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OUTLINES
UNIVERSAL HISTORY,
FBOM THE
CREATION OF THE WORLD
THE PRESENT TIME.
TBAH8LATED FROM THE OEBMAIT OF
Dr. GEORGE WEBER,
FBOFMSOR AXD DISBOTOR OF THB HIGH SCHOOL OF HBIDBLBBIO^
BT
Dr. M. BEHR,
PBOFBMOR OF OBRMAIT LITBBATURB IB WX^^gSfSYkfl COLLBOB.
* • * * • A * * *
•*- vV '/.::
/;V ;;-//-/
WITH
THE A©Ili5S0N;-**'
OF
•' ••••/:*/:•/;.••,.•
A fflSTORY OP THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA,
BT
FRANCIS BOWEN, A.M.,
AltFOBO PEOFB880& OF N^TUBAL KBLZGIOH, MOBAL PHILOSOPHY
AND CITIL POLITT, IN HABTABD COLLBGB.
THIRD EDITION.
* BOSTON:
jenks, hickling, and swan.
1854. f
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1853|
Bt Jskks, Hicklxko, akd Swan,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachnsetta^
• ••••• •• •
• •••••• • •
•..••: •- • • . •• •
;• : : •• . ••:•. :•-.
• • . • • %••• • .
• ••• •.•.••.•••
• • • •••..••, •
, •• •• •»• « • ^ •••
PEEFACE.
The Translatcnr of thk woric makes the following extract
from the Author's preface to the German edition.
<< Believing that a Guide to History can answer its object
only when it awakens the interest of the ptypil, stimulates
his desire for information, and excites his zeal for inquiry,
I have everywhere arrayed the historical material in a narra-
tive form, and have endeavored to give decurness, consistency,
and animation to that form. My effort has been so to bring
together the events of the world's history in their more
prominent aspects and decisive moments^ tl^at the reader mfiy
obtain a clear idea of them; that the imjgSMatitffqccts may be
exhibited together with their causes and ^consequenrc^s,: iffi ^
thus be more strongly impressed upon thi' inya^rfatioji, and:
consequently upon the memory; and tkkt:the..cbtrr3&^jQf the
narrative may not be disturbed or broken 't^Vi^J^^i^tatfons
or remarks which might require a further explanation. ^ Instead
of following the usual course of compendiums, textbooks, and
outlines, by heaping up a mass of materials in the smallest
possible space, and thus forming a kind of skeleton register
of the events of history, I have rather endeavored to limit
my materials, giving place only to the most important and
influential, and arranging these in historical succession. . • •
• • Mere historical events, with names and dates, are not
easily retained by the memory, and do not possess any in-
stmctive or educative power. It is only when the historical
fact is presented in combination with other objects, so that
)V PREFACE.
the imagination and thinking faculty are both employed upon
it, that it permanentiy impresses itself upon the mind of
youth."
The Translator justiy adds, that "the book is written
throughout in the spirit of orthodox Protestantism, and is
entirely untinctured with the neology and infidelity at this
time so prevalent in Gtermany."
Believing that the method here explained is the right one,
and that the scheme is, in the main, carried out with fidelity
and spirit, I have subjected the work to a thorough revision,
in the hope of making it still more suitable for use as a
textbook of instruction in American colleges and schools.
Errors of the press and the pen had been multiplied by the
translation and republication of the book in England; and
the translation itself, though generally correct and elegant,
was sometimes obscure and inade^iuate. Accuracy being an
essential qualification of a school-book, every paragraph in
these Outlines has been laboriously examined, and almost
every name and date tested by reference to trustworthy
sources of information. It would be rash to assert that it is
now frec^ fi^om* Uetj^^h ; but it is certain that hundreds of
•^tC!^ pffors**h^yQ.been weeded out by this scrutinizing pro-
;Aesd. ' ]f tfit^y^mi^^y it is hoped that they may be discovered
and jr^eve3*.]p*.^ Wbsequent edition. A few notes have
t>eei^ $4^eBf. ipfki&Sies to explain, and sometimes to qualify^
stateikenfs in the text
One very important defect was to be supplied before Dr.
Weber's work could be considered worthy of republication
in America. Except an imperfect sketch of the Revolutionary
war, contained in four or five pages, the history of this
country was entirely omitted. The gap thus left might have
been cheaply filled by Isranscription and a judicious use of
the scissors; but as the book would then have lacked unity
of execution, I preferred to write out anew a sketch of the
history of the United States, firom the period of the first set-
tiements at Jamestown and Plymouth, down to the peace of
PREFACE. V
1815. The addition thus made is considerable, as it occupies
nearly one hundred pages, thus enlarging the bulk of the
original about one" fifth. It consists of three parts ; — 1. a
brief history of the Colonization of North America (pp. 291
— 314); 2. a sketch of the French and Indian wars during
the first sixty years of the eighteenth century, followed by a
history of the War of Independence and the formation of
the Federal Constitution (pp. 342 - 388) ; and, 3. a summary
of political events from 1789 to 1815 (pp. 468 — 491). In
preparing these historical sketches, I have sedulously endea-
vored to follow Dr. Weber's original conception of his work,
by passing lightly over all the details, and grouping together
the leading events with a view to their causes and conse-
quences. Only in this manner is it possible to preserve the
interest of a continuous narrative, a proper distribution of
light and shade, and a correct appreciation of personages and
events, in a mere compend of history. The pages that are
burdened with details are wearisome to read and difficult to
remember. A compend of history must be a true compend,
and not merely a complete history viewed through the wrong
end of a telescope. The general plan, therefore, upon which
these Outlines of History have been prepared, I am convinced,
is a good one; tim^ and use will bring to light the defects
in its execution.
THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
Cambbibox, February, 1858.
«•
CONTENTS.
FIRST BOOK.
HISTOEY OP THE ANCIENT WORLD.
INTRODUCTION, pp. 1—4.
L § 1. The first race of men, p. 1. IL § 2. The manner of liTing among the earliest
races, p. 2. IIL \ 8. Forms of govenmient ; distinction of castes, p. 2. IV . § i. The
religion of the heathen world, p. 8.
A. THE EASTERN RACES, pp.5 — 23.
I. ^ 5. The Asiatics, p. 6. H. \ 6. The Chinese, p. 6. HI. \ 7. The Indians, p. 7. f 8.
Their religion, literature, art, p. 8. IV. Babylonians and Assyrians, p. 10. 4 ^' Nimrod,
Semiramis, Salmanasser. § 10. The Chaldeans in Babylon ; Nebnchadnezzar. V.
Egyptians, p. 11. \ 11. Division of Egypt. \ 12. Religion and arts. ^ IS. History.
VI. Phcenicians, p. IS. \ 14. Navigation, commeroe, discoveries, f 16. History of Tyre
and Sidon. VII. The people of Israel, pp. 16—20. \ 16. The Patriarchs. 4 17. Exodns.
4 18. Moses as lawgiver. \ 19. Division of the promised land. \ 20. The Judges. \ 21.
Samuel and Saul. \ 22. David; Solomon; division of the kingdom. ^ 28. Worship of
idols; the prophets. \ 24. The Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. VIU. Medes and
Persians, pp. 20 — 28. 4 ^' Zoroaster's religions system. | 26. Astyages and Cyrus.
^ 27. CroBsusof Lydia. \ 28. Death of Cyrus. ^ 20. Cambyses; Ammonium. \ 80.
Darius. \ 81. Manners and enstoms of the Persians.
B. HISTORY OF GREECE, pp. 23—67.
I. Geographical Survey, pp. 28—26. § 82. a. The Greek Continent, p. 28. f 83. 6. The
Greek Islands, p. 24. H. \ 84. The religion of the Greeks, p. 26.
I GREECE BEFORE THE PERSIAN WAR, pp. 26 --88.
L The time of the Trojan war, p. 26. \ 86. Pelasgi; eastern immigration, f 86. Helle-
nic races; expedition of the Argonauts. \ 87. Trojan war. \ 88. Homer; epic poetry.
^ 80. Immigration of the Dorians; Codrus. \ 40. Colonies. 2. The period of the wise
men and lawgivers, p. 81. a. Genend view. \ 41. Greelu and barbarians, f 42. Am-
COlTTBirTS. TH
|Jibl>ywiiD ooaaoa; Ddphie onoto; Olynpio guoBs. & Lyeurgiu tbA SpirtMi hnri^aiv
p^at. ^41. LawtoTLyoiizgiis. a. Inslitiitioni of state. 6. ModeofUfe. § 44. W»
v8ii tbe Meneniant. c Soto, the Iwrgivw of the Atheni«nii| p. 84. § 4(». Dnco; lawi
of fioloii. d The tyiante, p^ •& § 46. Their ori|^ 4 47. Peiiaader of Corinth; Poly-
emtesof Semot; Pbkmtaiof Atbeu. ^48. The seven wiMBoen; Pythagons. ^ 49.
c Lyiiopoetiy.
U. THE FLOUBISmNG PERIOD OF GREECE, p. 89.
1. The Penian war. \ 60. InsaneotioD of the Greeks of Asia Minor. \ 61. Battle of
Minthon 4 62. Azutides and Themistocies. f 68. Thermopylss. \ 64. Salamb. \ 66.
Platsa ; MycUe ; EmymMon. S. The snpremacy of Athens, ind the ege of Pericles,
p. 48. 4 68. PaosanJas, the traitor, f 67. Deaths of Themistocies and Aristides. \ 68.
Cimon; Pericles. 8. The Peloponnesian war (b. c. 481-^404), p. 46. ^ 69. Origin of the
war. \ 60. The war to the peace of Nicias. \ 61. Alcibiades ; battle of Mantinea.
§ 62. Disasten of the Athenians in Sicily, f 68. Death of Alcibiades. \ 64. The fall of
Athens; the thirty tyrants. 4. Socrates, p. 48. \ 66. Sophists; Socrates; Plato; Xeno-
phon. 6. 4 66. The retreat of the ten thousand (b. c. 400), p. 49. 6. The time of Agesi-
laos and Epaminondas. \ 67. The Corinthian war and the peace of Antalddas. { 68.
Expedition agamst Olynthns and siege of Thebes. 4 69. The Theban war and the battle
of Lenctra. \ 70. Epaminondas in Peloponnesus; battle of Mantinsea. 7. The most
flourishing period of Greece in literature and the arts. \ 71. Dramatic poety; fschylus;
Sophocles; Euripides; Aristophanes. \ 72. Prose literature; Plato; Herodotus; Thucy-
dides; Xenophon. \ 78. Bhetoric; Isocratee; Demos^enes; iSschines. 4 7^* ^^^ ^ne
arts of the Greeks.
m. THE MACEDONIAN PERIOD, p. 56.
1. PhiUp of Maoedon (b. a 861 — 886). 4 76. Character of Philip. \ 76. The Sacred
war. 4 77. Battle of ChsBronea; Phillp^s death. 2. Alexander the Great, p. 68. ^ 78.
Fan of Thebes, f 79. Battle of Granicus. § 80. Battle of Issus. \ 81. Tyre and Alex-
andria. 82. Arbela and Gangemala. \ 88. Expedition into Bactria. \ 84. March to
India. ^ 86. Last years of Alexander.
THE ALEXANDRIAN PERIOD, p. 62.
4 86. a. Alexander's successors. 6. Greece's last struggle; the Achaian league, p. 68.
4 87. Athens; Phockm; Demosthenes; Demetrius. 4 ^* Sparta and the Achaian league.
4 89. e. The Ptolemies and the Seleuddas, p. 64. f 00. d The Jews under the Maccabees,
p. 66. e. State of oirUlsatkni during the Alexandrian period, p. 66. 4 ^1« Theocritus;
Stofes and EpioureaM.
C. THE HISTORY OF ROME, p. 68.
4 92. The races and InstitutioDS of ancient Italy.
I. RO^IE UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF KINGS AND
PATRICIANS, p. 69.
1. Rome under the kings (n. c 768--609). \ 98. Borne built f 94. Borne under Ro-
mulus. ^ 96. Kuma PompiUus. § 96. Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius; origin of the
plebeiaDS. ^ 97. Tarquinius Priscus and Servius TuUius. '§ 98. Taiquinius Superbus. 2.
Rome as a republic under the patricians, p. 72. a. Horatius Coclos; the tribunes; Corio-
lanus. 4 99. Contest between the republicans and PorBenna and Tarquin. f 100. Emi-
gration to the sacred hill; Coriolanus. 6. The Fabii; Cincfamatus; the decemTirs, p. 74*
4 lOL War with the Veians and JSqui. f 102. Agrarian hiw; Sp. Cassius. \ 108. The-
decemvirs. \ 104. Military tribunes and censors, c Sack of Rome by the Gauls (b. c.
889), and the kws of Lindnius Stolo (b. c. 866), p. 76. \ 106. Taking of VeU by CamU-
las. 4 106. Brenim hi Rome. § 107. M. Manlins and the laws of L. Stoto.
n. ROME'S HEROIC PERIOD, p. 78.
l.Thet&Deof thewarwUfatheSamDites,and the battlee with Pynhiv. i 108. lint
VIU CONTINTS.
•
8«mnite war. 4 109. War with the Latins, f 110. Second Saamite war; Candiniaa
passes ; Seotiniun. ^ 111. War with Taraitam and Pyrriras. 2. The time (^ the Pusio
wan, p. 80. a. The fint Pimic war (». o. 208—241). \ 112. Carthage; Agathooles; the
Mamertines. \ 118. Regnlus. f 114. Hamilear Barcas; temdnatkm of the fiwt Panio
war. 6. The second Pnnic war (b. c 218—202), p. 82. § 116. Sicllj and Gallift Gisal-
piua Roman Provinces. S IK'* Sagontum. S 117. Hanmbal*8 pAsaije over the Alps and
through Italj. ^ 118. Fabius Maxlmiu and the battle of Ganns. ^ 119. Capna; Syra-
cnse; Tarentum. 4 l^^* Hasdrabal's defeat on the Metanms. §121. Zama. c Mace-
donia conquered; Corinth and Carthage destrojred, p. 80. § 122. Philip II. and Antiochus
in. subdued by the Bomans. 4 128. Battle of Pydna and deatroction of Corhith. \ 124.
Destruction of Carthage in the third Punio war. d* The mantfers and culture of the
Romans, p. 80. \ 125. Contest between Consenratism and progrsss; Plautus; Terence;
Cato.
m ROME'S DEGENERACY, p. 90.
1. Numantia; Tiberius; Caius Gracchus. \ 120. Bome*s government of her provinces;
Numantia*s insurrection and faU. § 127. Tiberius Gracchus, f 128. Caius Gracchus.
2. The times of Marius and Sylla, p. 92. f 129. The JugurtUne war. f 180. Chnbri and
Teutones. \ 181. The Social war. ^ 182. The first Hithridatic war. \ 188. The first
civil war; death of Marius. ^ 184. The Cornelian law and Sy]bi*s death. 8. The times
of Cneius Pompey and M. Tullius Cicero, p. 98. \ 186. Sertorius. \ 180. The Servile
war. \ 187. War against the pirates. ^ 188. The second Mithridatio war. \ 189. Cata-
line's conspiracy. 4. The times of Caius Julius Cssar, p. 98. ^ 140. The triumvirate.
\ 141. Cnsar'B wan hi Gaul. \ 142. The second civil war. 4 148. CsBsar's victories.
\ 144. Ca»ar*s death. 5. The last years of the republic, p. 101. \ 146. The second tri-
umvirate; Cicero's death. \ 140. PhilippL § 147. Actium.
IV. THE ROMAN EMPIRE, p. 102.
1. The times of CsBsar Octavianus Augustus, p. 102. ^ 148. Rome's golden age. f 149.
Roman literature. 2. The struggles of the Germans for liberty, p. 108. § 160. Hermann's
victory in the Teutobuxger forest. \ 161. (lermanicus. ^ 162. Tacitus on the manners
'and institutions of the Germans. 8. The Csnars of the Augustine race, p. 106. § 168.
Tiberius. 4 164. Caligula; Claudius. 4 166. Nero. \ 160. Galba; Otiio; ^teUius. 4.
The Flavii and Antonines, p. 107. \ 167. Vespasian. ^ 168. The destruction of Jerusa-
lem ; destruction of the Jewish state. \ 169. Britain conquered by Agriooia. 4 100.
Titus, f 101. Domitian; Nerva; Tnjan. § 102. Adrian; Plutarch. § 168. Antoninus
Pius; Maieus Aurelins. \ 184. Cultivation and morals. 6. Rome under military govern-
ment, p. 111. 4 106. Commodus; Pertinax; Septimius Sevems. \ 100. Caracalla; Hello-
gabalus; Alexander Severus. ^ 107. Philip the Arab; Deoius; Ciallienus. § 168. Aure
llaa. \ 109. Tacitus; Probns; Cams. \ 170. Time of Diocletian. § 171. Constantine's
Tictoiy at the Milvian bridge and sole empire.
SECOND BOOK.
MIGRATION OF NATIONS AND THE MIDDLE AGE.
A. MIGRATION OF NATIONS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF
MONOTHEISM.
1. TBE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITT OVER PAGANISM, p. 114.
1. The Christian Church of the first century. \ 172. Persecutions of the Christians.
2. Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate. \ 178. Constantino's proceedings in
Church and state, f 174. Arianism; Augustine; the fiUhers of the Church. \ 176
jQ]ifliithe.^x»tate. «
CONTENTS. ix
n, THE MIGRATION OF NATIONS, pp. 117—125.
1. Tlwodotivfl the Gseat ^ 176. Emu and West Goths. 8. West Goths; Bmgimdiuis
and YuidBls, p. 118. f 177. Alaric ; StiUcho; Badaggis. § 178. Alario in Italy. ^ 179.
The Vandals hi Aftioa. 8. Attila king of the Huns (a. d. 460), p. 120. § 180. Battle
with the Huns; Aqnileja. 4. \ 181. Destruction of the Western Boman Empire (▲. u.
476), p. UO. 6. \ 182. Theodoric the Ostrogoth (a. d. 600), p. 131. 6. Cloris, king of the
Franks and the Merovingians, p. 121. § 188. Battle of ZUlpich. \ 184. The MeroThigians
and then: Mayor of the palace. 7. ^ 186. The Anglo-Saxons, p. 122. 8. The Byzantine
empire and the Longobards, p. 128. ^ 186. The coiq^; Justinian. \ 187. Subjection of
the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. \ 188. Albom. 4 189. The Iconoclasts and the Iconoduli.
m. MOHAMMED AND THE ARABIANS, pp. 125—128.
4 19C. Arabia. § 191. Mohammed the prophet § 192. The Mohammedans 'hi Persia
and Egypt \ 198. AH and the Ommiades. ^ 194. The Arabs in Spain and France.
§ 196. The Abbassides hi Bagdad; the battles between Christians and Mohammedans in
Spahi. \ 196. Arab cnltiyation and literature.
B. THE MIDDLE AGE.
I. THE PERIOD OF THE CARLOVINGI, pp. 129—188.
L Pepin the Little (▲. D. 752—768); Charlemagne (768 — 814). § 197. Pepin the
little and Bonifadus. \ 198. Saxons and Longobards. 4 l^^- ^^ ^^^ ^® Saxons, and
defeat at Boncesvalles. ^ 200. Charlemagne, Boman emperor. 4 201. His mtemal
gOTemment 2. Dissolution of the Frank empire, pp. 182, 183. ^ 202. Louis the Debon-
naire; Treaty of Verdun. \ 208. Charles the Fat and Amulf. § 204. Charles the Shnple
■nd Hugh Capet
n. NORMANS AND DANES, p. 188.
4 206. Scandinavia; Iceland; Russia. ^ 206. England; Alfred ; Canute; William tht^
Conqnerur. ^ 207. Lower Italy; Bobert Guiscard.
HI THE SUPREMACY OF THE GERMANO-ROMAN
EMPIRE, p. 135.
1. The House of Saxony (919—1024.) \ 208. Henry the Fowler. \ 209. Otho the
Great \ 210. Otho H. and UL 4 211. Henry H.; German cultiyation under the Othos.
2. Tlie House of Franconia, pp. 187 — 140. 4 212. Conrad H. and Heniy HI. § 218.
Henzy IV. and the Saxons. 4 ^l^* Henry IV. and pope Gregory VIL \ 215. Henry
IV.'s death. § 216. Henzy V. and Lothaire of Saxony.
IV. THE ASCENDANCY OF THE CHURCH IN THE TIME OF
THE CRUSADES, p. 140.
1. The Crusades. 4 217. The assembly of the Church at Clennont \ 218. Peter of
Amiens and Walter the Penniless. \ 219. The first crusade under Godfrey 0[ Bouillon.
S 220. Conquest of Jerusalem. 4 221. The first king of Jerusalem. ^ 222. The second
emsade. ^ 228. The third crusade. ^ 224. The fourdi crusade; the Latin emphe in Con-
stantinople. \ 225. The fifth crusade; the emperor Frederick H. § 226. The sixth cru-
sade, under Louis IX. 4 ^^' 11^® consequences of the crusades ; orders of knights.
\ 228. War agamst tiie Albigenses. 2. The Hohenstaufens (a. d. 1188—1154), pp. 149—
156. S 229. Welfs and Waiblings. ^ 280. Frederick Baxbarossain Italy; Arnold of
Bnscia. f 281. Blilan destroyed; Alexandria founded. § 282. Battie of Legnano; Peace
of Constance, f 288. Frederick Barbarossa and Henry tiie Lion. \ 284. Henry VL and
PhiHp of Swabia. § 285. Pope Innocent UL and the Emperor Otho IV. \ 286. Frede-
rick n.*i contest with the papacy. § 287. Bival emperor hi Germany. ^ 288. Frederick
Z COKTBNTS.
IL'Bdaatfa. \ 289. DmHi of MMfM at BatMreBtnm. \ UO. CoiindiM*t d«rtfa; te
SidUan vetpen. 8. General view of the Middle Ages, p. 166. S Ml. The feadal lyrtem.
§ S4a. ChMrj. f S48. Htorarcliy. f 844. Monaohlaiii. \ 846. Mendioaiit ordafa; Avh
eiMana and BomkiioMa. \ 846. Stete of thatowna. f 847. Utentoie (1), fSnhnlartai
andMjBtica. § 848. (8) Seieiiee and t^ wiltliig of Ualofy. f 84». (8) Poatqr-
V, DECAY OP CHIVALRT AND CORRUPTION OP THE
CHURCH, p. 168.
1. The Interregimm (a. d. 1860—1878). f 860. Club law; ooBfedendona of towoa.
8. Origin of tiie Hoose of Hapabnrg and the HelTetio coDfedentioD^ pp. 164— 166. \ 861*
Rudolf of Hapsbnrg. S 862. Rudolf's proceedings in the emphe. \ 268. Adolf of Nassan
and Albert of Austria. S 264. The confedention of the RutU; WiUiam Tell; Moigaiten.
8. Philip, the Fair of France and the emperor Louis the Bavarian, pp. 166 — 160. ^ 285.
Philip IV. and pope Bonifiusius Vm.; the popes at Avignon. \ 266. Dissdntton of the
order of the Temple. S 267. Henry of Luxemburg. \ 268. Loiiia the Bavarian and Frede-
rlckthe Fair. S 269. Dietat Reuse; Lonia*s death. 4. The erapevoiaof the House of Lux-
embuig, pp. 169—171. ^ 260. Chaiies IV. S Ml. Wenoeshius; the German town war.
^ 262. Rupert of the Palatinate and Sigismund. 6. The division in the Church and the
great councUs, p. 171. S 3^* The division in the Church; Wickliff and Huss. S S^- Tha
council of Constance. \ 266. The Hussite war. S 866. The council of Basle. 6. Ger-
manj under Foederick HI. and Maximilian*!., p. 176. § 267. Albert H. and Frederic HL
^ 268. Maximilian L ; change in the German constitutkm. S 269. End of the middle age.
VT. HISTORY OF THE REMAINING EUROPEAN STATES
DURING THE MIDDLE AGE, p. 176.
1. France. ^ 270. a. France under the House of Capet (a. d. 987—1828). 6. France
under the House of ValoU (a. d. 1828—1629), p. 177. S 271. Philip VI. and John the
Good; Crecy and Poictiers. ^ 272. Charles V. and VI.; civil war. S 278. Battle of
Aginoonrt. S 274. Maid of Orleans; Louis XI. 2. Enghind, pp. 180— 188. f 276. Heniy
Plantagenet and Thomas k Becket § 276. Richard Lion-heart and John Lackland, f 277.
Edward L and the war of liberty in Scotland, f 278. Edward IIL; the House of Un-
caster. \ 279. The wars of the red and white rosea. 8. Spain, pp. 188 — 186. ^ 280. State
of Spain hi the middle age. S 281. Aragon and Castile. S 282. Ferdinand and babella;
the Inquisition. S 288. Expulsion of the Moors. 4. Italy, pp. 186 — 188. a. Upper
Italy. S 284. Venice. \ 286. Genoa. S 286. Milan. S 287. Savoy and Piedmont
6. Middle and Lower Italy, p. 188. S 288. Florence; Cosmo de Medici, f 289. Lorenzo
the Magnificent; Savonar51a; fine arts. \ 290. State of the Church ; Femnu \ 291.
Naples and Stoily. 6. The new Buiigundian territory, p. 190. \ 292. Condition of the
kingdom under the first dukes. \ 298. Charles the Bold. ^ 294. The now Burgundian
territory after the death of Charles. 6. Scandinavia, p. 192. f 296. Establishment
of Christianty in the three Scandinavian kingdoms. ^ 296. Denmark before the
union of Calmar. \ 297. Sweden before and after the union of Calmar. 7. Hungary, p.
194. ^ 298. Stephen the Pious; the Saxons in Transylvania; the ** Golden Privilege.**
^ 299. Louis the Great and Matthias Corvinus. 8. Poland, p. 196. f 800. State of
Poland; Casimir the Great S ^1- The Jagellons; fonnation of the power of the nobles.
9. The Russian Empire, p. 197. \ 802. The fanperial House of Ruric; Ivan Vasilyevitsch.
10. Mogula and Turks, pp. 198—201. S 808. Zengis-Khan and his sons. \ 804. The
Ottoman Turks hi Asia Muior. S 9^* B^uet and Timur. S 806. Murad H.; the Chris-
tian anny defeated at Waina. \ 807. Taking of Constantinople; greatness and decay
ef the Ottoman empire.
CONTENTS* X]
THIRD BOOK.
THE MODERN EPOCH
L THE FORERUNNERS OP THE MODERN EPOCH, p. 202.
1. Th6 sea putage to the East Indies, and tbe dlseorery of America, p. 202. \ 808. In-
TentioD of the compass; gunpowder; printing, f 809. The Portngnese in the East Indies.
^ 810. Christopher Colambus. f 811. Balboa; Cortez; Pizarro. S 812. Consequences of
the discovery of America. 2. The reviTal of the arts and sciences, p. 206. \ 818.
Italy; Germany (BenchHn, Erumua, Hntten); Humanists and Obscurantists.
II. THE TIME OP THE REFORMATION, p. 20«.
1. The German Reformation, pp. 208—212. a. Dr. Martin Luther. S ^^^ The sale of
Indulge nces and tlie ninety-five theses. \ 816. Luther. \ 816. Ci^etan; Frederick the
Wise; Miltiti. ^ 817. His disputation at Leipsic; burning of the pope*sbull. f 818.
Diet of Worma» S SI^* I>r- Carlstadt and the Anabaptists; Philip Melancthon. § 820.
Kxtension of the Reformation, b. The peasant war, p. 212. § 821. Thomas Munzer.
\ SS2. Subjection of the peasants, c. The Augsburg confession, p. 214. S ^^* Activity
of Luther 93»d Mefamcthon; Diet of Spbe. f 824. Diet of Augsburg, d, IJlric Zwingle,
p. 216. \ 826. Reformation in Switzerland. S ^0- Religious war; battle of KappeL
2. Wars of tbe House of Hapsburg against France, p. 217. § 827. Charles V. and Francis
L; wars respecting Milan. S 828. Battle of Pavia ; taking of Rome; Ladies* Peace of
Cambray. f 820. Campaign against Tunis; second and third war between Charies and
Francis. 8. The war of religion in Germany, p. 220. ^ 880. The league of Smalcald;
the gospel in Wirtemberg. \ 881. The Anabaptists in Munster. \ 882. Extension of the
Reformation in Saxony, Brandenburg, the Palatinate, &c. S 888. The war of Smalcald;
campaign on the Danube. S ^^- Charies V.^s triumphant expedition into Southern Ger-
many, f 886. Battle near Mllhlberg; the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse
taken prisoners. S 886. The Augsburg interim. ^ 887. Maurice of Saxony; the treaty
of Passan. § 888. The religious war of Augsburg. ^ 889. Charles V. dies. 4. Progress of
the Reformation through Europe, p. 229. a. Lutheranism and Calvinism. ^ 840. Ger-
many; the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. S 841. Switzerland; Calvmism. f 842.
Calvinism in France, in the Netherlands, fai Scotland. 6. Establishment of the Anglican
Church, p. 282. f 848. England; Henry Vin.*s ecclesiastical innovations. \ 844. Henry
Vm. and his wives. S 846. Establishment of the Episcopal Church under Edward VL
§ 846. The English Church under Maria and Elisabeth, c The Reformation hi the three
Scandinavian kingdoms, p. 286. \ 847. Scandinavia; Sweden under Gustavus Vasa.
4 848. The Refoimation hi Dennuuk. \ 849. Sweden under the sons of Gustavus Vasa.
\ 860. Pohind. d. The Catholic Church, p. 288. § 861. Inquisition; p^acy; Council of
Trent. S 862. Order of the Jesuits. 6. The times of Philip H. (a. d. 1666—1698) and
Elizabeth (a. d. 1668—1608), p. 240. § 868. Philip H.; character and mode of govern-
ment, a. Portugal united with Spain, p. 241. S 864. King Sebastian. 6. Straggle for
liberty in tbe Netheriands, p. 242. § 866. Philip's attacks on the privileges of the Nether-,
landers. \ 866. Compromise; the Gueses; sacrikge. ^ 867. Alba In the Netherlands.'
5 868. Don Joan; Alexander, Famese; William of Orange. ^ 869. The Aimada; termi-
nation of the war. § 860. Trade; government synod of Dort c. France during the war
of religkm, p. 246. § 861. Position of parties, i 862. The first three wars of leligidL
§ 868. The Bartholomew nig^t. S 864. Henry m. and the holy league. .§*866. Henry
IV. dL Elizabeth and Mary Stuart, p. 261. \ 866. Difibrence fai the characters of the
tbe two queens; Knox.' § 867. Mary Stuart hi Scotland. S 866. Mary Stuart hi Enj^aad.
S 869. Riae of En^^d, and death of Elizabeth; Essex, e. Culture and literatore hi the
eentuy of the Beftnaatkm. S 870. 1. Geimany; 2. Italy ; 8. Spain and Porta^;
4. Enghmd, p. 264.
XU CONTENTS.
in, THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, p. 256.
1. The thirty yean* war (a. d. 1616 — 1648). a. Bohemia; PalatiDRte; Lower Germany;
nily; appearance qT Wallenstein. f 871. Union and league. § 872. The letter patent,
and the proceedings in Prague, f 878. Frederick V. and the battle of the White Hill.
§ 874. Tilly in tlie Palatinate. § 876. Wallenstein in the North of Germany. S 87^- ^^^^
of restitution; Diet of Regensburg; Wallenstein^s deposition, b. Interference of Sweden;
Gustavus Adolphns and Wallenstein, p. 262. § 877. Gustavus Adolphus in Pomorania;
destruction of Magdeburg. \ 878. Battle of Breitenfield and Leipsic ; triumphant course
of Gustavus Adolphus. § 879. Nuremberg; Lutzen. § 880. Alliance of Heilbron; Wal-
lenstein*s death, c. Termination of the war; peace of Westphalia, p. 264. S '^1* ^^
nard of Weimar; Ban^r. f 882. Torstenson; Wrangel; termination of the war. § 888.
Peace of Westphalia, d Sweden under Christina and Charles X.; change in the consti-
tution of Denmark, p. 266. § 884. Sweden under Christina. § 886. Charles X., and the
change in the constitution of Denmark. 2. The revolution in England, and the expulsion
of the Stuarts, p. 268. a. The first two Stuarts (James 1. 1608 — 1626, Charles 1. 1626 —
1649). § 886. James's character and principles, f 887. The gunpowder-plot; nuptial expe-
dition of the prince of Wales; position m relation to parliament \ 888. Petition of right;
StrafTord ; Laud. \ 889. Hampden and the Scottish covenant \ 890. The long pariiar-
mont; Stmiford*s fall. §891. Civil war; Cromwell's appearance. §892. Victory of the
Indepcr.dents ; Charles with the Scots. § 898. Death of Charles, ft. Oliver Cromwell p.
275. § 804. Cromwell's victories at Dunbar and Worcester. § 896. Cromwell as Lord
Protector; the parliament. \ 896. Restoration, c. The last two Stuarts (Charles 11. 1660
— 1686, nnd James II. 1686 — 1688), p. 276. § 897. Government of Charles U. ; Test Act;
Habeas Corpus Act ; Whigs and Tories. § 898. Government and fall of James IL § 899.
William and Mary; Bill of Rights; union with Scotland. 8. The age of Louis XIV., p.
281. a. Richelieu and Mazarin. § 400. Louis XIH. ; government and activity of Riche-
lieu. § 401. Anne of Austria and Mazarin; war of the Fronde. 6. Government and con-
quests of Louis XIV., p. 288. § 402. Louis XIV. and his mimsters and generals. § 408.
The Spanish and Dutch war; peace of Aiz. § 404. Sasbach; Fehrbellin; peace of Nime-
guen. § 406. Remiions ; Strasburg wrested from the empire, c. Austria^s distress an/
triumph, p. 286. \ 406. The Turks before Vienna; peace of Cariowitz. d. The wax- d
Orleans, p, 287. § 407. Desolation of Ihe Palatinate; peace of Ryswick. e. Life at tbk
oourt; literature; Church, p. 288. § 408. Industry; court of Versailles; art and literatnie
\ 409. Jansenists ; persecution of the Huguenots.
IV. THE COLONIZATION OF NORTH AMERICA, p. 291.
[a. d. 1606 — 1782.]
\ 410. Early explorations of North America, and attempts to colonize it f 411. Settie-
ment of Virgima, p. 292. § 412. Wars with the Indians ; loyalty of the settlers. \ 418.
Bacon's rebellion. S 414. Colony of PlymouA^p. 296. S ^I^- SetUeitient of MastadmeUi,
p. 298. \ 416. Form of government; religious faith and practice. \ 417. Manners and
laws; republicanism of the people. \ 418. Care for education. § 419. Wan with the
Indians. § 420. Dissension with the mother country; Andros governor; new charter.
S 421. Salem Witchcraft. S ^22. Other New England Coloniet, p. 806. \ 428. New York,
p. 806. 4 424. Maryland, f 426. The Carolinas. \ 426. New Jersey. \ 427. Pennsyl
vania. f 428. Georgia. \ 429. Character of the American Colonists.
V. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, p. 814.
1. The Spanish war of succession (1702 — 1714). ^ 480. Origin of the war; position of
parties. S 481. Hochstiidt; Prince Eugene and Marlborough | 482. Ramilies; Turin;
Spahi. \ 488. Humiliation of France; Malplaquet. \ 484. Change in affairs; peace of
Utrecht \ 486. France; Orleans; duke-rcgent. § 436. Spain; Philip V.; Ferdinand
VI. \ 487. England under the House of Hanover; attempts of the Stuarts finstratadJ
COKTEKT8. Xlli
9. Chariet Xn. of Sweden and Peter the GiMt of Bnisaa in the Northern war (17M
§ 4S8. Sweden and Bnaeia under the House of Bomanofl^ S 489. Peter's nfonns. § 440.
Polaad under Frederick Angostos the Strong. ^ 441. Charles XIL in Denmark and
PdaBd; Stenislans Leezhiski. f 44a. Charles XIL in Saxonj; his charaoter. ^ 448.
Peteron the Baltic; hattle of Poltowa. S ^^ Charles XIL in Tnikej. f 446. Death of
Charles XIL ^ 44«. Beformation in Rnssia. f 447. Alexis; Menzikoff ; Elizabeth.
f 448. The Polish war of suooession. 8. The rise of Prossla, p. 827. S 440. Frederick L
4460. Frederick William L ^ 461. Toath of Frederick n. 4 . The times of Frederidk
n. and Maria Theresa, p. 829. a. The Austrian war of succession (a. d. 1740 — 1748).
4 462. Cause of the war; Pragmatic sanction; Charles Albert S 468. The first SUesian
war; Charies's coronation. S 484. The Hnngarians; difficulties of Bavaria. S 466.
Prague; Dettmgen. \ 466. The second Silesian war. ^ 467. Close of the war; peace of
Aix. 6. The seven years* war (a. d. 1766 — 1768), p. 882. f 468. Austria's alliance
with Bossia, France, and Saxony. 4 469. Dresden and Pima. S 460. Prague; Collin;
Bosbach; Leuthen. f 461. Zomdorf; Hochklreh. \ 462. Kunersdoif ; Beigen; Kinden.
4 468. Lelgnits: Torgan. § 464. Peter HL and Catharine n. of Russia. S 466. Close of
war; Peace of Hubertsburg. e. The Gennan empire and the age of Frederick, p. 887.
4 466. Condition of the Gennan empire. S 467. Frederick's mtemal government \ 468.
The Bavarian war of succession and Uie alliance of princes, d. The inteUectuid popular
Ute in Germany, p. 840. S 469. Poetry. S 470. Be%ion; historical writing; philosophy;
VL THE PBOGBESS OF THE NEW WORLD.
1. CONTEST or THE SSOLI8H WITH THE FRENCH FOB THE P088B8SI0K
or NORTH AMEBIGA, [A. D. 1700 — 1763,] p. 842.
4 471. Character of the French in America; their explorations of the countiT'. S 472.
SetdsBflnt of fioniaiana. 4 478. Kival chums of Uie French and English. 474. Firrt
ookmial war between them. S 476. Second colonial war. S 476. Third cokmial war;
captnre of Louisbuig. 4 477. Fourth colonial war; George Washington, f 478. Brad^
dock*s defeat; expatriation of tiie Aoadians; JohMon and Dieskan. 4 479. - 4lbortive
attempt to form a union of the Colonies. S 480. Capture of Oswego and Fort William
Semy. 4 481. Campaign of 1768; repulse at Tioonderoga. § 482. Battle of Quebec
and death of Wolfe; cession of all French America to England. \ 488. Indian war;
Pontiac § 484. Prosperity of the American Colonies.
1. THE WAB OF AXEBICAN INDEPENDENCE, AND THE E8TABLI8H]f ENT OF
THE AMEBICAN CONSTITUTION, p. 864.
4 486. <)Mstion of taxatkm between England and the Colonies. 4486. Attempt to enforce
flM revenue hiwa; Writs of Assistance. 4 487. Passage of tiie Stamp Act; great agitation
in America; Cokmial Congress. 4 488. English advocates of American rights ; repeal of tiie
Stamp Aet 4489. Duties on tea»&c; renewal of the agitation, f 490. Tumults at Boston;
afftay witii the soMieiB. f 49L The tea sent back or destroyed; Boston Port BiU; Quebec
Act; Dc.Franklfai. 4 402. Congress at Philadelphia. 4 498. Prepaimtions for war m Mas-
sachuaetta. 4 404. Unanfanity of feeling ; quiet but resolute conduct of the patriots. 4 496.
Battle of Lexington. 4 496. Punctilious regard for law; siege of Boston. S 497. Capture
flf Tiooiideroga; battie of Banker Hill. § 498. Action of Congress; the Cokmies form
new constitutiona of government 4 499. Washington, commander-in-chief. 4 800. Expe-
dition to Canada; repulse at Quebec. \ 601. Evacuation of Boston. 602. Declaration
of LidepeDdenoe. § 608. European sympathy with America; mission to France; Dr.
FnmkUn. 4 604. Campaign of 76; defeats and losses of tiie Americans. 4 606. Batties
af Tranton and Princeton. 4 606. Brandywine ; Gennantown ; Bed Bank and Fort
Ififfin. 4 ^' ^tognu of Buigoyne ; surrender of his anny. § 608. Alliance with
xlV CONTKKl'S.
Fnnoe; dHWcwltia* of tfa« Amerieam. 4 509. Monmouth ; tbs.Fnnoh at XMrport^
Wyoming. \ 610. War atthesonth; pmiiihiiieDt of the Indians. 4 611. The Amed
HeatavUty. § 612. Suraiider of Lincoln i Oamden and Klog't Moantain ; traaaon of
Arnold. 4618.Theirarfai'Yiigfaiia;Gieeae*8oampal^ 4 614. Suiteiider of Oomiraffie.
4 616. Condnslon of liia war. S 610. Ezhanitfon of the ooutry; patriotism of Waab-
iagton. S ^^f' S^ll* from the want of nnkm and a eenteal govemmmit 4 ^^^ Lmiber*
dfamtion, anxiefy, andf^oora. S «19- ArebeUion in Maasaehiuetts. \ 690. ronnation
of the Fedend Gonstitolion. ^ 6U. Its mtilloadon by the States v the goverameni
oigeaiaed.
FOURTH BOOK.
THE LATEST PERIOD.
A. THE FORERUNNERS OF THE REVOLUTION, p. BSS.
1. The literature of iUnmination. \ 622. Character of French literatnre. § 68S. Vol*
taire; MonteBqnien; Boogseau. § 624. Effects of the llteratme of iUnmination; dissolntion
of the Jesuits; society of illnminati. \ 626. Disorder and contests in Holland. 2. Inno-
Tations of princes and ministers, p. 802. ^ 620. Character of politiold and ecclesiastical
rsforms. S ^^' Portugal under Pombal; Spain under Charles IIL and Aranda; France;
Cboiseul; Tutgot and Malasherbes. § 628. Stmensee in Denmark. ^ 629. Oustarns III.
of Sweden. § 680. Reforms of Joseph JL in Austria. \ 681. Inte^ial government of Cathe-
rine n. in Russia. 8. The partition of Poland, p. 807. \ 681. State of Poland; king
Stanislans Poniatowski. ^ 688. The contest with the Dissidents ; Confederation of S»-
dom and Bar. S B84- P^^ Turkish war; flnt partition of Poland. S &^ Tauis;
second Turkish war; Poland's new oenstitntion. f 680. ConiedevatioB of Taifowics;
second partition of Poland. \ 687. Pobuad^s end.
B- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, p. 408.
1. The last days of absolute monarchy, pp. 408 — 488. \ 688. Louis XY. and tbe
empire of the passions, f 680. Taxation; parliament. \ 640. Louis XVX and his
court ; increasing financial <^culties ; Necker ; Calonne. S ^^ Contest with the pailifr-
ment; summoning of the estates-general. 2. The period of the national assembly, p. 400.
^ 642. The thurd estate declares itself a national assembly. \ 648. Storm of the Bastille.
i 644. The new system. S ^*^' '^^ king <uid the national assembly at Paris, f 640.
Ceremony of the federation; death of fifirabean; flight of the king. 8. The legislatiTo
assembly and the fall of the monarchy, p. 410. ^ 647. Position of parties ; Girondist
minister, f 648. The tenth of August. ^ 640. The days of September. 4. Republican
France under the goTcmment of the National Conyention, p. 414. \ 660b Execution of
tlie king. ^ 661. The war; Dumonrier. S ^^ P^U of the Girondists. \ 668. Ruto
•f the Jaoobins. § 664. 1. Persecutions of the aristocrats. \ 666. 2. Horrors in the
south. \ 660. Bloody scenes in La Vendue. ^ 667. Fall of tiie Dantonists. i 668. 8.
Wars of the republic; first coalition. ^ 668. Peace of Basle. 4 600. Robespierre's iUL
4 661. The last days of the oonTention. 6. France under the Directory, p. 426. f 602.
Bonaparte in Italy. S <^- Internal state of France; Babeuf; royalists. S M4« The
repnbUeans in Italy ; rerolution in Switseriand. \ 606. War of the second eoaUtion.
f 600. Bonaparte hi Egypt and Syria. \ 607. The eif^teenth of Bnmalra.
C. GOVERNMENT OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, p. 484.
I. The consulate (1800—1804). S ^^9* The consular oonstitntion. \ 660. Marengo
and HohenUnden. § 670. Egypt; the peace of Amiens; murder of the emperor PauL
oonmrs. xv
%'m. Th* BOW 6oni and the eoaoovdat. ^ 811. ConspinMsies. IL Napoleon emperor
(I0M^1814X p. 4S9. 1. f STB. The empin. 3. AvsteilHaB; PmlnuK; OoofedeimtioB
cf llie Rhine, p. 440. ^ 674. Hamver; Hal/; ProMia. S 675. Ukn) Trafalgar. ^ 670.
AttBterMta; peaee of Pieab«|k ^ 677. EstablUbmeat of the Rhenish Gonfederatioik
t. Jena; Tflalti Erfnit, p. 444. f 678. Oooaaiont of the Pniasian war. f 679. Battte
«r Jeaa, asMl its hmnediate eonaeqaenoei. ^ 6881. Pmom Eylan; Friedlandf peaee of
TiUt { 181. Pnoeedioga in Sweden and Denmaih; Napoleon and Alexander in ErfinC^
^ The e¥«Bto in the FTreneao peniaanla, p. 448^ § 681. Janot in Lisbon ; intrigaes in
Bayonne; Joseph Bonaparte king of SpiUa. f 688. hunigent war in Spain; Dnpont's
eafiitiilation. ^ 684. Guerilla war; La Romana; constltation of the year *11. \ 686. End
of the Peninsular war. ^ 688. Imprisonment of the pope. 6. The seoond Austrian war;
Boter; Schill (1809), p. 468. f 687. Aspem and Wagrun. S 688. Popular war in
the Tyrol; the peace of Vieona. § 689. Sohill; William of Bnmswick; Stein; Scham-
hcnt 4 690. The Fkenoh Empire at its heif^t. 8. The war against Russia (181SX
p. 458. 4 69L Origin of the war. § 692. Napolemi in Fdand. S ^M. March to Moaeew.
4 604. Retreat of the grand army.
J). DISSOLUTION OP THE FRENCH EMPIRE, AND ESTA-
BLISHMENT OF A FRESH SYSTEM, p. 459.
I. The Gennan war of liberation, and the fkll of Napoleon, p. 469. § B^* ^"^ ^
Germany. \ 696. German war of liberty fhnn the year 1818. ^ ^^* Battle of Leipsie,
and its results. 4 (^* Napoleon's last struggle. 2. The restoration and the Hundred
Days, p. 468. \ 699. Napoleon's abdication; the first peace of Paris. \ 600. Congress
of Vienna, and the first period of the restoration. \ 601. Napoleon's return, and the
goreinment of the hundred days. 4 <^* Triumph of legitfanacy, and Murat's death.
4 808. Waterloo. 4 604. St Helena. 4 606. Second peace of Paris; seoond restoration.
E. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, p. 468.
Waahington's administration, p. 468. 4 ^^* Character and policy of Washington.
4 807. The finances; ftinding the publio debt; growing prosperity of the people. 4 ^^'
Indian war at the northwest 4 609. Insurrection in Pennsylvania. 4 610. Jay's treaty.
4 611. Effect of the French Revolution in America; state of parties. 4 ^l^* Washfaigton's
retirement and Farewell Address. Adams's administration, p. 474. 4 ^^8. State of
paitiee; quarrel with Fiance. 4 ^^^ Naval actions; convention with Bonaparte. 4 ^I^
Defeat of the Federalists; choice of a President Jefferson's Administration, p. 477.
4 818. Prosperity of the country; purchase of Louisiana. § 617. War with the Barbery
powers; the navy. 618. Peace and war parties. 4 619. Aggressions on neutral trade;
the embargo. Madison's administration, p. 480. 4 ^0* Negotiation with Eng^d; affair
of the Chesi^peake. 4 ^^1. Progress of the quarrel with France and England; aflhir of
tiie Uttie Belt 4 622. Battie of Tippecanoe witii the Indians, f 628. War witii England.
4 824. Want of preparation; character of the contest 4 ^^' Surrender of General Hull;
disasters on the Niagara frontier. 4 626. Triumphs af sea; the finances. \ 627. Whi^
Chester's defeat; operations on the northern finontier; Perry's victory; battie of tiie Thames.
4 828. Naval actions. 4 629. War with the Creeks and Cberokees. 4 680. Campaign
of 1814. 4 681. Battles of Chippewa and Bridgewater; siege of fort Erie. 4 682. Pre-
vost's defeat; McDonough's victory. 4 688. Attack on Washington and Baltimore.
4 684. Battle of New Orleans. 4 686. Conclusion of the war.
F. THE PEOPLE AND STATES oV EUROPE FROM THE
HOLY ALLIANCE TO THE PRESENT TIME, p. 491.
1. The Holy ADianoe and tiie position of parties, p. 491. 4 688. the Holy Alliance.
4 687. Liberals and conservatives. 2. France, p. 492. 4 688. Louis XVUL 4 689.
Beign of Charles X. 8. The constitutional struggles in the Pytenean peninsula and hi
Italy, p. 494. 4 640. Ferdinand Vn. and tilie GamariUa. 4 641. Victory of tiie oonstita
XVI COMTENTS.
tkmaUsto. ^ 649. Intenrantian of the Holy AlUanoe in Ital^r. ^ 648. DestraeUcm of tii0
Cortes* government in Spain. S 644. GcnstitatioDal itngglet in PortngaL 4. Qnat
Britain, p. 497. § 645. State of En^^d; increaBing poverty. ^ 646. Gout and govern-
ment \ 647. Ireland. 6. Qennany, p. 600. ^ 648. Straggle of opinions and position of
parties. S ^0- F^^t of the Wartbnrg; Sand; decrees of Oarisbad. 6. Greece's stmggla
for liberty, p. 608. f 660. YpsUanti and the sacred band. S ^^ Greece's straggle tin the
iUlofMis8o]onghi;thePhilheUenists. ^ 662. Navartno; Adrianople; conchiaion. ^668.7.
The new romantio Uteratnie, p. 606. ^ 664. 8. The July revdation of Paris and its ooose-
qoences, p. 507. §654. The July revolution. §655. General oonseqnenoes. §656. The revo-
lution m Belginm. § 657. Bise and fiill of Poland. § 658. Liberal movements in Germany.
§ 658. Insnrrections in Italy; straggles between throne and constitation in Spain. 9. Over-
throw of the throne of Jaly,.and the latest revolntionary tempests, p. 614. a. The yean
of political and social agitation. § 660. Internal stats of France. § 661. Italy ; Germany ;
Switzerland. 5. The Paris revelation of Febroary and its conseqaences, p. 518. § 662. The
revolation of Febroary and the French republic. § 668. The Karoh days hi Vienna and
Berlin, and commotions in Germany. § 664. Preliminory pariiament; committee of fifty;
national assembly. § 665. Italy's rise and fall. § 666. The truce of Mahno, and the
Frankfort September horron. § 667. The Vienna October days. § 668. Programme of
Gagem; dissolution of the Betlhi National Assembly. § 069. Kremsier; Hongary's rise and
falL § 670. The imperial constitation, and deputation to the emperor. § 671. Bevolu-
tionaiy movements in Saxony, Palatinate, and Baden, and the rump parliament § 67&
Schleswic-Holstehi; conclusion.
CHB0N0L06IGAL TABLE, p. 5S1.
BOOK FIRST.
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
INTRODUCTION.
I. THE FIRST RACE OF MEK.
§ 1. After God in the beginning had created the heavens and the
earth, had adorned the heavens with the sun, moon, and stars, had
clothed the earth with plants, and animated it with living animals ; he
made man in his own image, the crown of creation, and designed him by
the gifts of speech and reason for the ruler of the world. The first pair
came forth pure and spotless from the hands of their Creator, and lived
in childlike innocence in their native dwelling-place. Paradise, until
seduced hj the tempter, the serpent, thej ate of the forbidden tree of
knowledge, and, by this violation of the commands of God, lost their un-
conscious innocence and the possession of their first dwelling-place.
After this, they and their posterity were obliged to spend their lives
in labor and trouble, and to eat their bread in the sweat of their face.
Evil passions and desires were awakened, and disturbed the peace of
fiociety ; the violent impulses of a savage and unrestrained nature plunged
the later generations deeper and deeper into the disorders of vice and
crime, till at length a great fiood, called the deluge, destroyed the whole
race, with the exception of Noah and his descendants, from the face of
the earth. Noah's posterity, however, increased again so rapidly, that
the later generations, descended from his three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, were compelled to spread themselves abroad over the neighbor-
ing countries, on account of their home being no longer large enough to
contain them. It then entered into their minds to erect the Tower of
Babel, ^ whose top was to reach unto heaven,"* and to be a perpetual
memorial to them. God frustrated this presumptuous attempt by con-
fusing their language, and by this diversity of speech brought about their
• Geii.xL4.
2 THB AirCIBNI WORLD.
sepaiation. They dispersed themselves to all the four quarters of the
earth, and colonized the three oldest divisions of the globe, Asia, Africa,
and Europe, forming themselves into different peoples and nations,
according to the varieties of their language*
n. THE MANNER OF LIVING AHONa THE EABLIE8T RACES.
§ 2. Men chose different occupations and manners of living, according
to the diversities in their places of residence. The iohabitants oi steppes
and deserts, interspersed only here and there with fruitful pasture grounds,
chofie the life of shepherds, and roved as wandering tribes from place to
place, with their tents and herds. These are called nomads (wanderers),
and their principal occupation is the breeding of cattle. Those who settled
upon favorably situate parts of the sea-coast soon discovered, with
increasing population and development, the advantages of their position.
Thej practised navigation and commerce, and sought after wealth and
comfort, and, in furtherance of these objects, were incited to lay out towns
and erect elegant dwelling-houses ; whilst the inhabitants of inhospitable
shores supported a joyless existence by means of fisheries* Those who
lived on plains devoted themselves to agriculture and the arts of peace;
whilst the rude and hardy mountaineer gave himself up to the chase,
and, urged on by a violent impulse for freedom, sought his ddight in wars
and battles.
By the taming of wild cattle, man procured for himself at an early
period those indispensable assistants of labor, domesticated animals.
A mighty instrument in the civilization of the human race was axn-
merce, and the intercourse among different nations that sprang out of it.
Those who lived on fruitful plains, or on the banks of suitable riven,
carried on an inland trade ; the dwellers on the shores, on the cmitrary,
a coasting trade. At first, men exchanged one article for another (bar-
ter), and it was not till a later period that it occurred to them to fix a
certain value upon the precious metals, and to employ coined money as
an artificial and more convenient means of exchange. The inhabitants
of towns addicted themselves to trade and inventions, and cultivated arts
and sciences for the enriching and embellishment of life and the develop-
ment of the human understanding.
ni. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. DISTINCTION OF CASTES.
§ 3. With the process of time, nations were divided into the civilized
and uncivilized, according as the development of their intellectual powers
was furthered by talents and commerce, or cramped by dulness and isola-
tion. Uncivilized nations are either wild hordes, under the command of
a chief who possesses uncontrolled power over life and death, or wander.
ing nomadic tribes, guided by a leader, who, as father of the family,
exerdses the functions of prince, judge, and high priest Neither these
BrTBODUCTXON. 8
nomadic races with their patnarclial govenmieiit,iK>r the wild hordes that
dweU in the unknown deserts of Africa (Negroes), in the steppes and loftj
moantain ranges of Asia, or in the primeyal forests of America, find any
pkce in history. This concerns itself only with those civilized nationSi
who, from sinuJarity of manners and for mutual convenience, have united
themselves in peaceful intercourse and fellowship.
States are divided into republican and monarchical, according to the
form of their government or constitution. A state is called a monarchy,
when a single person stands at the head and manages its affairs. This
single person is called Emperor, or King, Duke, or Prince, according to
the extent of his dominions. The term, Free State, or Republic, is given
to that form of government in which the supreme power is placed in the
hands of an elective body, composed of numerous members. The repub*
lican form of government is sometimes aristocratic, that is, when only a
. few families, distinguished by birth or wealth, govern the community |
sometimes democratic, when the whole body of the people make the laws
and select the responsible officers of government.
The most ancient states were simple and uniform in their forms of
government, and possessed for the most part that great hinderance to free-
dom, the system of castes. By this is to be understood, a strict separation
of men according to their states and callings, which descended in unalter-
able succession from father to son ; by which means, all interchange of
conditions, or passing from one state to another, was rendered impracti*
cable. The priests, who alone possessed a knowledge of the religious
customs and institutions, and who bequeathed their knowledge to their
descendants, constituted the first' caste. The second caste comprehended
the soldiers, who were aflerwards successful in raising themselves to an
equality with the priestly condition. These two castes divided the govern-
ment between them. The third caste were the cultivators of the soil.
The fourth, the artisans. If shepherds constituted a distinct caste, they
were the lowest and most despised. The institution of castes was pre-
served for the longest time, and in the greatest purity, in India and Egypt.
IV. THE RELIUION OF THE HEATHEN WOBLD.
S 4. As men dispersed themselves over the earth, the original belief m
the one true God (Monotheism) was lost, and people fell into the worship
of many deities (Polytheism), adoring the visible works of creation, more
particularly the sun and the stars of heaven, instead of their Creator, or
else re%'erencing the operative powers of nature as divine beings. The
faith in a single divinity was preserved among the Jewish people alone,
in the worship of their hereditary Grod, Jehovah. The religions of all
other nations, diversified as they may be, are included under the term
Paganism. Instead of regarding the Supreme Being, the Creator and
Preserver of the universe, as a Spirit, and worshipping him in spirit and
4 THB ANCIENT WORLD.
in truth, the ancient nations gave him the figure of a man, deified his dif-
ferent powers and attributes, and then represented them under the greatest
variety of forms. Idols were fashioned from stone and metal, wood and
clay; temples and altars were erected, and sacrifices offered \o them;
partly to appease their wrath, and partly to obtain their favor. The sacri-
fices varied in character with the civilization of the people who offered
them. The Greeks and Romans instituted joyous festivals to their gods,
In which the fruits that were presented, and the animals that were slain,
from the modest gift of a firstling of the flock to the solemn sacrifice ot
a hundred oxen, (hecatomb), were socially consumed; whilst savage
tribes slaughtered human beings upon their altars, for the purpose of ap-
peasing by blood the wrath of hostile powers, for such they considered
their divinities to be. The Phoenician and Syrian tribes actually placed
their own children in the arms of a red-hot idol, Moloch. If, at first, the
image of the idol was only a visible symbol of a spiritual conception, or
of an invisible power, this higher meaning was lost in the progress of time,
in the minds of most nations, and they.came at length to pay worship to the
lifeless image itself. The priests alone were acquainted with any deeper
meaning, but refused to share it with the people ; they reserved it under
the veil of esoteric (secret) doctrine, as the peculiar appanage of their
own class. With the same object, they invented legends, stories, and fa-
bles about tlie gods whom they worshipped, clothed these in poetical
forms, and thus gave origin to mythology, or the science of the gods. In
these stories, the actions and histories of the different deities, and the re-
lations of men in regard to them, are described, not in clear and inteUi-
gible language, but veiled in enigmatical allusions, allegorical histories,
and figurative forms of expression. The greater the amount of creative
imagination and religious impulse possessed by a nation, the richer is its
mythology. If these legends of the gods served to excite the people to
superstition, the solenin worship in the sacred spaces of the temple, with
its mysterious ceremonies and symbolical usages, was no less calculated
to maintain in them a feeling of veneration and religious awe ; and, for
the purpose of establishing a belief in the presence of God, and his in-
terference in human affairs, more firmly, sacred places and temples of
note were provided with oracles, from which the credulous multitude
might gain information of -the future, in obscure, and oflentimes am-
biguous, language. In this way, the mind of man was led aw^y from
Divine Truth, and ensnared in lifeless ceremonies ; the simple relations
and inward tendency of the creature to the Creator were disturbed and
torn asunder ; the priesthood ruled the people by the might of supersti«
tion, and acquired wealth, honor, and power for themselves.
IHTBODUCTION.
A. THE EASTERN RACES.
I. THE ASIATICS.
§ 5. Asia, called from its situation the Eastern land, was the cradle
of the human race. The^situation of Paradise must he sought for in the
attractive neighborhood of the Himalaya mountains, the tops of which
lose themselves in the clouds. In the East arose those great nations and
cities whence other lands have derived a part of their civil institutions,
their religion, and their culture, and which have consequently received
the name of cities of civilization. In the East, the land of the camel,
^ the ship of the desert,'' first originated the splendid inland traffic called
the caravan trade, which exercised so important an influence on the pro-
gress of human culture. For the purpose of more easily undergoing the
difficulties and perils of lengthened journeys through regions but little
known, and thickly inhabited by predatory tribes, the Eastern merchants
assembled themselves in companies, and escorted their wares, packed
upon camels, from one place to another, in large, and frequently armed,
bands. These commercial journeys were the occasion for building towns
and places for traffic, and for the erection of storehouses and caravan-
saries. They brought about intercourse between the inhabitants of dis-
tant places, and were the means of communicating not only the produc-
tioD% but also the religious institutions and the social policy, of one land
to another. Temples and oracles of celebrity frequently served for mar-
kets and warehouses. It was in the East that nearly all the varieties of
religion took their origin, and gained their perfect development ; not only
the belief in one God, which prevailed among the Jews, and which after-
wards reappeared with renewed strength and purity in Christianity,
bat the pagan worship of idols, in all its multiplied varieties, with its
priestly power, its sacrifices, and its ceremonial worship. For upon
every thing that concerns the relation of the creature to its Maker, the
people of the East have thought most deeply and zealously, and have
attained results at which no other nation has arrived.
The forms of Eastern governments and constitutions were less nume-
rous than the religions. Among the nomadic races, the heads of the
tribes ruled with patriarchal authority ; in countries where the distinc-
tion of castes prevailed, the privileged classes were priests and soldiers :
from both arose, in the course of time, the unlimited kingly power, (des-
potism), which gave to the ruler the uncontrolled sovereignty of the
nomadic chie^ and the religious sanctity of the priestly king. In this
manner, the kingly authority gradually grew to such a height in the East,
that the possessor shared a respect almost equal to that which was paid
1*
0 THB ANGIEirr WORLD.
the Divinitj. In relation to the ruler, all the officers of state were re-
garded as slaves and menials, without either personal rights or property.
The king "disposed at will of the lives and possesalonff of his subjects ; he
gave or took away at his pleasure ; and no one dared to appear in his
presence, except with his bodj prostrated on the ground. He lived like a
god, in the midst of pleasure and enjoyment, surrounded by slaves, who
complied with his wishes, executed his commands, and submitted them-
selves to his pleasures ; and he was encircled by all the riches and pos*
sessions, by all the pomp and magnificence, of the earth. Such govern*
ments as these, in which law and human rights go for nothing, where
despotism and slavery are alone to be met with, possess no vital energy
and no capability of permanent civilization ; and for this reason, all ori-
ental states have become the prey of foreign conquerors, and their early
civilization has either been destroyed, or prevented from making farther
advances.
By original disposition, the Orientals are more inclined to contempla-
tive ease and enjoyment than to active exertion ; hence it has come to
pass, that the Eastern nations have never attained to freedom or sponta-
neous activity, but have either silently submitted themselves to their na-
tive rulers, or groaned under the yoke of foreign oppressors.
By dint of their intellectual capacity, they quickly attained to a certain
grade of civilization, but taderwards gave themselves up to an unenter-
prising pursuit of pleasure, until they gradually sunk into sloth and
effeminacy. This effeminacy was furdier promoted by the practice of
polygamy, a custom peculiar to the East, which is subversive of the
family affections, and of the domestic purity and morality which are their
attendants.
As regards the art of the'Orientals, the gigantic designs of their build-
ings, and their incredible patience and perseverance in erecting and
completing thein, are most worthy of admiration ; but their architecture
never displays the symmetry, the hannonious beauty, or the adaptadon
of means to ends, which characterize the architecture of a free people*
The productions of their arts and industry afford evidence rather of man-
ual dexterity, attidned by long practice, and rendered inalienable by the
tyranny of castes and guilds, than of inventive genius or active handi-
crafl. Slavery hung like a leaden weight on every outward manifesta-
tion of life in the East.
II. THS CHINESE.
§ 6. As the progress of the human race has in general followed the
course of the sun, it will be most advisable to commence its history with
the tribes of the extreme East In the vast empire of China has lived,
since the earliest period, a race of Mongolian origin, which has preserved
unchanged for ages the same culture and the same institutions* Every
XSTBOJ>VCnON. 7
duDg is there regulated by bereditaiy laws and castomsi and freedom is
eatirelj banished. This want of progressive deyelopment is occasioned
partly by the tenacious character of the people^ which induces them to
eUng fast to the customary and traditionary modes of living; partly by
the empire being cut off, by mountains, ^^as, and the lofly and extensive
wall of China, from all intercourse ;v^ith foreign nations, and from all
strangers being strictly prohibited^ from entering the kingdom; and is
partly produced by political instUmions. The emperor, who is possessed
of absolute power, and regarded with almost religious veneration, and the
numerous and privileged aristocratic class (mandarins), alike compel the
slavish and despised people to a strict observance of their traditionary
customs and usages, and deprive them of every thing new. As the Chi-
nese are thus prevented from profiting by the experience of foreign na-
tions, they remain inferior to other people in civilization ; though they
have been acquainted from the earliest ages with gunpowder, the art of
printing, and the mariner's compass. Notwithstanding they have long
been celebrated for their skill in the manufacture of silk, and in the pre-
paration of porcelain, writing materials, carved work, and simikur produc-
tions, their industry cannot be compared with the commercial activity and
diligence in the arts of the cultivated states of the West. The object of
their education is not such a development of the intellectual powers as
would lead to the cultivation of the whole of the human faculties, but
rather the teaching of that which their predecessors have known and
practised before them. This education, this mode of life, and form of
government, render the Chinese weak and cowardly ; they entertain, nev-
ertheless, the highest opinion of their own excellence, and regard all
other nations with lofty contempt. Their language is so clumsy and diffi-
cult, that it requires several years to learn even to read it The Chinese
pay great respect to Confucius (Hong-fu-tse) as the founder
of their religion.
in. THE INDIANS.
§ 7. To the south of the snow-covered heights of the lofty Himaldya,
extends a fertile and prosperous region, blessed with a healthy and vary-
ing dimate, and rich in productions of the most diversified character. In
this hind, watered by the Indus, the Ganges, and other large rivers, lived,
ages ago, a remarkable people, called Hindoos, or Indians, whose former
greatness is still attested by numerous buildings, ruins of towns and
temples, surprising memorials in inscripticms on stone, and innumerable
historical recollections.
The Indians are descended from the Aryans, who at one tune under-
took an expedition from their native highlands, and subjected the less
powerful aborigines of India. They soon changed their native nomadic
customs for the system of castes, which they adopted in its severest form.
