  charm- 
ing and  fascinating  manners  acquired 
over  him,  that  he  sacrificed  for  her 
the  most  splendid  prospects  which  the 
world  could  offer ;  and  it  will  appear 
in  the  sequel  that  "  all  for  love,  or 
the  world  well  lost,"  was,  to  the  as- 
tonishment of  Europe,  realised  by  ail 
Oriental  prince,  the  heir  to  the  great- 
est empire  in  Christendom. 

8.  As  might  have  been  expected 
from  a  prince  of  such  a  character  and 
habits,  his  chief  attention  was  concen- 
trated on  the  army.  On  the  llth  De- 
cember 1815,  when  the  annexation  of 
Poland  to  the  Russian  crown  was  seri- 
ously contested  in  the  Congress  of  Vi- 
enna, Constantino  addressed  to  it  an 
animated  proclamation,  in  which  he 
recounted  with  truth  and  deserved 
pride  their  glorious  deeds  in  arms, 
their  fidelity  in  misfortune,  their  in- 
extinguishable love  of  their  country, 
and  called  on  them  to  rally  round  the 
emperor  as  its  only  bulwark.*  On  the 

*  "Reunissez-vous  autour  de  votre  dra- 
peau;  armez  vos  bras  pour  defendre  votre 
Patrie,  et  pour  maintenir  son  existence 
politique.  Pendant  que  1'Empereur  Alex- 
andre  prepare  1'heureux  avenir  de  votre  pays 
montrez-vous  prets  a  soutenir  ses  nobles  ef- 
forts. Les  mSmes  chefs  qui,  depuis  vinpt 
ans,  vous  ont  conduits  sur  ]e  cheinin  de  la 
gloire,  sauront  vous  ramener  1'Empereur  ap- 
precier  votre  valeur.  Au  milieu  du  desastre 
d'une  guerre  funeste,  il  a  vu  votre  honneur 
survivre  a  des  evenements  qui  ne  d^pend- 
aient  pas  de  vous.  De  hauts  fails  d'anues 
vous  ont  distingues  dans  une  lutte  dont  le 
but  souvent  vous  etait  etranger;  a  present 
que  vos  efforts  ne  seront  consacres  qu'  a  la 
Patrie,  vous  serez  iuvincibles.  Soldats  et 
guerriers  de  toutes  les  armes,  donnez  les 
premiers  1'exemple  de  1'ordre  qui  doit  regner 
chez  tous  vos  compatriotes.  Devouement 
sans  bornes  envers  1'Empereur,  qui  ne  veut 
que  le  bien  de  votre  Patrie,  amour  pour  son 


1315.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


24th  of  the  same  month  he  presided 
at  a  solemn  meeting  of  the  Senate,  at 
which  the  new  constitution  was  read, 
and  proclaimed  with  great  solemnity. 
The  prospect  of  the  restoration  of  their 
country,  of  its  resuming  its  place  in 
the  family  of  Europe,  the  known  affec- 
tion with  which  the  emperor  regarded 
Poland,  and  the  generous  deeds  to- 
wards it  by  which  his  reign  had  al- 
ready been  signalised,  the  hope  of  the 
restoration  of  their  liberties  by  means 
of  the  constitution  which  had  been 
promulgated,  diffused  a  universal  en- 
chantment, and  for  a  brief  season 
made  the  Poles  forget  the  long-con- 
tinued misfortunes  of  which  their 
country  had  been  the  theatre. 

9.  Great  material  prosperity  followed 
the  junction  of  the  Polish  and  Russian 
crowns,  and  vast  advantage  to  both 
countries.  The  very  cessation  of  the 
jealousy  and  hostility  which  had  so 
long  subsisted  between  them,  and  the 
opening  of  the  vast  market  of  Muscovy 
to  Polish  industry,  was  of  itself  an 
immense  advantage.  Add  to  this  the 
termination  of  the  long  anarchy  of  Po- 
lish democracy,  and  the  substitution 
of  the  steady  rule  of  a  regular  govern- 
ment, which,  however  despotic,  was 
strong,  uniform,  and  consistent,  for 
the  ceaseless  dissensions  and  senseless 
jealousies  of  their  stormy  national  as- 
semblies. "Warsaw,  which,  in  1797, 
contained  only  66,572  inhabitants, 
and  at  the  accession  of  Alexander 
less  than  80,000,  rapidly  increased  in 
splendour  and  opulence,  and  in  1842 
numbered  140,000  souls.  The  indus- 
try of  the  country  made  sensible  pro- 
gress with  the  preservation  of  peace, 
and  the  steady  market  opened  for  agri- 
cultural produce  both  in  the  ware- 
houses of  Dantzic  and  in  the  consump- 
tion of  the  capital.  Its  revenue  had 
augmented  before  1830  by  more  than 
a  third,  and  the  seeds  even  of  mauu- 

auguste  pevsonne,  obeissance,  concord:  voila 
lo  inoyen  d'nssurer  la  prosperity  cte  votre 
pays,  qui  se  trouve  sous  la  puissante  Egide 
de  1'Empcreur.  C'est  par  la  que  vous  nrri- 
vcroz  a  I'hcureuse  situation,  que  d'autres 
peuvent  vous  promettre,  niais  que  lui  seul 
pent  vims  procurer.  Sa  puissance  et  ses  ver- 
tus  vous  i'u  sont  gnrant." — Biographic  des 
Hommcs  rirants,  ii.  l>-29. 


facturing  prosperity  had  begun  to  ger- 
minate on  its  soil.  The  entire  king- 
dom, which  in  1815  could  number 
only  a  hundred  weaving  looms,  had 
come,  in  1830,  to  contain  six  thousand, 
which  manufactured  annually  seven 
million  yards  of  cloth.  All  other  rude 
fabrics  had  advanced  in  a  similar  pro- 
portion ;  but  capital  was  still  chiefly 
accumulated  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews, 
who  amounted  in  Warsaw  alone  to 
twenty-seven  thousand,  and  were  to 
be  found  at  the  head  of  nearly  all  the 
industrial  establishments  in  the  king- 
dom. Nor  was  public  instruction 
neglected;  on  the  contrary,  it  was 
extended  in  the  most  remarkable 
manner  during  the  pacific  rule  of  the 
Russian  emperor.  Schools  of  every 
description  had  been  established  at 
Warsaw,  and  in  various  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  which  were  crowded  by  the 
ardent  youth  of  that  impassioned  land. 
The  scholars,  who  were  only  a  few 
hundreds  in  1815,  had  risen  in  the 
capital  alone  in  1830  to  3700,  and  over 
the  whole  kingdom  to  35,000,  which 
was  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  130  souls, 
while  in  the  neighbouring  realm  of 
Russia  it  was  only  1  to  280. 

10.  But  as  it  was  to  the  military 
force  of  this  new  kingdom  that  the  at- 
tention of  the  viceroy  and  the  govern- 
ment was  chiefly  directed,  so  it  was 
there  that  the  most  rapid  changes  and 
the  most  extraordinary  progress  took 
place.  It  would  pass  for  incredible, 
were  it  not  attested  by  undoubted  evi- 
dence, and  accounted  for  by  the  sin- 
gular aptitude  of  the  Poles  for  mili- 
tary instruction,  and  the  extraordinary 
skill  of  the  Russians  in  military  or- 
ganisation. The  Polish  army,  though 
it  never  exceeded  forty  thousand  men 
— less  than  one  in  a  hundred  of  "the 
entire  population — soon  became,  under 
the  tuition  of  Constantine,  one  of  the 
most  formidable  in  Europe,  from  its 
incomparable  state  of  discipline  and 
equipment.  The  viceroy  was  extremely 
anxious  on  this  subject,  and  rigorous 
to  a  fault  in  exacting  the  most  cease- 
less attention  to  the  smallest  minutiae 
of  dress  and  discipline.  Though  second 
to  none  in  the  hardihood  with  which 
he  headed  his  chivalrous  guards  in  a 


6 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vm.. 


charge,  it  was  on  the  trifling  splendour 
of  pacific  display  that  he  was  chiefly  set. 
He  often  said,  after  seeing  his  guards 
defile  before  him,  "What  a  pity  it  is 
to  go  to  war ! — it  dirties  tlieir  dress;  it 
spoils  soldiers."  To  such  a  degree  of 
perfection  did  he  bring  them  in  these 
respects,  that  when,  in  October  1816, 
the  Emperor  Alexander  passed  them 
in  review  at  "Warsaw,  he  was  so  struck 
with  their  martial  air,  exact  discipline, 
and  splendid  appearance,  that  he  em- 
braced his  brother  several  times  in 
their  presence.  But  they  were  not 
mere  carpet  knights  who  thus  charmed 
the  greatest  military  monarch  in  the 
world  by  their  appearance:  none 
showed,  when  the  hour  of  trial  ar- 
rived, that  they  were  more  equal  to 
the  duties  and  penetrated  with  the 
spirit  of  real  soldiers.  When  the  dis- 
astrous revolt  of  1830  arrived,  and  the 
little  kingdom  of  Poland  strove  to  de- 
tach itself  from  its  colossal  neighbour, 
its  fortresses  of  Modlin  and  Zamosc 
were  in  such  a  state  of  defence,  and  its 
army  so  efficient,  that  for  ten  months 
it  maintained  a  doubtful  conflict  with 
its  gigantic  foe,  and  in  the  end  was 
only  subdued  by  the  aid  of  Prussia — a 
memorable  instance  of  devoted  though 
mistaken  patriotism,  and  of  the  glori- 
ous destiny  which  awaited  Poland,  if 
its  sons  had  had  the  sense  to  establish 
a  stable  government,  and  their  heroic 
courage  and  military  spirit  had  not 
been  rendered  nugatory  by  the  insane 
divisions  and  democratic  selfishness  of 
former  times. 

11.  The  powers  of  western  Europe 
acted  naturally  and  in  a  liberal  spirit 
in  stipulating,  for  the  fragment  of  the 
Polish  nation  embraced  in  the  new 
kingdom,  constitutional  privileges  and 
a  representative  government,  and  the 
Emperor  Alexander  not  less  so  in  con- 
ceding them.  But  they  proved  worse 
than  useless  in  practice ;  and  their  en- 
tire failure  adds  another  to  the  nume- 
rous instances  which  history  affords  of 
the  extreme  danger  of  transplanting 
institutions  suitable  to  one  race  and 
state  of  society  to  men  inheriting  a 
different  blood,  and  in  a  different 
stage  of  political  existence.  Not  less 
stormy  and  unmanageable  by  ordinary 


means,  or  any  appeals  to  reason,  than: 
their  ancient  diets,  where  eighty  thou- 
sand horsemen  discussed  the  affairs  of 
state  in  the  plains  of  Volo,  the  new 
Assembly  united  to  it  the  selfishness, 
interested  motives,  and  corruption 
which  are  the  gangrenes  of  the  repre- 
sentative system,  even  in  the  most: 
highly-advanced  and  polished  societies. 
They  were  seldom  convoked,  and,  when 
assembled,  more  than  once  abruptly 
dissolved.  Poland  flourished  under 
the  Russian  rule  prior  to  the  calami- 
tous revolt  in  1830,  not  in  consequence 
of  her  representatives,  but  in  spite  of 
them.  No  salutary  or  useful  measures 
are  to  be  traced  to  their  influence ;  and 
they  drew  forth  from  no  common  man, 
the  Emperor  Nicholas,  the  following, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  as  applied  to  that 
people,  just  condemnation  :  "I  under- 
stand a  republic ;  it  is  a  clear  and  sin- 
cere government,  or  at  least  it  may  be- 
so  :  I  understand  an  absolute  govern- 
ment, since  I  am  the  chief  of  such  an 
order  of  things;  but  I  do  not  under- 
stand a  representative  monarchy.  It 
is  the  government  of  falsehood,  fraud, 
and  corruption :  I  would  retreat  to  the 
Wall  of  China  rather  than  adopt  it.  I 
have  been  a  representative  monarch ; 
and  the  world  knows  what  it  has  cost 
me  declining  to  submit  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  that  infamous  government.  I 
disdained  the  usual  means  of  manag- 
ing such  assemblies :  I  would  neither 
purchase  votes  nor  corrupt  consciences, 
nor  seduce  some  to  corrupt  others.  I 
disdained  such  methods,  as  not  less 
degrading  to  those  who  yield  to,  than 
disgraceful  to  him  who  employs  them, 
and  I  have  paid  dear  for  my  sincerity  r 
but  God  be  praised,  I  have  done,  and 
for  ever,  with  that  form  of  govern- 
ment." Thirty  years  ago,  these  words 
would  have  passed  for  the  violent  de- 
clamation of  a  despotic  prince,  abusing' 
any  institutions  which  put  a  restraint 
upon  his  own  power;  but  time  has 
since  then  taught  us  many  lessons :  we 
have  seen  the  representative  system 
working  in  France,  Ireland,  and  some 
parts  of  England. 

12.  Strengthened  by  this  great  ac- 
cession of  power  and  territory,  which 
brought  their  advanced  posts  into  the' 


1815.] 

heart  of  Europe,  within  a  hundred  and 
eighty  miles  both  of  Vienna  and  Ber- 
lin, RUSSIA  now  assumed  the  place 
which  she  has  ever  since  maintained 
as  the  undisputed  arbiter  of  eastern 
Europe.  Happy  if  she  does  not  also 
become  the  mistress  of  the  West,  and 
the  endless  divisions  of  its  aspiring 
inhabitants  are  not  in  the  end  extin- 
guished by  the  unity  of  her  advancing 
power.  Great  as  are  the  physical  re- 
sources of  Russia,  and  rapidly  as  they 
have  recently  increased  her  influence, 
the  prestige  of  her  name,  the  dread  of 
her  strength,  have  increased  in  a  still 
greater  proportion.  Men  looked  with 
a  sort  of  superstitious  awe  on  an  em- 
pire which  had  never  receded  for  cen- 
turies— which,  secured  in  rear  by  the 
snows  of  the  polar  circle,  had  stretched 
its  mighty  arms  almost  to  the  torrid 
zone ;  which  numbered  the  Vistula,  the 
Amour,  the  Danube,  and  the  Euphrates 
among  its  frontier  streams,  and  already 
boasted  of  possessing  a  seventh  of  the 
habitable  globe  within  its  dominions. 
Nor  had  the  events  of  recent  times 
weakened  this  undefined  impression ; 
Napoleon's  words  had  proved  true, 
that  Russia  was  backed  "by  two  in- 
vincible allies,  time  and  space:"  for- 
eign assault  was  hopeless  against  a 
state  which  had  repelled  the  invasion 
of  live  hundred  thousand  men;  and 
no  empire,  how  strong  soever,  seemed 
capable  of  withstanding  a  power  which, 
beginning  its  career  of  victory  with  the 
burning  of  Moscow,  had  terminated  it 
"by  the  capture  of  Paris. 

13.  What  has  augmented  in  the 
most  remarkable  degree  this  moral  in- 
fluence, is  the  prudence  and  wisdom 
with  which  it  has  been  exercised. 
Never  impelled  by  senseless  ambition 
on  the  part  of  its  rulers,  or  frantic 
passions  among  its  people,  the  policy 
of  Russia  for  two  centuries  has  been 
eminently  moderate  and  judicious. 
Its  rulers  are  constantly  actuated  by 
the  lust  of  conquest,  but  they  never 
precipitate  the  moment  of  attack  ; 
conscious  of  their  own  strength,  they 
await  calmly  the  moment  of  action, 
and  then  appear  with  decisive  effect. 
Like  a  great  man  in  the  conduct  of 
life,  they  are  never  impelled  by  the 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


thirst/or  immediate  display  which  is 
the  torment  and  bane  of  little  minds, 
but  are  satisfied  to  appear  when  cir- 
cumstances call  them  forth,  aware 
that  no  effort  will  then  be  required  to 
prove  their  superiority.  Their  con- 
quests, how  great  soever,  seem  all  to 
have  been  the  result  of  necessity  ; 
constantly,  in  reality,  aggressive,  they 
have  almost  always  appeared,  in  seri- 
ous warfare,  on  the  defensive.  The 
conquest  of  Finland  in  1808,  the  re- 
sult of  the  treat}'  of  Tilsit,  is  the  only 
one  for  the  last  century  in  which  its 
cabinet  was  avowedly  and  ostensibly 
the  aggressors.  While  this  prudent 
policy  disarms  their  neighbours,  and 
induces  them  to  rely  on  the  supposed 
moderation  and  magnanimity  of  the 
government,  it  adds  immensely  to 
their  own  strength  when  the  moment 
of  action  has  arrived.  Eveiy  interval 
of  peace  is  attended  by  a  rapid  growth 
of  their  internal  resources,  and  its  ap- 
parent leisure  is  sedulously  improved 
by  the  government  in  preparing  the 
means  of  future  conquest.  No  sense- 
less cry  for  economy,  no  "ignorant 
impatience  of  taxation,  "  paralyses 
their  strength  on  the  termination  of 
hostilities,  and  makes  them  lose  in 
peace  the  whole  fruits  of  conquest  in 
war.  Alike  in  peace  as  in  war,  at 
home  and  abroad,  their  strength  is 
constantly  rolling  on  ;  like  a  dark 
thunder-  cloud,  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men,  ready  for  instant  ac- 
tion, constantly  overhang  in  Poland 
eastern  Europe  ;  and  every  state  with- 
in reach  of  their  hostility  is  too  happy 
to  avert  it  by  submission.  When  the 
storm  broke  on  Hungary  in  1849,  it 
at  once  extinguished  the  conflagration 
which  had  set  Europe  in  flames.* 

14.  The  secret  of  this  astonishing 
influence  of  Russia  in  European  poli- 
tics, is  not  merely  her  physical  re- 
sources and  rapid  growth,  great  as  it 
will  immediately  appear  both  are,  but 
the  unity  of  purpose  by  which  the 
whole  nation  is  animated.  Like  that 
of  individuals  in  private  life,  this  is 
the  great  secret  of  national  success ; 

*  The  Russian  army  which  invaded  Hun- 
gary in  1849  was  101,800  strong. — GEORGEY'S 
Memoirs  of  the  War  in  Hungary,  ii.  149. 


8 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viu. 


it  is  not  so  much  superiority  in  means, 
as  their  persevering  direction  to  one 
object,  which  is  the  spring  to  which 
in  both  it  is  mainly  to  be  ascribed. 
The  ceaseless  direction  of  Roman  en- 
ergy to  foreign  conquest  gave  Rome 
the  empire  of  the  world ;  that  of  the 
French  to  the  thirst  for  glory  and 
principle  of  honour,  conferred  on  them 
the  lead  in  continental  Europe ;  that 
of  the  English  to  foreign  commerce 
and  domestic  industry,  placed  in  their 
hands  the  sceptre  of  the  waves.  Not 
less  persevering  than  any  of  these 
nations,  and  exclusively  directed  to 
one  object,  rivalling  the  ancient  mas- 
ters of  the  world  in  the  thirst  for  do- 
minion, and  the  modern  English  in 
the  vigour  with  which  it  is  sought, 
the  whole  Russians,  from  the  Em- 
peror on  the  throne  to  the  serf  in  the 
cottage,  are  inspired  with  the  belief 
that  their  mission  is  to  conquer  the 
world,  and  their  destiny  to  effect  it. 
Commerce  is  in  little  esteem  among 
them  ;  its  most  lucrative  branches  are 
in  the  hands  of  the  Germans,  who 
overspread  its  towns  as  the  Jews  do 
those  of  Poland.  Agriculture,  aban- 
doned to  the  serfs,  is  regarded  only  as 
the  means  of  raising  a  rude  subsistence 
for  the  cultivators,  and  realising  a 
fixed  revenue  for  the  proprietor.  Li- 
terature is  in  its  infancy,  law  consi- 
dered as  an  inferior  line  ;  but  war  is 
cultivated  with  the  utmost  assiduity, 
and  vast  schools,  where  all  subjects 
connected  with  it  are  taught  in  the 
most  approved  manner  and  with  the 
latest  improvements,  are  constantlv 
attended  by  two  hundred  thousand  of 
the  best  young  men  in  the  empire. 
The  ablest  among  them  are  selected 
for  the  diplomatic  service,  and  hence 
the  great  talent  by  which  that  profes- 
sion in  Russia  is  ever  distinguished ; 
but  the  whole  remainder  are  turned 
into  the  army,  where  they  find  them- 
selves at  the  head  of  ignorant  but 
bold  and  hardy  men,  not  less  inflamed 
than  themselves  with  the  thirst  for 
foreign  conquest — not  less  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  to  them  is  destined 
the  sceptre  of  the  world. 

15.  The  physical  circumstances  of 
Russia  are  such  as  to  justify,  in  a 


great  degree,  these  anticipations.  Its 
population  in  Europe  consisted  in  1850 
of  62,088,000  souls,  and  in  Asia  of 
4,638,000  more ;  in  all,  67,247,000,  and 
including  the  army,  68,000,000.  It  is 
now  (1862)  not  less  than  70,000,000. 
Of  this  immense  mass  no  less  than 
60,500,000  are  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  and  engaged  in  cultivation, 
and  only  5,388,000  the  indwellers  in 
towns,  and  occupied  with  their  indus- 
trial pursuits,  the  remainder  being 
nomads,  or  in  the  army.  This  enor- 
mous proportion  of  the  cultivators  to 
the  other  classes  of  society — twelve  to 
one — at  once  indicates  the  rude  and 
infantine  state  of  civilisation  of  the 
immense  majority  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  demonstrates  in  the  clearest  man- 
ner the  utter  groundlessness  of  those 
apprehensions  regarding  the  increasing 
difficulty  of  raising  subsistence  for  the 
increasing  numbers  of  mankind  in  the 
later  stages  of  society,  which  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century  took  such 
general  hold  of  the  minds  of  men.  For 
while,  in  the  immense  and  fertile  plains 
of  Russia,  twelve  cultivators  only  raise 
food  for  themselves  and  their  families 
and  one  inhabitant  of  towns,  and  per- 
haps an  equal  number  of  consumers 
in  foreign  states  —  that  is,  six  culti- 
vators feed  themselves  and  one  other 
•member  of  society — in  Great  Britain, 
by  the  census  of  1841,  the  number  of 
persons  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  was  to  the  remaining  classes 
of  society  as  one  to  seven  nearly ;  and 
yet  the  nation  was,  anterior  to  the 
change  in  the  Corn-laws,  all  but  self- 
supporting.  In  other  words,  the  power 
of  labour  in  raising  food  was  above 
forty  times  greater,  in  proportion  to 
the  population  in  the  old  and  densely- 
peopled,  than  the  young  and  thinly- 
peopled  State.  The  same  truth  has 
been  exemplified  in  America,  where, 
by  the  census  of  1841,  the  cultivators 
over  the  whole  Union  are  to  the  other 
classes  of  society  as  four,  and  beyond 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  as  eight  to 
one;  facts  which  demonstrate  that 
so  far  from  population,  as  Mr  Mal- 
thus  supposes,  pressing  in  the  later 
stages  of  society  on  subsistence,  sub- 
sistence is  daily  acquiring  a  greater 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


and   more   decisive   ascendancy   over 
population.* 

16.  The  rapidity  with  which  this 
immense  body  of  men,  in  Russia,  in- 
creases in  numbers,  is  as  important  in 
a  political  point  of  view  as  it  is  for- 
midable to  the  rest  of  Europe.  The 
annual  present  addition  to  the  popu- 
lation has  been,  from  1840  to  1850,  as 
one  to  one  hundred,  and  that  notwith- 
standing the  fearful  ravages  of  the 
cholera,  which  in  1847  caused  a  de- 
crease of  296, 000.  f  This  average  in- 
crease will  cause  a  duplication  of  the 
population  in  seventy  years,  being  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  rate  of  increase 
in  the  British  empire  for  thirty  years 
prior  to  1846 ;  since  that  time  the  pro- 
digious drain  of  the  emigration,  which 
has  now  (1856)  reached  the  enormous 
amount  of  365,000  a-year,  has  occa- 
sioned an  annual  decline,  probably 
only  temporary,  of  from  200,000  to 

*  By  the  census  of  1840,  the  proportion  of  cultivators  to  all  other  classes  in  the  United 

States  of  America  stood  thus : — 

Agricultural,  .....  3,717,750 

All  other  classes,       ....  1,078,660 

Or  about  3§  to  1.    Beyond  the  Alleghany  Mountains  they  were : — 

Agricultural,  .....  2,092,255 

All  other  classes,       .  .  .  287,751 

Or  about  8  to  1  in  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  the  garden  of  the  world.    On  the  other 

hand,  in  Great  Britain,  by  the  census  of  1831  and  1841,  the  families  respectively  engaged  in 

agriculture  and  other  pursuits  stood  thus  : — 

1831.  1641. 

Great  Britain.  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Agricultural,  .  .  961,134  3,343,974 

All  other  pursuits,     .  2,453,041  23,482,115 

Or  7  to  1  in  the  latter  period  only.  And  yet,  down  to  this  period,  the  nation  was,  to  all 
practical  purposes,  self-supporting — the  importation  of  wheat  having  been  for  forty  years 
liack  not  only  trifling  but  declining,  and  in  some  years  nothing  at  alL  Average  of  wheat 
imported  yearly : — 


250,000.  It  is  greater  than  that  of 
any  other  state  in  Europe,  Pnissia 
alone  excepted,  which  is  increasing  at 
such  a  rate  as  to  double  in  fifty -two 
years ;  but  far  from  equalling  that  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  which 
for  two  centuries  has  regularly  doubled 
its  inhabitants  every  twenty-four  years, 
aided,  it  is  true,  by  a  vast  immigration 
from  Europe,  which  has  latterly  risen  to 
the  enormous  amount  of  500,000  a-year. 
17.  But  the  formidable  nature  of 
this  increase,  which,  if  it  remains  un- 
checked, will  bring  Russia,  in  seventy 
years,  to  have  140,000,000  of  inhabi- 
tants, or  about  half  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  Europe  at  this  time,  which  is 
estimated  at  280,000,000,  arises  from 
the  vast  and  almost  boundless  room 
which  exists  in  its  immense  possessions 
for  future  augmentation.  Such  is  the 
extent  of  its  territory,  that,  great  as  its 
population  is,  it  is  at  the  rate  of  less  than 


*««*« 

Years. 

Quarters. 

1SOO  to  1810 

600,946 

1810  to  1820 

458,578 

1820  to  1830 

534,992 

1830  to  1835 

398,507 

fINGLX  YKARf. 

Years. 

Quarters. 

Tears. 

Quarters. 

1808 



1833 

82,346 

1815 

— 

1834 

64,653 

1819 

122,133 

1835 

28,483 

1820 

34,270 

1836 

24,876 

1821 

2 

1837  • 

244,087 

18-M 

— 

— 

— 

— Vide  PORTER'S  Progrcst  of  the  Nation, 
34;  and  American  Censiif,  1840. 

Population. 

t  1840,  .  .  50,231,000 

1841,  .  .  50,626,000 

1842,  .  .  50,940,000 

1843,  .  .  51,782,000 

1844,  .  .  52,754,000 

1845,  .  .  53,509,000 
1S46,  .  .  54,092,000 
m7,  .  .  54,630,000 

— TEGOBORSKI,  i.  SS. 


3d  edition,  139,  140;  History  of  Europe,  chap.  xc. 

Excess  of  births  over  deaths.  In  1<0. 

393,000 S 

344,000 6 

842,000  .    .   .   .    1.7 

972,000  ....    1.9 

755,000  ....    1.4 

583,000  ....    1.1 

538,000  ....    1 
296,000  decrease  (cholera)     .5 


10 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


30  the  square  mile  for  Russia  in  Eu- 
rope, while  in  Great  Britain  it  is  at  the 
rate  of  220,  and  in  France  of  171.  If 
Russia  in  Europe  were  peopled  at  the 
rate  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  it 
would  contain  500,000,000  souls— a 
number  by  no  means  impossible,  if  the 
vast  extent  of  waste  land  in  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland,  and  the  mountains 
of  Cumberland  and  Wales,  not  less 
sterile  than  the  fir  forests  of  the  north 
of  Russia,  is  taken  into  account.*  Its 
entire  superficies  is  2,120,000  square 
geographical  miles,  while  that  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  is  120,340  ;  that 
of  France,  207,252 ;  that  of  Austria, 
257,830;  that  of  Prussia,  107,958;— 
facts  which,  even  more  than  its  present 
number  of  inhabitants,  demonstrate 
the  prodigious  capabilities  which  it 
contains,  and  the  destinies  to  which 
it  is  ultimately  called. 

18.  What  renders  a  people,  advanc- 
ing at  such  a  rate,  and  possessed  of 
such  resources,  in  a  peculiar  manner 
formidable,  is  the  unity  of  purpose  and 
feeling  by  which  the  whole  of  the  im- 
mense mass  is  animated.  It  is  a  com- 
mon opinion  in  western  Europe  that  a 
nation  inhabiting  so  vast  and  varied  a 
territory  cannot  by  possibility  remain 
united,  and  that  Russia,  broken  up,  as 
it  must  ere  long  be,  into  a  number  of 
separate  dominions,  will  cease  to  be 
formidable  to  the  other  powers  of  Eu- 
rope. There  never  was  a  greater  mis- 
take. To  reason  thus  is  to  fall  into 
the  usual  error  of  supposing  that  all 
mankind  are  placed  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances, and  actuated  by  the  same 
desires.  There  have  been  many  insur- 
rections and  revolts  in  Russia,  but  none 
which  ever  pointed  in  the  most  remote 
degree  either  to  a  change  in  the  form 
of  government,  or  to  a  separation  of 
one  part  of  the  country  from  the  other. 


It  is  in  its  Polish  conquests  alone  that 
this  passion  has  been  felt.  Even  when 
the  Russians  have  appeared  in  revolt, 
as  they  have  often  done,  it  was  ever  in 
obedience  to  the  impulse  of  loyalty  : 
they  combated  the  Czar  in  the  name 
of  another  Czar,  not  knowing  which 
was  the  right  one,  as  the  Scotcli  High- 
landers did  the  Hanoverian  family  in 
the  name  of  the  Stuarts.  The  prin- 
ciple of  cohesion  is  much  stronger  in 
Russia  than  it  is  in  the  British  domi- 
nions, infinitely  more  so  than  in  the 
United  States  of  America.  England 
and  France  may  be  subjugated,  or 
broken  into  separate  states,  before  the 
integrity  of  Russia  is  threatened  ;  and 
many  rival  republics  will  be  contending 
for  the  superiority  on  the  Transatlantic 
plains,  while  the  Muscovites  are  still 
slumbering  in  conscious  strength  and 
patient  expectation  under  the  sceptre 
of  the  Czar.-f- 

19.  The  cause  of  this  remarkable, 
and,  to  the  other  states  of  Europe, 
most  formidable  unity  of  feeling  in  the 
Russian  dominions,  is  to  be  found,  in 
the  first  place,  as  that  of  all  great  na- 
tional peculiarities  is,  in  the  original 
character  and  disposition  of  the  race. 
The  Russians  are  not,  it  is  true,  en- 
camped on  the  plains  of  Scythia  as  the 
Turks  have  been  for  four  centuries  on 
those  of  the  Byzantine  empire ;  they 
have  taken  root  in  the  soil,  they  con- 
stitute its  entire  inhabitants,  and  are 
now  devotedly  attached  to  it  by  the 
possession  of  its  surface  and  the  la- 
bours of  agriculture.  But  they  are 
not  on  that  account  less  Oriental  in 
their  ideas,  feelings,  and  habits  ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  is  that  veiy  circum- 
stance, joined  to  their  agricultural 
pursuits,  which  renders  them  so  for- 
midable. They  unite  the  devotion 
and  singleness  of  purpose  of  Asia  to 


Population  in  1851. 
27,435,315 
35,680,000 
16,576,000 
38,286,000 
62,000,000 


Proportion  to  sq.  mile  ge 
220 
171 
150 
14S 


*  British  Isles, 

France, 

Prussia, 

Austria, 

Russia  in  Europe, 
— TBSOBORSKI,  i.  99. 

The  population  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  however,  was  only  27,435,315  by  the  census  of 
1851,  but  that  was  in  consequence  of  the  Irish  famine,  1846,  and  emigration  ever  since,  so 
that  the  rate  for  it  must  be  taken  at  what  it  was  in  1845. 

t  Written  in  1S52.     What  a  continuation  of  those  remarks  has  the  history  of  this  vear 
(18(52)  afforded! 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


II 


the  industry  and  material  resources  of 
Europe.  It  is  incorrect  to  say  that  the 
Russians,  like  the  inhabitants  of  Eng- 
land or  France,  are  generally  loyal, 
and  only  occasionally  seized  with  the 
disturbing  passions  of  revolution  or 
religion.  They  are  loyal  at  all  times, 
and  in  all  places,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances. They  can  never  be  brought 
to  combat  the  Czar  but  in  the  name  of 
the  Czar.  Devotion  to  the  throne  is 
so  interwoven  with  the  inmost  feelings 
of  their  hearts  that  it  has  become  part 
and  parcel  of  their  very  being ;  it  is 
as  universal  as  the  belief  in  God  or  a 
future  state  is  in  other  countries.  No 
disturbing  or  rival  passions  interfere 
with  the  unity  of  this  feeling,  which  is 
sublime  from  its  universality,  and  re- 
spectable from  its  disinterestedness. 
The  Czar  is  at  once  their  temporal 
sovereign,  their  supreme  chief,  whose 
will  is  Taw  in  all  temporal  affairs,  and 
the  head  of  their  church,  under  the 
ccgis  of  whose  protection  they  alone 
hope  for  entrance  into  paradise  in  the 
world  to  come.  The  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople is,  properly  speaking,  the 
head  of  the  Greek  Church,  but  he  is  a 
foreigner,  and  at  a  distance  ;  the  real 
ecclesiastical  authority  resides  in  the 
Czar,  who  appoints  all  the  bishops ; 
and  his  brows  are  surrounded,  in  their 
eyes,  at  once  with  the  diadem  of  the 
sultan  and  the  tiara  of  the  pontiff. 

20.  This  unity  of  feeling — the  result 
of  the  combination,  in  the  same  peo- 
ple, of  the  Asiatic  principle  of  passive 
obedience  in  temporal,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  one  of  unity  of  belief  in  reli- 
gious concerns — has  been  much  en- 
hanced in  Russia  by  the  entire  identity 
of  material  interests  over  eveiy  part  of 
the  empire.  Other  nations  are  part- 
ly agricultural,  partly  manufacturing, 
partly  commercial ;  and  experience  has 
proved  that  not  the  least  serious  causes 
of  internal  division  are  to  be  traced  to 
the  varied  and  conflicting  interests  of 
these  different  classes  of  society.  But 
in  Russia  no  such  cause  of  division 
i-xists.  The  empire  is,  speaking  in  ge- 
neral terms,  wholly  agricultural.  Its 
seaports  are  only  emporiums  for  the 
sale  of  its  rude  produce ;  its  merchants, 
its  grain  and  hemp  factors  ;  its  manu- 


facturers, the  clothers  of  its  rural 
population ;  its  nobles,  the  persons 
enriched  by  their  labours.  So  incon- 
siderable is  the  urban  population — 
only  a  twelfth  of  the  rural — that  it 
can  secure  no  sort  of  influence  in  the 
State  ;  and  such  as  it  is,  its  most  lu- 
crative professions  are  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  foreigners.  St  Petersburg  it- 
self has,  including  the  garrison,  which 
is  never  less  than  60,000  men,  only 
470,000  inhabitants  ;  but  for  the  court, 
it  would  soon  sink  below  100,000  ; 
Moscow  349, 000,— neither  greater  than 
Manchester  or  Glasgow  at  this  mo- 
ment.* If  this  extremely  small  pro- 
portion of  the  urban  to  the  rural  popu- 
lation is  prejudicial  to  the  national 
wealth,  by  depriving  the  State  of  the 
great  hives  of  industry  which  in  other 
states  are  the  nurseries  of  capital,  it  is 
eminently  favourable  to  the  unity  of 
feeling  which  pervades  the  empire. 
The  Russians  have  the  two  strongest 
bonds  of  cohesion  which  can  exist  in  a 
State — identity  of  religious  belief,  and 
unity  of  temporal  interests. 

21.  The  Empress  Catherine  took  some 
steps  towards  introducing  schools  into 
her  vast  dominions ;  and  great  estab- 
lishments for  the  young  of  both  sexes 
excite  the  admiration  of  travellers  both 
at  St  Petersburg  and  Moscow.  But 
she  did  so,  only  that  her  vanity  might 
be  gratified  by  the  praise  of  the  phi- 
losophers of  western  Europe ;  for  she 
at  the  same  time  wrote  to  one  of  her 
favourites  that  if  they  were  general 
through  the  empire,  neither  he  nor  she 
would  long  remain  where  they  then 
were.f  Catheiine  was  right ;  the  un- 

*  Population  in  1840  of— 
St  Petersburg,  470,202 

Moscow,  349,068 

"Warsaw,  140,474 

Odessa,  60,055 

Astrakan,  45,938 

Kazan,  44,304 

Riga,  59,900 

Cronstadt,  54,747 

Wilna,  54,499 

Toula,  54,735 

Kiev,  47,424 

Woronije,  43,800 

— TEGOBORSKI,  i.  12-2,  123. 

t  "Mon  cher  Prince, — Ne  vous  plaignez 
pas  de  ce  que  les  Russes  n'ont  pas  le  dtSsir  dc 
s'instruire.  Si  j'institue  des  e'coles,  ce  n'esfc 
pas  pour  nous;  c'est  pour  1'Europe,  ou  U 


12 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[ciiAr.  vin. 


bounded  authority  of  the  Czar,  both  as 
the  temporal  sovereign  of  the  State  and 
the  head  of  the  Church,  is  based  on  the 
general  ignorance  which  prevails.  Be- 
fore the  light  of  knowledge  the  vast 
fabric  would  insensibly  melt  away,  but 
with  it  would  disappear  at  the  same 
time  the  internal  solidity  and  external 
strength  of  the  empire.  The  Emperor 
Alexander  did  much  to  establish  schools 
in  his  dominions ;  but  as  they  were  all 
either  in  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign  or 
the  Church,  they  did  little  to  enlighten 
the  general  mind,  save  in  the  military 
art,  in  which  they  kept  it  on  a  level 
with,  if  not  superior  to,  any  country  of 
Europe.  The  schools,  other  than  the 
government  ones,  which  are  mere  mili- 
tary academies,  being  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  clergy,  who  are  them- 
selves, with  some  bright  exceptions, 
the  most  uninformed  of  the  commu- 
nity, little  is  to  be  expected  for  the 
training  of  the  general  mind  from  the 
spread  of  education,  as  it  is  at  present 
constituted. 

22.  There  is  no  nation  in  the  world 
more  profoundly  impressed  with  reli- 
gious feelings  than  the  Russians,  and 
yet  there  is  none  to  which  the  Gospel 
lias  less  been  preached.  The  Bible  is 
to  them  a  sealed  book,  for  not  one  in 
a.  hundred  can  read ;  preaching  is  un- 
known, for  it  would  not  be  understood ; 
form  is  all  in  all.  Repeated  genu- 
flexions at  passing  the  image  of  a  saint, 
invariable  crossing  themselves  before 
eating,  and  attendance  at  church  to 
witness  a  few  ceremonies  around  the 
altar  on  Sunday,  form,  in  general,  the 
whole  of  their  devotional  practices.  In 
truth,  the  vast  majority  of  the  people 
are  in  so  backward  a  state  as  to  civili- 
sation, that  they  could  neither  under- 
stand doctrines  nor  apprehend  precepts 
apart  from  the  influence  of  the  senses. 
Like  all  rude  nations,  they  are  deeply 
impressed  with  religious  feelings ;  but  it 
is  the  religion  which  enters  by  the  eye 
rather  than  the  ear,  and  is  nourished 
by  visible  objects,  not  abstract  ideas, 
laut  maintenir  notre  rang  dans  1'opinion: 
mais  du  jour  ou  nos  paysans  voudraient 
x'eclairer,  ni  vous  ni  moi  nous  ne  restericms 
a  nos  places." — CATHERINE,  Imperatrice.  civ 
Gouvernevr  de  Moscow,  8  June  1772;  DE  CDS- 
USE,  La  Rus:it  en  1S39,  ii.  115. 


Paintings  of  Scriptural  subjects  arc  to 
be  seen  in  all  directions,  and  are  the 
objects  of  the  most  superstitious  devo- 
tion to  the  entire  people ;  for  they  think 
that  the  prohibition  in  the  Command- 
ments is  only  against  graven,  not  paint-' 
ed  images ;  and  that,  provided  only  the 
surface  is  flat,  it  is  lawful  to  fall  down 
and  worship  it.  The  clergy  are  a  very 
numerous  body  in  the  empire — they 
amounted,  in  1829,  to  243,000 ;  and  be- 
ing allowed  to  marry,  their  children  are 
still  more  numerous,  and  having  nearly 
all  received  the  elements  of  education, 
they  constitute  the  chief  class  from 
whom  the  numerous  civil  employes  of 
government  are  drawn.  *  They  are  little 
elevated,  either  in  instruction,  station, 
or  circumstances,  above  the  peasants 
by  whom  they  are  surrounded,  whose 
virtues  and  vices  they  in  general  share ; 
but  among  the  higher  prelates,  ap- 
pointed by  the  emperor,  are  to  be  found 
men,  as  in  the  elevated  diplomatic  cir- 
cles, second  to  none  in  the  world  in 
piety  and  zeal  and  learning. 

23.  Titles  and  estates  are  hereditary 
in  Russia,  but  not  rank — a  curious 
distinction,  little  understood  in  west- 
ern Europe,  where  they  are  invariably 
united,  but  highly  characteristic  of  its 
social  system,  and  important  in  its  so- 
cial and  political  effects  on  the  inha- 
bitants. It  is  this  distinction  which 
has  crushed  the  feudal  system  in  that 
country,  and  placed  society  on  an  en- 
tirely different  basis — half  European, 
half  Asiatic — from  any  of  the  other 
states  founded  by  the  conquerors  who 
overthrew  the  Roman  Empire.  Peter 
the  Great  was  the  author  of  the  system 
which  is  called  the  Tchinn,  and  by  its 
establishment  he  effected  a  greater  re- 

*  The  clergy  are  thus  divided,  which  shows 
how  vast  a  preponderance  the  Greek  Church 
enjoys — viz. 

Greek  Church,    .  223,000 


United  Greeks,  . 
Roman  Catholics, 
Mohammedan,  . 
Reformed,  . 


7,000 
6,000 
6,000 
400 


242,400 

The  whole  are  married,  or  capable  of  being  so, 
except  the  Roman  Catholic  priests.  The  en- 
tire persons  belonging  to  the  clergy  and  their 
families,  forming  the  clergy  class,  amounted, 
in  1829,  to  900,000,  and  are  now  above  a  mil- 
lion of  souls.— MALTE  BBUS,  vi.  4U. 


1315.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


13 


volution  in  the  destinies  of  the  empire 
than  by  the  destruction  of  the  Stre- 
litzes.  The  whole  people  were  by  this 
strange  but  vigorous  lawgiver  divided 
into  fourteen  classes,  corresponding  to 
the  grades  in  the  army,  and  something 
analogous  to  the  centuries  into  which, 
for  the  purposes  of  taxation  and  elec- 
tion, the  Romans,  in  the  days  of  the 
Republic,  were  divided.  Each  of  these 
classes  has  certain  privileges  peculiar 
to  itself,  which  are  not  enjoyed  by  the 
one  below  it :  the  lowest  class,  which 
is  immediately  above  the  serfs,  is  in- 
vested with  the  single  privilege  of  not 
being  beaten  except  by  judicial  autho- 
rity ;  and  to  insure  the  enjoyment  of 
this  privilege,  and  prevent  strangers 
from  in  ignorance  invading  it,  every 
person  in  that  class  is  obliged  to  have 
his  number  placarded  above  his  door. 
All  the  inferior  employes  of  govern- 
ment, and  persons  charged  with  subal- 
tern duties  in  the  administration,  be- 
long to  this  class.  Eveiy  person  who 
becomes  a  soldier  acquires  its  privileges 
when  he  puts  off  his  uniform  and  ob- 
tains his  discharge.  As  to  the  serfs, 
they  are  left  in  the  condition  that  our 
peasants  were  by  Magna  Charta — any 
one  may  beat  them  at  pleasure. 

24.  This  singular  organisation  of  so- 
ciety, which  pervades  all  ranks  in  Rus- 
sia, from  the  Czar  downwards,  aug- 
ments  to  a  most  enormous  degree  the 
power  of  the  sovereign,  for  it  places  the 
personal  rank  and  privileges  of  every 
individual  in  the  realm  at  his  disposal. 
By  a  stroke  of  the  pen  the  Emperor  can 
degrade  every  individual  in  the  empire, 
whatever  his  descent,  or  family,  or  ti- 
tles may  be,  from  his  rank,  deprive  him 
of  all  the  privileges  belonging  to  it,  and 
cast  him  down  to  the  veiy  lowest  class 
immediately  above  the  serfs.  "With 
equal  facility  he  can  elevate  any  person 
to  a  class  in  which  he  was  neither  born, 
nor  to  which  he  is  entitled  by  any 
distinction  or  services  rendered  to  the 
State,  and  thus  place  him  in  a  rank 
superior  to  any,  even  the  very  highest 
noble  in  the  land.  The  rank  thus  con- 
ferred is  personal  only ;  it  does  not  de- 
scend with  the  holder's  titles  or  estates 
to  his  heirs;  it  is  given  by  the  sove- 
reign, held  of,  and  may  at  any  moment 


be  resumed  by  him.  An  awful  example 
of  the  exercise  of  this  power  by  the  Czar 
is  sometimes  given,  who,  in  flagrant 
cases,  degrades  a  colonel  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment,  or  a  civil  governor  in  the 
seat  of  his  authority — has  him  flogged 
in  presence  of  those  so  recently  sub- 
jected to  his  authority,  and  instantly 
sent  off  in  one  of  the  cars  provided  for 
convicts  to  Siberia.  It  is  these  terrible 
instances  of  severe,  but,  in  so  despotic 
a  state,  necessary  justice,  often  falling 
like  a  flash  of  lightning  on  the  highest 
functionaries,  and  in  the  most  unfore- 
seen manner,  which  inspires  so  uni- 
versal a  dread  of  the  power  of  the  Czar, 
and  causes  his  mandates  to  be  obeyed 
like  the  laws  of  the  Almighty  or  the 
decrees  of  fate,  which  mortals  must 
accept  and  submit  to  in  trembling  si- 
lence. It  has  given  rise  to  the  common 
opinion  that  rank  in  Russia  is  military 
only,  and  depends  on  the  position  held 
in  the  army.  This  is  in  appearance  true, 
but  not  really  so ;  for  in  no  country  are- 
civil  gradations  more  firmly  established 
or  scrupulously  observed  than  in  that 
country.  They  are  abreast  of  the  steps 
in  military  rank,  and  confer  the  same 
rights,  but  they  do  not  confer  steps  in 
the  army ;  hence  a  hairdresser  or  tailor 
sometimes  has  the  rank  of  a  major- 
general,  but  he  could  not  command  a 
company.  At  the  head  of  the  Tchinn 
was  long  placed  Field-marshal  Paske- 
witch,  the  conqueror  of  Persia  and  Po- 
land, and  governor  of  Warsaw ;  at  its 
foot  the  whole  postilions  and  couriers 
in  the  empire. 

25.  This  organisation  of  society  be- 
trays its  Eastern  origin :  it  recalls  the 
castes  of  Egypt  and  Hindostan,  with 
this  difference,  that  the  rank  is  per- 
sonal, and  entirely  dependent  on  the- 
emperor's  will — not  hereditary,  as  with 
them,  and  naturally  descending,  like 
the  colour  of  the  skin,  from  parent  to 
child.  As  such,  it  confers  an  influ- 
ence on  the  sovereign  unknown  even 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  or  the  Gan- 
ges. The  class  of  nobles  is  very  nu- 
merous; it  embraced  in  1829  no  less 
than  389,542  individuals.  It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  a  great  proportion 
of  this  class  are  destitute  of  property ; 
but  such  as  arc  so,  for  the  most  part. 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  vnr. 


find  a  refuge  in  the  ample  ranks  of  the 
army.  Some  of  them  are  possessed  of 
enormous  fortunes,  and  when  not 
trained  to  civil  or  military  duties  in 
the  diplomatic  or  military  line,  they 
for  the  most  part  spend  their  lives  in 
St  Petersburg  or  Moscow,  where  a 
great  proportion  of  them,  even  to  the 
most  advanced  age,  are  engaged  in  an 
incessant  round  of  profligacy  and  plea- 
sure. It  exceeds  anything  witnessed, 
at  least  on  the  surface,  either  in  Paris 
or  London ;  for  passion,  relieved  from 
the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  and  too 
distant  to  fall  under  the  coercion  of 
the  emperors,  riots  without  control, 
and  to  a  degree  which  would  not  be 
tolerated  in  the  societies  of  western 
Europe.  Democratic  desires,  with  all 
their  inconveniences,  have  this  good 
•eifect,  that  they  provide  for  the  deco- 
rum of  society,  and  check  those  gross 
instances  of  licence  which  at  once  de- 
grade and  corrupt  it.  They  render 
«very  man  a  spy  on  his  neighbour, 
and  the  espionage  of  no  arbitrary  so- 
vereign is  so  willingly  and  effectually 
•exercised ;  for  though  no  man  likes  to 
have  a  restraint  imposed  on  his  own 
passions,  eveiy  one  is  willing  to  have  it 
fastened  upon  those  of  his  neighbour. 
26.  The  trading  or  bourgeois  class, 
which  composes  several  ranks  of  the 
Tchinn,  is  made  up  in  Russia,  so  far 
as  the  higher  persons  in  it  are  con- 
cerned, for  the  most  part,  of  foreigners. 
The  portion  of  it  drawn  from  the  na- 
tion is  composed  of  such  as  are  entirely 
emancipated,  or  of  those  who,  still  serfs, 
are  not  attached  to  the  soil,  and  have 
commuted  their  obligation  of  personal 
.service  into  the  payment  of  a  certain 
annual  sum  called  the  obrok,  generally 
ten  or  twelve  rubles  a-year  (£1,  12s. 
<>d.  or  £1, 18s.)  This  latter  class  is  very 
numerous;  it  contains  no  less  than 
14,000,000  of  souls,  including  the  fa- 
milies of  the  semi-emancipated  serfs. 
They  cannot,  however,  leave  their  trade 
or  force  the  purchase  of  their  freedom 
on  their  master  against  his  consent, 
and  the  obrok  is  generally  raised  as 
their  supposed  gains  augment.  This 
is  perhaps  the  very  best  way  in  which 
the  step,  always  difficult,  sometimes 
dangerous,  can  be  made  from  slavery 


to  freedom,  because  it  makes  the  gain- 
ing of  the  habits  of  industry  precede 
the  cessation  of  its  compulsion,  and 
renders  man  capable  of  being  free  be- 
fore he  becomes  so.  The  peasants  on 
the  domains  of  the  Crown,  though  en- 
gaged in  the  labours  of  agriculture, 
are  substantially  in  the  same  situa- 
tion ;  they  pay  their  obrok  or  capita- 
tion-tax, and  enjoy  the  whole  remain- 
ing fruits  of  the  soil  they  have  culti- 
vated, or  of  the  manual  labour.  Their 
number  is  very  great ;  it  amounts  to 
no  less  than  7,938,000  individuals  of 
the  male  sex.  The  trading  classes  are 
all  arranged  in  separate  guilds  or  cor- 
porations, in  which  they  enjoy  consi- 
derable privileges — in  particular,  those 
of  being  exempt  from  personal  chas- 
tisement, and  the  obligation  to  serve 
in  the  army,  and  to  pay  the  capitation- 
tax,  and  having  courts  of  their,  own, 
where  their  matters  in  dispute  are  de- 
termined, as  in  the  Saxon  courts  of 
the  Heptarchy,  by  a  jury  of  their 
peers.  This  arrangement  of  the  trad- 
ing classes  in  separate  guilds  or  fra- 
ternities, enjoying  certain  privileges, 
and  bound  together  by  community  of 
interest,  is  the  very  best  that  human 
wisdom  ever  devised  to  Improve  the 
condition  and  habits  of  the  industri- 
ous classes,  because  it  tends  to  estab- 
lish an  aristocracy  among  them,  which 
at  once  elevates  their  caste  and  pro- 
tects their  labour,  and  tends  to  pre- 
vent that  greatest  of  all  social  evils, 
equality  among  tfie  poor;  which,  as  it 
destroys  their  influence,  inevitably  ends 
in  the  equality  of  despotism. 

27.  The  last  class  in  Russia  is  that 
of  the  SERFS  or  peasants,  the  property 
of  their  masters,  who  are  by  law  at- 
tached to  the  soil,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  engaged  in  the  labours  of  agri- 
culture. Their  number  is  immense: 
they  amounted  in  Russia  in  Europe 
alone  to  10,865,993  males  in  1834, 
and  in  1848  they  had  increased  to 
11,938,000,  being  as  nearly  as  possible 
one-half  of  the  entire  population  en- 
gaged in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil. 
It  is  a  total  mistake,  however,  to  sup- 
pose that  this  immense  body  of  men 
are  slaves  in  our  sense  of  the  word- 
that  is,  in  the  state  in  which  the 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


15 


negroes  till  recently  were  in  the  West 
India  Islands,  or  as  they  still  are  in 
the  Southern  States  of  America.  They 
are  the  property,  indeed,  of  their  mas- 
ters ;  they  are  sold  with  the  estate, 
and  cannot  leave  it  without  his  con- 
sent ;  and  the  property  in  them,  as  in 
the  West  Indies  till  of  late,  constitutes 
the  chief  part  of  its  value.  But  they 
enjoy  several  important  immunities, 
•which  go  far  to  assuage  the  bitterness 
of  servitude,  and  render  it  doubtful 
whether,  in  the  existing  state  of  Rus- 
sian society,  they  could  be  so  well  off 
under  any  other  circumstances.* 

28.  They  are  sold  with  the  estate, 
but  they  cannot,  without  their  own 
consent,  be  sold  without  it — a  privi- 
lege of  incalculable  value,  for  it  pre- 
vents the  separation  of  husband  and 
wife,  parent  and  child,  and  the  tear- 
ing up  of  the  slave  from  the  home  of 
his  fathers,  which  constitutes  the  last 
drop  in  the  cup  of  his  bitterness.  By 
a  ukase  of  the  Emperor  Paul  in  1797, 
who,  in  this  instance  at  least,  proved 
himself  a  real  father  to  his  people, 
every  slave  or  peasant  subject  to  forced 
labour  on  his  master's  account,  is  per- 
mitted during  three  days  in  the  week 
to  work  on  his  own.  By  a  ukase  of 
the  present  Emperor,  slaves  are  even 
permitted  to  hold  small  pieces  of  land 
on  their  own  account,  though  in  their 
master's  name ;  and  if  he  attempts  to 
interfere  with  their  enjoyment  of  the 
fruits,  he  is  liable  to  be  restrained  by 
iiu  order  from  the  governor  of  the  pro- 

*  Peasants  in  Russia  slaves  in  1S4S, 
Free  peasants,  viz. : — 
Free  peasants  and  Odnovostry, 
Crown  peasants. 
Crown  colonists, 
Newly  emancipated, . 


vince.  In  addition  to  this,  the  mas- 
ter is  obliged  to  maintain  the  slave  in 
sickness  or  old  age  —  an  obligation 
which  is  always  and  willingly  dis- 
charged, for  a  very  sufficient  reason, 
that  the  great  extent  of  waste  land  in 
his  possession,  or  surplus  produce  in 
his  hands,  in  general  enables  the  mas- 
ter to  discharge  the  duty  without  feel- 
ing it  as  a  burden.  It  results  from 
these  circumstances,  that  the  condi- 
tion of  the  serf  is,  generally  speaking, 
so  far  as  rude  comfort  goes,  equal  or 
superior  to  that  of  any  peasantry  in 
Europe,  and  that  even  the  best-condi- 
tioned cultivators  in  its  western  states 
would  find  something  to  envy  in  the 
constant  food  and  secure  position  of  a 
Russian  serf.f 

29.  There  is  a  very  curious  institu- 
tion, almost  universal  among  the  serfs 
of  Russia,  which  betrays  their  Eastern 
origin,  and  has  done  more  than  any 
other  circumstance  to  mitigate  the  se- 
verity of  slavery  amongst  them.  It 
savours  of  the  village  system  so  firmly 
rooted  in  all  the  northern  parts  of 
Hindostan,  and  recalls  the  days  when 
the  whole  lands  of  Palestine  were  al- 
lotted afresh  every  half-century  to  the 
Jews  in  ancient  times.  It  is  called  the 
Tieglo,  and  consists  in  this :  All  the 
peasants  of  Russia  or  of  Spain  live  in 
villages ;  isolated  cottages,  the  glory 
and  mark  of  English  and  Swiss  free- 
dom, are  unknown.  Each  village  has 
a  certain  portion  of  land  allotted  to  it 
by  the  emperor,  if  the  lands  hold  of 


11,938,182 


2,395,070 

9,209,200 

150,000 

146,550 


11,900,820 


— TECOBORSKI,  i.  320. 

t  The  Marquis  Custine,  anything  but  a  eulogist  of  Russian  institutions  and  manners, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  appearance  of  the  old  serfs,  released  from  labour  for  life, 
sitting  at  the  doors  of  their  cottages :  "  Je  ne  puis  m'empe'cher  de  trouver  un  grand  channe 
a  1'iguorance,  lorsque  j'en  vois  le  fruit  dans  la  physionomie  celeste  des  vieux  paysans 
russes.  Ces  patriarches  modernes  se  reposent  noblement  au  declin  de  leur  vie :  tra- 
•v.iillt'urs  exempts  de  la  corvee,  ils  se  debarrassent  de  lenr  fardeau  vers  la  fin  du  jour 
«t  s'appuyent  avec  dignite  sur  le  seuil  de  la  chaumiere  qu'ils  ont  rebatie  plusieurs  fois,  car 
sous  ce  rude  climat  la  maison  de  I'homme  ne  dure  pas  autant  que  sa  vie.  Quand  je  ne 
rapporterais  de  inon  voyage  en  Russie,  que  le  souvenir  de  ces  vieillards  sans  remords, 
•nppuytis  centre  les  portes  sans  serrures,  je  ne  regrctterais  pas  la  peine  que  j'ai  prise 
pour  venir  voir  des  creatures  si  diflerentes  de  tons  les  autres  paysans  du  mondc.  La  no- 
blesse de.  la  chaumiere  m'inspire  toujours  un  profond  respect."— DE  CUSTINE,  Voyage  en 
Jinrsie,  iv.  10.  —  Would  the  inmates  of  our  workhouses  present  an  equally  agreeable 
spectacle! 


16 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vnr. 


the  Crown,  or  by  their  lord,  if  of  a 
subject,  and  which  they  labour  on 
their  own  account  for  the  subsistence 
of  themselves  and  their  families.  An- 
other portion  of  the  estate  is  cultivated 
by  the  serfs,  under  the  corvee,  on  their 
master's  accoitot.  As  the  waste  land 
in  general  bears  so  great  a  proportion 
to  that  under  cultivation,  both  por- 
tions are  very  extensive,  and  there  is 
room  and  to  spare  for  future  increase. 
The  land  allotted  to  the  peasants  is 
not  divided  into  separate  portions  as  it 
would  be  in  England,  where,  in  some 
places,  "  each  rood  has  its  man,"  but 
is  all  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  en- 
tire village  community,  which,  in  its 
turn,  becomes  responsible  for  the  whole 
charges  and  obligations  incumbent  on 
its  members. 

30.  A  certain  number  of  the  elders 
of  the  village  make  the  partition  of  the 
lands  among  all  the  householders,  and 
it  is  generally  done  with  great  care  and 
circumspection,  according  to  the  neces- 
sities and  capabilities  of  each  inhabi- 
tant. The  lot  awarded  to  each  is  in 
proportion  to  the  numbers  which  he 
has  to  feed,  and  the  arms  he  can  bring 
to  aid  in  the  cultivation  of  its  furrows. 
When  a  son  marries  during  the  lifetime 
of  his  father,  he  applies  for  and  obtains 
a  separate  portion  for  himself,  which 
he  labours  on  his  own  account,  and 
which  is  augmented  in  proportion  as 
his  family  increases.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  it  declines,  his  lot  is  propor- 
tionally contracted ;  and  if  he  dies 
without  children,  it  is  given  to  some 
other  by  the  little  senate  of  the  village. 
Inequality  in  the  richness  of  the  soil, 
or  difficulties  in  its  cultivation,  are 
carefully  weighed  and  compensated  by 
the  grant  of  a  larger  or  smaller  portion 
of  ground.  If  the  land  at  the  disposal 
of  the  community  exceeds  the  wants 
of  its  inhabitants,  the  surplus  is  di- 
vided among  such  of  her  peasants  as 
have  the  largest  stock  of  cattle  and 
implements  of  husbandry,  who  are  pro- 
portionally burdened  with  a  share  of 
the  charges  of  the  community.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  land  falls  short,  a 
portion  of  the  community  hives  off  like 
a  swarm  of  bees,  and  settles  in  some 
government  or  province  where  there  is 


enough,  and  where  they  are  always  sure 
of  a  cordial  welcome,  for  they  bring 
with  'them  industry,  wealth,  and  cul- 
tivation. So  firmly  is  this  system 
established  in  Russia — as,  indeed,  it  is 
generally  in  the  East — and  so  suitable 
is  it  to  the  circumstances  of  the  people, 
that,  although  it  has  many  inconve- 
niences, and  checks  the  improvement 
of  agriculture  by  the  sort  of  commu- 
nity of  land  which  it  establishes,  and 
its  frequent  re-partition,  the  peasants 
resolutely  resist  any  attempt  at  its  re- 
moval and  limitation,  and  cling  to  it 
as  the  great  charter  which  secures  to 
them  all  the  means  of  living  and  bring- 
ing up  their  children.  In  some  in- 
stances it  has  been  given  up,  and  the 
land  permanently  allotted  to  each  in- 
habitant ;  but  they  have  almost  always 
recurred  to  the  old  system,  as  the  only 
one  fitted  to  their  circumstances.  It 
is  so  :  it  almost  realises  the  aspirations 
of  the  Socialists  of  Paris,  as  it  did  those 
of  the  Spai^tans ;  and  it  is  a  curious 
circumstance,  indicating  how  extremes 
meet,  that  the  nearest  approximation 
that  ever  has  been  made  in  modern 
Europe  to  the  visions  of  the  Commu- 
nists, is  amidst  the  serfs,  and  under 
the  Czar  of  Russia. 

31.  A  very  simple  reason  chains  the 
peasants  in  the  greater  part  of  Russia 
to  the  conditions  of  feudal  servitude  : 
it  is  necessity.  Slavery  is  the  condi- 
tion of  existence.  Writers  in  England 
are,  for  the  most  part,  strangely  mis- 
led on  this  subject  by  what  they  see 
around  them.  They  behold  their  own 
farmers  living  in  comfort,  often  rising 
to  affluence,  each  on  his  own  posses- 
sion, and  they  ask,  why  should  not  a 
similar  state  of  things  arise  in  Russia  ? 
They  forget  that  the  English  farmer 
has  a  county  bank  near  him,  to  furnish 
him  with  the  means  of  improvement ; 
a  canal  or  a  railway  at  his  door,  to 
transport  his  produce  to  market — an 
unfailing  vent  in  numerous  great  towns 
for  its  disposal ;  ample  means  of  pur- 
chasing the  most  approved  implements, 
and  learning  the  best  methods  of  cul- 
tivation in  the  publications  to  which 
he  has  access.  In  all  these  respects 
the  situation  of  the  Russian  peasant  is 
not  analogous,  but  a  contrast.  Situ- 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE: 


17 


nted  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  and  thinly- 
peopled  wilderness,  he  is  fortunate  if 
he  is  only  three  or  four  hundred'miles 
from  any  seaport,  thirty  or  forty  miles 
from  any  considerable  town.  Canals 
or  railways  there  are  none  ;  banks  are 
unknown,  and  if  established,  he  has 
no  security  to  offer  for  advances  ;  his 
capital  is  confined  to  the  axe  which  he 
carries  on  his  shoulder,  and  the  plough 
which  he  steers  with  his  hands.  In- 
stead of  the  mild  climate  which  enables 
country  labour  to  go  on,  country  ani- 
mals to  pasture  in  the  open  fields, 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  winter, 
lie  is  doomed  to  inactivity  during  eight 
months  in  the  year  by  three  or  four 
feet  of  snow  upon  the  ground,  and 
compelled  to  make  the  most  of  a  brief 
summer  to  gather  stock  to  live  on  dur- 
ing a  long  and  dreary  winter.  Mow 
are  animals  to  be  fed,  the  wages  of 
freemen  paid,  markets  found,  or  free- 
men to  exist,  under  such  circum- 
stances ?  Withdraw  the  capital  of  the 
landowners ;  throw  the  slaves  upon 
their  own  resources,  or  the  imaginaiy 
wages  of  labour  in  the  present  state  of 
society,  and  the  human  race  would 
perish,  in  a  great  part  of  Russia,  as 
fast  as,  from  the  want  of  some  simi- 
larly protective  system,  it  has  recently 
melted  away  in  Ireland.  The  first 
winter  would  gather  many  millions  to 
their  fathers. 

32.  M.  Haxthausen,  whose  very  in- 
teresting work  has  thrown  such  light 
on  the  rural  economy  and  agricultural 
population  of  Russia,  has  enumerated 
three  particulars  in  which  the  peasants 
of  that  country  differ  from  those  of 
western  Europe,  and  which  render  any 
general  and  compulsory  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  serfs  extremely  perilous, 
if  not  impossible.  1.  The  mass  of  dis- 
posable capital  available  to  carry  on 
cultivation  by  means  of  free  labourers, 
paid  by  day's  wages,  bears  no  sort  of 
proportion  either  to  the  wants  of  the 
inhabitants  or  the  immense  extent  of 
arable  land  which  requires  to  be  cul- 
tivated. 2.  In  a  great  part  of  the 
empire  the  existing  value  of  the  pro- 
duct of  the  soil,  if  sold,  so  far  from  en- 
abling the  cultivators  to  pay  any  rent, 

VOL.  II. 


would  not  even  cover  the  expenses  of 
cultivation.  3.  In  the  remoter  pro- 
vinces, or  where  seaports  are  distant 
and  money  scarce,  the  only  possible 
mode  of  paying  a  rent  is  by  rendering 
forced  labour  legal,  for  there  are  no 
means  of  turning  the  rude  produce  into 
money.  A  similar  necessity  has  been 
felt  in  similar  circumstances  in  other 
countries.  Witness  the  services  in 
kind,  and  obligations  to  render  rent  in 
labour,  formerly  universal,  still  known 
in  the  remoter  parts  of  Scotland.  Ac- 
cordingly, it  has  been  often  found  in 
Russia  that  peasants  whom  the  pro- 
prietors, from  motives  of  humanity,  or 
in  imitation  of  the  emperor,  have  put 
under  the  obrok  system,  and  who  enjoy 
the  entire  fruits  of  their  labour  after 
paying  a  certain  annual  sum,  are  much 
less  at  their  ease  than  the  old  serfs, 
and  they  in  general  leave  the  cultiva- 
tion of  their  fields  to  seek  a  less  labo- 
rious existence  in  towns.  In  many 
instances,  such  has  been  their  suffering 
from  having  incurred  the  destitution 
of  freedom,  that  they  have  returned  to 
their  masters,  and  requested  to  be  again 
made  serfs.  I  n  general ,  it  has  been  ob- 
served that  emancipation  has  not  suc- 
ceeded, except  in  circumstances  where 
easy  modes  of  earning  subsistence  in 
other  ways  exist ;  and  hence  M.  Hax- 
thausen judiciously  concludes  that  the 
liberation  of  the  serfs  should  never  be 
made  a  general  or  compulsory  measure 
in  Russia,  but  should  be  left  to  the 
wants  and  interests  of  each  locality.* 

33.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  from 
this,  however,  that  slavery  in  Russia 
is  not  both  a  very  great  social  evil,  and 
eminently  dangerous  to  the  rest  of 
Europe,  and  that  he  would  not  be  the 
best  friend  of  both  who  could  devise 
and  establish  a  method  for  its  gradual 
and  safe  abolition.  Probably  that  me- 
thod is  to  be  found  only  in  the  progres- 
sive rise  of  towns  and  spread  of  manu- 
factures, which,  by  rendering  the  obrok 
system  more  general,  should  give  the 
slaves  the  means  of  purchasing,  and  the 
masters  the  desire  of  selling,  freedom  to 

*  Written  in  1S52.    The  emancipation  of 
the  serfs,  since  carried  out  by  the  present 
Emperor,  has  entirely  confirmed  these  views. 
B 


13 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


them.  It  is  not  easy  to  see,  however, 
how  this  safe  and  wise  method,  which 
is  analogous  to  the  way  in  which  it 
imperceptibly  died  out  in  the  states  of 
western  Europe,  is  to  spread  generally 
in  a  country  of  such  enormous  extent 
as  Russia,  possessing  eighteen  times 
the  area  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  in  Eu- 
rope alone,  intersected  by  few  rivers, 
and  for  the  most  part  so  far  distant 
from  the  sea-coast.  Its  inhabitants 
seem  chained  by  their  physical  cir- 
cumstances to  the  system  of  compul- 
sory labour  for  an  indefinite  course  of 
years.  This  system  provides  amply, 
and  better  than  any  other  under  such 
circumstances  could,  for  their  subsist- 
ence, and  the  gratification  of  the  ani- 
mal wants  of  life  ;  but  it  provides  for 
nothing  more.  No  gradation  of  rank 
can  exist  among  the  labouring  classes 
while  it  continues ;  all  are  equally  well 
fed,  and  equally  ill  civilised.  The 
spread  of  knowledge,  the  extrication  of 
genius,  the  growth  of  artificial  wants, 
are  alike  impossible.  If  this  state  of 
matters  is  a  great  evil  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  empire,  what  is  it  to  the 
rest  of  Europe,  when  it  promotes  the 
growth  of  a  population  o  f  sixty  millions, 
doubling  every  seventy  years,  and  all 
nearly  equally  supplied  with  the  phy- 
sical, and  destitute  of  the  intellectual 
food  of  man  ?  Perhaps  the  only  safe- 
guard against  the  encroachments  of 
such  a  colossus,  directed  in  politics  and 
war  with  consummate  ability,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  growth  of  a  similar  colos- 
sus, similarly  directed,  on  the  other 
side  ;  and  it  would  be  a  curious  object 
for  the  contemplation  of  philosophy  in 
future  times,  if  the  barbarism  of  infant 
could  be  stopped  only  by  that  of  aged 
civilisation,  and  the  ambition  of  the 
Czar,  heading  the  strength  of  the  de- 
sert, was  first  checked  by  the  ambition 
of  the  Emperor  leading  forth  the  forces 
induced  by  the  Communist  doctrines  of 
Paris. 

34.  Marquis  Custine  says,  that  in 
Russia  we  are  perpetually  reminded  of 
two  things — the  absence  of  the  Sun  and 
the  presence  of  Power.  Both  are  equally 
important  alike  in  their  social  and  ex- 
ternal effects  ;  perhaps  the  last  is  the 
necessary  consequence  of  the  first.  A 


very  simple  reason  makes,  and  ever 
must  make,  the  Russians  desirous 
above  all  things  of  escaping  out  of  their 
own  country :  it  is  the  severity  of  its 
climate.  Those  who  live  in  a  region 
where  the  snow  covers  the  ground  for 
eight  months  in  the  year,  and  the  long 
nights  of  winter  are  illuminated  only 
by  the  cold  light  of  the  aurora  borealis, 
long  with  inexpressible  ardour  for  the 
genial  warmth  and  sunny  hills  of  the 
south,  where  the  skies  are  ever  blue, 
the  sun  ever  shines,  and  nature  teems 
with  the  luxuriance  of  tropical  vege- 
tation. The  shores  of  the  Bosphorus, 
the  Golden  Horn,  the  dome  of  St  So- 
phia, are  not  only  the  secret  dream  of 
ambition  to  every  Russian,  but  the  un- 
doubted object  of  their  expectation. 
"  I  do  not  wish  Constantinople,"  said 
Nicholas;  "my  empire  is  already  too 
large ;  but  I  know  that  I  or  my  suc- 
cessors must  have  it :  you  might  as 
well  arrest  a  stream  in  its  descent  from 
a  mountain,  as  the  Russians  in  their 
advance  to  the  Hellespont."  The  ha- 
bits which  necessity  has  given  to  them, 
permanently  fit,  and  ever  must  fit  them 
for  foreign  conquest.  Their  life  is  a 
continual  conflict  with  the  severity  of 
nature  ;  actual  warfare,  as  to  the  Ro- 
man soldiers,  is  felt  chiefly  as  a  relaxa- 
tion from  the  rude  but  invigorating 
discipline  of  peace.  What  are  the 
hardships  of  a  campaign  to  men  who 
never  new  the  luxury  of  beds,  whose 
food  is  black  bread  and  water,  who 
sleep  ever  on  the  hard  bench  or  cold 
ground,  and  know  no  pleasure  save  the 
simple  ones  of  nature,  and  the  excit- 
ing ones  of  conquest  ?  When  the  north 
ceases  to  communicate  vigour  to  the 
frame,  hardihood  to  the  habits,  and 
ambition  to  the  soul,  Russia  will  cease 
to  be  a  conquering  country,  but  not 
till  then. 

35.  The  presence  of  Power  is  not  less 
universally  felt  in  Russia  than  the  ab- 
sence of  the  sun.  It  is  not  merely  that 
the  Czar  is  despotic,  that  his  will  con- 
stitutes law,  and  that  he  is  the  master 
without  control  of  the  lives,  liberties, 
and  fortunes  of  all  his  subjects — the 
same  svstem  is  continued,  as  is  always 
the  case  in  such  circumstances,  through 
every  inferior  grade  in  society.  What 


1S15.J 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE-. 


19 


the  Emperor  is  in  his  council  or  his  pa- 
lace, every  inferior  prefect  or  governor 
is  within  the  limits  of  his  territory, 
•over  his  vast  dominions.  Despotism 
is  the  general  system,  force  the  con- 
stant weapon  of  authority,  fear  the 
universal  basis  of  government.  Gross 
acts  of  maladministration,  indeed,  are 
often  made  the  subject  of  immediate 
and  terrible  punishment ;  the  efforts  of 
government  are  unceasing  to  find  them 
out,  and  the  justice  of  the  Czar  impla- 
cable when  they  are  clearly  established. 
But  it  may  easily  be  conceived  that  in 
a  country  of  such  enormous  extent, 
where  the  machine  of  government  is 
so  complicated,  and  no  free  press  exists 
to  signalise  its  abuses,  these  instances 
.are  the  exception,  not  the  rule.  Power 
is,  in  general,  undetected  in  its  abuses, 
or  supported  in  its  measures.  So  uni- 
versal is  the  dread  of  authority  in  Rus- 
.sia,  that  it  has  moulded  the  national 
character,  determined  the  national 
tastes,  and  even  formed  the  national 
manners.  Obedience  is  universal,  from 
the  Empress  on  the  throne  to  the  hum- 
blest serf  in  his  log-house.  All  do  not 
what  they  like,  or  what  they  would 
have  themselves  chosen,  but  what  they 
:are  ordered  and  expected  to  do.  Dis- 
.  simulation  is  universal :  if  they  are  not 
happy,  they  pretend  to  be  so,  to  avoid 
the  reality  of  sorrow  which  awaits  ex- 
pressed discontent.  The  present  Em- 
press (1853),  a  woman  of  high  spirit 
and  the  most  captivating  manners,  is 
sinking  under  the  incessant  labour  of 
amusing  and  being  amused ;  the  for- 
tunes even  of  the  greatest  nobles  or 
highest  functionaries  are  wasting  away 
under  the  enormous  expenses  imposed 
on  or  expected  of  them  by  the  court. 
All  must  exert  themselves  incessantly, 
and  to  the  uttermost,  to  keep  up  with 
the  demand  of  authority,  or  conceal  the 
•ennui  or  discontent  which,  in  reality, 
is  preying  upon  their  bosoms. 

36.  Clark,  the  celebrated  English 
traveller,  says  that  there  is  not  a  se- 
cond in  Russia,  during  the  day  or  night, 
that  a  blow  is  not  descending  on  the 
back  or  shoulders  of  some  Russian  pea- 
sant. Notwithstanding  a  considerable 
.softening  of  manners  since  the  time 
when  the  description  was  given,  it  is 


still  precisely  applicable.  Corporal 
chastisement  of  their  slaves  is  permit- 
ted to  masters,  without  any  other  au- 
thority but  their  own  ;  and  except  in. 
the  classes  in  the  Tchinn,  who  are  ex- 
empt from  that  penalty,  it  is  the  great 
engine  of  authority  with  all  intrusted 
with  judicial  power.  The  punishment 
of  death  is  abolished  by  law  in  all  cases 
except  high  treason  ;  but  such  is  the 
severity  of  the  corporal  inflictions  au- 
thorised, that  it  would  be  a  mercy  if  it 
was  restored.  When  a  man  receives 
the  sentence  of  above  a  hundred  strokes 
with  the  knout,  the  executioner  under- 
stands what  is  meant ;  by  striking  at  a 
vital  place,  he  in  mercy  despatches  him 
at  the  third  or  fourth.  The  police  offi- 
cers lay  hold  of  disorderly  persons  or 
malefactors  in  the  streets,  and  beat 
them,  without  the  formality  of  a  trial, 
in  the  severest  manner,  without  their 
cries  exciting  any  attention  among 
those  who  witness  it,  who,  glad  that 
the  tempest  has  not  fallen  on  their 
shoulders,  quietly  pass  by  without 
either  observation  or  surprise.  The 
nobles  and  higher  classes  of  the  Tchinn 
are  exempt  from  such  chastisement ; 
but  Siberia  is  constantly  hanging  over 
their  heads,  the  most  effectual  of  all 
bastinadoes  to  the  mind  ;  and  the  pri- 
sons resound  with  the  cries  of  those 
upon  whom  the  punishment  of  flogging 
for  crime,  or  at  the  instance  of  their 
masters,  is  inflicted.  The  frightful 
screams  of  the  sufferers  under  these  in- 
flictions leave  the  most  melancholy  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  such  as  have 
heard  them  ;  they  recall  the  horrors  of 
slavery  among  the  boasted  republican 
institutions  of  America. 

37.  It  is  this  constant  recurrence  to 
force,  and  the  frequency  and  severity 
of  corporal  punishments  in  Russia, 
which  has  imprinted  at  once  its  regu- 
lar methodical  aspect  on  the  march  of 
government,  and  their  supple  charac- 
ter and  extraordinary  powers  of  dis- 
simulation on  the  people.  Like  a 
harshly-disciplined  regiment,  in  which 
the  lash  is  the  constant  object  of  ap- 
prehension, everything  goes  on  silent- 
ly and  smoothly  in  Russia.  Nothing 
retards  or  checks  the  machine  of  Gov- 
ernment ;  riots  or  disturbances  of  any 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CIIAP.  VIIL 


sort  are  unknown  ;  resistance  is  never 
thought  of,  or,  if  attempted,  is  speedily 
suppressed  by  the  strong  arm  of  power. 
The  country  resembles  rather  a  vast 
army  obeying  the  directions  and  co- 
erced by  the  authority  of  a  single  ge- 
neral-in-chief,  than  a  great  community 
actuated  by  separate  interests  and  im- 
pelled by  various  passions.  As  a  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  this  irresistible 
force  of  power  and  necessity  of  sub- 
mission, the  character  of  the  Russians 
has  been  modified  in  a  most  essential 
degree.  Originality  or  independence 
of  thought  is  in  a  great  degree  un- 
known ;  where  these  qualities  exist,  as 
doubtless  they  must  in  many  breasts, 
they  are  carefully  concealed,  as  the 
most  dangerous  qualities  which  the 
possessor  can  discover.  Like  the 
Greeks  under  the  Mussulman  yoke, 
the  Russians  have  become  perfect 
adepts  in  all  the  arts  by  which  ta- 
lent eludes  the  force  of  authority,  and 
astuteness  escapes  the  discoveries  of 
power.  They  are  admirably  skilled 
in  the  use  of  flattery,  and,  like  all 
persons  initiated  in  that  dangerous 
art,  passionately  desirous  of  praise 
themselves.  The  Americans  do  not 
exceed  them  in  their  thirst  for  na- 
tional, the  French  in  their  passion  for 
individual,  praise  —  the  certain  proof 
in  both  of  the  secret  consciousness  of 
very  serious  defects.  Those  who  feel 
none,  do  not  desire  the  balm.  They 
are  most  skilful  imitators  ;  and  their 
powers  of  dissimulation  are  univer- 
sally admitted  to  exceed  those  of  the 
most  accomplished  courtiers  or  skil- 
ful diplomatists  in  western  Europe. 

38.  It  was  not  thus  in  former  days  : 
this  dissimulation  and  address  is  a  con- 
trast to  the  manliness  and  simplicity 
of  early  times.  The  Sclave  originally, 
like  a  rude  and  barbarous  savage,  was 
bold,  intrepid,  and  outspoken,  pitiless 
to  his  enemies,  but  simple,  kind,  and 
guileless  to  his  friends ;  and  such  is 
still  the  character  of  the  Cossacks,  and 
of  those  distant  tribes  which  have  not 
felt  the  crushing  influence  of  the  cen- 
tral government.  The  principles  of 
freedom  had  strongly  taken  root  among 
them,  and  at  a  time  when  all  the  na- 
tions of  western  Europe  were  sunk  in 


slaverj',  a  republic  flourished  in  Nov- 
gorod the  Great,  which  rivalled  for 
centuries  the  energy,  as  in  its  fall  it 
equalled  the  heroism,  of  the  republics 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  It  was  the  dread- 
ful irruption  of  Bati  and  the  Tartar 
hordes  in  the  fourteenth  century,  who 
overran  the  whole  eastern  and  southern 
countries  of  the  empire,  and  for  three 
long  centuries  kept  them  in  a  state  of 
cruel  servitude,  which  induced  this 
disposition  upon  them  ;  they  assumed 
the  character  because  they  were  sub- 
jected to  the  lot  of  slaves.  During 
those  disastrous  centuries  the  Poles 
joined  their  arms  to  the  Tartars  ;  and 
the  Muscovites,  assailed  on  all  sides, 
and  driven  to  their  last  fastnesses, 
were  fain  to  avoid  utter  destruction 
by  the  most  abject  submission.  Ivan 
IV.  first  extricated  them  from  this 
dreadful  yoke ;  he  won  for  them  Kazan, 
Astrakan,  and  the  boundless  realms 
of  Siberia,  but  it  was  only  to  subject 
them  to  a  tyranny  almost  as  severe  as 
that  from  which  they  had  escaped, 
and  which  won  for  him  the  lasting 
surname  of  the  Terrible.  Cruel  as  it 
was,  his  yoke  was  cheerfully  borne  for 
half  a  century,  because  it  averted  the 
still  more  dreadful  oppression  of  the 
Tartars  ;  and  when  Peter  the  Great,  a 
century  after,  sought  to  gam  for  them 
a  place  in  the  European  family,  he 
found  the  Muscovites  prepared  to  sub- 
mit to  any  mandates,  and  ready  to  be 
moulded  by  any  will  which  assumed 
their  direction.  Let  us  not  boast  of 
the  independent  character  and  fearless 
disposition  of  the  English  peasantry, 
but  rather  thank  the  Almighty,  who, 
in  the  encircling  ocean,  has  given  them 
a  barrier  against  their  enemies.  Had 
the  circumstances  of  both  been  diffe- 
rent—  had  the  Russians  been  located 
in  Yorkshire,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  on 
the  banks  of  the  Volga — who  will  af- 
firm that  the  character  of  the  two  na- 
tions, despite  the  all  but  indelible  in- 
fluence of  race,  would  not  have  been 
exchanged  ?  * 

*  "  L'orgueil  national  s'aneantit  parmi  les 
Busses ;  ils  eurent  recours  aux  artifices  qui 
suppleent  a  la  force  chez  les  hommes  con- 
damnes  a  une  obeissance  servile ;  habiles  a 
tromper  les  Tartares,  ils  devinrent  aussi, 
plus  savants  daiis  Tart  de  se  tromper  mutvL- 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


21 


39.  The  Emperor  Nicholas  lias  often 
said  that  "its distances  are  the  scourge 
of  Russia ; "  and  considered  with  refe- 
rence to  the  march  of  civilisation,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  observation  is  well 
founded.  It  is  difficult,  indeed,  to  con- 
ceive how  civilisation  can  spread  gene- 
rally in  a  country  of  such  enormous 
extent,  possessing  euch  slender  means, 
natural  or  artificial,  of  internal  com- 
munication, with  so  few  seaports,  and 
these  few,  for  the  most  part,  blocked 
up  half  the  year  with  ice.  At  the  ac- 
cession of  Peter  the  Great,  Russia  pos- 
sessed only  one  seaport  (Archangel)  on 
the  White  Sea  ;  and  it  was  the  press- 
ing want  of  a  great  harbour  to  connect 
it  with  the  commerce  and  ideas  of 
western  Europe  which  made  him  la- 
vish such  sums,  and  waste  such  an 
enormous  amount  of  human  life,  in  the 
construction  of  St  Petersburg.  The 
same  want  is  still  felt  with  unmitigated 
severity  in  the  interior.  Civilisation 
meets  with  grievous  impediments  in  a 
country  entirely  flat,  without  minerals 
or  coal  to  stimulate  manufactures,  cov- 
ered with  snow  half  the  year,  in  great 
part  shaded  by  forests,  with  few  na- 
vigable rivers,  and  still  fewer  canals 
or  railroads,  distant  from  any  harbour, 
and  necessarily  chained  by  physical 
necessity,  over  great  part  of  its  ex- 
tent, to  rude  agricultural  labour  dur- 
ing the  whole  year  where  it  is  practi- 
cable. The  situation  of  the  basin  of 
the  Mississippi,  of  surpassing  fertility, 
and  intersected  in  every  part  by  a  vast 
network  of  navigable  rivers,  which  de- 
scend from  the  Alleghanies  on  the  one 
side  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the 
other,  is  not  a  parallel  but  a  contrast 
to  that  of  Muscovy ;  and  if  we  would 
rightly  appreciate  the  advantages  which 

ellement;  achetantdes  barbares  leur  securite 
pereonnelle,  ils  furent  plus  avides  d'argent 
et  moins  sensibles  aux  injures  et  a  la  honte  ; 
exposes  sans  cosse  a  1'insolence  lies  tyrans 
(•(.rangers,  il  se  pourrait  que  le  caractere  ac- 
tuel  des  Russes  eonservat  quelques-unes  des 
taches  dout  1'a  souille  la  barbaric  des  Mon- 
gols. Lc  soutien  des  boyards  ayant  disparu, 
il  fallait  obeMr  an  souverain  sous  peine  d'etre 
vcganU's  ('online  traitre  on  comme  rebelle:  et 
il  nVxistn  plus  uucune  voie  legitime  de  s'op- 
pnscr  a.  sen  volontts,  en  un  mot  on  vit  naitre 
I'autncratie."— KAUAMSIN,  Hisloire  de  limsie, 
v.  44;  vi.  351. 


Great  Britain  has  derived,  and  Ireland 
might  have  derived,  from  its  insular 
situation,  compact  provinces,  numer- 
ous harbours,  and  mineral  riches,  wo 
have  only  to  contemplate  what  Russia 
has  suffered  from  the  want  of  them. 

40.  It  results  necessarily  from  these 
circumstances,  that  as  much  as  Russia 
abounds  to  overflowing  in  the  elements 
of  physical,  is  she  weak  in  the  mate- 
rials of  intellectual  strength ;  and  that 
if  a  great  destiny  awaits  her,  as  it 
plainly  does,  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
conquest  of  the  bodies,  not  the  subju- 
gation of  the  souls,  of  men.  Civilis- 
ation depends  entirely  on  and  flows 
from  the  higher  ranks  ;  there  is  none 
of  the  ascending  pressure  from  below 
which  constitutes  so  important  an  ele- 
ment in  the  society  of  western  Europe. 
In  the  very  highest  ranks  it  exists  in 
the  most  refined  and  captivating  form, 
and  one  of  the  many  contrasts  which 
strike  a  foreigner  most  in  that  ex- 
traordinary country,  is  the  strange 
contrasts  which  exist  between  the 
manners,  habits,  and  tastes  of  the  no- 
bility and  those  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people.  After  traversing  hun- 
dreds of  leagues  over  a  countiy  imper- 
fectly cultivated,  overrun  by  forests  or 
swamps,  and  tilled  in  the  places  which 
the  plough  has  reached  by  ignorant 
serfs,  the  astonished  traveller  finds 
himself  suddenly  landed  in  an  en- 
chanted palace,  where  the  last  refine- 
ments of  European  civilisation  are  to 
be  met  with,  where  the  finest  copies  of 
the  Greek  statues  adorn  marble  halls 
of  surpassing  magnificence,  where  the 
choicest  gems  of  Titian  or  Raphael 
enchant  the  eye,  in  drawing-rooms 
enriched  with  all  the  luxury  of  Ormo- 
lu and  Sevres ;  and  beautiful  women, 
arrayed  in  the  last  Parisian  fashion, 
alternately  fascinate  the  mind  by  con- 
versation on  the  most  celebrated  no- 
vels or  operas  of  the  day,  or  charm  the 
senses  by  the  finest  melodies  of  Mozart 
or  Beethoven.  It  is  this  strange  and 
startling  combination  of  rudeness  with 
refinement,  of  coarseness  with  elegance 
of  taste,  of  barbarity  with  the  last 
delicacies  of  civilisation,  in  one  class, 
with  the  first  attempts  at  improvement 
in  those  beneath  it,  which  strikes  the 


22 


HISTOEY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP, 


traveller  at  every  step  in  Eussia.  Di- 
derot long  ago  said  that  "the  Russians 
•were  rotten  before  they  were  ripe  ; " 
but  it  would  be  more  just  to  say  that 
they  are  ripe  in  one  class  befoVe  they 
are  even  beginning  to  form  fruit  in 
those  below  it. 

41.  The  Russians  are  essentially  an 
imitative  people,  and  they  have  carried 
talent  in  this  respect  to  a  length  iin- 
equalled  in  any  other  age  or  country 
of  the  world.      Their  manners,  their 
fashions,    their    arts,    their  luxuries, 
their  architecture,  their  painting,  are 
all  copied  from  those  of  western  Eu- 
rope.     Like  the  inhabitants   of   all 
northern  countries,  they  are  passion- 
ately fond  of  travelling,  for  this  plain 
reason,  that  they  seek  in  foreign  coun- 
tries gratifications  they  cannot  find 
in  their  own.     They  make  good  use  of 
the   opportunities   they   thus   enjoy : 
they  are  well  known  as  the  most  lav- 
ish patrons  of  art  both  in  France  and 
Italy,  and  they  carry  back  with  them 
to  their  deserts  not  only  the   finest 
specimens  of  ancient  statuary  or  mod- 
ern painting,  but  the  most  refined  taste 
for  their  beauties,  and  correct  appre- 
ciation of  their  excellencies.     Their 
architecture,  in  all  but  the  very  oldest 
structures  of  the  empire,  is  all  copied 
from  the  Greek  or  Roman ;  it  is  the 
Parthenon  of  Athens,  the  Pantheon  of 
Rome,  at  every  step.     In  the  Kremlin 
alone,  and  some  of  the  oldest  struc- 
tures of  Xijni  and  Great  Novgorod,  are 
to  be  seen  the  ancient  and  native  ema- 
nations of  Russian  genius    before    it 
was  crushed  by  the  barbarism  of  the 
Tartars,  or  nipped  in  the  bud  by  the 
imitative  passion  of  Peter  the  Great. 
The  eye  of  the  traveller  is  fascinated 
by  these  long  lines  of  pillared  sceneiy 
interspersed  with  monuments  and  obe- 
lisks ;  but  after  a  time  it  palls  on  the 
senses,  from  its  veiy  richness  and  uni- 
formity :   it  is  felt  to  be   an  exotic 
unsuited  to  the  climate,   and  which 
cannot  take  root  in  the  soil ;  and  the 
imagination  sighs  for  the  original  archi- 
tecture of  the  English  cathedrals  and 
the  Moorish  Alhambra,  which  mark  the 
native-born  conceptions  of  the  Gothic 
and  Arabian  conquerors  of  the  world. 

42.  But  if  western  Europe  has  little 


to  fear  from  the  rivalry  of  Russian  art 
or  the  nights  of  Russian  genius,  it  is 
otherwise  with  the  imitation  of  the 
MILITARY  ART,  which  has  been  carried 
to  the  very  liighest  point  in  the  Mus- 
covite armies.  The  army  consisted  in 
1840  of  72  regiments  of  infantry,  24  of 
light  cavalry,  90  batteries  of  foot  and 
12  of  horse  artillery.  Each  regiment 
consists  of  7  battalions  of  1000  men 
each ;  so  that  the  infantry  alone,  if 
complete,  would  contain  above  500,000 
men.  The  guards,  which  are  composed 
of  the  elite  of  the  whole  male  popu- 
lation of  the  empire,  consist  of  12 
regiments  of  infantry,  12  of  cavalry, 
12  batteries  of  foot  and  4  of  horse 
artillery,  which  are  always  kept  com- 
plete. Besides  this,  there  are  24  regi- 
ments of  heavy  reserve  cavalry,  and 
12  batteries  of  reserve  horse-artillery,, 
and  the  corps  of  the  Caucasus,  Oren- 
burg, Siberia,  Finland,  and  the  interior, 
which  contain  100  battalions  of  lOOQ 
men  each,  40  regiments  of  cavalry, 
and  36  batteries  of  cannon.  Besides 
these  immense  forces,  the  Emperor  has 
at  his  disposal  164  regiments  of  Cos- 
sacks, each  containing  800  warriors, 
of  whom  56  come  from  the  steppes  of 
the  Don,  and  are  superior  to  any  troops 
in  the  world  for  the  service  of  light 
cavalry.  If  these  immense  forces  were 
all  complete,  they  would  contain  above 
800,000  infantry,  250,000  horses,  and 
100,000  artillerymen.  But  the  ranks 
are  very  far,  indeed,  from  being  really 
filled  up ;  and  in  no  country  in  the 
world,  except,  perhaps,  America,  is  the 
difference  so  great  between  the  numeri- 
cal force  of  an  army  on  paper  and  its 
effective  muster  in  the  field.  The  rea- 
son is,  that  numerous  officers  in  every 
grade  have  an  interest  in  representing 
the  force  as  greater  than  it  really  is, 
as  they  draw  pay  and  rations  for  the 
whole,  and  appropriate  such  as  is  allot- 
ted to  the  non-existing  to  themselves. 
Still,  after  making  eveiy  allowance  for 
these  great  deficiencies,  it  is  not  going 
too  far  to  assert  that  Russia,  when  her 
strength  is  fully  called  forth,  could 
produce  400,000  infantry,  100,000  cav- 
alry, and  50,000  artillerymen  for  ser- 
vice beyond  her  own  frontier,  though 
the  distances  of  the  empire  are  so  great 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


23 


providing  for  his  maintenance.  In  re- 
turn, he  is  entitled  to  the  labour  of 
the  cavalier,  when  not  actually  in  the 
field.  In  addition  to  these  horsemen, 
who  are  constantly  ready  for  service, 
there  are  a  much  greater  number  of 
substitutes,  or  suppleans,  as  they  are 
called,  who  also  are  trained  to  the  use 
of  arms,  and  being  all  expert  horse- 
men, are  ready  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing to  take  the  principal's  place  if  he 
is  killed,  or  disabled  for  active  service. 
All  the  children  of  the  colony  are 
trained  to  military  service,  and  are 
bound  to  serve,  if  required,  twenty- 
two  years,  after  which  they  obtain 
their  discharge  and  a  grant  of  land  to 
themselves.  The  whole  are  subjected 
to  the  most  rigorous  military  discip- 
line, and  regulated  by  a  code  of  laws 
entirely  for  themselves.  At  first  the 
children  were  brought  up  somewhat 
after  the  Spartan  fashion,  being  taken 
from  their  parents  at  the  early  age  of 
eight  years,  and  bred  exclusively  at 
the  military  schools ;  but  this  was 
found  to  be  attended  with  so  many 
evils  that  the  system  was  essentially 
modified  by  various  regulations  estab- 
lished by  the  Emperor  Nicholas  be- 
tween 1829  and  1831.  At  present  the 
military  colonies  form  a  sort  of  perma- 
nent cantonment  of  a  part  of  the  army, 
and  they  can,  at  a  moment's  warning, 
furnish  100,000  soldiers,  fully  drilled 
and  equipped,  capable  of  being  raised 
by  the  suppleans  and  principal  colon- 
ists to  250,000  men. 

44.  The  COSSACKS,  so  well  known 
during  the  war  with  Napoleon,  form 
another  sort  of  military  colony  on  a 
still  greater  scale.  Their  lands  are  of 
immense  extent,  embracing  fifty-seven 
thousand  square  geographical  miles — 
about  two-thirds  of  the  entire  area  of 
Great  Britain,  and  incomparably  more 
level  and  fertile.  They  are  all  held  un- 
der the  obligation  of  producing,  when 
required,  the  whole  male  population  of 
the  country  capable  of  bearing  arms, 
for  the  service  of  the  Emperor.  They 
constantly  furnish  100,000  men,  dis- 
tributed in  164  regiments,  to  the  im- 
perial forces.  So  strong,  however,  is. 
the  military  spirit  among  them,  and  so 
— I'nited  Service  Journal,  Aug.  1853,  p.  496.  (thoroughly  are  they  all  trained  from 


that  it  would  require  more  than  a  year 
to  bring  even  the  half  of  this  immense 
force  to  bear  on  any  point  in  Europe 
or  Asia.* 

43.  A  very  curious  and  interesting 
part  of  the  institutions  of  Russia  is  to 
be  found  in  the  MILITARY  COLONIES, 
which  are  established  in  several  of 
the  southern  provinces  of  the  empire. 
They  owe  their  origin  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  who,  being  struck  with 
the  protection  which  similar  establish- 
ments on  the  frontiers  of  Transylvania 
had  long  afforded  to  the  Austrians  and 
Hungarians  in  warding  off  the  pre- 
datory incursions  of  the  Mussulman 
horse,  resolved  in  1817  to  found  colo- 
nies of  the  same  sort  in  several  parts 
of  his  dominions.  The  system  was  ex- 
tended and  improved,  under  the  able 
guidance  of  General  de  Witt,  in  the 
southern  provinces  in  1821.  Several 
divisions  of  veterans,  regular  cavalry, 
were  colonised  in  this  manner,  and  a 
floating  population  of  seventy  thous- 
and wandering  tribes  settled  on  certain 
districts  allotted  to  them.  The  prin- 
ciple of  these  establishments  is,  that 
an  immense  tract  of  arable  and  pasture 
land  is  divided  among  a  certain  num- 
ber of  leading  colonists,  who  are  mar- 
ried, and  for  the  most  part  have  fami- 
lies, each  of  whom  holds  his  lands, 
like  the  military  tenants  of  former 
days  in  Europe,  under  the  obligation 
of  maintaining  constantly  a  horseman 
and  horses  completely  equipped,  and 

*  RUSSIAN  ARMY,  August  1853 :— 


Guards, 
Grenadiers,  . 

60,290 
47,178 

116 
112 

17,100 
8,900 

1st  corps, 

59,178 

112 

8,800 

2d    do. 

59,178 

112 

8,800 

3d    do. 

59,178 

112 

8,800 

4th  do. 

50,178 

112 

9,400 

5th  do. 

59,178 

112 

8,800 

Oth  do. 
Reserve  Horse, 

59,178 
33,979 

112 

96 

8,800 
35,760 

Active, 

496,821 

996 

99,160 

Caucasian,    . 

133,508 

176 

16,188 

}  inland. 

13,880 

16 

1,300 

Orenburg,     . 
Siberia, 

21,000 
29,100 

24 
L>4 

10,480 
10,000 

196,488 

240 

37,868 

Grand  Total, 

.     093,309 

1,236 

137,028 

24 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vnr. 


infancy  to  the  duties  of  horsemanship, 
that  if  summoned  to  his  standard,  they 
could  easily  furnish  double  this  force, 
either  for  the  defence  of  the  country 
or  the  purposes  of  aggressive  warfare. 
Glory,  plunder,  wine,  and  women, 
form  irresistible  attractions,  which  im- 
pel the  entire  nation  into  the  career  of 
conquest.  It  is  their  immense  bodies 
of  horse,  more  nearly  resembling  the 
hordes  of  Timour  or  Genghis  Khan 
than  the  regular  armies  of  western 
Europe,  which  constitute  the  real 
strength  of  the  Czar  ;  and  as  their  pre- 
datory and  roving  habits  never  decline, 
and  cannot  do  so  from  the  nature  of 
the  country  which  they  inhabit,  while 
their  numbers  are  constantly  and  ra- 
pidly increasing,  it  is  easy  to  foresee 
how  formidable  they  must  ere  long  be- 
come to  the  liberties  of  the  other  states 
of  Christendom. 

45.  What  renders  the  Russian  armies 
the  more  formidable  is  the  extreme 
ability  with  which  they  are  trained, 
disciplined,  and  commanded.  What- 
ever may  be  thought  of  the  inferiority, 
in  an  intellectual  point  of  view,  of  a 
nation  where  only  1  in  280  is  at  the 
entire  schools  of  the  State  of  any  de- 
scription, the  same  cannot  be  said  of 
their  military  training,  which  is  con- 
ducted on  the  most  approved  system, 
and  iu  the  most  efficient  manner.  All 
the  improvements  in  arms,  tactics,  ac- 
coutrements, evolutions,  or  discipline, 
which  experience  or  science  has  sug- 
gested to  the  other  nations  of  Europe, 
are,  with  the  rapidity  of  the  electric 
telegraph,  transmitted  to  Russia,  and 
taught  in  the  military  schools  which 
train  its  youth  for  their  duties  in  the 
field,  or  adopted  in  its  vast  arrays. 
The  Russian  army,  accordingly,  exhi- 
bits a  combination  of  physical  strength 
and  intellectual  power — of  the  energy 
of  the  desert  and  the  resources  of  civi- 
lisation, of  the  unity  of  despotism  and 
the  vigour  of  democracy — which  no 
other  country  in  modem  times  can 
exhibit,  and  to  find  a  parallel  to  which 
we  must  go  back  to  the  Roman  legions 
in  the  days  of  Trajan  or  Severus.  The 
ranks  of  the  infantry  are  recruited  by 
a  compulsory  levy,  generally,  in  time 
of  peace,  of  five  in  a  thousand — of  war, 


of  two  or  three  in  a  hundred  ;  but  the 
cavalry,  in  a  country  abounding  so 
much  in  nomad  tribes,  and  where,  in 
many  vast  districts,  the  whole  male 
population  nearly  live  on  horseback,  is 
in  great  part  made  up  by  voluntary 
enrolment ;  and  as  the  whole  rising 
talent  of  the  empire  is  drawn  into  the 
military  or  diplomatic  lines,  it  may 
easily  be  conceived  what  a  formidable 
body,  under  such  direction,  the  mili- 
tary force  of  the  empire  must  become. 
Every  soldier  is  entitled  to  his  dis- 
charge after  twenty-two  years'  service 
in  the  line,  or  twenty  in  the  guards  ; 
and  he  leaves  the  ranks  a  freeman,  if 
before  he  was  a  serf — a  privilege  which 
goes  far  to  diminish  the  hardship  of 
a  compulsory  levy  on  the  rural  popu- 
lation. The  weakness  of  the  army  con- 
sists in  the  rarity  of  integrity  in  its  in- 
ferior officers,  which  is  as  conspicuous 
in  general  as  the  honour  and  patriotism 
of  its  generals  and  commanders :  the 
necessary  consequence  of  the  want  of 
a  class  of  gentry  from  which  they  can 
alone  be  drawn. 

46.  The  navy,  like  the  army  in  Rus- 
sia, is  maintained  by  a  compulsory 
levy,  which  amounts  in  time  of  peace 
to  33,000  men.  The  fleet  consists  of 
thirty  ships  of  the  line  and  twenty- 
two  frigates  in  the  Baltic,  and  to  these 
were  added,  before  the  Crimean  war, 
sixteen  sail  of  the  line  and  twelve  fri- 
gates in  the  Black  Sea,  cariying  in  all 
6000  guns.  These  large  forces  give  the 
Czar,  in  a  manner,  the  command  of 
those  two  inland  seas,  which  cannot  be 
regarded  in  any  other  light  but  as  vast 
Russian  lakes.  But  as  the  sailors  who 
man  them  are  accustomed  only  to  na- 
vigate a  sea  shut  up  with  ice  during 
half  the  year,  or  to  plough  the  compa- 
ratively placid  waters  of  the  Euxine, 
they  could  never  contend  in  the  open 
sea  with  those  who  have  been  trained 
in  the  storms  of  the  German  Ocean,  or 
braved  the  perils  of  the  Atlantic.  Still, 
as  the  Russian  sailors,  like  their  sol- 
diers, are  individually  brave,  and  stand 
to  their  guns,  as  well  as  point  them, 
as  steadily  as  any  Englishman,  they 
may  eventually  prove  formidable  even 
to  the  colossal  maritime  strength  of 
England  ;  the  more  especially  when  it 


1815.1 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


25 


is  recollected  that  Cronstadt  is  within 
a  fortnight's  sail  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Thames ;  that  the  fleet  is  constantly 
kept  manned  and  afloat  in  summer, 
by  the  compulsory  levy ;  that  thirty 
thousand  soldiers  are  habitually  put 
on  board  those  in  the  Baltic,  to  accus- 
tom the  crews  to  their  conveyance  to 
distant  quarters  ;  and  that  the  inte- 
rests of  Great  Britain  and  Russia  in 
the  East  so  frequently  come  into  colli- 
sion, that  several  times  during  the  last 
thirty  years  they  have  been  on  the  eve 
of  a  rupture,  once  with  France  and 
Russia  united  against  England. 

47.  The  revenue  of  Russia,  though 
not  considerable  compared  with  that 
of  France  or  England,  is  perfectly 
adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  its 
vast  establishments,  from  the  high 
value  of  money  and  low  rate  of  pay 
of  nearly  all  the  public  functionaries, 
civil  and  military,  in  the  empire.  It 
amounts  to  460,000,000  paper  rubles, 
or  500,000,000  francs  (£20,000,000), 
and  is  raised  chiefly  by,  1st,  A  capi- 
tation-tax of  four  francs  (3s.  6d.)  on 
every  male  inhabitant,  that  of  serfs 
being  paid  by  their  masters ;  2d,  A 
tax  on  the  capital  of  merchants,  ascer- 
tained by  their  own  disclosure,  checked 
by  judicial  authority ;  3d,  The  reve- 
nues of  the  Crown  domains,  with  the 
obrok  paid  by  the  emancipated  serfs, 
who  are  very  numerous  ;  4th,  The  cus- 
tom-house duties  by  sea  and  land, 
which,  on  articles  of  foreign  manufac- 
ture, are  for  the  most  part  very  heavy  ; 
5th,  The  stamp-duties,  which  on  sales 
of  heritable  property  amount  to  an  ad 
valorem  duty  of  5  per  cent ;  6th,  A 
duty  on  spirituous  liquors  and  salt ; 
7th,  The  imperial  duties  on  the  mines 
of  gold  and  platina,  which  are  daily 
becoming  more  productive,  from  the 
great  quantities  of  these  valuable  me- 
tals, now  amounting  to  £3,000,000 
annually,  which  are  worked  out  in  the 
Ural  and  Atlas  mountains.  It  cannot 
be  said  that  any  of  these  taxes  are  pe- 
culiarly oppressive,  or  such  as  weigh  on 
the  industry  or  capital  of  the  nation  ; 
but  they  produce,  when  taken  together, 
a  sum  which  is  very  large  in  a  country 
where  the  value  of  money  is  so  high, 
and  the  standard  of  comfort  so  low, 


that  the  common  soldiers  are  deemed 
to  be  adequately  remunerated  by  a  pay 
which,  after  the  deductions  for  rations 
and  other  necessaries  are  made,  leaves 
them  scarcely  a  halfpenny  a-day  to 
themselves.* 

48.  As  the  distances  in  Russia  are 
so  prodigious  that  it  takes  at  least  a 
year  and  a  half  to  gather  up  its  mighty 
strength,  the  principal  armies  are  per- 
manently disposed  in  positions  where 
they  may  be  comparatively  near  the 
probable  scene  of  military  operations, 
and  best  favour  the  designs  of  the  dip- 
lomatic body.  The  first  army,  112,000 
strong,  is  composed  of  three  corps,  and 
stationed  in  Poland  and  the  adjacent 
frontiers  of  Russia :  it  is  intended  to 
overawe  the  discontented  in  the  former 
country,  and  hang  like  a  thundercloud 
on  the  rear  of  Austria  and  Prussia. 
The  second  army,  also  112,000  strong, 
is  cantoned  in  the  southern  provinces 
of  the  empire,  between  Odessa  and  the 
Danube  :  it  is  destined  to  intimidate 
the  Turks,  and  give  weight  to  the 
ceaseless  diplomatic  encroachments  of 
Russia  at  Constantinople.  The  third, 
which  musters  120,000  combatants, 
is  stationed  as  a  reserve  at  Moscow, 
Smolensko,  and  in  the  central  pro- 
vinces of  the  empire  :  it  is  intended  to 
reinforce  either  of  the  great  armies  on 
the  frontier  which  may  require  to  bo 
supported,  and  is  advanced  nearer  to 
the  scene  of  active  operations  the  mo- 
ment that  hostilities  commence.  In 
addition  to  this  there  are  never  less 
than  60, 000  men,  including  the  guards, 
at  St  Petersburg,  and  40,000  on  the 
Caucasus,  or  in  the  province  of  Georgia 
to  the  south  of  it.  These  immense 

*  The  Emperor  Nicholas,  since  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne,  has  laboured  assiduously 
to  diminish  the  public  expenses  and  check 
the  frauds  continually  practised  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  national  revenue.  In  his 
own  household  and  guards  he  has  effected  a 
reduction,  with  no  diminution  of  splendour, 
of  no  less  than  67,500,000  paper  rubles.  The 
expenses  of  the  kitchen  and  cellar  were  re- 
duced at  once  from  600  paper  rubles  to  200 
a-day.  By  similar  economics  in  every  de- 
partment he  was  enabled  to  carry  on  the 
costly  war  in  Turkey  and  Russia,  in  lSi'7 
and  182S,  without  any  sensible  increase 
to  the  public  debt.  In  1830  it  amounted 
iu  all  to  1,300,000,000  francs,  or  £52,000,000. 
— SCHXITZLER,  lllst.  Int.,  ii.  184-180. 


26 


HISTORY  OF  ETJROPE. 


forces  may  all  be  rendered  disposable 
•without  weakening  any  garrisoii  or 
military  station  in  the  interior.  They 
are,  however,  so  far  separated  from 
each  other  that  it  requires  a  long  time 
to  concentrate  them  on  any  one  point, 
or  produce  the  imposing  array  of 
160,000  warriors,  whom  Alexander,  in 
1815,  reviewed  on  the  plains  of  Yertus 
in  Champagne. 

49.  Montesquieu  long  ago  said  that 
honour  is  the  principle  of  a  monarchy, 
and  virtue  of  a  republic.  Both  are  true, 
in  a  certain  sense,  of  society  generally, 
though  not  of  every  individual  of  which 
it  is  composed ;  for  though  few  are 
willing  to  practise  these  virtues  them- 
selves, yet  all  are  ready  to  exact  them 
of  their  neighbours.  Public  opinion 
inclines  to  the  right  side,  because  it  is 
founded  on  our  judgment  of  others ; 
private  acts  often  to  the  wrong,  because 
they  are  prompted  by  our  own  inclina- 
tions. If  we  are  to  form  our  opinion 
from  the  example  of  Russia,  we  should 
be  forced  to  conclude  that  the  principle 
of  despotism  is  CORRUPTION.  This 
arises  from  the  selfish  desire  of  gain  in 
individuals  being  unchecked  by  the 
opinion  of  those  who,  as  they  do  not 
participate  in,  are  not  biassed  by  it ; 
and  from  the  immensity  of  the  empire, 
and  the  innumerable  number  of  func- 
tionaries employed,  rendering  all  the 
vigilance  of.  the  emperor  and  of  the 
higher  officers  of  state  inadequate  to 
check  the  general  abuses  which  prevail. 
Doubtless  there  are  many  men  in  the 
highest  situations,  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary, in  Russia,  who  are  as  pure  and 
honourable  as  any  in  the  world;  but 
they  are  the  exceptions,  not  the  rale. 
Generally  speaking,  and  as  a  national 
characteristic,  the  functionaries  in  Rus- 
sia are  corrupt.  The  taking  of  bribes 
is  general ;  justice  is  too  often  venal ; 
the  chiefs  of  the  police,  on  the  most 
moderate  salaries,  soon  accumulate 
large  fortunes  ;  and  even  elevated  func- 
tionaries are  often  not  proof  against  the 
seductions  of  a  handsome  woman,  or  a 
magnificent  Cashmere  shawl  for  their 
Avives  or  daughters.*  The  Emperor 

*  On  the  accession  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas 
in  1826,  it  was  discovered  that  in  sixteen  gov- 
ernments of  Russia  out  of  no  less  than  2710 


[CHAP,  viii.. 

Alexander,  in  a  moment  of  irritation 
at  some  great  dilapidations  which  he 
had  discovered  in  the  naval  stores, 
said,  "If  they  knew  where  to  hide 
them,  they  would  steal  my  ships  of  the 
line  ;  if  they  could  draw  my  teeth  with- 
out waking  me,  they  would  extract 
them  during  the  night."* 

ukases,  or  decrees  of  the  Senate,  passed,  1S21 
had  remained  unexecuted ;  in  the  single  gov- 
ernment of  Kourok  600  lay  buried  and  un- 
known in  the  public  archives.  In  the  same 
year  there  were  2,850,000  causes  in  depend- 
ence in  the  different  tribunals  of  the  empire, 
and  127,000  persons  under  arrest.  The  Sen- 
ate decides  annually  40,000  causes  on  an  aver- 
age ;  in  1825  the  number  was  60,000 ;  which 
sufficiently  proves  that  the  vast  majority 
must  have  been  decided  in  absence,  or  -with- 
out any  consideration. — SCHNITZLEB,  Histoire 
Int.  de  la  Russie,  ii.  171,  175,  176. 

*  In  the  trial  between  Prince  Dolgorouki 
and  Count  Woronzoff  in  December  1861,  the 
following  very  curious  and  interesting  letter 
from  Alexander  was  put  in  evidence,  and 
proved  at  the  trial.  See  Times,  December  23, 
1861.  The  letter  was  written  on  the  eve  of 
his  accession  to  the  throne  : — 

"Yes,  my  dear  friend,  I  repeat  to  you,  I 
am  by  no  means  satisfied  with  my  position : 
it  is  far  too  brilliant  for  my  character,  which 
only  desires  tranquillity  and  peace.  A  Court 
is  not  a  place  made  for  me  ;  I  suffer  as  often 
as  I  must  play  my  part,  and  it  curdles  my 
blood  to  witness  the  meannesses  committed 
every  moment  to  secure  some  distinction  for 
which  I  would  not  have  given  three  sous.  I 
feel  myself  unhappy  at  being  compelled  to- 
share  the  society  of  people  whom  I  would  not 
take  for  my  domestic  servants,  and  who  oc- 
cupy here  the  highest  posts — such  as  ... 
who  are  not  worthy  even  to  be  named,  and 
who,  haughty  towards  their  inferiors,  crawl 
in  the  dust  before  him  whom  they  fear.  In. 
short,  my  dear  friend,  I  don't  feel  myself  at 
all  fitted  for  the  place  which  I  hold  at  the 
present  moment,  and  still  less  for  that  which 
I  am  destined  one  day  to  occupy,  but  which 
I  have  sworn  to  renounce  in  one  way  or  the 
other.  Our  affairs  are  in  incredible  disorder  ; 
pillaging  on  all  sides  ;  all  the  departments 
are  badly  administered  ;  order  appears  to  be 
banished  from  every  place,  and  the  empire 
increases  in  nothing  save  in  extent.  How, 
then,  isone  man  capable  of  governing  it — nayr 
7nore,  of  reforming  the  abuses?  It  is  abso- 
lutely impossible,  not  only  for  a  man  of  ordin- 
ary capacity  like  myself,  but  even  for  a  man  of 
genius ;  and  I  have  always  held  the  principle 
that  it  was  better  not  to  undertake  any  task 
than  to  execute  it  ill :  it  is  on  this  principle 
that  I  have  taken  the  resolution  of  which  I 
spoke  to  you  above.  My  plan  is,  that  having 
once  renounced  a  post  so  thorny — I  cannot 
fix  the  precise  epoch — I  shall  go  and  settle 
with  my  wife  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine, 
where  I  shall  live  tranquilly  as  a  private  gen- 
tleman, and  find  happiness  in  the  company 
of  in y  friends  and  in  the  study  of  nature." 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


50.  No  words  can  convey  an  idea  of  the 
extent  to  which  this  system  of  pillage, 
both  on  the  public  and  on  individuals, 
prevails  on  the  part  of  those  intrusted 
with  power  in  Russia  ;  those  practi- 
cally acquainted  with  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs  in  Great  Britain  may  ap- 
proach to  a  conception  of  its  magnitude, 
from  the  strenuous  efforts  constantly 
making  to  introduce  the  same  system 
into  the  British  dominions,  when  the 
vigilant  eye  of  Parliament  and  Gov- 
ernment is  for  any  considerable  time 
averted.     It  is  the  great  cause  of  the 
unexpected  reverses  or  trifling^  successes 
which  have  so  often  attended  the  Rus- 
sian arms  on  the  first  breaking  out  of 
fresh  hostilities.      So  universal  and 
systematic  had  been  the  fraud  of  the 
whole  functionaries  connected  with  the 
armies,  that  they  were  often  found, 
when  they  took  the  field,  to  be  little 
more  than  half  the  strength  which  was 
represented  on  paper,  and  on  which 
the  cabinet  relied  in  commencing  the 
campaign.     When  Nicholas  declared 
war  against  Turkey  in  1828,  he  relied 
on  Wittgenstein's  army  in  the  south 
being,  as  the  returns  showed,  120,000 
strong  ;  but  it  was  never  able  to  bring 
80,000  sabres  and  bayonets  into  the 
field  :  and  when  the  army  approached 
the  Danube,  he  found,  to  his  utter  dis- 
may, that  the  wood  for  the  bridges 
which  were    represented   as    already 
thrown  over  the  Danube,  was  not  even 
cut  in  the  forests  of  Bessarabia. 

51.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  enormous 
abuses  that  are  going  on  are  revealed 
to  the  emperor,  and  then  the  stroke 
of  justice  falls  like  a  thunderbolt  from 
heaven  on  the  head  of  the  culprit ;  but 
these  examples  are  so  rare  in  compari- 
son with  the  enormous  number  of  dila- 
pidations which  are  going  on  in  every 
direction,  that  they  produce  no  lasting 
impression.  Like  the  terrible  railway  or 
coal-mine  accidents  which  frequently 
occur  in  England,  or  steamboat  explo- 
sions in  America,  they  produce  general 
consternation  for  a  few  days,  but  are 
soon  forgotten.     Occasionally,  too,  the 
malversation  is  found  to  involve  such 
elevated  functionaries,  that  thetracin 
of  guilt  and  its  punishment  are  alike 
impossible.  At  a  review  in  April  1826, 


soon  after  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
four  men,  dressed  as  peasants,  with 
great  difficulty  succeeded  in  penetrat- 
ing to  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  near  his 
magnificent  palace  of  Tsarcko  -  Sclo, 
and  revealed  to  him  an  enormous  sys- 
tem of  dilapidation  of  the  public  naval 
stores  which  was  going  on  at  Cronstadt, 
where  cordage,  anchors,  and  sails  be- 
longing to  the  Crown  were  publicly 
exposed  at  the  bazaar,  and  purchased 
at  a  low  price  by  foreigners.  Nicholas 
instantly  ordered  an  officer  with  three 
hundred  men  to  surround  the  bazaar  ; 
and  upon  doing  so,  ample  proofs  of  the 
truth  of  the  charges  were  discovered. 
Orders  were  given  to  prosecute  the  de- 
linquents with  the  utmost  rigour,  and 
the  imperial  seal  was  put  on  the  dila- 
pidated stores  ;  but  the  culprits  were 
persons  of  great  consideration.  In  the 
night  of  the  21st  June  following,  a 
bright  light  was  seen  from  St  Peters- 
burg to  illuminate  the  western  sky, 
and  in  the  morning  it  was  cautiously 
whispered  that  the  bazaar  had  been 
totally  consumed  by  fire,  and  with  it 
the  whole  evidence  of  the  guilt  of  the 
accused.  The  Gazette  of  St  Petersburg 
made  no  mention  of  the  fraud,  or  of  the 
conflagration  by  which  its  punishment 
had  been  prevented. 

52.  As  a  set-off  to  this  inherent  vice 
and  consequent  weakness  in  the  Rus- 
sian empire,  there  is  one  most  impor- 
tant source  of  strength  which  is  every 
day  contrasting  more  strongly  with  the 
opposite  cause  of  decline  operating  in 
western  Europe.  Emigration  among 
them  is  very  general :  in  no  country  in 
the  world  is  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
popiilation  more  able  and  prepared,  on 
the  slightest  motive,  to  locate  them- 
selves in  fresh  habitations.  Armed 
with  his  hatchet  on  his  shoulder — his 
invariable  auxiliary  —  the  Muscovite 
peasant  is  often  inclined  to  leave  his 
log-house  and  his  fields,  and  carve  out 
for  himself  fresh  ones  in  some  distant 
or  more  fertile  forest.  Followed  by  his 
flocks,  his  mares,  and  his  herds,  the 
Cossack  or  the  dweller  on  the  steppes 
is  ever  ready  to  exchange  the  pasture 
of  his  fathers  for  that  of  other  lands. 
But  there  is  this  vital  difference  be- 
tween these  migrations  and  the  emi- 


23 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


gration  of  western  Europe — they  are 
internal  only  ;  they  do  not  diminish, 
they  augment  the  strength  of  the  State. 
From  the  British  Islands,  at  this  time, 
an  annual  stream  of  350,000  emigrants, 
nearly  all  in  the  prime  of  life,  issues, 
«of  whom  two-thirds  settle  in  the  wilds 
of  America  ;*  and  from  Germany  the 
fever  of  moving  has,  since  the  revolu- 
tion of  1848,  become  so  violent  that 
100,000  in  1852,  and  149,000  in  1853, 
left  the  Fatherland.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  such  prodigious  drains,  spring- 
ing out  of  the  passions  and  necessities 
of  civilisation,  cannot  go  on  for  any 
length  of  time  without  seriously  weak- 
ening the  strength  and  lessening  the 
population  of  western  Europe.  But 
the  very  reverse  of  all  this  obtains  in 
Eussia,  for  there  the  movement  is  all 
within  ;  what  is  lost  to  one  part  of  the 
empire  is  gained  to  another,  and  a  rate 
of  increase  approaching  the  Transat- 
lantic appears,  not  on  a  distant  hemi- 
sphere, but  on  the  plains  of  the  Ukraine 
and  the  banks  of  the  Volga.  Nor  will 
it  for  long  be  otherwise,  for  the  remote 
situation  of  the  Russian  peasants  ren- 
ders them  ignorant  of  other  countries, 
and  averse  to  the  sea  ;  while  their  po- 
verty precludes  them  from  moving,  ex- 


cept with  their  hatchets  to  a  neighbour- 
ing forest,  or  their  herds  to  an  adjoining 
steppe. 

53.  To  this  it  must  be  added  that 
the  introduction  of  the  free-trade  sys- 
tem into  Great  Britain  has  already 
given  a  very  great  impulse  to  agricul- 
tural industry  in  Russia,  where  it  is 
advancing  as  rapidly  as  its  rate  is  de- 
clining in  the  British  Islands.  As  this 
change  has  arisen  from  the  necessary 
effect  of  the  wealth,  civilisation,  and 
advanced  years  of  the  British  empire, 
so  there  is  no  chance  of  its  undergoing 
any  alteration,  and  it  must  come  every 
day  to  evince  a  more  powerful  influence 
on  the  relative  strength  and  fortunes 
of  the  two  empires.  Even  before  the 
free -trade  system  had  been  two  years 
established  in  Great  Britain,  it  had, 
despite  the  rude  system  of  agriculture 
there  prevalent,  nearly  doubled  the 
exportation  of  grain  from  the  har- 
bours of  Russia,  t  and  tripled  its  value, 
while  it  has  caused  the  production  of 
cereal  crops  in  the  British  Islands  to 
decline  4,000,000  of  quarters.  The 
effect  of  such  a  continued  and  increas- 
ing augmentation  on  the  one  side,  and 
decline  on  the  other,  cannot  fail  ere 
long  to  exercise  a  powerful  influence 


1850, 
1851, 
1S52, 


EMIGRATION  FROM  THE  BRITISH  ISLES,  1850-1852. 

Number  of  Emigrants.  Excess  of  Births  over  Deaths.             Total  Annual  Decrease. 

280,484         .  .          240,000          .  .            40,484 

335,966          .  .          240,000         .  .            95,966 

368,764         .  .          250,000          .  .          118,764 


Total  in  three  years,  985,214  .  .  730,000  .  .  255  214 
— Emigration  Report,  March  1853.  The  annual  increase  of  the  births  over  the  deaths  is  about 
230,000 ;  so  that,  when  the  emigration  is  taken  into  view,  there  is  an  annual  decline  of 
120,000  or  130,000  in  the  entire  population.  This  appeared  in  the  census  of  1S51.  Though 
the  great  emigration  had  only  recently  begun,  it  showed  a  decline  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  taken  together,  of  600,000  souls  since  1845;  in  Ireland,  taken  singly,  of  2,000,000. 
— See  Census  1851,  and  Ante,  c.  1,  §  58. 

t  EXPORTATION  ON  AN  AVERAGE  OF  THREE  YEARS  OF  WHEAT,  BARLEY,  AND 
OATS  FROM  RUSSIA. 


Year*  f  Tchetwcrt. 

1824—6,  .        .        .        3,398,127 

1827—9,  7,486,012 

1830—32,  11,324,831 

1833—35,  2,244,266 

1836—38,  7,540,299 

1839—41,  8,864,364 

1842—44,  8,685,907 

1845—47, »  14,349,986 

— TEGOBORSKI,  i.  350. 

Captain  Larcom  has  reported  that  the  wheat  produce  of  Ireland  has  declined  1,500,000 
quarters  since  1S45 ;  and  the  return  of  sales  in  the  market-towns  of  England  indicates  a 
diminished  production  of  wheat  alone  in  Great  Britain  of  at  least  2,500,000  quarters  more. 

J  Free  trade  in  England. 


Value  in  Ruble: 
11,913,200 
24,191,500 
39,407,400 
10,357,900 
31,873,200 
47,753,900 
40,131,400 

115,483,700 


i  rounds  Sterling. 

£1,970,000 

4,031,500 

6,566,000 

1,722,900 

5,312,200 

7,958,900 

6,689,000 

19,262,100 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


on  the  fortunes  and  relative  strength  of 
the  two  empires ;  and  when  it  is  recol- 
lected that  the  increase  is  given  to  a 
young  and  rising,  and  the  drain  taken 
from  an  old  and  stationary  State,  it 
may  easily  be  foreseen  how  important 
in  a  short  time  the  difference  must 
Lecome. 

54.  "What,  then,  is  the  destiny  of 
Russia  ? — for  a  destiny,  and  that  a  great 
one,  she  evidently  has.  Her  rapid 
growth  and  ceaseless  progress  through 
all  the  mutations  of  fortune  in  the  ad- 
joining states  clearly  bespeak  not  only 
consummate  wisdom  of  general  inter- 
nal direction,  but  the  evolutions  of  a 
mighty  design.*  She  is  probably  not 
intended  to  shine  in  the  career  of  ci- 
vilisation. Her  sons  will  not,  at  least 
for  long,  rival  the  arts  of  Italy  or  the 
chivalry  of  France,  the  intellect  of 
England  or  the  imagination  of  Ger- 
many. There  will  be  no  Shakespeares 
or  Miltons,  no  Racines  or  Corneilles, 
no  Tassos  or  Raphaels,  no  Schillers  or 
Goethes,  amidst  the  countless  millions 
of  her  boundless  territory ;  but  there 
may  be — there  will  be — an  Alexan- 
der, an  Attila,  a  Timour.  Literature, 
science,  the  arts,  are  the  efflorescence 
of  civilisation;  but  in  the  moral,  not 
less  than  the  physical  world,  efflor- 
escence is  succeeded  by  decline,  the 
riches  of  the  harvest  border  on  the 
decay  of  autumn.  There  is  a  winter 
in  nations  as  well  as  in  seasons ;  the 
vulture  and  the  eagle  are  required  to 
cleanse  the  moral  not  less  than  the 
physical  world.  If  the  glories  of  ci- 
vilisation are  denied  to  Russia,  she  is 
saved  from  its  corruption ;  if  she  does 
not  exhibit  the  beauties  of  summer, 


she  is  not  stained  by  its  consequent 
decay.  Hardened  by  suffering,  inured 
to  privation,  compelled  to  struggle 
eternally  with  the  severities  of  climate, 
the  difficulties  of  space,  the  energy  of 
the  human  character  is  preserved  en- 
tire amidst  her  ice  and  snows.  From 
thence,  as  from  the  glaciers  of  the  Alps, 
the  destroying  but  purifying  streams 
descend  upon  the  plenty  of  the  vales 
beneath.  Russia  will  evidently  con- 
quer Turkey,  and  plant  her  eagles  on 
the  dome  of  St  Sophia ;  she  will  do 
what  the  Crusaders  failed  in  doing — 
she  will  rescue  the  Holy  Shrines  from 
the  hands  of  the  Infidels.  But  that, 
though  an  important  part,  is  not  the 
whole  of  her  destiny.  Still,  when  the 
Cross  is  seen  triumphant  over  the  wide 
expanse  of  the  Lower  Empire,  will  her 
millions  remain  in  their  snowy  deserts, 
invigorated  by  necessity,  hardened  by 
suffering,  panting  for  conquest.  She 
is  never  destined  to  be  civilised,  save 
for  the  purposes  of  war  ;  but  she  is  des- 
tined to  do  what  intellect  and  peace 
can  never  do.  Scythia  will  for  ever 
remain  what  it  has  been  from  the 
earliest  times — THE  STOREHOUSE  OF 

NATIONS,  THE  SCOURGE  OF  VICIOUS 
CIVILISATION. 

55.  It  has  been  well  observed,  that 
the  great  difficulty  in  Russia  is,  that 
it  contains,  in  a  manner,  two  different 
people;  the  one  on  a  level  with  the 
most  highly  civilised  states  of  Europe, 
the  other,  at  the  utmost,  only  fashioned 
to  civilisation  by  the  police.  The  Mar- 
quis Custine  says,  "it  contains  a  so- 
ciety half  barbarous,  but  restrained  in- 
order  by  fear ;  and  though  that  is  by 


*  TABLE  SHOWING  THE  INCREASE  OF  RUSSIA  SINCE  1462. 


Epochs. 

Under  Ivan  III.,  in  1462,     .... 

At  his  death,  in  1505, 

At  the  death  of  Ivan  IV.,  in  1584, 

(Conquest  of  Kazan,  Astrakan,  Siberia.) 
At  the  death  of  Michael  I.,  in  1645,     . 
At  the  accession  of  Peter  the  Great,  in  16S9, 

At  his  death,  in  1725, 

At  the  accession  of  Catherine  II.,  in  1763, . 

At  her  death,  in  1796, 

At  the  death  of  Alexander,  in  1S25,     . 
Under  Nicholas,  in  1829,      .... 

Under  Nicholas,  in  1S52 

-MALTE  URVN,  vi.  3SO. 


Extent  In  Square 
German  Mil.  -,  10 

Population, 

to  an  KnulUlu 

Approximate. 

18,200 

6,000,000 

37,137 

10,000.000 

125,465 

12,000,000 

254,361 

12,500,000 

263,900 

15,000,00» 

273,815 

20,000,000 

810,688 

•J'.,  000,000 

331,810 

36,000,000 

367,494 

53,000,000 

873,000 

55,000,000 

376,000 

70,000,000 

HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vur. 


no  means  true  of  the  first  people,  it  is  [  sports  at  the  magnanimous  words  of 


strictly  so  of  the  last.  .The  interests, 
feelings,  and  desires  of  these  two  differ- 
ent people  are  irreconcilable;  an  im- 
passable abyss  separates  them.  That 
which  the  first  desires  with  the  most 
passionate  ardour,  is  a  matter  of  in- 
difference or  unintelligible  to  the  other. 
The  highly-educated  classes,  acquaint- 
ed with  the  society,  familiar  with  the 
literature,  impregnated  with  the  ideas 
of  western  Europe,  often  sigh  for  its 
institutions,  its  excitements,  its  free- 
dom. The  immense  mass  of  the  pea- 
santry, the  great  majority  of  the  trad- 
ing classes,  repel  such  ideas  as  repug- 
nant to  their  feelings,  at  variance  with 
their  habits,  subversive  of  their  faith. 
The  first  long  for  parliaments,  elec- 
tions, constitutional  government,  a  na- 
tional literature,  a  free  press  ;  the  latter 
are  satisfied  to  go  on  as  their  fathers 
did  before  them,  with  their  Czar,  their 
bishops,  their  popes — obeying  every 
mandate  of  government  as  a  decree  of 
the  Most  High  ;  desiring,  knowing  no- 
thing beyond  their  village,  their  fields, 
their  steppe.  For  which  of  these  differ- 
ent people  is  the  emperor  to  legislate  ? 
for  the  enlightened  few  or  the  ignorant 
many ;  for  the  three  hundred  thousand 
travelled  and  highly-polished  nobles, 
•or  the  seventy  millions  of  simple  and 
unlettered  peasants  ?  Yet  must  insti- 
tutions of  some  kind  be  established, 
legislation  of  some  sort  go  on ;  and  the 
great  difficulty  in  Russia  is,  that  the  one 
class  in  secret  desires  what  the  other  in 
sincerity  abominates,  and  what  would 
be  beneficial  to  the  former  would  prove 
utter  ruin  to  the  latter. 

56.  This  great  difficulty,  by  far  the 
most  serious  which  exists  in  Russian 
society,  was  much  aggravated  after  the 
termination  of  the  war  by  the  feelings 
with  which  the  officers  of  the  army  re- 
turned from  the  fields  of  their  conquest 
and  their  fame.  In  the  hard-fought 
campaigns  of  Germany  and  France  they 
had  stood  side  by  side  with  the  ardent 
youth  of  the  Teutonic  universities, 
whose  feelings  had  been  warmed  by 
the  fervour  of  the  Tugenbund,  whose 
imaginations  had  been  kindled  by  the 
poetry  of  Korner ;  at  the  capture  of 
Paris  they  had  seen  the  world  in  trau- 


the  Czar  in  praise  of  Liberal  institu- 
tions ;  many  of  them  had  shared  in  his 
reception  in  London,  and  witnessed  the 
marvellous  spectacle  of  a  free  people 
emerging  unscathed  from  a  contest, 
from  which  they  themselves  had  been 
extricated  only  by  committing  their  ca- 
pital to  the  flames.  Immense  was  the 
influence  which  these  circumstances 
came  ere  long  to  exercise  on  the  high- 
ly-educated youth  of  Russia,  speaking 
French  and  English  as  well  as  natives, 
associating  with  the  very  highest  so- 
ciety of  these  nations,  and  contrasting 
the  varied  excitements  and  intellectual 
pleasures  at  their  command,  with  the 
stillness  and  monotony,  save  from  phy- 
sical sensations,  of  their  own  fettered 
land.  They  saw  civilisation  on  its 
bright  side  only :  they  had  basked  in 
its  sunshine,  they  had  not  felt  its 
shade.  They  returned  home,  as  so 
many  travellers  do,  to  the  cold  regions 
of  the  north,  discontented  with  their 
own  country,  and  passionately  desirous 
of  a  change.  These  sentiments  were 
dangerous ;  their  expression  might  con- 
sign the  utterer  at  once  to  Siberia : 
they  were  shrouded  in  silence,  like  a 
secret  passion  in  the  female  heart  from 
a  jealous  husband ;  but  like  all  other 
emotions,  they  only  became  the  more 
violent  from  the  necessity  of  being  con- 
cealed, and  came  in  many  noble  breasts 
entirely  to  absorb  the  mind,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  objects  of  pacific  interest 
or  ambition. 

57.  Ignorant  of  the  spread  of  passions 
which  were  destined  ere  long  to  cause 
the  earth  to  quake  beneath  his  feet,  and 
carried  away  by  the  intoxicating  in- 
cense which  the  loudly  expressed  admi- 
ration of  the  world  had  lavished  upon 
him  at  Paris,  the  Emperor  Alexander 
returned  to  St  Petersburg  in  1814,  after 
his  magnificent  reception  in  London, 
with  a  mind  set  rather  on  vast  projects 
for  the  pacification  of  the  world,  the 
extirpation  of  war,  and  the  spread  of 
the  sway  of  the  Gospel  in  every  land, 
than  the  establishment  of  any  safe  or 
practicable  reforms  in  his  own.  His 
benevolence  was  great,  his  heart  large, 
his  imagination  warm ;  but  his  practi- 
cal acquaintance  with  men  was  small, 


1815.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


31 


and  he  aimed  rather  at  reforming  man- 
kind at  once  by  the  ukases  of  despot- 
ism, than  putting  matters  in  a  train 
for  the  slow  and  almost  imperceptible 
growth  of  real  improvement,  working 
through  the  changed  habits  and  desires 
of  the  people.  He  re-entered  his  ca- 
pital after  his  long  absence  on  the  24th 
July,  and  his  arrival,  after  such  mar- 
vellous events  as  had  signalised  his 
absence,  was  prepared  to  be  celebrated 
by  extraordinary  demonstrations  of  joy. 
By  an  order  from  the  Emperor  they 
were  all  stopped.  "The  events,"  said 
he  to  the  governor  of  St  Petersburg, 
"  which  have  terminated  the  bloody 
wars  of  Europe,  are  the  work  of  the 
Most  High  ;  it  is  before  Him  alone  that 
it  behoves  us  to  prostrate  ourselves." 

58.  He  refused  the  title  of   "the 
Blessed "  which  the  Senate  had  de- 
creed should  be  conferred  upon  him. 
His  first  care  was  to  efface,  so  far  as 
possible,  the  traces  of  the  war ;  his 
next,  to  grant  a  general  pardon  to  all 
the  persons,  of  whom  there  were  many, 
who  had,  during  its  continuance,  been 
drawn  into  traitorous  correspondence 
with  the  enemy.     He  remitted  the  ca- 
pitation-tax to  the  peasants  in  the  pro- 
vinces which  had  suffered  the  most 
from  invasion,  and  opened  at  Berlin 
and  Konigsberg  banks,  where  the  notes 
of  the  Bank  of  Russia  which  had  been 
given  in  payment  during  the  war  were 
retired  from  the  holders  at  the  current 
rate  of  exchange.     Soon  after,  he  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  the  Sultan  of  Per- 
sia, by  which,  in  consideration  of  a 
very  large  district  of  country  ceded  to 
Russia,  he  promised  his  aid  in  support- 
ing the  son  whom  the  Shah  might  de- 
sign for  his  successor.     By  this  treaty 
the  Russians  acquired  the  whole  im- 
portant country  which  lies  between  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian,  and  became 
masters  of  the  famous  gates  of  Der- 
bend,  which  so  often  in  former  ages 
had  opened  to  the  Tartars  an  entrance 
into  Southern  Asia. 

59.  A  full  account  has  already  been 
given  of  the  part  which  Russia  took  in 
the  Congress  of  Vienna,  and  the  ac- 
quisition of  Poland  in  a  former  work  ; 
ami  of  the  magnanimous  sentiments 
which  Alexander  displayed  at  the  Con- 


gress of  Aix-la-Chtfpelle  in  this.  Two 
important  alliances,  destined  to  influ- 
ence materially  the  international  rela- 
tions of  Europe,  were  concluded  during 
this  period.  The  first  was  the  mar- 
riage of  his  sister,  the  Grand-duchess 
Ann,  to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  which 
took  place  when  he  visited  Brussels 
and  the  field  of  Waterloo  in  Septem- 
ber 1815;  the  second,  the  conclusion 
of  the  arrangements  for  the  marriage 
of  his  brother  Nicholas,  who  has  since 
become  emperor,  to  Charlotte,  Princess 
of  Prussia,  who  is  still  Empress  of  Rus- 
sia, which  was  solemnised  some  years 
after.  From  thence  he  proceeded  to 
Warsaw,  where  he  concluded  the  ar- 
rangements for  the  establishment  of 
the  kingdom  of  Poland,  and  left  Ge- 
neral Zayonchek,  a  Pole  by  birth,  in 
command  as  viceroy.  He  returned  to 
St  Petersburg  on  13th  December,  hav- 
ing, by  this  acquisition  of  territory 
and  family  alliances,  extended  the 
Russian  influence  in  a  direct  line,  and 
without  any  break,  over  the  whole 
north  of  Europe,  from  the  Niemen  to 
the  Rhine.  Thus  was  the  Netherlands 
restored  to  its  proper  position  and  rank 
in  Continental  affairs ;  instead  of  being 
the  outwork  of  France  against  Europe, 
it  became  the  bulwark  of  Europe  against 
France. 

60.  Consumed  with  the  desire  to 
heal  the  wounds  of  war,  and  convince 
himself  with  his  own  eyes  of  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  districts  for  which  suc- 
cour was  petitioned,  Alexander  gave 
himself  only  a  few  months'  repose  at 
St  Petersburg.  His  life,  for  the  next 
ten  years  to  nis  death,  was  more  than 
half  spent  in  travelling,  and  flying 
with  almost  incredible  rapidity  from 
one  part  of  his  vast  dominions  to  an- 
other. The  postilions,  urging  their 
horses  to  the  utmost  speed,  carried 
him  over  the  rough  roads  of  Russia  at 
the  rate  of  seventeen  miles  an  hour : 
wrapt  in  his  cloak,  meditating  acts  of 
justice,  dreaming  of  projects  of  phil- 
anthropy, the  Czar  underwent,  for 
days  and  nights  together,  with  almost 
incredible  patience,  the  exhausting  fa- 
tigue. Hardly  was  his  departure  from 
St  Petersburg  heard  of,  when  the  thun- 
der of  artillery  announced  his  arrival 


32 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  viu. 


at  Moscow,  "Warsaw,  or  Odessa.  But 
although  Alexander  thus  wasted  his 
strength  and  passed  his  life  in  travers- 
ing his  dominions,  his  heart  was  else- 
where. The  great  events  of  Paris  had 
got  possession  of  his  imagination ;  the 
Holy  Alliance,  the  suggestions  of  Ma- 
dame Krudener,  occupied  his  thoughts ; 
and  he  dreamt  more  of  his  supposed 
mission  as  the  apostle  of  peace,  the  ar- 
biter of  Christendom,  than  of  his  du- 
ties as  the  Czar  of  Russia,  the  supreme 
disposer  of  the  lives  and  liberties  of 
sixty  millions  of  men. 

61.  The  heart  of  the  emperor,  how- 
ever, was  too  warm,  his  disposition  too 
benevolent,  for  him  not  to  feel  keenly 
the  sufferings  of  his  subjects,  and  en- 
gage in  any  measures  that  appeared 
practicable  for  their  relief.  Various 
beneficent  acts  signalised  the  pacific 
years  of  his  reign ;  but  they  were  such 
as  went  to  relieve  local  distress,  or  in- 
duce local  advantage,  rather  than  to 
stimulate  the  springs  of  industry  over 
his  whole  empire,  or  remove  the  causes 
which  obstructed  civilisation  over  its 
vast  extent.  In  August  1816  he  visit- 
ed Moscow,  then  beginning  to  rise  from 
its  ashes ;  and  in  a  touching  manifesto, 
which  evidently  came  from  the  heart, 
testified  his  profound  sympathy  for  the 
sufferings  induced  by  its  immortal  sa- 
crifice. At  the  same  time,  he  set  on 
foot  or  aided  in  the  establishment  of 
many  valuable  undertakings  in  diffe- 
rent parts  of  the  empire.  He  rebuilt, 
at  a  cost  of  160,000  rubles,  the  bridge 
over  the  Neva ;  he  took  the  most  ef- 
ficacious measures  for  restoring  the 
naval  forces  of  the  empire,  which  had 
been  unavoidably  neglected  during  the 
pressure  of  the  war — several  ships  of 
the  line  were  begun  both  at  Cronstadt 
and  Odessa;  no  less  than  1,500,000 
rubles  was  advanced  from  the  treasury 
to  set  on  foot  several  new  buildings  in 
the  two  capitals ;  the  completion  of 
the  splendid  fa?ade  of  the  Admiralty ; 
the  building  of  a  normal  school  for  the 
training  of  teachers;  an  imperial  ly- 
ceum,  in  which  the  imperial  founder 
ever  took  a  warm  interest ;  and  seve- 
ral important  regulations  adopted  for 
the  encouragement  of  agriculture  and 
the  establishment  of  colonies  in  desert 


districts.  The  finances  of  the  empire 
engaged  his  special  and  anxious  atten- 
tion. By  a  ukase,  dated  16th  April 
1817,  he  devoted  to  the  payment  of 
the  debts  contracted  during  1812  and 
1813,  which  were  still  in  floating  as- 
signats,  30,000,000  rubles  annually 
out  of  the  imperial  treasury,  and  a 
like  sum  out  of  the  hereditary  reve- 
nue of  the  Crown.  At  the  same  time 
he  advanced  30,000,000  rubles  to  estab- 
lish a  bank  specially  destined  for  the 
support  of  commerce ;  and  decreed  the 
"  Council  of  Public  Credit,"  which, 
by  its  constitution,  presented  the  first 
shadoAV  of  representative  institutions. 
Such  was  the  effect  of  these  measures, 
that  when  the  emperor  opened  a  sub- 
scription for  a  large  loan,  to  enable 
him  to  retire  a  proportion  of  the  float- 
ing, and  reduce  considerably  the  im- 
mense mass  of  paper  assignats  in  cir- 
culation, at  an  advance  of  85  rubles 
paid  for  100,  inscribed  as  6  per  cent 
stock,  30,000,000  was  subscribed  the 
first  day,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year 
33,000,000  more— in  all,  63,000,000— 
which  enabled  the  Government  to  re- 
tire a  similar  amount  of  assignats.* 

62.  Alexander  was  sincerely  and 
deeply  interested  in  the  prosperity  of 
Poland,  to  which  he  was  attached,  not 
only  by  the  brilliant  additions  which 
it  made  to  the  splendour  and  influence 
of  the  empire,  but  by  the  more  tender 
feelings  excited  by  the  Polish  lad}7  to 
whom  he  had  been  so  long  and  deeply 
attached.  The  sufferings  of  the  coun- 
try had  been  unparalleled,  from  the 
events  of  the  war,  and  the  enormous 
exactions  of  the  French  troops :  the 
population  of  the  grand-duchy  of  War- 
saw, which,  before  it  commenced,  had 
been  3,300,000,  had  been  reduced  at  its 
close  to  2,600,000  souls.  The  country, 
however,  had  prospered  in  the  most 
extraordinary  degree  during  the  three 

*  The  public  debt  of  Russia,  on  1st  Janu- 
ary 1818,  stood  thus : — 
Foreign  (Dutch  loan),  99,600,000  florins. 

Bank  assignations,  .  214,201,184  rubles. 
In  silver,  .  .  .  3,344,000  do. 

In  gold,        .        .        .  18,520    do. 

Paid  off  in  1817— Capital,     13,863,000 
Interest,    10,171,000 
—Ann.  Hietorique,  L  277. 


1818.1 


HISTOLY  OF  EUROPE. 


33 


years  of  peace  that  it  had  since  enjoy- 
ed: new  colonists  had  been  invited  and 
settled  from  the  neighbouring  states 
of  Germany ;  and  industry  had  flour- 
ished to  such  an  extent  that  the  State 
was  now  able  to  maintain,  without  dif- 
liculty  or  contracting  debt,  a  splendid 
army  of  forty  thousand  men,  'which, 
clothed  in  the  Polish  uniform,  com- 
manded by  Polish  officers,  and  follow- 
ing the  Polish  standards,  was  almost 
worshipped  by  the  people  as  the  germ 
of  their  reviving  nationality.  The  em- 
peror arrived  at  Warsaw  on  the  1 3th 
March,  and  immediately  the  Polish 
standard  was  hoisted  on  'the  palace 
amidst  the  thunder  of  artillery  and 
cheers  from  every 'human  being  in  the 
city. 

63.  The  Diet  opened  on  the- 27th  of 
March,  and  the  speech  of  the  emperor, 
which  was  listened  to  with  the  deepest 
attention,  was  not  only  prophetic  of 
peace  and  happiness  to  'Poland,  but 
memorable  as  containing .  evidence  of 
the  views  he  at.that  period  entertained 
for  the  regeneration  and  freedom  of 
mankind.  After  having  expatiated  on 
the  advantage  of  a  constitutional  re- 
gime, he  added,  "  With  the  assistance 
of  God,  I  hope  to  extend  its  solidary 
influence  to  ALL  the  countries  intrusted 
(o  my  care  ;  .prove,  to  the  contemporary 
kings  that  liberal  institutions,  which 
they  pretend  to  confound  with  the  dis- 
astrous doctrines  which  in  these  days 
threaten  the  social  system  with  afright- 
ful  catastrophe,  are  not  a  dangerous  il- 
lusion, but  that,  reduced  in  good  faith 
to  practice,  and  directed  in  a  pure 
spirit  towards  •  conservative  ends  and 
the  good  of  humanity,  they  are  per- 
fectly allied  to  order,  and  the  best  se- 
curity for  the  happiness  of  nations." 
Such  were  the  sentiments  and  inten- 
tions of  the  Czar,  while  yet  influenced 
by  the  illusions  of  1814,  and  before  the 
brilliant  and  benevolent  dream  had 
been  dissipated  by  the  military  treason 
and  social  revolutions  of  southern  Eu- 
rope in  1820.  When  such  words  came 
from  such  lips,  and  everything  around 
bespoke  order  and  peace,  and  the  re- 
viving nationality  of  Poland,  it  need 
not  be  said  that  all  was  unanimity  and 

VOL.  II. 


hope  in  the  Diet,  and  its  sittings  were 
closed,  after  a  short  session  of  thirty 
days,  without  a  dissenting  voice  on 
any  question  of  general  interest  having 
been  heard  in  the  assembly. 

64.  From  Warsaw,  which  he  left  on 
the  30th  April,  the  emperor  proceeded 
to  Odessa,  after  traversing,  with  the 
utmost  rapidity,  the  fertrle  plains  and 
verdant  turf  of  the  Ukraine,  where,  as 
their  poets  say,  the  "sky  is  ever  blue, 
the  air  clear,  and  storms  and  hurri- 
canes aro-unknown."  In  Odessa  he  be- 
held, with  astonishment,  the  rapid  pro- 
gress and  rising  importance  of  a  city 
which,  under  the  fostering  care  of  gov- 
ernment, and  the  wise  direction  of 
the  Duke  de  Richelieu,  had  sprung  up, 
as  if  by  enchantment,  on  the  edge  of 
the  wilderness,  become  the  emporium 
of  the  south,  and  realised  all  that  the 
genius  of  Virgil  had  fancied  of  the  fa- 
bled rise  of  Carthage  under  the  sceptre 
of  Dido.  He  there  assisted  at  the 
launching  of  a  seventy-four,  laid  down 
a  110-gun  ship,  and  evinced  at  once 
his  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of 
humanity,  by  erecting  a  monument  to 
the  celebrated  Howard,  who  had  died, 
in  1790,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that 
pity,  and  his  admiration  of  its  virtues, 
by  subscribing  to  'the  erection  of  one 
in  Paris  to  Mdlesherbes,  the  gener- 
ous and  intrepid  defender  of  Louis 
XVI.  He  there  appointed  also  a  gov- 
ernment commission,  specially  in- 
trusted with  the  duty  of  watching  over 
and  aiding  the  settlement  of  colonists 
in  Bessarabia  and  the  southern  provin- 
ces of  the  empire,  of  whom  vast  num- 
bers had  already  begun  to  flock  from 
the  neighbouring  states  ;  and,  passing 
by  Moscow  to  the  north,  he  there  met 
the  King  of  Prussia,  with  whom  he  re- 
turned to  St  Petersburg,  where  mag- 
nificent rejoicings  attended  the  union 
of  the  two  sovereigns.  Hardly  were 
they  concluded  when  he  set  out  for 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  where  his  generous  in- 
terposition, in  conjunction  with  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  in  favour  of 
France,  already  mentioned,  was  at- 
tended with  such  happy  results  ;  and 
from  thence  returned  to  St  Petersburg, 
and  concluded  an  almost  incessant 
C 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vni. 


journey  of  two  thousand  leagues,  de- 
voted, without  a  day's  intermission,  to 
the  interests  of  humanity. 

65.  Although  Alexander's  mind  was 
not  of  the  most  penetrating  character, 
and  his  practical  knowledge  of  mankind 
was  small,  his  intentions  were  all  of 
the  most  generous,  his  feelings  of  the 
most  philanthropic  kind.     He  had  al- 
ready, by  several   ukases,    completed 
the  enfranchisement  of  the  peasants  on 
the  Crown  domains ;  and  at  Mittau, 
on  his  way  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  had 
assisted  at  a  very  interesting  ceremony 
— that  which  completed,  by  a  solemn 
act,  the  entire  liberation  of  the  serfs  of 
Courland,  Esthonia,  and  Livonia,  the 
provinces  of  the  empire  next  to  Ger- 
many, by  the  voluntary  act  of  the  no- 
bles, who,  in  this  instance,  had  antici- 
pated the  wishes  of  the  emperor.     He 
had  also,  in  the  same  year,  published 
a  ukase,  which  accorded  several  im- 

Sirtant  immunities  to  the  peasants  of 
erick,  whose  miserable  condition  had 
forcibly  arrested  his  attention  in  pass- 
ing through  that  province  on  his  way 
from  Warsaw  to  Odessa.  He  opened 
the  year  1819  by  a  still  more  import- 
ant step,  because  it  was  one  of  general 
application,  and  of  vast  influence  on 
the  social  training  of  the  nation.  This 
was  a  ukase  which  extended  to  serfs  in 
every  part  of  the  empire,  and  to  whom- 
soever pertaining,  the  right,  hitherto 
confined  to  the  nobles  and  merchants, 
of  establishing  themselves  as  manufac- 
turers in  any  part  of  the  empire,  and 
relieving  them  from  the  capitation  tax 
during  four  years.  At  the  same  time 
he  took  a  step,  and  a  very  material 
one,  in  favour  of  public  instruction,  by 
completing  the  organisation  of  univer- 
sities at  Moscow,  Wilna.Alo,  St  Peters- 
burg, Karkow,  and  Kazan ;  and  of  re- 
ligious freedom,  by  taking  the  Lutheran 
and  Calvinist  clergy  and  flocks  under 
the  imperial  protection,  and  establish- 
ing in  the  capital  an  Episcopal  chair 
for  the  clergy  of  those  persuasions. 

66.  The  finances  of  the  empire,  in 
the  following  year,  exhibited  the  elas- 
ticity which  might  have  been  expected 
from  the  continuance  of  peace,  and  the 
wise  measures  for  the  reduction  of  the 
floating  debt  adopted  in  the  preceding 


year.  The  sinking  fund  had  withdrawn 
from  circulation  80,000,000  paper 
rubles  (£4,000,000)  in  the  preceding 
year ;  and  specie,  to  the  number  of 
26,000,000  silver  rubles  (£4,600,000), 
had  issued  from  the  mint  in  the  same 
time—  a  quantity  greater  than  had  been 
coined  during  the  ten  preceding  years. 
The  deposits  and  discounts  at  the  bank 
recently  established  exhibited  a  large 
and  rapid  increase.  The  Lancasterian 
system  of  instruction  was  extended 
by  the  emperor  even  to  Siberia,  and 
normal  schools  established  at  St  Peters- 
burg to  train  teachers  for  the  principal 
towns,  from  which  alone  the  light  of 
knowledge  could  radiate  to  the  count- 
ry. In  the  autumn  of  this  year  the 
emperor  visited  Archangel,  which  had 
not  been  honoured  by  the  presence  of 
the  sovereign  for  a  hundred  and  seven- 
teen years  ;  and  from  thence  he  issued 
a  decree,  authorising  the  levy  of  two 
men  in  every  five  hundred,  which  pro- 
duced a  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
soldiers — the  first  levy  which  had  tak- 
en place  since  the  war.  At  the  same 
time,  measures  were  taken  for  colon- 
ising the  army  cantoned  in  Bessarabia, 
above  a  hundred  thousand  strong ;  and 
steps  adopted  for  establishing  the  army 
on  the  Polish  frontier  in  like  manner. 
The  design  of  the  emperor,  which  was 
a  very  magnificent  one,  was  to  encircle 
the  empire  with  a  zone  of  military  co- 
lonies, stretching  from  the  Black  Sea 
to  the  Baltic,  where  the  soldiers  might 
acquire  dwellings,  and  pursue  the  la- 
bours of  agriculture,  like  the  Roman 
legions,  while  still  guarding  the  fron- 
tiers, and  connect  them  with  similar 
establishments  of  a  pastoral  kind  on. 
the  frontiers  of  Persia  and  Tartary, 
where  the  vigilance  of  the  Cossacks 
guarded  from  insult  the  vast  steppes 
which  run  up  to  the  foot  of  the  Cau- 
casus. 

67.  The  year  1820  commenced  with 
a  very  impoi'tant  step — the  entire  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Jesuits  from  Russia. 
They  had  already,  in  consequence  of 
their  intrigues,  been  banished  in  1815 
from  St  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  but 
their  efforts  to  win  over  proselytes  to 
their  persuasion  had  since  that  time 
been  so  incessant  and  harassing,  that 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


they  were  now  finally  expelled  from 
the  whole  empire.*  Provision  was 
made  for  their  maintenance  in  the 
mean  time,  and  every  precaution  taken 
to  render  the  measure  as  gentle  in  its 
operation  as  possible.  Certainly,  as 
the  Roman  Catholics,  like  most  other 
sects,  regard  theirs  as  the  only  true 
faith,  and  all  others  as  heresies,  it  can 
be  no  matter  of  surprise,  still  less  of 
condemnation,  that  they  everywhere 
make  such  strenuous  efforts  to  gain 
proselytes  and  reclaim  souls,  as  they 
deem  it,  on  the  eve  of  perdition,  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Church.  But  as  other 
persuasions  are  equally  convinced  that 
their  own  is  the  true  form  of  worship, 
they  cannot  be  surprised,  and  have  no 
right  to  complain,  if  their  everywhere 
aggressive  attitude  is  met  by  a  corre- 
sponding defensive  one  ;  and  if  these 
states,  without  seeking  to  convert 
them  to  their  faith,  seek  only  to 
adopt  measures  that  may  secure  their 
own. 

C8.  The  time,  however,  had  now  ar- 
rived when  the  views  of  the  emperor, 
heretofore  so  liberal  and  indulgent, 
were  to  undergo  an  entire  change, 
•when  the  illusions  of  1814  were  to  be- 
dispelled,  and  Russia,  instead  of  be- 
ing, as  it  had  been  for  many  years,  at 
the  head  of  the  movement  party  in 
Europe,  was  to  become  its  most  de- 
cided opponent.  Already  the  emperor 
had  been  warned  by  anonymous  let- 
ters and  various  mysterious  communi- 
cations, as  well  as  by  reports  from  the 
secret  police,  of  the  existence  of  a  vast 
conspiracy,  which  embraced  several  of 
the  leading  officers  in  the  armies  both 

*  "  Les  Je'suites  quoique  suffisamment 
avertis  par  1'nnirnadversion  qu'ils  avaient  en- 
courue,  ne  changerent  pas  neanmoins  de  con- 
cluite.  II  fut  bientot  constate  par  les  rapports 
des  autorite"s  civiles  qu'ils  continnaient  a  at- 
tirer  clans  leur  communion  les  dleves  du  rit  or- 
thodoxe,  place's  au  college  de  Moholow  a  Sara- 
tof  et  dans  la  Sibe'rie.  Le  Moniteur  des  Cultes 
ne  manqua  point  de  signaler  ces  transgres- 
sions au  Pere  G6n6ral  de  1'ordre,  des  l'anne( 
1S15.  Ces  administrations  furent  inutiles. 
Loin  de  s'abstenir,  a  1'instanee  de  1't'glise 
dominante,  de  tout  moyen  de  s<5duction  et  de 
run  version,  les  Jesuites  oontinuerent  a  semer 
le  trouble  dans  les  colonies  du  rit  Protestant, 
«'t  se  pousserent  jusqu'a  la  violence  pour  sou- 
stmire  les  enfants  Juifs  a  leurs  parents." — 
Ukase,  25  Mars  1320.  Annuaire  Historioiie, 
iii.  2*6,  297. 


of  Poland  and  the  Danube,  anrl  nobles 
of  the  highest  rank  and  consideration. 
in  St  Petersburg.  The  object  of  the 
conspirators  was  stated  to  be  to  de- 
throne and  murder  the  emperor,  im- 
prison the  other  members  of  the  im- 
perial family,  and  establish  a  consti- 
tutional monarchy  on  the  footing  of 
those  of  western  Europe.  For  long 
the  emperor  gave  no  credit  to  these 
warnings;  he  could  not  believe  that 
an  army  which,  under  himself,  had 
done  such  great  things,  and  had  given 
him  personally  such  proofs  of  entire 
devotion,  could  have  so  soon  become 
implicated  in  a  traitorous  project  for 
his  destruction.  But  the  military  re- 
volution in  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Na- 
ples, in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1820, 
opened  his  eyes  to  the  volcano  on  which 
possibly  his  empire  might  be  resting ; 
and  the  events  in  Poland  ere  long  left 
no  doubt  that  the  danger  was  rapidly 
approaching  his  own  dominions. 

69.  The  Polish  Diet  opened  in  Sep- 
tember, and  the  emperor,  who  assisted 
at  it  in  person,  in  the  Polish  uniform, 
and  surrounded  with  Polish  officers, 
was  received  with  enthusiasm :  the 
city  was  illuminated  on  his  arrival, 
and  at  several  reviews  the  troops  of 
the  national  army  evinced  the  most 
loyal  feelings.  The  exposition  of  the 
minister  exhibited  the  most  flattering 
appearance;  the  population  had  in- 
creased to  3,468,000,  being  no  less 
than  a  million  since  the  termination 
of  the  war ;  agriculture,  manufactures, 
the  finances,  were  in  the  most  flourish- 
ing state.  But  what  is  material  pros- 
perity, beneficent  government,  to  a 
country  infested  with  the  fever  of  re- 
volution ?  It  soon  appeared,  when  the 
Diet  proceeded  to  real  business,  with 
what  species  of  spirit  they  were  ani- 
mated. On  a  proposition  to  amend 
the  criminal  law,  brought  forward  by 
the  ministers,  a  violent  opposition 
broke  forth  in  the  chamber,  on  the 
ground  that  the  proposed  mode  of  trial 
was  not  by  jury ;  and  it  was  rejected 
by  120  votes  to  3.  Another  proposal 
of  government,  for  certain  changes  in 
the  Senate,  was  also  rejected  by  a  large 
majority.  It  was  evident  that  the  Diet 
was  animated  with  the  wild  spirit  of 


36 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


Polish  equality,  not  merely  from  their 
measures,  but  from  the  extreme  vio- 
lence of  the  language  which  they  used, 
and  that  they  would  be  as  difficult  to 
manage  as  the  old  comitia,  where  any 
member,  by  the  exercise  of  his  liberum 
veto,  might  paralyse  the  whole  pro- 
ceedings. Alexander  was  profoundly 
affected ;  he  saw  at  once  the  depth  of 
the  abyss  which  yawned  beneath  his 
feet,  if  these  ideas,  as  in  Spain  and 
Naples,  should  gain  possession  of  the 
army,  the  main  prop  of  the  throne  in 
liis  despotic  realms;  and  he  closed:the 
Diet  with  a  speech,  in  which  his  ap- 
prehensions and  indignation  exhaled 
in  the  most  striking  manner.  * 

70.  This  incident  exercised  an  im- 
portant influence  on  the  affairs  of  Eu- 
rope in  general,  for  the  emperor  at  this 
period  was  on  his  way  to  the  Congress 
of  TROPPAU,  where  the  recent  revolu- 
tion in  the  Spanish  and  Italian  penin- 
sulas, and  the  alarming  state  of  affairs 
in  France,  were  to  be. taken  into  con- 
sideration. As  this  congress  was  called 
chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  Emperor  .Alexander,  and 
was  the  first  practical  application  of 
the  principles  of  the  Holy  Alliance  of 
which  he  was  the  author,  it  belongs 
more  properly  to  the  annals  of  Russia 
than  Germany,  within  whose  bounds 

*  "Parvenus  au  terme  oil  s'arrStent  au- 
jourd'hui  les  travaux  qui  cloivent  vous  con- 
duire  par  degres  vers  ce'but  important  de 
developper  et  d'affermirvos  institutions  na- 
tionales,  vous  pouvez  facilement  apprendre 
de  combien  vous  en  etes,  rapproehes.  Inter- 
rogez  votre  conscience,  et  vous  saurez  si  dans 
le  cours  de  vos  discussions,  vous  avez  rendu 
a  la  Pologne  tons  les  services  qu'elle  atten- 
dait  de  votre  sagesse,  pu  si,  au  contraire,  en- 
traines  par  des  seductions  trop  -communes  dc 
vos  jours,  et  immolant  un  espoir  qu'aurait 
realise  une  prevoyante  connance,  vous  n'avez 
pas  retarde  dans  son  progres  1'aurore  de  la 
restauration  de  votre  Patrie.  Cette  grave  re- 
sponsabilite  pesera  sur  vous.  Elle  est  la 
sftrete  necessaire  de  1'indepemlance  de  vos 
suffrages.  Us  sont  libres,  mais  une  intention 
pure  doit  toujours  les  determiner.  La  mienne 
vous  est  connue.  Vous  avez  regu  le  bien  pour 
le  mal,  et  la  Pologne  est  remontee  au  rang  des 
etats.  Je  persevererai  dans  mes  desseins  a 
son  egard,  qu'elle  que  soit  1'opinion  qu'on 
puisse  se  former  sur  la  maniere  dont  vous 
venez  d'excuser  vos  prorogations."— Ditcours 
de  I'Empereur  Alexandre  a  Varsovie,  1/13  Oc- 
tobre  1820,  a  la  cloture  de  la  Diete  Polonaise. 
Annuaire  Historique,  iii.  616. 


it  was  held.  The  Emperor  of  Austria, 
whose  terror  at  the  alarming  situation 
of  Italy  was  extreme,  arrived  there  on 
the  18th  October;  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  joined  him  there  on  the  20th. 
Indisposition  prevented  the  King  of 
Prussia  from  coming  till  the  7th  No- 
vember, but  he  was  represented  by 
the  hereditary  prince,  his  son.  Prince 
Metternich  and  M.  Gentz  on  the  part 
of  Austria;  Count  Nesselrode  and  Capo 
d'Istria  on  that  of  Russia ;  Prince  Hai  - 
denberg  and  Count  Bernstorff  on  that 
of  Prussia ;  Count  Caraman,  the  French 
ambassador  at  Vienna,  and  Sir  Charles 
Stewart,  the  English  ambassador  there, 
represented  the  several  powers.  The 
events  in  Italy  and  Spain  had  excited 
the  greatest  alarm  among  all  the  parties 
assembled,  and  the  most  vigorous  mea- 
sures were  resolved  on ;  and  although 
the  English  government  did  not  take 
an  active  part  in  their  deliberations, 
it  did  not  formally  oppose  the  mea- 
sures resolved  on. 

<TL  So  great  was  the  importance  of 
the  topics  discussed  at  the  Congress  of 
Troppau,  and  so  various  the  interests 
of  the  powers  there  assembled,  that  in 
former  days  it  would  in  all  probability 
have  led  to  a  general  war.  But  the 
remembrance  of  .past  strife  was  too  re- 
cent, the  terror  of  present  revolutions 
too  great,  to  permit  of  any  serious  di- 
vergence of  opinion  or  measures  taking 
place.  From  the  very  outset  the  Em- 
peror Alexander,  whose  apprehensions 
were  now  fully  awakened,  declared  that 
he  was  prepared  to  second  with  all  his 
forces  any. measures  which  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria  might  deem  necessary 
for  the  settlement  and  pacification  of 
Italy.  At  the  same  time  the  march 
of  the  Austrian  troops  towards  the 
south. of  Italy  continued  without  in- 
termission, and  a  holograph  letter  was 
despatched  from  the  assembled  sover- 
eigns to  the  King  of  Naples,  inviting 
him  to  join  them  in  person  at  a  new 
congress,  to  be  held  at  Laybach  in 
Styria.  A  minister  sent  from  Naples 
on  the  part  of  the  revolutionary  gov- 
ernment was  refused  admission;  and 
the  views  of  the  assembled  monarchs 
on  the  late  revolutions  were  announced 
in  several  semi-official  articles,  pub- 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


37 


lished  in  the  Vienna  papers,  which, 
even  more  than  their  official  instru- 
ments, revealed  their  real  sentiments.  * 
72.  The  congress,  to  be  nearer  the 
scene  of  action,  was  soon  after  trans- 
ferred to  LAYBACH,  where  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria  arrived  on  the  4th 
January,  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
on  the  7th.  The  King  of  Prussia  was 
hourly  expected;  and  the  King  of 
Naples,  whom  the  revolutionary  gov- 
ernment established  in  his  dominions 
did  not  venture  to  detain  at  home, 
came  on  the  8th.  So  much  had  been 
done  at  Troppau  in  laying  down  prin- 
ciples, that  nothing  remained  for  Lay- 
bach  but  their  practical  application. 
The  principle  which  Alexander  adopt- 
ed, and  which  met  with  the  concur- 
rence of  the  other  sovereigns,  was  that 
the  spirit  of  the  age  required  Liberal 
institutions,  and  a  gradual  admission 
of  the  people  to  a  share  of  power ;  but 
that  they  must  flow  from  the  sover- 
eign's free  will,  not  be  forced  upon 
him  by  his  subjects;  and,  therefore, 
that  no  compromise  whatever  could  be 
admitted  with  revolutionists  either  in 
the  Italian  or  Spanish  peninsulas.  In 
conformity  with  this  determination, 
there  was  signed,  on  2d  February  1821, 
a  treaty,  by  which  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  allied  powers  should  in  no 
way  recognise  the  revolutionary  gov- 
ernment in  Naples ;  and  that  the 
royal  authority  should  be  re  -  estab- 
lished on  the  footing  on  which  it  stood 

*  "  On  a  ncquis  la  conviction  que  cette  r6 
volution,  produite  par  tine  secte  egarue  et 
executee  par  des  soldats  indisciplines,  suivie 
d'un  renversement  violent  des  institutions 
legitimes,  et  de  leur  remplacement  par  un 
systeme  d'arbitraire  et  d'anarchie,  est  non- 
seulement  contraire  aux  principes  d'ordre,  de 
droit,  de  morale,  et  de  vrai  bien  -  €tre  des 
peuples,  tels  qu'ils  sont  dtablis  par  les  moil- 
an] lies,  mais  de  plus  incompatible  par  ses 
rusultats  inevitables  avec  le  repos  et  la  s<5 
eurite  des  autres  £tats  Italiens,  et  par  conse- 
quent avee  la  conservation  de  la  paix  en  Eu- 
rope. Pene'tres  de  ces  ve'rites,  les  Hants 
Monarqnes  ont  pris  la  ferine  resolution  d'em- 
ployer  tous  lenrs  moyens  afln  que  1'etat  actuel 
des  clioses  dans  le  royaume  des  Denx-Siciles, 
pioduit  par  la  revolte  et  la  force,  soit  detruit. 
mais  cependant  S.  M.  le  Roi  sera  mis  dans 
une  position  telle  qu'il  pourra  determiner  la 
constitution  future  de  ses  etats  d'une  manic-re 
compatible  avec  sa  dignite.  les  inteYets  de  son 
pi-uple,  et  lo  repos  des  etats  voisins."— 06- 
s-it-atcur  Autrichien,  Nov.  10,  1820. 


prior  to  the  insurrection  of  the  army 
on  5th  July  1820.  To  carry  their  re- 
solution into  effect,  it  was  agreed  that 
an  Austrian  army  should,  in  the  name  of 
Austria,  Russia,  and  Prussia,  be  put  at 
the  disposition  of  the  King  of  the  Two 
Sicilies ;  that,  from  the  moment  of  its 
passing  the  Po,  its  whole  expenses 
should  be  at  the  charge  of  that  king- 
dom, and  that  the  Neapolitan  domin- 
ions should  be  occupied  by  the  Aus- 
trian forces  during  three  years,  in  ths 
same  manner,  and  on  the  same  condi- 
tions, as  France  had  been  by  the  army 
under  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Eng- 
land and  France  were  no  parties  to 
this  treaty,  but  neither  did  they  op- 
pose it,  or  enter  into  any  alliance  with 
the  revolutionary  states.  They  simply 
remained  neuter,  passive  spectators  of 
a  matter  in  which  they  were  too  re- 
motely interested  to  be  called  on  prac- 
tically to  interfere,  but  which  they 
could  not  theoretically  approve.  Lord 
Castlereagh  contented  himself  with 
declaring  that  Great  Britain  could 
take  no  part  in  such  transactions,  as 
they  were  directly  opposed  to  the  fun- 
damental laws  of  his  country.* 

1  "  Le  systeme  des  mesures  proposees  ser- 
ait,  s'il  etait  I'objet  d'uue  reciprocite  d'ac- 
tion,  diainetrnlemeut  oppose  aux  lois  fonda- 
mentales  de  la  Grande  Bretagne;  mais  lore 
mSme  que  cette  objection  decisive  n'exister- 
ait  pas,  le  gouvernement  Britannique  n'en 
jugerait  pas  moins,  que  les  principes  qui 
servent  de  base  a  ces  mesures  ne  peuvent 
etre  admis  avec  quelque  surete  comme  sys- 
t£mes  de  loi  entre  les  nations.  Le  gou- 
vernement du  roi  pense  que  I'adoption  de 
ees  principes  sanctionnerait  inevitablement, 
et  pourrait  amener  par  la  suite,  de  la  part  des 
souverains  moins  bienveillants,  line  interven- 
tion dans  les  affaires  interieures  des  etats. 
beaucoup  plus  frequente  et  plus  etendue  que 
celle  dont  il  est  persuade  que  les  augustes 
personnages  ont  I'intention  d'user,  ou,  qui 
puisse  se  concilier  avec  I'interet  general,  ou 
avec  I'autorite  reelle,  et  la  dignite  des  sou- 
verains independants.  Quant  a  I'aflaire  par- 
ticuliere  de  Naples,  le  gouvernement  Britan- 
nique n'a  pas  hesite,  des  le  commenoeuieut, 
a  exprimer  fortement  son  im probation  de  Ja 
maniere  dont  cette  Revolution  s'est  effectuee, 
et  des  circonstances  dont  elle  paraissait  avoir 
ete  accompagnee;  mais  en  meme  temps,  il 
declare  expressement  aux  ditlcrentes  cours 
alliees,  qu'il  ne  croyait  pas  devoir,  ni  meme 
conseiller  une  intervention  de  la  part  de  la 
Grande  Bretagne.  II  admit  toujoura  que 
d'autres  etats  Europeens,  et  specialement 
PAutriche,  et  les  puissances  Italiennes,  pon- 
vaient  juger  que  les  circonstauces  etaient 


33 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


73.  This  deserves  to  be  noted  as  a 
turning-point  in  the  modern  history  of 
Europe.  It  marks  the  period  when 
separate  views  and  interests  began  to 
shake  the  hitherto  firmly  cemented  fa- 
bric of  the  Grand  Alliance ;  and  Great 
Britain  and  France,  for  the  first  time, 
assumed  a  part  together  at  variance 
with  the  determination  of  the  other 
great  powers.  They  had  not  yet  come 
into  actual  collision,  much  less  open 
hostility  ;  but  their  views  had  become 
so  different,  that  it  required  not  the 
gift  of  prophecy  to  foresee  that  colli- 
sion was  imminent  at  no  distant  pe- 
riod. This  was  the  more  remarkable, 
as  England  had  been,  during  the  whole 
of  the  revolutionary  war,  the  head  and 
soul  of  the  alliance  against  France,  and 
strenuously  contended  for  the  principle, 
that  though  no  attempt  should  be  made 
to  force  a  government  against  their  will 
on  the  French  people,  yet  a  coalition 
of  the  adjoining  powers  had  become 
indispensable  to  prevent  them  from 
forcing  their  institutions  upon  other 
states.  The  allied  governments  com- 
mented freely  on  this  great  change  of 
policy,  and  observed  that  England  was 
very  conservative  as  long  as  the  dan- 
ger was  at  her  own  door,  and  her  own 
institutions  were  threatened  by  the 
contagion  of  French  principles;  but 
that  she  became  very  Liberal  when  the 
danger  was  removed  to  a  more  distant 
quarter,  and  the  countries  threatened 
were  Italy,  Southern  Germany,  or 
France  itself.* 

differentes  relativement  a  enx,  et  11  declare 
que  son  intention  n'e"tait  pas  de  prejuger  la 
question  en  ce  qui  pouvait  les  affecter,  ni 
d'iuteryenir  dans  la  inarche  que  tels  etats 
pourraient  juger  convenable  d'adopter  pour 
leur  propre  surete;  pourvu  toutefois,  qu'tls 
fussent  disposes  a  donner  tontes  les  assur- 
ances raisonuables  que  leur  vues  n'etaient 
iii  dirige"es  vers  des  objets  d'agraudissement, 
ni  vers  la  subversion  du  systeme  territorial 
de  1'Europe,  tel  qu'il  a  etc"  e"tabli  par  les  der- 
niers  traites."— CASTLEREAOH,  DepecheCircu.- 
laire  adressee  anx  Ministres  de  S.  M.  BrUnn- 
nique  pour  les  Cours  Etrangeres,  19  Jan.  1821. 
Ann.  Historique,  ii  688,  689. 

*  "  La  Revolution  de  Naples  a  donne  an. 
monde  un  exemple,  aussi  instructor  que  de"- 
plorable,  de  ce  que  les  nations  ont  a  gagner, 
lorsqu'elles  eherchent  les  reTormes  politiques 
dans  les  voies  de  la  rebellion.  Ourdie  ea 
secret  par  une  seute,  dont  les  maximes  im- 
pies  atlaquent  a  la  fois  la  religion,  la  morale, 


74.  To  fix  the  just  principles,  and 
define  the  limits  of  the  right  of  inter- 
vention, is  unquestionably  one  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  in  politics,  and 
one  fraught  with  the  most  momentous 
consequences.  If  the  right  is  carried 
out  to  its  full  extent,  incessant  warfare 
would,  in  civilised  communities  in  dif- 
ferent stages  of  civilisation,  be  the  in- 
evitable destiny  of  the  species;  for 
every  republican  state  would  seek  to 
revolutionise  its  neighbours,  and  every 
despotic  one  to  surround  itself  with  a 
girdle  of  absolute  monarchies.  Each 
party  loudly  invokes  the  principle  of 
non-intervention,  when  its  opponents 
are  acting  on  the  opposite  principle ; 
and  as  certainly  follows  their  example, 
when  an  opportunity  occurs  for  estab- 
lishing elsewhere  a  regime  conform- 
able to  its  own  wishes  or  example. 
Perhaps  it  is  impossible  to  draw  the 
line  more  fairly  than  by  saying,  that 
no  nation  has  a  right  to  interfere  in 
the  internal  concerns  of  another  na- 
tion, unless  that  other  is  adopting 
measures  which  threaten  its  own  peace 
and  tranquillity :  in  a  word,  that  in- 
tervention is  only  justifiable  when  it 
is  done  for  the  purposes  of  self-defence. 
Yet  is  this  a  very  vague  and  unsatis- 
factory basis  on  which  to  rest  the  prin- 
ciple ;  for  who  is  to  judge  when  inter- 
nal tranquillity  is  threatened,  and  ex- 
lernal  intervention  has  become  indis- 
pensable? It  is  much  to  be  feared 
that  here,  as  elsewhere,  in  the  trans- 
actions of  independent  states,  which 

et  tons  les  liens  sociaux;  exocute'e  par  des 
soldats  traitres  a  leurs  senueuts:  consom- 
niee  par  la  violence,  et  les  menaces  dirig£es 
centre  le  souverain  l<5gitime,  cette  Revolution 
n'a  produit  que  1'anarchie  et  la  disposition 
militaire  qu'elle  a  renforcee,  au  lieu  de  1'affai- 
blir,  en  creant  un  regime  monstreux,  incap- 
able de  servir  de  base  a  un  gouvernement 
quel  qu'il  soit,  incompatible  avec  tout  ordre 
public,  et  avec  les  premiers  besoins  de  la  so- 
cie"te.  Les  souverains  allies  ne  pouvant,  des 
le  principe,  se  tromper  sur  les  effets  inevit- 
ables de  ces  funestes  attentats ;  se  deciderent 
sur-le-champ  a  ne  point  admettre,  comme 
Ie"gal,  tout  ce  que  la  revolution  et  1'usurpa- 
tion  avaient  prutendu  e"tablir  dans  le  roy- 
aume  de  Naples ;  et  cette  niesure  fut  adop- 
ted par  la  presque  totalite"  des  gouvernements 
de  1'Europe."  —  LE  COMTE  NESSELRODE  au 
COMTE  DE  STACKELBERC,  Ambassadeur  a.  Na- 
ples, Laybach,  19/31  Jan.  1821.  Ann.  Histor- 
ique,  ii.  693. 


1321.] 

acknowledge  no  superior,  much  must 
depend  on  the  moderation  of  the 
stronger;  and  that  "might  makes 
right  '  will  be  the  practice,  whatever 
may  be  the  law  of  nations,  to  the  end 
of  the  world.  But  one  thing  is  clear, 
that  it  is  with  the  democratic  party 
that  the  chief — indeed,  of  late  years, 
the  entire  —  blame  of  intervention 
rests.  The  monarchical  powers  have 
never  moved  since  1789  but  in  self- 
defence.  Every  war  which  has  deso- 
lated Europe  and  afflicted  humanity 
since  that  time  has  been  provoked  by 
the  propagandism  of  republican  states ; 
if  left  to  themselves,  the  absolute  mon- 
orchs  would  have  been  too  happy  to 
slumber  on,  reposing  on  their  laurels, 
weighed  down  by  their  debt,  recover- 
ing from  their  fatigues. 

75.  It  was  the  circumstance  of  the 
three  powers  which  had  signed  the 
Holy  Alliance  appearing  banded  toge- 
ther to  crush  the  revolution  in  Italy, 
which  caused  that  Alliance  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  league  of  sovereigns  against 
the  liberties  of  mankind,  and  to  be- 
come the  object  of  such  unmeasured 
obloquy  to  the  whole  Liberal   party 
throughout  the  world.     There  never 
was  a  greater  mistake.     The  Holy  Al- 
liance became  a  league,  and  it  proved  a 
most  efficient  one,  against  the  progress 
of  revolution ;  but  it  was  not  so  at  first. 
It  was  forced  into  defensive  measures 
by  the  aggressions  of  its  political  anta- 
gonists in  Spain  and  Italy.     Not  one 
shot  had  been  fired  in  Europe,  nor  one 
sabre  drawn,  from  any  contest  which 
it  commenced,  though  many  have  been 
so  from  those  into  which  it  has  been 
driven.     In  truth,  this  celebrated  Al- 
liance, which  was  the  creation  of  the 
benevolent  dreamsof  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, and  the  mystical  conceptions  of 
Madame  Krudener,  was,  as  already  ex- 
plained, a  philanthropic  effusion,  ami- 
able in  design,  but  unwise  in  thought, 
and  incapable  of  application  in  a  world 
such  as  that  in  which  we  are  placed. 

76.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  it 
was  impossible  for  England  to  have 
acted  otherwise  than  she  did  on  this 
occasion,  and  that  the  line  which  Lord 
Castlereagh   took  was  such  as  alone 
befitted  the  minister  of  a  free  people. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Being  the  representative  of  a  country 
which  had  progressively  extorted  its 
liberties  from  its  sovereigns,  and  at 
length  changed  the  dynasty  on  the 
throne  to  secure  them,  he  could  not 
be  a  party  to  a  league  professing  to 
extinguish  popular  resistance:  placed 
at  a  distance  from  the  theatre  of  dan- 
ger, the  plea  of  necessity  could  not  be 
advanced  to  justify  such  a  departure 
from  principle.  He  took  the  only  line 
which,  on  such  an  occasion,  was  con- 
sistent with  his  situation,  and  dictated 
by  a  due  regard  to  the  national  interest; 
— he  abstained  from  taking  any  part  in 
the  contest,  and  contented  himself  with 
pro  testing  against  any  abuse  of  the  pre- 
tension on  which  it  was  rested. 

77.  The  contest  in  Italy  was  of  very 
short  duration.  The  revolutionists 
proved  incapable  of  defending  them- 
selves against  an  Austrian  army,  little 
more  than  half  of  their  own  strength ; 
they  were  formidable  only  to  their  own 
sovereign.  The  Minister  at  War  an- 
nounced to  the  parliament  at  Naples, 
on  the  2d  January,  that  the  regular 
army  amounted  to  fifty-four  thousand 
men,  and  the  national  guards  to  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  more ;  that  the 
fortresses  were  fully  armed  and  provi- 
sioned, and  in  the  best  possible  state  of 
defence ;  and  that  everything  was  pre- 
pared for  the  most  vigorous  resistance. 
But  already  serious  divisions  had  broken 
out  in  the  army,  especially  between  the 
guards  and  the  troops  of  the  line ;  and 
dissensions  of  the  most  violent  kind  had 
arisen  between  the  leaders  of  the  revolt, 
especially  the  Cardinal  Ruffo  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  Carbonari.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  when  the  moment  of 
action  arrived,  scarce  any  resistance 
was  made.  On  8th  February  a  courier 
from  Laybach  announced  at  Naples 
that  all  hope  of  accommodation  was 
at  an  end,  and  that  the  sovereigns  as- 
sembled there  would  in  no  shape  re- 
cognise the  revolutionary  authorities  at 
Naples.  The  effect  of  this  announce- 
ment was  terrible ;  it  did  not  rouse  re- 
sistance— it  overpowered  it  by  fear.  In 
vain  the  assembly  ordered  fifty  thou- 
sand of  the  national  guards  to  be  called 
out,  and  moved  to  the  frontier ;  nothing 
efficient  was  done — terror  froze  every 


40 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


lieart.  The  ministers  of  Russia,  Aus- 
tria, and  Prussia  left  Naples ;  the  pre- 
sence of  ten  French  and  eight  English 
sail  of  the  line  in  the  hay  rather  ex- 
cited alarm  than  inspired  confidence. 
On  the  4th  February,  General  Frimont 
published  from  his  headquarters  at 
Padua  a  proclamation,  announcing  that 
his  army  was  about  to  cross  the  Po,  to 
assist  in  the  pacification  of  Italy ;  and 
on  the  following  day  the.  troops,  nearly 
fifty  thousand  strong,  commenced  the 
passage  of  that  river  at  five  points  be- 
tween Cremona  and  St  Benedetto. 

78.  The  march  of  the  Austrian. army 
met  with  so  little  opposition  that  the 
events  which  followed  could  not  be 
called  a  campaign.  When  they  arrived 
at  Bologna,  the  troops  were  separated 
into  two  divisions ;  one  of  which,  un- 
der the  command  of  Count  Walmoden, 
crossed  the  Apennines,  and  advanced, 
by  Florence  and  Rome,  by  the  great 
road  to  Naples ;  while  the  other  moved 
by  the  left  to  the  sea-side,  and  reached 
Ancona.  The  first  corps  passed  Rome, 
without  entering  it,  on  February  28th  ; 
the  second  occupied  Ancona  on  the  19th. 
Meanwhile  the  preparations  of  the 
Neapolitans  were  very  extensive,  and 
seemed  to  presage  a  serious  resistance. 
Their  forces,  too,  were  divided  into  two 
corps ;  the  first  of  which,  forty  thou- 
sand strong,  under  General  Carascosa, 
occupied  the  strong  position  of  St  Ger- 
mano,  with  its  left  on  the  fortress  of 
Gaeta,  within  the  Neapolitan  territory; 
while  the  second,  under  General  Pepe, 
of  thirty  thousand,  chiefly  militia,  was 
opposed  to  the  corps  advancing  along 
the  Adriatic,  and  charged  with  the  de- 
fence of  the  Abruzzi.  But  it  was  all  in 
vain.  Pepe,  finding  that  his  battalions 
were  disbanding,  and  his  troops  melt- 
ing away  before  they  had  ever  seen  the 
enemy,  resolved  to  hazard  an  attack 
on  the  Austrians  at  Rieti.  But  no 
sooner  did  they  come  in  sight  of  the 
German  vanguard,  consisting  of  a 
splendid  regiment  of  Hungarian  caval- 
ry, than  a  sudden  panic  seized  them. 
The  new  levies  disbanded  and  fled, 
with  the  cry  of  "  Tradimento ;  salvarsi 
chi  puo ! "  The  contagion  spread  to 
the  old  troops.  Soon  the  whole  army 
was  a  mere  mob,  every  one  trying  to 


outrun  his  neighbour.  Cannon,  am- 
munition, standards,  were  alike  aban- 
doned. Pepe  himself  was  carried  away 
by  the  torrent,  and  the  Abruzzi  were 
left  without  any  defence  but  the  impe- 
diments arising  from  the  wreck  of  the 
army,  whose  implements  of  war  strewed 
the  roads  over  which  it  had  fled.* 

79.  This  catastrophe  was  a  mortal 
stroke  to  the  insurrection ;  for,  inde- 
pendent of  the  moral  influence  of  such 
a  discreditable  seene  succeeding  the 
warm  appeals  and  confident  predic- 
tions of  the.  revolutionists,  the  position 
of  their  main  army,  and  on  which  alone 
they  could  rely,  for  the  defence  of  Na- 
ples at  St  Germano,  under  Carascosa, 
wtis  liable  to  be  turned  by  the  Abruzzi, 
and  was  no  longer  tenable.  The  broken 
remains  of  Pepe's  army  dispersed  in 
the  Apennines,  and  sought  shelter  in 
its  fastnesses ;  some  made  their  ap- 
pearance in  Naples,  where  they  ex- 
cited universal  consternation.  In  this 
extremity  the  parliament,  assembled 
in  select  committee,  supplicated  the 
Prince  Vicar  to  mediate  between  them 
and  the  king ;  and,  above  all,  to  arrest 
the  march  of  the  Austrian  troops.  But 
it  was  all  in  vain.  The  Imperial  ge- 
nerals,, seeing  their  advantage,  only 
pressed  on  with,  the  more  vigour  on 
the  disorderly  array  of  their  opponents. 
Walmoden  advanced  without  opposi- 
tion through  the  Abruzzi.  Aquila 
opened  its  gates  on  the  10th  March, 
its  castle  on  the  12th;  and  Carascosa, 

*  "  Vacillarono  le  nostre  giovani  bande, 
si  ritiraiouo  le  prime,  lion  procederono  lo 
seronde,  si  confusero  le  ordinanze.  Ed  allora 
avanzo  prima  lentamente,  poscia  incalzando 
i  passi,  ed  alflne>  in  corsa  un  superbo  reggi- 
mento  di  cavalleria  Unglierese,  si  che  nell1 
aspetto  del  creseente  pericolo  le  niilizie  civi- 
li,  nuove  alia  gnerra,  trepidarono,  fuggirono, 
strascinarono  coll'  impeto  e  coll"  esempio 
qualche  compagnia  di  phi  vecchi  soldati,  si 
nippero  gli  ordini,  si  udirono  le  vooi  di  tradi- 
mento,  e  talvarsi  chi  pitf> ;  seomparve  il  cain- 
po.  —  Proseguirono  nella  succedente  notte  i 
disordini  dell'  esereito:  Antrodoco  fu  abban- 
donata;  il  General  Pepe  seguiva  i  fuggitivi. — 
Miserando  spettacolo !  gettate  le  armi  e  le 
insegne  ;  le  macchine  di  guerra,  fatte  ineiam- 
po  al  fuggire,  rovesoiate,  spezzate;  gli  argini, 
le  trincere,  opere  di  moke  nienti  e  di  inolte 
bracoia,  aperte,  abbandonate;  ogni  ordine 
seoinposto:  esereito  poeo  innanzi  spaventoso 
alnemico,  oggi  v61to  in  ludibrio. " — COLLETTA. 
(a  Liberal  liistorian),  ii.  437,  43S. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


41 


seeing  his  right  flank  turned  by  the 
mountains,  gave  orders  for  his  troops 
to  retire  at  all  points  from  the  position 
they  occupied  on  the  Garigliano.  This 
was  the  signal  for  a  universal  dissolu- 
tion of  the  force.  Infantry,  cavalry, 
and  artillery,  alike  disbanded  and  fled. 
A  few  regiments  of  the  royal  guard 
alone  preserved  any  semblance  of  mili- 
tary array,  and  the  main  Austrian 
army  advanced  without  opposition  to- 
wards Naples,  where  terror  was  at  its 
height,  securities  of  all  sorts  unsale- 
able, and  the  revolutionary  government 
Eowerless.  Finding  further  resistance 
opeless,  Carascosa  made  the  Prince 
Vicar,  who  had  set  out  to  join  the 
army,  return  to  Naples;  and  on  the 
20th  of  March  a  suspension  of  hostili- 
ties was  agreed  on,  the  condition,  of 
which  was  the  surrender  of  Capua  and 
Aversa  to  the  Imperialists.  This  was. 
followed  by  the  capitulation  of  Naples 
itself,  a  few  days  after,  on  the  same 
terms  as  that  of  Capua.  The  Austrians 
entered  on  the  following  day,  and  were 
put  in  possession  of  the  forts;  while 
Carascosa,  Pepe,  and  the  other  chiefs 
of  the  insurrection,  obtained  .passports, 
which  were  willingly  granted  \>y  the 
conquerors,  and  escaped  from  the  scene 
of  danger.  Sicily,  where  the  revolu- 
tion had  assumed  so  virulent  a  form, 
submitted,  after  a  vain  attempt  at  re- 
sistance, shortly  after ;  and  the  king, 
on  the  12th  May,  amidst  general  ac- 
clamations, re-entered  his  capital,  now 
entirely  garrisoned,  and  under  the  con» 
trol  of  the  Austrian  troops. 

80.  It  was  during  these  events,  so 
fatal  to  the  cause  of  revolution  in 
Naples,  that  the  old  government  was 
overturned  in  Piedmont,  and  the  stan- 
dard of  treason  hoisted  on  the  citadel  of 
Turin.  The  account  of  that  important 
but  ill-timed  event,  which  took  place 
on  the  13th  March,  has  been  already 
given,  as  forming  the  last  in  the  cata- 
logue of  revolutionary  triumphs  which 
followed  the  explosion  in  Spain.  As 
it  broke  out  at  the  very  time  when  the 
Neapolitan  armies  were  dissolving  at 
the  sight  of  the  Hungarian  hussars, 
and  only  ten  days  before  Naples  open- 
ed its  gates  to  the  victors,  it  was  obvi- 
ously a  hopeless  movement,  and  the 


only  wisdom  for  its  promoters  would 
have  been  to  have  extricated  them- 
selves as  quietly  and  speedily  as  they 
could  from  a  contest  now  plainly  be- 
come for  the  time  hopeless.  But  the 
extreme  revolutionary  party,  deem- 
ing themselves  too  far  committed  to 
recede,  determined  on  the  most  des- 
perate measures.  War  was  resolved 
on  by  the  leaders  of  the  movement  at 
Alessandria,  which  had  always  been 
the  focus  of  the  insurrection,  and  a 
ministry  installed  te  carry  it  into  ex- 
ecution ;  but  the.  Prince  Regent  escap- 
ed in  the  night  from  Turin,  with  some 
regiments  of  troops,  upon  whom  he 
could  still  rely,  to  Novarra,  where  the 
nucleus-  of  a  royal  army  began  to  be 
formed,  from  whence,  two  days  after, 
he  issued  a  declaration  renouncing  the 
office  of  Prince  Regent,  and  thus  giv- 
ing, as  he  himself  said,  "now  and 
for  ever,  the  most  respectful  proof  of 
obedience  to  the  royal  authority." 
This  made  all  persons  at  Turin  who 
were  still  under  the  guidance  of  reason 
aware  that  the  cause  ef  revolution  was 
for  the  present  hopeless.  Symptoms  of 
returningjoyalty  appeared  in  the  army ; 
and  Count  de  la  Tour,  who  was  secretly 
inclined  to  the  royalists,  resolved  to 
retire  to  Alessandria*  with  such  of  the 
troops  as  he  could,  rely  on,  to  await 
the  possible  return  ef  better  times; 
and  orders  were  given  to  that  effect. 

81.  Meanwhile  the  allied  sovereigns 
at  Laybach  were  taking  the  most  vigor- 
ous measures  to  crush  the  insurrection 
in  Piedmont.  The  Emperor  of  Austria 
instantly  ordered  the  formation  of  a 
corps  of  observation  on  the  frontier  of 
that  kingdom,  drawn  from  the  garri- 
sons in  the  Lombard-Venetian  pro- 
vinces ;  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
directed  the  assembling  of  an  army  of 
100,000  men,  taken  from  the  armies 
of  the  South  and  Poland,  with  instruc- 
tions to  march  direct  towards  Turin. 
Requisitions  were  made  to  the  Helvetic 
cantons  to  take  precautionary  measures 
against  a  conflagration  which  threat- 
ened to  embrace  the  whole  of  Italy. 
Before  this  resolution,  however,  could 
be  carried  into  effect,  intelligence  was 
received  that  the  queen's  regiment  of 
dragoons  had  left  Novarra  amidst  cries 


42 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viii. 


of ' '  Viva  la  Costituzione  !  "  This  news 
so  elevated  the  spirits  of  the  insurgents, 
that  the  orders  to  retire  to  Alessandria 
were  countermanded  ;  and,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  they  issued  from  the  seat 
of  government  a  proclamation,  in 
which,  after  declaring  that  the  king 
was  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  Austria, 
and  that  the  Prince  Regent  had  been 
deceived,  they  called  on  the  Piedmou- 
tese  to  take  xip  arms,  promising  them 
"  the  succour,  of  the  Lombards  and  the 
support  of  France."  This  appeal  had 
little  effect ;  the  intelligence  of  the  un- 
resisted  inarch  of  the  Austrians  towards 
Naples  froze  every  heart  in  the  capital. 
At  Genoa,  however,  the  popular  deter- 
mination was  more  strongly  evinced. 
A  proclamation  of  the  governor,  call- 
ing on  the  people  to  abandon  the  con- 
stitution and  submit  themselves  to  the 
former  government,  led  to  a  fresh 
commotion,  in  which  he  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  life,  and  which  was 
only  appeased  by  the  appointment  of 
a  junta  of  government  composed  of 
the  most  decided  popular  chiefs.  The 
intelligence  of  this  fresh  insurrection 
greatly  raised  the  spirit  of  the  leaders 
at  Turin,  and  the  preparations  for  war 
in  the  capital  were  continued  with  un- 
abated zeal  by  the  government. 

82.  But  it  was  too  late  :  the  fate  of 
the  Piedmontese  revolution  had  been 
determined  in  the  passes  of  the  Ab- 
ruzzi.  Already,  on  the  requisition  of 
Charles  Felix,  the  deposed  king,  a 
corps  of  Austrians,  fifteen  thousand 
strong,  had  been  assembled,  under 
Count  Bubna,  on  the  Ticino,  the  bridg- 
es over  which  had  been  broken  down, 
to  prevent  any  communication  with 
the  insurgents.  General  La  Tour, 
meanwhile,  the  governor  of  Turin,  see- 
ing the  cause  of  the  revolution  hope- 
less, and  wishing  to  avoid  the  interfer- 
ence of  foreigners,  was  taking  measures 
to  restore  the  royal  authority  there 
without  the  intervention  of  the  Aus- 
trians ;  and  a  large  part  of  the  army, 
especially  the  royal  carabineers,  were 
already  disposed  to  second  him.  But 
his  designs  were  discovered  and  frus- 
trated by  the  Minister  at  War,  a  stanch 
revolutionist,  who  caused  several  regi- 
ments known  to  be  most  attached  to 


the  constitution  to  come  to  Turin, 
where  they  had  a  skirmish  with  the 
carabineers,  which  ended  in  two-thirds 
of  the  latter  body  leaving  the  capital 
and  taking  the  road  to  Novarra,  where 
eight  thousand  men  were  already  as- 
sembled round  the  royal  standard. 
The  knowledge  of  their  strength,  which 
nearly  equalled  that  of  the  troops  on 
the  other  side,  and  of  the  certain  sup- 
port of  the  Austrians,  made  the  mem- 
bers of  the  junta  lend  a  willing  ear  to 
the  proposals  of  the  Count  Mocenigo, 
the  Russian  minister,  who  suggested, 
in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  a  submis- 
sion to  the  king  on  the  condition  of  a 
general  amnesty,  and  the  hope  of  a 
constitution  which  should  guarantee 
the  interests  of  society. 

83.  But,  as  often  happens  in  such 
convulsions,  the  ardour  of  the  extreme 
and  enthusiastic  of  the  insurgents  de- 
feated all  the  efforts  of  the  more  moder- 
ate of  their  party,  and  left  to  the  Pied- 
montese the  exasperation  of  civil  war 
and  the  bitterness  of  foreign  subjuga- 
tion. The  majority  of  the  junta  con- 
tinued to  hold  out ;  and  their  eyes 
were  not  opened  to  the  declining  cir- 
cumstances of  their  cause  even  by  the 
disbanding  of  several  battalions  of 
the  militia,  who,  instead  of  joining 
the  general  rendezvous  at  Alessandria, 
left  their  colours,  and  returned  home. 
At  length,  seeing  no  prospect  of  an 
accommodation,  the  Count  de  la  Tour, 
who  had  joined  the  royal  army  at  No- 
varra, and  was  at  its  head,  having 
concerted  measures  with  the  Austrian 
general,  advanced  to  Vercelli.  Here, 
however,  he  was  met  by  &  considerable 
body  of  the  insurgents,  and  not  deem- 
ing himself  in  sufficient  strength  to  en- 
counter them,  he  fell  back  to  Novarra, 
where  he  was  joined,  on  the  7th  April, 
by  the  Austrians,  who  had  crossed  the 
Ticino  at  Buffalora  and  Mortara.  Their 
junction,  which  took  place  at  two  in 
the  morning  of  the  8th,  was  unknown 
to  the  insurgents,  who,  driving  the 
light  troops  of  the  royalists  before 
them,  appeared  at  ten  in  the  morning, 
in  front  of  the  bastions  of  the  place, 
anticipating  its  speedy  capture,  and  an 
easy  victory.  But  they  were  soon  un- 
deceived. Suddenly  a  terrible  fire  of 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


43 


grape  and  musketry  opened  from  the 
bastions  ;  as  the  smoke  cleared  away, 
the  Austrian  uniform  and  shakos  were 
seen  above  the  parapets,  and  the  in- 
surgents found  themselves  engaged 
with  the  combined  Austrian  and  Pied- 
montese  forces,  nearly  triple  their  own, 
supported  by  the  guns  of  the  place. 
The  effect  of  this  unexpected  appari- 
tion was  immense  upon  the  spirits  of 
the  assailants,  who  immediately  fell 
back  towards  Vercelli.  The  retreat 
was  conducted  at  first  with  more  order 
than  could  have  been  expected,  as  far 
as  the  bridge  over  the  Agogna,  at  the 
entrance  of  a  long  defile  formed  by 
the  chaussee,  where  it  traverses  the 
marshes.  There,  however,  the  rear- 
guard was  charged  vigorously  by  the 
Austrian  horse,  and  thrown  into  con- 
fusion ;  the  disorder  rapidly  spread  to 
the  troops  engaged  in  the  defile,  who 
were  already  encumbered  with  their  ar- 
tillery and  baggage-waggons  ;  and  ere 
long  the  whole  dispersed,  and  sought 
their  homes,  leaving  their  cannon, 
baggage,  and  colours,  to  the  enemy. 

84.  This  affair  terminated  the  war, 
although  it  had  cost  only  a  few  killed 
and  wounded  to  the  defeated  party  ; 
so  swift  had  been  their  flight  that  very 
few  prisoners  were  taken.  The  junta 
at  Turin,  upon  hearing  of  this  defeat, 
gave  orders  to  evacuate  the  capital, 
and  fall  back  to  Genoa,  where  they 
declared  they  would  defend  themselves 
to  the  last  extremity.  But  it  is  sel- 
dom, save  in  a  single  city,  that  the 
cause  of  an  insurrection  can  be  main- 
tained after  a  serious  defeat.  The 
constitutionalists  melted  away  on  all 
sides  ;  every  one  hastened  to  show  not 
only  that  he  was  loyal  now,  but  had 
been  so  throughout,  and  in  the  worst 
times.  Finding  the  case  hopeless,  the 
junta  surrendered  their  powers,  on  the 
day  following,  to  a  committee  of  ten, 
invested  with  full  power  to  treat.  They 
immediately  sent  a  deputation  to  Gen- 
eral La  Tour,  offering  him  the  keys 
of  the  capital,  and  entreating  that  it 
should  be  occupied  only  by  the  nation- 
al troops.  This  was  agreed  to,  and  it 
was  promised  that  the  Austrians  should 
not  advance  beyond  Vercelli.  On  the 
12th,  General  La  Tour,  surrounded  by 


a  brilliant  staff,  and  followed  only  by 
the  national  troops,  made  his  public 
entrance  into  Turin,  where  the  royal 
authority  was  immediately  re-estab- 
lished. The  revolutionary  journals 
disappeared  ;  the  clubs  were  closed  ; 
and  the  public  funds,  which  had  lately 
been  at  69,  rose  to  77.  On  the  follow- 
ing day,  the  Austrian  troops  took 
possession  of  Alessandria,  and  other 
fortresses  on  the  frontier  ;  and  as  the 
old  king,  Charles  Felix,  persisted  in  his 
resolution  to  abdicate  after  he  had  be- 
come a  free  agent,  and  his  sincerity 
could  no  longer  be  suspected,  his  bro- 
ther, the  Prince  of  Carignan,  assumed 
the  title,  and  began  to  exercise  the 
powers  of  royalty.  A  commission  was 
appointed  to  examine  the  conduct  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  insurrection  :  the  leaders 
had,  for  the  most  part,  escaped  into 
France  ;  but  the  effects  of  forty-three 
were  put  under  sequestration,  and  them- 
selves executed,  happily  only  in  effigy. 
85.  The  violent  repression  of  the 
revolution  in  Italy,  by  the  Austrian 
bayonets,  was  followed  by  a  great  va- 
riety of  harsh  and  oppressive  measures 
on  the  part  of  the  conquerors,  which 
augured  ill  for  the  peace  of  the  penin- 
sula in  future  times.  A  general  dis- 
armament of  all  the  provinces  of  the 
Neapolitan  territories  where  Austrian 
soldiers  had  been  assassinated,  was  de- 
creed, and  enforced  by  domiciliary 
visits ;  the  whole  irregular  corps,  raised 
since  5th  July  1820,  were  disbanded; 
foreign  journals  loaded  with  such  heavy 
taxes  as  amounted  to  a  prohibition ; 
and  the  most  rigorous  inquiry  made 
into  the  books,  many  of  them  highly 
dangerous,  which  had  been  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  young  at  schools. 
The  king,  on  his  return,  published  a 
decree,  engaging  to  "stifle  all  personal 
resentment,  and  make  the  nation  for- 
get, in  years  of  prosperity,  the  disas- 
trous events  which  have  stained  the 
last  days  of  Neapolitan  history;" 
but  within  three  days  after,  measures 
of  severity  began.  Four  courts-martial 
were  constituted,  to  take  cognisance 
of  the  military  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  revolts  which  ended  in  the  revolu- 
tion, and  several  of  the  leading  depu- 
ties of  the  assembly  were  sent  into 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


confinement  in  Austria.  By  a  decree 
on  July  1,  which  commented,  in  severe 
but  just  terms,  on  their  treacherous 
conduct,  the  army,  which  had  been 
the  chief  instrument  of  the  revolution, 
was  disbanded,  and  reorganised  anew 
on  a  different  footing.*  The  finances 
were  found  to  be  in  so  deplorable  a 
condition,  that  loans  to  the  amount  of 
3,800,000  ducats  (£850,000)  alone  en- 
abled the  king  to  provide  for  imme- 
diate necessities,  and  heavy  taxes  were 
levied  to  enable  him  to  carry  on  the 
government.  Finally,  a  treaty  was 
signed  on  28th  October,  by  which  it 
was  stipulated  that  the  army  of  occu- 
pation should  consist  of  forty-two  thou- 
sand men,  including  seven  thousand 
cavalry,  besides  the  troops  stationed, 
in  Sicily ;  and  that  it  should  remain 
in  the  Neapolitan  territory  for  three 
years,  entirely  at  the  charge  of  its 
inhabitants. 

86.  Piedmont  did  not  fare  better,, 
after  the  dissolution  of  the  revolution- 
ary forces,  than  Naples  had.  done. 
The  prosecutions  against  the  principal 
authors  of  the  revolt,  both  civil  and; 
military,  were  conducted. with  vigour, 
and  great  numbers  of  persons  were 
arrested,  or  deprived  of  their  employ- 
ments. Happily,  however,  as  the  whole 
chiefs  of  the  conspiracy  had  escaped 
into  France,  there  were  no  capital  ex- 
ecutions, except  among. a  few  of  the 

*  "  L'armiSe  est  la  principals  cause  de  ces 
maux.  Faetieuse,  ou  entretenue  par  des 
factions,  elle  nous  a  abandonnes  au  moment 
du  danger;  et  nous  a  par  la,  prives  des 
moyens  de  pre"venir  les  malheureuses  conse- 
quences d'une  revolution.  S'etant  livree  a 
uue  secte  qui  de'truit  tous  les  liens  de  -la  sub- 
ordination, et  de  1'obeissance,  1'armee,  apres 
avoir  trahi  ses  devoirs  envers  nous,  s'est  vue 
incapable  de  remplir  les  devoirs  que  la  r6- 
volte  avait  voulu  lui  imposer.  Elle  a  opere 
elle-meme  sa  destruction,  et  les  chefs  qu'elle 
s'etait  donnes,  n'ont  fait  que  pre"sider  a  sa 
dissolution  ;  elle  n'offre  plus  aucune  garantie 
necessaire  a  1'existenr.e  d'une  armee  ;  le  bien 
de  nos  e"tats  exige  cependant  ^existence  d'une 
force  protectrice,  nous  avons  ete  obliges  de  la 
deinander  a  nos  allies  ;  ils  1'ont  mise  a  notre 
disposition.  Nous  devons  pourvoir  a  son 
entretien,  mais  nous  ne  pouvons  pas  faire 
supporter  a  nos  sujets,  le  pesant  fardeau  des 
frais  d'une  armee  qui  n'existe  plus,  parce 
qu'elle  n'a  pas  su  exister.  Ces  motifs  nous 
out  determines  i  dissoudre  1'armee,  a  compter 
du  24  Mars  de  cette  anne'e." — Decret,  \Juillet 
1821.  Annuaire  Historique,  iv.  364. 


most  guilty  in  the  army.  To  tranquil- 
lise  the  fears  of  Austria,  and  give  sta- 
bility to  the  restored  order  of  things 
in  Piedmont,  a  treaty  between  the  two 
powers  was  concluded  on  the  26th 
July,  by  which  it  was  stipulated  that 
an  imperial  force  of  twelve  thou- 
sand men  should  continue  in  occupa- 
tion, until  September  1822,  of  Stra- 
della,  Voghera,  Tortona,  Alessandria, 
Valencia,  Coni,  and  Vercelli.  Its  pay, 
amounting  to  500,000  francs  (£20,000) 
a-month,  and  its  maintenance,  extend- 
ing to  thirteen  thousand  rations  daily, 
was  to  be  wholly  at  the  charge  of  the 
Piedmontese  government.  A  general 
amnesty,  disfigured  by  so  many  excep- 
tions as  to  render  it  applicable  only  to 
the  mass  of  the  insurgents,  was  pub- 
lished on  30th  September  ;  and  a  few 
days  after,  a  very  severe  decree  was 
fulminated  against  the  secret  societies, 
which  had  brought  such  desolation 
and  humiliation  on  Italy.  The  king 
made  his  public  entry  into  Turin  short- 
ly after,  assumed  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, and  appointed  a  royalist  minis- 
try ;  but  every  one  felt  that  it  was  a 
truce  only,  not  a  peace,  which  had 
been  established  between  the  contend- 
ing parties,  and  that  beneath  the  trea- 
cherous surface  there  lurked  the  em- 
bers of  a  conflagration  which  would 
break  out  with  additional  violence  on 
the  first  favourable  opportunity. 

87.  The  Emperor  Alexander  found, 
on  his  return  to  St  Petersburg  after 
the  closing  of  the  Diet  of  Warsaw,  that 
the  danger  had  reached  his  own  do- 
minions, and  infected  even  the  guards 
of  the  imperial  palace.  During  his 
absence  in  Poland  a  serious  mutiny 
occurred  in  the  splendid  regiment  of 
the  guards  called  Semen  off,  which  had 
been  established  by  Peter  the  Great, 
and  was  much,  esteemed  by  the  pre- 
sent emperor.  It  was  occasioned  by 
undue  severity  of  discipline  on  the  part 
of  the  colonel,  who  was  a  Courlander 
by  birth,  and  enamoured  of  the  Ger- 
man mode  of  compelling  obedience  by 
the  baton.  The  regiment  openly  re- 
fused to  obey  orders,  broke  the  win- 
dows of  its  obnoxious  colonel,  and 
was  only  reduced  to  obedience  by  the 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


45 


courage  and  sangfroid  of  the  governor 
of  St  Petersburg,  General  Milarado- 
witeh,  at  whose  venerated  voice  the 
mutineers  were  abashed,  and  retired 
to  their  barracks.  It  was  ordered  by 
the  Czar  to  be  dissolved,  and  the  offi- 
cers and  men  dispersed  through  other 
regiments,  and  the  most  guilty  deliver- 
ed over  to  courts-martial.  The  St 
Petersburg  papers  all  represented  this 
mutiny  as  the  result  merely  of  misgov- 
crnment  on  the  part  of  its  colonel,  and 
unconnected  with  political  events;  but 
its  succeeding  so  rapidly  the  military 
revolutions  in  Spain  and  Naples  led  to 
an  opposite  opinion  being  generally 
entertained,  and  it  had  no  slight  in- 
fluence in  producing  the  vigorous  re- 
solutions taken  at  the  congresses  of 
Troppau  and  Laybach  against  the  in- 
surgents in  the  south  of  Europe.  This 
impression  was  increased  by  the  em- 
peror in  the  following  year,  after  his 
annual  journey  to  the  southern  pro- 
vinces, after  the  usual  great  reviews  of 
the  army  there,  returning  abruptly  to 
St  Petersburg. 

88.  In  truth,  Alexander  was  now 
seriously  alarmed,  and  the  suspicions 
which  he  had  conceived  as  to  the  fide- 
lity of  his  troops,  and  the-  dread  of  in- 
surrection, not  only  embittered  all  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life,  but  ma- 
terially modified  his  -external  policy. 
This  appeared  in  the  most  decisive 
manner  in  his  conduct  in  regard  to  the 
Greek  revolution,  which  began  in  this 
year,  and  which  will  form  the  interest- 
ing subject  of  a  subsequent  chapter  of 
this  History.  Everything  within  and 
without  eminently  favoured  a  great  and 
decisive  movement  in  favour  of  the 
Greeks,  on  whose  behalf,  as  co-religion- 
ists, the  warmest  sympathy  existed 
among  all  classes  in  the  Russian  em- 
pire. The  army  was  unanimous  in 
favour  of  it,  and  at  a  great  review  of 
his  guards,  fifty  thousand  strong,  in 
September  1821,  at  Witepsk,  the  feel- 
ings of  the  soldiers  were  so  strong  on 
the  subject  that,  amidst  unbounded 
demonstrations  of  enthusiastic  loyalty, 
they  could  not  be  prevented  from  giv- 
ing vent  to  their  warlike  ardour  in 
favour  of  their  Greek  brethren.  The 
news  of  the  insurrection  of  Prince  Ip- 


silanti  in  Moldavia  reached  the  emperor 
at  Laybach,  and  such  was  the  conster- 
nation of  the  European  powers  at  the 
revolutions  of  Spain  and  Italy  at  that 
period,  that  no  serious  opposition  was 
to  be  apprehended  to  any  measures, 
how  formidable  soever,  which  he  might 
have  proposed,  against  the  Turks,  or 
even  their  entire  expulsion  from  Eu- 
rope. But  that  very  circumstance  de- 
termined the  Czar,  in  opposition  to  the 
declared  wish  of  both  his  army  and  peo- 
ple, to  disavow  the  insurrection.  He 
saw  in  it,  not,  as  heretofore,  a  move- 
ment in  favour  of  the  Christian  faith, 
or  an  effort  for  religious  freedom,  but  a 
revolutionary  outbreak,  similar  to  those 
of  Spain  and  Italy,  which  he  could  not 
countenance  without  departing  from 
his  principles,  or  support  without  the 
most  imminent  risk  of  the  contagion 
spreading  to  his  own  troops.  He  re- 
turned for  answer,  accordingly,  to  the 
earnest  application  for  aid  from  the  in- 
surgent Greeks,  "  Not  being  able  to 
consider  the  enterprise  of  Ipsilanti  as 
anything  but  the  effect  of  the  excite- 
ment which  characterises  the  present 
period,  and  of  the  inexperience  and 
levity  of  that  young  man,  he  had  given 
orders  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior 
to  disapprove  of  it  formally. "  The  con- 
sequence was  that  the  insurrection  was 
crushed,  and  a  great  number  of  the 
heroic  youths  -who  had  taken  up  arms 
in  defence  of  their  faith  perished  un- 
der the  sabres,  of  the  Mussulmans.* 

*  The  Emperor  Alexander,  in  a  highly  in- 
teresting conversation  with  M.  de  Chateau- 
briand at  Verona  in  1823,  explained  his  views 
on  this  important  subject :  "  Je  snis  bien  aise," 
said  he,  "  que  vous  soyez  venu  &  Ve"rone,  afin 
de  rendre  te'moignage  -a  la  •ve'rite'.  Auriez- 
vous  era,  comme  le  disent  DOS  ennemis,  que 
1'Alliance  n'est  qu'tra  mot  qui  ne  sert  qu'a 
eouvrir  des  ambitions  ?  Cela  eut  pu  fitre  vrai 
dans  1'aneien  e"tat-des-choses  ;  mais  il  s'agit 
bien  aujourd'hui  de  quelques  iuterets  particu- 
liers,  quand  le  monde  civHise'  est  en  peril.  II 
ne  petit -plus  y  avoir  de  Politique  Anglaise, 
Francaise,  Prussienne,  Autrichienne.  II  n'y 
a  plus  qu"nne  politique  geni!rale  qui  doit,  pour 
le  salut  de  tons,  etre  admise  en  commun  par 
les  peuples  et  les  rois.  C'est  a  inoi  de  me 
montrer  le  premier  convaincu  des  prineipes, 
sur  lesquels  j'ai  fond^  1'Allianoe.  Une  occa- 
sion s'est  presentee,  le  soulevement  de  la 
Grece.  Rien  sans  doute  ne  paruissait  Stre 
plus  dans  nies  int^rets,  dans  ceux  de  mon 
peuple,  dans  1'opinion  dc.  mon  pays,  qu'une 
guerre  raligieuse  centre  la  Turquie  ;  inais  j'ai 


46 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


89.  This  year  the  already  gigantic 
empire  of  the  Czar  received  a  huge  ad- 
dition by  the  appropriation  of  a  vast 
territory  opposite  Kamtschatka,  on  the 
north-western  coast  of  America.  Seve- 
ral settlements  of  the  Russians,  chiefly 
for  the  purpose  of  fishing  and  the  fin- 
trade,  had  already  been  made  on  this 
desert  and  inhospitable  coast  from  the 
opposite  shores  of  Asia,  which,  in  the 
immensity  of  the  wilderness,  had 
scarcely  been  noticed  even  by  the  Un- 
ited States,  most  interested  in  prevent- 
ing them.  They  were  for  the  most 
part  made  on  the  shores  which  had 
been  discovered  by  Captain  Cook  and 
Vancouver,  so  that,  on  the  footing  of 
priority  of  discovery,  the  best  claim  to 
them  belonged  to  Great  Britain.  But 
England  already  possessed  an  enor- 
mous territory  in  the  North  American 
Continent,  amounting  to  four  million 
square  miles,  of  which  scarce  a  tenth 
was  capable  of  cultivation,  and  her  gov- 
ernment was  indifferent  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Russians  on  the  coast  of  the 
Pacific.  The  consequence  was  that 
they  were  allowed  quietly  to  take  pos- 
session, and  on  the  16/28  September 
the  Czar  issued  a  ukase  defining  the 
limits  of  the  Russian  territory  in  Ame- 
rica, which  embraced  twice  as  much  as 
the  whole  realm  of  France.  The  ukase 
also  confined  to  Russian  subjects  the 
right  of  fishing  along  the  coast  from 
Behring  Straits  to  the  southern  cape  of 
the  island  of  Ouroff,  and  forbade  all 
foreign  vessels  to  fish  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  the  coast,  under  pain  of  cou- 

rru  remarquer,  dans  les  troubles  du  Pelopo- 
nese,  le  signe  revolutiounaire ;  dea  lore  je  me 
suis  abstenu.  Que  n'a-t-on  fait  pour  rompre 
1'Alliance?  On  a  cherche  tour  a  tour  a  me 
donner  des  provocations  ;  on  a  blesse'  mon 
amour-propre ;  on  m'a  outrage  ouvertement. 
On  me  connaissait  bien  mal,  si  1'on  a  cru  que 
mes  principes  ne  tenaient  qu'a  des  vanites, 
cm  pouvaient  c<5der  a  des  ressentiments.  Non, 
je  ne  me  separerai  jamais  des  monarques 
auxquels  je  me  suis  uni.  II  doit  Stre  permis 
aux  rois  d'avoir  des  alliances  publiques, 
pour  se  defendre  contre  les  society's  secrltes. 
Qu'est-c.equi  pourrait  me  tenter?  Qu'ai-jebe- 
soin  d'accroitre  mon  empire  ?  La  Providence 
n'a  pas  mis  a  mes  ordres  huit  cent  mille  sol- 
dats  pour  satisfaire  mon  ambition ;  mais  pour 
proteger  la  religion,  la  morale,  la  justice ;  et 

}iour  faire  regner  ces  principes  d'ordre,  sur 
esquels  repose  la  socie'te  humaine." — CHA- 
TEAUBRIAND, Conyr^s  tie  Krone,  I  221,  222. 


[CUAP.  VIII. 

iscation  of  their  cargo.  These  assumed 
rights  have  not  hitherto  been  called  in 
question,  but  as  the  Anglo-Saxons  in 
America  are  as  aspiring  as  the  Musco- 
vites, and  growing  even  more  rapidly, 
it  is  not  likely  that  this  will  long  con- 
tinue ;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that 
the  two  great  races  which  appear  to 
divide  the  world  are  destined  to  be  first 
brought  into  collision  on  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific. 

90.  The  increasing  jealousy  of  the 
Czar  at  Liberal  opinions,  and  the  se- 
cret societies  by  which  it  was  attempted 
to  propagate  them  in  his  dominions, 
was  evinced  in  the  same  year  by  a 
decree  suppressing  the  order  of  Free- 
masons throughout  the  whole  of  his 
empire.  In  spite,  however,  of  every 
precaution  that  could  be  taken,  tho 
secret  societies  continued  and  multi- 
plied ;  and  it  was  ere  long  ascertained 
that  they  embraced  not  only  many  of 
the  first  nobles  in  the  country,  but, 
what  was  far  more  dangerous,  several 
of  the  officers  high  in  the  army,  and 
even  in  the  imperial  guard.  Obscure 
intimations  of  the  existence  of  a  vast 
conspiracy  were  frequently  sent  to  the 
Government,  but  not  in  so  distinct  a 
form  as  to  enable  them  to  act  upon  it 
until  1823,  when  a  ukase  was  issued, 
denouncing,  under  the  severest  penal- 
ties, all  secret  societies,  especially  in 
Poland  ;  and  a  number  of  leaders  of 
the  "Patriotic  Society,"  in  particular 
Jukasinsky,  Dobrogoyski,  Maehynicki, 
and  several  others,  chiefly  Poles,  were 
arrested,  and  sent  to  Siberia.  It  was 
hoped  at  the  time  that  the  danger  was 
thus  removed,  but  it  proved  just  tho 
reverse.  The  seizure  of  these  chiefs 
only  served  to  warn  the  others  of  the 
necessity  of  the  most  rigorous  secrecy, 
and  gave  additional  proof,  as  it  seemed 
to  them,  of  the  necessity  for  a  forcible 
reformation  in  the  State.  The  secret 
societies  rapidly  spread,  especially 
amongst  the  highest  in  rank,  the  first 
in  patriotic  spirit,  and  the  most  gener- 
ous in  feeling,  both  in  the  civil  and 
military  service ;  a  melancholy  state 
of  things,  when  those  who  should  be 
the  guardians  of  order  are  leagued  to- 
gether for  its  overthrow,  but  the  na- 
tural result  of  a  state  of  society  such 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


47 


as  then  existed  in  Russia,  where  the 
power  of  the  sovereign,  entirely  despo- 
tic, was  rested  on  the  blind  submission 
of  the  vast  majority  of  the  nation,  and 
a  longing  for  Liberal  institutions  and 
the  enjoyment  of  freedom  existed  only 
in  a  very  limited  circle  of  the  most 
highly-educated  classes,  but  was  felt 
there  in  the  utmost  intensity. 

91.  The  desponding  feelings  of  the 
Czar,  occasioned  by  the  discovery  that 
his  efforts  for  the  amelioration  of  his 
country  were  only  met  by  secret  socie- 
ties banded  together  for  his  destruction, 
was  much  aggravated  by  the  failure  of 
some  of  his  most  favourite  philanthro- 
pic projects.  In  many  of  the  provinces 
in  which  the  serfs  had  received  from 
the  sovereign  or  their  lords  the  perilous 
gift  of  freedom,  they  had  suffered  se- 
verely from  the  change.  The  newly 
enfranchised  peasants,  in  many  places, 
regretted  the  servitude  which  had  se- 
cured to  them  an  asylum  in  sickness  or 
old  age.  In  the  province  of  Witepsk, 
where  the  change  had  been  carried  to 
a  great  extent,  they  refused  to  pay  the 
capitation-tax  imposed  on  them  in  lieu 
of  their  bondage,  alleging  that  they 
had  not  the  means  of  doing  so ;  and 
besieged  the  empress-dowager,  who  was 
known  to  adhere  to  old  ideas,  with  the 
loudest  complaints  on  the  "fatal  gift" 
which  they  had  received.  So  serious 
didthedisordersbecomeamong  the  new 
freemen,  that  they  were  only  appeased 
by  the  quartering  of  i.  large  military 
force  on  the  disturbed  districts.  Rus- 
sia suffered  even  more  than  the  other 
countries  of  Europe,  in  this  and  the 
preceding  year,  from  the  depreciation 
of  prices,  which  fell  with  unmitigated 
severity  on  the  holders  of  the  immense 
stores  of  its  rude  produce.  Banks,  by 
order  of  the  emperor,  were  established 
in  many  places  to  relieve  the  distresses 
of  the  surcharged  proprietors,  but  they 
did  not  meet  with  general  success  ;  and 
the  advances  meant  to  stimulate  in- 
dustry, were  too  often  applied  only  to 
feed  luxury  or  minister  to  depravity. 

92.  The  external  transactions  of 
Russia  in  regard  to  the  Congress  of 
Verona,  the  Greek  revolution,  and 
the  Turkish  war,  will  be  recounted 
more  suitably  in  the  chapters  which 


relate  to  those  important  subjects. 
But  there  are  a  few  internal  events 
in  Russia  which  deserve  notice  before 
the  melancholy  period  when  Alexan- 
der paid  the  common  debt  of  mortal- 
ity. The  first  of  these  was  the  dread- 
ful inundation  at  St  Petersburg,  in 
November  1824.  The  emperor  had 
just  returned  from  a  visit  to  Oren- 
burg, and  the  south-eastern  provinces 
of  his  empire,  to  his  palace  at  Tsarcko- 
Selo  near  St  Petersburg,  when  a  terri- 
ble hurricane  arose,  which,  sweeping 
over  the  whole  of  the  Baltic,  strewed 
its  shores  with  wrecks,  and  inflicted 
the  most  frightful  devastation  on  all 
the  harbours  with  which  it  is  studded. 
But  the  catastrophe  at  the  capital  was 
so  frightful,  that  for  some  hours  it  was 
menaced  with  entire  destruction,  and 
all  but  accomplished  a  remarkable  pro- 
phecy, made  to  Peter  the  Great  when 
he  commenced  its  construction,  that 
it  would  one  day  perish  under  the 
waves  of  the  Baltic.* 

93.  To  understand  how  this  hap- 
pened, it  is  necessary  to  obtain  a  clear 
idea  of  the  local  circumstances  and  situ- 
ation of  St  Petersburg.  When  Peter 
selected  the  islands  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Neva,  which,  descending 
from  the  vast  expanse  of  the  Lake 
Ladoga,  empties  itself  in  a  mighty 
stream  into  the  Baltic,  for  the  site  of 
his  future  capital,  he  was  influenced 
entirely  by  the  suitableness  of  its  situ- 
ation for  a  great  harbour,  of  which  lie 
severely  felt  the  want,  as  Archangel, 
on  the  frozen  shores  of  the  White  Sea, 
was  the  only  port  at  that  period  in  his 

*  A  curious  incident,  highly  characteristic 
of  Peter,  occurred  when  these  constructions 
began.  "  When  the  foundation  of  his  new 
capital  was  commencing  on  the  desolate 
islands  of  the  Nev«,  which  are  now  covered 
by  the  fortress  of  Cronstadt  and  the  superb 
palaces  of  St  Petersburg,  Peter  observed,  by 
accident,  a  tree  marked  at  a  considerable 
height  from  the  ground.  He  called  a  peasant 
of  Finland,  who  was  working  near,  and  asked 
him  'what  the  mark  was  for?"  'It  is  the 
highest  level,'  replied  the  peasant,  'which 
the  water  reached  in  the  inundation  of  1680.' 
4  You  lie  ! '  cried  the  Czar  in  a  fury ;  '  what 
you  say  is  impossible ; '  and  seizing  a  hatchet, 
he  with  his  own  hands  cut  down  the  tree, 
hoping  thereby  to  extinguish  alike  all  me- 
mory of  the  former  flood,  and  guard  against 
the  recurrence  of  a  similar  calamity." — 
SCIINITZLER,  i.  85,  86. 


48 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


dominions.  Carried  away  by  this  ob- 
ject, -which,  no  doubt,  was  a  very  im- 
portant one,  he  entirely  overlooked 
the  probable  unhealthiness  of  the  situ- 
ation, where  a  metropolis  rested  like 
Venice  on  marshy  islands,  the  highest 
part  of  which  was  only  elevated  a  few 
feet  above  the  branches  of  the  river 
with  which  they  were  surrounded ;  the 
extreme  cold  which  must  ensue  in  win- 
ter, from  the  close  proximity  of  enor- 
mous ice-fields ;  and  the  probability  of 
its  being  exposed  to  the  greatest  dan- 
ger from  a  sudden  rising  of  the  waters 
of  the  river  owing  to  a  high  wind  of 
long  continuance  blowing  in  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Baltic,  and  backing  those 
which  usually  flow  from  the  Lake  La- 
doga. It  was  this  which  had  previ- 
ously occurred  on  more  than  one  occa- 
sion, and  which  now  threatened  the 
capital  with  destruction. 

94.  Regardless  of  these  dangers,  and 
of  the  enormous  consumption  of  ha- 
man  life  which  took  place  during  the 
building  of  the  city,  from  the  un- 
healthiness of  the  situation,  which  is 
said  to  have  amounted  to  a  hundred 
thousand  persons,  the  Czar  drove  on 
the  work  with  the  impetuosity  which 
formed  so  leading  a  feature  in  his  char- 
acter, and  at  length  the  basis  of  a  great 
city  was  laid  amidst  the  watery  waste. 
On  the  spongy  soil  and  low  swamps, 
which  had  previously  encumbered  the 
course  of  the  Neva,  the  modern  capital 
arose.  Vast  blocks  of  granite,  brought 
from  the  adjacent  plains  of  Finland, 
where  they  are  strewed  in  huge  masses 
over  the  surface,  faced  the  quays  ;  pa- 
laces were  erected,  of  more  fragile  ma- 
terials, on  the  surface,  within  the  isles ; 
and  the  Perspective  Newski  is  perhaps 
now  the  most  imposing  street  in  Eu- 
rope, from  the  beauty  of  its  edifices 
and  the  magnitude  of  its  dimensions. 
The  splendid  fagade  of  the  Admiralty, 
the  Winter  Palace  of  the  emperor,  the 
noble  Cathedral  of  St  Isaac,  the  statue 
of  Peter  the  Great,  resting  on  a  single 
block  of  granite  of  1800  tons  weight, 
the  lofty  pillar  of  Alexander,  formed 
of  a  single  stone  of  the  same  material, 
the  largest  in  the  world,  combined  in 
a  single  square,  now  overpower  the 
imagination  of  the  beholder  by  their 


magnificence,  and  the  impression  they 
convey  of  the  power  of  the  sovereign 
by  whose  energy  these  marvels  have 
been  made  to  spring  up  amidst  the 
watery  wilderness.  But  the  original 
danger,  arising  from  the  lowness  of 
the  situation,  and  its  liability  to  in- 
undations, still  continues.  Great  as 
it  is,  the  power  of  the  Czar  is  not  so 
great  as  that  of  the  Baltic  waves. 
From  the  main  channel,  where  the 
Neva  majestically  flows  through  su- 
perb quays  of  granite,  surmounted  by 
piles  of  palaces,  branch  off,  as  from 
the  great  canal  at  Venice,  numerous 
smaller  streams,  forming  by  their  in- 
tersection so  many  isles,  some  covered 
with  streets,  and  forming  the  most 
populous  quarters  ;  others  adorned  by 
beautiful  villas  and  public  gardens, 
the  recreation  •  of  the  citizens  during 
their  brief  but  brilliant  summer.  But 
these  canals -open  so  many  entrances 
for  the  floods  of  the  Neva  or  waves  of 
the  Baltic  to  penetrate  into  every  part 
of  the  city.  None  of  it  is  elevated  in 
its  foundations  more  than  a  few  feet 
above  the  ordinary  level  of  the  water, 
and  the  spectator  shudders  to  think 
that  the  rise  of  the  flood,  even  in  a 
small  degree,  may  threaten  the  entire 
city  with  destruction. 

95.  This  was  what  in  effect  happen- 
ed at  this  time.  On  several  former 
occasions  the  river  had  been  much 
swollen  :  once,  immediately  before  the 
birth  of  the  present  emperor,  it  was 
ten  feet  above  its  ordinary  level.  But 
this  was  as  nothing  compared  to  the 
i  terrible  inundation  which  now  presaged 
his  death.  All  the  19th  of  November 
the  wind  blew  from  the  south  -  west 
with  terrific  violence,  and  brought  the 
Baltic  waves  in  such  a  prodigious  mass 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Neva  that  its 
waters  were  made  to  regorge,  and  soon 
the  quays  were  overflowed,  and  the 
lower  parts  of  the  city  began  to  be 
submerged.  This  at  first,  however, 
excited  very  little  attention,  as  such 
floods  were  not  uncommon  in  the  end 
of  autumn ;  but  the  alarm  soon  spread, 
and  terror  was  depicted  in  every  visage, 
when  it  rapidly  ascended  and  spread 
over  the  whole  town.  By  half -past 
ten  the  water  in  the  Perspective  New- 


1524.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


ski  was  ten  feet  deep  ;  in  the  highest 
parts  of  the  city  it  was  five.  The  Neva 
had  risen  four  fathoms  above  its  ordi- 
nary level,  and,  worse  still,  it  was  con- 
tinuing to  rise.  The  whole  inhabitants 
crowded  to  the  upper  storeys  of  the 
houses.  Despair  now  seized  on  every 
heart ;  the  reality  of  the  danger  came 
home  to  every  mind ;  the  awful  scenes 
of  the  Deluge  were  realised  in  the  very 
centre  of  modern  civilisation.  At  Cron- 
stadt  a  ship  of  the  line  was  lifted  up 
from  a  dry  dock,  and  floated  over  the 
adjacent  houses  into  the  great  square. 
At  eight  in  the  morning  the  cannon  of 
alarm  began  to  be  discharged.  The 
terrible  warning,  repeated  every  min- 
ute, so  unusual  amidst  the  ordinary 
stillness  of  the  capital,  proved  the  ter- 
ror which  was  felt  by  government,  and 
augmented  the  general  consternation. 
Ships  torn  up  from  their  anchors  ; 
boats  filled  with  trembling  fugitives  ; 
stacks  of  corn  borne  on  the  surface  of 
the  waves  from  a  great  distance ;  cattle 
buffeting  with  the  torrent,  intermingled 
with  corpses  of  persons  drowned,  or 
at  their  last  gasp,  imploring  aid  ;  and 
immense  quantities  of  furniture,  and 
movables  of  every  description,  were 
floated  on  to  the  most  intricate  and 
secluded  parts  of  the  city.  The  waters 
continued  to  rise  till  four  in  the  after- 
noon, and  every  one  imagined  that  all 
•who  could  not  save  themselves  in  boats 
\vould  be  drowned.  The  rush  was  dread- 
ful, accordingly,  into  every  vessel  that 
could  be  seized  on,  and  numbers  per- 
ished in  striving  to  get  on  board.  At 
five  in  the  evening  the  wind  fell,  and 
the  water  sank  as  rapidly  as  it  had 
risen,  and  by  the  next  morning  the 
Neva  had  returned  to  its  former  chan- 
nel. The  total  loss  occasioned  by  the 
wind  and  the  inundation  was  estimat- 
ed at  100,000,000  rubles  (£4,000,000) ; 
five  hundred  persons  perished  in  the 
waves,  and  twice  that  number,  sick  or 
infirm,  were  drowned  in  their  houses. 
Such  had  been  the  violence  of  the  wind 
and  flood,  that  when  the  waters  sub- 
sided they  were  found  to  have  floated 
from  their  place  cannons  weighing  two 
tons  and  a  naif. 
96.  At  the  sight  of  this  terrible  ca- 

VOL.  II. 


lamity,  which  for  a  time  seemed  to  bid 
defiance  to.  the  utmost  human  efforts, 
the  Czar  in  despair  stretched  forth  his 
hands  to  Heaven,  and  implored  that 
its  anger  might  fall  upon  his  own  head, 
and  spare  his  people.  He  did  not, 
however,  neglect  all  human  means  of 
mitigating  the  calamity.  Throwing 
himself  into  a  bark,  he  visited  in  per- 
son the  quarters  most  threatened,  dis- 
tributed the  troops  in  the  way  most 
likely  to  be  serviceable,  and  exposed 
himself  to  death  repeatedly  in  order  to 
save  his  people.  All  would  have  been 
unavailing,  however,  and  the  city  to- 
tally destroyed,  if  the  wind  had  not 
mercifully  abated,  and  the  waters  of 
the  Neva  found  their  usual  vent  into 
the  Baltic.  Munificent  subscriptions 
followed  the  calamity ;  the  emperor 
headed  the  list  with  fifty  thousand 
pounds.  The  most  solid  houses  were 
impregnated  with  salt,  and  in  a  man- 
ner ruined ;  and  a  severe  frost  which 
set  in  immediately  after,  before  the 
water  had  left  the  houses,  augmented 
the  general  suffering  by  filling  them 
with  large  blocks  of  ice.  Even  the 
most  solid  granite  was  exfoliated,  and 
crumbled  away  before  spring,  from  the 
effects  of  the  frost  on  the  humid  struc- 
tures. The  people  regarded  this  cala- 
mity as  a  judgment  of  Heaven  for  not 
having  assisted  their  Christian  brethren 
during  their  recent  and  frightful  per- 
secutions from  the  Turks — tlie  emperor 
as  a  punishment  for  sins  of  which  he 
was  more  immediately  concerned  in  his 
domestic  relations. 

97.  The  year  1824  was  marked  by 
a  ukase  ordering  a  levy  of  two  in  five 
hundred  males  over  the  whole  empire 
— a  measure  which  brought  120,000 
men  to  the  imperial  standards.  As 
this  measure  was  adopted  during  the 
contest  in  Greece,  and  when  all  thought 
was  turned  towards  the  liberation  of  its 
inhabitants  from  the  Ottoman  yoke,  it 
was  obeyed  with  alacrity,  and  even 
enthusiasm.  The  persons  drawn  took 
their  departure  as  for  a  holy  war, 
amidst  the  shouts  of  their  relations  and 
neighbours ;  and  from  them,  in  great 
part,  were  formed  the  redoubtable- 
bands  which  in  a  few  years  carried  the 

D 


50 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Russian  eagles  to  Yarna,  Erivan,  and 
Adrianople.  A  dangerous  revolt  in  the 
same  year  broke  out  in  the  province  of 
Novgorod,  owing  to  the  peasants  hav- 
ing been  misled  into  the  belief  that 
the  emperor  had  given  them  their  free- 
dom, and  that  it  was  withheld  by  their 
lords,  which  was  only  crushed  by  a 
great  display  of  military  force  and  con- 
siderable bloodshed.  It  was  the  more 
alarming,  from  its  being  ascertained 
that  the  conspiracy  had  its  roots  in  the 
military  colonies  recently  established 
in  the  southern  provinces.  The  finan- 
cial measures  adopted  in  1820  and 
1822,  for  withdrawing  a  large  part  of 
the  assignats  from  circulation,  were 
continued  with  vigour  and  success — a 
circumstance  which,  of  course,  made  a 
progressive  rise  in  the  value  of  money, 
and  fall  in  that  of  produce,  and  added 
much  to  the  general  distress  felt  among 
the  class  of  producers.  Already  the 
ruble  was  worth  50  per  cent  more  than 
it  had  been  a  few  years  before.  A 
treaty  was  signed  on  the  27th  April 
between  Russia  and  the  United  States, 
which  settled  the  respective  limits  of 
their  vast  possessions  in  North  Ame- 
rica :  the  line  of  demarcation  was  fixed 
at  54°  north  latitude  ;  all  to  the  north 
was  Russian,  all  to  the  south  Ame- 
rican ;  and  the  reciprocal  right  was 
secured  to  the  inhabitants  of  both  coun- 
tries, of  fishing  on  each  other's  coasts, 
navigating  the  Pacific,  and  disembark- 
ing on  places  not  occupied,  but  for  the 
purpose  only  of  trade  with  the  inha- 
bitants, or  supplies  for  themselves. 

98.  When,  in  1793,  the  Empress 
Catherine  deemed  it  time  to  select  a 
spouse  for  her  grandson,  Alexander, 
she  cast  her  eyes  on  the  family  of  the 
Grand -duke  of  Baden,  who  at  that 
time  had  three  daughters,  gifted  with 
all  the  virtue  and  graces,  and  much  of 
the  beauty,  of  their  sex.  They  all  made 
splendid  alliances.  The  eldest  became 
Queen  of  Sweden  ;  the  youngest,  Queen 
•of  Bavaria ;  the  second,  Empress  of 
Russia,  Married  on  9th  October  1793 
to  the  young  Alexander,  then  only 
•sixteen  years  of  age,  when  she  was  fif- 
teen, she  took,  according  to  the  Russian 
custom,  the  name  of  Elizabeth  Alexe- 
jiona  instead  of  her  own,  which  was 


[CHAP.  Tin. 

Louise  -  Marie  -  Auguste,  under  which 
she  had  been  baptised.  The  pair, 
though  too  young  for  the  serious  du- 
ties of  their  station,  charmed  every  eye 
by  the  beauty  of  their  figures  and  the 
affability  of  their  manners.  But  the 
union,  however  ushered  in  by  splendid 
prognostications,  proved  unfortunate : 
it  shared  the  fate  of  nearly  all  in. 
every  rank  which  are  formed  by  pa- 
rental authority,  before  the  disposition 
has  declared  itself,  the  constitution, 
strengthened,  or  the  tastes  formed. 
The  young  empress  was  gifted  with  all 
the  virtues  and  many  of  the  graces  of 
her  sex.  Her  countenance,  though 
not  regular,  was  lightened  by  a  sweet 
expression  ;  her  hair,  which  she  wora 
in  locks  over  her  shoulders,  beautiful ; 
her  figure  was  elegant,  and  her  mo- 
tions so  graceful  that  she  seemed  to 
realise  the  visions  of  the  poet,  which, 
made  the  goddess  reveal  herself  by  her 
step.*  In  disposition  she  was  in  the 
highest  degree  amiable  and  exemplary, 
self-denying,  generous,  and  affection- 
ate. But  with  all  these  charms  and 
virtues  she  wanted  the  one  thing  need- 
ful for  a  man  of  a  thoughtful  and  su- 
perior turn  of  mind :  she  was  not  a  com- 
panion. She  had  little  conversation, 
few  ideas,  and  none  of  that  elasticity 
of  mind  which  is  necessary  for  the 
charm  of  conversational  intercourse. 
Hence  even  the  earliest  years  of  their 
marriage  were  productive  of  no  lasting 
ties  ;  they  seldom  met,  save  in  public  ; 
and  thedeath  of  theirtwoonly  children, 
both  of  whom  were  daughters,  deprived 
them  of  the  enduring  bond  of  parental 
love.  No  one  need  be  told  that  conjugal 
fidelity  is  of  all  others  the  virtue  most 
difficult  to  practise  on  the  throne,  and 
that  it  is  never  so  much  so  as  to  sove- 
reigns of  the  most  energetic  and  power- 
ful minds.  Ardent  in  one  thing,  they 
are  not  less  so  in  another  :  of  few,  from 
Julius  Caesar  to  Henry  IV. ,  can  it  be 
said  that  they  are,  like  Charles  XII., 

"  Unconquered  lords  of  pleasure  and  of  paiii." 

99.  Alexander  was  not  a  sensualist, 
and  he  had  none  of  the  passion  for 
meretricious  variety,  which  so  often  in 

*  "  Et  vera  incessu  patuit  Dea." — VIRGIL. 


1821] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


high  rank  has  disgraced  the  most  illus- 
trious characters.  But  his  mind  was 
ardent,  his  heart  tender,  and  he  had 
the  highest  enjoyment  in  the  confiden- 
tial I'panclfincnts  which,  rarely  felt  by 
any  save  with  those  of  the  opposite  sex, 
( an  never  be  so  but  with  them — by 
sovereigns  whose  elevation  keeps  all  of 
their  own  at  a  distance.  Before  many 
years  of  his  married  life  had  passed, 
Alexander  had  yielded  to  these  dispo- 
sitions ;  and  the  knowledge  of  his  infi- 
delities completed  the  estrangement  of 
the  illustrious  couple.  "  Out  of  these 
infidelities  arose,"  says  M.  de  Chateau- 
briand, "  a  fidelity  which  continued 
eleven  years."  Alexander,  however, 
suffered  in  his  turn  by  a  righteous  re- 
tribution the  pangs  of  jealousy.  The 
object  of  his  attachment  (a  married 
Polish  lady  of  rank)  had  all  the  beauty, 
fascination,  and  conversational  talent 
which  have  rendered  her  country- 
women so  celebrated  over  Europe,  and 
to  which  even  the  intellectual  breast 
of  Napoleon  did  homage  ;  but  she  had 
also  the  spirit  of  coquetry  and  thirst  for 
admiration  which  has  so  often  turned 
the  passions  they  have  awakened  into 
a  consuming  fire.  Unfaithful  to  duty, 
she  had  proved  equally  so  to  love :  the 
influence  of  the  Emperor  was,  after  a 
long  constancy,  superseded  by  a  new 
attachment  ;  and  the  liaison  between 
them  was  already  broken,  when  a  do- 
mestic calamity  overwhelmed  him  with 
affliction.  Meanwhile  the  empress,  who 
had  left  Russia,  and  sought  solace  in 
foreign  travelling,  mourned  in  silence 
and  dignified  retirement  the  infidelity 
of  her  husband — the  blasting  of  her 
hopes.  Yet  even  then,  under  a  calm 
and  serene  air,  and  the  cares  of  a  life 
entirely  devoted  to  deeds  of  beneficence, 
•was  concealed  a  heart  wasted  by  sor- 
row, but  faithful  to  its  first  attachment. 
"  How  often,"  says  the  annalist,  "  was 
she  surprised  in  tears,  contemplating 
the  portrait  of  that  Alexander,  so  lov- 
able, yet  so  faithless  ! " 

100.  From  this  irregular  connec- 
tion had  sprung  three  children,  two  of 
which  had  died  in  infancy.  But  the 
third,  Mademoiselle  N.,  a  child  gifted 
with  all  the  graces  and  charms  of  her 
mother,  though  in  delicate  health,  still 


lived,  and  had  become  the  object  of 
the  most  passionate  affection  to  her 
father.  It  became  necessary  to  send 
her  to  Paris,  for  the  benefit  of  a  milder 
climate  and  the  best  medical  advice ; 
and  during  her  absence,  the  emperor, 
a  solitary  hermit  in  his  palace,  but 
thirsting  for  the  enjoyments  of  domes- 
tic  life,  sought  a  temporary  respite  to 
his  anxiety  in  frequenting  the  houses 
of  some  highly  respectable  families  in 
middle  life,  for  the  most  part  Germans, 
to  whom  his  rank  was  known,  but 
where  he  insisted  upon  being  treated 
as  an  ordinary  guest.  There  he  often 
expressed  his  envy  at  the  happiness 
which  reigned  in  those  domestic  cir- 
cles, and  sighed  to  think  that  the 
Emperor  of  All  the  Russias  was  com- 
pelled to  seek,  at  the  hearth  of  others, 
that  felicity  which  his  grandeur  or  his 
faults  had  denied  him  at  his  own.  But 
the  hand  of  fate  was  upon  him ;  he 
was  to  be  pierced  to  the  heart  through 
the  fruit  of  his  own  irregularities.  His 
daughter,  who  was  now  seventeen,  had 
returned  from  France,  apparently  re- 
stored to  health,  and  in  all  the  bloom 
of  youth  and  beauty.  She  was  engag- 
ed to  be  married,  with  the  entire  con- 
sent of  her  father :  the  magnificent 
trousseau  was  ordered  at  Paris,  but 
when  it  arrived  at  St  Petersburg  she 
was  no  more.  So  sudden  was  the  death 
of  the  young  fiancte,  that  it  occurred 
when  the  emperor  was  out  at  a  review 
of  his  guards.  An  aide-de-camp,  with 
a  melancholy  expression,  approached, 
and  requested  leave  to  speak  to  him  in 
private.  At  the  first  words  he  divined 
the  whole :  a  mortal  paleness  over- 
spread his  visage,  and,  turning  up  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  he  struck  his  forehead 
and  exclaimed,  "  I  receive  the  punish- 
ment of  my  sins  !  " 

101.  These  words  were  not  only  de- 
scriptive of  the  change  in  the  emperor's 
mind  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  but 
they  presaged,  and  truly,  an  impor- 
tant alteration  in  his  domestic  rela- 
tions, which  shed  a  ray  of  happiness 
over  his  last  moments.  His  mind, 
naturally  inclined  to  deep  and  mysti- 
cal religious  emotions,  had  been  much 
affected  by  the  dreadful  scenes  which 
ho  had  witnessed  at  the  inundation  of 


52 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP,  viir. 


St  Petersburg,  and  this  domestic  be- 
reavement completed  the  impression 
that  he  was  suffering,  by  the  justice  of 
Heaven,  the  penalty  of  his  transgres- 
sions. Under  the  influence  of  these 
feelings,  he  returned  to  his  original  dis- 
positions ;  and  that  mysterious  change 
took  place  in  his  mind,  which  so  often, 
on  the  verge  of  the  grave,  brings  us 
back  to  the  impressions  of  our  youth. 
He  again  sought  the  society  of  the 
empress,  who  had  returned  to  St  Peters- 
burg, was  attentive  to  her  smallest 
•wishes,  and  sought  to  efface  the  re- 
collection of  former  neglect  by  every 
kindness  which  affection  could  suggest. 
The  change  was  not  lost  upon  that  no- 
ble princess,  who  still  nourished  in  her 
inmost  heart  her  first  attachment ;  and 
the  reconciliation  was  rendered  com- 
plete by  the  generous  tears  which,  in 
sympathy  with  her  husband's  sorrow, 
she  shed  over  the  bier  of  her  rival's 
daughter.  But  she,  too,  was  in  an 
alarming  state  of  health ;  long  years 
of  anxiety  and  suffering  had  weakened 
her  constitution,  and  the  physicians 
recommended  a  change,  and  return  to 
her  native  air.  But  the  empress  de- 
clared that  the  sovereign  must  not  die 
elsewhere  but  in  her  own  dominions, 
and  she  refused  to  leave  Russia.  They 
upon  this  proposed  the  Crimea ;  but 
Alexander  gave  the  preference  to  TAG- 
AXEOG.  The  emperor  fixed  his  depar- 
ture for  the  13th  September  1825, 
some  days  before  that  of  the  empress, 
in  order  to  prepare  everything  for  her 
reception.  Though  his  own  health 
was  broken,  as  he  had  not  recovered 
from  an  attack  of  erysipelas,  he  resolv- 
ed upon  running  the  risk  of  the  jour- 
ney :  an  expedition  of  some  thousand 
miles  had  no  terrors  for  one  the  half 
of  whose  life  was  spent  in  travelling. 

102.  Sincerely  religious  to  the  ex- 
tent even  of  being  superstitious,  the 
emperor  had  a  presentiment  that  this 
journey  was  to  be  his  last,  and  that  he 
was  about  to  expire  beside  the  empress, 
amidst  the  flowery  meads  and  balmy 
air  of  the  south.  Impressed  with  this 
idea,  he  had  fixed  his  departure  for  the 
1st  September  old  style  (13th),  the 
day  after  a  solemn  service  had  been 
celebrated  in  the  cathedral  of  Kazan, 


on  the  translation  of  the  bones  of  the 
great  Prince  Alexander  Xewski  from 
the  place  of  his  sepulture  at  Vladimir 
to  that  holy  fane  on  the  banks  of  the 
Neva.  On  every  departure  for  a  long 
journey,  the  emperor  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  repairing  to  its  altar  to  pray ; 
but  on  this  occasion  he  directed  the 
metropolitan  bishop  in  secret  to  have 
the  service  for  the  dead  chanted  for 
him  when  he  returned  on  the  follow- 
ing morning  at  four  o'clock.  He  arriv- 
ed there,  accordingly,  next  day  at  that 
early  hour,  when  it  was  still  dark,  and 
was  met  by  the  priests  in  full  costume 
as  for  the  burial  service,  the  service  of 
which  was  chanted  as  he  approached. 
He  drove  up  to  the  cathedral  by  the 
magnificent  street  of  Perspective  New- 
ski  in  a  simple  caleche  drawn  by  three 
horses  abreast,  without  a  single  ser- 
vant, and  reached  the  gate  as  the  first 
streaks  of  light  were  beginning  to  ap- 
pear in  the  eastern  sky.  Wrapped  in 
his  military  cloak,  without  his  sword, 
and  bareheaded,  the  emperor  alighted, 
kissed  the  cross  which  the  archbishop 
presented  to  him,  and  entered  the  ca- 
thedral alone,  the  gates  of  which  were 
immediately  closed  after  him.  The 
prayer  appointed  for  travellers  waa 
then  chanted ;  the  Czar  knelt  at  the 
gate  of  the  rail  which  surrounded  the 
altar,  and  received  the  benediction  of 
the  prelate,  who  placed  the  sacred 
volume  on  his  head,  and,  receiving 
with  pious  care  a  consecrated  cross 
and  some  relic  of  the  saint  in  his 
bosom,  he  again  kissed  the  emblem  of 
salvation,  "which  gives  life,  "*  and  de- 
parted alone  and  unattended,  save  by 
the  priests,  who  continued  to  sing  till 
he  was  beyond  the  gates  of  the  cathe- 
dral the  chant,  ' '  God  save  thy  People." 
103.  The  archbishop,  called  in  the 
Greek  Church  "the  Seraphim,"  re- 
quested the  emperor,  while  his  travel- 
ling carriage  was  drawing  up,  to  hon- 
our his  cell  with  a  visit,  which  he  at 
once  agreed  to  do.  Arrived  at  this 
retreat,  the  conversation  turned  on  the 
Schimnik,  an  order  of  peculiarly  aus- 
tere monks,  who  had  their  cells  in  the 
vicinity.  The  emperor  expressed  a 
wish  to  see  one  of  them,  and  imme- 
*  A  term  consecrated  in  the  Russian  Church. 


1825.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


53 


diately  the  archbishop  accompanied 
him  to  their  chief.  The  emperor  there 
found  only  a  small  apartment  furnish- 
ed with  deal  boards,  covered  with  black 
cloth,  and  hung  with  the  same  funeral 
garb.  "  I  see  no  bed,"  said  the  empe- 
ror. "  Here  it  is,"  said  the  monk,  and, 
drawing  aside  a  curtain,  revealed  an 
alcove,  in  which  was  a  coffin  covered 
•with  black  cloth,  and  surrounded  with 
all  the  lugubrious  habiliments  of  the 
dead.  "  This,"  he  added,  "  is  my  bed  ; 
it  will  ere  long  be  yours,  and  that  of 
all,  for  their  long  sleep. "  The  emperor 
was  silent,  and  mused  long.  Then 
suddenly  starting  from  his  reverie,  as 
if  recalled  to  the  affairs  oi  this  world, 
lie  bade  them  all  adieu  with  the  words, 
"  Pray  for  me  and  for  my  wife.''  He 
ascended  his  open  caleche,  the  horses 
of  which  bore  him  towards  the  south 
with  their  accustomed  rapidity,  and 
was  soon  out  of  sight ;  but  he  was  still 
uncovered  when  the  carriage  disappear- 
ed in  the  obscure  grey  of  the  morning. 
104.  Alexander  made  the  journey  in 
twelve  days  ;  and  as  the  distance  was 
above  fifteen  hundred  miles,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  stop  at  many  places,  he 
must  have  gone  from  a  hundred  and 
fifty  to  two  hundred  miles  a-day.  He 
was  fully  impressed  with  the  idea  of 
his  approaching  death  the  whole  way, 
and  often  asked  the  coachman  "if  he 
had  seen  the  wandering  star  ? "  "Yes, 
your  majesty,"  he  replied.  "Do  you 
know  what  it  presages  ?  [Misfortune 
and  death  :  but  God's  will  be  done." 
Arrived  at  Taganrog,  he  devoted  several 
days  to  preparing  everything  for  the 
empress,  which  he  did  with  the  utmost 
solicitude  and  care.  She  arrived  ten 
days  after,  and  they  remained  together 
for  some  weeks,  walking  and  driving  out 
in  the  forenoon,  and  conversing  alone 
in  the  evening  with  the  utmost  affec- 
tion, more  like  newly-married  persons 
than  those  who  had  so  long  been  severed. 
The  cares  of  empire,  however,  ere  long 
tore  the  emperor  from  this  charming 
retreat;  and  on  the  ivrgent  entreaty 
of  Count  Woronzoff,  governor  of  the 
( 'rimea,  he  undertook  a  journey  in  that 
province.  He  set  out  on  the'lst  No- 
vember ;  and  during  seventeen  days 
that  the  expedition  lasted,  alternately 


admired  the  romantic  mountain  scen- 
ery and  beautiful  sea-views,  rivalling 
those  of  theCorniche  between  Nice  and 
Genoa,  which  the  route  presented.  At 
Ghirai,  however,  on  the  10th,  after  din- 
ner, when  conversing  with  Sir  James 
Wylie,  his  long-tried  and  faithful  medi- 
cal attendant,  on  his  anxiety  about  the 
empress,  who  had  just  heard  of  the 
death  of  the  King  of  Bavaria,  her  bro- 
ther-in-law, he  mentioned,  as  if  acci- 
dentally, that  he  felt  his  stomach  de- 
ranged, and  that  for  several  nights  his 
sleep  had  been  disturbed  Sir  James 
felt  his  pulse,  which  indicated  fever, 
and  earnestly  counselled  the  adoption 
of  immediate  remedies.  "I  have  no 
need  of  you,"  replied  the  emperor, 
smiling,  "  nor  of  your  Latin  pharma- 
copoeia— I  know  how  to  treat  myself. 
Besides,  my  trust  is  in  God,  and  in  the 
strength  of  my  constitution."  Not- 
withstanding all  that  could  be  said,  he 
persisted  in  his  refusal  to  take  medi- 
cine, and  even  continued  his  journey, 
and  exposed  himself  to  his  wonted 
fatigue  on  horseback  when  returning 
along  the  pestilential  shores  of  the 
Putrid  Sea. 

105.  He  returned  to  Taganrog  on  the 
17th,  being  the  exact  day  fixed  for  that 
event  before  his  departure  ;  but  already 
shivering  fits,  succeeded  by  cold  ones, 
the  well-known  symptoms  of  intermit- 
tent fever,  had  shown  themselves.  The 
empress,  with  whom  he  shared  every 
instant  that  could  be  spared  from  the 
cares  of  empire,  evinced  to  him  the 
most  unremitting  attention,  and  by 
the  earnest  entreaties  of  his  physician 
he  was  at  length  prevailed  on  to  take 
some  of  the  usual  remedies  prescribed 
for  such  cases.  For  a  brief  space  they 
had  the  desired  effect ;  and  the  advices 
sent  to  St  Petersburg  of  the  august  pa- 
tient's convalescence  threw  the  people, 
who  had  been  seriously  alarmed  by  the 
accounts  of  his  illness,  into  a  delirium 
of  joy.  But  these  hopes  proved  fallaci- 
ous. On  the  25th  the  symptoms  sud- 
denly became  more  threatening.  Ex- 
treme weakness  confined  him  to  his 
couch,  and  alarming  despatches  from 
General  Diebitch  and  Count  WoronzofF 
augmented  his  anxiety,  by  revealing 
the  existence  and  magnitude  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


vast  conspiracy  in  the  army,  -which 
had  for  its  object  to  deprive  him  of  his 
throne  and  life.  ' '  My  friend, "  said  he 
to  Sir  James  Wylie,  "  what  a  fright- 
ful design  !  The  monsters  —  the  un- 
grateful !  when  I  had  no  thought  but 
for  their  happiness."  * 

106.  The  symptoms  now  daily  be- 
came more  alarming,  and  the  fever  as- 
sumed the  form  of  the  bilious  or  gas- 
tric, as  it  is  now  called,  and  at  last 
showed  the  worst  features  of  the  typhus. 
His  physicians  then,  despairing  of  his 
life,  got  Prince  Volkonsky  to  suggest 
the  last  duties  of  a  Christian.  ' '  They 
have  spoken  to  me,  "VVylie,"  said  the 
emperor,  "  of  the  communion  ;  has  it 
really  come  to  that?"  "Yes,"  said 
that  faithful  counsellor,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes  ;  "I  speak  to  you  no  longer 
as  a  physician,  but  as  a  friend.  Your 
Majesty  has  not  a  moment  to  lose." 
Next  day  the  emperor  confessed,  and 
with  the  empress,  who  never  for  an 
instant,  day  or  night,  left  his  bedside, 
received  the  last  communion.  "  For- 
get the  emperor,"  said  he  to  the  confes- 
sor ;  ' '  speak  to  me  simply  as  a  dying 
Christian. "  After  this  he  became  per- 
fectly docile.  "  Never,"  said  he  to  the 
empress,  "have  I  felt  such  a  glow  of 
inward  satisfaction  as  at  this  moment ; 
I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart."  The  symptoms  of  erysipelas 
in  his  leg  now  returned.  "  I  will  die," 
said  he,  "like  my  sister,"  alluding  to 
the  Grand-duchess  of  Oldenburg,  who 
had  refused  Napoleon  at  Erfurth,  and 
afterwards  died  of  that  complaint.  He 
then  fell  into  a  deep  sleep,  and  wakened 
when  it  was  near  mid-day,  and  the  sun 

*  "  Le  monarque  dit  un  jour  a  M.  "Wylie, 
'  Laissez-moi,  je  sais  moi-mdme  ce  qu'il  me 
faut :  du  repos,  de  la  solitude,  de  la  tranquil- 
lite."  Un  autre  jour,  il  lui  dit :  '  Mon  ami,  ce 
sont  mes  nerfs  qu'il  faut  soigner ;  ils  sont 
dans  un  desordre  e'pouvantable.'  '  C'est  un 
mal,'  lui  repliqua  Wylie,  "dont  les  rois  sont 
plus  souvent  atteints  que  les  particuliers.' 
•  Surtout  dang  les  temps  actuels  ! '  repliqua 
vivement  Alexandra.  'Ahij'ai  bien  sujet 
d'etre  malade.'  Enfln,  etant  en  apparence 
sans  aucune  fievre,  1'Enipereur  se  tourna 
brusquement  vers  le  docteur,  qui  etait  seul 
present.  '  Mon  ami,'  s'ecria-t-il,  '  quelles  ac- 
tions, quelles  epouvantables  actions !'  et  il 
fixa  sur  le  medecin  un  regard  terrible  et  in- 
comprehensible."— Annuaire  Siitoriouc,  viii. 
37,  note. 


was  shining  brightly.  Causing  the 
windows  to  be  opened",  he  said,  looking 
at  the  blue  vault,  "  What  a  beautiful 
day  !  "*  and  feeling  the  arms  of  the  em- 
press around  him,  he  said  tenderly, 
pressing  her  hand,  ' '  My  love,  you  must 
be  very  fatigued. "  These  were  his  last 
words.  He  soon  after  fell  into  a  le- 
thargic sleep,  which  lasted  several 
hours,  from  which  he  only  wakened  a 
few  minutes  before  he  breathed  his 
last.  The  power  of  speech  was  gone  ; 
but  he  made  a  sign  to  the  empress  to- 
approach,  and  imprinted  a  last  and 
fervent  kiss  on  her  hand.  The  rattle 
was  soon  heard  in  his  throat.  She 
closed  his  eyes  a  few  minutes  after, 
and,  placing  the  cross  on  his  bosom, 
embraced  his  lifeless  remains  for  the 
last  time.  "  Lord  ! "  said  she,  "  pardon 
my  sins  ;  it  has  pleased  Thy  omnipo- 
tent power  to  take  him  from  me."t 

107.  The  body  of  the  emperor,  after 
being  embalmed,  was  brought  to  the 
Church  of  St  Alexander  Newski  at 
Taganrog,  where  it  remained  for  some 
days  in  a  chapelle  ardentc,  surrounded 
by  his  mourning  subjects,  and  was 
thence  transferred,  accompanied  by  a 
splendid  cortege  of  cavalry,  Cossacks, 
and  artillery,  after  a  long  interval,  to- 
the  cathedral  of  St  Peter  and  St  Paul, 
in  the  citadel  of  St  Petersburg,  where- 
his  ancestors  were  laid.  The  long 
journey  occupied  several  weeks,  and 
every  night,  when  his  remains  were  de- 
posited in  the  church  of  the  place  where 
the  procession  rested,  crowds  of  people, 

*  "  Light — more  light ! "  the  well-known  last 
words  of  Goethe,  as  noticed  by  Buhver  in  his- 
beautiful  romance,  "My  Novel."  Those  who 
have  witnessed  the  last  moments  of  the  dy- 
ing, know  how  often  a  request  for,  or  expres- 
sions of  satisfaction  for  light,  are  among  their 
last  words. 

t  The  empress  addressed  the  following  beau- 
tiful letter  to  her  mother-in-law  on  this  sad 
bereavement:  "Maman,  votre  ange  est  au 
ciel,  et  moi,  je  vegete  encore  sur  la  terre.  Qui 
aurait  pense  que  moi,  faible  malade,  je  pour- 
rais  lui  survivre?  Maman,  ne  m'abandonnez 
pas,  car  je  suis  absolument  seule  dans  ce 
monde  de  douleurs.  Notre  cher  defunt  a  re- 
pris  son  air  de  bienveillance,  son  sourire  me- 
prouve  qu'il  est  heureux,  et  qu'il  voit  de* 
choses  plus  belles  qu'ici-bas.  Ma  seule  con- 
solation dans  cette  perte  irreparable  est,  que 
je  ne  lui  survivrai  pas;  j'ai  I'esp^rance  de 
m'unir  bientdt  a  lui."  —  L'lJipiir.ATRicE  d 
MARIE  FEODOROVNA,  2  Dec.  1825. 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


55 


from  a  great  distance  around,  flocked 
to  the  spot  to  kneel  down,  and  kiss  the 
bier  where  their  beloved  Czar  was  kid. 
The  body  reached  St  Petersburg  on 
the  10th  of  March,  but  the  interment, 
which  was  conducted  with  extraordin- 
ary magnificence  in  the  cathedral,  did 
not  take  place  till  the  25th.  The 
Grand-duke  Nicholas  (who  since  be- 
came emperor),  with  all  the  imperial 
family,  was  present  on  the  occasion, 
and  a  splendid  assembly  of  the  nobility 
of  Russia  and  diplomacy  of  Europe. 
There  was  not  a  heart  which  was  not 
moved,  scarce  an  eye  that  was  not 
moistened  with  tears.  The  old  grena- 
diers, his  comrades  in  the  campaigns 
in  Germany  and  France,  and  who  bore 
the  weight  of  the  coffin  when  taken  to 
the  grave,  wept  like  children  ;  and  lie 
was  followed  to  his  last  home  by  his 
faithful  servant  Ilya,  who  had  driven 
the  car  from  Taganrog,  a  distance  of 
fifteen  hundred  miles,  and  who  stood 
in  tears  at  the  side  of  the  bier,  as  his 
beloved  master  was  laid  in  the  tomb. 

108.  The  Empress  Elizabeth  did  not 
long  survive  the  husband  who,  despite 
all  her  sorrows,  had  ever  reigned  su- 
preme in  her  heart.  The  feeble  state  of 
her  health  did  not  permit  of  her  accom- 
panying his  funeral  procession  to  St 
Petersburg,  which  she  was  passionately 
desirous  to  have  done  ;  and  it  was  not 
till  the  8th  May  that  she  was  able  to 
leave  Taganrog  on  her  way  to  the  capi- 
tal. The  whole  population  of  the  town, 
by  whom  she  was  extremely  beloved, 
accompanied  her  for  a  considerable 
distance  on  the  road.  Her  weakness, 
howeArer,  increased  rapidly  as  she  con- 
tinued her  journey  ;  grief  for  the  loss 
of  her  husband,  along  with  the  sudden 
cessation  of  the  anxiety  for  his  life, 
and  the  want  of  any  other  object  in 
existence,  proved  fatal  to  a  constitu- 
tion already  weakened  by  long  years  of 
mourning  and  severance.  She  with 
dilliculty  reached  Belef,  a  small  town 
in  the  government  of  Toule,  where  she 
breathed  her  last,  serene  and  tranquil, 
on  the  16th  May.  Her  remains  were 
brought  to  St  Petersburg,  where  she 
•was  carried  to  the  cathedral  on  the 
same  car  which  had  conveyed  her  hus- 
band, and  laid  beside  him  on  the  3d 


July.  Thus  terminated  a  marriage,  cel- 
ebrated thirty  years  before  with  every 
prospect  of  earthly  felicity,  and  every 
splendour  which  the  most  exalted  rank 
could  confer.  "  I  have  seen,"  said  a 
Russian  poet,  ' '  that  couple,  he  beauti- 
ful as  Hope,  she  ravishing  as  Felicity. 
It  seems  only  a  day  since  Catherine 
placed  on  their  youthful  heads  the 
nuptial  crown  of  roses  :  soon  the  dia- 
dems were  mingled  with  thorns  ;  and 
too  soon,  alas  !  the  angel  of  death  en- 
vironed their  pale  foreheads  with  pop- 
pies, the  emblem  of  eternal  sleep." 

109.  Had  Alexander  died  shortly 
after  the  first  capture  of  Paris  in  1814, 
he  would  have  left  a  name  unique  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  for  never  be- 
fore had  so  great  a  part  been  so  nobly 
played  on  such  a  theatre.     It  is  hard 
to  say  whether  his  fortitude  in  adver- 
sity, his  resolution  in  danger,  or  his 
clemency  in  victory,  were  then  most 
admirable.     For  the  first  time  in  the 
annals  of  mankind,  the  sublime  prin- 
ciples of  the  forgiveness  of  injuries 
were  brought  into  the  government  of 
nations  in  the  moment  of  their  highest 
excitement,  and  mercy  in  the  hour  of 
triumph  restrained  the  uplifted  hand 
of  justice.  To  the  end  of  the  world  the 
flames  of  Moscow  will  be  associated 
with  the  forgiveness  of  Paris.     But 
time  has  taken  much  from  the  halo 
which  then  environed  his  name,  and 
revealed  weaknesses  in  his  character 
well  known  to  his  personal  friends,  but 
the  existence  of  which  the  splendour 
of  his  former  career  had  hardly  per- 
mitted to  be  suspected.    He  had  many 
veins  of  magnanimity  in  his  character, 
but  he  was  not  a  thoroughly  great  man. 
He  was  so,  like  a  woman,  by  impulse 
and  sentiment,  rather  than  principle 
and  habit.     Chateaubriand  said,   "  II 
avait  1'anie   forte,    mais  le  caractero 
foible."     He  wanted  the  constancy  of 
purpose  and  perseverance  of  conduct 
which  is  the  distinguishing  and  high- 
est mark  of  the  masculine  character. 

110.  Warm-hearted,  benevolent,  and 
affectionate,  he  was  without  the  steadi- 
ness which  springs  from  internal  con- 
viction,  and   the   consistency   which 
arises  from  the  feelings  being  perma- 
nently guided  by  the  conscience  and 


56 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


ruled  by  the  reason.  He  was  sincerely 
desirous  of  promoting  the  happiness  of 
his  subjects,  and  deeply  impressed  with 
a  sense  of  duty  in  that  respect ;  but  his 
projects  of  amelioration  were  not  based 
upon  practical  information,  and  con- 
sequently, in  great  part,  failed  in  effect. 
They  savoured  more  of  the  philan- 
thropic dreams  of  his  Swiss  preceptor 
La  Harpe,  than  either  the  manners, 
customs,  or  character  of  his  own 
people.  At  times  he  was  magnanimous 
and  heroic,  when  circumstances  called 
forth  these  elevated  qualities  ;  but  at 
others  he  was  flexible  and  weak,  when 
he  fell  under  influences  of  a  less  credit- 
able description.  Essentially  religious 
in  his  disposition,  he  sometimes  sank 
into  the  dreams  of  superstition.  The 
antagonist  of  Napoleon  at  one  time 
came  to  share  the  reveries  of  Madame 
Krudener  at  another.  Affectionate  in 
private  life,  he  yet  broke  the  heart  of 
nis  empress,  who  showed  by  her  noble 
conduct  on  his  deathbed  how  entirely 
she  was  worthy  of  his  regard.  His 
character  affords  a  memorable  example 
of  the  truth  so  often  enforced  by  mor- 
alists, so  generally  forgot  in  the  world, 
that  it  is  in  the  ruling  powef  of  the 
mind,  rather  than  the  impulses  by 
which  it  is  influenced,  that  the  distin- 
guishing mark  of  character  is  to  be 
looked  for ;  and  that  no  amount  of 
generosity  of  disposition  can  compen- 
sate for  the  want  of  the  firmness  which 
is  to  control  it. 

111.  The  death  of  Alexander  was 
succeeded  by  events  in  Russia  of  the 
very  highest  importance,  and  which 
revealed  the  depth  of  the  abyss  on  the 
edge  of  which  the  despotic  sovereigns 
of  Europe  slumbered  in  fancied  secu- 
rity. It  occasioned,  at  the  same  time, 
a  contest  of  generosity  between  the  two 
brothers  of  Alexander,  C'onstantine  and 
Nicholas,  unexampled  in  history,  and 
which  resembles  rather  the  fabled  mag- 
nanimity with  which  the  poets  extri- 
cate the  difficulties  of  a  drama  on  the 
opera  stage,  than  anything  which  oc- 
curs in  real  life.  By'a  ukase  of  5 /1 6th 
April  1797,  the  E"mperor  Paul  had 
abolished  the  right  of  choosing  a  suc- 
cessor out  of  the  imperial  family,  which  ; 
Peter  the  Great  had  assumed,"  and  es-  j 


tablished  for  ever  the  succession  to  tho 
crown  in  the  usual  order,  the  males 
succeeding  before  the  females,  and  tlio 
elder  in  both  before  the  younger.  This 
settlement  had  been  formally  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Emperor  Alexander  on 
two  solemn  occasions,  and  it  consti- 
tuted the  acknowledged  and  settled 
law  of  the  empire.  As  the  late  emperor 
had  only  two  daughters,  both  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  the  imdoubted  heir  to 
the  throne,  when  he  died,  was  the 
Grand-duke  Constantine,  then  at  War- 
saw, at  the  head  of  the  government  of 
Poland.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Grand  - 
duke  Nicholas,  the  next  younger 
brother,  was  at  St  Petersburg,  where 
he  was  high  in  command,  and  much 
beloved  by  the  guards  in  military 
possession  of  the  capital.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, if  a  contest  was  to  be  ap- 
prehended, it  was  between  the  younger 
brother  on  the  spot  endeavouring  to 
supplant  the  elder  at  a  distance.  Ne- 
vertheless it  was  just  the  reverse.  There 
was  a  contest,  but  it  was  between  the 
two  brothers,  each  endeavouring  to 
devolve  the  empire  upon  the  other. 

112.  Intelligence  of  the  progress  of 
the  malady  of  Alexander  was  commu- 
nicated to  Constantine  at  Warsaw,  as 
regularly  as  to  the  empress-mother  at 
St  Petersburg  ;  and  it  was  universally 
supposed  that,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
upon  the  demise  of  the  Czar,  to  whom, 
he  was  only  eighteen  months  younger, 
he  would  succeed  to  the  throne.  The 
accounts  of  the  death  of  the  reigning 
sovereign  reached  Warsaw  on  the  7th 
December,  where  both  Constantine  and 
his  youngest  brother,  the  Grand-duke 
Michael,  were  at  the  time.  The  former 
was  immediately  considered  as  emperor 
by  the  troops,  and  all  the  ministers 
and  persons  in  attendance  in  the  pa- 
lace, though  he  shut  himself  up  in  his 
apartment  for  two  days  on  receiving 
the  melancholy  intelligence.  But  to 
the  astonishment  of  eveiy  one,  instead 
of  assuming  the  title  and  functions  of 
empire,  lie  absolutely  forbade  them  ; 
declared  that  he  had  resigned  his  right 
of  succession  in  favour  of  his  younger 
brother  Nicholas  ;  that  this  had  been 
done  with  the  full  knowledge  and  con- 
sent of  the  late  emperor ;  and  that 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Nicholas  was  now  emperor  And  in 
effect,  on  the  day  following,  the  Grand- 
duke  Michael  set  out  for  St  Petersburg, 
bearing  holograph  letters  from  Con- 
stuntine  to  the  empress-mother  and 
his  brother  Nicholas,  in  which,  after 
referring  to  a  former  act  of  renuncia- 
tion in  1822,  deposited  in  the  archives 
of  the  empire,  and  which  had  received 
the  sanction  of  the  late  emperor,  he 
again,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  re- 
peated his  renunciation  of  the  throne.* 
113.  To  understand  how  this  came 
about,  it  is  necessary  to  premise  that 
the  Grand-duke  Constautine,  like  his 
brother  Alexander,  had  been  married, 
at  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  by  the 
orders  of  the  Empress  Catherine,  to 
the  Princess  Julienne  of  Saxe-Coburg, 
a  house  which  has  since  been  illus- 
trated by  so  many  distinguished  mar- 
riages into  the  royal  families  of  Europe. 
The  marriage,  from  the  very  first,  as 
already  mentioned,  proved  unfortun- 
ate :  the  savage  manners  of  the  Grand- 
duke  proved  insupportable  to  the  prin- 
cess ;  they  had  no  family ;  and  at  the 
*  The  letter  to  the  empress-mother  was  in 
these  words  :  "  Habit  m'  des  mon  enfance  a 
accomplir  religieusement  la  volonte,  tant  de 
feu  mon  pere  que  du  deTunt  empereur,  ninsi 
que  celle  de  V.  M.  I.  ;  et  me  renfermant 
maintenant  encore  dans  les  boraes  de  ce 
principe,  je  considere  comme  une  obligation 
de  c6der  mon  droit  a  la  pnissance,  conibrme'- 
ment  aux  dispositions  de  1'acte  de  1'empire 
sur  1'ordre  de  succession  dans  la  famille  im- 
periale,  a  S.  A.  I.  le  Grand-due  Nicolas  et  a 
ses  heritiers."  In  the  letter,  of  the  same 
date,  to  the  Grand-duke  Nicholas,  Constan- 
tine  thus  expressed  himself:  "Je  regarde 
comme  un  devoir  sacre,  de  priertres-humble- 
ment  V.  M.  I.  qu'elle  daigne  accepter  de  moi, 
tout  le  premier,  man  serment  de  sujetion  et  de 
fidelite  ;  et  de  me  permettre  de  lui  exposerque, 
n'elevant  mes  yeux  a  aucune  dignite  nouvelle, 
ni  a  aucun  titre  nouveau,  je  desire  de  con- 
s-rver  seulement  celui  de  Cesarowitch,  dont 
j'ai  ete  honore  pour  mes  services,  par  feu 
notre  pere.  Mon  unique  bonheur  sera  tou- 
jours  que  V.  M.  I.  daigne  agreer  les  senti- 
ments de  ma  plus  profonde  veneration,  et  de 
num  devourment  sans  bornes ;  sentiments 
ilont  j'offre  comme  page,  plus  de  trente  an- 
'1'un  service  tidelu,  et  du  zele  le  plu.s  pur 
<mi  m'anime  envers  L.  L.  M.  les  emperetirs 
mon  pere  et  mon  frere  de  glorieuse  memoire. 
C'est  ayec  les  memes  sentiments  que  je  ne 
cesserai  jutqu'A  la  fln  da  mes  jours  de  tervir 
V.  M.  I.,  ct  tcs  descendants  dans  mes /auctions 
et  ma  place  actuelle." — CONST ANTIN  d  I'lmpe- 
ratrice  MARK:  et  au  Grand-due  NICOLAS,  8th 
ttber  lvJf>.  SCUXITZLLK,  Hist.  Int.  de  la 
Jitwsic,  i.  1<JU,  191. 


end  of  four  years  they  separated  by 
mutual  consent,  and  the  Grand-duch- 
ess returned,  with  a  suitable  pension, 
to  her  father  in  Germany.  The  Grand- 
duke  was  occupied  for  twenty  years 
after  with  war,  interspersed  with  tem- 
porary liaisons;  but  at  length,  in 
1820,  when  he  was  Viceroy  of  Poland, 
his  inconstant  affections  were  fixed  by 
a  Polish  lady  of  uncommon  beauty  and 
fascination.  She  was  Jeanne  Grud- 
zinska,  daughter  of  a  count  and  landed 
proprietor  at  Pistolaf,  in  the  district  of 
Bromberg.  So  ardent  was  the  passion 
of  Constantino  for  the  Polish  beauty, 
that  he  obtained  a  divorce  from  his 
first  wife  on  1st  April  1820,  and  im- 
mediately espoused,  though  with  the 
left  hand,  the  object  of  his  present 
passion,  upon  whom  he  bestowed  the 
title  of  Princess  of  Lowicz,  after  a 
lordship  in  Masovia  which  he  gave  to 
her  brother,  and  which  had  formerly 
formed  part  of  the  military  appanage 
bestowed  by  Napoleon  upon  Marshal 
Davoust. 

114.  The  marriage  of  Constantino, 
however,  was  with  the  left  hand,  or 
a  morganatic  one  only;  the  effect  of 
which  was,  that,  though  legal  in  all 
other  respects,  the  sons  of  the  marriage 
were  not  grand-dukes,  and  could  not 
succeed  to  the  throne ;  nor  did  the 
princess  by  her  marriage  become  a 
grand  -  duchess.  But  in  addition  to 
this,  Constantino  had  come  under  a 
solemn  engagement,  though  verbal, 
and  on  his  honour  as  a  prince  only, 
to  renounce  his  right  of  succession  to 
the  crown  in  favour  of  his  brother 
Nicholas ;  and  it  was  on  this  condi- 
tion only  that  the  consent  of  the  em- 
peror had  been  given  to  his  divorce. 
In  pursuance  of  this  engagement  he 
had,  on  the  14/26th  January  1822, 
left  with  his  brother,  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  a  solemn  renunciation  of 
his  right  of  succession,  which  had  been 
accepted  by  the  emperor  by  as  solemn 
a  writing,  and  a  recognition  of  Nicholas 
as  heir  to  the  throne.  The  whole  three 
documents  had  been  deposited  by  him 
in  a  packet  sealed  with  the  imperial 
arms,  endorsed,  "Not  to  be  opened 
till  immediately  after  my  death,  be- 
fore proceeding  to  any  other  act,  "with 


58 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  viu. 