8 THE AKCIEirr WORLD.
The most important caste were the priests, a wealthy, honorable, and pri-
vileged class, who were called Brahmans, or Brahiiuns. This caste was
considered sacred and inviolable ; thej could not be subjected to corporal
punishment for any crime, they were exempt from taxation, formed the
chieif council of the king, and filled all offices. Next to the Brahmins
came the wannors, who, in return for their pay and certain privileges,
were responsible for the security and defence of the kingdom. As, how-
ever, the frequent necessity for waging war or encountering enemies was
precluded by the remote situation of the country and the peaceful charac-
ter of its inhabitants, these soldiers soon became slothful and degenerate,
and thus rendered it easy for the priests to retain their political ascend-
ancy. The kings belonged to the caste of soldiers. The farmers and
artisans were heavily impressed with imposts, and held their land only
in fee.* The Pariahs, from whom the Gipsies are said to be descended,
are the dark-colored descendants of the wild aborigines, and are regarded
by the other Indians as the refuse of mankind, and treated with the deepest
contempt. " They do not venture to dwell in the towns, cities, or villages,
or even in their neighborhood ; every thing they touch is looked upon
as unclean, and it is pollution even to have seen them." Any intermix-
ture o( castes, by means of marriage, was severely prohibited. Persons
who were guilty of an infringement of this law, were cast out of society,
and exposed to contempt. This rigorous division into castes, which the
priests laid down as a divine ordinance, checked the progress of civil-
ization, and was the occasion that it never passed beyond a certain point,
and then lapsed into a state of repose and stagnation.
BELIGION, LITERATUSE, ART.
§ 8. The Indians reverenced in Brahma a divine first principle, which
appears under three forms, as Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer ; and
besides him, a crowd of spirits and inferior divinities. The central point
of their religion is the doctrine of the transmigration of the soul (me-
tempsychosis). According to this doctrine, the human soul is only joined
to earthly bodies for the purposes of punishment, and its aim and effort are
to again unite itself with the Divine Spirit of the universe. The Indian,
therefore, regards existence in this world as a time of trial and punish-
ment, which can only be abridged by a holy life, by prayer and sacrifice,
by penance and purification. If man neglects this, and sinks himself
still deeper into vice by departure from God, his soul after death will be
joined to the body of a different and inferior animal, and will have to
commence its wanderings afresh. On the other hand, the souls of the
wise, of heroes and penitents, enter upon their upward path through shin-
* The phnseolog^r here is ambigaous and not strictly oozxect The actoal cnltitators
of the soil had only a right of occupancy, not of ownership. Jm, Ei,
INTRODUCTION. 9
11^ Stars, and are finally united with the spiritual first principle whence
Ihtj proceeded. This doctrine was interpreted hj the Brahmins to sig-
nify that man could attain the end of his being only bj the uninterrupted
contemplation of divine things, and by abstraction from earthly concerns.
They placed, therefore, a higher value upon silent meditation and ab-
straction, Uian upon an active life ; withdrew from the inferior castes, and
believed, that, by acts of penance and self-inflicted tortures, by alms-giv-
ing and acts of outward holiness, and by the strict observance of innu-
merable laws, rules, and precepts, they brought themselves into closer
union with the Deity. Since it followed from the doctrine of transmi-
gration, that the souls of men might inhabit the bodies of animals, the
Brahmins dared not kill or injure anything endowed with life, or eat any
fiesk unless it had been offered in sacrifice.
The Indians possessed sensibility and a creative imagination. This is
partkularly apparent in their copious literature. Many of their works
and poems, the whole of which are composed in the sacred and now ob-
solete Simscrit language, and are intimately related to their religion and
theology, are ahready three thousand years old. The most important
worki are the four books of the Vedas, which are held in the most pro-
found respect, as the sources of the Brahminical religion. They contain
religicns hymns and prayers, directions respecting sacrificial offerings,
and mt ral precepts and proverbs. Next to the Vedas, the code of Menu
is held in the greatest estimation. Besides these, the Indians possess a
great nultitude of poetical works of all descriptions, distinguished by
highly fgurative language, as well as deep sensibility and religious feel-
ing. Meuiy of these works were brought to Europe by the English who
oonquerei the country, and were afterwards translated by learned men
into Grerman and other European languages. Indian art^ as well as lite-
rature, is intimately connected with religion. More particularly worthy
of remark are the rock-hewn temples and grottos, of which the most cele-
brated are to be found at EUorainthe middle of Lower India, at Salsette
nexir Bombay, and at the ishmd of Elephanta in the bay of Bombay. In
these places, we meet with temples, grottos, dwelling-houses, and passages,
covert with images and inscriptions he^vn one above another in the rock,
and extending for miles. These grottos contain an incredible quantity
of works artistically and elaborately executed, which must have required
the labor of many thousand hands for numberless ages, and the greatest
patience and perseverance for their completion.
The abundance of the productions of nature and art, pearls, precious
stones, ivory, spice, frankincense, and silks, made India, from an early
period, the great centre and emporium of the maritime and caravan trade;
but it also proved a lure to foreign invaders. Disunited and dismembered,
as well by the system of castes as by their political institutions, and ener-
vated and stupefied by their want of freedom, the Indians fell an ea^
prey to their warlike enemies.
10 THE iLNCIBNT WORLD.
IT. BABTLOXIANS AND ASSYRIANS.
§ 9. The fertile regions watered bj tbe Euphrites and Tigris, and the
grassy uplands of Mesopotamia, were formerly inhabited by Semide
Nimrod, tribes, including the Babylonians and Assyrians. Nimrod,
B. c. 2100. it a mighty hunter before the Lord," is named as the founder
of the Babylonian empire, and its chief city Babylon. This city was
built in form of a square, and washed by the waters of the Euphrdte^,
Ninus, which flowed through it A hundred years later, Ninus U said
B. c. 2000. to have built the great city of Nineveh, on the banks of the
Tigris, and to have subjected the Babylonians to his rule. The wife and
successor of Ninus, the legendary Semiramis, is descri)>ed as
an heroic and victorious woman, who carried her conquests
as ffm as India, embellished Babylon with magnificent works, (the hang-
ing gardens, raised upon terraces,) and provided her land with skilfully
constructed roads, canals, and buildings of every description. Beneath
the rule of her incapable and ejQTeminate successora, the Assyrian empire
fell gradually into decay, till at length the warlike governor of the Medes
rose against the unworthy sovereign, took possession of Nineveh, and
Sardaiiapalus. reduced the last king, Sardanapdlus, who was notorious for
B. c. 888. his luxury, intemperance, and voluptuousness, to such straits,
that he burnt himself in his palace, together with his wives and trea-
sures. Nevertheless, in the following century, a few warlike sovereigns,
Saimanasscr (*°iong whom were Salmandsser and Sanherib, who were dis-
B. c. 730. tinguished by their deeds and fortunes in Palestine,) were snc-
Sanheiib, ccssful in again restoring the Assyrian empire, and increasing
B. c. 720. it by fresh conquests. But the new Assyrian monarchy was,
like the old, but of short duration. A hundred and twenty-five years
Nineveh ^^^^ ^^® reign of Salmandsser, Nineveh was taken and
destroyed, destroyed by the Medes and Chaldeans, and tlie victors
B. c. 605. divided the land among themselves. Babylon fell to the lot
of the Chaldeans. Antiquities and works of art are still dug from the
ground where Nineveh once stood.
§ 10. From this period, the Chaldeans or Babylonians possessed the
ascendancy, particularly during the reign of the warlike and powerful
Nebuchad- Nebuchadnezzar, who laid Judah under tribute. But the
nezzar, splendor of Babylon soon passed away. A generation later,
B. c. 600. ^jjg Medes were the dominant race, and after them came the
Persians. Babylon was provided with wonderful architectural works by
the Chaldees. A broad and lofty wall surrounded the whole city, which is
said to have had a circumference of nearly sixty miles. The two impe-
rial palaces on the banks of the Euphrates, the square and lofty temple
of Baal, the god of the sun, which was magnificently adorned with sta-
tues and ornaments of gold, and served the purposes of an observatory,
were, together with the hanging gardens, the most remarkable objects.
INTRODTJCTION. 11
in Imilding, the Chald^ns made use of burnt bricks. Their Water
bmldingSy bridges, canals, dams, dikes, and so forth, were the most re<
maikable of their works. The worship of the heavenly bodies led the
Babylonian priests (who were more especially called Chaldeans) to make
astronomical observations ; they reckoned the course of the sun, and di-
vided the year: but as they mingled astrological speculations with their
science, they fell into errors, and wandered about the world at a later
period as diviners, interpreters of dreams, and magicians. We are also
indebted to the Chaldeans for the divisions of weights and measures, and
for the elements of geometry and medicine. The fertility of the land,
and their extensive commerce, brought wealth and its necessary attend-
ants, splendor and luxury. The Babylonians were, in consequence, not
less celebrated for their luxurious productions, their fine linen, their
sumptuous carpets, &c., than they were renowned and infamous for their
sensuality, their luxury, and their voluptuousness. Masses of ruins, and
heaps of rubbish, and a few monuments with inscriptions, mark the spot
where once stood the world-renowned Babylon.
Y. THE EGYPTIANS.
§ 11. The Greeks called Egypt a gift of the Nile; for it is from the
regular annual overflow of the river, occasioned by rains in the high lands
of Abyssinia, the waters of which are drawn off by all sorts of means,
canals, dams, and cisterns, that the land preserves its reniarkable fertility.
The valley of the Nile was divided, even at a remote period, into three
parts. First, Upper Egypt, where the vast and striking ruins of Thebes,
with their gigantic fragments of statues and columns, their colossal
sphinxes, (lions with women's heads), the tQpbs of kings hewn in the
bore rock, the subterranean catacombs, and the prostrate colossal statue
of Memnon, which is reported to have uttered musical sounds at the
rising of the sun, yet testify to the former splendor and magnificence of
the priestly city. Secondly, Middle Egypt, with its capitd, Memphis,
the viciiiity of which is also distinguished by the magnificent remains of
an historical antiquity. Among these are the ruins of the Labyrinth, a
building consisting of a number of intricate passages communicating with
each other, and the group of pyramids, which to this day are gazed upon
with amazement, as the miracles of architectural science. These pyra-
mids are built of hard freestone, rise from a square base, and terminate
at an immense height, in a point, or small fiat surface ; they appear to
have served as the sepulchral memorials of kings. Thirdly, Lower
Egypt, with its ancient metropolis, Helidpolis, which was, however, after-
wards eclipsed by Alexandria, and the historically remarkable places,
Sdis, Naiicratis, Sec Two branches of the Nile inclose Lower Egypt,
and, together with the sea, ^ve it the triangular form whence it derives
its name, Delta. '
12 THB AUCIENT WORLD.
§ 12. Egypt possessed^ at an inoonoeiTably early period, nnmberlefls
towns and Tillages, and a high amount of dyilization. Arts, sdencesi
and civil professions were cherished there, so that the Nile-land has always
been regarded as the mysterious cradle of human culture ; but the system
of castes checked free development and continuous improvement Every
thing subserved a gloomy religion and a powerful priesthood, who held
the people in terror and superstition. The doctrine, that, after the death
of man, the soul could not enter into her everlastuig repose unless the
body were preserved, occasioned the singular custom of embalming the
corpses of the departed to preserve them from decay, and of treasuring
them up, in the shape of mummies, in shafl-like passages and mortuary
chambers. Through this belief, the priests, who, as judges of the dead,
possessed the power of giving up the bodies of the sinful to corruption,
and by this means occa^sioning the transmigration of their souls into the
bodies of animals, obtained immense authority. The religion of the
Egyptians consisted partly in the worship of the heavenly bodies, but
also bore relation to the Nile and the natural qualities of the country.
Their principal deities were Osiris, Serdpis, and Isis; but as, besides
these gods, the animals sacred to them were objects of veneration, the
Egyptian religion gradually degenerated into the most monstrous animal
worship. This degeneracy became apparent in their art. At first, the
statues of their gods were represented with the human figure, although
in stiff attitudes and in stem and solemn repose ; but they appeared, at a
later period, with the heads of beasts, and soon afler, under an exclusively
animal form. Notwithstanding the magnificence of their architectural
productions, and the vast technical skill and dexterity in sculpture and
mechanical appliances which they display, the Egyptians have produced
but little in literature or the sciences ; and even this little was locked up
from the people in the mysterious hieroglyphical writing, which was
understood by the priests alone. There were three kinds of these hiero-
glyphics, which are met with on the writing-rolls which the Egyptians
prepared out of an aquatic plant called papyrus, and on the obelisks, —
pointed, four-cornered columns, hewn from a single block of granite, and
erected before the porticos of the temples.
Egypt was already an object of wonder and curiosity, in the time of
the Romans ; and such she remains, even to the present day. The fact
is attested by the eleven obelisks and the innumerable Egyptian carvings
in the hardest stone, at present in Home, and by the multitude of mum-
mies, ancient utensils, trinkets and ornaments, rolls of papyrus, and so
forth, that are to be met with in all the museums and cabinets of natural
history in Europe. But much as we may admire the patience of the
Egyptians, and their skill and dexterity in the practice of their arts, we
are everywhere struck with a want of free development, creative industry,
and personal freedom. The curse of the caSte-system lay upon every
INTRODUCTION. 18
external manifestation of life, whilst superstition and religious oppression
gare a gloomy coloring to existence, and disturbed every cheerful and
pleasurable feeling.
§ 13. So long as the priestly class possessed the government and
elected the king, the " hundredrgated " Thebes may have remained the
principal city ; but when the Egyptians were subjected to hostile attacks
from neighboring nations, and the military caste attained in consequence
to greater importance, Memphis appears to have been chosen as the me-
tropolis of Middle Egypt. Warlike sovereigns were about this time suc-
cessful in raising the military caste to an equality with the priestly, so
that they divided their privileges between them, and were boUi subjected
SeMSstris, to the kingly power. Sesdstris, who reduced the Ethiopians
B. a 1600. to tribute, and who is said to have reigned over a consider-
able portion of Asia and Africa, is particularly mentioned as one of these
Mcexu and victorious monarchs. After him, Moeris and Cheops are the
Cheops, 1080. most renowned kingly names. The first, on account of the lake
which he constructed, and which was named after him, and which appears
to have served the purpose of regulating the inundations of the Nile ; the
second, as the builder of the largest of the .pyramids, which is 450 French
feet in height, and on which 100,000 men are said to have been employed
for 40 years. The lives and actions of these ancient kings are shrouded in
darkness. The gloom begins to disappear about the middle of the seventh
oentury, when the royal house of Sdis, in Lower Egypt, assumed the
sovereignty, in the person of Psamm^ticus. For the purpose of weakening
the power of the priests, Psamm^ticus entered into alliance with the
Greeks, and received Greek soldiers and colonists into Egypt. Disgusted
at this pix>ceeding, 240,000 Egyptians migrated into Nubia, and there
founded a state of their own. Among the successors of Psamm^ticus,
N«chQ, Necho, the founder of the Egyptian naval and maritime
9. c 800. power, and the warlike Amisis, are particularly to be men-
-tioned. The son of the latter, Psammenftus, lost both kingdom and vic-
tory to the Persians, in the bloody battle of Peliisium (Suez). The
Persians- afterwards reigned over Egypt for a period of 200 years. But
the Egyptians did not unite themselves with their conquerors ; they re-
tained their own manners, institutions, and religious customs, together
with their aversion to every thing foreign.
VI. THE PH(ENICIAKB
§ 14. On the narrow strip of coast between the Mediterranean and
Lebanon, dwelt the maritime and commercial people of Phoenicia, in
many populous towns, among which Tyre and Sidon were the most
remarkable. The Phoenicians, an active and energetic race, would not
subject themselves to the restraints imposed by the caste-system. On the
contrary, every city, with the territory adjacent to it, constituted an inde-
2
14 THB ASCIBNT WORLD.
pendent commonwealth, at the head of which stood an hereditaiy soye-
reign, whose power, however, was greatly restricted bj the priests and
nobles. Collectively they formed a leagae of towns, of which, at fint
Sidon, and afterwards Tyre, was the chief. Intellectual activity and dili-
gence in business led this people to many discoveries ; among them wero
glass, the art of dyeing purple, and of writing by means of lettero. They
were also distinguished by their skill in casting metals, weaving, archi*
tecture, and various other matters. Sidonian garments, Tyrian purple,
Phoenician glass, and articles of ivory^ gold, and other metals, were pre*
cious and coveted wares in all antiquity. The favorable situation of their
country made them sailors, and the cedars of Lebanon supplied the mate-
rials for ship-building. Not only did the Phoenicians navigate the coasts
and islands of the Mediterranean in their splendid ships, for the purpose
of trafficking both in their own productions and in those of the distant East,
spices, ihmkincense, oil, wine, com, and slaves, but they even ventured
beyond the Pillars of Hercules, (Straits of Gibraltar), purchased tin from
the inhabitants of the British Isles, and amber from the people of the
Baltic, and undertook venturous expeditions to India (Ophir) and the
southern parts of Arabia. They are even said to have doubled the Cape
of Good Hope, in a voyage of three years' duration, undertaken at the
instigation of Necho, King of Egypt They established colonies on Crete
and Cyprus, at Sicily and Sardinia, in the south of Spain (Tartessos and
Gades, now called Cadiz), and in northern Africa. The commercial
city, Carthage, founded there by the Tyrians, under the con-
duct of Queen Dido, soon eclipsed the renown of the mother
country. The PhoBnidans paid less attention than the other Oriental
nations to the cultivation of religion. Their worship of Moloch was
accompanied with frightful human sacrifices, that of Baal with obscene
rites.
§ 15. In their contests with the wariike nations of Asia, tde Phoeni*
dans displayed both courage and patriotism. When the Assyrian Sal*
mandsser subjected Phoenicia to his sceptre, and compelled
the inhabitants to pay tribute, the Tyrians built New T^re
upon a neighboring island, and defended it with success, for &Ye years,
against the superior power of the enemy. The merchant Heet of Tyre
' soon again ruled the sea. Even the Babylonian. Nebuchad-
nezzar, who had subdued the mainland of Phoenicia, and had
transplanted the inhabitants of Old T^re, along with the Jews, into the
interior of his kingdom, was unable to shake the courage of the New
Tyrians. But these repeated attacks seem to have broken their power;
for when, shortly after, the Persians subjected the countries of western
Asia, Tyre also lost its freedom and independence. Phoenicia became a
Persian province. In the middle of the fourth century, the
oppression of the foreign governor produced a rebellion, at
INTEODUCnON. - 16
tbe kead of which stood Sidon. It was nnsnccessful. Sidon fell into the
faands of the Persian king ; and when this prince gave orders for the
ezecation of the principal citizens, the inhabitants themselves set fire to
the town, and consumed themselves and their treasures. Tyre existed
aome time longer ; but when Alexander the Macedonian overthrew the
Persian empire, and Tjrre, prond of its former glory, ventured to oppose
' the conqueror, it was taken and destroyed after a seven
months' siege. It never recovered from this stroke ; and its
trade and maritime power were transferred to Alexandria.
Vn. THE PEOPLE OF ISBAEL.
§ 16. Whilst the whole world was sunk into idolatry, a people of shep-
herds, of Semitic origin, dwelling in Mesopotamia, preserved the ori-
khrmhmM»^ gtual belief in a single God. Abram (Abraham), one of the
B. c. 9000. ancestors of this nomadic race, left his native pastures at the
eommand of Jehovah, and settled himself, with his cattle, his men-ser-
vants and maidens, and his brother's son. Lot, in ''the promised land"
Cinaan (Palestine), where they continued their pastoral life, and received
horn, the inhabitants the name of the *^ Strangers from the other side''
(Hebrews). Isaac, who was bom to Abraham by Sarah at an advanced
period of life, continued the race ; whilst Ishmael, Abraham's son by his
coDCubine Hagar, is regarded as the progenitor of the Arabs. Isaac took
to wife Bebekah, one of his own relatives acknowledging the true fiiith,
who brought him two sons, Esau and Jacob. By the cunning of his
mother, Jacob, the younger son, contrary to the usage that had hitherto
obtuned, was declared to be the chief of his race, but eould only gain pos-
Jacob. session of his inheritance afler a long period of probation,
a. c. ISM. Jacob had twelve sons ; but as he distinguished Joseph, the
gift of his bek>ved Bachel, by his peculiar affection, the others, moved
Joseph, ^7 envy, entertained the purpose of getting rid of their
B.ei7S0. brother, and sold him to some travelling merchants, who
took him with them into Egypt. As Joseph held fast his integrity, Grod
rewarded him with prosperity and wisdom. By his skill in the inter-
pretation of dreams, he obtained the favor of the Egyptian king, and
arrived at high dignity and honors. He saved the land from famine, and
by this means attained such credit, that he was permitted to invite his
father and brethren into Egypt, and to bestow upon them the fertile pas-
ture-lands of Goshen. The Hebrews were generally called Israelites,
from Jacob's surname of IsraeL
§ 17. At first, the Israelites were prosperous in the rich meadows
of Goshen. But when Joseph was dead, and fresh rulers, who knew
nothing of his services, assumed the government, dislike to strangers, and
contempt for the pastoral state, incited the Egyptians to cruelty andi
severity against the foreigners. They commenced by imposing severe
16 THE ANCIENT WORLD. '
socage daties upon them ; and when it was found that, despite this op-
pression, thej increased so rapidly that the Egyptians at length hecame
alarmed at their superior numbers, Phdraoh gave commandment to drown
all their newly-born male children in the Nile.
Mofles, Moses would have experienced this fate, had not the
B. o. 1600. daughter of Fhdraoh, who chanced to be walking on the
banks of the river just as he was about to be drowned, taken pitj on the
infant, and saved him. Moses came to the Egyptian court, where he was
carefully brought up, and instructed in all wisdom. The slaughter of an
Egyptian, whom he saw misusing one of the Israelites, compelled him,
when he was forty years old, to Hy to the deserts of Arabia. It was here
that he was inspired with the lofly purpose of becoming the deliverer of
his people from their Egyptian bondage. At first, Phibtioh refused to
let the ' Israelites depart ; but after terror and distress had been spread
over the land by the ten plagues which were sent upon it, he at length
consented to the retreat required by Moses and his brother Aaron. The
attempt to bring them back again by force, afler their passage over the
Red Sea, was attended with the destruction of the pursuers.
§ 18. For a period of forty years, Moses led a discontented people,
who were often pining for the fieshpots of Egypt, wandering in the desert,
for the purpose of strengthening their bodies, restoring virtue and a love
of freedom to their minds, and of rearing up a young and hardy race,
who should possess strength and courage for the conquest of the promised
land. It was during this period that the Ten Commandments, and other
laws relative to the religion and policy of the Israelites, were delivered
to Moses on Mount Sinai. These laws were preserved in the ark of the
covenant, the most sacred of tabernacles. Their interpreters were the
high priests, to whose office Aaron and his posterity were appointed. By
their side stood the Levites, as sacrificing priests, teachers, lawyers, and
physicians. According to the system of Moses, Jehovah himself was king
and ruler ; it was in his name that the elders of the tribes conducted tiie
temporal government, whilst the chief priest and Levites superintended
the affairs of religion. Sacrifices and feasts (those of the Passover, Pen-
tecost, and Tabernacles) formed the pleasant bond between Jehovah and
the ^ chosen " people. In the sabbath-year, the lands were left untilled,
and that which grew spontaneously was given up to the poor. Li every
fiftieth year (year of Jubilee), lands that had been alienated were returned
to their original possessors, that property might not be too unequally
divided. Moses determined upon agriculture in preference to the pastoral
life, as the principal occupation of his people.
§ 19. It was not permitted to the great lawgiver to lead his people
into the promised land. He gazed from the top of Mount Nebo on the
iJoshuA, beautiful plains of the Jordan, and then departed from among
B. c 1450. the living, after having chosen Joshua as his successor.
THE lASTBRN RACB8. 17
imd exhorted the assembled people to hold fast upon the God of their
fathers, and to root out the Canaanites. Scarcelj, however, had the peo-
ple, under the command of the yaUant Joshua, conquered the Amorites
and the other tribes, than they gave up war, and demanded the distribu-
tion of the vanquished lands. This distribution took place hj lot (in
accordance with the regulation of Moses) among the twelve sons of Jacob,
in such a waj that Ephraun and Manasseh succeeded to equal shares;
vhile, on the other hand, the descendants of Levi had no distinct inherit-
ance, and received only a few towns and a tenth part of the productions
of the earth. Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, chose the pasture-
land on the east of Jordan; the others settled on the western side of
the river.
§ 20. But many powerful tribes, as the Ammonites and Philistines,
were still left unsubdued, and disturbed the Israelites in the enjoyment
of their possessions. Bloody and destructive wars induced a rude and
barbarous condition of society ; and the Israelites not unfrequently forgot
the living God, who had brought them out of bondage, and fell into the
practice of idolatry, until misfortunes and defeats again brought them
back to a better understanding. At these times, men of heroic courage
would arise, defeat the enemy in victorious fields, and restore the ancient
manners and the faith of their ancestors. These men are called Judges,
in the sacred writings. . . . The most renowned among them are Gideon,
Samuel, Jephthah, Samson the strong, and the heroic Deborah. But
B. c 1150. the high priest Samuel, a pious and patriotically disposed
man, was the first who was successful in reuniting the ancient ties which
bound the people of Israel to their God, and in restoring to the laws of
Moees their former ascendancy. He overthrew the Philistines, and
founded the schools whence proceeded those inspired oracles of the peo-
ple, distinguished in the Bible by the name of Prophets.
S 21. The sons of Samuel did not walk in the steps of their father, but
perverted the right At this period, the Israelites, in imitation of the
surrounding nations, desired a king, who, as perpetual chief, might lead
them forth to battle and victory. It was in vain that the gray-headed
high priest sought to dissuade them from this request, whilst he portrayed
in the strongest colors the misery and oppression that awaited them under
a kingly rule. The Israelites persisted in their intention, and Samuel
$g^ anointed Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, to be king. Saul
B. c. 1005. was a man of majestic person, brave, experienced in military
affairs, and successful in the field ; but as he placed his trust in his army,
and did not hold fast the commandments of Jehovah, he was rejected, and
Samuel anointed the shepherd lad, David, of the tribe of Judah. Saul at
this time was attacked with a spirit of melancholy, which nothing but the
harp of David could alleviate. But env/of the renown acquired by
David in the wars against the Philistines, and a secret presentiment <^
2«
18 THS AKOnsm WOKLD.
tlie destiny that iiwaited lum, urged Saul to hale and penecate the jovng
sh^herd; SwTb aod, Jooathaiiy on die other hand, was dcTFOted to him
with true aflbetioii. David, neTertheleaB, in the midst of dangers and
dktreasesy esd^ed the attempts of his enemy; and at length, when SanV
after having enstained a defeat, threw himsdif in deqianr npon his sword,
David was gradaally recognized as king by the whole of the tribes.
David, § 22. The reign of David is the glorious period of Jewish
B. €. 1050. history. By means of succesdfiil wars, he enlarged his king-
dom to the South and East; he made the Syrian town, Damascns, hia
footstool, and broke forever the power of the Philistines; he conquered
Jerusalem, the chief city of the Jebusites, together with the stnmg for-
tress Zion, and selected it for a residence, and the central point of a
solemn religious worship ; and with this view, commanded the ark of the
covenant to be brought thither. David was also a great poet, as is abun-
dantly shown by his admirable religious hymns (Psalms); and despite
many grievous transgressions, he still remained ihe ** man after Qod'a
own heart," since by sorrow and repentance he always regained the fm>
giveness of Jehovah. The end of his reign was disturbed by the rebel-
Solomon, iion of his bek>ved son, Absalom, who was led astray by evil
B. c. 1000. counsellors. The wise Solomon completed the work of hie
father. As David had been great in war, so his son was illustrious in
the arts of peace. He adorned his capital with splendid buildings, and
erected on the hill of Moriah, by the aid of TS^rian artists and masons,
the magnificent temple which bore his own name, and which, on account
of the richness of its gilding and ornaments, was the object. of universal
admiration. But Solomon departed in many things from the laws of
Moses. He traded with the neighboring nations, and thereby acquired
incalculable wealth, which stimulated his love of luxury, pleasure, and
magnificence ; he took to himself wives from a foreign people, permitted
them the exercise of their idolatrous worship, and even took part in it
himself. His lofty mind and admired wisdom did not secure him from,
folly. His love of magnificence and extravagance was the occasion of
oppressive taxes ; and even during his own life, an insurrec-
tion broke out under the guidance of Jerobdam. This was
indeed suppressed, and the originator compelled to take flight ; but when
Bohoboam, Solomcm's son, BeholxSam, pursued the same course his father
B. c 976. had taken, and repelled with threats the prayers of the peo-
ple for relief, many of the tribes fell from him, and chose Jerobdam for
king. Judah and Benjamin alone remained faithful to the legitimate
royal race.
§ 28. From this divisicm there arose two states of unequal magnitude,
the kingdom of Israel, or Ephraim, formed of ten of the tribes, with its
eapitals, Shechem and Samaria, and the kingdom of Judah, consisting of
two tribes, with its chief city, Jerusalem. As Jerusalem preserved the
THE EASTERN RACES. 19
ark of the covenant, and was in consequence regarded by the Levites
and many pious Israelites as the true chief dtj, Jeroboam set up the
worship of idols in the southern and northern parts of his kingdom, a sin
which was shared bj the whole of his successors. One of the most im-
pious among these was Ahab, whose wife, Jezebel, a Tjrian, introduced
the blasphemous Phoenician worship of Baal, and raged violentlj against
those who would not do him homage. Bj means of her daughter, Atha-
liah, who was married to a king of Judah, the same worship was intro*
duced into Judah, and favored hj the court The consequences were,
intense hatred and contention, and at length, civil wars between the two
kingdoms, by which they were mutually weakened ; they then entered
into alliances with other nations. The voices of the prophets, who boldly
foretold the destruction of the state if the worship of Jehovah were thrust
aside for the worship of idols, died away unheeded. When the land was
threatened by the Babylonians and Assyrians, Isdiah referred to the
ixmiing Messiah as the only Savior; and Jeremiah lived to see that
destruction of the state, concerning which he had in vain warned the
blinded people.
§ 24. The £phraimitic kingdom of Israel was first subjected to tribute
by the Assyrians. But when the king, Hoshea, entered into an alliance
with the Egyptians for the purpose of escaping from this impost, the
Assyrian king marched an army into the land, subdued Samaria, and led
away the king, with the greater portion of his subjects, into
the Assyrian captivity. Foreigners entered into the land,
and the intermixture of these with the remaining Israelites gave rise to
the Samaritans. Judah survived 130 years longer. After the fall of
Israel, it became tributary to Assyria. But when this nation went to
war with Egypt, the king of Judah sided with the latter, and refused the
tribute to the Assyrians. The Assyrian king, Sanherib, (Sennacherib,)
came up against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. But Judah'S hour was
not yet come, whilst the pious Hezekiah sat upon the throne. The host
of the Assyrians was almost entirely destroyed in a single night, and San-
herib (Sennacherib) retreated from the land in horror. It was to the
victorious Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, that it was first allotted to make
an end of the nation polluted with new idolatries. He took
Jerusalem, plundered the temple, carried away the king and
the chief inhabitants into the interior of his dominions, and oppressed with
a heavy hand those whom he sufiered to remain. This induced the last
king, Zedekiah, to try once more the chances of war ; but he
met with little success. Nebuchadnezzar burnt the city and
temple, slaughtered the citizens, and at length carried away the deluded
king and the greater part of his people into the seventy years' Babylonian
captivity. In their necessity, the Jews again sought the God of their
fiithers, and found grace in his sight. One of the prisoners, the prophet
20 THE ANCIENT WOBLD.
Daniel, arrived at high honors, and alleviated tlie fate of his brethrea.
After some years, Babylon was conquered by the Persians,
iipon which Cyrus suffered the Jews to return to their
homes. Only a small portion returned at first, under the conduct of
Zenibbabel ; these commenced the rebuilding of the temple. But as
they avoided all intercourse with the Samaritans, this people, moved by
hatred, endeavored in every possible way to disturb their purpose. They
procured a prohibition of the building, which was already commenced,
B. c 615 ^"^ which, in consequence, was not completed till the reign
of Darius. During the reign of Artaxerxes in Persia, fresh
B. c 460. troops, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to their homes,
rebuilt the city, and reestablished the laws of Moses. They had been
taught by suffering, that salvation and deliverance were only to be found
in a steadfast adherence to the faith of their ancestors; and from this
time forth, they were more careful in shunning idolatry, and all contact
with idolatrous nations.
Till. HEDES AND PERSIANS.
S 25. Media and Persia, two countries where savage and occasionally
attractive mountainous regions alternate with rich pasture grounds and
fertile arable lands, were formerly inhabited by tribes who drew their
origin from the ancient Zend races dwelling farther to the eastward.
They possessed a remarkable religion, which was founded by the ancient
sage, Zoro4ster, and had been delineated by him in the sacred books of
the Zend-Avesta. According to this system, there are two first princi-
ples ; a spirit of light, Ormuzd, and an evil spirit of darkness, Ahriman.
Both of these have armies of similar spirits under them, and are to wage
perpetual war with each other till the end of the world; when the spirit
of light will become victorious ; upon this, the evil spirit is to disappear,
and the human race to be rendered happy. This doctrine was repre-
sented by a powerful hierarchy of priests, the Magi, in a solemn religious
ceremonial. The god of light was worshipped under the form of the
sun and of fire, the spirit of darkness was propitiated by sacrifices and
prayers.
§ 26. Tlie Medes remained for a long time under the dominion of foreign
nations ; at length, they roused their courage and fought valiantly for
their freedom. But a few warlike kings soon after succeeded in suppress-
ing the newly-acquired liberties of the people, and in establishing a mili-
tary despotism. They at the same time subdued some of the neighboring
people, and among others, the cognate tribe of the Persians. But their
Astyages, rule was but of short duration ; Ast^ages, the la^t of the Me-
B. c, 676. dian kings, had a vision, which the diviners interpreted to
signify, that the son of his daughter should, at some time, rule over
Media and western Asia. Alarmed at this, he gave his daughter in mar-
THB SASTSKN RAOBS. 21
liage to a petty prince of the subjected tribe of Persiansi and when she
bronght forth a son named Cjrms, he commanded him to be put to death
in the obscurit J of a remote forest. Gyrus only escaped the fate designed
for him, through the compassion of the shepherd to whom the execution
of the murder was intrusted. He was brought up as the son of the shep-
herd, but whilst yet a youth, gave such eyidence in his^pastimes of -an in-
nate spirit of command, as led to his being brought before the king and
recognized. Ast^ages, pacified by the diviners, now allowed Cyrus to be
brought up in a manner suitable to his rank, and sent him back, when he
had arrived at maturity, to his parents in Persia. It was here that the
project of freeing his brave but subjected countrymen from the yoke of
the Modes, and leading them forth to victory and conquest, first arose in
his mind. His mighty spirit and commanding person compelled the Per^
eians to admiration and obedience. He marohed against the Medes ;
Ast^ages, betrayed and overcome, relinquished the throne to his success-
Cjnoy ful grandson, who now became the founder of an empire that
B. c ceo. embraced almost all the civilized nations of Asia.
^ § 27. At this time. King Cnesus, who possessed such enor^
mous wealth that his name is become proverbial, reigned in
Sardis, the principal city of Lydia. Cyrus declared war against him.
Croesus, deceived by an ambiguous oracle, passed over the boundary stream
of the Halys to attack the Persians, but suffered a defeat, and was obliged
to fly in haste to his capital. Cyrus pursued him, took Sardis, and com-
manded the captured king to be cast into the flames. Croosus al]:eady
sat bound upon the funeral pile, when his recollection of Solon, the wise
man of Athens, saved him from destruction. Solon had once visited Sar-
dis, and been hospitably entertained by the king. Proud of his prosperity,
Cnesns had the sage led through his treasure-chambers, and displayed
before him the whole of his riches. He then asked him who it was that
he considered to be the happiest of mortals, nothing doubting that Solon
would name Croesus. The sage, however, mentioned a few persons,
who^ after leading a virtuous life, had met with a becoming death : when
CnssQS again asked him whether he did not look upon himself as a
happy man, Solon made the significant reply, ^ that no man could be con-
sidered happy before death.'' These words occurred at this moment to
the captive king, and he exclaimed bitterly, <' Oh ! Solon, Solon ! " The
exclamation awakened the curiosity of Cyrus ; he had the story related
to him, and struck by the truth of the words of Solon, set Crcesus at
liberty, held him in high estimation, and consulted him in all his undei^
takioga.
{ 28. With the same good fortune did Cyrus overthrow the empire of
Babylon. As the Babylonians, in full security of the impregnability of
their city, were celebrating a festival, and their luxurious king, Nabon-
nddus, (Belshazzar), was contemptuously defiling the sacred vessels of
S2 THB ANCIENT WORLD.
Ihe Jews, the Feraiaiis penetrated into the town bj an arm of the
Enphratee, the waters of which they had drained off, killed the king, and
snbdued the country* By this conquest, Syria, Palestine,
and Phoenicia also fell under thie dominion of the Persians,
and the Of^ptive Jews reoeived permission to return to their country.
Soon after this, Cyrus undertook an expedition against the Massigets,
a wild nomadic race, living near the borders of the Caspian Sea. He
was snccessfol at firat, by means of a military stratagem, and destroyed
many of the enemy, among them a son of their queen, Th<Sm j^ris. But
shortly after this, he and a great part of his army fell into the hands of
the Mass^tsB ; and the queen, thirsting for revenge, cast the severed
head of the mighty Persian king, with an ezpressicm of contempt, into a
vessel filled with blood.
Cambyses, i 29. Camb^ses, the victorious and tyrannical son of Cyrus,
B. c. 529. enlarged the Persian empire by the conquest of Egypt The
fistte of the dwellers on the Nile was frightful. The unfortunate king^
Psammem'tus, after witnessing the oppression ci his subjects,
and the dishonor of his family, was put to a violent death ;
the Egyptian temples and sanctuaries were profaned, the treasures plun*
dered, and the inhabitants abused. But the Persians also encountered a
heavy doom. ,Two armies, that Cambyses despatched for the conquest of
the priestly state of AmmiSnium, found their graves in the sandy deserts
of Libya. This state had its central point in the temple and oracle of the
ram-homed Jupiter-Ammon, in lihe oasis of Siwah, and was, like Thebes,
a colony of the original pontifical state, M^roe, which had once subsisted
in Nubia, in the midst of a savage negro population. Camb^ses died
after a violent reign of seven years, in consequence of an injury he acci-
dentally inflicted on himself with his own sword. The Egyptians ascribed
his sudden death to the vengeance of the gods for the slaughter <3i the
sacred ox. Apis.
Dflrins S ^^* Some time after this, seven illustrious Persians
Hystaspes, agreed together, that they would ride in the direeticm of the
B. o. 621. rising sun, and that the man whose hor:^ neighed first should
be made king. In this manner, Darfus, the son of Hyst^pes, and the son-
in-law of Cyrus, gained the throne, which he occupied, not without re-
nown, for the space of thirty-six years. He divided the kingdom into
satrapies, regulated the imposts, and conducted great wars. But his arms
were not always successful. When he invaded the nomadic tribes, called
Scythians, dwelling on the steppes of the lower Danube, this people
retreated with their tents and herds, and surrendered their naked fields
to the enemy, who were soon reduced by want to the brink of destruction;
and when at length attacked by the Scythians, were compelled to make a
most disastrous retreat over the Danube.
S 31. The simple manners and military virtue of the Persians soon
•
HI8T0BT OF aB8BC8» 28
d^;eaemtied. The magnifioenoe of the conrt, where crowds of offioiafa
mod priestly counsellors, of serrants and guards, battened on the pros-
perity of the country, destroyed the well-bemg of the proyinces. The
royal table was famished with dishes and liquors of the rarest quality,
brought from the most distant regions. A harem of ostentatious and
iatriguing women, who frequently had the revenues of whole towns and
provinces allotted to them to defray the expenses of their trinkets and
wardrobes, increased this luxury and profuseness. The court moved
with the seasons. The winter was passed in the genial climate of Baby-
lon ; the spring in Susa ; the summer in the oool Ecbdtana. Numerous
gardens arranged fbr the production of fruit, and inclosures where wild
animals were preserved, contributed to the more refined pleasures of the
Persian monarchs when on their travels. The governors of the pro-
vinces imitated the luxury and extravagance of the royal courts to the
detriment of their lands, which were protected neither by laws nor the
regular administration of justice from arbitrary and despotic authority.
For ihe rest, the vast empire of Persia was but a conglomeration of
heterogeneous elements, where the most diversified manners, institutions,
and nationalities were approximated to each other without internal union^
withoot strength, and without support.
B. mSTORT OF GREECE.
I* OSOQRAPHICAL 8UBVET. — €L TBS GBXEK OOSTINEKT.
{ 82. Greece is the southern portion of a large half-insular piece of
land, which appears broad and unbroken in its northern part, narrow,
irregular, and perforated by bays and inlets on its southern coast It is
traversed by numerous ranges of mountains, and consists of rocky and
hilly tracts, which divide the country into a multitude of small, secluded,
and isolated regions, and favor the production of numerous and separate
states. Greece is divided into — Northern Greece, Central Greece, and
Peloponnesus. Northern Greece consists of the rude mountain region
of Epfrus and Thessaly. Between these two lands extends, from north
to south, the wild and rugged mountain range of Pindus, the summit of
which is almost always covered with snow. Thessaly, with its fruitful
plains and luxuriant pasture grounds, admirably fitted for the breeding of
horses, is inclosed by another branch of the same range. The vale of
Tempe, near Olympus, the hill of the gods, was celebrated in antiquity
fbr its natural beauties. Among the cities may bo mentioned Larfssa,
on the Pen^us, and Pharsilus, with its battle-field. The souOiem range
of hills is called CEta. Between the foot of these mountains and the bay.
34 ZHB ANOIBNT WOBLD.
is a narrow delfile, that forms the only natural commaiucadoa between
Theesaly and central Greece. This is the celebrated pass of Ther-
mdpjlsB. Central Greece, or Hellas, traversed by branches of the CEtian
range, is divided into eight small and independent states. The most im-
portant among them are, Attica, a hill j country, rich in olives, figs, and
honey, with its chief city, Athens, its seaport, Pind'us, and the battle-field
of Mdrathon. Opposite Athens lie the two islands, iEgina and S^Uamia ;
the first renowned for its early cultivation, its trade and navigation ; the
latter, for the naval engagement during the Persian war. BoecStia, a fer-
tile corn-producing country, with its seven-gated capital, Thebes; the
heroic Platss^a, and the renowned battle-fields of Leuctra and Chaeron^a.
Phods, with the hills of Helicon and Pamdssus, renowned as the seats
of the Muses. At the foot of the latter, in a spot that was looked upon
as the centre of the earth, Liy the sacred temple city of Delphi, with its
celebrated oracle, and numerous magnificent buildings.
Peloponn^us (at present Mor^) is connected with Central Greece
by the isthmus of Corinth. This peninsula is surrounded on four of hs
sides by the sea, and is an entirely mountainous country. In its centre
is situated the rude region of Arduiia, with its beautiful valleys and fer-
tile pastures inhabited by a hardy race of shepherds. Mantin^ and
Megalopolis, founded by Epaminondas, are among the most celebrated
of its towns. In the north of the peninsula, on the shores of the Cor-
inthian gulf, lies Achara, with its twelve cities, which were united together
in the third century by the celebrated Achdian league. Sfcyon, and the
rich and art-loving Corinth, were also joined in this confederation. To
the East was Argolis, a rocky region abounding in bays and creeks, with
its chief city, Argos ; Myc^ne, the ancient royal seat of Agamemnon and
Tiiynthus, in the neighborhood of which were to be found the remains
of gigantic buildings (Cyclopean walls). To the south lay the rugged
Lacdnia, or Lacedaemdnia, with the mountain of Tdygetus, and a few fer-
tile plains in the valley of the Eurdtas ; near this was the renowned city
of Sparta, with about 60,000 inhabitants. Westward from Lacede^mon
extended to the sea-coast the fruitful region of MessOnia, with the for-
tress IthiSme, and the maritime city Pylos : northward from this lay Elis»
the territory of which was regarded as sacred, and, in consequence, was
never viMted with war, together with the city and plain of Olympia, ren-
dered famous by the Olympian games.
h. THE 6BEEK ISLANDS.
§ 83. To the east and west of Greece lay a multitude of lai^ and
small islands, which are of the greatest importance in Greek history.
They were almost all remarkable for their fertility in wine, oU, fruits,
and similar productions; carried on an extensive trade, and possessed
even at an early period a high amount of civilization. The most remaik
mSTOBT OV GBBSCfi: 25
able among them are, on the west, Corcyra, (at present Corfu), renowned
even in the earliest ages for its wealth and cnltnre, and where, at a later
period, the Corinthians founded a colony ; and the stony f thaca, the
dwelling-place of Ulysses. In the southern sea, the large island of Crete,
which in the time of Homer, numbered a hundred cities, but which was
dreaded and infamous oq account of its piracy ; Cyprus and Cyth^ra,
celebrated for the worship of Venus; and Rhodes, renowned for the
casting of metals, and for its statue of the god of the sun (Colossus),
seventy cubits in height But the sea the most rich in large and small
islands is the iBg^an on the east, which for this reason has given its
name — Archipelago — to every sea abounding in islands. Off the east-
em coast of Greece, and only divided from it by the narrow channel
Eurfpus, lies the long and fertile island Euboe'a (N^gropont), with the
maritime and commercial cities Er^tria and Chalcis. Farther eastward,
we meet with Lemnos, Thasos, Imbros, and Samothrdce, the anciently
renowned localities of mysterious religious customs. The group of islands
lying nearest the east coast of Peloponnesus, are called C^clades, because
they lie in a circle (Cycles). Among them are Delos, the sacred birth-
place of Apollo and Didna; Faros, celebrated for its marble ; and Naxos,
for its wine. Eastward from these we encounter a number of scattered
islands, the Sp<5rades. The most important, both on account of their^size
and fertility, and the wealth and civilization of their inhabitants, are the
islands lying off the coast of Asia Minor, — Lesbos, with its flourishing
town Mityl^ne, Chios, Samos, Cos, and others. Lastly, the rocky island
of Patmos, celebrated as the residence of the Evangelist, St John.
n. RELIGION OF THE OBBEK8.
§ 84. Nowhere did the heathen worship of idols assume a more cheer-
ful aspect than among the Greeks, a great part of whose mythology was
afterwards adopted by the Romans and incorporated with their own
religious system. According to the religious views taken by the Greeks,
the world was originally a rude and formless mass (chaos), from which
the heaven and earth separated themselves as independent divinities.
The earth, after this, produced beings of superhuman stature and strength,
the Titans, who were possessed of the supreme authority, until a more spirit-
aal race arose, who gathered themselves around the king of heaven, Zeu8|
or Jupiter, deprived them of their power, overcame the giants and Titans
who attempted to storm the skies, and buried them in the abysses of the
earth. After the unruly forces of nature and the power of the elements
had been thus subdued, Zeus erected his throne upon Olympus, whilgft
Pluto governed the gloomy regions of the subterranean world, (Hades,
Tilr^rns, Orcus), and Poo^idon (Neptune), with his trident, ruled the
sea. Hera or Juno, the queen of heaven, the virgin Pallas Athene
(Minerva), armed with helm and shield, the protectress of the liberal arts,
8
9q 1KB AHCnSTT VQUiD.
atnd c£ all intelleotaal emplojmen^ ApdUo, the gloriom god of H^il,
and some othen, were the objects of similar TeneratioD* Besides these,
woods and mountains, fields and meadows, riven and lakes, were inhar
bited bj an innmnerable mnltitode of divine beings,-— nymphs, nereids,
tritons, sirens who with their magic songs aUnsed men to destanction, and
manj others that frequentlj interfered in homan affidnu An heroic race,
that derived its origin f)x>m Zens, was the eonnectiDg link between gods
and men ; whilst the interval between men and the animal tribes was
filled up by an inferior race of fiuins and satyrs, who united together
hmnan and bestial qualities, finman life- and this world of divinities
were supposed to be most intimatelj related with each other. From the
moment of his birth, a guardian spirit (genius, demon) stood bj the side
of eveiy man for his whole life, and exereised an influence upon his
resolutions and actions, without however interfering with the freedom of
his will. The household hearth was the residence of sacred don^estic and
family deities (Lares, Pendtes), who [M^eserved the dwelling from evil;
and every important event of life was under the guardianship of a sepap
rate divinity. In opposition to the Christian view, which looks upon the
life of this worid as a state of probation, and of transition to a higjher
form of existence, the joyous Greeks referred all their pleasures to the
earthly life, and looked upon the shadowy existence of the subterranean
world as but its melancholy continuation. They nevertheless believed in
rewards and punishments, and in a state of immortal existence. Tbe
departed were brought by Hennes (Mercury), the conductor of the dead,
before the three judges of the lower world, and, according to their decs
sion, they were either sent to the residence of the righteous (Elysium, the
happy islands), or to the place of condemnation (Tartarus). Many
sacrifices were ofiered on the graves by the survivors to the souls or
shadows (manes) of the departed. This free and beautiful system of
mythology is dispLiyed in the most perfect productions of Gre^ art and
poetry.
L GREECE BEFOBE THE PERSIAN WAE.
I. THS TIME OF THE TBOJAN WAS.
§ 85. The Pelasgi are believed to have been the most ancient inhabit-
ants of Greece. They were an agricultural and peaceful people, with a
religion that was founded upon the veneration of nature, and in which
the earth-mother Dem^ter (Ceres), the wine-producer Dion^us (Bao-
chns), and the oracle-giving nature*god, Zens of Dod<5na in Epfrus, were
the divinities that esgoyed the greatest reverence. This raligioiL oi
HBXOBT OJ GfiBVn. 27
Mteve, together wkh the KemaiiM of a primeiFal aidiitoetimr towns and
fo^ cities, and espedally tke impexishable Cjdopean waHs in Pelopon-
B^QS, which are built of scpiared stones fitted together without cement,
leads to the opimon tbat the Pelasgi bore a xesemblanoe, ia their cultiiffe
and religioos lastitations^ to the people of the East ; and that^ conse-
quenUj, inteiooiuse must have existed at an earlj period between
Greece, Asia, and Egypt This view receives oorroboradoa from the
legends respecdng (wiental colonists, who settled in Greeoe and diffused
the seeds of civilLsadon at an incon^eivablj remote period. In the same
waj, Cecrops the Egyptian came to Attica, the PluBnidaa Cadmus to
BoMitia, the Phrygian Pelops to the peninsula, named after him, Pdo-
ponn^us.
§ 86. The Pelasgi were either driven out or subjugated by the war-
fike Hellenes, who gradually subjected the whole of Greeoe to their
power. These Hellenes are divided into three tribes: the Dorians, in
Peloponn^us ; the lonians, in Attica and the islands ; and the MdlUoDB,
in Bcedtia and the other states. They distinguished themselves at an
early period by great warlike achievements, and by founding cities and
ferdgn colonies. It is in the poetical legends of the twelve labors of
Hercules, of the voyage of the Athenian hero Theseus to the seo^mling
Crete, and of the daring Argonautic expedition, that the first traces of
historical fiicts are preserved, distorted and obscured, as they may be, by
a mass of fables. The Thessalian Jason, with the most renowned heroes
of his time, (Hercules, Theseus, Castor and Pollux from Laoedn'mon,
and the Thradan musician Orpheus), undertook the Argonautic expedi-
tioo, in the ship Aigo, to the distant land of Colchis, on the east coast of
the lUack Sea, for the purpose of obtaming the golden fieece, which, as
the legend reported, Phiyxus, the son of the Thessalian king, had years
before suspended there, and which was watched over by a sleepless
dragpn. This Phryxus and his sister Helle had a wicked step-mother,
who entertained designs against the lives of the two children. Their
departed mother, Ndphele, the goddess of clouds, appeared to her two
children, and presented them with a wonderful ram, which conveyed
diem across the sea i Helle, however, fell off, and was drowned at the spot
which has received from her the name of the Hellespont. Phiyxus
reached the land and sacrificed the ram. Jason and his ccmpaaions
reached Colchis after a difficult voyage, completed their undertaking by
the aid of the sorceress Med^ daughter of the king of the countiy, and
returned home with their spoiL But the AigAnants had many wonder-
ful adventures and perils to encounter on their return through the oeean
aad the mysterkms river Eridanns, which fenaed the materials of many
a poetical legend. The early commercial interoouTM between the £6lie
laoe and the inhabitants of the distant Asiatic coasts appears to be syaa-
boiiaed by this history of the Argonautic expedition.
28 ZHB AirOIBNT WOBU).
§ 37. The greatest event of the Greek heroic age is the celebrated
Trojan war. In Iliam, or Troy, on the north-west coast of
^^ Asia Minor, reigned King Prtamos over a rich and coltivated
people. His youngest son, Paris, carried off Helen, wife of the Lacedse-
monian king, Meneldns, who had hospitably received him. The injured
husband summoned the princes of Greece to undertake an expedition to
revenge the afl&ont. This expedition shortly 'after took place under the
command of Agamemnon of Mycdnie, brother of Menelius, and with the
assistance of the most renowned warriors of Greece. Achilles and his
friend Patrddus from Thessaly, the subUe Ulysses from Ithaca, Dio-
m^es from Argos, the sage Nestor from Pylos, Ajax, and many others
were among the number. The army, having embarked in a vast fleet,
sailed for the Asiatic coast finom the seaport town of Aulis, where
Agamenmon had devoted his daughter as a sacrifice to Diana. They
found, however, the Trojans, especially Hector, son of Priam, and ^Ski^as,
such valiant opponents, that it was only after a ten years' struggle that
the city was at length taken and destroyed, by an artifice of Ulysses (a
wooden horse filled with armed men). Priam and most of his subjects
fell either in battle or at the destruction of the city ; the rest were car>
ried away as slaves. But the victors also suffered many misfortunes.
Achilles, Patrddus, and many others found an early grave in Ilium.
Agamemnon, after a troublesome voyage home, was murdered at the
instigation of his faithless wife Clytemnestra ; and Ulysses, tossed bj
tempests, wandered for ten years to inhospitable shores, over islands aad
seas, before it was permitted him again to see his faithful wife Penelope
and his son Tel^machus, and to purge his house of the andadons suitoiB
who were contending for the hand of his spouse, and who in the mean
while were feasting themselves upon his property.
§ 38. HoHER. — The Trojan war is of more importance to poetry and
art than to history, since the combats of the heroes, and their adventures
and wanderings on their return home, formed two legendary cydes,
from which the materials of heroic or epic poetry have usually been
sdected. The first and greatest poet, who has employed these l^;ends
in the construction of an immortal work, was Homer, who, according to
tradition, was a blind singer, whose life was so obscure that, even in
andent times, seven dties contended for the honor of having given him
birth. The two great heroic poems, that pass under his name, are
the Iliad, in which the battles that took place before Troy in the
last year of the siege are described, and the Odyssea, in which are
sung the &te and adventures of Ulysses and his companions, on and
around Sidly in the western sea. £ven a mode heroic poem, Batrar
ehomyomddiia, in which the combats of fh)gs and mice are described in
the same manner as those of the Grecian and Trojan heroes, has been
attributed to him. But as, at that time, the art of writing was unknown
HISTOBT OF GREECE. 29
in Greece,* these poems were at first circulated from mouth to mouth,
and portions of them were committed to memory and recited by wander-
ing singers (Bhapsodists). Even at a later period, when they had been
collected and reduced to writing, they were still impressed upon the
memoiy of young people, and employed as a means of exciting patriot-
ism, religion, and a feeling for the beautiful. As Homer was the chief
of a school of poets in Asia Minor, who, under the name of Hom^rides,
continued for some centuries to compost poetry in a similar spirit to their
master, so H^siod, about a hundred years later, became the founder of
an iBdlic school of poetry, that flourished more especially in Boedtia.
We still possess an epic poem of Hesiod on the origin and fate of the
Grecian deities (Thedgoay), and a didactic poem, the ''Works and
Days." The hexameter measure derived from Homer was, from this
time, made use of in epic poetry.
§ 39. Shortly after the Trojan war, great disturbances and political
revolutions took place in Greece. New races of men drove the old ones
fit>m the possessions they had hitherto occupied ; these, in their turn,
attacked other tribes, till at length the weaker resolved to expatriate
themselves, and to found transmarine colonics. The most important in
its consequences of these emigrations, was that undertaken
by the Ddrians to Peloponnesus, under the conduct of the
descendants of Hercules (hence called the return of the Herachds).
This evept entirely changed the fate of Peloponnesus, by giving the com-
mand of the peninsula to the hardy mountaineers of Ddria, instead of the
Ionic population that had hitherto possessed it. The Ddrians gradually
subdued Argolls, Lac6nia, Mess^nia, Sicyon, Corinth, and Mdgaris beyond
the isthmus. They even made an irruption into Attica, and
threatened Athens, but were compelled to a retreat by Go-
dros, the Athenian king, offering his life in sacrifice for his country. An
oracle had declared that victory would incline to the side of those whose
king should falL When the Ddrians heard this, they gave the strictest
commands that no injury should be done to Codrus. But this king, dis-
guising himself as a peasant, commenced a quarrel before the gates with
the outposts, and was killed without being recognized. The Ddrians,
despairing of Victory, immediately retreated from Athens.
The old inhabitants of Peloponnesus experienced a triple fisite. The
boldest and strongest quitted their country, and established the Ionian
colonies on the western shores of Asia Minor, and the islands of Chios,
Lesbos, Samos, &;c These colonies, by the fruitfulness of their soil, their
navigation, their trade, and their diligence in business, soon attained a
« This is too sweeping an assertion. The art of writing was certainly practised in
Egjrpt long before Homer*s day; and the Greeks conld hardly have been ignorant of it,
tboDg^ the Homeric poems may not have been reduced to writing for a oentory or two
after they were composed. Am. BL
3»
30 TBS ASCJSSX WORLD.
degree of proeperitj and dvilization that far sarpassed teiof the mother
oountiy. Those that remained behind either submitted fireelj to tibe
Ddriaos, in which case thej were compelled to paj tribute, and were
excluded from all participation in the government, but were permitted to
retain their possessions, or thej were subdued with weapons in their
hands, by force of anns ; in the latter case, thej were reduosd to the con-
dition of serfs or slaves. The first dass were called Perise'ci, or Lacedse*
monians, to distinguish them from the Doric Spartans ; the second class
were stjled Helots.
S 40. Colonies. — In process of time, the Ionian colonies united
themselves into a confederacy, consisting of twelve commonwealths,
among which Miletus, Ephesus with the celebrated temple of Diana, and
Smyrna, were the most powerful. The affairs of the union were debated
in a temple on the promontory of M^cale. The twelve colonial towns of
the .ZEkSlians to the north of Ionia, and the six D<5rian towns on the south,
possessed similar arrangements. Among the latter, the town of Halicar-
nassus, the birthplace of the historian Herddotus, b the most remarkable.
The island of Rhodes also belonged to the latter union. The shores of
the Hellespont (Dardanelles), of the Fropontis (sea of Marm6ra), of the
Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea), were covered in a similar manner with
Greek colonies. The most important were Byz^tium (Constantinople),
SiniSpe, C^rasus (the native land of cherries), and Trap^zus. Flourishing
colonies were also to be found on the coasts of Thrace and Macedonia ;
viz. Abd^ra, Amphfp51is, Ol^nthus, &c In Lower Italy, the number of
Greek colonial towns was so great, that the inhabitants of the interior
spoke Greek, and the whole country was known by the name of Great
Greece. The most celebrated of these towns were T^ntum, the wealthy
and luxurious S^baris, and the ancient CumsB, the parent city of Naplea.
The greater part of the beautiful island of Sicily was in possession of
the Greeks, who founded numerous opulent cities there, but none of
which, in point of uze, power, and civilization, could compare with Syra*
cuse. On the north coast of Africa, Cyr^ne rivalled Carthage in wealth
and commerce ; and in South Gaul, Massilia was a model of civil order,
and a seminary of cultivation to the rude population in its neighborhood.
All these towns carried on a fionrishing trade in the productions of art and
the produce of the soil. Their vicinities were covered with beautiful
buildings, and adorned for miles with "villas and summer-houses. They
exercised a salutary influence on the manners and culture of the natives,
but degenerated in course of time, when wealth and refinement intro-
duced luxury, sensuality, and effeminacy. The colonial cities occupied
the position of blood relations to the mother state, but were entirely
free and independent They retained the manners and reh'gious customs
of the parent city, and honored it with filial piety ; but they entered
into no dependent relations with it, like the colonies of the Romans^
or those of modem times.
msroftT 09 OESBOS. 81
n. TBB FXIUOD OF THE WI8B UEV AND UlWGIYXBS.
O. OBNXHAL TIBlf*
§ 41. Greece never formed a united state, but was separated into a
number of independent eommunitiesy among which the most powerful
exercised from time to tame a predominant influence. Sparta, Athens,
and Thebes, ruled for the most part. But language, manners, and reli-
gious institutions united the different tribes into a single nation. They
called themselyes Hellenes, — all other people they included under the
general term of barbarians. The Greeks, a people full of talent, and
eminentlj capable of dvilization, arrived at a degree of culture that has
never sinoe been equalled. Love of freedom, and a masculine energy,
led them to establish a number of independent republics, to which, at
first, they attached themselves with enthusiastic patriotism, and in defence
of which they poured forth their heart's blood, till the rage of faction had
choked the more generous feelings. Activity and diligence produced
general prosperity, and a beautiful land under a sky of unvarying bright-
ness, with a healthy and happy climate, engendered cheerfulness of mind,
and made existence a pleasure. Simplicity of life lessened the number
of the wants, and the frugal use of what a fruitful soil and a happily
sitnated country produced with but littie labor, banished the cares and
anxieties of life, and permitted every one to enjoy the pleasures afforded
by poetry, art, and the sciences.
{ 42. Certain institutions and establishments connected with religion
were common to all tiie Greek races. The first among these was the
ancient Amphictyonic Council, a court of arbitration to which twelve
states sent their deputies, and the office of which was to defend the
nft^^Wiifcl sanctuary at Delphi, and to prevent the wars that broke out be-
tween smgle states from becoming too cruel and destructive. It was
also ihe defender of ihe Delphic orade, with its rich temple. In all imr
portant undertakings, the Delphic Apollo was consulted ; the response
was given by the inspired priestess, Pythia, from her golden tripod, in
obscure, and frequenUy amlHguous and enigmatical expressions. The
temple of Delphi possessed extensive territories, and rich treasures in
gifts and offerings. The celebration of numerous games, as the Pythian
(at Delphi), the Isthmian, Nemsan, &C., was a third bond to connect
together the various states and families of Greece. None of these games,
however, were so renowned as the Olympic, which, from the time 776
B. c, were celebrated every fourth year, in the plain of Olympia, in Elis.
They principally consisted in running, boxing, wrestling, throwing the
discus or spear, and in chariot racing; and the crown of dive branches,
that was presented to the victor, was regarded as an enviable distinction
(btA rendered illustrious, not the receiver only, but his whole family and
32 THE ANGHENT WOBLD.
his natiTe dwelling-place. The works of artists^ poets, and literary men
were also objects of attention. There is even a tradition that Herodotus,
the father of history, read the first book of his woriu at these games, and
by so doing excited the emulation of Thucydides, the greatest of historical
writers. The temple of the Olympian Jupiter, and the colossal sittmg
statue of this deity, which was overlaid with ivory and gold, were among
the most splendid examples of Greek art. Pindar, of Thebes, the great
lyric poet, celebrated the victors in these games in his immortal odes.
h. LTCT7B6XJ9 THE SPABTAN LAWGITEB.
§ 43. The manners of the Ddrians gradually degenerated in their new
possessions ; the affairs of the state fell into disorder, and an unwarlike
spirit threatened to difiuse itself. To remedy these evils,
*' ^' Lyciirgus, a patriotic Spartan of royal descent, determined
to give his native city the preeminence over the other states, by re-
storing and establishing the ancient institutions of the D6rians. With
this purpose, he visited the island of Crete, which was at this time cele-
brated for its excellent laws ; made himself acquainted with the systems
that prevailed there, and, on his return, gave the Spartans the remark-
able constitution, of which die following are the chief outlines : —
a. Institutions op State. — The whole power of government was
in the hands of the Ddrians, who, without engaging in any other oocapa-
tion, devoted themselves entirely to the exercise of arms, ihe conduct of
war, and the affiurs of the state. In the assemblies of the people, they
elected the senators, or council of ancients, whose du^ it was to conduct
the government and protect the laws ; and the five Ephori, who at first
superintended the regulations of the city, but who afterwards obtained
the greatest power of control over the public life and actions of those who
were in office, and by this means gained such an authority for themselyes,
that even kings were subject to their tribunal. The senate consisted of
twenty-eight members, of at least sixty years of age ; the presidency of
this assembly devolved upon the two kings of Sparta, who were chosen
from the race of the HeracUdse, and whose office was consequently heredi-
tary. At home, they possessed more honor than power ; but in war, they
were always the leaders, and had an unlimited command. The funda-
mental principle of the whole constitution was the equality of property.
In furtherance of this, the whole lands of Lac<5nia were divided in such
a way, that each of the 9,000 Spartan feunilies received an equal portion.
These estates were indivisible, and descended to the eldest bom by the
law of primogeniture. The 30,000 families of Perioo'ci were in a similar
manner provided with lands o£ less extent, whilst the Helots were left
uncared for, and were obliged, in their capacity of serfs, or day-laborers,
to till the ground of the IXSrians, and to deliver a certain proportion of
the productions of the soil, in com, wine, oil, and similar matters, to the
Spartan magazines.
HISTOEY OF aBXBCS. 33
h Mode of Life. — The rights of the IKSrian depended less updn
his birth than upon his education ; this, therefore, was entirely under-
taken bj the state. Weak and deformed children were cast into a gulf
immediately upon their birth; the vigorous were removed from their
parents at the age of six years, and educated in public The great ob^
ject of this education was to produce bodily hardihood; the gymnastic
exercises of the palaestra were, for this reason, one of its most important
branches. But the understanding was also cultivated, and the Spartan
was not less celebrated for his crafl and shrewdness, than for the terse
brevity of his speech, which was afterwards distinguished by the term
*^ laconic" The feelings and imagination were alone neglected, and con-
sequently, science and poetry were neither esteemed nor cultivated in
Sparta. Doric art was merely distinguished by vast strength ; not, like
the Ionic, by grace and beauty. The male part of the population were
divided, according to their ages, into companies, who din^ together at
public meals, (syssitia), fifteen usually sitting at one table. These meals
were extremely temperate and simple, and were furnished from the sup-
plies of the Helots. The so-called black broth and a vessel of wine were
the chief features of the entertainment. The kings sat at the heads of
thdr tables, and received a double portion. Luxury and effeminacy
were by all means to be avoided ; for this reason, the houses were rude
and devoid of convenience ; no instrument but the axe was permitted to
be employed in their construction. Money was banished in ordinary
intercourse, to the end that no one should possess the means of procuring
unnecessary pleasures ; and that the Spartans should not learn and accus-
tom themselves to these pleasures, they were not permitted to travel into
foreign countries, nor were strangers allowed to make a long residence
in Sparta. The chase, and the exercise of arms were the chief employ-
ments of those who were grown up ; the cultivation of the ground was
left to the Helots ; trade and business to the Perioe^ci. The whole life of
the Spartan was a preparation for war. In the city, he lived as though
he were in the camp, and the time of war was his time of joy and rejoic-
ing. The Spartans marched into the field with purple mantles and long
hair, and adorned themselves before battle as if for a festival. The
strength of the army lay in the heavy-armed infantry (hopUtes), which
consisted of numerous divisions, and which was, in consequence, enabled
to execute without confusion many movements and evolutions. The
Spartan never retreated from his ranks; he conquered or died in his
place. Strict obedience, and subordination of the young to their elders,
was the soul of the mihtaiy education and discipline in Sparta, which
was the true temple of honor of the age.