Prince  Pierre  Yassiluvitch  Lapoukliine, 
President  of  the  Imperial  Council.* 

115.  The  intelligence  of  the  death 
of  Alexander  arrived  at  St  Petersburg 
on  the  9th  December,  in  the  morning, 
at  the  very  time  when  the  imperial 
family  were  returning  thanks,  in  the 
chapel  of  the  palace,  to  Heaven  for 
his  supposed  recovery,  which  the  de- 
spatches of  the  preceding  day  had  led 
them  to  hope  for.  The  first  thing 
done  was,  in  terms  of  the  injunction 
of  Alexander,  to  open  the  sealed  pac- 
ket containing  Constantino's  resigna- 
tion. As  soon  as  it  was  opened  and 
read,  the  Council  declared  Nicholas 
emperor,  and  invited  him  to  attend  to 
receive  their  homage.  But  here  an 
unexpected  difficulty  presented  itself. 
Nicholas  positively  refused  to  accept 

*  "Ne  rcconnaissant  en  moi,  ni  le  ge"nie, 
ni  les  talents,  ni  la  force  neeessaire  pour  6tre 
jamais  e"leve"  a  la  dignite  souveraine,  a  la- 
quelle  je  pourrais  avoir  droit  par  ma  nais- 
sance,  je  supplie  V.  M.  I.  de  transferor  ce 
droit  a  celui  a  qui  il  appartient  apres  moi,  et 
d'assurer  ainsi  pour  toujours  la  stability  de 
1'erapire.  Quant  a  moi,  j'ajouterai  par  cette 
renonciation,  une  nouvelle  garantie  et  un 
nouvelle  force  a  1'engagement  que  j'ai  spon- 
tanfiment  et  solennellement  contracte,  a  1'oc- 
casion  de  mon  divorce  avec  ma  premiere 
epouse.  Toutes  les  circonstances  de  ma  si- 
tuation actuelle,  me  portent  de  plus  en  plus 
a  cette  mesure,  qui  prouvera  a  1'empire  et  au 
monde  entier  la  since'rite'  de  mes  sentiments. 
Daignez,  sire,  agr<5er  avec  bonte"  ma  priere, 
daignez  contribuer  a  ce  que  notre  auguste 
mere  veuille  y  adherer;  et  sanctionnez-la  de 
votre  assurance  imperiale.  Dans  la  sphere 
de  la  vie  privee,  je  m'efforcerai  toujours  de 
servir  d'exemple  a  vos  fldeles  sujets ;  a  tous 
ceux  qu'anime  1'amour  de  notre  chere  Patrie." 
— CONSTANTS  a  VEmpereur,  St  Petersbourg, 
14/26  Jan.  1822.  The  acceptance  of  the  em- 
peror of  this  renunciation  was  simple  and 
unqualified,  and  dated  2/14th  Feb.  1322.  The 
emperor  added  a  manifesto  in  the  following 
terms,  declaring  Nicholas  his  heir:  "L'acte 
spontane  par  lequel  notre  frere  puine,  le  Ce- 
sarowitch  et  Grand-due  Constantin,  renonce 
a  son  droit  sur  le  trdne  de  toutes  les  Russies, 
est,  et  demeurera,  fixe  et  invariable.  Ledit 
Acte  de  Renonciation  sera,  pour  que  la  no- 
toriete  en  soit  assnree,  conserve  a  la  Grande 
Cathedrale  de  1'Assomption  a  Moscow,  et  dans 
les  trois  hautes  administrations  de  notre  Em- 
pire, au  Saint  Synode,  au  Conseil  de  1'Empire, 
et  au  Senat  Dirigeant.  En  consequence  de 
ces  dispositions,  et  conformement  a  la  stricte 
teneur  de  1'acte  sur  la  succession  au  trone, 
est  reconnu  pour  notre  heritier  notre  second 
frere  le  Grand-due  Nicolas.  ALEXANDBE." — 
Journal  de  St  Petersbourg,  No.  150.  SCHNITZ- 
LER,  L  163,  164. 


the  throne.  "I  am  not  emperor," 
said  he,  "and  will  not  be  so  at  my 
brother's  expense.  If,  maintaining 
his  renunciation,  the  Grand-duke  Con- 
stantine  persists  in  the  sacrifice  of  his 
rights,  but  in  that  case  only,  will  I 
exercise  my  right  to  the  throne."  The 
Council  remained  firm,  and  entreated 
him  to  accept  their  homage ;  but  Ni- 
cholas positively  refused,  alleging,  in 
addition,  that  as  Constan  tine's  renun- 
ciation had  not  been  published  or 
acted  upon  during  the  lifetime  of  the 
late  emperor,  it  had  not  acquired  the 
force  of  a  law,  and  that  he  was  conse- 
quently emperor,  and  if  he  meant  to 
renounce,  must  do  so  afresh,  when  in 
the  full  possession  of  his  rights.  The 
Council  still  contested  the  point ;  but 
finding  the  Grand -duke  immovable, 
they  submitted  with  the  words,  "You 
are  our  emperor;  we  owe  you  an  ab- 
solute obedience :  since,  then,  you  com- 
mand us  to  recognise  the  Grand-duke 
Constantine  as  our  legitimate  sove- 
reign, we  have  no  alternative  but  to 
obey  your  commands."  They  accord- 
ingly declared  Constantine  emperor. 
Their  example  determined  the  Senate ; 
and  the  guards,  being  drawn  up  on  tho 
place  in  front  of  the  Winter  Palace, 
took  the  usual  oath  to  the  Cesarowitch 
as  the  new  emperor.  The  motives 
which  determined  Nicholas  to  tako 
this  step  were  afterwards  stated  in  a 
noble  proclamation  on  his  own  acces- 
sion to  the  throne.* 

116.  Matters  were  in  this  state,  the 
Grand -duke  Constantine  being  pro- 
claimed emperor,  and  recognised  by 

*  "  Nous  n'eumes  ni  le  desir,  ni  le  droit, 
de  considerer  comme  irrevocable  cette  renon- 
ciation, qui  n'avait  point  ete  publiee  lors- 
qu'elle  eut  lieu ;  et  qui  n'avait  point  ete  con- 
vertie  en  loi.  Nous  voulions  ainsi  manifester 
notre  respect  pour  la  premiere  loi  fondamen- 
tale  de  notre  Patrie,  sur  1'ordre  invariable  de 
la  succession  au  trdne.  Nous  cherchions 
uniquement  a  garantir  de  la  moindre  atteinte 
la  loi  qui  regie  la  succession  au  Trone,  4 
placer  dans  tout  son  jour  la  loyaute"  de  nos 
intentions,  et  de  preserver  notre  chere  Patrie, 
meme  d'un  moment  d'incertitude,  sur  la  per- 
sonne  de  son  le"gitime  souverain.  Cette  de"- 
tennination,  prise  dans  la  purete"  de  notre 
conscience  (levant  le  Dieu  qui  lit  au  iond  des 
coeurs,  fut  be"nie  par  S.  M.  1'Imperatrice 
Marie,  notre  mere  bien-aimee."— Proclama- 
tion, 25  Dec.  1825;  Journal  de  St  Petersbourg, 
No.  150.  SCHNITZLER,  i.  169,  170. 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


all  the  authorities  at  St  Petersburg, 
•when  the  Grand-duke  Michael  arrived 
there,  with  the  fresh  renunciation  by 
the  former  of  his  rights,  after  the 
death  of  the  late  sovereign  had  been 
known  to  him.  Nothing  could  be 
more  clear  and  explicit  than  that  re- 
nunciation, concerning  the  validity  of 
which  no  doubt  could  now  be  enter- 
tained. Nevertheless  Nicholas  per- 
sisted in  his  generous  refusal  of  the 
throne,  and,  after  a  few  hours'  repose, 
despatched  the  Grand -duke  Michael 
back  to  Warsaw,  with  the  intelligence 
that  Constantino  had  already  been  pro- 
claimed emperor.  He  met,  however, 
at  Dorpat,  in  Livonia,  a  courier  with 
the  answer  of  Constantine,  after  he 
had  received  the  despatches  from  St 
Petersburg,  again  positively  declining 
the  empire,  in  a  letter  addressed  "  To 
his  Majesty  the  Emperor."  Nicholas, 
however,  still  refused  the  empire,  and 
again  besought  his  brother  to  accept 
it.  The  interregnum  continued  three 
weeks,  during  which  the  two  brothers 
— a  thing  unheard  of — were  mutually 
declining  and  urging  the  empire  on 
the  other!  At  length,  on  24th  De- 
cember, Nicholas,  being  fully  per- 
suaded of  the  sincerity  and  legality 
of  his  brother's  resignation,  yielded  to 
what  fippeared  the  will  of  Providence, 
mounted  the  throne  of  his  fathers, 
and  notified  his  accession  to  all  the 
sovereigns  of  Europe,  by  whom  he  was 
immediately  recognised. 

117.  But  while  everything  seemed 
to  smile  on  the  young  emperor,  and  he 
was,  in  appearance,  receiving  the  re- 
ward of  his  disinterested  and  generous 
conduct,  in  being  seated,  by  general 
consent,  on'  the  greatest  throne  in  the 
world,  the  earth  was  trembling  beneath 
his  feet,  and  a  conspiracy  was  on  the 
point  of  bursting  forth,  which  ere  long 
involved  Russia  in  the  most  imminent 
danger,  and  had  well-nigh  terminated, 
at  its  very  commencement,  his  event- 
ful reign.  From  the  documents  on  this 
subject  which  have  sincebeen  published 
by  the  Russian  Government,  it  appears 
that,  ever  since  1817,  secret  societies, 
framed  on  the  model  of  those  of  Ger- 
many, had  existed  in  Russia,  the  object 
of  which  was  to  subvert  the  existing 


government,  and  establish  in  its  stead 
representative  institutions  and  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy.  They  received 
a  vast  additional  impulse  upon  the  re- 
turn of  the  Army  of  Occupation  from 
France,  in  the  close  of  1818,  where  the 
officers,  having  been  living  in  intimacy, 
during  three  years,  with  the  English 
and  German  military  men,  and  familiar 
with  the  Liberal  press  of  both  coun- 
tries, as  well  as  of  Paris,  had  become 
deeply  imbued  with  republican  ideas, 
and  enthusiastic  admirers  of  the  popu- 
lar feelings  by  which  they  were  nou- 
rished, and  of  the  establishments  in. 
which  they  seemed  to  end.  The  con- 
spiracy was  the  more  dangerous  that  it 
was  conducted  with  the  most  profound 
secrecy,  embraced  a  number  of  the 
highest  nobles  in  the  land,  as  well  as 
military  officers,  and  had  its  ramifica- 
tions in  all  the  considerable  armies,  and 
even  in  the  guards  at  the  capital.  So 
strongly  was  the  danger  felt  by  the 
older  officers  of  the  empire,  who  were 
attached  to  the  old  regime,  that  one  of 
them  said,  on  the  return  of  the  troops 
from  France,  "  Rather  than  let  these 
men  re-enter  Russia,  I  would,  were  I 
emperor,  throw  them  into  the  Baltic." 
118.  The  conspiracy  was  divided  into 
two  branches,  each  of  which  formed  a 
separate  society,  but  closely  connected 
by  correspondence.  The  directing  com- 
mittee of  both  had  its  seat  at  St  Peters- 
burg, and  at  its  head  was  Prince  Trou- 
betzkoi — a  nobleman  of  distinguished 
rank,  but  more  ardour  than  firmness 
of  character,  who  was  high  in  the  em- 
peror's confidence.  Ryletf,  Prince  Obo- 
lonsky,  and  some  other  officers  in  the 
garrison,  besides  sixty  officers  in  the 
guards,  were  in  the  first  branch  of  the 
association.  The  second  society,  which 
was  much  more  numerous,  and  em- 
braced a  great  number  of  colonels  of 
regiments,  had  its  chief  ramifications 
in  the  army  of  the  south  on  the  Turk- 
ish frontier,  then  under  the  command 
of  Count  Wittgenstein.  At  the  head 
of  this  society  were  Captain  Nikitas 
Mouravieff,  Colonel  Pestel,  and  Alex- 
ander Mouravieff,  whose  names  have 
acquired  a  melancholy  celebrity  from 
the  tragedy  in  which  their  efforts  ter- 
minated. These  men  were  all  animated 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


•with  a  sincere  lovo  of  their  country, 
and  were  endowed  with  the  most  heroic 
courage.  Under  these  noble  qualities, 
however,  were  concealed,  as  is  always 
the  case  in  such  conspiracies,  an  inor- 
dinate thirst  for  elevation  and  indivi- 
dual ambition,  and,an  entire  ignorance 
of  the  circumstances  essential  to  the 
^success  of  any  enterprise  having  for 
its  object  the  establishment  of  repre- 
sentative institutions  in  their  country. 
They  were  among  the  most  highly  edu- 
cated and  cultivated  men  in  the  Russian 
empire  at  the  time ;  and  yet  their  pro- 
ject, if  successful,  could  not  have  failed 
to  reduce  their  country  to  anarchy,  and 
throw  it  back  a  century  in  the  career 
of  improvement  and  ultimate  freedom. 
So  true  it  is  that  the  first  thing  to  be 
inquired  into,  in  all  measures  intend- 
ed to  introduce  the  institutions  of  one 
country  into  another,  is,  to  consider 
whether  their  political  circumstances 
and  national  character  are  the  same. 
The  conspiracy  was  headed  by  the  high- 
est in  rank  and  the  first  in  intelligence, 
because  it  was  on  them  that  the  chains 
of  servitude  hung  heaviest.  ' '  Envy, " 
says  Bulwer,  "enters  so  largely  into 
the  democratic  passion,  that  it  is  always 
felt  most  strongly  by  those  who  are  on 
the  edge  of  a  line  which  they  yet  feel 
to  be  impassable.  No  man  envies  an 
archangel." 

119.  Information  respecting  these 
societies,  though  in  a  very  vague  way, 
had  been  communicated  to  the  late 
emperor ;  but  it  was  not  suspected 
how  deep-seated  and  extensive  they  in 
reality  were,  or  how  widely  they  had 
spread  throughout  the  officers  of  the 
army.  The  privates  were,  generally 
speaking,  still  steady  in  their  alle- 
giance. Wittgenstein,  however,  and 
Count  de  "Witt,  had  received  secret  but 
authentic  accounts  of  the  conspiracy  at 
the  time  of  Alexander's  journey  to  Ta- 
ganrog, and  it  was  that  information, 
suddenly  communicated  during  his  last 
illness,  which  had  so  cruelly  aggravated 
the  anxiety  and  afflicted  the  neart  of 
the  Czar.  The  project  embraced  a  gen- 
eral insurrection  at  once  in  the  capital 
and  the  two  great  armies  in  Poland  and 
Bessarabia ;  and  the  success  of  similar 
movements  in  Spain  and  Italy  inspired 


the  conspirators  with  the  most  san- 
guine hopes  of  success.  The  time  had 
been  frequently  fixed,  and  as  often  ad- 
journed from  accidental  causes ;  but  at 
length  it  was  arranged  for  the  period 
of  Alexander's  journey  to  Taganrog,  in 
autumn  1825.  It  was  only  prevented 
from  there  breaking  out  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Wittgenstein  to  the  command 
of  the  army  of  the  south,  whose  known 
resolution  of  character  rendered  caution 
necessary ;  and  it  was  then  finally  re- 
solved it  should  take  place  in  May  1826. 
The  conspirators  were  unanimous  as  to 
an  entire  change  of  government,  and 
the  adoption  of  representative  insti- 
tutions ;  but  there  was  a  considerable 
division  among  them,  at  first,  what  was 
to  be  done  with  the  emperor  and  his 
family.  At  length,  however,  as  usual 
in  such  cases,  the  more  decided  and 
sanguinary  resolutions  prevailed,  and 
it  was  determined  to  put  them  all  to 
death. 

120.  The  death  of  Alexander  at  first 
caused  uncertainty  in  their  designs; 
but  the  long  continuance  of  the  inter- 
regnum, and  the  strange  contest  be- 
tween the  two  brothers  for  the  aban- 
donment of  the  throne,  offered  un- 
hoped-for chances  of  success  of  which 
they  resolved  to  avail  themselves.  To 
divide  the  army,  and  avoid  shocking, 
in  the  first  instance  at  least,  the  feel- 
ings of  the  soldiers,  it  was  determined 
that  they  should  espouse  the  cause  of 
Constantine ;  and  as  he  had  been  pro- 
claimed emperor  by  Nicholas  and  the 
Government,  it  appeared  an  easy  mat- 
ter to  persuade  them  that  the  story  of 
his  having  resigned  his  right  of  succes- 
sion was  a  fabrication,  and  that  their 
duty  was  to  support  him  against  all 
competitors.  As  Nicholas  seemed  so 
averse  to  be  charged  with  the  burden 
of  the  empire,  it  was  hoped  he  would 
renounce  at  once  when  opposition  ma- 
nifested itself,  and  that  Constantine, 
supported  by  their  arms,  would  be  easi- 
ly got  to  acquiesce  in  their  demands  for 
a  change  of  government.  Their  ulte- 
rior plans  were,  to  convoke  deputies 
from  all  the  governments  ;  to  publish 
a  manifesto  of  the  Senate,  in  which  it 
was  declared  that  they  were  to  frame 
laws  for  a  representative  government ; 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


61 


that  the  deputies  should  be  summoned 
from  Poland,  to  insure  the  unity  of  the 
empire,  and  in  the  mean  time  a  provi- 
sional government  established.  Con- 
stantine  was  to  be  persuaded  that  it 
Avas  all  done  out  of  devout  feelings  of 
loyalty  towards  himself. 

121.  In    contemplation    of    these 
changes,  the  greatest  efforts  had  been 
made  for  several  days  past  to  secure 
the   regiments  of   the  guards,   upon 
whose  decision  the  success  of  all  pre- 
vious revolutions  had  depended  ;  and 
they  had  succeeded  in  gaining  many 
officers  in  several  of  the  most  distin- 
guished regiments,  particularly  those 
of  Preobrazinsky,  Sinioneffsky,  the  re- 
giments of  Moscow,  the  body-guard 
grenadiers,  and  the  corps  of  marines. 
Information,  though  in  a  very  obscure 
way,  had  been  conveyed  to  Nicholas, 
of  a  great   conspiracy  in  which  the 
household  troops  were  deeply  impli- 
cated, and  in  consequence  of  that  the 
guard  had  not  been  called  together ; 
but  it  was  determined  that,  on  the 
morning  of  the  26th,  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance should  be  administered  to  each 
regiment  in  their  barracks.   The  Win- 
ter Palace,  where  the  emperor  dwelt, 
was  intrusted  to  the  regiment  of  Fin- 
land and  the  sappers  of  the  guard,  in- 
stead of  the  grenadiers -du- corps,  to 
whom  that  charge  was  usually  confid- 
ed, and  all  the  posts  were  doubled. 
But  for  that  precaution,  incalculable 
evils  must  have  arisen.     In  truth,  the 
danger  was  much  greater,  and  more 
instant,  than  was  apprehended.  Prince 
Troubetzkoi,  Ryleif,  and  Prince  Obo- 
lonsky,  the  chiefs  of  the  conspiracy, 
had  gained  adherents  in  almost  every 
regiment    of   the    guards,    especially 
among  the  young  men  who  were  high- 
est in  rank,  most  ardent  in  disposition, 
and  most  cultivated  in  education ;  and 
the  privates  could  easily  be  won,  by 
holding  out  that  Constantino,  who  had 
already  been  proclaimed,  was  the  real 
Czar,   and  that  their  duty  required 
them  to  shed  their  blood  in  his  de- 
fence. 

122.  Matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis 
by  the  return  of  the  Grand-duke  Mi- 
chael from  Livonia  with  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  final  refusal  of  the  throne 


by  Constantine.  It  was  then  deter- 
mined to  act  at  once ;  and  Troubetzkoi 
was  named  dictator — a  post  he  proved 
ill  qualified  to  fill,  by  his  want  of  re- 
solution at  the  decisive  moment.  The 
emperor  published  a  proclamation  on 
the  24th  December,  in  which  he  re- 
counted the  circumstances  which  had 
compelled  him  to  accept  the  empire, 
and  called  on  the  troops  and  people  to 
obey  him  ;  and  on  the  same  day  a  ge- 
neral meeting  of  the  conspirators  was 
held,  at  which  it  was  determined  to- 
commence  the  insurrection  without 
delay.  It  was  agreed  to  assassinate 
the  emperor.  "  Dear  friend,"  said 
Ryleif  to  Kakhofski,  "you  are  alone 
on  the  earth  ;  you  are  bound  to  sacri- 
fice yourself  for  society ;  disembarrass 
us  of  the  emperor."  Jakoubovitch 
proposed  to  force  the  jails,  liberate 
the  prisoners,  and  rouse  the  refuse  of 
the  population  by  gorging  them  with 
spirits ;  but  these  extreme  measures 
were  not  adopted.  Orders  were  sent 
to  the  army  of  the  south,  where  they 
reckoned  on  a  hundred  thousand  ad- 
herents, to  raise  the  standard  of  revolt. 
On  the  following  evening,  very  alarm- 
ing intelligence  was  received,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  it  was  agreed  im- 
mediately to  adopt  the  most  desperate 
measures.  They  learned  that  they  had 
been  betrayed,  and  information  sent  to 
government  of  what  was  in  agitation  ; 
thus  their  only  hope  now  was  in  the 
boldness  of  their  resolutions.  "Una 
spes  victis  nullam  sperare  salutem." 
"We  have  passed  the  Rubicon,"  said 
Alexander  Bestoujif,  "  and  now  wo 
must  cut  down  all  who  oppose  us." 
"You  see,"  said  Ryleif,  "we  are  be- 
trayed ;  the  court  is  partly  aware  of 
our  designs,  but  they  do  not  know  the 
whole.  Our  forces  are  sufficient ;  our 
scabbards  are  broken ;  we  can  no  longer 
conceal  our  sabres.  Have  we  not  an  ad- 
mirable chief  in  Troubetzkoi?"  "Yes," 
answered  Jakoubovitch,  "in  height" — 
alluding  to  his  lofty  stature.  At  length 
all  agreed  upon  an  insurrection  on  the 
day  when  the  oath  should  be  tendered 
to  the  troops. 

123.  On  the  morning  of  the  26th, 
the  oath  was  taken  without  difficulty 
in  several  of  the  first  regiments 


62 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vni. 


cruards,  especially  the  horse  -  guards, 
the  chevalier  guards,  and  the  famous 
regiments  Preobrazinsky,  Simoneffsky, 
Imailoffsky,  Pauloffsky,  and  the  chas- 
seurs of  the  guard.  But  the  case  was 
very  different  with  the  regiment  of 
Moscow,  the  grenadiers  of  the  body- 
guard, and  the  marines  of  the  guard. 
They  were  for  the  most  part  at  the  de- 
votion of  the  conspirators.  The  troops 
Avere  informed  that  Constantine  had 
not  resigned,  but  was  in  irons,  as  well 
as  the  Grand-duke  Michael ;  that  he 
loved  their  regiments,  and,  if  reinstated 
in  authority,  would  double  their  pay. 
Such  was  the  effect  of  these  represen- 
tations, enforced  as  they  were  by  the 
ardent  military  eloquence  of  the  many 
.gifted  and  generous  young  men  who 
were  engaged  in  the  conspiracy  from 
patriotic  motives,*  that  the  men  tu- 
multuously  broke  their  ranks,  and, 
with  loud  hurrahs,  "Constantine  for 
ever  !  "  rushed  into  their  barracks  for 
ammunition,  from  whence  they  imme- 
diately returned  with  their  muskets 
loaded  with  ball.  They  were  just  com- 
ing out  when  an  aide-de-camp  arrived 
with  orders  for  the  officers  to  repair 
forthwith  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
general  (Frederick)  and  the  Grand- 
duke  Michael.  "I  do  not  acknow- 
ledge the  authority  of  your  general," 
•cried  Prince  Tchechipine,  who  com- 
manded one  of  the  revolted  companies, 
and  immediately  he  ordered  the  sol- 
diers to  load  their  pieces.  At  the  same 
instant  Alexander  Bestoujif  discharged 
a  pistol  at  General  Frederick  himself, 
who  was  coming  up,  and  wounded  him 
on  the  head.  He  fell  insensible  on  the 
pavement,  while  Tchechipine  attacked 
General  Chenchine,  who  commanded 

*  Alexander  Bestoujif,  brother  of  Michael 
Bestoujif,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolt, 
addressed  the  following  prayer  to  the  Al- 
mighty, as  he  rose  on  the  eventful  day:  "  O 
God !  if  our  enterprise  is  just,  vouchsafe  to 
us  thy  support ;  if  not,  thy  will  be  done  to 
us."  It  is  difficult  to  know  whether  to  ad- 
mire the  courage  and  sincerity  of  the  men 
who  braved  such  dangers,  as  they  conceived, 
for  their  country's  good,  or  to  lament  the 
blindness  and  infatuation  which  led  them  to 
strive  to  obtain  for  it  institutions  wholly  un- 
suited  for  the  people,  and  which  could  ter- 
minate in  nothing  but  temporary  anarchy 
and  lasting  military  despotism. — SCUNITZLER, 
i  221,  note. 


the  brigade  of  the  guard  of  which  the 
regiment  of  Moscow  formed  a  part, 
and  stretched  him  on  the  ground  by 
repeated  blows  of  his  sabre.  In  a 
transport  of  enthusiasm  at  this  suc- 
cess, he  with  his  own  hand  snatched 
the  standard  of  the  regiment  from  the 
officer  who  bore  it,  and,  waving  it  in 
the  air,  exclaimed  aloud,  "Constan- 
tine for  ever  !  "  The  soldiers  loudly 
answered  with  the  same  acclamation, 
and  immediately  the  greater  part  of 
the  regiments,  disregarding  the  voice 
of  their  superior  officers,  Colonel  Ad- 
lesberg  and  Count  Lieven,  who  held 
out  for  Nicholas,  moved  in  a  body  for- 
ward from  the  front  of  their  barracks, 
and  took  up  a  position  on  the  Grand 
Place  behind  the  statue  of  Peter  the 
Great.  There  they  were  soon  joined 
by  a  battalion  of  the  marines  of  the 
guard,  who  had  been  roused  in  a  simi- 
lar manner  by  Lieutenant  Arbouzoff, 
and  by  several  companies  of  the  grena- 
diers of  the  body-guard.  By  ten  o'clock, 
eighteen  hundred  men  were  drawn  up 
in  battle  array  on  the  Place  of  the  Se- 
nate, behind  the  statue,  surrounded 
by  a  great  crowd  of  civilians,  most  of 
whom  were  armed  with  pistols  or  sa- 
bres ;  and  the  air  resounded  with  cries 
of  "  Constantine  for  ever ! " 

124.  The  die  was  now  cast,  and  the 
danger  was  so  imminent  that,  if  there 
had  been  the  slightest  indecision  at 
headquarters,  the  insurrection  would 
have  proved  successful,  and  Russia 
have  been  delivered  over  to  the  hor- 
rors of  military  licence  and  servile  re- 
volt. But  in  that  extremity  Nicholas 
was  not  awanting  to  himself ;  he  won 
the  empire  by  proving  he  was  worthy 
of  it.  He  could  no  longer  reckon  on 
his  guards,  and  without  their  support 
a  Russian  emperor  is  as  weak  as  with 
it  he  is  powerful.  At  eleven  he  re- 
ceived intelligence  that  the  oath  had 
been  taken  by  the  principal  officers  in 
the  garrison,  and  it  was  hoped  the 
danger  was  over  ;  but  in  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  news  of  a  very  different  im- 
port arrived — that  an  entire  regiment 
of  horse-artillery  had  been  confined  to 
their  barracks,  to  prevent  their  joining 
the  insurgents,  and  that  a  formidable 
body  of  the  guards  in  open  revolt  were 


1326.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


63 


drawn  up  on  the  Place  of  the  Senate. 
He  instantly  took  his  resolution,  and 
in  a  spirit  worthy  of  his  race.  Taking 
the  empress,  in  whom  the  spirit,  if  not 
the  blood,  of  Frederick  the  Great  still 
dwelt,  by  the  hand,  he  repaired  to  the 
•chapel  of  the  palace,  where,  with  her, 
lie  invoked  the  blessing  of  the  Most 
High  on  their  undertaking.  Then, 
after  addressing  a  few  words  of  en- 
couragement to  his  weeping  buf  still 
courageous  consort,  he  took  his  eldest 
•son,  a  charming  child  of  eight  veal's  of 
age,  by  the  hand,  and  descended  to  the 
chief  body  of  the  yet  faithful  guards, 
stationed  in  front  of  the  palace,  and 
gave  orders  to  them  to  load  their 
pieces.  Then  presenting  the  young 
Grand-duke  to  the  soldiers,  he  said, 
"  I  trust  him  to  you ;  yours  it  is  to 
defend  him."  The  chasseurs  of  Fin- 
land, with  loud  acclamations,  swore 
to  die  in  his  cause  ;  and  the  child,  ter- 
rified at  their  cheers,  was  passed  in 
their  arms  from  rank  to  rank,  amidst 
the  tears  of  the  men.  They  put  him, 
•while  still  weeping,  into  the  centre  of 
their  column,  and  such  was  the  enthu- 
siasm excited  that  they  refused  to  give 
him  back  to  his  preceptor,  Colonel 
Moerder,  who  came  to  reclaim  him.* 
"God  knows  our  intention,"  said  they ; 
' '  we  will  restore  the  child  only  to  his 
father,  who  intrusted  him  to  us." 
125.  Meamvhile  Nicholas  put  himself 


at  the  head  of  the  first  battalion  of  the 
regiment  Preobrazinsky,  which  turned 
out  with  unheard-of  rapidity,  and  ad- 
vanced towards  the  rebels,  supported 
by  the  third  battalion,  several  compa- 
nies of  the  grenadiers  of  Pauloffsky, 
and  a  battalion  of  the  sappers  of  the 
guard.  On  the  way  he  met  a  column 
proceeding  to  the  rendezvous  of  the 
rebels.  Advancing  to  them  with  an 
intrepid  air,  he  called  out  in  a  loud 
voice,  "  Good  morning,  my  children  !" 
— the  usual  salutation  of  patriarchal 
simplicity  of  the  emperors  to  their 
troops.  "  Hourra,  Constantine  !"  was 
the  answer.  Without  exhibiting  any 
symptoms  of  fear,  the  emperor,  point- 
ing with  his  finger  to  the  other  end  of 
the  Place,  where  the  insurgents  were 
assembled,  said,  "  You  have  mistaken 
your  way ;  your  place  is  there  with 
traitors. "  Another  detachment  follow- 
ing them,  to  which  the  same  salute  was 
addressed,  remained  silent.  Seizing 
the  moment  of  hesitation,  with  ad- 
mirable presence  of  mind  he  gave  the 
order,  ' '  Wheel  to  the  right — march ! " 
with  a  loud  voice.  The  instinct  of  dis- 
cipline prevailed,  and  the  men  turned 
about  and  retraced  their  steps,  as  if 
they  had  never  deviated  from  their 
allegiance  to  their  sovereign. 

126.  The  rebels,  however,  reinforced 
by  several  companies  and  detachments 
of  some  regiments  which  successively 


*  What  a  scene  for  poetry  or  painting !  realising  on  a  still  greater  theatre  all  that  the  genius 
>of  Homer  had  prefigured  of  the  parting  of  Hector  and  Andromache  :•— 

"  Thus  having  spoke,  the  illustrious  chief  of  Troy 
Stretched  his  fond  arms  to  clasp  the  lovely  boy. 
The  babe  clung  crying  to  his  nurse's  breast, 
Scared  at  the  dazzling  helm  and  nodding  crest 
With  secret  pleasure  each  fond  parent  smiled, 
And  Hector  hasted  to  relieve  his  child; 
The  glittering  terrors  from  his  brows  unbound, 
And  placed  the  beaming  helmet  on  the  ground; 
Then  kissed  the  child,  and,  lifting  .high  in  air. 
Thus  to  the  gods  preferred  a  father's  prayer: 
O  thou  !  whose  glory  fills  the  ethereal  throne, 
And  all  ye  deathless  powers,  protect  my  son ! 
Grant  him,  like  me,  to  purchase  just  renown, 
To  guard  the  Trojans,  to  defend  the  crown ; 
Against  his  country's  foes  the  war  to  wage, 
And  rise  the  Hector  of  the  future  age. 
So,  when  triumphant  from  successful  toils, 
Of  heroes  slain,  he  bears  the  reeking  spoils, 
Whole  hosts  may  hail  him  with  deserved  acclaim, 
And  say  this  chief  transcends  his  father's  fame; 
While,  pleased  amidst  the  general  shouts  of  Troy, 
His  mother's  conscious  heart  o'erttows  with  joy." 

—Pope's  llwwr't  Iliad,  vi.  594-615. 


64 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vm. 


joined  them,  were  by  one  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  above  three  thousand 
strong,  and  incessant  cries  of  "  Hourra, 
Constantine  !"  broke  from  their  ranks. 
The  ground  was  covered  with  snow, 
some  of  which  had  recently  fallen ;  but 
nothing  could  damp  the  ardour  of  the 
men,  who  remained  in  close  array, 
cheering,  and  evincing  the  greatest 
enthusiasm.  Loud  cries  of  "  Long  live 
the  Emperor  Constantine  ! "  resounded 
over  the  vast  Place,  and  were  repeated 
by  the  crowd,  which,  every  minute  in- 
creasing, surrounded  the  regiments  in 
revolt,  until  the  shouts  were  heard  even 
in  the  imperial  palace.  Already,  how- 
ever, Count  Alexis  Orlof  had  assembled 
several  squadrons  of  his  regiment  of 
horse-guards,  and  taken  a  position  on 
the  Place  in  front  of  the  mutineers  ; 
and  the  arrival  of  the  emperor,  with 
the  battalion  of  the  Preobrazinsky  regi- 
ment and  the  other  corps  from  the  pa- 
lace, formed  an  imposing  force,  which 
was  soon  strengthened  by  several  pieces 
of  artillery,  which  proved  of  the  great- 
est service  in  the  conflict  that  ensued. 
Of  the  chiefs  of  the  revolt,  few  had 
appeared  on  the  other  side.  Trou- 
betzkoi  was  nowhere  to  be  seen  ;  Co- 
lonel Boulatoff  was  in  the  square,  but 
concealed  in  the  crowd  of  spectators 
awaiting  the  event.  Ryleif  was  at  his 
post,  as  was  Jakoubovitch ;  but  the 
former,  not  seeing  Troubetzkoi,  could 
not  take  the  command,  and  lost  the 
precious  minutes  in  going  to  seek  him. 
Decision  and  resolution  were  to  be 
found  only  on  the  other  side,  and,  as 
is  generally  the  case  in  civil  conflicts, 
they  determined  the  contest. 

127.  Deeming  the  forces  assembled 
sufficient  to  crush  the  revolt,  the  ge- 
nerals who  surrounded  the  emperor 
besought  him  to  permit  them  to  act ; 
but  he  long  hesitated,  from  feelings  of 
humanity,  to  shed  the  blood  of  his 
subjects.  As  a  last  resource,  he  per- 
mitted General  Milaradowitch,  the 
governor  of  St  Petersburg,  a  noble  ve- 
teran, well  known  in  the  late  war,  who 
had  by  his  single  influence  appeased 
the  mutiny  in  the  guards  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  to  advance  towards  the 
insurgents,  in  hopes  that  his  presence 
might  again  produce  a  similar  -eifect. 


Milaradowitch,  accordingly,  rode  for- 
ward alone,  and  when  within  hearing, 
addressed  the  men,  in  a  few  words, 
calling  on  them  to  obey  their  lawful 
sovereign,  and  return  to  their  duty. 
He  was  interrupted  by  loud  cries  of 
"Hourra,  Constantine!"  and  before 
he  had  concluded,  Prince  Obolonsky 
made  a  dash  at  him  with  a  bayonet, 
which  the  veteran,  with  admirable  cool- 
ness, .avoided  by  wheeling  his  horse  ; 
but  at  the  same  instant  Kakhofski. 
discharged  a  pistol  at  him,  within  a 
few  feet,  which  wounded  him  mortally, 
and  he  fell  from  his  horse.  "  Could  I 
have  believed,"  said  the  veteran  of  the 
campaign  of  1812,  "  that  it  was  from 
the  hand  of  a  Russian  I  was  to  receive 
death?"  " Who,"  said  Kakhofski, 
"  NOW  speaks  of  submission  ?"  Mila- 
radowitch died  the  following  morning, 
deeply  regretted  by  all  Europe,  to 
whom  his  glorious  career  had  long  been, 
an  object  of  admiration.* 

128.  The  emperor,  notwithstanding 
this  melancholy  catastrophe,  was  re- 
luctant to  proceed  to  extremities  ;  and 
perhaps  he  entertained  a  secret  dread 
as  to  what  the  troops  he  commanded 
might  do,  if  called  on  to  act  decisively 
against  the  insurgents.  A  large  part 
of  the  guards  were  there  ranged  in. 
battle  array  against  their  sovereign  : 
what  a  contest  might  be  expected  if 

*  "  '  Hear  me,  good  people  :  I  proclaim,  in 
the  name  of  the  king,  free  pardon  to  all  ex- 
cepting'  '  I  give  thee  fair  warning,"  said 

Burley,  presenting  his  piece.     '  A  free  pardon 

to  all  but' '  Then  the  Lord  grant  grace  to 

thy  soul ! '  with  these  words  he  tired,  and  Cor- 
net Richard  Graham  fell  from  his  horse.  He 
had  only  strength  to  turn  on  the  ground,  and 
exclaim,  'My  poor  mother!'  when  life  for- 
sook him  in  the  effort.  '  What  have  you 
done?'  said  one  of  Balfour's  brother  officers. 
'  My  duty,'  said  Balfour,  firmly.  '  Is  it  not 
written,  Thou  shalt  be  zealous  even  to  slay- 
ing ?  Let  those  who  dare  now  speak  of  truce 
or  pardon.'" — Old  Mortality,  chap,  vui  How 
singular  that  the  insurrection  of  St  Peters- 
burg in  1825  should  realise,  within  a  few 
hours,  what  the  bard  of  Chios  had  conceived 
in  song  and  the  Scottish  novelist  in  prose,  at 
the  distance  of  twenty -five  centuries  from 
each  other ;  and  what  a  proof  of  the  identity 
of  human  nature,  and  the  deep  insight  which 
those  master-minds  had  obtained  into  its  in- 
most recesses,  that  a  revolt  in  the  capital  of 
Russia  in  the  nineteenth  centiiry  should  come, 
so  near  to  what,  at  such  a  distance  of  time 
and  place,  they  had  respectively  prefigured. 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


65 


the  signal  was  given,  and  the  cheva- 
lier guards  were  to  be  ordered  to  charge 
;u;;iinst  their  levelled  bayonets !  Mean- 
while, however,  the  forces  on  the  side 
of  Nicholas  were  hourly  increasing. 
The  sappers  of  the  guard,  the  grena- 
diers of  Pauloffsky,  the  horse-guards, 
and  the  brigade  of  artillery,  had  suc- 
cessively come  up ;  and  the  Grand-duke 
Michael,  who  acted  with  the  greatest 
spirit  on  the  occasion,  had  even  suc- 
ceeded in  ranging  six  companies  of  his 
own  regiment,  the  grenadiers  of  Mos- 
cow, the  leaders  of  the  revolt,  on  the 
side  of  his  brother.  Still  the  emperor 
was  reluctant  to  give  the  word  ;  and 
as  a  last  resource,  the  Metropolitan 
Archbishop,  an  aged  prelate,  with  a 
large  part  of  the  clergy,  were  brought 
forward,  bearing  the  cross  and  the 
sacred  ensign,  who  called  on  them  to 
submit.  But  although  strongly  influ- 
enced by  religious  feelings,  the  exper- 
iment failed  on  this  occasion  :  the 
lolling  of  drums  drowned  the  voice  of 
the  Arch  bishop,  and  the  soldiers  turned 
his  grey  hairs  inta  derision.  Mean- 
while the  leaders  of  the  revolt,  deeming 
their  victory  secure,  began  to  hoist 
their  real  colours.  Cries  of  "Constan- 
tine  and  the  Constitution  I"  broke  from 
their  ranks.  "What  is  that? "said 
the  men  to  each  other.  "  Do  you  not 
know,"  said  one,  "it  is  the  empress 
(Constitoutzia)  ?"  "Not  at  all,  re- 
plied a  third:  "it  is  the  carnage  in 
which  the  emperor  is  to  drive  at  his 
coronation."* 

129.  At  length,  having  exhausted  all 
means  of  pacification,  the  emperor  or- 
dered the  troops  to  act.  The  rebels 
were  attacked  in  front  by  the  horse- 
guards  and  chevalier  guards,  while  the 
infantry  assailed  them  in  flank.  But 
these  noble  veterans  made  a  vigorous 
resistance,  and  for  a  few  minutes  the 

*  "  The  leaders  of  the  revolt,  however,  had 
different  ideas  of  what  they,  at  all  events,  un- 
derstood by  the  movement.  On  loading  his 
1'istols  on  the  morning  of  that  eventful  day, 
itoff  said,  'We  shall  see  whether  there 
are  any  Brutuses  or  Riegos  in  Russia  to-day." 
Nevertheless,  he  failed  at  the  decisive  mo- 
ment :  he  was  not  to  be  found  on  the  Place 
of  the  Senate." — Rapport  tur  Its  Evenements, 
•JO  Dec.,  p.  125;  and  SCHNITZLEB,  i.  232, 
note. 

VOL.  II. 


result  seemed  doubtful.  Closely  ar- 
rayed in  column,  they  faced  on  every 
side :  a  deadly  rolling  fire  issued  from 
the  steady  mass,  and  the  cavalry  in 
vain  strove  to  find  an  entrance  into 
their  serried  ranks.  The  horsemen  were 
repulsed ;  Kakhofski  with  his  own  hand 
slew  Colonel  Strosler,  who  commanded 
the  grenadiers ;  and  Kuchelbecker  had 
already  uplifted  his  ami  to  cut  down 
the  Grand-duke  Michael,  when  a  ma- 
rine of  the  guard  on  his  own  side  avert- 
ed the  blow.  Jakoubovitch,  charged 
with  despatching  the  emperor,  eagerly 
sought  him  out,  but,  in  the  melee  and 
amidst  the  smoke,  without  effect.  The 
resistance,  however,  continued  several 
hours,  and  night  was  approaching,  with 
the  rebels,  in  unbroken  strength,  still 
in  possession  of  their  strong  position. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  the  emperor 
ordered  the  cannon,  hitherto  concealed^ 
by  the  cavalry,  to  be  unmasked.  The 
horsemen  withdrew  to  the  sides,  and 
showed  the  muzzles  of  the  guns  point- 
ed directly  into  the  insurgent  square : 
they  were  again  summoned  to  surren- 
der, while  the  pieces  were  charged  with 
grape,  and  the  gunners  waved  their 
lighted  matches  in  the  now  darkening 
air.  Still  the  rebels  stood  firm ;  and  a 
first  fire,  intentionally  directed  above 
their  heads,  having  produced  no  effect, 
they  cheered  and  mocked  their  adver- 
saries. Upon  this  the  emperor  ordered 
a  point-blank  discharge,  but  the  can- 
noneers refused  at  first  to  fire  on  their 
comrades,  until  the  Grand -duke  Mi- 
chael, with  his  own  hand,  discharged 
the  first  gun.  Then  the  rest  followed 
the  example,  and  the  grape  made  fright- 
ful gaps  in  the  dense  ranks.  The  in- 
surgents, however,  kept  their  ground, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  tenth  round 
that  they  broke  and  fled.  They  were 
vigorously  pursued  by  the  horse-guards 
along  the  quays  and  through  the  cross 
streets,  into  which  they  fled  to  avoid 
their  bloody  sabres.  Seven  hundred 
were  made  prisoners,  and  several  hun- 
dred bodies  remained  on  the  Place  of 
the  Senate,  which  were  hastily  buried 
under  the  snow  with  which  the  Neva 
was  overspread.  By  six  o'clock  the 
rebels  were  entirely  dispersed ;  and 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  vin. 


the  emperor,  now  firmly  seated  on  his 
throne,  returned  to  his  palace,  where 
the  empress  fell  into  his  arms,  and  a 
solemn  Te  Deuin  was  chanted  in  the 
chapel. 

130.  Of  all  the  conspirators  during 
this  terrible  crisis,  Jakoubovitch  had 
alone  appeared  at  the  post  assigned 
him.  Troubetzkoi,  whose  firmness  had 
deserted  him  on  this  occasion,  sought 
refuge  in  the  hotel  of  the  Austrian 
ambassador,  Count  Libzeltern,  but,  on 
the  requisition  of  the  emperor,  he  was 
brought  from  that  asylum  into  his  pre- 
sence. At  first  he  denied  all  know- 
ledge of  the  conspiracy ;  but  when  his 
papers  were  searched,  which  contained 
decisive  proof  not  merely  of  his  acces- 
sion to  it,  but  of  his  having  been  its 
leader,  he  fell  at  the  emperor's  feet, 
confessed  his  guilt,  and  implored  his 
life.  "  If  you  have  courage  enough,'' 
said  Nicholas,  "to  endure  a  life  dis- 
honoured and  devoted  to  remorse,  you 
shall  have  it ;  but  it  is  all  I  can  pro- 
mise you. "  On  the  following  morning, 
when  the  troops  were  still  bivouacked, 
as  the  evening  before,  on  the  Place  of 
the  Senate,  and  the  curious  crowds 
surveyed  at  a  distance  the  theatre  of 
the  conflict,  the  emperor,  accompanied 
by  a  single  aide-de-camp,  rode  out  of 
the  palace  to  review  those  who  had 
combated  for  him  on  the  preceding 
day.  Riding  slowly  along  their  ranks, 
he  thanked  them  for  their  fidelity,  and 
promised  them  a  considerable  augmen- 
tation of  pay,  as  well  as  the  usual  lar- 
gesses on  occasion  of  the  accession  of  a 
new  emperor.  He  then  proceeded  to 
the  regiments  which  had  revolted,  and 
granted  a  pardon  alike  politic  and  gen- 
erous. To  the  marines  of  the  guard, 
who  had  lost  their  colours  in  the  con- 
flict, he  gave  a  fresh  one,  with  the 
words,  "You  have  lost  your  honour; 
try  to  recover  it."  The  regiment  of 
Moscow,  in  like  manner,  received  back 
its  colours,  and  was  pardoned  on  the 
sole  condition  that  the  most  guilty, 
formed  into  separate  companies,  should 
be  sent  for  two  years  to  expiate  their 
fault  in  combating  the  mountaineers 
of  the  Caucasus.  The  emperor  pro- 
mised to  take  their  wives  and  children 
under  his  protection  during  their  ab- 


sence. These  generous  words  drew  tears 
from  the  veterans,  who  declared  them- 
selves ready  to  set  out  on  the  instant 
for  their  remote  destination. 

131.  But  although  all  must  admit  the 
justice  of  these  sentiments — and  indeed 
it  was  scarcely  possible  to  act  other- 
wise with  men  who  were  merely  misled, 
and  who  resisted  the  Czar  when  they 
thought  they  were  defending  him — a 
very  different  course  seemed  necessary 
with  the  leaders  of  the  revolt,  who  had 
seduced  the  soldiers  into  acts  of  trea- 
son through  the  veiy  intensity  of  their 
loyalty.  All  the  chiefs  were  appre- 
hended soon  after  its  suppression,  and 
the  declarations  of  the  prisoners,  as 
well  as  the  papers  discovered  in  their 
possession,  revealed  a  far  more  exten- 
sive and  dangerous  conspiracy  than  had 
been  previously  imagined.  The  empe- 
ror appointed  a  commission  to  investi- 
gate the  matter  to  the  bottom,  and  on 
the  31st  he  published  a  manifesto,  in 
which,  after  exculpating  the  simple 
and  loyal -hearted  soldiers  who  were 
drawn  into  the  tumult,  he  denounced 
the  whole  severity  of  justice  against  the 
leaders,  "  who  aimed  at  overturning 
the  throne  and  the  laws,  subverting 
the  empire,  and  inducing  anarchy."* 

*  "  Deux  classes  d'hommes  ont  pris  part 
a  1'eveneraent  du  14-16  Decembre,  e've'nement 
qui,  peu  important  par  lui-meme,  ne  1'est  que 
tropparson  principeet  parses  consequences. 
Lies  tins,  personnes  e'gare'es,  ne  savaient  pas 
ce  qu'ils  faisaient ;  les  autres,  veritables  con- 
spirateurs,  voulaient  abattre  le  Trone  et  les 
lois,  bouleverser  1'empire,  amencr  1'anarchie, 
entrainer  dans  le  tumulte  les  soldats  des  com- 
pagnies  seduites,  qui  n'ont  participe  i  ces 
attentats,  ni  de  fait,  ni  d'intention :  une  en- 
quete  severe  m'en  a  donne1  la  preuve ;  et  je 
regarde,  comme  un  premier  acte  de  justice, 
comme  ma  premiere  consolation,  de  les  de- 
clarer innocents.  Mais  cette  meme  justice 
defend  d'epargner  les  coupables.  D'apres  les 
mesures  deja  prises,  le  chatiment  embrasse- 
rait  dans  toute  son  e"tendue,  dans  toutes  ses 
ramifications,  un  mal  dont  le  germe  compte 
des  annees  ;  et  j'en  ai  la  confiance,  elles  le 
detruiront  jusque  dans  le  sol  sacre"  de  Russie ; 
elles  feront  disparaitre  cet  odieux  melange  de 
tristes  ve'rite's  et  de  soup9ons  gratuits,  qui 
repugne  aux  dmes  nobles ;  elles  tireront  a  ja- 
mais,  une  ligne  de  demarcation  entre  1'amour 
de  la  Patrie  et  les  passions  re"volutionnaires, 
entre  le  desir  du  mieux  et  la  fureur  des  boule- 
versements ;  elles  montreront  au  monde,  que 
la  nation  Russe,  toujours  fidele  a  son  souve- 
rain  et  aux  lois,  repousse  les  secrets  efforts 
de  1'anarchie,  comme  elle  a  repousse1  les  at- 
taques  ouvertes  de  ses  enneniis  declares  j  i  " 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


A  commission  was  accordingly  appoint- 
ed, having  at  its  head  the  Minister  at 
War,  General Talischof,  president;  the 
(Irand-dnke  Michael;  Prince  Alexan- 
der (iallitzin,  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction ;  General  Chernicheff,  Aide- 
de-camp  General,  and  several  other 
members,  nearly  all  military  men. 
There  were  only  two  civilians,  Prince 
Alexander  Gallitzin  and  M.  Blondof. 

132.  From  a  commission  so  com- 
posed, the  whole  proceedings  of  which 
were  private,  there  was  by  no  means 
to  be  expected  the  same  calm  and  im- 
partial inquiry  which  might  be  looked 
ibr  from  an  English  special  commission 
which  conducted  all  its  proceedings  in 
public,  and  under  the  surveillance  of  a 
jealous  and  vigilant  press.    But  never- 
theless their  labours,  which  were  most 
patient  and  uninterrupted,  continuing 
through  several  months,  revealed  the 
magnitude  and  frightful  perils  of  the 
•conspiracy,  and  the  abyss  on  the  edge 
•of  which  the  nation  had  stood,  when 
the  firmness  of  Nicholas  and  the  fidel- 
ity of  his  guards  saved  them  from  the 
danger.    Their  report — one  of  the  most 
valuable  historical  monuments  of  the 
•age,  though  of  necessity,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  was  drawn  up, 
one-sided  to  a  certain  degree — unfolds 
this  in  the  clearest  manner :  and  al- 
though no  judicial  investigation  can 
Ite  implicitly  relied  on  which  is  not 
founded  on  the  examination  of  wit- 
nesses on  both  sides,  in  public,   yet 
enough  which  cannot  be  doubted  has 
been  revealed,   to   demonstrate    how 
much  the  cause  of  order  and  real  liberty 
is  indebted  to  the  firmness  which  on 
this  momentous  occasion  repressed  the 
treasonable  designs  which  in  such  an 
empire  could  have  terminated  only  in 
the  worst  excesses  of  anarchy. 

133.  Before  the  commission  had  well 
commenced  their  labours,  a  catastrophe 
occurred  in  the  south  which  afforded 
confirmation  strong  of  the  extent  of  the 
conspiracy  and  the  magnitude  of  the 

montreront  comme  on  se  delivre  d'nn  tel 
fl&m;  elles  montreront  que  ce  n'est  point, 
pourtaut.  qu'il  est  indestructible." — Procla- 
iiMtion,  29th  December  1825;  SCHNITZLER, 
i.  255-296 — said  to  have  come  from  the  pen  of 
the  celebrated  historian  Karamsin,  who  died 
-shortly  after. 


danger  which  had  been  escaped.  Tho 
great  armies  both  of  the  south  and  west 
were  deeply  implicated  in  the  designs 
of  the  rebels,  and  it  was  chiefly  on  their 
aid  that  the  leaders  at  St  Petersburg 
reckoned  in  openly  hoisting  the  stand- 
ard of  revolt.  It  was  in  the  second 
army  (that  of  the  south)  that  the  con- 
spiracy had  the  deepest  roots,  and  Paul 
Pestel  was  its  soul.  He  was  son  of 
an  old  officer  who  had  been  governor- 
general  of  Siberia,  and  had  gained  his 
company  by  his  gallant  conduct  at  the 
battle  of  Arcis-sur-Aube,  in  France,  in 
1814.  Colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Vi- 
citka  in  1825,  when  the  revolt  broke 
out,  his  ability  and  pleasing  manners 
had  made  him  an  aide-de-camp  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  Count  Wittgen- 
stein. He  was  inspired  with  a  strong 
horror  at  oppression  of  any  kind ;  but 
the  other  conspirators  said  it  was  only 
till  he  was  permitted  to  exercise  it 
himself.  He  was  a  declared  repub- 
lican, but  Ryleif  said  of  him,  "  He  is 
an  ambitious  man,  full  of  artifice — a 
Buonaparte,  and  not  a  "Washington." 
He  had  great  resolution,  however,  and 
power  of  eloquence,  and  these  qualities 
had  procured  for  him  unbounded  influ- 
ence among  his  comrades. 

134.  In  the  first  army,  stationed  on 
the  Polish  frontier,  the  conspiracy  had 
ramifications  not  less  extensive.  At  its 
head,  in  that  force,  were  two  brothers, 
Serge  and  Matthew  MouravieflF-Apos- 
tol,  the  first  of  whom  was  a  colonel  of 
the  regiment  of  Tchernigof ;  the  second 
a  captain  in  that  of  Semenoif.  Their 
father,  who  was  nephew  of  the  precep- 
tor of  Alexander,  nad  been  educated 
with  that  prince,  by  whom  he  was  ten- 
derly loved  ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  few 
Russians  of  family,  at  that  period,  who 
engaged  in  literary  pursuits.  He  had 
translated  the  Clouds  of  Aristophanes 
into  Russian  ;  and  his  Travels  in  Tau- 
ris,  published  at  St  Petersburg  in  1825, 
revealed  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his 
classical  knowledge.  He  had  composed 
a  beautiful  sonnet,  in  Greek  verse,  on 
the  death  of  Alexander,  which  he  had 
also  translated  into  Latin.  His  two 
sons,  on  whom  he  had  bestowed  the 
most  polished  education,  had  been 
brought  up  abroad,  where  they  had 


cs 


HISTORY  OF  EUKOPE. 


[CHAP.  YIII. 


imbibed  the  Liberal  ideas,  and  vague 
aspirations  after  indefinite  freedom,  at 
that  period  so  common  in  western  Eu- 
rope. They  returned  to  Russia  deeply 
imbued  with  republican  ideas,  nurtured 
in  good  faith ;  and  with  benevolent 
views,  but  without  any  practical  know- 
ledge of  mankind,  or  any  fixed  plan  of 
reform,  or  what  was  to  be  established 
in  its  stead,  entered  into  the  project 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  government. 
A  third  leader  was  a  young  man  named 
Michel  Bestoujif-Rumine,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Pestel,  and  who  formed  the 
link  which  connected  the  two  Moura- 
vieffs with  the  projects  of  the  conspira- 
tors in  the  capital,  and  in  the  army  of 
the  south. 

135.  When  the  papers  of  the  persons 
seized  at  St  Petersburg,  on  the  26th 
December,  were  examined,  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  two  Mouravieffs  were 
deeply  implicated  in  the  conspiracy, 
and  orders  were  sent  to  have  them  im- 
mediately arrested.  The  orders,  how- 
ever, got  wind,  and  they  sought  safety 
in  flight,  but  were  arrested,  on  the  18th 
January,  in  the  burgh  of  Trilissia,  by 
Colonel  Ghebel,  whose  painful  duty  it 
was  to  apprehend  one  of  his  dearest 
friends.  Informed  of  their  arrest,  a 
number  of  officers  of  the  Society  of 
United  Sclavonians  surrounded  the 
house  in  which  they  were  detained  by 
Ghebel,  and  rescued  them,  after  a  rude 
conflict,  in  which  Ghebel  fell,  pierced 
by  fourteen  wounds.  Delivered  in  this 
manner,  the  Mouravieffs  had  no  safety 
but  in  a  change  of  government.  Serge 
Mouravieff  succeeded  in  causing  his 
regiment  to  revolt,  by  the  same  device 
which  had  proved  so  successful  at  St 
Petersburg,  that  of  persuading  them 
to  take  up  arms  for  their  true  Czar, 
Constantine.  The  leaders  of  the  con- 
spiracy, amidst  the  cries  of  "  Hourra, 
Constantine!"  tried  to  introduce  the 
cry  of  "Long  live  the  Sclavonic  Re- 
public !''  but  the  soldiers  could  not  be 
broughtto  understand  what  was  meant. 
"We  are  quite  willing,"  said  an  old 
grenadier,  ' '  to  call  out,  '  Long  live  the 
Sclavonic  Republic  ! '  but  who  is  to  be 
our  emperor?"  The  officers  spoke  to 
them  of  liberty,  and  the  priests  read 
some  passages  from  the  Old  Testament,  : 


to  prove  that  democracy  was  the  form 
of  government  most  agreeable  to  the 
Almighty  ;  but  the  soldiers  constantly 
answered,  "Who  is  to  be  emperor— 
Constantine  or  Nicholas  Paulovitch  ?" 
So  strong  was  this  impression,  that 
Mouravieff,  by  his  own  admission,  was 
obliged  to  give  over  speaking  of  li- 
berty or  republics,  and  to  join  the  cry 
of  "  Hourra,  Constantine  !" 

136.  It  was  now  evident  that  the 
common  men  were  at  heart  loyal,  and 
that  it  was  by  deception  alone  that  they 
had  been  drawn  into  mutiny.  Taking 
advantage  of  their  hesitation,  Captain 
Koglof,  who  commanded  the  grena- 
diers, harangued  his  men,  informing 
them  that  they  had  been  deceived,  and 
that  Nicholas  was  their  real  sovereign. 
"  Lead  us,  captain,"  they  exclaimed ; 
"we  will  obey  your  orders."  He  led 
them,  accordingly,  out  of  the  revolted 
regiment,  without  Mouravieff  ventur- 
ing to  oppose  any  resistance.  Reduced 
by  this  defection  to  six  companies,  that 
regiment  was  unable  to  commence  any 
offensive  operations.  Mouravieff  re- 
mained two  days  in  a  state  of  uncer- 
tainty, sendingin  vain  in  every  direction 
in  quest  of  succour.  Meanwhile,  the 
generals  of  the  army  were  accumulating 
forces  round  them  in  every  direction  ; 
and  though  numbers  were  secretly  en- 
gaged in  the  conspiracy,  and  in  their 
hearts  wished  it  success,  yet  as  intelli- 
gence had  been  received  of  its  suppres- 
sion at  St  Petersburg,  none  ventured 
to  join  it  openly.  The  rebels,  obliged 
to  leave  Belain-Tzerskof,  where  they 
had  passed  the  night,  were  overtaken, 
on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  on  the 
heights  of  Ostinofska.  Mouravieff, 
nothing  daunted,  formed  his  men  into 
a  square,  and  ordered  them  to  march, 
with  their  arms  still  shouldered,  straight 
on  the  guns  pointed  at  them.  He  was 
in  hopes  the  gunners  would  declare  for 
them  ;  but  he  was  soon  undeceived.  A 
point-blank  discharge  of  grape  was 
let  fly,  which  killed  great  numbers.  A 
charge  of  cavalry  quickly  succeeded, 
which  completed  their  defeat.  Seven 
hundred  were  made  prisoners,  amon 
whom  were  Matthew  and  Hippoly 
Mouravieff,  and  the  chief  leaders  of  th 
revolt ;  and  a  conspiracy,  which  pe; 


£ 

1 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


vaded  the  \vliole  army,  and  threatened 
to  shake  the  empire  to  its  foundation, 
was  defeated  by  the  overthrow  of  six 
companies,  and  fifty  men  killed  and 
wounded.  The  unhappy  Mouravieff, 
father  of  the  rebels,  saw  himelf  de- 
prived of  his  three  sons  at  one  fell 
swoop.  "Nothing  remained,"  he  said, 
"  but  for  him  to  shroud  his  head  un- 
der their  ashes." 

137.  The  commission  which  had  been 
.appointed  to  try  the  insurgents  at  St 
Petersburg  extended  its  labours  to  the 
conspiracy  over  the  whole  empire,  and 
traced  its  ramifications  in  their  whole 
extent.     It  cannot  be  said  that  their 
proceedings  were  stained  with  unne- 
cessary cruelty  ;  for  of  so  great  a  num- 
ber of  conspirators  actually  taken  in 
arms  against  the  Government,  or  whose 
guilt  was  established  beyond  a  doubt, 
live  only — viz.,  Colonel  Pestel,  Ryleif, 
Colonel  Serge  Mouravieff,   Bestoujif- 
Rumine,    and   Kakhofski — were  sen- 
tenced   to   death;    while   thirty -one 
others,  originally  sentenced  to  death, 
had  their  sentences  commuted  to  exile, 
accompanied  with  hard  labour  for  life 
or  for  long  periods,  in  Siberia.     They 
formed  a  melancholy  list ;  for  among 
them  were  to  be  found  several  men  of 
the  highest  rank  and  noblest  feelings 
in  Russia,  the  victims  of  mistaken  zeal 
and  deluded  patriotism.    Among  them 
were  Prince  Troubetzkoi,  Colonel  Mat- 
thew Mouravieff- Apostol,  Colonel  Da- 
vidof,  General  Prince  Serge  Volkonsky, 
Captain   Prince  Stchpine  Boslowsky, 
and  Nicholas  Tourgunoff,  councillor  of 
state.     One  hundred  and  thirty  others 
wore  sentenced  to  imprisonment  and 
lesser  penalties. 

138.  The  conspirators  who  were  se- 
lected for  execution  met  their  fate  in 
a  worthy  spirit.      They  faced  death 
on  the  scaffold  with  the  same  courage 
that   they  would  have  done  in  the 
field.     Their  original  sentence  was  to 
"be  broken  on  the  wheel ;  but  the  hu- 
manity of  the   emperor  led  him  to 
commute  that  frightful  punishment, 
a;  id  they  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
This  mode  of  death,  unusual  in  Russia, 
was  keenly  felt  as  a  degradation  by 
M-n  who  expected  to  meet  the  death 
of  soldiers.     Ryleif,  the  real  head  of 


the  conspiracy,  and  the  most  intcllor- 
tual  of  all  its  members,  acknowledged 
that  his  sentence  was  just,  according 
to  the  existing  laws  of  Russia  ;  but  ho 
added,  that,  having  been  deceived  by 
the  ardour  of  his  patriotism,  and  being 
conscious  only  of  pure  intentions,  he 
met  death  without  apprehension.  "My 
fate,"  said  he,  "will  be  an  expiation 
due  to  society."  He  then  wrote  a 
beautiful  letter  to  his  young  wife,  in 
which  he  conjured  her  not  to  abandon 
herself  to  despair,  and  to  submit,  as  a 
good  Christian,  to  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence and  the  justice  of  the  emperor. 
He  charged  her  to  give  his  confessor 
one  of  his  golden  snuff-boxes,  and  to 
receive  from  him  his  own  last  bless- 
ing from  the  scaffold.  Nothing  shook 
Pestel's  courage ;  he  maintained  to  the 
last  his  principles  and  the  purity  of 
his  intentions.  All  received  and  de- 
rived consolation  from  the  succours  of 
religion. 

139.  There  had  been  no  capital  sen- 
tence carried  into  execution  in  St  Pe- 
tersburg for  eighty  years  ;  and  in  all 
Russia  but  few  scaffolds  had  been 
erected  for  death  since  the  reign  of 
the  Empress  Elizabeth,  a  century  be- 
fore. The  knowledge  that  five  crimi- 
nals, all  of  eminent  station,  were  about 
to  be  executed,  excited  the  utmost  con- 
sternation in  all  classes ;  and  Govern- 
ment wisely  kept  secret  the  exact  tune 
when  the  sentence  was  to  be  carried 
into  effect.  At  two  in  the  morning  of 
the  25th  July,  however,  a  mournful- 
sound  was  heard  in  every  quarter  of 
the  city,  which  presaged  the  tragedy 
which  was  approaching  :  it  was  the 
signal  for  every  regiment  in  the  capi- 
tal to  send  a  company  to  assist  at  the 
melancholy  spectacle.  Few  spectators, 
save  the  military,  were  present,  when, 
on  the  edge  of  the  rampart  of  the  cita- 
del, was  seen  dimly  through  the  twi- 
light which  preceded  the  morning,  a 
huge  gallows,  which  froze  every  heart 
with  horror.  The  rolling  of  drains 
was  soon  heard,  which  announced  the 
approach  of  the  thirty -one  criminals 
condemned  to  death,  but  whose  lives 
had  been  spared,  who  were  led  out, 
and  on  their  knees  heard  their  sen- 
tence of  death  read  out.  "\Yheu.  it 


70 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  Yin, 


•was  finished,  their  epaulettes  were 
torn  off,  their  uniform  taken  off  their 
backs,  their  swords  broken  over  their 
heads,  and,  dressed  in  the  rude  garb 
of  convicts,  they  were  led  away  to  un- 
dergo their  sentence  in  the  wilds  of 
Siberia.  Next  came  the  five  criminals 
who  were  to  be  executed :  they  mount- 
ed the  scaffold  with  firm  steps,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  the  preparations  were 
adjusted,  and  the  fatal  signal  was 
given.  Pestel  and  Kakhofski  died 
immediately ;  but  a  frightful  accident 
occurred  in  regard  to  the  other  three. 
The  ropes  broke,  and  they  were  preci- 
pitated, while  yet  alive,  from  a  great 
height  into  the  ditch  beneath.  The 
unhappy  men,  though  severely  bruised 
by  their  fall,  reascended  the  scaffold 
with  a  firm  step.  The  spectators  hoped 
they  were  about  to  be  pardoned  ;  but 
this  was  not  so,  for  the  emperor  was 
absent  at  Tsariko  -  Velo,  and  no  one 
else  ventured  to  give  a  respite.  "  Can 
nothing,  then,  succeed  in  this  coun- 
try," said  Ryleif — "not  even  death?" 
"  Woe  to  the  country,"  exclaimed 
Serge  Mouravieff,  "  where  they  can 
neither  conspire,  nor  judge,  nor  hang!" 
Bestoujif-Rumine  was  so  bruised  that 
he  had  to  be  carried  up  to  the  scaffold ; 
but  he,  too,  evinced  no  symptoms  of 
trepidation.  This  time  fortunately 
the  rope  held  good,  and  in  five  min- 
utes a  loud  rolling  of  drums  an- 
nounced that  justice  was  satisfied,  and 
the  insurrection  terminated. 

140.  It  is  impossible  to  recount 
these  details  without  the  most  mel- 
ancholy feelings — feelings  which  will 
be  shared  to  the  end  of  the  world  by 
all  the  generous  and  humane,  who  re- 
flect on  capital  executions  for  political 
offences.  The  peculiar  and  harrowing 
circumstance  in  such  cases  is,  that  the 
persons  upon  whom  the  extreme  pun- 
ishment of  the  law  is  thus  inflicted  are 
sometimes  of  noble  character  —  men 
actuated  by  the  purest  patriotism,  who 
in  a  heroic  spirit  sacrifice  themselves 
for  their  country,  and,  as  they  con- 
ceive, the  good  of  mankind.  Even 
when,  as  in  this  as  in  most  other  in- 
stances, such  conspiracy  could  termi- 
nate only  in  disaster,  and  its  suppres- 
sion was  a  blessing  to  humanity,  and 


!  a  step  in  the  march  of  real  freedom,  it 
is  impossible  to  avoid  feeling  respect 
for  the  motives,  however  mistaken,  of 
the  persons  engaged  in  it,  and  admira- 
tion for  the  courage  with  which  they 
met  their  fate.  The  ends  of  justice, 
the  cause  of  order,  is  more  advanced 
by  the  humanity  which,  in  purely 
political  offences,  remits  or  softens 
punishment,  than  by  the  rigour  which 
exacts  its  full  measure.  The  state 
criminal  of  one  age  often  becomes  the- 
martyr  of  the  next,  the  hero  of  a  third ; 
and  the  ultimate  interests  of  society 
are  never  so  effectually  secured  as. 
when,  by  depriving  treason  of  the 
halo  of  martyrdom,  it  is  allowed  to 
stand  forth  to  the  memory  of  futurity 
in  its  real  colours.* 

141.  But  if  the  fate  of  these  gallant 
though  deluded  men  must  ever  excite 
veiy  mixed  feelings  in  every  generous, 
bosom,  there  is  oi>e  subject  connected 
with  their  companions  in  suffering 
which  must  awaken  the  most  un- 
bounded interest  and  admiration.  Tho 
convicts  who  were  banished  to  Siberia 
were  for  the  most  part  of  high  rank 
and  noble  family ;  many  of  them  were- 
married,  and  their  wives,  of  equal  sta- 
tion in  society,  had  moved  in  the  very 
first  circles  in  St  Petersburg.  The 
conduct  of  these  ladies,  on  this  ter- 
rible crisis,  was  worthy  of  eternal  ad- 
miration. When  their  husbands  set 
off  on  their  long  and  painful  journey 
of  three  thousand  miles  into  the  in- 
terior of  Siberia,  seated  on  wooden 
chariots  without  springs,  and  often 
exposed  to  the  insults  and  assaults  of 
the  populace,  they  did  not  go  alone. 

*  Ryleif,  who  was  a  man  of  fine  genius,  in. 
his  remarkable  poem,  entitled  Voinarofski, 
expressed  his  firm  confidence  in  the  irresis- 
tible march  of  freedom  in  these  words,  which 
he  put  into  the  mouth  of  an  Ataman  of  the 
Cossacks :  "  That  which  in  our  dream  seemed 
a  dream  of  heaven,  was  not  recorded  on  high. 
Patience !  Let  us  wait  till  the  colossus  has 
for  some  time  accumulated  its  wrongs — till, 
in  hastening  its  increase,  it  has  weakened  it- 
self in  striving  to  embrace  the  half  of  the 
earth.  Allow  it :  the  heart  swollen  •with 
pride  parades  its  vanity  in  the  rays  of  tha 
sun.  Patience  !  the  justice  of  Heaven  will 
end  by  reducing  it  to  the  dust.  In  history, 
God  is  retribution:  He  does  not  permit  the 
seed  of  sin  to  pass  without  its  harvest.  "- 
SCHSITZLER,  ii.  309. 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


71 


These  noble  women,  who  were  them- 
selves entirely  innocent,  and  were  of- 
fered the  protection  of  the  emperor, 
and  all  the  luxuries  of  the  elevated 
circles  in  which  they  had  been  born 
and  lived,  if  they  would  remain  be- 
hind, unanimously  refused  the  offer, 
and  insisted  upon  accompanying  their 
husbands  into  exile.  They  bore  with- 
out repining,  even  with  joy,  the  mor- 
tal fatigues  of  the  long  and  dreary  jour- 
ney in  open  carts,  and  all  the  insults 
of  the  populace  in  the  villages  through 
which  they  passed,  and  arrived  safe, 
supported  by  their  heroic  courage.  To 
accustom  themselves  to  the  hardships 
they  were  to  undergo,  they  voluntarily 
laid  aside  in  their  palaces  at  St  Peters- 
burg, some  weeks  before  their  depar- 
ture, the  splendid  dresses  to  which 
they  had  been  accustomed,  put  on  in- 
stead the  most  humble  garments,  and 
inured  their  delicate  hands  to  the  work 
of  peasants  and  servants,  on  which  they 
were  so  soon  to  enter.  "Thou  shalt 
cat  thy  bread  with  the  sweat  of  thy 
brow  "  became  their  resolution,  as  it 
is  the  ordinary  lot  of  humanity.  The 
Princess  Troubetzkoi,  the  Princess 
Serge  Volkonsky,  Madame  Alexander 
Mouravieff,  Madame  Nikitas  Moura- 
vieff  (nee  Tchencichef),  and  Madame 
NarisichMne  (nee  Ronovnitsyne),  the 
two  last  of  the  noblest  families  in 
Russia,  were  among  the  number  of 
those  who  performed  this  heroic  sacri- 
fice to  duty.  History  may  well  pre- 
serve their  names  with  pride ;  it  is 
seldom  that  in  either  sex  it  has  such 
deeds  to  recount. 

142.  It  is  some  consolation  to  know 
that  the  generous  self-sacrifice  did  not 
even  in  this  world  go  without  its  re- 
ward. A  sense  of  duty,  the  courage 
which  often  springs  up  with  misfor- 
tune, the  consciousness  of  suffering 
together,  softened  the  horrors  of  the 
journey  to  such  a  degree  that  before  it 
was  concluded  they  had  come  to  be 
contented,  even  happy,  and  it  would 
have  been  deemed  a  misfortune  to 
have  been  turned  back.*  Their  ulti- 
mate destination  was  the  village  of  Tchi- 

*  One  of  the  travelling  companions  of  one 
of  those  mothers  overheard  her  say  to  her 
daughter,  who  had  been  petulant  on  the 


tinsk,  on  the  Ingoda  river,  beyond  the 
lake  Baikal,  and  not  far  removed  from 
the  frontiers  of  China.  The  climate 
there  is  somewhat  less  severe  than  in 
the  same  latitude  in  other  parts  of  Si- 
beria ;  and  the  humanity  of  the  empe- 
ror permitted  a  few  articles  of  comfort 
to  be  introduced,  which  softened  the 
asperities  of  that  deep  solitude.  Tchi- 
tinsk,  where  they  were  all  assembled, 
became  a  populous  colony,  an  oasis  of 
civilisation  in  the  midst  of  an  im- 
mense desert.  The  forced  labour  of 
the  convicts  extended  only  to  a  few 
hours  a -day;  some  slender  comforts, 
and  even  luxuries,  were  stealthily  in- 
troduced; and  a  library  containing  a 
few  books,  permitted  by  the  police, 
enlivened  the  weaiy  hours  of  solitude 
by  the  pleasures  of  intellectual  recrea- 
tion. But  the  simple  duties  of  their 
situation  left  them  little  leisure  for 
such  amusements,  and  the  regular  rou- 
tine of  humble  life,  if  it  depnved  them 
of  the  excitement,  at  least  saved  them 
from  the  torment  of  ennui,  the  bane 
and  punishment  of  civilised  selfish- 
ness. Many  of  them  tasted  a  happi- 
ness, in  this  simple  and  patriarchal 
existence,  to  which  they  had  been 
strangers  amidst  all  the  splendours  of 
St  Petersburg.  The  Princess  Troubet- 
zkoi had  been  on  distant  terms  with 
her  husband  before  his  banishment, 
and  she  had  no  family;  but  misfor- 
tune did  that  which  prosperity  had 
failed  to  effect — they  were  drawn  to- 
gether by  suffering  in  common ;  they 
lived  contentedly  together  in  their 
humble  cottage,  and  she  is  now  the 
happy  mother  of  five  children. 

143.  The  emperor  behaved  generous- 
ly to  the  families  and  relations  of  such 
as  had  suffered  either  death  or  exile 
for  their  political  offences.  So  far 
from  involving  them  in  any  species  of 
responsibility,  he  in  many  cases  did 
much  to  relieve  them  from  the  conse- 
quences of  that  which  they  had  already 
undergone  in  the  punishment  of  those 
who  were  dear  to  them.  He  gave 
50,000  rubles  (£2500)  to  the  father  of 
Pestel,  with  a  valuable  farm  on  ono 

journey,  "Sophie,  if  you  don't  behave  bet- 
ter, you  shan't  go  to  Siberia."— SCIINITZLER, 
ii.  310. 


72 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  YIII. 


of  the  domains  of  the  Crown,  and  ap- 
pointed his  brother,  a  colonel  in  the 
chevalier  guards,  one  of  his  own  aides- 
de-camp.  He  was  extremely  anxious 
to  relieve  the  distresses  of  Ryleifs 
widow,  who  had  been  left  in  very  des- 
titute circumstances,  and  sent  repeat- 
edly to  inquire  into  her  necessities ; 
but  this  high-minded  woman,  proud 
of  her  suffering,  refused  all  his  prof- 
fered kindness,  and  said  the  only  fa- 
vour she  asked  of  him  was  to  put  her 
to  death,  and  lay  her  beside  her  hus- 
band. Unknown  to  her,  he  caused 
relief  to  be  conveyed  to  her  children, 
with  whose  maintenance  and  educa- 
tion he  charged  himself.  But  to  the 
women  who  had  accompanied  their 
husbands  into  exile  he  showed  himself 
inexorable ;  he  thought  that  by  so  do- 
ing they  had  adopted  their  crimes,  in- 
stead of  extenuating  it  by  the  oppo- 
site virtues.  After  undergoing  fifteen 
years  of  exile  in  their  appointed  place 
of  banishment,  the  Princess  Troubet- 
zkoi  earnestly  petitioned  the  emperor 
for  a  removal,  not  into  Russia,  but  to 
a  place  where  the  climate  was  milder, 
and  she  might  obtain  the  rudiments 
of  education  for  their  children,  and  be 
near  an  apothecary  to  tend  them  when 
ill.  She  wrote  a  touching  letter  to  the 
emperor,  which  concluded  with  the 
words,  "I  am  very  unhappy;  never- 
theless, if  it  was  to  do  over  again,  I 
would  do  the  same."  But  her  petition 
was  sternly  refused.  "  I  am  aston- 
ished that  you  venture  to  speak  to 
me,"  said  he  to  the  lady  who  ventured 
to  present  it,  "  in  favour  of  a  family 
•which  has  conspired  against  me." 

144.  According  to  an  established 
usage  in  Russia,  a  solemn  religious 
ceremony  was  performed  on  the  ter- 
mination of  the  great  contest  with  the 
principles  of  anarchy  which  had  sig- 
nalised the  emperor's  accession  to  the 
throne.  "  On  the  spot,"  said  the  em- 
peror in  another  proclamation,  "where 
seven  months  ago  the  explosion  of  a 
sudden  revolt  revealed  the  existence 
of  a  vast  conspiracy  which  had  been 
going  on  for  ten  years,  it  is  meet  that 
a  last  act  of  commemoration — an  ex- 
piatory sacrifice — should  consecrate  on 
the  same  spot  the  memory  of  the  Rus- 


sian blood  shed  for  religion,  the  throne, 
and  the  country.  We  have  recognised 
the  hand  of  the  Almighty,  when  He 
tore  aside  the  veil  which  concealed 
that  horrible  mystery:  it  permitted 
crime  to  arm  itself  in  order  to  assure 
its  fall.  Like  a  momentary  storm,  the 
revolt  only  broke  forth  to  annihilate 
the  conspiracy  of  which  it  was  the 
consummation."*  In  conformity  with 
these  ideas,  the  whole  garrison  of  St 
Petersburg,  sixty  thousand  strong,  was 
on  the  morning  after  the  execution  of 
the  conspirators  assembled  on  the  Place 
of  the  Senate,  where  the  mutineers  had 
taken  their  station.  The  emperor  is- 
sued from  the  Church  of  the  Admiral- 
ty, which  is  the  centre  of  St  Peters- 
burg, led  by  the  Metropolitan  Arch- 
bishop, clad  in  his  pontifical  robes, 
and  accompanied  by  the  Empress  and 
Prince  Charles  of  Prussia,  her  brother. 
A  solemn  thanksgiving  was  then  per- 
formed at  the  altar,  and  the  priests, 
descending  from  the  steps,  scattered 
holy  water  over  the  soldiers,  the  people, 
and  the  pavement  of  the  square.  When 
the  purification  was  completed,  the 
bands  of  all  the  regiments  struck  up  a 
hallelujah ;  and  the  discharge  of  a  hun  - 
dredguns  announced  that  the  expiation 
was  concluded  and  the  crime  effaced. 

145.  Nicholas  made,  in  one  impor- 
tant respect,  a  noble  use  of  his  victory. 
During  the  course  of  the  long  investi- 
gation which  took  place  into  the  con- 
spiracy, great  part  of  which  was  con- 
ducted by  the  emperor  in  person,  am- 
ple revelations  were  made,  not  merely 

*  The  address  contained  these  words,  ap- 
plicable to  all  ages  and  people:  "May  the 
fathers  of  families  by  this  sad  example  be  led 
to  pay  proper  attention  to  the  moral  educa- 
tion of  their  children.  Assuredly  it  is  not  to 
the  progress  of  civilisation,  but  to  the  vanity 
which  is  the  result  of  idleness  and  want  of 
intelligence — to  the  want  of  real  education — 
that  we  are  to  ascribe  that  licentiousness  of 
thought,  that  vehemence  of  passion,  that 
half -knowledge,  so  confused  and  so  perilous. 
that  thirst  after  extreme  theories  and  poli- 
tical visions,  which  begin  by  demoralising 
and  end  by  ruining.  In  vain  will  the  Govern- 
ment make  generous  efforts,  in  vain  will  it 
exh..ust  'tself  in  sacrifices,  if  the  domestic 
education  of  the  people  does  not  second  its 
views  and  intentions,  if  it  cZocs  not  pour  into 
the  hearts  the  germs  of  virtue." — Journal  de 
St  Petersbourg,  July  24,  1S2C,  No.  86;  and 

SCHKITZLER,  li.  316. 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


73 


in  regard  to  the  extent  and  ramifica- 
tions of  the  conspiracy,  but  to  the  nu- 
merous social  and  political  evils  which 
had  roused  into  such  fearful  activity 
so  large  a  portion  of  the  most  intrepid 
:ni(l  patriotic  of  the  higher  classes. 
The  leaders,  who  were  examined  by 
the  emperor,  unfolded  without  reserve 
the  whole  evils  which  were  complained 
of,  in  particular  the  dreadful  corrup- 
tion which  pervaded  every  branch  of 
the  administration,  and  the  innumer- 
able delays  and  venality  which  ob- 
structed or  perverted  the  course  of 
justice  in  every  department.*  He  was 
so  horror- struck  by  the  revelations 
which  were  made,  that  for  a  long  time 
he  despaired  of  success  in  the  attempt 
to  cleanse  out  so  vast  and  frightful  an 
Augean  stable ;  and  his  spirits  were  so 
affected  by  the  discoveries  made,  that 
gloom  pervaded  the  whole  court  for  a 
long  time  after  his  accession.  But  at 
length  he  rose  superior  to  the  difficul- 
ties with  which  he  was  environed,  and 
boldly  set  about  applying  a  remedy, 
in  the  only  true  and  safe  method,  by 
cautious  and  practical  reform. 

*  While  the  conspirators  avowed  that  their 
designs  ultimately  involved  the  destruction 
of  the  emperor  and  his  family,  and  expressed 
the  deepest  contrition  for  that  offence,  they 
at  the  same  time  portrayed  with  courage  and 
fidelity  the  social  evils  which  consumed  their 
country,  and  had  induced  them  to  take  up 
arms.  Many  of  them,  Ryleif  and  Bestou.jif 
in  particular,  evinced  a  noble  spirit  in  mis- 
fortune. "  I  knew  before  I  engaged  in  it," 
said  the  former  to  the  emperor,  "that  my 
enterprise  would  ruin  me,  but  I  could  no 
longer  bear  to  see  my  country  under  the  yoke 
of  despotism :  the  seed  which  I  have  sown, 
rest  assured,  will  one  day  germinate,  and  in 
the  end  bear  fruit."  "  I  repent  of  nothing  I 
have  done,"  said  Michel  Bestoujif;  "I  die 
satisfied,  and  soon  to  be  avenged."  The  em- 
I'-ior  was  so  struck  with  the  courage  of  his 
answers,  and  the  hideous  revelations  which 
h>'  made  in  regard  to  the  abuses  of  the  public 
administration,  that  he  said  to  him,  "  I  have 
the  power  to  pardon  you;  and  if  I  felt  as- 
:-'i!t  d  you  would  prove  a  faithful  servant,  I 
would  gladly  do  so."  "  That,  sire ! "  said  he, 
'•  is  precisely  what  we  complain  of;  the  em- 
peror can  do  everything,  and  there  is  no  law. 
In  the  name  of  God,  let  justice  take  its 
course,  and  let  the  fate  of  your  subjects  not 
in  future  depend  on  your  caprices  or  the  im- 
pressions of  the  moment."  They  were  noble 
men  who,  in  presence  of  the  emperor,  and 
•with  the  axe  suspended  over  their  heads, 
could  express  such  sentiments  in  such  lan- 
guage.— SCUNITZLEK,  ii.  134,  135. 


146.  His  first  care  was  to  despatch 
circulars  toall  the  judges  and  governors 
in  the  empire,  urging  them  in  the  most 
earnest  way  to  the  faithful  discharge  of 
their  duty,  under  the  severest  penal- 
ties, and  inculcating  in  an  especial 
manner  the  immediate  decision  of  the 
numerous  cases  in  arrear  before  them, 
both  in  regard  to  persons  and  property. 
With  such  success  was  this  attended, 
that  out  of  2, 850, 000  processes  depend- 
ing in  the  beginning  of  1826,  nearly 
all  had  been  decided  before  the  end  of 
that  year;  and  out  of  127,000  persons 
under  arrest,  there  remained  only  4900, 
in  the  beginning  of  1827,  in  custody. 
The  change  was  so  great  and  satisfac- 
tory, that  it  was  with  reason  made  the 
subject  of  a  special  congratulation  from 
the  emperor  to  the  Minister  of  Justice. 
Some  of  the  laws  which  pressed  with 
most  severity  on  the  Cossacks  and  the 
southern  provinces  were  repealed.  But 
the  grand  defect,  which  struck  the  em- 

g;ror  in  the  internal  administration  of 
ussia,  was  the  want  of  any  regular 
code  of  laws  in  the  hands  of  all  the 
judges,  accessible  to  all,  according  to 
which  justice  might  be  uniformly  ad- 
ministered in  all  the  governments. 
This  was  the  more  essential,  since,  as 
already  noticed,  in  a  great  proportion 
of  the  governments  the  ukases  of  the 
emperors  had  never  reached  the  judges. 
Great  part,  indeed,  were  what  may  be 
termed  private  ukases,  being  addressed 
to  individuals,  not  the  Senate,  and 
yet  binding  on  the  whole  community. 
They  formed,  as  was  well  observed  at 
the  time,  "  a  hidden  code  of  laws,  yet 
ruling  the  empire."  To  remedy  this 
great  defect,  a  complete  collection  of 
the  ukases,  which  formed,  like  the 
rescripts  of  the  Roman  emperors,  the 
laws  of  Russia,  was  arranged,  printed, 
and  codified  by  the  order  of  Nicholas. 
The  great  work  proved  to  be  one  of 
immense  labour ;  but  by  the  vigilant 
attention  and  incessant  energy  of  the 
emperor,  it  was  completed  in  a  sur- 
prisingly short  space  of  time.  The 
printing  commenced  on  1st  May  1828, 
and  was  concluded  on  1st  Aprfl  1830. 
It  then  embraced  35, 993  ukases  or  acts, 
of  which  5075  had  been  pronounced 
since  the  accession  of  the  present  cm- 


74 


HISTOKY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  via. 


peror,  and  the  collection  Avhich  was 
sent  to  all  the  judges  amounted  to  fifty- 
six  large  quarto  volumes.  In  addition 
to  this,  Nicholas  undertook,  and  suc- 
cessfully carried  through,  a  still  more 
difficult  undertaking — viz.,  the  con- 
struction of  a  uniform  code,  forming 
a  complete  system  of  law,  out  of  the 
enormous  and  often  heterogeneous  ma- 
terials. This  gigantic  undertaking, 
akin  to  the  Institutes  and  Pandects  of 
Justinian,  was  completed  in  seven  years 
more,  and  now  forms  the  "  sood,"  or 
body  of  Russian  law.  Thus  had  Nicho- 
las the  glory,  after  having  rivalled 
Csesar  in  the  courage  with  which  he 
had  suppressed  military  revolt,  of  emu- 
lating Justinian  in  the  zeal  with  which 
he  prosecuted  legal  reforms.  Yet  must 
his  antagonists  not  be  denied  then- 
share  in  the  honour  due  to  the  founders 
of  the  august  temple ;  for  if  the  em- 
peror raised  the  superstructure,  it  was 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  which  cement- 
ed the  foundations. 

147.  Yet  was  the  crime  of  these  ge- 
nerous but  deluded  men  great,  and 
their  punishment  not  only  necessary, 
but  just.  The  beneficial  results  which 
followed  their  insurrection  were  acci- 
dental only,  and  arose  from  its  defeat ; 
had  it  been  suppressed  by  other  hands, 
or  proved  successful,  it  could  not  have 
failed  to  have  induced  the  most  terrible 
calamities.  Met  and  crushed  by  Ivan 
the  Terrible  or  the  Empress  Catherine, 
it  would  have  drawn  yet  closer  the 
bands  of  tyranny  on  the  State,  and 
thrown  it  back  for  centuries  in  the  ca- 
reer of  real  freedom.  No  man  had  a 
right  to  calculate  on  the  suppression  of 
the  revolt  being  immediately  followed 
on  the  part  of  the  conqueror  by  the 
compilation  of  the  Pandects.  It  was 
utterly  impossible  that  a  military  re- 
volt, of  which  a  few  officers  only  knew 
the  object,  into  which  the  private  sol- 
diers had  been  drawn  by  deceit,  and  to 
which  the  common  people  were  entire 
strangers,  could,  if  successful,  termi- 
nate in  anything  but  disaster.  Even 
the  Reign  of  Terror  in  France  would 
have  been  but  a  shadow  of  what  must 
have  ensued  in  the  event  of  success ; 
the  proscriptions  of  Marius  and  Sylla, 
the  slaughter  of  Nero,  the  centra- 


lised unmitigated  despotism  of  the 
Lower  Empire,  could  alone  have  been 
looked  for.  Benevolent  intentions, 
generous  self-devotion,  patriotic  spirit, 
are  neither  alone  sufficient  in  public 
men,  nor  do  they  afford,  even  in  the 
light  of  morality,  an  adequate  vindi- 
cation of  their  acts,  if  the  laws  are  in- 
fringed. It  is  the  first  duty  of  those 
who  urge  on  a  movement,  to  consider 
in  what  it  must  terminate,  and  whether 
the  instruments  by  which  it  is  to  be 
accomplished  are  capable,  of  perform- 
ing the  new  duties  required  of  them, 
if  successful.  Nations  have  seven  ages, 
as  well  as  man ;  and  he  is  their  worst 
enemy,  who,  anticipating  the  slow 
march  of  time,  inflames  childhood  with 
the  passions  of  youth,  or  gives  to  youth 
the  privileges  of  manhood. 

148.  The  coronation  of  the  emperor 
and  empress  took  place,  with  extraordi- 
nary pomp,  at  Moscow  on  the  22d  Au- 
gust (3d  September)  in  the  same  year. 
The  youth  and  beauty  of  the  two  sove- 
reigns, the  dreadful  contest  which  had 
preceded  their  accession  to  the  throne, 
the  generous  abnegation  of  self  by 
which  the  mutual  renunciation  of  the 
throne  by  the  two  imperial  brothers 
had  been  characterised,  gave  an  extra- 
ordinary interest  to  the  august  spec- 
tacle, and  crowds  of  the  most  distin- 
guished strangers  from  every  part  of 
Europe  flocked  together  to  witness  it. 
The  entry  of  their  imperial  majesties 
took  place  on  the  5th  August  (17th), 
the  emperor  riding  between  the  Grand- 
duke  Michael  and  Prince  Charles  or 
Prussia ;  the  empress  followed  in  a 
magnificent  chariot,  drawn  by  eight 
horses,  having  her  son,  the  heir  of  the 
empire,  by  her  side.  Enthusiastic  ac- 
clamations burst  from  the  immense 
crowd,  which  advanced  several  miles 
on  the  road  to  St  Petersburg  to  meet 
them.  Moscow  exhibited  the  most 
splendid  spectacle.  All  traces  of  the 
conflagration  of  1812  had  disappeared, 
magnificent  buildings  had  arisen  on 
every  side,  and  the  quarters  which  had 
suffered  most  from  its  ravages  could, 
now  be  traced  only  by  the  superior 
elegance  and  durability  of  the  stone 
structures,  by  which  the  former  wooden 
palaces  and  buildings  had  been  re 


1326.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


75 


placed.  On  the  15th,  when,  according 
to  the  custom  of  Russia,  a  great  reli- 
gious ceremony  took  place,  an  unex- 
pected event  threw  the  people  into 
transports  of  joy.  The  emperor  ap- 
peared, holding  with  his  right  hand 
the  Grand-duke  Constantino,  who  had 
arrived  the  evening  before  in  Moscow, 
and  with  his  left  the  Grand-duke  Mi- 
chael. Shouts  of  joy  arose  from  the 
assembled  multitude,  but  the  cry  which 
resounded  above  all,  "  Hourra,  Con- 
stantine ! "  at  first  startled  the  emperor ; 
he  had  heard  it  on  the  Place  of  the 
Senate  on  the  26th  December.  It  was 
tut  for  a  moment,  however,  and  his 
countenance  was  soon  radiant  with  joy, 
•when  that  prince  was  the  first  to  do 
him  homage,  and  threw  himself  into 
Lis  arms.  The  universal  acclamations 
now  knew  no  bounds,  the  reality  of  the 
self-sacrifice  was  demonstrated  ;  future 
concord  was  anticipated  from  the  happy 
union  in  the  imperial  familv.  Splendid 
reviews  of  fifty  thousand  of  the  guards 
and  chosen  troops  of  the  empire,  and 
a  hundred  and  sixty  guns,  succeeded, 
and  the  coronation  took  place  on  the 
day  fixed,  22d  August  (3d  September), 
in  the  cathedral  of  Moscow,  with  cir- 
cumstances of  unheard-of  magnificence 
and  splendour.  The  Grand-duke  Con- 
stantine  was  the  first  to  tender  his 
liomage  to  the  new  sovereign. 

149.  Nicholas  I.,  who,  under  such 
brilliant  circumstances,  and  after  the 
display  of  such  invincible  resolution, 
thus  ascended  the  throne  of  Russia, 
and  whom  subsequent  events  have,  in 
a  manner,  raised  up  to  become  an  ar- 
biter of  Eastern  Europe,  is  the  great- 
est sovereign  that  that  country  has 
known  since  Peter  the  Great ;  in  some 
respects  he  is  greater  than  Peter  him- 
self. Not  less  energetic  in  character 
and  ardent  in  improvement  than  his 
illustrious  predecessor,  he  is  more  tho- 
roughly national,  and  he  has  brought 
the  nation  forward  more  completely  in 
the  path  which  nature  had  pointed  out 
for  it.  Peter  was  a  Russian  only  in 
his  despotism :  his  violence,  his  cruelty, 
his  beneficence,  his  ardour  for  improve- 
ment, his  patriotic  ambition,  were  all 
borrowed  from  the  states  of  "Western 
Europe.  As  these  states  were  greatly 


farther  advanced  in  the  career  of  civil- 
isation than  his  was,  his  reforms  were 
in  great  part  premature,  his  improve- 
ments abortive,  his  refinements  super- 
ficial. He  aimed  at  doing  by  imperial, 
what  so  many  ardent  men  have  endea- 
voured to  effect  by  democratic  despo- 
tism—  to  engraft  on  one  nation  the 
institutions  of  another,  and  reap  from 
the  infancy  of  a  state  the  fruits  of  its 
maturity.  The  attempt  failed  in  his 
hands,  as  it  has  ever  done  in  those  of 
his  republican  imitators,  as  it  will  do 
in  those  of  their  successors,  whether 
on  the  throne  or  in  the  tribune,  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  His  improvements, 
were  all  external  merely ;  they  made 
a  brilliant  appearance,  but  they  did 
not  extend  beneath  the  surface,  and 
left  untouched  the  strength  and  vitals 
of  the  State.  He  flattered  himself  he 
had  civilised  Russia,  because  he  ruled 
by  a  police  which  governed  it  by  fear, 
and  an  army  which  retained  it  in  sub- 
jection by  discipline. 

150.  Nicholas,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
essentially  Russian  in  all  his  ideas. 
He  is  heart  and  soul  patriotic,  not 
merely  in  wish,  but  in  spirit  and 
thought.  He  wishes  to  improve  and 
elevate  his  country,  and  he  has  don& 
much  to  effect  that  noble  object ;  but 
he  desires  to  do  so  by  developing,  not 
changing  the  national  spirit— by  mak- 
ing it  become  a  first  Russia,  not  a 
second  France  or  England.  He  has- 
adopted  the  maxim  of  Montesquieu, 
that  no  nation  ever  attained  to  real 
greatness  but  by  institiitions  in  con- 
formity with  its  spirit.  He  is  neither 
led  away  by  the  thirst  for  sudden  me- 
chanical improvement,  like  Peter,  nor 
the  praises  of  philosophers,  like  Cathe- 
rine, nor  the  visions  of  superstitious 
inexperienced  philanthropy,  like  Alex- 
ander. He  has  not  attempted  to  erect 
a  capital  in  a  pestilential  marsh,  and 
done  so  at  the  expense  of  a  hundred 
thousand  lives  ;  nor  has  he  dreamt  of 
mystical  regeneration  with  a  visionary 
sibyl,  and  made  sovereigns  put  their 
hands  to  a  holy  alliance  from  her  in- 
fluence. He  neither  corresponds  witli 
French  atheists  nor  English  demo- 
crats ;  he  despises  the  praises  of  thr» 
first,  he  braves  the  hostility  of  the  last. 


HISTORY  OF  EUKOPE. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


His  maxim  is  to  take  men  as  they  are, 
and  neither  suppose  them  better  nor 
Averse.  He  is  content  to  let  Russia 
grow  up  in  a  Russian  garb,  animated 
with  a  Russian  spirit,  and  moulded  by 
Russian  institutions,  without  the  aid 
either  of  Parisian  Communism  or  Brit- 
ish Liberalism.  The  improvements 
he  has  effected  in  the  government  of 
his  dominions  have  been  vast,  the  tri- 
umphs with  which  his  external  policy 
have  been  attended  unbounded  ;  but 
they  have  all  been  achieved,  not  in 
imitation  of,  but  in  opposition  to,  the 
ideas  of  Western  Europe.  They  be- 
speak, not  less  than  his  internal  gov- 
ernment, the  national  character  of  his 
policy.  But  if  success  is  the  test  of 
worldly  wisdom,  he  has  not  been  far 
•wrong  in  his  system  ;  for  he  has  pass- 
ed the  Balkan,  heretofore  impervious 
to  his  predecessors  ;  he  has  conquered 
Poland,  converted  the  Euxine  into  a 
Russian  lake,  planted  the  cross  on  the 
bastions  of  Erivan,  and  opened  through 
subdued  Hungary  a  path,  in  the  end, 
to  Constantinople. 

151.  Nature  has  given  him  all  the 
qualities  fitted  for  such  an  elevated 
destiny.  A.  lofty  stature  and  princely 
air  give  additional  influence  to  a  majes- 
tic countenance,  in  which  the  prevail- 
ing character  is  resolution,  yet  not 
unmixed  with  sweetness.  Like  Wel- 
lington, Csesar,  and  many  others  of  the 
greatest  men  recorded  in  history,  his 
expression  has  become  more  intellec- 
tual as  he  advanced  in  years,  and  been 
exercised  in  the  duties  of  sovereignty, 
instead  of  the  stern  routine  of  military 
discipline.  Exemplary  in  all  the  re- 
lations of  private  life,  a  faithful  hus- 
band, an  affectionate  father,  he  has 
•exhibited  in  a  brilliant  court,  and 
when  surrounded  by  every  temptation 
which  life  can  offer,  the  simplicity 
and  affections  of  patriarchal  life.  Yet 
is  he  not  a  perfect  character.  His  vir- 
tues often  border  upon  vices.  His  ex- 
cellences are  akin  to  defects.  Deeply 
impressed  with  the  responsibility  of 
his  situation,  his  firmness  has  some- 
times become  sternness,  his  sense  of 
justice  degenerated  into  severity.*  He 

*  It  is  in  regard  to  political  offences  of  a 


knows  how  to  distinguish  the  innocent 
from  the  guilty,  and  has  often  evinced 
a  noble  and  magnanimous  spirit  in 
separating  the  one  from  the  other,  and 
showing  oblivion  of  injury,  even  kind- 
ness to  the  relatives  of  those  who  had 
conspired  against  his  throne  and  life. 
But  towards  the  guilty  themselves  he 
has  not  been  equally  compassionate. 
He  has  not  always  let  the  passions  of 
the  contest  pass  away  with  its  termi- 
nation. He  is  an  Alexander  the  Great 
in  resolution,  but  not  in  magnanimity. 
He  wants  the  last  grace  in  the  heroic 
character — he  does  not  know  how  to 
forgive. 

serious  dye,  however,  that  this  severity  chief- 
ly applies.  In  lesser  matters,  relating  to 
order  and  discipline,  he  is  more  indulgent, 
and  at  times  generous.  At  his  coronation 
at  Moscow,  his  eyes  met  those  of  General 
Paskiewitch,who  had  severely  upbraided  him 
for  some  military  error  at  the  head  of  his 
regiment  some  years  before.  '  Do  you  recol- 
lect," said  he,  with  a  stern  air,  '  how  you  once 
treated  me  here?  The  wind  has  turned ; 
take  care  lest  I  return  you  the  like."  Two 
days  after,  he  appointed  him  General-in- 
Chief." — SCHNITZLEK,  ii.  356. 

A  striking  proof  of  the  emperor's  simplici- 
ty of  character  is  recorded  by  the  Marquis 
Custine,  who  had  frequent  and  confidential 
conversations  with  him.  Speaking  of  liis 
conduct  on  the  revolt  of  26th  December,  he 
said :  "  '  J'ignorais  ce  que  j'allais  faire,  j'e'tais 
inspire.'  'Pour  avoir  de  pareilles  inspira- 
tions,' disait  le  Marquis,  '  il  faut  les  meriter.' 
'  Je  n'ai  fait  rien  d'extraordinaire,'  repliqua 
1'Empereur ;  'j'ai  dit  aux  soldats,  retournez 
a  vos  rangs ;  et  au  moment  de  passer  le  regi- 
ment en  revue,  j'ai  crie,  a  genoux.  Tous  ont 
obei.  Ce  qui  m'a  rendu  fort,  c'est  que  1'in- 
stant  auparavant,  j'etais  resigne  a  la  mort.  Je 
suis  reconnaissant  du  succes,  je  n'en  suis  pas 
fier ;  je  n'y  ai  aucun  merite. '  '  Votre  majeste, ' 
repliqua  Custine,  'a  ete  sublime  dans  cette 
occasion.'  '  Je  n'ai  pas  ete  sublime,'  repondit 
1'Empereur,  '  je  n'ai  fait  que  mon  metier.  En 
pareille  circonstance,  nul  ne  peut  savoir  ce 
qu'il  dira  ;  on  court  au-devant  du  peril,  sans 
se  demander  comment  on  s'en  tirera."' — LE 
MARQUIS  DE  CUSTINE,  Russie  en  1839,  ii.  40, 
41,  57.  Lamartine  has  frequently  said  iu  so- 
ciety, in  reference  to  his  conduct  when  he 
persuaded  the  people  to  lay  aside  the  red  flag 
at  Paris,  on  the  revolution  of  1S48,  "  J'etais 
sublime  ce  jour-la."  Such  is  the  difference 
between  the  simplicity  of  the  really  magnani- 
mous and  the  self-love  of  those  in  whom  it  is 
deformed  by  overweening  and  discreditable 
vanity.  I  have  heard  this  anecdote  of  Lamar- 
tine from  two  ladies  of  high  rank,  both  of 
whom  heard  him  use  the  expression  on  dif- 
ferent occasions  in  reference  to  his  own  con- 
duct, which  was  really  noble  and  courageous 
on  that  day. 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


77 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ROYALIST  REACTION  IN  FRANCE. 

FRANCE  FROM   THE   COUP  D'ETAT   OF   5TH   MARCH   1819,    TO  THE   ACCESSION 
OF  THE   PURELY   ROYALIST   MINISTRY   IN   DECEMBER   1821. 


1.  THERE  is  no  instance  in  the  whole 
records  of  history  of  a  country  which 
so  rapidly  recovered  from  the  lowest 
point  of  depression,  as  France  did  in 
the  interval  from  the  close  of  1816  to 
the  beginning  of  1820.      Every  con- 
ceivable ill  which  could  afflict  a  state 
seemed  to  have  accumulated  around  it 
nt  the  commencement  of  that  period. 
Its  capital  was  taken,  its  government 
overturned,  its  sovereign  a  dethroned 
captive,  its  army  defeated  and  disband- 
ed, and  eleven  hundred  thousand  armed 
men  in  possession  of  its  territory.  Con- 
tributions to  an  enormous  and  unheard- 
of  extent  had  been  imposed  upon  its 
inhabitants ;  the  armed  multitude  lived 
at  free  quarters  amongst  them,  and 
were  supported  by  exactions  coming 
from  their  industry  ;  and  above  sixty 
millions  sterling  of  indemnities  had 
been  levied  on  them  for  the  allied  pow- 
ers or  their  subjects.     Such  was  the 
bequest  of  the  Revolution  to  France. 
The  inclemency  of  nature  had  united 
•with  the  rigour  of  man  to  waste  the 
devoted  land.     The  summer  and  au- 
tumn of  1816  had  been  beyond  all  ex- 
ample cold  and  stormy  ;  the  harvest 
had  proved  extremely  deficient,  and 
prices  risen  in  many  places  to  a  famine 
level.    It  seemed  impossible  for  human 
malignity  to  conceive  a  greater  accu- 
mulation of  disasters,  or  for  human 
ability  to  devise  any  mode  of  rendering 
them  bearable. 

2.  Nevertheless  it  proved  otherwise, 
and  the  resurrection  of  France  was  as 
rapid   as  had  been  her  fall  into  the 
al  iyss  of  misfortune.    Three  years  only 
had    elapsed,   and    all  was   changed. 


Plenty  had  succeeded  to  want,  confi- 
dence to  distrust,  prosperity  to  misery .. 
The  Allies  had  withdrawn,  the  terri- 
tory was  freed  :  the  contributions  were 
paid  or  provided  for,  the  national  faith 
had  been  preserved  entire.  All  this  had 
been  purchased  by  a  cession  of  terri- 
tory so  small  that  it  was  not  worth 
speaking  of.  The  public  funds  were 
high  in  comparison  of  what  they  had 
been  ;  and  though  the  loans  necessary 
to  furnish  the  Government  with  the 
funds  to  make  good  its  engagements 
had  been  contracted  at  a  very  high  rate 
of  interest,  yet  the  resources  of  the 
country  had  enabled  its  rulers  to  pay 
it  with  fidelity  and  exactness,  and 
strengthened  their  credit  with  foreign 
states.  The  simple  preservation  of 
peace — a  blessing  so  long  unknown  to 
France  —  had  effected  all  these  pro. 
digies,  and  worked  wonders  in  the  re- 
storation of  the  national  indiistry. 
Agriculture,  relieved  from  the  wasting 
scourge  of  the  conscription,  had  sen- 
sibly revived  ;  the  husbandman  every- 
where sowed  in  hope,  reaped  in  safety ; 
and  the  benignity  of  Providence,  which 
awarded  a  favourable  harvest  in  1818 
and  1819,  filled  the  land  with  plente- 
ousness.  Great  improvements  had  in 
many  places  been  introduced  into  this 
staple  branch  of  the  national  industry. 
The  division  of  property,  which  always 
induces  a  great  increase  in  the  amount 
of  labour  applied  to  the  cultivation, 
had  not  as  yet  been  attended  by  its 
subsequent  effect — an  exhaustion  of  its 
productive  powers ;  and  the  six  mil- 
lions of  proprietors  succeeded  in  ex- 
tracting a  considerable  increase  of  sub- 


73 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


sistence  from  the  fields.  New  and  valu- 
able trees  had  been  planted  in  the 
woods ;  and  horticulture,  to  which  a 
large  part  of  the  country  near  the  great 
towns  was  devoted,  had  made  rapid 
strides  by  the  introduction  of  the  im- 
proved style  of  English  gardening. 
Population  had  largely  advanced  since 
the  peace ;  but  no  want  was  experi- 
enced among  the  inhabitants.  Com- 
merce had  everywhere  revived,  latterly 
it  had  come  to  flourish  to  an  extraor- 
dinary degree.  The  animation  on  the 
roads  in  the  interior,  on  the  canals 
which  conveyed  merchandise,  and  in 
the  seaport  towns,  proved  how  largely 
the  means  of  consumption  had  increas- 
ed among  the  inhabitants. 

3.  The  capital,  in  an  especial  man- 
ner, had  shared  in  the  general  pros- 
perity, and  gave  unequivocal  proof  of 
its  reality  and  extent.  The  concourse 
of  strangers  attracted  by  its  celebrity, 
its  monuments,  its  galleries,  its  thea- 
tres, and  its  other  attractions,  was  im- 
mense ;  and  their  great  expenditure 
consoled  the  Parisians  for  the  national 
reverses  which  had  paved  the  way  for 
their  arrival.  The  Russians  and  Eng- 
lish, their  most  formidable  and  perse- 
vering enemies,  were  in  an  especial 
manner  conspicuous  in  this  lucrative 
immigration.  Under  the  influence  of 
such  extraordinary  stimulants,  Paris 
exhibited  an  unwonted  degree  of  afflu- 
ence :  the  brilliant  equipages  and 
crowded  streets  bespoke  the  riches 
which  were  daily  expended  ;  while  the 
piles  of  splendid  edifices  arising  on  all 
sides  exceeded  anything  previously  wit- 
nessed in  the  brightest  days  of  its  his- 
tory, and  added  daily  to  the  architec- 
tural beauties  it  presented. 


4.  Statistical  facts  of  unquestionable 
correctness  and  convincing  weight  at- 
tested the  reality  and  magnitude  of  this 

laange.  The  exports,  imports,  and 
revenue  of  the  country  had  all  gone  on 
increasing,  and  latterly  in  an  acceler- 
ated ratio.  The  imports,  which  in  1815 
(the  last  year  of  Napoleon's  reign)  had 
been  only  199,467,660  francs,  had 
risen,  in  1817,  to  332,000,000,  and  in 
1821  they  had  advanced  to  355,591,857 
francs.  The  exports  also  had  risen 
considerably  ;  they  had  increased  from 
422,000,000  to  464,000,000  francs.* 
The  amount  of  revenue  levied  during 
these  years  could  not,  bypossibility,  af- 
ford a  true  index  to  the  real  state  of  the 
country,  from  the  enormous  amount  of 
the  contributions  to  the  allied  powers ; 
but  in  those  items  in  which  an  increase 
was  practicable,  or  which  indicated  the 
greater  wellbeing  of  the  people,  the 
improvement  was  very  conspicuous.  So 
marked  a  resurrection  of  a  country  and 
advance  of  its  social  condition,  in  so 
short  a  period,  had  perhaps  never  been 
witnessed  ;  and  it  is  the  more  remark- 
able, from  its  occurring  immediately 
after  such  unprecedented  misfortunes, 
and  from  the  mere  effect  of  an  altera- 
tion in  the  system  and  policy  of  Gov- 
ernment 

5.  Add  to  this,  that  France  had  now, 
for  the  first  time  in  its  entire  history, 
obtained  the  full  benefit  of  representa- 
tive institutions.     The  electors  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  were  few  in  num- 
ber— indeed,  not  exceeding  80,000  for 
the  whole  country — but  they  represent- 
ed the  national  feelings  so  thoroughly, 
that  their  representatives  in  parlia- 
ment had  not  only  got  the  entire  com- 
mand of  the  State,  but  thej7  expressed 


h  EXPORTS  AND  IMPORTS  AND  REVENUE  OF  FRANCE,  FROM  1815  TO  1S21. 


Years. 

Imports. 
Francs. 

Exports. 

1'raiics. 

Revenue. 
Ordinary. 
Francs. 

Revenue, 
Extraordinary. 

Total 
Revenue. 
Francs. 

1815 

199,467,661 

422,147,776 

729,154,571 

147,163,661 

876,318,232 

1816 

242,698,753 

547,706,317 

378,903,354 

157,801,000 

1,036,804,354 

1817 

332,374,593 

464,049,387 

899,813,624 

370,498,896 

1,270,312,550 

1818 

335,574,488 

502,284,083 

937,751,487 

476,329,198 

1,414,080,685 

1819 

294,548,286 

460,232,224 

895,386,818 

41,271,906 

936,658,784 

1820 

335,009,566 

543,112,774 

933,439,553 

5,798,510 

939,238,063 

1821 

355,591,857 

450,788,843 

928,515,558 

7,436,491 

935,653,049 

1822 

368,990,533 

427,679,156 

937,427,670 

16,493,592 

953,921,262 

— Statiitique  cfe  la  France,  Commerce  Exterieur,  p.  9 ;  Ibid.,  Administration  Publique,  110, ' 


1319.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


79 


the  national  wishes  as  faithfully  as   when  the  Liberals  were  in  the  ascend- 
eight  millions  could  have  done.      If  j  ant,  being  not  altogether  confident  in 


there  was  anything  to  be  condemned 
on  the  part  of  Government,  it  was  that 
it  had  yielded  too  rapidly  and  immedi- 
ately to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  what- 
ever they  were  at  the  moment.  The 
Royalist  reaction  of  1815  ;  the  subse- 
quent leaning  to  Liberal  institutions  ; 
the  coup  d'etat  of  September  5,  1816  ; 
the  great  creation  of  peers  in  March 
1819,  had  all  been  done  in  conformity 
with  the  wishes,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  fierce  demands,  of  the  majority  at 
the  time.  Weak  from  the  outset,  in 
•consequence  of  the  calamitous  circum- 
stances \mder  which  it  was  first  estab- 
lished, and  deprived  at  length  of  all 
support  from  external  force,  the  Gov- 
ernment had  no  alternative  throughout 
but  to  conform,  in  every  material  step, 
to  the  national  will,  and  for  good  or 
for  evil  inaugurate  the  people  at  once 
in  the  power  of  self-government.  To 
such  a  length  had  this  been  carried, 
that  at  the  close  of  the  period  the  king 
had  come  to  an  entire  rupture  with  his 
Royalist  supporters,  and  thrown  him- 
self without  reserve  into  the  arms  of 
the  Liberal  and  anti-monarchical  party. 

6.  It  might  reasonably  have  been 
expected  that  these  great  concessions 
would  have  conciliated  the  Constitu- 
tional party,  who  were  now  not  only 
in  possession  of  the  blessings  of  free- 
dom, but  the  sweets  of  office,  and  that 
they  would  have  done  their  utmost  to 
support  a  Government  which  had  con- 
ferred   such    advantages    upon   their 
country  and  themselves.     Yet  it  was 
just  the  reverse.     With  every  conces- 
sion made   to  them,  their  demands 
rose  higher,  their  exasperation  became 
greater ;  the  press  was  never  so  vio- 
lent, the  public  effervescence  so  ex- 
treme, as  when  the  Government  was 
opposing  the  least  resistance  to  the 
popular  will ;  and  at  length  the  danger 
became  so  imminent,  from  the  increas- 
ing demands  of  the  Liberals,  and  the 
menacing  aspect  of  the  legislature,  that 
the  king,   from  sheer  necessity,   and 
much  against  his  will,  was  driven  into 
a  change  of  system,  and  return  to  a 
monarchical  administration. 

7.  The  new    Ministry,    appointed 


their  stability,  and  having  come  to  an 
open  rupture  with  the  Royalists,  did 
everything  in  their  power  to  increase 
their  popularity,  and  conciliate  the 
democratic  party,  upon  whom  they 
exclusively  depended.  Various  mea- 
sures of  great  utility,  and  attended  by 
the  very  best  consequences,  were  set 
on  foot,  which  have  been  felt  as  bene- 
ficial even  to  these  times.  To  them 
we  owe  the  first  idea  of  an  exhibition 
of  the  works  of  national  industry, 
which  was  fixed  for  the  25th  August 
1819,  to  be  followed  by  a  similar  one 
every  two  years  afterwards,  and  which 
was  attended  with  such  success  that  it 
gave  rise,  in  its  ultimate  effects,  to  the 
magnificent  Great  Exhibition  in  Lon- 
don, in  the  year  1851.  A  Council- 
General  of  Agriculture  was  established, 
consisting  of  ten  members,  of  whom 
the  Minister  of  the'  Interior  was  Pre- 
sident, which  was  to  correspond  with 
and  direct  affiliated  societies  all  over 
the  kingdom.  In  the  choice  of  its 
members  the  most  laudable  impartial- 
ity was  shown,  and  the  Duke  de  la 
Rochefoucauld,  the  head  of  the  Royal- 
ist nobility,  was  the  first  person  on  the 
list,  followed  by  the  Dukes  of  Choiseul 
and  Liancourt,  who  were  equally  dis- 
tinguished by  their  opposition  to  the 
present  Government.  A  Council-Gen- 
eral of  Prisons  was  established,  and 
the  attention  of  the  philanthropist  di- 
rected to  the  unhappy  convicts,  a  class 
of  sufferers  who  had  been  alike  ne- 
glected amidst  the  declamations  of  the 
Republic  and  the  glories  of  the  Empire. 
To  aid  them  in  their  philanthropic 
labour,  a  society  was  formed,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  which,  under  the  title  of  the 
"  Royal  Society  of  Prisons,"  was  soon 
actively  engaged  with  projects  for  the 
improvement  of  prison  discipline  and 
moral  and  religious  instruction  of  the 
inmates.  Great  solicitude  was  evinced 
for  the  advancement  of  primary  in- 
struction ;  and  in  no  former  period, 
either  of  the  Republic  or  the  Empire, 
had  a  greater  number  of  improvements 
been  effected  in  that  important  depart- 
ment of  public  instruction.  Finally, 


80 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHA1«.  IX. 


the  attention  of  the  Government  was 
directed,  in  an  especial  manner,  to  the 
administration  of  justice,  and  the  nu- 
merous abuses  which  prevailed  in  the 
delay  generally  incurred  in  bringing 
prisoners  to  trial ;  and  a  circular  issued 
by  M.  de  Serres,  the  Minister  of  Jus- 
tice, deserves  a  place  in  history,  from 
the  admirable  spirit  which  it  breathes 
on  a  subject  hitherto  unaccountably 
neglected  by  all  the  parties  who  had 
been  successively  called  to  the  helm  of 
affairs.* 

8.  At  the  same  time,  nearly  the 
whole  persons  banished  for  their  acces- 
sion to  the  conspiracy  of  the  Hundred 
Days  received  permission  to  return  to 
their  country.  Maret,  Duke  of  Bas- 
sano,  the  principal  author  of  that  re- 
volt, obtained  it,  and  after  his  return 
the  same  indulgence  could  scarcely  be 
refused  to  inferior  delinquents.  The 
king  never  refused  forgiveness  to  any 
application  from  any  of  his  Ministers ; 
rarely  to  any  respectable  inferior  ap- 
plication. By  these  means,  in  a  few 
months  nearly  all  the  proscribed  per- 
sons, excepting  the  actual  regicides, 
had  returned  to  their  country,  and 
these  were  so  few  in  number,  and  for 
the  most  part  so  old  and  infirm,  that 
their  absence  or  presence,  except  as  an 
example,  and  indicating  the  triumph 

*  "  Des  reclamations  nombreuses  ont  sig- 
nale  dans  ces  derniers  temps  divers  abus  dans 
1'Instruction  des  Procedures  criminelles.  Ces 
plaintes  peuvent  n'etre  pas  exemptes  d'exa- 
geration.  II  parait  cependant  que  plusieurs 
ne  sont  que  trop  fondees.  Elles  ont  ports' 
sur  la  facilite,  la  legerete  meme,  avec  laquelle 
sont  faites  les  arrestations.  2.  Sur  une  pro- 
longation ou  un  application  abusive  de  1'In- 
terdiction  aux  prevenus  de  communiquer. 
3.  Enfln,  sur  la  negligence  apportee  dans 
rinstruetion  des  procfes.  Je  crois  done  utile 
de  retracer  sur  chacun  de  ces  points  les 
principes,  a  la  stricte  application  dcsquels 
vous  devez  sans  cesse  rappeler  les  Procureurs 
du  Boi,  les  Juges  d'Instruction,  et  chacun 
des  agents  judiciaires  qui  vous  sont  subor- 

donne's Attachez-vous  a  impri- 

mer  fortement  cette  ve'rite'  aux  Magistrats 
Instructeurs  que  la  celerite  dans  les  Informa- 
tions est  pour  eux  un  devoir  impeYienx,  et 
qu'ils  se  chargent  d'une  grande  responsabilite 
lorsque,  sans  line  necessite"  6vidente,  ils  la 
prolongent  an  dela  du  temps  suffisant  pour 
faire  regler  la  Competence,  et  statuer  sur  la 
Pr£conisation  en  Connaissance  de  Cause." 
— Circulaire  aux  PrefeU,  24th  April  1S19. 
Circulaires  aux  Prefets,  ii.  271. 


or  defeat  of  a  principle,  was  almost 
equally  an  object  of  indifference. 

9.  Notwithstanding  this  indulgent 
administration,  and  substantial  bene- 
fits conferred  on  France  by  the  Gov- 
ernment  of  the   Restoration,   it  was 
daily  becoming  more  unpopular,  and 
the  general  discontent  had  now  reached 
such  a  height  as  seriously  to  menace 
its  existence.  Three  elections  remained 
to  complete  the  last  renewal  of  the 
Chamber,  and  the  persons  elected,  M. 
Daunou,  Saint -Aignan,  and  Benjamin 
Constant,  were  all  leaders  of  the  ex- 
treme democratic  party.     Nor  was  the 
hostility  to  the  Ministers  confined  to 
electoral  contests.     In  the  Chamber 
itself  the  most  violent  and  systematic 
resistance  was  made  to  every  proposal 
of  the  Government ;  and  every  conces- 
sion they  made,  so  far  from  disarming 
the  opposition,  only  rendered  it  more 
virulent  and  persevering.     The  press 
was  never  so  violent  and  undisguised 
in  its  attacks  on  the  administration ; 
and  to  such  a  length  did  its  hostility 
proceed,  that  before  two  months  had 
elapsed  from  the  coup  d'etat  creating 
sixty  new  peers  in  the  democratic  in- 
terest, Ministers  found  it  necessary  to 
bring  forward  a  lasting  law  regarding 
the  press,  to  be  a  bridle  on  its  excesses. 

10.  Although  this  law  was  a  great 
concession  to  the  popular  party,  and 
placed  the  liberty  of  the  press  upon 
a  better  basis  than  it  had  ever  been 
since  the  Restoration  gave  freedom  to 
France,  it  excited  the  most  violent  op- 
position in  both  Chambers  and  hi  the 
public  press.    It  abolished  the  censor- 
ship— an  immense  step  in  the  progress 
of  real  freedom — and  declared  that  of- 
fences against  the  laws  for  restraining 
its  excesses  should  be  tried  by  juries. 
This  was  evidently  laying  the   only 
true  foundation  for  entire  freedom  on 
this  subject ;  but  the  enactment  which 
it  also  contained,  that  the  proprietors 
of  newspapers  should  find  security  to 
meet  fines  or  claims  of  damages  which 
might  be  awarded  against  them,  gave 
rise   to  the  most  violent  opposition, 
both  in  the  legislature  and  the  public 
journals.      "  The  press  is  strangled  !" 
was  the  universal  cry  ;  "  give  us  back 
the  censorship."      Yet — markworth 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


81 


circumstance — the  proposal  passed  into 
a  law ;  the  resistance  was  overcome  ; 
of  the  whole  journals,  not  one  perished 
from  inability  to  find  caution  ;  but  the 
violence  and  vehemence  of  the  press 
became  greater  than  ever.  In  truth, 
in  an  age  of  intelligence  and  strong 
political  excitement,  it  is  impossible 
to  restrain  the  press ;  and  the  enact- 
ments of  the  legislature,  be  they  what 
they  may,  are  of  little  consequence, 
for  they  ere  long  become  a  dead  letter. 
During  the  whole  of  the  stormy  discus- 
sion which  took  place  on  this  subject, 
the  Royalists  took  no  part,  confining 
themselves  to  the  urging  an  amend- 
ment, declaring  offences  against  reli- 
gion punishable  ;  which  was  agreed  to. 
They  desired  freedom  of  discussion  as 
the  only  means  of  achieving  their  re- 
turn to  power ;  but  they  were  ashamed 
of  the  allies  who  aided  them  at  the 
moment  in  the  attempt.  The  project 
passed  ultimately  into  a  law  by  a  majo- 
rity of  eighty-five,  the  numbers  being 
a  hundred  and  forty-three  to  fifty-eight ; 
and  thus  the  Restoration  might  justly 
boast  of  having  obtained  for  France  the 
inestimable  blessing  of  a  real  liberty  of 
the  press,  to  which  no  approach  ever 
had  been  made  during  either  the  Re- 
volution or  the  Empire. 

11.  A  still  more  vehement  debate 
took  place  on  a  matter  which  was  anxi- 
ously pressed  on  the  king  by  the  whole 
extreme  Left  of  the  Chamber,  and  all 
their  supporters  in  the  public  press — 
viz.,  the  general  and  imqualified  re- 
turn of  the  proscribed  persons.  From 
the  state  of  maturity  to  which  the 
project  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Bour- 
bons had  arrived,  this  was  a  matter  of 
very  great  importance  ;  for  the  exiles 
whom  it  was  proposed  to  get  back 
•would  be  the  very  first  to  become  its 
leaders.  The  Ministers  resisted  the 
attempt  to  force  such  a  measure  upon 
the  king  ;  they  had  some  information 
as  to  the  danger  which  impended  over 
the  monarchy,  and  thought  justly, 
that  if  the  sovereign  was  driven  into 
such  a  general  measure,  it  would  take 
nway  all  credit  for  acts  of  grace  con- 
ferred upon  individuals.  M.  de  Serres, 
on  this  occasion,  broke  forth  into  an 

VOL.  II. 


eloquent  declamation,  the  termination 
of  which  made  a  great  noise,  and  con- 
tributed, in  an  essential  manner,  to 
alienate  the  democratic  leaders  from 
the  crown,  and  reveal  the  secret  hos- 
tility with  which  they  were  actuated 
against  it. 

12.  "  In  the  petitions  which  have 
been  presented,"  said  M.  de  Serres,  "it 
is  particularly  to  be  observed,  that  there 
is  no  question  as  to  individuals  exiled 
for  a  time  under  the  law  of  12th  Jan- 
uary 1816,  but  of  all  the  proscribed 
individuals  in  a  mass.  They  include 
not  only  the  regicides,  but  the  family 
of  Buonaparte  himself.  When  the 
deplorable  day  of  the  20th  March  1815 
appeared,  in  the  midst  of  the  profound 
consternation  of  all  good  citizens,  and 
the  frantic  joy  of  a  few  agitators;  when, 
from  the  confines  of  Europe  and  Asia 
to  the  shores  of  the  ocean,  Europe  ran 
to  arms,  and  France  was  invaded  by 
millions  of  foreign  soldiers ;  when  it 
was  despoiled  of  its  fortune,  its  monu- 
ments, and  in  danger  of  having  its 
territory  reft  away,  everyone  felt  that 
the  first  duty  of  eveiy  good  citizen  was 
to  defend  the  crown  by  severe  measures 
against  fresh  aggressions.  Then  arose 
the  question,  whether  the  individuals 
who  nad  concurred  in  the  vote  for  the 
death]  of  Louis  XVI.  should  be  removed 
from  the  French  territory ;  and  every 
one  knows  with  what  perseverance 
the  royal  clemency  straggled  against 
the  proposition  for  their  banishment. 
Many  men,  known  by  their  boundless 
devotion  to  the  royal  cause,  and  to 
the  principles  of  a  constitutional  mon- 
archy, maintained  that  a  universal 
and  unqualified  amnesty  should  be 
pronounced.  But  it  was  otherwise 
decided  ;  and  having  been  so,  the  de- 
cision was  irrevocable.  The  extreme 
generosity  of  the  king  might  engage 
individuals  to  abstain  from  voting  ; 
but  when  once  the  law  was  passed,  it 
was  evidently  impossible,  without  do- 
ing violence  to  the  strongest  moral 
feelings,  without  inflicting  a  fatal 
wound  on  the  royal  authority  in  the 
eyes  of  France  and  Europe,  to  urge 
the  king  to  restore  to  the  country  the 
assassins  of  his  brother,  his  lawfully 
F 


82 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


crowned  predecessor.  It  is  necessary, 
therefore,  to  make  a  distinction  be- 
tween the  individuals  struck  at  by  the 
law  of  January  1816.  In  the  irrevo- 
cable category  should  be  placed  the 
family  of  Buonaparte  and  the  regicide 
voters.  The  rest  are  only  exiled  for  a 
time.  To  conclude  in  one  word — the 
regicides  never;  as  to  those  exiled  for 
a  time,  entire  confidence  in  the  good- 
ness of  the  king." 

13.  The  expression  used  by  M.  de  Ser- 
res,  jamais  (never),  made  an  immense 
sensation.      It  at  once  separated  the 
Extreme  Left  from  the  Ministry,  and, 
by  the  exasperation  which  it  produced, 
revealed  their  secret  designs.    So  great 
was  the  ferment  that,  in  the  report 
of  his  speech  in  the  Moniteur,  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  add  a  qualifying 
expression,  to  the  effect  that,  although 
the  regicides  could  never  claim  a  re- 
turn, they  might  hope  for  it  from  the 
clemency  of  the  king,  in  consideration 
of  age  and  infirmities.*   But  this  quali- 
fication produced  no  impression.    The 
unqualified  words  had  been  spoken  by 
the  minister  in  his  place  in  the  Cham- 
ber, and  were  taken  as  a  decisive  in- 
dication of  the  intentions  of  Govern- 
ment.    The  exasperation  of  the  ex- 
treme Liberals,  accordingly,  continued 
unabated,  and  was    so    strongly  ex- 
pressed in  the  contemporary  journals 
in  their  interest,  that  both  M.  de  Serres 
and  M.  Decazes  began  to  hesitate  in 
regard  to  the  possibility  of  carrying 
on  the  government  by  the  support  of 
such  allies.    A  schism,  attended  in  the 
end  with  important  effects,  was  begin- 
ning in  the  Cabinet,  and  to  this  period 
is  to  be  referred  the  commencement  of 
an  alteration  in  the  sentiments  of  the 
leading  members   of  administration, 
which  ultimately  led  to  a  change  of 
government. 

14.  Open  war  being  now  declared  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  Libe- 
ral press,  and  all  restraints  upon  the 
latter  being  taken  away  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  censorship,  there  was  no 
end  to  the  violence  with  which  Miiii- 

*  "A  regard  des  regicides  jamais,  sauf, 
comme  je  1'ai  dit,  les  tolerances  accorclees  par 
la  clemence  du  roi  a  1'age  et  aux  infirmites." 
—Moniteur,  May  IS,  1819;  Ann.  llist.  ii.  230. 


sters  were  assailed  by  the  democratic 
party.  All  that  they  had  done  was 
forgotten ;  what  it  was  feared  they 
would  do  alone  was  considered.  The 
coup  d'etat,  which  had  changed  the 
Electoral  Law,  and  promised  soon  to 
give  them  the  command  of  the  Cham- 
bers— the  creation  of  peers,  which  had 
already  given  them  a  majority  in  the 
upper  chamber — were  never  once  men- 
tioned :  the  word  "  jamais  "  alone  re- 
sounded in  every  ear.  The  most  un- 
bounded benefits  conferred  on  their 
country  and  themselves  were  forgotten 
in  the  denial  of  an  amnesty  to  a  few 
hoary  Jacobins,  stained  with  every 
atrocity  which  could  disgrace  human- 
ity. Three-fourths  of  the  public  press 
was  leagued  together  against  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  poured  forth  its  venom 
daily  with  a  vigour  and  talent  which 
bore  down  all  opposition.  The  Cour- 
rier,  which  was  supported  by  the  Doc- 
trinaire party,  and  adorned  by  the 
talents  of  M.  Guizot,  Royer-Collard, 
and  Kerratry,  proved  in  this  strife  no 
match  for  the  C&nstitutionnel,  which 
then  first  attained  its  immense  circu- 
lation, and  in  which  M.  THIERS  was 
beginning  his  eventful  career.  The 
Royalist  journals,  in  which  M.  Chat- 
eaubriand and  Hyde  Neuville  exerted 
their  talents,  were  supported  with 
greater  genius  and  eloquence  than  the 
Liberal,  and  strongly  confirmed  the 
minority,  which  agreed  with  them  in 
their  opinion  of  the  present  downward 
progress  of  things  ;  but  their  voices 
were  those  of  a  minority  only  of  the 
entire  population.  The  majority,  up- 
on the  whole,  was  decidedly  with  the 
Liberals,  and  they  were  more  vehe- 
ment in  their  attacks  on  their  own 
Government  than  they  had  been  on 
the  Royalist  administration.  A  popu- 
lar party  which  is  suspected  of  an  in- 
tention of  stopping  in  the  career  of 
concession,  soon  becomes  the  object 
of  more  inveterate  hostility  than  that 
which  had  always  opposed  it. 

15.  As  these  ulcerated  feelings  arose 
from  disappointed  ambition  rather  than 
patriotic  feeling,  they  were  in  no  de- 
gree abated  by  the  general  prosperity 
which  prevailed,  and  which  proved 
how  much,  as  a  whole,  the  Govern- 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


83 


ment  of  the  Restoration  had  deserved 
the  support  and  affections  of  the  coun- 
try. The  budget  of  1819  presented  a 
striking  and  most  gratifying  contrast 
to  those  which  had  preceded  it,  and 
proved  the  immensity  of  the  relief 
which  the  Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
jind  the  evacuation  of  the  territory, 
had  procured  for  the  French  nation.* 
The  estimated  expenses  of  the  year 
were  only  889,200,000  francs,  being  a 
reduction  of  nearly  300,000,000  francs 
from  those  of  the  preceding  year,  which 
had  amounted  to  1,154,000,000  francs. 
In  the  expense  of  the  year,  indepen- 
dent of  the  cessation  of  the  payments 
to  the  Allies,  there  was  a  reduction  of 
15,000,000  francs.  The  Government 
had  good  reason  to  congratulate  itself 
upon  the  exposition  of  its  financial 
situation:  nothing  nearly  so  favour- 
able had  been  presented  since  the  Re- 
volution ;  for  here  was  a  reduction  of 
£12,000,000  a-year,  effected,  not  by 
•contributions  exacted  from  other  coun- 
tries, or  any  reduction  in  the  national 
armaments,  but  simply  by  successful 
diplomatic  arrangements  with  foreign 
states,  and  the  moderation  on  the  part 
of  their  rulers  which  the  policy  of  the 
French  Government  had  inspired. 

16.  All  eyes,  in  the  autumn  of  this 
year,  were  fixed  on  the  annual  election 
for  filling  up  the  fifth  of  the  Chamber, 
which  by  law  was  vacated  and  renewed 
every  season.  Already  the  evils  of 
these  annual  elections  had  come  to  be 
severely  felt;  and  the  expression  of 
the  approach  of  the  "Electoral  Fever" 
had  become  as  common  as,  in  after 
days,  that  of  the  approach  of  the 
cholera  was  to  be.  Ministers  felt 
strongly  the  importance  of  the  ensu- 
ing election,  and  exerted  themselves 
to  the  utmost  to  gain  popularity  be- 


fore it  came  on.  The  king  visited  fre- 
quently the  magnificent  exhibition  of 
the  productions  of  native  industry, 
which  was  held  in  the  Louvre,  and 
was  prodigal  of  those  flattering  ex- 
pressions of  which  he  was  so  accom- 
plished a  master :  not  a  manufacturer 
withdrew  without  believing  that  he 
had  captivated  the  royal  taste.  Crosses 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour  were  profusely 
bestowed,  but  yet  with  discernment, 
and  without  regard  to  party ;  and  the 
circulars  to  the  prefects  earnestly  incul- 
cated the  utmost  lenity  in  prosecution 
of  offenders,  and  diligence  in  encou- 
raging every  object  of  social  improve- 
ment. The  prosecution  of  the  assas- 
sins of  Marshal  Brune  was  authorised, 
if  they  could  be  discovered ;  the  pro- 
scribed returned  in  crowds  from  Bel- 
gium ;  while,  to  conciliate  the  Royal- 
ists, the  concordat  with  the  court  of 
Rome  was  modified ;  bulls  were  given 
to  the  new  French  bishops ;  and  the  sa- 
cred ceremonies  frequently  announced 
the  installation  of  a  new  bishop  in  his 
diocese.  A  million  of  francs  (£40,000) 
was  devoted  to  the  establishment  of 
new  parish  priests;  while,  to  evince 
their  impartiality,  three  new  Protest- 
ant ministers  were  endowed  at  the 
same  time  with  the  Catholic  bishops ; 
and  the  presidents  of  the  electoral  col- 
leges were  all  chosen  from  the  Centre 
of  the  Assembly,  and  taken  from  men 
of  moderation  and  respectability. 

17.  It  was  all  in  vain ;  and  the  elec- 
tions of  1819,  which  had  an  important 
effect  on  the  destinies  of  the  monarchy, 
afford  another  example  of  the  truth 
exemplified  by  so  many  passages  of 
contemporary  histoiy — that  in  period; 
of  excitement,  when  the  passions  aro 
violently  roused,  moderate  men  are 
assailed  on  both  sides,  and  it  is  the 


The  budget  of  1819  stood  thus  :— 


Interest  of  public  debt, 

Civil  list  and  royal  family, 

Foreign  Affairs, 

Justice, 

Interior, 

War, 

Marine, 

Miscellaneous, 


—Annvaire  Historiqut,  ii.  161. 


232,000,000 

34,000,000 
8,000,000 

17,400,000 
102,700,000 
192,750,000 

45,200,000 
257,000,000 

889,210,000,  or  £35,450,000 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


extremes  on  either  who  alone  prove 
successful.  All  that  the  king  and  the 
ministers  had  done  for  the  Liberal 
party — and  it  was  not  a  little — went 
for  nothing ;  or  rather,  they  only  en- 
couraged them  to  rise  in  their  de- 
mands, and  return  representatives  who 
would  extort  what  they  wished  from 
the  Government.  The  Royalists  in 
many  places  coalesced  with  them  to 
throw  out  the  ministerial  candidates : 
their  journals  openly  advised  them  to 
do  so,  inculcating  the  doctrine,  "  Bet- 
ter the  Jacobins  than  the  Ministerial- 
ists ;  for  the  Jacobins  will  bring  mat- 
ters to  a  crisis."  In  truth,  however, 
the  crisis  was  nearer  than  they  ima- 
gined, and  it  was  brought  on  very 
much  by  their  policy.  Five  -  and  - 
thirty  extreme  Liberals  were  returned, 
fifteen  Ministerialists,  and  only  four 
Royalists.  Among  those  whom  the 
Liberals  returned  were  GENERAL  For, 
the  most  distinguished  popular  orator 
of  the  Restoration,  and  two  extreme 
Jacobins,  whose  appearance  in  the  re- 
turned lists  excited  universal  conster- 
nation— M.  Lambrecht,  and  the  ABBE 
GREGOIRE,  the  Jacobin  and  constitu- 
tional bishop  of  Blois,  whose  name  was 
identified  with  several  of  the  worst  acts 
of  the  Convention. 

18.  The  Abbe  Gregoire,  who  had  left 
the  Church  of  Rome  during  the  Revo- 
lution, and  received  in  return  from 
the  civil  authorities  the  bishopric  of 
Blois,  had  not  actually  voted  for  the 
death  of  Louis  XVI.,  having  been  ab- 
sent on  a  mission  at  the  time  ;  but  he 
had  given  several  subsequent  votes, 
which  evinced  his  approval  of  that 
great  legislative  murder.  His  lan- 
guage had  always  been  violent  and 
immeasured  against  royalty  and  the 
Bourbons ;  and  no  one  had  spread 
brief  sarcastic  sayings  against  them 
more  widely,  or  done  more  to  injure 
their  cause  with  the  great  body  of  the 
people,  with  Avhom  stinging  epithets 
or  bold  assertions  often  prevail  more 
than  sound  argument  or  truth  in  the 
statement  of  facts.  A  mute  senator 
under  the  Empire,  he  had  possessed 
good  sense  enough  to  abstain  from 
joining  in  the  movement  which  fol- 
lowed the  return  of  Napoleon  from 


Elba,  which  prevented  his  being  in- 
cluded in  the  sentence  of  banishment 
pronounced  against  those  concerned  in 
that  event,  and  paved  the  way  for  his 
return  as  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies.  He  had  never  been  wholly 
faithless  to  the  cause  of  Christianity, 
though  he  had  to  that  of  the  court  of 
Rome,  in  whose  service  he  had  been  ; 
and  there  were  many  worse  men  in  the 
Convention.  But  it  was  impossible  to 
find  one  more  personally  obnoxious  to 
the  Bourbons,  or  whose  return  was 
considered  a  more  decided  triumph  by 
the  party  which  aimed  at  their  over- 
throw. 

19.  GENERAL  For,  a  far  nobler  and 
superior  character,  though  not  so  much 
dreaded  at  the  time,  proved  a  much 
more  formidable  enemy  in  the  end  to 
the  Government  of  the  Restoration. 
Born  at  Havre  in  1775,  he  had  early 
served    under  Dumourier,    Pichegm, 
and  Dampierre  in  the  legions  of  the 
Revolution.      Subsequently    he    was 
wounded  by  the  side  of  Desaix,  in  one 
of  the  campaigns  in  Germany ;  and  he 
served  under  Massena  in  the  campaign 
of  Zurich  in  1799,     He  early  evinced, 
however,  an  independent  spirit,  and 
devoted  his  leisure  hours,  in  the  in- 
tervals of  his  campaigns,  to  the  study 
of  law  and  social  questions.     He  re- 
fused   to  sign  the    servile  addresses 
which  were  sent  by  the  troops  with 
whom  he  acted  to  Napoleon,  fell,  in 
consequence,  under  the  imperial  dis- 
pleasure, and  was  sent  to  Spain  to 
expiate   his  offence   in   the   dreadful 
campaigns  in  that  country.     To  this- 
circumstance  we  owe  his  very  interest- 
ing account  of  the  early  campaigns  in 
that  memorable  war.     He  joined  the 
Bourbons  in  1814 ;  but,  without  being 
implicated,  like  so  many  others,   in 
the  revolt  of  1815,  he  hastened  to  the 
scene  of  danger  when  the  indepen- 
dence of  France  was  menaced ;   and 
none  combated  with  more  gallantry 
both  at  Quatre  -  Bras  and  Waterloo. 
In  1815  he  returned  to  private  life,  on 
the  disbanding  of  the  army,  and  em- 
ployed his  leisure  hours  in  writing  the 
annals  of  his  campaigns. 

20.  The  only  man  in  the  Chamt 
who,  on  the  Ministerial  side,  was  cap- 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


85 


able  of  balancing  the  power  of  General 
Foy  on  the  Liberal,  was  M.  DE  SER- 
nr.s.  He  was  in  every  sense  a  very 
eminent  man,  and  seemed  to  have  in- 
herited the  spirit  of  Mirabeau  without 
being  stained  by  his  vices,  and  en- 
lightened by  experience  and  subse- 
quent events.  He  was  fitted  by  na- 
ture, if  any  man  was,  to  have  brought 
about  the  marriage  of  the  hereditary 
monarchy  with  the  liberty  of  the  Re- 
volution, which  that  great  man,  in  the 
close  of  his  career,  endeavoured  to  ef- 
fect, but  which  his  own  violence  at 
that  period  had  contributed  to  render 
impossible.  A  Royalist  by  descent, 
born  on  12th  March  1776,  of  a  noble 
family  in  Lorraine,  he  had,  in  the  first 
instance,  served  with  the  other  emi- 
grants in  the  army  of  the  Prince  of 
Conde  against  the  Revolution.  But 
liis  inclination  led  him  to  peaceful 
studies  rather  than  warlike  pursuits, 
and  he  returned  to  France  on  occasion 
of  Napoleon's  amnesty  in  1801,  and 
began  his  studies  for  the  bar.  Such, 
however,  at  that  period,  from  long  re- 
sidence abroad,  was  his  ignorance  of 
his  own  language,  that  he  required  to 
study  it  as  a  foreign  tongue.  He  made 
his  debut  at  the  provincial  bar  of  Metz, 
and  in  a  few  years  had  distinguished 
himself  so  much  that  in  1811  Napoleon 
appointed  him  public  prosecutor  there, 
and  soon  after  President  of  the  Impe- 
rial Court  at  Hamburg.  In  that  sit- 
uation he  remained  till  1814,  when, 
having  declared  his  adhesion  to  the 
Bourbons  on  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  he 
was  appointed  President  of  the  Royal 
Court  at  Colmar,  a  situation  which  he 
held  when  he  was  named  deputy  for 
that  department  in  1815.  With  that 
commenced  his  parliamentary  and  min- 
isterial career. 

21.  His  principles  at  first  were  Roy- 
alist from  birth  and  early  impressions, 
and  he  was  of  a  religious  disposition  ; 
but  when  his  reason  was  fully  deve- 
loped, his  opinions  inclined  to  the 
Liberal  side,  and  then  he  readily  fell 
into  the  alliance  of  the  Royalist  Libe- 
rals, of  whom  M.  Deoazes  was  the 
Load,  and  which  Louis  XVIII.  adopt- 
ed as  the  basis  of  his  government.  He 
vas  more  remarkable  for  the  power  of 


his  eloquence,  and  the  commanding 
flow  of  his  oratory,  than  the  consis- 
tency of  his  political  conduct.  His 
soul  was  ardent,  his  imagination  rich, 
his  words  impassioned,  his  elocution 
clear  and  emphatic.  He  was  thus  the 
most  powerful  debater,  the  most  bril- 
liant orator  on  the  ministerial  side, 
and  was  put  forward  by  them  on  all 
important  occasions  as  their  most  va- 
luable supporter.  Such  was  the  force 
of  his  language,  and  the  generous  libe- 
rality of  his  sentiments,  that  he  not 
only  never  failed  to  command  general 
attention,  but  often  to  elicit  the  warm- 
est applause  from  both  sides  of  the 
Chamber — an  intoxicating  but  danger- 
ous species  of  homage,  to  which  the 
consistency  of  more  than  one  very 
eminent  man,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Channel,  has  fallen  a  sacrifice.  His 
previous  life  and  known  principles 
still  obtained  for  him  the  applause  of 
the  Royalists,  while  the  newborn  libe- 
rality of  his  sentiments  extorted  the 
cheers  of  the  Liberals  on  the  left. 
Thus  his  parliamentary  influence  at 
the  moment  was  extensive — more  so, 
perhaps,  than  that  of  any  other  man  ; 
but  it  was  not  likely  to  be  durable. 
Mere  talent,  how  great  soever,  will 
not  long  secure  the  suffrages  of  any 
body  of  men,  least  of  all  of  an  assem- 
bly in  which  ambition  is  the  ruling 
principle  of  action  in  the  great  major- 
ity. Both  sides  applaud  nim  so  long 
as  both  hope  to  gain  him,  but  when 
his  decision  is  once  taken,  the  party 
which  he  has  abandoned  becomes  his 
bitterest  enemy.  Wisdom  of  thought 
and  consistency  of  conduct,  though 
often  exposed  to  obloquy  at  the  time, 
are  the  only  secure  foundation  for  last- 
ing fame,  because  they  alone  can  lead 
to  a  course  upon  which  time  will  stamp 
its  approval. 

22.  The  result  of  the  elections,  and 
in  an  especial  manner  the  return  of 
the  Abbe  Gregoire,  acted  like  a  clap  of 
thunder  on  Louis  XVIII.  and  M.  De- 
cazes,  to  whose  Electoral  Law  it  was 
obviously  to  be  ascribed.  It  was  no 
longer  possible  to  shut  their  eyes  to  the 
danger.  Every  successive  election, 
since  the  coup  d'etat  of  September  />v 
1816,  had  proved  more  unfavourablo 


86 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


than  the  preceding  ;  and  the  last  had 
turned  out  so  disastrous,  both  in  the 
general  results  and  the  character  of  the 
individuals  returned,  that  not  a  doubt 
could  remain  that  the  next  would  give 
a  decided  majority  in  the  Chamber  to 
the  declared  enemies  of  the  Bourbon 
family.  Immense  was  the  sensation 
which  these  untoward  results  produced 
at  the  Tuileries  ;  and  the  evidence  of 
facts  was  now  too  clear  and  convincing 
for  the  king  any  longer  to  shut  his  eyes 
to  the  inferences  deducible  from  them. 
On  the  evening  of  the  day  when  intelli- 
gence had  been  received  of  the  return 
of  the  Abbe  Gregoire,  the  Count  d'Ar- 
tois  thus  addressed  Louis  :  "  Well,  my 
brother,  you  see  at  last  whither  they 
are  leading  you."  "  I  know  it,  my 
brother,"  replied  the  king,  softening 
his  voice,  and  in  an  under- tone,  "I 
know  it,  and  will  provide  against  it." 
Confidence  was  by  these  words  im- 
mediately re-established  between  the 
heir-apparent  and  the  throne.  A  long 
and  cordial  conversation  ensued  be- 
tween the  two  brothers,  in  the  course 
of  which  it  was  agreed  that  an  Electoral 
Law  which  had  induced  such  a  succes- 
sion of  defeats  to  the  Government,  and 
insults  to  the  throne,  evidently  re- 
quired to  be  altered.  The  very  same 
evening  M.  Decazes  received  orders  to 
prepare  a  new  electoral  bill.  The  min- 
ister saw  that  his  master's  mind  was 
made  up,  and  at  once  agreed  to  do  so. 
M.  de  Serres,  whose  early  preposses- 
sions and  imaginative  turn  of  mind  in- 
clined him  to  the  same  side,  and  even 
to  magnify  the  approaching  dangers, 
readily  fell  into  the  same  views,  and  M. 
Portal,  the  Minister  of  Marine,  adopted 
them  also.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
President,  General  Dessolles,  General 
Gouvion  St-Cyr,  War  Minister,  and 
Baron  Louis,  the  Finance  Minister, 
were  decidedly  in  favour  of  the  existing 
system ;  so  that  the  Cabinet  was  divid- 
ed on  the  subject,  as  well  as  the  country. 
23.  When  a  division  had  taken  place 
in  the  Cabinet  on  so  vital  a  subject  as 
the  Electoral  Law,  it  was  impossible 
that  it  could  be  adjusted  without  a 
change  in  the  composition  of  the  Min- 
istry. The  king  and  M.  Decazes,  aware 


division  in  their  own  camp,  in  presence 
of  an  enterprisingand  insatiable  enemy, 
made  great  efforts  to  avert  the  rupture, 
and  laboured  hard  to  convince  the  Lib- 
eral members  of  the  administration 
that  no  change  involving  principle  was 
contemplated,  but  only  such  a  modifi- 
cation in  details  as  circumstances  had 
rendered  necessary.  But  the  ministers 
adverse  to  a  change  stood  firm,  and  re- 
solved to  resign  rather  than  enter  into- 
the  proposed  compromise.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  king  was  fortified  in  his  view 
of  the  case  by  the  accession  of  M.  Pas- 
quier,  who  laid  before  him  a  very  able 
memoir,  in  which  the  dangers  of  the 
present  law  were  clearly  pointed  out, 
and  its  further  maintenance  was  shown. 
to  be  inconsistent  with  the  existence  of 
the  monarchy.  The  Liberal  journals, 
made  aware  of  the  danger  of  their  chiefs, 
sounded  the  alarm  in  the  loudest  pos- 
sible notes,  and  praised  General  Des- 
solles, General  Gouvion  St-Cyr,  and 
Baron  Louis  to  the  skies,  as  the  sole- 
patriotic  ministers,  and  the  only  ones 
who  had  the  interest  of  the  people  and 
the  support  of  the  national  liberties 
really  at  heart.  But  it  was  all  in  vain. 
The  king's  mind  was  made  up  :  the 
danger  was  too  obvious  and  pressing  to 
be  any  longer  disregarded  ;  and  as  no- 
compromise  was  found  to  be  practi- 
cable, the  result  was  a  great  and  impor- 
tant change  in  the  Ministry.  M.  De- 
cazes was  sent  for  by  the  king,  and 
declared  President  of  the  Council.  He- 
reserved  for  himself  the  situation  of 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  for  which  his 
talents  and  habits  peculiarly  qualified 
him.  M.  Pasquier  was  appointed  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs  ;  General  La- 
tour-Maubourg,  Minister  at  War  ;  and 
M.  Roy,  Finance  Minister. 

24.  It  was  comparatively  a  matter 
of  little  difficulty  to  make  a  change  in 
the  Ministry,  but  it  was  not  so  easy  to- 
see  how  the  alteration  was  to  be  sup- 
ported in  the  Chamber,  or  rendered 
palatable  to  the  public  press,  in  both 
of  which  Liberal  principles  were  in  the 
ascendant.  Everything  depended  on 
the  Centre  of  the  Assembly,  and  to  se- 
cure its  support  the  new  Cabinet  Min- 
isters had  been  taken  from  its  ranks  ; 


of  the  danger  of  showing  symptoms  of  |  and  to  gain  time  for  the  parties  to 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


87 


arrange  themselves,  the  opening  of  the 
Chambers  was  adjourned  to  the  29th 
November.  But  meanwhile,  both  the 
journals  and  the  pamphleteers  on  the 
Liberal  side,  now  freed  from  the  re- 
straints of  the  censorship,  commenced 
a  war  to  the  knife  with  the  new  Min- 
istry. M.  Decazes,  so  recently  the  ob- 
ject of  general  idolatry  as  long  as  he 
headed  the  movement,  was,  as  usual 
in  such  cases,  instantly  assailed  with 
the  most  virulent  reproaches.  Nor 
were  publications  awanting  of  a  higher 
stamp,  and  which  had  greater  weight 
with  persons  of  thought  and  reflection. 
In  particular,  M.  de  Stae'l,  son  of  the 
illustrious  authoress,  in  a  pamphlet  of 
great  ability,  defended  the  contemplat- 
ed change  in  the  Electoral  Law,  pointed 
out  the  evils  of  the  existing  system, 
and  proposed  to  remedy  them,  by  the 
duplication  ojf  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties, elections  by  arrondissements  and 
chief  places,  and  a  renewal  of  the  en- 
tire Chamber  every  five  years,  instead 
of  the  annual  renewal  of  a  fifth.  The 
Doctrinaires,  including  M.  de  Stae'l, 
M.  Guizot,  and  M.  de  Broglie,  tendered 
their  powerful  support  to  the  new  Cabi- 
net, demanding  only,  as  a  guarantee 
for  its  sincerity,  two  portfolios,  one  for 
M.  Royer-Collard,  and  one  for  M.  de 
Broglie  or  M.  de  Barante. 

25.  The  king's  speech,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Chamber  on  November  29, 
gave  tokens  of  the  apprehensions  with 
which  the  royal  mind  was  inspired, 
and  of  the  change  of  policy  which  was 
in  contemplation.  "In  the  midst," 
said  he,  "of  the  general  prosperity, 
and  surrounded  by  so  many  circum- 
stances calculated  to  inspire  confi- 
dence, there  are  just  grounds  for  appre- 
hension which  mingle  with  our  hopes, 
and  demand  our  most  serious  attention. 
A  vague  but  real  disquietude  has  seized 
every  mind  ;  pleased  with  the  present, 
every  one  asks  pledges  for  its  duration : 
the  nation  enjoys,  in  a  very  imperfect 
way,  the  fruits  of  legal  government  and 
peace ;  it  fears  to  see  them  reft  from 
it  by  the  violence  of  faction  ;  it  is  ter- 
rified by  the  too  undisguised  expres- 
sion of  its  designs.  These  fears  and 
wishes  point  to  the  necessity  of  some 
additional  guarantee  for  repose  and 


tranquillity.  Impressed  with  these 
ideas,  I  have  reverted  to  the  subject 
which  has  so  much  occupied  my 
thoughts,  which  I  wish  to  realise,  but 
which  requires  to  be  matured  by  ex- 
perience and  enforced  by  necessity 
before  it  is  carried  into  execution. 
Founder  of  the  Charter,  to  which  are 
attached  the  whole  interests  of  my  peo- 
ple and  my  family,  I  feel  that  if  there 
is  any  amelioration  which  these  great 
interests  require,  and  which  should 
modify  some  regulating  forms  connect- 
ed with  the  Charter,  in  order  the  better 
to  secure  its  power  and  action,  it  rests 
with  me  to  propose  it.  The  moment 
has  come  when  it  is  necessary  to  fortify 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  with- 
draw it  from  the  annual  action  of  party, 
by  securing  it  a  longer  endurance,  and 
one  more  in  conformity  with  the  in- 
terests of  public  order  and  the  exterior 
consideration  of  the  State.  It  is  to 
the  devotion  and  energy  of  the  two 
Chambers,  and  their  cordial  co-opera- 
tion with  my  Government,  that  I  look 
for  the  means  of  saving  the  public 
liberties  from  licence,  confirming  the 
monarchy,  and  giving  to  all  the  inter- 
ests guaranteed  by  the  Charter  the  en- 
tire security  which  we  owe  to  it. " 

26.  It  was  impossible  that  words 
could  announce  more  explicitly  a 
change  of  policy  adopted  by  the  king 
and  the  Government ;  but  the  result 
of  the  first  division  in  the  Chamber 
proved  that  the  Extreme  Left,  reduced 
to  itself,  could  not  disturb  its  move- 
ments, and  that,  if  the  Centre  support- 
ed Ministers,  they  would  be  able  to 
carry  through  their  measures.  In  the 
division  for  the  president,  M.  Lafitte, 
who  had  all  the  extreme  Liberal 
strength,  had  only  sixty-five  votes, 
while  M.  Ravez,  who  was  supported 
by  the  Centre  and  Right,  had  a  hun- 
dred and  five,  and  M.  de  Villele  by 
the  Right  alone,  seventy-five.  This 
sufficiently  proved  where  the  majority 
was  to  be  found  ;  but  that  it  could  not 
be  relied  on  to  support  any  change  in 
the  Electoral  Law  was  proved  by  tho 
division  on  the  address,  on  which 
Ministers  were  defeated  by  a  majority 
of  one,  the  numbers  being  a  hundred 
and  eight  to  a  hundred  and  seven.  Th« 


HISTOEY  OF  EUKOPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


new  address,  drawn  up  by  the  commis- 
sion which  the  majority  had  nominat- 
ed, bore,  "Why  weaken  our  hopes, 
and  the  calmness  of  our  felicity,  by 
unuecessaiy  fears  ?  The  laws  are  every 
day  meeting  with  an  easy  execution  ; 
nowhere  is  the  public  tranquillity  dis- 
turbed ;  but  it  is  no  doubt  true  that  a 
vague  disquietude  has  taken  possession 
of  the  public  mind,  and  the  factions, 
which  attempt  no  concealment  of  their 
projects  and  their  hopes,  endeavour  to 
corrupt  public  opinion,  and  they  would 
plunge  us  into  licentiousness,  in  order 
to  destroy  our  liberties." 

27.  It  was  too  true  that  the  factions 
made  no  attempt  to  conceal  their  pro- 
jects, and  the  impunity  with  which 
they  Avere  permitted  to  carry  them  on 
in  face  of  day  afforded  the  clearest 
proof  of  the  weakness  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  following  account  of  the 
secret  associations  at  this  time  hi  Paris, 
and  of  their  designs,  is  given  by  a  dis- 
tinguished writer,  who  himself  has 
since  been,  for  a,  brief  season,  their 
principal  leader.  "At  this  period," 
says  Lamartine,  "the  Opposition,  ob- 
liged to  avoid  the  light  of  day,  took 
refuge  in  secret  societies4.  The  spirit 
of  conspiracy  insinuated  itself  into 
them,  under  the  colour  of  Liberal  opin- 
ions. Public  associations  were  formed, 
to  defend,  by  all  legal  means,  the  lib- 
erty of  thought,  of  opinion,  and  of  the 
press.  MM.  de  Lafayette,  d'Argen- 
son,  Lafitte,  Benjamin  Constant,  Gev- 
audeau,  Mechin.Gassicourt,  de  Broglie, 
and  others,  impressed  the  course  of 
public  action.  M.  de  Lafayette,  in 
his  h6tel,  held  meetings  of  still  more 
secret  and  determined  committees. 
Every  defensive  arm  gained  by  the 
existing  institutions  to  public  freedom, 
became,  in  their  hands,  an  aggressive 
arm  for  the  purposes  of  conspiracy. 
Secret  correspondences  were  establish- 
ed between  the  persons  proscribed  at 
Brussels  and  the  malcontents  in  Paris. 
They  spoke  openly  of  changing  the 
dynasty.  The  King  of  the  Netherlands, 
it  was  said,  secretly  favoured  their  pro- 
jects, and  hoped  to  elevate  his  house 
on  the  ruins  of  the  Bourbons.  Nego- 
tiations were  attempted  between  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  the  proscribed  per- 


sons, and  Lafayette.  The  threads  of 
the  conspiracy  extended  into  Germany, 
Italy,  Spain,  Piedmont,  and  Naples. 
The  spirit  of  freedom  which  had  rous- 
ed Europe  against  Napoleon,  seeing 
itself  menaced  in  France,  everywhere 
prepared  to  defend  itself.  CARBONAR- 
ISM  was  organised  in  Italy,  revolution- 
ary liberty  at  Cadiz,  and  a  general 
union  in  the  universities  of  Germany. 
One  of  the  young  members  of  that  sect, 
the  student  Sand,  assassinated,  in  cold 
blood,  Kotzebue,  who  formerly  enjoyed 
an  extensive  popularity,  but  who  was 
supposed  to  be  sold  to  Russia. 

28.  A  full  account  of  the  important 
changes  which  these  efforts  made  in 
Spain,  Italy,  and  Germany,  has  already 
been  given ;  but  their  influence  was 
great  and  decided  on  the  measures  of 
Government  at  Paris.  It  was  no  longer 
a  question,  whether  the  Electoral  Law 
should  be  modified  —  the  only  point 
was,  to  what  extent.  The  Cabinet,  in 
conjunction  with  M.  de  Broglie,  M. 
Guizot,  M.  Villemain,  and  the  Doctrin- 
aires, drew  up  a  bill,  the  heads  of 
which  were — 1st,  That  the  Chamber 
should  be  renewed  entire  every  five  or 
seven  years,  and  not  a  fifth  every  year 
as  at  present ;  2d,  That  the  number  of 
its  members  should  be  considerably 
augmented ;  3d,  That  the  colleges  of 
arrondissement  as  they  now  stood 
should  be  broken  into  smaller  divisions. 
The  Doctrinaires  agreed  to  support 
this  bill  with  their  whole  weight  from 
the  Centre  of  the  Chamber,  and  it  was 
hoped  it  would  pass.  But  great  delay 
took  place  in  adjusting  the  details,  and 
the  Liberals  took  advantage  of  the 
time  thus  gained  to  rouse  the  countiy 
against  the  Government.  Petitions 
against  the  Ministers  were  got  up  in 
all  quarters,  and  the  violence  of  the 
press  exceeded  anything  ever  witness- 
ed since  the  days  of  the  Convention. 
In  vain  were  prosecutions  instituted 
against  the  delinquents  :  the  juries,  in 
the  face  of  the  clearest  evidence,  con- 
stantly acquitted  the  persons  brought 
before  the  tribunals.  Caulaincourt 
openly  saluted  Napoleon  as  Emperor 
in  his  writings,  and  Beranger  lent  to 
his  cause  the  fascination  of  genius  and 
the  charms  of  poetry.  The  intelligence 


'1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


89 


daily  received  of  the  progress  of  the 
revolution  in  Spain,  and  the  fermenta- 
tion in  Germany  and  Italy,  added  to 
the  general  excitement ;  and  the  Na- 
poleonists,  deeming  the  realisation  of 
their  hopes  approaching,  everywhere 
struck  the  chord  which  still  vibrated 
so  powerfully  in  the  hearts  of  the 
French  ;  and  the  mighty  image  of  the 
Emperor,  long  banished  from  the  lips, 
but  treasured  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
again  seemed  to  arise  in  gloomy  magni- 
ficence on  the  extreme  verge  of  the 
distant  ocean. 

29.  The  project  ultimately  agreed 
on  for  the  modification  of  the  Electoral 
Law  was  one  founded  in  wisdom,  and 
which,  by  providing  a  remedy  against 
the  great  danger  of  the  existing  system 
— the  uniform  representation,  and  con- 
sequent preponderance  of  one  single 
class  in  society — promised  to  establish 
it  in  France  on  the  only  basis  on  which 
it  can  ever  be  beneficial  or  of  long 
duration  in  an  old  and  mixed  commu- 
nity.     It   obtained  the   concurrence 
both  of  the  Royalists  and  the  Doctrin- 
aires.    It  was  agreed  that  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  was  to  be  composed  of  430 
members,  instead  of  260,  the  present 
number — 258  being  returned  by  the 
colleges  of  arrondissements,  and  172 
by  the  colleges  of  departments.     The 
colleges  of  arrondissements  were  to 
appoint  the  electors  of  the  colleges  of 
departments  among  those  u'ho  paid 
1000  francs  (£40)  of  annual  taxes; 
the  half  of  all  taxes,  to  make  up  the 
quota,  was  to  be  of  land-tax ;    the 
elections  were  to  be  made  by  inscrip- 
tions on  a  bulletin ;  the  172  depart- 
mental  deputies  were   to  be  elected 
immediately ;  the  Chamber  to  go  on 
without  renewal  in  any  part  for  seven 
years.    The  material  thing  in  this  pro- 
posed law  was,  that  a  different  class  of 
electors  was  introduced  for  the  colleges 
of  departments — viz.,  persons  paying 
1000  francs  of  annual  taxes,  instead  of 
300,  which  constituted  the  franchise 
at  present. 

30.  The  project  no  sooner  got  wind 
than  the  Liberals  sounded  the  alarm. 
The  violence  of  the  press  became  in- 
supportable.   Assassination  was  open- 
ly recommended  ;  Brutus  and  Cassius, 


Sand  and  Carlisle,  Riego  and  Quiroga 
the  leaders  of  the  Spanish  revolution, 
were  lauded  to  the  skies  as  the  first  of 
patriots.  In  a  pamphlet  by  Saint- 
Simon  it  was  asserted  that  the  murder 
of  the  King,  of  the  Duke  d'Angouleme, 
and  the  Duke  de  Berri,  would  be  less  to 
be  deplored  than  that  of  the  humblest 
mechanic,  because  persons  could  more 
easily  be  found  to  act  the  part  of 
princes  than  of  common  workmen. 
But,  dangerous  as  these  publications 
were,  all  attempts  to  check  them  proved 
entirely  nugatory  ;  for  neither  weight 
of  evidence  nor  magnitude  of  delin- 
quence  had  the  slightest  effect  in  in- 
ducing the  juries  to  convict.  The 
contest  ere  long  assumed  the  most 
virulent  aspect ;  the  Government  and 
Royalists  felt  that  they  had  no  chance 
of  saving  the  monarchy  but  by  a  change 
in  the  Electoral  Law ;  and  the  Liberals 
and  revolutionists  were  resolute  to  pre- 
vent, at  all  hazards,  any  change  in  the 
present  law,  which  promised  so  soon 
to  subvert  it. 

31.  These  open  incitements  to  assas- 
sination were  not  long  of  leading  to  the 
desired  result ;  and  a  deplorable  event 
plunged  the  royal  family  and  Royalists 
in  grief,  and  caused  such  consternation 
in  the  general  mind  as  for  a  time  mado 
the  balance  incline  in  favour  of  con- 
servative principles.  The  DUKE  DE 
BEIUU,  second  son  of  the  Count  d'Ar- 
tois,  had  now  become  the  chief  hope  of 
the  royal  family,  because  it  was  from 
him  alone  that  a  continuance  of  the 
direct  line  of  succession  could  be  looked 
for.  This  circumstance  had  given  an 
importance  to  his  position,  and  an  inte- 
rest in  his  fate,  which  could  not  other- 
wise have  belonged  to  it  He  was 
more  gifted  in  heart  and  disposition 
than  in  external  advantages.  His  figure 
was  short,  his  shoulders  broad,  his  lips 
thick,  his  nose  retroussi ;  everything 
in  his  appearance  indicated  a  gay  and 
sensual,  rather  than  an  intellectual 
and  magnanimous  disposition.  But 
the  sweetness  of  his  smile,  and  the  cor- 
diality of  his  manner,  revealed  the  na- 
tive benevolence  of  his  disposition,  and 
speedily  won  every  heart  among  those 
who  approached  him.  He  had,  in  an 
undiminished  degree,  the  hereditary 


90 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


courage  of  his  race,  and  had  sighed  all 
his  life  for  a  share  of  the  military  fame 
which  surrounded  his  country  in  a  halo 
of  glory,  but  from  which  his  unfortu- 
nate position  as  a  prince  of  the  exiled 
family,  and  in  arms  against  his  compa- 
triots, necessarily  excluded  him.  He 
was  not  free  from  the  foibles  usual  in 
princes  in  whom  luxury  has  enhanced 
and  idleness  has  afforded  room  for  the 
gratification  of  the  passions  ;  but  he 
caused  them  to  be  forgotten  by  the  gen- 
erous qualities  with  which  they  were 
accompanied.  Constant  in  love,  faith- 
ful in  friendship,  eager  for  renown, 
thirsting  for  arms,  if  he  had  not  ac- 
quired military  fame,  it  was  not  owing 
to  any  lack  of  ambition  to  prove  him- 
self the  worthy  descendant  of  Henry 
IV.,  but  to  the  circumstances  of  his 
destiny,  which  had  condemned  him  to 
inaction. 

32.  Being  the  youngest  of  the  princes 
of  the  blood,  he  came  to  play  a  more 
important  part  on  the  Restoration.  He 
was  the  bridge  of  communication  be- 
tween the  pacific  family  of  the  Bour- 
bons and  the  army  ;  and  being  himself 
passionately  attached  to  the  career  of 
arms,  he  took  to  the  soldiers  as  his 
natural  element.  He  anxiously  culti- 
vated the  friendship  of  the  marshals, 
the  generals,  the  officers — even  the 
private  soldiers  attracted  a  large  share 
of  his  attention  ;  and  before  his  career 
was  cut  short  ~by  the  hand  of  an  as- 
sassin, he  had  already  made  great  pro- 
gress in  their  affections.  On  the  return 
of  Napoleon  from  Elba,  he  was  invested 
with  the  command  of  the  army  which 
was  assembled  round  Paris  ;  and  when 
the  retreat  to  Flanders  was  resolved 
on,  he  commanded  the  rearguard,  and 
by  his  personal  courage  and  good  con- 
duct succeeded  in  escorting  his  precious 
charge  in  safety  to  the  frontier,  with- 
out having  shed  the  blood  of  a  French- 
man. At  Bethune  he  advanced  alone 
against  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  by 
his  intrepidbearing  imposed  upon  them 
submission.  On  the  return  to  Palis 
after  Waterloo,  he  continued  his  mili- 
tary habits,  and  many  happy  expres- 
sions are  recorded  of  his,  which  strongly 
tnoved  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers.  He 
had  been  very  kindly  received  by  the 


inhabitants  of  Lisle,  on  the  retreat  to 
Ghent ;  and  having  been  sent  there 
after  the  second  Restoration,  the  mu- 
tual transports  were  such,  that  on 
leaving  them  he  said,  "  Henceforth  it 
is  between  us  for  life  and  death."  At 
the  barracks  in  Paris,  having  one  day 
fallen  into  conversation  with  a  veteran 
of  the  Imperial  army,  he  asked  him 
why  the  soldiers  loved  Napoleon  so- 
much  ?  ' '  Because  he  always  led  us  to 
victory,"  was  the  repl}r.  "  It  was  not 
very  difficult  to  do  so  with  men  such 
as  you,"  was  the  happy  rejoinder  of 
the  prince,  which  proved  that,  besides 
the  spirit,  he  had  in  some  degree  the 
felicity  of  expression  of  Henry  IV. 

33.  On  the  28th  March  181 6,  a  mes- 
sage from  the  king  to  both  Chambers 
announced  that  the  Duke  de  Berri  was 
about  to  espouse  CAROLINE  MARY, 
eldest  daughter  of  the  heir  to  the  crown 
of  Naples — an  event  which  was  hailed 
with  every  demonstration  of  joy  both 
by  the  legislature  and  the  people  of 
France.    The  Chambers  spontaneously 
made  him  a  gift  of  1,500,000  francs 
(£60,000)  ;  but  he  declared  he  would 
only  accept  to   consecrate   it  to  the 
departments  which  had  suffered  most 
during  the  dreadful  scarcity  of  that 
year — a  promise  which  he  religiously 
performed.     The  marriage  proved  an 
auspicious  one.     The  young  princess 
won  every  heart  by  the  elegance  of  her 
person  and  the  engaging  liveliness  of 
her  manner ;  and  she  soon  gave  proof 
that  the  direct  line  of  succession  was 
not  likely  to  fail  while  her  husband 
lived.     The  two  first  children  of  the 
marriage,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  a 
prince,  died  in  early  infancy  ;  but  the 
third,  Princess  Mary,  who  afterwards 
became  Duchess  of  Parma,  still  sur- 
vived ;  and  the  princess  had  been  three 
months  enceinte  when  the  hand  of  an. 
assassin  deprived  her  of  her  husband, 
and  induced  a  total  change  in  the  pro- 
spects and  destinies  of  France.    Never 
were  severed  married  persons  more  ten- 
derly attached,  or  on  whose  mutual 
safety  more  important  consequences  to 
the  world  were  dependent. 

34.  There  lived  at  Paris  at  that  time 
a  man  of  the  name  of  Louvel,  whose 
biography  is  only  of  interest  as  inci" 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


91 


eating  by  what  steps,  and  the  indul- 
gence of  what  propensities,  and  what 
opinions,  men  are  conducted  to  the 
most  atrocious  crimes.  He  had  been 
born  at  Versailles,  in  1787,  of  humble 
parents,  who  made  their  bread  by  sell- 
ing small-wares  to  the  retainers  of  the 
palace.  The  first  rudiments  of  educa- 
tion, if  education  it  could  be  called, 
were  given  him  amidst  the  fetes  of  the 
Convention,  where  regicides  were  cele- 
brated as  the  first  of  patriots,  and  the 
operatic  worship  of  the  theophilan- 
thropists,  where  universal  liberation 
from  restraint  was  preached  as  the  ob- 
vious dictate  and  intention  of  nature. 
Solitary  in  his  disposition,  taciturn  in 
his  habits,  he  revolved  these  ideas  in 
his  mind  without  revealing  them  to 
any  one,  and  they  fermented  so  in  his 
bosom  that  when  Louis  XVIII.  landed 
at  Calais,  in  1814,  he  endeavoured 
to  get  to  the  pier  to  assassinate  him 
the  instant  he  set  foot  on  the  soil  of 
France.  For  several  years  after,  he 
was  so  haunted  by  the  desire  to  become 
a  regicide,  or  at  least  signalise  himself 
by  the  murder  of  a  prince,  that  he 
was  forced  to  move  from  place  to  place, 
to  give  a  temporary  distraction  to  his 
mind ;  and  he  went  repeatedly  to  St 
Germain,  St  Cloud,  and  Fontainebleau 
to  seek  an  opportunity  of  doing  so.  He 
was  long  disappointed,  and  had  ho- 
vered about  the  opera  for  many  nights, 
when  the  Duke  de  Bern  was  there,  in 
hopes  of  finding  the  means  of  striking 
his  victim,  when,  on  the  13th  February 
1820,  chance  threw  the  long-wished- 
for  opportunity  in  his  way. 

35.  On  that  day,  being  the  last  of 
the  carnival,  the  Duke  de  Berri  was  at 
the  opera  with  the  princess  ;  and  Lou- 
vel  lurked  about  the  entrance,  armed 
with  a  small  sharp  poniard,  with  which 
he  had  previously  provided  himself. 
He  was  at  the  door  when  the  prince 
entered  the  house,  and  might  have 
struck  him  as  he  handed  the  princess 
out  of  the  carriage ;  but  a  lingering 
feeling  of  conscience  withheld  his  hand 
at  that  time.  But  the  fatal  moment 
ere  long  arrived.  During  the  inter- 
val of  two  of  the  pieces,  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  left  their  own  box  to  pay  a 
visit  to  that  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess 


of  Orleans,  who,  with  their  whole  fa- 
mily, destined  to  such  eventful  changes 
in  future  times,  were  in  a  box  in  the 
neighbourhood.  On  returning  to  her 
own  box,  the  door  of  another  one  was 
suddenly  opened,  and  struck  the  side 
of  the  Duchess  de  Berri,  who,  being  ap- 
prehensive of  the  effects  of  any  shock 
in  her  then  delicate  situation,  express- 
ed a  wish  to  the  prince  to  leave  the 
house  and  return  home.  The  prince 
at  once  agreed,  and  handed  the  Duchess 
into  her  carriage.  "Adieu!"  cried 
she,  smiling  to  her  husband,  ' '  we  shall 
soon  meet  again."  They  parted,  but 
it  was  to  be  reunited  in  another  world. 
As  the  prince  Avas  returning  from  the 
carriage  to  the  house,  Louvel,  who  was. 
standing  in  the  shade  of  a  projecting 
part  of  the  wall,  so  still  that  he  had 
escaped  the  notice  both  of  the  sentinels 
on  duty  and  the  footmen  of  the  Duke, 
rushed  suddenly  forward,  and  seizing 
with  his  left  arm  the  left  shoulder  of 
the  prince,  struck  him  violently  with 
the  right  arm  on  the  right  side  with 
the  poniard.  So  instantaneous  was. 
the  act  that  the  assassin  escaped  in  the 
dark  ;  and  the  Duke,  who  only  felt,  as 
is  often  the  case,  a  violent  blow,  and 
not  the  stab,  put  his  hand  to  the  spot 
struck.  He  then  felt  the  hilt  of  the 
dagger,  which  was  still  sticking  in  his 
side  ;  and  being  then  made  aware  he 
had  been  stabbed,  he  exclaimed,  "  I 
am  assassinated  ;  I  am  dead ;  I  have  the 
poniard  ;  that  man  has  killed  me  ! " 

36.  The  princess  was  just  driving 
from  the  door  of  the  opera-house  when 
the  frightful  words  reached  her  ear. 
She  immediately  gave  a  piercing  shriek, 
heard  above  all  the  din  of  the  street, 
and  loudly  called  out  to  her  servants 
to  stop  and  let  her  out.  They  did  so, 
and  the  moment  the  door  was  opened, 
before  the  steps  were  let  down,  she 
sprang  out  of  the  carriage  and  clasped 
her  husband  in  her  anus,  who  was 
covered  with  blood,  and  just  drawing 
the  dagger  from  his  side.  "  I  am 
dead  ! "  said  he  ;  "  send  for  a  priest. 
Come,  dearest ! — let  me  die  in  your 
arms."  Meanwhile  the  assassin,  in 
the  first  moments  of  terror  and  agita- 
tion, had  made  his  escape,  and  ho 
had  already  reached  the  arcade  which 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


branches  off  from  the  Rue  de  Riche- 
lieu, under  the  spacious  arches  of  the 
Bibliotheque  du  Koi,  when  a  waiter  in 
a  coffeehouse,  named  Pauloise,  hearing 
the  alarm,  seized,  and  was  still  wrest- 
ling with  him,  when  three  gendarmes 
came  up,  and  having  apprehended, 
brought  him  back  to  the  door  of  the 
opera-house.  He  was  there  nearly 
torn  in  pieces  by  the  crowd,  which  was 
inflamed  with  the  most  violent  indig- 
nation ;  but  the  gendarmes  siicceeded 
with  great  difficulty  in  extricating  him, 
being  fearful  that  the  secrets  of  an  ex- 
tended conspiracy  would  perish  with 
him.  Meanwhile  the  prince  had  been 
carried  into  a  little  apartment  behind 
his  box,  and  the  medical  men  were 
arriving  in  haste.  On  being  informed 
of  the  arrest  of  the  assassin,  he  ex- 
claimed, ' '  Alas  !  how  cruel  is  it  to 
die  by  the  hand  of  a  Frenchman ! " 
For  a  few  minutes  a  ray  of  hope  was 
felt  by  the  medical  attendants,  and  il- 
luminated every  visage  in  the  apart- 
ment ;  but  the  dying  man  did  not  par- 
take the  illusion,  and  fearing  to  aug- 
ment the  sufferings  of  the  princess  by 
the  blasting  of  vain  expectations,  he 
said,  "No!  I  am  not  deceived:  the 
poniard  has  entered  to  the  hilt,  I  can 
•assure  you.  Caroline,  are  you  there  ? " 
"  Yes,"  exclaimed  the  princess,  sub- 
duing her  sobs,  "  and  will  never  quit 
you. '  His  domestic  surgeon,  M.  Bou- 
gon,  was  sucking  the  wound  to  restore 
the  circulation,  which  was  beginning 
to  fail.  "  What  are  you  doing  ? "  ex- 
claimed the  prince:  "for  God-sake, 
stop  :  perhaps  the  poniard  was  poi- 
soned." 

37.  The  Bishop  of  Chartres,  his 
father's  confessor,  at  length  arrived, 
and  had  a  few  minutes'  private  con- 
versation with  the  dying  man,  from 
which  he  seemed  to  derive  much  con- 
solation. He  asked  for  his  infant 
daughter,  who  was  brought  to  him, 
still  asleep.  "  Poor  child ! "  exclaimed 
he,  laying  his  hand  on  her  head,  "  may 
you  be  less  unfortunate  than  the  rest 
of  your  family."  The  chief  surgeon, 
Dupuytren,  resolved  to  try,  as  a  last 
resource,  to  open  and  enlarge  the 
wound,  to  allow  the  blood,  which  had 
begun  to  impede  respiration,  to  flow 


externally.  He  bore  the  operation 
with  firmness  —  his  hand,  already 
clammy  with  the  sweat  of  death,  still 
clasping  that  of  the  Duchess.  After  it 
was  over,  he  said,  "  Spare  me  any  fur- 
ther pain,  since  I  must  die."  Then 
caressing  the  head  of  his  beloved  wife, 
whose  beautiful  locks  had  so  often 
awakened  his  admiration,  "  Caroline," 
said  he,  "  take  care  of  yourself,  for  the 
sake  of  our  infant,  which  you  bear  in 
your  bosom."  The  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Orleans  had  been  in  the  apartment 
from  the  time  the  prince  was  brought 
in,  and  the  king,  the  Duke  d'Angou- 
leme,  and  the  rest  of  the  royal  family, 
arrived  while  he  was  still  alive.  ' '  Who 
is  the  man  who  has  killed  me  ? "  said 
he  :  "I  should  wish  to  see  him,  in 
order  to  inquire  into  his  motives : 
perhaps  it  is  some  one  whom  I  have 
unconsciously  offended."  The  Count 
d'Artois  assured  him  that  the  assassin 
had  no  personal  animosity  against  him. 
' '  Would  that  I  may  live  long  enough 
to  ask  his  pardon  from  the  king! "  said 
the  worthy  descendant  of  Saint  Louis. 
"  Promise  me,  my  father — promise  me, 
my  brother,  to  ask  of  the  king  the  life 
of  that  man." 

38.  But  the  supreme  hour  soon  ap- 
proached :  all  the  resources  of  art 
could  not  long  avert  the  stroke  of  fate. 
The  opening  of  the  wound  had  only 
for  a  brief  period  relieved  the  accumu- 
lation of  blood  within  the  breast,  and 
symptoms  of  suffocation  approached. 
Then,  on  a  few  words  interchanged 
between  him  and  the  Duchess,  two 
illegitimate  children  which  he  had  had 
in  London,  of  a  faithful  companion 
in  misfortune,  and  whom  both  had 
brought  up  at  Paris  with  the  utmost 
kindness,  were  brought  into  the  room. 
As  they  knelt  at  his  side,  striving  to 
stifle  their  sobs  in  his  bloody  garments, 
he  said,  embracing  them  with  tender- 
ness, "  I  know  you  sufficiently,  Caro- 
line, to  be  assured  you  will  take  care, 
after  me,  of  these  orphans."  With  tli 
instinct  of  a  noble  mind,  she  took  her 
own  infant  from  Madame  de  Gontaut, 
who  held  it  in  her  arms,  and,  taking 
the  children  of  the  stranger  by  tli 
hand,  said  to  them,  "  Kiss  your  sister.' 
The  prince  confessed  soon  after 


1S20.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


93 


the  Bishop  of  Chartres,  and  received 
absolution.  "My  God,"  said  he,  at 
several  responses,  "  pardon  me,  and 
pardon  him  who  has  taken  my  life." 
It  was  announced  that  several  of  the 
marshals  had  arrived,  eager  to  testify 
their  interest  and  affliction.  "Ah!" 
he  exclaimed,  "  I  had  hoped  to  have 
shod  my  blood  more  usefully  in  the 
midst  of  them  for  France."  But  still 
the  pardon  of  his  murderer  chiefly  en- 
grossed his  thoughts.  When  the  tramp- 
ling of  the  horses  on  the  pavement 
announced  the  approach  of  the  king, 
he  testified  the  utmost  joy ;  and  when 
the  monarch  entered  the  apartment, 
his  first  words  were,  "  My  uncle,  give 
me  your  hand,  that  I  may  kiss  it 
for  the  last  time ; "  and  then  added 
with  earnestness,  still  holding  the 
hand,  "  I  entreat  of  you,  in  the  name 
of  my  death,  the  life  of  that  man." 
41  You  are  not  so  ill  as  you  suppose," 
answered  Louis  ;  "  we  will  speak  of  it 
again."  "Ah!"  exclaimed  the  dying 
man,  with  a  mournful  accent,  "you 
do  not  say  Yes  ;  say  it,  I  beseech  you, 
that  I  may  die  in  peace."  In  vain 
they  tried  to  turn  his  thoughts  to 
other  subjects.  "  Ah  !"  said  he,  with 
his  last  breath,  "  the  life  of  that  man 
would  have  softened  my  last  moments  ! 
If,  at  least,  I  could  depart  with  the 
belief  that  the  blood  of  that  man  would 
not  flow  after  my  death."  With  these 
words  he  expired,  and  his  soul  winged 
its  way  to  heaven,  having  left  the 
prayer  for  mercy  and  forgiveness  as  its 
last  bequest  to  earth. 

39.  No  words  can  convey  an  idea  of 
the  impression  which  the  death  of  the 
Duke  de  Bern  produced  in  France. 
Coming  at  a  time  of  increasing  poli- 
tical excitement,  when  the  minds  of 
men  were  already  shaken  by  a  vague 
disquietude,  and  the  apprehension  of 
great  and  approaching  but  unknown 
change,  it  excited  a  universal  conster- 
nation. The  obviously  political  char- 
acter of  the  blow  struck  magnified  ten- 
fold its  force.  Levelled  at  the  heir  of 
monarchy,  and  the  only  prince 
from  whom  a  continuance  of  the  direct 
line  of  succession  could  be  hoped,  it 
seemed  at  one  stroke  to  destroy  the 
hopes  of  an  heir  to  the  throne,  and  to 


leave  the  nation  a  prey  to  all  the  evils 
of  an  uncertain  future  and  a  disputed 
succession.  Pity  for  the  victim  of  po- 
litical fanaticism,  admiration  for  the 
magnanirility  and  lofty  spirit  of  his 
death,  mingled  with  apprehensions  for 
themselves,  and  a  mortal  terror  of  the 
revolutionary  convulsions  which  might 
be  expected  from  a  repetition  of  the 
blows  of  which  this  was  the  first.  The 
public  consternation  manifested  itself 
in  the  most  unequivocal  ways.  All 
the  theatres— and  that,  in  Paris,  was  a 
decisive  symptom — were  closed.  The 
balls  of  the  carnival  were  interrupted ; 
and  it  was  decreed  by  the  Government, 
with  the  general  consent  of  the  people, 
that  the  opera-house  should  be  remov- 
ed from  the  spot  where  the  execrablo- 
crime  had  been  committed,  and  an  ex- 
piatory monument  erected  on  its  site. 
But  these  changes  did  not  adequate- 
ly express  the  public  feelings.  They 
exhaled  in  transports  of  indignation 
against  the  rashness  of  the  ministries 
whose  measures  had  brought  matters 
to  such  a  point,  and  the  incapacity  of 
the  police,  which  had  permitted  the 
crime  to  be  committed ;  and  it  was 
loudly  proclaimed,  that  an  entire 
change  of  government  and  measures 
had  become  indispensable,  if  the  mo- 
narchy was  to  be  saved  from  perdi- 
tion. 

40.  "The  hand,"  said  Chateaubri- 
and, "which  delivered  the  blow  is  not 
the  most  guilty.  Those  who  have 
really  assassinated  the  Duke  de  Berri 
are  those  who,  for  four  years,  have  la- 
boured to  establish  democratic  laws  in 
the  monarchy;  those  who  have  ban- 
ished religion  from  our  laws ;  thos» 
who  have  recalled  the  murderers  of 
Louis  XVI. ;  those  who  have  heard, 
with  indifference,  impunity  for  regi- 
cides discussed  at  the  tribune ;  thoso 
who  have  allowed  the  journals  to 
preach  up  the  sovereignty  of  the  peo- 
ple, insurrection,  and  murder,  without 
making  any  use  of  the  laws  intended 
for  their  repression  ;  those  who  have 
favoured  every  false  doctrine  ;  thoso 
who  have  rewarded  treason  and  pun- 
ished fidelity ;  those  who  have  filled 
up  all  employments  with  the  enemies 
of  the  Bourbons  aud  the  creatures  of 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


Buonaparte ;  those  who,  pressed  by 
the  public  indignation,  have  promised 
to  repeal  a  fatal  law,  and  have  done 
nothing  during  three  months,  appar- 
ently to  give  the  Revolutionists  time 
to  sharpen  their  poniards.  These  are 
the  true  murderers  of  the  Duke  de 
Berri.  It  is  no  longer  time  to  dissem- 
ble ;  the  revolution  we  have  so  often 
predicted  has  even  now  commenced, 
^ind  it  has  already  produced  irrepar- 
able evils.  "Who  can  restore  life  to 
the  Duke  de  Berri,  or  give  us  back 
the  hopes  which  love  and  glory  had 
wound  up  with  his  august  person  ? 
Surprise  is  expressed  that  a  poniard 
should  have  been  raised  ;  but  the  real 
-subject  of  wonder  is,  that  a  thousand 
poniards  have  not  been  levelled  at  the 
breasts  of  our  princes.  During  four 
years  we  have  overwhelmed  with  re- 
wards those  who  preach  up  an  agrarian 
law,  a  republic,  and  assassination ;  we 
have  excited  those  who  have  nothing 
against  those  who  have  something ; 
him  who  is  born  in  a  humble  class 
against  him  to  whom  misfortune  has 
left  nothing  but  a  name :  we  have  per- 
mitted public  opinion  to  be  disquieted 
by  phantoms,  and  represented  a  part 
•of  the  nation  as  set  on  re-establishing 
rights  for  ever  abolished,  institutions 
for  ever  overturned.  If  we  are  not 
plunged  in  the  horrors  of  external  or 
civil  war,  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  ad- 
ministration which  has  just  expired." 
41.  "When  language  so  violent  as 
this  was  used  in  the  midst  of  the  crisis, 
by  so  distinguished  a  writer  as  the  Vis- 
count Chateaubriand,  it  may  be  sup- 
posed that  inferior  authors  were  still 
more  impassioned  in  their  strictures. 
The  clamour  became  so  violent  that  no 
ministry  could  stand  against  it.  An 
untoward  incident,  which  occurred 
while  the  Duke  de  Berri  yet  lived, 
tended  to  augment  the  public  feeling 
on  the  subject.  Entering  the  room  in 
Avhich  Louvel  was  detained,  M.  De- 
cazes  was  seized  with  a  sudden  suspi- 
cion that  the  dagger  might  have  been 
poisoned ;  and  thinking,  if  so,  an  an- 
tidote might  be  applied,  and  possibly 
the  life  of  the  prince  saved,  he  had 
whispered  in  his  ear,  "Miserable  man ! 
a  confession  remains  for  you  to  make, 


which  may  save  the  life  of  your  victim, 
and  lessen  your  crime  before  God.  Tell 
the  truth  sincerely  to  me,  and  me  alone 
— was  the  dagger  poisoned?"  "  It  was 
not,"  replied  the  assassin  coldly,  with 
the  accent  of  truth.  The  words  spoken 
on  either  side  were  not  heard ;  but  the 
fact  of  M.  Decazes  having  whispered 
something  to  Louvel,  during  his  first 
interrogatory,  became  known,  and  was 
seized  upon  and  magnified  by  all  the 
eagerness  of  faction.  It  was  immedi- 
ately bruited  abroad  that  the  minister 
had  enjoined  silence  to  the  assassin, 
and  thence  it  was  concluded  he  had 
been  his  accomplice.  So  readily  was 
this  atrocious  calumny  received  in  the 
excited  state  of  the  public  mind,  and 
so  eagerly  was  it  seized  upon  by  the 
vehemence  of  faction,  that  next  day 
M.  Clausel  de  Coussergues,  a  Royalist 
of  the  Extreme  Right,  a  respectable 
man,  but  of  an  impassioned  tempera- 
ment and  credulous  disposition,  said 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  "There 
is  no  law  which  prescribes  the  mode  of 
impeaching  ministers  ;  but  justice  re- 
quires it  should  be  done  in  public  sit- 
ting, and  in  the  face  of  France.  I 
propose  to  the  Chamber  to  institute  a 
prosecution  against  M.  Decazes,  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior,  as  accomplice  in 
the  assassination."  The  Chamber  re- 
volted against  such  an  accusation,  and 
only  twenty -five  voices  supported  it. 
General  Foy  said,  "  If  such  an  event 
is  deplorable  for  all,  it  is  in  an  especial 
manner  so  for  the  friends  of  freedom, 
since  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  their 
adversaries  will  take  advantage  of  this 
execrable  crime  to  wrest  from  the  na- 
tion the  liberties  which  the  king  has 
bestowed  upon  it,  and  which  he  is  so 
anxious  to  maintain." 

42.  From  the  moment  when  the  Duke 
de  Berri  breathed  his  last,  the  king  fore- 
saw the  immense  advantage  it  would 
give  to  the  ultra-Royalists,  and  the 
efforts  they  would  make  to  force  him; 
to  abandon  the  system  of  government' 
and  public  servants  to  whom  he  was  so 
much  attached.  "  My  child,"  said  he 
to  M.  Decazes  next  day,  "  the  ultra* 
are  preparing  against  us  a  terrible  war ; 
they  will  make  the  most  of  my  grief. 
It  is  not  your  system  that  they  will 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


95 


attack— it  is  mine  ;  it  is  not  at  you 
their  blows  are  levelled — it  is  at  me." 
"  Should  your  Majesty,"  answered  M. 
i  s,  "  deem  my  retiring  for  the  good 
of  your  service,  I  am  ready  to  resign, 
though  grieved  to  think  my  retreat  will 
lead  to  such  fatal  consequences."  "  I 
insist  upon  your  remaining,"  replied 
the  monarch ;  "  they  shall  not  separate 
you  from  me."  Then,  after  weeping 
in  common  over  the  deplorable  event 
•which  had  altered  the  destinies  of 
France,  and  let  loose  the  parties  who 
tore  its  entrails  with  such  fury  against 
each  other,  they  agreed  on  the  mea- 
sures to  be  adopted  in  consequence  ; 
and  these  were,  that  the  Chamber  of 
Peers  should  be  summoned  as  a  su- 

Sreme  court  to  try  the  assassin  of  the 
uke  de  Berri ;  and  that  laws,  restric- 
tive of  the  licence  of  the  press,  and 
giving  the  Government  extraordinary 
powers  of  arrest,  and  modifying  the 
Electoral  Law,  should  be  introduced 
into  the  lower  Chamber. 

43.  But  how  determined  soever  the 
king  might  be  to  support  his  favourite 
minister  and  system  of  government, 
the  tide  of  public  feeling  soon  became 
so  strong  that  it  was  impossible  to  re- 
sist it.  The  terrible  words  of  M.  de 
Chateaubriand  regarding  M.  Decazes 
in  the  Conservateur,  "  His  feet  have 
slipped  in  blood,"  vibrated  in  every 
heart.  The  accusation  against  him, 
though  quashed  in  the  Chamber  of  De- 
puties, and  repudiated  by  every  unpre- 
judiced mind,  still  remained  in  painful 
uncertainty  in  general  opinion.  People 
did  not  believe  him  guilty,  but  he  had 
teen  openly  accused,  and  no  proof  of 
liis  innocence  had  been  adduced.  The 
agitation  of  the  public  mind  was  inde- 
scribable, and  soon  assumed  such  a 
magnitude  as  portended  great  changes, 
and  is  always  found,  for  good  or  for 
«vil,  to  be  irresistible.  The  terrible 
nature  of  the  catastrophe — its  irrepar- 
able consequences  on  the  future  of  the 
monarchy — the  chances  of  future  and 
unknown  dangers  which  it  had  in- 
duced, were  obvious  to  every  appre- 
hension. Every  one  trembled  for  his 
fortune,  his  life;  a  few  for  the  public 
liberties.  The  Liberals  became  sub- 
dued and  downcast,  the  Royalists  vehe- 


ment and  exulting.  Matters  were  at 
last  brought  to  a  crisis  by  a  conversa- 
tion which  ensued  between  the  king 
and  the  principal  members  of  the  royal 
family.  The  Count  d'Artois  demanded 
the  dismissal  of  the  Prime  Minister, 
and  a  change  in  the  system  of  govern- 
ment. "  We  are  hastening  to  a  revo- 
lution, sire,"  said  the  Duchess  d'An- 
gouleme;  "  but  there  is  still  time  to 
arrest  it.  M.  Decazes  has  injured  the 
Royalists  too  deeply  for  any  accom- 
modation to  take  place  between  them : 
let  him  cease  to  be  a  member  of  your 
Cabinet,  and  all  will  hasten  to  tender 
to  you  their  services."  "I  do  not  sup- 
pose," replied  the  king,  "  that  you 
propose  to  force  my  will :  it  belongs  to 
me  alone  to  determine  the  policy  of 
my  government."  "  It  is  impossible 
forme,"  rejoined  the  Count  d'Artois, 
' '  to  remain  at  the  Tuileries  when  M. 
Decazes,  openly  accused  of  the  murder 
of  my  son,  sits  at  the  council :  I  be- 
seech you  to  allow  me  to  retire  to  Com- 
piegne."  The  Duchess  d'Angouleme 
united  her  instances  to  those  of  the 
Count  d'Artois ;  and  at  length  the  king, 
dreading  a  total  rupture  of  the  royal 
family,  said,  "  You  are  determined 
on  it ;  well,  we  shall  see  you  shall  be 
satisfied. " 

44.  When  M.  Decazes  heard  of  the 
result  of  this  conference,  he  saw  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  maintain  his  po- 
sition, and  he  accordingly  sent  in  his 
resignation.  The  king,  deeply  affected, 
felt  himself  constrained  to  receive  it. 
"  My  child,"  said  he,  "  it  is  not  against 
you,  but  against  me  that  the  stroke  is 
directed.  The  Pavilion  Marsan  would 
deprive  me  of  all  power.  I  will  not 
have  M.  de  Talleyrand :  the  Duke  de 
Richelieu  alone  shall  replace  you.  Go 
and  convince  him  of  the  necessity  of 
his  agreeing  to  the  sacrifice  which  I 
demand  of  him.  As  for  you,  I  shall 
show  these  gentlemen  that  you  have  in 
noways  lost  my  confidence. '  The  Duke 
de  Richelieu  accordingly  was  commis- 
sioned to  form  a  ministry,  but  he 
evinced  the  utmost  repugnance  at  un- 
dertaking the  task,  and  it  was  only  at 
the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  king,  and 
as  a  matter  of  patriotic  duty,  that  ho 
at  length  agreed.  M.  Simeon  was  inado 


•HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP,  ix. 


Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  M.  Por- 
talis  under-secretary  to  the  Minister  of 
Justice.  No  other  changes  were  made 
in  the  Cabinet ;  and  M.  Decazes  was 
appointed  ambassador  at  London,  with 
magnificent  allowances.  He  was  so  far 
from  losing  his  influence,  however,  by 
his  departure,  that  the  king  corre- 
sponded with  him  almost  daily  after  he 
was  settled  in  London.  The  Duke  de 
Richelieu  made  the  absolute  and  un- 
conditional support  of  the  Royalists  a 
condition  of  his  taking  office,  and  this 
the  Count  d'Ai-tois  engaged  to  secure ; 
and  as  a  pledge  of  the  cordiality  of  the 
alliance,  M.  Capelle,  his  private  secre- 
tary, was  appointed  principal  secretary 
to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  The 
Ministry,  therefore,  was  considerably 
modified  by  the  introduction  of  Royal- 
ist members,  though  it  still  retained, 
as  a  whole,  its  Liberal  character.  But 
a  still  more  important  change  took 
place  at  this  period  in  the  private  dis- 
position of  the  king,  owing  to  a  change 
of  favourites,  which  materially  influ- 
enced his  policy  during  the  remainder 
of  his  reign. 

45.  Although  the  age  and  infirmities 
of  the  king  prevented  him  from  be- 
coming the  slave  of  the  passions  which 
had  disgraced  so  many  of  his  race,  and 
his  disposition  had  always  made  him 
more  inclined  to  the  pleasures  of  the 
table  than  to  those  of  love,  yet  he 
was  by  no  means  insensible  to  female 
charms,  and  extremely  fond  of  the 
conversation  of  elegant  and  well  -in- 
formed women.  He  piqued  himself, 
though  neither  young  nor  handsome, 
upon  his  power  of  rendering  himself 
agreeable  to  them  in  the  way  which 
he  alone  desired,  which  was  within 
the  limits  of  Platonic  attachment.  He 
had  a  remarkable  facility  in  express- 
ing himself,  both  verbally  and  in  writ- 
ing, in  elegant  and  complimentary 
language  towards  them :  he  spent  se- 
veral hours  every  day  in  this  refined 
species  of  trifling,  and  prided  himself 
as  much  on  the  turn  of  his  flattery  in 
notes  to  ladies,  as  on  the  charter  which 
was  to  give  liberty  to  France  and  peace 
to  Europe.  Aware  of  this  disposition 
on  the  part  of  the  sovereign,  the  Roy- 
alists, iu  whose  saloons  such  a  person 


was  most  likely  to  be  found,  had  for 
long  been  on  the  look-out  for  some 
lady  attached  to  their  principles,  who 
might  win  the  confidence  of  Louis, 
and  insensibly  insinuate  her  ideas  on 
politics  in  the  midst  of  the  compli- 
mentary trifling  or  unreserved  confi- 
dence of  the  boudoir.  Such  a  person 
was  found  in  a  young  and  beautiful 
woman  then  in  Paris,  who  united  a 
graceful  exterior  to  great  powers  of 
conversation,  and  an  entire  command 
of  diplomatic  tact  and  address ;  and 
to  her  influence  the  future  policy  of 
his  reign  is  in  a  great  degree  to  be 
traced. 

46.  Madame,  the  Countess  DuCAYLA, 
was  the  daughter  of  M.  Talon,  who 
held  a  respectable  position  in  the  an- 
cient magistracy  of  France,  and  had 
taken  an  active  part,  in  concert  with 
Mirabeau  and  the  Count  de  la  Marche, 
in  the  intrigues  which  preceded  tho 
Revolution.     He  was  said  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  some  valuable  papers,  impli- 
cating Louis  XVIII.,  then  Count  of 
Provence,  in  the  affair  for  which  the 
Marquis  de  Favras  suffered  death  in 
1789,  and  these  had  descended  after 
his  decease  to  his  daughter.     She  had 
been   brought   up  in  the   school   of 
diplomacy  under   Madame   Campan, 
and  was  intimate  both  with  the  Em- 
press Josephine,  and  Hortense  Queen 
of  Holland,  since  Duchess  of  St  Leu. 
Married  early  in  life  to  an  old  man  of 
fortune,  whose  temper  had  been  soon, 
found  to  be  incompatible  withher  own, 
and  having  separated  from  him,  with- 
out reproach,  after  the  French  fashion, 
she  was  living  without  scandal  in  the 
family  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  witli 
whose  natural  daughter,  the  Countess 
de  Rully,  she  was  intimate,  when  the 
Royalist  leaders  cast  their  eyes  u 
her  as  a  person  likely  to  confirm  t" 
ascendancy  in  the  royal  councils. 

47.  The  Viscount  de  la  Rochefou 
cauld  was  the  person  intrusted  wi 
the  management  of  this  delicate  affair, 
and  he  did  so  with  great  tact  and  ad 
dress.     (He  first  impressed  upon  tho 
young  and  charming  countess  that  she- 
would  confer  inestimable  services  on 
the  cause  of  religion  and  her  country 
if  she  would  take  advantage  of  the  gift 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


of  pleasing  which  Providence  had  be- 
stowed upon  her,  and  reclaim  the  so- 
vereign to  the  system  of  government 
which  would  alone  secure  the  interests 
of  his  religion,  his  people,  or  his  fami- 
ly. *  The  mind  of  Madame  Du  Cayla, 
as  her  published  letters  demonstrate, 
at  once  pious  and  tender,  and  endowed 
with  a  reach  of  thought  equal  to  either 
Madame  de  Sevigne  or  the  Princess 
dos  Ursins,  readily  embraced  the  duty 
thus  assigned  to  her  by  the  political 
party  to  which  she  was  attached.  "  It 
was  necessary,"  said  she  afterwards, 
playfully,  "  to  have  an  Esther  for  that 
Ahasuerus."  The  next  point  was  to 
throw  her  in  the  king's  way,  and  this 
was  easily  brought  about  by  the  un- 
fortunate circumstances  in  which  she 
was  placed.  Her  husband,  with  whom 
she  had  come  to  open  rupture,  at  once 

*  "Louis  a  besoin  d'aimer  cenx  a  qui  il 
permet  de  le  conseiller,  son  cceur  est  pour 
inoitie  dans  la  politique.  Madame  de  fialbi, 
M.  Uuvarny,  M.  de  Blacas  autrefois,  M.  De- 
cazes aujourd'hui,  sont  les  preuves  encore 
vivantes  de  cette  disposition  de  sa  nature. 
II  faut  lui  plaire  pour  avoir  le  droit  de  I'influ- 
encer.  Des  femuies  illustres  par  leur  credit, 
utile  ou  funeste,  sur  le  cceur  et  sur  I'esprit  de 
nos  rois,  ont  tour  a  tour  perdu  ou  sauv6  la 
royaute"  eu  France  et  en  Espagne.  C'est 
d'une  femnie  seule  aujourd'hui  que  peut  venir 
le  salut  de  la  religion  et  de  la  monarchie.  La 
nature,  la  naissance,  1'education,  le  malheur 
merae,  serablent  vous  avoir  de'signe'e  pour  ce 
role.  Voulez-vous  Stre  le  salut  des  princes, 
1'amie  du  roi,  I' Esther  des  royalistes,  la  Main- 
tenon  fernie  et  irre'prochable  d'une  cour  qui 
se  perd  et  qu'une  femme  peut  reconcilier  et 
sauver?  Demandez  au  roi  une  audience  sous 
pr£texte  d'iinplorer  sa  protection  dont  vous 
avez  besoin  pour  vous  et  pour  vos  enfants. 
Montrez-lui  comme  par  hasard  ces  tresors  de 
grace,  de  bon  sens,  et  d'esprit  que  la  nature 
vous  a  prodigue's,  non  pour  1'ombre  et  la  re- 
traite,  mais  pour  1'entretien  d'un  roi  appre"- 
ciateur  passionne"  des  dons  de  1'aine ;  char- 
mez-le  parune  premiere  conversation;  retour- 
nez  quaud  il  vous  rappellera ;  et  quand  votre 
empire  inaperc.ii  sera  fonde  dans  un  attache- 
ment  par  les  habitudes,  employez  peu  a  peu 
cet  empire  a  deraciner  de  son  conseil  lefa- 
vori  dont  il  est  fascine,  et  a  reconcilier  le  roi 
avec  son  frere,  avec  les  princes,  et  a  lui  faire 
adopter  de  concert,  dans  la  personne  de  M. 
de  Villele,  et  de  ses  amis,  un  ministere  a  la 
fois  royaliste  et  constitutionnel  qui  remette 
le  trone  i  plomb  sur  la  base  monarchique,  et 
qui  previenne  les  prochaines  catastrophes 
dont  la  train  est  menace'e." — Paroles  de  M.  de 
la  Rochefoucauld  a  Madame,  la  Comtesse  Du 
Cnyln.  LAMARTINE,  Hist,  de  la  Eatauration, 
\i.  290,  292. 
VOL.  II. 


claimed  her  fortune,  and  insisted  Tipon 
obtaining  delivery  of  her  children ;  and 
the  disconsolate  mother  solicited  an 
interview  with  Louis,  to  throw  herself 
at  his  feet,  and  solicit  his  interest  and 
support  in  the  difficult  circumstances 
in  which  she  was  placed.  The  king 
granted  it,  and  the  result  was  entirely 
successful.  Dazzled  by  her  beauty, 
captivated  by  her  grace,  impressed  by 
her  talents,  melted  by  her  tears,  the 
king  promised  to  aid  her  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power,  and  invited  her  to  a 
second  interview.  So  great  was  the 
ascendancy  which  her  genius  and 
charms  of  manner  soon  gave  her,  that 
she  became  necessary  to  the  monarch, 
who  spent  several  hours  every  day  in 
her  society,  without  any  of  the  scandal 
arising  which  in  ordinary  cases  follows 
such  interviews.  Great  was  the  effect 
of  this  secret  influence  on  the  future 
destinies  of  France,  especially  after 
the  removal  of  M.  Decazes  to  London 
had  removed  the  chief  counterpoise  on 
the  other  side. 

48.  Thus  fell,  never  again  to  rise, 
M.  Decazes ;  for  though  he  was  ap- 
pointed ambassador  to  London,  and 
retained  the  confidence  of  the  king, 
yet  he  never  again  formed  part  of  the 
Ministry,  and  his  career  as  a  public 
man  was  at  an  end.  It  is  impossible 
to  deny  that  he  was  possessed  of  con- 
siderable abilities.  No  man  raises  him- 
self from  a  humble  station  to  the  rule 
of  empire,  without  being  possessed  of 
some  talents,  which,  if  they  are  not  of 
the  first  order,  are  at  least  of  the  most 
marketable  description.  It  is  generally 
characters  of  that  description  which  are 
most  successful  in  maintaining  them- 
selves long  at  the  head  of  affairs.  Ge- 
nius anticipates  the  march  of  events, 
and  is  often  shipwrecked  because  the 
world  is  behind  its  views  ;  heroism  re- 
coils from  the  concessions  requisite  for 
siiccess,  and  fails  to  conquer,  because 
it  disdains  to  stoop.  It  is  pliant  ability 
which  discerns  the  precise  mode  of 
elevation,  and  adopts  the  principles 
requisite  for  immediate  success.  M. 
Decazes  had  this  pliant  ability  in  the 
very  highest  degree.  Discerning  in 
character,  he  at  once  scanned  the  king's 


08 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


disposition,  and  perceived  the  foibles 
•which  required  to  be  attended  to  in 
order  to  gain  his  confidence.  Able  in 
the  conduct  of  affairs,  he  made  himself 
serviceable  in  his  employment,  and 
attracted  his  notice  by  the  valuable 
information  which  he  communicated, 
both  in  his  own  department  and  that 
of  others.  Energetic  and  ready  in  the 
tribune,  he  defended  the  ministerial 
measures  with  vigour  and  success 
against  the  numerous  attacks  with 
which  they  were  assailed. 

49.  He  acquired  the  surprising  ascen- 
dancy which  he  gained  over  the  mind 
of  the  king  mainly  by  studying  his 
disposition,  and  proposing  measures  in 
the  Cabinet  which  were  in  a  manner 
the  reflection  of  those  which  he  per- 
ceived were  already  contemplated  in 
the  royal  breast ;  but  the  temporary 
success  which  they  met  with  proved 
that  both  had  correctly  discerned,  if 
not  the  ultimate  consequences  of  their 
measures,  at  least  the  immediate  signs 
of  the  times.  The  Royalists  justly  re- 
proach him  with  having  established, 
by  the  royal  authority,  an  electoral 
system  of  the  most  democratic  charac- 
ter, and  thrown  himself  into  the  arms 
of  the  Liberals,  who  made  use  of  the 
advantage  thus  gained  to  undermine 
the  monarchy.  But,  in  justice  to  him, 
it  must  be  recollected  that  the  working 
of  representative  governments  was  then 
very  little  understood,  and  the  practi- 
cal results  of  changes,  now  obvious  to 
all,  were  then  only  discerned  by  a  few ; 
that  his  situation  was  one  surrounded 
with  difficulties,  and  in  which  any  false 
step  might  lead  to  perdition  ;  and  that 
if  the  course  he  pursued  was  one  which 
entailed  ultimate  dangers  of  the  most 
serious  kind  on  the  monarchy,  it  was, 
perhaps,  the  only  one  which  enabled 
it  to  shun  the  immediate  perils  with 
which  it  was  threatened.  In  common 
with  the  king,  his  leading  idea  was  re- 
conciliation ;  his  principle,  concession ; 
his  policy,  to  disarm  opposition  by 
anticipating  its  demands.  This  view 
was  a  benevolent  and  amiable  one,  but 
unfortunately  more  suited  to  the  Uto- 
pia of  Sir  Thomas  More  than  the  storm- 
beaten  monarchy  of  the  Bourbons  ; 
and  experience  has  proved  that  such  a 


policy,  in  presence  of  an  ambitious  and 
unscrupulous  enemy,  only  postpones 
the  danger  to  aggravate  it. 

50.  The  Assembly,  by  the  fall  of  M. 
Decazes,  and  the  infusion  of  Royalist 
members  into  the  Cabinet,  was  divided 
differently  from  what  it  had  hitherto 
been.     The  intermediate  third  party 
was  extinguished  by  the  fall  of  M.  De- 
cazes.   The  Royalists  and  Liberals  now 
formed  two  great  parties  which  divided 
the  whole  Assembly  between  them — 
the  Centre  all  adhered  to  the  Right  or 
Left.    This  circumstance  rendered  the 
situation  of  the  Ministry  more  perilous 
in  the  outset,  but  more  secure  in  the 
end  ;  it  was  more  difficult  for  them  to 
gain  a  majority  in  the  first  instance, 
but,  once  gained,  it  was  more  likely  to 
adhere  permanently  to  them.     It  is  a 
great  evil,  both  for  Government  and 
Opposition,  in  all  constitutional  gov- 
ernments, to  have  a  third  part}-  be- 
tween them,  the  votes  of  which  may 
cast  the  balance  either  way ;  for  it  im- 
poses upon  both  the  necessity  of  often 
departing  from  their  principles,  and 
avoiding  immediate  defeat  by  perma- 
nently degrading  themselves  in  the  eyes 
of  the  countiy.     The  Doctrinaires  all 
retired  with  their  chief,  M.  Decazes, 
but  they  voted  on  important  questions 
with  the  new  Ministry ;  and  the  abili- 
ties of  M.  Guizot,  M.  de  Stael,  M.  de 
Barante,  and  M.  de  Saint- Aulaire,  who 
formed  the   strength   of  that  party, 
were  too  well  known  not  to  make  their 
adhesion  a  matter  of  eager  solicitation, 
and  no  slight  manoeuvring,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Assembly. 

51.  Two  painful  scenes  took  place 
before  the  measures  of  the  new  Minis- 
ters were  brought  forward  in  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies — the  funeral  of  tho 
Duke  de  Berri,  and  the  trial  and  exe- 
cution of  his  assassin.     The  body  of 
the  prince  was  laid  in  state  for  sever 
days  in  the   Louvre,  and  afterwar 
carried  with  every  possible  magi " 
cence  to  the  ancestral  but  now  unt 
anted  vaults  of  Saint-Denis.  The  kii 
accompanied  by  the  Duke  and  Duche 
of  Angouleme,  attended  the  mournf 
ceremony,  which  was  celebrated  wit 
every  circumstance  of  external  spier 
dour  which  could  impress  the  imagina 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


99 


tion,  and  every  reality  of  woe  which 
could  melt  the  heart. 

"  When  a  prince  to  the  fate  of  a  peasant  has 
yielded, 

The  tapestry  waves  dark  in  the   dim- 
lighted  hall ; 
With   scutcheons  of  silver  the  coffin  is 

shielded, 
And  pages  stand  mute  by  the  canopied 

pall ; 
Through  the  courts  at  deep  midnight  the 

torches  are  gleaming, 
In  the  proudly-arched  chapel  the  banners 

are  beaming, 
Far  adown  the  long  aisles  sacred  music  is 

streaming, 

Lamenting  a  chief  of  the  people  should 
fall." 

Such  was  the  emotion  of  the  Duchess 
d'Angouleme  at  witnessing  such  a  scene 
in  such  a  place,  that  she  sank  senseless 
on  the  pavement.  One  only  ray  of 
hope  remained  to  the  royal  family,  aris- 
ing from  the  situation  of  the  Duchess 
de  Berri,  which  gave  hopes  that  an 
beir  might  yet  be  preserved  for  the 
monarchy,  and  the  hopes  of  the  assas- 
sin blasted.  That  fanatical  wretch  was 
brought  to  trial,  and  condemned  on 
the  clearest  evidence,  fortified  by  his 
own  confession.  He  admitted  the  en- 
ormity of  his  crime,  but  still  insisted 
that  on  public  grounds  it  was  justifi- 
able.* His  answers,  when  interrogat- 
ed, evinced  the  deplorable  atheism  in 
which  the  dreams  of  the  Revolution 
ended.  "  I  was  sometimes  a  Catholic," 
said  he,  "  sometimes  a  theophilantb.ro- 
pist. "  "  Do  you  not  fear  the  Divine 
justice  ?"  asked  the  Prevost  de  Mont- 
morency.  "  God  is  a  mere  name,"  re- 
plied the  assassin.  He  was  executed 
on  the  7th  June,  and  evinced  on  the 
scaffold  the  same  strange  indifference 
which  had  characterised  his  demean- 
our ever  since  the  murder. 

52.  The  first  steps  of  the  new  Min- 
isters were  directed  to  the  prosecution 
of  the  measures  prepared  by  the  former 
ones,  arming  Government  with  extra- 
ordinary powers  of  arrest,  and  restrain- 
ing the  licentiousness  of  the  press. 

*  "  C'etait  une  action  horrible,  c'est  vrai," 
iisait  Louvel,  "quand  on  tue  un  autre 
homme:  cela  ne  peut  passer  pour  vertu, 
u'est  un  crime.  Je  n'y  aurais  jamais  6tG  en- 
traine  sans  1'inte'ret  que  je  prenais  a  la  nation 
Bttivant  moi :  je  croyais  biun  faire  suivant 
mon  idee."— Moniteur,  June  4, 1320;  Proces 
ie  Louvel,  37. 


Much  difficulty  was  at  first  experienced 
in  arranging  terms  of  accommodation 
with  the  Royalists  on  the  right,  so  as 
to  secure  a  majority  in  the  Chambers, 
but  at  length  the  terms  were  agreed 
on ;  and  these  were,  that  the  powers  of 
arrest  were  to  be  conferred  on  Govern- 
ment for  a  limited  period,  that  the 
press  was  to  be  restrained,  and  that  a 
new  electoral  law  was  to  be  introduced, 
restoring  the  double  step  in  elections. 
Nothing  could  equal  the  vehemence 
with  which  these  laws  were  assailed 
by  the  Opposition,  when  they  were  in- 
troduced. That  on  the  law  of  arrest 
was  the  first  that  came  under  discus- 
sion. "  It  belongs  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  Chambers,"  said  General  Foy  and 
Benjamin  Constant,  "  to  defend  a 
throne  which  misfortune  has  rendered 
more  august  and  more  dear  to  fidelity. 
Let  us  beware  lest,  in  introducing  a 
law  more  odious  than  useful,  we  sub- 
stitute for  the  present  public  grief 
other  grounds  of  discontent  which 
may  cause  the  first  to  be  forgotten. 
The  prince  whom  we  mourn  pardoned 
with  his  dying  breath  his  infamous 
assassin.  Let  us  take  care  that  the 
example  of  that  sublime  death  is  not 
lost  for  the  nation,  the  royal  family, 
and  the  public  morality ;  that  poster- 
ity may  not  reproach  us  with  having 
sacrificed  the  public  liberties  on  a 
hecatomb  at  the  funeral  of  a  Bourbon. 
53.  "The  abyss  of  a  counter-revolu- 
tion is  about  to  open  :  a  system  is  an- 
nounced which  will  attack  successively 
all  our  rights,  all  the  guarantees  which 
the  nation  sighed  for  in  vain  in  1789, 
and  hailed  with  such  gratitude  in  1814. 
The  regime  of  1788  is  to  be  revived  by 
the  three  laws  which  are  proposed  at 
the  same  time,  the  first  reviving  lettres 
de  caclict,  the  second  establishing  the 
slavery  of  the  press,  the  third  fettering 
the  organs  of  freedom  whom  it  sends 
to  the  Chamber.  Experience  has  de- 
monstrated in  every  age,  and  more 
especially  in  the  disastrous  epoch  of  the 
Revolution,  that  if  a  government  once 
yields  to  a  party,  that  party  will  not 
fail  soon  to  subjugate  it.  The  present 
time  affords  a  proof  of  it.  The  barrier, 
feeble  and  tottering  as  it  was,  which, 
the  Ministry  opposed  to  the  counter- 


100 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


revolution,  shakes,  and  is  about  to  be 
thrown  down.  Perhaps  the  Ministry 
does  not  at  this  moment  foresee  it ; 
but  all  the  laws  which  you  are  called 
on  now  to  pass,  will  be  turned  to  the 
profit  of  the  counter  -  revolution,  and 
that  principle  is  to  be  applied  to  the 
proposed  law,  compared  to  that  of 
1817.  That  which  in  1817  was,  from 
the  pressure  of  circumstances,  merely 
irregular,  will  in  1820  be  terrible ; 
that  which  in  1817  was  only  vicious 
in  principle,  will  in  1820  become  ter- 
rible in  its  application." 

54.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  an- 
swered by  the  Duke  de  Richelieu  and 
the  Duke  de  Fitz-james,  on  the  part  of 
the  Government :  "Is  it 'possible  that 
any  one  can  be  so  blind  to  existing 
circumstances,  and  the  dangers  which 
menace  the  State  and  the  royal  family  ? 
Does  any  one  persist  in  asserting  that 
the  assassination  of  the  13th  February 
is  an  isolated  act  ?  Have  the  persons 
who  assert  this  been  shut  up  in  their 
houses  for  the  last  six  months  ?  What ! 
are  those  ferocious  songs,  repeated  night 
after  night  with  such  perseverance  that 
the  indulgent  police  have  at  length 
come  to  pretend  that  they  do  not  hear 
them,  nothing  —  those  songs  which 
commenced  on  the  very  night  of  the 
assassination,  and  which  they  had  the 
effrontery  to  repeat  under  the  win- 
dows of  the  Duchess  de  Berri  herself? 
What !  those  placards,  those  menaces, 
those  anonymous  letters — not  to  us, 
who  are  accustomed  to,  and  disregard 
them,  but  to  her  for  whom  they  know 
we  are  disposed  to  sacrifice  a  thou- 
sand times  our  lives ; — those  execrable 
threats  against  a  bereaved  father,  whose 
grief  would  have  melted  tigers,  but  has 
only  increased  the  thirst  for  blood  in 
our  revolutionary  tigers.  What !  those 
medals,  struck  with  the  name  of  Marie 
Louise  and  her  son — their  images  sent 
everywhere  through  the  kingdom,  and 
now  paraded  even  in  the  capital ;  those 
clubs,  in  which  the}'  count  us  on  our 
benches,  and  have  a  poniard  ready  for 
each  of  our  breasts ;  the  coincidence  of 
what  passes  in  the  nations  around  us 
with  what  we  witness  in  our  interior 
—  the  assassination  by  Sand,  the  at- 
tempted assassination  by  Thistlewood, 


repetitions  abroad  of  what  was  going 
on  in  our  interior — homicide  and  regi- 
cide converted  into  virtues,  and  re- 
commended as  deeds  worthy  of  eternal 
glory.  What !  Spain  become  the  prey 
of  a  military  faction,  and  of  acts  of 
treason  which  have  dishonoured  the 
name  of  a  soldier.  Are  these  not  proofs 
of  a  conspiracy  extending  over  all  west- 
ern Europe,  which  is  advancing  with 
rapid  strides  towards  its  maturity?" 
So  obvious  were  these  dangers,  that, 
notwithstanding  a  vehement  outcry 
in  both  houses,  the  proposed  law  was 
passed  by  considerable  majorities,  the 
numbers  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  be- 
ing 134  to  113 ;  in  the  Peers,  121  to  86  ! 
55.  The  law  re-establishing  the  cen- 
sorship of  the  press  excited  a  still  more 
violent  storm  in  the  Chambers.  As  a 
prelude  to  it,  the  most  extraordinary 
ferment  took  place  in  the  public  jour- 
nals, which  nearly  unanimously  as- 
sailed the  proposed  measure  with  a 
degree  of  vehemence  unexampled  even 
in  those  days  of  rival  governments  and 
desperate  party  contests.  On  the  one 
hand,  it  was  said  by  M.  Manuel,  M. 
Lafayette,  and  Camille- Jourdan :  ' '  The 
censorship  is  essentially  partial ;  it  has 
always  been  so,  and  it  is  impossible  it 
should  be  otherwise,  for  it  is  absolute 
government  in  practice.  You  have 
already  suspended  individual  liberty, 
and  you  are  now  about  to  add  to  the 
rigour  of  arbitrary  detention  by  the 
censure,  for  you  render  it  impossible  for 
the  Ministers  to  be  made  aware  of  their 
error.  You  ask  for  examples  of  the 
abuse  of  the  censorship  ;  they  are  in- 
numerable :  the  most  arbitrary  spirit 
prevailed  when  it  was  last  established, 
for  they  erased  even  the  speeches  of 
your  own  colleagues,  when  they  were 
in  defence  against  attacks.  To  what 
do  you  aspire  with  these  ill-timed  at- 
tempts at  repression  ?  To  extinguish 
the  volcano  ?  Do  you  not  know  that 
the  flame  is  extending  beneath  your  ] 
feet,  and  that,  if  you  do  not  give  it  I 
an  adequate  means  of  escape,  it  will  ) 
occasion  an  explosion  which  will  de- 
stroy you  all  ?  While  the  liberty  of  i 
Europe  is  advancing  with  the  steps  of 
a  giant,  and  when  France  wishes,  and 
ought  to  be,  at  the  head  of  that 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


101 


development  of  the  dignity  and  facul- 
tiefl  (if  man,  a  government,  to  whom, 
indeed,  hypocrisy  can  no  longer  be  ob- 
icctcd,  is  endeavouring  to  drag  you  into 
n  backward  course,  and  to  widen  more 
and  more  the  breach  which  already 
yawns  in  the  nation.  Whither  are  we 
tending!  You  accumulate  lettres  de 
f-  and  censors  !  I  am  no  panegy- 
rist of  the  English  government,  but  I 
do  not  believe  that  any  minister  could 
be  found  so  bold  as  to  propose,  in  that 
country,  at  the  same  time,  the  censor- 
ship of  the  press,  and  the  suspension 
of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act. 

56.  "To  prevent  is  not  to  repress,  say 
the  partisans  of  the  censorship.  Never 
was  a  more  deplorable  illusion.  To 
subject  the  journals  to  such  fetters  is 
to  strike  at  the  liberty  of  the  press  in 
its  very  heart.  The  liberty  of  the  pe- 
riodical press  is  the  life-blood  of  free- 
dom. Vigilant  advanced  guards,  ever- 
wakeful  sentinels,  their  sheets  are  to 
representative  governments  what  lan- 
guage is  to  man.  They  serve  as  the 
medium  of  communication  between 
distant  places,  whose  interests  are  the 
same ;  they  leave  no  opinion  without 
defence,  no  abuse  in  the  shade,  no 
injustice  without  an  avenger.  The 
(iovemment  is  not  less  aided  by  its 
efforts.  The  Ministry  know  before- 
hand what  it  has  to  hope  or  to  fear ; 
the  people,  who  are  their  friends,  and 
who  their  enemies ;  and  to  them  we 
owe  that  early  communication  of  intel- 
ligence, and  that  rapid  expression  of 
wishes,  which  is  an  advantage  which 
nothing  else  can  supply.  Attack  openly 
the  liberty  of  the  press,  or  respect  that 
of  the  public  journals  ;  but  recollect 
that  the  Charter  has  not  separated 
them,  and  that  it  has  withdrawn  both 
alike  from  every  species  of  censorship. 
This  is  not  a  question  of  principle  ;  it 
is  a  question  of  life  or  death.  We  have 
arrived  at  that  point,  that  if  our  per- 
sonal freedom,  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
and  the  liberty  of  elections,  are  taken 
away,  the  Charter  has  become  a  mock- 
ery, the  constitutional  monarchy  is  at 
an  end.  Nothing  remains  for  us  but 
anarchy  or  despotism.  Power  will  rest 
with  the  strongest ;  and  if  so,  woe  to 
the  feeble  majority  in  this  Chamber 


which  now  directs  it.  Nothing  can  long 
remain  strong  which  is  not  national. 
Do  not  denationalise  the  throne :  if 
you  do  so,  your  majority  will  soon  bo 
broken  to  pieces." 

57.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  con- 
tended by  Baron  Pasquier  and  Count 
Simeon  :  "  It  is  books,  and  not  pam- 
phlets,  which   have  enlightened  the 
world.     Cast  your  eyes  on  the  condi- 
tion to  which  the  unrestricted  liberty 
of  the  journals  has  brought  society,  and 
everywhere  you  will  see  the  passions 
roused  to  the  highest  degree,  hatreds 
envenomed,  the  poniards  of  vengeance 
sharpened  •*- and  the    horrible   catas- 
trophe which  we  all  deplore  is  a  direct 
consequence  of  it.     Consider  the  char- 
acter of  that  crime  :  one  special  char- 
acter distinguishes  it,  and  that  is  fana- 
ticism.    But  what  sort  of  fanaticism  ? 
Every  age  has  had  its  own,  and  our  is 
not  less  clearly  defined  than  that  which, 
two  hundred  years  ago,  sharpened  the 
dagger  of  Ravaillac.    It  is  not  now  the 
pulpit,  it  is  the  journals  which  encou- 
rage fanaticism  ;  it  is  no  longer  reli- 
gious, but  political.    Where  are  the  or- 
gans of  that  fanaticism  which  threatens 
to  tear  society  in  pieces  to  be  found  ? 
By  whom  is  it  cherished,  flattered, 
exalted  ?    Who  can  deny  that  it  is  the 
journals  and  iperiodical  publications 
that  do  this  ?    Men  eminent  for  their 
talents,  respectable  for  their  virtues, 
influential  from  their  position,  have  not 
disdained  to  descend  into  this  arena, 
and  to  employ  their  great  abilities  to 
move  the  people.     Others,  borrowing 
every  mask,  have  learned  and  employed 
every  art  to  turn  to  their  advantage  the 
most  shameful  projects,  the  most  in- 
famous objects  which  the  heart  of  man 
can  harbour.     Such  is  the  government 
of  journals  ;  powerful  to  destroy,  they 
are  powerless  to  save.     They  have  de- 
stroyed the  Constitution  of  1791,  which 
gave  them  liberty ;  they  destroyed  that 
Convention  which    made    the   world 
tremble. 

58.  "We  are  told  that  the  liberty 
of  the  press  is  the  soul  of  representative 
governments.     Doubtless  it  is  so  ;  but 
it  is  not  less  true  that  the  licentious- 
ness of  the  press  is  its  most  mortal 
enemy.      I  do  not  hesitate  to  assert 


102 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


there  is  no  political  system  sufficiently 
strong  to  bear  the  attacks  which  it  has 
now  come  to  organise  amongst  us.  Pos- 
sibly the  time  may  come,  when,  as  in 
England,  it  may  be  practicable  to  es- 
tablish fully  the  liberty  of  the  press 
amongst  us  ;  but  unquestionably  that 
time  has  not  yet  arrived.  The  event 
we  all  deplore,  the  universal  debdcle  of 
violence  which  has  succeeded  it,  is  a 
sufficient  proof  of  this.  In  the  mean 
time,  Government,  without  the  aid  of 
extraordinary  powers,  cannot  command 
a  remedy  for  these  evils ;  it  has  not, 
and  should  not  have,  any  influence 
over  the  tribunals  ;  the  dependence  of 
magistrates  would  degrade,  unsuccess- 
ful prosecutions  weaken  it ;  verdicts  of 
juries,  so  powerful  on  public  opinion, 
might  destroy  it.  In  a  word,  it  is 
necessary  to  supply  the  deficiency  of 
repressive,  by  augmenting  the  strength 
of  preventive  checks  ;  and  this  can  only 
be  done  by  the  censorship.  It  is  in 
vain  to  object  to  such  a  power,  that  it 
may  be  converted  into  the  arm  of  a 
party.  Doubtless  it  might  be  so  ;  but 
that  party  is  the  party  of  France — of 
the  Bourbons — of  the  charter  of  free- 
dom. That  party  must  be  allowed  to 
triumph,  for  it  is  that  of  regular  gov- 
ernment. The  time  has  arrived  when 
we  must  say  to  the  people,  '  The  dan- 
ger with  which  you  are  menaced  does 
not  come  from  your  governors ;  it  comes 
from  yourselves — from  the  factions,  in 
whose  eyes  nothing  is  fixed,  nothing 
sacred,  and  which,  abandoned  to  their 
senseless  furies,  would  not  scruple  to 
trample  every  law  under  their  feet.  It 
is  from  them  that  we  must  wrest  their 
arms,  under  pain  of  perishing  in  case 
of  failure,  for  they  aim  at  nothing  short 
of  universal  ruin.'  " 

59.  The  Doctrinaires,  who  felt  that 
their  influence  was  mainly  dependent 
on  strength  of  intellect,  and  dreaded 
any  restriction  upon  its  expression,  al- 
most all  voted  against  the  Government 
on  this  occasion  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies ;  and  in  the  Peers,  M.  de 
Chateaubriand,  whose  'ardent  genius 
revolted  at  the  idea  of  restraint,  was 
also  ranged  against  them.  The  Right 
Centre,  however,  with  that  exception, 
nearly  unanimously  adhered ;  and  the 


result  showed  how  nearly  the  parties 
were  balanced,  now  that  the  Chamber 
was  divided  into  two  only.  In  the 
Peers  the  numbers  were  106  to  104  ; 
in  the  lower  house,  136  to  110.  It  is 
remarkable  that,  on  so  vital  a  point  for 
public  freedom,  the  majority  was  so 
much  greater  in  the  Commons  than  it 
was  in  the  Peers.  On  the  day  after  the 
final  division  in  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties, a  commission  was  appointed  by 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  examine 
all  periodical  journals  before  their  pub- 
lication, and  the  censorship  came  into 
full  operation. 

60.  Experience  has  confirmed  the 
assertion  nere  made,  that  no  govern- 
ment has  ever  been  established  in 
France,  since  the  Revolution,  which 
has  been  able  to  stand  for  any  length 
of  time  against  the  unrestricted  as- 
saults of  the  public  press.  Whether 
it  is  from  the  vehemence  and  proneness 
to  change  in  the  French  character,  or 
from  the  absence  of  that  regulating 
mass  of  fixed  interests,  which,  in  Eng- 
land, like  the  fly-wheel  in  the  ma- 
chine, steadies  its  movements,  and 
restrains  the  actions  of  the  moving 
power,  the  fact  is  certain.  No  dynasty 
or  administration  has  ever  existed  for 
any  length  of  time,  which  had  not  i 
contrived  somehow  or  other  to  restrain 
the  violence  of  the  periodical  press. 
There  is  more  here  than  a  peculiarity 
of  national  temperament,  to  which,  on 
this  side  of  the  Channel,  we  are  so  apt 
to  ascribe  it.  It  points  to  a  great 
truth,  of  general  application  and  last- 
ing importance  to  mankind — that  is, 
that  the  public  press  is  only  to  be  re- 
lied on  as  the  bulwark  either  of  free- 
dom or  good  government,  where  classes 
exist  in  society,  and  interests  in  the 
State,  which  render  the  support  of 
truth  a  matter  of  immediate  profit 
to  many  on  both  sides  engaged  in  the 
great  work  of  enlightening  or  directing 
the  public  mind.  Individuals  of  a 
noble  and  lofty  character  will,  indeed, 
often  be  found  who  will  sacrifice  inte- 
rest to  the  assertion  of  truth,  but  they 
are  few  in  number  ;  and  though  they 
may  direct  the  thinking  few,  they  can- 
not be  expected,  in  the  first  instance 
at  least,  to  have  much  influence  on  the 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


103 


unthinking  many.  The  ability  of  those 
engaged  in  the  public  press  is  in  gen- 
eral very  great ;  but  it  is  like  the  abil- 
ity of  the  bar — it  is  employed  to  sup- 
port the  views  which  suit  the  interests 
of  its  clients,  and  more  occupied  with 
objects  of  present  interest  than  with 
those  of  ultimate  importance.  Those 
•who  live  by  the  people  must  please 
the  people.  There  is  no  security  so 
complete  alike  for  stable  government 
and  public  freedom  as  a  free  press, 
when  great  interests  on  both  sides  exist 
in  society,  and  the  national  talent  is 
equally  divided  in  pleading  their  cause 
respectively.  But  where,  either  from 
the  violence  of  previous  convulsions, 
or  any  other  cause,  only  one  prevailing 
interest  is  left  in  society,  the  greater 
part,  ere  long  the  whole  or  nearly  so, 
of  the  public  press  at  once  ranges  itself 
on  its  side  :  the  other  is  never  heard  ; 
or,  if  heard,  never  attended  to.  The 
chains  are  thrown  over  the  minds  of 
men,  and  a  free  press  becomes,  as  in 
republican  America,  the  organ  of  the 
mandates  of  a  tyrant  majority ;  or,  as 
in  imperial  France,  the  instrument  of 
a  military  despotism. 

61.  Government  soon  found  that  the 
decree  directed  against  the  periodical 
press  had  neither  extinguished  the 
freedom  of  thought  nor  taken  away 
the  arms  of  faction.  The  journals, 
being  fettered  by  the  censorship,  took 
refuge  in  pamphlets,  which  were  not 
subjected  to  it,  and  Paris  soon  was 
overrun  with  brochures  which  assailed 
Government  with  the  utmost  fury,  and, 
on  the  plea  that  it  had  departed  from 
the  constitutional  regime,  indulged  in 
the  most  uncontrolled  violence  of  Ian- 
gunge.  Not  the  Ministry  merely,  the 
dynasty  was  openly  attacked ;  and 
then,  for  the  first  time,  there  appeared 
decisive  evidence  of  the  great  con- 
spiracy which  had  been  organised  in 
France  against  the  Bourbons.  As  long 
as  the  electoral  system  was  established 
on  such  a  footing  as  gave  them  a  near 
prospect  of  dispossessing  the  Crown  by 
legislative  means,  this  conspiracy  was 
kept  in  abeyance ;  but  now  that  a 
<juasi-Royalist  Ministry  was  in  power, 
and  there  was  a  chance  of  a  change  in 
the  Electoral  Law  which  might  defeat 


their  projects,  they  became  entirely 
undisguised  in  their  measures,  and 
openly  menaced  the  throne.  In  these 
arduous  circumstances  the  conduct  of 
Government  was  firm,  and  yet  tem- 
perate. Prosecutions  were  instituted 
against  the  press,  which,  in  some  in- 
stances, were  successful,  and  in  some 
degree  tended  to  check  its  licentious- 
ness. The  army,  moreover,  was  firm, 
and  could  be  relied  on  for  the  discharge 
of  its  duty  ;  which  was  the  more  for- 
tunate and  meritorious  on  its  part, 
that  a  great  portion  of  its  officers  were 
veterans  of  Napoleon's  army,  and  that 
the  greatest  efforts  had  been  made  by 
the  Liberal  party  to  seduce  both  them 
and  those  on  half-pay  into  the  treason- 
able designs  which  were  in  contempla- 
tion. Aware  of  the  approach  of  dan- 
ger, the  Minister  of  War  drew  the 
Royal  Guard  nearer  to  Paris,  and  ar- 
ranged its  station  so  that  in  six  hours 
two-thirds  of  its  force  might  be  con- 
centrated at  any  point  in  the  capital 
which  might  be  menaced. 

62.  An  untoward  circumstance  oc- 
curred at  this  juncture,  which,  al- 
though trivial  in  ordinary  times,  now 
considerably  augmented  the  difficul- 
ties of  Government.  A  magistrate  at 
Nimes,  M.  Madier,  a  respectable  but 
injudicious  and  credulous  man,  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  in  which  he  stated  that, 
some  days  after  the  death  of  the  Duke 
de  Bern,  two  circulars  had  been  sent 
to  Nimes,  not  from  the  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  but  from  the  Royalist  com- 
mittee, denouncing  M.  Decazes,  and 
directing  the  Royalists  to  organise 
themselves  as  for  ulterior  events.*  It 
was  evident  from  the  tenor  of  these 

*  "Ne  soyez  ni  surpris  ni  effrayes  quoique 
1'attentat  du  13  Fevrier  n'ait  pas  ainene  sur- 
le-champ  la  chute  du  Favori ;  agissez  comme 
s'il  <§tait  deja  renvoye".  Nous  Parracherons 
de  ce  poste  si  on  ne  consent  pas  a  Ten  bannir : 
en  attendant,  organisez-vous;  ]es  avis,  les 
ordres,  1'argent  ne  vous  inanqueront  pas." 
Another — "  Nous  vous  demandions  il  y  a  pen 
de  jours  une  attitude  imposante,  nous  vous 
recommandons  aujourd'hui  le  calmc,  nous 
venons  de  remporter  un  avantage  d^cisif  en 
faisant  chasser  Decazes :  de  grands  services 
peuvent  vous  etre  rendus  par  le  nouveau  min- 
istere :  il  faut  bien  vous  gardcr  de  lui  inon- 
trer  des  sentiments  hostiles." — CAPEFIGUS, 
v.  11. 


104 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


circulars,  which  without  doubt  had 
emanated  from  the  Royalist  commit- 
tee at  Paris,  that  they  related  only 
to  electioneering  preparations,  in  the 
event  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Chambers 
taking  place  in  consequence  of  the 
change  of  Ministry;  and  that  when 
the  retreat  of  M.  Decazes  was  secured, 
nothing  more  was  intended  to  be  done. 
But  this  petition  and  the  revelation  of 
the  Royalist  circulars  served  as  an  ad- 
mirable handle  to  the  Liberal  party, 
who  pointed  to  it  as  a  proof  of  a  secret 
government,  which  counteracted  all 
the  measures  of  the  responsible  one, 
and  was  preparing  the  entire  ruin  of 
the  public  liberties.  Vehement  de- 
bates followed  on  the  subject  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  "factious  personage "  near 
the  throne,  from  whom  they  all  ema- 
nated, was  openly  denounced,  and  a 
motion  was  even  brought  forward  for 
an  address  to  the  Crown  to  dismiss  the 
new  Ministers.  The  proposal  was  ne- 
gatived, but  the  object  was  gained ; 
the  public  mind  was  agitated,  and  the 
people  were  prepared  to  embrace  the 
idea  that  the  continuance  of  the  Min- 
istry was  inconsistent  with  the  preser- 
vation of  the  public  liberties. 

63.  It  Avas  in  this  distracted  state  of 
the  public  mind  that  Ministers  were 
charged  with  the  arduous  duty  of  bring- 
ing forward  their  new  law  of  election — 
the  most  dangerous  and  exciting  to- 
pic which  it  was  possible  for  them  to 
broach,  but  which  was  made  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  the  Royalist  alli- 
ance with  the  Centre  in  support  of  the 
Government.  No  small  difficulty  was 
experienced,  however,  in  effecting  a 
compromise  on  the  subject,  and  adjust- 
ing a  project  in  which  the  coalescing 
parties  might  agree  ;  but  at  length,  by 
the  indefatigable  efforts  of  M.  Simeon, 
M.  Pasquier,  and  M.  Mounier,  the 
terms  were  agreed  to  on  both  sides, 
and  were  as  follows  :  Two  classes  of 
colleges  of  electors — one  of  the  depart- 
ments, the  other  of  the  arrondisse- 
ments.  The  electoral  college  of  each 
department  was  to  consist  of  a  fifth  part 
of  the  whole  electors  paying  the  highest 
taxes ;  the  electoral  colleges  of  the  ar- 
rondissements  were  to  consist  of  the 


[CHAP.  ix. 

whole  remainder  of  the  electors  having 
their  domicile  within  their  limits.  The 
electoral  colleges  of  thearrondissements 
named  by  a  simple  majority  as  many 
candidates  as  the  department  was  en- 
titled to  elect ;  and  the  college  of  the 
department  chose  from  among  them 
the  deputies  to  send  to  the  Chamber. 
This  project  was  imperfect  in  its  de- 
tails, and  drawn  up  in  haste  ;  but  it 
tended  to  remove  the  grand  evil  of  the 
existing  system — the  election  of  the 
whole  Chamber  by  one  uniform  class 
of  electors ;  and  as  such  it  was  promised 
the  support  of  the  Doctrinaires  and 
a  large  part  of  the  Centre  of  the  As- 
sembly. 

64.  The  discussion  was  brilliant  and 
animated  in  both  Chambers,  and  called 
forth  the  very  highest  abilities  on  either 
side.  On  the  side  of  the  Opposition  it 
was  contended  by  M.  Royer-Collard, 
M.  Lafayette,  and  General  Toy:  "The 
Charter  has  consecrated  the  Revolution 
by  subjecting  it  to  compromise  ;  it  is 
it  which  has  given  us  all  our  liberties 
— the  liberty  of  conscience,  which  is 
expressly  guaranteed  by  it ;  and  equal- 
ity, which  is  guaranteed  by  represen- 
tative institutions.  The  Chamber  of 
Deputies  is  the  guarantee  of  the  Char- 
ter. That  is  a  proposition  which  no 
one  will  be  so  bold  as  to  dispute.  Take 
away  the  Elective  Chamber,  and  power 
resides  alone  in  the  Executive  and  the 
Chamber  of  Peers  ;  the  nation  becomes 
retrograde — it  becomes  a  domain,  and 
is  possessed  as  such.  Take  away  the 
guarantees  promised  by  the  Charter, 
and  you  turn  that  instrument  against 
itself;  or,  what  is  even  worse,  you 
render  it  an  object  of  derision,  alike 
against  the  sovereign  who  granted  and 
the  people  who  received  it.  If  the  Gov- 
ernment had  persisted  in  its  intention 
of  revising  the  Charter,  it  would  have 
experienced  less  opposition  than  in  this 
attempt,  which  is,  pretending  to  uphold 
the  Charter,  to  undermine  its  most  im- 
portant provisions.  It  is  not  because 
the  Charter  has  given  this  one  the  title 
of  Baron,  another  that  of  Bishop,  that 
it  is  the  idol  of  the  nation  ;  it  is  be- 
cause it  has  secured  liberty  of  con- 
science and  personal  freedom  that 
has  become  so,  and  that  we  have  swor 


;it 

' 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


105 


fidelity  to  it.  Now  we  are  virtually 
absolved  from  our  oaths — the  aristo- 
cracy is  secretly  undermining  both  the 
nation  and  the  throne.  Can  you  doubt 
it,  when  you  recollect  the  contempt 
and  derision  it  has  cast  on  that  glorious 
standard  with  which  such  recollections 
are  associated — that  standard,  which, 
we  dp  not  hesitate  to  repeat,  is  that  of 
public  freedom  ? 

65.  "  In  vain  may  the  proposed  law 
be  passed,  and  even  for  a  time  carried 
into  execution  ;  the  public  feeling  will 
extinguish  it,  wear  it  out,  destroy  it 

jy  resistance  ;  it  never  will  become  the 
aw  of  France.  Representative  govern- 
ment will  not  be  wrested  from  you  ;  it 
is  stronger  than  the  will  of  its  adver- 
saries. By  a  coup  d'etat  of  18th  Fruc- 
tidor  *  you  may  transport  men  ;  you 
cannot  transport  opinions.  Our  old 
jarliaments  were  not  so  robust  as  a 
•epresentative  assembly — they  did  not 
speak  in  the  name  of  France,  but  they 
sometimes  defended  the  public  liber- 
ties, and  the  eloquent  and  courageous 
remonstrances  which  they  laid  at  the 
loot  of  the  throne  resounded  through 
the  nation.  The  ministry  of  Louis  XV. 
wished  to  overthrow  them :  he  was  con- 
quered. The  parliaments,  for  a  mo- 
ment subdued,  raised  themselves  again 
amidst  the  public  acclamations ;  and 
the  ephemeral  puppets  with  whom  they 
bad  filled  their  benches  disappeared  for 
ever.  Thus  will  vanish  the  Chamber 
of  Privilege. 

66.  "  You  strive  in  vain  against  an 
irresistible  torrent.    You  are  under  the 
iron  hand  of  necessity.      So  long  as 
equality  is  the  law  of  society,  equal  re- 
presentation is  imposed  upon  it  in  all 
its  energy  and  purity.    Ask  from  it  no 
concessions ;  it  is  not  for  it  to  make 
them.    The  representative  government 
is  itself  a  guarantee.     As  such  it  is 
called  on  to  demand  concessions,  not 
to  make  them.  Be  not  surprised,  there- 
fore, that  it  is  partial  to  the  new  order 
of  things — it  exists  only  to  insure  the 
triumph  of  the  Charter.     Would  you 
obtain  its  support  ? — Embrace  its  cause. 
Separate  right  from  privilege.     Affec- 
tion is  the  true  bond  of  societies.  Study 
what  attracts  a  nation,  what  it  repu- 
*  In  1797,  -when  the  Directory  \vas  overturned. 


diates,  what  it  hopes,  what  it  fears ; 
in  a  word,  show  yourself  a  part  of  it, 
and  you  will  be  popular.  During  eight 
centuries  this  has  been  the  secret  of 
the  English  aristocracy.  Legitimacy 
is  the  idea  the  most  profound,  and 
withal  the  most  fruitful,  which  has 
penetrated  modern  society.  It  renders 
evident  to  all  in  a  visible  and  immortal 
image  the  idea  of  right,  that  noble  ap- 
panage of  the  human  race  ;  of  right, 
without  which  there  would  be  nothing 
on  earth,  but  a  life  without  dignity, 
and  a  death  without  hope.  Legitimacy 
belongs  to  us  more  than  any  other  na- 
tion, for  no  other  nation  possesses  it  in 
such  purity  as  ourselves,  or  can  point 
to  so  illustrious  a  line  of  great  and  good 
princes. 

67.  ' '  Rivers  do  not  flow  back  to  their 
sources  :  accomplished  facts  are  not 
restored  to  nonentity.  A  bloody  re- 
volution had  changed  the  face  of  our 
earth :  on  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  so- 
ciety, overturned  with  violence,  a  new 
society  had  raised  itself,  governed  by 
new  maxims  and  new  men.  Like  all 
conquerors,  I  say  it  in  its  presence  that 
society  was  barbarous  :  it  had  neither 
received,  in  its  origin  nor  in  its  pro- 
gress, the  time  principle  of  civilisa- 
tion— right.  Legitimacy,  which  alone 
had  preserved  the  ark  of  our  salvation, 
could  alone  restore  it  to  us  :  it  has  re- 
stored it.  With  the  royal  race,  right 
has  reappeared ;  every  day  has  been 
marked  by  its  progress  in  opinions, 
manners,  and  laws.  In  a  few  years 
we  have  recovered  the  social  doctrines 
which  we  had  lost.  Right  has  suc- 
ceeded to  power.  Legitimacy  on  the 
throne  has  become  the  guarantee  of 
the  general  ascendant  of  law.  As  it  is 
the  ruling  principle  in  society,  good 
faith  is  its  august  character  ;  it  is  pro- 
faned if  it  is  lowered  to  astuteness  or 
devoured  by  fraud.  The  proposed  law 
sinks  the  legitimate  monarchy  to  the 
level  of  the  government  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, by  resting  it  on  fraud.  The  pro- 
ject of  the  proposed  law  is  the  most 
fatal  which  has  ever  come  out  of  the 
councils  of  kings  since  those,  of  fatal 
memory,  which  overturned  the  family 
of  the  Stuarts.  It  is  the  divorce  of 
the  nation  from  its  sovereign." 


106 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


68.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  con- 
tended, on  the  part  of  the  Government, 
byM.  de  Serres,  M.  Simeon,  and  M.Vil- 
lele :  ' '  We  are  reminded  of  two  periods 
— the  days  of  our  Revolution  and  the 
present  time.     History  will  judge  the 
first,  and  it  will  judge  also  the  men 
who  were  engaged  in  it.     But  I  can- 
not dissemble  what  the  strange  speech 
of  M.  Lafayette  obliges  me  to  declare, 
that  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
men  who  attacked  the  monarchy,  and 
in  the  end  overturned  it.     I  am  con- 
vinced   that   generous    and   elevated 
sentiments  animated  him ;    but,  in- 
spired by  these  feelings,  is  it  surpris- 
ing to  him  that    men  attached    by 
principle  and  duty  to  that  monarchy 
should  have  defended  it  before  it  fell  ? 
He  should  be  just  enough  not  to  im- 
pute to  the  victims  of  those  times  all 
the  evils  of  a  Revolution  which  has 
pressed    so    heavily    on    themselves. 
Have  those  times  left  in  the  mind  of 
the  honourable  member  some  mourn- 
ful recollections,  many  useful  lessons  ? 
He  should  have  known — many  a  time 
he  must  have  felt,  with  death  in  his 
heart  and  blushes   on  his  face — not 
only  that,  after  having  once  roused  the 
masses,  their  leaders  have  no  longer 
the  power  to  restrain  them,  but  that 
they  are  forced  to  follow,  and  even  to 
lead  them. 

69.  "  But  let  us  leave  these  old  events, 
and  think  of  our  present  condition,  and 
the  questions  which  are  now  before  us. 
"What  chiefly  weighs  with  me  is  the  de- 
claration made  by  General  Lafayette, 
that  he  has  entered  these  walls  to  make 
oath  to  the  constitution  (he  has  not  said 
the  king  and  the  constitution),  and  that 
that  oath  was  reciprocal ;  that  the  acts 
of  the  legislature — your  acts — have 
violated  the  constitution,  and  that  he 
is  absolved  from  his  oath !    He  declares 
this  in  the  name  of  himself  and  his 
friends :  he  declares  it  in  the  face  of 
the  nation !     He  adds  to  this  declara- 
tion an  eloge,  as  affected  as  it  is  ill- 
timed,  of  colours  which  cannot  now  be 
regarded  as  any  other  colours  but  those 
of  rebellion.    The  scandal  which  I  de- 
nounce, so  far  from  being  repented  of, 
has  been  renewed  a  second  time  in  the 
tribune.    What,  I  ask,  can  be  the  mo- 


tive for  such  conduct  ?  If  insensate 
persons,  excited  by  such  language  cri- 
minally imprudent,  proceed  to  acts  of 
sedition,  on  whose  head  should  fall  the 
blood  shed  in  rebellion,  or  in  extin- 
guishing it  by  the  hands  of  the  law  ? 
And  when  a  man,  who  himself  has  pre- 
cipitated the  excesses  of  the  people, 
and  has  seen  their  fury  turned  against 
himself— when  that  man,  respectable  in 
many  respects,  uses  language  of  which 
his  own  experience  should  have  taught 
him  the  danger,  are  not  his  words  to 
be  regarded  as  more  blamable  than  if 
they  came  from  an  ordinary  man  ?  The 
honourable  member,  who  should  be  so 
well  aware  of  the  danger  of  revolution- 
ary movements,  now  pretends  to  be 
ignorant  of  them.  With  the  same 
breath  he  pronounces  a  glowing  eulo- 
gium  on  the  cause  of  rebellion ;  and 
declares,  in  his  own  name  and  that  of 
his  colleagues,  that  he  considers  him- 
self absolved  from  his  oath  of  fidelity 
to  the  Charter :  he  proclaims  the  so- 
vereignty of  the  people,  which  is,  in 
other  words,  the  right  of  insurrection. 
Is  not  such  an  appeal  an  incitement  to 
rebellion?  And  does  not  that  point 
to  your  duty  in  combating  an  opposi- 
tion animated  by  such  principles  ? 

70.  "  The  Electoral  Law  of  1817  has- 
lost,  since  it  was  carried  into  execu- 
tion, the  most  important  of  its  defend- 
ers. It  has  been  the  cause  of  the 
present  crisis  in  society.  The  same 
ministers  who  formerly  proposed,  who 
subsequently  have  been  compelled  to 
defend  it,  convinced  by  experience, 
animated  by  a  sense  of  duty,  now  come 
forward  to  propose  its  modification. 
The  very  Chamber  of  Peers  which  voted 
its  adoption  has  risen  up  against  it. 
Sixty  peers  were  created  to  vanquish, 
the  resistance  to  it  in  that  Chamber : 
a  hundred  would  be  required  to  insure 
its  continuance.  It  is  no  wonder  it  is 
so,  for  the  law  of  1817  failed  in  the 
chief  object  of  representative  institu- 
tions. It  excluded  the  masses  alike  of 
property  and  numbers.  What  renders  it 
in  an  especial  manner  dangerous  is,  that 
the  limited  homogeneous  class  to  which 
it  has  confined  the  franchise  becomes 
every  year,  by  the  annual  elections, 
more  grasping,  more  selfish,  more 


;  ex- 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


107 


elusive.  So  evident  has  this  danger 
become,  that  if  the  present  change  is 
not  carried,  the  friends  of  liberty  will 
be  compelled  themselves  to  bring  for- 
ward a  modification  of  the  law  in  the 
interest  of  freedom. 

71.  "  France  will  never  bear  for  any 
time  a  homogeneous  representation,  as 
the  proposer  of  the   existing  law  at 
one  time  supposed  it  would ;  unmis- 
takable proofs  of  the  general  revolt 
against  such  a  system  arise  on  all  sides. 
Besides,  in  the  present  state  of  things, 
the  existence  of  a  revolutionary  faction 
amongst  us — of  a  faction  irreligious, 
immoral,  the  enemy  of  restraint,  the 
friend  of  usurpation — has  been  demon- 
strated beyond  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt.     It  speaks  in  the  journals,  it 
sits  in  the  directing  committees  :  this 
conviction  is  forced  upon  all  the  Min- 
isters, not  merely  by  their  reason,  but 
their  official  information.     I  predict 
to  the  honourable  members  who  are 
now  the  allies  of  that  faction,  that 
they  will  in  the  end  sink  under  its 
attacks,  and  that  they  will  disappear 
from  the  Chamber  the  moment  they 
venture  to  resist  it.     Public  opinion 
has  already  repudiated  both  the  faction 
and  the  Electoral  Law  which  supports 
it.     Horror-struck  at  the  spectacle  of 
a  regicide  returned  to  the  Chamber, 
real  public  opinion  has  become  alarmed 
alike  at  the  principle  of  that  law  and 
its  consequences. 

72.  "  It  has  become  indispensable 
to  alter  the  mode  of  election,  since  we 
see  faction  straining  to  support  it, 
from  a  conviction  that  it  throws  the 
greatest  influence  into  the  lowest  class 
of  proprietors — to  the  very  class  which 
has  the  least  interest  in  the  soil.    The 
law  proposed,  by  restoring  to  the  larger 
proprietors  a  portion  of  that  influ- 
ence of  which  the  existing  law  has 
deprived  them,  gives  a  share  in  the 
choice  of  deputies  to  those  who  are 
most  interested  in  upholding  it.     The 
law  will  never  be  complete  and  safe 
till  the  electoral  power  is  made  to  rest 
on  the  entire  class  of  proprietors,  and 
is  intrusted  by  them  to  a  smaller  body, 
chosen  from  among  those  who  pay  the 
greatest  amount  of  assessments ;  and 
whose  list,  accessible  to  all,  and  from 


its  very  nature  shifting  and  change- 
able, can  never  constitute  a  privileged 
class,  since  those  who  fall  within  it 
to-day  may  be  excluded  from  it  to- 
morrow. In  the  political  system  pur- 
sued since  the  Restoration  is  to  bo 
found  the  seat  of  the  evil  which  is  de- 
vouring France.  Under  the  existing; 
law  a  constant  system  of  attack  against 
the  existing  dynasty  is  carried  on. 
Lofty  ambitions  arrested  in  their  course, 
great  hopes  blasted,  fanaticism  ever 
rampant,  have  coalesced  together  :  the 
conspiracy  was  at  first  directed  to 
changing  general  opinion — it  has  now 
altered  its  object;  it  has  sapped  th& 
foundations  of  the  throne — it  will  soon 
overturn  it.  At  Lyons,  as  at  Grenoble, 
cast  down  but  not  destroyed,  it  ever 
rises  again  more  audacious  than  ever, 
and  menaces  its  conquerors.  Intrench- 
ed in  the  law  of  elections  as  its  last 
citadel,  it  threatens  its  conquerors. 
It  is  determined  to  conquer  or  die. 
It  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  opinion 
which  it  agitates,  '  to  be  or  not  to  be, 
that  is  the  question.'  The  uniform 
suffrage  has  placed  the  monarchy  at 
the  mercy  of  a  pure  democracy." 

73.  So  sensible  were  the  Liberal 
chiefs  of  the  weight  of  these  argu- 
ments, and  of  the  large  proportion  of 
enlightened  opinion  which  adhered  to 
them,  that  they  did  not  venture  to 
meet  them  by  direct  negative,  but  en- 
deavoured to  elude  their  force  by  an 
amendment.  It  was  proposed  by  Ca- 
mille-Jourdan,  and  was  to  this  effect, 
"That  each  department  shall  be  divid- 
ed into  as  many  electoral  arrondisse- 
ments  as  there  are  deputies  to  elect 
for  the  Chamber ;  that  each  of  these 
arrondissements  shall  have  an  electoral 
college,  which  "shall  be  composed  of 
the  persons  liable  to  taxes,  having 
their  political  domicile  in  the  arron- 
dissement,  and  paying  three  hundred 
francs  of  direct  contribution ;  that 
every  electoral  college  shall  nominate 
its  deputy  directly."  Though  this  was 
represented  by  him  as  a  compromise, 
it  in  reality  was  not  so  ;  for,  by  per- 
petuating the  uniform  suffrage  and 
direct  representation,  it  continued  po- 
litical power  exclusively  in  the  hands 
of  the  most  democratic  portion  of  the 


108 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


community,  the  small  proprietors.  It 
received,  accordingly,  the  immediate 
and  enthusiastic  support  of  the  whole 
Liberal  party ;  the  democratic  press 
•was  unanimous  in  its  praise ;  and  so 
nearly  were  parties  balanced  in  the 
Chamber,  that  the  amendment  was 
carried  against  Government  by  a  ma- 
jority of  one,  the  numbers  being  a 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  to  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven.  The  balance 
was  cast  by  M.  de  Chauvelin,  who, 
though  grievously  ill,  was  carried  into 
the  Chamber,  and  decided  the  question 
by  his  vote.  He  was  conveyed  home 
in  triumph  by  a  vociferous  mob,  and 
became  for  a  brief  period  the  object  of 
popular  idolatry.  The  revolutionists 
were  in  transports,  and  everywhere  an- 
ticipated the  immediate  realisation  of 
their  hopes,  by  the  defeat  of  the  Gov- 
ernment on  so  vital  a  question. 

74.  In  this  extremity,  Ministers 
made  secret  overtui'es  to  the  chiefs 
of  the  Doctrinaires,  whose  numbers, 
though  small,  were  yet  sufficient  to 
cast  the  balance  either  way  in  the 
equally  divided  assembly.  This  over- 
ture proved  entirely  successful.  A 
fresh  amendment  was  proposed  by  M. 
Bom  and  M.  Courvoisier  on  their  part, 
and  supported  by  the  whole  strength 
of  the  Government,  the  Right,  and 
their  adherents  in  the  Centre.  It  was 
to  this  effect,  that  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  was  to  consist  "  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight  members  chosen  by 
the  arrondissements ;  and  a  hundred 
and  seventy-two  by  the  departments  ; 
the  latter  being  chosen,  not  by  the 
-whole,  electors,  but  by  a  fourth  of  their 
mtmber,  composed  of  those  who  paid  tJie 
highest  amount  of  taxes. "  This  was  an 
immense  change  to  the  advantage  of 
the  aristocracy ;  for  not  only  did  it 
add  a  hundred  and  seventy  members 
to  this  Chamber,  but  it  added  them  of 
persons  chosen  by  a  fourth  of  the  elec- 
tors for  each  department  paying  the 
highest  assessment :  in  other  words, 
by  the  richest  proprietors.  Neverthe- 
less, so  gratified  were  the  Doctrinaires 
by  getting  quit  of  the  much-dreaded 
double  mode  of  election,  or  so  sensible 
had  they  in  secret  become  of  its  dan- 
gerous tendency,  that  they  agreed  to 


the  compromise ;  and  M.  de  Boin's 
amendment  was  carried  by  a  majority 
of  five,  the  numbers  being  a  hundred 
and  thirty  to  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five.  Only  five  members  were  absent 
from  the  entire  Chamber — an  extraor- 
dinary circumstance,  proving  the  un- 
paralleled interest  the  question  had 
excited.  This  victory  was  decisive  ; 
the  waverers  came  round  after  it  was 
gained ;  and  the  final  division  on  the 
question  showed  a  majority  of  ninety- 
five  for  Government. 

75.  It  soon  appeared  that  this  ve- 
hement strife  in  the  Chamber  was  con- 
nected with  still  more  important  de- 
signs out  of  doors — that  it  was  linked 
with  the  revolutions  in  progress  in 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy  ;  and  that 
it  was  not  without  an  ulterior  object 
that  Lafayette  had  invoked  the  trico- 
lor flag,  and  thrown  down  the  gaunt- 
let, as  it  were,  to  the  monarchy.     No 
sooner  was  the  news  of  the  decisive  vote 
in  favour  of  the  principle  of  the  new 
law  known  in  the  capital  than  the 
most  violent  agitation  commenced.  M. 
Manuel  and  M.   Benjamin  Constant 
published  an  inflammatory  address  to 
the  young  men  at  the  university  and 
colleges  ;    and  the  sinister  omen  of 
crowds  collecting  in  the  streets  indi- 
cated the  secret  orders  and  menacing 
preparations  of  the  central  democratic 
committee.  Seditious  cries  were  heard  ; 
and  so  threatening  did  affairs  soon 
appear,  that  the  military  were  obliged 
to  disperse  them  by  force  ;  and  in  the 
tumult  a  young  student  of  law,  named 
Lallemand,  was  shot,  and  died  soon 
after.    This  unhappy  event  augmented 
the  general  excitement ;  the  mobs  as- 
sembled in  still  greater  force,  and  the 
Government  took  serious  precautions. 
The  posts  were  everywhere  doubled  ; 
the  guards  were  drawn  into   Paris  ; 
large  bodies  of  infantry  and  cavalry 
were  stationed  on  the  bridges  in  the 
Place  Carrousel,  and  around  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies  ;  and  proclamations 
were  placarded  in  all  directions,  for- 
bidding all  assemblages  of  persons  even 
to  the  number  of  three. 

76.  This  proclamation  was  met  by  a 
counter  one  from  the  democratic  com- 
mittee, which  was  affixed  to  the  gates 


:es 


1320.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


109 


of  all  the  colleges  and  schools,  calling 
<iu  the  young  7nen  to  meet  and  avenge 
their  comrade  who  had  been  slain. 
They  did  so  accordingly  ;  and,  march- 
ing two  and  two,  so  as  to  avoid  the  li- 
teral infringement  of  the  order  of  the 
police,  formed  a  column  of  above  five 
thousand  persons,  armed  with  large 
sticks  and  sword  -  canes,  which  de- 
bouched upon  the  Place  Louis  XV., 
directly  in  front  of  the  palace  of  the 
legislative  body.  The  gates  of  the 
Tuileries  and  gardens  were  immediately 
closed,  and  the  huge  mass  was  driven, 
by  repeated  charges  of  cavalry,  who 
behaved  with  the  most  exemplary  for- 
bearance, out  of  the  Place.  They  im- 
mediately marched  along  the  Boule- 
vards towards  the  Faubourg  St  Antoine, 
where  the  immense  masses  of  work- 
men, so  well  known  in  the  worst  days 
of  the  Revolution,  were  already  pre- 
pared to  receive  them  ;  and,  returning 
from  thence  with  numbers  now  swelled, 
by  the  idle  and  excited  from  eveiy 
coffeehouse,  to  between  thirty  and  forty 
thousand  men,  moved  towards  the 
Place  de  Greve  and  Hotel  de  Ville. 
The  head  of  the  column,  however,  was 
met  on  the  way  by  a  strong  body  of  the 
gendarmerie-a-cheval,  which  charged 
and  dispersed  it,  upon  which  the  whole 
body  took  to  flight.  Thirty  or  forty 
were  made  prisoners,  and  immediately 
lodged  in  custody. 

77.  It  may  be  readily  imagined  what 
use  was  made  of  these  untoward  events 
by  the  unscrupulous  and  impassioned 
leaders  of  the  Liberal  party  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  The  loudest  and 
most  vehement  complaints  were  made 
against  all  concerned  in  the  repression 
of  the  riots, — the  Ministers,  for  having 
ordered  the  measures  which  led  to  their 
suppression ;  the  military,  gendar- 
merie, and  police,  for  having  executed 
them.  Although  the  conduct  of  all 
the  three  had  been  prudent,  forbear- 
ing, and  exemplary  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, yet  they  were  all  overwhelmed 
by  the  most  unmeasured  obloquy.  Not 
a  whisper  was  breathed  against  the 
leaders  or  followers  of  the  seditious 
assemblages,  which  had  not  only  for 
days  together  kept  the  metropolis  in 
alarm,  but  seriously  menaced  the  mon- 


archy. Still  less  was  it  observed  by 
these  impassioned  declaimers,  that  a 
revolt  of  so  serious  a  kind  had  been 
stifled  with  the  loss  of  a  single  life. 
"Blood,"  exclaimed  M.  Lafitte,  "has 
never  ceased,  during  eight  days,  to  flow 
in  Paris ;  a  hundred  thousand  of  its 
peaceable  citizens  have  been  charged, 
sabred,  and  trampled  under  the  hoofs 
of  horses  yesterday  by  the  cuirassiers. 
The  indignation  of  the  capital  is  at  its 
height ;  the  agitation  of  the  people  is 
hourly  increasing ;  tremble  for  the 
morrow."  "Here  is  the  blade  of  a 
sabre  broken  by  a  cut,"  exclaimed  M. 
de  Corcelles,  holding  up  the  fragment 
with  a  theatrical  air.  "Blood  flows, 
and  you  refuse  to  hear  us  ;  it  is  in- 
famous. "  The  Ministers  ably  and  en- 
ergetically defended  their  measures ; 
and  the  violence  of  the  two  parties 
became  so  great  that  the  president,  in 
despair,  covered  himself,  and  broke  up 
the  meeting. 

78.  These  violent  appeals,  however, 
did  not  obtain  the  desired  result,  and 
their  failure  contributed  more  than 
any  other  circumstance  to  produce  that 
adhesion  of  the  Doctrinaires  to  the 
proposed  electoral  law,  as  modified  by 
M.  Boin,  which  led  to  its  being  passed 
into  a  law.  A  suppressed  insurrection 
never  fails,  for  the  time  at  least,  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  government. 
In  the  present  instance,  the  influence 
of  that  repression  was  enhanced,  not 
only  by  the  patience  and  temper  of  the 
armed  force  employed,  and  moderation 
of  the  Government  in  the  subsequent 
prosecutions,  but  by  another  circum- 
stance of  decisive  importance — the  mi- 
litary had  faithfully  adhered  to  their 
duty.  The  utmost  efforts  had  been 
made  to  seduce  them,  and  failed  of 
success.  All  the  hopes  of  the  insur- 
gents were  rested  on  their  defection, 
and  their  steadiness  made  them  despair 
of  the  cause.  The  leaders  of  the  revolt 
saw  that  their  attempt  had  been  pre- 
mature, that  the  military  had  not  been 
sufficiently  worked  upon,  and  that 
the  insurrection  must  be  adjourned. 
They  let  it  die  away  accordingly  at  the 
moment,  reserving  their  efforts  for  a 
future  period.  Although  the  crowds 
continued  to  infest  the  streets  for 


110 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


several  days,  and  great  efforts  were 
made  at  the  funeral  of  Lallcmand — 
who  was  buried  with  much  solemnity, 
in  presence  of  some  thousand  specta- 
tors, on  the  9th — yet  the  danger  was 
evidently  past.  The  capital  gradually 
became  tranquil ;  the  large  majority 
•of  95  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  on 
the  last  reading  of  the  bill,  passed  al- 
most without  notice  ;  and  it  was  passed 
"by  a  majority  of  95  in  the  Peers — the 
numbers  being  141  to  56.  The  Gov- 
ernment behaved  with  exemplary  mo- 
deration, it  may  even  be  said  with  ti- 
midity, in  repressing  this  revolt.  It 
was  known  that  money  had  circulated 
freely  among  the  insurgents,  and  it  was 
known  from  whom  it  came.  But  it 
was  deemed  more  prudent,  now  that 
the  insurrection  had  been  surmounted, 
not  to  agitate  the  public  mind  by  the 
trial  of  its  leaders,  and  no  further  pro- 
secutions were  attempted.  It  will  ap- 
pear in  the  sequel  what  return  they 
made  for  this  lenity  when  the  crisis 
of  1830  arrived. 

79.  This  was  the  great  struggle  of 
the  year,  because  it  was  a  direct  effort 
to  supplant  the  Bourbon  dynasty  on 
the  one  hand,  and  establish  it  more 


firmly  in  the  legislature  on  the  other. 
Everything  depended  on  the  troops : 
if  they  had  wavered  when  the  insur- 
gents marched  on  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
on  6th  June,  it  was  all  over,  and  1820 
would  have  been  1830.  The  remaining 
objects  of  the  session,  which  involved 
the  comparatively  trifling  matters  of 
the  public  welfare  or  social  happiness, 
excited  scarcely  any  attention.  The 
budget  was  voted  with  scarce  any  op- 
position. The  gross  revenue  of  the 
year  was  8,741,087,000  francs  ;  the 
net  income,  deducting  the  expense  of 
collection,  739,712,000  francs,  which 
showed  a  cost  of  above  £5,000,000  in 
collecting  an  income  of  £30,000,000, 
or  nearly  17  per  cent — a  very  large 
proportion,  but  which  is  explained  by 
the  circumstance  of  the  direct  taxes, 
forming  above  a  third  of  the  whole, 
being  exigible  from  above  five  millions 
of  separate  little  proprietors.  The  ex- 
penditure was  estimated  at  511, 371,000 
francs,  exclusive  of  the  interest  of  the 
debt.  Every  branch  of  the  public  re- 
venue exhibited  symptoms  of  improve- 
ment, and  the  most  unprecedented 
prosperity  pervaded  the  country.*  It 
is  a  singular  circumstance,  but  highly 


<  The  Budget  of  1820  and  1821  stood  thus  :— 


Direct  taxes, 

Indirect  ditto, 

Registrations, 

Woods, 

Customs  and  salt, 

Postes, 

Lottery, 

Retained  from  salaries, 

Miscellaneous, 

Total  net, 
Expense  of  collection, 

Total  gross,    . 


Interest  of  public  debt, 

Sinking  fund,    . 

King  and  Royal  Family, 

Justice, 

Foreign  Affairs, 

Interior, 

War, 

Marine, 

Finances  and  miscellaneous, 


RECEIPTS. 

1820.— Francs  net 

311,773,780 

140,000,000 

147,000,000 

14,000,000 

86,000,000 

12,097,000 

9,000,000 

5,600,000 

14,712,970 

739,712,750 
134,375,130 

874,087,880 

EXPENDITURE. 

1820.— Francs  net 

188,341,000 

40,000,000 

34,000,000 

17,460,000 

7,850,000 

102,840,000 

184,750,000 

45,200,000 

115,880,000 


1821.— Francs  net 
325,035,159 
191,666,300 
158,986,500 

17,047,400 
111,113,000 

23,790,710 

14,000,000 
5,600,000 

15,433,970 

740,566,105 
136,871,285 

877,437,880 


1S2L— Francs  net 
189,052,764 
40,000,000 
34,000,000 
17,959,500 
7,855,000 
109,060,800 
179,736,600 
52,970,000 
119,572,000 


739,712,750  747,206,664 

Trom  a  statement  laid  before  the  Chamber  by  the  Minister  of  Finances,  it  appeared 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Ill 


characteristic  of  the  real  motives  which 
actuated  the  Liberal  opposition  at  this 
period,  that  this  era  of  unexampled 
social  wellbeing  was  precisely  the  one 
which  they  selected  for  most  violently 
agitating  the  public  mind  for  an  over- 
throw of  the  monarchy  and  change  of 
the  dynasty,  by  whom  alone  those 
blessings  had  been  introduced. 

80.  Convinced,  from  the  unsuccess- 
ful issue  of  this  attempt,  that  they  had 
no  chance  of  success  in  their  endea- 
vours to  overthrow  the  Government, 
unless  they  could  enlist  the  military 
on  their  side,  the  Liberal  leaders,  after 
the  prorogation  of  the  Chamber,  bent 
their  whole  efforts  to  that  object.  It 
is  now  known  who  they  were ;  subse- 
quent success  has  made  them  boast  of 
their  attempts  ;  they  are  no  longer 
afraid  to  admit  their  treason.  "  M. 
Lafayette,"  says Lamartine,  "declared 
to  his  friends  that  open  force  could  now 
alone  overturn  the  Government,  which 
had  declared  war  against  the  equal- 
ity of  classes. "  Emissaries  despatched 
from  this  centre  set  out  to  sound  the 
departments  and  the  troops.  The  par- 
liamentary opposition  of  M.  Lantte 
and  Casimir  Perier  unconsciously  aided 
the  conspirators,  who  were  grouped 
around  Lafayette,  d'Argenson,  Manuel, 
Corcelles,  Roy,  and  Merilhou.  That 


conspiracy  found  innumerable  accom- 
plices, without  the  need  of  affiliating 
them,  in  the  half-pay  officers,  the  re- 
mains of  Napoleon's  army,  in  the  small 
number  of  Republicans,  in  the  Buona- 
partists — as  numerous  as  the  discon- 
tented— in  the  holders  of  the  domains 
of  the  emigrants,  who  were  every  day 
more  apprehensive  of  the  loss  of  their 
heritages,  and  of  the  influence  of  those 
who  were  now  protected  by  the  Govern- 
ment. 

81.  Numerous  as  this  band  of  conspi- 
rators was,  it  was  not  on  them  alone  that 
their  leaders  totally,  or  even  chiefly, 
rested.  The  great  object  was  to  seduce 
the  military  actually  in  arms ;  for  long 
experience  had  taught  the  French  that 
it  is  by  them  that  all  social  convulsions 
in  their  country  are,  in  the  last  resort, 
determined.  They  were  not  long  in 
finding  a  few  desperadoes  who  were 
willing  to  execute  their  designs.  A 
captain  in  the  Legion  de  la  Meurthe, 
in  garrison  at  Paris,  named  Nantil,  a 
half -pay  colonel,  named  Sauzet,  and 
a  colonel  of  the  disbanded  Imperial 
Guard,  named  Maziare,  agreed  to  act 
as  leaders.  Their  plan  was  to  surprise 
the  fortress  of  Vincennes,  to  corrupt 
the  regiments  in  Paris,  to  rouse  the 
faubourgs  and  the  schools,  and  with  the 
united  forces  march  on  the  Tuileries. 


the  produce  of  the  sinking  fund,  which,  in  1816,  was  20,000,000,  and  in  1S17  was  increased 
to  40,000,000,  had  been  highly  gratifying.    It  was  as  follows : — 

Sums  applied  (francs).  Annuities  bought  up  (francs). 

1816,  .  .  .  20,439,724  .  1,782,765 

1817,  .  .  .  43,084,946  .  3,322,114 

1818,  .-          .  .  51,832,333  .  3,675,642 

1819,  .  .  .  67,094,682  .  4,854,776 

And  from  a  statement  laid  before  the  Chamber  by  the  celebrated  economist  M.  Ganilil,  it 
appeared  that  before  the  Revolution  the  public  burdens  stood  thus  : — 

Francs. 

Total  taxes,  .....  585,000,000 

Of  which  the  direct  taxes  were— • 


On  realised  property,      .  . 

Industry  and  commerce,  . 

Consumers,          .... 
After  the  Revolution  in  1820  they  stood  thus : — 

Total  revenue  and  taxes, 
Of  which  raised  by  taxes, 
Of  which  the  land  paid, 
Taxed  capital  money, 
Industry  and  commerce, 
Consumers,       .          . 


250,000,000  or    8  1—40  per  cent. 
30,000,000  or    1  1—20 
304,000,000  or  10  1—  2 

Francs.  Francs. 

875,941,663 
800,712,600 

288,000,000,  or  9  francs  16  cents. 
154,000,000,  or  9     ..      16     .. 
56,000,000,  or  1      ..      16     .. 
302,116,300,  or  6     ..      16      .. 


So  that  the  taxes  on  land,  industry,  and  fixed  capital,  had  increased  a  third,  and  those  on 
consumption  had  remained  the  same,  though  their  amount  per  head  diminished,  from  the 
Increase  of  population  in  the  intervening  period,  from  25,000,000  to  30,000,000  souls. — Ann. 
Hist.,  iii.  175,  198,  200;  and  iv.  601,  603. 


112 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  is. 


A  great  number  of  the  half-pay  generals 
of  the  Empire — in  particular,  Generals 
Pajol,  Bacheluz,  Merten,  Maransin, 
Lafitte,  and  superior  officers  in  retire- 
ment— 'Were  engaged  in  the  conspiracy, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  dethrone 
the  Bourbons.  On  that  they  were  all 
agreed;  but  on  ulterior  measures  there 
was  great  difference  of  opinion.  La- 
fayette desired  to  proclaim  a  republic 
or  a  constitutional  monarchy,  whose 
interests  were  identical  with  those  of 
the  Revolution,  and  who  might  be 
"  fettered  by  the  bonds  of  a  represen- 
tative democracy."  The  great  majority 
wished  to  proclaim  Napoleon  II.,  hop- 
ing to  restore  with  him  the  days  of 
glory,  of  promotion,  and  plunder.  La- 
fayette indulged  a  sanguine  hope  that, 
as  Napoleon's  son  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Austrians,  who  would  not  allow 
him  to  accept  the  proffered  crown,  it 
would  become  a  matter  of  necessity  to 
bestow  on  him  the  dictatorship,  of 
which  he  had  enjoyed  a  foretaste  in 
1790,  and  of  which  he  had  dreamed  in 
1815.  The  day  of  rising  was  fixed  for 
19th  August:  Nantil  was  to  raise  his 
legion,  and  head  the  attack ;  Lafayette 
went  to  his  chateau  of  Lagrange  to  rouse 
his  department,  and  aid  in  the  assault 
on  Vincennes;  M.  d'Argensou  set  off 
for  Alsace  to  array  in  arms  its  numerous 
republicans ;  and  M.  de  Corcelles  was 
charged  with  organising  the  revolt  in 
the  great  and  populous  city  of  Lyons. 
82.  An  accidental  circumstance  pre- 
vented this  deeply -laid  design  from 
being  carried  into  effect.  On  the  day 
before  it  was  to  have  taken  place,  an 
explosion  of  powder,  from  fortuitous 
causes,  took  place  in  the  castle  of  Vin- 
cennes, and  this  led  to  the  military 
and  police  being  assembled  in  consi- 
derable numbers  in  that  important  for- 
tress. Their  presence  led  the  conspi- 
rators to  suppose  that  their  designs 
were  discovered,  which  was  really  not 
the  case,  for  they  were  not  fully  brought 
to  light  till  long  afterwards.  Infor- 
mation had,  however,  been  given  to 
Government,  by  some  of  the  officers 
upon  whom  unsuccessful  attempts  had 
been  made,  of  a  plot  to  overturn  the 
Government,  and  the  whole  Ministers, 
in  consequence,  were  summoned  to  the 


Duke  de  Richelieu's  on  the  morning  of 
the  19th.  From  the  information  there 
laid  before  them,  it  was  resolved  to  re- 
move the  Legion  de  la  Meurthe,  which 
was  most  disaffected,  from  Paris  to  the 
frontiers,  and  the  suspected  officers  were 
arrested  in  their  barracks  early  in  the 
forenoon  by  officers  of  the  police.  M. 
de  Latour  Maubourg,  the  War  Minis- 
ter, was  himself  present  when  this  was. 
done.  No  resistance  was  attempted ; 
the  common  soldiers  were  astonished, 
not  irritated ;  it  was  their  officers,  not 
themselves,  who  were  privy  to  the  con- 
spiracy. Before  night,  the  Legion  de 
la  Meurthe  marched  out  for  Landrecies 
in  a  state  of  tumult  and  indiscipline, 
which  recalled  the  description  given  by 
Tacitus  of  the  Roman  legions  in  the 
mutiny  which  Germanicus  repressed. 
Several  of  their  officers  were  arrested 
on  the  march.  Nantil,  and  the  princi- 
pal leaders  of  the  conspiracy,  however, 
made  their  escape. 

83.  Government  acted  with  the  ut- 
most lenity  in  the  prosecutions  conse- 
quent on  this  abortive  revolt.  Lists  of 
the  persons  implicated  in  it  had  been 
furnished  to  the  Ministry,  and  they 
comprised  most  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Liberal  party  in  Paris.  M.  Lafayette 
and  M.  Manuel  were  at  its  head.  Min- 
isters, however,  recoiled  from  the  idea 
of  openly  coming  to  a  rupture  of  an 
irreconcilable  kind  with  the  chiefs  of  a 
party  strong  in  the  Chambers,  strong 
in  popular  support,  strong,  as  had  re- 
cently appeared,  in  the  affections  of  a 
part  at  least  of  the  army.  It  was  doubt- 
ful how  far — however  clear  the  moral 
evidence  might  be — the  complete  mea- 
sure of  legal  proof  could  be  obtained 
against  the  real  but  half- veiled  leaders 
of  the  conspiracy.  It  was  deemed  more 
expedient,  therefore,  to  proceed  only 
against  the  inferior  agents,  and  even 
against  them  in  the  most  lenient  man- 
ner. They  were  sent  for  trial  to  the 
Chamber  of  Peers,  by  whom  a  few,  after 
a  long  interval,  were  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced to  secondary  punishments,  and 
several  acquitted.  But  ten  years  after- 
wards, the  real  leaders  were  revealed  in 
those  who  received  the  rewards  of  trea- 
son, at  a  time  when  none  dared  call  it 
by  its  right  name. 


I 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


113 


84.  Vrhile  conspiracies  so  serious  and 
widespread  were  iu  progress  to  over- 
throw the  dynasty  of  the  Bourbons, 
Providence  appeared  in  an  extraordi- 
nary manner  to  have  interposed  in  their 
behalf;  and  an  event  occurred  which, 
beyond  any  which  had  yet  taken  place, 
derated  the  hopes  of  their  partisans 
throughout  the  country.    The  Duchess 
de  Berri,  notwithstanding  the  dreadful 
shock  received  from  the  murder  of  her 
husband,    went   successfully  through 
the  whole  period  of  her  pregnancy,  and 
on  the  night  of  the  20th  September 
was  safely  delivered  of  a  son,  who  was 
christened  Henry  Duke  of  Bordeaux. 
As  by  the  Salic  Law  males  only  can 
succeed  to  the  throne  of  France,  and 
the  infant  which  the  duchess  bore  was 
the  last  hope  of  continuing  the  direct 
line  of  succession,  the  utmost  pains 
•were  taken  to  secure  decisive  evidence 
of  the  child  really  being  of  the  royal 
line.     The  moment  the  duchess  was 
seized  with  her  pains,  she  desired  that 
Marshal  the  Duke  of  Albufera  (Suchet) 
should  be  sent  for,  and  she  had  the 
courage  and  presence  of  mind,  after  the 
delivery  was  over,  to  insist  that  the 
umbilical  cord  should  not  bo  cut  till 
the  marshal  with  his  own.  eyes  had  been 
satisfied  with  the  reality  of  the  birth 
and  the  sex  of  the  infant.     Several  of 
the  Guard,  besides  the  usual  attendants 
on  the  princess,  were  also  eyewitnesses 
to  the  birth.     The  old  king  hastened 
to  the  apartment  on  the  first  alarm, 
and  when  the  infant  was  presented  to 
him,  said,   "Here  is  a  fine  Duke  de 
Bordeaux  :  he  is  born  for  us  all ; "  and 
taking  a  few  drops  of  the  wine  of  Pau, 
which  according  to  old  tradition  had 
anointed  the  lips  of  Henry  IV.  before 
he  had  received  his  mother's  milk,  did 
the  same  to  his  infant   descendant. 
Then  taking  a  glass,  ho  filled  it,  and 
drank  to  the  health  of  the  duchess. 
"  Sire  !  "  she  replied,  "  I  wish  I  knew 
the  song  of  Jean  d'Albret,  that  every- 
thing sliould  be  done  here  as  at  the 
birth  of  Henry  IV." 

85.  No  words  can  convey  an  idea  of 
the  transports  into  which  the  Royal- 
ists were  thrown  over  all  France  by 
this  auspicious  event ;  and  even  those 

VOL.  n. 


of  the  opposite  parties  could  not  resist 
feeling  the  influence  of  the  general  en- 
thusiasm. There  was  something  in  the 
birth  of  the  infant — the  last  remnant 
of  a  long  line  of  kings,  and  who  had 
been  born  in  so  interesting  and  almost 
miraculous  a  manner  after  his  father's 
death — which  spoke  to  every  heart. 
The  general  enthusiasm  exceeded  even 
that  felt  at  the  birth  of  the  King  of 
Rome,  ten  years  before — for  Napoleon 
might  have  had  many  other  sons — but 
no  one,  save  this  infant,  could  transmit 
in  the  direct  line  the  blood  of  Henry 
IV.  and  Louis  XIV.  to  future  gene- 
rations. It  had  been  stated  that 
twelve  cannon-shots  should  announce 
the  birth  of  a  daughter,  twenty-four  of 
a  son.  When  the  guns  began  to  fire, 
all  Paris  was  roused,  and  in  speechless 
anxiety  watched  the  successive  dis- 
charges ;  but  when  the  thirteenth  re- 
port announced  that  an  heir  to  the 
monarchy  had  been  born,  the  transports 
were  universal.  The  telegraph  speedily 
conveyed  it  to  every  part  of  France, 
and  the  thirteenth  gun  in  all  the  for- 
tresses and  harbours  announced  the 
joyful  intelligence  to  the  people.  One 
would  have  supposed,  from  the  uni- 
versal joy,  that  France  had  but  one 
heart — one  soul — so  strongly  had  the 
romantic  and  interesting  circumstances 
of  the  birth  wrought  upon  the  public 
mind.  Congratulatory  addresses  from 
every  part  of  the  country  poured  in  to 
the  king  and  the  duchess,  and  the  grace 
of  her  manner  and  felicity  of  her  an- 
swers added  to  the  general  enchant- 
ment. A  protest,  in  the  name  of  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  was  published  in  the 
London  papers,  though  disavowed  by 
that  prince  ;  but  he  asked  the  import- 
ant question  solemnly  of  the  Duke  of 
Albufera — "  M.  le  MarechaL"  said  he, 
"  you  are  a  man  of  honour  ;  you  were 
a  witness  of  the  accouchement  of  the 
Duchess  de  Berri.  Is  she  really  the 
motherofaboy  ? "  "As  certainly  as  your 
royal  highness  is  father  of  the  Duke  do 
Chartres,"  replied  the  marshal.  "That 
is  enough,  M.  le  Marechal,"  rejoined 
the  Duke  ;  and  he  immediately  went 
with  the  duchess  to  congratulate  the 
happy  mother,  and  salute  the  infant 


Ill 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


•who  might  one  day  he  their  king.  At 
the  same  time,  the  Duchess  de  Berri 
gave  proof  that  she  was  animated  with 
the  sublime  spirit  of  forgiveness  shown 
on  his  deathbed  by  her  Imsband,  by 
requesting  and  obtaining  the  pardon  of 
two  men,  named  Gravin  and  Bonton, 
sentenced  to  death  for  an  attempt  on 
her  life,  or  that  of  her  child,  which  she 
did  in  terms  so  touching,  that  they  de- 
serve a  place  even  in  general  history.* 
Her  conduct  at  this  period  was  so 
generous  and  noble,  that  the  Emperor 
Alexander  expressed  Ms  admiration  of 
it  in  a  touching  epistle  addressed  with 
his  own  hand  to  the  princess. 

86.  The  birth  of  the  Duke  de  Bor- 
deaux, which  afforded  so  fair  a  prospect 
of  continuing  the  direct  line  of  succes- 
sion, confirming  the  dynasty  of  the 
Bourbons,  and  establishing  the  peace 
of  Europe,  was  too  important  an  event 
not  to  awake  the  general  sympathy  and 
interest  of  the  European  powers.  Con- 
gratulations were  received  from  all 
quarters  :  that  from  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander was  peculiarly  warm  and  cordial. 
The  corps  diplomatique  of  Paris  ex- 
pressed a  striking  sentiment  on  this 
occasion  in  the  words,  "  Providence 
has  awarded  the  greatest  possible  bless- 
ing to  the  paternal  tenderness  of  your 
Majesty.  The  child  of  grief,  of  regrets, 
of  tears,  is  also  the  child  of  Europe — 
he  is  at  once  the  guarantee  and  the 
pledge  of  the  repose  and  peace  which 
should  follow  so  many  agitations." 

*  "  Sire !  comme  je  ne  pnis  voir  le  Roi 
aujourd'hui,  je  lui  eons  pour  lui  demander  la 
grace  de  deux  malheureux  qui  ont  6t6  con- 
damne's  a  mort  pour  tentative  contre  ma  per- 
sonne.  Je  serais  au  dSsespoir  qu'il  put  y 
avoir  des  Francais  qui  mourussent  pour  moi : 
1'ange  que  je  pleure  demandait  en.  mourant  la 
grace  de  son  meurtrier,  il  sera  1'arbitre  de 
ma  vie ;  me  permettez-vous,  mon  oncle,  de 
1'imiter,  et  de  supplier  votre  Majcste  d'ac- 
corder  la  grace  de  la  vie  a  ces  deux  infor- 
tun6s?  L'auguste  exemple  du  Eoi  nous  a 
habitue's  a  la  cle'mence ;  daignera-t-il  per- 
mettre  que  les  premiers  instants  de  1'existence 
de  mon  Henri,  de  mon  cher  flls,  du  votre,  du 
fils  de  la  France,  soient  marque's  par  un  par- 
don? Excuscz,  mon  cher  oncle,  la  liberte 
que  j'ose  prendre  de  vous  ouvrir  mon  cceur  ; 
dans  toutes  les  occasions  votre  indulgente 
"bonte'  m'y  a  encourage'e.  Je  supplie  le  Roi 
d'excuser  ma  hardiesse,  et  de  croire  au  res- 
pect profond  avec  lequel  je  suis,"  &e.— Caro- 
line Dvchesse  de  Berri  au  Roi  de  France,  28 
.Sept.  1S20. 


This  expression  revealed  the  feeling  of 
the  European  powers  :  it  was,  that  the 
elder  branch  of  the  Bourbons  was  the 
sole  pledge  for  the  peace  of  Europe, 
and  that  the  newborn  infant  was  the 
bond  which  was  to  unite  its  rulers. 
The  Emperor  Alexander  wrote  to  Louis 
— "  The  birth  of  the  Duke  of  Bor- 
deaux is  an  event  which  I  consider  as 
most  fortunate  for  the  peace  of  Europe, 
and  which  affords  just  consolation  to 
your  family.  I  pray  your  Majesty  to 
believe  that  I  adopt  the  title  of  the 
'  child  of  Europe,'  which  the  diplo- 
matic body  has  already  bestowed  upon 
him."  Promotions,  honours,  and  gra- 
tifications were  bestowed  in  the  most 
liberal  manner  in  France  :  the  crown 
debtors  were  nearly  all  liberated  from 
prison  ;  most  of  the  political  offenders 
pardoned  ;  immense  sums  bestowed  in 
charity ;  and  a  great  creation  of  the 
order  of  the  Cordon  Bleu  attested  at 
once  the  gratitude  and  liberality  of  the 
sovereign. 

87.  But  though  these  circumstances 
augured  favourably  for  the  stability  of 
the  dynasty,  and  the  consequent  peace 
of  Europe,  symptoms  were  not  awant- 
ing  of  a  divergence  of  opinion,  which 
portended  divisions  that  might  prove 
fatal  in  future  times.  It  was  with  the 
Doctrinaires  that  the  rupture  first  took 
place.  This  party,  which  afterwards, 
from  the  talents  of  some  of  its  mem.' 
bers,  became  so  celebrated,  had  alread; 
become  important,  from  its  positi< 
between  the  two  great  parties  whi 
divided  the  State,  and  its  power, 
inclining  to  either  side,  to  give  a  pre- 
ponderance to  either.  The  conduct  of 
the  leaders  of  this  party  during  tho 
session,  if  not  decidedly  hostile  to  the 
Ministry,  had  been  equivocal ;  and  the 
increasing  leaning  of  Ministers  to  tho 
Royalist  side,  since  the  great  reaction 
consequent  on  the  death  of  the  Duke 
de  Berri,  had  rendered  the  position, 
which  they  still  held  under  the  Ad- 
ministration precarious  and  painful. 
At  the  same  time  Government  could 
not  dispense  with  the  support  of  tho 
Royalists,  for  it  was  by  their  aid  alone 
that  the  majorities,  slender  as  they 
were,  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  had 
been  obtained.  The  Doctrinaires  h 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


115 


become  sensible  of  the  great  error  into 
which  they  had  fallen  in  supporting 
the  coup  d'etat  of  5th  September  1816, 
which  changed  the  Electoral  Law ;  and 
it  was  by  the  secession  of  a  part  of  their 
members  from  the  Liberal  ranks  that 
the  amendment  of  M.  Boin,  which 
again  changed  it,  had  been  carried. 
But  on  other  points  they  were  decid- 
edly opposed  to  the  Government  as 
row  constituted ;  and  the  divergence 
"before  the  close  of  the  session  had  be- 
come so  evident,  that  neither  the  se- 
curity of  the  one  party,  nor  the  char- 
acter of  the  other,  would  admit  of  their 
longer  remaining  united.  The  Duke 
de  Richelieu,  accordingly,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  M.  Laine,  who  had  been 
much  hurt  by  a  speech  of  M.  Royer- 
Collard  on  the  budget,  took  his  reso- 
lution, in  which  he  was  unanimously 
supported  by  the  Cabinet ;  and  the 
Monitcur,  in  announcing,  after  the 
close  of  the  session,  the  names  of  the 
Council  of  State,  omitted  those  of 
Royer-Collard,  Guizot,  Barante,  Cam- 
ille-Jourdan,  and  Mirbel.  Four  pre- 
fects, who  were  known  to  belong  to 
the  same  party,  were  dismissed  from 
office.  At  the  same  time,  the  Duke 
de  Richelieu  had  several  conferences 
with  M.  de  Villele  and  M.  Corbiere, 
on  the  conditions  of  a  cordial  union 
with  the  Royalist  party. 

88.  Although  the  great  abilities  of 
the  persons  thus  dismissed  from  the 
Government  deprived  them  of  very 
powerful  support,  especially  in  debate, 
yet  in  truth  the  severance  was  un- 
avoidable, for  there  was  an  irreconcil- 
able difference  between  them.  It  arose 
from  principle,  and  an  entirely  differ- 
ent view  of  the  most  desirable  struc- 
ture of  society,  or  of  what  was  prac- 
ticable under  existing  ciicumstances. 
The  Doctrinaires  were  conservative  in 
their  views,  but  they  were  so  on  the 
principles  of  the  Revolution.  They 
adored  the  equality  which  was  at  once 
the  object  of  its  ambition,  and  the 
victory  it  had  achieved.  They  thought 
it  was  possible,  on  the  basis  of  abso- 
lute equality,  to  construct  the  fabric 
of  constitutional  monarchy  and  regu- 
lated freedom.  They  wished  a  hier- 
archy, but  it  was  one,  not  of  rank,  or 


territories,  or  fortune,  but  of  talent ; 
and,  being  conscious  of  great  abilities 
in  themselves,  they  indulged  the  secret 
hope  that  under  such  a  system  they 
would  rise  to  the  power  and  eminence 
which  they  were  conscious  their  capa- 
city deserved.  They  had  the  natural 
jealousy  which  intellectual  always  feels 
of  political  power,  and  felt  the  utmost 
repugnance  at  the  restoration  of  those 
distinctions  in  society  which  tended  to 
re-establish  the  ancient  supremacy  of 
rank  or  fortune.  In  a  word,  they 
were  the  philosophers  of  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  and  philosophers,  when  they  are 
not  the  sycophants,  are  always  the 
rivals  of  nobles. 

89.  The  Royalists,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  set  upon  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent set  of  objects.  They  were  as 
well  aware  as  the  Doctrinaires  that 
the  old  regime  could  not  be  re-estab- 
lished, that  feudality  was  for  ever 
abolished,  and  that  general  liberty  was 
at  once  the  birthright  and  greatest 
blessing  of  man.  But  they  thought  it 
could  only  be  secured  by  the  continu- 
ance of  the  monarchy,  and  that  con- 
stitutional government  was  impossible 
without  the  reconstruction  of  a  terri- 
torial nobility  and  ecclesiastical  hier- 
archy, who  might  be  at  once  a  support 
of  the  throne  and  a  check  upon  its 
power.  Absolute  equality,  according 
to  them,  was  the  best  possible  founda- 
tion for  Eastern  despotism,  but  the 
worst  for  European  freedom ;  you 
might  as  well  construct  a  palace  out 
of  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  as  a  consti- 
tutional monarchy  out  of  the  absolute 
equality  of  classes.  Infidelity  had  been 
the  principle  of  the  Revolution  in  mat- 
ters of  belief ;  the  only  foundation  for 
the  monarchy  was  to  be  found  in  the 
restoration  of  the  influence  of  the  an- 
cient faith.  The  centralisation  of  all 
power  in  the  capital  by  the  system  of 
the  Revolution,  and  the  destruction  of 
all  power  in  the  provinces  by  the  divi- 
sion of  property,  threatened,  in  their 
view,  the  total  destruction  of  public 
freedom,  and  would  leave  France  no 
other  destiny  but  that  of  an  armed 
democracy  or  an  irresistible  despotism. 
The  sequel  of  this  history  will  show 
which  of  these  sets  of  opinions  was  the 


116 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


better  founded  ;  in  the  mean  time,  it 
is  obvious  that  they  were  wholly  irre- 
concilable with  each  other,  and  that 
no  harmonious  cabinet  could  by  possi- 
bility be  constructed  out  of  the  leaders 
of  such  opposite  parties.  * 

90.  The  great  military  conspiracy, 
which  was  to  have  broken  out  on  19th 

*  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  in  an  article  in  the 
Conservateur,  on  30th  Nov.  1819,  lias  well  ex- 
plained the  views  and  intentions  of  the  Roy- 
alists at  this  period ;  and  subsequent  events 
have  rendered  his  words  prophetic  :  "  Voila 
done  les  Royalistes  au  pouvoir,  fermeinent 
rtisolus  a  maintenir  la  Charte  ;  tout  leur  edi- 
fice sera  pose  sur  ce  foudement ;  mais,  au 
liau  de  batir  une  democratic,  ils  <§leveront 
une  monarchic.    Ainsi  leur  premier  devoir, 
comme  leur  premier  soin,  serait  de  changer 
la  loi  des  elections.     Ils  feraient  en  meme 
temps  retrancher  de  la  loi  de  recrutement  le 
titre  VI., t  et  rendraient  ainsi  a  la  couronne, 
une  des  plus  importantes  prerogatives.     Ils 
retabliraient  dans  la  loi  sur  la  liberte  de  la 
presse  le  mot  "Religion,"  qu'a  leur  honte 
eternelle,  de  pretendus  hommes  d'Etat  en 
ont  banni    Ministres !  vous  fondez  une  legis- 
lation, et  elle  produira  des  moem-s  conformes 
a  vos  regies. 

"Apres  la  modification  des  lois  capitales, 
les  Royalistes  proposeraient  les  lois  les  plus 
nionarchiques,  sur  1'organisation  des  com- 
munes et  sur  la  Garde  Rationale.  Ils  affaibli- 
raient  le  systeme  de  centralisation  ;  ils  rend- 
raient une  puissance  salutaire  aux  conseils 
generaux.  Creant,  partout,  des  agregations 
d'interets,  ils  les  substitueraient  a  ces  indi- 
vidualites  trop  favorables  a  1'etablissement 
de  la  tyrannic.  En  un  mot,  ils  recom- 
poseraient  1'aristocratie,  troisiemt  pouvoir 
qul  manque  a  nos  institutions,  et  dont  1'ab- 
sence  produit  le  frotteiuent  dangereux  que 
Ton  remarque  aujourd'hui  entre  la  puissance 
royale  et  la  puissance  populaire.  C'est  dans 
cette  vue,  que  les  Royalistes  solliciteraient 
les  substitutions  en  faveur  de  la  Pairie.  Ils 
chercheraient  a  arreter,  par  tous  les  inoyens 
legaux,  la  division  des  proprietes,  division 
qui,  dans  trente  ans,  en  realitant  la  roi  agraire, 
nous  fera  tomber  en  democratic  forcle. 

"  Une  autre  mesure  importante  serait  en- 
core prise  par  1'administration  Royaliste. 
Cette  administration  demanderait  aux  Cham- 
bres,  taut  dans  1'interet  des  acquereurs  que 
dans  celui  des  anctens  proprie'taires,  une  juste 
indemnite"  pour  les  families  qui  qnt  perdu 
leurs  biens  dans  le  cours  de  la  Revolution. 
Les  deux  especes  de  proprietes  qui  existent 
parmi  nous,  et  qui  creent,  pour  ainsi  dire, 
deux  peuples  sur  le  moment,  sont  la  grande 
plaie  de  la  France.  Pour  la  gueYir,  les  Roy- 
alistes n'auraient  que  le  me'rite  de  faire  revirre 
la  proposition  de  M.  le  Mare'chal  Macdonald, 
'  On  appreTid  tout  dans  les  camps  Francais  : 
la  justice  comme  la  gloire.'" — Conservateur, 
30  Nov.  1819 ;  and  CEvxres  de  M.  CHATEAU- 
BRIAND, xx.  270,  271. 

*  That  regulating  the  promotion  of  officers  irrespective 
c  f  lUt  Crowu.— Ante,  ch.  ri.  K«t.  17. 


August,  had  its  ramifications  in  the 
provinces,  and  in  several  places  the 
disturbances  which  ensued  required  to 
be  coerced  by  open  force.  At  Brest, 
M.  Ballart,  the  deputy,  was  openly 
insulted  by  the  populace,  and  the  na- 
tional guard  evinced  such  symptoms- 
of  disaffection  that  it  required  to  be 
dissolved.  At  Sauniur,  il.  Benjamin 
Constant  was  threatened  by  the  schol- 
ars of  the  military  school  for  cavalry. 
Everything  indicated  the  approach  of 
the  most  fearful  of  all  contests — a  con- 
test of  classes.  The  exasperation  of 
parties,  as  usual  in  cases  where  they 
are  nearly  balanced,  was  extreme ;  the 
Royalists  were  excited  by  the  prospect 
of  ere  long  attaining  power,  the  Libe- 
rals exasperated  at  the  thoughts  of  los- 
ing it.  The  ruling  principle  with  the- 
Duke  de  Richelieu,  and  which  had  di- 
rected the  distribution  of  the  honours- 
of  the  Cordon  Bleu,  had  been  to  form  a 
new  hierarchy,  drawn  from  all  classes, 
around  the  throne,  and  thus  to  interest 
in  its  support  alike  the  Liberals,  Im- 
perialists, and  Royalists.  This  maxim 
had  been  acted  upon  with  great  dis- 
crimination and  success  ;  but  now  the 
violent  exasperation  of  parties,  and  the 
ascertained  conspiracies  in  the  army, 
rendered  it  advisable  to  adopt  still 
more  vigorous  measures  of  concilia- 
tion, and  those  resolved  on  were  the 
following. 

91.  A  new  organisation  was  given 
to  the  household  of  the  king,  which 
embraced  a  considerable  extension.  It 
was  divided  into  six  departments,  the 
heads  of  four  of  which  were  great  offi- 
cers of  the  Crown,  and  the  other  two- 
great  officers  of  the  household.*  The 
king  regulated  these  departments  en- 
tirely himself,  and  never  would  per- 
mit any  interference  on  the  part  of  his 
Cabinet  Ministers.  He  said,  and  not 
without  reason,  that  as  he  left  them 
the  disposal  of  all  the  offices  of  state, 
they  might  leave  him  the  patronage 

*  Viz.  :  "  De  la  grande  Aumonerie,  du 
grand  Maitre,  du  grand  Chambellan,  du  grand 
Ecuyer,  du  grand  Veneur,  du  grand  Maitre 
des  Ceremonies.  Le  grand  Veneur  et  le  grand 
Maitre  des  Ceremonies  etaient  grands  officiers- 
de  la  maison;  les  autres,  grands  officiers  de  la 
couronne." — Hittoire  de  la  Restauration,  viL 
114. 


I 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


117 


of  his  own  household.  In  filling  up 
the  situations,  however,  he  carried  out 
to  its  full  extent  the  system  of  fusion, 
on  which  he  was  so  much  bent.  M. 
<le  Lauriston  was  put  at  the  head  of 
the  household,  in  reward  of  his  mili- 
tary services,  and  recent  activity  in 
suppressing  the  disturbances  in  Brest. 
His  devotion  to  the  royal  family,  good 
sense,  and  discernment,  justified  the 
choice.  But  so  far  did  the  king  go 
in  his  desire  to  conciliate  all  parties, 
that  he  appointed  General  Rapp,  a 
brave  and  distinguished,  but  rough 
and  homespun  veteran  of  Napoleon's, 
Grand  Master  of  the  Wardrobe.  The 
old  soldier,  however,  soon  showed,  that 
if  he  had  been  bred  in  camps,  he  could 
take  on,  late  in  life,  if  not  the  polish, 
at  least  the  address  of  courts  ;  for,  on 
•occasion  of  the  death  of  Napoleon, 
which  soon  after  ensued,  having  been 
gently  chid  by  the  king  for  the  extreme 
grief  which  he  manifested,  he  replied : 
"Ah  !  Sire,  I  owe  him  everything — 
«ven  the  happiness  of  serving  your 
Majesty." 

92.  A  more  important  change  was 
adopted  soon  after,  which  tended,  more 
than  anything  else,  to  the  prolonged 
existence  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Restora- 
tion. This  was  an  entirely  new  organ- 
isation of  the  army.  The  object  of 
the  former  division  of  the  troops  into 
departmental  legions  had  been,  to  de- 
stroy the  disaffected  spirit  of  the  Im- 
perial army,  by  breaking  up  the  regi- 
ments from  whose  esprit  de  corps  its 
continuance  was  chiefly  to  be  appre- 
hended ;  and  the  measure  had  in  a 
.great  degree  been  attended  with  suc- 
cess. But  the  military  conspiracy  of 
August  19,  and  the  certain  information 
obtained  that  a  considerable  part  of 
the  army  had  been  privy  to  it,  proved 
that  the  new  regulations,  recently  in- 
troduced, regarding  promotion  in  the 
army,  which  determined  it  by  certain 
fixed  rules,  irrespective  of  the  choice 
of  the  sovereign,  was  fraught  with 
danger,  and  might,  at  some  future 
period,  prove  fatal  to  the  monarchy. 
M.  Latour  -  Maubourg,  accordingly, 
felt  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  sys- 
tem ;  and  he  presented  a  report  to  the 
ting,  stating  a  variety  of  considera- 


tions, which,  however  just,  were  not 
the  real  ones,*  which  determined  the 
alteration  he  proposed — a  return  to  the 
old  system.  According  to  his  recom- 
mendation, a  new  ordonnance  was 
issued,  which  re-established  the  army, 
very  much  on  the  footing  on  which  it 
had  stood  prior  to  the  great  change 
introducing  departmental  legions  in 
1815.  The  infantry  was  divided  into 
eighty  regiments,  of  which  sixty  were 
of  the  line,  and  twenty  light  infantry. 
Each  regiment  consisted  of  three  bat- 
talions, and  each  battalion  of  eight 
companies ;  each  company  of  three 
officers  and  eighty  sub -officers  and 
soldiers.  Thus  each  regiment,  includ- 
ing field-officers,  consisted  of  two  thou- 
sand and  ten  men,  and  the  whole  foot- 
soldiers  of  a  hundred  and  sixty-one 
thousand  men.  Fourteen  etats-majors, 
six  legions,  and  between  two  thousand 
and  three  thousand  officers,  were  put 
on  half-pay.  No  change  was  made  on 
the  guards  or  cavalry,  the  spirit  of 
which  was  known  to  be  sufficiently 
good.  The  ordonnance  experienced 
no  resistance  in  any  quarter  ;  very 
much  in  consequence  of  its  gratifying 
the  soldiers,  by  ordering  the  resump- 
tion of  the  old  blue  uniform,  associ- 
ated with  so  many  recollections — a 
change  which  induced  them  to  hope, 
at  no  distant  period,  for  the  restoration 
of  the  tricolor  cockade. 

93.  A  change  not  less  important, 
both  in  its  effects  and  as  indicating 
the  altered  disposition  of  the  Govern- 

*  "Que  Tappet  sous  les  drapeaux  des 
jeunes  soldats  donunit  lieu,  dans  le  systeme 
des  legions,  a  des  depenses  considerables, 
par  la  necessity  de  les  diriger  sur  les  legions 
de  leur  departement,  qtii  en  etait  souvent 
place  a  une  grande  distance ;  or  en  diminuant 
la  distance  a  parcourir,  on  obtenait  avec  tino 
reduction  dans  les  depenses,  1'avantage  de 
eompter  moins  de  deserteurs.  Dans  certaines 
legions  le  nombre  des  sujets  capables  est  si 
grand,  que  1'avancement  qui  leur  est  d<5volu, 
n'offre  pas  assez  de  chances  pour  les  retenir 
au  service,  tandis  que  dans  d'autres  legions 
on  est  totalement  depourvu  de  bons  sous- 
offleiers ;  et  puis,  a  la  guerre,  ou  dans  le  cas 
d'une  expedition  lointaine  un  e've'nement  mal- 
heureux  peserait  tout  entier  sur  la  population 
militaire  de  quelques  de'partements,  et  rend- 
rait  impossible,  pour  longtemps,  la  reorgan- 
isation de  leur  corps." — Rapport  de  M.  de 
(louvion  St-Cyr.  CAPEFIGUE,  Histoire  de  la 
Restauralion,  vii.  115,  116. 


118 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


ment,  was  made  by  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior  in  the  important  matter 
of  public  instruction.  An  ordonnance 
of  the  king  re-established  the  "  Secre- 
taries General"  of  schools,  which  had 
been  abolished  in  1816.  These  officers 
•were  erected  into  a  royal  commission, 
of  which  JM.  Corbiere  soon  became  the 
head  ;  and  their  duty  was  to  exercise 
a  superintendence  over  the  system  of 
education  pursued,  and  the  works  read, 
in  all  the  schools  of  the  kingdom.  As 
they  virtually  came  in  place  of  the  old 
university  of  Napoleon,  and  discharg- 
ed its  functions,  so  they  were  divided 
into  its  departments,  and  resumed  its 
costume.  The  object  of  this  measure, 
as  that  of  Napoleon  had  formerly  been, 
was  to  bring  public  opinion  into  har- 
mony with  the  existing  dynasty  and 
system  of  government  by  moulding 
the  minds  of  the  rising  generation. 
An  academy  of  medicine  was  soon  after 
created  by  the  king,  and  several  strin- 
gent regulations  passed,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  restrain  the  turbulent 
and  refractory  spirit  which,  in  the  late 
tumults,  had  manifested  itself  in  Paris 
in  the  students  of  law  and  physic. 

94.  All  these  matters,  however, 
though  most  momentous  in  their  ulti- 
mate effects,  yielded  in  importance  to 
the  elections,  upon  the  result  of  which 
the  fate  of  the  Ministry,  in  a  great 
measure,  depended,  and  which  were 
this  year  of  the  greater  importance, 
that  they  would  indicate,  for  the  first 
time,  the  working  of  the  new  Electoral 
Law  upon  the  composition  of  the  Legis- 
lature. At  a  Cabinet  Council  assem- 
bled to  consider  this  question,  M.  Pas- 
quier  stated,  that  the  circumstances 
appeared  to  be  so  grave  that  a  circular 
should  be  written  by  the  king  to  the 
electors,  explaining  his  views,  and  the 
course  which  he  was  desirous  they 
should  adopt  on  the  occasion.  Louis 
caught  up  the  idea ;  and,  to  render  the 
royal  intervention  still  more  apparent, 
he  proposed  that  M.  Pasquier  should 
draw  up  the  address,  that  he  should 
correct  it,  copy  it  over  with  his  own 
hand,  and  sign  it,  and  that  lithographic 
copies  of  the  royal  autograph  should  be 
sent  to  every  elector  in  the  kingdom. 
This  was  accordingly  done,  and  a  hun- 


dred thousand  copies  thrown  off  and 
circulated  for  that  purpose.*  This  is- 
a  very  curious  circumstance,  strongly 
indicative  of  how  little  the  first  ele- 
ments of  constitutional  government 
were  understood  in  France.  They 
were  destitute  of  what  must  ever  be 
the  basis  of  the  fabric — the  power  of 
self-direction.  Both  the  Royalists  and 
the  Liberals  were  aware  of  this,  and 
neither  wished  to  alter  it.  They  re- 
garded the  people  as  a  vast  army,  which 
would  best  discharge  its  duties  when  it 
obeyed  with  docility  the  voice  of  its 
chiefs  ;  they  had  no  conception  of  the 
chiefs  obeying  the  voice  of  the  army. 
Sad  and  irremediable  effect  of  the  de- 
struction of  all  intermediate  ranks  and 
influence  by  the  Revolution,  which, 
left  only  the  executive  standing  erect, 
in  awful  strength,  amidst  the  level 
surface  of  the  people.  Of  the  two, 
however,  the  Royalists  were  the  most 
likely,  if  they  had  been  permitted  to> 
do  so,  to  prepare  the  people  for  the 
exercise  of  constitutional  rights ;  be- 
cause they  desired  to  restore  the  nobi- 
lity, hierarchy,  and  provincial  incor- 
porations, by  whom  a  public  opinion 
and  rural  influence,  capable  of  coun- 

*  "Une  liberte  forte  et  legitlme,  fondge 
sur  des  lois  e'mane'e.s  de  son  amour  pour  les 
Franijais,  et  de  son  esperance  des  temps,  etait 
assuree  U  ses  peuples  : '  Ecartez  des  fonctions 
de  depute,'  ajoutait-il,  'les  fauteurs  de  trou- 
bles, les  artisans  de  discordes,  les  propaga- 
teurs  d'injustes  defiances  contre  mon  gou- 
vernement.  II  depend  de  vous  d'assurer  le 
repos,  la  gloire  et  le  bonheur  de  notre  com- 
mune patrie ;  vous  en  avez  la  volonte,  mani- 
festez-la  par  vos  choix.  La  France  touche 
au  moment  de  reeevoir  le  prix  de  tous  ses 
sacrifices,  de  voir  ses  impdts  diminue's,  les 
charges  publiques  alienees ;  et  ce  n'est  pa* 
quand  tout  fleurit  et  tout  prospere,  qu'il  faut 
mettre  dans  les  mains  des  factieux,  et  livrer 
a  leurs  desseins  pervers,  les  arts,  1'industrie, 
la  paix  des  families,  et  une  fflicitd  que  tou» 
les  peuples  de  la  terre  envient.  Vos  de'put^s 
choisis  panni  les  eitoyens,  amis  sineeres  et 
zele"s  de  la  Charte,  devoues  au  trone  et  a  la 
patrie,  affenniront  avec  moi  1'ordre  sans 
lequel  nulle  socie'te  ne  peut  exister ;  et  j'af- 
fermirai  avec  eux  ces  liberte's  que  deux  fois 
je  vous  ai  rendues,  et  qui  ont  tou.jours  en. 
pour  asile  le  trone  de  mes  a'ieux.'" — Louis 
XVIII.  avx  Electeurs,  October  25,  1820  ;  An- 
nuairef  Histonrjues,  iii.  231 ;  and  CAPEFIGUE, 
tJisloire  de  la  Restauration,  vii.  119, 121.  Tha 
idea  of  Louis  XIV.,  "L'etat,  c'est  moi,"  is 
very  apparent  in  this  proclamation  of  hi* 
descendant,  notwithstanding  all  the  lessons 
of  the  Revolution. 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


119 


terbalancing  the  executive,  might  be 
formed.  But  it  is  more  than  doubtful 
•whether  the  attempt  could  have  been 
successful ;  because,  in  their  insane 
passion  for  equality,  the  nation  would 
not  permit  the  foundation  even  of  the 
edifice  to  be  laid. 

95.  At  length  the  elections  came, 
and  were  more  favourable  to  the  Royal- 
ists than  their  most  sanguine  hopes 
could  have  anticipated.    They  demon- 
strated not  only  the  magnitude  of  the 
change  made  on  the  constituency  by 
the  late  alteration  in  the  Electoral  Law, 
but  the  reaction  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  public  mind  from  the  birth  of 
the  Duke  of  Bordeaux,  and  improved 
prospects   of   the   Bourbon  dynasty. 
Not  merely  were  the  whole  new  mem- 
bers elected  for  the  departments  chosen 
for  the  first  time  by  the  fourth  of  the 
whole  who  paid  the  highest  amount  of 
taxes — one  hundred  and  seventy-two 
in  number — with  a  few  exceptions,  on 
the  Royalist  side,  but  even  those  for 
the  arrondissements,  of  whom  a  fifth, 
according  to  the  existing  law,  were 
changed,   proved,   for  the  first  time 
since  the  coup  d'etat  of  5th  September 
1816,  on  the  whole  favourable  to  their 
views.     Out  of  forty-six  to  be  chosen 
to  fill  up  the  fifth,  twenty-nine  were 
Royalists,  and  only  seventeen  Liberal. 
On  the  whole,  the  Royalists  had  now, 
for  the  first  time  since  1815,  obtained 
a  decided  preponderance  in  the  popular 
branch  of  the  legislature.     Passionate- 
ly desirous  of  victory  in  civil  equally 
as  military  contests,  the  majority  of 
the  French  in  any  conflict  invariably, 
irrespective  of  principle,  range  them- 
selves on  the  side   of  success.     The 
principle,  so   strong   in   England,  of 
dogged  resistance  to  victorious  power,  is 
almost  unknown  among  them.     Louis 
XVIII.  was  terrified  at  the  success  of 
the  friends  of  the  monarchy.     "  "We 
shall  be  overwhelmed,  M.  de  Riche- 
lieu," said  he  :  "  can  you  possibly  re- 
strain such  a  majority  ?"     "  We  have 
the  word  of  Monsieur,"   replied  the 
Minister  ;  and  at  all  events,  it  was  in- 
dispensable above  all  to  save  the  mon- 
archy. 

96.  This  great  change  in  the  com- 
position of  the  popular  deputies  proved 


decisively  how  much  the  long-con- 
tinued ascendancy  of  the  Liberals  had 
been  owing  to  the  fatal  ellects  of  a 
constituency  founded  on  one  uniform, 
qualificaticm,  which  the  coup  d'etat  of 
5th  September  1816  had  introduced. 
The  Royalists  and  their  adherents  in 
the  Centre  were  now  fully  two-thirds 
of  the  Assembly ;  and  this  majority 
was  formidable,  not  only  from  its  num- 
ber, but  from  its  ardent  and  uncom- 
promising character.  Now  was  seen 
how  little  crime  advances  any  cause  : 
deeply  did  the  Liberals  mourn  the 
murder  of  the  Duke  de  Berri.  Among 
the  new  deputies  were  upwards  of 
sixty  of  the  old  Chamber  of  1815, 
whom  the  change  in  the  law  had  since 
excluded  from  the  Chamber,  and  who 
had  nursed  in  solitude  their  opinions, 
had  become  confirmed  in  their  preju- 
dices. M.  de  Peyronnet,  who  had 
been  king's  advocate  at  Bourges,  was 
returned,  but  he  was  cautious  and  re- 
served at  first,  and  far  from  presaging 
the  eminence  which  as  Minister  he 
afterwards  attained.  M.  Dudon,  who 
had  commenced  his  official  career  ra- 
ther unfortunately,  soon  rose  to  emi- 
nence, chiefly  from  the  great  facility 
of  speaking  which  he  possessed,  and 
the  energy  with  which  he  defended 
any  cause  which  he  espoused.  Gene- 
ral Donnadieu,  who  had  become  known 
by  the  prompt  suppression  of  the  in- 
surrection at  Grenoble,  and  the  exag- 
geration and  violence  with  which  it 
was  followed,  acquired  distinction  also, 
from  the  intrepidity  of  his  thoughts 
and  the  fearlessness  of  his  language. 
He  was  able  and  energetic  in  his  ideas, 
but  impetuous  and  declamatory  in  his 
language — a  peculiarity  very  common 
with  military  men,  when  they  become 
orators  or  authors,  and  one  which 
sensibly  impedes  their  influence.  An 
ultra-Royalist,  he  included  the  whole 
Ministry  in  his  long-cherished  hatred 
of  M.  Decazes,  and  did  not  advert  to 
the  rapid  modification  towards  Royalist 
principles  which  it  was  undergoing. 
The  Liberals  beheld  with  satisfaction 
those  feuds  among  their  adversaries, 
and  loudly  applauded  General  Donna- 
dieu in  his  diatribes  against  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Duke  de  Richelieu. 


120 


HISTORY  OF  EUKOPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


97.  The  first  public  proof  of  the 
leaning  of  the  Ministry  towards  the 
Eoyalists — which,   in  truth,   had  be- 
come unavoidable  from  the  composi- 
tion of  the  Chambers — was  given  by 
the  appointment  of  M.   de  Chateau- 
briand to  the  embassy  at  Berlin,  which 
he  accepted,  at  the  special  request  of 
the  Duke  de  Richelieu.  It  was  arranged 
between  the  Royalist  chiefs  and  the 
Premier  that  M.  de  Villele  and  M.  de 
Corbiere  should,  at  the  same  time,  be 
taken  into  the   administration ;   but 
there  was  some  difficulty  in  finding,  at 
the  moment,  places  for  men  of  their 
acknowledged  talents  and  weight  in 
the  legislature.     It  was  got  over  by 
the  moderation  of  M.  de  Villele,  who, 
set  on    higher   objects  of  ambition, 
stooped  to  conquer.      ' '  Do  something 
for  Corbiere  :  a  place  in  the  King's 
Council  is  enough  for  me."     It  was 
arranged  accordingly  that  II.   Laine 
should,  in  the  mean  time,  cede  the 
portfolio  of  Public  Instruction  to  M. 
de  Corbiere,  and  that  M.  de  Villele 
should  be  admitted  without  office  into 
the  Cabinet ;  but  the  appointment  did 
not  appear  in  the  MonUeur  till  after 
the  session  commenced.  The  only  con- 
dition which  M.  de  Villele  made  on 
entering  the  Cabinet  was,  that  a  new 
Municipal  Law  should  be  introduced 
by  the  Government,  which  was  done 
accordingly. 

98.  The  Chambers  met  on  the  20th 
December,  and  the  speech  of  the  king, 
which  was  delivered  in  the  hall  of  the 
Louvre  bearing  the  name  of  Henry  IV. , 
on  account  of  the  health  of  his  majesty 
not  permitting  him  to  go  to  the  Pa- 
lace of  the  Legislative  Body,  earnestly 
counselled  moderation  and  unanimity. 
"Everything   announced,"    said   he, 
"  that   the  modifications   introduced 
into  our  electoral  system  will  produce 
the  desired  results.    Whatever  adds  to 
the  influence  and  consideration  of  the 
legislature,  adds  to  the  authority  and 
dignity  of  my  crown.    By  strengthen- 
ing the  relations  necessary  between  the 
monarch  and  the  Chambers,  we  shall 
succeed  in  forming  such  a  system  of 
government  as  a  great  monarchy  such 
as  France  will  require  in  all  time  to 
come.     It  is  to  accomplish  these  de- 


signs that  I  would  see  the  days  pro- 
longed which  Providence  may  accord 
to  me  ;  and,  to  insure  this  great  object, 
desire  that  you  may  reckon  on  my  firm 
and  invariable  will,  and  I  on  your 
loyal  and  constant  support."  The  ad- 
dress was,  as  usual,  an  echo  of  the 
speech  ;  but  it  terminated  with  expres- 
sions which  revealed  the  ruling  feelings 
of  the  majority,  and  furnish  the  key  to 
nearly  the  whole  subsequent  career  of 
the  Royalist  administration  in  France. 
"  To  fortify  the  authority  of  religion, 
and  purify  morals  by  a  system  of  edu- 
cation at  once  Christian  and  monarch- 
ical ;  to  give  to  the  armed  force  that 
organisation  which  may  secure  tran- 
quillity within  and  peace  without ;  to 
improve  all  our  institutions  which  rest 
on  the  Charter,  and  are  intended  to 
protect  our  liberties — such  are  the  well- 
known  intentions  of  your  Majesty,  and 
such  also  are  our  duties.  We  will  pur- 
sue these  ameliorations  with  the  mode- 
ration which  is  the  accompaniment  of 
strength  ;  we  will  obtain  them  by  pa- 
tience, which  is  the  act  of  awaiting  in 
patience  the  fruits  of  the  beneficial 
changes  already  introduced.  May 
Heaven,  measuring  the  years  of  your 
Majesty  by  the  wishes  and  prayers  of 
your  people,  cause  to  dawn  on  France 
those  happy  and  serene  days  which  are 
presaged  by  the  birth  of  a  new  heir  to 
the  throne."  "  You  have  expressed," 
said  the  monarch  in  reply,  "  my  in- 
tentions, and  your  answer  is  a  pledge 
that  you  will  second  them.  I  repeat 
it :  if  I  wish  to  prolong  my  days,  it  is 
to  consolidate  the  institutions  I  have 
given  to  my  people.  But  whatever  may 
be  the  intentions  of  Providence,  let  us 
never  forget  our  constitutional  maxim, 
'  The  king  never  dies  in  France. ' " 

99.  Although  these  expressions  and 
allusions  seemed  to  presage  an  im- 
portant and  perhaps  eventful  session, 
yet  it  proved  otherwise,  and  the  ses- 
sion passed  over  with  fewer  legislative 
measures  of  importance  than  any 
which  had  occurred  since  the  Restora- 
tion. The  reason  was  that  the  Royalist 
majority  was  so  decided  that  the  strife 
of  party  was  over,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  as  they  were  still  in  a  minority 
in  the  Cabinet,  they  could  not  bring 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


121 


forward  those  measures  on  which  their 
leaders  were  set,  with  a  view  to  modify 
the  general  frame  and  influence  of  Gov 
eminent.  The  initiation  of  laws  still 
belonged  to  the  king's  Ministers  :  the 
Opposition  could  only  introduce  their 
ideas  by  amendments,  which,  however, 
often  assumed  the  importance  of  ori- 
ginal propositions.  An  important  bill 
in  its  practical  effects,  though  not  so 
much  so  in  appearance,  was  introduced 
and  canied,  to  determine  the  bound- 
aries of  electoral  districts.  It  was 
intended  to  increase  the  Royalist  in- 
fluence, and  did  so  most  effectually. 
Great  difficulty  was  experienced  in  ar- 
ranging the  details  of  the  municipal 
law  which  had  been  promised  to  M. 
de  Villele,  but  at  length  M.  Moonier 
succeeded  in  drawing  one  which  met 
the  views  of  both  parties.  But  being 
founded  on  a  compromise,  it  was  really 
acceptable  to '  neither  ;  and  it  expe- 
rienced so  much  resistance  in  the 
Chamber  that  after  a  prolonged  dis- 
cussion it  was  at  length  withdrawn. 
The  king  said  on  this  occasion :  "I 
had  abandoned  the  rights  of  the  crown ; 
the  Chambers  would  not  permit  it :  I 
have  learned  a  lesson. " 

100.  The  strength  of  the  Royalists 
in  the  Chamber  made  Ministers  feel 
the  necessity  of  bringing  forward  some 
measure  in  support  of  the  Church,  up- 
on which  they  were  so  anxiously  set. 
They  did  so  accordingly,  and  the  law 
they  proposed  gave  the  king  power  to 
«stablish  twelve  new  bishoprics,  and  to 
raise  considerably  the  salaries  of  the 
clergy  in  those  situations  where  it 
might  be  deemed  necessary.  The  re- 
port of  the  commission,  to  whom  the 
matter  was  referred,  bore  "  that  reli- 
gion, resting  between  the  two  con- 
cordats of  1801  and  1817,  without  any 
solid  basis,  was  reduced  with  its  min- 
isters to  the  most  deplorable  state,  to 
which  the  legislature  is  not  sufficiently 
ilivf.  The  absolute  absence  of  religion 
in  the  country  districts  is  an  evil  to 
which  no  other  is  comparable.  Civil- 
isation is  the  perfection  of  the  laws — 
very  different  from  politeness,  which 
is  the  perfection  of  the  arts — and  is 
nothing  but  Christianity  applied  to  the 
legislation  of  societies. "  The  law  met 


with  very  violent  opposition  from  tho 
Liberal  party  in  the  Chamber,  but  it 
passed  by  a  majority  of  more  than  two 
to  one — the  numbers  being  219  to  105  : 
a  result  which  sufficiently  indicated  the 
vast  change  which  the  recent  altera- 
tions in  the  Electoral  Law  had  made  in 
the  popular  branch  of  the  legislature. 
101.  The  return  of  peace,  and  open- 
ing of  its  harbours  to  the  commerce  of 
all  nations,  had  produced,  though  in  a 
lesser  degree,  the  same  effect  in  France 
as  in  Great  Britain.  Importation  had 
increased  to  a  degree  which  excited 
alarm  ;  and  the  grain  districts  loudly 
demanded  some  restrictions  upon  fo- 
reign importation,  as  a  protection  to 
native  industry.  In  the  course  of  the 
discussion,  M.  de  Villele  stated  that 
the  annual  consumption  of  France  was 
160,000,000  hectolitres  of  grain  ;  that 
the  crop  of  1819  had  exceeded  that 
amount  by  a  tenth  ;  notwithstanding 
which  1,400,000  hectolitres,  or  about 
T§6  of  the  annual  consumption,  had 
been  imported  ;  while  the  exportation 
had  only  been  538,000  hectolitres; 
leaving  a  balance  of  862, 000  hectolitres 
introduced  when  not  required.  Tho 
import  duty  paid  on  these  862,000 
hectolitres  was  2,573,000  francs.  The 
importation  came  chiefly  from  Odessa, 
America,  and  Egypt.  The  regulations 
proposed  and  adopted  in  consequence 
were  chiefly  of  a  local  character,  throw- 
ing restrictions  on  the  importation  of 
foreign  grain,  by  limiting  the  number 
of  places  where  it  might  be  received. 
But  the  increased  importation,  even 
under  the  considerable  protecting  duty 
which  existed  in  France,  is  a  valuable 
illustration  of  the  eternal  law,  that  the 
old  and  rich  state  is  always  under- 
sold in  the  productions  of  subsistence 
by  the  poor  one,  as  much  as  it  under- 
sells the  latter  in  the  production  of 
manufactures.* 

*  The  price  of  wheat  at  Odessa  was,  on  an 
average,  this  year — which  was  there  one  of 
scarcity — 12  francs  ;  freight  to  Marseilles,  2 
francs  50  cents,  and  the  import  duty  5  francs 
50  cents  ;  in  all  20  francs  (16s.)  the  hectolitre, 
or  48s.  the  quarter.  The  usual  price  at  Odessa 
was  4  francs  the  hectolitre,  which  corres- 
ponds to  about  12  fiancs  (10s.)  the  quarter. 
Exportation  was  permitted  in  France  by  the 
law  of  14th  December  1814,  only  when  the 
price  in  the  frontier  departments  was  23 


122 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


102.  A  law  which  excited  much  more 
attention,  though  not  of  so  much  real 
importance,  was  brought  forward  by 
Government  for  an  indemnity  to  the 
Imperial  donataries.  These  were  the 
marshals,  generals,  and  others  whom, 
as  explained  in  a  former  work,  Napo- 
leon had  endowed,  often  richly,  out  of 
the  revenues  of  Italy,  Germany,  and 
other  countries  over  which  his  power 
extended,  during  the  spring-tide  of  his 
fortunes,  but  who,  by  the  refluence 
of  his  dominion  to  the  limits  of  Old 
France,  had  been  entirely  bereaved  of 
their  possessions,  and  were  reduced  to 
great  straits  in  consequence.  The  dis- 
tresses of  these  persons  had  been  such, 
that  they  obtained  a  slight  relief  from 
the  Treasury  by  the  finance  law  of  1818, 
but  now  it  was  proposed  to  give  them 
a  durable  indemnity.  As  many  of 
these  persons  were  of  the  highest  rank, 
and  their  names  associated  with  the 
most  glorious  epochs  of  the  Empire, 
the  proposal  excited  a  very  great  sen- 
sation, and  was  loudly  applauded  by 
the  Imperial  party,  who  were  to  profit 
by  it.  The  intention  of  Government 
was  to  make  this  grant  to  the  time- 
honoured  relics  of  the  Imperial  regime 
a  precedent  for  the  great  indemnity 
which  they  meditated  to  the  emigrants 
and  others  who  had  been  dispossessed 
of  their  estates  by  the  Revolution ;  for 
after  the  Liberals  had  unanimously 
supported  grants  from  the  public  funds 
for  the  relief  of  their  chiefs  who  had 
lost  their  possessions  by  the  calamities 
of  war,  it  was  not  easy  to  see  on  what 
principle  they  could  oppose  a  similar 
grant  to  the  sufferers  under  the  confis- 
cations of  the  Revolution.  The  Royal- 
ists, however,  did  not  see  this,  or  they 
had  no  faith  in  the  existing  Minis- 
try carrying  out  this  design,  as  Mar- 
shal Macdonald,  who  introduced  the 
project  in  1814,  had  intended,  and 
it  met  accordingly  with  the  most  im- 
francs  for  the  best  wheat,  21  francs  for  the 
second,  and  19  francs  for  the  third,  which 
showed  that  the  average  cost  of  production 
was  above  the  highest  of  these  sums.  The 
import  duty  was  5  francs  50  cents  the  hecto- 
litre ;  but  even  at  this  high  import  duty  the 
influx  of  foreign  grain  from  America,  Odessa, 
and  the  Nile,  had  caused  a  ruinous  fall  of 
prices  in  all  the  southern  provinces. — L'An- 
nuaire  Historique,  iv.  75. 


passioned  resistance  from  the  Right  of 
the  Assembly.  No  words  can  describe 
ihe  indignation  of  the  Royalists  when 
they  heard  the  names  of  the  chief  per- 
sons to  be  benefited  by  the  new  law, 
embracing  the  principal  leaders  of  the 
Napoleonist  part)',  and  those  most 
deeply  implicated  in  the  conspiracy  of 
1815.*  "  It  is,"  said  M.  Duplessis, 
"a  reward  for  conspirators."  The  in- 
demnity proposed  was  an  inscription 
on  the  Grand  Livre — in  other  words, 
the  gift  of  so  much  stock  in  the  Five 
per  Cents,  bearing  date  22d  Sept.  1821, 
in  certain  fixed  proportions.  The  bill 
underwent  many  amendments  in  com- 
mittee ;  but  at  length,  after  great 
hesitation,  indicative  of  weakness  on 
the  part  of  Ministers,  it  passed,  as  ori- 
ginally proposed,  by  a  majority  of  203 
to  125. 

103.  The  question  of  the  censorship 
of  the  press  still  remained,  which  af- 
forded as  regular  a  subject  for  the  en- 
counter of  parties  in  France  as  that  of 
Catholic  Emancipation  did  in  England. 
Although  the  Ministry  was  now  of  so 
mixed  a  character  that  it  might  reason- 
ably have  been  supposed  that  both  sets 
of  journalists,  having  each  something 
to  hope  from  the  Government,  would 
support  it,  yet  it  proved  otherwise ; 
and  there  is  no  period  in  the  whole 
annals  of  the  Restoration  when  the 
press  was  more  violent,  or  parties  were 
more  exasperated  against  each  other. 
Perhaps  this  was  unavoidable  :  the  ef- 
fect of  the  change  in  the  Electoral  Law 
was  now  evident,  and  a  party  in  pos- 
session of  power  is  never  so  exasperat- 
ed as  when  it  sees  the  reins  gradually 
but  perceptibly  slipping  from  its  hands. 
The  Minister  of  the  Interior  accord- 
ingly, Count  Simeon,  brought  forward 
a  project  for  continuing  the  censor- 
ship, alleging,  in  justification  of  the 
proposal,  that  it  had,  during  the  past 
year,  been  so  gently  exercised,  that  no 
fair  discussion  had  ever  been  interfered 

*  They  were,  MM.  Jean-Bon  Saint- Andre, 
Jean  de  Bry,  Quinette,  General  Hullin,  Labe- 
doyere,  Marshal  Key,  Count  d'Estar,  General 
Lefevre-Desnouettes,  General  Gilly,  General 
Mouton-Duvernet,  General  Clausel,  Count  de 
Laborde,  General  Excelmans,  the  Duke  de 
Bassano,  General  Lamarque,  Baron  Mechin 
— CAPEFiGUE,#is£.  de  la  Restauration,\ii. '  " 


chin. 

* 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


123 


with,  but  intemperate  abuse  alone  ex- 
cluded. The  commission,  however,  to 
•which  the  matter  was  referred,  reported 
against  the  project ;  and  Government, 
in  the  Chamber  itself,  were  defeated 
on  an  amendment  proposed  by  M. 
Courtarvel,  on  the  part  of  the  Liberals, 
that  the  restriction  should  continue 
only  three  months  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session  of  1821.  Thus 
modified,  however,  the  proposal  passed 
into  a  law  in  the  Deputies  by  a  majo- 
rity of  214  to  112 ;  in  the  Peers,  by  83 
to  45. 

104.  This  debate  was  chiefly  memor- 
able for  the  first  open  declaration  of 
opinion  on  the  part  of  Ministers,  which 
revealed  an  irreconcilable  division  of 
opinion  and  approaching  rupture  in  the 
Cabinet.  "If  the  censorship, "  said  M. 
Pasquier,  "  has  been  useful,  it  has  been 
chiefly  in  what  relates  to  foreign  affairs, 
and  certainly  it  has  rendered  great 
services,  in  that  respect,  not  only  to 
France,  but  to  Europe.  "We  are  ac- 
cused of  having  enmities  and  partiali- 
ties ;  yes,  I  admit  I  have  a  repugnance 
to  those  men,  to  whatever  party  they 
belong,  who  wish  to  trouble,  or,  with- 
out intending  it,  do  trouble,  the  tran- 
qxiillity  of  our  country — who  disunite 
minds  when  they  should  be  united. 
I  have  a  repugnance  to  the  men  who, 
too  often  exhuming  from  the  tomb  the 
revolutionary  maxims,  would  gladly 
make  them  the  means  of  destroying  the 
felicity  we  enjoy,  perverting  the  rising 
generation,  and  bringing  upon  their 
Heads  the  evils  which  have  so  long  de- 
solated us.  I  have  a  repugnance  to  the 
men  who,  by  odious  recriminations, 
generally  unjust,  always  impolitic,  fur- 
nish arms  and  auxiliaries  to  those  whom 
I  have  designated.  As  I  distrust  every 
usurpation,  I  have  a  repugnance  to  a 
small  body  of  men  who  would  claim 
exclusively  for  themselves  the  title  of 
Royalists — who  would  wish  to  mono- 
polise for  themselves  the  sentiments 
which  belong  to  the  French  nation; 
and  who  would  every  day  contract  a 
circle  which  it  is  for  the  interest  of  all 
should  be  expanded.  Still  more  have 
I  a  repugnance  to  the  same  men,  when 
they  evince  too  clearly  the  design  of 
making  of  a  thing  so  sacred  as  royalty, 


and  the  power  which  emanates  from  it, 
the  instrument  of  their  passions,  their 
interests,  or  their  ambition.  I  have  a 
repugnance  to  these  men,  but  chiefly 
because  I  feel  assured  that  if  they  ob- 
tained all  that  they  desire,  they  would 
make  use  of  the  power  they  have  ac- 
quired for  no  other  end  but  to  gratify 
private  interests,  and  that  we  should 
thus  see  them  reproduce,  by  the  suc- 
cessive triumph  of  their  petty  ambi- 
tion, that  system  of  government  which, 
in  the  years  preceding  the  Revolution, 
had  done  such  mischief  to  France." 

105.  When  sentiments  such  as  these 
were  expressed  by  the  Minister  for  Fo- 
reign Affairs,  in  language  so  unmea- 
sured in  regard  to  a  body  of  men  who 
formed  part  of  the  Ministry,  who  had  a 
majority  in  both  Chambers,  and  whose 
support  was  essential  to  their  exist- 
ence, it  was  evident  that  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Government  was  at  hand. 
The  difficulties  of  Ministers  and  the 
irritation  of  parties  increased  rapidly 
after  the  session  of  the  legislature  ter- 
minated. The  Count  d'Artois  and  the 
Royalists  were  dissatisfied  that,  when 
they  had  a  majority  in  the  Chambers, 
they  had  not  one  in  the  Ministry,  and 
that  M.  Polignac  and  M.  Peyronnet 
had  not  seats  in  the  Cabinet.  They 
condemned  also,  in  no  measured  terms, 
the  conduct  of  the  Government,  which, 
after  having  obtained,  by  the  revela- 
tions made  in  the  course  of  the  trial  of 
the  conspirators  of  August  19th,  deci- 
sive evidence  of  the  accession  of  the 
Liberal  leaders,  especially  Lafayette 
and  Manuel,  to  the  design  of  over- 
throwing the  Government,  let  them 
escape  untouched,  and  chastised  even 
the  inferior  delinquents  only  with  sub- 
ordinate penalties.  *  "  M.  de  Richelieu 

*  "  Dans  le  pvoces  des  troubles  du  mois  do 
Juin  le  pouvoir  ministerial  avait  reeu!6  de- 
vant  un  systeme  de  penalite  trop  forte,  trop 
afflictive.  De  tous  ces  dt-bats  e"tait  resulted 
la  certitude  qu'il  existait  un  comite"  actif,  di- 
rigeant,  dont  les  chefs  et  les  projets  etaiont 
connus.  Comment  des  lors  les  Royalistes 
pouvaient-ils  s'expliquer  cette  insouciance  et 
cette  faiblesse  qui  s'arrfitaient  devant  certains 
nonis  propres?  La  Correspondance  de  M.  de 
Lafayette  aver,  Gohier  de  la  Sarthe  revelait. 
les  desseins  et  les  plans  revolutionnaires : 
ppurquoi  ne  pas  la  deposercomme  piece  prin- 
cipale  d'un  acte  d'accusation?" — CAPEFIGUB, 
Uist.  dt  la  licstauration,  vii.  164. 


124 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


is  an  honest  man,  but  weak ;  M.  de 
Serres,  uncertain ;  M.  de  Pasquier,  a 
Buonapartist  in  disguise;  M.  Portal, 
worst  of  all,  a  Protestant;  II.  Roy,  a 
representative  of  the  Hundred  Days ; 
M.  Simeon,  the  minister  of  the  Emperor 
Jerome,;  M.  Mounier,  secretary  to  the 
usurper."  Such  was  the  language  of 
the  Royalists,  and  the  Liberals  and 
Doctrinaires  were  not  behind  them  in 
vehemence.  In  particular,  M.  Guizot 
.published  a  pamphlet  entitled,  '  On 
the  Restoration  of  the  Present  Minis- 
try,' which  made  a  great  noise,  chiefly 
by  the  graphic  picture  it  presented  of 
their  difficulties  and  divisions.  The 
bland  temper  and  moderate  disposition 
of  the  Duke  de  Richelieu  was  sorely 
tried  by  these  accumulated  attacks  on 
«very  side ;  and,  on  his  return  from  the 
•embassy  in  London,  he  complained  to 
M.  Decazes  on  the  subject.  "  I  wonder 
you  are  surprised, "  said  he :  "  they  be- 
trayed me,  they  will  betray  you ;  it  is 
their  part  to  do  so  :  it  is  impossible  to 
act  with  them." 

106.  At  length  matters  came  to  such 
.a  pass  that  M.  de  Villele  and  M.  Cor- 
biere,  finding  they  could  no  longer  pre- 
serve terms  with  the  Royalists  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  semi-liberal  Ministry 
on  the  other,  resigned  their  situations 
shortly  before  the  parliamentary  ses- 
sion came  to  a  close.  Chateaubriand 
retired  with  them,  greatly  regretted, 
from  the  embassy  at  Berlin.  Nego- 
tiations upon  this  were  opened  with 
ilonsieur  and  the  Royalist  chiefs,  who 
wished  to  retain  the  Duke  de  Riche- 
lieu as  premier,  but  demanded  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior  for  M.  de  Vil- 
lele, the  creation  of  a  Ministry  of  Public 
Instruction  for  M.  Corbiere,  the  em- 
bassy at  London  for  M.  de  Chateau- 
briand, and  another  embassy  for  M.  de 
Vitrolles.  The  Cabinet  offered  the 
Ministry  of  the  Marine  to  M.  de  Vil- 
lele, but  held  firm  for  retaining  M. 
Mounier  in  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior, 
by  far  the  most  important  for  political 
influence  of  any  in  the  Government. 
The  negotiations  broke  off  on  this  vital 
point,  and  Ministers,  without  the  sup- 
port of  the  Right,  ventured  to  face  the 
next  session.  In  their  expectations, 
however,  of  being  able  to  go  on  without 


their  support,  they  soon  found  them- 
selves mistaken.  The  elections  of  1821 
considerably  augmented  the  Royalist 
majority,  already  so  great,  and  on  the 
first  division  in  the  Chamber  the  latter 
were  victorious  by  an  immense  majo- 
rity. The  speech  of  the  Crown  was 
studiously  guarded,  so  as  if  possible  to 
avoid  a  division ;  but  in  the  answer  of 
the  Chamber  to  the  king,  a  passage 
was  inserted  at  which  both  the  monarch 
and  the  Duke  de  Richelieu  took  mortal 
offence,  as  seeming  to  imply  a  doubt 
of  their  patriotism  and  honour.*  The 
king  returned  a  severe  answer  to  the 
address,  f  and  it  was  for  a  time  thought 
the  triumph  of  the  minister  was  com- 
plete ;  but  this  hope  proved  fallacious. 
The  Duke  de  Richelieu  found  his  situa- 
tion so  painful,  with  a  decided  majority 
hostile  to  him  in  the  Chamber,  that, 
after  some  conference  with  the  Count 
d'Artois,  in  which  it  was  found  impos- 
sible to  come  to  an  understanding,  lie 
resolved  on  resigning  with  all  his  col- 
leagues, which  was  accordingly  done 
on  the  13th  December. 

107.  According  to  established  usage, 
the  Duke  de  Richelieu  advised  the 
king  whom  to  send  for,  to  form  the 
new  Ministry,  and  he  of  course  recom- 
mended M.  de  Villele.  There  was  no 
difficulty  in  forming  a  Government ; 
the  near  approach  of  the  crisis  had  been 
so  long  foreseen,  that  the  Royalists 
had  their  arrangements  all  complete. 
M.  de  Villelewas  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil and  Minister  of  Finance ;  M.  de 
Peyronnet,  Secretary  of  State  and  Min- 
ister of  Justice ;  Viscount  Montmor- 

•  "  Nous  nous  felicitons,  Sire,  de  vos  rela- 
tions constamment  amicales  avec  les  puis- 
sances etrangeres;  dans  la  juste  confianee 
qu'une  paix  si  precieuse  n'est  point  acJictee  par 
des  sacrifices  incompatibles  avec  I'honneur  de 
la  nation  et  avec  la  dignite  de  la  Couronne."— 
Moniteur,  Nov.  30,  1S21.  Ann.  Hist.,  iv.  22S. 

t  "Dans  1'exil  et  la  persecution,  j'ai  sou- 
tenu  mes  droits,  1'honneur  de  ma  race  et  celui 
du  nom  fran<;ais :  sur  le  trdne,  entoure  de  nion 
peuple,  je  m'indigne  a  la  seule  pensee  que  je 
puisse  jamais  sacrifier  I'honneur  frane.ais  et 
la  dignite"  de  ma  couronne.  J'aime  a  croire 
que  la  plupart  de  ceux  qui  ont  vote  cette 
adresse  n'en  ont  pas  pese  toutes  les  expres- 
sions— s'ils  avaient  eu  le  temps  de  les  appre- 
der,  ils  n'eussent  pas  souffert  une  suppos;ti< :;i 
que,  comme  Roi,  je  ne  dois  pas  caraeteriser."' 
— Moniteur,  Nov.  20,  1820.  CAPEFIGUE,  ™ 
237. 


I 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


125 


cncy,  Minister  for  Foreign  AfTairs  ;  M. 
Corbiere,    Minister  of    the   Interior ; 
Marshal  Victor,  of  War  ;  the  Marquis 
Clurmont-Tonnerre,  of  the  Marine.   In 
addition  to  this,  the  ex-ministers,  M. 
de  Serres,  General  Latour-Maubourg, 
Count  Simeon,  Baron  Portal,  and  M. 
Eoy,  were  appointed  members,  as  usual 
on  "such  occasions,  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil ;  and,  in  addition,   Latour  -  Mau- 
Lourg  was  appointed  Governor  of  the 
InvaTides.     The  Ministerial  revolution 
as  complete  ;  the  Royalists  were  in 
ntire  possession  of  the  government, 
id  the   change  in  all  subordinate, 
s  well  as  the  principal  offices,  was 
lorough  and  universal.      The  king 
ould  probably  never  have  consented 
o  so  entire  a  revolution,  had  he  pos- 
essed   the  bodily  or  mental  vigour 
hich  he  enjoyed  in  the  earlier  parts  of 
is  reign.     But  this  was  very  far  from 
ieing  the  case.    His  health,  which  had 
een  long  declining,  had  now  become 
feeble  that  his  life  was  almost  de- 
>aired  of ;  and  he  had  fallen  into  that 
;ate  of  dependence  on  those  around 
im,  which  such  a  state  of  debility 
morally  produces.  To  a  monarch  who 
as  not  able  to  rise  from  his  chair, 
ho  was  wheeled  about  the  room,  and 
equired  to  be  tended  almost  with  the 
are  of  an  infant,  the  influence  of  Mon- 
eur,  the  Duchess  d'Angouleme,  and 
le  Countess  du  Cay  la,  was  irresistible, 
xmis,  in  fact,  had  almost  resigned  the 
eins  of  government  to  his  brother. 
[e  regarded  his  reign  as  having  ter- 
ninati'd  with  the  retirement  of  the 
)uke  de  Richelieu.     "At  last,"  said 
e,  ' '  M.  de  Villele  triumphs  :  I  know 
ttle  of  the  men  who  are  entering  my 
xrancil  along  with  him  :  I  believe, 
owever,  that  they  have  good  sense 
nough  not  to  follow  blindly  all  the 
ollies  of  the  Right.     For  the  rest,  1 
onsider  myself  annihilated  from  this 
noment ;  I  undergo  the  usual  fate  of 
onstitutional  monarchs :  hitherto,  at 
3ast,  I  have  defended  my  crown  ;  if 
ly  brother  casts  it  to  the  winds,  it  is 
is  aflair." 

108.  The  fall  of  M.  de  Richelieu's 
dministration,  and  the  accession  of  a 
urely  Royalist  government,  was  so 
reat  a  change  in  France,  that  it  was 


equivalent  to  a  revolution.  Nothing 
appears  so  extraordinary  as  that  suck 
an  event  should  have  taken  place,  in 
consequence  of  a  parliamentary  ma- 
jority, so  soon  after  the  period  when 
the  tide  of  Liberal  opinions  set  in  so 
strongly  in  the  nation  that  two  succes- 
sive coups  d'etat  had  been  deemed  ne- 
cessary by  the  Government,  in  Sep- 
tember 1816  and  March  1819,  to  mould 
the  two  branches  of  the  legislature  in 
conformity  with  it.  But  many  similar 
examples  of  rapid  change  of  opinion, 
and  the  setting  in  of  entirely  opposite 
flood-tides  of  opinion,  are  to  be  found 
botli  in  the  previous  and  subsequent 
annals  of  that  country  ;  and  they  are 
not  without  a  parallel  both  in  the  an- 
cient and  recent  history  of  this.  Who- 
ever studies  the  changes  of  public  opin- 
ion in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  which 
within  a  few  years  led  to  the  frightful 
judicial  massacres  of  the  Papists,  and 
the  inhuman  severities  of  the  Rye- 
House  Plot  —  or  recollects  that  the 
same  nation  which  brought  in  Sir  Ro- 
bert Peel  by  a  majority  of  91  in  1841, 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  to  support 
Protection,  ten  years  afterwards  ob- 
liged Lord  Derby  to  abandon  it — will 
see  that,  though  the  variations  of  opin- 
ion in  Great  Britain  are  not  quite  so- 
rapid  as  in  France,  they  are  not  less, 
remarkable,  nor  less  decisive  in  their 
results. 

109.  No  doubt,  the  great  change  in 
the  Electoral  Law  of  France,  carried 
through  with  so  much  difficulty  by 
the  Duke  de  Richelieu's  administra- 
tion, contributed  largely  to  this  result. 
The  new  principle  introduced  by  that 
la\v,  of  giving  the  departmental  elec- 
tors representatives  of  their  own  in  the- 
Chamber,  and  of  having  them  chosen, 
not  by  the  electors  generally,  but  by  a. 
fourth  of  their  number  who  paid  the 
highest  amount  of  taxes,  was  a  great 
change,  not  merely  in  its  numerical 
results,  upon  the  composition  of  the 
Chamber,  but  in  the  principle  of  repre- 
sentation itself.  It  was  a  return  from 
the  principle  of  the  Revolution,  which 
was  that  of  a  mere  representation  of 
numbers,  by  making  the  voters  all  of 
one  class,  to  the  general  ancient  repre- 
sentative system  of  Europe,  which  was 


126 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


that  of  different  classes.  It  was  an 
abandonment  of  the  principle  of  uni- 
form representation,  the  most  pernici- 
ous which  can  possibly  be  engrafted  on 
the  constitutional  system,  because  it 
tends  at  once  to  introduce  class  gov- 
•ernment,  and  that  of  the  very  worst, 
because  the  most  irresponsible  kind. 
Some  one  class  inevitably,  under  such 
a  system,  acquires  the  majority  in  the 
elections  and  in  the  legislature  ;  and 
the  moment  it  does  so,  and  feels  its 
strength,  it  commences  and  carries 
through  a  series  of  measures  calculated 
for  its  own  benefit,  without  the  slight- 
est regard  to  the  effect  they  may  have 
upon  the  interest  of  other  classes,  or 
the  general  prosperity  of  the  State. 
The  only  way  to  check  this  is  to  in- 
troduce into  the  legislature  the  re- 
presentatives of  other  classes,  elected 
under  a  different  suffrage,  and  thus 
prevent  the  selfishness  of  one  class 
from  becoming  paramount,  by  permit- 
ting the  selfishness  of  another  class  to 
combat  it. 

110.  But  although  the  introduction 
of  the  hundred  and  seventy -two  depart- 
mental members,  elected  by  ' '  les  plus 
imposes,"  was  a  most  important  step, 
and  one  in  the  right  direction,  yet 
another  step  was  wanting  to  give  the 
French  nation  a  proper  representation. 
This  was  a  representation  of  numbers. 
To  base  the  whole  legislature  upon 
them  is  doubtless  to  introduce  class 
government  of  the  worst  kind  ;  but  it 
is  also  a  great  mistake,  which  in  the 
end  may  be  attended  with  fatal  conse- 
quences, to  exclude  them  from  the  re- 
presentation altogether.  The  interests 
of  labour  are  not  only  not  identical 
with  those  of  monied  wealth,  but  they 
are  often  adverse  to  it :  the  sequel  of 
this  history  will  place  this  beyond  a 
doubt,  with  respect  to  the  British 
Islands.  The  condition  of  the  great 
body  of  the  working  classes  may  not 
only  be  no  ways  benefited,  but  essen- 
tially injured,  by  a  representation  rest- 
ing entirely  on  property,  especially  of 
a  commercial  kind ;  because  measures 
injurious  to  their  welfare  may  be 
passed  into  law  by  the  class  which 
alone  is  represented.  As  the  repre- 
sentative system  of  the  Restoration  in 


France,  even  when  amended  by  the 
act  of  1820,  contained  no  provision 
whatever  for  the  representation  of  the 
working  classes,  by  allowing  no  vote 
except  to  those  paying  at  least  300 
francs  yearly  of  direct  taxes,  it  was 
wanting  in  a  most  important  element 
both  of  utility  and  general  confidence. 
It  will  appear  in  the  sequel  how  large 
a  share  this  defect  had  in  inducing 
the  great  catastrophe  which,  ten  years 
afterwards,  proved  fatal  to  the  dynasty 
of  the  Restoration. 

111.  Connected  with  this  great  de- 
fect in  the  French  representative  sys- 
tem was  another  circumstance,  attend- 
ed in  the  end  with  consequences  not 
less  disastrous.  This  was,  that,  while 
labour  was  unrepresented,  religion  was 
too  much  represented.  This  was  the 
natural,  and,  in  truth,  unavoidable 
result  of  the  irreligious  spirit  of  the 
Revolution  :  the  reaction  was  as  vio- 
lent as  the  action  ;  its  opponents  con- 
ceived, with  reason,  that  it  could  be 
combated  only  with  the  weapons  and 
with  the  fervour  of  the  ancient  faith. 
The  class  of  considerable  proprietors, 
in  whom  a  decided  majority  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  was  now  vested, 
was  attached  to  this  party  from  prin- 
ciple, tradition,  and  interest.  But  al- 
though it  is  impossible  to  over-esti- 
mate the  salutary  influence  of  religion 
on  human  society,  it  unhappily  does 
not  equally  follow  that  the  ascendancy 
of  its  professors  in  the  legislature  is 
equally  beneficial  Experience  has  too 
often  proved  that  the  Parti-Pretrc  is 
perhaps  the  most  dangerous  that  can 
be  intrusted  with  the  administration 
of  temporal  affairs.  The  reason  is, 
that  those  who  direct  are  not  brought 
into  contact  with  men  in  the  actual 
business  of  life,  and  they  deem  it  their 
duty  to  be  regulated,  not  by  expedi- 
ence, or  even  practicability,  but  solely 
by  conscience.  This  disposition  may 
make  courageous  martyrs,  but  it  pro- 
duces very  bad  legislators  ;  it  is  often 
noble  in  adversity,  but  always  perilous  j 
in  prosperity.  Power  is  the  touch- 1 
stone  which  the  Romish  Church  has: 
never  been  able  to  withstand,  as  suffer- : 
ing  is  the  ordeal  from  which  it  haii 
never  failed  to  emerge,  surrounded  * 


id  by 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


127 


a  halo  of  glory.  The  danger  of  this 
party  holding,  as  they  now  did,  the 
reins  of  power,  supported  by  a  large 
majority  in  both  Chambers,  was  much 
increased  by  the  circumstance  that, 
though  the  peasants  in  the  country 
were,  for  the  most  part,  under  the 
influence  of  the  ancient  faith,  it  was 
held  in  abhorrence  by  the  majority  of 
the  working  classes  in  the  great  towns, 
who  were,  at  the  same  time,  without 
any  legal  channel  whereby  to  make 
their  feelings  influential  in  the  legis- 
lature, but  in  possession  of  ample  re- 
sources to  disturb  the  established  gov- 
ernment. 

112.  Although  the  change  in  the 
Electoral  Law  was  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  majority  which  the  Royalists 
now  got  in  the  Chamber,  yet  the  real 
and  ultimate  cause  is  to  be  looked  for 
in  circumstances  of  wider  extension 
and  more  lasting  effects.  It  was  the 
violence  and  crimes  of  the  Liberal 
party  over  Europe  which  produced  the 
general  reaction  against  them.  It  was 
the  overthrow  of  government  in  Spain, 
Portugal,  Naples,  and  Piedmont,  and 
the  absurd  and  ruinous  institutions  es- 
tablished in  their  stead,  which  alarmed 
every  thinking  man  in  France :  the 
assassination  of  the  Duke  de  Berri,  the 

E 'ejected  assassination  of  the  Cabinet 
inisters  in  London,  the  attempted 
insurrection  in  the  streets  of  Paris, 
-opened  the  eyes  of  all  to  the  means  by 
which  the  hoped-for  change  was  to  be 
effected.  The  alteration  in  the  Elec- 
toral Law  in  France  was  itself  an  effect 
of  this  change  in  the  public  mind  ;  for 
it  took  place  in  a  Chamber  heretofore 
decidedly  Liberal.  A  similar  modifi- 
cation had  taken  place  in  the  views 
of  the  constituency,  for  the  Royalists 
were  now,  for  the  first  time  for  five 
years,  in  a  majority  in  the  arrondisse- 
ments  with  regard  to  which  no  change 
had  been  made.  It  is  Louvel,  Thistle- 
wood,  and  Riego,  who  stand  forth  as 
the  real  authors  of  this  great  reaction 
in  Europe,  and  of  the  long  stop  to 
the  progress  of  freedom  which  resulted 
from  it :  a  memorable  instance  of  the 
eternal  truth,  that  no  cause  is  in  the 
end  advanced  by  means  at  which  the 
general  mind  revolts,  and  that  none 


are  such  sufferers  from  the  effects  of 
crime  as  those  for  whose  interest  it 
was  committed. 

113.  While  France  was  thus  under- 
going the  political  throes  and  changes 
consequent  on  its  great  Revolution, 
and  the  forcible  change  of  the  dynasty 
which  governed  it,  and  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  infant  prince  was 
baptised,  who,  it  was  hoped,  would  con- 
tinue the  ancient  race  of  the  Bourbon 
princes,  that  wonderful  man  breathed 
his  last  upon  the  rock  of  St  Helena 
who  had  so  long  chained  the  destinies 
of  the  world  to  his  chariot  -  wheels. 
Since  his  transference,  by  the  unani- 
mous determination  of  the  Allied  sove- 
reigns, to  that  distant  and  melancholy 
place  of  exile,  he  had  alternately  ex- 
hibited the  grandeur  of  a  lofty,  the 
weaknesses  of  a  little,  and  the  genius 
of  a  highly -gifted  mind.  He  said  at 
Fontainebleau,  when  he  took  leave  of 
his  faithful  guards,  that  what  ' '  they 
had  done  together  he  would  write;" 
and  he  had  fulfilled  the  promise,  in 
part  at  least,  with  consummate  ability. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  his  fame 
does  not  now  rest  nearly  as  much  on 
his  sayings  and  thoughts  recorded  at 
St  Helena,  as  on  all  the  mighty  deeds 
which  he  achieved  in  Europe.  Yet 
even  here,  and  when  his  vast  genius 
alternately  revealed  the  secrets  of  the 
past,  and  pierced  the  depths  of  the  fu- 
ture, the  littlenesses  of  a  dwarf  appear- 
ed in  striking  contrast  to  the  strength 
of  a  giant.  He  was  irritable,  jealous, 
and  spiteful,  not  less  than  able,  discri- 
minating, and  profound  ;  his  serenity 
was  disturbed  by  his  being  addressed 
with  the  title  of  General,  or  attended, 
at  a  distance,  by  an  English  orderly  in 
the  course  of  his  rides  ;  and  exaggera- 
tion, falsehood,  and  envy  appeared  in 
his  thoughts  and  writings,  not  less  than 
genius,  capacity,  and  depth.  His  char- 
acter, as  revealed  by  misfortune,  that 
touchstone  of  the  human  heart,  affords 
the  most  striking  proof  of  the  truth  of 
Dr  Johnson's  observation,  that  no  man 
ever  yet  raised  himself  from  a  private 
station  to  the  government  of  mankind, 
in  whom  great  and  commanding  quali- 
ties were  not  blended  with  littlenesses 


128 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


•which  would  appear  inconceivable  hi 
ordinary  men. 

114.  Without  doubt,  it  must  ever 
be  a  matter  of  deep  regret  to  every 
generous  mind,  and  to  none  so  much 
so  as  to  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, that  it  was  necessary  to  impose 
any  restraint  at  all  on  the  latter  years 
of  so  great  a  man.  How  much  more 
grateful  would  it  have  been  to  every 
honourable  mind,  to  every  feeling 
heart,  to  have  acted  to  him  as  Xerxes 
did,  in  the  first  instance  at  least,  to 
Themistocles,  and  in  the  spirit  to  which 
he  himself  appealed  when  he  said,  that 
he  placed  himself  on  the  hearth  of  the 
"greatest,  the  most  powerful,  and  the 
most  persevering  of  his  enemies. "  But 
there  was  this  essential  difference  be- 
tween the  two  cases — Themistocles, 
when  he  took  refuge  in  the  dominions 
of  the  great  king,  had  not  given  his 
word  and  broken  it.  Napoleon  had 
been  treated  with  signal  lenity  and 
generosity  when,  after  having  devas- 
tated Europe  by  his  ambition,  he  was 
allowed  the  splendid  retirement  of 
Elba  ;  and  the  only  return  he  made  for 
it  was  to  invade  France,  overturn  Louis 
XVI 1 1.,  and  cause  his  kingdom  to  be 
overrun  by  a  million  of  armed  men. 
He  had  signed  the  treaty  of  Fontaine- 
bleau,  and  the  first  thing  he  did  was 
to  break  it.*  When  chained  to  the 
rock  of  St  Helena,  he  was  still  an  ob- 
ject of  dread  to  the  European  powers  ; 
his  name  was  more  powerful  than  an 
army  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
men  ;  he  was  too  great  to  be  forgotten, 
too  little  to  be  trusted.  Every  ima- 
ginable precaution  was  necessary  to 

*  The  author  is  well  aware  of  the  ground 
alleged  by  the  partisans  of  Napoleon  for  this 
infraction — viz.,  that  the  payments  stipulat- 
ed by  the  treaty  had  not  been  made  by  the 
French  Government  to  him.  But  supposing 
that  there  was  some  foundation  for  this  com- 
plaint, it  could  afford  no  justification  for  so 
desperate  and  outrageous  an  act  as  invading 
France,  without  the  slightest  warning  or  de- 
claration of  war,  and  overturning  the  Govern- 
ment. The  excessive  pecuniary  difficulties 
under  which  France  at  that  period  laboured, 
owing  to  the  calamities  in  which  he  himself 
had  involved  and  left  her,  were  the  cause  of 
this  backwardness  in  making  some  of  the 
payments ;  and  the  last  man  in  the  world 
who  had  any  title  to  complain  of  them  was 
the  person  whose  insatiable  ambition  had 
caused  them  all. 


prevent  the  escape  of  a  man  who  had 
shown  that  he  regarded  the  faith  of 
treaties  only  till  it  was  his  interest  to 
break  them  ;  and  of  whom  it  had  been 
truly  said  by  exalted  genius,  that  "his 
cocked  hat  and  greatcoat,  placed  on  a 
stick  on  the  coast  of  Brittany,  would 
cause  Europe  to  run  to  arms  from  one 
end  to  another. " 

115.  Great  was  the  sensation  excited 
in  Europe,  and  especially  England,  by 
the  publication  of  the  St  Helena  Me- 
moirs, and  the  loud  and  impassioned 
complaints  made  of  the  alleged  harsh 
treatment  of  the  exiled  Emperor  by 
the  English  authorities.  They  were 
re-echoed  in  Parliament  by  Lord  Hol- 
land and  the  leaders  of  the  Opposition, 
and  even  the  most  moderately  disposed 
men  were  led  to  doubt  the  necessity 
of  the  rigid  precautions  which  were 
adopted,  and  to  regret  that  more  gen- 
erous feelings  had  not  been  shown  to 
a  fallen  enemy.  Time,  however,  has 
now  exercised  its  wonted  influence 
over  these  mournful  topics  :  it  has  de- 
monstrated that  the  conduct  of  the 
English  Government  towards  their  il- 
lustrious captive  was  not  only,  in  the 
circumstances,  unavoidable,  but  highly 
liberal  and  considerate  ;  and  so  clearly 
is  this  demonstrated,  that  it  is  now  ad- 
mitted by  the  ablest  and  most  impas- 
sioned of  the  French  historians  of  the 
period.*  England  bore  the  whole  brunt 

*  "  Apres  la  crise  de  1815,lorsque  1'Europe, 
encore  une  fois  menacee  par  Napole'on,  crut 
ne"cessaire  de  prendre  une  mesure  de  precau- 
tion que  empechat  une  seconde  tourmente, 
Sainte  -  Helene  fut  choisie  comme  prison 
d'etat.  Les  puissances  durent  arreter  un 
systeme  de  surveillance  a  regard  du  prison- 
nier,  car  elles  craignaient  par-dessus  tout  le 
retour  de  Napoleon.  L'Angleterre  pourvut 
largement  a  ses  besoins ;  la  table  seule  de. 
Napoleon  coutait  a  la  Tre"sorerie  12,000  livres. 
sterling.  II  y  a  quelque  chose  qui  de"passe 
mes  ide"es,  quand  j'examine  le  grandiose  du 
caractfere  de  Napole'on,  et  sa  vie  immense 
d'administration  et  de  batailles ;  c'cst  cet 
esprit  qui  s'arr§te  tant  £  Sainte-Helene  aux 
petites  difficulte's  d'etiquette.  Napoleon  boude- 
si  Ton  s'assied  en  sa  presence,  et  se  Ton  ne  le 
traite  pas  de  Majeste",  et  d'Empereur;  il  se> 
drape  perpe"tuellement :  il  ne  voit  pas  que  la 
grandeur  est  en  lui  et  non  dans  la  pourpre  et 
de  vains  titres.  A  Austerlitz,  a  eonseil  d'etat, 
Napoleon  est  un  monument  de  granit  et  do 
bronze:  a  Sainte  Helene,  c'est  encore  un  < 
losse,  mais  pare  d'un  costume  de  cour." 
CAPEFIGUE,  Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  • 
209 


1821.] 

of  the  storm,  because  she  was  in  the 
front  rank,  and  held  the  Emperor  in 
her  custody ;  but  she  did  not  act  singly 
in  the  matter — she  was  only  the  exe- 
cutor of  the  general  resolutions  of  the 
Allies.  These  were,  to  treat  Napoleon 
with  all  the  respect  and  consideration 
due  to  his  rank,  but  under  such  pre- 
cautions as  should  render  his  escape  a 
matter  of  impossibility.  The  conduct 
of  his  partisans,  to  which  he  was  no 
stranger,  added  to  the  necessary  rigour 
of  these  precautions ;  for  several  plots 
were  formed  for  his  escape,  and  only 
failed  of  success  by  the  vigilance  of 
the  military  and  naval  authorities  on 
the  island.  Yet,  even  in  the  presence 
of  these  difficulties,  the  indulgence 
with  which  he  was  treated  was  such 
as  now  to  excite  the  surprise  of  the 
most  impassioned  historians  of  the 
Revolution.  The  account  shall  be 
given  in  the  words  of  the  ablest  and 
most  eloquent  of  their  number. 

116.  "The  sum  of  300,000  francs 
(£12,000)  a -year,"  says  Lamartine, 
"often  added  to  by  additional  grants, 
•was  consecrated  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment to  the  cost  of  the  table  of  the  lit- 
tle court  of  the  exiled  Emperor.  Ber- 
trand  the  marshal  of  the  palace,  his 
wife  and  son ;  M.  and  Madame  de 
Montholon,  General  Gourgaud  and 
Dr  O'Meara  ;  the  valet -de-chambre 
Marehand,  Cypriani  maitre  -  d'hotel, 
Prerion  chief  of  office,  Saint -Denys, 
Noverras,  his  usher  Santini,  Rousseau 
keeper  of  the  plate,  and  a  train  of 
valets,  cooks,  and  footmen,  formed  the 
establishment.  A  library,  ten  or  twelve 
saddle-horses,  gardens,  woods,  rural  la- 
bours, constant  and  free  communica- 
tion at  all  times  between  the  exiles, 
correspondence  under  certain  regula- 
tions with  Europe,  receptions  and  au- 
diences given  to  travellers  who  arrived 
in  the  island,  and  were  desirous  to  ob- 
tain an  audience  of  the  Emperor  — 
such  were  the  daily  amusements  of 
Longwood.  Piquets  of  soldiers  under 
the  command  of  an  officer  watched  the 
circuit  of  the  building  and  its  environs ; 
a  camp  was  established  at  a  certain  dis- 
tance, but  out  of  sight  of  the  house,  so 
as  not  to  oflend  the  inmates.  Napo- 

VOL.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


129 


Icon  and  his  officers  were  at  liberty  to 
go  out  on  foot  or  on  horseback  from 
daybreak  to  nightfall,  and  to  go  over 
the  whole  extent  of  the  island,  accom- 
panied only  by  an  officer  at  a  distance, 
so  as  to  prevent  all  attempt  at  escape. 
Such  was  the  respectful  captivity 
which  the  complaints  of  Napoleon  and 
his  companions  in  exile  styled  the  dun- 
geon and  martyrdom  of  St  Helena." 
To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  the  en- 
tire establishment  at  St  Helena  was 
kept  up  by  the  English  Government 
on  so  splendid  a  scale  that  it  cost  them 
£400,000  a-year;  that  champagne  and 
burgundy  were  the  daily  beverage — 
the  best  French  cookery  the  fare  of  tho 
whole  party ;  that  the  comfort  and  lux- 
uries they  daily  enjoyed  were  equal  to 
those  of  any  duke  in  England  ;  and 
that,  as  the  house  at  Longwood  had 
been  inconvenient,  the  English  Gov- 
ernment had  provided,  at  a  cost  of 
£40,000,  a  house  neatly  constructed  of 
wood  in  London,  which  arrived  in  the 
island  two  days  after  the  Emperor's 
death.  Such  were  the  alleged  barba- 
rities of  England  towards  a  man  who 
had  so  long  striven  to  effect  her  de- 
struction, who  had  chastised  the  hos- 
tility of  Hofer  by  death  in  the  fosse  of 
Mantua,  of  Cardinal  Pacca  by  confine- 
ment amidst  Alpine  snows  in  the  cita- 
del of  Fenestrelles,  and  the  supposed 
enmity  of  the  Duke  d'Enghien  by  mas- 
sacre in  the  ditch  of  Vincennes.* 

117.  But  all  this  was  as  nothing  as 
long  as  Mordecai  the  Jew  sat  at  the 
king's  gate.  In  the  first  instance,  in- 
deed, the  bland  and  courteous  manners 
of  Sir  Pulteney  Malcolm,  who  was  iu- 

*  The  allowance  in  the  fortnight  of  wine  to 
the  establishment  at  Longwood  was  as  fol- 
lows : — 

Bottles. 

Vin  ordinaire 
Constantia, 
Champagne, 
Vin  de  Grave 


Teneriffe, 
Claret, 


14 
21 
84 

140 


350 


And  besides,  forty-two  bottles  of  porter.  A 
tolerable  allowance  for  ten  grown  persons, 
besides  servants. — See  Parliamentary  Debates, 
xxxv.  1159.  The  total  cost  of  the  table  was 
£12,000  a-year.—  Ibid.,  115S. 

I 


130 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  ix. 


trusted  with  the  chief  command,  soft- 
ened the  restraints  of  captivity,  and 
made  the  weary  hours  pass  in  com- 
parative comfort ;  but  he  was  unfortu- 
nately succeeded  by  Sir  Hudson  Lowe, 
whose  manners  were  far  less  concili- 
ating. A  gallant  veteran,  who  had 
accompanied  the  army  of  Silesia,  in 
the  quality  of  English  commissioner, 
through  its  whole  campaign  in  France, 
he  was  overwhelmed  with  the  sense  of 
the  responsibility  under  which  he  la- 
boured, in  being  intrusted  with  the 
custody  of  so  dangerous  a  captive ;  and 
he  possessed  none  of  the  graces  of  man- 
ner which  so  often,  in  persons  in  autho- 
rity, add  to  the  charms  of  concession, 
and  take  off  the  bitterness  of  restraint. 
The  obloquy  cast  on  Sir  Colin  Camp- 
bell, in  consequence  of  having  been 
accidentally  absent  from  Elba  when  the 
Emperor  made  his  escape,  was  con- 
stantly before  his  eyes.  He  does  not 
appear  to  have  exceeded,  in  important 
matters,  his  instructions ;  and  certainly 
the  constant  plots  which  were  in  agita- 
tion for  Napoleon's  escape,  called  for 
and  justified  every  imaginable  precau- 
tion. But  he  was  often  unreasonably 
cxigcant  on  trifles  of  no  real  moment 
to  the  security  of  the  Emperor's  deten- 
tion ;  and  his  manner  was  so  unpre- 
possessing, that,  even  when  he  con- 
ferred an  indulgence,  it  was  seldom 
felt  as  such.  Napoleon,  on  his  part, 
was  not  a  whit  behind  the  governor  of 
the  island  in  irritability  or  unreason- 
able demands.  He  seemed  anxious  to 
provoke  outrages,  and  his  ideas  were 
fixed  on  the  effect  the  account  of  them 
would  produce  in  Europe.  He  was  in 
correspondence  with  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  English  Opposition,  who 
made  generous  and  strenuous  efforts 
to  soften  his  captivity  ;  and  he  never 
lost  the  hope  that,  by  the  effect  these 
representations  would  make  on  the 
British  people,  and  on  the  world,  his 
place  of  confinement  might  be  altered ; 
and,  by  being  restored  to  Europe,  he 
might  succeed  in  playing  over  again 
the  game  of  the  Hundred  Days.  All 
his  tlioughts  were  fixed  on  this  object, 
and  it  was  to  lay  a  foundation  for  these 
complaints  that  he  affected  to  take 
offence  at  every  trifle,  and  voluntarily 


aggravated  the  inconveniences  of  his 
own  position.  Montholon  said  truly  to 
Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  "  If  you  had  been  an 
angel  from  heaven,  you  would  not  have- 
pleased  us."  * 

118.  The  truth  is,  none  of  the  par- 
ties implicated  in  the  treatment  of 
Napoleon  at  St  Helena  have  emerged 
unscathed  out  of  the  ordeal  through 
which  they  have  passed  since  his  death ; 
and  the  publication  of  the  papers  of 
Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  by  Mr  Forsyth,  has 
placed  this  beyond  a  doubt.  The  Brit- 
ish Government  was  the  first  to  blame : 
its  conduct  in  the  main,  and  in  all  essen- 
tial articles,  was  indulgent  and  consider- 
ate ;  unfortunately,  in  matters  of  lesser 
real  moment,  but  still  more  important 
to  a  person  of  Napoleon's  irritable  dispo- 
sition, their  instructions  were  unneces- 
sarily rigid.  Admitting  that,  after  his 
stealthy  evasion  from  Elba,  it  was  indis- 
pensable that  he  should  be  seen  daily 
by  some  of  the  British  officers,  and 
attended  Toy  one  beyond  certain  pre- 
scribed limits,  where  was  the  necessity 
of  refusing  him  the  title  of  Emperor, 
or  ordering  everything  to  be  withheld 
which  was  addressed  to  him  by  that 
title  ?  A  book  inscribed  "  Imperatori 
Napoleon  "  might  have  been  delivered 
to  him  without  his  detention  being 
rendered  insecure.  A  copy  of  Cox's 
Marlborough,  presented  by  him  to  a 
British  regiment  which  he  esteemed, 
might  have  been  permitted  to  reach 
its  destination,  without  risk  of  disaffec- 
tion in  the  British  army.  It  is  hard 
to  say  whether  most  littleness  was 
evinced  by  the  English  Government 
refusing  such  slight  gratifications  to 

*  "En  lisant  attentivement  les  correspon- 
dances  et  les  notes  e"trangeres  a  tout  pretext e, 
entre  les  faniiliers  de  Napoleon  et  de  Hudson 
Lowe,  on  est  confondu  des  outrages,  des  pro- 
vocations, des  invectives,  dont  le  captif  et  ses 
amis  insultent  a  tout  propos  le  gouverneur. 
Napoleon  en  ce  moment  cherchait  aemouvoir 
par  des  eris  de  douleur  la  pitie  du  parlement 
anglais  et  a  fournir  un  grief  aux  orateurs  de 
1'opposition  centre  le  ministere,  afin  d'obtenir 
son  rapprochement  de  1'Europe.  Le  desir  de 
provoquer  des  outrages  par  des  outrages,  et 
de  presenter  en  suite  ces  outrages  comme  des 
crimes  au  Continent,  transpire  dans  toutes 
ces  notes.  II  est  evident  que  le  gouverneur, 
souvent  irrit£,  quelquefois  inquisiteur,  tou- 
jours  inhabile,  se  sentait  lui-meme  victime  de 
la  responsabilite." — LAMARTINE,  Hist,  de  la 
Etttauration,  vi.  416,  417. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


131 


the  fallen  hero,  or  by  himself  in  feel- 
ing so  much  annoyed  at  the  -withhold- 
ing the  empty  titles  bespeaking  his 
former  greatness.  It  is  deeply  to  be 
regretted,  for  the  honour  of  human 
nature,  which  is  the  patrimony  of  all 
mankind,  that  he  did  not  bear  his 
reverses  with  more  equanimity,  and 
prove  that  the  conqueror  of  continental 
Europe  could  achieve  the  yet  more 
glorious  triumph  of  subduing  himself. 

119.  For  a  year  before  his  death  he 
became  more  tractable.    The  approach 
of  the  supreme  hour,  as  is  often  the 
case,  softened  the  asperities  of  previ- 
ous existence.     He  persisted  in  not 

foing  out  to  ride,  in  consequence  of 
is  quarrel  with  the  governor  of  the 
island,  who  insisted  on  his  being  at- 
tended by  an  officer  beyond  the  pre- 
scribed limits  ;  but  he  amused  himself 
with  gardening,  in  which  he  took  great 
interest,  and  not  uufrequently,  like 
Diocletian,  consoled  himself  for  the 
want  of  the  excitements  of  royalty  by 
labouring  with  his  own  hands  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  earth.  The  cessa- 
tion of  riding  exercise,  however,  to  one 
who  had  been  so  much  accustomed  to 
it,  proved  very  prejudicial.  This,  to 
a  person  of  his  active  habits,  coupled 
with  the  disappointment  consequent 
on  the  failure  of  the  revolutions  in 
Europe  and  the  plans  formed  for  his 
escape,  aggravated  the  hereditary  ma- 
lady in  the  stomach,  under  which  he 
laboured,  and  in  spring  1821  caused  his 
physicians  to  apprehend  danger  to  his 

120.  The  receipt  of  this  intelligence 
induced  the  English  Government  to 
send  directions  for  his  receiving  every 
possible    relief   and   accommodation, 
and  even,  if  necessary,  for  his  removal 
from  the  island.     But  these  humane 
intentions  were  announced  too  late  to 
be  carried  into  effect.     In  the  begin- 
ning of  May  he  became  rapidly  worse ; 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  5th,  at  five 
minutes  before  six,  he  breathed  his 
List.     A  violent  storm  of  wind  and 
rain  at  the  same  time  arose,  which  tore 
up  the  trees  in  the  island  by  their 
roots, — it  was  amidst  the  war  of  the 
elements  that  his  soul  departed.     The 
howling  of  the  wind  seemed  to  recall 


to  the  dying  conqueror  the  roar  of 
battle,  and  his  last  words  were — ' '  Mon 
Dieu — La  Nation  franchise — Tete  d'ar- 
mee."  He  declared  in  his  testament, 
"I  die  in  the  Apostolic  and  Roman 
religion,  in  the  bosom  of  which  I  was 
born,  above  fifty  years  ago."  When 
he  breathed  his  last,  his  sword  was 
beside  him,  on  the  left  side  of  the 
couch ;  but  the  cross,  the  symbol  of 
peace,  rested  on  his  breast.  The  child 
of  the  Revolution,  the  Incarnation  of 
War,  died  in  the  Christian  faith,  with 
the  emblem  of  the  Gospel  on  his  bo- 
som !  His  will,  which  had  been  made 
in  the  April  preceding,  was  found  to 
contain  a  great  multitude  of  bequests, 
but  two  in  an  especial  manner  worthy 
of  notice.  The  first  was  a  request  that 
his  body  "might  finally  repose  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  among  the  people 
he  had  loved  so  well ;  "  the  second,  a 
legacy  of  10,000  francs  to  the  assassin 
Cantillon,  who,  as  already  noticed,* 
had  attempted  the  life  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  but  had  been  acquitted 
by  the  jury,  from  the  evidence  being 
deemed  insufficient  He  died  in  the 
fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  having  been 
born  on  the  5th  February  1768. 

121.  Napoleon  had  himself  fixed  up- 
on the  place  in  the  island  of  St  Helena 
where  ne  wished,  in  the  first  instance 
at  least,  to  be  interred.  It  was  in  a 
small  hollow,  called  Slanes  Valley,  high 
up  on  the  mountain  which  forms  the 
island,  where  a  fountain,  shaded  by 
weeping  willows,  meanders  through 
verdant  banks.  The  tchampas  flourish- 
ed in  the  moist  soil  "  It  is  a  plant," 
says  the  Sanscrit  Chronicle,  "which, 
notwithstanding  its  beauty  and  per- 
fume, is  not  in  request,  because  it 
grows  on  the  tombs."  The  body,  as 
directed  by  the  Emperor,  lay  in  state 
in  a  "chapelle  ardente,"  according 
to  the  form  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  in  the  three  -  cornered  hat, 
military  surtout,  leather  under  -  dress, 
long  boots  and  spurs,  as  when  he  ap- 
peared on  the  field  of  battle,  and  it 
was  laid  in  the  coffin  in  the  same  garb. 
The  funeral  took  place  on  the  9th 
May.  It  was  attended  by  all  the 
military  and  naval  forces,  and  all  the 
*  Ante,  chap.  vi.  §  73. 


132 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP,  ix.. 


authorities  in  the  island,  as  well  as  his 
weeping  household.  Three  squadrons 
of  dragoons  headed  the  procession. 
The  hearse  was  drawn  by  four  horses. 
The  66th  and  20th  regiments,  and  fif- 
teen pieces  of  artillery,  formed  part  of 
the  array,  marching,  with  arms  re- 
versed, to  the  sound  of  mournful  mu- 
sic, and  all  the  touching  circumstance 
of  a  soldier's  funeral.  When  they  ap- 
proached the  place  of  sepulture,  and 
the  hearse  could  go  no  farther,  the 
coffin  was  borne  by  his  own  attendants, 
escorted  by  twenty-four  grenadiers  of 
the  two  English  regiments  who  had  the 
honour  of  conveying  the  immortal  con- 
queror to  his  last  resting-place.  Min- 
ute-guns, during  the  whole  ceremony, 
were  fired  by  all  the  batteries  in  the 
island.  The  place  of  sepulture  was 
consecrated  by  an  English  clergyman,* 
according  to  the  English  form,  though 
lie  was  buried  with  the  Catholic  rites. 
Volleys  of  musketry  and  discharges  of 
artillery  paid  the  last  honours  of  a  na- 
tion to  their  noble  antagonist.  A  sim- 
ple stone  of  great  size  was  placed  over 
his  remains,  and  the  solitary  willows 
wept  over  the  tomb  of  him  for  whom 
the  earth  itself  had  once  hardly  seemed 
a  fitting  mausoleum. 

122.  The  death  of  Napoleon  made  a 
prodigious  sensation  in  Europe,  and 
caused  a  greater  change  of  opinion, 
especially  in  England,  than  any  event 
which  had  occurred  since  that  of  Louis 
XVI.  There  was  something  in  the 
circumstances  of  the  decease  of  so  great 
a  man,  alone,  unbefriended,  on  a  soli- 
tary rock  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean, 
and  in  the  contrast  which  such  a  re- 
verse presented  to  his  former  grandeur 
and  prosperity,  which  fascinated  and 
subdued  the  minds  of  men.  All  ranks 
were  affected,  all  imaginations  kindled, 
all  sympathies  awakened,  by  it.  In 
England,  in  particular,  where  the  an- 
tipathy to  him  had  been  most  violent, 
and  the  resistance  most  persevering, 
the  reaction  was  the  most  general.  The 
great  qualities  of  their  awful  antagon- 
ist, long  concealed  by  enmity,  misre- 
presented by  hatred,  misunderstood  by 
passion,  broke  upon  them  in  their  full 
*  The  Rev.  Mr  Vernon. 


lustre,  when  death  had  rendered  him 
no  longer  an  object  of  terror.  The 
admiration  for  him  in  many  exceeded 
what  had  been  felt  in  France  itself. 
The  prophecy  of  the  Emperor  proved 
true,  that  the  first  vindication  of  his 
memory  would  come  from  those  who- 
in  life  had  been  his  most  determined 
enemies.  Time,  however,  has  moder- 
ated these  transports  :  it  has  dispelled 
the  illusions  of  imagination,  calmed 
the  effervescence  of  generosity,  as  much 
as  it  has  dissipated  the  prejudices  and 
softened  the  rancour  of  hostility.  It. 
has  taken  nothing  from  the  great  qua- 
lities of  the  Emperor ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  has  brought  them  out  in  still  more 
colossal  proportions  than  was  at  first 
imagined.  But  it  has  revealed,  at  the 
same  time,  the  inherent  weaknesses  and 
faults  of  his  nature,  and  shown  that 
"the  most  mighty  breath  of  life,"  in. 
the  words. of  genius,  "that  ever  had 
animated  the  human  clay,  was  not 
without  the  frailties  which  are  the 
common  inheritance  of  the  children  of 
Adam. " 

123.  "With  Napoleon  terminated,  for 
the  present  at  least,  the  generation  of 
ruling  men — of  those  who  impress  their 
signet  on  the  age,  not  receive  its  im- 
pression from  it.  "He  sleeps,"  says 
Chateaubriand,  "like  a  hermit  at  the 
extremity  of  a  solitary  valley  at  the 
end  of  a  desert  path.  He  did  not  die 
under  the  eye  of  France  ;  he  disap- 
peared on  the  distant  horizon  of  the  tor- 
rid zone.  The  grandeur  of  the  silence 
which  shrouds  his  remains,  equals  the 
immensity  of  the  din  which  once  en- 
vironed them.  The  nations  are  absent, 
theircrowds  have  retired."  The  terrible 
spirit  of  innovation  which  has  over- 
spread the  earth,  and  to  which  Napo- 
leon had  opposed  the  barrier  of  his 
genius,  and  which  he  for  a  time  ar- 
rested, has  resumed  its  course.  His 
institutions  failed,  but  he  was  the  last 
of  the  great  existences.  The  shadow 
of  Napoleon  rises  on  the  frontier  of  the 
old  destroyed  world,  and  the  most 
distant  posterity  will  gaze  on  that  gi- 
gantic spectre  over  the  gulf  into  which 
entire  ages  have  fallen,  until  the  ap- 
pointed day  of  social  resurrection. 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


133 


CHAPTER    X. 


DOMESTIC   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND,   FROM   THE    PASSING    OF    THE    CTTRRENCY 
ACT  OF   1819   TO  THE  DEATH  OF   LORD   LONDONDERRY   IN   1822. 


1.  THE  contest  between  parties  in 
France  was  directed  to  different  ends, 
and  was  of  an  entirely  different  char- 
acter, from  that  in  Great  Britain.  At 
Paris  the  object  was  to  overthrow  a 
dynasty,  in  London  it  was  chiefly  to 
gain  a  subsistence.  Mental  enthusiasm 
inspired  the  first,  material  interests 
prompted  the  last.  The  contest  in 
the  one  country  was  political,  in  the 
other  it  was  social.  All  the  discon- 
tented in  France,  however  much  dis- 
united upon  ulterior  objects,  were 
.agreed  in  their  hatred  of  the  Bourbons, 
and  their  desire  to  dispossess  them. 
The  multitude  of  ambitions  which  had 
been  thwarted,  of  interests  injured,  of 
glories  tarnished,  of  prospects  blast- 
ed, by  the  disasters  in  which  the  war 
had  terminated,  and  the  visions  which 
it  had  overthrown,  rendered  this  party 
very  numerous  and  fearfully  energetic. 
In  England,  although  there  were, 
doubtless,  not  a  few,  especially  in  the 
manufacturing  towns,  who  desired  a 
change  of  government,  and  dreamt  of 
.a  British  or  Hibernian  Republic,  the 
great  majority  of  the  discontented  were 
set  upon  very  different  objects.  The 
contest  of  dynasties  was  over  :  no  one 
thought  of  supplanting  the  house  of 
Hanover  by  that  of  Stuart.  Few, 
comparatively,  wished  a  change  in  the 
form  of  government :  there  were  some 
hundred  thousands  of  ardent  republi- 
cans in  the  great  towns  ;  but  those  in 
the  country  who  were  satisfied,  and 
desired  to  live  on  under  the  rule  of 
King,  Lords,  and  Commons,  were  mil- 
lions to  these.  But  all  wished,  and 
most  reasonably  and  properly,  to  live 
comfortably  under  their  direction  ; 
and  when  any  social  evils  assumed  an 
alarming  aspect,  or  distress  prevailed 


to  an  unusual  degree  among  them, 
they  became  discontented,  and  lent  a 
ready  ear  to  any  demagogue  who  pro- 
mised them,  as  many  never  failed  to 
do,  by  the  popularising  of  the  national 
institutions,  a  relief  from  all  the  evils 
under  which  the  country  laboured. 

2.  From  this  difference  in  the  pre- 
vailing disposition  and  objects  of  the 
people  in  the  two  countries,  there  re- 
sulted a  most  important  distinction  in 
the  causes  which,  on  the  opposite  sides 
of  the  Channel,  inflamed  the  public 
mind,  or  endangered  the  stability  of 
existing  institutions.  In  France,  the 
objects  of  the  opposition  in  the  Cham- 
bers, the  discontented  in  the  country, 
being  the  subversion  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  a  change  of  dynasty,  what- 
ever tended  to  make  the  people  more 
anxious  for  that  change,  and  ready 
to  support  it,  rendered  civil  war  and 
revolution  more  imminent.  Hence 
general  prosperity  and  social  welfare, 
ordinarily  so  powerful  in  allaying  dis- 
content, were  there  the  most  powerful 
causes  in  creating  it ;  because  they  put 
the  people,  as  it  might  be  said,  into 
fighting  trim,  and  inspired  them,  like  a 
well-fed  and  rested  army,  with  the  ar- 
dour requisite  for  success  in  hazardous 
enterprises.  In  England,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  the  contest  of  dynasties  was 
over,  and  the  decided  republicans  who 
aimed  at  an  entire  change  of  institu- 
tions were  comparatively  few  in  num- 
ber, nothing  could  enlist  the  great  body 
of  the  people,  even  in  the  manufactur- 
ing towns,  on  the  side  of  sedition,  but 
the  experience  of  suffering.  So  strong, 
however,  is  the  desire  for  individual 
comfort,  and  the  wish  to  better  their 
condition,  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
that  general  distress  seldom  fails  to 


134 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


excite  general  disaffection,  at  least  in 
the  great  cities;  and  whatever  tends 
to  induce  it,  in  the  end  threatens  the 
public  tranquillity.  Thus,  in  France, 
at  that  period  at  least,  general  prospe- 
rity augmented  the  danger  of  revolu- 
tion ;  in  England  it  averted  it. 

3.  A  cause,  however,  had  now  come 
into  operation,  which,  more  than  any 
other  recorded  in  its  modern  annals, 
produced  long-continued  and  periodi- 
cally returning  distress  among  the  Brit- 
ish people  ;  and  at  length,  from  the 
sheer  force  of  suffering,  broke  the  bonds 
of  loyalty  and  patriotism,  and  induced 
a  revolution  attended  with  lasting  and 
irremediable  consequences  on  the  fu- 
ture prospects  of  the  empire.  It  need 
not  be  said  what  that  cause  was ;  a 
great  alteration  in  the  monetary  laws, 
ever  affecting  the  life-blood  of  a  com- 
mercial state,  is  alone  adequate  to  the 
explanation  of  so  great  an  effect.  The 
author  is  well  aware  that  this  is  a  sub- 
ject exceedingly  distasteful  to  the  great 
bulk  of  readers :  he  knows  perfectly 
that  the  vast  majority  of  them  turn 
over  the  pages  the  moment  they  see  the 
subject  of  the  currency  commenced. 
He  is  not  to  be  deterred,  however,  by 
that  consideration  from  entering  upon 
it.  All  attempts  to  unfold  the  real 
history  of  the  British  empire,  during 
the  thirty  years  which  followed  the 
peace,  will  be  nugatory,  and  the  views 
they  exhibit  fallacious,  if  this,  the 
mainspring  which  put  all  the  move- 
ments at  work,  is  not  steadily  kept  in 
view.  History  loses  its  chief  utility, 
departs  from  its  noblest  object,  when, 
to  avoid  risk  to  popularity,  it  deviates 
from  the  duty  of  facilitating  improve- 
ment :  the  nation  has  little  shown  itself 
prepared  for  self-government,  when,  in 
the  search  of  amusement,  it  forgets  in- 
quiry. Enough  of  exciting  and  inter- 
esting topics  remain  for  this  History, 
and  for  this  volume,  to  induce  even  the 
most  inconsiderate  readers  to  submit 
for  half  an  hour  to  the  elucidation  of 
a  subject  on  which,  more  than  on  any 
other,  their  own  fortunes  and  those  of 
their  children  depend.  It  may  the  more 
readily  be  submitted  to  at  this  time,  as 
this  is  the  turning-point  of  the  two 
systems,  and  the  subject  now  explained 


need  not  be  again  reverted  to  in  the- 
whole  remainder  of  the  work. 

4.  The  great  father  of  political  eeo- 
nomy  has  well  explained  the  principles 
of  this  subject,  and  was  himself  more 
than  any  other  man  alive  to  their  im- 
portance.     "  Gold  and  silver,"  says 
Adam  Smith,  "  like  every  other  com- 
modity, vary  in  their  value,  are  some- 
times cheaper,  sometimes  dearer,  some- 
times of  easier,  and  sometimes  of  more 
difficult  purchase.      The   quantity  of 
labour  which  any  particular  quantity 
of  these  can  purchase  or  command,  or 
the  quantity  of  other  goods  it  will  ex- 
change for,  depends  always  upon  the 
fertility  or  barrenness  of  the  mines 
which  happen  to  be  known  about  the 
time  when  such  exchanges  are  made. 
The  discovery  of  the  abundant  mines 
of  America  reduced,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  value  of  gold  and  silver 
in  Europe  to  about  a  third  of  what  it 
Jiad  formerly  been.     As  it  cost  less  la- 
bour to  bring  those  metals  from  the 
mine  to  the  market,  so  when  they  were 
brought  there,  they  could  purchase  or 
command  less  labour ;  and  this  revolu- 
tion in  their  value,  though  perhaps  the 
greatest,  is  by  no  means  the  only  one 
of  which  history  gives  some  account. 
But  as  a  measure  of  quantity,  such  as 
the  natural  foot,  fathom,  or  handful, 
which  is  continually  vaiying  in  its  own 
quantity,   can  never  be  an  accurate 
measure  of  the  value  of  other  commo- 
dities ;  so  a  commodity  which  is  itself 
continually  varying  in  its  own  value, 
can  never  be  an  accurate  measure  of  the 
value  of  other  commodities." 

5.  If  debts,  taxes,   and  other  en- 
cumbrances, could  be  made  at  once  to 
rise  or  fall  in  their  amount,  according 
to  the  fluctuation  of  the  medium  in 
which  they  are  to  be  discharged,  any 
changes  which  might  occur  in  the  ex- 
changeable value  of  that  medium  it- 
self would  be  a  matter  of  little  prac- 
tical importance.     But  the  experience 
of  all  ages  has  demonstrated  that  this 
is    impossible.     The    transactions   of 
men,  when  they  become  at  all  exten- 
sive or  complicated,  absolutely  require 
some  fixed  known  standard  by  which 
they  are  to  be  measured,   and  thei 
discharge  regulated,  without  anythin 


1319.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


135 


else  than  a  reference  to  that  standard 
itself.  It  never  could  be  tolerated 
that  every  debtor,  after  having  paid 
his  debt  in  the  current  coin  of  the 
realm,  should  be  involved  in  a  dispute 
with  his  creditor  as  to  what  the  pre- 
sent value  of  that  current  coin  was. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  a  fixed  stan- 
dard ;  but  hence  also  the  immense 
effects  of  any  material  alteration  in 
the  value  of  that  standard,  and  the 
paramount  necessity,  so  far  as  practi- 
cable, of  preventing  any  considerable 
fluctuations  in  it.  If  the  standard 
falls  in  value,  the  weight  of  all  debts 
and  encumbrances  is  proportionally 
lessened,  because  a  lesser  quantity  of 
the  produce  of  labour  is  required  for 
their  discharge ;  if  it  rises,  their  weight 
is  proportionally  augmented,  because 
a  larger  quantity  is  required  for  that 
purpose.  So  great  is  the  effect  of  any 
considerable  change  in  this  respect, 
that  it  has  occasioned,  and  can  alone 
explain,  the  greatest  events  in  the  in- 
tercourse of  nations  of  which  history 
has  preserved  a  record. 

6.  The  great  contest  between  Rome 
and  Carthage,  which  Hannibal  and 
Scipio  conducted,  and  Livy  has  im- 
mortalised, was  determined  by  a  de- 
cree of  the  Senate,  induced  by  neces- 
sity, which  postponed  the  payment  of 
all  obligations  of  the  public  treasury 
in  specie  to  the  conclusion  of  the  war, 
and  thereby  created  an  inconvertible 
paper  currency  for  the  Roman  empire.* 
More  even  than  the  slaughter  on  the 
Metaurus,  the  triumph  of  Zama,  this 
decree  determined  the  fate  of  the  an- 
cient world,  for  it  alone  equipped  the 

*  "  Hortati  censores,  ut  omnia  perirulc 
agerent, loearent  ac si  pecunia  incerario  esset: 
ncminem  nisi  bello  confecto,  pecuniam  ab  cera- 
rio  pctiturum  e<se." — Liv.,  lib.  xxiv.  cap.  18. — 
On  one  occasion,  when  in  a  party  in  London, 
composed  chiefly  of  Whigs,  opponents  of  Mr 
Pitt's  Currency  Act  of  1797,  the  dangerous 
•  s  of  this  measure  were  under  discussion, 
the  late  Lord  Melbourne,  whose  sagacity  of 
mind  was  equal  to  his  charm  of  manner,  quot- 
ed this  passage  from  memory.  "  The  cen- 
sors," says  Arnold,  "found  the  treasury  un- 
able to  supply  the  public  service.  Upon  tin's, 
trust  monies  belonging  to  widows  and  minors, 
or  to  widows  and  unmarried  women,  were  de- 
posited in  the  treasury;  and  whatever  sums 
the  trustees  had  to  draw  for  were  paid  by  the 
quarter  iu bills  on  the  banking  commissiouers, 


legions  by  whom  those  victories  were 
gained.  Rome  itself,  saved  in  its  ut- 
most need  by  an  expansion,  sank  in 
the  end  under  a  still  greater  contrac- 
tion of  the  national  currency.  The 
supplies  of  specie  for  the  Old  World 
became  inadequate  to  the  increasing 
wants  of  its  population,  when  tho 
power  of  the  emperors  had  given  last- 
ing internal  peace  to  its  hundred  and 
tAventy  millions  of  inhabitants.  Tho 
mines  of  Spain  and  Greece,  from  which 
the  chief  supplies  were  obtained  at 
that  period,  were  worked  out,  or  be- 
came unworkable,  from  the  exactions 
of  the  emperors  ;  and  so  great  was  the 
dearth  of  the  precious  metals  which 
thence  ensued,  that  the  treasure  in 
circulation  in  the  Empire,  which  in 
the  time  of  Augustus  amounted  to 
£380,000,000,  had  sunk  in  that  of 
Justinian  to  £80,000,000  sterling,  al- 
though the  numbers  and  transactions 
of  men,  from  the  long  internal  peace 
which  had  prevailed  in  the  Empire, 
had  in  the  interim  greatly  increased. 
The  value  of  money  had,  in  conse- 
quence, undergone  a  total  change :  the 
golden  aureus,  which  in  the  days  of 
the  Antonines  weighed  118  grains,  had 
come,  in  the  fifth  century,  to  weigh 
only  68,  though  it  was  only  taken  in 
discharge  of  debts  and  taxes  at  its 
original  and  standard  value.  As  a 
necessary  consequence  of  so  prodigious 
a  contraction  of  the  currency,  with- 
out any  proportional  diminution  in 
the  numbers  or  transactions  of  man- 
kind, debts  and  taxes,  which  were  all 
measured  in  the  old  standard,  became 
so  overwhelming  chat  the  national  in- 

or  triumvirs  mensarii.  It  is  probable  that 
these  bills  were  actually  a  paper  currency, 
and  that  they  circulated  as  money,  on  tho 
security  of  the  public  faith.  In  the  same 
way,  the  government  contracts  were  also 
paid  in  paper ;  for  the  contractors  came  for- 
ward in  a  body  to  the  censors,  and  begged 
them  to  make  their  contracts  as  usual,  pro- 
mising not  to  demand  payment  till  the  end  of 
the  war.  This  must,  I  conceive,  mean  that 
they  were  to  be  paid  in  orders  upon  the 
treasury,  which  orders  were  to  be  convert- 
ed into  cash  when  the  present  difficulties 
of  the  government  should  be  at  an  end." 
— ARNOLD,  vol.  ii.  p.  207.  This  was  just  a:i 
inconvertible  paper  currency,  and  its  issue, 
after  the  battle  of  Cannee,  saved  the  Roman 
empire. 


136 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


dustry  was  ruined  ;  agriculture  disap- 
peared, and  was  succeeded  by  pastur- 
age in  the  fields  ;  the  great  cities  were 
all  fed  from  Egypt  and  Libya ;  the  re- 
venue became  irrecoverable  ;  the  le- 
gions dwindled  into  cohorts,  the  co- 
horts into  companies ;  and  the  six 
hundred  thousand  men,  who  guarded 
the  frontiers  of  the  Empire  in  the 
time  of  Augustus,  had  sunk  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  that  of 
Justinian — a  force  wholly  inadequate 
to  its  defence. 

7.  What  rendered  this  great  con- 
traction of  the  circulating  medium  so 
crushing  in  the  ancient  world  was, 
that  they  were  wholly  unacquainted, 
except  for  a  brief  period  during  the 
necessities  of  the  second  Punic  War, 
with  that  marvellous  substitute  for  it 
— a  paper  currency.  It  was  the  Jews 
who  first  discovered  this  admirable 
system,  to  facilitate  the  transmission 
of  their  wealth  amidst  the  violence  and 
extortions  of  the  middle  ages  ;  and  it 
is,  perhaps,  not  going  too  far  to  assert 
that,  if  it  had  been  found  out,  and 
brought  into  general  use,  at  an  earlier 
period,  it  might  have  averted  the  fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  effects  of 
a  scarcity  of  the  precious  metals,  there- 
fore, were  immediately  felt  in  the  dimi- 
nished wages  of  labour  and  price  of 
produce,  and  increasing  weight  of  debts 
and  taxes.  A  paper  currency,  ade- 
quately secured  and  duly  limited, 
would  have  obviated  all  these  evils, 
because  it  provides  a  REPRESENTATIVE 
of  the  metallic  currency,  which,  when 
the  latter  becomes  scarce,  may,  with- 
out risk,  be  rendered  a  SUBSTITUTE 
for  it.  Thus  the  ruinous  effects  of  a 
contraction  of  the  circulating  medi- 
um, even  when  most  violent,  may  be 
entirely  prevented,  and  the  industry, 
revenue,  and  prosperity  of  a  country 
completely  sustained  during  the  ut- 
most scarcity,  or  even  entire  absence, 
of  the  precious  metals.  It  was  thus 
that  the  alarming  crisis  of  1797,  which 
threatened  to  induce  the  national  bank- 
ruptcy, was  surmounted  with  ease, 
by  the  simple  device  of  declaring  the 
Bank  of  England  notes,  like  the  trea- 
sury bonds  in  the  second  Punic  War, 
a  legal  tender,  not  convertible  into 


cash  till  the  close  of  the  war  ;  and  that 
the  year  1810,  when,  from  the  demand 
for  gold  on  the  Continent,  there  was 
scarcely  a  guinea  left  in  this  country, 
was  one  of  general  prosperity,  and  the 
greatest  national  efforts  recorded  in  its 
annals. 

8.  As  paper  may  with  ease  be  issued 
to  any  extent,  either  by  Government 
or  private  establishments  authorised 
to  circulate  it,  it  becomes  an  engine  of 
as  great  danger,  and  attended  with  as 
destructive  effects,  when  it  is  unduly 
multiplied  as  when  it  is  unduly  con- 
tracted. It  is  like  the  blood  in  the 
human  body,  whose  circulation  sus- 
tains and  is  essential  to  animal  life  : 
drained  away,  or  not  adequately  fed, 
it  leads  to  death  by  atrophy  ;  unduly 
increased,  it  proves  fatal  by  inducing 
apoplexy.  To  preserve  a  proper  medi- 
um, and  promote  the  circulation  equal- 
ly and  healthfully  through  all  parts  of 
the  system,  is  the  great  object  of  regi- 
men alike  in  the  natural  frame  and  the 
body  politic.  Issued  in  overwhelming 
quantities,  as  it  was  in  France  during 
the  Revolution,  it  induces  such  a  rise 
of  prices  as  destroys  all  realised  capital, 
by  permitting  it  to  be  discharged  by  a 
mere  fraction  of  its  real  amount ;  con- 
tracted to  an  excessive  degree,  either 
by  the  mutations  of  commerce  or  the 
policy  of  Government,  it  proves  equal- 
ly fatal  to  industry,  by  lowering  the 
money  price  of  its  produce,  and  aug- 
menting the  weight  of  the  debts  and 
taxes  with  which  it  is  oppressed.  A 
paper  currency,  when  perfectly  secure, 
and  hindered  by  the  regulations  un- 
der which  it  is  issued  from  becoming 
redundant,  may  not  only,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  gold  and  silver,  supply  its 
place,  but  in  its  presence  almost  super- 
sede its  use.  "If,"  says  Adam  Smith, 
"the  gold  and  silver  in  a  country 
should  at  any  time  fall  short,  in  a 
country  which  has  wherewithal  to  pur- 
chase them,  there  are  more  expedients 
for  supplying  their  place  than  almost 
any  other  commodity.  If  provisions 
are  wanted,  the  people  must  starve  ; 
if  the  materials  for  manufacture  are 
awanting,  industry  must  stop  ;  but  if 
money  is  wanted,  barter  will  supply 
its  place,  though  with  a  good  deal  of 


1819.1 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


137 


inconvenience.  Buying  and  selling 
upon  credit,  and  the  different  deal- 
ers compensating  one  another  once  a 
month  or  year,  will  supply  it  with  less 
inconveniency.  A  well-regulated  pa- 
per money  will  supply  it,  not  only 
without  inconveniency,  but  in  some  cases 
with,  some  advantage."  Experience 
may  soon  convince  any  one  that  this 
latter  observation  of  Mr  Smith  is  well 
founded,  and  that  a  duly  regulated 
paper  is  often  more  convenient  and 
serviceable  than  one  entirely  of  specie. 
Let  him  go  into  any  bank  at  a  distance 
from  London,  and  he  will  find  that 
they  will  give  him  sovereigns  to  any 
extent  without  any  charge  ;  but  that 
for  Bank  of  England  notes,  or  a  bill 
on  London,  they  will,  in  one  form  or 
other,  charge  a  premium ;  and  if  he 
has  any  doubt  of  the  superior  conveni- 
ence of  bank-notes  over  specie  for  the 
transactions  of  life,  he  is  recommended 
to  compare  travelling  in  England  with 
£500,  in  five  English  notes,  in  his 
waistcoat  pocket,  with  doing  so  in 
Franco  with  the  same  sum  in  napole- 
ons in  his  portmanteau. 

9.  The  question  is  often  asked, 
' '  What  is  a  pound  ?  "  and  Sir  Kobert 
Peel,  after  mentioning  how  Mr  Locke 
and  Sir  Isaac  Newton  had  failed,  with 
.all  their  abilities,  in  answering  it,  said 
that  he  could  by  no  possible  effort  of 
intellect  conceive  it  to  be  anything  but 
a  certain  determinate  weight  of  gold 
metal.  Perhaps  if  his  valuable  life 
had  been  spared,  and  he  had  seen  the 
ounce  of  gold  selling  in  Australia  at 
£3  to  £3, 10s.  instead  of  £3, 17s.  10£d., 
the  mint  price,  he  would  have  modi- 
fied his  opinion.  In  truth,  a  pound  is 
an  abstract  measure  of  value,  just  as 
a  foot  or  a  yard  is  of  length  ;  and  dif- 
ferent things  have  at  different  periods 
been  taken  to  denote  that  measure, 
according  as  the  conveniency  of  men 
.suggested.  It  was  originally  a  pound 
wight  of  silver;  and  that  metal  was 
till  the  present  century  the  standard  in 
England,  as  it  still  is  in  most  other 
countries.  When  gold  was  made  the 
standard,  by  the  Bank  being  compelled 
by  the  Act  of  1819  to  pay  in  that  metal, 
the  old  word,  denoting  its  original  sig- 
nification of  the  less  valuable  metal, 


was  still  retained.  During  the  war, 
when  the  metallic  currency  disappear- 
ed, the  pound  was  a  Bank  of  England 
pound-note  :  the  standard  was  thus 
paper, — for  gold  was  worth  28s.  the 
pound,  from  the  demand  for  it  on  tho 
Continent.  Since  California  and  Aus- 
tralia have  begun  to  pour  forth  their 
golden  treasures,  the  standard  has 
practically  come  again  to  be  silver,  as 
the  precious  metal  which  is  least  chang- 
ing in  value  at  this  time.  The  proof 
of  this  is  decisive  ; — the  ounce  of  gold 
is  selling  (1853)  for  £3  to  £3,  10s.  at 
Melbourne  ;  gold  is  measured  by  sil- 
ver, not  silver  by  gold.  In  truth,  dif- 
ferent things  at  different  times  are 
taken  to  express  the  much -coveted 
abstract  standard  ;  and  what  is  always 
taken  is  that  article  in  general  circula- 
tion which  is  most  steady  in  value  and 
most  generally  received. 

10.  None  but  those  practically  ac- 
quainted with  the  subject  can  conceive 
how  powerfully,  and  often  rapidly,  an 
extension  or  contraction  of  the  cur- 
rency acts  upon  the  general  industry 
and  fortunes  of  the  country.  All  other 
causes,  in  a  commercial  state,  sink  into 
insignificance  in  comparison.  "  The 
judicious  operations  of  banking, "  says 
Mr  Smith,  "  enable  the  trader  to  con- 
vert his  dead  stock  into  active  and 
productive  stock.  The  first  forms  a 
very  valuable  part  of  the  capital  of  the 
country,  which  produces  nothing  to  the 
country.  The  operation  of  banking, 
by  substituting  paper  in  room  of  a 
great  part  of  the  gold  and  silver,  en- 
ables the  country  to  convert  a  great 
part  of  dead  stock  into  active  and  pro- 
ductive stock — into  stock  which  pro- 
duces something  to  the  country.  The 
gold  and  silver  money  which  circulates 
in  any  countiy  may  very  properly  be 
compared  to  a  highway,  which,  while 
it  circulates  and  carries  to  market  all 
the  grass  ami  corn  of  the  country,  does 
not  itself  produce  a  single  pile  of  either. 
The  judicious  operations  of  banking 
enable  the  country  to  convert,  as  it 
were,  a  great  part  of  its  highways  into 
good  pastures  and  corn-fields,  and 
thereby  increase  considerably  the  an- 
nual produce  of  its  land  and  labours." 
To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  so  great 


138 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP,  x. 


is  the  effect  of  an  increase  of  the  paper 
circulation,  and  consequently  of  the 
expansion  of  the  credit,  industry,  and 
enterprise  of  a  commercial  state,  that 
a  country  which  has  dead  stock,  as  Mr 
Smith  says,  of  the  value  of  twenty 
thousand  millions,  may  find  the  value 
of  all  its  articles  of  merchandise  en- 
hanced or  diminished  fifty  per  cent  by 
the  expansion  or  contraction  of  the 
currency  to  the  extent  of  ten  millions 
sterling.  Such  an  addition  or  sub- 
traction is  to  be  compared,  not  to  the 
entire  amount  of  its  realised  wealth, 
but  to  the  amount  of  that  small  portion 
of  it  which  forms  its  c  ir delating  medium, 
upon  which  its  prosperity  depends  ; 
just  as  the  warmth  of  a  house  is  deter- 
mined, not  by  the  quantity  of  coals  in 
in  the  cellar,  but  by  what  is  put  upon 
the  fires.  Such  an  addition  to  the 
wealth  of  a  state  may  be  as  nothing  to 
the  value  of  its  dead  stock,  but  it  is 
much  to  the  sum  total  of  its  circulat- 
ing medium. 

11.  It  is  not  in  the  general  case  im- 
mediately that  this  great  effect  of  an 
expansion  or  contraction  of  the  cur- 
rency acts  upon  the  price  of  the  produce 
and  the  remuneration  of  the  labour  of 
the  country  :  months  may  sometimes 
elapse  after  the  augmented  issues  go 
forth  from  the  bank  before  their  effects 
begin  to  appear  upon  prices  and  enter- 
prise ;  years,  before  these  effects  are 
fully  developed.  But  these  effects  are 
quite  certain  in  the  end  :  an  expansion 
never  fails  by  degrees  to  stimulate,  a 
contraction  to  depress.  The  reason  of 
the  delay  in  general  is,  that  it  takes  a 
certain  time  for  the  augmented  supplies 
of  money  and  extended  credit  to  flow 
down  from  the  great  reservoirs  in  the 
metropolis,  from  whence  it  is  first 
issued,  to  the  country  banks  which  re- 
ceive it,  and  through  them  upon  their 
different  customers,  whose  speculation 
and  industry  it  develops.  There  is 
no  immediate  connection  between  aug- 
mented supplies  of  money,  whether  in 
gold,  silver,  or  paper,  and  a  rise  in  the 
price  of  commodities,  or  between  their 
diminution  and  a  fall ;  it  is  by  the 
gradual  process  of  stimulating  enter- 
prise, and  increasing  the  demand  for 
them  in  the  one  case,  and  diminishing 


it  in  the  other,  that  these  effects  take- 
place  ;  and  either  is  the  work  of  time. 
When  matters  approach  a  crisis,  how- 
ever, and  general  alarm  prevails,  any 
operations  on  the  currency  are  attended 
with  effects  much  more  rapidly,  and 
sometimes  instantaneously.  Several 
instances  of  this  will  appear  in  the 
sequel  of  this  History. 

12.  As  the  increase  or  diminution, 
of  the  currency  in  any  considerable 
degree  is  thus  attended  with  such  in- 
calculable effects  upon  the  industry, 
enterprise,    and  prosperity   of   every 
country  which  is  largely  engaged  in 
undertakings,  it  becomes  of  the  last 
importance  to  preserve  its  amount  as 
equal  as  may  be,  and  to  exclude,  if 
possible,  all  casual  or  uncalled-for  ex- 
pansions or  contractions.    Such  varia- 
tions are  fatal  to  prudent  enterprise 
and  legitimate    speculation,   because 
they  induce  changes  in  prices  irre- 
spective altogether  of  the  judgment 
with  which  they  were   imdertaken, 
against  which  no  wisdom  or  foresight 
can  provide,  and  which  render  com- 
mercial speculations  as  hazardous,  and 
often  ruinous,  as  the  gaming-table. 
They  are  injurious  in  the  highest  de- 
gree to  the  labouring  classes,  because 
they  encourage  in  them  habits  of  im- 
providence and  lavish  expenditure  at 
one  time,   which  are  inevitably  suc- 
ceeded by  depression  and  misery  at 
another.     They  often  sweep  away  in  a 
few  months  the  accumulated  savings 
of  whole  generations,  and  leave  the 
nation  with  great  undertakings  on  its 
hrxids,   without  either  credit  or  re- 
sources to  carry  them  on.     Their  ef- 
fects are  more  disastrous  than  those  of 
plague,  pestilence,  and  famine  put  to- 
gether, for  these,  in  their  worst  form, 
affect  only  an  existing  race  of  men  ; 
but  commercial  crises  extend  their  ra- 
vages to  distant  times,  by  sweeping 
away  the  means  of  maintaining  the 
future  generations  of  man. 

13.  No  currency  which  is  based 
exclusively  upon  the  precious  metals, 
or  consists  of  them,  can  possibly  be 
exempt   from    such  fluctuations,  be- 
cause,  being   valuable    all   over  the 
world,  these  are  always  liable  to  be 

[drained  away  at  particular  times  l>y 


r.ifs  by 


1319.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


139 


the  mutations  of  commerce  or  the  ne- 
cessities of  war  in  the  neighbouring 
states.  A  war  between  France  ami 
Austria  occasioning  a  great  demand  for 
gold  on  the  Continent ;  a  bad  harvest 
in  England  rendering  necessary  a  great 
exportation  of  it  to  bring  grain  from 
Poland  or  America ;  a  revolution  in 
France  ;  three  weeks'  rain  in  August 
in  England — events,  unhappily,  nearly 
equally  probable — may  at  any  time 
induce  the  calamity.  True,  the  pre- 
cious metals  will  always  in  the  end  be 
attracted  to  the  centre  of  wealth  and 
commerce  ;  but  before  they  come  back, 
half  the  traders  and  manufacturers  in 
the  country  may  be  rendered  bank  rapt. 
Any  interruption  of  the  wonted  issues 
of  cash  to  them  is  like  the  stopping  the 
issuing  of  rations  to  an  army,  or  food 
to  a  people.  The  only  possible  way  of 
averting  so  dire  a  calamity,  is  either 
by  having  had  such  immense  treasures 
of  gold  and  silver  in  the  country,  that 
they  are  adequate  to  meet  any  possible 
strain  which  may  come  upon  them, 
and  may  fairly  be  considered  inex- 
haustible ;  or  by  having  some  currency 
at  home  not  convertible  into  specie, 
but  which,  issued  in  moderate  quanti- 
ties, and  under  sufficient  safeguards 
against  excess,  may  supply  its  place, 
and  do  its  work  during  its  temporary 
absence.  Of  the  first,  Great  Britain 
and  the  whole  civilised  world  aiforded 
in  1852  a  memorable  example,  when 
the  vast  and  newly-discovered  trea- 
sures of  California  and  Australia  dif- 
fused animation  and  prosperity  over 
every  nation,  by  inducing  a  constant 
rise  of  prices  ever  since,  which  has 
now  reached  40  per  cent ;  the  second 
was  illustrated  by  England  in  1797 
and  1810,  when  not  a  guinea  was  left 
in  the  country,  but  every  difficulty 
was  surmounted  by  the  moderate  issue 
of  an  inconvertible  paper,  which,  with- 
out becoming  excessive,  was  adequate 
to  the  wants  of  the  community. 

14.  The  bill  of  1819,  which  re-estab- 
lished cash  payments,  and  thereby  ren- 
dered the  national  currency,  with  the 
exception  of  £14,000,000,  which  the 
Bank  was  authorised  to  issue  upon 
securities,  entirely  dependent  on  the 
retention  of  the  precious  metals  in 


the  country,  was  brought  about  by  a 
singular  but  not  unnatural  combina- 
tion of  causes.  In  the  first  place, 
there  was  the  natural  reaction  of  the 
human  mind  against  the  enormous 
evils  which  had  arisen  in  France  from 
the  abuse  of  the  system  of  assignats, 
the  quantities  of  which  issued  exceeded 
at  one  time  £700,000,000  sterling,  and 
caused  such  a  rise  of  prices  as  swept 
away  nearly  the  whole  realised  capital 
of  the  country.  In  the  next  place, 
there  was  the  inevitable  dread  on  the 
part  of  all  the  holders  of  realised  wealth 
of  such  a  continued  elevation  of  prices 
as  might  lessen  the  exchangeable  value 
of  their  fortunes,  and  in  some  degree 
deprive  them  of  their  inheritances  or 
the  fruits  of  their  toil.  Thirdly,  the 
whole  persons  engaged  in  manufactures 
— a  large  and  increasing  class  —  were 
impressed  with  the  same  ideas,  from 
the  experience  which  the  opening  of 
the  harbours  had  afforded  them,  since 
the  peace,  of  the  great  difference  be- 
tween the  money  wages  of  labour  and 
prices  of  raw  material  on  the  Continent, 
where  money  was  scarce,  because  its 
inhabitants  were  poor,  and  England, 
where  it  was  plentiful,  because  they 
were  rich,  and  the  necessity  of  con- 
tracting the  currency  in  order  to  lower 
prices,  especially  of  raw  material  and 
labour,  and  enable  them  better  to  com- 
pete with  their  Continental  rivals.  The 
Whigs,  as  a  party,  naturally  and  una- 
nimously adhered  to  the  same  opinion. 
They  did  so  because  Mr  Pitt  and  Lord 
Castlereagh  had  supported  the  opposite 
system,  on  the  principle  of  Mr  Tierney : 
"The  business  of  the  Opposition  is  to 
oppose  everything,  and  turn  out  the 
Government."  Lastly,  the  political 
economists,  struck  with  the  obvious 
dangers  of  great  variations  in  prices, 
of  which  recent  times  had  afforded  so 
many  examples,  formed  the  same  opin- 
ion, from  an  idea  that,  gold  being  the 
most  precious  of  all  metals,  and  the 
most  in  request  in  all  countries  and 
ages,  no  circulation  could  be  considered 
as  safe  or  lasting  except  such  as  was 
built  upon  that  imperishable  founda- 
tion. These  circumstances,  joined  to 
the  weight  and  abilities  of  Mr  Huskis- 
son,  Mr  Homer,  and  the  Bullion  Com- 


140 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


mittee,  who  had  recommended  the  re- 
sumption of  cash  payments,  and  of  Mr 
Feel,  who  had  recently  embraced  their 
views,  and  the  general  ignorance  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  community  on  the 
subject,  produced  that  "chaos  of  una- 
nimity "  which,  as  already  mentioned, 
led  to  the  resolutions  introducing  it 
being  adopted  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons without  one  dissenting  voice. 

15.  A  chaos  of  unanimity,  however, 
which  confounds  parties,  obliterates 
•old  impressions,  and  is  followed  by 
new  alliances,  is  seldom  in  the  end 
attended  by  advantages ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  in  general  the  herald  of 
misfortune.  As  it  arises  from  the 
judgment  of  men  being  obliterated  for 
a  season,  by  the  pressure  of  some  com- 
mon passion  or  apprehension,  or  the 
•creation  of  some  common  object  of 
ambition,  so  it  ends  in  general  in  their 
interests  being  confounded  in  one  com- 
mon disaster.  The  great  danger  of  con- 
sidering paper  as  the  representative  of 
gold  and  silver,  not,  when  required,  a 
substitute  for  them,  consists  in  this, 
that  it  tends  necessarily  to  multiply  or 
diminish  them  both  at  the  same  time; 
a  state  of  things  of  all  others  the  most 
calamitous,  and  fraught  with  danger 
to  the  best  interests  of  society.  When 
gold  and  silver  are  plentiful  abroad, 
and  they  flow  in  large  quantities  into 
this  country,  from  its  being  the  best 
market  which  the  holders  of  those 
metals  can  find  for  them,  they  neces- 
sarily accumulate  in  large  quantities 
in  the  banks,  especially  the  Bank  of 
England,  which  being  obliged  to  take 
them  at  a  fixed  price,  often  above  the 
market  value,  of  course  gets  the  largest 
proportion.  It  pays  for  this  treasure 
with  its  own  paper,  which  thus  aug- 
ments the  circulation,  already,  per- 
haps, too  plentiful  from  the  affluence 
of  the  precious  metals.  Then  prices 
rise,  money  becomes  easy,  credit  ex- 
pands, and  enterprises  often  of  the 
most  absurd  and  dangerous  kind  are 
.set  on  foot,  which,  however,  are  gene- 
rally for  a  brief  period  attended  with 
great  profit  to  the  fortunate  holders  of 
shares.  When  a  change  arrives — as 
arrive  it  must,  from  this  rapid  increas- 
ing of  the  currency  both  in  specie  and 


paper  at  the  same  time,  and  the  pre- 
cious metals  are  as  quickly  withdrawn 
to  other  countries,  probably  to  pay  the 
importations  which  the  preceding  fe- 
ver had  brought  into  the  country — the 
very  reverse  of  all  this  takes  place. 
The  banks,  finding  their  stock  of  trea- 
sure daily  diminishing,  take  the  alarm; 
discounts  cease,  credits  are  contracted; 
the  greatest  mercantile  houses  are  un- 
able to  obtain  even  inconsiderable  ad- 
vances, and  the  nation  is  left  with  a 
vast  variety  of  speculations  and  under- 
takings on  hand,  without  either  funds 
or  credit  to  bring  them  to  a  successful 
issue. 

16.  The  true  system  would  be  just 
the  reverse.  Proceeding  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  great  object  is  to  equalise 
the  currency,  and  with  it  prices  and 
speculation,  it  would  enlarge  the  paper 
currency  when  the  precious  metals  are 
withdrawn  and  credit  is  threatened 
with  stoppage,  and  proportionally  can- 
tract  it  when  the  precious  metals  re- 
turn, and  the  currency  is  becoming 
adequate  without  any  considerable  ad- 
dition to  the  paper.  In  this  way,  not 
only  would  the  immense  danger  of  a 
large  amount  of  gold  and  paper  being 
poured  into  the  circulation  at  the  same 
time  be  avoided,  but  a  support  would 
be  given  to  credit,  and  an  adequate 
supply  of  currency  provided  for  the 
country  when  its  precious  metals  are 
drained  away,  and  a  monetary  crisis  is 
at  hand.  A  few  millions,  secured  on 
Government  credit,  not  convertible  in- 
to cash,  judiciously  issued  by  Govern- 
ment commissioners  when  the  ex- 
changes are  becoming  unfavourable 
and  money  scarce,  would  at  any  time 
arrest  the  progress  of  the  most  dreadful 
monetary  crisis  that  ever  set  in  upon 
the  country.  That  of  1793  was  stop- 
ped by  the  issue  of  Exchequer  bills ; 
that  of  1797  by  suspending  cash  pay- 
ments ;  that  of  1825  was  arrested,  as 
will  appear  in  the  sequel,  by  the  acci- 
dental discovery  and  issue  of  two  mil- 
lions of  old  bank-notes  in  the  Bank  of 
England,  when  their  treasure  was  all 
but  exhausted ;  that  of  1847  was  at 
once  stopped  by  a  mere  letter  of 
Premier  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exche 
quer,  authorising  the  suspension 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


141 


cash  payments  ;  the  still  more  terrible 
one  of  1857  in  the  same  way.  The 
prospect  even  of  a  currency  which  was 
to  be  a  substitute  for  gold,  not  a  re- 
presentative of  it,  arrested  the  panic, 
and  saved  the  nation.  Such  an  expe- 
dient, when  intrusted  to  Government 
commissioners,  and  not  to  bankers  or 
interested  parties,  would  be  compara- 
tively safe  from  abuse  ;  and  it  would 
at  once  put  an  end  to  that  fluctuation 
of  prices  and  commercial  crises,  which 
have  been  the  constant  bane  of  the 
country  for  the  last  thirty  years.* 

*  Adam  Smith  clearly  saw  the  advantages 
of  an  inconvertible  paper  currency  issued 
on  such  principles,  and  on  such  safeguards 
against  abuse.  "The  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania," says  he,  "without  amassing  any 
treasure,  invented  a  method  of  lending,  not 
money,  indeed,  but  what  is  equivalent  to 
money,  to  its  subjects.  By  advancing  to 
private  people  at  interest,  and  upon  land 
security  to  double  the  value,  paper  bills  of 
credit,  to  be  redeemed  fifteen  years  after 
tlieir  date,  and  in  the  mean  time  made  trans- 
ferable from  hand  to  hand  like  bank-notes, 
and  declared  by  act  of  Parliament  to  be  a 
legal  tender  in  all  payments  by  one  inhabitant 
of  the  province  to  another,  it  raised  a  mode- 
rate revenue,  which  went  a  considerable  way 
towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  that  orderly 
and  frugal  government.  The  success  of  an  ex- 
pedient of  this  kind  must  depend  on  three 
circumstances :  first,  upon  the  demand  for 
some  other  instrument  of  commerce  besides 
gold  and  silver  money,  or  upon  the  demand 
for  such  a  quantity  of  consumable  stock  as 
could  not  be  had  without  sending  abroad  the 
greater  part  of  their  gold  or  silver  money  in 
order  to  purchase  it ;  secondly,  upon  the  good 
credit  of  the  government  which  makes  use  of 
the  expedient ;  thirdly,  upon  the  moderation 
•with  which  it  is  used,  the  whole  value  of  the 
paper  bills  of  credit  never  exceeding  that  of 
the  gold  and  silver  money  which  would  have 
been  necessary  for  carrying  on  their  circula- 
tion, had  there  been  no  paper  bills  of  credit. 
Thi  same  expedient  was  upon  different  oc- 
casions adopted  by  several  other  American 
States ;  but,  from  want  of  this  moderation, 
tt  produced  in  the  greater  part  of  them  much 
disorder  and  inconvenience." — Wealth  of  Na- 
tions, book  v.  chap.  2.  This  is  the  true  prin- 
ciple which  should  regulate  the  issue  of  in- 
convertible paper,  its  main  use  serving  as  a 
substitute  for  gold  and  silver,  not  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  it,  to  be  used  chiefly  where  the 
precious  metals  are  drawn  away,  and  nnvri'i- 
eeeding  the  amount  of  them  which  would  hare 
tfeii  required  to  conduct  and  facilitate  its  rtal 
transaction*.  The  moderation  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  a  prototype  uf  the  wisdom  of  the 
English;  the  extravagance  of  the  other  Ame- 
rican colonies,  of  the  madness  of  France  in 
the  use  of  this  powerful  agent  for  good  or  for 
evil  during  the  subsequent  revolutionary  war. 


17.  In  addition  to  these  dangers 
with  which  the  resumption  of  cash 
payments  and  the  establishment  of  a. 
paper  currency  —  the  representative, 
not  the  substitute  for  gold,  and  there- 
fore dependent  on  the  retention  of  the 
precious  metals — must  always  be  at- 
tended, there  were  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  rendered  it  eminently 
hazardous,  and  its  effects  disastrous, 
at  the  time  it  was  adopted  by  the  Eng- 
lish Government.  The  annual  supply 
of  the  precious  metals  for  the  use  of 
the  globe,  which,  as  already  mention- 
ed, had  been  on  an  average,  before 
1810,  ten  millions  sterling,  had  sunk, 
from  the  effects  of  the  revolution  in. 
South  America,  to  little  more  than  two 
millions.  The  great  paper  currency 
guaranteed  by  all  the  allied  powers, 
issued  so  plentifully  during  1813  and 
1 814,  and  which  had  circulated  as  cash 
from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  to  the 
wall  of  China,  had  been  drawn  in,  in 
conformity  with  the  Convention  of 
London  of  30th  September  1813  ;  and 
the  Continent  had  never  yet  recovered 
from  the  contraction  of  credit  and 
shortcoming  of  specie  consequent  on 
its  disappearance,  and  on  the  cessation 
of  the  vast  expenditure  of  the  war. 
The  loans  on  the  Continent,  in  the- 
years  following  its  termination,  had 
been  so  immense,  that  they  had  ruin- 
ously contracted  the  circulation,  and 
destroyed  credit.  The  fall  of  prices  in. 
consequence,  and  from  the  good  har- 
vest of  1818,  had  been  as  great  in  Ger- 
many after  the  peace  as  in  Great  Bri- 
tain ;  and  the  Cabinets  of  Vienna,. 
Berlin,  and  St  Petersburg,  were  aa 
much  straitened  for  money  in  the  be- 
ginning of  1819  as  the  French  Govern- 
ment.*' 

*  FALL  or  PRICES  or  WHEAT  THE  QUARTER 
ON  THE  CONTINENT  FROM  1817  TO  1819. 

Vienna, 

Munich, 

Norway, 

Venice, 

Lisbon, 

Flame, 

Udine,      .  99s.     Cd.  31s. 

Tin;  bad  harvest  of  1816  was  the  cause  of 
the  high  prices  in  ISir,  but  the  prodigious 
fall  in  1819  was  due  mainly  to  the  pressure  on 
the  money  market.— TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii.  91, 
92,  and  authorities  there  quoted. 


.Mar.li  1-17. 

114s.  Od. 

151s.  Od. 

81s.  lOd. 

99s.  6d. 

117s.  Od. 

SSs.  lid. 

90s.  Od. 


September  1819. 
19s.      6d. 
24s.      5d. 
26s. 
29s. 
54s. 
29s. 


8d. 
4<L 
2d. 


.42 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


18.  In  addition  to  this,  the  strain 
on  the  money  market  at  Paris,  in  the 
close  of  1818  and  commencement  of 
1819,   had    been   so   dreadful  that  a 
monetary  crisis  of  the  utmost  severity 
had  set  in  there,  which  had  rendered 
it  a  matter  of  absohite  necessity,  as 
already  mentioned,  for  the  French  Gov- 
ernment   to    solicit,   and    the    allied 
cabinets  to  grant,  a  prolongation  of 
the  term  for  payment  of  the  immense 
sums  they  were  required  to  pay,  by 
the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  as  the 
price  of  the  evacuation  of  their  terri- 
tory, which  was  extended,  by  a  con- 
vention in  December  1818,  from  nine 
to  eighteen  months.     It  was  not  sur- 
prising  that  such  a  financial   crisis 
should  have  taken  place  on  the  Con- 
tinent at  this  time,  for  the  loans  ne- 
gotiated by  its  different  governments  in 
the  course  of  1817  and  1818  amounted 
to  the  enormous  sum  of  £38,600,000,* 
of  which  £27,700,000  was  on  account 
of  France.     At  least  three-fourths  of 
these  loans  were  undertaken  in  London 
and  Amsterdam  by  Messrs  Baring  and 
Hope ;  and  as  the  whole  sums  they 
had  to  pay  up  under  them  required  to 
be  remitted  in  specie,  the  drain  which 
in  consequence  set  in  upon  the  Bank 
of  England  was  so  severe  that  its  ac- 
cumulated treasure,  which  in  October 
1817  had  been   £11,914,000,  and  in 
Februaryl818,  £10,055,460,  had  sunk, 
on  31st"August  1818,  to  £6,363,160, 
and  on  27th  February  1819  was  only 
£4,184,000. 

19.  It  was  the  suspension  of  cash 
payments  by  the  Bank  of  England  in 
1S17  and  1818,  which,  as  already  men- 


tioned, alone  enabled  this  country  to 
prosper  during  this  terrible  crisis, 
which  was  acting  with  such  severity 
upon  other  states,  and  occasioning  so 
fearful  a  drain  on  its  own  metallic  re- 
sources. But  that  suspension  had  not 
only,  by  providing  it  with  an  adequate 
internal  currency,  averted  the  catas- 
trophe so  general  at  that  time  on  the 
Continent,  but  had  given  it  at  the  very 
same  time  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
prosperity.  "  In  consequence,"  says 
Mr  Tooke,  "of  the  great  fall  in  the 
French  funds,  combined  with  the  great 
and  sudden  fall  of  the  prices  of  grain, 
on  the  Continent,  extensive  failures 
occurred  in  Paris,  Marseilles,  and  other 
parts  of  France,  as  also  in  Holland  and 
in  Hamburg,  in  1818,  before  any  indi- 
catimi  had  appeared  of  discredit,  or  of 
any  •pressure  on  the  money  market  of 
this  country.  A  loan  had  also  been 
negotiated  in  1818  for  the  Russian 
Government,  the  payments  for  a  large 
proportion  of  which  were  made  in  bul- 
lion exported  from  this  country,  thus 
adding  greatly  to  the  pressure  on  the 
money  market,  and  at  the  same  time 
exhibiting  the  phenomenon  of  prices 
falling  rapidly  on  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope— much  more  rapidly  than  here — 
while  bullion  was  flowing  there  from 
hence. "  It  is  not  surprising  it  was  so  ; 
for  the  Continental  states,  during  1817 
and  1818,  had  no  paper  adequate  to  sus- 
tain their  industry  during  the  scarcity 
of  money,  owing  to  the  immense  pres- 
sure on  their  money  market,  whereas 
England  enjoyed  in  the  highest  degree 
that  advantage. t  The  paper  circula- 
tion of  Great  Britain  had  greatly  in- 


Franee, 
Prussia, 
Austria, 
Russia, 


LOANS  RAISED  IN  EUROPE  IN  1S17  AND  1818. 

£27,700,000 

2,800,000 

3.600,000 

4,500,000 


£38,600,000 
-Appendix  to  Lords'  Com.  on  Ccuh  Payments,  1819,  p.  424. 

t  CIRCULATION  OF  BANK.  OF  ENGLAND  AND  COUNTRY  NOTES. 


Yean. 

Bank  of  England. 

Country  Banks. 

Total 

1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 

£26,758,720 
29,543,780 
26,202,150 
25,252,690 

£15,096,000 
15,894,000 
20,507,000 
15,701,328 

£41,854,720 
45,437,780 
46,709,150 
40.954,018 

— TOOXE  On  Prices,  ii.  3S2;  MARSHAL'S  Par.  Tables,  55. 


I 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


creased  during  the  drain  on  the  preci- 
ous metals,  and  compensated  for  their 
want,  and  in  the  last  of  these  years 
had  reached  £46,700,000  in  England 
alone,  a  higher  amount  than  in  any 
year  of  the  war.  Hence  the  prosperity 
in  this  country  which  co-existed  with 
the  most  serious  pressure  and  distress 
on  the  Continent. 

20.  The  consequences  of  this  abun- 
dant supply  of  the  currency  in  Great 
Britain  had  been  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree of  prosperity  to  the  country  in 
the  last  months  of  1818  and  first  of 
1819,  accompanied  by  a  corresponding 
and  a  too  sudden  start  in  speculations 
of  every  sort.  It  was  so  great,  and  the 
change  so  rapid,  that  it  was  made  the 
subject  of  special  congratulation  and 
notice  in  the  speech  from  the  throne.* 
Statistical  facts  demonstrate  how  great 
a  start  had  at  the  same  time  taken  place 
in  all  our  principal  articles  of  imports 
and  manufactures,  and  in  the  general 
rise  of  prices  of  all  sorts.  The  former 
had  more  than  doubled,  the  latter  ad- 
vanced fully  50  per  cent.f  The  un- 
avoidable consequence  was,  that  prices 
were  high,  but  not  unreasonably  so  : 
they  had  not  advanced  so  as  to  afford 
grounds  to  fear  a  reaction.  Wheat,  on 
an  average  of  1819,  was  at  72s.,  while 
during  the  scarcity  of  1817  if  had  been 
116s.,  and  at  the  lowest  point  of  the 
great  fall  of  spring  1816,  52s.  And 
that  the  imports,  how  great  and  in- 


creased soever,  as  compared  with  the 
distressed  years  which  had  preceded  it, 
were  not  excessive,  or  running  into 
dangerous  speculation,  is  decisively 
proved  by  the  facts  that  the  imports 
and  exports  of  Great  Britain  in  1818, 
as  compared  to  its  population  and  re- 
venue, were  not  half  what  they  have 
since  become,  not  only  without  risk  of 
collapse,  but  with  the  most  general  and 
admitted  prosperity.  In  a  word,  the 
British  empire,  in  the  whole  of  181S 
and  commencement  of  1819,  was  be- 
ginning to  taste  the  blessed  fruits  of 
peace  and  prosperity ;  and  industry, 
vivified  and  supported  by  a  currency 
at  once  adequate  and  duly  limited,  was 
flourishing  in  all  its  branches,  and  daily 
discovering  new  channels  of  profit  and 
enterprise,  at  the  very  time  when  the 
scarcity  of  money  on  the  Continent 
was  involving  all  classes  in  unheard-of 
disasters.  J 

21.  But  these  flattering  prospects 
were  of  short  duration,  and  Great  Bri- 
tain was  soon  doomed  to  experience,  in 
all  its  bitterness,  the  disastrous  effects 
of  an  ill-judged  and  worse-timed  con- 
traction of  the  currency.  At  the  mo- 
ment when  the  annual  supplies  of  the 
precious  metals  for  the  use  of  the  globe 
had  been  reduced,  by  the  South  Ameri- 
can revolution,  to  a  fourth  of  their  for- 
mer amount, — when  the  coin  annually 
issued  from  the  English  Mint  had  in 
consequence  sunk  to  only  £1,270,000 


*  "  The  Prince-Regent  has  the  greatest  pleasure  in  being  able  to  inform  you  that  the 
trade-,  commerce,  and  manufactures  of  the  country  are  in  a  most  flourishing  condition.  The 
favourable  change  which  has  so  rapidly  taken  place  in  the  internal  circumstances  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  affords  the  strongest  proof  of  the  solidity  of  its  resources.  To  cultivate 
and  improve  the  advantages  of  our  present  situation  will  be  the  object  of  your  delibera- 
tions."— PRIXCE-REGENT'S  Speech,  Jau.  21,  1S19  ;  Parliamentary  Debates,  xxxix.  21. 

t  IMPORTS  INTO  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


Tears. 

Silk. 
Ib. 

Wool 
Ib. 

Cotton. 
Ib. 

Manut 
Tons. 

TTao!r 

Linseed. 
Qrs. 

Colonial 
Produce. 

1S1<5 
1S17 
1818 

1,137,922 
1,177,693 
2,101,618 

8,117,864 
14,715,843 
26,405,480 

93,920,055 
124,912,068 
177,282,158 

18,473 

22,863 
33,020 

20,858 
19,298 
27,149 

70,892 
162,759 
237,141 

£26,374,920 
29,916,320 
35,819,798 

— TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii.  61,  C2. 

J  This  opinion  was  strongly  expressed  by  the  most  intelligent  persons  at  the  time.  "  Both 
trade  and  manufactures  are  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  likely  to  improve  still  further. 
There  appears  to  be  little  speculation  beyond  the  regular  demands  of  the  different  markets, 
men  without  capital  finding  it  almost  impossible  to  procure  credit  ;  so  that  there  is  now  no 
disposition  to  force  a  trade,  and  no  injurious  competition  to  procure  orders,  and  conse- 
quently wages  arc.  fair  and  reasonable." — Lord  SHEFFIELD  to  Lord  SIDMOUTH.  17th  Dec. 
ISIS;  Sldmcutk't  Life,  Hi.  242. 


144 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


a-year* — when  the  drains  of  gold  on 
the  Bank,  to  meet  the  gigantic  loans 
contracted  for  in  this  country  for  the 
Continental  powers,  and  pay  for  the 
immense  importations  of  the  year,  had 
reduced  the  treasure  in  the  Bank  from 
£12,000,000  to  £3,595,000— and  when 
the  large  mercantile  transactions  re- 
cently entered  into  in  this  country,  and 
the  general  prosperity  and  activity 
which  prevailed,  imperatively  requir- 
ed, instead  of  a  contraction,  a  great 
increase  of  the  currency, — Parliament, 
without  one  dissenting  voice,  passed  an 
act,  requiring  the  Bank  of  England, 
at  no  distant  period,  to  resume  cash 
payments,  thereby  rendering  the  cur- 
rency dependent  on  the  retention  of 
gold  —  the  very  thing  which,  in  the 
circumstances  of  the  country,  could 
not  be  retained. + 

22.  The  effects  of  this  extraordinary 


piece  of  legislation  were  soon  apparent. 
The  industry  of  the  nation  was  speed- 
ily congealed,  as  a  flowing  stream  is 
by  the  severity  of  an  arctic  winter. 
The  alarm  became  universal — as  wide- 
spread as  confidence  and  activity  had 
recently  been.  The  country  bankers, 
who  had  advanced  largely  on  the  stocks 
of  goods  imported,  refused  to  continue 
their  support  to  their  customers,  and 
they  were  in  consequence  forced  to 
bring  their  stock  into  the  market. 
Prices  in  consequence  rapidly  fell — 
that  of  cotton,  in  particular,  sank  in 
the  space  of  three  months  to  half  its 
former  level.  The  country  bankers' 
circulation  was  contracted  by  no  less 
than  five  millions  sterling;  the  en- 
tire circulation  of  England  fell  from 
£46,709,150  in  1818,  to  £34,875,000 
in  1820  ;  and  in  the  succeeding  year  it 
sankas  low  as  £28,551, 000. £  Nothing 


MONET  COINED  AND  ISSCTED  AT  THE  MINT. 


1817, 
ISIS, 
1S19, 
1820, 
1821, 


£0,771,595 
3,488,652 
1,270,817 
1,737,233 
7,954,444 


— PORTER'S  Part.  Tables;  ALISON'S  Europe,  chap,  xcvi.,  Appendix.' 

t  Lord  Eldon,  however,  had  strongly  opposed  it  in  the  Cabinet,  and  wished  the  project 
postponed  for  two  years. — Twiss's  Life  of  Lord  Eldon,  ii.  329.  Mr  Ward  (Lord  Dudley) 
said :  "  Those  that  are  near  the  scene  of  action  are  not  less  surprised  than  you  are  at 
the  turn  the  Bullion  question  has  taken.  Canning  says  it  is  the  greatest  wonder  he  has 
witnessed  in  the  political  world."  —  Earl  of  DUDLEY'S  Letters,  222.  The  truth  is,  Minis- 
ters at  the  period  were  very  weak,  and  had  sustained  several  defeats  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  particularly  on  the  Criminal  Law,  and  they  did  not  venture  to  face  the  Oppo- 
sition on  the  Bullion  question.  Lord  Liverpool,  at  the  period  it  was  first  broached  in 
the  Cabinet,  wrote  to  Lord  Eldon  in  allusion  to  their  difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject  i 
"After  the  defeats  we  have  already  experienced  during  the  session,  our  remaining  in 
office  is  a  positive  evil.  It  confounds  all  the  ideas  of  government  in  the  minds  of  men.  It 
disgraces  us  personally,  and  renders  us  less  capable  every  day  of  being  of  any  real  service  • 
the  country  now.  If,  therefore,  things  are  to  remain  as  they  are,  I  am  quite  clear  that  the 
is  no  advantage  in  anyway  in  our  being  the  persons  to  carry  on  the  public  service.  "- 
Lord  LIVERPOOL  to  Lord  ELDON,  May  10,  1819 ;  Eldon's  Life,  ii.  329. 

J  BANK  AND  BANKERS'  NOTES. 


Tc»n 

Bank  of  England. 

Country  Bankers. 

Total 

Issued  at  the  .Mint. 

1818 
1819 
1S20 
1821 
1822 

£26,202,150 
25,252,690 
24,299,340 
20,295,300 
17,404,790 

£20,507,000 
15,701,328 
10,576,245 
8,256,180 
8,416,830 

£46,709,150 
40,954,018 
34,875,585 
28,551,480 
25,885,620 

£3,438,652 
1,270,817 
1,797,233 
9,954,444 
5.3SS.217 

-Appendix  to  TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii.  3S2  ;  MARSHAL'S  Par.  Tables,  55  ;  and  PORTER'S  Par.  Tablet 
Mr  Sedgewick,  of  the  Stamp  Office,  estimates  the  contraction  of  country  bank  note 

as  follows  : — 

1819, 
1820, 
1821, 
1S22, 
1823, 

— TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii.  123. 


£15,284,491 

11,767,391 

8,414,2S1 

8,067,260 

8,798,277 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


145 


in  this  disastrous  contraction  of  the 
currency,  at  a  period  when  its  expan- 
sion was  so  loudly  called  for,  sustained 
the  national  industry,  or  averted  a 
general  bankruptcy,  but  the  fortunate 
circumstance  that  the  obligation  on 
the  Bank  to  pay  in  specie  was,  by  the 
Act  of  1819,  only  to  commence  on  1st 
February  1820 ;  and  this  enabled  that 
establishment,  in  the  preceding  au- 
tumn, when  the  crash  began,  not  only 
not  to  contract  its  issues,  but  even  in  a 
slight  degree  to  increase  them.* 

23.  The  effects  of  this  sudden  and 
prodigious  contraction  of  the  currency 
were  soon  apparent,  and  they  rendered 
the  next  three  years  a  period  of  cease- 
less distress  and  suffering  in  the  British 
Islands.  The  accommodation  granted 
by  bankers  diminished  so  much,  in 
consequence  of  the  obligation  laid  upon 
them  of  paying  in  specie  when  specie 
was  not  to  be  got,  that  the  paper  under 
discount  at  the  Bank  of  England,  which 
in  1810  had  been  £23,000,000,  and  in 


1815  not  less  than  £20,660,000,  sank 
in  1820  to  £4,672,000,  and  in  1821  to 
£2,722,000  !  t  The  effect  upon  prices 
was  not  less  immediate  or  appalling. 
They  declined  in  general,  within  six 
months,  to  half  their  former  amount, 
and  remained  at  that  low  level  for  tho 
next  three  years.  $  Imports  sank  from 
£36,800,000  in  1818,  to  £30,792,000 
in  1821 ;  exports  from  £46,603,000  in 
the  former  year,  to  £36,659,000  in  the 
latter.  §  Distress  was  universal  in  the 
latter  months  of  the  year  1819,  and 
that  distrust  and  discouragement  was 
felt  in  all  branches  of  industry,  which 
is  at  once  the  forerunner  and  the  cause 
of  disaster.  The  Three  per  Cents,  which 
had  been  at  79  in  January,  gradually 
fell,  after  the  Bank  Restriction  Act 
passed,  to  65  in  December ;  and  the 
bankruptcies,  which  had  been  86  in 
January,  rose  in  May  to  178 :  the  total 
in  the  year  was  1499,  being  an  increase 
of  531  over  the  preceding  year.H 
24.  The  effects  of  this  panic,  and  con- 


*  CIRCULATION  OP  THE  BANK  OF  ENGLAND. 


27th  February  1819, 
31st  August  1819,    . 
-TooKE  On  Prices,  ii.  96. 


£25,126,970 
25,252,790 


Bullion. 

£4,184,620 

S.595,360 


%t  PAPER  UNDER  DISCOUNT  AT  THE  BANK  OF  ENGLAND. 


1808,  £14,287,696 

1809,  18,127,597 

1810,  23,775,093 

1811,  15,199,032 

1812,  17,010,930 

1813,  14,514,744 
-TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii.  381-383. 


1814, 
1815, 
1819, 
1820, 
1821, 
1822, 


£13,363,475 
20,660,094 
6,321,402 
4,672,123 
2,722,587 
3,622,151 


J  PRICES  OF  THE  UNDERMENTIONED  ARTICLES  IN  THE  YEAR,  AND  WHEAT  IN 
DECEMBER  OF  EACH  YEAR. 


Tear. 

Wheat, 
per  qr. 

Cotton, 
per  Ib. 

Iron, 
per  ton. 

Rice, 
per  ton. 

Bilk, 
per  Ib. 

Tea, 
per  Ib. 

Wool, 
per  Ib. 

Sugar, 
per  cwt. 

Beef, 
per  tierce. 

s.       d. 

«.    d. 

JC    1. 

t. 

«.      d. 

s.     d. 

s.      d. 

s. 

§ 

1818 

S3     8 

2    0 

9    0 

45 

39    0 

3      1 

6    0 

70 

100 

1819 

72    3 

1  11 

8  10 

43 

30    0 

2  10 

6    0 

66 

115 

1820 

65  10 

1    5 

9    0 

32 

26    2 

2      5 

3    0 

58 

130 

1821 

54    5 

1     1 

7  10 

36 

24    5 

2    4 

3    3 

58 

115 

1822 

43    3 

1    0 

6  10 

33 

25    1 

2    8 

3    6 

42 

80 

-PORTER'S  Progress  of  the  Nation,  148;  and  TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii  390,  397,  420. 

Exports.  Imports. 

Declared  Value.  Official  Value. 

5  1818,  £46,603.249  £36,885,182 

1819,  35,208,321  30,776,810 

1820,  36,424,652  32,438,650 

1821,  36,659,630  30,792,760 

1822,  36,968,964  30,500,094 
-PORTER'S  Progress  of  the  Nation,  356. 

|[  Mr  Tookc,  whoso  industry  and  talents  entitle  his  opinions  to  the  highest  respect,  has 
VOL.  II.  K. 


140 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


sequent  distress,  especially  in  the  man- 
ufacturing districts,  speedily  appeared ; 
and  the  demagogues  were  not  slow  to 
turn  to  the  best  account  this  unex- 
pected turn  of  fortune  in  their  favour. 
Mr  Cobbett  said  afterwards,  that  the 
moment  he  heard  in  America  of  the 
resumption  of  cash  payments  in  Great 
Britain,  he  prepared  to  return  to  this 


country,  as  he  felt  certain  that  the 
cause  of  Reform  in  Parliament  could 
not  long  be  averted ;  and  the  result 
proved  that  he  had  correctly  scanned 
the  effects  of  that  measure.  The  dis- 
affected, under  the  direction  of  their 
able  and  intelligent  leaders,  changed 
the  direction  of  their  tactics.  They 
no  longer  confined  their  operations  to 


laboured  hard  to  show  that  the  contraction  of  the  currency  in  1819  had  no  connection  with 
the  distress  of  that  and  the  three  following  years,  but  that  it  is  entirely  to  be  ascribed  to  over- 
trading ;  and  in  this  opinion  he  is  followed  by  Miss  Martineau.  With  what  success  their 
arguments  are  founded  may  be  judged  of  by  the  facts  above  stated.  Mr  Tooke's  arguments 
are  based  upon  an  idea  which  every  one  acquainted  with  the  real  working  of  commerce  knows 
to  be  fallacious— that  the  effects  of  monetary  changes,  if  real,  upon  prices,  must  be  immedi- 
ate, and,  therefore,  as  he  finds  the  Bank  issues  a  shade  higher  in  August  1819  than  they  had 
been  in  February  of  that  year,  he  concludes  that  there  was  no  contraction  to  account  for 
the  distress,  and  that  it  arose  entirely  from  overtrading. — (TOOKE  On  Prices,  ii.  96,  113.) 
He  takes  no  account  of  the  prodigious  drain  on  the  metallic  currency  which  brought  the 
bullion  in  the  Bank  down  from  £12,000,000  to  £3,500,000,  nor  of  the  contraction  of  £5,000,000 
in  the  country  bankers'  issues,  from  the  passing  of  the  Act  But,  in  truth,  his  notion  that 
there  is  an  immediate  connection  between  currency  and  prices,  if  there  is  any,  is  entirely 
erroneous.  Sometimes,  doubtless,  the  effect  is  very  rapid,  but  in  general  it  is  the  work  of 
time.  If  a  sudden  panic  is  either  produced  or  arrested  by  legislative  measures,  the  effect 
may  be  instantaneous  ;  but  in  other  cases  it  is  by  slow  degrees,  and  by  working  through  all 
the  ramifications  of  society,  that  a  contraction  or  expansion  of  the  currency  acts  upon  the 
interests  of  society.  If  five  millions  additional  are  thrown  into  the  money  market,  or  gradu- 
ally withdrawn,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  there  is  to  be  an  instantaneous  effect  on  prices. 
The  effect  takes  place  gradually,  in  consequence  of  the  extended  speculations  and  under- 
takings which  are  set  on  foot  in  the  one  case,  or  ruined  or  contracted  in  the  other.  Tho 
effect  of  the  contraction  of  the  currency  which  began  in  1819,  continued  through  the  whole 
three  following  years,  till  it  was  arrested  by  an  expansion  of  it  in  1822,  which  soon  landed 
the  nation  in  another  set  of  dangers  on  the  opposite  side.  The  speculation  of  1818  was 
doubtless  considerable,  and  would  probably,  in  any  event  and  with  the  best-regulated  cur- 
rency, have  led  to  a  check  and  a  temporary  fall  of  prices,  just  as  an  abundant  harvest  for  a 
season  lowers  the  price  of  grain.  But  it  is  quite  chimerical  to  suppose  that  the  long-con- 
tinued distress,  from  1819  to  1823,  was  owing  to  the  importations  of  1818.'  If  they  were 
excessive,  that  evil  would  speedily  check  itself,  and  restore  prices  to  their  average  and 
healthful  state.  But  that  they  were  not  excessive,  and  should  not,  if  the  currency  had  been  let 
alone,  have  terminated  in  anything  like  disaster,  is  decisively  proved  by  the  fact  that  they 
were  not  half  as  great,  relatively  to  the  population  of  the  empire,  as  they  have  since  become 
in  years  not  only  unaccompanied  by  disaster,  but  marked  by  the  most  unequivocal  pros- 
perity. This  distinctly  appears  from  the  following  table  of  exports  and  imports  : — 


Tear*. 

British  and  Irish 
Exports—  official 
value. 

Imports—  official 
value. 

Population  of 
Great  Britain  and 
Ireland. 

1818 
1819 
1820 

£42,700,521 
33,534,176 
38,395,625 

£36,885,182 
30,776,810 
32,438,650 

20,500,000 

1823 
1824 
1825 

43,804,372 
48,785,551 
47,106,020 

35,798,707 
37,552,935 
44,137,482 

21,282,000 

1834 
1S35 
1836 

73,821,550 
78,376,731 
85,229,837 

49,362,811 
48,911.542 
57,023,867 

24,410,000 

1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 

131,564,503 
134,599,116 
132,288,345 
126,130,986 

85,441,555 
85,281,958 
75,953,875 
90,921,866 

1 
27,041,000 

— PORTER'S  Progress  of  the  Nation,  pp.  11,  356. 

It  is  true,  several  of  these  prosperous  years  terminated  in  a  collapse ;  but  that  was  the 
necessary  effect  of  the  system  of  currency  established  in  the  empire,  which  rendered  periods 
of  disaster  as  necessarily  the  followers  of  prosperity  as  night  is  of  day. 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


147 


the  breaking  of  mills  or  destruction  of 
machinery  ;  political  changes  became 
their  object ;  and  their  method  of  ef- 
fecting them  was  by  making  displays 
of  vast  multitudes  of  men,  in  a  certain 
degree  disciplined,  and  closely  banded 
together  in  feeling.  At  a  great  meet- 
ing of  30,000  or  40,000  persons,  which 
took  place  at  Glasgow  on  16th  May, 
called  to  petition  the  Prince-Regent 
for  relief  and  means  to  emigrate  to 
Canada,  an  amendment  was  proposed, 
and  carried  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jor it}r,  that  no  good  was  to  be  expected 
but  from  annual  parliaments,  universal 
suffrage,  vote  by  ballot,  and  diminished 
taxation.  They  now,  for  the  first 
time,  assumed  the  name  of  RADICAL 
REFORMERS,  and  began  to  use,  as  their 
war-cries,  the  necessity  of  annual  par- 
liaments, universal  suffrage,  vote  by 
ballot,  and  the  other  points  which  have 
since  been  combined  in  what  is  called 
the  People's  Charter.  The  leaders  of 
the  great  meetings  which  took  place, 
much  to  their  credit,  strenuously  in- 
culcated upon  the  people  the  necessity 
of  keeping  the  peace,  and  abstaining 
from  all  acts  of  intimidation  and  out- 
rage ;  and,  considering  the  immense 
multitudes  who  were  congregated  to- 
gether, amounting  often  to  30,000  and 
40,000  persons,  it  was  surprising  how 
generally  the  directions  were  followed. 
Aware  from  the  symptoms  in  the  poli- 
tical atmosphere  of  an  approaching 
storm,  but  wholly  unconscious  that  it 
had  proceeded  from  their  own  acts, 
Government  strengthened  themselves 
by  the  admission  of  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington into  the  Cabinet  as  Master- 
General  of  the  Ordnance,  on  his  return 
from  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Occupation  in  1819  ;  and  on  7th  July 
issued  a  pressing  circular  to  the  magis- 
trates to  use  their  utmost  efforts  to 
preserve  the  public  peace. 

25.  These  political  meetings  were 
general  in  all  the  manufacturing  towns 
of  England  and  Scotland  during  the 
whole  summer  of  1819,  and  the  leading 
topics  constantly  dwelt  on  were  the 
depression  of  wages  and  misery  of  the 
poor,  which  were  invariably  ascribed 
to  the  Corn  Laws,  the  weight  of  taxa- 
tion, the  influence  of  the  borough- 


mongers,  or  holders  of  nomination 
boroughs,  and  the  want  of  any  repre- 
sentation of  the  people  in  Parliament. 
The  speeches,  which  were  often  elo- 
quent and  moving,  acquired  additional 
force  from  the  notorious  facts  to  which 
they  could  all  refer,  which  were  too 
expressive  of  the  general  distress  which 
prevailed.  No  serious  breach  of  the 
peace,  however,  occurred  till  the  16th 
August  1819,  when  a  great  assemblage 
took  place  at  Petcrloo,  near  Manches- 
ter. As  it  was  known  that  multitudes 
were  to  come  to  that  meeting  front  all 
the  towns  and  villages  in  that  densely- 
peopled  locality,  great  apprehensions 
were  entertained  by  the  local  autho- 
rities, and  extraordinary  precautions 
taken  to  prevent  a  breach  of  the  peace, 
in  conformity  with  the  circular,  already- 
noticed,  from  the  Home  Office  on  7th 
July,  which  recommended  the  utmost 
vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  local  ma- 
gistracy, and  the  adoption  of  prompt 
and  vigorous  measures  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  public  tranquillity.  The 
yeomanry  of  the  county  of  Cheshire, 
and  a  troop  of  Manchester  yeomanry, 
were  summoned ;  and  the  military, 
consisting  of  six  troops  of  the  15th 
Hussars,  two  guns,  and  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  31st  regiment,  were  also 
on  the  spot  and  under  arms.  A  large 
body  of  special  constables  was  sworn 
in,  and,  armed  with  their  batons,  sur- 
rounded the  hustings  where  the  speak- 
ers were  to  be  placed. 

26.  The  avowed  object  of  the  first 
proposed  meeting,  which  had  been 
called  by  regular  advertisement,  was 
to  elect  "  a  representative  and  legisla- 
torial  attorney"  to  represent  the  city 
of  Manchester,  as  had  already  been 
done  at  Birmingham,  Stockport,  Leeds, 
and  other  places.  This  meeting  was 
called  for  the  9th  August ;  but  as  the 
magistrates,  feeling  such  an  object  to 
be  illegal,  had  intimated  it  would  be 
dispersed,  the  next  or  adjourned  meet- 
ing, which  was  called  for  the  16th,  was 
simply  to  petition  for  a  reform  in  Par- 
liament. Drilling  had  been  practised  in 
many  places  in  all  the  country  round ; 
and  large  bodies  of  men  had  met  on 
the  hills  between  Lancashire  and  York- 
shire, in  the  grey  of  the  morning,  to  go 


143 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


through  their  evolutions,  though  with- 
out having  any  arms.  The  consequence 
was,  that  they  marched  into  Man- 
chester from  every  direction  for  thirty 
miles  around,  six  abreast,  with  bands 
of  music  and  colours  Hying.  On  these 
were  inscribed,  "No  Corn  Laws;" 
"Annual  Parliaments;"  "Universal 
Suffrage ; "  "  Vote  by  Ballot ; "  "  Equal 
Representation  or  Death ; "  "  Liberty  or 
Death ; "  "God  armeth  the  Patriot" — 
with  a  figure  of  Wallace.  Two  bands  of 
female  reformers  were  among  them,  one 
numbering  150  members,  with  light- 
blue  silk  flags :  they  added  much  to  the 
interest  and  excitement  of  the  scene. 
Mr  Hunt  was  the  person  who  was  to 
address  the  multitude,  and  before  he 
arrived  on  the  ground  it  was  computed 
that  60,000  persons  were  assembled, 
chiefly  from  places  around  Manchester 
— a  large  proportion,  as  usual  in  such 
cases,  being  women,  and  not  a  few 
children. 

27.  The  magistrates  of  Manchester, 
deeming  such  a  meeting  for  such  an 
object  to  be  illegal,  resolved  to  prevent 
it  by  arresting  Mr  Hunt,  its  avowed 
leader,  before  the  proceedings  had  be- 
gun. He  arrived  about  noon  in  an  open 
carriage,  and  made  his  way  with  some 
difficulty  to  the  hustings  erected  on  the 
centre  of  the  ground,  amidst  cheers 
which  rent  the  air.  A  warrant  was 
immediately  made  out  to  arrest  him, 
and  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr  Nadin,  the 
chief  constable,  with  orders  to  execute 
it  immediately.  He  declared,  however, 
that  he  could  not  do  so  ;  which  was 
evidently  the  case,  as  the  crowd  was 
so  dense  that  it  was  physically  impos- 
sible to  force  a  passage  through  the 
throng  up  to  the  hustings.  Upon  this 
they  directed  the  military  to  be  called 
up  to  clear  the  way — and  notes  were 
despatched  to  the  commanders  of  the 
yeomanry  and  the  military  to  advance 
to  the  support  of  the  civil  officers  who 
were  to  execute  the  warrant.  Th#  Man- 
chester yeomanry  were  nearest  at  hand, 
and,  coming  up,  adopted  the  unlucky 
resolution  of  advancing  two  by  two  at 
a  walk.  A  loud  shout  was  set  up  when 
they  appeared,  and  as  they  continued 
to  move  on,  they  were  speedily  de- 
tached from  each  other,  hemmed  in, 


and  some  of  them  unhorsed.  Upon, 
seeing  this,  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  hussars  said  to  Mr  Hutton,  the 
chief  magistrate,  "  What  am  I  to  do?" 
"Do  you  not  see  they  are  attacking 
the  yeomanry? — disperse  the  crowd," 
was  the  answer.  Upon  this  the  Avord 
"Forward "was  given;  the  hussars 
came  lip  at  a  trot,  and,  forming  on 
the  edge  of  the  throng,  the  trumpet 
sounded  the  charge,  and  the  horse- 
men, advancing,  wheeled  into  line,  and; 
speedily  drove  the  multitude  before 
them.  The  dense  mass  of  human  beings, 
forced  forward  was  instantly  thrown 
into  the  most  dreadful  alarm ;  numbers 
were  trod  down,  and  some  suffocated  by 
the  pressure ;  and  although  the  hussars 
acted  with  the  utmost  forbearance,  and 
struck  in  general  only  with  the  flat 
side  of  their  sabres,  yet  four  or  five 
persons,  including  one  woman,  were 
pressed  to  death,  and  about  twenty  in- 
jured by  sabre  wounds.  About  seventy 
persons  in  all  were  more  or  less  hurt 
during  this  unhappy  affray,  including 
one  special  constable  ridden  over  by  the 
hussars,  and  one  yeoman  struck  from 
his  horse  by  a  stone  from  the  mob.  Mr 
Hunt  and  ten  of  his  friends  were  ar- 
rested and  committed,  first  on  a  charge 
of  high  treason,  and  afterwards  of  con- 
spiring to  alter  the  law  by  force  and 
threats;  and  several  men  were  wounded 
by  a  discharge  from  the  foot-soldiers, 
when  violently  assailed  by  the  mob 
while  conveying  the  prisoners  to  jail. 

28.  Lord  Sidmouth,  to  whom,  as 
Home  Secretary,  the  first  intelligence 
of  this  unhappy  affair  was  sent,  acted 
in  the  noblest  manner  on  the  occasion. 
Perceiving  at  once  that  a  crisis  of  no- 
ordinary  kind  had  arrived,  and  that  the 
conduct  of  the  magistrates  in  ordering 
the  dispersion  of  the  crowd  before  any 
acts  of  violence  had  been  committed, 
would  be  made  the  subject  of  unbound- 
ed obloquy,  and  probably  great  mis- 
representation, on  the  part  of  the  po- 
pular press,  he  at  once  determined  to 
take  his  full  share  of  the  responsibility 
connected  with  it ;  and  accordingly,, 
before  there  was  time  to  call  together 
the  entire  Cabinet  to  deliberate  on  the 
subject,  he  conveyed,  with  the  concur- 
rence of  the  Prince  •  Regent,  the  law- 


1819.] 

officers  of  the  Crown,  and  such  of  the 
Cabinet  as  could  be  hastily gottogether, 
the  royal  approbation  for  the  course 
pursued  on  the  occasion.*  In  doing 
this,  he  acted  on  the  principle  which 
4 '  he  considered  an  essential  principle 
of  government,  namely,  to  acquire  the 
confidence  of  the  magistracy,  especially 
in  critical  times,  by  showing  a  readiness 
to  support  them  in  all  honest,  reason- 
able, and  well -intended  acts,  without 
inquiring  too  mimitely  whether  they 
might  have  performed  their  duty  a  lit- 
tle better  or  a  little  worse."  His  con- 
duct on  this  occasion,  though  attacked 
with  the  utmost  vehemence  at  the  time, 
earned  the  support  of  all  men  really 
acquainted  with  the  necessary  action 
of  government  in  a  popular  commu- 
nity, as  it  must  command  the  admira- 
tion of  every  right-thinking  man  in  all 
time  coming,  t 

29.  The  generosity  of  Lord  Sid- 
mouth's  conduct  is  wholly  irrespective 
of  the  real  merits  of  the  conduct  of  the 
magistracy  on  this  occasion ;  nay,  it 
becomes  greater,  if,  after  the  act  was 
done,  and  could  not  be  undone,  he 
voluntarily  interposed  the  shield  of  his 
responsibility,  to  shelter  those  whose 
conduct  may  be  considered  as  open  to 
some  exception.  Mr  Hunt  was  after- 
wards indicted,  along  with  Johnson, 

*  "  The  Prince- Regent  desires  me  to  convey 
to  your  Lordship  his  approbation  and  high 
commendation  of  the  conduct  of  the  magis- 
trates and  civil  authorities  at  Manchester, 
as  well  as  the  officers  and  troops,  both  regular 
and  yeomanry  cavalry,  whose  firmness  and 
effectual  supportof  the  civil  powers  preserved 
the  peace  of  the  town  upon  that  most  critical 
occasion.  His  Royal  Highness  entertains  a 
favourable  sense  of  the  forbearance  of  Lieut.- 
Colonel  L'Estrange  in  the  execution  of  his 
duty,  and  bestows  the  greatest  praise  upon 
the  zeal  and  alacrity  manifested  by  Major 
Traffbrd  and  Lieut. -Colonel  Townsend,  and 
their  respective  corps.  1  am,  <fec. 

"  B.  BLOOMFIELD. 

"  To  the  Lord  Viscount  SIDMOUTH." 
— Lord  Sidmouth's  Life,  iii.  262. 

t  "To  attack  the  executive  for  supporting 
the  magistracy  on  such  an  occasion,  appears 
to  me  perfectly  senseless.  How  can  it  be 
supposed  that  any  magistrate  will  act  unless 
assured  of  support — nay,  unless  supported 
with  a  high  hand?  Assuredly  as  the  execu- 
tive shrinks  from  encouraging,  approving, 
and  supporting  the  magistracy,  there  will  be 
an  end  of  all  subordination." — Lord  SHEF- 
FIELD to  Lord  SIDMOUTH,  Nov.  1,  1819;  Sid- 
mvulh's  Life,  i:i.  20:J. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


149 


Moorhouse,  and  seven  others,  before 
the  Manchester  Grand  Jury,  for  sedi- 
tious conspiracy,  who  found  true  bills 
against  them  all.  They  traversed,  iu 
English  law  phrase — that  is,  got  the 
trial  postponed  till  the  next  assizes — 
in  order  to  give  the  public  effervescence 
time  to  subside  ;  and  they  were  ulti- 
mately tried  before  Mr  Justice  Bayley 
at  York,  and,  after  a  long  and  most 
impartial  trial,  which  lasted  eleven 
days,  and  which  Mr  Hunt  himself  had 
the  candour  to  call  "a  magnificent 
specimen  of  British  justice,  '  Hunt, 
Johnson,  Healy,  and  Bamford,  were 
convicted  of  conspiracy  to  get  up  a 
seditious  meeting,  and  "  alter  the  gov- 
ernment by  force  and  threats."  The 
case  was  afterwards  carried  to  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench,  by  which  the  verdict 
was  affirmed,  and  Hunt  sentenced  to 
two  years  and  a  half,  the  others  to  one 
year's  imprisonment  in  Ilchester  jail ; 
which  sentences  were  carried  into  full 
execution.  The  verdicts  of  the  coron- 
er's inquest  on  the  persons  killed  in  the 
Manchester  affray  were  of  such  a  kind 
as  amounted  to  casual  death,  or  justi- 
fiable homicide,  with  the  exception  of 
one,  which,  after  having  been  long  pro- 
tracted, was  quashed  by  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench  on  the  ground  of  irregu- 
larity, from  the  coroner  not  having, 
with  the  jury,  inspected  the  body,  as 
by  law  directed.  * 

*  Lord  Eldon  said,  in  the  debates  which 
followed  in  the  House  of  Lords,  "  When  1 
read  in  my  law  books  that  numbers  consti- 
tute force,  and  force  terror,  it  is  impossible 
to  say  that  the  Manchester  meeting  was  not 
an  illegal  one."— Parl.  Deb.,  23d  Nov.  1819; 
HANSABD,  xli.  38.  This  is  undoubtedly  true  ; 
but  it  may  be  observed,  that  it  is  impossible 
the  law  on  this  point  can  be  on  a  more  unsa- 
tisfactory footing,  and  that  it  is  high  time  it 
should  be  at  once  defined,  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment, what  is  an  illegal  meeting,  independ- 
ent of  actual  commenced  violence.  Who  is  to 
be  the  judge  of  what  inspires  terror,  and  in 
whom?  In  a  dozen  old  men  or  old  women, 
or  a  dozen  intrepid  young  men  ?  Between 
these  two  extremes,  infinite  diversities  of 
opinion  will  be  found  to  exist ;  no  two  wit- 
nesses will  agree,  no  two  juries  will  arrive  ;it 
the  same  conclusion.  The  practical  result  is, 
that  no  man,  as  the  law  now  stands,  can  s,-iy 
with  certainty  what  is  an  illegal  meeting  ; 
and  every  magistrate,  if  he  gives  orders  <> 
disperse  it,  places  himself  at  the  mercy  of  » 
subsequent  jury,  who  may  be  cnlHM  < 
determine  whether  the  circumst.-.n. 


150 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


30.  The  judgment  of  these  high  au- 
thorities leaves  no  room  for  doubt  as 
to  the  illegality  of  the  meeting  at  Man- 
chester by  the  English  law  ;  and  very 
little  reflection  is  required  to  show  that 
it  was  a  proceeding  of  such  a  kind  as 
in  no  well-regulated  community  should 
now  be  tolerated.  So  long,  indeed,  as 
the  great  majority  of  the  manufac- 
turing towns  and  districts  were  unre- 
presented in  Parliament,  there  was  a 
plausible — it  may  be  a  just — reason 
assigned  for  allowing  such  meetings, 
that  there  was  no  other  way  in  which 
the  people  could  make  known  their 
wishes  to  the  legislature.  But  since 
the  Reform  Act  has  passed,  and  every 
considerable  place  is  fully  represented 
in  Parliament,  and  a  legal  channel  has 
been  provided  for  the  transmission  of 
the  popular  will  to  Government,  this 
plea  can  no  longer  be  advanced.  Such 
meetings  are  now  simply  dangerous  and 
pernicious,  without  being  attended 
with  one  countervailing  advantage. 
Too  large  and  promiscuous  either  for 
deliberation  or  discussion,  they  tend 
only  to  inflame  passion  and  multi- 
ply misrepresentation.  Their  purpose 
really  is  not  to  express  opinion,  but  to 
inspire  terror ;  it  is  by  the  display  of 
their  physical  numbers,  not  their  in- 
tellectual strength,  that  they  hope  to 
gain  their  object.  As  such,  they  tend 
to  uproot  the  very  foundations  of  gov- 
ernment, which  must  always  be  laid  in 
the  loyalty  and  submission  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people.  They  are  always 
on  the  edge  of  violence,  if  they  do  not 
actually  commence  it ;  and  if  they  are 
not  actually  treasonable,  they  may  be 
rendered  such  at  no  distant  period.  In 
all  considerable  towns  in  the  empire, 
where  such  meetings  are  in  use  to  be 
held,  there  are  rooms  capable  of  hold- 
ing at  least  as  many  as  can  possibly 
hear  the  speakers  ;  the  press  will  next 
morning  convey  their  sentiments  to 
the  whole  nation  ;  and  if  the  display 
of  numbers  is  desired,  the  petition  or 

such  as  to  have  inspired  terror  in  a  reason- 
able mind,  as  to  which,  it  is  a  mere  chance 
what  opinion  they  form.  The  only  security 
for  the  magistrate  in  such  cases  is,  to  wait 
till  the  danger  has  become  so  imminent  that 
a 'tolerable  unanimity  of  witnesses  may  be 
hoped  for  before  orders  to  act  are  given. 


resolutions  agreed  to  may  be  presented" 
to  Parliament,  supported  by  a  million 
of  signatures. 

31.  The  conduct  of  the  magistrates. 
on  this  unhappy  occasion,  though  not 
illegal,  appears  to  have  been  more  open 
to  exception  in  point  of  prudence ;  and 
though  properly  and  courageously  ap- 
proved of  by  the  Government  at  the- 
time,  it  should  by  no  means  be  followed 
on  similar  occasions.  They  had  not 
issued  any  proclamation  before,  warn- 
ing the  meeting  that  its  object  was. 
illegal,  and  that  it  would  be  dispersed 
by  force ;  nor,  indeed,  could  such  a 
proclamation  have  been  issued,  as  the 
avowed  object  of  the  meeting  to  peti- 
tion for  a  reform  in  Parliament  was 
legal.  The  banners  carried,  though  in 
some  instances  inflammatory  and  dan- 
gerous, could  hardly  be  called,  upon 
the  whole,  seditious.  "  God  save  the 
King,"  and  "Rule  Britannia,"  had 
been  played  by  the  bands  without  any 
signs  of  disapprobation  from  the  meet- 
ing ;  and  though  they  had  in  part 
marched  in  military  array,  they  had 
no  arms  except  a  few  pikes,  had  num- 
bers of  women  and  children  among 
them,  and  had  attempted  no  outrage 
or  act  of  violence.  They  had  not  com- 
menced the  proceedings  when  the  dis- 
persion began,  so  that  nothing  had 
been  said  on  the  spot  to  justify  it.  The 
Riot  Act  had  been  read  from  the  win- 
dow where  the  magistrates  were,  but 
the  hour  required  to  justify  the  disper- 
sion of  a  peaceable  assembly  had  not 
elapsed.  The  highest  authorities  have 
taught  us  that  the  meeting  was  illegal, 
from  its  menacing  and  dangerous  char- 
acter ;  but  the  point  is,  was  it  expedi- 
ent at  the  moment,  when  no  warning 
had  been  given  of  its  illegality,  to  dis- 
perse it  by  force  ?  *  True,  the  warrant 

*  Lord  Eldon  appears,  at  first  at  least,  to 
have  been  of  this  opinion,  for  he  wrote  to  his 
brother,  Sir  William  Scott,  soon  after  hear- 
ing of  it :  "  Without  all  doubt  the  Manches- 
ter magistrates  must  be  supported ;  but  they 
are  very  generally  blamed  here.  For  my  part, 
I  think  if  the  assembly  was  only  an  unlawful 
assembly,  that  task  will  be  difficult  enough  in. 
sound  reasoning.  If  the  meeting  was  an  overt 
act  of  high  treason,  their  justification  was 
complete."  He  then  goes  on  to  say  he  thought 
it  was  an  overt  act  of  treason. — Lord  ELEON 
to  Sir  W.  SCOTT;  Eldon' '*  Life,  ii.  338. 


1819.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


151 


to  arrest  Hunt  and  his  friends  could 
not  be  executed  but  by  military  force  ; 
but  where  was  the  necessity  of  execut- 
ing it  at  all  in  the  presence  of  the  mul- 
titude ?  Could  they  not  have  been  ob- 
served by  the  police,  and  arrested  in 
the  evening,  or  at  night,  after  they  had 
dispersed,  when  no  tumult  or  disorder 
was  to  be  apprehended?  Had  the 
crowd  proceeded  to  acts  of  violence  or 
depredation,  they  could  not  have  been 
too  quickly  or  vigorously  charged  by 
the  military ;  but  while  yet  pacific  and 
orderly,  and  when  no  seditious  resolu- 
tions had  been  proposed,  they  at  least 
were  innocent,  whatever  their  leaders 
may  have  been.  In  a  word,  the  con- 
duct of  the  magistrates,  though  legal, 
seems  to  have  been  ill-judged,  and  their 
measures  inexpedient.  But  great  al- 
lowance must  be  made  for  unprofes- 
sional men  suddenly  placed  in  such 
trying  circumstances  ;  and  as  their  er- 
ror, if  error  there  was,  was  one  of  judg- 
ment only,  there  can  be  but  one  opin- 
ion on  the  noble  and  intrepid  course 
which  Government  pursued  on  the 
occasion.* 

32.  It  soon  appeared  how  little 
effect  the  violent  suppression  of  the 

*  In  truth,  in  all  such  cases,  what  the  ma- 
gistrate has  chiefly  to  consider  is,  not  what 
is,  strictly  speaking,  legal  merely,  but  what 
will  bear  the  efforts  of  misrepresentation  and 
the  ordeal  of  public  opinion.  Many  things 
are  legal  which  must  often  not  be  attempted 
by  those  intrusted  with  authority;  many 
things  illegal,  in  those  subjected  to  it,  which 
must  yet  be  sometimes  tolerated.  The  fol- 
lowing rules  to  guide  the  magistrate  in  such 
difficult  circumstances  may  perhaps  be  of  use 
to  those  who  are  liable  to  be  called  on  to  act 
under  them,  and  have  been  the  result  of  some 
experience  and  much  reflection  on  the  part 
of  the  author :  1st.  If  a  meeting,  evidently 
treasonable  or  seditious,  or  obviously  tending 
to  a  breach  of  the  peace — as  to  choose  a  pro- 
visional government,  or  to  levy  war  on  the 
Government,  or  to  train  without  proper  au- 
thority, or  to  have  an  Orange  procession 
among  Ribbonmen — is  announced,  to  meet  it 
by  a  counter-proclamation  denouncing  it  as 
illegal ;  but  not  to  do  this  unless  the  illegality 
or  danger  is  manifest,  and  the  magistrate  is 
prepared,  and  has  the  force  to  act  decidedly 
if  his  admonition  is  disregarded.  3d,  If,  in 
defiance  of  the  proclamation,  the  meeting  is 
held  or  the  procession  attempted,  to  stop  it 
as  gently  as  possible  by  force,  the  magistrate 
being  always  himself  at  the  head  of  the  civil 
or  military  force  which  may  be  employed. 
3d.  If  a  meeting,  not  called  for  treasonable  or 


Manchester  meeting  had  in  prevent- 
ing assemblages  of  a  similar  or  still 
more  alarming  description  throughout 
the  country.  Meetings  took  place 
at  Birmingham  and  Leeds,  in  West- 
minster, York,  Liverpool,  Bristol,  and 
Nottingham,  attended  by  great  multi- 
tudes, at  which  flags  representing  a 
yeoman  cutting  at  a  woman  were  dis- 
played, with  the  word  "Vengeance" 
inscribed  in  large  letters,  and  resolu- 
tions vehemently  condemning  the  Man- 
chester proceedings  were  adopted.  A 
meeting  of  the  Common  Council  of  Lon- 
don was  held  on  9th  September,  when 
a  petition  was  voted  to  the  Prince-Re- 
gent, condemning  the  conduct  of  the 
magistrates  and  yeomanry,  and  pray- 
ing for  inquiry ;  and  at  Paisley  a 
meeting  of  the  most  violent  and  sedi- 
tious character  was  held,  which  led  to 
still  more  serious  results.  The  magis- 
trates of  the  burgh  and  sheriff  of  the 
county  had  there  very  pi-operly  issued 
a  proclamation,  denouncing  the  pro- 
posed meeting  as  illegal,  and  warning 
the  public  that  it  would  be  dispersed 
by  force  ;  but  notwithstanding  this, 
the  people  met  on  a  common  near  the 
town,  and  entered  it  in  great  force, 

seditious  purposes,  takes  place,  but  threaten- 
ing to  the  public  peace,  to  assemble  in  the 
vicinity  as  large  a  civil  and  military  force  as 
he  has  at  his  disposal,  but  place  them  out  of 
sight,  and  never  let  them  be  exposed  pas- 
sively either  to  the  insults  or  the  seductions 
of  the  people.  4th.  If  acts  of  violence,  as 
breaking  into  houses,  setting  fire  to  them, 
or  assaulting  or  robbing  individuals,  are  at- 
tempted, to  charge  the  mob  instantly,  the 
magistrate  taking  his  place  beside  the  com- 
manding officer,  and  taking  on  himself  the 
entire  responsibility ;  but  not  to  give  orders 
to  act  till  the  felonious  acts  are  so  clear  and 
decided  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  impend- 
ing danger,  and  to  be  capable  of  being  proved, 
in  defiance  of  misrepresentation,  by  numer- 
ous witnesses.  5th.  If  the  leaders  are  to  bo 
arrested,  but  nothing  illegal  has  yet  been 
done  by  the  multitude,  to  have  the  warrant 
ready,  but  not  to  attempt  to  execute  it  till 
they  have  dispersed,  taking  the  precaution, 
however,  to  have  the  speeches  listened  to,  or 
taken  down,  by  persons  who  can  'be  relied 
on.  6th.  If  acts  of  decided  felony  have 
been  commenced,  to  act  at  once,  without 
waiting  for  the  hour  required  to  elapse  by 
the  Riot  Act,  and  though  it  has  not  been, 
read;  the  object  of  that  Act  being  to  ren- 
der illegal  a  legal  and  peaceable,  not  to  jus- 
tify the  dispersion  of  a  violent  and  Illegal 
assembly. 


352 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


with  colours,  bearing  seditious  devices, 
flying,  and  music  sounding.  They 
were  met  by  the  sheriff  and  magis- 
trates, who  seized  the  colours,  and 
warned  the  people  to  disperse.  This 
led  to  a  violent  tumult,  in  the  course 
of  which  several  shops  were  broken 
into  and  pillaged,  and  order  was  not 
restored  till  the  military  had  been 
brought  from  Glasgow,  and  twenty  of 
the  ringleaders  seized.  In  Yorkshire 
a  meeting  was  held,  on  a  requisition  to 
the  high  sheriff,  signed  by  Lord  Fitz- 
william,  the  lord -lieutenant  of  the 
West  Riding  of  the  county,  and  many 
other  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  where 
resolutions  strongly  condemnatory  of 
the  Manchester  proceedings  were  adopt- 
ed. For  his  share  in  that  proceeding, 
Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  immediately  re- 
moved from  his  high  office  by  order  of 
Government,  to  the  great  regret  of  the 
friends  of  that  highly -respected  noble- 
man ;  but  the  divergence  of  opinions 
between  him  and  the  Administration 
had  become  such  that  it  was  impossible 
they  could  longer  act  together. 

33.  Great  inconvenience  had  been 
experienced  throughout,  all  these  dis- 
turbances occurring  simultaneously  in 
so  many  different  and  distant  quarters, 
from  the  want  of  any  adequate  military 
force  to  overawe  the  disaffected  and 
preserve  the  public  peace.  A  serious 
riot  occurred  at  Ely,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  rioters  got  possession  of, 
and  kept  for  some  time,  the  little  town 
of  Littleport,  and  the  only  force  to 
oppose  to  them  was  eighteen  dragoons. 
The  like  force  was  all  that  could  be 
collected  to  oppose  an  insurrection  at 
Derby.  When  the  disturbance  broke 
out  at  Paisley  in  the  end  of  September, 
and  the  most  pressing  request  for  more 
troops  was  sent  by  Sir  Thomas  Brad- 
ford, the  Commander-in-Chief  in  Scot- 
land, the  only  mode  of  answering  it 
was  by  sending  a  regiment  from  Ports- 
mouth, and  supplying  its  place  by  one 
from  Guernsey.  The  Commander-in- 
Chief,  with  the  exception  of  the  Guards, 
who  could  not  with  safety  be  moved 
from  London,  had  not  a  single  regi- 
ment at  his  disposal,  when  applications 
for  protection  were  coming  in  from  all 
quarters,  and  yet  Parliament  was  ring- 


ing with  declamations  about  the  undue 
increase  of  the  military  force  of  the 
country.  In  this  extremity  Govern- 
ment adopted  the  wisest  course  which 
could  have  been  followed,  by  calling 
out  the  most  efficient  of  the  pensioners, 
and  arranging  them  in  veteran  bat- 
talions— a  measure  which,  at  a  cost  of 
only  £300,000  a-year,  added  nearly 
11,000  men  to  the  military  force  of  the 
kingdom.  Lord  Sidmouth  was  inde- 
fatigable in  pursuing  this  object,  as 
well  as  in  augmenting  the  number 
and  strength  of  the  yeomanry  force 
throughout  the  country ;  and  so  cease- 
less and  energetic  were  his  efforts  in 
botli  respects,  that  the  Prince  -  Regent 
observed,  with  equal  truth  and  justice, 
"He  is  the  Duke  of  Wellington  on 
home  service. "  At  the  same  time  that 
illustrious  commander — who  now,  on 
his  return  from  the  Continent,  com- 
menced that  career  of  administrative 
reform  and  amelioration  which,  not 
less  than  his  military  career,  entitle 
him  to  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of 
his  country — addressed  a  letter  to  Lord 
Sidmouth,  of  lasting  value  to  all  ma- 
gistrates and  officers  placed  in  similar 
circumstances.* 

*  "  I  strongly  recommend  to  yon' to  order 
the  magistrates  to  carry  into  execution,  with- 
out loss  of  time,  the  law  against  training, 
and  to  furnish  them  with  the  means  of  doing 
so.  Do  not  let  us  be  again  reproached  with 
having  omitted  to  carry  the  laws  into  execu- 
tion. By  sending  to  Carlisle  and  Newcastle 
700  or  800  men,  cavalry  and  infantry,  and 
two  pieces  of  cannon,  or,  in  other  words,  two 
of  this  movable  column,  the  four  would  be 
more  than  sufficient  to  do  all  that  may  be 
required.  Rely  upon  it,  that,  in  the  circum- 
stances in  which  we  are  placed,  impression 
on  either  side  if  everything.  If,  upon  the  pass- 
ing of  the  training  law,  you  prevent  training, 
either  by  the  use  of  force  or  the  appearance 
of  force,  in  the  two  places  above  mentioned, 
you  will  put  a  stop  at  once  to  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  insurgents.  They  are  like 
conquerors ;  they  mtist  go  forward :  the  mo- 
ment they  flap  they  are  lost.  Their  adherents 
will  lose  all  confidence,  and  by  degrees  every 
individual  will  relapse  into  their  old  habits 
of  loyalty  or  indifference.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  moment  the  loyal  see  there  is  a  law 
which  can  prevent  these  practices,  and  means 
and  inclination  and  determination  to  carry  it 
into  execution,  they  will  regain  courage,  and 
will  do  everything  which  you  can  desire.  In 
my  opinion,  if  you  send  the  troops,  and  order 
that  the  law  shall  be  carried  into  execution, 
you  will  not  be  under  the  necessity  of  using 
them ;  and  the  good  effect  of  this  will  be  felt 


1819.] 

34.  Parliament  met  on  the  23d  No- 
vember, and  of  course  there  was  special 
allusion  in  the  Speech  from  the  Throne 
to  the  seditious  practices  which  had 
unfortunately  become  so  prevalent  in 
the  country.  There  were  no  congrat- 
ulations on  the  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try, or  the  general  wellbeing  of  the 
working  classes.  On  the  contrary,  the 
Speech  contained  an  emphatic  admis- 
sion of  deep  distress  in  several  branches 
of  industry.  *  It  is  not  surprising  that 
Ministers  alluded  to  the  suffering  which 
pervaded  several  branches  of  manufac- 
turing industry,  for  from  the  papers 
laid  before  Parliament,  to  justify  the 
measures  of  repression  which  were  pro- 
posed, it  appeared  that  wages  in  the 
cotton  manufacture  had  sunk  a  half 
within  the  last  eight  months,  and  in 
most  other  trades  in  the  same  propor- 
tion,— a  fact  speaking  volumes  both  as 
to  the  real  cause  which  at  this  parti- 
cular period  had  rendered  the  efforts  of 
the  demagogues  so  successful  in  dis- 
turbing the  population,  and  the  futility 
of  the  ideas  of  those  who  ascribe  the 
distress  which  prevailed  to  the  excess 
of  importations,  which  could  have  had 
no  other  effect  but  a  beneficial  one  on 
the  manufactures  for  the  export  sale, 

not  only  in  these  towns,  but  over  all  Eng- 
land. Observe  also,  that  if  training  is  con- 
tinued after  the  passing  of  the  law,  which  it 
•will  be  unless  you  send  a  force  to  prevent  it, 
the  insurgents  will  gain  a  very  important 
victory.  " — WELLINGTON  to  Lord  SIDMOUTH, 
Dec.  11,  1819  ;  Sidmouth't  Life,  iii.  293. 

*  "  The  seditious  practices  so  long  preva- 
lent in  several  parts  of  the  manufacturing 
idistricts  of  the  country,  have  been  continued 
•with  increased  activity  since  you  were  last 
assembled.  They  have  led  to  proceedings 
incompatible  with  the  public  tranquillity, 
and  with  the  peaceful  habits  of  the  industfi- 
jus  classes  of  the  community ;  and  a  spirit 
Is  now  fully  manifested  utterly  hostile  to  the 
constitution  of  this  kingdom,  and  aiming  not 
only  at  the  change  of  those  political  insti- 
tuticiiis  which  have  hitherto  constituted  the 
pride  and  security  of  the  country,  but  at  the 
subversion  of  the  rights  of  property,  and  of 
all  order  in  society.  ....  Some  depression 
still  continues  to  exist  in  certain  branches  of 
•our  manufactures,  and  I  deeply  lament  the 
distress  felt  by  those  who  more  immediately 
depend  upon  them  ;  but  this  depression  is  in 
a  great  measure  to  be  ascribed  to  the  embar- 
rassed situation  of  other  countries,  and  I 
catni'stly  hope  it  will  be  found  to  be  of  atem- 
wi-ary  nature." — PRINCE-REUENT'S  Speech, 
Sd  Nov.  1S19;  Ann.  lieg.  for  1819,  110,  117. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


153 


by  diminishing  the  price  at  which  the 
raw  material  and  the  subsistence  for 
the  workmen  would  be  purchased.* 

35.  As  soon  as  the  debates  on  the 
Address,  which  were  unusually  long 
and  stormy,  but  which  terminated  in 
large  ministerial  majorities  in  both 
Houses,  were  over,  Lord  Sidmouth  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  in  the  Commons,  introduced  the 
new  measures  which  the  Cabinet  had 
deemed  essential  to  meet  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  times.  They  were  four  in 
number,  and,  with  the  addition  of  two 
others  not  immediately  connected  with 
the  public  disturbances,  were  long  fa- 
mous in  England  under  the  name  of 
the  Six  Acts.  By  the  first,  all  train- 
ing or  practising  military  exercises,  by 
persons  not  authorised  by  Government, 
was  prohibited,  and  persons  engaged 
in  it  were  declared  liable  to  prnish- 
ment  by  fine,  or  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  two  years.  By  the  second, 
justices  of  the  peace  were  authorised 
to  issue  warrants  in  certain  counties  of 
England  and  Scotland,  to  search  for 
arms  or  other  weapons  dangerous  to 
the  public  peace,  on  a  sworn  informa- 
tion. By  the  third,  the  court  was 
authorised,  in  the  event  of  the  accused 
allowing  judgment  to  go  by  default,  to 
order  the  seizure  of  all  copies  of  a  sedi- 
tious or  blasphemous  libel,  to  be  re- 
stored if  the  person  accused  was  after- 
wards acquitted ;  and  for  the  second 
offence  banishment  might  be  inflicted. 
By  the  fourth,  no  more  than  fifty  per- 
sons were  to  be  allowed  to  assemble, 
except  in  borough  or  county  meetings 
called  by  the  magistrate  ;  and  the 
carrying  of  flags  or  attending  such 
meetings  armed  was  prohibited,  and 
extensive  powers  given  to  justices  of 
peace  or  magistrates  for  dispersing 
them.  In  addition  to  this,  a  bill  was 
introduced  by  the  Lord  Chancellor,  to 
prevent  traversing  or  postponing  of  the 
trial,  in  cases  of  misdemeanour,  to  sub- 

*  "  In  all  the  great  stations  of  the  cotton 
manufacture,  as  Manchester,  Glasgow,  Pais- 
ley, the  rate  of  wages  had  fallen  on  an  average 
more  than  one  half.  This  depression  might 
be  traced  through  the  last  twenty  years  to 
measures  of  political  economy." — Lord  LANS- 
DOWNE'S  Speech,  Dec.  1, 1819 ;  Parl.  Deb.  xiii. 
422. 


154 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


sequent  assizes  ;  and  another  in  the 
Commons  by  Lord  Castlereagh,  sub- 
jecting newspapers  to  certain  stamps, 
and  to  prevent  the  abuses  arising  from 
the  publication  of  blasphemous  and 
seditions  libels.  The  first  and  third  of 
the  first  four  acts  alone  were  perma- 
nent ;  the  second  and  third  were  tem- 
porary only  in  their  endurance,  and 
have  long  since  expired.  The  bills 
were  all  strenuously  resisted,  with  the 
exception  of  the  first,  in  both  Houses, 
.but  were  passed  by  large  majorities, — 
that  in  the  Commons,  on  the  Sedi- 
tious Meetings  Bill,  being  223,  the 
numbers  351  to  128  ;  in  the  Lords,  on 
the  same  bill,  97,  the  numbers  being 
135  to  38.  In  regard  to  the  Training 
Act,  however,  which  is  still  in  force, 
a  much  greater  degree  of  unanimity 
prevailed.  Several  members  of  both 
Houses  usually  opposed  to  Government, 
but  officially  acquainted  with  the  state 
of  the  country,  added  their  testimony 
to  its  necessity ;  and  that  the  practice 
of  training  was  then  generally  preva- 
lent has  since  been  admitted  by  the 
Radical  leaders,  and  their  ablest  his- 
torical advocates.  * 

36.  A  curious  but  instructive  cir- 
cumstance took  place  when  the  Radi- 
cal leaders  were  brought  up  for  exami- 
nation before  the  Privy  Council,  into 
the  presence  of  those  whom  they  had 
been  taught  to  regard  as  of  a  cruel  and 
unrelenting  disposition,  and  the  bit- 
terest enemies  of  the  people.  ' '  The 
simple-minded  men  who  had  followed 
Hunt  were  surprised,"  says  Miss  Mar- 
tineau,  "when  brought  into  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Privy  Council,  at  the  actual 
appearance  of  the  rulers  of  the  land, 
•whom  they  had  regarded  as  their  cruel 
enemies.  They  found  no  cruelty  or 
ferocity  in  the  faces  of  the  tyrants — 
Lord  Castlereagh,  the  good-looking 
person  in  a  plum  -  coloured  coat,  with 

*  "  There  is,  and  can  he,  no  dispute  about 
the  fact  of  military  training  ;  the  only  ques- 
tion is  in  regard  to  the  design  or  object  of  the 
practice.  Numerous  informations  were  taken 
by  the  Lancashire  magistrates,  and  trans- 
mitted to  Government  in  the  beginning  of 
August."  Bamford,  the  Radical  annalist,  as- 
sures us  it  was  done  solely  with  a  view  to  the 
great  meeting  on  the  16th  August  at  Manches- 
ter.— See  Miss  MARTINEAU,  i.  227;  BAMFORD'S 
Life  of  a  Radical,  i.  177,  ISO. 


[CHAP.  x. 

a  gold  ring  on  the  little  finger  of  his 
left  hand,  on  which  he  sometimes 
looked  while  addressing  them  :  Lord 
Sidmouth,  a  tall,  square,  and  bony 
figure,  with  thin  and  grey  hairs, 
broad  and  prominent  forehead,  whose 
mild  and  intelligent  eyes  looked  forth 
from  their  cavernous  orbits  ;  his  man- 
ners affable,  and  much  more  encourag- 
ing to  freedom  of  speech  than  had 
been  expected."  "How  often,"  says 
Thiers,  ' '  would  factions  the  most  op- 
posite be  reconciled,  if  they  could  meet 
and  read  each  other's  hearts ! "  On  the 
other  hand,  Hunt  was  far  from  ex- 
hibiting the  constancy  in  adversity 
which,  in  every  age,  has  animated  the 
patriot  and  the  hero.  He  was  alter- 
nately querulous  and  depressed — elat- 
ed by  popular  applause,  but  sadly  cast 
down  when  the  intoxicating  draught 
was  taken  from  his  lips.  In  this  there 
is  nothing  surprising  ;  rectitude  of  in- 
tention is  the  principle  which  animates 
the  patriot,  who  is  sustained  by  its 
consciousness  when  aiding  the  people 
often  against  their  will.  Vanity  is  the 
prevailing  passion  of  the  demagogue, 
and  his  spirits  sink  the  moment  the  ex- 
citing influence  is  withdrawn. 

37.  The  beginning  of  the  year  1820 
was    marked    by  two    events  which, 
strongly  riveted  the  attention  of  the 
nation,  and  had  a  beneficial  general 
effect  in  reviving  those  feelings  of  loy- 
alty, which,  though  sometimes  forgot- 
ten, are  never  extinct  in  the  breast 
of  the  English  people.     The  Duke  of 
Kent,  the  father  of  our  present  gra- 
cious Sovereign,  had  accompanied  the 
Duchess  and  his  infant  daughter,  the 
future  Sovereign  of  Great  Britain,  to 
Sidmouth,  in  Devonshire,  for  the  bene 
fit  of  change  of  air.    There  he  was  un- 
fortunately exposed  to  wet  and  col" 
on  the  13th  January,  which  broug" 
on  a  cough  and  inflammation  of  tl 
lungs;  and  this,  notwithstanding  tl 
most  active  treatment,  terminated  fa 
tally  on  the  23d  of  the  same  mont 
He  was  interred,  with  the  usual 
lemnities,  at  Windsor  on  7th  Febr 
This  prince  took  little  share  in  public 
life  ;  and  the  rigorous  discipline  which 
he  had  found  it  necessary  to  enforce  in 
the  army  in  his  earlier  years,  when  ii 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


155 


command,  had  at  the  time  given  rise 
to  considerable  discussion.  But  he 
had  survived  this  temporary  unpopu- 
larity, as  really  estimable  characters 
seldom  fail  to  do ;  and  in  his  latter 
years  he  possessed  alike  the  respect  of 
the  nation  and  the  warm  affection  of 
his  personal  friends.  Personally  in- 
trepid, as  his  race  have  ever  been,  he 
possessed  at  the  same  time  the  kind- 
icss  of  heart  and  charm  of  manner, 
which  in  all,  but  in  none  so  much  as 
;hose  of  exalted  station,  are  the  main 
bundation  of  lasting  affection.  In 
)olitics  he  inclined  to  the  Liberal  side, 
is  his  brother  the  Prince-Regent  and 
;he  Duke  of  Sussex  had  so  long  done  ; 
>ut  he  had  little  turn  for  political  con- 
;entions,  and  shrouded  himself  in  pre- 
erence  in  the  seclusion  and  enjoyments 
of  private  life.  Deeds  of  beneficence, 
or  the  support  of  institutions  of  cha- 
rity, of  which  he  was  a  munificent  pa- 
;ron,  alone  brought  him  before  the  eye 
of  the  public  ;  but  in  private,  no  one 
was  more  kindly  in  his  disposition, 
or  had  secured  by  acts  of  generosity 
a  wider  or  more  attached  circle  of 
Mends. 

38.  The  death  of  the  Duke  of  Kent 
was  speedily  followed  by  that  of  his 

ather,  who  had  so  long  swayed  the 
sceptre  of  the  realm.  Towards  the 
snd  of  January,  the  health  of  George 
[II.,  which  had  hitherto  been  surpris- 
Dgly  preserved  during  his  long  and 
melancholy  mental  alienation,  rapidly 
sank.  His  strength  failed,  his  appe- 
;ite  left  him,  and  it  became  evident 
;hat  the  powers  of  nature  were  ex- 
lausted.  At  length,  at  half-past  eight 
>n  the  28th  January,  he  breathed  his 
iast;  and  the  Prince-Regent,  as  George 
[V. ,  formally  ascended  the  throne,  of 
which,  during  ten  years,  he  had  dis- 
charged the  duties.  On  Monday  the 
31st,  the  new  sovereign  was  proclaimed 
with  the  usual  formalities  at  the  Pa- 
lace, Temple  Bar,  Charing  Cross,  and 
other  places  ;  the  members  of  Parlia- 
ment were  sworn  in,  and  both  Houses 
immediately  adjourned  to  the  17th 
February. 

39.  Although  he  had  lived  nearly 
ten  years  in  retirement,  and  the  prac- 
tical discharge  of  the  functions  of  roy- 


alty by  the  sovereign  who  succeeded 
him  had  so  long  withdrawn  him  from 
the  public  gaze,  the  death  of  George 
III.  made  a  profound  impression  on 
the  British  heart.  The  very  circum- 
stances under  which  the  demise  had 
taken  place  added  to  the  melancholy 
interest  which  it  excited,  and  the  feel- 
ings with  which  the  bereavement  was 
regarded  by  the  people.  Nearly  the 
whole  existing  generation  had  grown 
up  during  his  long  reign  of  sixty  years ; 
there  was  no  one  who  had  not  been  ac- 
customed to  regard  the  4th  of  June, 
the  well-known  birthday  of  the  Sove- 
reign, as  a  day  of  rejoicing ;  no  one 
could  form  an  idea  of  a  king  without 
the  aged  form  which  still  flitted  through 
the  halls  of  Windsor  occurring  to  the 
mind.  The  very  obscurity  in  which 
his  last  days  had  been  shrouded,  the 
mental  darkness  which  had  prevented 
him  from  being  conscious  of  the  sur- 
passing glories  of  the  close  of  his  reign, 
the  malady  which  had  secluded  him 
from  the  eyes  of  his  affectionate  people, 
added  to  the  emotion  which  his  death 
occasioned.  Old  feelings  were  revived, 
former  affections,  long  pent  up,  gushed 
forth,  and  flowed  without  control.  The 
realisation  of  the  catastrophe,  though 
not  of  the  sorrows,  of  Lear  on  the  the- 
atre of  the  world,  profoundly  affected 
every  heart.  The  King  had  survived 
all  his  unpopularity;  he  had  lived  down 
the  bitterest  of  his  enemies.  When 
the  eloquent  preacher  quoted  the  words 
of  Scripture,  "And  Joseph  asked  them 
of  their  welfare,  and  said,  Is  your  father 
well,  the  old  man  of  whom  ye  spake  ? 
is  he  yet  alive  ?  And  they  answered, 
Our  father  is  yet  alive.  And  they 
bowed  their  heads,  and  made  obei- 
sance,"* all  felt  that  now,  as  in  the 
days  of  the  patriarchs,  the  same  affec- 
tions of  a  people  to  their  common  fa- 
ther were  experienced.  The  removal 
of  the  aged  King  from  this  earthly 
scene  made  no  change  in  the  political 
world ;  it  was  unfelt  in  the  councils  or 
cabinets  of  princes ;  but,  like  a  simi- 
lar bereavement  in  private  life,  tho 
circle  of  the  domestic  affections  was 
for  a  season  drawn  closer,  from  the 

*  Sermon  on  the  JubUee,  1810,  by  Rev.  A. 
Alison — Sermons,  i.  419. 


156 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


removal  of  one  who  had  shared  in  its 
brightness.  Nor  did  it  lessen  the  emo- 
tion felt  on  this  event,  that  it  occurred 
-at  the  time  when  the  mighty  antagon- 
ist of  the  departed  sovereign  was  de- 
clining in  distant  and  hopeless  captiv- 
ity, and  that  while  George  III.  slept 
to  death  in  the  solitude  of  his  ances- 
tral halls,  Napoleon  was  dying  a  dis- 
crowned exile  in  the  melancholy  main. 
40.  The  French  said,  in  the  days  of 
their  loyalty,  "The  king  is  dead — long 
live  the  king  ! "  Never  was  the  value 
of  this  noble  maxim  more  strongly  felt 
than  on  the  present  occasion.  The 
death  of  the  King,  preceded  as  it  had 
been  by  that  of  the  Princess  Charlotte, 
the  heiress  of  the  throne,  the  age  and 
circumstances  of  the  sovereign  who 
had  just  ascended  it,  and  the  situation 
of  the  other  members  of  the  royal  fa- 
mily, had  long  awakened  a  feeling  of 
disquietude  as  to  the  succession  to  the 
monarchy.  The  Duke  of  York,  now 
the  heir  •  apparent,  was  married,  had 
no  family,  and  the  duchess  was  in  de- 
clining health  ;  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
the  next  in  succession,  was  advanced 
in  years,  and  although  he  had  had 
children,  they  had  all  died  in  infancy 
-or  early  youth.  The  successors  to  the 
crown,  after  the  present  sovereign, 
whose  health  was  known  to  be  in  a 
7>recarious  condition,  were,  a  prince 
from  whom  no  issue  could  now  be 
expected,  and,  after  him,  an  infant 
princess.  Many  were  the  gloomy  ap- 
prehensions entertained  of  the  even- 
tual consequences  of  such  a  state  of 
things,  at  a  time  when  Europe  was 
convulsed  by  revolutionary  passions, 
and  vigour  and  capacity  on  the  throne 
seemed,  in  an  especial  manner,  requi- 
site to  steer  the  monarchy  through  the 
.shoals  with  which  it  was  surrounded. 
But  how  often  does  the  course  of  events 
•-deviate  from  what  was  once  anticipated, 
and  Providence,  out  of  seeming  disas- 
ter, educe  the  means  of  future  salva- 
tion !  Out  of  this  apparently  untoward 
combination  of  circumstances  arose  an 
event  of  the  last  importance  in  after 
times  to  the  British  empire.  George 
IV.  reigned  just  ten  years  after  his 
.•accession  to  the  throne,  the  Duke  of 
Clarence  only  seven ;  and  his  demise 


opened  the  succession  to  our  present 
gracious  Sovereign,  then  an  infant  in 
the  arms,  who,  uniting  the  courage  and 
spirit  of  her  Plantagenet  and  Stuart,  to 
the  judgment  and  integrity  of  her  Han- 
overian ancestors,  has  again  bound,  in 
troubled  times,  all  hearts  to  the  throne, 
and  spread  through  her  entire  subjects 
the  noble  feelings  of  disinterested  loy- 
alty. The  sequel  of  this  History  will 
show  of  what  incalculable  importance 
it  was  that,  at  a  time  when  every  crown 
in  Europe  was  shaking  on  the  brow  of 
its  wearer,  and  the  strongest  monarch- 
ies were  crumbling  in  the  dust,  a  Queen 
should  have  been  on  the  British  throne, 
whose  virtues  had  inspired  the  respect, 
while  her  intrepidity  had  awakened  the 
admiration  of  all  her  subjects,  and  who, 
like  her  ancestress  Queen  Mary,  was 
regarded  with  warmer  feelings  of  chi- 
valrous devotion  than  any  king,  how 
eminent  soever,  could  have  been  ;  for 
towards  her,  to  all  that  could  command 
respect  in  the  other  sex  were  united 

"  The  gallantry  of  man 
lu  lovelier  woman's  cause." 

41.  The   English  were  soon  made 
aware  on  how  precarious  a  footing  the 
succession  to  the  throne  was  placed, 
and   how  soon   they  might  have   to 
mourn  a  second  death  among  their 
monarchs.     Hardly  had  the  new  King 
ascended   the  throne,   when  he  was 
seized  with  a  violent  attack  of  inflam- 
mation in  the  chest,  which  was  the 
more   alarming,   from  its   being  the 
same  complaint  which  had  so  recent- 
ly proved  fatal  to  the  Duke  of  Kent. 
For  several  days  his  life  was  in  immi- 
nent danger,  and  almost  despaired  of ; 
but  at  length  the  strength  of  his  con- 
stitution, and  the  skill  of  his  physi- 
cians, triumphed  over  the  virulence  of 
the  disease,  and  the  alarming  symp- 
toms disappeared.    He  long  continued, 
however,  very  weak,  from  the  copious 
bleedings  which  he  had  undergone ; 
and  when  his  royal  father  was  laid  in 
the  grave  at  Windsor,   on  the  16th 
February,  the  highest  in  station  was 
absent  and  the   Duke  of  York  was 
chief  mourner. 

42.  Parliament  met  again,  after 
prorogation,   on  the   17th  Februa 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


157 


By  the  Constitution,  the  House  of 
Commons  must  be  dissolved  within 
six  months  after  the  demise  of  the 
King,  and  the  state  of  the  public  busi- 
ness rendered  it  advisable  that  this 
should  take  place  as  soon  as  possible, 
in  order  to  get  it  over  by  the  ordinary 
time  of  prorogation.  It  was  indispen- 
sable, however,  for  Ministers  to  obtain 
some  votes  in  supply  before  the  House 
was  dissolved  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  they 
received  early  warning  of  a  serious 
difficulty  which  awaited  them  at  the 
very  threshold  of  their  career  as  minis- 
ters of  the  new  monarch.  Hitherto 
Queen  Caroline  had  been  prayed  for  in 
the  Liturgy  as  the  Princess  of  Wales. 
But  as  the  King  was  determined  never, 
under  any  circumstances,  to  acknow- 
ledge her  as  Queen  of  England,  it  was 
deemed  indispensable  to  make  a  stand 
at  the  very  outset ;  and,  accordingly, 
her  name  was  omitted  in  the  Liturgy 
by  an  order  of  the  Privy  Council.  This 
gave  rise  to  an  ominous  question  in  the 
House  of  Commons  a  few  days  after. 
Mr  Hume  asked,  on  the  18th  Febru- 
ary, whether  the  allowance  of  £35,000 
a-year,  hitherto  made  to  her  Royal 
Highness,  was  to  be  continued ;  and 
Lord  Castlereagh  having  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  no  further  notice  of 
the  subject  took  place,  though  Mr 
Brougham,  her  chief  legal  adviser,  was 
present,  and  had  made  a  violent  attack 
on  the  Government.  But  on  the  21st, 
when  a  motion  was  made  that  the 
House  should  resolve  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee of  supply,  Mr  Hume  again  in- 
troduced the  subject,  and  said  that, 
without  finding  fault  with  any  exer- 
cise of  the  prerogative,  on  the  part  of 
the  Sovereign,  as  head  of  the  Church, 
he  might  be  permitted  to  ask  why  an 
address  of  condolence  and  congratula- 
tion had  not  been  voted  to  her  Majesty 
on  her  accession  to  the  throne,  and  to 
express  his  regret  at  the  manner  in 
which  she  had  been  treated.  AVas  she 
to  be  left  a  beggar  upon  the  Continent, 
and  the  Queen  of  England  to  be  thrown 
a  needy  suppliant  on  the  cold  charity 
of  foreign  princes  ?  Something  defi- 
nite should  be  fixed  in  regard  to  the 
future  provision  for  her. 

43.  The  speech  of  Mr  Brougham  on 


this  occasion  was  very  remarkable,  and 
seemed  to  presage,  as  he  was  the  Queen's 
Attorney-General,  a  more  favourable 
issue  to  this  unhappy  division  than 
could  have  been  at  first  anticipated. 
He  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  lay  any 
stress  on  the  omission  of  her  name 
in  the  Liturgy,  or  her  being  called  by 
the  King's  ministers  in  this  debate  an 
"exalted  personage"  instead  of  Her 
Majesty.  Was  she  not  the  wedded 
wife  of  the  Sovereign  ?  What  she  was- 
called  could  not  alter  her  position  one 
way  or  other.  These  are  trifles  light  as 
air,  which  can  never  render  her  situa- 
tion either  precarious  or  uncertain.  If 
the  advisers  of  the  Crown  should  be 
able  to  settle  upon  her  what  was  ne- 
cessary to  maintain  her  rank  and  dig- 
nity out  of  the  civil  list,  there  would 
be  no  need  to  introduce  her  Majesty's 
name.  He  had  refused  to  listen  to 
any  surmise  ;  he  had  shut  his  ears  to 
all  reports ;  he  knew  nothing  of  any 
delicate  investigations  ;  but  if  any 
charge  was  preferred  against  her  Ma- 
jesty, he  would  be  prepared  to  meet  it 
alike  as  her  Majesty's  confidential  ad- 
viser, and  as  an  independent  member 
of  Parliament. 

44.  Nothing  further  followed  on  this; 
conversation,  and  Parliament,  having 
been  prorogued  to  the  13th  March,  was 
next  day  dissolved,  and  writs  issued 
for  the  election  of  a  new  Parliament  to 
meet  on  27th  April.  But  ere  it  could 
assemble  the  nation  was  horror-struck 
by  the  discovery  of  one  of  the  most 
atrocious  murderous  conspiracies  that 
ever  disgraced  the  annals  of  mankind, 
and  which  was  only  prevented  from  end- 
ing in  the  massacre  of  the  whole  Cabinet 
by  the  timidity  or  treachery  of  one  of 
the  members  of  the  gang,  who  revealed 
the  plot  to  the  Government.  This 
was  the  CATO  STREET  CONSPIRACY, 
which  may  well  take  its  place  beside- 
the  worst  outbreaks  of  Italian  crime, 
and  showed  to  what  frightful  extremi- 
ties the  English  mind,  when  violently 
excited  by  political  passions,  is  cap- 
able of  being  led.  The  author  of  the- 
plot  was  Arthur  Thistlewood,  who  was 
born  in  1770,  had  received  a  tolerable 
education,  and  had  served  both  in  tha 
militia  and  in  a  West  India  regiment. 


158 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


He  soon,  however,  resigned  his  com- 
mission, and,  notwithstanding  the  war, 
succeeded  in  making  his  way  to  Paris, 
where  he  arrived  shortly  after  the  fall 
of  Robespierre.  He  there  embraced  all 
the  extravagant  ideas  which  the  Re- 
volution had  caused  to  germinate  in 
France,  and  he  returned  to  England 
firmly  persuaded  that  the  first  duty  of 
a  patriot  was  to  massacre  the  Govern- 
ment, and  overturn  all  existing  institu- 
tions. He  was  engaged  in  Watson's 
conspiracy,  already  mentioned,  and, 
like  him,  acquitted  in  the  face  of  dis- 
tinct proof,  chiefly  from  the  indict- 
ment having  been  laid  for  high  trea- 
son, which  was  straining  a  point,  in- 
stead of  conspiracy  and  riot,  as  to 
Avhich  the  evidence  was  clear.  On  his 
acquittal  he  sent  a  challenge  to  Lord 
Sidmouth,  for  which  he  was  handed 
over  to  the  civil  authorities,  by  whom 
he  was  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprison- 
ment. He  came  out  of  prison  at  its 
expiration  thirsting  for  vengeance,  and 
burning  with  revolutionary  passions, 
at  the  very  time  when  the  "  Manches- 
ter massacre,"  as  it  was  called,  had 
excited  such  a  ferment  in  the  country, 
and  he  immediately  engaged  himself 
in  the  furtherance  of  a  conspiracy,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  murder  the 
Ministers  and  overturn  the  Govern- 
ment. 

45.  He  soon  succeeded,  in  that  pe- 
riod of  excitement,  in  collecting  a  band 
of  conspirators  as  determined  and  reck- 
less as  himself — men  fit,  indeed,  "  to 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  whole  world," 
though  certainly  not  to  "  rule  it  when 
'tis  wildest."  Ings,  a  butcher ;  David- 
son, a  Creole;  Brunt  and  Tidd,  shoe- 
makers, were  his  principal  associates, 
but  with  them  were  collected  forty  or 
fifty  more,  who  were  to  be  employed 
in  the  execution  of  their  designs.  They 
met  twice  a-day,  during  February,  in  a 
hired  room  near  Gray's  Inn  Lane,  and 
their  first  design  was  to  murder  the 
King,  but  this  was  soon  laid  aside  for 
the  massacre  of  his  ministers,  who  were, 
to  be  despatched  separately  in  their 
own  houses.  On  Saturday,  February 
19th,  their  plans  were  arranged.  Forty 
men  were  to  be  set  apart  for  these  de- 


tached murders,  and  whoever  faltered 
in  the  great  work  was  to  atone  for  it 
with  his  life ;  while  a  detachment  was, 
at  the  same  time,  to  seize  two  pieces  of 
artillery  stationed  in  Gray's  Inn,  and 
six  in  the  artillery-ground.  The  Man- 
sion House  was  to  be  immediately  at- 
tacked, and  a  provisional  government 
established  there,  the  Bank  assaulted, 
and  London  set  on  fire  in  several  places. 
But  this  design  was  modified,  in  con- 
sequence of  information  given  by  Ed- 
wards, one  of  their  number,  who  after- 
wards revealed  the  conspiracy,  that 
the  whole  Cabinet  was  to  dine  at  Lord 
Harrowby 's  in  Grosvenor  Square.  This- 
tlewood  immediately  proposed  to  mur- 
der them  all  at  once  when  assembled 
there,  which  was  assented  to;  "for," 
said  he,  "as  there  has  not  been  a  din- 
ner for  so  long,  there  will  no  doubt  be 
fourteen  or  sixteen  there ;  and  it  will  be 
a  rare  haul  tomurdertJiemalltogether. " 
46.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  two 
of  the  conspirators  were  stationed  in 
Grosvenor  Square  to  see  what  was  going 
on  there ;  and  a  room  was  taken  above 
a  stable  in  Cato  Street,  off  the  Edge- 
ware  Road,  where  the  conspirators  were 
to  assemble  on  the  afternoon  of  the  22d 
February,  when  the  dinner  at  Lord 
Harrowby's  was  to  take  place.  The 
only  access  to  this  room,  which  was 
large  enough  to  hold  thirty  persons, 
was  by  a  ladder,  which  led  up  to  a  trap- 
door, and  there,  at  six  in  the  evening, 
Thistlewood,  and  twenty -four  of  the 
conspirators,  fully  armed,  were  assem- 
bled. It  was  arranged  that  one  of  the 
conspirators  was  to  call  at  Lord  Har- 
rowby's with  a  note  when  the  party 
were  at  dinner,  and  on  the  door  being 
opened  the  whole  were  to  rush  in,  mur- 
der the  Ministers,  and  as  trophies  of 
their  success  bring  out  the  heads  of 
Lords  Sidmouth  and  Castlereagh,  for 
which  purpose  bags  were  provided. 
Meanwhile  the  cavalry  barracks  in 
King  Street,  Portman  Square,  were  to 
be  set  on  fire  by  throwing  fire-balls  into 
the  straw  depot,  and  the  Bank  and 
Mansion  House  attacked  by  those  left 
in  the  city.  Everything  was  in  readi- 
ness, arms  and  ammunition  provide  * 
fire-balls  prepared,  the  treasonable  ] 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


159 


clamation  ready,  and  at  half- past  seven 
the  conspirators  were  arming  them- 
selves in  the  Cato  Street  loft  by  the 
light  of  two  small  candles.  But  mean- 
while Ministers  had  information  of 
their  designs  from  the  information  of 
Edwards,  who  had  revealed  the  whole 
conspiracy,  and  instead  of  dining  at 
Lord  Harrowby's  they  dined  together 
privately  in  Downing  Street.  The 
preparations  for  the  dinner  at  Lord 
Harrowby's,  however,  were  allowed  to 
proceed  without  any  interruption,  and 
a  party  of  fourteen  police,  under  that 
able  police  magistrate,  Mr  Birnie,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  place  of  rendezvous,  where 
it  had  been  arranged  they  were  to  be 
supported  by  a  detachment  of  the  Cold- 
stream  Guards.  The  Guards,  however, 
were  not  ready  to  start  instantly  when 
Birnie  called  with  the  police  at  their 
barracks,  and  in  consequence,  thinking 
not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost,  that  in- 
trepid officer  hastened  on  with  his  four- 
teen policemen  alone.* 

47.  The  first  of  the  police  who  ascend- 
ed the  trap -stair  was  an  active  and 
brave  officer,  named  Smithers,  who, 
the  moment  he  got  to  the  top  of  the 
ladder,  called  on  the  conspirators  to 

*  The  delay  in  getting  the  detachment  of 
Foot  Guards  ready  when  Birnie  called  at  the 
barracks  with  the  police,  was  not  owing  to 
any  want  of  zeal  or  activity  on  the  part  of 
that  gallant  corps,  the  detachment  of  which, 
under  their  noble  leader,  Captain  Fitzcla- 
rence,  behaved  with  the  utmost  spirit,  and 
rendered  essential  service  in  the  affray  when 
they  did  come  up.  It  arose  from  a  different 
meaning  being  attached  by  military  men  and 
civilians  to  the  words,  "  ready  to  turn  out  at  a 
moment's  warning."  The  former  understood 
these  words  to  mean,  "ready  to  take  their 
places  in  file,  and  be  told  off,"  when  ordered 
to  do  so;  the  latter,  ready  to  face  about  and 
march  straight  out  of  the  barrack  gate.  The 
difference  should  be  known,  and  is  often  at- 
tended with  important  consequences.  In  this 
instance,  if  the  Guards  had  been  drawn  up  and 
told  off  in  the  barrack-yard/and  marched  out 
with  Birnie  the  moment  he  arrived,  the  whole 
conspirators  would  at  once  have  been  taken 
in  the  loft,  and  perhaps  no  lives  lost.  They 
had  been  ordered  to  be  in  readiness  to  start 
at  a  moment's  warning,  but  some  little  time 
was  lost  in  putting  them  in  their  places  and 
telling  off.  Another  instance  will  occur  in 
the  sequel  of  this  History,  where  a  similar 
misunderstanding  as  to  the  meaning  of  these 
words  between  the  magistrates  and  military 
occasioned  the  loss  of  three  lives. 


surrender.  As  they  refused  to  do  so, 
he  advanced  to  seize  Thistlewood,  and 
was  by  him  run  through  the  body  and 
immediately  fell.  The  lights  were  in- 
stantly extinguished,  and  a  frightful 
conflict  began  in  the  dark  between  the 
police  officers  and  the  gang,  in  the 
course  of  which  some  dashed  headlong 
down  the  trap-stair,  and  others,  includ- 
ing Thistlewood,  made  their  escape  by 
the  back  windows  of  the  loft.  At  this 
critical  moment  the  Foot  Guards,  thirty 
in  number,  came  up  with  fixed  bayo- 
nets, and,  hastening  in  double-quick 
time  to  the  door  of  the  stable,  arrived 
there  as  some  of  the  conspirators  were 
rushing  out.  Captain  Fitzclarence, 
who  was  at  their  head,  advanced  to 
seize  the  sentinel  at  the  door,  who  in- 
stantly aimed  a  pistol  at  his  head,  the 
ball  of  which  was  averted  by  his  cover- 
ing Sergeant  Logge,  whom  it  wounded. 
Fitzclarence  upon  this  ordered  his  men 
to  follow  him  into  the  stable,  himself 
leading  the  way.  He  was  met  by  a 
mulatto,  Avho  aimed  a  blow  at  him  with 
a  cutlass,  which  one  of  the  soldiers 
warded  off  with  his  musket.  Both 
these  men  were  made  prisoners.  They 
then  mounted  the  ladder,  and  five  men 
were  secured  in  the  loft,  making,  with 
those  previously  taken  by  the  police, 
nine  in  all.  The  rest,  in  the  darkness 
and  confusion,  had  escaped,  among 
whom  was  Thistlewood ;  but  a  reward 
of  £1000  having  been  offered  for  his 
apprehension,  he  was  made  prisonei' 
the  following  morning  in  his  bed. 

48.  The  Ministers,  whose  lives  had 
been  saved  by  the  discovery  of  this 
conspiracy,  returned  thanks  publicly 
in  St  Paul's  a  few  days  after,  and  the 
whole  respectable  classes  in  the  countiy 
were  horror-struck  at  the  intelligence. 
Thistlewood,  Ings,  Tidd,  Brunt,  and 
Davidson,  were  arraigned  for  high  trea- 
son on  the  17th  of  April,  found  guilty, 
and  sentenced  to  death,  on  proof  which, 
though  consisting  in  part  of  the  testi- 
mony of  two  of  the  conspirators  who 
were  taken  as  king's  evidence,,  was  so 
confirmed  by  the  police  officers,  mili- 
tary, and  others  engaged  in  the  cap- 
ture, that  not  a  doubt  could  exist  of 
their  guilt.  Five  were  sentenced  to 


160 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


transportation  for  life,  and  one,  after 
sentence,  received  a  free  pardon.  In- 
deed, so  far  from  denying  their  guilt, 
Thistlewood  and  Brunt  gloried  in  it  at 
their  trial,  alleging  that  assassination 
was  fully  justifiable  in  the  circum- 
stances, and  that  it  was  a  fit  retribution 
for  the  high  treason  committed  against 
the  people  by  the  Manchester  mas- 
sacre.* They  were  executed  on  the  1st 
May,  in  presence  of  an  immense  crowd 
of  spectators,  many  of  whom  evinced 
a  warm  sympathy  with  their  fate. 
They  behaved  with  great  firmness  in 
their  last  moments,  exhibiting  that 
mixture  of  stoicism  and  ruffianism  so 
common  in  persons  engaged  in  political 
conspiracies.  All  attempts  to  awaken 
them  to  any  sense  of  religion  or  feelings 
of  repentance  failed,  except  with  Da- 

*  "High  treason  was  committed  against  the 
people  at  Manchester,  but  justice  was  closed 
against  the  mutilated,  the  maimed,  and  the 
friends  of  those  who  were  upon  that  occasion 
indiscriminately  massacred.  The  Prince,  by 
the  advice  of  his  Ministers,  thanked  the  mur- 
derers, still  reeking  in  the  gore  of  their  vic- 
tims. If  one  spark  of  honour,  if  one  spark  of 
independence,  still  glimmered  in  ,the  breasts 
of  Englishmen,  they  would  have  risen  as  one 
man.  Insurrectionthenbecameapublic duty, 
and  the  blood  of  the  victims  should  have  been 
the  watchword  for  vengeance  on  their  mur- 
derers. Albion  is  still  in  the  chains  of  slavery. 
I  quit  it  without  regret.  I  shall  soon  be  con- 
signed to  the  grave ;  my  body  will  be  immured 
beneath  the  soil  where  I  first  drew  breath. 
My  only  sorrow  is,  that  the  soil  should  be  a 
theatre  for  slaves,  for  cowards,  and  for  des- 
pots. I  disclaim  any  personal  motives.  My 
every  principle  was  for  the  prosperity  of  my 
country.  My  every  feeling,  the  height  of  my 
ambition,  was  for  the  welfare  of  my  starving 
countrymen.  I  keenly  felt  for  their  miseries : 
but  when  their  miseries  were  laughed  at,  and 
when,  because  they  dared  to  express  those 
miseries,  they  were  inhumanly  massacred  and 
trampled  upon,  my  feelings  became  too  in- 
tense, and  I  resolved  on  vengeance  1  I  re- 
solved that  the  lives  of  the  instigators  should 
be  required  to  the  souls  of  the  murdered  in- 
nocents."— Thistlewood' s  Address  before  receiv- 
ing sentence. 

"  Lords  Castlereagh  and  Sidmouth  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  death  of  millions.  I 
conspired  to  put  them  out  of  the  world,  but 
I  did  not  intend  to  commit  high  treason.  In 
undertaking  to  kill  them  and  their  fellow- 
ministers,  I  did  not  expect  to  save  my  own 
life :  but  I  was  determined  to  die  a  martyr  in 
my  country's  cause,  and  to  avenge  the  in- 
nocent blood  shed  at  Manchester." — Brunt's 
Speech  before  receiving  sentence;  Ann.  Reg. 
1820,  946,  947 ;  Appendix  to  Chronicle. , 


vidson.  "  In  ten  minutes,"  said  Ings, 
as  he  ascended  the  scaffold,  "we  shall 
know  the  great  secret."  The  frightful 
process  of  decapitating,  prescribed  by 
the  English  law  for  cases  of  high  trea- 
son, was  executed,  it  is  to  be  hoped  for 
the  last  time,  on  their  lifeless  remains, 
amidst  the  shudders  of  the  crowd,  who 
were  more  horror-struck  with  this  relic 
of  ancient  barbarity  than  impressed 
with  the  guilt  of  the  criminals. 

49.  Hardly  had  the  nation  recov- 
ered from  the  shock  arising  from  this 
atrocious  conspiracy,  and  its  dreadful 
punishment,  when  a  fresh  alarm  of  a 
more  serious  and  widespread  nature 
broke  out  in  the  north.  Notwith- 
standing the  powers  given  to  the  ma- 
gistrates to  suppress  military  training 
by  the  late  Act,  it  still  continued! 
through  the  whole  winter  in  the  West 
Riding  of  Yorkshire,  Lancashire,  Dur- 
ham, and  the  neighbourhood  of  Glas- 
gow. All  the  vigilance  of  the  magis- 
trates was  unable  to  detect  or  suppress 
these  alarming  practices,  which  evi- 
dently presaged,  at  no  distant  period, 
a  general  insurrection  against  the 
Government.  It  was  at  first  fixed  for 
the  1st  November,  but  adjourned  then, 
and  on  various  other  occasions,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  preparations  not  being 
complete.  Meanwhile  the  midnight 
training  went  on  without  intermission 
on  the  hills  and  moors,  sometimes  in 
one  place,  sometimes  in  another,  so  as 
to  elude  discovery  or  pursuit ;  and  at 
length,  all  things  being  conceived  to 
be  in  readiness,  the  insurrection  was 
arranged  to  take  place  on  the  2d  April. 
The  large  military  force,  however, 
which  was  stationed  in  Lancashire  and 
Yorkshire,  prevented  any  serious  out- 
break in  that  quarter,  and  it  ended  in 
an  assembly  of  three  hundred  malcon- 
tents near  Huddersfield,  who  dispersed 
on  the  rumour  of  the  approach  of  a 
body  of  cavalry.  But  in  Scotland 
affairs  became  more  serious,  and  re- 
vealed at  once  the  precipice  on  the 
brink  of  which  the  nation  stood,  and 
the  extraordinary  sway  which  the  lead- 
ers of  the  movement  had  obtained 
over  the  working  classes  in  the  manu- 
facturing districts. 


mauu- 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


161 


50.  On  Sunday  morning,  2d  April, 
a  treasonable  proclamation  was  found 
placarded  over  all  the  streets  of  Glas- 
gow, Paisley,  Stirling,  and  the  neigh- 
bouring towns  and  villages,  in   the 
name  of  a  provisional   government, 
calling  on  the  people  to  desist  from  la- 
bour ;  on  all  manufacturers  to  close 
their  workshops ;  on  the  soldiers  to 
remember  the  glorious  example  of  the 
Spanish  troops  ;  and  on  all  friends  of 
their  country  to  come  forward  and  ef- 
fect a  revolution  by  force,  with  a  view 
to  the  establishment  of  an  entire  equal- 
ity of  civil  rights.      Strange  to  say, 
this  treasonable  proclamation,  unsign- 
ed, proceeding  from  an  unknown  au- 
thority, was  widely  obeyed.     Work 
immediately  ceased ;  the  manufactories 
were  closed  from  the  desertions  of  their 
workmen  ;  the  streets  were  filled  with 
anxious    crowds,     eagerly    expecting 
news  from  the  south ;  the  sounds  of 
industry  were  no  longer  heard  ;  and 
two  hundred  thousand  persons  in  the 
busiest  districts  of  the  country  were 
thrown  at  once  into  a  state  of  compul- 
sory idleness,  by  the  mandates  of  an 
unseen  and  unknown  power.     Never 
was  there  a  clearer  proof  how  powerful 
an  engine  fear  is  to  work  upon  the 
human  heart — how  much  its  influence 
is  extended  by  the  terror  being  awak- 
ened from  a  source  of  which  all  are 
ignorant.     How  true  are  the  words  of 
Tacitus,   "  Omne  ignotumpro  magni- 
fico ;"  and  how  well  founded  was  the 
boast  of  Marat,  that  with  three  hun- 
dred determined  bravos  he  Would  gov- 
ern France,  and  cause  three  hundred 
thousand  heads  to  fall. 

51.  Fortunately  at  this  juncture  the 
energy  of  Government,  and  the  spirit 
of  the  untainted  parts  of  the  country, 
Avere  adequate  to  encounter  the  dan- 
ger.    Volunteer  and  yeomanry  corps 
had  shortly  before  been  formed  in  va- 
rious districts ;  regiments  800  strong 
had  been   raised  in   Edinburgh  and 
Glasgow,  entirely  clothed  at  their  own 
expense.     Squadrons  of  yeomanry  had 
been  formed  in  both  towns,  and  they 
came  forward  at  the  approach  of  dan- 
ger with  the  most  praiseworthy  alac- 
rity. At  2  P.M.  on  April  3,  summonses 

VOL.  II. 


were  despatched  to  the  Edinburgh 
squadron,  which  was  99  strong,  to  as- 
semble in  marching  order;  at  4  P.M. 
97  were  at  the  appointed  rendezvous, 
and  set  out  for  Glasgow.  *  Volunteer 
and  yeomanry  corps  rapidly  poured 
into  that  city ;  in  a  few  days  5000  men, 
of  whom  2000  were  horse,  with  eight 
guns,  were  assembled  in  it.  The  Crown 
officers  hastened  to  Glasgow,  and  di- 
rected the  proceedings.  This  great 
demonstration  of  moral  and  physical 
strength  extinguished  the  threatened 
insurrection.  The  expected  movement 
in  England  did  not  take  place ;  the 
appointed  signal  of  the  stopping  of  the 
London  mail  in  vain  was  looked  for  :  a 
tumultuous  body  of  insurgents,  which 
set  out  from  Strathaven,  in  Lanark- 
shire, melted  away  before  they  arrived 
in  Glasgow  ;  another  between  Kilsyth 
and  Falkirk  was  encountered  atBonny- 
muir  by  a  detachment  of  fourteen  hus- 
sars and  fourteen  of  the  Stirlingshire 
yeomanry,  totally  defeated,  and  nine- 
teen of  their  number  made  prisoners. 
Before  the  week  had  elapsed  the  dan- 
ger was  over  ;  the  insurgents  saw  they 
were  overmatched  ;  a  rigorous  search 
for  arms  in  Glasgow  revealed  to  them 
their  weakness  ;  numerous  arrests  pa- 
ralysed all  the  movements  of  the  lead- 
ers, and  sent  numbers  into  voluntary 
exile;  the  people  gradually  resumed 
their  avocations  :  and  this  outbreak, 
which  at  first  had  appeared  so  threat- 
ening, was  terminated  with  the  sac- 
rifice only  of  two  men  executed  at 
Stirling,  one  at  Glasgow,  and  seven  or 
eight  transported.  But  the  rebellious 
spirit  of  the  manufacturing  districts 
was  suppressed  in  a  far  more  effectual 
and  better  way,  which  neither  caused 

*  The  author  has  ranch  pleasure  in  recording 
this  just  tribute  to  a  fine  and  spirited  corps, 
in  the  ranks  of  which  some  of  the  happiest 
days  of  his  life  have  been  spent.  The  Edin- 
burgh squadron  at  that  time,  which  was  the 
successor  of  that  in  which  Sir  Walter  Scott 
had  served,  and  has  immortalised,  contained 
several  young  men  destined  to  distinguished 
eminence  :  among  others,  the  late  Lord  Jus- 
tice-Clerk, Hope;  Mr  Patrick  Tytler,  the 
historian  of  Scotland ;  Mr  Lockhart,  since 
editor  of  the  Quarterly  Revieio  ;  and  Mr  Fran- 
cis Grant,  since  so  eminent  as  a  painter  in 
London. 


162 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


blood  to  flow  nor  a  tear  to  fall.  They 
were  morally  slaughtered ;  the  strength 
of  their  opponents,  their  own  weak- 
ness, was  evinced  in  an  unmistakable 
manner.  The  ancient  spirit  and  loy- 
alty of  the  Scotch  was  shown  in  the 
most  striking  manner  on  this  occasion : 
the  flower  of  the  youth  in  all  the 
counties  ranged  themselves  in  arms 
around  the  standard  of  their  country  ; 
and  Sir  Walter  Scott,  whose  chivalrous 
spirit  was  strongly  roused  by  these 
exciting  events,  boasted,  in  the  pride 
of  his  heart,  that  at  a  public  din- 
ner of  800  gentlemen  in  Edinburgh, 
presided  over  by  the  Marquess  of 
Huntly,  there  were  gentlemen  enough 
assembled  to  have  raised  50,000  men 
in  arms.  * 

52.  Parliament  met,  after  the  gene- 
ral election,  on  21st  April.  Its  results 
had  made  no  material  difference  in  the 
respective  strength  of  parties,  but,  if 
anything,  strengthened  the  ministerial 
ranks, — the  usual  result  of  public  dis- 
turbances, which  awaken  men  to  a 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  supporting 
the  Government,  whatever  it  is,  which 
is  intrusted  with  the  duty  of  repress- 
ing them.  One  distinguished  member 
of  the  House,  however,  Mr  GRATTAN, 
never  took  his  seat  in  the  new  Parlia- 
ment, and  expired  soon  after  the  ses- 
sion commenced.  He  was  the  last  of 
that  bright  band  of  patriots,  who, 
warmed  into  life  by  the  great  struggle 
for  Irish  independence  in  1782,  when 
the  chains  in  which  that  country  had 
so  long  been  held  by  England  first 
began  to  be  broken,  were,  after  the 
Union,  transferred  to  the  British  Par- 
liament, which  they  caused  to  re- 

*  "We  have  silenced  the  Scottish  Whigs 
for  our  time,  and,  I  think,  drawn  the  flower 
of  Scotland  round  the  King  and  Constitution. 
Literally  I  do  not  exceed  the  mark,  when 
Lord  Huntly,  our  Cock  of  the  North,  as  he 
is  called,  presided  over  800  gentlemen,  there 
was  influence  and  following  enough  among  us 
to  raise  50,000  men,  property  enough  to  equip 
and  pay  them  for  a  year,  young  men  not  un- 
acquainted with  arms  enough  to  discipline 
them,  and  one  or  two  experienced  generals 
to  command  them.  I  told  this  to  my  Whig 
friends  who  were  bullying  me  about  the 
popular  voice — and  added,  they  might  begin 
•when  they  liked,  we  were  as  ready  as  they." 
— Sir  WALTER  SCOTT  to  Lord  SIDMOUTH,  17th 
February  1821 ;  Sidmouth's  Life,  iii.  343. 


sound  with  strains  of  eloquence  rarely 
before  heard  within  its  walls. 

53.  He  was  not  so  luminous  in  his 
exposition  of  facts  as  Pitt,  nor  so  ve- 
hement in  his  declamation  as  Fox ; 
but  in  burning  thoughts,  generous  feel- 
ings, and  glowing  language,  he  was 
sometimes  superior  to  either.  Occa- 
sional passages  in  his  speeches,  when, 
quoted  or  repeated,  are  perhaps  the 
finest  and  most  imaginative  pieces  of 
eloquence  in  the  English  language. 
It  was  justly  observed  by  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  in  moving  a  new  writ  for 
Dublin,  which  he  had  long  represented, 
that  he  was  perhaps  the  only  man  re- 
corded in  history  who  had  obtained 
equal  fame  and  influence  in  two  assem- 
blies differing  from  each  other  in  such 
essential  respects  as  the  English  and 
Irish  Parliaments.  Forty  years  before 
his  death,  he  had  been  voted  a  grant 
to  purchase  an  estate,  by  the  Irish 
Parliament,  in  consideration  of  his 
eminent  national  services — a  thing  iin- 
known  in  an  individual  not  connected 
with  the  public  establishments.  He 
had  been  at  first  a  decided  opponent, 
but  afterwards  a  warm  supporter  of 
the  Union,  hoping,  as  he  himself  ex- 
pressed it,  that  Ireland,  instead  of  re- 
ceiving laws  from  England,  should 
henceforth  take  an  equal  share  with 
her  in  legislating  for  the  united  empire. 
It  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  his  gen- 
ius, great  as  it  was,  had  been  through 
life  chiefly  directed  to  an  unattainable 
object.  The  independence  of  Ireland 
was  the  chief  aspiration  of  his  mind, 
and  he  lived  to  see  that  it  was  hopeless. 
He  said,  in  his  figurative  and  beautiful 
language,  "I  have  sat  by  its  cradle,  I 
have  followed  its  hearse. "  Hence  his 
name,  with  the  exception  of  the  Union 
and  the  shackles  burst  in  1782,  is 
linked  with  no  great  legislative  im- 
provement in  his  native  country  ;  for 
Catholic  emancipation,  of  which  he 
was  the  strenuous  and  able  advocate, 
has  failed,  by  the  admission  of  its 
warmest  supporters,  to  prove  such. 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  Irish  or  Celtic 
character,  gifted,  often  beyond  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  with  the  brightest  ima- 
ginative qualities,  has  in  general  been 
found  deficient  in  that  practical  turn 


3820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


163 


and  intuitive  sagacity  which  is  neces- 
sary to  turn  them  to  any  good  purpose ; 
.and  that,  amidst  all  our  admiration  of 
their  genius,  we  are  too  often  reminded 
of  the  elegant  allegory  told  of  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  that  every  fairy  invited  to 
his  christening  sent  him  a  gift  of  per- 
son, genius,  or  fortune ;  but  that  one 
old  fairy,  to  whom  no  invitation  had 
been  given,  sent  one  fatal  present — 
that  he  should  be  unable  to  make  any 
use  of  them. 

54.  One  of  the  first  measures  adopt- 
ed by  Government,  with  the  sanction 
of  Parliament,  was  the  increase  of  the 
yeomanry  force,  which  was  so  much 
augmented  that  before  the  end  of  the 
year  it  amounted  to  nearly  35,000  men, 
all  animated  with  the  best  spirit,  and 
for  the  most  part  in  a  surprising  state 
•of  discipline  and  efficiency.  Without 
doubt,  it  takes  above  a  year  to  make  a 
good  horse-soldier ;  but  it  often  excites 
the  wonder  of  military  officers  how 
quickly  men  of  intelligence  and  spirit, 
such  as  usually  compose  the  yeomanry 
corps,  if  previously  able  to  ride,  acquire 
the  rudiments  of  skill  even  in  the 
cavalry  service ;  and  still  more,  how 
quickly  their  horses  learn  it.  The  Duke 
•of  Wellington  recommended  that  the 
militia  should  be  called  out  through- 
out the  kingdom ;  but  this  was  thought 
not  advisable,  probably  because  it  was 
doubtful  how  far,  in  the  manufacturing 
districts,  such  a  force  could  be  relied 
on.  Two  thousand  men,  however,  were 
added  to  the  marines,  which  rendered 
disposable  an  equal  amount  of  the  re- 
gular force  stationed  in  the  garrison 
seaport  towns.  Such  was  the  vigour 
of  Lord  Sidmouth  in  following  up  the 
measures  for  the  increase  of  the  yeo- 
manry force,  that  the  King  happily 
said  of  him,  "  If  England  is  to  be  pre- 
served England,  the  arrangements  he 
has  made  will  lead  to  that  preserva- 
tion." Without  doubt,  the  powerful 
volunteer  force,  organised  especially 
in  the  manufacturing  districts  at  this 
period,  and  the  decisive  demonstra- 
tion it  afforded  of  moral  and  physical 
strength  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment, was  the  chief  cause  of  Great 
Britain  escaping  an  alarming  convul- 
sion, at  the  time  when  the  spirit  of 


revolution  was  proving  so  fatal  to 
monarchy  in  so  many  of  the  Continen- 
tal states. 

55.  The  revenue  for  the  year  fell 
considerably  short  of  what  had  been 
anticipated,  the  natural  consequence 
of  the  general  distress  which  prevailed 
in  the  country.  Mr  Alderman  Hey- 
gate,  who  had  so  strenuously  resisted 
the  resumption  of  cash  payments  in 
the  preceding  year,  did  not  fail  to  point 
out  the  contraction  of  the  currency  as 
the  main  cause  of  that  deficiency.* 
Great  disputes,  as  usual,  took  place  as 
to  the  real  amount  of  the  revenue,  as 
compared  with  the  expenditure  ;  but  it 
appeared  upon  the  whole  evident  that 
tne  revenue  had  fallen  above  a  million 
short  of  what  had  been  anticipated,  and 
that  instead  of  the  expected  real  sink- 
ing-fund of  £5,000,000,  no  reduction 
in  the  public  debt  had  taken  place, 
as  the  unfunded  debt  had  decreased 
£2,000,000,  and  the  funded  debt  in- 
creased by  exactly  the  same  sum.  The 
revenue  for  1820  and  1821  exhibited, 
without  any  change  in  taxation,  and 
the  most  strenuous  efforts  at  economy 
on  the  part  of  Government,  decisive 
evidence  of  the  labouring  state  of  the 
finances  of  the  country,  and  took  away 
all  hopes  of  making,  during  peace,  any 
serious  impression  on  the  public  debt. 
The  details  are  of  little  practical  im- 
portance in  a  work  of  general  history ; 
but  the  result  is  so,  as  demonstrating 
how  entirely  the  effects  had  corre- 
sponded to  what  had  been  predicted  as 
to  the  effects  of  the  currency  bill  passed 

*  "  Let  the  House  contrast  the  quantity  of 
the  circulating  medium  which  was  floating  in 
the  country  in  May  1818,  with  the  amount  in 
circulation  in  the  same  month  in  the  present 
year.  In  the  issue  of  Bank  of  England  notes 
there  had  been  a  diminution  of  £4,000,000; 
in  the  issue  of  country  bank  notes  there  had 
been  a  diminution  of  £5,000,000.  The  total 
diminution  in  that  short  period  had  been 
£9,000,000,  a  sum  amounting  to  more  than  one- 
sixth  of  the  whole  circulation  of  the  country. 
The  state  of  the  exchange  during  that  period 
had  been  almost  uniformly  in  our  favour,  but 
not  a  single  piece  of  gold  had  made  its  ap- 
pearance to  replace  the  notes  which  had  been 
withdrawn.  Three-fourths  of  the  distress  of 
the  country  was  to  be  ascribed  to  the  haste 
with  which  so  large  a  proportion  as  £9, 000,000 
had  been  withdrawn  from  the  circulation."— 
Mr  HEYGATE'S  Speech,  June  19,  1820 ;  Part. 
Det.,  i.  1178,  new  series. 


164 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


so  unanimously  in  the  preceding  year 
by  both  Houses  of  Parliament.* 

56.  The  Parliamentary  debates  of 
1820  embrace  fewer  topics  than  usual 
of  general  moment,  in  consequence  of 
the  engrossing  interest  of  the  proceed- 
ings regarding  the  Queen,  to  be  im- 
mediately noticed.  But  three  subjects 
of  lasting  importance  were  brought 
forward — namely,  that  of  general  edu- 
cation, introduced  by  Mr  Brougham  ; 
the  disfranchisement  of  Grampound, 
by  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL  ;  and  Free 
Trade,  by  Mr  Wallace  of  the  Board  of 
Trade.  On  the  first  point  it  is  super- 
fluous to  give  the  speeches,  even  in  an 
abbreviated  form,  because  the  subject 
is  one  upon  which  the  minds  of  all  men 


are  made  up.  It  is  no  more  necessary 
to  prove  that  the  sun's  rays  will  give 
light  and  warmth,  than  that  the  lamp 
of  knowledge  will  illuminate  and  hu- 
manise the  mind.  But  the  subject,  as 
all  others  in  which  the  feelings  of  large- 
bodies  of  men  are  warmly  interested, 
is  beset  with  difficulties ;  and  Mi- 
Brougham's  speech  was  replete  with 
valuable  information  on  it.  His  pro- 
ject, which  was  for  the  establishment, 
as  in  Scotland,  of  a  school,  maintained 
by  the  public  funds,  in  every  parish, 
failed  chiefly  from  its  proposing  to 
connect  the  schools  with  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  which  at  once  lost  for 
it  the  support  of  all  the  Dissenters,  t 
But  the  facts  which  he  had  collected 


•  The  revenue  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  for  1820  and  1821  stood  thus  :— 


INCOME. 


Customs, 

Excise,     .... 

Stamps,  .... 

Lands  Assessed,  including  Ireland, 

Post-Office, 

Lesser  Imposts, 

Hereditary  Revenue,    . 

Loans  from  Sinking  Fund, 

Total,      . 
Of  •which  was  Irish  Revenue,  . 

National  Debt  and  Sinking  Fund, 

Unfunded  Debt,  Ireland, 

Civil  List,  &c.,    . 

Civil  Government,  Scotland,     . 

Lesser  Payments, 

Navy,      .... 

Ordnance, 

Army,      .... 

Miscellaneous,    . 

Foreign  Loans,  &c., 


EXPEOTITURE. 


1820— Net. 

£10,743,189 
28,622,248 
6,794,866 
8,313,148 
1,692,636 
1,323,893 
127,820 

£57,304,650 
17,292,544 

£74,597,195 
3,905,899 

1820. 

£47,070,927 

1,849,219 

2,134,213 

132,080 

438,339 

6,387,799 

1,401,585 

8,926,423 

2,616,700 

50,357 


1821-Net.  . 

£11,475,259 

28,941,629 

6,853,986 

8,192,301 

1,621,326 

1,731,231 

136,07r 

£58,108,855 
13,833,783 

£71,937,638 
3,672,419- 

1821. 

£47,130,171 

2,219,602- 

2,268,940' 

133,077 

476,873 

5,943,879 

1,337,923 

8,932,77» 

3,870,042 

48,464 


£71,007,648  £72,361,756 


£36,244,726- 
399,358,44* 
795,312,767 

31,450,128- 
16,649,514 


NATIONAL  DEBT. 

Unfunded  Debt,  .....         £37,042,433 

Debt  Redeemed  by  Sinking  Fund  to  5th  January  1821,  399,560,101 
Unredeemed  Debt  at  ditto,  ....  772,066,898 
Annual  Interest : — 

Funded  Debt,         .....  31,450,128 

Sinking  Fund,          .....  16,649  514 

— Ann.  Reg.  1821,  254,  271 ;  and  1822,  319,  325. 

t  "  No  scheme  of  popular  education  can  ever  become  national  in  this  country  which 
gives  the  management  of   schools   and   appointment  of   masters  to  the  Church    while. 
Dissenters  constitute  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  in  almost  every  district  and 
especially  in  the  most  populous,  where  the  Dissenters  bear  their  full  share  in  such' edu- 
cation as  already  exists.     This  difficulty  was  immediately  fatal  to  Mr  Brougham's  mea- 
sure, and  has  been  so  in  every  scheme  proposed  in  succeeding  years ;  the  members  of 
the  Established  Church  insisting  on  direct  religious  instruction  as  a  part  of  the  plan 
and  the  Dissenters  refusing  to  subject  their  children  to  the  religious  instruction  ofth" 
Church,  or  to  pay  for  a  system  from  which  their  children  are  necessarily  excluded  "- 
Miss  MARTINEAU'S  Thirty  Years  of  Peace,  i.  265. 


1820.] 


HISTOEY  OF  EUROPE. 


1C5 


were  of  lasting  value  in  the  great  cause 
of  moral  and  social  improvement. 

57.  According  to  Mr  Brougham's 
statement,  there  were  then  12,000  par- 
ishes or  chapelries  in  England ;  of 
these,  3500  had  not  a  vestige  of  a 
school,  endowed  or  unendowed,  and 
the  people  had  no  more  means  of  edu- 
cation than  the  Hottentots  or  the  Caf- 
fres.  Of  the  remainder,  3000  had  en- 
dowed schools,  and  the  remaining  5500 
were  provided  only  with  unendowed 
schools,  depending  entirely  on  the  cas- 
ual and  fleeting  support  of  the  parents 
of  the  children  attending  them.  The 
number  of  children  annually  receiving 
education  at  all  the  schools,  week-day 
and  Sunday,  was  700,000,  of  whom  only 
000,000  were  at  day-schools,  where  re- 
gular attendance  was  given  and  disci- 
pline enforced.  Fifty  thousand  were 
estimated  as  the  number  educated  at 
home,  making  in  all  750,000  annually 
under  tuition  of  one  sort  or  another, 
which,  taking  the  population  of  Eng- 
land at  9,540,000,  the  amount  by  the 
census  of  1811,  was  about  one-fifteenth 
of  the  whole  population.  But  in  reality 
the  population  of  England  was  proved, 
by  the  census  taken  in  the  succeeding 
year,  to  be  considerably  greater  than  he 
supposed,  for  it  amounted  to  no  less 
than  11,260,000,  besides  470,000  in  the 
army,  navy,  and  mercantile  sea-service. 
Thus  the  real  proportion  receiving  edu- 
cation was  not  more  than  one -seven- 
teenth of  the  entire  population ;  a  small 
figure  for  a  country  boasting  so  great 
an  amount  of  intelligence  and  civilisa- 
tion, for  in  many  countries  with  less 
pretensions  in  these  respects  the  pro- 
portion was  much  higher.  In  Scotland 
the  proportion  at  that  period  was  be- 
tween one -ninth  and  one -tenth;  in 
Holland  it  was  one-tenth  ;  in  Switzer- 
land,one-eighth  ;  in  Prussia, one-tenth; 
in  Austria,  one-eleventh.  In  France — 
to  its  disgrace  be  it  said — the  propor- 
tion was  still  one  twenty- eighth  only, 
though  7200  new  schools  had  been 
opened  in  the  last  two  years.  But 
though  England  presented  a  much 
more  favourable  aspect,  yet  there  the 
deficiency  was  very  great ;  for  the  total 
children  requiring  education  were  about 
1,000,000,  and  as  750,000  only  were  at 


any  place  of  education,  it  followed  that 
250,000  persons,  or  a  quarter  of  the 
entire  juvenile  population,  were  yearly 
growing  up  without  any  education 
whatever.* 

58.  It  is  abundantly  evident  from 
these  facts  —  and  the  same  has  been 
proved  in  other  countries — that  no  re- 
liance can  be  placed  on  the  voluntary 
system  for  the  support  of  education, 
and  that  unless  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion are  provided  at  the  public  expense, 
the  education  of  the  people  will  always 
be  in  a  most  unsatisfactory  state,  and 
its  blessings  in  a  considerable  portion 
of  society  wholly  unknown.  Whatever 
ministers  to  the  physical  necessities  or 
pleasures  of  the  people  is  easily  rend- 
ered self-supporting.  There  is  no  need 
of  state  support  for  butchers,  bakers, 
or  spirit  -  dealers ;  but  it  is  otherwise 
with  what  tends  to  their  moral  im- 
provement or  social  elevation.  These 
can  never  be  safely  left  to  private  sup- 
port, for  this  plain  reason,  that  a  large 
portion  of  society,  and  that  the  very 
one  which  most  stands  in  need  of  them, 
is  wholly  insensible  to  their  value, 
and  will  pay  nothing  for  their  further- 
ance. Had  the  property  which  once 
belonged  to  the  Church  still  remained 
in  its  nands,  and  been  righteously  ad- 
ministered, it  might  have  solved  the 
difficulty,  because  it  was  adequate  to 
the  gratuitous  support  of  the  whole 
religious  and  educational  institutions 
requisite  for  the  country.  But  as  so 
large  a  part  of  it  had  been  seized  on  by 
private  cupidity,  and  been  alienated 
from  the  Church  at  the  Reformation, 
this  precious  resource  was  lost,  and 
nothing  remained  but  assessment,  and 
there  the  difficulty  at  once  is  felt. 

*  Mr  Brdugham  stated  that  in  endowed 
schools  165,432  children  were  educated,  and 
490,000  in  unendowed,  besides  11,000  who 
might  be  allowed  for  the  unendowed  schools 
in  150  parishes,  from  which  no  returns  had 
been  obtained.  Of  this  number  53,000  were 
at  dame  schools,  where  only  the  rudiments 
of  education  were  taught.  Small  as  the  pro- 
portion of  educated  children  was,  it  had  only 
become'  such  as  it  was  of  late  years,  for  o'f 
the  total  educated  about  200,000  were  at  1520 
Lancasterian  schools,  which  only  began  to 
be  established  in  1803,  so  that  before  that 
time  not  more  than  one  -  twentieth  of  thu 
population  was  annually  receiving  instruc- 
tion.— A  n  n.  lleg.  1*20,  50. 