§ 44. After these kws had been confirmed by the oracle of Delphi,
Lyeargus caused the Spartans to take an oath that they would never
ato aoy thing contained in them, till he came back from the journey he
34 THB ASCJSST WORLD.
was about to undertake. Upon this, he is said to have gone to Crete,
and there to hare died. The consequences of the laws of Ljcuigns soon
became apparent. Not onlj did the hardy Spartans overcome the kin*
B. c. 748. dred race of the. Messenians in two lengthened wars, bat
B. c. 724. thej soon established their power over the whole Pelopon*
n^sus. The Messenians were reduced to pay tribute in the first of diese
wars, after their citadel, Ithdme, had been destroyed, and their hero,
Aridtod4mus, had slain himself on the grave of his daughter whom he
had sacrificed. The tyranny of the Spartans in a short time
provoked the Messenians to a second war. In this, they at
first obtained some advantages, by the heroic deeds of the brave and
cunning Aristdmenes ; but the Spartans, inflamed by the war-songs of '
the Athenian poet, Tyrtseus, finally proved the victors. A part of the
Messenians quitted their country, and founded Messina in the island of
Sicily : those who remained were led into slavery, and condemned to the
miserable fate of the Helots.
C. SOLON, THE LAWGIVER OF THE ATHENIANS, B. 0. 600.
§ 45. Whilst the Spartans, a race of steady and inflexible character,
held fast for centuries the laws of Lycurgus, the lively and fickle Athe-
nians introduced among themselves every possible form of government.
After the glorious death of Codrus, (§ 39) the Athenians
declared that no one was worthy to be his successor, and
abolished the monarchy. Some one of the nobles (eupatrides), chosen
for life to the office of archon, received the supreme power. At first, the
fiunily of Codrus had the preference in this election ; but as the govern-
ment with time assumed more and more the form of an aristocratie
republic, the office of archon was thrown open to the whole body of
B. c. 762. nobles, and the period of its existence reduced to ten years.
B. c. 682. For the purpose of admitting a greater number to this honor,
they at length adopted the expedient of electing nine archons every year,
who were to superintend the government, the aflairs of religion, military
matters, legislation, and the administration of justice. The nobles now
held the power in their own hands, and excluded the people (demos)
from all share in the government, or in the administration of the laws.
They alone gave judgment, because they only were acquainted with the
unwritten and traditionary statutes ; in this way, arbitrary decisions, par-
tiality, and injustice, were of no unfrequent occurrence. This induced
the citizens, in the assemblies of the people, to insist upon the framing of
written laws. The nobles for a long time refused to accede to the
demands of the people; but when at length they found that further
resistance was impossible, they determined upon a different method of
Draco, Oppressing the commons. They commissioned one of their
3. c. 624. QYm number, Draco, sumamed the Cruel, to draw up a code
HISTORY OF GRBECK 35
of laws. These proved so severe, that thej were said to be written in
blood. Every offence was punished with death. Bj this means, the
nobles hoped again to reduce the discontented people to their former state
of dependence. Desperate struggles followed, and contention and party
spirit rose to such a height, that the state was reduced to the verge of
destruction. At this juncture, Solon, one of the seven wise men, and
greatly esteemed both as a poet and a friend of the people, proved the
savior of his country. He gave the state a new and republican form of
government, in which the principal authority was vested in the assem-
blies of the people. These assemblies made the laws, named the judges
and officers of state, and elected the council of the four hundred ; that the
nobility, however, might not be deprived of the whole of their power, he
secured to them certain privileges: they alone could fill the office of
archon, or sit in the high court of the Areopagus, which Solon had
established to preserve the laws, the government, and public morals.
This court consisted of the most respected citizens ; it superintended the
education of youth, and kept an eye upon the lives of the burghers, to the
end that morality and discipline might be preserved, and an honorable
and industrious course of life be maintained ; and that luxury, riot,
and extravagance in dress, might be banished. Solon, at the same time,
relieved the necessities of the people by the so-called remission of bar-
dens, by which the poorer citizens were freed from a portion of theur
debts, and restored to the unfettered enjoyment of their mortgaged
estates. After Solon had completed these measures, he caused the
Athenians to swear that they would make no alterations in them for the
space of ten years : he then set forth on his travels to Asia and Egypt,
in the course of which he held the before-mentioned conversation (§ 27)
with CroBsas at Sardis.
d. THE TTBANTS.
§ 46. All the Grecian states had at first been governed by kings, who,
as high priests, judges, and leaders of the army, exercised a patriarchal
power. But the rich and distinguished class, who had hitherto stood by
the side of the king as his councillors, gradually attained the upper hand,
and seized the first favorable opportunity of ridding themselves of the
monarch, and of establishing an aristocratic republic, in which they exer-
dsed the supreme power. This institution became, in time, extremely
oppressive to the people. But as the nobles were in the exdnsive pos-
session of arms, and of the practice of war, it was no easy matter to
deprive them of the government This took place for the first time,
when an ambitious noble separated himself from his order, and placed
himself at the head of the people. . But the rule of the aristocracy was
not at once sncceeded by a democratic government ; on the contrary, the
leaders of the people (demagogues) seized in most of the states upon the
36 THB AKCIEKT WORLD.
lapreme power. They were distinguished by the name of ** tyrants ; **
by which term, however, we are not always to understand a violent and
arbitrary ruler, but merely one who unites in his own person all the
functions of government, in a state that had previously been a republic.
Many of these tyrants possessed great talents for their office, and ruled
with splendid success. For the purpose of giving employment to the
people to whom they were indebted for their rise, they erected magnifi-
cent buildings ; their wealth gave them the means of attracting artists
and poets, whilst their splendid courts contributed to the magnificence of
the dties. But the government of the tyrants was not of long duration.
The nobles neglected no means to effect their overthrow ; and in this
they were supported by the Spartans, who were everywhere favorable
to aristocratic institutions. Their sons, who had grown up in the en-
joyment of power, frequently forgot the consideration they owed to
the people, and hastened their own destruction by cruelty and des-
potism.
Periander, § 47. The most celebrated of the tyrants were Periander
B. 0. 600. of Corinth, Poiycrates of Samos, and Fisfstratus of Athens.
The first two are well known by poetical legends. Periander's friend,
the singer Arfon, once wished to return to Corinth by ship, from Lower
Italy. The sailors, who were greedy after the treasures he had acquired
in Tarentum, made attempts upon his life. When every hope of deliver-
ance had vanished, AHon sang, and played some notes upon his harp, and
then leaped into the waves. The dolphins, who had followed the ship,
bore the singer to the shore. He hastened to Periander, at Corinth, who
easily discovered and punished the offenders. Not less celebrated is the
Polyontes, Story of the ring of Pol^crates. The rich and powerful
B. a 660. ruler of Samos was successful in every thing he undertook.
At one time, when the king of Egypt was paying him a visit, messenger
after messenger came to announce some 'fortunate event. Psamm^tichus
appeared thoughtful, and warned his friend of the instability of fortune
and the envy of the gods, and advised him to inflict some vexation upon
himself to appease the irritated divinities. Upon this, Poiycrates cast a
costly and exquisitely wrought ring, upon which he placed a great value,
from the roof of his house into the sea. But the gods despised the gifl.
On the following day, some fishermen bix>ught a large fish to the palace,
and, as the servants were preparing it for the table, they discovered the
ring in its entrails. They presented it with joy to the tyrant ; but Psam-
m^tichus saw in this the omen of approaching misfortune and took a
melancholy leave. Shortly after, Poiycrates was taken prisoner by the
Persians, and crucified.
PbiftntiiB, The most celebrated of all the tyrants was Pisfstrstus, of
s. a seo. Athens, who succeeded, even during the lifetime of Solon, in
grasping the sole power. He contrived by dint of cunning, having first
BISTORT OF ORBBCE. 37
wonmded himself, and then giTing ont that his lifb had been attempted, to
procure a bodj-gaard, and to obtain possession of the citadeL His ene*
mies were indeed twice successful in banishing him from the dtj ; but he
again returned, succeeded in establishing himself in the government, and
bequeathed it at &is death to his two sons, Hfppias and Hippdrchus.
Fislstratus, and, at fbrst, his son Hfppias, ruled with much
glory. Agriculture, trade, and commerce receiyed a great
impulse. The poems of Homer, that had hitherto onlj been delivered
orally by the wandering singers (rhapsodists), were now reduced to
writing, and by this means preserved to posterity. Artists of every kind
Ibund in them liberal patrons. Athens was embellished with temples
and public buildings, and the lyric poet, Andcreon, was a resident at
Hfppias's court But when ffippdrchus, who was a man devoted to riot
and the pleasures of the senses, had been kiUed at the panathenaic fes-
tival, by two Athenians, Harm<5dius and Aristogfton, in revenge of some
injury they had suffered from him, Hfppias gave free scope to his violent >
^position. By his severity and cruelty, he alienated the affections of
the popular party, and by this means prepared the way for his own
expulsion. He took refuge with the Persian king, Darius, and en-
couraged him in his design of making war upon the Athenians.
Shortly after his departure, the democratic republic was established in
Athens.
THE SEVEN WISE MEN. *— PTTHAGOEA8.
§ 48. Periander of Corinth, and Solon of Athens, were numbered
among the seven wise men ; of the remainder, Thales of Miletus, the
founder of the Ionic school of philosophy, was the most renowned. Their
principles and practical rules of life were embodied in short mottoes, as
« Enow thyself," "Avoid excess," « Consider the end," " Be watchful for
opportunities," and numerous others.
One of the most distinguished men of this period, who did not however
can himself a wise man (sophos), but only a lover of wisdom (phUosophos),
was Pythdgoras of Samot, the founder of the sect of the Pythagoreans,
which had many adherents in CrottSna and other towns of Lower Italy,
and enjoyed great respect. The members of his sect led a life of tem-
perance and severe morality, had their meals and exercises in coomion,
and were devoted with the greatest veneration to their master. They
practised themselves in mathematics, geometry, and music ; for Pythir
goras is known as the inventor of^ the theorem, which is named after
him, the Pythagorean.
e. LTBIO POETBT.
§ 49. A cheerful mode of lifo prevailed at the courts of the tyrants,
where singers and poets wei^ welcome guests. The severe heroic poetiy
4
38 THE ANCnSNT WORLD.
was not suited to the pleasures and amusements that were there prin-
cipallj sought after, and its place was in consequence supplied by a
lighter and less prolix kind, which was distinguished by the term lyric,
because it was intended to be sung to the lute (Ij^)* -^ ^7^^ poetry,
therefore, ori^nally consisted in cheerful songs, which exhorted to the
enjoyment of hfe on Account of the shortness of its duration, and were
filled with the praises of love and wine, because they drove away care
and trouble. In this style, An^reon of Teos, in Idnia, who passed his
life at different courts, and died in his eighty-fifth year,
was the most celebrated; and for this reason, these kind
of songs are called Anacxeontic.
If the shortness of life, and the transitory character of every thing
earthly, gave occasion to Andcreon to exhort to the enjoyment of exist-
ence, there were not wanting others to whom these considerations were a
source of melancholy and sorrow, and who poured forth their complaints
over the instability and uncertainty of human happiness. This style was
called the ^ elegiac,'* and was usually composed in a measure consisting
of hexameters and pentameters united (disticha). The best known
elegiac poets are Mimn^rmus of C61ophon, and Sim^nides of Ceos. Those
lyrical compositions that are distinguished by a more lofty feeling, and in
which the poet sings with enthusiasm or passion of some sublime object,
are called ^ odes." Sappho, of Lesbos, a poetess celebrated
for her amatory songs, and her voluntary death, distinguished
herself in this style of composition. But the Theban, Pindar, was the
first who gave to the ode its full perfection. At a later period, the term
" lyric " was applied to all the shorter specimens of poetry, even though
they were not fitted to be sung to music. Thus satire, the object of which
is to punish the vices and failings of men by ridicule, and by this means
to bring about their instruction and improvement, is called "lyric
poetry."
B. c. 700. Archflochos, of Faros, the discoverer of iambics, is named
B. 0. 600. as the first satiric poet ; at whose side, Alc»'us of Mityl^ne,
the freedom-inspired opponent of the tyrants, occupies no unworthy
place. In like manner, the short stories where animals are introduced
acting and speaking (fables), and the object of which is tlie inculcation
of some useful maxim or rule of life, are distinguished by the same term.
.£sop, a Phxygian slave, whose history is involved in obscurity, and dis-
figured by many fabulous stories, acquired a great renown in this sort of
composition.
HISTORY OF OREBCB. 89
IL THE FLOUBISHING PERIOD OF GREECE.
I. THE PERSIAN WAR.
§ 50. The Greek colonial cities, on the coasts of Asia Minor, had been
brought bj Cjrus under the Persian dominioni Accustomed to freedom,
they bore this foreign yoke with the greatest reluctance ; but were unable
to free themselves from it, because the principal Greeks, who were ap-
pointed by the Persians to the office of prince, or tyrant, of the different
towns, and who were consequently devoted to the court of Susa, knew
well how to keep their countrymen in subjection. One of the most
powerful of these was Histise^us, prince of Miletus. He had accom-
panied Darfus in his expedition against the Scythians, (§ 30), and had
received, together with some other Greeks, the charge of guarding the
bridges that had been thrown over the Danube. When the news of the
disasters of the Persians became known, Miltiades, the Athenian, advised
that these bridges should be destroyed, and the king and his whole army
given up to destruction. But Histiue'us opposed this project, and was
afterwards rewarded by being invited to the Persian capital, and passing
his life there in splendor and luxury. But no pleasures could extinguish
his longing after his native country ; and when he found that he was so
much mistrusted as not to be permitted to depart, he secretly instigated
his relative, Arist^goras of Miletus, to stir up the discontented Greeks to
rebellion, hoping by this means to gain an opportunity of returning. In a
short time, Miletus and the other Greek towns were in arms. Sparta,
and the other states of the mother country, were applied to for assistance ;
but Athens only, who was afraid that Darius might again restore Hfppias,
who was residing at his court, and the small town of Er^tria, in Eubos'a,
sent a few ships. At first, the insurrection appeared successful. The
Greeks took and burnt Sardis, the chief city of Asia Minor, upon which
the revolt spread over the whole of Ionia. But fortune soon changed. ^
Divisions among themselves, and the superior force of the enemy, occa-
sioned the loss of a maritime engagement, and the capture and destruction
of Miletus. Many of the Milesians were led into slavery ;
Aristdgoras fled to the Thracians, where he met with his
death; Histis'us was taken prisoner and crucified. Ionia again fell
under the dominion of the Persians, and Darius vowed a bloody ven*
geanoe against the Athenians and Er^trians, for the assistance they had
afibrded the rebels.
I 51. Mard6nius, the son-in-law of Darius, sailed with a fleet and army
along the coast of Thrace, towards Greece, whilst the Persian heralds
demanded earth and water, the symbols of submission from the whole of
40 THB AJXCrSST WOSLD.
the Greek cities.. But the fleet was driyen against the promontory of
Athos by a storm, and the Thradans destroyed a part of the land force,
so that Marddnius was compelled to lead back the remains of his armj
into Asia, without effecting his purpose. It fared no better with the
heralds, ^gina, and the greater number of the islands indeed, presented
the earth and water ; but when they made the same demands at Athens
and Sparta, they were put to death by the inhabitants, in defiance of all
the laws of nations. Darfus, enraged at this insult, despatched a second
fleet, under the command of Dates and Artaph^mes. They sailed throu^
the Archipelago, and reduced the islands of the Cydades to submission,
and afterwards landed at Eubo^a. Er^tria, after a gallant resistance, fell
by treachery into the hands of the enemy, who razed the city to the
ground, and sent away the inhabitants into Asia. The Persians marched
through the island, burning and destroying; and at length, under the
command of Hippias, landed on the coast of Attica, and encamped on the
plain of Marathon. The Athenians sent in haste to the Spartans for
assistance ; but these not appearing at the proper time, in consequence of
an ancient law of their religion, which forbade them to march to battle
before a full moon, the Athenians, under the command of ten leaders,
advanced upon the enemy. The most esteemed among these leaders ^
Miltiades, who had formerly served in the Persian army, and
thoroughly acquainted with its qualities and tactics. By hu direction,
10,000 Athenians, and 1,000 Plats^ans, attacked the army of Persians,
of ten times their number, in a place unfavorable for cavalry, and gave
them a complete overthrow in the battle of Mirathon. The
B. O 490
victors gained a rich booty, and placed the fetters they dis-
covered, and which were intended for themselves, on the bodies of their
enemies. Great was the renown acquired by the Athenians, who here
for the first time proved that they were worthy of the democratic free*
dom they had lately introduced among themselves ; and centuries later,
patriotic orators would excite the enthusiasm of the people, by calling
to their remembrance the victory of Miu*athon. Hfppias was one of the
slain.
§ 52. Miltiades, the savior of Greece, did not long enjoy his honors.
H^ persuaded the Athenians to equip a fleet for the purpose of subduing
the islands of the' iElig^an Sea, which had submitted to the Persians.
But when the attempt upon the island of Paros miscarried, the people
condemned him to pay die cost of the expedition, and to be cast into
prison till the debt should be discharged. The sentence was carried into
execution, and Miltiades died in prison of his wounds. Cimon, his son,
paid the debt, and conferred an honorable burial upon his father.
At that time, there lived in Athens two men of remarkable diaracter,
Aristides, sumamed the Just, and Themfstodes. Both sought to render
their country illustrious, but by different methods. Aristides would
HXSTOBT Of CntSBCS^ 41
make use of no means that were not strictly just and honorable, nor con-
sent to any measore that excited the scruples of his conscience. Themis-
tocles was less scrupulous: he would regard nothing but the greatness
and advantage of iJs native city, and not unfrequently had recourse to
artifice and deceit Shrewder and more talented than his rival, Themis-
tocles soon won a greater share of the popular esteem ; and to free him-
self from a hinderance to his plans, he urged the banishment of the mora
honest Aristides by ostracism.*
By this means, Themistocles became the sole leader of the Atheniaa
republic, and he exerted the whole of his influence to obtain an increase
of the fleet ; for it was only by this means that the Athenians could
attain a superiority to the other states. A declaration of the Delphic
orade, that the safety of Athens depended upon its ^ wooden walls/' was
of great service to him in the execution of this project.
§ 53. Darfus died in the midst of vast preparations for a fresh inva-
sion of Greece. But his successor, Xerxes, a man puffed up with pride
and arrogance, pursued his father's designs of vengeance, and carried on
his pieparations on such a scale, that he collected an army of a millioa
and a half of men, and a fleet of more than 12,000 laige vessels. But
this immejise crowd of people of all nations and tcmgues, with habits and
weapons of the most diversified character, and accustomed each to its
own method of waifue, was rather a hinderance than an assistance to
the enterprise. When Xerxes had completed his preparations, and with
wonderful good fortune had quelled a revolt that broke out in Egypt, (a
drcumstance that contributed not a little to swell his confidence), he
ordered his troops, with an enormous crowd of sutlers, beasts of burden,
wagons, and dogs of chase, to defile for seven days and nights across the
Hellespont, on two bridges of boats, and then to march through Thrace
and Macedonia towards Thessaly, whilst his fieet coasted along the shore
to supply the army with whatever it needed. To prevent his ships being
wrecked oo the promontory of Athos, as in the first expedition, Xerxes
separated the mountain from the mainland, by cutting a canal. Thessaly
submitted without a blow. B€B<5tia, and a few of the smaller states,
pofiillanimously yielded earth and water; and the threatening foe still
marched on. At this juncture, Greece showed what union, courage,
and patriotism are capable of effecting. The greater number of the
states united in a confederacy, and placed themselves under the guid-
ance of Sparta.
*0f1nunnnwM an Knwagpmeat by which any dtlfea who wai to superior to his fe^
bwt in power, inflaence, authority, or other q[iialitieB, as to endanger the dyio equality,
or the democntlo oooftitation of the state, might be banished for a tenn (nsoally ten)
tf jean.
The temi was derived ficom the Greek word for the shell (eetraeon) on which thsi
tf the accused citizen was written.— TVoni.
4*
42 IHB AKCIENT WOBLD.
It was in July, just at the time of the celebration of the Olympic
games, that Xerxes arrived at the narrow pass of Ther>
m<5p7l», which Le^nidas had occnpied with three hundred
Spartans and a few thousands of the allies. It was in yain that the Per-
sian king attempted for several days to force a passage ; thousands of his
troops fell beneath the swords of the brave Greeks ; even the 10,000 Im-
mortals, as they were called, the flower of the Persian army, were com-
pelled to yield to the Spartan valor. At length, a traitorous Greek
conducted a part of the Persians by a footpath over the summit of the
mountain (Eta, who attacked the rear of the Greeks. Upon recdving
intelligence of this, Lednidas dismissed the troops of the allies. He
himself, with his 800 Spartans, and about 700 of the citizens of Thespia,
who united themselves to him, devoted themselves to an heroic death for
their country. Surrounded on all sides, they fought like lions, tiU, over-
powered by numbers, and wearied with slaughter and contest, they sank
to the earth. Le<$nidas and his heroic band lived long in song, and a monu-
ment pointed out to the traveller the spot where they fell. The Persians
now subjected BoMStia without opposition, pursued their devastating
course into Attica, and reduced Athens to ashes. The old warriors who
defended the city were slaughtered: The citizens who were fit to bear
arms were serving in the fleet The women and children, together with
their effects, had been sent, by the advice of Themistodes, to iBgfna,
S&lamis, and Trazos'ne.
§ 54. Themistodes now became the savior of Greece. The united
fleet of the Greeks had sailed from the promontory of Artemfsium, where
it had been for some days successfully engaged, into the Sardnic golf,
whither it was followed by the Persians. It was here that Themfstodes,
by his prudence, rendered abortive the ruinous design of the Spartan
admiral, Eurybi&des, of separating himself with the Peloponnesian fleet
and dedding the battle in the Ck>rinthian Gulf, by craftily provoking the
Persian king to a sudden attack in the narrow channel, where the enemy's
fleet was embarrassed by its own magnitude. Thus originated the sea-
fight of Sdlamis, in which the Greeks obtained a complete
victory. Xerxes gazed in despair from a neighboring emi-
nence on the destruction of his fleet, and then commenced a hasty retreat,
with a portion of his army, through Thessaly, M^k^on, and Thrace,
during which he lost some thousands of his soldiers from cold, hunger,
and fatigue.
I 55. Xerxes on his retreat left 800,000 of his best troops behind him
in Thessaly. These marched again into Attica, in the following spring,
and compdled the Athenians, who had returned home, once more to dis-
perse themselves. But the Greeks, under the conduct of the Spartan
Pansinias, lieutenant of the Athenian general, Aristfdes, obtained so
signal a victory in the great battle of Plats'a, over a force of three times
HISTORY or GBBBCB. 43
their nnmber, that only 40,000 of the Penians sared themselTes across
the Hellespont The remainder, with their leader, were slain, either in
battle, in the storming of their camp, or in the flight The booty was
enormous. On the same day, the Persians suffered a dedsire defeat at
the promontory ci M^dile, in Asia Minor, from the Greeks on board the
fleet In this case, also, a Spartan was the leader ; bnt it was the Athe-
nians and Milesians who bore off the prise of valor. The fleet and camp
of the enemy were taken and destroyed. The slaughter among the
broken and flying crowd was frightful. Valor triumphed orer strength,
and the truth, that patriotism and love of freedom can bear away the
victory from superior numbers, received a splendid confirmation in the
^orious triumph of the Greeks over the Persians. Ten years afier-
wards, the double victory of Cimon on the river Eur/mSdon,
over the fleet and army of the Persians, brought the war to
a temporary conclusion. The peace of Cimon freed the whole of the
Greek dties from the Persian yoke.
THX SUPBBKAOT OF ATHKirB, AND THB AGB OF PBBICLK8.
i 56. After the battle of Plat»'a, the war was principally carried on
at sea. As the Spartans possessed but few ships, the command had
gradually fallen into the hands of* the Athenians, who, moreover, during
the whole war, had displayed the greatest courage and magnanimity.
The aupremaqr of the Athenians was also forwarded by the treachery
of the Spartan general Pausinias. Paus^tas, at the taking of Byzan-
tium, had made prisoners of seme illustrious Persians. He sent these
without any ransom to Xerxes, with the message, that ^ He would assist
him in subduing the Greeks, if Xerxes would give him his daughter in
marriage, and make him governor of Peloponn^us.** When the Persian
king acceded to these terms, the vain and ambitious man became so inso-
lent, as entirely to neglect the Spartan laws and manner of living ; he
dothed himself in costly garments, maintained a luxurious table, and was
waited on and accompanied by a band of Persian guards. At the same
time, he rendered the Laced8Bm<5nian rule universally odious by his im-
perious behavior. The Spartans, when made acquainted with this con-
duct, recalled their faithless general; but their authority in maritime
affairs was already so much weakened, that they voluntarily renounced
the command. Pausinias, even in Sparta, kept up a private correspond-
ence with the king of Persia. But this treachery being exposed by
means of a slave, he perished of hunger in a temple in which he had
taken refuge.
I 57. Whilst Pausdnias was thus weakening the power of his native
city, the three Athenian generals, by their various capadties and talents,
were instrumental in raising that of their own. Themistodes, by dint
of wiadom and eunning^ succeeded in getting Athens sunonnded by a
44 XHB ijrcnNT wobu).
ftitmg wall, and in founding die adminble baiiwr of Pirn'os, wbieli
CSmoa and TMdts afterwards ooonected with Athens, by means of a
long doable walL Bj thu undertaking, Thendstodes incurred the impla-
cable hate of the Spartans, who were veiy ayerse to the fortification of
Athens, and who, for this reason, attempted at a later period to implicate
him in the treachery of Pans^nias. This happened at a time when his
enemies in Athens had suooeeded in getting the ambitious man
** ^ ^ * banished by ostracism, for a term of ten years. Persecuted
in this way, the great general fied, in the midst of innumerable dangers,
to Asia, where he was honorably receiyed by the Persian king, and had
the revenues of three dties of Asia Minor allotted to him for his support.
But when the king wanted his assistance in the subjection of Greece,
he is said to haye swallowed poison rather than prove a traitor to his
country.
As Themistocles by prudence, so Arist^des by justice, aided the inte-
rests of his native city. The perfect confidence that was placed in his
character and opinions, induced the islands and maritime cities to enter
into alliance with the Athenians, and to pledge themselves to a supply
of ships and money for the continuation of the war. The treasury of
the confederacy, which was established in Delos for this purpose, was
intrusted to the management of Aristides, and the command of the united
fieet was also ^ven to an Athenian. The su^^ly of ships soon became
burdensome to the smaller states, and they were glad to compromise for
their delivery, by the payment of an additional sum of money. This
gave the Athenians the opportunity they so much wished for, of increaa-
ing their fieet, of subjecting the smaller maritime states, and treating
them as tributary vassals. Aristfdes died so poor, that the state was
obliged to defray the expenses of his burial, and to piovide for the
establishing of his childreai
§ 58. Cimon, the son of Miltfades, and F^rides, were not less instru-
mental in the aggrandizement of Athens. The first rendered many
services to his country by successful expeditions at sea, and gained
the people by his aflability and generosity. He enlaiged the tern*
tory of Athens, and empbyed his vast wealth in the embellishment
of the atjy where he established the beautiful gardens called the
Academy.
During his time, Sparta was visited by a fearful earthquake. The
greater part of the principal dty was destroyed, and, to increase the
calamity, the Helots and Mess^nlkns sdzed their arms for
the purpose of regaining their freedom. In their distress^
the Spavtans turned to Athens for asdstanoe, and by the influence of
CSmon, an amy was despatched to their aid. But the suspidoos Spar*
tMM sent it back again, a proceeding whidi so ofTended the Athenians^
thai they banished Cimon by the ostracismi and when the Hessinians^
HISTO&Y OF OBEBCE. 46
ifWr a contest of ten years, were compelled to sarrender tbeir citadel,
Ithdme, they gave up the seaport town, Naupaotus, to them for a rasir
dence. Cimon died, much respected, in Cyprus, b. o« 449.
Fences, a soldier and statesman, distinguished by great talents, colti-
Tation, and eloqaenoe, exercised during his life such an influence on the
state and people of Athens, that the years of his rule were distinguished
as ^ the age oi Pericles.'' This period includes the time when Athens
had attained its highest point of refinement at home, and possessed the
greatest power abroad. Pericles adorned Athens by the erection of tem-
ples and magnificent buildings ; he encouraged the arts and sciences, he
invited men of genius, and in particular the great artist, Phidias, to his
hospitable court He gave to every one the means and opportunity of
educating and distinguishing himself, and produced by these means a
taste for art, literature, and poetry, even among the lowest classes of the
people. Though descended from a rich and illustrious family, he was
nevertheless a man of the people, and devoted to democratic principles.
He passed a law, by which every Athenian citizen who sat in juc^ment,
or was present at an assembly of the people, or served in the fleet or
army, was entitled to a stipend. He distributed large alms to the neces-
sitous, he instituted magnificent festivals, plays, and processions, for the
gratification of the sight-loving people. By his exertions, the Athenian
state attained such an exalted state of cultivation, that the citizens were
almost all equally well fitted to fill offices or dischai^ business ; so that
the regulation, that the greater part of the public offices should be filled
by lot, was attended with less inconvenience at Athens, than such arrange-
ment would have produced at any other place. At the same time, Athens,
by means of Pericles, attained the greatest renown abroad. Her ships
mled over the -Sgean sea, and compelled the islanders to pay tribute,
by which means enormous sums of money flowed into her treasury. The
statue of Minerva was covered with a robe of solid gold ; the Athenian
armies engaged in successful conflicts with the Thebans and
Spartans, till the unfortunate battle of Chsron^a put an end
to thebr military glory. After this engagement, in which the Athenians
were either killed or taken prisoners, Pericles was obliged to save Athens
from the destruction by which it was threatened, by concluding the peace,
named after him ^the peace of Pericles."
THB PELOPONNESIAN WAR, B. C. 431-404.
§ 59. The peace of Pericles was of short duration. The prosperity
of the Athenians filled the Spartans with envy and malevolence ; ai^
the insoleDce and severity with which they trea^ their subjected allies,
more partaoolarly the inhabitants of JEg^na, who had only submitted
after a long stmgig^e, excited hatred and disgust In a short time,
two armed and hostile powers stood opposed to each other: the Athenian
46 THB ANCIS27X WORLD.
oonfederstroBy wkkh indnded most of the islancls and maridme townsi
and which was favored bj tin democratic par^ in all the states, and the
chief strength of which laj in its fleet; and the Peloponn^siaa alliance,
with Sparta at its head, to which the D<5ric and the gnatej part of the
.ZBdlian states (B<e6tia and others) attached themselves, and whidi
deposed its confidence on a gallant army. The Spartans declined for
a long time to commence hostilities. But when the Corinthians com*
plained that Athens had violated the peace hj assisting the island of
Corcyra in its war against the mother country, Corinth, and had laid
siege to the Corinthian colony, Potidse^a, in Mdcedon, the Peloponn^sian
war, which, for a period of twenty-seven years, ravaged Greece in the
most frightful manner, at length broke oat.
§ 60. As soon as war was- declared, a Spartan army marched into
Attica, and devastated the country. Upon this, Pericles summoned the
inhabitants of the country into the tOwn, fitted out a fleet, and, landing
on the coast of Peloponnesus, commenced reprisals. These were con-
tinned for some time, till at length a plague broke out in
Athens, in consequence of the overcrowded state of the city,
swept away many thousands of the inhabitants, and flnally carried Peri-
cles himself to the grave, after he had witnessed the death of his three
sons. The death of this great man was a heavy loss to Athens: for now
a crowd of selfish demagogues, and among them, Geon, a tanner, obtained
great influence, seduced the people by flattery, and strove to prolong the
war. Weakened by their own divisions, the Athenians were compelled
to look on, whilst the Platse'ans, their most faithful allies, were subdued,
after an heroic struggle, by the Laced(em6nians and BoecStians : Plate'a
itself was levelled with the earth, the citizens who were capable ci
bearing arms were put to the sword, and their wives and chfldren led
into slavery.
The Athenian general, Demdsthenes, shortly after suc-
ceeded in gaining possession of the Messenian town of Pylos,
whence he harassed the Spartan territories with devastating inroads.
It was in vain that the Spartans endeavored to drive him from his posi
tion ; their attacks were repulsed, and more than four hundred heavy-
armed Spartan troops were shut up in the barren island of Sphact^ris,
where they were reduced to great extremities. They only obtained the
means of subsistence by the desperate landing effected by some Helots, to
whom the Spartans had promised freedom if they were successful in the
attempt At last, to escape starvation, they were oompeUed to surrender
themselves to Cleon, who had arrived with reinforcements. This success
inflilbied the insolence of the democratic leader. He fancied himself a hero,
and obtained the command of an army that was intended to subdue the
Spartan general, Brdsldas, in Thrace. But Cleon suffered a defeat before
the city of Amphfpolis, and was afterwards killed in the flight ; whereupon
mSTORT OF GBSBCX. 47
the opposite party gained the upper hand in Athens, and
conduded the peace of Nicias. In the mean time, a despe-
rate straggle was going on between the aristocratic and democratic fac-
tions, in the greater number of the Greek cities ; but nowhere was the
strife more sanguinary than in the island of Corcyra, where the most
iUustrious families were completely destroyed. By the help of the Athe-
nians, the democrats got their adversaries in their power, shut them up
in a building, and killed them by casting down stones upon their heads.
Where the Spartans gained the upper hand, the aristocratic party became
predominant, and punished their enemies by death and banishment ; if
the Athenians prevailed, the democrats assumed the direction of affairs,
and treated their opponents with similar severity.
i 61. The conclusion of peace separated the Spartans and Corinthians.
The latter, in consequence, united themselves with Argos, Elis, and other
cities of ArdLdia, for the purpose of depriving the Spartans of their supe-
riority (hegemony) in Pdoponn^sus. In this attempt, they received the
assistance of Aldbiades, who was then in his twentieth year, and sister's
son to Pericles, and who here displayed for the first time his address and
powers of persuasion. Alcibfades was endowed with the greatest advan-
tages both of mind and person. He was rich, handsome, accomplished,
and a most admirable orator ; so that he was exactly fitted to supply the
place of P^rides, had he only possessed more stabDity and prudence.
The war, which the Spartans now had to sustain with the Corinthians
and allies, would have been fatal to their authority, had not fortune
declared for the LacedaemcSnian arms in the battle of Man-
'-'-*'*• tLMB'a.
§ 62. Not long afterwards, the Athenians despatched the finest fleet
and the most admirable army that had ever sailed from the
Pins^us, to Sicily, under the command of Aldbfades, Nicias,
and Ldmachus, fbr the purpose of attacking the D6rian dty, Syracuse.
This undertaking fxuled. Aldbfades, during his absence, was accused by
his enemies of many crimes against religion and the government, and
was ih consequence hastily recalled by the Athenian magistrates. Thirst-
ing for vengeance, he fled to Sparta, and endeavored to stir up that state
to make war upon Athens. The brave L^achus fell in the siege of
Syracuse ; the Athenian fleet was destroyed in the harbor ; and when
Nicias attempted to escape by land with the remains of the army to a
friendly city, he was attacked during a night march, and, after a bloody
fight, taken prisoner with the whole of his troops. Those who did not
fall in the engagement, were employed as slaves in the stone-quarries.
The valiant generals, Nicias and Demdsthenes, died in the market-place
by the hands of the executioner.
{ 63. Dark reports conveyed to Athens the first news of this dreadful
bk>w; when the iri^tful intelligence was confirmed, there was scarcdy
48 THB ANCISKT WORLD.
a fiunily that bad not occasion to mouni. The Athenian alliea fill oiF
and joined the Laced»ni6nian8 ; the Spartans renewed the war by sea
and land, and were assisted by the Persian governor of Asia Minor.
Within the city, the aristocratic party were att^npting to overturn die
constitution, and entered secretly into a traitorous alliance with the Spai^
tans. Athens nevertheless defended herself for eight years against the
superior force of the enemy, and was victor in two important engage-
ments at sea. But no exertions could restore the crippled state to its
former greatness. It was in vain that the Athenians recalled Aldbiad^
gave him the command of the fleet and army, and cast the column, on
which his crimes were inscribed, into the sea; — even he could not bring
back its ancient glories to the Athenian navy. A few months after he
had entered Athens amidst the exulting shouts of the populace, he was
again deprived of his command, because his lieutenant in his absence had
lost the sea-fight of Ephesus.
§ 64. About this time, the Spartans gained an excellent leader in the
artful and adventurous Lysander, who obtained the favor of the new
governor of Asia Minor, Cyrus the younger, for the purpose of increasing
the Lacedssmdnian fleet by the assistance of the Persians. This Lysander
took advantage of the carelessness of the Athenian commanders, who had
suflered their men to go on shore, by making an unexpected attadk upon
their ships at the Goat's Biver (jSE!gos*p6tamos), on the
Hellespont, and capturing the whole of them, except nine.
The power of Athens was now vanished. After Lysander had reduced
to submission the islands and towns that were firiendlv to the
Athenians, he blockaded Athens itself by land and sea, and
the overcrowded city was soon reduced by hunger to surrender. The
long walls and fortifications were pulled down to the sound of flutes ; the
ships, with the exception of twelve, delivered to the Spartans, and all
fugitives and outlaws recalled. Lysander then annulled the democratic
constitution, and placed the government in the hands of thirty illustrious
Athenians, who were the allies of Sparta. These aristocrats, distin-
guished by the name of the Thirty Tyrants, with the clever but violent
Critias at their head, breathed nothing but death and banishment against
the democratic party. But this reign of terror was but of short duration.
Thrasybdlus, a patriotic man, collected around him the fugitives and those
who had been banished, and marched upon Athens. Critias was slain in
battle ; the rest fell by treachery into the hands of the conqueror, who put
them to death, reestablished the democratic constitution, and, by the as-
surance that the past should be forgotten and forgiven, succeeded in
again restoring tranquillity and order. *
4. BOCBATXS.
§ 66. During the Pebponn^ian war, the morab of the Athenians hai
HI3T0BT OF GRBBCB. 49
deteriorated, and honestj and civil yirtoe came to be less esteemed lihan
wit and intelligence. This state of things was in a great degree brought
about by the sophists, — false teachers, who paraded a facdtious kind of
wisdom founded upon fallacies and sophisms, and who presamed, by ora-
torical arts and tricks of disputation, to put lies in the place of truth, and
to convert truth into error. They enticed to themselves wealthy young
men, and for great rewards instructed them m these arts, by which means
domestic and public life were poisoned in their very sources. At this
juncture arose S<5crates, an Athenian citizen, who unmasked these so-
phbtical mountebanks, and awakened the sentinfents of religion, justice,
and virtue in the bosoms of his pupils. Sdcrates taught his practical
philosophy, the end of which was ^ Enow thyself," not in elaborate dis-
courses from the lecturer's chair, but by questions and answers in the
pnblic streets, under the open sky, or in the workshops of mechanics.
Hie sophists were reduced to silence by his clear intellect, his simple
and upright life, and hb moral worth ; whilst the richest and most
talented young men united themselves to him. This exasperated the
vain and greedy sophists, and they accused him of seducing the youth,
and introducing false gods. S<5crates, in a simple defence, disproved
before the judges the truth of this accusation. But instead, as was
then the custom, of imploring his acquittal with prayers and lamenta*
tions, he concluded his discourse by asserting that he was entitled to be
received into the number of those illustrious men, who, on account
of their services to the commonwealth, were maintained at the public
expense. This offended the judges, and S6crates was condemned to
death by a small majority. It was in vain that his friends, particularly
the rich citizen Crito, persuaded him to fly ; he rejected their counsels,
and in the midst of elevating discourses on the immortal nature of the
aool, (Plato's Phsedo), he drank the cup of poison, and died with the
dieerfulness and composure of mind of a philosopher. He has left
nothing in writing : but his illustrious disciple, Plato, has placed his own
philosophy in the mouth of Sdcrates. This Plato was so distinguished
as a writer and thinker that he was named the ^ Divine," as well on
account of his splendid and exalted ideas and poetical images, as of the
perfect art of representation which is displayed by his works, written in
the form of dialogues. Next to him, X^nophon the Athenian, at once a
soldier and a writer, was the most distinguished of the disciples of So-
crates. He has made the world acquainted with the life and doctrines
of his master, in several philosophical pieces, entitled <' Memorabflia of
Sdcrates."
5. THE BBTBEAT OF THE TEV THOUSIKD. B, C. 400.
S 66. X^nophon's most admirable historical work is the ^ AniHi&si^''
ot the description of the campaign of the younger Cyrus in Persia, and
6
50 THB AKCISNT WOBU).
of the retreat of the Greek troops nnder the oommand of Xidiu^hoa him-
self. Afler its contest with Greece, the PerBian empire had grown gr»-
dually weaker. The gOTeniors ruled the provinces in an arbitrary manner,
and excited insurrections by their oppression. The court was swayed
by selfish and effeminate men and intriguing women, who practised the
most irigbtfiil crimes, gave themselves up to every lust and excess, and
perplexed the affairs of the kingdom by their contests for the crown. It
was under these circumstances, that the younger Cynis, governor of Asia
Minor, entertained the project of depriving his elder broUier, Artaxerxes,
of the crown. He assembled a considerable army of mercenaries, the
fiower of which was composed of Spartan and other Greek troops, and
marched with them into Persia. A battle was fou^t in the plain of
Cun4xa, a few mUes from Babylon, in which the Greeks indeed proved
, victorious, but Cyrus fell by the hand of his brother. The Greeks were
summoned to surrender, and when they refused, the Persians mvited
Qedrchus and the other captains to an interview, in which they were
treacherously murdered. The Athenian, X^nophon, then placed himself
at the head of the helpless host, and led them, under the most incredible
hardships, through Armenia to the Black Sea, and thence to Byzantium.
Without any knowledge of the land or of the language, without guides on
whom they could depend, they were compelled to climb pathless mount-
ains, to wade through rivers, to march through inhospitable and snow-
covered deserts, pursued by the Persians, and attacked by the inhabitants.
When they caught the first glimpse of the Black Sea from an eminence,
they fell upon their knees and saluted it with a shout of joy, as the ter-
mination of their miseries.
6. THE TIME OF AGE8ILAV8 AND EPAMINOKDAS.
§ 67. Sparta, by the Peloponn^sian war, had become the first power
in Greece. She abusied her authority, however, by tyrannizing over the
other states, and by this means brought upon herself the hatred of her
allies, in the same way that Athens had formerly done. Her inhabitants
had long degenerated from the simplicity and severity of manners en-
joined by Lycurgus. Foreign wars had brought riches, these produced
avarice and love of pleasure, and from these again proceeded a host of
vices. Kings and generals suffered themselves to be bought by sums of
money, and disgraced themselves by corruption. A few families acquired
enormous wealth and possessions, and plunged into luxury and intemper-
ance, whilst the poorer classes starved. Even the powerful king, Agesi-
lius, a strenuous advocate for the old Spartan virtue and simplicity, was
unable to restrain these vices.
The other states had also long equally degenerated from the virtues and
patriotism of an earlier period. Their citizens disaccnsttnned themselves
from the use of arms, and relinquished the practice of war to hired mer-
mSTORT OF GBEECE. 51
cenaries ; and when king Agesildus declared war agiunst the cmmbling
empire of Persia, and penetrated with hifl yictorious banners into Asia
Minor, the Athenians, Corinthians, B<»6tians, and some others, were so
forgetfbl of their honor and national feelings, that thej suffered them*
selves to be persuaded bj the Persian monarch to take the field against
Sparta ; so that Agesilius was compelled to retreat, and to turn his arms,
in the so-qdled Corinthian war, against the Greeks themselves. Dis-
union, enervation, and jealousy at length produced such an indifference
to national honor, that the Greek states rivalled each other to secure the
favor of Persia, and consented to the shameful peace of An-
tdlcidas, bj which the west coast of Asia Minor was given
up to the Persians, and in consequence lost forever to liberty and
Greece.
§ 68. The peace of Antdlcidas contained the farther condition, that all
the Grecian states should be free. The Spartans, who were appointed
the guardians and executors of the treaty, took this opportunity to dis-
solve all aUiances between the states, and to increase their own power.
But their arrogance was soon punished. The Greek town Oiynthus, in
Macedonia, had united several neighboring cities in a confederation, over
which, as the principal city, it exercised authority. The Spartans ob-
jected to this, as contrary to the conditions of the peace of Antdlcidas,
and on the Oiynthians refusing to dissolve the confederacy, marched an
army into the countiy, besieged their town, and compelled them to sub-
mission. During the march through Boedtia, the Spartan general allowed
himself to be persuaded by the aristocratic party in Thebes to invest the
town and overturn the democratic constitution. The undertaking was
successfuL The chiefs of the popular party were either executed, ba-
nished, or imprisoned ; the aristocrats seized upon the government, and,
confident of the support of the Spartans, ruled with insolence and vio-
lence.
§ 69. But the hour of retribution was approaching. The banished
democrats united themselves in Athens, whence they commenced a cor-
respondence with their friends in Thebes. At their instigation, they in
a short time returned in secret, in the disguise of clowns, assembled
themselves in the house of one of the party, and, issuing forth at mid-
night, fell upon the aristocrats who were collected together at a luxurious
repast After these had been despatched, they summoned the citizens to
liberty, reestablished the democratical government, and forced the Spar-
tan garrison to retreat from the citadel. This occasioned a war between
the Thebans and Lacedaemonians. The commonwealth of Thebes was
at that time conducted by two men, who joined patriotism and virtue to
cooxage and military talents, and who were united together by the bonds
of friendship^ — Epamin6ndas and PelOpidas. They united their efforts
in the attempt to elevate their country. Epamindndas introduced a new
m THB ANCIENT WORLD.
STBtem of tactics, ^ the oblique order of battle," and Peldpidas was the
originator of the sacred band, which, composed of a number of youths
united together by friendship, and inspired bj a love of honor and free*
dom, offered a successful resistance to the Spartans. At first, the Athe-
nians sided with the Thebans, and by means of their generals, Iphicratea,
Chdbrias, and TinnStheus, did much mischief to the Lacedaemonians,
both by sea and land. But when Thebes subjected the lesser cities of
B<»6tia to its authority, and destroyed Plataa'a, a town that was on
fieiendly terms with Athens, the old jealousy again awoke, Athens con-
cluded a peace with i^parta, and when the Thebans refused to accede to
its conditions, the Lacedaemdnian troops again marched into
their territory, but suffered so terrible a defeat from Epami-
ndndas and Pel<5pidas, in the battle of Leuctra, that Sparta never re-
covered from its effects. For the first time, the Laoedssmdnian troops
led from the field of battle, so that the old Spartan law, which declared
fugitives to be infamous, could not be put in force.
§ 70. Epamindndas shortly after marched into Peloponn^us, and ap-
proached Uie unwalled capital of Laodnia, that for five centuries had
never seen an enemy in its neighborhood. But the preparations for de-
fence made by the old king, Agesildus, and the determined attitude
assumed by the Spartans, whose wives and children prepared to aid in
the struggle, preserved it from attack. B.ut Epamindndas expiated an
old act of injustice. He called the Mess^nians to liberty, and restored to
the exiles who returned from abroad the land of their fathers, with the
newly-built town of Mess^ne. Some years later, Epamin<Snda3 again
appeared in Peloponnesus. The Spartans and their allies, under the
command of Agesildus, presented themselves, and fought
with him the battle of Mantinss^a. In this battle, the The-
bans indeed proved victorious, but conquest was dearly bought by the
death of Epamindndas. A javelin had pierced his breast, but it was not
till he heard that the enemy were defeated, that he allowed the weapon to
be withdrawn, and breathed forth his heroic spirit Two years before, the
brave Pel<Spidas had lost his life in Thessaly, and in the following year, at
the age of eighty, died Agesildus, after witnessing Sparta's highest glory
and her deepest fall. Epamin<Sndas was magnanimous, experienced in
war, and as just, unselfish, and poor as Aristides himself; the lofUness of
his aims, and the sense of his own personal worth, elevated him above
avarice and the pursuit of pleasure, and the single doak which he pos-
sessed was a greater ornament to him than any wealth could have been«
Hia death was followed by a general flagging in the energies of tho
Greeks.
HISTOBT OF GBEECB. 53
7. THE MOST FL017RI8HIKO PSRIOD OF GRBBCE IK LITERATXJBB
▲MB THB ABT8.
§ 71. Whilst the Greeks were destroying their own power and dis-
turbing the public tranquillity by their internal contests, literature and
the plastic arts attained ^eir highest perfection. Dramatic poetry, that
in its origin had been connected with the festivals of the wine-god,
Dionysus, was raised to a wonderful height by the three great poets, So-
phocles, Eurfpides, and .S'schylus. Tlie liyes of these three men, who
were the perfecters of the serious drama (tragedy), may be connected
with the battle of Silamis, since JEXschylus, who was then in his forty-
fifth year, fought in the ranks of the combatants ; S<5phocles, at fifteen,
took a part in the chorus of youths in the festival held after the battle
finr the celebration of the victory, and Eurfpides was bom on the day of
the engagement In the seven pieces of iE^schylus, (the Prometheus
Tinctus, Persie, Agamenmon, &c), we may recognize the great period of
the Persian war, when the souls of the Greeks were inspired by a noble
enthusiasm for freedom and their fatherland. His compositions, which
breathe a reverence for the gods, a respect for ancient institutions, and
the seli^consciousness of a lofty mind, are occasionally rendered obscure
by the bold fiight of the ideas, and the solemn energy of the language.
In the tragedies of SOphodes, of which also seven are preserved (An-
t^one, CE'pidus, iSllectra, &c.), we see the age of Pericles, with its cul-
tivation and intellectual sociality ; and hence these compositions remain
unapproachable models of beauty and harmonious perfection of style.
Eurfpides, of whom we possess nineteen pieces (Med^ Hecuba, Iphi-
geniia, &c), belongs to a less energetic period. He prefers to linger
amidst scenes of justice, in which the Athenians took especial delight ;
he makes abundant use of the artfully-constructed speeches, sentences,
and common-places then in vogue among philosophers, and seeks to affect
his auditors by scenes of sorrow and distress. He replaces the creative
power and genuine feeling of his predecessors, by sensibility and elegant
and polished language. Euripides's contemporary, Aristdphanes, brought
comedy to perfection. His pieces, in which he contrasts the vices of his
own age with the virtues of an earlier period, were often rendered more
effective by living characters, who were introduced by name, and por-
trayed so accurately, that it was impossible to mistake them. Thus, in
his " Frogs,* and in another of his pieces, he ridiculed Eurfpides and his
fiat and lachrymose tragedies ; in his^ Clouds,** he held up to derision
the sophists (under the name of S6crates*) who attempted to undermine
• TUt is an ingeniou plea to Bare Aristophanes from the serioos ohaige of intending
to lidleale, and hold np to public contempt, the greatest and pniest oharaoter of his age,
■id indeed of aU antiqnity. But the excuse cannot be maintained; there can be no dooM
that the aatizist, wlio was as licentious as he was witty, aotoally intended to injnre the n-
pBtatloo of Socntes, whom for the time he much disliked. Am. Ed,
5*
54 THB AKCII5T WORLD.
tfie fiuth of the people; and he was eren hold enoogfa to attad^ the power-
ful CleoQy and the selfish demagogues, in his '^ Knights."
The chorus, which was a feature peculiar to the Greek drama, uttered
in unimpassioned and Ijrical poetry the sentiments and reflections of the
audience upon what was going on upon the stage. The splendid theatiea
which were eveiTwhere erected, and which were magnificent specimens
of architecture, contributed not a little to the elevation of the dramatic
art. A rich citizen could find no better way to the favor of the people
than exhibiting a dramatic performance at his own expense.
S 72. It was at this same period that the prose literature of the Greeks
Pbto, B. a 'ose to its highest point of cultivation. In the dialogues of
439-848. Plato, ( § 65,) the lofty thoughts of a rich and creative mind
are cbthed in the finest language, and presented in the most attractive
Harodotu, form. . HenSdotns, of Halicam^us, is looked upon as the *
B. o. 460. &ther of history. He described the contests of the Greeks
and Persians in simple and copious language, but occasionally introduced
portions of the earlier history of the oriental and Greek tribes, so that
his account contains a great deal that is fabulous, which he copied from
the narrations of the priests. During his extensive travels, he made
himself acquainted by personal observation with most of the countries of
which he relates the history. His work was written for the people, and
therefore its language is simple and cordial. He shows how the love of
freedom, the discipline, and the moderation of the Greeks, bore off the
victory from the servility, the disorderly masses, and the pomp of the
ThucydidM, Asiatics. The historical works of HenSdotus kindled the
B. c. 480. emulation of the patriotic Athenian, Thuc^dides. He had
been banished at the time of the battle of Amphfpolis, (§ 60), and de-
voted the years of his absence to the composition of his ^ History of the
Peloponn^ian war." His ^ thought-weighted " language, and the pro-
fundity of his reflections, render this work unintelligible, except to the
learned. The history of Thucydides ends with the twenty-first year of
the Peloponn^sian war.
Xenophon, X^nophon, his continuator, takes up the historical thread
B. a 400. where Thucydides relinquished it. He is distinguished by the
clearness, ease, and beauty of his style, but is far inferior to Thucydides in
depth and historical accuracy. Although an Athenian, Xenophon respects
and praises the Spartans, especially their king, Agesildus, of whose life
he had also written a description. For this reason, his Greek history is
composed with a conscious partiality ; the illustrious Thebans, Peldpidas
and £pamin<Sndas in particular, are thrown entirely into the shade. His
history concludes with the battle of Mantinae'a. Another work of X^no-
phon's was a history of the elder Cyrus (Cyrop»dia), a sort of romance,
in which he displays the founder of the Persian empire as the model of a
regent.
HISTORY OF GREECE. 65
{ 78. Bhetorie, also, about this time, rose in Athens to its highest point
of perfection. If eloquence had originally been a gift of nature, an in*
bom talent, it began, after the Peloponn^sian war, to be treated as an art,
and rules and theories were established respecting it Schools of oratory
were opened, where the Athenian youth who wished to devote themselves
to public life, or to the affairs of government or the law, received in-
struction. For in a democratic republic like Athens, he alone could hope
to exert himself with success, who was capable of speaking well. Among
the ten Athenian orators who have left written discourses behind them,
B. c Isdcrates takes the first rank, both on account of the artbtic
416— 8S6. skill and perfection of style displayed by his discourses, and
more particularly, from the great success of his oratorical schooL The
PCTno^rthCTWft, ™^^ riBuowned of the pupils of Isdcrates, was Demdsthenes,
B. c who, from his youth upwards, kept his purpose so steadily be-
Stt — <2a. fore his eyes that he made incredible efforts to overcome his
Datnnd impediments, so that he might render himself an orator. No one
possessed to an equal degree with himself the gift of exciting, enchaining,
and inspiring his auditors. Animation of delivery, alternations from se-
verity to ridicule, bitter outbursts, and happy turns of expression, all
serred him as weapons. The most remarkable of his productions are the
twelve political orations against Philip of Macedon (Philippics), in which
he endeavors to excite the Athenians to make war upon this enterprising
monarch, who was at that time meditatmg the subjection of Greece.
The rival of DenuSsthenes was JE'schines, an orator like himself, who
sided with the king of Macedon and Ids party. When the Athenian
senate awarded a golden crown to Demdsthenes, JS'schines attempted, in
a brilliant speech, to procure a revocation of the vote by calling in ques-
tion the merits of him to whom the crown had been presented. This gave
DeoKSsthenes the opportunity of so overwhelming his dpponent, in his in-
comparable oration ^ de Cordna," that ^'schines was sentenced to pun-
ishment, and experienced so much annoyance, that he betook himself to
Bhodes, where he established a school of oratory.
§ 74. The most flourishing period of the fine arts, under which term
are included architecture, sculpture, and painting, was from the time of
Pericles to the death of Alexander. The feeling for art that was inhe-
rent in the Greeks, was the chief cause of this perfection. Gredan archi-
tecture was particularly distinguished by symmetry and harmony, so that
every building formed a beautiful whole. The principal feature in a
Greek edifice are the piUars, which are divided into three orders by the
differences in their capitals. The plain and massive Doric, the slender
Ionic with its voluted capital, and the highly-decorated ^ Corinthian.
They were particularly employed in the entrances of the temples, and
in halls and porticos. The dwelling-houses of the ancients were
small and insignificant, so that their architectural skill could only be
66 THB ASODEn WOBU>.
diBplajed in their public buildings, templefly theatres^ senate-lioiuei^ no*
nomentfly &&
The art of scolptare was earned to its highest perfectioa bj the
Greeks, and the masterpieces of antiquitj that have been presenred to
US are even now regarded as unapproachable examples of beauty.
Amongst the ardsts, the next in celebrity to Phidias (§ 58) are So(^mi»
of Pares, Praxiteles of Athens, and Lysippus of Sicyon. Since the beat
way of showing respect to a celebrated or deserving man, in Greece, was
to erect his statue, or set up his bust or ^ hermes " (bust placed on a
pedestal), artists everywhere found employment and encouragement.
Every city made it a point of honor to possess a multitude of statues in
its streets and public places. The splendid physical conformatioa of the
Greeks, which was ^sfigured by no ugly habiliments, and the oppor->
tunity, afforded by the exercises of the gymnasium, of seeing the naked
figure in every variety of attitude, tended materially to the peifectioQ
of the art of sculpture. The statue of the Belvidere Apollo, the group
of the La<5coon, and innumerable figures and works in bas-relief, afibrd
splendid evidence of the high artistic capabilities of the Greeks.
In painting, the names of Parrhisius, Zeuxis, and Applies are particii-
larly celebrated. We possess no specimen of ancient painting except the
figures on the Grecian vases of burnt earth, and a few pictures ea the
walls of old buildings. Music, dancing, and the histrionic art were also
cultivated by the Greeks with enthusiasm.
m. THE MACEDONIAN PERIOD.
1. PHILIP OF MACEDON, B. C. 861-836.
^ S 75. Northward from Greece lies the rude and mountainous tract
of Macedonia, the inhabitants of which were not looked upon as beloD|^
ing to the Hellenes, though they had adopted the military system and
many institutions of the Greeks. They were a military race, delighting
in war and the chase, and in chivalrous exercises and entertainments.
A year after the death of Epamindndas, Philip assumed the government
of this people. He was a man who united the shrewdness and dexterity
of a statesman, the talents of a general, and the generosity and magna-
nimity of a prince. He both loved and respected the cultivation, and the
artists and poets, of Greece, but held fast, nevertheless, to the manners
of his own people, and even shared the disposition to intempeianco
indulged in by his nobles. He possessed a well-appointed and effideiit
army, which was rendered particularly formidable by a newlyHnvented
order of battle, called the phalanx.
mSXOKT Of 0BBBCB. 67
i 76. Philip's greal aim was the snbjagation of the disunited Greek
states. The sacred war afforded him the wished for oppoitunity for this
purpose. The Thebans wanted to reduce the neighboring state, PhodSy
under their own dominion, and had cited the inhabitants before the ooun«*
cfl of Amphfctjons, on a charge of having taken possession of, and
brought into cultivation, some of the lands belonging to the temple of
Delphi. The council inflicted a heavy fine upon the PhiSdans, and upon
their refusing to pay it, they were placed under a ban, and the Thebana
were directed to carry the punishment into execution. Upon this, the
Phddans took possession of the temple of Deli)hi, and employed the
treasures deposited there in hiring an army of mercenaries, by whose
asnstance they succeeded in defending themselves for ten years against
all the attadcs of their enemies. The Thebans addressed Uiemselves to
Philip for assistance. Philip yielded to their request, first subjected the
Thessalians, and then penetrated by the pass of ThenndpylsB into Phocis.
After a gallant resistance, the Ph6dans were compelled to submit. They
were thrust out of the council of the Amphictyons, as a people accursed,
and Philip was admitted in their place; their cities were rased to the
ground, some of the inhabitants quitted their country, others were
carried into slavery, and those that remained were compelled to pay
tribute.
I 77. Previous to this, Philip had taken possession of the Greek cokn
Bial cities, Amphfpolis and Potidss'a, in Maoed6nia, and had founded the
strcMig town of Philippi in the neighborhood of the former, in a region
aboonding in gold mines ; after this, he had subjected the haughty dtj
Ol/nthus, and punished it severely in its possessions and liberties. But
it was only by the breaking out of a second aacred war, that he waa-
enahled to attain his object The L6crians were now accused in the
same way the Ph6oiaiis had formerly been, of having appropriated and
brought under cultivation a portion of the lands belonging to the temple
ef Delphi ; and for this crime, they were visited with a heavy fine by the
eouneil of Amphictyons. As this fine was not paid, the Amphictyons,
at the suggestion of the orator, ^'schines, who, in his capacity of Athe*
nian deputy, was present at their council, commuted the punishment of
the L^crians. The Macedonian king, Philip, hastened thither with his
army, subdued the L6crians, and laid siege quite unexpectedly to the
importantly ntuated town of Elat^ This arbitrary proceeding roused
the Athenians from their indifierence, and induced them to give a hear-
ing to the exhortations of Demosthenes. The orator himself arranged
an alBance with the Thebans, and effected the equipment of a consider-
aUe army. But these troops, collected together in haste, and placed
aader the eommand of incompetent leaders, were unable to sustain the
shock of the Macedomaa phalanx. Despite the valor of the sacred band
tf the Tbebansy who fell to a man on the field, Philip gained the battla
88 THB AKCIBNT WOULD.
of Chsron^ay which pat an end forever to th^ liberties of
Greece. Demdsthenes pronounced the fhneral oration over
the bodies of those who had fallen, and ladcratesy who was then neailj a
hundred years old, put himself to death rather than survive the libertaea
of his country. For the rest, Philip treated the Greeks with kindness
and affiibilitj, to accustom them more readily to the Maceddnian 7<^e.
He cherished the purpose of attacking the crumbling empire of Perna,
at the head of the united states of Greece, and summoned an assembly
of the whole nation at Ck>rinth, to make the necessary preparations. He
was already named generalissimo of the forces, with unlimited pow^s,
and every state was directed to furnish him with its contingent of troops,
when he was killed, from motives of private vengeance, by one of his
body guard, at the nuptials of his daughter at Pella, in Maceddoia.
2. ALEXANDER THE OBBAT.
i 78. After the death of Philip, the Maceddnian throne was ascended
by his son Alexander, at the age of twenty*one ; a highrspirited prince^
and susceptible of aU that is great and honorable. He was brou^^t op
and instructed in the culture of the Greeks by Aristotle, the great philo-
sopher, thinker, and inquirer; and in consequence, remained throu^ his
whole life a friend and admirer of the Grecian art and literature. As
soon as Alexander had established himself upon the throne, he was
acknowledged by the Greeks as the successor of his fitther in the offiee
of generalissimo against the Persians. Before, however, he could under-
take the campaign to Asia Minor, he had to sustain a severe encounter
with some wild tribes, who had made an irruption into Maceddnia. A
false report of his death was suddenly spread abroad in Greece, and
filled the Greeks with the hope of again regaining their independence.
The Thebans killed a part of the Maceddnian garrison in their citadd,
and the Athenians and Peloponn^ians made preparations for war. But
Alexander came upon them with the rapidity of lightning, Thebes was
taken, its walls and houses levelled with the ground, and the inhabitants
reduced to slavery. Only the temple and the house of the poet Pindar
were spared. The rest of the Greeks were terrified, and the victor, who
soon repented of his severity, forgave them.
§ 79. It was in the spring of the year 834 b. o., that Alexander com-
menced his expedition against the Persians, with a small but valiant
army, commanded by admirable officers, Clitus, Parmdnio, Ptolemso^us,
and Antig5nu8. The army arrived at the Hellespont by the same path
that Xerxes had taken, but in the contrary direction. At the passage,
Alexander was the first who sprang upon the Asiatic continent, wheret,
upon the plain of Troy, he instituted solemn games and sacrifices in
honor of the ancient heroes who had fallen there. Achilles was his
model; for this reason, he always carried the compositions of Homer
HISTOftT Of Guaoi. CO
about with him. Shortly after, the batde at the stream
Gnmicus took place, where Alexander carried off the victoiy
fiom the hi superior force of the Persians. His ooarage and chivalrous
Bphit here plunged him into imminent hazard of his life, from which he
was only rescned by the timely assistance of his general, Clitns. The
conquest of Asia Minor was the consequence of this victory. The Greek
cities submitted themselves voluntarily, and hailed with joyful enthusiasm
the kingly hero who had sprung from their own race. In the cily of GhSr-
dium, there existed a very ancient royal chariot, with a knot twisted in the
most intricate manner, respecting which an oracle had declared, that who-
ever should unfasten this knot should gain the empire of Asia. Alex-
ander accomplished the prophecy by cutting the Gordian knot with his
sword. After this, he crossed by perilous marches the Cilician moun-
tains, where he got a dangerous illness by bathing in the cold waters of
the Cydnus, from which he was only restored by the skill of the Greek
physician, PhiUppus, and his own confidence in human virtue.
I 80. Darfus Codom^nus himself now opposed him with a much
stronger force, but suffered a complete overthrow in the battle of the
Issus. This unfortunate king, who was worthy of a better fate, fied with
the remains of his army into the interior of his dominions, whilst Alex-
ander prepared to attack Phoenicia and Palestine, so as not to leave these
lands unsubdued in his rear. The booty, after the battle of the Issus,
was immense ; and the number of the prisoners, amongst whom were the
mother, wife, and daughter of Darius, who, contrary to the customs of
antiquity, were generously treated by the conqueror, not at all inferior.
§ 81. Palestine and Phosnfcia submitted without resbtance ; but T^re,
confident in the strength of its position, rejected the summons to surren-
der with defiance. Upon this, Alexander undertook the celebrated siege
of Tyre, which lasted seven months. He commanded a mde, with
towers, to be erected from the main land to the island on which the city
was built; and from this mole his soldiers attempted the conquest of the
town by machines for casting stones, and by every means that art could
snpply, whilst his ships bk)ckaded the place by sea. But the Tyrians
defeated his attempts by ingenious methods of defence, and maintained a
desperate resistance. For this, T3rre had to make a heavy
B. o. 8SS. expiation when it was at length taken. Those of the in-
habitants who bad not escaped or perished in the.siege, were reduced to
shivery, and the city itself was levelled to the ground. For the purpose
of directing the commerce of the world into a different channel, Alex-
ander, afier he had conquered Egypt, built Alexandria on an arm of the
Nile, and this dty soon became the central point of trade and civilisa-
tion. From Egypt he marched to the widely-renowned temple of Jupi-
ter Ammon in the oasis of Sivah, where the priests dedared him to be
die son of Jupiter, a distinction that gained him no little respect in the
eyes of the superstitious orientals.
00 TBB AVCnNT YOBLD.
i 82. After Alexander had establklied a new goyenunent in Egjp^
be mardied against Darfoi, who, in tlie mean time» had edlected a lai^
army. He orosMd the Enpbr&tes and Tigris, and iritfa a
B. o. 881. ^^^^ ^^ ^^ twentieth part of that of the enemy, he d»-
' ftated the enonaooa host of the Persians whidb had been assembled
together from all the East in the plains of Babylon, in the battle of
Arb^hi and Gaagam^la. The conquest of Babylon, and the capture of
the two ancient capitals, Sosa and Pers^pdlis, with an eaonnoas treasnre,
were the fhiits of this splendid victory. Darius fled from Ecbdt&na, the
beautiful summer residence of the Penian kings, to the mountainous
region of Bactria, where he received his death from the hand of bis
treacherous governor, Bessus. Alexander shed tears over the fate of his
unfortunate rivals and caused his murderer, who had assumed the tide of
king, but who was soon overcome and taken prisoner by the Maceddni-
ans, to be crudfled in oonfonnity with the Persian custom.
§ 83. The enterprising conqueror succeeded, by dint of a daring
march across the snow-coverod Indian Caiicasus, during which his sol-
diers narrowly escaped perishing by hunger and fatigue, in makittg
himself master of the mountain region to the south-east of the Caspiaa
Sea, and rendering it approachable by the roads he caused to be con-
etructed. His lofty spirit was not entirely absorbed by scenes of war
and conquest, but could attend to the civilisation of the savage inhabit-
ants. Four newly-erected towns, named after him, Alexandria, became
the centre of the caravan trade, and diffused the Greek cultivation among
the farthest nations of the East At the stonning of a strong fortress,
he took prisoner the beautiful princess, Boxina, ''the Peari of the East,"
and made her his wife.
f 84. Although the Macedonians repeatedly expressed their discontent
at their leader^s unbounded love of conquest, Alexander nevertheless
proceeded onwards, to subjugate the lands on the banks of (he Indus.
But the warlike inhabitants of northern India, urged on by their priests,
offered him a far more vigorous resistance than the dastardly subjects of
the Persian king. Alexander's life was exposed more than once to the
greatest peril in the storming of their strong-holds. The quarrels of the
native princes facilitated the conquest of the Land of the Five Rivers
(Punjaub) by the Maceddnians. Some of th^n leagued themselves with
Alexander against Porus, the most poweriul of these princes on the
fiurther side of the HydAspes (Dschelum). The passage of this river in
the fiAce of ^ enemy, and the action that followed, in which the gallant
Poms was wounded and takra prisoner, are among the greatest militaiy
achievements of antiquity. Two new cities, BucOphila (so named bk
honor of Akxander^s charger, Bucephalus), and Nicee'a (city of Yw-
tory), were to diflbse Grecian civilisation among these lands also.
Alexander continued his coarse by difficult marches, still &rther east-
HI8T0BY OF WnClE. 61
vaid, to H/phXaifly aod was already making preparatioDfl to add the rich
lands of tlie Ganges to his dominioiis, when the murmurs of the Maoe*
ddnians beeame so loud that he was compelled, though with inward
rductanoe, to retreat Twelve stone altars, on the banks of the river
mark the eastern termination of his conquests. After restoring their.
lands to Porus and the other Indian princes under Macedonian supremacy,
he sailed down the Indus to discover another way of returning.
This undertaking proved most fataL In two months, he lost three
fourths of his army in the frightful deserts of Gedn^sia, The heroic
warriors, who had bidden defiance to sword and lance in so many battles,
fell victims in the barren and waterless desert to want and fiitigue, to the
miseries of the climate, the fervid sun, the heated sand, and the nightly
frosts. Alexander magnanimously shared all the dangers and difficulties
with the meanest of his troops, and rewarded those who escaped with
entertainments and presents; by this means, the feasting became as
excessive as the previous want.
§ 85. Upon his return, Alexander dismissed his veteran soldiers to
their homes, after having laden them with presents ; inflicted punish-
ments upon the fidthless governors and officers, who, during his absence,
had committed acts of violence and oppression, and then devoted himself
sealonsly to the plan of assimilating the conquered people with theur
victors, and uniting them together in one nation possessed of the arts and
cultivation of Greece* He treated the Persians with kindness, for the
purpose of attaching them to his person and his rule. He surrounded
himself with a court after the fieishion of their kings, assumed the royal
habit and diadem, and employed Persian guards and attendants. He
encouraged marriages between his generals and soldiers and the maidens
of the country, by presents, and he himself espoused one of the daughters
of Darius. By this conduct, Alexander offended the Macedonians and
Greeks, who wished to rule over the conquered people. Already, during
the Indian campaign, the soldiers had disphiyed their discontent and iU
humor in dissatisfied murmurs. This induced Alexandeir to have Phi-
16tas, the playfellow of his youth, and who was now the head of the
malcontents, stoned by the army, and to put to death his aged &ther
FarmOnio, who had remained behind in Persia.
Alexander had at first imitated the customs of the Persian monarchs
for the purpose of conciliating the conquered people; but he soon b^;an
to take delight in this oriental magnificence. His court at Babylon,
which he intended to make the seat of the government of his empire,
shone with the highest splendor; riotous feasts and banquets crowded
upon each other, and in the intoxication of sensual indul^ee, he com«
mitted deeds that afterwards cost hun Utter repentance* Among these
may be mentioned the murder of his deserving general, Clitus, who
•aved his life at the Granfcus, but who afierwaids excited his anger by
6
62 THE ANCIBin WOELD.
some sarcastic speedies as they were drinking. His heart was comipCed
by flatterers, who thmst his honest and well-meaning advisers fiom his
side. The intemperate indulgence in strong wines undermined his health,
and brought him to an early graye. One of the last acts of the hero
was instituting magnificent funeral solemnities in honor of his prema-
turely departed friend, Hephas'stion. His grief for this friend of his
youth had not yet passed away, when an illness carried him
^ ^ to the grave in the midst of fresih schemes of conquest, and
before he had determined upon a successor. When he was asked to
whom he left his kingdom, he is said to have replied, ^ To the worthiest."
His dead%ody was brought from Babylon to Alexandria, and there
interred.
8. THE ALEXANDRIAN PEBIOD.
o. alexandeb's successors.
§ 86. As Alexander left no heir behind him who was capable of
assuming the goyemment, — only a brother, who was imbecile, and two
children who were minors, — his empire fell to pieces as rapidly as it had
been constructed. After many fierce and bloody wars, in which the
house of Alexander was totally destroyed, his generals succeeded in
grasping separate portions of his territories, and erecting them into inde-
pendent kingdoms. At first, Perdfccas, to whom Alexander had given
his signet ring, received the greatest respect, and took upon
himself the office of regent But when he made war upon
Ptolemy, the governor of Egypt, he was killed by his own soldiers ;
whereupon Antigonus assumed the chief power. Antigonus
** ^' ' made himself master of the treasury in Susa, and hired such
a number of mercenary troops, that he was enabled to bid defiance to the
rest of the generals, and compel them to acknowledge him as commander
and regent of the empire. As he allowed it, however, to be pretty
plainly seen that he aimed at nothing less than the sovereignty of the
whole of the Alexandrian dominions, the other generals, Sel^ucus of
Syria, Ptolemy of Egypt, and Gassander of Macedon, leagued them-
selves together against him and his son Demetrius, who afterwards
obtained the surname of Poliorc^tes (Taker of Cities). From this
originated a long contest, that was carried on at the same time both in
Greece and Asia, with various success, and which was only terminated
by the great battle of Ipsus, in Asia IGnor, where the hero Antfg6nus,
who was then eighty years old, lost his life, and his son Demetrius was
obliged to fly. After many partitions and interchanges, Alexander's
HZSTOBT Of efiEBOB. 63
eufire (a few smaller states excqited) was finallj diyided into the tfana
following kingdoms : —
L Maoedonia and Greece,
n. The Syrian empire of the Seleiicid»«
lEL Egypt under the Ptolemies*
& gbeece's last stkuggle. the achaiak league.
§ 87. From the time of the battle of Chieron^ay Greece had remain-
ed mider the govemment or influence of the Macedonian kings, and all
attempts made by individual states to shake off this yoke had proved
ineffectual. Thus the attempt of the brave Spartan king, Agis 11., who,
with 5000 of his foUowers, died the death of heroes in the
bloody field of Megal6polis, was productive of no result.
The contests between the aristocratic and democratic parties still con*
tinned in Athens during the Macedonian period. When the aristocrats,
with the noble Phddon at their head, obtained the government by the
aid of the Macedonians, many of the popular party, and among others,
Demdsthenee, the vehement opposer of the royal house of Macedon,
quitted the city. Threatened with being given up, the great
^^ orator fled to a temple of Neptune, where he destroyed
himself bj poison, to save himself from falling into the hands of his
enemies. Some years afterwards, the democrats again gained the upper
hand, when they compelled PhOcion, in his turn, to drink the cup of
poison. From this time, party violence diminished in Athens, but the
lore of freedom, patriotism, and civic virtue decayed with it Effeminacy
and the pursuit of pleasure choked the nobler feelings, and although the
arts and sciences still continued to flourish, and Athens still remained the
centre of civilization, the greatness of the people was gone forever.
The dtizena disgraced themselves by servility and flattery, particularly,
at the time when the two Demetrii, PhalOreus and PoliorcOtes, were
resident in their dty, and destroyed all morality by their sensuality and
debauchery.
{ 88. About the middle of the third century, Greece made a final
effort in the AchAian league, to which Ardtus of Sfcyon
** ^ gave such power and consequence, especially after the strong
city of Corinth had placed itself at the head of the confederation, that
he was enabled to assume the supreme power over PeloponnOsus, and
even over the whole of Greece. This excited the jealousy of Sparta,
where, just at that time, two high-spirited kings, Agis HI. and QeOmenes,
were endeavoring to restore the ancient strength and military virtue.
For since the Spartans had decided that one person might become the
proprietor of numerous estates, the whole of the land had gradually got
mto the possession of a few rich fimnlies, who governed the state by
chooaing the Ophori from among themselves. The remainder of the clti-
1
04 XHB Ascaasn wobld.
MDt possess^ neither rights nor propeitT^ and were in debt to the xidk
The two kings sought to remedy these evils hj aboliahiBg the ofieecf
the ^phori, by destroying the bonds of the debtors, and by reSstablisIiing
the laws and customs of Lycnrgos. But Agis was dethroned and cruelly
murdered by his enemies ; and Cledmenes, who by dint of resolution
succeeded in carrying his objects in Sparta, and then endeavored to
compel the rest of the Peloponn^sian states to acknowledge the Spartan
supremacy, was defeated in the battle of SelUUia in Are^ia
by the Achdian league, supported by the Macedonians* and
found himself compelled to fly to Alexandria; where he and his faitiifbl
followers, after being baffled in attempting an insurrection, perished by
their own daggers. In the same year in which Cle6ntenes met with his
death, Sparta was subdued by the valiant FhilopQs'men (who had been
chosen head of the Achaian league after Ardtus), and ccMnpelled a 8lK>rt
time after to join the league and abolish entirely the laws of Lycnrgoa.
Fhilopoyn^n afterwards fell into the liands of his enemies, during a war
with the Messenians, and was obliged to drink the cup of poison. After
the death of this ^ last of the Greeks," the power of the Achiian leagae
declined, so that the Romans were enabled to take possesdon of the
whole country without any great effort.
C. THE PTOLEMIBS AND SELBUCIDA,
S 89. Seleiicus and Ptolemy were the meet fortunate of Alexante^s
successors. The former, after many wars which were attended with
important results, succeeded in reducing all the countries between the
Hellespont and the Indus, and founding the Syrian empire of the Seled-
cidas. He built the magnificent city of Antioch on the Orontes, and
Seledcia on the Tigris. By means of these dlSes, and forty others,
erected by himself and his successors, the Greek language and cukave
became more and more predominant in the East ; and from this period,
Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, were the chief seats of civilization and
commerce. But this condition of extreme refinement afforded little
matter for rejoicing. The enormous wealth that flowed into these states
produced luxury, effeminacy, and sensuality; indolence enervated the
people, and produced a servile spirit, which displayed itself by the most
abject adulation of oppressive rulers. Sanguinary crimes, the empire of
women and fiivorites, universal reprobation and corruption of morals, are
the prominent features in the history of the Seleiidda, of whom Antfo-
ohns I£(., sumamed the Great, is the best known, as well by his expedi-
tiim into India, as from his unfortunate contest with the Bomans. Undtf
monardis so weak and abandoned as these, it was no difficult matter fiir
•oterpriaag men to establish small independent states. The most oel6>
bcated of these were the kingdom of P^sgamns in Asia Minor, and thai
of the PartUani on the nortlMaat of the Euphrates.
HISTORY OF QREEOE. 66
The Egyptians under the Ptolemies were in a similar position. The
three first kings established a large naval and military force, by means
of whiph they enlarged their empire on all sides. Trade and commerce
produced wealth ; the science of government and taxation was brought
to a high degree of perfection. Alexandria became the seat of the com- ^
merce of the world, and the centre of Greek art, literature, and civiliza-
tion; the world-renowned museum, with its extensive library and
residences for poets and men of learning, was connected with the royal
palace. But the men who were the producers of all this prosperity were,
like the royal family itself, aliens — Greeks and Jews. The glory of
the Ptolemaic dynasty was of short duration, for the civilization of Alex-
andria had no root among the people. It was an exotic plant that em-
bellished the surface, but left the soil unchanged. The court of Alexan-
dria was not less distinguished by cruelty, debauchery, and corruption of
morals, than by its splendor, wealth, and refinement.
d, THE JEWS UNDEB THE KACCABEES.
§ 90. JudiB^a was for a long time an object of contention between the
SftleiicidflB and the Ptolemies. The latter were the first to take posses-
sion of the land and to render it tributary ; but they suffered the old
institutions to remain, and allowed the high priest, with the council of
seventy (Sdnhedrim), to manage the affairs of religion and the internal
government Many of the Jews settled in Alexandria, where they ac-
quired wealth and power, but gradually lost the language, manners, and
religion of their own country, or mingled them with those of the Greeks.
The translation of the Hebrew text of the Bible into Greek,
which was executed at the instigation of the second of the
Ptolemies, by seventy-two Alexandrian Jews (hence called the S^ptna-
gint), was afterwards extremely serviceable to the propagation of Chris-
tianity.
Judse^a was subjected to the Seleucidas by the Syrian king Antiochus
m. (the Great), and grievously oppressed with taxes. His second suc-
cessor, Aiitfochus Epiph&nes, plundered the temple in Jerusalem of its
treasures, and even entertained the purpose of destroying the Jewish
institutions and the worship of Jehovah, and substituting the Greek
idolatry in its place. To this project the Jews offered an obstinate resist-
ance, and by this means drew a severe persecution on themselves. When
this persecution was carried beyond all endurable limits, the people rose
in desperation against their oppressors, and under the command of the
high priest, Mattath^, and his ^v^ heroic sons (Aliccabees),
encountered the Syrians with courage and success. The
eldest son, Judas Maccabs^us, enforced a peace, which granted the
reestablishment of the Jewish worship. His brother Simon
freed Judas'a from the Syrian yoke, and reigned wisely and
6* •
B.C14S.
B.C186.
66 THE ANCIENT WORLD.
righte6u8l7 as prince and high priest Under his successors, the limits of
the kingdom were enlarged, and the Idamse'ans (Edomites) indaoed to
accept the Jewish law. Bnt internal dissensions, and the hatred of sfects^
Bdon again impaired the strength of the people. The Pharisees, who
held firmlj to the prophets and the law of Moses, attributed great merit
to the accurate observance of trifling precepts and outward ceremonies,
and fell hj this means into hypocrisy and false righteousness ; the Saddn-
cees were less severe in their interpretation of the Mosaic laws, and
attempted to bring them into accordance with the morals, doctrine, and
way of thinking of the Greeks ; the Ess^nes lived together in brother-
hoods, who had all their possessions in common, and served God hy acts
of penance and works of charity. The weakness produced by the mutnal
hostility of these sects at length brought the Jewish race under the domi-
nion of the Bomans. The last of the Mdccabees was slain by Herod the
Idumae'an, who thereupon ascended the throne of David by the assistance
of the Romans, and ruled over Judie'a as tributary king (Tetrarch). For
the purpose of conciliating the Jews, who hated him as a foreigner, he
enlarged and beautified the temple of Solomon ; but towards the end of
his reign, suspicion caused him to degenerate into a bloodthirsty tyitot,
who even attempted the life of that Jesus of Nazareth who was sent into
the world to redeem the lost race of man.
€, THE STATE OF CIVILIZATION DUBINO THE ALEXANDBIAN PEBIOD.
§ 91. By the conquests of Alexander and his successors, the Grecian
arts and refinements were diffused over the greatest part of the old worid,
and a high amount of civilization in consequence produced. The great
increase of commerce and intercourse among all nations was favorable to
the spread of this civilization. But the inward strength was weakened
by the putward diffusion. Nothing worthy of notice was produced in
poetry, except the Idyls, in which The6critus the Sicilian
describes a pastoral life full of innocence and simplicity, and
a few dramatic compositions which are now lost. History and oratory
were far behind the splendid examples of an earlier period. Learning,
and the practical sciences, which are based on experience and inquiry,
attuned, on the other hand, to a great degree of perfection. Learned
critics and grammarians arranged and illustrated the works of the older
Greek writers ; natural history and mathematics, geography and astro-
nomy, of which the elements alone had previously existed, were now
EacUd, greatly advanced. £uclid, a contemporary of the first
B. a 280. Pt61emy, composed a text-book of geometry that was em-
Aichimedes, ployed in education for centuries ; Archim^es of Syracuse
B. aSU. gained imperishable renown by his discoveries in mechani-
cal and physical science ; and the art of medicine, that had been fint
established on a scientific basis by HippiJcrates, was considerably extended
mfftOBT OF GBEBOS. 87
by the Alexandrian physicians. Bat philosophy was the snbject that
reodyed the greatest attentioita. As Paganism in its oorniption afforded
no rest to the soul, and no support in life, men sought for refuge in the
parsnit of wisdom. The precepts of the philosophers of an earlier period
were expanded and applied to the regulation of life. In this way arose
the schools of philosophy, some of which reposed on the doctrines of Plato
and Aristotle, and others were originated by the disciples of S<5crates and
other wise men. The Stoics and the Epicureans became the most dis^
tingnished of these philosophical sects. S6crates had especially taught,
that happiness was the end of existence. His scholar Antbth^nes be-
lieved that the surest way of attaining this happiness was to renounce all
{deaaores, and taught that moderation, abstinence, and a freedom from
DJosKiM. ^^^^ ^^^^ *^® highest objects of human exertion. EQs
disciple DidgSnes carried these doctrines to the greatest
eseeas: he liyed in a tub, deprived himself voluntarily of property and
an the pleasures of life, and by this ^ heroism of abstinence," excited the
-admiration of the great Alexander. This school was called the pTnic,
from the place in which AndsthSnes taught; and in allusion to this. Did-
gSnes reoeived the surname of kuon (hound), because the wretched and
joylaaa life he led seiemed fitter for a dog than a hunmn being. This
doctrine in a more noble form constitutes the basis of the St<Hc philoso-
^^ phy, which was taught by Zeno, a contemporary of Alexan-
der, in the porticoes (stoa) of Athens. According to his
leading, man only attains felicity by bearing with invincible indifference
an the changes and chances of life, — joy and grief, misfortune or happi-
ness : this is his duty the rather, that every thing is determined on before-
hand by an eternal natural necessity or fate. In opposition to this view,
^^^^ another disciple of Sdcrates, Aristfppus of Cyrdne, mam-
"*' tained the enjoyment of life as his chief principle, and taught
tiie art of wisely mingling together sensual and intellectual pleasures.
lliia art of enjoyment was erected by one of his scholars, Epicdrus, into
a system that numbered many adherents. Whilst, however, Epicdrus
made happiness to consist in a freedom from all painful and distressing
emotions, his followers overstepped the bounds of moderation, placed
Inxnry and the gratification of the appetites as the ends of existence, and
rendmd Epicurism the philosophy of effeminacy and excess.
68 THE ANOIBNT WOIUiD*
C. mSTOBY OF ROME.
THE RACES AND INSTITUTIONS OF ANCIENT ITALY.
§ 92. The beautiful peninsula wbich is bounded on the north by ^
Alps, Burronnded on the east, west, and south by the Mediterranean, and
trayersed throughout its whole length by the Appenines, was formerly
inhabited by numerous races of men of different origin. Upper Italy,
on. either bank of the Po (Padus), was the dwelling-place of the Grallic
race, who were divided into many tribes and states, and possessed numer-
ous cities, both in the fertile plains and on the sea-coast. Central Italy
was inhabited by many small tribes, a part of which had dwelt in the
land from time immemorial, and might be looked upon as the aborigines
of the country ; whilst others had wandered thither from abroad. To th6
latter class belonged the remarkable family of the Etruscans, to the for-
mer the sturdy race of the Sab^lli, who were again divided into numer-
ous warlike and freedom-loving tribes, among whom the S^bnnites, the
Siblnes, and the iBqui, were the most distinguished. The Latins, a
powerful rustic tribe on the south of the Tiber, were a mixed race, com-
posed of natives and immigrants, to which, after the conquest of Tkx>y, a
Trojan race, under the conduct of JSneas, is said to have united itself.
The coast of Lower Italy was covered with Greek colonies ; the inland
parts were the seat of warlike tribes of Sab^lline origin, Sdmnites, Cam-
pdnians, Lucdni. Campdnia, with its vineyards and cornfields, is one
of the most beautiful and fertile spots on the globe, and was chosen
accordingly by the Romans for the erection of their magnificent villas.
Of all these races, that of the Etruscans is the most worthy of remark.
They formed a confederation of twelve independent cities, of which Cafire,
Tarqufnii, and Peliisium, in the neighborhood of the Trasim^nian lake,
Clfisium, and Yeii, are the best known. The separate cities were
governed by on aristocratic priesthood. These nobles (Lticumoe)
elected the head of the confederation, the insignia of whose office were
.an ivory chair, a purple mantle, and axes inclosed in bundles of rods
(fasces), such as were afterwards borne before the Roman consuls. The
Etruscans were a religious people, and paid great observance to predic-
1ions derived from the sacrifice of anima'^ (aaspices), and the flight of
birds (auguries). They were proficient i i i he art of founding, and in
working earth and metals, and their skill in architecture is attested by
\he existing remains of gigantic walls, and the rums of temples, dykes,
Toads, &c. The innumerable vessels of clay and cinerary urns (Etruscan
Tases), ornamented with paintings, which are dug out of the earth, are
•evidence of the diligence of the Etruscans in arts and manufactures.
HISTORY OF ROME. 60
Bot the oppresaiTe power of the aristocracy, which proved destnictiTe to
die freedom and energy of the middle and lower classes, was the occarion
of the early decay and extinction of the arts of culture among the people.
The Sibines, Sdmnites, and other tribes of Sab4lline origin, led a simple
and temperate life in open or only slightly-fortified towns. They loved
the pastoral life, agriculture, and war, and looked upon their freedom as
their greatest blessing. From time to time, they celebrated a sacred
spring, during which the newly-born cattle were offered in sacrifice ; and
the children who came into the world in the course of the year, left their
country as colonists, on arriving at the age of twenty.
The Latins dwelt in thirty cities, which were united together in a con-
federation, of which Alba Longa was the head. Agriculture and civil
freedom flourished among them ; their religion was founded upon the
worship of nature, and bore a relation to the cultivation of the soil. The
seed-god Saturn, and his spouse Ops (the abundance flowing from the
earth), were among their deities. The venerable goddess Vesta, whose
sacred and perpetual fire was watched by twelve virgins (Vestals), was
also one of the native deities of the Latins. The representatives of the
onion held their meetings in a Wood on the Albanian hilL
I. ROME UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF KINGS AND
PATRICLAJ^S.
I. BOME UNDER THE KINGS.
S 98. We are told by an old legend, that king Numitor of Alba Longa,
a successor of the Trojan iEn^, (§ 37), was deprived of his crown by
his brother Amulius, and his daughter Rhsea Silvia placed among the
sacred virgins of Vesta, that she might remain unmarried and without
ol&pring. But when she bore the twins R6mulus and Remus, to the god
Mars, her cruel uncle commanded the children to be exposed on the
banks of the Tiber, where, however, they were discovered and brought
up by shepherds. Informed by an accident of the mystery of their birth
^^ . and the &te of their grandfather, they restored the throne of
Alba Longa to Numitor, and then founded Rome on the
Pilatine hill, on the left bank of the Tiber. The rising walls of the city
are sud to have been stained by the blood of Remus, who was shiin m a
quarrel, by his brother.
Bomoins, § ^4- When the little town was built, Rdmulus attracted
a. 0.730. inhabitants, by declaring it a place of refuge for fugitives.
Bat as the fugitives had no wives, and the neighboring people hesitated
to (^ve them their daughters m marriage, Romulus arranged some mili-
70 Xn ANCIBNT WOBLD.
tery games, and invited the neighbors as spectators. At a given sig
every Boman seized upon a S^ine virgin, an^ carried her cff into the
eitj. This outrage gave rise to a war between the Sibines and the new
colony. The two armies were already opposed to each other, when the
abdacted virgins rushed between the combatants, and put an end to the
strife, by declaring that they would share the fate of the Romans. A
treaty was arranged, in consequence of which the Sdbines, who dwelt on
the Cdpitoline hill, agreed to unite themselves in a angle community with
the Latins, who lived on the Palatine, and the Etruscans, who inhabited
the Caelian hill: it was decided further, that the Sdbine king, Titos
Titius, should share the government with B6mulus ; and that a Latin
and a Sibine should be elected alternately from the senate to the office
of king. B<Smulus disappeared from the earth in an unknown manner,
and received divine honors under the name of Quirinus. The dti-
cens from this time bore the name of Quirites, conjointly with that of
Nmna S ^^* '^^ warlike B6mulus was succeeded by the wise
Pompilins, Sabine, Numa Fompflius, who reduced the rising state to or-
B. c. 700. ^Qf \yj j^jg ]^^g i^p J religious institutions, and improved and
civilized the inhabitants. He built temples, and establi^ed a form of
religious worship, increased the number of priests, and made regulations
respecting sacrifices and divinations. He dedicated a temple at the en*
trance of the forum to Janus Bifrons, the god who presides over the
b^(inning of every thing, both in time and space : the doors of this
temple were open in time of war, and closed during peace. As the
Greeks confirmed their laws by the means of oracles, so Numa main*
tained that he had derived his system of religion from conversations with
the nymph Eg^ria, who had a wood sacred to her on the south of Borne.
B. c 660. § 96. The two following kings, TuUus Hostilius the Latin,
B. a 626. and Ancus Mirtius the Sabine, enlaiged the territory of the
little state by successful wars ; so that four other hills were added to the
three before mentioned, and gradually supplied with inhabitants. For
this reason, Borne is called the seven-hilled city. Under Tullus Hostilius
the Bomans engaged in a war with Alba Longa. Just as the armies
were about to engage, it was agreed 'to decide the fate of the two dties
by a combat between three brothers, the Hordtii and the Curidtii, chosen
from each of the parties. Two of the champions oi the Bomans had
already fellen, when the victory was decided in their favor by the cunning
and bravery of the third, and the possession of Alba Longa fell at once
into their hands. The city was destroyed, and the inhabitants trans-
planted to Bome. The same fortune happened to many other cities in
the neighboihood, during the reign of Ancus Mirtius. The conquered
citizens settled in Bome, where they received houses and small estates,
but were not admitted to the privileges of the elder dtizens. The latter^
HI8IQRT OF KOHB. - 71
I
bam this time, were called ^patriciaii8,'',t]ie new-eon^rs bore the niMn^
of ** plebeians.'' Aneus Mdrtius foanded the sea-port of Ostis^ ttt tlie
mgmOk of the TOmt.
S 97. The laat three kiiig% Taiquinius Frkcus, Senrius Tollius, audi
Taiqufniiis Sap^rfons, belongod to the Etruscan race, as is evident fimn^
the buildings they erected, and the Etruscan institutions they introduced
B. & 600 ^^ Borne, The elder Tarqum laid the foundation of the
vast structure of the Capitol, which was completed by his
son Taiquinius Sup^bns, in aooordanoe with his fiither's design. It con-
nsted of a citadel and a magnificent temple. He constructed, in addition,
the enormous clo4c» (sewers), built of freestone, for the draining of the
tatj, the Circus Mdximus, and the Forum.
After the murder of Tarquin by the sons of his predecessor, his sgn-
in-law Servius Tullius ascended the throne. He originaled
two measures that were followed by important consequences*
First, he divided the plebeians in the city and its vicinity into thirt j
tnheBf with their own overseers and &8emblies ; he then divided the enr
tiTQ population of the state, according to their property, into five classeSi
and these again into hundreds, in order to facilitate the collection of im-
posts and the arrangement of military service. By these means, the
lich obtained greater privUeges, coupled however with the condition dk
serving as heavy-armed troops without pay, and at their own expense*
A sixth dass, which included the proletaries (persons without property),
were exempt from taxes and military eervice, but were also excluded
fiom all political rights. By these measures, Servius Tullius brought
upon himself the hate of the patricians, and was in consequence murdered
bj his son-in-law, Tarquinius Sup^bus, with their assistance.
I 9d. Tarquinius Sup^rbus enlarged the boundaries of the
state by successful wars with the Latins, whom he united in
a confederacy under the direction of Borne ; he completed
the Capitol, and ordered, the collection of ancient orades,
called the Sibylline books, to be preserved there ; he founded the first
eoloDy in the neighboring country of the Yolscians, for the purpose of ex-
tending the power of Bome. But despite all these services, he rendered
himself odious to the patrician party by attempting to extend the limited
hingly authority, ^s acts of violence against the senate and the patri-
cians, and the severe imposts and soccage- duties with which he visited
the plebeians, produced general discontent, which finally burst into rehel-
lioa when it became known in Bome that the outrage which one of the
kiagfs sons had offered to the virtuous Lucretia had driven her to self-
tetac^n. Two relatives of the royal house, Lucius Tarquinius CoUa*
thnis, the husband of Lucretia, and Junius Brutus, were the leaders of
te insurrection. Upon receiving information of what was taking plaee^
file king, who was just then occupied in the siege of the ancient seaport
72 THB ANCIENT WORLD.
of iCrd^ hastened to Borne witb bis armj, for the purpose of suppi^
ing the tmnalt ; but he found the gates closed against him, and being
deposed firom the throne by a rote of the popular assembly, and finding
himself deserted bj his army, he and hb sons were obliged to retire into
2. SOME AS ▲ BEPUBLIO UNDEB THB PATRICIANS.
O. HORATIUS COCLES. THE TRIBUNES. CORIOLANUS.
S 99. After the banishment of the royal family, the supreme power in
Borne fell into the hands of the senate. They confirmed the laws thai
were passed in the assemblies of the people, and proposed the officers
that it was the proYince of the oommdbs to elect. Instead of a king, two
ocHisuls were chosen every year, who ruled the state, superintended the
administration of justice, and, in time of war, led the army to the field.
The patricians alone could be chosen to these or any other offices.
The young republic had severe conflicts to sustain both within and
from without Under the first consuls, a nuinber of young Bomans of
patrician family entered into a conspiracy, for the purpose of bringing
back the banished royal family. When this was discovered, the inflexible
Brutus punished the offenders, among whom were two of his own sons,
with death. From without, the Bomans were threatened with the most
imminent danger, by the Etruscan king Fors^nna, to whom Tarqnin had
applied for help, and who had taken possession of the hill Janiculum, on
the right bank of the Tiber. The Bomans were repulsed in an attempt
to drive him from thu position, and were only saved by the valor of
Hor^tius Codes, ^o defended the wooden bridge that crossed the river.
After the Bomans had secured themselves and destroyed the bridge.
Codes sprang into the stream, armed and weaponed as he was, and swam
safely to the opposite shore. Another Boman, Mdtius Scffi'vola, pene-
trated into the Etruscan camp for the purpose of killing the king. He
made a mistake, however, and stabbed the royal secretary. When For*
s^nna, upon this, endeavored by threats to terrify him into a confession,
Hiitius, to show that he feared neither pain nor death, laid his right hand
in the midst of a fire that was burning on an altar. It was frmn this cir*
oumstance that he received the name of Sca^vola (left hand). Astonished
at such a proof of courage and patriotism, Fors^nna made a peace with
the Bomans, and withdrew his forces. The Bomans were however
obliged to relinquish a third part of their lands, and to give hostages. The
y^ians also, and the confederation of the Latins, took the field in support
of the Tarquins. Brutus, the founder of the republic, and Aruns Tar«
HIBTOBT OF SOMB. 78
qdinios, enoountered in the battle, and fell hj the hands of eadi other.
It was in the war agamst the Latins that the Bomans for the first time
appointed a dictator, an officer who was superior to the consuls, and who
possessed unlimited power both in the dtj and the field. It was only in
times of the greatest distress and danger that such 'a dictator was ap-
pointed, and he relinquished his extraordinary office as soon as the neces-
sity for it ceased to exist
f 100. When Tarquin found that all the attempts to regain possession
of his throne had miscarried, he retired to Cums, in Lower Italy, where
he died. The patricians now governed the state, and op-
pressed the plebeians by their severe laws of debtor and
creditor. They (the plebeians) were obliged to pay ground-rent for
their small properties, to perform military service without pay, and to
provide their own anns and accoutrements. When they were engaged
in war, their lands were left untilled at home : bad harvests brought
poverty, and for the sake of escaping from the temporary pressure, they
incDrred debts with the wealthy patricians. If the plebeian failed in pay-
ing the large interest (10 or 12 per cent) the moment it became due, his
person and estate were seized upon by his creditor, he was reduced to
the condition of a serf, and his family were left to starve. When this
state of things' became intolerable, and there was no law to protect the
unfortunate debtor against his merciless creditor, the ple-
beians resolved upon quitting Borne, and building a new
town upon the sacred hill, about a league and a half from the dty. The
patricians sent Men^nius Agrippa after them, to induce them to return.
He explained to them the disadvantages that were likely to arise from
their dissensions, by relating the fable of the quarrel between the stomach
and the limbs, and the danger the whole kodj was reduced to in conse-
qaenee, and promised them a redress of their grievances. The plebeians
allowed themselves to be persuaded, and oblained on their return at first
five, and afterwards ten, tribunes. These were accounted sacred and in-
violable whilst they were in office : they possessed the power of placing
their veto upon any resolution of the senate or decree of the consuls,
which appeared injurious to the interests of the people ; and if this was
not sufficient, they could prevent the levies of troops and the collectioa
of taxes.
Shortly after this, a fiunine broke out in Bome ; and when at last ships
arrived from Sicily with com, the haughty patrician, Mardus Coriolilnus,
proposed that none should be yidded to the people till they had consented
to the dismissal of their tribunes. Upcm this the pe^le, in their as-
sembly, passed a sentence of banishment upon CorioUnus.
and ccMnpeUed him to fiy. Thirsting for vengeance, he be«
took himself to the Yolsdans, and persuaded them to make an inroad
under his command upon the Boman territories. They ha4 already pene-
7
74 THB AVGXXNT WWUD.
tnled in their deBftractiTe oonne to within fire milM of Bamt, whn
their general iras prenuled apcm to retreat bj the united pmj^n of his
wife and modier. CorioUiMM is said to have fidlen a viotun to the rage
of the Yolsdans, who nevertheless retained possession of Oie towns thej
had eonquered^
h. THE FASn. CIKCIKNATUS. THE DBCEMYIHS.
1 101. Borne was so weakened by the dissensions between the diffe-
rent classes that her foreign foes were able to possess themselyes of one
provincial town after another, and gradoallj to diminish her territory.
The plebeians, whose anns were to win the battle, had little pleasure in
shedding thdr blood to increase die wealth and pow^ <^ their opprea-
sois ; they even willingly allowed themselves to be d^eated^ when they
were under the command of one of the rigorous patricians. Such an
event took place m a war against the people of Y^ii, when one of the
Fabii was generaL The disgrace was so severely felt by the hi^-spiii^
ed fiunily of Fabius, that they deserted their own party, and making
common cause with the plebeians, proceeded together to attack the Y^
ana, but were all ensnared in an ambuscade, and died like heroes. One
only, who had not arrived at years of maturity, rarvived the destmctiaB
of bis race. Whilst the Y^ians were attackii^ the BiMnan tnritory am.
the north, the Yolsd and .£qui made inroads no less destructive on the
south. The latter of these tribes, whose possessions extended as far as
Frsen^ste, but a few miles from Rome, once attacked the Romans -at
mount Algidus, with such socceas, that the latter were
surrounded in their camp, and must have been taken prison-
ers if Cindnaitus had not come to dieir rescue. 'When the senate wera
informed of the danger the a#ny was in, they appointed the patriciaa
Cincinndtos dictator. Cindnndtus was so reduced in his circnmstaneea
by misfortunes, that he possessed nothing but a small estate on the rig^
bank of the Tiber, which he was tilling with his own hands, when the
summons of the senate was brought to him. He at once qutted the
plough, hastened to the place of danger with the R(»nan youth that
assembled themselves about him, and surrounded the .£qui in the ni^it.
When these, awakened in the following morning by a great shout, saw
the situation they were in, they were compelled to surrender themselves
posoaers of war, and, after giving up their arms, to pass under a yoke
fiomed of three spears.
1 103. The plebeians waged a hot contest with the patridana for an
equally of rigbta. They demanded, above all^ an agrariam lai^ a writ-
ten code, and a share of the poblio offices.
The Roman state was in possession of large tiaels of land, which
mse not the ezelusive prop^ of any oae^ taut the use of whidi had
hen granted to the patridaas, upon co«ditioa.that a tenth part of the
HurroBT or BOin. 75
produce dioald be paid to the stale. This common land (a^er pMievm)
the patridane looked upon ae tbeir oim, had it cultivated by their clients,
mk waintSLj overlooked each othei^s remissness when the stipulated
duty did not find its iray tothetreamiy. The plebeiana demanded from
time to time an agrarian law, by which a portion of these common
lands should be surrendered to them. But as often as the application
▼aa made, it was encountered by a most decided resistance. The consul
Sp. Gassius, who moved the first agrarian law, was thrown from the
Tarp^ian rock of the capitol, and the place where his house had stood
remained empty and desolate.
§ 103. The administration of the law was exclusively in the hands
of the patricians, who gave judgment and prtmonnoed decisions aooosding
to custom and unwritten traditionary rules, and were thus frequently
gnilty of arbitrariness and partiality. The plebeians, to escape from
these evils, demanded a fixed and written code, but experienced a violent
lesistanee from the patricians. After many stormy debates, the tribunes
of the peopde were at last succesafnl in having envoys sent to Oneda
Magna and Athens, to examine the laws, and to select those
that should appear suitable. When these envoys returned,
both parties agreed that idl the officero of government (consuls, tribunes,
fcc.) should give up their places ; and that ten patricians should be
appointed with absolute power, and commissioned to draw up fresh laws.
At first, the new officers, who, from their number, were called ^ decemvirs,**
periormed the task committed to them in an exemplary manner, md at
the end of the year, their laws gave so much satisfiiction to the assembly
cf the people, that the decem^irate was allowed to continue another
jesr, for the completion of its work. But now the ten patricians abused
their authority by violent and arbitrary measures; they proceeded
against their plebeian opponents by fine, imprisonment, banishment, and
the axe of the executioner ; when a war broke out with the .£qui and
Yolscians, they put to death an ancient plebeian hero in the field ; and
continued themselves in <^ce by their own power, after the second year
iMd passed, and the compiUition of the laws of the Twelve Tables had
been completed. The general discontent was fanned into revolt by a
Iweotioas outrage of Appius Claudius, the most illustrious of the decem-
virs. This man had conceived a passion for the beautiful Virginia,
daughter of one of the plebeian leaders, and the bride of another. In
order to gain possession of her, he instructed one of his adherents to
declare the maiden to be one of his runaway slaves, and to claim her as
his property before the judgment-seat of the decemvirs. Appius Clan*
dias heard the daim in the forum, in the presence of a great muUitBde of
the peof^ ; but scarcely had he, by his decision, put Virginia into the
power of the appellant, when her father hastened to the spot and pfaing*
tdakmfe into her hesirt* Thajdebeians dow sdaed upon the AventJM
76 IHB AJrcmvT wobu).
hil]| and insisted with threats upon the expulsion of the deoeniTin and
the restoration of the old system. Thej obtained both : Appios Qaodios
destroyed himself in prison, another of the dec^Tirs was executed, and
the rest expiated their crimes by perpetual exile. The laws of the
Twelve Tables, however, remained in operation, and became the basis of
the Roman code.
S 104. Shortly after this, the plebeians succeeded in having it
enacted, that the two classes might contract lawful marriages
''' ^ with each other, without the children of such unions foifeit-
ing any of the privileges of their class ; and they at length proceeded to
daim a participation in the consulate. But this demand was resisted by
the patricians with their whole strength ; and when, at last, the plebeians
prevented the raising of levies for military service, they declared that
they would rather have no more consuls than agree to the admission of
the plebeians to the office. At length it was arranged, that three or four
military tribunes, with the authority of consuls, should be
chosen every year from both classes, as leaders of the army
and chief magistrates. This arrangement lasted for some centuries.
But it occasionally happened that the patrician party gained the upper
hand, and then consuls would be again elected for a few years, or the
office of military tribune would remain unfilled. To make amends for
their loss, the patricians instituted the office of censors. Theee^ two in
number, had the keeping of the lists in which every Roman was entered,
according to his property, as senator, knight, or citizen; they superintend-
ed the buildmg of temples, streets, and bridges, and exercised a censorial
supervision, by virtue of which they might deprive men of vicious lives
of the privileges of their dass.
C. THX TAKING OF ROME BT THE GAULS (b. C. 889), AKD THE
LAWS OF LICINIU8 BTOLO (B. C 866).
S 105. Whilst these struggles were going on within the dty, the
Roman army was successfully engaged against the enemy. Since the
regulation that the citizens should receive pay during war, the troope
could continue longer in the field. After extending their territories on
the south, they turned their whole force against the Etruscans, and, under
the command of Camfllus, subdued, after a siege of ten
years, the hostile ci^ of Yeii, the inhalntants of which were,
either killed or reduced to slavery. The haughty general, who had drawn
upon himself the hatred of the plebeians by his splendid triumph ibd une-
qual distribution of the booty, withdrew voluntarily into exile when sum-
moned by the tribunes of the people to answer for hb conduct, and by
this means deprived the state of his aid at the very moment it was most
required.
1 106. For it was about this time that the Gauls, in the neighborhood
BISTORT OF BOMB. 77
«f the Po^ croised tlie Apenninefl and laid siege to the Etruscan dij of
Odaiiim. The inhabitants tamed for assistance to the Romansi who^
however, contented themselves with sending an embassy to effect a re-
CQQciliation. When this fitiled of success, the ambassadors took part in the
contest, and killed one of the leaders of the Gallic army. Tlds outrage
of the rights of nations inflamed the anger of the Gauls. They left
Qdsium, advanced by rapid marches upon Borne, and gave the force
sent to oppose them so> complete an overthrow at the river Allia^ that
only a few fugitives saved themselves across the Tiber in Yeii ; ^and the
day of the battle was ever after distinguished by a black mark in the
BomiUi Calendar, and observed as a time of fasting and prayer. Borne
itself, after being deserted by the women and children, fell without
resistance into the hands of the enemy. The Gauls burnt the empty
city to the ground, slaughtered about eighty old men in the forum, who
were desirous of devoting themselves as expiatory sacrifices, and then
kud si^e to the Capitol, whither those who were capable of bearing
anns had withdrawn themselves. The garrison, however, under the
command of the heroic Marcus Manlius, making a gallant resistance, and
the ranks of the Gauls being thinned by sickness and hunger, a treaty
was entered into, after the siege had continued seven months, by which
the Gauls consented to withdraw themselves upon being paid a ransom
of a thousand pounds weight of gold. It is well known how their inso-
lent leader, Brennus, increased the stipulated amount by the weight of
his sword, which he cast into the scale. The story of the banished
Gamflius pursuing the retreating enemy with a troop of fugitive Bomans,
and again recovering the spoil from them, is doubted, and may be
attributed, not without reason, to Boman vanity.
f 107. After the retreat of the enemy, the Bomans were so dupirited
. that they had not courage to rebuild their ci^, but wished to settle them-
selves in the empty town of Yeii. It was only with difficulty that the
patricians prevented the execution of this project, and that no similar
purpose might again be entertained, the houses in Yeii were given up to
the people to be pulled down. Scarcely had Bome been hastily rebuilt
with narrow and crooked streets, and small dwelling-houses, when the
patricians again asserted the whole of their claims, and in particular re-
vived the ancient laws of debtor and creditor in all their ancient severity.
The preserver of. the capitol, M. Manlius (Capitolinus), took the part of
the oppressed and impoverished plebeians ; but incurred the enmity of
those of his own order to such an extent by doing so, that, under the
frivolous pretext that he was attempting to gain the kingly power, he
was condemned to death, and thereupon cast from the Tarp^ian rock, his
house leveUed with the ground, and his memory declared
B. c. 888. infamous. But this severity against the friend of the people
mused the plebeians from their apathy. Two bold and able tribunes,
7*
78 m ANcnxT woild.
Ltdniiu Stolo and L. SeztinS) proposed die three foUowiiig tewi:-*
1. CenBuIfl shall be again chosen, but one of them shall alirays be a ple-
beian. 2. No citizen shall hold oKHPe than 500 acres of pnMic land in lease;
the remainder shall be distribated in small portions, among the pleMaaa
as their own property. 8. The interest alreadj paid upon debts shall be
deducted from the capital snm, and the residne shall be paid in die
conrse of three years.
These proposals were resisted to the utmost by the patricians, for the
space #f ten years ; bnt all their efforts proved onayailing against the
firmness of the tribunes, who preyented the election of officers and the
military levies. The proposids became laws, and the privileges of the
patricians received a severe shock. It is true that they still retained
ezdnsive possession of the priesthood and certain other dignities ; but in
the course of a few decades, the plebeians were admitted to these offices
also, so that a perfect equality between the two dasses shordy followed.
This dvil concord, to whidi Gamfllus a short, time before his deadi
dedicated a temple, brought with it aperiod of dvic virtae and heroic
greatness.
IL BOlOrS HEBOIC FEBIOD.
1. THE TDCE OF THE WAB WITH THE SAXNTrES, AlTD THE BATTLES
WITH PTBBHI78.
f 108. After the Bomans had exercised their military prowess in some
successful engagements with the wandering hordes of the Gaols, they
attempted to subdue the neighboring tribes. Among these the waiUke
and freedom-loving Sdmnites, who dwdt amidst the Idfty ridges of the
Apennines, gave them die greatest trouble, and diey were forced to cany
on die war against them, almost without intermission, for more than
sev^^ years. The inhabitants of Capua and the Camp^ian plain, who
were unable to withstand the hostile attadu of the warl^e Sibnnites, and
who turned to the Bomans for assistance, were the occasion of the war.
At first, the Bomans refused them assistance ; but the Capuans having
recognised their authority, and placed themselves entirdy under their
protection, they mardied into the field and defeated the enemy with
great courage, at Come, near Mount Ganms.
S 109. Shordy after this, the Bomans found themsdves
menaced with a war by the Latins, who had hitherto been
thehr allies. These were no longer disposed to recognize Borne as the
bead of the confederatioo, but required a share in the senate, the oonsol-
ale, and all offices. Upon this, the Bomans, who were not inclined to
HI8T0BT or Bom. 70
jUa to flieee demandBi conduded a haslj peace and alliance with the
Sfainflw, that thej mi^t turn their anna againet the nearer
enemy. When the annj was at the foot of Yesnyius, the
eottsol Manliw Torqatoa forbade any skirmishing. In defiance of this '^ , /^ .
command, his valiant son made an excursion against the enemy, and
orercame them, but was condemned to death for disobedience by his in-
flexible father, v The battle of Yesayius was determined in
fayor of the Romans by the patriotism of the plebeian con-
sol, Dedns Mns, who, haying had himself deyoted to death by a priest,
enveloped himself in a white robe, and, mounting on horseback, plunged
among the thickest of the eneiby ; whereupon the Latins, together with
their neighbors, the Yolsd, JBqui, and H^mici, submitted themselyes,
and were reoeiyed, with diflferent priyileges, as the allies of the Romans.
In this capacity, ihey were obliged to perform military service in the
Roman army.
f 110. The success of the Romans awakened the jealousy of the Sdm-
nites. Quarrels respecting boundaries led to a renewal of
hostilities, in which the Romans at first had the advantage,
tin the imprudent advance of tiie consuls, Yetdrius and Posihdmius, into ^ / . > ( ^ ^ < >
the Candinian passes, brought the army into such a desperate position, / '
that it was obliged to surrender to the hostile general, Pontius, who had
Bommnded it on every side, and after giving up its weapons, to pass
ignominiously under the yoke. The senate, howeyer, with an unworthy
equivocation, declared the treaty that their generals had concluded in
tibeir necessity with Pontius to be inyalid, and delivered up the consnlsy
at their own request, in chams to the S^bmites. The generals who suc-
ceeded them, especially the vigcHrous Papirius Cursor and Fabius Mdxi-
mus, strained every nerve to wipe away the disgrace ; and their endeayors
were crowned wiUi such success, that, after a few years, the Simnltes,
being no longer able to resist the attacks of the Romans, were obliged to
look around them for assistance. They united themselves with the Um-
brians, the Gauls, and Etruscans, who were also threatened by Rome's
love of conquest ; and, for the sake of being closer to their new allies,
they quitted their own country and marched into Umbxia.
But the battle of Sent(num, which was decided in fayor of
the Romans by the self-oblation of the younger Deoius Mus, destroyed
the kst hopes of the allies. Their great general, Pontius, fell shortly
afterwards into the hands of the Romans, and was put to a yiolent death.
It was in yain that the sacred band of the Sdmnites once more tried
their strength and their swords against the Romans ; Cnrins Dentdtua
gave them a second overthrow, in which the Samnite youth, the pride of
^ nation, moistened the fiehl of battle with their Uood. The Semites
B. tts. '^ ^^ confederates, the Umbrians, Etruscans, and the Sa-
ndman Gaols, were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy
of Borne, and to serve as allies in her army.
80 THE ANCIENT WOBLD
§ 111. During the war with the Sdmnitesy the rich, effeminate, and
oowardlj Tarentioes had behaved in an equivocal manner^ and insulted
a Roman ambassador. Scarcely therefore had the Bomans completelj
mastered their enemies, than thej tamed their anns against Lower Italj.
Hereupon, the Tarentines called the warlike Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, to
their assistance, who eagerly seized this opportunity for conquest and
military renown, and embarked with his forces for Italy. Pyrrhus was
victorious in two engagements, partly from the admirable
disposition he made of his army, and partly by means of his
elephants, an animal with which the Bomans were unacquainted ; and
the senate seemed not unwilling to conclude a disadvantageous peace
with the conqueror, who was marching upon Rome. But the blind Ap-
pius Claudius opposed this design, and induced the assembly to reply,
that no proposals for peace could be entertained till Pyrrhus had quitted
Italy. The admiration of the king, who had hitherto only been acquainted
with the degenerate manners of the Greeks, was not less excited by the
wisdom and dignified demeanor of the senate, and the civic virtues,
honesty, and simplicity of the Boman generals, Fabricius and Curius
Dentdtus, than by the heroism, the bravery, and the warlike skill of the
legions.
A short time after, Pyrrhus was called into Sicily by the Syracuaans,
to assist them agamst the Carthaginians. A love of adventure and con-
quest induced him to accept the invitation ; but he fiuled in his phui of
making himself master of the beautiful island, and was compelled by
the Sicilian Greeks to return. He again marched towards Tarentom,
but suffered such a defeat at Maleventum (afterwards called
Beneventum), from Curius Dentdtus, that he found himself
' obliged to make a hasty retreat* Pyrrhus fell, a few years afterwards,
before Argos, a ci^ of Peloponnesus ; and about the same
^' ^ * time, the Tarentines lost their fleet, and a portion of their
treasures of art, and were made tributaries by the Bomans. The fall of
Tarentum was followed by the subjugation of the whole of Lower Italy,
in the course of which the Greek states were treated with peculiar
severity.
2. THE TIME OF THE PtTKIO WABS.
O. THE FIB8T PUNIO WAB. (B. C 268-241.)
S 112. Many centuries before, some Phoenician emigrants had founded
the trading city of Carthage, on the north coast of Africa (§ 14), which
soon attained to power and opulence by the skill and enterprising spirit
of its inhabitants. The Carthaginians carried on an extensive traffic
with all the lands on the coast of the Mediterranean, established tributary
HISTORY OF ROMR 81
colonial cities in Sicilj and tbe soutli of Spain, and acquired such
wealth, that they laid out the land in the vicinity of their own city
after the manner of a garden, and embellished it with innumerable mag-
nificent villas. Bat civic freedom, mental cultivation, and nobility of
mind were possessions foreign to the Carthaginians. The government
was in the hands of a purse-proud aristocracy, art and literature were
little esteemed, their religious system was so barbarous as to permit the
sacrifice of human victims, and their cunning and falsehood so notorious,
that the " Punic faith " was proverbial.* Long was the contest between
the Carthaginians and Syracusans, for^ the possession of the island of
Sicily. At the time that the gallant adventurer Agdthocles had raised
himself from the humble condition of a potter to the empire of Syra-
cuse, this contest was carried on with such changes of fortune,
that Syracuse was besieged by the Carthaginians, and Car-
thage by the army of Agdthocles, at the same time. The latter made
himself master of the north coast of Africa, and assumed the title of king.
But a change soon took place : his army was destroyed, and he himself
obliged to fly secretly to Syracuse, where his vital powers were so wasted
by a poison that was administered to him, that the hoary tyrant consented
to his own death by fire. His death gave rise to a state of lawless vio-
lence in Sicily, owing to his Campanian soldiers (M4mer-
tines) having seized upon the town of Messina on thSir way
home, slaughtered or driven away the male part of the inhabitants, and
then filled the island with robbery and devastation. In this distress, the
Syracusans elected the valiant Hiero for their king. He marched, in con-
junction with the Carthaginians, against the IVIamertines, defeated them,
and laid siege to their city Messina. The IMdmertines were shortly re-
duced to such extremities that they applied to the Romans for assist-
ance.
§113. The Romans did not long hesitate to enter into a defensive,
alliance with the rapacious Mdmertines, and to gain by this means an op-
portunity of subjecting the rich and beautiful island, although they saw
plainly that the jealous Carthaginians, who were already in possession of
the citadel of Messina, would oppose them with all their strength. A
Boman army shortly after succeeded in driving back the disunited enemy
iiom the walls of the city, in bringing Hiero into an alliance with Rome,
and depriving the Carthaginians of the important town of Agrig^ntum.
Upon this, the Romans built a fleet afler the model of a shipwrecked
Punic vessel, and won the first naval engagement, by means
of the consul Dufllius, at Mylae, near the Lipdrian islands.
Encouraged by this success, they now determined to deprive tlie Gartha-
*Ifc Bhonld be remembered, however, especially in reference to this chai^ of bad faith,
tttfcmoet of onr knowledge of the Carthaginians is derived from their ancient and inveto*
nto enemies, the Romans. AnLEi,
82 THE ANCIENT WORLD.
ginians of th^r supremacj at sea, and passed over to Africa with a fleet
and a large armj, under the conunand of the heroic oonsal B^gulus.
B^golos gradually approached, conquering and devastating, to the gates
of Carthage. The terrified Carthaginians sued for peace, but when thej
found the 6onditions offered them bj the haughty conquei^>E too severe,
they prepared for resistance, increased the number of their mercenary
troops, and committed the conduct of the defence to an experienced gene-
ral, the Spartan Xantfppus. This leader gave the Romans so severe a
. defeat at the seaport town of Tunes, that only 2,000 of their splendid
army escaped ; the others were either killed or made prisoners of war,
together with the consul R^gulus.
§ 114. This blow was followed by a succession of misfortunes: two
fleets were destroyed by tempests, so that, for some years, the Romans
renounced all thoughts of success by sea ; on land, they only ventured
upon trifling engagements, from fear of the elephants, of which they
themselves never made use, though the battle at Tunes had been decided
by them. In a few years, however, they recovered themselves; thej
made a successful sally from Pandrmus (Palermo), drove
back the Carthaginians, and took possession of all their ele-
phants. Hereupon the Carthaginians sent R^gulus to Rome to negotiate
an exchange of prisoners, afler they had obtained from him an oath, that,
if not successful, he would return to captivity. Begulus advised the
senate not to consent to the exchange, on the ground that it would be
disadvantageous to their country ; and then, true to his oath, returned to
Carthage. Upon this, the Carthaginians were greatly enraged, and pat
Begulus to death in a most barbarous manner.
Victory remained for some years dubious. At length, the admirable
Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barcas, made himself master of the cita-
del £ryx, and overlooked from a lofty rock all the movements of the
Romans. But this was only possible so long^ as there was no Roman
fleet to prevent the communication with the sea. As soon as 200 ships
had been fitted out at Rome, by private contributions, and by employing
the treasures in the temples, and the consul Lutdtius Catulus
B Cm 242>
had defeated the enemy's fleet at the JEgdtian islands, the
Carthaginians were compelled to consent to a peace, in which they
renounced their claims upon Sicily, and promised to pay a large sum to
defray the expenses of the war.
6. THE SECOND PUNIC WAE. (b. C. 218-202.)
S 115. Whilst the Carthaginians, after the peace, were engaged for
three years in a frightful war with their rebellious mercenaries, the
Romans were enlarging their territory in every direction.
They transformed Sicily into the first Roman province ; took
possession of Corsica and Sardinia after a severe struggle with the semi-
BISTORT OF ROME. 83
barbarous inhabitants; and wreste4 the island of Corcjfra (Corfu) and a
few maritime towns from the piratical Illjrians. But the hardest con-
flict they had to sustain was with the Cisalpine Gauls, who, supported by
their brethren in the Alps, had made a destructive inroad
upon Etruria. After the Romans had overthrown their
brave, but badly-armed enemies, in two bloody engagement^, the fertile
regions on either side of the Po were erected into a Roman province,
under the name of Gallia Cisalpina, and connected with Rome by two
military roads.
§ 116. In the mean while, the Carthaginians, at first under the com-
mand of the brave Hamilcar Barcas, and after his death under that of
the prudent Hdsdrubal, extended their conquests into the richly metal-
liferous region of South Spain, and established an admirable military sta-
tion in New Carthage (Carthag^na). This aroused the fear and envy of
the Romans, and induced them to enter into a defensive alliance with the
Greek colony of Saguntum, on the north-east coast of Spain. Hdsdrubal
soon died, and his place was supplied by Hamilcar's son, Hannibal, who
was then twenty-five years of age, and who joined the courage and mili-
tary talents of his father to the prudence of his predecessor, and who,
whilst yet a boy, had sworn eternal hatred against the Romans upon the
paternal altar. Eager to measure himself against the Romans, he laid
siege to the confederate town of Sagdntum. It was in vain that the
Rinnan envoys warned him to desist ; he referred them to the Cartha-
ginian senate, but in the mean while pressed the town so closely, that he
took it in eight months. The most resolute of the inhabitants collected
their goods together in the market-place, set them on fire, and threw
themselves into the flames ; the others died by the sword of the enemy,
or beneath the ruins of their houses. Saguntum was reduced to a
heap of rubbish. The Roman embassy, when too late, declared war in
Carthage.
S 117. It was in the spring of the year 218 b. c. that Hannibal crossed
the Ebro, subjected the tribes in that neighborhood ; and then, with an
army of 60,000 men, and thirty-seven elephants, penetrated across the
Pyrenees into Gaul, whilst his brother Hasdrubal, with an equal number
of troops, held Spain in subjection. After Hannibal, had forced a passage
through South Gaul and over the Rhone, he commenced his ever-memo-
rable passage of the Alps (probably by the way of Mount Cenis.) In the
midst of perpetual contests with the savage inhabitants, the soldiers
dimbed over lofty mountains covered with snow and ice, without road
and without shelter, — over precipices and gulfs. Nearly half the troops
and the whole of the beasts of burden were destroyed. But these losses
were soon replaced, when, after a^march of fourteen days, Hannibal
arrived in Upper Italy. For no sooner was the consul Cornelius Scipio
defeated and severely wounded, in an ajSair of cavalry on the Ticfnus, and
84 THE ANCIENT WOBLD.
his fellow-consul, the imprudent Semprdnius, completely routed at the
rashlj-undertaken battle of Trdbia, than the Cisalpine Gauls joined
Hannibars standard. After a short rest in Liguria, he
crossed the rugged Apennines, a most toilsome march, (in
the course of which he lost an eye from inflammation), and continued
his devastating* course into Etriiria. The consul Flaminius encountered
him at the Lake Trasimenus, but by his inconsiderate rashness sustained
a total defeat, in which he himself lost his life, and his soldiers were either
killed or drowned in the waters of the lake. The road to Rome was
now open to the victor ; but he determined upon marching into Apulia,
for the purpose of inducing the inhabitants of Lower Italy to revolt.
§ 118. It was at this time, that a man opposed himself to the Cartlia-
ginian general, who, by his prudence and circumspection, occasioned him
many difficulties, — the dictator Fabius Mdximus, the Delayer. He
avoided an open engagement, but followed the hostile army foot by foot,
and turned every unfortunate movement to his own advantage. He
reduced it to such a perilous position in Campdnia, by taking possession
of the mountain heights, that Hannibal was only able to save himself by
an artifice, — driving oxen, with bundles of lighted brushwood tied to
their horns, up the hill, by which means he deceived the enemy. But
the discontent of the imprudent people at this lingering mode of warfare,
^ induced the consul Terentius Varro, in the following year, again to
hazard an engagement, against the advice of his colleague, Paulus
^mflius. Hereupon followed the dreadful defeat of the
Romans at Cannse, where the number of the slain was so
great, that Hannibal is said to have sent three bushels of rings to Car-
thage, which were stripped from the hands of the Roman knights. The
high-minded Paulus iEmflius was found among the slain. The day of
the battle of Cannae, like that of the defeat at the Allia, (§ 105,) was
marked in the Roman calendar as a time of prayer and fasting, ^e
immovable senate, however, preserved its courage and composure ; all
who fled at Cannse were declared infamous, and expelled from the
army.
§ 119. Hannibal did not consider it advisable to advance at once upon
Rome with his shattered forces, but established his winter quarters in
the rich and luxurious city of Cdpua. But it was here that his rugged
warriors were rendered effeminate and lost their love of war. The
Romans, on the other hand, made new preparations with extraordinary
rapidity, so that, in the spring, they were able to send fresh troops into
the field, whilst in the mean time Hannibal's army had received no re-
inforcements from Carthage. Two successful engagements
restored the courage of the Romans, and put them in a posi-
tion to chastise the towns of Sicily and Lower Italy, which, after the
battle of Canute, had revolted to Hannibal. Marcellus went over to
HISTORY OF ROME. 85
SicOy and laid dege to Syracuse ; which defended itself with so much
courage and success, by the aid of the ingenious mathema-
tician and philosopher, Archimedes, that it was only by the
greatest efforts, and after a siege of three years, that Mar-
cellus could make himself master of the place. The revenge
of the Romans was fearful : the soldiers plundercKl and slaughtered ;
Archimedes was slain at his studies, the finest works of art were sent to
Borne, and the glory of Syracuse was gone forever. Cdpua experienced
a similar fate. The place was closely besieged by two Roman legions ;
the terrified inhabitants implored the assistance of Hannibal, who ad-
vanced upon Rome, in the hope that the Romaos would hasten to the
relief of their capital, and relinquish the siege. But one legion, in con-
junction with a few other troops, was sufficient to compel
Hannibal to retreat, and the Cdpuans, reduced by hunger,
were obliged to surrender to the other. Twenty-seven senators died by
their own hands, and fifty-three by the axe of the executioner ; the citi-
zens were reduced to slavery, and their property bestowed upon foreign
colonists. The treasures of Cdpua were sent to Rome, all her privileges
were destroyed, and from henceforth the city was governed by a Roman
prefect Two years later, Tarentum fell again into the hands of the
Romans. Fabiiis Mdximus reduced the inhabitants to slavery, and took
possession of the treasures, but suffered the statues of the ''Angry Grods "
to remain. Fear soon brought all the revolted states back to the
Romans, and Hannibal's position, without money, without reinforce-
ments, and without supplies, became every day more precarious.
§ 120. Spain was now Hannibal's only hope, since he was deserted by
his ungrateful country. It was there, that Hannibal's brother, Hdsdni-
bal, after having opposed the Romans for a long time with success^ was
at length reduced to such straits by the young and high-spirited Cornelius
Sdpio, that he was unable to remain in the country any longer, and con-
sequently resolved upon uniting himself with his brother, who had sum-
moned him into Italy. Following Hannibal's passage across the Alps,
he marched into Upper Italy, and then directed his course
B. c 30S. towards the coast of the Adriatic Sea, with the purpose of
joining his brother, who was encamped in Lower Italy, opposite the con-
sul Claudius Nero. But the daring resolution of this consul to effect a
secret junction with his colleague, Livius Salindtor, by a rapid march
upon Umbria, led to the death of Hdsdrubal and the destruc-
tion of his army, at the river Metdurus, before Hannibal had
received notice of his approach. In the bloody head of Hdsdrubal, which
the consul, on his return, threw into the enemy's camp, the dispirited
general recognized the ^' fearful fate of Carthage."
S 121. It was in misfortune that Hannibal displayed the real greatness
of his military talents. Without help from without, and without allies
8
86 THE ANCIENT WORLD.
in Italy, he still maintained himself, with the remains of his armj, for
some jears, in the extreme south, against the superior force of the ene-
my. But when the yictorious Sdpio returned, after the subjugation of
Spain, passed over from Sicily into Africa, with some fugitives and
volunteers, and, setting fire in the neighborhood of Utica to
the enemy's camp, which consisted of tents made of straw
and reeds, attacked them during the confusion, Hannibal was recalled to
defend his country. Sorrowful and angry he quitted the land of his
renown. It was in vain that he endeavored, during a conference, to
persuade his opponent to conclude a treaty, by representing the instability
of fortune. Scipio would not listen to the proposal ; where-
upon the battle of Zama followed, and ended in the defeat
of the Carthaginians. Hannibal himself now advised a peace, hard as
the conditions were. The Carthaginians were obliged to take an oath
never to commence war without the consent of the Romans, they were
compelled to renounce their claims upon Spain, to give up their ships of
war, and to pledge themselves to pay an enormous sum to defray the
expenses of the contest. Afler burning the Carthaginian fleet, and
investing Masinfssa, a friend of the Romans, with the kingdom of
Kumidia, Sdpio, (afterwards called Africdnus), returned to Rome, where
a splendid triumph awaited him. Hannibal, on the other hand, was
obliged, a short time after, to leave his home, a persecuted refugee, and
carried his hatred of the Romans to the court of the Syrian king^
Antfochus.