166 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


59.  At  first  sight,  it  appears  easy  to  !  where  the  evils  of  want  of  education 
solve  the  difficulty  by  simply  estab-    for  the  poor  are  most  strongly  felt,  it 
lishing  a  school-rate  in  every  parish,  to 
be  collected  along  with  the  poor  -  rate 


and  prison -rate,  and  which,  at  a  trifling 
cost  to  the  community,  would  afford 
to  the  children  of  all  adequate  means 
of  instruction.  This  was  what  Lord 
Brougham  proposed  in  England,  and 
which  has  been  long  established  with 
great  success  in  America.  But  a  diffi- 
culty, which  has  hitherto  been  found 
insurmountable,  lies  at  the  very  thresh- 
old of  the  question  in  this  country, 
which  is  the  more  serious  that  it  arises 
from  the  combined  sincere  convictions 
and  selfish  jealousies  of  the  ministers 
of  religion  and  their  zealous  followers. 
What  religion  is  to  be  taught  ?  Is  it 
to  be  the  Episcopalian,  Catholic,  or 
Dissent  ?  If  the  last,  which  Dissent, 
for  their  name  is  legion  ?  So  great  is 
this  difficulty,  that  it  has  hitherto  been 
found  insurmountable  both  in  England 
or  Ireland,  and  caused  all  attempts  at 
a  general  system  of  education  to  fail. 
Each  sect  not  only  gives  no  support  to 
any  attempt  to  establish  any  general 
system  of  education  connected  with 
any  other  sect,  but  meets  it  with  the 
most  strenuous  opposition.  Nor  is 
this  surprising,  for  each  considers  its 
own  tenets  and  forms  the  ones  most 
conducive  to  temporal  wellbeing — and 
not  a  few,  the  only  portals  to  eternal 
salvation. 

60.  Scotland  is  the  exception.  Its 
parochial  schools  were  established  in 
1696,  when  the  fervour  of  the  Refor- 
mation in  a  community  as  yet  only 
agricultural  had  produced  an  unusual 
degree  of  unanimity  on  religious  sub- 
jects, and  the  burden  was  laid  entirely 
on  the  landholders.  No  general  school- 
rate  could  by  possibility  succeed  if  in- 
troduced for  the  first  time  now,  in  the 
divided  state  of  the  religious  world  in 
that  country.  The  difficulty  might 
perhaps  be  solved  by  simply  levying  a 
rate,  and  dividing  it  in  each  parish, 
for  the  support  of  schools,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  families  belong- 
ing to  each  considerable  persuasion  ; 
and  possibly  this  is  the  way  in  which 
alone  the  difficulty  can  ultimately  be 
overcome.  In  urban  parishes,  at  least, 


would  be  easy  to  establish  in  every 
school  a  room  or  rooms,  in  which  the 
elements  of  secular  education  are  taught 


to  all,  while  in  an  adjoining  apartment 
the  children  of  the  different  persua- 
sions are  in  succession  instructed  on 
religious  subjects  by  their  respective 
religious  teachers.  A  general  rate 
might  be  levied  on  all  for  the  support 
of  the  teachers  in  the  first ;  a  special 
rate  on  those  professing  each  persua- 
sion for  the  instruction  in  the  last. 
This  is  done  by  common  consent  in. 
several  schools  in  manufactories  in 
Scotland,  and  is  generally  practised  in 
America  with  perfect  success.  The 
system  appears  complicated,  but  it  is. 
perhaps  the  only  way  in  which  the 
difficulties  connected  with  the  subject 
can  be  obviated,  or  a  general  assess- 
ment for  educational  purposes  be  re- 
conciled with  the  sincere,  and  therefore- 
respectable,  scruples  of  the  serious  por- 
tion of  the  community. 

61.  But  supposing  this  "  difficulty 
surmounted,  another,  and  a  yet  more 
formidable  one,  remains  behind,  to  the 
magnitude  of  which  the  world  is  only 
beginning  to  awaken.  When  the  peo- 
ple are  educated,  what  is  to  be  done 
with  them  ?  How  is  the  country  to- 
get  on  when  so  many  more  are  trained 
to  and  qualified  for  intellectual  labour 
than  can  by  possibility  find  a  subsist- 
ence, even  by  the  most  successful  pro- 
secution of  any  of  its  branches  ?  How 
is  the  constantly-increasing  multitude 
of  well-educated  persons,  armed  with 
the  powers  of  intellect,  stimulated  by 
the  pressure  of  necessity,  not  restrain- 
ed by  the  possession  of  property,  to  be 
disposed  of,  when  no  possible  means  of 
providing  for  them  but  by  physical  la- 
bour, which  they  abhor,  can  be  devised? 
How  are  they  to  be  prevented,  in  pe- 
riods of  distress,  from  becoming  sedi- 
tious, and  listening  to  the  suggestions 
of  the  demagogues  who  never  fail  to 
appear  in  such  circumstances,  who  tell 
them  that  all  their  distresses  are  owing 
to  the  faulty  institutions  of  society, 
and  that  under  the  reign  of  "  Liberty, 
Equality,  and  Fraternity,"  they  will  all 
disappear  before  the  ascending  power 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


167 


of  the  people  ?  Perhaps  nature  has 
provided  an  antidote  to  this  danger 
in  the  very  small  number  of  mankind 
comparatively  upon  whom  any,  even 
the  most  general,  system  of  education 
can  produce  any  impression.  But 
there  is  another  danger  which  is  not 
so  easily  to  be  avoided.  How,  in  such 
circumstances,  is  the  balance  of  the 
different  classes  of  society  to  be  pre- 
served, and  the  great,  but  inert  and 
comparatively  unintellectual,  mass  of 
the  rural  population  to  be  hindered 
from  falling  under  the  dominion  of  the 
less  numerous,  but  more  concentrated, 
more  wealthy,  and  more  acute  inhabi- 
tants of  towns?  If  they  do  become 
subjected  to  them,  what  is  that  but 
class  -  government  of  the  worst  and 
most  dangerous,  because  the  most  nu- 
merous and  irresponsible,  kind  ?  And 
what  is  to  be  expected  from  it,  but  the 
entire  sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  the 
country,  by  successive  acts  of  the  legis- 
lature, to  those  of  towns  ?  England 
has  already  felt  these  evils,  but  not  to 
the  degree  that  she  otherwise  would, 
from  the  invaluable  vent  which  her 
numerous  colonies  have  afforded  to  her 
surplus  educated  and  indigent  popula- 
tion ;  in  America  they  have  been  wholly 
unknown,  because  the  Far  "West  has  ab- 
sorbed it  all. 

62.  These  observations  are  not  foreign 
to  a  work  of  general  history  :  its  sub- 
sequent volumes  will  be  little  more 
than  a  commentary  on  this  text.  And 
without  anticipating  the  march  of 
events,  which  will  abundantly  illus- 
trate them,  it  may  be  observed  that 
the  maintenance  of  despotic  institu- 
tions in  a  country  of  advancing  intel- 
ligence is  impossible ;  that  as  know- 
ledge is  power,  so  knowledge  will 
obtain  power ;  that  the  wisdom  of 
government  with  a  people  growing  in 
inform ation ,  is  gradually  and  cautiously 
to  admit  them  to  a  share  in  its  duties  ; 
that  the  only  way  to  do  this  with  safety, 
is  by  the  representation  of  interests,  not 
numbers,  the  latter  being  class-govern- 
ment of  the  worst  kind ;  and  that,  with 
all  that,  safety  must  mainly  be  looked 
for  m  the  providing  ample  outlets  for 
the  indigent  intelligence  of  the  State 
in  colonial  settlements.  It  is  impos- 


sible it  should  be  otherwise,  for  it  is 
by  the  force  of  education  that  the  des- 
tinies of  the  species  are  to  be  worked 
out  by  the  voluntary  acts  of  free  agents. 
The  desires  consequent  on  information, 
with  their  natural  offspring,  democratic 
ambition,  are  the  great  moving  powers 
of  nature ;  and  in  the  last  days  of  man, 
as  in  the  first,  it  is  by  eating  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  that  ho 
is  torn  up  from  his  native  seats,  and 
impelled  by  the  force  of  his  own  de- 
sires to  obey  the  Divine  precept  to 
overspread  the  earth  and  subdue  it. 

63.  Another  subject,  destined  in  the 
end  to  be  attended  with  paramount 
importance,  though  its  moment  was 
not  perceived  at  this  time,  was  at  the 
same  time  introduced  in  to  Parliament, 
and  showed  how  closely  the  growing 
intelligence  of  an  era  is  connected  with 
the  desire  for  an  extension  of  political 
power.  This  was  PARLIAMENTARY 
REFORM.  Lord  John  Russell  on  9th 
May  introduced  the  subject  by  pro- 
posing three  resolutions  :  1.  That  tho 
people  were  dissatisfied  with  the  re- 
presentation ;  2.  That  boroughs  con- 
victed of  bribery  should  be  disfran- 
chised ;  and,  3.  That  their  members 
should  be  transferred  to  some  popu- 
lous place  not  represented.  Gram- 
pound  had  been  convicted  of  bribery 
in  the  last  election,  on  so  extensive  a 
scale  that  it  appeared  in  evidence  that 
"  perhaps  there  might  be  two  or  three 
electors  who  had  not  received  bribes." 
The  bill  disfranchising  the  borough 
passed  without  any  opposition,  but  a 
great  division  of  opinion  arose  as  to 
the  place  to  which  the  members  for  it 
should  be  transferred.  In  the  bill  as 
it  originally  stood,  it  was  proposed 
that  they  should  be  transferred  to 
Leeds ;  but  the  aristocratic  party,  in 
both  Houses,  inclined  to  give  them  to 
some  rural  district,  where  their  influ- 
ence might  be  more  easily  exerted. 
The  bill  was  not  pushed  through  all 
its  stages  this  session,  in  consequence 
of  the  proceedings  against  the  Queen 
absorbing  the  whole  attention  of  tho 
legislature  ;  but  it  was  revived  in  tho 
next,  and,  as  it  passed  the  Commons, 
the  franchise  was  conferred  on  Leeds. 
In  the  Lords,  however,  this  was  altered, 


163 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


and  the  members  were  bestowed  on  the 
county  of  York.  With  this  alteration 
the  Reform  party  were  far  from  being 
satisfied  ;  but  they  wisely  agreed  to  it, 
and  the  bill,  thus  amended,  passed 
into  a  law.  Thus  was  the  foundation 
laid  of  the  great  fabric  of  parliamen- 
tary reform,  ten  years  before  the  em- 
pire was  shaken  to  the  centre  by  the 
superstructure  being  raised.  Even  at 
this  early  period,  however,  the  opening 
made  awakened  very  serious  alarms  in 
many  able  persons,  who  afterwards  be- 
came leaders  of  the  Whig  party.  *  Hap- 
py would  it  have  been  for  the  nation  if 
it  had  been  regarded  by  the  opposite 
parties  as  a  question  of  social  ameli- 
oration, not  political  power,  and  the 
use  that  was  practicable  had  been 
made  of  the  progressive  and  just  re- 
forms which  might  have  been  founded 
on  the  disfranchisement  of  the  boroughs 
convicted  of  corruption,  instead  of  the 
wholesale  destruction  of  the  majority 
of  their  number. 

64.  The  doctrine  of  FREE  TRADE, 
afterwards  so  largely  acted  upon  by 
the  British  Legislature,  first  began  at 
this  time  to  engross  the  thoughts  not 
only  of  persons  engaged  in  commerce 
and  manufactures,  but  of  the  heads  of 
the  Government.  On  8th  May,  Mr 
Baring  presented  a  petition  on  this 

*  In  October  1819,  after  the  Grampound 
Disfranchisement  Bill  had  first  been  intro- 
duced into  Parliament,  Mr  Ward,  afterwards 
Lord  Dudley,  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Llan- 
daff:  "All  I  am  afraid  of  is,  that  by  having 
the  theoretical  defects  of  the  present  House 
of  Commons  perpetually  dinned  into  their 
ears,  the  well-intentioned  and  well-affected 
part  of  the  community  should  at  last  begin  to 
suppose  that  some  reform  is  necessary.  Now, 
I  can  hardly  conceive  any  reform  that  would 
not  bring  us  within  the  whirlpool  of  demo- 
cracy, towards  which  we  should  be  attracted 
by  an  irresistible  force,  and  in  an  hourly  ac- 
celerated ratio.  But  I  flatter  myself  there  is 
wisdom  enough  in  the  country  to  preserve  us 
long  from  so  great  an  innovation."  In  April 
1820  he  again  wrote  :  "  When  I  see  the  pro- 
gress that  reform  is  making,  not  only  among 
the  vulgar,  but  persons,  like  yourself,  of  un- 
derstanding and  education,  clear  of  interested 
motives  and  party  fanaticism,  my  spirits  fail 
me.  I  wish  I  could  persuade  myself  that  the 
first  day  of  reform  will  not  be  the  first  of  the 
English  revolution."  In  February  1821  he 
writes :  "Mackintosh  would  keep  the  nomina- 
tion boroughs;  for  my  part,  I  am  content 
with  the  constitution  as  it  stands." — Lord 
DUDLEY'S  Letters,  SCO,  247,  277. 


subject  from  the  merchants  of  Lon- 
don ;  and  on  the  16th,  Mr  Kirkman 
Finlay,  a  Glasgow  merchant,  equally 
remarkable  for  the  extent  of  his  trans- 
actions and  the  liberality  of  his  views, 
brought  forward  a  petition  from  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Glasgow, 
which  set  forth,  in  strong  terms,  the 
evils  arising  from  the  restricted  state 
of  the  trade  with  China  and  the  East 
Indies,  and  the  advantages  over  British 
subjects  which  the  Americans  enjoyed 
in  that  respect ;  and  urged  the  repeal 
of  the  Usury  Laws,  and  the  reduction 
or  removal  of  the  duties  on  the  impor- 
tation of  several  foreign  commodities. 
These  views  were  so  favourably  re- 
ceived in  both  Houses  of  Parliament, 
that  Lord  Lansdowne  was  encouraged, 
a  few  days  after,  to  bring  forward  a 
motion  for  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee to  take  into  consideration  the 
means  of  extending  our  foreign  com- 
merce. He  dwelt,  in  an  especial  man- 
ner, on  the  inconveniences  to  which 
the  trade  of  the  country  was  now  ex- 
posed by  the  numerous  duties  which 
restricted  it  in  every  direction,  and 
argued  that,  "whatever  brought  the 
foreign  merchant  to  this  country,  and 
made  it  a  general  mart  for  the  mer- 
chandise of  the  world,  was  beneficial 
to  our  trade,  and  enriched  the  indus- 
trious population  of  our  ports.  Such 
freedom  of  transit  would  allow  an  as- 
sortment of  cargoes  for  foreign  mar- 
kets, and  thus  extend  our  trade  in 
general.  The  import  duties  on  Baltic 
timber  should  be  removed,  for  they 
cost  us  annually  £500,000  more  for 
our  ships  and  houses  than  if  we  bought 
it  from  the  north  of  Europe.  The 
duties  on  French  wines  also  should  be 
lowered,  to  augment  the  trade  with 
that  country;  and  the  trade  with  India 
entirely  thrown  open.  As  a  proof  of 
the  superior  value  of  the  free  trade  to 
the  East  to  that  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, it  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that 
the  former  has  61,000  tons  of  shipping 
and  4720  seamen,  while  the  latter  em- 
ploys only  20,000  tons  and  2550  ;  and 
our  trade  to  America,  which,  at  the 
period  of  the  independence  of  that 
country,  was  only  £3,000,000,  has  now 
swelled  to  the  enormous  amount 


now 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


169 


£30,000,000  a^ear,  exports  and  im- 
ports included." 

65.  Lord  Liverpool  made  a  very  re- 
markable speech  in  reply ;  memorable 
as  being  the  first  enunciation,  on  the 
part  of  Government,  of  the  principles 
of  free  trade,  which,  half  a  century  be- 
fore, had  been  promulgated  by  Ques- 
nay  in  France,  and  Adam  Smith  in 
Great  Britain.     "  It  must  be  admit- 
ted, "he  observed, ' '  that  there  has  been 
a  great  falling  off  in  our  foreign  trade 
in  the  last  year  ;  for  our  exports  have 
declined  no  less  than  £7,200,000  in 
the  year  1819,  compared  with  the  aver- 
age of  the  three  preceding  years.     It 
is  of  importance  to  examine  in  what 
branches  of  our  trade  so  great  and 
alarming  a  diminution  has  occurred. 
It  is  not  in  any  great  degree  in  our 
intercourse  with  the  Continent ;  witli 
it  the  decline  has  been  only  £600,000. 
The  great  decrease  has  been  in  our 
trade  with  the   East   Indies  and  the 
United  States  of  America :   with  the 
latter  alone  there  was  a  falling  off  in  the 
last,  compared  with  the  three  preced- 
ing years,  of  no  less  than  £3,500,000. 
The  general  doctrines  of  freedom  of 
trade,  viewed  in  the  abstract,  are  un- 
doubtedly well  founded ;  but  the  noble 
Marquess  (Lansdowne)  who  introduced 
the  subject  is  too  experienced  a  states- 
man not  to  qualify  them  in  their  appli- 
cation to  this  countiy.     It  is  impossi- 
ble for  us,  or  any  country  in  the  world, 
except,  perhaps,  the  United  States  of 
America,  to  act  unreservedly  upon  that 
principle. 

66.  "  If  we  look  to  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  trade  and  commerce,  we  must, 
at  the  same  time,  look  to  our  law  con- 
cerning agriculture.     We  shall  there 
see  an  absolute  prohibition  of  the  im- 
portation of  great  part  of  foreign  agri- 
cultural produce,  and  heavy  duties  on 
the  remainder.     Under  the  operation 
of  these  laws,  we  cannot  admit  free 
trade  to  foreign  countries.     We  will 
not  take  their  cattle,  nor  their  corn, 
except  under  heavy  duties  ;  how  can 
we  expect  them  to  take  our  manufac- 
tures ?    With  what  propriety  may  not 
those  countries  say  to  us,  '  If  you  talk 
big  of  the  advantages  of  free  commerce, 
if  you  value  so  highly  the  principles  of 


your  Adam  Smith,  show  your  sincerity 
and  your  justice  by  the  establishment 
of  a  reciprocal  intercourse.  Admit  our 
agricultural  produce,  and  we  will  ad- 
mit your  manufactures.'  Your  lord- 
ships know  it  would  be  impossible  to 
accede  to  such  a  proposition.  We  have 
risen  to  our  present  greatness  under 
the  opposite  system.  Some  suppose 
that  we  have  risen  in  consequence  of 
that  system  ;  others,  of  whom  I  am 
one,  believe  we  have  risen  in  spite  of 
that  system .  Whichever  of  these  hypo- 
theses be  true,  certain  it  is  we  have 
risen  under  a  very  different  system 
from  that  of  free  and  unrestricted 
trade.  It  is  utterly  impossible,  with 
our  debt  and  taxation,  even  if  they 
were  but  half  their  existing  amount, 
that  we  can  suddenly  adopt  the  prin- 
ciples of  free  trade.  To  do  so  would  be 
to  unhinge  the  whole  property  in  the 
country ;  to  make  a  change  in  the 
value  of  every  man's  possessions,  and 
in  none  more  so  than  those  of  agricul- 
ture, the  very  basis  of  our  opulence 
and  power. 

67.  "I  was  one  of  those  who,  in  181 5, 
advocated  the  Corn  Bill.  In  common 
with  all  the  supporters  of  that  mea- 
sure, I  believed  it  expedient  to  give 
an  additional  protection  to  the  agri- 
culturist. I  thought  that,  after  the 
conclusion  of  a  twenty  years'  war,  and 
the  unlimited  extent  to  which  specula- 
tion in  agriculture  had  been  earned, 
and  the  comparatively  low  price  at 
which  corn  could  be  raised  in  several 
countries  of  the  Continent,  great  dis- 
tress would  ensue  to  all  persons  en- 
gaged in  the  cultivation  of  the  land. 
1  thought  the  Corn  Bill  should  be  pass- 
ed then,  or  not  at  all.  Having  been 
passed,  it  should  now  be  steadily  ad- 
hered to  ;  for  nothing  aggravates  the 
difficulties  of  all  persons  engaged  in  cul- 
tivation so  much  as  alterations  in  the 
laws  regarding  importation.  While, 
therefore,  I  advocate  going  into  a  com- 
mittee, with  a  view  to  removing  many 
of  the  restrictions  and  prohibitions 
affecting  our  foreign  and  colonial  trade, 
I  must  at  the  same  time  state  that, 
as  a  general  measure,  absolute  freedom 
of  trade  cannot  be  established.  In 
agricultural  productions,  and  several 


170 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


branches  of  our  manufactures,  protec- 
tion must  be  adhered  to.  It  might 
have  been  better  had  it  been  otherwise 
from  the  beginning,  and  each  country 
had  attended  only  to  those  branches  of 
manufacture  in  which  it  has  natural 
advantages  ;  but,  as  matters  stand,  we 
cannot,  save  under  large  exceptions, 
attempt  to  retrace  our  steps.  I  do  not 
believe  the  change  in  the  currency  has 
had  any  connection  with  the  general 
distress  which  has  since  unhappily 
prevailed. " 

68.  This  subject  of  agricultural  dis- 
tress was  anxiously  pressed  on  both 
Houses  of  Parliament  during  this  ses- 
sion ;  and  the  petitions  relating  to  the 
subject  were  so  numerous,  and  stated 
facts  of  such  importance  and  startling 
magnitude,  that  although  Government 
opposed  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee to  inquire  into  the  subject,  it 
was  carried  by  a  majority  of  150  to  101. 
It  met,  accordingly,  collected  a  great 
deal  of  valuable  evidence  and  informa- 
tion, and,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel, 
published  a  most  important   report. 
But  what  is  chiefly  of  moment  in  this 
stage  of  the  inquiry  is  the  opinions 
delivered  by  three  very  remarkable 
men,  well  qualified  to  judge  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  on  the  justice  of  whose  views 
subsequent  experience  has  thrown  an 
imperishable  light.     These  were   Mr 
Brougham,    Mr  Huskisson,   and  Mr 
Ricardo  ;  and  the  quotations,  brief  as 
they  shall  be,  from  their  speeches,  pre- 
sent the  kernel,  as  it  were,  of  that  great 
debate  with  the  issue  of  which  the  fu- 
ture fate  of  the  empire  was  indissolubly 
wound  up. 

69.  It  was  observed  by  Mr  Brough- 
am :  "Agriculture  is  in  an  especial 
manner  entitled  to  protection,  both 
because  many  public  burdens  press 
unequally  upon  it,  and  because  much 
poor  land  has  been  brought  into  culti- 
vation, which  could  not  be  thrown 
back  to  its  former  state  without  im- 
mense misery  to  individuals,  as  well 
as  injury  to  the  public.     A  manufac- 
turer erects  a  huge  building  in  a  parish, 
in  which  the  production  of  two  articles 
is  carried  on  —  cotton  and  paupers; 
and  although  this  manufactory  may 
yield  to  the  proprietor  £30,000  a-year, 


yet  he  is  only  rated  for  poor-rates  at 
£500  a-year,  the  value  of  his  buildings  ; 
while  his  poor  neighbour,  who  rents 
land  to  that  amount,  is  rated  at  the 
same,  though  his  income,  so  far  from 
being  equal  to  the  manufacturer's,  is 
not  a  fourth  part  even  of  his  rent. 
Besides  this,  there  are  the  bridge-rates, 
the  county-rates,  the  church-rates,  and 
many  other  blessings,  heaped  on  that 
favoured  class  the  agriculturists.  They, 
of  course,  must  not  raise  their  voices 
against  such  a  distribution  of  these 
imposts,  nor  for  a  moment  be  heard 
to  contend  for  an  equality  of  burdens 
with  the  other  classes  of  the  com- 
munity. 

70.  "It  is  said  that  it  is  an  erro- 
neous policy  to  purchase  corn  dear  at 
home,   when  it  can  be  bought  at  a 
much  cheaper  rate  abroad  ;  and  the 
only  effect  of  this,  it  is  added,  is  to- 
lead  men  to  cultivate  bad  land  at  a 
very  great  expense.  This  may  possibly 
be  true  in  the  abstract  ;  but  the  ques- 
tion we  have  now  to  consider  is  not 
whether,  at  such  an  expense,  you  ought 
to  bring  bad  land  into  cultivation,  but 
whether,  having  encouraged  the  culti- 
vation of  that  land,  we  should  now 
allow  it  to  run  to  waste  ?    The  cir- 
cumstances in  which  the  country  has 
been  placed  have  been  such,  that  even 
the  worst  land  has  been  eagerly  culti- 
vated and  brought  in  at  an  immense 
expense.  It  has  been  drained,  hedged, 
ditched,  manured,  and  become  part  of 
the  inheritance  of  the  British  people. 
The  capital  expended  in  these  improve- 
ments has  been  irrecoverably  sunk  in 
the  land  :  it  has  become  part  and  par- 
cel of  the  soil,  and  was  the  life  and 
soul  of  the  cultivators  and  a  large  part 
of  our  inhabitants.     Is  it  expedient  to 
allow  this  inheritance  to  waste  away, 
this  large  capital  to  perish,  and  with 
it  the  means  of  liA-elihood  to  so  large  a 
part  of  our  people  ? 

71.  "  Some  time  ago  there  were  seve- 
ral vessels  in  the  harbour  of  London 
laden  with  wheat,  which,  but  for  the* 
Corn  Laws,  might  have  been  purchased 
for  37s.  a  quarter.    On  the  principle  on 
which  the  Corn  Laws  are  opposed,  this 
corn  ought  to  have  been  purchased, 
because  it  was  cheaper  than  any  which 


2320.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


171 


we  can  grow  ;  but  then,  if  that  prin- 
ciple were  acted  upon,  what  would  be 
the  consequence  ?  The  inevitable  re- 
sult would  be,  that,  in  the  next  season, 
seven  or  eight  millions  of  acres  would 
be  thrown  out  of  cultivation,  and  the 
persons  engaged  in  it  out  of  employ- 
ment. Is  there  any  man  bold  enough 
to  look  such  a  prospect  in  the  face  I 
What  does  the  change  amount  to  ?  To 
this,  and  nothing  more,  that  we  would 
inflict  a  certain  calamity  on  the  cul- 
tivator and  landlord,  in  order  to  enable 
the  consumer  to  eat  his  quartern  loaf  a 
penny  cheaper.  Can  the  destruction  of 
so  large  a  portion  of  the  community  be 
considered  as  a  benefit  because  another 
gained  by  it  ?  There  is  no  philosopher 
or  political  economist  who  has  ever 
ventured  to  maintain  such  a  doctrine. 
The  average  of  imports  of  wheat  for  the 
last  five  years  has  been  477,138  quar- 
ters. Tliis  .is  formidable  enough  of  it- 
self, but  wJiat  is  it  to  what  may  be  anti- 
cipated under  a  free  trade  in  grain  ?"* 
72.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  main- 
tained by  Mr  Ricardo,  on  the  part  of 
the  Free-traders  :  "  The  agriculturists 
argue  that  they  are  entitled  to  a  re- 
munerating price  for  their  produce, 

*  Mr  Huskisson,  who  followed  on  the  same 
.side,  made  several  most  important  observa- 
tions, which  subsequent  events  have  ren- 
dered prophetic.  He  observed,  "  That  he 
still  retained  the  same  views  on  this  question 
which  he  had  held  in  1815,  when  the  present 
Corn  Law  was  passed.  In  the  first  place,  he 
considered  that  during  a  long  series  of  years, 
by  circumstances  over  which  the  country  had 
no  control,  an  artificial  protection  had  been 
afforded  to  agriculture,  which  had  forced  a 
great  mass  of  capital  to  the  raising  of  corn 
which  would  not  otherwise  have  been  applied 
to  that  object.  If  an  open  trade  in  corn  had 
been  then  allowed,  a  great  loss  of  the  capital 
thus  invested,  and  a  great  loss  to  the  agri- 
cultural part  of  the  community,  would  have 
been  occasioned.  It  was  considered  that  80s. 
the  quarter  was  the  price  which  would  re- 
munerate the  farmer,  and  he  had  voted  for  it 
accordingly.  The  second  reason  was,  that, 
in  its  peculiar  circumstances,  it  was  of  great 
importance  to  this  country  not  to  be  depend- 
ent on  foreign  countries  for  a  supply  of  food. 
It  is  an  error  to  say  there  will  be  suffering  on 
both  sides,  if  the  country  which  raised  corn 
for  us  attempted  to  withhold  the  supply.  So 
there  would;  but  would  the  contest  be  an 
equal  one  ?  To  the  foreign  nation  the  result 
would  be  a  diminution  of  revenue  or  a  pres- 
sure on  agriculture.  To  us  the  result  would 
probably  be  revolution  and  the  subversion  of 


forgetting  that  what  is  remunerating 
must  vary  according  to  circumstances. 
If,  by  preventing  importation,  the 
fanner  is  induced  to  expend  his  capital 
on  land  not  suited  for  the  production 
of  grain  crops,  you  voluntarily,  and  by 
your  own  act,  raise  the  price  by  which 
you  are  remunerated,  and  then  you 
make  that  price  a  ground  for  again 
prohibiting  importation.  Open  the 
ports,  admit  foreign  grain,  and  you 
drive  this  land  out  of  cultivation ;  a 
less  remunerating  price  will  then  do 
for  the  more  productive  soils.  You 
might  thus  have  fifty  remunerating 
prices,  according  as  your  capital  was 
employed  on  productive  or  unproduc- 
tive soils.  It  becomes  the  legislature, 
however,  not  to  look  at  the  partial 
losses  which  would  be  endured  by  a 
few  who  could  not  cultivate  their  land 
profitably  at  a  diminished  price,  but 
to  the  general  interests  of  the  nation. 
It  is  better  to  have  a  greater  quantity 
of  produce  at  a  low  price  than  a  lesser 
at  a  large  price,  for  the  benefit  to  the 
producer  is  the  same,  and  that  to  the 
consumer  is  much  greater. 

73.  "By  cheapening  food  the  people 
will  be  enabled  at  once  to  purchase  a 

the  State.  Let  it  be  recollected  that  Ame- 
rica, during  the  late  war,  despite  its  depend- 
ence on  agriculture,  and  its  sensitiveness  to 
the  voice  of  the  people,  actually  submitted 
to  an  embargo  with  a  view  to  incommode  us 
by  cutting  off  our  supply  of  grain.  A  great 
power,  like  that  of  Napoleon,  might  compel 
a  weak  neutral  to  close  its  harbours,  and 
thus  starve  us  into  submission,  without  suf- 
fering any  inconvenience  itself.  The  third 
ground  on  which  he  had  consented  to  the 
modification  of  the  principle  of  free  trade, 
was  the  situation  of  Ireland,  which  had  pre- 
viously received  encouragement  from  our  de- 
mand, to  withdraw  which  would  have  been 
most  injurious  to  that  country.  To  give  a 
superior  cultivation  to  the  fertile  land  of  that 
most  fertile  country,  and  to  turn  British  ca- 
pital into  it,  would  ultimately  tend,  in  a  most 
material  degree,  to  increase  the  resources  and 
revenue  of  the  empire.  Since  the  passing  of 
the  Corn  Laws  the  imports  from  Ireland  had 
increased  every  year." — Par?.  Debates,  new 
series,  i.  678,  679.  One  of  the  most  curious 
things  in  history  is  the  clear  and  lucid  way 
in  which  the  result  of  measures  under  dis- 
cussion is  often  foretold,  the  entire  insensi- 
bility which  is  at  the  time  shown  to  the  pre- 
diction, and  its  ultimate  complete  accomplish- 
ment. The  importation  of  all  kinds  of  foreign 
grain  is  now  (1862)  above  15,000,000  quarters 
a-year,  or  above  half  the  food  of  our  people. 


larger  quantity  of  it,  and  an  additional 
supply  of  other  conveniences  or  lux- 
uries. The  high  price  of  provisions 
•diminishes  at  once  the  profits  of  the 
capitalist  and  the  comforts  of  the 
workmen  he  employs.  What  consti- 
tutes the  greater  part  of  the  price  of 
manufactured  articles  ?  The  wages  of 
labour.  Diminish  those  wages,  by  less- 
ening the  cost  of  the  subsistence  which 
must  always  form  its  principal  ingre- 
dient, and  you  either  augment  the  pro- 
fits of  capital,  or  extend  the  market 
for  its  produce  by  lessening  its  cost. 
Either  of  these  would  be  a  great  be- 
nefit to  our  manufacturing  population. 
The  agriculturists  say  that  they  are 
able  to  supply  the  whole  inhabitants 
of  the  country  with  food,  and  they  de- 
mand heavy  duties  to  enable  them  to 
feel  secure  in  their  efforts  to  do  so. 
But  the  answer  to  all  their  demands 
is  plain.  You  can  grow  these  articles, 
it  is  true  ;  but  we  can  purchase  them 
cheaper  than  you  can  grow  them.  Is 
it  expedient  to  force  cultivation  on 
your  inferior  soils  at  :i  loss  to  your- 
selves ?  All  principle  is  against  it. 
They  might  as  well  urge  in  France, 
that,  as  they  can  grow  sugar  from  beet- 
root at  a  cost  greater  than  it  can  be 
raised  in  the  West  Indies,  therefore 
you  should  load  West  Indian  sugar  in 
that  country  with  prohibitory  duties. 
74.  "  Again  it  is  said,  as  shipowners 
•and  various  classes  of  manufacturers 
are  protected,  the  agriculturists  should 
be  the  same.  In  truth,  however,  these 
protections  are  of  no  use  whatever, 
either  to  the  country  or  the  branches 
•of  industry  which  are  protected.  Take 
any  branch  of  trade  you  please  ;  let  it 
be  in  the  most  flourishing  state,  and 
enjoying  the  best  possible  prospects  ; 
surround  it  with  prohibitory  duties, 
.and  you  will  soon  see  it  languish  and 
decline.  The  reason  is,  that  the  stim- 
ulus to  human  industry,  the  spur  to 
human  exertions  arising  from  neces- 
sity, has  been  taken  away.  Even  if 
the  trade  protected  were  thereby  bene- 
fited, it  could  only  be  at  the  expense 
of  the  rest  of  the  community  ;  and  all 
that  is  said  on  the  other  side  about 
the  injustice  of  benefiting  one  class  • 
-at  the  expense  of  another,  here  turns 


[CHAP.  x. 

against  themselves.  Countervailing 
duties,  if  adopted  in  one  country,  will 
soon  be  followed  in  others,  and  thence 
will  arise  a  war  of  tariffs,  which  will 
cripple,  and  at  last  destroy,  all  com- 
merce whatever.  The  interests  of  the 
agriculturists  and  of  the  other  classes 
of  the  community  might,  indeed,  be 
identified,  provided  we  were  restrained 
from  all  intercourse  with  other  na- 
tions ;  but  this  is  impossible  in  a 
country  such  as  ours,  which  carries  on 
an  extensive  commercial  intercourse 
with  foreign  countries.  The  price  of 
grain  may  be  altered  either  by  altera- 
tions in  the  currency,  which  Avill  raise 
it  along  with  all  other  articles,  or  by 
legislative  restrictions,  which  will  al- 
ter it  alone.  The  first  alteration  may 
not  be  injurious,  because  it  affects  all 
alike.  The  latter  necessarily  must  be  so, 
because  it  lowers  at  once  both  the  pro- 
fits of  stock  and  the  wages  of  labour. " 
75.  Such  was  the  commencement  of 
this  great  debate,  which  for  the  next 
quarter  of  a  century  almost  constantly 
convulsed  the  nation,  and  certainly 
never  was  pleaded  on  both  sides  with 
greater  force  or  by  more  consummate 
masters.  One  important  consideration, 
however,  was  omitted  on  both  sides, 
from  statistical  researches  having  not 
as  then  brought  it  to  light,  though 
it  now  stands  forth  in  the  brightest 
colours.  This  is  the  infinitely  superior 
value  of  our  home  or  colonial  trade  to 
that  of  the  grain-growing  countries 
from  whom  we  import  food,  and  the 
extreme  impolicy,  even  with  a  view  to 
the  interest  in  the  end  of  the  manu- 
facturers themselves,  of  discouraging 
the  former  to  encourage  the  latter. 
So  great  is  this  disproportion,  that  it 
would  pass  for  incredible,  if  not  es- 
tablished by  the  unerring  evidence  of 
statistical  facts.  Our  manufacturers 
still  find  their  best  customers  in  the 
men  who  cultivate  the  adjoining  fields. 
Notwithstanding  the  great  extent  of 
our  foreign  commerce,  the  manufac- 
tures consumed  in  the  home  market 
are  still  double  in  value  those  consumed 
in  all  foreign  markets  put  together : 
our  own  husbandmen  take  off  fifty 
times  the  amount  of  our  manufactur 
per  head  which  those  of  the  grain- 


1820.] 

growing  countries  do,  from  whom  we 
now  derive  so  large  a  part  of  our  sub- 
sistence; and  small  as  is  the  number 
of  their  inhabitants  to  those  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  our  exports  to  our  own 
colonies,  emancipated  and  unemanci- 
pated,  are  nearly  equal  to  those  to  all 
the  rest  of  the  world  put  together.* 

76.  These,  and  all  other  social  ques- 
tions, how  momentous  soever,  were  cut 
short  in  this  Parliament  by  the  pro- 
ceedings against  the  Queen,  which  en- 
tirely engrossed  the  attention  of  the 
Legislature  and  the  interest  of  the 
people  during  the  whole  remainder  of 
the  year,  and  not  only  seriously  shook 
the  Ministry,  but  violently  agitated 
the  nation.  This  unhappy  Princess, 
the  second  daughter  of  the  sister  of 
George  III.,  and  of  the  illustrious 
House  of  Brunswick,  had  been  mar- 
ried early  in  life  to  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
now  the  reigning  Sovereign,  without 
their  ever  having  seen  each  other,  or 
possessing  the  smallest  acquaintance 
with  each  other's  tastes,  habits,  or  in- 
clinations. It  is  the  melancholy  fate 
of  persons  in  that  elevated  sphere  in 
general  to  have  marriages  imposed 
upon  them  as  a  matter  of  State  neces- 
sity, without  the  slightest  regard  to 
their  wishes  or  happiness ;  and  great 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


173 


is  the  domestic  misery  to  which  this- 
necessity  too  often  leads.  But  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  this  case 
rendered  the  situation  of  the  royal 
pair  beyond  the  ordinary  case  of 
crowned  heads  calamitous.  The  Prince 
at  the  time  of  his  marriage  was  deeply 
attached  to,  and  had  been  married, 
though  without  the  consent  required 
by  the  Marriage  Act,  and  of  course 
illegally,  to  another  lady  of  great  per- 
sonal and  mental  attractions.  The 
Princess,  to  whom  he  was  afterward* 
compelled  to  give  his  hand,  though 
possessed  of  great  liveliness  and  con- 
siderable talent,  and  no  small  share  of 
personal  charms,  was  totally  unsuited 
to  his  tastes,  and  repugnant  to  his 
habits.  The  consequence  was,  that 
both  parties  were  inspired  with  a  mu- 
tual aversion  from  the  moment  they 
first  met :  the  marriage  ceremony  was- 
gone  through,  but  it  was  more  a  form 
than  anything  else ;  after  the  first  few 
days  they  never  met  in  private,  and 
after  the  birth  of  the  Princess  Char- 
lotte, no  hope  remained  of  any  further 
issue  to  continue  the  direct  line  of 
succession  to  the  throne. 

77.  The  Princess,  after  her  separa- 
tion from  her  husband,  lived  chiefly  at 
Blackheath,  and  there  Mr  Perceval, 


*  EXPORTS  FROM  GREAT  BRITAIN  IN  1850. 


Export! 
Declared  value. 

Population. 

Rate  per  head. 

Russia,       

£1,289,704 

66,000,000 

£0    0    3} 

Prussia,     .... 

503,531 

16,000,000 

007 

France,      

2,028,463 

34,000,000 

0    0  10 

British  America,     .... 
West  Indies  

3,813,707 
2,201,032 

,2,500,000 
972,000 

1  10    0 
2  14    0 

Australia  

2,807,356 

538,000 

5  17    0 

Total  British  Colonies,    .    . 
United  States  of  America,   . 

19,517,039 
14,362,976 

115,675,000 
25,000,000 

049 
0  13    8 

British  Coloniesand  Descen-  > 
dants  J 

£33,880,015 

140,675,000 

£048 

All  the  rest  of  the  World,     . 

40,668,707 

830,000,000 

010 

Manufactured    for    Home) 
Market,  / 

£74,448,722 
130,000,000 

27,000,000 

£500 

— Parliamentary  Papers,  1851. 

Excluding  the  native  population  of  India,  which  is  109,000,000.  and  supposing  they  con- 
sume £5,000,000  worth  of  the  £7,000,000  of  exports  to  British  India,  the  exports  to  British 
native  i:<>loui;il  population,  which  is  about  6,000,000,  will  be  £14,000,000,  or  £2,  5s.  a-head, 
against  Is.  a-head  for  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 


17 i 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


afterwards  Prime  Minister,  was  for 
long  her  principal  adviser  :  but  Mr 
Canning  also  shared  her  society,  and 
has  recorded  his  opinion  of  the  liveli- 
ness of  her  manner,  and  the  charms  of 
her  conversation;  and  Sir  Walter  Scott 
has  added  his  testimony  to  the  flatter- 
ing opinion.  It  was  scarcely  possible 
that  a  Princess  of  a  lively  manner, 
fond  of  society,  and  especially  of  that 
of  young  and  agreeable  men,  and  liv- 
ing apart  from  her  husband,  should 
escape  the  breath  of  scandal,  and  it 
would  probably  have  attached  to  her 
notwithstanding  the  utmost  decorum 
and  propriety  on  her  part.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  the  latter  qualities 
were  precisely  those  in  which  the  Prin- 
cess was  most  deficient ;  and  without 
going  the  length  of  asserting  that  her 
conduct  was  actually  criminal,  or  that 
she  retaliated  in  kind  on  her  husband 
for  his  well-known  infidelities,  it  is 
sufficient  to  observe  that  the  levity  and 
indiscretion  of  her  manners  were  such 
as  to  awaken  the  solicitude  of  her  royal 
parents;  and  that  a  "delicate  investi- 
gation "  took  place,  the  particulars  of 
Avhich  have  never  been  disclosed,  and 
upon  the  import  of  which  the  only  ob- 
servation which  can  safely  be  made  is, 
that  no  public  proceedings  were  adopt- 
ed in  consequence  of  it. 

78.  "When  the  Continent  was  opened 
to  British  travellers  after  the  peace,  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  to  the  great  relief 
of  her  royal  spouse,  went  abroad,  with 
a  separate  allowance  of  £35,000  a-year, 
and  for  several  years  little  was  heard 
of  her  in  this  country,  except  her  oc- 
casional appearance  at  a  foreign  court. 
It  appeared,  however,  that,  unknown 
to  the  public,  her  conduct  was  strictly 
watched  ;  confidential  persons  of  re- 
spectability were  sent  abroad  to  obtain 
evidence ;  and,  from  the  information 
received,  Government  conceived  them- 
selves called  upon  to  send  instructions 
to  our  ambassadors  and  ministers  at 
foreign  courts,  that  they  were  not  to 
give  her  any  official  or  public  recep- 
tion :  and  if  she  were  received  publicly 
by  the  sovereign,  they  were  not  to 
be  present  at  it.  This,  with  her  for- 
mal exclusion  from  the  English  court, 
which  had  been  previously  pronounced, 


rendered  her  situation  abroad  very  un- 
comfortable ;  and  to  put  an  end  to  it, 
and  get  matters  arranged  on  a  perma- 
nent footing,  Mr  Brougham,  who  had 
become  her  confidential  adviser,  pro- 
posed to  Lord  Liverpool,  in  June  1819, 
though  without  the  knowledge  of  her 
Royal  Highness,  that,  on  condition  of 
her  allowance  of  £35,000  a-year,  which 
she  at  present  enjoyed,  being  secured 
for  her  by  Act  of  Parliament  or  war- 
rant of  the  Treasury  for  life,  instead 
of  being,  as  at  present,  dependent  on 
the  life  of  the  Prince  Regent,  she  should 
agree  to  remain  abroad  during  the  whole 
remainder  of  her  life.  The  Ministers 
returned  a  favourable  answer  to  this 
application ;  and  it  was  no  wonder 
they  did  so,  for  it  went  to  relieve  them 
from  an  embarrassment  which  all  but 
proved  fatal  to  the  Administration. 
The  Prince  strenuously  contended  for 
a  divorce,  as  not  only  justified,  but 
called  for,  in  the  circumstances,  which, 
he  maintained,  were  such  as  would 
entitle  any  private  subject  to  that  re- 
medy; and  intimated  his  determina- 
tion, if  it  was  refused  by  the  Cabinet, 
to  change  his  Ministry,  or  himself  re- 
tire to  Hanover.  The  Cabinet  opposed 
this,  as  likely  to  lead  to  a  very  serious 
agitation  in  the  present  disturbed  state 
of  the  public  mind.  At  length  they 
came  to  a  compromise,  to  the  effect  that, 
if  she  remained  abroad,  no  further  pro- 
ceedings of  any  sort  should  be  adopted 
against  her  Royal  Highness ;  but  that, 
if  she  returned  to  England,  they  would 
accede  to  the  Prince's  wishes. 

79.  Matters  remained  in  this  posi- 
tion, in  a  kind  of  lull,  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  life  of  George  III.  But 
when  that  monarch  died,  in  February 
1820,  and  the  strong  step  of  omitting 
her  Majesty's  name  in  the  Liturgy  was 
taken,  matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis. 
The  new  Queen  loudly  exclaimed  that 
such  an  omission  was  a  direct  imputa- 
tion on  her  honour,  which  could  not 
for  a  moment  be  submitted  to ;  and 
that  she  would  return  to  England  in- 
stantly to  vindicate  her  character.  The 
King,  learning  this,  as  obstinately  con- 
tended for  an  immediate  divorce,  in  the 
event  of  her  carrying  her  threat  into 
execution ;  and  as  his  Ministers  refused 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


175 


to  accede  to  this,  they  tendered  their 
resignation,  and  attempts  wore  made 
to  form  a  new  ministry,  of  which  Lord 
"Wellesley  was  to  be  the  head.  These 
failed ;  and  it  was  at  length  agreed  that, 
if  the  Queen  returned,  proceedings  were 
to  be  immediately  commenced  against 
her.  Attempts  were,  however,  again 
made  to  avert  so  dire  an  alternative ; 
it  was  even  proposed  to  increase  her 
allowance  to  £50,000  a-year,  provided 
she  agreed  to  take  some  other  name  or 
title  than  that  of  Queen,  and  not  to 
exercise  any  of  the  rights  belonging  to 
that  character.  These  proposals  were 
formally  transmitted  to  Mr  Brougham, 
as  her  Majesty's  principal  law-officer, 
on  the  15th  April,  and  approved  of  by 
him.  The  indignant  feelings  and  im- 
petuous disposition  of  the  Queen,  how- 
ever, rendered  all  attempt  at  accom- 
modation fruitless.  She  was  much  in- 
censed, in  February,  by  being  refused  a 
guard  of  honour  as  Queen  of  England ; 
and  no  sooner  did  she  hear  of  the  omis- 
sion of  her  name  in  the  Liturgy,  than 
she  took  the  bold  resolution  of  return- 
ing immediately  to  this  country,  alleg- 
ing that  England  was  her  real  home, 
and  to  it  she  would  immediately  fly. 
However  we  may  regret  this  resolution, 
and  deplore  the  unfortunate  results  to 
which  it  led,  we  cannot  but  admire  the 
spirit  of  a  Princess  who  thus  braved  the 
utmost  dangers,  it  might  be  to  her  life, 
in  vindication  of  her  honour,  or  fail  to 
admit  that,  in  whatever  else  Queen 
Caroline  was  awanting,  it  was  not  in 
the  courage  hereditary  in  her  race.  * 

*  "  I  have  written  to  Lord  Liverpool  and 
Lord  Castlereagh,  demanding  to  have  my 
name  inserted  in  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  that  orders  be  given  to  all 
British  ambassadors,  ministers,  and  consuls, 
that  I  should  be  acknowledged  and  received 
as  Queen  of  England ;  and  after  the  speech 
made  by  Lord  Castlereagh  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  answer  to  Mr  Brougham,  I  do 
not  expect  to  receive  further  insult.  I  have 
also  demanded  that  a  palace  may  be  prepared 
for  my  reception.  England  is  my  real  home, 
to  which  I  shall  immediately  fly." — Queen 
CAROLINE,  March  16,  1820 ;  Ann.  Reg.  1820, 
p.  131.  "  Her  promptitude  and  courage," 
said  Lord  Dudley  at  the  time,  "confounded 
her  opponents,  and  gained  her  the  favour  of 
the  people.  Whatever  one  may  think  of  her 
conduct  in  other  respects,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  give  her  credit  for  these  qualities'." — 
Lord  DUDLEY'S  Letters,  254. 


80.  She  was  met  by  Mr  Brougham 
and  Lord  Hutchinson,  who  in  vain  en- 
deavoured to  get  her  to  accede  to  the 
King's  offer  of  £50,000  a-year,  provided 
she  would  remain  abroad,  and  not  as- 
sume the  title  or  duties  of  the  Queen 
of  England.     She  indignantly  rejected 
the  proposal,  as  an  insult  to  her  honour 
and  a  stain  upon  her  character;  and 
having  dismissed  Bergami,  her  alleged 
paramour,  at  St  Omer,  she  landed  at 
Dover  on  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  June. 
Xo  words  can  adequately  describe  the 
universal  enthusiasm  which  her  arrival 
excited  among  the  great  bulk  of  the 
people.    They  had  previously  been  pre- 
pared for  her  reception  by  the  publica- 
tion of  her  letters  complaining  of  the 
treatment  she  had   experienced,   and 
she  had  been  expected  almost  daily  for 
several  weeks  past.     The  courage  and 
decision  displayed  by  her  Royal  High- 
ness on  this  trying  occasion  excited 
general  admiration,  and  was  hailed  as 
a  convincing  proof  of  her  innocence. 
The  spectacle  of  a  Queen  deserted  by 
her  husband,  calumniated,  as  it  was 
thought,  by  his  Ministers,  threatened 
with  trial,  it  might  be  death,  if  she  set 
her  foot  on  British  ground,  braving  all 
these  dangers  in  vindication  of  her  in- 
nocence, awakened  the  wannest  sym- 
pathy of  the  multitude,  in  whom  noble 
deeds  seldom  fail  to  excite  the  most 
enthusiastic  feelings.    Pity  for  her  sup- 
posed wrongs,  imited  with  admiration 
of  her  real  courage,  and  the  fine  ex- 
pression of  Mr  Denman,  that  if  she  had 
ner  place  at  all  in  the  Prayer-Book,  it 
was  in  the  supplication  "for  all  who 
are  desolate  and  oppressed,"  found  a 
responsive  echo  in  the  British  heart. 

81.  That  these  were  the  feelings  of 
the  vast  majority  of  the  British  people, 
who  hailed  the  arrival  of  the  Queen 
with  such  enthusiastic  feelings,  is  be- 
yond a  doubt ;  and  it  was  honourable 
to  the  nation  that  they  were  so  general. 
But  the  Radical  leaders,  who  fanned 
the  movement,  were  actuated  by  very 
different  and  much  deeper  views.    Bet- 
ter informed  than  the  multitude  whom 
they  led,  they  had  no  confidence  in  the 
ultimate  vindication  of  the  Queen's  in- 
nocence ;  but,  so  far  from  being  de- 
terred by  that  circumstance,  they  built 


175 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


on  it  their  warmest  hopes,  and  consid- 
ered it  as  a  reason  for  the  most  stren- 
uous efforts.  Innocent  or  guilty,  they 
could  not  but  gain  by  the  investigation, 
and  the  agitation  to  which  it  would 
infallibly  lead : 

"  Careless  of  fate,  they  took  their  way, 

Scarce  caring  who  might  win  the  day; 

Their  booty  was  secure." 
If  her  innocence  were  proved,  they 
would  gain  a  triumph  over  the  King, 
force  upon  him  a  wife  whom  he  could 
not  endure,  overturn  his  Ministers,  and 
perhaps  shake  the  monarchy :  if  her 
guilt,  they  would  gain  the  best  possible 
ground  for  declaiming  on  the  corrup- 
tion which  prevailed  in  high  places, 
and  the  monstrous  nature  of  those  in- 
stitutions which  gave  persons  of  such 
character  the  lead  in  society.  The  views 
they  entertained,  and  the  hopes  by 
which  they  were  animated,  have  been 
stated  by  one  of  the  ablest  of  their  num- 
ber, whose  voluminous  writings  and 
sterling  sense  have  given  him  a  lasting 
place  in  British  annals.  *  Lord  Eldon, 
more  correctly,  as  the  event  proved, 
foresaw  the  issue  of  the  crisis,  when  he 
wrote  at  the  time, "  Our  Queen  threatens 
to  approach  England ;  if  she  can  ven- 
ture, she  is  the  most  courageous  lady 
I  ever  heard  of.  The  mischief,  if  she 
does  come,  will  be  infinite.  At  first, 
she  will  have  extensive  popularity  with 
the  multitude;  in  a  few  short  weeks 
or  months,  she  will  be  ruined  in  the 
opinion  of  all  the  world." 

82.  The  reception  which  the  Queen 
met  with  was  such  as  might  swell  her 
heart  with  exultation,  and  flatter  the 
Radicals  into  the  hope  of  an  approach- 
ing subversion  of  the  Government.  No- 
thing like  it  had  been  witnessed  since 
the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  An  im- 
mense multitude  awaited  her  arrival  at 

*  The  people,  in  theirsenss  of  justice,"  says 
Cobbett,  "  went  back  to  the  time  when  she 
was  in  fact  turned  out  of  her  husband's  house, 
with  a  child  in  her  arms,  without  blame  of 
any  sort  having  been  imputed  to  her :  they 
compared  whattheyhad  heard  of  the  wife  with 
what  they  had  seen  of  the  husband,  and  they 
came  to  their  determination  accordingly.  As 
far  as  related  to  the  question  of  guilt  or  inno- 
cence, they  did  not  care  a  straw;  but  they  took 
a  large  view  of  the  matter :  they  went  over 
her  whole  history ;  they  determined  that  she 
had  been  wronged,  and  they  resolved  to  up- 
hold her." — COBBBTT'S  Life  of  George  IV.,  425. 


[CHAP.  x. 


the  harbour  of  Dover  ;  the  thunder  of 
artillery  from  the  castle,  for  the  first 
and  last  time,  saluted  her  approach ; 
the  road  to  London  was  beset  with 
multitudes  eager  to  obtain  a  glimpse 
of  her  person.  She  entered  the  me- 
tropolis, accompanied  by  two  hundred 
thousand  persons.  Night  and  day  her 
dwelling  was  surrounded  by  crowds, 
whose  vociferous  applause  of  herself 
and  her  friends  was  equalled  by  their 
vituperation  of  the  King,  and  threats 
against  his  Ministers.  Government 
were  in  the  utmost  alarm  :  meetings  of 
Ministers  were  held  daily,  almost  hour- 
ly. Their  apprehensions  were  much 
increased  by  symptoms  of  insubordina- 
tion being  manifested  in  one  of  the 
regiments  of  the  foot-guards  stationed 
in  the  Mews  barracks  at  Charing  Cross, 
which,  although  ostensibly  grounded 
on  the  inconveniences  and  crowded 
state  of  their  barracks,  were  strongly 
apprehended  to  be  connected  with  the 
excited  feelings  of  the  populace  in  the 
metropolis,  with  whom  the  household 
troops  were  in  such  constant  'commu- 
nication. The  Duke  of  Wellington 
was  sent  for,  and  by  his  presence  and 
courage  succeeded  in  restoring  order, 
and  next  morning  the  disaffected  troops 
were  sent  off  in  two  divisions  to  Ports- 
mouth. The  night  before  the  last  di- 
vision marched,  however,  an  alarming 
mob  collected  round  the  gates  of  the 
barracks,  calling  on  the  troops  to  come- 
out  and  join  them ;  and  they  were  only 
dispersed  by  a  troop  of  the  life-guardsy 
called  out  by  Lord  Sidmouth  in  person. 
83.  After  the  Queen's  arrival  in 
London,  an  attempt  was  made  by  her 
able  advisers,  Messrs  Brougham  and. 
Denman,  to  renew  the  negotiation, 
and  prevent  the  disclosures,  painful 
and  discreditable  to  all  concerned,  to- 
which  the  threatened  investigation 
would  necessarily  lead.  The  basis  of 
the  proposal  was  to  be,  that  the  King- 
was  to  retract  nothing,  the  Queen  ad- 
mit nothing,  and  that  she  was  to  leave 
Great  Britain  with  an  annuity,  settled 
upon  her  for  life,  of  £50,000  a-year. 
It  failed,  however,  in  consequence  of 
her  Majesty  insisting  on  the  insertion 
of  her  name  in  the  Liturgy  and  a  re- 
ception at  foreign  courts,  or  at  least; 


1820.] 


some  one  foreign  court,  in  a  manner 
suitable  to  her  rank.  On  the  first 
point  the  King  was  immovable  ;  on 
the  last,  the  utmost  length  he  would 
go,  was  to  agree  to  notify  her  being 
legally  Queen  of  England  to  some 
foreign  court,  leaving  her  reception 
there  to  the  pleasure  of  that  court. 
The  utmost  mutual  temper  and  court- 
esy were  evinced  by  the  commissioners 
on  both  sides,  who  were  no  less  persons 
than  Lord  Castlereagh  and  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  on  the  part  of  his  Majesty, 
and  Messrs  Brougham  and  Denman  on 
that  of  the  Queen.  But  all  attempts 
at  adjustment  of  the  differences  were 
unsuccessful,  and  on  the  19th  June  it 
was  formally  announced  in  both  Houses 
of  Parliament  that  the  negotiation  had 
failed ;  and  on  the  4th  July,  the  secret 
committee  of  the  Lords,  to  whom  it 
had  been  referred,  reported  "  that  the 
evidence  affecting  the  honour  of  the 
Queen  was  such  as  to  require,  for  the 
dignity  of  the  Crown  and  the  moral 
feeling  and  honour  of  the  country,  a 
solemn  inquiry."  The  Queen  next  day 
declared,  by  petition  to  the  Lords,  her 
readiness  to  defend  herself,  and  pray- 
ing to  be  heard  by  counsel ;  and  soon 
after  Lord  Liverpool  brought  forward, 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  the  famous  Bill 
of  Pains  and  Penalties,  which,  on  the 
narrative  of  improper  and  degrading 
conduct  on  the  part  of  her  Majesty, 
and  an  adulterous  connection  with  a 
menial  servant  named  Bartelomeo  Ber- 
gami,  proposed  to  dissolve  the  marriage 
with  his  Majesty,  and  deprive  her  of 
all  her  rights  and  privileges  as  Queen 
of  England. 

84.  The  die  was  now  cast,  and  the 
trial  went  on  in  good  earnest.  But 
who  can  paint  the  scene  which  ensued, 
when  the  first  of  British  subjects  was 
brought  to  trial  before  the  first  of  Brit- 
ish assemblies  by  the  most  powerful 
of  British  sovereigns  !  Within  that 
august  hall,  fraught  with  so  many  in- 
teresting recollections,  where  so  many 
noble  men  had  perished,  and  innocence 
had  so  often  appealed  from  the  cruelty 
of  man  to  the  justice  of  Heaven ;  where 
Anne  Boleyn  had  called  God  to  wit- 
ness, and  Queen  Catherine  had  sobbed 

VOL.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


177 


at  severance  from  her  children  ;  where 
Elizabeth  had  spoken  to  the  hearts  of 
her  people,  and  Anne  had  thrilled  at 
the  recital  of  Marlborough's  victories  ; 
whose  walls  were  still  hung  with  the 
storied  scene  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Armada, — was  all  that  was  great  and 
all  that  was  noble  in  England  assem- 
bled for  the  trial  of  the  consort  of  the 
Sovereign,  the  daughter  of  the  house 
of  Brunswick  !  There  was  to  be  seen 
the  noble  forehead  and  serene  counte- 
nance of  Castlereagh — the  same  now, 
in  the  throes  of  domestic  anxiety,  as 
when  he  affronted  the  power  of  France, 
and  turned  the  scales  of  fortune  on  the 
plains  of  Champagne ;  there  the  Roman 
head  of  Wellington,  still  in  the  prime 
of  life,  but  whose  growing  intellectual 
expression  bespoke  the  continued  ac- 
tion of  thought  on  that  constitution  of 
iron.  Liverpool  was  there,  calm  and 
unmoved,  amidst  a  nation's  throes,  and 
patiently  enduring  the  responsibility  of 
a  proceeding  on  which  the  gaze  of  the 
world  was  fixed ;  and  Sidmouth,  whose 
courage  nothing  could  daunt,  and  whose 
tutelary  arm  had  so  long  enchained  the 
fiery  spirit  which  was  now  bursting  forth 
on  every  side.  There  was  Eldon,  whose 
unaided  abilities  had  placed  him  at  the 
head  of  this  august  assembly,  and  who 
was  now  called  to  put  his  vast  stores 
of  learning  to  their  noblest  use — that 
of  holding  the  scales  of  justice  even, 
against  his  own  strongest  interests  and 
prepossessions  ;  and  there  was  Copley, 
the  terror  of  whose  cross-examination 
proved  so  fatal  on  the  trial,  and  pre- 
saged the  fame  of  his  career  as  Lord 
Chancellor.  There  was  Grey,  whose 
high  intellectual  forehead,  big  with 
the  destinies  of  England,  bespoKe  the 
coming  revolution  in  her  social  state  ; 
and  Lansdowne,  in  whom  suavity  of 
manner  and  dignity  of  deportment 
adorned,  without  concealing,  the  high- 
est gifts  of  eloquence  and  statesman- 
ship. There  were  Brougham  and  Den- 
man,  whose  oratorical  powers  and  legal 
acuteness  were  sustained  by  a  noble 
intrepidity,  and  who,  in  now  defend- 
ing the  illustrious  accused  against  the 
phalanx  of  talent  and  influence  by 
which  she  was  assailed,  apparently  to 
M 


178 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


the  ruin  of  their  professional  prospects, 
worthily  Avon  a  seat  on  the  Woolsack, 
and  at  the  head  of  the  King's  Bench 
of  England.  Lawrence  there  gazed  on 
a  scene  more  thrilling  and  august  than 
the  soul  of  painting  had  ever  conceiv- 
ed ;  and  Kean  studied  the  play  of  pas- 
sions as  violent  as  any  by  which  he 
had  entranced  the  world  on  the  mimic 
stage.  And  in  the  front  of  all  was  the 
Queen  of  England,  a  stranger,  child- 
less, reviled,  discrowned,  but  sustained 
by  the  native  intrepidity  of  her  race, 
and  gazing  undaunted  on  the  hostility 
of  a  nation  in  arms.* 

85.  The  trial — for  trial  it  was,  though 
disguised  under  the  name  of  a  Bill  of 
Pains  and  Penalties — went  on  for  seve- 
ral months  ;  and  day  after  day,  during 
that  long  period,  was  the  public  press 
of  England  polluted  by  details,  which 
elsewhere  are  confined  to  the  professed 
votaries  or  theatres  of  pleasure.  Im- 
mense was  the  demoralising  influence 
which  the  production  of  these  details 
exercised  upon  the  nation,  which  laid 
before  the  whole  people  scenes,  and 
familiarised  them  with  ideas,  which 
had  hitherto  been  confined  to  the  com- 
paratively few,  whom  travelling  had 
made  acquainted  with  the  licence  of 
foreign  manners.  It  does  not  belong 
to  history  to  bring  them  again  to  light ; 
they  repose  in  decent  obscurity,  acces- 
sible to  few,  in  the  Parliamentary  De- 
bates, and  have  come  to  be  forgotten 
even  by  the  licentious,  to  whom  at  the 
time  they  were  a  subject  of  such  un- 
bounded gratification.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that  the  facts  sworn  to  by  the 
witnesses  for  the  prosecution  were  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of 
the  guilt  of  the  accused,  if  the  evidence 
was  to  be  relied  on  ;  but  that  there  the 
case  was  beset  by  the  greatest  difficul- 
ties. Most  of  the  witnesses  were  Ital- 
ians, upon  whose  testimony  little  reli- 
ance could  be  placed ;  some  of  them 
were  involved  in  such  contradictions, 
or  broke  down  so  under  cross-examin- 
ation, that  they  required  to  be  thrown 

*  The  reader  of  Macaulay's  incomparable 
Essay  on  Warren  Hastings  need  not  be  told 
•\vhat  model  was  in  the  author's  eye  in  this 
paragraph ;  but  no  one  can  feel  so  strongly  as 
3ie  does  the  futility  of  all  attempts  to  rival 
that  noble  picture. 


overboard  altogether.  The  principal 
of  them,  Theodore  Majocchi,  the  Prin- 
cess's valet,  pretended  ignorance,  on 
cross-examination,  of  so  many  things 
which  he  obviously  recollected,  that 
his  answer  to  the  questions,  "  Non  mi 
ricordo,"  has  passed  into  a  proverbial 
expression  known  all  over  the  world, 
to  express  the  culpable  concealment 
of  known  truth  by  a  perjured  witness. 
Yet  did  the  conduct  of  the  Queen  her- 
self afford  reason  to  suspect  that  he 
had  something  material  to  reveal ;  for 
when  his  name  was  called  out  by  the 
clerk,  as  the  first  witness,  she  started 
up,  gave  a  faint  cry,  and  left  the 
House. 

86.  Mr  Brougham  thus  closed  his 
eloquent  opening  of  the  defence  of  her 
Majesty,  justly  celebrated  as  one  of 
the  finest  specimens  of  British  forensic 
eloquence  :  "  Such,  my  Lords,  is  the 
case  before  you !  Such  is  the  evi- 
dence in  support  of  this  measure — 
evidence  inadequate  to  prove  a  debt, 
impotent  to  deprive  of  a  civil  right, 
ridiculous  to  convict  of  the  lowest  of- 
fence, scandalous  if  brought  forward 
to  support  the  highest  charge  which 
the  law  kncws,  monstrous  to  stain  the 
honour  and  blast  the  name  of  an  Eng- 
lish queen.  What  shall  I  say,  then, 
if  this  is  the  proof  by  which  an  act 
of  judicial  legislation,  a  parliamentary 
sentence,  an  ex  post  facto  law,  is  sought 
to  be  passed  against  this  defenceless 
woman  ?  My  Lords,  I  pray  you  to 
pause  ;  I  do  earnestly  beseech  you  to 
take  heed.  You  are  standing  on  the 
brink  of  a  precipice — then  beware !  It 
will  go  forth  as  your  judgment,  if  sen- 
tence shall  go  against  the  Queen.  But 
it  will  be  the  only  judgment  you  ever 
pronounced,  which,  instead  of  reach- 
ing its  object,  will  return,  and  bound 
back  upon  those  who  gave  it.  Save 
the  country,  my  Lords,  from  the  hor- 
rors of  this  catastrophe — save  jTour- 
selves  from  this  peril.  Rescue  that 
country  of  which  you  are  the  orna- 
ments, but  in  which  you  can  flourish  no 
longer,  when  severed  from  the  people, 
than  the  blossom  when  cut  off  from 
the  roots  and  the  stem  of  the  tree. 
Save  that  country  that  you  may  con- 
tinue to  adorn  it — save  the  Crown, 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


179 


which  is  in  jeopardy — the  aristocracy, 
which  is  shaken — the  altar,  which 
must  totter  with  the  blow  which  rends 
its  kindred  throne  !  Yon  have  said,  my 
Lords — you  have  willed — the  Church 
and  the  King  have  willed — that  the 
Queen  should  be  deprived  of  its  solemn 
.service.  She  has,  instead  of  that  so 
lemnity,  the  heartfelt  prayers  of  the 
people.  She  wants  no  prayers  of  mine  ; 
but  I  do  here  pour  forth  my  humble 
supplications  at  the  throne  of  mercy, 
that  that  mercy  may  be  poured  down 
upon  the  people,  in  a  larger  measure 
than  the  merits  of  its  rulers  may  de- 
serve, and  that  your  hearts  may  be 
turned  to  justice." 

87.  Such  was  the  effect  of  this 
splendid  speech,  and  such  the  appre- 
hensions felt  in  a  large  part  of  the 
House  of  Peers  of  the  hourly -increas- 
ing agitation  out  of  doors,  that  it  is 
generally  thought,  by  those  best  ac- 
quainted with  the  feelings  of  that  as- 
sembly, that  if  the  vote  had  been  taken 
at  that  moment  the  Queen  would  have 
been  entirely  acquitted.  Mr  Brougham 
himself  intended  to  have  done  this, 
after  having  merely  presented  her  maid 
Mariette  Bron  for  examination.  But 
she  was  not  to  be  found  :  and  the  case 
went  on  with  most  able  arguments  by 
Mr  Denman  and  Mr  Williams,  fol- 
lowed by  evidence  led  at  great  length 
for  her  Majesty,  and  powerful  replies 
by  the  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General. 
The  speech  of  the  first  (Sir  Robert 
Gifford)  was  in  an  especial  manner 
effective — so  much  so,  that  upon  its 
appearance  in  the  newspapers,  the 
Radical  leaders  gave  up  the  case  for 
lost,  and  Cobbett  threw  off  100,000 
copies  of  an  answer  to  it.  It  was  not 
the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  which 
had  this  effect,  for  it  was  of  so  suspi- 
cious a  kind  that  little  reliance  could 
be  placed  on  it,  but  what  was  elicited, 
on  cross-examination,  from  the  Eng- 
lish officers  on  board  the  vessel  which 
conveyed  her  Majesty  to  the  Levant, 
men  of  integrity  and  honour,  of  whose 
testimony j  there  was  not  a  shadow  of 
suspicion.  Without  asserting  that  any 
of  them  proved  actual  guilt  against  her 
Majesty,  it  cannot  be  disputed  that 
they  established  against  her  an  amount 


of  levity  of  manner  and  laxity  of  ha- 
bits, which  rendered  her  unfit  to  be  at 
the  head  of  English  society,  and  amply 
justified  the  measures  taken  to  exclude 
her  from  it.  The  result  was,  that  on 
the  6th  November  the  second  reading 
of  the  bill  was  carried  by  a  majority 
of  28,  the  numbers  being  123  to  95, 
which  was  equivalent  to  a  finding  of 
guilty.  In  committee,  when  the  di- 
vorce clause  came  forward,  it  was  sus- 
tained by  a  majority  of  129  to  62,  the 
Opposition  having  nearly  all  voted  for 
the  clause,  with  the  view  of  defeating 
the  bill  in  its  last  stage.  This  proved 
successful ;  for  on  the  third  reading, 
on  10th  November,  the  majority  sank 
to  NINE,  the  numbers  being  108  to  99. 
Upon  this,  Lord  Liverpool  rose  and 
said,  that  with  so  slender  a  majority 
he  could  not  think  of  pressing  the  mea- 
sure farther,  and  withdrew  the  bill. 

88.  No  words  can  convey  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  general  transports 
which  prevailed  through  the  British 
Islands  when  the  intelligence  of  the 
withdrawal  of  the  bill  was  received. 
London  was  spontaneously,  though 
partially,  illuminated  for  three  suc- 
cessive nights — those  who  did  not  con- 
cur in  the  general  joy,  and  the}'  were 
many,  joining  in  the  festivity  from  a 
dread  of  the  sovereign  mob,  and  of  the 
instant  penalty  of  liaving  their  win- 
dows broken,  which  in  general  followed 
any  resistance  to  its  mandates.  Edin- 
burgh, Dublin,  Manchester,  Liverpool, 
and  all  the  great  towns,  followed  the 
example.  For  several  days  the  popu- 
lace in  all  the  cities  of  the  empire 
seemed  to  be  delirious  with  joy ;  no- 
thing had  been  seen  like  it  before,  since 
the  battle  of  Waterloo ;  nothing  ap- 
proaching to  it  after,  till  the  Reform 
Bill  was  passed.  Addresses  were  voted 
to  the  Queen  from  the  Common  Coun- 
cil of  London,  and  all  the  popular  con- 
stituencies in  the  kingdom ;  and  her 
residence  'in  London  was  surrounded 
from  daybreak  to  night  by  an  immense 
crowd,  testifying  in  their  usual  noisy 
way  the  satisfaction  they  felt  at  her 
victory.  Yet,  amidst  all  these  con- 
gratulations, the  position  of  her  Ma- 
jesty was  sensibly  deteriorated  even  by 
the  completeness  of  her  triumph. 


ISO 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


89.  Being  now  secure  of  her  posi- 
tion, and  independent  of  the  support 
of  the  populace,  she  ceased  to  court 
them,  and  this  speedily  cooled  their 
ardour  in  her  cause.    They  complained 
that  she  was  now  always  encircled  by 
a  coterie  of  Whig  ladies,  and  no  longer 
accessible  to  their  deputations.    When 
the  struggle  was  over  and  the  victory 
gained,  the  King  and  his  Ministers  de- 
feated, and  the  Queen  secured  in  her 
rank  and  fortune,  they  began  to  re- 
flect on  what  they  had  done,  and  the 
qualities  of  the  exalted  personage  of 
whom  they  had  proved   themselves 
such  doughty  champions.  They  called 
to  mind  the  evidence  in  the   case, 
which  they  had  little  considered  while 
the  contest  lasted,  and  they  observed, 
not  without  secret  misgivings,  the  ef- 
fect it  produced  on  the  different  classes 
of  society.     They  saw  that  the  expe- 
rienced hesitated  at  it,   the  serious 
shunned  it,  the  licentious  gloated  over 
it.   The  reaction  so  usual  in  such  cases, 
when  the  struggle  is  over,   ensued  ; 
and,  satisfied  with  having  won  the  vic- 
tory, they  began  to  regret  that  it  had 
not  been  gained  in  a  less  questionable 
cause.     As  has  often  been  the  case  in 
English  history,  old  feelings  revived 
when  recent  ones  were  satiated  ;  and, 
strange  to  say,  the  most  popular  years 
of   the    reign    of  George    IV.    were 
those  which  immediately  followed  the 
greatest  defeat  his  Government   had 
experienced.  * 

90.  The  Ministers,    however,   who 

*"The  Whig  faction  flocked  round  the 
Queen  directly  after  the  abandonment  of  the 
bill ;  and  her  lawyers,  who  now  called  them- 
selves her  constitutional  advisers,  belonged 
to  that  faction  who  thought  to  get  possession 
of  power  by  her  instrumentality,  she  having 
the  people  at  her  back.  But  the  people,  who 
hated  this  faction  more  than  the  other,  the 
moment  they  saw  it  about  her,  troubled  her 
with  no  more  addresses.  They  suffered  her 
to  remain  very  tranquil  at  Brandenburg 
House ;  the  faction  agitated  questions  con- 
cerning her  in  Parliament,  concerning  which 
the  people  cared  not  a  straw ;  what  she  was 
doing  soon  became  as  indifferent  to  them  as 
what  any  other  person  of  the  royal  family  was 
doing:  the  people  began  to  occupy  them- 
selves with  the  business  of  obtaining  a  Par- 
liamentary reform  ;  and  her  way  of  life,  and 
her  final  fate,  soon  became  objects  of  curiosity, 
much  more  than  interest,  with  the  people." 
— COBBETT'S  Life  of  George  IV.,  454. 


were  not  aware  of  the  commencement 
of  this  reactionary  feeling,  and  looked 
only  at  their  public  position  as  the 
King's  Government,  felt  most  acutely 
the  defeat  they  had  undergone.  It  all 
but  overturned  the  Administration ; 
with  men  of  less  nerve  and  resolution 
at  its  head,  it  unquestionably  would 
have  done  so.  But  Lord  Liverpool, 
Lord  Castlereagh,  and  Lord  Sidmouth 
resolved  to  remain  at  their  posts,  con- 
scious that  to  desert  their  Sovereign 
at  this  crisis  would  be  nothing  less 
than  for  his  generals  to  abandon  him 
in  the  day  of  battle.  They  were  well 
aware  that  they  were  at  the  moment 
the  most  unpopular  men  in  the  British 
dominions  ;  they  were  never  seen  in 
the  street  without  being  reviled  by  the 
mob ;  and  anonymous  letters  every 
day  threatened  them  with  death,  if 
the  proceedings  against  her  Majesty 
were  not  abandoned.  They  paid  no 
regard  to  these  threats,  and  walked  or 
drove  to  the  House  every  day  as  if 
nothing  had  occurred  ;  and  the  people, 
admiring  their  courage,  abstained  from 
actual  violence.*  Division,  as  might 
naturally  have  been  expected,  ensued 
in  the  Cabinet,  and  more  than  one  re- 
signation was  tendered  to  his  Majesty  ; 
but  one  only — that  of  Mr  Canning,  as 
President  of  the  Board  of  Control — 
was  accepted,  who  was  succeeded  by 
Mr  Bragge  Bathurst,  and  the  Govern- 
ment, as  a  body,  ventured  to  weather 
the  storm. 

91.  The  result  showed  that  they 
were  right,  and  had  not  miscalculated 

*  "  Matters  here  are  in  a  very  critical  state. 
Fear  and  faction  are  actively,  and  not  unsuc- 
cessfully, at  work ;  and  it  is  possible  we  may 
be  in  a  minority  and  the  fate  of  the  Govern- 
ment determined  in  a  very  few  days." — Lord 
SIDMOUTH  to  Mr  BATHURST,  27th  October 
1820.  "  I  cannot  describe  to  you  how  griev- 
ously I  suffer,  and  have  suffered,  on  account 
of  the  dangerous  and  deplorable  situation  in 
which  our  country,  the  King's  Government, 
and  indeed  all  of  us,  have  been  placed — a 
situation  from  which  I  profess  to  see  no 
satisfactory  or  safe  deliverance." — Ditto  to 
ditto,  2Sth  October  1820.  "  One  day,  at  tliia 
time,  when  Lords  Castlereagh  and  Sidmouth. 
were  walking  through  Parliament  Street,  they 
were  violently  hooted  at  by  the  mob.  '  Here 
we  go,'  said  Lord  Sidmouth.  '  the  two  most 
popularmen  in  England.'  'Yes,'  replied  Lord 
Castlereagh,  '  through  agrateful  and  admiring 
multitude.'  "—Life  of  Sidmouth,  iii.  330,  333. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


181 


the  effect  of  just  and  courageous  con- 
duct on  the  English  mind.  Though 
liable  to  occasional  fits  of  fervour, 
which  for  the  time  have  often  looked 
like  national  insanity,  the  English 
mind,  when  allowed  time  for  reflection, 
and  not  precluded  from  thinking  by 
the  pressure  of  suffering,  quickly  in 
general  regains  its  equilibrium,  and 
never  so  much  so  as  after  a  decisive 
victory.  In  the  present  instance,  the 
change  in  the  public  feeling  was  so 
rapid  and  remarkable,  that  it  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  King  himself,  and  his 
Ministers  felt  no  difficulty  in  meeting 
Parliament.*  Nor  is  it  surprising  that 
this  was  so  ;  for  reflection  soon  taught 
the  nation  that  their  zeal,  how  gener- 
ous and  honest  soever,  had  been  ex- 
erted on  an  unworthy  object ;  that  the 
Queen  was  by  no  means  the  immacu- 
late character  they  supposed ;  and  that, 
however  culpable  and  heartless  the 
King's  conduct  had  been  to  her  in  the 
outset  of  her  married  life,  latterly  at 
least  the  principal  fault  had  been  on 
her  side ;  in  truth,  also,  be  the  fault 
where  it  may.,  her  habits  abroad  had 
been  such  as  rendered  her  unfit  to  be 
placed  at  the  head  of  English  society. 
The  trial,  they  saw,  was  of  her  own 
seeking ;  she  was  offered  the  title  of 
Queen,  and  a  handsome  provision 
abroad ;  and  they  could  not  regard 
without  regret  the  enthusiasm  which 
had  prevailed  in  favour  of  a  woman 
whom  the  highest  court  in  the  king- 
dom, upon  evidence  the  force  of  which 
all  must  feel,  had  virtually  pronounced 
guilty.  The  battle  had  been  a  drawn 
one  :  the  people  could  pride  themselves 
on  their  victory,  the  Ministers  on  the 
evidence  by  which  they  had  justified 
their  proceedings ;  and  both  parties 
having  thus  something  to  gratify  their 
self-love,  their  mutual  irritation  was 
lessened,  and  reconciliation  resulted 

*  "  It  is  clear  beyond  dispute,  from  the 
improvement  of  the  public  mind,  and  the 
loyalty  which  the  country  is  now  everywhere 
displaying,  if  properly  cultivated  and  turned 
to  the  best  advantage  by  Ministers,  that  the 
Government  will  thereby  be  enabled  to  repair 
to  the  country  and  to  me  those  evils,  of  the 
magnitude  of  which  there  can  be  but  one 
opinion." — GEORGE  IV.  to  Lord  ELDON,  Jan. 
a,  IS11 ;  Twiss's  Life  of  Eldon,  ii.  413. 


from  a  proceeding  which  presaged  at 
first  irreparable  alienation. 

92.  Parliament  met,  after  being  pro- 
rogued in  the  end  of  November,  on  the 
23d  January,  and  Ministers  were  able 
to  congratulate  the  country  with  rea- 
son on  the  improved  condition  of  the 
people,  and  more  contented  temper  of 
the  public  mind.  In  truth,  the  change 
in  both  respects  was  most  remarkable ; 
and  Ministers,  who  had  anticipated  a 
narrow  division,  if  not  a  defeat,  on  the 
question  of  the  Queen,  and  their  con- 
duct in  regard  to  her,  were,  to  their 
surprise,  supported  by  large  majorities 
in  both  Houses,  which  on  6th  February 
rose  to  146  in  the  Commons.     This 
great  victory  in  a  manner  terminated 
the  contest  of  parties  on  that  painful 
subject.     It  was  now  evident  that  the 
long  proceedings  which  had  taken  place 
on  the  Queen's  trial,  and  the  weighty 
evidence  which  had  come  out  against 
her,  had  completely  changed  the  pub- 
lic opinion  on  the  subject,  and  that 
even  the  Radicals  must  look  out  for 
some  fresh  subject  of  complaint  in 
their  attempts  to  overturn  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

93.  Such  a  subject  would,  but  for 
the  manly  and  judicious  course  adopt- 
ed by  the  Government,  have  bean  af- 
forded  by  the   course  which  foreign 
affairs  had  taken  at  this  period.     The 
revolutions  in  Spain,  Portugal,  Naples, 
and   Piedmont,   and  the  ferment  in 
Germany, ]had  deeply  agitated  the  pub- 
lic mind.     It  was  hard  to  say  whether 
the  hopes  these  events  had  awakened 
in  one  party,  or  the  fears  in  another, 
were  most  preponderant.  All  observed, 
many  hoped,  some  feared,  from  them. 
The  Congresses  of  Laybach  and  Trop- 
pau,  of  which  an  account  has  already 
been  given,  which  had  been  assembled 
avowedly  to  consider  the   course  to 
be  adopted  by  the  great  Continental 
powers  in  regard  to  these  portentous 
events,  afforded  a  fertile  field  for  elo- 
quent declamation  on  the  part  of  the 
Liberal  leaders  ;  and  Lord  Grey  in  the 
Upper  House,  and  Sir  James  Mackin- 
tosh in  the  Lower,  in  moving  for  the 
production  of  papers  relative  to  these 
events,  took  occasion  to  inveigh  strong- 
ly against  the  dangerous  attempts,  evi- 


182 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


dently  making  by  the  Continental  pow- 
ers, to  stifle  the  growth  of  freedom, 
and  overturn  constitutional  monarchies 
in  all  the  lesser  states  around  them. 
Ministers  resisted  the  motion,  but  de- 
clared at  the  same  time  that  the  Eng- 
lish Government  were  no  parties  to 
these  congresses,  and  that  they  had 
officially  notified  to  the  powers  there 
assembled  their  dissent  from  the  prin- 
ciples and  right  of  interference  there 
advanced.  It  was  known  that  this 
statement  was  well  founded,  and  Par- 
liament, satisfied  with  having  obtained 
such  an  assurance  from  the  Govern- 
ment, and  with  the  strong  declaration 
of  English  feeling  from  the  Opposition, 
supported  Ministers  in  both  Houses  by 
large  majorities. 

94.  Sir  James  Mackintosh  continued 
in  this  Parliament,  as  he  had  done  in 
the  last,  his  able  and  indefatigable 
efforts  to  obtain  a  relaxation  of  the 
monstrous  severities  and  anomalies  of 
the  English  criminal  code.  His  in- 
creasing success,  though  not  unmixed 
with  checks,  demonstrated  that  public 
opinion  was  rapidly  changing  on  this 
important  subject,  and  that  the  time 
was  not  far  distant  when,  practically 
speaking,  the  punishment  of  death 
would  not  be  inflicted  in  any  case  ex- 
cept deliberate  murder,  in  which,  both 
on  the  authority  of  the  Divine  law  and 
every  consideration  of  human  justice, 
it  never  should  be  abrogated.  As 
this  blessed  change  has  now  (1853)  for 
above  ten  years  been  practically  in 
operation,  it  is  superfluous  to  enumer- 
ate all  the  steps  by  which  it  was  effect- 
ed. Suffice  it  to  say,  therefore,  that 
it  was  by  the  efforts  of  Sir  Samuel 
Romilly,  and  after  him  of  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  that  the  necessity  of  this 
great  reform  was  first  impressed  on 
the  public  mind,  and  by  the  adoption 
of  their  principles  by  Sir  Robert  Peel 
when  he  became  Home  Secretary,  that 
it  was  on  a  large  scale  carried  into 
effect.  The  only  thing  to  be  regretted 
is,  that  when  the  penalty  of  death  was 
so  justly  taken  away  for  so  many  of- 
fences, care  was  not  taken  at  the  same 
time  to  increase  the  certainty  and  en- 
large the  efficiency  of  secondary  pun- 
ishments ;  and  that  from  the  loug-con- 


[CHAP.  X. 

tinued  neglect  by  the  colonial  secre- 
taries of  the  obvious  expedient  of 
always  mingling,  in  due  proportion, 
the  streams  of  gratuitous  government, 
with  forced  penal  emigration,  the  coun- 
try has  in  a  great  measure  lost  the 
immense  advantage  it  might  otherwise 
have  derived  from  the  possession  of 
such  outlets  for  its  surplus  population 
and  dangerous  crime  ;  and  that  the 
colonies  have  been  led  to  regard  with 
horror,  and  strive  to  avert,  a  stream 
which,  duly  regulated,  might,  and  cer- 
tainly would,  have  been  hailed  as  the- 
greatest  possible  blessing. 

95.  Mr  Plunkett,  on  the  28th  Feb- 
ruary, brought  forward  a  motion  re- 
garding Roman  Catholic  Emancipa- 
tion, and  it  soon  became  evident,  that 
if  the  mantle  of  Romilly  had  descended 
on  Mackintosh,  that  of  Grattan  had 
fallen  on  the  shoulders  of  Plunkett. 
As  this  subject  will  be  fully  discussed 
in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  History, 
when  the  passing  of  Catholic  Emanci- 
pation is  narrated,  it  would  be  super- 
fluous to  give  the  arguments  advanced 
on  both  sides  ;  but  there  is  one  speech 
in  the  Commons,  and  one  in  the  Lords, 
from  which  brief  extracts  must  be- 
given,  from  the  importance  of  the  sen- 
timents which  they  conveyed.  Mr 
Canning  was  the  most  eloquent  sup- 
porter, Mr  Peel  the  most  determined 
opponent,  of  the  measure.  "  We  are," 
said  the  former,  "  in  the  enjoyment  of 
a  peace  achieved  in  a  great  degree  by 
Catholic  arms,  and  cemented  by  Ca- 
tholic blood.  For  three  centuries  we 
have  been  erecting  mounds,  not  to  as- 
sist or  improve,  but  to  thwart  nature  ; 
we  have  raised  them  high  above  the 
waters,  where  they  have  stood  for  many 
a  year  frowning  proud  defiance  on  all 
who  attempted  to  cross  them  ;  but,  in 
the  course  of  ages,  even  they  have  been 
nearly  broken  down,  and  the  narrow 
isthmus  now  formed  between  them 
stands  between 

'Two  kindred  seas, 

Wliich,  mounting,  viewed  each  other  from  afar, 
And  longed  to  meet.' 

Shall  we,  then,  fortify  the  mounds  which 
are  almost  in  ruins  ?  or  shall  we  leave- 
them  to  moulder  away  by  time  or  acci- 
dent ? — au  eventwhich, though  distant,. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


183 


must  happen,  and  which,  when  it  does, 
will  only  confer  a  thankless  favour — 
or  shall  we  at  once  cut  away  the  isth- 
mus that  remains,  and  float  on  the 
mingling  waves  the  ark  of  our  com- 
mon constitution  ?  " 

96.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  argu- 
ed by  Mr  Peel,  in  words  which  subse- 
quent events  have  rendered  prophetic : 
"I  do  not  concur  in  the  anticipation 
that  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics 
would  tend  to  re-establish  harmony  in 
the  State,  or  smooth  down  conflicting 
feelings.  I  do  not  wish  to  touch  pro- 
spectively  upon  the  consequences  of 
intemperate  struggles  for  power.  I  do 
not  wish  to  use  language  which  may 
be  construed  into  a  harsh  interpreta- 
tion of  the  acts  and  objects  of  men  who 
proceed  in  the  career  of  ambition.  But 
I  must  say  this  much,  that  if  Parlia- 
ment admits  an  equal  capacity  for  the 
possession  of  power  between  Protestant 
and  Catholic  in  this  respect,  they  will 
have  no  means  of  considering  the  state 
of  the  population,  of  securing  that 
equal  division  of  power  which  is,  in 
my  opinion,  essential  to  the  stability  of 
the  existing  form  of  government.  The 
struggle  between  the  Catholic  and 
Protestant  will  be  violent,  and  the 
issue  doubtful.  If  they  were  to  be 
sent  forth  together  as  rival  candidates, 
with  an  equal  capacity  for  direct  par- 
liamentary representation,  so  far  from 
seeing  any  prospect  of  the  alleviation 
of  points  of  political  differences,  I  can 
only  anticipate  the  revival  of  animosi- 
ties now  happily  extinct,  and  the  con- 
tinuance, in  an  aggravated  form,  of 
angry  discussions,  now  happily  gliding 
into  decay  and  disuse.  If,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  alteration  of  the  con- 
stitution, the  duration  of  Parliament 
should  be  reduced  from  seven  to  three 
years,  then  will  the  frequent  collision 
of  Catholic  and  Protestant  furnish  a 
still  greater  accession  of  violent  matter 
to  keep  alive  domestic  dissension  in 
every  form  in  which  it  can  be  arrayed, 
against  the  internal  peace  and  concord 
of  the  empire.  These  are  my  honest 
sentiments  upon  this  all  -  important 
question,  uninfluenced  by  any  motive 
but  an  ardent  anxiety  for  the  dura- 
bility of  our  happy  constitution." 


97.  This  debate  is  memorable  for 
one  circumstance  —  it  was  the  first 
occasion  on  which  a  majority  was  ob- 
tained for  Catholic  Emancipation.  Tho 
second  reading  was  carried  by  a  majo- 
rity of  11,  the  numbers  being  254  to 
243  ;  and  this  majority  was  increased, 
on  the  third  reading,  to  19,  the  num- 
bers being  216  to  197.  The  bill,  ac- 
cordingly, went  into  committee,  and 
passed  the  Commons ;  but  it  was  thrown 
out,  on  the  second  reading,  by  a  ma- 
jority of  39  in  the  House  of  Lords,  the 
numbers  being  159  to  120.  On  this 
occasion  the  Duke  of  York  made  a 
memorable  declaration  of  his  opinion 
on  this  subject.  "Educated,"  said  his 
Royal  Highness,  "in  the  principles  of 
the  Established  Church,  I  am  persuad- 
ed that  her  interests  are  inseparable 
from  those  of  the  constitution.  I  con- 
sider it  as  an  integral  part  of  the  con- 
stitution. The  more  I  hear  the  sub- 
ject discussed,  the  more  am  I  confirm- 
ed in  the  opinion  I  now  express.  Let 
it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  I  am 
an  enemy  to  toleration.  I  should  wish 
that  every  sect  should  have  the  free 
exercise  of  its  religion,  so  long  as  it 
does  not  affect  the  security  of  the  es- 
tablished, and  as  long  as  its  members 
remained  loyal  subjects.  But  there  is 
a  great  difference  between  allowing  the 
free  exercise  of  religion  and  the  grant- 
ing of  political  power.  My  opposition 
to  this  bill  arises  from  principles  which 
I  have  embraced  ever  since  I  have  been 
able  to  judge  for  myself,  and  which  I 
hope  I  shall  cherish  to  the  last  hour  of 
my  life. "  This  decisive  declaration  on 
the  part  of  the  heir  -  apparent  of  tho 
throne,  whose  early  accession  seemed 
likely  from  the  health  of  the  reigning 
Sovereign,  produced  a  very  great  im- 
pression, and  earned  the  popularity  of 
his  Royal  Highness  to  the  highest 
point.  He  became  the  object  of  en- 
thusiastic applause  at  all  the  political 
meetings  of  persons  attached  to  the 
Established  Church,  at  which  the  sin- 
gular coincidence  in  number  of  tho 
thirty-nine  peers  who  threw  out  tho 
bill  and  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  the 
Church  of  England,  never  failed  to  bo 
observed  on,  and  elicit  unbounded 
applause. 


184 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


98.  Lord  John  Russell,  about  the 
same  time,  brought  forward  a  bill  for 
a  gradual  and  safe  system  of  Parlia- 
mentary Reform.     It  was  founded  on 
resolutions,  that  there  were  great  com- 
plaints on  the  subject  of  the  represen- 
tation of  the  people  in  Parliament ;  that 
it  was  expedient  to  give  such  places  as 
had  greatly  increased  in  wealth  and 
population,  and  at  present  were  un- 
represented, the  right  of  sending  mem- 
bers to  serve  in  Parliament ;  and  that 
it  should  be  referred  to  a  committee  to 
consider  how  this  could  be  done,  with- 
out an  inconvenient  addition  to  the 
number  of  the  House  of  Commons ; 
and  that  all  charges  of  bribery  should 
be   effectually  inquired  into,  and,  if 
proved,  such  boroughs  should  be  dis- 
franchised.    The  motion  was  rejected 
by  a  majority  of  31,  the  numbers  being 
156  to  125  ;  but  the  increasing  strength 
of  the  minority,  as  well  as  weight  of 
the  names  of  which  it  was  composed, 
indicated  the  change  of  general  opinion 
on  the  subject,  and  might  have  warned 
the  supporters  of  the  existing  system 
of  the  necessity  of  consenting  to  a  safe 
and  prudent  reform,  if  anything  could 
convince  men  who  are  mainly  actuated 
by  the  desire  to  retain,  or  the  thirst  to 
obtain,  political  power. 

99.  The  various  branches  of  manu- 
factures, during  this  year,  exhibited  a 
marked  and  gratifying  improvement ; 
but  in  agriculture  the  prevailing  dis- 
tress was  not  only  unabated,  but  had 
become  greater  than  ever,  and,  in  truth, 
had  now  risen  to  such  a  height  that 
it  could  no  longer  be  passed  over  in 
silence.     On   7th  March,  Mr  Gooch 
brought  forward  a  motion  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  to  inquire 
into  agricultural  distress  ;  and  in  the 
course  of  the  debate,  Mr  Curwen  ob- 
served : ' '  In  the  nourishing  days  of  the 
empire,  the  income  of  the  nation  was 
£400,000,000,  and  the  taxation  was 
£80, 000,000  annually.    At  present  the 
income  is  only  £300,000,000,  yet  the 
taxation  is  nearly  the  same.     In  what 
situation  is  the  farmer  ?     The  average 
of  wheat,  if  properly  taken,  is  not  more 
than  62s.  a  quarter  ;  the  consequence 
of  which  is,  that  the  farmer  loses  3s.  by 
every  quarter  of  wheat  which  he  grows. 


On  the  article  of  wheat  alone,  the  agri- 
cultural interest  has  lost  £15,000.000, 
and  on  barley  and  oats  £15,000,000 
more.  In  addition  to  this,  the  value 
of  fanning  stock  has  been  diminished 
by  £10,000,000;  so  that  in  England 
alone  there  has  been  a  diminution  of 
£40,000,000  a-year.  The  diminution 
on  the  value  of  agricultural  produce 
in  Scotland  and  Ireland  cannot  be  less 
than  £15,000,000 ;  so  that  the  total 
loss  to  the  agriculturists  of  the  two 
islands  cannot  be  taken  at  less  than 
£55, 000, 000.  This  is  probably  a  quar- 
ter of  the  whole  value  of  their  pro- 
ductions ;  and  as  their  taxation  re- 
mains the  same,  it  has,  practically 
speaking,  been  increased  twenty  -  six 
per  cent  also."  The  truth  of  these 
statements,  how  startling  soever,  was 
so  generally  known,  that  Government 
yielded ;  and  a  committee  was  appoint- 
ed to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  agri- 
cultural distress,  which  made  a  most 
valuable  report  in  the  next  session  of 
Parliament. 

100.  Great  light  was  thrown  upon, 
the  causes  of  this  distress  in  a  debate 
which  took  place,  shortly  after,  on  a 
bill  of  little  importance,  introduced  by 
Government,  authorising  the  Bank,  if 
they  chose,  to  resume  cash  payments 
on  1st  May  1821,  instead  of  May  1822, 
as  had  been  provided  by  the  bill  of 
1819.  The  reason  assigned  by  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  for  giving 
the  Bank  this  option  was,  that  they 
had,  at  a  very  heavy  expense  to  them- 
selves, accumulated  a  large  treasure, 
and  that  the  paper  circulation  of  the 
country  had  been  so  much  contracted 
that  cash  payments  might  be  resumed 
with  safety.  He  stated  that,  "in 
June  1819,  the  issues  of  the  Bank 
amounted  to  £25,600,000  ;  and  they 
had  been  progressively  diminished,  till 
now  they  were  only  £24,000.000.  The 
country  bankers  had  drawn  in  their 
notes  in  a  still  greater  proportion. 
Above  four  millions  had  been  with- 
drawn from  the  circulation  in  less  than 
two  years— a  state  of  things  which 
amply  justifies  the  present  proposal  to 
give  the  Bank  the  option  of  issuing 
gold  coin,  if  they  thought  fit,  a  year 
sooner  than  by  law  provided." 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


185 


101.  The  effects  of  the  contraction 
of  the  currency,  thus  made  the  subject 
of  boast  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, were  thus  stated  by  Mr  Bar- 
ing in  the  same  debate  :  "In  looking 
at  this  question,  it  is  very  material  to 
consider  what  is  the  state  of  the  coun- 
try in  this  the  sixth  year  of  peace. 
Petitions  are  coming  in  from  all  quar- 
ters, remonstrating  against  the  state  of 
suffering  in  which  so  many  classes  are 
unhappily  involved,  and  none  more 
than   the   agricultural   class.      When 
such  is  the  state  of  the  country  in  the 
sixth  year  of  peace,  and  when  all  the 
idle  stories  about  over-production  and 
under-consumption,  and  suchlike  trash, 
have  been  swept  away,  it  is  natural  to 
inquire  into  the  state  of  a  country 
placed  in  a  situation  without  a  paral- 
lel in  any  other  nation  or  time.     No 
country  before  ever  presented  the  con- 
tinuance of  so  extraordinary  a  spec- 
tacle as  that  of  living  under  a  progres- 
sive increase  in  the  value  of  money, 
and  decrease  in  the  value  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  people.     It  appears 
clear  that,  from  the  operations  of  the 
altered  currency,  we  have  loaded  our- 
selves, not  only  with  an  immense  pub- 
lic debt,  but  also  with  an  increased 
debt  between  individual  and  indivi- 
dual, the  weight  of  which  continues  to 
press  upon  the  country,   and  to  the 
continuance  of  which  pressure  no  end 
can  be  seen. 

102.  "  The  real  difficulty  is  to  meet 
the  increased  amount  of  debts  of  every 
sort,  public  and  private,  produced  by 
the  late  change  in  the  currency.    It  is 
an  observation  than  which  nothing  can 
be  more  true,  that  an  alteration  in  the 
value  of  the  currency  is  what  nobody, 
not  even  the  wisest,  generally  perceive. 
They  talk  of  alteration  in  the  price  of 
bread  and  provisions,  never  reflecting 
that  the  alteration  is  not  in  the  value 
of  these  articles,  but  in  that  of  the 
currency  in  which  they  are  paid.     To 
talk  of  the  alteration  of  the  value  of 
money  being  three,  five,  or  six  per  cent, 
is  mere  trifling.    What  we  now  are  wit- 
nessing is  the  exact  converse  of  what 
occurred  during  the  war,  from  the  en- 
larged issue  of  paper,   and  over  the 
whole  world  from  the  discovery  of  the 


mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  The  mis- 
fortune is,  in  reference  to  agriculture, 
that  what  is  a  remunerating  price  at 
one  time  becomes  quite  the  reverse  at 
another.  Formerly  it  was  thought 
that  56s.  a  quarter  was  a  remunerat- 
ing price,  but  that  is  not  the  case  now. 
What  is  the  reason  of  that  ?  It  is  oc- 
casioned by  the  altered  currency,  and 
by  the  produce  of  this  country  com- 
ing into  contact  with  the  commodities 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  at  a  time 
when  the  taxes,  debts,  and  charges 
which  the  farmer  has  to  meet  have 
undergone  no  alteration.  His  products 
did  not  bring  their  former  price,  while 
his  private  debts  remained  at  their 
original  amount.  Besides  this,  there 
is  the  great  mortgage  of  the  National 
Debt,  which  sweeps  over  the  whole 
country,  and  renders  it  impossible  for 
the  farmer  to  live  on  prices  which  for- 
merly were  considered  a  fair  remune- 
ration. The  difficulties  of  the  country, 
then,  arise  from  this,  that  you  have 
brought  back  your  currency  to  its  for- 
mer value,  so  far  as  regards  your  in- 
come ;  but  it  remains  at  its  former 
value,  so  far  as  regards  your  ex- 
penditure." Weighty,  indeed,  are 
these  remarks,  which  subsequent 
events  have  so  fully  confirmed,  and 
which  came  then  from  the  first  mer- 
chant in  the  world,  who  afterwards 
conferred  honour  on,  instead  of  re- 
ceiving it  from,  the  title  of  Ashbur- 
ton. 

103.  The  increased  weight  of  debts 
and  taxes,  coinciding  with  the  dimi- 
nished incomes  arising  from  the  con- 
tracted currency,  produced  its  natural 
and  usual  effect  in  inducing  an  addi- 
tional pressure  on  Government  for  the 
reduction  of  taxation.  Mr  Hume 
brought  this  subject  before  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  the  whole  finances  of 
the  country  underwent  a  more  tho- 
rough investigation  than  they  had  ever 
previously  done.  His  labours  embraced 
chiefly  the  expenses  of  the  offices  con- 
nected with  the  army,  navy,  and  ord- 
nance departments  ;  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  he  rendered  good  ser- 
vice by  exposing  many  abuses  that  ex- 
isted in  these  departments ;  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  inquire  into 


188 


HISTOEY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


the  subject.*  In  consequence  of  the 
universal  complaint  of  agricultural  dis- 
tress, Mr  Western  brought  forward  a 
bill  to  repeal  the  malt  duties,  which 
•was  carried,  on  the  first  reading,  by  a 
majority  of  24,  the  numbers  being  149 
to  125.  It  was  thrown  out,  however, 
on  the  second  reading  ;  and  so  produc- 
tive is  this  tax,  and  so  widely  is  its 
weight  diffused  over  the  community, 
that  its  repeal  has  never  yet  been  car- 
ried. The  majority  on  the  leave  to 
bring  in  the  bill,  however,  was  an  omin- 
ous circumstance,  characteristic  of  the 
depression  of  the  agricultural  interest ; 
and  Ministers  were  so  impressed  with 
it  that  they  deemed  it  expedient  to 
yield  on  a  subordinate  point,  and  the 
agricultural  horse-tax  was  accordingly 
repealed  this  session. 


104.  The  committee  on  agricultural 
distress  presented  their  report  on  18th 
June.  It  was  a  most  elaborate  and 
valuable  document,  as  it  bore  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  established  before  the 
committee,  that  "  the  complaints  of 
the  petitioners  were  founded  in  fact, 
in  so  far  as  they  represented  that,  at 
the  present  price  of  corn,  the  returns 
to  the  owners  of  occupied  land,  after 
allowing  growers  the  interest  of  invest- 
ments, were  by  no  -means  adequate  to 
the  charges  and  outgoings;  but  that 
the  committee,  after  a  long  and  anx- 
ious inquiry,  had  not  been  able  to  dis- 
cover any  means  calculated  immedi- 
ately to  relieve  the  present  distress. "  •(* 
It  is  by  no  means  surprising  that  it 
was  so  ;  for  as  their  difficulties  all 
arose  from  the  contraction  of  the  cur- 


*  The  returns  obtained  by  Mr  Hume  presented  the  following  comparative  statement  of 
the  British  army,  exclusive  of  the  troops  in  India,  in  1792  and  1821  respectively,  viz.  : — 


1792. 

Hen. 

Regulars  in  Great  Britain — %  ,-  ola 

Cavalry  and  Infantry,        J    •        •  10>9la 

Do.  Ireland, 12,000 

Colonies 17,323 

Artillery, 3,730 

Marines 4,425 


Total  regulars, 
Militia  disembodied, . 


53,397 
33,410 
86,807 


1S21. 

Regulars  in  Great  Britain  —  \ 
Cavalry  and  Infantry,        / 
Do.  Ireland  ...... 

Do.  Colonies,          .... 

Artillery,         ..... 

Marines,          ..... 

Colonial  troops  —  Cape,  .        .        . 

Do.  Ceylon,       .        . 

Recruiting  Establishment,     .        . 

Total  regulars,    .        . 

Disembodied  militia  —  England,     . 
Do.  Ireland,    ..... 

Yeomanry—  Great  Britain,     .        . 
Do.  Ireland  ...... 

Volunteer  infantry,         .        .        . 

Great  Britain  —  Veterans  disein-  \ 

bodied,  .      / 

East  India  Company's  regiment,    . 


«.-.  __„ 

20,778 

32,476 

7,872 

8,000 

452 

3,606 

497 

101,539 

55,092 
22,472 
36,294 
30,786 
6,934 


750 


Total  irregulars,         .      162,32? 
Grand  Total,       .        .      263,867 
—  Parl.  Papers,  No.  363,  1821  ;  Parl.  Deb.,  v.  1362. 

t  "  So  far  as  the  pressure  arises  from  superabundant  harvests,  it  is  beyond  the  application 
of  any  legislative  provision  :  so  far  as  it  is  the  result  of  the  increased  value  of  money, 
it  is  not  one  peculiar  to  the  farmer,  but  extends  to  many  other  classes.  That  result,  how- 
ever, is  the  more  severely  felt  by  the  tenant,  in  consequence  of  its  coincidence  with  an  over- 
stocked market.  The  departure  from  our  ancient  standard,  in  proportion  as  it  was  preju- 
dicial to  all  creditors  of  money,  and  persons  dependent  on  a  fixed  income,  was  a  benefit  to 
the  active  capital  of  the  country  ;  and  the  same  classes  have  been  oppositely  affected  by 
a  return  to  that  standard.  The  restoration  of  it  has  also  embarrassed  the  landholder,  in  pro- 
portion as  his  estate  has  been  encumbered  with  mortgages,  and  other  fixed  payments  as- 
signed on  it  during  the  depreciation  of  the  currency.  The  only  alleviation  for  this  evil  is 
to  be  looked  for  in  such  a  gradual  reduction  of  the  rate  of  interest  as  may  lighten  the  bur- 
dens on  the  landed  interest.  At  present  the  annual  produce  of  corn,  the  growth  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  is,  upon  an  average  crop,  equal  to  our  present  consumption,  and  that,  with 
such  an  average  crop,  the  present  import  prices,  below  which  foreign  corn  is  by  law  alto- 
gether excluded,  are  fully  sufficient,  more  especially  since  the  change  in  the  currency,  to 
secure  to  the  British  farmer  the  complete  monopoly  of  the  home  market.  The  change  in  tha 


I 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


187 


rency,  it  was  impossible  they  could  be 
removed  till  that  contraction  was  alle- 
viated, a  thing  which  the  great  majo- 
rity of  the  Legislature  was  resolved  not 
to  do.  It  is  remarkable  that  at  the 
vcrv  same  time  Lord  Liverpool  demon- 
strated in  the  House  of  Lords,  that  the 
general  consumption  of  the  country, 
in  articles  of  comfort  and  luxury,  had 
considerably  increased  in  the  last  year.* 
This  fact  is  important,  as  affording  an 
illustration  of  the  observation  already 
made  as  to  the  eternal  law  of  nature, 
that  the  division  of  labour  and  im- 
provement of  machinery,  capable  of 
indefinite  application  to  manufactur- 
ing industry,  have  no  tendency  to 
cheapen  the  production  of  the  subsist- 
ence of  man,  and  consequently  that 
the  first  and  the  last  to  suffer  from  a 
contraction  of  the  currency,  and  en- 
hancement of  the  value  of  money,  are 
the  classes  engaged  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil. 

105.  This  long-continued  and  most 
severe  depression  in  the  price  of  agri- 
cultural produce,  coupled  with  the  re- 
iterated refusals  of  Parliament  to  do 
anything  for  their  relief,  at  length 
came  to  produce  important  political 
effects.  It  spread  far  and  wide  among 
the  landowners  and  fanners,  who  in 
every  age  had  been  the  firmest  sup- 
porters of  the  throne,  the  conviction 
that  they  were  not  adequately  repre- 
sented in  Parliament,  and  that  no  re- 
value of  our  money  is  virtually  an  advance 
upon  our  import  prices;  and  the  result  of 
every  such  advance,  supposing  prices  not  to 
undergo  a  corresponding  rise  in  other  coun- 
tries, must  but  expose  this  country  to  greater 
and  more  grievous  fluctuations  in  price,  and 
the  business  of  the  fanner  to  greater  fluctua- 
tion and  uncertainty.  Protection  cannot  be 
carried  farther  than  monopoly,  which  the  Brit- 
ish farmer  has  completely  enjoyed  for  the  last 
two  harvests— the  ports  having  been  almost 
constantly  shut  against  foreign  imports  dur- 
ing thirty  months. " — Commons'  Report,  June 
18, 1821 ;  Parl.  Deb.,  v.  81,  Appendix. 


*  Beer,  barrels,          5,356,000 

5,599,000 

Candles,  lb., 

79,810,000 

88,350,000 

Malt, 

23,289,000 

24,511,000 

Salt,  . 

1,936,000 

1,981,000 

N>;ii>,  lb., 

69,474,000 

73,765,000 

Spirits, 

5,047,000 

6,575,000 

Tr;i,   . 

22,186,000 

22,542,000 

tiugar, 

3,117,000 

3,413,000 

—  Ann.  Key.  1821,  73. 

lief  from  their  sufferings  could  be  an- 
ticipated, until,  by  a  change  in  the 
composition  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
their  voice  was  brought  to  bear  more 
directly  and  powerfully  upon  the  mea- 
sures of  Government.  Everything  was 
favourable ;  all  the  world  was  at  peace ; 
trade  had  revived ;  the  seasons  were 
fine  ;  importation  was  prohibited,  and 
had  ceased.  Nevertheless  prices  were 
so  low  that  it  was  evident  that  a  few 
more  such  years  would  exhaust  all 
their  capital,  and  reduce  them  to  beg- 
gary. Reform  had  become  indispen- 
sable, if  they  would  avoid  ruin.  Now, 
accordingly,  for  the  first  time,  the  de- 
sire for  parliamentary  reform  spread 
from  the  towns,  where  it  had  hitherto 
prevailed,  to  the  rural  districts,  and 
gave  token  of  an  important  change  in 
this  respect  in  the  landed  interest ;  and 
the  ablest  of  the  historians  of  the  time 
in  the  Radical  interest  has  borne  tes- 
timony to  the  fact  that,  but  for  the 
change  in  the  currency,  the  alteration 
of  the  constitution  never  could  have 
taken  place.* 

*  "  In  the  beginning  of  1822,"  says  Miss 
Martineau,  "  every  branch  of  manufacturing 
industry  was  in  a  flourishing  state ;  but  agri- 
culture was  depressed,  and  complaints  were 
uttered  at  many  county  meetings,  both  be- 
fore and  after  the  meeting  of  Parliament. 
These  incessant  groanipgs,  wearisome  to  the. 
ears,  and  truly  distressing  to  the  hearts,  were 
not  borne  idly  to  the  winds.  The  complainers 
did  not  obtain  from  Parliament  the  aid  which 
they  desired,  but  they  largely  advanced  the 
cause  of  parliamentary  reform.  If  the  agricul- 
tural interest  had  been  in  a  high  state  of  pros- 
perity from  1820  to  1830,  the  great  question  of 
reform  in  Parliament  mitft  have  remained  much, 
longer  afloat  than  it  actually  did,  from  the 
inertness  or  opposition  of  the  agricultural 
classes,  who,  as  it  was,  were  sufficiently  dis- 
contented with  Parliament  to  desire  a  change. 
Extraordinary  as  this  may  appear,  when  we- 
look  only  to  the  preponderance  of  the  landed 
interest  in  the  House  at  that  time,  we  shall 
find,  on  looking  abroad  through  the  country, 
that  it  was  so.  Such  politicians  as  Cobbett 
presented  themselves  among  the  discontented 
farmers,  and  preached  to  them  about  the. 
pressure  of  the  debt,  a  bad  system  of  tax- 
ation, a  habit  of  extravagant  expenditure, 
and  of  a  short  method  of  remedying  these 
evils  by  obtaining  a  better  constitution  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  It  was  no  small 
section  of  the  agricultural  classes  that  assist- 
ed in  carrying  the  question  at  last ;  and  if 
would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  of 
that  order  of  reformers  obtained  their  con- 
victions through  the  distress  of  these  years." 
— MARTINEAU 's  Thirty  Years  of  Peace,  i.  267, 


188 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


106.  Lord  Castlereagh,  to  whom  the 
mutability  of  the  populace  was  well 
known,  had  prophesied,  at  the  close  of 
the  proceedings  against  the  Queen,  that 
' '  in  six  months  the  King  would  be  the 
most  popular  man  within  his  domin- 
ions. "  This  prediction  was  verified  to 
the  letter.  The  symptoms  of  return- 
ing popularity  were  so  evident,  that 
his  Majesty,  contrary  to  his  inclination 
and  usual  habits,  was  prevailed  on  by 
his  Ministers  to  appear  frequently  in 
public,  both  in  the  parks  and  principal 
theatres,  on  which  occasions  he  was 
received  with  unbounded  applause. 
This  favourable  appearance  induced 
Government  to  determine  on  carrying 
into  effect  the  coronation,  which  had 
been  originally  fixed  for  August  in  the 
preceding  year,  but  had  been  post- 
poned in  consequence  of  the  proceed- 
ings against  the  Queen,  and  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  the  public  mind  which 
•ensued.  Her  Majesty,  who  was  not 
-aware  that  her  popularity  had  declined 
as  rapidly  as  that  of  her  royal  spouse 
had  increased,  was  so  imprudent  as  to 
prefer  a  claim,  both  to  the  King  and 
the  Privy  Council,  to  be  crowned  at 
the  same  time  as  Queen-Consort.  The 
Council,  however,  determined  that  she 
was  not  entitled  to  demand  it  as  a  mat- 
ter of  right,  and  that  in  the  circum- 
stances they  were  not  called  on  to  con- 
cede it  as  a  matter  of  courtesy;  and 
her  demand  was  in  consequence  re- 
fused. Upon  this  the  Queen  applied 
to  the  Duke  of  Xorfolk,  as  Earl- Mar- 
shal of  England,  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  for  a  place  in  the  Ab- 
bey at  the  coronation  ;  but  as  they 
were  subject  to  the  King  in  Council  in 
this  matter,  the  petition  was  of  course 
refused,  though  in  the  most  courteous 
manner.  Upon  this  her  Majesty  de- 
clared her  resolution  to  appear  person- 
ally at  the  coronation,  and  deliver  her 

At  that  period  the  author,  whose  head  was 
then  more  full  of  academical  studies  than 
-political  speculations,  frequently  stated  it  in 
•company  as  a  problem  in  algebra,  easy  of  so- 
lution, "  Given  the  Toryism  of  a  landed  pro- 
prietor, required  to  find  the  period  of  want  of 
rents  which  will  reduce  him  to  a  Radical  re- 
former." He  little  thought  then  what  mo- 
mentous consequences  to  his  country  and  the 
"world  were  to  ensue  from  the  solution  of  the 
problem. 


protest  into  the  King's  own  hand. 
This  determination,  being  known,  dif- 
fused a  general  apprehension  that  a 
riot  would  ensue  on  the  occasion  ;  and 
to  such  a  degree  did  the  panic  spread, 
that  places  to  see  the  procession,  which 
previously  had  been  selling  for  ten 
guineas,  were  to  be  had  on  the  mom- 
ing  of  the  ceremony  for  half-a-crown, 
and  all  the  troops  in  London  and  the 
vicinity  were  assembled  near  "West- 
minster Abbey  to  preserve  the  peace. 

107.  The  ceremony  took  place  ac- 
cordingly, but  it  soon  appeared  that 
the  precautions  and  apprehensions  were 
alike  groundless.  This  coronation  was 
memorable,  not  only  for  the  unparal- 
leled magnificence  of  the  dresses,  de- 
corations, and  arrangements  made  on 
the  occasion,  but  for  this  circumstance 
— it  was  the  LAST  where  the  gorgeous 
but  somewhat  grotesque  habiliments 
of  feudal  times  appeared,  or  will  ever 
appear,  in  the  realm  of  England.  All 
that  the  pomp  of  modern  times  could 
produce,  or  modern  wealth  purchase, 
joined  to  the  magnificence  of  ancient 
costume,  were  there  combined,  and  with 
the  most  imposing  effect.  The  proces- 
sion, which  moved  from  the  place  where 
it  was  marshalled  in  Westminster  Hall 
to  the  Abbey ;  the  ceremony  of  corona- 
tion within  the  Abbey  itself,  which  had 
seen  so  many  similar  pageants  from 
the  earliest  days  of  English  story ;  the 
splendid  banquet  in  the  Hall,  where 
the  Champion  of  England,  in  full  ar- 
mour, rode  in,  threw  down  his  gaunt- 
let to  all  who  challenged  the  King's 
title,  and  backed  his  harnessed  steed 
out  of  the  Hall  without  turning  on  his 
Sovereign,  were  all  exhibited  with  the 
most  overpowering  magnificence.  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  whose  mind  was  so 
fraught  with  chivalrous  images,  has 
declared  that  "a  ceremony  more  august 
and  imposing  in  all  its  parts,  or  more 
calculated  to  make  the  deepest  impres- 
sion both  on  the  eye  and  the  feelings, 
cannot  possibly  be  conceived.  The  ex- 
pense, so  far  as  it  is  national  or  per- 
sonal, goes  directly  and  instantly  to 
the  encouragement  of  the  British  man- 
ufacturer. It  operates  as  a  tax  on 
wealth,  and  consideration  for  the  bene- 
fit of  poverty  and  industry — a  tax  will- 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


189 


ingly  paid  by  one  class,  and  not  less 
acceptable  to  the  other,  because  it  adds 
a  happy  holiday  to  the  monotony  of  a 
life  of  labour." 

108.  lien  whose  names  have  become 
immortal,    walked  —  some   of   them, 
alas  !  for  the  last  time — in  that  magni- 
ficent pageant.     There  was  Welling- 
ton, who  grasped  in  his  hand  the  baton 
won  on  the  field  of  Vittoria,  who  bore 
by  his  side  the  sword  which  struck 
down  Napoleon  on  the  plains  of  Wa- 
terloo, and  whose  Roman  countenance, 
improved  but   not   yet  dimmed  by 
years,  bespoke  the  lofty  cast  of  his 
mind  ;  there  Lord  Castlereagh,  who 
had  recently  succeeded  to  the  title  of 
Londonderry,  in  the  magnificent  robes 
of  the  Garter,  with  his  high  plumes, 
fine  face,  and  majestic  person,  appeared 
a  fitting  representative  of  the  Order  of 
Edward  III.  ;  and  there  was  the  So- 
vereign, the  descendant  of  the  founder 
of  the  Garter,  whose  air  and  counten- 
ance, though  almost  sinking  under  the 
weight  of  magnificence  and  jewels,  re- 
vealed his  high  descent,  and  evinced 
the  still  untarnished  blood  of  the  Plan- 
tagenets  and  Stuarts.    Nor  was  female 
beauty  wanting  to  grace  the  splendid 
spectacle,  for  all  the  noblest  and  fair- 
est of  the  nobility  of  England,  the  most 
lovely  race  in  the  world,  were  there, 
and  added  the  lustre  of  their  diamonds, 
and  the  still  brighter  lustre  of  their 
eyes,  to  the  enchantment  of  the  match- 
less scene. 

109.  But  the  first  and  highest  lady 
in  the  realm  was  not  there ;  and  the  dis- 
appointment she  experienced  at  being 
refused  admittance  was  one  cause  of  her 
death,  which  soon  after  ensued.     The 
Queen,  with  that  resolution  and  in- 
domitable spirit  which,  for  good  or  for 
evil,  has  ever  been  the  characteristic 
of  her  race,  though  refused  a  ticket, 
resolved  to  force  her  way  into  the  Ab- 
bey, and  witness,  at  least,  if  she  was 
not  permitted  to  take  part  in,  the 
ceremony.     She  came  to  the  door,  ac- 
cordingly, in  an  open  barouche,  drawn 
by  six  beautiful  bays,  accompanied  by 
Lord  and  Lady  Hood  and  Lady  Anne 
Hamilton,  and  was  loudly  cheered  by 
the  populace  as  she  passed  along  the 
streets.     When  she  approached  the 


Abbey,  however,  some  cries  of  an  op- 
posite description  were  heard  ;  and 
and  when  she  arrived  at  the  door,  she 
was  respectfully,  but  firmly,  refused 
admittance  by  the  doorkeeper,  who 
had  the  painful  duty  imposed  on  him 
of  denying  access  to  his  Sovereign.  She 
retired  from  the  door,  after  some  alter- 
cation, deeply  mortified,  amidst  cries 
from  the  people,  some  cheers,  but 
others  which  proved  how  much  general 
opinion  had  changed  in  regard  to  her. 
Such  was  the  chagrin  she  experienced 
from  this  event,  that,  combined  with 
an  obstruction  of  the  bowels  that  soon 
after  seized  her,  mortification  ensued, 
which  terminated  fatally  in  little  more 
than  a  fortnight  afterwards.  The  rul- 
ing passion  appeared  strong  in  death. 
She  ordered  that  her  remains  should 
not  be  left  in  England,  but  carried  to 
her  native  land,  and  buried  beside  her 
ancestors,  with  this  inscription,  ' '  Hero 
lies  Caroline  of  Brunswick,  the  injured 
Queen  of  England." 

110.  Before  the  death  of  the  Queen 
was  known,  the  King  had  made  pre- 
parations for  a  visit  to  Ireland,  and  it 
was  not  thought  proper  to  interrupt 
them.  On  Saturday  llth  August,  his 
Majesty  embarked  at  Holyhead,  and 
on  the  following  afternoon  landed  at 
Howth  in  the  Bay  of  Dublin,  where- 
he  was  received  with  the  loudest  ac- 
clamations, and  the  most  heartfelt 
demonstrations  of  loyalty,  by  that 
warm-hearted  and  easily-excited  peo- 
ple. They  escorted  him  with  the  most 
tumultuous  acclamations  to  the  vice- 
regal lodge,  from  the  steps  of  which 
he  thus  addressed  them  :  "  Tliis  is  one 
of  the  happiest  days  of  my  life.  I 
have  long  wished  to  visit  you.  My 
heart  has  always  been  Irish  :  from  the- 
day  it  first  beat,  I  loved  Ireland,  and 
this  day  has  shown  me  that  I  am  be- 
loved by  my  Irish  subjects.  Rank, 
station,  honours,  are  nothing ;  but  to 
feel  that  I  live  in  the  hearts  of  my 
Irish  subjects,  is  to  me  exalted  happi- 
ness." These  felicitous  expressions 
diffused  universal  enchantment,  and, 
combined  with  the  graceful  condescen- 
sion and  dignified  affability  of  man- 
ner which  the  Sovereign  knew  so  well 
to  exhibit  when  inclined  to  do  sc, 


190 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


roused  the  loyalty  of  the  people  to  a 
perfect  enthusiasm.  For  the  week 
that  he  remained  there,  his  life  was  a 
continued  triumph :  reviews,  theatres, 
spectacles,  and  entertainments,  suc- 
ceeded one  another  in  brilliant  suc- 
cession ;  and  after  a  short  sojourn  at 
Slanes  Castle,  the  seat  of  the  Marquess 
of  Conyngham,  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, and  soon  after  paid  a  visit  to 
Hanover,  where  he  was  received  in  the 
same  cordial  and  splendid  manner. 

111.  The  funeral  of  the  Queen  took 
place  on  the  14th  August,  at  the  very 
time  when  the  King  was  receiving  the 
impassioned  demonstrations  of  loyalty 
on  the  part  of  his  Irish  subjects  ;  and 
it  caused  a  painful  and  discreditable 
scene,  which  led  to  the  dismissal  of 
one  of  the  most  gallant  officers  in  the 
English  army  from  the  service  which 
his  valour  and  conduct  had  so  long 
adorned.  It  had  been  directed  by  her 
Majesty  that  her  body,  as  already 
mentioned,  should  be  taken  to  Bruns- 
wick to  be  interred.  Anxious  to  avoid 
any  rioting  or  painful  occurrence  in 
conveying  the  body  from  Brandenburg 
House,  where  she  died,  to  the  place 
where  it  was  to  be  embarked,  Harwich 
in  Essex,  Ministers  had  directed  that 
the  hearse  which  conveyed  the  body, 
with  attendants  suitable  to  her  rank, 
should  proceed  by  a  circuitous  route 
through  the  north  suburbs  of  London 
and  the  new  road  to  Islington.  The 
•direct  road  to  Harwich,  however,  lay 
through  the  city  ;  and  the  people  were 
resolved  that  the  procession  should  go 
that  way,  that  they  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  testifying  their  respect 
to  the  illustrious  deceased.  As  the 
orders  of  the  persons  intrusted  with 
the  direction  of  the  procession  were  to 
go  the  other  way,  and  they  attempted 
to  do  so,  the  populace  formed  in  a  close 
column  twenty  deep,  across  the  road 
at  Cumberland  Gate,  and  after  a  severe 
conflict,  both  there  and  at  Tottenham 
Court  Road,  in  the  course  of  which 
two  men  were  unfortunately  killed  by 
shots  from  the  Life-Guards,  the  pro- 
cession was  fairly  forced  into  the  line 
which  the  people  desired,  and  pro- 
ceeded through  the  city  in  great  pomp, 
amidst  an  immense  crowd  of  specta.- 


tors,  with  the  Lord  Mayor  and  civic 
authorities  at  its  head,  the  bells  all 
tolling,  and  the  shops  shut. 

112.  The  procession   reached  Har- 
wich without  further  interruption,  and 
the  unhappy  Queen  was  at  length  in- 
terred at  Brunswick  on  August  23d. 
But  the  occurrence  in  London  led  to 
a  melancholy  result  in  Great  Britain. 
Sir  Robert  Wilson,  who  had  remon- 
strated with  the  military  on  occasion 
of  this  affray,  from  motives  of  human- 
ity, and  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
procession,  though  not  in  the  riot,  and 
the  police  magistrate  who  had  yielded 
to  the  violence  of  the  populace,  and 
changed  the  direction  of  the  proces- 
sion,  were  both  dismissed,  the  first 
from  the  service,  the  last  from  his  sit- 
uation. However  much  all  must  regret 
that  so  gallant  and  distinguished  an 
officer  as  Sir  Robert  Wilson  should 
have  been  lost,  even  for  a  time,  to  the 
British  army,  no  right-thinking  per- 
son can  hesitate  as  to  the  propriety  of 
this  step.     Obedience  is  the  first  duty 
of  the  armed  force  :  it  acts,  but  should 
never  deliberate.      He  who  tries  to 
make  soldiers  forget  their  duty  to  their 
sovereign,  or  sets  the  example  of  doing 
so,  fails  in  his  duty  to  his  King,  but 
still  more  to  his  country  ;  for  the  cause 
of  freedom  has  been  often  thrown  back, 
but  never  yet  was,  in  the  end,  pro- 
moted, by  military  revolt ;  and  it  was 
not  a  time  to  provoke  such  a  catas- 
trophe in  Great  Britain,  when  mili- 
tary revolution  had  just  proved  so  fatal 
to  the  cause  of  liberty  not  less  than  of 
order  in  southern  Europe.* 

113.  Notwithstanding  the  fa vourablo 
state  of  general  feeling  in  the  country, 
and  the  improved  condition  of  the  man- 
ufacturing classes,  Ministers  felt  that 
their  position  was  insecure,  and  that 

*  Sir  R.  Wilson  •was  afterwards  restored  to 
his  rank  in  the  army,  and  was  for  some  years 
Governor  of  Gibraltar.  It  is  due  to  the  mem- 
ory of  this  distinguished  and  gallant  soldier 
to  say,  that  his  friends  assert  that  the  worda 
which  he  spoke  to  the  military  on  this  un- 
happy occasion  were  such  as  urged  them  to 
forbearance  and  temper  only  towards  the 
populace,  and  by  no  means  calculated  to 
shake  their  allegiance  to  their  Sovereign ;  and 
his  chivalrous  character,  notwithstanding  1  ' 
party  zeal,  leads  the  author  to  believe  tt 
this  was  really  the  fact. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


191 


it  was  highly  desirable  to  obtain  some 
further  accession  of  strength,  both  in 
the  Cabinet  and  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  continued  and  deep  distress  of  the 
agricultural  interest  had  not  only  led 
to  several  close  divisions  in  the  preced- 
ing session  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
tut  occasioned  several  public  meetings, 
•where  the  voice  of  that  class  had  made 
itself  loudly  heard.  They  had  actually 
resigned  upon  his  Majesty's  demand 
for  a  divorce;  they  had  been  all  but 
shipwrecked  on  the  Queen's  trial ;  and 
on  occasion  of  the  late  riots  at  her  fu- 
neral, the  King  had  let  fall  some  alarm- 
ing expressions  as  to  the  way  in  which 
that  delicate  affair  had  been  conducted. 
It  was  deemed  indispensable,  therefore, 
to  look  out  for  support ;  and  the  Gren- 
ville  party — a  sort  of  flying  squadron 
between  the  Ministerialists  and  Libe- 
rals, 'sbut  who  had  hitherto  always  acted 
•with  the  Whigs — presented  the  fairest 
prospect'of  an  alliance.  Proposals  were 
made  accordingly,  and  accepted.  Lord 
Grenville,  the  head  of  the  party,  was 
disabled  by  infirmities  from  taking  an 
active  part  in  public  life,  and  could  not 
be;lured  from  nis  retreat ;  but  the  Mar- 
<juess  of  Buckingham  was  made  a  duke ; 
Mr  Wynne,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Control ;  and  Mr  H.  Wynne,  Envoy 
to  the  Swiss  Cantons.  This  coalition 
gained  Ministers  a  few  votes  in  the 
House  of  Commons ;  but  it  was  of  more 
importance  as  indicating,  as  changes 
in  the  Cabinet  generally  do,  the  com- 
mencement of  a  change  in  the  system 
of  government.  The  admission  of  even 
a  single  Whig  into  the  Cabinet  indicat- 
ed the  increasing  weight  of  that  party 
in  the  country,  and  as  they  were  favour- 
able to  the  Catholic  claims,  it  was  an 
important  change.  Lord  Eldon,  ulti- 
inus  Romanorum,  presaged  no  good 
from  the  alliance.  "  This  coalition," 
lie  said,  "  will  have  consequences  very 
different  from  those  expected  by  the 
members  of  the  administration  who 
brought  it  about.  I  hate  coalitions." 
114.  A  still  more  important  change 
took  place  at  the  same  time,  in  the  re- 
,  tirement  of  Lord  Sidmouth  from  the 
onerous  and  responsible  post  of  Home 
Secretary.  A  life  of  thirty  years  in 
harness,  oppressed  with  the  cares  of 


official  life,  had  nearly  exhausted  the 
physical  strength,  though  they  had  by 
no  means  dimmed  the  mental  energy, 
of  this  conscientious  and  intrepid  states- 
man ;  and  though  no  decline  in  his  fa- 
culties was  perceptible  to  those  around 
him,  he  felt  that  the  time  had  arrived 
when  he  should  withdraw  from  the 
cares  and  responsibility  of  office,  and 
dedicate  his  remaining  years  to  the  en- 
joyment of  his  family,  to  which  he  was 
strongly  attached,  and  his  duties  to  his 
Maker.  He  deemed  it  a  fitting  oppor- 
tunity to  take  such  a  step,  when  the 
internal  situation  of  the  country  was  so 
tranquil  that  the  public  service  could 
sustain  no  detriment  by  his  withdraw- 
ing from  it ;  for  had  it  been  otherwise, 
he  would,  at  any  hazard  to  his  own 
health  or  life,  have  remained  at  his 
post.  *  He  was  succeeded  in  his  ardu- 
ous duties  by  a  much  younger  man — 
Mr,  afterwards  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL — one 
of  greater  talents,  and  whose  mind  was 
more  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  but  not  of  greater  energy  and  in- 
tegrity, and  not  of  the  same  intrepid 
self-reliance.  Lord  Sidmouth's  abili- 
ties, though  not  of  the  highest  order, 
were  of  the  most  useful  kind,  and  his 
administrative  talents  stood  forth  pre- 
eminent. His  industry  was  indefati- 
gable, his  energy  untiring,  his  intrepi- 
dity, both  moral  and  physical,  such  as 
nothing  could  quell.  He  steered  the 
vessel  of  the  State  during  the  anxious 
years  which  succeeded  the  close  of  the 
war,  through  all  the  shoals  with  which 
it  was  beset,  with  exemplary  vigour 
and  undaunted  courage  ;  and  it  was 
not  a  little  owing  to  his  resolution  that 
the  crisis  was  surmounted  in  1820, 
which  proved  fatal  to  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty and  order  in  so  many  other  states. 
115.  This  parliamentary  coalition 
was  attended  with  still  more  important 
changes  in  Ireland,  for  there  it  com- 
menced an  entire  alteration  in  the  sys- 
tem of  government,  which  has  con- 
tinued, with  little  interruption,  to  the 
present  day.  As  the  Protestants,  ever 

*  "  The  truth  is,  it  was  becaiue  my  official 
bed  had  become  a  bed  of  roses  that  I  deter- 
mined to  withdraw  from  it.  When  strewn 
with  thorns,  I  would  not  have  left  it." — Sid- 
mouth's  L\fe,  iii.  390. 


192 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


since  the  Revolution,  had  been  the  do- 
minant party  in  that  island,  and  the 
Catholics  were  known  to  be  decidedly 
hostile  both  to  the  British  government 
and  alliance,  the  Viceroy,  and  all  the 
officers  of  state  who  composed  its  gov- 
ernment, had  hitherto  been  invari- 
ably stanch  Protestants ;  and  Lord 
Talbot,  the  present  Viceroy,  and  Mr 
Saurin,  the  Attorney- General,  were  of 
that  persuasion.  But  as  the  Cabinet 
itself  was  now  divided  on  the  subject 
of  concession  of  the  Catholic  claims,  it 
was  thought  necessary  to  make  a  simi- 
lar partition  in  the  Irish  administra- 
tion. Accordingly,  Marquess  Welles- 
ley,  a  decided  supporter  of  the  Catho- 
lics, was  made  Lord- Lieutenant  in  room 
of  Lord  Talbot ;  Mr  Saurin,  the  cham- 
pion of  the  Orange  party,  made  way  for 
Mr  Plunkett,  the  eloquent  advocate  of 
the  Catholic  claims  in  the  House  of 
Commons ;  and  Mr  Bushe,  also  a  Ca- 
tholic supporter,  was  made  Solicitor- 
General  ;  while,  on  the  principle  of  pre- 
serving a  balance  of  parties,  Mr  Goul- 
burn,  a  stanch  Protestant,  was  appoint- 
ed Secretary  to  the  government.  Great 
expectations  were  formed  of  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  this  conciliatory  policy, 
which,  it  was  hoped,  would  continue 
the  unanimity  of  loyal  feeling  which 
had  animated  the  country  during  the 
visit  of  the  Sovereign.  But  these  hopes 
were  miserably  disappointed :  party 
strife  was  increased  instead  of  being 
diminished  by  the  first  step  towards 
equality  of  government,  and  the  next 
year  added  another  to  the  innumerable 
proofs  which  the  annals  of  Ireland  have 
afforded,  that  its  evils  are  social,  not 
political,  and  are  increased  rather  than 
diminished  by  the  extension  to  its 
inhabitants  of  the  privileges  of  free 
citizens. 

116.  Entirely  agricultural  in  their 
habits,  pursuits,  and  desires — solely 
dependent  for  their  subsistence  on  the 
fruits  of  the  soil,  and  without  manu- 
factures, mines,  fisheries,  or  means  of 
livelihood  of  any  sort,  save  in  Ulster, 
except  that  derived  from  its  cultivation 
— the  possession  of  land,  and  the  sale  of 
its  produce,  was  a  matter  of  life  or  death 
to  the  Irish  people.  The  natural  im- 
providence of  the  Celtic  race,  joined  to 


the  entire  absence  of  all  those  limita- 
tions on  the  principle  of  increase  which 
arise  from  habits  of  comfort,  the  desire 
of  rising,  or  the  dread  of  falling,  in  the 
world — and  the  interested  views  of  the 
Catholic  priesthood,  who  encouraged 
marriage,  from  the  profits  which  bridals 
and  christenings  brought  to  themselves 
—  had  overspread  the  land  with  an 
immense  and  redundant  population, 
which  had  no  other  means  of  livelihood 
but  the  possession  and  cultivation  of 
little  bits  of  land.  There  were  few 
labourers  living  on  paid  wages  in  any 
of  the  provinces  of  Ireland :  in  Lein- 
ster,  Munster,  and  Connaught,  where 
the  Celtic  race  and  Catholic  creed  pre- 
dominated, scarcely  any.  Of  farmers 
possessed  of  capital,  and  employing 
farm-servants,  there  were  in  the  south 
and  west  none.  Emigration  had  not 
as  yet  opened  its  boundless  fields,  or 
spread  out  the  garden  of  the  Far  West 
for  the  starving  multitudes  of  the 
Emerald  Isle.  They  had  no  resources 
or  means  of  livelihood,  but  in  the  pos- 
session of  little  pieces  of  land,  for  which 
they  bid  against  each  other  with  the 
utmost  eagerness,  and  from  which  they 
excluded  the  stranger  with  the  most 
jealous  care.  Six  millions  of  men, 
without  either  capital  or  industry,  shut 
up  within  the  four  corners  of  a  narrow 
though  fruitful  land,  were  contending 
with  each  other  for  the  possession  of 
their  patches  of  the  earth,  like  wolves- 
enclosed  within  walls  for  pieces  of  car- 
rion, whose  hostility  against  each  other 
was  only  interrupted  by  a  common  rush 
against  any  hapless  stranger  who  might 
venture  to  approach  their  bounds,  and 
threaten  to  share  their  scanty  meal. 

117.  Experience  has  abundantly  prov- 
ed, since  that  time,  what  reason,  not 
blinded  by  party,  had  already  discover- 
ed— what  were  the  real  remedies  for 
such  an  alarming  and  disastrous  state 
of  things,  and  what  alone  could  have 
given  any  lasting  relief.  These  were, 
to  furnish  the  means  of  emigration,  at 
the  public  expense,  to  the  most  desti- 
tute of  the  peasants  of  the  country, 
and  form  roads,  canals,  and  harbours, 
to  facilitate  the  sale  of  the  produce  of 
such  as  remained  at  home.  Having 
in  this  way  got  quit  of  the  worst  and 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


193 


most  dangerous  part  of  the  population, 
and  lessened  the  competition  for  small 
farms  among  such  as  were  still  there, 
an  opening  would  have  been  afforded 
for  farmers,  possessed  of  capital  and 
skill,  from  England  and  Scotland,  to 
occupy  the  land  of  those  who  had  been 
removed  to  a  happier  hemisphere  ; 
and  with  them  the  religion,  industrial 
habits,  and  education  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Great  Britain,  might  gradual- 
ly, and  in  the  course  of  generations, 
have  been  introduced.  But,  unfortu- 
nately, party  ambition  and  'political 
delusion  blinded  men  to  all  these  ra- 
tional views,  which  went  only  to  bless 
the  country,  not  to  elevate  a  new  party 
to  its  direction.  Faction  fastened  up- 
on Ireland  as  the  arena  where  the 
Ministry  might  be  assailed  with  effect ; 
Catholic  emancipation  was  cherished 
and  incessantly  brought  forward,  as 
the  wedge  the  point  of  which,  already 
inserted,  might  be  made,  by  a  few 
hard  strokes,  to  split  the  Cabinet  in 
pieces ;  and  while  motions  on  this  sub- 
ject, involving  the  entry  of  sixty  gen- 
tlemen into  Parliament,  enforced  by 
the  eloquence  of  Canning  and  Plun- 
kett,  and  resisted  by  the  argument  of 
Peel,  never  failed  to  attract  a  full  at- 
tendance of  members  on  both  sides  of 
the  House,  Mr  Wilmot  Horton's  pro- 
posals regarding  emigration,  the  only 
real  remedy  for  the  evils  of  the  unhap- 
py country,  and  involving  the  fate  of 
six  millions,  were  coldly  listened  to, 
and  generally  got  quit  of  by  the  House 
being  counted  out. 

118.  But  it  was  not  merely  by  sins 
of  omission  that  the  Legislature,  at 
this  period,  left  unhealed  the  wounds, 
and  unrelieved  the  miseries,  of  Ireland. 
Their  deeds  of  commission  were  still 
more  disastrous  in  their  effects.  The 
contraction  of  the  currency,  and  con- 
sequent fall  of  the  prices  of  rural  pro- 
duce fifty  per  cent,  fell  with  cmshing 
effect  upon  a  country  wholly  agricul- 
tural, and  a  people  who  had  no  other 
mode  of  existence  but  the  sale  of  that 
produce.  This  had  gone  on  now  for 
nearly  three  years  ;  and  its  effect  had 
been,  not  only  to  suck  the  little  capital 
which  they  possessed  out  of  the  farm- 

VOL.  II. 


ers,  but  in  many  instances  to  produce 
a  deep-rooted  feeling  of  animosity  be- 
tween them  and  their  landlords,  which 
was  leading  to  the  most  frightful  dis- 
orders.* All  the  agrarian  outrages 
which  have  in  every  age  disgraced  Ire- 
land have  arisen  from  one  cause — the 
contest  for  pieces  of  land,  the  dread  of 
being  ejected  from  them,  and  jealousy 
of  any  stranger's  interference.  It  is 
no  wonder  it  is  so  ;  for  to  them  it  is  a 
question,  not  of  change  of  possession, 
but  of  life  or  death.  The  ruinous  fall 
in  the  price  of  agricultural  produce  of 
all  sorts  had  rendered  the  payment  of 
rents,  at  least  in  full,  wholly  impossi- 
ble, and  had  led,  in  consequence,  to 
measures  of  severity  having  been  in 
many  instances  resorted  to.  Distrain- 
ings  had  become  frequent ;  ejections 
were  beginning  to  be  resorted  to,  and 
the  landlords  were  fain  to  introduce  a 
set  of  Scotch  or  English  farmers,  who 
might  succeed  in  realising  those  rents 
which  they  had  enjoyed  in  former  days, 
but  saw  no  longer  a  chance  of  extract- 
ing from  their  Celtic  tenantry. 

119.  This  was  immediately  met  by 
the  usual  system  of  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  existing  occupants  of  the 
soil ;  and  on  this  occasion  it  assumed 
a  more  organised  and  formidable  ap- 
pearance than  it  had  ever  previously 
done.  Over  the  whole  extent  of  the 
three  disturbed  provinces  a  regular 
system  of  nocturnal  outrage  and  vio- 
lence was  commenced,  and  carried  on 
for  a  long  time  with  almost  entire  im- 
punity. Houses  were  entered  in  the 
night  by  bands  of  ruffians  with  their 
faces  blackened,  who  carried  off  arms 
and  ammunition,  and  committed  out- 
rages of  every  description  ;  the  roads 
were  beset  by  armed  and  mounted 

•  "  I  request  your  attention  to  the  sugges- 
tions which  I  have  submitted  for  the  more 
effectual  restraint  of  this  system  of  mysteri- 
ous engagements,  formed  under  the  solemnity 
of  secret  oaths,  binding  his  Majesty's  liege 
subjects  to  act  under  authorities  not  known 
to  the  law,  nor  derived  from  the  State,  for 
purposes  undefined,  not  disclosed  in  the  first 
process  of  initiation,  nor  until  the  infatuated 
novice  has  been  sworn  to  the  vow  of  unlimit- 
ed and  lawless  obedience." — Marquess  WEL- 
LESLEY  to  Mr  Secretary  PEEL,  Jan.  29,  1823 ; 
Life,  of  Wclltslcy,  iii.  300. 

N 


194 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


bodies  of  insurgents,  who  robbed  every 
pei-son  they  met,  and  broke  into  every 
house  which  lay  on  their  way ;  and  to 
such  a  length  did  their  audacity  reach, 
that  they  engaged,  in  bodies  of  five 
hundred  and  a  thousand,  Avith  the  yeo- 
manry and  military  forces,  and  not  un- 
frequently  came  off  victorious.  Even 
when,  by  concentrating  the  troops, 
an  advantage  was  obtained  in  one 
quarter,  it  was  only  at  the  expense  of 
losses  in  another  ;  for  the  "  Rockites," 
as  they  were  called,  dispersed  into 
small  bodies,  and,  taking  advantage  of 
the  absence  of  the  military,  pursued 
their  depredations  at  a  distance.  No 
less  than  two  thousand  men  assembled 
in  the  mountains  to  the  north  of  Ban- 
don,  and  their  detachments  commit- 
ted several  murders  and  outrages  ;  and 
five  thousand  mustered  together,  many 
of  them  armed  with  muskets,  near  Ma- 
croom,  and  openly  bade  defiance  to  the 
civil  and  military  forces  of  the  country. 
120.  These  frightful  and  alarming 
outrages  commanded  the  early  and  vi- 
gilant attention  of  the  Lord- Lieuten- 
ant. Not  content  with  sending  im- 
mediate succour  in  men  and  arms  to 
the  menaced  districts,  he  prepared  and 
laid  before  Government  several  me- 
morials on  the  measures  requisite  to 
restore  order  in  the  country,  in  which, 
as  the  first  step,  a  great  increase  in 
the  police  establishment  of  the  coun- 
try was  suggested.  *  At  the  same  time 
the  greatest  exertions  were  made  to 
reconcile  parties,  and  efface  party  dis- 
tinctions at  the  Castle  of  Dublin. 
Persons  of  respectability  of  all  parties 

*  One  authentic  document  may  convey  an 
idea  of  the  general  state  of  Ireland,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Protestant  province  of  Uls- 
ter, at  this  period.  "The  progress  of  this 
diabolical  system  of  outrage,  during  the  last 
month,  has  been  most  alarming;  and  we  re- 
gret to  say  that  we  have  been  obliged,  from 
want  of  adequate  force,  to  remain  almost 
passive  spectators  of  its  daring  advances,  un- 
til at  length  many  have  been  obliged  to  con- 
vert their  houses  into  garrisons,  and  others 
have  sought  refuge  in  the  towns.  We  cannot 
expect  individuals  to  leave  their  houses  and 
families  exposed,  while  they  go  out  with 
patrolling  parties;  and  to  continue  in  such 
duty  for  any  length  of  time,  is  beyond  their 
physical  strength,  and  inconsistent  with 
their  other  duties." — (Memorial  of  twenty- 
eight  Magistrates  of  County  Cork.)  Annual 
Register,  1823,  p.  9. 


shared  in  the  splendid  hospitality  of 
the  Lord  -  Lieutenant ;  Orange  pro- 
cessions and  commemorations  were 
discouraged ;  the  dressing  of  King 
William's  statue  in  Dublin,  a  party 
demonstration,  was  prohibited ;  and 
every  effort  made  to  show  that  Gov- 
ernment was  in  earnest  in  its  endeav- 
ours to  appease  religious  dissensions, 
and  heal  the  frightful  discord  which 
had  so  long  desolated  the  country. 
But  the  transition  from  a  wrong  to  a 
right  system  is  often  more  perilous 
than  the  following  out  of  a  wrong  one. 
You  alienate  one  party  without  concili- 
ating the  other  ;  so  much  more  deep  is 
recollection  of  injury  than  gratitude 
for  benefits  in  the  human  breast.  Mar- 
quess "Wellesley's  administration,  so 
different  from  anything  they  had  ever 
experienced,  gave  the  utmost  offence 
to  the  Orange  party,  hitherto  in  pos- 
session of  the  whole  situations  of  in- 
fluence and  power  in  the  country.  To 
such  a  length  did  the  discontent  arise, 
that  the  Lord- Lieutenant  was  publicly 
insulted  at  the  theatre  of  Dublin,  and 
the  riot  was  of  so  serious  a  kind  as  to 
give  rise  to  a  trial  at  the  next  assizes. 
121.  Dreadful  but  necessary  exam- 
ples were  made,  in  many  of  the  dis- 
turbed districts,  of  the  most  depraved 
and  hardy  of  the  depredators.  So  nu- 
merous had  been  the  outrages,  that  al- 
though the  majority  of  them  had  been 
perpetrated  with  impunity,  yet  great 
numbers  of  prisoners  had  been  made — 
prisoners  against  whom  the  evidence 
was  so  clear  that  their  conviction  fol- 
lowed of  course.  In  Cork,  no  less  than 
366  persons  awaited  the  special  com- 
mission sent  down  in  February  to  clear 
the  jail,  of  whom  thirty -five  received 
sentence  of  death.  Several  of  these 
were  left  for  immediate  execution. 
Similar  examples  were  made  in  Lim- 
erick, Tipperary,  and  Kilkenny,  where 
the  asskes  were  uncommonly  heavy ; 
and  by  these  dreadful  but  necessary- 
examples  the  spirit  of  insubordination 
was,  by  the  sheer  force  of  terror,  for 
the  time  subdued.  One  curious  and 
instructive  fact  appeared  from  the  evi- 
dence adduced  at  these  melancholy 
trials,  and  that  was,  that  the  principal 
leaders  and  most  daring  actors  in  their 


I 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


195 


horrid  system  of  nocturnal  outrage  and 
murder,  were  the  persons  who  had  been 
«ast  down  from  the  rank  of  substantial 
yeoinen,  and  reduced  to  a  state  of  des- 
peration by  the  long-continued  depres- 
sion in  the  price  of  agricultural  pro- 
duce.* 

122.  But  ere  long  a  more  dreadful 
evil  than  even  these  agrarian  outrages 
broke  out  in  this  unhappy  land  ;  and 
the  south  and  west  of  Ireland  was 
punished  by  a  calamity  the  natural 
consequence,  in  some  degree,  of  its  sins, 
but  aggravated  to  a  most  frightful  ex- 
tent by  a  visitation  of  Providence.  The 
disturbed  state  of  the  country  during 
the  whole  of  1822  had  caused  the  cul- 
tivation of  potatoes  to  be  very  gener- 
ally neglected  in  the  south  and  west, 
partly  from  the  numbers  engaged  in 
agrarian  outrages,  partly  from  the  ter- 
ror inspired  in  those  who  were  more 
peaceably  disposed.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  potato  crops  in  the  autumn 
of  1822  failed,  to  a  very  great  degree, 
•over  the  same  districts  ;  and  though 
the  grain  harvest  was  not  only  good, 
but  abundant,  yet  this  had  no  effect  in 
alleviating  the  distresses  of  the  peasan- 
try, because  the  price  of  agricultural 
produce  was  so  low,  and  they  had  been 
so  thoroughly  impoverished  by  its  long 
continuance,  that  they  had  not  the 
means  of  purchasing  it.  Literally 
speaking,  they  were  starving  in  the 
midst  of  plenty.  The  consequence  was, 
that  in  Counaught  and  Munster,  in 
the  spring  of  1823,  multitudes  of  hu- 
man beings  were  almost  destitute  of 
food  ;  and  the  nocturnal  disturbances 
ceased,  not  so  much  from  the  terrors  of 

*  "The  authors  of  the  outrages  consisted 
of  three  classes :  1.  Many  farmers  had  ad- 
vanced their  whole  capital  in  improvements 
upon  the  land.  These  men,  by  the  depression 
of  fanning  produce,  had  been  reduced  from 
the  rank  of  substantial  yeomen  to  complete 
indigence,  and  they  readily  entered  into  any 
project  likely  to  embroil  the  country;  and  by 
the  share  of  education  which  they  possessed, 
unaccompanied  by  any  religious  sentiments, 
became  at  once  the  ablest  and  least  restrain- 
ed promoters  of  mischief.  2.  The  second  con- 
sisted of  those  who  had  been  engaged  hi  the 
Rebellion  of  1798,  and  their  disciples.  3.  The 
third  oonsisted  of  the  formidable  mass  ol 
ignorance  and  bigotry  which  w.is  diffused 
through  the  whole  south  of  Ireland."— An- 
nualUcgiatcr,  1S2.',  pp.  30,  31. 


the  law,  as  from  the  physical  exhaustion 
of  those  engaged  in  them.  What  was 
still  worse,  the  sufferings  of  the  present 
had  extinguished  the  hopes  of  the  fu- 
ture ;  and  the  absorption  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  seed-potatoes,  in  many 
places,  in  present  food,  seemed  to  pre- 
sage a  still  worse  famine  in  the  suc- 
ceeding year.  In  these  melancholy 
and  alarming  circumstances,  the  con- 
duct of  Government  was  most  praise- 
worthy, and  was  as  much  distinguished 
by  active  and  well-judged  benevolence 
as  it  had  previously  been  by  impartial 
administration,  and  the  energetic  re- 
pression of  crime.  Five  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  were  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Irish  Government  by  the  English 
Cabinet ;  and  roads,  bridges,  harbours, 
and  such  objects  of  public  utility,  were 
set  on  foot  wherever  they  seemed  prac- 
ticable. But  this  melancholy  calamity 
called  forth  a  still  more  striking  proof 
of  British  kindness  and  generosity, 
and  showed  how  thoroughly  Christian 
charity  can  obliterate  the  fiercest  divi- 
sions, and  bury  in  oblivion  the  worst 
delinquencies  of  this  world.  England 
forgot  the  sins  of  Ireland  ;  she  saw 
only  her  suffering.  Subscriptions  were 
opened  in  every  church  and  chapel 
of  Great  Britain ;  and  no  less  than 
£350,000  was  subscribed  in  a  few 
weeks,  and  remitted  to  Dublin,  to  aid 
the  efforts  of  the  local  committees,  by 
whom  £150,000  had  been  raised  for 
the  same  benevolent  purpose.  By  these 
means  the  famine  was  stayed,  and  the 
famishing  multitude  was  supported, 
till  a  favourable  crop,  in  the  succeed- 
ing year,  restored  the  usual  means  of 
subsistence.* 

*  "  The  distress  for  food,  arising  principal- 
ly from  the  want  of  means  to  purchase  it, 
continues  to  prevail  in  various  districts ;  and 
the  late  accounts  from  the  south  and  west 
are  of  the  most  afflicting  character.  Colonel 
Patrickson,  whose  regiment  (the  43d)  has  re- 
cently relieved  the  57th  in  Galway,  reports 
the  scenes  which  that  town  presents  to  be 
truly  distressing.  Hundreds  of  half-furnished 
wretches  arrive  almost  daily  from  a  distance 
of  fifty  miles,  many  of  them  so  exhausted  by 
want  of  food  that  the  means  taken  to  restore 
them  fail  of  e/ect  from  the  iceakntss  of  the  di- 
gestive organs,  occasioned  by  long  fasting."— 
Sir  D.  BAIKD  to  Sir  H.  TAYLOR,  24th  June 
1822  ;  Memoirs  of  Lord  Wellesley,  iii.  343,  344. 

In  Juno  1822  there  were  in  Clare  alone 


196 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


123.  These  awful  scenes,  in  which  the 
visitations  of  Providence  were  mingled 
with  the  crimes  and  punishment  of 
man — and  both  were  met,  and  could 
be  softened  only,  by  the  unwearied 
energy  of  Christian  benevolence — ex- 
cited, as  well  they  might,  the  anxious 
attention  of  Government  and  the  Bri- 
tish Parliament.  Whatever  the  re- 
mote causes  of  so  disastrous  a  state  of 
things  might  be,  it  was  evident  that 
nothing  but  vigorous  measures  of  re- 
pression could  be  relied  on  in  the 
mean  time.  Justice  must  do  its  work 
before  wisdom  commenced  its  reform. 
Unfortunately  only  the  first  was  ener- 
getically and  promptly  done  ;  the  last, 
from  political  blindness  and  party  ambi- 
tion, was  indefinitely  postponed.  Lord 
Londonderry  (Lord  Castlereagh)  intro- 
duced into  the  Lower  House  two  bills, 
one  for  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  until  the  1st  August  fol- 
lowing. This  was  strongly  resisted  by 
the  Opposition,  but  agreed  to  by  a 
large  majority,  the  numbers  being  195 
to  68.  The  Insurrection  Act,  which 
authorised  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  upon 
application  of  a  certain  proportion  of 
the  magistrates  of  a  district,  to  declare 
it  by  proclamation  in  a  state  of  insur- 
rection— and  in  that  event  gave  extra- 
ordinary powers  of  arrest  to  the  ma- 
gistrates of  all  persons  found  out  of 
their  houses  between  sunset  and  sun- 
rise, and  subjected  the  persons  seized, 
in  certain  events,  to  transportation — 
was  next  brought  forward,  and  passed 
by  a  large  majority,  the  numbers  being 
59  to  15.  Two  other  bills  were  also 
passed,  the  one  indemnifying  persons 
who  had  seized  gunpowder  without 
legal  authority  since  1st  November, 
and  the  other  imposing  severe  restric- 
tions on  the  importation  of  arms  and 
ammunition.  The  lawless  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  constant  demand  of 
the  nocturnal  robbers  for  arms,  ren- 
dered these  measures  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  this  as  they  have  been  in  every 
other  disturbed  period  of  Irish  history, 
and  the  powers  thus  conferred  were 


immediately  acted  upon  by  the  Lord- 
Lieutenant.  A  still  more  efficient 
measure  of  repression  was  adopted  by 
a  great  increase  of  the  police,  who  were 
brought  to  that  state  of  vigour  and 
efficiency  which  they  have  ever  since 
maintained. 

124.  The  Catholic  claims  were  in  this 
session  of  Parliament  again  brought 
forward  by  Mr  Canning,  in  the  form 
of  a  motion  to  give  them  seats  in  the 
House  of  Peers,  and  enforced  with  all 
the  eloquence  of  which  he  was  so  con- 
summate a  master.*  They  were  as 
strongly  opposed  by  Mr  Peel,  who 
repeated  his  solemn  assurances  of  in- 
delible hostility  to  the  claims  of  that 
body.  The  progressive  change  in  the 
public  mind  on  this  question  was 
evinced  in  the  increasing  majority  in 
the  Commons,  which  this  year  rose  to 
12,  the  numbers  being  235  to  223,  the 

*  On  this  occasion  Mr  Canning  made  a  very 
happy  use  of  the  late  imposing  ceremony  of 
the  coronation,  the  splendour  of  which  was 
still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  his  auditors.  "  Do 
you  imagine,"  said  he,  "  it  never  occurred  t» 
the  representatives  of  Europe  that,  contem- 
plating this  imposing  spectacle,  it  never  oc- 
curred to  the  ambassadors  of  Catholic  Aus- 
tria, of  Catholic  France,  or  of  states  more 
bigoted,  if  any  such  there  be,  to  the  Catholic 
religion,  to  reflect  that  the  moment  this  so- 
lemn ceremony  was  over,  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk would  become  deprived  of  the  exercise 
of  his  privileges  among  his  fellow-peers — 
stripped  of  his  robes  of  office,  which  were  to 
be  laid  aside,  and  hung  up  until  the  distant 
(be  it  a  very  distant !)  day,  when  the  corona- 
tion of  a  successor  to  his  present  and  gracious 
sovereign  should  again  call  him  forth  to  assist 
at  a  similar  solemnisation  ?  Thus,  after  being 
exhibited  to  the  peers  and  people  of  England, 
to  the  representatives  of  princes  and  nations 
of  the  world,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  highest 
in  rank  among  the  peers,  the  Lord  Clifford, 
and  others  like  him,  representing  a  long  line 
of  illustrious  and  heroic  ancestors,  appeared 
as  if  they  had  been  called  forth  and  furnished, 
for  the  occasion,  like  the  lustres  and  banners 
that  flamed  and  glittered  in  the  scene ;  and. 
were  to  be,  like  them,  thrown  by  as  useless, 
and  temporary  formalities :  they  might,  in- 
deed, bend  the  knee  and  kiss  the  hand ;  they 
might  bear  the  train  and  rear  the  canopy ; 
they  might  perform  the  offices  assigned  by 
Roman  pride  to  their  barbarian  forefathers, 
'Purpurea  tollant  aulcea  Britanni: '  but  with 
the  pageantry  of  the  hour  their  importance 
faded  away  as  their  distinction  vanished: 
their  humiliation  returned,  and  he  who  head- 
ed the  procession  to-day  could  not  sit  among 
them  as  their  equal  to-morrow." — CANNING'S 
Speech,  30th  April  1822  ;  Part.  Deb.,  vii.  232, 
233. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


197 


largest  the  Catholics  had  yet  obtained 
in  Parliament.  The  bill,  as  was  an- 
ticipated, was  thrown  out,  after  a  keen 
debate,  in  the  House  of  Lords,  by  a 
majority  of  42,  the  numbers  being  171 
to  129.  But  as  the  Cabinet  was  di- 
vided upon  the  subject,  and  its  ablest 
members  spoke  in  favour  of  the  Catho- 
lic claims,  and  as  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, by  having  the  command  of  the 
public  purse,  have  the  real  command 
of  the  country,  these  divisions  were 
justly  considered  by  the  Catholic  party 
as  decisive  triumphs  in  their  favour, 
and  as  presaging,  at  no  distant  period, 
their  admission  into  both  branches  of 
the  Legislature. 

125.  Another  question — that  of  par- 
liamentary reform — made  a  still  more 
important  stride  in  this  session  of  Par- 
liament ;  and  the  increasing  numerical 
strength  of.  the  majority,  as  well  as 
weight  of  the  names  of  which  it  was 
composed,  indicated  in  an  unequivocal 
manner  the  turn  which  events  were  ere 
long  to  take  on  that  vital  question. 
Several  important  petitions  had  been 
presented  on  the  subject,  both  from 
boroughs  and  counties,  and  Lord  John 
Russell  was  intrusted  with  the  motion. 
He  dwelt  in  a  peculiar  manner  on  the 
increasing  intelligence,  wealth,  and 
population  of  the  great  towns,  once 
obscure  villages,  which  were  unrepre- 
sented, and  the  impossibility  of  perma- 
nently excluding  them  from  the  share 
to  which  they  were  entitled  in  the  le- 
gislature. Mr  Canning  as  decidedly 
opposed  him,  resting  his  defence  of  the 
constitution  on  the  admirable  way  in 
which  it  had  practically  worked,  and 
the  incalculable  danger  of  substituting 
for  a  system  which  had  arisen  out  of 
the  wants,  and  moulded  itself  according 
to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  one  more 
^specious  in  theory — one  which,  on  that 
very  account,  would  in  all  probability 
be  found  on  trial  to  be  subject  to  some 
fatal  defect  in  practice.  As  the  argu- 
ments on  this  all-important  question 
will  be  fully  given  in  a  future  volume, 
they  need  not  be  here  anticipated ;  but 
the  peroration  of  Mr  Canning's  splendid 
reply  deserves  a  place  in  history,  as 
prophetic  of  the  future  career  both  of 
the  noble  mover  and  of  the  country. 


126.  "  Our  lot  is  happily  cast  in 
the  temperate  zone  of  freedom  —  the 
clime  best  suited  to  the  development 
of  the  moral  qualities  of  the  human 
race,  to  the  cultivation  of  their  facul- 
ties, and  to  the  security  as  well  as  im- 
provement of  their  virtues  —  a  clime 
not  exempt,  indeed,  from  variations  in 
the  elements,  but  variations  which  pu- 
rify while  they  agitate  the  atmosphere 
which  we  breathe.  Let  us  be  sensible 
of  the  advantages  which  it  is  our  hap- 
piness to  enjoy.  Let  us  guard  with 
pious  care  the  flame  of  genuine  liberty 
— that  fire  from  heaven  of  which  our 
constitution  is  the  holy  depository; 
and  let  us  not,  for  the  chance  of  ren- 
dering it  more  intense  and  more  bril- 
liant, impair  its  purity  or  hazard  its 
extinction.  That  the  noble  lord  will 
carry  his  motion  this  evening,  I  have 
no  fear ;  but  with  the  talents  which  he 
has  already  shown  himself  to  possess, 
and  with,  I  hope,  a  long  and  brilliant 
parliamentary  career  before  him,  he 
will  no  doubt  renew  his  efforts  here- 
after. Although  I  presume  not  to  ex- 
pect that  he  will  give  any  weight  to 
observations  or  warnings  of  mine,  yet 
on  this,  probably  the  last  opportunity 
I  shall  have  of  raising  my  voice  on 
the  question  of  parliamentary  reform,  * 
while  I  conjure  the  House  to  pause  be- 
fore it  consents  to  adopt  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  noble  lord,  I  cannot  help 
adjuring  the  noble  lord  himself  to  pause 
before  he  again  presses  it  upon  the 
country.  If,  however,  he  shall  perse- 
vere, and  if  his  perseverance  shall  be 
successful,  and  if  the  results  of  that 
perseverance  shall  be  such  as  I  cannot 
help  anticipating,  his  be  the  triumph 
to  have  precipitated  these  results,  be 
mine  the  consolation  that,  to  the  ut- 
most and  the  latest  of  uiy  power,  I 
have  opposed  them."  The  motion  was 
thrown  out  by  a  majority  of  105  only 
— the  numbers  being  269  to  16-4.  t 

*  Mr  Canning  at  this  period  expected  to 
proceed  immediately  to  India,  as  Governor- 
General — a  prospect  which  was  only  changed 
by  his  being  soon  after  appointed  Foreign 
Secretary. 

t  Lord  John  Russell  on  this  occasion  brought 
forward  a  very  curious  and  important  state- 
ment in  regard  to  the  newspapers  published 
in  the  three  kingdoms  in  1782, 1790,  and  1821, 
which  clearly  indicated  the  necessity  of  a  con- 


198 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


1 2  7.  Sir  James  Mackintosh  continued 
liis  benevolent  and  important  efforts 
this  year  for  the  reformation  of  our  cri- 
minal law,  and  contrasted  with  great 
effect  the  state  of  our  code,  which  re- 
cognised two|hundred  and  twenty-three 
capital  offences,  with  that  of  France, 
which  contained  only  six.  In  this 
country,  the  convictions  in  the  first 
five  years  after  1811  were  five  tunes 
greater  in  proportion  to  the  population 
than  in  France ;  in  the  second  five  years 
they  were  ten  times  greater.  "This 
increase,"  he  added,  "though  in  part 
it  might  be  ascribed  to  the  distress 
under  which  the  country  had  groaned, 
and  continued  to  groan,  was  also  in 
part  caused  by  the  character  of  our  pe- 
nal code."  The  motion  to  take  the 
subject  into  serious  consideration  next 
session  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  1 17 
to  101.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
this  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction, 
and  paved  the  way  for  those  important 
changes  in  the  criminal  law  of  Eng- 
land which  Mr  Peel  soon  after  intro- 
duced. But  the  result  has  shown  that 
it  was  a  mistake  to  ascribe  the  superior 
rapidity  in  the  increase  of  crime  in 
Great  Britain,  as  compared  to  France, 
to  the  severity  of  our  penal  laws  ;  for 
the  same  disproportion  has  continued 
in  a  still  greater  degree  since  the  pun- 
ishment of  death  was  taken  away,  prac- 
tically speaking,  from  all  offences  ex- 
cept deliberate  murder.  The  truth  is, 
that,  like  the  disturbed  state  of  Ire- 
land, the  increase  of  crime  arose  mainly 
from  the  general  distress  which  had 
prevailed,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
since  the  peace ;  and  the  errors  on  this 
subject  afford  only  another  illustration 
of  the  truth  which  so  many  passages 
of  contemporary  history  illustrate,  that 
the  great  causes  determining  the  com- 
fort, conduct,  and  tranquillity  of  the 

cession  to  the  great  towns,  where  their  prin- 
cipal readers  were  to  be  found.  It  was  as 
follows : — 

1782.       1WO.        1821. 

England,  ...        50        60  135 

Scotland,  ...          8        27  31 

Ireland,     ...          3        27  56 

London— Daily,        .          9       14  16 

,,         Twice  a-week,    978 

„         Weekly,    .          0        11  32 

British  Islands,        .00  6 

— Ann.  Reg.,  1822,  p.  69. 


[CHAP,  x, 

working  classes  are  to  be  found  in  those 
which,  directly  or  indirectly,  affect  the 
wages  of  labour. 

128.  But  these  material  distresses 
had  increased,  and  were  increasing, 
with  a  rapidity  which  outstripped  all 
calculation,  and  had  now  reached  a 
height  which  compelled  investigation, 
and  threatened  to  bear  down  all  oppo- 
sition. The  great  fall  in  the  price  of 
the  whole  articles  of  agricultural  pro- 
duce, which  had  gone  on  without  in- 
termission from  the  monetary  bill  of 
1819,  and  had  now  reached  50  per  cent 
on  every  product  of  rural  labour,  had, 
at  length,  spread  to  every  other  species 
of  manufacture.  All,  sharing  in  the 
influence  of  the  same  cause,  exhibited 
the  same  effect.  The  long  continuance 
of  the  depression,  and  its  universal  ap- 
plication to  all  articles  of  commerce, 
excluded  the  idea  of  its  being  owing  to- 
any  glut  in  the  market,  or  any  excess 
in  trading  in  particular  lines  of  busi- 
ness, and  furnished  avaluable  commen- 
tary on  the  predictions  of  Mr  Ricardo 
and  Mr  Peel,  that  the  change  of  prices 
could  not  by  possibility  exceed  3  per 
cent.*  This  subject  accordingly  en- 
gaged the  repeated  and  anxious  consi- 
deration of  both  Houses  of  Parliament ; 
it  was  made  the  topic  of  repeated  and 
luminous  debates  of  the  very  highest 
interest  and  importance,  and  it  forced 
at  length  a  change  of  the  utmost  mo- 
ment in  our  monetary  system,  which  for 
the  next  three  years  entirely  changed 
our  social  condition,  and  induced  an- 
other set  of  dangers,  the  very  reverse 
of  those  under  which  the  nation  for 
the  three  preceding  years  had  J>eeii 
labouring. 

129.  This  important  debate  was 
opened  by  Mr  Brougham  on  the  8th 
February,  who  in  a  powerful  speech 
demonstrated  the  extreme  distress  of 
the  agricultural  class,  in  connection 
with  the  heavy  load  of  poor-rates  and 
local  taxes  with  which  they  were  ex- 
clusively burdened.  The  motion  he 

*  AVERAGE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  PER  QUARTER 
IN  EACH  TEAR,  FROM  1818  TO  Ibi'J. 

ISIS,    ...    83      8    1821,    ...     54 

1819,  ...     72      3    1822,    ...     43 

1820,  ...     65    10 

— PORTER'S  Progress  of  the  Nation,  14S. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


199 


made  for  the  consideration  of  the  bur- 
dens peculiarly  affecting  agriculture 
was  negatived  by  a  majority  of  212  to 
108  ;  but  this  was  brought  about  only 
by  Lord  Londonderry,  on  the  part  of 
the  Government,  engaging  to  intro- 
duce some  measures  for  the  relief  of 
that  interest.  On  the  15th  of  the  same 
month  his  lordship  redeemed  his  pledge, 
by  introducing  the  measures  of  relief 
proposed  by  Government,  which  were, 
the  repeal  of  the  annual  malt -tax, 
which  produced  £1,000,000  a -year, 
and  the  advance  of  £4,000,000  in  Ex- 
chequer bills  to  the  landed  proprietors 
on  security  of  their  crops,  until  the 
markets  improved.  In  the  course  of 
his  speech  on  this  subject  Lord  Lon- 
donderry remarked,  and  satisfactorily 
proved,  that  no  diminution  of  taxation 
to  any  practicable  amount  could  afford 
any  adequate  relief  to  the  agricultural 
classes ;  and  it  was  no  wonder  it  was  so, 
for  the  utmost  extent  of  any  such  re- 
lief, supposing  it  conceded,  could  not 
have  amounted  to  more  than  six  or 
seven  millions  yearly,  whereas  their 
difficulties  arose  from  a  depression  in 
the  value  of  their  produce,  which  could 
not  be  estimated  at  less  than  sixty  or 
seventy  millions. 

130.  Lord  Londonderry's  plan  was 
laid  before  Parliament,  with  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  agricultural  dis- 
tress, which  had  been  agreed  to  early 
in  the  session  without  opposition,  and 
was  replete  with  valuable  information 
and  suggestions.*  The  leading  reso- 
lutions proposed  were,  that  whenever 
the  average  price  of  wheat  shall  be 
under  60s.  a  quarter,  Government  shall 
be  authorised  to  issue  £1,000,000  on 
Exchequer  bills  to  the  landed  proprie- 
tors on  the  security  of  their  crops ; 

*  The  committee  reported  that  the  prices 
of  wheat  for  six  weeks  preceding  1st  April 
1822,  the  date  of  their  report,  had  been— 


March  16,  . 

„        9,   • 
2 

Feb.     23,   '.       '.        '. 
Highest  price  in  1822, 


45  11 

46  10 

46  11 

47  7 
50    7 


"  And  that  the  quantity  sold,  both  of  wheat 
and  oats,  between  1st  November  and  1st 
March,  lias,  under  these  prices,  very  consider- 
ably exceeded  any  quantity  sold  in  the  pre- 
ceding twenty  years.  That  it  is  impossible 
to  carry  protection  farther  than  monopoly, 


that  importation  of  foreign  corn  should 
be  permitted  whenever  the  price  of 
wheat  shall  be  at  and  above  70s.  a 
quarter;  rye,  pease,  or  beans,  46s. ;  bar- 
ley, 35s. ;  and  oats,  25s. :  that  a  slid- 
ing-scale  should  be  fixed,  that  for 
wheat  being  under  80s.  a  quarter,  12s. ; 
above  80s.  but  under  85s.,  5s. ;  and 
above  85s.,  only  Is.  Greatly  lower 
duties  were  proposed  for  colonial  grain, 
with  the  wise  design  of  promoting  the 
cultivation  and  securing  the  fidelity  of 
their  dependencies.  They  were  as  fol- 
lows :  For  colonial  grain  —  wheat  at 
and  above  59s.,  rye,  &c.,  39s.,  barley 
30s. ,  and  oats  20s. ;  subject  to  certain 
moderate  rates  of  duly.  Mr  Huskis- 
son  and  Mr  Ricardo  proposed  other 
resolutions,  which  were,  however,  nega- 
tived ;  and  Lord  Londonderry's  reso- 
lutions, with  the  exception  of  the  first, 
regarding  the  Exchequer  bills,  which 
was  withdrawn,  were  agreed  to  by  large 
majorities  in  both  Houses,  and  passed 
into  law. 

131.  The  great  debate  of  the  session, 
however,  came  on  on  llth  June,  when 
Mr  Western  moved  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  to  consider  the 
effect  of  the  Act  59  Geo.  III.,  c.  14 
(the  Bank  Cash  -  Payments  Bill),  on 
the  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manu- 
factures of  the  United  Kingdom.  The 
motion  was  negatived,  after  a  long  de- 
bate, by  a  majority  of  194  to  30.  This 
debate  was  remarkable  for  one  cir- 
cumstance— Lord  Londonderry  spoke 
against  the  motion,  with  the  whole 
Ministers,  and  Mr  Brougham  in  sup- 
port of  it.  It  led,  as  all  motions  on 
the  same  subject  have  since  done,  to 
no  practical  result,  as  the  House  of 
Commons  has  constantly  refused  to 
entertain  any  change  in  the  monetary 

and  this  monopoly  the  British  grower  hag  pos- 
sessed for  more  than  three  yearn,  which  is  ever 
since  February  1819,  with  the  exception  of 
the  ill-timed  and  unnecessary  importation  of 
somewhat  more  than  700,000  quarters  of  oats, 
which  took  place  during  the  summer  of  1820. 
It  must  be  considered  farther,  that  this  pro- 
tection, in  consequence  of  the  increased  value 
of  our  currency,  and  the  present  state  of  the 
com  market,  combined  with  the  prospect  of 
an  early  harvest,  may  in  all  probability  re- 
main uninterrupted  for  a  very  considerable 
time  to  come. "— Commons'  Report  on  Agricul- 
ture, 1st  April  1822;  Annual  Register,  1822, 
pp.  438,  441. 


200 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


policy  adopted  in  1819  ;  but  it  is  well 
worthy  of  remembrance,  for  it  elicited 
two  speeches,  one  from  Mr  Huskisson 
in  support  of  that  system,  and  one  from 
Mr  Attwood  against  it,  both  of  which 
are  models  of  clear  and  forcible  reason- 
ing, and  which  contain  all  that  ever 
has  or  ever  can  be  said  on  that  all-im- 
portant subject. 

132.  Mr  Huskisson  argued — "The 
change  of  prices  which  has  undoubted- 
ly taken  place  is  only  in  a  very  slight 
degree  to  be  ascribed  to  the  resumption 
of  cash  payments.   To  that  measure  we 
were  in  duty  bound,  as  well  as  policy, 
for  all  contracts  had  been  made  under 
it.     Even  if  it  had  been  advisable  not 
to  revert  to  a  sound  currency,  the  ir- 
revocable step  has  been  taken,  and  the 
widest  mischief  would  ensue  from  any 
attempt  to  undo  what  has  been  done. 
It  is  said,  on  the  other  side,  that  it 
would  be  for  the  benefit  of  all  classes 
that  the  value  of  money  should  be 
gradually  diminished,  and  that  of  all 
other  articles  raised.  "What  is  this  but 
the  sj-stem  of  Law  the  projector,  of 
Lowndes,  and  of  many  others  ?   But  it 
is  one  to  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  this 
country  will  never  lend  its  sanction. 
It  is,  in  truth,  the  doctrine  of  debtors ; 
and  still  more  of  those  who,  already 
being  debtors,  are  desirous  of  becom- 
ing so  in  a  still  greater  degree. 

133.  "The  foundation  of  the  plan 
on  the  other  side  is,  that  the  standard 
of  value  in  every  country  should  be 
that  which  is  the  staple  article  of  the 
food  of  its  inhabitants  ;  and  therefore 
wheat  is  fixed  upon,  as  it  is  the  staple 
article  of  the  food  of  our  people.     At 
that  rate,  potatoes  should  be  the  stan- 
dard in  Ireland,  rice  in  India,  maize  in 
Italy.     To  what  endless  confusion  in 
the  intercourse  of  nations  would  this 
lead  !     Who  ever  heard  of  a  potato 
standard  ?  It  does  not,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  obviate  the  objection,  that  you 
propose  to  make  the  currency,  not  of 
wheat,  but  of  gold,  as  measured  by  that 
standard.    How  can  a  given  weight  of 
gold,  of  a  certain  fineness,  and  a  cer- 
tain denomination,  which  in  this  coun- 
try is  now  the  common  measure  of  all 
commodities,  be  itself  liable  to  be  varied 
in  weight,  fineness,  or  denomination, 


according  to  the  exchangeable  value  of 
any  other  commodity,  without  taking 
from  gold  the  quality  of  being  money, 
and  transferring  it  to  that  other  com- 
modity ?  All  that  you  do  is,  in  fact, 
to  make  wheat  the  currency,  and  gold 
its  representative,  as  paper  now  is  of 
gold.  But  to  say  that  one  commodity 
shall  be  the  currency,  and  another  its 
standard,  betrays  a  confusion  of  ideas, 
and  is,  in  fact,  little  short  of  a  contra- 
diction in  terms. 

134.  "Again,  it  is  said  we  ought  to 
measure  the  pressure  of  taxation  by 
the  price  of  corn ;  and  we  are  reminded 
that,  as  in  1813  wheat  was  at  108s.  7d., 
and  the  taxes  £74,674,000,  13,733,000 
quarters  of  wheat  were  sufficient  for 
their  payment ;  while  in  the  present 
year,  the  price  being 45s.,  nearly  double 
that  amount  of  quarters  are  necessary  to 
pay  the  reduced  taxes  of  £54,000,000. 
But  observe  to  what  this  system  of 
measuring  the  weight  of  taxes  by  the 
price  of  wheat,  or  any  other  article  save 
gold  itself,  would  lead.   The  year  181?. 
was  a  prosperous  year,  for  the  taxes 
were  reduced  to  £55,836,000,  and  wheat 
having  risen  to  94s.  9d.,  it  follows  that 
11,786,000  quarters  were  sufficient  for 
the  payment  of  its  taxes.     "Was  this 
actually  the  case  ?    If  distress,  border- 
ing upon  famine — if  misery,  bursting 
forth  in  insurrection,  and  all  the  other 
symptoms  of  wretchedness,  discontent, 
and  difficulty,  are  to  be  taken  as  symp- 
toms of  pressure  upon  the  people,  then 
is  the  year  1817  a  year  which  no  good 
man  would  ever  wish  to  see  the  like 
again.     On  the  other  hand,  the  years 
1815  and  1821,  being  the  years  of  the 
severest  pressure  of  taxatien,  accord- 
ing to  this  new  mode  of  measuring  its 
amount,  are  among  the  years  when  the 
labouring  parts  of  the  community  have 
had  least  reason  to  complain  of  their 
situation. 

135.  "The  proposition  now  boldly 
made  is  for  a  depreciation  of  the  stan- 
dard of  the  currency.     How  strange 
must  be  the  condition  of  this  country, 
if  it  can  only  prosper  by  a  violation 
of  national  faith,  and  a  subversion  of 
private  property ;  by  a  measure  repro- 
bated by  all  statesmen  and  all  histo- 
rians ;  the  wretched  and  antiquated 


I 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUKOPE. 


201 


resource  of  barbarous  ignorance  and  ar- 
bitrary power,  and  only  known  among 
civilised  communities  as  the  last  mark 
of  a  nation's  weakness  and  degrada- 
tion !  Would  not  such  a  measure  be 
a  deathblow  to  all  public  credit,  and 
to  all  confidence  in  private  dealings 
between  men  ?  If  you  once,  in  an  age 
of  intelligence  and  enlightenment,  con- 
sent, under  the  pressure  of  temporary 
difficulty,  to  lower  the  standard,  it 
will  become  a  precedent  which  will 
immediately  be  resorted  to  on  every 
future  emergency  or  temporary  pres- 
sure, the  more  readily  as  credit,  and 
every  other  more  valuable  resource,  on 
which  the  countiy  has  hitherto  relied, 
will  be  at  an  end.  If  the  House  en- 
tertain such  a  proposition  by  vote,  the 
country  will  be  in  alarm  and  confusion 
from  one  end  of  it  to  another.  All 
pecuniary  transactions  will  be  at  an 
end;  all  debtors  called  on  for  imme- 
diate payment;  all  holders  of  paper 
•will  instantly  insist  for  coin  ;  all  hold- 
ers of  gold  and  silver  be  converted  into 
hoarders  !  Neither  the  Bank,  nor  the 
London  bankers,  nor  the  country  bank- 
ers, could  survive  the  shock  !  What  a 
scene  of  strife,  insolvency,  stagnation 
of  business,  individual  misery,  and 
general  disorder,  would  ensue  !  All 
this  would  precede  the  passing  of  the 
proposed  bill ;  what  would  it  be  after 
it  had  become  a  law  ?" 

136.  "  The  fall  of  prices,"  said  Mr 
Attwood  in  reply,  "  has  not  been  con- 
fined to  any  one  article,  nor  has  it  been 
of  passing  nature,  as  all  are  which  arise 
from  over-production  or  a  glut  in  the 
market.  It  has  been  uniform  and  pro- 
gressive since  the  Monetary  Act  of  1819 
was  passed,  embracing  all  commodities, 
extending  over  all  periods.  Who  ever 
heard  of  a  fall  in  prices,  arising  from 
over-production,  enduring  for  three 
years  ?  It  is  invariably  terminated  in 
six  or  eight  months,  by  the  production 
being  lessened.  In  the  present  in- 
stance all  the  leading  articles  of  com- 
merce have  undergone  a  similar  re- 
duction, and  in  all  it  has  continued 
without  abatement,  during  that  long 
period.  Wheat,  which  in  the  year 
1818  was  84s.,  is  now  selling  at  47s., 
showing  a  reduction  of  37s.,  or  45  per 


cent.  Iron,  in  1818,  was  £13  the  ton  ; 
it  is  now  £8,  being  a  fall  of  40  per 
cent.  Cotton,  in  1818,  was  Is.  the 
pound  ;  it  is  now  6d.,  being  a  fall  of 
50  per  cent.  Wool,  which  in  1818 
was  selling  at  2s.  Id.,  now  sells  for 
Is.  Id.,  being  a  reduction  of  50  per 
cent.  These  are  the  great  articles  of 
commerce,  and  the  average  of  the  fall 
upon  them  is  45  per  cent,  being  exactly 
the  reduction  on  the  price  of  grain. 
This  is  recommended  to  the  considera- 
tion of  those  who  tell  us  of  over-pro- 
duction and  an  excessive  cultivation 
of  corn-land.  Mr  Tooke  has  compiled 
a  table  exhibiting  the  fall  between 
May  1818  and  May  1822,  and  the  fall 
is  the  same  in  all  the  articles,  with  the 
exception  of  indigo.  The  fall,  there- 
fore, is  not  peculiar  to  agriculture ;  it 
is  universal,  and  has  embraced  every 
article  of  industry,  every  branch  of 
commerce.  How  trade  or  production 
could  by  possibility  be  carried  on  with 
a  profit  while  a  fall  of  such  magni- 
tude was  going  forward,  it  is  for  the 
supporters  of  the  opposite  system  to 
explain. 

137.  "  This  fall  of  prices  must  have 
been  produced  by  one  of  two  causes  : 
either  the  quantity  of  all  commodities 
has  increased,  or  the  quantity  of  all 
money  has  diminished.     One  of  these 
must  of  necessity  have  occurred,   for 
the  proportion  is  altered.     Are  we  to 
believe  that  great  changes  have  sud- 
denly taken  place  in  the  productive 
powers  of  nature,  or  the  resources  of 
art,  so  as  to  account  for  this  sudden 
and  universal  fall  of  prices  ?  Is  it  likely 
that  production  in  all  branches  of  in- 
dustry, agricultural  and  manufactur- 
ing, would  go  on  for  three  years  con- 
stantly increasing  in  the   face  of  a 
constantly   diminishing  price  ?     The 
thing  is  evidently  out  of  the  question. 
It  is  the  quantity  of  money  that  must 
have  been  reduced.     That  this  has 
really  been    the    case  is  sufficiently 
proved  by  authentic  documents,  which 
show  distinctly  where  the  deficiency  is 
to  be  found. 

138.  "The  circulation  of  the  coun- 
try rests  entirely  upon  that   of  tho 
Bank  of  England ;  and  its  notes  in  cir- 
culation,  immediately  preceding  the 


202 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


Act  of  1819,  and  the  fall  of  prices, 
were,  at  an  average,  from  twenty-nine 
to  tliirty  millions.  That  was  the  amount 
in  circulation  for  the  last  half  of  1817 
and  first  of  1818.  If  we  take  the  cir- 
culation in  the  middle  of  each  quarter, 
which  Mr  Harman  states  is  the  fairest 
mode  of  striking  the  average,  it  will 
appear  that  the  diminution  of  the  cir- 
culation has  been  nearly  a  third.* 
Nothing  can  be  more  regular,  gradual, 
and  uniform  than  the  contraction  of 
the  currency  immediately  preceding 
and  accompanying  the  great  reduction 
in  the  rate  of  prices.  It  was  altogether 
a  forced  and  systematic  contraction. 
It  did  not  take  place  in  consequence 
of  the  fall  of  prices ;  it  preceded  it. 
It  worked  silently  but  unceasingly 
through  every  branch  of  industry,  till 
it  had  reduced  them  all  to  the  same 
miserably  low  level.  It  was  not  effect- 
ed by  means  of  any  lessened  demand 
for  bank-notes;  on  the  contrary,  it 
took  place  in  the  midst  of  a  constantly 
increasing  demand  for  them,  when 
population  was  rapidly  augmenting, 
general  peace  prevailed,  and  the  grow- 
ing commerce  and  transactions  of  men 
were  daily  rendering  more  necessary 
an  enlargement  of  the  circulating  me- 
dium by  which  they  were  to  be  car- 
ried on.  The  requisitions  made  to  the 
Bank  by  the  mercantile  community 
were  less  at  the  time  of  its  greatest 
circulation,  in  the  last  half  of  1817, 
than  they  had  been  at  any  subsequent 
period  when  the  circulation  has  been 
*  AMOUNT  IN  CIRCULATION  OF  ALL  NOTES. 
£30,100,000 
29,400,000 


August  16,  1817 
November  13, 


February  1818, 
May  ,,    . 

August       „ 
November  ,,     . 
February  1819, 
May 
August 
November 


28,700,000 
28,000,000 
26,600,000 
26,000,000 
25,600,000 
23,900,000 
26,000,000 
24,000,000 


February  1820,         .        .        .        24,000,000 

May 

August 

November 


23,900,000 
24,400,000 
23,400,000 
Amount  of  £5  Notes  and  upwards. 
November  1817,        .        .        .        19,600,000 
„         1818,        .        .        .        16,900,000 
„         1819,        .        .        .        15,100,000 
,,         1820,        .        .        .        15,300,000 
„         1821,        .        .        .        14,800,000 
May  1822,         ....        U,600,000 


so  fearfully  contracted.  The  Bank  is 
now  under  greater  advances  to  .mer- 
chants with  a  circulation  of  only 
£23,000,000  than  it  was  when  its  cir- 
culation was  £30,000,000.  The  reduc- 
tion in  the  circulation,  therefore,  has 
taken  place  in  consequence  of  no  de- 
cline in  the  demands  of  the  mercantile 
community,  but  solely  and  entirely 
from  the  forced  but  yet  regular  and 
persevering  measures  of  the  Bank  di- 
rectors to  reduce  its  circulation,  first 
in  preparation  for,  and  next  in  conse- 
quence of,  the  Cash  Payments  Bill  of 
1819. 

139.  "The  reduction  of  prices  has 
been  in  a  much  greater  proportion  than 
the  contraction  of  the  currency.     The 
bank-notes  have  been  diminished  by 
about  a  fourth,   but  prices  of  every 
article  have  fallen  a  half.     This  is  a 
very  important  fact,  for  it  indicates 
how  powerfully — much  more  so  than 
could  have  been  expected — a  reduc- 
tion in  the  amount  of  the  currency 
affects  prices,  and  through  them  the 
resources  of  all  the  producing  classes 
in  the  community.     The  same  is  ob- 
servable in  regard  to  grain,  or  meat, 
or  any  other  article  in  universal  and 
daily  use :  a  failure  of  the  crop  to  the 
extent  of  a  fourth  or  fifth  doubles 
prices,  and  often  more.     It  is  not  dif- 
ficult to  discover  the  cause  of  this  ano- 
maly.    The  bank-notes  do  work  far 
beyond  their  amount  in  value:  they 
conduct  and  turn  over  the  whole  trans- 
actions of  the  country.     The  payment 
of  taxes  and  dividends,  and  all  the  in- 
numerable transactions  between  man 
and  man,  are  done  by  their  means.    A 
diminution  of  their  number,  by  lessen- 
ing credit  and  the  means  of  purchase 
or  speculation  over  the  whole  commu- 
nity, affects  prices  far  more  extensively 
than  the  nominal  amount  of  this  dimi- 
nution, for    it  affects  the  power  of 
buying  among  all  the  persons  through 
whose  hands  the  notes  pass  in  their 
circulation  through  the  community. 

140.  "  In  addition  to  this,  there  are 
a  great  many  payments  which  do  not 
fall  with  a  diminution  on  the  circulat- 
ing medium  of  the  community.     The 
great  and  burdensome  charges  of  the 
nation  remain  the  same,  however  much 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


205 


the  currency  may  be  contracted  and 
prices  fall.  The  taxes,  the  interest 
of  mortgages  and  bonds,  jointures  to 
widows,  provisions  to  children,  poor- 
rates,  life  insurances,  and  the  like, 
undergo  no  diminution.  Nay,  there 
are  several  articles  of  consumption,  as 
salt,  tea,  malt,  sugar,  and  some  others 
of  equal  importance,  in  which  the  tax 
bears  so  great  a  proportion  to  the  price 
of  the  article,  that  its  price  cannot  fall 
in  any  perceptible  degree  from  a  dimi- 
nution in  the  demand.  These  heavy 
fixed  burdens,  and  extensive  articles 
of  consumption,  require  the  same 
amount  of  bank-notes  for  their  dis- 
charge or  payment  under  a  reduced  as 
amidst  a  plentiful  circulation.  Thus 
the  whole  effects  of  the  reduction  in 
the  circulating  medium  are  run  into, 
and  act  upon,  the  sale  of  those  articles 
of  commerce  in  which  a  reduction  of 
price  is  practicable  ;  and  as  they  are 
not  half  the  entire  expenditure  of  the 
nation,  the  effect  upon  them  is  pro- 
portionally greater.  It  is  like  a  man 
with  a  fixed  income,  say  £1000  a-year, 
who  is  burdened  with  fixed  payments 
to  the  extent  of  £600,  being  deprived 
of  one-half  of  the  remainder,  or  £200. 
Though  that  reduction  is  only  of  a  fifth 
of  his  entire  income,  it  will  draw  after 
it  a  reduction  of  that  part  of  his  ex- 
penditure over  which  he  has  a  control 
to  the  extent  of  a  half;  and  if  he  does 
not  draw  in  to  that  amount,  he  will 
very  soon  become  bankrupt. 

141.  "  The  repayment  of  the  Bank 
advances  by  Government  has  been  the 
measure  on  which  this  reduction  in  the 
quantity  of  money,  and  the  consequent 
increase  in  its  value,  was  founded. 
Since  1817,  no  less  than  £15,000,000 
has  been  repaid  to  the  Bank  by  Gov- 
ernment. When  the  Bank  got  these 
repayments,  they  did  not  re-issue  them 
again,  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to 
do  in  former  days,  but  they  retained 
them  in  their  coffers,  and  thereby  with- 
drew them  from  circulation.  These 
proceedings  have  produced  a  regular 
progressive  reduction  of  prices,  irre- 
spective altogether  of  any  excess  in 
the  production.  If  the  Bank  were  to 
advance  again  this  £15,000,000,  or 
any  considerable  part  of  it,  to  Govern- 


ment, and  were  enabled  to  do  so  by 
the  necessary  alteration  in  the  Act  of 
1819,  the  effect  would  be  an  imme- 
diate return  to  the  scale  of  prices  which, 
existed  in  1818  and  during  the  war. 

142.  "  Such  is  the  evil  under  which 
we  are  now  labouring,  and  which  will 
suffer  no  abatement  so  long  as  the 
causes  which  produced  it  continue  in 
operation.      "We  have  been  occupied 
with  changes  in  our  pecuniary  system, 
and  it  is  precisely  since  they  were  com- 
menced that  our  difficulties  have  been 
experienced.     To  enhance  the  value  of 
money,  to  raise  the  price  of  gold,  we 
have  lowered  that  of  all  other  commo- 
dities, while  at  the  same  time  we  have 
left  the  great  payments  of  the  nation 
raised  from  the  sale  of  these  commodi- 
ties !     Strange,  indeed,  would  it  be  if 
such  a  system  was  not  to  have  pro- 
duced the  general  and  long-continued 
distress  which  we  see  around  us.    The 
reduction  effected  in  the  amount  of 
money  in  circulation  has  been  nearly 
one-half   of  that   employed   in  sup- 
porting agricultural,  commercial,  and 
manufacturing  industiy.    Hence  these 
classes   are  unable    to   obtain  much 
more  than  half  the  return  they  ob- 
tained for  their  industry  before  the 
alteration  took  place,  and  yet  all  their 
great  money  engagements  remain  the 
same  !    This  is  the  origin  of  that  state 
of  things  which  in  its  result  leaves  the 
landowner  without  rent,  the  merchant 
without  profit,  the  labourer  without 
employment  or  wages,  which  revolu- 
tionises property,  and  disorganises  all 
the  different  relations  and  interests  of 
society." 

143.  Dr  Arnold  said  that  Sir  Robert 
Peel   "would    yield    to    pressure  on 
everything  except  the  currency. "    It  is 
not  surprising  it  was  so  ;  for  determi- 
nation to  adhere  on  that  one  point 
necessarily  drew  after  it  concession  on 
every  other.     The  distress  produced 
by  the  general  fall  of  all  prices  50  per 
cent  had  become  such  among  the  pro- 
ducing classes,  that  no  combination  of 
the  leaders  of  the  opposite  parties,  and 
no  efforts  on  the  part  of  Ministers, 
were  able  any  longer  to  avert  its  effects. 
It  was  in  the  loud  and  fierce  demand 
for  a  reduction  of  taxation  that  the 


204 


public  voice,  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, first  made  itself  heard  in  an 
unmistakable  manner.  Several  omi- 
nous divisions,  presaging  total  defeat 
in  the  event  of  any  further  resistance 
to  the  demands  of  the  country  in  this 
particular,  took  place  in  the  early  pe- 
riod of  the  session.  A  motion  by  Mr 
Calcraft,  for  the  progressive  diminu- 
tion of  the  salt-tax,  by  taking  off  a 
third  in  each  of  the  next  three  years, 
was  only  thrown  out  by  a  majority  of 
.four,  the  numbers  being  169  to  165. 
This  near  approach  to  a  defeat  was  the 
more  remarkable,  that  Lord  London- 
derry and  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer had  loudly  declared  that  this 
tax  was  essential  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  Sinking  Fund,  and  that  its  re- 
peal would  be  the  signal  for  the  en- 
tire abandonment  of  that  fund.  This 
•doubtful  conflict  was  soon  followed  by 
•decided  defeats.  On  the  very  next  day, 
on  a  motion  made  by  Sir  John  Os- 
borne  for  a  reduction  of  two  of  the 
junior  lords  of  the  Admiralty,  Minis- 
ters were  left  in  a  minority  of  54,  the 
numbers  being  182  to  128.  This  was 
soon  after  followed  by  another  defeat, 
on  the  motion  of  Lord  Normanby  for 
the  reduction  of  one  of  the  two  joint 
Postmasters-general,  which  was  only 
thrown  out  by  a  majority  of  25,  the 
numbers  being  184  to  159.  The  same 
tnotion,  put  in  a  different  form,  was,  in 
a  subsequent  period  of  the  session,  car- 
ried against  Ministers  by  a  majority 
of  15,  the  numbers  being  216  to  201. 

144.  These  disasters  were  sufficient 
to  convince  Ministers  that,  however 
ignorant  they  might  be  of  the  real 
source  of  their  difficulties,  and  how- 
ever tenacious  they  certainly  were  of 
the  Monetary  Bill  of  1819,  the  dis- 
tresses of  the  country  had  become  such 
that  relief,  in  some  form  or  another, 
was  indispensable  ;  and  that,  if  they 
-would  not  give  it  in  the  form  of  mea- 
sures calculated  to  raise  the  remunera- 
tion of  industry,  they  must  give  it  in 
the  form  of  a  reduction  of  its  burdens. 
The  effect  of  the  shake  they  had  re- 
ceived soon  appeared  in  the  financial 
measures  which,  in  a  subsequent  pe- 
riod of  the  session,  they  brought  for- 
ward. Although,  in  February,  Lord 


[CHAP.  x. 

Londonderry  had  declared  that  the  re- 
tention of  the  salt-tax  was  indispen- 
sable to  the  upholding  of  the  Sinking 
Fund  to  the  level  of  £5,000,000, 
which  the  House  had  solemnly  pledged 
itself,  in  1819,  to  maintain  inviolate, 
he  was  yet  compelled  to  bring  forward, 
on  24th  May,  a  motion  for  its  reduc- 
tion from  15s.  a  bushel  to  2s.,  which 
occasioned  a  loss  to  the  revenue  of 
£1,300, 000  a-year.  This  was  followed 
by  a  reduction  of  the  war-tax  on  lea- 
ther, which  occasioned  a  further  loss 
of  £600,000  a-year.  The  tonnage- 
duty  and  Irish  hearth-tax  were  also 
abandoned,  which  produced  between 
them  £400,000  yearly.  These  great 
reductions,  together  with  the  annual 
malt-tax,  which  brought  in  £1,500,000 
a-year,  and  which  Government  had 
announced  their  intention  of  abandon- 
ing at  an  early  period  of  the  session, 
amounted  to  £3,500,000  a-year,  being 
half  a  million  more  than  the  amount 
of  the  new  taxes,  imposed  in  1819,  to 
keep  up  the  Sinking  Fund  to  £5, 000, 000 
yearly.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  taxes  thus  removed  were  judiciously 
selected,  as  they  were  those  which 
bore  most  heavily  on  the  labouring 
classes  of  the  community ;  and  still 
less  that  their  distress  had  become  such 
as  to  render  a  considerable  reduction 
of  the  taxes  pressing  on  them  indis- 
pensable ;  for,  measured  in  quarters  of 
wheat,  their  true  standard,  the  poor- 
rates  of  England,  were  now  twice  as 
heavy  as  they  had  been  in  1812.*  But 
the  necessity  of  removing  these  taxes, 
and  thereby  abandoningthe  very  foun- 
dation of  the  Sinking  Fund,  afforded 
the  most  decisive  evidence  both  how 
widespread  the  distress  had  become, 
and  how  entire  a  revolution  it  had  al- 
ready induced  in  the  financial  system 
and  policy  of  the  country. 

145.  The  budget  was  brought  for- 
ward on  1st  July,  and  its  leading  fea- 

*  POOR-RATES  PAID  IN  MONEY  AND  QUARTERS 
OF  WHEAT. 

Tear.  Quarters  of  Who»t. 

1811,        .  .      £6,656,105        1,440,445 

1814,        .  .  5,418,846        1,702,255 

1821,  .  .  6,959,249        2,557,763 

1822,  .  .  6,358,702        2,940,440 
— HUGHES,  \\.  495.    ALISON'S  Europe,  cliap. 
xcvi.,  Appendix. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


1822.] 

ture  was  the  reduction  of  the  Sinking 
Fund  from  £13,000,000  to  £7,500,000, 
by  appropriating  £5,500,000  to  the 
current  service  of  the  year.  This  sig- 
nal and  calamitous  departure  from  the 
form  even  of  our  former  policy,  in  this 
vital  particular,  was  sought  to  be  justi- 
fied by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
on  various  grounds  ;  but  it  was  evident 
that  it  was  imposed  upon  him  by  sheer 
necessity,  and  was  a  direct  abandon- 
ment of  the  solemn  resolution  to  main- 
tain a  real  surplus  of  £5,000,000  over 
the  expenditure,  which  Parliament  had 
unanimously  adopted  only  three  years 
before  ;  for,  as  the  nominal  Sinking 
Fund  was  reduced  to  half  its  former 
amount,  it  was  plain  that  the  real  re- 
demption of  debt  was  virtually  aban- 
doned. The  expenditure  of  the  pre- 
sent year,  however,  as  the  great  re- 
duction of  taxation  made  in  the  course 
of  it  had  not  taken  effect,  was  nearly 
£5,000,000  below  the  income,  leaving 
that  sum  applicable  to  the  diminu- 
tion of  debt — a  striking  and  melancho- 
ly proof  of  what  the  resources  of  the 
countiy  really  were  at  this  period, 
had  the  ruinous  contraction  of  the 
currency  not  imposed  upon  the  present 
and  all  future  governments  the  neces- 
sity of  remitting  the  indirect  taxes,  by 
which  alone  the  Sinking  Fund  could 
be  maintained.  It  is  not  surprising  it 
was  so.  A  hundred  millions  a-year  is 
not  cut  off  from  the  remuneration  of 
productive  labour,  in  a  country  the 
source  from  which  its  entire  wealth 
must  be  drawn,  without  producing  i 


205 


lasting  effects  upon  its  financial  situa- 
tion and  ultimate  destiny.* 

146.  Two  measures,  the  one  of  the- 
most  unquestionable,  the  other  of  very 
doubtful  wisdom,  were  brought  for- 
ward  during  this  session  of  Parliament, 
and  carried  into  effect.  The  first  of 
these  was  the  reduction  of  the  navy 
5  per  cents  to  4  per  cent.  About 
£156,000,000  stood  in  this  species  of 
stock  ;  consequently,  any  reduction  in 
the  interest  payable  on  it  was  a  very 
great  relief  to  the  national  finances. 
The  condition  proposed  to  the  holders- 
was,  that  for  every  £100  of  their  ex- 
isting stock  they  should  be  inscribed 
for  £105  in  a  new  stock  bearing  4  per 
cent  interest.  Those  who  signified 
their  dissent  before  1st  March  1823 
were  to  be  paid  off.  So  high  were  the 
Funds,  however,  that  those  who  took 
advantage  of  this  were  only  1373,  and 
the  stock  they  held  amounted  to 
£2,605,978— not  a  fiftieth  part  of  the 
entire  stock  ;  so  that  the  measure  was 
carried  into  execution  with  the  most 
complete  success.  The  entire  saving, 
to  the  nation,  including  that  effected 
by  a  similar  saving  on  the  Irish  5  per 
cents,  was  no  less  than  £1,230,000  a- 
year — a  very  great  sum,  and  which  af- 
fords the  clearest  proof  of  the  justice 
of  the  observations  made  in  a  former 
work,  £  as  to  the  impolicy  of  the  sys- 
tem which  Mr  Pitt  so  long  pursued,  of 
borrowing  the  greater  part  of  the  pub- 
lic debt  in  the  3  instead  of  the  5  per 
cents  ;  for  if  the  whole  debt  had  been, 
borrowed  in  the  latter  form,  the  reduc- 


INCOME  AND  EXPENDITURE  OF  THE  YEAR  1822. 


Customs, 
Excise,  . 
Stamps,  . 
Taxes,  . 
Post-Office,  . 
Lesser  Payments, 

Total  Taxes,    . 

Loans, f  . 


Grand  Total, 


£12,923,420 
28,976,344 
6,880,494 
7,517,643 
2,049,326 
1,451,341 

£59,798,508 
11,872,155 

£71,670,724 


Expenditure. 

Charges  of  Collection, 
Interest  on  Funded  Debt, 
Interest  on  Unfunded  do., 
Naval  and  Military  Pensions, 
Civil  List  and  Expenses, 
Army,        .... 
Navy,         .... 
Navy  Pensioners,     . 
Ordnance,          .        . 
Miscellaneous, 
Lesser  Payments,     . 
Surplus  applicable  to  Debt, 


£5,688,091 

29,490,897 

1,430,596 

1,400,000 

1,057,000 

7,698,973 

4,915,642 

246,000 

1,007,821 

2,105,797- 

529,961 

4,915,52* 


£60,102,741 


Grand  Total, 
—Parliamentary  Paper  in  Annual  Register,  1823,  pp.  215-217. 

t  The  loam  went  to  discharge  Exchequer  bills. 

t  Vide  History  of  Europe,  chap.  xli.  §  62.    The  difference  of  the  interest  paid  in  the  3. 
and  the  5  per  cents  seldom  exceeded  a  quarter  per  cent. — Ibid.,  chap.  xli.  §  64,  note. 


206 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


tion  effected  in  the  annual  interest  this 
year  would  not  have  been  £1,200,000, 
but  above  £6,000,000  sterling. 

147.  The  next  great  financial  mea- 
sure of  the  session,  upon  which  a  more 
•doubtful  meed  of  praise  must  be  be- 
stowed, was  that,  as  it  was  commonly 
called,  for  the  equalisation  of  the  Dead 
Weight.    This  was  a  measure  by  which 
the  burden  of  the  naval  and  military 
pensions,  most  justly  bestowed  upon 
our  gallant  defenders  during  the  late 
war,  was  equalised  for  more  than  a 
generation  to  come,  by  being  spread, 
at  an  equal  amount,  over  the  present 
and  the  future.  This  burden  amounted 
to  nearly  £5,000,000  a -year;  and  al- 
though, as  the  annuitants  expired,  its 
amount  would  diminish,  and  at  the  end 
of  forty  or  fifty  years  would  be  a  mere 
trifle,  yet  that  prospect  proved  but  a 
poor  resource  to  the  present  necessities 
of  a  needy  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 
In  these  circumstances,  when  the  diffi- 
culties of  Government  to  make  head 
against    present    exigencies  were    so 
great,  the  expedient  was  thought  of, 
of  granting  a  fixed  annuity,  for  forty- 
five    years  certain,  to  parliamentary 
commissioners,  who,  in  consideration 
of  that,  were  to  undertake  the  burden 
of  the  varying  existing  annuities.   The 
effect  of  this,  of  course,  was  to  dimi- 
nish in  a  great  degree  the  burden  in 
the  outset,  and  proportionally  augment 
it  in  the  end. 

148.  Government  in  the  first  in- 
stance received  £4,900,000  from  the 
commissioners,   and    paid    out    only 
£2,800,000,  thereby  effecting  a  pre- 
sent saving  of  £2,100,000.     But  this 
was  gained  by  authorising  the  com- 
missioners to  sell  as  much  of  the  fixed 
sum  of  £2,800,000  a-year,  which  was 
directed  to  be  paid  to  them  out  of  the 
Consolidated  Fund,  as  might  be  neces- 
sary to  enable  them  to  meet  the  excess 
of  present  payments  over  the  income 
received  ;  aud  of  course  it  had  the  ef- 
fect of  rendering  the  dead  weight  as 
much  heavier  than  it  otherwise  would 
have  been  at  the  close  of  the  period, 
as  it  had  been  lightened  at  its  com- 
mencement.   This  project  received  the 
sanction  of  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature, as  did  a  supplementary  measure 


throwing  the  burden  of  superannuated 
allowances  on  the  holders  of  offices  un- 
der Government,  by  stopping  off'  their 
salaries  a  sum  adequate  to  insuring  for 
its  amount,  which  effected  a  saving  of 
£370, 000  a-year.  These  two  measures 
effected  a  reduction  of  present  expenses 
to  the  amount  of  nearly  £2,500,000 
a-year,  but,  like  the  reduction  of  the  5 
per  cents,  by  increasing  the  burden  of 
the  nation  in  future  times ;  for  the 
first,  at  this  moment,  is  adding  above 
£1,500,000  to  the  annual  charges  of 
the  nation  above  what  it  otherwise 
would  have  been ;  and  the  last  had 
added  seven  millions,  by  the  5  per  cent 
bonus  given  to  the  holders  of  stock, 
to  the  amount  of  the  national  debt. 

149.  Amid  so  many  measures  which 
attracted  general  attention,  and  had 
become  indispensable,  from  the  neces- 
sitous state  of  the  public  exchequer, 
one  of  the  greatest  importance  was 
quietly  introduced  into  the  Legisla- 
ture. Ministers  had  not  the  manliness 
to  confess  they  had  been  wrong  in  the 
course  they  had  adopted  in  regard  to 
the  bill  compelling  cash  payments  in 
1819,  or  perhaps  they  were  aware  that 
the  influence  of  the  moneyed  interest  in 
the  House  of  Commons  was  too  strong 
to  render  it  possible  for  them  openly 
and  avowedly  to  recede  from  that  sys- 
tem.   But  they  did  so  almost  secretly, 
perhaps  unconsciously,  in  the  most  ef- 
fective way.     Lord  Londonderry  alone 
had  the  sagacity  to  perceive,  and  the 
courage  to  avow,  the  real  nature  of  the 
measure  introduced,  and  the  evils  it 
was  intended  to  obviate.     "He  did 
not  treat  it,"  said  Sir  JAMES  GRAHAM, 
a  statesman  subsequently  well  known, 
"  as  a  question  of  fluctuation  of  prices, 
of  want  of  means  of  consumption,  or 
of  superabundant  harvest.    The  noble 
marquess  (Londonderry)  said  plainly 
and  directly,  'This  is  a  question  of 
currency  :  the  currency  of  the  country 
is  too  contracted  for  its  wants,  and  our 
business  is  to  apply  a  remedy.' " 

150.  The  remedy  applied  was  most 
effectual,  and  entirely  successful,  so  far 
as  the  evils  meant  to  be  remedied  were 
concerned.     By  the  Act  of  1819  it  had 
been  provided  that  the  issuing  of  small 
notes  by  the  Bank  of  England  or  coun- 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


207 


try  banks  should  cease  on  1st  May  1823, 
and  it  was  the  necessity  of  providing 
against  this  contingency  which  was  one 
great  cause  of  the  contraction  of  the 
currency.  On  2d  July,  however,  Lord 
Londonderry  introduced  a  bill  permit- 
ting the  issue  of  £1  notes  to  continue 
for  ten  years  longer,  and  declared  the 
£1  notes  of  the  Bank  of  England  a  le- 
gal tender  everywhere  except  at  the 
Bank  of  England.  This,  coupled  with 
the  grant  of  £4,000,000  Exchequer 
bills,  which  Government  were  author- 
ised to  issue  in  aid  of  the  agricultural 
interest,  had  a  surprising  effect  in  re- 
storing confidence  and  raising  prices  ; 
and  by  doing  so,  it  repealed,  so  long 
as  it  continued  in  operation,  the  most 
injurious  parts  of  the  Act  of  1819.  It 
will  appear  in  a  subsequent  chapter 
Low  vast  was  the  effect  of  this  measure, 
what  a  flood  of  temporary  prosperity 
it  spread  over  the  country,  and  in  what 
a  dismal  catastrophe,  from  the  neces- 
sity still  retained  of  paying  all  the 
notes  at  the  Bank  itself  in  gold,  it  ul- 
timately terminated.  Yet  so  ignorant 
were  the  Legislature  of  the  effects  of 
this  vital  measure,  and  so  little  atten- 
tion did  it  excite,  that  the  second 
reading  of  it  was  carried  in  a  house  of 
forty-seven  members  only  in  the  Com- 
mons ;  and  while  so  many  hundred 
pages  of  Hansard  are  occupied  with 
debates  on  reduction  of  expenditure 
and  similar  topics,  which  at  the  ut- 
most could  only  save  the  nation  a  few 
hundred  thousands  a  -  year,  this  mea- 
sure, which  restored  at  least  eighty 
millions  a -year  to  the  remuneration 
of  industry  in  the  country,  does  not  in 
all  occupy  two  pages,  and  can  only  be 
discovered  by  the  most  careful  examin- 
ation in  our  parliamentary  proceed- 
ings. 

151.  Six  very  important  acts  were 
passed  this  session  of  Parliament  at 
the  instance  of  Mr  Wallace,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade,  for  remov- 
ing the  shackles  which  fettered  the 
trade  and  navigation  of  the  country, 
and  improving  their  facilities.  These 
acts  opened  a  new  era  in  our  commer- 
cial legislation— the  era  of  unrestricted 
competition  and  free  trade  in  shipping. 
As  such  they  are  highly  deserving  of 


attention  ;  but  their  provisions  will 
come  with  more  propriety  to  be  con- 
sidered in  a  subsequent  chapter,  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  RECIP- 
ROCITY SYSTEM  in  maritime  affairs, 
then  introduced  by  Mr  Huskisson.  At 
present,  it  is  sufficient  to  observe  the 
date  of  the  commencement  of  the  new 
system  being  the  same  with  that  of  so 
many  other  changes  in  our  social  sys- 
tem and  commercial  policy,  and  when 
the  system  of  cheapening  of  articles  of 
all  soils  had  rendered  a  general  reduc- 
tion of  all  the  charges,  entering  how 
remotely  soever  into  their  composition, 
a  matter  of  absolute  necessity. 

152.  Parliament  rose  on  the  6th  Au- 
gust, and  the  King  proceeded  shortly 
after  on  a  visit  to  Edinburgh,  which 
he  had  never  yet  seen.     He  embarked 
with  a  splendid  court  at  Greenwich  on 
board  the  Royal  George  yacht  on  the 
10th  August,   and  arrived  in   Leith 
Roads  in  the  afternoon  of  the  15th. 
No  sovereign  had  landed  there  since 
Queen  Mary  arrived  nearly  three  hun- 
dred years  before.     The  preparations 
for  his  Majesty's  reception,  under  the 
direction  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  were  of 
the  most  magnificent  description,  and 
the  loyal  spirit  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Scotland  rendered  it  interesting  in  the 
highest  degree.      The  heartburnings 
and  divisions  of  recent  times  were  for- 
gotten ;  the  Queen's  trial  was  no  more 
thought  of ;  the  Radicals  were  silent. 
The  ancient  and  inextinguishable  loy- 
alty of  the  Scotch  broke  forth  with 
unexampled  ardour ;  the  devoted  at- 
tachment they  had  shown  to  the  Stu- 
arts appeared,  but  it  was  now  trans- 
ferred to  the  reigning  family.     The 
clans  from  all  parts  of  the  Highlands 
appeared  in  their  picturesque  and  vari- 
ed costumes,  with  their  chieftains  at 
their  head ;  the  eagle's  feather,  their 
well-known  badge,  was  seen  surmount- 
ing many  plumes  ;  two  hundred  thou- 
sand strangers  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  crowded  the  streets  of  Edin- 
burgh, and  for  a  brief  period  gave  it 
the  appearance  of  a  splendid  metro- 
polis. 

153.  The  entry  of  the  Sovereign  into 
the  ancient  city  of  his  ancestors  was 
extremely  striking.     The  heights  of 


208 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  x. 


the  Calton  Hill,  and  the  cliffs  of  Salis- 
bury Crags,  which  overhang  the  city, 
were  lined  with  cannon,  and  ornament- 
ed with  standards  ;  and  from  these  bat- 
teries, as  well  as  the  guns  of  the  Cas- 
tle, and  the  ships  in  the  roads,  and 
Leith  Fort,  a  royal  salute  was  fired  as 
the  monarch  touched  the  shore.  The 
procession  passed  through  an  innumer- 
able crowd  of  spectators,  who  loudly 
and  enthusiastically  cheered,  up  Leith 
"Walk,  and  by  York  Place,  St  Andrew 
Square,  and  Waterloo  Place,  to  Holy- 
rood  House,  where  a  levee  and  draw- 
ing-room were  held  a  few  days  after. 
On  the  night  following,  the  city  was 
illuminated,  and  the  guns  of  the  Cas- 
tle, firing  at  ten  at  night,  realised  the 
sublimity  without  the  terrors  of  actual 
warfare.  At  a  magnificent  banquet 
given  to  the  Sovereign  by  the  Magis- 
trates of  Edinburgh  in  the  Parliament 
House,  at  which  the  Lord  Provost  act- 
ed as  chairman,  and  Sir  Walter  Scott 
as  vice-chairman,  the  former  was  made 
a  baronet,  with  that  grace  of  manner 
and  felicity  of  expression  for  which 
the  King  was  so  justly  celebrated.  A 
review  on  Portobello  Sands  exhibited 
the  gratifying  spectacle  of  3000  yeo- 
manry cavalry,  collected  from  all  the 
southern  counties  of  Scotland,  march- 
ing in  procession  before  their  Sove- 
reign. Finally,  the  King,  who  during 
his  residence  in  Scotland  had  been 
magnificently  entertained  at  Dalkeith 
Palace,  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Buc- 
cleuch,  embarked  on  the  27th  at  Hope- 
toun  House,  the  beautiful  residence  of 
the  Earls  of  Hopetoun,  where  he  con- 
ferred the  honour  of  knighthood  on 
Henry  Raeburn,  the  celebrated  Scot- 
tish artist,  and  arrived  in  safety  in  the 
Thames  on  the  30th,  charmed  with 
the  reception  he  had  met  with,  and 
having  left  on  all  an  indelible  impres- 
sion of  the  mingled  dignity  and  grace 
of  his  manners,  and  felicity  of  his  ex- 
pressions. 

154.  His  return  was  accelerated  by 
a  tragical  event,  which  deprived  Eng- 
land of  one  of  her  greatest  statesmen, 
and  the  intelligence  of  which  arrived 
amidst  these  scenes  of  festivity  and 
rejoicing.  Lord  Londonderry,  upon 
whose  shoulders,  since  the  retirement 


of  Lord  Sidmouth,  the  principal  weight 
of  government,  as  well  as  the  entire 
labour  of  the  lead  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  had  fallen,  had  suffered, 
severely  from  the  fatigues  of  the  pre- 
ceding session,  and  shortly  after  ex- 
hibited symptoms  of  mental  aberra- 
tion. He  was  visited  in  consequence 
by  his  physician,  Dr  Bankhead,  at  his 
mansion  at  North  Cray  in  Kent,  by 
whom  he  was  cupped.  Some  relief 
was  experienced  from  this,  but  he  con- 
tinued in  bed,  and  the  mental  disorder 
was  unabated.  It  was  no  wonder  it 
was  so  :  Romilly  and  Whitbread  had, 
in  like  manner,  fallen  victims  to  simi- 
lar pressure  on  the  brain,  arising  from 
political  effort.  On  the  morning  of 
the  12th  August,  Dr  Bankhead,  who 
slept  in  the  house,  being  summoned 
to  attend  his  lordship  in  his  dressing- 
room,  entered  just  in  time  to  save  him 
from  falling.  He  said,  "Bankhead, 
let  me  fall  on  your  arms — 'tis  all  over," 
and  instantly  expired.  He  had  cut 
his  throat  with  a  penknife.  The  cor- 
oner's inquest  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
insanity.  His  remains  were  interred 
on  the  20th  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
between  the  graves  of  Pitt  and  Fox. 
The  most  decisive  testimony  to  his 
merits  was  borne  by  some  savage  mis- 
creants, who  raised  a  horrid  shout  as 
the  body  was  borne  from  the  hearse  to 
its  last  resting-place  in  the  venerable 
pile  ;  a  shout  which,  to  the  disgrace 
of  English  literature,  has  since  been, 
re-echoed  by  some  whose  talents  might 
have  led  them  to  a  more  generous  ap- 
preciation of  a  political  antagonist,  and 
their  sex  to  a  milder  view  of  the  most 
fearful  of  human  infirmities.* 

*  "Oh,  Castlereagh !  thou  art  a  patriot  now; 
Cato  died  for  his  country,  so  didst  thou  : 
He  perished  rather  than  see  Rome  enslaved, 
Thou  cutt'st  thy  throat  that  Britain  might 

be  saved. 

So  he  has  cut  his  throat  at  last !  He— Who  ? 
The  man  who  cut  his  country's  long  ago." 
— BYRON'S  Works,  xvii.  246. 

"The  news  of  Lord  Londonderry's  death 
struck  the  despots  of  Europe  aghast  upon 
their  thrones — news  which  was  hailed  with 
clasped  hands  and  glistening  eyes  by  aliens 
iu  many  a  provincial  town  of  England,  and 
with  imprudent  shouts  by  conclaves  of  pa- 
triots abroad.  There  are  some  now,  who 
in  mature  years  cannot  remember  without 
emotion  what  they  saw  ajid  heard  that  day. 


1822.] 

155.  Chateaubriand  has  said,  that 
•while  all  other  contemporary  reputa- 
tions are  declining,  that  of  Mr  Pitt  is 
hourly  on  the  increase.     The  same  is 
equally  true  of  Lord  Londonderry ;  the 
same  ever  has,  and  ever  will  be,  true 
of  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  human 
race.     Their  fame  with  posterity  is 
founded    on   the  very  circumstances 
which,  with  the  majority  of  their  con- 
temporaries, constituted  their  unpopu- 
larity} they  are  revered,  because  they 
had  wisdom  to  discern  the  ruinous  ten- 
dency of  the  passions  with  which  they 
were  surrounded,  and  courage  to  resist 
them.      The  reputation  of  the  dema- 
gogue is  brilliant,  but  fleeting,  like  the 
meteor  which  shoots  athwart  the  troub- 
led sky  of  a  wintry  night ;  that  of  the 
undaunted  statesman,  at  first  obscured, 
but  in  the  end  lasting  like  the  fixed 
stars,  which,  when  the  clouds  roll  away, 
shine  for  ever  the  same  in  the  highest 
firmament.     Intrepidity  in  the  rulers 
of  men  is  the  surest  passport  to  immor- 
tality, for  it  is  the  quality  which  most 
fascinates  the  minds  of  men.     All  ad- 
mire, because  few  can  imitate  it. 

"  Justum  et  tenacem  propositi  virum 
Non  civium  ardor  prava  jubentium, 
Non  vultus  instantis  tyranni 

Mente  quatit  solida  neque  Auster, 
Dux  inquieti  turbidus  Hadrise, 
Nee  fulminantis  magna  maims  Jo  vis: 
Si  fractus  illabatur  orbis, 
Impaviduin  ferient  ruinse." 

156.  Never  was  there  a  human  being 
to  whom  these  noble  lines  were  more 
applicable  than  to  Lord  Londonderry. 
His  whole  life  was  a  continual  struggle 
with  the  majority  in  his  own  or  foreign 
lands ;  he  combated  to  subdue  and  to 
bless  them.     He  began  his  career  by 
strenuous  efforts  to  effect  the  Irish 

They  could  not  know  how  the  calamity  of 
one  man — a  man  amiable,  winning,  and  gene- 
rous in  the  walk  of  daily  life— could  penetrate 
the  recesses  of  a  world  but  as  a  ray  of  hope 
in  the  midst  of  thickest  darkness.  This  man 
was  the  screw  by  which  England  had  riveted 
the  chains  of  nations.  The  screw  was  drawn, 
and  the  immovable  despotism  might  now  be 
overthrown.  There  was  abundant  reason  for 
the  rejoicing  which  spread  through  the  world 
on  the  death  of  Lord  Londonderry,  and  the 
shout  which  rang  through  the  Abbey  when 
his  coffin  was  taken  from  the  hearse  was  na- 
tural enough,  though  neither  decent  nor  hu- 
mane."— Miss  MAKTINE.VU,  i.  287,  288. 
VOL.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


209 


Union,  and  rescue  his  native  country 
from  the  incapable  legislature  by  which 
its  energies  had  so  long  been  repressed. 
His  mature  strength  was  exerted  in  a 
long  and  desperate  conflict  with  tho 
despotism  of  revolutionary  France, 
which  his  firmness,  as  much  as  the  arm 
of  Wellington,  brought  to  a  triumphant 
issue  ;  his  latter  days  in  a  ceaseless 
conflict  with  the  revolutionary  spirit 
in  his  own  countiy,  and  an  anxious 
effort  to  uphold  the  dignity  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  independence  of  lesser 
states  abroad.  The  uncompromising 
antagonist  of  Radicalism  at  home,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  the  resolute  op- 
ponent of  despotism  abroad.  If  Poland 
retained,  after  the  overthrow  of  Napo- 
leon, any  remnant  of  nationality,  it  was 
owing  to  his  persevering  and  almost 
unaided  efforts ;  and  at  the  very  time 
when  the  savage  wretches  who  raised  a 
shout  at  his  funeral  were  rejoicing  in 
his  death,  he  had  been  preparing  to 
assert  at  Verona,  as  he  had  done  to  the 
Congresses  of  Laybach  and  Troppau, 
the  independent  action  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, and  her  non- accordance  in  the 
policy  of  the  Continental  sovereigns 
against  the  efforts  of  human  freedom. 
157.  His  policy  in  domestic  affairs 
was  marked  by  the  same  far-seeing 
wisdom,  the  same  intrepid  resistance 
to  the  blindness  of  present  clamour. 
He  made  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to 
uphold  the  Sinking  Fund,  that  noble 
monument  of  Mr  Pitt's  patriotic  fore- 
sight: had  those  efforts  been  success- 
ful, the  whole  national  debt  would 
have  been  paid  off  by  the  year  1845, 
and  the  nation  for  ever  have  been  freed 
from  the  payment  of  thirty  millions 
a -year  for  its  interest.*  He  resisted 
with  a  firm  hand,  and  at  the  expense 
of  present  popularity  with  the  multi- 
tude, the  efforts  of  faction  during  th<>. 
seven  trying  years  which  followed  thb 
close  of  "the  war,  and  bequeathed  the 
constitution,  after  a  season  of  peculiar 
danger,  unshaken  to  his  successors. 
The  intrepid  friend  of  freedom,  he  was 
on  that  very  account  the  resolute  oppo- 

»  Vide  History  of  Europe,  chap.  xli.  sect. 
24,  where  this  is  demonstrated,  and  the  cal- 
culation given. 

0 


210 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAT1.  X. 


nent  of  democracy,  the  insidious  ene- 
my which,  under  the  guise  of  a  friend, 
has  in  eveiy  age  blasted  its  progress 
and  destroyed  its  substance.  Discern- 
ing the  principal  cause  of  the  distress 
which  had  occasioned  these  convul- 
sions, his  last  act  was  one  that  be- 
queathed to  his  country  a  currency 
adequate  to  its  necessities,  and  which 
he  alone  of  his  Cabinet  had  the  honesty 
to  admit  was  a  departure  from  former 
error.  Elegant  and  courteous  in  his 
manners,  with  a  noble  figure  and  finely- 
chiselled  countenance,  he  was  beloved 
in  his  family  circle  and  by  all  his 
friends,  not  less  than  respected  by  the 
wide  circle  of  sovereigns  and  statesmen 
with  whom  he  had  so  worthily  upheld 
the  honour  and  the  dignity  of  England. 
158.  Three  years  only  had  elapsed 
since  the  great  monetary  change  of 
1819  had  been  carried  into  effect,  and 
already  it  had  become  evident  that  that 
was  the  turning-point  of  English  his- 
tory, and  that  an  entire  alteration 
would  ere  long  be  induced  in  its  ex- 
ternal and  internal  policy.  Changes 
great,  decisive,  and  irremediable,  had 
already  occurred,  or  were  in  progress. 
The  cutting  off  of  a  hundred  millions 
a- year  from  the  remuneration  of  in- 
dustry, agricultural  and  manufactur- 
ing, while  the  public  and  private  debts 
remained  the  same,  had  changed  the 
whole  relations  of  society,  altered  all 
the  views  of  men.  Reduction  in  ex- 
penditure, when  so  great  a  chasm  had 
been  effected  in  income,  was  the  uni- 
versal cry.  In  1819,  the  House  of  Com- 
mons had  solemnly  resolved  that  the 
Sinking  Fund  should  under  no  circum- 
stances be  reduced  below  £5,000,000 
a-year,  and  laid  on  £3,000,000  of  in- 
direct taxes  to  bring  it  up  to  that 
amount ;  but  already  the  system  was 
abandoned,  taxes  to  the  amount  of 
£3,500,000  had  been  repealed  in  a 
single  year,  and  the  doctrine  openly 
promulgated  by  Government,  which 
has  since  been  so  constantly  acted  up- 
on, that  the  nation  should  instantly 
receive  the  full  benefit  of  a  surplus 
income  in  a  reduction  of  taxation,  in- 
stead of  a  maintenance  of  the  Sinking 
Fund.  The  fierce  demand  for  a  reduc- 
tion of  expenditure,  which  made  itself 


heard  in  an  unmistakable  manner  even 
in  the  unreformed  House  of  Commons, 
had  rendered  it  indispensable  to  reduce 
the  land  and  sea  forces  of  the  State  to 
a  degree  inconsistent  with  the  security 
of  its  vast  colonial  dependencies,  and 
the  maintenance  of  its  position  as  an 
independent  power. 

159.  Changes  still  more  important 
in  their  ultimate  effects  were  already 
taking  place  in  the  social  position  and 
balance  of  parties  in  the  State.  '  The 
distress  in  Ireland — a  purely  agricul- 
tural state,  upon  which  the  fall  of  50 
per  cent  in  its  produce  fell  with  un- 
mitigated severity — had  become  such 
that  a  change  in  the  system  of  govern- 
ment in  that  country  had  become  in- 
dispensable ;  and  the  altered  system  of 
Lord  Wellesley  presaged,  at  no  distant 
period,  the  admission  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  into  the  Legislature,  and  the 
attempt  to  form  a  harmonious  legisla- 
ture out  of  the  united  Celt  and  Saxon 
— the  conscientious  servant  of  Rome, 
and  the  sturdy  friend  of  Protestant 
England.      The  widespread  and  deep 
distress  of  the  manufacturing  classes, 
and  the  inability  of  the  Legislature  to 
afford  them  any  relief,  had  rendered 
loud  and  threatening  the  demand  for 
reform  in  those  great  hives  of  industry, 
while  the  still  greater  and  more  irreme- 
diable sufferings  of  the  agriculturists 
had  shaken  the  class  hitherto  the  most 
firmly  attached  to  existing  institutions, 
and  diffused  a  very  general  opinion  that 
things  could  not  be  worse  than  they 
were,  and  that  no  alleviation  of  the 
evils  under  which  the  country  laboured 
could  be  hoped  for  till  the  representa- 
tion of  the  people  was  put  on  a  different 
footing.    Lastly,  the  general  necessity 
of  cheapening  everything,  to  meet  the 
reduced  price  of  produce,  had  extended 
itself  to  freights,  and  several  acts  had 
already  passed  the  Legislature  which 
foreshadowed  the  repeal  of  the  Naviga- 
tion Laws,  and  the  abandonment  of 
the  system  under  which  England  had 
won  the  sceptre  of  the  seas,  and  a  co- 
lonial empire  which  encircled  the  earth. 
The  dawn  of  the  whole  future  of  Eng- 
land is  to  be  found  in  these  three  years. 

160.  The  Marquess  of  Londonderry 
was  the  last  minister  in  Great  Britain. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


211 


of  the  rulers  who  really  governed  the 
State;  that  is,  of  men  who  took  counsel 
only  of  their  own  ideas,  and  imprinted 
them  on  the  internal  and  external  po- 
licy of  their  country.  Thenceforward 
statesmen  were  guided  on  both  sides  of 
the  Channel,  not  by  what  they  deemed 
right,  but  what  they  found  practicable ; 
the  ruling  power  was  found  elsewhere 
than  either  in  the  cabinet  or  the  le- 
gislature. Querulous  and  desponding 
men,  among  whom  Chateaubriand 
stands  foremost,  perceiving  this,  and 
•comparing  the  past  with  the  present, 
•concluded  that  this  was  because  the 
period  of  greatness  had  passed,  because 
the  age  of  giants  had  been  succeeded 
by  that  of  pigmies  ;  and  that  men  were 
not  directed,  because  no  one  able  to 
lead  them  appeared.  But  this  was  a 
mistake  :  it  was  not  that  the  age  of 
great  men  had  ceased,  but  the  age  of 
great  causes  had  succeeded.  Public 
opinion  had  become  irresistible — the 
press  ruled  alike  the  cabinet  and  the 
legislature  on  important  questions ; 
where  the  people  were  strongly  roused, 
their  voice  had  become  omnipotent ; 
on  all  it  gradually  but  incessantly  act- 
ed, and  in  the  end  modified  the  opin- 
ions of  government. 

161.  The  Vox  Populi  is  not  always, 
at  the  moment,  the  Vox  Dei :  it  is  so 
only  when  the  period  of  action  has 
passed,  and  that  of  reflection  has  arisen 
— when  the  storms  of  passion  are 
hushed,  and  the  whisperings  of  inter- 
est no  longer  heard.  When  the  still 
small  voice  of  experience  speaks  in 
persuasive  tones  to  future  generations 
of  men,  it  will  be  discovered,  whether 
the  apparent  government  of  the  many 
is  more  beneficial  in  its  effects  than  the 
real  government  of  a  few ;  but  this 
much  is  certain,  that  it  is  their  appa- 
rent, government  onry.  Men  seek  in 
vain  to  escape  from  the  first  of  human 
necessities — the  necessity  of  being  gov- 
erned— by  establishing  democratic  in- 
stitutions. They  do  not  change  the 
direction  of  the  many  by  the  few  :  by 
the  establishment  of  these  they  only 
change  the  few  who  direct.  The  oli- 
garchy of  intellect  and  eloquence  comes 
instead  of  that  of  property  and  influ- 
ence ;  happy  if  it  is  in  reality  more 


wise  in  its  measures  and  far-seeing  in 
its  policy  than  that  which  it  has  sup- 
planted.  But  it  is  itself  directed  by 
the  leaders  of  thought :  the  real  rulers 
of  men  appear  in  those  who  direct  gen- 
eral opinion ;  and  the  responsibility  of 
the  philosopher  or  the  orator  becomes 
overwhelming  when  he  shares  with  it 
that  of  the  statesman  and  the  sovereign. 
162.  No  doubt  can  remain,  upon 
considering  the  events  in  the  memo- 
rable years  1819  and  1820  in  Europe, 
that  they  were  the  result  of  a  concerted 
plan  among  the  revolutionists  in  Spain, 
France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  England; 
and  that  the  general  overthrow  of  gov- 
ernments, which  occurred  in  1848,  had 
been  prepared,  and  was  expected,  in 
1820.  The  slightest  attention  to  dates 
proves  this  in  the  most  decisive  man- 
ner. The  insurrection  of  Riego  at 
Cadiz  broke  out  on  1st  January  1820 
— that  at  Corunna  on  24th  February 
in  the  same  year — the  King  was  con- 
strained to  accept  the  Constitution  on 
7th  March ;  Kotzebue  was  murdered 
in  Germany  on  21st  March  ;  the  revo- 
lution of  Naples  took  place  on  7th 
March  ;  that  of  Piedmont  on  7th  June ; 
the  Duke  de  Berri  was  assassinated  on 
13th  March  ;  tmeutes  in  Paris,  which 
so  nearly  overturned  the  Government, 
broke  out  on  7th  June,  the  military- 
conspiracy  on  19th  August ;  the  as- 
sassination of  the  English  Cabinet  was 
fixed  for  19th  February  by  the  Cato 
Street  conspirators ;  the  insurrection 
at  Glasgow  took  place  on  3d  April.  So 
many  movements  of  a  revolutionary 
character,  occurring  so  near  each  other 
in  point  of  time,  in  so  many  different 
countries,  demonstrates  either  a  sim- 
ultaneous agency  of  different  bodies 
acting  under  one  common  central  au- 
thority, or  a  common  sense  of  tho 
advent  of  a  period  in  an  especial  man- 
ner favourable  to  the  designs  whicli 
they  all  had  in  contemplation.  And 
when  it  is  recollected  that  the  Cham- 
bers of  France  had,  by  the  operation 
of  the  coups  d'etat  of  5th  September 
1816  and  March  1819,  been  so  thor- 
oughly rendered  democratical  that  the 
dethronement  of  the  King  and  estab- 
lishment of  a  republic,  by  vote  of  tho 
legislature,  was  with  confidence  anti- 


212 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


cipated  when  the  next  fifth  had  been 
elected  for  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
and  that  distress  in  Great  Britain  had 
become  so  general,  by  the  operation 
of  the  monetary  law  of  1819,  that  in- 
surrectionary movements  were  in  pre- 
paration in  all  the  great  manufacturing 
towns,  and  had  actually  broken  out 
in  several, — it  must  be  confessed,  that 
a  more  favourable  time  for  such  a  gen- 
eral outbreak  could  hardly  have  been 
selected. 

163.  And  yet,  although  these  revo- 
lutionary movements  were  obviously 
made  in  pursuance  of  a  common  de- 
sign, and  for  a  common  purpose,  yet 
the  agents  in  them,  and  the  parties  in 
each  state  to  which  their  execution 
was  intrusted,  were  widely  different. 
In  Great  Britain,  they  were  entirely 
conducted  by  the  very  lowest  classes 
of  society ;  and  although  they  met  with 
apologists  and  defenders  more  fre- 
quently than  might  have  been  expected 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  from  a 
portion  of  the  press,  yet  no  person  of 
respectability  or  good  education  was 
actually  implicated  in  the  treasonable 
proceedings.  The  whole  respectable 
and  influential  classes  were  ranged  on 
the  other  side.  But  the  case  was  widely 
different  on  the  Continent  The  French 


revolutionists  embraced  a  large  part  of 
the  talent,  and  by  far  the  greater  part 
of  the  education,  of  the  country  ;  and 
it  was  their  concurrence,  as  the  event 
afterwards  proved,  which  rendered 
any  insurrectionary  movement  in  that 
countiy  so  extremely  formidable.  In 
Spain  and  Portugal  the  principal  mer- 
chants in  the  seaport  towns,  the  most 
renowned  generals,  and  almost  the 
whole  officers  in  the  army,  were  en- 
gaged on  the  revolutionary  side,  and 
their  adhesion  to  its  enemies  in  the  last 
struggle  left  the  throne  without  a  de- 
fence. In  Italy,  the  ardent  and  gen- 
erous youth,  and  almost  all  the  highly 
educated  classes,  were  deeply  imbued 
with  Liberal  ideas,  and  willing  to  run 
any  hazard  to  secure  their  establish- 
ment ;  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the- 
young  men  educated  at  the  German 
universities  had  embraced  the  same 
sentiments,  and  longed  for  the  period 
when  the  Fatherland  was  to  take  its 
place  as  the  first  and  greatest  of  repre- 
sentative governments.  Such  is  the- 
difference  between  the  action  of  the 
revolutionary  principle  upon  a  consti- 
tutional and  a  despotic  monarchy,  and 
such  the  security  which  the  long  enjoy- 
ment of  freedom  affords  for  the  conti- 
nuance of  that  blessing  to  future  times. 


CHAPTER     XL 

ENGLAND,  FRANCE,   AND   SPAIN,   FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OP  VILL,£LE 
IN   1819  TO  THE  CONGRESS  OF  VERONA  IN  1822. 


1.  ALTHOUGH  France  and  England, 
since  the  peace  of  1S15,  had  pursued 
separate  paths,  their  governments  had 
never  as  yet  been  brought  into  colli- 
sion with  each  other.  Severally  occu- 
pied with  domestic  concerns,  oppressed 
with  the  burdens  of  striving  to  heal 
the  wounds  of  war,  their  governments 
were  amicable,  if  not  cordially  united, 
and  nothing  had  as  yet  occurred  which 
threatened  to  bring  them  into  a  state 


of  hostility  with  each  other.  But  the- 
Spanish  revolution  ere  long  had  this 
effect.  It  was  viewed  with  very  differ- 
ent eyes  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
Channel.  Justly  proud  of  their  own 
constitution,  and  dating  its  completion 
from  the  Revolution  of  1688,  which 
had  expelled  the  Stuarts  from  the 
throne — for  the  most  part  ignorant  of 
the  physical  and  political  circumstan- 
ces of  the  Peninsula,  which  rendered  a 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


213 


similar  constitution  inapplicable  to  its 
inhabitants,  and  deeply  imbued  with 
the  prevailing  delusion  of  the  day, 
that  forms  of  government  were  every- 
thing, and  differences  of  race  nothing 
— the  English  had  hailed  the  Spanish 
revolution  with  generous  enthusiasm, 
and  anticipated  the  entire  resurrection 
of  the  Peninsula  from  the  convulsion 
•which  seemed  to  have  liberated  them 
from  their  oppressors.  These  senti- 
ments were  entirely  shared  by  the  nu- 
merous and  energetic  party  in  France 
which  aimed  at  expelling  the  Bour- 
bons, and  restoring  a  republican  form 
of  government  in  that  country.  But 
for  that  very  reason,  opinions  diamet- 
rically opposite  were  entertained  by 
the  supporters  of  the  monarchy,  and 
all  who  were  desirous  to  save  the  coun- 
try from  a  repetition  of  the  horrors  of 
the  first  great  convulsion.  They  were 
unanimously  impressed  with  the  belief 
that  revolutionary  governments  could 
not  be  established  in  Spain  and  Italy 
without  endangering  to  the  last  degree 
the  existing  institutions  in  France  ; 
that  the  contagion  of  democracy  would 
.speedily  spread  across  the  Alps  and 
the  Pyrenees ;  and  that  a  numerous 
and  powerful  party  set  upon  overturn- 
ing the  existing  order  of  things,  al- 
ready with  difficulty  held  in  subjection, 
would,  from  the  example  of  success  in 
the  neighbouring  states,  speedily  be- 
come irresistible. 

2.  This  divergence  of  opinion  and 
feeling,  coupled  with  the  imminent 
danger  to  France  from  the  convulsions 
in  the  adjoining  kingdoms,  and  the 
comparative  exemption  of  Great  Bri- 
tain from  it,  in  consequence  of  remote- 
ness of  situation  and  difference  of  na- 
tional temperament,  must  inevitably, 
under  any  circumstances,  have  led  to 
a  difference  in  the.  policy  of  the  two 
countries,  and  seriously  endangered 
their  amicable  relations.  But  this 
danger  was  much  increased  in  France 
and  England  at  this  period,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  recent  events  which  had 
occurred  in  the  Peninsula,  and  the 
character  of  the  men  who  were  then 
placed,  by  the  prevailing  feeling  in  the 
two  countries,  at  the  head  of  affairs. 
Spain  and  Portugal  were  the  theatre  of 


Wellington's  triumphs  ;  they  had  been 
liberated  by  the  arms  of  England  from 
the  thraldom  of  Napoleon  ;  they  had 
witnessed  the  first  reverses  which  led 
to  the  overthrow  of  his  empire.  The 
French  beheld  with  envy  any  movement 
which  threatened  to  increase  an  influ- 
ence from  which  they  had  already  suf- 
fered so  much  ;  the  English,  with  jeal- 
ousy any  attempt  to  interrupt  it.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  two  Ministers  of 
Foreign  Affairs  on  the  opposite  sides 
of  the  Channel,  when  matters  ap- 
proached a  crisis,  were  of  a  character 
and  temperament  entirely  in  harmony 
with  the  ideas  of  the  prevailing  influ- 
ential majority  in  their  respective  coun- 
tries, and  both  alike  gifted  with  the 
genius  capable  of  inflaming,  and  desti- 
tute of  the  calmness  requisite  to  allay, 
the  ferment  of  their  respective  people. 
3.  GEORGE  CANNING,  who  was  the 
Foreign  Minister  that  was  imposed 
upon  the  King  of  England,  on  Lord 
Londonderry's  death,  by  the  general 
voice  of  the  nation,  rather  than  select- 
ed by  his  choice,  and  who  took  the 
lead,  on  the  British  side,  in  the  great 
debate  with  Franco  which  ensued  re- 
garding the  affairs  of  the  Peninsula, 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men 
that  ever  rose  to  the  head  of  affairs  in 
Great  Britain.  Of  respectable  but  not 
noble  birth,  he  owed  nothing  to  aristo- 
cratic descent,  and  was  indebted  for 
his  introduction  to  Parliament  and 
political  life  to  -the  friendships  which 
he  formed  at  college,  where  his  bril- 
liant talents,  both  in  the  subjects  of 
study  and  in  conversation,  early  pro- 
cured for  him  distinction.*  It  is 

*  George  Canning  was  born  in  London  on 
11  th  April  1770.  He  was  descended  from  an 
ancient  family,  which,  in  the  time  of  Edward 
III. ,  had  commenced  with  a  mayor  of  Bristol, 
and  had  since  been  one  of  the  most  respect- 
ed of  the  county  of  Warwick.  His  father, 
George  Canning,  the  third  son  of  the  family, 
was  called  to  the  bar,  but  being  a  man  more 
of  literary  than  legal  tastes,  he  never  got 
into  practice,  and  died  in  1771  in  very  needy 
circumstances,  leaving  Mrs  Canning,  an  Irish 
lady  of  great  beauty  and  accomplishments, 
in  such  destitution  that  she  was  obliged  for 
a  short  time  to  go  on  the  stage  for  her  sub- 
sistence. Young  Canning  was  educated  at 
Eton  out  of  the  proceeds  of  a  small  Irish 
estate  bequeathed  to  him  by  his  grandfather, 
and  there  his  talents  and  assiduity  soon  pro- 
cured for  him  distinction.  He  joined  thers 


214 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


seldom  that  oratorical  and  literary 
talents,  such  as  he  possessed,  fail  in 
acquiring  distinction  at  a  university, 
though  still  greater  powers  and  more 
profound  capacity  rarely  do  attain  it. 
Bacon  made  no  figure  at  college ; 
Adam  Smith  was  unknown  to  academic 
fame  ;  Burke  was  never  heard  of  at 
Trinity  College,  Dublin ;  Locke  was 
expelled  from  an  English  university. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  has  been 
scarcely  a  great  orator  or  a  distinguish- 
ed minister  in  England  for  a  century 
and  a  half  whose  reputation  did  not 
precede  him  from  the  university  into 
Parliament.  The  reason  is,  that  there 
is  a  natural  connection  between  emi- 
nence in  scholarship  and  oratorical 
power,  but  Hot  between  that  faculty  and 
depth  of  thought ;  both  rest  upon  the 

several  of  his  schoolfellows  in  getting  up  a 
literary  work,  which  attained  considerable 
classical  eminence,  entitled  the  Microcosm. 
Mr  Canning  was  its  avowed  editor,  and  prin- 
cipal contributor.  In  1788,  in  his  eighteenth 
year,  he  left  Eton,  already  preceded  by  hig 
literary  reputation,  and  was  entered  at  Christ 
Church,  Oxford.  The  continued  industry  and 
brilliant  parts  which  he  there  exhibited  gain- 
ed for  him  the  highest  honours,  and,  what 
proved  of  still  more  importance  to  him  in 
after  life,  the  friendship  of  many  eminent 
men,  among  whom  was  Lord  Hawkesbury, 
who  afterwards  became  Earl  of  Liverpool 
On  leaving  Oxford  he  entered  Lincoln's  Inn, 
but  rather  with  the  design  of  strengthening 
his  mind  by  legal  argument  than  following 
the  law  as  a  profession.  He  there  formed 
an  acquaintance  with  Mr  Sheridan,  which 
soon  ripened  into  a  friendship  that  continued 
through  life. 

His  literary  and  oratorical  distinction  was 
much  enhanced  by  the  brilliant  appearances 
he  made  in  several  private  societies  in  Lon- 
don, and  this  led  to  his  introduction  into 
public  life.  Mr  Pitt,  having  heard  of  his 
talents  as  a  speaker  and  writer,  sent  for  him, 
and  in  a  private  interview  stated  to  him  that, 
if  he  approved  of  the  general  policy  of  Gov- 
ernment, arrangements  would  be  made  to 
procure  him  a  seat  in  Parliament.  Mr  Can- 
ning declared  his  concurrence  in  the  views  of 
the  minister,  acting  in  this  respect  on  the  ad- 
vice of  Mr  Sheridan,  who  dissuaded  him  from 
joining  the  Opposition,  which  had  nothing  to 
offer  him.  Mr  Canning's  previous  intimacies 
had  been  chiefly  with  the  Whigs ;  and,  like  Pitt 
and  Fox,  he  had  hailed  the  French  Revolu- 
tion at  its  outset  with  unqualified  hope  and 
enthusiasm.  He  was  returned  to  Parliament 
in  1793  for  the  close  borough  of  Newport,  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  entering  thus,  like  all  the 
great  men  of  the  day,  public  life  through  the 
portals  of  the  nomination  boroughs. 

His  first  speech  was  on  the  31st  January 


same  mental  faculties,  and  cannot  ex- 
ist without  them.  Quickness  of  per- 
ception, retentiveness  of  memory,  a 
brilliant  imagination,  fluent  diction, 
self-confidence,  presence  of  mind,  are 
as  essential  to  the  debater  in  Parlia- 
ment as  to  the  scholar  in  the  univer- 
sity. Both  are  essentially  at  variance 
with  the  solitary  meditation,  the  deep 
reflection,  the  distrust  of  self,  the  slow 
deductions,  the  laborious  investiga- 
tion, the  generalising  turn  of  mind, 
which  are  requisite  to  the  discovery  of 
truth,  and  are  invariably  found  united 
in  those  destined  ultimately  to  be  the 
leaders  of  opinion.  The  first  set  of 
qualities  fit  their  possessors  to  be  the 
leaders  of  senates,  the  last  to  be  the 
rulers  of  the  thought  of  nations. 
4.  "When  Mr  Canning  first  entered 

1794,  in  favour  of  a  loan  to  the  Ring  of  Sar- 
dinia ;  and  it  gave  such  promises  of  future 
talent  that  he  was  selected  to  second  the 
Address.  In  spring  179*5  he  was  appointed 
Under-Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs ; 
and  on  1st  March  1799  delivered  a  speech 
against  the  slave-trade,  which  has  deservedly- 
obtained  a  place  in  his  collected  speeches. 
At  this  time  he  became  the  most  popular 
contributor  to  the  Anti-Jacobin  Review,  of 
which  Mr  Gifford  was  the  editor.  His  pieces 
are  chiefly  of  the  light,  sportive,  or  satirical 
kind,  and  contributed  to  check,  by  the  force 
of  ridicule,  the  progress  of  French  principles 
in  the  country.  In  1799  he  delivered  two 
brilliant  speeches  in  favour  of  the  union  with 
Ireland,  which  led  to  his  afterwards  becom- 
ing the  warm  and  consistent  advocate  of  the 
Catholic  claims  in  Parliament ;  and  in  1801 
went  out  of  office  with  Mr  Pitt.  He  did  not 
oppose  Mr  Addington's  administration,  but 
neither  did  he  support  it,  and  wisely  discon- 
tinued almost  entirely  his  attendance  in  Par- 
liament during  its  continuance.  In  July  1800 
he  married  Miss  Joan  Scott,  daughter  and 
co-heiress  of  General  Scott,  who  had  made  a 
colossal  fortune  chiefly  at  the  gaming-table. 
This  auspicious  union  greatly  advanced  his 
prospects.  Her  fortune,  which  was  very  large, 
made  him  independent,  her  society  happy, 
her  connections  powerful ;  for  her  eldest  sis- 
ter had  recently  before  married  the  Marquess 
of  Titchfield,  eldest  son  of,  and  who  after- 
wards became,  Duke  of  Portland. 

In  spring  1803,  Mr  Canning  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  series  of  resolutions  condemna- 
tory of  the  conduct  of  Ministers,  which  led 
to  the  overthrow  of  Mr  Addington's  adminis- 
tration, and,  on  the  return  of  Mr  Pitt  to  pow- 
er, was  appointed  Treasurer  of  the  Navy,  an 
office  which  he  held  till  the  death  of  that 
great  man,  in  December  1805.  On  the  acces- 
sion of  the  Whigs  to  office  he  was  of  course 
displaced,  and  became  an  active  member  of 
that  small  but  indefatigable  band  of  opposi- 


1321.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


215 


Parliament,  the  native  bent  of  his 
mind,  and  the  aspirations  which  natur- 
ally arise  in  the  breast  of  one  conscious 
of  "great  intellectual  power  and  desti- 
tute of  external  advantages,  inclined 
him  to  the  Liberal  side.  But  as  its 
leaders  were  at  that  period  in  opposi- 
tion, and  Mr  Canning  did  not  possess 
an  independent  fortune,  they  generous- 
ly advised  him  to  join  the  ranks  of  Mr 
Pitt,  then  in  the  midst  of  his  struggle 
with  the  French  Revolution.  He  did 
so,  and  soon  became  a  favourite  eleve 
of  that  great  man.  It  was  hard  to  say 
whether  his  poetry  in  the  A  nti-  Jacobin, 
or  his  speeches  in  Parliament,  contri- 
buted most  to  aid  his  cause.  Gradu- 
ally he  rose  to  very  high  eminence  in 
debate — a  distinction  which  went  on 
continually  increasing  till  he  obtained 

tion  which  resisted  Mr  Fox's  administration. 
Such  was  the  celebrity  which  he  thus  acquir- 
ed, that  when  the  Tories  returned  to  power, 
in  April  1807,  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Foreign  Department,  and  for 
the  first  time  became  a  Cabinet  Minister. 

In  this  elevated  position  he  not  only  took 
the  lead  in  conducting  the  foreign  affairs  of 
the  country,  but  was  the  main  pillar  of  ad- 
ministration in  resisting  the  attacks  with 
which  it  was  assailed,  particularly  on  the 
Orders  in  Council  and  the  Copenhagen  expe- 
dition. The  breaking  out  of  the  Spanish  war 
in  May  1808,  and  the  active  part  which  Great 
Britain  immediately  took  in  that  contest, 
gave  him  several  opportunities  for  the  display 
of  his  eloquence  in  the  generous  support  of 
Liberal  principles  and  the  independence  of 
nations,  of  which  through  life  he  had  been 
the  fervent  supporter.  To  the  vigour  of  his 
counsels  in  the  cabinet,  and  the  influence  of 
his  eloquence  in  the  senate,  is,  in  a  great 
degree,  to  be  ascribed  the  energetic  part 
which  England  took  in  that  contest,  and  its 
ultimately  glorious  termination.  He  con- 
ducted the  able  negotiation  with  the  Emper- 
ors Alexander  and  Napoleon,  when,  after  the 
interview  at  Erfurth  in  1808,  they  jointly 
proposed  peace  to  Great  Britain;  and  the 
complicated  diplomatic  correspondence  with 
the  American  Government  relative  to  the 
affair  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  the  many  points 
of  controversy  concerning  maritime  rights 
which  had  arisen  with  the  people  of  that 
country.  In  all  these  negotiations  his  de- 
spatches and  state  papers  were  a  model  of 
clear,  temperate,  and  accurate  reasoning. 
Subsequent  to  this  he  became  involved  in  a 
quarrel  with  Lord  Castlereagh,  arising  out 
of  the  failure  of  the  Walcheren  expedition  in 
iso;>,  and  Mr  Canning's  attempts  to  get  him 
removed  from  the  Ministry, which  terminated 
in  a  duel,  and  led  to  the  retirement  of  both 
from  office  at  the  very  time  when  the  dangers 
of  the  country  most  imperatively  called  for 


the  entire  mastery  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  commanded  its  atten- 
tion to  a  degree  which  neither  Mr 
Burke,  Mr  Pitt,  nor  Mr  Fox  had  done. 
The  reason  was,  that  his  talents  wero 
more  completely  suited  to  the  peculiar 
temper  and  average  capacity  of  that 
assembly ;  they  neither  fell  short  of  it, 
nor  went  beyond  it.  Less  philosophi- 
cal than  Burke,  less  instructive  than 
Pitt,  less  impassioned  than  Fox,  he 
Avas  more  attractive  than  any  of  them, 
and  possessed  in  a  higher  degree  the 
faculty,  by  the  exhibition  of  his  varied 
powers,  of  permanently  keeping  alive 
the  attention.  He  neither  disconcert- 
ed his  audience  by  abstract  disquisi- 
tion, nor  exhausted  them  by  statistical 
details,  nor  terrified  them  by  vehe- 
mence of  declamation.  Alternately 

their  Joint  services.  He  did  not,  however, 
on  resigning,  go  into  opposition,  but  contin- 
ued an  independent  member  of  Parliament ; 
and  it  was  after  this  that  he  made  his  cele- 
brated speech  in  support  of  the  Bullion  Re- 
port— a  speech  which  displays  at  once  the 
ease  with  which  he  could  direct  his  great 
powers  to  any  new  subject,  however  intricate, 
and  the  decided  bias  which  inclined  him  to 
Liberal  doctrines. 

At  the  dissolution  of  Parliament,  in  the 
close  of  1812,  Mr  Canning  stood  for  Liver- 
pool, on  which  occasion  he  made  the  most 
brilliant  and  interesting  speeches  of  his  whole 
career ;  for  they  had  less  of  the  fencing  com- 
mon in  Parliament,  and  more  of  real  elo- 
quence in  them  than  his  speeches  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  In  1814  he  was  sent 
into  a  species  of  honourable  banishment  as 
ambassador  at  the  court  of  Lisbon,  from 
whence  he  returned  in  1816  ;  and  in  the  be- 
ginning of  1817  he  was  appointed  President 
of  the  Board  of  Control  on  the  death  of  the 
Earl  of  Buckinghamshire.  In  the  spring  of 
1820  he  sustained  a  severe  loss  by  the  death 
of  his  eldest  son  George,  who  expired  on  the 
81st  March.  Overwhelmed  with  this  calami- 
ty, and  desirous  to  be  absent  during  the  dis- 
cussions on  the  Queen,  he  took  but  little  part 
in  public  affairs  during  1821  and  1822,  during 
which  years  he  resided  chiefly  in  France  and 
Italy ;  but  the  capacity  he  evinced  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Control,  coxipled  witli  a 
secret  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Prince-Regent 
to  get  him  removed  from  the  Cabinet,  point- 
ed him  out  as  the  fit  person  to  be  appointed 
Governor-General  of  India,whieh  situation  he 
had  agreed  to  accept,  and  even  attended  the 
farewell  dinner  of  the  East  India  directors  on 
his  appointment,  when  the  unexpected  death 
of  Lord  Londonderry,  and  the  general  voice 
of  the  public,  on  the  20th  August,  in  a  man- 
ner forced  him  upon  the  Government  as  Fo- 
reign Secretary. — Memoir  of  Mr  Canning,  i. 
29.  Life  and  Sptecha,  vol.  i. 


216 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


serious  and  playful,  eloquent  and  fanci- 
ful, sarcastic  and  sportive,  he  knew 
how  to  throw  over  the  most  uninterest- 
ing subjects  the  play  of  fancy,  and  the 
light  of  original  genius.  Whatever 
the  subject  was,  he  touched  it  with  a 
felicity  which  no  other  could  reach. 
He  never  rose  without  awakening  ex- 
pectation, nor  sat  down  without  ex- 
citing regret.  Gifted  by  nature  with 
a  poetic  fancy  and  a  brilliant  imagina- 
tion, an  accomplished  scholar,  and  a 
felicitous  wit,  he  knew  how  to  enliven 
every  subject  by  the  treasures  of  learn- 
ing, the  charms  of  poetry,  and  the 
magic  influence  of  allusion.  At  times 
he  rose  to  the  very  highest  strains  of 
eloquence ;  and  if  the  whole  English 
language  is  searched  for  the  finest  de- 
tached passages  of  splendid  oratory, 
they  will  be  found  in  the  greatest  num- 
ber in  his  collected  speeches. 

5.  If  Mr  Canning's  reach  of  thought 
and  consistency  of  conduct  had  been 
equal  to  these  brilliant  qualities,  he 
would  have  been  one  of  the  very  great- 
est statesmen,  as  unquestionably  he 
was  one  of  the  first  orators,  that  Eng- 
land ever  produced.  But  unfortu- 
nately this  was  very  far  from  being 
the  case  ;  and  he  remains  a  lasting 
proof  that,  if  literary  accomplishment 
is  one  of  the  most  important  elements 
in  oratorical  power,  it  is  veiy  far  from 
being  the  same  in  statesmanlike  wis- 
dom. Perhaps  they  cannot  coexist  in 
the  same  mind.  Mr  Burke  himself, 
the  greatest  of  political  philosophers, 
was  by  no  means  an  equally  popular 
speaker — his  voice  seldom  failed  to 
clear  the  House  of  Commons.  Mr 
Canning  had  too  much  of  the  irrita- 
bility of  genius  in  his  temper,  of  the 
fervour  of  poetry  in  his  thought,  of  the 
restlessness  of  ambition  in  his  disposi- 
tion, to  be,  when  intrusted  with  the 
direction  of  affairs,  either  a  safe  or 
a  judicious  statesman.  Passionately 
fond  of  popularity,  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive its  incense,  and  reap  at  once  the 
rewards  of  genius  by  the  admiration 
which  his  brilliancy  in  conversation, 
his  versatility  in  debate,  awakened,  he 
forgot  that  immediate  applause  is  in 
general  the  precursor,  not  of  lasting 
fame,  but  of  dangerous  innovation  and 


permanent  condemnation.  He  mis- 
took the  cheers  of  the  multitude  for 
the  voice  of  ages.  He  forgot  the  re- 
proof of  the  Greek  philosopher,  when 
his  pupil  was  intoxicated  with  the  ap- 
plause of  the  mob  :  "  My  son,  if  you 
had  spoken  wisely,  you  would  have 
met  with  no  such  approbation. "  Hence 
he  yielded  with  too  much  facility  to 
the  bent  of  the  age  in  which  he  was 
called  to  power ;  he  increased,  instead 
of  moderating,  its  fervour.  His  career 
as  a  statesman,  in  mature  life,  is  little 
more  than  a  contrast  to  his  earlier 
speeches  as  a  legislator.  He  was  the 
first  of  that  school,  unfortunately  be- 
come so  numerous  in  later  times,  who 
sacrifice  principle  to  ambition,  and 
climb  to  power  by  adopting  the  prin- 
ciples which  they  have  spent  the  best 
part  of  their  life  in  combating.  Un- 
bounded present  applause  never  fails 
to  attend  the  unlooked-for  and  much- 
prized  conversion.  Time  will  show 
whether  it  is  equally  followed  by  the 
respect  and  suffrages  of  subsequent 
ages. 

6.  Mr  Canning  rose  to  power  in 
England,  by  embodying,  in  the  most 
effective  and  brilliant  form,  the  spirit 
and  wishes  of  his  country  at  the  time : 
as  Napoleon  said  of  himself,  "  II  mar- 
chait  toujours  avec  1'opmiou  de  cinq 
millions  d'hommes."  By  a  singular 
coincidence,  another  man,  of  similar 
talents  and  turn  of  mind,  at  the  same 
time  was  elevated  by  the  influence  of 
the  ruling  party  at  the  moment  in 
France  to  the  direction  of  its  foreign 
affairs,  and,  equally  with  his  English 
rival,  embodied  the  ideas  and  wishes 
of  the  ruling  majority  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Channel.  VISCOUNT  CHA- 
TEAUBRIAND has  attained  to  such 
fame  as  a  writer,  that  we  are  apt  to 
forget  that  he  was  also  a  powerful 
statesman ;  that  he  ruled  the  foreign 
affairs  of  his  country  during  the  most 
momentous  period  which  had  elapsed 
since  the  fall  of  the  Empire  ;  and 
achieved  for  its  arms  a  more  durable, 
if  a  less  brilliant,  conquest  than  the 
genius  of  Napoleon  had  been  able  to 
effect.  Like  Mr  Canning,  he  was  a 
type  of  the  "  literary  character."  Mr 
Disraeli  could  not,  in  all  history,  dis- 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


217 


cover  two  men  whose  productions  and 
career  evince  in  more  striking  colours 
its  peculiarities,  its  excellencies,  and 
defects.  His  imagination  was  brilli- 
ant, his  disposition  elevated,  his  soul 
poetical.  Descended  of  an  ancient  and 
noble  family — bred  in  early  life  in  a 
solitary  chateau  in  Brittany,  washed 
by  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic,  the 
gloomy  imagery  which  first  filled  his 
youthful  mind  affixed  a  character  up- 
on it  which  subsequently  was  ren- 
dered ineffaceable  by  the  disasters  and 
sufferings  of  the  Revolution.*  He 

*  FRANQOIS  R£N£  DE  CHATEAUBRIAND  was 
born  on  4th  September  1769,  the  same  year 
•with  Marshal  Ney,  and  which  Napoleon  de- 
clared was  his  own.  His  mother,  like  those 
of  almost  all  eminent  men  recorded  inhistory, 
•was  a  very  remarkable  woman,  gifted  with  an 
ardent  imagination  and  a  wonderful  memory, 
qualities  which  she  transmitted  in  great  per- 
fection to  her  son.  His  family  was  very  an- 
cient, going  back  to  the  tenth  century;  but, 
till  immortalised  by  Francois  Re'ne',  they  had 
lived  in  unobtrusive  privacy  on  their  paternal 
acres.  After  receiving  the  rudiments  of  edu- 
cation at  home,  he  was  sent  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  into  the  army ;  he  was  engaged  in 
the  campaign  of  1792,  under  the  Prince  .of 
Conde",  and  the  Prussians  under  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  against  Dumourier.  He  there,  as 
he  was  marching  along  in  his  uniform  as  a 
private,  with  his  knapsack  on  his  back,  acci- 
dentally met  the  Kingof Prussia.  Struckwith 
his  appearance,  the  King  asked  him  where  he 
was  going :  "  Whereverdanger  is  to  be  found," 
was  the  reply  of  the  young  soldier.  ' '  By  that 
answer,"  said  the  King,  touching  his  hat,  "  I 
recognise  the  noblesse  of  France."  His  re- 
giment soon  after  revolted,  in  consequence  of 
which  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  came 
to  Paris,  where  he  witnessed  the  storming  of 
the  Tuileries  on  10th  August  1792,  and  the 
massacres  in  the  prisons  on  2d  September. 
JIany  of  his  nearest  relations,  in  particular 
his  sister-in-law,  Madame  de  Chateaubriand, 
and  his  sister,  Madame  Rosambo,  were  exe- 
•cuted  along  with  Malesherbes,  shortly  before 
the  fall  of  Robespierre.  Obliged  now  to  leave 
France  to  avoid  death  himself,  he  escaped  to 
and  took  refuge  in  England,  where  he  lived 
for  some  years  in  extreme  poverty  and  ob- 
scure lodgings  in  London,  supporting  himself 
entirely  by  his  pen,  and,  like  Johnson,  often 
scarce  able,  even  by  its  aid,  to  earn  his  daily 
meal.  He  there  wrote  his  first  and  least 
creditable  work,  the  Essai  llistorique,  many 
passages  in  which  prove  that  even  his  ardent 
spirit  had  for  a  time  been  shaken  by  the  in- 
fidelity and  dreams  of  the  Revolution. 

But  he  soon  awakened  to  better  feelings, 
and  regained  amidst  suffering  his  destined 
and  glorious  career.  Tired  of  his  obscure  and 
monotonous  life.and  disconcerted  by  the  issue 
(>f  ,'i  love  atliiir  in  England,  he  set  out  for 
America,  with  the.  Quixotic  idea— indicative, 


had  the  spirit  of  chivalry  in  his  soul, 
but  not  the  gaiety  of  the  troubadour 
in  his  heart.  Generous,  high-minded, 
and  disinterested  in  the  extreme,  he 
was  so  inured  in  youth  to  the  spectacle 
of  woe,  that  it  was  stript  of  most  of 
those  terrors  which  render  it  so  appal- 
ling to  less  experienced  sufferers.  Like 
the  veteran  who  has  seen  his  comrades 
for  years  fall  around  him,  the  image 
of  death  had  been  so  often  before  his 
eyes  that  it  had  ceased  to  affect  his 
imagination.  He  was  ever  ready  at 
the  call  of  duty,  or  the  impulse  of  chi- 

however,  of  a  mind  as  aspiring  as  that  of  Co- 
lumbus— of  discovering  by  land  the  long- 
sought  north-west  passage  to  the  Pacific.  He 
failed  in  that  attempt,  for  which,  indeed,  he 
was  possessed  of  no  adequate  means ;  but  he 
saw  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  dined  with  Wash- 
ington ;  and  in  the  solitudes  of  the  Far  West 
inhaled  the  spirit,  while  his  eye  painted  on 
his  mind  the  scenery,  of  savage  nature.  Many 
of  the  finest  descriptions  and  allusions  which 
adorn  his  works  are  drawn  from  the  scenes 
which  then  became  impressed  on  his  memory ; 
and,  combined  with  those  of  the  East,  which 
he  afterwards  visited,  constitute  not  the 
least  charm  of  his  writings.  Finding  that 
there  was  nothing  to  be  done  in  the  way 
of  geographical  discovery,  with  his  limited 
means,  in  America,  he  returned  to  England 
in  1798,  from  whence,  on  the  pacification  of 
France,  on  the  fall  of  the  Directory  and  ac- 
cession of  Napoleon,  he  returned  to  Paris, 
and  began  his  literary  career. 

He  was  now  in  the  thirty-second  year  of 
his  age,  and  the  mingled  ardour,  information, 
and  poetic  fervour  of  his  mind  appeared  in. 
their  full  perfection  in  the  works  which  he 
gave  to  the  public.  Attala  and  Rene,  a  ro- 
mance, of  which  the  scene  was  laid  in  and 
the  characters  drawn  from  America,  exhibit- 
ed in  the  most  brilliant  form  the  imagery, 
ideas,  and  scenery  of  the  Far  West,  seen 
through  the  eyes  of  chivalrous  genius ;  while 
the  Genie  de  Christianisme  presented,  on  a 
larger  scale,  and  in  an  immortal  work,  the 
combined  fruits  of  study,  observation,  and 
experience,  in  illustrating  the  blessings  which 
Christianity  has  conferred  upon  mankind. 
Such  was  the  celebrity  which  these  works  al- 
most immediately  acquired,  that  they  attract- 
ed the  attention  of  Napoleon,  who  was  anxi- 
ous to  enlist  talent  of  all  kinds  in  his  service. 
He  sent  for  Chateaubriand  accordingly,  and 
offered  him  the  situation  of  Minister  to  the 
Republic  of  the  Valais,  as  a  first  step  in  diplo- 
matic service.  He  at  once  accepted  it ;  but 
ere  he  had  time  to  set  out  on  his  proposed 
mission,  the  murder  of  the  Duke  d'Enghien 
occurred,  and  while  all  Europe  was  in  con- 
sternation at  that  dreadful  event,  he  had  the 
courage,  while  yet  in  Paris,  to  brave  the  Em- 
peror's wrath  by  resigning  his  appointment. 

His  friends  trembled  for  his  life  in  the  first 
burst  of  Napoleon's  fury;  but  he  was  shel- 


218 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  XT. 


valrous  feeling,  to  imperil  his  life  or 
his  fortune  even  in  behalf  of  a  cause 
which  was  obviously  hopeless.  "  Fais 
ce  que  tu  clois.  advienne  ce  que  pourra," 
was  his  maxim,  as  it  ever  has  been, 
and  ever  will  be,  of  the  really  great 
and  noble  in  every  age  and  country. 
He  evinced  this  intrepidity  alike  in 
braving  the  hostility  of  Napoleon  in 
the  zenith  of  his  power,  on  occasion  of 
the  murder  of  the  Duke  d'Enghien, 
in  opposing  the  Government  of  the 
Restoration,  when  it  sought,  in  its 
palmy  days,  to  impose  shackles  on  the 
freedom  of  thought ;  and  in  adhering 
to  it  with  noble  constancy  amidst  a 
nation's  defection,  when  it  was  laid 

tered  by  the  Princess  Eliza ;  and  haying  made 
his  escape  from  Paris,  he  turned  his  steps  to 
the  East,  the  historic  land  on  which,  from  his 
earliest  years,  his  romantic  imagination  had 
been  fixed.  He  visited  Greece  aud  Constan- 
tinople, the  isles  of  the  jEgean  and  the  stream 
of  the  Jordan,  Jerusalem  and  Cairo,  the  py- 
ramids, Thebes,  and  the  ruins  of  Carthage. 
From  this  splendid  phantasmagoria  he  drew 
the  materials  of  two  other  great  works, 
•which  appeared  soon  after  his  return  to  Paris ; 
Les  Martyrs,  which  embodied  the  most  strik- 
ing images  which  had  met  his  eye  in  Greece 
and  Egypt,  and  the  Itineraire  dc  Paris  a  Jer- 
usalem, which  gave  the  entire  details  of  his 
journey.  The  wrath  of  Napoleon  having  now 
subsided,  as  it  generally  did  after  a  time, 
even  when  most  strongly  provoked,  he  was 
allowed  to  remain  at  Paris,  which  he  did  in 
privacy,  supporting  himself  by  literary  con- 
tributions to  the  few  reviews  and  journals 
which  the  despotism  of  the  Emperor  permit- 
ted to  exist,  and  by  the  sale  of  his  acknow- 
ledged works,  until  1814,  when,  as  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Allies  gave  rational  hopes  of 
the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  he  composed 
in  secrecy,  and  published  within  a  few  days 
after  their  entry  into  Paris,  his  celebrated 
pamphlet,  Buonaparte  et  les  Bourbons,  which 
had  almost  as  powerful  an  effect  as  the  vic- 
tories of  the  Allies  in  bringing  about  the  re- 
storation of  the  exiled  family. 

On  the  accession  of  Louis  XVIII.  parties 
were  too  much  divided,  and  the  influence  of 
Talleyrand  was  too  paramount,  to  allow  of 
his  being  admitted  into  the  Government ;  but, 
with  his  usual  fidelity  to  misfortune,  he  ac- 
companied Louis  during  the  Hundred  Days 
to  Ghent,  where  he  powerfully  contributed 
by  his  pen  to  keep  alive  the  hopes  of  the 
Royalists,  and  hold  together  the  fragments  of 
their  shipwrecked  party.  On  the  second  re- 
storation the  real  or  supposed  necessity  of 
taking  Fouche  into  power  made  him  decline 
any  office  under  Government,  although  he 
was,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Count 
d'Artois,  created  a  peer  of  France  in  1S15. 
Subsequently  the  principles  and  policy  of 
M.  Decazes  and  the  Duke  de  Richelieu  were 


in  the  dust  on  the  accession  of  Louis 
Philippe. 

7.  Chateaubriand's  merits  as  an 
author — by  far  the  most  secure  pass- 
port he  has  obtained  to  immortality 
— will  be  considered  in  a  subsequent 
chapter,  which  treats  of  the  literature 
of  France  during  the  Restoration.  It 
is  with  his  qualities  as  an  orator  and  a 
statesman  that  we  are  here  concerned, 
and  they  were  both  of  no  ordinary 
kind.  Untrained  in  youth  to  parlia- 
mentary debate,  brought  for  the  first 
time,  in  middle  life,  into  senatorial 
contests,  he  had  none  of  the  facility  or 
grace  of  Mr  Canning  in  extempore  de- 
bate. This  was  of  the  less  consequence- 

so  much  at  variance  with  those  which  he 
professed,  and  had  consistently  maintained 
through  life,  that  he  not  merely  kept  aloof 
from  the  Government,  but  became  an  active 
member  of  the  Royalist  Opposition,  which, 
as  usually  happens  in  such  cases,  occasional- 
ly found  themselves  in  a  strange  temporary 
alliance  with  their  most  formidable  antagon- 
ists on  the  Liberal  side.  As  they  were  in  a 
minority  in  both  Chambers,  their  only  re- 
source was  the  press,  of  the  freedom  of 
which  Chateaubriand  became  an  ardent  sup- 
porter, as  well  from  the  consciousness  of 
intellectual  strength  as  from  the  necessities 
of  his  political  situation.  This  added  as 
much  to  his  literary  fame  as  it  diminished 
his  favour  with  Government.  Power  has  au 
instinctive  dread,  under  all  circumstances, 
of  the  unrestrained  exercise  of  intellectual 
strength.  He  only  obtained,  under  the  semi- 
Liberal  administration  of  the  first  years  of 
the  Restoration,  the  temporary  appointment 
of  an  embassy  to  Prussia;  and  it  was  not  till 
the  Royalists  in  good  earnest  succeeded  to 
power,  on  the  downfall  of  the  Duke  de  Riche- 
lieu's second  administration,  that  he  was 
appointed  ambassador  to  London,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  1822— a  situation  which,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  was  exchanged  for  that  of  Mini- 
ster for  Foreign  Affairs,  which  brought  him 
into  direct  collision  with  Mr  Canning,  in  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  momentous  pe- 
riods of  the  history  of  France  and  England. 
He  held  that  situation  only  for  two  years  :  lie 
had  too  much  of  the  pride  of  intellect  in  his 
mind,  of  the  irritability  of  genius  in  his  dis- 
position, to  be  a  practicable  minister  under 
another  leader.  His  noble  and  disinterested 
conduct  in  refusing  the  portfolio  of  Foreign 
Affairs  on  the  accession  of  Louis  Philippe, 
and  preferring  exile  and  destitution  to  power 
and  rule  obtained  by  the  sacrifice  of  principle 
and  honour,  will  form  an  interesting,  and, 
for  the  honour  of  human  nature,  redeeming 
episode  in  a  subsequent  volume  of  this 
History. — Memoirs  d'Outre-Tombe,  par  M. 
le  Vicomte  de  CHATEAUBRIAND,  vol.  i.  to 
viii. ;  and  Biographic  des  Hommes  Vivants,  ii. 
144-149. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


219 


in  France,  that  the  speeches  delivered 
at  the  tribune  were  almost  all  written 
essays,  with  scarcely  any  alteration 
made  at  the  moment.  But,  indepen- 
dently of  this,  his  turn  of  mind  was 
essentially  different  from  that  of  his 
English  rival.  It  was  equally  poetical, 
brilliant,  and  imaginative,  but  more 
earnest,  serious,  and  impassioned.  The 
one  was  a  high-bred  steed,  which,  con- 
scious of  its  powers,  and  revelling  in 
their  pacific  exercise,  canters  with  ease 
and  grace  over  the  greensward  turf ; 
the  other,  a  noble  Arab,  which  toils 
have  inured  to  privation,  and  trained 
to  efforts  over  the  sterile  desert,  and 
which  is  any  day  prepared  to  die  in 
defence  of  the  much-loved  master  or 
playmates  of  its  childhood.  Many  of 
his  orations  or  political  pamphlets  con- 
tain passages  of  surpassing  vigour,  elo- 
quence, and  pathos  ;  but  we  shall  look 
in  vain  in  them  for  the  light  touch, 
the  aerial  spirit,  the  sportive  fancy, 
which  have  thrown  such  a  charm  over 
the  speeches  of  Mr  Canning. 

8.  As  a  practical  and  consistent 
statesman,  we  shall  find  more  to  ap- 
plaud in  the  illustrious  Frenchman 
than  the  far-famed  Englishman.  It 
was  his  good  fortune,  indeed,  not  less 
than  his  merit,  which  led  to  his  being 
appointed  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
in  France  at  the  time  when  its  exter- 
nal policy  was  entirely  in  harmony 
with  his  recorded  opinions  through 
life.  Mr  Canning's  evil  star  placed 
him  in  the  same  situation,  when  his 
policy  was  to  be  directly  at  variance 
with  those  of  his.  But,  unlike  Can- 
ning, Chateaubriand  showed  on  other 
occasions,  and  on  decisive  crises,  that 
he  could  prefer  consistency,  poverty, 
and  obloquy,  to  vacillation,  riches,  and 
power.  His  courageous  defence  of  the 
liberty  of  the  press  alone  prevented  his 
obtaining  a  minister's  portfolio  during 
the  ministry  of  the  Duke  de  Richelieu. 
His  generous  adherence  to  the  fallen 
fortunes  of  Henry  V.  caused  him  to  pre- 
fer exile,  poverty,  and  destitution,  to 
the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  which 
he  was  offered  on  the  accession  of  Louis 
Philippe.  He  was  in  general  to  be 
found  in  direct  opposition  to  the  rul- 
ing majority,  both  in  numbers  and  in- 


fluence, around  him — a  sure  sign  of  a 
powerful  and  noble  mind.  Power  came 
for  a  brief  season  to  him,  not  he  to 
power  ;  he  refused  it  when  it  could  be 
purchased  only  at  the  expense  of  con- 
sistency. 

9.  Yet  with  all  these  great  and  lofty 
qualities,  Chateaubriand  was  far  from 
being  a  perfect  character,  and  many  of 
his  qualities  were  as  pernicious  to  him 
as  a  statesman  as  they  were  valuable 
to  him  as  a  romance  or  didactic  writer. 
He  had  far  too  much  of  the  irritability 
of  genius  in  his  temper  —  that  unfor- 
tunate peculiarity  which  is  so  often 
conspicuous  where  the  force  of  intel- 
lect is  not  equal  to  the  brilliancy  of 
imagination,  and  which  so  generally 
disqualifies  imaginative  writers  from 
taking  a  permanent  lead  in  the  govern- 
ment of  mankind.     He  had  a  great 
store  of  historical  knowledge  at  com- 
mand, but  it  was  of  the  striking  and 
attractive  more  than  the  solid  and  the 
useful  kind ;  and  there  is  no  trace, 
either  in  his  speeches  or  writings,  of 
his  having  paid  any  attention  to  stat- 
istics, or  the  facts  connected  with  the 
social  amelioration  of  mankind.     In 
that  respect  he  was  decidedly  inferior 
to  Mr  Canning,  who,  although  not  in- 
clined by  nature  to  that  species  of  in- 
formation, was  yet  aware  of  its  im- 
portance, and  could  at  times,  when 
required,  bring  out  its  stores  with  the 
happiest  effect.     Above  all,   he  was 
infected  with  that  inordinate  vanity 
which  is  so  peculiarly  the  disgrace  of 
the  very  highest  class  of  French  lite- 
rature, and  which,  if  it  at  times  sus- 
tained his  courage  in  the  most  trying 
circumstances,  at  others  led  him  into 
the  display  of  the  most  puerile  weak- 
nesses,  and  renders    his   memoirs  a 
melancholy    proof    how    closely   the 
magnanimity  of  a  great  can  be  con- 
nected with  the  vanities  of  a  little 
mind. 