C. MACEDONIA COKQtTEBED ; OORINTfl AND CARTHAGE DE8TR0TCD.
$ 122. About this time. King Philip II. reigned over Macedonia and a
part of Greece. He had entered into an alliance with Hannibal, and
made war on the Romans and their confederates in Greece and Asia
IDnor. It was for this reason that the Romans now turned their arms
against him. * They sent their general, Flamfnius, a clever man, and one
who took an interest in Greek art and literature, into Greece ; he sum-
moned the states to freedom, and then gave the Maceddnians an over-
. throw at the Dogsheads (Cynosc^phalffi) a range of hills in
Thessaly. By this, Philip saw himself compelled to a
* peace, by which he acknowledged the independence of Greece, gave up
his fleet and a great sum of money, and renounced the right of making
war on his own account. To gratify the vanity of the Greeks, the
subtle Flaminius caused the deliverance of Greece from the ]Maced6nian
yoke to be proclaimed with magnificent ceremonies at the Isthmian
games. But it was soon evident that the Romans were quite as eager
to assume the government of Greece as ever the Macedonians had been.
It was for this reason that many of the Greek tribes, and in particular
the warlike JSt61ians, who had united themselves in a confederation
HISTORY OF ROME. 8?
•imikr to thatof tlie AchAlans, applied to the Syrian king^ Antiochus IH.
for aid, (§ 90). Aatfoehus, at whose court Hannibal was living, yielded
to the demand ; but instead of joining Philip IL and attacking the Romans
with united forces, he squandered his time idlj in feasting and luxury,
and gave offence to the Macedonian king ; whilst the Romans marched
rapidly into Thessaly, and after storming the pass of Therm<5pyle under
Forcius Cato, compelled the Syrian king to retreat into Asia. But he was
immediately followed thither by a Roman army, under the command of
Cornelias Scipio, with his brother Africdnus at his side, for counsellor.
A murderous engagement took place at Magnesia, near mount
Sipj^lus, which terminated to the disadvantage of Antiochus, who was
compelled to purchase a peace by the cession of Western Asia, this side
of the Taurus, and by the payment of an enormous sum for the expenses
of the war. The rapacious JGtdlians were also subdued and punished
in their purses and their treasures of art.
Hannibal, threatened with being delivered up to the Romans, fled to
Prusias, king of Blth^nia ; but when this prince could no longer venture
to defend him, he swallowed poison on a lonely hill, to escape
failing into the hands of his mortal enemies. At the same
time, his great antagonist, Scipio, died at his estate in Lower Italy, far
away from Rome, whence he had been driven by the malice of his
enemies. To make this year thoroughly fatal, Fhilopce^men was lOso
compelled to drink the cup of poison (§ 88).
§ 123. Perseus, the wicked son of Philip 11., made his way to the
B£aced<5nian throne by crimes, inasmuch as he provoked the suspicious
father to murder his younger son Demetrius, a noble prince, and well
disposed to the Romans. Perseus was scarcely in possession of his
crown, before his hatred to the Romans induced him to begin a new war.
His enormous wealth enabled him to make vast preparations, but avarice
and perverse measures soon occasioned his fall. After the victor^
obtained by the expert tactician and accomplished man,
"" ^ Paulus ^mflius, at Pydna, Perseus fell into the power of
the Romans, was led in triumph, together with his treasures and his cap-
tive children and friends, through the streets of the mistress of the
world ; and shortly after, 'ended his life in solitary confinement Maee*
ddnia was divided into four provinces, and placed under a republican*
form of government ; 1000 noble Achdians, among whom was the great
historical writer, Poiybius, wero conveyed to Rome as hostages, on the
plea of a secret understanding with Perseus. Twenty years later, a
pretended son of Perseus raised the standard of rebellion. This gave the
Romans the wished-for opportunity of converting Maced<5ni4
a. o. 14S. j^^ ^ Roman province, after the subjection of the impostor
by Metellus. Metellus had not yet quitted the conquered territory^
when the Ach^ian league also took up arms to rid themselves of Bome^a
88 THE ANCIENT WORLD.
oppressive authority. Metellus oyerthrew the Ach^uans who marehed
against him in two engagements ; but was obliged to leave the terminar
tion of the war to his rude successor, Miimmius, who
stormed Corinth, and burnt it to the ground. The inhalut-
ants were either slain or reduced to slavery, the treasures of art destroyed
or sent to Rome, and Greece was converted into a Soman province,
under the name of Achdia. The prosperity of the once flourishing states
disappeared beneath the pressure of Roman taxation, and every spark
of the patriotism and love of hberty of a former age was extinguished.
The Spartans continued their rude trade of war as mercenaries, whilst
the Athenians sought a subsistence among the Romans, as artists and
men of learning, as players and dancers, as poets and beaux etpritt; but
they were treated with little respect.
§ 124. In the mean while, Carthage had again recovered a portion <^
her prosperity. This reawakened the envy of the Romans, and gave
emphasis to Cato's expression, '^that Carthage must be destroyed.**
Masinissa, king of Numidia, relying upon Roman protection, enlaiged
his own territories at the expense of those of the Carthaginians ; and at
last, irritated them so much by perpetual quarrels about boundaries, that/
they took up arms to defend their own possessions. This was looked
upon in Rome as an infringement of the peace, and occasioned a declara-
tion of war. The Carthaginians implored indulgence, and delivered up,
at the demand of the Romans, first, 300 respectable hostages, and after-
wards, their ships and weapons. But when this was followed by a de-
cree that Carthage should be burnt to the ground, and a new city erected
farther from the coast, the inhabitants determined rather to perish
beneath the ruins of their houses than submit to such a disgrace. A
spirit of courage and patriotism took possession of all sexes and condi-
tions. The town presented the appearance of a camp ; the temples w»e
converted into smithies for forging arms, and every thing was made sub-
servient to the lofty purpose of saving the state. Even the veteran
legions of Rome were unable to withstand such enthusiasm as this.
They were repeatedly repulsed and reduced to a precarious condition,
until the younger Scipio, the able son of Faulus ^milius, who had been
adopted into the family of Scipio during childhood, was appointed to the
consulate before the lawful age, with dictatorial power. After a most
desperate resistance, and a murderous conflict for six days in the streets,
it was he who at length succeeded in reducing the city, after it had
suflered all the extremities of famine. The rage of the soldiers, and a
conflagration that lasted for seventeen days, converted Carthage, the once
proud mistress of the Mediterranean, into a heap of ruins; 50,000
inhabitants, whom the sword had spared, were carried into slavery by
the conqueror, who from this time bore the name of the younger
AfricAnus. The terrUory of Carthage was turned into a Roman
BISTORT OF BOMB. 89
province, called Africa, and the rebuilding of the citj denounced with a
cone.
a. THE XANKEBS AND CI7LTUBB OF THB BOHANS. ^
§ 125. The acquaintance of the Romans with Greece was attended
with the most important consequences to their civilization, manners, and
mode of living. Tlie works of Greek art and literature that had been
taken fi-om the conquered towns, produced, in the more susceptible part
of the nation, a taste for cultivation, and awakened a fresh class of feel-
ings. A powerful party, at the head of which stood the Scipios, Mar-
cellus, Fluminius, and manj others, patronized the Greek philosophy,
poetry, and art ; cherished and supported the learned men, philosophers,
and poets, of that nation ; and sought to transport the spirit and language
of the conquered people to Rome, together with their works of art
Under the protection of the Scipios, Roman poets wrote verses in imita-
tion of their Greek prototypes. This was the case with their writers of
comedy, Fkutus and Terence, the latter of whom is said to have been
assisted in his compositions by the younger Scipio and his friend Laelius.
Since, however, the minds of the Romans were directed entirely to the
practical, to the conduct of war, the government of the state, and the
administration of justice, intellectual culture never could attain to the
same height among them as with the Greeks : the people found more
pleasure in spectacles addressed to the senses, rough gladiatorial com-
bats, and the contests of wild animals, than in the productions of the
mind.
. But literatare and the arts were not the only things that were borrow-
ed; elegance and refinement in the arrangement of dwellings, luxury
and extravagance in meals and dress, politeness and suavity in social
intercourse, sensual enjoyments and luxurious pleasures, were copied by
the Romans from the Greeks and Orientals. The victors inherited the
vices and excesses of the conquered people, along with their wealth and
dvilization. An opposite party, with Tordus Cato at its head, earnestly
combated the new system that threatened to destroy the ancient manners,
discipline, simplicity, moderation, and hardihood. The severity with
which this remarkable man, in his office of censor, opposed the new
direction of things, has made his name proverbial. By his aid, the
Greek philosophers were banished from Rome ; the schools of oratory
dosed ; the dissolute festivals of Bacchus, and other religious customs
derived from abroad, interdicted ; the Scipios punished as corrupters of
morals ; and laws proclaimed against luxury and excess. For the pur-
pose of counteracting the influence of the new literature,* he himself
wrote works upon agriculture, the basis of Rome's former greatness, and
upon the people of ancient Italy, whose simplicity and purity of morals
be wished to contrast with the commencing degeneracy of his time« But
8*
90 TOE AKOIEl^ WOBU).
the example of Cato, who learned Grreek in his old age, ahows that tin
rigid attachment to the ancient and traditional invariablj gives way be-
fore new efforts at progress.
m. HOME'S DBQENEBAOY.
1. NUMANTIAy TIBERIUS, AHD OAIUS 6RA0CHUS.
§ 126. In proportion as the Boman territory increased in extent, the
heroism, the dvic virtnes, and the patriotic feelings on which Rome's
greatness had been built, disappeared. Fresh aristocratic families were
formed from the rich and the illustrious, who, like the patricians of old,
monopolized all honors and offices. Thej sought perpetually for new
wars, the conduct of which was given to them alone, for the purpose of
increasing, by victories and triumphs, the renown they had inherited from
their ancestors ; and the provinces were exhausted to the end that they
might give themselves up to all kinds of pleasure and enjoyment, with-
out lessening the wealth on which the power and splendor of their fami*
lies were founded. As proconsuls and proprsetors, they conducted the
government and the administration of justice in the ccmquered provinces,
with a host of writers and subordinates, and kept their own interest more
in view than the welfare of the governed. The wealthy members of the
knightly class undertook, as farmers-general of the revenue, for a oertaifi
sum they paid into the exchequer, to collect all taxes, imposts, and tdls,
and then sought, by the most shameless exactions practised by their toll-
eollectors, receivers, and under-farmers, to indemnify themselves for that
outlay by an enormous profit. What the officials and revenue-farmers
left, was appropriated by a tribe of hungry merchants and usurers, so
that a few decades sufficed to ruin the prosperity of a R4Mnan colony.
It is very true, that there existed a law which gave the abused provin-
cials the right of impe^hing their oppressors on the expiration of their
term of office ; but as the judges all belonged to the same wealthy and
noble families, the criminal generally escaped free, or was fined in a
small amount, for the sake of appearances.
Single provinces would occasionally attempt to shake off this oppres-
sive yoke, and to regain their freedom by dint of arms. The first ex-
ample of such a revolt was given by the inhabitants of the Pyrenean
peninsula, and above all others, by the heroic race of Spain, whose chief
dty was Numdntia. For five years, they set all the efforts of the Bo-
Inans at defiance, and extorted a treaty of peace and an acknowledgment
of their independence, from a consul whom they had inclosed in the h6L»
lows of their mountains. But the senate did not confirm the treaty, and
BI9K»tT OF BOMS. 91
belMiTed as they had done in the affair of the CaudiiiiaD passes ($ 110).
li was onlj when the jouDger Seipio^ the eenqueror of Carthage, put
himself at the head of the srmj, aad restored the abandoned energy and
diseipUiie of the ewnp, thi^ Numdntiay after a desperate de-
fence, was eottpeUed by hvager to sarrender. The citizens
sseaped from the insults of the Tictors, by heroically killing themselves.
Scipio destroyed the empty town, the mins of which still look admonidi-
bgly down npon posterity, a memorial of a magnawimoas straggle for
freedom.
§ 127. The new family adstocraey not only fiUed all the offices, and
exdoded men of inferior birth from posts of honor, but they also pos-
sessed the whole Qf the arable land, inasmu<^ as they again claimed an
ezdasive right to the common lands, and got the smaller {arms into their
hands by purchase, usury, chicanery, and sometimes even by violence.
By these means, the greatest inequality of property was produced. The
class of free husbandmen, ttp<m which the ancient strength, honesty, and
military virtue of Rome was established, disappeared entirely; whilst
the nobles got possession of immense estates, which they had cultivated
by hosts of slaves, who had been made prisoners in war. Numbers of
impoverished tenants, who had been driven from their houses and farms
by hard-hearted landlords, wandered through the land, a picture of misery
and distress.
In the midst of this state of things, the noble tribune of the people,
Tiberias Qraoehus, (son of Cornelia, daughter of the great
Scipio Africinus,) presented himself as the defender of op-
pressed poverty, by proposing a renewal of the agrarian law of Lidnius
Btolo (§ 107), which enacted that no one should posses more than 500
acres of the public land, and that the remainder should be distributed to
necessitous families in small lots, as their own propety. Upon this, the
noUes raised a dreadful storm, and prevailed upon another tribune to op-
pose the measure. According to the Roman code, no proposal could
become law unless all the tmi tribunes were unanimous. It was owing to
this, that Gracchus allowed himself to be seduced into the illegal course
of getting his refractory colleague deposed by the people, and thus vio-
hting the sanctity cf the tribunitial office. This afforded his adversaries
ground for the suspicion that Gracchus was meditating the overthrow of
the constitution, for the porpoee of assuming the kingly authority. He
kit the favor of the misguided people, and was killed in the Capitol,
together with dOO of his adherents, dwdng a new election of tribunes.
The people discovered their delusion when it was too late, and erected a
•tatne in honor of their high-spirited champicm.
S 12B. This reraU did not deter the younger and more
able brother, CdUns Qraoehus, ten years afterwards, from
agitaling aaewlbr the agcarian law, and, in connection with it, £» a com
92 THE ANCIENT WOULD.
lawy (bj which deliveries of com were to be made to the poorer dticeoB
for a moderate price), and other popular measures. His great eloquenee
and his philanthropic exertions gained him a powerful party among tlie
lower dass of the people, whose immediate distress he sought to alleyiate
bj the making of roads and public woriu. But when, at the instigation
of hb impetuous friend, Fulvius Flaccus, he proposed that the right
of Roman citizenship should be extended to the allies, the nobles be-
came alarmed and tried to destroy him. A dreadful combat took place
at one of the popular assemblies between the aristocratic party, with the
consul Opfmius at their head, and the adherents of Gracchus and Ful-
tius. The latter were defeated : Fulvius, with 8,000 of his companioos,
was killed, and their bodies thrown into the Tiber. Gracchus fled into
a wood on the other side of the river, and commanded a slave
to thrust a sword into his bosom. Their laws and in^tituticms
were annulled, and their adherents punished with death, imprisonment,
and banishment The aristocracy were now, more than ever, the rulers
of the republic
2. THE TIKES OF MABIUS AND 8TLLA.
THE jrOUBTHINB WAB. B. 0. 112-106.
§ 129. The aristocrats disgraced their government by avarice and C(X^
ruption, and renounced all sentiments of honor and justice. Jugurtha,
the grandson of Masinissa of Numidia, a cunning and ambitious man,
and experienced in war, trusting to the depravity of morals and the cor-
ruption prevalent in Rome, put to death the two sons of his uncle, who
had been made co-heirs with himself, seized upon their states, which had
been conferred upon them by the Romans, and succeeded, by dint of
bribing the most influential senators, in retaining possession of his plun-
der, and heaping crime upon crime with impunity. When at length the
senate were compelled, by the indignation of the people, to send an army
into Africa, the Numidian king actually succeeded in producing sudi
enervation and looseness of discipline among the troops, by bribery and
seduction, that they were defeated at the first attach, and obliged to pass
under the yoke. This disgrace produced the greatest exasperation in
Rome, so that the senate were compelled to adopt more stringent mea-
sures, in order to appease the discontent of the people, and conciliate the
outn^ged sentiment of justice, by the punishment of the offender. They
accordingly despatched the upright Metellus, with fresh troops
into Africa. Metellus restored the discipline of the army,
and brought back the military renown of the Romans by successful en-
gagements and conquests. But the people were so embittered against
HI8T0BY OF BOMB. 93
tiie nistocracy, that thej resolved to deprive them of the government hj
any means. For this purpo^, thej required an intrepid leader ; and the
aspiring and ambitious C. Marius presented himself, a man of obscure
condition, who was at that time serving as lieutenant in the army of Me-
tellas, and who joined courage, the talents of a general, and rude military
virtue, to rough manners, hatred of the nobles, and contempt for their
cultivation and refinement. Disgusted at the aristocratic haughtiness of
his commander, Marius returned to Rome, where he was
chosen consul by the popular party, and intrusted with the
conduct of the Jugurthine war. Jugurtha, with all his cunning and in-
ventive genius, was unable long to withstand the energetic Marius and
his anny, now hardened by severe discipline. He was conquered, and
fled to the faithless Bocchus, king of Mauritdnia ; but was delivered up
by him to the shrewd and dexterous lieutenant Cornelius Sylla, and led
in triuiftph to Rome, where he was starved to death in prison.
§ 130. CiMBRi AND Teutones. — Marius had not yet concluded the
Jogurthine war, when the Cimbri and Teiitones appeared on the borders
of the Roman empire. They were a northeni people, of Germanic ori*
gin, and gigantic stature and strength, who had left their country with
their wives, children, and all their property, to seek for a new habitation.
They were clad in iron coats of mail and the skins of beasts ; they bore
shields the height of a man, with long swords and heavy maces. They
first defeated the Romans in a bloody battle in Carinthia,
passed through Gaul, devastating and plundering, and, within
four years, cut to pieces ^ye consular armies on the banks of the Rhone
and the lake of Geneva. Marius, whom the Romans, against the law,
bad elected &Te successive times to the consulate, came forward as de-
liverer. With his army, hardened by the labors of digging and hewing,
he defeated the Teiitones in a bloody engagement at Aqufe
Seztise, (Aix in Provence), in South Gaul. In the mean
time, the Cimbri, in a separate body, had penetrated through the Tyrol
and the valley of the Adige, into Upper Italy ; but when there, had care-
lessly given themselves up to the pleasures afforded by the rich country,
till ^ey suffered a similar frightful overthrow on the plains near Yer-
O^Us, from Marius, who had joined forces with his colleague Lutdtius
Cdtulus. The courage of these Germans, who killed themselves and
their children, to prevent their being reduced to slavery, made the Ro-
mans tremble.
1. 100 ^ ^^^' *^^ SOCIAL WAB. — A sixth cousulato rewarded
Marius, the savior of Italy, the pride and hope of the popular
party. By his assistance, this party again gained the superiority, which
induced the aristocracy to array themselves around Cornelius Sylla, a
politic and ambitions man, and versed in war, who united in himself the
odtivation and love of art of the nobles, with their vices and excesses.
94 THE XSCTBSrS WOBLD.
Frcmi this time, two powerful parties, the democrats under Marias, and
the aristocrats under Sylla, stood opposed in arms to each other. 11i6
former endeavored to strengthen their ranks by attracting thither the
allies, and for this purpose held out to them the prospect of the Roman
citizenship. When this was not conceded, the disappointed party took up
arms for the purpose of freeing themselves from Home, or of compelling
the cession of the refused privileges. This occasioned the
perilous social war. All the tribes of Sabelline origin, the
warlike Sdmnites and Marsians at their head, renounced allegiance to
the Romans, formed an Italian confederation, and declared Corfininm,
which was also called Itdlica, chief city of the new alliance. Veteran
armies marched into the field. In Rome, the people put on mourning
armed the manumitted slaves, and conferred the privileges of Roman
citizenship upon the Latins, Etruscans, and Umbrians, who had remained
faithful, to prevent their joining with the others. The Roman^ were
successful, after many changes of fortune and many bloody engagements,
in gradually mastering their opponents. But the ferment was still so
dangerous, that they thought it advisable to prevent a fresh insurrection,
by conferring the rights of citizenship upon the whole of the allies. They
nevertheless restricted the elective rights of the new citizens.
§ 132. The first war against Mithridates. — The allies were
scarcely appeased, before the Romans were threatened from the East,
by an enemy as sagacious as he was bold, — Mithriddtes, king of the
Pontus, on the Black Sea. Like Hannibal, an enemy of the Romans,
this warlike prince, who was a good linguist, endeavored to unite the
Grecian and Asiatic states in a vast confederacy, and to free them from
the Roman dominion. By his orders, all the Roman subjects (togati) in
Western Asia, 80,000 in number, were put to death in one frightful day
of slaughter. At the same time, he seized upon some countries in
alliance with the Romans, and sent an army into Greece to protect
Athens, BosiStia, and other states that had joined him. Hereupon the
Roman senate gave the command against Mithriddtes to
Sylla, who had distinguished himself in the social war, and
been rewarded by the consulate. But Marius envied his opponent this
Asiatic campaign, and procured a resolution of the people by which he
himself was appointed to conduct the Mithridatic war. Sylla, who was
with his army in Lower Italy, now marched upon Rome, had Marius
and eleven of his confederates outlawed as traitors to their country, and
adopted proper measures for the preservation of peace. He neverdieless
behaved with moderation, that he might be able to commence the cam-
paign against Mithriddtes as soon as possible. Marius, after multitu-
dinous dangers and adventures, escaped over the marshes of Mintdmas
into Africa.
§ 183. The first civil war. — Sylla now passed over into Greece,
HIBTOBT or SOMB. 9S
gtarmed Athens, that expiated its revolt by a frightful effasion of blood,
seized upon the treasures in the temple <^ Delphi, and
orerthrew the generab of the king of Fontus in two eagage-
meats. He then marched through Macedonia and Thracia into Asia
Minor, and compelled DfithridAtes to a peace, by which Borne not only
roooyered her dominion over the whole of Western Asia, but was indem-
nified for the expenses of the war by the payment of a large sum of
money, and the cession ci the Pontic fleet. The revolted towns and dis*
tricts were severely punished in their property.
In the mean time, Marius had returned from the ruins of Carthage
agsdn into Italy; and surrounding himself with a band of desperate
men, had marched to the gates of Rome in conjunction with the demo-
cratic leaders, Cinna and Sertdrius. The city, weakened by famine and
dissension, was compelled to surrender ; upon which, Marius gave free
oouse to his thirst for vengeance. Troops of rude soldiers marched,
plundering and slaughtering, through the streets of the capital ; the heads
of the aristocratic party, including the most renowned and respected sena-
tors and consuls, were murdered, their houses plundered and destroyed,
&eir estates confiscated, and their dead bodies given to the dogs and the
fowls of the air. After this gratificati<m of his vengeance,
Marius had himsdf chosen consul for the seventh time,
hnt died a few months after, from the effeots of excitement and a disso-
htelife.
S 134. In the year 88 b. c, Sylla landed in Italy after the termina-
tion of the first Mithridatic war, and marched, with the support of the
iristocracy, upon Rome. In Lower Italy, he defeated the democratic
consuls in numerous engagements, drove the younger Marius to self-
destruction in the strong city of Praendste, by the dose siege he laid to
the place, and in a murderous battle before the gates of Rome, annihilated
Ae Marian party and the rebellions Simnites, 8,000 of whom he slaugh-
tered before the eyes of the trembling senate. The civil war had already
cost the lives of 100,000 men, when SyUa (sumamed the Fortunate), for
the purpose of completing his triumph, made public his proscriptions,
upon which were written the names of the Marian party who were to be
killed and plundered. Hereupon all the ties of blood, of friendship, of
dependence and piety, were torn asunder: sons were armed against their
parents, and slaves against their masters ; informations were rewarded ;
terror and corruption of morals were everywhere prevalent Upon this
Sjlla, who was named dictator for an indefinite period, proclaimed the
Cornelian law, by which the whole power of the government fell into the
hands of the aristocracy, and the influence of the tribunes was destroyed.
^ After the condusion of these arrangements, Sylla retired to
his estate, where he shortly after died of a frightful di»»
96 THX ANCIENT WORLD.
8. THE TIMES OP CNEIUS POMPET, AND M. TULLIUS CICERO.
§ 185. Sjlla's death did not bring back repose to the disturbed state.
The outlawed and persecuted Marians assembled themselves around the
brave and upright democratic leader, Sertdrius, and fought against the
Roman armies in Spain with fortune and success. It was not untQ Ser-
tdrius had been assassinated by his envious associates, that Fompej, who,
whilst jet a youth, had joined himself to Sjlla, and was now regarded as
the head of the aristocratic party, succeeded in overpowering
the rebels. His mild and placable character, and his courte-
ous and popular bearing, rendered him an admirable mediator between
contending factions.
§ 136. When Fompey returned to Italy from Spfun, he encountered a
new enemy — the rebellious slaves. Seventy gladiators bad
Hed, in Cdpua, from the scourge of their task-masters, broken
open the slave prisons in Lower Italy, and exhorted the inmates to fight
for their liberties. Their numbers soon increased to 70,000. The valiant
Thracian, Spdrt&cus, was at their head. Their intention at first was to
return to their homes ; but after they had overthrown two Roman armies
that' opposed their passage, they entertained the hope of destroying the
Roman power, and revenging themselves for the injuries they had re-
ceived. The danger of the Romans was great But dissension and
want of military discipline produced a division among the
slaves, and led to uncombined movements, so that the consul,
M. Crassus, succeeded in subduing their ill-armed bands in detail. After
the bloody fight on the banks of the Sfl&rus, in which Spdrt&cus fell after
an heroic contest, the remainder marched into Upper Italy, where they
were utterly destroyed by Pompey.
§ 137. Fompey rendered his name even moro illustrious in Asia,
B. G. 67. where he brought the war against the pirates, and the second
B.C. 74-65. Mithridatic war, to a conclusion, than in the expedition
against the slaves. In the sterile mountain regions on the south of Asia
Minor, lived a daring race of freebooters, who disturbed the whole Medi-
terranean by piracy, visited the coasts and islands with plunder and deso-
lation, dragged off noble Romans as prisoners, for the purpose of exact-
ing a heavy ransom, and interrupted trade and commerce. Hereupon,
Pompey was invested with the most unlimited dictatorial power over all
seas, coasts, and islands. With a splendidly-equipped fieet and army, he
cleared in three months the whole Mediterranean from the pirates, sub-
dued the towns and fortresses in their own country, and settled many of
the inhabitants in the newly-built town, Pompeidpolis.
§ 188. In the mean time, Mithriddtes, encouraged by Rome's internal
disturbances, had begun a fresh war. He had already laid siege to the
rich inland town of Gj^zicus, which was favored by the Romans, when
HISTORY OF ROME. 97
LncuUus fell upon him and gave him such an overthrow that he retreated
in haste to his kingdom of Fontus ; and when this also feU a prey to the
victor, he sought aid and protection from his son-in-law, Tigrdnes, king of
Armenia. But Luciillus defeated the enormous host of the
Armenian king in the neighborhood of his capital, Tigrano-
c^rta, and was already making preparations for overthrowing the whole
empire, and extending the Roman dominions as far as Farthia, when the
legions refused obedience to their general. Upon this, LucuUus retired
to his wealth and his pleasure-gardens, and Fompej united the command
of the Armenio-Fontic army to his other dignities. He con-
quered Mithriddtes, who had assembled fresh forces, in a
night engagement on the Euphrates, reduced the Armenian king to
homage and submission, and then put an end to the rule of the Seleiicids
in Syria. Mithriddtes, deprived of the greater part of his territories, and
despairing of a successful issue, destroyed himself. After Fompey, at his
own pleasure, had disposed of the conquered lands in Asia, in such a way
that the Boman empire was enlarged by three provinces, and some of the
more distant lands had been ceded to tributary kings, he returned to
Borne, where he held a public entry of two days, and filled the treasury
with enormous wealth.
S 139. A short time before this, M. Tullius Cicero, Fompe/s friend
and the comp^ion of his thoughts, had acquired the honorable title of
father of his country. Cicero, bom in a provincial town, and of citizen
parents, had so distinguished himself by his talents, his industry, and his
irreproachable life, that although ignoble (novus homo) he obtained the
consulate. He had devoted himself in Athens and Bhodes with such zeal
and success to the sciences of the Greeks, and especially to eloquence and
philoeophy, that he might be compared, both as a statesman and an ora-
tor, to Demosthenes, and had composed profound works on rhetoric and
philosophy. Though vain, boastful, and weak, he possessed civic virtue,
ptttriotism, and a strong sense of justice.
During his consulate, Catiline, a man of noble family, but disgraced
bj an infamous life, and loaded with debts, formed a conspiracy with
certain other Romans of desperate fortunes, the objects of which were,
to murder the consuls, to set fire to the city, to overthrow the consti-
tution, and in the confusion to seize upon the government by the aid of
the soldiers of Sylla and the populace. But the vigilant consul Cicero
had baffled this atrocious project. By his four orations against Catiline,
he unmasked the dissembling villain in the senate, and reduced him to
flj into Etniria, where he met with his death in a courageous defence
against the consular army. 'Bib confederates were put to a violent death
in prison.
98 THE XSCUEST WOULD.
4. THE TIMES OF JULIUS CJKSAB.
§ 140. The TiuuxyiEATE. — Sjlla's fortune excited ambitions men to
imitate it. Every one sought to be first, and to rule the state at his plea-
sure. But whilst Fompej, who was now in possession of almost kinglj
authority, was reposing upon the laurels of his renown, in the full enjoy-
ment of bis happiness and prosperity, he was gradually overtaken by his
great competitor, Julius Caesar. This man united talents of the most
varied character, so that he was not less distinguished as a writer and
orator, than as a general and soldier. His liberality gained him the favor
of the people, and his ambition urged him to great deeds. To make him-
self a match for the old republican party, at the head of which stood the
eccentric M. Porcius Cato, Csesar formed an alliance with
Fompey and Crassus, called the ti*iumvirate (league of three
men), in which they pledged themselves to mutually assist each other.
From this time, these three men ruled the state without troubling them*
selves farther about the senate. In a short time, Caesar had
the government of Gaul, in which he had a long war to con-
duct, transferred to himself. That he might not be disturbed in his
undertakings, he renewed the triumvirate in a meeting that was held at
Lucca. By this means, the goverament of Gaul was continued to him
for five years. Pompey received Spain as his province, but governed
it by means of his legates, whilst he himself exercised a dictatorial power
in Rome. Crassus, the richest man in Rome, to gratify his avarice, chose
S3rria with its riches ; but was overthrown by the Parthians in the plains
of Mesopotamia, and killed in the fiight. His more valiant son, and
almost the whole of the army, died on the field of battle. The Bomaa
ensigns fell into the hands of the enemy.
§ 141. C-esar's wxus in Gaul. — The Celts, a people
divided into many states and tribes, were the ancient inhabit-
ants of Gnul (France) and Helvetia (Switzerland). The southern part
of this Graul had already become a Roman province (hence Provence),
when the Helvetii embraced the project of leaving their sterile mount-
ains, and settling themselves in its south-western portion. The Romans
would not permit this, and Caesar in consequence marched into Gaul.
He overthrew the Helvetii in a battle, compelled them to return to their
burnt villages and desolated country, and reduced them to pay tribute. He
then subdued the German leader, Ariovistus, who by means of his hardy
troops had severely oppressed the Sequani and ^qui, who were dwell-
ing in eastern Gaul, and obliged him to return again to his trans-Rhenish
country. After Caesar had subdued the Belgi and. other Gaulish tribes^
he twice crossed the Rhine for the purpose of terrifying the warlike in-
habitants of the rude and woody Germany, and preventing their hostile
attacks upon Gaul. It is to this undertaking that we owe the first short
HISTORY OF ROME, 99
description of Germanj, in Caesar's commentaries on the Gallic war.
Bat the Boman general never thought of making permanent oonqaests,
either in Germanj or Britain, on the coasts of which he twice landed.
After a few engagements with the skin-clad inhabitants of the British
islands, he sailed back again for the purpose of completely subjecting the
Gauls. For this restless and fickle people were perpetually revolting
and taking up arms, when Caesar was employed in another quarter. It
was not till he had put down the last general insurrection, at
Alesia, in Burgund;^, that he succeeded in gradually reducing
the whole country as far as the Rhine, and converting it into a province
of the Roman empire.
S 142. The second civil war. — In the meanwhile,
the rage of party had grown in Rome to the greatest excess,
and murder and plunder were matters of daily occurrence. This induced
the senate and the old republicans to attach themselves entirely to Pom-*
pey, and to place the consulate at his disposal. Pompey employed this
vast power to depress Caesar, of whose military renown he had become
jealous. At his instigation, an order was sent to Caesar from the
senate, at the termination of the war in Gaul, to lay down his command
and to quit his army. Two tribunes of the people (Ciirio and Ant6nius)
who opposed this resolution, and demanded that Pompey should also give
up his power, were driven out of the city ; they fled to Caesar's camp,
and summoned him to step forward as the defender of the outraged privi-
leges of the people.
After a little hesitation, Caesar crossed the boundary stream
of the Rubicon, and advanced upon Rome. Pompey, aroused
when it was too late from his indolence and careless security, did not ven-
toie to await his approach in the city : he hastened to Brundiisium with
a few troops and a great train of senators and nobles ; and when the vic-
tor approached that place, he escaped across the Ionian Sea into Epirus.
Caesar did not pursue him, but fell back upon Rome, where he took pos-
session of the treasury, and then proceeded to Spain. Here he com-
pelled the army of Pompey to a capitulation, the result of which was,
that the generals and officers were allowed to depart, and the greater
part of the common soldiers joined the victor. When Caesar on his re-
turn, afler a close siege, had reduced Massilia, a town that wished to
remain neutral, and punished it severely in its possessions and liberties,
he again marched to Rome, had himself appointed dictator and consul
for the following year, and adopted many serviceable measures. He then
passed over the Idnian Sea, for the purpose of making head against
Pompey. The decisive battle of Pharsdlus, in the plains of
Thessaly, was soon fought, in which Caesar's veteran troops
guned a splendid victory over an army of double their numbers. Pom-
pey, with a ttw faithful followers, fled across Asia Minor into Egypt,
190 THB ANCIENT WOBLD.
where, instead of a hospitable reception, he met his death hj assassi-
nation. Pt61emy, in the hope of obtaining the favor of Csesar, ordered
the conquered Pompej to be killed on his landing at Pelusium, and his
dead body to be cast unburied upon the shore.
§ 143. C^SAR^s TRIUMPHS. — Shortly after, Cssar arrived in Italy.
He shed tears of compassion over Pompej's death, and refused the
instigator of the murder his promised reward. For when he was
chosen umpire between Ptdlemy and his beautiful sister Cleopiitnu
in a dispute concerning the throne, he decided in favor of the latter,
and by this means got involved in a 'war with the king and the
people of Egypt, that retained him for nine months in Alexandria,
and reduced him to great peril. It was only when fresh troops had
arrived, and Ptdlemy had been drowned after an unsuccessful engage-
ment on the Nile, that he could place the government in the hands
of Cleopdtra (by whose charms he had been enchained), and proceed to
fresh conquests. The rapid victory that he gained by the terror of his
name over the son of Mithriddtes has been rendered immortal by the
memorable letter that announced the event : ^ I came, saw, conquered "
( Vent, vidiy vici), Afler a short delay in Rome, he passed over into
Africa, where the friends of republican government and the adherents
of Pompey had collected a vast army. Here Caesar gained
the bloody battle of Thapsus, where the hopes of the repub-
licans were destroyed. Thousands fell in the field; many of the survivors
perished by their own hands, and among them, the high-spirited Cato
the younger, who put himself to death in Utica with calm composure. A
magnificent triumph of four days awaited the victor on his return to
Rome, which he, however, soon quitted, for the purpose of attacking the
last of his enemies, who had assembled themselves around the sons of
Pompey. The last remnants of the friends of Pompey and the republic
were destroyed in the frightful battle near Munda, where they
fought with the courage of desperation. One of the sons was
killed in the flight, and the survivor followed the life of a pirate, till he
fell by the hand of an assassin.
§ 144. Cesar's death. — Csssar now returned, as chief and ruler of
the Roman empire, to the capital, where he was saluted as ^< Father of
the country," and elected dictator for life. He sought to win the sol-
diers and people by liberality, and the nobles by offices : he encouraged
trade and agriculture, embellished the city with temples, theatres, and
public places, improved the calendar, and forwarded all kinds of good and
useful projects ; but his evident attempts to gain the title and dignity of
king induced some fanatical friends of liberty to engage in a conspiracy.
His friend and flatterer, Marc Antony, offered him the kingly diadem
during a feast; and despite the feigned distaste with which Csssar re-
jected it, his secret satisfaction was easily discernible. At the head of
BISTORT OF ROMB. 101
the oonspiracj stood the high-minded enthusiast for libertj, M. Janioa
Bratas, the friend of Ctesar, and the severe republican, Caius Cassius.
In despite of every warning, Csssar held a meeting of the senate during
the ides of March, in the hall of Pompej. It was here
that, with the exclamation, ** Etta Brute/" he fell, pierced
by twenty-three daggers, at the feet of the statue of his former opponent.
^ 5. THE LAST TEARS OF THE REPUBLIO.
§ 145. It was soon apparent that the idea of freedom only existed
among a few men of cultivated minds, but was quenched in the hearts
of the populace. The first enthusiasm for the newly-acquired freedom
was soon changed into hatred and invectives against the murderers of the
dictator, when Marc Antony, in an artful speech at the funeral of
Cttsar, extoUed his merits and services, and ordered presents of money
to be distributed among the poor. The senate, on the other hand, were
for the most part favorable to the conspirators, and conferred upon some
of ihem the government of provinces ; and when Antony attempted to
take possession of one of these provinces by force, Cicero obtained, by
his Philippic Orations, that the senate declared him an enemy of the
country. The senate, at the same time, gave offence to Octdvius, the grand-
son of Caesar's sister, who was then nineteen years of age, and who, as
heir of his uncle's name, (Caesar Octavi^us, afterwards Augustus), had
all the old soldiers on his side. Octavius, in consequence, raised the
standard of Caesar's vengeance, and formed a second triumvi-
rate with Antony and L^pidus, on a little island of the river
Beno, near Bologna. New proscriptions took place, which proved par-
ticulariy fatal to the knightly and senatorial ranks. The most deserving
and illnstrious men fell beneath the blows of assassins, the dearest rela-
tions of blood, of fH#idship, and of piety were torn asunder. Among the
vietuns of Antony was Cicero, who was killed during an attempt at flight
His head and his right hand were placed upon the rostrum.
§ 146. After the possessors of power in Italy had satiated their ven-
geance, they marched against the republicans, who had established
their camp in Macedonia, under the command of Brutus and Cassius.
It was here, in the plains of Philippi, that a decisive double
engagement took place, in which Cassius was obliged to
yield to Antony, whilst Brutus repulsed the legions of Octdvius. But
when Cassius, deceived by false intelligence, had over-hastily fallen upon
his own sword, and the triumvirs, twenty days afterwards, renewed the
fight with united forces, Brutus, ^ the last of the Romans," was forced to
snecumb, and fell, like Cassius, upon his own sword. His wife, Portia
(Gate's daughter), destroyed herself with live coals, and many champi-
ons of liberty died by their own hands ; so ihat Philippi became the
grave of the republic. Henceforth, the contest was no longer for free-
1Q0 THE ANCIENT WORLD.
dom, but for empire. The Tictoxs divided the Boman territory between
them ; Alton j chose the east, Octdvios the west ; the feeble L^pidus,
who at first receiyed the province of Africa, but who never possessed
much influence, was soon robbed of his share,
§ 147. But whilst the luxurious Antonj was leading a voluptuous life
at Cleopdtra's court in Alexandria, the shrewd Augustus and his high-
spirited admiral, Agrippa, were winning the affections of the Boman
people by liberal donations and diversions, rewarding the soldiers by a
distribution of lands, and keeping up the discipline of the fleet and army.
At length, when Antony lavished Boman blood and Boman honor in an
unsuccessful campaign against the Parthians, married Cleopatra, and
gave the provinces of Bome to her son, the senate, at the instigation of
Oct^vius, deprived him of all his honors, and declared war against Cleo-
patra. East and west stood opposed in arms. Btit the sea-
flght of Actium, despite the superiority of the Egyptians,
was decided in favor of Octavius. Antony and Cleopdtra fled. But
when the victor approached the gates of Alexandria, the former fell on
his sword, and Cleopdtra, finding that her charms produced no impression
on the new potentate, destroyed herself by the poison of an
asp. Egypt became the first province of the Boman Expike.
IV. THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
1. THE TIMES OF CJESAR OCTAVIANUS AUGUSTUS.
AognstDs, § 148. The bloody civil war had swept away all the men
from 80 b. a Qf ability and patriotism ; and the crowl that was left de-
to A. D. manded nothing but food and entertainment, and forgot free-
dom and civil virtue in the enjoyment of the moment. This rendered it
easy to the dexterous Augustus to change the Boman republic into a
monarchy; but he yielded so far to the prejudices of the Bomans,a5 not
to assume the title of king, or master, and to retain the republican names
and forms, with the appellation <^ Csesar, whilst he gradually got all the
offices and privileges of the senate and people placed in his own hands,
and had them renewed from time to time. He united a profound under-
standing and talents for government, with clemency, temperance, and
constancy ; and as he was a master in the art of dissimulation, and knew
how to turn the failings of men to advantage, he gained his ends mwe
surely than his greater uncle, Cesar. It was under Augustus that the
Boman empire possessed the greatest power abroad, and the highest cuU
tivation at home. It extended from the Atlxmtic Ocean to the Euphr^Ues^
and from the Danube and Bhine to the Atks and falls of the Nile s art
HISTORY OF ROME. 103
and Uteretore flourished to such a degree, that the reign of Augustas
was called the golden age. Vast military roads, provided with mile*
stones, connected the twenty-five provinces with Rome, and facilitated
intercourse; magnificent aqueducts and canals attested the enterprising •
spirit of the ]]U>man people; Rome itself was adorned with temples,
theatres, and baths, and so much changed, that Augustus was able to say
that he found Rome brick, and lefl it marble. The temple which Agrippa
consecrated to all the gods (the Pantheon), is still one of the greatest
ornaments of the eternal city. Augustus and his friend Maecenas, P611io,
and others, were the favorers of art and literature, and the patrons of
poets and authors. The first public library was founded on the Palatine
hill ; the citizens, who now ho longer marched to the wars, and who had
relinquished the conduct of state affairs to Caesar and his ministers,
employed their leisure in reading and writing, left actions for words, and
peiforming for thinking ; it was by this means that polished manners
soon prevailed among all classes.
S 149. Roman literature. — Virgil, Horace, and Ovid claim the
first place among the poets that adorned the Augustan age. The first
composed the ^neid, an heroic poem on the model of Homer (§ 88),
pastoral poetry, and a didactic poem on agriculture ; Horace, to whom
his patron Maecenas presented a small Sabine farm, wrote odes, satires,
and humorous epistles, in which he exhibits his cheerful views of life in
a witty and engaging manner ; Ovid, the clever writer of mythological
stories (Metamorphoses), was banished by Augustus to the rude steppes
of the Caspian Sea, whence he wrote letters of complaint to his distant
home.
Among historians, the most celebrated are Sallust, who, in his account
of the wars against Jugurtha and Catiline, gives a true but frightful
picture of the corrupt times ; and Titus Lf vius, the tutor of the grand-
son of Augustus, who wrote a complete history of Rome, in 142 books ;
of which only thirty-five are preserved. We possess a biography of
distinguished men, by his contemporary, Cornelius Nepos. The Romans
took the Greeks for their models in art and literature, but fell far short
of their masters.
2. THE STRUGGLES OF THE GERMANS FOB LIBERTY.
{ 150. About the time that the Saviour of the world was brought
forth in lowliness and humility in Bethlehem, in the land of Judae'a, to
bring the joyful news of salvation to the lost race of man, the Germans
were engaged in a severe struggle with the Romans for the preservation
of their liberties and national customs. Drusus, the brave step-son of
Augustas, was the first Roman who made any conquests on the right
bank of the Rhine. He undertook many successful campaigns against
the tribes in alliance with the Suevi, between the Rhine and the Elbe,
104 THS ANCIENT WORLD.
and attempted to secure the land hj intrenchments and fortifieataoos.
Being killed in the flower of his years, bj a fall from his horse during
his return home, his brother Tiberius completed the conquest of western
Germanj, rather bj dint of skilfully-conducted negotiations with the
disunited Germans, than bj force of arms ; whereupon the country be-
tween the Rhine and the Weser was erected into a Roman proTince.
Foreign customs, language, and laws already threatened to destroy Gier-
man nationality ; German soldiers already fought in the ranks of the
Romans, and prided themselves on foreign marks of distinction ; when the
insolence and indiscretion of the governor, Quintilius Varus, aroused the
slumbering patriotism of the people. Several tribes united themselves
in a confederacy, under the guidance of Hermann (Amunius), the va-
liant prince of the Cherusci, for the purpose of throwing off the foreign
yoke. It was in vain that Segestus, whose daughter Thusnelda had been
carried off and married by Hermann, against the consent of her father,
warned the careless governor. Varus marched with three legions and
several auxiliaries, through the Teutoburger forest, for the purpose of
quelling an insurrection that had been purposely raised ; but suffered
such a defeat from the Germans under Hermann's command, that the
defiles of the wood were covered far and wide with the
^' ^' ' corpses of the Romans. The eagles were lost, and Varus
died by his own hands. Augustus, when he heard the news, exclaimed
in despair, ** Varus, give me back my legions !"
§ 151. Upon the dea^ of Augustus, in his 76th year, at
^ ^' Nola, in Lower Italy, Germdnicus, the valiant son of Drusus,
again crossed the Rhine, ravaged the lands of the Catti (Hes8e)i
buried the bleaching remains of the Romans in the Teutoburger forest,
and carried off into captivity Thusnelda, the high-spirited wife of Her-
mann, whom her treacherous father had given up to the enemy. But
although he defeated the Cherusci and their allies in two engagements,
and at the same time pressed Germany closely by sea, the RouEian do-
minion was never firmly or permanently established on the right bank of
the Rhine. Storms destroyed the fleet, and a pathless country and the
swords of the Grermans brought the army to the brink of destruction ;
and when at length Germdnicus, (to whose noble wife, Agrippina, the
town of Cologne owes its prosperity), was recalled by his jealous uncle,
Hb^rius, and shortly after, met with his death by poison in Syria, the
Germans were no longer disturbed by the ambition of the Romans. Bat
the Lower German confederation of the Cherusci now turned its arms
against the Upper German confederation of the Marcomanni> at the
head of which stood Marb6dius. This gave the Romans an opportunity
of embroiling Germany from the south. Marb6dius fell into the power
of the Romans, who kept him for eighteen years at Ravenna, as their
pensioner ; Hermann was killed by envious friends. His deeds survived
HIBTORT OF BOMB. 105
In soDg, and our own age has erected a oolossal statue, on the Teuthill
at Detmold, in joyful commemoration of the deliverer of Grermanj.
TACITUS ON THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GEBliANS.
§ 152. About 100 years after Augustus, the great historian Tidtus,
after haying portrayed the events of the Roman empire in his History
and Annals, embraced the resolution of describing the manners and cus-
toms of the German tribes, and presenting them as models to his degene-
rate countrymen. Although the work remained a mere sketch, it is to
this resolution that we are indebted for the first accurate information
respecting this region. We learn from it, that Grermany was inhabited
by numerous independent tribes, sometimes united and sometimes at war
with each other, who were perpetually changing their places of residence
in obedience to an innate wandering impulse.
Wa» and the chase were their chief employments ; they built neither
towns nor strong-holds ; their huts and farms were scattered about in the
midst of their grounds ; a peaceful life behind stone walls agreed neither
with their love of liberty nor their passion for war. They united purity
of morals, hospitality, good faith, and honesty, respect for women, and
reverence for the marriage tie, to the external advantages of lofty
stature, beauty of person, strength, and courage. The only vices attribu-
ted to them are a disposition to drunkenness and gambling.
3. THE CJBSABS OF THE AUGUSTAN RAGE.
§ 153. Domestic misfortunes disturbed the happiness of Augustus.
The promising sons, who sprung from the marriage of his daughter
Julia with Agrippa, died in their youth ; Julia herself occasioned her
father soch distress by her profligate life that at length he banished her.
By the intrigues of the ambitious Livia, the emperor's third wife, the
Tiberiiu, empire descended to Tiberius, the adopted step-son of
AD. 14^87. Augustus. The clemency at first displayed by this hypo-
critical prince soon gave way to his natural malevolence, particularly
when his crafty and vicious favorite, Sejanus, assisted him in establish-
ing a military despotism. He advised him to unite the praetorian body-
guard in a permanent camp before Rome. Here they soon became the
oppressors of the people, raised and dethroned emperors, and introduced
a military despotism. The assemblies of the people were no longer held,
and the dastardly senate sank into a mere tool of the despot The fright-
ful court which took oognizaiice of cases of high treason, was a means of
destroying every man of ability, inasmuch as it infiicted the punishment
of death, and imposed fines, not only for actions, but even for words and
thoughts. Pensioned spies undermined aU faith and trust among the
people, and destroyed every spark of freedom by terror. The misan-
thropical Tiberius, tortured by fear and the reproaches of his consdencOi
106 IHX ASfdSJST WOELD.
passed the last years of his life in the island of CyLprese (Capri), in Lower
Italy, where he abandoned himself to luxmy and the most infamoi*
pleasures, whilst Sejdnus was practising every vice in Rome. When the
la£ter at length attempted to possess himself of the throne, the emperor
sent an order to the senate to pni him to death. Tiberins, aick and
advanced in years, perished by a violent death on his estate in Lower
Italy. During his reign, a dreadful earthquake destroyed many of the
richest and most beautiful cities in Asia Minor.
Caligula, § ^^^' His successor, Caius Caligula, the unworthy son of
A. j>. 87-41. the noble Germdnicus and the high-minded Agrippina, was
a blood-thirsty tyrant, who took delight in signing sentences of death and
having them executed; a frantic spendthrift, who lavished m<»iey in
buildings without a purpose; an insolent boaster, who caused divine
honors to be paid to himself, and celebrated magnificent triumphs over
the Germans and Britons, whom he scarcely ever saw ; and a glutton, by
whose riotous table enormous sums were swallowed up. The Praetorians
Claudius, ^^ length killed the crazy tyrant, and raised his uncle, the
A, D. 41-64. imbecile Claudius, to the throne. This empercM: was led by
women and favorites ; the latter especially the fireedmen Narcissus and
Pallas, were in possession of all the offices, and enriched themselves at
the expense of the people, whilst his wife Messalina yielded herself up to
every lust, and trampled morality and decency under foot At length,
the emperor commanded her to be put to death, and married his ambi-
tious and profligate niece Agrippfna, who, however, soon got rid of her
weak and uxorious husband by poison, for the purpose of raising the
depraved Claudius Nero, her son by a former marriage, to the throne.
Kero, § i^^- The demeney which Nero displayed in the OMn-
A. D. 64-68. mencement of his reign, soon gave phice to the most ex-
quisite cruelty. He, who once, when he bad to sign an order for an
execution, wished that he could not write, now not only persecuted, put
to death, and confiscated the property of every man who displayed the
virtues of a citizen or the mind of a Roman, but exercised his tyranny
at the expense of his nearest relations. His step-brother, Germinicos,
died by poison from the imperial table ; his mother was first sunk at sea
in a ship, and when she succeeded in saving herself, was put to death by
assassins despatched for the purpose ; his virtuous wife, Octivia, the
daughter of CUiudius, found a violent death in an overheated bath. A
conspiracy, in which the republican poet Lucan (whose heroic poem
Pharsalia still breathes the old Roman spirit) was implicated, was made
use of by the emperor to destroy not only Lucan, but his uncle S^necst
the Stoic philosopher, who had been Nero's own preceptor. Seneca
opened his own veins. Nero, at the instigation of his courtiers and
mistress (Poppas^a Sabina), perpetrated the most shameful follies and
crimes. Spectacles and riotous processions, in which the emperor hiffi*
HISTOBY OF BOMB. 107
self, diflgniaed as a singer and barp-pkyer, took a share along with the
companions of his jrieasares, Ivxurions feasts and banqnets, and extrava-
ganoes of every description, consumed the revenues of the state. The
despot, in the plenitade of his insolence and wickedness, ordered Rome
to be set on fire,* that he might sing the destruction of Troy from the
battlements of his palace. To divert the hatred of his subjects from him-
self, he afterwards attributed the crime to the Christians, who were sub-
jected, in consequence, to the most frightful persecutions. The rebuilding
of the city, and Nero's ^ Golden House," on the Palatine hill, increased
the oppression, till at length, repeated enormities induced the Spanish
le(^n to revolt As the troops under the command of Galba approached
the capital, Nero fled to a country house, where he caused himself to be
stabbed by one of his freedmen.
§ 156. The house of Augustus became extinct with Nero. Galba was
(Hn»,Otfao ^^ successor. But as the avaridous old man would not
mfedUns, gratify the rapacity of the Prseiorians, they proclaimed Otho
A. D. 68*70. emperor, and put Galba and the successor he had appointed
to death. At the same time, Yitellius raised his standard on the Rhine,
mardied with his legions into Italy, and defeated the army of his oppo-
nent on the banks of the Po. Otho, and several of his adherents, died
by their own hands. Yitellius was a mere glutton, who found pleasure
in nothing but luxurious banquets. Accordingly, when Yespdsian, whom
the Syrian legions had proclaimed emperor, approached the gates of
Borne, Yitellius was killed by a troop of rude soldiers, and his body
dragged with hooks into the Tiber.
4. THE FLAVn AND ANTONIKSS.
TMpuiio, 1 1^7. Yesp^an, the first in the succession of good empe-
A.D. 70*78. roiB, restored the discipline of the army and the Praetorians
bj severe measures, improved the administration of justice after abolish-
ing the court of high treason, and by economy and good management
saooeeded in replenishing the treasury. At the same time, he embel-
Uihed the city by building the Temple of Peace and the Amphitheatre,
tiie gigantic remains of which (CoHs^um) still excite the admiration of
travellers, and enlarged the boundaries of the empire by the conquest of
Jodse'a and Britain.
S 158. The tyranny of the Boman governor who ruled over the land
of Jods'a had at last driven the people to rebellion. They fought with
the courage of despair against the advancing legions, but were forced to
yield to Boman superiority and take refuge in their capital, where they
*TUi is an ezaggMated aeooniit of Neio*t guilt It !■ aot ptobabla tiutt bi iM0iao
tnthor of theoooflagration, and Tacitus mjs there was no authority but a ragae romor
tmong the populace for the story, that Kero showed his indifference or eznltatioQ at tba
tvsat by playing and tinging whils the flames stitt raged. Am, EbL
108 IHB iUTCIENT WORLD.
were now besieged bj Yespdsiaii's son, Titus. ThoaBands were 80<m
carried off by fiEunine and pesdlenoe in the over-orowded city. It was in
vain that the compassionate general made offers of pardon: rage and
fanaticism urged the Jews to a desperate resistance. Thej defended
themsdyes in their temple with an utter contempt for death, till that
magnificent structure was destroyed by fire on the taking of the city, and
death raged in every shape among the conquered. The
complete destruction of Jerusalem then took place. Among
the prisoners, who followed the triumphal car of the conqueror, was
Josephus, «the Jewish historian of this war. The triumphal arch of Utas
in Borne displays, to this day, representations of the sacred vessels of the
Jews that were at this time conveyed to the metropolis of the world.
Those who were left behind were exposed to grievous oppression under
the Roman yoke. But when a heathen colony, sixty years after the
destruction of the city, was transplanted by the emperor Adrian to the
sacred soil of Jerusalem, (which from this time was called ^lia Gapi-
tolma), and a temple erected to Jupiter on the eminence once occupied
by Solomon's temple to Jehovah, the Jews, deceived by a false Messiah,
took up arms once more to prevent this outrage. After a
* murderous war of three years* duration, in which upwards
of half a million of the natives were slaughtered, the Jews submitted to
the military skill of the Romans. The survivors left the country in
crowds, the land resembled a desert, and the Jewish state was at an end.
Since then, the Jews have been scattered abroad over the whole earth,
but without mingling with other people, and faithful to their own customs,
religion, and superstitions.
§ 159. It was during the reign of Vaspdsian, that the high-«pirited
Agricola, &her-in-law to the historian T^tus, by whom his life has
been written, subdued Britain as far as the highlands of Caledonia (Scot-
land), and introduced the Boman language, manners, and institutions.
Britain remained subject to the Romans for nearly four hundred years*
The warlike energy of the people was destroyed by civilization, so that
they were afterwards as little able to resist the attacks of the rude Cale-
donians (Picts and Scots) as the wall erected by Adrian proved a defence
against their inroads.
TitoB, § 160. The simple and energetic Yesp^isian was succeeded
A. D. 79-81. by his son Titus, who cast off the failings and crimes of his
youth when he ascended the throne, and became so admirable a prince
that he was justly called ^ the delight of mankind." It was during his
reign that a frightful eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the towns
of HercnUneum, Pompeii, and Stabis. The inquisitive natural philoeo*
pher, the elder Pliny, lost his life by the vapor produced by this eruption,
as we leam from two letters, written by his nephew, Pliny the younger,
the fiiend and encomiast of the emperor Trajan, to the historian T^tus.
HIBTORT O; ROMB. 10&
Hie ezhiimation of these buried towns, which was begun about a hundred
jears ago, more especially that of Pompeii, has been of the utmost im-
portance to the knowledge of antiquity and to the artistic taste of our
own da J.
§ 161. The noble Titus was unfortunately followed by his brother, the
Domitian, cruel Domitian, a gloomy and misanthropical tyrant, who
A. D. 81 -96. look pleasure in nothing but the cqntests of wild beasts and
gladiatorial combats. When he was at length murdered at the instiga-
Kerrm, tion of his wicked wife, the throne was taken possession of
A.D.96-9S. byNerva, an old senator. Nerva adopted the energetic
Tng'ui, Spaniard, Trajan, who, by his government at home, and his
A. D. 98-117. victories abroad, deserved the surname of the best, and the
glory of the greatest, of the Caesars. He provided for the proper admin-
istration of justice, facilitated trade and commerce by making new roads
and harbors (Civita V^cchia), and embellished Rome with public build-
ings, temples, and a new forum, in which he ordered the beautiful column
of Trajan to be erected. He at the same time reduced the turbulent
Dacians on the Danube, and established the province of Dacia (Walla-
diia and Transylvania), which was soon peopled by Roman settlers, on
the northern bank of the river. In the east, he made war on the Par-
thians, conquered Babylon, Seleucia, and other cities, and converted
Armenia and Mesopotamia into Roman provinces. The country between
the sources of the Danube and the Upper Rhine, (Black Forest), was
surrendered to settlers from Gaul and Germany, and was afterwards
protected from hostile attacks by a ditch fortified with stakes. It was
called Decumdtian land, and the ruins of numerous towns, and the anti-
quities that are dug up there, show that it must have shared in the dvili-
zatbn of its conquerors.
§ 162. Trajan's relative and successor, iBlius Adridnus (Hadrian)
was more intent upon defending than enlarging the bounds of his em-
flaaritti, P^^ ^^^ found greater pleasure in art and literature than
A. D. 117 -188. in war. He was a man of great cultivation of mind, but
vain, and open to flattery. His eagerness for knowledge, and love of
art, induced him to take journeys of many years' duration, both into
the East, where he lingered in Greece, Asia, and Egypt, and into
the West, where he visited Gkiul, Spain, Britain, and the Rhine-land.
Among the many writers, artists, and interpreters who surrounded the
briUiant court of Hadrian, the most distinguished was the Greek Plu-
tarch, the author of numerous writings. His biographies, in which he
compares together the Greek and Roman statesmen and generals, are
especially calculated to excite admiration for the heroic deeds of anti-
qoity* Hadrian's love of art is borne witness to more particularly, by
tike ruins of his villa at Tfvoli; his magnificent mausoleum, now the castle
10
110 THB ANCEBNT WORLD.
of St Angelo at Borne ; and iimiuiierable remams of Bcalptare and
building.
AnUminiu S 163. Hadrian's adopted son^ the simple and benerolent
Ping, Antonfnus Pius, was an ornament of the throne. He avoided
A.D. 188-161. ^ar tjij^t i^g might devote all his care to the arts of peace.
Marcus His successor, Marcus Aur^lius Antonfnus, the philosopher,
Aurelins, was as much distinguished in war as in peace. He conquered
A. D. 161-180. ^^^ Marcomanni on the frozen Danjit)e,«and >lrove back over
the frontiers, after a long war, the Gennan*^ribeff who -were their confede*
rates. He died at Vindobdna (Vienna), during^ a^^mfRffgn^^ Marcus
Aur^lius was a man of simple and hardy habits, who, when on the
throne, remained true to his stoic virtue and se verity of morals (§ 91).
He promoted civilization and useful institutions, and the collection of
reflections, which he composed and dedicated to himself, bears witness to
his noble principles and efforts.
§ 164. Cultivation and morals. — During this period, the highest
civilization prevailed in the Roman empire, along with the greatest de-
pravity of morals. Arts and sciences were encouraged in the courts of
the Csf^^sars and the palaces of the wealthy, and were shared in by per-
sons of all conditions. Trades and commerce flourished, and prosperity
and refinement were visible in the populous cities and elegant dwelling-
houses ; establishments for education sprang up in Rome and the more
considerable provincial towns. The ruins of buildings, military roads, and
bridges that we admire even at this day, not only in Italy, but in many pro-
vincial towns (Treves, Nimes), the statues, sarcophagi, and altars with
bas-reliefs and inscriptions, the vases of clay and bronze of elegant forms
that are dug out of the earth, all bear testimony to the cultivation and
feeling for art existing among the people in the times of the Ctesars.
But this refinement was but a superficial polish ; morality, nobility of
soul, and strength of character, were held in no estimation. The people,
no longer invigorated by war, or the labors of the field, sank into luxury
and effeminacy ; they sought their gratification in the barbarous sports
of the amphitheatre, gladiatorial combats, and the contests of wild beasts,
and gave themselves up to a relaxing enjoyment of the luxurious baths,
with which the city was amply provided by the emperors, for the pur-
pose of withdrawing the citizens from the consideration of graver mat-
ters. It is in vain, that Persius angrily shakes the scourge of his stem
satire over the degenerate race, and endeavors to bring back the ancient
vigor, simplicity, and morality ; — it is in vain, that the witty Juvenal
unveils in his sportive satire the frightful depths of crime and wicked-
ness, and lashes his degenerate contemporaries ; it is in vain, that the
waggish Greek, Lucian, in his witty and satirical writings, jests at all the
existing conditions of life and religion, for the purpose of destroying what
is old, and thereby making room for something new and better ; — human
HI6T0RT OP KOMB. Ill
eooDsd came too late ; nothing but a higher power could save the per-
ishing world ; the help had already appeared, but the blinded Romans
did not recognize it, because it came not in the pomp of authority, but in
the garment of humility.
5. ROUE UNDER MILITARY OOYERNHENT.
(ymtmt^iL^ § 165. Rome's downward course .commences with GSm*
JL D. 180-192. modus, the unworthy son of Aurelius. He was a barbarous
tyrant, who delighted in nothing but the combats of gladiators and wild
beasts, and who distressed the people in every way, till at length he was
Potinax, put to death by those around him. P^rtinax, his valiant
A. D. 198. successor, had a similar fate. Afler his death, the insolence
of the prsBtorians rose to such a height, that they put up the crown to the
Seotimiiu highest bidder. Septfmius Sev^rus first restrained their inso-
Sererns, lence by his inexorable severity, and reestablished the impe-
A.D.198-211. rial power. He was a rude soldier, and enlarged the empire
by his conquests in the East, where he took Mesopotamia from tlie Par*
thians; and he secured Britain by new defences against the turbulent
Ficts and Scots. But he deprived the senate of their last remains of
power, and placed his whole reliance on the army, so that he was the
actaal establisher of the military government
! 166., The death of Septfmius Sev^rus at £b6r&cum (York) in Bri-
CanctOa, tain, placed his cruel son, Carac^Ula, on the throne, who, true
A. D. 211-217. to his father's teaching, honored the soldiery, but treated
other men with contempt. He killed hiis brother, Geta, in the arms of
bis mother, and then put his preceptor, the great jurist Papinian, to
death, for refusing to justify the fratricide. For the purpose of augment-
ing the revenue, he gave the right of Roman citizenship to all the free^
bom men in the empire. After the murder of this profligate tyrant by
his own soldiers, in a campaign against the Parthians, his relative, Helio*
HdiopOMliu, grains, a priest of the Syrian sun-god, succeeded to the
A. D. 216-222. throne. Heliogdbalus was a weak and cruel epicure, who,
bj the introduction of the sensual worship of Baal from Syria, destroyed
the h&t remnants of the ancient Roman discipline and morality. The
prstorians at length put the effeminate debauchee to death, and raised
jy^xjuj^^ his cousin, Alexander Sev^rus, to the throne. Sev6rus was
Sevens, a man of respectable character, who adopted many excellent
A. B. 222-285. measures, and listened to the advice of his sagacious mother ;
but his powers were inferior to the conduct of such difficult affairs of
state. The praetorians killed the great jurist, Ulpian, before his eyes,
irith impunity ; and on the eastern boundary, Ardshir (Artaxerxes)
overthrew the Parthian government, and est^lished the new Persian
empire of the Sassdnid®, who soon pursued their conquests into the Bo-
i&an tezritoiy.
112 THE ANCIENT WORLD.
S 167. The death of the emperor and his mother, bj an insurrection
of the soldiers at Majence, reduced the empire to such confusion, that
twelve emperors were raised and dethroned within the space of twenty
yean. Philip the Arab, who, like Alexander Sev^rus, was a friend to
Philip the Christians, sought to signalize his reign by a magnificent
1.D 248-249 ^celebration of the thousandth anniyersary of Rome. His
Decius, successor, Decius, persecuted the Christians, but found an
A.D. 249-251. early death in battle against the Goths, a German tribe who
had established themselves on the Lower Danube, and made preda-
tory excursions thence, both by land and sea, into the Roman territory.
After his death, the empire seemed on the point of dissolution. The
generals in the different provinces caused themselves to be proclaimed
G&Uientu emperors, so that the historians of the period, during which
A.D. 269-268. Gallienus reigned in Rome, and his father. Valerian, was
pining in captivity in Persia, call this the age of the thirty tyrants. In
the mean time, the empire was attacked on the east by the New Per-
sians, under the command of the valiant Sapor, whilst the German tribes
threatened the other quarters.
§ 168. At this juncture, Aur^lian, a man imbued with the old Roman
Aurelianns, courage and military discipline, was the restorer of the em-
A. D. 270-275. pire. He subdued the rebellious generals, aind marched
against the kingdom of Palmyr^ne, which Odendtus had founded on an
oasis in Syria, and which was governed, after his death, by his beautiful
and heroic wife, Zen<5bia. Palmyra, the capital city, rich in arts, philo-
sophy, and commerce, was taken and destroyed, and Zen6bia led in
triumph to Rome. Her preceptor and adviser, the gallant philosopher
Longfnus, died a violent death. At first, a follower of the new Platonists,
who joined the Oriental profundity, superstition, and belief in miracles,
to the doctrines of Plato, and put the inactive contemplation of the East
in place of the practical intelligence of ancient Rome, Longfnus had
afterwards relinquished this obscure wisdom. The ruins of Palmyra yet
enchain the admiration of the 'traveller. Aur^lian again restored the
boundary of the Danube on the north, gave up the province on the far-
ther side of the river to the enemy, and transplanted the inhabitants to
the right bank. Lest his capital should be endangered by any sudden
attack, he surrounded Rome with a wall.