10.  M.  DE  ViLiJfeLE,  who  was  the 
head  of  the  new  and  purely  Royalist 
Ministry  which  succeeded  the  second 
one  of  the  Duke  de  Richelieu,  and  who 
played  so  important  a  part  in  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  the  Restoration,  was 
a  very  remarkable  man.     He  had  no 
natural  advantages,    either  of  rank, 


•220 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


family,  or  person.*  "What  he  became 
he  owed  to  the  native  vigour  of  his 
mind,  and  the  practical  force  of  his 
understanding,  and  to  them  alone. 
Diminutive  in  figure,  thin  in  person, 
and  in  his  later  years  almost  emaciated, 
-with  a  stoop  in  his  shoulders  and  a 
feeble  step,  he  was  not  qualified,  like 
Mirabeau  or  Danton,  to  overawe  popu- 
lar assemblies  by  a  look.  His  voice 
was  harsh  —  even  squeaking  ;  and  a 
nasal  twang  rendered  it  in  a  peculiar 
manner  unpleasant.  The  keenness  of 
his  look,  and  penetration  of  his  eye, 
alone  revealed  the  native  powers  of  his 
mind.  When  speaking,  he  generally 
looked  down,  and  was  often  fumbling 
among  the  papers  before  him  —  the 
most  unfortunate  habit  which  a  person 
destined  for  public  speaking  can  pos- 
sibly acquire.  But  all  these  disadvan- 
tages, which,  in  the  case  of  most  men, 

*  JOSEPH  i)E  VILLELE  was  born  at  Toulouse 
in  1773,  of  an  ancient  Languedoe  family.  He 
entered,  at  a  very  early  age,  the  service  of  the 
marines,  and,  under  II.  de  St  Felix,  served 
long  in  the  Indian  seas.  On  the  breaking 
out  of  the  revolutionary  war,  the  crew  of  the 
vessel  in  which  he  was  revolted  against  their 
officers,  who  held  out  faithfully  for  their  cap- 
tive king,  and  in  consequence  he  was  brought, 
with  M.  de  St  Felix,  a  prisoner  into  the  Isle 
of  France,  where  the  latter  escaped  and  was 
sheltered  by  a  courageous  friend,  while  the 
revolutionary  authorities  in  the  island  put  a 
price  on  his  head.  M.  de  Villele  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  place  of  his  retreat,  and  as 
this  was  known,  he  was  seized,  thrown  into 
prison,  and  threatened  with  instant  death  if 
he  did  not  reveal  it;  but  neither  menaces  nor 
offers  could  prevail  upon  him  to  be  unfaithful 
to  his  frieni  Meanwhile  M.  de  St  Felix,  in- 
formed of  his  danger,  voluntarily  quitted  his 
retreat,  and  surrendered  himself  to  the  revo- 
lutionary authorities,  by  whom  he  was  brought 
to  trial  along  with  M.  de  Villele.  The  latter, 
however,  defended  himself  with  so  much 
courage,  ability,  and  temper,  that  he  excited 
a  general  interest  in  his  behalf,  which  led  to 
his  acquittal.  As  he  could  not  rejoin  his  ves- 
sel, which  was  entirely  under  the  guidance 
of  revolutionary  officers,  he  remained  in  the 
island,  where  his  amiable  manners,  and  the 
universal  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  among 
its  inhabitants,  procured  for  him  the  hand  of 
•the  daughter  of  a  respectable  planter,  and 
with  it  a  considerable  fortune.  He  fixed  his 
residence  in  consequence  there;  made  him- 
self acquainted  with  its  local  affairs;  and 
from  the  attention  which  he  bestowed  upon 
them,  and  the  ability  he  displayed,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  colonial  legislature, 
and  obtained  nearly  its  entire  direction. 

He  returned  to  France  in  1807,  with  a  mo- 
derate fortune,  and  fixed  his  residence  at  his 


would  have  been  altogether  fatal,  were 
compensated,  and  more  than  compen- 
sated, by  the  remarkable  powers  of  his 
mind.  Thought  gave  expression  to 
his  countenance,  elocution  supplied 
the  want  of  voice,  earnestness  made 
up  for  the  absence  of  physical  advan- 
tages. Intelligence  revealed  itself  in 
spite  of  every  natural  defect.  His 
auditors  began  by  being  indifferent ; 
they  soon  became  attentive;  they  ended 
by  being  admirers.  A  clear  and  pene- 
trating intellect,  great  powers  of  ex- 
pression, its  usual  concomitant,  a  just 
and  reasonable  mind,  and  an  enlight- 
ened understanding,  were  his  chief 
characteristics.  He  did  not  cany 
away  his  audience  by  noble  sentiments 
and  eloquent  language,  like  Chateau- 
briand ;  nor  charm  them  by  felicitous 
imagery  and  brilliant  ideas,  like  Can- 
ning ;  but  he  succeeded  in  the  end  in 

paternal  estate  of  Marville,  near  his  native 
town  of  Toulouse,  where  he  devoted  himself 
to  agricultural  pursuits,  without  losing  sight 
of  the  colonial  interests,  of  which  he  had  be- 
come so  entire  a  master.  In  1814,  when  the 
Bourbons  were  first  restored,  he  evinced  the 
strength  of  his  Royalist  principles  by  the 
publication  of  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  pro- 
tested against  the  Charter  as  an  unwarrant- 
able encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the 
crown.  His  conduct  subsequently,  on  the 
return  of  Napoleon  from  Elba,  was  so  cour- 
ageous, that  it  attracted  the  notice  of  the 
Duke  d'Angouleme,  who  recommended  him 
to  the  King  for  the  situation  of  mayor  of  Tou- 
louse, which  he  accordingly  obtained.  His 
conduct  in  that  capacity  was  so  firm,  tempe- 
rate, and  judicious,  that  it  procured  for  him. 
the  esteem  of  all  classes  of  citizens,  and  led 
to  his  being  chosen,  in  a  short  time  after,  to 
represent  that  city  in  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties. He  did  not  rise,  like  a  meteor,  to  sud- 
den eminence  there,  but  slowly  acquired  con- 
fidence, and  won  the  ascendancy  which  is 
never  in  the  end  denied  to  men  wiio  save 
their  more  indolent  but  not  less  impassioned 
associates  the  labour  of  thinking  and  the 
trouble  of  study.  He  did  not  shine  by  his 
eloquence  or  fervour  at  the  tribune,  but  by 
degrees  won  respect  and  confidence  by  the 
information  which  his  speeches  always  dis- 
played, the  moderation  by  which  they  wer 
distinguished,  and  the  thorough  acquaintanc 
which  they  evinced  with  the  pressing  want 
and  material  interests  of  the  dominant  rnidd" 
class  of  society.  It  was  easy  to  see  how  muc 
he  had  profited  by  the  salutary  misfortunes 
which  had  rendered  him  for  so  many  years  t 
planter  in  the  Isle  of  France.  Thenceforwa 
his  biography  forms  part  of  the  history 
France. — Biographie  des  Hommes  Vwantt,\. 
511,  513 ;  and  LAMARTINE'S  Histoire  de  la  t 
stauration,  vii.  9,  11. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


221 


not  less  forcibly  commanding  their  at- 
tention, and  often  more  durably  direct- 
ed their  determinations.  The  reason 
was,  that  he  addressed  himself  more 
exclusively  to  their  reason  :  the  con- 
siderations which  he  adduced,  if  less 
calculated  to  carry  away  in  the  outset, 
were  often  more  effective  in  prevailing 
in  the  end,  because  they  did  not  admit 
of  a  reply.  He  was  a  decided  Royalist 
in  principle  ;  but  his  loyalty  was  that 
of  the  reason  and  the  understanding, 
not  the  heart  and  the  passions,  and, 
therefore,  widely  different  from  the  un- 
reflecting violence  of  the  ultras,  or  the 
blind  bigotry  of  the  priests.  He  was 
a  supporter  of  the  monarchy,  because 
he  was  convinced  that  it  was  the  form 
of  government  alone  practicable  in  and 
suited  to  the  necessities  of  France ;  but 
he  was  well  aware  of  the  difficulties 
with  which  it  was  surrounded,  from 
the  interests  created  by,  and  the  pas- 
sions evolved  during,  the  Revolution  ; 
and  it  was  his  great  object  to  pursue 
such  a  moderate  and  conciliatory  po- 
licy as  could  alone  render  such  a  sys- 
tem durable. 

11.  His  penetrating  understanding 
early  perceived  that,  in  this  view,  the 
most  pressing  of  all  considerations  was 
the  management  of  the  finances.  Aware 
that  it  was  the  frightful  state  of  dis- 
order in  which  they  had  become  in- 
volved which  had  been  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  Revolution,  he  anticipated 
a  similar  convulsion  from  the  recur- 
rence of  similar  difficulties,  and  saw 
no  security  for  the  monarchy  but  in 
such  a  prudent  course  as  might  avoid 
the  embarrassments  which  had  for- 
merly proved  so  fatal.  He  perceived 
not  less  clearly  that,  as  the  territorial 
aristocracy  had  been  destroyed,  and  the 
Church  shorn  of  its  whole  temporal 
influence,  during  the  Revolution,  it  was 
neither  by  the  sentiments  of  honour 
which  thrilled  the  hearts  of  the  no- 
bility, nor  the  pious  devotion  which 
conciliated  the  power  of  the  Church 
in  the  olden  time,  that  attachment  to 
the  throne  was  now  to  be  secured. 
The  land,  divided  among  six  millions 
of  little  proprietors,  the  majority  of 
whom  could  not  read,  had  ceased  to 
maintain  an  influential  body  in  the 


State  ;  literary  talent,  all-powerful  in 
directing  others,  had  no  separate  in- 
terests save  that  of  consequence  and 
place  for  its  possessors,  and  its  ener- 
gies were  directed  to  the  support  of 
the  wishes  of  the  really  ruling  class  in 
society.  It  was  in  the  burgher  class 
that  power  was  now  in  reality  vested  ; 
and  it  was  by  attention  to  their  inter- 
ests and  wishes  that  durability,  either 
for  any  administration  or  for  the  mon- 
archy itself,  was  to  be  secured.  Econ- 
omy in  expenditure,  diminution  of 
burdens,  were  the  great  objects  on 
which  they  were  set ;  no  argument 
was  so  convincing  with  them,  no  ap- 
peal so  powerful,  as  that  which  pro- 
mised a  reduction  of  taxation.  Pene- 
trated with  these  ideas,  M.  de  Villele, 
from  the  outset  of  his  parliamentary 
career,  devoted  himself,  in  an  especial 
manner,  to  the  subject  of  finance  ;  and 
by  his  close  attention  to  it,  and  the 
store  of  statistical  information  which 
his  vast  powers  of  application  enabled 
him  to  accumulate,  and  his  retentive 
memory  to  bring  forth  on  every  occa- 
sion, he  soon  acquired  that  superiority 
in  debate  which  ultimately  led  to  his 
being  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. He  was,  in  every  sense, 
the  man  of  the  age ;  but  he  was  the 
man  of  that  age  only.  He  had  no 
great  or  enlarged  ideas :  he  saw  the 
present  clearly,  with  all  its  necessities ; 
but  he  was  blind  to  the  future,  with 
its  inevitable  accessories.  His  mind 
had,  in  the  highest  perfection,  the  pow- 
ers of  the  microscope,  but  not  of  the 
telescope.  He  fell  skilfully  in  with, 
and  worked  out  admirably,  present 
ideas  ;  but  he  was  not  their  director, 
and  never  could  have  become  the  ruler 
of  ultimate  thought. 

12.  M.  de  Villele  was  the  life  and 
soul  of  the  new  Ministry,  but  he  had 
several  coadjutors,  who,  though  not  of 
equal  capacity,  were  yet  important  in 
their  several  departments.  M.  de 
Corbiere,  in  the  important  situation  of 
Minister  of  Finance,  displayed  quali- 
ties, not  only  of  the  most  suitable,  but 
the  most  marketable  kind.  Though 
of  good  family,  he  was  essentially 
bourgeois  in  his  character  ;  he  had  its 
virtues,  its  industry,  its  perseverance, 


222 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


"but  at  the  same  time  its  contracted 
views,  selfishness,  and  jealousy.  The 
aristocracy  was  not  less  the  object  of 
his  animosity,  than  it  was  of  the  most 
•democratic  shopkeeper  in  the  Fau- 
bourg St  Antoine.  His  morals  were 
austere,  his  probity  universally  known ; 
his  manners  harsh,  his  conversation 
cynical ;  respected  by  all,  he  was  be- 
loved by  none  ;  but  he  was  a  favourite 
•with  the  Liberal  deputies,  and  possess- 
ed great  weight  in  the  Chamber,  be- 
cause he  was  the  enemy  of  their  ene- 
my— the  noblesse.  No  contrast  could 
"be  more  striking  than  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  M.  Mathieu  de  Mont- 
morency,  exhibited.  Born  of  the  no- 
blest family  in  France,  inheriting  from 
his  historic  ancestors  their  courage, 
their  elevation  of  mind,  and  grace  of 
manner,  he  had  united  to  these  quali- 
ties of  the  olden  time  the  liberal  ideas 
and  enlarged  views  of  modern  society. 
Carried  away,  like  so  many  of  the 
young  noblemen  of  the  day,  by  the 
deceitful  colours  of  the  Revolution,  he 
had  at  first  been  the  warm  supporter 
of  its  doctrines  ;  and  when  their  fatal 
tendency  had  been  demonstrated  by 
experience,  he  fled  from  France,  and 
consoled  himself  on  the  banks  of  the 
Leman  Lake  with  the  intellectual  con- 
versation of  Madame  de  Stael,  the 
fascinating  grace  of  Madame  Reca- 
mier.  Latterly,  he  had  becom  e  devout, 
and  was  the  steady  supporter  of  the 
Parti-Pretre ;  but  he  did  not  possess 
the  habits  of  business  or  practical  ac- 
quaintance with  affairs  requisite  for  his 
office,  and  was  more  fitted  to  shine 
in  the  saloons  than  the  cabinet  of  the 
Foreign  Office.  M.  de  Peyronnet,  the 
Minister  of  Justice,  had  been  a  barris- 
ter who  had  distinguished  himself  by 
his  courage  at  the  side  of  the  Duchess 
of  Angouleme  at  Bordeaux  in  1815,  and 
by  his  ability  in  pleading  the  cause  of 
Madame  Du  Cayla,  when  claiming  her 
children  and  fortune  from  her  inexor- 
able husband.  His  talent  was  remark- 
able, his  fidelity  to  the  royal  cause 
undoubted,  his  zeal  great,  his  firmness 
equal  to  any  emergency.  But  his  pru- 
dence and  capacity  were  not  equal  to 
his  resolution ;  and  it  was  already  fear- 
ed, what  the  result  too  clearly  proved 


to  be  the  case,  that  he  might  ruin  tha 
royal  cause  while  wishing  to  save  it. 
Finally,  Marshal  Victor,  Duke  de  Bel- 
luno,  in  the  important  situation  of 
Minister  at  War,  presented  a  combina- 
tion of  qualities  of  all  others  the  most 
important  for  a  ministry  of  the  Resto- 
ration. A  plebeian  by  birth,  a  soldier 
of  fortune  who  had  raised  himself  by 
his  courage  and  capacity,  a  marshal  of 
Napoleon,  he  conciliated  the  suffrages 
of  the  Liberals  ;  a  resolute  character,  a 
determined  minister,  a  faithful  Royal- 
ist, a  man  of  intrepidity  and  honour, 
he  carried  with  him  the  esteem  and  re- 
spect of  the  aristocratic  party. 

13.  The  first  difficulty  of  the  new 
Ministry  was  with  the  laws  regarding 
the  press ;  and  this,  situated  as  they 
were,  was  a  difficulty  of  a  very  serious 
kind.  The  administration  of  the  Duke 
de  Richelieu  had  been  overthrown,  as 
is  usually  the  case  with  a  legislature 
divided  as  that  of  France  was  at  that 
period,  by  a  coalition  of  extreme  Roy- 
alists and  extreme  Liberals,  who  for 
the  moment  united  against  their  com- 
mon enemy,  the  moderate  Centre.  But 
now  that  the  victory  was  gained,  it 
was  not  so  easy  a  matter  to  devise  mea- 
sures which  should  prove  acceptable  to 
both.  The  first  question  which  pre- 
sented itself  was  that  of  the  press,  the 
eternal  subject  of  discord  in  France, 
and,  like  that  of  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion in  England,  the  thorn  in  the  side 
of  every  administration  that  was  or 
could  be  formed,  and  which  generally 
proved  fatal  to  it  before  any  consider- 
able period  had  elapsed.  It  was  the 
more  difficult  to  adjust  any  measure 
which  should  prove  satisfactory,  that 
the  former  Ministry  had  been  mainly 
overthrown  by  the  press,  and  M.  Cha- 
teaubriand, who  held  a  distinguished 
place  in  the  new  appointments,  had 
always  been  the  ardent  supporter 
its  liberty,  and  owed  his  great  popt 
larity  mainly  to  his  exertions  in 
behalf.  Nevertheless,  it  was  obvior 
ly  necessary  to  do  something  to  chec 
its  licentiousness  ;  the  example  of  sue 
cessful  revolution  in  Spain,  Portug 
Naples,  and  Piedmont,  was  too  invit 
not  to  provoke  imitation  in  France ; 
and  it  was  well  known  to  the  Gove 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


223 


ment  that  the  secret  societies,  which 
had  overturned  everything  in  those 
countries,  had  their  affiliated  branches 
in  France.  It  was  foreseen  also,  what 
immediately  happened,  that  the  great 
majority  of  the  journals,  true  to  the 
principle  of  Mr  Tierney  "to  oppose 
everything,  and  turn  out  the  Minis- 
try," would  speedily  unite  in  a  fierce 
attack  upon  the  new  administration. 
The  necessity  of  the  case  prevailed  over 
the  dread  of  being  met  by  the  imputa- 
tion of  inconsistency,  or  the  lingering 
qualms  of  the  real  friends  of  freedom 
of  discussion  ;  and  a  law  was  brought 
forward,  which,  professing  to  be  based 
on  the  Charter,  in  reality  tended  to 
abridge  the  liberty  of  the  press  in  se- 
veral most  important  particulars. 

14.  By  this  law,  which  was  brought 
forward  by  M.  de  Peyronnet  on  the  2d 
January,  it  was  enacted  that  no  peri- 
odical journal  could  appear  without 
the  King's  authority,  excepting  such 
as  were  in  existence  on  the  1st  January 
1822  ;  the  delinquencies  of  the  press 
were  declared  to  fall  exclusively  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  royal  courts, 
which  decided  without  a  jury  ;  they 
were  authorised  to  suspend,  and,  in 
serious  cases,  suppress,  any  journal 
which  published  a  series  of  articles 
contrary  to  religion  or  the  monarchy  ; 
the  pleadings  were  permitted  to  be  in 
private,  in  cases  where  the  court  might 
be  of  opinion  that  their  publication 
might  be  dangerous  to  order  or  public 
morality.  In  the  event  of  serious  of- 
fences against  the  law,  during  the  in- 
terval of  the  session  of  the  Chambers, 
the  King  was  authorised  to  re-establish 
the  censure  by  an  ordonnance,  coun- 
tersigned by  three  ministers  ;  but  this 
power  was  to  be  transitory  only,  and 
was  to  expire,  if,  within  a  month  after 
the  meeting  of  the  Chambers,  it  was 
not  converted  into  a  law.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  these  provisions  imposed 
very  great  restrictions  upon  the  press, 
and,  by  withdrawing  the  offences  re- 
garding it  from  the  cognisance  of  juries, 
rendered  the  punishment  of  them  more 
expeditious  and  certain.  Still,  as  it 
did  not  re-establish  the  censorship,  and 
left  untouched  publications  exceeding 
twenty  leaves,  it  did  not  infringe  upon 


the  most  valuable  part  of  public  dis- 
cussion, that  which  was  meant  to  in- 
fluence the  understanding,  however 
galling  it  might  be  felt  by  that  which 
was  most  dangerous,  being  addressed 
to  the  passions. 

15.  The  "Gauche"  in  the  Cham- 
bers,  the  Liberals  in  the  country,  rose 
up  at  once,  and  en  masse,  upon  the 
project  of  a  law  being  submitted  to  the 
deputies.  "It  is  the  slavery  of  the 
press,  the  entire  suppression  of  its  free- 
dom, which  you  demand.  Better  live 
in  Constantinople  than  in  France,  un- 
der such  a  government."  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  violence  with  which 
the  project  was  assailed,  both  by  the 
Opposition  in  the  Chambers  and  the 
press  in  the  country.  M.  de  Serres  on 
this  occasion  rejoined  the  ranks  of  the 
Liberals,  from  which  he  had  so  long 
been  separated  :  he  distinguished  him- 
self by  an  eloquent  speech  against  that 
part  of  the  project  which  proposed  to 
withdraw  offences  against  the  laws  of 
the  press  from  the  cognisance  of  juries. 
"  The  mask  has  fallen,"  said  he ;  "we 
are  presented  with  a  law  destructive 
of  the  liberty  of  the  press — one  which, 
under  pretence  of  saving  our  institu- 
tions, in  reality  subverts  them.  The 
proposed  law  strikes  at  the  root  of  re- 
presentative government,  for  it  goes 
to  destroy  intelligence  in  those  who 
are  to  exercise  it.  What  is  the  present 
condition  of  society  ?  Democracy  over- 
whelms us  like  a  spring-tide.  Legi- 
timate monarchy  has  nothing  to  fear 
from  a  power  which  places  the  press 
under  its  safeguard;  it  is  our  adver- 
saries who  have  exposed  it  to  its  real 
danger,  by  holding  out  its  liberty  as 
inconsistent  with  monarchical  institu- 
tions. The  press  is  a  social  necessity 
which  it  is  impossible  to  uproot.  The 
proposed  law  tends  to  destroy  its  util- 
ity by  subjecting  it  to  arbitrary  re- 
strictions. In  vain,  however,  do  you 
attempt  this :  its  power  will  resist  all 
your  attacks,  and  only  become  the 
more  dangerous  from  being  directed 
against  the  throne,  not  the  ministers 
who  abuse  its  powers."  "We  wish 
the  Charter,"  replied  M.  Castelbajac 
in  a  voice  of  thunder,  ' '  but  still  more 
we  wish  the  King :  we  wish  for  liberty, 


224 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CUAP.  XI. 


but  it  is  liberty  without  licence :  un- 
restrained freedom  of  discussion  is 
another  word  for  anarchy  :  the  law 
presented  to  us  is  peculiarly  valuable, 
for  it  brings  back  this  difficult  subject 
to  the  principles  of  the  Charter.  Re- 
spect religion,  the  laws,  the  monarch 
— such  are  the  laws  which  order  de- 
mands; the  liberty  of  the  press  can 
only  be  maintained  by  the  laws  which 
prevent  its  abuse.  Such  repression  is 
the  soul  of  real  freedom."  It  is  doubt- 
ful how,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
this  difficult  matter  might  have  been 
determined  ;  but  the  example  of  the 
ruin  of  monarchy  in  the  adjoining 
states  proved  all-powerful  with  the 
majority  in  both  Houses — the  major- 
ity, however,  a  curious  circumstance, 
being  greater  in  the  Commons  than 
the  Peers.  In  the  former  it  was  82, 
the  numbers  being  219  to  137  ;  in  the 
latter  41,  they  being  124  to  83. 

16.  This  victory  on  the  part  of  the 
administration  was  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  a  general  organisation  of 
secret  societies  over  all  Prance,  and 
the  turning  of  the  energy  of  democratic 
ambition  into  the  dangeroiis  channel 
of  occult  conspiracy.  Ever  since  the 
second  Restoration  and  the  Royalist 
severities  of  1815,  these  societies,  as 
already  mentioned,  had  existed  in 
France,  and  many  of  the  leading  men 
of  Opposition  were  initiated  in  them  ; 
but  the  events  of  this  stormy  year  gave 
them  redoubled  activity  and  import- 
ance. The  example  of  Government 
overturned,  and  the  Liberals  univer- 
sally installed  in  power  in  Spain  and 
Italy,  was  sufficient  to  turn  cooler 
heads  than  those  of  the  ardent  repub- 
licans of  France.  The  Carbonari  of 
Italy  established  corresponding  socie- 
ties over  all  the  country,  with  the  same 
signs,  the  same  oaths,  the  same  objects, 
the  same  awful  denunciations  of  ven- 
geance, in  the  event  of  the  secrets  of 
their  fraternity  being  revealed.  The 
existence  of  these  societies,  which  were 
the  chief  means  by  which  the  revolu- 
tions of  1820  were  brought  about,  was 
strenuously  denied  at  the  time,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Channel,  while  the  designs 
of  the  conspirators  were  in  progress ; 
but  they  have  been  fully  revealed  since 


1830,  when  they  were  entirely  suc- 
cessful. Every  one  was  then  for- 
ward to  claim  a  share  in  the  movement 
which  had  placed  a  new  dynasty  on 
the  throne,  and  which  none  then  dared 
call  treason.  Louis  Napoleon  was  a 
member  of  the  Carbonari  Society. 

17.  This  most  perilous  and  demor- 
alising system  was  first  introduced 
from  Italy  into  France  in  the  end  of 
1820,  and  the  autumn  of  the  succeed- 
ing year  was  the  time  when  it  attained 
its  highest  development,  and  when  it 
became  a  formidable  power  in  the 
State.  Nothing  could  be  conceived 
more  admirable  for  the  object  to  which, 
it  was  directed,  or  better  calculated  to- 
avoid  detection,  than  this  system.  It 
was  entirely  under  the  direction  of  a 
central  power,  the  mandates  of  which 
were  obeyed  with  implicit  faith  by  all 
the  initiated,  though  who  composed  it, 
or  where  it  resided,  was  unknown  to- 
all  save  a  very  few.  Every  person  ad- 
mitted into  the  ranks  of  the  Carbonari 
was  to  provide  himself  with  a  musket, 
bayonet,  and  twenty  rounds  of  ball- 
cartridge.  All  orders,  resolutions,  and 
devices  were  transmitted  verbally ;  no 
one  ever  put  pen  to  paper  on  the  busi- 
ness of  the  association.  Any  revela- 
tion of  the  secrets  or  objects  of  the 
fraternity  was  punished  with  death, 
and  they  had  bravoes  ready  at  any 
time  to  execute  that  sentence,  which 
was  pronounced  only  by  the  central 
committee,  or  to  assassinate  any  per- 
son whom  it  might  direct  The  mem- 
bers were  bound  by  the  most  solemn 
oaths  to  obey  this  invisible  author- 
ity, whatever  it  might  enjoin,  without 
delay,  hesitation,  consideration,  or  in- 
quiry. The  association  borrowed  the 
illusions  of  the  melodrama  to  add  to 
the  intensity  of  its  impressions  :  it  had, 
like  the  German,  its  Geheim-gericht 
nocturnal  assemblages,  its  poniards 
directed  against  the  breast,  its  secret 
courts  of  justice,  its  sentences  executed 
by  unknown  hands.  It  was  chiefly 
among  the  students  at  colleges,  the 
sub-officers  in  the  army,  and  the  supe- 
rior classes  of  mechanics  and  manu- 
facturers, that  this  atrocious  system 
prevailed,  and  ithad  reached  its  highest 
point  in  the  end  of  1821.  It  has  since 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


spread  across  the  Channel ;  and  those 
who  are  acquainted  with  the  machina- 
tions of  the  Ribbonmen  in  Ireland,  and 
the  worst  of  the  trades-unions  in  Great 
Britain,  will  have  no  difficulty  in  re- 
cognising features  well  known  to  them, 
perhaps  by  dear-bought  experience. 

18.  M.  Lafayette,*  Manuel,  and  d'Ar- 
genson  were  at  the  head  of  these  secret 
societies  in  France,  and  they  had  at- 
tained such  an  extent  and  consistency 
in  the  end  of  1821  that  it  was  thought 
the  time  for  action  had  arisen,  the 
more  especially  as  the  revolutions  of 
Spain  and  Naples,  which  were  mainly 
their  work,  had  strongly  excited  men's 
minds,  and  the  accession  of  the  Royal- 
ist Ministry  in  France  threatened  dan- 
ger if  the  execution  of  their  measures 
•was  any  longer  delayed.  It  was  deter- 
mined to  make  an  outbreak  in  several 
different  places  at  once,  in  order  to 
distract  the  attention  of  Government, 
and  inspire  a  belief  of  the  conspiracy 
having  more  extensive  ramifications 
than  it  really  had.  Saumur,  Thouars, 
Befort,  Nantes,  Rochelle,  and  Toulon 
were  the  places  where  it  was  arranged 
insurrections  should  take  place,  and 
to  which  the  ruling  committee  at  Paris 
transmitted  orders  for  immediate  ris- 
ings. So  confident  were  they  of  success, 
that  General  Lafayette  set  out  from  Pa- 
ris to  Befort,  to  put  himself  at  its  head, 

*  "  Cette  fois,  M.  Lafayette,  press6  sans 
doute  par  lea  annees  qui  s'accumulaicnt,  et 
craignant  que  la  mort  ne  lui  ravlt,  connue  a 
Moi'se,  la  terre  promise  de  la  liberte",  avait 
manque  a  son  r61e  de  tribun  l<Sgal,  a  son 
caractere,  i  son  serment  civique  de  depute, 
a  ses  habitudes  d'ppposition  en  plein  jour ; 
et  il  avait  consent!,  an  risque  de  la  security 
de  sa  vie,  et  de  sa  conscience,  a  devenir  le 
moteur,  le  centre,  et  le  chef  d'une  te'ne'breuse 
conspiration.  Toutes  les  soctete's  secretes  des 
ennemis  des  Bourbons,  et  le  Carbonarisme 
qui  les  resumait  toutes  en  ce  moment,  par- 
laient  de  ses  menees,  et  aboutissaient  a  lui. " 
— LAMARTINE,  Histoire  de  la  Restauration, 
vii.  26.  See  also,  to  the  same  effect,  CAPE- 
FIOUE,  Histoira  de  la  Restauration,  vii.  308. 
The  chiefs  of  this  dark  conspiracy  were 
General  Lafayette  and  his  son,  M.  Manuel, 
IHipont  de  1'Eure,  M.  d'Argenson,  Jacques 
Koc-hler,  Comte  Thiard,  General  Taragre, 
General  Corbineau,  M.  de  Lascelles,  and  M. 
Merithou.  General  Lafayette  was  by  all  ac- 
knowledged to  be  the  head  and  soul  of  the 
conspiracy.—  LAMARTINE,  Hist,  de  la  JRestav- 
ration,  vii.  29,  30. 
VOL.  II. 


and  only  turned  back  when  near  that 
town,  on  hearing  that  it  had  broken 
out,  and  failed  of  success.  Befort,  in 
eifect,  was  so  filled  with  conspirators, 
and  they  were  so  confident  of  success, 
that  they  at  length  were  at  no  pains 
to  conceal  their  designs,  and  openly 
armed  themselves  with  sabres  and  pis- 
tols, and  mounted  the  tricolor  cockade. 
The  vigour  and  vigilance  of  the  gov- 
ernor, however,  and  the  fidelity  of  the 
garrison,  caused  the  attempt  to  mis- 
carry. M.  de  Tourlain,  the  governor, 
was  shot  by  one  of  them ;  but  the  rest, 
including  M.  de  Corcelles  and  Carrel, 
fled  on  the  road  to  Paris,  and  met 
General  Lafayette  a  few  leagues  from 
the  gate,  just  in  time  to  cause  him  to 
turn  back  to  his  chateau  of  La  Grange, 
near  that  capital.  Such  was  the  energy 
with  which  the  Carbonari  removed  all 
traces  or  proofs  of  the  conspiracy,  that 
Colonel  Pailhis  Tellier,  and  two  or 
three  others,  who  had  been  caught  in 
the  very  act,  alone  were  brought  to 
justice,  and  escaped  with  the  inade- 
quate punishment  of  three  years'  im- 
prisonment. 

19.  A  more  serious  insurrection  broke 
out,  towards  the  end  of  February,  at 
Thouars,  where  General  Berton  was  at 
the  head  of  the  conspirators.  In  the 
night  of  the  23d  February  he  set  out 
from  Parthenay,  and  surprised  Thouars, 
where  he  made  prisoners  the  brigade  of 
gendarmerie,  and  published  a  procla- 
mation, declaring  the  establishment  of 
a  provisional  government,  composed 
of  Generals  Foy,  Demarcay,  and  La- 
fayette, M.  Benjamin  Constant,  Man- 
uel, and  d'Argenson,  at  Paris.  He 
next  attempted  an  attack  upon  Sau- 
mur ;  but  in  that  he  was  foiled  by  the 
intrepidity  of  the  mayor,  at  the  head 
of  a  body  of  young  Royalists  at  the 
military  school,  and  the  commander  of 
the  castle.  Obliged  to  retreat,  the 
insurgents  soon  lost  heart,  and  dis- 
persed ;  and  Berton  himself  sought 
refuge  in  the  marshes  of  Rochefort, 
where  he  was  at  length  arrested,  along 
with  several  of  his  accomplices.  Their 
guilt  was  self-evident :  they  had  made 
themselves  masters  of  Thouars,  and 
proclaimed  a  provisional  government. 


226 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Six  of  the  leaders,  including  Berton 
and  a  physician,  Cafie,  were  sentenced 
to  death ;  but  the  lives  of  all  were  spar- 
ed, at  the  intercession  of  the  Duchess 
d'Angouleme,  excepting  the  two  last. 
Caffe  anticipated  the  hands  of  justice 
by  committing  suicide  in  prison ;  but 
Berton  was  brought  to  the  scaffold, 
and  died  bravely,  exclaiming  with  his 
last  breath,  "  Vive  la  France  !  Vive 
la  liberte  ! " 

20.  Still  more  important  conse- 
quences followed  a  conspiracy  at  Ro- 
chelle.  It  originated  at  Paris,  on  the 
instigation  of  General  Lafayette,  who 
directed  a  young  and  gallant  man, 
named  Bories,  a  sub-officer  in  the  45th 
regiment,  to  proceed  from  Pau,  with 
some  of  the  privates  of  his  regiment, 
whom  he  had  enrolled  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Carbonari,  to  that  city,  in  order, 
with  the  aid  of  the  affiliated  there,  to 
get  up  a  revolt.  They  were  betrayed, 
however,  before  the  plot  could  be  car- 
ried into  execution,  by  one  of  their 
accomplices,  at  the  very  time  when 
they  were  concerting  with  the  emis- 
saries of  General  Berton  a  joint  attack 
upon  Saumur.  Most  important  articles 
of  evidence  were  found  upon  them,  or 
from  the  information  to  which  their 
apprehension  led ;  among  others,  the 
cards  cut  in  two,  and  the  poniards, 
marked  with  their  number  in  the  vente 
or  lodge,  which  had  been  put  into 
their  hands  by  Lareche,  an  agent  of 
Lafayette.  From  the  declarations  of 
these  prisoners,  and  others  apprehended 
with  them,  a  clue  was  obtained  to  the 
whole  organisation  of  the  Carbonari 
in  France,  ascending,  through  various 
intermediate  stages,  to  the  central 
committee  in  Paris,  presided  over  by 
Lafayette  himself.  These  revelations 
were  justly  deemed  of  such  importance 
that  the  trial  of  the  accused  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  capital,  and  conducted 
by  M.  Marchangy,  the  King's  Advo- 
cate, himself.  The  oath  taken  by  the 
affiliated  bound  them  to  face  any  peril, 
even  death  itself,  in  support  of  liberty, 
and  to  abandon,  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing, their  own  brothers  by  blood  to 
succour  their  brethren  among  the  Car- 
bonari.* The  object  of  the  association 
*  The  oath  was  in  these  terms :  "  Je  jure 


[CHAP.  xi. 

was  to  overturn  the  existing  govern- 
ment in  every  country,  and  establish 
purely  republican  forms  of  government. 
To  cany  it  into  complete  effect,  there 
was  a  central  committee  of  three  per- 
sons at  Paris,  whose  mandates  were 
supreme,  and  which  all  the  inferior 
lodges  throughout  the  kingdom  were 
bound  instantly,  and  at  all  hazards,  to 
obey;  and  subordinate  committees  of 
nine  members,  whose  mandates  were 
equally  supreme  within  their  respective 
districts.  A  more  formidable  conspir- 
acy never  was  brought  to  light,  or  one 
more  calculated,  if  successful,  to  tear 
society  in  pieces,  and  elevate  the  most 
ambitious  and  unscrupulous  characters 
to  its  direction.  It  is  melancholy  to 
think  that  Lafayette,  d'Argenson,  Ma- 
nuel, and  the  leaders  of  the  Liberal 
party  in  the  legislature,  were  at  the 
head  of  such  a  perilous  and  destructive 
association.* 

de  tenir  avant  toute  chose  a  la  liberW;  d'af- 
fronter  la  mort  en  toutes  lea  occasions  pour 
les  Carbonari ;  d'abandonner  au  premier  sig- 
nal le  tresor  de  mon  propre  sang,  pour  aider 
et  secourir  mes  freres." — Annuaire  Histor- 
igue,  v.  777. 

*  "  II  existe  a  Paris  un  grand  comite  d'ora- 
teurs,  qui  entretient  des  correspondances 
nvec  tous  les  departeinents.  II  y  a  dans 
chaque  departement  un  comit£  de  neuf  mem- 
bras,  dont  1'un  est  president. 

"  Ce  comite'  correspond  avec  ceux  de  1'ar- 
rondissement,  et  avec  le  grand  comitS.  II  y 
a  dans  chaque  arrondissement  un  comite 
compose1  de  cinq  membres,  dont  1'un  est  pre- 
sident. 

"Les  chevaliers  de  1'ordre  doivent  §tre 
pris :  1.  Parmi  les  jeunes  gens  instruits  des 
villes  et  des  campagnes.  2.  Les  eiudiants 
de  colleges,  et  des  ecoles  de  droit,  de  me'de- 
cine  et  d'autres.  3.  Les  anciens  militaires 
reTorme's,  retrains  ou  a  demi-solde.  4.  Lea 
possesseurs  de  biens  nationaux.  5.  Les  gros 
proprietaires  dont  les  opinions  sont  parfaite- 
ment  connues.  6.  Ceux  qui  professent  les 
arts  liberaux,  avocats,  m<Sdecins,  et  autres. 
7.  Les  sows-officiers  de  1'armee  active,  rare- 
ment  les  offlciers,  4  moins  qu'ils  n'aient 
donn^  des  preuves  non  equivoques  de  leur 
manifere  de  penser. 

"Le  recipiendaire  sera instruit verbalement 
de  1'existence  de  la  societe,  du  but  qu'elle  se 
propose,  ensuite  il  prgtera  le  sennent  sui- 
vant : 

"  Je  jnre  d'etre  fidfele  aux  statuts  de  1'ordre 
des  chevaliers  de  la  liberte.  Si  je  viens  a  les 
trahir,  la  mort  sera  ma  punition. 

"C.  signifle  chevalier;  V.,  vente;  V.  H., 
haute  vente;  V.  C.,  vente  centrale;  V.  P., 
vente  particuliere ;  P.,  Paris;  B.  C.,  bou 
cousin." — Proces  de  Bories,  &c.,  No.  ix.  An- 
nuaire  Historique,  v.  801,  802. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


227 


21.  Bories  and  his  associates  made  a 
gallant  defence  when  brought  to  trial ; 
and  the  former  melted  every  heart  by 
the  noble  effort  which  he  made,  when 
the  case  had  obviously  become  desper- 
ate, to  draw  to  himself  the  whole  re- 
sponsibility of  the  proceedings,  and 
exculpate  entirely  his  unhappy  asso- 
ciates. "  You  have  seen,"  said  he,  in 
the  conclusion  of  his  address  to  the 
jury,  "  whether  the  evidence  has  pro- 
duced anything  which  could  justify 
the  severity  of  the  public  prosecutor 
in  my  instance.  You  have  heard  him 
yesterday  pronounce  the  words,  '  All 
the  powers  of  oratory  will  prove  un- 
availing to  withdraw  Bories  from  pub- 
lic justice ; '  the  King's  Advocate  has 
never  ceased  to  present  me  as  the  chief 
of  the  plot :  well,  gentlemen,  I  accept 
the  responsibility — happy  if  my  head, 
in  falling  from  the  scaffold,  can  save 
the  life  of  my  comrades."  The  trial, 
which  took  place  at  Paris,  lasted  sev- 
eral days,  during  the  course  of  which 
the  public  interest  was  wound  up  to 
the  very  highest  pitch,  and  every  effort 
was  made,  oy  crowds  surrounding  the 
court-house,  anonymous  threatening 
letters  to  the  jury,  and  other  means, 
to  avert  a  conviction.  But  all  was 
unavailing ;  Bories,  Gouben,  Pommier, 
and  Rautre,  were  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced to  death.  They  received  the 
sentence  with  calmness  and  intrepid- 
ity. Determined  to  make  a  great  ex- 
ample of  persons  deeply  implicated  in 
so  widespread  and  dangerous  a  con- 
spiracy, Government  was  inexorable  to 
all  applications  for  mercy.  An  effort 
•was  made,  with  the  approbation  of 
Lafayette,  to  procure  their  escape  by 
corrupting  the  jailer;  he  agreed,  and 
the  money  was  raised,  and  brought  to 
the  prison  gates :  but  the  persons  in 
the  plot  were  seized  by  the  police  at 
the  very  moment  when  it  was  counting 
out.  As  a  last  resource,  twelve  thou- 
sand of  the  Carbonari  of  Paris  bound 
themselves  by  an  oath  to  station  them- 
selves behind  the  files  of  gendarmes 
who  lined  the  streets  as  the  accused 
were  led  to  execution,  armed  with  po- 
niards, and  to  effect  their  deliverance 
by  each  stabbing  one  of  the  executors 
of  the  law.  They  were  on  the  streets, 


accordingly,  on  the  day  of  execxition, 
and  the  unhappy  men  went  to  the 
scaffold  expecting  every  moment  to  be 
delivered.  But  the  preparations  of 
Government  were  so  complete  that  the 
conspirators  were  overawed ;  not  an 
arm  was  raised  in  their  defence  ;  and 
the  assembled  multitude  had  the  pain 
of  beholding  four  gallant  young  men, 
the  victims  of  deluded  enthusiasm,  be- 
headed on  the  scaffold,  testifying  with 
their  last  breath  their  devotion  to  the 
cause  for  which  they  suffered. 

22.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  ac- 
count of  four  young  men  suffering  death 
for  purely  political  offences,  under  a 
Government  founded  on  moderation 
and  equity,  without  deep  regret,  and 
the  wannest  commiseration  for  their 
fate.  Yet  must  justice  consider  what 
is  to  be  said  on  the  other  side,  and  ad- 
mit the  distinction  between  persons 
openly  levying  regular  war  against  their 
sovereign,  who  may  be  perhaps  entitled 
to  claim  the  right  of  prisoners  taken  in 
external  warfare,  and  those  who,  like 
these  unhappy  young  men,  belong  to 
secret  societies,  having  for  their  object 
to  overturn  Government  by  murder, 
and  sudden  and  unforeseen  outbreaks, 
veiled  in  their  origin  in  studious  ob- 
scurity. It  is  the  very  essence  of  such 
secret  societies  to  be  veiled  in  the  deep- 
est darkness,  and  to  accomplish  their 
objects  by  assassination,  fire-raising, 
and  treason.  Every  man  who  enters 
into  them  surrenders  his  conscience 
and  freedom  of  action  to  an  unseen  and 
unknown  authority,  whose  mandates 
he  is  bound  instantly  to  obey,  be  they 
what  they  may.  He  is  never  to  hesi- 
tate to  plunge  a  dagger  in  the  heart  of 
his  king,  his  fatherThis  wife,  his  bene- 
factor, or  his  son,  if  the  orders  of  this 
unseen  authority  require  him  to  do  so. 
Such  institutions  convert  the  society 
which  they  regulate  into  a  disciplined 
band  of  bravoes,  ready  to  murder  any 
man,  burn  any  house,  fire  any  arsenal, 
or  commit  any  other  atrocious  act  that 
may  be  enjoined.  It  is  impossible  to 
hold  that  death  is  too  severe  a  penalty 
for  the  chiefs  who  establish  in  any 
country  so  atrocious  and  demoralising 
a  conspiracy ;  and  the  example  of  the 
liibboumen  in  Ireland,  and  some  of 


228 

the  trades -unions  in  Great  Britain, 
too  clearly  prove  to  what  abominable 
excesses,  when  once  established,  they 
inevitably  lead.  The  only  thing  to  be 
regretted  is,  that  these  chiefs  so  often 
escape  themselves,  while  the  penalty 
of  the  law  falls  upon  their  inferior  and 
less  guilty  agents.  But  their  guilt  re- 
mains the  same ;  and  it  was  not  the 
less  in  this  instance  that  those  chiefs 
were  Lafayette,  Manuel,  d'Argenson, 
Benjamin  Constant,  and  the  other  lead- 
ers of  the  Liberal  party  in  France, 
•whose  declamations  were  so  loud  in  the 
legislature  in  favour  of  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  public  morality.  * 

23.  The  insurrections  at  Befort, 
Thouars,  and  La  Eochelle,  were  not  the 
only  ones  that  Lafayette  and  the  Car- 
bonari committee  projected,  and  tried 
to  carry  into  execution  during  this 
eventful  year.  A  few  days  after  the 
outbreak  at  BeTort  had  failed,  Colonel 
Caron,  a  half-pay  officer,  deeply  impli- 
cated in  their  designs,  with  the  aid  of 
Eoger,  another  discontented  ex -mili- 
tary man,  attempted  to  excite  an  in- 
surrection in  a  regiment  of  dragoons 
stationed  at  Colmar.  It  in  effect  re- 
ceived him  with  cries  of  "  Vive  Napo- 
leon II.  ! "  and  Caron  led  them  from 
village  to  village  for  some  time  trying 
to  excite  an  insurrection ;  but  they 
everywhere  failed,  and  the  regiment 

*  It  is  fnlly  admitted  now  by  the  French 
historians  of  both  parties,  that  these  men 
were  the  chiefs  of  the  Carbonari  in  France, 
and  that  the  statements  of  M.  Marchangy  on 
the  subject,  in  the  trial  of  the  Bochelle  pri- 
soners, were  entirely  well  founded :  "  Le  re- 
quisitoire  de  M.  de  Marchangy  restera  comme 
tin  monument  de  verite  historique  et  de  cour- 
age ;  son  tableau  du  carbonarisme  n'etait 
point  un  roman,  comme  on  le  disait  alors, 
mais  de  1'histoire,  comme  on  I'avoue  aujour- 
d'hui.  II  avait  parfaitement  penetre  dans  le 
mystere  des  societes  secretes;  il  en  avait 
cornpris!la  portee  et  les  desseins."—  CAPE- 
FIGUE,  Hiatoire  de  la  Restauration,  vii.  312. 
"  Le  voile  longtemps  epais  par  la  dissimula- 
tion parlementaire  des  orateurs  de  1822  a  1829, 
qui  couvraient  des  conspirations  actives  du 
nom  d'opposition  loyale  et  inoffensive,  s'est 
dechire  depuis  1830.  Les  meneurs,  les  plans, 
les  complots,  lesinstigateurs,  les  acteurs,  les 
sieges,  les  victimes  de  ces  conspirations  ont 
appara  dans  toute  la  franchise  de  leurs  r61es. 
L2s  casernes,  les  societes  secretes,  les  pri- 
sons, les  6chafauds  memes,  ont  parle.  Sons 
cette  opposition  a  haute  voix,  et  a  visage  dd- 
couvcrt,  qui  luttait  coutre  les  ministres,  en 


[CHAP.  xr. 

which  had  revolted,  seeing  the  affair 
was  hopeless,  ended  by  arresting  him, 
and  delivering  him  over  to  the  police, 
who  were  all  along  privy  to  the  design. 
He  was  brought,  after  the  manner  of 
Napoleon,  before  a  military  council, 
by  whom  he  was  condemned,  and  shot 
in  one  of  the  ditches  of  the  citadel  of 
Colmar.  Similar  attempts,  attended 
with  no  better  success,  were  made  about 
the  same  time  at  Marseilles  and  Toulon, 
but  they  were  all  frustrated  by  the  vi- 
gilance of  the  police  and  military,  and 
terminated  in  similar  judicial  trage- 
dies, which  every  friend  of  humanity 
must  deeply  regret,  but  which  were 
absolutely  necessary  to  extinguish  the 
mania  for  secret  societies  and  conspi- 
racies which  had  so  long  been  the 
scourge  of  France,  and  had  been  en- 
couraged in  so  flagitious  a  manner  by 
the  Liberal  leaders  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and  Lafayette,  Manuel,  and 
Kochlin,  the  central  chiefs  at  Paris. 
Happily  the  failure  of  these  conspira- 
cies, and  the  executions,  had  the  de- 
sired effect,  and  France,  during  the 
remaining  years  of  the  Restoration, 
was  freed  from  a  political  disease  of  all 
others  the  most  fatal  to  public  morality 
and  the  ultimate  interests  of  general 
freedom. 

24.   The  interest  excited  by  these 
events  diminished  the  importance  of 

affichant  le  respect  et  I'inviolabilit^  de  la 
royaute  des  Bourbons,  on  a  vu  quelles  trames 
obstinees  et  implacables  s'ourdissaient  pour  la 
renverser,  les  unes  au  profit  de  Napoleon  II., 
les  autres  au  profit  de  la  republique,  celles-ci 
au  profit  des  pretoriens  subalternes,  celles-la, 
au  profit  d'un  Prince  etranger,  d'autres  au  pro- 
fit d'un  Prince  de  la  Maison  Royale,  d'autres 
enfin  au  hasard  de  toutes  les  anarchies  pou- 
vant  elever  ou  engloutir  de  temeraires  dicta- 
teurs  comme  M.  de  La  Fayette.  Koi>s-memes 
nous  avonsre$ud' acteurs  principaux,  une  par- 
tie  de  ces  mysterieuses  confidences.  Nous 
empruntons  le  reste  a  des  historiens  initi^s 
par  eux-m8mes  ou  leur  parti  a  ces  conspira- 
tions, ou  ils  furent  confidents,  instruments, 
ou  complices:  surtout  a  un  historien  con- 
sciencieux,  exaete,  et  pour  ainsi  dire  juri- 
dique,  M.  de  Vaulabelle,  te'moignage  d'autant 
moins  recusable  que  ses  jugements  sur  la, 
Restauration  sont  plus  seVeres,  et  que  son 
opinion  et  ses  sentiments  conspiraient  invo- 
lontairement  avec  les  opinions  et  les  senti- 
ments des  conspirateurs,  pour  lesquels  il  re- 
clame la  gloire  et  la  reconnaissance  devant 
la  post£rite." — LAMAKTINE,  Histoire  de  la  Be- 
stauration,  vii.  21,  22. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


the  parliamentary  proceedings  in  this 
year :  it  was  useless  to  attempt  legisla- 
tive measures  when  the  Liberal  leaders 
were  every  day  expecting  the  Govern- 
ment to  be  overturned,  and  a  repub- 
lican regime  established,  of  which  they 
themselves  were  to  be  installed  as  the 
primary  leaders.  Thus,  after  the  grand 
discussion  on  the  restriction  of  the 
press,  which  lasted  six  weeks,  had  ter- 
minated, the  parliamentary  history  of 
France,  during  the  remainder  of  the 
session,  exhibits  nearly  a  blank.  The 
budget  alone  called  forth  an  animated 
discussion,  and  the  statement  which 
the  Finance  Minister  brought  forward 
•on  this  subject  proved  that  the  country 
was  in  as  prosperous  a  condition,  so  far 
as  its  material  interests  were  concern- 
ed, as  it  was  in  a  disturbed  one  as  re- 
gards its  political  feelings  and  passions. 
From  these  details  it  appeared  that  the 
revenue  of  the  year  1823  was  estimated 
at  909,130,000  francs  (£36,450,000), 
and  the  expenditure  at  900,475,000 
francs  (£36,025,000),  leaving  a  surplus 
of  above  8,000,000  francs,  or  £320,000. 
The  vote  of  the  supplies  for  8000 
Swiss  in  the  army  was  the  subject 
of  impassioned  invective  on  the  part 
of  the  Liberal  Opposition  :  they  dread- 
ed a  repetition,  on  a  similar  crisis, 
of  the  fidelity  of  10th  August  1792. 
The  revenue  of  1822  was  915,591,000 
francs  (£36,600,000);  the  expenditure 
882,321,000  francs  (£35,960,000),  leav- 
ing a  surplus  of  33,270,000  francs 
(£1,320,000)  disposable  in  the  hands 
of  Government.  To  what  object  they 
destined  this  large  surplus  was  ob- 
vious from  the  magnitude  of  the  sums 
voted  for  the  army,  which  amounted  to 
250,000,000  francs  (£10,000,000)  from 
a  supplementary  credit  for  13,000,000 
francs  (£520,000),  put  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Minister  of  Finance,  and  a  levy 
of  40,000  men  for  the  army,  authorised 
by  an  ordonnance  on  20th  November. 


25.  The  annual  election  of  the  fifth 
of  the  Chamber,  in  the  autumn  of  this 
year,  indicated  the  great  change  which 
the  law  of  the  preceding  had  made  in 
the  constituency,   and  the  increased 
ascendancy  of  property  and  superior 
education  which  the   classifying  the 
electors  into   colleges  of   the  arron- 
dissements  and  the  departments,  and 
the  throwing  those  paying  the  high- 
est amount  of  direct  taxes  in  the  de- 
partment into  the  latter,  and  form- 
ing it  of  them  exclusively,  had  occa- 
sioned.    In  the  colleges  of  arrondisse- 
uients,  the  Royalists  gained  twenty- 
eight  seats,  the  Liberals  seventeen ;  in 
the  colleges  of  departments,  the  former 
had  twenty-four,  the  latter  only  five.* 
Thus,  upon  the  whole,  the  gain  was 
thirty  to  the  monarchical  party.     So 
considerable  an  acquisition,  and,  still 
more,  the  fact  of  the  majority  being 
decided  in  both  colleges,  proves  that 
the  result  was  owing  to  more  than  the 
change,  great  as  it  had  been,  in  the 
Electoral  Law  ;  and  that  the  example 
of  successful  revolutions  in  the  two 
adjoining  peninsulas,  and  the  nume- 
rous plots  which  had  broken  out  in 
various  parts  of  their  own  country,  had 
brought  a  large  portion  of  the  holders 
of  property,  who  formerly  were  neu- 
tral, or  inclined  to  be  Liberal,  to  vote 
with  the  monarchical  party. 

26.  Notwithstanding  these  favour- 
able appearances  in  the  parliamentary 
contests,  and  the  indication  they  affbrot- 
ed  of  the  state  of  opinion  in  the  wealth- 
ier classes,  in  whom  the  suffrage  was 
exclusively  vested,  the  tone  of  general 
feeling  was  very  much  opposed  to  this ; 
and  the  results  of  the  elections  tended 
only  to  augment  the  discontent  gene- 
rally felt  in  the  towns,  at  least  in  the 
middle  classes  of  society.     These  im- 
portant classes,  who  alone  had  emerged 
unscathed  from  the  storms  of  the  Re- 
volution, were  extremely  ambitious  of 


The  election  showed  the  following  results  :- 

Voted  in  the  Colleges  d'Arrondissemeut, 

For  Royalist  candidates, 

For  Liberal,  .... 
Voted  in  Colleges  de  Department, 

For  Royalist  candidates, 

For  Liberal,  .... 
-Annvaire  Historiquc,  v.  260. 


Voted. 

13,804 
9,053 
5,751 
3,153 
2,418 
740 


Total  Electors. 
16,990 

4,426 


230 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xr. 


enjoying  the  powers  and  the  freedom 
of  self-government,  and  felt  propor- 
tionate  jealousy  of  an  administration 
which  was  based  on  aristocratic  influ- 
ences, and  closely  connected  with  the 
ultra  party  in  the  Church.  It  was  the 
latter  circumstance  which,  more  than 
any  other,  tended  to  depopularise  the 
Government  of  the  Restoration,  and  in 
its  ultimate  results  induced  its  fall. 
The  reason  was,  that  it  ran  counter  to 
the  strongest  passion  of  the  Revolution, 
and  the  one  which  alone  had  survived 
in  full  vigour  all  its  convulsions.  That 
passion  was  the  desire  of  freedom  of 
thought — the  first  wish  of  emancipated 
man — the  source  of  all  social  improve- 
ment, and  all  advances  in  science,  lite- 
rature, or  art,  but  the  deadly  enemy  of 
that  despotism  of  opinion  which  the 
Romish  Church  had  so  long  established, 
and  sought  to  continue  over  its  votar- 
ies. The  Royalists  committed  a  capi- 
tal mistake  in  allying  themselves  with 
this  power — the  declared  and  invete- 
rate enemy  of  all  real  intelligence,  and 
therefore  the  object  of  its  unceasing 
and  unmeasured  hostility.  Those  best 
acquainted  with  the  state  of  France 
during  the  Restoration  are  unanimous 
in  ascribing  to  this  circumstance  the 
increasing  unpopularity  of  Govern- 
ment during  its  later  years,  and  its 
ultimate  fall.*  And — markworthy 
circumstance ! — at  the  very  same  time, 
it  was  in  the  support  of  the  clergy,  and 
the  identity  of  feeling  between  them 
and  the  vast  majority  of  the  educat- 
ed classes  of  society,  that  the  British 
Government  found  their  firmest  bul- 
Avark  against  the  efforts  of  the  revolu- 
tionists— a  clear  proof  that  there  is  no 
real  antagonism,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  closest  national  alliance,  between 
the  powers  of  thought  and  the  feelings 
of  devotion,  and  that  it  was  the  ambi- 
tion and  despotism  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  that  alone  set  them  at  variance 
with  each  other.  The  French  Revolu- 
tion, in  all  its  phases,  was  mainly  a 
reaction  against  the  revocation  of  the 

*  "  Eeligieux  par  nature,  je  dis  avec  dou- 
leur,  ce  qui  fit  le  plusjde  mal  4  la  Restaura- 
tion,  oe  fut  precisement  cette  idee  qu'on  par- 
vint  a  inculquer  au  peuple,  que  les  Bourbons 
s'identifiaient  avec  le  clerge." — CAPEFIGUE, 
Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  vii.  322.  , 


Edict  of  Nantes  ;  and  had  Louis  XIV. 
not  sent  half  a  million  of  innocent 
Protestants  into  exile,  his  descendants 
would  not  have  been  now  suppliants 
in  foreign  lands. 

27.  "While  France  and  England  were 
thus  with  difficulty  struggling  with, 
the  fresh  outbreak  of  the  revolution- 
ary passions  which  had  resulted  from, 
the  overthrow  of  the  government  in 
Spam,  the  monarch  of  that  country 
was  sinking  fast  into  that  state  of 
impotence  and  degradation  which  in 
troublous  times  is  the  invariable  pre- 
cursor of  final  ruin.  After  the  humi- 
liation experienced  in  the  affair  of  the 
guards  at  Madrid,  which  has  been  re- 
counted in  a  former  chapter,  the  King- 
perceived  that  a  vigorous  effort  had 
become  necessary  to  vindicate  his  fal- 
len power,  and  he  resolved  to  make  it 
in  person.  He  came  suddenly,  accord- 
ingly, into  the  hall  of  the  Council  of 
State,  when  its  members  (a  sort  of 
permanent  Cortes)  were  assembled,  and 
in  a  long  and  impassioned  speech  de- 
tailed the  series  of  humiliations  to 
which  his  Liberal  Ministry  had  sub- 
jected him.  He  painted  his  authority 
set  at  nought,  his  complaints  disre- 
garded, his  dignity  sacrificed.  He  re- 
counted the  long  course  of  suffering 
which  he  had  undergone,  and  con- 
cluded with  declaring  that  the  limit* 
of  human  endurance  had  been  reached, 
and  that  he  was  resolved  to  deliver  him- 
self from  his  oppressors.  Stupified  at 
this  sudden  outbreak,  the  Council  di- 
rected the  Ministers  to  be  called  in, 
that  they  might  be  heard  in  their  de- 
fence ;  but  when  they  arrived,  instead 
of  vindicating  themselves,  they  com- 
menced an  attack  upon  the  King,  re- 
capitulated all  his  violent  and  illegal 
acts,  and  even  accused  him  of  having 
violated  his  oath,  and  conspired  to 
overturn  the  constitution.  Furious  at 
this  unexpected  resistance  to  his  au- 
thority, the  monarch  rushed  out  of  the 
hall,  and  signed  an  order  for  the  im- 
mediate arrest  of  his  Ministers.  But 
his  attendants  and  family  represented 
to  him  in  such  strong  colours  the  ex- 
treme peril  of  such  a  step,  of  which  no 
one  could  foresee  the  consequences,  that 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


231 


the  order,  before  it  could  be  executed, 
•was  revoked,  and  the  Ministers  re- 
mained in  power.  But  as  the  King's 
secret  intention  had  now  been  re- 
vealed, the  seeds  of  irreconcilable  jeal- 
ousy had  been  sown  between  him  and 
his  Cabinet ;  and  the  executive,  torn 
by  intestine  divisions,  ceased  to  be 
any  longer  the  object  either  of  respect 
or  apprehension  to  the  ambitious  Libe- 
rals, who  were  rapidly  drawing  to  them- 
selves the  whole  power  and  considera- 
tion in  the  State. 

28.  The  result  soon  appeared.  The 
session  of  the  Cortes  opened  on  1st 
March  1821,  and  the  King,  who  had 
adopted  from  his  Ministers  his  opening 
speech,  added  to  it  several  sentences 
of  his  own  composition.  In  the  first 
part  of  it  he  astonished  the  Royalists 
by  an  unequivocal  approbation  of  the 
revolutions  of  Naples  and  Piedmont, 
blamed  the  King  of  Naples  for  having 
gone  to  the  congress  of  sovereigns  at 
Laybach,  and  openly  condemned  the 
threatened  invasion  of  the  Neapolitan 
States  by  the  Austrian  forces.  The 
Liberals  were  in  transports ;  they  could 
scarcely  believe  their  own  ears ;  the 
sovereign  seemed  at  last  to  have  iden- 
tified himself  in  good  earnest  with  the 
cause  of  revolution,  and  loud  applause 
testified  the  satisfaction  of  the  major- 
ity at  the  sentiments  which  had  pro- 
ceeded from  the  throne.  But  what 
•was  their  surprise  when,  after  this  con- 
cession to  the  democracy,  the  King 
suddenly  began  on  a  new  key,  and, 
raising  his  voice  as  he  came  to  the  sen- 
tences composed  by  himself  or  his 
secret  advisers,  recapitulated  the  re- 
peated attempts  made  to  represent 
him  as  insincere  in  his  career  as  a  con- 
stitutional sovereign,  the  insults  to 
which,  in  his  person  and  his  govern- 
ment, he  had  so  often  been  subjected 
— " insults,"  he  added,  "to  which  he 
would  not  be  subjected  if  the  execu- 
tive power  possessed  the  energy  which 
the  constitution  demands,  and  which, 
if  continued,  will  involve  the  Spanish 
nation  in  unheard-of  calamities."  The 
audience  were  bewildered  by  these  un- 
expected words  ;  the  Ministers  felt 
themselves  struck  at ;  they  recollect- 
ed the  former  scene  in  the  Council  of 


State,  and,  deeming  themselves  secure 
of  victory  if  they  held  out,  in  the  same 
evening  they,  in  a  body,  tendered  their 
resignations. 

29.  With  so  little  foresight  or  con- 
sideration were  the   King's  measures 
pursued,  that  though  it  might  have 
been  anticipated  that  a  resignation  of 
Ministers  would  follow  such  an  out- 
break, no  arrangements  whatever  had 
been  made  for  appointing  their  succes- 
sors.    For  several  days  the  country 
remained  without  a  government,  dur- 
ing which  the  capital  was  in  the  most 
violent  state  of  agitation ;  the  clubs 
resounded  with  declamations,  the  jour- 
nals were  in  transports  of  indignation, 
and  the  hall  of  the  Cortes  was  the  scene 
of  the  most  violent  debates.      They 
carried,  by  a  large  majority,  a  resolu- 
tion, that  the  late  Ministers  had  de- 
served well  of  the  nation,  and,  in  proof 
of  their  gratitude,  settled  on  each  of 
them  a  pension  of  60,000  reals  (£600) 
a-year.     To  allay  the  tempest  he  had 
so  imprudently  conjured  up,  the  King 
requested  the  Cortes  to  furnish  him 
with  a  list  of  the  persons  whom  they 
deemed  fit  for  the  situation  ;  but  they 
refused  to  do  so,  alleging  that  the  re- 
sponsibility of  choosing  his  ministers 
rested  with  the  sovereign.     At  length 
he  made  his  choice,  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  select  them  among  the  Liberal 
leaders.   Among  them  was  Don  Ramon 
Felix,  who  had  long  been  imprisoned 
(since  1814)  for  his  violent  conduct, 
who  was  appointed   Minister  of  the 
Transmarine  Provinces  ;  and  Don  Eu- 
sebio  Bardaxi,  who  had  been  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  Cortes  at  Ca- 
diz, was  reinstated  in  the  same  office. 

30.  It  was  now  evident  that  the  King 
had  not  in  reality  the  choice  of  his  Min- 
isters ;  and  in  order  to  conciliate  the 
majority,  he  addressed  a  message  of 
condolence  to  them  on  the  overthrow 
of  the  revolution  in  Naples  and  Pied- 
mont, which  soon  after  ensued,  and  pro- 
mised the  fugitives  from  these  coun- 
tries a  safe  asylum  in  Spain,  where,  in 
effect,  great  numbers  of  them  soon 
after  arrived,  and  were  very  hospitably 
received.     These  external  events  pro- 
duced a  very  deep  impression  in  Spain  ; 
for  the  hopes  of  the  Literals  had  beeu 


232 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xr. 


unbounded  upon  the  first  outbreak  of 
these  convulsions,  and  their  depression 
was  proportionally  great  upon  their 
overthrow.  They  produced,  as  usual 
in  such  cases,  a  fresh  burst  of  the  re- 
volutionary passion  over  the  whole 
country.  Terror,  as  it  had  done  in 
France  when  the  advances  of  the  Duke 
of  Brunswick  into  Champagne  induced 
the  massacre  in  the  prisons  of  Paris, 
produced  cruelty ;  and  the  actions  of 
the  secret  societies  occasioned  a  mea- 
sure so  extraordinary,  and  of  such  ex- 
tent, that  nothing  in  the  whole  annals 
of  history  is  to  be  compared  to  it. 

31.  At  once,  and  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, in  all  places,  a  vast  number  of 
individuals,  of  both  sexes,  and  of  all 
ranks  and  classes  of  society,  chiefly  on 
the  east  coast  of  Spain,  who  were  sus- 
pected of  a  leaning  to  the  monarchical 
party,  were  arrested,  chiefly  during  the 
night,  hurried  to  the  nearest  seaport 
by  bands  of  armed  men  acting  under 
the  orders  of  self-constituted  societies, 
and  put  on  shipboard,  from  whence 
they  were  conveyed,  some  to  the  Ba- 
learic Islands,  and  some  to  the  Can- 
aries, according  to  the  caprice  of  the 
imperious  executors  of  the  popular 
will.  There  was  no  trial,  no  legal 
warrant  of  arrest,  no  conviction,  no 
condemnation.  With  their  own  hands, 
of  their  own  authority,  under  their  own 
leaders,  the  people  executed  what  they 
called  justice  upon  their  enemies.  Se- 
veral hundred  persons — many  of  them 
of  high  rank — were  in  this  manner 
torn  from  their  families,  hurried  into 
exile,  without  the  hope  of  ever  return- 
ing, chiefly  from  Barcelona,  Valencia, 
Corunna,  Carthagena,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  these  towns.  With  such 
secrecy  Avas  the  measure  devised,  with 
such  suddenness  carried  into  execu- 
tion, that  no  resistance  was  anywhere 
either  practicable  or  attempted ;  and 
the  unfortunate  victims  of  this  violence 
had  scarcely  awakened  from  the  stupor 
into  which  they  had  been  thrown  by 
their  seizure,  when  they  found  them- 
selves at  sea,  on  board  strange  vessels, 
surrounded  by  strange  faces,  and  sail- 
ing they  knew  not  whither  !  The  an- 
nals of  the  Roman  proscriptions,  of 
Athenian  cruelty,  of  French  atrocity, 


may  be  searched  in  vain  for  a  similar 
instance  of  general,  deliberate,  and 
deeply-devised  popular  vengeance. 

32.  Deeds  of  violence  on  the  side  of 
the  populace  seldom  fail  to  find  apolo- 
gists. The  illegal  seizure  and  depor- 
tation of  such  a  number  of  persons  at 
the  same  time  in  various  parts  of  Spain, 
•was  a  public  and  notorious  event, 
which  could  not  be  concealed ;  while 
the  secrecy  with  which  it  had  been  de- 
vised, and  the  suddenness  with  which 
it  had  been  executed,  indicated  the 
work  of  occult  and  highly  dangerous 
societies,  and  the  direction  of  an  effi- 
cient central  authority.  It  was  accord- 
ingly made  the  subject  of  discussion 
in  the  Cortes,  but  the  turn  which  the 
debate  took  was  very  curious,  and  emi- 
nently characteristic  of  the  slavish 
cowardice  which  successful  revolution- 
ary violence  so  often  induces.  No 
blame  whatever  was  thrown  on  the 
authors  or  executors  of  this  atrocious 
proceeding  ;  not  one  of  them  was  even 
accused,  though  they  were  as  well 
known  as  the  commanders  of  the  pro- 
vinces where  the  violence  had  occurred. 
The  whole  blame  was  thrown  on  the 
judges  and  civil  authorities  in  the  pro- 
vinces, whose  supineness  or  dilatory 
conduct  in  bringing  the  enemies  of  the 
people  to  justice  had  obliged  them,  it 
was  said,  to  take  the  affair  into  their 
hands.  All  that  was  done,  to  avert 
similar  acts  of  violence  by  self-consti- 
tuted authorities  in  future,  was  to  pass 
two  laws,  worthy  to  be  placed  beside 
those  constituting  the  revolutionary 
tribunal  at  Paris  in  point  of  atrocity. 
By  the  first  of  these  the  punishment  of 
death  was  decreed  against  all  persons 
who  should  be  convicted  of  offences 
against  either  religion  or  the  constitu- 
tion ;  and  by  the  second,  those  charged 
with  such  offences  were  to  be  arrested 
by  the  armed  force,  and  brought  before 
a  council  of  war  chosen  out  of  the  corps 
which  liad  ordered  the  arrest.  This 
judgment  was  to  be  pronounced  in  six 
days,  to  be  final  and  without  appeal, 
and  carried  into  execution,  if  confirm- 
ed by  the  military  governor  of  the 
province,  within  forty -eight  hours. 
And  the  only  reparation  made  to  the 
transported  victims  was,  that  Govern- 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


233 


ment,  when  they  learned  the  places  to 
which  they  had  been  conveyed,  se- 
cretly brought  some  of  them  back,  one 
by  one,  to  their  own  country. 

33.  As  the  military  force  of  Spain 
was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Lib- 
erals—  at  least  so  far  as  the  officers 
were  concerned — and  it  had  been  the 
great  agent  which  brought  about  the 
Revolution,  these  sanguinary  laws,  in 
effect,  put  all  at  the  mercy  of  the  re- 
volutionists, by  whom,  as  by  the  Ja- 
cobin clubs  at  Paris,  death  to  any  ex- 
tent, and  under  no  limitation,  might 
with  impunity  be  inflicted  on  their  po- 
litical opponents  or  personal  enemies. 
But  the  proceedings  of  the  courts- 
martial,  summary  and  final  as  they 
•were,  appeared  too  slow  for  the  im- 
patient wrath  of  the  populace  ;  and 
an  instance  soon  occurred  in  which 
they  showed  that,  like  the  Parisian 
mob,  they  coveted  the  agreeable  junc- 
tion, in  their  own  persons,  of  the  offi- 
ces of  accuser,  judgo,  and  executioner. 
A  fanatic  priest,  named  Vinuesa,  had 
published  at  Madrid  a  crazy  pamphlet 
recommending  a  counter-revolution. 
For  this  oflence  he  was  brought  before 
the  court  intrusted  with  the  trial  of 
such  cases  at  Madrid,  and  sentenced  to 
ten  years  of  the  galleys  —  a  dreadful 
punishment,  and  the  maximum  which 
law  permitted  for  crimes  of  that  de- 
scription. But  this  sentence,  which 
seemed  sufficient  to  satisfy  their  most 
ardent  passions,  was  deemed  inade- 
quate by  the  revolutionists.  "  Blood, 
blood  ! "  was  the  universal  cry.  On  the 
day  following,  an  immense  crowd  as- 
sembled in  the  Puerto  del  Sol,  the  prin- 
cipal square  of  Madrid,  where  a  resolu- 
tion was  passed  that  they  should  them- 
selves execute  the  sentence  of  death 
on  their  victim.  This  was  at  noon ; 
but  so  deliberate  were  the  assassins, 
and  so  secure  of  impunity,  that  they 
postponed  the  execution  of  the  sen- 
tence till  four  o'clock.  At  that  hour 
they  reassembled,  after  having  taken 
their  siesta,  and  proceeded  to  the  pri- 
son-doors. Ten  soldiers  on  guard  there 
made  a  show  of  resistance,  but  it  was 
a  show  only.  They  soon  submitted  to 
the  mandates  of  the  sovereign  people, 
and  withdrew.  The  doors  of  the  pri- 


son were  speedily  broken  open ;  the 
priest  presented  himself,  with  a  cruci- 
fix in  his  hand,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
Redeemer  prayed  for  his  life.  His  en- 
treaties were  disregarded  ;  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  Puerto  del  Sol  advanced, 
and  beat  out  his  brains  with  a  sledge- 
hammer as  he  lay  prostrate  before 
them  on  the  pavement  of  his  cell. 

34.  Barbarous  and  uncalled-for  as 
this  murder  was,  it  has  too  many  par- 
allel instances  in  cruelty,  aristocratic 
and  democratic,  in  all  ages  and  in  all 
countries.      But  what  follows  is  the 
infamy  of  Spain,  and  of  the  cause  of 
revolution,  and  of  them  alone.     Hav- 
ing despatched  their  victim  in  prison, 
the  mob  proceeded,  with  loud  shouts, 
to  the  house  of  the  judge  who  had 
condemned  him  to  ten  years  of  the 
galleys,  with  the  intention  of  murder- 
ing him  also ;  but  in  this  they  were 
disappointed,  for  he  had  heard  of  his 
danger,  and  escaped.     In  the  evening 
the  clubs  resounded  with  songs  of  tri- 
umph at  this  act  of  popular  justice  ; 
the  better  class  of  inhabitants  trembled 
in  silence ;  the  violent  revolutionists 
were  in  ecstasies.    Martinez  de  la  Rosa 
had  the  courage  in  the  Cortes  to  de- 
nounce the  atrocious  act,  but  a  great 
majority  drowned  his  voice  and  ap- 
plauded it.     The  press  was  unanimous 
in  its  approbation  of  the  glorious  deed. 
To  commemorate  it  for  all  future  times, 
an  order  of  chivalry  was  instituted  by 
the  assassins,  entitled  the  Order  of  the 
Hammer,  which  was  received  with  gen- 
eral applause.      Decorations  consist- 
ing of  a  little  hammer,  for  those  who 
were  admitted  into  it,  were  prepared, 
and  eagerly  bought  up  by  both  sexes  ; 
and  to  the  disgrace  of  Spain  be  it  said, 
the  insignia  of  an  order  intended  to 
commemorate  a  deliberate  and  cold- 
blooded murder  were  to  be  seen  on  the 
breasts  of  the  brave  and  the  bosoms  of 
the  fair. 

35.  This  cruel  act,  and  still  more 
the  general  approbation  with  which  it 
was  received  in  the  clubs,  and  by  the 
press  of  Madrid,  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  better  and  more  respectable  classes 
over  the  whole  country  to  the  fright- 
ful nature  of  the  abyss  into  which  all 
the  nation,  under  its  present  rulers, 


234 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


was  hurrying.  A  reactionary  move- 
ment broke  out  in  Navarre,  at  the 
head  of  which  was  the  curate  Merino, 
already  wel  Iknown  and  celebrated  in 
the  war  with  Napoleon.  He  was  soon 
at  the  head  of  eight  hundred  men, 
with  which,  after  having  been  success- 
ful in  several  encounters,  he  was  march- 
ing on  Vittoria,  when  he  was  met  and 
defeated  at  Ochandiano  by  the  captain- 
general  of  the  province.  Four  hundred 
prisoners  were  made,  and  sent  to  Pam- 
peluna ;  the  chiefs — nearly  all  priests  or 
pastors  —  were  immediately  executed. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  consternation 
produced  by  these  events,  the  King 
ventured  on  the  bold  step  of  appoint- 
ing Don  Pablo  Murillo,  the  celebrated 
general  under  Wellington  in  the  war 
with  Napoleon — the  undaunted  anta- 
gonist of  Bolivar  in  that  of  South 
America — to  the  situation  of  captain- 
general  at  Madrid.  Murillo  was  very 
unwilling  to  undertake  the  perilous 
mission,  but  at  length,  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  the  King,  who  represent- 
ed that  he  was  his  last  resource  against 
the  revolution,  he  agreed  to  accept  it. 
36.  The  knowledge  of  Murillo's  firm 
and  resolute  character  had  for  some 
time  a  considerable  effect  in  overawiiig 
the  factions  in  the  capital ;  for  though 
the  army  was  the  focus  of  the  revolu- 
tion, such  was  known  to  be  his  ascen- 
dancy with  the  troops,  that  it  was 
feared,  under  his  orders,  they  would 
not  hesitate  to  act  in  support  of  the 
royal  authority.  But  unhappily  his 
influence  did  not  extend  over  the 
Cortes,  and  the  proceedings  of  that 
body  were  daily  more  and  more  indi- 
cative of  the  growing  ascendancy  of  an 
extreme  faction,  whose  ideas  were  in- 
consistent, not  merely  with  monarchi- 
cal, but  with  any  government  what- 
ever. The  clubs  in  Madrid,  as  they 
hail  been  during  the  first  Revolution 
at  Paris,  were  the  great  centres  of  this 
violent  party,  and  it  was  through  them 
that  the  whole  press  had  been  ranged 
on  the  democratic  side.  Fatigued  with 


a  perpetual  struggle  with  their  inde- 
fatigable adversaries  in  the  Cortes,  the 
galleries,  the  clubs,  and  the  press,  the 
moderate  party  in  the  legislature  at 
length  gave  way,  and  submitted  to  al- 
most everything  which  their  adver- 
saries chose  to  demand  of  them.  So 
far  did  this  yielding  go,  that  they  con- 
sented to  pass  a  law  which  entirely 
withdrew  the  clubs  from  the  cognisance 
both  of  the  Government  and  the  ma- 
gistrates ;  forbade  any  persons  in  au- 
thority to  intrude  upon  the  debates ; 
and  by  declaring  the  responsibility  of 
the  president  for  what  there  took  place, 
in  effect  declared  the  irresponsibility 
of  every  one  else.  So  obvious  was  the 
danger  of  this  law,  that  the  King,  in 
terms  of  the  constitution,  and  relying 
on  the  support  of  Murillo,  refused  his 
sanction.  A  few  days  after  he  did  the 
same  with  a  law  which  passed  the 
Cortes,  tending  to  deprive  the  chief 
proprietors  of  a  considerable  part  of 
their  seignorial  rights. 

37.  The  finances  were  daily  falling 
into  a  more  deplorable  condition — the 
necessary  result  of  the  unsettled  state 
of  the  kingdom,  and  the  extreme  terror 
regarding  the  future  which  pervaded 
all  the  more  respectable  classes,  from 
the  violence  of  the  Cortes  and  the 
absence  of  any  effective  control  upon 
their  proceedings.  Though  a  half  of 
the  tithes  of  the  clergy  had  been  ap- 
propriated to  the  service  of  the  state, 
and  half  only  left  for  the  support  of 
the  Church,  the  budget  exhibited  such 
a  deficit  that  it  became  necessary  to 
authorise  a  loan  of  361,800,000  reals 
(£3,600,000),  being  more  than  half 
the  whole  revenue  of  the  state ;  but 
such  was  the  dilapidated  state  of  pub- 
lic credit,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
utmost  efforts  of  the  Liberals,  only  a 
fourth  part  of  the  sum  was  subscribed 
by  the  end  of  the  year.*  Insurrections- 
were  constantly  breaking  out  in  the 
provinces,  which  were  only  suppressed 
by  the  armed  force,  and  a  great  effu- 
sion of  blood.  No  sooner  were  they 


*  The  expenditure  was  756,214,217  reals,  or  £7,560.000 
The  revenue,       .        675,000,000     „     or    6,750,000 


Deficit.    .        .         81,214,217 
-Budget,  1821 ;  Annuaire  Historique,  iv.  453. 


or    £810.000 


1821.] 

put  down  in  one  quarter  than  they 
broke  out  in  another ;  and  the  coun- 
try, as  in  the  war  with  Napoleon,  was 
infected  by  guerilla  bands,  who  plun- 
dered alike  friend  and  foe.  In  the 
midst  of  this  scene  of  desolation  and 
disaster,  the  King,  on  30th  June, 
closed  the  sitting  of  the  Cortes,  with  a 
speech  composed  by  his  Ministers,  in 
which  he  pronounced  the  most  pomp- 
ous eulogium  on  the  wisdom,  justice, 
and  magnanimity  of  their  proceedings, 
the  flourishing  state  of  the  finances, 
and  the  general  prosperity  which  per- 
vaded all  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

38.  The  event  soon  showed  how  far 
these  praises  of  the  revolutionary  re- 
gime were  well  founded.  Ever  since 
the  murder  of  the  priest  Vinuesa,  it 
had  been  the  practice  of  the  mobs  in 
Madrid  to  assemble  every  evening  un- 
der the  windows  of  such  persons  as 
were  suspected  of  anti  -  revolutionary 
principles,  and  there  sing  the  Tragala 
Pcrro,  the  Marseillaise  of  the  Spanish 
revolution,  accompanied  in  the  chorus 
with  strokes  of  a  hammer  on  a  gong, 
to  put  them  in  mind  of  that  tragic 
event.  In  the  beginning  of  August, 
an  unhappy  prisoner,  charged  with 
anti-revolutionary  practices,  and  con- 
demned to  the  galleys,  was  lying  im- 
prisoned in  a  convent,  awaiting  the 
execution  of  his  sentence,  along  with 
the  soldiers  apprehended  some  months 
before  on  the  charge  of  assaulting  the 
people,  whilst  dispersing  the  mob  who 
insulted  the  King  in  his  carriage,  as 
narrated  in  a  former  chapter.  It  was 
determined  in  the  club  of  the  Fontana 
d'Oro  that  they  should  all  be  executed 
summarily  in  prison  ;  and  bands  were 
already  formed  for  this  purpose,  when 
Murillo  appeared  with  a  body  of  troops, 
and  dispersed  the  assassins.  This 
prompt  vindication  of  the  law  occa- 
sioned the  most  violent  ebullition  of 
wrath  in  the  clubs,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  act  more  decidedly  and  with  greater 
force  on  the  next  occasion.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  20th  August  an  immense 
crowd  assembled  around  the  convent 
•where  the  soldiers  were  confined,  sing- 
ing the  Tragala  Pcrro,  and  beating 
the  hammers  as  usual ;  and  when  the 
guard  interfered,  and  tried  to  make 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


235 


them  disperse,  they  were  surrounded 
and  overpowered.  Informed  of  the 
danger,  Murillo  hastened  to  the  spot 
with  a  strong  body  of  troops,  and, 
drawing  his  sword,  charged  the  mob, 
who  immediately  dispersed. 

39.  This  fresh  act  of  vigour  completed 
the  exasperation  of  the  Liberals  at  the 
intrepid  general  who  had  coerced  their 
excesses.     Next  morning  the  clubs  re- 
sounded with  declamations  against  the 
bloody  tyrant  who  had  dared  to  insult 
the  majesty  of  the  sovereign  people  ; 
the  journals  were  unanimous  in  their 
condemnation  of  his  conduct ;   sedi- 
tious crowds  uttering  menacing  cries 
were  formed,  and  everything  indicated 
an  approaching  convulsion.    Conscious 
of  the  rectitude  and  integrity  of  his. 
conduct,  and  desirous  of  allaying  a 
ferment  which  threatened  in  its  results 
to  compromise  the  throne,    Murillo 
anticipated  the  sentence  of  the  clubs, 
and  resigned  his  command,  declaring, 
at  the  same  time,  he  would  not  resume 
it  till  he  was  cleared  of  the  charges 
brought  against  him.    This  courageous, 
act  produced  an  immediate  reaction  in 
public  opinion  in  his  favour ;  and  the 
accusation  against  him  being  proved, 
on  examination,  entirely  groundless, 
he  resumed  his  functions  with  general 
approbation. 

40.  Meanwhile  the  secret  societies, 
styled  in  Spain  Commuiieros,  which 
had  gone  so  far  to  shake  society  to  its 
centre  in  France,  had  spread  equally 
to  the  south  of  the  Pyrenees.    Violent 
as  the  proceedings  of  the  open  Liberals 
in  possession  of  the  government  at 
Madrid  had  been,  they  were  nothing 
compared  to  the  designs  formed  by 
these  secret  associations,  which  were, 
not  merely  the  destruction  of  the  mon- 
archy and  of  the  Cortes,  but  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  republic  on  the  basis 
of  an  equal  division  or  community  of 
property,  and  all  the  projects  of  the 
Socialists.     The  oath  taken  by  these 
political  fanatics  bound  them,  as  else- 
where, to  obey  all  the  mandates  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  association  at  the  peril  of 
their  lives,  and  to  put  at  their  disposal 
their  swords,  property,  and  existence.  * 

*  "Je  jure  cle  me  soumettre  sans  reserve 
4  tous  les  decrets  que  reudra  la  confedera- 


236 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


Tliis  tremendous  association  had  its 
chief  ramifications  in  Madrid,  Barce- 
lona, Saragossa,  Corunna,  Valencia, 
and  Carthagena  ;  and  it  was  by  their 
agency  that  the  extraordinary  measure 
of  seizing  and  transporting  such  a  num- 
ber of  persons  in  these  cities  had  re- 
cently been  effected.  Murillo  was  well 
aware  of  the  secrets  and  designs  of  these 
conspirators,  and  was  in  possession  of 
a  number  of  important  papers  estab- 
lishing them.  It  was  mainly  to  get 
these  papers  out  of  his  hands,  as  well 
as  on  account  of  his  known  resolution 
of  character,  that  the  public  indigna- 
tion was  so  strongly  directed  against 
him  on  occasion  of  his  conduct  in  re- 
pressing the  recent  disturbances  in 
Madrid. 

41.  Riego,  who,  as  already  mention- 
ed, had  been  reinstated  in  his  command 
in  Arragon  after  having  been  tempor- 
arily deprived  of  it,  was  closely  con- 
nected with  the  clubs  in  Saragossa,  and 
-was  suspected  by  the  Government,  not 
without  reason,  of  having  lent  himself 
to  their  extravagant  designs.  His 
principal  associate  was  a  French  refu- 

fee  named  Montarlot,  who  employed 
imself  at  Saragossa  in  writing  pro- 
clamations which  were  sent  across  the 
Pyrenees,  inviting  the  French  troops 
to  revolt  and  establish  a  republic. 
Government,  having  received  intelli- 
gence of  the  conspiracy,  took  the  bold 
step  of  ordering  Moreda,  the  political 
chief  at  Saragossa,  to  arrest  Riego.  He 

tion,  et  d'aider  en  toute  circonstance,  tons  les 
chevaliers  Communeros,  de  mes  biens,  de  mes 
ressources,  et  de  mon  epee.  Et  si  quelque 
homme  puissant,  ou  quelque  tyran,  voulait, 
par  la  force  ou  d'autres  moyens,  detruire  en 
tout  ou  en  partie  la  confederation,  je  jure 
en  union  avec  les  confederes  de  defendre,  les 
annes  a  la  main,  tout  ce  que  j'ai  jure,  et 
comme  les  illustres  Communerog  de  la  ba- 
taille  de  Villalar,  de  mourir  plntot  que  de 
c£der  a  la  tyrannic  ou  a  1'oppression.  Je  jure 
si  quelque  chevalier  Comrminero  inanquait  en 
tout  ou  en  partie  a  son  serment,  dt  la  mettre 
a  mart,  des  que  la  confederation  1'aura  declare 
traitre ;  et  si  je  viens  a  manquer  a  tout  ou 
partie  de  mes  sennents  sacres,  je  me  declare 
moi-mSme  traitre,  meritant  que  la  confedera- 
tion me  condamne  a  une  mort  infame  ;  que  les 
portes  et  les  grilles  des  chateaux  et  des  tours 
me  soient  fermees,  et  pour  qu'il  ne  reste  rien 
de  moi  apres  mon  trepas,  que  1'on  me  brule, 
et  que  Ton  jette  mes  cendres  au  vent." — En- 
gagement des  Communeros.  Sur  la  Revolution 
•d'Etpagne — MARTIGNAC,  L  325,  326. 


was  apprehended  accordingly,  as  he 
was  returning  to  that  city  from  a  tour 
in  the  provinces,  where  he  had  been 
haranguing  and  exciting  the  people, 
and  conducted  a  prisoner  to  Lerida. 
Immense  was  the  excitement  which 
this  event  produced  among  the  Liberals 
over  all  Spain.  His  bust  was  carried 
at  the  head  of  a  triumphal  procession 
through  Madrid ;  the  clubs  resound- 
ed with  declamations ;  the  press  was 
unanimous  in  denying  his  criminality  ; 
and  to  give  vent  to  the  public  trans- 
ports, a  picture  was  painted,  intended 
to  be  carried  in  procession  through  the 
streets,  representing  Riego  in  the  cos- 
tume which  he  wore  on  occasion  of  the 
revolt  in  the  island  of  Leon,  holding 
in  one  hand  the  Book  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  overturning  with  the  other 
the  figures  of  Despotism  and  Ignor- 
ance. 

42.  The  moment  was  decisive.  An- 
archy or  law  must  triumph  ;  and  the 
victory  of  the  former  was  the  more  to 
be  apprehended,  as  it  was  known  that 
the  military  were  undecided,  and  that 
some  regiments  had  openly  declared 
they  would  take  part  with  the  insur- 
gents. But  in  this  crisis  Murillo  was 
not  wanting  to  himself,  or  the  cause 
with  which  he  was  intrusted.  Having 
assembled  the  civic  guard,  he  har- 
angued them  on  the  necessity  of  crush- 
ing the  advance  of  the  factions ;  and 
having  previously  given  orders  to  the 
military  to  stop  the  procession,  he  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  national 
guard  to  support  them.  The  revolu- 
tionists, however,  declared  that  they 
would  proceed  Avith  the  procession 
carrying  the  picture  ;  and  when  they 
arrived  at  the  Puerto  del  Sol,  the  royal 
guard  stationed  there  refused  to  stop 
them  ;  and  the  regiment  of  Saguntum, 
stationed  in  another  part  of  the  city, 
broke  out  of  their  barracks  to  advance 
to  their  support.  All  seemed  lost  ; 
but  then  was  seen  what  can  be  done 
by  the  firmness  of  one  man.  Murillo 
advanced  at  the  head  of  the  national 
guard ;  San  Martin,  his  intrepid  as- 
sociate, seized  the  picture  with  his  own 
hands,  which  he  threw  down  on  the 
ground  ;  and  at  the  same  time  Murillo 
charged  the  heack  of  the  procession 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


237 


with  the  bayonet.  Struck  with  con- 
sternation at  the  resistance  which  they 
had  not  anticipated,  the  mob  fled  and 
dispersed,  and  Madrid  was  for  the  time 
delivered  from  the  efforts  of  the  fac- 
tion which  threatened  to  involve  the 
country  in  anarchy  and  devastation. 

43.  In  the  midst  of  these  civil  dis- 
sensions, a  fresh  scourge  broke  out  in 
Spain,  which  threatened  to  involve  the 
country  in  the  evils,  not  merely  of  politi- 
cal troubles,  but  of  physical  destruction. 
The  yellow  fever  appeared  in  the  end  of 
July  in  Barcelona,  and  by  the  middle 
of  August  it  had  made  such  progress 
that  all  the  authorities  quitted  the 
town,  and  a  military  cordon  was  es- 
tablished within  two  leagues  of  the 
walls  around  it.  In  spite  of  this  pre- 
caution, or  perhaps  in  consequence  of 
the  greater  intensity  which  it  occasion- 
ed to  the  malady  in  the  infected  dis- 
tricts, the  disease  soon  appeared  in 
various  quarters  in  the  rear  of  the 
cordon,  particularly  Tortosa,  Mequin- 
enza,  and  Lerida.  By  the  middle  of 
October,  when  the  fever  was  at  its 
height,  9000  persons  had  been  cut  off 
by  it  in  Barcelona  alone,  out  of  a  po- 
pulation not  at  that  period  exceeding 
80,000  persons,  and  300  died  every 
day.  So  terrible  a  mortality  struck 
terror  through  every  part  of  Spain  ; 
and  the  French  Government,  under 
pretence  of  establishing  a  sanitary  cor- 
don, assembled  an  army  of  30,000  men 
on  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  Pyrenees, 
but  which  was  really  intended  chiefly 
to  prevent  communication  between  the 
revolutionary  party  in  the  Spanish 
towns  and  the  secret  societies  in 
France.  In  the  midst  of  these  alarms, 
physical  and  moral,  two  classes  of  the 
people  alone  were  insensible  to  the 

Eeril,  and  hastened,  at  the  risk  of  their 
ves,  to  the  scene  of  danger.  The 
French  physicians  flocked  over  of  their 
own  accord  to  the  theatre  of  pestil- 
ence, and  brought  to  its  alleviation  the 
aid  of  their  science  and  the  devotion 
of  their  courage  ;  and  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  appeared  in  the  scenes  of  woe, 
and  were  to  be  seen,  amidst  the  perils 
of  the  epidemic,  by  the  bedside  of  the 
sick,  and  assisting  at  the  extreme 
unction  of  the  dying.  Their  exertions 


were  not  unavailing  in  alleviating  in- 
dividual distress ;  and  the  cool  wea- 
ther having  set  in,  the  epidemic  gradu- 
ally abated,  and  by  December  had  en- 
tirely disappeared,  but  not  before  it 
had  cut  off  20,000  persons  in  Barce- 
lona out  of  80,000  ;  and  in  Tortosa, 
6000  out  of  12,000  inhabitants. 

44.  The  terrors  of  the  epidemic  did 
not  allay  for  any  considerable  time  the 
political  agitation  of  Spain.  The  club 
of  the  Fontana  d'Oro  resounded  with 
declamations,  of  which  the  arrest  of 
Riego  was  the  principal  subject ;  and, 
its  orators  declared  ' '  that  the  political 
atmosphere  would  never  be  purified 
but  by  the  blood  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  inhabitants  of  Madrid."  The 
Government  felt  itself  unable  to  coerce 
these  excesses :  and  the  extreme  de- 
mocrats in  the  provinces,  seeing  the 
impotence  of  the  executive,  erected 
themselves,  with  the  aid  of  self -con- 
stituted juntas,  into  separate  powers, 
nearly  as  independent  of  the  central 
government  at  Madrid  as  they  had 
been  during  the  war  with  Napoleon. 
Saragossa  continued  the  theatre  of  such 
violent  agitations  that  Moreda,  the  in- 
trepid officer  who  had  arrested  Riego, 
was  obliged,  on  the  summons  of  the 
municipality  and  clubs,  to  resign  his 
post  and  retire.  At  Cadiz,  the  Govern- 
ment dismissed  General  Jauregui,  and 
having  appointed  the  Marquis  de  la 
Rennion,  a  nobleman  of  moderate  prin- 
ciples, to  the  command,  thetLiberal* 
refused  to  receive  him.  The  Baron 
d'Andilla  having  upon  this  been  sub- 
stituted in  his  room,  he  too  was  re- 
jected, and  General  Jauregui,  a  noted 
Liberal,  who  was  entirely  in  their  in- 
terest, forcibly  retained  in  his  post. 
The  municipality  and  people  of  Seville, 
encouraged  by  this  example  of  success- 
ful resistance,  revolted  also  against 
the  central  authority;  and  Manuel  do 
Velasco,  the  captain -general,  and  Es- 
covedo,  the  political  cnief  of  the  pro- 
vince, addressed  the  King  in  the  same 
style  as  the  Liberals  at  Cadiz,  and 
caused  their  names  to  be  inscribed  in 
the  national  guard  of  the  city,  "  in 
order  to  die  at  their  post,  if  necessary, 
in  defence  of  their  country. "  Nor  wit  ~ 
Valencia  in  a  more  tranquil  condition » 


233 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xi. 


for  General  Elio,  a  gallant  veteran  of 
the  war,  the  former  governor  of  the 
province,  had  been  condemned  to  death 
by  the  revolutionary  authorities  in  that 
city,  as  having  acted  in  1814  against  the 
Constitution  of  1812,  and  the  sentence 
having  not  as  yet  been  executed,  the 
clubs  resounded  with  incessant  declama- 
tions, demanding  his  instant  execution. 

45.  Matters  had  now  come  to  such 
a  pass  that  the  Government  at  Madrid 
saw  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  take 
.a  decided  line,  or  to  abdicate  in  favour 
of  the  provincial  authorities.  They  ac- 
cordingly transmitted  orders  to  Baron 
d'Andilla  to  proceed  to  Cadiz  and  take 
the  command.  But  they  soon  found 
that  their  real  power  was  confined  to 
the  walls  of  Madrid.  The  authorities 
at  Cadiz  continued  Jauregui  in  the 
command,  refused  to  admit  the  baron 
-within  their  gates,  put  the  city  in  a 
posture  of  defence,  and  sent  orders  to 
all  the  towns  in  Andalusia  to  stop  and 
arrest  him  wherever  he  might  appear. 
The  same  thing  was  done  at  Seville, 
where  General  Moreno  Davix,  sent 
from  Madrid  to  assume  the  command, 
was  stopped  at  Ecija,  on  his  way  to 
that  city,  and  sent  back.  Meanwhile 
Meria  at  Coruuna,  who  had  been  re- 
placed by  General  Latre,  sent  from 
Madrid,  revolted,  and  having  secured 
the 'garrison  in  his  interest,  expelled 
Latre,  and  declared  himself  indepen- 
dent of  the  central  government.  But 
Latre  was  not  discouraged.  He  raised 
the  militia  of  the  province  of  Galicia, 
which  was  thoroughly  loyal,  and,  ap- 
pearing with  an  imposing  force  before 
the  gates  of  Corunna,  compelled  Meria 
to  surrender  and  depart  to  Seguenza, 
the  place  assigned  for  his  exile.  At 
the  same  time  troubles  broke  out  in 
Estremadura,  Navarre,  and  Old  Cas- 
tile, where  guerilla  bands  appeared, 
ravaged  the  country,  and  rendered  all 
collection  of  the  revenue  impossible. 
To  such  straits  was  the  treasury  in 
consequence  reduced,  that  the  Minister 
of  Finance  was  obliged  to  open  a  fresh 
loan  of  200,000,000  reals  (£2,000,000) 
in  foreign  states,  which  was  only  in 
part  obtained,  and  that  at  a  most  ex- 
orbitant rate  of  interest. 

64.  The  distracted  state  of  the  coun- 


try rendered  an  early  and  extraordinary 
convocation  of  the  Cortes  necessary,  in 
the  hope  of  obtaining  that  moral  sup- 
port from  its  votes  which  was  sought 
in  vain  in  the  affections  of  the  country. 
It  met  accordingly  on  the  25th  No- 
vember, and  the  King,  in  his  opening 
speech,  deeply  deplored  the  events  at 
Cadiz,  and  earnestly  invoked  the  aid 
of  the  Cortes  to  support  him  in  his 
endeavour  to  cause  the  royal  authority 
to  be  respected.*  The  Cortes,  in  re-; 
ply,  appointed  two  commissioners,  one 
charged  with  preparing  an  answer  to 
the  royal  address,  the  other,  with  con- 
sidering what  was  to  be  done  to  sup? 
port  the  royal  authority.  The  reports 
were  presented  on  the  9th  December, 
and  although  drawn  in  the  most  cau- 
tious style,  and  with  the  anxious  wish 
to  avoid  giving  offence  to  the  Liberals, 
they  did  so  most  effectually,  for  they 
bore  that  the  authorities  at  Seville  and 
Cadiz  should  be  brought  to  trial — a 
resolution  which  was  adopted  by  the 
Cortes  by  a  majority  of  130  to  48.  This 
decision  excited  the  most  violent  ani- 
mosity in  the  clubs,  the  journals,  and 
the  coffee-houses:  cries  of  "  Long  live 
Riego  !  Down  with  the  Ministers  ! 
down  with  the  Serviles!"  were  heard 
on  all  sides ;  and  so  completely  were 
the  majority  of  the  Cortes  intimidated 
by  these  proceedings,  that  a  few  days 
after  an  amendment  was  carried  by 
a  majority  of  104  to  59,  which  bore, 
"  that  as  the  Ministers  did  not  possess 
the  moral  force  requisite  to  conduct  the 
affairs  of  the  nation,  they  implored  the 
King  to  adopt  the  measures  impera- 
tively called  for  by  such  a  state  of 
public  affairs." 

47.  This  vote  of  want  of  confidence 

*  "  C'est  dans  la  plus  profonde  amertume 
de  mem  coeur,  que  j'ai  appris  les  derniers 
evenements  de  Cadiz,  oii,  sous  le  pretexts 
d'amour  pour  la  Constitution,  on  1'a  foulee 
aux  pieds  en  meconnaissant  les  droits  qu'elle 
m'accorde.  J'ai  ordonne  a.  mes  secretaires 
d'etat  de  presenter  aux  Cortes,  la  nouvelle 
d'un  evenement  aussi  facheux,  dans  la  con- 
fiance  interne  qu'ils  coopereront  avec  £nergie, 
d'accord  avec  mon  gouvernement,  &  faire  en 
sorte  que  les  prerogatives  de  la  couronne, 
ainsi  que  les  libertes  publiques,  qui  sont  une 
de  ses  garanties,  soient  conservees  intactes. " 
— Discmtrs  du  Roi,  25th  November  1821.  Mo- 
niteur,  2d  December  1821.  Ann.  Hist.,  iv. 
471,  472. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


239 


in  Ministers  coming  so  soon  after  a 
solemn  condemnation  of  their  adver- 
saries, indicated  in  the  clearest  manner 
the  prostration  of  the  executive  and 
disastrous  state  of  the  monarchy,  reel- 
ing like  a  sinking  ship  alternately  be- 
fore one  wind  and  another.  Immense 
•was  the  general  exultation  in  the  great 
cities  at  this  direct  vote  of  censure  on 
Ministers.  The  authorities  at  Cadiz 
and  Seville  were  so  encouraged  by  it 
that  they  carried  their  audacity  so  far 
as  openly  to  bid  defiance  to  the  Cortes 
and  the  King,  and  sent  an  address  to 
the  latter,  stating  that  they  would  re- 
ceive or  execute  no  order  or  appoint- 
ment from  the  Government  till  the  pre- 
sent Ministers  were  dismissed.  On  this 
occasion  the  Cortes  rescinded  virtually 
their  last  resolution :  their  amour  pro- 
pre  was  wounded  by  this  open  defiance 
of  their  authority ;  and  after  a  long  and 
stormy  debate,  in  which  the  leading 
orators  on  the  Liberal  side  took  part 
with  the  Government,  it  was  deter- 
mined by  a  majority  of  112  to  36  that 
nil  those  who  had  signed  this  seditious 
address  should  be  prosecuted. 

48.  Being  now  supported  by  the 
Cortes,  and  sure  of  the  protection  of 
a  part,  at  least,  of  the  military,  the 
King,  had  he  possessed  firmness  ade- 
quate to  the  undertaking,  had  a  fair 
opportunity  for  asserting  the  royal 
authority,  and  rousing  the  vast  major- 
ity of  the  country  to  check  the  urban 
faction  which  had  turned  the  revolu- 
tion into  such  a  downward  channel. 
But  he  had  no  consistency  in  his  char- 
acter, and  was  as  vacillating  in  his 
acts  as  the  Cortes  in  their  votes. 
Hardly  was  his  authority  in  some  de- 
gree reinstated  by  this  last  vote  of 
the  Assembly,  than  he  gave  the  fac- 
tions a  triumph  by  dismissing  four  of 
his  Ministers,  the  most  decided  in  the 
intrepid  conduct  which  had  lately  been 
pursued.  Two  others  resigned,  so  that 
one  only  remained  and  continued  in  the 
new  administration,  which  was  com- 
posed entirely  of  the  most  moderate 
of  the  patriots  of  1812.  This  act  of 
•weakness  renewed  the  resistance  of 
Cadiz  and-  Seville,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  vote  of  the  Cortes  had  dis- 
armed it.  Meanwhile,  insurrections 


of  an  opposite  character,  in  favour  of 
religion  and  the  monarchy,  broke  out, 
and  were  daily  gaining  ground  in  Na- 
varre, Arragon,  Galicia,  and  Biscay, 
and  the  year  closed  with  Spain  torn 
in  all  quarters — it  was  difficult  to  say 
whether  most  by  the  furious  democrats 
of  the  cities  in  the  south,  or  the  hardy 
Royalists  of  the  valleys  in  the  north. 

49.  The  action  of  the  secret  societies, 
styled  Communeros  and  Descamisados 
("communists"  and  "shirtless"),  be- 
came more  violent  and  dangerous  when 
the  elections  for  the  new  Cortes,  which 
had  to  take  place  in  the  first  month  of 
1822,  drew  near.     To  counteract  their 
influence,  which  was  daily  becoming 
more  formidable,  Martinez  de  la  Rosa, 
Toreno,  Calatrava,  and  some  of  the 
other  moderate  Liberals,  set  up  an- 
other society,  styled  "  The  Society  of 
the  Friends  of  the  Constitution,"  or 
of  "the  King."     It  at  first  met  with 
some  success ;  but,  as  usual  in  times 
of  vehement  excitement,  it  soon  de- 
clined,  and  was  no  more  heard  of. 
When  the  passions  are  excited,  mode- 
ration is  considered  on  all  sides  as  a 
species  of  common  enemy,  and  nothing 
has  any  chance  of  influence  but  such 
associations  as,  by  alimenting,  inflame 
them  on  one  side  or  the  other.     The 
evils  of  a  licentious  press,  of  the  unre- 
strained right  of  presenting  petitions 
to  the  Cortes,  and  of  the  extreme  vio- 
lence in  the  clubs,  at  length  became  so 
flagrant  that  the  Government  submit- 
ted three  laws  for  their  repression  to 
the  legislature.     As  they  proposed  to 
impose  very  effectual  checks  on  these 
evils,  they  were  resisted  with  the  whole 
strength  of  the  anarchists,  and  gave 
rise  to  serious  disturbances  in  Madrid, 
which  still  further  impaired  the  royal 
authority,  and  proclaimed  its  weakness. 

50.  These  proposals  came  to  be  dis- 
cussed in  the  Cortes  under  very  pecu- 
liar circumstances.      The  resignation 
of  the  former  ministers  had  been  ac- 
cepted, but  their  successors  had  not 
been  appointed — the  places  were  va- 
cant.   The  leading  orators  on  the  Lib- 
eral side  then  conceived  hopes  that 
they  might  be  selected  as  their  succes- 
sors, and  to  improve  their  chances  of 
success,  they,  for  the  most  part,  joined 


240 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


in  the  debate  in  favour  of  the  proposed 
laws.  Martinez  dc  la  Eosa  and  Toreno 
particularly  distinguished  themselves 
in  this  manner,  and  a  motion  made  by 
Calatrava,  to  throw  out  at  once  the 
whole  three  proposed  laws,  was  reject- 
ed by  the  narrow  majority  of  90  to  84. 
This  unexpected  result  inflamed  the 
clubs  and  the  anarchists  to  the  very 
greatest  degree ;  every  means  to  ex- 
cite the  public  mind  were  instantly 
adopted  without  reserve  ;  and  so  suc- 
cessful were  they  in  rousing  the  pas- 
sions of  the  multitude,  that  a  furious 
crowd  surrounded  Toreno  as  he  left 
the  hall  of  the  Assembly  after  the  de- 
cisive vote,  pursued  him  with  groans 
and  hisses  to  his  own  house,  which 
they  broke  into,  and  wounded  some  of 
the  domestics.  Toreno  escaped  by  a 
back  door,  upon  which  the  crowd  pro- 
ceeded with  loud  shouts  to  the  house 
of  Martinez  de  la  Rosa,  which  they 
were  proceeding  to  attack,  whenMurillo 
and  San  Martin  arrived  with  a  body  of 
cavalry,  by  whom  the  mob  was  dis- 
persed, amidst  the  most  violent  cries 
and  imprecations.  The  laws  against 
the  offences  of  the  press,  and  against 
the  seditious  petitions,  were  adopted 
by  considerable  majorities.  It  was  ob- 
served that  the  whole  deputies  from 
South  America,  about  thirty-eight  in 
number,  voted  on  all  these  occasions 
•with  the  Opposition,  which  swelled 
their  ranks  to  eighty,  or  nearly  the 
half  of  the  Cortes.  The  extraordinary 
session  closed  on  the  12th  February, 
having,  during  its  long  and  moment- 
ous sittings,  effected  great  changes, 
exhibited  many  acts  of  courage,  and, 
on  the  whole,  done  less  to  pull  down 
the  entire  fabric  of  society  than  might 
have  been  expected  from  the  excited 
state  of  the  public  mind  when  it  was 
elected,  and  the  universal  suffrage  on 
which  it  was  founded. 

51.  The  new  Cortes  was  elected  un- 
der darker  auspices,  and  the  incurable 
vices  of  the  electoral  system  developed 
themselves  in  stronger  colours.  The 
kingdom  was  distracted  in  all  its  parts 
when  the  elections  took  place ;  in  some 
by  the  triumph  of  the  Liberals,  in 
others  by  the  efforts  of  the  Royalists. 
The  former  had  been  everywhere  act- 


[CHAP.  xr, 

ive,  and  in  most  places  successful ;  the 
latter  had  in  great  part  abstained  from 
voting,  to  avoid  all  responsibility  in 
the  formation  of  a  legislature  which 
they  plainly  foresaw  would  terminate 
only  in  disaster.  In  some  places,  es- 
pecially Granada,  open  violence  was 
employed  at  the  elections  ;  the  multi- 
tude broke  into  the  places  of  voting, 
and  by  force  imposed  their  favourites 
on  the  electors.  But,  in  general,  open 
violence  did  not  require  to  be  resorted 
to ;  the  clubs  and  universal  suffrage 
rendered  it  unnecessary.  The  extreme 
Liberals  got  everything  their  own  way. 
The  result  was  soon  apparent.  In  the 
whole  Cortes  there  was  not  one  single 
great  proprietor  or  bishop.  The  no- 
blesse were  represented  only  by  a  few 
nobles  of  ruined  fortunes  and  extreme 
democratic  opinions  :  the  Duke  del 
Parque,  a  leading  orator  at  the  Fon- 
tana  d'Oro,  was  the  only  grandee  in 
the  assembly.  The  majority  was  com- 
posed of  men  who  had  signalised  them- 
selves by  opposition  to  the  Government 
during  the  sitting  of  the  last  Cortes, — 
governors  who  had  taken  part  with  the 
people,  and  refused  to  execute  the  laws 
or  obey  the  injunctions  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  magistrates  who  had  betrayed 
their  trust,  soldiers  who  had  violated 
their  oaths.  Among  the  most  danger- 
ous of  these  characters,  who  readily 
found  a  place  in  the  new  legislature, 
were  the  monk  Rico,  who  had  been, 
proscribed  in  1814,  and  had  since  been 
involved  in  every  seditious  movement ; 
Manuel  Bertrand  du  Lys,  a  man  of  the 
most  violent  temper  and  extreme  prin- 
ciples ;  Galiano,  a  brilliant  orator  but 
rebellious  magistrate,  who  was  under  ac- 
cusation as  such  when  he  was  elected ; 
Burnaga,  a  leading  speaker  at  the  Fon- 
tana  d'Oro ;  Escovedo,  the  chief  of  the 
revolt  at  Seville,  also  saved  from  pro- 
secution by  his  return ;  finally,  Riego, 
also  delivered  from  trial  by  being  made 
a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  who 
was  immediately  chosen  its  president. 
Uniformity  of  qualification  and  univer- 
sal suffrage  had  done  their  usual  work ; 
they  had  practically  disfranchised  ever 
class  except  the  very  Imvcst  intrustc 
with  the  electoral  right,  which,  as  tl 
most  numerous,  gained  nearly  all 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


returns,  and  the  government  of  the 
country  was  intrusted  to  the  uncon- 
trolled direction  of  the  most  ignorant, 
the  most  dangerous,  and  the  most  am- 
bitious class  of  the  community. 

52.  The  first  duty  of  the  King,  be- 
fore the  new  Cortes  met,  was  to  fill  up 
the  six  vacant  places  in  the  Adminis- 
tration ;  and  as  the  temper  of  the  new 
assembly  was  not  fully  known,  the 
moderate  party  obtained  the  appoint- 
ments.  Martinez  de  la  Eosa  was  Prime 
Minister,   and   had    the    portfolio  of 
foreign  affairs,  and  the  choice  of  his 
colleagues.     Aware  of  the  difficulty  of 
conducting  the   government  in  pre- 
sence of  a  Cortes  of  which  Riego  had 
been  chosen  president,  he  long  refused 
the  perilous  post,  and  only  yielded  at 
length  to  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
the  King.     Don  Nicolas  Garotti,  an 
ex-professor  of  law  in  Valencia,  was 
appointed  Minister  of  Justice,   Don 
Jose  de  Alta  Mira  of  the  Interior ;  Don 
Diego  Clorumeneros,  Director  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  History,  Colonial 
Minister ;  Don  Philippe  Sierra- Pam- 
bley  to  the  Finances  ;  Brigadier  Bal- 
anzat,  Minister  at  "War ;  Don  Jacinti 
Romorate  for  the  Marine.    These  per- 
sons all    belonged   to  the  Moderate 
party, — that  is,  they  were  the  first 
authors  of  the   revolution,   but  had 
been  passed  in  the  career  of  innova- 
tion by  their  successors.     It  was   a 
circumstance    characteristic    of    the 
times,  and  ominous  to  the  nobility, 
that  two  of  the  most  important  minis- 
ters— those  of  Justice  and  the  Interior 
— were  professors  in  universities. 

53.  The  Cortes  opened  on  the  1st 
March  ;  and  the  opening  speech,  and 
reply  of  the   President  Riego,   were 
more  auspicious  than  could  have  been 
anticipated,   and  promised  returning 
prosperity  to  the  country.    The  report 
of  the  Finance  Minister  was  the  first 
to  dispel  these  flattering  illusions.    It 
exhibited  a  deficit  of  197,428,000  reals 
(£1,974,000),  which  required  to  be  cov- 


ered by  loans  ;  and  as  no  money  could 
be  got  in  the  country,  they  required  to 
be  borrowed  in  foreign  states.*  They 
were  nearly  all  got,  though  at  a  very 
high  rate  of  interest,  in  London  ;  the 
prospect  of  high  profits,  and  the  belief 
in  the  stability  of  popular  institutions, 
inducing  our  capitalists  to  shut  their 
eyes  to  the  obvious  risks  of  lending 
their  money  to  such  unstable  govern- 
ments as  those  which  then  ruled  in  the 
Peninsula.  This  circumstance  deserves 
to  be  especially  noted,  as  the  commence- 
ment of  numberless  disasters  both  to  the 
Peninsula  and  this  country.  It  gave 
a  large  and  influential  body  of  foreign 
creditors  an  interest  in  upholding  the 
revolutionary  government  in  the  Penin- 
sula, because  no  other  one  would  re- 
cognise the  loans  it  had  contracted. 
Their  influence  was  soon  felt  in  the 
public  press  both  of  France  and  Eng- 
land, which,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
constantly  supported  the  cause  of  re- 
volution in  Spain  and  Portugal ;  and 
to  this  circumstance  more  than  any 
other  the  long  and  bloody  civil  wars 
which  distracted  both  nations,  and  the 
entire  ignorance  which  pervaded  this 
country  as  to  their  real  situation,  are 
to  be  ascribed. 

54.  The  divergence  of  opinion  be- 
tween the  Cortes  and  the  Government 
was  not  long  of  proclaiming  itself. 
The  Cortes  insisted  that  the  execution 
of  the  royal  decrees  should  be  intrusted 
to  the  authorities  in  the  Isle  of  Leon 
and  Seville,  who  had  revolted  against 
the  Government.  This  was  resisted  by 
the  administration,  and  the  division 
led  to  animated  and  impassioned  de- 
bates in  the  legislature.  But  while 
these  were  yet  in  progress,  disorders 
broke  out  in  every  part  of  the  country, 
which  were  not  only  serious  in  them- 
selves, but  presaged,  at  no  distant  time, 
a  universal  civil  war  in  the  Peninsula. 
The  extreme  leaders,  or  "  Exaltados," 
as  they  were  called,  on  both  sides, 
were  in  such  a  state  of  excitement  that 


664,162,000  reals, 
861,591,000     „ 


*  The  public  accounts  for  the  year  1S22  were — 

Receipts 

Expenditure,      .... 

Deficit 197,423,000 

-Finance  Report,  March  12,  1822;  Ann.  Hist.,  v.  421,  423. 
VOL.  II. 


or    £6,641,000 
or       8,615,000 

or    £1,974,000 
Q 


242 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xr. 


they  could  not  be  kept  from  coming  to 
blows  in  all  the  principal  towns  of  the 
kingdom.  At  Barcelona,  Valencia, 
Pampeluna,  and  Madrid  itself,  bloody 
encounters  took  place  between  the 
military,  headed  by  the  magistrates 
of  municipalities,  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  peasantry  of  the  country  and  Roy- 
alists, led  on  by  the  priests,  on  the 
other.  "Viva  Riego  !  Viva  el  Con- 
stitucion  !  "  broke  out  from  the  ranks 
on  one  side  ;  "  Viva  Murillo  !  Viva 
el  Rey  Assoluto  ! "  resounded  on  the 
other.  Riego  was  the  very  worst  per- 
son that  could  have  been  selected  to 
moderate  the  Cortes  in  such  a  period 
of  effervescence.  Himself  the  leader  of 
the  revolution,  and  the  acknowledged 
chief  of  the  violent  party,  how  was  it 
possible  for  him  to  restrain  their  ex- 
cesses ?  "I  call  you  to  order,"  said  he 
to  a  deputy  who  was  attacking  that 
party  in  the  assembly ;  "  you  forget  I 
am  the  chief  of  the  Exaltados." — "  To 
refuse  to  hear  the  petitioners  from  Va- 
lencia," said  another,  "is  to  invite  the 
people  to  take  justice  into  their  own 
hands  in  the  streets. "  To  such  a  length 
did  the  disorders  proceed  that  the  Cor- 
tes appointed  a  committee  to  inquire 
into  them,  which  reported  that  the 
state  of  the  kingdom  was  deplorable. 
The  King's  Ministers  were  ordered,  by 
the  imperious  majority  in  that  assem- 
bly, to  the  bar  of  the  Cortes,  to  give 
an  account  of  their  conduct ;  the  mili- 
tary were  as  much  divided  as  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  under  the  very  eye  of  the 
legislature  a  combat  took  place  be- 
tween the  grenadiers  of  the  Guard, 
who  shouted  ' '  Viva  Murillo  !  "  and 
the  regiment  of  Ferdinand  VII.,  who 
replied  "Viva  Riego !"  which  was  only 
ended  by  a  general  discharge  of  mus- 
ketry by  the  national  guards,  who  were 
called  out,  by  which  several  persons, 
including  the  standard  -  bearer  of  the 
Guard,  were  killed.  Intimidated  by 
these  disorders,  which  he  was  wholly 
powerless  to  prevent,  the  King  left 
Madrid,  and  went  to  Aranjuez,  from 
•whence  he  went  on  to  pass  Easter  at 
Toledo ;  and  his  departure  removed 
the  only  restraint  that  existed  on  the 
•excesses  in  the  capital. 

55.  The  first  proceedings  of  the  Cor- 


tes related  to  the  trial  of  various  per- 
sons on  the  Royal  side,  who  had  taken 
a  part  in  the  late  tumults.  It  was 
never  thought  of  prosecuting  any  per- 
son on  the  Liberal.  A  committee  of 
the  Cortes,  to  whom  the  matter  was 
referred,  reported  that  the  ex-Minister 
of  War,  Don  Sanchez  Salvador,  and 
General  Murillo,  should  be  put  on  their 
trial ;  and  the  resolution  was  adopted 
by  the  assembly  as  to  the  former,  and 
only  rejected  as  to  the  latter  by  a  nar- 
row majority.  A  new  law  also  was 
passed,  submitting  offences  of  the  press 
to  the  decision  of  the  juries,  which,  in 
the  present  state  of  the  country,  was 
securing  for  them  alternately  total  im- 
punity, or  subjecting  them  to  vindic- 
tive injustice.  A  bill  was  also  brought 
in,  and  passed,  for  the  reduction  of  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment,  which  was 
certainly  excessive,  notwithstanding  all 
the  reforms  which  had  taken  place.  It 
was  calculated  that,  when  it  came  into 
full  operation,  it  would  effect  a  reduc- 
tion of  73, 000  ecclesiastics,  and  600, 000 
reals  (£6000)  a-day.  The  knowledge 
that  these  great  changes  were  in  pro- 
gress, which  went  to  strike  so  serious 
a  blow  at  the  influence  and  possessions 
of  the  Church,  tended  to  augment  the 
activity  and  energy  of  the  Royalist 
party  in  the  provinces.  The  civil  war 
soon  became  universal ;  the  conflagra- 
tion spread  over  the  whole  country. 
Every  considerable  town  was  wrapt 
in  flames,  every  rural  district  bristled 
with  armed  men.  In  Navarre,  Ques- 
ada,  at  the  head  of  six  hundred  guer- 
illas, was  in  entire  possession  of  the 
country  up  to  the  gates  of  Pampeluna, 
and  although  often  driven  by  the  gar- 
rison of  that  fortress  into  the  French, 
territory,  yet  he  always  emerged  again 
with  additional  followers,  and  renewed 
the  war,  and  united  with  the  Royalists 
in  Biscay.  In  Catalonia,  Misas  led  a 
band  of  peasants,  which  soon  got  the 
entire  command  of  the  mountain  dis- 
trict in  the  north ;  while  the  Baron 
d'Erolles,  well  known  in  the  War  of 
Independence,  secretly,  in  the  south 
of  the  province,  organised  a  still  more 
formidable  insurrection,  which,  under 
the  personal  direction  of  Antonio  Ma- 
ranon,  surnamed  the  "Trappist,"soon 


1322.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


243 


acquired  great  influence.  This  singu- 
lar man  was  one  of  the  decided  char- 
acters whom  revolution  and  civil  war 
draw  forth  in  countries  of  marked  na- 
tive disposition. 

56.  Originally  a  soldier,  but  thrown 
into  the  convent  by  misfortunes,  in 
part  brought  on  by  his  impetuous  and 
unruly  disposition,  the  Trappist  had 
not  witli  the  cowl  put  on  the  habits, 
or  become  endued  with  the  feelings 
of  the  Church.  He  carried  with  him 
into  the  cloister  the  passions,  the  de- 
sires, and  the  ambition  of  the  world. 
He  was  now  about  forty-five  years  of 
age — a  period  of  life  when  the  bodily 
frame  is,  in  strong  constitutions,  yet 
in  its  vigour,  and  the  feelings  are 
steadily  directed  rather  than  enfeebled 
by  age.  His  eye  was  keen  and  pierc- 
ing, his  air  confident  and  intrepid.  He 
constantly  wore  the  dress  of  his  order, 
but  beneath  it  burned  all  the  passions 
of  the  world.  Arrayed  in  his  monk- 
ish costume,  with  a  crucifix  on  his 
breast  and  a  scalp  on  his  head,  he  had 
pistols  in  his  girdle,  a  sabre  by  his 
side,  and  a  huge  whip  in  his  hand. 
Mounted  on  a  tall  and  powerful  horse, 
which  he  managed  with  perfect  ad- 
dress, he  galloped  through  the  crowd, 
which  always  awaited  his  approach, 
and  fell  on  their  knees  as  he  passed, 
and  dispensed  blessings  to  the  right 
and  left  with  the  air  of  a  sovereign 
prince  acknowledging  the  homage  of 
his  subjects.  He  never  commenced 
an  attack  without  falling  on  his  knees, 
to  implore  the  protection  of  the  Most 
High  ;  and,  rising  up,  he  led  his  men 
into  fire,  shouting,  "Viva  Dio  !  Viva 
el  Key !  "  In  April  1822  he  was  at  the 
head  of  a  numerous  band  of  men,  ani- 
mated by  his  example,  and  electrified 
by  his  speeches.  Monks,  priests,  peas- 
ants, smugglers,  curates,  landowners, 
hidalgos,  were  to  be  seen,  side  by 
side,  in  his  bands,  irregularly  armed, 
scarcely  disciplined,  but  zealous  and 
hardy,  and  animated  with  the  high- 
est degree  of  religious  enthusiasm. 
Their  spirit  was  not  so  much  that  of 
the  patriot  as  of  the  crusader ;  they 
took  up  arms,  not  to  defend  their 
liomes,  but  to  uphold  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic faith.  Individually  brave,  they 


met  death,  whether  in  the  field  or  on 
the  scaffold,  with  equal  calmness  ;  but 
their  want  of  discipline  exposed  them 
to  frequent  reverses  when  brought  into 
colh'sion  with  regular  troops — which, 
however,  were  soon  repaired,  as  in  the 
wars  of  Sertorius,  the  Moors,  and 
Napoleon,  by  the  unconquerable  and 
persevering  spirit  of  the  peasantry. 

57.  The  insurgents,  after  a  variety 
of  lesser  successes,  had  made  them- 
selves masters  of  Cervera,  where  they 
had   established  their    headquarters. 
The  Trappist,  after  sustaining  several 
gallant  actions,  was  driven  back  into 
that   town  by  General  Bellido,  who 
attacked  him  with  three    regiments 
drawn  out  of  Lerida,  and  on  the  18th 
May  made  a  general  assault  on  the 
town.     To  distract  the  enemy,  he  set 
it  on  fire  in  four  different  places,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  conflagration,  which 
spread    with    frightful    rapidity,  his 
troops  rushed  in.     The  Trappist  made 
a  gallant  and  protracted  defence  ;  but 
after  a  conflict  of  ten  hours'  duration, 
from  house  to  house,  and  from  street 
to  street,  his  men  were  driven  out  with 
great  slaughter,  though  with  heavy 
loss  to  the  victors.    Twelve  hundred  of 
the  Royalists  fell  or  were  made  prison- 
ers, among  whom  were  one  hundred 
and  fifty  monks,  and  nearly  half  the 
number  of  the  Constitutional  troops 
were  lost.     The  Trappist  himself  es- 
caped with  a  few  followers  to  the  moun- 
tains, where  his  powerful  voice  soon 
assembled  a  second  band,  not  less  gal- 
lant and  devoted  than  that  which  had 
perished  amidst  the  ruins  and  flames 
of  Cervera. 

58.  Meanwhile  Misas,  who  had  been 
driven  into  France,  re-entered  Spain, 
drew  together  several  desultory  bands 
to  his  standard,  and  carried  the  war 
to  the  very  gates  of  Barcelona.     He 
was  attacked,  however,  by  the  regular 
troops  in  that  fortress,  driven  back  to 
Puycerda,  where  he  was  utterly  routed, 
and  the  remains  of  his  band  driven 
back  a  second  time  into  France,  where 
they  again  found  an  asylum — an  omin- 
ous circumstance  for  the  republican 
regime  in  Spain.     But  in  other  quar- 
ters the  Royalists  appeared  with  inde- 
fatigable activity  :  Galicia  was  almost 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xr. 


entirely,  in  its  mountain  districts,  in 
their  hands  ;  Navarre  \vas  overrun  by 
their  adherents  ;  and  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Murcia,  Jaimes,  a  noted  par- 
tisan, had  again  raised  his  standard 
and  drawn  together  a  considerable 
number  of  followers.  The  King,  mean- 
while, was  at  Aranjuez,  and  on  the 
30th  May,  being  the  day  of  his  fete, 
an  immense  crowd  of  peasants  assem- 
bled in  the  gardens  of  the  palace,  shout- 
ing "El  Rey  Assoluto  !"  which  was 
caught  up  and  repeated  by  the  soldiers 
of  the  Guard.  The  national  guard 
upon  this  was  called  out  by  the  Liberal 
authorities,  and  dispersed  the  crowd  ; 
in  the  course  of  which  one  of  them 
drew  his  sabre  against  the  Infant  Don 
Carlos,  and  was  with  difficulty  saved 
by  that  prince  from  the  fate  which 
awaited  him  at  the  hands  of  the  en- 
raged soldiery.  On  the  same  day  a 
still  more  serious  tumult  broke  out  at 
Valencia,  where  a  great  mob  assembled, 
shouting  "Long  live  Elio  !  —  Down 
with  the  Constitution  ! "  and  proceed- 
ed to  the  citadel  where  that  general 
still  lay  in  prison,  having  never  been 
brought  to  trial.  They  get  possession 
of  the  stronghold  by  the  aid  of  the 
garrison  by  which  it  was  held,  but 
were  immediately  invested  there  by 
the  national  guard  and  remainder  of 
the  garrison  of  the  place,  and  being 
without  provisions,  they  were  soon 
obliged  to  surrender.  The  victors  now 
proceeded  to  Elio's  dungeon,  shouting 
"Death  to  Elio  !"  and  his  last  hour 
seemed  to  have  arrived ;  but  he  was 
reserved  for  a  still  more  mournful  end. 
A  little  gold  which  he  had  about  him 
occupied  the  first  attention  of  the  as- 
sassins, and  meanwhile  the  address  of 
the  commander  of  the  place  got  him 
extricated  from  their  hands  and  con- 
veyed to  a  place  of  safety. 

59.  The  intelligence  of  these  events 
worked  the  Cortes  up  to  a  perfect 
fury.  In  the  first  tumult  of  passion 
they  passed  several  decrees  indicating 
their  extreme  exasperation,  and  which 
contributed  in  a  great  degree  to  the 
sanguinary  character  which  the  civil 
war  in  the  Peninsula  soon  after- 
wards assumed,  and  has  unhappily 
ever  since  maintained.  It  was  decreed 


that  "all  towns,  villages,  and  rural 
districts,  which  should  harbour  or  give 
shelter  to  the  factious,  should  be  treat- 
ed as  enemies  with  the  whole  rigour  of 
military  law ;  that  those  in  which  there 
were  factious  juntas  should  be  sub- 
jected to  military  execution  ;  that 
every  convent  in  which  the  factious 
were  found  should  be  suppressed, 
and  its  inmates  put  at  the  disposal  of 
the  political  authorities."  Such  ex- 
treme measures  necessarily  produced 
reprisals  on  the  other  side,  and  led  to 
a  war  where  quarter  was  neither  given 
nor  taken.  A  few  days  after,  a  decree 
was  passed  putting  20,000  of  the  mi- 
litia on  permanent  duty,  and  estab- 
lishing national  guards  throughout  the 
kingdom  on  the  same  footing  as  in 
France  during  the  Revolution — that 
is,  with  the  officers  of  every  grade  ap- 
pointed by  the  privates.  They  at  the 
same  time  summoned  the  Ministers  to 
their  bar  to  give  an  account  of  the 
state  of  the  kingdom,  and  supplicated 
the  King  in  the  most  earnest  terms  to 
change  his  advisers,  and  intrust  every- 
thing to  the  Liberal  party — a  demand 
which  he  had  the  address  in  the  mean 
time  to  evade.*  The  wisdom  of  this 
determination  on  his  part  was  soon- 
apparent  ;  for  a  few  days  after,  on  a 

*  "  Que  le  peuple  voie  le  pouvoir  confle  a. 
des  horames  qui  ainient  les  liberte's  publiques, 
que  le  nafion  Espagnole  voie  que  le  titre  et 
les  vertus  du  veritable  patriote  sont  le  seul 
droit,  le  seul  chemin,  pour  inonter  jusqu'a 
votre  Majeste,  pour  meriter  la  faveur,  et  pour- 
obtenir  les  honneurs  qu'elle  pent  aeeorder,  et 
que  toute  la  rigueur  de  la  justice  et  1'indigna- 
tion  du  roi  retombent  sur  les  me'chants  qui 
osent  profaner  son  nom  auguste  et  sacre, 
pour  opprhner  la  patrie  et  la  liberte".  Les 
Cortes  supplieraient  V.  M.  instarnment,  pour 
faire  cesser  les  craintes  auxquelles  nous 
sommes  livres,  et  prevenir  les  maux  que  nous 
avons  indique's,  de  vouloir  bien  ordonuer  que 
la  milice  nationale  volontaire  soit  imme'diate- 
ment  augmented  et  armSe  dans  tout  le  roy- 
aume.  En  meme  temps  les  Cortes  esperent 
que  V.  M.  fera  connaitre  a  tout  gmivemement 
etranger  qui,  directement  ou  indirectement, 
voudrait  prendre  part  a  nos  affaires  domes- 
tiques,  que  la  nation  n'est  pas  dans  le  cas  de 
recevoir  des  lois  ;  qu'elle  a  des  forces  et  des 
ressources  pour  se  faire  respecter,  et  qui  si 
elle  a  su  detendre  son  independance  et  son  roi 
avec  gloire,  c'est  avec  la  ine'me  gloire  et  avee 
de  plus  grands  efforts  encore  qu'elle  saura 
toujours  defendre  son  roi  et  sa  liberte." — 
Adresse  des  Cortts  au  Roi,  24th  May  1822; 
Ann.  Hist.,  v.  433,  434 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


representation  by  the  Ministers  of  the 
alarming  and  distracted  state  of  the 
kingdom,  the  Cortes  themselves  saw  the 
necessity  of  conferring  upon  them  the 
extraordinary  powers  which  the  public 
exigencies  imperiously  demanded. 

60.  In  truth  the  state  of  the  country 
had  now  become  such,  that  such  a 
measure  could  no  longer  be  delayed  if 
the  shadow  even  of  peace  and  tran- 
quillity was  to  be  preserved  in  the 
kingdom.  The  Royalists  in  the  north, 
far  from  being  discouraged  by  their 
reverses,  were  daily  increasing  in  num- 
bers and  audacity,  and,  sheltered  by 
the  mountain  ridges  which  in  that 
quarter  intersect  Spain  in  every  direc- 
tion, they  had  come  to  extend  their 
ramifications  over  half  the  kingdom. 
Eguia,  Nunez,  and  Quesada,  who  had 
taken  refuge  in  France  after  the  dis- 
aster at  Cervera,  issued  from  thence  a 
proclamation  in  the  name  of  the  Roy- 
alist provisional  government,  in  which 
they  offered  160  reals  (32s.)  to  every 
Spaniard  who  should  repair,  armed 
and  in  uniform,  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  Army  of  the  Faith  at  Ronces- 
valles  before  the  end  of  the  month. 
This  proclamation  put  every  part  of 
Navarre,  Biscay,  and  the  north  of  Ca- 
talonia on  fire.  In  a  few  days  Quesada 
was  at  the  head  of  fifteen  hundred  men, 
•with  which,  ascending  the  Pass  of  Ron- 
cesvalles,  he  entered  the  valley  of  Bas- 
tan  ;  and  as  General  Lopez- Bafios,  with 
the  regular  troops  from  Pampeluna, 
which  had  been  considerably  reinforc- 
ed, succeeded  in  cutting  him  off  from 
France  and  Biscay,  he  boldly  threw 
himself  into  Arragon,  where  nearly  the 
whole  rural  population  joined  him. 
Meanwhile  a  still  more  important  suc- 
cess was  gained  in  Catalonia,  where 
Miralles,  Romagosa,  and  the  Trappist, 
having  united  their  forces,  to  the 


amount  of  five  thousand  men,  sudden- 
ly moved  upon  La  Sue  d'Urgel,  a  for- 
tified town  on  the  frontier,  in  which 
were  deposited  large  stores  of  artillery 
and  ammunition.  Encouraged  by  their 
partisans  within  the  town,  the  Royal- 
ists in  a  few  days  ventured  upon  an 
assault  by  escalade.  The  attempt  was 
made  at  dead  of  night :  the  Trappist, 
with  a  huge  cross  in  one  hand  and  his 
whip  in  the  other,  was  the  first  man  of 
the  assaulting  columns  that  ascended 
the  ladders ;  and,  after  a  sanguinary 
contest  of  several  hours'  duration,  the 
whole  forts  and  town  were  taken,  with 
sixty  pieces  of  cannon,  sixteen  hun- 
dred muskets,  and  large  stores  of  am- 
munition. Great  part  of  the  garrison 
were,  in  retaliation  for  the  massacre  at 
Cervera,  and  subsequent  decrees  of  the 
Cortes  prohibiting  quarter,  put  to 
death  without  mercy. 

61.  This  great  success,  by  far  the 
most  important  which  had  yet  attend- 
ed the  Royalist  arms,  gave  an  entirely 
new  character  to  the  war,  by  diffusing 
universal  encouragement  among  their 
partisans,  and  giving  them  a  base  of 
operations,  the  muniments  of  war,  and 
a  secure  place  of  refuge  in  case  of  disas- 
ter. It  in  a  manner  stilled  the  passions 
of  the  Cortes,  which,  after  voting  ex- 
traordinary powers  to  the  Ministry  to 
meet  the  danger,  was  prorogued,  shortly 
after  the  intelligence  was  received, 
Avithout  opposition.  Even  before  the 
session  was  closed,  however,  several 
quarrels,  attended  with  bloodshed,  of 
sinister  augury,  had  taken  place  be- 
tween the  royal  guards  and  the  na- 
tional guards  of  the  capital ;  and  the 
budget  exhibited  a  melancholy  proof 
of  the  deplorable  state  of  destitution 
to  which  the  treasury  had  been  reduced 
by  the  distrust  and  convulsions  con- 
sequent on  the  Revolution.*  Though 


*  The  entire  debt  of  Spain  in  1822  was  thus  disposed  of  by  the  finance  committee  of  this 
session  of  the  Cortes  : — 

Total  debt,     .....         14,020,572,591  reals,  or  £140,205,725 
Extinguished  by  confiscation  of  Church  and 
charitable  funds  by  decrees  of  the  Cortes,        8,459,896,260     „      or      84,598,962 


Remained, 

Of  which  bore  no  interest,  . 


5,560,676,381 

2,069,333,613 


or  £55,606,763 
or     20,693,336 


Remained  bearing  interest,.  .  .  3,491,342,718      „     or  £34,913,427 

— Fintmoi  CoBMtteioner*'  l!<t>«rt,  June  21,  1S22  ;  Amtuaire  Historique,  v.  440,  441. 


246 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


the  army  had  been  reduced  to  62.000 
men  from  80,000,  and  the  expense 
of  the  navy  from  104,000,000  reals 
(£1,040,000)  to  80,000,000  reals 
(£800,000),  it  was  found  necessary  to 
contract  a  loan  of  102,000,000  reals 
(£1,020,000),  to  cover  the  ordinary  ex- 
penses calculated  on  for  1823.  The 
interest  of  the  debt  contracted  by 
the  Cortes  since  1820  amounted  to 
65,586,000  reals  (£655,800),  and  the 
interest  of  the  national  debt  was  no  less 
than  148,894,000  reals  (£1,488,000), 
although,  three  -  fifths  of  it  had  been 
held  as  extinguished  by  Church  con- 
fiscation, and  of  what  remained  no  less 
than  2, 069, 333, 613  reals  (£20, 693, 336) 
had  been  set  down  without  interest,  as 
having  been  also  provided  for  by  the 
Church,  property  confiscated  to  the 
State,  which  was  estimated  at  eight 
milliards  of  reals,  or  £80,000,000  ster- 
ling. 

62.  Such  a  state  of  the  Spanish  finan- 
ces said  but  little  either  of  the  bene- 
fits which  the  nation  had  derived  from 
the  revolutionary  regime  during  the 
three  years  it  had  endured,  or  of  the  re- 
sources either  in  warlike  preparations 
or  national  credit  to  meet  the  difficulties 
with  which  it  was  on  every  side  beset. 
But  the  march  of  events  was  so  rapid  as 
to  outstrip  the  convulsions  inevitable 
under  such  a  state  of  the  national  finan- 
ces, and  induce  a  crisis  much  sooner 
than  might  have  been  expected  from 
the  comparatively  slow  progress  of  pe- 
cuniary embarrassment.  On  the  very 
day  on  which  the  Cortes  was  prorogued 
a  melancholy  event  occurred,  which 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  An  im- 
mense crowd  assembled  and  accom- 
panied the  King's  carriage  from  the 
hall  of  the  Cortes  to  the  palace,  part 
shouting  "Viva  el  Rey  Nettol  Viva 
el  Rey  Assoluto  !"  part  "Viva  Riego  ! 
Viva  Libertade  !"  To  such  a  length 
did  the  mutual  exasperation  proceed 
that  it  reached  and  infected  the  royal 
guard  itself,  which  was  nearly  as  much 
divided  and  inflamed  ;  and  as  Landa- 
bura,  an  officer  of  the  guard,  of  decid- 
ed Liberal  feelings,  endeavoured  to  ap- 
pease the  tumult  among  his  men,  he 
was  shot  in  the  breast,  and  instantly 
expired. 


63.  This  atrocious  murder,  for  such 
it  really  was,  though  disguised  under 
the  name  of  a  homicide  in  rixa,  excited 
the  most  violent  feelings  of  indignation 
among  the  Liberals  of  all  classes  in 
Madrid ;  for  however  willing  to  excuse 
such  crimes  when  committed  by,  they 
were  by  no  means  equally  tolerant  of 
them  whenjperpetrated  on,  themselves. 
The  whole  city  was  quickly  in  a  tu- 
mult ;  the  militia  of  its  own  accord 
turned  out,  the  troops  of  the  line  and 
artillery  joined  them ;    the   munici- 
pality declared  its  sitting  permanent, 
and  everything  presaged  an  immediate- 
and  violent  collision  between  the  Court 
and  royal  guard  on  the  one  side,  and  the- 
Cortes,  soldiers  of  the  line,  and  militia 
on  the  other.     The  night  passed  in. 
mutual  suspense,  both  parties  being 
afraid  to  strike  the  first  blow  ;  and 
next  day  nothing  was  done,  except  an 
order  on  the  part  of  the  King  to  have 
the  murderers  of  Landabura  punished, 
and  a  decree  settling  a  pension  on  his. 
widow.     Meanwhile  the  royal  guard, 
against  which  the  public  feeling  in  the 
metropolis  was  so  violently  excited, 
remained  without  orders,  and  knew 
not  how  to  act.     Being  more  numer- 
ous and  better  disciplined  than  the  re- 
giments in  the  garrison,  and  in  posses- 
sion of  all  the  principal  posts,  it  might 
with  ease  have  made  itself  master  of 
the  park  of  artillery  in  the  arsenal — 
an  acquisition  which  would  have  ren- 
dered it  the  undisputed  master  of  the 
city.     Had  Napoleon  been  at  its  head, 
he  would  at  once  have  done  so :  the 
seizure  of  the  park  of  artillery  near 
Paris  by  Murat,  under  his  orders,  on 
occasion  of  the  revolt  of  the  Sections 
in  October  1795,  determined  the  con- 
test there  in  favour  of  the  Directory. 
But  there  was  no  Napoleon  in  Spain  ; 
and  the  indecision  of  the  Government, 
by  leaving  the  Guard  without  orders, 
exposed  them  to  destruction,  and  lost 
the  fairest  opportunity  that  ever  oc- 
curred of  reinstating,  without  foreign 
aid,  the  royal  authority. 

64.  Two   of  the  six  battalions   of 
which  the  Guard  was  composed  were 
on  service  at  the  King's  palace  ;  the 
remaining  four  were  in  barracks,  de- 
tached from  each  other,  in  the  city.. 


1822.] 


HISTOEY  OF  EUROPE. 


247 


Fearful  of  being  shut  up  there  by  the 
troops  of  the  line  and  militia,  they 
took  the  resolution,  of  their  own  ac- 
cord, of  leaving  the  capital  and  encamp- 
ing in  the  neighbourhood — a  resolution 
which  was  carried  into  effect,  without 
tumult  or  opposition,  at  nightfall  on 
the  1st  July.  Meanwhile  the  most 
energetic  preparations  were  made  by 
the  municipality  to  meet  the  crisis 
•which  was  approaching,  and  a  fresh 
corps,  called  the  "Sacred  Battalion," 
was  formed  of  volunteers,  consisting 
for  the  most  part  of  the  most  desperate 
and  energetic  revolutionary  characters, 
who  threatened  to  be  even  more  for- 
midable to  their  friends  than  their 
enemies.  The  Government  and  per- 
manent deputation  of  the  Cortes  were 
in  consternation,  and  fearing  alike  the 
success  of  either  of  the  extreme  parties 
now  arrayed  against  each  other,  they 
sought  only  to  temporise,  and  if  possi- 
ble effect  an  accommodation  between 
them.  Murillo,  who,  as  captain-gene- 
ral of  New  Castile,  had  the  entire  com- 
mand of  the  military  and  militia  in 
the  province,  was  the  natural  chief 
upon  whom  it  devolved  to  make  head 
against  the  insurrection.  He  was  dis- 
tracted by  opposite  feelings  and  duties, 
for,  in  addition  to  his  other  appoint- 
ments, the  King  had  recently  named 
him  commander  of  the  Guard  ;  and  it 
was  not  easy  to  say  whether  he  should 
attend  to  his  public  duties,  as  the  head 
of  the  armed  force  in  the  capital,  or 
the  whisperings  of  his  secret  inclina- 
tions, which  led  him  to  devote  himself 
to  the  personal  service  of  the  King. 

65.  Riego  was  clear  to  attack  the 
Guards  instantly,  and  in  person  urged 
that  advice  on  Murillo.  "  Who  are 
you  ?"  asked  the  general,  with  an  iron- 
ical expression.  "  I  am,"  he  replied, 
"the  deputy  Riego."  "  In  that  case," 
replied  the  general,  "you  may  return 
to  the  congress  ;  you  have  nothing  to 
do  here."  Six  days  passed  in  fruitless 
negotiations,  in  the  course  of  which, 
however,  the  Liberals  gained  a  decided 
advantage;  for  the  Sacred  Battalion, 
during  the  night  of  the  3d,  got  pos- 
session of  the  park  of  artillery  at  St 
Gol,  which  proved  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance in  the  contest  which  ensued. 


The  royal  treasury,  meanwhile,  was 
empty,  and  so  low  had  the  credit  of 
the  Government  fallen  that  no  one  in 
Madrid  would  advance  it  a  real.  Pub- 
lic anxiety  was  much  increased,  during 
this  period  of  suspense,  by  the  intelli- 
gence that  a  regiment  of  carabineers 
had  revolted  in  Andalusia,  that  several 
corps  of  militia  had  joined  it,  and 
that  their  united  force  was  advancing 
into  La  Mancha,  to  join  the  insurgent 
Guards  in  the  capital,  amidst  cries  of 
"  Viva  el  Rey  Assoluto ! "  Meanwhile 
the  opposite  forces  were  in  presence  of 
each  other  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Royalist  camp,  and  frequent  discharges 
of  musket-shots  from  the  outposts  at 
each  other  kept  the  public  in  an  agony 
of  apprehension,  from  the  belief  that 
the  impending  conflict  had  commenc- 
ed. In  effect,  a  combined  movement 
was  soon  found  to  be  in  preparation ; 
for  early  on  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
while  it  was  yet  dark,  the  Guards 
broke  up  in  silence  and  the  best  order, 
and  advanced  rapidly  to  the  capital. 
They  effected  their  entrance,  without 
difficulty,  by  a  barrier  which  was  not 
guarded,  and  when  within  the  city  di- 
vided into  three  columns.  The  first 
advanced  to  take  possession  of  the  park 
of  artillery  posted  at  the  gate  of  St 
Vincent,  the  second  to  the  Puerta  del 
Sol,  the  third  to  the  Place  of  the  Con- 
stitution. 

66.  From  the  secrecy  with  which 
this  movement  was  executed,  and  the 
success  with  which  in  the  first  instance 
it  was  attended,  it  was  evident  that  it 
was  the  result  of  a  well-laid  design  ; 
and  if  it  had  been  carried  through  with 
as  much  resolution  as  it  was  planned 
with  ability,  it  would  in  all  probabi- 
lity have  met  with  success,  and  might 
have  altered  the  whole  course  of  the 
revolution.  But  one  of  those  panics, 
so  frequent  in  nocturnal  enterprises, 
seized  two  of  the  columns  when  they 
came  in  contact  with  the  enemy,  and 
caused  the  whole  undertaking  to  ter- 
minate in  disaster.  The  corps  directed 
to  attack  the  park  of  artillery  never 
reached  its  destination.  Assailed  by 
a  few  musket-shots  from  the  Sacred 
Battalion  as  they  approached  the  gate 
of  St  Vincent,  they  turned  about,  fled 


243 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xr. 


out  of  the  town,  and  disbanded  in  the 
wood  of  La  Honda.  The  second  column 
was  more  successful ;  it  gained  posses- 
sion of  the  Puerta  del  Sol,  after  a  vig- 
orous resistance  from  a  body  of  cavalry 
stationed  there  to  guard  the  entrance. 
But  instead  of  moving  on  to  the  gen- 
eral point  of  rendezvous  in  the  Place 
of  the  Constitution,  it  marched  to  the 
palace  to  rally  the  two  battalions  of 
the  guard  stationed  there.  The  third 
reached  the  Place  of  the  Constitution 
without  opposition :  but  there  they 
found  Murillo,  Ballasteros,  Riego,  and 
Alava,  at  the  head  of  the  militia,  and 
two  guns.  Though  met  by  a  brisk  fire, 
both  from  the  troops  and  the  artillery, 
they  replied  by  a  vigorous  and  well- 
sustained  discharge  of  musketry,  and 
forced  their  way  into  the  square,  where 
they  maintained  themselves  for  some 
time  with  great  resolution.  But  at 
length,  hearing  of  the  rout  of  the  corps 
destined  for  the  attack  of  the  artillery, 
and  discouraged  by  the  non-arrival  of 
the  corps  which  had  gained  the  Puerta 
del  Sol,  but  gone  on  instead  to  the 
palace  to  obtain  the  aid  of  the  bat- 
talions in  guard  there,  who  were  under 
arms  ready  to  succour  them,  they  broke 
their  ranks  and  retreated  in  disorder 
towards  the  palace,  closely  followed  by 
Ballasteros,  who  with  his  guns  kept  up 
a  destructive  fire  on  their  ranks.  At 
length  the  whole  Guard,  with  the 
exception  of  the  corps  which  had  dis- 
banded, found  itself  united  in  front  of 
the  palace,  but  in  a  state  of  extreme 
discouragement,  and  in  great  confusion. 
There  they  were  speedily  assailed  by 
ten  thousand  militia,  with  a  large  train 
of  artillery,  who  with  loud  shouts  and 
vehement  cries  crowded  in  on  all  sides, 
and  had  already  pointed  their  guns 
from  all  the  adjacent  streets  on  the  con- 
fused mass,  when  the  white  flag  was 
hoisted,  and  intelligence  was  received 
that  the  Guard  had  surrendered. 

67.  This  ill-conducted  attempt  to 
reinstate  the  royal  authority  had  the 
usual  effect  of  all  such  efforts  when 
terminating  in  miscarriage :  it  utterly 
destroyed  it.  The  7th  July  1822  was 
as  fatal  to  the  crown  in  Spain  as  the 
10th  August  1792  had  been  to  that  of 
Louis  in  France.  The  permanent  com- 


mittee of  the  Cortes,  which  had  been  en- 
tirely unconnected  with  these  events, 
immediately  took  the  direction,  and  ta- 
citly, without  opposition,  usurped  the 
entire  powers  of  Government.  Their 
first  care  was  that  of  the  Guards,  Avho 
had  laid  down  their  arms  without  any 
regular  capitulation.  The  committee 
compelled  the  King  to  impose  upon  the 
four  battalions  which  had  combated  the 
hard  condition  of  a  surrender  at  dis- 
cretion ;  the  two  at  the  palace,  which 
had  not  fought,  were  to  retire  from 
Madrid  with  their  arms,  but  without 
ammunition,  to  distant  quarters  as- 
signed them,  after  delivering  up  the 
murderers  of  Landabura.  The  two  last 
battalions  departed  in  silence,  armed 
and  downcast;  but  the  four  others, 
foreseeing  in  a  surrender  at  discretion 
only  a  snare  to  involve  them  in  de- 
struction, adopted  at  the  eleventh  hour 
the  desperate  resolution  of  resistance. 
Determined  to  sell  their  lives  dearly, 
they  opened  a  general  volley  on  the 
corps  of  militia  which  advanced  to 
disarm  them,  and,  instantly  levelling 
bayonets,  charged  in  close  column 
down  the  street  leading  to  the  nearest 
gate  of  the  city.  All  opposition  was 
quickly  overthrown,  and  the  entire 
column  succeeded  in  forcing  its  way 
out  of  the  town,  closely  pursued,  how- 
ever, by  two  squadrons  of  the  regiment 
of  Almanza,  some  companies  of  militia, 
the  Sacred  Battalion,  and  a  few  guns. 
They  sustained  great  loss  during  the 
pursuit,  which  was  continued  until 
nightfall  without  intermission.  A  con- 
siderable body  of  them  scaled  the  walls 
of  the  Casa  del  Campo,  a  country  pa- 
lace of  the  King,  and  for  some  time 
resisted  the  pursuers ;  but  being  des- 
titute of  provisions,  they  were  obliged 
to  surrender,  to  the  number  of  360 
men  and  9  officers,  at  two  on  the  follow- 
ing morning.  Such  of  the  remainder  as 
were  unwounded  escaped.  The  whole 
loss  of  the  Guard  in  these  disastrous 
days  was  371  killed,  700  wounded,  and 
600  prisoners ;  and  the  brilliant  corps 
which  a  few  days  before  seemed  to  hold 
the  destinies  of  Spain  in  their  hands, 
disappeared  for  ever  from  its  annals. 
Conducted  with  more  skill,  led  with 
greater  courage,  they  might,  with  half 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


249 


the  loss,  have  re-established  the  mon- 
archy and  averted  the  French  invasion. 

68.  The  same  day  which  witnessed 
the  destruction  of  the  royal  guard  at 
Madrid,  was  marked  by  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  military  revolt  in  the  south 
of  Spain.     The  Royalist  carabineers 
and  their  adherents  were  attacked  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Montero  by  Gen- 
eral  O'Donoghu,   at   the    head  of  a 
greatly  superior  body  of  Constitutional 
troops,  and  completely  routed.     The 
fugitives   escaped  to  the  vicinity   of 
Ciudad  Real,  where  they  were  again 
attacked  on  the  16th,  and  obliged  to 
surrender.     About  the  same  time  a 
conspiracy  of  a  totally  different  char- 
acter was  discovered  and  defeated  at 
Cadiz.     This  had  been  set  on  foot  by 
Don  Alphonso  Gueriera,  Don  Ramon 
Ceruti,  and  a  number  of  others,  the 
chiefs  of  the  ultra-revolutionary  party 
in  that  city,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  depose  all  the  constituted  authori- 
ties, proclaim  a  republic,  and  divide 
among  themselves  all  its  places  and 
emoluments.     The  civil  and  military 
authorities  in  the  island  of  Leon,  hav- 
ing received  intelligence  of  the  plot, 
and  having  put  the  garrison  and  mi- 
litia  under   arms,   apprehended   the 
whole  conspirators  without  opposition 
on  the  night  of  the  9th  July. 

69.  These  repeated  successes  utterly 
prostrated  the  royal  authority  in  Ma- 
drid,  and  deprived  the  King  of  the 
shadow  of  respect  which  had  hitherto 
belonged  to  him.     The  violent  party, 
supported  by  the  clubs,  the  press,  and 
the  secret  societies,  became  omnipo- 
tent For  some  days  the  King  remained 
shut  up  in  his  palace  without  ministers; 
his  former  ones  had  resigned,  and  no 
one  in  such  a  crisis  was  willing  to  incur 
the  danger  of  becoming  their  succes- 
sors.   At  length  the  absolute  necessity 
of  having  some  government  prevailed 
over  the  terrors  of  those  offered  the 
appointments,  and  a  new  ministry  was 
appointed,  consisting,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected in  such  circumstances,  entirely 
of  the  leaders  of  the  extreme  Liberal 
party.     The  King,  wholly  powerless, 
agreed  to  everything  demanded  of  him, 
provided  he  were  allowed  to  leave  Ma- 
drid, aud  take  up  his  residence  at  St 


Ildefonso,  which  was  agreed  to.  San 
Miguel,  formerly  chief  of  the  staff  to 
Riego  during  the  revolution  in  the 
island  of  Leon,  was  made  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  with  the  lead  in  the 
Cabinet;  Lopez -Banos,  another  chief 
of  the  Isle  of  Leon,  was  ^appointed 
Minister  at  War ;  and  M.  Gasco,  one 
of  the  most  violent  members  of  the 
Opposition  in  the  last  Cortes,  of  the 
Interior;  M.  Benicio  Navarre,  another 
deputy  of  the  same  stamp,  received  the 
portfolio  of  Justice :  and  M.  Mariano, 
Egoa,  and  Cassay,  of  the  Finances  and 
the  Marine  respectively.  The  triumph 
of  the  extreme  Liberals  was  complete ; 
their  adherents,  and  those  of  the  most 
determined  kind,  filled  all  the  offices 
of  Government. 

70.  The  first  care  of  the  new  Cabinet 
.was  to  make  an  entire  change  in  the 
royal  household,  and  to  banish,  or  de- 
prive of  their  commands,  all  the  leading 
men  of  the  country  whose  sentiments 
were  not  in  accordance  with  their  own. 
Murillo,   notwithstanding  the  deter- 
mined stand  he  had  made  at  the  head 
of  the  Constitutional  troops  against  the 
royal  guard,  was  deprived  of  his  offices 
of  Captain-general  and  Political  Chief 
at  Madrid,  which  were  bestowed  on 
General  Copons,  a  stanch  revolutionist; 
Quiroga  was  made  Captain-general  of 
Galicia,  and  Mina  of  Catalonia,     The 
Duke  del  Infantado,  the  Marquis  las 
Amarillas,  General  Longa,  and  several 
other  noblemen,  who,  although  Lib- 
erals, were  known  to  belong  to  the 
Moderate  party,  were  exiled,  some  to 
Ceuta,  some  to  the  Canaries ;  and  in 
the  palace  an  entire  change  took  place. 
The  Duke  de  Montemart,  Major  d'Uo- 
mo,  Count  Toreno,  and  the  Duke  de 
Belgide,  were  dismissed ;  and  the  Mar- 
quis de  Santa -Cruz,  General  Palafox, 
and  Count  Onate,  substituted  in  their 
room.     In  a  word,  the  extreme  party 
was  everywhere  triumphant ;  the  Jaco- 
bins of  the  Revolution,  as  is  usually  the 
case  when  the  malady  is  not  checked, 
had  supplanted  the  Girondists. 

71.  It  soon  appeared  what  the  new 
Government  was  to  be,  and  whether 
the  Jacobins  of  Spain  were  to  be  behind 
their  predecessors  of  France  in  their 
thirst  for  blood.     The  soldiers  of  the 


250 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP,  xr. 


Guard  who  had  been  implicated  in  the 
murder  of  Landabura  had  already  been 
condemned  to  death,  but  the  revolu- 
tionists demanded,  with  loud  cries,  the 
head  of  Colonel  Geoiffeux,  an  officer  of 
the  Guard,  and  who,  although  neither 
connected  with  the  death  of  that  man 
nor  the  revolt  of  the  Guards,  as  he  was 
with  the  two  battalions  which  remained 
at  the  palace,  was  known  to  entertain 
decided  Royalist  sentiments,  and  as 
such  was  selected  as  the  object  of  pop- 
ular indignation.  He  was  arrested 
accordingly  at  Butrago,  when  on  his 
way  back  to  France,  of  which  he  was  a 
native.  "When  taken,  his  name  was 
not  known,  and  a  falsehood  might  have 
saved  him  ;  but  when  asked  who  he 
was,  he  at  once  answered,  "  Geoiffeux, 
first-lieutenant  in  the  Guard. "  He  was 
immediately  brought  back  to  Madrid, 
taken  before  a  court-martial,  and  con- 
demned to  death.  His  character,  how- 
ever, was  generally  esteemed,  his  in- 
nocence known.  His  courage  on  his 
trial  excited  universal  admiration ; 
sympathy  was  warmly  excited  in  his 
behalf,  and  even  the  revolutionary  mu- 
nicipality was  preparing  a  petition  in 
his  favour.  The  anarchists  feared  lest 
their  victim  should  escape  ;  the  clubs, 
the  press,  the  mob  in  the  street,  were 
put  in  motion,  and  the  innocent  victim 
was  led  out  to  death.  His  courage  on 
the  scaffold  made  even  his  enemies 
blush  with  shame,  and  shed  a  lustre  on 
the  cause  for  which  he  suffered.  General 
Copons,  who,  as  military  commander 
at  Madrid,  had  confirmed  the  sentence, 
soon  afterwards  gave  the  clearest  proof 
of  its  illegality  by  declaring  the  tribu- 
nal which  had  tried  him  incompetent 
in  the  case  of  some  other  officers  charg- 
ed with  a  similar  offence,  who  were  not 
marked  out  for  destruction — a  decision 
which  excited  so  great  a  clamour  in 
reference  to  the  former  trial,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  resign  his  appointment. 
72.  Elio  was  the  next  victim.  This 
distinguished  general  and  intrepid  man 
had  been  three  years  in  prison,  charged 
with  alleged  offences  committed  when 
in  command  at  Valencia ;  but  though 
convicted  by  the  revolutionary! tribu- 
nal, he  had  never  been  executed :  so 
flagrant  and  obvious  was  the  iniquity 


of  punishing  a  military  commander  for 
acts  done  in  direct  obedience  to  the 
orders  of  Government.  The  cry  for  his 
blood,  however,  was  now  so  vehement 
that  he  was  again  brought  to  trial,  not 
on  the  former  charges,  but  for  alleged 
accession  to  the  riot  of  30th  May,  when 
an  attempt,  as  already  mentioned,  had 
been  made  by  a  Royalist  mob  to  effect 
his  liberation  from  prison.  The  ab- 
surdity of  charging  him  with  participa- 
tion in  that  affray,  when  at  the  time  he 
was  a  close  prisoner,  carefully  watched 
under  military  guard  in  the  citadel, 
made  as  little  impression  on  his  ini- 
quitous accusers  as  did  his  patriotic 
services  and  glorious  career.  No  small 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  finding- 
military  officers  who  would  descend  to 
the  infamy  of  becoming  his  judicial 
murderers.  The  Count  d'Almodavar, 
the  Captain-general,  resigned  his  office 
to  avoid  it ;  Baron  d' Andilla,  appointed 
in  his  stead,  feigned  sickness  to  escape. 
None  of  the  generals  or  colonels  in 
Valencia  would  sit  on  the  commission ; 
and  they  were  at  last  obliged  to  take 
for  its  president  a  lieutenant -colonel, 
named  Valterra.  Every  effort  was  made 
to  suborn  or  falsify  evidence,  but  in 
vain.  The  cannoneers  accused  of  being 
concerned  in  the  plot  for  his  liberation 
were  offered  their  lives  if  they  would 
declare  they  had  been  instigated  by 
Elio;  none  would  consent  to  live  on. 
such  terms.  An  alleged  letter  was 
produced  by  the  general  to  his  sister, 
avowinghis  participation  in  the  offence; 
it  was  proved  he  had  no  sister.  The 
accused  had  no  counsel,  but  he  de- 
fended himself  with  courage  and  spirit 
for  two  hours.  Even  Valterra  long 
hesitated  to  sign  a  conviction  wholly 
unsupported  by  evidence,  but  the  re- 
volutionists were  inexorable.  The  mu- 
nicipality threatened  to  make  Valterra 
responsible  with  his  head  if  he  did  not 
instantly  sign  the  conviction ;  the  clubs 
resounded  with  declamations ;  a  furious 
mob  surrounded  the  court-house;  he 
trembled  and  obeyed.  Elio  was  led 
out  to  the  scaffold,  erected  on  a  public 
promenade  with  which  he  had  embel- 
lished Valencia  during  his  government. 
He  died  with  the  courage  which  had 
marked  his  life,  firm  in  his  religious 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


251 


and  political  principles,  and  praying 
for  the  forgiveness  of  his  murderers. 

73.  Meanwhile,  the  civil  war  in  the 
northern  provinces  assumed  a  more 
regular  and  systematic  aspect,  by  the 
solemn  installation  of  a  regency  at  Seo 
d'Urgel  on  the  14th  September,  con- 
sisting of  the  Archbishop  of  Tarragona 
and  the  Baron  d'Erolles,  which  ap- 
pointed ministers  to  all  the  offices  of 
state,  and  professed  to  administer  the 
government  of  the  state  in  the  name 
of  Ferdinand  VII.  during  his  captivity. 
It  soon  found  itself  at  the  head  of  an 
imposing  force :  a  considerable  park  of 
field  artillery  had  been  collected,  uni- 
forms and  arms  in  great  quantities 
purchased,  officers  for  a  powerful  army 
had  repaired  to  the  royal  standard,  and 
twenty  thousand  men  were  enrolled 
under  their  banners.  No  less  than  four 
hundred  and.fifty  towns  and  villages  in 
the  northern  provinces  had  overturned 
the  pillar  of  the  constitution.  Already, 
on  the  23d  July,  Mequinenza  had  been 
carried,  and  the  garrison,  four  hundred 
strong,  massacred  with  savage  cruelty, 
in  revenge  for  the  slaughter  at  Cervera. 
Lerida  and  Vich  were  threatened,  and 
the  whole  of  Catalonia,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  fortresses,  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Royalists.  In  Na- 
varre, Quesada  had  been  defeated  by 
Lopez-Bauos,  who  surprised  his  troops 
by  a  nocturnal  attack ;  but  he  retreated 
to  Roncesvalles,  where  his  dispersed 
men  rejoined  his  standard  ;  reinforce- 
ments poured  in  from  Biscay,  and  he 
was  soon  in  a  situation  to  resume  the 
offensive,  and  establish  himself  in  a 
fortified  camp  at  Irati,  where  he  main- 
tained himself  during  the  whole  re- 
mainder of  the  campaign.  The  regency 
issued  proclamations  in  the  name  of 
the  King,  in  which  they  declared  null 
all  his  acts  since  he  had  been  con- 
strained to  accept  the  Constitution  of 
1812,  called  on  the  troops  to  abandon 
the  standard  of  treason,  and  engaged 
to  establish  a  constitutional  monarchy 
based  on  the  ancient  laws  and  customs 
of  the  State.* 

*  The  proclamation  of  the  Baron  d'Erolles 
bore  :  "  We,  too,  wish  for  a  constitution,  a 
lixi-il  law  to  govern  the  State ;  but  we  do  not 
wish  it  to  serve  as  a  pretext  for  licence,  or  to 


74.  The  Government  at  Madrid  was 
seriously  alarmed  at  these  successes  of 
the  Royalists  in  the  north  ;  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  regular  government  in 
the  name  of  the  King  at  Seo  d'Urgel, 
in  particular,  struck  them  with  con- 
sternation.    They  acted  with  vigour 
to    make    head  against   the   danger. 
Mina,    appointed   captain  -  general  of 
the  seventh  military  division,  which 
comprehended  the  whole  of  Catalonia 
and  part  of  Arragon,  repaired  to  his- 
post  in  the  beginning  of  September, 
and  having  drawn  together  a  consider- 
able force  at  Lerida,  advanced  towards 
Cervera  on  the  7th  September.    It  was 
high  time  he  should  do  so,  for  the  Con- 
stitutional forces  had  recently  before 
been  defeated  in  an  attempt  upon  Seo 
d'Urgel  by  the  Barou  d'Erolles,  and 
driven  back  with  great  loss  into  Lerida. 
The  Trappist,  who  had  received  orders- 
to  penetrate  into  Navarre  in  order  to 
effect  a  junction  with  Quesada,  after 
sustaining  a  severe  check  on  the  19th 
from  Zarco  del  Valle,  had  succeeded  in 
rallying  his  troops  in  the  mountains, 
and  joined  Quesada  on  the  23d.  Their 
united  force  defeated  a  division  of  the 
enemy  at  Benavarre,  commanded  by 
Tabuenca,  who  was  shot  in  cold  blood. 
From  thence  they  proceeded  against 
Jaca,  an   important   fortress   on   the 
frontier  commanding  one  of  the  chief 
passes  into  France  ;  but  they  failed  in 
the  attempt,  and  retired  to  the  moun- 
tains. 

75.  These  alternate  victories  and 
defeats,  in  which  success  was  nearly 
equally  balanced  between  the  contend- 
ing parties,  and  cruelty  was  unhappily 
practised  alike  by  both,  determined  no- 
thing.    The  arrival  of  Mina,  however, 
speedily  altered  the  face  of  affairs,  and, 
combined  with  the  destruction  of  the 
take  crime  for  its  ally.    After  the  example  of 
their  ancestors,  the  people,  legally  assembled, 
shall  enact  laws  adapted  to  their  manners 
and  to  the  times  in  which  they  live.    The» 
Spanish  name  shall  recover  its  ancient  glory, 
and  we  shall  live,  not  the  vile  slaves  of  fac- 
tious anarchists,  but  subject  to  the  lawa 
which  we  ourselves  shall  have  established. 
The  King,  the  father  of  his  people,  will  swear 
as  formerly  to  the  maintenance  of  our  liber- 
ties and  privileges,  and  we  shall  thus  have 
him  legally  bound  by  his  oath." — Proclama- 
tion of  Baron  d'Erolles,  13th  August  18°2  • 
Ann.  Bey.  1822,  p.  249. 


-252 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  XT. 


royal  guard  at  Madrid,  and  the  general 
establishment  of  the  most  violent  re- 
volutionary authorities  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  where  the  Royalists  were 
not  in  force,  caused  the  balance  to  in- 
•cline  decisively  to  the  Liberal  side.  He 
first  laid  siege  to  Castelfollit,  a  consi- 
derable town  on  the  river  Bregas,  which 
;he  took  after  a  siege  of  six  days.  Five 
.hundred  of  the  garrison  escaped  before 
the  assault ;  the  rest  were  put  to  the 
sword  after  having  surrendered.  The 
town  was  sacked,  burned,  and  totally 
destroyed.  This  was  done,  although 
Mina  himself,  in  a  proclamation  after 
the  assault,  said,  "  The  defence  had 
been  long,  firm,  and  obstinate  ;  the 
garrison  had  performed  prodigies  of 
valour,  and  acts  of  heroism  equal  to 
the  most  noble  which  history  has  re- 
corded." This  frightful  massacre  dif- 
fused the  utmost  consternation  in  Cata- 
lonia, which  was  not  a  little  increased 
by  a  proclamation  issued  immediately 
after,  in  which  Mina  threatened  the 
same  fate  to  all  who  should  still  resist 
the  Liberal  forces,  offering  a  free  par- 
don to  such  as  should  desert  with  their 
arms  before  the  20th  of  November.* 

*  "1.  Every  town  or  village -which  shall  yield 
to  a  band  of  rebels,  amounting  in  number  to 
less  than  one-third  of  its  population,  shall  be 
sacked  and  burnt. 

"  2.  Every  town  or  village  which  shall  sur- 
Tender  to  a  band  of  rebels,  greater  in  number 
•than  one-third  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the 
greater  part  of  which  inhabitants  shall  join 
the  insurgents,  shall  also  be  sacked  and  burnt. 

"  3.  Every  town  or  village  which  shall  fur- 
nish succour  or  the  means  of  subsistence  to 
rebels  of  any  kind,  who  do  not  present  them- 
selves in  a  force  equal  to  a  third  of  the  in- 
habitants, shall  pay  a  contribution  of  one 
thousand  Catalonian  livres,  and  the  members 
of  the  municipality  shall  be  shot. 

"  4.  Every  detached  house  in  the  country, 
or  in  any  town  or  village,  which  may  be  aban- 
doned on  the  approach  of  the  Constitutional 
troops,  shall  be  sacked,  pulled  down,  or  burnt. 

"5.  The  municipal  councillors,  magistrates, 
and  cures,  who  shall,  being  within  threehours' 
march  of  my  headquarters,  neglect  to  send 
me  daily  information  of  the  movements  of 
the  rebels,  shall  be  subjected  to  a  pecuniary 
contribution ;  and  if  serious  disadvantage 
shall  arise  from  the  neglect  of  this  duty,  they 
shall  be  shot. 

"  6.  Every  soldier  from  the  rebel  ranks 
who  shall  present  himself  before  me,  or  one 
of  my  generals  of  division,  before  20th  No- 
vember next,  shall  be  pardoned. 

"MlNA." 

— Annual  Regiskr,  1S22,  p.  251. 


The  cruel  resolution  to  put  all  to  the 
sword  who  were  found  in  arms  con- 
tending against  the  Liberal  forces,  was 
too  faithfully  executed.  All,  whether 
monks,  priests,  peasants,  or  soldiers, 
were  shot  in  cold  blood,  after  having 
surrendered. 

76.  Upon  receiving  intelligence  of 
the  fall  of  Castelfollit,  the  Baron 
d'Erolles  hastened  to  unite  himself  to 
the  remains  of  the  garrison,  with  five 
thousand  men  whom  he  had  collected 
in  the  mountains.  Mina  advanced  to 
meet  him  :  the  opposite  forces  came  in 
contact  between  Tora  and  Sanchaga, 
and  the  Royalists  were  surprised  and 
totally  defeated.  From  thence  Mina 
advanced  to  Balaguer,  and  its  garrison, 
one  thousand  strong,  fearing  the  fate 
of  that  of  Castelfollit,  evacuated  the 
place,  and  withdrew  to  the  mountains 
on  his  approach.  Quesada,  a  few  days 
before,  had  been  worsted  in  an  encoun- 
ter withEspinoza  in  Navarre,  his  corps, 
three  thousands ve  hundred  strong,  dis- 
persed in  the  mountains,  and  he  him- 
self obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Bayonne. 
In  Old  Castile  the  curate  Merino  had 
about  the  same  time  been  defeated,  and 
his  band  dispersed  near  Lerma.  The 
Royalist  cause  seemed  everywhere  des- 
perate, and  the  regency  at  Urgel,  des- 
pairing of  being  able  to  maintain  their 
ground  in  Spain,  had  evacuated  that 
town,  and  taken  refuge  in  Puycerda, 
close  to  the  French  frontier.  The 
Trappist,  after  vainly  endeavouring  to 
make  head  against  greatly  superior 
forces,  now  concentrated  against  him 
in  Catalonia,  had  been  obliged  also  to 
take  refuge  within  the  French  frontier, 
and  had  repaired  to  Toulouse,  where 
he  was  the  object  of  almost  supersti- 
tious veneration  and  dread ;  and  the 
Baron  d'Erolles  himself,  closely  fol- 
lowed by  Mina,  was  obliged  to  accept 
battle  from  his  indefatigable  pursuer, 
and  being  defeated,  and  his  corps  dis- 
persed, had  also  found  an  asylum  with- 
in the  friendly  lines  of  France.  The 
sole  strongholds  now  remaining  to  the 
Royalists  in  the  north  of  Spain,  in  the 
end  of  November,  were  the  forts  of 
Urgel  and  Mequiueuza,  which  were 
immediately  invested  by  Mina ;  and 
although  the  guerilla  contest  still  con- 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


253 


tinned  in  the  mountains,  everything 
like  regular  warfare  was  at  an  end 
throughout  the  Peninsula. 

77.  These  decisive  successes  on  the 
part  of  the  Spanish  revolutionists  de- 
monstrated the  immense  advantages 
they  possessed  from  the  command  of 
the  Government,  the  army,  the  trea- 
sury, and  the  fortified  places,  and  ren- 
dered it  more  than  doubtful  whether, 
with  all  the  support  which  the  rural 
population  could  give  it,  the  Royalist 
cause  would  ever  be  able,  without  ex- 
ternal aid,  to  prevail.  Experience  had 
now  sufficiently  proven,  that  however 
individually  brave,  ardent,  and  inde- 
fatigable the  detached  corps  of  the 
Royalists  might  be,  and  however  pro- 
longed and  harassing  the  warfare  they 
might  maintain  in  the  mountains,  they 
could  not  venture  beyond  their  shelter 
without  incurring  the  most  imminent 
hazard  of  defeat.  It  was  impossible 
to  expect  that  a  confused  and  un- 
disciplined band  of  priests,  monks, 
cures,  peasants,  hidalgos,  and  smug- 
glers, hastily  assembled  together,  in 
general  without  artillery,  always  with- 
out magazines  or  stores,  could  make 
head  against  regular  armies  issuing  out 
of  fortresses  amply  supplied  with  both, 
and  conducted  by  generals  trained  in 


the  campaigns  of  "Wellington.  Im- 
mense was  the  impression  which  these 
successes  produced  on  both  sides  of 
the  Pyrenees.  There  was  no  end  to 
the  exultation  of  the  Liberals,  in  most 
of  the  French  and  Spanish  towns,  at 
victories  which  appeared  to  promise  a 
lasting  triumph  to  their  cause.  Great 
as  they  had  been,  they  were  magnified 
tenfold  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Libe- 
rals in  the  press  of  both  countries ;  it 
was  hard  to  say  whether  the  decla- 
mations of  their  adherents  in  the  Span- 
ish Cortes  or  the  French  Chamber  of 
Deputies  were  the  most  violent.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Royalists  in  both 
countries  were  proportionally  depress- 
ed. A  ghastly  crowd  of  five  or  six 
thousand  fugitives  from  the  northern 
provinces  had  burst  through  the  passes 
of  the  Pyrenees,  and  escaped  the  sword 
of  their  pursuers  only  by  the  protec- 
tion of  a  nominally  neutral  but  really 
friendly  territory.  They  were  starv- 
ing, disarmed,  naked,  and  destitute  of 
everything,  and  spread,  wherever  they 
went,  the  most  heartrending  account* 
of  their  sufferings.  They  had  lost  all 
in  the  contest  for  their  religion  and 
their  King — all  but  the  remembrance 
of  their  wrongs  and  the  resolution  to 
avenge  them. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


CONGRESS  OF  VERONA— FRENCH  INVASION  OF  SPAIN — DEATH  OF  LOUIS  XVIII. 


1.  THESE  events  made  the  deepest 
impression  upon  the  Government  and 
the  whole  Royalist  party  in  France. 
The  exiiltatiou  of  the  Liberals  in  Paris, 
and  the  open  lo  Pceans  sung  daily  in 
the  journals,  filled  them  with  dismay. 
The  conviction  was  daily  becoming 
stronger  among  all  reflecting  men, 
that  however  calamitous  the  progress 
of  the  revolution  had  been  to  Spain, 
and  however  much  it  threatened  the 
cause  of  order  and  monarchy  in  both 


countries,  it  could  not  be  put  down- 
without  foreign  interference,  and  that 
the  Royalists,  in  combating  it,  would 
only  ruin  themselves  and  their  coun- 
try, but  effect  nothing  against  the 
organised  forces  of  their  enemies. 
The  question  was  one  of  life  or  death 
to  the  French  monarchy ;  for  how  was 
royalty  to  exist  at  Paris  if  cast  down 
at  Madrid  ?  The  necessity  of  the  case 
cannot  be  better  stated  than  in  the 
words  of  a  celebrated  and  eloquent  but 


254 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xii. 


candid  historian  of  the  Liberal  school. 
"Whatever,"  says  Lamartine,  "may 
Tiave  been  the  faults  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Restoration  at  that  period, 
it  is  impossible  for  an  impartial  histo- 
rian to  disguise  the  extreme  danger 
-against  which  Louis  XVIII.  and  his 
Ministers  had  to  guard  themselves 
from  the  revolutions  in  the  adjoining 
countries  of  Spain,  Portugal,  Naples, 
and  Piedmont,  from  which  the  conta- 
gion of  military  revolutions  and  secret 
societies  had  spread  into  the  armies, 
the  last  support  of  thrones.  Jt  was 
not  the  cause  of  the  Frencli  Bourbons 
which  tottered,  it  was  that  of  all  kings 
and  of  all  thrones.  Even  more,  it  was 
the  cause  of  all  the  ancient  institutions, 
which  were  sapped  in  all  the  south  of 
Europe  by  the  new  ideas  and  institu- 
tions. The  north  itself — Germany, 
Prussia,  Russia — felt  themselves  pene- 
trated in  their  inmost  veins  by  that 
passion  for  a  renewal  of  things,  that 
pouring  of  youthful  blood  into  the 
institutions,  that  participation  of  the 
people  in  the  government,  which  is 
the  soul  of  modern  times.  Entire  na- 
tions, which  had  slept  for  centuries  in 
their  fetters,  gave  symptoms  of  return- 
ing life,  and  even  on  the  confines  of 
Asia  hoisted  the  signal  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  nations.  All  was  the  work  of 
seven  years  of  peace,  and  of  the  free- 
dom of  thought  in  France. 

2.  "  The  Bourbons  had  given  free- 
dom to  the  press  and  to  the  tribune  in 
their  country ;  and  that  liberty  of 
thought,  re-echoed  from  Paris  and 
London  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  Greece, 
liad  occasioned  the  explosion  of  the 
revolutionary  elements  which  had  been 
accumulating  for  centuries  in  the  capi- 
tals of  those  countries.  By  a  natural 
rebound,  these  revolutions — restrained 
at  Naples  and  Turin,  fermenting  and 
combating  in  Greco-Moldavia  and  Wal- 
lachia,  triumphant  and  exasperated  in 
Spain — reacted  with  terrible  effect  on 
the  press,  the  tribune,  the  youth,  and 
the  army  of  France.  The  Constitution 
proclaimed  at  Cadiz,  which  left  only 
the  shadow  of  royalty,  which  surpassed 
in  democracy  the  constitution  of  1791 
in  France,  and  which  was  nothing  in 
reality  but  a  republic  masked  by  a 


throne,  threw  into  the  shade  the  Char- 
ter of  Louis  XVIII.  and  the  mixed 
constitution  of  Great  Britain.  Revo- 
lutionary France  blushed  for  its  timi- 
dity in  the  career  of  innovation  in 
presence  of  a  nation  which,  like  the 
Spanish,  had  achieved,  at  the  first 
step,  the  realisation  of  all  the  visions 
of  the  philosophy  of  1789  ;  which  had 
established  freedom  of  worship  in  the 
realm  of  the  Inquisition,  vindicated 
the  land  from  the  priesthood  in  a  state 
of  monastic  supremacy,  and  dethroned 
kings  in  a  nation  where  absolute  roy- 
alty was  a  dogma,  and  kings  a  faith. 
Every  audacious  step  of  the  revolution 
at  Madrid  was  applauded,  and  pro- 
posed to  the  imitation  of  the  French 
army.  The  most  vehement  speeches 
of  the  orators  in  the  Cortes,  the  most 
violent  articles  in  the  revolutionary 
journals,  were  reprinted  and  eagerly 
read  in  France ;  the  insurrection,  the 
anarchy  of  the  Spanish  revolution, 
were  the  subject  of  enthusiasm  in  Paris ; 
every  triumph  of  the  anarchists  at 
Madrid  over  the  throne  or  the  clergy 
was  publicly  celebrated  as  a  triumph 
by  the  French  revolutionists.  Spain 
was  on  the  verge  of  a  republic  ;  and  a 
republic  proclaimed  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Pyrenees  could  not  fail  to  over- 
turn the  Bourbons  in  France.  Europe 
was  slipping  from  beneath  the  mon- 
archies ;  all  felt  it,  and  most  of  all  the 
revolutionists  of  Paris.  Was  it  pos- 
sible that  the  Bourbons  and  their  par- 
tisans should  alone  not  perceive  it  ? 
War  was  declared  between  their  ene- 
mies and  themselves  ;  the  field  of  bat- 
tle was  Spain  :  it  was  there  they  must 
conquer  or  die.  "Who  can  blame  them 
for  having  not  consented  to  die  ?" 

3.  But  while  the  considerations  here 
so  eloquently  set  forth  demonstrate  the 
absolute  necessity  of  French  interven- 
tion in  Spain,  and  vindicate  the  steps 
they  took  accordingly,  there  were  many 
reasons,  equally  cogent  and  well-found- 
ed, which  caused  a  very  different  view 
to  be  taken  of  the  subject  in  Great  Bri- 
tain. The  first  of  these  was  the  gen- 
eral, it  may  be  said  invariable,  sym- 
pathy of  the  English  with  any  other 
people  struggling  for  freedom,  and  their 
constant  conviction  that  the  cause  of 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


255 


insurrection  is  that  of  justice,  -wisdom, 
and  ultimate  happiness.  This  is  not  a 
mere  passing  conviction  on  the  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  country — it  is 
their  firm  and  settled  belief  at  all 
times,  and  in  all  places,  and  under  all 
circumstances.  No  amount  of  expe- 
rience of  ruin  in  other  states,  or  suffer- 
ing in  their  own,  from  the  effect  of  such 
convulsions,  is  able  to  lessen  their  sym- 
pathy for  the  persons  engaged  in  them, 
or  shake  their  belief  in  their  ultimately 
beneficial  consequences.  Justly  proud 
of  their  own  freedom,  and  tracing  to 
its  effects  the  chief  part  of  the  gran- 
deur and  prosperity  which  this  coun- 
try has  attained,  they  constantly  think 
that  if  other  nations  could  win  for 
themselves  similar  institutions,  they 
•would  attain  to  an  equal  degree  of  feli- 
city. They  never  can  be  brought,  gen- 
erally speaking,  to  believe  that  there 
is  an  essential  difference  in  race,  phy- 
sical circumstances,  and  degree  of 
civilisation,  and  that  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment which  is  most  beneficial  to 
one  people  in  one  situation  is  utterly 
ruinous  to  another  people  in  another. 
Their  sympathy  is  always  with  the 
rebels ;  their  wishes,  in  the  outset  at 
least,  for  the  insurgents  and  against 
the  government.  This  was  the  case  in 
1789,  when  nearly  all  classes  in  Great 
Britain  were  carried  away  by  the  de- 
ceitful dawn  of  the  French  Revolution, 
and  Mr  Pitt  himself  hailed  it  with 
rapture ;  and  the  same  disposition  led 
them,  with  a  few  exceptions  of  reflect- 
ing men,  to  augur  well  of  the  Spanish 
revolution,  and  to  sympathise  warmly 
with  its  fortunes. 

4.  In  addition  to  this,  there  was  an- 
other circumstance,  strongly  rooted  in 
the  national  feelings,  which  rendered 
the  thoughts  of  any  French  interven- 
tion in  Spain  peculiarly  obnoxious  to 
every  person  actuated  by  patriotic  dis- 
positions in  Great  Britain.  Spain  had 
been  the  battle-field  of  England  and 
France  during  the  late  war ;  it  had  been 
the  theatre  of  "Wellington's  triumphs 
— the  most  glorious  victories  her  amis 
had  ever  gained.  The  last  time  the 
French  ensigns  had  been  seen  in  the 
Pyrenees  was  when  they  were  retiring 
before  the  triumphant  host  which  the 


English  general  led  in  pursuit ;  the 
last  time  the  English  flag  had  waved 
in  Roncesvalles  was  when  they  were 
preparing  to  carry  a  war  of  retaliation 
into  the  heart  of  France.  To  think 
of  all  this  being  reversed ;  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  French  retracing  their 
steps  as  conquerors  through  those  de- 
files where  they  had  so  lately  fled 
before  a  hundred  thousand  English, 
Spaniards,  and  Portuguese,  was  insup- 
portable. Most  of  all  did  it  appear 
so,  when  the  invading  host  was  now 
thought  to  be  arrayed  in  the  cause  of 
despots  against  the  liberties  of  man- 
kind, and  the  defensive  bands  of  the 
Spanish  were  united  in  the  great  cause 
of  civil  freedom  and  national  inde- 
pendence. 

5.  Add  to  this  another  consideration, 
not  so  obvious  to  the  general  feelings 
of  the  multitude,  influenced  by  present 
impressions,  but  perhaps  still  more  co- 
gent with  the  far-seeing  statesman, 
guided  by  ultimate  results.  England 
had  repeatedly,  during  the  course  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  been  brought 
to  the  brink  of  ruin  by  the  superiority 
of  the  French  and  Spanish  fleets,  taken 
together,  to  her  own:  the  admirable 
skill  of  her  admirals,  the  heroic  reso- 
lution of  her  seam  en,  had  alone  enabled 
her  to  make  head  against  the  odds. 
The  fatal  error  committed  by  the  To- 
ries, in  the  days  of  Marlborough,  in 
allowing  the  Spanish  crown  to  remain 
on  the  head  of  a  Bourbon  prince,  had 
become  apparent  to  all  reflecting  men : 
it  was  equalled  only  by  the  error  of 
the  Whigs,  in  the  days  of  Wellington, 
in  doing  their  utmost  to  allow  it  to 
remain  on  the  head  of  a  brother  of 
Napoleon.  The  "  family  compact"  in 
either  case  might  prove  fatal  to  the 
independence  of  Great  Britain.  Such 
a  compact  was  in  an  especial  manner 
to  be  dreaded,  if  it  became  an  alliance 
of  feeling  and  interest,  not  less  than 
blood  and  cabinets ;  and  a  Bourbon 
king,  restored  to  his  throne  by  the 
arms  of  a  Bourbon  prince,  was  thrown 
into  a  close  alliance  with  our  hereditary 
enemies  by  identity  of  cause  and  neces- 
sity of  situation,  not  less  than  family 
connection  and  the  danger  of  common 


256 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE 


[CHAP,  xir. 


6.  These  considerations  must  ever 
be  entitled  to  respect,  for  they  were 
founded  on  the  generous  feelings,  a  sin- 
cere, though  perhaps  mistaken  zeal  for 
the  happiness  of  mankind,  and  a  just 
appreciation  of  our  political  situation, 
and  the  dangers  which  might  ulti- 
mately come  to  threaten  our  indepen- 
dence.    But  in  addition  to  this  there 
were  others  less  entitled  to  respect, 
because  based  entirely  on  selfish  de- 
sires, but  not  on  that  account  the  less 
likely  to  guide  the  opinions  and  form 
the  wishes  of  a  powerful  portion  of 
society.     Influenced  partly  by  their 
constant  sympathy  with  revolutionary 
efforts,  and  partly  by  the  thirst  for 
the  extravagant  gains  offered  for  loans 
by  the  rulers  of  revolutionary  states, 
the  capitalists  of  England  had  largely 
embarked   in   adventures    connected 
with  the  independence  of  South  Ame- 
rica.     The  idea  of  "healthy  young 
republics"  arising  in  those  immense 
regions,  and  equalling  those  of  North 
America  in  rapidity  of  growth  and  ex- 
tent of  consumption  of  our  manufac- 
tures, influenced  some;  the  prospect 
of  seven,  eight,  and  nine  per  cent,  of- 
fered for  loans,  and  for  a  few  years 
regularly  paid,  attracted  others;  the 
idea  of  the  cause  of  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence spreading  over  the  whole  of 
the  New  World  carried  away  a  still 
greater  multitude.     No  one  doubted 
that  these  young  republics,  which  had 
been  mainly  rescued  from  the  colonial 
oppression  of  Spain  by  the  sympathis- 
ing arms  of  England,  and  the  valour 
of  Wellington's  disbanded  veterans, 
would  speedily  become  powerful  states, 
in  close  alliance,  political  and  com- 
mercial, with  Great  Britain,  paying 
with  regularity  and  thankfulness  the 
ample  interest  due  upon  their  debts, 
consuming  an  immense  and  daily  in- 
creasing amount  of  our  manufactures, 
and  enriching  in  return  the  fortunate 
shareholders  of  the  mining  companies 
that  were  daily  springing  up,  with  a 
large  share  of  the  riches  of  Mexico  and 
Peru. 

7.  The  sums  expended  by  the  capi- 
talists of  Great  Britain  in  advances  to 
the  revolutionary  governments  of  the 
Peninsula  and  their  revolted  colonies 


were  so  great  as  almost  to  exceed  be- 
lief. They  were  stated  by  Lord  Pal- 
merston,  in  his  place  in  Parliament,  at 
£150,000,000  between  1820  and  1850  -r 
and  a  considerable  part  of  this  im- 
mense sum  had  been  advanced  before 
the  end  of  1822.  Payment  of  the  in- 
terest even  of  those  vast  loans  was 
thought,  and  not  without  reason,  to  be 
entirely  dependent  on  support  being 
given  the  revolutionary  goverments  in 
the  Peninsula  and  South  America.  It 
was  well  known  that  the  independence 
of  the  revolted  colonies  had  been  main- 
ly secured  by  the  insurrection  of  the 
army  assembled  in  the  island  of  Leon, 
which  had  also  overturned  the  mon- 
archy of  Spain ;  and  it  was  expected, 
with  reason,  that  the  utmost  exertions 
would  be  made  by  the  royal  govern- 
ment, if  once  restored,  to  regain  their 
sway  over  regions  with  which  so  lucra- 
tive a  commerce  was  wound  up,  and 
from  which  so  large  a  part  of  the  royal 
revenues  was  derived.  Great  fears- 
were  entertained,  which  were  after- 
wards amply  justified  by  the  event, 
that  the  King,  if  restored  to  unrestrict- 
ed authority,  would  not  recognise  the 
loans  contracted  by  the  Cortes,  nearly 
the  whole  of  which  had  been  supplied 
from  London.  '  Influenced  by  these 
considerations,  the  large  and  powerful 
body  of  English  capitalists  implicated 
in  these  advances,  made  the  greatest 
efforts,  by  means  of  the  press,  public 
meetings,  and  detached  publications, 
to  keep  alive  the  enthusiasm  in  regard 
to  Spanish  freedom  and  South  Ameri- 
can independence  ;  and  with  such  suc- 
cess were  their  efforts  attended,  that 
the  people  of  England  were  kept  almost 
entirely  in  the  dark  as  to  the  real- 
nature  and  ultimate  results  of  the 
contest  in  both  hemispheres,  and  the- 
enthusiasm  in  their  favour  was  all  but 
universal. 

8.  A  feeling  so  general,  and  sup- 
ported by  so  many  heart -stirring  re- 
collections and  warm  anticipations, 
could  not  fail,  in  a  country  enjoying 
the  popular  form  of  government  which 
England  did,  to  communicate  itself  to 
the  House  of  Commons  ;  and  so  power- 
ful was  the  current,  that  it  is  probable 
no  ministry  could  have  been  strong 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


257 


enough  to  withstand  it.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  there  were  many  circum- 
stances at  that  period  which  rendered 
any  resistance  to  the  popular  wishes  in 
this  respect  impossible.  The  Minis- 
try, which  had  narrowly  escaped  ship- 
wreck on  the  question  of  the  Queen's 
trial,  was  only  beginning  to  recover  its 
popularity,  and  the  King,  who  had  so 
long  laboured  under  the  load  of  public 
dislike,  had  for  the  first  time  recently 
experienced,  in  Dublin  and  Edinburgh, 
the  intoxication  of  popular  applause. 
It  was  not  the  time  to  check  these 
favourable  dispositions,  by  running 
counter  to  the  national  wishes  on  a 
great  question  of  foreign  policy.  Add 
to  this,  that  the  Cabinet  itself  was 
divided  on  the  subject,  and  a  consider- 
able portion,  probably  a  majority,  were 
inclined  to  go  along  with  the  popular 
views  regarding  it.  Mr  Canning,  in 
particular,  who,  on  Lord  Londonderry's 
death,  had  exchanged  the  office  of 
Governor-General  of  India,  to  which  he 
had  been  appointed,  for  the  still  more 
important  one  of  Foreign  Secretary, 
%vas  an  ardent  supporter  of  these 
views. 

9.  He  was  actuated  in  this  alike  by 
sentiment,  ambition,  and  necessity. 
His  feelings  had  originally  led  him  to 
take  part  with  the  Whigs;  and  al- 
though on  his  entrance  into  public  life 
te,  by  the  advice  of  their  leaders,  as 
already  mentioned,  had  joined  Mr  Pitt, 
and  became  one  of  the  most  ardent 
opponents  of  the  French  Revolution, 
yet  it  was  its  excesses,  not  its  original 
principles,  which  he  condemned.  His 
Jrst  inclinations  never  deserted  him 
through  life.  The  steady  supporter 
of  Catholic  emancipation,  he  had  also 
•warmly  embraced  the  new  views  in 
Tegard  to  freedom  of  trade  which  were 
then  beginning,  not  only  to  prevail  in 
Parliament,  but  to  influence  Govern- 
ment. During  his  keen  contest  for 
Liverpool,  he  had  been  thrown  much 
among,  and  been  on  the  most  intimate 
terms  with,  the  leading  merchants  of 
that  city,  and  become  acquainted  with 
all  their  sanguine  expectations  as  to 
the  immense  benefits  which  would 
accrue  to  this  country  from  the  estab- 

VOL.  II. 


lishment  of  South  American  indepen- 
dence. A  steady  supporter  of  Welling- 
ton during  the  war,  the  idea  of  the 
work  he  had  achieved  being  undone, 
and  French  influence  re-established  in 
the  Peninsula,  was  utterly  abhorrent 
to  his  mind :  a  politician  influenced 
rather  by  feeling  and  impulse  than 
reasoning  and  reflection,  he  did  not 
see  that  the  cause  he  was  now  so  anxi- 
ous to  support  in  Spain  was  precisely 
the  same  as  that  which  he  had  formerly 
so  energetically  combated  in  France. 
Finally,  he  was  ambitious,  and  a  great 
career  lay  open  before  him  ;  he  was 
the  man  of  the  people,  and  they  had 
placed  him  in  power ;  he  was  the 
champion  of  England,  and  his  present 
greatness,  as  well  as  future  renown, 
was  wound  up  with  the  maintenance 
of  its  interests  and  the  furtherance  of 
its  desires. 

10.  When  views  so  utterly  opposite 
were  entertained  on  a  great  question 
of  European  politics,  upon  which  it  was 
indispensable  that  a  decision  should  be 
immediately  adopted  by  the  states  most 
immediately  interested,  and  by  whose 
amity  the  peace  of  the  world  had  hither- 
to been  preserved,  it  was  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  other  powers  should  nave 
become  anxious  for  the  result,  and 
eagerly  sought  after  every  means  of 
avoiding  the  dreaded  rupture.  If  Eng- 
land and  France  came  to  blows  on  the 
Spanish  question,  it  was  obvious  to  all 
that  a  desperate  European  strife,  pos- 
sibly equalling  the  last  in  duration  and 
blood,  would  be  the  result.  For  al- 
though the  military  strength  of  France, 
backed  by  that  of  the  Northern  pow- 
ers, was  obviously  far  greater  than  that 
of  Spain  supported  by  Great  Britain 
and  Portugal,  yet  who  could  say  how 
long  this  would  last,  and  how  soon 
an  outbreak  at  Paris  might  overturn 
the  Government  there,  and  array  the 
strength  of  France  on  the  side  of  revo- 
lution ?  The  throne  of  Louis  XVIII. 
rested  on  a  volcano  ;  any  day  an  erup- 
tion of  the  fires  smouldering  beneath 
the  surface  might  blow  it  into  the  air  ; 
and  if  such  a  catastrophe  should  occur, 
what  security  was  there  either  for  the 
independence  of  other  nations,  or  the 
B 


258 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


ability  of  the  Northern  powers  to  with- 
stand the  advances  of  revolution  sup- 
ported by  the  united  strength  of  France 
and  England?  These  considerations 
were  so  obvious,  that  they  forced  them- 
selves on  every  mind  ;  and  in  order  to 
avert  the  danger,  a  congress  was  re- 
solved on,  and  VERONA  fixed  on  as  the 
place  of  its  assemblage. 

11.  It  was  originally  intended  that 
Lord  Londonderry,  then  Foreign  Min- 
ister, should  himself  have  proceeded  to 
this  important  Congress  ;  but  his  un- 
happy death  rendered  this  impossible, 
and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  ap- 
pointed to  go  in  his  stead.  It  was 
thought  with  justice  that  England,  in 
an  assembly  where  the  leading  object 
of  deliberation  would  be  the  French 
intervention  in  Spain,  could  not  be  so 
appropriately  or  efficiently  represented 
as  by  the  illustrious  warrior  who  had 
effected  its  liberation  from  the  thral- 
dom of  Napoleon.  He  was  accompan- 
ied by  LordStrangford,  the  English  am- 
bassador at  Constantinople,  the  present 
Marquess  of  Londonderry,  and  Lord 
Burghersh.  France  was  represented 
by  her  Foreign  Ministers,  M.  de  Mont- 
morency,  M.  de  la  Ferronnay,  who  was 
highly  esteemed  by  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, at  whose  court  he  was  ambassa- 
dor, and  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  who 
was  admired  by  all  the  world,  and 
who,  at  his  own  request,  had  left  the 
situation  of  ambassador  at  London  to 
share  in  the  excitement  and  delibera- 
tion of  the  Congress.  From  his  known 
semi-liberal  opinions,  as  well  as  his 
great  reputation,  he  was  selected  to 
be  in  some  degree  a  check  on  M.  de 
Montmorency,  who  was  the  represen- 
tative of  the  extreme  Royalists  in 
France,  and  might,  it  was  feared, 
unnecessarily  precipitate  hostilities. 
The  Emperor  Alexander  was  there  in 
person,  accompanied  by  Nesselrode, 
M.  de  Takicheff,  M.  de  Strogonoff,  his 
ambassadors  at  Vienna  and  Constan- 
tinople, and  Count  Pozzo  di  Borgo. 
Capo  d'Istria,  on  account  of  his  known 
interest  in  the  Greek  insurrection,  was 
absent.  Metternich,  who  soon  became 
the  soul  of  the  negotiations,  was  there 
on  the  part  of  Austria,  with  Count  Leb- 
zeltern,  the  ambassador  at  St  Peters- 


burg  ;  and  Prussia  was  represented  by 
its  veteran  diplomatists,  Prince  Har- 
denberg  and  Count  Bernstorff.  Flor- 
ence was  at  first  thought  of  as  the 
place  of  meeting  ;  but  at  the  request 
of  the  Emperor  Alexander  it  was  ex- 
changed for  Verona,  on  account  of 
the  latter  city  being  a  sort  of  midway 
station  between  Spain  and  Greece,  the 
two  countries  which  it  was  foreseen 
would  principally  occupy  the  attention 
of  the  Congress. 

12.  Verona,  a  city  celebrated  alike  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  is  situated 
at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  at  the  place 
where  the  Adige,  after  forcing  its  way 
through  the  defile  of  Chiusa,  immor- 
talised by  Dante,  first  emerges  into 
the  smiling  plain  of  Lombardy.  It  is 
chiefly  known  to  travellers  from  its  no- 
ble amphitheatre,  second  only  to  the 
Coliseum  in  solidity  and  grandeur,  and 
the  interior  of  which  is  still  as  perfect 
as  when  it  was  filled  with  the  admiring 
subjects  of  the  Roman  emperors.  Its 
situation,  at  the  entrance  of  the  great 
defile  whicli  leads  from  Germany  into 
Italy,  has  rendered  it  the  scene  since 
that  time  of  many  memorable  events, 
when  rival  generals  contended  for  the 
mastery  of  the  Empire,  and  the  Gothic 
hordes  descended  from  the  north  to 
slake  their  thirst  for  spoil  with  the 
riches  of  the  fairest  part  of  Europe. 
The  great  contest  between  Otho  and 
Vitellius,  which  Tacitus  has  immor- 
talised, was  decided  under  its  walls; 
the  hordes  of  Alaric,  the  legions  of 
Theodoric,  defiled  through  its  gates; 
and  it  was  from  thence  that  Napoleon 
set  out  at  the  head  of  the  redoubtable 
grenadiers  who  decided  the  terrible 
strife  between  France  and  Austria  on 
the  dykes  of  Arcola.  Nor  is  the  charm 
of  imagination  wanting  to  complete  the 
interest  of  these  historic  recollections  ; 
for  it  contains  the  tomb  of  Juliet,  and 
has  been  immortalised  by  the  genius 
of  Shakespeare.*  The  modern  city 
presents  an  interesting  assemblage  of 
the  relics  of  ancient  and  modern  times  ; 
for  if  the  statety  remains  of  its  amphi- 

*  See  "  The  Toml,  in  Verona,"  a  fragment, 
but  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  many 
interesting  monuments  of  Sir  E.  B.  Lytton's 
genius. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


259 


theatre  carry  us  back  to  the  days  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  its  fortified  bridges, 
'  curious  arches,  and  castellated  towers, 
remind  us  not  less  forcibly  of  the  times 
of  Gothic  strife ;  while  its  spacious 
squares,  elegant  piazzas,  and  decorated 
theatres,  bespeak  the  riches  and  luxury 
•which  have  grown  up  with  the  peace 
•of  modern  Society. 

13.  Before  going  to  Verona,  M.  de 
Montmorencyrepaired  to  Vienna,  where 
he  had  several  confidential  interviews 
•with  M.  de  Metternich.     Their  views 
•were  entirely  in  unison ;  and  as  it  was 
anticipated  that  the  intentions  of  the 
Cabinet  of  Berlin  would  be  mainly  in- 
fluenced by  those  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, who  was  known  to  have  the 
utmost  dread  of  the  military  revolts  of 
Southern  Europe,  it  was  with  reason 
•expected  that  the  resolutions  of  the 
assembled  powers  would  be   all  but 
unanimous.     England,  indeed,  it  was 
•well  known,  would  be  strongly  opposed 
to  any  armed  intervention  of  France 
in  the  Peninsula ;   but,  oppressed  as 
she  was  with  debt,  and  absorbed  in 
pacific  objects,  it  was  not  anticipated 
that  she  would  draw  the  sword  in  its 
Lehalf,  in  opposition  to  the  declared 
resolution  of  all  the  great  powers  on 
the  Continent ;  and  the  extreme  divi- 
sion of  opinion  in  Spain  and  Portugal 
themselves,  on  the  subject  of  the  revo- 
lution, encouraged  the  hope  that  their 
governments  would  fall  to  the  ground 
of  themselves,  without  the  necessity 
of  military  operations.     Yet,  notwith- 
standing the  favourable  circumstances 
which  augured  so  well  for  vigorous 
measures,  the  Cabinet  of  Louis  XVIII. 
•was  much  divided  on  the  subject.    The 
King  himself,  with  M.  de  Villele,  his 
Prime  Minister,  strongly  inclined  to  a 
pacific  policy,  and  deprecated  war  as  a 
last  resource  to  be  avoided  as  long  as 
possible. 

14.  Verona  exhibited,  when  the  Con- 
gress opened  within  its  walls,  even  more 
than  the  \isual  union  of  rank,  genius, 
celebrity,  and  beauty,  which  are  usu- 
nlly   attracted  by  such  assemblages. 
The  Empress  of  Austria  was  present, 
the  ex-Empress  Marie-Louise  was  there, 
ami  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  being 
.again  united  to  her  august  family  ;  but 


the  brilliant  dream  of  her  life  had  al- 
ready passed  away,  and  the  widow  of 
Napoleon  had  sunk  into  the  obscuro 
wife  of  her  own  chamberlain.  The 
Queen  of  Sardinia,  with  the  princesses 
her  daughters,  the  princesses  of  Tus- 
cany, Modena,  and  several  of  the  Ger- 
man powers,  embellished  the  saloons 
by  their  beauty,  or  adorned  them  by 
their  charms.  Never  had  any  town, 
in  Italy  exhibited  such  a  combination 
of  everything  that  could  distract  the 
thoughts  of  the  diplomatists,  or  dazzle 
the  eyes  of  the  multitude.  The  prin- 
cipal actors  and  actresses  from  Paris 
and  Vienna  had  arrived,  and  added  by 
their  talents  to  the  general  enchant- 
ment; splendid  balls  succeeded  each, 
other  in  rapid  succession,  intermingled 
with  concerts,  in  which  the  genius  of 
Rossini  shone  forth  with  the  highest 
lustre.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  pomp 
and  splendour,  the  business  of  diplo- 
macy proceeded  abreast  of  that  of 
amusement ;  the  ambassadors  were  ras 
much  occupied  as  the  chamberlains: 
and  a  hidden  but  most  formidable 
power — that  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the 
extreme  religious  party — carried  on  a 
series  of  intrigues  destined  to  produce 
the  most  important  results. 

15.  The  first  matter  brought  under 
the  consideration  of  the  Congress  was 
the  insurrection  in  Greece,  and  the 
complicated  relations  of  Russia  and  the 
Porte ;  but  they  must  be  reserved  for 
a  subsequent  chapter,  when  that  im- 
portant subject  will  be  fully  discussed. 
The  state  of  Piedmont  next  came  under 
discussion,  and  as  it  presented  much 
fewer  difficulties,  it  was  soon  adjusted. 
The  King  of  Sardinia  declared  that  the 
time  had  now  arrived  when  the  state 
of  his  dominions  was  so  satisfactory 
that  he  could  dispense  with  the  pre- 
sence and  protection  of  the  auxiliary 
Austrian  force.  The  Allied  sovereigns 
acceded  to  his  request  for  its  removal, 
and  a  treaty  was  in  consequence  con- 
cluded, by  which  it  was  stipulated  that 
the  Austrian  troops  should  begin  to 
evacuate  his  territories  on  the  31st 
December,  and  that  the  evacuation 
should  be  completed  by  the  delivery  of 
the  fortress  of  Alessandria  on  the  30th 
September  1823.  By  a  separate  con- 


260 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


vention,  concluded  at  the  same  time, 
it  was  agreed  that  the  auxiliary  Aus- 
trian force  which  occupied  Naples  and 
Sicily,  and  which  was  supported  en- 
tirely at  the  cost  of  their  inhabitants, 
should  be  reduced  by  seventeen  thou- 
sand men. 

16.  A  strenuous  and  most  praise- 
worthy attempt  was  made  by  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  under  Mr  Canning's  in- 
structions, to  procure  some  resolution 
from  the  Allied  powers  against  the 
slave-trade.  He  stated,  in  his  note  on 
this  subject,  that  of  the  eight  powers 
who,  in  1815,  had  signed  a  declaration 
against  that  atrocious  traffic,  and  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  "  put  a  period  to  a 
scourge  which  had  so  long  desolated 
Africa,  disgraced  Europe,  and  afflicted 
humanity,"  seven  had  passed  laws  with 
the  design  of  prohibiting  their  subjects 
entirely  from  engaging  in  it ;  but  Por- 
tugal and  Brazil  continued  to  carry 
it  on  to  an  unprecedented  extent.  To 
such  a  length  was  this  trade  uow^pushed, 
that  during  seven  months  of  the  year 
1821  above  38,000  human  beings  had 
been  torn  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 
thrown  into  hopeless  and  irremediable 
slavery ;  and  from  the  month  of  July 
1820  to  that  of  October  1821,  no  less 
than  332  vessels  had  entered  the  rivers 
of  Africa,  to  the  north  of  the  equator, 
to  buy  slaves,  each  of  which  could  carry 
500  or  600  slaves,  which  would,  if  they 
were  all  filled,  imply  a  transportation 
of  nearly  200, 000  human  beings.  Great 
part  of  this  detestable  traffic  was  stated 
to  be  carried  onmnder  the  French  flag. 
Notwithstanding  these  appalling  facts, 
which  could  neither  be  denied  nor 
controverted,  the  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  French  Government  to  any 
decisive  measure  which  might  exclude 
them  from  a  share  of  this  lucrative 
commerce  was  so  great,  that  all  that 
Great  Britain  could  obtain  from  the 
Congress  was  a  vague  declaration  from 
the  five  great  powers,  "  that  they  have 
never  ceased,  and  will  never  cease,  to 
regard  the  slave-trade  as  a  traffic  which 
has  too  long  desolated  Africa,  disgraced 
Europe,  and  afflicted  humanity;  and 
that  they  are  ready,  by  all  means  in 
their  power,  to  concur  in  all  measures 
v/hich  may  insure  and  accelerate  the 


entire  and  final  abolition  of  that  com- 
merce. " 

17.  Another  subject  was  brought 
under  the  notice  of  the  Congress  by 
Great  Britain,  upon  which  the  views 
of  its  Cabinet  and  of  that  of  the  Tuile- 
ries  were  still  more  at  variance,  and 
which  presaged  great  and  lasting 
changes  in  both  hemispheres.  This, 
was  the  all-important  one  of  SOUTH 
AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  presented  a  note  to  the 
Congress,  in  which  it  was  stated,  "  The- 
connection  subsisting  between  the  sub- 
jects of  his  Britannic  Majesty  and  the 
other  parts  of  the  globe  has  for  long 
rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  recog- 
nise the  existence  de  facto  of  govern- 
ments formed  in  different  places,  so 
far  as  was  necessary  to  conclude  trea- 
ties with  them  ;  the  relaxation  of  the 
authority  of  Spain  in  her  colonies  in 
South  America  has  given  rise  to  a  host 
of  pirates  and  adventurers — an  insup- 
portable evil,  which  it  is  impossible 
for  England  to  extirpate  without  the; 
aid  of  the  local  authorities  which  occupy 
the  adjacent  coasts  and  harbours  ;  and 
the  necessity  of  this  co-operation  can- 
not but  lead  to  the  recognition  de  facto 
of  a  number  of  governments  of  their 
own  creation."  Veiled  under  a  de- 
sire to  suppress  the  undoubted  evil  of 
piracy,  this  was  an  attempt  indirectly 
to  obtain  from  the  Congress  some  act 
or  declaration  amounting  to  a  recog- 
nition of  the  independence  of  South 
America.  The  other  powers,  accord- 
ingly, saw  the  object,  and  immediately 
took  the  alarm.  Austria  answered, 
' '  that  England  was  perfectly  entitled 
to  defend  her  commercial  interests 
from  piracy;  but  as  to  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Spanish  colonies,  Austria 
would  never  recognise  it,  so  long  as  his 
Christian  Majesty  had  not  formally  re- 
nounced the  rights  of  sovereignty  here- 
tofore exercised  over  these  provinces." 
Prussia  and  Russia  answered  the  note- 
in  the  same  terms  ;  and  in  a  long  and 
able  note,  drawn  by  M.  de  Chateau- 
briand, on  the  part  of  France — "In 
so  grave  a  question,  France  feels  that 
Spain  should,  in  the  first  instance,  be- 
consulted  as  sovereign  de  jure  of  these 
colonies.  France  concurs  with  Eng- 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


261 


land  in  holding  that,  when  intestine 
troubles  have  long  prevailed,  and  the 
law  of  nations  has  thereby  been  prac- 
tically abrogated,  on  account  of  the 
weakness  of  one  of  the  belligerent 
powers,  natural  right  resumes  its  em- 
pire. She  admits  that  there  are  in- 
evitable prescriptions  of  some  rights, 
and  that,  after  a  government  has  long 
resisted,  it  is  sometimes  obliged  to 
yield  to  overbearing  necessity,  in  order 
to  terminate  many  evils,  and  prevent 
one  state  from  alone  reaping  advan- 
tages in  which  other  states  are  entitled 
to  participate.  But  to  prevent  the  jeal- 
ousies and  rivalries  of  commerce  which 
might  involve  governments  against 
their  will  in  hostilities,  some  general 
measure  should  be  adopted  ;  and  per- 
haps it  would  be  possible  to  reconcile 
the  interests  of  Spain,  of  its  colonies, 
and  of  the  European  states,  by  a  mea- 
sure which,  founded  on  the  broad  basis 
of  equality  and  reciprocity,  might  bring 
into  harmony  also  the  rights  of  legiti- 
macy and  the  necessities  of  policy." 
The  proposed  measure,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  came  to  nothing ;  but  the  cir- 
cumstance of  its  being  broached  at  all 
proved  what  adverse  interests  were  aris- 
ing in  the  world,  and  the  seeds  of  what 
<livisions  were  germinating  beneath  the 
treacherous  surface  of  the  European 
alliance. 

18.  But  all  these  subjects  of  division, 
important  and  pregnant  with  future 
•changes  as  they  were,  yielded  to  the 
Spanish  question,  for  the  solution  of 
which  the  Congress  had  been  assem- 
bled, and  which  required  immediate 
•decision.  The  instructions  of  M.  de 
Villele  on  this  subject  were  very  cau- 
tiously worded,  and  intended,  above 
all,  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  France 
requesting  from  the  other  powers  in- 
structions how  to  act  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Peninsiila.  They  bore,  "  We  have 
not  determined  to  make  war  on  Spain ; 
the  Cortes  would  carry  Ferdinand  back 
to  Cadiz  rather  than  suffer  him  to  be 
conducted  to  Verona.  The  situation 
of  France  is  not  such  as  to  oblige  us  to 
ask  for  permission  for  a  war  of  invasion, 
as  Austria  was  at  Laybach  ;  for  we  are 
under  no  necessity  of  declaring  war  at 
-all,  nor  of  asking  for  succour  to  carry 


it  on  if  we  do  ;  and  we  could  not  admit 
of  it,  if  it  should  lead  to  the  passage  of 
foreign  troops  through  our  territory. 
The  opinion  of  our  plenipotentiaries 
upon  the  question  of  what  the  Con- 
gress should  determine  on  in  regard  to 
Spain  is,  that  France  is  the  sole  power 
which  should  act  with  its  troops,  and 
that  it  must  be  the  sole  judge  of  when  it 
is  necessary  to  do  so.  The  French  pleni- 
potentiaries must  never  consent  that 
the  Congress  should  prescribe  the  con- 
duct which  France  should  pursue  in 
regard  to  Spain.  They  should  accept 
of  no  pecuniary  succour  nor  aid  from 
the  passage  of  troops  through  our  ter- 
ritory. They  should  be  firm  in  con- 
sidering the  Spanish  question  in  its 
general  aspect,  and  endeavour  to  ob- 
tain from  the  Congress  a  contingent 
treaty,  honourable  and  advantageous 
to  France,  either  for  the  case  of  a  war 
between  herself  and  Spain,  or  for  the 
case  of  the  powers  recognising  the  in- 
dependence of  South  America." 

19.  On  the  other  hand,  the  instruc- 
tions of  England  to  her  plenipotentiary 
were  equally  decided,  and  such  as  ap- 
parently to  render  almost  unavoidable  a 
rupture  between  the  two  powers.  Lord 
Londonderry,  before  his  death,  had 
drawn  up  a  note  for  our  plenipotenti- 
aries— which  is  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  admirable  of  his  whole  diploma- 
tic career — which  repudiated,  in  the 
strongest  manner,  any  interference  in 
the  domestic  concerns  of  Spain.*  Mr 

*  "  With  respect  to  Spain,  there  seems 
nothing  to  add  to,  or  vary,  in  the  course  of 
policy  hitherto  pursued.  Solicitude  for  the 
royal  family,  observance  of  our  engagements 
with  Portugal,  and  a  rigid  abstinence  from  any 
interference  in  the  internal  a/airs  of  that 
cmtntry,  must  be  considered  as  forming  the 
limits  of  his  Majesty's  policy."—  Marquess 
LONDONDERRY'S  Instructions  transferred  to 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  Sept.  14, 1S22 ;  An- 
nual Register,  1822,  p.  96.  (Public  Docu- 
ments.) "  By  far  the  most  tangled  web  of 
the  whole  is  that  in  which  Spain  and  her  al- 
lies are  wrapped  up ;  and  not  the  least  is  in 
that  portion  of  it  which  embraces  her  relations 
with  the  revolted  colonies,  and  the  effect 
thereby  produced  upon  the  commerce  of  the 
whole  world.  As  to  the  form  of  government 
which  she  has  of  late  established  for  herself 
in  Europe,  that  is  a  matter  with  which, in  the 
opinion  of  the  English  Cabinet,  no  foreign 
power  has  the  tmallett  title  to  interfere.  It 
rests  entirely  with  the  King  of  Spain  and  his 
subjects  to  settle  their  differences,  if  they 


262 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xn. 


Canning  had  only  been  forty  -  eight 
hours  in  office  when  he  was  called  on 
to  give  his  instructions  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  who  was  appointed  suc- 
cessor to  that  lamented  nobleman  as 
the  plenipotentiary  of  England ;  but 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  at  once  drawing 
them  up.  His  private  inclination,  not 
less  than  his  public  duty,  led  him  to 
adhere  to  the  line  marked  out  by  Lord 
Londonderry.  His  instructions  to 
"Wellington,  accordingly,  on  this  point 
were,  "  If  there  be  a  determined  pro- 
ject to  interfere,  by  force  or  by  menace, 
in  the  present  stntggle  in  Spain,  so 
convinced  are  his  [Majesty's  Ministers 
of  the  uselessness  and  danger  of  any 
such  interference,  so  objectionable  does 
it  appear  to  them  in  principle,  as  well 
as  utterly  impracticable  in  execution, 
that,  when  the  necessity  arises — or,  I 
would  rather  say,  when  an  opportunity 
presents  itself — I  am  to  instruct  your 
Grace  at  once  frankly  and  decidedly  to 
declare,  that  to  any  such  interference 
Ids  Majesty  will  not  be  a  parly." 

20.  When  instructions  so  directly  at 
variance  were  given  to  the  English  and 
French  plenipotentiaries  upon  a  great 
public  question,  on  which  an  instant 
decision  required  to  be  taken  by  the 
powers  immediately  concerned,  it  need 
not  be  said  that  the  peace  of  Europe 
was  seriously  threatened.  In  effect, 
the  divergence  of  opinion  upon  this 
point,  as  well  as  the  ulterior  one  of  re- 
cognising the  independence  of  the  re- 
have  any,  between  themselves.  And  this 
important  truth  you  will  urge  with  all  your 
influence  upon  the  Allies,  and  especially  upon 
France.  But  the  case  of  the  revolted  colonies 
is  different.  It  is  evident,  from  the  turn  which 
events  have  taken,  that  their  recognition  as 
independent  States  is  only  a  question  of  time. 
Over  by  far  the  greater  part  of  them  Spain 
has  lost  all  hold,  and  it  has  been  found  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  admit  their  merchant  vessels 
into  English  ports,  to  alter  the  navigation 
laws  both  of  France  and  England.  You  will, 
accordingly,  advocate  a  removal  of  the  diffi- 
culty on  this  principle,  that  every  province 
v:hich  has  actually  established  its  independence 
should  be  recognised.;  that  with  provinces  in 
which  the  war  still  goes  on,  no  relations  are  to 
be  established;  and  that  where  negotiations 
are  in  progress  between  a  revolted  colony, 
relations  with  the  colony  should  be  suspended 
till  the  result  is  known." — CASTLEREAGH'S 
Instructions  to  WELLINGTON,  July  6,  1822 ; 
GLEIG'S  Life  oj  Wellington,  iii.  129, 131. 


volted  colonies  in  South  America,  was 
so  great,  that  it  probably  would  have 
been  broken,  and  a  calamitous  war  en- 
sued, if  the  other  powers  had  been  less 
unanimous  and  decided  than  they  were 
in  supporting  the  French  view  of  the 
necessity  of  an  armed  intervention. 
The  Emperor  Alexander,  from  the  first, 
both  officially  through  his  plenipoten- 
tiaries, and  privately  in  society,  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  in  the  strongest 
manner  on  this  subject,  and  declared 
his  readiness  to  support  any  measures 
which  France  might  deem  essential  for 
its  safety.  Prussia  adopted  the  same 
views :  the  obligations  contracted  in. 
1813  rendered  no  other  course  practi- 
cable to  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin.  Austria 
was  more  doubtful :  Metternich  had  a 
mortal  dread  of  the  northern  Colossus, 
and  in  secret  urged  M.  de  Villele  to 
adopt  no  measures  which  should  give 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  a  pretext  for 
again  moving  his  troops  across  Ger- 
many. But  as  he  was  fully  impressed 
with  the  danger  to  Europe  from  the 
revolutionary  principles  acted  upon  in 
Spain,  and  he  had  himself  coerced  them, 
in  the  most  vigorous  manner  in  Italy, 
he  could  not  ostensibly  deviate  from, 
the  other  Continental  powers  on  a 
subject  so  vital  to  their  common  wel- 
fare. Accordingly,  after  several  con- 
ferences, in  the  course  of  which  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  strongly  insisted 
on  the  necessity  of  limiting  their  in- 
terference with  Spain  to  resistance  to 
its  external  aggressions  or  attempts  at 
propagandism,  but  not  attempting  any 
armed  interference  with  its  domestic 
concerns,  the  matter  came  to  this,  that 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  refused  to  sign 
the  proces  verbaux  of  the  conference, 
when  the  opinions  of  the  other  powers 
were  expressed  in  favour  of  an  inter- 
vention, in  certain  events,  in  the  Pen- 
insula. 

21.  The  mode  of  deliberating  on. 
this  subject  was  very  peculiar,  but  well 
calculated  to  cut  short  the  usual  eva- , 
sions  and  subterfuges  of  diplomatic 
intercourse.  France,  through  its  min- 
ister, proposed  three  questions  to  the 
Congress,  which  were  as  follows  :  "1. 
In  case  France  should  find  herself  un- 
der the  necessity  of  recalling  her  am- 


1822.] 

bassador  from  Madrid,  and  interrupt- 
ing  all  diplomatic  relations  with  Spain, 
are  the  great  powers  disposed  to  adopt 
similar  steps,  and  to  break  off  their 
intercourse  with  that  country  also  ?  2. 
If  war  should  break  out  between  France 
and  Spain,  in  what  way,  and  by  what 
acts,  would  the  great  powers  give 
Prance  their  moral  support,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  inspire  a  salutary  terror 
into  the  revolutionists  of  all  countries? 
3.  What,  in  fine,  are  the  intentions  of 
the  great  powers  in  regard  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  material  succour  which  they 
are  disposed  to  give  to  France,  in  case, 
on  her  requisition,  such  assistance 
might  appear  necessary?"  To  these 
questions  "  the  three  Continental  pow- 
ers answered,  on  the  30th  October, 
that  they  would  follow  the  example  of 
France  in  respect  to  their  diplomatic 
relations ;  that  they  would  take  the 
same  attitude  which  France  took  ;  and 
that  they  would  give  all  the  succour 
of  which  it  might  stand  in  need.  A 
treaty  was  to  fix  the  period  and  mode 
of  that  co-operation."  The  Duke  of 
"Wellington  answered,  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain,  "that  having  no  infor- 
mation as  to  the  causes  of  this  misun- 
derstanding, and  not  being  in  a  situa- 
tion to  form  a  judgment  on  the  hypo- 
thetical case  put,  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  answer  any  of  the  questions." 
It  was  afterwards  agreed  that,  instead 
of  a  joint  note  being  prepared  by  the 
four  Continental  powers,  and  signed 
"by  their  respective  plenipotentiaries, 
each  should  address  a  separate  note  to 
the  Cabinet  of  Madrid  of  the  same  gen- 
eral import,  but  containing  in  detail 
the  views  by  which  they  were  severally 
actuated ;  which  was  accordingly  done : 
while  the  Duke  of  Wellington  address- 
ed a  note  to  the  Congress,  stating  the 
reasons  why  his  Government  abstained 
from  any  such  intervention.* 

*  The  notes  of  the  four  Continental  powers 
were  all  of  the  same  import ;  that  of  Prussia 
•was  the  most  explicit,  and  was  in  these  terms : 
"The  Prussian  Government  sees  with  grief 
the  Spanish  Government  enter  upon  a  career 
•which  menaces  the  tranquillity  of  Europe;  it 
recollects  the  title  to  the  admiration  of  the 
v.  irld  which  the  Spanish  nation  has  given 
during  so  many  ages,  and  the  heroic  perse- 
verance with  which  it  lias  triumphed  over 
the  ambitious  and  oppressive  efforts  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


263 


22.  The  business  of  the  Congress  at 
Verona  was  now  concluded,  and  it  had 
turned  out  entirely  to  the  advantage 
of  France  ;  for  not  only  had  she  gained 
the  consent  of  all  the  Continental  states 
to  the  policy  which  she  deemed  it  ex- 
pedient to  adopt,  but,  what  was  of  equal 
importance,  she  had  been  allowed  to 
remain  the  judge  of  that  policy  :  the 
other  powers  had  agreed  to  follow  in 
her  wake,  not  take  the  lead.  For  the 
first  time  for  a  very  long  period,  Eng- 
land found  herself  isolated  on  the  Con- 
tinent, and  doomed  to  be  the  impotent 
spectator  of  operations  which  she  nei- 
ther approved  of  nor  could  prevent. 
Without  following  out  farther  the 
thread  of  the  negotiations,  which  were 
now  substantially  decided,  it  is  more 
material  to  show  what  were  the  secret 
views  of  the  French  diplomatists  in 
this,  for  them,  auspicious  state  of  af- 
fairs. "  The  despatch  of  M.  de  Mont- 
morency,"  said  Chateaubriand  to  M.  de 
Villele,  "  will  show  you  the  conclusion 
of  the  affair  of  Spain,  which  has  turned 
out  entirely  as  you  wished.  This 
evening  we  are  to  have  a  conference, 
to  determine  on  the  mode  of  making 
known  the  sentiments  of  the  Alliance 
to  Europe.  Russia  is  marvellously  fa- 
vourable ;  Austria  is  with  us  on  this, 
though  on  other  points  inclined  to  the 
English  policy  ;  Prussia  follows  Aus- 
tria. The  wish  of  the  powers  is  de- 
cidedly pronounced  for  a  war  with 
Spain.  It  is  for  you,  my  dear  friend, 
to  consider  whether  you  ought  not  to 
seize  the  occasion,  perhaps  unique,  to 
replace  France  in  the  rank  of  military 
powers  ;  to  restore  the  white  cockade 
in  a  war,  in  short,  almost  without 
danger,  tojwhich  the  opinions  of  the 
Royalists  and  the  army  strongly  in- 
cline. There  is  no  question  of  the  oc- 
cupation of  the  Peninsula,  bxit  of  a 
rapid  movement  which  would  restore 

usurper  of  the  throne  of  France.  The  moral 
state  of  Spain  is  such  at  present,  that  the 
foreign  powers  must  necessarily  find  them- 
selves disturbed  by  it.  Doctrines  subversive 
of  all  social  order  are  there  openly  preached 
and  protected  ;  daily  insults  against  all  the 
sovereigns  of  Europe  fill  its  journals  with 
impunity.  The  clubs  of  Spain  have  their 
emissaries  in  all  quarters,  to  associate  with 
their  dark  designs  conspirators  in  every  coun- 
try against  the  public  order  and  the  legiti- 


264 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


power  to  the  true  Spaniards,  and  take 
away  from  you  all  disquietude  for  the 
future.  The  last  despatches  of  M. 
Lagarde  prove  how  easy  that  success 
would  be.  All  continental  Europe 
would  be  for  us  ;  and  if  England  took 
umbrage,  she  would  not  even  have  time 
to  throw  herself  on  a  colony.  As  to 
the  Chambers,  success  covers  every- 
thing. Doubtless  commerce  and  the 
finances  would  suffer  for  a  moment, 
but  nothing  great  can  be  done  without 
some  inconveniences.  To  destroy  a 
focus  of  Jacobinism,  to  re-establish  a 
Bourbon  on  the  throne  by  the  arms 
of  a  Bourbon, — these  are  results  which 
outweigh  all  considerations  of  a  se- 
condary nature." 

23.  But  while  M.  de  Chateaubriand, 
M.  de  ilontmorency,  and  the  war 
party,  were  with  reason  congratulating 
themselves  on  the  success  of  France  at 
the  Congress,  very  different  views  were 
entertained  by  Louis  XVIII.  and  M. 
de  Villele  at  Paris.  They  were  sin- 
cerely pacific  in  their  ideas,  and,  not 

mate  authority.  The  inevitable  effect  of  these 
disorders  is  seen  in  the  interruption  of  the 
relations  between  Prance  and  Spain.  The 
irritation  to  which  it  gives  rise  is  such  as  to 
inspire  the  most  serious  alarm  as  to  the  pre- 
servation of  peace  between  the  two  countries. 
That  consideration  itself  would  suffice  to  de- 
termine the  united  sovereigns  to  break  silence 
on  a  state  of  things  which  from  day  to  day 
threatens  to  compromise  the  tranquillity  of 
Europe.  It  is  not  for  foreign  powers  to  de- 
termine what  institutions  answer  best  for 
the  character,  manners,  and  real  necessities 
of  the  Spanish  nation ;  but  it  belongs  to  them 
undoubtedly  to  judge  of  the  effects  which 
experience  has  taught  them  such  changes 
produce  upon  themselves,  and  to  fix  their 
determination  and  future  position  in  regard 
to  Spain  on  these  considerations."  —  CHA- 
TEAUBRIAND, Congres  de  Verone,  i.  130,  131. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
in  his  note  to  the  Continental  sovereigns, 
said :  "  The  origin,  circumstances,  and  con- 
sequences of  the  Spanish  Kevolution,  the 
existing  state  of  affairs  in  Spain,  and  the 
conduct  of  those  who  have  been  at  the  head 
of  the  Spanish  Government,  may  have  endan- 
gered the  safety  of  other  countries,  and  may 
have  excited  the  uneasiness  of  the  Govern- 
ments whose  ministers  I  am  now  addressing, 
and  those  Governments  may  think  it  neces- 
sary to  address  the  Spanish  Government  upon 
the  topics  referred  to  in  their  despatches. 
But  I  would  request  those  Ministers  to  con- 
sider whether  the  measures  now  proposed 
are  calculated  to  allay  the  irritation  against 
France,  and  to  prevent  a  possible  rupture, 
and  whether  they  might  not  with  advantage 


[CHAP.  xii. 

without  reason,  extremely  apprehen- 
sive of  the  possible  consequences  of  a 
war  with  Spain.  It  was  not  external, 
but  internal,  danger,  that  they  dread- 
ed. They  were  well  aware  that  Spain, 
in  its  distracted  state,  would  be  wholly 
unable  to  withstand  the  armsof  France, 
if  these  arms  were  united;  but  who 
could  answer  for  this  unanimity  pre- 
vailing in  a  war  of  opinion,  when  the 
French  troops  grouped  round  the  white 
flag  were  to  be  met  by  the  Spanish 
arrayed  under  the  tricolor  standards  ? 
The  recent  disasters  of  the  Royalists 
in  Spain  had  shown  how  little  reliance 
was  to  be  placed  on  their  support  in 
any  serious  conflict ;  and  was  there  no 
reason  to  apprehend  that,  if  the  arms 
and  the  Liberal  press  of  England  were 
engaged  on  the  side  of  the  republicans 
in  the  Peninsula,  a  convulsion  fatal  to 
the  reigning  dynasty  might  ensue  to 
the  south  of  the  Channel  ?  These  con- 
siderations weighed  much  both  with 
the  King  and  his  Prime  Minister ;  and 
although,  on  his  return  from  the  Con- 
be  delayed  to  a  later  period.  They  are  cer- 
tainly calculated  to  irritate  the  Government 
of  Spain ;  to  afford  ground  for  a  belief  that 
advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  irritation 
which  subsists  between  that  Government  and 
France  to  call  down  upon  Spain  the  power  of 
the  Alliance,  and  thus  to  embarrass  still  more 
the  difficult  position  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment. His  Majesty's  Government  is  of  opin- 
ion, that  to  animadvert  upon  the  internal 
transactions  of  an  independent  state,  unless 
such  transactions  affect  the  essential  inter- 
ests of  his  Majesty's  subjects,  is  inconsistent 
with  those  principles  on  which  his  Majesty 
has  invariably  acted  on  all  questions  concern- 
ing the  internal  concerns  of  other  countries ; 
that  such  animadversions,  if  made,  must  in- 
volve his  Majesty  in  serious  responsibility  if 
they  should  produce  any  effect,  and  must  irri- 
tate if  they  should  not ;  and  if  addressed,  as 
proposed,  to  the  Spanish  Government,  are 
likely  to  be  injurious  to  the  best  interests  of 
Spain,  and  to  produce  the  worst  consequences 
upon  the  probable  discussion  between  that 
country  and  France.  The  King's  Government 
must  therefore  decline  to  advise  his  Majesty 
to  hold  a  common  language  with  his  allies 
upon  this  occasion ;  and  it  is  so  necessary  for 
his  Majesty  not  to  be  supposed  to  participate 
in  a  measure  of  this  description,  and  calcu- 
lated to  produce  such  consequences,  that  liis 
Government  must  equally  refrain  from  advis- 
ing his  Majesty  to  direct  that  any  communi- 
cation should  be  made  to  the  Spanish  Gov- 
ernment on  the  subject  of  its  relations  with 
France."— Duke  of  WELLINGTON'S  Note  to  Hie 
A  Hied  Powers,  20th  November  1822;  Annual 
Register,  1822,  p.  101.  (Public  Documents.) 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


265 


gross,  M.  de  Montmorency  was  made 
a  duke,  yet  grave  doubts  were  still 
entertained  whether  it  was  either  pru- 
dent or  safe  to  go  into  the  measures 
agreed  on  by  the  Congress.  They  were 
confirmed  in  these  opinions  by  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  who,  on  his  way 
back  from  Verona,  had  a  long  and  con- 
fidential interview  with  Louis  XVIII. 
at  Paris,  in  which  he  represented  to 
him  in  the  strongest  manner  the  ex- 
treme danger  which  France  would  run 
in  the  event  of  a  rupture,  both  from 
internal  dissension  and  the  loss  of  the 
alliance  and  moral  support  of  England. 
The  great  personal  influence  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  the  services  he 
had  rendered  to  the  royal  cause,  and 
the  obvious  weight  of  his  arguments, 
produced  such  an  effect,  that  they  had 
wellnigh  overturned  everything  done 
at  Verona,  and  detached  France  from 
the  alliance  of  the"  Continental  sove- 
reigns.* 

24.  The  first  effect  it  produced  was 
to  overturn  M.  de  Montmorency,  and 
place  M.  de  Chateaubriand  in  his  stead. 
So  iineasy  was  the  King  at  what  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  had  represented, 
that  he  demanded  a  distinct  explana- 
tion from  M.  de  Montmorency  of  the 
causes  of  complaint  which  he  had 
against  the  Spanish  Government.  The 
latter  replied,  "  that  the  causes  of  dif- 
ference between  France  and  Spain  were 
not  of  so  precise  a  kind  as  to  admit  of 
an  exact  and  special  definition ;  that  a 
new  state  of  things  had  been  formed 
by  the  relations  of  the  two  countries ; 
that  the  opinions  in  the  ascendant  in 
Spain  were  such  as  to  endanger  his 
Majesty's  dominions ;  and  that  France 
would  rather  incur  all  the  risks  of  war 
than  expose  itself  to  the  inconveniences 
of  the  other  alternative."  Meanwhile 

*  The  Duke's  instructions  on  this  occasion 
were  as  follows:  "The  Duke  of  Wellington 
may  declare  openly  to  his  Majesty  the  King 
of  France,  that  the  Government  of  His  Bri- 
tannic Majesty  has  always  been  opposed  to 
any  foreign  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  Spain.  The  Spanish  Government  has  given 
no  cause  of  complaint  to  any  power,  and  the 
defects  of  its  constitution  are  a  matter  of  in- 
ternal politics,  with  which  no  foreign  power 
has  any  title  to  interfere."— Mr  CANNING'S 
Memorandum  to  the  Duke  of  WELLINGTON, 
Nov.  4,  1822;  CAPEFIGUE,  viii.  5,  6. 


the  journals  in  the  interest  of  the  re- 
spective ministers  commenced  a  violent 
contest  on  the  subject,  the  Journal  des 
Debate  maintaining  the  necessity  of  pre- 
serving peace,  the  Quotidienne  the  im- 
perative duty  of  going  to  war.  In  this 
state  of  division,  both  in  respect  of 
public  opinion  and  in  his  own  Cabinet, 
the  King,  with  the  concurrence  of  M. 
de  Villele,  adopted  the  questionable 
step  of  opening,  through  the  Prime 
Minister,  a  secret  correspondence  with 
M.  de  Lagarde,  the  ambassador  at 
Madrid,  unknown  to  the  Foreign  Min- 
ister, in  which  he  recommended  a 
conciliatory  course  of  policy,  entirely 
at  variance  with  what  had  been  agreed 
upon  at  the  Congress,  and  very  nearly 
in  accordance  with  the  views  of  Eng- 
land on  the  subject.  The  idea  of  Louis 
XVIII.,  and  which  flattered  his  se- 
cret vanity,  was,  that  Ferdinand  VII. 
should  follow  his  example,  and  give 
a  constitution  to  his  subjects,  which 
might  establish  a  representative  mon- 
archy in  harmony  with  that  existing 
to  the  north  of  the  Pyrenees.  It  never 
occurred  to  him  that,  without  the 
support  of  the  Allied  bayonets,  that 
constitution  never  would  have  been 
accepted  in  his  own  dominions.* 

*  The  note  of  M.  de  Villele  approved  of  by 
Louis  XVIII.  set  fortJi — "Since  the  revolu- 
tion which  occurred  in  Spaiu  in  April  1820, 
France,  regardless  of  the  dangers  with  which 
she  herself  was  threatened  by  that  revolu- 
tion, has  used  its  best  endeavours  to  draw 
closer  the  bonds  which  unite  the  two  kings, 
and  to  maintain  the  connections  which  unite 
the  two  people.  But  the  influences  which 
had  led  to  the  changes  in  the  Spanish  mon- 
archy have  become  more  powerful  than  the 
changes  themselves,  as  it  was  easy  to  foresee 
would  be  the  case.  A  constitution  which 
King  Ferdinand  had  neither  recognised  nor 
accepted  in  resuming  his  crown,  was  imposed 
upon  him  by  a  military  insurrection.  The 
natural  consequence  of  that  has  been,  that 
every  discontented  Spaniard  has  conceived 
himself  entitled  to  seek  by  the  same  method 
an  order  of  things  more  in  harmony  with  his 
opinions  and  principles,  and  the  use  of  force 
has  caused  it  to  be  regarded  as  a  right. 
Thence  the  movement  of  the  guard  at  Ma- 
drid, the  appearance  of  armed  corps  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Spain.  The  provinces  adjoining 
France  have  been  the  principal  theatre  of 
that  civil  war.  Thence  arose  the  necessity 
on  the  part  of  France  to  take  measures  for  its 
own  security.  The  events  which  have  taken 
place  since  the  establishment  of  the  army  of 
observation  at  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees  have 
sufficiently  justified  the  foresight  of  his  Ma- 


266 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


25.  As  soon  as  M.  <le  Montmorency 
was  made  acquainted  with,  this  secret 
intrigue,  which  virtually  superseded 
him  in  his  own  department  in  the  most 
important  branch  of  state  policy,  he 
insisted  on  a  meeting  of  the  Cabinet 
being  called.  The  point  submitted  to 
them  was,  whether  a  decided  note  pre- 
pared by  M.  de  Moutmorency,  in  ac- 
cordance with  what  had  been  agreed 
on  at  Verona,  and  to  which  his  per- 
sonal honour  as  well  as  the  faith  of 
France  stood  pledged,  should  be  for- 
warded to  Madrid,  to  supersede  the 
conciliatory  and  temporising  one  pre- 
pared by  M.  de  Villele  ?  A  majority 
of  the  council  approved  of  M.  de  Mont- 
morency's  note;  in  particular,  Pey- 

jesty  in  forming  it.  The  precautions  of  France 
have  appeared  just  to  its  allies ;  and  the  Con- 
tinental powers  have  adopted  the  resolution 
to  unite  themselves  to  her,  if  it  should  be- 
come necessary,  to  maintain  her  dignity  and 
repose.  France  would  have  been  contented 
with  a  resolution  at  once  so  friendly  and  hon- 
ourable to  her;  but  Austria,  Prussia,  and 
Russia  have  deemed  it  necessary  to  add  to 
that  act  of  the  Alliance  a  manifestation  of 
their  own  sentiments.  Diplomatic  notes  have 
in  consequence  been  addressed  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  these  powers  at  Madrid,  who 
•will  follow  the  instructions  of  their  respec- 
tive courts.  As  for  you,  M.  le  Comte,  you 
will  say  that  the  Government  of  the  King  is 
intimately  united  with  his  allies  in  the  firm 
determination  to  repel  by  every  means  the 
revolutionary  principle;  and  that  it  par- 
ticipates equally  strongly  with  them  in  the 
desire  which  they  feel  that  the  noble  Spanish 
nation  may  find  a  remedy  of  itself  for  the  evils 
which  afflict  it — evils  which  are  of  a  kind  to 
disquiet  the  governments  of  Europe,  and  im- 
pose upon  them  precautions  always  painful. 
You  will  assure  them  that  the  people  of  the 
Peninsula,  restored  to  tranquillity,  will  al- 
ways find  in  their  neighbours  sincere  and 
loyal  friends.  The  succour  of  all  kinds  which 
France  can  dispose  of  in  favour  of  Spain  will 
always  be  offered  to  insure  its  happiness  and 
increase  its  prosperity;  but  you  will  declare 
at  the  same  time,  that  France  will  relax  in 
none  of  its  protective  measures  so  long  as 
Spain  shall  be  torn  by  factions.  His  Ma- 
jesty's Government  will  not  hesitate  to  recall 
you  from  Madrid,  and  to  seek  for  guarantees 
in  more  effective  dispositions,  if  his  essential 
interests  continue  to  be  compromised,  and  if 
he  loses  all  hope  of  an  amelioration,  which 
he  still  hopes  from  the  sentiments  which  have 
so  long  united  the  French  and  Spaniards  in 
the  love  of  their  kings  and  of  a  wise  liberty." 
— Le  President  du  Conseil  des  Ministres  a  M. 
le  Comte  de  LAGARDE,  Ambassadeur  a  Ma- 
drid, Paris,  25th  Dec.  1822;  LACRETELLE, 
Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  iii.  477-479.  Pieces 
Justificatifs. 


ronnet  and  Glenn ont-Tonnerre  were- 
energetic  in  its  support.  The  Duke 
of  Belluno  (Victor)  strongly  advocated 
the  same  side.  He  represented  the 
state  of  opinion  in  the  army,  which  he 
as  "War  Minister  had  peculiar  means 
of  knowing ;  that  the  example  of  the 
Spanish  revolution  was  extremely  dan- 
gerous for  the  throne  of  France  ;  that 
the  impression  it  had  already  produced 
upon  the  soldiers  might  prove  preju- 
dicial to  the  tranquillity  of  the  coun- 
try; that  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
to  act,  to  extirpate  by  force  that  mania 
for  military  revolutions ;  that  the  army 
was  well  affected,  and  would  become, 
in  a  campaign,  devoted  to  the  Bour- 
bons, but  that  it  was  extremely  dan- 
gerous to  leave  it  at  rest  on  the  frontier. 
"  Nothing,"  he  added,  "is  so  easy  of 
corruption  as  a  body  of  troops  in  a  state 
of  inaction:  when  they  advance,  they 
become  animated  with  one  spirit,  and 
are  incapable  of  treachery."  On  the- 
other  hand,  M.  de  Villele,  M.  de  Lau- 
riston,  and  M.  de  Corbiere  argued  in 
favour  of  the  pacific  note,  as  likely  to- 
conciliate  matters,  and  avoid  the  se- 
rious risks  of  a  war  of  opinion,  which, 
might  involve  all  Europe  in  conflagra- 
tion. The  matter  was  still  in  suspense, 
and  the  issue  doubtful,  when  Louis  cut 
the  matter  short  by  declaring  that  the- 
note  of  M.  de  Villele  appeared  to  him 
to  express  with  more  prudence  than 
that  of  M.  de  Montmorency  the  opin- 
ion of  his  Cabinet.  The  consequence- 
was,  that  M.  de  Montmorency  tendered 
his  resignation,  which  was  accepted; 
and  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  whom  public 
opinion  rather  than  the  private  favour 
of  the  monarch  liad  already  designed 
for  his  successor,  was  appointed  in  his 
stead. 

26.  Although,  however,  M.  de  Cha- 
teaubriand was  borne  forward  to  the 
portfolio  of  foreign  affairs  by  a  move- 
ment in  the  Cabinet  which  implied  an 
entire  change  of  national  policy  on  the 
vital  question  now  at  issue  between 
France  and  Spain,  yet  no  such  altera- 
tion in  effect  took  place  ;  and  he  was 
compelled,  nothing  loth,  to  fall  into- 
the  system  of  his  predecessor.  The 
pacific  note  drawn  up  by  M.  de  Villele, 
and  approved  of  by  Louis  XVIII.,  was 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


267 


sent  to  M.  de  Lagarde,  at  Madrid,  on 
the  25th  December,  soon  after  the  more 
decided  notes  of  the  other  Continental 
powers  had  been  presented  ;  but  the 
warlike  preparations  were  not  for  a 
moment  suspended,  and  the  march  of 
troops  to  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees  con- 
tinued without  intermission.  Intruth, 
the  current  of  public  opinion  in  France 
ran  so  strongly  in  favour  of  war,  that, 
like  similar  transports  which  have 
prevailed  in  other  countries  on  similar 
occasions,  it  was  irresistible,  and,  for 
good  or  for  evil,  must  work  out  its  des- 
tined effects.  The  war  party  in  the 
legislature,  always  strong,  had  been 
greatly  augmented  by  the  result  of  the 
annual  election  of  a  fifth  in  the  pre- 
ceding autumn,  and  it  now  compre- 
hended five-sixths  of  the  entire  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies.  On  this  occasion,  too, 
for  the  first  time  since  the  Restoration, 
it  carried  a  vast  majority  of  the  French 
nation  with  it.  All  classes  concurred 
in  demanding  hostilities.  The  Royal- 
ists felt  their  blood  roused  at  the  ap- 
proach of  strife,  as  the  war-horse  does 
at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet.  The 
army  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of  a  con- 
test, and  joyfully  wended  their  way  to 
the  Pyrenees,  hoping  to  eiface  the  dis- 
grace of  Baylen  and  Vittoria ;  the  peas- 
ants trusted  that  the  days  of  the  Em- 
pire and  of  glory  were  about  to  return, 
and  the  fields  of  Spain  to  be  laid  open 
to  their  ambition  or  their  plunder; 
the  mercantile  classes  and  shopkeepers 
apprehended,  indeed,  a  diminution  of 
their  profits  from  a  rupture  of  peace, 
and  approved  the  cautious  policy  of 
M.  de  Villele,  but  they  were  not  in 
sufficient  strength  to  withstand  the 
general  current.  The  revolutionists 
and  democrats  in  secret  were  not  dis- 
inclined to  hostilities ;  they  hoped  that 
the  troops,  when  brought  into  collision 
•with  the  tricolor  standard,  would  de- 
sert their  colours,  and  that,  in  an  at- 
tempt to  restore  the  throne  of  another 
monarch,  Louis  would  lose  his  own. 

27.  The  British  Government,  how- 
ever, aware  of  the  division  on  the  sub- 
ject which  prevailed  in  the  French 
Cabinet,  and  of  the  aversion  of  the 
King  to  war,  did  all  that  was  possi- 
ble to  avert  hostilities.  Sir  William 


A'Court,  the  ambassador  at  Madrid, 
received  instructions  to  exert  himself 
to  the  utmost  to  procure  such  a  modi- 
fication of  the  Constitution  from  the- 
Cortes  itself  as  might  take  away  all 
pretext  for  French  interference ;  and 
Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset  was,  in  the 
first  week  of  January,  despatched  from 
Paris  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  in 
order  to  co-operate  in  the  same  object. 
All  their  efforts,  however,  were  in  vain. 
The  Spanish  Government,  with  that 
confidence  in  itself,  and  insensibility 
to  external  danger,  which  is  so  char- 
acteristic of  the  nation,  obstinately 
refused  to  make  any  concession,  or 
modify  the  Constitution  in  the  small- 
est particular.  The  consequence  was, 
that  the  ambassadors  of  Russia,  Prus- 
sia, and  Austria,  after  having  delivered 
their  respective  notes  as  agreed  on  at 
the  Congress,  withdrew  from  Madrid  ; 
and  although  the  French  minister  re- 
mained behind,  and  with  Sir  William 
A'Court  continued  his  good  offices,  yet 
they  came  to  nothing  ;  and  ere  long 
M.  de  Chateaubriand  despatched  a  note 
to  M.  de  Lagarde,*  recapitulating  all 

*  "  Le  Gouvernement  Espagnol  rejetait 
toute  mesure  de  conciliation;  non-seule- 
ment  il  ne  montrait  aucun  espoir  de  1'ame- 
lioration  que  1'on  pourrait  attendre  des  sen- 
timents qui  avaient,  pendant  si  longtemps, 
uni  les  Espagnols  et  les  Francais  ;  mais  il 
allait  jusqu'a  exiger  que  la  France  retirat 
son  armee  d'observation,  et  expulsat  les 
etrangers  qui  lui  avaient  demand^  asile.  La 
France  n'est  pas  accoutumee  a  entendre  un 
pareil  langage,  et  elle  ne  le  pardonne  a  son 
auteur  qu'en  consideration  de  1'exaspera- 
tion  qui  regne  en  Espagne.  Quiconque  met 
le  pied  sur  le  territoire  FranQais  est  libre,  et 
jouit  des  droits  d'une  hospitalite  inviolable. 
Les  victimes  des  commotions  qui  agitaient 
1'Espagne  s'y  etaient  refugiees,  et  etaient 
traitees  avec  tous  les  egards  dus  au  malheur. 
L'Espagne  s'est-elle  conduite  d'une  plus  mau- 
vaise  maniere  envers  la  France  ?  Non-seule- 
ment  elle  a  donne  asile  a.  des  homines  coup- 
ables,  condamnes  par  les  tribunaux,  mais 
encore  elle  leur  a  promis  des  euiplois  dans  ses 
armies.  La  confusion  qui  regne  en  Espagne 
actuellement  est  prejudiciable  a  quelques-uns 
de  nos  plus  grands  interSts.  Sa  Majeste  avait 
d6sir6  que  son  ministre  put  rester  a  Madrid 
apres  le  depart  des  ambassadeurs  d'Autriche, 
de  Prusse,  et  de  Russie;  mais  ses  derniers 
vo3ux  n'ont  pas  tite"  e'coutes ;  sa  dernifere  es- 
pe'rance  a  dte  decue;  le  mauvais  genie  des 
revolutions  preside  maintenant  aux  conseils 
de  1'Espagne,  tout  espoir  est  Soigne" ;  comme 
1'expression  des  sentiments  les  plus  mode'res 
ne  nous  attire  que  de  nouvelles  provocations, 


268 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


the  grounds  of  complaint  which  France 
had  against  Spain,  and  directing  him 
forthwith  to  demand  his  passport. 
This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
rapid  concentration  of  forces  on  the 
Pyrenees  left  no  doubt  that  war  in 
good  earnest  was  approaching. 

28.  The  French  Chambers  met  on 
the  28th  January,  and  the  speech  of 
the  King,  delivered  with  great  solem- 
nity to  a  crowded  assembly,  resotinded 
like  a  clap  of  thunder  throughout 
Europe.  "France  owed  to  Europe  a 
prosperity  which  no  nation  can  ever 
obtain  but  by  a  return  to  religion,  le- 
gitimacy, order,  and  true  liberty.  It 
is  now  giving  that  salutary  example  ; 
but  the  Divine  justice  permits  that, 
after  having  made  other  nations  long 
feel  the  terrible  effects  of  our  discord, 
we  should  ourselves  be  exposed  to  the 
dangers  arising  from  similar  calami- 
ties in  a  neighbouring  kingdom.  I 
have  tried,"  said  the  King,  in  a  firm 
accent,  "  everything  to  secure  the 
peace  of  my  people,  and  to  preserve 
Spain  herself  from  the  last  misfortunes ; 
but  all  in  vain.  The  infatuation  with 
which  my  efforts  have  been  rejected  at 
Madrid  leaves  little  hope  of  the  possi- 
bility of  maintaining  peace.  I  have 
ordered  the  recall  of  my  minister.  A 
hundred  thousand  men,  commanded 
by  a  prince  of  my  family  (the  Duke 
•d'Angouleme),  are  ready  to  march,  in- 
voking the  God  of  St  Louis  to  preserve 
the  throne  of  Spain  to  a  descendant  of 
Henry  IV.,  to  save  that  fine  kingdom 
from  ruin,  and  reconcile  it  to  Europe. 
Should  war  prove  inevitable,  I  shall 
use  my  best  endeavours  to  restrict  its 
circle  and  abridge  its  duration ;  it  shall 
only  be  undertaken  to  conquer  that 
peace  which  the  present  state  of  Spain 
renders  impossible.  Let  Ferdinand 
VII.  be  free  to  give  to  his  people  the 
institutions  which  they  can  never  hold 

il  ne  pent  convenir,  M.  le  Comte,  i  la  dignite" 
•du  Roi,  et  a  1'honneur  de  la  France,  qne  vous 
restiez  plus  longtemps  a  Madrid.  En  conse- 
quence, veuillez  demander  vos  passe-ports 
pour  vous-mSme  et  toute  votre  legation,  et 
partez  sans  perdre  de  temps  immfidiatement 
apres  qu'ils  vous  auront  £te"  remis." — M.  de 
CHATEAUBRIAND  a  M.  le  Comte  de  LAGARDE, 
Paris,  Jan.  5,  1853;  CAPEFIGUE,  Histoire  de 
la  Rcstauration,  viii.  37,  38. 


but  of  him,  and  which,  in  assuring  the 
repose,  will  dissipate  the  just  disquiet- 
udes of  France  ;  from  that  moment 
hostilities  shall  cease.  I  venture  to 
take  in  your  presence,  gentlemen,  that 
solemn  engagement.  I  have  consulted 
the  dignity  of  my  crown,  the  honour 
and  security  of  France.  "We  are  French- 
men, and  we  shall  always  be  united  to 
defend  such  interests." 

29.  Such  was  the  war  -  cry  of  the 
Royalists  in  France,  and  the  aristocra- 
tic party  throughout  Europe,  against 
the  Spanish  revolution,  in  the  compo- 
sition of  which  the  fervent  genius  and 
poetic  mind  of  M.  de  Chateaubriand 
appeared  tempered  by  the  statesman- 
like caution  of  M.  de  Villele.     It  was 
first  responded  to  on  this  side  of  the 
Channel,  in  the  King's  speech,  deliv- 
ered by  commission,  at  the  opening  of 
Parliament  on  4th  February.     "  Since 
you  last  met,"  it  said,  "  his  Majesty's 
efforts  have  been  unceasingly  exerted 
to    preserve    the    peace    of    Europe. 
Faithful  to  the  principles  which  his 
Majesty  has  promulgated  to  the  world, 
as  constituting  the  rules  of  his  con- 
duct,  his  Majesty  declined  being  a 
party  to  any  proceedings  at  Verona 
which  could  be  deemed  an  interference 
in  the  internal  concerns  of  Spain  on 
the  part  of  foreign  powers.     And  his 
Majesty  has  since  used,  and  continues 
to  use,  his  most  anxious  endeavours 
and  good  offices  to  allay  the  irrita- 
tion unhappily  subsisting  between  the 
French  and  Spanish  Governments,  and 
to  avert,  if  possible,  the  calamity  of  a 
war  between  France  and  Spain.     Dis- 
cussions have  been  long  pending  with 
the  Spanish  Government  respecting  de- 
predations committed  on  the  commerce 
of  his  Majesty's  subjects  in  the  West 
Indian  seas,  and  other  grievances,  and 
those  discussions  have  terminated  in 
an  admission  by  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment of  the  justice  of  his  Majesty's 
complaints,  and  in  an  engagement  for 
satisfactory  reparation." 

30.  The  official  reply  of  the  Spanish 
Government  to  the  French  declaration 
was  not  given  till  the  opening  of  the 
session  of  the  ordinary  Cortes  on  1st 
March.      "The  Continental  powers," 
said  Ferdinand's  Ministers,  "  have  rais- 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


2G9 


ed  their  voice  against  the  political  in- 
stitutions of  that  country  which  has 
conquered  its  independence  at  the  price 
of  its  blood.  Spain,  in  solemnly  an- 
swering the  insidious  accusations  of 
these  powers,  has  rested  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  its  fundamental  laws  can  be 
dictated  only  by  itself.  That  clear  and 
luminous  principle  cannot  be  attacked 
but  by  sophisms  supported  by  the  force 
of  arms ;  and  those  who  have  recourse 
to  these  methods  in  the  nineteenth 
century  give  the  most  complete  proof 
of  the  injustice  of  their  cause.  His 
Most  Christian  Majesty  has  declared 
that  a  hundred  thousand  French  shall 
come  to  regulate  the  domestic  affairs 
of  Spain,  and  correct  our  institutions. 
When  did  soldiers  receive  the  mission 
of  correcting  laws?  j  In  what  code  is  it 
written  that  military  invasions  are  the 
precursors  of  the  felicity  of  people  ? 
1 1  would  be  linworthy  of  reason  to  at- 
tempt the  refutation  of  such  anti-social 
errors;  and  it  does  not  become  a  con- 
stitutional king  of  Spain  to  make  an 
apology  for  the  national  cause,  in  order 
to  defend  it  against  those  who  cover 
themselves  with  the  veil  of  the  most 
detestable  hypocrisy  to  trample  under 
foot  all  sentiments  of  shame.  I  hope 
that  the  energy  and  perseverance  of 
the  Cortes  will  furnish  the  best  reply 
to  the  speech  of  His  Most  Christian 
Majesty;  I  hope  that,  firm  in  their 
principle,  they  will  continue  to  march 
in  the  path  of  their  duty— that  they 
will  always  remain  the  Cortes  of  the 
9th  and  llth  January,  worthy  of  the 
nation  which  has  intrusted  to  them  its 
destinies.  I  hope,  in  fine,  that  reason 
and  justice  will  be  not  less  powerful 
than  the  genius  of  oppression  and  ser- 
vitude. The  nation  which  enters  into 
negotiation  with  an  enemy  whose  bad 
faith  is  known,  is  already  subdued  :  to 
receive  the  law  from  one  who  pretends 
to  impose  it  with  arms  in  his  hand,  is 
the  greatest  of  ignominies.  If  war  is 
an  evil  without  a  remedy,  the  nation  is 
magnanimous :  it  will  combat  a  second 
time  for  its  independence  and  its  rights. 
The  path  of  glory  is  not  unknown  to 
it,  and  the  sacrifices  it  requires  will  be 
cheerfully  made.  The  removal  of  my 
person,  and  of  the  Cortes,  into  a  place 


less  exposed  to  military  operations,  will 
defeat  the  projects  of  our  enemies,  and 
prevent  the  suspension  of  acts  of  the 
Government  which  should  be  known 
in  every  part  of  the  monarchy."* 

31.  M.  Hyde  de  Neuville,  in  the  ad- 
dress of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  which 
he  prepared  in  answer  to  the  speech 
from  the  throne,  even  exceeded  M.  de 
Chateaubriand  in  warlike  zeal.  "  Fac- 
tion," said  he,  "  has  at  length  lost  the 
hope  of  impunity.  France  has  shown 
to  Europe  how  public  misfortunes  re- 
pair themselves.  Destined  by  Provi- 
dence to  close  the  gulf  of  revolution, 
the  King  has  tried  everything  which 
can  give  security  to  his  people,  and 
save  Spain  from  the  consequences  of  a 
revolution  induced  by  a  body  of  per- 
jured soldiers.  A  blind  obstinacy  has 
rendered  them  deaf  to  the  counsels  of 
the  chief  of  the  Bourbons.  Sire  !  we 
are  Frenchmen ;  no  sacrifice  will  be 
regarded  by  your  people  which  may 

*  The  best  statement  of  the  Spanish  side  of 
the  question  is  contained  in  a  previous  state 
paper,  by  M.  Miguel,  the  Foreign  Secretary, 
to  the  Russian  minister : — 

"1.  La  nation  Espagnole  est  gouverne"e  par 
une  constitution  reconnue  solennellementpar 
1'Empereur  de  toutes  les  Hussies,  Uaus  1'uiuit'c 
1812. 

"  2.  Les  Espagnols  amis  de  leor  patrie  qui 
ont  proclarne",  au  commencement  de  1S12, 
cette  constitution,  renonce'e  par  la  violence 
<le  1814,  n'ont  point  etc  paijures,  mais  ils  ont 
la  gloire  que  personne  ne  peut  souiller,  d'avoir 
£te  les  organes  du  vpeu  general. 

"3.  Le  roi  constitutionnel  des  Espagnols 
.jouit  du  libre  exercice  des  droits  que  lui  donue 
le  code  fondamental,  et  tout  ce  qu'on  allegue 
au  contraire  de  cette  assertion  est  une  inven- 
tion des  ennemis  de  1'Espagne  qui  la  calom- 
nient  pour  1'avilir. 

"4.  La  nation  Espagnole  ne  s'est  jamais. 
mSlee  des  institutions  ni  du  regime  inte'rieur, 
ni  d'auoun  autre. 

"  5.  Et  le  remede  4  apporter  aux  maux  qui 
peuvent  1'affliger,  n'interesse  qu'elle  seule. 

"  6.  Ces  maux  ne  sont  pas  1'effet  de  la  con- 
stitution, mais  nous  viennent  des  ennemis  qui 
veulent  la  de'truire. 

"  ~.  La  nation  Espagnole  ne  reconnaitra 
jamais  a  aucune  puissance  le  droit  d'inter- 
venir  ni  de  se  mSler  de  ses  affaires. 

"8.  Le  Gouvernement  de  sa  Majeste  ne 
s'ecartera  pas  de  la  ligne  que  lui  traoent  son. 
devoir,  1'honneur  national,  et  son  adhesion 
invariable  au  code  fondamental  jure  dans  1'an- 
n£e  1812." — E.  S.  MIODEL,  Circulaire  adressee' 
par  le  Ministre  des  affaires  elrangeres  a  Madrid 
aux  charges  d'a/aires  pour  les  Cours  de  Vienne,. 
Berlin,  et  St  Pttersbourg,  9th  January  1823.. 
Ann.  Hist.,  vi.  698. 


270 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


be  necessary  to  sustain  the  dignity  of 
your  crown,  the  honour  and  dignity  of 
France.  It  is  your  part  to  conquer 
peace  by  stifling  anarchy,  to  restore 
liberty  to  a  prince  of  your  blood,  to 
deliver  from  oppression  a  people  who 
will  aid  you  to  break  their  chains. 
Your  army  is  courageous  and  faithful : 
that  army,  which  knows  how  to  repel 
the  cowardly  invitation  to  revolt,  starts 
forward  with  ardour  under  the  Fleur- 
de-lis  standard  at  your  voice:  it  has 
not  taken  up,  it  will  not  take  up  arms, 
but  to  maintain  social  order,  and  to 
preserve  from  a  fatal  contagion  our 
country  and  our  institutions."  This 
address  was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
109,  the  numbers  being  202  to  93,  and 
presented  to  the  King  amidst  unbound- 
ed acclamations  on  the  9th  February.* 
32.  It  was  in  the  debates  on  the  sub- 
ject, however,  in  the  Chamber  of  De- 
puties of  France  and  the  English  Par- 
liament, that  the  subject  was  brought 
out  in  its  true  colours;  and  in  these 
mighty  assemblies,  from  whence  their 
voices  rolled  over  the  globe,  the  great 
Parliamentary  leaders,  on  either  side, 

*  M.  Hyde  de  Neuville,  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  distinguished  characters  of  the 
Restoration,  had  devoted  to  the  exiled  family, 
when  in  misfortune,  his  youth,  his  fortune, 
and  put  in  hazard  his  life.  Descended  from 
English  ancestry,  he  had  inherited  from  his 
Cavalier  forefathers  that  generous  devotion 
to  the  royal  family  which  in  them  had  become 
a  species  of  worship,  to  which  honour,  reli- 
gion, and  country  alike  summoned,  and  to 
which  exile  and  the  scaffold  seemed  only  the 
appropriate  sacrifice.  During  the  Republic 
and  the  Empire  he  was  actively  engaged  in 
all  the  conspiracies  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons.  During  the  latter  years  of  the  Em- 
pire, when  all  hopes  of  a  restoration  seemed 
lost,  and  Europe  could  no  longer  present  a 
safe  asylum,  he  took  refuge  in  America, 
where  he  learned  to  mingle  respect  for  pop- 
ular freedom  with  a  devoted  respect  to  the 
principles  of  loyalty  to  the  sovereign.  Re- 
turning to  Prance  in  1814  with  the  exiled 
princes,  he  was  elected  deputy  for  Berry,  his 
native  province ;  and  in  the  Chamber  he  soon 
signalised  himself  among  the  Royalists,  by  his 
ardent  loyalty,  coupled  with  a  manly  elo- 
quence and  decision  of  character,  which  be- 
spoke the  man  of  action  as  well  as  the  orator. 
His  noble  figure,  martial  air,  and  erect  carriage 
— his  hnmerous  adventures,  the  dungeons  he 
Tiad  occupied,  his  persecutions,  his  exile — 
•threw  an  air  of  romance  about  his  character, 
and  augmented  the  influence  due  to  his  loyalty, 
eloquence,  and  courage. — LAMARTINE,  Hist, 
de  la  Best.,  vii.  122,  123. 


adduced  every  consideration  which 
could  by  possibility  be  urged  upon  it. 
Mr  Canning,  in  consequence  of  his  re- 
cent appointment  as  Foreign  Secretary, 
was  not  in  the  House  when  the  debate 
came  on,  but  his  place  was  ably  filled 
by  his  antagonist,  Mr  Brougham,  who, 
in  a  speech  of  extraordinary  power  and 
vigour  untrammelled  by  the  restraints 
of  office,  gave  vent  to  English  opinion 
on  the  subject.  He  said  thathe"  joined 
with  the  mover  of  the  address,  and  with 
every  man  who  deserved  the  name  of 
Briton,  in  abhorrence  and  detestation 
at  the  audacious  interference  of  the 
Allied  powers  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
Spain — a  detestation  equalled  only  by 
contempt  for  the  hypocrisy  by  which 
their  principles  had  been  promulgated 
to  the  world.  The  communication 
made  in  the  King's  speech  will  be  tid- 
ings of  joy  and  a  signal  for  exultation 
for  England ;  it  will  spread  joy  and 
exultation  over  Spain,  will  be  a  source 
of  comfort  to  all  other  free  states,  and 
will  bring  confusion  and  dismay  to  the 
Allies,  wno  with  a  pretended  respect 
for,  but  a  real  mockery  of,  religion  and 
morality  make  war  upon  liberty  in  the 
abstract,  endeavour  to  crush  national 
independence  wherever  it  is  to  be  found, 
and  are  now  preparing  with  their  armed 
hordes  to  carry  their  frightful  projects 
into  execution. 

33.  "  The  internal  situation  of  the 
country  is  certainly  one  of  deep  dis- 
tress, especially  so  far  as  regards  that 
most  important  and  useful  branch  of 
the  community,  the  fanners ;  and  I  am 
the  last  man  who  would  not  recommend 
continued  and  unsparing  economy  in 
every  department :  but  the  time  has 
now  come,  when  to  assert  our  princi- 
ples and  maintain  our  independence, 
not  only  no  further  diminution,  but 
probably  a  great  increase,  of  our  naval 
and  military  establishments  has  be- 
come indispensable.  Our  intervention, 
in  some  shape,  will  probably  be  found 
to  be  unavoidable ;  and  if  war  is  once 
begun,  perhaps,  for  the  protection  of  our 
old  ally  Portugal,  it  must  be  carried  on 
with  the  whole  strength  of  the  empire. 
I  am  rejoiced  that  the  ominous  words 
'  strict  neutrality  did  not  escape  from 
the  lips  of  either  the  mover  or  seconder 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


271 


•of  the  address.  A  state  of  declared 
neutrality  on  our  part  would  be  nothing 
less  than  a  practical  admission  of  those 
principles  which  we  all  loudly  con- 
demn, and  a  licence  to  the  commission 
of  the  atrocities  which  we  are  all  un- 
animous in  deprecating.  It  is  obviously 
the  duty  of  his  Majesty's  Ministers, 
with  whom  the  whole  House  «on  this 
•occasion  will  be  ready  to  co  -  operate, 
in  certain  events  to  assist  the  Spaniards 
—  a  dourse  which  we,  though  most 
averse  to  war,  must  be  the  first  on  this 
•occasion,  and  to  avert  greater  evils,  to 
support. 

34.  "  To  judge  of  the  danger  of  the 
principles  now  shamelessly  promulgat- 
•ed,  let  any  one  read  attentively,  and, 
if  he  can,  patiently,  the  notes  present- 
•ed  by  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia,  to 
the  Spanish  Government.  Can  any- 
thing more  absurd  or  extravagant  be 
conceived  ?  In  the  Prussian  note  the 
Constitution  of  1812,  restored  in  1820, 
is  denounced  as  a  system  '  which,  con- 
founding all  elements  and  all  power, 
•and  assuming  only  the  principle  of  a 
permanent  and  legal  opposition  to  the 
Government,  necessarily  destroyed  that 
central  and  tutelary  authority  which 
constitutes  the  essence  of  the  monar- 
chical system."  The  Emperor  of  Rus- 
sia, in  terms  not  less  strong,  called 
the  constitutional  government  of  the 
Cortes  '  laws  which  the  public  reason 
of  all  Europe,  enlightened  by  the  ex- ' 
perience  of  ages,  has  stamped  with  the 
disapprobation  of  the  public  reason  of 
Europe.'  What  is  this  but  following 
the  example  of  the  autocrat  Catherine, 
who  first  stigmatised  the  constitution 
of  Poland,  and  then  poured  in  her 
hordes  to  waste  province  after  province, 
and  finally  hewed  their  way  to  War- 
saw through  myriads  of  unoffending 
Poles,  and  then  ordered  Te  Deum  to 
"be  sung  for  her  success  over  the  ene- 
mies ot  Poland  ?  Such  doctrines  pro- 
mulgated from  such  quarters,  are  not 
only  menacing  to  Spain  ;  they  threaten 
every  independent  country ;  they  are 
levelled  at  every  free  constitution. 
Where  is  the  right  of  interference  to 
stop,  if  these  armed  despots,  these  self- 
constituted  judges,  are  at  liberty  to 
invade  independent  states,  enjoying 


a  form  of  government  different  from 
their  own,  on  pretence  of  the  principle 
on  which  it  is  founded  being  not  such 
as  they  approve,  or  which  they  deem 
dangerous  to  the  frame  of  society  es- 
tablished among  themselves  ? 

35.  "  It  is  true,  there  have  been  civil 
war  and  bloodshed  in  Spain,  but  how 
have  they  been  excited  ?    By  an  ally. 
They  were  produced  by  those  cordons 
of  troops  which  were  stationed  along 
the    frontiers  armed  with  gold  and 
steel,  and  affording  shelter  and  assist- 
ance to  those  in  whose  minds  disaffec- 
tion had  been  excited  by  bribery.     It 
is  true,  blood  has  been  shed  :  but  what 
blood  was  it  ?    Why,  it  was  the  blood 
of  persons  who  attacked  the  existing 
Government,  which  Alexander  and  all 
the  Allies  had  recognised  in  1812,  and 
who  were  repulsed  in  direct  rebellion 
against  the  royal  authority.     As  well 
might    the   people,   Parliament,   and 
Crown  of  England  be  charged  with 
causing   blood   to  flow,  because  the 
sentinels  at  St  James's  fired  on  some 
persons  attempting  to  force  the  palace 
or  assassinate  the  King.    And  who  is 
it  that  uses  this  monstrous  language  ? 
It  is  Russia,  a  power  only  half-civilis- 
ed, that  with  all  her  colossal  mass  of 
physical  strength  is  still  as  much  Asi- 
atic as  European,  whose  principles  of 
policy,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  are 
completely  despotic,  and  whose  prac- 
tices are  almost  entirely  Oriental  and 
barbarous.     Its  language  is,  when  un- 
veiled, nothing  but  this — 'We  have 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  hired  mer- 
cenaries, and  we  will  not  stoop  to  rea- 
son with  'those  whom  we  would  insult 
and  enslave.' 

36.  ' '  It  is  impossible  not  to  admire 
the  equal  frankness  with  which  this 
haughty  language  has  been  met  by 
the  Spanish  Government ;  the  papers 
which  it  sent  forth  were  plain  and  la- 
conic.   They  said,  '  We  are  millions  of 
freemen,  and  will  not  stoop  to  reason 
with  those  who  would  enslave  us.' 
They  hurled  back  the  menaces  upon 
the  head  which  uttered  it,  little  caring 
whether  it  were  Goth,  Hun,  or  Calmuck, 
with  a  frankness  that  outwitted  the 
craft  of  the  Bohemian  and  defied  the 
ferocity  of  the  Tartar.    If  they  found 


272 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


nil  the  tyrants  of  the  earth  leagued 
against  them, they  might  console  them- 
selves with  the  reflection,  that  wher- 
ever there  was  an  Englishman,  either 
of  the  Old  or  New  World — wherever 
there  was  a  Frenchman,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  that  miserable  little  band 
which  now  for  the  moment  swayed  the 
destinies  of  France,  in  opposition  to 
the  wishes  and  sentiments  of  its  liberal 
and  gallant  people — a  people  who,  after 
wading  through  the  blood  of  the  Revo- 
lution, were  entitled,  if  any  ever  were, 
to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  freedom, — 
wherever  there  breathed  an  English- 
man or  a  true-born  Frenchman,  wher- 
ever there  existed  a  free  heart  and  a 
virtuous  mind,  there  Spain  had  a  na- 
tural ally,  and  an  uualienable  friend. 

37.  "When  the  Allied  powers  were 
so  ready  to  interfere  in  the  internal 
concerns  of  Spain,  because  they  were 
afraid  of  its  freedom,  and  when  the 
most  glaring  attempts  were  made  in  all 
their  state  papers  to  excite  rebellion 
among  its  inhabitants,  what  is  so  easy 
as  to  retort  upon  them  with  the  state- 
ment of  some  of  their  domestic  mis- 
deeds ?  What  was  to  hinder  the  Span- 
iards to  remind  the  Prussian  monarch 
of  the  promises  which,  in  a  moment 
of  alarm,  he  made  to  his  subjects  of 
giving  them  a  free  constitution,  and  to 
ask  him  what  has  come  of  the  pledges 
then  given  to  his  loyal  and  gallant 
subjects,  by  whose  valour  he  has  re- 
gained his  lost  crown  ?  Might  they  not 
ask  whether  it  would  not  have  been 
better  to  have  kept  these  promises, 
than  to  have  kept  on  foot,  at  his  peo- 
ple's cost,  and  almost  to  their  ruin,  a 
prodigious  army,  only  to  defend  him 
in  violating  them  ?  Could  anything 
have  been  more  natural  than  to  have 
asked  the  Emperor  of  Austria  whether 
he,  who  professed  such  a  regard  for 
strict  justice  in  Ferdinand's  case,  when 
it  cost  him  nothing,  had  always  acted 
with  equal  justice  towards  others  when 
he  himself  was  concerned  ?  that,  be- 
fore he  was  generous  to  Ferdinand,  he 
should  be  just  to  George,  and  repay 
some  part  of  the  £20,000,000  he  had 
borrowed  of  him,  and  which  alone  had 
enabled  him  to  preserve  his  crown? 
Might  he  not  be  called  to  account  for 


the  noble  and  innocent  blood  he  had 
shed  in  the  Milanese,  and  the  tortures, 
stripes,  and  dungeons  he  had  inflicted 
on  the  flower  of  his  subjects  in  his 
Italian  provinces  ?  Even  the  Emperor 
Alexander  himself,  sensitive  as  he  was 
at  the  sight  of  blood  flowing  in  a  foreign, 
palace,  might  call  to  mind  something 
which  had  occurred  in  his  own.  How- 
ever pure  in  himself,  and  however 
fortunate  in  having  agents  equally  in- 
nocent, Avas  he  not  descended  frbm  an 
illustrious  line  of  ancestors,,  who  had 
with  exemplary  uniformity  dethroned, 
imprisoned,  and  slaughtered  husbands, 
brothers,  children  ?  Not  that  he  could 
dream  of  imputing  these  enormities  to 
the  parents,  sisters,  or  consorts ;  but 
it  somehow  happened  that  those  exalt- 
ed and  near  relations  never  failed  to 
reap  the  whole  benefit  of  the  atrocities, 
and  had  never,  in  one  single  instance, 
made  any  attempt  to  bring  the  perpe- 
trators of  them  to  justice. 

38.  "I  rejoice  that  the  Spaniards 
have  such  men  only  to  contend  with. 
I  know  there  are  fearful  odds  when 
battalions  are  arrayed  against  princi- 
ples ;  but  it  is  some  consolation  to 
reflect,  that  those  embodied  hosts  are 
not  aided  by  the  talents  of  their  chiefs, 
and  that  all  the  weight  of  character  is 
happily  on  the  other  side.  It  is  pain- 
ful to  think  that  so  accomplished  and 
enlightened  a  prince  as  the  King  of 
France  should  submit  to  make  himself 
the  tool  of  such  a  junta  of  tyrants.  I 
would  entreat  him  to  reflect  on  the 
words  of  the  most  experienced  states- 
man, and  one  of  the  greatest  philoso- 
phers of  antiquity,  in  his  recently  dis- 
covered work,  De  Republica — '  Non  in 
ulla  civitate,  nisi  in  qua  summa  potes- 
tas  populi  est,  ullnm  domicilium  li- 
bertas  habet. '  *  When  called  on  to 
combat  one  of  the  most  alarming  con- 
spiracies that  ever  man  was  exposed 
to,  he  had  recourse  only  to  the  Roman 
constitution  ;  he  threw  himself  on  the 
goodwill  of  his  patriotic  countrymen  ; 
he  put  forth  only  the  vigour  of  his 
own  genius,  and  the  vigour  of  the  law ; 
he  never  thought  of  calling  in  the  as- 


;  V6: 


*  "  Libert}'  can  have  a  domicile  in  no  state 
ccepting  that  in  which  supreme  power  is 
3sted  ia  the  people." 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


273 


sistance  of  the  Allobroges,  Teutones, 
or  Scythians  of  his  day.  And  now  I 
say,  that  if  the  King  of  France  calls 
in  the  modern  Teutones,  or  the  mo- 
dern Scythians,  to  assist  him  in  this 
unholy  war,  judgment  will  that  mo- 
ment go  forth  against  him  and  his 
family,  and  the  dynasty  of  Gaul  will 
be  changed  at  mice  and  for  ever. 

39.  "  The  principles  on  which  this 
Land  of  congregated  despots  have 
shown  their  readiness  to  act  are  dan- 
gerous in  the  extreme,  not  only  to  free, 
but  to  all  independent  states.  If  the 
Czar  were  met  with  his  consistory  of 
tyrants  and  armed  critics,  it  would  be 
in  vain  for  the  Ulema  to  plead  that 
their  government  was  one  of  the  most 
sacred  and  venerable  description ;  that 
it  had  antiquity  in  its  favour  ;  that  it 
was  replete  with  'grand  truth  ;'  that 
it  had  never  listened  to  '  the  fatal  doc- 
trines of  a  disorganised  philosophy ; ' 
and  that  it  had  never  been  visited  by 
any  such  things  as  '  dreams  of  fallacious 
liberty.'  In  vain  would  the  Ulema 
plead  these  things  ;  the  '  three  gentle- 
men of  Verona  would  pry  about  for 
an  avenue,  and  when  it  suited  his  con- 
venience to  enter,  the  Czar  would  be 
at  Constantinople,  and  Prussia  would 
seek  an  indemnity  in  any  province 
England  might  possess  adjacent  to 
their  territory.  It  behoves  every  in- 
dependent state  to  combine  against 
such  monstrous  pretensions.  Already, 
if  there  is  any  force  in  language,  or 
any  validity  in  public  documents,  we 
are  committed  to  the  defensive  treaties 
into  which  we  have  entered.  If  Spain 
is  overran  by  foreign  invaders,  what 
will  be  the  situation  of  Portugal  ?  And 
are  we  not  bound,  by  the  most  express 
treaty,  as  well  as  by  obvious  interest, 
to  defend  that  ancient  ally  ?  Above  all 
things,  we  ought  to  repeal,  without  de- 
lay, the  Foreign  Enlistment  Bill  —  a 
measure  which  ought  never  to  have 
been  passed.  Let  us,  in  fine,  without 
blindly  rushing  into  war,  be  prepared 
for  any  emergency ;  speak  a  language 
that  is  truly  British,  pursue  a  policy 
which  is  truly  free  ;  look  to  free  states 
as  our  best  and  natural  allies  against 
all  enemies  whatever ;  quarrelling  with 

VOL.  n. 


none,  whatever  be  their  form  of  govern- 
ment ;  keeping  peace  whenever  we  can, 
but  not  leaving  ourselves  unprepared 
for  war  ;  not  afraid  of  the  issue,  but 
calmly  determined  to  brave  its  hazards ; 
resolved  to  support,  amid  any  sacrifice, 
the  honour  of  the  crown,  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  country,  and  every  prin- 
ciple considered  most  valuable  and  sa- 
cred amongst  civilised  nations." 