§ 169. After Aur^lian had been killed by his soldiers, and his sue-
Tacitus, cessor, Tdcitus (a descendant of the historian), had perished
A.D. 275 -276. in an Expedition against the Goths, the courageous and up-
Probna, right Probus was raised to the throne. He enlarged and
A.D. 276-282. completed the boundary wall (Devil's Wall), from the Bava-
rian Danube to the Taurus, and secured it by means of troops; he
planted vineyards on the Rhine and in Hungary, and reformed the affiurs
of the army. After Probus also had been kiUed by his troops, and his
HISTOBT OF ROMS. 113
SDOcessor, Caras, had fallen in an expedition against the Persians, either
Gams, b J a stroke of lightning or the hand of an assassin, the throne
A. D. 282-284. was assumed by the sagacious Diocletian.
§ 170. Diocletian increased the imperial power, and lowered the dig*
DiodetiAn, nitj of the senate ; he projected a division of the empire, for
A. D. 284- 806. the purpose of more easily resisting the enemy. He himself,
with the title of Augustus, governed the Eastern region, together with
Thrace, whilst his assistant in the empire (Ctesar), Gal^rius, was at the
head of the Illyrian provinces ; in the same manner, MftWmiRn^ under
the title of Augustus, ruled over Italy, Africa, and the islands ; and his
son-in-law, Constantius (Chlorus), governed the western provinces,
Spain, Gaul, and Britain. For twenty years, Diocletian governed the
empire with vigor and dexterity, and restored its former strength and
stability. But when he allowed himself to be seduced into commanding a
bloody persecution against the Christians, he disturbed the evening of a
most active life, and stained his name and government with an indelible
maik of infamy. The sword of persecution was still raging among the
confessors of the crucified Jesus, when Diocletian abdicated his throne, to
pass his remaining years in rural retirement at Saldna, in Dalm^tia, and
to forget the bustle of the world in the arrangement of his palace and
gvdens.
§ 171. The abdication of Diocletian was followed by a period of con-
fusion and sanguinary civil wars, which was only put an end to, when
Constantfnus, the brave and wise son of Constantius, assumed the
government of the West, and marched into the field against Maximian's
hard-hearted son, Maxdntius. Constantino, who had been won over to
Christianity by his mother, Helena, erected the banner of the cross
pdbarum), overthrew the cruel Max^ntius at the Milvian
Bridge, and took possession of Home, after his opponent had
been drowned in the waters of the Tiber. It was from this point that
Cdnstantine ruled over the West, whilst his brother-in-law, Licinius,
governed the East. But the ambition of C6nstantine soon occasioned
another war, in which Lidnius lost victory, kingdom, and, at last, his life.
It was thus that Cdnstantine became sole governor of the
Roman empire, and showed favor to the Christians. But
that the doctrines of Jesus had little effect upon his mind, is shown by
the cruelty with which he caused whole troops of his captured enemies
to be thrown to wild beasts, by the severity he displayed in the execution
of his wife and his noble son, Crispus, and by the love of vengeance and
want of truth displayed in his character.
10*
BOOK SECOND.
MIGRATION OP NATIONS AND THE MIDDLE AGE.
A MIGRATION OF NATIONS AND ESTABLISH-
MENT OF MONOTHEISM.
L THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY OVER PAGANISM.
1. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF THE FIRST CENTURT.
§ 172. The Bomans were verj tolerant of the heathen forms of
religion amongst other nations, as is apparent at once from the fact, that
they adopted not only the mythology of the Greeks, but also, by degrees,
the theology of the East, of the Chaldeans, Persians, Egyptians, and
Syrians. But as Christianity forbade any combination with Paganism,
the Christians carefully avoided all participation in the feasts and
religious rites of the heathen, and kept themselves separate even in the
daily intercourse of life; thus the hatred of the people and the mis>
trust of their rulers were roused, and heavy persecutions arose against
them. Ten persecutions of Christians are recorded from the days of
Nero, when Peter and Paul are said to have met their death, to the first
decennium of the fourth century, when Diocletian and Galerias drove
the confessors of the crucified Saviour, by rack and axe, to the altar of
sacrifice, burnt down the churches, and gave the Holy Scriptures *to the
flames. Even the noble-minded Marcus Aurdlius thought it his duty to
break by force the stubbornness of the supposed fanatics ; and the short
reign of Decius has become memorable for one of the most violent per-
secutions of the Christians. But the liolyjoy with which the martyrs,
bearing witness by their blood, endured torture and death, multiplied the
number of believers, so that the blood of martyrs is justly called "the
seed of the Church.'* The objecu of persecution concealed themselves
in subterraneous passages (the Catacombs), near the graves of those they
loved, and in caves and mountain clefts. Oppression heightened their
trust in God ; and the number of apostate believers who delivered up the
Bible to be burned, or offered incense before the statue of the emperor,
CONSTANTINB THE GREAT AND JULIAN THE APOSTATE. Il5
was small when compared with the number of those who stood finn in
their faith. Daring the years of persecution, Christianity continued to
spread, by the indwellbg force of truth, and favorable circumstances from
without, to all quarters of the heavens, so that, as early as the third
century, before Cdnstantine raised it to a state religion, it overstepped
the bounds of the Roman empire.
2. CONSTANTIKE THE GREAT AND JULIAN THE APOSTATE.
§ 173. Cdnstantine, as sole emperor, transferred his residence to
Byzantium, which from this time forward was called Constantinople. He
fortified the city, which was favorably situated, with walls and towers,
aud embellished it most magnificently with palaces and churches, race-
gronnds, and works of art. He then abolished the antiquated constitu-
tion of the Roman empire ; vested all power in the imperial throne ;
surrounded himself with a brilliant court of chamberlains, ministers,
officials, and servants; and established a galling system of taxation. The
better to conduct the management of his vast empire, he divided it into
four prefectures or lieutenancies : the East, to which Thrace and Egypt
were assigned ; , Iliyricum with Greece ; Italy with Africa ; the West
(containing Gaul, Spain, Britain). Each of these he divided into a
greater or less number of districts (dioceses), and these again into states
(provinces). The last years of his life Constantino devoted principally
to religious and ecclesiastical matters ; but he deferred the rite of baptism
which deanseth from sin, till shortly before his death. He founded
many churches, and endowed them with landed estates. He granted to
the clergy an immunity from taxes, and other privileges, and allowed
legacies to the Church. From this time forward, the^ constitution of the
Chrbtian Church took a new shape ; whereas before, the Elders and
Bishops were chosen from the whole Church-community, and the princi-
ple of brotherly equality amongst all Christians was held in honor, now,
the priesthood (clergy) separated from the people (laity), and introduced
degrees of rank, so that the Bishops of the principal cities were placed
over the remaining Bishops as metropolitans, and these again had the
superintendence of the priests in their immediate neighborhood. At the
same time, the Church services, which before consisted only in singing,
prayer, and reading the Bible, and concluded with the love-feasts, were
made more solemn by the aid of music and other arts.
§174. Arianism.—« Augustine. — Fathers of the Church. —
The doctrine (dogma), also, of Christianity did not long remain in its
original simplicity and purity, when many learned men made it the sub-
ject of their inquiry and meditation. The first point which they investi-
gated was the relation of Christ to God, and the mysterious junction of
His divine and human natures. On this question, vehement contentions
811096 as early as the time of Constantino, between the Alexandrian
IIQ THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
ecclesiastics. Anus and Athanasius, the first of whom maintained that
Christ, the Son of God, was inferior to God the Father, and dependent
on Him ; while the latter laid down the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity,
through the prii/ciple that God the Son was of the same substance with
God the Father. The first general Church Council (GEcumenical Syn-
od), which Constantino convened at Nice, declared the opinion of Atha-
nasius to be the true (orthodox) faith of the Church ; but the German
nations, the Goths, Vandals, Longobards, to whom Christianity had been
brought by Arian missionaries, continued in Arianism for another ccnturj^-,
and were therefore excommunicated and driven out as heretics from the
Catholic (universal) Church. An equally important dispute arose in the
fifth centui7, about original sin and predestination, since Augustine,
Bishop of north Africa, laid down the principle that the nature of man,
through Adam's fall, has become unable to do good by its own strength ;
that this strength is produced only by the grace of God in one portion of
mankind, while the other remains abandoned to ruin ; so that one man
may be from the beginning appointed (predestinated) to salvation, ano-
ther to condemnation. These harsh doctrines were disputed by Pela-
gius, a monk residing in Africa, and the principle maintained, that man
can, by the strength of his own free will, do good, and become a partaker
of salvation. — The Christian writers of the first five or six centuries
were called Fathers of the Church. . Their works are the more im-
portant, because on them depend the traditional doctrines of the Catholic
Church. The nearer, therefore, they stand to the time of the Apostles,
the greater is their authority, as we assume that the dbciples of Jesus
made many oral communications to their contemporaries, which are not
found in the apostolic writings, but might well be known from the works
of the Fathers. They wrote partly in Greek and partly in Latin.
OonstantiTis, § 175. Of Constantino's three vicious sons, who, according
A- D. 867-860. to their father's will, divided the empire, Constantius, after
, long years of bloody struggles, obtained the sole sovereignty. As he
was himself busied in Asia, he sent his cousin, Julian, to Gaul, to protect
the frontiers of the empire against the Germanic nations.
A.D.867. Julian besieged the Allemanni in Strasburgh, twice passed
the Rhine, repulsed the Franks in the Netherlands, and restored the an-
cient renown of the Roman aims. Proclaimed emperor by
A. D.860. j^.g soldiers in his favorite city, Paris, Julian marched against
Constdntias, and a civil war would have ensued, had not the latter, died
Julian just at this crisis. Julian now without hinderance entered
A. D. 861 -868. the imperial castle in Constantinople, as sovereign of the
vast empire. He immediately removed all the superfluous officers of the
court, reduced the imperial household, and in his dress and mode of liv-
ing studied the greatest simplicity ; he provided for the impartial adminia-
tratton of justioe, and restored discipline and military virtue in the army.
THB MIGRATION OF NATIONS. 117
StroDglj as he worked by these means on an indolent generation, yet his
zeal to revive paganism hindered the success of his efforts. The con-^
straint which he endured in his youth under Christian masters had pro-
duced in him an aversion to the Gospel ; whilst his lively imagination,
and his love for Plato's philosophy (§ 65, 72), and for the literature and
poetry of antiquity, made him a most enthusiastic admirer of paganism.
For this reason he was branded by Christian writers with the title of
Apostate. Nevertheless, he was too just and too wise to inflict bloody
persecutions on the Christians. He contented himself with removing
them from his presence, and from public and professional offices, oppos-
ing their opinions in writings, and reestablishing the heathen worship,
with its feasts and sacrifices. He himself sometimes offered solemn
hecatombs of 100 bulls to the god of the sun. Having, however, with
the heroism of old Home, undertaken an adventurous campaign against
the New Persians, he pressed forward victoriods over the Euphrates and
Tigris; but being entrapped into an inaccessible mountainous district,
and compelled to commence a difficult retreat, he was wounded mortally
Joyian, by an arrow, and his schemes brought to nought His suc-
1. D.sss-864. eessor J<5vian, in a dishonorable peace, restored the conquer-
Valens, ^^ territory, and made Christianity again the dominant re-
i.D.8«4-878.]igioQ. After his death, the empire was divided, the Arian
ValentiziMii. ^^^^^ ruling over the East, whilst his brother, the rude and
1.D.8S4-895. warlike Yalentinian L, governed the West.
XL THE MIGRATION OF NATIONS.
1. THEOD08IU8 THE GREAT.
§ 176. When Yalens was ruling the East, the Huns, a wild, hideous,
well-mounted nomad people, came from the steppes of Central Asia to
Europe. After the overthrow of the Aldni, the brave East Goths (whose
gray-haired king, H^rmanrich, devoted himself to death), conquered them
and then fell upon the West Goths. But this people having been already
converted to Arian Christianity by Bishop Ulfilas, obtained permission
from Yaleos to cross the Danube, with their wives and children, and to
occupy new abodes. Through the venality of the Roman officers, the
West Goths, contrary to agreement, remained in possession of their
arms; and as, from the severity and avarice of the governor, they soon
fell into the greatest distress from hunger, they seized the accustomed
sword, stormed the city of Marcian<5polis, and carried robbery and deso-
lation through the land. Yalens marched hastily against the enemy;
bat in tlie maiderous battle of Adrian6ple he lost the victoiy, and his
118 THE BISTORT OF THE BilBDLE AGE.
]ife, daring the flight, in a burning hut The victors now roved throng^
the defenceless land with unrestrained fuiy, as far as the Julian Alps,
and menaced even the frontiers of Italj. Then was the brave Spaniard
Theod6sius chosen sovereign of the East He terminated the Gothic
war, bj settling one part of the enemy in the southern Danubian pro-
vinces, and enlisting another part as soldiers in the Roman armies. After
many contests and military exploits, Theoddsius, henceforth called the
Great, at length obtained the sovereignty of the West also, and so united,
for the last time, the whole world-wide Roman empire under one sceptre.
He was a powerful, but passionate prince ; and on one occasion, in Thes-
salonica, he put to death 7,000 d^zensy because they had slain his gover-
nor. For this, the Church's penance was inflicted on him by the un-
daunted bishop, Ambrose, of Milan, — a punishment which he willingly
underwent. Theoddsius was a zealous champion of the Catholic faith.
^e denounced and persecuted Arianism, interdicted the use of sacrifices
and divinations, and permitted the heathen temples to be plundered and
destroyed. Now was extinguished the sacred fire of Vesta — the oracles
and sibyls were silent — and the pagan pantheism yielded to- the faith in
the crucified Saviour. At his death, Theod<5sius made over the East, with
Hlfn&j to his son, Arcadius, who was eighteen years old, by whose side
stood the Gaul, Rufinus; while Hon<5rius, then in his eleventh year,
under the guidance of the politic and warlike Vandal, Stflicho, was to
be lord of the West From this time forward the empire remained
divided.
2. WEST GOTHS. — BUBOUNDIANS. — TANDAX3.
§ 177. Envy of Stilicho induced Rufinus to provoke the valiant Xlaric,
king of the West Goths, to invade the provinces of the Western empire.
The Goths marched forthwith, murdering and plundering, through
Thessaly, Central Greece, and Peloponnesus, and trod under foot the
A D 896 remains of Greek civilization, until, being surrounded by
Stflicho's forces, they were compelled to retreat A short
time after this, Alaric fell upon Upper Italy, pursued his devastating
course up the banks of the Fo, but suffered so much loss in two undeci-
A. D. 408. ®^^® battles against Stflicho, that he retreated upon lUyria,
to wait for a more favorable opportunity. This enemy of
the empire had scarcely been repulsed, before vast hordes of pagan Ger-
mans, Vandals, Burgundians, and Suevi, 6cc., burst into Italy, under the
command 6£ duke Radagafsus, destroyed the towns and villages, and
filled every place with cruel slaughter and desolation. But these also
A. D. 406. ^^^ overcome near Florence, by the military skill of Stilicha
Their leaders were killed ; thousands fell beneath the swords
of the victors, or perished by hunger and disease ; others entered into the
Roman service. The remains of their army threw themselves into GauL
THB MIGRATION OF KATIONS. 119
where, after repeated acts of devastation, the Burguodians settled on the
Rhine and the Jura, and founded the kingdom of Burgundj, which ex-
tended from the Mediterranean to the Yosges. The Vandals and Saevi,
on the other hand, crossed the Pyrenees^ and won • dwelling-places for
themselves by the sword, in Spain and Portugal, which they however
gave up again twenty years afterwards, and crossed over into Africa with
the Vandal king, G^nseric.
S 178. The brave Stflicho, in his necessity, had entered into a friendly
alliance with Alaric, and consented to pay him a yearly tribute. His
enemies founded an accusation of high treason upon this, and procured
his execution at Bav^nna. Hereupon, AUric, enraged at the withdrawal
of the tribute, and appealed to by Stilicho's adherents for protection,
marched into Italy, laid siege to Rome, and compelled the terrified in-
habitants to purchase the clemency of the conqueror with gold, silver, and
costly apparel. But when the court at Ravenna disdainfully rejected
Akric's proposals of peace, the Gothic prince again appeared before the
walls of the former mistress of the world, stormed it at length
during the night, and surrendered it to be plundered for
three days by his army. The hero died shortly after, in the flower of his
age, in Lower Italy. There is a legend that declares that his coffin and
treasures were buried in the bed of the stream Bus^nto, which had been
diverted from its cpurse for the purpose. His brother-in-law, Adolf,
eonduded a treaty with Hon<$rius, by virtue of which the West Goths
marched into Southern Q^u\. It was here that they founded
the kingdom of the West Goths, which at first extended from
the GrarcSnne to the Ebro, and had Tolosa (Toulouse) for its principal
city. When, however, the Vandals, some years later, went into AfHca,
the West Goths gradually conquered the whole of Spain; but, on the
other hand, were compelled to relinquish the territory between the
P/renees and the GanSnne to the Franks.
Yalendnian § 179. Hondrius followed Valentfnian HI., with -3ytius
DL, A. D. 4S6 at his side, for general and influential minister. The go-
-<W- remor of northern Africa, Bonifdcius, lived in enmity with
this iB'tius ; and being afraid of his anger, he rebelled, and summoned
the Vandals, under their bold and crafty king, G^nseric, out of Spain,
to his assista^^ce. It is true, that, upon their arrival, he repented of
this rash act, vid opposed them with his forces. But the warlike
Vandals overcam3 him, and, in defiance of the court of Ravenna, made
themselves masters of noKhem Africa, where they established the empire
of the Vandals, with its capital, Carthage, conquered Sicily and tbp
Balearic islands, and rendered themselves formidable to all islands and
buds near the coast by their piracies. The kingdom of the Vandals
existed for a hundred years in ncrth Africa. G^nseric died in 477.
120 IHB HISTORT OF THE IflBDLE A«B.
3. ATTILA, KING OF THE HUNS (A. D. 450.)
§ 180. About the middle of the fifth century, Xttila, suroamed the
Scourge of God, left his wooden residence on the banks of the Theifis, in
Hungary, for the purpose of conquering the western empire of Rome bj
the sword. More than half a million savage warriors, partly Huns and
partly Germans, who were their subjects or allies, marched through
Austria, Bavaria, and Aleminnia, to the Rhine, where they annihilated
the royal house of Burgundy in Worms, destroyed the Roman towns,
and then carried slaughter and desolation into Gaul. It was here that
the valiant JE'tius, with an army composed of Romans, Burgundians,
West Goths, and Franks, succeeded, in the Catalaiinian
plains (Chalons on the Mame), in setting a limit to Attila's
victorious course. 162,000 dead bodies, and among them that of the
brave king of the West Goths, covered the field of battle. From his
camp, fortified with wagons, the Hun bade defiance to the attacks of the
enemy, and then retreated into Hungary (Fann6nia), with
the purpose of invading Italy in the following year. Aqui-
Idia was destroyed ; Milan, Favia, Verdna, and Fadua taken by . storm;
and the fertile banks of the Fo turned into a desert The unfortunate
inhabitants of Aquil^ia sought for refuge on the io<^ and sand-islands of
the lagunes, and thus laid the foundation of Venice. Xttila was already
on his march towards Rome, where he was induced* by the prayers of the
Roman bishop, Leo I., to conclude a peace with Valentfnian, and to
retreat Attila's sudden death, either by hsemorrhage, or the vengeance
of his Burgundian bride, checked the progress of the Hunnish empire.
The Ostrogoths, the G^pidae, and the Longobards obtained their inde-
pendence after a severe struggle, whilst the remains of the nomadic Huns
were lost in the rich pastoral steppes of southern Russia.*
4. BESTBUCTION OF THE WESTERN BOMAN EMPIRE.
§ 181. The Roman power was now rapidly approaching to its falL
Valentinian with his own hand kiUed ^'tius, the last support of the em-
pire. Shortly afler, the luxurious emperor lost his own life by FetnSnios
M^mus, whose wife he had corrupted. FetnSnius, raised to be Yalen-
tfnian's successor, aspired to the hand of the imperial widow, which in-
duced the latter to summon the Vandals against the murderer of her
husband. G^nseric landed at Ostia, took Rome, and subjected the ci^
for fourteen days to plunder, during which time the works of art were
ruthlessly mutilated (Vandalism). Laden with plunder and prisoners
(the empress and her two daughters among the number), the Vandals
returned to the coast of Africa, where they resumed their piratical em-
ployments with more audacity than before. Afler some time, the Sueve,
Bidmer, a bold, cra%, but blood-stained man, acquired such power, that
THE MIGRATION OF NATIONS. 121
to the daj of his death, he managed the crown and empire at his pleasure,
withoat even assaming the imperial title. Three years after Rfcimer's
death, the amhitious general, Orestes, invested his son, Rdmulus Augiis-
mlus, with the powerless crown. Upon this, the Grerman troops in the
paj of the Romans demanded a third part of the lands of Italy; and
when this was not granted, the valiant Ododcer commanded the captive
Orestes to he put to death, and, hj assuming the title of King of Italy,
put an end to the Western empire of Rome. Ododcer he«
A.D. 476. '^ _ _ . , "^ ., . _ _ -
stowed a yearly pension, and a residence m Lower Italy,
upon the inoffensive R<5mulus Augustulus.
5. THEOD'OBIO THE OSTROGOTH (a. D. 500).
§ 182. Ododcer had reigned, not without renown, for twelve years,
when The<5doric, king of the Ostrogpths, with the consent of the Byzan-
tine emperor, marched from the Danuhe upon Italy. He was followed
hy 200,000 men fit for war, with their wives, children, and goods.
Ododoer was unahle to resist this force. Overcome hy The<Sdoric near
VenSna, he concealed himself behind the waUs of Ravenna ; and it was
only after a gallant defence of three years that he at length surrendered
upon honorable conditions. But he was killed not long aAer, by the
Goths, at a riotous banquet From this time, the empire of the Ostro-
goths, which extended from the southern point of Italy to the Danube,
was governed wisely and justly by' Theddoric, from Ravenna. He paid
respect to the ancient laws and institutions, employed the original inha-
bitants of the country in trade, agriculture, and commerce, and com-
mitted war and the use of arms to the Groths. Even literature and
drilizadon rejoiced in his protection; and learned Romans, like the
historian Cassioddrus, were advanced to the highest offices of the state.
The6doric's authority was so great abroad, that contending kings brought
their differences to his judgment seat It was only a short time previous
to his death, that he was rendered cruel by suspicion, and commanded
the worthy senator Bo^thius, and his father-in-law, Symmachus, to be
exeeoted, because they were suspected of having invited the Byzantine
court to expel the Goths. It was in prison that Bo^thius wrote his cele-
brate work, the ^ Consolations of Philosophy."
6. CLOVIS, KINQ OF THE FRANKS AND THE MEROVINGIANS.
1 183. The Franks, a tribe of German origin, had marched from their
hereditary possessions on the Lower Rhine to the Meuse and the Sambre.
From this place, their warlike king, Clovis, led them forth to war and
plunder. After he had conquered and put to death the last Roman
AD. 486 - governor, Sydgrius, in Soissons, and made himself master of
the country between the Seine and the Loire, he advanced
gainst the Alemanni, who were in "possession of an extensive kingdom
11
122 HI8T0BT OF THE MIDPIiE AQE.
OD both banks of the Rhine. He defeated them in the great battle of
Zulpich (between Bonn and Aix), and subjected their
country on the Moeelle and the Lahn. In the heat of
the battle, Clovis had sworn, that if the doubtful combat should ter-
minate in his favor, he would embrace the faith of his Christian wife ;
and in the same jear, he, with 3,000 nobles of his train, reoeiTed baptism
in the waters of the Rhine. But ChrisUanitj produced no emotions of
pitj in his savage heart Afler he had extended the Frank
A. D. 507. empii^ to the Rhone on the east, and to the Gardnne on the
south, he attempted to secure the whole territory to himself and his pos-
terity, by putting to death the chiefs of all the Frank tribes.
§ 184. The wickedness of the father was inherited by his four sons,
who, after Cbvis's death, divided the Frank empire between them ; the
eldest received the eastern kingdom, Austrt^ia, with the capital, Metz ;
the three younger sons shared the western territory, Neustria, and Bur>
gundy, which was connected with it. But the empire was agmn from
time to time united. The history of the kinglj house of the Merovingians
displays a frightful picture of human depravity. The murders of bro-
thers and relatives, bloody civil wars, and the explosion of unbridled
passions, fill its annals, llie savage enormities of the two queens, Bmn-
hilda and Fredigonda, are particularly dreadful. These horrors ai length
destroyed all the power of the race of Clovis, so thai they are distin-
guished in history as sluggish kings, whilst the steward of the royal pos-
sessions (mayor of the palace) gradually obtained possession of all the
powers of government, A visit to the yearly assemblies of the people
(Marzfelder), upon a carriage drawn by four oxen, was at last the only
occupation of the imbecile Merovingians. At first, each of the three
kingdoms had its own mayor, until the brave and shrewd Pepin voo
Heristal succeeded in uniting the mayoralties of Neustria and Burgundy
with that of Austrdsia, and making them hereditary in his own ^Emiily.
From this time, Pepin's descendants, who were called dukes of Fran-
o6nia, possessed the regal power, whilst the Merovingians were kings in
nothing but the name.
7. THE ANOLO-SiiXONS.
§ 185. About the middle of the fifth century, the Roman army left
Britain, which it was unable any longer to retain. The inhabitants, who
were too weak to resist the attacks of the wild Picts and Scots (§ 159,
168), sought assistance from the Angles and Saxons of the Ix>wer Elbe.
These obeyed the summons ; but afler they had repulsed the enemy, they
turned their swords against the Britons themselves, and, after a fearfol
oontest, subdued their country, which was henceforth called England
(Angle-land)'. The greater number of the Celtic inhabitants perished
1^ the sword; those who were able took refuge in Gaul (Bretagne). li
OB Mie&ATIOK OF NATIONS. 123
iras onlj in the moimfainotis ^Ustiiots of Wales and Cornwall that the
Cdts asserted their independelice and national pecaliarities, till as late
as the thirteenth oenturj. The rest of the kingdom fell into the power
of the Anglo-Saxonsy who established there seven small monarchies.
These existed in a separate state, in the midst- of perpetual contests, till
the ninth century, when Egbert united the seven kingdcms
(Heptarchy), and assumed the title of King of Enghind.
The paganism of Grermanj had yielded to Christianity as early as the
seventh century, when the Benedictine monk, Augustine, with a crowd
of missionaries, landed in Kent, led the king and his nobles to baptism,
and founded the seat of the archbishopric of Canterbury.
8. THE BTZANTIKS EMPIRE AND THE LONGOBABDS.
{ 186. The Byzantine empire displays a melancholy picture of moral
depravity. A court filled with oriental luxury and magnificence, where
women and &vorites raise and dethrone weak^ or vicious emperors by
crimes or intrigues ; an insolent body-guard, who carried on the same
aodacions game with the crown that the pnetorians had formerly done ;
and a fickle population, who took pleasure in nothing but questions of
reHgioiis controversy, and the rude sports of the race-course (hipp6-
dromus). In these race-eourses, two great parties, who mortally hated
and persecuted each other, distinguished themselves, according to the
eobrs of the chariot drivers, into the Blue and the Green. It was under
J^stiIliJu^ these circumstances, that Justinian, a man of low <)rigin,
A. D.sa7 -666. ascended the throne, where he completed several great
vndertakings. He subdued the Green party, that had raised an insur-
reetbn against him, and closed the race-course for ever; he ordered the
code of laws, known by the name of Corpus Juris and Pandects, to be
prepared by his minister, TrilxSnian; he procured silk-worms from
China by an artifice, and transplanted the manufacture of silk into
Europe; he built the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, and he
persecuted the heathens and Arians.
1 187. Both the Vandals and Goths had made a profession of Arian-
iam. Hence Justinian embraced the project of visiting them with war,
and, by the conquest of their lands, of restoring his empire to the same
extent it had possessed under Constantino. Belis^us, the great hero of
his time, subdued in a few months the kingdom of the Vandals, which
was abeady disturbed by a religious war, and carried the last king, G^li-
mer, a prisoner to Constantinople. About this time, The<S-
doric's noble daughter, Amalasunta, was murdered by her
dastardly husband. Hereupon Justinian assumed the part of her aven-
8^9 and sent Belia^urios to Italy. Belis^rius tock Rome, and defended
it with military skill and heroio courage fi>r a twelvemonth
against the Gothic king, Vitiges. The Goths, filled wi|h
124 HISTOBT OF TBS lOBDLB AGE.
amasemeDt at the oonnge of Belisdrins, offered bim the flovereigD
anibonijf and deHvered up to hnn the chief dty, Rayenna. He took
possesflioii of it in the name of the emperor, but did not, nevertheleaa,
escape the enTj and calomnj of the Byiantine coortierB. He was
recalled in the midst of a course of yictories, to defend the eastern fitm-
tier against the Persians. After his departure, the Goths,
according to the German custom, raised the Taliant Totila
upon a shield, and saluted him as king. Totila soon reconquered the
whole of Italy. Belisdrins again made his appearance, but, being
slenderly supplied with money and troops by the suspicious emperor,
with all his courage he could effect but little. Justinian angrily sum-
moned him back, and punished him with his displeasure. He is said,
when a blind old man, to have supported his life by begging alms.
His successor was Narses, a dexterous courtier, but a hero like Beli-
s^us. Narses gained a victory at Tagina, near the ancient Sentmum
(§ 110), where Todla and the bravest of his warriors died in the fiekL
It was in vain that the remainder of the Goths raised the valiant Tejas
upon the royal shield ; he also, after many bloody encounters,
fell at the head of his nobles, near the ancient Cumse ; and
it was only a small band who sought an unknown dwelling-place upon
the farther side of the Alps.
S 188. Henceforth, Narses, as the emperor^s lieutenant, governed the
conquered country from Ravenna. But when Justinian died, and his
successor deprived Narses of his office, he called the Longobards out of
Pann<5nia (Hungary), a short time before his death. These advanced
to the neighborhood of the Po, which received from them the name of
Lombai:dy, under the warlike Alboin. Pavia was taken by assault after
a siege of three years, and erected into the capital of the Lombard king-
dom. Alboin died by the bloody vengeance of his wife, the beautifnl
Bosamunda. He had killed her father, the king of the G^pidse, some
years before in battle, and, in accordance with the German custom, had
had his skull fashioned into a goblet. He once compelled his daughter,
during a festival, to drink from this cup, a proceeding that so enraged
her that she procured his assassination. The rude Longobards treated
the natives with violence, and deprived them of the greater part of their
possessions. But the fruitful fields were soon brought to a splendid state
of cultivajion by the sturdy arms of German laborers. A powerful
nobility of dukes and counts stood at the head of this nation, who elected
their kings in the assemblies of the people (Maifeldem). The Longo-
bard kingdom remained independent for two centuries.
S 189. The glory that Justinian had shed upon the Byzantine empire,
was soon obscured by the depravity of the court Wicked princes
ascended the blood-stained throne in the midst of the most revolting hor-
rors ; deprivation of the eyes, mutilation of the nose and ears, were
THB MIGRATION OF NATIONS. 135
fliingB of dailj occurrence in this God-forsaken court. With all this,
CoDBtantinople remained, through the whole of the middle ages, the seat
of learning and refinement, and the Byzantine history confirms a fact de-
rived from experience, that external civilization and a refined manner of
living are frequentlj conjoined with barbarousness of mind and de-
pravitj of morals. The afiairs of the Church always excited the great-
est interest at Constantinople. When the increasing veneration for
images and relics threatened to establish a new form of idolatry, inas-
I^ ^ much as the ignorant people worshipped the images them-
banrian, selves, Leo the Isaurian issued a command to remove them
A.D.7i7-74i.|jtogiether from the churches. This gave rise to a storm
that shook throne and empire for more than a century. Two parties, the
image worshippers (Iconoduli) and the image breakers (Iconoclasts) stood
Ccmstantine ^^ hostile opposition to each other. Leo's energetic sob,
CoproDymus, Constantine Copronymus, followed his father's example. He
A. D. 741 -746.1,11^ the worship of images condemned by a council of the
Church, and punished the refractory by death and banishment. His son
Leo IV., A. D. also, Leo IV., belongs to the number of iconoclastic empe-
y7&-780. Tors. But after his sudden death, his wife, L^ne, abrogated
Inne, the former resolutions by a new council, and restored to the
A. D. 800. churches their ornaments of images. This violent woman
pat out the eyes of her own son from motives of ambition, and was
meditating a union with Charlemagne, when she was hurled from the
throne by a conspiracy. She died in misery at Lesbos. A later at-
Leo the Anne- ^^'^P^ ^ remove images from the churches, undertaken by
oiaii,!. D. Leo the Armenian and his successors, was less violent, and
8U-820. ^03 interrupted by the empress Theodora. Shortly after, a
new imperial house ascended the throne, in the person of Basilius the
Macedonian, which ruled with little interruption for 200
yearsy and restored some strengtl^ to the empire. In the
West, the decrees against images were not recognized.
n. MOHAMMED AND THE ABABIANS.
S 190. On the south-western coast of the peninsula of Arabia, which,
on account of' its great fertility in coffee, frankincense, cinnamon, and
other spices, is called Arabia Felix, lived for ages, in proud independ-
ence, a people capable of civilization. Their religion was a rude pagan-
wn; a black stone in the Caaba at Mecca served as the national palladi-
^ the care of which belonged to the Eoreishites. They were rendered
ridi by an extensive commerce, and took pleasure in mental cultivation
11*
126 HI8T0RT OF THB HIDDLB AG&
and poetry. It was in the midst of this people that Mohimmed was
IfQhainiDed, born, towards the end of the sixth century, from the ie>
A. D. 671 - 68S. spected priestly race of the Koreishites. Daring his youth,
he made journeys with the caravans into foreign lands in the capacity of
merchant, and thus became convinced that the religion of the Jews and
Christians must be preferable to the idolatrous worship of the Arabs.
As soon, therefore, as he had acquired an independent posidon by his
marriage with a rich widow, he withdrew from the bustle of the world,
to the recesses of his own bosom, and sought how he might elevate his
countrymen from their degradation. The expectation entertained by the
Jews of a Messiah, the promise of Christ to send a Comforter to those
who loved him, who should guide them into all truth, wrought upon his
ardent imagination, and excited within him the conviction, that he must be
the person of whom the world stood in need. His epileptic fits favored
the pretence that he held communion with angels, and was the subject of
divine inspiration.
§ 191. In his fortieth year, Moh^med came forth with his doctrine^
" There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet.** But with the
exception of his wife, his fat&er-in-law Abu Bekir,* his son-in-law Ali,
and a few of his friends and relations, no one at first believed in his
mission ; nay, he was even compelled, by a menacing tumult, to fiy from
Mecca to Medina. (The Mohdmmedans reckon their years
^' 'from this event, which is called Hejira.) He here foond
adherents with whom he undertook expeditions, and at length, afrer some
victorious encounters, he forced his return to Mecca. In Medina he
composed a part of the sentences of which the holy book of the Koran con-
sists. Mecca soon acknowledged him as a prophet, and his doctrine,
called Islam, was soon predominant all over Arabia. He combined in it
the fundamental doctrines of Juddism and Christianity, with maxims that
were adapted to the East He commanded frequent ablutions and
prayers, circumcision, fiists, almsgiving, and pilgrimages to Mecca, forbade
the use of wine and swine's flesh, and sanctioned polygamy. A chief
commandment of the Koran was, to diffuse Islam by every means, and
to compel the natif ns to receive it by fire and sword. Those who fell
bravely in battle were promised a paradise of sensual enjoyments. The
prophet died in the eleventh year of the Hejira. Mecca, where he was
bom, and Medina, the place where his grave is situated, are regarded as
sacred cities of pilgrimage. Mohdmmed united gra\'ity and dignity
in his carriage and bearing ; he was benevolent, simple in his.manner of
living, and not devoid of domestic virtues ; but he was too much addicted
to women.
§ 192. Ali, the husband of the favorite daughter of the prophet, hoped
Abn Bekir ^ become Moh^med's successor (Ehalif). But Moh^-
A.D. 699-684. med's intriguing wife, Ayesha, procured the election of her
XHE MiaEATION 07 KAHONS. 127
r Aba Bekir, wlio was saeoeeded by the simple and energetic Omar.
Q^ig^ Under tUs Bian, the Ansbs, inspired bj their new faith,
A.ii.6M-e4i. carried their yictorioiis swords beyond the limits of Arabia.
Pilestine and Syria were conqnered, and Mohammed's warriors marched
iito the Christian cities of Antioch, Damascus, and Jemsalem. Kaled,
<<the sword of Giod,*' and the crafty Amni conducted the valiant bands.
Persia was subjected, after a succession of bloody engage-
ments. The last king, Yesdejird fled (as once Darius before
Alexander), with the sacred fire in his hand, to the mountainous high-
Isnds, where he perished by the hands of an assassin. The Arabs now
pursued their victorious course through the eastern highlands, and car-
ried the doctrines of Mohammed to the Upper Indus. The Persian fire*
worship fell before the Koran, and henceforth, Islam was the ruling
religion of the £ast. The new cities of Basra, Cufa, and Bagdad, on the
llgris, soon became the centres of trade, and the seats of oriental luxury
and magnificence. Shortly after this, Amru marched from
Syria into Egypt, took Alexandria, (by which means the
renuuDs of the great library are said to have perished), (§ 125,) burnt
Memphis, (in the neighborhood of which the chief dty, Cairo, took its
erigiD ftam the camp of the general,) and thrust aside the Gospel by the
Enaa.
i 193. Omar shortly after fell by the dagger of a Persian slave, and
Oduna, Othman, the collector and ananger of the Koran, succeeded
A. 0.644-666. to the Khalifate. But Othman was also assassinated; and
when Ali at length ascended the sacred chair that had long been his
light, the iamily of the Ommiades rose against him and excited a civil
war, in which Ali and his whole house perished, and the Khalifate was
taken possession of by the Ommiades, who established their
residence in the beautifhl Damascus. The Arabians prose-
cuted their conquests under the Ommiades both by land and water.
Cyprus, Rhodes, Asia Minor, all felt the edge of their swords; the capital
of the Byzantine empire had to sustain seven attacks and sieges, and was
only saved by the newly-discovered Greek fire. The north
' coast of Africa was subdued at the same time, and the Christ-
ian religion and civilization there destroyed in the course of a lengthened
var. The Arabians also gained a firm footing in Sicily, whence they
niade predatory excursions upon the coasts of Italy.
1 194. It happened about the beginning of the eighth century of the
Christian era, that the West Goth, Roderick, deprived his brother of the
Spenish throne. Hereupon, the sons of the banished man called the
Anbs into Africa to revenge him. Tarik, the Arabian general, crossed
tk straits of the sea, founded the town of Gibraltar (Gebel al Tarik,>
A.D.711 '^ overthrew the West Goths at the battle of Xeres de la
Frontera, where Roderick and the flower of his chivalry
128 THE HISTORY OF THB MIDDLE AGE.
were slam in the field. The Arabians overran the whole of Spain, as fiur
as the rockj Astarias, in a rapid coarse of victories. The Saracena
crossed the Pyrenees at their side, conquered the south of France as far
as the Rhone, and threatened France and Christianity with destmction ;
when Charles Martel, the mayor of the palace of Pepin Heristal (§ 184),
^ overthrew them between Tours and Poitiers, in a battle that
lasted seven days, and compelled them to fall back upon
Spain. Charles Martel was thus the savior of Christian Germany in the
West
§ 195. Twenty years after Charles MarteFs death, the dynasty of the
Ommiades was overthrown by the Abbassides, and their
A« D. 752*
whole family destroyed. Populous towns sprang up. Atten-
tion was paid to trade, agriculture, and the rearing of cattle ; mines were
opened, and the prosperity of the country was displayed in rich villages,
flourishing farms, and splendid palaces (Alhambra) : arts and sdeuces
,^«« ^ere encouras^ed. But after the race of the Ommiades
A. D. 1088. , . , ,, . , . « . ^ ^
became extmct, the Moorish power m Spam was broken up
into a number of small states, that gradually yielded before the Christians
of the North. The latter had enlarged their territories by successful
wars from their head-quarters, the Asturias, so that, with time, three
kingdoms had been established, Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, each of
which existed independently of the other, and waged furious contests
with the Arabs. of the South. These wars produced a spirit of chivaliy,
religious zeal, and freedom among the Christian Spaniuds. The deeds
of these God-inspired warriors, particularly those of the great
Cid Campeaddr, were handed down to posterity in heroic
songs (Romances), and kept alive the courage and chivalrous spirit of
the Spanish nobility. Civic freedom was at the same time fiourishing in
the cities. The victory gamed by the united Christian force at Tolosa^
in the Sierra Morena, broke forever the power of the Arabians.
§ 196. The arts and sciences flourished in all the countries inhabited
by the Arabs, as well as in Spain. Mosques, palaces, and gardens, were
to be met with in every Arabian town. Industry and commerce brought
wealth, — the source of refinement, but, at the same time, of the love of
splendor and efieminacy. Architecture, music (the system of notes), and
decorative painting (arabesques), flourished in all the chief Arabian
towns. The sciences were taught at Cordova, Cairo, Bagdad, Salerno,
and many other cities ; more particularly, grammar, philosophy, mathe-
matics, (the Arabian ciphers, algebra), astronomy, and astrology, natural
philosophy, (chemistry), and medicine. The Arabians translated the
writings of the Greeks, especially those of Aristotle and Euclid, and cul-
tivated the art of poetry. The literature and civilization of this people
had the greatest influence upon the development of the Christian middle
age.
GABLOYIKGL 129
a THE MIDDLE AGE.
L THE PERIOD OF THE GARLOVINGL
1. I^SPIK THE LITTLE (iu D. 752-768); GHABLEMAGKB
(A. J}. 768-814.)
§ 197. The Austrasian duke, Pepin of Heristal, and his son Charles Mar-
tel,had gained the confidence of the nation by their warlike deeds, and the
&Tor of the priests by their zeal in the propagation of Christianit j. Both
parties were instmmental in raising Pepin the Little, the son of Charles
Uartely to the throne of the Franks. For when the assembly of the
nation deposed the last imbecile representative of the Merovingians
(Childeric IIL), and prochumed the chief steward, Pepin, king, the pope
confirmed the election, in the hope of finding in the Frank ruler a sup-
port against the Longobards and the iconoclastic emperor of Byzantium.
In retoni for the royal consecration, which was first performed by Boni-
&oe, and afterwards by Pope Stephen himself, Pepin endowed the Bo-
man chair with the portion of coast on the Adriatic Sea, southwards
from Bavenna. This was the foundation of the temporal power of the
pope.
This Boniface (properly Winfried) was one of those active English
missionaries, who, under the protection of the first Carlovingian monarchs,
proclaimed the doctrine of a crucified Redeemer to the rude inhabitants
of Germany. He preached the Gospel in Hesse, (where he built the
abbey of Fnlda), founded bishoprics and colleges for education among
the Thuringians, Franks, and Bavarians, and displayed such zeal that he
obtained the name of the '^apostle of the Germans." Having been ap-
pointed archbishop of Mayence, he undertook in his old age another mis-
sion to the heathen Finlanders, among whom he met with ai violent death.
All the bishoprics and colleges established by Boniface were closely united
vith the Roman see ; and as these efforts were favored by the Carlovin-
gian monarchs, the pope, about the year 800, came to be looked upon as
the head of the Church in Franconia.
1 198. Pepin reigned for sixteen years with vigor and renown over
tlie Frank empire, which extended far into South and Central Germany,
and which, at his death, he divided between his two sons,
^^ ' ' Charles and Carloman. When the latter died, about three
A. D. 771 y^s^fs afterwards, Charlemagne was declared sole ruler of the
Franks, by the voice of the estates of the empire. He con-
^aeted many wars, and advanced Christian cultivation and civil order.
For the purpose of securing the boundaries of his kingdom and extendii^
130 THE HISTOBT W XHB MISBLB AGE.
Christiamty, he made war for thirty-one yean on the Saxon eonfedera-
tion, which was formed bj Tarioas pagan tribes on the Weser and Elbe.
Charles took the fortress of Eresburg, on the south of the
Tentobni^ger foFest, destroyed the national palladiam — the
statue of Arminius, and compelled the Saxons to a peace. He next pro-
ceeded against the Longobard king, Desid^rius, in obedience to the sum-
mons of Pope Adrian. With an army collected together near Geneva,
he crossed the St Bernard, stormed the passes of the Alps, and conquered
Pavia. Desid^rius ended his days in a cloister. Charles
erected the Lombard throne in Milan, united Upper Italy
to the kingdom of the Franks, and confirmed the gifts made by Pepin
to the pope.
§ 199. During the absence of Charles, the Saxons had expelled the
Frank garrisons and reestablished their ancient boundaries. Charles
. ^^ again marched into their country, subdued them, and oom-
pdled the chiefs of the tribes to submit at Paderbom. Their
warlike duke, Witikind, alone, fled to the Danes and refused to oonfirm
the treaty. In the two following years, Charles fought against the
Moors in Spain, took Pampelona and Saragossa, and united the whole
country, as far as the Ebro, to his own kingdom, as a Spanish province.
But during his return, his rear, under the command of Roland, suffered
a defeat in the valley of Roncesv^lles, in which the bravest champioos
of the Franks were destroyed. Roland's battle at Ronoesvdlles was a
ftvorite theme with the poets of the middle ages. The Saxons tock ad-
vantage of his absence to make a fresh insurrection, and pursued their
devastating course as far as the Rhine. Charles hastened to the epei,
gave them repeated overthrows, and subdued their land afresh. But
when he attempted to employ them as militia against the Slavonic tribes
in the East, they fell upon the Frank troops who were marching with
them, at the Suntal (between Hanover and Hameln), and slew them.
This demanded vengeance. The Frank emperor marched through the
land, plundering and destroying, and then held a court of judgment at
Verden on the Aller. 4,500 prisoners expiated with their blood the
crime of their brethren. Upon this, hostilities were resumed with fresh
violence. But the battle on the Hase, which terminated to the disadvan-
tage of the Saxons, put an end to the war. TVitikind and the other diiefe
took an oath of fealty and military service, and allowed themselves to be
baplued. The people foUowed their example. Eight bishoprics (Osna-
bm<^ Minden, Verden, Bremen, Paderbom, Munster, Halberstadt, Hil-
dersheim,) provided for the maintenance and extension of Christianity
among the Saxons. Another insurrection, however, was occasioned a
few yea^ afterwards, by the oppressive arrt^e-fton,* and the unwonted
* The STimmons to all the tenants, even those of secondary rank, to quit their oocuptr
tkns, «&d ftUow the kifig to the wars. Am, M
THE CARLOVINGL 181
payment of tithes to the Church, which resulted in 10,000 Saxon families
bong carried away from their homes, and colonies of Franks being
established in their place. To oppose the Slavonic tribes to the east of
the Elbe, Charles founded the Margraviate* of Bradenburg.
§ 200. Shortly after, Thassilo, duke of Bavaria^ attempted
to render himself independent of the Frank power, by the
assistance of the Avars who lived to the east. He was overpowered,
and expiated his breach of faith by perpetual confinement within the *
walls of the cloisters of Fulda. Bavaria was hereupon incorporated
with the Frank empire, and Charles established the Eastern Margraviate
as a check upon the wild Avars. When Charlemagne had reduced all
the lands from the Ebro and the Appenines to the Eider, and from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Raab and the Elbe, he repaired to Rome at the
condnsion of the century. It was here that, during the festival of
Christmas, he was invested witli the crown of the Roman empire, in the
chnrch of St. Peter, by Leo III., whom he had defended against a
mob of insurgents. It was hoped, that by this means, western Christen*
dom might be formed into a single body, of which the Pope was to be-
come the spiritual, and Charles the secular head. It was at this time
that the long-exbting variance between the Western (Roman Catholic),
and the Eastern (Greek Catholic) churches, terminated in a complete
separation.
$ 201. The domestic policy of Charlemagne was not less fertile of
results than the foreign. 1. He improved the government and the ad-
ministradon of justice by abolishing the office of duke, dividing the whole
kingdom into provinces, and appointing counts and deputies for the con*
duct of the afiairs of justice, and clerks of the treasury for the manage-
ment of the crown lands and the collection of imposts. The laws were
confirmed by the popular assemblies (maifeldem), in which every free-
man had a share. 2. He promoted the cultivation of the land, and the
edacation of the people. Agriculture and the breeding of cattle were
eocoaraged, farms and villages sprang up, and barren heaths were con-
verted into arable fields. He founded conventual schools and cathe-
drals, had the works of the ancient Roman writers transcribed, and
formed a coUection of old German heroic ballads. Learned men, like
the British monk, Alcuin, and the historian Eginhard, from the Oden-*
wald, had ample reason to congratulate themselves on his encouragement
and support. 3. He favored the clergy and the church. It was by his
means that the former obtained their tithes and vast gifts and legacies ;
church music was improved, missionaries supported, and churches and
iDOQasteries erected. Ingelheim on the Rhine, and Aix, were Charles's
&vorite plaees of residence. He lies buried in the latter town.
*A]|aigimve (Katqnis) wm a Count of the frontaer, the frontier being caUed the Haik
Qfttch). AaLJEd.
132 HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AOE.
2. DISSOLUTION OF THE FRANK EMPIRE.
Loois the § ^^^' ^^® ^° ^^ Charlemagne, Louis the Debonnairc
Deboimaire, (the Gentle), was better fitted for the repose of a cloister
A. D.8i4-840.^jjj^jj f^r iijg government of a warlike nation. A too hasty
division of his kingdom among his three sons, Lothaire, Pepin, and
Louis, was the occasion of much sorrow to himself, and confusion to the
empire. For when, at a later period, he proposed an alteration in favor
of his fourth son, Charles (the Bald), the fruit of a second
marriage, the elder sons took up arms against their father.
Louis, faithlessly deserted by his vassals on ^ the field of lies," near
Strasburg, and betrayed to his own sons, was compelled by Lothaire to do
penance in the church, and to abdicate his throne ; and was afterwards
shut up for some time in a cloister. It is true that Louis procured his
father's reinstatement ; but when the weak emperor, after the death of
Pepin, by a new division of the kingdom, deprived Louis of Grermany,
in favor of his brothers, Lothaire and Charles, Louis raised his stand-
ard against him. This broke the old emperor's heart. Full
of sorrow, he ended his days on a small island of the Bhine,
near Ligelheim. The hostile brothers now turned their arms against
each other. A bloody civil war depopulated the country, so that at last,
after a battle of three days' duration, at Fontenaille in Burgundy, the
Frank nobility refused to obey the arrtere-hany and by this
means brought about the treaty of partition of Verdun. By
virtue of this treaty, Lothaire received the impeiial dignity, together
with Italy, Burgundy, and Lorraine ; Charles the Bald, western Fran-
conia (France) ; and Louis the German, the lands on the right bank of
the Rhine, — Spire, "Worms, and Mayence.
§ 203. This division was followed by a time of great confusion, daring
which, Europe was severely harassed, on the south > by the Arabs ; oa
the east, by the Slavi ; and on the north and west, by the Normans. To
oppose these predatory inroads, the Carlo vingian monarchs, who were all
men of weak and narrow minds, were obliged to restore the ducal office
in the different provinces, and to sanction the hereditaiy authority of the
Margraves, so that, in a short time, all the power fell into the hands of
the nobles. By the rapid deaths of most of the posterity of Louis the
Gharies the I^bonnaire, nearly the whole of the empire of Charlemagne
Fat, A-D. 876 > devolved upon Charles the Fat, a prince weak and indolent
^* and simple almost to imbecility. Incapable of resisting the
valiant Normans, he purchased a disgraceful peace from them. This pro-
ceeding so exasperated the German princes, that they decreed his depo-
sition, at Tribur on the Bhine, and elected his nephew, the brave Amolf,
Anralf A. D. *^ ^^* successor. Amulf governed with vigor. He over-
Wt - 898. threw the Romans at Louvain, and called in the aid of the
NORMANS AND DANES. 133
wild Magjars, or Hungarians, from the Ural, a people expert in hor^-
manship and archery, and who were now, under their valiant captain,
Arpad, occupying the plains on the Danube (named after them Hunga^
ly), against the Slavi and Avars. The Avars were either subjected or
compelled to retreat But the strangers (the Hungarians), soon became
a more dreadful scourge to Germany than either the Slavi or the Avars.
They made their predatory inroads and exacted a yearly tribute, even
under Louis the Child, the youthful son of Amulf, who died in the
flower of his age, after a glorious campaign in Italy. This still continued,
when, ailer the early death of this last of the Carlovingian race, the
German nobks, among whom the dukes of Saxony, Franconia, Lorraine,
CdmdLjLD. Swabia, and Bavaria were preeminent for power, met to-
rn-91ft. gether and elected Duke Conrad of Franconia, emperor.
Germany thus became an elective empire.
S 204. The rule of the Carlovingians survived longest in France, but
GhariM tbe ^^ possessed neither strength nor dignity. Under Charles
Simple, A. D. the Simple, who had ascended the French throne after the
MS-ttd. deposition and subsequent death of Charles the Fat, the dukes
and counts rendered themselves entirely independent, and one of the most
powerful among them, Hugh of Paris, kept the imbecile king in strict
confinement France, on the other hand, was delivered from the devas-
tating forays of the Normans, by Charles admitting duke RoUo into the
province named after them, Normandy, upon condition that he and his
followers would suffer themselves to be baptized, and recognize the king
is their suzerain (feudal sovereign). The Normans, a people readily
susceptible of civilization, soon acquired the language, manners, and cus-
toms of the Franks. Charles the Simple was followed by two other
kings of the Carlovingian race ; but their power was at last so limited
that they possessed nothing but the town of Laon, with the surrounding
eoontry ; every thing else had fallen into the hands of the insolent no-
Has^ Capet, bility. After the death of the childless Louis Y., Hugh
A.II.9S7-MS. Capet, son and heir of Hugh of Paris, assumed the title of
king, and put to death in prison Louis's uncle, Charles of Lorraine, who
attempted to assert, his right to the throne by force of arms.
n. NOBMANS AND DANES.
S 205. The inhabitants of the Scandinavian peninsula belong to the
Gennan race, and share with it the violent passion for liberty, love of
Action, and disposition to wander, as well as language, religion, and man-
Ms. Divided into numerous tribes, they undertook vast expeditions to
12
134 HISTOBT OF THE MIDBIiE AGE.
all quarters, and trusted their lives and p^perty on the stonny wavei in
their light rowing yessels. Under the name of Normans, they ravaged the
eoasts of the North Sea, sailed up the mouths of rivers in their small
ships, and returned laden with booty to their homes; as Danes, they
were feared by the English, from whom they exacted a heavy txibiile
(Danegeld).' The remote island of Iceland was discovered and peopled
bj Norwegians, who founded a flourishing republic there, with the xe-
l%ion, language, laws, and institutions of the mother country ; and Nor-
man Varangians* were invited as rulers by the Slavonic inhabitant of
the shores of the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. Boric, the warlike
prince of the Russians and of the Varangian race, accepted the invita-
tion, establi^ed himself in Novogorod, and became the progenitor of a
race that ruled over Russia till the end of the sixteenth oentoiy, but
adopted the manners and language of the aborigines. Greenland was
discovered and peopled from Iceland. Even America is said to have
been known to the Normans. The Normans loved war, the chase^ and
the exercise of arms ; agriculture and the breeding of cattle they left to
the Slavi. Good faith was their most prominent virtue, and a love of
poetiy the solitary tender feeling indulged by these rude men. The singess
(scalds) celebrated the illustrious deeds of their forefathers in melan-
choly songs and legends. The most celebrated collection of such sacred
and heroic songs is called the Edda.
§ 206. England, under the weak successors of Egbert (§ 185), sufieied
the most severely from the Danes. They plundered the coasts and the
Alfi«d the ^ores of the rivers, and destroyed the Christian churdies.
Gmat, A. D. Even Alfred the Great was thrust from his throne by them
871-901. for ^ ghort time, until he contrived, by dint of conning^
courage, and watchfulness, to put an end to their inroads. Crowds of
them, who had been converted to Christianity, were permitted to settle
in Northumberland. After this, Alfred devoted himself to the internal
improvement of his people. Like Charlemagne, he divided his land
into communities and districts, and placed counts and aldermen over
them to conduct the affairs of justice ; he founded schools and churches,
made a collection of the Anglo-Saxon heroic ballads, and translated the
writings of Boethius (§ 182). But when the Anglo-Saxon population,
under his successors, slaughtered several thousands of the Danes in
Northumberland (the Danish vespers), Sweyn the Fortunate, king of
Canate the Denmark and Norway, recommenced the predatory incnr-
Great, a. d. gions with such success, that his son, Canute the Great, united
1017-1085. ^jj^ English crown to the Danish and Norwegian. He go-
verned justly and wisely. After his death, and that of his son HardiGa-
fidwflCrdthe aute, Edward the Confessor, a descendant of the ancient
1^1 !^^^^' royal family, ascended the throne. He had resided a long
* The name Vanmgiani signifies Conain, or Pirates. Am. Bi.
THS QB&BIAKO-ROMAK SMPIRB. 135
I ia Nonaandj, and imbibed a preference for French Norman cos-
It WBA for this reason, that, during his reign, he encouraged Ib-
i<eigneFB to the prejudice of the naUves, and appointed William, Duke of
Normandy, heir to his crown, in the event of his death without issue.
Tiiis wafi resisted by the nation, who elected the chivalrous Harold to be
kin|^ But by the battle of Hastings, in which Harold and the
floww of the Anglo-Saxon nobility fell on the field, William
the Conqueror was made master of England, where he proceeded with
great severity to establish a new condition of things. He endowed his
Norman knights with the estates of ihe Anglo-Saxon landlords, intro-
doced the French language and the Norman law, and presented the
richest benefices of the Church to his friends.
§ 207. A short time before, Robert Ouiscard, a Norman
noble, had made himself master, by his courage and cunning,
of the greater part of Lower Italy. He called himself Duke of Apulia
and Calabria, and acknowledged the pope as his feudal superior. His
heroic son, Bohemond, increased this territory by further
conquests. But Bobert's family soon became extinct, upon
Kogor n^ which his brother^s son, Roger II., united Sicily with Lower
4^D. ItBljy obtained from die pope the title of king, and esta-
uso-iiM. IjU^^ jjj3 kingdom of Naples and Sicily. For fifty-six
years, these rich and beautiful lands remained in the possession of Roger
aad his descendants ; they then passed to the house of Hohenstaufen.
m. THE SUPBEBCACY OF THB OEBMANO-BOBCAN EMPIRE.
1. THE HOUSE OF SiLXONT (919-1024).
{ 308. The yioknoe of the nobles, and the destructiye inroads of
the Hungarians, had reduced Grermany to a wild and lawless state.
The first freely elected emperor, Conrad of Franconia (§ 203), endea-
vored to correct these evils by harshness and severity, and ordered the
iaaubordinate Count Erchanger and Berthold von Allemanien to be be-
kesded as examples. But as he saw that his family did not possess sufil-
cieat political influence, he favored the advancement of his powerful
Henry "^al, Henry I. (the Fowler), of Saxony. This energetic
ti» Fowler, prince enlarged the boundaries of the empire on the north,
A.D.9i9-»w.^l,^^ he. established the march (frontier) of 8<*leswig
•gsinst the Danes; on the west, where he again won back Lorrame
to the empire ; and on the east, where the mardi of Meissen was in-
tended to keep the Slavi in check. He purchased a nine years' truce
fi^om the Uagyars, and empk>yed the time in the improvement of the
▲. D. 088.
136 THE HISTO&Y OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
Bxmjy and in erecting strong fortresses. By the building of these cite-
dels, which grew up with time into towns, Henry became the originator
of the burgher class, and earned the name of the Founder of CitieB.
Belying on these preparations, he refused the Hungarians,' at the termi*
nation of the truce, the tribute that had hitherto been paid ; and when
diey undertook fm expedition for the purpose of revenging
themselves, he gave them a severe defeat at the battle of
Mersebuig.
Otho § 20^- Otho I. the Great, trod in the steps of bis £Eith^.
the Great, He sought, like him, to preserve the peace of the empire by
A.D. 986-978.^Qfg|^|Qg dukedoms and bishoprics on his friends and rela-
tives ; he also enlarged the bounds of his territories, and diffused Christ-
ianity; and. when the Hungarians again renewed their inroads upon Ger>
many, this valiant prince ddfeated them with such slaughter in the Ledifeld
near Augsburg, that only a few out of the vast multitude
escaped ; from this time, there was an end of their depreda-
tions. Christianity, which, towards the end of the century, in the reign
of the Magyar king, Stephen the Pious, the lawgiver and r^vlator of
the country, penetrated even into Hungary, produced gentler manners
and a more peaceable disposition* Otho's attainment of the imperial dig-
nity was an occurrence pregnant with results for Geimany,
▲. D. 9e2. which, from this time, remained part of " the holy Roman
empire of the German nation." By his marriage with Adelheid, qneen
of Burgundy and Upper Italy, who had appealed to him for protection
against the attempts of Berenger of Ivrea, Otho gained the kingdom of
Italy, and was invested in Milan with the Lombard crown. Hereupon
. he proceeded to Rome, obtained the imperial Roman crown, established
the protectorship of the German emperor over the papal chair, and
exacted an oath from the Romans, that they would never acknowledge a
pope without the knowledge and consent of himself or his successors.
This protectorship the popes were afterwards unwilling to allow to be
valid.
Otho n., § 210. The ten jesn^ of Otho II.'s reign were filled with
A. D. 978 -988. contests with the turbulent nobility in Germany and Italy;
with the French, who wished to get possession of Lorraine ; and witl^
the Greeks in Lower Italy, where he laid claim to the Byxantine pos-^
sessions, as the dowry of his wife Theophania. Being overcome near
Bassantello^ he fell into the hands of the enemy, from whom he only
Otho m., escaped by his skill in swimming. His son, Otho III., was
▲. D. 988 -lOOS. superior to most of his contemporaries in cultivation and
learned acquirements, in which he had been instructed by the celebrated
Gerbert, under the guidance of his mother Theophania, and his grand-
mother Adelheid, so that he was called the Imperial Prodigy ; but he
was wanting in the vigor necessary to the ruler of a rude and warlike
TUB HOtJSB OF nAHOONIA. 137
people. His love for Greek and Italian refinement induced him to enter-
tain the notion of making Rome the metropolis of his kingdom ; but all
his plans were thwarted bj his early death.
S 211. After many struggles, Henry H. of Bavaria, a relative of the
Othosy sncoeeded him in the empire. His love for the church and the
dergy, which he displayed more particularly in founding the cathedral
and bishopric of Bamberg, procured him the surname of Saint When
this cathedral was oonsecrs^ by the pope in person, it was from his
hands that the emperor received the signs of his imperial power, the
sceptre and the golden apple ; and although, during his Roman expe-
ditions, he exercised the right of protectorship over the holy city, yet
the ceremonies practised on the occasion, afforded a pretext to suc-
ceeding popes to represent the imperial throne as their fief. Under
Henry H. and the military bustle of the following age, the civilization
that had flourished in Magdeburg, HaDe, Bremen, and Bardewick, dur-
11^ the reign of the Othoe, and under the influence of the foreign
empress and Otho n.'s sisters, was again extinguished. The mathe-
matical science of Gerbert, who was versed in Greek and Arabian learn-
ing, and who was raised to the papal chair, ▲. d. 999, under the title of
Sylvester II., the Latin poetiy of Ehoswitha and others, found little
eooooragement ; nevertheless, the colleges founded by the Othos still
preserved the germs of civilisation.
2. THE HOUSE OF FBANCONIA.
S 212. Conrad IL was more bent upon enlarging his kingdom and
Ooiatd IL obtaining knightly renown, than upon governing in peace.
A. D. Ailer he had been invested with the iron crown of the Lom-
1014-1089. bards in Milain, and the imperial diadem in Rome, he added
to his dominions the kingdom of Burgundy on the Rhone and the Jura.
This involved him in many quarrels, both with the Burgucdian nobles
•nd bishops, who looked upon themselves as independent princes ; and
with his son-in-law, Ernest of Swabia, who asserted a more valid daim
to the empire, and raised the standard of rebellion in the south of Ger-
nuny, in conjunction with his friend Welf. Both were subdued after a
loDg struggle, and the deeds and &te of the chivalrous duke Ernest sup-
plied the materials for poetry and popular legends. Conrad and his sue*
eeasor lie buried in the cathedral of Spire, of which magnificent stmo-
Hniyip. ture the former was the commenoer. Conrad's son, Henry
^ »• III., was a man of great power, under whose reign Germany
~ ^^^^ attained its greatest limits ; even Bohemia, Poland, and Hun-
guy^ncknowledged the supvemaey of the Germano-Roman emperor. For
the purpose of suppressing the insolence of the turiralent nobles of the
tungdouiy he entertained the project of founding an absolute, imperial, heie«
12*
136 THB KI8I0&T OV XHB WDDUB AOE.
jtLtary nuHiardij, aad eitber of aJtraliaU^g the oftoe of duke in Gennaay,
or making it entirelj dependent upon the enpenxr. In the Bame niumer,
he took advantage of a diviskMii in the diaxch to depose the thoee con*
tending popes, and to xaise the German bishops in awsc^mou to the
papal chair. He attempted to elevate the imperial power above the
princes of Germany, as well aa over the eonrt of Borne. He enforced
respect throaghout his whole kingdom for the " peace of God," according
to which, no weapons might be used between the evening of Wednesday
and Monday morning ; an arrangement which, in that iron time, was the
only means of preserving a vestige of order. He also preserved him-
self unspotted from the crime of simony, i. «., disposing of the proper^
or dignities of the ehnrch for money or worldly considerations.
§ 218. Henry HL's son was the highly-giAed but naisled Henry IV.,
who» from the age of five years, was under the tutelage of his judidoos
mother, till the ambitious Hanno^ archbishop of Cologne, succeeded in
getting the young emperor into his power. The severe method of educa-
tion employed by this prelate disgusted Henry, who was only the more
pleased with the magnificent Bishop Adelbert, of Bremen, who snatched
him from the hands of Hanno^ and made himself agreeable to the young
prince by flattery, and the gratification of his sensual indinations. The
emperor established his residence at Qoslar, for the purpose of i
the Saxons, among whom, Heni/s rival, Otho of Nordheim, bad ]
adherents. He here established a riotous court; oppressed and mal-
treated both the nobles and people ; and, in the insolence of youth, dis-
turbed, with his companions, the security of the neighboring country.
The Saxon nobility at length todc up arms under the conduct of Otho;
the fortresses were taken, the strong citadel of Hamburg destroyed, and
the emperor compelled to take flight This proved the commencemoit
of a destructive war, which was terminated to the disadvantage of the
Saxons, by the superior talents of H&axj, and his victory on
the Unstruth. This finally induced them to esSl in the pope
as umpire.
f 214. The chair of Rome was at that time occupied by Gregory YII.,
a prelate of rescdute will and decided temper, who cheri^ed the purpose
of rendering the church independent of the secular authority, and of
exalting the papacy above the power of the emperor, and that of every
other temporal prince. With this object, he had induced his predeceesors
to withdraw the election of pope from the hands of the Roman people,
and to transfer it to the newly-created college of cardinals. After his
elevation, he turned his attention to the purifying of the church ; he
aeoordingly issued a strict prohibition against all simony, deposed and
banished the bishops who had obtained dieir offices by purchase, and for*
bade lay investiture (appointment to church offices by a temporal prince) ;
andf for the purpose of bindbDig the deigy more doeely to the choioh, he
SB HOUaH 07 FRANOOnA. 139
pmied a law which aifonsed a rigid obserrance of ceUbaqr bj afl per-
flWB of the priestlj ooodition. The appeal to his arbitration bj the
6azoii0 came verj opportanelj to the daring j^eat after these arrange-
meiitB; it a^rved to confirm the prindple that the pope, as Christ's yioe-
vQgeaty itaa enperior to all temporal rolecs, and ihat en^terorsy kings, and
princes, were ceaseqaentljr his vassala. He swamoned Henrj lY. be-
fore his judgment seat. Instead of obeying the summons, the emperor
Obtained a resoltttioo from a comieil of the chmdi assembled at Worms,
which deelared the pope to be deposed, and this lesolution he forwarded
to Gregory with a ccmtemptaous letter* Upon this, Gregory ezcommu-
nicaled Henry and his adherfnts,and deposed Mm &om the crpwn. This
happened at a time when Henry's conduct towards the Saxons, and his
matrimcmial <|oarrel with his virtuous wife, from whom he attempted to
get himself separated by the archbishop of Mayence, created uniirersal
dim^isfiiction. He soon found himself forsaken by his people, and the
princes who assembled at Tiibur announced to him his deposition, unless
he were reteased from tbe'exoommunication within a year. Upon this,
Henry hastened across the Alps, in the midst of a severe
winter, to the pope, who was residing at the castle Canossa ;
bat it waa not until after waiting three days barefoot, and in the dress of
a penitent, ia the court of the castle, that he was admitted to an audience.
Ate this hnmiliatf<m, the excommunication was^ withdrawn.
S 216. Daring Henry's absence, his enemies had raised Rudolf, duke
«f Swabia, to the imperial throne. A civil war broke out in consequence,
la which Henry reaiained the victor. Budolf, having lost a hand in the
battle of the i^ter, died shortly afterwards, upon which Henry under-
took an expedition to revenge himself upon Gregory^ who,
deceived by false intelligence respecting the victory, had re-
newed the ezcommunicatioD. He lefl the finishing of the war in Ger-
numy to his soa<4n<4aw, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, whom he had created
duke of Swabia, and then marched with his army over the Alps. A
council of the church, assembled by him at Brixen, deposed
^ ^' Gregory and elected Clement IH., from whom Henry imme-
diately received the crown. It is true; that Gregory still maintained
himself for some time in the castle of St. Angelo, under the protection
of Robert Guiseard (( 208), with whom he had entered into an aUiaoce;
but the dreadful excesses of the Konnans produced so much exasperation
among the Romans, that the pope thought it most advisable
to take refuge in Salerno^ where he died in the following
year. But Henry's troubles were not yet at an end. Two rival em-
penirs aveae ia Germany, and m Italy the auooesscHr of Gregory
oealed hat aciowd of enemies, and renewed the sttitenoe of eaoommu-
fticKtisiL At leaglh, his own misguided children rose against him*
OoBiad waa disowMd by him, and died in disgrace; botiaa short time
140 THE mSTOBT OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
after, Heniy, who was already crowned, drew the Bword against his
&ther, took him prisoner, and when he escaped from confinement,
continaed the war against him so long^ that Henry lY^ bowed down
by misery and misfortone, ended his days at Liege. But even now
he was not at rest For five years, his dead body remained mibnried
in an unconsecrated chapel at Spire, before it was allowed to be interred
in the imperial sepulchre.
§ 216. As long as Henry V. continued the disgraceful contest with hia
Hemy V. ▲. d. father, so long he remained the friend of the pope. Bol
1106- 1126. scarcely was he in exclusive possession of the imp^ial digni-
ty, before he quarrelled with his ally on the subject of inrestiture. He
seized upon the pope and cardinals, and succeeded, despite the thunders
of excommunication by which he was assailed, in effecting a fair cooit
promise of the subject of dispute, by means of the concordat of Worms.
It was arranged by this contract, that the bishops and abbots should be
freely elected and installed in their offices by the pope, but that they
should be endowed with their temporalities and priyileges by ihe king
with his sceptre.
The severity with which Henry had humbled the insolent princes of
the empire, prevented them from raising to the throne the nearest reb-
tive of the house of Franconia, Frederick of Hohenstaafen, upon
j^^yy^jj^ ^^ Henry's death wifiiout children. They elected Lotbaire the
Saxon, A. D. Saxon, the heir of Otho of Mordheim, but produced a &tal
1U6-1187. division by this step. For when the brothers of the Ho-
henstaufen family refused to do homage to the new emperor, Lothaire
united himself with Henry the Proud of Bavaria, of the house of Wel^
by giving him his daughter in marriage, and increasing the vast posses-
sions of this family by the dukedom of Saxony. The Hohenstanfens
were unable to resist such superior power, and they were compelled to
acknowledge Lothaire emperor, and to accompany him in his Italian
campaign.
lY. THE ASCENDENCY OF THE CHUBCH IN THE TIME OF THE
CRUSADES.
I. THE CBU8ADB8.
$ 217. Ever since the fourth century, it had been a prevalent custom
to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, for the health of the soul and
ilie expiation of a sinful life, and to pray at what was believed to be the
Ate of the sepulchre of Christ, and where, in consequence, the Empress
THB CRU6ADBS. 141
HeKna had erected a church. These pilgrimages became more nomer-
008 as the Christian fiuth acquired more influence over the minds of
men. As long as the mercantile Arabians retained possession of the
land, the pilgrims came and went without molestation ; but when Syria
and Palestine were conquered bj the Seljookian Turks, the native Christ-
ians, as well as the pilgrims, were exposed to severe oppression. Thej
were compelled to pay a heavy tax, and were frequently robbed, mal-
treated, and killed. At this juncture, a pilgrim, Peter of Amiens, who
was returning from Jerusalem, presented himself before Pope Urban 11^
described the sufferings of the Christians in the East, and received the
charge of wandering through town and country, and preparing the minds
of men for the great enterprise of recovering the Holy Land from the
bands of the infidels. Wonderful was the agitation produced in all
lands by the descriptions of the eloquent and meagre-visaged pilgrim.
When the pope, in consequence, held an assembly at Cler-
mont, in the south of France, at which several bishops and
nobles, and a numberless crowd of people of all conditions were present,
called upon the West to arm itself against the East, and concluded his
passionate address by an exhortation to every one, ^ To deny himself
and take up his cross, that he might win Christ," the shout| ^ It is the
win of God," pealed from every throat, and thousands feU on their
knees, and demanded to be at once admitted among the number of the
Mcred warriors. They attached a red cross to the right shoulder, from
which the new brotherhood received the name of crusaders. Complete
remission of sins, and an everlasting reward in heaven were promised to
them. This was the commencement of the first crusade, 1096 — 1099.
S 218. A mighty enthusiasm took possession of all minds ; no sex, age,
or condition would be left behind. Many were too impatient to wait for
the preparations of the princes; a disorderly and half-armed crowd,
under the direction of Peter of Amiens, and a French
knight, Walter the Penniless, marched through Grermany
towards Hungary, on their way to Constantinople. When they were
denied the necessaries of life in Bulgaria, they stormed Belgrade, and
filled the country with robbery and murder. Hereupon the inhabitants
rose upon them, and slaughtered them by thousands. The remnant
reached Constantinople with their leaders, but were nearly all destroyed
in Asia Minor by the Se^jooks. The disorderly crowd, which, after a
bloody persecution of the Jews, marched out of the Bhenish towns,
Strasburg, Worms, Mayence, &C., under the conduct of the priest,
Gottschalk, and the count Enrico of Leiningen, fared no better.
$219. A hundred thousand men had already perished, when the high-
ipirited Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lorraine, marched towards Con-
■tantmople by the same path, with his brothers and a vast host of well-
tppmnted knights, whilst Hugh of Y ermandois, the brother of the French
142 THE HI6T0BT OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
kmg, and the Norman prinee, Bohemond of Lower Italj, with his chiral-
rons nephew, Tancred, departed bj sea to the same destination. After
they bad promised the Byzantine emperor, Alexander GomneniiSy the
restoration of all the Greek towns that had formerij belonged to the
Eastern empire, thej were transported into Asia. A review tock place
in a plain near Nicsea, and the army was fonnd to consist of 100,000
cavaby, and 800,000 foot, fit for battle. The most celebrated of the
leaders, besides those already named, were Robert of Normandy, son of
William the Conqueror (§ 207) ; Stephen of Blois, who numbered
as many castles as there are days in the year ; the rich and powerful
Count Raymond of Toulouse, and others. The nege and capture of
Nicsea was the first important deed of arms achieved by the crusaders.
From this point, their march proceeded southwards through the domi-
nions of the sultan of loonium. The Seljooks suffered a defeat in the
battle of Dorylaeum. But the Christian army was roon reduced to the
greatest straits by the want of the necessaries of life, so that many re-
turned home, and others, separating themselves from the main body,
established independent governments among the pagans. In this way,
Baldwin, Godf^y's brother, established himself in Edessa, on the £u-
j>hrates. At length, the host reached the beautiful territory
^^f Antioch. But the siege of this strong and amply-pro-
vided city presented so many difficulties to the unpractised knights, that
that it was only after an investment of nine months that they obtained
possession of it, by a stratagem of the crafty Bohemond, who contrived
that a door should be treacherously left open to him. The punishment
inflicted by the Christians on the conquered city was frightful. But they
had scarcely held possession of it for three days before the Seljook sultan
of Mosul made his appearance, and inclosed the place with an innume-
rable army. The crusaders were in a short time so reduced by famine,
that their destruction appeared inevitable. From this perilous position
they were rescued by a holy lance, that was found in the church of St. Peter
in Antioch, and the discovery of which produced such enthusiasm amongst
them, that, sallying out of the city, they put to flight a very superior
army of ihe besiegers, and opened for themselves the road to Jerusalem.
The faith in the genuineness of the lance soon however disappeared,
when the priest who had discovered it died from the consequences of the
divine ordeal to which he was subjected.
S 220. The army now compelled the contending princes to a rapid
march. When they arrived, about the time of Pentecost, at
the heights above Ramla and Emmaus, whence Jerusalem
first becomes visible, they fell upon their knees in an ecstasy of devotion,
shed tears of joy, and glorified God with psalms of thanksgiving. But
the conquest of this strong dty was a difficult undertaking for an army
of pilgrims, wearied with travel, and unprovided with the necessaiy
xm CBtjsiSBS. 143
Hie want of wmter, and the bonung iieat, proved more de«
fltmetiTe than the anowB of 4to enony. Bst the newlj-aroused enthii-
aiaflni triumi^ied over all obstacles. Having endured a siege of thirty*
iMh Juiy^jL. D. nine days, Jenisalem was at length taken by the cmsadea
10M. gf^r a two days' storm, acoompanied by the shoots, ^ It is
the will of God,*" "^ God helps ns.** The fate of the vanquished was fnght-
faL The steps of the mosqnes were washed by the blood of 10,000
daoghtered Saracens ; the Jews were burnt in their synagogue ; neither
age nor sex was spared, the streets were filled with corpses, blood, and
mutilated limbs. It was only after the thirst for revenge and plunder
had been slaked, that Christian hnmility again resumed its empire over
the mind, and the same men who, a short time before, had been raging
like nrvenoQS beasts, might now be seen, with bare feet and uncovered
heads, marching with songs of praise to the Church of the Holy Sepul-
chre, to thank Grod with fervent devotion for the success vouchsafed to
their enterprise.
§ 221. The next step was to elect a king of Jerusalem. The dioice
fdl upon the pious and valiant Godfrey of BoaiUon, who refused, how-
ever, to wear a kingly diadem on the spot where the Saviour of the world
bad bled beneath a cro:wn of thorns. He rejected the outward symbols
of power, and called himself the Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. The
new kingdom of Jerusalem was arranged according to the principles of
the western feudal system (§ 241). Grodfrey, moreover, won the glorious
Angnst, victory at Ascalon, over the army of the Egyptian sultan,
A.D.10M. but died during the following year, from the effects of the
dimate and his extreme exertions. His brother, Baldwin, succeeded to
the government, and assumed the title of king.
§ 222. The kingdom of Jerusalem had severs encounters to sustain
irith the infidels. When reinforcements no longer arrived from the
West, the situation of the Christians became extremely precarious, espe-
oally after the powerful sultan of Mosul had taken and destroyed Edessa,
1. D. 1147. ^^^ threatened their borders from the East At this junc-
. ture, St Bernard, abbot of Chiirvaux, in Burgundy, aroused
A. ft. 1140. afresh the slumbering zeal for religion, and was the origi-
nator of the SECOND CRUSADE. The authority of this pious man was
so great, that Louis VH. of France yielded obedience to his exhortations,
and even Conrad HI. was unable to resist the fiery eloquence with which
be addressed him in the cathedral of Spire. Conrad assumed the cross,
and marched with a stately army through Constantinople into Asia
^or. But here he was decoyed by the artifice of the Greek generais
into a waterless desert, where die Grusaders were suddenly attacked by
innumerable squadrons of Turkish cavalry, who gave them so signal an
overthrow, that scarcely a tenth part escaped with Conrad into Constan*
tinople. The French aimy that marched akmg the coast fiured no better.
144 THB HISTOBT OF TBI MIDBLB AGE.
The greater number of the pilgrims periahed either by the sword of the
enemy, or by hunger and fatigue. The shattered forces of the two kings
at length reached Jerusalem, but were unable to perform any action of
importance, so that the position of the Christian kingdom became from
day to day more difficult, especially as, shortly after their retreat, the
magnanimous and yaliant Curd, Sidadin, made himself master of Egypt,
and united in a short time all the lands between Cairo and Aleppo under
his sceptre. The kingdom of Jerusalem was soon in distress. Sala£n
granted a truce ; but when this was violated by a Quristian knight, who
had audaciously interrupted the passage of Saladin's mother, robbed her
of her treasures, and slaughtered her attendants, the sultan took the field
with his army. The battle of Tiberias was decided against
the Christians. King Guy of Lusignan and many of his
nobles were taken prisoners ; Joppa, Sidon, Acre, and many other towns
fell into the hands of the conqueror, and at length, Jerusalem was also
taken. The crosses were torn down, and the furniture of the churches
destroyed, but the inhabitants were treated with forbearance. Saladin,
far superior in virtue to his Christian adversaries, did not stain his
triumph with cruelty.
§ 223. The news of the taking of Jerusalem occasioned the utmost-
alarm throughout the whole West,*and gave rise to the
THIRD CRUSADE. From the southernmost point of Italy
▲. D. 1192. ^^ ^^^ j^^^ mountains of Scandinavia, armed bands streamed
towards the Holy Land. Those who remained behind paid a tax (Sala*
din's tenth). The three most powerful monarchs of the West, Frederick
Barbarossa of Grermany, Philip Augustus IE. of France, and Richard
Coeur de Lion (Lion-heart) of England, assumed the cross. The Em-
peror Frederick, with a well-appointed army, took the way by land to
Asia Minor, defeated the sultan of Iconium in a ftuious battle near the
walls of his chief city, and displayed prudence, courage, and resolution in
the whole undertaking. But when the old hero attempted, with the
boldness of youth, to cross the rapid mountain stream of the Saleph, into
the south of Asia Minor, he was carried away by the torrent. His dead
body was dragged on shore near Seleuda. Some of the knights returned
home, and others followed the second son of the emperor, Frederick of
Swabia, to Palestine, where they took part in the siege of Acre. The
kings of France and England, who had taken the sea voyage by Sicily,
met shortly after, before this town. Their united efforts were crowned by
the M\ of Acre, where Richard distinguished himself as much by his seve-
rity, pride, and cruelty, as by his valor and hen^m. The German ban-
ner, that duke Leopold of Austria had first planted on the battlements,
was torn down and trampled under foot by the commands of Richard ;
and when the stipulated ransom for the captive Saracens was not paid
at the appointed moment, he ordered 8500 of these unfortunates to be
THE CBUSADES. 145
put to the sword. Bichard's name was the terror of the East But de*
spite all his strength and bravery, he was unable to take Jerusalem.
Quarrels between Richard and PhiHp Augustus, (who returned home
after the capture of Acre), and dissensions among the crusaders, checked
the enterprise. After the conclusion of a treatj, bj which the sea-coast
from Tyre to Joppa, and undisturbed access to the holy places, were
assured to the Christians, Richard also turned homewards. Having
been cast by a storm on the coast of Italy, he attempted to pursue
his journey through Germany, but was seized near Vienna, and given
up to the avaricious emperor Henry YL, who shut him up in the
castle of Trifels, and only released him on the payment of a heavy
ransom*
A. D. 1208. § 224. The fourth crusade had a termination alto-
A. D. 1204. gether peculiar. The knights of France and Italy assembled
together at Venice, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, under
Baldwin of Flanders, for the purpose of getting themselves conveyed to
the Holy Land. Whilst here, the Byzantine prince, Alexius, whose
&ther, Isaac Angelus, had been deprived of the throne, rendered blind,
aad shut up in prison by his own brother, presented himself before them,
and iihplored their assistance against the usurper. Alexius prevailed
upon the crusaders, by the promise of vast rewards. They sailed for
Omstantinople under the command of the blind doge, Dandolo of Venice,
who was then in his ninetieth year, took the city, and placed Alexius and
hiB father on the throne. But when they insolently demanded the fulfil-
ment of the promises mode to them, the populaee excited an insurrection,
daring which Alexius was killed, and his father died of fright, whilst the
leader of the tumult was raised to the government. Upon this, the
Franks stormed Constantinople, plundered the churches, palaces, and
dweUing-hooses, destroyed the noblest works of art and antiquity, and
filled the whole dty with tea*ror and outrage. They flung the emperor from
a pillar, and then divided the Byzantine kingdom. The newly-established
Latin empire, with its chief city, Constantinople, fell to the share of the
heroic Baldwin ; the Venetians appropriated the lands on the coast and
several islands of the iE^ean Sea, and gained possession of the whole
trade of the £ast ; the count of Montferrat received Macedonia and
Greece, under the title of the kingdom of Thessalonfca ; Villehardouin,
the describer of this transaction, became duke of Achdia ; Athens and
other Greek towns were shared among the Frank nobles. As before, in
Jerusalem, so here, the feudal monarchy was established under the
western forms, by which means the greater part of the old population
WIS reduced to the condition of serfdom. But the new empire had no
lolid foundation nor any long continuance. It preserved itself with diffi*
A.n.U6i. ^^ for. half a century, by aid from the West, against its
numerous enemies ; the greater part of it then returned to
18
146 THE HI8T0RT OF THB lODDLB AOB.
ICchael Pahs^logasy a desoendant of the ancieiit imperU frmOy, who
taftd 68tablklied an independent goTemrneat in Nictta.
§ 325. This cruttdey bowever, was witkoot results as far as Jerosalem
was eoneemed ; and as the Latin kingdom also drew away the streagdi
fWfm the Holy Land, the latter soon fell into distress. The separate
bands, that, without leaders and without system, from time to time
rentured upon this hazardous undertaking, brought as little assistance
to the closely pressed Idngdom, as did the fanatical enthusiasm that
impelled crowds of children to assume the cross. Nearly
20,000 children left their paternal homes for the purpose of
readiing the holy sepulchre, but either perished by hunger and ex-
haustion, or were sold for slaves by rapacious merchants and pirates.
The expedition to Egypt, undertaken by Andrew of Hungary and other
princes, was also unproductive of any permanent resudt. With such
examples before him, the excommunicated emperor, Frederick II., under-
took the FIFTH OBUSADB, at a time when the saltan of Egypt
was engaged in a war with the governor of Damascus, r^
^lecthig the possession of Syria and Palestine. But the pope was indig-
nant with the excommunicated man, and forbade all Christian warriors
to support his undertaking ; and when Frederick nevertheless succeeded,
by dexterously availing himself of ciroumstances, in bringing the sultan
to a treaty, by which Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth,
together with their territories and the whole of the sear^oast
between Joppa and Sidon, were ceded to the Christians, the pope fulmi-
nated an excommunication against the city and the holy sepulchre, so
that Frederick II. was obliged to place the crown of Jerusalem on his
own head, without either a mass or the consecration of the Church.
Hated and betrayed by the Christian knights and priests in Jerusalem,
Frederick, with shattered health, retired from the Holy Land. Fourteen
years afterwards, the Carismians, a savage Eastern race, poured them-
selves into Palestine, carrying death and destruction in their train. They
took Jerusalem, destroyed the holy sepulchre, and tore the bones of the
kings from their graves. The flower of the Christian chivalry fell at
Gaza beneath their blows. Acre and a few other towns <m
the coast were all that remained to the Christians.
I 226. Upon receipt of this intelligence, Louis IX. (the Saint), of
France, with many of his nobles, took the cross and sailed by Cyprus to
Egypt. The strong frontier town of Damietta fell into the hands of the
Franks, but when they proceeded up the Nile to attack Cairo, the army
was inclosed between the canals and an arm of the river, whilst the fleet
was destroyed by the Greek fire. Afler the king's brother and the bra-
'Vest knights had fallen, Louis and the remainder of the army were taken
prisoners, and he was compelled to ransom himself and a portion of his
.followers by the payment of a large sum of money and the surrender of
THB CRUSADES. 147
the conquered towns. In the mean while, the govemment of Egypt had
fallen into the hands of the warlike Mamelukes, the fonner slaves of the
Curds. Sixteen years after his return, Louis again undertook
another crusade, which, however, he first directed against
the piratical Saracens at Tunis in northern Africa, partly to compel
them to pay tribute, and partly with a hope of introducing Cluistianity
amongst them. He had already laid siege to their principal city, when
the unusual heat produced an infectious disease, which hurried the king
himaelf and many of his warriors into the grave. The' French leaders
concluded a hasty treaty with the Saracens, and returned home. The
feeble remains of the kingdom of Jerusalem were more and more threat-
ened by the warlike Mamelukes. When Antioch fell into their hands,
and Acre or Ptolemais was stormed after an heroic defence, the Frank
Christians that were still alive voluntarily retired from Syria,
that for the last two hundred years had been drenched by
the blood of so many millions.
§ 227. The consequences of the Crusades were of vast importance to
the progress of the European races. — 1. Cultivation of mind was for-
warded by them, inasmuch as an acquaintance with foreign lands and
nations enlarged the hitherto contracted sphere of human knowledge, gave
men an insight into the sciences and arts of other people, and enlightened
their minds with regard to the world and human relations. — 2. They
emiobled the knightly class, by furnishing a more elevated aim to their
efforts, and gave occasion for the establishment of fresh orders, who pre-
sented a model of chivalry, and were supposed to combine all the knightly
virtues. Of these orders, those which most distinguished themselves
were the knights of St. John (Hospitallers), the Templars, and the Teu-
tonic knights. They combined the spirit of the knight and the monk ; for
in addition to the three conventual vows of chastity, poverty, and obedi-
ence, they joined a fourth, — war to the infidels and protection to pilgrims.
0.) The order of St John was divided into three classes : serving
brothers, who were devoted to the care of sick pilgrims ; priests, who
ministered to the affairs of religion ; and knights, who fought with the
infidels and escorted pilgrims. Afler the loss of the Holy Land, they
obtiuned the island of Rhodes, and when they were compelled, after a
most desperate resistance, to relinquish this to the Ottomans,
the island of Malta was presented to them by the emperor
Charles Y. — b,) The Templars acquired vast wealth by donations and
legacies. After the loss of* their possessions in Palestine, the greater
number of their members returned to France, where they gave them-
selves up to infidelity and a life of voluptuousness, which finally occa-
sioned the dissolution of their order (§ 256). The order of Teutonic
knights is less renowned for its deeds in Palestine than for its services in
the civilization of the countries on the shores of the Baltic Smnnumed
148 THE mSTOBY OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
to defend the germs of Christianity against the heathen Pnissians on the
banks of the Vistula, the Order, af^er many bloody encounters, succeeded
in converting the people between the Vistula and the Niemen to Christ-
ianity, and introducing the German manners, language, and cultiration.
The cities of Culm, Thorn, Elbing, Konigsburg, and others, arose under
the influence of the active traders of Bremen and Lubeck. Bishopries
and churches were founded ; the woods were cleared and converted into
arable land ; German industry and German civilization produced a com-
plete transformation; but the ancient freedom of the people was de-
stroyed. The knights of the Order (who, since 1309, had had their
residence in Marienburg,) conducted the government, and the peasantry
sank into the condition of serfs.
About the time of the first crusade, the Mohammedan prophet, Has-
san, formed the fanatical sect of the Assassins, who dwelt in the ancient
Parthia and the mountainous heights of Syria, and were remarkable for
the entire renunciation of their own wills. They obeyed the commands
of their chief, ^ the old man of the mountiun," with the blindest devotion,
executed with subtelty and courage every murderous deed that was
intrusted to them, made a jest of the torture when seized, and were the
terror of both Turks and Christians.
§ 228. — 3. The Crusades gave rise toj|^ree peasantry, inasmuch as,
by means of them, many serfs attained their liberty, and raised and ex-
tended the power and importance of the burgher class and of the towns ;
whilst a nearer acquaintance with foreign lands and foreign productions
gave an impulse to trade, developed commerce, and produced prosperity.
4. They increased the power and the authority of the clergy, multiplied
the riches of the church, (the clergy and the monasteries got possessioa
of vast estates during the Crusades, either by legacies and donations, or
by purchase), and exalted the zeal for religion into a gloomy fanaticism.
The latter quality was frightfully displayed in the persecution of the
Waldenses and Albigenses, a religious sect who were desirous of restor-
ing the apostolical simplicity of the church and clergy. Provence and
Languedoc in the south of France, where, under a beautiful and serene
sky, a prosperous race of burghers had developed their free institutions,
where the cheerful Proven9al poetry of the Troubadours had indulged
its petulant and satirical humor at the expense of priests and bishops,
was the residence of these Albigenses (so called from the city Alby).
Against these men and their protector, Raimond VI. of Tou-
louse, Innocent III. ordered the cross to be preached by the
Cistercian monks. Hereupon, bands of savage warriors, with some
fanatical monks bearing the cross before them, marched into the blooming
land, destroyed the rich cities, towns, and villages, slaughtered the inno-
cent with the guilty, lighted up the flames of death, and filled the whole
country with murder, plunder, and desolation. Haimond for a long time
THB HOHENSTAUFBNS. 149
resisted his enemies; but when Louis VIII., excited by an ignoble
copiditj for extending his possessions, undertook the war against the
heretics, the count submitted, and concluded a peace bj which he sur-
rendered the greater part of his territories to France. But a desolating
war of twenty jears had destroyed the beautiful culture of the south
of France, turned the land into a wildemessi and silenced forever the
cheerful song of the Troubadour. A few years afterwards, the gallant
peasant republic of the Stedingers was visited in a similar manner by
a war of exterminalaon, at the instance of the bishops of Bremen and
Batzbuig.
2. THB HOHENSTAUFENS (▲. D. 1138-1154).
§ 229. Upon the death of the emperor Lothaire (§ 216), on his return
from Italy, his son-in-law, Heniy the Proud, believed himself to possess
the nearest claims to the throng But the great power of the house of
Welf, who held Bavaria and Saxony, and whose possessions extended
from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, together with the arrogance of the
haughty duke, induced many of the princes, assembled at the imperial
diet at Coblentz, to elect Conrad of Hohenstaufen. But Heniy hesitated
to recognize the election, and refused the required homage. Upon this,
Coonullll., Co>u^ pronounced the ban of the empire against him,
A-D. and declared the forfeiture of both his dukedoms. This
uts-iui. occasioned a renewal of hostilities between the houses of
Hohenstaafen and Wel^ and a desolating civil war. It was at the siege
of Weinsberg, an hereditary possession of the Wel&, that the war cries^
''Hurrah for Welf I" << Hurrah for Waiblingl"* which gave rise to the
party names, Welfs and Waiblings (Italice, Guelfs and Ghibellines), were
firBt heard. The citadel was obliged to surrender to the emperor, but the
garrison was preserved by the wit and fidelity of the women. The war
continued till the death of Henry the Proud. It was only
when his son, Henry the Lion, received back his paternal
inheritance and the two dukedoms of Bavaria and Saxony, that a com-
plete reconciliation was, for a time, effected.
Conrad was a brave and good man ; but his war against the Welfs, and
the second crusade in which he engaged, prevented his being of any great
servioe to Germany. A short time before his death, he exerted his influ-
ence with the princes to procure die election of his high-spirited and
energetic nephew, Frederick Barbarossa (Red-beard), who was esteemed
the flower of chivalry, and with whose qualities Conrad had made
acquaintance during the crusade. This great emperor, Frederick L, gave
« WaiblliigirM tlie name of one of th€ heradJtwy poMOMioDi of the HohenBtenfeno.
Oadphs and QhSbeUines wen the lumeB of the two great political parties that divided
hily and Qeimaoy during the Middle Ages, the farmer adhering to the Pope, the latter to
HMEmperor. Am, EL
13*
150 THE HISTORY OF THIS jaDI>LB AGE.
peace and order to the empire within, and respect and secoritj with-
Pndflrick out The genias for goyemment displajed by this power-
^^'^^'^^'^ ful man, who comhined eeyeritj with jnsdce, awakened
1158-1190. everywhere respect and obedience.
f 230. Frederidt foond the hardest conflict in Italy, to whi^ ommtry
he made six expeditions. The Lombard towns, and the han^tj Milan
in particular, entertained the project of erecting their temtorieB into
small republics. Inspired by. patriotism and a love of freedom, they
formed an effecdye bui^her militia, and attempted to rid themselTes of
the imperial authority. This refractory spirit displayed itself even durii^
Frederick's first campaign, when, in accordance with a long-established
custom, he held a review of his troops in the plmns near Fiacenza, and
required the princes and cities of Upper Italy to do him homage. He
could not, indeed, at this time, coerce the powerful Milan, but he soogfat
to terrify her by the destruction of some smaller towns, before be had
himself invested with the Lombard crown in Pavia, and with the imperial
crown in Rome. He only obtained the latter by giving up Arnold of
Breecia. This remarkable man wished to bring back the church to its
apostolic simplicity. In furtherance of this project, he deooonced the
woridly possessions and the arrogance of the clergy, and affinned thai the
temporal authority of the head of the Church was an infringement on the
Holy Scriptures. Inflamed by these discourses, the Bcmians renounoed
their obedience to the pope, and set up a republic in imitation ef the
ancient government. But when the bold preacher of this reformatioa
was delivered up to the pope and burnt before the gates of the city, the
courage of the Romans was subdued. They consented to abolish the new
institutions, and again submitted to the power of the pope.
I 231. After Frederick's departure, the Milanese persisted in th^ de-
fiance, and destroyed several cities that adhered to the emperor (for
example, Lodi). Upon this, Frederick undertook a second
expedition, had his sovereign rights (regalia) determined by
jurists according to the code <^ Justinian (§ 186), and when Milan
refused to submit to the decision, uttered the ban against the refractory
city. A fierce war was at length decided in favor of the emperor.
Milan was obliged to surrender, after a siege of three years and a ha]f.
After the carriage (carroccio) that supported the chief banner of the
city had been broken to pieces, and the citizens had humbled themselves
before the conqueror, the waUs and houses were levelled with the earth,
and the inhabitants were compelled to settle themselves in four widely-
separated points of their territory. Terrified at this result, the remainder
of the Lombard towns submitted themselves, and received the imperial
legate (podesta) within their walls. A short time after, Frederick
engaged in a violent quarrel with the obstinate pope, Alexander HI.
The angry priest fulminated an excommunication against the emperor,
THR HOHBNSrrAUIBNS. 151
flod united himself with the Lombard cities^ which were exasperated
in^ the tynsxDj of the imperial legate. Under the guidance of the pope^
a oonfederation of Lombard cities was rapidly formed, which was joined
by Milan, which had agaia recovered itself, and by almost all the dty
eommunities of Upper Italy, The confederation built the strong city of
Aleman^ia, which was naa^ed after the pope, in defiance of the emperor,
and defended itself with courage and success against all the attacks of
Frederick ; so that the latter, having lost many <^ his soldiers by the
mamier fever, and being busied with the affairs of Germany, was obUged
to leave Italy for a long time undisturbed.
I 2S2. At length, Frederick again crossed the Alps with a vast army,
but was detained so long by the siege of Alexandria, that he feared to
lose all the fruits of his campaign, and resolved, against the advice of
his Menda, upon hazarding a battle. But Henry the Lion deserted the
emperor in the hour of danger ; he refused his assistance, though Frede-
riflk impk>red h at his feet at the lake of Gomo ; and thus brought about
the defeat of the Germans at the battle of Legnano, where the Milanese,
united together for the defence of the car which bore die
▲> D* 117s.
ensign (the legion of death), performed prodigies of valor.
The emperor himself was missing for some days. But so great was the
respect for Frederick's heroism, that the pope and Lombard confedeni^
tion willingly accepted his proffer of peace. At a meeting in Venice, a
trace of six years, which proved the foundation of the peace of Con-
ttaaee, was arranged between the belligerent parties. Alexander
was acknowledged as the lawfhl head of the church, Frederick was
released from the anathema, and the confederate towns were required to
do homage, and admit the emperor^s rights as sovereign. Imperial
legates were to fifl the chief offices of justice, and the imperial troops
were to be supported by the towns during their marches through them.
Before Frederick quitted Italy, he married his eldest son, Henry, to
Constantta, the heiress of the Norman kingdom in Naples and Sicily.
I 233. Henry the Lion was much alarmed when the news of Frede-
rick's reconciliatbn with the pope became known in Germany. He had
extended his rule over the Slavonic tribes in Pomerania and Mecklen-
burg ; had made war upon the Frislanders on the Baltic, and the peasant
repabUe of the Ditmarseas, in Holstein ; and had got possession of a
large kingdom. He had established mines in the Harz mountains ; he
had founded cities and bishopricks (Lubeck, Munich, Batzburg), and
attracted settlers from the Netherlands. But his ambition and acts of
violence against princes and clergy were not less known than his great
feats in war, so that the braaen lion that he erected before the citadel of
hb chief city, Brunswidc, might be regarded as an emblem of his
rapaeity, as well as of his strength. The complaints, accordingly, that
ttese on all sides against Henry, lipon the emperor^s return, gave the
152 THB HISTORY OF THB KIDDLE AGS.
latter the opportunity he so much wished for, of summoning him before
the supreme court of the empire, and upon his n^lect of the repeated
Summons, of pronouncing against him the ban of the em-
pire, and depriving him of his two dukedoms, Bavaria and
Saxony. The former devolved to the Wittelsbachs, who were devoted
to the Hohenstaufens, and who afterwards received the palatinate of the
Khine; and Saxony was shared between Bemhard of Anhalt^ son of
Albert the Bear, and the neighboring bishops and princes. Bat the
Lion could only be subdued after a destructive war. For two years he
withstood all his enemies. It was not until Frederick himself took the
field against him, that he humbled himself before his great adversary,
prostrated himself at his feet at Erfurt, and retired into three years'
banishment in England. He nevertheless retained for himself and
family his hereditary possessions of Brunswick and Luneburg. Alter
Frederick had subdued all his enemies, he undertook the third crusade»
that he might finish his heroic course in the same manner that he had
commenced it. From this expedition he never returned ; he found
his death in the distant East. But he lives still in the legends of
his people, in which the restoration of the ancient strength and greatness
of the Glerman empire is connected with his return.
Qgg,^ y^ f 234. Frederick's son, Henry YL, was an avaridons and
▲.D. 1190- cruel prince, who resided more in Italy than in Germany.
1197. After the death of the last Norman king, he wished to take
possession of Naples and Sicily, the inheritance of his wife, Constantla.
But the nobility, who were afraid of Henry's ambition and avarice, op-
posed this project, and attempted to place one of the pative nobles, the
brave Tancred, on the throne. It was not until Henry had equipped
fresh annaments with the ransom of the English king (§ 228), that he
succeeded, with the assistance of the crusaders of Northern Grermanj
and Thuringia, whom he enticed by a promise of a free passage to Lower
Italy, in subduing his enemies, and in getting possession of Naples and
Palermo. The revenge of the angry ruler was frightful. The prisons
were filled with nobles and bishops, some of whom were deprived of
their eyes and impaled, while others were burnt, or buried alive in the
earth. The plunder was conveyed by heavily-laden pack-horses to the
Hohenstaufen castles. Henry died suddenly a few years afterwards, at
the age of thirty-two, leaving behind him a son of two years of age, who
was intrusted to the guardianship of the highly-accomplished pope. Inno-
cent m. The adherents of the Hohenstaufens electa Philip of Swabia,
brother of Henry YL, to be emperor, whilst the Welf faction proclaimed
Otho iy.y second son of Henry the Lion : the former was acknowledged
in the south, the latter in the north. The consequence of this division
was a ten years' war, during which the greatest lawlessness and violence
prevailed, and such devastations were committed, that sixteen cathedrals
IHB HOHKlfSTATJTBHS. 158
and S50 parbbes with churches vere burnt to the ground. Eyen after
Philip had been murdered at Bamberg, from motives of private rev^ge,
by the hasty pa^grave, Otho of Wittelsbach, peace did not
return for anj length of tinle« For now a quarrel broke
oat between the emperor Otho IV. and pope Innocent lU.
§ 235. Innocent HL, a politic prince, endowed with unusual talents
for government, gave the papacj its highest power bj establishing the
prindple, that Uie church was superior to the state, and its spiritual head
superior to any temporal ruler ; so that all the princes of ihe world were
boond to consider the pope as their liege lord and arbiter. He at the
same time laid the foundation of an ecclesiastical state, by getting all
previous donations confirmed by Otho, and inducing him to renounce all
the imperial feudal rights over Rome and the central provinces of Italy.
But when the emperor at length attempted to set some limits
to the ambition of the pontiff, the latter excommunicated
him, and sent the young Frederick into Grermany, to sdr up afresh the
war between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. The Ghibelline par^
gladly united themselves to the handsome and promising youth, so that
Frederick H. of Hohenstaufen was universally acknowledged
emperor, even before Otho IV.'s death. Otho IV. died at
Bnmswick, in the year 1218. But a powerful opponent of the head of
PjQ^g,!^ jj the church arose in the freethinking Frederick II., who had
A.i>.iii8- been educated in the wisdom of the Arabians, and who en-
^^^ tertained a favorable feeling towards the professors of Islam,
and the Oriental mode of life ; so that his reign presents a continual
eontest between the imperial power and Uie pi^Micy. Frederick's posi-
tbn, as king of Upper and Lower Italy, threatened no less danger to the
temporal power of the pope, than his sceptical turn of mind to the au-
Ihmtj of the church. It was for this reason, that Innocent and his sue-
eettors labored to separate the government of Naples and Sicily from
tbe imperial office.
f 236. As Frederick for a long time refused to undertake the promised
enisade (§ 225), he was first excommunicated by Gregory IX., and when
be proceeded to the Holy Land in the following year, without being
released from the curse, the pope became more angry than ever, and
not only paralyzed all the emperor^s undertakings in Palestine, but com-
manded his territories in Lower Italy to be attacked by soldiers, who
were distinguished by Uie badge of the keys of St. Peter. This hasten-
ed Frederid^'s return. He repulsed the papist troops, and approached
the frontiers of the ecclesiastical territories, upon which Gregory con-
futed to a peace, and the removal of the excommunication. Afler this,
Frederick devoted his whole attention to the internal well-being of his
lungdom. He restrained the increasing feuds and depredations of the
kni^ts in Geimany ; he gave the inhabitants of Lower Italy anew code
154 THB HISTOftT OV 19B IQDMJEB AQE.
of laws; ae eneoanged tnuley iodMby, and poetiy. B«i wfies ibe «^
tempted to oonpel the iakabitaiilt of the Lombard towns to folfil the
eondidons of the peaoe of Comtaiice (f 232), and to dkoharge the reg»-
Ban rights lliat pertamed to huB as anperor, a furious war broke ooL.
Frederick, in coBJanetion with the GhibeUinesy mderthe inhaDiaB tynmA
Ezzelino, in Verona, and supported by his tmstj SaraoenS) whom he had
settled in Lower Italy, overcame the united armj of the L(Mabaids» and
reduced most of the towns to submission. But when he pursued his
conquest with severity, threatened the Milanese with a fiite similar to
tiiat which they had experienced from Frederick Barbarossa (§ 281)y
and presented his natural son, the brave and handsome Enzio, with the
kingdom of Sardinia, the ttgtd^ prince of the ^urch again renewed his
excommunication, joined the Lombards, and attempted to raise up ene-
mies on every side against the emperor, whom he accused of infidelity
and contempt for reUgk>n. Frederick retorted these accusations in some
violent written replies, and rep«d invective with invective; but the
church earried off the victoiy*
§ 237. When Gregory IX.,at the ageof neariy a hundred
^^'^^^ years, at length sunk inio the grave, Frederick's position
seemed to become more favorable. But the pope's successor, the resolute
Lmocent lY., trod the same path. For the purpose of being ficee inm
restraint, he left Italy, and called a solemn coumal of the church, at
Lyons. Without listening to Frederick's defence, Innocent here renewed
the sentence of excommunication against the emperor in the severest
foirn. He denounced him as a blasphemer of God, a secret Mohamme-
dan, and an enemy of the <4^urch ; declared him to have forfeited hia
kingdom, released all his subjects fixnn their aath of allegiance, and
threatened his adherents wUh the ban of the ehurch. Upon this, the
war broke out afresh in every eonntry. The popish party succeeded in
Germany in carrying the election of a rival emp^nor, Henxy
^ ^' ^^' Raspe, of Thuringia ; and when, after the unfortunate engage-
ment at Ulm, against Frederick's son Conrad, Henry died powerless and
forsaken in the castle of Wartburg, the young count, William of Hoi*
land, allowed himself to be persuaded to assume the title of emperor. Bat
the imperial towns and most of the secular princes sided with Conrad.
S 238. In the mean time, the war between Guelfs and Ghibellines
raged furiously in Italy. The fiery temperament of the revengeful
southerns occasioned deeds of unheardrof atrocity ; family was arrayed
against family, city against city ; neither age nor condition refrained from
the combat Ezzelino^ the leader of the Ghibelline nobility, perpetrated
the most monstrous empties in his attacks upon the Guelf cities, till at
length he met with the punishment he deserved in the prison of Milan.
Frederick for a Icmg time maintained his lofty attitude ; the number
of his files only increased his courage. But when his son, Enzio^ fisll
iHo thebands of the Befognese, who kept the Mr-htbi^ king fbt tw&ufy
jean is ooaftie»ient ; when his dMmoelior, Peter of Yinea, differed hia-
0df to be gained bj the opposite party, oad thea, either fsom ftar or ve-
morse, deprived himself o^ life ia prisois— *lus heart at leaglii broke.
He died in his ilfty'Sixth jear, in the arms of his- besi bek>^ed son, Man-
fted, ia Lower Italy. F^derick IL anited great enltivaiien of mind and
aptitude for scieace and poetiy, with ooarage, heroism,, and beauty of
person. Surrounded by pomp, luxury, and pleasures of all descriptions,
he had every pretension to happineas^ had not hb seeptieal spirit resisted
tfie church, and had he only learat tx> awdesate has desires and bridle his
passions.
I 289. Upon the nem of Frederick's death, Insooenl IV. returned in
triumph to Rome. He dedared Naples and Sie£ty U> be lapsed fiefs of
Ae chair of St Peter, and exoommanicated Coarad IV. and Manfred,
who wished to take possession of their paternal inheritanoe. Coarad
soon sank into an early grave ; but his chivalrous hal^brother, Manfred,
defended Lower Italy with his German and Senusen troops with sueh
eoorage and success, that the greats part of the towns t«idered their
sHegiance, and the Gruelfic troops were obliged to retread into the ecde-
sisstical states. Distress at this hastened the death of Innocent IV. His
successor, UHnui IV., pursued however the same path. Determined to
deprive the Hohenstaofens of Kaples and Sioily at any price, he offered
flus beautiftil kingdom, as a papal fief, to the energetie but despotic
Charles of Anjou, brother of the French king, Louis IX., under condition
that he should conquer it by Guelfic assistance and with French troops,
and should pay a yearly tribute to the Roman court Manfred valiantly
reidsted his insolent rival. But when the battle ef Bene-
ventum was decided against him by Italian treachery, he
plunged into the thickest of the enemy, and died the death of a hero. A
ttmple giuve^ to which every soldier contributed a stone, inclosed his
I 240. After the battle of Beaeventum, the power of the OhibelliBes
was broken ; Naples and Sicily fell into the hands of the stem victor,
who made the unfortunate land feel all the miseries of conquest The
adherents of the Hohenstaufens were punished with death, imprisonment,
and banishment ; their possessions were divided among the French and
Guelfic soldiers. Upon this, the oppressed people called Conrad IV.'s
yoongest son, Conradine, from Grermany into Italy. Conradine, in whose
bosom dwelt the lofty spirit and heroic courage of his ancestors, left his
home ibi;.the purpose of again conquering the inheritance of the Hohen-
staufens, with the assistance of his youthful friend, Frederick of Baden,
tad a few fiiitfafbl adherents. Beceived with rejoicing by the Ghibellines,
he marched vietorkmsly through Upper and lOddle Italy, pot the pope
to fii^ and crossed the fronUers of Naples. The battle at Seimoia
156 THB HISTOBT OV THB lODDLR AQB.
terminated in Ids favor; but his over-hastj advance threw the victoij
into the hands of the enemj, who were watching in ambuscade. Bk
troops were either killed or dispersed; he himself, betrayed into the
hands of his rival, Charles of Anjou, was beheaded at Naples, along with
his bosom friend, Frederidc Thus sank the last scion <tf a glo-
rious race of heroes, robbed of his honor, into an early grave.
The still remaining members of the house of Hohenstaufen also expe-
rienced a cruel fate. King Enzio died in prison in Bologna (§ 236).
The ruthless Charles allowed the sons of Majdfred to pine in prison till
they died ; and Margaret, the daughter of Frederick 11., was ill-treated
and threatened with death by her husband, Albert of Thuringia, called
the Uncourteous, so that she fled by night from the castle of Wartbuig.
In her agony at her separation from her two sons, she bit one of them in
the cheek whilst embracing him, so that he retained the mark and the
surname of ^ the Bitten."
After Conradine's death, Charles proceeded with cruelty and severity
against all his adherents. Upon this, John of Prodda, a Ghibelline, who
had been deprived of his property, swore vengeance against the tynnt.
By his influence, all the French were killed by the Sicilians, on the so-
called Sidlian vespers, and the island was given up to Man-
fred's valiant son-in-law, Peter of Aragon, by whose assist-
ance, the inhabitants successfully repelled all the attacks of Charies, and
established an independent kingdom. Peter^s second son, Frederick, was
the flrst king of Sicily.
3. OSKERJLL YIBW OP THE MIDDLE AGES.
§ 241. The institutions which existed during the middle ages originated
from a mingling together of Roman and Germanic customs fnd laws, and
were based upon the greater or less amount of personal freedom or the
want of it These intricate relations are included under the
'^ general term of ^feudal system.** After the conquest of the
depopulated Roman provinces, the land was generally divided into three
portions: the king took one ; another he divided among his companions
in the war, as their free property (allodial), under the con(Ution of mili-
tary service ; the third was left to the original inhabitants, upon the pay-
ment of a tax. But for the purpose of binding the freemen more dosely
to the throne, the king granted portions of his own lands to a part of
them for life. This was called a fief; the giver was the li^;e lord, the
receiver was called liegeman, or vassal. In the same way, rich freemen
enfeoffed those who were less wealthy with portions of their estates, and
even of their fiefs (sub-infeudation), and thus obtained liegemen or vassala
of their own. Bishops and abbots also gave fie& to knights, subject to
the condition of defending the convent and supplying the required con-
tingent of troops to the am2re-&in« These rehitions, founded npoii
GBNSRAL VIEW OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 157
matual good faith, constituted a chain that bound the men of. the middle
ages in a variety of ways, and proved a grievous hinderance to the free-
dom of person and property. The vassals of the crown or empire gra-
dually obtained possession of their fiefs as hereditaiy estates, and bv this
means became so powerful, that they opposed the king as his equals ; the
rich proprietors deprived the less wealthy of their lands, so that, in their
capacity of free landlords (barons), they belonged to the class of nobles,
whilst the freeholders of small estates were degraded to the condition of
dependents, and cultivated their former possessions as hereditary tenants.
The number of serfs, who were looked upon as belonging to the land,
and surrendered as slaves without rights to the arbitrary will of their
masters, was still very great All who were in the position of dependents
or sei&, were under certain obligations to the land-owner, eit}ier to pay
tithes on their produce of fruit, wine, or cattle, or contributions of money
upon stated occasions, or to perform unpaid labor (soccage duties). These
taxes and duties, under the name of "feudal burdens," became more
numerous and oppressive with time.
S 242. Men were divided in the middle ages, according to their call-
ings, into three classes, — warriors, teachers, and producers : —
1. The warrior class embraced the nobility and the knights with their
vassals and followers. The rank of knight depended upon being descended
fnm a knightly fiunily, and the knightly education as page or squire,
during which, the spurs were to be earned by some feat of arms, before
the candidate could be received into the fellowship by the accolade. The
great end of knighthood was war, sometimes for the purpose of displaying
stieugth or acquiring honor ; sometimes, to defend religion and its minis-
ters, the church and the clergy ; and sometimes, to protect women, as the
weaker sex. That respect for women, which is the peculiar distinction
<^ the German character, produced the devotion to the fair sex and the
sendees of gallantry which were the soul of the chivalry and poetry of
the middle ages. Knightly games or tournaments, in which the prise
was presented to the victor by a maiden of noble condition, served to pre-
serve and invigorate the spirit of chivalry ; and that no unqualified person
might surreptitiously introduce himself under cover of his armor, coats
of arms were introduced as symbols of names and families.
I 243. — 2. The teacher class included the whole of the clergy; not
only the manifold grades of the' priesthood, but also the monks. In ex-
dosive possession of the learning of the time, and invested with the power
of deciding the salvation of men's souls, the clergy acquired vast authority
orer the ignorant and superstitious people of the middle ages. The head
21^^^ of the church, the pope, assumed the conmiand over all tem-
poral princes and kingdoms, and regarded the imperial crown
as his fief; the superior clergy, besides their ecclesiastical dignities, were
frequently in possession of the most influential offices of the state; and
14
156 THE HI6T0RT OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
tlie greater mmAer cf Ihe archbishopricsy bishoprics^ and abbades gradii*
ally acquired great possesskyna, so as to be raised to an equality wUb
piincipalities. Magnificent cathedrals, adorned with ail the prodnctioaa
of art, gave evidence of the greatness of the episcopal residcanea. A
luxurious life in splendidly-ornamented houses seemed the chief privil^a
of the superior clergy. The episcopal power, which at first was veiy
considerable, wit perpetually curtailed by the Roman Conastory. The
investiture of bishops, which had originally been in the hands of the
prince, was gradually claimed as the exclusive privilege of the Ronoan
court ; the spiritual jurisdiction of the rural bishops was more and moie
abridged, whilst the papal court of judicature in Rome decided all impor-
tant questions before its own tribunal, and withdrew many cloisters and
abbeys from the episcopal authority, and placed them under its own im-
mediate jurisdiction. Vast sums were obliged to be paid for all appomt-
ments, decisions, and dispensations, by which means much money poured
into Borne. For the purpose of keeping a watchful eye upon the affiun
of the whole church, and managing every thing from Rome, papal legates
were constantly traversing the different kingdoms. By these means, the
papal power became unlimited, and the higher it rose, the less did any
one dare to raise his voice against it. Every opposer of the existing
ecclesiastical institutions was regarded as an enemy of the church, and
the audacious offenders were threatened with the most fearful punish-
ments of the church in their triple gradation, — excommumctxHony which
affected only the individual ; the irUerdictj which was pronounced over
whole countries, and forbade the exercise of eveiy religious and eccle>
siastical function ; and a crusade^ with the inqubition, by which whole
provinces were given up to utter destruction. This power of the papacy
was especially promoted, first, by the spurious Isidorian decretals, a col-
lection of ecclesiastical laws and decisions, which, professedly belonging
to' the first four centuries, were in reality, most of them, produced in the
ninth, and which give the whole legislative and judiciary authority of the
Church to the pope ; secondly, by the rapid increase of the monks, of the
ecclesiastical orders, and of convents; thirdly, by the learned men of the
middle ages, called schoolmen.
§ 244. Monachism took its rise in the East, where a solitary and con-
templative life, devoted to the consideration of divine subjects, had always
MAmM»h!am. ^^"^ considcrcd more meritorious than active exerdon. This
calling was gradually adopted by so many, that, at the end
of the third century, the Egyptian Antonius, who had cast away his vast
possessions and chosen the desert for his residence, collected together the
hitherto dispersed anchorites (monachi) into fenced places (monasteria,
•coenobia, daustra, cloisters), that they might live together in fellowship ;
and his disciple, Fachomius, gave the brotherhood a rule. Monachism
soon extended to the West. In the sixth centuiy, Benedict of Nursia
GXHXRAL imW Of TBE mXDIS ACEB6. JiED
MidMiiliod the fint mcfOBSkry^m Mount Casino, in Lower Italy, and be-
M&e fay this mennfl the founder of the widelyHipread order of Bene-
dietines, wiiiofa mpidly extended itself among all nations, and built manj
oonreats. These monasteries, erected for the most part in beautiful and
remote sitoations, and the inhabitants of which irere obliged to take the
three vows of chastity (celibacy), personal poverty, and obedience, proved,
in those days of lawlessness and barbarism, a blessing to mankind. They
eoDverted heaths and Ibvests into flourishing farms ; they afforded a place
of refbge (asylum) to the persecuted and oppressed ; they ennobled the
nide minds of men by the preaching of the Gospel; they planted the
seeds of morality and civilization in the bosoms of the young by their
schools for edncation; and they preserved the remains of ancient litera-
ture and philosophy from /Utter destruction. Many of the Benedictine
monasteries were the nurseries of education, the arts, and the sciences,
ts St. Gallon, Fulda, Beichenau, and Ck)rvey (in Westphalia), and many
odierB. When the Benedictine order became relaxed, the monastery rf
Qagny, in Burgundy, separated itself from them in the tenth century,
and introduced a more rigid discipline. In the twelfth century, the
monks of Clugny numbered upwards of 2000 cloisters. But this order,
ako^ soon proTod insufficient to satisfy the strong demands of the middle
1^ agiinst the allurements of sin and the seductions of the flesh ; so
that, at the end of the eleventh century, the Gstercians, and a few de-
cades later, the order of Fremonstrants, sprang up ; the former in Bur-
gmidy (Citeaax), the latter in a woody country near Laon (Premontr^).
The order of Carthusians, founded about the year 1084, which com-
menced with a cloister of anchorites (Garthusia, Chartreuse) in a'rngged
valley near Grenoble, was the most austere in its practice. A life of soli-
tude and silence in a cell, a spare and meagre diet, a penitential garment
of hair, flagellations, and the rigid practice of devotional exercises, were
duties imposed upon every member of this fraternity.
S 245. The establishment of the so-called mendicant orders, in the
I<,„jgj,^j3jj3 thirteenth century, was remarkably productive of results,
and nommir Francis of Assisi (A. D. 1226), the son of a rich merchant,
^'^^ renounced all his possessions, clothed himself in rags, and
wandered through the world, begging and preaching repentance. His
fieiy zeal procured him disciples, who, like himself, renounced their
worldly possessions, fasted, prayed, tore their backs with scourges, and
BQpplied their slender wants fh)m voluntary alms and donations. The
Older of Franciscans, or Minorites, founded by him, spread themselves
la^Hdly through all countries. Contemporaneously with the Franciscans,
who in process of time divided into numerous branches, arose the order
of Dominicans, or preaching monks, founded by an illustrious and learned
Spaniard, Dominicns, and whose dearest objects were the mamtenance of
the predominant faith in its purity, and the extinction of heretical opi-
160 THB HIBTOEY OV THB MIDBLB AGB.
niooi. The oonyersum of the Albigeiises (S 228), among whom their
fimnder had resided for a eonaiderable timOy was the first attempt of the
Older, the members of which took a vow of entire povertj, aod eodea-
Yored to win heaven bj austerity and the piactice of a rigid devotion.
It was for these reasons that the court of inquisition, with its frightful
examinations, dungeons, and tortures, was committed to them. The
mendicant orders were the most powerful support of the pope, bj whom
thej were consequently endowed with the greatest privileges, and with-
drawn from the jurisdiction of the bishops. The Franciscans possessed
the hearts of the people, with whose joys and sorrows they sympathized,
and were principally occupied in the cure of souls : the Dominicans de-
voted themselves to the sciences, gradually filled the chairs of the univer-
sities, and numbered many of the greatest teachers of the Church among
their members.
§ 246. — 3. To the productive class belonged the inhabitants of the
towns and countiy who were engaged in the occupations of peace. The
peasantry, who were for the most part in a condition of serfdom, and
took no share in public life, were at first exclusively understood by this
title. But when the number of the towns was increased by the eSoiis
of the emperors of the Saxon and Hohenstaufen lines, and many of the
inhabitants of the country settled in them, the third class divided itself
into citizens and peasants, and obtained various privileges and liberties.
These towns were distinguished as imperial towns, which were under the
immediate control of the emperor, and represented in the imperial diet;
and provincial towns, which belonged to the territory of a prince. The
former were the most andent, as well as the richest and most powerful,
and it was in them that the town policy of the middle ages was developed.
The inhabitants originally consisted, as in ancient Rome, of free patrician
fiunilies, and a tributaiy and dependent class employed in trade and agri-
culture, who, as tenants and inferior burghers, possessed no share in the
privileges of the citizens. It was from the former that the mayor was
chosen. After a time, the inferior burghers succeeded in gaining the
ascendency over the patrician families. With this object, the artificers
formed themselves into guilds and corporations, by which means a public
spirit was awakened, and the inferior class of citizens rendered more
powerfuL These guilds, whose strength consisted in the stout arms of
their members, soon attained such power, that they not only everywhere
obtained the rights of citizenship, and a share in the government of the
city, but, in very many towns, the rule of the patricians was thrust aside
by the power of the guilds. The guilds marched into the field with their
own banners, under the conduct of the guild-master, and defended their
liberties without, as they had known how to gain and maintain them within.
§ 247. The literature of the middle ages was of a threefold characters-
1. Writings on religion and the Church ; the most important of which
GENERAL VIEW OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 161
were composed by the schoolmen and the mystics. By schoolfnen
are to be understood those philosophical writers who made
the doctrines and dogmas of the Church the objects of their
speculation and inquiry. In doing this, they employed the rules of the
Aristotelian dialectics, and invented a number of formulas and scholastic
terms (terminologies), and descended at length to trifling subtleties and
frivolous definitions and demonstrations. The schoolmen produced works
in which we hardly know whether most to admire the acuteness displayed
in the divisions of the subject, and in the development and connection of
the conclusions, or the diligence, the learning, and the wonderful power
of application. In the thirteenth century, scholasticism attained its high-
est perfection in the persons of the Dominican, Thomas Aquinas, and
the Franciscan, Duns Scotus ; so that, from this period, the scholastics
were all divided into Thomists and Scotists. Men of warm feelings and
sensitive natures were not content with the dry logic of these schoolmen ;
they opposed therefore a religion of feeling, of poetry, and of imagina-
tion, to the Christianity built upon philosophical rules and forms of rea-
soning. This was first done by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (§ 222), and by
the noble Bonaventura (a. d. 1274) ; but in the most comprehensive way,
by the mystics. These latter imitated the necessitous life of Christ, and
sought to overcome the wickedness of the world by the castigation of the
body and the mortification of the fleshly appetites, and strove to effect a
. spiritual union between themselves and God. Mysticism has
had a powerful influence both upon life and literature ; and
although the inculcation of meekness and self-humiliation paralyzed
active exertion, and a life devoted to the emotions and sentiments occa-
sionally produced fanaticism, yet its influence upon a race which was
sunk in barbarism and stupidity was, on the whole, beneficial. The
"Imitation of the Life of Christ," by the Dominican monk, John Tanler
of Strasburg, and the " Book of Everlasting Wisdom," of Henry Suso of
Constance, were held in great esteem. The brethren of the Common
life, to whom belonged Thomas k Kempis (a. d. 1471), the writer of
the widely-circulated devotional work, called the " Imitation of Christ,*'
which has been translated into all languages, were the most active among
the mystics.
§ 248. — 2. Not only theological and philosophical studies were, and
remained, in the hands of the clergy, but also mathematical and natural
science, and the writing of history. The Greeks and Arabians exercised
the greatest influence in extending and perfecting the material sciences.
It was from the Arabian schools that the western clergy drew the greater
part of their admired wisdom. Albertus Magnus, a widely-travelled
and much esteemed teacher, possessed such a knowledge of physics, che<
mistiy, and similar subjects, that he was generally regarded as a sorcerer.
Among the composers of Latin chronicles and annals, William of Tyras,
14*
1(52 THE BISTORT OF THB MIDDLE AGS.
ti^e historian of ihe Crusades and the Holj Land, took the first place in
France ; apd Otho of Freisingen, the half-brother of the empeior. Con-
rpd HL, in Grermany. Bj the side of these learned historical composi-
tions, there were already, at the time of the crusades, in Italy, France,
Bfki Spain, historical descriptions of particular periods and events, in the
Ttemacular tongues, which, although less trustworthy than the former, are
more interesting to read, and of more importance to the history of dvil-
izatlon. Among these may be mentioned the History of the Fourth
Crusade, by Villehardouin (§ 224), Joinville's History and Chronicle of
St Louis ; and, before all, Froissart's History and Chronicle of his own
Time8(A.D. 1329-1400).
§ 249. — 3. Whilst learned literature was cultivated by the priests
delusively, the art of poetry passed at an early period into the hands of
t)ie knights, chiefly because love (minne), and devotion to the ladies,-—
feelings, to which the clergy, on account of their condition, dared not de-
vote themselves, were the soul and essence of the latter. The poetry of
the middle ages was alike, both as to its form and subject-matter, in all
the nations of £urope. This was partly occasioned by the great inter-
CQ^urae that took place among people during the crusades, which facili-
tated the interchange of legends and poems, and partly by the great
diffusion and general intelligibility of the Romance language. Li France,
Ita^, Spain, and, to a certain extent, in England, languages were then
^ken which bore a strong resemblance to each other, so that the lite-
rary productions of one country could be understood without difficulty in
the rest The middle-age poetry was divided into tliree kinds, according
to the subject ; — Heroic poems and heroic ballads (Epopee, Romance),
where the deeds of knights, battles, adventures, and love affairs — the
indispensable element of romantic poetry — formed the materials ; son-
n/ets, in which the poet expressed his feelings, emotions, or thoughts, in
melodious verses ; and religious poetry, in which the outpourings of devo-
tion and religious enthusiasm, the praises of God and the Virgin, or the
pious actions and histories of the saints, formed the subject. The epic
poems dealt with certain cycles of legends, partly derived from the
ancient world, as the Alexandriad of the priest Lamprecht, and partly
£tom the Christian period, as the romance of Charlemagne and his Pala-
is (for example, the lay of Roland, by the priest Conrad), and the
British king Arthur and his Round Table, with which the Welsh legend
df the Grale was afterwards connected. To the latter cycle of romance,
belong the two greatest epics of the middle age, the Percival of Wolfram
of Eschenbach (a. d. 1200), and the Tristran and Isolde of Gottfried of
Stra8bui;g. But the glory of German heroic poetry is the Niebelung-
^died, the materials of which are derived from the migrations of na-
tions. The lyric poets^ that in Germany were called ^ minnesanger," and
in France^ ^ troubadours,^' made the tender emotions of the heart, or th^
DECAY OP CHIVALRT AND CORIUJPTION OP THE CHURCH. 163^^
feelings of love, the subject of their poems ; or they lashed depravity of
morals and the corruptions of the clergy in satirical compositions, called
Sirventes. In Germany, the most celebrated of the minnesangers was
Walter Vogelweide, who lived at the court of Hermann of Thuringia.
At that time, the castle of Wartburg, near Eisenach, in Thuringia, was
the place of assembly for the greatest and most renowned singers. But
Italy could display the greatest poet of the middle ages. After the stem
Ghibelline, Dante of Florence (a. d. 1321), had moulded the poetical
language of Italy in his great epic poem, « The Divine Comedy," Pe-
ti-arch (a. d. 1374) brought it to the highest perfection of harmony in
his Odes to Laura, while his contemporary, Boccaccio, became the crea-
tor of Italian prose by his tales and novels (Decameron). Dante's sub-
lime poem, which consists of three parts. Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise,
contains the whole wisdom of the middle ages, the whole treasure of the
then acquired science, so that it was said with truth, that heaven and
earth had each put a hand to Dante's poem. Petrarch's other works
are written in Latin. He, as well as Boccaccio, was mainly instrumental
in the restoration of the ancient literature and civilization.
V. DECAY OF CmVALRT AND CORRUPTION OF THE CHURCH.
1. THE INTERREGNUM (1250 — 1273).
§ 250. The period after the death of Frederick II. was a momentous
one for Germany. The imperial title was borne by foreign princes
without power or influence, whilst at home a state of disorder and law-
lessness prevailed, in which the strong alone could obtain justice. After
William of Holland (§ 237) had fallen in battle against the brave Fris-
landers, the archbishop of Cologne turned the election to the wealthy
Richard of Cornwall, brother of the English king, whilst the archbishop
of Treves and his party adorned Alfonso X. the Wise, of Castile, with
the title of emperor. The former sailed repeatedly up the Rhine laden
with treasures, to satisfy the avarice of the princes who had elected him ;
the latter never visited the kingdom to the government of which he had
been invited. The princes and bishops employed this interregnum in
enlargmg their territories, and possessing themselves of privileges, whilst
the knights and vassals abused their strength by waylaying and plunder-
ing. They led a wild and predatory life in their castles, which, as the
ruins yet show, were built upon the banks of navigable streams or near
frequented highways; dragged travellers into their dungeons for ih€'
puipoee of extorting a heavy ransom; plundered the wagons of the'
164" THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
mercantile towns, and bade defiance, from behind their strong walls, to
the powerless laws and tribunals. Attempts were made to remedy this
state of things, 1 . Bj the secret proceedings of the Fehmgerieht (secret
tribunal), established bj the archbishop of Cologne in Westphalia (Dort-
mund); 2. Bj confederations of numerous towns for the purpose of mu-
tual ^fence. The most important of these confederations were the
Hanseatic, in Northern Germany, which included Hamburg, Lubeek,
Bremen, Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Riga, and many other trading
cities ; and the confederation of the Rhine, which embraced the towns of
Worms, Mayence, Spire, Strasburg, Basle, and numerous others.
2. ORIGIN OP THE POWER OF THE HOUSE OP HAPSBURG AND OP
THE HELVETIC CONFEDERATION.
§ 25 J. During the interregnum, many of the princes and bishops had
assumed the rights of sovereignty. To avoid losing what had been ob-
tained, the princes to whom the right of election then chiefly belonged,
and who were in consequence called Electors, sought to prevent the ele-
vation of any prince whose lands and vassals rendered him formidable.