40.  This  animated  and  impassioned 
harangue  contained  the  sentiments 
merely  of  an  individual,  who,  how  emi- 
nent soever,  did  not  in  the  general  case 
of  necessity  implicate  any  one  but  him- 
self, or,  at  most,  the  political  party  to 
which  he  belonged.  But  on  this  occa- 
sion it  was  otherwise.  Mr  Brougham's 
speech  was  not  merely  the  expression 
of  his  own  or  his  party's  opinion  ;  it 
was  the  channel  by  which  the  feelings 
of  a  whole  nation  found  vent.  The 
cheers  with  which  it  was  received  from 
both  sides  of  a  most  crowded  House, 
the  vast  impression  it  made  on  the 
country,  the  enthusiasm  it  everywhere 
excited,  proved,  in  the  clearest  man- 
ner, that  it  earned  the  universal  mind 
with  it.  Mr  Canning  was  not  in  the 
House  when  this  important  debate  oc- 
curred, having  vacated  his  seat  upon 
his  appointment  as  Foreign  Minister, 
and  not  been  yet  again  returned  ;  but 
he  gave  his  sanction  to  the  principles 
it  contained  on  24th  February,  when 
he  observed,  "I  am  compelled  in  jus- 
tice to  say  that,  when  I  entered  upon 
the  office  I  have  the  honour  to  fill,  I 
found  the  principles  on  which  the  Gov- 
ernment was  acting  reduced  into  writ- 
ing, and  this  state  paper  formed  what 
I  may  be  allowed  to  call  the  political 
creed  of  Ministers.  Upon  the  execu- 
tion of  the  principles  there  laid  down, 
and  upon  it  alone,  is  founded  any  claim 
I  may  have  to  credit  from  the  House." 
And  again,  on  14th  April,  in  the  debate 
on  the  Spanish  negotiation, he  said,  "I 
cast  no  blame  upon  those  who,  seeing 
a  great  and  powerful  nation  eager  to 
crush  and  overwhelm  with  its  venge- 
ance a  less  numerous,  but  not  less  gal- 
lant people,  are  anxious  to  join  the 
weaker  party.  Such  feelings  are  hon- 
ourable to  those  who  entertain  them. 


274 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xii. 


The  bosoms  in  which  they  exist,  unal- 
loyed by  any  other  feelings,  are  much 
more  happy  than  those  in  which  that 
feeling  is  chastened  and  tempered  by 
considerations  of  prudence,  interest, 
and  expedience.  I  not  only  know, 
but  absolutely  envy,  the  feelings  of 
those  who  call  for  war,  for  the  issue  of 
which  they  are  not  to  be  responsible  ; 
for  I  confess  that  the  reasoning  by 
which  the  war  against  Spain  was  at- 
tempted to  be  justified,  appears  to  me 
to  be  much  more  calculated  than  the 
war  itself  to  excite  a  strong  feeling 
against  those  who  had  projected  it. 
There  is  no  analogy  between  the  case 
of  England  in  1793  and  France  in  1823. 
What  country  had  Spain  attempted  to 
seize  or  revolutionise,  as  France  did 
before  our  declaration  of  19th  Novem- 
ber 1792  ?  England  made  war  against 
France,  not  because  she  had  altered 
her  own  government,  or  even  dethroned 
her  own  king,  but  because  she  had  in- 
vaded Geneva,  Savoy,  and  Avignon ; 
because  she  had  overrun  Belgium,  and 
threatened  to  open  the  mouth  of  the 
Scheldt,  in  defiance  of  treaties ;  and 
because  she  openly  announced,  and 
acted  upon,  the  determination  to  re- 
volutionise every  adjoining  state.  But 
this  country  is  not  prepared  to  give 
actual  and  efficient  support  to  Spain  ; 
absolute  bond  fide  neutrality  is  the 
limit  to  which  it  is  prepared  to  go  in 
behalf  of  a  cause  to  which  its  Ministers 
can  never  feel  indifferent. " 

41.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  main- 
tained by  M.  de  Chateaubriand  in  the 
French  Chamber,  in  a  speech  worthy 
of  himself  and  of  these  great  antagon- 
ists :  "  Has  a  government  of  one  coun- 
try a  right  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of 
another?  That  great  question  of  in- 
ternational law  has  been  resolved  by 
different  writers  on  the  subject  in  dif- 
ferent ways.  Those  who  incline  to  the 
natural  right,  such  as  Bacon,  Puffen- 
dorf,  Grotius,  and  all  the  ancients, 
maintain  that  it  is  lawful  to  take  up 
arms  in  the  name  of  the  human  race 
against  a  society  which  violates  the 
principles  on  which  the  social  order 
reposes,  on  the  same  ground  on  which, 
in  particular  states,  you  punish  an  in- 
dividual malefactor  who  disturbs  the 


public  repose.  Those  again  who  con- 
sider the  question  as  one  depending  on 
civil  right,  are  of  opinion  that  no  one 
government  has  a  right  to  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  another.  Thus  the  first 
vest  the  right  of  intervention  in  duty, 
the  last  in  interest.  I  adopt  in  the 
abstract  the  principles  of  the  last.  I 
maintain  that  no  government  has  a 
right  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  an- 
other government.  In  truth,  if  this 
principle  is  not  admitted,  and  above 
all  by  people  v;ho  enjoy  a  free  consti- 
tution, no  nation  could  be  in  security. 
It  would  always  be  possible  for  the 
corruption  of  a  minister  or  the  ambi- 
tion of  a  king  to  attack  a  state  which 
attempted  to  ameliorate  its  condition. 
In  many  cases  wars  would  be  multi- 
plied ;  you  would  adopt  a  principle  of 
eternal  hostility — a  principle  of  which 
every  one  would  constitute  himself 
judge,  since  every  one  might  say  to 
his  neighbour,  Your  institutions  dis- 
please me  ;  change  them,  or  I  declare 
war. 

42.  "  But  when  I  present  myself  in 
this  tribune  to  defend  the  right  of  in- 
tervention in  the  affairs  of  Spain,  how 
is  an  exception  to  be  made  from  the 
principle  which  I  have  so  broadly  an- 
nounced ?  It  is  thus  :  When  the  mo- 
dern political  writers  rejected  the  right 
of  intervention,  by  taking  it  out  of  the 
category  of  natural  to  place  it  iu  that 
of  civil  right,  they  felt  themselves  very 
much  embarrassed.  Cases  will  occur 
in  which  it  is  impossible  to  abstain 
from  intervention  without  putting  the 
State  in  danger.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolution,  it  was  said, 
'  Perish  the  colonies  rather  than  one 
principle,'  and  the  colonies  perished. 
Shall  we  also  say,  'Perish  the  social 
order, '  rather  than  sacrifice  a  principle, 
and  let  the  social  order  perish?  In  or- 
der to  avoid  being  shattered  against  a 
principle  which  themselves  had  estab- 
lished, the  modern  jurists  have  intro- 
duced an  exception.  They  said,  'No 
government  has  a  right  to  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  another  government,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  where  the  security  and 
immediate  interests  of  the  first  govern- 
ment are  compromised.'  I  will  show 
you  immediately  where  the  authority 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUKOPE. 


275 


for  that  exception  is  to  be  found.  The 
exception  is  as  well  established  as  the 
rule ;  for  no  state  can  allow  its  essen- 
tial interests  to  perish  without  running 
the  risk  of  perishing  itself.  Arrived  at 
that  point  of  the  question,  its  aspect 
entirely  changes;  we  are  transported 
to  another  ground;  I  am  no  longer 
obliged  to  combat  the  rule,  but  to 
show  that  the  case  of  the  exception 
has  accrued  for  France. 

43.  "I  shall  frequently  have  occa- 
sion, in  the  sequel  of  this  discourse,  to 
speak  of  England ;  for  it  is  the  country 
which  our  honourable  antagonists  op- 

Sjse  to  us  at  every  turn.  It  is  Great 
ritain  which  singly  at  Verona  has 
raised  its  voice  against  the  principle  of 
intervention ;  it  is  that  country  which 
alone  is  ready  to  take  up  arms  to 
defend  a  free  people ;  it  is  it  which  de- 
nounces an  impious  war,  at  variance 
with  the  rights  of  nations — a  war  which 
a  small,  servile,  and  bigoted  faction 
undertakes,  in  the  hope  of  being  able 
to  burn  the  Charter  of  France  after 
having  torn  in  pieces  the  Constitution 
of  Spain.  Well,  gentlemen,  England 
is  that  country ;  it  alone  has  respected 
the  rights  of  nations,  and  given  us  a 
great  example.  Let  us  see  what  Eng- 
land has  done  in  former  days. 

44.  "  That  England,  in  safety  amid 
the  waves,  and  defended  by  its  old  in- 
stitutions— that  England,  which  has 
neither  undergone  the  disasters  of  two 
invasions,  nor  the  over-turnings  of  a 
revolution  of  thirty  years,  conceives  it 
has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Spanish 
revolution,  is  quite  conceivable,  and 
no  more  than  was  to  be  expected.    But 
does  it  follow  from  that,  that  France 
enjoys  the  same  security,  and  is  in 
the  same  position?     When  the  cir- 
cumstances were  different— when  the 
essential   interests   of  Great  Britain 
were  compromised — did  it  not — justly, 
without  doubt — depart  from  the  prin- 
ciples which  it  so  loudly  invokes  at 
this  time?    England,  in  entering  on 
the  war  with  France,  published  in  1793 
the  famous  declaration  of  Whitehall, 
from  which  I  read  the  following  ex- 
tract : — '  The  intention  announced  to 
reform  the  abuses  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment, to  establish  personal  freedom 


and  the  rights  of  property  on  a  solid 
basis,  to  secure  to  a  numerous  people 
just  and  moderate  laws,  a  wise  legisla- 
ture, and  an  equitable  administration 
— all  these  salutary  views  have  unhap- 
pily disappeared.  They  have  given 
place  to  a  system  destructive  of  all 
public  order,  sustained  by  proscrip- 
tions, exiles,  and  confiscations  without 
number,  by  arbitrary  imprisonments 
without  number,  and  by  massacres  the 
memory  of  which  alone  makes  us  shud- 
der. The  inhabitants  of  that  unhappy 
country,  so  long  deceived  by  promises 
of  happiness,  everlastingly  renewed 
at  every  fresh  accession  of  public  suf- 
fering, the  commission  of  every  new 
crime,  have  found  themselves  plunged 
in  an  abyss  of  calamities  without 
example. 

45.  "  '  Such  a  state  of  things  cannot 
exist  in  France  without  involving  in 
danger  the  countries  which  adjoin  it, 
without  giving  them  the  right,  and 
imposing  on  them  the  duty,  of  doing 
everything  in  their  power  to  arrest  an 
evil  which  subsists  only  on  the  viola- 
tion of  all  laws  which  unite  men  in 
the  social  union.  His  Majesty  has  no 
intention  of  denying  to  France  the 
rights  of  reforming  its  laws ;  never  will 
he  desire  to  impose  by  external  force  a 
government  on  an  independent  state. 
He  desires  to  do  so  now  only  because 
it  has  become  essential  to  the  repose 
and  security  of  other  states.  In  these 
circumstances,  he  demands  of  France 
— and  he  demands  it  with  a  just  title 
— to  put  a  stop  to  a  system  of  anarchy, 
which  has  no  power  but  for  evil,  which 
renders  France  incapable  of  discharg- 
ing the  first  duties  of  government,  that 
of  repressing  anarchy  and  punishing 
crime,  which  is  daily  multiplying  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  and  which 
threatens  to  involve  all  Europe  in 
similar  atrocities  and  misfortune.  He 
demands  of  France  a  legitimate  and 
stable  government,  founded  on  the  uni- 
versally recognised  principles  of  jus- 
tice, and  capable  of  retaining  nations 
in  the  bonds  of  peace  and  friendship. 
The  King  engages  beforehand  instantly 
to  stop  hostilities,  and  give  protection 
to  all  those  who  shall  extricate  them- 
selves from  an  anarchy  which  has  burst 


276 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


all  the  bonds  of  society,  broken  all  the 
springs  of  social  life,  confounded  all 
duties,  and  made  use  of  the  name  of 
Liberty  to  exercise  the  most  cruel  ty- 
ranny, annihilate  all  charters,  overturn 
all  property,  and  deliver  over  entire 
provinces  to  fire  and  sword.' 

46.  "  It  is  true,  when  England  made 
that  famous  declaration,  Louis  XVI. 
and  Marie  Antoinette  were  no  more. 
I  admit  that  Marie -Josephine  is  as 
yet  only  a  captive ;  that  her  tears  only 
have  been  caused  to  flow.     Ferdinand 
is  still  a  prisoner  in  his  palace,  as  Louis 
XVI.  was  in  his  before  being  led  to 
the  Temple  and  the  scaffold.     I  have 
no  wish  to  calumniate  the  Spaniards, 
but  I  cannot  esteem  them  more  than 
my  own  countrymen.      Revolutionary 
France  gave  birth  to  a  Convention; 
why  should  not  revolutionary  Spain 
do  the  same  ?    England  has  murdered 
its  Charles  I.,  France  its  Louis  XVI. ; 
if  Spain  follows  their  example,  a  series 
of  precedents  in  favour  of  crime  will  be 
established,  and  a  body  of  jurisprudence 
of  people  against  their  sovereigns. 

47.  "  England  herself  has  admitted 
the  principle  for  which  I  contend,  in 
recent  times.     She  has  conceded  to 
others  the  right  for  which  she  con- 
tended herself.     She  did  not  consider 
herself  entitled   to   interfere   in  the 
case  of  the  Italian  revolution,  but  she 
judged    otherwise    for  Austria ;    and 
accordingly  Lord  Castlereagh,   while 
repudiating  the  right  of  intervention 
in  that  convulsion  claimed  by  Austria, 
Prussia,  and  Russia,  declared  expressly 
in  his  circular  from  Laybach  of  19th 
January  1821, — '  It  must  be  clearly 
understood  that  no  government  can  be 
more  disposed  than  the  British  to  main- 
tain the  right  of  any  state  or  states  to 
intervene  when  its  immediate  security 
or  essential  interests  are  seriously  com- 
promised by  the  transactions  of  another 
state.'    Nothing  can  be  more  precise 
than  that  declaration;  and  Mr  Peel 
has  not  been  afraid  to  say,  on  a  late 
occasion  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
that  Austria  '  was  entitled  to  interfere 
in  the  affairs  of  Naples,  because  that 
country  had  adopted  the  Spanish  Con- 
stitution : '  no  one  can  contest  the  right 
of  France  to  interfere  in  those  of  Spain, 


when  it  is  menaced  by  that  Constitu- 
tion itself. 

48.  "  Can  any  one  doubt  that  we 
are  in  the  exceptional  case — that  our 
interests  are  essentially  injured  by  the 
Spanish  revolution  ?    Our  commerce  is 
hampered  by  the  suffering  consequent 
on  that  convulsion.     We  are  obliged 
to  keep  vessels  of  war  in  the  American 
seas,  which  are  infested  by  pirates  who 
have  sprung  out  of  the  anarchy  of  Eu- 
rope ;  and  we  have  not,  like  England, 
maritime  forces  to  protect  our  ships, 
many  of  which  have  fallen  into  their 
hands.     The  provinces  of  France  ad- 
joining Spain  are  under  the  most  press- 
ing necessity  to  see  order  re-established 
beyond  the  Pyrenees.  Our  consuls  have 
been  menaced  in  their  persons,  our 
territory  three  times  violated :  are  not 
their  '  essential  duties '  compromised  ? 
And  how  has  our  territory  been  vio- 
lated ?   To  massacre  a  few  injured  Roy- 
alists, who  thought  themselves  in  safety 
under  the    shadow  of  our   generous 
country.     "We  have  been  obliged,  in 
consequence,  to  maintain  a  large  army 
of  observation  on  the  frontier ;  without 
that,  our  southern  provinces  could  not 
enjoy  a  moment's  security.    That  state 
of  semi-hostility  has  all  the  inconven- 
iences of  war  without  the  advantages 
of  peace.     Shall  we,  in  obedience  to 
the  partisans  of  peace,  withdraw  the 
army  of  observation  ?    Certes,  we  are 
not  yet  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
flying  before  the   chevaliers    of  the 
Hammer,  or  giving  place  to  the  Lan- 
daburian  bands.     England  herself  has 
recognised  the  necessity  of  our  army 
of  observation  ;  for  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington said  at  the  Congress  of  Verona, 
'  Considering  that    a   civil  war  has 
been  lighted  on  the  whole  extent  of 
the  frontier  which  separates  the  two 
kingdoms,    no   one   can    contest  the 
necessity  of  establishing  the  army  of 
observation.' 

49.  "  It  was  not  I  who  spoke  first  of 
the  moral  contagion,  but  since  it  has 
been  mentioned  by  our  adversaries,  I 
confess  that  it  is  the  most  serious  and 
alarming  of  all  the  dangers.     Is  any 
one  ignorant  that  the  revolutionists  of 
Spain  are  in  correspondence  with  our 
own  ?     Have  they  not  by  public  pro- 


1823.] 


HISTOKY  OF  EUROPE. 


277 


elamations  invited  our  soldiers  to  re- 
volt? Have  they  not  threatened  to 
bring  down  the  tricolor  flag  from  the 
summit  of  the  Pyrenees,  to  restore  the 
son  of  Buonaparte  ?  Do  we  not  know 
the  plots,  the  conspiracies  of  those 
traitors  who  have  escaped  from  the 
hands  of  justice  in  this  country,  and 
now  pretend  to  invade  us  in  the  uni- 
form of  the  brave,  unworthy  to  cover 
their  treacherous  hearts  ?  Can  a  re- 
volution which  rouses  in  us  such  pas- 
sions, and  awakens  such  recollections, 
ever  fail  to  compromise  our  essential 
interests  ?  Can  it  be  said  to  be  shut 
up  in  the  Peninsula,  when  it  has  al- 
ready crossed  the  Pyrenees,  revolution- 
ised Italy,  shaken  France  and  Eng- 
land ?  Have  the  occurrences  at  Naples 
and  Turin  not  sufficiently  proved  the 
danger  of  the  moral  contagion  ?  And 
let  it  not  be  said  the  revolutionists  in 
these  states  adopted  the  Constitution 
of  the  Cortes  on  account  of  its  excel- 
lence. So  far  from  that  being  the 
case,  the  first  thing  they  were  obliged 
to  do,  after  having  adopted  the  Span- 
ish Constitution,  was  to  appoint  a  com- 
mission to  examine  what  it  was.  Thus 
it  soon  passed  away,  as  everything  does 
•which  is  foreign  to  the  customs  of  a 
country.  Ridiculous  from  its  birth, 
it  expired  in  disgrace  between  an  Aus- 
trian corporal  and  an  Italian  Carbo- 
nari. 

50.  "  Whence  this  extraordinary  pas- 
sion for  England,  and  praise  of  its  con- 
stitution, which  has  suddenly  sprung 
up  amongst  us  ?  A  year  has  not  elapsed 
since  the  boulevards  were  covered  with 
caricatures,  which  insulted  in  the  gross- 
est manner  everything  connected  with 
London.  In  their  love  of  revolution, 
the  same  persons  have  forgotten  all 
their  hatred  for  the  soldiers  who 
were  fortunate  at  Waterloo  :  little 
does  it  signify  what  they  have  done, 
provided  now  they  aid  them  in  sup- 
porting the  revolutionists  of  Spain 
against  a  Bourbon.  How  has  it  hap- 
pened that  the  Allies,  now  so  much 
the  object  of  animadversion,  were  not 
then  regirded  izi  the  same  light  ? 
Where  was  their  jealousy  of  the  Con- 
tinental powers  when  they  paraded 
with  so  much  satisfaction  their  ap- 


proval of  the  coup  d'etat  of  5th  Sep- 
tember, which  revolutionised  the  le- 
gislature ;  or  the  prosecutions  of  tho 
Royalists,  which  shook  the  foundation 
of  the  throne  ?  Who  heard  then  of 
the  dignity  of  France,  or  its  being 
unworthy  of  her  to  seek  support  in  the 
approbation  of  foreign  states  ?  When 
we  had  no  army — when  we  were  count- 
ed as  nothing  in  the  estimation  of  for- 
eign states — when  little  German  states 
invaded  us  with  impunity,  and  we  did 
not  venture  to  utter  a  complaint  — 
no  one  said  that  we  were  slaves.  But 
now,  when  our  military  resurrection 
has  astonished  Europe — now,  when  we 
raise  a  voice  in  the  councils  of  kings 
Avhich  is  always  attended  to  —  now, 
when  new  and  honourable  conventions 
expiate  those  in  which  we  expiated 
our  victories, — we  are  now  for  the  first 
time  told  that  we  are  placing  our  necks 
under  a  humiliating  yoke. 

51.  "I  admit  at  once,  France  has 
no  title  to  intermeddle  in  the  internal 
concerns  of  Spain.  It  is  for  the  Span- 
iards to  determine  what  species  of  con- 
stitution befits  them.  I  wish  them, 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  liberties 
commensurate  to  their  morals,  institu- 
tions which  may  put  their  virtues  be- 
yond the  reach  of  fortune  or  the  ca.-, 
price  of  men.  Spaniards  !  It  is  no 
enemy  of  yours  who  thus  speaks  ;  it  is 
he  who  had  predicted  the  return  of 
your  noble  destinies,  when  all  believed 
you  for  ever  disappeared  from  the 
scene  of  the  world.*  You  have  sur- 
passed my  predictions :  you  have  res- 
cued Europe  from  a  yoke  which  the 
most  powerful  empires  had  sought  in 
vain  to  break.  You  owe  to  France 
your  misfortunes  and  your  glory ;  she 
has  sent  you  these  two  scourges,  Buon- 
aparte and  the  Revolution.  Deliver 
yourselves  from  the  second,  as  you 

*  M.  de  Chateaubriand  alluded  to  the  fol- 
lowing passage  in  his  Genie  du  Christianisme, 
published  in  1803:  "  L'Espagne,  s^paree  des 
autres  nations,  presente  encore  a  1'historien 
un  caractfere  plus  original.  L'espece  de  stag- 
nation de  nioeurs  dans  laquelle  elle  repose, 
lui  sera  peut-6tre  utile  un  jour ;  et  lorsque  les 
peuples  europeens  seront  uses  par  la  corrup- 
tion, elle  settle  pnurra  reparaltre  avec  eclat  sur 
la  scene  (hi  monde,  imreecjue  le  fond  des  mceurs 
subsistc.  chez  elle." — Genie  du  Christianisme, 
partie  iii.  t.  iii.  c.  4. 


278 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  zrr» 


have  delivered   yourselves  from  the 
first. 

52.  "  As  to  the  Ministers,  the  speech 
of  the  Crown  has  traced  the  line  of 
their  duties.    They  will  never  cease  to 
desire  peace,   to  invoke  it  from  the 
bottom  of  their  hearts,  to  listen  to 
every  proposition  compatible  with  the 
honour  and  security  of  France  :  but  it 
is  indispensable  that  Ferdinand  should 
be  free  ;  it  is  necessary  that  France, 
at  all  hazards,  should  extricate  itself 
from  a  position  in  which  it  would  per- 
ish more  certainly  than  from  all  the 
dangers  of  war.     Let  us  never  forget 
that,  if  the  war  with  Spain  has,  like 
every   other  war,   its  inconveniences 
and  perils,  it  has  also  for  us  this  im- 
mense advantage  :  it  will  have  created 
an  army ;  it  will  have  caused  us  to  re- 
sume our  military  rank  among  nations ; 
it  will  have  decided  our  emancipation, 
and  re-established  our  independence. 
Something  was  perhaps  awanting  to 
the  entire   reconciliation  of  French- 
men ;   that  something  will  be  found 
beneath  the  tent ;  companions  in  arms 
are  soon  friends  ;  and  all  recollections 
are  lost  in  the  remembrance  of  a  com- 
mon glory.     The  King,  that  monarch 
so  wise,   so  pacific,  so  paternal,  has 
spoken.     He   has   thought  that   the 
security  of  France  and  the  dignity  of 
the  Crown  rendered  it  imperative  on 
him  to  have  recourse  to  arms,  after 
having  exhausted  the  councils  of  peace. 
He  has  declared  his  wish  that  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men  should  assemble 
under  the  orders  of  a  prince  who,  at 
the  passage  of  the  Drome,    showed 
himself  as  valiant  as  Henry  IV.    With 
generous  confidence  he  has  intrusted 
the  guard  of  the  white  flag  to  the  cap- 
tains Avho  have  triumphed  under  other 
colours.      They  will    teach  him  the 
path  of  victory ;  he  has  never  forgotten 
that  of  honour." 

53.  This  splendid  speech  made  a 
prodigious  sensation  in  France,  greater 
perhaps  than  any  other  since  the  days 
of  Mirabeau.     It  expressed  with  equal 
force  and  felicity  the  inmost  and  best 
feelings  of  the  Royalists ;  and  those 
feelings  were  on  this  occasion,  perhaps 
for  the  first  time,  in  unison  with  the 
sentiments  of  the  great  majority  of 


Frenchmen.  The  nation  had  become 
all  but  unanimous  at  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet.  The  inherent  adventurous 
and  warlike  spirit  of  the  Franks  had 
reappeared  in  undiminished  strength, 
at  the  prospect  of  war.  Chance,  or  the 
skilful  direction  of  Government,  had 
at  last  found  an  object  in  which  all 
classes  concurred— in  which  the  ardent 
loyalty  of  the  Royalist  coincided  with 
the  buoyant  ambition  of  the  people. 
In  vain  the  Liberal  chiefs,  who  antici- 
pated so  much  from  the  triumph  of 
their  allies  beyond  the  Pyrenees,  and 
dreaded  utter  discomfiture  from  their 
defeat,  endeavoured  to  turn  aside  the 
stream,  and  to  envenom  patriotic  by 
party  feelings.  The  attempt  wholly 
failed  :  the  Chambers  were  all  but 
unanimous  in  favour  of  the  war  ;  and 
their  feelings  were  re-echoed  from 
Calais  to  the  Pyrenees. 

54.  M.  Talleyrand  made  a  remark- 
able speech  on  this  occasion,  which 
deserves  to  be  recorded,  as  one  of  the 
most  unfortunate  prophecies  ever  made 
by  a  man  of  ability  on  the  future  is- 
sue of  affairs.  "It  is  just  sixteen 
years  to-day,"  said  he,  "since  I  was 
called  by  him  who  then  governed  the 
world  to  give  him  my  advice  on  the 
struggle  in  which  he  was  about  to 
engage  with  Spain.  I  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  displease  him  because  I  re- 
vealed the  future — because  I  unfolded 
the  misfortunes  which  might  arise  from 
an  aggression  as  unjust  as  it  was  in- 
expedient. Disgrace  was  the  reward 
of  my  sincerity.  Strange  destiny  ! — • 
which  now,  after  so  long  an  interval, 
leads  me  to  give  the  same  counsels  to 
a  legitimate  sovereign  !  It  is  my  part, 
who  have  had  so  large  a  share  in  the 
double  Restoration  —  who,  by  my  ef- 
forts, I  may  say  by  my  success,  have 
wound  up  my  glory  and  my  responsi- 
bility entirely  with  the  alliance  be- 
tween France  and  the  house  of  Bour- 
bon— to  contribute  as  much  as  lies  in 
my  power  to  prevent  the  work  of  wis- 
dom and  justice  from  being  compro- 
mised by  rash  and  insane  passions." 
When  this  counsel  on  the  Spanish  war 
is  compared  with  the  result  which  oc- 
curred a  few  months  afterwards,  the 
difference  is  sufficiently  striking.  Tal- 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


279 


leyrand,  with  his  sagacity  and  experi- 
ence, proved  a  more  fallacioiis  coun- 
sellor than  Chateaubriand,  with  his 
poetry  and  romance.  Wisdom  was 
found  in  the  inspirations  of  genius  ra- 
ther than  the  deductions  of  experience. 
The  reason  is,  that  Talleyrand  thought 
the  result  would  be  the  same,  because 
it  was  an  attack  by  France  on  Spain, 
forgetting  that  the  circumstances  were 
materially  different,  and  that  the  Bour- 
bon invasion  had  that  in  its  favour 
which  in  that  of  Napoleon  was  alto- 
gether a  wanting — viz.,  the  support  of 
the  great  body  of  the  people.  A  me- 
morable example  of  the  important 
truth,  that  events  in  history  are  not 
to  be  drawn  into  a  precedent  unless 
the  material  circumstances  attending 
them  are  similar  ;  and  that  it  is  in  the 
faculty  of  discerning  where  that  simi- 
larity exists  that  the  highest  proof  of 
political  wisdom  is  to  be  found. 

55.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  in  favour  of  the  war  did 
not  evaporate  merely  in  vehement  har- 
angues from  the  tribune  ;  substantial 
acts  testified  their  entire  adhesion  to 
the  system  of  the  Government.     They 
voted,  by  a  very  large  majority,  a  sup- 
plementary credit  of  100,000,000  francs 
(£4,000,000)  for  carrying  on  the  war, 
to  be  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  minis- 
ter.    The  state  of  the  revenue  this 
year  was  very  flattering,  and  demon- 
strated how  rapidly  the  national  re- 
sources were  augmenting  under  the 
influence  of  the  peace,  freedom,  and 
security  of  property  which  France  was 
enjoying  under  the  mild  rule  of  the 
Bourbon  princes.* 

56.  In  the  course  of  the  debate  on 
this  grant,  an  incident  occurred,  which, 
in  a  more  unfavourable  state  of  the 
public  mind,  might  have  overturned 
the  monarchy.     M.  Manuel  was  put 
forward  by  the  Opposition  to  answer 
the  speech  of  M.  Chateaubriand,  he 
being  the  orator  on  the  Liberal  side 
whose   close    and    logical   reasoning, 
as  well  as  powers  of  eloquence,  were 

*  It  exhibited  a  surplus  of  42,945,907  francs 
(£1,680,000),  so  that  the  extraordinary  credit 
only  required  to  be  operated  upon  to  the  ex- 
tent of  57,054,093  francs  (£2,340,000).— Bud- 
get, 1S23  ;  Annuaire  Historique,  vi.  39,  40. 


deemed  most  capable  of  deadening  the 
sensation  produced  by  the  splendid  ora- 
tion of  the  Foreign  Minister.  He  said 
in  the  course  of  his  speech:  "The 
Spaniards,  it  is  said,  are  mutuallj' 
cutting  each  other's  throats,  and  we 
must  intervene  to  prevent  one  party 
from  destroying  the  other.  It  is  with- 
out doubt  a  singular  mode  of  dimin- 
ishing the  horrors  of  civil  war,  to  su- 
perinduce to  them  those  of  foreign 
hostilities.  But  suppose  you  are  suc- 
cessful. The  insurrection  is  crushed  in 
Spain  ;  it  is  annihilated  ;  the  friends  of 
freedom  have  laid  down  their  arms. 
What  can  you  do  ?  You  cannot  for 
ever  remain  in  the  Peninsula;  you 
must  retire ;  and  when  you  do  so,  a 
new  explosion,  more  dangerous  than 
the  former,  will  break  forth.  Consult 
history :  has  ever  a  revolution  in  fa- 
vour of  civil  liberty  been  finally  sub- 
dued ?  Crushed  it  may  be  for  the  mo- 
ment ;  but  the  genius  which  has 
produced  it  is  imperishable.  Like 
Antaeus,  the  giant  regains  his  strength 
every  time  he  touches  the  earth. 

57.  "The  civil  war  which  recently 
raged  in  Spain  was  mainly  your  own 
work  ;  the  soldiers  'of  the  faith'  only 
took  up  arms  in  the  belief  they  would 
be  supported  by  you.  How,  then,  can 
you  find  in  the  consequences  of  your 
own  acts  a  justification  of  your  in- 
tervention ?  Can  you  justify  deeds  of 
violence  by  perfidy  ?  You  say  you  wish 
to  save  Ferdinand  and  his  family.  If 
you  do,  beware  of  repeating  the  same 
circumstances  which,  in  a  former  age, 
conducted  to  the  scaffold  victims  for 
whom  you  daily  evince  so  warm  and 
legitimate  an  interest.  Have  you  for- 
gotten that  the  Stuarts  were  only  over- 
turned because  they  sought  support 
from  the  stranger ;  that  it  was  in  con- 
sequence of  the  invasion  of  the  hostile 
armies  that  Louis  XVI.  was  precipitat- 
ed from  the  throne  ?  Are  you  ignor- 
ant that  it  was  the  protection  accorded 
by  France  to  the  Stuarts,  which  caused 
the  ruin  of  that  race  of  princes  ?  That 
succour  was  clandestine,  it  is  true  ; 
but  it  was  sufficient  to  encourage  the 
Stuarts  in  their  resistance  to  public 
opinion  ;  thence  the  resistance  to  that 
opinion,  and  the  misfortunes  of  that 


280 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xu. 


family — misfortunes  which  it  would 
have  avoided  if  it  had  sought  its  sup- 
port in  the  nation.  Xeed  I  remind 
you  that  the  dangers  of  the  royal 
family  have  been  fearfully  aggravated 
when  the  stranger  invaded  our  terri- 
tory, and  that  revolutionary  France, 
feeling  the  necessity  of  defending  itself 
by  new  forces  and  a  fresh  energy " 

58.  At  these  words  a  perfect  storm 
arose  in  the  Chamber.     "  Order  !  or- 
der!"  was  shouted  on  the  Right ;  "this 
is  regicide,  justified  and  provoked." 
"Expulsion,    expulsion!"    "Let   us 
chase  the  monster  from  our  benches  !  " 
exclaimed  a  hundred  voices.    The  pre- 
sident, M.  Ravez,  seeing  the  speaker 
had  been  interrupted  in  the  midst  of  a 
sentence,  and  that  the  offence  taken 
arose   from   a   presumed  meaning  of 
words  which  were  to  follow,  not  of 
what  had  actually  been  used,  hesitated 
with  reason  to  act  upon  such  specula- 
tive views,  and  conteuted  himself  with 
calling  M.  Mauuel  to  order.     So  far 
were  the  Royalists  from  being  satisfied 
with  this  moderate  concession,  that 
they  instantly  rose  up  in  a  body,  sur- 
rounded the  president's  chair  with  loud 
cries  and  threats,  demanding  that  the 
apologist  of   regicide  should  be   in- 
stantly expelled  from  the  Chamber  ; 
while   one  of  them,   more   audacious 
than  the  rest,  actually  pulled  M.  Man- 
uel from  the  tribune,  and,  mounting  in 
his  stead,  demanded  in  a  stentorian 
voice  the  vengeance  of  France  on  the 
advocate  of  assassins.     Meanwhile  M. 
Manuel,  conscious  that  the  sentence 
which  had  been  interrupted,  if  allowed 
to  be  completed,  would  at  once  dispel 
the  storm,  was  calm  and  impassible  in 
the  midst  of  the  uproar  ;  but  that  only 
made  matters  worse  with  the  infuriated 
majority  ;  and  at  length  the  president, 
finding  all  his  efforts  to  appease  the 
tumult  fruitless,  gave  the  well-known 
signal  of  distress  by  covering  his  head, 
and  broke  up  the  meeting. 

59.  This  scene  had  already  been 
sufficiently  violent,  and  indicative  of 
the  risks  which  the  representative  sys- 
tem ran  in  France  from  the  excitable 
temper  of  the  people ;  but  it  was  as 
nothing  to  that  which  soon  after  en- 
sued. The  Royalists,  when  the  meeting 


was  dissolved,  rushed  in  a  body  out  of 
the  Chamber,  and  broke  into  separate 
knots,  to  concert  ulterior  operations  ; 
while  the  Liberals  remained  on  their 
benches,  in  the  midst  of  which  M. 
Manuel  wrote  a  letter  to  the  president, 
in  which  he  stated  how  the  sentence 
which  had  been  interrupted  was  to 
have  been  concluded,  and  contended 
for  his  right  to  finish  the  sentence,  and 
then  let  its  import  be  judged  of  by  the 
Chamber.*  The  sitting  was  resumed, 
to  consider  this  explanation  ;  but  a 
heated  Royalist  from  the  south,  M. 
Forbin  des  Essarts,  instantly  ascended 
the  tribune,  and  demanded  the  expul- 
sion of  the  orator  "  who  had  pronounc- 
ed such  infamous  expressions,  seeing 
no  rules  of  procedure  could  condemn 
an  assembly  to  the  punishment  of  hear- 
ing a  man  whose  maxims  and  speech 
recommended  or  justified  regicide." 
M.  Manuel  attempted  to  justify  him- 
self ;  but  he  was  again  interrupted  by 
the  cries  of  the  Royalists,  and  the  pre- 
sident, hoping  to  gain  time  for  the 
passions  to  cool,  adjourned  the  sitting 
to  the  following  day.  But  in  this  hope 
he  was  disappointed,  as  is  generally 
the  case  when  consideration  succeeds 
after  the  feelings  have  been  thoroughly 
roused.  What  is  called  reflection  is 
then  only  listening  to  the  re-echo  of  pas- 
sion ;  one  only  voice  is  heard,  one  only 
key  is  touched,  one  only  sentiment  felt. 
A  lover,  who  is  contending  with  him- 
self, rises  from  his  sleepless  couch  con- 
firmed, not  shaken,  in  his  preposses- 
sions. During  the  night,  a  formal 
motion  for  the  expulsion  of  the  sup- 
posed delinquent,  for  the  remainder  of 

*  "  '  Je  demandais  si  on  avait  oublie1  qu'en 
France  la  mort  de  1'infortune  Louis  XVI.  avait 
etc  precedee  ipar  1'intervention  armee  des 
Prussians  et  des  Autriehiens,  et  je  rappelais 
comme  un  fait  conuu  de  tout  le  monde  que 
c'est  alors  que  la  France  revolutionnaire,  sent- 
ant  le  besoin  de  se  defendre  par  des  forces  et 
une  <;nergie  nouvelles.'  C'est  igi  que  j'aie'W 
interrompu.  Si  je  ne  1'eusse  pas  e'te,  ma 
phrase  eute  e"t6  prononcee  ainsi — 'Alors  la 
France  revolutionnaire,  sentant  le  besoin  de 
se  deTendre  par  des  forces  et  une  £nergie  nou- 
velles, rn.it  en  mourement  toutes  Us  manses,  ex- 
aita  toutes  les  passions  populaires,  et  amena 
ainsi  de  terribles  exces  et  une  deplorable  catas- 
trophe an  milieu  d'une  genereuse  resistance.'" 
— M.  MANUEL  au  President,  26  Feb.  1823  ; 
Annuaire  Hittorique,  vL  168 ;  Moniteur,  27th 
Feb. 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


281 


the  session,  was  prepared  by  M.  de  la 
Bourdonnaye,  the  acknowledged  leader 
of  the  extreme  Royalists ;  and  al- 
though the  justice  or  shame  of  the 
Chamber  permitted  M.  Manuel  to  be 
heard  in  his  defence,  and  the  debate 
was  more  than  once  adjourned,  to  en- 
able the  numerous  speakers  who  in- 
scribed their  names  on  the  tribune  to 
be  heard  on  the  question,  the  torrent 
was  irresistible.  The  determination 
of  the  Royalists  only  increased  with 
the  effervescence  of  the  public  mind  ; 
and,  amidst  agitated  crowds  which 
surrounded  the  Assembly  on  all  sides, 
and  under  the  protection  of  squadrons 
of  cavalry,  the  expulsion  of  M.  Man- 
uel, during  the  remainder  of  the  ses- 
sion, was  voted,  on  the  evening  of  4th 
March,  by  a  majority  of  fully  two  to 
one,  the  whole  Centre  coalescing  with 
the  Right.  The  agitation  which  pre- 
vailed rendered  it  impossible  to  take 
the  vote  otherwise  than  by  acclama- 
tion. 

60.  The  exclusion  of  a  single  mem- 
ber, during  the  remainder  of  a  single 
session,  was  no  very  serious  injury  to 
a  party,  or  blow  levelled  at  the  public 
liberties ;  but  the  passions  on  both 
sides  were  so  strongly  excited  by  this 
imprudent  abuse  of  power  by  the  Roy- 
alist majority,  that  the  Liberals  re- 
solved to  resist  it  to  the  very  utter- 
most. It  was  determined  to  compel 
the  majority  to  use  force  for  his  expul- 
sion ;  and  the  recollection  of  the  risk 
which  ensued  to  the  throne  from  the 
dragging  of  M.  d'Espremenil  from  the 
Parliament  of  Paris,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  first  Revolution,  was  of 
sinister  augury  as  to  the  effects  of  en- 
forcing the  present  decree  by  similar 
means.  The  Government,  however, 
was  firm,  and  resolved,  at  all  hazards, 
to  carry  the  decree  of  the  Chamber  into 
execution.  Every  preparation  was  ac- 
cordingly made  to  overawe,  and,  if  ne- 
cessary, to  subdue  resistance.  The 
Liberal  leaders,  however,  were  deter- 
mined to  have  a  scene,  and,  instead  of 
yielding  obedience  to  the  decree  of  the 
Chamber,  M.  Manuel  appeared  next 
morning  in  the  Hall,  and  took  his  seat. 
When  invited  by  the  president  to  re- 
tire without  disturbance,  he  replied, 


"I  told  you  yesterday  I  would  only 
yield  to  force  ;  I  come  to  make  good 
my  word,"  and  resumed  his  seat.  The 
president  then  desired  the  Assembly 
to  evacuate  the  hall,  and  retire  into 
their  respective  apartments,  which  was 
immediately  done  by  the  whole  Right 
and  Centre,  but  the  entire  Left  re- 
mained in  their  places,  grouped  around 
Manuel.  Presently  the  folding-doors 
opened,  and  the  chief  of  the  bar-officers, 
followed  by  a  numerous  staff  of  his  col- 
leagues, advanced,  and  read  to  Manuel 
the  decree  of  the  Chamber.  "  Your 
order  is  illegal,"  replied  he ;  "I  will 
not  obey  it.  The  peace-officers  then 
retired,  and  the  anxiety  in  the  galle- 
ries, and  the  crowd  around  the  Cham- 
ber, arose  to  the  highest  point,  for  the 
"  measured  step  of  marching  men  " 
was  heard  in  the  lobby.  Presently 
the  folding  -  doors  again  opened,  and 
a  detachment  of  national  guards  and 
troops  of  the  line,  with  fixed  bayonets, 
slowly  entered,  and  drew  up  in  front 
of  the.  refractory  deputy.  The  civil 
officer  then  ordered  the  sergeant  of  the 
national  guard,  M.  Morrier,  to  execute 
the  warrant ;  but,  overcome  by  the  vio- 
lence of  the  crisis,  and  the  cries  of  the 
deputies  around  Manuel,  he  refused  to 
obey.  "Vive  la  Garde  Nationals  !" 
instantly  burst  in  redoubled  shouts 
from  the  opposition  benches  ;  "  Hon- 
neur  &  la  Garde  Nationale  ! "  was  heard 
above  all  the  din  in  the  voice  of  La- 
fayette. But  the  difficulty  had  been 
foreseen  and  provided  for  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  national  guard  and 
troops  of  the  line  were  instantly  with- 
drawn, and  thirty  gendarmes,  under 
M.  de  Foucault,  an  officer  of  tried 
fidelity  and  courage,  were  introduced, 
who,  after  in  vain  inviting  Manuel  to 
retire,  seized  him  by  the  collar,  and 
dragged  him  out,  amidst  vehement 
gesticulations  and  cries  from  the  Left, 
which  were  heard  across  the  Seine. 

61.  These  dramatic  scenes,  so  well 
calculated  to  excite  the  feelings  of  a 
people  so  warm  in  temperament  as  the 
French,  might,  under  different  circum- 
stances, have  overturned  the  monarchy, 
and  induced  in  1823  the  Revolution  of 
1830.  The}'  were  followed  next  day  b)" 
a  solemn  protest,  signed  by  sixty  depu- 


282 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


ties  who  had  adhered  to  11.  Manuel  in 
the  struggle,  among  which  the  signa- 
tures of  General  Lafayette,  General 
Foy,  and  M.  Casimir  Perier  appeared 
conspicuous.  But  no  other  result  took 
place.  The  public  mind  is  incapable 
of  being  violently  excited  by  two  pas- 
sions at  the  same  time  ;  if  the  national 
feelings  have  been  roused,  the  social 
ones  are  little  felt.  It  was  a  perception 
of  this  truth  which  caused  the  Empress 
Catherine  to  say,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  French  Revolution,  that  the  only 
way  to  combat  its  passions  was  to  go  to 
war.  The  din,  great  as  it  was,  caused 
by  the  dragging  M.  Manuel  out  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  was  lost  in  the 
louder  sound  of  marching  men  pressing 
on  to  the  Pyrenees.  The  civic  strife 
was  heard  of  no  more  after  it  had  ter- 
minated :  nothing  was  thought  of  but 
the  approaching  conflict  on  the  fields 
of  Spain.  Incessant  was  the  march 
of  troops  towards  Bayonne  and  Per- 
pignan,  the  two  points  from  which  the 
invasion  was  to  be  made.  The  roads 
were  covered  by  columns  of  infantry, 
cavalry,  and  artillery,  moving  forward 
towards  the  Spanish  frontier,  in  the 
finest  order,  and  in  the  highest  spirits ; 
and  the  warlike  enthusiasm  of  the 
French,  always  strong,  was  roused  to 
the  very  highest  pitch,  by  the  prospect 
of  vindicating  the  tarnished  honour  of 
their  arms  on  the  fields  of  Castile,  and 
re-entering  Madrid  as  conquerors.  The 
Duke  of  Angouleme  set  out  from  Paris, 
to  take  the  command  of  the  army,  on 
the  15th  March ;  and  as  war  was  no 
longer  doubtful,  the  anxiety  on  both 
sides  arose  to  the  very  highest  pitch. 

62.  On  their  side,  the  Liberals,  both 
in  France  and  Spain,  were  not  idle. 
Their  chief  reliance  was  on  the  pre- 
sumed or  hoped-for  disaffection  of  the 
French  army ;  for  they  were  we'll  aware 
that  if  they  remained  united,  the  forces 
of  Spain,  debased  by  misgovernment, 
and  torn  by  civil  war,  would  be  unable 
to  oppose  any  effectual  resistance  to 
their  incursion.  The  most  active  mea- 
sures, however,  were  taken  to  sow  the 
seeds  of  disaffection  in  the  French 
army.  Several  secret  meetings  of  the 
Liberal  chiefs  in  Paris  took  place,  in 
order  to  concert  the  most  effectual 


means  of  carrying  this  design  into  exe- 
cution ;  and  it  was  at  first  determined 
to  send  M.  Benjamin  Constant  to  Mad- 
rid to  superintend  the  preparations  on 
the  revolutionary  side,  it  being  with 
reason  supposed  that  his  great  reputa- 
tion and  acknowledged  abilities  would 
have  much  influence  with  the  revolu- 
tionists in  Spain,  and  be  not  without 
its  effect  on  the  feelings  of  the  French 
soldiery.  But  this  design,  like  many 
others  formed  by  persons  who  are  more 
liberal  of  their  breath  than  their  for- 
tunes, failed  from  want  of  funds.  Ben- 
jamin Constant,  whose  habits  of  ex- 
pense were  great,  and  his  income  from 
literary  effort  considerable,  refused  to 
undertake  the  mission  unless  not  only 
his  expenses  were  provided  for,  but  an 
indemnity  secured  to  him,  in  the  event 
of  failure,  for  the  loss  of  his  fortune 
and  the  means  of  repairing  it,  which 
his  position  in  Paris  afforded.  This, 
however,  the  Liberals,  though  many 
of  them  were  bankers  or  merchants, 
possessed  of  great  wealth,  declined  to 
undertake  ;  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was 
equally  inexorable ;  and  the  conse- 
quence was,  that  Constant  refused  to 
go,  and  the  plan,  so  far  as  he  was'con- 
cerned,  broke  down.  All  that  was  done 
was  to  send  a  few  hundred  political 
fanatics  and  refugees,  who  were  to  be 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Fab- 
vier,  and  who,  though  of  no  importance 
as  a  military  reinforcement,  might,  it 
was  hoped,  when  clothed  in  the  uni- 
form of  the  Old  Guard,  and  grouped 
round  the  tricolor  standard,  shake  the 
fidelity  of  the  French  soldiers  on  the 
banks  of  the  Bidassoa.  Their  first  step 
was  to  issue  a  proclamation  in  the  name 
of  Napoleon  II.  to  the  French  soldiers, 
calling  on  them  to  desert  their  colours, 
and  join  the  revolutionary  host — a  pro- 
ceeding which  amply  demonstrated,  if 
it  had  been  required,  the  necessity  of 
the  French  intervention.* 

*  "  Vainqueurs  de  Fleurns,  de  lena,  d'Aus- 
tevlitz,  de  Wagram,  vous  laisserez-vous  aller 
ii  leurs  insinuations  perfides  ?  Scellerez-vous 
de  votre  sang,  1'infamie  dont  on  vent  yous 
couvrir,  et  la  servitude  de  1'Europe  entiere  ? 
Obelrez-vous  &  la  voix  des  tyrans,  pour  oom- 
battre  centre  vos  droits,  au  lieu  de  Jes  d^fen- 
dre  ;  et  ne  viendrez-vous  dans  nos  rangs  que- 
poury  apporter  la  destruction  et  la  inort,  Iprs- 
qu'ils  YOUS  sent  ouverts  pour  la  libert<5  sainte 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


23? 


63.  While  hostilities  were  thus  evi- 
dently and  rapidly  approaching  on  the 
Continent,  and  the  dogs  of  war  were 
held  only  in  the  leash,  ready  to  he  let 
loose  at  a  moment's  warning,  to  deso- 
late the  world,  England,  indignant  and 
agitated,  but  still  inactive,  remained 
an  anxious  spectator  of  the  strife. 
Never  were  the  feelings  of  the  nation 
more  strongly  roused,  and  never  would 
a  war  have  been  entered  into  by  the 
Government  with  more  cordial  and 
enthusiastic  support  on  the  part  of  the 
people.  This  is  always  the  case,  and  it 
arises  from  the  strength  of  the  feelings 
of  liberty  which  are  indelibly  engraven 
on  the  minds  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 
Their  sympathy  is  invariably  with 
those  whom  they  suppose  to  be  op- 
pressed ;  their  impulse  to  assist  the 
insurgents  against  the  ruling  power. 
They  would  support  the  colonies  of  all 
countries,  except  their  ovm,  in  throw- 
ing off  their  allegiance  to  the  parent 
state  :  those  who  attempt  the  same 
system  in  regard  to  their  own,  they 
regard  as  worse  than  pirates.  They 

qui  vons  appelle  dn  haut  de  1'enseigne  trico- 
lore  qui  flotte  stir  les  raonts  Pyrenees,  et  dont 
elle  brule  d'ombrager  encore  une  fois  vos 
nobles  fronts  converts  de  taut  d'honorables 
cicatrices  ?  Braves  de  toute  arme  de  1'amiee 
franchise,  qui  conservez  encore  dans  votre  sein 
I'dtincelle  du  feu  sacre  !  c'est  a  vous  que  nous 
faisons  un  ge'ne'reux  appel;  embrassez  avec 
nous  la  cause  majestueuse  du  peuple,  centre 
celle  d'une  poignee  d'oppresseurs ;  la  Patrie, 
1'honneur,  votre  propre  interSt  le  command- 
ent;  venez,  vous  trouverez  dans  nos  rangs 
tout  ce  qui  constitue  la  force,  et  des  cpmpa- 
triotes,  des  corapagnons  d'armes,  qui  jurent 
de  defendre  jusqu'a  la  derniere  goutte  de  leur 
Bang,  leurs  droits,  la  liberte",  1'ind^pendance 
nationale.  Vive  la  liberte" !  Vive  Napoleon 
II. !  Vivent  les  braves ! "— CHATEAUBBIAND, 
Congres  de  Veront,  i.  254,  255. 

In  the  Observateur  Espagnol-ot  1st  Oct. 
1822,  before  the  Congress  of  Verona  was 
opened,  it  was  said — "  L'e'pe'e  de  Damocles 
qui  est  suspendue  sur  la  tdte  des  Bourbons, 
va  bientfit  les  atteindre.  Nos  moyens  de 
vengeance  sont  de  toute  evidence.  Outre  la 
vaillante  armee  espagnole,  n'avons-nous  pas 
danscette  armee  sanitaire  dix  mille  chevaliers 
de  la  Iibert6,  prdts  &,  se  joindre  &  leurs  anciens 
offlciers,  et  a  tourner  leurs  armes  contre  les 
oppresseurs  de  la  France !  N'avons-nous  pas 
cent  mille  de  ces  chevaliers  dans  I'inte'rieur 
de  ce  royaume,  dont  vingt  cinq  mille  au  moins 
dans  1'armee,  et  plus  de  mille  dans  la  garde 
royale?  N'avons-nous  pas  pour  nous,  cette 
h.iine  excusable,  que  les  neuf-dixiemes  de  la 
France  out  vouee  a  d'extcrables  tyraiis?  " — 
L'Obtervatear  Espagnol,  1st  Oct.  1822. 


consider  revolution  a  blessing  to  all 
other  countries  except  England  :  there 
the  whole  classes  possessed  of  property 
are  resolute  to  oppose  to  it  the  most 
determined  resistance.  They  think, 
with  reason,  they  have  already  gone 
through  the  ordeal  of  revolution,  and 
do  not  need  to  do  so  a  second  time  ; 
other  nations  have  not  yet  passed 
through  it,  and  they  cannot  obtain, 
felicity  until  they  have. 

64.  Mr  Canning,  whose  tempera- 
ment was  warm,  his  sympathy  with 
freedom  sincere,  and  his  ambition  for 
his  country  and  himself  powerful, 
shared  to  the  very  full  in  all  these 
sentiments.  No  firmer  friend  to  the 
cause  of  liberty  existed  in  the  British 
dominions  at  that  eventful  crisis,  and 
none  whose  talents,  eloquence,  as  well 
as  political  position,  enabled  him  to 
give  it  such  effectual  support.  In 
truth,  at  that  period  it  may  be  said 
that  he  held  the  keys  of  the  cavern  of 
./Eolus  in  his  hands,  and  that  it  rested 
with  him  to  unlock  the  doors  and  let 
the  winds  sweep  round  the  globe.  But 
though  abundantly  impelled  (as  his 
private  conversations  and  correspond- 
ence at  this  period  demonstrate)  by  his 
ardent  disposition  to  step  forward  as 
the  foremost  in  this  great  conflict,  yet 
his  experience  and  wisdom  as  a  states- 
man, joined  to  the  influence  of  Mr  Peel, 
who  threatened  to  resign  if  an  active 
intervention  was  attempted,  restrained 
him  from  taking  the  irrecoverable  step, 
and  preserved  the  peace  of  the  world 
when  it  appeared  to  be  most  seriously 
menaced.*  Resolutely  determined  to 

*  "  Leave  the  Spanish  revolution  to  burn 
itself  out  within  its  own  crater.  You  have  no- 
thing to  apprehend  from  the  eruption,  if  you 
do  not  open  a  channel  for  the  lava  through 
the  Pyrenees.  It  is  not  too  late  to  save  the 
world  from  a  flood  of  calamities.  The  key  to 
the  flood-gate  is  yet  in  your  hands;  unlock 
it,  and  who  shall  answer  for  the  extent  of 
devastation?  'The  beginning  of  strife  is  as 
the  letting  out  of  waters."  So  says  inspired 
wisdom.  Genius  is  akin  to  inspiration ;  and, 
I  pray  that  it  may  be  able  on  this  occasion 
to  profit  by  the  warning  of  the  parable,  and 
pause." — MBCANNING  to  M.  DE  CHATEAUBRI- 
AND (confidential),  27th  January  1823 ;  Con- 
gres de  Vdrone,  i.  475. 

"Well,  then,  to  begin  at  once  with  what  is 
most  unpleasant  to  utter:  You  have  united 
the  opinions  of  this  whole  nation  a*  one  man 
against  France.  You  nave  excited  against 


284 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


abstain  from  all  intervention  in  the 
affairs  of  Spain,  and  to  do  his  utmost 
to  prevent  France  from  taking  that 
step,  he  was  not  the  less  resolved  to 
abstain  from  actual  hostilities,  and  to 
keep  aloof  from  the  conflict  so  long  as 
it  was  confined  to  continental  Europe. 
He  had  too  vivid  a  recollection  of  what 
the  last  Peninsular  war  had  been,  to 
engage  without  absolute  necessity  in 
a  second  ;  and  if  he  had  been  other- 
wise inclined,  the  majority  of  the 
Cabinet  would  not  have  upported 
him.* 

65.   The   peculiar  position   of   Mr 

the  present  sovereign  of  that  kingdom  the 
feelings  which  were  united  against  the  usurper 
of  France  and  Spain  in  1SOS.  Nay,  the  con- 
sent, I  grieve  to  say,  is  more  perfect  now 
than  on  that  occasion ;  for  then  the  Jacobins 
-were  loth  to  inculpate  their  idol :  now  they 
•and  the  Whigs  and  Tories,  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other,  are  all  one  way.  Surely 
:such  a  spontaneous  and  universal  burst  of 
.national  sentiment  must  lead  any  man,  or  any 
set  of  men,  who  are  acting  in  opposition  to  it, 
to  reflect  whether  they  are  acting  quite  right. 
The  Government  has  not  on  this  occasion  led 
the  public— quite  otherwise.  The  language  of 
the  Government  has  been  peculiarly  measured 
and  temperate ;  so  much  so,  that  the  mass  of 
the  nation  was  in  suspense  as  to  the  opinion 
of  Government  till  it  was  actually  declared ; 
and  that  portion  of  the  press  usually  devot- 
ed to  them  was  (for  reasons  perhaps  better 
known  on  your  side  of  the  water  than  on  ours) 
turned  in. a  directly  opposite  course." — MR 
CANNING  to  VISCOUNT  CHATEAUBRIAND,  7th 
February  1823 ;  Congres  de  Verone,  i.  475. 

*  "  J'apprends  a  1'instant,  et  detres-bonne 
source,  qu'avant-hier,  dans  un  conseil  secret 
des  Ministres,  M.  Canning  a  pretendu  qu'on 
ne  pouvait  lutter  contre  1'opinion  generate,  et 
que  cette  opinion  demaudait  imperieusement 
de  secourir  1'Espagne.  M.  Peel  a  d<5clar<5, 
alors,  que  1'honneur  de  1'Angleterre,  l'int£-rgt 
de  ses  institutions  et  de  son  commerce,  etaient 
de  maintenir  une  stricte  neutralite;  et  il  a 
termine  en  disant  que  si  une  conduite  opposee 
A  celle  que  1'Angleterre  avait  toujours  suivie 
envers  la  Revolution  venait  a  etre  adoptee,  il 
<levait  k  sa  conscience  de  se  retirer  du  Min- 
isters aussitot.  Cejevne  ministre  I' a  emporte. 
La  grande  majority  du  conseil  s'est  reunie  a 
lui,  et  M.  Canning  a  decide1  an  nombre." — 
M.  MARCEI.LUS,  Chargt  d'A/aires  a  Londres, 
&  M.  DE  CHATEAUBRIAND,  28  Fevrier  1823; 
MARCELLUS,  152. 

Notwithstanding  the  divergence  on  poli- 
tical subjects  of  their  opinions,  which  the 
opposite  sides  they  espoused  on  the  Spanish 
question  much  augmented,  Mr  Canning  and 
M.  de  Chateaubriand  had  the  highest  admira- 
tion for  each  other,  and  mutually  lamented 
the  circumstances  which  had  drawn  them  out 
of  the  peaceful  domain  of  literature  to  the 
stormy  and  fleeting  arena  of  politics.  The 


Canning  at  this  period  has  never  been 
so  well  described  as  by  one  who  knew 
him  intimately,  and  had  become,  as 
it  were,  the  depositary  of  his  inmost 
thoughts.  "Let  us  not  deceive  our- 
selves," said  M.  Marcellus,  "in  regard 
to  Mr  Canning.  Still  undecided,  he 
as  yet  is  in  suspense  between  the  mon- 
archical opinions  which  have  made  his 
former  renown,  and  the  popular  favour 
which  has  recently  borne  him  forward 
to  power ;  but  as  he  attends,  above 
all,  to  the  echo  of  public  opinion,  and 
spreads  his  sails  before  the  wind  which 
blows,  it  is  easy  to  foresee  to  which  side 

inmost  thoughts  of  the  former  were  revealed 
in  the  following  conversation  at  this  period 
with  M.  Marcellus,  for  whom  he  had  a  very 
high  regard.  ' '  C'est  done  a  cette  petite  pous- 
siere  de  la  tombe  que  vont  aboutir  inevitable- 
ment  nos  inutiles  efforts.  Qu'ai-je  gagne"  a 
taut  de  combats?  De  nombreux  ennemis,  et 
mille  calomnies.  Tantot  retenu  par  Ie  deTaut 
d'intelligenee  de  mes  partisans,  toujours  gene 
par  le  deplaisir  dn  Roi,  je  ne  puis  rien  exe'cu- 
ter,  rien  essayer  meme  de  ce  qu'une  voix 
interne  et  solennelle  semble  me  dieter.  Je 
le  disais  recemment  dans  ma  tristesse ;  je  me 
prends  quelquefois  pour  un  oiseau  des  hau- 
teurs qui,  loin  de  voler  sur  les  hauteurs  et  sur 
les  precipices  des  montagnes,  ne  vole  que  sur 
des  inarais,  et  rase  a  peine  le  soL  Je  me  con- 
sume sans  fruit  dans  des  discussions  intes- 
tines, et  je  mourrai  dans  un  acces  de  decou- 
ragement,  comme  mon  predecesseur  et  mon 
malheureux  ennemi  Lord  Castlereagh.  Com- 
bien  defoisn'ai-je  pase'te'  tente"  de  fun"  loin  des 
hpmmes,  1'ombre  mdme  du  pouvoir,  et  de  me 
refugier  dans  le  sein  des  lettres,  qui  ont  nourri 
mon  enfance,  seul  abri  veritdblement  inaccessi- 
ble aux  mensonges  de  la  destinee.  La  litterature 
est  pour  moi  plus  qu'une  consolation,  c'est 
une  esperance  et  un  asile.  Je  1'ai  en  outre 
toujours  consideree  comme  la  franc-mac.on- 
nerie  des  gens  bien  eleves.  C'est  a  ce  signe 
qu'en  tout  pays  la  bonne  compagnie  se  dis- 
tingue et  se  reconnait.  Ne  vaudrait-il  pas 
mieux  pour  M.  de  Chateaubriand  et  pour  moi, 
que  nous  n'eussions  jamais,  ni  1'un  ni  1'autre, 
approche  de  nos  levres  la  coupe  empoisonnee 
de  ce  pouvoir  qui  nous  enivre,  et  nous  donne 
des  vertiges?  La  litterature  nous  eflt  rap- 
proches  encore,  mais  cette  fois  sans  arriere- 
pensee,  et  sans  amertume,  car  il  est  comme 
moi  1'amant  des  lettres,  et  bien  mieux  que 
moi  il  protege  de  ses  prSceptes.  Combien  de 
fois  n'ai-je  pas  voiilu  abandonner  le  monde 
politique  si  turbulent,  la  socidte'  des  hommes 
si  mechants,  pour  me  vouer  tout  entier  a  la 
retraite  et  a  mes  livres,  seuls  amis  qui  ne  se 
trompent  jamais. 

'  Oh  God!  oh  God! 

How  weary,  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable 
Seem  to  me  all  the  uses  of  this  world  ! ' " 

— MARCELLUS,  Politique  de  la  Restauration, 
i  25,  26. 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


285 


he  will  incline.  An  6Uvc  of  Pitt,  Tory 
down  to  this  time,  he  will  become  half 
a  Whig,  and  will  adopt  the  democratic 
principles  if  they  appear  to  be  in  the 
ascendant.  His  secret  inclinations 
lead  him  to  the  aristocracy,  and  even 
the  high  Opposition  society ;  he  is 
feared  rather  than  beloved  by  the 
King ;  but  the  people  are  with  him. 
The  people,  dazzled  by  his  talents, 
have  put  him  where  he  is ;  and  the 
people  will  support  him  there  as  long 
us  he  obeys  their  wishes." 

66.  Mr  Canning  at  this  period  was 
decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  Penin- 
sular war,  if  once  commenced,  would 
be  of  very  long  duration  —  as  long, 
possibly,  as  that  with  revolutionary 
.France.  "When  I  speak,"  said  he, 
"of  the  dangers  of  war  to  France, 
do  not  suppose  I  undervalue  her  re- 
sources or  power.  She  is  as  brave  and 
strong  as  she  ever  was  before  ;  she  is 
now  the  richest,  the  most  abounding 
in  resources,  of  all  the  states  in  Eu- 
rope. Hers  are  all  the  sinews  of  war, 
if  there  be  the  disposition  to  employ 
them.  You  have  a  million  of  soldiers, 
you  say,  at  your  call :  I  doubt  it  not ; 
and  it  is  double  the  number,  or  there- 
abouts, that  Buonaparte  buried  in 
Spain.  You  consider  '  un  premier 
succes  au  moins  comme  certain.'  I 
dispute  it  not.  I  grant  you  a  French 
army  at  Madrid  ;  but  I  venture  to  ask, 
What  then,  if  the  King  of  Spain  and 
the  Cortes  are  by  that  time  where  they 
infallibly  will  be — in  the  Isle  of  Leon  ? 
I  see  plenty  of  war,  if  you  once  get 
into  it ;  but  I  do  not  see  a  legitimate 
beginning  to  it,  nor  an  intelligible  ob- 
ject. You  would  disdain  to  get  into 
such  a  war  through  the  side  door  of 
an  accidental  military  incursion.  You 
would  enter  in  front,  with  the  cause 
of  war  on  your  banners  :  and  what  is 
that  cause  ?  It  is  vengeance  for  the 
past,  and  security  for  the  future,  —  a 
war  for  the  modification  of  a  political 
constitution,  for  two  Chambers,  for  the 
extension  of  legal  rights.  That  passes 
my  comprehension.  You  are  about  to 
enter,  and  you  believe  the  war  will  be 
short :  I  believe  otherwise,  and  I  am 
bordering  on  old  age.  In  1793,  Mr 
Pitt,  with  the  'patriot's  heart,  the 


prophet's  mind,'  declared  to  me  that 
the  war  then  declared  against  a  great 
people  in  a  state  of  revolution  would 
be  short ;  and  that  war  outlived  Mr 
Pitt." 

67.  These  anticipations  were  not  pe- 
culiar to  Mr  Canning  at  that  time ; 
they  were  shared  by  probably  nine- 
tenths  of  the  educated  classes,  and 
probably  ninety -nine  hundredths  of 
the  entire  inhabitants  of  Great  Bri- 
tain. Yet  were  there  not  awanting 
those  in  the  most  elevated  rank  who 
were  not  carried  away  by  the  general 
delusion,  and  anticipated  very  nearly, 
as  it  turned  out,  the  real  march  of 
events.  ' '  Do  not  allow  yourself,' '  said 
George  IV.  to  M.  Marcellus,  "to  be 
dazzled  by  our  representative  system, 
which  is  represented  as  so  perfect.  If 
it  has  its  advantages,  it  has  also  its  in- 
conveniences ;  and  I  have  never  forgot 
what  a  king  and  a  man  of  talent  said 
to  me,  '  Your  English  constitution  is 
good  only  to  encourage  adventurers, 
and  discourage  honest  men.'  For  the 
happiness  of  the  world,  we  should  not 
M'ish  any  other  people  to  adopt  our 
institutions.  That  which  succeeds  ad- 
mirably with  us  would  have  very  dif- 
ferent success  elsewhere.  Every  coun- 
try does  not  bear  the  same  fruits,  nor 
the  same  minerals  beneath  its  surface. 
It  is  the  same  with  nations,  their  tem- 
perament, and  character.  Reflect  on 
this,  my  dear  Marcellus  :  my  convic- 
tion on  the  subject  is  unalterable ;  I 
wish  you  to  know  that  you  have  the 
King  on  your  side.  It  is  my  part  to- 
be  so ;  and  when  my  Ministers  become 
Radicals,  I  may  be  excused  if,  on  my 
side,  I  become  an  ultra-Royalist."  The 
Duke  of  Wellington,  at  the  same  pe- 
riod, thus  expressed  himself  at  the 
Foreign  Office,  when  the  chance  of  a 
parliamentary  majority  on  the  ques- 
tion of  war  was  under  discussion  with 
Lord  Liverpool  and  Mr  Canning  :  "I 
am  not  so  au  fait  of  parliamentary 
majorities  as  my  colleagues,  but  I  know- 
Spain  better  than  them.  Advance 
without  delay,  without  hesitation,  and 
you  will  succeed.  There  is  no  ma- 
jority, believe  me,  to  be  compared  to 
cannon  and  a  good  army."  With  these 
words  he  took  his  hat  and  went  out. 


286 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xn. 


"The  words,"  said  Lord  Liverpool, 
"  of  a  man  of  war,  but  not  of  a  states- 
man." "The  Duke  of  Wellington," 
rejoined  Mr  Canning,  "thinks  him- 
self always  on  the  field  of  battle  ;  and 
yet  he  has  himself  put  a  period  to  the 
bloody  era  of  conquest.  He  under- 
stands nothing  of  constitutional  dom- 
inations, which  are  yet  the  only  ones 
which  now  have  any  chance  of  dura- 
tion."* 

68.  The  war  which  divided  in  this 
manner  the  opinions  of  the  most  emi- 
nent men  and  the  strongest  heads  of 
Europe,  at  length  began  in  good  ear- 
nest. The  Duke  d'Angouleme,  as  al- 
ready noticed,  left  Paris  for  the  army 
•on  15th  March.  At  the  very  thresh- 
old, however,  of  his  career,  an  unex- 
pected difficulty  presented  itself.  In- 
experienced for  the  most  part  in  actual 
-warfare,  from  the  peace  of  eight  years 
which  had  now  continued,  the  com- 
missaries and  civil  functionaries  at- 
tached to  the  French  army  were  in  a 
great  measure  ignorant  of  the  vast 
scale  on  which,  when  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men  are  to  be  put  in  motion, 
supplies  of  every  sort  must  be  furnish- 
ed. Considerable  magazines  of  corn 
had  been  formed  at  Bayonne  and  other 

*  At  this  juncture  the  following  highly  in- 
teresting conversation  took  place  between 
Mr  Canning  and  M.  Marcellus  : — "  A  quoi 
ton,"  disait  M.  Canning,  "soutenir  un  prin- 
cipe  qui  prtte  tant  a  la  discussion,  et  sur 
lequel  vous  voyez  que  nous  sommes  enfln, 
vous  et  moi,  si  peu  d'accord?  Un  Bourbon 
va  au  secours  d'un  Bourbon !  Vous  reVeillez 
ainsi  en  nous  mille  souvenirs  d'inimitie,l'inva- 
sion  de  Louis  XIV.  en  Espagne,  1'inabilite  de 
DOS  efforts  pour  eloigner  sa  puissante  dynas- 
tie  du  trone  de  Madrid.  Jugez-en  quand  un 
roi  donne  au  peuple  les  institutions  dont  le 
peuple  a  besoin,  quel  a  etc  le  procede  de 
1'Angleterre?  Elle  expulsa  ce  roi,  et  mit  a 
sa  place  un  roi  d'une  famille  allige  sans  doute, 
mais  qui  se  trotive  ainsi  non  plus ;  un  fils  de 
la  royautfi  confiant  dans  les  droits  de  see 
ancetres,  mais  le  fils  des  institutions  nation- 
ales,  tirant  tous  ses  droits  de  cette  seule 
origine.  Puisque  Ferdinand,  eomme  Jacques 
II.,  resiste  aux  volonte's  de  sa  nation,  appli- 
quons  la  me'thode  anglaise  £  1'Espagne. 
Qu'en  r&ulte-t-il  ?  L'expulsion  de  Ferdinand, 
Ecoutez-moi ;  cet  exemple  peut  s'etendre  jus- 
qu'a  vous.  Vous  n'ignorez  pas  qu'un  desordre 
du  dogme  de  l^gitimite'  presque  pareille  a  la 
noire  se  leve  et  coude  en  Francs  en  ce  moment. 
Vous  savez  quel  progres  elle  fait  dans  le  parti 
d'une  opposition  pretendue  moderte.  La  tete 
a  couronner  est  Id. "— MABCELLVS,  19,  20. 


places  on  the  frontier ;  but,  by  a 
strange  oversight,  nothing  had  been 
done  to  provide  forage  for  the  horses, 
and  the  means  of  transport  were  whol- 
ly awanting.  A  hundred  millions  of 
francs  (£4,000,000)  had  been  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  general-in-chief 
for  the  purchase  of  provisions  on  the 
march  to  Madrid — for  Napoleon's  sys- 
tem of  making  war  maintain  war  was 
no  more  to  be  thought  of — but  no  cor- 
respondence had  been  opened  with  the 
persons  along  the  route  who  were  to 
furnish  the  supplies.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  seemed  impossible  for 
the  troops  to  move  forward ;  and  so 
great  was  the  alarm  produced  in  Paris 
by  the  reports,  transmitted  by  the 
Duke  d'Angouleme  when  he  reached 
headquarters,  that  Government  took 
the  most  vigorous  measures  to  apply  a 
remedy  to  the  evil.  The  Minister  of 
War  (Victor)  was  directed,  by  an  or- 
donnance  of  23d  March,  to  proceed 
immediately  to  the  army,  invested 
with  ample  powers,  and  the  title  of 
Major  -  General ;  all  the  soldiers  who 
had  obtained  leave  of  absence  down  to 
the  31st  December  1822  were  recalled 
to  their  standards ;  and  a  law  was 
brought  forward  by  the  interim  Wai- 
Minister  (Count  Digeon)  to  authorise 
the  King  to  call  out,  in  the  course  of 
the  present  year,  the  conscripts  per- 
taining to  the  year  1823,  who,  by  the 
existing  law,  would  not  be  required 
before  the  spring  of  1824. 

69.  These  measures,  however,  though 
calculated  to  provide  for  the  future, 
had  no  influence  on  the  present ;  they 
would  neither  feed  the  starving  horses, 
nor  drag  along  the  ponderous  guns  and 
baggage-waggons.  In  this  extremity, 
the  fortune  of  the  expedition,  and  with 
it  the  destiny,  for  the  time  at  least,  of 
the  Restoration,  was  determined  by 
the  vigour  and  capacity  of  one  m* 
(M.  OUVRARD) — a  great  French  caj 
talist,  who  had  concluded  a  treaty  wit 
the  King  of  Spam,  which  secured  f 
him  in  1805  the  treasures  of  the  Indie 
and  which,  after  having  enabled  ISTa 
poleon  to  fit  out  the  army  whic' 
conquered  at  Austerlitz,  excited  1 
jealousy  so  violently  as  for  the  tir 
occasioned  Ouvrard's  ruin.  He  stepj 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


287 


forward,  and  offered — on  terms  advan- 
tageous to  himself,  without  doubt,  but 
still  more  advantageous  to  the  public 
— to  put  the  whole  supplies  of  the 
army  on  the  most  satisfactory  footing, 
and  to  charge  himself  with  the  con- 
veyance of  all  its  artillery  and  equi- 
pages. The  necessity  of  the  case,  and 
the  obvious  inefficiency  of  the  existing 
commissaries,  left  no  time  for  delibe- 
ration :  the  known  capacity  and  vast 
credit  of  M.  Ouvrard  supported  his 
offer,  how  gigantic  soever  it  may  have 
at  first  appeared ;  and  in  a  few  days  a 
contract  was  concluded  with  the  ad- 
venturous capitalist,  whereby  the  duty 
of  supplying  whole  furnishings  for  the 
army  was  devolved  on  him.  By  the 
influence  of  the  Duchess  d' Angouleme, 
and  the  obvious  necessity  of  the  case, 
the  contract  was  ratified  at  Paris ;  and 
although  i±  excited  violent  clamours 
at  the  time,  as  all  measures  do  which 
•disappoint  expectant  cupidity,  the 
•event  soon  proved  that  never  had  a 
•wiser  step  been  adopted.  The  magic 
wand  of  M.  Ouvrard  overcame  every- 
thing; his  golden  key  unlocked  un- 
teard-of  magazines  of  all  sorts  for  the 
use  of  the  troops ;  in  a  few  days  plenty 
reigned  in  all  the  magazines,  the  means 
•of  transport  were  amply  provided,  and 
confidence  was  re-established  at  head- 
quarters. So  serene  was  the  calm  which 
succeeded  to  the  storm,  that  the  dis- 
cord which  had  broken  out  in  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme's  staff  was  appeased ; 
General  Guilleminot,  who  had  been 
siispeuded  from  his  command,  was 
restored  to  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
mander-in -chief ;  Marshal  Victor,  re- 
linquishing his  duties  as  major-general, 
returned  to  the  war  office  at  Paris; 
and  the  army,  amply  provided  with 
everything,  advanced  in  the  highest 
spirits  to  the  banks  of  the  Bidassoa. 

70.  The  preparations  on  both  sides 
•were  of  the  most  formidable  descrip- 
tion, and  seemed  to  prognosticate  the 
long  and  bloody  war  which  Mr  Can- 
ning's ardent  mind  anticipated  from 
the  shock  of  opinions,  which  was  to 
set  all  Europe  on  fire.  The  forces  with 
which  France  took  the  field  were  very 
great,  and,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
catastrophe  of  Waterloo,  enabled  her 


to  appear  on  the  theatre  of  Europe  as 
a  great  military  power.  Wonderful, 
indeed,  had  been  the  resurrection  of 
her  strength  under  the  wise  and  pacific 
reign  of  Louis  XVIII.  The  army  as- 
sembled at  Bayonne  for  the  invasion 
of  Spain  by  the  western  Pyrenees  mus- 
tered ninety-one  thousand  combatants. 
It  was  divided  into  four  corps,  the 
command  of  which  was  intrusted  with 
generous,  but,  as  the  event  proved,  not 
undeserved  confidence,  to  the  victo- 
rious generals  of  Napoleon.  The  first 
corps,  under  the  command  of  Marshal 
Oudinot,  with  Counts  d'Autichamp 
and  Borout  under  him,  was  destined 
to  cross  the  Bidassoa,  and  march  direct 
by  the  great  road  upon  Madrid.  Tho 
second,  which  was  commanded  by 
Count  Molitor,  was  intended  to  sup- 
port the  left  flank  of  the  first  corps, 
and  advance  by  the  Pass  of  Ronces- 
valles  and  the  Valley  of  Bastan  upon 
Pampeluna.  Prince  Hohenlohe  com- 
manded the  third  corps,  which  was  to 
protect  the  right  flank  of  the  first,  and 
secure  its  rear  and  communications 
during  the  advance  to  Madrid  from 
the  Bidassoa.  The  fourth  corps,  under 
the  orders  of  the  Duke  of  Comigliano 
(Marshal  Moncey),  was  to  operate,  de- 
tached from  the  remainder  of  the  army, 
in  Catalonia;  while  the  fifth,  under 
the  orders  of  General  Count  Bordesoul, 
composed  of  a  division  of  the  Guard 
under  Count  Bourmont,  and  of  two 
divisions  of  cavalry,  was  to  form  the 
reserve  of  the  grand  army — but,  in 
point  of  fact,  it  was  almost  constantly 
with  the  advanced  posts. 

71.  The  Spanish  forces  intended  to 
meet  this  political  crusade  were  not 
less  formidable,  so  far  as  numerical 
amount  was  considered ;  but  they  were 
a  very  different  array  if  discipline, 
equipments,  and  unanimity  of  feeling 
were  regarded  as  the  test.  They  con- 
sisted of  123,000  men,  of  whom  15,000 
were  cavalry,  and  a  new  levy  of  30, 000, 
who  were  thus  disposed.  In  Biscay, 
opposite  to  the  Bidassoa,  were  20,000, 
under  Ballasteros ;  in  Catalonia,  under 
Mina,  20,000;  in  the  centre,  18,000 
under  D'Abisbal ;  in  Galicia,  10,000: 
in  garrison,  in  the  fortresses,  52,000. 
The  forces  on  either  side  were  thus  not 


288 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


unequal  in  point  of  numerical  amount ; 
but  there  was  a  vast  difference  in  their 
discipline,  organisation,  and  equip- 
ment. On  the  French  side  these  were 
all  perfect,  on  the  Spanish  they  were 
very  deficient.  Many  of  the  corps 
were  imperfectly  disciplined,  ill  fed, 
and  worse  clothed.  The  cavalry  was 
in  great  part  wretchedly  mounted,  the 
artillery  crazy  or  worn  out,  the  com- 
missariat totally  inefficient.  Penury 
pervaded  the  treasury;  revolutionary 
cupidity  had  squandered  the  resources 
of  the  soldiers,  scanty  as  they  were. 
Above  all,  the  troops  were  conscious 
that  the  cause  they  were  supporting 
was  not  that  of  the  nation.  Eleven- 
twelfths  of  the  people,  including  the 
whole  rural  population,  were  hostile 
to  their  cause,  and  earnestly  prayed 
for  its  overthrow;  and  even  the  in- 
habitants of  Madrid  and  the  seaport 
towns,  who  had  hitherto  constituted 
its  entire  support,  were  sensibly  cooled 
in  their  ardour,  now  that  it  became  a 
hazardous  one,  and  called  for  sacrifices 
instead  of  promising  fortune. 

72.  On  the  5th  April,  the  French 
were  grouped  in  such  force  on  the 
banks  of  the  Bidassoa,  that  it  was  evi- 
dent a  passage  would  be  attempted  on 
the  following  day.  The  French  ensigns 
had  last  been  seen  there  on  7th  Oc- 
tober 1813,  when  the  passage  was 
forced  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 
In  anticipation  of  this  movement,  the 
Spaniards  had  made  great  prepara- 
tions. A  considerable  force  was  drawn 
up  on  the  margin  of  the  stream ;  but 
it  was  not  on  them  that  the  princi- 
pal reliance  of  their  commanders  was 
placed.  It  was  on  the  corps  of  French 
refugees  bearing  the  uniform  of  the 
Old  Guard,  and  clustered  round  the 
tricolor  flag,  that  all  their  hopes  rested. 
Colonel  Fabvier,  however,  who  com- 
manded them,  found  the  array  very 
different  from  what  he  expected.  He 
had  been  promised  a  corps  of  eight 
hundred  veterans  of  Napoleon  in  ad- 
mirable order ;  he  found  only  two  hun- 
dred miserable  refugees,  half-  starved, 
who  had  been  involved  in  the  con- 
spiracies of  Saumur  and  Befort,  and 
found  in  Spain  an  asylum  for  their 
crimes.  They  were  clothed,  however, 


in  the  old  and  well-known  uniform, 
with  the  huge  bearskins  of  the  grena- 
diers of  the  Guard  on  their  heads ;  the 
tricolor  flag  waved  in  the  midst  of  them, 
and  as  the  French  advanced  posts  ap- 
proached the  bridge,  they  heard  the 
Marseillaise  and  other  popular  airs  of 
the  Revolution  chanted  from  their 
ranks.  The  moment  was  critical,  for 
the  French  soldiers  halted  at  sight  of 
the  unexpected  apparition,  and  gazed 
with  interest  on  the  well-known  and 
unforgotten  ensigns.  But  at  that  mo- 
ment General  Vailin,  who  commanded 
the  advanced  guard,  galloped  to  the 
front,  and  ordered  a  gun  to  be  dis- 
charged along  the  bridge.  The  first 
round  was  fired  over  the  heads  of  the 
enemy,  in  the  hope  of  inducing  them 
to  retire ;  and  the  refugees,  seeing  no 
shot  took  effect,  thought  the  balls 
had  been  drawn,  and  shouted  loud- 
ly, "Vive  I'Artillerie ! "  Upon  this, 
General  Vallin  ordered  a  point-blank 
discharge,  which  struck  down  several ; 
a  third  round  completed  their  disper- 
sion, and  the  passage  was  effected  with- 
out further  resistance.  Louis  XVIII. 
did  not  exaggerate  the  importance  of 
this  decisive  conduct  on  this  critical 
occasion,  when,  on  the  general  who 
commanded  on  the  occasion  being  pre- 
sented to  him  after  the  campaign  was 
over,  he  said,  "  General  Vallin,  your 
cannon-shot  has  saved  Europe." 

73.  This  bold  act  was  decisive  of  the 
fate  of  the  campaign.  The  French  army 
having  effected  their  passage,  their 
right  wing,  after  a  sharp  action,  drove 
back  the  garrison  of  St  Sebastian  within, 
the  walls  of  that  fortress,  and  estab- 
lished the  blockade  of  the  place ;  while 
the  centre,  supported  by  the  whole  re- 
serve, in  all  40,000  strong,  pushed  on 
rapidly  on  the  great  road  to  Madrid. 
On  the  10th  they  reached  Tolosa,  on  the 
llth  Villareal,  and  on  the  17th  their 
columns  entered  Vittoria  in  triumph, 
amidst  an  immense  concourse  of  inha- 
bitants and  unbounded  joy  and  acclama- 
tion. How  different  from  the  ceaseless- 
booming  of  the  English  cannon,  which 
rung  in  their  ears  when  they  last  were 
in  that  town,  flying  before  the  bloody 
English  sabres  on  21st  June  1813  ! 
At  the  same  time,  with  the  advanced 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


239 


guard,  Oudinot  crossed  the  Ebro  and 
advanced  to  Burgos,  after  having  made 
himself  master  of  Pancorvo ;  Molitor, 
with  the  left  wing,  traversed  Navarre, 
and  entered  Arragon,  directing  his 
inarch  on  Saragossa ;  and  the  extreme 
right,  under  Quesada,  composed  of 
Spanish  auxiliaries,  reached  Bilboa, 
•which  opened  its  gates  without  oppo- 
sition. Everywhere  the  French  troops 
were  received  as  deliverers ;  as  they  ad- 
vanced, the  pillars  of  the  Constitution 
were  overthrown,  the  revolutionary  au- 
thorities dispossessed,  and  the  ancient 
regime  proclaimed  amidst  the  accla- 
mations of  the  people.  The  invaders 
observed  the  most  exact  discipline,  and 
paid  for  everything  they  required — a 
wise  policy,  the  very  reverse  of  that  of 
^Napoleon — which  confirmed  the  fav- 
ourable impression  made  on  the  minds 
of  the  Spaniards.  The  ancient  animo- 
sity of  the  people  of  France  and  Spain 
seemed  to  be  lulled ;  even  the  horrors 
of  the  late  war  had  for  the  time  been 
"buried  in  oblivion ;  three  years  of  revo- 
lutionary government  had  caused  them 
all  to  be  forgotten,  and  hereditary  foes 
to  be  hailed  as  present  deliverers. 

74.  The  main  body  of  the  French 
army,  encouraged  by  this  flattering 
reception,  advanced  with  vigour,  and 
that  celerity  which,  in  all  wars  of  in- 
vasion, but  especially  those  which  par- 
take of  the  nature  of  civil  conflict,  is 
so  important  an  element  in  success. 
Resistance  was  nowhere  attempted,  so 
that  the  march  of  the  troops  was  as 
rapid  as  it  would  have  been  through 
their  own  territory.  The  Guards  and 
first  corps  entered  Burgos  on  the  9th 
May,  where  they  were  received  with  the 
utmost  enthusiasm,  and  thence  pro- 
ceeded in  two  columns  towards  Madrid 
— the  first,  under  the  generalissimo  in 
person,  by  Aranda  and  Buytrago ;  the 
latter  by  Valladolid,  where  the  recep- 
tion of  the  troops  was  if  possible  still 
more  flattering.  At  the  latter  place, 
where  headquarters  arrived  on  the  17th 
Mivy,  a  flag  of  truce  arrived  from  the 
Conde  d'Abisbal,  who  had  been  left  in 
command  at  Madrid  by  the  Cortes, 
they  having  retired  towards  Seville, 
taking  the  King  a  prisoner  with  them. 

VOL.  II. 


In  vain  had  the  monarch  declared  he 
would  not  abandon  his  capital ;  the 
imperious  Cortes  forced  him  away,  and 
he  set  out  accordingly  under  an  escort 
or  guard  of  6000  men,  leaving  Madrid 
to  make  the  best  terms  it  could  with 
the  conqueror.  Saragossa,  Tolosa,  and 
all  the  towns  occupied  by  the  French  in 
the  course  of  their  advance,  instantly, 
on  their  approach,  overturned  the  pil- 
lar of  the  Constitution,  reinstated  the 
Royalist  authorities,  and  received  the 
invaders  as  deliverers.  Literally  speak- 
ing, the  Duke  d'Angouleme  advanced 
from  Irun  to  Madrid  amidst  the  accla- 
mations of  the  people,  and  under  tri- 
umphal arches.  Nor  was  the  success 
of  the  French  less  decisive  in  Upper 
Catalonia,  where  the  retreat  of  Mina 
and  the  Constitutional  troops  was  so 
rapid  that  Moncey  in  vain  attempted 
to  bring  them  to  action ;  and  within 
a  month  after  the  frontiers  had  been 
crossed,  nearly  all  the  fortified  places 
in  the  province,  except  Barcelona  and 
Lerida,  had  opened  their  gates  and  re- 
ceived the  French  with  transports. 

75.  Nothing  could  be  more  agree- 
able to  the  Duke  d'Angouleme  than 
the  offer  on  the  part  of  the  Condo 
d'Abisbal  and  the  municipality  of  Ma- 
drid to  capitulate  on  favourable  terms, 
and  accordingly  he  at  once  agreed  to 
everything  requested  by  them.  It  was 
agreed  that  General  Zayas  should  re- 
main with  a  few  squadrons  to  preserve 
order  in  the  capital  till  it  was  occupied 
by  the  French  troops,  which  was  ar- 
ranged to  take  place  on  the  24th  May. 
The  guard  left,  however,  proved  inade- 
quate to  the  task ;  the  revolutionists, 
who  were  much  stronger  in  Madrid 
than  in  any  other  town  the  French  had 
yet  entered,  rose  in  insurrection,  and 
D'Abisbal  only  saved  his  life  by  flying 
in  disguise,  and  taking  refuge  with 
Marshal  Oudinot.  The  moment  was 
critical,  for  Madrid  was  in  a  state  of 
great  excitement,  and  a  spark  might 
have  lighted  a  flame  which,  by  rousing 
the  national  feelings  of  the  Spaniards, 
might,  as  in  1808,  have  involved  the 
whole  Peninsula  in  conflagration.  But 
at  this  decisive  moment  the  wisdom  of 
the  Duke  d'Angouleme  andhis  military 


290 


HISTOEY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xii. 


counsellors  solved  the  difficulty,  and 
at  once  detached  the  extreme  revolu- 
tionary from  the  patriotic  party.  M. 
DE  MARTIGNAC,  a  young  advocate  of 
Bordeaux,  destined  to  celebrity  in  fu- 
ture times,  drew  up  a  proclamation,* 
which  the  prince  signed,  which  soothed 
the  pride  of  the  Castilians,  gratified 
the  feelings  of  the  Royalists,  and  dis- 
armed the  wrath  of  the  Revolutionists. 
Everything  was  accordingly  arranged 
in  concord  for  the  entry  of  the  prince 
generalissimo  and  his  army  on  the 
morning  of  the  24th. 

76.  Early  on  the  morning  of  that 
day  an  immense  crowd  issued  from  the 
gate  by  which  it  was  understood  the 

*  "Espagnols!  Avant  que  1'armee  fran- 
gaise  franchit  les  Pyre'ne'es,  j'ai  declare'  a  votre 
generalise  nation  que  nous  n'etions  pas  en 
guerre  avec  elle.  Je  lui  ai  annonce  que  nous 
venions  comme  amis  et  auxiliaires  1'aider  a 
relever  ses  autels,  a  delivrer  son  roi,  a  re"tablir 
dans  son  sein  la  justice,  1'ordre,  et  la  paix. 
J'ai  promis  respect  aux  propriete"s,  surete  aux 
personnes,  protection  aux  hommes  paisibles. 
L'Espagne  a  ajoute"  foi  i  mes  paroles.  Les 
provinces  que  j'ai  parcourues  ont  rec.u  les 
soldats  francais  comme  des  freres,  et  la  yoix 
publique  vous  aura  appris  s'ils  ont  Justine  -cet 
accueil,  et  si  j'ai  tenu  mes  engagements.  Es- 
pagnols !  si  votre  Roi  6tait  encore  dans  la  ca- 
pitale,  la  noble  mission  que  le  Roi  mon  oncle 
m'a  conftee,  et  que  vous  connaissez  tout  en- 
tiere,  serait  deja  prSte  a  s'accomplir.  Je 
n'aurais  plus,  apres  avoir  rendu  le  monarque 
a  la  liberty,  qu'a  appeler  sa  paternelle  sollici- 
tude  sur  les  maux  qu'a  soufferts  son  peuple, 
sur  le  besoin  qu'il  a  de  repos  pour  le  present, 
et  de  securite  pour  1'avenir.  L'absence  du 
Roi  m'impose  d'autres  devoirs.  Dans  ces  con- 
jonctures  difflciles,  et  pour  lesquelles  le  passe 
n'offre  pas  d'exemple  a  suivre,  j'ai  pense  que 
le  moyen  le  plus  convenable  et  le  plus  agre- 
able  auRoi,  serait  de  convoquer  1'antique  con- 
seil  supreme  de  la  Castille,  et  le  conseil  su- 
preme des  Indes,  dout  les  hautes  et  diverses 
attributions  embrassent  le  royaume  et  ses 
possessions  d'outre-mer,  et  de  Conner  aux 
grands  corps  mde"pendants  par  leur  elevation, 
et  par  la  position  politique  de  ceux  qui  les 
composent,  le  soin  de  designer,  eux-mfimes, 
les  membres  de  la  regenee."  And  on  the  day 
after  his  entrance,  as  the  two  councils  did  not 
conceive  themselves  authorised  by  the  laws 
to  appoint  a  regency,  but  only  to  recommend 
one  to  the  French  commander-in-chief,  to  act 
during  the  captivity  of  Ferdinand  VII.,  he 
nominated,  on  their  recommendation,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  regency,  the  Duke  del  Infantado, 
the  Duke  de  Montemart,  the  Baron  d'Erolles, 
the  Bishop  of  Orma,  and  Don  Antonio  Gomez 
Calderon,  who  on  4th  June  issued  a  proclama- 
tion as  the  Council  of  Regency  to  the  Spanish 
nation.  — Annuaire  Historique,  vi  721,  722, 
Appendix. 


prince  was  to  make  his  entry,  with 
boughs  of  trees  and  garlands  of  flowers 
in  their  hands,  and  every  preparation, 
as  for  a  day  of  festivity  and  rejoicing. 
The  windows  were  all  hung  with  tapes- 
try or  rich  carpeting ;  the  handsomest 
women  in  their  gala-dresses  were  there, 
and  beautiful  forms  adorned  with  chap- 
lets  of  flowers  graced  the  spectacle. 
Precisely  at  nine,  the  Duke  d'Angou- 
le"me,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  staff, 
made  his  appearance  at  the  gate  of 
Recolletts,  where  a  triumphal  arch  had 
been  erected,  at  the  head  of  the  guards 
and  reserve ;  while  Marshal  Oudinot 
at  the  same  time  entered  by  the  gate 
of  Segovia,  from  which  side  he  had  ap- 
proached at  the  head  of  his  corps.  Both 
were  received  with  the  loudest  demon- 
strations of  joy,  amidst  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  people,  the  ringing  of  bells, 
and  the  heart-stirring  strains  of  mili- 
tary music.  The  general  enthusiasm 
was  increased  by  the  splendid  appear- 
ance of  the  troops,  their  martial  air, 
the  exact  discipline  and  perfect  order 
they  everywhere  maintained.  They 
were  saluted  with  loud  acclamations 
in  all  the  streets  through  which  they 
passed,  and  in  the  evening  a  general 
illumination  gave  vent  to  the  universal 
joy.  Never  was  seen  so  clear  a  proof 
that  revolutions  are  brought  about  by 
bold  and  turbulent  minorities  overrid- 
ing supine  and  timorous  majorities. 
The  universal  joy  equalled  that  of  the 
Parisians,  when  their  Revolution  was 
closed  by  the  entrance  of  the  Emperor 
Alexander  and  Allied  sovereigns  on 
31st  March  1814. 

77.  Well  aware  of  the  importance  of 
following  up  with  all  possible  rapidity 
the  important  advantages  thus  gained, 
the  Duke  d'Angouleme  did  not  repose 
on  his  laurels.  Two  columns,  one 
commanded  by  General  Bordesoult,  the 
other  by  General  Bourmont,  set  out 
immediately  in  pursuit  of  the  revolu- 
tionary forces,  which,  taking  the  King 
a  prisoner  along  with  them,  were  hast- 
ening by  forced  marches  towards  Se- 
ville. So  rapid  was  their  flight,  that 
the  French  troops  endeavoured  in  vain 
to  come  up  with  them.  Bordesoult 
with  eight  thousand  men  followed  the 
direct  road  from  Madrid  by  Aranjuez 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


251 


to  Seville  ;  his  advanced  guard,  under 
General  Dino,  attacked  and  routed  a 
corps  of  fifteen  hundred  men  near 
Santa  Cruz  ;  another  of  equal  size  was 
dispersed  near  the  mountains  of  Vil- 
liers  the  next  day  by  the  same  general, 
and  three  hundred  prisoners  taken ; 
but  after  this  he  never  got  sight  of 
their  retiring  columns  ;  and  although 
a  show  of  resistance  was  made  to  Bour- 
mont,  who  with  an  equal  force  took 
the  road  to  Badajoz,  at  Talavera  de  la 
Reyna,  yet  it  was  but  a  show.  The 
enemy  retreated  as  soon  as  the  French 
troops,  aided  by  the  Spanish  Royal- 
ists, appeared  in  sight.  The  bridge  of 
Arzobisbo  was  seized,  and  the  town  of 
Truxillo  occupied  on  the  llth  June ; 
and  on  the  same  day  General  Borde- 
soult  arrived  at  Cordova,  beyond  the 
Sierra  Morena,  where,  the  moment 
the  revolutionary  troops  withdrew,  a 
vehement  demonstration,  accompanied 
with  the  most  enthusiastic  ebullition 
of  joy,  took  place  in  support  of  the 
Royalist  cause. 

78.  Meanwhile  the  Cortes,  whose 
sole  power  consisted,  as  often  was  the 
case  in  the  days  of  feudal  anarchy,  in 
the  possession  of  the  person  of  the  so- 
vereign, had  established  themselves  at 
Seville,  where  a  show  of  respectability 
•was  still  thrown  over  their  proceedings 
by  the  presence  of  the  English  ambas- 
sador, who  followed  the  captive  mon- 
arch in  his  forced  peregrinations.  This 
circumstance,  joined  to  the  presence  of 
a  considerable  English  squadron  in  the 
Bay  of  Cadiz,  led  for  some  time  to  the 
belief  that  the  English  Government, 
which  had  evinced  so  warm  a  sympathy 
for  the  cause  of  the  revolution,  would 
at  length  give  it  some  more  effectual 
support  than  by  eloquent  declamations 
in  Parliament.  But  these  hopes  soon 
proved  illusory.  It  was  no  part  of  the 
policy  of  the  English  Cabinet  to  go 
beyond  the  bounds  of  a  strict  neutral- 
ity; and  even  the  Liberal  ardour  of 
Mr  Canning  had  been  sensibly  cooled 
by  the  sight  of  the  unresisted  march  of 
the  French  troops  to  Madrid,  and  the 
decisive  demonstrations  afforded  that 
the  cause  of  the  revolution  was  hateful 
to  nine-tenths  of  the  Spanish  people. 
Even  if  he  had  been  otherwise  inclined, 


the  violence  of  the  Cortes  themselves, 
which  increased  rather  than  diminished 
with  the  disasters  which  were  accumu- 
lating round  them,  ere  long  rendered 
any  further  alliance  impossible.  On 
hearing  of  the  approach  of  the  French 
forces,  they  proposed  to  the  King  to 
move  with  them  to  Cadiz,  so  as  to  be 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  French  troops 
and  the  Royalist  reaction.  The  King, 
however,  who  foresaw  the  approaching 
downfall  of  the  revolutionary  govern- 
ment, and  had  heard  of  the  rapid 
approach  of  his  deliverers,  positively 
refused,  after  repeated  summonses,  to 
leave  Seville.*  Upon  this  the  Cortes 
held  an  extraordinary  meeting,  in 
which,  on  the  motion  of  M.  Galliano, 
they  declared  the  King  deposed,  ap- 
pointed a  provisional  regency  to  act  in 
his  stead,  and,  now  no  longer  attempt- 
ing to  disguise  his  captivity,  forced 
him  and  the  royal  family  into  carriages, 
which  set  out  attended  by  eight  thou- 
sand men  for  Cadiz,  where  they  arrived 
three  days  afterwards,  t  Only  six 
members  of  the  Cortes  had  courage 
enough  to  vote  against  the  motion  for 
deposing  the  King  :  Sefior  Arguelles, 
and  all  the  influential  members,  were 
fouud  in  the  majority.  The  English, 
ambassador,  Sir  William  A'Court,  re- 
fused to  accompany  the  deposed  mon- 
arch, and  remained  at  Seville,  from 

*  "  La  deputation  des  Cortes  a  represent^ 
de  nouveau  i  sa  Majeste,  que  sa  conscience 
ne  pouvait  etre  compromise  ou  blessfie  en 
cette  matiere ;  que  s'il  pouvait  errer  en  qua- 
lite  d'homme,  il  n'etait  comnie  roi  constitu- 
tionnel  sujet  a  aucune  responsabilitt ;  qu'il 
ne  fallait  que  se  ranger  a  1'avis  de  ses  con- 
seillers  et  des  representants  du  peuple,  sur 
qui  reposait  le  fardeau  de  la  responsabilit6 
pour  le  salut  du  pays.  Le  Roi  ayant  signifie" 
a  la  deputation  qu'il  avait  sa  reponse,  et  la 
mission  donnee  i  celle-ci  etant  remplie,  il  ne 
lui  restait  qu'i  declarer  aux  Cortes  qu'il  no 
jugeait  pas  la  translation  con  venable. " — Prow's 
Verbal  des  Cortes,  10th  June  1823;  Annuaire 
Historique,  yi.  409,  410. 

t  "  Je  prie  les  Cortes,  qu'en  consequence 
du  refus  de  sa  Majeste  de  mettre  sa  personne 
royale  et  sa  famille  en  surete  a  1'approche  de 
1'invasion  de  1'ennemi,  il  soit  declareque  le  cas 
est  arrive  de  regarder  sa  Majeste  comme  etant 
dans  un  ttat  d'empechement  moral  pr6vu  par 
1'article  187  de  la  Constitution,  et  qu'il  soit 
nomme  vne  regence  provisoire  qui  sera  investie 
settlement  pour  le  cas  de,  ou  pendant  la  trans- 
lation de  la  plenitude  du  pouvoir  executif." — 
Proposition  de  M.  GALLIANO,  llth  June  1823  ; 
Annuaire  Historique,  vi.  410. 


292 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


•whence  he  went  to  Gibraltar  to  await 
the  orders  of  his  Government. 

79.  This  violent  act  completed  the 
ruin  of  the  Cortes  and  the  cause  of  the 
revolution  in  Europe,  and  immediate- 
ly subverted  it  in  Spain.  No  sooner 
had  the  last  of  the  revolutionary  troops 
taken  their  departure  on  the  evening 
of  the  12th  for  Cadiz,  than  a  violent 
reaction  took  place  in  Seville,  which 
soon  extended  to  all  the  towns  in 
Spain  that  still  adhered  to  the  cause 
of  the  revolution.  Vast  crowds  assem- 
bled in  the  streets,  shouting  "  Viva 
el  Key  Assoluto  !  Viva  Ferdinand  ! 
Viva  el  Inquisition  ! "  Disorders 
speedily  ensued.  Several  of  the  Libe- 
ral clubs  were  broken  open  and  pil- 
laged, and  the  pillars  of  the  Constitu- 
tion were  broken  amidst  frantic  demon- 
strations of  joy.  Two  days  after,  a 
corps  of  the  revolutionists  under  Lopez  - 
Baiios  entered  the  city,  engaged  in  a 
frightful  contest  in  the  streets  with  the 
Royalists,  in  the  course  of  which  two 
hundred  of  the  latter  perished ;  and 
having  gained  temporary  possession  of 
its  principal  quarters,  he  proceeded  to 
plunder  the  churches  of  their  plate, 
with  which  he  set  out  for  Cadiz  ;  but 
finding  the  road  in  that  direction  oc- 
cupied by  General  Bordesoult,  he  made 
for  the  confines  of  Portugal  with  his 
booty,  where  he  joined  a  corps  of  re- 
volutionists under  Villa  Campa.  Two 
days  after,  General  Bourmont  entered 
Seville,  where  he  permanently  re-estab- 
lished the  royal  authority  ;  and  the 
forces  of  the  Cortes,  abandoning  An- 
dalusia on  all  sides,  took  refuge  within 
the  walls  of  Cadiz,  where  twenty  thou- 
sand men,  the  last  stay  of  the  revolu- 
tion, were  now  assembled.  Every- 
where else  the  cause  of  the  revolution 
crumbled  into  dust.  General  Murillo, 
who  commanded  at  Valencia,  passed 
over  with  half  his  forces  to  the  Royal- 
ists ;  Ballasteros,  after  sustaining  a  se- 
vere defeat  at  Carabil,  was  obliged  to 
capitulate,  with  seven  thousand  men, 
to  the  French.  Carthagena,  Tarrago- 
na, and  all  the  other  fortresses,  with 
the  exception  of  Barcelona,  Coninna, 
and  Ferrol,  soon  after  opened  their 
gates,  and  ere  long  there  remained 
only  to  the  Liberal  leaders  the  forces 


[CHAP.  xu. 

shut  up  within  the  walls  of  Cadiz  and 
Barcelona,  and  a  few  guerillas,  who, 
under  Mina,  still  prolonged  the  war  in, 
the  mountains  of  Catalonia. 

80.  Still  the  position  of  the  revolu- 
tionists in  Cadiz  was  strong,  for  the 
fortress  itself  had  been  proved  in  the 
late  war  to  be  impregnable  ;  the  inha- 
bitants were  zealous  in  their  support ; 
and  the  principal  leaders  and  officers 
of  the  garrison   of  twenty  thousand, 
men  were  so  deeply  implicated  in  the 
cause,   that    they  had   no  chance  of 
safety  but  in  the  most  determined  re- 
sistance.    Above  all,  the  command  of 
the  person  of  the  King  and  the  royal 
family,  for  whose  lives  the  most  seri- 
ous apprehensions  were   entertained1, 
gave  them  the  means  of  negotiating 
with  advantage,  and  in  a  manner  im- 
posing their  own  terms  on  the  conquer- 
ors.   Ferdinand,  though  nominally  re- 
stored to  his  functions,  in  order  to  give 
a  colour  to  their  proceedings,  was  in, 
reality  detained  a  close  prisoner  in  the 
palace,  or  rather  prison,  in  which  he 
was  lodged,  and  not  allowed  to  walk 
out  even  on  the  terrace  of  his  abode, 
except  under  a  strong  guard,  and  with- 
in very  narrow  precincts.     Meanwhile 
Riego  issued  from  the  Isle  of  Leon,  as 
he  had  done  during  the  revolt  in  1820, 
to  endeavour  to  rouse  the  inhabitants 
of  the  mountains  in  the  rear  of  the 
French  armies  ;  and  every  preparation 
was  made  within  the  walls  for  the  most 
vigorous  defence.     But  all  felt  that 
the   cause  was  hopeless.     The  more 
moderate  members  of  the  Cortes  had 
withdrawn,  and  taken  refuge  in  Gib- 
raltar ;  and  even  the  violent  party  of 
Exaltados,   who  still   inculcated  the 
necessity  of  prolonging  the   contest, 
did  so  rather  from  the  hope  of  secur- 
ing favourable  terms  of  capitulation 
for  themselves,  than  from  any  real  be- 
lief that  it  could  much  longer  be  main- 
tained. 

81.  Encouraged  by  the  favourable 
reports  which  he  received  on  all  sides 
of  the  defeat  or  dispersion  of  the  Re- 
volutionists, and  the  general  submis- 
sion to  the  royal  authority,  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme  resolved  to  proceed  in 
person  with  the  great  bulk  of  his  for- 
ces to  Andalusia,  in  order  to  bring  the 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


293 


•war  at  once  to  a  close  by  the  reduction 
of  Cadiz.  He  set  out,  accordingly,  on 
the  18th  July,  from  Madrid,  taking 
with  him  the  guards  and  reserve,  and 
leaving  only  four  thousand  men  to 
garrison  the  capital.  The  Regency 
had  issued  a  decree  annulling  all  the 
acts  of  the  revolutionary  government 
since  the  Constitution  had  been  forced 
upon  the  King  on  7th  March  1820,  con- 
tracted a  considerable  loan,  and  made 
some  progress  in  the  formation  of  a 
Royalist  corps,  to  be  the  foundation 
of  a  guard  ;  but  the  extreme  penury  of 
the  exchequer,  the  inevitable  result  of 
the  political  convulsions  of  the  last 
three  years,  rendered  its  equipment 
very  tardy.  Meanwhile,  disorders  of 
the  most  serious  kind  were  accumulat- 
ing in  the  provinces  ;  the  Royalist  re- 
action threatened  to  be  as  serious  as 
the  revolutionary  action  had  been.  In 
Saragossa  fifteen  hundred  persons  had 
"been  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison 
T>y  the  Royalists,  and  great  part  of 
their  houses  pillaged  ;  and  similar  dis- 
orders, in  many  instances  attended  with 
bloodshed,  had  taken  place  in  Valen- 
cia, Alicante,  Carthagena,  and  other 
places  which  had  declared  for  the  royal 
cause.  Struck  with  the  accounts  of 
these  atrocities,  which  went  to  defeat 
the  whole  objects  of  the  French  inter- 
vention, and  threatened  to  rouse  a  na- 
tional war  in  Spain,  the  Duke  d'An- 
gouleme  published  at  Andujar,  on  the 
8th  August,  the  memorable  proclama- 
tion bearing  the  name  of  that  place, 
one  of  the  most  glorious  acts  of  the 
Restoration,  and  a  model  for  all  future 
times  in  those  unhappy  wars  which 
originate  in  difference  of  political  or 
religious  opinion. 

82.  By  this  ordonnance  it  was  de- 
clared "that  the  Spanish  authorities 
should  not  be  at  liberty  to  arrest  any 
person  without  the  authority  of  the 
French  officers;  the  commanders- in - 
chief  of  the  corps  under  the  orders  of 
his  royal  highness  were  instantly  to  set 
at  liberty  all  persons  who  had  been 
arbitrarily  imprisoned  from  political 
causes,  and  especially  those  in  the 
militia,  who  were  hereby  authorised 
to  return  to  their  homes,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  such  as  after  their  enlarge- 


ment might  have  given  just  cause  of 
complaint.  The  commanders-in-chief 
of  the  corps  were  authorised  to  arrest 
every  person  who  should  contravene 
this  decree  ;  and  the  editors  of  period- 
ical publications  were  put  under  tho 
direction  of  the  commanders  of  corps." 
Though  this  ordonnance  was  dictated 
by  the  highest  wisdom  as  well  as  hu- 
manity, seeing  it  put  a  stop  at  once  to 
the  Royalist  reaction  which  had  be- 
come so  violent,  and  threatened  such 
dangerous  consequences,  yet  as  it  took 
the  government  in  a  manner  out  of  tho 
hands  of  the  Spanish  authorities,  and 
seemed  to  presage  a  prolonged  military 
occupation  of  the  country,  it  excited 
the  most  profound  feelings  of  indigna- 
tion at  Madrid,  and  among  the  ardent 
Royalists  over  the  whole  country. 
With  them,  loyalty  to  their  sovereign 
was  identical  with  thirst  for  the  blood 
of  his  enemies.  The  whole  members 
of  the  Regency  sent  in  their  resigna- 
tions, and  were  only  prevailed  on  to 
withdraw  them  by  explanations  offered 
of  the  real  object  of  the  ordonnance  ; 
and  the  diplomatic  body  made  remon- 
strances, which  were  only  appeased  in 
the  same  manner.* 

83.  The  condition  of  Spain  at  this 
time  was  such  as  to  call  forth  the  ut- 
most solicitude,  and  threatened  the 
most  frightful  consequences.  The  war 
still  lingered  in  Galicia,  where  Sir  R. 
Wilson  had  appeared,  accompanied, 
not,  as  was  expected,  by  ten  thousand 

*  "  Jamais  1'intention  de'  8.  A.  R.  ne  fut 
d'arreter  le  cours  de  la  justice  dans  les  pour- 
suites  pour  des  delits  ordinaires  sur  lesquels 
le  magistral  doit  conserve!  toute  la  plenitude 
de  son  autorite ;  les  mesures  prescrites  dans 
1'ordre  du  8  Aout  n'ont  d'autre  objet  qua 
d'assurer  les  effets  de  la  parole  du  prince,  par 
laquelle  il  garantissait  la  tranquillite  de  ceux 
qui,  en  la  foi  des  promesses  de  S.  A.  R,  se 
separent  des  rangs  des  ennemis.  Mais  en 
meme  temps,  1'indulgence  pour  le  passe  gar- 
antit  la  scverite  avec  laquelle  les  nouveaux 
delits  seront  punis,  et  consequemment  les 
commandants  francais  devront  non-seulement 
laisser  agir  les  tribunaux  ordinaires  auxquels 
il  appartient  de  punir  suivant  la  rigueur  des 
lois,  ceux  qui,  a  1'avenir,  se  rendront  coup- 
ables  de  desordres  et  de  desobeissance  aux 
lois,  mais  encore  ils  devront  agir  d'accord, 
avec  les  autorites  locales,  pour  toutes  les 
mesures  qui  pourront  interesser  la  conserva- 
tion de  la  paix  publique." — Lettre  du  General 
Gttillcminot  a  la  Rtgence  a  Madrid,  26th  Au- 
gust 1823;  Annuaire  Historique,  vi.  721. 


294 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xii. 


men,  but  by  a  single  aide  -de  -  camp  ; 
and  a  harassing  guerilla  warfare  -was 
yet  kept  up  by  Mina  and  the  forces 
under  his  command  in  Catalonia.  The 
Royalists  in  Madrid  had  been  in  a 
state  of  the  highest  exultation,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  rumour  which  had  ob- 
tained credit,  that  the  King  had  been 
set  at  liberty,  when  the  decree  of  An- 
dujar  fell  upon  them  like  a  thunder- 
bolt, and  excited  universal  indigna- 
tion. The  same  was  the  case  in  all 
the  provinces.  Such  is  the  force  of 
passion  and  the  thirst  for  vengeance 
in  the  Spanish  character,  that  nothing 
inflames  it  so  violently  as  being  pre- 
cluded from  the  gratification  of  these 
malignant  feelings.  The  army  em- 
ployed in  the  blockade  of  Pampeluna 
prepared  and  signed  an  address  to  the 
Regency,  in  which  this  wise  decree  was 
denounced  as  worse  than  any  act  of 
Napoleon's.*  In  such  an  excited  state 
of  the  public  mind,  no  central  au- 
thority could  be  established.  All  re- 
cognised the  Regency  at  Madrid  ;  none 
obeyed  it.  Provincial  juntas  were  ra- 
pidly formed,  as  in  the  commencement 
of  the  war  in  1809,  composed  of  the 
most  violent  Royalists,  who  soon  ac- 
quired the  entire  direction  of  affairs 
within  their  respective  provinces.  The 
surrender  of  Corunna  on  13th  August, 
followed  by  the  capitulation  of  all  the 
Liberal  corps  in  the  province,  and  that 
of  San  Sebastian,  Ferrol,  and  Pampe- 
luna, soon  after  terminated  the  war  in 
the  north  and  west  of  Spain,  and  hos- 
tilities continued  only  in  Catalonia 
and  round  the  walls  of  Cadiz. 

84.  In  this  distracted  state  of  the 
country,  it  was  plain  that  nothing 
could  produce  concord  but  the  autho- 
rity of  the  sovereign,  and  to  effect  his 
liberation  the  whole  efforts  of  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme  were  directed.  The  siege 
of  Cadiz  had  been  undertaken  in  good 
earnest,  but  it  was  no  easy  matter  to 
prosecute  it  with  effect.  The  distance 

*  "  Un  attentat  que  n'osa  pas  commettre  le 
tyran  du  monde,  doit  Stre  reprime  a  1'instant, 
quelles  qu'en  soient  les  consequences,  et 
dussions-nous  6tre  exposes  aux  plus  grands 
dangers.  Que  1'Espagne  soit  couverte  de 
cadavres  plut&t  que  de  vivre  aville  par  le  des- 
honneur,  et  de  subir  le  Jong  de  1'etranger." 
— Adresse  de  I'armee  de  Navarre  a  la  Regence, 
20th  August  1823;  Ann.  Hilt.,  vi.  441. 


of  the  nearest  points  on  the  bay  from 
the  city  was  so  considerable  that  no- 
thing but  bombs  of  the  largest  calibre 
and  the  longest  range  could  reach  it, 
and  the  dykes  which  led  across  it  into 
the  fortress  were  defended  by  batteries 
of  such  strength  that  all  attempts  to 
force  the  passage  were  hopeless.  Two 
thousand  pieces  of  cannon,  and  ammu- 
nition in  abundance,  were  arrayed  in 
defence  of  the  place.  A  grand  sortie, 
undertaken  to  drive  the  French  from 
their  posts  around  the  bay,  led  to  a- 
warm  action,  and  was  at  length  re- 
pulsed with  the  loss  to  the  besieged  of 
seven  hundred  men.  About  the  same 
time  the  Minister  at  War,  Don  San- 
chez Salvador,  cut  his  throat  after  hav- 
ing burned  all  his  papers.  He  left  a 
writing  on  his  table,  in  which  he  de- 
clared that  he  did  so  "because  life 
was  every  day  becoming  more  insup- 
portable to  him,  but  that  he  descended 
to  the  tomb  without  having  to  reproach 
himself  with  a  single  fault."  The  ap- 
proach of  the  prince  generalissimo  soon 
led  to  more  important  operations.  His 
first  care  was  to  send  a  letter  to  the 
President  of  the  Cortes,  expressing  the 
anxious  wish  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment that  "the  King  of  Spain,  re- 
stored to  liberty  and  practising  clem- 
ency, should  accord  a  general  amnesty, 
necessary  after  so  many  troubles,  and 
give  to  his  people,  by  the  convocation 
of  the  ancient  Cortes,  a  guarantee  for 
the  reign  of  justice,  order,  and  good 
administration  ;  an  act  of  wisdom  to 
which  he  pledged  himself  to  obtain 
the  concurrence  of  all  Europe."  But 
to  this  noble  and  touching  letter,  the 
Cortes,  with  the  mixture  of  pride  and 
obstinacy  which  seems  inherent  in  the 
Spanish  character,  returned  an  answer 
in  such  terms  as  rendered  all  hope  of  pa- 
cific adjustment  out  of  the  question.* 

*"Le  Roi  est  libre;  les  malhears  de  1'Es- 
pagne viennent  tous  de  1'invasion ;  1'e'ta'blisse- 
ment  des  anciennes  Cortfes  cst  aussi  incom- 
patible avec  la  dignite  de  la  eouronne  qu'avec 
1'etat  actuel  du  monde,  la  situation  politique 
des  choses,  les  droits,  les  usages,  et  le  bien- 
etre  de  la  nation  espagnole.  Si  S.  A.  R. 
abusait  de  la  force,  elle  serait  responsable 
des  maux  qu'elle  pourrait  attirer  sur  la  per- 
sonne  du  Roi,  sur  la  famille  royale,  et  sur  cette 
cite  bien  meritante." — Reponse  des  Cortes,  18th, 
August  1823;  Annuaire  Historique,  ri.  420. 


1823.1 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


295 


85.  Continued  hostilities  being  thus 
resolved  on,  the  French  engineers  di- 
rected all  their  efforts  against  the  fort 
of  the  TROCADERO.  This  outwork  of 
Cadiz,  situated  on  the  land  side  of  the 
bay,  is  placed  at  the  extremity  of  a 
sandy  peninsula  running  into  it,  and 
•was  of  great  importance  as  command- 
ing the  inner  harbour,  and  enabling 
the  mortar  batteries  of  the  besiegers 
to  reach  the  city  itself.  It  had  been 
fortified,  accordingly,  with  the  utmost 
care — was  mounted  with  fifty  pieces  of 
heavy  cannon,  garrisoned  with  seven- 
teen hundred  men;  and  as  a  ditch, 
into  which  the  sea  flowed  at  both  ends, 
had  been  cut  across  the  peninsula,  the 
fort  stood  on  an  island,  with  a  front  of 
appalling  strength  towards  the  land. 
Against  this  front  the  whole  efforts 
of  the  French  were  directed  ;  the  ap- 
proaches were  pushed  with  incredible 
activity,  and  on  the  24th  the  first  pa- 
rallel had  been  drawn  to  within  sixty 
yards  of  the  ditch.  A  tremendous  fire 
was  kept  up  from  the  batteries  of  the 
assailants  on  the  works  of  the  place 
during  the  six  following  days,  and  on 
the  31st  the  cannonade  was  so  violent 
as  to  induce  the  garrison  to  apprehend 
an  immediate  assault.  The  day,  how- 
ever, passed  over  without  its  taking 
place,  and  the  Spaniards  began  to  raise 
cries  of  victory.  But  their  triumph 
was  of  short  duration.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  the  31st,  while  it  was  still 
dark,  the  assaulting  column,  consist- 
ing of  fourteen  companies,  defiled  in 
silence  out  of  the  trenches,  and  stood 
within  forty  paces  of  the  enemy's  bat- 
teries. With  such  order  and  regularity 
was  the  movement  executed,  that  the 
besiegers  were  not  aware  of  their  hav- 
ing emerged  from  the  trenches  till  just 
before  the  rush  commenced.  They 
were  seen,  however,  through  the  grey 
of  the  morning  as  they  were  beginning 
to  move,  and  a  violent  fire  of  grape 
and  musketry  was  immediately  direct- 
ed against  the  living  mass.  On  they 
rushed,  disregarding  the  fire,  plunged 
into  the  ditch,  with  the  water  up  to 
their  arms,  and,  ascending  the  opposite 
side  under  a  shower  of  balls,  broke 
'through  the  chevaux-de-frise,  and 
mounted  the  ramparts  with  the  utmost 


resolution.  The  Spaniards  stood  their 
ground  bravely,  and  for  some  minutes 
the  struggle  was  very  violent,  but  at 
length  the  impetuosity  of  the  French 
prevailed.  Great  numbers  of  the  be- 
sieged were  bayoneted  at  their  guns ; 
the  remainder  fled  to  Fort  St  Louis, 
the  last  fortified  post  on  the  peninsula. 
There,  however,  they  were  speedily 
followed  by  the  French,  who  scaled 
the  ramparts  and  carried  everything 
before  them.  By  nine  o'clock  the  con- 
quest was  complete — the  entire  penin- 
sula had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
victors,  with  all  its  forts  and  artillery. 
The  Duke  d'Angouleme  exposed  him- 
self, in  this  brilliant  affair,  to  the 
enemy's  fire,  like  a  simple  grenadier; 
and  the  Prince  of  Carignan,  eldest  sou 
of  the  King  of  Sardinia,  was  one  of  the 
first  of  the  forlorn  hope  who  mounted 
the  breach.  Strange  destiny  of  the 
same  prince  to  be  within  two  years 
the  leader  of  a  democratic  revolt  in. 
his  own  country,  and  a  gallant  vol- 
unteer with  the  assaulting  party  of 
the  Royalist  army  which  combated 
it! 

86.  Disaster  also  attended  the  ope- 
rations of  Riego,  who  had  left  the  Isle 
of  Leon  in  order  to  collect  the  scattered 
bands  of  the  Liberals  in  the  mountains 
of  Granada  and  Andalusia,  and  operate 
in  the  rear  of  the  French  army.  The 
Cortes,  who  were  too  glad  to  get  quit 
of  him,  gave  him  the  command  of  all 
the  troops  he  could  collect :  he  eluded 
the  vigilance  of  the  French  cruisers, 
and  disembarked  at  Malaga  on  the 
17th  August  with  ample  powers,  but 
no  money.  He  there  toolc  the  com- 
mand of  two  thousand  men  who  re- 
mained to  Zayas  in  that  place,  and 
soon  made  amends  for  his  want  of 
money  by  forced  contributions  from 
the  whole  merchants  and  opulent  in- 
habitants of  the  place,  without  except- 
ing the  English,  whom  he  imprisoned, 
transported,  and  shot  without  mercy, 
if  they  withstood  his  demands.  The 
loud  complaints  which  they  made 
throughout  all  Europe  went  far  to 
open  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  England 
to  the  real  tendency  of  the  Spanish 
revolution.  On  the  3d  September  he 
set  out  from  Malaga  at  the  head  of 


296 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xn. 


two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  car- 
rying with  him  the  whole  plate  of  the 
churches  and  of  all  the  respectable  in- 
habitants in  the  place,  and  made  for 
the  mountains,  with  the  view  of  join- 
ing the  remains  of  the  corps  of  General 
Ballasteros,  which  he  effected  a  few 
days  after.  He  was  closely  followed 
by  Generals  Bonnemaine  and  Loverdi, 
whom  Molitor  had  detached  from  Gra- 
nada in  pursuit.  Though  the  troops 
of  Ballasteros  had  capitulated,  and 
passed  over  to  the  Royalist  side,  yet 
they  were  unable  to  stand  the  sight  of 
their  old  ensigns  and  colours,  and,  like 
the  soldiers  of  Napoleon  at  the  sight 
of  the  imperial  eagles,  they  speedily 
fraternised  with  their  old  comrades. 
Cries  of  "Viva  el  Union  !  Viva  Riego  ! 
Viva  la  Constitucion  !"  were  heard  on 
all  sides,  and  Ballasteros  himself,  car- 
ried away  by  the  torrent,  found  him- 
self in  Riego's  arms.  Concord  seemed 
to  be  established  between  the  chiefs, 
and  they  dined  together,  apparently 
in  perfect  amity;  but  in  reality  the 
seeds  of  distrust  were  irrevocably  sown 
between  them.  Ballasteros  quietly  gave 
orders  to  his  troops  to  separate  from 
those  of  Riego ;  the  latter,  penetrating 
his  designs,  made  the  former  a  prisoner, 
but  was  compelled  to  release  him  by 
his  officers.  Discord  having  now  suc- 
ceeded to  the  temporary  burst  of  una- 
nimity, the  two  armies  were  separated, 
and  the  greater  part  of  Riego's  two 
best  regiments  deserted  in  the  night, 
and  joined  Ballasteros's  troops.  The 
expedition  had  entirely  failed,  and 
instead  of  raising  the  country  in  the 
rear  of  the  French  army  before  Cadiz, 
nothing  remained  to  Riego  but  to  seek 
by  hill-paths  to  effect  a  junction  with 
Mina,  who  still  maintained  a  desul- 
tory warfare  in  the  mountains  of  Cata- 
lonia. 

87.  He  set  out  accordingly  with  two 
thousand  men ;  but,  destitute  of  every- 
thing,-and  unable  to  convey  their  heavy 
spoil  with  them,  the  march  proved 
nothing  but  a  succession  of  disasters. 
Bonnemaine,  who  closely  followed  his 
footsteps  with  a  light  French  division, 
came  up  with  the  fugitives  on  the 
heights  near  Jaen,  and  after  a  short 
action  totally  defeated  them,  with  the 


loss  of  five  hundred  of  Riego's  best 
men.  The  day  following  he  was  again 
assailed  with  such  vigour,  that  his 
troops,  no  longer  making  even  a  show 
of  resistance,  dispersed  on  all  sides, 
leaving  their  chief  himself  attended 
only  by  a  few  followers,  who  still  ad- 
hered with  honourable  fidelity  to  his 
desperate  fortunes.  Riego  himself  was 
wounded,  and  in  that  pitiable  state 
fled,  accompanied  only  by  three  of- 
ficers, towards  the  Sierra  Morena.  Ex- 
hausted by  fatigue,  he  was  obliged  to 
rest  at  a  farmhouse  near  Carolina  d' Ar- 
guellos,  where  he  was  recognised,  and 
information  sent  to  his  pursuers  of  his 
retreat,  by  whom  he  was  arrested. 
Conducted  under  a  strong  escort  to 
Andujar,  he  was  assailed  by  a  mob 
with  such  violent  imprecations  and 
threatening  gesticulations,  that  the 
French  garrison  of  the  place  were  ob- 
liged to  turn  out  to  save  his  life.  As 
M.  de  Coppons,  an  officer  of  Marshal 
Moncey's  staff,  covered  him  with  his 
body  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  he  said, 
"The  people  who  are  now  so  excited 
against  me — the  people  who,  but  for 
the  succour  of  the  French,  would  have 
murdered  me — that  same  people  last 
year,  on  this  very  spot,  bore  me  in 
their  arms  in  triumph :  the  city  forced 
upon  me,  against  my  will,  a  sabre 
of  honour :  the  night  which  I  passed 
here  the  houses  were  illuminated :  the 
people  danced  till  morning  under  my 
windows,  and  prevented  me,  by  their 
acclamations,  from  obtaining  a  mo- 
ment of  sleep." 

88.  These  repeated  disasters,  and  the 
accounts  received  from  all  quarters  of 
the  general  submission  of  the  country, 
at  length  convinced  the  Cortes  of  the 
hopelessness  of  the  contest  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  They  got  Ferdi- 
nand, accordingly,  to  sign  a  letter  to 
the  Duke  d'Angouleme,  in  which  he 
requested  a  suspension  of  arms,  with  a 
view  to  the  conclusion  of  a  general  peace. 
The  Duke  replied,  that  it  was  indispen- 
sable, in  the  first  instance,  thattheKing 
should  be  set  at  liberty,  but  that,  as 
soon  as  this  was  done,  "  he  would  ear- 
nestly entreat  his  Majesty  to  accord  a 
general  amnesty,  and  to  give  of  his 
own  will,  or  to  promise,  such  institu- 


1323.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


297 


tions  as  he  may  deem  in  his  wisdom 
suitable  to  their  feelings  and  character, 
and  which  may  seem  essential  to  their 
happiness  and  tranquillity."  The  Cor- 
tes, upon  this,  asked  what  evidence  he 
•would  require  that  the  King  was  at  lib- 
erty ?  To  which  the  Duke  answered 
that  he  would  never  regard  him  as  so 
till  he  saw  him  in  the  middle  of  the 
French  troops.  This  answer  broke  oft' 
the  negotiation,  and  soon  after  the  ar- 
rival of  Sir  R.  Wilson  revived  the  hopes 
of  the  besieged,  who  still  clung  to  the 
expectation  of  English  intervention. 
But  these  hopes  proved  fallacious ;  and 
ere  long  the  progress  of  the  French  was 
such  that  further  resistance  was  obvi- 
ously useless.  On  the  20th,  a  French 
squadron  of  two  ships  of  the  line  and 
two  frigates  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  the 
fort  of  Santa  Petri,  on  the  margin  of 
the  bay,  and  with  such  effect,  that  on 
preparations  being  made  for  an  as- 
sault, the  white  flag  was  hoisted,  and 
the  place  capitulated  on  condition  of 
the  garrison  being  permitted  to  retire 
to  Cadiz.  From  the  advanced  posts  of 
the  Trocadero  and  Santa  Petri  thus  ac- 
quired, a  bombardment  of  the  town  it- 
self was  three  days  after  commenced, 
while  the  ships  in  the  bay  kept  up  a 
fire  with  uncommon  vigour  on  the  bat- 
teries on  the  sea  side.  The  effect  of 
this  bombardment,  which  brought  the 
reality  of  war  to  their  homes,  was  ter- 
rible. The  regiment  of  San  Marcial, 
heretofore  deemed  one  of  the  steadiest 
in  support  of  the  Revolution,  revolted, 
and  was  only  subdued  by  the  urban 
militia.  Terror  prevailed  on  all  sides  ; 
— cries  of  "Treason!"  became  gene- 
ral ;  every  one  distrusted  his  neigh- 
bour ;  and  that  universal  discourage- 
ment prevailed  which  is  at  once  the 
(•licet  and  the  forerunner  of  serious 
disaster. 

89.  Subdued  at  length  by  so  many 
calamities,  the  special  commission  of 
the  Cortes  entered  in  good  earnest  into 
negotiations.  In  a  special  meeting, 
called  on  the  28th  September,  a  report 
was  laid  before  them  by  the  Govern- 
ment, which  set  forth  that  all  their 
means  of  defence  were  exhausted,  that 
no  hope  of  intervention  on  the  part  of 
England  remained,  and  that  it  was  in- 


dispensable to  come  to  terms  with  the 
enemy.  The  Cortes,  accordingly,  de- 
clared itself  dissolved  the  same  day; 
and  the  King  sent  a  message  to  the 
Duke  d'Angouleme,  declaring  that  he 
was  now  at  liberty  ;  that  he  was  mak- 
ing dispositions  to  embark  at  Port  San- 
ta Maria  ;  that  he  had  engaged  to  dis- 
quiet no  one  on  account  of  his  political 
conduct ;  and  that  he  would  reserve 
all  public  measures  till  he  had  return- 
ed to  his  capital.  Three  days  after- 
wards, accordingly,  on  the  1st  October, 
every  preparation  having  been  com- 
pleted, and  the  King  having  published 
a  proclamation,  in  which  lie  promised 
a  general  amnesty,  and  everything  the 
Constitutionalists  wished,  the  embark- 
ation of  the  King  and  royal  family  took 
place  at  Santa  Maria  with  great  pomp, 
amidst  universal  acclamation,  and  the. 
thunder  of  artillery  from  all  the  bat- 
teries, both  on  the  French  and  Spanish 
side  of  the  bay.*  The  embarkation  was 
distinctly  seen  from  the  opposite  coast, 
where  the  Duke  d'Angouleme,  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  and  surrounded  by 
a  splendid  staff,  awaited  his  arrival ; 
and  every  eye  watched,  with  speechless 
anxiety,  the  progress  of  the  bark  which 
bore  the  royal  family  of  Spain  from  the 
scene  of  their  captivity,  and  with  them 
restored,  as  was  hoped,  peace  and  hap- 
piness to  the  entire  Peninsula. 

90.  Trained  by  long  misfortunes, 
not  less  than  the  precepts  of  his  con- 
fessors, to  perfect  habits  of  dissimu- 
lation, Ferdinand,  even  when  rowing 
across  the  bay,  kept  up  the  mask  of 
generosity.  He  conversed  with  Valdez 
and  Ala va,  who  accompanied  him,  down 
to  the  last  moments,  of  the  gratitude 
which  he  felt  to  them ;  of  the  need 
in  which  he  stood  of  experienced  and 

*  "  Le  Roi  proinet  1'oubli  complet  et  absolu 
cle  ce  qui  est  passe,  la  reconnaissance  des 
dettescontracteesparle  gouvernement  actuel, 
le  maintien  des  grades,  emplois,  traitements  et 
honneurs,  militaires  on  civils,  accordes  sous  le 
regime  constitutionnel,  declarant  d'ailleurs  do 
sa  volonte  libre  et  spontanee,  tur  la  foi  tie  la. 
parole  royale,  que  s'il  lallait  absolument  modi- 
fier les  institutions  politiques  actuelles  de  la 
monarchic,  S.  til.  adopteraitun  gouvernement 
qui  put  faire  le  bonheur  de  la  nation,  en  gar- 
antissant  les  personnes,  les  proprie'te's  et  la 
liberte  civile  des  Espagnols." — Proclamation 
du  Roi  Ferdinand,  30th  September  1823 ;  An- 
nunire  Histvriqiif,  \i.  471,  472. 


298 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


popular  ministers  to  guide  him  in  his 
new  reign ;  he  invited  them  to  trust  to 
his  magnanimity — to  land  with  him, 
and  quit  for  ever  a  city  where  their 
kindness  to  him  would  be  imputed  to 
them  as  a  crime.  They  distrusted, 
however,  the  sincerity  of  the  monarch, 
and  as  soon  as  the  royal  family  landed, 
pushed  off  from  the  shore.  ' '  Miserable 
wretches ! "  exclaimed  the  King,  "they 
do  well  to  withdraw  from  their  fate  ! " 
The  Duke  d'Angoule'me  received  the 
King  kneeling,  who  immediately  rais- 
ed him  from  the  ground,  and  threw 
himself  into  his  arms.  The  thunder 
of  artillery,  waving  of  standards,  and 
cheers  of  the  troops,  accompanied  the 
auspicious  event,  which,  in  terminating 
the  distraction  of  one,  seemed  to  pro- 
mise peace  to  both  nations.  But  from 
the  crowd  which  accompanied  the  royal 
cortege  to  the  residence  provided  for 
them,  were  heard  cries  of  a  less  pleas- 
ing and  ominous  import — "Viva  el 
Rey  !  Viva  el  Religion  !  Muera  la  Na- 
cion  !  Mueran  los  Negros  ! "  * 

91.  The  first  act  of  the  King  on  re- 
covering his  liberty  was  to  publish  a 
proclamation,  in  which  he  declared 
null  all  the  acts  of  the  Government 
which  had  been  conducted  in  his  name 
from  7th  March  1820  to  1st  October 
1823,  "  seeing  that  the  King  had  been 
during  all  that  period  deprived  of  his 
liberty,  and  obliged  to  sanction  the 
laws,  orders,  and  measures  of  the  revo- 
lutionary Government."  By  the  same 
decree  he  ratified  and  approved  every- 
thing which  had  been  done  by  the  re- 
gency installed  at  Oyarzun  on  the  9th 
April  1822,  and  by  the  regency  estab- 
lished at  Madrid  on  the  26th  May  1 823, 
"  until  his  Majesty,  having  made  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  necessities  of 
his  people,  may  be  in  a  situation  to 
give  them  the  laws  and  take  the  mea- 
sures best  calculated  to  insure  their 
happiness,  the  constant  object  of  his 
solicitude."  In  vain  the  Duke  d'An- 
gotilSme  counselled  measures  of  mode- 
ration and  humanity :  the  voice  of  pas- 
sion, the  thirst  for  vengeance,  alone 
were  listened  to.  An  entire  change  of 

*  "  Long  live  the  King !  Long  live  Reli- 
pirm  !  Death  to  the  Nation !  Death  to  the 
Liberals  1 " 


course  took  place  in  the  King's  house- 
hold ;  the  Duke  del  Infantado  was 
placed  at  its  head,  and  the  Regency  in 
the  mean  time  continued  in  its  func- 
tions. The  dissolution  of  the  Cortes 
and  deliverance  of  Ferdinand  put  an 
end  to  the  war ;  for  the  disaffected, 
however  indignant,  had  no  longer  a. 
head  to  which  they  could  look,  or  an 
object  for  which  they  were  to  contend. 
Before  the  end  of  October  all  the  fort- 
resses which  still  held  out  for  the  revo- 
lutionary Government  had  hoisted  the 
royal  flag,  and  all  the  corps  which  were 
in  arms  for  its  support  had  sent  in  their 
adhesion  to  the  new  Government. 

92.  A  great  and  glorious  career  now- 
lay  before  Ferdinand,  if  he  had  pos- 
sessed magnanimity  sufficient  to  fol- 
low it.  The  revolution  had  been  ex- 
tinguished with  very  little  effusion  of 
blood ;  the  angry  passions  had  not  been 
awakened  by  general  massacres ;  the  re- 
volutionary Government  had  been  over- 
turned as  easily,  and  with  nearly  as  lit- 
tle loss  of  life,  as  the  royal  authority  at 
Paris,  by  the  taking  of  the  Bastille  on. 
1 4th  June  1789.  The  King  had  pledged 
his  royal  word  to  an  absolute  and  un- 
conditional amnesty.  Clemency  and 
moderation  were  as  easy,  and  as  loudly 
called  for,  in  the  one  case  as  the  other ; 
and  if  this  wise  and  generous  course 
had  been  adopted,  what  a  long  train  of 
calamities  would  have  been  spared  to 
both  countries !  The  revolutionists  and 
the  King  had  alike  many  faults  to  re- 
gret, many  injuries  to  forgive  ;  and  it 
would  have  been  worthy  of  the  first  in 
rank,  and  the  first  in  power,  to  take 
the  lead  in  that  glorious  emulation. 
But,  unhappily,  in  the  Spanish  charac- 
ter, the  desire  for  vengeance  and  the 
thirst  for  blood  are  as  inherent  as  the 
spirit  of  adventure  and  the  heroism  of 
resistance ;  and  amidst  all  the  declama- 
tions in  favour  of  religion,  the  priests 
who  surrounded  the  throne  forgot  that 
the  forgiveness  of  injuries  is  the  first 
of  the  Christian  virtues.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  the  royalist  Govern- 
ment took  example  from  the  revolu- 
tionary in  deeds  of  cruelty ;  the  reac- 
tion was  as  violent  as  the  action  had 
been  ;  and  Spain  was  the  theatre  of 
mutual  injuries,  and  torn  by  intestine 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


passions  for  a  long  course  of  years,  un- 
til the  discord  ceased  by  the  exhaustion 
of  those  who  were  its  victims.  • 

93.  Riego  was  the  first  victim.  Cries 
•were  heard,  which  showed  how  pro- 
found was  the  indignation  and  wide- 
spread the  thirst  for  vengeance  in  the 
Spanish  mind.     The  first  step  taken 
was  to  bring  him  to  trial.     No  advo- 
cate could  be  found  bold  enough  to 
undertake  his  defence  ;  the  court  was 
obliged  to  appoint  one  to  that  perilous 
duty.  During  the  whole  time  the  trial 
was  goiugr  on,  a  furious  crowd  sur- 
rounded the  hall  of  justice  with  cries 
of  "Muera  Riego !  Muera  el  Tradidor ! 
— Viva  el  Rey  Assoluto  !  "     His  con- 
viction followed  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  he  was  sentenced  to  death  amidst 
the  same  shouts  from  an  excited  audi- 
ence, whom  even  the  solemnity  of  that 
awful  occasion,  and  the  very  magni- 
tude of  the  offence  with  which  the 
prisoner  was  charged,  could  not  over- 
awe into  temporary  silence. 

94.  His  execution  took  place  a  few 
days  afterwards,  and  under  circum- 
stances peculiarly  shocking,  and  which 
reflected  the  deepest  disgrace  on  the 
Spanish  Government.     Stript  of  his 
uniform,  clothed  in  a  wrapper  of  white 
cloth,  with  a  green  cap,  the  ensign  of 
liberty,  on  his  head,  lie  was  placed, 
with  his  hands  tied  behind  his  back, 
on  a  hurdle  drawn  by  an  ass,  in  which 
he  was  conveyed,  surrounded  by  priests, 
and  with  the  Miserere  of  the  dying 
unceasingly  rung  in  his  ears  by  a  chor- 
ister, to  the  place  of  execution.     The 
multitude    gazed    in  silence   on  the 
frightful  spectacle.      The  memorable 
reverse  of   fortune,   from   being  the 
adored  chief  of  the  revolution  to  be- 
coming thus  reviled  and  rejected,  for  a 
moment  subdued  the  angry  passions. 
Arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  scaffold, 
which  was  constructed  upon  an  emi- 
nence in  the  Plaza  de  la  Cebaba,  forty 
feet  high,  so  as  to  be  seen  from  a  great 
distance,  he  received  absolution  for  his 
crimes,  and  was  lifted  up,  still  bound, 
pale  and  attenuated,  already  half  dead, 
to  the  top  of  the  scaffold,  where  the 
fatal  cord  was  passed  round  his  neck, 
and  he  was  launched  into  eternity.    A 
monster  in  the  human  form  gave  a 


buffet  to  his  countenance  after  death  ;* 
a  shudder  ran  through  the  crowd, 
which  was  soon  drowned  in  cries  of 
"Viva  el  Rey !  Viva  el  Rey  Assoluto ! " 
95.  The  King  and  Queen  of  Spain 
made  their  triumphal  entry  into  Mad- 
rid six  days  after  that  melancholy  exe- 
cution, amidst  an  immense  crowd  of 
spectators,  and  surrounded  by  every 
demonstration  of  joy.  Their  majesties- 
were  seated  on  an  antique  and  gigantic 
chariot,  twenty -five  feet  high,  which 
was  drawn  by  a  hundred  young  men 
elegantly  attired,  surrounded  by  groups 
of  dancers  of  both  sexes,  in  the  most 
splendid  theatrical  costumes,  whose 
operatic  display  elicited  boundless  ap- 
plause from  the  spectators.  The  spirit 
of  faction  appeared  to  be  dead ;  one 
only  feeling  seemed  to  animate  every 
breast,  which  was  joy  at  the  termina- 
tion of  the  revolution.  But  it  soon 
appeared  that,  if  the  convulsions  had 
ceased,  the  passions  it  had  called  forth 
were  far  from  being  appeased.  Tho 
long-wished-for  amnesty,  so  solemnly 
promised  by  the  King  before  his  libera- 
tion at  Cadiz,  and  which  would  have 
closed  in  so  worthy  a  spirit  the  wounds 
of  the  revolution,  had  not  yet  been 
promulgated,  and  it  was  looked  for 
with  speechless  anxiety  by  the  numer- 
ous relatives  and  friends  of  the  persons 
compromised.  For  several  days  after 
the  King's  arrival  in  the  capital  it  did 
not  make  its  appearance,  and  mean- 
while arrests  continued  daily,  and  were 
multiplied  to  such  a  degree  that  the 
prisons  were  soon  overflowing.  At 
length  the  public  anxiety  became  so 
great  that  the  Government  were  com- 
pelled to  publish  the  amnesty  on  the 
19th.  It  contained,  however,  so  many 
exceptions,  that  it  was  rather  a  decla- 
ration of  war  against  the  adverse  party 
than  a  healing  and  pacific  measure. 
It  excepted  all  the  persons  who  had 
taken  a  leading  part  in  the  late  dis- 
turbance, and  their  number  was  so 
great  that  it  was  evident  it  laid  the 
foundation  of  interminable  discords 

*  The  same  thing  was  done  to  the  beauti- 
ful head  of  Charlotte  Corday,  after  she  had 
been  guillotined — See  History  of  Europe,  for- 
mer series,  chap.  xii.  §  78.  How  identical  is 
the  passion  of  party  and  the  spirit  of  venge- 
ance in  all  ages  and  countries  ! 


800 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


and  certain  reaction.  On  the  2d  De- 
cember, the  list  of  the  new  Ministry 
appeared,  constructed,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  from  amongst  the  per- 
sons who  had  been  most  instrumental 
in  promoting  the  return  to  the  ancient 
regime.*  The  Duke  del  Infantado  was 
•dismissed  from  the  presidency  of  the 
Privy  Council,  which  was  bestowed  on 
Don  Ignace  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  ;  and 
the  Council  itself  was  composed  of  ten 
persons,  all  devoted  Royalists.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  on  the  urgent  re- 
presentation of  Count  Pozzo  di  Borgo, 
who  bore  a  holograph  letter  of  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  on  the  subject,  a 
pledge  was  given  of  an  intention  to 
revert  to  more  moderate  councils,  by 
the  dismissal  of  Don  Victor  Laez,  the 
organ  of  the  violent  apostolic  party, 
from  the  important  office  of  confessor 
to  the  King,  who  was  succeeded  by  a 
priest  of  more  reasonable  views. 

96.  The  revolution  was  now  closed, 
and  the  royal  government  re-estab- 
lished in  Spain,  supported  by  ninety 
thousand  French  soldiers,  in  possession 
of  its  principal  fortresses,  and  so  dis- 
posed as  to  be  able  at  once  to  crush 
any  fresh  revolutionary  outbreak.  But 
it  is  not  by  the  mere  cessation  of  hosti- 
lities that  the  passions  of  revolution  are 
extinguished,  or  its  disastrous  effects 
obliterated.  Deplorable  to  the  last  de- 
gree was  the  condition  of  Spain  on  the 
termination  of  the  civil  war,  and  deep 
and  unappeasable  the  thirst  for  venge- 
ance with  which  the  different  parties 
•were  animated  against  each  other.  The 
finances,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  gave 
woeful  proof  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
general  disorder,  and  the  extent  to 
which  it  had  sapped  the  foundations 
alike  of  public  and  private  prosperity. 
In  the  greater  part  of  the  provinces 
the  collection  of  taxes  had  entirely 
-ceased ;  where  it  was  still  gathered,  it 
came  in  so  slowly  as  not  to  deserve  the 
name  of  a  national  revenue.  The  Five 
per  Cents  were  down  at  16  from  100  ; 
loans  attempted  to  be  opened  in  every 

*  Marquis  Casa-Irogo,  Premier  and  Foreign 
Affairs :  Don  Narcisso  de  Hondia,  Minister 
of  Grace  and  Justice ;  Don  Jose  de  la  Crux, 
War ;  Don  Luis  Lopez-Ballasteros,  Finances ; 
Don  Luis-Maria  Salazar,  Marine  and  Colo- 
nies.—Annua ire  Hietorique,  vL  485. 


capital  of  Europe  found  no  subscribers. 
The  effects  of  the  clergy,  the  revenues 
of  the  kingdom,  offered  in  security  of 
advances,  failed  to  overcome  the  ter- 
rors of  capitalists.  Recognition  of  the 
loans  of  the  Cortes  was  everywhere 
stated  as  the  first  condition  of  further 
accommodation,  and  this  the  disastrous 
state  of  the  finances  rendered  impossi- 
ble, for  they  were  wholly  inadequate  to 
meet  the  interest  due  upon  them.  The 
only  activity  displayed  in  the  kingdom 
was  in  the  mutual  arrest  of  their  ene- 
mies by  the  different  parties  ;  the  only 
energy,  in  preparing  the  means  of 
wreaking  vengeance  on  each  other. 
But  for  the  presence  of  the  French 
army,  they  would  have  flown  at  each 
other's  throats,  and  civil  war  would  in 
many  places  have  been  renewed.  Peace 
and  protection  were  everywhere  ex- 
perienced under  the  white  flag,  but 
there  only ;  and  so  general  was  the 
sense  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  its 
shelter,  that  no  opposition  was  made 
anywhere  to  a  convention  by  which  it 
was  stipulated  that  for  a  year  longer 
thirty  -  five  thousand  French  troops 
should  remain  in  possession  of  the 
principal  Spanish  fortresses. 

.  97.  PORTUGAL  has  in  recent  times  so 
entirely  followed  the  political  changes 
of  Spain,  that  in  reading  the  account 
of  the  one  you  would  imagine  that  you 
are  perusing  that  of  the  other.  The 
parties  were  the  same,  the  objects  of 
contention  the  same,  their  alternate 
triumphs  and  disasters  identical.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  year  the  Cortes 
were  still  all-powerful,  and  a  long  lease 
of  power  was  presaged  for  the  constitu- 
tional Government.  When  the  French 
invasion  of  Spain  appeared  certain,  an 
army  of  observation  was  formed  on 
the  frontier  without  opposition.  But 
civil  war  soon  appeared.  On  the  23d 
Februar}',  the  Conde  d'Amarante,  at 
Villa-Real,  raised  the  standard  of  insur- 
rection, and  published  a  proclamation, 
in  which  he  called  on  all  loyal  subjects 
to  unite  with  him  in  "  delivering  the 
country  from  the  yoke  of  the  Cortes, 
the  scourge  of  revolution,  the  religion 
of  their  enemies,  and  to  rescue  the  King 
from  captivity. ' '  The  proclamation  was 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


301 


received  with  enthusiasm ;  in  a  few  clays 
the  whole  province  of  Tras-os-Montes 
was  in  arms,  several  regular  regiments 
joined  the  Royalist  standard,  and  in  the 
beginning  of  March  a  formidable  force 
appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  Douro. 
There,  however,  they  were  met  by  the 
Constitutional  generals  at  the  head  of 
eight  thousand  men ;  and  after  a  va- 
riety of  conflicts  with  various  success,  in 
the  course  of  which  the  Conde  d'Ama- 
rante  was  often  worsted,  the  Royalists 
were  driven  back  into  Tras-os-Montes 
with  considerable  loss,  from  whence 
Amarante  was  fain  to  escape  into  Spain, 
where  he  joined  the  curate  Merino,  who 
had  hoisted  the  white  flag,  with  four 
thousand  men,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Yalladolid.  The  insurrection  seemed 
subdued,  and  the  session  of  the  Cortes 
concluded  amidst  Jo  Pwans  and  con- 
gratulatory addresses  on  the  part  of  the 
Constitutionalists. 

98.  But  these  transports  were  of 
short  duration  ;  the  French  invasion 
speedily  altered  the  aspect  of  affairs, 
not  less  in  Portugal  than  in  Spain. 
On  the  27th  May,  one  of  the  regiments 
in  the  army  of  observation  on  the  fron- 
tier raised  the  cry  of  "  Viva  el  Re}' !" 
and  on  the  following  night  the  Infant 
DOM  MIGUEL,  the  acknowledged  head 
of  the  Royalist  party,  escaped  from 
Lisbon,  and  joined  the  revolted  corps 
at  Villa -Franca.  The  prince  imme- 
diately published  a  proclamation,  in 
which  he  declared  that  his  object  was 
to  free  the  nation  from  the  shameful 
yoke  which  had  been  imposed  on  it,  to 
liberate  the  King,  and  give  the  people 
a  constitution  exempt  alike  from  des- 
potism and  licence.  A  great  number  of 
influential  persons  immediately  joined 
him,  and  the  Court  at  Villa-Franca 
became  a  rival  to  that  at  Lisbon.  On 
the  29th,  Sepulveda,  with  part  of  the 
garrison  of  Lisbon,  declared  for  the 
royal  cause ;  and  the  Cortes,  which  had 
assembled,  was  thrown  into  the  utmost 
consternation  by  the  same  cry  being 
repeated  in  various  quarters  of  the  city. 
At  length  the  infection  spread  to  the 
Royal  Guard;  cries  of  "Viva  el  Rey 
Assoluto  !"  broke  from  their  ranks'; 
the  cockades  of  the  Constitution  were 
everywhere  torn  off  and  trampled  un- 


der foot,  and  the  King  himself,  who 
had  come  out  to  appease  the  tumult, 
was  obliged  to  join  in  the  same  cry, 
and  to  detach  the  Constitutional  cock- 
ade from  his  breast.  In  the  evening  a 
proclamation  was  published,  datedfrom 
the  Royalist  headquarters,  in  which  he 
announced  a. change  of  government 
and  modification  of  the  constitution. 
The  Cortes  was  dissolved  on  the  2d  of 
June;  on  the  same  day  a  proclamation 
was  published,  denouncing  in  severe 
terms  the  vices  of  the  revolutionary 
system  ;  and  two  days  after  the  counter- 
revolution was  rendered  irrevocable,, 
by  the  King  moving  to  the  Royalist 
headquarters  at  Villa-Franca.  Three 
days  after,  he  returned  in  great  pomp 
to  Lisbon,  where  he  was  received  with, 
universal  acclamations ;  the  Ministry 
was  changed;  the  Infant  Dom  Miguel 
was  declared  generalissimo  of  the  army, 
the  Count  de  Palmella  appointed  Pre- 
mier and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  the  whole  Cabinet  composed  of 
Royalist  chiefs.  Everything  imme- 
diately returned  into  the  old  channels ; 
the  revolutionary  authorities  all  sent 
in  their  adhesion  or  were  dismissed: 
and  to  the  honour  of  Portugal  be  it 
said,  the  counter-revolution  was  com- 
pleted without  bloodshed,  and  no  se- 
verer penalties  than  the  exile  from  Lis- 
bon of  thirty  of  the  most  violent  mem- 
bers of  the  Cortes,  and  the  loss  of  office 
by  a  few  of  the  Liberal  chiefs. 

99.  The  return  of  the  Duke  d'An- 
gouleme,  and  the  greater  part  of  his 
army,  after  this  memorable  campaign, 
was  a  continual  triumph.  It  was  no 
wonder  it  was  so ;  it  had  proved  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  recorded  in  his- 
tory. In  less  than  six  months,  with 
the  loss  of  only  four  thousand  men, 
as  well  by  sickness  as  the  sword,  with, 
an  expenditure  of  only  200,000,000 
francs  (£8,000,000),  they  had  sub- 
dued and  pacified  Spain,  delivered  the 
King,  arrested  the  march  of  revolution, 
and  stopped  the  convulsions  of  Eu- 
rope. The  campaigns  of  Xapoleon  have 
no  triumphs  so  bloodless  to  recount. 
Great  preparations  had  been  made  in 
Paris  to  receive  them  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  occasion.  On  the  2d 
December,  the  anniversary  of  the  bat- 


302 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


tie  of  Austerlitz,  the  prince  made  his 
triumphal  entry  into  Paris  on  horse- 
back, at  the  head  of  the  elite  of  his 
troops,  surrounded  by  a  splendid  staff, 
among  whom  were  to  be  seen  Marshals 
Oudinot,  Marmont,  and  Lauriston,  Ge- 
neral Bordesoult,  the  Duke  de  Guiche, 
and  Count  de  la  Rochejaquelein.  The 
aspect  of  the  troops,  their  martial  air 
and  bronzed  visages,  recalled  the  most 
brilliant  military  spectacles  of  the 
Empire.  They  passed  under  the  mag- 
nificent triumphal  arch  of  Neuilly, 
finished  for  the  occasion,  and  thence 
through  the  Champs  Elysees  to  the 
Tuileries,  through  a  double  line  of  na- 
tional guards,  and  an  immense  crowd 
of  spectators,  who  rent  the  air  with 
their  acclamations.  The  municipality 
and  chief  public  bodies  of  Paris  met 
the  prince  at  the  Barrier  de  1'Etoile, 
and  addressed  him  in  terms  of  warm 
but  not  undeserved  congratulation  on 
his  glorious  exploits.*  The  prince, 
modestly  bowing  almost  to  his  charg- 
er's neck,  replied,  "  I  rejoice  that  I 
have  accomplished  the  mission  which 
the  King  intrusted  to  me,  re-estab- 
lished peace,  and  shown  that  nothing 
is  impossible  at  the  head  of  a  French 
army."  Arrived  at  the  Tuileries,  lie 
dismounted,  and  hastened  to  the  King, 
who  stood  in  great  pomp  to  receive 
him.  "  My  sou,''  said  the  monarch 

*  "  'Nos  veeux  vous  stiivaient  &  votre  clfi- 
partj'  lui  dit  le  prefet  de  Paris,  •  nos  accla- 
mations vous  attendaieut  a  votre  lieureux 
retour.  Depuis  trente  aus,  le  nom  de  guerre 
n'etait  qu'uu  cri  d'effroi,  qu'uu  signal  de  cala- 
mitbS  pour  les  peuples;  la  population  des 
4tats  envahis,  comrae  celle  des  <5tats  conquer- 
ants,  se  precipitant  1'une  sur  1'autre,  offraient 
aux  ycux  du  sage  un  spectacle  lamentable. 
Aujourd'hui  la  guerre  releve  les  nations  abat- 
tues  sur  tous  les  points  d'un  vaste  empire. 
Elle  apparait  humaine,  protectrice  et  gene- 
reuse,  guerriere  sans  peur,  conqueraute  sans 
vengeance.  Votre  vaillante  epee,  a  la  voix 
d'uu  puissant  Monarque,  vient  de  consacrer 
le  .noble  et  le  legitime  emploi  de  la  valeur  et 
des  annes.  Les  trophees  de  la  guerre,  devenns 
la  consolation  d'un  peuple  opprime,  le  volcan 
de  la  Revolution  ferme  pourjamais,  la  recon- 
ciliation de  notre  patrie  cimentee  aux  yeux 
du  inonde,  la  victoire  rendue  a  nos  marins 
comme  a  nos  guerriers,  et  la  gloire  de  tous  les 
enfants  de  la  France  confondue  dans  un  nou- 
veau  faisceau ;  tels  sont,  Jlonseigneur,  les 
resultats  de  cette  campagne,  telle  est  1'ceuvre 
que  vous  avez  accomplie." " — Moniteur,  Dec. 
a,  1823. 


with  solemnity,  "  I  am  satisfied  with 
you  ;  "  and,  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
he  led  him  to  the  balcony,  where  an 
immense  crowd,  with  redoubled  accla- 
mations, testified  their  sympathy  with 
the  scene. 

100.  This  triumphant  career  of  the 
French  army  in  Spain  was  viewed  with 
very  different  eyes  by  the  powers  in  Eu- 
rope most  interested  in  the  issue.     The 
Emperor  of  Russia,  who  had  warmly 
supported  the  project  of  the  interven- 
tion at  Verona,  and  anxiously  watched 
the  progress  of  the  enterprise,  offered 
to  move  forward  his  troops  from  the 
Vistula  to  the  Rhine,  and  to  cover  the 
eastern  frontier  of  France  with  his  armed 
masses.     Mr  Canning,  justly  alarmed 
at  so  open  an  assertion  of  a  right  of 
protectorate  over  Europe,  strongly  op- 
posed the  proposal.     "France,"  said 
he,   "conceiving  her  safety  menaced, 
and  her  interests  compromised,  by  the 
existing  state  of  things  in  the  Penin- 
sula, we  have  not  opposed  her  right  to 
intervene ;   but  she  should  only  act 
singly,    and    the    strictest  neutrality 
should  be  observed  by  the  other  powers. 
If,  in  defiance  of  all  stipulations,  the 
European  Cabinets  should  act  other- 
wise, England  would  feel  herself  con- 
strained to  enforce  the  observance  of 
existing  engagements,  and  would  at 
once  consider  the  cause  of  Spain  as  her 
own. "    M.  de  Chateaubriand  cordially 
seconded  these  remonstrances,  and  re- 
spectfully declined  the  proffered  suc- 
cour— 

"  Non  tali  auxilio,  nee  defensoribus  istis." 

The  armed  intervention  of  Russia  was 
thus  averted  by  the  union  of  the  two 
western  powers  ;  and  as  the  revolution 
of  Portugal  threatened  the  influence 
of  England  in  that  country,  Mr  Can- 
ning and  the  Prince  de  Polignac,  the 
French  ambassador  in  London,  came 
to  an  understanding  that  France  was 
not  to  interfere  between  the  Cabinet  of 
St  James's  and  its  ancient  ally. 

101.  It  was  with  undisguised  vexa- 
tion that  Mr  Canning  beheld  the  tri- 
umphant progress  of  the  French  arms 
in  Spain;  and  deeming,  with  reason, 
the  throne  of  the  Bourbons  greatly 
strengthened,   and    the    influence    of 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


308 


France  on  the  Continent  in  a  great  de- 
gree re-established  by  the  successful 
issue  of  the  campaign,  lie  resolved  up- 
on a  measure  which  should  re-estab- 
lish the  balance,  and  at  the  same 
time,  as  he  hoped,  materially  benefit 
the  commercial  interests  of  England. 
This  was  the  RECOGNITION  OF  THE 
REPUBLICS  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA.  His 
intention  in  this  respect  had  been  long 
before  divined  by  the  able  diplomatist 
who  conducted  the  French  interests  in 
London ;  *  and  we  now  possess  the 
history  of  his  views  from  the  best  of  all 
sources — his  own  recorded  statement. 
"  When  the  French  army,"  said  he, 
"  was  on  the  point  of  entering  Spain, 

*  "  n  est  temps  de  Jeter  un  regard  serieux 
sur  1'avenir,  et  sur  le  dangereux  ministre  qui 
est  venu  se  placer  a  la  tete  des  destindes  de 
1'Angleterre.  II  nous  faut  sa  chute  ou  sa  con- 
version. II  ne  tombera  pas :  ses  ennemis 
n'ont  pu  1'exiler  sur  le  tr6ne  des  Indes.  M. 
Peel,  jeune,  fenne,  et  pppulaire,  s'avance  sans 
impatience  vers  le  ministere,  qui  ne  pent  lui 
manquer  un  jour.  Lord  Wellington,  guerrier 
peu  redoubtable  sur  le  champ  de  I'intrigue,  a 
dft  c6der  aux  talents  et  a  I'habilite  de  M. 
Canning.  II  ne  tombera  pas ;  il  faut  done 
pour  nous  qu'il  change  de  conduite,  et  que  de 
Briton  qu'il  est,  il  se  fasse  Euroj>een ;  faites 
reluire  a  ses  yeux  1'eclat  d'une  grande  gloire 
diplomatique :  assemblez  un  nouveau  con- 
gres,  qu'il  vienne  y  traiter,  a  son  tour,  des  in- 
terSts  de  VOrient,  des  colonies  Americaines,  de 
nos  quatre  dernieres  revolutions  eteintes  en 
deux  ans,  la  Grece,  1'Italie,  le  Portugal,  1'Es- 
pagne  !  Que  1'Eurppe  le  couvre  de  faveurs  ! 
Inaccessible  a  Tor,  il  ne  Test  pas  a  la  louange : 
enfln  reconciliez-le  avec  ses  anciennes  opin- 
ions monarchiques,  et  pardonnez-moi  si, 
malgro  mon  jeune  age,  je  parle  si  librement 
avec  vous  des  plus  hauls  interets  de  mon 
pays." — M.  MARCELLCS  a  M.  DE  CHATEAU- 
BRIAND, 17th  December  1822.  "  Ne  comptez 
pas  sur  1'Angleterre.  Elle  se  refusera  a  toute 
niesure  meme  pacifiqne,  et  cachera  sous  1'ap- 
parence  de  quelques  demandes  sans  force 
rdelle,  son  indifference  profonde  des  interets 
purement  continentaux.  Ce  systeme  de  se- 
paration ou  d'egoisme  est  impose  a  M.  Can- 
ning par  ses  amis,  et  surtout  par  son  interet. 
Cet  iuter@t  mfime  pent  le  pousser  a  des  con- 
cessions d'opinion  personelle,  qu'on  n\ut  j<t- 
mnis  oUenues  du  Marquis  de  Londonderry. 
Ainsi  on  le  verm  reconnaitre  la  Colombie  pour 
gagner  le  commerce,  epouser  la  cause  desNoirs 
pourplaire  an  Parlement,  puis  snspendre  son 
action  jusqu'ici  favorable  a  la  reform  catho- 
lique.  Enfin  il  fera  tout  pour  accroitre  cette 
popularity  a  laquelle  il  devra  son  maintien, 
comme  il  lui  doit  son  elevation." — M.  MAR- 
CELLUS  d  M.  DE  CHATEAUBRIAND,  Lomlres,  3 
Octobre  1S22  ;  MARCELLUS,  Politique  de  la 
Restanratir,n,  96;  and  LAMARTIXE,  Hlsloire 
de  la  Rettauratto*,  vii.  222. 


we  did  all  we  could  to  prevent  it ;  we 
resisted  it  by  all  means  short  of  war. 
We  did  not  go  to  war,  because  we  felt 
that,  if  we  did  sc,  whatever  the  result 
might  be,  it  would  not  lead  to  the 
evacuation  of  Spain  by  the  French 
troops.  In  a  war  against  France  at 
that  time,  as  at  any  other,  you  might 
perhaps  have  acquired  military  glory ; 
you  might  perhaps  have  extended  your 
colonial  possessions  ;  you  might  even 
have  achieved,  at  a  great  loss  of  blood 
and  treasure,  an  honourable  peace  ; 
but  as  to  getting  the  French  out  of 
Spain,  that  is  the  one  object  which  you 
would  certainly  not  have  accomplish- 
ed. Again,  is  the  Spain  of  the  present 
day  the  Spain  whose  puissance  was 
expected  to  shake  England  from  her 
sphere  ?  No,  sir  ;  it  was  quite  an- 
other Spain  :  it  was  the  Spain  within 
whose  dominions  the  sun  never  sets  ; 
it  was  '  Spain  with  the  Indies '  that  ex- 
cited the  jealousies  and  alarmed  the 
imagination  of  our  ancestors.  When 
the  French  army  entered  Spain,  the 
balance  of  power  was  disturbed,  and 
we  might,  if  we  chose,  have  resisted 
or  resented  that  measure  by  war.  But 
were  there  no  other  means  but  war  for 
restoring  the  balance  of  power  ?  Is  the 
balance  of  power  a  fixed  and  invari- 
able standard ;  or  is  it  not  a  standard 
perpetually  varying  as  civilisation  ad- 
vances, and  new  nations  spring  up  to 
take  their  place  among  established 
political  communities  ? 

102.  "To  look  to  the  policy  of 
Europe  in  the  time  of  William  and 
Anne,  for  the  purpose  of  regulating 
the  balance  of-power  in  Europe  at  the 
present  day,  is  to  disregard  the  pro- 
gress of  events,  and  to  confuse  dates 
and  facts,  which  throw  a  reciprocal 
light  upon  each  other.  It  would  lie 
disingenuous  not  to  admit  that  the 
entry  of  the  French  army  into  Spain 
was,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  disparage- 
ment— an  affront  to  the  pride,  a  blow 
to  the  feelings,  of  England ;  and  it  can 
hardly  be  siipposed  that  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  sympathise  on  that  occa- 
sion with  the  feelings  of  the  people. 
But,  questionable  or  unquestionable  as 
the  act  might  be,  it  was  not  one  which 
necessarily  called  for  our  direct  and 


304 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


hostile  opposition.  Was  nothing  then 
to  be  done  ? — was  there  no  other  mode 
of  resistance  but  by  a  direct  attack  up- 
on France,  or  by  a  war  undertaken  on 
the  soil  of  Spain  ?  "What  if  the  posses- 
sion of  Spain  might  be  rendered  harm- 
less in  rival  hands  —  harmless  as  re- 
garded us,  and  valueless  to  the  posses- 
sors? Might  not  compensation  for 
disparagement  be  obtained,  and  the 
policy  of  our  ancestors  vindicated,  by 
means  better  adapted  to  the  present 
time  ?  If  France  occupied  Spain,  was 
it  necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  the  con- 
sequences of  that  occupation,  that  we 
should  blockade  Cadiz  ?  No :  I  looked 
another  way ;  I  sought  materials  for 
compensation  in  another  hemisphere. 
Contemplating  Spain  such  as  our  an- 
cestors had  known  her,  I  resolved  that, 
if  France  had  Spain,  it  should  not  be 
Spain  '  with  the  Indies.''  /  called  the 
New  World  into  existence,  to  redress  (lie, 
balance  of  the  Old." 

103.  It  is  one  of  the  most  curious 
truths  apparent  from  history,  how 
identical  are  the  impulses  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  at  all  times  and  in  all 
countries,  in  similar  circumstances, 
and  how  insensible  men  are  to  the 
moral  character  of  actions  when  pur- 
sued for  their  own  benefit,  to  which 
they  are  most  acutely  alive  when  un- 
dertaken for  the  advantage  of  others. 
The  English  had  loudly  exclaimed 
against  the  iniquity  of  the  Northern 
powers  in  pretending  to  preserve  the 
balance  of  power  in  the  east  of  Europe, 
by  dividing  the  spoils  of  Poland 
amongst  each  other  ;  and  they  dwelt 
on  the  selfishness  of  Austria,  in  after 
times,  which  held  out  the  Russian  ac- 
quisition of  "Wallachia  and  Moldavia 
as  sufficient  ground  for  giving  them  a 
claim  to  Servia  and  Bosnia  ;  but  they 
thought  there  was  nothing  unjustifi- 
able in  our  upholding  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  West,  not  by  defending 
Spain  against  France,  but  by  sharing 
in  its  spoils,  and  loudly  applauded  the 
minister  who  proposed  to  seek  com- 
pensation for  the  French  invasion  of 
the  Peninsula,  by  carving  for  British 
profit  independent  republics  out  of  the 
Spanish  dominions  in  South  America, 
at  the  very  time  when  he  professed  the 


warmest  interest  in  its  independence. 
But  be  the  intervention  of  England  in 
South  America  justifiable  or  unjustifi- 
able, nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
neither  its  merit  nor  its  demerit  pro- 
perly belongs  to  Mr  Canning.  The 
independence  of  Columbia  was  decided 
by.a  charge  of  English  bayonets  on  the 
field  of  Carabobo,  on  14th  June  1821, 
more  than  a  year  before  Mr  Canning: 
was  called  to  the  Foreign  Office.  It 
was  the  ten  thousand  British  auxil- 
iaries, most  of  them  veterans  of  Wel- 
lington, who  sailed  from  the  Thames, 
the  Mersey,  and  the  Clyde,  under  the 
eye  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  in  1818,  1819, 
and  1820,  who  really  accomplished  the 
emancipation  of  South  America.  That 
statesman's  last  instructions  to  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  on  going  to  Ve- 
rona, already  given,*  on  July  6,  1822, 
expressly  declared,  "  You  will  advo- 
cate this  principle,  that  every  province 
that  has  already  established  its  in- 
dependence should  be  recognised. " 
Mr  Canning  did  not  call  the  New 
World  into  existence,  he  only  recog- 
nised it  when  already  existing. 

104.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, that  this  recognition  was  of  es- 
sential importance  to  the  infant  repub- 
lics, and  that  it  was  the  stability  and 
credit  which  they  acquired  from  it 
which  enabled  them  to  fit  out  the  mem- 
orable expedition  which  in  the  next 
year  crossed  the  Andes,  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  cliffs  of  Ayacucho  achieved 
the  independence  of  Peru.  Mr  Can- 
ning's measures,  when  he  had  once 
determined  on  neutralising  the  efforts 
of  France  in  this  wa)7,  were  neither 
feeble  nor  undecided.  On  the  26th 
February  1823,  he  obtained  from  the 
British  Government,  by  order  in  coun- 
cil, a  revocation  of  the  prohibition  to- 
export  arms  and  the  muniments  of  war 
to  Spain  or  her  insurgent  colonies,  f — 

*  Ante,  chap.  xii.  §  19,  note. 

t  "  As  far  as  the  exportation  of  arms  and 
ammunition  was  concerned,  it  was  in  tha 
power  of  the  Crown  to  remove  any  inequality 
between  France  and  Spain  simply  by  an  order 
in  council.  Such  an  order  was  accordingly 
issued,  and  the  prohibition  of  exporting  arms 
and  ammunition  to  Spain  was  taken  off." — 
Mr  CANNING'S  Speech,  April  16,  1823 ;  Port. 
Deb.,  viii.  1051.  It  was  prohibited  since  1819, 
both  to  Spain  and  the  colonies,  on  the  remo: 


L», 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


305 


a  step  which  called  forth  the  loudest 
remonstrances  from  the  French  min- 
ister in  London  at  the  time.  *  This 
was  soon  after  followed  by  still  more 
decisive  measures.  On  16th  April, 
Lord  Althorpe  brought  forward  a  mo- 
tion, in  the  House  of  Commons,  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Act  of  1819,  which 
prohibited  British  subjects  from  en- 
gaging in  foreign  military  service,  or 
fitting  out,  in  his  Majesty's  dominions, 
without  the  royal  licence,  vessels  for 
warlike  purposes ;  and  although  this 
proposal  was  thrown  out  by  a  majority 
of  216  to  110,  yet  the  object  was  gained 
t>y  the  proof  afforded  of  the  interest 
which  the  cause  of  the  insurgent  colo- 
nies excited  in  this  country.  In  June, 
JVIr  Canning  refused  to  recognise  the 
Jlegency  established  at  Madrid  after 
the  entry  of  the  Duke  d'Augouleme  ; 
and  in  July,  on  a  petition  from  some 
respectable  merchants  in  London  en- 
gaged in  the  South  American  trade,  he 
agreed  to  appoint  consuls  to  Mexico, 
Columbia,  Peru,  Chili,  and  Buenos 
Ayres.  His  language  on  this  occasion 
was  manly,  and  worthy  of  a  British 
minister.  "We  will  not,  "said  he,  "in- 
terfere with  Spain  in  any  attempts  she 
may  make  to  reconquer  what  were  once 
her  colonies,  but  we  will  not  permit  any 
third  power  to  attack  them,  or  to  recon- 
quer them  for  her :  and  in  granting  or 
refusing  our  recognition,  we  shall  look, 
not  to  the  conduct  of  any  European 
power,  but  to  the  actual  circumstances 
of  these  countries. "  And  when  Prince 
Polignac,  the  French  minister  in  Lon- 
don, applied  for  explanations  on  the 
subject,  and  urged  the  expedience  of 
establishing,  in  concert  with  the  other 
European  powers,  monarchical  states 

strance  of  the  Spanish  Government.— Ante, 
chap.  iv.  §  95. 

*  %<  Hier  je  me  suis  plaint,  et  trfes-vivement, 
de  la  permission  d'exporter  en  Espagne  toutes 
armes  et  munitions  de  guerre ;  permission  que 
le  iniuistre  vient  de  donner,  de  son  propre 
mouveinent,  en  revoquant  1'arret  qui  s'y  op- 
pose. Des  marches  importants  d'armes  et  de 
munitions setraitent ;  des banquiers,  membres 
influents  de  la  Chambre  des  Communes,  sont 
entn5s  dans  ces  speculations  que  le  Gouverne- 
ment  encourage  de  la  maniere  la  plus  mani- 
feste." — M.  MARCELLUS  a  M.  DE  CHATEAU- 
BRIAND, Londres.  '.'Sth  Feb.  1823  :  MARCELLUS, 
151. 

VOL.  II. 


in  South  America,  Mr  Canning's  reply 
was,  that  "however  desirable  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  monarchical  form  of 
government  in  any  of  those  provinces 
might  be,  his  Government  could  not 
take  upon  itself  to  put  it  forward  as  a 
condition  of  their  recognition." 

105.  Thus  was  achieved,  mainly  in 
consequence  of  the  French  invasion  of 
Spain,  the  recognition  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  South  American  repub- 
lics.   Whether  they  were  fitted  for  the 
change — whether  the  cause  of  liberty 
lias  been  advanced,  or  the  social  happi- 
ness of  mankind  advanced,  by  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  anarchy  of  indepen- 
dence for  the  despotism  of  old  Spain, 
and  whether  British  interests  have  been 
benefited  by  the  alteration  —  may  be 
judged  of  by  the  fact,  that  while  the 
exports  of  Spain  to  her  colonies,  before 
the  war  of  independence  began,  exceed- 
ed £15,000,000  sterling,  the  greater 
part   of  which   consisted  of   British 
manufactures,  conveyed    in    Spanish 
bottoms,  the  whole  amount  of  our  ex- 
ports to  these  colonies  is  now  (1852), 
thirty  years  after  their  independence 
had  been  established,  only  £8,000,000 ; 
and  that  the  republic  of  Bolivia,  called 
after  the  liberator  Bolivar,  has  entirely 
disappeared  from  the  chart  of  British 
exports.* 

106.  But  whatever  opinion  may  be 
formed  on  this  point,  one  thing  is  clear, 
*  EXPORTS  iN-1852  FROM  GREAT  BRITAIN  TO — 

Chili, £1,167,494 

Brazil 3,164,394 

Peru, 1,024,007 

Buenos  Ayres,     .        .        .  837,538 

Mexico,        .        .        .        .  366,020 

Venezuela 273,733 

Central  America,         .        .  260,669 

Uruguay 615,418 

New  Granada,     .        .        .          502,128 

Total  to  South  American 

republics,     .        .        .     £8,211,401 
—Parl.  Paper,  17th  July  1853. 

EXPORTS  IN  1809  FROM  SPAIN  TO — 

Porto  Rico, ....  £2,750,000 

Mexico 5,250,000 

New  Granada,      .        .        .  1,450,000 

Caraccas,     ....  2,150,000 

Peru  and  Chili,    .        .        .  2,875,000 

Buenos  Ayres  and  Potosi,  .  875,000 

£15,350,000 

— HUMBOIJ>T,  Nouvelle  Espagne,  iv.  153, 154. 
U 


306 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xii. 


that  M.  <le  Chateaubriand  has  furnish- 
ed a  better  vindication  of  the  British 
intervention  in  South  America  than 
any  consideration  of  commercial  ad- 
vantages could  have  done.  It  appears 
from  a  revelation  in  his  memoirs,  that 
Mr  Canning  only  anticipated  his  own 
designs  upon  these  vast  possessions  of 
Spain,  and  that,  instead  of  British 
consuls  negotiating  with  independent 
republics,  he  contemplated  monar- 
chical states  under  Bourbon  princes. 
"Cobbett,"  says  he,  "was  the  only 
person  in  England  at  that  period  who 
undertook  our  defence,  who  did  us 
justice,  who  judged  calmly  both  of  the 
necessity  of  our  intervention  in  Spain, 
and  of  the  view  which  we  had  to  re- 
store to  France  the  strength  of  which 
it  had  been  deprived.  Happily  he  did 
not  divine  our  entire  plan — which  was 
to  break  through  or  modify  the  treaties 
of  Vienna,  and  to  establish  Bourbon 
monarchies  in  South  America.  Had 
he  discerned  this,  and  lifted  the  veil, 
he  would  have  exposed  France  to  great 
danger,  for  already  the  alarm  had 
seized  the  Cabinets  of  Europe." 

107.  The  great  danger  which  there 
was  at  that  period  of  Europe  being  in- 
volved in  a  general  war,  and  the  ardent 
feelings  which  Mr  Canning  had  on  the 
subject,  cannot  be  better  illustrated 
than  by  a  speech  which  he  made  at 
Plymouth  in  the  autumn  of  this  year, 
memorable  alike  from  the  sentiments 
it  conveyed  and  the  beauty  of  the  lan- 
guage in  which  they  were  couched. 
"Our  ultimate  object,"  said  he,  "is 
the  peace  of  the  world  ;  but  let  it  not 
be  said  we  cultivate  peace,  either  be- 
cause we  fear,  or  because  we  are  not 
prepared  for,  war  :  on  the  contrary,  if, 
eight  months  ago,  the  Government  did 
not  hesitate  to  proclaim  that  the  coun- 
try was  prepared  for  war,  if  war  should 
unfortunately  be  necessary,  even' 
month  of  peace  that  has  since  passed 
has  made  us  so  much  the  more  capable 
of  exertion.  The  resources  created  by 
peace  are  the  means  of  war.  In  cher- 
ishing these  resources,  we  but  accu- 
mulate those  means.  Our  present  re- 
pose is  no  more  a  proof  of  inability  to 
act  than  the  state  of  inertness  and  in- 
activity in  which  I  have  seen  those 


mighty  masses  that  float  in  the  waters 
above  your  town,  is  a  proof  they  are 
devoid  of  strength,  and  incapable  of 
being  fitted  for  action.  You  well 
know,  gentlemen,  how  soon  one  of 
those  stupendous  masses,  now  reposing 
on  their  shadows  in  perfect  stillness — 
how  soon,  upon  any  call  of  patriotism 
or  necessity,  it  would  assume  the  like- 
ness of  an  animated  thing,  instinct 
with  life  and  motion  —  how  soon  it 
would  ruffle,  as  it  were,  its  swelling 
plumage  —  how  quickly  it  would  put 
forth  all  its  beauty  and  its  bravery,  col- 
lect its  scattered  elements  of  strength, 
and  awake  its  dormant  thunders !  Such 
as  is  one  of  those  magnificent  machines 
when  springing  from  inaction  into  a 
display  of  its  strength — such  is  Eng- 
land herself :  while  apparently  passive 
and  motionless,  she  silently  caused  the 
power  to  be  put  forth  on  an  adequate 
occasion." 

108.  The  usual  effects  of  success  ap- 
peared in  the  result  of  the  elections 
which  took  place  for  the  renewal  of 
the  fifth  of  the  Chamber  in  the  autumn 
of  1823.  Nearlyallwere  iufavour  of  the 
Royalists,  who  had  now  acquired  a  de- 
cisive preponderance  in  the  Chamber, 
sufficient  to  set  at  defiance  the  united 
strength  of  the  Liberals  and  Centre. 
Several  appointments  were  made  at 
this  time,  all  of  extreme  Royalists,  in- 
dicating the  acknowledged  supremacy 
of  that  party  in  the  legislature.  M. 
de  Villele  skilfully  availed  himself 
of  this  favourable  state  of  affairs  to 
contract  a  loan  of  413,980,981  francs 
(£16, 400,000)  with  the  house  of  Roths- 
child  &  Co.,  which,  in  exchange  for  it, 
received  an  inscription  on  the  Grand 
Livre  for  23,114,000  francs  yearly 
(£920,000) ;  in  other  words,  they  took 
the  stock  created  at  89.55  per  cent. 
This  advantageous  loan  —  by  far  the 
most  favourable  for  Government  which 
had  been  made  since  the  Restoration 
—  put  the  treasury  entirely  at  case, 
and  enabled  Government  to  clear  off 
all  the  outstanding  debts  connected 
with  the  Spanish  war.  Encouraged 
by  this  eminently  favourable  state  of 
the  public  mind,  M.  de  Villele  resolved 
on  a  dissolution  of  the  Chamber,  which 
was  done  by  an  ordonnance  on  24th 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


307 


December.  The  colleges  of  arrondisse- 
inciits  were  by  the  orclonnance  ap- 
pointed to  meet  on  the  25th  February, 
those  of  the  departments  on  the  6th 
March.  They  met  accordingly,  and 
the  result  was  entirely  favourable  to 
the  Royalists.  In  Paris,  the  centre  of 
the  Liberal  party,  and  Avhere  they  had 
hitherto  in  general  obtained  all  the 
twelve  seats,  they  succeeded  in  return- 
ing only  General  Foy,  M.  Casimir  Pe- 
rier,  and  Benjamin  Constant.  So  en- 
tire was  the  defeat  of  the  Opposition, 
that  over  all  France  they  succeeded, 
out  of  434  elections,  in  gaining  only 
fifteen  seats  in  the  colleges  of  arron- 
dissements,  and  two  in  those  of  depart- 
ments— in  all,  seventeen ;  an  astonish- 
ing result  in  a  country  so  recently  torn 
by  popular  passions,  and  indicating  at 
once  the  great  change  in  the  composi- 
tion of  the.  legislature  which  the  insti- 
tution of  the  colleges  of  departments 
had  made,  and  the  overwhelming  in- 
fluence of  military  success  on  a  people 
so  essentially  warlike  in  their  dispo- 
sition as  the  French.  Such  was  the 
effect  of  these  circumstances  on  the 
public  funds,  that  not  withstanding  the 
great  loan  contracted  for  by  Roths- 
child, and  which  was  not  yet  fully  paid 
into  the  treasury,  the  Five  per  Cents 
rose  in  the  beginning  of  March  to 
104.80,  an  elevation  which  they  had 
never  even  approached  for  half  a  cen- 
tury. 

109.  To  all  appearance  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Restoration  was  now  estab- 
lished on  the  most  solid  of  all  bases  on 
which  a  constitutional  throne  can  rest, 
for  an  overwhelming  majority  in  its 
favour  had  at  last  been  obtained  even 
in  the  popular  branch  of  the  legisla- 
ture. Yet  so  closely  are  the  seeds  of 
«vil  interwoven  with  those  of  good  in 
the  complicated  maze  of  human  affairs, 
that  out  of  this  very  favourable  state 
of  affairs  arose  the  principal  causes 
which  in  the  end  occasioned  its  fall. 
It  induced  a  result — fatal  in  a  free 
state  —  that  of  making  Government 
consider  themselves  safe  if  they  could 
command  a  majority  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  ;  a  very  natural  opinion  in 
men  accustomed  to  look  to  its  votes 
•as  determining  the  fate  of  administra- 


tions, and  even  of  dynasties,  but  of  all 
others  the  most  dangerous,  if  the  period 
arrives,  as  it  must  do  in  the  course  of 
time,  when  the  public  mind  is  strongly 
excited,  and  the  popular  representa- 
tives do  not  respond  to  its  mutations. 
This  tendency  revealed  itself  in  the 
very  first  measures  of  the  new  legisla- 
ture. 

110.  The  Chambers  met  on  the  23d 
March,  and  the  King's  speech  congra- 
tulated the  country  with  reason  on  the 
eminently    auspicious    circumstances 
under  which    they  were    assembled. 
"The  triumph  of  our  arms,"  said  the 
monarch,  "  which  has  secured  so  many 
guarantees  for  order,  is  due  to  the 
discipline  and  bravery  of  the  French 
army,  conducted  by  my  son  with  as 
much  wisdom  as  valour."     At  these 
words,  loud  cries  of  "Vive  le  Roi  ! 
Vive  le  Due  d'Angouleme  ! "  arose  on 
all  sides  ;  but  subjects  more  likely  to 
elicit  difference  of  opinion  were  next 
introduced.     After  stating  the  incon- 
veniences which  experience  had  proved 
resulted  from  the  annual  election  of  a 
fifth  of  the  Chamber,  it  announced  an 
intention  of  introducing  a  bill  for  ex  • 
tending  the  duration  of  the  legislature 
to  seven  years,  subject  to  the  King's 
right  of  dissolution  ;  and  another  tor 
the  purpose  of  "providing  the  means 
of  repaying  the  holders  of  Government 
annuities,  or  converting  their  rights 
into  a  claim  for  sums  annually,  more 
in  accordance  with  the  present  state  of 
other  transactions ;  an  operation  which 
cannot  fail  to  have  a  beneficial  influ- 
ence on  commerce  and  agriculture,  and 
will  enable  Government,  when  it  is  car- 
ried into  effect,  to  diminish  the  public 
burdens,  and  close  the  last  wounds  of 
the  Revolution." 

111.  These  words  announced  the 
two  important  measures  of  the  ses- 
sion, which  were  immediately  brought 
forward  by  Government.     So  obvious 
were  the  advantages,  at  first  sight  at 
least,  of  the  first,  that  the  Cabinet 
were  unanimous  on  the  subject.     The 
sagacious  and  practical  M.  de  Villele, 
and  the  ardent  and  enthusiastic  M.  de 
Chateaubriand,  alike  gave  it  their  cor- 
dial support.     It  was  argued  in  sup- 
port of  this  measure,  "  mat  the  time 


503 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xn. 


had  now  arrived  vrhen  it  had  become 
practicable  to  remove  tlxe  great  diffi- 
culty with  which  the  Bourbons  had 
had  to  contend  since  the  Restoration. 
That  difficulty  was  the  want  of  a  fixed 
majority  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
upon  which  Government  could  rely  for 
the  support  of  their  measures.  The  in- 
evitable consequence  of  this  was,  that 
anything  like  a  consistent  system  of 
government  was  impossible.  The  King 
was  obliged  to  take  his  ministers  at  one 
time  from  the  Liberal,  at  another  from 
the  Royalist  side  ;  a  single  vote  might 
compel  an  entire  change  in  the  system 
of  administration,  both  external  and 
internal;  one  session  might  undo  every- 
thing, how  beneficial  soever,  which  the 
preceding  session  had  done.  The  effect 
of  this  was  not  only  to  deprive  Govern- 
ment of  anything  like  a  fixed  or  consis- 
tent character,  but  to  keep  alive  party 
ambition  and  the  spirit  of  faction  in 
the  legislature,  from  the  near  prospect 
which  was  constantly  afforded  to  either 
party  of  dispossessing  their  antagon- 
ists, and  seating  themselves  in  power. 
Add  to  this,  that  the  annual  renewal 
of  a  fifth  of  the  Chamber  kept  the  peo- 
ple in  a  continual  ferment,  and  aggra- 
vated the  evils  of  corruption  and  undue 
influence,  by  concentrating  the  whole 
efforts  of  parties  annually  on  a  fifth 
only  of  the  entire  electors.  And  as  to 
the  danger  of  the  legislature  ceasing 
to  represent  public  opinion,  that  was 
greater  in  appearance  than  reality,  be- 
cause, as  the  King  had  the  power  of 
dissolution,  he  could  at  any  time  give 
the  people  an  opportunity  of  making 
any  change  on  this  which  they  might 
desire." 

112.  Strong  as  these  arguments  were, 
and  powerfully  as  they  spoke  to  a  Gov- 
ernment now,  for  the  first  time  for  ten 
years,  in  possession  of  a  decided  majo- 
rity in  the  popular  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature, there  were  considerations  on  the 
other  side,  less  pressing  at  the  moment, 
but  perhaps  still  more  important  in  the 
end.  "The  change,"  it  was  answered, 
' '  proposes  to  repeal  a  vital  part  of  the 
Charter,  which  expressly  provides  for 
the  annual  renewal  of  a  fifth  of  the 
Chamber,  and,  contrary  to  the  whole 
principles  of  representative  govern- 


ment, goes  to  introduce  an  entire 
change  into  the  constitution.  The- 
great,  the  lasting  danger  to  be  appre- 
hended from  the  alteration  is,  that  it 
tends  to  make  the  King  independent  of 
the  popular  voice,  and  may  bring  his 
legislature  into  such  discredit  with  the 
nation  as,  in  troubled  times,  may  in- 
duce the  most  terrible  convulsions— in. 
pacific,  totally  destroying  its  utility. 
What  is  the  use,  where  is  the  moral 
influence,  of  a  legislature  which  is  at 
variance  with  the  great  body  of  the 
nation  ?  A  senate  which  is  merely  to- 
record  the  decrees  of  an  emperor,  in 
order  to  take  from  him  their  responsi- 
bility, may  be  a  convenient  appendage 
of  despotism,  but  it  is  no  part  of  the 
institutions  of  a  free  people.  But  the 
legislature,  if  elected  for  seven  years 
certain,  without  any  means  of  infusing 
into  it,  during  that  long  period,  any 
new  blood,  any  fresh  ideas,  runs  the 
most  imminent  hazard  of  degenerating 
into  such  an  instrument  of  despotism. 
In  vain  are  we  told  that  the  monarch 
may  dissolve  it,  and  thus  bring  in  an- 
other more  in  harmony  with  the  gene- 
ral opinion  at  the  moment.  What 
security  have  we  that  he  will  adopt 
this  wise  and  temperate  course  ?  Is  it 
not  next  to  certain  that  he  will  do 
just  the  reverse  ?  If  the  Crown  is  at 
issue  with  the  people  upon  some  oues- 
tion  which  strongly  interests  bora,  is 
it  probable  that  the  Government  will 
adopt  the  course  of  dissolving  a  legis- 
lature which  is  favourable  to  its  views, 
and  introducing  one  which  is  adverse 
to  them  ?  As  well  may  you  expect  a- 
general  to  disband  his  faithful  guards,, 
and  raise  a  new  body  of  defenders  from 
the  ranks  of  his  enemies.  And  what 
is  to  be  expected  from  such  a  blind  re- 
liance of  the  Crown  on  an  immovable 
legislature,  but  such  an  accumulation 
of  discontent  and  ill -humour  in  the- 
nation,  as  cannot  fail,  on  the  first  oc- 
casion when  the  passions  of  the  people 
are  strongly  excited,  to  overturn  the 
monarchy  ?  "  Notwithstanding  the- 
strength  of  these  arguments,  the  jus- 
tice of  which  was  so  fatally  verified  by 
the  event,  the  proposed  bill,  which 
fixed  the  duration  of  the  Chamber  at 
seven  years,  passed  both  branches  of 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


309 


the  legislature  by  large  majorities,  the 
numbers  in  the  Deputies  being  292  to 
87,  in  the  Peers  117  to  64. 

113.  The  next  great  measure  of  the 
session  encountered  a  more  serious  op- 
position, and   was  ultimately  unsuc- 
cessful.    The  project  of  Government, 
which  was  brought  forward  by  the 
Finance  Minister  on  5th  April,  was 
to  take  advantage  of  the  present  high 
rate  of  interest  to  convert  the  5  per 
cents  into  3  per  cents,  taking  the  lat- 
ler  at  75.     They  had  made  arrange- 
ments with  the  leading  bankers  in 
Paris  to  advance  the  requisite  funds  to 
pay  off  such  of  the  public  creditors  as 
should  decline  to  submit  to  the  reduc- 
tion, the  lenders  of  the  money  receiv- 
ing the  new  3  per  cents  stock  at  the 
same  rate.     This  measure,  it  was  cal- 
culated, would  effect  a  reduction  in  the 
annual  charge  of  the  debt  of  30,000,000 
francs  (£1,200,000),  and  at  the  same 
time  would  establish  the  credit  of  Gov- 
ernment and  the  nation  on  the  most 
.solid  foundation,  by  demonstrating  the 
trust  of  the  leading  capitalists  in  the 
integrity  of  its  administration,  and  the 
magnitude  of  its  resources ;  while,  by 
effecting  so  great  a  diminution  of  the 
public  burdens,  it  might  pave  the  way 
for  ulterior  measures,  which  would  close 
the  last  wounds  of  the  Revolution. 

114.  It  was  ascertained  at  this  time 
that  there  were  250,000  persons  in 
France  holders  of  Government  annui- 
ties, of  whom  more  than  a  half  held 
light  to  only  500  francs  (£20)  a-year 
or  under.    The  public  funds  were  thus 
the  great  savings-bank  of  the  nation ; 
and  it  might  easily  have  been  fore- 
seen, what  the  event  soon  proved,  that 
the  proposal  to  reduce  their  incomes 
would  excite  the  most  dangerous  com- 
motions.   Nothing,  accordingly,  could 
exceed  the  violence  with  which  it  was 
assailed,  both  in  the  legislature  and  in 
the   public  journals ;  and   every  day 
that  the  discussion  lasted,  the  public 
excitement  became  greater.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  the  influence  of  Government 
in  the  Royalist  Chamber,  that,  after 
a  prolonged  discussion,    and   having 
encountered  the  most  violent  opposi- 
tion, it  passed  the  Deputies,  on  the  3d 
May,    by  a  majority  of  238   to  145. 


But  the  result  was  different  in  the 
Peers,  where,  on  the  31  st  July,  it 
was  thrown  out  by  a  majority  of  34, 
the  numbers  being  128  to  94.  It  was 
particularly  observed,  that  M.  de  Cha- 
teaubriand, though  holding  the  situ- 
ation of  Foreign  Secretary,  did  not 
speak  in  favour  of  the  ministerial  pro- 
ject, and  that  several  of  his  party, 
both  in  the  Peers  and  Commons,  voted 
against  it. 

115.  In  forming  an  opinion  on  this 
decision,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
between  the  situation  of  the  holders  of 
stock  in  the  English  and  French  funds. 
In  the  former,  where  the  whole  debt 
has  been   contracted  by  money   ad- 
vanced at  different  times  to  Govern- 
ment, it  is  impossible  to  dispute  that, 
if  a  succeeding  administration  are  in 
a  situation  to  repay  the  capital  sum 
borrowed,  the  holder  of  the  stock  has 
no  reason  to  complain.     In  this  coun- 
try, accordingly,  various  parts  of  th-e 
public  debt   have  at  different  times 
undergone   a   reduction    of  interest, 
without  the  slightest  complaint,  or  im- 
putation of  injustice  to  Government. 
But  the  case  is  widely  different  in 
France.     There  the  public  debt  con- 
sisted almost  entirely  of  perpetual  an- 
nuities, or  rentes,  as  they  are  called, 
which  were  contracted  by  Government 
for  no  principal  sum  advanced  at  any- 
one time,  but  as  a  compensation  for 
the  bankruptcies,  spoliations,  and  con- 
fiscations of  the  Revolution,  when  two- 
thirds  of  the  national  debt  had  been 
swept  away ;   or  in  consideration  of 
sums  advanced  to  extricate  the  exe- 
cutive from  its  embarrassments,  or  to 
effect  the  liberation  of  the  territory  in 
1818.     It  was  an  essential  condition 
of  all  such  advances  and  arrangements, 
that  the  annuity  was  to  be  perpclii/t/. 
and  it  was  the  understanding  that  it 
was  to  be  such  which  constituted  its 
principal  marketable  value.    To  trans- 
fer to  these  holders  of  rentes  the  prin- 
ciples rightly  applied  to  the  English 
loans  of  capital  was  obviously  unjust, 
and  therefore  there  seems  to  be  m 
doubt  that  the  decision  of  the  Hous> 
of  Peers  on  this  momentous  questioi 
was  consonant  to  justice. 

116.  The  rejection  of  this  law  gave 


310 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xn. 


the  utmost  satisfaction  in  Paris,  and 
was  celebrated  by  bonfires  in  the 
streets,  and  all  the  noisy  ebullitions  of 
popular  rejoicing.  It  led  to  one  result, 
however,  of  a  very  important  character, 
and  which,  in  its  ultimate  results, 
was  eminently  prejudicial  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Restoration.  M.  de 
Chateaiibriand  was  not  personally 
agreeable  to  Louis  XVI 1 1.,  and  he  was 
the  object  of  undisguised  jealousy  to 
the  whole  administration.  This  is 
noways  surprising;  genius  always  is 
so.  Power  hates  intellectual  influence, 
mediocrity  envies  renown,  ambition 
dreads  rivalry.  Obsequious  talent,  use- 
ful ability,  is  what  they  all  desire,  for 
they  aid  without  endangering  them. 
In  truth,  since  the  successful  issue  of 
the  Spanish  war,  the  position  of  Cha- 
teaubriand had  become  so  commanding 
that  it  overbalanced  that  of  the  Prime 
Minister  himself.  He  united  in  his 
own  person  the  political  influence  of 
Mr  Canning,  and  the  literary  fame  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott.  This  was  more  than 
human  nature  could  bear;  a  similar 
combination  of  political  and  military 
power  had  roused  the  jealousy  which 
proved  fatal  to  Maryborough.  The  con- 
duct of  Chateaubriand  and  his  friends, 
on  the  question  of  reduction  of  the 
rciites,  had  indicated  a  desire  to  court 
popularity,  which  was  suspected,  not 
•without  reason,  to  spring  from  a  se- 
cret design  to  supplant  the  Prime 
Minister. 

117.  M.  de  Villele  saw  his  danger, 
and  resolved  to  anticipate  the  blow. 
The  day  after  the  vote  in  the  Peers 
on  the  rentes,  M.  de  Chateaubriand 
received  a  notification,  in  the  coldest 
terms,  from  M.  de  Villele,  that  his 
services  were  no  longer  required  at  the 
Foreign  Office ;  and,  to  make  the  dis- 
missal the  more  galling,  it  was  sent  by 
a  common  menial.  The  portfolio  of 
Foreign  Affairs  was  bestowed  on  M. 
de  Damas ;  and  at  the  same  time  the 
office  of  Minister  at  War  was  given 
to  M.  Clermont-Tonnerre,  in  room  of 
Marshal  Victor,  who  received  his  dis- 
missal. Chateaubriand,  who  was  very 
ambitious,  and,  with  all  his  great  qua- 
lities, inordinately  vain,  felt  his  fall 
keenly ;  he  had  not  manliness  enough 


to  act  a  noble  part  on  the  occasion  - 
he  avenged  the  minister  on  the  throne ; 
and  the  pen  which  had  mainly  contri- 
buted to  the  restoration  of  the  Bour- 
bons, became  one  of  the  most  powerful 
agents  in  bringing  about  their  fall. 

118.  The  remainder  of  the  session 
presented  nothing  worthy  of  notice  in 
general  history,  but  the  budget,  which 
exhibited  the  most  flattering  appear- 
ances.    From  the  papers  laid  before 
the  Chamber,   it  appeared  that  the- 
total  revenue  of  the  State  in  1823  was 
1,123,456,000    francs    (£44,940,000), 
including    100,000,000    (£4,000,000) 
borrowed  for  the  Spanish  war,   and 
for    1824,    only    905,306,633    francs 
(£36,200,000),  in  consequence  of  th& 
cessation  of  hostilities.     The  expendi- 
ture in  the  first  year  was  1,118,025,169- 
francs  (£44,700,000),  and  in  the  second 
904,734,000  (£36,200,000),  leaving  in 
each  year  a  trifling  balance  of  income- 
over  expenditure.      The  public  debt 
in    1823    was    2,700,726,000    franc* 
(£108,000,000);  the  army  mustered 
230,000  combatants,  the  navy  49  ships 
of  the  line  and  31  frigates. 

119.  During  this  year  Louis  XVIII. 
lived,  but  did  not  reign.     His  mission 
was  accomplished  ;  his  work  was  done. 
The  reception  of  the  Duke  d'Angou- 
leme  and  his  triumphant  host  at  the 
Tuileries  was  the  last  real  act  of  his 
eventful   career  ;    thenceforward    the 
royal  functions,  nominally  his  own, 
were  in  reality  performed  by  others. 
It  must  be  confessed  he  could  not  have 
terminated  his  reign  with  a  brighter 
ray  of  glory.     The  magnitude  of  the 
services  he  rendered  to  France  can  only 
be  appreciated  by  recollecting  in  what 
state  he  found,  and  in  what  he  left  it. 
He  found  it  divided,  he  left  it  united  ; 
he  found  it  overrun  by  conquerors,  he- 
left  it  returning  from  conquest  ;   lie 
found  it  in  slavery,  he  left  it  in  free- 
dom ;  he  found  it  bankrupt,  he  left  it 
affluent  ;  he  found  it  drained  of  its- 
heart's  blood,  he  left  it  teeming  with 
life  ;   he   found    it    overspread   with 
mourning,  he  left  it  radiant  with  hap- 
piness. An  old  man  had  vanquished  the- 
Revolution ;  he  had  done  that  which 
Robespierre   and   Napoleon   had   left 
undone.     He  had  ruled  France,  and 


1824.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


311 


showed  it  could  be  ruled  without  either 
foreign  conquest  or  domestic  blood. 
Foreign  bayonets  had  placed  him  on 
the  throne,  but  his  own  wisdom  main- 
tained him  on  it.  Other  sovereigns  of 
France  may  have  left  more  durable 
records  of  their  reign,  for  they  have 
written  them  in  blood,  and  engraven 
them  in  characters  of  fire  upon  the 
minds  of  men  ;  but  none  have  left  so 
really  glorious  a  monument  of  their 
rule,  for  it  was  written  in  the  hearts, 
and  might  be  read  in  the  eyes,  of  his 
subjects. 

120.  This  arduous  and  memorable 
reign,  however,  so  beset  with  difficul- 
ties, so  crossed  by  obstacles,  so  opposed 
by  faction,  was  now  drawing  to  a  close. 
His  constitution,  long  oppressed  by  a 
complication  of  disorders,  the  result  in 
part  of  the  constitutional  disorders  of 
his  family,  was  now  worn  out.  Un- 
able to  carry  on  the  affairs  of  state, 
sinking  under  the  load  of  government, 
he  silently  relinquished  the  direction 
to  M.  de  Villele  and  the  Count  d'Ar- 
tois,  who  really  conducted  the  admini- 
stration of  affairs.  Madame  Du  Cayla 
was  the  organ  by  whose  influence  they 
directed  the  royal  mind.  The  pomp 
of  the  court  was  kept  up,  but  Louis 
was  a  stranger  to  it  ;  he  sat  at  the 
sumptuous  table  of  the  Tuileries,  but 
his  fare  was  that  of  the  hermit  in  his 
cell.  He  presided  at  the  councils  of 
his  Ministers,  but  took  little  part  in 
their  deliberations.  His  only  excite- 
ment consisted  in  frequent  excursions 
in  his  carriage,  which  was  driven  with 
the  utmost  speed  ;  the  rapidity  of  the 
motion  restored  for  a  brief  season  his 
languid  circulation.  He  felt,  says 
Lamartine,  the  same  pleasure  in  these 
exercises  that  a  captive  does  in  the 
presence  of  the  sun.  Dining  the  sum- 
mer of  1824  he  was  manifestly  sinking, 
and  he  knew  it ;  but  no  symptoms  of 
apprehension  appeared  in  his  conversa- 
tion or  manner.  "  Let  us  pnt  a  good 
face  upon  it,''  said  he  to  M.  de  Villele, 
"  and  meet  death  as  becomes  a  king." 
The  Minister,  however,  was  more 
aware  than  he  was  how  much  the  pub- 
lic tranquillity  depended  on  his  life  ; 
and  to  prevent  alarm  on  the  subject 
being  prematurely  excited,  the  liberty 


of  the  press  was  by  royal  edict  provi- 
sionally suspended,  by  re-establishing 
the  censure.  The  people  felt  the  mo- 
tive, and  had  delicacy  enough  to  ac- 
quiesce in  silence  in  the  temporary 
restraint.  Soon  after,  the  influence 
which  now  gained  possession  of  the 
Government  appeared  in  another  or- 
donnance,  which  created  a  new  mini- 
stry, that  of  "Ecclesiastical  Affairs," 
which  was  bestowed  on  Count  Frays- 
senous,  Bishop  of  Hermopolis,  Grand- 
master of  the  University.  As  he  was 
a  man  of  ability,  and  the  acknowledged 
representative  of  the  Parti  Pretrc,  this 
appointment  was  of  sinister  augury 
for  the  tranquillity  of  the  succeeding 
reign. 

121.  The  declining  days  of  this 
monarch  were  chiefly  spent  in  conver- 
sation, an  exercise  of  the  mind  in 
which  he  took  the  greatest  delight, 
as  is  generally  the  case  with  those 
whose  intellectual  faculties  in  advanced 
years  remain  entire,  but  who  are  de- 
barred by  increasing  infirmities  from 
continuing  the  active  duties  of  life. 
"  His  natural  talent,"  says  Lamartine, 
"  cultivated,  reflective,  and  quick, 
full  of  recollections,  rich  in  anecdotes, 
nourished  by  philosophy,  enriched  by 
quotations,  never  deformed  by  pedan- 
try, rendered  him  equal  in  conversa- 
tion to  the  most  renowned  literary 
characters  of  his  age.  M.  de  Chateau- 
briand had  not  more  elegance,  M.  de 
Talleyrand  more  wit,  Madame  de  Stael 
more  brilliancy.  Never  inferior,  al- 
ways equal,  often  superior  to  those 
with  whom  he  conversed  on  every  sub- 
ject, yet  with  more  tact  and  address 
than  they,  he  changed  his  tone  and 
the  subject  of  conversation  with  those 
he  addressed,  and  yet  was  never  ex- 
hausted by  any  one.  History,  con- 
temporary events,  things,  men,  thea- 
tres, books,  poetry,  the  arts,  the  inci- 
dents of  the  day,  formed  the  varied 
text  of  his  conversations.  Since  the 
suppers  of  Potsdam,  where  the  ge- 
nius of  Voltaire  met  the  capacity  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  never  had  tho 
cabinet  of  a  prince  been  the  sanctuary 
of  more  philosophy,  literature,  talent, 
and  taste." 

122.  Though  abundantly  sensible  of 


312 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


the  necessity  of  the  support  of  religion 
to  the  maintenance  of  his  throne,  and 
at  once  careful  and  respectful  in  its  out- 
ward observances,  Louis  was  far  from 
being  a  bigot,  and  in  no  way  the  slave 
of  the  Jesuits,  who  in  his  declining 
clays  had  got  possession  of  his  palace. 
In  secret,  his  opinions  on  religious 
subjects,  though  far  from  sceptical, 
were  still  farther  from  devout :  he  had 
never  surmounted  the  influence  of  the 
philosophers  who,  when  he  began  life, 
ruled  general  opinion  in  Paris.  He 
listened  to  the  suggestions  of  the 
priests,  when  they  were  presented  to 
him  from  the  charming  lips  of  Madame 
Du  Cayla;  but  he  never  permitted 
themselves  any  nearer  approach  to 
his  person.  As  his  end  was  visibly 
approaching,  this  circumstance  gave 
great  distress  to  the  Count  d'Artois, 
the  Duchess  d'Angouleme,  and  the 
other  members  of  the  royal  family, 
•who  were  deeply  impressed  with  reli- 
gious feelings,  and  dreaded  the  King's 
departing  this  life  without  having 
received  the  last  benediction  of  the 
Church.  They  could  not,  however, 
for  long  induce  him  to  send  for  his 
confessor ;  and  to  attain  the  object, 
they  were  at  last  obliged  to  recall 
to  court  Madame  Du  Cayla,  who 
had  found  her  situation  so  iiucom- 
fortable,  from  the  cold  reception 
she  experienced  from  the  royal  fa- 
mily, that  she  had  retired  from  the 
palace.  She  came  back  accordingly, 
and  by  her  influence  Louis  was  per- 
suaded to  send  for  the  priest,  and  after 
confessing  received  supreme  unction. 
"You  alone,"  said  he,  taking  her  hand 
and  addressing  Madame  Du  Cayla, 
"  could  venture  to  address  me  on  this 
subject  I  will  do  as  you  desire :  Adieu ! 
"VVe  will  meet  in  another  world.  1  have 
now  no  longer  any  concern  with  this.'' 
123.  At  length  the  last  hour  ap- 
proached. The  extremities  of  the 
King  became  cold,  and  symptoms  of 
mortification  began  to  appear  ;  but  his 
mind  continued  as  distinct,  his  cour- 
age as  great  as  ever.  He  was  careful 
to  conceal  his  most  dangerous  symp- 
toms from  his  attendants.  "A  king 
of  France,"  said  he,  "  may  die,  but  he 
is  never  ill ; "  and  around  his  death- 


bed lie  received  the  foreign  diplomat- 
ists and  ofticers  of  the  national  guard, 
with  whom  he  cheerfully  conversed 
upon  the  affairs  of  the  day.  "  Love 
each  other,"  said  the  dying  monarch, 
to  his  family,  "  and  console  yourselves 
by  that  affection  for  the  disasters  of 
our  house.  Providence  has  replaced 
us  upon  the  throne  ;  and  I  have  suc- 
ceeded in  maintaining  you  on  it  by 
concessions  which,  without  weakening 
the  real  strength  of  the  Crown,  have 
secured  for  it  the  support  of  the  people. 
The  Charter  is  your  best  inheritance  ; 
preserve  it  entire,  my  brothers,  for  me, 
for  our  subjects,  for  yourselves  ; "  then 
stretching  out  his  hand  to  the  Duke  de 
Bordeaux,  who  was  brought  to  his  bed- 
side, he  added,  "  and  also  for  this  clear 
child,  to  whom  you  should  transmit 
the  throne  after  my  children  are  gone. 
May  you  be  more  wise  than  your  par- 
ents." He  then  received  supremo 
unction,  thanked  the  priests  and  his 
attendants,  and  bade  adieu  to  all,  and 
especially  M.  Decazes,  who  stood  at  a 
little  distance,  but  whose  sobs  attract- 
ed his  notice.  He  then  composed  him- 
self to  sleep,  and  rested  peaceably 
during  the  night.  At  daybreak  on  the 
following  morning  the  chief  physician 
opened  the  curtains  to  feel  his  pulse  ; 
it  was  j  ust  ceasing  to  beat.  ' '  The  King 
is  dead, '  said  he,  bowing  to  the  Count 
d'Artois, — "  Long  live  the  King  !'' 

124.  Louis  XVIII.,  who  thus  paid 
the  debt  of  nature,  after  having  sat  for 
ten  years  on  the  throne  of  France,  dur- 
ing the  most  difficult  and  stormy  period 
in  its  whole  annals,  was  undoubtedly 
a  very  remarkable  man.  Alone  of  all 
the  sovereigns  who  have  ruled  its  desti- 
nies since  the  Revolution,  he  succeeded 
in  conducting  the  Government  without 
either  serious  foreign  war  or  domestic 
overthrow.  In  this  respect  he  was 
more  fortunate,  or  rather  more  wise, 
than  either  Napoleon,  Charles  X.,  or 
Louis  Philippe ;  for  the  first  kept  his 
seat  on  the  throne  only  by  keeping  the 
nation  constantly  in  a  state  of  hosti- 
lity, and  the  two  last  lost  their  crowns 
mainly  by  having  attempted  to  do 
without  it.  He  was  no  common  man 
who  at  such  a  time,  and  with  such  a 
people,  could  succeed  in  effecting  such 


1824.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


313 


a  prodigy.  Louis  Philippe  aimed  at 
being  the  Napoleon  of  peace ;  but 
Louis  XVIII.  really  was  so,  and  suc- 
ceeded so  far  that  he  died  King  of 
France.  The  secret  of  his  success  was, 
that  he  entirely  accommodated  himself 
to  the  temper  of  the  times.  He  was 
the  man  of  the  age— neither  before  it, 
like  great,  nor  behind  it,  like  little 
nieti.  Thus  he  succeeded  in  steering 
the  vessel  of  the  State  successfully 
through  shoals  which  would  have  in  all 
probability  stranded  a  man  of  greater 
or  less  capacity.  The  career  of  Napo- 
leon illustrated  the  danger  of  the  first, 
that  of  Charles  X.  the  peril  of  the  last. 
125.  In  addition  *o  this  tact  and 
judgment  which  enabled  him  to  scan 
with  so  much  correctness  the  signs  of 
the  times,  and  choose  his  ministers 
and  shape  his  measures  accordingly, 
he  had  many  qualities  of  essential  va- 
lue in  a  constitutional  monarch,  who 
must  always  be  more  or  less  guided  by 
others.  His  intellect  was  clear,  his 
memory  great,  his  observation  piercing. 
Though  he  formed  strong  opinions  from 
his  own  judgment,  he  was  ready  to  lis- 
ten to  considerations  on  the  opposite 
side ;  often  yielded  to  superior  weight 
in  argument,  and  even,  when  uncon- 
vinced, knew  how  to  yield  when  cir- 
cumstances rendered  it  expedient  to  do 
so.  He  was  humane  and  benevolent ; 
few  monarchs  surmounted  so  many  re- 
bellions with  so  little  effusion  of  blood ; 
and  the  rare  deeds  of  severity  which 
did  occur  during  his  reign  were  forced 
upon  him,  much  against  his  will,  by 
the  strength  of  the  public  voice,  or  the 
violence  of  an  overwhelming  parlia- 
mentary majority.  He  had  his  weak- 
nesses, but  they  were  of  a  harmless 
kind,  and  did  not  interfere  with  his 
public  conduct.  Though  oppressed  in 
latter  years  with  the  corpulence  here- 
ditary in  his  family,  and  the  victrtn  of 
gout  and  other  painful  diseases,  he  was 
abstemious  in  the  pleasures  of  the  ta- 
ble, and  generally  dined  amidst  the 
sumptuous  repasts  of  the  Tuileries  on 
two  eggs  and  a  few  glasses  of  wine. 
A  constitutional  coldness,  and  the  in- 
firmities to  which  he  was  Latterly  a 
victim,  preserved  him  from  the  well- 
known  weaknesses  to  which  his  ances- 


tors had  so  often  been  the  slaves ;  but 
he  yielded  to  none  of  them  in  appre- 
ciation of  the  society  of  elegant  and 
cultivated  women,  and  devoted  all  his 
leisure  hours,  perhaps  to  a  blarnable 
extent,  to  their  society,  or  the  daily 
correspondence  he  kept  up  with  them. 
Hut  he  did  not  permit  their  influence 
to  warp  his  judgment  in  affairs  of  state, 
and  never  yielded  to  it  so  readily  as 
when  employed  in  pleading  on  behalf 
of  the  unfortunate. 

126.  The  final  issue  of  the  Spanish 
revolution  affords  the  clearest  illustra- 
tion of  the  extreme  danger  and  inevit- 
able tendency  of  the  military  treacheiy 
and  revolt  in  which  it  took  its  rise.  No 
one  can  doubt  that  the  cause  of  free- 
dom in  the  Peninsula,  and  in  Europe, 
was  essentially  and  deeply  injured  by 
the  revolt  of  Riego  and  Quiroga  in  the 
Isle  of  Leon  in  1820,  which  at  the  time 
was  hailed  with  such  enthusiasm  by 
the  whole  friends  of  freedom  in  the  Old 
and  New  World.  It  was  not  merely 
from  the  strong  and  general  reaction 
to  which  it  of  necessity  gave  rise  that 
this  effect  took  place ;  the  result  was 
equally  certain,  and  would  have  been 
still  more  swift,  had  the  triumph  of  the 
revolutionists  continued  uninterrupt- 
ed. Military  treason,  Prsetorian  revolt, 
even  when  supported  at  the  time  by  the 
voice  of  a  vast  majority  of  the  people, 
can  never  in  the  end  terminate  in  any- 
thing but  destruction  to  the  cause  for 
which  it  is  undertaken,  for  this  plain 
reason,  that,  being  carried  into  effect 
by  the  strongest,  it  leaves  society  with- 
out any  safeguard  against  their  ex- 
cesses. This  accordingly  was  what  took 
place  in  Spain ;  it  was  the  triumph  of 
the  revolutionists  which,  by  destroying 
liberty,  rendered  inevitable  their  fall. 
The  Royalist  reaction,  and  desolating 
civil  war  to  which  it  gave  rise,  pre- 
ceded, not  followed,  the  invasion  of 
the  French.  It  arose  from  the  oppres- 
sive measures  of  the  Government  ap- 
pointed by  the  military  chiefs,  who  had 
been  the  leaders  of  the  revolt.  It  was 
Riego,  not  the  Duke  d'Angouleme, 
who  was  the  real  murderer  of  liberty  in 
Spain.  It  was  the  same  in  England.  No 
one  supposes  that  either  the  Long  Par- 
liament or  Cromwell  were  the  founders 


314 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


of  British  liberty ;  what  they  induced 
was,  the  military  tyranny  which  made 
all  sigh  for  the  Restoration.  No  cause 
ever  yet  was  advanced  by  treachery  and 
treason,  least  of  all  in  the  armed  de- 
fenders of  law  and  order.  So  true  are 
the  words  of  Wieland,  placed  in  an  in- 
scription on  the  hero's  sword : — 

"  Vermess  sich  kerner  untngendlioh, 
Diess  schwertes  anzuinuthen  sich ; 
Treugeht  ttber  alles 
Untrue  achandet  alles ! "  * 

127.  The  French  invasion  of  Spain 
in  1823  was  a  model  of  combined  energy 
and  moderation,  and  affords  an  apt 
illustration  of  observations  made  in 
another  work  as  to  the  consequences 
which  might  have  resulted  from  a  more 
vigorous  action  on  the  part  of  the  Allied 
powers  in  their  invasion  of  Champagne 
in  1792.  Decried  and  passed  over  in 
silenco  by  the  Liberal  and  Napoleonist 
historians,  who  had  an  object  in  keep- 
ing out  of  view  its  merits,  it  was  in 
reality  an  expedition  which  reflected 
equal  honour  on  the  Government  which 
planned,  and  the  generals  and  soldiers 
who  executed  it.  Undertaken  in  sup- 
port of  Royalist  principles,  and  to  over- 
come a  revolutionary  convulsion,  it  par- 
took of  the  dangerous  character  which 
more  or  less  belongs  to  all  wars  of 
opinion ;  and  had  it  been  conducted 
with  less  vigour  and  moderation,  it 
would  infallibly  have  lighted  a  flame 
which  would  have  involved  Europe  in 
conflagration.  Jealousy  of  France  is 
inherent  in  the  Spanish  character:  it 
burned  as  fiercely  in  the  breasts  of  the 
Royalists  as  the  Liberals ;  a  spark 
might  have  set  the  whole  country  on 
fire.  A  cruel  massacre,  such  as  that 
of  Murat  at  Madrid,  on  2d  May  1808 
— an  act  of  perfidy,  like  that  which  has 
for  ever  disgraced  the  memory  of  Napo- 
leon at  Bayonne — would  at  once  have 
caused  the  entire  nation  to  run  to  arms. 
England,  in  such  an  event,  could  never 
have  remained  a  passive  spectator  of 
the  strife,  and  probably  a  new  Penin- 
sular war  would  have  arisen,  rivalling 

*  "  Scathless  held  by  virtue's  shield, 
Dare  alone  this  sword  to  wield; 
God  shall  bless  the  faithful  hand— 
Ruin  waits  the  faitliless  brand." 


in  blood  and  devastation  that  which 
Wellington  had  brought  to  a  glorious 
termination.  But  by  advancing  with 
vigour  and  celerity  at  once  to  the  ca- 
pital— by  paying  for  everything,  and 
avoiding  the  execrable  system  of  mak- 
ing war  maintain  war — by  disclaiming 
all  intention  of  territorial  aggrandise- 
ment, and  generously  proclaiming  an 
entire  amnesty  for  political  offences, — 
they  succeeded  in  detaching  the  re- 
volutionary party  from  the  vast  majo- 
rity of  the  nation,  and  effecting  that 
which  Napoleon,  during  six  campaigns, 
sought  in  vain  to  accomplish.  Little 
blood  was  shed  in  Spain,  because  the 
wisdom  of  the  measures  adopted  re- 
quired little  to  be  shed ;  and  never  was 
eulogiuni  more  just  than  the  generous 
one  pronounced  on  it  by  Mr  Canning, 
who  said,  "  Never  was  so  much  done 
at  so  little  cost  of  human  life." 

128.  So  great  was  the  advantage 
gained  by  the  Government  of  the  Re- 
storation, in  consequence  of  the  glo- 
rious issue  of  this  campaign,  that  it 
went  far  to  establish  it  on  a  lasting 
foundation.  But  for  the  blind  infat- 
uation which,  under  the  direction  of 
the  priests,  guided  the  Government  of 
Charles  X.,  it  in  all  probability  would 
have  done  so.  The  prophecy  of  Cha- 
teaubriand had  been  fulfilled  to  the 
letter.  The  Royalists  and  Republicans 
had  forgot  their  animosities  under  the 
tent;  the  reign  of  Louis  XVIII.  ter- 
minated in  a  state  of  peace  and  unan- 
imity which  could  not  possibly  have 
been  hoped  for  at  its  commencement. 
So  strong  is  the  military  spirit  in  the 
French  people,  so  ardent  and  inex- 
tinguishable their  thirst  for  war,  that 
when  these  passions  are  once  roused, 
they  obliterate  for  the  time  every  other, 
and  unite  parties  the  most  opposite, 
and  feelings  the  most  discordant,  in 
the  e^ager  pursuit  of  the  ruling  national 
desire.  Napoleon  himself  could  not 
have  preserved  his  throne  but  for  the 
whirl  in  which  his  incessant  wars  kept 
the  minds  of  his  people.  Louis  XIV. 
was,  till  he  became  involved  in  misfor- 
tune, the  most  popular  monarch  who 
ever  sat  upon  the  throne  of  France  ; 
and  if  circumstances  had  admitted  of 
either  Charles  X.  or  Louis  Philippe 


1824.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


315 


going  to  war,  and  emerging  victorious 
from  its  dangers,  it  is  not  going  too 
far  to  assert  that  the  family  of  one 
or  other  of  them  would  still  have  been 
in  possession  of  it. 

129.  No  doubt  can  now  remain  that 
the  French  invasion  of  Spain,  against 
which  public  feeling  in  this  country 
was  so  strongly  excited  at  the  time, 
was  not  only  a  wise  measure  on  the 
part  of  the  Bourbon  Government,  but 
fully  justifiable  on  the  best  principles 
of  international  law.  The  strength  of 
this  case  is  to  be  found,  not  in  the 
absurdity  and  peril  of  the  Spanish  con- 
stitution, or  even  the  imminent  ha- 
zard to  which  it  exposed  the  royal 
family  in  that  country,  and  the  entire 
liber  ties  and  property  of  its  inhabitants ; 
for  with  these  results  foreign  nations 
have  nothing  to  do.  It  is  to  be  found 
in  the  violent  inroads  which  the  Spa- 
nish revolutionists  and  their  allies  to 
the  north  of  the  Pyrenees  were  mak- 
ing on  France  itself,  and  the  extreme 
hazard  to  which  its  institutions  were 
exposed  in  consequence  of  their  ma- 
chinations. Ever  since  the  Spanish 
revolution  broke  out,  France  had  been 
kept  in  u  continual  ferment:  the  se- 
rond  in  succession  to  the  throne  had 
been  mifrdered,  and  his  consort,  when 
enceinte  of  an  heir  to  the  monarchy, 
attempted  to  be  murdered  b)'  political 
fanatics:  military  conspiracies  in  great 
numbers  had  been  got  up  to  imitate 
the  example  of  the  soldiers  in  the  Isle 
of  Leon,  and  overturn  the  Govern- 
ment; Paris  had  been  convulsed  by 
an  attempted  revolution ;  France  was 
covered  with  secret  societies,  having 
Lafayette,  Benjamin  Constant,  Ma- 
nuel, and  all  the  Liberal  leaders  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  at  their  head, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  overthrow 
the  Government  by  means  of  murder, 
treason,  and  revolt;  and  a  band  of 
desperadoes  had  been  collected  on  the 
Pyrenees,  under  the  tricolor  flag,  who 
openly  invited  the  French  soldiers  to 
fraternise  with  them,  throw  off  the 
yoke  of  the  Bourbons,  and  rally  round 
the  standard  of  Napoleon  II.  When 
such  measures  were  in  progress,  it  was 
evident  that  the  safety  of  France,  and 
the  preservation  of  its  institutions, 


were  seriously  menaced,  and  that  its 
Government  was  warranted  in  taking 
steps  to  extinguish  so  perilous  a  vol- 
cano in  the  neighbouring  state,  by  the 
strongest  of  all  reasons — that  of  self- 
preservation. 

130.  It    is    more  difficult  to  find 
grounds  to  vindicate  the  intervention 
of  England  in  favour  of  the  insurgent 
colonies  in  South  America,  which  was. 
done  in  so  efficacious  a  manner,  and 
from  the  success  of  which  consequences 
of  such  incalculable  importance  have 
ensued  to  both  hemispheres.    Nothing 
can  be  clearer,  indeed,  than  that  when 
the  colonies  of  Spain  had  become  dc 
facto  independent,  and  Spain  was  ob- 
viously unable  to  reassert  her  dominion 
over  them,  we  were  warranted  in  treat- 
ing witli  them  as  independent  powers, 
and  sending  consuls   to  their  chief 
towns  to  guard  British  mercantile  in- 
terests.    If  our  intervention  had  been 
limited  to  this,  the  most  scrupulous 
public  morality  could  not  have  ob- 
jected to  the  course  pursued.     But  we 
not  only  did  this — we  did  a  great  deal 
more,  and  of  a  much  more  questionable 
character.  We  allowed  the  laws  against 
foreign  enlistments  to  become  a  dead 
letter ;  permitted  expeditions  of  eight 
anxl  ten  thousand  men,  many  of  them 
Wellington's  veterans,  to  sail  from  the 
Thames  under  the  very  eye  of  Govern- 
ment; and  advanced  immense  sums 
by  loan,  to  enable  the  insurgent  states 
to  prolong  the  contest.   It  was  by  these 
means,  and  these  alone,  that  the  con- 
flict was  ultimately  decided  in  favour 
of  the  colonies,  and  against  the  mother 
country.     The  decisive  battle  of  Cara- 
bobo  was  gained  entirely  by  British 
battalions  and  a  charge  of  the  British 
bayonet. 

131.  What  was  the  justification  for 
this  armed  and  powerful  intervention  ? 
Was  the  freedom  of  England  menaced 
by  the  re-establishment  of  Spanish 
authority   in  South  America?    Con- 
fessedly it  was  not :  the  hope  of  com- 
mercial advantages,   the  vision  of  a 
vast  trade  with  the  insurgent  states, 
was  the  ruling  motive.     But  commer- 
cial advantages   will    not  constitute 
legal  right,  or  vindicate  acts  of  injus- 
tice, any  more  than  the  acquisition  ci 


316 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


.provinces  will  justify  an  unprovoked 
invasion.  It  sounds  well  to  say  you 
•will  call  a  new  world  into  existence  to 
-redress  the  balance  of  the  old ;  but  if 
that  new  world  is  to  be  carved  out  of 
the  dominions  of  an  allied  and  friendly 
ipower,  it  is  better  to  leave  it  to  itself. 
England  saw  very  clearly  the  iniquity 
of  this  insidious  mode  of  proceeding 
when  it  was  applied  to  herself,  when 
Louis  XVI.  allowed  covert  succours  to 
the  American  insurgents  to  sail  from 
the  French  harbours,  and  the  Ameri- 
cans sent  some  thousand  sympathisers 
.to  aid  the  Canadian  revolt  in  1837. 
She  loudly  denounced  it  when  the 
Americans  permitted  an  expedition  to 
sail  from  New  Orleans,  in  1852,  to 
revolutionise  Cuba ;  and  she  exclaim - 


[cii.vr.  xni. 

ed  against  the  Irish  democrats,  who 
petitioned  the  French  revolutionary 
Government,  in  1848,  to  recognise  a 
Hibernian  republic  in  the  Emerald 
Isle.  But  what  were  the  two  last  but 
following  her  example  ?  She  sees  the 
mote  in  her  neighbour's  eye,  but  can- 
not discover  the  beam  in  her  own.  It 
will  appear  in  the  sequel  of  this  History 
whether  England  in  fact  derived  any 
benefit,  even  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view,  from  this  great  act  of  disguised 
aggression ;  whether  the  cause  of  free- 
dom and  the  interests  of  humanity  were, 
really  advanced  by  it;  and  whether 
the  greatest  calamities,  public  and  pri- 
vate, its  inhabitants  have  ever  un- 
dergone, may  not  be  distinctly  traced 
to  its  consequences. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

ASIA   MINOR  AND   GREECE  :   THEIR  SOCIAL,    POLITICAL,    AND 
STATISTICAL  STATE— TURKEY. 


1.  IN  the  stationary  nations  of  West- 
ern Europe,  where  the  inhabitants  have 
in  a  manner  taken  root  in  the  soil,  and 
«the  broad  Atlantic  alike  forbids  the  en- 
trance, and  for  long  precludes  the  fur- 
ther migration  of  man,  the  contests  of 
the  species  are  chiefly  social  or  religi- 
ous. It  is  difference  of  faith  or  of 
political  privileges  which  arms  one 
part  of  the  people  against  the  other ; 
and  foreign  wars,  not  less  than  inter- 
nal discord,  arise  chiefly  from  the  ef- 
forts which  one  part  of  the  nation 
makes  to  alter  the  creed  or  shake  off 
the  institutions  which  have  been  im- 
posed upon  it  by  the  other.  But  in 
the  Eastern  states,  and  where  nations 
have  been  exposed  in  successive  ages  to 
the  inroads  of  different  tribes,  issuing 
from  that  great  nursery  of  migratory 
man,  the  table-land  of  Central  Asia, 
ithe  case  is  widely  different.  External 
wars,  not  less  than  internal  convul- 
tions,  there  arise,  for  the  most  part, 


from  the  violent  superinduction  of  one 
race  of  men  upon  another — of  a  new 
horde  upon  the  original  settlers.  The 
attempt  to  effect  this  induces,  in  the 
first  instance,  the  most  terrible  wars 
of  invasion  ;  for  what  will  men  not  do 
to  prevent  the  inroad  of  a  barbarous 
invader  into  their  lands,  their  hearths, 
their  temples?  —  in  the  last,  the  not 
less  frightful  civil  dissensions  in  the 
efforts  which  a  long  course  of  oppres- 
sion at  length  rouses  the  subjected 
people  to  make,  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
of  their  oppressors. 

"  Proud  of  the  yoke,  and  pliant  to  the  rod, 
Why  yet  does  Asia  dread  a  monarch's  nod, 
While  European  freedom  still  withstands 
The  encroaching  tide  that  drowns  her  less- 
ening lands  ? 

And  sees  far  off,  with  an  indignant  groan, 
Her  native  plains  and  empires  once  her 

own."* 

2.  The  two  great  moving  powers  of 

mankind  are  the  unseen  but  constant- 

*  GHAY. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


317 


ly  acting  springs  of  all  these  changes. 
Providence,  to  carry  out  the  work  of 
human  progress  and  the  dispersion  of 
the  species,  has  impressed,  in  an  equal- 
ly indelible  manner,  upon  the  tribes 
of  Central  Asia,  the  passion  for  migra- 
tion, and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  West- 
ern Europe  the  love  of  freedom.  From 
the  first  has  arisen  the  peopling  of 
Europe,  and  the  spread  of  the  Asiatic 
race  through  the  Old  World  ;  from  the 
List,  the  civilisation  of  America  and 
Australia,  and  the  settlement  of  the  Eu- 
ropean race  in  the  New.  If  we  would 
find  a  parallel  to  the  vast  swarms  of 
(.'••Its,  Scythians,  Goths,  Huns,  Saxons, 
Arabs,  and  Turks,  who  have  succes- 
sively invaded  Europe  and  Africa  from 
the  eastward,  and  continued  their  de- 
vastating advance  till  they  were  stop- 
ped by  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic,  we 
must  come  down  to  the  present  day, 
when  still  greater  hosts  of  civilised 
emigrants  issue  annually  from  the  har- 
bours of  Great  Britain  and  German}', 
to  seek  in  Transatlantic  wilds  or  Aus- 
tralian steppes  the  means  of  livelihood 
and  the  pleasures  of  independence,  till 
they  are  stopped  by  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific.  But  the  inroad  of  civilised  is 
more  fatal  to  the  original  inhabitants 
than  that  of  savage  man  ;  the  fire- 
water of  the  Christian  destroys  the 
species  more  effectually  than  the  scimi- 
tar of  the  Osmanli.  The  last  spares 
some,  and  permits  in  the  end  a  min- 
gled race  of  victors  and  vanquished  to 
spring  up  together  on  the  conquered 
lands  ;  the  first  utterly  extirpates  the 
original  race,  and  leaves  only  its  re- 
mains, like  those  of  the  mammoth,  to 
excite  the  wonder  of  future  generations 
of  men. 

3.  From  these  passions  acting  with 
equal  force,  and  with  the  same  conse- 
quences, upon  distant  lands  in  differ- 
ent stages  of  human  existence,  have 
arisen  the  greatest  and  most  renowned 
wars,  the  most  melancholy  devasta- 
tions, the  greatest  impulse  to  exertion, 
which  have  formed  the  subject  of  poe- 
try and  history  from  the  earliest  ages 
to  the  present  time.  From  the  time 
when  the  genius  of  Homer  first  sang 
the  effort  of  Greece  to  repel  the  pre- 
datory inroads  of  Asia,  and  Iphigenia 


offered  herself  a  willing  sacrifice,  that 
the  Grecian  maidens  might  sleep  in 
peace,  secure  from  the  Eastern  ravish- 
ers,*  to  these  times,  when,after  a  fright- 
ful but  glorious  struggle,  the  classic 
land  of  Hellas  has  been  again  liberated 
from  its  oppressors,  and  the  Athenian 
damsels  are  secure  from  the  slavery  of 
the  Turkish  harems,  the  greatest  strag- 
gles of  mankind  have  been  between 
the  invading  and  conquering  East  and 
the  defensive  but  indomitable  West. 

4.  Defeated  at  Salamis  and  Platrea, 
for  centuries  kept  at  bay  by  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Legions,  pierced  to  the- 
heart  by  the  strength  of  the  Empire, 
the  East  in  the  end  asserted  its  superi- 
ority over  the  West,  and  resumed  its 
place  as  the  great  aggressive  and  con- 
quering power.  Its  swarms,  long  pent 
up,  at  length  burst  forth ;  the  Goth* 
broke  through  the  barriers  of  the  Dan- 
ube and  the  Rhine,  and  fixed  their  last- 
ing abode  in  the  decaying  provinces  of 
the  Roman  empire ;  the  Arabs  issued 
from  their  fiery  deserts  with  the  Koran- 
in  one  hand  and  the  scimitar  in  tho 
other,  penetrated  through  Africa  and 
Spain  into  the  heart  of  France,  and 
were  only  arrested  by  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Crusades  on  the  shores  of  Pal- 
estine ;  the  Huns  and  Sclavonians 
spread  over  Eastern  Europe,  and  set- 
tled themselves  in  the  plains  of  Poland 
and  Hungary ;  the  Turks  stormed  Con- 
stantinople itself,  and  subdued  the 
finest  provinces  of  the  Eastern  Empire. 
Europe  may  boast  its  courage,  its  free- 
dom, its  energy,  and  every  quarter  of 
the  globe  attests  its  industry  or  its 
prowess ;  biit  histoiy  tells  a  different 
tale,  and  points  to  Asia  as  the  cradle 
of  the  lasting  conquerors  of  mankind. 
It  required  the  genius  of  Alexander  to 
advance  his  phalanx  into  the  centre  of 
Persia,  the  energy  of  England  to  urgo- 
her  standards  into  the  mountains  of 

*  "  Das  gauze  grosse  Griechenland  hat  jetzt 
Die  Augen  auf  inich  Einzige  gericktet. 
Inh  mache  seine  Flotte  frei — diirch  inich. 
Wird  Phrygien  erobert.    Wenn  fortan 
Rein  griechisch  Weib  mehr  zittern  darf, 

gewaltsam 

Aus  Hellas  sel'gem  Boden  weggeschleppt 
Zu  werden  von  Barbaren,  die  nuninelir 
Fur  Paris  Frevelthat  so  fiirchterlich 
Bezahlen  mussen." 

SCHILLER,  Iphigenie  in  Aulis,  Act  v.  scene  5. 


SIS 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Cabul ;  but  neither  were  able  to  effect 
a  permanent  settlement  in  the  regions 
they  had  overrun  ;  while,  without  mili- 
tary genius,  discipline,  or  warlike  re- 
sources, the  Eastern  tribes  have  in 
every  age  settled  themselves  as  perma- 
nent conquerors  in  the  European  fields. 
Where  will  the  traveller  find,  in  the 
Asiatic  realms,  a  trace  of  the  European 
race — where,  in  the  European,  are  the 
descendants  of  the  Asiatic  not  to  be 
found  ? 

5.  From  this  ceaseless  pressure  of  the 
East  on  the  West  has  arisen  not  mere- 
ly wars  of  invasion,  but  social  conflicts, 
in  the  east  of  Europe,  entirely  different 
from  those  which  have  divided  the 
Western  nations.  The  barbarians  who, 
issuing  from  Asia,  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  in  Europe,  formed 
permanent  settlements,  appropriated 
the  land  in  whole  or  part  to  them- 
selves, and  transmitted  it,  as  they 
hoped,  in  peace  to  their  descendants. 
But  they  were  not  permitted  to  remain 
in  quiet  possession  of  their  new  acqui- 
sitions ;  another  swarm  followed  in 
their  footsteps,  and  they  were  them- 
selves overwhelmed  by  the  waves  of 
conquest.  Thence  succeeded  the  fierc- 
est and  most  enduring  conflicts  which 
have  ever  divided  mankind  —  those 
where  different  conquering  races  set- 
tled in  the  same  territories,  and  con- 
tended with  each  other  for  its  govern- 
ment, its  lands,  its  revenues,  its  women. 
The  strife  of  RACES  is  more  lasting, 
their  enmity  more  inveterate,  their 
hostility  more  persevering,  than  that  of 
parties.  The  animosity  of  the  Magyar 
against  the  German,  of  the  Pole  against 
the  Russian,  of  the  Italian  against  the 
German,  of  the  Celt  against  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  of  the  Greek  against  the  Turk, 
is  more  fierce  and  indelible  than  that 
of  the  democrat  against  the  aristocrat, 
or  the  republican  against  the  royalist. 
Like  the  colour  of  the  hair  or  the  tint 
of  the  visage,  it  is  transmitted  un- 
changed from  generation  to  genera- 
tion ;  unlike  the  fleeting  fervour  of 
cities,  which  is  readily  diverted  by  new 
objects  of  pursuit,  it  slumbers  unde- 
cayed  in  the  solitude  of  rural  life,  and, 
after  the  lapse  of  centuries,  bursts  forth 
with  uudimiuished  fury,  when  circum- 


stances occur  which  fan  the  embers 
into  a  flame.  The  most  animating 
and  heart-stirring  events  which  are  re- 
counted in  the  succeeding  pages  have 
arisen  from  the  conflict  of  races,  which, 
as  more  widespread  and  lasting,  have 
in  a  great  degree  superseded  that  of 
social  change. 

6.  Placed  on  the  confines  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  the  regions  which  formerly 
formed  part  of  the  Byzantine,  and  now 
compose  the  TURKISH  EMPIRE,  have  in 
every  age  been  the  chief  seat  of  these 
frightful  contests.     The  coasts  of  the 
Euxiue,  the  isles  of  the  Archipelago, 
the  shores  of  the  Danube,  the  moun- 
tains of  Greece,  have  from  the  earliest 
times  been  the  battle-field  between  Eu- 
rope and  Asia.    When  the  vast  stream 
of  the   Crusaders  poured  across  the 
Hellespont,  they  wound  unconsciously 
around   the    tombs  of  Achilles  and 
Ajax ;  they  trod  the  fields  of  the  Sca- 
mander,  they  drank  at  the  fountain  at 
the  Scsean  gate.     The  environs  of  Je- 
rusalem have  been  the  theatre  of  the 
greatest  and  most  heart -stirring  con- 
flict which  has  occurred  since  Titus 
drew  his  trenches  round  the  devoted 
city.    The  plains  of  Bessarabia,  broken 
only  by  the  Scythian  tumuli,  are  whit- 
ened by  the  bones  of  those  swarms  of 
warriors  whose  names,  as  the  Russian 
poet  expresses  it,  "  are  known  only  to 
God  ;"  the  walls  of  Byzantium,  which 
for  a  thousand  years  singly  sustained 
the  fortunes  of  the  Empire,  yielded  at 
length  to  the  fierce  assault  of  the  Os- 
manlis  ;  the  island  of  Rhodes  has  wit- 
nessed the  most  glorious  conflict  that 
ever  occurred  between  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  East  and  the  heroism  of  the 
West ;  the  straits  of  Thermopylae  have 
in  our  day  been  signalised  by  second 
acts  of  devotion ;  the  Mgcan  Sea  has 
reddened    with    other    conflagration* 
than  that  of  Salamis ;  the  Russians 
and  the  Turks  are  now  (1854)  combat- 
ing on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  on 
the  same  spots  where,  fourteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  the  hordes  of  the  Goths 
broke  into  the  decaying  fields  of  Ro- 
man civilisation. 

7.  From  this  peculiarity  in  their 
geographical    history   has   arisen  the 
great  variety  of  different  races  who 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


819 


now  inhabit  the  vast  provinces  of  the 
Turkish  empire,  and  the  inextinguish- 
able hatred  with  which  they  are  ani- 
mated against  each  other.  The  Per- 
sians, the  Romans,  the  Goths,  the 
Russians,  the  Arabs,  the  Vandals,  the 
Pranks,  the  Venetians,  the  Christians, 
the  Mohammedans,  have  at  different 
times  contended,  and  alternately  ob- 
tained the  mastery  in  its  vast  domi- 
nion. They  have  all  left  their  children 
in  the  land.  Beside  the  descendants 
of  the  original  Greeks,  whom  the  King 
of  Men  ruled  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  or 
Alexander  led  to  the  conquest  of  Asia, 
there  are  now  to  be  found  the  bold 
"NVallachian,  who  has  fearlessly  settled 
in  the  land  which  has  been  desolated 
by  the  wars  of  three  thousand  years  ; 
the  free  and  independent  Servian,  who 
has  never  ceased  to  contend,  even 
amidst  Turkish  bonds,  for  the  freedom 
of  his  native  steppe  ;  the  patient  and 
industrious  Bulgarian,  who  has  often 
found  protection  and  happiness  in  the 
recesses  of  the  Balkan  ;  the  fierce  and 
indomitable  Albanian,  who,  since  the 
days  of  Scanderbeg,  has  maintained  a 
desultory  warfare  with  his  oppressors 
in  his  native  mountains ;  the  effemi- 
nate Syrian,  who  bows  his  neck,  as  in 
ancient  days,  to  every  invader ;  the 
unchanging  Israelite,  who  has  pre- 
served his  faith  and  usages  inviolate 
since  the  days  of  Abraham  ;  the  wan- 
dering Arab,  whose  hand  is  still  against 
•every  man,  and  every  man;s  against 
him  ;  the  passive  and  laborious  Egyp- 
tian, who  toils  a  slave  on  the  banks  of 
the  Nile,  from  whence  his  ancestors, 
under  Sesostris,  issued  to  conquer  the 
world.  And  over  all  are  placed  as 
rulers  the  brave  and  haughty  Osman- 
lis,  who  govern,  but  do  not  cultivate 
the  land,  and  who,  in  Europe,  not  more 
than  three  millions  in  number,  main- 
tain, their  sway  over  four  times  that 
number  of  impatient  and  suffering 
.subjects. 

8.  To  govern  dominions  so  vast,  and 
inhabited  by  so  great  a  variety  of  dif- 
ferent and  hostile  nations,  must,  un- 
der any  circumstances,  have  been  a 
matter  of  difficulty ;  but  in  addition 
to  this  there  was  superadded,  in  the 
-case  of  Turkey,  a  still  more  fatal  and 


indelible  source  of  discord,  which  was 
the  difference  of  RELIGION.  Turkey, 
even  in  Asia,  has  not  always  been, 
properly  speaking,  a  Mohammedan 
country.  The  Seven  Churches  were 
established  in  Asia  Minor  in  the  days 
of  the  Apostles ;  the  Empire  of  the 
East  had  embraced  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel  four  centuries  before  Christi- 
anity had  spread  in  Western  Europe. 
We  are  accustomed,  from  its  ruling 
power,  and  its  position  in  the  map,  to 
consider  Turkey  as  a  Mohammedan 
state,  forgetting  that  Christianity  had 
been  established  over  its  whole  extent 
a  thousand  years  before  Constantinople 
yielded  to  the  assault  of  Mahomet,  and 
that  the  transference  to  the  creed  of 
Mahomet  was  as  violent  a  change  as 
if  it  wens  now  to  be  imposed  by  foreign 
conquest  on  France  or  England.  Even 
at  this  time,  after  four  centuries  of 
Mohammedan  rule,  Christianity  is  still 
the  faith  of  three-fourths  of  the  whole 
Turkish  empire  in  Europe,  and  one- 
fourth  in  Asia.  Cast  down,  reviled, 
persecuted,  the  followers  of  Jesus,  from 
generation  to  generation,  have  adhered 
to  the  faith  of  their  fathers  :  it  still 
forms  the  distinguishing  mark  between 
them  and  their  oppressors  :  more  even 
than  difference  of  race  it  has  severed 
the  two  great  families  of  mankind ; 
and  when  the  Greek  revolution  broke 
out,  the  cry  was  not  "  Independence 
to  Greece,"  but  "Victory  to  the  Cross." 
9.  The  system  of  government  \^y 
which  the  Turks  for  four  centuries 
have  maintained  themselves  in  their 
immense  dominions,  and  kept  the  com- 
mand of  so  many  and  such  various 
races  of  men,  is  very  simple,  and  more 
suited  to  Oriental  than  European  ideas. 
It  is  neither  the  system  which  distance 
and  the  extreme  paucity  of  the  ruling 
nation  has  rendered  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity to  the  English  in  India  —  that  of 
conciliating  the  great  body  of  the  rural 
cultivators,  and  drawing  Irom  them 
disciplined  battalions  which  might  es- 
tablish their  dominion  over  their  for- 
mer oppressors — nor  that  of  penetrat- 
ing the  wilds  of  nature  with  the  light 
of  civilisation,  and  conquering  man- 
kind to  pacify  and  bless  them,  like  the 
legions  which  followed  the  eagles  of 


320 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Rome  to  the  extremities  of  the  earth. 
It  is  more  akin  to  the  establishment 
and  system  of  government  of  the  Nor- 
mans in  England,  where  the  people 
were  not  only  conquered,  bnt  retained 
in  subjection  by  force,  and  sixty  thou- 
sand horsemen  annually  assembled  at 
Winchester  to  overawe  and  intimidate 
the  subject  realm.  Their  number  is 
small  compared  to  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  country.  Three  millions 
of  Osmanlis  in  Europe  are  thinly  scat- 
tered over  a  territory  containing  twelve 
or  thirteen  millions  of  Christian  sub- 
jects ;  but  they  are  all  armed,  and 
ready  to  become  soldiers  ;  they  are  in 
possession  of  the  whole  fortresses,  har- 
bours, and  strongholds  of  the  king- 
dom ;  they  have  the  command  of  the 
government,  the  treasury,  the  capital, 
and  the  great  cities  :  the  Christians  are 
scattered  over  the  country,  and  de- 
pressed by  centuries  of  servitude  ;  the 
Turks  are  concentrated  in  towns,  and 
rendered  confident  by  the  long  exer- 
cise of  power. 

10.  What  renders  the  government 
of  the  Christians,  though  so  superior  in 
number,  by  the  Mohammedans  more 
easy  in  Turkey,  is  the  variety  of  tribes 
and  races  of  which  the  subjected  popu- 
lation is  composed,  their  separation 
from  each  other  by  mountains,  seas, 
and  entire  want  of  roads,  and  the  com- 
plete unity  of  action  and  identity  of 
purpose  in  the  dominant  race.  The 
Greeks  are  not  only  a  different  race, 
but  speak  a  different  language,  from 
the  Bulgarians ;  the  Servians  are  a 
separate  tribe  from  the  Wallachians, 
the  Albanians  from  both.  The  Greek 
of  the  Fanar  *  has  nothing  in  common 
with  the  peasant  of  Roumelia ;  the 
Armenian  with  the  Syrian  ;  the  Egyp- 
tian with  the  Cappadocian  ;  the  Jew 
with  the  Albanian.  These  different 
nations  and  tribes  have  separate  feel- 
ings, descent,  and  interests  ;  they  are 
severed  from  each  other  by  recollec- 
tions, habits,  institutions  ;  vast  ranges 
of  mountains,  in  Greece,  Macedonia, 
and  Asia  Minor,  part  them  ;  roads,  or 
even  bridges,  there  are  none,  to  enable 

*  The  quarter  of  Constantinople  where  the 
richest  and  most  intelligent  of  the  Greeks 
reside. 


[CHAP.  xnr. 

the  different  inhabitants  of  this  varied 
realm  to  communicate  with  each  other, 
ascertain  their  common  wrongs,  or  en- 
ter into  any  common  designs  for  their 
liberation.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Turks,  in  possession  of  the  incompara- 
ble harbour  and  central  capital  of  Con- 
stantinople, with  the  Euxine  and  the 
Black  Sea  for  their  interior  line  of 
communication,  are  a  homogeneous, 
race,  speaking  one  language,  profess- 
ing one  religion,  animated  by  one- 
spirit,  swayed  by  one  interest,  and  en- 
abled, by  means  of  the  government 
couriers,  whose  speed  compensates  the 
difficulty  of  transit,  to  communicate 
one  common  impulse  to  all  parts  of 
their  vast  dominions.  The  example 
of  the  English  in  India  is  sufficient  to- 
show  how  long  the  possession  of  these 
advantages  is  capable  of  enabling  an 
inconsiderable  body  of  strangers  to 
subdue  and  keep  in  subjection  a  divid- 
ed multitude  of  nations,  a  thousand 
times  move  numerous. 

11.  The  military  strength  of  the 
Turks,  which  was  long  so  formidable 
to  Europe,  and  more  than  once  put 
Christendom  within  a  hair's-breadth 
of  destruction,  is  derived  entirely  from 
the  Osmanlis.  It  is  a  fundamental 
maxim  of  their  government,  that  the 
Mussulmans  alone  are  to  be  armed,  or 
called  on  to  combat  either  foreign  ov 
domestic  enemies ;  the  Christians  arc- 
to  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  ex- 
pense of  armaments,  and  tiphold  by 
their  industry  the  strength  of  the  em- 
pire, but  by  no  means  to  be  intrusted 
with  the  duty  of  defending  it  in  the 
field.  The  former  is  the  generous  war- 
horse,  which,  sedulously  trained  to' 
military  exercises,  is  released  from  all 
toil  till  the  glorious  dangers  of  war 
commence ;  the  latter  is  the  humble 
beast  of  burden,  which  is  worn  out  in 
the  meaner  occupations  of  peace,  and 
follows  at  a  distance  his  proud  compeer 
to  the  field,  to  bear  his  burdens  and 
provide  for  his  subsistence.  As  the 
military  strength  of  the  empire  thus 
depends  solely  on  the  Osmanlis,  it  is 
drawn  from  a  comparatively  limited 
body,  and  depends  entirely  on  their 
spirit  and  courage.  Yet  is  this  differ- 
ence between  the  Turks  and  other  ho- 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


321 


niogcneous  nations  greater  in  appear- 
ance than  reality.  Except  in  periods 
of  extraordinary  excitement,  when  the 
whole  nation,  under  the  influence  of  an 
ungovernable  impulse,  runs  to  arms, 
the  military  strength  of  every  people 
is  derived  from  a  portion  only  of  its 
inhabitants.  The  military  caste  is  sel- 
dom more  than  a  third  or  a  fourth  of 
the  whole  number  ;  and  if,  as  in  Tur- 
key, that  proportion  is  all  trained  to 
arms  as  a  profession,  and  engages  in 
no  other,  it  is  fully  as  much  as  the  la- 
bour of  the  remainder  of  the  people  can 
maintain  in  idleness,  ever  ready  for  the 
toils  of  war. 

12.  As  the  Turks  are  the  military 
caste  upon  whom  the  whole  strength 
in  war  of  the  Ottoman  empire  depends, 
so  the  Christians  are  the  industrious 
class  upon  whom  its  entire  riches  and 
material  prosperity  rest.  The  natural 
and  inevitable  ascendancy  of  mind  over 
matter,  of  intelligence  over  strength, 
never  appeared  more  strongly  than  in 
the  destinies  of  the  Greek  people.  Still, 
as  in  ancient  times,  they  nave  asserted 
the  dominion  over  their  conquerors ; 
if  the  sword  of  the  Osmanlis,  as  of  the 
Romans,  has  subdued  their  bodies, 
their  minds  have  again  reasserted  the 
as*  r-idancy  over  their  oppressors.  The 
Greeks  at  Constantinople  seem  rather 
the  allies  than  the  subjects  of  the 
Turks.  The  same  is  the  case  in  most 
of  the  other  great  towns  of  the  empire  ; 
and  their  presence  is  indispensable, 
their  superiority  still  more  manifest, 
in  the  divans  of  all  the  pachas.  The 
Turks,  who  long,  above  all  things, 
after  repose,  and  know  no  excitement 
but  love  and  war,  leave  the  whole 
management  of  affairs  to  the  Greeks  : 
civil  administration,  negotiations,  pa- 
cific situations,  letters,  the  arts,  com- 
merce, manufactures,  industry,  navi- 
gation, all  are  in  their  hands.  The 
Turks  command,  and  are  alone  in- 
trusted with  military  power  ;  but  the 
(!  reeks  direct  the  commander,  often  in 
military,  always  in  civil  affairs.  The 
seamen  of  the  Archipelago,  skilful  now 
as  when  they  rolled  back  the  tide  of 
Persian  invasion  in  the  Gulf  of  Sala- 
mis,  have  the  entire  commerce  of  the 

VOL.  II. 


empire  in  their  hands ;  for  although 
the  Turks  are  admirable  horsemen  and 
most  formidable  soldiers  by  land,  they 
have  a  superstitious  aversion  to  the 
sea,  and  often  find  it  easier,  as  Gibbon 
observes,  to  overrun  an  empire  than 
to  cross  a  strait. 

13.  As  the  Turks  are  thus  the  indo- 
lent, luxurious,  dominant  race,  and  the 
Greeks,  Armenians,  and  other  Chris- 
tians the  laborious,  hard-working,  ser- 
vant race,  they  have  respectively  un- 
dergone the  usual  fate  of  mankind  in 
such  positions  in  society.  The  mas- 
ters have  diminished,  the  slaves  have 
multiplied.  The  lazy  rulers,  with  their 
sabres,  their  horses,  their  harems,  their 
coffee-houses,  their  life  of  repose  and 
enjoyment,  are  unable  to  maintain 
their  own  numbers  ;  the  despised  and 
insulted  subjects,  with  their  ploughs, 
their  shuttles,  their  oars,  their  single 
wives  and  cottages,  have  overspread 
the  land  with  their  descendants.  They 
have  increased  in  some  places  as  fast, 
and  from  the  same  cause,  as  the  re- 
viled Catholic  Celt  under  Protestant 
and  Orange  domination  did  in  Ireland. 
In  the  level  country,  indeed,  where  the 
horsemen  of  the  Osmanlis  have  found 
it  easy  to  extend  their  ravages,  and 
the  pachas  their  oppression,  the  hu- 
man race  has  in  many  places  wholly 
disappeared,  and  the  mournful  travel- 
ler, after  traversing  for  days  together 
the  richest  plains,  studded  with  the 
ruins  of  ancient  cities,  now  left  with- 
out a  single  inhabitant,  has  repecitedly 
expressed  a  dread  of  the  entire  extir- 
pation of  the  human  species  in  the 
very  garden  of  nature,  the  places  in 
the  world  best  adapted  for  its  recep- 
tion.* But  this  is  sometimes  the  re- 
*  "  En  general,  pour  les  productions,  le 
paysan  en  Turquie  ne  demande  a  la  terre  que 
ee  dont  il  a  rigonreusement  bespin  pour  sa 
subsistance,  et  le  reste  est  livre  a  1'abandon. 
La  partie  qui  avoisine  les  cdtes,  jusqu'a  une 
distance  de  quinze  a  vingt  lieues,  est  plus 
gtiueralenient  la  mieux  cultivee ;  mais  au-dela 
1'on  niarche  souvent,  pendant  plusieurs 
heures,  a  travers  de  vastes  espaces  en  friche, 
remplis  de  broussailles  et  de  inauvaises 
herbes,  dont  Ta  vigueur  de  vegetation  atteste 
la  fecondit^  et  la  richesse  productive  du  sol. 
A  voir  ce  delaissement  de  1'agriculture  dans 
la  Roumelie,  on  serait  tente  de  croire  a  la 
realite  de  ce  dictoii,  bcaucoup  plus  commuu 


322 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiir. 


suit  rather  of  a  migration  than  an  ab- 
solute diminution  of  inhabitants.  In 
the  mountains  where  the  janizaries 
have  not  been  able  to  penetrate,  or  the 
regions  where  the  tyranny  of  the  pa- 
chas has  been  exchanged  for  a  fixed 
tribute — in  Servia,  Bosnia,  Bulgaria, 
the  fastnesses  of  Albania,  the  Taurus, 
and  Lebanon — the  human  race  is  in- 
creasing with  great  rapidity,  cultiva- 
tion is  daily  extending  into  the  wilds 
of  nature,  and  the  beautiful  spectacle 
is  presented  to  the  eye  of  the  charmed 
traveller,  of  industry  overcoming  the 
difficulties  with  which  it  is  surrounded, 
and  man  existing  in  simple  innocence, 
surrounded  with  the  comforts  of  un- 
sophisticated nature. 

14.  M.  Lamartiue,  whose  brilliant 
imagination  is  accompanied  with  a 
close  observation  of  external  things, 
and  whose  travels  are  suspected  to  DC 
poetical  dreams  only  because  they  ex- 
hibit sketches  from  nature,  coloured 
with  the  tints  of  his  poetic  mind,  has 
given  the  following  picture  of  Servia, 
where,  ever  since  its  formidable  insur- 
panni  nous  qu'en  Turquie,  que  les  Turcs  ne 
se  considerent  que  comme  campus  en  Europe, 
et  qu'ils  de'tachent,  peu  a  peu,  leurs  pensees 
des  provinces  qu'ils  sentent  leur  echapper 
pour  les  rapporter  de  preference  sur  cette 
terre  d' Asie,  qui  fut  le  berceau  de  leur  nation. 
Cependant,  si  nous  portons  nos  regards  de 
1'autre  cdte"  des  d£troits,  1'aspect  ne  change 
pas  :  mgme  fertilite  partout,  et  meme  desola- 
tion. Si  Ton  excepte  quelques  riches  plaines 
de  1'Asie  Mineure,  vou's  n'apercevez  presque 
nullepart  quelque  trace  de  culture.  De  vasles 
solitudes,  coupe'es  a  de  lointains  intervalles 
par  quelques  tentes  de  tribus  Kurds  ou 
Turcomans,  des  forets  de  pins  et  de  chenes, 
que  le  Gouvernement  livre  a  la  discretion  de 
quiconque  veut  les  exploiter,  sur  la  reserve 
de  trois  pour  cent  sur  la  vente  du  bois ;  le 
desert  presque  a  la  sortie  des  villes,  de  loin 
en  loin  e'chelonne's  parfois  a  des  distances  de 
neuf  ou  dix  heures  de  marche ;  des  villages, 
dont  le  miserable  aspect  contraste  pe'nible- 
meut  avec  la  richesse  de  la  vegetation  qui  les 
entoure.  Voila  ce  qui  s'oftre  a  la  vue  du 
voyageur  sur  cette  terre,  qui  portait  jadis 
tant  de  villes  fameuses  —  Pergame,  Sanlis, 
Troie,  Nicomedie,  et  toutes  les  autres  dont  le 
nom  seul  a  surveeu.  M.  de  Tchitchatchef 
mentionne  une  plaine  qui  s'etend  sur  un  sur- 
face de  600  milles  gepgraphiques  carres,  et 
qui  offre  a  peine  50  milles  cultives.  La  pro- 
duction annuelle  de  cereales  en  Asie  Mi- 
neure evaluee  a  705,100,000  kilogrammes,  ou 
9,263,000  hectolitres  (5,500,000  quarters),  et 
r£presentant  une  valeur  de  75,000,000  francs 
{£3,000,000),  atteindrait  aisement  le  quin- 
tuple, et  mSme  le  decuple. "— Um cixi,  366, 367. 


rection  in  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  independence,  under 
the  tutelary  arm  of  PRINCE  MOLOSCH, 
has  been  practically  established :  ' '  The 
populationinServiaamountsnow(1836) 
to  1,000,000  souls,  and  it  is  rapidly  in- 
creasing. The  mildness  of  the  climate, 
which  resembles  that  between  Lyons 
and  Avignon  ;  the  riches  of  the  deep 
and  virgin  soil,  which  covers  the  sur- 
face everywhere  with  the  vegetation  of 
Switzerland :  the  abundance  of  rivers 
and  streams  which  descend  from  the 
mountains,  circulate  in  the  valleys, 
and  often  form  lakes  in  the  spacious 
woods ;  the  felling  of  the  forests,  which 
at  once,  as  in  America,  furnishes  space 
for  the  plough  and  materials  for  the 
houses  of  those  who  hold  it ;  the  mild 
and  pure  manners  of  the  people  ;  their 
wise  and  protective  institutions,  the 
reflection,  as  it  were,  of  the  best  in 
Europe ;  the  supreme  power  concen- 
trated in  the  hands  of  a  man  worthy 
of  his  mission,  Prince  Molosch  —  all 
these  elements  of  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness promise  to  advance  the  popula- 
tion to  several  millions  before  a  century 
is  over.  Should  that  people,  as  it  de- 
sires and  hopes,  become  the  kernel  of 
a  new  Sclavonic  empire  by  its  reunion 
with  Bosnia,  a  part  of  Bulgaria,  and 
the  warlike  Montenegrins,  Europe  will 
see  a  new  empire  rise  from  the  ruins 
of  Turkey,  and  embrace  the  vast  and 
beautiful  regions  which  extend  between 
the  Danube,  the  Balkan,  the  Euxine, 
and  the  Adriatic. 

15.  "The  traveller  cannot  quit  this 
beautiful  region,  as  I  have  done,  with- 
out saluting  with  regrets  and  benedic- 
tions its  rising  fortunes.  Those  im- 
mense virgin  forests,  those  mountains, 
those  plains,  those  rivers,  which  seem 
to  have  come  fresh  from  the  hands  of 
the  Creator,  and  to  mingle  the  luxuri- 
ant youth  of  nature  with  the  youtli  of 
man ;  those  new  houses,  which  seem 
to  spring  out  of  the  woods,  to  stretch 
along  the  side  of  torrents  into  the  most 
sequestered  nooks  of  the  valleys  ;  the 
roll  of  the  revolving  mills,  busied  with 
the  cutting  of  wood ;  the  sound  of  the 
village  bells,  newly  baptised  in  the 
blood  of  the  defenders  of  the  country ; 
the  songs  of  the  youths  and  maidens, 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


323 


as  they  lighten  their  toil ;  the  sight  of 
the  multitude  of  children  who  issue 
from  the  schools  or  from  the  churches, 
the  roofs  of  which  are  not  yet  finished ; 
the  accents  of  liberty,  of  joy,  and  of 
hope  in  every  mouth ;  the  look  of 
spring  and  gladness  in  every  counte- 
nance ;  the  sight  of  those  mountains 
which  stand  forth  shaded  with  prime- 
val forests,  the  fortresses  of  nature, 
And  of  that  Danube,  which  bends  as  if 
to  embrace  so  beauteous  a  region,  and 
waft  its  productions  to  the  east  and 
the  north  ;  the  prospect  of  the  mosque 
everywhere  in  ruins,  and  the  Christian 
churches  rising  in  every  village — all 
those  speak  the  youth  of  nations,  and 
we  mingle  our  prayers  with  the  song 
of  the  freeman.  When  the  sun  of 
Servia  shines  on  the  waters  of  the 
Danube,  the  river  seems  to  glitter  with 
the  blades  of  the  yatagans,  the  re- 
splendent fusils  of  the  Montenegrins  : 
it  is  a  river  of  liquid  steel  which  de- 
fends Servia.  It  is  sweet  to  sit  on  its 
shore,  and  to  see  it  waft  past  the  brok- 
en arms  of  our  enemies. — When  the 
wind  of  Albania  descends  from  the 
mountains,  and  engulfs  itself  in  the 
forests  of  Schamadia,  cries  issue  from 
them  as  from  the  army  of  the  Turks 
at  the  rout  of  Mosawa.  Sweet  is 
that  murmur  to  the  ears  of  the  freed 
Servians.  Dead  or  living,  it  is  sweet 
after  the  battle  to  repose  at  the  foot  of 
that  oak  which  expands  in  freedom  as 
we  do." 

16.  But  examples  like  that  of  Servia, 
of  which  there  are  several  in  the  Turk- 
ish dominions,  particularly  in  Bulgaria 
and  the  valleys  of  Lebanon,  are  the 
exceptions,  not  the  rule.  Generally 
speaking,  the  country  is  retrograde, 
tmd  exhibits  the  usual  and  well-known 
features  of  decaying  societies.  Roads 
there  are  none,  except  bridle-paths, 
•often  impassable  for  any  save  daring 
horsemen  :  harbours  choked  up  ;  walls 
i'alling  into  ruin ;  bridges  broken  down, 
and  never  repaired ;  villages  wholly 
deserted,  or  consisting  of  a  few  huts 
among  extensive  ruins  ;  rich  plains  in 
a  state  of  nature,  or  traversed  only  by 
the  wandering  Arab,  who  seeks  shel- 
ter in  the  n-mains  of  former  magnifi- 
•cence, —  are  the  general  features  of  the 


country.  The  Turkish  empire  is  per- 
ishing, literally  speaking,  from  want 
of  inhabitants  ;  and  while  the  philoso- 
phers of  Europe  were  contemplating 
with  dread  the  productive  powers  of 
its  overflowing  inhabitants,  the  travel- 
lers in  Asia  were  anticipating  the  entire 
disappearance  of  the  human  race,  in 
the  regions  where  it  was  first  created, 
and  where  the  most  ample  means  have 
been  provided  for  its  increase.  The 
Ottoman  dominions  present  from  day 
to  day  a  wide  void  for  anarchy  and 
barbarism  to  rule  in  ;  territories  with- 
out inhabitants,  tribes  without  rulers, 
plains  without  culture.  No  foreign 
interposition  is  necessary  to  complete 
its  downfall ;  it  is  working  out  its  own 
ruin  ;  the  colossus  is  falling  without 
even  a  hand  being  stretched  forth  to 
hurl  it  to  the  ground.  The  popula- 
tion, thrown  back  upon  itself,  is  ex- 
piring from  its  own  impotence  —  in 
many  places  it  no  longer  exists.  The 
Mussulman  race  is  reduced  to  nothing 
in  the  sixty  thousand  square  leagues 
which  compose  its  immense  and  fertile 
domain  ;  excepting  in  the  capital,  and 
a  few  great  cities,  there  is  scarcely  a 
Turk  to  be  seen.  Gaze  over  that  vast 
empire,  its  fertile  fields,  and  seek  the 
Ottoman  race — you  will  nowhere  find 
it,  except  in  large  towns.  The  sense- 
less, or  rather  murderous  government 
of  the  Ottoman  has  in  most  places 
created  a  desert.  The  conquered  races 
have  generally  increased,  while  the 
conquering  is  daily  disappearing. 

17.  Statistical  facts  of  unquestion- 
able veracity  prove  that  these  observa- 
tions are  not  the  mere  offspring  of  a 
heated  imagination,  but  the  sober  de- 
ductions of  reason.  The  Ottoman  do- 
minions, which  are  nearly  the  same 
with  those  which,  on  the  partition  of 
the  Empire,  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
Emperors  of  Constantinople,  contain 
60,000  square  geographical  leagues, 
or  540,000  square  miles — above  four 
times  the  size  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  more  than  three  times 
that  of  France.  The  benignity  of  the 
climate,  luxuriance  of  vegetation,  and 
warmth  of  the  sun,  have  rendered  the 
plains  of  extraordinary  fertility,  often 
yielding  eighty  and  a  hundred  for  one, 


324 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xnr. 


while  in  England  ten  to  one  is  reckon- 
ed a  large  return,  and  at  the  same  time 
made  the  rocky  slopes,  here  abandoned 
to  furze  or  heath,  capable  of  yielding 
the  finest  crops  of  grapes  and  olives. 
Magnificent  forests,  furnishing  inex- 
haustible resources  for  shipbuilding, 
clothe  , the  mountain  -  sides  ;  and  the 
jEgean  lies  in  the  midst  of  the  empire, 
studded  with  islands  of  lavishing 
beauty,  inhabited  by  skilful  and  hardy 
sailors,  as  if  to  furnish  the  means  of 
communication  between  its  most  dis- 
tant extremities.  Its  capital  is  Con- 
stantinople, the  finest  harbour  in  the 
world,  and  so  advantageously  situated 
for  foreign  commerce  that  it  in  every 
age  has  engrossed  the  most  lucrative 
traffic  which  man  carries  on — that  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West.  The 
greatest  rivers  of  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa — the  Danube,  the  Euphrates, 
and  the  Nile  —  are  its  streams,  and 
waft  the  varied  productions  of  its  in- 
dustry to  distant  quarters,  where  they 
may  find  a  ready  vent.  Yet  with  all 
these  immense  advantages,  which  sup- 
ported the  Byzantine  empire  for  a 
thousand  years  after  the  Western  had 
fallen,  the  Ottoman  empire  now  con- 
tains less  than  thirty  millions  of  in- 
habitants, not  a  third  of  its  population 
in  former  times,  or  a  fifth  of  what  it 
is  capable  of  maintaining ;  and  such 
as  it  is,  this  scanty  population  is  daily 
declining.  Turkey  in  Europe,  with  a 
territory  more  than  twice  as  large  as 
Great  Britain,  contains  only  ten  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants,  of  whom  little 


more  than  three  millions  are  Moham- 
medans,* certainly  not  a  third  of  what 
it  contained  in  ancient  days. 

18.  There  must  have  been  some 
grievous  faults  on  the  part  of  gov- 
ernment and  institutions  in  Turkey, 
which,  with  such  advantages,  has  pro- 
duced so  fearful  a  diminution  of  in- 
habitants. Nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  in 
what  those  faults  consist.  It  is  com- 
mon to  it  Avith  all  the  states  in  the 
East.  There  are  no  elements  of  free- 
dom, no  guarantees  against  oppression 
in  the  land.  The  rule  of  the  Osman- 
lis  is  not  more  oppressive  than  that  of 
other  Asiatic  states  ;  but  it  is  entirely 
despotic,  and  there  is  no  check  on  the 
abuse  of  power  by  the  Sultan  or  the 
inferior  governors  of  provinces.  It  is 
the  practical  application  of  the  prin;- 
ciples  of  government  acted  on  in  Tur- 
key which  has  occasioned  such  a  fear- 
ful chasm  in  the  population,  and 
weakened  so  remarkably  the  strength 
of  the  empire.  (1.)  The  first  of  these 
principles  is,  that  the  Sultan  nomi- 
nates at  pleasure,  and  removes  at  will, 
all  the  civil  and  military  functionaries 
of  the  empire.  He  is  absolute  master 
of  their  fortunes  and  their  lives  ;  but 
the  difficulty  of  carrying  his  mandates 
into  execution  in  the  distant  pachalics, 
renders  this  power  often  more  nominal 
than  real ;  and  the  Sultan,  destitute 
of  adequate  regular  troops  to  enforce 
his  orders,  is  obliged  to  bribe  one 
pacha  to  depose  another,  by  the  pro- 
mise of  his  power,  his  treasures,  his 
harem,  and  oblivion  for  his  crimes,. 


*  The  following  is  the  estimated  population  of  Turkey  in  Europe,  according  to  M.  Hassel 
and  Malte  Bran  :— 

HR1STIAVS.  II.    Ml  SSI,  I  MANS  AND  JEWS. 

2,350,000 
275,000 
312,000 
120,000 


I.  CHRISTIANS. 

Greeks,       .... 

3,090,000 

Turks, 
Tartars, 
Jews,  . 
Gypsies, 

i 

II.  MUISULXAKI  ANO  JEW 

Sclavonians, 

2,000,000 
700,000 

Armenians, 
Wallachians, 

85,000 
1,375,000 

Total  native  Christians,  . 


7,250,000  I' 


— M.  HASSEL  and  MALTE  BRUN,  vii.  844. 

Military  force  of  Turkey  in  time  of  peace 

( infantry, 
Military  force  of  Turkey  in  tune  of  war  •]  regular  cavalry,  . 

(.irregular  do., 


100,000 

24,000 

100,000 


79,500- 


224, 000> 


— Vox  HAMMER,  ii.  273. 
More  recent  writers,  favourable  to  Turkey,  have  represented  the  population  of  the  country 
as  much  more  considerable,  but  still  with  the  same  excess  of  Christians  over  the  Turks  in 
Europe,  and  of  the  Turks  over  the  Christians  in  Asia.  The  following  is  the  estimate  of  M_ 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


325 


(2.)  The  second  principle  is,  that  eveiy 
<lepository  of  power  can  delegate  it  en- 
tire and  uncontrolled  to  his  subordi- 
nates in  office  ;  so  that  every  aga  or 
janizary  -within  his  territory  is  as  des- 
potic as  the  Sultan  in  Constantinople. 
It  is  a  common  saying  in  Turkey,  that 
the  sword  of  the  Sultan  does  not  fall 
upon  the  dust ;  and  neither  does  it : 
l»ut  the  sword  of  the  Sultan  falls  upon 
the  pacha,  and  the  sword  of  the  pacha 
falls  upon  the  aga,  and  the  sword  of 
the  aga  upon  the  janizary,  and  the 
sword  of  the  janizary  upon  the  peas- 
ant. Each  is  invested  with  uncon- 
trolled power  over  all  beneath  him  ; 
and  as  there  is  no  popular  representa- 
tion, or  check  of  any  sort  on  power,  it 
may  readily  be  imagined  with  what 
severity  it  falls  on  the  humblest  class- 
es. It  was  well  expressed  in  a  let- 
ter, written  by  Odysseus  to  Mahomet 
Pacha,  explaining  the  reasons  which 
induced  him  to  take  up  arms  at  the 


commencement  of  the  Greek  Revolu- 
tion :  "  It  was  the  injustice  of  the 
viziers,  waywodes,  cadis,  and  balouk- 
bashis,  each  of  whom  closed  the  book 
of  Mahomet,  and  opened  a  book  of  his 
own.  Any  virgin  that  pleased  them, 
they  took  by  force  ;  any  merchant  in 
Negropont  who  was  making  money, 
they  beheaded,  and  seized  his  goods  ; 
any  proprietor  of  a  good  estate,  they 
slew,  and  occupied  his  property  ;  and 
every  drunken  vagabond  in  the  streets 
could  murder  respectable  Greeks,  and 
was  not  punished  for  it." 

19.  (3.)  A  third  principle  of  govern- 
ment, which  proved  not  less  destruc- 
tive in  practice  than  the  first,  is,  that 
the  lives  and  property  of  all  the  inha- 
bitants in  his  dominions  are  by  tin 
right  of  conquest  the  property  of  the. 
Sultan,  and  may  be  reclaimed  by  him 
at  pleasure.  It  is  true,  this  extreme 
right  is  kept  in  abeyance,  and  not  in 
general  acted  upon ;  but  its  reality  is 


Ubicini,  the  latest  and  best  informed  writer  on  the  subject,  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  entire 
empire,  according  to  their  religions  : — 


In  Europe. 

In  Asia. 

In  Africa. 

TOTAL 
1 

Mussulmans,  . 
Greeks,  .    .    . 
Catholics,   .    . 
Jews,      .    .    . 
Divers  others, 

4,550,000 
10,000,000 
640,000 
70,000 

12,650,000 
3,000,000 
260,  000 
80,000 

3,800,000 

21,000,000 
13,000,000 
900,000 
150,000 
300,000 

35,350,000 

— UBICIKI'S  Lettressur  la  Turqu.lt,  25. 

According  to  their  races,  the  inhabitants  stand  thus  : — 


In  Europe. 

In  Asia. 

In  Africa.  • 

TUTAI. 

Turks  

2,100,000 

10,700,000 

12,800,000 

Greeks,  .     . 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

Armenians, 

400,000 

2,000,000 

2,400,000 

Jews, 

70,000 

80,000 

150,000 

Sclavonians, 

6,200,000 

6,200.000 

Remains, 

4.000,000 

4,000,000 

Albanians, 

1,500,000 

1,500,000   I 

Tartars,  . 

16,000 

16,000 

Tsiganis, 

214,000 

900,000 

3,8( 

0,000 

4,914,000 

Arabs,     . 

235,000 

235,000 

Syrians,  . 

Druses,  . 

30,000 

80,000 

Kurds,    . 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

Turcomans, 

85,000 

85,000 

15,500,000 

16,030,000 

3,800,000 

35,330,000 

— UBICINI,  22. 


326 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP,  xiir- 


never  doubted,  and  it  forms  a  fearful 
principle  to  fall  back  upon,  when  arbi- 
trary acts  have  been  resolved  upon,  or 
the  public  treasury  stands  much  in 
need  of  replenishing.  The  whole  Chris- 
tians, whether  Greeks  or  Armenians, 
find  the  Jews,  as  well  as  other  similar 
"dogs,"  stand  in  this  situation.  They 
purchase  their  lives  annually  by  pay- 
ment of  a  capitation  tax,  known  by  the 
significant  name,  "  Redemption  of  the 
price  of  heads ; "  but  the  application 
of  the  principle  to  immovable  pro- 
perty produces  still  more  disastrous 
consequences.  It  is  held  that  no  one, 
not  even  the  Turks,  can  enjoy  the 
hereditary  right  to  landed  estates ; 
they  never  can  be  more  than  usufruc- 
tuaries or  liferenters.  If  the  owner 
dies  without  a  male  child,  the  Sultan 
is  the  heir,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
daughters ;  if  there  are  sons,  their  right 
of  succession  is  redeemed  by  the  pay- 
ment of  a  tenth  of  the  value,  but  that 
tenth  is  estimated  by  the  officers  of 
exchequer.  The  persons  holding  office 
under  the  Sultan  in  any  degree  are 
subject  to  still  greater  uncertainty ;  all 
their  property  of  every  description  be- 
longs on  their  death  to  the  Sultan,  and 
must  be  redeemed  at  an  arbitrary  rate. 
So  great  is  the  apprehension  enter- 
tained of  this  right,  that  no  one  ven- 
tures to  expend  money  on  heritable 
property.  If  a  house,  a  roof,  or  an 
arch  fall,  it  is  suffered  to  remain  in 
ruins.  Whatever  propei-ty  can  be  ac- 
cumulated is  invested  in  movable  ef- 
fects— jewels  or  money— which,  being 
easily  concealed,  are  more  likely  to 
escape  the  Argus  eyes  of  the  tax-gath- 
ei'ers.  The  only  way  in  which  pro- 
perty in  perpetuity  can  be  settled  in 
Turkey,  is  by  bequeathing  it  for  pious 
purposes  to  a  mosque,  the  directors  of 
which,  for  a  moderate  ransom,  permit 
it  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  heirs  of  the 
testator. 

20.  In  consequence  of  this  insecur- 
ity of  land-tenure  in  Turkey,  and  of 
the  mosques  affording  the  only  security 
that  can  be  relied  on,  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  heritable  property  in  the 
country  has  come  into  the  hands  of 
these  ecclesiastical  trustees ;  some  esti- 
mate it  as  three-fourths,  none  at  less 


than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  surface. 
This  species  of  property,  being  subject 
neither  to  taxes  nor  confiscation,  is 
largely  resorted  to  in  every  part  of  the 
empire.;  but  as  it  rests  in  the  hands 
of  priests  and  lawyers,  in  the  double 
fangs  of  ecclesiastical  power  and  legal 
subtlety,  with  nothing  but  a  usufruct 
or  liferent  right  of  enjoyment  in  the 
trustee  or  real  owner,  it  is  of  course 
utterly  fatal  to  any  expenditure  of 
money  on,  or  improvement  of,  fended 
property  in  Turkey.  This  is  one 
great  cause  of  the  general  dilapidation 
of  buildings,  roads,  and  bridges  in  the 
rural  districts,  and  the  entire  want  of 
anything  like  expenditure  of  capital 
on  lasting  improvements.  Add  to 
this,  that,  by  a  fundamental  law  of  the 
empire,  landed  property,  even  when 
not  in  the  hands  of  a  mosque,  can  be 
alienated  to  or  held  by  a  Turk  alone. 
No  Christian,  be  his  fortune  in  money 
what  it  may,  can  become  a  landed  pro- 
prietor ;  when  they  really  do  so,  it  can 
be  done  only  by  holding  in  name  of  a 
Turk.  This  necessarily  is  fatal  to  the 
improvement  of  land,  for  it  excludes 
from  its  purchase  the  entire  Christian 
population,  the  only  one  possessed  of 
capital,  energy,  or  resources,  and  con- 
fines it  to  the  dominant  Ottomans — 
like  the  Normans,  a  race  of  warriors 
who  utterly  despise  all  pacific  pursuits, 
and  know  no  use  of  land  but  to  wrench 
the  last  farthing  out  of  the  wretched 
cultivators. 

21.  Turkey,  in  consequence  of  this 
extraordinary  and  anomalous  position 
of  its  landed  property,  and  of  the  want 
of  any  durable  interest  in  the  dominant 
race  of  the  state  in  its  prosperity,  has 
long  been  the  victim  of  the  old  impe- 
rial policy,  inherited  by  the  Ottomans 
from  the  ancient  masters  of  the  world 
— that  of  sacrificing  the  interests  of 
production  in  the  country  to  those  of 
consumption  in  towns.  The  magni- 
tude and  importanceof  Constantinople, 
the  extreme  danger  of  any  serious  dis- 
content among  its  turbulent  inhabi- 
tants, the  number  of  sultans  who  have 
fallen  victims  to  insurrections  among 
the  janizaries,  have  contributed  to  im- 
press upon  the  Ottoman  Government, 
at  all  hazards,  the  necessity  of  keep- 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


327 


ing  down  the  price  of  provisions. 
Everything  is  sacrificed  to  this  object. 
Goods  of  every  sort,  including  grain, 
imported,  pay  an  ad  valorem  duty  of  5 
per  cent ;  all  goods  exported  pay  an 
ad  valorem  duty  of  12  per  cent.  This 
strange  policy,  akin  to  that  of  the 
Popes  in  modern,  and  the  Emperors 
in  ancient  Rome,  springing  from  dread 
of  the  old  cry  of  "Panem  et  Circenses  " 
of  the  Roman  populace,  is  of  itself 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  ruinous 
state  of  agriculture  in  the  Turkish 
empire.  Constantinople  is  fed  from 
Alexandria,  Odessa,  and  Galatz,  not 
Roumelia.  The  Turkish  Government 
at  one  period  went  so  far  as  to  prohibit 
exportation  from  Wallachia  and  Mol- 
davia to  any  other  place  than  Constan- 
tinople ;  and  yet  so  great  are  the  agri- 
cultural resources  ot  these  provinces, 
that,  since  this  restriction  has  been 
removed,  the  exportation  of  grain  from 
Galatz  and  Brahilow,  the  chief  har- 
bours, has  increased  at  the  rate  of 
700,000  quarters  a -year,  and  now 
amounts  to  5,000,000  quarters  annu- 
ally. 

22.  There  results  from  this  general 
life-tenure  and  insecurity  of  property 
in  Turkey  the  most  scandalous  vena- 
lity on  the  part  of  persons  holding 
office,  and  the  most  rapacious  exac- 
tions on  the  unfortunate  persons  sub- 
jected to  their  authority.  Every  one 
feeling  his  situation  precarious,  his 
property  liferented  only,  hastens  to 
make  as  much  of  and  expend  as  little 
upon  it  as  possible.  The  situations  of 
vizier,  pacha,  cadi,  and  the  like,  are 
sold  to  the  largest  bidder,  and  the 
purchasers,  who  have  often  paid  a  high 
price  for  these  offices,  seek  to  make 
the  best  use  of  their  time  to  repay  the 
purchase-money,  and  leave  something 
considerable  in  a  movable  form,  cap- 
able of  being  concealed,  to  their  fami- 
lies. It  is  true,  if  the  oppression  of 
any  one  pacha  has  become  intolerable, 
the  complaints  of  his  subjects,  despite 
all  the  tyrant's  vigilance,  sometimes 
reach  the  ears  of  the  Sultan,  and  a  ter- 
rible example  is  made.  The  bowstring 
is  sent  to  the  culprit,  his  head  is  ex- 
posed on  the  gates  of  the  seraglio,  with 
an  inscription  detailing  the  crimes  of 


which  he  has  been  guilty  ;  his  pro- 
perty, wherever  it  can  be  discovered, 
is  seized  for  the  Sultan's  use,  his  harem 
dispersed,  and  the  most  beautiful  of  its 
inmates  transferred  to  the  royal  se- 
raglio. But  no  redress  is  thereby  afford- 
ed to  the  sufferers  by  his  oppression  ; 
the  fruit  of  his  rapacity  is  conveyed  to 
the  treasury  at  Constantinople,  not 
restored  to  its  original  owners.  Hence 
it  is  a  common  saying  in  Turkey,  that 
"  the  pachas  are  so  many  sponges  put 
over  the  ground,  in  order  to  suck  up  the 
wealth  of  the  inhabitants,  that  it  may 
be  the  more  readily  squeezed  into  the 
Sultan's  coffers."  It  is  impossible  to 
suppose  that  the  process  of  squeezing 
will  be  very  vigilantly  watched  by  the 
rulers  of  the  empire,  when  it  is  fore- 
seen that,  if  carried  to  a  certain  length, 
it  is  likely  to  terminate  in  such  a  re- 
sult. 

23.  To  these  manifold  evils  must 
be  added  another,  which,  in  its  prac- 
tical result,  is  often  the  greatest  of  the 
whole;  and  that  is,  that  the  central 
Government  at  Constantinople  has  no 
adequate  force  at  its  command  to  en- 
force its  mandates,  or  compel  a  just 
administration  on  the  part  of  its  re- 
mote satraps.  The  regular  military 
force  at  the  disposal  of  the  Sultan  is  so 
small,  in  comparison  to  the  immense 
extent  of  his  dominions,  that  he  is 
often  unable  to  find  troops  under  his 
immediate  control  to  punish  or  restrain 
his  rebellious  or  oppressive  vassals; 
and  thus  he  has  no  resource  but  to 
punish  one  pacha  by  the  forces  of 
another — that  is,  to  destroy  one  cul- 
prit by  creating  a  second.  This  can 
only  be  done  for  an  adequate  conside- 
ration ;  and  that  consideration  in  gen- 
neral  is,  either  the  gift  of  the  culprit's 
pachalic,  or  oblivion  for  some  huge 
delinquencies  on  the  part  of  the  officer 
to  whom  the  execution  of  the  Sultan's 
decree  has  been  intrusted.  In  either 
case,  the  system  of  oppression  conti- 
nues, or  rather  is  increased ;  for  the 
executioner  is  secured  of  long  impunity 
by  the  lustre  of  his  recent  victory  over 
his  victim.  This  system,  so  well  known 
in  Scottish  history,  and,  indeed,  in 
that  of  all  the  feudal  monarchies  of 
Europe,  is  still  in  full  vigour  in  Tur- 


328 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xin. 


key,  and  was  exemplified  early  in  the 
Greek  Revolution,  by  the  dethronement 
and  decapitation  of  Ali  Pacha  by  the 
forces  of  his  rival,  Kourchid  Pacha, 
who  hoped  to  succeed  to  his  pachalic, 
"but  was  himself  in  his  turn  the  victim 
of  the  jealousies  of  the  Government. 
It  is  evident  that,  though  this  system 
conduces  at  times  to  the  signal  punish- 
ment of  a  guilty  or  rebellious  satrap, 
it  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  anything 
like  regular  or  good  government,  and 
only  chastises  crime  by  providing  for 
its  unpunished  continuance  in  future 
times. 

24.  Justice  is  venal  in  the  Ottoman, 
as,  indeed,  it  is  in  all  Oriental  states. 
The  judges,  both  high  and  low,  are 
taken  from  the  Oulcma,  a  sort  of  incor- 
poration of  persons  learned  in  law  and 
jurisprudence ;  and  if  they  were  per- 
sons of  probity,  their  influence  would 
be  very  great.  But  they  are  so  venal 
in  their  conduct,  and  so  arbitrary  in 
their  decisions,  that  no  weight  what- 
ever can  be  attached  to  their  judg- 
ments. All  judges — the  mollah,  the 
cadi,  and  simple  naib — pronounce  sen- 
tences, both  in  civil  and  criminal  cases, 
without  appeal ;  thence,  of  course,  an 
infinite  variety  in  the  judgments  pro- 
nounced, and  an  entire  impossibility 
of  rectifying  an  unjust  decision.  The 
cadi,  in  flagrant  cases,  may  be  deposed, 
bastinadoed,  and  his  fortune  confis- 
cated ;  but  the  only  effect  of  that  is  to 
enrich  the  Sultan  or  the  officers  of  his 
treasury,  but  by  no  means  to  rectify 
the  injustice  done  to  the  unhappy 
suitor.  The  Turkish  jurisprudence 
consists  in  a  few  maxims  from  the  Ko- 
ran, and  a  few  traditionary  principles 
handed  down  in  the  courts;  written 
statutes,  collections  of  decisions,  they 
have  none ;  witnesses  are  examined, 
and  oaths  administered  on  both  sides, 
and  at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes  or 
hours  the  decision,  which  is  final  and 
irreversible,  is  pronounced.  The  de- 
fendant or  culprit,  if  poor,  is  bastina- 
doed ;  if  rich,  or  a  Frank,  he  is  amerced 
in  a  pecuniary  fine  called  an  "avaria ;" 
if  a  thief  or  a  robber,  he  is  hanged. 
Everything  is  done  as  swiftly  as  it 
was  in  the  camp  of  Othman ;  and  so 
strongly  is  the  military  impress  still 


retained  in  the  empire,  that  the  chief 
judges  of  the  empire  in  Europe  and 
Asia  bear  the  name  respectively  of 
Kadi-laskar,  or  judge  of  the  army. 

25.  So  powerful  are  these  causes  of 
evil,  that  they  must  long  since  have 
led  to  the  entire  dissolution  of  the 
Turkish  empire,  were  it  not  that  they 
have  been  combated  by  circumstances, 
which  have,  in  a  great  degree,  neutral- 
ised their  influence,  and  prolonged  its 
existence  long  after,  xinder  other  cir- 
cumstances, it  must  have  terminated. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  weakness  of 
Government  itself,  the  principal,  often 
the  only,  shield  to  innocence  and  in- 
dustry in  the  East.     As  much  as  this 
weakness  impedes  the  regular  admin- 
istration of  affairs,  and  often  secures 
impunity  to  crime  in  the  depositaries 
of  power,  does  it  prevent  their  previous 
abuse  of  its  authority,  and  shield  the 
people  when  nothing  else  could  save 
them  from  its  excesses.     The  inhabit- 
ants are  often  saved  from  oppression, 
not  because  the  pachas  want  the  in- 
clination, but  because  they  want  the 
power  to  oppress.     Industry  is  some- 
times left  at  peace,  because  the  tyrants 
cannot  reach  it.     The  military  force  of 
the  empire  being  entirely  confined  to 
the  Osmanlis,  and  they  being  in  many 
places,  especially  in  the  rural  districts, 
not  a  tenth,  sometimes  not  a  twentieth 
part  of  the  entire  inhabitants,  they  are 
often  without  the  means  of  enforcing 
their  exactions;  without  "any  regular 
force  to  levy  taxes  or  carry  into  execu- 
tion their  mandates,  without  money  to 
equip  a  body  of  troops  from  the  Turks 
in  towns,    they   cannot  make  their 
power  felt  in  the  remoter  parts  of  their 
provinces. 

26.  The  very  desolation  and  ruin  of 
the  country,  the  want  of  roads,  har- 
bours,   or  bridges,    the   difficulty   of 
reaching  the  distant  places  with  an 
armed  force,  often  proves  the  salva- 
tion  of    the   inhabitants.       This   is 
particularly  the  case  in  the  mountain 
districts,  which  form  so  large  a  part  of 
the  territory  of  Turkey,  both  in  Europe 
and  Asia.     Hence  the  smiling  aspect 
of  the  villages  and  valleys  in  Servia, 
Bulgaria,   Bosnia,  the   Lebanon,   the 
Taurus,  and  some  parts  of  Macedonia, 


1321.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


329 


which  contrast  so  strangely  with  the 
desolation  and  ruin  of  the  plains  in 
their  vicinity.  The  cavalry  of  the 
pachas  pause  at  the  entrance  of  the 
rugged  valleys,  where  nothing  but 
break-neck  bridle-paths  are  to  be  seen, 
and  sturdy  mountaineers,  armed  with 
their  excellent  fowling-pieces,  are  ready 
to  pour  death  upon  the  reckless  invad- 
ers. They  are  happy  to  exchange  the 
doubtful  chances  of  warfare  for  the 
certainty  of  a  regular  tribute.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  plains,  especially  if 
they  have  made  any  money,  flock  to 
these  asylums  of  industry  in  the  midst 
of  a  wasted  land ;  and  hence  the  con- 
stant increase  of  inhabitants  in  the 
mountains,  contrasted  with  the  gene- 
ral depopulation  of  the  plains,  which 
has  been  observed  by  all  travellers, 
and  led  to  such  opposite  conclusions 
as  to  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  East- 
ern Empire.  In  the  north  of  Europe, 
where  commerce  is  indispensable  to 
comfort,  industry  protected,  and  an 
exchange  of  surplus  rude  produce  for 
foreign  luxuries  is  essential  to  civilisa- 
tion, the  formation  of  roads  is  always 
the  first  step  in  improvement ;  but  in 
the  East,  where  wants  are  few,  and 
the  benignity  of  the  climate  furnishes 
every  luxury  that  man  requires,  this 
want  is  not  experienced,  and  roads  are 
rather  dreaded  as  affording  an  entrance 
to  oppression,  than  desired  as  giving 
the  means  of  export  to  the  productions 
of  industry. 

27.  Further,  the  character  of  the 
Turks,  taken  as  individuals,  has  many 
estimable  qualities,  which  have  gone 
far  to  counteract  the  disastrous  effects 
of  their  system  of  government.  That 
they  are  brave  and  determined,  and  at 
one  period  were  most  formidable  to 
Europe  from  their  military  prowess, 
need  be  told  to  none;  but  it  is  not 
equally  well  known  how  worthy  they 
are,  and  how  many  excellent  traits  of 
character  are  revealed  in  their  private 
life.  They  are  not  in  general  active 
or  industrious ;  they  have  left  the  la- 
bours of  the  fields  to  the  natives  of 
the  soil — the  cares  of  commerce  to  the 
Armenians,  and  the  islanders  of  the 
Archipelago.  Like  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans or  the  medieval  Knights,  they 


deem  the  wielding  of  the  sword  or 
managing  a  steed  the  only  honourable 
occupation,  and  worthy  of  a  freeman. 
But  no  one  can  mingle  with  them, 
either  in  business  or  society,  without 
perceiving  that  few  races  of  men  are 
more  estimable  in  the  relations  of  pri- 
vate life.  Fearless,  honest,  and  trust- 
worthy, their  word  is  their  bond,  and 
they  are  destitute  of  the  restless  spirit 
and  envious  disposition  which  so  of- 
ten in  western  Europe  and  America  at 
once  disturb  happiness  and  provoke  to 
crime.  Inactivity  is  their  great  charac- 
teristic, repose  their  chief  enjoyment. 
Their  wants,  generally  speaking,  are 
few ;  their  enjoyments  such  as  nature 
has  thrown  open  to  all.  To  sit  on  a 
carpet,  smoke  a  scented  pipe,  and  gaze 
under  shade  on  the  dancing  of  the  sun- 
beams on  the  waves  of  the  Bosphorus, 
is  their  supreme  enjoyment.  Satisfied, 
if  wealth}',  with  his  own  harem,  which 
combines  the  ideas  of  home  and  plea- 
sure, the  Turk  has  generally  no  ambi- 
tion to  invade  that  of  his  neighbour  ; 
and  the  enormous  mass  of  female  pro- 
fligacy which  infests  the  great  cities  of 
western  Europe  is  unknown.  Nothing 
excites  the  horror  of  the  Osmanlis  so 
much  as  the  details  of  the  foundling 
hospitals,  and  fearful  multitude  of 
natural  children  in  Paris  and  Vienna ; 
they  cannot  conceive  how  society  can 
exist  under  such  an  accumulation  of 
evils.  Though  capable,  when  roused 
either  by  religious  fanaticism  or  mili- 
tary excitement,  of  the  most  frightful 
deeds  of  cruelty,  they  are  far,  in  ordi- 
nary times,  from  being  of  a  savage 
disposition;  they  are  kind  to  their 
wives,  passionately  fond  of  their  chil- 
dren, charitable  to  the  poor,  and  even 
extend  their  benevolent  feelings  to 
dumb  animals. 

28.  To  this  it  must  be  added,  that 
though  in  practice  the  administration 
of  government  by  the  pachas  is  gene- 
rally to  the  last  degree  oppressive  and 
destructive,  yet  the  system  of  govern- 
ment is  by  no  means  equally  tyran- 
nical, and  in  some  respects  is  wise  and 
tolerant,  to  a  degree  which  may  afford 
an  example  to,  or  excite  the  envy  of,  the 
Christian  powers.  Though  the  Turks, 
when  they  stormed  Constantinople  in 


330 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP. 


1453,  established  the  religion  of  Ma- 
homet as  the  creed  of  the  empire,  yet 
they  were  far  from  proscribing  other 
tenets,  and  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  in 
particular  they  extended  many  immu- 
nities. They  admitted  its  divine  ori- 
gin, confessed  that  the  Koran  embodied 
many  of  its  precepts,  and  claimed  only 
for  their  own  faith  that  of  being  the 
last  emanation  of  the  Divine  Will. 
They  did  not  at  first  trample  upon  or 
oppress  their  Christian  subjects  merely 
on  account  of  their  faith ;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  heads  of  the  Greek  Church 
were  treated  with  respect,  and  its  clergy 
maintained  in  their  chapels  and  other 
places  of  worship.  Greeks,  Armenians, 
Jews,  Catholics,  and  Protestants  were 
alike  tolerated,  though  not  admitted  to 
power ;  it  was  the  long,  obstinate,  and 
at  last  disastrous  wars  with  the  Chris- 
tians, which  rendered  the  "  Giaour  " 
so  much  the  object  of  aversion,  and 
led  to  so  many  instances  of  savage 
oppression.  Still  the  original  tolerant 
principles  of  the  government  have  again 
asserted  their  supremacy  over  these 
transient  ebullitions  of  rage,  and  by  an 
edict  of  Sultan  Mahmoud  all  his  sub- 
jects, of  whatever  religion,  were  de- 
clared equal  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 

29.  An  institution  exists  in  Turkey, 
specially  intended  to  protect  the  weak 
against  the  strong,  and  which,  despite 
the  usual  arbitrary  nature  of  the  gov- 
ernment, sometimes  had  this  effect. 
This  is  the  institution  of  Ayams — a 
sort  of  popular  representation,  and 
which  provides  a  functionary  who,  like 
the  tribunes  of  the  people,  is  specially 
charged  with  the  protection  of  a  parti- 
cular class  of  the  inhabitants  commit- 
ted to  his  charge.  The  duty  of  these 
functionaries,  who  are  elected  by  the 
burghers  and  traders,  is  to  watch  over 
the  interests  of  individuals,  the  secu- 
rity of  burghs,  combat  the  tyranny  of 
the  pachas,  and  effect  a  just  and  equal 
division  of  the  public  burdens.  Every 
Mussulman,  without  exception,  who  is 
in  trade,  belongs  to  some  incorpora- 
tion, the  heads  of  which  are  elected  by 
its  members,  and  whose  duty  it  is  to 
bring  the  strength  of  the  incorporation 
to  bear  upon  the  defence  of  any  indi- 
vidual of  it  who  is  threatened  with  op- 


pression. These  are  the  ayams  ;  they 
are  usually  chosen  from  amongst  the- 
most  wealthy  and  respected  of  the 
trade ;  are  assisted  by  a  divan,  com- 
posed also  of  the  most  eminent  of  the 
trade ;  and  they  often  discharge  their 
duties  with  great  courage  and  fidelity. 
Still,  so  venal  is  justice,  and  so  arbi- 
trary the  administration  of  government 
in  the  Ottoman  diminions,  that  even 
the  ayams,  supported  by  the  whole 
strength  of  the  incorporation,  are  sel- 
dom able  to  obtain  redress  but  by  the 
payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money. 
But  nevertheless  redress  obtained  in 
this  way  is  better  than  no  redress  at 
all ;  for  the  sum  usually  paid  to  ward 
off  the  threatened  exaction  is  larger 
than  any  single  individual,  unless  very 
opulent,  could  afford  to  pay. 

30.  The  ayams,  however,  are  to  be 
found  chiefly  in  the  towns,  and  among; 
the  Mussulman  burghers.  The  great, 
indeed  the  only,  security  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  country,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  village  system,  which  is  universal 
in  the  East,  and  has  proved  the  great 
preservative  of  rural  industry  in  every 
age,  amidst  the  innumerable  oppres- 
sions to  which  it  has  from  the  earliest 
times  been  subject.  This  admirable 
system,  which  has  been  described  in  a 
former  work  in  reference  to  Hindostan,  * 
and  in  this  to  Russia,  t  is  established 
over  the  whole  extent  of  Turkey ;  and 
wherever  the  industry  of  the  peasants, 
has  survived  the  tyranny  of  the  pachas, 
it  has  been  mainly  owing  to  its  influ- 
ence. It  is,  in  fact,  the  natural  re- 
source of  industry  against  exaction,  of 
weakness  to  secure  revenue,  and  of 
justice  to  partition  burdens,  and  this 
is  done  with  rigid  impartiality.  These 
little  communities,  though  often  ex- 
tinguished through  the  exactions  of  the 
pachas,  and  the  entire  disappearance 
of  the  population  in  the  plains,  flourish 
in  undisturbed  security  in  the  recesses 
of  the  mountains ;  and  it  is  in  their 
protection,  and  the  shelter  which  they 
afford  to  industry,  that  the  chief  prin- 
ciple of  vitality  in  the  Ottoman  domin- 
ions is  to  be  found. 

»  History  of  Europe,  1789-1815,  chap,  xlvii. 
§19. 
t  Ante,  chap.  viii.  §§  29,  30. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


331 


31.  There  cannot  be  a  stronger  proof 
of  the  maladministration  and  oppres- 
sive nature  of  the  government  in  Tur- 
key, than  the  extremely  small  amount 
of  the  public  revenue,  compared  with 
its    extent    and    material    resources. 
The  entire  revenue  of  the  empire  is 
from  650,000,000  to  750,000,000  pias- 
tres (£6,000,000  to  £7,000,000),  not 
a  tenth  part  of  the  public  income  of 
Great  Britain,  possessing  in  the  por- 
tion taxed  not  a  fifth  part  of  the  extent 
of  surface,  nor  a  tenth  part  of  the  natu- 
ral riches  and  agricultural  advantages 
of  the  Ottoman  dominions.    lu  ancient 
times  they  maintained  four  times  their 
present  inhabitants,  and  yielded  five 
times  their  present  revenue.      Yet, 
trifling  as  it  is,  this  revenue  is  felt  as 
so  oppressive  by  the  inhabitants  that 
it  operates  as  a  serious  bar  to  industry. 
It  is  raised  by  a  tithe  on  agricultural 
produce  and  animals,  and  a  tax  of  17 
per  cent  on  incomes — in  all  27  per  cent 
on  landed  property;  a  grievous  burden, 
and  crushing  to  industry.  The  Turkish 
Government  cuts  up  its  own  resources 
from  the  roots,  by  destroying  the  in- 
dustry from  which  they  must  arise. 
"  When  a  native  of  Louisiana,"  says 
Montaigne,  "desires  the  fruit  of  a  tree, 
he  lays  the  axe  to  its  root.     Behold 
the  emblem  of  despotism  !" 

32.  Like  all  declining  empires,  and 
none  more  than  its  own  provinces  under 
the  Byzantine  rule,  Turkey  exhibits  the 
symptoms  of  decline  more  strongly  in 
the  rural  than  the  urban  districts ;  and 
several  great  towns,  besides  the  capital, 
exhibit  considerable  marks  of  prospe- 
rity, while  the  provinces  around  them 


!  are  every  day  sinking  deeper  in  the 
'  abyss  of  misery.  The  constant  migra- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  from  the  coun- 
try to  the  towns  is  the  evil  everywhere 
most  strongly  felt  and  complained  of 
in  Turkey,  for  it  paralyses  all  rural 
operations,  and  cuts  up  by  the  roots 
the  ultimate  resources  of  the  state.  The 
new-comers  in  towns  pick  up  a  sub- 
sistence by  trade  and  manufactures,  or 
fall  as  burdens  on  the  charity  of  the 
mosques  and  opulent  inhabitants.  In 
the  crowd  they  are  overlooked  by  the 
tax-gatherers,  and  generally  escape  with 
the  payment  only  of  a  trifling  capita- 
tion-tax— a  thing  impossible  when  ex- 
posed to  his  rapacity  in  the  solitude  of 
rural  life.  Accordingly,  while  the  pro- 
vinces are  every  day  more  and  more 
going  to  ruin,  and  large  tracts  of  land 
are  daily  returning  to  a  state  of  nature, 
the  chief  towns  exhibit  a  considerable 
degree  of  prosperity,  and  often  a  sur- 
prising number  of  inhabitants.* 

33.  One  evil  of  a  very  peculiar  kind 
exists  in  Turkey,  highly  injurious  to 
industry.  This  consists  in  the  prodi- 
gious multitude  of  servants  anil  idle 
retainers  who  are  to  be  found  in  the 
establishments  of  the  pachas  and  the 
affluent,  and  who  consume  the  fruits 
of  the  earth,  and  the  resources  of  the 
state,  without  contributing  anything 
either  to  the  one  or  the  other.  Their 
number  amounts  to  1,500,000 — a  bur- 
den nearly  as  heavy  as  a  standing  army 
to  the  same  amount  would  be,  and  far 
more  enervating  to  the  state.  It  is  the 
hope  of  getting  into  some  of  these  great 
establishments,  where  they  may  be 
maintained  iuidlenessand  luxury  atthe 


*  The  following  is  the  population  of  the  chief  cities  of  the  Turkish  empire  :— 


IN  Ei. HOPE. 

Constantinople,       .       .       .  700,000 

Adrianople,      ....  110,000 

Widdin, 20,000 

Nicti 50,000 

Bosna  Serai,     ....  65,000 

Scutari 35,000 

Snlonica 80,000 

Mitylcne, 80,000 

Rhodes, 38,000 

Jnnina, 13,000 

Gallipoli, 16,000 

Varna, 16,000 


— UBICINI,  45,  49. 


Bronssa,  . 
Smyrna,  . 
Kouiah,  . 
Angora,  . 
Sivas, 
Trebizond, 
Erzeroum, 
Halib, 


100,000 
156,000 
33,000 
35,000 
40,000 
55,000 
100,000 
100,000 


Damascus,        ....  150,000 

Diarbekir,        ....  60,000 

Moussoul,         ....  65,000 

Bagdad 105,000 

Tripoli, 25,000 

Bassora 60,000 

Medina 19,000 


332 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CIIAV.  XIII. 


•expense  of  the  rural  cultivators  who  are 
toiling  at  the  plough,  which  is  the  great 
inducement  that  attracts  such  multi- 
tudes from  the  country  to  the  great 
towns.  When  once  there,  they  never  go 
back ;  rural  labour  is  ever  insupportable 
to  those  who  have  once  tasted  the  va- 
Tieties  and  excitement  of  urban  life. 
But  this  vast  abstraction  of  robust 
liands  from  country  labour  to  urban 
indolence,  an  evil  in  every  country,  is 
•doubly  so  in  one  like  Turkey,  labour- 
ing under  the  scourge  of  a  scanty  and 
•declining  rural  population. 

34.  It  results  necessarily  from  this 
peculiar  and  anomalous  position  of 
the  Turkish,  empire,  that  its  political 
and  military  strength  varies  extremely 
from  time  to  time,  and  depends  rather 
on  casual  fits  of  excitement  or  sudden 
tits  of  passion,  than  any  lasting  strength 
or  permanent  resources.  When  a  sul- 
tan of  great  vigour  or  military  capa- 
city is  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  the 
nation  is  excited  by  the  •prospect  of 
glory  or  pillage,  or  when  the  religious 
feelings  of  the  people  are  violently 
excited  against  the  infidels,  nearly 
the  whole  race  of  the  Osmanlis  run  to 
arms,  and  the  grand-vizier  finds  him- 
self at  the  head  of  a  mighty  host, 
which  has  often  proved  for  the  time 
irresistible  by  the  utmost  strength  of 
the  Western  powers.  It  was  thus  that 
Rhodes  was  conquered  in  1517  from  its 
valiant  chevaliers  by  Selim  I.  ;  and 
Vienna  besieged  by  Soliman  II.,  in 
1529  ;  and  Candia  conquered  by  Ma- 
homet IV.  ;  and  Vienna  again  be- 
sieged, and  saved  from  destruction 
only  by  John  Sobieski,  in  1683.  On 
many  of  these  occasions  the  grand- 
vizier  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
150,000  men,  whose  desperate  onset 
in  the  field  was  equalled  only  by  the 
skill  with  which  they  wielded  their 
weapons.  But  as  these  efforts  were 
founded  on  passing  excitement,  not 
durable  strength  or  lasting  policy, 
they  were  seldom  of  long  duration :  a 
.single  considerable  reverse  was  gene- 
rally sufficient  to  disperse  the  mighty 
host,  which  was  held  together  only  by 
the  fervour  of  fanaticism,  or  the  lust 
of  plunder  ;  and  the  grand- vizier  often 
found  himself  wholly  deserted,  a  few 


days  after  he  had  been  at  the  head  of 
an  army  apparently  capable  of  con- 
quering the  world. 

35.  Hence  the  history  of  Turkey  pre- 
sents the  most  extraordinary  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune,  and  has  oscillated 
alternately  from  the  most  prosperous 
to  the  most  adverse  circumstances. 
Mahomet  II.  stormed  Constantinople 
in  1453,  and  ere  long  he  had  subdued" 
Greece,  and  extended  his  dominion 
from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Crimea ;  Se- 
lim I.,  in  1517,  conquered  Egypt, 
Syria,  and  Rhodes ;  and  in  1529, 
Hungary,  torn  by  civil  dissensions, 
opened  to  Soliman  II.  the  road  to 
Vienna.  Soon  after  Cyprus  yielded 
to  Selim,  but  here  the  star  of  the  Cre- 
scent was  arrested.  The  battle  of 
Lepanto,  in  1571,  checked  for  ever 
their  naval  progress ;  the  siege  of 
Malta  put  a  limit  to  their  conquests  in 
the  Mediterranean.  Azof,  in  the  north 
of  the  empire,  acquired  in  1642,  was 
successively  lost  and  regained ;  Vienna, 
again  besieged  in  1683  by  150,000 
Turks,  beheld  their  total  defeat  by  the 
arms  of  John  Sobieski.  The  Ottoman 
arms  yielded  in  several  campaigns  to 
the  scientific  manoeuvres  and  daring 
valour  of  Prince  Eugene,  and  Austria 
made  great  acquisitions  from  them  by 
the  treaties  of  1699  and  1718,  but  she 
lost  them  all  by  the  disgraceful  peace 
of  1739.  Long  victorious  over  the 
Turks  under  the  banners  of  Marshal 
Mornich,  the  Russians,  under  Peter 
the  Great,  were  reduced  to  capitulate, 
in  1711,  on  the  Pruth,  to  the  Ottoman 
forces,  and  purchase  a  disgraceful  re- 
treat by  the  abandonment  of  all  their 
conquests.  The  Moreawas  conquered 
from  them  by  the  Venetians  in  1699, 
though  soon  after  regained,  and  the 
conquest  of  Bagdad  seemed  to  an- 
nounce their  decisive  superiority  in 
Asia  over  the  Persians.  Yet  were 
these  great  successes,  which  filled  all 
Europe  with  dread,  and  seemed  to 
presage  for  them  almost  universal  do- 
minion, soon  followed  by  still  greater 
disasters.  The  grov.ing  strength  of 
Russia  rose  up  in  appalling  vigour  be- 
side the  at  length  declining  resources 
of  the  Osmanlis.  Romanxoff  crossed 
the  Danube,  and  carried  the  ravages  of 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


333- 


war  to  the  font  of  the  Balkan ;  the 
fleet  of  Orloff  made  the  circuit  of 
Europe,  and  consigned  the  Turkish 
squadron  to  the  flames  in  the  Bay  of 
'iVhesme  ;  the  Morea  took  up  arms  in 
1783,  and  for  a  time  acknowledged  the 
sceptre  of  Russia ;  and  nothing  but 
the  intervention  of  France  and  Eng- 
land preserved  the  empire  from  dis- 
memberment, when  threatened  with 
the  combined  armies  of  Russia  and 
Austria,  two  hundred  thousand  strong, 
immediately  before  the  French  Revo- 
lution. The,  war  of  1808  still  more 
clearly  revealed  the  increasing  weak- 
ness of  the  Ottomans.  Russia  alone 
proved  more  than  a  match  for  Turkey. 
AVallachia  and  Moldavia  were  by  a 
formal  ukase  incorporated  with  the 
dominions  of  the  Czar,  and  nothing 
but  the  invasion  of  Napoleon  in  1812 
obliged  the  Cabinet  of  St  Petersburg 
to  acknowledge  for  a  season  the  Pruth 
as  the  frontier  stream  of  the  two  em- 
pires. 

36.  One  great  cause  of  these  extra- 
ordinary mutations  of  fortune  is,  that 
the  Ottoman  empire  is  not  one  state, 
in  the  European  sense  of  the  word ; 
that  is,  a  united  dominion,  ruled  by 
one  government,  obliged  to  obey  its 
direct  mandates,  and  contributing  all 
its  resources  to  its  support :  it  is  rather 
an  aggregate  of  separate  states,  owing 
only  a  nominal  allegiance  to  the  cen- 
tral power,  and  yielding  it  effective 
support  only  when  the  vigour  and 
capacity  of  the  ruling  Sultan,  or  the 
strong  tide  of  passing  enthusiasm, 
leaves  them  no  alternative  but  to  ren- 
der it.  The  pachas,  especially  the 
more  distant  and  powerful  ones,  are 
often  in  substance  independent ;  they 
pay  only  a  fixed  tribute  to  the  Sultan, 
generally  inconsiderable  compared  to 
the  sum  which  they  contrive  to  exact 
from  their  subjects  ;  they  are  bound 
to  send,  in  case  of  need,  a  certain  body 
of  troops  to  his  support,  but  it  is  gene- 
rally delayed  as  long  as  possible,  and 
when  it  does  arrive,  like  the  contin- 
gents of  the  German  princes,  it  seldom 
gives  any  effective  aid  to  the  forces  of 
the  empire.  Many  of  the  bloodiest  and 
most  desperate  wars  the  Porte  has  ever 
carried  on,  have  been  with  its  own  re- 


bellious satraps.  Czcrny  George  and 
Prince  Molosch,  at  the  head  of  the 
strength  of  Servia,  maintained  a  pro- 
longed contest  with  the  Ottoman  forces, 
which  terminated,  in  recent  times,  in 
its  nominal  submission  and  real  inde- 
pendence. Ali  Pacha,  the  "  Lion  of" 
Janina,"  long  set  the  whole  power  of 
the  Sultan  at  defiance,  and  was  only 
subdued  at  length  by  treachery.  Wal- 
lachia  and  Moldavia,  under  their  elec- 
tive hospodars,  are  only  bound  to  pay 
a  fixed  tribute  to  the  Sultan,  and  are 
rather  the  subjects  of  the  Czar  than 
the  Porte ;  and  the  Pacha  of  Egypt,  by 
whose  aid  alone  the  balance  was  cast 
against  the  Greeks  in  1827,  brought 
the  dominions  of  the  Osmanlis  to  the 
verge  of  ruin  a  few  years  after,  from 
whence  they  were  rescued  by  the  in- 
tervention, still  more  perilous,  of 
Russia.  The  empire  of  the  Turks 
would,  from  these  causes  of  weakness, 
have  long  since  fallen  to  pieces  were 
it  not  for  the  jealousies  of  the  Euro- 
pean powers,  who  interpose,  before  it 
is  too  late,  to  prevent  Constantinople 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  any  of 
their  number,  and  the  strength  and 
incomparable  situation  of  that  capital 
itself,  which,  in  modern  as  in  ancient 
times,  has  singly  supported  the  totter- 
ing fabric  of  the  empire  for  more  than, 
one  century. 

37.  CONSTANTINOPLE,  one  of  the- 
most  celebrated  and  finely  situated 
capitals  in  the  world,  has  exercised 
perhaps  a  more  important  influence 
on  the  fortunes  of  the  species  than 
any  other  city  in  existence  in  modern 
times.  It  broke  in  pieces  the  vast  fab- 
ric of  the  Roman  empire,  and  was  the- 
principal  cause  of  the  fall  of  its  west- 
ern division ;  for  after  the  charms  of 
the  Bosphorus  had  rendered  its  shores 
the  head  of  empire,  the  forces  of  the 
West  were  no  longer  able  to  make 
head  against  the  increasing  strength 
of  the  barbarians.  Singly,  by  its  na- 
tive strength  and  incomparable  situa- 
tion, it  supported  the  Empire  of  the 
East  for  a  thousand  years  after  Rome 
had  yielded  to  the  assault  of  Alaric, 
and  preserved  the  precious  seeds  of 
ancient  genius  till  the  mind  of  Europe- 
was  prepared  for  their  reception.  It 


334 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xnr. 


diverted  the  Latin  Crusaders  from  the 
shores  of  Palestine,  and  occasioned  the 
downfall  of  the  Empire  of  the  East  by 
the  ruthless  arms  of  the  Franks ;  it  at- 
tracted afterwards  the  Osmanlis  from 
the  centre  of  Asia,  and  brought  about 
their  lasting  settlement  in  the  finest 
provinces  of  Europe.  It  has  since  been 
the  object  of  ceaseless  ambition  and 
contention  to  the  principal  European 
powers.  A  kingdom  in  itself,  it  is 
more  coveted  than  many  realms.  Aus- 
tria and  Russia  have  alternately  united 
and  contended  for  the  splendid  prize ; 
it  broke  up  the  alliance  of  Erfurth,  and 
brought  the  arms  of  Napoleon  to  Mos- 
cow ;  and  in  these  days  it  has  dis- 
solved all  former  confederacies,  created 
new  ones,  and  brought  the  forces  of 
England  and  France  to  the  Crimea, 
to  avert  the  threatened  seizure  of  the 
matchless  city  by  the  armies  of  the 
C'zar. 

38.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Constan- 
tinople has  ever  since  its  foundation 
exercised  so  great  an  influence  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  species,  for  its  local  ad- 
vantages are  unique,  and  its  situation 
must  ever  render  it  the  most  important 
city  in  the  Old  World.  Situated  on 
the  confines  of  Europe  and  Asia,  with 
a  noble  harbour,  it  at  the  same  time 
centres  in  itself  the  trade  of  the  richest 
parts  of  the  globe  ;  commanding  the 
sole  outlet  from  the  Euxine  into  the 
Mediterranean,  it  of  necessity  sees  the 
commerce  of  the  three  quarters  of  the 
globe  pass  under  its  walls.  The  Dan- 
ube wafts  to  its  quays  the  productions 
of  Germany,  Hungary,  and  northern 
Turkey ;  the  Volga,  the  agricultural 
riches  of  the  Ukraine  and  the  immense 
plains  of  southern  Russia ;  the  Kuban, 
of  the  mountain  tribes  of  the  Caucasus ; 
caravans,  traversing  the  Taurus  and 
the  deserts  of  Mesopotamia,  convey  to 
it  the  riches  of  Central  Asia  and  the  dis- 
tant productions  of  India  ;  the  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean  afford  a  field  for 
the  vast  commerce  of  the  nations  which 
lie  along  its  peopled  shores  ;  while  the 
more  distant  manufactures  of  Britain 
and  the  United  States  of  America  find 
an  inlet  through  the  Straits  of  Gibral- 
tar. The  pendants  of  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  are  to  be  seen  side  by  side, 


in  close  profusion,  in  the  Golden  Horn : 
"  the  meteor  flag  of  England"  and  the 
rising  star  of  America,  the  tricolor  of 
France  and  the  eagles  of  Russia,  the 
aged  ensigns  of  Europe  and  the  infant 
sails  of  Australia.  Hers  is  the  only 
commerce  in  the  world  which  never 
can  fail,  and  ever  must  rise  superior  to 
all  the  changes  of  Fortune ;  for  the  in- 
creasing numbers  and  energy  of  north- 
ern only  renders  the  greater  the  demand 
for  the  boundless  agricultural  produc- 
tions of  southern  Europe,  and  every 
addition  to  the  riches  and  luxury  of 
the  West  only  augments  the  traffic 
which  must  ever  subsist  between  it 
and  the  regions  of  the  sun. 

39.  The  local  facilities,  strength  of 
situation,  and  beauty  of  Constanti- 
nople, are  commensurate  to  these  im- 
mense advantages  of  its  geographical 
position.  Situated  on  a  triangle,  two 
sides  of  which  are  washed  by  the  sea, 
it  is  protected  by  water  on  all  sides, 
excepting  the  base,  to  which  the  whole 
strength  of  the  place  only  requires  to 
be  directed.  The  harbour,  called  the 
"Golden  Horn,"  formed  by  a  large  in- 
let of  the  sea,  eight  miles  in  length,  on 
the  northern  side  of  the  city,  is  at  once 
so  deep  as  to  admit  of  three  -deckers 
lying  close  to  the  quay,  so  capacious 
as  to  admit  all  the  navies  of  Europe 
into  its  bosom,  and  so  narrow  at  its 
entrance  as  to  be  capable  of  being  closed 
by  a  chain  drawn  across  its  mouth. 
The  apex  of  the  triangle  is  formed  by 
the  far-famed  Seraglio,  or  Palace  of  the 
Sultans,  in  itself  a  city,  embracingwith- 
in  its  ample  circuit  the  luxurious  apart- 
ments in  which  the  beauties  of  the  East 
alternate  between  the  pastimes  of  chil- 
dren and  the  jealousies  of  women,  and 
the  shady  gardens,  where,  beneath  ven- 
erable cedars  and  plane-trees,  fountains 
of  living  water  cool  the  sultry  air  with 
their  ceaseless  flow.  The  city  itself, 
standing  oil  this  triangular  space,  is 
surrounded  by  the  ancient  walls  of 
Constantine,  nine  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred toises,  or  about  twelve  English 
miles,  in  circuit,  and  in  most  places  in 
exactly  the  state  in  which  they  were 
left,  when  the  ancient  masters  of  the 
world  resigned  the  sceptre  of  the  East 
to  the  Osmanli  conquerors.  The  breach 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


335 


is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  walls,  made  by 
the  cannon  of  Mahomet,  by  which  the 
Turks  burst  into  the  city.  In  many 
places,  huge  plane-trees,  of  equal  an- 
tiquity, overshadow  even  these  vast 
•walls  by  their  boughs  ;  and  in  others, 
ivy,  the  growth  of  centuries,  attests 
at  once  the  antiquity  of  the  structure 
and  the  negligence  or  superstition  of 
the  modern  masters  of  the  city. 

40.  No  words  can  express  the  beauty 
of  the  city  of  Constantinople,  with  its 
charming  suburbs  of  Pera,  Galata,  and 
Scutari,  when  seen  from  the  waters  on 
the  opposite  shore  of  the  Hellespont. 
Situated  on  a  cluster  of  low  hills,  which 
there  border  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  it 
presents  an  assemblage   of  charming 
objects,  such  as  are  not  to  be  seen  in 
a  similar  space  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world.      It  has  not  the  magnificent 
background  of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  nor 
the  castellated  majesty  of  Genoa  ;  but 
in  the  unity  of  the  scene,  the  harmony 
of  all  its  parts,  and  the  homogeneous 
nature  of  the  emotion  it  awakens,  it  is 
superior  to  either.     The  effect  is  per- 
fect ;  the  panorama,  as  seen  from  the 
bay,  is  complete.     To  the  north,  the 
majestic  entrance  of  the  Bosphorus — 
the  waters  of  which  are  covered  with 
caiques,  while  its  shores  exhibit  alter- 
nately the  wildness  of  the  savage  forest 
and  the  riches  of  cultivated  society — 
kindles  the  imagination  with  the  idea 
of  unseen  beauties ;  to  the  east,  the 
suburb  of  Scutari,  in  itself  a  city,  with 
its  successive  ranges  of  terraces  and 
palaces,  the  abodes  of  European  opu- 
lence  and   splendour ;   to   the  west, 
the    superb   entrance  of  the  Golden 
Horn,  crowded  with  vessels,  and  the 
dense  piles  of  the  city  itself,  rising  one 
above  another  in  successive  «radations, 
surmounted  by  the  domes  of  a  hundred 
mosques,  among  which  the  cupola  of 
St  Sophia  and  the  minarets  of  that  of 
Sultan   Achmet  appear  conspicuous  ; 
while  to  the  south  the  view  is  closed 
by  the  beautiful  Point  of  the  Seraglio, 
its  massy  structures  guarded  with  jeal- 
ous care,  half  obscured  by  the  stately 
trees  which  adorn  its  gardens,  and  dip 
their  leafy  branches  in  the  cool  stream 
of  the  Dardanelles. 

41.  A  nearer  approach,  however,  con- 


siderably dispels  the  illusion,  and  re- 
veals, under  this  splendid  exterior,  in 
a  larger  proportion  than  usual,  the  evils 
and  sufferings  of  humanity.  Built  in 
great  part  or  wood,  in  crowded  streets 
and  contracted  habitations,  it  is,  in 
ordinary  times,  in  most  places,  dirty 
and  unhealthy,  and  often  subject  to 
the  most  dreadful  conflagrations.  The 
plague  is  its  annual,  frightful  fires  its 
almost  triennial,  visitant.  On  the  2d 
September  1831,  a  fire  broke  out,  which, 
before  it  was  extinguished,  had  con- 
sumed eighteen  thousand  houses,  and 
turned  adrift  upon  the  world  nearly  a 
hundred  thousand  persons.  Conflagra- 
tions, however,  are  so  frequent,  that, 
except  when  they  extend  to  these  ter- 
rific dimensions,  they  excite  very  little 
attention.  The  population  of  the  city 
varies  much  from  time  to  time,  with 
the  ravages  of  pestilence,  or  the  terrors 
of  conflagration.  In  one  quarter — 
that  of  the  Fanar — the  principal  Greek 
families  reside,  many  of  whom  have 
acquired  in  trade  and  commerce  very 
considerable  fortunes.  They  are  the 
"  sad  remains  of  the  Byzantine  no- 
blesse, who,  trembling  under  the  sabre 
of  the  Mussulmans,  give  themselves 
the  titles  of  princes,  purchase  from  the 
Porte  the  temporary  sovereignty  of 
Wallachia  and  Moldavia,  seek  riches 
in  every  possible  way,  crouch  before 
power,  and  convey  to  this  day  a  faith- 
ful image  of  the  Lower  Empire." 

42.  The  population  of  Constantino- 
ple, with  its  adjunct  suburbs,  is  nearly 
900,000 ;  and  the  proportion  of  women 
to  men  is  very  nearly  the  same  as  in 
the  capitals  of  western  Europe,  the 
former  domiciled  being  388,000,  and 
the  latter  only  361,000.  The  former 
comprises  42,000  female  slaves.  This 
is  a  very  curious  fact,  because  it  de- 
monstrates that  polygamy,  as  common 
sense  might  long  ago  have  told  us,  is 
scarcely  an  evil  affecting  the  mass  of  so- 
ciety, however  dreadful  with  reference 
to  the  peace  of  families  and  education 
of  youth ;  for  the  excess  of  women  above 
men  is  not  so  great  as  it  is  in  London 
or  Paris,  or  any  other  of  the  capitals  of 
Europe.  Nature  has  chained  man,  in 
general,  by  the  strongest  of  all  laws — 
that  of  necessity — to  a  single  wife.  A 


336 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xin. 


harem,  like  a  stud  of  racers  or  hunters, 
can  be  kept  only  by  the  affluent.  * 

43.  The  quarter  from  which  this 
magnificent  city  is  most  assailable  is 
the  sea ;  and  the  expedition  of  Sir  John 
Duckworth  in  1807,  however  unfortu- 
nate in  its  final  results,  from  the  tar- 
diness with  which  its  operations  were 
conducted,  yet  revealed  its  inherent 
weakness,  and  proved  that  it  might  be 
brought  to  subjection,  despite  the  cas- 
tles of  Europe  and  Asia,  by  the  vigor- 
ous assault  of  a  great  maritime  power. 
But  in  this  respect  the  Turks  had  long 
the  advantage  cf  the  Russians,  from 
the  admirable  skill  of  the  Greek  sailors 
who  manned  their  fleet.  These  hardy 
seamen,  as  expert  now  as  when  they 
rolled  back  the  tide  of  Persian  invasion 
in  the  Straits  of  Salamis,  constituted 
the  real  strength  of  Turkey.  Engross- 
i  ng  nearly  the  whole  trade  of  the  Euxine 
and  the  Archipelago,  they  had  covered 
these  seas  with  their  sails,  and  been 
trained  to  hardihood  and  daring  amidst 
their  frequent  storms.  Their  principal 
naval  establishments,  Hydra,  Spezzia, 
and  Ipsara,  had  become  great  seaports, 
where  an  immense  commerce  was  car- 
ried on,  and  which,  from  the  entire  de- 
pendence of  Constantinople  upon  their 
seamen  for  supplies  in  peace  and  de- 
fence in  war,  had  for  long  practically 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  independence. 
Their  barks  conveyed  the  1,500,000 
bushels  of  grain  annually  from  Egypt 
and  Odessa  to  the  mouths  of  the  Dan- 
ube, which  supplied  the  metropolis 
with  food;  their  seamen  manned  the 


stately  line-of-battle  ships  which  lay 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Bosphorus,  to 
guard  the  approach  to  the  capital  from 
the  assaults  of  Russia.  The  Czar  had 
no  seamen  of  his  own  who  could  com- 
pete on  their  native  element  with  the 
Greek  islanders;  his  vessels  were  for 
the  most  part  manned  by  them  :  a  war 
at  sea  between  him  and  the  Porte  was 
like  one  between  England  and  Ame- 
rica ;  the  same  race  of  seamen  were 
seen  on  both  sides.  Under  the  influ- 
ence of  these  favourable  circumstances, 
the  islands  of  the  Archipelago  hail 
made  unexampled  strides  in  popula- 
tion, riches,  and  strength ;  the  level 
fields  of  Scio  were  covered  with  or- 
chards, vineyards,  gardens,  and  villas, 
where  one  hundred  thousand  Chris- 
tians, freed  from  the  Ottoman  yoke, 
dwelt  in  peace  and  happiness  ;  the 
rocks  of  Hydra  and  Ipsara  bristled  with 
cannon,  which  defended  the  once  de- 
sert isles,  where  fifty  thousand  indus- 
trious citizens  were  enriched  by  the 
activity  of  commerce ;  while  the  trade 
of  the  islands,  carried  on  in  600  ves- 
sels, bearing  6000  guns,  and  navigated 
by  18,000  seamen,  maintained  the  busy 
and  increasing  multitude  in  comfort 
and  affluence,  t 

44.  The  chief  military  strength  of 
Turkey,  as  is  well  known,  till  very  re- 
cent times,  consisted  in  the  JANIZA- 
RIES— a  sort  of  standing  army  of  great 
vigour  and  courage,  established  in  the 
capital  and  the  principal  towns  of  th<; 
empire.  They  were  originally  formed 
from  the  sons  of  Christians,  chiefly  in 


POPULATION  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE  IN  1844. 


Military,  Sc. 

DOMESTICATED  INHABITANTS. 

Total 

Men. 

Women. 

Mussulmans,     .... 
Armenians,       .... 
Do.  united,        .... 
Greeks,      

68,000 
16,000 

32,000 

194,000 
93,400 
8,420 
48,000 
18,000 

213,000 
95,600 
8,580 
52,000 
19,000 

475.000 
205,000 
17,000 
132,000 
37,000 
29,000 

Jews,         ..... 

Strangers,  

11(5,000 

361,820 

338,180 

895,000 

— UBICINI,  27. 

t  "  M.  Pouqueville  evalue  la  marine  marehande  de  toutes  les  isles  Grecques  a  615  batr- 
mens,  sans  compter  les  polacres,  barques  pontees,  montees  par  17,526  inarins  et  armees  de 
5847  canons.  On  a  vn  dans  la  discussion  de  la  loi  des  grains  en  France,  qu'en  1817  et  1818 
il  n'y  avail  moins  de  400  ou  600  batimens  Grecs  employes  au  transport  des  grains  de  la  Mer 
Noire." — Annuaire  Historique,  iv.  388,  note. 


1321.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


337 


Armenia  and  Circassia,  who  were  torn 
from  their  parents  in  early  life,  cir- 
cumcised, and  bred  up  in  the  Moham- 
medan faith.  Being  thus  severed  from 
their  families,  and  accustomed  to  look 
up  alone  to  the  Sultan  as  their  military 
chief,  they  formed  for  Ion"  a  numerous 
and  faithful  body  of  guards,  the  terror 
of  Christendom,  and  the  cause  of  the 
most  brilliant  triumphs  in  former  days 
gained  by  the  Ottoman  arms.  They 
were  possessed  of  the  privilege,  after 
twenty  years'  service,  of  settling  as 
tradesmen  in  any  town  of  the  empire, 
still  remaining,  however,  liable  to  be 
called  out  occasionally  if  the  service  of 
the  state  required  it,  and  retaining 
their  arms  and  military  accoutrements. 
Thus  they  were  on  a  footing  very  much 
resembling  in  this  respect,  though  by 
no  means  in  others,  the  old  foot-guards 
in  London,  who,  on  the  days  in  which 
they  were  not  on  duty,  pursued  their 
ordinary  pacific  avocations.  About 
25,000  to  40,000  of  these  troops  usually 
were  stationed  in  Constantinople  and 
its  vicinity.  Their  numbers  over  the 
whole  empire  exceeded  200,000,  and 
they  constituted  the  entire  infantry  of 
the  army  until  the  recent  changes  of 
Sultan  Mahmoud.  Of  this  number 
there  were,  in  1776,  113,403  men  ac- 
tually enrolled  and  in  the  service,  and 
their  number  down  to  the  end  of  the 
century  was  still  100,000.*  In  time, 
however,  there  arose  among  them  the 
usual  vices  of  household  troops :  if  they 
rivalled  the  Praetorians  in  valour,  they 
did  so  not  less  in  arrogance  and  insub- 
ordination. «  Conscious  of  their  own 
strength,  having  no  rival  force  to  dread, 
they  aspired  to  dictate  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  to  select  their  own  prince 
of  the  imperial  house  for  a  sultan. 
They  would  sxibmit  to  no  changes  or 
improvements  in  discipline.  Many  of 

*  Eton  gives  the  following  as  the  military 
strength  of  Turkey  in  the  end  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century : — 

Cavalry,  ....        181,000 
Janizary  infantry,    .        .        207,000 


Deduct  for  garrisons,  &c. , 


388,000 
202,000 


Disposable,      .        .        .        186,000 
-ETON'S  Survey  of  Turkith  Empire,  372. 
VOL.  II. 


the  most  formidable  revolts  in  Turkish 
history  originated  with  them ;  and  the 
overturning  of  their  camp-kettles,  the 
well-known  signal  of  the  commence- 
ment of  such  disorders,  was  more 
dreaded  by  the  Divan  than  the  ap- 
proach of  a  hostile  army.  Sultan  Mah- 
moud, the  then  reigning  sovereign,  as 
some  check  on  their  violence,  had 
greatly  augmented  the  topjees,  or  ar- 
tillerymen, who  were  at  last  raised  to 
20,000  men  ;  but  the  janizaries  were 
still  in  unbroken  strength  in  their 
barracks,  and,  being  highly  discon- 
tented at  the  preference  given  to  the 
topjees,  there  was  already  presaged  the 
terrible  catastrophe  by  which  their 
power  was  terminated. 

45.  The  great  military  strength  of 
the  Turks,  as  of  all  Oriental  nations, 
consisted  formerly  in  their  cavalry. 
Accustomed  to  ride  from  their  infancy, 
the  Turks  are  daring  and  skilful  horse- 
men, and  in  the  use  of  the  sabre  de- 
cidedly superior  to  any  nation  of 
Christendom.  Travelling  of  every  sort 
is  performed  on  horseback,  and,  from 
constant  practice,  a  degree  of  skill  and 
hardihood  is  acquired  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  steeds  rarely  attained 
either  in  the  manege  or  the  hunting- 
field  of  western  Europe.  The  Turkish 
cavalier  plunges  into  ravines,  descends 
breakneck  scaurs,  ascends  precipices, 
and  scales  hill-sides,  from  which  the 
boldest  English  hunters  would  re- 
coil with  dread.  Seated  on  his  high 
saddle,  with  a  formidable  peak  before 
and  behind,  with  stirrups  so  short  that 
his  knees  are  up  to  his  elbows,  and 
the  reins  of  a  powerful  bit  in  his 
hands,  the  Tiirkish  horseman  pushes 
on  with  fearless  hardihood  at  the  gal- 
lop, confident  in  his  sure-footed  steed, 
and  in  his  own  power,  if  occasion  re- 
quires, instantly  to  pull  him  back  on 
his  haunches.  With  equal  readiness 
he  gallops,  with  his  redoubtable  sabre 
in  his  hand,  up  to  the  muzzles  of  the 
enemy's  muskets,  or  charges  his  heav- 
iest batteries,  or  plunges  down  a  pre- 
cipitous path  on  which  a  chasseur  can 
with  difficulty  keep  his  footing.  Woe 
to  the  enemy  which  incautiously  ad- 
vances into  a  rocky  country  without 
y 


338 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  XIIL 


having  his  flanks  and  rear  adequately 
explored!  Two  or  three  turbans  are 
first  seen  cautiously  peeping  above  the 
summit  of  the  ravines,  or  through  the 
brushwood  by  which  the  bridle-path 
is  beset ;  for  a  few  seconds  they  disap- 
pear, when  suddenly  a  rush  is  heard, 
the  clatter  of  sabres  and  hoofs  rings  on 
all  sides,  and  these  redoubtable  horse- 
men, with  deafening  shouts,  precipitate 
themselves  from  all  quarters  on  the 
unfortunate  battalion  which  has  ad- 
vanced into  the  toils.  The  glorious 
victory  of  Bajazet  over  the  French 
chivalry  at  Varna,  in  1453,  and  that 
of  the  Grand  Vizier  over  Peter  the 
Great,  on  the  Pruth,  in  1711,  were 
mainly  gained  by  the  aid  of  these  in- 
comparable horsemen. 

46.  But  the  Osmanlis  have  lost  this 
great  advantage  by  the  results  of  the 
wars  with  Russia  during  the  last  cen- 
tury. By  the  successive  acquisitions 
of  the  Crimea,  Oczakov  with  its  terri- 
tory, and  Bessarabia,  the  Russians 
have  not  only  got  a  valuable  sea-coast, 
on  which  they  have  built  the  rising 
harbour  of  Odessa — the  Dantzic  of  the 
Euxine — but  they  have  gained  the  ad- 
vantage, inestimable  in  Eastern  war, 
of  having  got  the  nomad  tribes  on  their 
side — of  having  arrayed  against  Asia 
the  forces  of  Asia  itself.  Immense 
has  been  the  influence  of  this  decisive 
change  on  the  relative  positions  and 
fortunes  of  the  great  contending  powers 
on  the  banks  of  the  Danube.  The 
territory  thus  acquired  by  Russia,  the 
Scythia  of  the  ancients,  is  precisely 
that  from  whence  the  clouds  of  horse- 
men have  issued  who  have  determined 
so  many  important  events  in  history 
— who  repelled  the  invasion  of  Cyrus 
— who  destroyed  the  army  of  Darius— 
who  rolled  back  the  phalanx  of  Alex- 
ander. What  the  Russians  have  gained 
by  these  important  acquisitions  the 
Turks  have  lost,  and  this  has  entirely 
altered  the  relative  positions  of  the 
contending  parties.  The  fate  which 
befell  Peter  the  Great  on  the  Pruth  in 
1711 — that  of  being  starved  out  in  the 
midst  of  his  armed  squares  by  clouds 
of  light  horse  —  would  now  be  the 
inevitable  fate  of  any  Turkish  army 
which  should  advance  into  the  same 


plains;  and,  strange  to  say,  in  the 
present  (1853)  Avar  with  the  Russians, 
the  principal  deficiency  which  the 
Turks  have  experienced  is  in  light 
horse. 

47.  Deprived  of  the  powerful  aid  of 
their  light  horse,  the  main  strength  of 
the  Turkish  armies  is  now  to  be  found 
in  the  skill  with  which  they  manage 
their  arms,  the  perfection  of  their 
mark,  either  with  muskets  or  cannon, 
and  the  facility  with  which  the  same 
men  can,  from  their  previous  habits  of 
life,  discharge  the  duties  either  of  a 
foot-soldier  or  cavalier.  Every  Turk 
is  armed — the  more  easy  in  circum- 
stances, magnificently  so.  Most  of 
the  better  class  have  either  a  horse,  or 
have  been  trained  from  infancy  to  the 
duties  of  horsemanship.  If  a  spahi 
loses  his  steed,  he  throws  himself  into 
the  ranks  of  the  infantry,  seizes  the 
first  firelock  he  can  find,  and  makes 
a  steady  grenadier ;  if  a  janizary  loses 
his  musket,  he  mounts  the  first  horse 
he  can  seize,  and  iises  his  redoubtable 
scimitar  as  skilfully  as  any  cavalier  in 
the  army.  This  thorough  command 
of  all  the  exercises  of  war,  which  is 
universal  in  the  Turkish  population, 
who  are,  literally  speaking,  a  nation 
of  warriors,  renders  them  at  once  more 
formidable  as  individuals,  and  less  so 
in  masses,  than  the  soldier  of  western 
Europe,  who  has  no  such  individual 
prowess  to  fall  back  upon,  and  trusts 
only  to  his  steadiness  in  the  ranks,  and 
standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  his 
comrades.  If  worsted  in  a  serious 
encounter,  the  Turks,  in  their  own 
country,  and  knowing  its  by-paths, 
generally  disperse;  the  Russians,  far 
from  their  home  and  kindred,  fall  back 
upon  their  fellow-soldiers,  and  combat, 
back  to  back,  to  the  last  man.  The 
Ottoman  array,  like  the  Vendeans  or 
Spaniards,  dissolves  upon  defeat,  and 
the  late  commander  of  a  mighty  host 
finds  himself  surrounded  only  by  a  few 
attendants.  "When  you  have  once 
given  the  Turks  a  good  beating,"  said 
one  who  knew  them  well  (Prince  Co- 
bourg),  "you  are  at  ease  with  them 
for  the  whole  campaign."  But  the 
armed  force  often  reassembles  as  quickly 
as  it  had  dissolved,  aud,  again  issuing 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


333 


from,  their  homes  and  their  retreats, 
the  undaunted  Turks  enter  a  second 
time  on  the  career  of  glory  and 
plunder. 

48.  The  Turkish  armies  are  little  to 
lie  apprehended  now  in  pitched  battles 
in  the  open  field,  and  their  strength 
consists  rather  in  the  defence  ot   a 
woody,  broken,  or  intricate  country, 
•where  the  individual  courage  and  skill 
in  the  use  of  arms  which  they  possess 
may  be  brought  into  play.     We  read 
frequently,  in  the  ancient  wars  of  the 
Ottomans  with  the  Austrians  and  Rus- 
sians, of  bodies  of  seventeen,  twenty, 
or  twenty-five  thousand  men  defeating 
a  hundred  and  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  Turks ;  and  this  would  pro- 
bably still  be  the  fate  of  a  Turkish 
array,  should  it  venture  to  meet  the 
disciplined  battalions  of  Europe  in  the 
open  field.     But  the  case  is  very  dif- 
ferent when  they  come  to  fight  in  a 
broken  or  woody  country.  The  rolling 
fire  of  the  Russian  square  generally,  in 
the  plains,  repels  the  fierce  charge  of 
the  Turkish  swarm;  but  the  case  is 
widely  different  when  the  Osmanlis  are 
posted  on  the  rocks  or  in  the  thickets 
of  the   Balkan,   where  they   can  at 
leisure,  |and  comparatively  free  from 
danger,  take  aim  at  their  adversaries. 
There  their  cool  and  practised  eye  and 
steady  hand  tell  with  desperate  effect 
upon  the  hostile  columns,    and  the 
brave  and  steady  array  of  the  Mus- 
covites often  melts  away  before  the 
deadly  fire  of  an  unseen  but  indomit- 
able opponent. 

49.  It  results,   from  the  same  cir- 
cumstances, that  the  Turks  are  the 
most  formidable  of  all  enemies  in  the 
defence  of  fortified  places.    The  Turk- 
ish system  of  fortification  and  mode  of 
defence  are  essentially  different  from 
those  of  western  Europe.     It  has  few 
outworks,  often  none  ;  and  scarce  any 
of  the  appliances  which  the  genius  of 
Vauban  invented  to  add  to  the  natural 
strength  of  places.     There  are  neither 
ravelins,  nor  lunettes,   nor  covered- 
ways  around  their  fortified  places.  The 
town,  in  the  form  which  the  natural 
circumstances  of  the  ground  has  given 
it,  is  surrounded  by  a  high  and  strong 
wall,  in  front  of  which  lies  a  deep 


ditch.  A  few  bastions  or  round  towers 
here  and  there  project  beyond  the  gen- 
eral line,  and  form  kind  of  salient 
angles,  often  filled  with  enormous  ga- 
bions. Along  the  crest  of  the  parapet 
is  placed  a  fine  of  gabions,  between 
which  are  the  embrasures,  from  behind 
which  the  besieged  fire  in  perfect  se- 
curity on  the  besiegers.  Along  the 
parapet  is  also  placed,  at  certain  dis- 
tances, square  loopholed  blockhouses, 
built  of  brick,  intended  to  sweep  the 
ramparts  in  the  event  of  the  breach 
being  mounted,  which  often  occasions 
a  serious  loss  to  the  besiegers.  They 
have  a  way  also  of  stationing  mus- 
keteers at  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  who 
communicate  with  each  other,  and  ef- 
fect a  retreat,  in  case  of  need,  by  a 
subterraneous  passage  worked  out  be- 
low the  ramparts. 

50.  Their  mode  of  defending  these 
fortified  towns  is  as  peculiar,  and  as 
different  from  the  European,  as  the 
fortifications  themselves.  They  dis- 
quiet themselves  little  with  the  en- 
emy's approaches,  seldom  even  fire  at 
the  working  parties  in  the  trenches, 
but  occasionally  amuse  themselves  with 
discharging  round  shot  from  their  guns 
at  single  figures  in  the  distance.  Even 
the  breaching  of  the  rampart,  con- 
sidered as  so  serious  a  matter  in  ordi- 
nary European  war,  gives  them  very 
little  uneasiness.  Their  whole  efforts 
— and  on  such  occasions  they  are  great 
indeed — are  concentrated  on  the  in- 
terior defences  within  the  rampart, 
which  is  chiefly  valued  as  affording  a 
covering  to  their  construction.  The 
whole  approaches  to  the  interior  of 
the  city  are  there  retrenched  in  the 
strongest  manner  :  huge  barricades  of 
wood  bar  the  entrance  into  the  streets ; 
while  at  every  door,  every  window, 
every  aperture,  are  stationed  two  or 
more  Turks,  armed  with  their  excel- 
lent fusils,  who,  with  deadly  aim,  open 
a  close  and  sustained  fire  on  their  as- 
sailants. The  house-tops,  which  are 
all  flat,  are  crowded  with  musketeers, 
who  in  like  manner  rain  a  shower  of 
balls  upon  the  enemy.  So  great  is 
the  effect  of  this  concentric  fire,  that 
in  general  the  head  of  the  assaulting 
column  is  swept  away  the  moment  it 


340 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  xnr. 


reaches  the  summit  of  the  trench  ;  for 
the  fire  is  quite  incessant,  as  each  Turk 
has  two  muskets,  and  a  pair  of  pistols 
in  his  girdle,  which  they  aim  with 
practised  skill.  If  these  dangers  are 
surmounted,  and  the  assaulting  column 
succeeds  in  making  its  way  into  the 
streets  or  gardens  within  the  rampart, 
a  danger  not  less  formidable  awaits 
them ;  for  it  is  instantly  assailed  on 
all  sides  by  a  mass  of  Turks,  with  their 
scimitar  in  their  right  hand,  and  their 
dagger  in  their  left,  with  which  they 
cut  at  their  opponents,  and  parry  their 
thrusts ;  and  in  that  mortal  strife  it 
lias  been  often  proved  that  the  Euro- 
pean bayonet  is  no  match  for  the  Turk- 
ish sabre.  So  deadly  are  these  me- 
thods of  defence,  that  several  repelled 
assaults  of  ill-fortified  Turkish  towns 
have  cost  more  to  the  besiegers  than 
the  entire  reduction  of  the  best-con- 
structed citadels  of  Vauban  and  Co- 
horn.  Witness  the  unsuccessful  as- 
sault on  Roudschuck  in  1810,  which 
cost  the  besiegers  8000  men  ;  and  that 
of  Brahilov  in  1828,  which  was  re- 
pulsed with  the  loss  of  3000  men  killed 
and  wounded. 

51.  A  very  simple  cause  explains 
this  obstinate  defence  of  fortified  cities 
by  the  Turks  :  it  is  Necessity.  The 
whole  male  inhabitants  capable  of 
bearing  arms  are  arrayed  in  defence  of 
the  place.  A  city  of  30,000  citizens 
will  array  on  its  walls  10,000  warriors, 
each  of  whom,  trained  from  infancy  to 
the  use  of  arms,  and  splendidly  equip- 
ped with  his  own  weapons  of  defence, 
forms  at  once  a  valuable  soldier.  They 
fight  desperately,  because,  like  the  ci- 
tizens of  towns  in  antiquity,  they  have 
nothing  to  hope  in  the  event  of  cap- 
ture. The  male  inhabitants  will  all 
be  put  to  the  sword,  the  young  women 
sold  for  slaves,  or  swept  into  the  Turk- 
ish harem  ;  the  entire  fortunes  of  the 
inhabitants  drawn  into  the  coffers  of 
the  Sultan  or  victorious  pacha.  The 
commander  himself,  if  he  escape  death 
at  the  hands  of  the  assailants,  is  al- 
most sure  to  meet  it  at  those  of  the 
Sultan.  Misfortune  is  punished  in 
the  same  way  as  misconduct,  and  no 
amount  of  previous  skill  or  valour  in 
defence  can  save  the  governor  who 


has  lost  his  fortress  from  the  bow- 
string. Thus  the  Turks  in  fortified 
towns  make  a  resolute  defence,  for  the 
same  reason  that  the  Russians  do  in 
the  open  field  :  they  have  no  hope  of 
safety  in  flight,  their  only  chance  is- 
in  standing  resolutely  together. 

52.  Although  the  Turks,  prior  to  the 
great   change   made  by  Sultan  Mah- 
moud  in  the  military  organisation  of 
the  empire,  had  few  regular  troops, 
and  none  disciplined  after  the  Euro- 
pean fashion,  yet  the  vast  feudal  mi- 
litia they  could  at  any  time  call  out 
was  extremely  formidable,   from  the 
perfect  arms,  and  entire  command  of 
them,  which  every  member  of  it  pos- 
sessed, and  the  individual  courage  by 
which  they  were  animated.     The  Rus- 
sians and  Austrians,  at  least  till  tho 
more  recent  wars,  were  almost  always 
greatly  inferior  in  number ;  and  as  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  Turkish  ar- 
mies in  those  days  was  cavalry,  this 
disproportion,  by  enabling  the  enemy 
to  surround  them,  often  exposed  the 
Christian  forces  to  the  greatest  danger, 
especially  as  the  scene  of  conflict  gen- 
erally was  the  level  country  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube.    They  were  thus, 
driven  by  necessity  to  adopt  the  tac- 
tics which  could  alone,  in  the  open 
field,  enable  them  to  resist  such  for- 
midable and  superior  enemies.     This, 
consisted  in  constantly  forming  square 
when  the  moment  of  decisive  action 
arrived.    These  squares  were  generally 
of  five  or  six  battalions  each,  with  ar- 
tillery at  the  angles,  capable  of  firing 
on  either  side  which  might  be  assailed. 
They  advanced  into  battle  drawn  up 
in  this  form,  and  the  squares  moved 
forward  in  echelon  ;  so  that  the  lead- 
ing square  was  protected  at  least  on 
one  side  and  rear  by  the  fire  of  those 
which  followed  it.      If  broken,  the 
square  endeavoured  to  form  a   still 
smaller  body  in  the  same  array,  and 
often  became  reduced  to  knots  of  a 
dozen  men ;  for  the  troops  were  all 
aware  that  flight  was  instant  death 
under  the  sabre  of  the  Osmanlis,  and 
their  only  chance  of  salvation  was  in 
the  rolling  fire  which  issued  from  the 
sides  of  their  steady  squares. 

53.  Notwithstanding  the  declining 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


341 


military  strength  of  the  Turkish  em- 
pire, it  is  by  no  means  easy  of  con- 
quest, for  nature  has  furnished  it  with 
a  triple  line  of  defence,  which  it  is 
difficult  even  for  the  greatest  warlike 
skill  and  strength  to  overcome.  The 
first  of  these  consists  in  the  plains  of 
"VVallachia  and  Moldavia,  which,  from 
their  physical  conformation  and  the 
habits  of  their  inhabitants,  oppose 
great  obstacles  to  an  invading  army. 
The  greater  part  of  the  country,  the 
Scythia  of  the  ancients,  consists  of 
vide  level  plains,  and  which  afford 
comparatively  few  resources  for  a  con- 
siderable body  of  invaders.  There  are 
few  roads  in  the  country,  and  such  as 
exist  are  speedily  cut  up,  and  become 
nearly  impracticable  by  the  passage  of 
any  large  quantities  of  artillery  or  car- 
riages over  them.  The  constant  wars 
between  the  Turks  and  Russians,  of 
which  this  country  has  long  been  the 
theatre,  has  rendered  the  inhabitants 
for  the  most  part  averse  to  tillage. 
They  trust  in  a  great  degree  to  the 
spontaneous  productions  of  the  soil  and 
growth  of  nature,  which  covers  the 
earth  in  spring  with  a  luxuriant  herb- 
age, and  in  summer  with  crops  of  the 
richest  hay.  But  in  autumn  even  this 
resource  fails  ;  the  long  droughts  parch 
the  surface  of  the  soil ;  vegetation  is 
burnt  up,  huge  gaps  and  crevices  ap- 
pear— and  an  invading  army,  the  prey 
of  fevers  and  contagious  disorders, 
finds  neither  water  nor  resources  in 
the  thirsty  soil  wherewith  to  subsist 
the  troops.  Hence  it  is  that  it  has 
at  all  times  been  felt  of  such  impor- 
tance to  pass  over  this  wasted  land  de- 
batable in  spring,  when  the  herbage 
of  the  plains  might  afford  subsistence 
for  the  horses  and  herds  of  cattle  which 
accompanied  the  army  ;  and  that  the 
fate  of  a  campaign  is  so  much  de- 
pendent upon  possession  of  the  coast, 
and  command  of  the  sea,  in  order 
to  insure  getting  up  supplies  by 
•water. 

54.  The  second  defence  of  Turkey 
consists  in  the  line  of  the  Danube, 
which  covers  the  whole  northern  pro- 
vinces of  the  empire.  This  noble  river, 
which,  when  it  approaches  Belgrade. 
on  the  frontiers  of  Turkey,  is  already 


twelve  hundred  yards  broad,  flows 
through  the  whole  of  Turkey  with 
a  rapid  current,  which  renders  the 
construction  of  bridges  over  it  always 
a  matter  of  difficulty,  sometimes  im- 
possible. It  is  often  intersected  by 
large  islands,  but  they  do  not  facili- 
tate the  passage,  for  the  current,  brok- 
en by  rocks,  flows  round  them  in 
foaming  surges  with  extraordinary  ra- 
pidity. The  right  bank,  which  forms 
the  northern  boundary  of  Bulgaria,  is 
in  general  higher  than  the  left,  which 
limits  the  plain  of  Wallachia  ;  and  in 
many  places  bold  rocks  or  steep  banks 
of  clay  form,  as  it  were,  the  natural 
ramparts  of  Turkey  behind  this  for- 
midable wet  ditch.  This  barrier,  of 
itself  strong,  is  rendered  doubly  so  by 
the  resources  of  art  and  the  desolate 
state  of  the  country.  Silistria,  Bra- 
hilov,  Roudschuck,  and  Widdin,  aro 
the  chief  of  the  fortresses  upon  its 
banks,  with  the.  siege  of  which  every 
war  between  the  Russians  and  Turks 
commences,  and  which  are  never  re- 
duced but  after  a  most  obstinate  de- 
fence, and  a  dreadful  sacrifice  of  men. 
The  waste  of  human  life  in  these 
sieges,  which  are  generally  prolonged 
to  the  close  of  the  season  by  the  obsti- 
nate valour  of  the  Turks,  is  much 
augmented  by  the  unhealthy  nature 
of  the  country  on  the  banks  of  the 
Danube  in  the  autumnal  months,  and 
the  quantity  of  grapes,  which,  growing 
amidst  beds  of  roses  on  the  sunny 
slopes,  and  eagerly  devoured  by  the 
northern  invaders,  spread  amongst 
them  the  destructive  scourge  of  dysen- 
tery.* 

55.  The  last  and  most  important 
barrier  of  Constantinople  is  the  BAL- 
KAN, which,  stretching  from  east  to 
west  the  whole  breadth  of  Turkey, 
presents  the  very  greatest  obstacle  to 
any  invading  army.  This  celebrated 
range,  the  Mount  Haemus  of  antiquity, 
is  far  inferior  to  the  Pyrenees,  the  Alps, 

*  "  With  grim  delight  the  brood  of  winter 

view 

A  brighterday,  and  heavens  of  azure  lino, 
Si'eut  thu  new  fragrance  of  the  breathing 

rose, 

And  quaff   the   pendant  vintage  ns  it 
grows." 

GRAT. 


342 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiir. 


or  the  Caucasus  in  altitude  and  rug- 
gedness ;  but  it  is  superior  to  either  in 
the  difficiilties  which  it  opposes  to  the 
march  of  armies.  This  is  often  the 
case  with  comparatively  low  ranges  of 
hills,  which  afford  a  stronger  line  of 
defence  than  mountains  of  the  greatest 
elevation.  The  Alps  never  prevented 
the  march  of  the  French  into  Italy ; 
the  Caucasus  has  been  often  penetrated 
by  the  Russians  ;  even  the  Himalaya 
was  pierced  by  the  battalions  of  Bri- 
tain: but  from  the  hills  of  Torres- 
Vedras  the  arms  of  Napoleon  perma- 
nently recoiled ;  and  it  required  two 
years  of  harassing  warfare  on  the  part 
of  England,  to  expel  six  thousand 
naked  savages  in  Kaffirland  from  the 
recesses  of  the  "Waterkloof.  The  rea- 
son is,  that  lofty  mountain-ranges  are 
always  intersected  by  deep  valleys,  the 
crests  of  which  can  be  surmounted  at 
a  comparatively  moderate  elevation, 
and  with  little  difficulty ;  while  infe- 
rior heights  are  intersected  by  gul- 
lies and  watercourses,  and  generally 
covered  with  forests,  brushwood,  or 
thickets,  which  can  only  be  cut  through 
at  an  immense  expense  of  time  and 
labour.  This  is  exactly  the  case  with 
the  Balkan,  which,  running  nearly 
parallel  to  the  line  of  the  Danube  at 
from  forty  to  fifty  miles  to  the  south, 
presents  a  wooded  and  intricate  ridge 
about  thirty  miles  broad,  which  must 
be  crossed  before  the  plains  of  Roume- 
lia  are  reached,  or  Constantinople  is 
approached.  It  is  not  in  general 
higher  than  the  Vosges  Mountains 
near  Kaiserslautern,  the  Mont  Ton- 
nerre  in  the  Limousin,  or  the  Lammer- 
moors  in  Scotland  ;  but,  nevertheless, 
it  took  two  centuries  of  almost  cease- 
less warfare  before  the  Russians  crossed 
this  formidable  barrier.  The  very  de- 
solation of  the  country  and  benignity 
of  the  climate  augment  its  defensible 
character.  It  is  traversed  only  by 
bridle-paths,  which,  without  any  re- 
gard to  a  gradual  slope,  ascend  hills 
and  descend  gullies  inaccessible  to  cha- 
riots or  artillery ;  and  where  the  rocky 
heights  on  either  side  are  not  covered 
with  forest  or  brushwood,  they  are 
laid  out  in  thick  orchards,  which  op- 
pose almost  the  same  impediment  to 


an  advancing  arm}'.*  In  their  wooded 
intricacies,  the  superiority  of  the  Rus- 
sian tactics  and  discipline  is  in  a  great 
measure  lost :  war  can  no  longer  be- 
conducted  by  the  action  of  masses,  but 
comes  to  depend  on  individual  hardi- 
hood and  skill ;  and  in  the  prolonged 
struggles  and  hand-to-hand  conflicts, 
the  deadly  aim  and  perfect  skill  in  the 
use  of  arms  of  the  Mussulmans  have 
often  proved  fatal  to  the  most  power- 
ful columns  of  the  Muscovites. 

56.  So  great  are  these  difficulties, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  rapid  de- 
cline of  the  Ottoman  power  during  the 
last  century,  it  was  not  till  the  year 
1829  that  the  Russian  forces  succeeded 
in  passing  the  Balkan  and  reaching- 
Adrianople,  and  then  it  was  only  with 
an  army  not  exceeding  25,000  men. 
The  best  military  authorities  have  de- 
clared that  the  passage  of  the  Balkan 
need  not  be  attempted  with  less  than 
140,000  men,  which  large  force  would 
only  leave  60,000  disposable  to  ad- 
vance upon  Constantinople.  When 
this  barrier,  however,  is  surmounted, 
the  defences  of  Constantinople  are 
carried  ;  and  unless  a  force  capable 
of  keeping  the  field  and  repelling  the 
enemy  in  the  open  country  exists,  no- 
thing remains  to  the  Turks  but  sub- 
mission. From  the  southern  face  of 
the  Balkan  to  the  gates  of  the  capital 
the  country  is  entirely  open,  and  for 
the  most  part  uncultivated.  Luxu- 
riant herbage,  coming  up  to  the  horses'' 
girths,  at  once  attesting  the  riches  of 
the  soil  and  showing  the  oppression 
of  the  Government,  continues  up  to 
the  gates  of  the  capital.  In  this  open 
and  level  country  there  is  no  defence 
whatever  against  an  invading  army, 
especially  if  it  possesses  the  superior- 
ity in  light  horse  which  the  Russians, 
ever  since  their  conquest  of  the  no- 
mad nations,  decisively  enjoy.  If  a 
hostile  army  reaches  Constantinople, 
the  conquest  of  the  capital  is  easy,  and 
cannot  be  long  averted.  The  ancient 
walls  still  remain  in  imposing  majesty, 

*  Its  -woody  character  was  the  same  in  an- 
cient times,  as  is  attested  in  the  well-known 
lines  of  Virgil — 

'•  O,  quis  me  gelidis  in  vallibus  Haemi 
Sistat,  et  ingenti  ramorum  protegat  umbra  ! " 
VIRGIL,  Ueorg.,  lib.  ii. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


343 


but  they  are  in  many  places  moulder- 
ing, and,  by  cutting  oft'  the  aqueducts 
which  supply  the  city  with  water,  it 
may  easily  be  starved  into  submission. 
The  old  cisterns,  of  enormous  magni- 
tude, constructed  by  the  Roman  em- 
perors to  guard  against  this  danger, 
still  exist ;  but  they  are  in  part  filled 
up,  are  no  longer  water-tight,  and 
could  not  now  be  applied  to  their  des- 
tined purpose. 

57.  It  results  from  these  peculiari- 
ties in  the  physical  situation  of  Tur- 
key, that  the  command  of  the  sea,  or 
the  support,  or  at  least  the  neutrality 
of  Austria,  is  essential  to  a  successful 
irruption  into  the  plains  of  Roumelia 
by  the  troops  of  the  Czar.  No  amount 
of  force,  how  great  soever,  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  Muscovite  generals,  can 
relieve  them  of  this  necessity ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  only  renders  it  the  more 
imperious.  Turkey  is  defended  by  the 
effects  of  its  own  oppression :  it  has 
rendered  its  territory  a  wilderness, 
through  which  the  enemy,  without 
supplies  brought  by  the  Danube  or  the 
sea,  cannot  pass.  External  support 
is  indispensable.  It  is  impossible  by 
land-carriage  to  bring  up  the  requisite 
supplies  for  a  large  army  from  Sevas- 
topol and  Odessa — a  tract  of  nearly 
seven  hundred  miles,  in  great  part 
without  roads  practicable  for  wheel- 
carriages.  Equally  impossible  is  it  to 
find  in  the  desert  plains  of  Roumelia 
the  requisite  supplies  for  the  support 
of  an  army  capable  of  threatening  Con- 
stantinople. The  Russians  in  modern 
Turkey,  like  the  Romans  of  old  in  in- 
vading Caledonia,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  must  advance  by  the  sea-side. 
Accordingly,  in  1828,  in  addition  to 
the  fortresses  on  the  Danube,  it  was 
deemed  essential,  before  attempting  to 
cross  the  Balkan,  to  reduce  the  seaport 
of  Varna.  The  support  of  Austria,  how- 
ever, may  render  it  possible  to  dispense 
with  the  assistance  of  a  fleet  on  the 
Euxine,  if  the  command  of  all  the 
fortresses  on  the  Danube  has  been 
obtained  ;  because  from  the  rich  plains 
of  Hungary  ample  supplies  even  for 
the  largest  army  may  be  obtained,  and 
from  these  fortresses,  as  a  secure  base, 
•ulterior  operations  to  the  southward 


might  be  conducted.  Thence  it  was 
that  the  Emperor  Nicholas  so  readily 
and  powerfully  intervened  in  favour  of 
the  Emperor  of  Austria  in  1849 ;  he 
knew  that  he  would  march  through. 
Hungary  to  Constantinople. 

58.  The  principal  defence  of  the  Bal- 
kan, against  an  enemy  approaching 
from  the  north,  consists  in  the  fortified 
camp  of  SCHUMLA.  This  celebrated 
stronghold  has  borne  so  important  a 
part  in  all  the  last  wars  between  the 
Turks  and  Russians,  that  a  description 
of  it  is  indispensable  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  last  and  most  important 
of  them.  It  is  a  considerable  town, 
containing  thirty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, lying  upon  the  northern  decliv- 
ity of  the  Balkan,  and,  seen  from  the 
plains  of  Bulgaria  as  you  approach  it 
from  the  northward,  resembles  a  tri- 
angular sheet  spread  upon  the  moun- 
tains, as  Algiers  does  when  seen  from 
the  blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean. 
It  is  not  regularly  fortified  like  the 
fortresses  of  Flanders,  but  still  it  is 
very  strong,  and  cannot  be  reduced 
but  by  a  very  large  army.  A  pro- 
montory of  the  Balkan,  in  the  form  of 
a  horse  -  shoe,  surrounds  its  sides  and 
rear,  which  is  covered  with  thick  and 
thorny  brushwood,  extremely  difficult 
of  passage,  and  affording  an  admirable 
shelter  to  the  skilled  Turkish  marks- 
men. The  town  itself  is  surrounded 
by  a  deep  ditch  and  high  wall,  flanked 
by  the  square  towers  for  musketeers 
which  are  peculiar  to  the  Turkish  for- 
tresses. It  forms  the  centre  of  the 
intrenched  camp,  which  shuts  it  in  on 
every  side.  Its  great  extent,  the  steep 
declivities,  wooded  heights,  and  rocky 
precipices  which  surround  it,  render  it 
extremely  strong,  and  the  nature  of 
the  adjoining  hills,  impassable  for  ar- 
tillery, secure  it  from  the  dangers  of 
bombardment.  A  stream  of  pure  and 
perennial  water  flows  through  its 
centre,  amply  sufficient  for  a  garrison 
of  any  amount.  All  the  roads  from 
the  north  over  the  Balkan,  whether 
from  Roudschuck,  Silistria,  or  Ismael, 
intersect  each  other  in  this  fortress, 
which  thus  becomes  a  strategetical 
point  of  the  very  highest  importance ; 
and,  garrisoned  by  thirty  thousand 


344 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xni. 


janizaries,  it  is  equally  impossible  to 
pass,  and  difficult  to  reduce. 

59.  If  its  natural  defences  are  alone 
considered,  the  ASIATIC  PROVINCES  of 
Turkey  are  more  bountifully  dealt  with 
even  than  its  dominions  in  Europe. 
The  CAUCASUS — the  continuation  of 
the  great  mountain-range  which,  un- 
der the  name  of  the   Pyrenees,  the 
Alps,  the  Carpathians,  and  the  Hima- 
laya, runs  like  a  stony  girdle  around 
the  globe — forms  a  vast  barrier  between 
the  Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian.     In- 
accessible to  mortal  foot,  alternately 
glittering  in,  a  cloudless  sun  and  enve- 
loped in  impenetrable  mists,  there 

"  The  palaces  of  nature,  whose  vast  walla 
Have   pinnacled   in  clouds   their   snowy 

.         scalps, 

-'  And  throned  eternity  in  icy  halls 
Of  cold  sublimity,  where  forms  and  falls 
The  avalanche,  the  thunderbolt  of  snow,"* 

have  from  the  earliest  times  formed 
the  subject  of  imaginative  mythology 
and  fabled  terrors  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Europe  and  Asia.  On  their  shiver- 
ing summits  the  fancy  of  ^Eschylus 
made  Prometheus  expiate  his  generous 
self-devotion ;  in  their  dark  caverns 
the  Argonauts  sought  the  Golden 
Fleece.  The  poetry  of  Persia,  the  tales 
of  Arabia,  make  perpetual  mention  of 
these  awful  piles  of  rock,  the  abode  of 
genii  and  magicians,  which  seemed  to 
them  to  bound  the  habitable  globe, 
and  form  the  appropriate  scene  of 
punishment  for  the  rebellious  spirits. 
They  have  been  rendered  familiar  to 
the  childhood  of  all  in  the  charming 
tales  of  Scheherezade ;  they  have,  in 
our  own  time,  been  the  theatre  of 
deeds  of  heroism  rivalling  the  Retreat 
of  the  Ten  Thousand,  and  the  triumph 
of  Morgarten.  Nor  is  Sacred  History 
wanting  to  complete  the  interest  of  the 
mountains  which  have  formed  the  sub- 
ject of  so  many  fabled  adventures  ;  for 
on  one  of  their  summits  the  ark  rested, 
and  on  the  sides  of  Ararat  the  rainbow 
shone 

"  Which  first  spoke  peace  to  man." 

60.  In   a  military  point  of  view, 
the  Caucasus  forms  a  more  important 
barrier  than  either  the  Alps  or  the 

*  BYRON. 


P3rrenees ;  for,  equally  with  them,  it 
runs  from  sea  to  sea,  and  it  is  mor« 
inaccessible,  and  less  penetrated  bv 
passes  than  either.  Generally  speak- 
ing, it  consists  of  two  vast  ranges 
running,  like  those  of  the  Finster-Aar-. 
horn  and  Monte-Rosa,  opposite  to  each 
other,  and  both  terminating  in  a  peak 
of  surpassing  magnitude  and  elevation . 
The  Elbruz  is  the  culminating  point 
of  the  northern  of  the  two  ranges,  and 
Mount  Ararat  of  the  southern.  Each 
is  about  15,300  feet  in  height,  or  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  elevation  of 
Mont  Blanc.*  The  medium  elevation 
of  the  two  chains  is  about  10,000  feet, 
and  their  summits  are  so  rugged  and 
sharp  that,  except  in  a  few  places 
where  they  are  intersected  by  deep 
and  narrow  ravines,  forming  the  well- 
known  passes  through  them,  they  are 
wholly  impassable  even  by  foot-sol- 
diers. Seen  from  the  vast  steppes 
which  stretch  to  the  northward  from 
its  front  towards  Tartary,  the  Caucasus 
presents  a  huge  barrier,  rising  insen- 
sibly from  1200  to  10, 000  feet  in  height 
Immense  downs,  covered  with  grass, 
unbroken  by  tree,  shrub,  or  rock,  com- 
pose the  summits  of  the  first  range, 
which  in  general  does  not  exceed  4000 
feet  in  height;  but  their  sides  are 
furrowed  by  frightful  ravines,  whose 
torrents  descend  with  irresistible  vio- 
lence amidst  broken  scaurs  and  rugged 
thickets.  But  in  the  interior  range  the 
character  of  the  mountains  changes : 
far  above  the  traveller's  head  dark 
forests  clothe  their  shaggy  sides ;  their 
summits  start  up  into  a  thousand 
fantastic  and  inaccessible  peaks  which 
repose  in  icy  stillness  on  the  azure  fir- 
mament. 

61.  Few  passes  accessible  to  troops 
or  wheel-carriages  traverse  this  terrific 

*  The  Elbruz  has  been  only  once  ascended. 
In  1S29,  M.  Kupfer,  of  the  Academy  of  St 
Petersburg,  with  two  other  gentlemen,  as- 
cended to  a  point  only  six  hundred  feet 
below  the  summit,  but  could  not  reach  it, 
owing  to  the  slipperiness  of  the  melting 
snow.  In  the  night,  however,  a  shepherd, 
named  Killar,  taking  advantage  of  the  frost, 
surmounted  the  difficulties,  and  reached  the 
summit,  from  whence  he  was  seen  by  the 
Russian  detachment  under  General  Emanuel, 
which  was  stationed  in  the  valley. — FONTON, 
p.  5. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


345 


barrier.  The  principal  one,  through 
which  the  great  military  road  of  Geor- 
gia passes,  is  that  of  Vladi-Caucase,  or 
Dariel,  which  is  defended  by  fortified 
block-houses  at  all  the  stations,  and 
which,  at  its  highest  point  of  elevation 
at  the  Mountain  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
is  1329  toises,  or  7974  feet,  above  the 
level  of  the  sea ;  being  about  the  height 
of  the  Great  St  Bernard  in  Switzer- 
land. The  pass,  in  approaching  that 
summit,  forms  the  Pilce  Caucasice  of 
the  ancients,  and  is  called  by  the  Per- 
sians "  The  Iron  Gate. "  The  next  in 
point  of  importance,  and  which  forms 
the  great  Russian  line  of  communica- 
tion to  the  eastern  parts  of  Georgia,  is 
that  which  goes  by  the  shore  of  the 
Caspian,  through  the  famous  Gates  of 
Derbend.  This  celebrated  pass,  the 
Pilce  A  Ibanice  of  the  ancients,  is  form- 
ed by  the  meeting  of  a  perpendicular 
precipice,  1400  feet  in  elevation,  the 
last  face  of  the  Caucasus,  and  the 
waves  of  the  Caspian.  It  is  called 
now  the  "Gates  of  Derbend,"  which 
signifies  narrow  passage.  The  Turks 
call  it  Demir-Kapi,  or  the  "  Gates  of 
Iron."  It  is  strongly  fortified,  and 
forms  the  western  end  of  this  great 
natural  barrier ;  these  fortifications, 
like  the  wall  of  China,  having  been 
erected  in  ancient  times  by  the  kings 
of  Persia,  to  avert  the  incursions  of 
the  Tartars.  They  never  had  this  ef- 
fect, however,  for  any  length  of  time, 
any  more  than  the  wall  of  Antoninus 
had  that  of  repelling  the  incursions  of 
the  Caledonians,  or  the  rampart  of 
Trajan  those  of  the  northern  Germans. 
The  chief  incursions  of  the  Tartars, 
which  proved  so  frightful  a  scourge  to 
Persia  and  Asia  Minor,  those  of  Gen- 
ghis Khan  and  Tiniour,  were  effected 
by  this  pass,  through  which  repeatedly 
three  and  four  hundred  thousand  of 
these  ruthless  barbarians  have  passed 
on  horseback,  carrying  their  forage  at 
their  saddle-bows,  bent  on  southern 
devastation  and  plunder. 

6i  ASIA  Mixon,  which,  in  every 
period  of  history,  has  borne  an  import- 
ant part  alike  in  Asiatic  and  European 
annals,  is  a  country  of  great  extent, 
intersected  with  a  variety  of  mountain 
ranges,  and  in  its  valleys  and  }:laius 


abounding  with  all  the  choicest  gifts 
of  nature.  The  climate  in  the  valleys 
of  Georgia,  which  stretch  to  the  south, 
is  mild  and  temperate.  Sheltered  from 
the  chilly  blasts  of  the  north  by  the 
huge  rampart  of  the  Caucasus,  all  the 
productions  of  the  temperate  zone 
come  to  maturity  ;  and  with  them  are 
blended,  where  the  valleys  approach 
the  plain  of  Mesopotamia,  the  palm- 
trees,  pomegranates,  and  dates  of  the 
tropical  regions.  It  is  on  these  sunny 
slopes  that  the  Garden  of  Eden  is  placed 
by  Scripture,  and  from  thence  that  the 
human  nice  set  out  in  its  pilgrim- 
age through  the  globe.  On  the  banks 
of  the  Kara,  which  descends  through 
the  rival  chains  of  Elbruz  and  Ararat 
to  the  Caspian,  the  beauty  of  nature 
realises  all  that  the  imagination  of 
Milton  has  conceived  of  the  charms 
of  Paradise  ;  and  it  is  rivalled  by  the 
surpassing  loveliness  of  those  of  the 
Kuban,  which  forces  its  way  through 
rocky  precipices  from  the  western 
shoulder  of  Elbruz  to  the  Black  Sea, 
Vines,  olives,  apricots,  peaches,  and 
all  the  more  delicate  fruits,  are  there 
found  in  profusion  ;  while  green  pas- 
tures nourish  innumerable  flocks  on 
the  mountain  sides ;  and  the  finest 
crops  of  wheat,  maize,  and  barley,  re- 
ward the  labour  of  the  husbandmen 
at  their  feet.  The  beneficence  of  phy- 
sical nature  may  be  judged  of  by  the 
extraordinary  perfection  of  the  animals 
of  all  kinds  which  are  found  in  that 
favoured  region,  and  the  exquisite 
beauty  of  the  women,  celebrated  over 
all  the  world  as  combining  all  that 
is  most  perfect  in  the  human  figure. 
Erzeroum  is  the  capital  of  this  beauti- 
ful region,  as  of  the  whole  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor. It  is  a  city  containing  a  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants ;  the  scat  of  a 
pacha  of  three  tails,  or  of  the  highest 
grade  ;  and  of  an  importance  second 
only  to  Constantinople  in  the  govern- 
ment and  defence  of  the  empire. 

63.  Although  Turkey  has  repeatedly 
been  threatened  by  Russia  from  the  side 
of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  greatest  danger 
she  has  ever  run,  as  will  appear  in  the 
sequel,  has  arisen  in  that  quarter,  yet 
the  military  resources  of  that  part  of 
i  the  Ottoman  dominions  are  very  great, 


346 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xni. 


and  such  as,  if  ably  led  and  fully  drawn 
forth,  would  seem  capable  of  enabling 
it  even  to  assume  the  offensive  in  that 
direction.  The  Pacha  of  Erzeroum  has, 
in  time  of  war,  twenty  thousand  regu- 
lar troops  at  his  disposal,  to  which, 
when  the  strength  of  the  Osmaiilis  is 
fully  called  forth,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand hardy  and  brave  irregulars  may 
be  added,  all  admirable  horsemen, 
and,  though  undisciplined,  thoroughly 
trained  individually  to  the  use  of  arms. 
The  formidable  nature  of  this  force 
arises  from  the  fact,  that  the  Mussul- 
mans in  the  Asiatic  provinces  of  Tur- 
key form  a  decided  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  ;  they  compose  twelve  mil- 
lions out  of  sixteen  millions  of  its  en- 
tire population.  Though  not  capable 
of  moving  in  masses  under  fire,  or 
meeting  the  disciplined  battalions  of 
Russia  in  the  open  field,  thes«  hardy 
irregulars  are  most  formidable  in  the 
defence  of  woody  fastnesses  or  rocky 
heights,  often  extremely  so  in  a  swarm 
charge,  and  inferior  to  none  in  the 
world  in  the  tenacity  with  which  they 
maintain  walled  towns. 

64.  The  nature  of  the  country  in 
Asia  Minor,  especially  between  the 
Caucasus  and  its  capital,  Erzeroum, 
adds  immensely  to  its  defensible  na- 
ture against  a  northern  invader.  Ex- 
tremely mountainous,  intersected  in 
all  directions  by  ranges  of  hills,  in 
general  rugged  and  precipitous,  and 
yet  so  twisted  and  interwoven  with 
each  other  that  it  is  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity often  to  cross  over  them,  it  is  as 
impervious  to  regular  European  troops, 
burdened  with  artillery  and  chariots, 
as  it  is  easy  of  passage  to  the  Turkish 
hordes,  who  are  seldom  troubled  with 
any  such  encumbrances.  Fortresses 
strong,  according  to  Oriental  ideas, 
and  very  difficult  of  reduction  to  an  in- 
vader without  artillery,  guard  the  most 
important  passes,  or  crown  the  over- 
hanging cliffs.  Few  roads,  and  most 
of  them  practicable  only  for  horses  or 
foot  -  soldiers,  traverse  this  rugged  re- 
gion. That  by  the  coast  stops  at  Tre- 
bizond.  Only  one  road  fit  for  carriages 
traverses  the  centre  of  the  country  by 
Kars  to  Erzeroum,  and  it  is  defended 
by  several  formidable  forts.  Altoge- 


ther, Asia  Minor  presented  the  great- 
est possible  difficulties  to  an  invading 
army  ;  and  they  were  much  augment- 
ed by  the  tyrannical  nature  of  the 
Turkish  government,  which  had  ren- 
dered great  part  of  the  country  a  per- 
fect desert,  and  in  all  so  thinly  in- 
habited as  to  be  incapable  of  furnishing 
the  supplies  necessary  for  a  large  army. 
65.  The  Caucasus  has,  from  the 
earliest  times,  been  the  abode  of  tribes 
inured  to  privations  by  necessity,  sti- 
mulated to  exertion  by  suffering.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  great 
migrations  of  the  human  species  have 
descended  from  its  snowy  ridges. 
Mountaineers  seldom  emigrate,  at  least 
in  inland  situations,  though  they  often 
plunder  the  vales  beneath ;  it  is  the 
herdsmen  of  the  plains  who  traverse  tho 
globe.  The  very  rigour  of  their  climate, 
the  churlishness  of  the  soil,  the  hard- 
ships of  their  situation,  attach  them 
the  more  strongly  to  their  native  laud. 

"  No  product  here  the  ban-en  hills  afford, 

But  man  and  steel,  the  soldier  arid  his 
sword; 

No  vernal  bloom  their  torpid  rocks  array, 

But  winter,  lingering,  chills  the  lap  of  May. 

Yet  every  good  his  native  wilds  impart, 

Imprints  the  patriot  passion  on  his  heart ; 

And  e'en  those  hills  that  round  his  man- 
sion rise, 

Enhance  the  bliss  his  scanty  fund  supplies. 

Dear  is  that  shed  to  which  his  soul  con- 
forms, 

And  dear  that  hill  which  lifts  him  to  the 
storms ; 

So  the  loud  torrent,  and  the  whirlwind's 
roar. 

But  bind  him  to  his  native  mountains 
more."* 

Much  surprise  has  often  been  ex- 
pressed in  western  Europe  at  the  in- 
ability of  the  Russians,  after  above  a 
century  of  conflicts,  thoroughly  to 
subdue  the  inhabitants  of  the  Cauca- 
sus ;  but  the  wonder  will  cease  when 
it  is  recollected  what  difficulty  the 
Romans,  even  with  the  strength  of  the 
Caesars,  had  to  subdue  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Alps,  who  guarded  the  very 
gates  of  Italy,  and  how  long,  in  our 
own  day,  the  naked  Kaffirs,  who  never 
could  bring  six  thousand  men  into  the 
field,  withstood  the  strength  of  Britain. 
The  Caucasians  have  done  no  more 
with  the  Russians  than  they  have  done 
*  GOLDSMITH. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


347 


•with  all  their  neighbours  for  three 
thousand  years  :  plunder  is  to  them 
the  condition  of  existence  ;  the  spoil 
of  the  vales  at  their  feet,  their  chief 
excitement  in  war,  their  main  source 
of  riches  in  peace  ;  and  the  rugged  in- 
accessible nature  of  their  country  en- 
ables them  long  to  carry  on  their  de- 
predations with  impunity.  The  Rus- 
sian army  of  the  Caucasus,  generally 
thirty  thousand  strong,  is  inured  to 
constant  conflicts  with  the  mountain- 
eers ;  the  great  military  roads  through 
the  range  are  only  kept  open  by  large 
bodies  of  men;  strong  forts  are  placed  at 
every  station,  and  the  very  lazarettos 
loopholed  andguarded,  to  prevent  them 
from fallingin to thehandsof  the  enemy. 
66.  Based  upon  a  correct  apprecia- 
tion of  the  immense  advantages  which 
they  derive  from  their  own  unity,  and 
the  weakness  to  which  their  neighbours 
are  exposed  by  their  divisions,  the 
Russian  policy  in  regard  to  all  of  them 
has  for  a  century  and  a  half  been  di- 
rected to  one  object.  This  is  to  avoid 
direct  conquest  or  flagrant  usurpation, 
and  never  hazard  an  extension  of  ter- 
ritory till  the  circumstances  of  the 
people  from  whom  it  is  to  be  wrested 
have  rendered  them  incapable  of  re- 
sistance. To  accomplish  this,  their 
system  is  to  foment  discord  and  divi- 
sions among  the  inhabitants  of  the  ad- 
joining states,  and  protect  the  weaker 
against  the  stronger,  till  all  effectual 
means  of  resistance  have  been  destroyed, 
or  the  Muscovite  strength  is  invoked 
to  terminate  their  contests,  or  defend  a 
portion  of  the  people  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  rest.  The  maxim  "Divide  et 
impera"  is  not  less  the  rule  of  con- 
duct of  the  Cabinet  of  St  Petersbxirg 
than  it  was  of  the  Roman  senate,  and 
now  is  of  the  English  Government  in 
India.  By  this  means,  the  appear- 
ance of  direct  aggression  is  in  general 
avoided,  the  path  of  conquest  is  pre- 
pared before  it  is  attempted,  and  the 
dominant  power  is  frequently  on  the 
defensive  when  hostilities  actually 
commence,  or  it  takes  up  arms  only  on 
an  urgent  and  apparently  irresistible 
appeal  for  protection  from  some  suffer- 
ing people  in  its  vicinity.  It  is,  in 
truth,  the  natural  and  usual  policy  of 


the  strong  in  presence  of  the  weak,  of 
the  united  when  surrounded  by  the 
divided ;  and  so  great  is  the  advantage 
which  in  these  respects  they  possess, 
that  they  can  in  general  drive  their 
future  victims  into  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities,  and  themselves 
maintain  the  semblance  of  moderation, 
while  perseveringly  pursuing  a  system 
of  universal  conquest. 

67.  The  situation  of  Russia,  and  tho 
political  and  religious  circumstances  of 
the  people  by  whom  she  is  surrounded, 
have  contributed  no  less  than  her  in- 
ternal unity  and  strength  to  the  advan- 
tages she  has  derived  from  the  prose- 
cution of  this  policy.  Placed  midway 
between  Europe  and  Asia,  she  touches 
on  the  one  side  the  states  torn  by  the 
social  passions  of  Europe ;  on  the  other, 
those  divided  by  the  divisions  of  re- 
ligion and  race  which  distract  Asia. 
United  in  ambition  and  feeling  herself, 
she  is  surrounded  by  countries  disturb- 
ed by  every  passion  which  can  afflict 
or  desolate  the  world.  In  Poland,  the 
path  of  conquest  had  been  prepared  for 
her  by  "the  insane  ambition  of  a  ple- 
beian noblesse,"  as  John  Sobieski  called 
it,  and  the  divisions  of  apeople  in  whom 
it  was  hard  to  say  whether  the  passion 
for  freedom,  or  the  inability  to  bear  its 
excitement  or  exercise  its  powers,  have 
been  the  most  conspicuous.  In  Eu- 
ropean Turkey  she  found  above  ten, 
millions  of  Christians  oppressed  by  lit- 
tle more  than  three  millions  of  Turks ; 
and  by  raising  the  standard  of  the 
Cross,  and  preaching  a  crusade,  she 
could  at  any  time  at  once  rouse  to- 
the  highest  pitch  the  religious  enthu- 
siasm of  her  own  subjects,  and  propor- 
tionably  distract  the  feelings  and  -weak- 
en the  strength  of  her  opponents.  I  n 
Asia,  where  the  Mussulmans  were  three 
to  one,  she  enjoyed  almost  equal  ad- 
vantages, though  of  an  opposite  de- 
scription ;  for  the  Christian  religion 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  hills  of  Georgia 
from  the  sabres  of  the  Turks  or  the 
scimitars  of  the  Persians ;  and  the  con- 
stant attacks  of  which  they  were  the 
objects,  from  one  or  other  of  these 
powers,  naturally  led  to  her  protection 
being  invoked  by  her  suffering  co-reli- 
gionists between  the  Euxine  and  the 


848 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xni. 


Caspian,  and  the  valour  and  hardihood 
of  the  hills  being  arrayed  under  her 
banners  against  the  ambition  and  fan- 
aticism of  the  plains. 

68.  Peter  the  Great,  who  fully  ap- 
preciated these  advantages  of  his  situ- 
ation, first  made  use  of  them,  and  gave 
the  earliest  example  of  the  system  of 
INTERVENTION.   Passionately  desirous 
of  trade  and  commerce,  and  sensitively 
alive  to  the  disadvantages  under  which 
liis  subjects  laboured  from  their  inland 
and  remote  situation,  it  was  his  great 
object  to  extend  his  frontiers  to  mari- 
time stations.     By  the  acquisition  of 
C'ourland  and  Livonia,  and  construc- 
tion of  St  Petersburg,  he  accomplished 
this  in  the-  north  ;  by  the  conquest  of 
the  Crimea  his  successors  effected  it  in 
the  south  ;  by  the  interventions  in  the 
Caucasus  and  Georgia  they  brought 
their  standards  down  to  the  Caspian. 
All  these  conquests,  which,  entirely  al- 
tered the  position  of  Russia,  and  from 
a  remote  inland  rendered  it  a  first-rate 
political  power,  were  effected  by  Russia 
taking  advantage  of  her  central  situa- 
tion, and  steadily  directing  her  ener- 
gies to  these  objects.     The  oppression 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Georgia,  who  were 
Christians,  by  their  formidable  Mussul- 
man neighbours  in  Persia  and  Turkey 
in  Asia,  gave  Peter  a  pretext  for  inter- 
vening in  the^affairs  of  the  Caucasus  ; 
"  not,"  as  the  Russian  historians  ex- 
press it,  "  in  order  to  extend  the  limits 
of  his  empire  by  distant  foreign  con- 
quests ;  but  in  order  to  prove  the  faci- 
lity with  which  Russia  could  push  its 
dominions  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian, 
to  consolidate  its  conquests,  extend  its 
influence,  establish  regularity  in  the 
relations  of  different  states,  and  permit 
the  growth,  under  its  powerful  shield, 
of  an  order  of  things  accessible  to  the 
development  of  commercial  relations." 

69.  Inspired  with  these  ideas,  Peter 
set  out  ten  years  after  his  disaster  on 
the  Pruth,  at  the  head  of  30,000  men, 
for  the  Caucasus,  and,  passing  through 
the  Gates  of  Derbend  in  less  than  a 
vear,  made  himself  master  of  the  whole 
country  between  the  Euxiue  and  the 
Caspian,  as  far  as  Astrabad.    The  Cau- 
casus resounded  with  his  exploits  :  the 
conquerors  of  Pultowa  were  irresistible 


to  these  rude  mountaineers ;  for  the 
first  time  in  history  the  hill  tribes  of 
Central  Asia  felt  the  superiority  of 
European  arms  and  discipline.  Persia 
and  Turkey  were  alike  compelled  to 
yield  to  his  ascendancy ;  and  by  the 
treaties  of  1723  and  1724  the  Russian 
dominion  was  extended  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Araxes  and  the  shores  of  the 
Caspian.  Subsequently,  and  for  nearly 
seventy  years,  the  mountains  of  the 
Caucasus  were  the  theatre  of  almost  in- 
cessant contests  between  the  Russians, 
Turks,  and  Persians,  who  contended 
with  each  other  for  their  possession ;  and 
not  less  with  the  Caucasians  themselves, 
who  seldom  allowed  the  dominion  of 
any  to  extend  beyond  the  fortified  posts 
which  they  occupied.  But  at  length 
an  important  event  took  place,  which 
cast  the  balance  decisively  in  favour  of 
Russia,  and  established  the  Muscovite 
dominion  in  a  durable  and  solid  man- 
ner to  the  south  of  the  mountains.  This 
was  the  bequest  of  George  XIII.,  Prince 
of  Georgia,  who,  himself  a  Christian, 
and  feeling  that  his  Christian  subjects 
could  only  be  protected  from  Mussul- 
man oppression  by  the  tutelary  arm  of 
Russia,  bequeathed  his  whole  domin- 
ions to  the  Czar  Paul  by  testamentary 
deed,  dated  28th  October  1800. 

70.  The  death  of  Paul,  which  took 
place  shortly  after  this  event,  caused 
some  delay  on  the  part  of  the  Russian 
Government  in  the  acceptance  of  this 
magnificent  bequest ;  but  at  length  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  by  his  manifesto 
of  12th  September  1801,  declared  his 
willingness  to  accede  to  it,  from  a  sense 
of  duty,  and  a  desire  to  protect  the 
Christian  population  of  the  country.* 
As  this  important  acquisition  brought 
the  Russians  into  direct  contact  with 

*  "  Ce  n'est  pas  pour  aocroitre  nos  forces, 
ce  n'est  pas  dans  la  vue  d'interet,  ou  pour 
etendre  les  limites  d'un  empire  deja  si  vaste, 
que  nous  acceptons  le  fardeau  du  trone 
fie  Georgie :  le  sentiment  de  notre  dignite, 
I'honncur,  riiumanite  seule  nous  out  impose 
le  devoir  sacre  de  lie  pas  resister  aux  cris  de 
souffrance  partis  de  votre  sein,  de  detourner 
de  vos  tetes  les  matix  qui  vous  affligent  et 
d'iutrodnire  en  Georgie  tin  gouvernement 
fort,  capable  d'administrer  la  justice  avee 
equite,  de  proteger  la  vie  et  les  biens  de 
eliacun,  et  d'etendre  snrtous  1'cgide  de  la  loi." 
—  Proclamation  dc  1'EiH.pcreur,  litli  Si-p 
1SOO;  FOXTUN,  94. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


Turkey  anil  Persia  beyond,  the  great 
mountain  -  range  which  had  hitherto 
separated  them,  it  led  to  a  decisive 
change  of  policy  on  the  part  of  the 
Cabinet  of  St  Petersburg  on  the  Cauca- 
sian frontier.  The  first  object  was  to 
secure  and  strengthen  the  central  mil- 
itary road  across  the  mountains  by 
Vladi-Kaukas,  and  that  was  effected, 
though  at  the  expense  of  almost  con- 
tinual hostilities  ever  since  with  the 
mountain  tribes ;  with  Turkey  and 
Persia  also  she  was  involved  in  nearly 
constant  warfare,  but  there  the  weight 
and  discipline  of  the  Muscovites  ere 
long  made  themselves  felt.  The  fort- 
ress of  Gandja  was  stormed  in  1803, 
and  the  whole  western  range  of  the 
Caucasus  subjected  to  Russia  ;  and  at 
length,  after  various  vicissitudes  of  for- 
tune, in  the  course  of  which  her  gene- 
rals had  often  great  difficulty  in  mak- 
ing head  against  the  forces  of  Persia 
and  Turkey,  Derbend,  with  its  impor- 
tant Gates,  were  carried  and  strongly 
fortified,  Baka  reduced,  Anapa  on  the 
Euxine  battered  by  a  Russian  fleet,  and 
the  Muscovite  power  established  in  a 
solid  manner  on  all  the  western  slope 
of  the  Caucasus,  as  far  as  the  frontiers 
of  the  pachalic  of  Erzeronm.  The  peace 
of  Bucharest  with  Turkey,  in  March 
1812,  and  of  Gulistan  with  Persia,  on 
12th  October  1813,  gave  durable  ac- 
quisitions of  great  value  to  Russia, 
both  in  Europe  and  Asia — for  in  the 
former  it  brought  her  frontier  forward 
to  the  Pruth,  and  rendered  her  master 
of  the  months  of  the  Danube ;  while  in 
the  latter  it  gained  for  her  the  impor- 
tant district  between  the  Araxes  and 
the  Akhaltakh  range,  as  far  as  the 
chain  of  Allaghez.  These  acquisitions, 
besides  a  territory  of  great  extent,  ren- 
dered the  Russians  masters  of  the  whole 
southern  slope  of  the  Caucasus,  and 
brought  their  outposts  within  a  compa- 
ratively short  distance  of  the  important 
frontier  Persian  fortress  of  Erivan. 

71.  As  the  territories  thus  acquired 
by  the  Russians,  both  towards  Persia 
and  Asia  Minor,  however,  were  almost 
entirely  mountainous,  inhabited  by 
semi  -  barbarous  tribes,  passionately 
enamoured,  like  all  mountaineers,  of 
freedom,  and  long  inured  to  the  prac- 


tical enjoyment  of  its  blessings  and  its 
discord,  under  the  nominal  rule  of 
Persia  and  Turkey,  they  brought  them 
into  almost  constant  hostilities  with 
the  Caucasian  tribes.  These  rede  but 
gallant  mountaineers  were  not  long  of 
discovering  the  weight  of  the  Mus- 
covite yoke.  Immense  was  the  differ- 
ence between  its  systematic  exactions, 
supported  by  regular  armies  travers- 
ing great  military  roads,  every  post  of 
which  was  strongly  fortified,  and  never 
abandoned,  and  the  occasional  and 
transitory  irruptions  of  the  pachas  to 
which  they  had  been  accustomed,  who- 
retired  after  their  spoil  had  been  col- 
lected, and  were  not  seen  for  years 
again.  Hostilities  in  consequence  broke 
out  on  all  sides ;  the  power  of  Russia 
was  soon  confined  to  the  fortresses  oc- 
cupied by  its  own  troops,  many  of  which 
yielded  to  the  fierce  assault  of  tho 
mountaineers ;  and  it  was  even  with 
great  difficulty  that  they  succeeded  in 
maintaining  the  great  military  lines 
of  the  Vladi-Kaukas  and  the  Gates  of 
Derbend.  The  Courts  of  Ispahan  and 
Constantinople  were  not  slow  in  per- 
ceiving the  advantages  which  this  state 
of  things  promised  to  afford  them,  es- 
pecially as  Turkey  appeared  at  that 
period  about  to  be  involved  in  hostili- 
ties with  Russia  on  the  Danube.  They 
fomented  the  irritation,  and  aided  the 
incursions  of  the  tribes  to  the  utmost 
of  their  power ;  and  at  length  an  open 
war  broke  out  between  Russia  and  Per- 
sia, in  which  the  question  at  issue  was, 
which  was  to  become  master  of  the 
Caucasus  ?  The  prospect  was  suffi- 
ciently dark  for  Russia ;  her  army  be- 
yond the  Caucasus  which  the  Czar 
could  bring  into  the  field,  consisted 
only  of  eight  battalions  of  infantry, 
one  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  some 
thousand  irregulars,  in  all  not  ten 
thousand  combatants ;  while  that  of 
the  Persians  was  of  triple  the  strength, 
consisting  of  16,000  regular  infantry, 
12,000  regular  cavalry,  and  8000  irre- 
gulars, besides  24  pieces  of  cannon. 

72.  But  then  was  seen,  as  in  India 
under  the  guidance  of  Clive  and  "Wel- 
lington, what  can  be  done  by  the  vigour 
and  capacity  of  one  man.  The  little 
Russian  army  was  commanded  by  a. 


350 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


hero  destined  to  distinguished  celebrity 
in  future  times,  GENERAL  PASKE- 
•\VITCH.  Skilfully  bringing  all  his  guns 
to  bear  on  the  Persian  centre,  he  open- 
ed upon  it  a  concentric  fire  of  such 
severity  that  it  was  already  shaken, 
when  the  Russian  battalions,  advanc- 
ing with  the  bayonet,  completed  its 
rout.  Driven  back  in  confusion,  the 
whole  centre  broke,  and  the  wings, 
which  had  never  yet  fired  a  shot,  find- 
ing themselves  separated  and  deserted, 
fled  in  confusion.  The  artillery  and 
baggage  of  the  conquered  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  victors,  and  the  Persian 
forces  were  soon  driven  out  of  the  Rus- 
sian territory. 

73.  Early  next  year  operations  re- 
commenced, and  the  Russians,  being 
considerably  reinforced,  were  able  to 
bring  16,000  men  into  the  field.     The 
effect  was  decisive.     Sardar-Abad  and 
Nakhitchevan  were  taken,  EKIVAX  car- 
ried by  assault,  and  Tabriz  opened  its 
gates.     Threatened  with  destruction, 
the  Persians  had  no  resource  but  in 
submission,  and  on  29th  October  1827, 
a  peace  was  concluded  between  the 
Courts  of  St  Petersburg  and  Ispahan, 
on  terms  eminently  advantageous  to 
the  former.     By  this  treaty  the  Mus- 
covite dominions  in  Asia  were  greatly 
augmented.   The  Khauat  of  Talish,  the 
province  and  great  fortress  of  Erivan, 
were  ceded  by  the  Persians,  and  the 
Muscovite  dominion  came  to  include 
the  holy  mountain  of  Ararat.     These 
names  will  convey  but  little  ideas  to  a 
European  reader;  but  it  will  aid  the 
facility  of  conception  to  say  that  it  gave 
the  Russians  the  entire  dominion  of  the 
Caucasus,  and  as  thorough  a  command 
•of  the  entrances  into  Persia  as  would 
be  given  to  France  by  the  acquisition 
-of  the  whole  of  Switzerland  and  Savoy, 
with  the  fortresses  of  Alessandria  and 
Mantua,  for  an  irruption  into  Italy. 

74.  The  system  of  intervention,  so 
successfully  practised  by  the  Russians 
in  Asia,  was  not  less  ably  taken  advan- 
tage of  in  Europe.     The  peculiar  situa- 
tion of  the  provinces  of  Moldavia,  "Wal- 
lachia,  and  Servia,  which  adjoined  the 
southern  provinces  of  Russia,  gave  them 
.great  advantages  for  the  prosecution  of 
that  policy.    Although  the  two  former 


[CHAP.  xin. 

had  been  conquered  by  the  Turks,  yet 
they  had  never  been  thoroughly  re- 
duced to  subjection,  and  were  rather  in 
the  condition  of  tributary  states  than 
provinces  of  the  empire.  They  paid  an 
annual  tribute  to  the  Porte,  but  they 
were  governed  by  their  own  rulers,  or 
"  hospodars,"  as  they  were  called,  who 
were  nominated  by  the  Sultan ;  and  as 
the  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
were  Christians,  they  were  chosen  in 
general  from  the  descendants  of  the 
princes  of  the  old  Byzantine  empire, 
who  dwelt  at  the  Fanar  in  Constanti- 
nople. Servia,  a  strong  mountainous 
and  wooded  country,  had  long  aspired 
after,  and  in  some  degree  attained,  the 
blessings  of  independence.  Under  their 
intrepid  leader,  Czerny  George,  its  in- 
habitants had,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  waged  a  long  and 
bloody  war  with  the  Ottomans ;  and 
although  it  terminated,  on  the  whole, 
to  their  disadvantage,  and  the  Turks 
remained  in  possession  of  the  principal 
fortresses  in  the  country,  and  compelled 
a  tribute  from  the  inhabitants,  yet 
their  subjection  was  more  nominal  than 
real ;  the  power  of  the  Osmaulis  did 
not  in  truth  extend  beyond  the  range 
of  the  guns  of  their  fortresses ;  and  in 
the  rural  districts  the  people,  nine- 
tenths  of  whom  were  Christians,  prac- 
tically enjoyed  the  blessings  of  self- 
government  and  independence. 

75.  Subsequent  to  the  time  of  Peter 
the  Great,  the  Russians  had  repeatedly 
made  such  good  use  of  this  distracted 
state  of  the  northern  provinces  of  the 
Ottoman  empire,  as  to  have  more  than 
once  brought  it  to  the  verge  of  dissolu- 
tion. After  the  victories  of  Marshal 
Munich  in  1739,  and  of  the  Austrians 
and  Russians  under  Prince  Cobourg  in 
1789,  and  the  taking  of.  Belgrade,  the 
Russians  were  earnestly  counselled  by 
their  general  to  march  direct  upon  Con- 
stantinople, and  rouse  a  national  war 
by  proclaiming  the  independence  of  the 
Greeks  under  a  Christian  prince  ;*  and 

*  "  Apres  la  vir.toire  qu'il  avait  remportee 
a  Stawoutjance,  pres  Choczim,  entre  le  Dneis- 
ter  et  le  Pruth,  le  Mare"ehal  Munich  ecrivit  de 
Jassy  aux  conseillers  de  son  Imperatric 
'  qu'il  fallait  profiler  des  circonstances  favo 
ables,  et  marcher  reunit  aux  Grtcs,  bur  Co 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


351 


although  the  intervention  of  the  other 
European  powers  prevented  that  design 
from  being  carried  into  execution  at 
that  time,  yet  it  was  only  postponed. 
Peace  between  Russia  and  Turkey  is 
never  more  than  a  truce  ;  the  designs 
of  the  Cabinet  of  St  Petersburg  on  Con- 
stantinople are  unchanged  and  un- 
changeable. The  Empress  Catherine 
christened  her  youngest  grandson, 
brother  of  Alexander,  C'cmslantinc,  be- 
cause for  him  she  destined  the  tlirone 
of  Constantinople,  and  that  of  St  Pe- 
tersburg for  the  elder  brother.  Al- 
though the  designs  of  immediate  con- 
quest were  laid  aside  for  the  present, 
the  foundation  was  established  for  fu- 
ture inroads  in  the  right  of  interven- 
tion, stipulated  for  the  Cabinet  of  St 
Petersburg  in  the  affairs  of  Wallaehia, 
Moldavia,  and  Servia,  by  the  treaties 
between  the  Russians  and  Turks  in 
1774,  1792,  and  1812.  The  Divan, 
pressed  by  necessity,  glad  to  avert  or 
postpone  the  cession  of  fortresses  or 
provinces,  and  not  foreseeing  the^use 
which  would  be  made  of  this  right, 
acceded  to  it  without  difficulty,  and 
thereby  gave  the  Russians  the  means, 
at  any  time  when  they  might  deem  it 
expedient,  of  availing  themselves  of 
some  real  or  imaginary  grievance,  un- 
der which  the  Christian  inhabitants  of 
Turkey  might  be  thought  to  labour, 
to  declare  war  upon  the  Porte.  All 
the  subsequent  wars  between  the  two 
powers  have  taken  their  rise  from  these 
reaties.  * 

stantinople,  que  1'elan,  1'enthousiasme  et  1'es- 
p£rance  de  cette  nation,  ne  se  retrouveraient 
peut-etre  jainnis  portfis  a  im  pareil  point."  "— 
VALENTINI,  192. 

*  This  right  of  intervention,  which  has  ever 
since  borne  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  differ- 
ences and  diplomatic  relations  of  Russia  and 
Turkey,  is  founded  on  the  treaties  of  Kain- 
•ardji  in  1774,  Jassy  in  1792,  and  Bucharest  in 
1812.  By  these  treaties,  Russia,  after  having 
conquered,  'restored  to  the  Porte,  first  the 
•whole,  and  afterwards  a  large  part  of  Bess- 
arabia, upon  the  following  among  other  con- 
ditions :  1.  The  Porte  engaged  to  protect  the 
Christian  religion  and  churches,  without  hin- 
dering in  any  manner  the  free  exercise  of  the 
former,  or  putting  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
repairing  the  latter,  or  building  new  churches. 
2.  To  restore  to  the  convents,  or  the  persons 
from  whom  they  had  been  taken,  their  lands 
in  the  districts  of  Brahilov,  Choczim,  and 
Bender,  and  to  hold  the  ecclesiastics  in  that 


76.  The  Court  of  St  Petersburg  made 
great  efforts  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  raise  the  popu- 
lation of  the  southern  provinces  of 
Turkey  against  their  Ottoman  oppres- 
sors. With  such  success  were  their  ex- 
ertions attended,  that  more  than  once 
the  Morea,  Albania,  and  the  Isles, 
were  roused  into  insurrection  against 
the  Turks,  and  for  some  years  the  Mo- 
rea was  practically  independent.  The 
effect  of  these  insurrections,  which 
were  all  in  the  end  suppressed,  was  to 
the  last  degree  disastrous  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  country,  but  it  pro- 
duced an  inextinguishable  and  indelible 
hatred  between  them  and  their  op- 
pressors. At  the  period  of  its  final 
subjugation  by  the  Turks  in  1717,  the 
Peloponnesus  was  supposed  to  contain 
200,000  inhabitants,  but  during  the 
course  of  the  century  many  fearful 
calamities  contributed  to  thin  their 
consideration  which  their  sacred  office  re- 
quired 3.  To  have  regard  to  humanity  and 
generosity  in  the  levying  of  taxes,  and  to  re- 
ceive them  through  deputies  to  be  chosen 
every  two  years.  4.  That  neither  the  pacha 
nor  any  other  person  should  be  entitled  to 
levy  taxes,  or  make  exactions  of  any  descrip- 
tion, excepting  such  as  were  authorised  by 
decree  or  custom.  5.  That  the  natives  should 
enjoy  all  the  advantages  which  they  had  in 
the  reign  of  Mahomed  IV.  6.  The  provinces 
of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  were  to  be  allowed 
to  have  charges -d'affaires  with  the  Sublime 
Porte,  of  the  Christian  communion,  to  watch 
over  the  interests  of  the  Principalities,  and 
their  agents  were  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of 
ambassadors  by  the  law  of  nations.  7.  The 
ministers  of  Russia  were  to  be  permitted  to 
make  representations  in  favour  of  the  Princi- 
palities, and  complain  of  the  infraction  of 
these  treaties  whenever  circumstances  might 
require  it.  8.  Russia  restored  the  islands  in 
the  Archipelago  which  she  had  conquered, 
stipulating  for  the  inhabitants  the  same  pri- 
vileges, and  for  herself  the  same  right  of  in- 
tervention, as  obtained  in  regard  to  the  Prin- 
cipalities. 9.  The  treaty  of  Bucharest,  in  1812, 
stipulated  that  the  Servians  should  have  the 
right  of  administering  their  own  affairs,  upon 
paying  a  moderate  contribution  to  the  Porte. 
It  was  natural  and  laudable  in  the  Russian 
Government  to  make  these  stipulations  in 
favour  of  their  co-religionists  in  Turkey,  espe- 
cially when  subjected  to  such  a  ruthless  and 
despotic  government  as  that  of  the  Ottomans ; 
but  it  was  evident  what  innumerable  pre- 
tences for  interfering  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  Turkey  these  claims  were  calculated  to  fur- 
nish. In  truth,  they  inserted  the  point  of  the 
wedge  which  might  at  any  time  split  the  Otto- 
man empire  in  pieces. — See  the  treaties  iu. 
SCHOELL,  Traites  de  faix,  xiv.  07,  SOS,  039. 


352 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xnr. 


number.  In  1756  a  dreadful  plague 
appeared,  which  carried  off  one-half  of 
them.  Before  they  had  well  recovered 
from  this  calamity,  the  ill-conducted 
expedition  of  Orloffin  1770  occasioned 
still  heavier  misfortunes  ;  for  the  in- 
habitants were  excited  to  rebellion, 
and  after  having  expelled  the  Turks 
at  first,  they  were  abandoned  by  the 
Russians,  and  overwhelmed  by  a  horde 
of  Albanians,  who  exercised  unbound- 
ed cruelty  and  rapacity  over  the  whole 
country  for  the  next  ten  years.  In 
1780  these  severities  produced  another 
insurrection ;  and  the  Empress  Cathe- 
rine, by  sending  her  fleet  into  the 
Mediterranean,  effected  a  powerful  di- 
version in  favour  of  the  Greeks ;  but 
they  were  again  abandoned  by  their 
allies,  the  Ottomans  renewed  their 
oppression,  the  plague  reappeared  in 
1781 ;  and  such  was  the  devastation 
produced  by  these  concurring  causes, 
that  the  inhabitants  were  reduced  to 
100,000  souls.  Disheartened  by  these 
repeated  desertions  and  misfortunes, 
the  Greeks  in  the  next  war,  which 
broke  out  in  1789,  refused  to  move, 
and  the  Empress  transferred,  her  in- 
trigues to  Epirus,  where  her  agents 
succeeded  in  stirring  up  an  insurrec- 
tion of  the  Souliotes,  who  gained  a 
brilliant  victory  over  ALI  PACHA,  the 
Lion  of  Janina,  as  he  was  called, 
while  the  islanders  carried  on  for  some 
months  a  brilliant  but  fruitless  contest 
with  the  navy  of  Constantinople. 

77.  These  repeated  and  unsuccessful 
insurrections  had  produced  a  more  uni- 
versal and  bitter  feeling  of  exaspera- 
tion in  Greece  against  the  Osmaulis 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Ottoman 
dominions.  Deeds  of  cruelty  had  been 
mutually  inflicted,  deadly  threats  inter- 
changed, which  could  never  be  either 
forgotten  or  forgiven.  The  savage 
disposition  and  arrogant  temper  of 
the  Turks,  which  is  often  obliterated 
during  the  tranquillity  of  peace,  re- 
appeared with  terrible  severity  during 
these  disastrous  contests.  Not  a  vil- 
lage in  the  Morea  but  bore  testimony 
to  the  ravages  of  the  Ottoman  torch  ; 
not  a  family  but  mourned  a  father, 
brother,  or  son,  cut  off  by  the  Turkish 
sabre,  or  a  daughter  or  sister  carried 


off  to  the  captivity  of  the  Turkish 
harems.  The  Turks  had  almost  as 
great  injuries  to  avenge  ;  for  in  the 
political,  not  less  than  the  physical 
world,  action  and  reaction  are  equal 
and  opposite;  and  the  cruel  law  of 
retaliation  is  the  invariable  and  una- 
voidable resource  of  suffering  human- 
ity. The  disposition  of  the  Greeks, 
light,  gay,  and  volatile  as  their  ances- 
tors in  the  days  of  Alcibiades,  rendered 
them  in  a  peculiar  manner  accessible 
to  the  influence  of  these  feelings,  and 
turned  the  ardent  spirit  of  ancient 
genius  into  the  inextinguishable  thirst 
for  present  vengeance. 

78.  The  first  dawn  of  the  Greek 
revolution  appeared  in  the  dubious 
hostility,  and  at  last  open  rebellion, 
of  Ali  Pacha.  *  This  celebrated  man, 

*  Ali  Pacha  was  born  in  a  little  village  of 
Epirus,  from  which  he  took  his  name.  His 
father,  Veli-Bey,  having  been  despoiled  of  his 
share  of  the  little  paternal  inheritance  by  his 
elder  brothers,  engaged  as  a  private  soldier 
in  one  of  those  bands  of  nomad  adventurers 
common  in  Albania,  where  men  became  al- 
ternately heroes  and  banditti.  Having  risen 
to  command  among  his  comrades,  Veli-Bey 
re-entered  his  native  village  at  the  head  of 
his  band,  and  burned  his  brothers  in  the 
house  which  had  been  the  subject  of  con- 
tention between  them.  After  this  he  was 
api>ointed  Aga  of  Tebelen,  and  married  the 
daughter  of  a  bey,  named  Chamco,  a  woman 
of  great  beauty,  and  a  savage  energetic  char- 
acter, in  whose  veins  some  of  the  blood  of 
Scanderbeg  is  said  to  have  flowed.  She 
transmitted  to  her  son  Ali,  who  afterwards 
became  the  pacha,  the  energy,  the  passions, 
and  the  ferocity  of  her  race. 

Veli-Bey  died  young;  but  his  widp\"- 
Chamco,  who  was  endowed  with  a  masculine 
energetic  spirit  and  indomitable  courage, 
resolved  to  preserve  for  her  children,  by  in- 
trigue, the  force  of  arms,  and  the  influence 
of  her  beauty,  which  was  still  at  its  zenith, 
the  power  which  her  husband  had  acquired 
in  Tebelen.  She  left  her  retreat  in  Tebelen, 
put  on  the  dress  of  the  other  sex,  and  placing 
herself  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  the  mountains 
chiefs  of  Albania,  who  were  devoted  to  her 
by  admiration  for  her  courage  and  the  influ- 
ence of  her  charms,  ventured  to  measure  her 
strength  with  the  enemies  of  her  husband's 
house,  who  contended  with  her  for  the  com- 
mand in  Tebelen.  She  was  defeated  and 
made  prisoner;  but,  like  the  Greeks  of  old, 
she  subdued  her  conquerors  by  her  charms, 
and  being  ransomed  by  a  young  Greek,  whom 
she  had  captivated  by  her  beauty,  she  re-en- 
tered Tebelen,  where  she  occupied  herself  for 
several  years  in  the  education  of  her  son  Ali 
and  his  sister.  In  one  of  his  first  expeditions 
he  was  defeated,  like  Frederick  the  Great 
and  Wellington.  "Go,  coward!"  said  she. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


353 


at  once  one  of  the  most  heroic,  the 
most  tyrannical,  and  the  most  cruel  of 
modern  times,  had,  at  the  head  of  his 
brave  and  faithful,  but  half-savage 
Albanians,  long  maintained  a  doubtful 
neutrality,  but  real  independence,  with 
the  Porte,  and  it  was  the  extreme  dif- 
ficulty with  which  he  was  at  last  sub- 
dued which  opened  the  eyes  of  Europe 
most  effectually  to  the  decline  of  the 
Ottoman  power.  He  preserved  a  stu- 
dious neutrality  between  the  Sultan 
and  the  rebellious  vassals  and  indomit- 
able mountaineers  ;  with  thirty  thou- 
sand disciplined  Mussulmans  under 
his  orders,  and  yet  maintaining  a  secret 
correspondence  with  the  discontented 
Greeks,  he  rendered  himself  an  object 
of  importance  to,  and  was  courted  by, 
both  parties.  He  turned  his  hostility, 

presenting  to  him  a  distaff,  "  that  trade  befits 
you  better  than  the  career  of  anus." 

Ashamed  of  his  defeat,  AH  fled  from  his 
paternal  home,  discovered  a  hidden  treasure 
in  the  ruins  of  an  old  chateau  where  he  had 
taken  refuge  for  the  night,  enrolled  thirty 
banditti  under  his  standard,  with  whom  he 
pillaged  the  adjacent  country.  Surprised  by 
the  troops  of  Courd  Pacha  of  Albania,  he 
was  brought  into  his  presence  in  order  to  be 
beheaded ;  but  his  youth  and  beauty  softened 
the  heart  of  the  ferocious  chief,  who  par- 
doned him,  and  restored  him  to  his  mother 
in  Tebelen.  He  then  married  the  daughter 
of  Delvino  Emine,  an  alliance  which  at  once 
gratified  his  love  and  forwarded  his  ambi- 
tion. In  consequence  of  it,  he  was  secretly 
engaged  in  the  first  efforts  of  the  Greeks  to 
achieve  their  independence  in  1790,  when 
they  reckoned  on  the  support  of  Russia. 
This  attempt,  however,  proved  abortive,  and 
it  led  to  Ali's  father-in-law  being  strangled 
by  the  Turks.  He  was  succeeded  in  the 
pachalic  of  Delvino  by  the  Pacha  of  Argyro- 
Kastro,  to  whom  he  gave  his  sister  Chainitza 
in  marriage.  She,  however,  was  enamoured 
of  Soliman,  her  husband's  younger  brother ; 
and  Ali  having  advised  his  sister  to  poison 
her  husband,  in  order  that  she  might  espouse 
the  object  of  her  affection,  and  she  having 
refused  to  do  so,  he  instigated  Soliman  him- 
self to  murder  his  brother,  which  he  did, 
and  Ali  made  over  his  sister  to  him  over  the 
dead  body  of  her  husband. 

The  Sultan  having  afterwards  become  sus- 
picious of  Selim,  Pacha  of  Delvino,  Ali's 
steady  friend  and  protector,  and  his  designs 
having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  Ali,  he  re- 
solved to  make  his  own  fortune  by  the  ruin 
of  his  benefactor.  For  this  purpose  he  in- 
vited Selim  to  his  house,  murdered  him  as 
lie  was  drinking  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  sent  his 
head  to  Constantinople.  For  this  signal  ser- 
vice he  was  rewarded  wilu  the  pachalic  of 
VOL.  II. 


at  the  instigation  of  the  Porte,  against 
the  Souliotes,  who  had  taken  up  arms 
in  favour  of  the  Russians,  and  reduced 
them  to  subjection  with  great  slaugh- 
ter; and  on  occasion  of  the  conflicts 
of  the  Sultan  with  the  janizaries,  he 
advanced  to  the  gates  of  Adrianople 
at  the  head  of  eighty  thousand  men. 
Such  was  his  influence  at  this  timo 
with  the  Divan,  that  his  two  sons, 
Veli  and  Mouctar,  were  appointed  to 
important  commands  in  the  Morea ; 
while  he  himself,  secure  in  his  inac- 
cessible fortress  in  the  lake  of  Janina, 
revolved  in  his  mind  dark  schemes  of 
conquest  and  independence.  At  length 
the  Sultan,  having  received  intelli- 
gence of  his  designs,  and  dreading 
his  daily  increasing  power,  summoned 
Mm  to  Constantinople  to  answer  some 

Thessaly.  He  there  soon  accumulated  great 
treasiires  by  every  speciesof  extortion  and  op- 
pression, with  the  fruits  of  which  he  bought 
the  pachalic  of  Janinn,  in  one  of  the  richest 
and  most  delicious  valleys  of  Epiras,  whero 
he  constructed  an  impregnable  fortress, 
amassed  immense  treasures,  and  collected  a 
formidable  army.  He  aided  the  Porte  with 
these  forces  in  suppressing  the  insurrection 
of  the  Souliotes,  but  still  preserved  in  secret 
his  old  connection  with  the  Greeks,  and 
often  drank  in  private  to  the  health  of  the 
Virgin.  Yet,  still  keeping  up  his  system  of 
hypocrisy,  he  inarched  with  twenty  thousand 
men  against  the  Pacha  of  Widdin,  who  had 
declared  for  the  Greeks,  and  destroyed  him 
at  the  very  time  when  he  was  encouraging 
in  his  palace  the  poetry  of  the  Greek  Rhigas 
— the  Tyrtscus  of  the  modern  war  of  inde- 
pendence. During  one  of  his  expeditions, 
his  eldest  son,  Mouctar,  being  intrusted  with 
the  government  in  Janina,  excited  the  jea- 
lousy or  suspicions  of  Ali  by  an  intrigue 
with  a  beautiful  young  Greek  named  Euphro- 
sync.  Having  sent  his  son  off  on  a  distant 
expedition,  Ali  surrounded  in  the  night  the 
house  of  Euphrosyne,  and  seized  her,  with 
fifteen  other  young  women,  her  companions, 
who  were  all  thrown  into  the  lake.  His  wife 
Emine  threw  herself  at  his  feet  to  implore 
the  lives  of  some  of  them ;  instead  of  accord- 
ing it,  he  discharged  a  pistol  at  the  wall  so 
near  her,  that  she  fell  down  dead  of  fright  at 
his  feet.  Soon  after,  he  was  seized  with  such 
ai Imiration  for  a  young  Greek  girl  of  twelve 
years  of  age,  whose  village  he  had  delivered 
to  the  flames,  that  he  brought  her  to  his 
harem,  espoused  her,  and  inspired  such  a 
passion,  though  five  times  her  age,  in  her 
youthful  breast,  that  she  remained  faithful 
to  him  in  all  his  subsequent  misfortunes. 
— Biographie  Universelle,  Supplement,  i.  172 
(Ali  Pacha);  and  I.AMAKTINE,  Histoire  dela, 
Kestauration,  vii.  337,  345. 

z 


354 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xm. 


charges  preferred  against  him  ;  and 
upon  his  refusal  to  obey  the  summons, 
he  prepared,  with  all  the  energy  of  the 
Ottoman  character,  to  reduce  him  to 
submission.  Chourchid  Pacha,  a  neigh- 
bouring satrap,  received  the  command 
of  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men, 
with  which  he  approached  Albania  ; 
but  the  reduction  of  that  province 
proved  not  so  easy  as  he  had  expected : 
and  when  the  Greek  revolution  broke 
out,  he  had  already  been  two  years  en- 
gaged in  ceaseless  hostilities  with  its 
sturdy  mountaineers. 

79.  GREECE,  which  rendered  itself 
immortal  in  ancient  story,  and  is,  per- 
haps, destined  to  be  hardly  less  memor- 
able in  modern  events,  is  a  country  of 
extremely  small  dimensions  compared 
to  the  great  figure  it  has  made  in  hu- 
man affairs.   IncludingtheCyclades,  its 
entire  population,  in  1836,  was  only 
688,000   souls  ;   its   superficies,  2470 
square  geographical  leagues,  or  21,430 
square  miles ;  being  less  than  Scotland, 
and  not  half  the  size  of  Ireland.     The 
density  of  the  population  is  only  thirty- 
one  to  the  square  mile  ;  while  in  Eng- 
land it  is  three  hundred — a  fact  speak- 
ing volumes  as  to  the  oppressive  nature 
of  the  Turkish  Government.    Owing  to 
the  benignity  of  the  climate,  however, 
and  the  advantages  of  its  situation  for 
maritime   purposes,    it   is   extremely 
fruitful,  and  yields  an  amount  of  pro- 
duce far  beyond  what  could  have  been 
anticipated  from  its  scanty  population  ; 
for  its  value  amounted,   within   the 
Straits  of  Thermopylae,   in   1814,   to 
60,000,000    piastres,     or    £3,000,000 
nearly.     This  amount,  which  must  be 
considered  very  large,  when  the  extreme 
scantiness  of  the  population  and  moun- 
tainous nature  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
soil  are  taken  into  account,  is  mainly 
owing  to  the  genial  warmth  of  the  sun, 
which  renders  rocky  slopes,  which  in 
northern  Europe  would  produce  only 
furze  or  heath,  capable  of  bearing  rich 
crops  of  grapes,  maize,  and  olives. 

80.  Though  so  limited  in  extent  and 
deficient  in  inhabitants,  however,  Greece 
is  extremely  defensible  in  a  military 
point  of  view,  and  second  to  none  in 
difficulty  of  subjugation  by  an  army 
with  the  artillery  and  carriages  of  mod- 


ern warfare.  The  mountains  are  ex- 
tremely steep,  covered  with  forests, 
sharp  -  pointed  stones,  or  brakes  of 
thorny  plants,  and  intersected  by  num- 
berless deepravines,  the  beds  of  winter 
torrents.  These  chains  are  so  nume- 
rous, and  intersect  each  other  in  so 
many  directions,  that  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible to  get  through  the  country  with- 
out passing  over  some  of  them.  The 
roads,  good  enough  as  long  as  they  pass 
over  the  little  plains — for  the  most  part 
the  bottoms  of  ancient  lakes,  with 
which  the  country  abounds — become 
mere  rugged  paths  the  moment  they 
enter  the  hills,  bordered  by  precipices, 
and  continually  open  to  a  plunging  fire 
from  above,  where  the  enemy  may  bo 
placed,  often  unseen,  in  prickly  thickets 
or  rugged  cliffs.  An  invading  enemy 
must  either  weaken  itself  at  every  step 
by  detachments,  or  expose  itself  to 
have  its  communications  cut  off  by  the 
inhabitants,  who  retire,  before  its  ad- 
vance, into  sequestered  caverns  and 
monasteries  of  solid  construction, 
placed  in  inaccessible  situations,  and 
against  which  cannon  can  rarely  be 
brought  to  bear.  To  transport  artil- 
lery or  heavy  equipages  is  a  prodigious 
labour,  rendered  the  more  toilsome  as 
the  bridges  were  nearly  all  broken 
down  and  never  restored.  The  Turk- 
ish Government  never  think  of  repair- 
ing anything.  Add  to  this,  that  every 
straggler  is  destroyed  by  the  armed 
peasants,  whose  ordinary  mode  of  life, 
and  endurance  of  privations,  make 
them  excellent  guerillas.  By  the  pos- 
session of  the  sea,  these  difficulties,  as 
in  the  early  part  of  the  Persian  inva- 
sion, may  be  overcome  ;  but  the  skill 
and  courage  of  the  Greek  sailors  gave 
them  the  command  of  that  element ; 
and  the  Turks,  never  at  home  in  naval 
warfare,  were  distinguished  by  nothing 
but  cowardice  and  incapacity  in  their 
maritime  contest  with  the  islanders  of 
the  Archipelago. 

81.  A  celebrated  English  traveller 
has  left  the  following  account  of  the 
renowned  land  of  Hellas  :  ' '  The  last 
moments  of  this  day  were  employed  in 
taking  once  more  a  view  of  the  superb 
scenery  exhibited  by  the  mountains  of 
Olympus  and  Ossa.  They  appeared 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


355 


upon  this  occasion  in  more  than  usual 
splendour,  like  one  of  those  imaginary 
alpine  regions  suggested  by  viewing  a 
boundary  of  clouds,  when  they  termi- 
nate the  horizo^i  in  a  still  evening, 
and  are  gathered  into  heaps,  with 
many  a  towering  top  shining  in  fleecy 
whiteness.  The  great  Olympian  chain, 
and  a  range  of  lower  eminences  to  the 
north-west  of  Olympus,  form  a  line 
which  is  exactly  opposite  to  Salonica ; 
and  even  the  chasm  between  Olympus 
and  Ossa,  constituting  the  defile  of 
Tempo,  is  hence  visible.  Directing 
the  eye  towards  that  chain,  there  is 
comprehended  in  one  view  the  whole 
of  Pieria  and  Bceotia ;  and  with  the 
vivid  impressions  which  remained 
after  leaving  the  country,  memory 
easily  recalled  into  one  mental  picture 
the  whole  of  Greece.  In  this  imagi- 
nary flight  the  traveller  enters  the  de- 
iile  of  Tempe  from  Pieria,  and  as  the 
gorge  opens  towards  the  south,  he  sees 
all  the  Larissaeau  plain  ;  this  conducts 
him  to  the  plain  of  Pharsalia,  whence 
lie  ascends  the  mountains  south  of 
Pharsalus  ;  then  crossing  the  bleak 
and  still  more  elevated  region,  extend- 
ing from  those  mountains  towards 
Lamia,  he  has  Mount  Pindus  before 
him,  and,  descending  into  the  plain 
of  the  Sperchius,  passes  the  Straits  of 
Thermopylae.  Afterwards,  ascending 
Mount  (Eta,  he  beholds,  opposite  to 
him,  the  snowy  point  of  Lycorea,  with 
all  the  rest  of  Parnassus,  and  the  towns 
and  villages  at  its  base  ;  the  whole 
plain  of  Elatina  lying  at  his  feet,  with 


the  course  of  the  Cephissus  to  the  sea. 
Passing  to  the  summit  of  Parnassus, 
he  looks  down  upon  all  the  other 
mountains,  plains,  islands,  and  gulfs 
of  Greece,  but  especially  the  broad 
bosom  of  Citliseron,  Helicon,  Panics, 
and  of  Hymettus.  Thence  roaming 
into  the  depths,  and  over  all  the 
heights  of  Eubcea  and  of  Peloponnesus, 
he  has  their  inmost  recesses  submitted 
to  his  contemplation.  Next  resting 
upon  Hymettus,  he  examines,  even  in 
the  minutest  detail,  the  whole  of  At- 
tica to  the  Sunian  promontory ;  for  he 
sees  it  all,  and  the  shores  of  Argos, 
Lecyon,  Corinth,  Megara,  Eleusis,  and 
Athens.  Thus,  though  not  in  all  the 
freshness  of  its  original  colours,  yet  in 
all  its  grandeur,  doth  GREECE  actually 
present  itself  to  his  mind's  eye  ;  and 
may  the  impression  never  be  oblite- 
rated ! "  What  a  list  of  names  !  what 
magic  in  their  very  sound  !  And  was 
it  surprising  that  the  resurrection  of  a 
country  fraught  with  such  recollec- 
tions thrilled  like  the  «nmd  of  a  trum- 
pet through  the  heart  of  Europe  ? 

"  Yet  are  tliy  skies  as  blue,  thy  crags  as  wild ; 
Bweet  are  tliy  groves,  and  verdant  are  tliy 

fields. 

Thine  olive  ripe  as  when  Minerva  smiled, 
And  still   his  honeyed  wealth  Hymettus 

yields  ; 
There  the  blithe  bee  his  fragrant  fortress 

builds, 

The  freebprn  wanderer  of  thy  mountain-air; 

Apollo  still  thy  long,  long  summer  gilds, 

Still  in  his  beam  Mendeli's  marbles  glare ; 

Art,  Glory,  Freedom  fail,  but  Nature  still  is 

fair."  * 

*  BraoK,  Childe  Harold* 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

GREEK  REVOLUTION— BATTLE  OF   XAVARINO — ESTABLISHMENT 
OF  GREEK  INDEPENDENCE. 


1.  ALTHOUGH  the  Greeks  had  for  '  with  more  severity  than  any  other  na- 


four  centuries  groaned  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  Osmanlis,  and  the  heel 
of  conquest  had  perhaps  crushed  them 


tion  in  Europe,  yet  they  had  preserved 
the  elements  of  nationality,  and  kept 
alive  the  seeds  of  resurrection  more 


356 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


entirely  than  any  other  people.  Amidst 
all  the  severities  of  Turkish  rule  they 
had  retained  the  great  distinctive  fea- 
tures of  nationality,  their  country, 
their  language,  their  religion.  As 
long  as  a  nation  preserves  these,  no 
matter  how  long  the  chains  of  servi- 
tude may  have  hung  about  it,  the 
means  of  ultimate  salvation  are  not 
lost,  the  elements  of  future  indepen- 
dence exist.  The  very  severity  of  the 
Ottoman  rule,  the  arrogance  of  their 
Turkish  masters,  the  difference  of 
language,  religion,  manners,  laws,  be- 
tween the  victors  and  the  vanquished, 
had  tended  to  perpetuate  the  feelings 
of  the  subjugated  people,  and  prevent 
that  amalgamation  with  their  oppres- 
sors which,  though  it  softens  at  the 
time  the  severity  of  conquest,  does  so 
only  by  preventing  its  chains  from  be- 
ing ever  thrown  off.  They  had  lost 
all — all  but  the  sense  of  oppression  and 
the  desire  of  vengeance. 

2.  Notwithstanding  the  oppressive 
government  and  Ixmudless  exactions 
of  the  Turks,  the  Greeks  in  some  places 
had  come  to  enjoy  a  very  high  degree 
of  prosperity,  and  various  circum- 
stances had  contributed  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  in- 
crease in  them  to  a  great  extent  the 
material  sources  of  national  strength. 
The  islanders  of  the  Archipelago  had 
contrived  to  engross  the  whole  coast- 
ing trade  of  the  Levant ;  their  traffic 
•was  carried  on  in  600  vessels,  bearing 
6000  guns,  and  manned  by  18,000  sea- 
men.* Hydra  and  Ipsara,  the  chief 
seats  of  this  flourishing  commerce,  had 
become  large  towns,  strongly  fortified, 
containing  each  30,000  inhabitants  on 
their  barren  rocks,  the  refuge,  like  the 
sandbanks  on  which  Venice  was  built, 
of  independence  in  the  hour  of  disas- 
ter ;  while  the  beautiful  fields  of  Scios, 
peopled  by  80,000,  exhibited  every  fea- 
ture of  a  terrestrial  paradise.  Fanned 

*  This  trade  had  augmented  in  the  most 
Fiirprisiii!*  manner,  and  been  attended  with 
extraordinary  profits,  in  consequence  of  the 
Continental  blockade  during  the  last  ten 
years  of  the  war,  and  the  vast  commerce 
•which  was  carried  on  through  Turkey  into 
Hungary,  and  all  the  centre  of  Europe, 
which  had  come  to  exceed  £3,000,000  of  ex- 
ports from  Britain. 


by  the  charming  breezes  of  the  Archi- 
pelago, illuminated  by  its  resplendent 
sun,  surrounded  l>y  a  placid  sea,  which 
reflected  its  azure  firmament,  and  was 
checkered  by  the  white  sails  of  innu- 
merable barks — these  islands  seemed 
to  realise  all  that  the  fancy  of  the 
poet  had  figured  of  the  abodes  of  the 
blessed  : — 

"  The  Isles  of  Greece,  the  Isles  of  Greece, 
Where  burning  Sappho  loved  and  sung, 
Where  grew  the  arts  of  war  and  peace, 
Where  Delos  rose  and  Phoebus  sprung  ! 
Eternal  summer  gilds  them  yet, 
But  all  except  their  sun  is  set."  * 

The  Turkish  pachas  never  set  their 
feet  in  these  blessed  abodes  of  industry 
and  freedom.  Secretly  afraid  of  the 
naval  strength  of  the  Greeks,  and 
aware  that  their  sailors  constituted, 
their  own  entire  maritime  power,  the 
Sultans  of  Constantinople  had  long 
commuted  their  right  of  dominion  for 
a  fixed  annual  tribute,  which  was  col- 
lected by  themselves,  and,  being  regu- 
larly paid,  took  away  all  pretext  for 
further  intrusions.  And  thus  the  is- 
lands of  Greece  had  long  been  remark- 
ed by  travellers  as  a  sort  of  oasis  in  the 
social  desert  with  which  they  were 
surrounded,  and  as  making  manifest 
the  general  Turkish  oppression  by  ex- 
hibiting the  happiness  which  man. 
could  reach  in  those  blessed  spots  when 
emancipated  from  its  influence. 

3.  As  a  natural  consequence  of  this 
extraordinary  and  sudden  influx  of  ma- 
terial prosperity,  there  had  arisen  in 
the  islands  of  Greece,  and  even  in  soni3 
of  the  principal  town  of  the  conti- 
nent, an  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  an  anxious  desire  to  be  readmit- 
ted into  the  European  family,  to  which, 
they  felt  they  belonged  by  religion, 
language,  and  recollections.  Crushed 
and  trodden  under  foot  by  the  Asiat- 
ics, their  hearts  were  still  European  ; 
ruled  in  their  bodies  by  the  Mussul- 
mans, their  souls  were  free  with  the 
Christian.  The  mosque  was  seen  in 
the  cities,  but  the  monastery  still  stood 
erect  in  the  mountains.  The  Crescent 
flamed  in  the  eastern,  but  the  Cross 
was  arising  in  the  western  sky.  To 
assuage  the  thirst  for  knowledge  which. 
*  BYRON,  Don  Juan,  Canto  iii. 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


357 


arose  with  an  extended  intercourse 
with  foreign  nations  and  a  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  means  of  purchasing  it, 
there  had  sprung  up  schools  in  many 
of  the  principal  cities  of  Greece,  and 
translations  of  several  of  the  best  mo- 
dern works  had  already  been  printed 
in  the  Greek  tongue.*  They  incred- 
ibly augmented  the  general  fervour. 
The  newly-instructed  Greeks  found  to 
their  astonishment  that  they  were  the 
descendants  of  a  people,  inhabited  a 
country,  and  spoke  a  language  cele- 
brated beyond  any  other  in  the  litera- 
ture of  western  Europe,  and  from  the 
genius  of  which  nearly  the  whole  il- 
lumination of  the  world  had  sprung. 
The  image  of  ancient  freedom,  the 
triumphs  of  ancient  art,  the  glories  of 
ancient  warfare,  which  had  come  down 
to  them  in  their  own  country  only 
through  the  dark  and  uncertain  streams 
of  tradition,  now  stood  clearly  reveal- 
ed in  the  works  of  their  own  ances- 
tors, written  in  their  own  tongue,  and 
preserved  with  pious  care  by  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  West.  The  contest  be- 
tween the  European  and  the  Asiatic 
was  seen  to  have  been  as  old  as  the 
siege  of  Troy ;  the  animosity  of  the 
Christians  against  the  Mussulmans  to 
have  burst  forth  with  inextinguishable 
ardour  during  the  fervour  of  the  Cru- 
sades. No  one  doubted  that,  on  the 
first  hoisting  of  the  standard  of  inde- 
pendence, the  Christian  nations  would 
crowd  as  zealously  around  it  as  the 
tribes  of  Hellas  had  done  round  that 
of  the  King  of  men,  and  join  them  in 
the  assault  of  Constantinople  as  zeal- 
ously as  they  had  followed  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon  to  the  breach  of  Jerusalem. 

4.  Though  these,  however,  were  the 
secret  feelings  of  the  Greeks,  they  did 
not  venture  to  express  them  openly  ; 
the  sabre  of  the  Turk  was  still  sus- 

*  "  Outre  les  Eeoles  deji  fondees  a  Salon- 
ique,  au.Mont  Athos,  a  Cliio,  a  Smyrne,  a 
Kydonie,  a  Bucharest,  a  Jassy,  et  memo  a 
Constantinople,  ou  se  rendaient  des  profes- 
seurs  formes  dans  les  meilleures  eooles  d'Alle- 
inngue  et  de  France,  il  y  avail  dans  les  villes 
mi  pen  considerable  de  la  Grece,  des  lyce"es, 
des  gymnases,  des  bibliotlieques,  et  jusque 
dans  beaucoup  de  villages,  des  ecoles  d'en- 
pcistnenient  mutuel,  inalgre  la  repugnance  de 
].i  Porte  Ottomane  et  ineme,  ilit-on.  du  clerge 
<irjc. " — Anuaaire  UUloriqut,  iv.  V~S, 


ponded  over  their  heads,  and  it  might 
at  any  moment  fall,  and  involve  them 
in  one  common  ruin.  Unarmed,  at 
least  on  the  continent,  with  all  their 
fortresses  in  the  hands  of  the  Mussul- 
mans, and  the  only  military  force  in 
the  country  at  the  disposal  of  their 
oppressors,  it  was  evident  to  all  that 
open  insurrection  would  be  the  signal 
for  general  ruin.  Great  hopes  were 
entertained  that  something  would  be 
stipulated  in  their  favour  at  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna  ;  but  jealousy  of  Rus- 
sia, of  which  it  was  thought  infant 
Greece  would  merely  be  an  appanage, 
prevented  anything  of  the  kind  being 
attempted  in  that  assembly.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  Greeks  took  refuge 
in  the  usual  resource  of  the  weak  in 
presence  of  the  strong :  they  formed 
secret  societies.  A  great  association 
was  formed  of  Greeks,  not  only  in 
their  own  territory,  but  in  Constanti- 
nople, Bavaria,  Austria,  and  Russia — 
the  object  of  which  was  to  effect,  as 
soon  as  circumstances  woxild  permit 
the  attempt  to  be  made,  the  entire 
independence  of  Greece  by  their  own 
efforts.  Several  distinguished  Russi- 
ans were  members  of  this  society  ;  in 
particular,  Count  Capo  d'Istria,  a 
Greek  by  birth,  and  whose  situation 
as  private  secretary  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander  naturally  encouraged  the 
hope  that  the  objects  of  the  society 
were,  in  secret  at  least,  not  alien  to 
the  inclinations  of  that  great  poten- 
tate. 

5.  Like  all  other  secret  societies, 
this  of  the  Hetairists  had  several  dif- 
ferent gradations.  The  first  class,  into 
which  all  Greeks  without  exception 
who  desired  admission  were  eligible, 
were  only  informed  that  the  object  of 
the  society  was  to  ameliorate  the  social 
condition  of  the  Greeks.  The  next 
class,  called  the  Systemenoi,  or  Bache- 
lors, were  selected  with  more  discri- 
mination, and  were  apprised  in  secret 
that  the  object  of  the  society  was  to 
effect  an  entire  revolution,  and  sever- 
ance from  Turkey.  The  third  class, 
which  was  termed  the  Priests  of  Eleu- 
sis,  were  cautiously  informed  that  the 
period  of  the  struggle  approached, 
and  that  there  existed  in  the  Hetairia 


353 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


higher  classes  than  their  own.  Nearly 
the  whole  Greek  priests  belonged  to 
this  class,  and  it  embraced  no  less 
than  one  hundred  and  sixteen  prelates 
of  their  persuasion.  The  fourth  class 
contained  only  sixteen  names,  and  it 
was  never  known  who  they  all  were, 
which  only  augmented  its  influence  ; 
but  it  was  known  to  contain  Count 
Capo  d'Istria's,  and  it  was  whispered 
that  among  it  were  many  illustrious 
names,  in  particular  that  of  the  Czar, 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Bavaria  and  Wiir- 
temberg,  the  Hospodar  of  "Wallachia, 
and  many  other  of  the  first  men  in 
the  East.  These  were  mere  rumours, 
however  —  the  real  members  of  that 
select  body,  whoever  they  were,  were 
too  well  aware  of  the  influence  of  the 
unknown  to  permit  their  names  to  be 
revealed ;  but  the  course  of  events 
gives  reason  to  think  that  some  at 
least  of  these  illustrious  personages 
were  in  the  association,  and  formed 
part  of  its  highest  grade.  For  very 
obvious  reasons,  the  seat  of  the  grand 
circle,  or  ruling  committee,  was  in 
Moscow,  and  their  orders  were  written 
in  cipher,  and  signed  with  a  seal  bear- 
ing in  sixteen  compartments  as  many 
initial  letters.  The  society  had  secret 
signs  and  modes  of  recognition,  some 
common  to  all  the  members,  others 
known  only  to  the  higher  grades,  each 
of  which  had  separate  signs,  known 
only  to  themselves  ;  and  all  contribut- 
ed according  to  their  means  to  the 
common  objects  of  the  society. 

6.  As  Capo  d'Istria  bore  so  impor- 
tant a  situation  as  private  secretary 
to  the  Emperor  Alexander,  he  was 
very  careful  of  the  part  which  he  os- 
tensibly bore  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
society.  He  took  a  share  openly  only 
in  the  measures  for  the  extension  of 
knowledge  and  the  relief  of  suffering, 
aware  that  the  impulse  thus  given 
would  speedily  lead  to  other  objects 
iu  which  it  was  not  advisable  for  him 
to  take  a  visible  lead.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  usual  levity  of  the  Greek  char- 
acter, such  was  the  intensity  of  the 
feeling  from  which  the  association  ema- 
nated, that  the  secret  of  its  existence 
was  preserved  in  a  most  surprising 
manner.  It  was  betrayed,  indeed,  by 


a  faithless  brother,  a  Zantide  butcher, 
to  Ali  Pacha  ;  but  that  astute  poten- 
tate, who  foresaw  a  storm  brewing  at 
Constantinople  against  him,  and  never 
doubted  that  the  Emperor  Alexander 
was  at  the  head  of  the  society,  pre- 
served the  secret  revealed  to  him  as  a 
claim  for  protection  in  time  of  need. 
The  Mussulmans,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  association,  remained  in 
utter  ignorance  of  its  existence  ;  and 
when  the  insurrection  burst  forth  in 
1821,  they  were  taken  as  much  by 
surprise,  and  were  as  much  astounded 
as  if  the  earth  had  suddenly  opened 
under  their  feet. 

7.  The  eyes  of  all  the  Hetairists 
were  fixed  on  Russia,  not  merely  from 
a  commuuity  of  religion,  but  from  the 
decided  line  of  policy  which  for  nearly 
a  centuiy  past  that  power  had  adopted 
towards  the  Turkish  empire.  It  was 
notorious  to  all  the  world  that  the 
Cabinet  of  St  Petersburg  had  long  been 
set  on  territorial  aggrandisement  in 
Turkey,  and  that  thePorte  had  found 
in  it  the  most  formidable  enemy  of 
Islamism.  Twice  had  Catherine  ex- 
cited an  insurrection  in  Greece  ;  the 
Turkish  fleet  had  been  delivered  by 
the  Russians  to  the  flames  in  the  Bay 
of  Tchesme  ;  Constantino  had  been 
christened  by  that  name,  precisely 
because  the  Empress  designed  him  for 
the  successor  of  Constantino  Palreolo- 
gus,  the  last  of  the  Caesars  ;  and  the 
intervention  of  the  European  powers 
in  1789  had  alone  prevented  that  de- 
sign being  accomplished,  and  the  Cross 
being  restored  to  its  original  place  on 
the  dome  of  St  Sophia.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  doubt  that  the  power  which 
had  in  this  manner  so  clearly  evinced 
its  disposition  to  extend  its  influence 
in  the  Levant,  would  avail  itself  of 
the  present  opportunity  which  ap- 
peared so  favourable  to  shake  the 
Ottoman  power  to  the  foundation,  by 
establishing  an  independent  state  in 
Greece.  It  was  equally  evident  that 
it  was  from  Russia  alone  that  any  sub- 
stantial support  would  be  given  on 
this  occasion  ;  for,  whatever  were  the 
inclinations  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
other  European  states,  their  govern- 
ments were  too  strongly  impressed 


1820.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


359 


with  the  danger  to  the  independence 
of  other  nations  from  Russian  power 
to  concur  in  any  measures  which  un- 
dermined the  only  empire  that  pre- 
sented an  efficient  barrier  against  it 
in  the  East. 

8.  A  very  melancholy  event,  in  the 
year  1819,  had  strongly  awakened  the 
sympathy  of  the  inhabitants  of  west- 
ern Europe,   and  revealed  the  ardent 
feelings  with  which  the  Greek  people 
were  animated  in  regard  to  their  na- 
tive soil.     The  town  of  PARGA,  on  the 
sea-coast  of  the  mainland,  opposite  to 
the  Ionian  Islands,  the  last  remnant 
of  the  once  great  territorial  possessions 
of  the  Venetian  republic  on  the  coast 
of  Albania,  had  long  been  considered 
as  a  dependence  of  the  state  of  which 
they  had  come  to  form  a  part  ;  and 
in  the  interval  between  its  cession  to 
France,   by   the  treaty   of   Tilsit,  in 
1807,  and   its  transference   to    Great 
Ikitain  by  that  of  1814,   it  had  con- 
tained a  French  garrison,  and  its  in- 
habitants had  begun  to  taste  the  bless- 
ings of  powerful  Christian  protection. 
The  treaty    of  1815,  however,  unfor- 
tunately made  no  mention  of  Parga ; 
but,  on   the   contrary,  stipulated  an 
entire  surrender    of  the  mainland  of 
Turkey  to  the  Porte.     In  consequence 
of  this  circumstance,  the  Government 
of  Constantinople  demanded  the  ces- 
sion  of  Parga  as  part  of  the  main- 
land ;  and  in  this  they  were  zealously 
seconded  by  Ali  Pacha,  within  whose 
territory  it  was  situated,  and  who  was 
extremely  desirous  of  getting  its  in- 
dustrious and  thriving  citizens  within 
his   rapacious  grasp.     On  the   other 
hand,  the  inhabitants  of  Parga,  justly 
apprehensive   of  the  consequences  of 
being  ceded  to   that  dreaded  satrap, 
solicited  and  obtained  a  British  gar- 
rison, which  in  1814  took  possession 
of  it,  and  effectually  preserved  its  in- 
habitants from  Mussulman  rapine  and 
rapacity.     The    inhabitants    joyfully 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  En- 
glish crown.     Thenceforward  they  re- 
garded themselves  as  perfectly  secure 
under  the  cegis  of  the  victorious  British 
flag. 

9.  When  it  was  rumoured,  after  the 
treaty  of  1815,  that  Parga  was  to  be 


ceded  to  the  Turks,  the  inhabitants 
testified  the  utmost  alarm,  and  made 
an  urgent  application  to  the  British 
officer  in  command  of  the  garrison, 
who,  by  order  of  Sir  Thomas  Maitland, 
the  governor  of  the  Ionian  Islands,  re- 
turned an  answer,  in  which  he  pledged 
himself  that  the  place  should  not  be 
yielded  up  till  the  property  of  those 
who  might  choose  to  emigrate  should 
be  paid  for,  and  they  themselves  be 
transported  to  the  Ionian  Islands. 
An  estimate  was  then  made  out  of  the 
property  of  the  inhabitants,  which  was 
found  to  amount  in  value  to  nearly 
£500,000  ;  and  the  inhabitants  were 
individually  brought  up  before  the 
governor,  and  interrogated  whether 
they  would  remain  or  emigrate ;  but 
they  unanimously  returned  for  answer, 
that  "  they  were  resolved  to  abandon 
their  country,  rather  than  stay  in  it 
with  dishonour,  and  that  they  would 
disinter  and  carry  with  them  tho 
bones  of  their  forefathers."  Commis- 
sioners had  been  appointed  to  fix  the 
amount  of  the  compensation  which 
was  to  be  awarded  by  the  Turkish 
Government  to  such  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Parga  as  chose  to  emigrate  ;  but 
they,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
differed  widely  as  to  its  amount,  and 
in  the  end  not  more  than  a  third  of 
the  real  value  was  awarded.  Mean- 
while, Ali  Pacha,  little  accustomed  to 
have  his  demands  thwarted,  and  im- 
patient of  delay,  repeatedly  threaten- 
ed to  assault  the  town,  and  reunite 
it  to  his  pachalic,  without  paying 
one  farthing  of  the  stipulated  indem- 
nity. At  length,  in  June  1819,  the 
compensation  was  fixed  at  £142,425; 
and  Sir  Frederick  Adam  gave  notice 
to  the  inhabitants  that  he  was  ready 
to  provide  for  their  embarkation. 

10.  The  scene  which  ensued  was 
of  the  mast  heartrending  description, 
and  forcibly  recalled  the  corresponding 
events  in  ancient  times,  of  which  the 
genius  of  antiquity  has  left  such  mov- 
ing pictures.  As  soon  as  the  notice 
was  given,  evqry  family  marched  so- 
lemnly out  of  its  dwelling  without 
tears  or  lamentation  ;  and  the  men, 
preceded  by  their  priests,  and  followed 
by  their  sons,  proceeded  to  the  sep- 


360 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


ulchres  of  their  fathers,  and  silently 
unearthed  and  collected  their  remains, 
•which  they  put  upon  a  huge  pile  of 
•wood  which  they  had  previously  col- 
lected in  front  of  one  of  their  churches. 
They  then  took  their  arms  in  their 
hands,  and,  setting  fire  to  the  pile, 
stood  motionless  and  silent  around  it 
till  the  whole  was  consumed.  During 
this  melancholy  ceremony,  some  of 
Ali's  troops,  impatient  for  possession, 
approached  the  gates  of  the  town,  up- 
on which  a  deputation  of  the  citizens 
was  sent  to  inform  the  English  gover- 
nor, that  if  a  single  infidel  was  admit- 
ted before  the  remains  of  their  ances- 
tors were  secured  from  profanation, 
and  themselves  with  their  families 
safely  emharked,  they  would  instantly 
put  to  death  their  wives  and  children, 
and  die  with  their  arms  in  their  hands, 
after  having  taken  a  bloody  revenge 
on  those  who  had  bought  and  sold 
their  country.  The  remonstrance  was 
successful ;  the  march  of  the  Mussul- 
mans was  arrested,  the  pile  burnt  out, 
and  the  people  embarked  in  silence, 
with  their  wives  and  children.  The 
Mussulmans  soon  after  entered,  but 
they  found  only  one  single  inhabitant 
in  the  place,  and  he  was  drunk,  lying 
near  the  yet  smoking  pile. 

11.  A  scene  so  melancholy,  and  so 
unwonted  in  modern  times,  excited, 
as  well  it  might,  the  most  profound 
sympathy  in  Europe  ;  and  as  it  proved, 
by  a  decisive  act,  how  deep  were  the 
feelings  of  nationality  which  slum- 
bered under  the  weight  of  Turkish 
oppression,  it  strongly  awakened  the 
general  feeling  in  favour  of  the  Greeks. 
The  affair  was  made  the  subject  of 
warm  debates  in  both  Houses  of  Par- 
liament ;  but  it  was  too  late.  Parga 
had  been  delivered  up  to  its  oppres- 
sors; its  inhabitants,  like  the  Athe- 
nians in  the  days  of  Xerxes,  had  fled, 
and  its  deserted  streets  had  become 
the  abode  of  the  pirate  and  wild 
animals.  The  Opposition  loudly  de- 
claimed against  the  cession  of  this 
town  and  expatriation  of  its  unfor- 
tunate inhabitants,  as  a  breach  of 
national  faith,  a  surrender  of  the  na- 
tional honour  on  the  part  of  Eng- 
land, which  could  never  be  effaced. 


But  although  it  must  ever  be  a  matter 
of  deep  regret  to  every  person  animat- 
ed with  right  feelings,  that  so  deplor- 
able a  catastrophe  should  have  taken 
place  under  the  shadow  of  the  British 
ilag,  and  to  those  who  had,  in  trusting 
sincerity,  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity  to 
the  British  crown,  there  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  any  direct  breach  of 
treaty  in  our  conduct  on  this  occasion. 
Parga  had  been  either  forgotten  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  when  the  general 
cession  of  Epirus  to  the  Porte  had  been 
stipulated,  or  it  had  been  intention- 
ally ceded  to  that  power.  In  either 
case  we  were  bound  by  the  faith  of 
treaties  to  give  it  up  ;  and  the  evacua- 
tion, however  melancholy,  was  conduct- 
ed with  every  possible  regard  to  the  in- 
terests and  feelings  of  its  inhabitants. 

12.  Matters  were  in  this  state,  with 
the  public   feeling   all    over   Europe 
strongly    excited    in    favour    of   the 
Greeks,  when  the  Spanish  revolution 
of  1820  broke  out,  so  fruitful  in  poli- 
tical consequences  in  every  part  of  the 
world.    Followed  as  it  speedily  was  by 
those  in  Naples,  Sicily,  and  Piedmont, 
and  by  an  extraordinary  fermentation 
alike  in  France,  Germany,  and  Eng- 
land, it  produced  such  a  commotion 
in  men's  minds  as  led,  in  the  course 
of  the  next  year,  to  the  GREEK  RE- 
VOLUTION. The  inhabitants  of  Hellas, 
already  prepared  by  the  efforts  of  the 
Hetairists  for  an  approaching  convul- 
sion, deemed  the  hour  of  tlieir  deli- 
verance at  hand ;  the  friends  of  the 
Greeks,  or  PhiUiellenes  as  they  were 
called,  in  every  part  of  Europe  encou- 
raged these  ideas,  and  secretly  made 
subscriptions  in  money  and  contribu- 
tions in  arms  to  carry  it  into  effect. 
The  desire  for  liberty,  the  fervour  of 
democracy,  combined  with  hatred  of 
the  infidel  in  stimulating  the  Greeks 
to  an  effort  to  restore  their  long-lost 
nationality ;  and  the  strongest  passions 
which  can  move  the  human  breast — the 
love  of  freedom,  the  animosities  of  race, 
and  the  hostility  of  adverse  religions — 
came  for  once  to  pull  in  the  same  di- 
rection. 

13.  When  this  outbreak  took  place 
in  the  beginning  of  1821,  which  de- 
serves to  be  marked  as  one  of  the  most 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


361 


disastrous  eras  the  Ottoman  empire 
has  ever  known,  the  Turkish  dominions 
were  in  a  very  dilapidated  condition. 
They  had  lost  the  vigour  of  barbarism, 
and  not  gained  the  strength  of  civilis- 
ation. Between  the  two  they  appeared 
destined  to  sink  into  the  dust.  Nomi- 
nally extending  over  the  fairest  por- 
tions of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  ; 
embracing  in  extent  nearly  the  whole 
which,  on  the  division  of  the  Empire, 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Constantino,  their  real 
dominion  was  confined  to  a  much  nar- 
rower circle.  Egypt  and  Algeria  were 
only  in  form  subject  to  their  sway;  the 
Pacha  of  Bagdad  could  little  be  relied 
on ;  even  the  nearer  provinces  of 
Moldavia  and  "Wallachia,  containing 
2,000,000  inhabitants,  and  yielding  a 
revenue  approaching  to  a  million  ster- 
ling, were  rather  tributary  states  than 
real  parts  of  the  empire.  Governed  by 
liospodars  selected  by  the  Porte  from 
the  most  wealthy  Greeks  of  the  Fanar, 
who  looked  to  these  appointments 
chiefly  as  the  means  of  augmenting 
their  fortunes,  they  had  been  subjected 
to  innumerable  burdens  beyond  what 
actually  flowed  into  the  cotters  of  the 
Sultan,  and  the  inhabitants  were  so 
discontented  that  they  not  only  formed 
no  addition  to  the  strength  of  the  em- 
pire, but  rather  were  a  burden  to  its 
resources.  They  had  been  three  times 
occupied  by  the  Russian  troops,  and 
as  often  incited  to  revolt  by  their  com- 
manders, within  the  last  half-century, 
und  in  the  end  on  every  occasion  re- 
stored, on  peace  being  concluded,  to 
the  Turks,  with  stipulations  in  their 
favour,  which  the  Porte  constantly 
found  the  means  of  eluding.  Thus  the 
Ottomans,  as  well  as  themselves,  had 
come  to  regard  their  dominion  over 
them  as  merely  temporary,  to  be  made 
the  most  of  while  it  lasted.  Their  agri- 
culture was  annihilated  by  an  ordi- 
nance prohibiting  the  export  of  their 
grain  anywhere  but  to  Constantinople, 
whither  they  sent  1,500,000  bushels  of 
wheat  annually ;  and  only  three  com- 
modities —  wool,  yellow  berries,  and 
hare-skins  —  were  allowed  to  be  ex- 
ported. It  may  easily  be  conceived, 
therefore,  how  discontented  their  in- 
habitants were,  and  how  they  longed 


for  the  steady  government  and  com- 
parative freedom  of  industry  which  the 
Muscovites  enjoyed.  Servia,  with  its 
million  of  inhabitants,  might  be  ex- 
pected, at  the  first  signal  from  Russia, 
to  join  its  gallant  3Touth  to  the  Mus- 
covite bands  ;  and  Albania,  under  the 
sceptre  of  the  wily  tyrant,  Ah'  Pacha, 
was  as  likely  to  join  the  enemies  of 
the  Porte  as  to  support  its  fortunes. 
The  Turkish  dominions  are  rapidly 
approaching  that  state  which  charac- 
terised the  last  days  of  the  Lower  Em- 
pire, when  the  distant  provinces  had 
all  fallen  off  or  become  independent, 
and  the  whole  strength  of  the  state  con- 
sisted in  the  capital,  and  the  provinces 
which  immediately  surrounded  it. 

14.  Add  to  this,  that  the  military 
strength  of  the  empire  was  in  that  state 
of  decrepitude  which  invariably  ensues 
when  one  method  of  carrying  on  war 
is  substituted  for  another,  and  the  na- 
tional armaments  are  exchanged  for 
those  formed  on  the  model  of  other 
states.  The  Turks,  as  already  ob- 
served, were  a  nation  of  soldiers,  and 
as  every  one  of  them  was  trained  to 
the  management  of  a  horse  and  the 
use  of  arms,  they  were  capable,  when 
thoroughly  roused,  and  deeply  imbued 
with  the  military  spirit,  of  forming 
immense  armies,  which  had  more  than 
once  proved  extremely  formidable  to 
the  eastern  states  of  Europe.  But  as 
the  Turks  in  Europe  were  only  a  third 
of  the  entire  inhabitants,  and  they 
alone  were  intrusted  with  arms,  the 
military  strength  of  the  empire,  at 
least  in  that  quarter,  rested  on  a  very 
narrow  foundation  ;  and,  such  as  it 
was,  it  had  sensibly  declined  during 
the  last  century.  The  Turkomans  had 
become  citizens,  and  habituated  to  the 
enjoyments  of  peaceful  life  ;  the  jani- 
zaries were  in  great  part  tradesmen, 
who  were  unwilling  to  exchange  the 
certain  profits  of  business  for  the  un- 
certain gains  of  war.  Then  the  feudal 
militia  had  become  greatly  less  warlike 
and  efficient  than  it  had  been  in  former 
days,  and  no  regular  army  had  as  yet 
been  formed  to  supply  its  place.  Such 
as  were  enrolled  were  often  more  dan- 
gerous to  their  own  government  than 
its  enemies.  So  unruly  were  some  of 


362 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  XIV. 


its  aimed  defenders,  that  it  was  hard 
to  say  whether  the  Sultan  did  not  often 
run  greater  risks  from  their  insubordi- 
nation than  from  the  open  hostility  of 
his  enemies.  Revolts  of  the  janizaries 
tad,  in  very  recent  times,  brought  the 
reigning  family  to  the  very  brink  of 
ruin,  and  been  appeased  only  by  abject 
submission  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  and  though  various  efforts  had 
been  made  to  introduce  the  European 
discipline  among  them,  yet  they  had 
been  constantly  eluded,  and  the  at- 
tempt to  enforce  it  led  to  such  dis- 
content, as  augmented  the  danger 
arising  from  their  mutinous  disposi- 
tion and  arrogant  habits. 

15.  The  insurrection,  the  embers  of 
which  had  so  long  been  prepared  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Hetairists,  and  which ' 
the  Spanish  revolution  at  length  blew 
into  a  flame,  broke  out  first  in  Walla- 
chia.  The  reason  was  that  that  pro- 
vince was  nearest  to  Russia,  upon 
whose  support  the  insurgents  mainly 
relied.  It  was  brought  to  a  point  by 
the  death  of  Prince  Alexander  Suzzo, 
the  hospodar  of  Wallachia,  who  ex- 
pired on  the  30th  January  1821.  The 
Porte  lost  no  time  in  appointing  a  new 
hospodar,  Prince  Charles  Callimachi, 
the  head  of  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
Greek  families  of  the  Fanar  ;  but  as 
the  short  interregnum  which  must  en- 
sue in  some  degree  weakened  the  hands 
of  Government,  the  Hetairists  resolved 
to  take  advantage  of  it  to  raise  the 
standard  of  revolt.  It  began  with  a 
band  of  Greeks  and  Arnauts,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  number,  who  as- 
sembled in  Bucharest  unknown  to  the 
Turks,  and  marched  out  of  the  town 
under  the  command  of  a  brave  officer, 
Theodore  Vladimaruko.  formerly  a  lieu- 
tenant-colonel in  the  Russian  service, 
and  who  was  so  called  from  his  hav- 
ing received  the  order  of  St  Vladamir 
from  them.  "With  this  slender  band 
he  seized  the  small  town  of  Czernitz, 
near  the  ruins  of  Trajan's  bridge  over 
the  Danube,  from  whence  he  issued 
a  proclamation,  announcing  that  the 
hour  of  their  delivei-ance  was  at  hand, 
and  calling  upon  the  people  to  rise  and 
shake  off  the  tyranny  of  their  oppress- 
ors. Such  was  the  discontent  which 


generally  prevailed,  in  consequence  of 
the  oppressive  exactions  of  the  Turkish, 
satraps,  and  the  depression  of  the  value 
of  their  produce  by  being  confined  to 
the  market  of  Constantinople,  that  the 
peasants  all  flocked  to  his  standard  ; 
and  in  a  few  days  Theodore  found  him- 
self at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand 
men,  to  whom  were  soon  added  two 
thousand  Arnauts,  who  formed  the 
police  of  Bucharest,  but  deserted  to 
his  standard. 

16.  Ere  long  another  insurrection, 
equally  formidable,  broke  out  in  Jassy, 
the  capital  of  Moldavia.  On  the  23d 
February  (7th  March,  new  style),  Prince 
Alexander  Ipsilanti,  an  officer  of  dis- 
tinction in  the  Russian  service,  *  entered 
Jassy,  the  capital  of  that  province,  at 
the  head  of  two  hundred  horse,  from 
whence  he  issued  a  proclamation,  call- 
ing on  the  Greeks  of  every  denomina- 
tion to  take  up  arms,  and  promising 
them,  in  no  obscure  terms,  the  support 
of  Russia.t  The  effect  of  this  proclama- 

*  Prince  Alexander  Ipsilanti  was  descend- 
ed from  an  illustrious  Greek  family  of  the 
Fanar,  and  his  father  had  formerly  been  hos- 
podar of  Wallachia.  The  young  prince  was 
admitted  early  into  the  military  academy  at 
St  Petersburg,  from  whence  he  obtained  a 
commission  in  the  Imperial  Guard,  and  lost  an 
arm  in  the  battle  of  Culm  in  1S13.  He  gra- 
dually rose  in  the  Russian  service  to  the  rank 
of  major-genenil;  but  he  became,  after  the 
peace  of  1815,  wearied  of  the  inactivity  of 
pacific  life,  and  entered  warmly  into  the  de- 
signs of  the  Greek  Hetairists.  His  known 
bravery  and  experience,  and  the  rank  he  bore 
in  the  Russian  service,  pointed  him  out  to  the 
Grand  Arch  as  the  proper  person  to  command 
their  armies,  and  he  accordingly  received  the 
commission  of  generalissimo — "Steward  of 
the  Stewards  of  the  august  Arch." — Annuaire 
Historiqwe,  vi.  582;  GORDON,  L  88. 

t  "  Inhabitants  of  Moldavia !  know  that  at 
this  moment  all  Greece  has  lighted  the  torch 
of  liberty,  and  broken  the  yoke  of  tyranny. 
It  reclaims  its  inalienable  rights.  I  go  where 
duty  calls  me,  and  I  offer  you,  as  well  on  my 
own  part  as  on  that  of  all  my  countrymen 
assembled  here,  whom  I  have  the  honour  to 
command,  the  assurance  of  protection,  and  of 
perfect  security  to  your  persons  and  property. 
Divine  Providence  has  given  you  in  Prinoe 
Michael  Suzzo,  your  present  governor,  a  de- 
fender of  your  rights,  a  father,  a  benefactor. 
He  deserves  all  these  titles;  unite  with  him  to 
protect  the  common  weal.  If  some  desperate 
Turks  venture  to  make  an  incursion  into  your 
territory,  fear  nothing;  for  a  great  power  is 
ready  to  punish  their  insolence. — ALEXANDER 
IPSILASTI.  Jassy,  23d  February  1S21  (old 
style).— Annuaire Ilistorique,  iv.  381. 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


353 


tion  was  prompt  and  terrible.  Assured 
of  the  connivance,  if  not  the  support, 
of  the  governor  of  the  province,  pro- 
mised the  all-powerful  protection  of 
Russia,  the  whole  Christian  population 
of  the  town,  whether  Greek,  Molda- 
vian, or  Arnaut,  rose  in  insurrection, 
fell  upon  the  Turks,  great  numbers  of 
whom  they  massacred,  and  pillaged 
their  houses.  Similar  excesses  were 
perpetrated  at  Galatz,  the  chief  sea- 
port, where  great  numbers  of  Mussul- 
mans perished ;  and  the  town,  being  set 
on  fire,  was  in  part  consumed.  The 
vessels  in  the  harbour,  with  the  guns  on 
board,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks, 
to  whom  they  proved  of  essential  ser- 
vice. The  whole  armed  Mussulman 
force  in  the  two  provinces  consisted  of 
six  hundred  horse,  who  were  unable  to 
make  head  against  the  insurgents,  who 
soon  amounted  to  twenty  thousand  men. 
The  intelligence  of  these  events  excit- 
ed the  utmost  enthusiasm  among  the 
Greeks  at  Odessa,  among  whom  Jpsi- 
lanti's  proclamation  was  publicly  read 
nmidst  deafening  cheers,  and  large  s\ib- 
scriptions  to  provide  for  the  support  of 
the  insurgents  were  made.  Ipsilanti, 
encouraged  by  these  auspicious  events, 
organised  a  corps  styled  the  Sacred 
Battalion,  and  which  embraced  the  en- 
tire flower  of  the  youth  of  the  countiy. 
Their  uniform  was  black,  with  a  cross 
formed  of  bones  in  front,  with  the  fa- 
mous inscription  of  Constantine,  ' '  In 
this  sign  you  shall  conquer."  * 

17.  The  great  tiling  required  to  give 
consistency  to  the  insurrection,  and 
cause  it  to  extend  over  the  whole  inha- 
bitants of  Greece,  was  to  hold  out  some 
security  for  the  support  of  Russia.  To 
favour  this  idea  Ipsilanti  spread  abroad 
the  news  of  approaching  aid  from  Rus- 
sia, and  made  large  requisitions  in 
horses  and  provisions  for  the  alleged 
use  of  the  troops  of  that  power.  In  a 
few  weeks  he  was  at  the  head  of  1500 
troops,  chiefly  horsemen,  at  the  head 
of  which  he  had  (as  already  mentioned) 
entered  Jassy,  and  organised  his  little 
force  in  a  regular  manner,  which,  with 
the  exception  of  the  second  battalion, 
600  strong,  consisted  entirely  of  ca- 
valry. Meanwhile  the  fermentation 
*  "  In  hoc  signo  vinoes." 


was  extreme  throughout  all  Greece  and 
the  isles,  and  the  utmost  alarm  pre- 
vailed at  Constantinople.  In  vain  the 
Russian  minister,  Baron  StrogonofF, 
gave  the  Divan  the  strongest  assurance 
that  the  Imperial  Government  were 
strangers  to  the  movement,  and  would 
in  no  way  whatever  countenance  it; 
in  vain  the  Patriarch  and  Synod  of, 
Constantinople  issued  a  proclamation 
denouncing  the  insurrection  in  the 
most  emphatic  terms,  and  calling  on. 
all  the  Greeks  to  remain  faithful  in 
their  allegiance  to  their  sovereign .  The 
Ottoman  Government,  now  thoroughly 
alarmed,  persisted  in  regarding  the 
danger  as  most  serious,  and  in  secret 
instigated  by  the  agents  of  Russia; 
and  on  the  30th  March  a  proclamation 
was  issued  by  the  Divan,  ascribing  the 
disorders  which  had  broken  out  to  the 
distrust  which  the  malversations  of  the 
governors  of  provinces  had  inspired, 
and  calling  on  all  Mussulmans  to  forego 
all  the  luxuries  of  life,  to  provide  them- 
selves with  arms  and  horses,  and  to 
recur  to  the  life  of  their  ancestors  and 
of  camps,  the  primitive  state  of  the 
nation. 

18.  The  first  intelligence  of  these 
events  was  brought  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander  in  April,  at  the  congress  of 
Laybach,  engaged  in  deliberating  with 
the  other  sovereigns  on  the  affairs  of 
Spain,  Naples,  and  Piedmont.  It  may 
readily  be  conceived  what  a  prospect 
was  here  opened  to  Russian  ambition. 
The  object  which  the  Cabinet  of  St 
Petersburg  had  been  labouring  for  a 
century  to  attain,  seemed  now  to  be 
placed  within  its  grasp.  Turkey,  long 
sinking  into  decrepitude,  now  convuls- 
ed in  its  mast  important  provinces  by 
insurrection,  seemed  to  be  falling  to 
pieces ;  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
Greek  nation  called  upon  the  Czar  to 
take  the  lead  in  their  deliverance ;  no- 
thing, to  all  appearance,  could  prevent 
the  conquest  of  Constantinople,  and 
replacing  the  cross  on  the  dome  of  St 
Sophia.  The  other  nations  of  Europe 
were  so  entirely  occupied  with  their 
domestic  troubles,  and  the  social  dan- 
gers with  which  they  were  threatened 
from  the  effects  of  the  Spanish  revolu- 
tion, that  no  serious  resistance  to  this 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


conquest  was  to  be  anticipated  from  the 
jealousy  which  had  hitherto  alone  pre- 
vented it.  Everything  within  and  with- 
out conspired  to  recommend  a  forward 
movement  of  the  Muscovite  troops ; 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
crossing  of  the  Prtith  by  their  batta- 
lions would  have  been  the  signal  for  a 
universal  insurrection  of  the  Christian 
population,  and  the  entire  expulsion 
of  the  Turks  from  their  dominions  in 
Europe. 

19.  It  may  readily  be  conceived  that 
it  must  have  been  motives  of  no  ordi- 
nary kind  which  induced  the  Emperor 
Alexander  at  this  juncture  to  forego 
such  manifold  advantages,  and  remain 
neutral  when  he  had  only  to  give  the 
signal,  and  the  empire  of  the  East  must 
have  fallen  into  his  grasp.  What  those 
motives  were  is  now  known  from  the 
best  of  all  sources — his  own  words,  in 
confidential  conversation  with  M.  de 
Chateaubriand:  "The  time  is  past," 
said  he,  "  when  there  can  be  a  French, 
Russian,  Prussian,  or  Austrian  policy. 
One  only  policy  for  the  safety  of  all  can 
be  admitted  in  common  by  all  people 
and.  all  kings.  It  devolves  on  me  to 
show  myself  the  first  to  be  convinced 
of  the  principles  on  which  the  Holy 
Alliance  is  founded.  An  opportunity 
presented  itself  on  occasion  of  the  in- 
surrection of  the  Greeks.  Nothing 
certainly  could  have  been  more  for  my 
interests,  those  of  my  people,  and  the 
opinion  of  my  country,  than  a  religious 
war  against  the  Turks ;  but  I  discerned 
in  the  troubles  of  tJie  Peloponnesus  the 
revolutionary  mark.  From  tliat  mo- 
ment I  kept  aloof  from  them.  Nothing 
has  been  spared  to  turn  me  aside  from 
the  Alliance,  but  in  vain.  My  self- 
love  has  been  assailed,  my  prejudices 
appealed  to,  but  in  vain.  What  need 
have  I  of  .'an  extension  of  my  empire  ? 
Providence  has  not  put  under  my  or- 
ders eight  hundred  thousand  soldiers 
to  satisfy  my  ambition,  but  to  protect 
religion,  morality,  and  justice,  and  to 
establish  the  principles  of  order  on 
•which  human  society  reposes."  In 
pursuance  of  these  principles,  Count 
Nesselrode  declared  officially  that  "his 
Imperial  Majesty  could  not  regard  the 
enterprise  of  Ipsilanti  as  anything  but 


the  effect  of  the  exaltation  which  char- 
acterises the  present  epoch,  as  well  as 
of  the  inexperience  and  levity  of  that 
young  man,  whose  name  is  ordered  to 
be  erased  from  the  Russian  service." 
Orders  were  at  the  same  time  sent  to 
the  imperial  forces  on  the  Pruth  and 
in  the  Black  Sea  to  observe  the  strict- 
est neutrality.  In  this  resolution 
Alexander  was  warmly  supported  by 
Lord  Castlereagh,  who,  impressed  with 
the  strongest  apprehensions  of  the 
growing  influence  of  Russia,  and  anti- 
cipating nothing  less  than  the  entire 
overthrow  of  the  balance  of  power  from 
the  destruction  of  the  Turkish  empire, 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  a  long  and 
elaborate  letter  dissuading  from  any 
interference  in  the  afl'airs  of  Greece.* 

20.  The  publication  of  this  reso- 
lution on  the  part  of  the  Imperial 
Government  was  a  deathblow  to  the 
insurrection  in  the  provinces  to  the 
north  of  the  Danube.  The  tumultuary 
bands  which  Theodore  and  Ipsilanti 
had  raised  proved  wholly  unequal  to 
a  contest  in  the  plains  of  Wallachia 
and  Moldavia  with  the  strength  of  the 
Ottomans,  now  fairly  aroused,  and 
stimulated  by  every  feeling  of  religious 
zeal  and  patriotic  ardour.  The  fer- 
mentation soon  became  excessive  in 
Constantinople.  Large  bodies  of  Otto- 
mans daily  crossed  over  from  Asia 
Minor,  all  animated  to  the  very  high- 
est degree  with  fanatical  enthusiasm, 
and  loudly  demanding  to  be  led  in- 
stantly against  the  Giaours,  whom  they 
would  exterminate  to  the  last  man. 
Nothing  would  satisfy  the  populace  but 
liberty  to  massacre  the  whole  Greeks 
in  the  capital ;  and  it  was  only  on  the 
earnest  remonstrances  of  the  Russian, 
French,  and  English  ambassadors,  that 
the  Divan  was  prevented  from  giving 
the  reins  to  their  fury.  As  it  wns, 
they  hastened  the  march  of  the  Asiatiu 
troops  through  the  capital  to  the  Bal- 
kan and  the  Danube,  and  there  was 
soon  accumulated  a  force  with  which 
the  Greeks  in  Moldavia  and  Walla- 
chia, now  discouraged  by  the  policy  of 
Russia,  were  unable  to  cope. 

*  Lord  Castlereagh  to  Emperor  of  Russia, 

16th  July  1821. — ALISOX'S  Life  of  Cajllereayh, 

i  iii.  104,  165,  note. 


1321.1 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


365 


21.  But  while  these  serious  prepara- 
tions were  in  progress  for  crashing  the 
insurgents  to  the  north  of  the  Danube, 
the  insurrection  had  broken  out,  and 
already  become  formidable,  in  the  Mo- 
rea  and  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago. 
COI.OCOTKO.M,  formerly  a  major  in  the 
service  of  Russia,    Peter  Mavro,  Mi- 
chael, and  other  chiefs,  who  had  been 
prepared  for  the  event,  had  been  col- 
lecting arms  all  winter  in  the  caverns 
of  Mount  Taygetus;  and  having  re- 
ceived orders  from  Ipsilanti  no  longer 
to  delay  their  rising,  the}'  assembled 
their  followers  in  the  mountains,  in 
the  centre  of  the  Peloponnesus,  and 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt.     In  Pa- 
tras,  a  strong  and  important  fortress, 
the  insurrection  burst  forth  under  cir- 
cumstances peculiarly  frightful.     The 
Christians  rose  in  arms,  and  set  fire 
to  the  Turkish  quarter ;  the  Ottomans 
retired  to  the  citadel,  from  whence 
they  kept  up  an  incessant  bombard- 
ment on  the  burning  city:  the  con- 
tending parties  fought  with  incredible 
fury  in  the  streets;  no  quarter  was 
shown  on  either  side  ;  and  at  length 
victory  declared  for  the  insurgents,  in 
consequence  of  the  arrival  of  the  pre- 
late  Germanos  with   some   thousand 
peasants,  half-armed,  headed  by  their 
priests  singing  psalms,  and  promising 
eternal  salvation  to  such  a.s  died  com- 
bating for  the  Cross.     This  reinforce- 
ment proved  decisive :  the  Turks  were 
on  all  sides  driven  back  into  the  cita- 
del ;  the  town  and  harbour  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  insurgents;  the  crucifix, 
amidst  boundless  joy,   was  raised  in 
the  Place  of  St  George,  and  a  procla- 
mation was  issued  by  the  assembled 
chiefs,     which    concluded    with    the 
words — "Peace    to    the   Christians, 
respect  to  the  consuls,  death  to  the 
Turks." 

22.  The  intelligence  of  this  success 
spread  like  wildfire  through  the  Morea, 
and  everywhere  caused  the  insurrec- 
tion to  break  forth.      With  incredible 
enthusiasm  the  peasants  assembled  in 
their  vales ;  old  arms  were  searched  for 
and  brought  forth;  and  a  variety  of 
skirmishes  took   place,  with   various 
success.     The  general  result,  however, 
was  favourable  to  the  insurgents.    Gra- 


dually the  Turks  were  driven  back  into 
their  strongholds;  and  in  a  few  days 
they  possessed  nothing  in  the  Morea 
but  the  Acro-Corinthus  of  Corinth,  the 
towns  of  Coron  and  Modon,  the  castle 
of  the  Morea,  Tripolitza,  Napoli  di 
Romania,  and  the  citadel  of  Patras, 
Attica  followed  the  example :  the  Otto- 
man garrison  of  Athens,  too  weak  to 
hold  the  city,  shut  itself  np  in  the 
Acropolis,  and  the  cross  was  re-erected 
in  the  city  of  Theseus.  In  the  isles 
the  flame  spread  with  still  greater 
rapidity,  from  the  superior  security 
which  their  insular  situation  and  ma- 
ritime resources  afforded.  The  pea- 
sants in  Crete  rose,  and  compelled  the 
Turks  to  take  refuge  in  their  strong- 
holds ;  the  whole  islands  of  the  Ar- 
chipelago hoisted  the  standaixl  of  the- 
Cross;  and  Hydra,  Spezzia,  and  Ip- 
sara,  the  strongest  and  most  powerful 
among  them,  fitted  out  armaments 
with  incmlible  activity,  to  protect 
their  shores,  and  intercept  the  com- 
merce of  the  enemy.*  'I he  chiefs  of 
Peloponnesus  soon  after  assembled  at 
Calamata,  in  the  Morea,  from  whence 
they  issued  a  proclamation,  in  which 
they  stated  that  they  had  taken  up 
arms  "  to  deliver  the  Peloponnesus 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  Ottomans ;  to 
restore  to  its  inhabitants  their  liberty ; 
to  combat  for  it,  for  their  religion,  and 
for  that  land  which  liad  been  illus- 
trated by  so  much  genius,  and  to 
which  Europe  is  mainly  indebted  for 
the  light  and  the  blessings  of  civilisa- 
tion. We  ask  nothing  in  return  but 
amis,  money,  and  councils." 

23.  The  intelligence  of  these  events 
succeeding  one  another  with  stunning' 
violence,  excited  the  utmost  sensation 
at  Constantinople,  both  among  the 

*  "The  insupportable  yoke  of  Ottoman 
tyranny  Iwth  weighed  down,  for  above  a  cen- 
tury, the  unhappy  Greeks  of  Peloi>onnesus. 
So  excessive  hail  its  rigour  become,  that  its- 
fainting  victims  had  scarcely  strength  enough 
left  to  utter  groans.  In  this  state,  deprived 
of  all  our  rights,  we  have  unanimously  re- 
solved to  take  ii])  arms  against  our  tyrants. 
Our  intestine  discord  is  buried  in  oblivion,  as 
a  fruit  of  oppression :  we  breathe  the  air  of 
liln-rty;  our  hands,  having  burst  their  fet- 
ters, already  signalise  themselves  against  the 
barbarians." — PKTROS  MAI'KOMIKLIALES,  'JStli 
March  1S21 ;  GORDON'S  Greek  Revolution,  i. 
1S3. 


366 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


Greeks  and  Mussulmans.  But  the  lat- 
ter, who  were  a  majority  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, had  the  military  force  at  their 
disposal,  and  were  encouraged  by  the 
continual  passage  of  armed  and  fana- 
tical Turks  from  Asia  towards  the  Da- 
nube, instead  of  being  intimidated  by 
so  many  and  such  threatening  dangers, 
•were  only  roused  by  them  to  fresh 
exertions,  and  inspired  with  more  san- 
guinary passions.  Instant  death  to  the 
Christians,  was  the  universal  cry  among 
the  Mussulmans.  Unable  to  resist  the 
torrent,  and  in  secret  not  averse  to 
measures  of  severity,  which,  it  was 
hoped,  might  crash  the  insurrection 
iu  the  bud,  the  Divan  resolved  on  an 
atrocious  act,  which,  more  than  any- 
thing else,  tended  to  spread  and  per- 
petuate the  insurrection,  and  may  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  principal  causes 
which  hastened  the  ruin  of  the  Turkish 
empire.  This  was  the  murder  of  Gre- 
gory, Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  a 
revered  prelate,  eighty  years  of  age, 
who  was  seized  on  Easter  Sunday,  as 
he  was  descending  from  the  altar, 
where  he  had  been  celebrating  divine 
service,  and  hanged  at  the  gate  of  his 
archiepiscopal  palace,  amidst  the  fero- 
cious cries  of  a  vast  crowd  of  Mus- 
sulmans. The  blameless  life  and  ex- 
emplary character  of  this  prelate,  the 
proof  of  fidelity  to  the  Government 
which  he  had  recently  given  by  his 
proclamation  against  the  insurgents, 
the  courage  he  evinced  in  his  last  mo- 
ments, while  they  were  unable  to  move 
his  enemies,  enshrined  his  memory  in 
the  hearts  of  his  grateful  countrymen. 
His  blood  cemented  the  foundations 
of  the  Christian  empire  in  the  East ; 
he  might  say,  with  the  Protestant 
martyr  at  the  stake,  "  We  shall  light 
a  fire  this  day  which,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  shall  never  be  extinguished." 
After  hanging  three  hours,  the  body 
was  cut  down  and  delivered  to  a  few 
abandoned  Jews,  by  whom  it  was  drag- 
ged through  the  streets,  and  thrown 
into  the  sea.  The  same  night  the  body 
was  fished  up  by  some  zealous  Chris- 
tian fishermen,  by  whom  it  was  con- 
veyed to  Odessa,  and  interred  with 
great  pomp  on  the  1st  July,  in 
presence  of  all  the  authorities,  and 


nearly  the   whole  inhabitants  of  the 
place.  * 

24.  This  atrocious  murder  had  been 
preceded  and  was  soon  followed  by 
others  equally  ruthless,  which  demon- 
strated that  the  Ottoman  Government 
was  either  compelled  or  inclined  to 
give  the  reins  to  the  savage  passions 
of  the  Osmanlis,  and  that  no  hope 
remained  to  the  Greeks  but  in  the  most 
determined  resistance.  On  the  16th, 
Prince  Constantino  Morousi,  dragoman 
to  the  Porte,  was  seized  and  instantly 
beheaded;  and  next  day  ten  of  the 
most  illustrious  persons  in  the  Fanar 
shared  the  same  fate.  At  Adrianople, 
the  Patriarch  Cyrille,  one  of  the  high- 
est functionaries  of  the  Greek  Church, 
and  with  him  eight  other  dignified 
ecclesiastics,  were  beheaded.  The 
Christian  churches  were  everywhere 
broken  open,  rifled  of  all  their  valu- 
able contents,  and  exposed  in  their 
most  sacred  recesses  to  every  species  of 
profanation.  Not  a  day  passed  that 
numbers  of  the  Greek  citizens  of  the 
highest  rank  were  not  murdered,  their 
property  plundered,  and  their  wives 
and  daughters  sold  as  slaves.  In  ten 
days  several  thousand  innocent  persons 
were  in  this  manner  massacred.  To 
such  a  length  did  these  cruelties  pro- 
ceed, that,  upon  the  unanimous  re- 
presentation of  the  European  diplo- 
matists, the  grand- vizier  was  deposed, 
after  having  been  only  ten  days  in 
office,  on  the  ground  "that  his  con- 
duct had  been  too  severe. "  But  the 
removal  of  this  officer  made  no  change 
in  the  system  of  severity  which  was 
pursued;  on  the  contrary,  it  seemed 
to  increase.  On  the  15th  June,  five 
archbishops,  three  bishops,  and  a  great 
number  of  laymen,  were  hanged  in  the 
streets,  without  any  trial,  and  four 
hundred  and  fifty  mechanics  trans- 

*  The  Turks  alleged  to  the  Russians,  in 
subsequent  correspondence  on  the  subject, 
that  the  patriarch  was  put  to  death  because 
letters  implicating  him  in  the  insurrection 
in  the  Peloponnesus  had  been  intercepted 
the  evening  before  his  execution.  But  this 
was  a  mere  pretext;  for  they  never  could 
produce  either  the  originals  or  copies,  though 
repeatedly  urged  to  do  so.  "  De  non  appa- 
rentibtts  et  non  exislentibus,"  says  the  <'ivit 
law,  " eadeni  est  ratio." — Annual  liegitster, 
1S21,  p.  253. 


1S21.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


867 


ported  as  slaves  to  the  Assyrian  fron- 
tier ;  and  at  Salonica  the  battlements 
of  the  town  were  lined  with  a  frightful 
array  of  Christian  heads,  the  blood 
from  which  ran  down  the  front  of  the 
rampart,  and  discoloured  the  water  in 
the  ditch.  Similar  atrocities  -were 
perpetrated  in  all  the  great  towns  of 
the  empire. 

25.  While  these  atrocious  acts  of 
cruelty  were  disgracing  the  Ottoman 
Government,  and  arousing  the  indig- 
nation or  awakening  the  commisera- 
tion of  the  brave  and  humane  in  every 
part  of  Europe,  Sultan  Mahmoud,  with 
that  mixture  of  energy  with  violence, 
of  capacity  with  cruelty,  which  formed 
the  distinguishing  features  of  his  cha- 
racter, was  making  head  against  in- 
ternal dangers,  still  more  serious  than 
those  arising  from  the  Greek  revolu- 
tion, and  laying  the  foundation  of  a 
newly  organised  and  more  efficient  mi- 
litary force  in  the  capital.  His  chief 
difficulty  was  with  the  janizaries,  who, 
having  been  excited  to  the  highest 
degree  by  the  Greek  revolution,  took 
the  lead  in  all  the  massacres  and  atro- 
cities which  were  going  forward ;  and, 
discontented  with  the  removal  of  the 
former  grand-vizier,  who  had  given 
the  full  reins  to  their  fury,  loudly 
demanded  his  recall  to  office,  and 
the  heads  of  six  of  their  principal 
enemies  in  the  council.  The  Sul- 
tan at  first  tried  to  subdue  them 
by  his  firmness ;  but,  destitute  of 
any  other  armed  force,  he  soon  found 
that  such  a  course  could  lead  to  no 
other  result  but  his  own  destruction. 
Accordingly,  though  more  thoroughly 
convinced  than  ever  of  the  necessity  of 
getting  quit  of  these  unruly  defenders, 
lie  resolved  to  dissemble  in  the  mean 
time,  and  submit  till  his  preparations 
for  resistance  to  their  thraldom  were 
complete.  In  consequence  of  these  re- 
solutions, he  distributed  great  largesses 
among  the  troops,  to  which  the  new 
favourite  Babu-nachi  added  others  still 
more  considerable ;  and  the  discontents 
of  the  entire  bands  were  appeased  by 
a  decree,  in  virtue  of  which  the  body 
of  janizaries  was  to  be  represented  in 
the  Divan  by  three  persons  chosen  by 
themselves  from  among  their  number. 


This  was  followed,  a  fortnight  after, 
by  another  decree  of  the  Sultan,  agreed 
to  in  full  Divan,  that  a  large  body  of 
troops  should  be  organised  in  the  Euro- 
pean fashion,  clothed  and  drilled  like 
the  soldiers  of  western  Europe,  and 
that  the  odious  name  of  Nizam  Djedib, 
which  had  cost  the  life  of  Sultan  Selim 
by  whom  the  attempt  was  first  made, 
should  be  for  ever  abolished. 

26.  Dreadful  as  were  the  cruelties 
in  Europe  with  which  the  Turks  in  its 
outset  met  the  insurrection,  they  were 
exceeded  by  those  perpetrated  in  Asia, 
for  there  the  fanatical  spirit  was  more 
violent,  the  intercourse  with  the  na- 
tions of  western  Europe  less ;  arid  the 
Mussulmans,  strong  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  superior  numbers,  as  well  as  in 
the  exclusive  possession  of  amis,  had 
no  restraint  whatever  on  their  atro- 
cities. The  deeds  of  violence  perpe- 
trated in  Smyrna,  always  distinguished 
by  the  fanatical  spirit  of  its  Mussulman 
inhabitants,  threw  all  others  into  the 
shade.  From  the  moment  of  the  break- 
ing out  of  Ipsilanti's  revolt,  the  Chris- 
tian inhabitants  of  that  great  and 
nourishing  city,  who  were  not  more 
than  sixty  out  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  were  kept 
in  a  continual  alarm  by  the  dread  of  a 
general  massacre,  which  was  openly 
threatened  by  the  Mohammedans ;  and 
at  length,  on  the  15th  June,  it  took 
place  under  circumstances  of  unheard- 
of  horror.  News  having  arrived  of  a 
defeat  of  the  Ottoman  fleet  oft'  Les- 
bos, a  band  of  three  thousand  ruffians 
broke  into  the  Greek  quarter,  and 
commenced  an  indiscriminate  mas- 
sacre of  the  inhabitants.  The  men 
who  could  be  reached  were  all  put  to 
death  ;  the  women,  especially  such  as 
were  young  and  handsome,  sold  for 
slaves.  The  magistrates  were  cut  to 
pieces  because  they  would  not  give  a 
written  older  authorising  the  general 
slaughter  of  the  Christians.  Several 
thousands  fell  under  the  scimitars  of 
the  Moslems ;  but,  during  the  time 
required  for  such  wholesale  butchery, 
fifteen  thousand  of  the  better  class 
of  citizens  got  on  board  boats,  and 
found  shelter  in  the  islands  of  the  Ar- 
chipelago. Such  as  could  not  escape 


363 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


in  this  manner,  for  the  most  part  took 
refuge  in  the  hotel  of  M.  David,  the 
French  consul,  whose  rooms  and  gar- 
dens were  soon  filled  with  a  weeping 
crowd  of  women  and  children  implor- 
ing his  protection.  His  janizaries  re- 
fused to  act  against  their  compatriots, 
and  the  doors  were  on  the  point  of 
being  burst  open,  when  that  noble- 
hearted  man,  with  a  single  companion, 
placed  himself  in  the  gateway,  and  at 
the  hazard  of  his  life,  and  by  the  mere 
weight  of  character  and  courage,  kept 
the  assassins  at  bay  till  boats  were  got 
which  conveyed  the  trembling  crowd 
to  the  adjacent  islands. 

27.  This  melancholy  catalogue  of 
disasters,  which  proves  of  what  man- 
kind are  capable  when  their  passions 
are  let  loose  by  the  remissness  of  gov- 
ernment, or  excited  by  its  policy,  may 
be  concluded  with  an  account  of  the 
calamities  of  Cyprus.  That  celebrated 
island,  146  miles  in  length  and  63  in 
breadth,  intersected  along  its  whole 
extent  by  a  range  of  central  mountains 
bearing  the  classic  name  of  Olympus, 
deserved,  if  any  spot  in  the  globe  did, 
the  appellation  of  an  earthly  paradise. 
Its  population,  however,  which  was 
above  a  million  in  the  time  of  the 
ancients,  from  the  effects  of  Turkish 
oppression  had  sunk,  when  the  insur- 
rection iu  the  Morea  broke  out,  to 
seventy  thousand,  of  whom  about 
one-half  were  Christians  and  the  other 
Mohammedans.  Separated  by  a  wide 
expanse  of  sea  from  the  mainland  of 
Greece,  and  blessed  with  a  delicious  cli- 
mate and  mild  character,  the  Cypriots 
remained  strangers  to  the  movement 
for  two  months  after  it  had  elsewhere 
commenced.  The  Mussulman  forces 
in  the  island  were  very  trifling ;  Fama- 
giista,  so  renowned  in  the  wars  of  the 
Ottomans  with  the  Knights  of  Malta, 
almost  in  ruins,  was  garrisoned  by 
only  three  hundred  regular  soldiers. 
In  the  end  of  May,  however,  the  mas- 
sacres commenced.  The  Porte  sent  a 
body  of  troops  from  the  neighbouring 
provinces  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  ten 
thousand  in  number,  who  effected  the 
ruin  of  the  island.  Instantly  on  landing 
they  spread  through  all  the  villages, 
and  commenced  an  indiscriminate  mas- 


sacre and  plunder  of  the  Christian  in- 
habitants. The  chief  towns  of  the 
island,  Nicosia  and  Famagusta,  were 
sacked  and  burnt ;  the  metropolitan, 
five  bishops,  and  thirty-six  other  ec- 
clesiastics, executed ;  and  the  whole 
island  converted  into  a  theatre  of  ra- 
pine, violation,  and  bloodshed.  The 
atrocities  did  not  cease  till  several 
thousand  Christians  had  fallen  by  the 
sabres  of  the  Mussulmans,  and  their 
wives  and  daughters  had  been  con- 
ducted in  triumph  to  the  Mussulman 
harems. 

28.  This  dreadful  series  of  atrocities, 
and  especially  the  murder  of  the  Pa- 
triarch, had  the  effect  of  spreading 
the  insurrection  through  the  whole  of 
Greece.  All  saw  that  no  hope  re- 
mained but  in  the  most  determined 
resistance.  The  mountainous  nature 
of  the  country  and  the  entire  want  of 
roads  rendered  it  possible  to  organise 
the  insurrection  with  impunity  in  the 
lull  fastnesses,  and  often  enabled  the 
insurgents  to  take  a  bloody  revenge 
on  their  oppressors  when  they  entered 
them.  Besides  the  Morea,  Attica,  and 
the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  the 
flame  spread  far  and  wide  wherever 
the  Greek  tongue  was  spoken,  or  Greek 
feelings  cherished.  The  Souliotes  all 
rose  in  Epirus,  and  in  conjunction 
with  the  ./Etolians  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  fortress  of  Salona,  and 
forced  the  troops  of  the  pacha  to  shut 
themselves  up  in  Picorsa  and  Arta.  Six 
thousand  men  were  soon  in  arms  in 
Thessaly  ;  the  mountaineers  of  Olym- 
pus responded  to  the  signal  of  free- 
dom, and  the  insurrection  spread  even 
into  the  hill  districts  of  Macedonia. 
Thirty  thousand  hardy  mountaineers 
rose  in  the  peninsula  of  Cassandra, 
and  laid  siege  to  Salonica,  the  seat  of 
the  pacha,  a  city  containing  eighty 
thousand  inhabitants ;  and  though, 
they  were  repulsed  in  the  assault  of 
that  place,  they  took  a  bloody  revenge 
on  the  Mussulmans  when  they  pursued 
them  into  their  hills,  and  attempted 
to  force  the  intrenchments  which 
guarded  their  mountain  passes,  from 
which  the  Turkish  hordes  recoiled 
with  great  slaughter.  Meanwhile  the 
genius  of  poetry,  roused  as  in  the  days 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


369 


of  Tyrtaeus  at  the  call  of  patriotism, 
made  the  valleys  and  hills  resound 
•with  heart-stirring  strains  ;*  and  the 
necessities  of  men  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  some  sort  of  government 
amidst  the  general  chaos.  At  Hydra 
a  board  of  the  principal  inhabitants 
was  formed,  which  soon  obtained  the 
direction  of  the  islands  :  a  council  of 
military  chiefs  at  Calamata  gave  some 
thing  like  unity  to  the  operations  of 
the  land  forces ;  and  at  Athens  the 
venerable  walls  of  the  Areopagus  be- 
held a  senate  established  which  ob- 
tained the  shadow  of  authority  over 
an  insurgent  people. 

29.  But  while  the  insurrection  was 
thus  gathering  strength  and  acquiring 

*  "  Aevre  iroISes  mv  'EAAijitdi'." 

Thus  rendered  by  the  kindred  genius  of 
Byron : — 

I. 
"  Sons  of  tlie  Greeks,  arise ! 

The  glorious  hour's  gone  forth, 
And,  worthy  of  such  ties, 
Display  who  gave  us  birth. 
Sons  of  Greeks  !  let  us  go 
In  arms  against  the  foe, 
Till  their  hated  blood  shall  flow 
In  a  river  past  our  feet. 

2. 
"Then  manfully  despising 

The  Turkish  tyrant's  yoke, 
Let  your  country  see  you  rising, 

And  all  her  chains  are  broke. 
Brave  shades  of  chiefs  and  sages, 

Behold  the  coming  strife  ! 
Hellenes  of  past  ages, 

Oh,  start  again  to  life  ! 
At  the  sound  of"  my  trumpet  breaking 

Your  sleep,  oh,  join  with  me  ! 

And  the  seven-hilled  city  seeking, 

Fight,  conquer,  till  we're  free. 

Sons  of  Greeks,  &c. 

3. 

"  Sparta,  Sparta,  why  in  slumbers 

Lethargic  dost  thou  lie  ? 
Awake,  and  join  thy  numbers 

With  Athens,  old  ally  ! 
Leonidas  recalling, 

That  chief  of  ancient  song, 
Who  saved  ye  once  from  falling, 

The  terrible  !  the  strong  ! 
Who  made  that  bold  diversion 

In  old  Thermopylte, 
And  warring  with  the  Persian 

To  keep  his  country  free  ; 
With  his  three  hundred  waging 

The  battle,  long  he  stood, 
And  like  a  lion  raging, 
Expired  in  seas  of  blood. 
Sons  of  Greeks,  &c." 
— BYRON,  iv.  219,  8vo  edit. 
VOL.  II. 


consistency  in  Southern  Greece,  it  re- 
ceived its  death-wound  in  the  provin- 
ces to  the  north  of  the  Danube.  The 
support  of  Russia  was  indispensable  to 
its  establishment  in  that  quarter  ;  for 
the  bands  of  the  Wallachians  and  Ar- 
uauts,  imperfectly  disciplined  and  in- 
ferior in  number,  could  never  contend 
in  the  grassy  plains  with  the  admirable 
horsemen  of  the  Osmanlis.  This  sup- 
port the  policy  of  Alexander,  deter- 
mined by  terror  of  the  Spanish  and 
Italian  revolutions,  denied  them.  On 
the  9th  April  the  Russian  Consul  at 
Jassy  issued,  by  command  of  the  Em- 
peror, two  proclamations,  which  were 
decisive  of  his  intentions  regarding 
the  insurrection.  By  the  first,  Ipsi- 
lanti  and  his  partisans  were  summon- 
ed forthwith  to  repair  to  the  Russian 
territory,  to  meet  the  chastisement 
which  awaited  them  as  the  disturbers 
of  the  public  peace ;  while  by  the  second 
the  whole  Moldavians  in  arms  were 
commanded  forthwith  to  submit  to 
the  lawful  authorities.  At  the  same 
time  the  assemblies  of  Hetairists, 
which  had  been  formed  on  the  Pruth 
in  Bessarabia,  were  ordered  to  be  re- 
moved into  the  interior  of  Russia. 
Upon  receipt  of  these  proclamations, 
the  hospodars  of  Wallachia  waited  on 
Prince  Michael  Luzzo,  who  still  held 
the  reins  of  government,  entreating 
him  to  leave  their  territory,  which  he 
accordingly  did  two  days  afterwards, 
taking  refuge  in  Odessa  :  and  a  depu- 
tation was  sent  from  the  boyards  to 
Constantinople,  imploring  the  Sultan 
to  appoint  a  new  hospodar. 

.30.  Ipsilanti  was  in  his  camp  at 
Messid,  on  his  march  to  Bucharest, 
when  he  received  this  disastrous  intel- 
ligence ;  but  he  was  not  discouraged. 
"None  of  the  sovereigns  of  Europe," 
he  said,  "will  venture  to  declare 
against  us.  Who  among  them  will 
allow  history  to  say  of  them  that  he 
has  abandoned  Greece  at  the  moment 
when  it  was  marching  to  defend  that 
beautiful  land  against  the  attacks  of 
barbarians  whom  civilised  Europe  ab- 
hors ? "  His  followers  received  his 
address  with  loud  acclamations,  and 
continued  their  advance  without  iuter- 
2  A 


370 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


ruption  towards  Bucharest,  which  he 
reached  in  a  few  days,  at  the  head  of 
ten  thousand  men.  From  thence  he 
continued  his  march  towards  the  west, 
ostensibly  to  rouse  the  Servians,  but 
really  to  be  near  the  Austrian  frontier 
in  case  of  disaster ;  while  Theodore, 
who  remained  in  command  at  Buchar- 
est, fortified  himself  in  the  convent  of 
Kotroczeni  in  its  neighbourhood,  and, 
despairing  of  success,  openly  received 
with  great  distinction  an  envoy  of  the 
Sultan,  who  came  to  propose  terms  of 
accommodation.  Soon  after,  he  aban- 
doned Bucharest,  which  was  entered 
by  the  Turks  on  the  28th,  and,  bend- 
ing his  steps  towards  Ipsilanti,  was 
by  him  seized  and  publicly  shot,  on 
the  7th  June,  for  his  treachery  to  the 
cause  of  Greece. 

31.  Meanwhile  the  Ottomans,  hav- 
ing now  gathered  up  their  strength, 
and    received    large    reinforcements, 
chiefly  from  the  savage  and  fanatical 
tribes  of  Asia,  had  completed  their 
preparations  for  the  suppression  of  the 
rebellion  to  the  north  of  the  Danube. 
Three  corps,  of  nine  or  ten  thousand 
men  each,  entered  the  principalities  : 
one  under  the  command  of  the  Pacha  of 
"Widdin  ;  another  under  the  Pacha  of 
Silistria ;  the  third  under  Jussuf  Pacha, 
governor  of  Brahilov.     All  were  en- 
tirely successful.     The  Pacha  of  Bra- 
hilov came  first  into  action.     On  the 
13th  May  he  came  up  with  a  body  of 
six  thousand  men,  with  seventeen  gun- 
boats, at  Galatz,  and  after  a  sharp  ac- 
tion of  some  hours'  duration,  in  which 
the  Turks  lost  a  thousand  men,  he  cut 
them  in  pieces,  seized  all  the  gunboats, 
and,    entering   the   town,    massacred 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants. 
Upon  this  defeat  the  Hetairists  evacu- 
ated Jassy,  and  the  whole  of  Moldavia 
was  regained  to  the  troops  of  the  Sultan. 

32.  Meanwhile  Ipsilanti  was  active- 
ly pursued  by  the  Pachas  of  Widdin 
and  Silistria,  to  whom,  after  his  vic- 
tory at  Galatz,  the  Pacha  of  Brahilov 
joined  his  forces.     The  game  was  no 
longer  equal,  for  the  Greek  force  was 
as  much  diminished  by  sickness  and 
desertion  as  that  of  the  enemy  was  in- 
creased.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Turks 
had  established  a  secret  correspondence 


with  the  Arnauts,  Pandours,  and  Wal- 
lachians,  who  composed  the  bulk  of 
Ipsilanti's  army,  and  who  were  pre- 
pared on  the  first  opportunity  to  pass 
over  to  the  enemy.  Thus  overmatch- 
ed, the  prince  retired  slowly  before  the 
hourly-increasing  forces  of  the  enemy : 
Bucharest  was  abandoned,  as  above 
mentioned,  on  the  27th  May,  and  im- 
mediately occupied  by  the  Pacha  of 
Silistria.  At  length,  as  he  could  re- 
tire no  farther,  being  close  upon  the 
Austrian  frontier,  Ipsilanti  resolved  to 
fight;  and  notwithstanding  the  great 
superiority  of  the  Ottoman  forces,  they 
would  have  been  defeated,  and  possibly 
the  Christian  throne  of  Constantinople 
re-established,  had  his  whole  troops  re- 
mained faithful  to  their  colours.  He 
had  disposed  his  light  troops  in  two 
wings,  so  as  to  envelop  the  enemy  when 
they  advanced  to  the  attack ;  and  the 
right  wing,  composed  of  Moldavians 
under  Georghaki,  executed  their  orders 
with  intrepidity  and  success ;  but  the 
other  wing,  consisting  of  Amauts  and 
"Wallachians,  instead  of  doing  the  same, 
passed  over  to  the  enemy  when  they 
approached;  others  took  to  flight ;  and 
the  Greeks,  who  stood  firm,  assailed 
on  all  sides,  were  put  to  the  rout,  and 
driven  from  the  field,  with  the  loss  of 
the  greater  part  of  their  artillery  and 
baggage. 

33.  This  disaster  was  attended  with 
very  little  loss  of  life  to  the  Greeks ; 
but  it  increased  the  divisions  of  their 
army,  discouraged  the  soldiers,  and 
was  the  prelude  to  final  rain.  Having 
collected  all  his  forces,  consisting  of 
4000  infantry,  2500  horse,  and  four 
guns,  Ipsilanti,  who  saw  that  nothing 
but  decisive  success  could  restore  his 
affairs,  advanced  on  the  17th  towards 
the  enemy,  the  vanguard  of  whom  was 
posted  in  the  village  of  DRAGASCHAN. 
His  dispositions  were  made  with  such 
ability  that  the  situation  of  the  Turks 
in  the  village,  on  the  18th,  seemed 
hopeless  ;  but  as  that  day  was  a  Tues- 
day, deemed  of  sinister  augury  by  the 
Greeks,  he  deferred  the  attack  till 
the  following  morning.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  the  19th,  Casavia,  who  com- 
manded Ipsilanti's  advanced  guard, 
commenced  the  attack  with  more  vig- 


1821.] 

our  than  discretion.  The  Sacred  Bat- 
talion advanced  rapidly  in  support ; 
but  when  it  was  seriously  engaged, 
Casavia  and  his  Arnauts  fled  in  the 
most  dastardly  manner,  leaving  the 
Greeks  alone  engaged  with  a  greatly 
superior  body  of  Turkish  horse.  The 
' '  white  turbans  "  were  upon  them  be- 
fore they  had  time  to  form  square,  but, 
falling  back  into  knots  and  little  cir- 
cles, they  long  maintained  the  com- 
bat with  the  greatest  resolution.  At 
length,  their  ammunition  being  ex- 
hausted, they  were  nearly  all  cut  to 
pieces,  combating  with  heroic  courage, 
like  their  ancestors  at  Thermopylae,  to 
the  last  man.  A  hundred  horse  under 
George,  gallopingup,  rescued  the  sacred 
standard  and  two  guns  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  enemy ;  but  the  destruction  of 
the  Sacred  Battalion  proved  fatal  to 
the  little  army.  Twenty-five  only  of 
its  number  were  saved  from  the  sabres 
of  the  Turks,  and  escaped  with  Ipsil- 
anti  into  Transylvania,  where  he  met 
a  less  glorious  fate  than  his  compan- 
ions, by  being  consigned  to  an  Austrian 
dungeon.  He  published,  the  day  after 
his  defeat,  a  valedictory  address  to  his 
soldiers,  inveighing  in  bitter  but  not 
unmerited  terms  against  the  treachery 
of  which  he  had  been  the  victim.*  The 
remainder  of  his  troops  dispersed,  and 
the  insurrection  in  Wallachia  and  Mol- 

*  "  Soldiers !  I  can  hardly  bring  myself  to 
sully  that  honourable  and  sacred  name  by 
applying  it  to  persons  such  as  you.  Hence- 
forth every  bond  is  severed  between  us ;  but 
I  shall  ever  feel  profoundly  the  shame  of  hav- 
ing been  your  chief.  You  have  trampled  un- 
der foot  your  oaths :  you  have  betrayed  your 
God  and  your  country.  You  have  done  so  at 
the  very  moment  when  I  hoped  to  conquer  or 
die  gloriously  with  you.  We  are  severed  for 
ever !  Go  and  join  the  Turks,  the  only  friends 
worthy  of  you.  Go  and  purchase  slavery  at 
the  expense  of  your  blood,  and  of  the  honour 
of  your  wives  and  children.  But  you,  shades 
of  the  Sacred  Battalion,  who  have  been  be- 
trayed, and  who  sacrificed  yourselves  for  the 
deliverance  of  your  country,  receive  through 
me  the  thanks  of  your  nation.  Soon  shall 
monuments  render  your  names  immortal.  I 
abandon  to  the  contempt  of  men,  to  the  Di- 
vine justice,  to  the  maledictions  of  our  coun- 
try, the  perjured  and  cowardly  traitors,  Ka- 
minari,  Sawa,  Dukas,  Constantinos,  Basta, 
Mano,  who  were  the  first  to  desert  the  army, 
and  induced  its  dissolution. — ALEX.  IPSIL- 
ANTI.— Rimnifk,  June  20, 1821."— Ann.  Hist., 
iv.  400. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


371 


davia  entirely  ceased,  except  in  guerilla 
bands,  who  for  some  time  longer  main- 
tained a  desultory  and  predatory  war- 
fare. 

34.  Had  this  stunning  blow,  which 
extinguished  the  revolt  to  the  north  of 
the  Danube,  been  followed  by  a  simi- 
lar success  in  Greece  Proper,  the  in- 
surrection would  have  been  entirely 
suppressed,  and  the  land  of  Hellas 
mignt  have  groaned  for  a  century 
longer  under  the  Ottoman  yoke.  But 
Providence  had  decreed  it  otherwise  ; 
and  a  series  of  glorious  efforts,  though 
deeply  checkered  with  disaster,  at 
length  effected  the  extrication  of 
Greece  from  the  hands  of  the  barba- 
rians. The  first  gleam  of  success,  as 
in  the  days  of  Themistocles,  came  from 
the  sea ;  the  skill  and  hardihood  of  the 
sailors  of  the  Archipelago  asserted  their 
superiority  over  those  of  Asia,  in  the 
days  of  Sultan  Mahmoud,  as  they  had 
done  in  those  of  Xerxes.  With  such 
vigour  had  the  inhabitants  of  Hydra 
and  Ipsara  exerted  themselves,  that 
they  equipped  a  large  fleet  of  small 
vessels,  armed  with  ten  or  fifteen  guns 
each,  with  which  they  had  obtained 
the  entire  command  of  the  Archipel- 
ago, and  made  a  great  number  of  rich 
prizes  from  the  Turks.  Samos,  a  flour- 
ishing island,  containing  forty  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  had  declared  for  the 
cause  of  Greece,  and  its  insurrection 
had  been  followed  by  a  general  and 
frightful  massacre  of  the  Turkish  in- 
habitants, in  retaliation  for  the  cruel- 
ties exercised  upon  the  Christians  ever 
since  the  commencement  of  the  war. 
To  check  these  incursions,  which 
threatened  to  intercept  the  supplies 
of  grain  for  the  capital,  the  Turks 
fitted  out  an  expedition,  consisting  of 
two  ships  of  the  line,  three  large  fri- 
gates, and  a  number  of  smaller  vessels, 
which  set  sail  from  the  Dardanelles  on 
the  19th  May.  It  was  soon  met  by  the 
Greek  flotilla,  which,  unable  to  face  the 
broadsides  of  its  linc-of-battle  ships  in 
stand-up  fight,  hovered  at  a  distance, 
observed  its  motions,  and  made  pre- 
parations, by  turning  several  of  their 
old  galleys  into  fireships,  to  effect  its 
destruction  on  the  first  favourable  op- 
portunity. Such  ere  long  presented 


372 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


itself.  On  the  8th  June,  the  Turkish 
admiral  sent  a  vessel  of  seventy-four 
guns  towards  the  Dardanelles,  in  quest 
of  a  reinforcement  which  he  expected 
under  the  Capitan  Pacha.  It  was  soon 
followed  by  the  Greek  flotilla,  and  the 
captain,  alarmed  at  their  approach, 
took  refuge  in  the  Bay  of  Adramyti, 
where  his  vessel  grounded.  It  was  im- 
mediately surrounded  by  the  Greeks, 
who  opened  a  tremendous  fire  upon  it 
on  the  bows  and  stern,  to  which  the 
stranded  vessel  could  make  no  reply. 
After  bearing  with  great  resolution  this 
raking  fire  for  several  hours,  the  Turk- 
ish seamen  took  to  their  boats,  and  set 
fire  to  the  vessel,  which  was  totally 
destroyed.  Eight  hundred  were  sunk 
by  the  fire  of  the  Greek  vessels  as  they 
rowed  towards  the  shore ;  and  the  Turk- 
ish admiral,  overwhelmed  with  conster- 
nation at  this  disaster,  took  refuge  with 
his  whole  fleet  in  the  Dardanelles,  leav- 
ing the  command  of  the  Archipelago 
and  the  coasts  of  Greece  to  the  Greek 
cruisers. 

35.  This  success  was  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  cause  of  the  Greeks, 
not  merely  as  counterbalancing  the 
disasters  to  the  north  of  the  Danube, 
but  as  giving  them  the  entire  com- 
mand of  the  sea,  a  matter  which  has 
always  been  of  the  very  highest  im- 
portance in  Hellenic  warfare,  as  trans- 
portation by  land  is  so  difficult  in  its 
rocky  territory,  and  the  ocean  is  the 
highway  leading  to  its  numerous  islands 
and  deeply  indented  bays.  Encouraged 
by  their  success,  the  Greeks,  after 
threatening  Smyrna,  made  a  descent 
on  the  Mosconissi  Islands  on  the  13th 
June,  and  having  excited  an  insurrec- 
tion in  Aivaly,  the  ancient  Cydonia, 
its  chief  town,  containing  thirty -six 
thousand  inhabitants,  a  frightful  con- 
flict ensued  in  the  streets,  in  the  course 
of  which  fifteen  hundred  Turks  perish- 
ed, and  they  were  driven  out  of  the 
place,  but  not  before  they  had  set  fire 
to  and  burned  it  to  the  ground.  The 
unfortunate  inhabitants,  deprived  of 
their  homes,  were  transported  by  the 
Greek  flotilla  to  Hydra  and  Ipsara, 
where  they  augmented  the  number, 
and  the  recital  of  their  sufferings  in- 
creased the  ardour  of  the  people.  About 


the  same  time,  another  division  of  the 
Greek  fleet  forced  the  passage  of  the 
Little  Dardanelles,  notwithstanding 
the  fire  of  the  Turkish  castles  ;  and 
having  made  their  appearance  in  the- 
Bay  of  LEPANTO,  already  so  memorable 
in  Christian  warfare,  an  insurrection 
broke  out  in  MISSOLONGHI,  and  Ana- 
toliko,  which  hoisted  the  Greek  flag, 
and  was  immediately  followed  by  the- 
defection  of  the  whole  of  ^Etolia  and 
Acarnauia. 

36.  On  the  mainland  the  operations 
of  the  Greeks  were  far  from  being 
equally  successful.  Chourchid  Pacha, 
who  commanded  the  Turks  engaged  in 
the  siege  of  Janina,  where  Ali  Pacha, 
though  with  very  reduced  means,  still 
maintained  a  heroic  defence,  no  sooner 
heard  of  the  insurrection  in  the  Morea 
than  he  detached  a  large  body  of  men 
under  Jussuf  Pacha,  who,  penetrating 
the  defiles  near  Corinth,  which  the 
Greeks  had  neglected  to  occupy,  made 
their  Avay  to  Patras,  the  citadel  of 
which  was  still  held  by  the  Turks, 
and  after  relieving  the  garrison,  fell 
upon  the  Greeks  in  the  town,  on  whom 
they  took  a  bloody  revenge  for  the 
atrocities  committed  by  them  on  the 
Mussulmans  at  the  commencement 
of  the  revolution.  Fifteen  thousand 
Greeks  perished  on  this  occasion,  and 
above  twelve  hundred  found  refuge 
with  M.  Pouqueville,  the  French  con- 
sul. So  disheartened  were  the  insur- 
gents in  the  interior  with  this  disaster, 
that  they  nearly  all  disbanded  in  the 
centre  of  the  Morea  ;  and  a  very  little 
more  would  at  that  juncture  have 
entirely  crushed  the  insurrection  in 
Greece.  "I,"saidColocotroui,  "hav- 
ing with  me  only  ten  companions,  in- 
cluding my  horse,  sat  down  in  a  bush 
and  wept. "  Driven  to  extremities,  the 
Greek  chiefs  at  length  agreed  to  fight 
a  last  battle  for  the  independence  of 
their  country,  and  for  that  purpose 
took  up  a  position  at  VALTEZZA,  a  vil- 
lage situated  in  the  hills,  three  hours' 
march  to  the  north-west  of  Tripolitza, 
and  possessing  great  natural  strength. 
Kihaya  Bey  issued  from  Tripolitza  to 
attack  them  at  the  head  of  five  thou- 
sand Turks,  chiefly  horse  ;  and  he 
entertained  such  confident  hopes  of 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


373 


success,  that  the  soldiers  had  per- 
formed military  dances  in  the  streets 
of  Tripolitza,  before  setting  out,  in  to- 
ken of  approaching  victory.  In  truth, 
the  situation  of  the  Greeks  was  all  but 
desperate ;  for  although  the  position 
they  occupied  was  very  strong,  yet  it 
had  no  water,  and  the  water-casks  in 
the  village  were  only  adequate  for 
twenty-four  hours'  consumption. 

37.  The  Turks  approached  the  Greek 
position  on  the  27th  May;  and  the 
action  which  ensued  may  well  be  dig- 
nified with  the  name  of  a  battle,  for 
although  there  were  not  five  thousand 
men  on  each  side,  it  determined  the 
independence  of  Greece.  The  main 
body  of  the  Greeks,  supported  by  a 
few  guns,  which  were  placed  on  in- 
trencnments  hastily  constructed,  was 
posted  in  the  village  ;  but  a  body  of 
fifteen  hundred  light  troops,  under  Co- 
locotroni,  were  stationed,  unknown  to 
the  Ottomans,  in  the  mountains  on 
their  right.  The  Greek  fire  was  an- 
swered by  discharges  from  the  Turkish 
guns,  which,  being  placed  on  lower 
ground,  passed  over  the  enemy's  heads. 
Three  times  were  the  Turks  and  Al- 
banians repulsed  in  their  attack  on 
the  village,  and  Colocotroni  having 
descended  with  his  men  on  the  flank 
of  the  assailants,  an  obstinate  conflict 
ensued,  which  continued  two  days,  and 
was  at  length  determined  in  favour  of 
the  Greeks  by  the  appearance  of  Nike- 
tas,  who  came  up  with  eight  hundred 
followers  by  a  forced  march  from  Ar- 
gos,  and  threatened  to  cut  off  the 
retreat  of  the  Ottomans  to  Tripolitza. 
The  retreat  soon  turned  into  a  total 
rout ;  the  Greeks  took  two  guns,  and 
raised  a  trophy  of  four  hundred  Mo- 
hammedan heads.  Their  own  loss  was 
only  one  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Three 
days  afterwards,  the  Turks,  having 
issued  from  Tripolitza,  were  again  de- 
feated, and  driven  back  into  the  for- 
tress on  the  rocky  heights,  around 
which  the  insurgents  immediately  took 
post.  These  successes,  though  gained 
by  such  small  bodies  of  men,  were  of 
the  utmost  importance,  as  counterba- 
lancing the  moral  effect  of  the  disaster 
at  Dragaschaii ;  for  had  a  similar  de- 
feat been  experienced  at  that  time  in 


the  Morea,  the  insurrection  would 
have  been  crushed.  Instead  of  this, 
the  peasants  now  joyfully  flocked  to 
the  standards  of  the  Cross;  twenty 
thousand  men  were  soon  in  arms  in 
Peloponnesus  ;  and  the  Turks,  cau- 
tiously keeping  on  the  defensive,  re- 
mained shut  up  in  their  fortresses,  two 
of  which,  Navarino  and  Napoli  di 
Malvasia,  surrendered  from  famine  in 
the  beginning  of  August.  The  capi- 
tulation, however,  was  violated  by  the 
fury  of  the  Greek  soldiers,  who  broke 
into  the  towns  and  massacred  several 
of  the  prisoners — an  atrocity  which  so 
shocked  Demetrius  Ipsilanti,  brother 
of  the  generalissimo,  who  had  come  to 
the  Morea  to  take  the  command,  that 
he  threw  it  up.  This  menace  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  the  chiefs,  seeing 
the  necessity  of  establishing  some  sort 
of  government,  assembled  at  Calamata 
to  concoct  measures  for  its  formation. 
38.  Meanwhile  the  Turks,  having 
collected  considerable  forces  at  Salon- 
ica,  had  forced  the  passes  of  Cassandra, 
and  spread  fire  and  sword  through  its 
peaceful  valleys ;  while  large  bodies  of 
horse  scoured  all  the  plains  of  Thessaly 
and  Bceotia,  and,  advancing  almost 
without  opposition,  ravaged  Attica, 
and  raised  the  siege  of  the  Acropolis  of 
Athens,  after  it  had  continued  eighty- 
three  days.  This  disaster,  however, 
was  soon  after  compensated  by  a  bril-, 
liant  success.  Odysseus,  a  brave  Greek 
chief,  after  having  worsted  the  Turks 
in  several  lesser  encounters,  fell  back 
on  the  6th  September  to  the  Straits 
of  Thermopylae  (what  magic  in  the 
name  !)  with  2000  men,  where  he  was 
attacked  by  three  pachas,  who  ad- 
vanced from  Larissa  at  the  head  of 
5000  Mussulmans,  chiefly  Asiatics. 
The  advantageous  position  of  the 
Greeks,  who  were  posted  as  tirailleurs 
among  the  rocks  and  thickets  of  that 
celebrated  defile,  compensated  the  in- 
equality of  numbers  and  want  of  artil- 
lery. The  column  of  the  Ottomans, 
encumbered,  like  its  predecessors  in 
the  days  of  Xerxes,  with  baggage,  was 
slowly  advancing  through  the  bottom 
of  the  defile,  when  it  was  suddenly 
assailed  by  a  tremendous  fire  of  mus- 
ketry from  an  unseen  enemy.  Pushed 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP,  xiv- 


on,  however,  by  the  troops  behind, 
the  mass  continued  to  advance,  though 
sustaining  a  heavy  loss,  until  they 
Avere  attacked  in  flank  by  a  body  of 
four  hundred  Greeks  under  Lapas. 
Issuing  then  from  their  thickets,  the 
insurgents  rushed  down  the  steep  de- 
clivity, sword  in  hand,  with  loud  cries, 
shouting  "  Victoiy  to  the  Cross!" 
The  shock  was  irresistible  :  panic- 
struck,  the  Turks  fled  on  all  sides, 
and  were  pursued  several  miles  with 
immense  slaughter.  Twelve  hundred 
were  slain  on  the  spot,  seventeen  stan- 
dards and  seven  guns  taken ;  and  such 
was  the  consternation  of  the  Ottomans 
that  they  broke  down  the  bridge  of 
Alamanne  in  their  flight  to  Zeitouu. 
Two  days  after  they  were  again  de- 
feated by  Odysseus,  with  the  loss  of 
four  hundred  men  and  three  guns ; 
and  the  Turks  in  Attica,  under  Omer- 
Vrione,  who  had  raised  the  siege  of 
Athens,  deprived  of  the  expected  suc- 
cour, evacuated  that  country,  and  with 
great  difficulty  made  their  way  by 
mountain  paths  into  Thessaly ;  and 
the  Greeks,  reoccupying  Athens,  after 
some  unsuccessful  attempts  at  escal- 
ade, resumed  the  blockade  of  the  Ac- 
ropolis. 

39.  This  brilliant  affair,  which  was 
of  great  importance  to  the  Greeks,  by 
entirely  ruining  the  enemy's  plan  of 
the  campaign,  was  soon  after  followed 
by  another  of  still  more  importance, 
in  a  military  point  of  view,  though  not 
hallowed  by  such  classical  recollec- 
tions. Demetrius  Ipsilanti,  who  had 
been  induced,  by  the  formation  of 
something  like  a  regular  government 
in  the  military  council  at  Calamata, 
to  resume  the  command,  found  him- 
self at  the  head  of  nearly  seven  thou- 
sand men  after  the  impulse  given  to 
the  cause  by  the  battle  of  Valtezza, 
and  laid  siege  to  Tripolitza.  This  for- 
tress, standing  on  a  cold  and  naked 
plain  elevated  two  thousand  six  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea,  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  Morea,  and  surrounded 
by  peaks  three  thousand  feet  higher, 
was,  previous  to  the  war,  inhabited 
by  fifteen  thousand  persons,  of  whom 
one-half  were  Greeks.  It  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  stone  wall  fourteen  feet 


in  height,  with  a  double  row  of  loop- 
holes for  musketry,  on  which  were- 
planted  thirty  pieces  of  cannon.  At 
its  western  extremity  was  a  regular 
citadel,  with  bomb-proof  casemates, 
but  commanded  by  an  eminence  in  its 
vicinity.  The  population  of  the  town 
was  doubled  by  the  reflux  of  Turkish 
families  to  this  stronghold,  when  the 
Greeks  got  the  command  of  the  open 
country  ;  and  when  the  blockade  be- 
gan to  be  straitened,  in  the  end  of 
August,  thirty  thousand  mouths  re- 
quired to  be  fed,  though  not  more 
than  eight  thousand  sabres  and  bayo- 
nets could  be  relied  on  for  a  fight. 

40.  The  powerful  cavalry  of  th& 
Turks  for  a  considerable  time  kept  the 
besiegers  at  bay,  and  enabled  their 
own  horses  to  forage  in  the  plain.  But 
Colocotroni,  who  commanded  the  be- 
sieging force,  having  established  him- 
self in  some  nouses  which  commanded 
the  pasture  -grounds,  the  Ottoman 
horses  were  restricted  to  the  withered 
herbage  at  the  bottom  of  the  rampart, 
in  consequence  of  which  they  soon  all 
died  or  became  unserviceable.  Short- 
ly after,  news  arrived  of  the  victory 
gained  at  Thermopylae,  and  from  Epi- 
rus,  that  Chourchid  Pacha  was  so  en- 
gaged with  the  siege  of  Janina  that  he 
was  unable  to  send  any  succours  to  the 
Morea.  This  intelligence  brought  a 
great  number  of  recruits  to  the  standard 
of  Colocotroni,  eager  to  share  in  the 
spoils  of  Tripolitza,  and  he  soon  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand 
men ;  and  a  few  battering  cannon  were 
brought  from  the  islands,  anddragged  by 
the  peasants  up  to  the  plain  which  sur- 
rounded the  fortress,  but  their  fire  did 
little  execution,  and  was  over-matched 
by  the  guns  of  the  place.  Famine  and 
disease,  however,  soon  made  sad  rava- 
ges among  the  crowded  inhabitants  ia 
the  town ;  and  as  this  gave  rise  to  fre- 
quent conversations  about  a  capitula- 
tion, the  Turkish  commander,  who  con- 
fidently hoped  to  be  relieved,  put  to- 
death  eighty  Christian  priests  held  as 
hostages  in  the  town,  in  order  to  con- 
vince the  garrison  they  had  no  chance 
of  safety  but  in  the  most  determined 
resistance.  This  severity  led  to  a  fright- 
ful reprisal,  which,  as  usual,  involved 


1821.] 

the  innocent  and  guilty  in  promiscuous 
ruin,  and  affixed  the  first  dark  stains 
on  the  cause  of  Greek  independence. 

41.  On  the  5th  October,  while  con- 
ferences between  the  chiefs  on  the  two 
sides  were  still  going  on,  some  Turkish 
sentinels  having,  for  the  sake  of  buy- 
ing grapes,  permitted  a  few  Greeks  to 
approach  the  wall,  the  latter,  perceiv- 
ing that  it  was  negligently  guarded, 
applied  scaling-ladders,  and  soon  got 
to  the  top.  A  whole  company,  with 
Captain  Kephalas  at  its  head,  speedily 
followed,  hoisted  the  Labarum,  or 
Christian  ensign,  on  the  tower  of 
Argos,  and  turned  the  guns  planted  on 
it  on  the  town.  As  soon  as  the  stan- 
dard of  the  cross  was  seen  on  the  walls, 
a  tumultuous  cheer  rang  round  the 
Christian  lines,  and  a  general  rush  was 
made  towards  the  rampart.  Panic- 
struck,  the  Turks  everywhere  left  the 
wall,  and  the  assailants  got  possession 
of  some  of  the  gates,  and  rushed  in. 
A  scene  ensued  which  baffles  all  de- 
scription, and  forcibly  recalled  to  mind 
the  most  terrible  pictures  of  human 
woe  which  the  genius  of  antiquity  has 
left  to  fascinate  all  future  generations 
of  men.  The  wrongs  and  cruelties  of 
four  centuries  rose  up  in  judgment 
against  the  Ottomans  ;  retaliation, 
cruel  and  undistinguishing,  was  the 
universal  passion — vce  metis  the  uni- 
versal cry.  The  conquerors,  mad  with 
vindictive  rage,  spared  neither  age  nor 
sex  ;  the  young  and  the  old,  the  armed 
and  the  unarmed,  men  and  women,  the 
Mohammedans  and  the  Jews,  were  pro- 
miscuously massacred.  The  Albanians, 
fifteen  hundred  in  number,  retired  in- 
to the  court  of  the  pacha's  palace,  and 
there  claimed  and  obtained  perform- 
ance of  the  capitulation.  They  were 
marched  out,  set  apart  in  Colocotro- 
ni's  camp,  and,  a  few  days  after,  de- 
parted in  safety  to  their  homes.  But, 
with  this  exception,  the  massacre  was 
universal ;  flames  soon  broke  forth  in 
many  places  ;  the  streets  and  houses 
Avere  literally  inundated  with  blood, 
and  obstructed  with  heaps  of  dead 
bodies.  The  Greek  chiefs  in  vain  en- 
deavoured to  restore  order,  the  infuri- 
ated soldiery  listened  only  to  the  voice 
of  passion :  the  slaughter  continued 


HISTOEY  OF  EUROPE. 


375 


through  the  whole  night  by  the  light 
of  the  burning  houses  ;  it  went  on  all 
the  next  day ;  and  when  it  ceased  at 
length,  by  the  exhaustion  of  the  vic- 
tors, nine  thousand  bodies,  of  all  ages 
and  sexes,  encumbered  the  streets  of 
Tripolitza. 

42.  Though  disgraced  by  such  fright- 
ful cruelty,  the  sad  result  of  the  war 
of  extermination  which  had  begun  be- 
tween the  Greeks  and  Turks,  the  cap- 
ture of  Tripolitza  was  an  event  of  the 
very  highest  importance  to  the  Greek 
cause.  They  found  there  a  consid- 
erable train  of  artillery,  arms  and  am- 
munition in  abundance,  and  immense 
treasures,  the  long  accumulations  of 
Ottoman  rapine,  which  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  some  of  the  principal  for- 
tunes in  the  Morea.  The  army  which 
had  taken  Tripolitza,  after  its  important 
conquest,  was  divided  into  two  parts  : 
one-naif  sat  down  before  the  Acro- 
Corinthus  of  Corinth,  which  strong- 
hold, commanding  the  entrance  into 
the  Morea,  surrendered  in  the  middle 
of  November ;  while  the  other  went 
to  reinforce  the  troops  under  the  Arch- 
bishop Germanos,  which  were  blockad- 
ing the  citadel  of  Patras,  where  Jus- 
suf  Pacha,  having  been  strongly  rein- 
forced by  succours  from  the  army 
besieging  Janina,  had  become  very 
audacious,  and  had  defeated  the  Greeks 
in  several  sorties.  Meanwhile  the 
Sultan,  irritated  rather  than  discour- 
aged by  the  defeat  his  fleet  had  sus- 
tained in  the  beginning  of  summer, 
fitted  out  a  new  squadron  in  the 
Dardanelles,  which  put  to  sea  in  the 
beginning  of  July,  and,  being  much 
stronger  than  any  the  Greeks  could 
oppose  to  it,  arrived  in  safety  in  the 
harbour  of  Rhodes,  where  it  effected 
a  junction  with  the  Egyptian  fleet. 
The  combined  fleet,  consisting  of  four 
ships  of  the  line  and  seventy  smaller 
vessels,  made  sail  for  the  Morea,  where 
they  revictualled  all  the  blockaded  for- 
tresses having  harbours,  and  regained 
the  shelter  of  the  Dardanelles  in  the 
end  of  October,  closely  watched  by  the 
Greek  flotilla,  which,  without  ventur- 
ing to  hazard  a  general  engagement, 
prevented  the  Ottoman  squadron  from 
effecting  anything  else.  On  the  24th 


376 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


November,  the  fleet  re-entered  the 
harbour  of  Constantinople,  exhibiting 
as  its  only  prizes  thirty  Greek  sailors 
hanging  from  the  yard-arm  of  one  of 
the  vessels.  So  elated  was  the  Sultan, 
however,  with  the  success  of  this  mari- 
time promenade,  that  he  promoted  the 
admiral,  Kara  Ali,  to  the  rank  of  Capi- 
tan  Pacha !  Woeful  picture  of  national 
decline,  when  escape  from  defeat  is 
considered  equivalent  to  victory ! 

43.  The  intelligence  of  the  disasters 
sustained  by  the  Turks  in  the  Morea, 
and  the  entire  ruin  of  their  trade  by 
the  Greek  cruisers,  again  roused  the 
Mohammedan  population  of  Smyrna 
to  a  state  of  perfect  frenzy.    The  wine- 
shops  were   filled   from    morning    to 
night  with  armed  bands  of  Asiatics, 
threatening  instant  death  and  total 
extermination  to  the  Christians.    The 
European  consuls  presented  an  ener- 
getic note  to  the  Turkish  governor,  re- 
presenting the  frightful  consequences 
which  would  ensue  if  these  disorders 
were  not  repressed  ;  but  in  vain.    The 
Asiatics  broke  loose  ;  above  a  thousand 
Christians  were  massacred  in  the  fol- 
lowing days  ;  and  the  slaughter  would 
have  been  much  greater  if  the  majority 
of  the  Christians  had  not  found  an 
asylum  on  board  the   French   fleet, 
which  fortunately  lay  at  anchor  in  the 
roads  at  the  time.     At  length,  on  the 
joint  representation  of  the  French  and 
English  consuls  and  the  French  ad- 
miral, an  order  was  issued  from  the 
governor,  closing  the  coffeehouses  and 
spirit  -  shops,     ordering    the    Asiatic 
troops  to  quit  the  city,  and  the  Franks 
not  to  bear  arms  openly  in  the  streets, 
by  which  means   the   massacre   was 
stopped. 

44.  While  these   important   events 
were  in  progress  in  Asia  and  Southern 
Greece,  Chourchid  Pacha,  command- 
ing the  army  before  Janina,  justified 
the  high  confidence  which  the  Sultan 
reposed  in  him.     Though  obliged  to 
detach    largely   into   the   Morea  and 
Northern  Greece,  he  never  lost  sight 
of  his  main  object,  the  destruction  of 
Ali  Pacha.    This  old  and  savage  chief- 
tain, in  the  last  extremity,  justified  his 
surname   of  the    "Lion   of  Janina." 
Shut  up  with  not  more  than  four  thou- 


[CHAP.  siv. 

sand  followers  in  his  impregnable  for- 
tress in  the  lake,  he  continued  his  ob- 
stinate resistance,  though  he  amused  his 
besiegers  with  delusive  offers  of  accom- 
modation. Chourchid's  chief  difficulty 
was  to  preserve  his  lines  of  communi- 
cation through  the  mountains,  which 
were  beset  by  twelve  thousand  Greeks 
and  Souliotes,  from  whom  he  sustained, 
in  the  beginning  of  September,  a  bloody 
defeat  in  the  defiles  of  Mount  Pindus. 
Having  received  a  reinforcement,  how- 
ever, of  eight  thousand  men  soon  after, 
his  force  was  raised  to  thirty  thousand 
men,  with  which  he  both  continued  the 
blockade  of  Janina,  and  kept  up  his 
communication  with  Arta,  Prevesa,  and 
the  sea,  though  not  without  extreme 
difficulty,  from  the  incursions  of  the 
hardy  mountaineers.  Hassan  Pacha, 
alarmed  at  the  dangers  of  his  situation 
in  Arta,  set  out  with  all  his  forces,  in. 
order  to  force  his  way  through  the  de- 
files to  Janina;  but  he  was  met  in  the 
defiles  of  Pindus  by  MARK  BOZZAHIS, 
a  chieftain  destined  to  future  glory, 
and  driven  back  with  great  slaughter 
to  Arta.  Chourchid,  however,  was  not 
discouraged,  and  by  repeated  efforts  he 
succeeded  in  re-establishing  his  com- 
munication with  Arta.  There,  how- 
ever, the  Turks,  under  the  command 
of  four  pachas,  were  soon  vigorously 
assailed  by  Bozzaris  at  the  head  of  his 
brave  Souliotes,  who,  after  driving 
them  back  into  the  fortress,  at  length 
carried  it  by  assault.  The  greater  part 
of  the  garrison  found  refuge  in  the 
citadel,  which  still  held  out;  but  all 
the  stores  and  treasures  of  the  four  pa- 
chas fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks, 
to  whom  they  proved  of  essential  ser- 
vice. They  held  their  conquest,  how- 
ever, only  for  three  weeks.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  it  was  regained  by  Omer- 
Vrione,  who  was  detached  by  Chour- 
chid Pacha  from  before  Janina,  and. 
the  heads  of  the  two  pachas,  who  had. 
sought  refuge  in  the  citadel,  were  sent 
to  the  Sultan,  by  whom  they  were  dis- 
played at  the  gates  of  the  Seraglio. 

45.  The  Greeks,  who  now  began  to 
feel  the  effects  of  the  divisions  conse- 
quent in  all  insurrections  on  success, 
were  far  from  making  that  use  of  their 
victory  at  Tripolitza  which  might  have  . 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


377 


been  expected,  or,  with  more  unanim- 
ity, might  have  been  effected.  Ipsi- 
lanti  took  the  command  of  the  army 
before  Napoli  di  Romania,  and  prose- 
cuted the  siege  with  great  vigour,  in 
hopes  of  effecting  the  reduction  of  that 
important  stronghold  before  the  garri- 
son was  revictualled  by  sea  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  This  celebrated  fortress, 
which  in  situation  very  closely  resem- 
bles Gibraltar,  is  extremely  strong, 
and  by  a  few  additions  might  be  ren- 
dered impregnable.  The  citadel  of  Pa- 
lamido,  situated  on  a  frowning  rock 
eight  hundred  feet  high,  the  base  of 
which  is  washed  by  the  sea,  seemed 
almost  beyond  the  reach  of  attack ; 
and  though  the  garrison  consisted  only 
of  one  thousand  five  hundred  men,  en- 
cumbered with  ten  times  that  number 
of  useless  mouths,  yet  there  were  four 
hundred  guns  mounted  on  the  ram- 
parts, and  the  main  warlike  stores  of 
the  Turks  were  deposited  within  its 
walls.  Animated  by  the  hopes  of  gain- 
ing so  rich  a  prize,  the  Greeks,  on  the 
night  of  the  15th  December,  attempted 
an  escalade.  So  excessive  was  the  ne- 
gligence of  the  Turks  that  it  had  very 
nearly  succeeded ;  and  with  more  una- 
nimity and  resolution  on  the  part  of 
the  besiegers,  it  unquestionably  would 
have  done  so.  But  some  of  the  assault- 
ing parties  refused  to  advance,  others 
failed,  and  the  attack  was  repulsed, 
after  which  the  siege  was  turned  into  a 
mere  blockade.  At  the  same  time,  the 
insurgents  experienced  a  severe  check 
in  the  ruins  of  Patras.  Encouraged  by 
the  fall  of  Tripolitza,  a  body  of  five 
thousand  Peloponnesians,  by  a  sudden 
assault,  made  themselves  masters  of 
the  town,  and  remained  there,  blockad- 
ing the  citadel,  till  the  beginning  of 
December.  Then  Jussuf  Pacha,  ob- 
serving how  bad  a  look-out  the  Greeks 
kept,  and  knowing  how  completely 
their  chiefs  were  divided,  marched  from 
the  Morea  Castle  with  four  hundred 
men,  and,  aided  by  a  sally  from  the 
citadel,  drove  the  Greeks  out  of  the 
town.  Mavrocordato  and  the  generals 
escaped  with  difficulty  to  Argos,  but 
the  greater  part  of  the  insurgents  in  the 
town  were  destroyed ;  and  the  Turks 
immediately  commenced  the  destruc- 


tion of  what  remained  of  the  buildings, 
in  order  to  prevent  them  from  again 
becoming  a  shelter  to  the  enemy. 

46.  While  these  important  events, 
big  with  the  future  fate  of  old  Hellas, 
were  in  progress  in  the  Morea,  the 
Greeks  experienced  a  dreadful  reverse 
in  the  peninsula  of  Cassandra.      The 
position  of  that  mountain-ridge,  wash- 
ed by  the  waters  of  the  Archipelago, 
and  its  close  vicinity  to  the  important 
town  and  harbour  of  Salonica,  the  cen- 
tre of  all  the  operations  of  the  Turks  in 
that  quarter,  rendered  it  an  object  of 
the  highest  importance  to  the  Turks  to 
extinguish  the  insurrection  in  its  fast- 
nesses.   Accordingly,  during  the  whole 
of  October,  large  bodies  of  Asiatics 
were  brought  over  from  Smyrna,  and 
on  the  llth  November,   on  a  signal 
given  by  the  discharge  of  a  bomb,  the 
Ottoman  horde,  ten  thousand  strong, 
rushed  to  the  assault.     Although  the 
Greeks  defended  their  iutrenchments 
bravely,  yet  such  was  the  fury  of  the 
onset,  and  the  superiority  of  numbers 
on  the  part  of  the  assailants,  that  they 
were  broken  through  in  several  places, 
and  at  these  openings  the  savage  mul- 
titude rushed  in  with  irresistible  fury. 
It  soon  was  no  longer  a  battle,  but  a 
massacre.    Such  of  the  Greeks  as  could 
escape  saved  themselves  in  the  moun- 
tains ;  but  above  three  thousand  fell 
under  the  Mussulman  scimitars  ;  and 
ten  thousand  women   and  children, 
with  thirty  thousand  head  of  cattle, 
were  taken  and  publicly  sold  in  the 
market-place  of  Salonica.    Taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  consternation  produced 
by  this  dreadful  event,  the  victorious 
pacha  advanced  to  Mount  Athos,  where 
the  trembling  monks,  though  placed 
in  their  almost  inaccessible  eyries,  were 
too  happy  to  accept  the  proffered  ca- 
pitulation, by  which  they  saved  their 
lives    and    property  on    payment  of 
250,000  piastres  a-year  (£20,000.) 

47.  To  complete  the  picture  of  this 
memorable  year,   it  only  remains  to 
notice  the  operations  in  Crete.     The 
mountaineers  there,  albeit  endowed  "by 
nature  with  mild  and  pacific  constitu- 
tions, were  all  in  arms  in  consequence 
of  the  dreadful  exactions  and  cruelty 
of  the  Turks,  and  the  latter  had  brought 


373 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


over  large  bodies  of  Asiatics  to  com- 
plete their  destruction.  The  Sfakiotes, 
a  hardy  race,  whose  position  in  the 
hills  had  hitherto  saved  them  in  a 
great  measure  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
Ottomans,  defeated  them  in  an  action 
at  Soulo,  near  Canea,  upon  which  the 
Turks  massacred  all  the  Christians  in 
Candia,  and  seven  hundred  more  in 
other  towns  in  the  island.  All  the 
bishops  perished.  The  Sfakiotes,  how- 
ever, were  not  discouraged,  but  made 
several  incursions  into  the  plains,  from 
whence  they  returned  laden  with  the 
spoils  of  their  oppressors  to  their  moun- 
tains. Upon  this,  the  Turks  brought 
over  ten  thousand  Asiatic  janizaries, 
who  penetrated  into  their  fastnesses, 
and  stormed  Therissow,  their  principal 
stronghold,  laying  waste  everything 
with  fire  and  sword ;  but  want  of  pro- 
visions soon  obliged  them  to  retire, 
and  the  Sfakiotes  again  resumed  their 
incursions.  The  revolt  upon  this  spread 
universally  over  the  island,  and  the 
Turks  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  in 
Canea,  where,  towards  the  end  of  au- 
tumn, they  suffered  severely  from  dy- 
sentery and  other  diseases. 

48.  While  the  southern  parts  of  the 
Ottoman  dominions  were  thus  the 
theatre  of  a  frightful  civil  war,  and  the 
Turks,  after  man)'  vicissitudes  of  for- 
tune, were  losing  their  hold  of  the  rich- 
est and  finest  part  of  theirterritory,they 
were  threatened  with  external  danger 
both  in  the  east  and  north  scarcely  less 
alarming.  The  Persians,  deeming  a 
rupture  between  Russia  and  the  Porte 
inevitable,  and  probably  secretly  in- 
stigated by  the  agents  of  the  Czar, 
declared  war  against  Turkey  in  the 
beginning  of  August,  and  immediately 
invaded  the  pachalic  of  Bagdad  with 
thirty  thousand  men.  Although  no 
great  success  attended  their  arms,  yet 
it  operated  as  an  important  diversion 
in  favour  of  the  Greeks,  as  it  obliged 
the  Sultan  to  employ  an  equal  force  in 
defence  of  his  eastern  dominions.  Af- 
fairs also  had  become  so  threatening 
with  Russia  that  an  immediate  rupture 
seemed  inevitable,  and  the  Turkish 
dominions,  threatened  alike  in  the 
south,  the  north,  and  the  east,  seemed 
doomed  to  destruction. 


49.  Notwithstanding  the  determina- 
tion of  the  Emperor  Alexander  to  ab- 
stain from  all  interference  with  the 
Greek  insurrection,  it  was  inevitable 
that  during  the  progress  of  the  contest 
various  points  of  dispute  should  arise 
between  the  two  powers  at  St  Peters- 
burg and  Constantinople.  They  were 
not  long,  accordingly,  in  showing 
themselves.  M.  Danesi,  the  banker 
to  the  Russian  embassy,  was  arrested 
early  in  June,  ostensibly  for  a  debt  of 
300,000  piastres  (£3000),  but  really  for 
having  furnished  funds  to  the  Greek 
insurgents ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
remonstrances  of  M.  Strogonoff,  the 
Russian  ambassador,  who  reclaimed 
him  as  forming  part  of  the  embassy, 
sentenced  to  be  beheaded,  from  which 
he  only  escaped  by  going  into  exile. 
Hardly  was  this  subject  of  discord  ap- 
peased when  another  and  more  serious 
one  arose,  in  consequence  of  the  Porte 
having  issued  an  order  that  all  neutral 
vessels  passing  the  Dardanelles  should 
be  searched,  and  prohibiting  the  ex- 
portation of  grain  through  the  canal 
of  the  Bosphorus.  These  orders  were 
vehemently  opposed  by  the  Russian 
minister,  as  interfering  with  the  rights 
of  the  Russian  merchants  in  the  Black 
Sea ;  and  as  strongly  maintained  by 
the  Sultan,  as  necessary  to  prevent 
succours  being  conveyed  to  the  Greeks 
under  the  Russian  flag,  and  within  the 
acknowledged  rights  of  a  belligerent 
power.  The  execution  of  the  Patri- 
arch, and  the  frightful  massacres  in 
Constantinople  and  other  chief  towns 
of  the  empire,  were  next  made  the 
subject  of  well-founded  complaints  on 
the  part  of  the  Russian  ambassador, 
to  which  the  Divan  replied  by  remon- 
strances founded  on  the  asylum  afford- 
ed at  Odessa  to  the  Greeks  who  had 
escaped  from  them,  and  the  right  of 
every  government  to  repress  rebellion 
among  its  subjects  by  every  means  in 
its  power.  M.  Strogonoff  next  pro- 
tested against  the  entry  of  the  Turkish 
forces  into  the  Principalities,  which 
was  entirely  disregarded  ;  declared 
that,  as  long  as  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment continued,  the  Russians  would 
never  refuse  an  asylum  to  any  Greek 
who  might  demand  it ;  and  that,  if 


1821.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


379 


the  system  of  violence  continued,  he 
Avould  break  off  all  diplomatic  inter- 
course with  the  Porte.  To  all  these 
remonstrances  the  answer  constantly 
made  was,  that  no  foreign  power  had 
a  right  to  interfere  between  the  Turk- 
ish Government  and  its  own  subjects, 
and  that  the  insurrection  could  be 
subdued  in  no  other  way. 

50.  These  angry  recriminations  con- 
tinued through  the  whole  of  May  and 
June  ;  and  at  length,  in  the  middle  of 
July,  matters  came  to  such  a  point 
that  M.  Strogonoif  shut  himself  up  in 
his  palace  at  Buysekdere,  and  delivered 
the  ultimatum  of  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment to  the  Porte,  which  was  required 
to  be  accepted  unconditionally  within 
eight  days,  failing  which  he  was  to  take 
his  departure  with  his  whole  suite. 
The  conditions  exacted  by  Russia  did 
not  consist  in  any  cession  of  fortresses 
or  provinces,  but  in  reparation  for  the 
insults  offered  to  the  Greek  religion, 
expiation  for  the  murder  of  its  Patri- 
arch, and  the  adoption  of  a  more  hu- 
mane system  of  warfare  in  the  contest 
with  its  Christian  subjects.*  If  these 
terms  were  not  acceded  to  within  the 
prescribed  time,  the  Porte  was  openly 
menaced  with  the  utmost  hostility  of 
Russia,  and  the  support  of  the  Greeks 
by  the  forces  of  entire  Christendom. 
Ho  answer  was  returned  by  the  Divan 
to  this  menacing  communication,  and 
the  eight  days  allowed  having  expired, 
Baron  Strogonoff  applied  for  his  pass- 
ports. He  was  at  first  threatened  with 
being  sent  to  the  Seven  Towers,  and 
the  Asiatic  hordes  loudly  demanded 

*  "  Que  les  eglises  detruites  ou  pilldes 
soient  renouvelees  sur  le  champ,  et  mises  en 
etat  dc  servir  i  leur  sainte  destination ;  que 
S-  H.,  en  rendant  a  la  religion  Chretienne  ses 
prerogatives,  en  lui  accordant  la  inSme  pro- 
tection que  par  le  pass6,  en  lui  garantissant 
son  inviolabilite  a  1'avenir,  s'efforce  de  con- 
soler 1' Europe  du  supplice  du  Patriarche  de 
Constantinople,  et  des  profanations  qui  ont 
suivi  sa  mort ;  qu'une  sage  et  equitable  dis- 
tinction s'etablisse  entre  les  auteurs  des 
troubles,  les  hommes  qvii  y  prenaient  part, 
et  ceux  que  leur  innocence  doit  mettre  a 
1'abri  de  la  severite  du  Divan  ;  qu'a  cet  effet, 
on  ouvre  un  ayenir  de  paix  et  dc  tranquillite 
aux  Grecs  qui  seront  restus  souniis,  ou  qui 
se  souinettront,  dans  un  delai  donne ;  et 
qu'en  tout  etat  des  choses,  on  se  me'nage  les 
morons  de  distinguer  les  innocens  des  coup- 
ables.  Que  si  le  Gouveruement  Turc  tu- 


the  instant  adoption  of  that  severity; 
but  the  entire  diplomatic  body  having 
protested  against  the  recurrence  to 
that  barbarous  usage,  the  passports 
demanded  were  delivered  to  him,  and 
he  set  sail,  with  all  his  suite,  and  sev- 
eral Greek  families  who  had  taken  re- 
fuge in  the  Russian  embassy,  for  Odes- 
sa on  the  last  day  of  July. 

51.  After  the  Russian  ambassador 
had  taken  his  departure,  the  Sublime 
Porte  despatched  a  messenger  to  St 
Petersburg  with  an  answer  to  the  Czar's 
ultimatum,  which  was  antedated  26th 
July,  the  last  day  assigned  for  its  re- 
ception. In  this  state  paper,  which 
was  very  ably  drawn,  the  Sultan, 
without  disputing  the  truth  of  the 
charges  made  against  him — which,  in 
truth,  were  so  notorious  that  they 
could  not  be  ^denied — contented  him- 
self with  throwing  the  destruction  of 
the  churches  on  the  violence  of  the 
dregs  of  the  people,  who  had  been  ex- 
cited to  madness  by  the  Greek  insur- 
rection, justified  the  execution  of  the 
Patriarch  by  the  alleged  discover}'  of 
letters  which  implicated  him  in  the 
insurrection  in  the  Morea,  vindicated 
the  entry  of  the  Ottoman  troops  into 
the  Principalities  by  the  obvious  ne- 
cessity of  extinguishing  a  dangerous 
rebellion,  and  the  general  arming  of 
the  Mussulmans  by  the  threatening 
and  undeniable  danger  of  the  Ottoman 
empire  ;  finally,  the  note  stated  that 
orders  had  been  given  for  reconstruct- 
ing the  churches  which  had  been  de- 
molished, and  promising,  on  the  Greek 
refugees  being  delivered  up,  to  execute 

moignait,  contre  toute  attente,  que  c'est  par 
suite  d'un  plan  librement  arrStd  qu'il  prend 
des  mesures  touchant  lesquelles  le  Soussigne. 
lui  a  deja  expose  1'opinion  de  son  Auguste 
Maitre,  il  ne  resterait  4  1'Erapereur  qu'a. 
declarer,  des  a  present,  a  la  Sublime  Porte, 
qu'elle  se  constitue  en  &&t  d'hostilitd 
ouvertc  contre  le  nionde  Chretien,  qu'ellri 
legitime  la  defense  des  Grecs,  qui  dis-lors 
combattraient  uniquement  pour  se  soustraire 
a  une  perte  inevitable ;  et  que,  vu  le  caractero 
de  leur  lutte,  la  Russie  se  trouverait  dans  la 
stride  obligation  de  leur  offrir  asile  parce 
qu'ils  seraient  persecutes  ;  protection,  parce 
qu'elle  en  aurait  le  droit;  assistance,  con- 
jointement  avec  toute  la  Chretiente,  pnrre 
qu'elle  ne  pourrait  pas  livrer  ses  freres  de  re- 
ligion a  la  merci  d'un  aveugle  fanatisme." — 
Note  de  M.  le  Baron  STROGONOFF,  July  IS, 
1S21  ;  Annuaire  Jlistorique,  iv.  413,  414. 


•380 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


rigorously  and  faithfully  the  whole 
treaties  with  the  Cabinet  of  St  Peters- 
burg.* 

52.  According  to  the  known  usages 
•of  European  diplomacy,  the  departure 
of  the  Russian  ambassador  from  Con- 
stantinople was  tantamount  to  a  de- 
claration of  war  between  the  two  pow- 
ers ;  and  consternation  was  universal 
among  the  Christian  inhabitants  that 
this  would  lead  to  a  general  massacre 
of  them,  as  it  had  done  at  Smyrna, 
Salonica,  and  several  other  places.  In 
effect,  it  was  very  near  occurring,  for 
the  Asiatic  troops,  as  soon  as  the  de- 
parture of  the  Russian  embassy  was 
known,  began  to  parade  the  streets, 
and  call  on  the  people  to  rise  and  ex- 
terminate the  Christians  without  mer- 
cy or  distinction.  Multitudes,  ap- 
pehending  instant  death,  took  refuge 
in  the  hotels  of  the  ambassadors  of 
the  neutral  powers ;  and  fortunately 

*  "Que  tons  les  individus  punis  a  la  suite 
de  1'insurrection,  et  surtout  le  Patriarche 
Gree  et  autres  prelats,  n'avaient  subi  que  la 
peine  qu'ils  avaient  meritee  d'apres  le  droit 
•que  tout  Gouvernement  a  de  faire  arreter  et 
punir  sans  misericorde,  sans  distinction  de 
religion  ou  de  condition,  de  pareils  malfai- 
•teurs,  afin  de  maintenir  le  boa  ordre  dans  ses 
etats  et  parmi  le  peuple. 

"  Que  les  insultes  faites  a  quelques  eglises 
-Grecques  n'etaient  que  des  desordres  commis 
par  des  re'prouve's  de  la  lie  du  peuple. 

"Que  1'adoption  de  la  vie  des  camps  an 
lieu  de  celle  des  villes,  et  rarmement  general 
de  la  nation  Mussulmane,  n'etaient  que  des 
inesures  indispensables  pour  le  maintien  du 
•bon  ordre  interieur,  et  ne  regardait  en  rien 
Jes  puissances  amies  ni  les  divers  classes  des 
Rayahs  non  coupables. 

"  Que  les  instructions  donne'es  au  com- 
mandant des  troupes  envoyees  par  la  Porte 
en  Valachie  et  Moldavie  n'avaient  d'autre  but 
les  que  de  reduire  les  rebelles  et  d'en  purger 

?rovinces,  dont  011  ne  youlait  ni  changer 
ordre  ni  abolir  les  privileges. 
"  Qu'aussitot  que  la  tranquillite  aurait  &t6 
retablie,  que  le  ci-devant  Prince  de  Moldavie, 
Michel  Suzzo,  et  ses  adherens,  qui  se  sont 
evades  avec  lui,  ainsi  que  ceux  des  scelerats 
qui  auront  pu  s'enfuir  sur  le  territoire  Russe 
ou  Autrichien,  auraient  c$te  remis  au  Gou- 
vernement Turc.  ou  bien  publiquement  punis 
tsur  les  lieux  inemes  ou  ils  ont  £te  saisis,  la 
.Sublime  Porte  procederait  immediate-men.!  a 
1'installation  des  Hospodars,  et  mettrait  le 
plus  grand  soin  a  faire  observer  les  anciennes 
conventions  et  a  maintenir  les  privileges  des 
deux  provinces  comme  dans  le  passe"." — Re- 
ponse  du,  Divan  a  I' Ultimatum  de  M.  le  Baron 
STKOOONOKF,  July  26,  ISiil ;  Annuaire  His- 
torique,  iv.  656,  titJO,  Appendix. 


the  English  ambassador,  Lord  Strang- 
ford,  enjoyed  at  that  period  the  highest 
consideration  with  the  Porte,  and  em- 
ployed his  great  influence  and  abilities 
to  avert  a  rupture,  and  bring  the 
Divan  back  to  sentiments  of  modera- 
tion, and  a  just  appreciation  of  the 
difficulties  with  which  they  were  sur- 
rounded. In  this  praiseworthy  at- 
tempt he  was  cordially  seconded  by 
the  ministers  of  France  and  Austria, 
and  at  length,  by  their  united  efforts, 
a  decree  Avas  obtained  from  the  Porte 
commuting  the  punishment  of  Danesi 
into  exile,  taking  off  the  embargo 
which  had  been  laid  on  Russian  ves- 
sels, and  promising  an  amnesty  to 
such  of  the  Greeks  as  should  submit 
within  a  short  period. 

53.  It  was  not  so  easy  a  matter, 
however,  to  appease  the  violence  of 
the  people  as  to  bring  back  the  Divan 
to  sentiments  of  moderation ;  and  the 
fermentation  was  such  at  Constanti- 
nople, all  the  autumn  and  winter,  that 
a  general  massacre  was  hourly  expected. 
Bands  of  Asiatics,  worked  up  to  the 
last  point  of  religious  fanaticism  and 
savage  fury,  were  continually  travers- 
ing the  streets,  singing  exciting  songs, 
and  calling  on  the  faithful  to  rise  and 
complete  the  destruction  of  the  infi- 
dels. To  such  a  pitch  did  the  disor- 
ders arise  that  the  janizaries  openly 
demanded  the  head  of  the  new  favour- 
ite, Halal-EfTendi,  who  was  thought  to 
be  too  much  inclined  to  moderate  mea- 
sures, and  even  of  Abdul-Ahmed,  the 
sou  of  the  Sultan,  and  sole  heir  of  the 
empire.  The  popular  fury  was  only 
appeased  by  the  daily  sight  of  a  num- 
ber of  Christians  hung  in  the  streets, 
and  a  long  row  of  heads  displayed 
every  morning  at  the  gates  of  the  Ser- 
aglio. At  length  Lord  Strangford  pre- 
vailed on  the  Divan  to  abate  somewhat 
of  their  unbending  attitude,  and  open 
the  door,  if  not  to  accommodation,  at 
least  to  renewed  negotiations,  by  an 
ultimatum  on  their  part,  in  which 
they  consented  to  adjourn  the  demand 
for  the  surrender  of  the  refugees.  But 
they  refused  to  withdraw  their  force 
from  the.  Principalities  till  the  rebel- 
lion was  entirely  put  down,  and  claime  " 
the  right  then  to  maintain  such  trooj 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


381 


in  them  as  might  be  deemed  necessary 
to  maintain  tranquillity. 

54.  The  commencement  of  the  year 
1822  was  signalised  by  an  event  of  no 
ordinary  importance  in  this  contest: 
the  formation  of  a  regular  government, 
and  the  proclamation  of  national  in- 
dependence in  Greece.  During  the 
month  of  November  preceding,  a  con- 
gress of  chiefs  and  deputies  assembled 
from  all  parts  of  Greece  in  Argos, 
which  afterwards  transferred  its  sit- 
tings to  Epidaurus,  and  there  a  con- 
stitution was  drawn  up,  and  the  na- 
tional INDEPENDENCE  PnoCLAIMED. 
The  act  proclaiming  it,  signed  by  six- 
ty-seven members  of  the  congress,  is 
remarkable  as  containing  a  forcible  and 
not  exaggerated  statement  of  the  dread- 
ful nature  of  the  oppression  under 
which  the  nation  had  laboured,  the 
reasons  which  had  induced  or  rather 
compelled  them  to  take  up  arms,  and 
the  grand  object  of  national  indepen- 
dence for  which  they  contended, — A'ery 
different  from  the  democratic  dreams 
which  at  the  same  time  were  agitating 
the  states  of  western  Europe.*  The 
constitution  proclaimed  —  which,  in 
default  of  heirs  of  the  old  Byzantine 
emperors,  was  perhaps  the  only  one 

*  "La  Nation  Grecque  prend  le  ciel  et  la 
terre  a  tenioin  que,  nialgre  le  joug  affreux 
des  Ottomans,  que  la  mcnac,ait  de  son  depe- 
rissement,  elle  existe  encore.  Pressee  par 
les  mesures  aussi  iniques  que  destructives, 
que  ces  tyrans  feroces,  apres  avoir  vio!6  leurs 
capitulations  ainsi  que  tout  esprit  d'equite, 
rendaient  de  plus  eu  plus  oppressives,  et  qui 
ne  tendaient  a  rien  moins  qu'4  I'aneantisse- 
ment  entier  du  peuple  sourais,  elle  s'etait 
trouvee  dans  la  necessite  absolue  de  courir 
aux  annes,  pour  mettre  i  1'abri  sa  propre 
conservation.  Apres  avoir  repousse  la  viol- 
ence par  le  seul  courage  de  ses  enfans,  elle 
declare  aujourd'hui  devant  Dieu  et  devant  les 
homines,  par  1'organe  de  ses  repre'sentans  le"- 
gitimes,  reunia  dans  ce  congres  national  con- 
voque"  par  le  peuple,  son  Independence  Poli- 
tique. 

"Loin  d'etre  f on  dee  sur  des  principes  de 
de'magogie  et  de  rebellion,  loin  d'avoir  pour 
motifs  les  interSts  partieuliers  de  quelques 
individus,  cette  guerre  est  une  guerre  na- 
tionalt  et  sacret;  elle  n'a  pour  but  que  la  re- 
stauration  de  la  nation  et  sa  reintegration 
dans  les  droits  de  propriete,  d'homnie,  et  de 
vie,  droits  qui  sont  le  partage  des  peuples 
police's  nos  voisins,  mais  qui  6taient  arrach^s 
aux  Grecs  par  une  puissance  spoliatrice. " — 
Declaration  d'lndependance,  Epidaure,  Jan. 
27,  1822;  Ann.  Hist.,  iv.  679,  Appendix. 


which  could  at  that  period  be  adopted 
— was  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Di- 
rectory which  for  a  few  years  governed 
France :  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
security  to  person  and  property,  equal 
eligibility  to  office,  the  independence 
of  the  judicial  body,  were  duly  pro- 
vided for.  The  supreme  legislative- 
power  was  vested  in  a  senate  elected 
by  the  people,  conjointly  with  an  exe- 
cutive council  appointed  by  the  senate. 
This  council,  in  whom  the  entire  direc- 
tion of  affairs  was  vested,  consisted  of 
five  members ;  it  declared  peace  and 
war,  and  was  invested  with  the  supremo 
direction  of  affairs;  but  its  members- 
were  elected  only  for  a  year,  and  were 
amenable  to  the  senate  for  misconduct 
in  duty.  Prince  Mavrocordato  was 
unanimously  elected  the  first  presi- 
dent ;  the  council  immediately  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  its  duties ;  and 
the  congress,  having  accomplished  its 
task  of  forming  a  constitution,  de- 
clared itself  dissolved.  The  seat  of 
government  was  soon  after  transferred 
to  Corinth,  the  citadel  of  which  had 
just  capitulated.  It  is  easy  to  see  the 
ideas  of  the  French  Revolution  here 
germinating  in  the  minds  of  a  nation 
struggling  for  existence :  and  certainly 
its  authors  seem  to  have  been  think- 
ing more  of  the  rights  of  man  than  of 
averting  the  sabres  of  the  Osmanlis. 
Yet  it  is  impossible  to  withhold  a  tri- 
bute of  admiration  from  the  brave  men 
who,  when  their  chief  fortresses  were 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  still 
reeking  with  the  blood  of  their  best 
and  bravest  citizens,  and  when  Mo- 
hammedan fanaticism  was  roused  to 
the  highest  pitch  for  their  destruction, 
ventured,  with  the  resources  of  seven 
hundred  thousand  men,  to  throw  dowit 
the  gauntlet  to  a  power  possessing 
thirty  millions,  and  before  which  all 
Christendom  had  so  often  trembled. 

55.  The  Christian  cause,  thus  irre- 
vocably engaged,  sustained,  however, 
a  grievous  blow  in  the  early  part  of 
this  year  by  the  destruction  of  AH 
Pacha,  Avho,  although  still  a  Moham- 
medan, and  distrusted  alike  by  the 
Greeks  and  Souliotes,  had  hitherto 
operated  as  a  most  important  diver- 
sion, by  retaining  so  large  a  portion  of 


382 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


the  Ottoman  forces  round  his  wave- 
encircled  walls.  Notwithstanding  the 
courage  and  energy  of  the  veteran 
pacha,  who  boasted  in  his  inaccessible 
fortress  in  the  lake  that  his  enemies 
would  find  "that  the  bear  of  Pindus 
•was  still  alive,"  his  resources  were 
daily  declining.  For  more  than  three 
months  he  had  been  closely  blockaded. 
Provisions  were  beginning  to  fail,  and 
the  garrison,  worn  out  with  the  toil  of 
incessant  watching,  and  destitute  of 
hope,  had  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the 
offers  of  Chourchid  Pacha,  who  pro- 
mised them  a  large  share  of  the  trea- 
sures of  the  Pacha,  in  the  event  of 
their  delivering  up  the  stronghold  to 
him.  This  treachery  was  rendered  the 
more  easy  from  the  defection  of  Ali's 
chief  engineer,  Caretto,  who,  alienated 
by  the  violence  and  caprice  of  that 
savage  barbarian,  had  deserted  his  ser- 
vice, and  brought  to  the  besiegers  a 
complete  plan  of  the  fortress,  and  the 
means  adopted  for  its  defence.  Guided 
by  this  information,  and  aided  by  the 
defection  of  part  of  his  Albanian  garri- 
son, the  fortress  was,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  January,  occupied,  after  only 
a  feigned  resistance,  by  the  troops  of 
Chourchid  Pacha.  Ali,  however,  was 
not  without  a  last  resource.  He  had 
time  to  escape  into  an  inner  tower 
three  storeys  in  height,  which  com- 
municated only  by  a  drawbridge  with 
the  remainder  of  the  place,  and  wrhich 
he  had  fortified  in  the  strongest  pos- 
sible manner.  It  consisted  of  three 
storeys,  in  the  highest  of  which  was 
placed  the  pacha,  his  harem,  and  fifty 
armed  and  trusty  followers;  in  the 
second  his  treasures,  the  amount  of 
which  report  had  greatly  magnified; 
and  in  the  lowest  a  powder-magazine, 
with  every  preparation  ready  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning  to  blow  the  whole  edi- 
fice into  the  air.  There,  with  the 
means  of  negotiating  in  his  hands,  be- 
cause he  could  in  an  instant  deprive  his 
besiegers  of  what  they  most  coveted, 
his  treasures  and  his  head,  the  old  chief 
awaited  the  proposals  of  his  enemies. 

56.  Alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  what 
the  despair  of  so  indomitable  a  chief- 
tain might  suggest,  and  desirous  at  all 
hazards  of  securing  his  head  as  an 


ornament  for  the  Seraglio,  Chourchid 
Pacha  had  recourse  to  perfidy;  and, 
;trange  to  say,  the  old  deceiver  became 
the  victim  of  his  own  arts.  He  held 
out  the  prospect  of  a  favourable  capi- 
tulation, in  virtue  of  which  the  rebel- 
lious satrap  was  to  enjoy  his  treas- 
ures, his  harem,  and  the  title  of  Vizier, 
with  a  suitable  command  in  Asia  Minor 
during  his  life.  He  stipulated,  how- 
ever, in  return  for  so  many  concessions, 
that  Ali  should  remove  himself  from 
his  impregnable  tower  into  an  island 
on  the  lake,  where  a  pleasure-house 
had  been  constructed,  there  to  await 
the  firman  containing  the  pardon  of 
the  Sultan,  and  the  entire  restoration 
to  his  favour.  The  old  pacha  fell  into 
the  snare :  the  lion  forgot  the  fox.  He 
not  only  removed  with  his  young  and 
ardently-loved  wife,  and  a  few  intrepid 
Albanians,  who  were  resolved  to  share 
his  fate,  to  the  island,  but  he  was, 
though  with  some  difficulty,  prevailed 
on  to  deliver  to  the  officers  of  Chour- 
chid Pacha  a  signet -ring,  the  well- 
known  token  which  enjoined  implicit 
obedience  on  all  his  servants.  Armed 
with  this  instrument,  the  Turks  in- 
stantly rowed  across  the  lake,  ascended 
the  tower,  showed  the  ring  to  the 
faithful  guardian  of  the  magazine  and 
treasures,  who  stood  at  the  door  with 
a  lighted  match  in  his  hand.  The 
slave  bowed  with  respect  before  the 
talisman,  and  extinguished  the  torch. 
He  was  instantly  despatched  by  re- 
peated strokes  of  the  poniard,  and  the 
perfidious  assassins,  rowing  back  to 
Ali's  island,  presented  to  him  the  fatal 
firman,  which,  instead  of  the  promised 
pardon,  contained  the  order  for  his  im- 
mediate death.  As  soon  as  he  saw  it, 
Ali  exclaimed,  ' '  Stop  !  what  are  you 
bringing  me?" — "The  order  of  the 
Sultan,"  replied  Hassan  the  officer; 
"  he  demands  your  head.  Submit  to 
the  order  of  the  Sultan  ;  obey  the  de- 
cree of  fate ;  pray  to  Allah ;  make 
your  ablutions." — "  The  head  of  Ali," 
said  the  Pacha,  "  is  not  so  easily 
won ; "  and,  drawing  his  pistols,  he 
laid  Hassan  at  his  feet  with  one,  and 
with  another  the  chief  of  the  staff  of 
Chourchid.  A  frightful  conflict  en- 
sued between  Ali's  faithful  guards  and 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


383 


his  assassins,  in  the  course  of  which 
Ali  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  ball 
in  the  side.  "Run,"  said  he,  "and 
put  to  death  Vasiliki,  my  wife,  that 
she  may  follow  me  to  the  tomb,  and 
the  traitors  may  not  sully  her  beauty." 
These  were  his  last  words.  The  dead 
body  of  Ali,  drawn  by  the  beard,  was 
pulled  to  the  door,  where  the  head  was 
cut  off,  and  sent  to  the  Sultan.  Va- 
siliki, in  tears,  was  led  to  Chourchid's 
tent,  who  treated  her  with  respect, 
and  accorded  the  permission  to  inter 
her  husband,  whom  she  adored,  in  a 
way  suitable  to  his  rank ;  and  the 
valleys  of  Pindus  soon  resounded  with 
the  death-wail  for  the  Lion  of  Janina. 

57.  Such  were  the  transports  when 
the  head  of  Ali  was  brouglit  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  exposed  at  the  gate 
of  the  Seraglio  in  a  silver  dish,  that 
one  would  suppose  the  whole  enemies 
of  the  Sultan  nad  been  destroyed  by  a 
single  blow.  Surrounded  with  troops, 
with  a  thousand  bale-fires  on  the  ad- 
joining heights,  casting  a  light  over 
its  streets  at  night,  witnessing  during 
the  day  the  ceaseless  march  of  the  Asi- 
atic forces  towards  the  Balkan,  gazing 
on  the  head  of  their  mortal  enemy,  the 
Pacha  of  Janina,  at  the  gate  of  the 
Seraglio,  the  Turks  of  Constantinople 
believed  themselves  invincible.*  In 
the  camp  at  Adrianople  the  warlike 

*  The  following  inscription  was  put  on  Ali's 
head,  a  curious  proof  of  the  disorders  of  the 
Ottoman  empire : — 

"  II  cst  notoire  a  1'univers  que  Depen- 
dilenti  Ali  Pacha  depuis  trente  a  quarante 
anne"es  avait  rec.u  de  nombreuses  faveurs  de 
la  Sublime  Porte.  Loin  d'en  reconnaltre  le 
Prix,  il  osa,  centre  la  volonte"  expresse  de  la 
Porte,  opprimer  les  peuples  par  ruse  et  par 
force :  1'histoire  ne  pr&ente  pas  1'exemple 
d'une  perversite"  plus  profonde  que  la  sienne. 
Sans  repos  oecupe  de  Paehevement  de  ses 
coupables  projets,  il  ne  se  contenta  pas  d'ap- 
puyer  secretement  et  ouvertement,  par  argent 
et  par  autres  moyens,  la  rebellion  et  la  trahi- 
son,  partout  ou  il  pouvait  en  trouver  les  6\£- 
mens,  mais  il  sortit  des  limites  de  son  terri- 
toire,  excitant  partoutlestroublesetplongeant 
dans  la  mine  nos  infortune's  sujets,  gages  con- 
fies  a  nos  soucis  par  le  Juge  supreme  et  tout- 
puissant.  L'insurrection  des  Grecs  e*clata,  et 
Ali,  se  livrant  a  ses  projets  de  vengeance,  em- 
ploya  de  grandes  somines  a  armer  les  rebeiles 
de  la  Moree,  et  des  autres  provinces,  contre 
le  peuple  de  la  Foi.  Cette  derniere  preuve 
de  perversity  devait  rendre  sa  condamnation 
inevitable — Voici  SA  TETK." — L'YaffasurAit 
PACHA;  Annuaire  Historiquc,  iv.  334. 


enthusiasm  was  still  stronger  :  cries  of 
joy  and  incitements  to  violence  were 
heard  on  all  sides ;  and  to  such  a  pitch 
did  the  transports  rise  there,  that  the 
grand-vizier  was  obliged  to  issue  a 
proclamation,  declaring  that  "he  was 
about  to  march  to  exterminate  the  in- 
fidel Muscovites,  and  that  he  was  only 
awaiting  the  last  orders  of  the  Sultan 
for  the  campaign."  The  entry  of  the 
grandson  of  Ali,  a  boy  of  eight  years  of 
age,  his  harem,  and  his  treasures,  into 
Constantinople,  resembled  a  Roman 
triumph.  But  amidst  all  this  exulta- 
tion at  the  ;  death  of  Ali,  it  proved 
fatal  to  his  conqueror,  who  hoped  to 
succeed  to  his  government  and  his 
influence.  The  treasures  sent  to 
Constantinople  by  Chourchid  Pacha, 
though  considerable,  were  by  no  means 
so  large  as  had  been  expected ;  and 
this  disappointment,  joined  to  the  ill 
success  of  the  succeeding  campaign  in 
Greece,  of  which  he  had  the  chief  di- 
rection, ultimately  occasioned  his  fall. 

58.  Taking  advantage  of  the  en- 
thusiasm produced  by  the  fall  of  Ali, 
the  Divan  made  the  most  extensive 
preparations  for  the  next  campaign. 
Chourchid  Pacha,  after  subduing  the 
Souliotes  in  his  rear,  was  to  unite  all 
his  forces  employed  in  the  siege  of 
Janina,  and,  conjointly  with  the  Pacha 
ofSalonica,   invade  the   Morea  with 
sixty  thousand  men.    The  army  of  the 
grand-vizier,  divided  into  two  columns, 
was  to  advance  from  Adrianople,  the 
one  moving  on  Brahilov,  the  other  on 
Roudschuck,  so  as  to  keep  the  Rus- 
sians, with  whom  a  rupture  was  hour- 
ly expected,  in  check ;  while  the  Pacha 
of  Erzeroum,  collecting  thirty  thousand 
men  among  the  warlike  tribes  of  Asia, 
was  to  make  head  against  the  Persians, 
and  cause  the  frontier  of  Georgia  to  be 
respected.    At  the  same  time  a  power- 
ful squadron,  consisting  of  three  ships 
of  the  line,  two  frigates,  and  twenty 
brigs,  with  eight  thousand  land  troops 
on  ooard,  was  to  issue  from  the  Darda- 
nelles, and,  after  revictualling  the  forts 
which  still  held  out  in  the  Morea, 
afterwards    carry    reinforcements    to 
Candia  and  Cyprus. 

59.  These  desipis  were  very  imper- 
fectly carried   into  execution.      The 


384 


HISTORY  OF  EUKOPE. 


[CHAV.  XIT-, 


fleet,  indeed,  to  which  the  Greeks  had 
no  adequate  force  to  oppose,  success- 
fully accomplished  its  mission.  It 
revictualled  Napoli  di  Romania  and 
the  other  fortresses  in  the  Morea, 
made  sail  for  Alexandria,  and  with 
stores  taken  in  there  relieved  the 
strongholds  of  Candia  and  Cyprus. 
But  the  land  forces  were  far  from  be- 
ing equally  successful,  and  their  fail- 
ure disarranged  the  whole  campaign. 
By  great  exertions  Chourchid  got  to- 
gether 17,000  men  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Janina,  and  with  these,  under 
the  command  of  Omer-Vrione,  he  com- 
menced, in  the  beginning  of  June,  an 
attack  on  the  Souliotes,  preparatory  to 
his  grand  expedition  into  the  Morea. 
The  Souliotes,  even  when  strength- 
ened by  all  the  succour  which  could 
be  obtained  from  the  neighbouring 
mountains  of  Epirus,  did  not  exceed 
4000.  Such,  however,  was  the  vigour 
of  the  defence,  and  the  skilful  use 
which  these  brave  mountaineers  made 
of  the  rocky  and  inaccessible  nature 
of  their  country,  that  all  the  attacks 
of  the  Ottomans  were  repelled.  The 
women  fought  by  the  side  of  their  hus- 
bands and  brothers,  fearing  death  less 
than  Turkish  slavery;  and,  after  a 
desperate  struggle  of  several  days'  du- 
ration, the  Turks  were  finally  repulsed. 
In  vain  Chourchid  brought  up  3000 
fresh  troops,  and  in  person  renewed 
the  assault :  the  Souliotes  were  again 
victorious ;  and,  after  an  incessant 
conflict  of  ten  days  among  the  rocks, 
ravines,  and  precipices,  the  Ottomans 
were  finally  routed,  and  driven  out  of 
the  country,  with  the  loss  of  their 
whole  artillery,  baggage,  and  stores, 
and  above  4000  men  slain  and  wounded. 
Despairing  of  success  after  this  disaster, 
Chourchid  drew  off  his  troops  into  the 
plain,  contenting  himself  with  block- 
ading the  entrance  of  the  passes,  in 
order  to  straiten  the  mountaineers  by 
want  of  provisions.  Leaving  the  com- 
mand of  the  blockading  force  to  his 
lieutenant,  Omer-Vrione,  he  himself 
set  out  with  such  forces  as  he  could 
collect,  to  direct  the  operations  in  the 
Morea. 

60.  Meanwhile,  a  frightful  disaster 
occurred  in  the  Archipelago,  which, 


from  the  unexampled  horror  with  which 
it  was  attended,  and  the  sublime  devo- 
tion by  which  it  was  avenged,  forcibly 
attracted  the  attention  of  all  Europe, 
and  at  length  awakened  the  sympathy 
which  led  to  the  independence  of  Greece. 
The  opulent,  fertile,  and  prosperous 
island  of  CHIOS,  the  garden  of  the 
^Egean  Sea,  and  literally  speaking  an 
earthly  paradise,  if  any  earthly  spot 
deserves  the  name,  had  hitherto  re- 
mained a  stranger  to  the  insurrection. 
Its  eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  satis- 
fied with  their  condition,  and  horror- 
struck  with  the  devastation  which  they 
beheld  around  them,  long  aimed  only 
at  preserving  the  blessings  of  peace  and 
neutrality.  But  the  Turks,  instead  of 
improving  on  these  dispositions  by 
gentle  treatment,  increased  their  ex- 
actions to  such  a  degree  that  the  rural 
inhabitants  became  ripe  for  revolt ;  and 
a  Greek  squadron,  under  Logotheti, 
having  appeared  off  the  island  in  the 
end  of  March,  the  insurrection  broke 
out.  The  Turks  shut  themselves  up  in 
the  citadel,  where  four  thousand  men 
were  in  arms ;  the  Greeks  took  posses- 
sion of  the  heights  of  Tourlotti,  which 
commanded  it,  and  for  the  next  ten 
days  a  distant  cannonade  was  kept  up 
between  the  contending  parties,  with- 
out any  material  effect  on  either  side. 
But  meanwhile  the  Sultan,  exasperated 
at  the  loss  of  an  island  which  was  so 
productive  to  the  public  treasury,  was 
making  the  most  vigorous  efforts  for 
its  conquest.  An  army  of  thirty  thgu- 
sand  fanatical  Asiatics,  eager  for  the 
plunder  of  the  garden  of  the  Archi- 
pelago, was  collected  on  the  opposite 
coast  of  Smyrna,  and  loudly  demanded 
to  be  led  to  the  promised  scene  of  ra- 
pine and  massacre ;  while  a  powerful 
fleet,  consisting  of  six  ships  of  the  line, 
ten  frigates,  and  twelve  brigs,  was  col- 
lected in  the  Dardanelles,  under  the 
Capitan  Pacha,  Kara  Ali,  in  person, 
and  appeared  on  the  12th  April  off  the 
island. 

61.  The  Turkish  commander  offered 
an  amnesty  to  the  islanders  if  they 
would  submit  to  surrender  their  arms, 
and  deliver  up  the  authors  of  the  re- 
volt. These  terms  having  been  re- 
jected, the  capitan  began  to  land  his. 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


335 


troops,'  which  was  effected,  without 
much  difficult}',  under  cover  of  the  guns 
of  the  fleet,  as  the  Greek  squadron, 
unable  to  face  the  broadsides  of  the 
three-deckers,  had  been  obliged  to  re- 
tire. Meanwhile,  the  garrison  in  the 
citadel,  taking  advantage  of  the  general 
consternation,  made  a  vigorous  sortie, 
and  a  division  of  gunboats  kept  conti- 
nually transporting  the  Asiatic  troops 
from  the  opposite  Bay  of  Tchesme'. 
Resistance  was  impossible  against  such 
an  accumulation  of  forces ;  the  in- 
trcnchments  onTourlotti  were  speedily 
stormed;  and  the  Turks,  rushing  sword 
in  hand  into  the  town,  commenced  an 
indiscriminate  massacre  of  the  Chris- 
tians, which  lasted  without  interrup- 
tion for  thefourfollowingdays.  Flames 
soon  broke  out  in  every  direction,  and 
speedily  reduced  one  of  the  finest  cities 
in  the  Levant  to  ashes :  nine  thousand 
men  were  put  to  the  sword ;  the  women 
and  children  were  all  sold  as  slaves ; 
the  very  graves  were  rifled  in  search  of 
concealed  treasures,  and  the  bones  of 
the  dead  tossed  about  by  the  infuriated 
conquerors  among  the  corpses  of  the 
recently  slain.  None  in  the  town 
escaped  the  edge  of  the  scimitar  or  cap- 
tivity, excepting  fifteen  hundred,  who 
sought  and  found  refuge  with  the  con- 
sul of  France,  by  whom  they  were  con- 
veyed on  board  two  French  vessels  of 
war  in  the  harbour. 

62.  Not  content  with  this  inhuman 
massacre  of  unarmed  and  unoffending 
citizens,  or  seizure  of  innocent  women 
and  children,  the  Turks,  on  finding 
that  the  flames  or  the  sword  had  left 
them  no  further  victims  in  the  city, 
rushed  in  tumultuous  bodies  into  the 
country,  and  commenced  the  work  of 
destruction  in  the  rural  villages.  Large 
bodies  of  Asiatics,  lured  by  the  light 
of  the  burning  town,  assembled  on  the 
opposite  coast  in  the  Bay  of  TchesmS, 
and  were  hourly  rowed  over  to  the  de- 
voted island  to  join  in  the  massacre. 
In  vain  the  consuls  of  France  and  Aus- 
tria prevailed  on  the  Capitan  Pacha  to 
proclaim  an  amnesty,  which  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  trembling  inhabitants, 
on  condition  of  delivering  up  the  chiefs 
of  the  revolt,  which  was  immediately 

VOL.  II. 


done.  Nothing  could  assuage  the  thirst 
for  blood,  or  appease  the  fanatical  fury 
of  the  Mussulmans.  Every  corner  of 
the  island  was  ransacked ;  every  house 
burned  or  sacked ;  every  human  being 
that  could  be  found,  slain  or  carried  off 
into  captivity.  Modern  Europe  had 
never  witnessed  such  an  instance  of 
bloodshed  or  horror.  To  find  a  parallel 
to  it  we  must  go  back  to  the  storming  of 
Syracuse  or  Carthage  by  the  Romans, 
or  the  sack  of  Bagdad  or  Aleppo  by  the 
arms  of  Timour.  All  the  beautiful 
streets  and  superb  villas  of  Chios  were 
destroyed;  its  entire  sacred  edifices 
ruined ;  ninety  churches  in  the  island 
burned ;  forty  villages  delivered  to  the 
flames.  Nothing  was  to  be  seen  in  the 
once  smiling  land  but  heaps  of  ruins, 
and  a  few  ghastly  inhabitants  wander- 
ing in  a  state  of  starvation  among 
them. 

"  Unheard,  the  clock  repeats  its  hours; 
Cold  is  the  hearth  within  its  bowers-; 

•  And  should  we  thither  roam, 
Its  echoes  and  its  empty  tread 
Would  sound  like  voices  from  the  dead ! " 

When  the  massacre  finally  ceased  from 
the  exhaustion  of  the  assassins,  twenty- 
five  thousand  persons,  chiefly  full-grown 
men,  had  been  slain ;  forty-five  thou- 
sand women  and  children  had  been 
dragged  into  slavery ;  and  fifteen  thou- 
sand had  escaped  into  the  neighbouring 
islands,  all  in  the  last  state  of  destitu- 
tion and  misery,  where  the  greater  part 
of  them  died  of  grief  or  starvation. 
For  several  months  the  markets  of 
Constantinople,  Egypt,  and  Barbary 
were  so  stocked  with  slaves  that  their 
price  fell  a  half;  and  purchasers  were 
attracted  from  the  farthest  parts  of 
Asia  and  Africa,  whither  the  unhappy 
Greek  captives  were  scattered. 

63.  But  the  justice  of  Providence 
neither  slumbered  nor  slept.  An  awful 
but  not  undeserved  retribution  over- 
took the  authors  of  this  frightful  tra- 
gedy. Its  moving  spring  was  the  in- 
dignation of  the  human  mind  at  such 
unheard-of  atrocities ;  its  instruments 
the  heroic  citizens  of  Hydra.  Anxious 
spectators  of  the  destruction  of  the 
beautiful  island,  so  long  the  scene  of 
their  happiness  and  recreation,  but  yet 


386 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


•unable  to  face  the  line-of-battle  ships  of 
the  Turks  in  stand-up  fight,  the  chiefs 
of  Hydra  agreed,  in  a  council  held  on 
the  subject,  on  an  attempt  to  destroy 
the  Turkish  fleet  by  fire.  Again,  as  in 
the  last  days  of  the  Byzantine  empire, 
the  cause  of  Christendom  was  defended 
by  the  torch  and  the  Greek  Fire,  be- 
come more  formidable  to  its  enemies 
than  either  its  cannon  or  its  swords. 
Two  hundred  brave  men  volunteered 
to  steer  the  fireships ;  forty-eight  were 
selected  under  ANDREAS  MIAULIS,* 
Nicolas  Apostoli,  and  Androuzzo  of 
Spezzia — names  which,  for  cool  cour- 
age, ardent  devotion,  and  intrepid  dar- 
ing, may  well  be  placed  beside  any 
recorded  in  history.  There,  too,  an 
English  sea -officer,  attracted  by  the 
sight  of  danger,  commenced  that  ho- 
nourable course  which  has  for  ever 
connected  his  name  with  the  emanci- 
pation of  Greece,  t  The  volunteers 
chosen  received  the  sacrament  and  be- 
nediction from  the  bishop,  and  stepped 

*  Andreas  Miaulis,  son  to  a  Eubosan  mer- 
chant, was  born  at  Hydra,  and  went  to  sea, 
at  the  early  period  of  seven  years,  in  one  of 
his  father's  vessels.  While  yet  a  boy,  his  na- 
tive courage  and  disposition  evinced  itself : 
he  was  lively,  passionate,  and  obstinate :  he 
married,  at  eighteen,  the  daughter  of  a  worthy 
priest  at  Hydra,  and  soon  got  a  ship,  and 
commenced  voyages  on  his  own  account.  On 
one  occasion,  while  in  command  of  this  ves- 
sel, he  fell  in  with  a  Maltese  pirate  of  superior 
strength,  to  avoid  whom  he  ran  his  vessel 
ashore,  let  his  crew  go,  but  remained  alone 
in  his  vessel.  After  some  hesitation,  arising 
from  their  suspecting  a  trick,  the  pirates 
boarded,  seized  Miaulis,  whom  they  beat  hi 
the  most  cruel  manner  to  force  him  to  reveal 
his  money :  but  he  finally  recovered  his  vessel 
from  the  pirates  by  the  aid  of  some  Albanian 
soldiers.  At  length  his  fortune  increased  so 
much  that  he  bought  the  Hercules,  a  vessel 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  tons  burden,  with 
which  he  beat  off  a  French  brig  of  fourteen 
guns.  He  was  once  taken  by  Nelson,  who, 
pleased  with  his  frank  intrepid  manner,  set 
him  at  liberty.  In  1817  he  retired  from  active 
life,  having  made  a  moderate  fortune ;  but  in 
1821  he  took  up  arms  at  the  call  of  his  country. 
His  courage  was  a  toute  epreuve,  his  patriotic 
spirit  unconquerable.  Once  on  a  critical  oc- 
casion, as  the  sailors  refused  to  embark,  he 
ordered  himself  to  be  carried  in  his  litter,  as 
he  was  ill  at  the  time,  on  board  his  brig;  the 
sailors  immediately  followed.  Fire  and  energy 
are  his  great  characteristics ;  but  he  was  also 
distinguished  by  deep  thought,  decision  of 
character,  and  unconquerable  perseverance. 
— GORDON'S  Greek  Revolution,  i.  372,  374. 

t  Captain  Frank  Abuey  Hastings. 


on  board  their  fireships  amidst  the 
tears  and  prayers  of  their  countrymen. 

64.  The  united  fleets  of  Hydra  and 
Spezzia  assembled  at  Psarra  on  the  5th 
May,  and  set  sail  on  the  10th  in  quest 
of  the  enemy.  They  amounted  to  fifty- 
six  sail,  the  largest  carrying  twenty 
guns,  among  which  were   eight  fire- 
ships.     They  cruised  about  close  to 
the  Turkish  fleet,  which  lay  at  anchor 
in  a  bay  on  the  coast  of  Asia  for  seve- 
ral days,  and  exchanged  a  distant  can- 
nonade with  their  line-of-battle  ships, 
with  little  effect  on  either  side.     At 
length,  on  the  evening  of  the  31st,  an 
attack  was  resolved  on  by  the  Greek 
chiefs  ;  and  Miaulis,  with  fifteen  ships 
of  war  and  three  fireships,  entered  the 
channel  between  Chios  and  the  Asiatic 
coast  at  eight  in  the  evening.     The 
consternation  was  extreme  on  board, 
the  Turkish  fleet ;  several  of  the  ships 
of  war  engaged  the  line-of-battle  ships, 
and  Kara  Ali,  in  his  three-decker,  had 
a  narrow  escape  from  a  fireship,  which 
only  failed  in  consequence  of  the  torch 
having  been  applied  a  minute  too  soon. 
On  this  occasion  the  attack  was  unsuc- 
cessful ;  the  islanders  retired  to  the 
road  of  Psarra,  and  the  Capitan  Pacha, 
proud  of  his  victory,  remained  at  an- 
chor in  the  straits. 

65.  Having  received  intelligence  that 
the  Ottoman  squadron  had  been  rein- 
forced to  thirty-eight  sail,  and  that  it 
was  soon  to  unite  with  one  of  nearly 
equal  strength  from  Egypt,  the  Hy- 
driote  chiefs  became  convinced  that 
unless  a  successful  attack  was  made, 
and  that  speedily,  their  country  must 
inevitably  be  destroyed.  Accordingly, 
it  was  resolved,  during  a  dark  night, 
to  send  in  two  fireships  at  the  northern 
end  of  the  straits,  while  attach  end 
two  vessels  cruised  about  to  pick  up 
such  of  their  crews  as  might  survive 
their  perilous  mission.    CONSTANTINE 
CANAKIS,  of  Psarra,  a  name  immortal 
in  history,  and  George  Pepinis,  of  Hy- 
dra, volunteered  their  services,  with 
thirty  -  two  intrepid  followers  ;    and 
having  partaken  of  the  holy  sacra- 
ment, they  embarked  at  nine  at  night, 
and  sailed  under  French  and  Austrian 
colours  close  to  the  Ottoman  fleet,  by 
whom  they  were  hailed  and  desired  to 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


387 


keep  off.  At  midnight,  a  breeze  from 
the  north  having  sprung  up,  they  ran 
in  at  once  among  the  fleet.  The  Psar- 
riotc  fireship,  commanded  by  Canaris, 
grappled  the  prow  of  the  Turkish  ad- 
miral's vessel,  anchored  at  the  head  of 
the  line,  a  league  from  the  shore,  and 
instantly  set  her  on  fire.  Instantly 
jumping  into  a  launch  they  had  in  tow, 
they  passed  under  her  poop,  shouting 
the  old  war-cry  of  Byzantium,  "  Vic- 
tory to  the  Cross ! "  The  Hydriote 
fireship  was  with  equal  success  fasten- 
ed to  the  other  three-decker,  carrying 
the  Reala  Bev's  flag  and  the  treasure. 
They  were  then  picked  up  by  their 
comrades  ;  and  the  thirty-four  heroes, 
after  having  performed  an  exploit 
perhaps  unexampled,  sailed  straight 
through  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  fleet, 
and  got  clear  off  without  a  wound.* 

66.  The  fate  of  the  two  ships  which 
were  fired  was  different.  The  Reala 
Bey's  crew  succeeded,  by  great  exer- 
tions, in  extinguishing  the  flames, 
though  not  before  the  vessel  was  ren- 
dered unfit  for  service,  and  detaching 
the  fireship  from  the  prow,  which 
floated  through  the  fleet  in  a  state  of 
conflagration,  exciting  universal  con- 
sternation, and  doing  groat  damage  to 
several  vessels,  until  she  stranded  on 
the  Asiatic  coast.  Not  so  with  the 
admiral's  ship.  Canaris  had  fixed  the 
grappling  irons  to  the  prow  so  strongly 
that  all  attempts  to  detach  them  were 
vain,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  superb 
three-decker  was  a  sheet  of  flame.  Hull, 
masts,  rigging,  all  were  in  a  blaze  at  the 
same  time.  The  scene  which  ensued 
on  board  the  vessel  baffles  all  descrip- 
tion. Two  thousand  three  hundred 
persons,  crowded  on  board  a  single 
line-of-battle  ship,  had  no  means  of 
escaping  the  flames  but  by  plunging 
into  the  waves.  None  would  approach 
the  biirning  vessel  for  fear  of  being  in- 
volved in  the  conflagration.  Kara  Ali, 
the  Capitan  Pacha,  refused  to  quit  his 
ship;  lie  was  seized  by  his  officers,  and 
forcibly  carried  on  board  a  boat ;  but 
a  burning  mast  fell  athwart  it,  and 
wounded  him  mortally  on  the  head. 

*  They  had  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  on  board, 
determined  to  blow  themselves  up  rather  thau 
1)0  token. — GORDON,  i.  'MS. 


He  was  carried  ashore,  and  rendered 
up  his  last  breath  on  the  shores  of  that 
Chios  which  he  had  changed  from  a 
smiling  garden  to  a  howling  wilder- 
ness. Meanwhile  the  Turks  in  the  town 
beheld  with  feelings  of  profound  con- 
sternation  the  awful  spectacle.  Every 
vessel  in  the  fleet,  many  of  which  were 
on  fire,  was  distinctly  seen  by  the  pro- 
digious light  of  the  burning  three- 
decker,  the  flames  from  which  rose 
like  a  pillar  of  fire  into  the  heavens. 
At  length  she  blew  up  with  an  explo- 
sion so  tremendous  that  every  house 
for  miles  around  was  shaken  to  its 
foundation,  every  ship  in  the  straits 
rocked  as  in  a  tempest ;  and  the  awful 
silence  which  immediately  ensued  was 
broken,  as  in  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius, 
by  the  clatter  of  the  spars  and  masts 
which  fell  upon  the  fleet.  The  Turks 
in  Chios,  overwhelmed  with  terror, 
threw  themselves  with  their  faces  on 
the  ground,  imploring  the  mercy  of 
the  Almighty.  The  victors  returned 
in  triumph  to  Ipsara,  where  they  were 
received  with  transports  of  joy,  crowned 
with  garlands  of  flowers,  and  hastened 
to  the  altar  to  return  thanks  to  God 
for  the  deliverance  of  their  country ; 
while  the  Turks  in  despair  took  refuge 
in  the  harbour  of  Mitylene,  abandon- 
ing to  the  Greeks  the  entire  command 
of  the  Archipelago. 

67.  The  Turks  in  Chios  took  venge- 
ance for  their  disaster  by  renewing  the 
massacre  of  the  few  unhappy  Greeks 
whoyetremainedinthe island.  Twenty 
thousand  of  them  rushed  into  the  Mas- 
tic villages,  which  had  escaped  the  for- 
mer devastation  from  the  capitulation, 
and  put  every  human  being  they  could 
reach  to  the  sword.  In  the  beginning 
of  August  there  were  not  eighteen  hun- 
dred of  the  original  inhabitants  alive  in 
the  island,  almost  all  old  women,  who 
had  been  concealed  in  caves,  out  of 
eighty-five  thousand  who  peopled  it  a 
few  months  before.  But  the  slaughter 
of  a  few  thousand  unarmed  and  starv- 
ing Greeks  could  not  affect  the  issue  of 
the  campaign,  or  diminish  the  weight 
of  the  blow  which  had  been  struck. 
Canaris,  not  less  than  Themistoclcs, 
had  been  the  saviour  of  his  country ; 
the  blow  struck  in  the  Straits  of  Chios 


388 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[1:11  vi1.  xiv. 


was  as  decisive  as  that  formerly  deliv- 
ered i:i  the  Bay  of  Salamis.  By  de- 
priving the  Turks  in  the  Morea  of  the 
expected  co-operation  and  supplies  from 
the  fleet,  it  exposed  them  to  starvation 
and  ruin  in  that  province,  end  was  the 
principal  cause  of  the  defeat  of  the  vast 
armament  which  the  Ottoman  Govern- 
ment had  by  great  exertions  got  to- 
gether for  the  subjection  of  southern 
Greece. 

68.  Aware  of  the  great  force  which 
the  Turks  intended  to  bring  against 
them,  and  justly  distrustful  of  their  own 
means  of  withstanding  it,  the  Greek 
Government  in  the  Morea  made  every 
exertion  to  prevent  the  threatened  in- 
vasion by  raising  up  foes  to  their  ene- 
mies in  rear.  For  this  purpose  they 
despatched  eight  hundred  men,  under 
Mavrocordato  in  person,  to  Missolon- 
glii,  in  order  to  lend  assistance  to  the 
Souliotes,  and  prevent  Chourchid  Pa- 
cha from  detaching  in  aid  of  the  expe- 
dition against  the  Peloponnesus.  The 
reinforcement  disembarked  on  the  4th 
June  at  Missolonghi,  amidst  the  cheers 
of  the  inhabitants  ;  but  very  little  real 

food  resulted  from  the  expedition, 
[avrocordato  was  soon  found  to  have 
no  talent  for  war  :  he  failed  in  acquir- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  soldiery,  from 
their  perceiving  that  he  did  not  deserve 
it.  Several  attempts  made  to  open 
a  communication  with  the  Souliotes 
failed  from  the  able  dispositions  of 
Omer-Vrione,  who,  having  taken  up  a 
central  position  between  Janina,  Arta, 
and  Prevesa,  his  three  strongholds,  at 
once  secured  his  communication  with 
each,  and  straitened  the  Souliotes,  who, 
blockaded  in  their  inaccessible  preci- 
pices, were  daily  becoming  more  in 
want  of  provisions.  Even  the  heroic 
Mark  Bozzaris  failed  in  cutting  his 
way  through  to  his  gallant  country- 
men ;  and  at  length  he  was  defeated 
on  the  15th  July,  with  the  loss  of  four 
hundred  men,  by  the  Turks  at  Pelta. 
In  this  action  a  battalion  of  Philhel- 
lenes,  or  European  sympathisers,  was 
almost  destroyed ;  and  the  survivors, 
disgusted  with  the  divisions  and  trea- 
chery which  they  saw  around  them, 
retired  from  Greece.  Disheartened  by 
this  disaster,  Mavrocordato  no  longer 


thought  but  of  the  defence  of  Misso- 
longhi, which  it  was  obvious  would 
soon  be  besieged  by  the  victorioiis- 
Turks ;  and  the  brave  Souliotes,  aban- 
doned to  themselves,  were  ere  long 
so  straitened  for  provisions  that  they 
were  fairly  starved  into  submission, 
and  compelled  to  accept  the  humane 
proposal  of  the  governor  of  the  Ionian 
Islands,  who  offered  them  an  asylum 
in  the  British  dominions,  whither  tw» 
thousand  were  transported  in  the  end 
of  September,  with  consent  of  Omer- 
Vrione,  who  was  too  happy  to  be  de- 
livered from  such  formidable  antagon- 
ists. 

69.  While  these  disasters  were  clos- 
ing everything  but  a  guerilla  warfare 
in  Epirus,  the  efforts  of  the  Greek 
Government  to  effect  a  division  in  Ma- 
cedonia and  northern  Greece  were  not 
in  the  end  attended  with  better  suc- 
cess. In  the  first  instance,  indeed, 
the  efforts  of  Odysseus  and  other  Greek 
chiefs,  aided  by  the  unbounded  rapa- 
city and  arrogance  of  the  Turkish 
pachas,  excited  an  insurrection  in  the 
hill  country  of  Macedonia;  and  in 
April  1822,  six  thousand  gallant  moun- 
taineers were  in  arms  in  the  valleys 
descending  from  the  snowy  summits 
of  Mount  Olympus.  But  the  pachas- 
of  Salonica  and  Thessaly,  having  con- 
siderable forces  at  their  command, 
speedily  took  the  field  against  them 
at  the  head  of  fifteen  thousand  men. 
With  this  imposing  array  they  forced 
the  passes  of  the  far-famed  defile  of 
Tempe ;  and  the  mountaineers  having 
refused  to  surrender,  and  slain  a  Turk- 
ish officer  and  three  priests,  who  bore 
a  flag  of  truce,  they  commenced  an 
assault  on  Navacta,  their  chief  strong- 
hold. The  defence  was  brave  and 
obstinate ;  but  at  length  numbers  pre- 
vailed. The  place  was  stormed,  and 
a  frightful  massacre  ensued,  which 
amply  avenged  the  ferocity  of  the 
Greeks  at  the  sack  of  Tripolitza.  Four 
thousand  Greeks  were  slain  on  the 
spot ;  the  victorious  Moslems  pursued 
the  fugitives  in  all  directions,  cutting 
them  down  without  mercy ;  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  villages  were  delivered 
to  the  flames ;  and  a  band  of  Jews,  who 
had  taken  no  part  in  the  action,  sis 


1822.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


389 


hundred  in  number,  followed  in  the 
rear  of  the  victors,  merely  for  the 
pleasure  of  beating  out  the  brains  of 
the  Christians  with  their  clubs.  One 
of  them  boasted  that  he  had  in  this 
manner  despatched  sixty-eight  vic- 
tims. The  Pacha  of  Salonica,  after 
this  victory,  retired  to  that  city,  where 
he  carried  his  vengeance  so  far  as  to 
put  to  death  the  wife  of  Kara  Tasso, 
tin  Olympic  chief,  who  had  headed  the 
insurrection,  with  frightful  tortures, 
and  massacred  the  whole  hostages  from 
Mount  Athos  who  were  in  his  hands. 
Kara  Tasso  crossed  over  to  the  island 
of  Skopelo,  where  he  pursued  a  par- 
tisan warfare,  and  often  bathed  his 
•sword  in  Mohammedan  blood. 

70.  Delivered  by  these  sanguinary 
successes  from  all  anxiety  regarding 
his  rear,  Chourchid  Pacha  was  enabled 
.to  concur  in  the  grand  measure  of  in- 
vading the  Morea.  The  insurrection 
had  extended  to  Eubcea,  and  that 
beautiful  and  fertile  island  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Greeks,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  fortresses  of  Negropont  and 
Carysto,  which  were  still,  with  the 
plains  adjacent  to  them,  in  the  power 
of  the  Mohammedans.  It  was  of  the 
last  importance,  therefore,  to  effect 
the  conquest  of  the  Morea  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  thus  prevent  the  whole 
of  southern  Greece  from  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  insurgents.  Chour- 
chid accordingly  broke  up  from  Janina 
on  the  17th  June,  and  having  effected 
.a  junction  with  the  pachas  of  Salo- 
nica and  Thessaly,  their  united  forces, 
thirty  thousand  strong,  of  which  two- 
thirds  were  cavalry,  passed  the  defile 
of  Thermopylae  without  resistance,  and 
appeared  before  Corinth  on  the  18th 
July,  where  the  citadel  was  delivered 
:to  them,  though  amply  stored  with 
provisions,  by  the  treachery  of  a  Greek 
priest  who  commanded  the  place.  The 
Turks  then  advanced  without  opposi- 
tion to  Argos,  the  seat  of  government. 
The  executive  council,  in  extreme 
alarm,  took  refuge  in  Tripolitza,  after 
issuing  a  proclamation  calling  on  every 
KJlreek,  under  sixty  years  of  age,  to 
appear  in  arms  at  the  appointed  ren- 
dezvous of  the  chiefs.  The  Ottoman 
army,  eighteen  thousand  strong,  even 


after  leaving  strong  garrisons  in  Cor- 
inth and  Argos,  proceeded  on  with 
very  little  opposition  to  Napoli  di 
Romania,  the  garrison  of  which  they 
reinforced  so  as  to  enable  it  to  resume 
the  offensive  and  keep  the  blockading 
force  at  a  distance  from  its  walls. 

71.  But  this  was  the  limit  of  their 
success.     The  Turks  found  at  Napoli, 
as  the  French  did  at  Moscow,  not  the 
termination  of  their  conquests,  but  the 
commencement  of  their  ruin.     Then 
appeared  of  what  vital  importance  to 
the  cause  of  Greek  independence  had 
been  the  blow  struck  in  the  Straits  of 
Chios.      Instead  of  a  powerful  fleet 
stored  with  ammunition  and  provisions 
as  they  expected,  the  Turks  found  in 
Napoli  nothing  but  a  starving  garri- 
son, demanding,   not  capable  of  giv- 
ing, supplies.  The  surrounding  plains, 
burnt  up  with  the  heat  of  summer, 
could  afford  nothing  for  the  support 
of  their  numerous  cavalry,  the  horses 
of  which,  already  broken  down  by  their 
long  march,  were  now  dying  by  hun- 
dreds daily  from  want  of  forage.     In  a 
few  days  the  want  of  provisions  for 
the  men  became  so  great  that  no  re- 
source remained  but  living  on  the  dead 
bodies  of  the  horses  which  had  per- 
ished.    Meanwhile  the  Greek  chiefs, 
who  on  this  occasion  showed  a  noble 
example  of  unanimity  and  firmness, 
were  daily  gathering   around  them. 
Demetrius  Ipsilanti,  who  had  the  chief 
command,   took    his   measures   with 
equal  skill  and  resolution,  and  soon 
accumulated  forces  which  entirely  cut 
off  their    communications.      Coloco- 
troni  raised  the  siege  of  the  citadel  of 
Corinth,  and  hastened  to  the  scene  of 
action  with  three  thousand  men ;  an 
equal  force  was  landed  from  Hydra 
and  the  islands ;   the    mountaineers 
nocked  together  from  all  quarters ; 
and  the  Turks  found  themselves  strait- 
ened by  twelve  thousand  men,  who 
hung  around  them  on  all  sides,  and 
rendered  all  attempts  at  foraging  or 
levying  supplies  impossible. 

72.  Aware  of  the  extreme  danger  of 
their  position,  dreading  alike  starva- 
tion if  they  remained  where  they  were, 
or  destruction  if  they  adventured  on 
the  wasted  line  of  their  former  ad- 


390 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xir. 


vaixce,  the  Turkish  general  proposed 
to  enter  into  a  capitulation  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  Morea.  This  the 
Greek  chiefs  declined,  expecting,  with 
reason,  that  he  would  be  obliged  to 
surrender  at  discretion.  Upon  this 
the  Turks  resolved  to  cut  their  way 
through.  To  effect  this  object,  how- 
ever, they  had  to  pass  by  the  defile  of 
Tretes,  which  was  guarded  by  NIKE- 
TAS,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Greek 
chiefs,  at  the  head  of  three  thousand 
men ;  while.  Colocotroni,  with  one 
thousand  more,  marched  to  St  George 
to  intercept  their  retreat.  The  natural 
strength  of  the  passes  was  enhanced 
by  felling  trees  and  piling  up  stones 
on  the  rocky  slopes,  which  were  sent 
thundering  down  upon  the  enemy  when 
they  appeared.  With  great  difficulty, 
and  after  sustaining  a  very  heavy  loss 
from  the  Greek  marksmen,  who,  se- 
curely posted  in  the  rocks  above,  sent 
down  a  shower  of  balls  on  the  wearied 
column  beneath,  Mahmoud  Pacha  suc- 
ceeded in  forcing  his  way  through  to 
Cleonse,  leaving  the  defile  strewed 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  men  and 
horses.  But  the  seraskier  who  com- 
manded the  second  column  was  not 
so  fortunate,  for  Ipsilanti  and  Niketas 
appeared  on  its  flank,  and  the  cavalry 
denied  through  a  long  pass  under  a 
terrific  fire  from  the  overhanging 
heights,  which  they  could  neither  bear 
nor  return.  Impatient  of  the  danger, 
and  seeing  their  comrades  falling  at 
every  step  around  them,  the  horsemen 
drove  on  with  frantic  haste,  tumbling 
over  each  other,  and  presenting  a  con- 
fused mass  of  men  and  horses,  upon 
which  eveiy  shot  of  the  Greeks  told 
with  fatal  effect.  In  this  disastrous 
conflict  the  Turks  lost  five  thousand 
men ;  on  the  preceding  day  two  thou- 
sand had  fallen,  including  a  pacha ; 
and  the  whole  artillery,  baggage,  and 
stores  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks. 
Altogether,  when  the  Ottoman  army 
left  the  Peloponnesus,  there  were  not 
more  than  two  thousand  left  to  rein- 
force the  garrison  of  Napoli  di  Ro- 
mania, and  seven  thousand  around 
Corinth  under  Jussuf  Pacha,  the  poor 
remains  of  thirty  thousand,  of  whom 
two-thirds  were  splendid  horse,  who 


had  entered  the   country  six   weeks 
before. 

73.  This  memorable  defeat,  so  glo- 
rious to  the  Christians,  proved  decisive 
of  the   campaign   over  the  whole  of 
Greece.   Three  times  Chourchid  Pacha 
endeavoured  to  force  the  pass  of  Ther- 
mopylas,  in  order  to  convey  succours 
from  Salonica  to  Jussuf  Pacha  at  Cor- 
inth ;  but  Odysseus  now  stood  upon 
his  defence,  defeated  him  with  severe- 
loss  on  every  occasion,  and  forced  the 
Turks  to  retreat  to  Larissa.     Chour- 
chid was  soon  after  seized  with  dysen- 
tery, brought  on  partly  b}-  fatigue, 
partly  by  anxiety  about  his  reverses  ; 
.and  he  died  on  November  16th  a  na- 
tural death,  just  in  time  to  avoid  the 
bowstring  of  the  Sultan,  which  had 
been  sent  to  despatch  him.     The  Acro- 
polis of  Athens,  which  had  been  long 
blockaded,  at  length  capitulated  from 
want  of  provisions  on  the  21st  June, 
on  conditions  very  favourable  to  the 
Turks,  who  were  1150  in  number,  of 
whom  not  more  than  a  fifth  were  cap- 
able of  bearing  arms,  the  remainder 
being  women  and  children.    After  the 
capitulation,  however,  had  been  signed, 
it  was  violated  by  the  Greeks,  who  per- 
fidiously commenced  an  indiscriminate 
massacre  of  the  prisoners,  of  whom 
four  hundred   were  slaughtered  ;  and 
the  whole  would  have  perished,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  generous  interp- 
osition of  the  European  consuls.     This 
important  conquest  gave  the   Greeks 
the  entire  command  of  Attica,  but  it 
affixed  a  dark  stain  to  their  cause,  and 
contributed  much  to  weaken  the  in- 
terest with  which  it  was  regarded  in 
foreign  states. 

74.  Despite    all   the    victories    of 
Omer-Vrione,  part  of  the  Souliotes 
and  Acarnanians  were  still  in  arms  in 
the  mountains  of  Epirusj  and  conceiv- 
ing that  they  would  never  be  thor- 
oughly subdued  as  long  as  Missolonghi 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  insur- 
gents, he  resolved  to  lay  siege  to  that 
place.  Accordingly,  in  the  end  of  Octo- 
ber he  crossed  the  Achelous  in  two  col- 
umns, and  invested  the  place  ;  but  it 
was  defended  by  Mark  Bozzaris,  who 
had  communicated  his  own  heroic  spi- 
rit to  the  garrison,  aided  by  a  French 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


391 


artillery  officer,  who  gave  them  the  ad- 
vantages of  his  science  and  experience. 
Though  the  garrison  did  not  amount 
to  four  hundred  men,  with  fourteen 
guns,  Mavrocordato  magnanimously 
threw  himself  into  the  place,  saying  it 
was  there  they  should  lay  down  their 
lives.  By  degrees  their  numbers  were 
augmented  to  three  thousand  men  by 
supplies  received  from  the  Morea  and 
the  islands  by  sea ;  an  assault,  six  times 
renewed,  was  vigorously  repulsed  on 
January  5,  with  the  loss  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred men  to  the  assailants ;  and  the 
mountaineers  having  descended  from 
their  hills,  and  intercepted  the  com- 
munications in  his  rear,  Omer-Vrione 
was  compelled  to  raise  the  siege,  aban- 
doning his  whole  artillery  and  stores  to 
the  enemy.  His  losses  during  his  retreat 
were  extremely  severe.  The  Mussul- 
mans lost  seven  hundred  men,  swept 
away  by  the  swollen  torrent  in  recross- 
ing  the  Achelous  ;  and  to  such  straits 
were  they  reduced  by  famine,  that, 
after  eating  all  their  horses,  they  were 
forced  to  live  on  grass  and  wild  herbs. 
Finally,  after  losing  three-fourths  of 
his  army,  Omer-Vrione  reached  Pre- 
vesa  with  three  thousand  men  on  5th 
March,  from  whence  he  escaped  alone 
in  a  boat  by  sea,  thus  abandoning  the 
province  as  a  fugitive  which  he  had 
trampled  on  as  a  conqueror,  and  hav- 
ing lost  twelve  thousand  men  in  his 
disastrous  siege. 

75.  The  insurrection  was  daily  as- 
suming more  formidable  proportions 
in  Cyprus  and  Candia.  In  the  former 
of  these  islands,  in  the  month  of  Au- 
gust, sixty -two  villages  and  towns  had 
disappeared,  or  existed  only  in  ruins. 
Adding  insult  to  injury,  the  Turks, 
wherever  they  had  the  power,  not  con- 
tented with  burning  the  houses,  de- 
stroying the  crops,  and  rooting  up  the 
vines  and  olive  trees,  exercised  the 
most  revolting  cruelties  on  the  inhabi- 
tants. The  monks  were  in  an  especial 
manner  the  objects  of  their  vindictive 
persecution  ;  they  stabled  their  horses 
in  the  churches,  and  actually  bridled 
and  saddled  some  of  these  unhappy 
ecclesiastics,  and,  forcing  them  to  go 
on  all  fours,  rode  on  them  in  derision 
till  they  dropped  down  dead  of  fatigue. 


Still  the  mountaineers  with  heroic  re- 
solution maintained  the  contest,  and 
in  many  instances  took  a  bloody  re- 
venge on  their  persecutors.  In  Candia 
the  Turks  were  in  greater  strength 
than  in  any  other  island,  and  by  mak- 
ing a  general  appeal  to  the  Mussul- 
mans to  take  up  arms,  the  pacha  suc- 
ceeded in  arraying  twenty -five  thou- 
sand men  around  his  standards.  But 
all  his  efforts  were  shattered  against 
the  resolution  of  the  Sfakiotes,  who 
drew  the  Ottomans  into  their  defiles, 
where  they  made  such  havoc  of  them 
that,  after  sustaining  a  loss  of  three 
hundred  men,  they  were  obliged  to 
shut  themselves  up  in  Canea  and  the 
other  fortresses  on  the  island,  leaving 
the  whole  plains  as  well  as  mountains 
in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents.  An 
expedition,  having  five  thousand  troops 
on  board,  came  from  Egypt ;  but  though 
they  at  first  gained  some  success,  they 
also  were  in  the  end  driven  back  into 
the  fortresses,  and  the  campaign  closed 
under  the  same  circumstances  as  it  had 
begun. 

76.  Operations  at  land  in  the  Morea 
closed  by  a  more  important  conquest, 
in  a  military  point  of  view,  than  the 
Greeks  had  yet  achieved.  This  was 
the  fall  of  Napoli  di  Romania,  which 
was  carried  by  escalade  on  the  night 
of  the  12th  December.  After  the  re- 
treat of  the  Turks  from  the  Morea, 
the  blockade  of  the  place  was  resumed 
by  Colocotroni  at  the  head  of  ten 
thousand  Greeks,  who,  as  usual,  flock- 
ed to  the  anticipated  scene  of  plunder; 
and  having  ascertained  that  the  place 
was  very  negligently  guarded  on  the 
summit  of  Fort  Palamide,  where  the 
Turks  trusted  to  the  natural  strength 
of  the  ground  and  height  of  the  pre- 
cipices, the  Greek  chiefs  resolved  on 
an  assault  by  escalade.  The  garrison 
were  already  reduced  to  the  last  straits 
for  provisions,  having  subsisted  for 
weeks  on  refuse  and  garbage,  and  lat- 
terly on  human  flesh.  They  had  no 
longer  strength  either  to  mount  guard 
or  work  their  guns.  A  convoy  of  fifteen 
hundred  men,  despatched  from  Cor- 
inth by  Jussuf  Pacha,  was  defeated  in 
the  denies  of  Agion-Oros  by  Niketas. 
Deprived  now  of  all  hope  of  succour, 


392 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


and  exhausted  by  famine  and  sick- 
ness, the  beleaguered  Turks  refused  to 
ascend  the  rocky  steep  of  Palamide, 
which  remained  almost  destitute  of  de- 
fenders. Aware  of  these  circumstances, 
the  Greeks,  amidst  the  gloom  of  a  dark 
and  rainy  winter  night,  climbed  up 
the  rocky  steep,  applied  their  scaling- 
ladders  to  the  rampart,  and  safely 
mounted  to  the  summit.  At  daybreak 
the  Turks  in  the  fortress  beneath  be- 
held with  speechless  horror  the  stan- 
dard of  the  Cross  waving  on  the  summit 
of  the  mountain  citadel.  Further  re- 
sistance was  now  impossible,  for  the 
guns  from  the  citadel  commanded  every 
part  of  the  town.  The  Ottomans  there- 
fore were  too  happy  to  conclude  a  capi- 
tulation, which  for  once  was  well  ob- 
served, and  was  the  first  example  of  a 
return  to  the  usages  of  civilisation  in 
this  frightful  war.  By  the  aid  of  the 
English  frigate,  the  Cambrian,  which 
fortunately  was  in  the  roads  at  the 
time,  the  garrison,  which  only  con- 
tained twelve  hundred  men  still  cap- 
able of  bearing  arms,  was  transported 
to  Asia.  The  Greeks  found  immense 
military  resources  in  the  fortress. 
Four  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  most 
of  them,  bronze,  in  good  condition, 
with  large  stores  of  ammunition,  fell 
into  their  hands.  What  was  of  still 
more  importance,  they  had  secured  an 
impregnable  fortress,  a  second  Gibral- 
tar, for  their  place  cCartm-s,  the  har- 
bour of  which  enabled  them  to  derive 
full  benefit  from  their  naval  superior- 
ity, and  soon  made  it  be  selected  for 
the  seat  of  government 

77.  To  conclude  the  operations  of 
this  memorable  campaign,  it  only  re- 
quires to  notice  the  last  maritime  op- 
erations of  the  year,  which  were  not 
less  brilliant  than  those  at  its  com- 
mencement. Irritated  rather  than  in- 
timidated by  the  bad  success  of  their 
former  expedition,  the  Divan,  after 
appointing  a  new  admiral,  Mahomet 
Pacha,  in  lieu  of  Kari  Ali,  who  had 
been  killed,  fitted  out  a  vast  armament 
of  ninety  sail,  including  four  line-of- 
battle  ships,  in  the  Dardanelles,  with 
which  they  set  sail,  bound  for  Napoli 
di  Romania,  with  ample  stores  to  re- 
victual  all  the  fortresses  in  the  Morea. 


Unable  to  resist  such  a  formidable  fleet, 
the  Greek  squadron  of  sixty  sail,  the 
largest  of  which  only  carried  twenty 
guns,  contented  themselves  with  fol- 
lowing the  enemy  at  a  distance,  and 
sometimes  engaging  in  a  useless  can- 
nonade, watching  for  an  opportunity 
of  sending  in  some  of  their  fireships 
among  the  fleet.  No  such  opportun- 
ity offered;  but  the  Turkish  admiral 
was  so  much  intimidated  by  their  sight, 
that  he  did  notveuture  to  enter  the  Gulf 
of  Napoli  di  Romania ;  and  giving  up, 
when  within  sight  of  it,  all  thoughts 
of  revictualling  that  fortress,  the  main 
object  of  his  expedition,  he  made 
sail  for  Suda,  leaving  the  beleaguered 
fortress  to  its  fate,  which,  in  conse- 
quence, soon  after  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy. 

78.  The  much-wished-for  opportun- 
ity, which  did  not  occur  on  this  occa- 
sion, at  length  presented  itself.  On 
the  9th  November,  the  Turkish  fleet 
was  lying  at  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Tene- 
dos,  waiting  orders  from  Constanti- 
nople, when  two  Turkish  vessels  hove 
in  sight,  closely  followed  by  two  Greek 
brigs,  with  whom  they  maintained  a 
running  fight.  In  effect,  the  chased 
vessels,  which  bore  the  Ottoman  col- 
ours, were  fireships,  one  of  which  was 
commanded  by  the  intrepid  Canaris, 
and  the  other  by  a  Hydriot  hero, 
manned  by  seventeen  of  the  seamen 
who  had  burned  the  admiral's  vessel 
at  Chios,  dressed  as  Turkish  sailors. 
Not  suspecting  the  ruse,  the  Turks, 
with  great  interest,  watched  the  chase, 
and  opened  their  line,  with  loud  cheers, 
to  admit  their  supposed  countrymen 
into  safety.  In  an  instant  Canaris  was 
upon  them.  The  Hydriotes  ran  aboard  of 
the  admiral,  and  the  Psarriotes  fastened 
their  bark  to  another  ship  of  the  line, 
containing  the  treasure,  while  Canaris 
called  out,  "Turks,  you  are  burned,  as 
at  Chios !"  The  Capitan  Pacha,  by  cut- 
ting his  cables,  narrowly  escaped  de- 
struction ;  but  the  other  two-decker  was 
so  strongly  grappled  by  Canaris  that 
it  caught  the  flames,  and,  with  sixteen 
hundred  persons  on  board,  blew  up 
soon  after  with  a  terrific  explosion. 
In  utter  consternation,  the  whole  Tur- 
kish vessels  cut  their  cables,  and  made 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


393 


for  the  Dardanelles,  in  confusion ;  two 
frigates  ran  ashore,  and  were  wrecked, 
in  the  flight  ;  and  the  entire  command 
of  the  sea  was  abandoned  to  the  Greeks, 
who  sailed  from  the  Dardanelles,  with- 
out opposition,  to  Alexandria.  So  dar- 
ing did  they  become,  that  not  only 
<lid  they  entirely  intercept  and  ruin 
the  Turkish  commerce,  but  made  prizes 
of  thirteen  vessels,  including  one  with 
a  million  piastres  on  board,  in  the  har- 
bour of  Damietta.  This  glorious  re- 
sult is  mainly  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
cool  daring  and  personal  prowess  of 
Canaris,  who,  after  he  had  left  the 
fireship  and  descended  into  his  bark, 
seeing  that  it  was  not  properly  inflam- 
ed, went  on  board  again  alone  and 
set  it  on  fire  !  His  single  arm  had 
already  in  this  naval  campaign  de- 
stroyed above  three  thousand  of  his 
enemies.  The  utmost  rejoicings  took 
place  at  Hydra  and  Ipsara  for  this  ad- 
ditional success ;  and  the  former  hav- 
ing received  a  gift  of  forty  guns  from  a 
distant  countryman,  their  rocks  were 
bristling  with  cannon,  and  were  well- 
nigh  impregnable.  At  Ipsara,  Cana- 
ris was  again  crowned  with  laurel 
by  his  grateful  countrymen ;  and  the 
public  satisfaction  was  wound  up  to 
the  highest  pitch  by  a  declaration 
from  the  captain  of  the  Cambrian,  who 
was  present  on  the  occasion,  that  the 
British  Government,  now  guided  in  its 
foreign  policy  by  the  liberal  hand  of 
Mr  Canning,  would  recognise  the 
Greek  blockades. 

79.  Such  was  the  Greek  campaign 
of  1822,  glorious  to  the  arms  of  that 
country,  not  unmemorable  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  world.  Never  possessing 
the  resources  of  more  than  six  hun- 
dred thousand  souls,  they  had,  single- 
handed,  confronted  the  strength  of  the 
Ottoman  empire,  having  twenty  mil- 
lions of  Mussulmans  at  their  command, 
and  come  off  victorious  in  the  strife. 
Not  only  had  they  repulsed  the  in- 
vasion of  above  fifty  thousand  armed 
Turks,  and  destroyed  three -fifths  of 
their  number,  but  they  had  made 
themselves  masters  of  their  principal 
•strongholds.  Notwithstanding  the  loss 
occasioned  by  the  death  of  Ali  Pacha, 
their  standards  still  waved  on  the 


ramparts  of  Missolonghi ;  the  Souli- 
otes  were  yet  in  arms  in  their  moun- 
tains ;  Athens  and  Tripolitza  had  been 
recovered,  Napoli  di  Romania  taken, 
Corinth  lost  only  by  treachery.  The 
Morea  had  been  delivered ;  from  Arta 
on  the  Adriatic  to  Volo  on  the  ^Egean, 
the  entire  country,  including  the  is- 
lands, had  been  regained  to  the  Cross. 
At  sea  their  triumphs  had  been  still 
more  decisive.  Twice  had  they  driven 
the  Turks  from  the  JEgean  Sea ;  two 
ships  of  the  line  had  been  destroyed, 
several  frigates  stranded,  innumerable 
merchantmen  taken,  by  a  power  which 
had  not  a  vessel  mounting  more  than 
twenty  guns  at  their  disposal.  The 
annals  of  ancient  Greece  contain  no- 
thing more  brilliant,  those  of  the 
world  few  events,  in  a  moral  view, 
more  sublime. 

80.  But  these  successes,  great  as 
they  were,   had    not    been  achieved 
without  proportional  losses ;  and  they 
had  been  so  great  that,  if  the  contest 
were  continued  much  longer,   it  was 
extremely  doubtful  whether  the  terri- 
tory of  Greece  would  not  be  regained 
to  the  Crescent  by  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  its  inhabitants.     Already  had 
they  been  thinned  in  a  fearful  manner. 
The  Turkish  system  of  putting  to  death 
all  the  male  inhabitants,  and  selling 
all  the  women  for  slaves,   had  told 
desperately  on  their  scanty  numbers. 
Although  the  contest  had  only  con- 
tinued two  years,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand Greeks — a  third  of  the  entire  po- 
pulation of  the  revolted  provinces — 
had  perished  by  the  sword  or  famine, 
or  been  sold  as  slaves.     It  was  impos- 
sible that  any  people,  how  brave  and 
heroic  soever,  could  long  go  on  under 
such  a  drain  of  its  inhabitants.     And 
though  the  losses  of  the  Ottomans  had 
also  been  very  great,  yet  were  they 
nothing  in  comparison ;  for,   suppos- 
ing fifty  thousand  of  them  had  been 
cut  oft',   that  was  a  four- hundred tli 
part  of  their  numbers,  whereas  the 
Greeks  had  been  weakened  by  a  third 
of  theirs. 

81.  The  losses  of  the  Turks  in  this 
disastrous  year,  however,  did  not  pro- 
ceed solely  from  the   swords   or  the 
torches  of  the  Greeks.    Nature  seemed 


394 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


to  have  conspired  with  man  for  the 
ruin  of  the  empire  of  the  Osmanlis. 
At  ten  at  night,  on  the  13th  August, 
some  smart  shocks  of  an  earthquake 
were  felt  at  Aleppo  and  Antioch,  and 
in  a  few  seconds  a  shock  took  place 
so  violent  that  whole  streets  in  both 
cities  were  thrown  down,  and  twelve 
thousand  persons  were  buried  in  their 
ruins.  This  catastrophe  was  followed 
by  several  other  shocks  of  lesser  force 
for  the  next  fortnight ;  and  at  length 
another  succeeded  on  the  30th,  of  such 
violence  as  entirely  ruined  the  city  of 
Aleppo,  and  drove  all  its  citizens  who 
escaped  instant  death  into  the  adjoin- 
ing country.  About  the  same  time 
the  cholera  morbus,  since  so  well 
known  in  western  Europe,  made  its 
appearance  in  Bagdad;  the  Persians 
defeated  the  Turks  in  a  pitched  battle, 
with  such  loss  that  their  army,  fifty 
thousand  strong,  entirely  dispersed, 
and  the  victorious  Persians,  meeting 
with  no  opposition,  advanced  to  Bas- 
sora.  In  consequence  of  these  disas- 
ters, and  deeming  the  dissolution  of 
the  empire  of  the  Osmanlis  at  hand, 
the  Pacha  of  Acre  revolted  against  the 
Porte,  and  hoisted  the  standard  of  in- 
dependence on  his  impregnable  ram- 
parts. Disorders  not  less  serious  took 
place  in  Jassy,  from  the  savage  temper 
of  the  unruly  janizaries,  who,  during 
the  night  of  the  10th  August,  set  the 
city  on  fire  in  several  places,  and  im- 
mediately commenced  a  general  mas- 
sacre of  the  Christians.  Several  thou- 
sands of  the  latter  fell  under  the  Turk- 
ish scimitars ;  one  hundred  and  sixty 
of  their  assassins,  in  a  state  of  intoxi- 
cation, perished  in  the  flames  which 
they  themselves  had  raised;  and  of 
the  entire  city  only  one  hundred  and 
fifty  houses,  and  a  part  of  the  palace, 
out  of  two  thousand,  escaped  destruc- 
tion from  the  conflagration. 

82.  An  occasion  such  as  this,  when 
disasters  of  all  kinds  were  "accumu- 
lating round  a  sinking  throne  and  fall- 
ing empire,"  was  the  most  favourable 
that  could  possibly  have  been  desired 
to  advance  the  designs  of  Russia 
against  the  throne  of  the  Sultan.  Yet 
it  passed  over  without  any  advantage 
having  been  taken  by  the  Czar  of  the 


crisis.  The  Russian  ambassador,  who 
was  still  at  Odessa,  continued  to  use 
the  utmost  efforts  to  soften  the  cruel- 
ties of  the  Turks,  and  claimed  execu- 
tion of  the  treaties  in  favour  of  the 
Christians  in  Moldavia  and  "Wallachia, 
in  which  he  was  strongly  supported 
by  those  of  France  and  England;  and 
at  length,  by  their  united  efforts,  a 
note  was  presented  by  the  Reis-Eflen- 
di,  which  contained  the  last  conces- 
sions to  which  the  Divan  could  be 
brought  to  accede.  It  announced  that 
the  Porte,  in  conformity  with  ancient 
usage,  had  named  two  Christian  hos- 
podars,  natives  of  those  provinces.  In 
return  for  this  concession,  the  Turks 
demanded  the  extradition  of  the  Greek 
refugees,  and  the  surrender  of  the 
disputed  fortresses  in  Asia ;  and  an- 
nounced at  the  same  time,  that  in 
order  to  put  a  stop  to  the  contraband 
trade  carried  on  in  favour  of  the 
Greeks,  all  merchant  vessels  in  the 
harbour  of  Constantinople  were  to  be 
subjected  to  search — a  provision  which 
left  the  door  open  to  interminable  fu- 
ture disputes. 

83.  An  earnest  application  was  made 
by  the  Greek  Government  to  the  Con- 
gress of  Verona  to  be  admitted  into 
the  European  family,  and  taken  under 
the  protection  of  the  Western  powers.* 
It  met,  however,  with  no  success ;  the 
Count  Metaxa,  who  was  the  bearer  of 

*  "Les  sentimens  de  piete,  dlinmanite,  et 
de  justice,  dont  la  reunion  des  Souverains  est 
animee,  font  esperer  au  Gouvernement  de  la 
Grece  que  sa  juste  demande  sera  convenable- 
ment  accueillie.  Si,  centre  tpute  attente, 
1'offre  du  Gouvernement  venait  a  etre  rejetee, 
la  presente  declaration  equivaudra  a  une  Pro- 
testation formelle  que  la  Grece  entiere  depose 
en  ce  jour  au  pied  du  tr6ne  de  la  Justice  Di- 
vine—  Protestation  qu'un  peuple  Chretien, 
adresse  avec  conflance  a  1'Europe  et  a  la 
grande  famille  de  la  Chretiente.  Affaiblis  et 
delaisses,  les  Grecs  n'espfereront  alors  que 
dans  le  Dieu  fort.  Soutenus  par  sa  main  toute- 
puissante,  Us  ne  flechiront  pas  devant  la  ty- 
rannie:  Chretiens  persecutes  depuis  quatre 
siecles  pour  Stre  restes  fideles  a  notre  Sau- 
veur  et  a  Dieu  notre  Sonverain  Maitre,  nous 
defendrons,  jusqu'au  dernier,  son  eglise,  nos 
foyers,  et  nos  tombeaux;  heureux  d'y  de- 
scendre  libres  et  Chretiens,  ou  de  vaincre 
comme  nous  avons  vaincu  jusqu'ic.i,  par  la 
seule  force  de  notre  Seigneur  Jesus-Christ  et 
par  sa  divine  puissance." — Adresse  du  Gou- 
rernement  de  la  Grece  mix  Souverains  Allies, 
Nov.  1,  1822 ;  Annuaire  Histon/pie,  v.  405. 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


395 


it,  was  not  even  admitted  to  the  Con- 
gress. The  dread  of  revolutions,  and 
risk  of  recognising  in  any  shape  in- 
surgent states,  was  at  that  period  so 
strong  with  the  allied  sovereigns,  and 
especially  the  Emperor  Alexander,  that 
it  rendered  them  deaf  alike  to  all  the 
feelings  of  humanity  and  all  the  sug- 
gestions of  wisdom;  for  certainly  so 
Fair  an  opportunity  never  had  been 
presented  for  establishing  a  Christian 
power  on  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus, 
and  rearing  up  a  counterpoise  to  Rus- 
sia in  the  very  country  which  was  the 
principal  object  of  its  ambition.  The 
reason  was,  that  it  was  thought  this 
would  be  a  dangerous  concession  to 
the  revolutionary  principle,  to  combat 
which  in  Spain  and  Italy  was  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  the  Congress ;  and  such 
was  the  strength  of  this  feeling  that  it 
rendered  men  blind  to  the  fact  that 
the  movement  in  Greece  was  religious 
and  national,  not  revolutionary;  and 
that  it  was  a  war  of  races,  not  castes, 
which  had  sprung  up  on  the  shores  of 
the  jEgean  Sea. 

84.  The  long  continuance  and  re- 
peated disasters  of  the  Greek  war  in- 
creased during  the  course  of  this  year 
the  discontents  of  the  national  party 
in  Constantinople  to  such  a  degree, 
that  it  became  evident  that  a  change 
in  the  ruling  power  in  the  capital  had 
become  unavoidable.  Public  opinion 
is  not  less,  on  important  occasions,  the 
tribunal  of  last  resort  in  Constanti- 
nople than  in  the  capitals  of  western 
Europe  ;  but  its  oscillations  are  more 
violent,  and  its  decisions  more  sudden 
and  sanguinary.  It  was  a  constant 
subject  of  complaint  with  the  janiza- 
ries and  the  Asiatic  troops  that  the 
new  system  would  prove  the  ruin  of 
everything,  that  the  treatment  of  the 
insurgents  was  far  too  gentle,  and  that 
the  empire  would  never  be  righted  till 
the  old  system  was  restored,  and  the 
infidels  were  everywhere  destroyed  with 
fire  and  sword.  The  ruling  favourite 
of  the  Sultan,  Halet  Eftendi,  and  his 
creature  the  grand- vizier,  Saleh  Pacha, 
were  in  an  especial  manner  the  objects 
of  public  obloquy  for  their  supposed 
influence  in  these  changes.  At  length, 
in  the  beginning  of  November,  mat- 


ters came  to  a  crisis,  in  consequence  of 
the  appearance  of  a  decree  of  the  Sul- 
tan prohibiting,  on  the  plea  of  the  pub- 
lic necessities,  the  use  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver ornaments  by  all  Mussulmans,  and 
requiring  them  to  be  brought  to  the 
public  treasury  to  be  melted  down, 
where  they  were  taken  at  25  per  cent 
below  the  real  value.  The  public  cla- 
mour now  became  so  violent  that  the 
Sultan  in  vain  endeavoured  to  appease 
it  by  the  exhibition  of  a  number  of 
Christian  heads,  or  of  heads  of  pachas 
supposed  to  favour  them,  daily  at  the 
Seraglio  gate.  Having  satisfied  him- 
self, by  a  nocturnal  perambulation  of 
Constantinople  in  disguise,  that  the 
public  voice  could  no  longer  be  disre- 
garded, the  Sultan  resolved  upon  a 
concession ;  and  by  a  decree  on  the 
9th,  the  mufti  and  the  grand-vizier 
were  deposed,  and  Halet  Effendi  ex- 
iled. The  latter,  however,  was  too 
powerful  a  character  to  be  allowed  to 
rest  in  retirement.  The  new  ministers, 
who  were  chosen  by  the  janizaries,  ex- 
torted an  order  from  the  Sultan  for  his 
execution ;  he  was  seized  and  strangled, 
and  his  head  exposed  at  the  gate  of  the 
Seraglio,  with  an  inscription,  charging 
him  with  every  imaginable  crime.  The 
new  mufti  was  Sedke-Sude,  the  new 
grand -vizier  Abdallah  Pacha  —  both 
leaders  of  the  janizary  party,  which 
for  a  time  got  the  entire  command  of 
the  government. 

85.  A  frightful  catastrophe  occurred 
at  Constantinople  in  the  spring  of  1823, 
which,  in  the  excited  state  of  the  pub- 
lic mind,  added  much  to  the  sinister 
presentiments  with  which  men's  minds 
were  filled.  On  1st  March  a  dreadful 
fire  broke  out  in  the  vicinity  of  To- 
phani,  the  imperial  cannon  -  foundry, 
which  spread  with  incredible  rapid- 
ity. A  violent  wind,  which  frequently 
changed  its  direction,  spread  the  flames 
on  all  sides,  and  in  a  day  the  whole 
quarter  of  Pera  and  Galata  was  in 
flames.  The  losses  sustained  were  im- 
mense ;  and  if  the  wind  had  not  pro- 
videntially changed  to  the  north,  all 
that  beautiful  quarter  of  the  city  would 
have  perished.  As  it  was,  8000  houses 
were  consumed ;  1200  pieces  of  cannon, 
immense  trains  of  artillery  -  waggons, 


396 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


several  entire  barracks,  became  the 
prey  of  the  flames ;  above  1000  per- 
sons perished,  and  40,000  were  thrown 
houseless  and  starving  on  the  streets. 
The  Mussulmans,  struck  with  conster- 
nation at  the  magnitude  of  the  disaster, 
exclaimed,  "  God  is  with  the  infidels ! " 
Others,  filled  with  the  fanaticism  of  the 
period,  maintained  it  was  a  judgment 
for  their  sins,  and  that  the  only  way  to 
propitiate  the  Almighty  was  to  mas- 
sacre the  Christians.  A  few,  however, 
opened  their  hearts  to  more  humane 
sentiments ;  and  some  voices,  especi- 
ally of  women,  were  heard  to  exclaim, 
•when  the  conflagration  was  atits  height, 
that  "  God  was  avenging  the  innocent 
blood  shed  at  Chios  !  " 

86.  Seriously  alarmed  by  the  disas- 
trous issue  of  the  preceding  campaign, 
the  Sultan  commenced  the  year  with 
the    most   vigorous    measures.      The 
grand-vizier  was  deposed   (the  usual 
consequence  of  disaster),  and  his  suc- 
cessor, All  Bey,  enjoined  to  "meditate 
night  and  day  on  the  pressing  concerns 
of  the  Morea  and  of  Persia,  so  as  to  se- 
cure the  interests  of  religion  and  of  his 
highness's  entire  possessions."    Orders 
"were  at  the  same  time  sent  to  the  pa- 
chas of  the  Danubian  provinces  of  Ma- 
cedonia and  Epirus,  for  a  general  levy 
of  all  Mussulmans  between  fifteen  and 
fifty  years  of  age,  to  assemble  in  a  gen- 
eral rendezvous  in  Thessaly  early  in 
May.      The  utmost  efforts  were  also 
made  to  repair  and  fit  out  the  fleet, 
and  with  such  success,  that  by  the  end 
of  April  a  powerful  squadron  of  fri- 
gates and  smaller  vessels  was  ready  for 
•sea  in  the  Dardanelles.     The  bad  suc- 
cess of  the  preceding  years  had  deter- 
mined the  Divan  to  discontinue  the 
use  of  the  ponderous  ships  of  the  line, 
•which  were  exposed  to  so  much  danger 
from  the  Greek  fireships  amidst  the 
shoals,  straits,   and  deeply  -  indented 
bays  of  the  Archipelago.   The  Sultan's 
eldest  son,  Prince  Ahmed,  died  on  16th 
April ;  but  another  was  born  a  few  days 
after,  who  was  named  Abdul -Metschid 
—  that  is,  "  Servant  of  the  God  of 
glory." 

87.  Despairing,  after  the  fall  of  Na- 
poli  di  Romania,  of  maintaining  his 
.ground  in  the  citadel  of  Corinth,  Dra- 


[CHAI'.  xiv. 

ma- Ali,  who  commanded  there,  resolved 
to  send  to  Patras  all  the  useless  mouths 
with  which  he  was  encumbered,  and  to 
keep  only  such  as  were  essential  for  the 
defence  of  the  Acro-Corinthus.  Five 
thousand,  accordingly,  were  sent,  who 
forced  the  pass  styled  the  Achaian 
Gates,  though,  not  without  experienc- 
ing considerable  loss.  On  arriving, 
however,  at  the  defile  of  Acrata,  they 
encountered  Niketas,  who  had  posted 
his  men  in  the  most  advantageous  man- 
ner among  the  rocks  and  bushes  which 
overhang  the  strait.  The  Mussulmans 
were  not  aware  of  their  presence  till 
they  were  fully  engaged  in  the  defile, 
when  a  plunging  fire  opened  on  them 
on  all  sides  along  the  whole  extent  of 
the  line.  Resistance  being  hopeless, 
Niketas  proposed  a  capitulation,  but  it 
was  accepted  only  by  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  who  were  conducted  prisoners  to 
Tripolitza.  The  remainder  defended 
themselves  with  the  courage  of  despair, 
and  held  out  for  some  time  ;  but  they 
were  at  length  all  destroyed,  or  perish- 
ed of  famine,  except  a  few  who  escaped, 
more  like  skeletons  than  men,  by  sea 
to  Patras.  Their  whole  baggage  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Such 
was  the  termination  of  the  grand  ex- 
pedition of  thirty  thousand  men  into 
the  Morea,  begun  six  months  before 
with  the  prospect  of  effecting  the  en- 
tire conquest  of  Greece. 

88.  The  successes  of  the  Greeks  had 
now  been  so  great,  that  their  indepen- 
dence appeared  to  be  established  on  a 
solid  basis  ;  and  if  they  had  remained 
united,  and  been  recognised  as  an  in- 
dependent state  by  the  Congress  of 
Verona,  it  is  probable  the  contest 
would  have  ceased,  and  they  would 
have  been  admitted  into  the  Euro- 
pean family  at  this  time.  But  success 
brought,  as  usual,  divisions  in  its  train ; 
the  chiefs  were  soon  at  variance  with 
each  other  and  with  the  legislature ; 
and  the  Greeks  ere  long  were  exposed 
to  greater  danger  from  their  own  dis- 
sensions than  from  the  arms  of  the 
Ottomans.  Not  to  mention  jealous- 
ies innumerable  between  the  different 
chiefs,  there  was  one  grand  source  of 
division  which  pervaded  the  whole 
persons  intrusted  with  the  adminis- 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


397 


t  rat  ion  of  affairs,  arising  from  the  want 
of  a  central  power,  and  the  long  extinc- 
tion of  any  national  spirit  in  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  country.  The  military 
chiefs  wished  to  be  independent,  and 
to  carry  on  the  war  like  guerilla  chiefs, 
each  on  his  own  account ;  while  the 
civil  deputies  were  desirous  of  subject- 
ing them  to  the  authority  of  a  central 
government,  chosen  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people.  To  such  a  length 
did  the  discord  come,  that  when  the 
deputies  of  the  National  Assembly  met 
in  February  at  Astros  in  the  Morea, 
they  could  not  submit  to  meet  in  any 
room,  but  held  their  deliberations  in 
a  garden,  where  the  two  parties  were 
separated  from  each  other,  and  the 
debates,  if  they  could  be  called  such, 
were  conducted  by  angry  messages, 
often  mingled  with  threats,  conveyed 
from  one  to  the  other.  Even  the  lead- 
ers were  at  variance.  Mavrocordato 
and  Ipsilanti  were  not  on  speaking 
terms  :  it  was  only  by  great  exertions 
that  a  small  number  could  be  secured 
for  the  executive  council ;  and,  such 
as  it  was,  its  authority  was  only  really 
established  in  the  islands.  On  the 
mainland  the  election  of  representa- 
tives was  found  to  be  impracticable, 
and  the  authority  of  the  chiefs,  like 
that  of  separate  guerilla  leaders,  was 
alone  obeyed  within  their  respective 
bounds.  The  sittings  of  the  legislature 
closed  after  a  stormy  session,  in  which 
little  was  done  to  forward  the  common 
cause  against  the  Turks,  but  a  consi- 
derable step  made  to  limit  the  autho- 
rity of  the  military  chiefs,  by  a  decree 
that  the  commanders-iii-chicf  by  sea 
and  land  were  to  hold  their  power  only 
during  the  duration  of  their  respective 
expeditions. 

89.  The  plan  of  the  next  campaign 
arranged  by  the  Divan  at  Constantin- 
ople was  on  a  very  magnificent  scale ; 
but  its  execution  was  on  a  very  dif- 
ferent one,  which  revealed  the  growing 
weakness  and  decrepitude  of  the  em- 
pire. The  Pachas  of  Roumelia,  Ad- 
rianople,  Salonica,  Larissa,  and  Eu- 
bcea,  were  to  unite  their  forces,  which, 
it  was  calculated,  would  amount  to 
eighty  thousand,  to  attack  the  Isthmus 
of  Corinth,  across  which  the  Greeks 


had  constructed  lines  of  defence,  in 
front,  while  a  corps  of  Mussulmans, 
transported  by  sea,  took  the  position 
in  rear.  Mustapha,  vizier  of  Scodra, 
was  ordered  to  undertake  the  siege 
of  Missolonghi  with  forty  thousand 
men ;  while  Yussuf  Pacha,  Omer-Vri- 
one,  and  others,  were  to  co-operate 
in  Thessaly  and  Attica  ;  and  the  new 
Capitan  Pacha,  with  a  grand  fleet  of 
a  hundred  and  twenty  sail,  was  to' 
sweep  the  ^Egean  Sea,  and  reduce  the 
revolted  islands  to  subjection.  In 
making  these  plans,  however,  the  Turks, 
entirely  overlooked  two  circumstances 
which  proved  of  vital  importance  to 
the  issue  of  the  campaign;  viz.,  the- 
danger  of  famine  for  their  troops,  from 
the  magnitude  of  the  devastation 
which  they  themselves  had  previous- 
ly committed,  and  the  exhaustion  of 
their  own  Mussulman  population,  from, 
whom  alone  the  soldiers  were  drawn, 
from  the  losses  already  sustained. 
These  two  circumstances  caused  their 
principal  enterprises  to  miscarry,  and 
saved  the  Greeks  at  a  time  when  their 
own  divisions  brought  them  to  the 
very  verge  of  destruction. 

90.  The  Greeks  were  far  from  hav- 
ing an  equal  force  at  their  command  ; 
but  they  had  powerful  auxiliaries  in 
the  rugged  and  mountainous  nature  of  • 
their  country,  the  devastation  produced 
by  the  preceding  campaigns,  the  skill 
which  the  mountaineers  had  now  ac- 
quired in  the  use  of  arms  and  the  de- 
fence of  the  passes  through  which  the: 
invaders  required  to  advance,  and  the 
admirable  courage  and  ability  of  the 
seamen  by  whom  their  fleet  was  na- 
vigated. The  Greek  Government  de- 
creed the  formation  of  an  army  of 
50,000  men  ;  but  they  were  so  irregu- 
larly paid,  and  dispersed  under  sepa- 
rate leaders,  that  they  resembled  ra- 
ther guerilla  bands  each  acting  on  its 
own  account,  than  regular  troops  all 
obeying  a  common  direction  ;  and  no- 
thing but  the  most  imminent  common 
danger  could  bring  them  to  combine 
in  any  plan  of  united  operations.  By 
sea  their  armaments  were  more  effec- 
tive. With  such  vigour  were  their 
preparations  there  made,  that  by  the= 
beginning  of  May  they  had  98  vessels 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


of  war  ready,  bearing  1760  guns,  and 
manned  by  10,560  admirable  seamen. 

91.  The  first  events  of  the  campaign 
•were  favourable  to  the   Greeks,   and 
seemed  to  presage  successes  not  less 
decisive  than  the  last.    In  Epirus,  the 
heroic  Mark  Bozzaris  was  at  the  head 
of  five  thousand  men,   with  whom, 
after  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Misso- 
longhi,  he  kept  the  Turks  in  Arta  in 
check,  and  defeated  a  large  body  of 
Albanians,   whom  he  chased  to  the 
edge  of  the  Ambracian  Gulf,  and  me- 
naced Prevesa  itself.     In  Eubcea  and 
Thessaly    the    insurgents   drove    the 
pachas  into  the  fortresses  of  Negropont 
and  Carystos,  and  spread  the  insurrec- 
tion to  Volo,  and  through  the  plains 
around  that  place.     But  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Ottoman  armaments,  which 
went  on  very  slowly,  at  length  put  a 
period  to  this  auspicious  state  of  things. 
In  the  middle  of  May  the  Turkish  fleet, 
composed  of  sixty  sail,  set  out  from 
the  Dardanelles,  and  passing  within 
sight  of  Samos  and  Ipsara,  on  which 
it  did  not  venture  to  hazard  a  descent, 
disembarked   five    thousand   Asiatics 
in  the  island  of  Eubcea,  who  speedily 
raised  the  blockade  of  Negropont  and 
Carystos,   and  forced  the  Greeks  to 
seek  refuge  in  the  mountains.     The 
entire  population  of  Athens,  on  the 
approach  of  the  Ottomans,  took  refuge, 
as  on  the  approach  of  Xerxes,  in  the 
island  of  Salamis ;  the  Acropolis  alone, 
garrisoned    by    Ghouras    with    eight 
hundred  men,  still  held  out.     After 
this  success,  the  Capitan  Pacha  made, 
sail  for  Volo,  where  he  landed  another 
body  of  five  thousand  men,  which, 
uniting  with  the  troops  collected  by 
the  Pacha  of  Larissa,  severely  avenged 
the  previous  successes  of  the  Greeks  in 
that  quarter.    Odysseus,  however,  had 
taken  post  in  Thermopylae,  and  barred 
any   passage    that   way    into   south- 
ern Greece  ;  upon  which  the   Turks 
made  sail  for  the  coasts  of  the  Morea, 
and  revictualled  Patras  and  the  castles 
of  Morea  and  Coron,  the  only  strong- 
holds still  held  by  the  Turks  in  that 
quarter,  and  which  were  reduced  to 
the  last  extremity  from  want  of  provi- 
sions. 

92.  Soon,  however,  a  more  serious  , 


danger  awaited  the  Greek  cause.  The 
grand  Ottoman  army  destined  for  the 
invasion  of  the  Morea,  having  received 
intelligence  of  the  arrival  of  the  Turk- 
ish fleet  in  the  Bay  of  Patras,  put  it- 
self in  motion  for  the  Isthmus  of  Cor- 
inth. Menaced  by  so  great  a  danger, 
the  Greek  Government  issued  a  procla- 
mation calling  on  all  Greeks  to  take 
up  arms  to  defend  their  country ;  and 
Mavrocordato,  nobly  sinking  his  supe- 
rior rank,  followed  the  army  in  the 
quality  of  secretary  to  the  council. 
Niketas,  Colocotroni,  and  Odysseus 
had  united  their  forces,  and  taken  post 
at  the  convent  of  St  Luc,  situated  near 
the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Ascoa,  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Helicon.  Their  united 
forces,  however,  only  amounted  to 
eight  thousand  men,  and  the  Turks 
were  thirty  thousand,  including  a  large 
proportion  of  horse,  so  that  the  Greeks 
were  compelled  to  remain  on  the  de- 
fensive, and  maintain  a  desultory  se- 
ries of  actions  among  their  rocks  and 
thickets.  At  length,  the  Turks  hav- 
ing made  an  attack  on  the  monastery 
of  St  Lue,  where  they  expected  to  find 
immense  treasures,  a  general  conflict 
took  place,  in  which  victory,  after  be- 
ing long  undecided,  at  length  remained 
with  the  Greeks.  The  Turks  lost  six 
thousand  men  in  this  disastrous  affair. 
They  were  again  attacked,  as  in  for- 
mer days,  while  retiring  in  the  plain 
of  Chaeronea,  by  the  Greeks,  as  they 
were  engaged  in  the  passage  of  the 
Cephissus,  and  defeated  with  great 
slaughter.  Finally,  this  splendid  army, 
which  was  to  have  raised  the  blockade 
of  the  Acro-Corinthus  and  achieved 
the  conquest  of  the  Morea,  was  ob- 
liged to  retire  to  Tricala,  weakened 
by  half  its  numbers,  where  it  awaited 
reinforcements  from  Salonica.  The 
inhabitants  of  Athens,  now  delivered 
from  their  alarm,  returned  from  Sala- 
mis, and  reoccupied  their  city ;  Attica 
was  entirely  evacuated  by  the  Turks  ; 
the  blockade  of  the  Acro-Corinthus 
resumed ;  and  that  important  strong- 
hold, deprived  of  all  hope  of  succour, 
at  length  surrendered  by  capitulation, 
after  having  exhausted  all  its  means  of 
subsistence. 

93.  Sogreat  were  their  successes  that, 


1823.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


399 


had  they  been  duly  improved  by  una- 
nimity and  vigour,  the  Greeks  might 
have  entirely  delivered  their  territory 
from  their  oppressors  ;  for  the  remain- 
ing fortresses  held  by  the  Turks,  de- 
prived of  all  chance  of  being  relieved, 
•would  have  become  an  easy  prey.  But 
the  unhappy  divisions  which  had  arisen 
among  the  Greeks,  from  the  consequen- 
ces of  their  success,  now  rose  to  such  a 
pitch  in  the  Morea  that  the  rival  cap- 
tains, instead  of  bearing  their  united 
strength  against  the  enemy,  took  up 
arms  against  each  other.  Civil  war  aid- 
ed in  the  desolation  of  a  country  afflicted 
by  so  many  disasters,  threatened  by  so 
many  dangers.  Blood  was  shed  in  the 
streets  of  Tripolitza  between  the  adverse 
factions  ;  the  president,  Mavromichse- 
lis,  despairing  of  being  able  to  carry  on 
the  government,  resigned  his  office  and 
retired  to  Hydra  ;  and  Colocotroni,  in 
•whom  the  real  authority  now  centred, 
withdrew  to  Napoli  di  Romania,  from 
•whence  he  directed  the  whole  military 
operations  of  continental  Greece. 

94.  More  glorious  operations,  and  a 
more  heroic  spirit,  signalised  the  cam- 

Saign  in  Epirus  and  western  Greece 
unng  this  eventful  year.  Notwith- 
standing the  successes  of  Mark  Boz- 
zaris  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  and 
the  revolt  of  the  Albanians  in  August, 
•which  delivered  him  from  seven  thou- 
sand of  his  most  formidable  enemies, 
he  was  reduced  to  such  straits  before 
the  end  of  that  month  as  to  render  it 
extremely  doubtful  whether  he  should 
be  able  to  keep  the  field.  The  Pacha 
of  Scodra,  a  man  of  uncommon  energy 
and  resolution,  had,  in  obedience  to 
the  orders  of  the  Sultan,  effected  a 
levy  in  his  pachalic,  and,  approached 
Missolonghi  at  the  head  of  twenty-five 
thousand  men.  Bozzaris  had  not  more 
than  three  thousand  at  his  disposal, 
for  the  revolted  Albanians  had  all  re- 
turned home.  With  forces  so  inferior  it 
was  evidently  impossible  to  effect  any- 
thing by  open  force  ;  but  Bozzaris  and 
his  brave  companions  resolved  on  a 
nocturnal  attack,  by  which  it  was 
hoped  the  enemy,  who  kept  a  very 
bad  look-out,  might  be  surprised.  He 
vent  to  a  Souliote  battalion,  well 
known  as  one  of  the  bravest  in  Greece, 


and,  after  unfolding  to  them  his  design, 
asked  them  if  they  would  accompany 
him  in  his  enterprise.  They  all  ex- 
pressed their  determination  to  con- 
quer or  die.  Out  of  them  Bozzaris 
selected  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  the 
bravest  and  most  active,  whom  he 
proposed  to  head  in  person,  and  at- 
tack the  centre  of  the  enemy's  camp, 
while  the  remainder  of  his  troops  were 
divided  into  three  columns,  to  distract 
him  by  simultaneous  assaults  in  other 
quarters. 

95.  In  the  night  of  the  19th  August, 
Bozzaris  received  the  sacrament  with 
his  chosen  adherents,  and  assigned  as 
their  rallying-point,  if  they  lost  sight 
of  him  in  the  dark,  the  tent  of  the 
pacha.  The  column  selected  for  at- 
tack was  the  Turkish  advanced-guard, 
five  thousand  strong,  which  was  en- 
camped at  Carpenitza  in  the  bottom 
of  a  valley,  intersected  by  vineyards 
and  ditches.  The  action  which  ensued 
exactly  resembled  the  nocturnal  enter- 
prises which  have  been  immortalised 
in  the  Iliad.  Buried  in  sleep,  with- 
out either  sentinels  or  intrencnments, 
the  Turks  were  suddenly  surprised  by 
the  swords  of  the  Souliotes  which 
gleamed  amongst  them.  Above  all 
the  roar  of  the  conflict  was  heard  the 
voice  of  Bozzaris,  who  never  ceased 
to  exhort  his  companions  to  conquer. 
Knowing  the  voice,  the  Mussulmans, 
in  the  dark,  directed  all  their  shots  to 
the  quarter  from  whence  it  came.  One 
took  effect,  and  wounded  him  severely 
below  the  girdle.  He  concealed  the 
wound,  however,  and  continued  to 
head  his  comrades,  who  were  making 
the  utmost  carnage  among  the  Otto- 
mans. The  attack  of  the  other  divi- 
sions completed  their  confusion,  and 
before  daybreak  they  fled  in  all  direc- 
tions. Eight  hundred  men  were  slain 
on  the  spot,  a  thousand  prisoners, 
eighteen  standards,  seven  guns,  and 
immense  military  stores  taken  by  the 
Souliotes,  who  did  not  lose  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  men.  But  they  sus- 
tained an  irreparable  loss  in  Mark 
Bozzaris,  who  was  shot  through  the 
head  as  day  began  to  dawn,  and  soon 
after  expired.  He  was  borne  off  the 
field  by  the  weeping  Souliotes,  interred 


400 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


with  the  highest  military  honours  at 
Missolonghi,  and  the  Government  pub- 
lished a  decree  in  his  honour.*  Like 
Epaminondas,  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  the  enemy  fly  before  he 
breathed  his  last,  and  he  died  exhort- 
ing his  countrymen  to  shed  every  drop 
of  their  blood  in  defence  of  their  re- 
ligion and  their  country.  The  annals 
of  antiquity  contain  nothing  more  sub- 
liuie. 

96.  This  gallant  action  postponed, 
but  could  not  avert,  the  stroke  of  fate. 
The  Pacha  of  Scodra,  having  recovered 
from  the  defeat  experienced  at  Carpen- 
itza  from  Bozzaris,  forced  with  great 
difficulty  the  denies  of  the  mountains 
which  separated  him  from  Omer-Vri- 
one ;  and  having  effected  the  junction 
of  the  two  armies,  their  united  forces, 
twenty  thousand  strong,  sat  down  be- 
fore Missolonghi.  Its  garrison  con- 
sisted only  of  three  thousand  regular 
troops ;  but  to  these  were  added  double 
that  number  of  armed  inhabitants, 
who  were  inspired  with  the  utmost 
resolution,  and  were  confident  in  their 
means  of  defence.  The  strength  of 
this  renowned  fortress,  situated  be- 
low the  level  of  the  sea,  depends  chiefly 
on  the  lagunse,  which,  as  at  Venice, 
guard  it  from  the  approaches  of  the 
enemy.  The  Capitan  Pacha  had  left 
three  large  frigates  and  twelve  brigs  in 
the  bay,  which  blockaded  it  by  sea ; 
and  the  Turks,  as  it  was  now  suffici- 
ently garrisoned,  resolved  to  commence 
the  siege  with  an  attack  on  the  fort 
of  Anatolico,  a  small  town  built  ou  a 
low  islet  at  the  entrance  of  the  lagoons, 
and  garrisoned  by  five  hundred  men, 
with  thrice  that  number  of  armed  in- 

*  "Beloved  Greeks  !  Lo,  another  Leonidas 
figures  in  your  history.  The  first  with  three 
hundred  companions  faced  the  universe,  and, 
resolving  to  die  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
Sparta,  fell  in  the  night  upon  myriads  of  foes. 
Our  modern  one,  at  the  head  of  eight  hundred 
brave  soldiers,  charged  sword  in  hand  and 
determined  to  conquer,  and  vanquished  ten 
thousand.  Eight  hundred  Turks,  and  among 
those  Pliapa  Pacha,  lay  dead :  few  of  our  he- 
roes fell  a  sacrifice  to  their  faith  and  coun- 
try. In  this  glorious  battle  died  the  im- 
mortal General  Bozzaris,  and  went  to  the 
regions  of  eternity,  to  darken  by  the  rays 
of  his  exploits  the  lustre  of  former  heroes  " 
— The  President  MAVKOMICH^ELIS,  Salamis, 
Aug.  31,  1823. 


habitants,  commanded  by  Constantino 
Bozzaris,  brother  of  the  fallen  hero, 
who  had  inherited  the  mantle  of  his 
glory.  The  chief  apprehension  of  the 
inhabitants  was  from  failure  of  water, 
but  a  bomb  from  the  besiegers,  hav- 
ing broke  through  the  pavement,  dis- 
covered a  spring  ;  which,  being  re- 
garded as  a  divine  interposition,  inspir- 
ed the  garrison  with  the  most  sanguine 
hopes  of  success.  Thus  elated,  the 
whole  population  worked  with  inces- 
sant vigour  in  repairing  their  fragilo 
ramparts  and  batteries  ;  and  although 
the  Turks  kept  up  an  incessant  fire, 
and  threw  in  two  thousand  shells,  the 
place  still  held  bravely  out.  Mean- 
while the  rainy  season  commenced,  the 
Turkish  camp  was  flooded  ;  some  con- 
voys of  provisions  were  intercepted  by 
the  mountaineers  in  their  rear  ;  a  few 
additional  guns  arrived  by  sea  at  Ana- 
tolico ;  the  garrison  refused  to  capitu- 
late, and  the  Pacha  of  Scodra,  despair- 
ing of  success,  raised  the  siege,  and 
returned  home,  with  the  loss  of  half  his 
army,  after  cutting  down  six  thousand 
olive-trees,  destroying  his  ammunition, 
burying  his  cannon,  and  leaving  all 
his  provisions  to  the  enemy. 

97.  The  plague,  which  raged  with 
great  violence  in  Canea  during  the 
whole  winter  of  1822,  and  carried  off 
five  thousand  of  the  crowded  popula- 
tion of  that  fortress,  suspended  all  mil- 
itary operations  in  Candia  during  that 
period.  In  the  end  of  May,  Tombazi, 
who  was  invested  with  the  command, 
landed  in  the  island  with  fourteen 
pieces  of  cannon  and  a  large  quantity 
of  arms  and  ammunition.  With  this 
aid  he  compelled  the  governor  of  Ki- 
pamos,  a  fortress  which  had  hitherto 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks, 
to  capitulate,  on  condition  of  the  gar- 
rison being  conducted  to  Canea,  which 
was  accordingly  done  in  safety  by  the- 
honourable  humanity  and  courage  of 
the  Greek  chiefs,  who  discharged  a 
twelve  -  pounder  into  the  middle  of 
their  own  men,  in  the  act  of  rushing 
on  fifteen  hundred  of  the  captives  for 
a  massacre.  This  success  extended  the 
insurrection  into  the  mountains  around 
Khadeno,  which  had  hitherto  remained 
quiet ;  and  five  thousand  men  soon  en- 


1323.] 

vironcd  the  Turks  tliere,  who  with 
much  difliculty,  and  after  bravely  cut- 
ting their  way  through  the  Greeks,  ef- 
fected their  retreat,  though  with  very 
heavy  loss,  to  Canea.  The  Greeks  dis- 
graced themselves  by  the  massacre  of 
two  hundred  sick  who  were  left  behind. 
Stimulated  to  exertion  by  these  disas- 
ters, the  Turkish  Government  sent  or- 
ders to  the  Pacha  of  Egypt  to  send 
succour  to  Caudia,  and  in  the  end  of 
June  he  disembarked  five  thousand 
troops  in  Canea.  This  great  reinforce- 
ment revived  the  drooping  spirits  of 
the  Turks,  and  at  first  diffused  great 
consternation  among  the  Christians, 
insomuch  that  the  Sfakiotes  talked  of 
surrendering.  Dissensions  broke  out 
among  them ;  they  were  defeated  in 
a  decisive  battle  at  Armoughi,  from 
whence  Tombazi  himself  escaped  with 
difficulty.  Six  hundred  women  and 
children,  Who  had  taken  refuge  after 
this  disaster  in  the  vast  natural  grotto 
of  Stonarambella,  were,  after  being 
blockaded  for  a  month,  inhumanly 
smoked  to  death  like  bees  by  the 
Turks,  who  piled  up  wood  against  the 
entrance,  to  which  they  set  fire.  The 
Egyptian  general  followed  up  his  suc- 
cesses with  equal  vigour  and  cruelty ; 
six-and-thirty  villages  were  reduced  to 
ashes,  the  defiles  and  inmost  recesses 
of  Mount  Ida  forced,  and  ere  long 
three  thousand  Cretans  were  put  to 
the  sword,  and  seven  thousand  women 
and  children  sold  as  slaves.  So  great 
was  the  destruction  of  human  life,  that 
Tombazi  published  a  proclamation, 
that  as  great  part  of  the  lands  in  the 
island  were  without  persons  to  culti- 
vate them,  they  would  be  allotted  to  the 
first  occupants:  a  temptation  which 
attracted  three  thousand  persons  from 
the  neighbouring  islands  to  the  scene 
of  devastation.  But  notwithstanding 
this,  it  was  evident  that  the  insurrec- 
tion in  Candia  had  received  its  death- 
blow ;  and  it  had  already  appeared, 
what  was  so  fatally  proved  in  the  se- 
quel, that  however  capable  of  with- 
standing the  tumultuary  levies  of  the 
Turks,  the  Greeks  could  not  resist  in 
the  open  field  the  disciplined  battal- 
ions of  Egypt. 
VOL.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


401 


98.  The  naval  campaign  of  the  Turks 
during  this  year,  for  which  such  vast 
preparations  had  been  made,  and  from 
which  so  much  had  been  expected,  did 
not  at  all  redound  to  the  honour  or 
advantage  of  their  arms.     Being  not 
in  sufficient  strength  to  engage  them 
in  open  fight,  the  Greeks  were  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  observing  them  at 
a  distance,   and  keeping  them  in  a 
constant  state  of  alarm  by  the  terror 
of  their  fireships.    They  did  this,  how- 
ever, so  effectually,  that  the  Ottomans 
derived    very  little  advantage    from 
their  naval  superiority.     So  far  from 
it,  Miaulis,  with  a  small  Greek  flotilla, 
engaged  the  Turkish  fleet,  on  its  return 
from  the  Gulf  of  Patras,  off  Lemnos, 
set  two  frigates  on  fire  by  means  of  his 
fireships,  and  excited  such  consterna- 
tion in  the  whole  squadron  by  the 
sight  of  the  flames,  that  they  fled  in 
confusion  to  the  Dardanelles.     In  fine, 
as  the  result  of  the  naval  campaign, 
Carystos  was  relieved,  Toikari  reduced 
to   subjection,   and  a  few  brigs  and 
schooners  of  the  Greeks  taken;  and 
with  these  trifling  prizes  the  Turkish 
admiral  re-entered  the  Dardanelles  in 
the  end  of  November.    No  sooner  was 
the  sea  cleared  than  a  Greek  expedition 
of  eighteen  sail  set  out  from  Napoli  di 
Eomania,  bearing  a  reinforcement  of 
three  thousand  men,  and  large  sub- 
scriptions in  money  from  the  Greeks  in 
the  Morea  for  Missolonghi,  evidently 
threatened  with  a  second  siege.     In 
their  way  they  met  the  Algerine  squa- 
dron, which  had  been  left  by  the  C'api- 
tan  Pacha,  and  long  infested  the  Gulf 
of  Lepanto,  defeated  it,  and  drove  a 
vessel  laden  with  treasure  on  the  coast 
of  Zante,  which  they  made  prize. 

99.  The  domestic  dissensions  which 
had  during  the   year  paralysed  the 
operations  of  the  Greeks  in  the  Morea, 
prevented  them  from  taking  advantage 
of  their  glorious  successes.     To  such  a 
length  did  they  arise  before  Christmas, 
that  the  different  members  of  the  Gov- 
ernment were  at  open  war  with  each 
other.      Mavromichselis  and  Coloco- 
troni,  the  leading  members  of  the  exe- 
cutive council,  had  drawn  the  whole 
real  power  into  their  own  hands  at 

2c 


402 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


Napoli  di  Romania,  while  the  legisla- 
tive assembly  at  Argos  paid  no  regard 
to  their  orders.  Like  Napoleon,  Co- 
locotroni  resolved  on  a  coup  d'etat  to 
get  quit  of  his  opponents.  For  this 
purpose  he  despatched  two  hundred 
men  under  his  son,  to  whom  Niketas 
afterwards  added  a  band  of  his  own. 
The  united  body  reached  Argos  when 
the  senate  were  sitting ;  but  they  were 
so  overpowered  by  the  majesty  of  the 
legislature,  and  overawed  by  the  firm 
countenance  of  the  prefect  of  the  town, 
that  they  did  not  venture  on  a  disso- 
lution, but  contented  themselves  with 
an  attempt,  which  proved  ineffectual, 
on  the  archives,  which  were  removed 
on  board  a  vessel  in  the  night.  Foiled 
in  this  manner  in  both  objects,  they 
returned  to  Napoli.  The  legislative 
body,  after  this  insult,  retired  to  Cra- 
nidi,  a  strong  fort  on  the  Gulf  of  Cor- 
inth, where  it  declared  its  sittings 
permanent,  and  fulminated  a  decree 
dismissing  the  whole  executive  from 
their  situations.  Part  of  the  Morea, 
Missolonghi,  and  the  islands,  adhered 
to  Mavrocordato  and  the  legislature, 
part  to  Colocotroni  and  the  executive. 
But  meanwhile  the  collection  of  the 
revenue  entirely  ceased;  the  public 
treasury  was  empty ;  the  chiefs  levied 
contributions  on  their  own  account, 
•with  which  they  maintained  their 
troops ;  and  the  infant  state,  while  yet 
in  the  cradle,  and  painfully  struggling 
for  its  existence  with  a  powerful  enemy, 
was  exposed  to  the  horrors  and  the 
weakness  of  civil  war. 

100.  "While  Greece  was  thus  in  its 
interior  undergoing  the  convulsions 
and  paralysed  by  the  weakness  inci- 
dent to  every  people  emerging  into 
freedom  from  former  slavery,  the  in- 
terest of  the  nations  of  western  Europe 
in  her  behalf  was  daily  and  rapidly  on 
the  increase.  The  learned  and  the 
reflecting  were  charmed  with  the  re- 
surrection, fraught  with  such  recol- 
lections, and  bearing  such  names  as 
Greece ;  the  religious  watched  with 
interest  the  efforts  of  a  gallant  people 
to  shake  off  the  Mohammedan  yoke, 
and  restore  the  Christian  faith;  the 
revolutionists  sympathised  with  the 
revolt  of  any  body  of  men  against 


their  government,  and  beheld  in  the 
deliverance  of  Greece  a  step  towards 
the  emancipation  of  mankind.  The 
effect  of  this  general  interest  and 
sympathy  appeared  in  numerous  pub- 
lic meetings  in  several  places  in  Eng- 
land, presided  over  by  persons  of  high 
rank  and  great  consideration,  where 
resolutions,  expressive  of  the  deepest 
interest  in  their  cause,  were  passed, 
and  large  subscriptions  made  in  their 
behalf.*  Similar  subscriptions  were 
made  in  various  places  in  France  and 
Germany;  and  a  number  of  ardent 
youths  in  all  the  three  countries  enrol- 
led themselves  in  battalions,  styled 
"  Philhellenes,"  in  which  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Morea  to  share  in  the 
dangers  and  glories  of  Greek  inde- 
pendence. The  unsuitableness  of  these 
corps  for  the  guerilla  and  partisan 
warfare,  which  was  alone  practicable 
in  Greece,  rendered  them  of  little  real 
service  in  the  contest;  but  the  sub- 
scriptions in  money  were  of  great  mo- 
ment, and  powerfully  contributed  to 
uphold  the  resources  of  the  infant 
state.  At  this  time,  also,  several  in- 
dividuals went  to  Greece  to  tender 
their  services  in  its  behalf,  eminent 

*  "In  England,  -where  the  sublime  spec- 
tacle of  a  nation  awakening  into  light  and 
freedom  could  not  but  be  regarded  with  sym- 
pathy and  admiration,  a  thousand  proofs 
have  been  given  of  the  interest  their  cause 
has  excited.  At  length  an  association  has 
been  formed  to  give  a  practical  and  efficient 
direction  to  these  feelings,  and  they  now 
make  a  solemn  appeal  to  the  nation  in  behalf 
of  a  country  associated  with  every  sacred 
and  sublime  recollection,  for  a  people  for- 
merly free  and  enlightened,  but  long  retained 
by  foreign  despots  in  the  chains  of  ignorance 
and  barbarism.  While  the  attempts  of  the 
Greeks  were  limited  within  a  narrow  circle, 
and  it  seemed  probable  that  they  would  be 
instantly  crushed  by  the  Ottoman  power,  it 
might  be  doubtful  how  far  it  was  prudent  to 
encourage  a  struggle  which  might  aggravate 
the  evil  it  was  intended  to  remove.  But  the 
war  has  now  changed  its  character;  it  is 
clear  it  can  end  in  nothing  but  in  the  inde- 
pendence or  absolute  annihilation  of  the 
Greek  people.  If  the  Turks  could  not  put 
down  the  insurrection  in  its  early  stages, 
when  the  Greeks  possessed  neither  arms,  nor 
military  knowledge,  nor  regular  government, 
what  can  they  do  now  against  a  renovated 
nation  and  the  active  sympathy  of  the  Chris- 
tian world?" — Address  of  the  Greek  Committee, 
Lord  Milton  in  the  chair,  May  3,  1823  ;  An- 
nual Register,  1823,  Appendix  to  Chron.,  73 ; 
GORDON,  ii.  85,  86. 


1824.] 

jilike  by  their  rank,  their  courage,  and 
their  genius.  Among  these  must  be 
reckoned  M.  Blaquiere  and  Colonel 
Leicester  Stanhope,  whose  talents  and 
address  proved  of  the  utmost  value  to 
the  Greek  cause;  while  Lord  Byron, 
who  arrived  in  Argostoli,  in  the  Bay 
of  Cephalonia,  on  the  3d  August, 
brought  to  the  cause  the  resources  of  a 
fortune  generously  bestowed,  and  the 
lustre  of  an  immortal  name. 

101.  Lord  Byron,  on  his  arrival  at 
Missolonghi,  whither  he  bent  his 
steps,  as  the  place  threatened  with  the 
earliest  danger,  found  the  community 
so  torn  with  internal  divisions,  that 
nothing  short  of  an  entire  dissolution 
of  society  was  to  be  apprehended  from 
their  continuance.  It  was  no  easy 
matter,  even  with  the  weight  of  his 
great  name  and  liberal  power,  to  ac- 
complish, the  object  of  stilling  these 
dissensions,  for  the  divisions  of  the 
Greek  leaders  had  reached  the  point 
of  civil  war.  The  legislative  body,  in 
order  to  dispossess  the  military  faction 
from  this  stronghold,  resolved  to  trans- 
fer the  seat  of  government  to  Napoli 
di  Romania,  which,  in  every  point  of 
view,  was  the  proper  place  for  it ;  and 
they  accordingly  embarked  on  board 
the  Hydriote  fleet,  which  was  entirely 
at  their  devotion,  and  arrived  on  the 
18th  March  in  the  bay  of  that  fortress, 
and  summoned  the  garrison  to  open 
the  gates ;  but  the  governor,  Kauos 
Colocotroni,  positively  refused  to  do 
so.  Upon  this  the  assembly  declared 
him  a  rebel,  and  ordered  the  siege  of 
the  place  by  sea  and  land.  Matters 
had  proceeded  to  the  like  extremities 
in  Tripolitza,  where  Colocotroni  him- 
self held  out  with  the  whole  garrison 
against  the  central  government.  But 
Niketas  and  other  chiefs  deserted  his 
cause;  the  garrison  of  the  Acro-Co- 
rinthus  declared  for  the  legislature, 
and  that  of  Tripolitza  itself  exhibited 
symptoms  of  wavering.  Discouraged 
by  these  defections,  Colocotroni  agreed 
to  surrender  Tripolitza  and  retire  to 
his  country  estates,  which  was  agreed 
to,  and  the  senate  returned  to  Argos  ; 
but  Panos  still  held  out  in  Napoli, 
and  the  country  was  so  divided  that  it 
was  hard  to  say  where  the  government 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


403 


really  resided.  At  length,  however, 
as  Napoli  was  closely  blockaded  by 
sea  and  land,  the  garrison  began  to 
see  that  the  sense  of  the  country  was 
against  them,  and  by  degrees  came 
round  to  the  central  government.  The 
governor  of  the  fort  of  Yourtoi,  one  of 
the  outworks  of  the  place,  suddenly 
declared  for  it,  and  Colocotroni,  de- 
spairing of  success,  surrendered  the  for- 
tress on  the  19th  June.  He  himself 
soon  after  sent  in  his  adhesion  ;  Odys- 
seus did  the  same  ;  the  Government, 
with  prudent  moderation,  accepted  all 
their  offers  of  submission.  On  the 
24th  June  the  seat  of  authority  was 
transferred  to  Napoli  di  Romania,  and 
on  the  14th  July  a  general  amnesty 
was  proclaimed,  which  at  length  put  a 
period  to  these  disastrous  dissensions. 

102.  While  these  divisions  were  pa- 
ralysing the  strength  and  darkening 
the  prospects  of  Greece,  the  affairs  of 
the  infant  state  were  much  more  pros- 
perous abroad.     The  English  cruisers 
now,  in  obedience  to  orders  received 
from  Government,  admitted  the  Greek 
blockade — a  step,  and  not  an  unim- 
portant one,  in  the  recognition  of  their 
independence  ;  and  they  were  highly 
elated  by  the  intelligence  that  the  Eng- 
lish Cabinet,  in  consequence  of  some 
disputes  with  the  Dey  as  to  an  infrac- 
tion of  the  subsisting  treaty  with  that 
power,  had  declared  war  against  Al- 
giers.    More  substantial  benefit  was 
derived  from  the  contraction  of  a  loan 
of  £800,000,  which,  by  the  exertions 
of  the  Greek  committee  in  London, 
was  obtained  by  the  Government  at  the; 
rate  of  £59  sterling  paid  for  £100  stock 
inscribed.    Although  the  conditions  of 
this  loan  were  altogether  so  onerous 
that  the  Greek  Government  only  ob- 
tained £280,000  for  £800,000  debt  con- 
tracted, yet  the  transaction  was  emi- 
nently beneficial  to  them,  and  proved, 
in  a  great  measure,  the  salvation  of  the 
republic,  for  in  the  distracted  state  of 
its  government  the  collection  of  the 
revenue  had  almost  entirely  ceased; 
and  but  for  this  seasonable  supply  the 
armaments  by  sea  and  land  must  have 
been  dissolved,  from  the  want  of  any 
funds  for  their  support. 

103.  And,  in  truth,  never  had  Grecc* 


404 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


stood  more  in  need  of  vigorous  efforts 
for  its  defence,  for  the  forces  which,  the 
Ottoman  Government  was  preparing  to 
bring  against  it  were  immense.  No- 
ways discouraged  by  the  bad  success  of 
the  preceding  campaigns,  the  Sultan 
made  the  utmost  exertions  for  the  pro- 
secution of  the  war ;  and,  taught  by 
its  reverses,  the  Government  laid  their 
plans  with  much  more  skill  and  judg- 
ment for  the  future.  They  had  learned 
by  experience  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  the  Egyptian  troops,  who  were  armed 
and  disciplined  after  the  European 
fashion ;  and  they  held  out  to  the  pa- 
cha of  that  country  the  most  tempting 
hire  to  induce  him  to  engage  heai-tity 
in  the  contest,  by  the  promise  of  the 
revolted  provinces  as  an  addition  to 
his  pachalic  when  they  were  subdued. 
The  plan  arranged  was  this :  IBRAHIM 
PACHA,  who  already  had  all  but  sub- 
dued Candia,  was  to  transport  a  large 
force  of  regular  troops  to  the  Morea, 
while  his  powerful  fleet  was  to  blockade 
its  harbours  and  secure  the  subsistence 
of  the  troops  ;  the  fleet  from  Constan- 
tinople was  to  muster  in  the  Darda- 
nelles, and  make  a  descent  upon  Hydra 
and  Ipsara,  which,  it  was  hoped,  might 
be  subdued ;  while  the  Pacha  of  Rou- 
melia  and  Omer-Vrione  were  to  march 
with  the  whole  military  strength  of 
continental  Turkey  against  western 
Greece  and  Missolonghi.  In  all,  above 
one  hundred  thousand  men  were  direct- 
ed by  sea  and  land  against  the  infant 
state ;  and  as  nearly  twenty  thousand 
of  that  number  were  to  be  the  disci- 
plined battalions  of  Egypt,  it  was  easy 
to  foresee  that  Greece  had  never  run 
such  dangers  as  she  was  now  to  incur. 
104.  The  Capitan  Pacha  set  sail  from 
the  Dardanelles  in  the  middle  of  June, 
with  a  fleet  of  forty  sail,  having  on 
board  a  large  body  of  land  troops.  He 
first  reinforced  with  three  thousand  men 
the  garrisons  of  Carysto  andNegropont, 
which  Odysseus  and  Dramantis  had 
reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  in  Eu- 
bcea,  and  enabled  the  Turks  to  resume 
the  offensive ;  and,  passing  over  to 
Attica,  compelled  the  Greeks  under 
Ghouras  to  shut  themselves  up  in  the 
Acropolis.  While  these  successes  were 
gained  in  that  quarter,  still  more  im- 


portant operations  were  in  progress  in. 
the  southern  parts  of  the  Archipelago, 
where  Ibrahim  Pacha  brought  the  re- 
doubtable battalions  of  Egypt  into  ac- 
tion. He  first  proceeded  to  the  isle  of 
Casos ;  and  though  bravely  repulsed  in 
a  first  attack,  was  successful  in  a  se- 
cond, and  very  soon  completed  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  island. 

105.  The  great  effort  of  the  Turks, 
however,  in  their  naval  campaign,  was 
directed  against  the  islands  of  Spezzia 
and  Ipsara.  The  Capitan  Pacha,  Chos- 
row,  had  lain  a  month  in  Mitylene, 
where  he  collected  twenty  thousand  fa- 
natical Asiatics,  thirsting  for  the  blood 
of  the  Christians,  many  of  whom  he 
embarked  on  board  his  fleet,  with  which 
great  reinforcement  he  set  sail  for  Ip- 
sara.    The  island  at  this  period  con- 
tained fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  of 
whom  a  third  bore  arms.    It  is  a  small 
and  sterile  island,  containing  beyond 
the  town  only  a  few  acres  of  ground ; 
but,  being  the  abode  of  liberty  and  in- 
dependence, it  had  attained  a  very  high 
degree  of  prosperity.      Two  hundred 
cannon  were  mounted  on  its  circuit; 
a  line  of  telegraphs  was  established 
round  it;  the  inhabitants,  relying  on 
their  past  victories,  were  confident  of 
success,  and  even  impatient  for  the  at- 
tack ;  and  a  beautiful  flotilla  of  schoon- 
ers, brigs,  and  fireships  lay  ready  in  the 
port  to  resist  the  enemy.     Relying  on 
these  circumstances,  the  Psarriotes  re- 
fused all  offers  of  accommodation,  and 
bravely  determined  to  resist  to  the  last 
extremity.     Yet  were  their  means  of 
defence  more  specious  than  real;  for 
they  possessed  no  regular  citadel  or 
fort,  and  the  defence  of  the  island  rest- 
ed entirely  on  a  number  of  detached 
batteries,  the  loss  of  any  one  of  which 
would  endanger  the  whole. 

106.  On  the  1st  July  the  armada  of 
the  Turks  hove  in  sight,  and  soon  sur- 
rounded the  island.     It  consisted  of 
an  eighty-gun  ship,  two  of  sixty-four 
guns,  six  frigates,  ten  corvettes,  and 
twenty  brigs,  with  thirty  transports, 
having  on  board  fourteen  thousand  re- 
gular troops,  besides  a  crowd  of  fierce 
Asiatics.     When  this  immense  arma- 
ment was  seen,  a  council  of  war  was 
held,  at  which  Canaris,  like  Themisto- 


1824.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


405 


cles,  strongly  advised  them  to  combat 
by  sea.  Unfortunately  his  advice  was 
overruled ;  and  the  magistrates,  afraid 
of  being  deserted  by  the  sailors,  not 
only  doomed  the  navy  to  total  inaction, 
but  landed  part  of  the  crews  to  make 
them  co-operate  in  the  defence  of  the 
place.  The  consequences  were  fatal. 
The  Turks,  on  the  3d  July,  drew  in 
their  vessels  to  the  mouth  of  the  har- 
bour, where  they  commenced  a  furious 
cannonade  on  the  town,  which  was  re- 
turned with  great  spirit  and  no  disad- 
vantage by  the  islanders,  both  from 
their  ships  and  batteries.  It  was  ob- 
vious from  this  sea-fight  that,  if  the 
principal  defence  had  been  made  there, 
the  Greeks  would  have  had  the  advan- 
tage ;  but  as  the  rudders  had  been  taken 
out  of  the  vessels  by  order  of  the  ma- 
gistrates, to  prevent  the  sailors  desert- 
ing, they  could  not  manoeuvre  at  sea, 
•which  deprived  them  of  their  principal 
means  of  offence ;  and  meanwhile,  un- 
der cover  of  the  smoke,  the  Turks  un- 
observed lauded  a  body  of  troops  on  a 
little  cove  at  the  north-west  angle  of 
the  island.  They  then  stormed  a  re- 
doubt with  three  guns,  and,  rushing 
forward  with  frightful  yells,  gained 
possession  of  the  rocks  which  overlook 
the  town,  on  which  they  immediately 
hoisted  the  Ottoman  standard.  At 
the  sight  of  this  a  cry  of  horror  rose 
among  the  more  timid  of  the  islanders, 
and  several  batteries  were  abandoned. 
The  bravest  now  saw  that  the  fate  of 
their  country  was  decided,  and  a  gene- 
ral rush  took  place  towards  the  boats, 
where  multitudes  perished  by  drown- 
ing, through  the  numbers  crowding  in, 
or  the  barks  being  sent  to  the  bottom 
by  the  Turkish  guns.  All  resistance 
then  ceased  in  the  town,  which  was 
sacked  and  burnt,  and  the  whole  in- 
habitants put  to  the  sword. 

107.  Like  Chios,  Ipsara  sank  in 
flames  and  blood ;  but  its  closing  scene 
was  very  different,  and  worthy  of  the 
heroic  character  of  its  inhabitants.  A 
certain  number,  comprising  the  prin- 
cipal citizens,  escaped  on  board  nine- 
teen brigs,  carrying  away  such  of  the 
fugitives  as  they  could  pick  up  from 
the  waves,  and  conveyed  them  in 
safety  to  Hydra,  where  they  were  re- 


.•ith  generous  hospitality, 
hundred  Macedonians  threw  them- 
selves, with  their  wives  and  children, 
into  the  fortified  convent  of  St  Nicho- 
las, on  which  were  mounted  twenty- 
four  pieces  of  cannon.  With  these 
they  defended  themselves  with  such 
resolution  that  they  were  still  masters 
of  it  at  night;  and  on  the  following 
morning  the  Capitan  Pacha  renewed 
the  assault  with  his  whole  troops. 
Several  attacks  were  repulsed  with 
prodigious  slaughter;  but  at  length 
the  garrison,  hopeless  of  relief,  and 
having  lost  two-thirds  of  their  num- 
ber, determined  to  perish  like  the 
three  hundred  at  Thermopylae.  They 
sent  a  soldier  with  a  lighted  torch  to 
fire  a  powder-magazine  outside  the 
walls;  and  as  he  fell,  pierced  by  se- 
veral balls,  before  reaching  it,  five 
others  were  sent  on  a  similar  errand, 
and  all  shared  the  same  fate.  Upon 
this  the  Greeks  resolved  to  blow  them- 
selves up  with  the  powder  they  had 
within  the  monastery,  but  in  such  a 
way  as  to  involve  their  enemies  in 
their  ruin.  They  ceased  firing,  ac- 
cordingly, for  some  time;  and  the 
Turks,  thinking  the  defenders  had  all 
fallen,  after  a  pause  rushed  tumultu- 
ously  forward  to  the  assault  of  the 
walls,  which  were  scaled  on  every 
side.  Suddenly  the  Hellenic  flag  was 
lowered;  a  white  flag,  bearing  the 
words  "  Liberty  or  death,"  waved  in 
the  air ;  a  signal-gun  was  discharged, 
and  immediately  after,  a  rumbling 
noise,  followed  by  a  loud  explosion, 
was  heard,  and  the  monastery,  with  its 
whole  defenders,  and  thousands  of  the 
assailants,  were  blown  into  the  air. 
Two  only  of  the  Greeks  were  extri- 
cated alive  from  the  ruins;  of  the  as- 
sailants three  thousand  perished  dur- 
ing the  storm  or  in  the  explosion. 

108.  The  military  spoil  made  by  the 
Turks  in  Ipsara  was  immense,  and  the 
blow  to  the  Hellenic  cause  from  its 
loss  so  great  as  to  justify  the  saying 
at  the  time  in  the  islands,  that  one  of 
the  eyes  of  Greece  was  put  out.  Two 
hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  great  stores 
of  powder,  and  a  beautiful  flotilla  of 
ninety  vessels,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
1  the  Ottomans.  The  inhabitants  of  the 


406 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


island,  with  the  exception  of  those  who 
had  saved  themselves  in  boats  the  even- 
ing before,  and  a  few  hundreds  who  hid 
themselves  in  caves  in  the  island,  were 
destroyed.  Among  those  who  escaped 
was  the  heroic  Canaris,  who,  after  dis- 
playing the  utmost  valour  in  the  de- 
fence, threw  himself  into  a  boat  and 
got  off.  The  Turks,  highly  elated 
with  their  victory,  sent  ft ve  hundred 
heads  and  eleven  hundred  ears  to  Con- 
stantinople, which,  with  thirty-three 
standards  taken,  were  displayed  in 
ghastly  rows  at  the  gate  of  the  Sera- 
glio, and  excited  the  people  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  fanatical  exultation. 
Ten  females  only  were  made  slaves; 
for  the  Psarriote  women,  in  a  heroic 
spirit,  drowned  themselves,  with  their 
infants,  to  avoid  becoming  the  spoil  of 
the  victors.* 

109.  The  destruction  of  Ipsara,  with 
its  heroic  termination,  made  a  prodi- 
gious sensation  in  Christendom,  and 
much  strengthened  the  general  con- 
viction that  some  intervention  of  the 
Western  powers  had  become  indis- 
pensable, if  a  Christian  state  was  to 
be  rescued  from  utter  destruction  at 
the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans.  But 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  it  had 
no  such  depressing  effect;  the  result 
was  rather  the  reverse.  The  council 
of  Hydra  acted  a  noble  part  on  the 
occasion.  So  far  from  thinking  of 
submitting,  they  fitted  out  every  dis- 
posable vessel,  and  soon  had  two 
squadrons  at  sea,  one  of  which,  under 
Miaulis,  went  to  the  south  to  watch 
the  Egyptian  fleet,  which  was  ap- 
proaching ;  while  another  under  Can- 
aris made  for  Samos,  which  was  men- 
aced with  the  fate  of  Chios  and  Ipsara. 

*  "  Les  infidfeles  Arnautes,  que  les  rebelles 
]  psariotes  avaient  appeles  il  leur  secours,  out 
ete  toas  passes  au  fil  de  1'epee,  et  ont  ainsi 
fait  1'epreuve  de  la  puissance  Musulmane. 
l)ix  des  chefs  de  1'insurrection,  et  environ 
.'MO  homines,  ont  ete  faits  prisonniers;  110 
liatimens,  et  plus  de  100  pieces  de  canon,  sont 
toinbes  en  notre  pouvoir;  enfin,  tout  1'ile 
(Vlpsara  a  ete  soumise  par  la  grace  du  Tout- 
Puissant.  Plus  de  500  teles  d'infideles,  plus 
de  1100  oreilles,  et  33  drapeaux,  ont  ete  en- 
voyes  a  la  Sublime  Porte  par  le  dit  Pacha,  et 
jetes  a  terre  avec  mepris."  —  Inscription 
(Jaffa),  July  24,  1824,  a  Constantinople  aiix 
Porte*  du  Seraglio :  Annuaire  Historique,  vii. 
417. 


The  danger  to  that  island  was  immi- 
nent, for  twenty  thousand  Asiatics, 
flushed  with  the  blood  of  the  Chris- 
tians whom  they  had  massacred  at 
New  Echelles,  in  Asia  Minor,  awaited 
only  the  approach  of  the  fleet  to  em- 
bark and  exterminate  the  inhabitants 
of  Samos.  Meanwhile  Odysseus  and 
the  other  chiefs  of  eastern  Greece, 
burying  their  divisions  in  oblivion, 
sent  twelve  hundred  excellent  troops 
to  strengthen  the  garrison  of  Hydra, 
which  became  so  strong  as  to  be  able 
not  only  to  defy  attack,  but  even  re- 
sume the  offensive.  An  expedition 
was  fitted  out  to  retake  Ipsara,  where 
a  garrison  of  one  thousand  men  had 
been  left  by  the  Capitau  Pacha.  It 
landed  in  the  same  bay  where  the 
Turks  had  effected  their  descent,  de- 
feated and  made  prisoner  the  garrison, 
and  captured  or  destroyed  all  the  gun- 
boats in  the  harbour,  thirty  in  number. 
Finding  the  island  entirely  destroyed, 
and  two  hundred  wretches  merely  wan- 
dering among  the  ruins,  they  entirely 
evacuated  it,  taking  away  this  rem- 
nant of  the  inhabitants  to  Hydra. 

110.  Menaced  with  an  immediate 
descent  and  utter  ruin,  the  inhabitants 
of  Samos  prepared  vigorously  for  their 
defence.  Having  received  assurances 
of  support  from  the  Government  at 
Napoli  di  Romania,  Lycurgus,  the 
governor,  assembled  all  the  male  po- 
pulation of  the  island  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms,  twelve  thousand  in  number, 
on  the  coast ;  and  having  sent  all  the 
women  and  children  to  the  mountains, 
every  preparation  was  made  for  a  vigor- 
ous defence.  It  depended,  however, 
mainly  on  the  naval  force  assembled 
for  the  protection  of  the  island ;  for  if 
the  Turks  once  effected  a  landing,  it 
was  easy  to  foresee  it  would  undergo 
the  fate  of  Chios  and  Ipsara.  The 
combined  fleet  of  Spezzia  and  Hydra, 
of  forty  sail,  ere  long  made  its  appear- 
ance, under  the  command  of  Sakh- 
touri ;  and  the  Ottoman  fleet,  also  of 
forty  sail,  but  much  larger  vessels, 
soon  hove  in  sight.  After  several  in- 
decisive actions  in  the  straits,  in  one 
of  which  Canaris  advanced  with  his 
fireship  into  the  middle  of  the  enemy's 
fleet,  and  threw  them  into  such  con- 


1824.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


407 


stern  ation  that  they  all  took  to  flight, 
the  Turkish  admiral  on  the  17th  made 
a  grand  attack.  The  moment  was  terri- 
ble :  forty  ships  on  each  side  the  straits, 
between  Samos  and  the  Asiatic  shore, 
lay  facing  each  other ;  on  the  opposite 
shores  sixty  thousand  combatants  stood 
watching  the  conflict ;  and  on  the  hills 
in  the  island  a  trembling  crowd  of 
thirty  thousand  women  and  children 
gazed  with  speechless  anxiety  on  the 
issue  of  a  conflict  on  which  the  lives 
and  liberties  of  all  were  dependent.  At 
ten  in  the  morning  the  fireships  were 
launched:  the  Hydriote  ones  failed 
from  the  pusillanimity  of  the  crews, 
who  abandoned  them  before  they 
reached  the  enemy;  but  Canaris  was 
at  hand  to  repair  the  loss.  Steering 
his  fireship  direct  on  a  frigate  of  fifty- 
four  guns,  he  grappled  her  so  strongly 
that  all  attempts  to  separate  the  ships 
were  vain ;  the  Turks,  six  hundred  in 
number,  all  leapt  overboard,  and  soon 
after  the  vessel  blew  up  with  an  ex- 
plosion so  terrible  that  twelve  boats 
around  it  were  destroyed,  and  several 
persons  even  on  shore  were  killed  by 
the  falling  of  the  spars  and  masts. 
Two  other  schooners,  carrying  twenty 
and  thirty  guns,  were  soon  after  burned 
by  the  Hydriote  vessels ;  and  at  five 
in  the  evening  the  whole  Turkish  fleet 
moved  off  to  the  southward,  with  the 
loss  of  three  fine  vessels,  one  hun- 
dred guns,  and  twelve  hundred  killed 
and  wounded.  Samos  was  delivered, 
and  the  inhabitants  returned  to  their 
houses,  and  crowded  to  the  churches 
to  return  thanks  to  Heaven  for  their 
deliverance. 

111.  The  object  of  the  Turkish  ad- 
miral, after  his  repulse  at  Samos,  was 
to  join  the  Egyptian  fleet,  and  with 
the  combined  forces  make  a  descent 
upon  the  Morea.  The  Egyptian  fleet 
set  sail  from  Alexandria  on  the  19th 
July,  having  been  detained  two  months 
later  than  was  expected,  inconsequence 
of  a  dreadful  fire  in  the  barracks  at 
Cairo,  which  destroyed  immense  mili- 
tary stores,  and  in  which  four  thou- 
sand persons  lost  their  lives.  The  ar- 
mament, however,  when  it  did  set  sail 
from  Alexandria,  was  very  formidable, 
and  the  most  numerous  which  had  ap- 


peared in  the  Mediterranean  since  Na- 
poleon's invasion  of  Egypt  in  1798. 
The  combined  fleets  effected  a  junction 
in  the  Gulf  of  Boudroum,  the  ancient 
Halicarnassus,  on  the  25th  August, 
and  they  were  then  found  to  amount 
to  one  line-of-battle  ship,  25  frigates, 
25  corvettes,  each  mounting  from  24 
to  28  guns,  50  brigs  and  schooners, 
many  of  them  carrying  18  or  24  guns, 
and  240  transports.  The  land  forces 
consisted  of  12,000  regular  infantry, 
drilled  and  organised  after  the  Euro- 
pean fashion,  2000  Albanian  light  in- 
fantry, 2000  cavalry,  700  gunners  and 
sappers,  and  150  pieces  of  heavy  or 
field  artillery.  Altogether  the  arma- 
ment had  on  board  80,000  sailors  and 
soldiers,  and  above  2500  cannon;  a 
force  almost  as  great  as  that  with  which 
England  made  the  descent  on  Wal- 
chern  in  1809.  To  oppose  this  crusade, 
the  Greek  admiral  had  only  70  sail, 
manned  by  5000  sailors,  and  bearing 
at  the  utmost  800  guns. 

112.  With  admirable  gallantry  Mi- 
aulis,  notwithstanding  this  grievous 
disproportion  of  force,  advanced  to 
meet  the  enemy;  and  several  actions 
without  any  decisive  effect  took  place 
in  the  beginning  of  September.  At 
length,  on  the  12th  September,  the 
Hydriote  Papantoni  laid  his  fireship 
alongside  of  the  Tunisian  admiral's 
frigate  of  forty-four  guns,  and  750  men, 
all  of  whom,  when  she  took  fire,  leapt 
overboard.  Soon  after  the  admiral 
was  picked  up  by  the  Greeks,  and  made 
prisoner.  This  success  so  intimidated 
the  Ottomans  that  they  sheered  off, 
and  the  combat  ceased.  Such  was  the 
terror  which  the  Greek  fireships  in- 
spired that  the  Capitan  Pacha  stood 
aloof  altogether  ;  and  it  was  a  common 
saying  in  the  fleet,  that  he  might  as 
well  have  been  at  Constantinople.  On 
the  19th,  Miaulis  succeeded  in  burn- 
ing two  Turkish  vessels,  mounting, 
the  one  nineteen,  the  other  twelve 
guns,  after  which  the  Capitan  Pacha 
ran  into  the  Dardanelles.  The  two 
fleets  were  almost  constantly  engaged 
daily  until  the  13th  November,  when 
Miaulis,  notwithstanding  his  inferior- 
ity of  force,  ventured  to  engage  the 
whole  Egyptian  squadron  in  a  general 


408 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


battle,  and  with  such  success  that  a 
fine  frigate  and  twelve  lesser  vessels, 
with  fifteen  transports,  were  burned  or 
destroyed,  and  Ibrahim  fairly  fled  out 
of  the  Archipelago  with  his  ships  of 
war,  leaving  his  transports  to  follow 
the  best  way  they  could.  They  steered 
for  Rhodes,  and  put  up  in  the  Bay  of 
Marmorice  for  the  winter.  He  was 
then  able  to  calculate  his  losses  in  this 
naval  campaign,  which  was  incompar- 
ably the  most  disastrous  at  sea  which 
the  Mohammedans  had  yet  sustained. 
They  had  two  fine  frigates,  two  cor- 
vettes, and  two  brigs  blown  up,  one 
corvette  wrecked,  fifty  sail  of  trans- 
ports taken  or  destroyed,  an  admiral 
and  four  thousand  seamen  slain,  and 
five  hundred  Arabs  carried  prisoners  to 
Napoli.  Including  those  who  fell  at 
Ipsara  and  died  of  sickness,  this  naval 
campaign  had  cost  the  Turks  not  less 
than  fifteen  thousand  men,  without 
any  advantage  but  the  destruction  of 
that  island.  The  Hellenic  Government 
with  reason  expressed  in  several  de- 
crees their  high  sense  of  the  services  of 
Admiral  Miaulis  and  his  brave  follow- 
ers, and  they  were  welcomed  on  their 
return  to  Hydra  with  the  honours  due 
to  valour,  zeal,  and  perseverance. 

113.  The  campaign  of  the  Greeks  by 
land  this  year,  though  distinguished 
by  honourable  events,  was  by  no  means 
uncheckered  by  disaster.  The  Sultan 
had  given  orders  to  the  Pacha  of  Wid- 
din  to  raise  thirty  thousand  men  for 
the  conquest  of  eastern  Greece ;  but 
the  Turks  had  become  so  disinclined 
to  a  service  which  experience  had 
taught  them  was  fraught  with  so  many 
danger's,  that  he  never  was  able  to 
bring  five  thousand  men  into  the  field. 
On  the  18th  July,  Ghouras  defeated 
two  thousand  janizaries,  who  had  come 
across  from  Negropont,  at  Marathon, 
and  delivered  Attica  for  a  time  from  the 
incursions  of  the  Turks  in  that  island 
— an  event  which  naturally  excited  a 
great  sensation  in  western  Europe. 
The  Turks,  however,  being  soon  after 
reinforced  by  a  large  body  of  horse 
from  Bceotia,  Ghouras  took  refuge  in 
the  Acropolis,  and  the  Athenians  again 
migrated  to  Salamis.  Upon  this,  Rou- 
misia  Valesi,  who  had  received  the 


most  pressing  orders  from  the  Sultan 
to  proceed  to  Lepanto,  and  co-operate 
with  Omer-Vrioue  in  the  attack  on 
Missolonghi,  having  collected  ten 
thousand  men,  endeavoured  to  force 
the  defiles  near  Gravia,  which  were 
occupied  by  four  thousand  Greeks  ;  but 
he  was  repulsed  with  great  slaughter, 
and  the  loss  of  two  guns  and  seven 
standards.  The  Ottomans,  after  this 
check,  endeavoured  to  reach  Salon  a 
and  the  Gulf  of  Lepanto,  by  crossing 
the  highest  passes  of  Mount  Parnassus ; 
but  here  again  they  found  the  Greeks 
strongly  posted,  and  were  repulsed. 
Upon  this  the  pacha  fell  back  to  Sa- 
lonica,  and  the  Turks  who  occupied 
Athens,  being  unable  to  find  provi- 
sions, retired  from  that  city  and  Attica, 
and  the  Greeks  returned  from  Salamis 
to  their  houses  and  shops  around  the 
Acropolis.  Deprived  of  this  powerful 
aid,  Omer-Vrione  was  unable  to  under- 
take any  serious  operations  against  Mis- 
solonghi ;  and  the  campaign  in  Epirus 
consisted  of  nothing  but  a  series  of 
skirmishes,  most  of  which  terminated 
to  the  advantage  of  the  Greeks. 

114.  Thus  had  the  Greeks  the  glory, 
in  this  the  fourth  year  of  the  war,  of 
repelling,  by  sea  and  land,  the  assault 
of  above  a  hundred  and  twenty  thou- 
sand Moslems,  including  the  disci- 
plined battalions  of  Egypt,  and  that 
with  forces  not  a  fourth  part  of  their 
amount.  Great,  indeed,  must  have 
been  the  spirit,  indomitable  the  perse- 
verance, unconquerable  the  courage, 
which  could  enable  a  body  of  Christians, 
not  now  numbering,  after  the  losses 
they  had  sustained,  above  five  hun- 
dred thousand  souls,  without  foreign 
aid,  to  contend  so  long  with  an  em- 
pire having  the  resources  of  thirty-five 
millions  of  men  at  command.  But 
such  a  contest,  however  glorious,  could 
not  continue  for  such  a  length  of  time 
without  wearing  out  the  national  re- 
sources ;  and  the  risk  was  now  great, 
that,  from  the  very  magnitude  of  their 
sacrifices,  the  greatness  of  their  tri- 
umphs, the  Greeks  would  be  involved 
in  ultimate  ruin.  Crushed  for  centu- 
ries by  the  severities  of  Mohammedan 
exaction,  they  had  no  reserved  stores 
of  wealth,  either  public  or  private,  to 


1824.] 

fall  back  upon,  to  maintain  the  con- 
test. The  treasury  was  empty,  the 
troops  for  the  most  part  unpaid,  the 
taxes  incapable  of  collection.  The 
naval  armament  which  saved  Samos 
and  repulsed  Ibrahim's  invasion,  had 
been  mainly  fitted  out  by  the  fragment 
of  the  Greek  loan  which  Christian 
cupidity  had  permitted  to  reach  the 
shores  of  the  Archipelago.  From  an 
official  report  laid  before  the  National 
Assembly  this  year,  it  appeared  that 
the  whole  surface  of  western  Hellas, 
from  the  mountains  of  Agrapho  to  the 
gates  of  Missolonghi,  was  one  vast 
scene  of  desolation,  presenting  to  the 
eye  only  uncultivated  fields  and  burnt 
hamlets  ;  and  the  petty  revenue  de- 
rived from  the  fisheries  and  custom- 
house barely  sufficed  for  the  humble 
expenses  of  Mavrocordato's  household. 
The  mountains  of  Thessaly  and  Boso- 
tia  had  become  a  perfect  wilderness  ; 
their  inhabitants,  reduced  to  half 
their  former  number,  were  peculiarly 
deficient  in  men — a  want  which,  even 
to  this  day,  is  severely  felt.  Experience 
had  proved  that  a  regular  army  and 
navy  were  indispensable,  since  the 
powerful  fleet  and  disciplined  battal- 
ions of  Egypt  had  been  brought  into 
action ;  but  how  was  either  to  be 
maintained  without  a  treasury,  with- 
out taxes,  without  resources  ?  Yet, 
in  spite  of  all  these  disheartening  cir- 
cumstances, and  when  bleeding  at 
every  pore  from  the  ghastly  wounds  of 
former  years,  the  Greeks  nobly  main- 
tained the  contest.  Amidst  all  their 
misfortunes,  not  a  voice  was  ever 
raised  for  capitulation ;  and  under  cir- 
cumstances when  reason  might  have 
despaired  of  success,  and  wisdom  coun- 
selled submission,  they  still  bore  aloft 
the  standard  of  religion  and  indepen- 
dence. 

115.  But  in  the  midst  of  these  glo- 
rious external  efforts,  internal  faction 
was  again  rearing  its  hydra  head  ;  and 
the  people,  who  were  daily  threatened 
with  extermination  from  without,  turn- 
ed their  suicidal  arms  against  each  other. 
In  truth,  the  democratic  government 
€stablished  by  the  constitution  was  so 
ill  suited  to  the  dispositions  and  wants 
of  the  people  that  dissensions  wen.'  un- 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


409 


avoidable.  Colocotroni  and  the  mili- 
tary chiefs,  in  whom  power  in  conti- 
nental Greece  was  really  vested,  had 
only  dissembled  in  their  submission 
to  the  executive  council ;  they  waited 
merely  till  the  third  annual  election 
of  the  legislature  might  give,  as  they 
hoped,  a  majority  to  their  adherents. 
In  this  hope  they  were  disappointed  ; 
the  election,  in  September  1824,  again 
gave  a  majority  to  the  executive  coun- 
cil, and  they,  in  consequence,  named 
Panuzzo  Notara  president,  and  the 
Archbishop  Theodorito  vice-president, 
of  the  legislative  council.  The  com- 
position of  the  executive  council,  in 
like  manner,  was  favourable  to  the 
democratic  party,  and  entirely  adverse 
to  the  views  of  the  military  chiefs. 
This  was  the  signal  for  the  recom- 
mencement of  the  civil  war.  Coloco- 
troni declared  against  the  executive 
council  near  Tripolitza ;  several  chiefs 
either  joined  him  or  disbanded  their  fol- 
lowers. A  conflict  ensued,  which,  how- 
ever, was  neither  so  long  nor  so  serious 
as  the  former  had  been.  After  several 
actions  the  rebels  were  defeated,  and 
Colocotroni  obliged,  with  his  sons,  to 
deliver  himself  up  to  the  executive 
council  at  Napoli,  by  whom  they  were 
sent  state-prisoners  to  Hydra,  where 
they  were  confined  in  the  monastery 
of  St  Elias.  This  success  completely 
re-established  the  authority  of  the 
executive  council  and  the  legislative 
assembly  ;  but  the  contest,  while  it 
lasted,  proved  eminently  prejudicial  to 
the  Greeks,  for  it  nipped  in  the  bud 
the  rising  prosperity  of  the  Morea,  in 
which  it  was  estimated  that,  during 
the  two  years  it  had  been  free  from 
the  ravages  of  war  and  the  oppression 
of  the  Ottomans,  one-third  of  new 
land  had  been  brought  into  cultiva- 
tion. 

116.  Ghouras,  who  had  been  mainly 
instrumental  in  quelling  the  insurrec- 
tion in  eastern  Greece,  was  so  elated 
with  his  success  that  he  gave  mortal 
offence  to  Odysseus,  whom  he  suspect- 
ed of  leaning  in  secret  to  the  side  of 
the  malcontents,  and  to  whom  he  re- 
fused both  pay  and  rations  for  his  troops. 
The  consequence  was,  that  the  Greek 
captain,  driven  to  desperation,  entered 


410 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CKAP.  XIT. 


into  secret  negotiations  with  the  Turks, 
with  whom,  of  his  own  authority,  he 
concluded  a  truce  for  the  province  of 
Livadia.  Subsequent  public  acts  hav- 
ing strengthened  the  suspicion  that 
he  Avas  in  secret  allying  himself  with 
the  Crescent,  his  officers  and  men,  who, 
amidst  all  their  divisions,  were  true  to 
their  faith  and  country,  all  abandoned 
him.  Aware  of  the  habitual  treachery 
of  the  Turks,  he  rejected  all  the  offers 
of  an  asylum  offered  him  by  their 
chiefs,  and  in  preference  surrendered 
himself  to  Ghouras,  by  whom  he  was 
committed  a  close  prisoner  to  a  tower 
in  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  His  fa- 
mily were  lodged,  before  his  surrender, 
in  an  inaccessible  cavern  in  Mount 
Parnassus.  Ghouras  tried  to  save  the 
life  of  his  former  comrade  and  friend, 
and  long  delayed  his  execution  ;  but 
at  length  the  clamour  against  him  in 
Athens  became  so  Adolent  that  he  was 
obliged  to  consent  to  his  being  strang- 
led in  prison.  On  the  17th  June  the 
body  of  Odysseus  was  discovered  dead 
at  the  foot  of  the  tower  where  he  had 
been  confined.  It  was  given  out  that 
he  had  been  killed  by  a  fall  in  attempt- 
ing to  escape ;  but  no  one  doubted 
that  he  had  been  strangled  in  prison, 
and  thrown  out.  Ghouras  afterwards 
never  heard,  without  pain,  the  men- 
tion of  his  name,  and  often  said,  with 
a  sigh,  "In  that  business  I  was  mis- 
led." The  cavern  in  Parnassus  was 
afterwards  given  up  to  Government, 
and  an  amnesty  granted  to  Odysseus's 
family. 

117.  A  curious  and  valuable  statis- 
tical document  was  published  at  this 
time  by  the  Greek  Government,  singu- 
larly descriptive  of  the  desperate  ty- 
ranny of  the  Turkish  rule.  According 
to  a  census  taken  in  November  1824, 
the  population  of  Athens  was  9040 
souls,  and  the  gross  revenue  of  Attica 
collected  in  eight  months,  from  July 
1824  to  February  1825,  only  £2000  ! 
In  the  days  of  Pericles,  Athens  con- 
tained 21,000  freemen  and  400,000 
slaves ;  and  the  gross  revenue  of  Athens 
after  the  battle  of  Chseronea,  when 
all  its  foreign  colonies  had  been  lost, 
was  £220,000,  equivalent  to  at  least 
£500,000  a-year  of  our  money.  The 


population  of  Athens  is  now  (1854) 
30,000,  and  it  is  annually  and  rapidly 
increasing.  Facts  such  as  these  require 
no  comment :  they  speak  volumes,  and 
accuse  alike  the  tyranny  of  the  Moham- 
medan and  the  selfishness  of  the  Chris- 
tian powers  of  western  Europe. 

118.  The  year  1825  opened  under 
brighter  auspices  to  the  Hellenic  cause 
than  had  hitherto  shone  upon  it.    The 
authority  of  the  central  government 
was  firmly  established,  the  discord  be- 
tween it  and  the  military  chiefs  had 
ceased,  and  the  energies  of  the  state 
might  be  turned  with  united  strength 
against  its  foreign  enemies.     A  new 
loan  had  been  contracted  for  in  Lon- 
don of  £2,000,000,  at  the  rate  of  £55£ 
paid  for  £100  of  debt  acknowledged, 
so  that  money  was  riot  likely  to  prove 
awanting.    This  ample  fund,  however, 
was  so  mismanaged  and  frittered  away 
by  the  Greek  committee  in  London, 
that  it  proved  of  much  less  real  service 
to  the  Greek  cause  than  might  have 
been    expected.      Sensible  from   the 
experience  they  had  had  in  Candia  of 
the  formidable  nature  of  the  Egyptian 
regular  troops,  the  Government  estab- 
lished several  corps,  which  were  to  re- 
ceive pay,  and  act  as  regular  soldiers  ; 
but  the  jealousies  of  the  chiefs,  and 
the  disinclination  of  the  peasantry  to 
lengthened  service,  made  the  recruit- 
ing go  on  very  slowly.     Proud,  with 
reason,  of  their  glorious  successes  in 
the  preceding  campaign,  the  Greeks 
entertained  a  sovereign  contempt  for 
the  Arabs  and  Egyptians ;  and  as  it 
had  become  evident  that  the  Turks  on 
the  mainland  would  not  turn  out  any 
more  to  attack  them,   they  deemed 
their  dangers  entirely  surmounted.  All 
eyes  were  turned  to  Patras,  which  had 
been  long  closely  blockaded  by  sea  and 
land,  and  was  now  reduced  to  great 
extremities  from  want  of  provisions. 
At  sea  they  divided  their  ships,  as  last 
season,  into  two  fleets,  one  of  which 
watched  the   Dardanelles,  while   the 
other  was  intended  to  keep  an  eye  on 
the  Egyptian  fleet. 

119.  The  Mohammedans  turned  the 
winter  to  much  better  account,  equip- 
ping  ships,   levying  men,  laying  up 
magazines  of  ammunition  and  provi- 


1825.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


411 


sions,  and  making  every  preparation 
for  a  vigorous  campaign.  Numbers  of 
French  officers  had  taken  service  in 
the  army  of  the  Pacha  of  Egypt,  and 
brought  to  it  the  knowledge  and  the 
resources  of  modern  military  art ;  and 
the  force  -\vhich  he  was  now  prepared 
to  put  at  the  disposal  of  his  son,  Ibra- 
him Pacha,  was  immense.  Thirty  thou- 
sand Arabs  had  been  trained  and  dis- 
ciplined under  foreign  officers  in  the 
European  manner,  and  had  attained 
extraordinary  perfection  both  in  the 
use  of  firearms,  and  in  steadiness  of 
movement  in  large  masses.  Three 
expeditions,  each  consisting  of  eight 
thousand  men,  were  successively  to 
sail  from  Alexandria  to  convey  this 
force  to  Candia  and  Rhodes ;  from 
thence  they  were  to  be  transported  to 
the  Morea  ;  and  such  was  the  magni- 
tude of  the  naval  force  at  his  disposal, 
that  it  was  not  anticipated  that  the 
Greeks  could  make  any  serious  resist- 
ance to  the  passage  of  the  land  force. 
The  efforts  of  the  Turks  by  laud  were 
to  be  entirely  confined  to  the  siege  of 
Missolonghi,  the  bulwark  of  western 
Greece,  for  the  prosecution  of  which 
twenty  thousand  men  were  to  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  Redschid  Pacha  by 
the  concurring  efforts  of  all  the  sur- 
rounding pachas  ;  and  they  were  to  be 
aided,  if  necessary,  by  a  detachment 
from  Ibrahim  Pacha's  Egyptians,  after 
they  had  completed  the  conquest  of 
the  Morea.  No  attempt  was  to  be 
made  to  reduce  that  province  by  inva- 
sion from  the  land  side,  as  experience 
had  proved  that,  in  the  wasted  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  any  army  adequate 
to  the  undertaking  would  perish  from 
want  of  provisions,  or  fall  under  the 
deadly  fire  of  the  Greek  musketeers. 

120.  As  was  anticipated,  the  expedi- 
tion succeeded  in  crossing  the  sea  with- 
out opposition.  The  first  division,  con- 
veying seven  thousand  troops,  sailed 
from  Alexandria  on  the  20th,  and  ap- 
peared, to  the  amount  of  fifty  sail, 
•under  the  walls  of  Modon  on  the  24th 
February.  Ibrahim  immediately  dis- 
embarked four  thousand  foot  and  four 
hundred  horse,  which  he  encamped 
around  the  fortress,  and  the  same  day 
reconnoitred  Old  Nararino,  which  is 


only  two  leagues  distant.  He  next 
ordered  back  the  ships  to  Suda  for  re- 
inforcements, and  on  21st  March  seven 
thousand  more  landed  at  Modon,  the 
Greeks  meanwhile  not  being  in  suffi- 
cient strength  to  disturb  his  encamp- 
ment. Feeling  himself  strong  enough 
to  undertake  the  siege  of  Navarino, 
Ibrahim  took  a  position  before  it  on, 
the  21st  with  twelve  thousand  men. 
Upon  this  the  Greek  Government,  at 
last  fully  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the 
impending  danger,  appointed  Condur- 
riottis  general-in-chief  in  the  Morea, 
left  Missolonghi  to  its  own  junta,  ap- 
pointed Ghouras  to  combat  Odysseus, 
whose  fidelity  by  this  time  was  more 
than  suspected,  and  directed  one  divi- 
sion of  the  fleet  to  cruise  off  the  Dar- 
danelles to  watch  the  Capitan  Pacha, 
and  the  other  to  proceed  to  Suda  to 
watch  the  Egyptian  squadron.  Con- 
durriottis,  who  nad  Mavrocordato  with 
him,  having  collected  twelve  thousand 
men  from  all  pails  of  the  Morea,  took 
post  between  Navarino  and  Modon, 
in  order  to  intercept  the  communica- 
tions of  the  Egyptians  between  the  two 
places. 

121.  Ibrahim,  well  aware  of  the  in- 
fluence of  early  success  in  all  wars,  but 
especially  in  wars  of  opinion,  resolved 
upon  immediately  commencing  opera- 
tions. Accordingly,  on  the  19th,  ho 
attacked  the  Greeks  with  four  thou- 
sand infantry  and  five  hundred  horse, 
and  then,  for  the  first  time,  the  supe- 
riority of  the  Egyptian  arms  and  dis- 
cipline became  apparent.  The  Greeks 
were  disposed  in  a  semicircle,  with 
Kara  Tasso  on  the  right,  and  Corta 
Bozzaris  on  the  left,  and  for  some  time 
made  a  spirited  resistance.  At  length, 
however,  Ibrahim,  at  the  head  of  one 
thousand  men,  pierced  their  centre 
with  fixed  bayonets,  a  weapon  to  which, 
strange  to  say,  the  Greeks  were  hitherto 
strangers ;  while  at  the  same  time  the 
horse,  dashing  up  a  ravine  deemed  in- 
accessible, completed  their  rout.  Corta 
Bozzaris  cut  his  way  through  with  great 
difficulty ;  but  most  of  his  brave  follow- 
ers were  slain  in  rescuing  him,  and  the 
Greeks  left  six  hundred  dead  on  the 
field.  This  battle,  though  the  forces 
engaged  on  neither  side  amounted  to 


412 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHA1>.  XIV. 


five  thousand  men,  had  a  decisive  effect 
on  the  issue  of  the  campaign.  It  estab- 
lished the  superiority  of  the  Egyptian 
troops,  and  the  inability  of  the  Greeks 
to  contend  Avith  them  in  the  open  field ; 
and  by  relieving  Ibrahim  of  all  appre- 
hensions of  being  disturbed  during  the 
progress  of  the  siege  of  Navarino,  main- 
ly led  to  the  reduction  of  that  place, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Egyptian 
forces  in  a  solid  way  in  the  Morea.  At 
the  same  time  the  consternation  of  the 
Greeks  was  increased  by  the  receipt  of 
intelligence  that  Redschid  Pacha  had 
seized  the  defiles  of  Mseri-Noros,  and 
appeared  with  all  his  forces  before  Mis- 
solonghi,  which  was  already  invested. 
122.  Such  was  the  consternation 
among  the  Greeks  produced  by  these 
concurring  events,  that  Ibrahim  next 
day  attempted  to  carry  the  place  by 
escalade  ;  but  he  was  repulsed,  and 
compelled  to  commence  his  operations 
against  it  in  regular  form.  With  this 
view,  he  directed  his  attack  in  the  first 
instance  against  the  isle  of  SpJiacteria, 
immortalised  by  Thucydides  in  his  nar- 
rative of  the  Peloponnesian  war.  To- 
wards success  in  this  enterprise  it  was 
indispensable  to  acquire  a  naval  supe- 
riority, and  this  was  soon  secured  by 
the  arrival,  on  1st  May,  of  the  Egyp- 
tian fleet  of  ninety  sail,  including  ten 
frigates,  whom  Miaulis,  with  seventeen 
sloops,  in  vain  endeavoured  to  resist, 
which  disembarked  four  thousand  men, 
•with  ample  stores  and  ammunition,  to 
aid  the  besiegers.  The  Egyptian  fleet, 
fivefold  superior  in  force  to  the  Greek, 
surrounded  Sphacteria,  and  established 
a  barrier  of  fifty  sail  between  it  and 
Miaulis,  who  cruised  in  the  offing, 
watching  in  vain  for  an  opportunity  of 
sending  in  his  fireships,  or  assisting  his 
beleaguered  countrymen.  The  island 
itself  was  accessible  only  at  a  single 
point  on  the  west  side,  which  was  de- 
fended by  a  battery  of  three  guns,  man- 
ned by  two  hundred  men  under  Gene- 
ral Anagnostoras,  with  three  hundred 
Hydriote  sailors  to  work  the  cannon. 
The  little  garrison  defended  itself  for 
long  with  heroic  courage ;  but  fifty 
vessels  of  war  surrounded  it,  and  by 
landing  one  body  of  troops  after  an- 
other, at  length  succeeded  in  over- 


powering its  gallant  defenders.  They 
were  all  slain,  bravely  combating  to 
the  last :  Anagnostoras  and  Sohahini, 
the  Hydriote  commanders,  were  found 
among  the  thickest  of  the  dead.  The 
brig  of  Psamado  remained  in  the  har- 
bour of  the  island  to  bring  away  its 
captain.  The  boat  sent  for  this  pur- 
pose, however,  was  sunk  by  the  multi- 
tude which  crowded  in,  and  Psamado, 
left  on  the  shore  grievously  wounded, 
was  last  seen  with  one  hand  waving  his 
cap  to  encourage  his  crew,  with  the 
other  brandishing  his  scimitar  in  the 
face  of  his  enemies.  The  condition  of 
the  brig  itself  seemed  now  altogether 
desperate,  for  after  having  lost  half  its 
crew,  it  had  to  fight  its  way  with  only 
eighteen  guns  through  the  enemy's 
fleet  of  fifty  sail,  mounting  fifteen 
hundred  !  But  then  was  seen  what, 
in  circumstances  the  most  hopeless, 
human  heroism  can  effect.  With  con- 
summate skill  and  undaunted  courage, 
the  crew,  disdaining  all  summonses  to 
surrender,  succeeded  in  steering  their 
devious  course  through  the  forest  of 
their  enemies'  masts,  and  bore  to  Hy- 
dra, with  the  standard  of  the  Cross 
still  flying,  the  intelligence  of  a  disas- 
ter which  had  inflicted  a  greater  loss 
on  that  island  than  they  had  sustained 
in  the  four  preceding  campaigns.  What 
mainly  contributed  to  the  success  of  the 
brig  in  this  marvellous  action,  was  the 
knowledge  which  the  enemy  had  of  the 
resolution  of  the  crew  to  blow  her  up 
rather  than  be  taken,  which  deterred 
them  from  coming  to  close  quarters. 

123.  The  capture  of  Sphacteria  de- 
termined the  fate  of  Navarino  in  the 
days  of  Ibrahim,  as  it  had  done  in 
those  of  Pericles.  Ibrahim  next  di- 
rected his  efforts  against  Zanchio,  a 
castle  in  the  bay  inside  of  the  island, 
situated  on  a  sandy  tongue  of  land, 
and  garrisoned  by  nine  hundred  men. 
After  a  gallant  resistance  it  was  forced 
to  capitulate,  but  not  before  the  walls 
had  been  reduced  to  a  heap  of  loose 
stones,  and  the  terms  were  honourably 
observed  by  Ibrahim ;  but  Gregory, 
Bishop  of  Modon,  who  was  taken  pri- 
soner in  a  sally,  was  treated  with  every 
indignity,  his  beard  being  plucked  out 
by  the  roots ;  and  he  died  in  a  dungeon 


1825.] 


HISTOKY  OF  EUROPE. 


413 


some  months  afterwards.  Master  of 
this  castle  and  the  island,  Ibrahim  re- 
doubled his  efforts  against  Nco  Castron, 
or  New  Navarino,  the  garrison  of  which 
had  but  a  scanty  supply  of  provisions 
find  twenty  barrels  of  gunpowder  left. 
Having  exhausted  these,  and  seeing 
no  hopes  of  being  relieved  by  sea,  they 
were  obliged  to  capitulate,  which  they 
did  on  condition  that  they  should  be 
transported  to  Calamata,  under  pro- 
tection of  a  French  and  Austrian  ves- 
sel. Ibrahim  religiously  observed  the 
capitulation,  and  the  garrison,  which 
still  consisted  of  eleven  hundred  men, 
was  conveyed  in  safety  to  the  place 
agreed  on.  Forty-six  guns  fell  into 
Ibrahim's  hands  in  the  place.  He 
treated  the  prisoners  kindly,  and  of- 
fered them  every  inducement  to  enter 
his  service  ;  but,  to  the  honour  of  the 
Greeks  be  it  spoken,  not  one  man 
proved  unfaithful  to  his  religion  and 
his  country. 

124.  Although  the  Greek  fleet  were 
not  able  to  prevent  the  fall  of  Nava- 
rino, yet  they  performed  several  shin- 
ing exploits  in  endeavouring  to  relieve 
it,  which  presaged  in  a  manner  the 
disaster  so  terrible  to  the  Crescent  of 
which  its  bay  was  destined  to  be  the 
theatre.  On  the  evening  of  the  13th, 
Miaulis,  taking  advantage  of  a  favour- 
able wind,  glided,  with  twenty-eight 
ships,  into  the  channel  between  the 
isles  of  Cabrera  and  Sapienza  and  the 
coast,  and  approached  the  Egyptian 
fleet  lying  at  anchor  under  the  walls 
of  Modon.  Keeping  the  enemy  in 
check  with  part  of  his  squadron,  he 
launched,  with  the  aid  of  the  rest,  six 
of  his  fireships  against  the  ships  in 
the  roads.  They  proved  entirely  suc- 
cessful. One  of  them  grappled  the 
Asia,  of  fifty -four  guns;  others  fas- 
tened on  two  corvettes  and  three  brigs 
of  twenty-four  guns  each,  all  of  which, 
with  twenty  transports,  were  in  flames 
in  a  few  minutes,  and  totally  con- 
sumed. The  bum  ing  vessels,  which 
cast  a  broad  light  over  the  bay,  were 
drifted  into  the  harbour,  and  it  was 
only  by  the  utmost  exertions  that 
Ibrahim  succeeded  in  saving  the  re- 
mainder of  the  fleet,  and  all  the  stores 
ami  magazines  of  the  army  which  were 


there  deposited,  from  destruction.  As 
it  was,  the  fire  communicated  to  a  large 
magazine  of  provisions  in  the  town,, 
which  was  entirely  consumed. 

125.  Another  naval  victory  of  still 
greater  magnitude  graced  the  annals  of 
the  Greek  navy  at  this  period.  On  the 
24th  May,  the  Capitan  Pacha  put  to 
sea  from  the  Dardanelles  with  the 
Turkish  squadron,  consisting  of  a  ship 
of  the  line  of  sixty-six  guns,  two  fri- 
gates, six  corvettes,  and  fifty  brigs  and 
transports,  many  of  which  bore  the 
Austrian  colours.  As  they  had  on 
board  a  vast  quantity  of  ammunition, 
shells,  projectiles,  scaling-ladders,  and 
platforms,  it  was  supposed  their  desti- 
nation was  Hydra  or  Samos.  In  re- 
ality, however,  they  were  intended  for 
the  siege  of  Missolonghi,  on  the  vigo- 
rous prosecution  of  which  the  Divan 
were  now  intent.  Sakhtouri  no  sooner 
heard  of  the  approach  of  the  Ottoman 
fleet  than  he  set  sail  from  Hydra,  and 
came  up  with  them  as  they  were  beat- 
ing through  the  straits  between  Andros 
and  Eubcea,  and,  instantly  breaking 
their  line,  sent  the  dreaded  fireships 
among  them.  Two  of  them  grappled 
the  sixty-six  gun  ship,  and  blew  her 
up,  with  eight  hundred  men  on  board, 
the  whole  treasure  of  the  fleet,  and 
the  Capitan  Pacha's  flag.  He  himself 
narrowly  escaped,  by  getting  into  a 
smaller  vessel  a  few  minutes  before 
the  explosion  took  place.  Another 
frigate  of  thirty-four  guns  was  at  the 
same  time  burnt  by  the  fireships  on 
the  left.  Upon  this  the  Turkish  fleet 
fled  in  all  directions ;  twenty  found 
refuge  in  Carysto  and  Suda,  but  five 
Austrian  transports  were  taken,  with 
thirteen  hundred  barrels  of  powder 
and  great  military  stores ;  and  another 
corvette,  chased  by  two  Greek  brigs, 
was  run  ashore  on  the  rocks  of  Syra, 
and  burned  by  her  crew,  who  after- 
wards surrendered  to  the  unwarlike 
inhabitants  of  the  island.  So  much 
were  the  Greeks  elated  and  the  Turks 
depressed  by  these  advantages,  that 
the  former  proceeded  to  blockade  Suda, 
and  drove  the  Ottoman  fleet  of  forty 
sail  into  the  harbour,  after  burning 
a  fine  corvette  of  twenty-eight  guns. 
But  a  storm  having  dispersed  the 


414 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


Greek  fleet,  the  Capitan  Pacha  weighed 
a:ichor  on  the  23d,  and  reached  Nava- 
rino  on  the  4th  July,  where  he  disem- 
barked four  thousand  Albanians,  six 
hundred  horse,  and  twelve  hundred 
pioneers,  who  proved  of  the  utmost 
value  to  the  land  forces  in  the  Morea. 

126.  By  the  acquisition  ofNavarino, 
Ibrahim  had  secured  an  excellent  base 
of  operations  resting  on  that  place, 
Coron,  and  Modon,  and  communicat- 
ing readily  by  sea  with  his  reserves  in 
Suda  and  Alexandria.    Having  gained 
this  advantage,  his  next  move  was  to 
extend  himself  in  the  interior ;  and  for 
this  purpose  he  advanced  against  Ar- 
cadia in  two  columns.     The  first  suc- 
ceeded in  surprising  and  sacking  the 
town  of  that  name ;  but  Ibrahim's  own 
column,  which  took  the  road,  over  the 
mountains  of  Aya,  sustained  a  ruder 
encounter.     In  the  pass  of  Pedimon 
they  met   Papa  Flessa,   one   of  the 
bravest  chiefs  of  the  Morea,  who,  al- 
though deserted  by  eight  hundred  of 
liis  troops,  nobly  stood  his  ground, 
like  another  Leonidas,  at  the  head  of 
three  hundred  resolute   men.     They 
long  made  good  the  pass,  and  repulsed 
all  the  attacks  of  the  Mussulmans,  ten 
times  more  numerous ;  until  at  length 
Ibrahim,  drawing  his  scimitar,  him- 
self headed  a  general  charge  of  his 
Arabs  on  the  Greeks,  whose  ammuni- 
tion was  now  exhausted.     In  the  des- 
perate hand-to-hand  struggle  which 
ensued  with  sabres,  bayonets,  and  the 
but-ends  of  muskets,   all  the  Greeks 
•were  slain  except  two,  who,  severely 
•wounded,  passed  for  dead  among  the 
dead  bodies  of  their  countrymen.    The 
corpses  were  collected  in  a  heap  by 
the  victorious  Arabs,  who  cut  off  the 
heads  of  their  antagonists  :  on  their 
tumulus,  as  on  that  of  their  predeces- 
sors at  Thermopylae,  might  be  placed 
the  well-known  lines — 

"  Go,  stranger,  and  at  Lacedaemon  tell. 
That  here,  obedient  to  her  laws,  we  fell." 

127.  After  this  success,  the  army  of 
Ibrahim  was  mustered  to  ascertain  its 
strength,  with  a  view  to  future  opera- 
tions.   It  was  found  to  consist  of  seven 
thousand  eight  hundred  combatants, 
the  remains  of  fifteen  thousand  who 


had  landed  in  the  Morea;  to  such  a 
degree  had  sickness,  famine,  and  the 
sword  of  the  Greeks  diminished  his 
formidable  battalions.  Ibrahim,  how- 
ever, was  not  a  man  to  halt  in  the 
career  of  success;  and,  profiting  by 
the  terror  which  his  victories  had  in- 
spired, he  resolved  to  push  his  advan- 
tages to  the  utmost,  and  advance  upon 
Tripolitza.  Colocotroni,  on  his  side, 
had  collected  seven  thousand  moun- 
taineers, with  whom  he  tried  to  arrest 
the  enemy  in  the  defiles.  After  a 
vigorous  resistance,  however,  Ibrahim 
succeeded  in  turning  the  Greeks,  and 
forcing  them  to  abandon  their  posts ; 
and  the  road  to  Tripolitza  being  now 
open,  Colocotroni  sent  orders  to  the 
inhabitants  to  burn  their  houses  and 
evacuate  the  place,  which  was  accord- 
ingly done,  and  it  was  occupied  by 
the  Egyptians  without  resistance  on 
the  23d.  Having  placed  a  garrison 
there,  and  given  his  troops  a  few  hours' 
rest,  Ibrahim  continued  his  march  to- 
wards Napoli  di  Romania.  From  a 
lofty  point  of  the  road  he  caught  a 
view  of  Hydra,  and,  stretching  out  his 
hand,  exclaimed,  "Ah!  little  Eng- 
land, how  long  wilt  thou  escape  me?" 
So  rapid  was  his  march,  so  unexpected 
his  approach,  that  no  preparations  had 
been  made  in  the  capital  for  defence ; 
and  had  he  at  once  advanced  to  the 
gates,  he  would  in  all  probability  have 
made  himself  master  of  it.  Ipsilanti, 
however,  took  post  with  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men  at  the  important  position 
of  Myli  (Mills),  where  the  chief  maga- 
zines of  the  Government  were  placed, 
and  defended  it  with  such  resolution 
that  the  Arabs  were  forced  to  retire 
with  the  loss  of  four  hundred  men, 
and  Napoli  was  saved.  Ibrahim,  find- 
ing that  his  coup-de-main  on  the  ca- 
pital had  failed,  and  not  being  in 
sufficient  strength  to  attempt  its  re- 
duction in  form,  turned  aside  to  Ar- 
gos,  which  was  burned  and  abandoned 
at  his  approach. 

128.  When  Ibrahim  made  his  dash 
at  Napoli  di  Romania,  Colocotroni 
and  the  other  chiefs  of  the  Morea  as- 
sembled with  twelve  thousand  men  in 
his  rear,  with  a  view  to  cut  off  his 
communication  with  Navarino.  As 


1825.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


415 


he  was  without  magazines,  and  the 
country  was  entirely  wasted,  they 
hoped  to  reduce  him  to  the  necessity 
of  capitulating,  as  they  had  done  Dra- 
malis's  men  two  years  before.  But 
they  soon  found  they  had  a  very  dif- 
ferent enemy  to  deal  with  from  his 
confused  rabble  of  Osmanli  horsemen. 
The  Greek  generals  stood  firm  at  Tri- 
corphce,  through  which  Ibrahim  re- 
quired to  pass  in  his  retreat,  and  this 
"brought  on  a  general  action.  It  was 
long  contested  with  the  utmost  bravery 
on  both  sides ;  but  at  length  a  body 
of  horse  having  appeared  behind  Tri- 
corphae,  and  got  into  the  rear  of  the 
Corinthians,  they  took  to  flight,  and 
their  rout  drew  after  it  that  of  the 
whole  army.  Four  hundred  were  slain 
on  the  spot,  including  thirteen  chiefs 
of  note,  and  eight  hundred  made  pri- 
soners. Old  Colocotroni  himself,  after 
having  done  all  he  could  to  rally  his 
men,  with  difficulty  saved  himself  on 
a  baggage-mule.  Such  was  the  terror 
inspired  by  this  victory,  that  the  sol- 
diers of  the  Morea  never  again  ventur- 
ed to  face  the  Egyptians  in  the  open 
field ;  and  such  was  the  ascendancy 
which  they  had  acquired,  that  on  the 
morning  of  the  21st,  Ipsilanti's  corps, 
four  thousand  strong,  dispersed  at  the 
sight  of  an  Egyptian  battalion  and  a 
few  horsemen.  After  this,  the  cam- 
paign, in  a  military  point  of  view,  in 
the  Morea,  was  at  an  end,  as  the  Greek 
chiefs  never  ventured  again  to  meet 
the  enemy  in  large  bodies  ;  but  they 
occupied  the  mountains,  and  cut  off 
several  Arab  detachments  which  were 
ravaging  the  plains,  from  which  Ibra- 
him, after  burning  the  houses,  drove 
away  the  inhabitants  as  slaves  without 
mercy.  A  market  was  opened  at  Mo- 
don  for  the  sale  of  captives  of  both 
sexes,  who  were  crowded  in  dungeons, 
loaded  with  irons,  unmercifully  beaten 
by  their  guards,  and  often  murdered 
in  pure  wanton  cruelty  during  the 
night.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  severity 
with  which  they  were  treated,  that, 
in  comparison  with  it,  the  old  Turkish 
system  of  beheading  or  blowing  from 
the  mouth  of  a  gun  every  male  prison- 
er above  sixteen  years  of  age,  might 
be  considered  as  merciful. 


129.  While  these  successes  were 
shaking  the  Greek  power  in  the  Mo- 
rea, and  establishing  Ibrahim  in  a  solid 
manner  in  that  peninsula,  Redschid 
Pacha  had  commenced  his  operations 
before  Missolonghi,  and  that  memor- 
able siege  had  begun  which  has  given 
that  town  a  name  beside  Numantia 
and  Saragossa  in  the  archives  of  the 
human  race.  Redschid,  whose  man- 
ners were  as  popular  as  his  abilities 
were  distinguished,  established  him- 
self at  Janina  early  in  January,  where 
he  began  paying  assiduous  court  to  the 
Albanians,  many  of  whom  he  induced 
to  join  his  standard.  Deeming  him- 
self in  sufficient  strength  to  undertake 
the  siege,  he  suddenly  appeared  before 
Missolonghi  on  the  17th  April.  That 
town,  built  on  the  edge  of  a  marshy 
plain,  bounded  by  the  hills  of  Zygos, 
is  protected  towards  the  sea  by  shallow 
lagoons,  extending  ten  miles  along  the 
coast,  and  five  miles  broad,  and,  like 
the  lagunae  of  Venice,  navigable,  save 
in  a  few  tortuous  channels,  only  in  the 
flat-bottomed  boats  of  the  natives,  who 
derive  .abundant  wealth  from  the  pro- 
duce of  their  ample  fisheries.  The 
main  channel  to  the  south  is  com- 
manded by  the  mud-bank  and  block- 
house of  Vassalidi ;  those  to  the  north 
by  the  fortified  islets  of  Poros  and 
Anatolicon.  Under  Lord  Byron's  di- 
rection (who  unhappily  died  on  April 
19,  1824),  and  with  the  aid  of  the 
funds  his  generosity  contributed,  the 
Greeks  had  applied  themselves  dili- 
gently to  strengthening  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  place,  and  something  like 
bastions,  ravelins,  and  lunettes  had 
been  constructed  in  advance  of  the 
mud  rampart  faced  with  stone,  which, 
with  a  ditch  in  front,  constituted  the 
sole  original  protection  of  the  place. 
But  they  were  far  from  being  com- 
plete ;  for  the  entire  artillery  mounted 
on  the  fortress,  exclusive  of  those  on 
Vassalidi  and  Anatolicon,  was  only 
forty- eight  guns  and  four  howitzers. 
But  the  garrison  swelled  to  five  thou- 
sand fighting  men  by  the  influx  of  the 
armed  peasants  flying  before  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Turks,  and,  directed  by 
Nothi  Bozzaris  and  Niketas,  was  ani- 
mated by  the  best  spirit ;  and,  recol- 


416 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


leeting  with  conscious  pride  its  suc- 
cessful defence  during  the  first  siege, 
anticipated  nothing  but  triumph  from 
the  result  of  the  second. 

130.  For  ten  days  after  the  arrival 
of  the  Turks,  the  operations  on  both 
sides    consisted   of   petty   skirmishes 
only;  but  on  the  7th  May  the   first 
parallel  was  opened  at  the  distance  of 
six  hundred  paces  from  the  east  of  the 
town.     During  the  remainder  of  May 
and  June,  Redschid,  who  had  by  no 
means  the  skill  in  sieges  of  Marlbo- 
rough  or  Berwick,  continued  to  push 
his  approaches  under  an  incessant  fire 
from  the  guns  of  the  place.     On  2d 
July  the  besieged  sprang  a  mine,  and. 
sallying  out,  gained  considerable  suc- 
cess, and  took  seven  standards  ;  but  a 
week  after  their  hopes  were  cruelly 
dashed  by  the  appearance  of  the  Capitan 
Pacha  in  the  bay  with  fifty-five  sail, 
carrying  five  thousand  men,  and  great 
stores  of  siege  equipage,  which,  not- 
withstanding the  losses  he  had  sus- 
tained in  the  conflicts  in  the  Archi- 
pelago, he    had    contrived    to  bring 
through.    Animated  by  this  reinforce- 
ment, the  siege  was  prosecuted  with 
redoubled  activity ;  and  although  they 
bravely  repulsed  several  assaults,  the 
situation  of  the  garrison  was  by  the 
middle  of  July  wellnigh  desperate  from 
want  of  provisions.     Their  only  hope 
was  in  the  Hellenic  marine,  which  at 
length  made  its  appearance   on  the 
29th  under  Sakhtouri  and    Miaulis. 
Apprehensive  that  the  Greeks  would 
succeed  in  throwing  supplies  into  the 
place,  the  Turkish  commander  resolved 
on  an  immediate  assault,   which  was 
delivered  on  August  2.    For  two  hours 
and  a  half  a  terrible  fire  of  all  arms 
was  kept  up  on  the  breaches,  and   a 
mine  having  been  sprung  under  a  bat- 
tery, the  Turks  advanced  in  five  col- 
umns with  such  resolution  that  twenty 
standards  were  planted  on  the  ruins  of 
the  work.     The  Greeks,  however,  re- 
turned to  the  charge,  bayoneted  all 
the  Turks  who  had  got  in,  and  ulti- 
mately repulsed   the    assault    at    all 
points,  with  a  loss  of  fifteen  hundred 
men  to  the  besiegers. 

131.  This  success  was  followed  by 
an  advantage  still  more   important, 


[CHAP.  xiv. 

gained  next  day  at  sea.  Notwith- 
standing their  great  inferiority  of  for- 
ces, the  Greeks,  led  by  Miaulis  and 
Sakhtouri,  boldly  advanced  against 
the  Turkish  fleet ;  and  after  exchang- 
ing a  few  broadsides,  three  fireships 
made  a  dash  at  the  Capitan  Pacha. 
He  was  so  terrified  at  their  approach 
that  he  crowded  all  sail  to  escape  ;  the 
whole  fleet  followed  his  example,  and 
such  was  the  general  terror  that,  in 
passing  Zante  on  the  5th  May,  they 
hauled  their  wind  to  avoid  an  encoun- 
ter with  seven  Greek  brigs,  and  never 
ceased  their  flight  till  they  found  shel- 
ter in  the  harbour  of  Alexandria.  En- 
couraged by  this  brilliant  success,  and 
entirely  relieved  from  want  by  the 
supplies  which  the  Greek  fleet  threw 
in  on  the  following  day,  the  garrison 
concerted  a  general  attack  on  the 
Turkish  lines  with  the  commanders  of 
the  squadron.  The  Greek  launches, 
accordingly,  well  manned,  entered  the 
lagoons  by  the  Vassalidi  channel,  cap- 
tured five  Turkish  boats,  and  drove 
Jussuf  Pacha  himself  ashore.  At  the 
same  time  fifteen  hundred  chosen  men 
made  a  sally  from  the  town,  carried 
four  batteries  by  assault,  and  returned 
to  their  walls,  after  a  bloody  contest 
of  four  hours,  Avith  arms,  twelve  stan- 
dards, and  some  hundred  prisoners. 

132.  This  succession  of  adverse 
events  made  no  impression  on  the 
stern  and  resolute  soul  of  Redschid 
Pacha.  Having  failed  in  taking  the 
town  either  by  famine  or  assault,  lie 
resolved  upon  a  plan  akin  to  that  by 
winch  Alexander  reduced  Tyre  in  an- 
cient, and  Richelieu,  Rochelle  in  mo- 
dern times.  He  began  constructing  a 
vast  mound  of  earth,  which  he  pushed 
forward  from  his  lines  towards  the 
Franklin  batteiy.  It  was  soon  one 
hundred  and  sixty  yards  long  and 
twelve  broad,  and  entirely  bestrode  the 
intervening  gulf;  and  the  advanced 
end  of  it  being  higher  than  the  bat- 
tery, his  troops  commanded  it,  and,, 
firing  down,  slew  nine  Greeks.  The 
battery  thus  became  untenable,  and  the 
Turks  effected  a  lodgment  in  it,  where 
they  immediately  intrenched  them- 
selves. The  Greeks  upon  this  retrench- 
ed themselves  on  each  side  of  the  bat- 


1825.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


417 


tery,  and  for  fifteen  days  both  parties 
laboured  assiduously  in  laying  sand- 
bags, fascines,  and  gabions,  and  height- 
ening their  respective  bulwarks.  At 
length,  however,  the  Turks  solidly  es- 
tablished themselves  in  the  Franklin 
battery,  and,  sinking  three  mines, 
threatened  to  blow  up  the  inner  re- 
trenchments. The  Greeks,  seeing  that 
if  this  was  done  they  would  soon  be 
masters  of  the  place,  prepared  a  fon- 
gasse  with  three  of  their  largest  bombs 
under  the  head  of  the  sap,  which  they 
fired  on  the  31st.  The  explosion, 
which  was  very  violent,  was  the  sig- 
nal for  a  general  rush  of  the  Greeks 
into  the  battery,  which  was  as  stoutly 
defended  by  the  Turks.  At  length, 
after  a  bloody  contest,  which  lasted 
till  midnight,  and  in  the  course  of 
which  the  bastion  was  taken  and  re- 
taken seven  times,  it  finally  remained 
in  :  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  who 
not  only  regained  their  own  work,  but 
destroyed  the  entire  head  of  the  mound, 
by  which  it  had  been  so  seriously  en- 
dangered. 

133.  Though  the  losses  of  the  be- 
sieged during  the  last  month  in  these 
repeated  and  sanguinary  assaults  had 
been  very  severe,  yet  they  had  been 
nearly  made  up  by  supplies  of  men 
from  the  country,  the  communication 
•with  which  was  still  kept  open,  and, 
since  the  naval  blockade  had  been 
raised,  by  succours  thrown  in  by  sea. 
In  the  beginning  of  September  the  gar- 
rison was  still  four  thousand  strong, 
and  fourteen  thousand  rations  were 
daily  distributed  to  them  and  their 
families.  The  losses,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  the  besiegers  had  been  fully 
as  great  as  those  of  the  besieged,  and 
it  was  hard  to  say  which  stood  in  the 
most  perilous  situation,  for  the  moun- 
taineers hung  in  rear  of  the  Ottoman 
army,  and  on  the  least  reverse  their 
hostility  might  be  expected  to  be  most 
formidable.  The  Greek  journals  were 
already  raising  the  shout  of  victoiy, 
and  anticipating  the  speedy  abandon- 
ment of  the  siege  by  Redschid  Pacha, 
and  with  a  commander  of  less  resolu- 
tion and  firmness  this  would  probably 
have  been  the  case;  but  he  was  not 

YOL.  II. 


less  persevering  than  his  opponents 
— difficulties  only  the  more  strongly 
roused  his  ardent  soul.  With  incred- 
ible diligence  he  again  collected  his 
scattered  materials,  and  pushed  for- 
ward his  mole  a  second  time  towards 
the  Franklin  battery.  Again  the 
Greeks  worked  out  a  mine  under  its 
head,  which  they  loaded  with  a  fou- 
gasse,  and  exploded  when  the  Turks 
were  within  the  bastion.  The  battery, 
the  head  of  the  mole,  and  a  crowd  of 
Mohammedans  upon  it,  were  at  once 
blown  into  the  air :  a  storm  of  grape  and 
musketry  completed  the  destruction  of 
the  entire  front  of  the  column,  and  the 
remainder  took  to  flight,  leaving  twelve 
hundred  of  the  bravest  of  their  number 
slain  or  badly  wounded  on  the  mound. 
134.  Such  was  the  loss  of  Redschid 
Pacha  in  these  desperate  assaults,  that 
his  army,  by  the  end  of  October,  had 
dwindled  to  three  thousand  men,  a 
force  not  larger  than  that  of  the  be- 
sieged. Withdrawing,  therefore,  en- 
tirely his  advanced  works,  he  merely 
strengthened  his  lines  round  his  ma- 
gazines, in  order  to  maintain  his  ground 
near  the  place  till  the  return  of  spring 
enabled  the  Capitan  Pacha  to  bring 
him  reinforcements.  The  Greeks  were 
in  the  highest  spirits;  their  cruisers 
were  constantly  in  sight ;  not  an  ene- 
my's flag  was  to  be  seen ;  ample  sup- 
plies of  provisions  were  brought  in 
from  Zante  in  flat-bottomed  boats ; 
and  they  were  already  planning  a  com- 
bined attack  by  sea  and  land  on  the 
Turks,  which  the  strength  of  the  works 
erected  by  them  around  their  maga- 
zines alone  prevented  them  from  car- 
rying into  effect.  But  the  Sultan, 
irritated  rather  than  intimidated  by 
this  succession  of  disasters,  and  regard- 
ing the  fall  of  Missoloughi  as  an  event 
with  which  the  termination  of  tho 
Greek  war,  and  possibly  the  existence 
of  his  own  empire,  was  wound  up,  was 
at  the  same  time  making  the  most 
formidable  preparations  for  its  subju- 
gation. He  determined  on  a  combined 
attack  on  the  'place  with  the  whole 
forces  of  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  Barbary. 
With  this  view  the  Capitan  Pacha 
received  orders  to  put  to  sea  directly 


418 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


from  Alexandria,  with  all  the  troops 
the  Pacha  of  Egypt  could  collect, 
which  were  to  be  placed  under  the 
command  of  Ibrahim,  who  was  to 
bring  up  all  he  could  assemble  from 
the  Morea.  Eight  thousand  regular 
infantry,  eight  hundred  irregulars,  and 
twelve  hundred  cavalry,  were  embarked 
on  board  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  vessels,  of  which  seventy- 
nine  were  of  war,  including  nine  fri- 
gates, and  with  these  formidable  forces 
he  cast  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Navarino 
on  the  5th  November.  Meanwhile 
Ibrahim,  with  four  thousand  men,  pro- 
ceeding towards  Missolonghi  by  Pa- 
tras,  crossed  the  straits  from  thence, 
forced  with  heavy  loss  the  marshes  of 
the  Alpheus,  and,  fighting  all  the  way, 
often  at  great  disadvantage,  united 
his  forces  to  those  of  Redschid  in  the 
middle  of  December.  Considerable 
bodies  of  troops  now  joined  him  by 
sea.  The  Greeks  on  their  side  had 
also  received  a  reinforcement  of  fifteen 
hundred  men,  and  large  supplies  of 
provisions  and  ammunition,  which 
Miaulis  brought  up,  and  with  great 
skill  and  valour  threw  in,  despite  the 
Turkish  blockade.  This  so  raised 
their  spirits  that  they  anxiously  ex- 
pected the  general  assault  with  which 
they  were  threatened  from  the  com- 
bined forces  of  Turkey  and  Egypt, 
DOW  mustering  twenty-five  thousand 
land  troops,  besides  the  sea  forces. 

135.  During  these  prolonged  ope- 
rations the  garrison  of  Missolonghi 
had  evinced  the  most  unshaken  forti- 
tude. Between  sickness,  famine,  and 
the  sword,  they  had  buried  fifteen 
hundred  of  their  number;  the  town 
was  in  ruins,  the  walls  and  bastions 
breached  in  almost  every  quarter,  and 
the  strength  of  the  survivors  of  the  gar- 
rison exhausted  by  incessant  watching 
and  combating  for  nine  months ;  and 
in  spite  of  the  supplies  they  had  re- 
ceived, provisions  were  again  becom- 
ing scarce,  and  they  were  threatened 
with  the  horrors  of  famine  in  addition 
to  their  other  calamities.  Yet  even 
in  these  desperate  circumstances  they 
had  never  flinched  for  an  instant — 
not  a  thought  of  surrender  had  ever 
crossed  their  minds ;  the  standard  of 


the  Cross  waved  as  proudly  on  their 
ruined  ramparts  as  ever  it  had  done  in 
the  days  of  their  triumph  and  festivity. 
As  far  as  their  eyes  could  reach,  the 
sea  was  covered  with  Mussulman  pen- 
dants ;  and  the  daily  increasing  num- 
ber of  batteries  and  field-works  in  the 
plain,  studded  with  the  wreck  of  the 
siege,  gave  fearful  note  of  the  prepa- 
rations making  against  them ;  while  a 
priest,  two  women,  and  several  chil- 
dren, impaled  alive  in  front  of  the 
besiegers'  lines,  told  but  too  plainly 
the  fate  which  awaited  themselves  if 
they  fell  into  the  hands  of  their  ruthless 
enemies.  Yet  even  in  these  awful  cir- 
cumstances, and  when  threatened  with 
an  assault  from  twenty  thousand  fero-. 
cious  barbarians,  they  had  the  resolu- 
tion to  refuse  an  offer  of  capitulation, 
even  when  transmitted  by  a  British 
naval  officer,  whose  vessel  was  at  an- 
chor in  the  bay. 

136.  The  whole  of  February  and 
March  was  spent  in  a  succession  of  con- 
flicts, at  different  outworks,  between 
the  contending  parties,  in  which, 
though  success  was  various,  and  the 
besieged  always  combated  with  the 
most  heroic  courage,  the  scales  upon 
the  whole  preponderated  in  favour  of 
the  besiegers.  The  islet  of  Vassalidi 
was  first  stormed,  the  battery  of  Dolma 
next  carried,  and  at  length  the  garri- 
son of  Anatolicon,  having  exhausted 
all  their  means  of  defence,  capitulated, 
and  were  conveyed  to  Arta,  stipulating 
only  for  their  lives.  The  convent  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  a  fortified  post  half 
a  mile  to  the  south-east  of  Missolonghi, 
was  next  taken,  after  a  frightful  as- 
sault, in  which  one  thousand  Turks 
and  Arabs  fell,  and  their  dead  bodies 
floated  about  in  the  laguna?,  literally 
staining  their  waters  with  blood.  Such 
was  the  consternation  of  the  Moslems 
at  this  bloody  conquest,  that  if  the 
besieged  had  thought  fit  to  evacuate 
the  place  the  following  night  they 
would  have  encountered  no  opposition. 
But  they  were  sustained  amidst  all 
their  disasters  by  their  heroic  spirit, 
and  entertained  hopes  of  being  relieved 
by  the  Greek  fleet ;  so  they  held  by 
their  ruined  and  blood-stained  battle- 
ments. 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


419 


137.  In  this  hope,  however,  they 
•were  disappointed.     Miaulis,  with  the 
Greek  flotilla,  consisting  of  forty  sail, 
hove  in  sight,   and  by  means  of  a 
narrow  creek  concealed  "by  reeds  con- 
trived to  communicate  with  the  gar- 
rison,   from  whom   he  learned  their 
extreme  distress.   But  the  force  of  the 
Turks  was  such  as  to  exclude  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  direct  attack ;  and  he  had 
not  sufficient  small  craft  to  force  his 
passage,  now  that  Vassalidi  was  lost,  up 
to  the  town ;  he  was  forced  to  write  to 
Napoli  for  more  small  craft  to  execute 
his  project.     But  ere  he  could  do  so 
the  fate  of  Missolonghi  was  decided ; 
the  last  act  of  the  glorious  tragedy  had 
arrived.   Since  the  1st  April  no  rations 
had  been  distributed ;  the  firing  had 
driven  away  every  kind  of  fish,  and 
the  people  subsisted  on  cats,  rats,  raw 
hides,  and  sea-weed.     But  even  these 
deplorable  resources  were  ere  long  ex- 
hausted; absolute  famine  stared  the 
wretched  inhabitants,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  in  the  face;  the  earth 
was  strewed  with  the  wounded,   the 
sick,  the  famished,  and  the  dying,  for 
whom  there  was  neither  food,  nor  beds, 
nor  medicines,  nor  assistance.     Three 
•days  more,  and  not  a  living  soul  would 
remain  within  the  walls  from  absolute 
famine.     Yet  even  in  these  desperate 
circumstances  they  again  refused  to 
capitulate  on  the  same  terms  which 
Anatolicon  had  accepted,  and  deter- 
mined that  if  they  were    forced  to 
abandon  the  place  it  should  be  with 
arms  in  their  hands.      They  resolved 
on  the  desperate  attempt  to  cut  their 
way  through  the  enemy's  lines  with 
their  wives  and  children,  and  if  they 
could  not  escape,   at  least  die  with 
arms  in  their  hands,   combating  for 
their  religion,  their  country,  and  their 
hearths. 

138.  Between  the   10th  and  20th 
April  great  numbers  of  persons  in  the 
town  died  of  famine,   and  the  rapid 
diminution  of  the  miserable  means  of 
subsistence  proved  that  the  desperate 
attempt  could  no  longer  be  delayed. 
An  attempt  of  Colonel  Fabvier  to  dis- 
turb the  besiegers  in  rear,  with  fifteen 
hundred  men  from  Attica,  was  defeat- 
ed.     Miaulis  in  vain  strove  to  force 


the  maritime  blockade  with  a  third  of 
the  forces  of  his  opponents.  In  these 
circumstances  a  census  was  taken  of 
the  remaining  inhabitants,  and  it  was 
found  there  were  three  thousand  men 
capable  of  bearing  arms,  a  thousand 
unfit  to  wield  them,  and  five  thousand 
women  and  children.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  sortie  should  take  place  on  the 
night  of  the  22d,  and  be  executed  in 
the  following  manner :  The  three  thou- 
sand fighting  men,  with  all  the  conva- 
lescents, and  remaining  inhabitants, 
issuing  silently  from  the  eastern  face 
of  the  rampart,  were  to  He  prostrate 
till  they  received  a  signal  from  their 
friends  without :  they  were  then  to 
break  into  two  divisions,  each  headed 
by  fifteen  hundred  fighting  men,  who 
were  to  throw  themselves  headlong  on 
the  besiegers'  lines,  and  having  forced 
them,  endeavour  to  open  a  passage 
through  Ibrahim's  camp  for  the  non- 
combatants,  women,  and  children:  both 
were  then  to  reunite  in  a  vineyard  a 
league  and  a  half  from  Missolonghi, 
and  pursue  their  way  together  towards 
Salona. 

139.  This  extraordinary  and  heroic 
attempt  met  with  a  success  which  could 
hardly  have  been  anticipated.  The 
women  generally  put  on  male  attire, 
and  carried  pistols  and  daggers  in  their 
girdles  ;  weapons  were  given  to  suck 
of  the  boys  as  had  strength  to  use  them. 
The  gunners  were  ordered  to  spike  and 
overturn  their  guns  before  leaving  the 
ramparts.  The  hopes  of  the  besieged 
were  high,  and  their  courage  equal  to 
any  trial ;  but  the  difficulties  they  had 
to  encounter  were  much  greater  than 
had  been  anticipated,  owing  to  a  Bul- 
garian deserter  having  revealed  the 
design  to  Ibrahim,  who  made  every 
disposition  to  frustrate  it.  At  the  ap- 
pointed hour,  the  garrison,  with  their 
wives  and  children,  assembled  at  night, 
crossed  the  moat  in  silence,  and  lay 
quiet,  with  their  faces  on  the  earth,  on 
the  opposite  bank.  Presently,  how- 
ever, the  fixing  of  the  bridges  over 
the  moat,  and  the  wailing  of  the  women 
and  children  at  leaving  their  homes, 
attracted  Ibrahim's  attention  to  the 
quarter  where  the  sortie  was  to  be 
made,  and  a  violent  fire  of  grape  and 


420 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xrv. 


musketry  was  directed  against  it, 
which  killed  and  wounded  several. 
For  an  hour  they  lay  prostrate  in  the 
dark  under  this  galling  fire,  waiting 
for  a  signal  from  Karaiskaski  without, 
who  had  been  warned  of  the  project, 
and  was  to  aid  it  by  an  attack  on  the 
besiegers'  lines  -with  his  Albanians  ; 
but  none  such  was  heard,  and  at  length 
their  situation  became  intolerable,  and 
farther  suspense  impossible.  A  bright 
moon  shone  forth,  light  whispers  ran 
through  the  ranks,  and  up  they  sprang 
with  a  loud  shout,  "On,  on!  Death 
to  the  barbarians  ! "  The  onset  was 
irresistible.  Neither  ditch  nor  breast- 
v/ork,  the  fire  of  grape  and  musketry, 
nor  the  bayonets  of  the  Arabs,  could 
withstand  the  desperate  shock.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  trenches  were  passed, 
the  infantry  broken,  the  batteries  sil- 
enced, and  the  artillerymen  slaughter- 
ed at  their  guns.  A  wide  opening  was 
made  in  the  besiegers'  lines,  through 
which  the  helpless  crowd  in  rear  im- 
mediately began  to  pour  in  great  num- 
bers, and  sanguine  hopes  were  enter- 
tained that  the  passage  was  secured 
and  the  danger  over. 

140.  In  this  hope,  however,  they 
were  disappointed.  In  the  enthusiasm 
of  victory,  the  warriors,  instead  of 
dividing  into  two  columns,  as  they  had 
been  ordered,  pushed  across  the  plain 
in  one  solid  mass,  and  defeated  with 
great  slaughter  a  body  of  five  hundred 
Mohammedan  horse  who  tried  to  ob- 
struct them.  The  cavalry,  however, 
fell  on  the  unarmed  multitude  in  rear, 
and  cut  many  to  pieces.  In  the  con- 
fusion, a  cry  arose,  ' '  Back  to  the 
batteries  ! "  and  great  numbers  rushed 
in  wild  despair  again  to  the  town, 
which  they  entered  at  the  same  time 
as  the  besiegers,  who  were  now  rush- 
ing in  on  all  sides.  A  general  mas- 
sacre immediately  commenced  of  all 
who  were  found  within  the  walls  ;  and 
the  universal  consternation  was  in- 
creased at  midnight  by  the  blowing  up 
of  the  grand  powder-magazine  under 
the  bastion  of  Bozzaris,  which  was  fired 
by  the  Greeks,  and  destroyed  several 
hundred  Turks  who  had  crowded  into 
it.  Indeed,  such  was  the  desperation 
with  which  the  Greeks  fought,  that 


the  loss  of  the  Turks  in  that  awful 
night  was  fully  equal  to  their  own. 
Of  the  column  which  issued,  eigh- 
teen hundred,  including  two  hundred 
women,  forced  their  way  through 
every  obstacle,  and,  after  undergoing 
incredible  hardships,  reached  Salona 
in  safety,  where  they  were  received 
with  transports  by  the  inhabitants. 
Ibrahim  boasted  that  lie  had  collected 
three  thousand  heads,  and  sold  four 
thousand  women  and  children ;  but 
great  numbers  of  the  latter  were  pur- 
chased and  restored  to  their  families 
by  the  benevolence  of  the  Christians, 
which  was  strongly  aroused  over  all 
Europe  by  this  memorable  enterprise, 
closing,  as  it  did,  a  siege  of  immortal 
glory.* 

141.  Thus  fell  Missolonghi;  but  its 
heroic  resistance  had  not  been  made  in 

*  The  following  is  the  statement  of  the 
losses  of  the  Greeks  during  the  siege  and  sor- 
tie, by  an  eyewitness : — 
Killed  in  the  town,     .        .        .       2100 
Killed  in  the  sortie,     .        .        .         500 
Men  made  prisoners,  .        .        .         150 
Women  killed,     ....       1500 
Women  and  children  who  drowned 

themselves,  .        .        .         800 

Women  and  children  made  prison- 
ers,       ....  3400 


8450 

— Histoire  du.  Sttge  de  Missolonghi,   76,  84. 
Par  M.  AUGUSTINE  FABRE. 

The  following  letter,  happily  preserved,  was 
written  by  E.  Meyer,  a  few  days  before  the 
sortie : — 

"  The  labours  we  are  undergoing,  and  a- 
wound  in  the  shoulder,  have  hitherto  pre- 
vented my  writing  to  you.  We  are  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  feeding  on  the  most  un- 
clean animals ;  we  suffer  horribly  from  hunger 
and  thirst,  and  disease  adds  much  to  our 
calamities.  1740  of  our  comrades  are  dead : 
100,000  shot  and  shells  have  overturned  our 
bastions  and  houses ;  we  are  in  want  of  fire- 
wood, and  pinched  by  cold.  It  is  an  exhilar- 
ating spectacle  to  behold  the  devotion  of  the 
garrison  under  so  many  privations.  Yet  a 
few  days,  and  those  heroes  will  be  incorpo- 
real spirits.  In  the  name  of  Nothi  Bozzaris 
and  our  brave  soldiers,  I  declare  to  you  that 
we  have  sworn  to  defend  Missolonghi  foot  by- 
foot,  to  listen  to  no  capitulation,  and  to  bury 
ourselves  in  its  ruins.  Our  last  hour  ap- 
proaches !  History  will  do  us  justice,  and 
posterity  will  weep  our  misfortunes.  May 
the  relation  I  have  drawn  up  of  the  siege  sur- 
vive me."  The  author  of  this  letter  was  cut 
down  in  the  sortie,  and  his  wife  and  child 
taken  :  his  description  of  the  siege  was  lost. 
—GORDON,  ii.  268. 


1826.] 

vain.  It  laid  the  foundation  of  Greek 
independence  ;  for  it  preserved  that 
blessing  during  a  period  of  despond- 
ence and  doubt,  when  its  very  exist- 
ence had  come  to  be  endangered.  By 
drawing  the  whole  forces  of  the  Otto- 
man empire  upon  themselves,  its  heroic 
garrison  allowed  the  nation  to  remain 
undisturbed  iu  other  quarters,  and 
prevented  the  entire  reduction  of  the 
Morea,  which  was  threatened  during 
the  first  moments  of  consternation 
consequent  on  Ibrahim's  success.  By 
holding  out  so  long,  and  with  such  re- 
solute perseverance,  they  not  only  in- 
flicted a  loss  upon  the  enemy  greater 
than  they  themselves  experienced, 
but  superior  to  the  whole  garrison  of 
the  place  put  together.  The  west- 
ern nations  watched  the  struggle  with 
breathless  interest,  and  when  at  last  it 
terminated  in  the  daring  sally,  and  the 
cutting  through  of  the  enemy's  lines 
by  a  body  of  intrepid  men,  fighting  for 
themselves,  their  wives,  and  children, 
the  public  enthusiasm  knew  no  bounds. 
It  will  appear  immediately  that  it  was 
this  warm  sympathy  which  mainly  con- 
tributed to  the  success  of  the  Philhel- 
lenic societies  which  had  sprung  up  in 
every  country  of  Europe,  and  ulti- 
mately rendered  public  opinion  so 
strong  as  to  lead  to  the  treaty  of  July, 
the  battle  of  Navarino,  and  establish- 
ment of  Greek  independence. 

142.  The  Hellenic  cause  stood  much 
in  need  of  the  breathing-time  and  inter- 
est awakened  by  this  memorable  siege, 
for  never  since  the  commencement  of 
the  contest  had  it  been  placed  in  such 
danger  as  at  this  time.  A  feeling  of 
despondence  pervaded  all  classes,  aris- 
ing from  the  apparently  interminable 
nature  of  the  contest,  and  the  experi- 
enced inability  of  their  troops  to  with- 
stand in  the  open  field  the  disciplined 
battalions  which  Ibrahim  had  now 
brought  to  bear  upon  them.  The  male 
population  of  the  country  was  sorely 
reduced  by  six  campaigns,  which, 
however  glorious,  had  been  attended 
with  an  immense  consumption  of  hu- 
man life,  and  money  in  every  depart- 
ment was  still  more  awanting  than 
men.  Considerable  loans,  indeed,  had 
been  contracted  for  their  behoof  in 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


421 


London,  but  very  little  of  the  money 
had  reached  the  Hellenic  shores,  and 
the  collection  of  revenue  in  Greece  it- 
self had  become  wholly  impossible. 
Lord  Cochrane  had,  indeed,  been  pre- 
vailed on  by  the  Hellenic  committee, 
and  the  promise  of  £37,000  paid  down, 
and  £20, 000  more  when  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  country  was  secured,  to 
devote  his  splendid  nautical  talents  to 
their  cause  ;  but  even  his  vigour  and 
capacity  were  paralysed  by  the  ineffi- 
ciency or  cupidity  of  inferior  agents.* 
Thus  the  weight  of  the  contest  still 
fell  with  undiminished  force  on  the 
Greeks  themselves  ;  and  so  strong  and 
general,  in  consequence,  were  the  feel- 
ings of  despondency  which  prevailed, 
that  the  representatives  of  the  people 
signed  a  solemn  act,  placing  the  nation 
under  the  absolute  protection  of  Great 
Britain,  t 

143.  But  meanwhile  the  defence  of 
Missolonghi  stood  the  Greeks  in  good 
stead  during  the  anxious  period  w-nich 
preceded  and  followed  its  fall.  The 
public  voice  in  England,  France,  and 
Germany  had  become  so  strong  that  it 
could  no  longer  be  resisted ;  and  it 
met  with  a  responsive  echo  in  the 
breast  of  Mr  Canning,  whose  ardent 
mind,  always  enthusiastic  in  the  cause 
of  Greece,  was  now  still  more  strongly 
impelled  by  obvious  considerations  of 
policy.  The  memorial  of  the  Hellenic 
Government  had  requested  that  Prince 
Leopold  of  Saxe  -  Coburg  might  be 
appointed  sovereign  of  Greece.  The 
memorial  was  received  ;  and  although 
no  immediate  answer  was  returned,  it 
soon  became  evident  how  agreeable 

*  Near  £400,000  of  Greek  money  was  spent 
on  the  building  of  two  frigates,  and  in  de- 
fraying the  cost  of  Lord  Cochrane's  six 
steamboats,  which  ought  to  have  been  at 
Napoli  before  the  end  of  1825 ;  whereas  the 
first  reached  Greece  in  September  in  1826, 
the  Hellas  frigate  in  December  of  that  year, 
Lord  Cochrane  in  March  1827,  a  second 
steamer  in  September  1827,  and  a  third  and 
last  in  September  1828. — GORDON,  ii.  276. 

t  "  1.  In  virtue  of  the  present  act,  the 
Greek  nation  places  the  sacred  deposit  of  its 
liberty,  independence,  and  political  existence 
under  the  absolute  protection  of  Great  Bri- 
tain. 

"  2.  The  President  of  the  Council  shall 
immediately  execute  the  present  law.  Na- 
poli, July21  (Aug.  1),  1825."— Ann.  Hist.  viii. 
113. 


422 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


the  proposal  was  to  the  British  Gov- 
ernment In  the  beginning  of  January 
1826,  Mr  Stratford  Canning,  nominat- 
ed to  the  embassy  at  Constantinople, 
had  a  secret  interview  with  Mavrocor- 
dato  in  an  island  near  Hydra,  at  which 
terms  of  accommodation  were  agreed 
on  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties. 
These  were  an  entire  separation  of  the 
Greeks  and  Turks  in  the  revolted  dis- 
tricts, and  the  recognition  of  the  Sul- 
tan's supremacy,  on  payment  of  a  fixed 
tribute,  to  be  collected  by  the  Greeks 
themselves. 

144.  The  death  of  the  Emperor  Al- 
exander, and  accession  of  Nicholas,  in 
the  end  of  December  1825,  made  a 
great  difference  on  this  question.  Not 
only  was  a  formidable  and  persevering 
enemy  to  the  cause  of  Greek  indepen- 
dence removed  by  that  event,  but  his 
successor  upon  the  throne  might  rea- 
sonably be  presumed  to  be  actuated 
by  very  different  sentiments.  Nicholas 
was  eminently  'national  in  his  feelings 
and  ideas,  and  the  national  object  of 
Russia  for  a  century  and  a  half  has 
been  to  advance  the  Muscovite  stan- 
dards into  Turkey,  and  place  the  cross 
upon  the  dome  of  St  Sophia.  The 
public  feeling  had  been  strongly  mani- 
fested on  many  occasions  :  even  the 
restraints  of  discipline  and  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Emperor  had  been  un- 
able to  prevent  a  tumultuous  expres- 
sion of  this  feeling  at  a  great  review  of 
the  guards  in  September  1824  ;  and 
nothing  but  the  personal  weight  and 
known  opinions  of  the  old  Emperor 
had  prevented  the  public  voice  mani- 
festing itself  in  a  way  still  more  seri- 
ous and  unmistakable.  It  was  not  to 
be  supposed  that  a  new  Emperor  would 
any  longer  resist  the  national  will,  or 
that  he  would  forego  the  present  fair 
opportunity  of  realising  all  the  ancient 
projects  of  the  Cabinet  of  St  Peters- 
burg for  the  destruction  of  the  Turk- 
ish empire.  Impressed  with  these 
ideas,  the  British  Government  most 
properly  resolved  to  take  the  initiative 
in  the  transaction,  and  by  making  the 
liberation  of  Greece  the  joint  act  of 
the  maritime  powers,  to  prevent  it 
from  falling  under  the  exclusive  pro- 
tection of  one  of  their  number.  Ac- 


cordingly, while  Mr  Stratford  Canning 
was  directed  to  do  everything  possible 
to  mollify  the  Turks,  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  was  sent  to  St  Petersburg, 
professedly  to  congratulate  the  young 
Czar  upon  his  accession,  but  really  to 
arrange  the  terms  of  a  convention  for 
the  protection  of  Greece.  This  was 
accomplished  by  a  protocol,  signed  on 
4th  April  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
Prince  Lieven,  and  Count  Nesselrode, 
which  may  be  considered  as  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  Greek  independence. 

145.  By  this  deed  it  was  stipulated 
that  his  Britannic  Majesty,  in  conse- 
quence  of    an   application  from   the 
Greeks,    consented    to    interpose   his 
good  offices  to  put  an  end  to  the  con- 
test with  the  Turks  ;  and,  desiring  to 
concert  measures  with  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  it  was  agreed  that  Greece 
should  be  a  dependence  of  the  Otto- 
man empire,  paying  an  annual  tribute, 
and  governed  by  native  authorities, 
in  whose  nomination  the  Porte  was  to 
have  a  voice,  enjoying  liberty  of  con- 
science and  freedom  of  trade  ;  and  the 
two  high  contracting  parties  invited 
the  Courts  of  Vienna,  Paris,  and  Ber- 
lin to  concur  in  this  protocol,  and  in- 
terpose their  guarantee.    But  although 
Nicholas  eagerly  closed  with  this  pro- 
posal for  erecting  Greece  into  a  semi- 
independent  state,  he  declined  admit- 
ting of  any  mediation  of  the  other 
powers  in  regard  to  his  own  differences 
with  the  Porte,  which,  he  alleged  with 
reason,  Russia  was  able  to  adjust  for 
herself. 

146.  The  experienced  superiority  of 
Ibrahim's   disciplined  troops  to  the 
levies  e-n  masse  in  the  Morea,  led  to 
the  Hellenic  Government  taking  some 
steps  for  the  formation  of  a  regular 
army.     A  law  was  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature establishing  a  conscription,  and 
with  the  force  thus  obtained  Colonel 
Fabvier  succeeded  in  organising  a  body 
of  three  thousand  troops,  of  whom  five 
hundred  were  stationed  at  Napoli,  and 
two  thousand  five  hundred  at  Athens. 
With  the  latter  force  he  marched  out 
of  that  city,  in  order  to  reduce  the 
fortresses  in   the  island    of    Eubcea, 
which  still  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  Ottomans.    But  the  success  of  the 


1826.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


423 


enterprise  was  far  from  corresponding 
to  the  expectations  which  had  been 
formed  of  it.  After  being  baffled  in 
several  encounters,  Fabvier  was  ob- 
liged to  re-embark  his  troops  after  sus- 
taining a  loss  of  two  hundred  men  ; 
and  so  discouraged  were  the  remainder 
with  the  bad  success  of  the  expedition 
that  one-half  of  them  deserted.  En- 
couraged by  this  success,  the  Turkish 
commanders  invaded  Attica,  and  laid 
siege  to  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  which 
operation  lasted  a  long  time,  and  led 
to  several  expeditions  being  set  on  foot 
to  raise  the  siege,  all  of  which  failed 
of  effect. 

147.  Never  since  the  revolution  com- 
menced had  so  deep  a  gloom  hung  over 
the  nation  as  in  the  end  of  1826,  and 
the  liveliness  of  Hellenic  fancy  magni- 
fying the  danger,  it  was  expected  that 
in  a  few  days  Ibrahim  would  encamp 
under  the  walls  of  Napoli,  and  the  Ca- 
pitan Pacha  repeat  at  Hydra  the  tra- 
gedies of  Ipsara.  The  force  employed 
in  the  reduction  of  Missolonghi  had 
"been  dislocated  after  the  fall  of  that 
place;  and  Ibrahim  himself,  with  six 
thousand  men,  had  returned  to  the 
Morea,  where  no  force  existed  capable 
of  keeping  the  field  against  him.  In- 
deed, the  Greek  chiefs,  taught  by  ex- 
perience, did  not  attempt  it,  but  wisely 
took  post  in  the  denies  of  the  moun- 
tains, where  the  superiority  of  his  re- 
gular troops  would  be  less  felt,  and  in 
that  desultory  warfare  they  frequently 
gained  considerable  advantages.  The 
Government  was  in  the  most  miserable 
state ;  the  treasury  contained  only  six- 
teen piastres — about  five  shillings.  The 
public  revenue,  which  in  1825  had  been 
5,500,000  piastres  (£90,000),  sank  in 
1826  to  1,650,000  piastres,  or  £25,000. 
Some  generous  loans  received  from  the 
Philhellenes  in  western  Europe  alone 
kept  the  armaments  on  foot.  The  sail- 
ors, receiving  no  pay,  were  in  a  state 
of  open  mutiny ;  the  regular  troops  had 
nearly  all  disbanded ;  and  Colocotroni 
could  only  muster  two  thousand  men 
in  the  mountains  of  the  Morea.  The 
primates  of  Hydra  and  Spezzia  were 
taking  steps  to  send  away  their  hidden 
wealth ;  while  the  populace,  suspecting 
their  design,  kept  sullen  watch  at  the 


harbour,  declaring  that  their  own  fate 
should  be  the  fate  of  all. 

143.  In  the  beginning  of  July,  the 
fleet  of  the  Capitan  Pacha  set  sail  from 
the  Dardanelles  in  such  strength  that 
the  Greeks  had  no  force  whatever  ca- 
pable of  opposing  it.  It  embraced  two 
line -of -battle  ships  and  six  large  fri- 
gates. One  division  coasted  round  the 
Morea,  and  cast  anchor  in  the  Bay  of 
Navarino,  with  succours  of  all  kinds 
for  Ibrahim,  who  was  now  reduced  to 
the  most  miserable  state  by  the  inter- 
minable warfare.  Of  twenty-four  thou- 
sand Arabs  who  had  been  shipped  off 
from  Alexandria  within  two  years,  only 
eight  thousand  were  alive,  and  fifteen 
hundred  of  these  were  in  hospital ;  his 
magazines  were  exhausted,  his  military 
chest  empty,  and  his  Africans,  without 
pay,  were  becoming  mutinous  and  un- 
ruly. The  other  division  of  the  Otto- 
man fleet,  consisting  of  the  two  line-of- 
battle  ships  and  twenty-seven  frigates 
and  brigs,  crept  down  along  the  coast 
towards  Samos,  and  excited  the  utmost 
alarm  in  Spezzia,  the  whole  population 
of  which  took  refuge  in  Hydra,  where 
the  preparations  were  so  complete  as 
to  defy  attack.  The  Greek  fleet  hove 
in  sight,  [and  Canaris,  with  his  usual 
daring,  advanced  alone  in  his  fireship 
into  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  squadron. 
He  had  almost  grappled  a  frigate,  when, 
two  shots  striking  him  between  wind 
and  water,  his  vessel  began  to  sink; 
and  two  Turkish  launches  approaching, 
he  lighted  the  train,  and  took  to  his 
long-boat.  One  of  the  Turkish  launches 
was  burnt  by  the  fireship,  but  the  other 
overtook  Canaris,  and  although  he  ex- 
tricated himself  from  their  grasp,  it 
was  only  after  being  severely  wounded. 
On  the  llth  September,  Miaulis  hav- 
ing come  up  with  twenty  sail,  a  gene- 
ral action  ensued,  in  which  the  Greeks 
had  the  advantage ;  and  such  was  the 
terror  which  they  inspired  among  their 
opponents,  that  on  7th  October  their 
whole  fleet,  consisting  of  forty  sail,  fled 
from  fourteen  Greek  vessels;  and  in 
the  middle  of  November  the  Capitan 
Pacha  re-entered  the  Dardanelles,  and 
laid  up  his  ships  in  the  Golden  Horn. 
Justly  elated  with  this  glorious  cam- 
paign, and  with  having  a  second  time 


424 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


saved  Samos  from  destruction,  the 
Greek  fleet  returned  to  Hydra,  and 
were  received  with  the  transports  due 
to  their  important  deeds. 

149.  Meanwhile  the  Turks,  more  for- 
tunate at  land  than  sea,  were  actively 
pressing  the  siege  of  the  Acropolis,  where 
Ghouras  had  shut  himself  up  with  five 
hundred  men.  By  drawing  the  gam- 
sons  from  Negropont  and  other  places 
in  his  rear,  Kalahi  had  collected  ten 
thousand  men  for  the  siege,  with  twenty 
guns  and  six  mortars,  harnessed  in  a 
way  which  would  have  done  credit  to 
any  battering-train  in  Europe.  As  the 
slender  resources  at  the  disposal  of 
Ghouras  were  wholly  inadequate  to  re- 
sist such  formidable  forces,  the  great- 
est exertions  were  made  to  raise  the 
siege.  Karaiskaski  received  the  com- 
mand of  the  troops  destined  for  that 
end,  and  he  soon  collected  fourteen 
hundred  men,  and,  including  the  rem- 
nant of  Fabvier's  regulars,  the  whole 
force  was  about  three  thousand  five 
hundred  m  en.  On  the  1 7th  September 
a  general  action  took  place,  which  ter- 
minated to  the  advantage  of  the  Greeks ; 
and  if  Fabvier's  advice  to  inarch  direct 
upon  Athens  when  it  was  over  had  been 
taken,  the  siege  would  probably  have 
been  raised.  But  the  favourable  mo- 
ment was  allowed  to  pass  without  at- 
tempting that  decisive  movement ;  and 
two  days  after,  Redschid  Pacha  him- 
self attacked  the  Greeks.  An  obsti- 
nate and  bloody  action  took  place,  in 
which,  though  no  decisive  success  was 
gained  on  either  side,  yet  the  advan- 
tage, upon  the  whole,  was  with  the 
Turks,  as  they  kept  their  ground,  and 
the  siege  was  not  raised.  Ghouras  was 
soon  after  killed,  as  he  was  going  his 
rounds  at  night,  by  a  chance  shot  from 
the  Turkish  lines;  but  the  spirits  of 
the  besieged  were  ere  long  raised  to 
the  highest  pitch  by  the  safe  arrival  of 
four  hundred  and  fifty  Roumeliots, 
who  with  great  skill  were  thrown  into 
the  fortress.  A  supply  of  powder  was 
soon  after  introduced,  with  equal  skill 
and  daring,  by  Karaiskaski ;  and  in 
December  he  entirely  defeated  a  body 
of  fifteen  hundred  Albanians,  near  Dau- 
lis,  destroying  twelve  hundred  of  their 
number.  He  soon  after  rout  J<1  th  e  gir- 


rison  of  Lepanto — an  event  which  so 
elated  the  peasantry  that  they  flocked 
in  crowds  to  his  standard,  and  the  flag 
of  independence  once  more  waved  along 
all  the  hills  of  northern  Greece. 

150.  But  these  partial  successes  and 
disasters  determined  nothing,  except  to 
increase  the  mutual  exhaustion  of  the 
contending  parties.  The  Greeks  at  this 
period  had  twenty-eight  thousand  men 
under  arms — a  force  small  indeed,  but 
nearly  equal  to  that  of  their  opponents, 
for  Ibrahim  had  not  above  eight  thou- 
sand men  around  his  standards;  and 
such  was  the  horror  at  the  Greek  war 
which  pervaded  all  classes  of  the  Otto- 
mans, that  all  corps  marched  overland 
into  the  country  melted  away  by  deser- 
tion before  they  arrived  at  the  scene  of 
action.  The  campaign,  so  far  as  the 
land  forces  were  concerned,  depended 
entirely  on  the  siege  of  Athens,  and  ac- 
cordingly the  utmost  efforts  were  made 
by  both  parties  for  its  prosecution  or 
interruption.  For  this  purpose,  a  com- 
bined attack  was  arranged  between  Ka- 
raiskaski's  and  General  Church's  men, 
whom  Lord  Cochrane  had  disembarked 
from  his  frigate,  the  Hellas,  in  the  Pi- 
raus.  On  the  27th  April  the  convent 
of  Saint  Spiridion,  after  gallantly  brav- 
ing a  terrible  bombardment  from  the 
guns  of  the  Hellas  and  those  of  Church, 
capitulated ;  but  the  terms  were  violat- 
ed by  the  infuriated  Greeks,  who  mas- 
sacred half  the  garrison.  In  the  night 
of  the  5th  May,  General  Church  dis- 
embarked three  thousand  five  hundred 
men,  in  part  regulars ;  but  they  were 
totally  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  two 
thousand  men.  So  complete  was  the 
rout,  so  swift  the  sabres  of  the  Turks, 
that  Lord  Cochraue  owed  his  escape  to 
a  precipitate  flight,  and  had  the  utmost 
difficulty  in  regaining  his  ship  by  swim- 
ming. This  disaster  necessarily  drew 
after  it  the  surrender  of  the  Acropolis ; 
their  provisions  were  entirely  exhaust- 
ed, and  ammunition  was  becoming  ex- 
tremely scarce.  A  capitulation  was 
accordingly  agreed  to,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  General  Church ;  the  garrison 
marched  out  with  their  arms  in  their 
hands,  so  great  an  object  to  all  sol- 
diers, especially  the  Oriental,  and  the 
standard  of  Mohammed  once  more 


1327.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


425 


waved  on  the  battlements  of  the  Acro- 
polis. 

151.  But  the  time  had  now  arrived 
when  the  vengeance  of  the  Almighty 
was  to  overtake  the  oppressors,  and  the 
rry  of  an  injured  race  was  to  ascend  to 
Heaven,  and  find  mercy  at  the  Throne 
of  Grace.      For  seven  long  years  had 
the  Greeks,  now  reduced  to  half  their 
number,  contended  single-handed  with 
the  whole  force  of  the  Ottoman  empire, 
and  come  off  victorious.  If  they  had  lat- 
terly suffered  many  reverses,  and  were 
now  in  a  condition  all  but  desperate, 
it  was  not  from  their  inability  to  con- 
tend single-handed  with  the  Turks,  but 
from  the  overwhelming  weight  of  the 
Egyptians,  whose  regular  disciplined 
bands  had  interfered  with  decisive  effect 
in  the  close  of  the  struggle.    But  if  the 
Turks  had  brought  one  powerful  ally 
to  bear  upon  the  Greeks,  the  Christians 
brought  another  to  their  assistance. 
The  protocol  signed  by  Russia  and  Eng- 
land, on  the  4th  April  1826,  was  not 
allowed  to  remain  a  dead  letter.     The 
generous  heart  and  ardent  soul  of  Mr 
Canning  laboured  incessantly  to  effect 
such  an  alliance  as  should  render  it  a 
matter  of  impossibility  for  the  Ottoman 
Government  to  resist  the  terms  which 
they  might  impose.     In  this  he  was 
energetically  aided  by  the  French  Gov- 
ernment, which  justly  felt  the  necessity 
of  taking  active  steps  to  prevent  the 
great  work  of  Grecian   emancipation 
from  falling  exclusively  into  the  hands 
of  the  Russians.     The  result  was  the 
conclusion  of  the  TREATY  OF  6TH  JULY 
1827,  between  England,  France,  and 
Russia,  the  corner-stone  of  Greek  in- 
dependence, and  one  of  the  most  glo- 
rious diplomatic  acts  of  which  modern 
Europe  can  boast. 

152.  By  the  preamble  of  this  cele- 
brated treaty,  it  was  declared  that  the 
motives  which  led  the  high  contracting 
parties  to  interfere,  was  "  the  necessity 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  sanguinary 
contest,  which,  by  delivering  up  the 
Greek  provinces  and  the  isles  of  the 
Archipelago  to  the  disorders  of  an- 
archy, produces  daily  fresh  impedi- 
ments to  the  commerce  of  the  Europe- 
an states,  and  gives  occasion  to  piracy, 
which  not  only  exposes  the  subjects  of 


the  contracting  parties  to  considerable 
losses,  but  renders  necessary  burden- 
some measures  of  suppression  and  pro- 
tection." The  object  of  the  treaty  was 
declared  to  be  "the  reconciliation  of 
the  Greeks  and  Turks. "  For  this  pur- 
pose, so  soon  as  the  treaty  was  ratified, 
the  mediation  of  the  three  powers  was 
to  be  offered  to  the  Sultan,  in  a  joint 
note  signed  by  all  their  ministers  at 
Constantinople  ;  but  an  armistice  was 
to  be  absolutely  insisted  on  by  both 
parties  as  a  preliminary  to  the  opening 
of  any  negotiation.  The  terms  pro- 
posed to  the  Sultan  were,  that  he  should 
still  retain  a  nominal  sovereignty  over 
Greece,  but  receive  from  them  a  fixed 
annual  tribute,  to  be  collected  by  the 
Greek  authorities,  in  the  nomination 
of  whom  the  Sultan  was  to  have  a 
voice.  All  the  Mussulman  property 
in  Greece  was  to  be  abandoned  upon 
receiving  an  indemnity,  and  the  fort- 
resses were  to  be  given  up  to  the  Greek 
troops.  If  the  Porte  didT  not,  within,  a 
month,  declare  its  acceptance  of  these 
terms,  he  was  to  be  informed  that  the 
state  of  things  which  had  reigned  six 
years  in  Greece,  and  to  which  the  Sul- 
tan seemed  unable,  by  his  own  re- 
sources, to  put  an  end,  made  it  im- 
perative upon  them,  for  their  own 
security,  "  to  conic  to  an  approxima- 
tion with  the  Greeks,  which  was  to 
consist  in  establishing  commercial  re- 
lations with  Greece,  and  receiving  from 
them  consular  agents ;"  in  other  words, 
acknowledging  their  independence. 

153.  When  this  treaty  was  intimated 
to  the  Sultan,  he  manifested,  not  with- 
out reason,  the  utmost  astonishment 
and  indignation  at  its  contents,  and 
declared  his  fixed  determination  to  ad- 
here to  the  last  in  his  endeavours  to 
reduce  his  rebellious  subjects  to  sub- 
mission. He  replied  in  a  manifesto — 
"The  Greeks,  who  form  part  of  the 
countries  conquered  ages  ago  by  the 
Ottoman  arms,  and  who  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  have  been  tributary 
subjects  of  the  Sublime  Porte,  have, 
like  the  other  nations  that  since  the 
origin  of  Islamism  remained  faithfully 
in  submission,  always  enjoyed  perfect 
repose  and  tranquillity  under  the  aegis 
of  our  legislation.  It  is  notorious  that 


426 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


the  Greeks  have  been  treated  like  Mus- 
sulmans in  every  respect;  and  as  to 
everything  which  regards  their  pro- 
perty, the  maintenance  of  their  per- 
sonal security,  and  the  defence  of  their 
honour,  that  they  have  been,  especially 
under  the  glorious  reign  of  the  present 
sovereign,  loaded  with  benefits  far  ex- 
ceeding' those  which  their  ancestors 
enjoyed.  It  is  precisely  this  great  de- 
gree of  favour,  this  height  of  comfort 
and  tranquillity,  that  has  been  the 
cause  of  the  revolt,  excited  by  malig- 
nant men  incapable  of  appreciating 
the  value  of  such  marks  of  benevo- 
lence. Yielding  to  the  delusions  of 
heated  imaginations,  they  have  dared 
to  raise  the  standard  of  revolt,  not 
only  against  their  benefactor  and  le- 
gitimate sovereign,  but  also  against 
all  the  Mussulman  people,  by  commit- 
ting the  most  horrible  excesses,  sacri- 
ficing to  their  vengeance  defenceless 
women  and  innocent  children  with 
unexampled  ferocity. 

154.  "  The  Sublime  Porte  being  en- 
gaged in  punishing,  in  its  own  terri- 
tory, and  in  conformity  with  its  sacred 
law,  such  of  its  turbulent  subjects  as 
have  revolted,  can  never  admit  the 
right  of  any  other  power  to  interfere 
with  it.  The  Ottoman  Government 
must  consider  those  who  address  such 
proposals  to  it  as  intending  to  give 
consequence  to  a  troop  of  brigands.  A 
Greek  government  is  spoken  of,  which 
is  to  be  recognised  in  case  the  Sublime 
Porte  does  not  consent  to  some  arrange- 
ment ;  and  it  has  even  been  proposed 
to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  rebels. 
Has  not  the  Sublime  Porte  great  rea- 
son to  be  struck  with  astonishment  at 
hearing  such  language  from  friendly 
powers  ?  for  history  offers  no  example 
of  conduct  in  all  respects  so  opposite 
to  the  principles  and  duties  of  govern- 
ment. The  Sublime  Porte,  therefore, 
can  never  listen  to  such  propositions, 
which  it  will  neither  hear  nor  under- 
stand, so  long  as  the  country  inhabited 
by  Greeks  forms  part  of  the  Ottoman 
dominions ;  and  they  are  tributary  sub- 
jects of  the  Porte,  which  will  never  re- 
nounce its  rights.  If,  with  the  aid  of 
the  Almighty,  the  Sublime  Porte  re- 
sumes full  possession  of  that  country, 


it  will  then  act,  as  well  for  the  present 
as  the  future,  in  conformity  with  the 
ordinances  which  its  holy  law  prescribes 
with  respect  to  its  subjects." 

155.  It  soon  appeared,  however,  that 
the  allied  powers  were  not  to  allow  the 
treaty  of  6th  July  to  remain  a  dead  let- 
ter.   A  British  squadron,  of  four  ships 
of  the  line,  under  Admiral  SIREDWAEI> 
CODRINGTOX,  was  already  in  the  Le- 
vant, and  a  French  squadron,  of  equal 
strength,  under  Admiral  DE  KIGNY. 
So  eager  was  the  Czar  to  take  a  leading- 
pai-t  in  the  approaching  conflict,  that 
he  despatched  eight  ships  of  the  line, 
under  Admiral  Heiden,  from  the  Bal- 
tic ;  but  as  this  proportion  was  deemed 
excessive  on  the  part  of  Russia,  four  of 
them  returned  to  Cronstadt,  and  the 
remainder  only  proceeded  to  the  gene- 
ral rendezvous  in  the  jEgean  Sea. 

156.  Meanwhile  the  Porte  was  not 
remiss  in  measures  of  defence  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  preparations,  both  for 
the  reduction  of  the  Greeks  and  the 
general  defence  of  the  empire,  went  on 
with  redoubled  activity.     Heavy  can- 
non,   directed   by   European  officers, 
were  mounted  on  the  castles  of  the 
Dardanelles  and  the  Hellespont ;  the 
garrison  of  the  isle  of  Tenedos,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Straits,  was  greatly 
strengthened,  and  the  utmost  efforts 
were  made  to  increase  Ibrahim's  force 
in  the  Morea,  who  received  orders  to 
prosecute  with  the  greatest  vigour  the 
war  of  extermination  in  which  he  was 
engaged.     These  exertions  met  with 
entire  success.     The  grand  Egyptian 
fleet,  consisting  of  two  line-of-battle 
ships  of  eighty-four  guns  each,  twelve 
frigates,  four  of  which  carried  sixty- 
four  guns,   and  forty-one  transports, 
having  on  board  five  thousand  regular 
troops,  arrived  in  the  Bay  of  Navarino 
in  the  end  of  August.    Ibrahim  imme- 
diately landed  the  soldiers,  and,  thus 
reinforced,  prepared  for  the  resump- 
tion of  hostilities  on  a  great  scale  on 
shore.     The  European  admirals  were 
there  with  their  fleet,  but  as  the  Porte 
had  not,  to  their  knowledge,  declined 
the  terms  of  the  allied  powers,  no  re- 
sistance was  made  to  the  landing  of 
the  troops ;  but  it  was  intimated  to 
him  that,  if  he  attempted  to  leave  the 


1827.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


427 


Bay  of  Navarino,  he  would  be  resisted. 
Ibrahim  replied,  as  became  a  good  sol- 
dier, that  lie  would  not  be  the  first  to 
commence  hostilities ;  but  that,  if  he 
received  orders  from  his  sovereign  to 
sail  and  attack  Hydra,  he  would  at  all 
hazards  obey  his  instructions. 

157.  Meanwhile  the  ambassadors  of 
the  allied  powers,  on  the  16th  August, 
presented  a  final  note  to  the  Turk- 
ish Government.     They  intimated  the 
treaty,  and  required  the  Sultan  to  con- 
form to  it.     They  formally  offered  to 
mediate  between  him  and  his  revolted 
subjects,  and  demanded  a  categorical 
answer  within   fifteen   days  ;  adding, 
"  that  it  was  their  duty  not  to  conceal 
from  the  Reis-Effendi,  that  a  new  refu- 
sal, an  evasive  or  insufficient  answer, 
even  a  total  silence  on  the  part  of  the 
Government,  would  place   the  allied 
courts  under  the  necessity  of  recurring 
to  such  measures  as  they  should  judge 
most  efficacious  for  putting  an  end  to 
a  state  of  things  which  had  become 
incompatible  even  with  the  true  inter- 
ests of  the  Sublime  Porte,  with  the 
security  of  commerce  in  general,  and 
with  the  general  tranquillity  of  Eu- 
rope."    On  the  30th  August,  as  the 
period  allowed  for  giving  an  answer 
had    expired,    the    ambassadors    de- 
manded a  reply.     It  was  given  verb- 
ally, and  repeated,  in  the  most  decided 
terms,  the  refusal  to  admit  the  inter- 
ference of  foreign  powers  in  the  Greek 
contest,  referring  to  the  manifesto  of 
9th  June  as  containing  the  deliberate 
and  firm  determination  of  the  Porte. 
The  ambassadors  then  presented  an 
additional  note,  informing  the  Porte 
that,   in   consequence  of  its  refusal, 
their  sovereigns  would  take  the  neces- 
sary steps  to  carry  the  treaty  into  ex- 
ecution, and  enforce  a  suspension  of 
hostilities,  without  in  any  manner  in- 
terrupting the  friendly  relations  be- 
tween them  and  the  Sublime  Porte. 

158.  While  these  negotiations  were 
going  on,   Ibrahim  was  not  slow  in 
prosecuting  the  war  of  extermination 
iu  the  Morea,  which  he  had  received 
orders  from  the  Porte  to  undertake. 
On    19th    October    he    marched    a 
r;irps   of  six  thousand  men   to   Cal- 
:Hii;it;i,  and  another  of  three  thousand 


to  Arcadia,  while  he  himself,  at  the 
head  of  an  equal  force,  moved  against 
Marna.  His  footsteps  were  marked 
by  desolation.  He  issued  orders  to 
put  every  one  to  death  in  the  villages 
where  resistance  was  attempted;  and 
in  several  this  was  actually  done.  The 
whole  olive  and  fruit  trees,  the  growth 
of  centuries,  and  sole  resource  in  many 
places  of  the  inhabitants,  were  cut 
down  or  burnt.  The  women  and  chil- 
dren were  all  carried  off  to  be  sold  as 
slaves,  the  men  slain,  the  houses  burnt, 
and  continual  clouds  of  smoke  around 
the  Gulf  of  Coron  bore  frightful  testi- 
mony to  the  devastation  that  was  going 
forward.  The  miserable  survivors,  who 
escaped  the  edge  of  the  scimitar  by 
flying  to  the  mountains,  wandered 
about  half  starved,  and  in  many  in- 
stances perished  only  by  a  more  lin- 
gering and  painful  death  than  being 
put  to  the  sword,  or  blown  from  the 
mouth  of  a  cannon — the  usual  fate  of 
all  Ibrahim's  male  prisoners  above  six- 
teen years  of  age. 

159.  Informed  of  this  devastation, 
and  seeing  Ibrahim's  determination  to 
set  the  proposed  armistice  at  defiance, 
the  allied  admirals  held  a  consultation 
off  Navarino,  and  unanimously  came 
to  the  opinion  that  they  had  only  one 
of  three   courses  to  adopt — either  to 
continue  the  blockade  of  Navarino  dur- 
ing the  winter,  which  would  certainly 
be  difficult,  perhaps  impossible ;  or  to 
unite  the  squadrons  in  Navarino  itself, 
and,  by  their  presence  in  that  secure 
anchorage,  compel  the  inactivity  of  the 
Ottoman  squadron ;  or  to  enter  Nava- 
rino, and  there  renew  to  Ibrahim  pro- 
positions entering  into  the  spirit  of  the 
treaty.     This  last  mode  was  the  one 
unanimously  adopted ;  and  it  obviously 
meant,  that  they  were  to  call  on  Ibra- 
him to  desist  from  hostilities,  under 
pain  of  being  attacked  in  case  of  refusal. 
Having  adopted  this  resolution  on  the 
18th  October,  they  proceeded  to  carry 
it  into  immediate  execution,  and  thus 
brought  on  one  of  the  most  glorious 
events  in  the  annals  of  Christendom. 

160.  The  forces  of  the  Allies  consist- 
ed of  ten  ships  of  the  line,  ten  frigates 
and  a  brig,  and  a  few  smaller  vessels ; 
in  all,  twenty-six  sail,  carrying  132± 


428 


HISTORY  OF  EUEOPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


guns.  Of  these,  three  line-of-battle 
ships — viz.,  the  Asia,  of  eighty-four 
guns,  whicli  bore  Sir  Edward  Codring- 
ton's  flag,  the  Albion,  of  seventy-four 
guns,  and  the  Genoa,  seventy-four — 
•were  English ;  three  French — viz.,  the 
Sirene,  which  bore  the  flag  of  Admiral 
de  Rigny,  the  Scipio,  and  the  Breslau  ; 
and  four  Russian,  under  Admiral  Hey- 
den,  whose  flag  was  hoisted  on  board 
the  Azoff.  The  Ottoman  force  consisted 
of  seventy-nine  vessels,  of  which  four 
were  of  the  line,  nineteen  frigates,  and 
twenty-nine  corvettes,  besides  lesser 
vessels,  armed  with  2240  guns ;  so  that, 
independent  of  the  batteries  and  forts 
on  shore,  which  were  very  formidable, 
they  had  nine  hundred  guns  more  than 
the  Christians.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
however,  that,  as  the  latter  had  a 
great  advantage  in  sail  of  the  line, 
having  ten  to  four,  they  were,  upon 
the  whole,  superior  in  strength ;  and  if 
the  battle  had  been  fought  at  open  sea, 
it  probably  would  not  have  lasted  an 
hour.  But  the  advantage  arising  from 
this  superiority  of  force  was  very  much 
lost  by  the  position  of  the  enemy, 
crowded  into  the  Bay  of  Navarino,  where 
they  lay  under  the  guns  of  the  batter- 
ies in  the  form  of  a  vast  semicircle, 
having  their  broadsides  turned  towards 
the  centre  of  the  bay,  and  so  near  each 
other  as  to  resemble  rather  a  huge 
floating  battery  than  a  fleet  of  detach- 
ed vessels. 

161.  The  combined  fleet  entered  the 
"bay  at  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  20th  October.  Sir  Edward  Cod- 
rington  led  the  van  in  the  Asia,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Genoa  and  Albion ;  next 
came  Admiral  de  Rigny  in  the  Sirene, 
followed  by  the  Scipio  and  the  Bres- 
lau; Admiral  Heyden,  in  the  Azoff, 
brought  up  the  rear,  with  his  three 
other  line-of-battle  ships.  The  six 
leading  ships  passed  the  batteries  at 
the  entrance  of  the  bay,  within  pistol- 
shot,  without  opposition,  and  took  up 
their  stations  directly  opposite  to  the 
heaviest  vessels  in  the  enemy's  line ; 
the  Russians,  in  the  rear,  were  placed 
abreast  of  the  batteries ;  and  the  fri- 
gates of  the  squadron  were  directed  to 
look  after  the  enemy's  frigates  and  fire- 
ships.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  pre- 


cision with  which  the  different  vessels 
came  in,  and  took  up  their  respective 
positions.  The  Asia  passed  close  to  the 
ship  of  Moharem  Bey,  and  with  silent 
and  awful  grandeur  clewed  up  her  top- 
sails, rounded  to,  and  let  go  her  small 
bower-anchor  on  the  larboard  of  the 
Capitan  Pacha's  ship  of  equal  size. 
The  Capitan  Bey  said  to  his  colleagues 
as  they  came  in,  "The  die  is  now  cast. 
I  told  you  the  English  were  not  to  be 
trifled  with. "  Strict  orders  had  been 
given  not  to  fire ;  and  although  all  the 
ships  on  both  sides  were  cleared  for 
action,  and  every  preparation  made, 
not  a  shot  was  discharged,  until  the 
Dartmouth  sent  a  boat  to  one  of  the 
fireships,  which  was  fired  upon,  as  it 
was  supposed  they  were  coming  to 
board.  Several  men  were  wounded  by 
this  discharge,  which  immediately  in- 
duced a  defensive  fire  from  the  Dart- 
mouth, which  became  extremely  warm. 
At  the  same  time,  an  officer  bearing  a 
flag  of  truce,  sent  by  Sir  Edward  Cod- 
rington  to  the  Turkish  admiral's  ship, 
was  slain ;  and  a  cannon-shot  was  fired 
at  Admiral  de  Rigny 's  ship  from  one 
of  the  Egyptian  vessels.  This  brought 
on  a  return  from  the  Asia  and  Sireue ; 
and  immediately  the  fire  became  gen- 
eral along  the  whole  line. 

162.  With  characteristic  hardihood, 
Sir  E.  Codrington  anchored  his  vessel 
between  the  ships  of  the  Capitan  Bey, 
the  Turkish,  and  Moharem  Bey,  the 
Egyptian  admiral,  and  immediately 
began  a  tremendous  discharge,  right 
and  left,  on  his  antagonists.  The  Asia 
at  the  same  time  was  exposed  to  a  rak- 
ing fire  from  the  frigates  in  the  second 
and  third  line,  which  earned  away 
her  mizen-mast  by  the  board,  disabled 
several  of  the  guns,  and  killed  and 
wounded  numbers  of  the  crew.  De- 
spite these  disadvantages,  however, 
the  fire  of  the  Asia  was  kept  up  with 
such  vigour  and  precision  that  the  two 
admirals'  ships  were  soon  silenced,  and 
floated  away  mere  wrecks.  Meanwhile 
the  Genoa  and  Albion  took  up  their 
positions  in  the  most  beautiful  man- 
ner, and  commenced  the  action  with 
the  utmost  vigour;  while  the  French 
and  Russian  admirals,  aided  by  their 
respective  crews,  occupied  their  ground, 


1327.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


and  rivalled  the  British  seamen  in  skill 
and  daring.  The  Sirene  ran  the  great- 
est risk  of  being  burned  by  the  fire- 
ships  which  were  launched  against  her 
by  the  Egyptians;  but  she  was  saved 
by  the  able  exertions  of  Captain  Fel- 
lows of  the  Dartmouth.  By  degrees 
the  superiority  of  the  Christian  fire 
became  very  apparent;  most  of  the 
vessels  in  the  enemy's  line  were  either 
sunk,  silenced,  or  in  llames,  and  such 
of  the  crew  as  could  escape  threw  them- 
selves into  the  sea  and  made  for  the 
shore,  after  setting  fire  to  their  respec- 
tive ships.  The  Asia  was  for  long  so 
enveloped  in  smoke  that  her  flag  only 
could  be  seen  at  the  mast-head,  and 
when  a  frigate  near  her  blew  up,  it 
was  thought  she  had  exploded;  but 
in  a  few  minutes,  the  smoke  clearing 
away,  she  was  seen  still  maintaining 
the  fight  with  untiring  energy,  and 
a  general  shout  along  ,the  whole  fleet 
announced  the  joyous  discovery.  The 
battle  lasted  four  hours,  at  the  close 
of  which  time  the  whole  Ottoman 
ships  were  burnt,  sunk,  or  destroyed, 
with  the  exception  of  twenty -eight 
of  the  smallest  size,  which  were  cast 
ashore,  or,  still  afloat,  were  spared  by 
the  conquerors.  Fifty-one  vessels,  in- 
cluding the  four  line-of-battle  ships, 
nineteen  frigates,  and  twenty-nine  cor- 
vettes, were  destroyed,  with  seven 
thousand  of  their  crews.  History  has 
scarcely  preserved  the  record  of  so 
complete  a  conquest,  or  so  awful  a  de- 
vastation.* 

*  Ibrahim  Pacha's  own  account  of  the  cir- 
cumstances wliichled to  the  battle  of  Navarino 
is  substantially  the  same  as  that  given  above 
on  the  authority  of  the  allied  admirals  : — 

"  I  had  returned,  and  again  left  Navarino 
for  some  days,  when  the  English,  French,  and 
.Russian  squadrons  hove  in  sight.  A  frigate 
and  an  English  brig  entered  the  harbour 
without  showing  their  colours,  and,  after 
making  several  tacks  in  the  bay,  again  left 
it  without  hoisting  a  flag;  conduct  which  I 
can  neither  justify  nor  account  for.  On  the 
20th  the  pacha  who  commanded  in  my  ab- 
sence, observing  the  allied  fleet  bearing  down 
on  Navarino  in  nnler  of  battle,  and  with  ap- 
parently hostile  intentions,  sent  a  boat  on 
board  the  English  admiral,  and  delivered  to 
him  the  following  communication — viz.,  that 
the  pncha  would  be  sorry  to  see  so  large  an 
armament  enter  the  port  of  Navarino  during 
the  absence  of  Ibrahim ;  but  that  if  the  Allies 
had  any  occasion  to  mmmunieate  with  the 
shore,  thoy  could  do  so  with  perfect  security, 


163.  Indescribably  sublime  was  the 
scene  which  presented  itself  at  the  close 
of  the  action,  when  the  sun  declined, 
serene  and  unclouded,  over  this  theatre 
of  carnage.  The  line  of  the  Ottomans 
had  disappeared ;  a  few  floating  wrecks 
alone  were  to  be  seen  in  the  bay, 
clustered  round  their  conquerors ; 
flames  were  bursting  out  on  all  sides, 
and  the  sea  was  covered  with  frag- 
ments of  burning  vessels,  upon  some 
of  which  the  standard  of  the  Prophet 
was  still  to  be  seen,  unsubdued  even 
in  ruin.  Calamitous  beyond  measure 
to  the  vanquished,  the  victory  was  by 
no  means  bloodless  to  the  conquerors, 
for  the  Mussulmans  fought  with  their 
wonted  valour,  and  neither  asked  nor 
accepted  quarter.  The  loss  on  the  part 
of  the  Allies  was  severest  in  the  Brit- 
ish squadron — a  sure  proof  upon  whom 
the  weight  of  the  contest  had  fallen,  and 
with  whom  its  principal  honour  should 
rest:  it  amounted  to  75  killed,  and 
197  wounded ;  the  French  to  43  killed, 
and  117  wounded.  The  Russian  loss 
is  unknown — a  certain  sign  it  was  not 
great.  Sixteen  of  the  killed  and  26 
of  the  wounded  were  in  the  Asia  alone ; 
among  the  former  was  a  son  of  the  ad- 
miral. She  had  28  shot  in  her  main- 
mast. The  Asia,  Albion,  and  Genoa, 
were  so  much  damaged  in  the  fight 
that  they  were  sent  home  by  Sir  E. 
Codrington,  after  having  been  so  far 
repaired  at  Malta  as  to  be  able  to  bear 
the  voyage.  Captain  Bathurst,  of  the 
Genoa,  nobly  fell  at  the  commence- 
and  that  part  or  parts  of  each  squadron  could 
enter  without  endangering  the  peace.  I  ap- 
peal to  you,  sir— do  you  observe  anything 
calculated  to  give  offence  in  a  similar  re- 
quest? Was  it  not  natural  for  the  com- 
mander to  object  to  the  presence  of  so 
powerful  a  force,  and  protest  against  its  en- 
tering the  port,  especially  as  that  force  was 
four  or  five  times  superior  to  the  Turkish, 
and  likely  by  its  warlike  presence  to  provoke 
hostilities?  The  English  admiral  sent  back 
the  boat  with  the  insulting  answer,  that  he 
came  to  give  orders,  and  not  to  receive  ad- 
vice ;  while  the  combined  fleet  continued  to 
bear  down  on  Navarino  in  line  of  battle.  At 
two  o'clock  P.M.  the  three  squadrons  entered 
the  harbour,  and  immediately  took  up  their 
berths  within  pistol-shot  of  the  Turkish  fleet. 
In  the  meanwhile  a  frigate  detached  itself 
from  the  fleet,  and  anchored  athwart  two 
lireships  which  were  moored  at  the  mouth  of 
the  harbour :  the  French  and  Russian  squad- 
rons followed  the  English  admiral,  and  imi- 


430 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


ment  of  the  action.  Sir  E.  Codring- 
ton  was  on  the  poop  the  whole  time ; 
his  clothes  were  in  several  places  per- 
forated by  balls ;  it  was  almost  a  mir- 
acle how  he  escaped  unhurt. 

164.  Ibrahim  was  absent  on  an  ex- 
cursion towards  Ryogos  at  the  time 
this  disaster  was  incurred ;  but  he  ar- 
rived at  Neocastron  on  the  21st,  in 
time  to  see  the  shattered  and  smoking 
fragments  of  his  navy.  As  soon  as  the 
battle  had  ceased,  the  correspondence 
with  the  admirals  was  renewed :  it 
was  agreed  there  should  be  no  further 
hostilities ;  and  indeed  they  were  not 
to  be  apprehended,  for  the  Ottomans 
had  no  longer  the  means  of  carrying 
on  the  contest.  Seeing  at  once  that 
all  his  visions  of  Grecian  conquest  were 
at  an  end,  Ibrahim  wisely  applied 
himself  to  securing  the  means  of  exit 
from  a  country,  the  warfare  in  which 
had  proved  so  disastrous  to  his  house. 
He  set  about  repairing  such  of  his 
transports  as  had  escaped  the  confla- 
gration, and  in  the  beginning  of  De- 
cember he  took  the  first  step  towards 
the  evacuation  of  the  country,  by 
despatching  his  harem,  and  five  thou- 
sand sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  who 
arrived  safe  in  the  harbour  of  Alex- 
andria in  a  few  days.  They  were  much 
required  in  Egypt,  for  a  fresh  war  had 
broken  out  there  with  the  "Wahabites, 
which  severely  taxed  the  resources  of 
the  country,  already  strained  to  the 
uttermost  by  the  Grecian  contest. 

tated  his  manoeuvres.  The  Turkish  admiral 
sent  a  boat  a  second  time  on  board  the  Eng- 
lish flag-ship,  to  demand  some  explanation 
of  these  hostile  proceedings;  but  the  mes- 
senger was  driven  back  in  a  manner  equally 
insulting  and  unjustifiable,  while  the  frigate 
above  mentioned  sent  her  boats  to  seize  on 
the  fireships  athwart  which  she  had  taken  up 
her  berth.  At  this  moment  a  discharge  of 
musketry  took  place,  which  proved  to  be  the 
signal  for  a  general  action— an  action  which 
•was  only  terminated  by  the  approach  of 
night  anil  the  utter  destruction  of  our  squad- 
ron. The  Turkish  squadron  was  composed 
of  three  line-of-battle  ships,  fifteen  frigates, 
and  several  transports,  and  was  not  prepared 
for  action;  while  the  fleet  which  it  had  to 
contend  with  consisted  of  ten  line-of-battle 
ships,  besides  a  number  of  frigates  and  cor- 
vettes. This  being  the  case,  do  the  three 
admirals  really  think  that  they  have  reaped  a 
rich  harvest  of  glory,  by  crashing  with  their 
superior  forces  an  opponent  who  neither  ex- 


165.  Great  apprehensions  were  en- 
tertained that  when  the  intelligence 
of  the  disaster  at  Navarino  was  heard 
at  Constantinople,  the  rage  of  the  Sul- 
tan would  burst  forth  in  the  most 
dangerous  manner  upon  the  European 
residents,  and  even  the  representatives 
of  the  allied  powers.  It  proved  other- 
wise, however,  and  the  crisis  passed 
over  with  less  violence  than  could  have 
been  expected.  The  firm  attitude  of 
the  Divan,  however,  was  not  in  the 
least  shaken  by  the  news  of  the  mis- 
fortune ;  and  the  allied  ministers  hav- 
ing pressed  for  an  answer  to  their  note 
of  16th  August,  which  had  never  yet 
received  one,  the  Sultan  replied  by  the 
Reis-Effendi,  "My positive,  absolute, 
definitive,  unchangeable,  eternal  an- 
swer is,  that  the  Sublime  Porte  does 
not  accept  any  proposition  regarding 
the  Greeks,  and  will  persist  in  its  own 
will  regarding  them  even  to  the  day  of 
the  last  judgment. "  The  Divan  even 
went  so  far  as  to  demand,  as  their  final 
terms,  after  the  catastrophe  of  Nava- 
rino, that  they  should  receive  a  com- 
pensation for  the  destruction  of  their 
fleet,  and  satisfaction  for  the  insult 
offered  to  them  by  the  attack  made 
upon  it,  and  that  the  Allies  should 
abstain  from  all  interference  in  the 
affairs  of  Greece.  To  these  demands 
the  allied  ambassadors  returned  for 
answer,  that  the  treaty  of  6th  July 
obliged  them  to  defend  Greece ;  that 
the  Turks  had  no  claim  for  reparation 

pectednor  had  given  cause  for  such  an  attack, 
and  who  was  not  prepared  for  action,  nor  had 
taken  the  precautions  of  defence?  But  to  re- 
turn to  the  subject,  and  state  who  began  the 
action,  and  who  has  the  blame  or  merit  of 
having  fired  the  first  shot.  On  this  point 
each  party  is  anxious  to  exculpate  itself. 
What,  however,  is  positively  known  on  the 
subject  is.  that  the  English  frigate,  without 
reason  or  provocation,  endeavoured  to  take 
possession  of  some  fireships,  and  that  the 
just  resistance  made  by  the  fireships  caused 
the  first  shot  to  be  fired.  To  conclude,  sir — 
being  conscious  of  having  given  no  offence, 
I  avow  that  I  am  still  ignorant  of  the  motive 
which  gave  occasion  for  this  unaccountable 
conduct.  The  high  powers  profess  a  wish  to 
prevent  the  further  effusion  of  blooil  in  the 
Levant,  while,  behold!  their  admirals  crim- 
son the  waters  of  Xavarino  with  blood,  and 
cover  the  entire  bay  with  floating  corpses." — 
IBRAHIM'S  Despatch,  October  2u,  1827;  Dublin 
llevicw,  April  1S3T. 


1827.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


431 


on  account  of  Xavarino,  as  they  be- 
gan the  battle ;  and  that  the  Porte  had 
still  less  reason  to  complain,  as  it  had 
been  warned  that  snch  an  event  would 
probably  follow  the  rejection  of  the 
terms  proposed  by  the  allied  powers. 
Accommodation  was  now  obviously 
hopeless ;  the  ambassadors  left  Con- 
stantinople on  December  8th,  and  soon 
after  Count  Capo  d'Istria,  who  had 
been  elected  President  of  Greece,  took 
possession  of  his  new  dominions,  and 
issued  a  proclamation,  declaring  the 
Ottoman  yoke  for  ever  broken,  and  the 
independence  of  Greece  established. 

166.  No  words  can  convey  an  idea 
of  the  transports  of  joy  which  pervaded 
entire  Greece  when  the  intelligence  of 
the  battle  of  Navarino  was  received. 
Fast  as  the  naming  beacon  which  con- 
veyed the  news  of  the  fall  of  Troy  to 
Argos,  the  joyous  tidings  were  trans- 
mitted from  mountain  to  mountain, 
from  crag  to  crag,  from  isle  to  isle,  and 
one  throb  of  exultation  and  thankful- 
ness was  felt  in  every  bosom.     Never 
since  the  defeat  of  Hasdrubal  by  the 
consul  Nero,  on  the  banks  of  the  Me- 
taurus,  had  such  a  sensation  pervaded 
the  heart  of  a  nation.     Every  one  felt 
as  if  he  himself  were  delivered  from 
captivity  or  death.     The  terrible  con- 
test of  seven  years'  duration,    upon 
which  their  lives,  those  of  their  fami- 
lies,   and    their  property,   had  been 
staked,  was  brought  to  a  close.     Chris- 
tendom had  come  to  the  rescue ;  again, 
as  in  the  days  of  the  Crusades,  the 
Cross  had  been  triumphant  over  the 
Crescent.      True,   their  numbers  had 
been  halved  during  the  struggle,  their 
wives  and  daughters  sold  as  slaves, 
their  houses  burned,  their  fields  wasted 
— what  then  ?    These  evils  had  ceased : 
their  sons  would  now  be  secure  from 
the  Turkish  scimitar,  their  daughters 
from  the  Turkish  harems ;   industry 
would  revive,  property  be  rendered  se- 
cure, and  freedom,  spreading  its  bless- 
ings over  their  hills  and  valleys,  would 
restore  the  days  of  their  ancient  glory. 

167.  Equally  great  was  the  sensa- 
tion produced  by  this  memorable  event 
over  entire  Christendom.     Never,  save 
by  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  in  1199  by 
the  crusading  warriors  under  Godfrey 


of  Bouillon,  had  so  unanimous  a  feel- 
ing of  exultation  pervaded  the  Chris- 
tian world :  it  exceeded  that  felt  at 
the  battle  of  Lepanto,  gained  by  Don 
John  of  Austria;  for  that  triumph 
only  averted  a  remote  danger  from 
Europe  generally,  but  this  rescued  one 
of  its  most  interesting  peoples  from 
the  jaws  of  instant  destruction.  Opin- 
ions in  England  were  somewhat  di- 
vided, from  the  obvious  increase  which 
it  gave  to  the  preponderance  of  Russia 
in  the  East ;  but  on  the  Continent  the 
rejoicing  was  universal.  Slow,  but 
certain,  had  been  the  march  of  Divine 
justice;  the  final  blow  was  not  struck 
till  many  opportunities  of  repentance 
had  been  neglected,  and  many  occa- 
sions of  restitution  thrown  away :  but 
when  it  was  delivered,  the  balance 
was  at  once  righted ;  an  entire  people 
rose  from  the  grave ;  the  blood  of 
Chios  was  avenged  by  the  flames  of 
Navarino.  No  further  resistance  was 
practicable ;  the  fleets  of  Asia  had  been 
sunk  in  the  deep,  and  its  armies  had 
wasted  away  in  the  struggle ;  a  single 
day  had  secured  the  independence  of 
Greece,  and  restored  her  to  her  place 
in  the  European  family.  Such  a  result 
was  felt  by  every  generous  bosom  to  be 
the  fit  subject  of  exultation.  In  vain 
did  political  considerations  intervene ; 
in  vain  did  the  caution  of  statesmen 
stigmatise  this  glorious  achievement 
as  "  an  untoward  event."  The  chill- 
ing phrase,  the  unworthy  sentiment, 
was  drowned  in  the  universal  shout 
of  Christendom.  A  voice  superior  to 
worldly  wisdom  made  itself  heard  ;  a 
feeling  deeper  than  the  desire  for  na- 
tional advantage  was  generally  expe- 
rienced. The  cause  of  religion  and 
humanity  was  felt  to  have  been  at 
stake,  and  men  were  thankful  that, 
after  so  many  alliances  had  beeir 
formed  for  the  purposes  of  ambition 
and  national  rivalry,  one  at  last  had 
been  found,  where  nations  were  banded 
together  in  defence  of  the  oppressed, 
and  the  sword  of  Christendom  had 
been  drawn  to  rescue  one  of  its  fami- 
lies from  destruction. 

168.  Much  discussion  took  place  at 
the  time,  as  to  which  of  the  contend- 
ing parties  was  the  aggressor  at  Nava- 


432 


HISTORY  C?  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


rino,  and,  ao  usual  in  such  cases,  con- 
tradictory accounts  appeared  as  to 
which  of  the  parties  fired  the  first 
shot.  Such  special  pleading  is  un- 
worthy of  the  cause  in  which  Europe 
was  engaged  on  that  occasion.  The 
Allies  undoubtedly  were  the  aggressors 
in  the  battle;  the  sailing  in  a  hostile 
guise  into  the  bay  was,  as  Lord  Eldon 
justly  remarked,  a  hostile  act,  which 
authorised  the  Ottomans  to  repel  them 
by  force.  But  as  clearly  as  the  Allies 
were  the  aggressors  in  the  action,  were 
the  Turks  the  aggressors  in  the  war; 
for  they  refused  to  accede  to  the  terms 
of  pacification  proposed  to  them  by  the 
Allies  for  the  settlement  of  the  Greek 
question,  and  had  made  up  their  minds 
to  brave  the  united  hostility  of  Christ- 
endom rather  than  suspend  the  war  of 
extermination  Ibrahim  was  waging  in 
the  Morea.  It  is  true,  that  war  was  one 
waged  against  their  own  revolted  sub- 
jects ;  it  is  true  that  no  stranger  has  a 
right,  in  the  general  case,  to  interfere 
in  such  a  contest ;  and  it  is  not  less 
true  that  such  interference  came  with 
a  peculiarly  bad  grace  from  the  Allies 
at  that  time,  seeing  they  had  recently 
interfered  with  decisive  effect  in  Spain 
and  Italy,  not  to  support,  but  to  put 
down  revolutions.  But  that  conside- 
ration only  brings  out  the  more  clearly 
the  justice  of  their  interference  the 
other  way  in  the  present  instance,  and 
the  vital  distinction  between  the  con- 
test closed  by  the  flames  of  Navarino, 
and  that  terminated  by  the  capitula- 
tion of  Cadiz. 

169.  Though  unfortunately  confound- 
ed with  them  by  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der, the  Greek  war  was,  both  in  prin- 
ciple and  object,  essentially  different 
from  the  revolutions  of  Riego  or  Pepe. 
It  was  not  a  social,  but  a  national  con- 
test ;  it  was  not  a  war  of  principles 
or  privileges,  but  of  religion  and  race. 
The  statesmen  of  Western  Europe, 
whose  vision  was  blinded  on  both  sides 
by  the  social  convulsions  so  strongly 
raging  among  themselves  at  the  time, 
mistook  the  signs  of  the  times  in  the 
Eastern  world  ;  they  thought  they  saw 
the  marks  of  revolution  in  Peloponne- 
sus, when,  in  fact,  it  was  the  contest, 
as  old  as  the  Trojan  Avar,  of  Europe 


against  Asia,  which  was  then  raging  ; 
it  was  the  spirit  of  Richard  against 
Saladin  which  had  really  been  elicited. 
The  conduct  of  the  Turks  throughout 
the  whole  of  this  contest  had  been  so 
atrocious  ;  their  cruelty,  their  mas- 
sacres, their  bloodthirstiness,  had  been 
so  infamous,  that  they  had  cast  them- 
selves out  of  the  pale  of  civilisation  : 
like  Robespierre,  they  had  been  de- 
clared, and  rightly  so,  hors  la  lot  by 
the  human  race.  Beyond  all  ques- 
tion, non  -  interference  is  the  rule, 
and  interference  the  exception ;  but 
there  are  cases,  as  in  the  instances  of 
the  French  and  Spanish  revolutions, 
where  a  different  principle  must  be 
established,  when  the  interests  of 
humanity  require  interference  with  a 
nation  abusing  the  right  of  the  strong- 
est within  itself,  as  of  a  man  threaten- 
ing with  death  his  wife  or  children. 
And  if  ever  there  was  a  nation  which 
had  brought  itself  within  the  exception, 
it  was  that  which  had  perpetrated  the 
massacre  of  Chios,  and  was  yet  reeking 
with  the  slaughter  of  Missolonghi. 

170.  In  truth,  so  far  from  the  treaty 
of  6th  July  1827  having  been  an  un- 
justifiable interference  with  the  rights 
of  the  Ottoman  Government  as  an 
independent  power,  it  was  just  the 
reverse  ;  and  the  only  thing  to  be  re- 
gretted is,  that  the  Christian  powers, 
did  not  interfere  earlier  in  the  contest, 
and  with  far  more  extensive  views,  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Greek  empire. 
After  the  massacre  of  Chios,  the  Turks 
had  thrown  themselves  out  of  the  pale 
of  civilisation ;  they  had  proved  them- 
selves to  be  pirates,  enemies  of  the 
human  race,  and  no  longer  entitled  to 
toleration  from  the  European  family. 
Expulsion  from  Europe  was  the  natu- 
ral and  legitimate  consequence  of  their 
flagrant  violation  of  its  usages  in  war. 
Had  this  been  done  in  1822 — had  thc 
Congress  of  Verona  acceded  to  the 
prayers  of  the  Greeks,  and  restored 
the  Christian  empire  of  the  East  under 
the  guarantee  of  the  allied  powers — 
what  an  ocean  of  blood  would  have 
been  dried  up,  what  boundless  misery 
prevented,  what  prospects  of  felicity 
to  the  human  race  opened  !  A  Chris- 
tian monarchy  of  10,000,000  of  souls, 


1827.] 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


433 


with  Constantinople  for  its  capital, 
would  ere  this  have  added  a  half  to  its 
population,  wealth,  and  all  the  ele- 
ments of  national  strength.  The  ra- 
pid growth,  since  the  Crescent  was 
expelled  from  their  territories,  of  Ser- 
via,  Greece,  the  isles  of  the  Archipel- 
ago, Wallachia  and  Moldavia,  and  of 
the  Christian  inhabitants  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  proves  what  might 
have  been  expected  had  all  Turkey  in 
Europe  been  messed  by  a  similar  liber- 
ation. The  fairest  portion  of  Europe 
would  have  been  restored  to  the  rule 
of  religion,  liberty,  and  civilisation, 
and  a  barrier  erected  by  European  free- 
dom against  Asiatic  despotism  in  the 
regions  where  it  was  first  successfully 
combated. 

171.  What  is  the  grand  difficulty 
that  now  surrounds  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion, which  has  rendered  it  all  but  insol- 
uble even  to  the  most  far-seeing  states- 
men, and  has  compelled  the  Western 
powers,  for  their  own  sake,  to  ally  them- 
selves with  a  state  which  they  would 
all  gladly,  were  it  practicable  with- 
out general  danger,  see  expelled  from 
Europe  ?  Is  it  not  that  the  Ottoman 
empire  is  the  only  barrier  which  exists 
against  the  encroachments  of  Russia, 
and  that  if  it  is  destroyed  the  indepen- 
dence of  every  European  state  is  endan- 
gered by  the  extension  of  the  Muscovite 
power  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean ?  All  see  the  necessity  of  this 
barrier,  yet  all  are  sensible  of  its  weak- 
ness, and  feel  that  it  is  one  which  is 
daily  becoming  more  feeble,  and  must 
in  the  progress  of  time  be  swept  away. 
This  difficulty  is  entirely  of  our  own 
creation ;  it  might  have  been  obviated, 
and  a  firm  bulwark  erected  in  the  East, 
against  which  all  the  surges  of  Musco- 
vite ambition  would  have  beat  in  vain. 
Had  the  dictates  of  humanity,  justice, 
and  policy  been  listened  to  in  1822, 
and  a  Christian  monarchy  been  erected 
m  European  Turkey,  under  the  guaran- 
tee of  Austria,  France,  and  England,  the 
whole  difficulties  of  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion would  have  been  obviated,  and 
European  independence  would  have 
found  an  additional  security  in  the  very 
quarter  where  it  is  now  most  seriously 

VOL.  II. 


menaced.  Instead  of  the  living  being 
allied  to  the  dead,  they  would  have 
been  linked  to  the  living ;  and  a  barrier 
against  Eastern  conquest  erected  on 
the  shores  of  the  Hellespont,  not  with 
the  worn-out  materials  of  Moham- 
medan despotism,  but  with  the  rising 
energy  of  Christian  civilisation. 

172.  But  modern  Turkey,  it  is  said, 
is  divided  by  race,  religion,  and  situa- 
tion ;  three-fourths  of  it  are  Christian, 
one-fourth  Mohammedan ;  there  are  six 
millions  of  Sclavonians,  four  millions 
of  Bulgarians,  two  millions  and  a  half 
of  Turks,   and   only   one  million  of 
Greeks ; — how  can  a  united  and  power- 
ful empire  be  formed  of  such  materials  ? 
Most  true  :   and  in  what  state  was 
Greece  anterior  to  the  Persian  invasion ; 
Italy. before  the  Punic  wars;  England 
during  the  Heptarchy;   Spain  in  the 
time  of  the  Moors ;  France  during  its 
civil  wars  ?    Has  the  existence  of  such 
apparently  fatal  elements  of  division 
prevented  these  countries  from  becom- 
ing the  most  renowned,  the  most  power- 
ful, the  most  prosperous  communities 
upon  earth?  In  truth,  diversity  of  race, 
so  far  from  being  an  element  of  weak- 
ness, is,  when  duly  coerced,  the  most 

nlific  source  of  strength  :  it  is  to  the 
y  politic  what  the  intermixture  of 
soils  is  to  the  richness  of  the  earth. 
It  is  the  meagreness  of  unmingled  race 
which  is  the  real  source  of  weakness ; 
for  it  leaves  hereditary  maladies  un- 
changed, hereditary  defects  unsupplied. 
Witness  the  unchanging  ferocity  in 
every  age  of  the  Ishmaente,  the  irre- 
mediable indolence  of  the  Irish,  the 
incurable  arrogance  of  the  Turk ;  while 
the  mingled  blood  of  the  Briton,  the 
Roman,  the  Saxon,  the  Dane,  and  the 
Norman,  has  produced  the  race  to 
which  is  destined  the  sceptre  of  half 
the  globe. 

173.  Such  was  the  resurrection  of 
Gi-eece ;  thus  did  old  Hellas  rise  from 
the  grave  of  nations.    Scorched  by  fire, 
riddled  by  shot,  baptised  in  blood,  she 
emerged  victorious  from  the  contest: 
she  achieved  her  independence  because 
she  proved  herself  worthy  of  it :  she 
was  trained  to  manhood  in  the  only 
school  of  real  improvement  —the  school 

2  E 


434 


HISTORY  OF  EUROPE. 


[CHAP.  xiv. 


of  suffering.  Twenty-five  years  have 
elapsed  since  her  independence  was 
sealed  by  the  battle  of  Navarino,  and 
already  many  of  the  hopes  of  her  friends 
have  been  realised.  Her  capital,  Athens, 
now  contains  thirty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants— quadruple  what  it  did  when  the 
contest  terminated;  its  commerce  has 
doubled,  and  all  the  signs  of  advancing 
prosperity  are  to  be  seen  on  the  land. 
The  inhabitants  have  increased  fifty 
per  cent;  they  are  now  above  seven 
hundred  thousand ;  but  the  fatal  chasms 
produced  by  the  war,  especially  in  the 
male  population,  are  still  in  a  great 
measure  unsupplied,  and  vast  tracts  of 
fertile  land,  spread  with  the  bones  of 
its  defenders,  await  in  every  part  of  the 
country  the  robust  arm  of  industry  for 
their  cultivation.  The  Greeks,  indeed, 
have  not  all  the  virtues  of  freemen  ; 
perhaps  they  are  never  destined  to  ex- 
hibit them.  Like  the  Muscovites,  and 
from  the  same  cause,  they  are  often 
cunning,  fraudulent,  deceitful :  slaves 
always  are  such;  and  a  nation  is  not 
crushed  by  a  thousand  years  of  Byzan- 
tine despotism,  and  four  hundred  of 


Mohammedan  oppression,  without  hav- 
ing some  of  the  features  of  the  servib 
character  impressed  upon  it.  But  they 
exhibit  also  the  cheering  symptoms  of 
social  improvement ;  they  have  shown 
that  they  still  possess  the  qualities  to 
which  their  ancestors'  greatness  was 
owing.  They  are  lively,  ardent,  and 
persevering,  passionately  desirous  of 
knowledge,  and  indefatigable  in  the 
pursuit  of  it.  The  whole  life  which  yet 
animates  the  Ottoman  empire  is  owing 
to  their  intelligence  and  activity.  The 
stagnation  of  despotism  is  unknown 
among  them ;  if  the  union  of  civilisa- 
tion is  unhappily  equally  unknown, 
that  is  a  virtue  of  the  manhood,  and 
not  to  be  looked  for  in  the  infancy  of 
nations.  The  consciousness  of  defi- 
ciencies is  the  first  step  to  their  re- 
moval ;  the  pride  of  barbarism,  the 
self-sufficiency  of  ignorance,  is  the  real 
bar  to  improvement ;  and  a  nation 
which  is  capable  of  making  the  ef- 
forts for  improvement  which  the 
Greeks  are  doing,  if  not  in  possession 
of  political  greatness,  is  on  the  road 
to  it. 


END  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


PRINTED   BY   WILLIAM   BLACKWOOD   AND  SONS,    EDINBURGH. 


D  Alison,    (Sir)    Archibald,   bar 

359  History  of  Europe 


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