At the same time, they required an energetic man, who should be able to
restrain the prevailing lawlessness, and to break the threatening power of
Rudolf of Ottocar, king of Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria. All these
Hapsbnrg, qualities were possessed by Count Rudolf of Hapsburg,
A. D. 1278- who was elected emperor by the influence of the archbishop
^^' of Mayence, with whom he was then on friendly terms. His
moderate hereditary estates, in Alsatia, occasioned no alarm to the prin-
ces ; his courage, strength, and skill had been long proved and acknov/1-
edged ; but what contributed especially to his election was his piety, and
the inclination he had always displayed to the church and clergy. When,
therefore, Rudolf had assured to the pope and the German princes the'
continuance of the privileges and territories that they had either usurped
or . acquired by violence, his election was generally recognized, and
Alfonso of Castile was induced to abdicate. Ottocar alone refused to do
homage, and failed to appear at the appointed diet. Upon this, Rudolf
declared war against him, marched into the enemy's territories with the
aid of his Switzers and Alsatians, and that of the German princes whom
he had connected to his house by marriages with his numerous daughters,
and won the glorious victory on the Marchfeld. Ottocar
A D 1278 o .^
was killed in the fight ; nothing but Bohemia and Moravia
was left to his son Wenceslaus; the remaining countries of Austria,
Styria, and Camiola, Rudolf settled on his sons, and by this means be-
came the founder of the Austrian house of Hapsburg.
§ 252. As Rudolf of Hapsburg avoided all interference in the aflfairs
of Italy, he was able to turn his undivided energies to Germany. He
succeeded, after a succession of campaigns and battles, chiefly in Swabia,
DECAY OF CHIVALRY AND CORRUPTION OF THE CHURCH. 165
against the rapacious Eberhard of Wirtemberg, and in Burgundy, in
regaining manj of the fiefs, lands, privileges, and revenues, that had been
alienated from the empire. But his greatest service was his securing the
peace of the country and restoring law and order. He traversed the
whole empire, and called the robber nobility to a severe reckoning. In
Thuringia alone, he had twenty-nine knights executed, and destroyed
sixty castles, and reduced, in a single year, upwards of seventy fortresses
in Franconia and on the Rhine. He died at an advanced age, at Go-
m^rsheim, during one of these expeditions, and was buried at Spire.
His simplicity, virtue, and honesty gained him no less respect than his
intelligence, his impartial justice, and his warlike achievements. He was
only wanting in the poetical magnanimity of the house of Hohenstaufen.
§ 253. The princes, partly out of fear of the power of the Hapsburg-
ers, and partly from dislike to Rudoirs cruel and avaricious son Albert,
were induced, at the instigation of the archbishop of Mayence, to eltct
Adolf. of Count Adolf of Nassau. But he, like Rudolf, attempted to
Nasssn, a. d. enlarge his own small territories, and made use of the loafi
1291-1396. ^ Yisd received from the king of England to assist him in
raising German troops, in purchasing Thuringia and Misnia from Albert
the Uncourteous (§ 240). This disgraceful transaction involved him in
a war with Albert's son, ^ Frederick with the bitten cheek," and Diez-
man, whom their degenerate father had attempted to deprive of their
patrimony. Tlie public disgust at this dishonest proceeding, and the dis-
content of the electoral princes of the Rhine (the Palatinate, Mayence,
Treves, and Cologne), whom the emperor had deprived of the unjustly-
acquired tolls of the river, had aided in forming a party favorable to his
opponent Albert. Albert procured the deposition of Adolf and his own
election ; he then marched with his army upon the Rhine, and was victo-
rious in the battle at GoUheim near the Donnersberg. Adolf,
^D.U98. imried from his horse by the lance of his rival, found his
Albert of death in the tumult. His body rests in the cathedral of
Amtri«,A.D. Spire. Albert of Austria was an energetic but severe man,
1398-180S. ^jiQge inflexible disposition might be read in his gloomy and
one-eyed visage. He was ambitious, and desirous of enlarging his terri-
tories ; and he therefore not only prosecuted the war against Thuringia,
but attempted to gain other lands besides. Feared and hated, Albert
was at length murdered at Windisch on the Reuss, by his own nephew,
John of Swabia, (Parricida), just as he was making preparations for the
subjugation of the free Swiss. John expiated his deed in a cloister ; but
a fearful revenge was taken by the emperor's wife and daughter upon
those who assisted in the assassination (Wart, Bohn, and Eschenbach),
and upon all their friends and relatives.
S 254. Albert's severity was the foundation of the Helvetic oonfedera-
tioD. Helvetia was a component part of the German empirei and was
166 •THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AG^.
under the protection of prefects, who exercised there the highest offices of
jurisdiction. This office was at first filled hj the rich and powerful dukes
of Zahringen, — the founders of Bern and other states. Afier the ex-
tinction of this house, the counts of Savoy in the South, and the Haps-
burirs in the North, elevated themselves above the other
A. D. 1218.
fiunilies bj their power and possessions. The latter, to whom
the landgravate of Aai^u belonged, exercised, in the name of the em-
pire, the functions of protectors over the original cantons on the lake of
Lucerne, Schwjz, Uri, and Unterwalden, where they held possessions.
When the Hapsburgs ascended the imperial throne, they attempted
to bring these cantons under the sovereignty of Austria. In further-
ance of this purpose, Albert gave permission to the governors (Vogte),
who ruled the lands of Hapsburg, to exercise the laws of the empire over
the fVee conmiunities and peasants, and to abuse their position by the
oppression of the simple, warlike, and freedom-loving mountaineers.
Upon this, the three oldest cantons, under the guidance of Walther Fur^
Werner Stauffiicher, and Arnold Melchtal, concluded an alliance on the
Butli for the protection of their liberties, the results of which were, that
the fortresses were stormed and the governors expelled, afler William
Tell (as the legend goes) had killed Gesler, the most tyrannical of their
number, with an arrow, because he had compelled him, for some trifling
disobedience, to shoot an apple from the head of his son. Albert's assas-
sination saved the Swiss from the effects of his anger, but his plans wens
taken up by his son Leopold. He marched against the forest eantooa
with an army, but suffered a severe overthrow in )h» narrow
pass of Morgarten. The power of the Hapsburgs dedine^
from this period in Switzerland. By tiie accession of the Austrian town
of Lucerne, in 1332, the whole of the shore of the lake of the four can-
. ^^ tons fell into the power of the confederation, which was soon
joined by Bern, Zurich, Zug, and many other towns. In the
A. D. 1851. ^j^^jj^ ^^ Sempach (§ 261), the allies (like the Athenian
democracy at Marathon), underwent a fiery trial against the Austrian
and German chivalry, and proved themselves worthy of their freedom.
8. PHILIP THE FAIR OF FRANCE, AND THE EMPEROR LOUIS THE
BAVARIAN.
§ 255. The ambitious Boniface YIU., in whose person the papacy
attained its highest glory, was the origin of its downfall. He assumed
the office of umpire in a war between Philip IV. the Fair of France,
and Edward L of England; and when Philip declined his interferenoe»
he forbade the levying of taxes upon the French ecclesiastics. Upon
this, Philip prohibited the exportation of silver and gold from his king*
dom, and by this means prevented the receipt of the papal revenue. The
quarrel to which these proceedings gave rise, during which Bonifinee
DECAY OP CHIVALRY AND CORRUPTION OP THE CHURCH. 167
cleclaied every man a heretic who did not believe that the king was sub-
ject to the pope in spiritual as well as temporal matters, and Philip by
his deputies solemnly asserted the independence of the throne, ended by
an excommunication. Upon this, Nogaret, the chancellor of France,
entered Italy, and having hired some troops, seized the pope in his native
city Anagni, and held him prisoner. It is true that Boniface was rescued
by the country people, who rushed to his assistance, and that he hastened
to Borne ; but the impression made by the disgrace upon the proud and
violent man was so powerful that he went mad and died.
A. D. 1SC8.
The French party now succeeded, not only in getting the
excommunication withdrawn, but in inducing the new pope, Clement V.
(hitherto bishop of Bordeaux), to take up his residence at Avignon hi
the south of France, and thus to put the papacy under the influence of
the French court This separation of the head of the church
from Rome, which was mourned over as a second Babylonian
captivity, lasted for nearly seventy years.
§ 256. The dissolution of the Order of the Temple (227 b) was the
first consequence of the alliance between the pope and the French king.
Dark reports of the blasphemous practices, of the secret crimes and vices,
of the infidelity and voluptuousness, of which the Order had rendered
itself guilty, gave Philip the Fair a pretext for suddenly seizing upon
the persons of the Templars, and confiscating their vast possessions. By
an unjust prosecution of six years, and by the tortures of the rack, a con-
fession was at length obtained from the prisoners, which appeared to prove
the crimes laid to their charge ; and when fifty-four of their number
retracted the confession extorted frora'nhem by torture, as untrue, they
were condemned as apostates to a lingering death by fire.
It was in vain that Jacob of Molay, the head-master, pro-
tested against the proceedings, and ofiered to disprove the whole of the
accusations. He himself died on the funeral pile, afler he
had summoned the king and the pope to a higher judgment-
seat The people reverenced him as a martyr, and recognized the judg-
ment of God in the death of the two princes which shortly followed. The
French king appropriated the largest share of the estates and treasures
of the Templars.
Henrr VIL ^ 257. During these events, Henry VII., of Luxemburg,
A. D. 1308- was governing Germany, not without renown. After adopt-
1818. ing vigorous measures for the preservation of the internal
l>eace of the empire, he took advantage of a contest for the crown of
Bohemia to add this kingdom to the possessions of his own house, with
the consent of the Bohemian estates, by marrying his son John to the
ftister of the last king, who was childless. Scarcely had he brought this
afikSf, which was the foundation of the vast power of the house of Luxem-
burg, to a happy conclusion, than he turned his eyes to the long-forgotten
168 THB HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
and disunited Italy, and undertook an expedition to Rome. The adveot
of tlie emperor was greeted with joy by the oppressed
Ghibellines ; and the great poet Dante, of Florence (§ 249),
celebrated his appearance by a Latin essay on monarchy, and by songs
that were soon in the mouths of everybody. Henry received the crown
of Lombardy in Milan, collected with rigor the taxes that were due in
the towns of Upper Italy, and experienced an honorable reception in the
Ghibelline city of Pisa. But despite all his efforts to assume the cha-
racter of an establisher of peace, the Guelfs and the haughty Florence,
with the king of Naples at their head, rose against him with reason.
The pope himself opposed him, so that his coronation at Rome only took
place after a lengthened contest. Upon marching into Tuscany for the
purpose of humbling Florence, Henry died suddenly in the flower of his
age, near the Ainio. The joy displayed upon his death by the Guel%
gave rise to the belief that he had been poisoned by a Dominican monk.
The sorrowing Fisans buried him in the churchyard (Campo Santo) of
their town.
§ 258. The death of Henry VIL again produced a contest for the
crown in Germany ; for, of the seven princes who now usually exercised
the right of election (Palatinate, Mayence, Treves, Cologne, Bohemia,
Saxony, Brandenburg), some chose Louis of Bavaria, the others, Frede*
rick the Fair of Austria. The consequence of this division was an eight
years* war, which was carried on with particular vigor by Frederick's
brother, Leopold. Despite the superior strength of the Austrian party,
Louis, who was an excellent general, maintained his cause with success,
especially after Leopold's force had been weakened at Morgarten (§ 254).
It was not, however, till the battle of Muhldorf (or Amfing),
where Frederick was defeated and taken prisoner by the
skill of the Nuremberg general, Seyfried Schwepperman, that Louis
attained a decided superiority. Leopold, however, would not submit to
a peace. Supported by the pope, John XXII., who pronounced aa
excommunication and an interdict against Louis for having aided the
Ghibellines in Milan, and by several princes of the empire, Leopold con-
tinued the war, and attempted a new election of emperor. Upon this,
Louis set at liberty his rival, who was imprisoned in the castle of Traus-
nitz, upon condition that he should renounce the imperial dignity, and
persuade his party to a peace. But when neither the pope nor Leopold
would listen to the proposal, Frederick, true to his word, returned to
captivity, a conduct which so moved his chivalrous opponent, that he lived
with him henceforth in the closest friendship, and would even have shared
the empire with him, had not the Electors prevented it. Leo-
pold died shortly afterwards, but the impetuous pope retained
his animosity against Louis, which induced the latter to appoint Frede*
rick regent of the empire, and undertake an expedition into Italy.
DBCAT OF CHIVALRY AND COKBUPTION OF THE CHURCH. 169
§ 259. Lotus was at first successful in Italy. Supported by the Ghi-
bellines and the Minorites, he made brilliant progress, and succeeded in
getting an anti-pope elected ; but when, for the purpose of satisfying his
fflercenary troops, he exacted heavy levies of money from the Italian
towns, matters were quickly altered. His retreat to Germany, where
Frederick had in the mean time died, completed the triumph of the papal
party. On the other hand, the obstinacy with which John XXII. and
his successor Benedict XII. retained the excommunication pronounced
against Louis, and rejected all attempts at reconciliation, irritated the
German princes to such a degree, that, at an electoral Diet held at Reuse,
iliej uttered the declaration, " that henceforth every election of emperor
by the 'princes was valid, without the confirmation of the pope." The
ecclesiastics who obeyed the interdict were treated as disturbers of the
pablic peace, and deprived of their offices. The notorious influence exer-
cised by the French court upon all the proceedings of the pope, and the
avarice and sensuality of the head of the Church and of the cardinals in
Avignon, diminished the authority of the court of Rome. But Louts
himself very soon forfeited the confidence and afiection of the German
princes, by allowing his avarice and desire of enlarging his territories to
lead him into unjust and violent measures. Thence it was that the
French and papal party succeeded in gaining over a part of the electoral
princes, and getting a rival emperor chosen from the house
of Luxemburg. But the greater part of the German people,
and particularly the imperial towns, sided with Louis, so that the new
emperor, Charles IV. (son of King John of Bohemia), was not generally
recognized, until the robust Louis lost his life in a bear-hunt, near
Munich, and his successor, Gunter of Schwarzburg, elected
by the Bavarian party, had sunk into an early grave at
Fo&Qkfort
4. THE EMPERORS OF THE HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG.
OtfiM iv. § 260. Charles lY. was a sagacious prince, who was intent
^ ^' upon his own interests and the increase of the power of his
house, and in whose mind money and property held a higher
place than honor or renown. It was through him that the imperial
^wer lost all respect in Italy, where he permitted the imperial privileges
tc be purchased by the towns and princes. The contests between Guelf
^ 1 Ghibelline ceased from this time, but they only gave place to con-
t&itioDs between the princes and free towns concerning the enlargement
of their territories ; mercenary troops were now employed (as formerly
in Greece) instead of the earlier mUitia, and the enterprising leaders of
t^-ese bands (Condottieri) not unfrequently held the fate of states in their
hands, and succeeded in getting possession of their government. The
^rts of Charles in Germany, also, were chiefly directed to the gratifica-
15
170 THS HISTORY OF THB MID]>LB AQS.
tion of his ayarioe and lust of territory. He sold the liberties and privi-
leges of the imperial towns ; he gracnted letters isf nobilitj for monej ; he
added Brandenburg and other territories to his patrimonial possessiona.
His agency was most beneificially felt in Bohemia, which attained by bis
means to greater prosperity. Artists and artisans were summoned fitmi
<7ermany and Italy, towns (Carlsbad) and vilh^es were built, agriculture
and trade encouraged, roads and bridges planned, and heaths and forests
brought into cultivation. Charles, with the consent of the pope and the
cooperation of the poet Petrarch, erected the first Grerman
university in Prague (§ 249), which soon numbered from
5000 to 7000 students. From Charles lY. emanated the first imperial
code of laws, known by the name of the Golden Bull, which referred the
choosing of emperors exclusively to the seven Electots, and determined
the precedence of the princes.
§ 261. The imperial authority was much decayed, and confiisi€ni and
lawlessness prevailed all over Oermany. The laws respecting distort)-
ance of the public peace were little regarded ; club-law (faustrecht), the
only law attended to, called upon every man to take care of himself,
and alliances were formed to do this more effectually. Tlus state of
disorder became particularly prevalent under Charles's son and sucoes-
Wencofllaiu, Bor, Wenceslaus, a rude, hot-headed man, devoted to drink
A. D. 1878- For whilst the emperor was leading a dissolute life in Bohe-
^*^' mia, devoting himself to hunting, quarrelling with his nobles
and the clergy, and rendering himself hateful and contemptible by his
cruelty, and barbarous conduct to the vicar Nepomuk, whom he ordered
to be thrown from the bridge of Prague into the Moldau, the German
empire, with its battles and its miseries, was lefl to its fate. The towns
in Swabia, in Franconia, and on the Rhine, united themselves in an alli-
ance to preserve the peace of the country, and for defence ag^nst the
rapacious nobles. The knights, who gained their living by plunder and
highway robbery, and who were threatened by this alliance, followed the
example of their enemies, and strengthened themselves by confederations
of knights (called the Schlegler, and the Ldwen and Hornerbund). The
two confederations were perpetually engaged in war with each other, till
at length, the murder of the bishop of Salzburg by a Bavarian duke
occa3ioned the great cities' war, which produced extreme
distress in the south of Germany. The citizens were victo-
rious in Bavaria ; in Franconia, the fortune of war was rendered dub^
ous by the courage of the Nuremburgers ; but in Swabia, where the
valiant enemy of the towns, Eberhard the Grumbler, of Wirtembei|^
stood at the head of the nobility, the burghers suffered great loss near
DMIbgen, and at Worms and Frankfort^ succumbed to the iron ranks of
the knights of Hesse and the Palatinate. About the same time, tbe
Swiss confederation was contending with far greater success against the
DECAT OF CSIVALRT illCD COSRUPTION OF ZHB CHURCH. 171
ndbles of wmthem GermMj^ Duke Leopold of Austria ioTaded the
fieedom4oving mountaineers, wUh a host of armed xMUes, who reve-
xenced him as the flower of chivalry. But in the battle of
Sempaeby where the heroie Arnold Wiokelreid of Ustar-
waldoi ^ made a path " for his oountrTiiien into the iroa^olad ranks of the
kni^htSy bj embracing a number of their lances and burying the points
ia his boeom, the proud duke, with 656 of his nobles, fell beneath the
maoes of the Swiss peasants.
{ 262. The inability of the emperor to remedy the prevailing omfu-
sion at length induced the Electors, in a diet at Ijahnstein,
to pronounce Wenceslaus's deposition, ^ because he had not
aided the peace of the Church, had sold the title of duke to the rich and
crafty Yiscontt in Milan, had not m^tained the public peace, and had
governed tyranically and with cruelty in Bohemia.'' Kupert of the Pa-
Rupert, A. D. latinaite was ejected in bis place ; he was the grandson of that
1400-1410. Rupert who, in the year of the battle of Sempach, had
fimnded the university of Heidelberg. But even he, despite many good
qnalitiesy was not equal to the difficulties of the times. He was com-
pelled to grant the princes and estates the right of forming confedera-
tions, and of maintaining the pubfic peace in their own way ; and when he
4tftempted to restore MUan to the empire, he suffered a defeat from the
Italian Condottieri (f 260), who had discovered a more scientific system
d tactics. He was equally unsuccessful in his attempts to restore tran-
quillity to the Church, an object that was first accompUshed with un-
speakable difficulty by his successor, Sigismond, the brother of Wenoes-
fi^gianumd, l^us. The great conndl of the Churdi, that was held by
A.D. 1410- l^smond for ihls purpose, exhausted the treasury to that
^^' degree, that the emperor was obliged at first to pledge the
March of Brandenburg, and the ekcUnral dignity, to Frederick of Ho-
henxoUem, and afterwards to surrender them to him as his private and
hereditary property.
5, THK DIVISION IV THB OHURGH AMD THE 6BEAT COUKCILS.
f 263. It had long been wished that the papal chair should be re-
moved from Avignon to Home ; but the cardinals who were in the French
interest, and who felt themselves better and more independent under the
mild and beautiful sky of southern France, prevented the measure. This,
at length, induced the Italian party to elect a pope of their own. By, this
means, the Church got two popes, one in Avignon, the othw in Rome,
each of whom declared himself the rightfiiUy elected head of the Church,
and fulminated anathemas against his rival and his adherents. The
whole of western Christendom was divided, consciences perplexed, and
the Chunsb rent asunder. It was in vain that the synod of Pisa attempt-
ed to heal the evil by deposing one pope and electing another;-^ the
172 THE HIBTORT OF THE MIBBLB AGE.
fonner two maintained their claims, so that the Church was now triply
divided. A general discontent spread through the Christian wodd, and
engendered a loud demand for a refdrmation of the Church, both in ita
head and members. Whilst the moderate party, and in particular, the
learned theologians of the university of Paris (Sorbonne), wished to bring
about this reformation bj a general council, which should be superior to
the pope, the disciples and adherents of the Oxford profes-
sor, John Wickliff, aimed at a thorough change both in the
doctrine and constitution of the Church. Wickliff had not only declared
the papacy to be an unchristian institution, and preached zealously
against absolution, monachism, the worship of saints, and similar matters,
but had stood forward as a reformer, by translating t|ie Bible into Englisli,
and rejecting many articles of faith, such as auricular confession, celibacy,
and transubstantiation. The most celebrated of his followers was John
Huss, professor in Prague, a man distinguished for his learning, and moral
life, as well as by Christian gentleness. He preached against the abuses of
the papacy ; against the wealth and secular power of the clergy ; against
monachism and absolution : and although the pope excommunicated him
and condemned his writings, the number of his adherents, among whom
a Bohemian nobleman, Jerome of Faulfisch, distinguished himself
by his zeal, increased every day. The Germans in the uniTcrsity of
Prague were curtailed of their privileges for showing an inclination to
the new doctrines of Huss, for which reason 5000 students and profes-
sors quitted the place, and thus brought about the foundation of other
universities, that of Leipsic among the first
§ 264. When at length, Pope John XXTTT., importuned by the Empe-
^^^ .. . ror Sigismond, called the Council of Constance, troops of
Constance, temporal and spiritual dignitaries of all nations poured into
A. D. 14U- the town, where the splendor of the whole West was at oooe
^^^^' united. 150,000 men are said to have assembled there.
The unity and reformation of the Church was the lofty aim of the synod.
' In the first place, therefore, the three popes were either deposed or per-
suaded to resign ; and when John XXm. seized the opportunity afforded
by a tournament to escape in disguise, by the aid of Frederick of Aus-
tria, and recalled his abdication, the council declared itself independent
and superior to the pope, and united with the emperor in punishing the
refractory. Frederick of Austria was outlawed, and deprived of Aargan
and other possessions by the Swiss, and John was for a long time held
prisoner in the castle of Heidelberg. But the efforts of the French and
Germans, who wished in the first place to reform the Church, and then
to elect a new pope, were frustrated by the Italians (Ultramontani), who
insisted before all things upon an election of pope. Their opinion pre-
vailed, and Martin Y., was raised to the papal chair. He was a mode-
rate man, who contrived, by abolishing a few abuses, and by skilfully
DSCAT OF CHIVALRY AND COBRUPTIOK OF THB CHURCH. 173
eondncted negottations, to divide the Totes and baffle the efforts of the
oooDciL In this waj, the hopes and wishes of the people were disap-
pointed ; the pope retained his power, and the Church was lefl in her
corruption. But the Council of Constance has enriched history with one
deed of horror, — the burning of Huss and Jerome of Prague. The
council proceeded at its commencement to an examination of doctrines
deviating from those of the Church, and had condemned Wickliff 's wri-
tings to the flames, and summoned Huss to answer for his opinions.
Huss proceeded to Constance, provided with an imperial passport, by
which he was assured of a safe return to his home, but was imprisoned
as soon as he arrived there, and accused of disseminating heresy. It
was in vain that he defended himself with dignity against the charges —
his judges were his accusers ; it was in vain that his friends appealed to
the imperial safe-conduct, — the synod laid down the principle, that no
fiuth was to be kept with heretics, and demanded an unconditional abjura-
tion. When IIuss refused to do this, he was condemned to
suffer death by fire as an obstinate teacher of heresy; a
doom which he underwent with the firmness and composure of a martyr.
A year later, Jerome also endured the agonies of the burning pile with
the courage of a stoic.
§ 265. The intelligence of this horrible event at Constance incited the
Hussites to a furious religious war. The cup, which, according to the
views of Huss, was not to be withheld frotn the laity, was borne before their
annies as the symbol of their cause (hence XJtraquists and Calixtines) ;
and a heavy vengeance was exacted from the priests who refused to
administer it It was in vain that the pope fulminated an interdict
against the adherents of IIuss, their numbers increased daily; they
stormed the town-house of Prague, and murdered the counsellors,
which 80 enraged the old Emperor Wenceslaus, that he died
of apoplexy. Sigismond ought now to have become king
of Bohemia also ; but the whole nation flew to arms, to prevent the
faithless emperor from taking possession of the country. John Ziska, a
general expert in war, valiant, and endowed with a wonderful talent of
governing the masses, placed himself at its head. It was in vain that
Sigismond led three imperial armies against the Hussites ; his troops re-
coiled in dismay before the wild fury of the enraged people. The Hus-
^tes burnt down the Bohemian churches and convents, and carried theii
lavages into the neighboring countries. The name of Ziska, the blind
general, was a terror to the nations. After his death, the moderate party
(Calixtines) separated themselves from the radicals (Taborites). The
latter, under the conduct of Frocopius the Great and the Little, continu-
ed their incendiary course, ravaged Saxony, and extorted tribute from
Brandenburg and Bavaria, whilst the Calixtines consented to a peace .
when the Council of Basle consented to the use of the cup in the Lord's
15*
174 THE HISTORY OF TH8 HIDDLB AOB.
Supper, and to preaching in the vernacular tongue. It was only when
A D 1488 ^^ Taboritea Buffered a defeat near Frague, and Uie two
Procopiuses were kiUed, that the emperor, by the dexterity
of his chancellor Schlick, succeeded in bringing them to a peaee;
whereupon Sigismond was acknowledged king. But the glory of Bohe-
mia was humbled to the dust A few decades later, a small party of the
former Hussites separated from the Church and formed a separate sect,
since known as the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren, ^ poor, scripture-
proof, and peaoefbl.'*
CoimcU of S ^^^* ^° ^^® council of Bade, to the summoning of
Basle, A. D. which, Martin Y., successor of Eugenius TV., had, after kmg
1431 - 1449. hesitation, consented, the reformation of the Church, which
had been interrupted in that of Constance, was to be concluded, and the
Hussite controversy arranged. But the proceedings here soon took a
course that seemed to endanger the papal power. The assembly, whidi
consisted in part of the lower order of clergy, duninished the monej
charges that the court of Rome imposed upon the provincial churches,
and interdicted the incroachments of the pope in the filling up of bishop-
rics and benefices. Eugenius was rendered so anxious by these and
other similar resolutions, that he seized the first pretext for removing the
council to Ferrara, and afterwards to Florence. But many of the deigy
would not attend ; they chose another pope, and again asserted the for-
mer principle, that a synod of the Church was superior to the pope, and
that the former and not the latter was infallible. Upon this, Eugenius,
encouraged by the fears, entertained both by princes and people, of
another division in the Church, anathematized the refractory members
of the council, and rejected their decisions ; and for the purpose of ovep-
coming more surely the opposition of the Germans, gained over the craflj
Italian, ^neas Sylvius (afterwards Pius II.), who was private secretary
to the emperor Frederick IH. By the aid of this shrewd man, who is
also known as an author, the pope succeeded in winning over the weak
emperor to the Aschaffenburg concordat, by means of which, the Church
remained in its former state, and all the abuses and extortions, with a
few trifling exceptions, were continued. It was in vain that the patriot-
ically-minded Gregory of Heimburg advocated the liberties of the
Church and the rights of Germany with intelligence and eloquence;
abandoned by the emperor and most of the princes, the council, after a
little hesitation, recognized Eugenius's successor, Nicholas V., as lawful
pope, and then dissolved itself. In this way, the papacy came forth, for
the second time, victorious from the fight, but less by the inherent power
of truth than by unecdesiastical expedients.
DBGAY OF GHIVALRT AND COSBUS3X0N 07 THE CHUBCH. .175
& GESXAKT Uin>EB EBEDEBICK HI. AND HAXIXIIIAK I.
S.267« Whea the male line of tbe house of Luxemburg expired with
AibBitlLor Sigimond, his aon-in-law, Albert IL of Austria, ascended
Aiiain,A.D. the imperial throne of Germany, which from this time
1487-1439. remained in possession of the Hapsburg- Austrian family.
Albert was a well-disposed and energetic man; but as Bohemia and
Hungary engaged the whole of his exertions, he could effect nothing of
importance during the short period of his government His nephew,
Yf^^g^^ IQ^ Frederick IIL, was his successor in the empire, a prince en-
^ »• dowed with domestic virtues, but possessing slender talents
-1498. £.^j, government, and who opposed nothing to the troubles of
his lengthened reign but a dull and passive indifference. He looked
quietly on while the Turks took possession of Constantinople, and carried
their ravages into the hereditary territories of Austria, when Hungary
aod Bohemia elected native kings, when Charles the Bold of Burgundy
extended his dominions to the banks of the Rhine (§ 293), when Milan
and Lombardy were separated from the German empire (§ 261). In
Germany, the imperial authority fell into utter contempt, the princes
made themselves independent, and exercised the privilege of private
war&re without hesitation. The Swabian alliance was engaged in a
fvioas war with Albert (Achilles or Ulysses), the valiant margrave
of the Brandenburg territories in Franconia (Bayreuth), a war in which
nine battles were fought and 200 villages reduced to ashes. Tbe neigh-
borhood of the Rhine and tbe Neckar was desolated by the war of
^ the Palatinate, during which, the palgrave, Frederick the
"Victorious, gained a glorious victory near Seckenheim, and
Bade prisoners of his enemies, XJlrick of Wurtemburg, the margrave of
Baden, and the bishop of Metz ; but was unable to prevent the deposi-
tion of his ally, the banished archbishop. Dieter of Mayence,
in whose defence he had taken up arms.
§ 268. This state of disorder and self-redress increased the desire for
a fresh constitution of the empire. But as the princes refused to sacrifice
any of their real or pretended rights, every proposal that seemed likely to
increase the power of the emperor, or diminish that of the princes, encoun-
M»Timn4nn i^ tered a resolute opposition. At length, Maximilian I. agreed
A. j>. with the Electors, the secular and spiritual nobles, and the
iiM-i49«. representatives of the free towns, at the imperial diet at
A.D^14B6. Wo™^ to ^onn a constitution which restrained the right of
private warfare, but completely undermined the authority of
fte emperor. At this diet, the eternal Land-peace was established, and
^oy act of self-redress by arms forbidden, under pain of ban and out-
uwij. An imperial chamber was at oQce established to compose all
qnaoela among the members of the empire, and a short time afterwards,
176 THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
the empire was divided into ten circles. 1. The Austrian. 2. The BaTa-
rian. 3. The Swabian. 4. The Franconian. 5. The Rhenish Elec-
torate. 6. The Upper Rhenish. 7. The Lower Rhenish Westphalian.
8. Upper Saxonj. 9. Lower Saxony; and 10. The Bnrgnndian. Bj
this alteration, the power of the princes was raised to a stOl greater
height, so that at last thej could act in their own territories as absolute
rulers. The Swiss confederates, who were at that time in alliance
with France, refused to recognize the imperial chamber, and denied the
contingent of troops. Hereupon, Maximilian attempted to compel them
bj force of arms, but was worsted in the contest, and obliged
to forego his demands in the peace of Basle, and to admit
the independence of the Swiss of Germany.
§ 269. Maximilian's reign forms the transition period between the
middle age and the modem time. He himself, witli his stately aspect,
his bold and dangerous huntings, his valiant deeds in battle and tourna-
ment, may well be looked upon as the ^ last knight ** on the imperial
throne of Germany ; his love of the decaying chivalrous poetry, his mar-
riage with Mary of Burgundy, his wars in the Netherlands and in Italy,
are all stamped with the character of the middle age. On the other
hand, it was at this time that the commencements of a more refined poli-
tical science, and of a greater intercourse among nations, displayed them-
selves, which, combined witli new discoveries and inventions, brought
about the modem period.
VL HI8T0BY OF THE REMAINING EUROPEAN NATIONS DURING
THE MIDDLE AGE.
1. FBANCE.
a, FRANCE 17NDEB THE HOUSE OF CAPET.
§ 270. The first successors of Hugh Capet (§ 205) possessed but little
power and a narrow territory. The dukes and counts of the different
provinces looked upon the king, who, properly, was only lord of France,
as their equal, an^d only allowed him the first rank among themselves, in
so far as they were obliged to, recognize him as their feudal superior.
The nobles dared not weaken the rights that appertained to bim in this
capacity, lest they should afford an example of breach of faith to their own
subjects, and encourage them to similar behavior towards themselves. For
the rest, the possessions of the great vassals were independent counties
and principalities, which had no closer connection with the French throne
than the western territories on the Seine, Loire, and Garonne, which be-
longed to the king of England ; or the eastern (Burgundian) lands on
PRAKCE. 177
the Rhone and the Jam, which were portions of the German empire.
Bat in the attempt to increase the kinglj power, the house of Capet
were not less aided bj their good fortune than bj their wisdom. It was
fortunate, that, owing to the lengthened lives of most of their kings, the
throne was seldom vacant, that there was almost always a son of age to
succeed his father, and that, consequently, there was never an interregnum.
But it was wisdom in the first kings to have their eldest sons crowned
daring their lives, and to make them their partners in the government,
80 that, on the death of the father, little or no change was suffered. The
Lonis VIL ™*^ important kings after Hugh Capet were Louis VU.,
^^- who undertook the second crusade, and during his absence
Phm'^^*^ intrusted the government in France to the politic Abbot
kagastoB H., Suger of St. Denis ; Philip Augustus 11., who wrested Nor-
A- D* mandy and the other territories in the west from the.Enfflish
11M 19451
Lonvm ^^^9 ^^^^ Lackland ; and Louis VIII., who enlarged his
A.D. ' dominions on the south by the war against the Albigenses
1S28-12S6. (§ 228). j^ut the reigns which had the greatest influence
A^if^' upon the history of France were those of St Louis and
me -1270. Philip the Fair. The former improved the laws, and caused
the royal courts of justice to be looked upon as the highest in the land,
and the disputes of the nobles among themselves or with their vassals
to be brought before them for decision : the latter, on the other hand,
P]jQ{p ^^ increased the consequence of the towns by granting various
Fair, A. d. privileges and liberties to the citizens, and by being the first
1286-1814. who summoned the representatives of the towns to the diet
doring his contest with the pope. (§ 255). After the death of Philip's
three sons, who reigned one after the other, but left no male
heirs, the French throne passed .to the house of Yalob.
& FRANCE UNDER THE HOUSE OF VALOIS (a..D. 1328-1589).
S 271. Philip VL of Valois, brother's son of Philip the Fair, in-
PhOip VL herited the French throne. But Edward III. of England
A.D. also asserted his claims, as son of a daughter of Philip
18S8-1S47. ^jj^ YaAT. Without regard to the Salic law, which pro-
hibited the succession of females, he assumed the title of king of
France, and made war upon Philip. After a bloody con-
A.D.1846. ^^^ ^^ ^ £^^ years, the battle of Crecy was fought, in
which the English were the victors, and the flower of the French chi-
▼ahy, tc^ether with John, the blind king of Bohemia, fell on the field.
The possession of the important town of Calais was the fruit of the vie-
J«lm fba ^^* Philip died in the following year, and his son, John the
Good, A. D. Good, succeeded to the contested crown. Eager to obliterate
U47 - 1864. the memory of Crecy, he attacked the English army, which
Was under the command of Edward in.'s heroic son, the Black PrincOi,
178 THB HISTOBY OF THB KIDDLE AQIL
bat mdS&ni a dedsive defeat at Foictiers, and was obliged to pio*
oeed as a captive to the capital of England* Whilst he was abseat*
the kingdom was goTerned bj the crown prince (Danphin).
Dnrdig lus rule, an insurrection broke oat in Faxis and oTer
the whole land, which was attended with great derastations and oatzages»
until the imperfectly-armed citizens and peasants were sob*
^ ^' dued bj the French knights, and visited with severe punish-
ment. Shortly after this, a peace was ^tablished between France and
Ekigland, by which Calais and the south-west of France was
▲. D 1800 ' *
surrendered to the English, and a heavy ransom promised
for John, whilst Edward, on the other hand, renounced his pretensions
to the FilBftch thit>ne« But when the collection of the ransom money was
delayed, John voluntarily returned into captivity, and died
m London.
ChKlesV^ § 272, John's son, Charles V. (the Wise), healed the
A. n. wounds of his country. He quietod men's minds by his good
1864 -laso. jjjj^ gentle government, and by prudence and valor, reco-
vered the lands that had been lost on the Loire and the Garonne ; so that,
Vhen the Black Prince fell a victim to a wasting disease,
and Edward HI. shortly after followed him into the graven
nothing remained to the English of all their conquests but Calais. But
under his successor, Charles YLj who became insane shortly after coming
Charies VL, ^ ^^^ France again fell into a state of confusion and law-
X. D. lessness. Two powerful court parties, headed by the unde
18S0-14A2. of the king (the duke of Burgundy), and the king's brotber
(the duke of Orleans), contended for the government; whilst the buighers
rebelled against the heavy imposts, and demanded an increase of their
privileges. About the same, time in which the towns were waging war
against the knights in Germany (§ 261), the Swiss peasants were con-
tending against the nobility, and a dangerous popular insurrection, under
Wat Tyler and others, was making rapid progress in England, the citizen
and peasant class rose against the court and the nobility in Flanders and
France also. But want of union among the insurgents gave
the latter the victory, and the outbreak was followed by a
diminution of the privileges of the people. The Burgundian party
fkrored the citizens, the Orleans party the nobility.
§ 273. The chivalrous king, Henry Y. of England, took advantage
of these circumstances to renew the war with France. He demanded the
former possessions back again ; and when this was refused, he entered
France by Calais, and renewed at Agincoyrt, on the Somme,
A. n. 1416. ^j^^. ^yg ^ Crecy and Foictiers. The French army, four
times the number of its opponents, was overthrown, and the flower of the
French chivalxy either fell in the field, or were taken prisoners by die
enemy ; notlung stood between the victor and Farisi where party violenoa
FRANCE. 179
had just now attained its highest point, and murders and insurrections
were matters of dail j occurrence. The Orleans party joined the Dau-
phin, whilst the Burgundian party, with the queen Isabella, united them-
selves with the English, and acknowledged Henry Y. and his descendants
as the heirs of the French crown. The whole of the country to the north
^ of the Loire was soon in the hands of the English. But
A> D. 1422.
Henry Y. was snatched away by death in the midst of his
heroic course, in the same year in which the crazy Charles YI. sank into
the grave, and the Dauphin took possession of the throne under the title
Charics vn ^^ Charles YII. But this made little difference to France.
A. D. The English and their allies prodaimed Henry YI., who was
14S2>1461. scarcely a year old, the rightful ruler of the country, and
retuned their superiority in the field, so that they already h^d Orleans
in siege.
S 274. In this necessity, the Maid of Orleans, a peasant
girl of Dom Remy in Lorraine, who gave out that she had
been summoned to the redemption of France by a heavenly vision,
aroused the sinking courage <i Charles and his soldiers. Under her
banner, the town of Orleans was delivered, the king conducted to Rheims
to be crowned, and the greater part of their conquests wrested from the
English. The faith in her heavenly mission inspired the French with
courage and self-confidence, and filled the English with fear and despair.
This effect remained after Joan of Arc had fallen into the
hands of the latter, and had been given up to the flames on
a pretended charge of blasphemy and sorcery. The English lost one
province after another ; and when Philip the Good of Burgundy recon-
A.D.ii8(. ^^ himself with the king, Calais soon became their last
and only possession in the land of France. Paris opened
A. Dw IMS. jtg gates and received Charles with acclamations. He reigned
over France in peace for twenty-five years ; but he was a weak man, who
suffered himself to be guided by women and favorites. He was followed
Louis XL ^^ Louis XI., a crafty but politic prince, who, by cunning,
A. D. violence, and unexampled tyranny, rendered the power of
1461-14S8. the throne absolute, and enlarged and consolidated his em-
pire. He robbed the nobility of all their choicest privileges, and gradu-
ally united all the great fiefs with the crown. He then, by the assistance
of the Swiss (whose hardy youth he and his successor engaged as merce-
naries), overthrew Charles the Bold, and made himself master of the
ChuiMYm^ dukedom of Burgundy. The stings of conscience and the
A. D. 1468- fear of men tortured him in the lonely castles where he
^^ spent the last years of his life. His two successors, Charles
A D. 14M - ^^^' ^^^ Louis XIL, conquered Brittany, but dissipated
uu. the strength of the kingdom in their expeditions to Italy.
180 THE HI8T0RT OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
2. ENGLAND.
HeiiryH ^ ^^^' With Henry IL, of 'Anjou, the great-grandson of
A.D. 1154- William the Conqueror (§ 207), the renowned race of Flan-
1189. tagenet ascended the English throne. They possessed much
land on the Loire and the Garonne, and as Normandy also belonged to
the English, the whole of the west of France was in the power of the
kings of England. Many quarrels and battles arose from this state of
things, for the kings of France laid claim to the rights of feudal suprema-
cy over these western lands, which rights the English kings refused to
render. Henry II., a contemporary of Frederick Barbarossa, was a
powerful and intelligent regent, who acquired especial renown by his
improvement in the administration of the laws. In furtherance of this
object, he attempted, by the Constitutions of Clarendon, so to limit the
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, that the clergy should be subject to the royal
tribunals in temporal matters, without any appeal to the pope. Upon
this point, Henry had a violent contest with the archbishop of Canterbury,
Thomas a BeckeL Becket rejected the Constitutions of Clarendon, and
dismissed every priest that submitted to them ; and when he was threat-
ened with legal proceedings, he quitted England and anathematized
Henry. But an arrangement was brought about, for a short time, by the
intervention of the pope. But scarcely was Becket returned to Canter-
bury, when he resumed all his former severity against the clergy who
received the Constitutions of Clarendon. The king, who was just then
in arms against France, suffered an exclamation of discontent against
Becket to escape him, which induced four of his servants to hasten to
England, and to slaughter the archbishop on the steps of the
altar. This sacrilegious deed occasioned universal horror,
and procured the pope a complete triumph in England. The murderers
were punished, the Constitutions of Clarendon abolished, and Thomas a
Becket canonized. Thousands made pilgrimages to his altar ; and the
king, a few years afterwards, gave a memorable example of his peni-
tence, by suffering the monks to scourge his bare shoulders at the grave
of the martyr.
§ 276. Two of Henry's sons survived their father; Richard Lionheart
Richard Lion- (§ 22^)) ^^^ John Lackland. Much as the former distin-
heart, a. d. guished himself by his courage and chivalrous daring, his
1189 -1199. ygjgn ^as not advantageous to England. The latter was
John Lack- worsted in every contest in which he engaged. In the first
land, ▲. D. place, he lost Normandy, and all the hereditary possessions
1199 - 1216. ^£ jj|g house on the Loire and the Garonne, to the shrewd
and enterprising Philip Augustus of France; and when he got involved
ENGLAND. 181
in a quarrel with the pope, about the appointment to the chair of the
archbishopric of Canterbury, in consequence of which the holy father
pronounced an anathema and interdict upon England, released his sub-
jects from iheir oath of allegiance, and summoned the king of France to
take possession of the land, John humbled himself, surrendered the
throne of England by a solemn act to the pope, and received it back
again from the hands of the legate as a papal fief, in return for a yearly
tribute of 1000 marks. John was now released from the interdict, and
the French king fori>idden to prosecute the expedition against him. En-
raged at this disgraceful transaction of a king, who, by his severity, arbi-
trariness, and cruelty, had embittered every dass against himself, the
nobles of England seized their arms and compelled John, by
the grant of the great charter (Magna Charta), in a meadow
' "l^ndaor (Runnymede), to lay the foundation of the free constitution
Henzy IIL, <^ England. The long reign of John's son, Henry IIL, was
A. D. me- favorable to the growth of liberty, melancholy as, on the
^^^ whole, the condition of the land under him was. His ex-
travagant profuseness to favorites, and the exactions of the papal legates
and the Italian clergy, inflicted grievous wounds on the prosperity of the
country, and at length drove the people to rebel and seize upon the king
and his family, till the abuses were removed, and fresh liberties granted.
§ ^77. Henry HI. was succeeded by his chivalrous son, Edward L,
EdwazdL whose reign is rendered memorable by a succession of
▲.!>. 1373- bloody wars. He added the hitherto independent Wales to
^^' his dominions, introduced there the laws and constitution
of England, and was the first who gave the title of Prince of Wales to
the heir to the throne. Upon a quarrel for the crown break-
^ ^* ing out shortly after ii^ Scotland, between Robert Bruce and
John Baliol, in which he was chosen umpire, Edward took advantage of
the opportunity to establish the much contested feudal superiority of the
English kings over Scotland, and decided in favor of Baliol, who was
ready to do him homage. This irritated the Scotch, who were proud of
their independence. They seized the sword, and under the conduct of
heroic knights like Wallace, fought many battles for their liberties which
are renowned in song and legend. Furious contests drenched the phiins
of the Bonih of Scotland with the blood of heroes; Wallace died as a
prisoner by the axe of the executioner. The coronation stone of the
Scottish kings at Soone was brought to London, where it still orna-
ments Westminster Abbey ; Edward's victorious host marched through
the whole of Scotland as far as the Highhinds, and yet the Scots still
maintained their independence. Robert Bruce, the grandson of the
before-mentioned cani^date for the throne, after many changes of for-
tune,'obtained possession of the crown, which became hereditary in his
family, and passed at length to the related house of Stuart.
16
182 THB HI8T0BT OF THE UIDDLE AQE.
Edward's son of the same name was a weak prince, wbo poisM neklier
Edwitfd Q. 11^0 conquests abroad, nor preserre peace and order at
A. D. 1807- home. The nobles repeatedly took up aims against hira,
un7. killed bos &v(Mite8» and at last looked quiatlj ob, whilst the
queen and her paramonr, Mortimer, tbrost the nnfortnnala monaroh f«Mn
^ throne, and had him put to a cruel death in prison. Bat when his
Bdward m. en^i'getic SOB, Edward IIL, came of i^ge^ he pmisfaed tbe
A. i>. 18S7- atrocious deed hy executing Mortimer, and banishing the
1877. queen to a solitary fortress.
§ 278. Edward m. governed with vigor and renom. He took saea-
iores for checking the encroachments of the pope upon the English
Church, in which he was activdj supported bj the Oxford professor,
Widiff, and granted to manj towns the privilege of sending represent-
atives to parliament, as his predecessors had before done. By this meaaa*
the niunber of representatives increased to such an extent that they were
divided, and from this time, the nobles and bishops fonned the Upper
House (House of Peers), and the members for the towns, the Lower
House (House of Commons), of Parliament lie tax could be impoaed
without their consent. The wars of succession which Edward IIL aod
his son, the Black Prince, waged with Fiance, were to the advantage of
the English (§ 271). B\it the government of his grandson and successor,
Bichaid n. Bichard H., was disturbed by domestic troubles ; a danger-
A. D. 1877- ous insurrection of the people was only suppressed with
18M. difficulty by the ready courage of the king; and when Bich-
aid at length banished his cousin, Henry of Lancaster, who was the
originator of the disturbances, from the kingdom, Henry formed a party,
had the king deposed from the throne by an act of parliament, and then
Hotue of assumed himself the royal title. Bichud died of starvation
LancMter. in a remote castle, whilst Henry lY., in whose person the
Henry IV,, house of Lancaster ascended the English throne, was secnr-
A. D. 1899 - ing to himself and his posterity, by his prudence and valor,
1418. ^^ crown he had so flagitiously obtained. An insurrectioa
of the English nobles under the duke of Northumberland and his heroic
spn Percy, sumamed Hotspur, ended with the defeat of the insurgents.
The followers of Wicliff, called Lollards, were persecuted for the sake of
propitiating the clergy in favor of the royal house. Heniy lY. was suc-
jl^gj^ y, ceeded by his more valiant son, Henry Y., whose youthful
A. D. 1418- follies, as well as his nobleness of soul and heroic greatness,
2^83. bave been portrayed in so masterly a way by the great
British poet, Sfaakspeare. He conducted successiul wars with France,
but all that he gained by his fortune and courage was again lost in the
reign of his infant son, Henry YL
§ 279. This sixth Henry was the most unfortunate prince that ever
sat on a throne. The crown of France, which he had received whea
SPAIN. 183
a child of one year old ($ 274), was wrested from bkn by tbe Maid of
HenxyVL Orleans, and he was deprived of his English possessions,
A. i>. 141S " also) by the wars of the Bed and the White Roses. Ridiaid,
iMl* duke of York, great-grandson of king Edward III., deemed
that he had better pretensions to the erown of England than Henry VL
He formed a powerfal party, unfurled tlie banner of rebellion, and com-
menced the bloody civil war which, from the cognizance borne by the
chiefs of the parties, was called the War of the Bed (Lancaster) and
White (York) Rose. It is true that Richard was defeated in a furions
battle by the forces of the queen, who ornamented his head with a paper
Hoaseof crown, and placed it upon the battlements of York. But
York. Richard's eldest son, the chivalrous Edward, revenged the
Edward IV., insults offered to his father. He got possession of the throne,
A. !>. 1461 - and, despite the many changes of fortone he met with during
^*^' his reign, he finally maintained himself upon it, after Henry
of Lancaster, who had four times exchanged the crown for a prison, had
ended his miserable existence in the Tower, and his son had been put to
death. But the blood-stained throne brought no blessing to the house of
Yozk. Edward first got rid of his brother Clarence by assassination ;
and when he himself died, leaving behind him two infant princes, his
Bichaid IIL, JoiiK^g^r bro&er, Richard (HI.), had these put to deatli in
A. i>. 1488- the Tower, and took possession of the throne, upon which he
^^^ in vain hoped to secure himself by fresh crimes. Henry
Tudor, a deseradant of the royal house of Lancaster^^wiio had saved faim-
sdf from the general ruin of his family by fiying to France^ landed on
A. D. I486. ^® ^^^^^^ ^ England, and won crown and victory in the field
of Bosworth, where Bichard w^ slain. Upon this, Heiiry
Tudor. Vn., with whom the house of Tudor rose to the throne,
Henry VIL brought about a reconciliation between the Boses by marry-
A.D.1486- ing the daughter of Edward IV. The history of thd world
^^^ scarcely relates another war in which so many atrocities
were committed as in the contest between the Bed and the White Bose.
Eighty members of royal families, and the ornaments of the nobility, fell
by die sword. Owing to this, the politic and hard-hearted Henry YH.
could give greater power to the crown than it had possessed tinder the
Pkntagenets.
d. SPAIK.
§ 280. For several centuries, the two kingdoms of Aragon and Castile
(§ 194) stood side by side in separate mdependence; The former at-
tempted to extend itself towards the east, and gained possession, not only
jyi^yo^ Y of the coast lands of Catalonia, Valentia, and Murcia, and the
A. Ik 1416— Spanish islands, Majorca and Minorca, but subjected, at differ-
^^^ ent times, Sardinia and Sicily, and ia the reign of Alfonso Y.,
184 THB HISTO&T OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
even conquered Naples. Castile, on the other hand, enlai]^ itself oo
the south, and bj sucoessful wars against the Moors, gained possession of
Ck>rdova, Seville, and Cadiz. These contests had the greatest influence
on the history and character of the Spanish nation. First, Thej produced
a love of war and a chivalrous turn of mind, and were the occasioii that
the Spanish nation took delight in contests and arms, in tournaments and
knightly exercises, and in romantic poetry and minstrelsy. Secondly,
They preserved the zeal for religion, and were the foundation of that pre-
dominance of the clergy which has always been a characteristic of Spcun.
Thirdly, They aroused a feeling of liberty and self-reliance among the
people, — hence the Spanish Estates, which assembled regularly in the
Cortes, and claimed and exercised privileges which were to be met with
in no other monarchy. The Estates of Aragon not only possessed the
right of legislating and of consenting to the levying of taxes, but the king
was obliged to consult them in the choice of his council. Quarrek
between the Estates and the king were decided by an independent chirf
justice (Justitia).
§ 281. The chivakons Peter UL, the conqueror of Sicily (§ 240), k
the best known of the Aragonian kings, and Alfonso X., the Wise, of the
Alfonso X., Castilian. The latter occupied himself with astronomy and
▲. D. 1262- astrology, with music and poetry, enlarged the university
^^' of Salamanca, encouraged the development of the national
language, and had works prepared on history and jurisprudence ; but he
was wanting in the practical wisdom of life. To gain the shadow of the
imperial Roman throne, and to gratify his taste for magnificence and
pleasure, he oppressed his people with taxes, and plunged his land into
confusion by extravagance, and by debasing the coinage. Alfonso XI.
AlfoDBo XL, overcame the Moors on the river Sakdo, and took the strong
1810 ^^* ~ ^^^9 Algeciras, in Andalusia. To defray the expenses of
the war, the Estates introduced the tax, alcavala, which was
A. D. 1840. levied upon all movable and immovable property as often
as it was sold or exchanged, and which proved extremely detrimental to
trade and commerce. This impost has continued to exist in Spain ever
Peter the since. Alfonso's son, Peter the Cruel, outraged his wives,
Cmel, A. D. his brothers and relatives, the nobles and the people, so long,
1860-1869. ti^t at length his half-brother, with the assistance of some
French troops, overcame and killed him, and then assumed his place.
Isabella, The marriage of queen Isabella of Castile, with Ferdinand
A. D. 1474- i^Q Catholic of Aragon, led to the union of the two king-
Ferdiaand, doms,^ and consequently to a new epoch for Spain, towards
A.D. 1479- the conclusion of the fifteenth century.
'^^^^' § 282. Ferdinand and Isabella, directed by the counsels
of the shrewd cardinal Ximenes, strove for a common object ; — they
sought to diminish the power of the nobility and clergy, and exalt that
SPAIN. 186
<tf the crown. For this purpose, Ferdinand obtained from the pope the
grand mastership of the three wealthy orders of Castilian knights, and
the privilege of filling up the Spanish bishoprics. He next deprived the
nobility of the administration of justice, that he might transfer it to the
royal courts, and established the armed Hermandad (police), to preserve
the peace of the land, and to abolish robbery and private warfare. But
the most important means of raising the power of the throne was the
court of Inquisition, in which the king had the appointment of the grand
inquisitor and all the judges. This royal court of faith, provided with
spiritual weapons, was not only the terror of heretics and secret Moham-
medans and Jews, but held the nobility and clergy in awe, and imposed
heavy chains upon the free activity of the mind. The slightest suspi-
cion, the false testimony of an enemy, might lead to the frightful dun-
geons of the Inquisition, where the most dreadfhl tortnres of the rack
were employed to force a confession of guilt, and wiles, equivocations,
and insnaring questions were made use of to entrap the resolute. Num-
berless victims were given up to the flames in the midst of pomp and
magnificence (auto de £6), or pined away their lives in mouldering dun-
geons, whilst the treasury of the state was enriched with their property.
Never were the throne and altar united in a bond so dangerous to the
liberties of the people, as in Spain since the establishment of the Inquisition.
§ 283. The banishment of the Moors is one of the most melancholy
phenomena in Spanish history. When the Moorish kingdom of Grana^
' da, afker a war of ten years, fell before the arms of Ferdinand and Isa-
bella, the Mohammedans were allowed no alternative but to leave their
country or embrace Christianity ; hereupon, many of them quitted their
native land, others, with inward repugnance, adopted the doctrines of the
Gospel, but were driven, by the cruelty of the Inquisition and the op-
pression of the government; to repeated rebellions, by which their condn
tion was always rendered worse than before. But their lot was most de-
plorable under the fanatical Philip II. and his successor of the same
name. A command was first given that they should renounce their lan-
guage, their national dress, and their peculiar customs ; and as if even
this tyrannical order were not sufficient to destroy the last traces of their
Arabian origin and their foreign faith, they were mercilessly driven
away from the Spabish territory. 800,000 Moors, men and women, old
men and children, left the land of their birth, their blooming fields, and
the houses their own hands had built. The flourishing plains of the
south soon became a desert, agriculture decayed, and trade stagnated ;
prosperous villages were reduced to ruins, towns once animated by com-
merce became depopulated, poverty, dirt, and sloth, took possession of the
once rich and happy country, the departed splendor of which is still
attested by magnificent ruins. A simiUr fate attended the Jews ; priesta
and courtiers divided the possessions and treasures of the banished.
16»
186 IHB HI8T0BY Off TBB BIIDDLB AQE.
The destructioa of &e priTil^^ of the Estates and of tfae libertiea
of the people, were also consequences of this nuadaeToas union between
the orown and the altar.
4. ITALT,
a. UPPEB ITALT.
§ 284. In Upper Italy, the two republics of Venice and Genoa raised
themselves by their trade and navigation, to a prosperi^ that recals the
memoiy of the most flourishing period of ancient Greece. Yenioe
directed her view to the Adriatic and iEgean seas, and sought to make
conquests on their coasts for the purpose of obtainmg suitable havensy
marts, and magazines ; as those in Dalmatia, Greece, the Archipelago,
Constantinople, and many other places. This remarkable city, which
had originated from the nmoa of several islands, became rich and powers
ful by her oriental traffic Magnificent churches (the cathedral of St
Mark), gorgeous palaces (that of the doge), splendid squares (the place
of St Mark), boldly constructed bridges (that of the BiaHo), made
Yenioe a wonder of the world. But magnificence, wealth, and pleasuresy
could not make amends for the want of freedom. The original \
cratic constitution was changed, during the thirteenth and fourteenth <
turies, into an oppressive hereditary aristocracy. An elected doge, widi
limited authority, stood at the head of the state ; but the whole power
rested in the high councilt to which only a limited number of noble fami-
lies (nobili), whose names were written in the golden book, had admia-
sion. For the puipose of preventing any alteration in the oonstitntiQa
of the state, a council of ten persons were furnished with dictatorial
power, and provided with a state police of spies and informers, and a
state Inquisition with subterraneous dungeons, radu, and leaden roofs.
Every motion was watched, every word listened to, every movement of
the people observed.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centurieSi Venice attempted to extend
her rule on the Italian continent, and obtained possession, by the help of
skilful generals, of Verona, Padua, Brescia, and many other cities and
territories of Upper Italy. By this means, however, she came into hos*
tile contact with other European states, and was not unfrequently threat-
ened with destructioa, particularly in the beginning of the
sixteenth century, by the league of Cambray, in which, the
emperor Maximilian, Louis XIL of France, Ferdinand the Catholic of
Aragon, and pope Julius IL, united together for the purpose of dividing
the Venetian territory, The French were already threatening the wealthy
dty, when the Venetian council succeeded in dividing the league, and
gaining over the pope and Ferdinand. In this manner, Venice was
saved, and the French driven out of Italy. But the wounds which
Venice received in h^ eastern possesuons by the establishment of the
iXAur. 197
Ottxmm Brnpsd^m^im. her iatdftibfihB diaeoTerjof a §m pMS^^ to
&e East Indies, were inenrable. Siooe Ibeiiy the aUegoriod niftrriiige of
the doge wkh the Admde in tbe 9bkt» ▼eeael, the BiieenUKiir» has been a
ovremonj wHhoat a meaniiig*
§ 286. Grenoa waa the pvood rival of Venice. The nictual jealouay of
the two refmblics respeotiDg the trade with the Baat was the ooeasicm of
many wan and maojr bloody nayal eagagements^ in which, however, Yeniee
was generallj the victor. Grenoa's splendid marble palaces, her havens
corered with a forest of maeta, and her exchange, bore witness to her
wealth. But quarrels betwoMi deniocrats and amtocrats, between Guelfs
^Fieschi and Grimaldt) and Ghibeliines (Spinok and Dona), weakened
her intenial strength. Incapable of governing herself she sought for
foreign riders, till at length she fell alternately under the power of the
French and Milanese. The excellent constitution which the
naval hero, Andreas Doria, planned in the sixteenth century
for his native aty, after he had overthrown the French government
there, and bronght back the republican forms, restored the state to its
eetward Independeoce, b«i by no liieaqs to its internal tranquillity.
^ Twenty years later, the handsome, rich, and accomplished
Fiesco attempted to deprive the house of Doria of the cSLce
0f dege ; but the eaterprise was frustrated by the unexpected death of
€ke daring ocmspirator.
{ Sd6b Milan cama gtadeally under the government of the wealthy
&mily ^ Visoonti, who obtaised the dacal tide from the emperor, and
^oaqfoered Ae greater part of Lombardy by the aid of condottieri and
mercenary troq)e. When the male Ime of the Yisconti became extinct
in the middle of the fifteenth century, the Milanese trans-
ferred the sovereignty of their beautiful land, which was
ajned at both by the French and Spaniards, to Franpisco Sforza, the
most able of these condottieri. The conquest of the country
by Louis XII. of France was facilitated by quarrels in
8forza's fiunily. Louis earned away the duke (Louis Moro) prisoner,
and suffered him to pine for ten years in a subterranean dungeon. The
French were indeed driven out of Italy a few years later, and the spn
of the captive Moro raised to the dukedom of Milan ; but the first war-
like action of the diivalrous Francis I. was the ^' battle of
giants " of Mari^anos m which the duke and his Swiss were
drfeated, and Milan agmn joined to the French kmgdom. Ten years
afterwards, the dukedom fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who
remamed in possession of it for nearly two hundred years.
§287. The western states of Upper Italy fell, for the most part» under
the power of the eoonts of Savoy, who, by prudence, good fortune, and
fivoe of arms, gradually enlarged their originally narrow territory to a
dukedom, which extended northward over the south of Switoerland to
188 THE HI8T0RT OV 1!HB lODDLB AeS.
Jura (Geneva, VaQd, Yalois), and indaded on the soath, Piedmont, wiA
Turin, the county of Moe, and other territories. Bat when the waifike
Swiss confederates on the north, and on the west, France, which was
now united into a powerful kingdom, became the neigfaboro of SaYOT^a
frontiers, its drcomdference began gradually to lessen. The Yalois was
lost in the Burgundian war (§ 298), Geneva freed itself during the con-
tests of the Reformation, and in the wars which Frauds L carried on with
Charles V., for the possession of Milan, duke Chaiies UL of Savoy, die
ally of the latter, lost the greater part of his hereditary estates, which
his son again received, with some loss, at the peace of Caia-
bresis. But his successors, by taking advantage of favorable
opportunities, amply repaid themselves for their losses by conquests in
other quarters (Saidinia, Genoa), and at length obtained possession of the
kingly power.
h. MIDDLB AND LOWEB ITALT.
§ 2dd. The trading town of Pisa was the first to flourish in Tuscany.
When this city had fallen before the army of the Genoese, Florence
raised itself above the other towns, and at length reduced Pisa itself to
subjection. Florence was at first governed by the nobility ; but when
this class had been weakened by the party ccmtentions of the Guelft
(Black) and Ghibellines (White), the government was obtiuned by the
people, who were divided into guilds, and who consbted, for the most pait^
* of masters of manufactories and workers in wool. But scarody waa a
complete democracy established in Florence, when a new quarrri ftr
supremacy sprang up between the rich merchants and the poorer aztisaiia,
the result of which was, that the state was governed alternately by a
money aristocracy and by the democratic guilds. Love of freedom,
patriotism, and refinement were developed in the midst of these contests,
so that Florence might be compared to the ancient Ath«i6. At length,
the wealthy family of the Medici succeeded in so completely winning to
themselves the affections of the poor by their kindness and benevcrfeDce^
GoBinode '^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^® illustrious by their friendly affability, diat
Medici, a. d. Gosmo de Medici, a man of lofty mind and patriotic spirit,
1418-1464. without assuming either rank or title, governed the Floren-
tine state with almost unlimited power, and rendered it flourishing
and powerful by successful wars abroad, and by encouragement of the
arts and sciences at home. To him belongs by right the surname of
« Father of his Country."
Lorenzo the ^ ^^^' Ck>smo's grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent, trod
Kagnificent, in thc'path of his ancestors, and rendered Florence the seat
1472-1492. of every art and science, and a seminary for all Europe.
His court was ornamented with artists, poets, and writers ; learned men
from Byzantium, who were fiying firom the sword of the Turks, taught
ITALY. 180
Ae Grieek language and literature in Florence. Tinder hw rale, the
arts of flcalpturey painting, and music began to unfold their choicest
Uoasoms. After Lorenzo's death, the animated discourses of the Domi-
nican, Sayon^brola, induced the Florentines to drive out the Medici, and
to restore the democratic republic But when the pope excommunicated
the bold ** prophet of Florence," and the priests, against whose wealth
and luxarions lives his zeal had been chiefly directed, rose against him,
his enemies succeeded in effecting his overthrow ; upon which, he was
ecmdemned to be burnt as a disturber of the Church and a corrupter of
the people. The Medici soon returned ; and when a demo-
cratic spirit, after some time, again awoke, and a second ban-
ishment followed, the emperor, Charles V., having an understanding with
the Medidan pope, Clement VIL, marched upon Florence, compelled it to
surrender after a close siege, and placed the cruel Alexander
de Medici as duke over the humbled republic. Alexander,
after many years' tyranny, was killed by the people, but the government,
nevertheless^ remained in the hands of the Medici. Among the many
IQ^jj^j^ artists and writers that lived about this time in Florence,
Ang^o, ▲. p.* Michael Angelo, who was equally distinguished as an archi-
1474—1668. foQi^ sculptor, and painter ; and the clever statesman, Mac-
IfMchiavelli, chiavelli, author of "The Prince," the "History of Flo-
A. D. 1527. rence," and ** Discourses on Titus Livius," are the most
distiDgQifihed names.
$ 290. During the residence of the popes in Avignon (§ 255), violence
and lawlessness, occasioned by the bloody family quarrels of the Colonna
and Qrsini, ha^ reigned in the ecclesiastical state of Home. This inspired
G>]a di Bienzi, a man filled with enthusiasm for ancient Rome, with the
project of bringing back peace and the ancient greatness to the state by
the restoration of the republican constitution. Uis fiery eloquence trans-
ported the Romans. They established a ne^ republican
Rome, raised the popular orator to the office of tribune, and
drove the nobles from their walls. But Rienzi's splendid part was soon
played oat Pride and vanity blinded him ; oppressive taxes deprived
him of the favor of the people ; so that his enemies, succeeded in procur-
ing his overthrow, and compelled him to fly. He returned, indeed, a few
years after, but it was only to meet with his death in a popu-
^^' lar commotion. After arranging the division in the Church
(S 263), a few distinguished popes made an attempt to heal the wounds
of the state and the Church. Among these, may be particularly men-
A.i>. tioned Nicholas Y., the founder of the Vatican library, and
1450- i4eo. Plus n. (JRosaB Silvias, § 266), known as a clever and ver-
satile writer, — both of them patrons of cultivation and science. On
the other hand, Alexander YI. (Borgia) was the scandal of all Chris-
tendom bj his abandoned life, and his fimiily (Caesar and Lucretia Bor«
190 Tm HI8T0BT OF THB MIDBLB AOS.
gia, in particalar) were gailtj of ftightfol criineB. Alezaadei's snoeefltor,
Jalias IL, posseased a magnaniinaas diapoaitioQ, but Ym pi»*
sion for war suited in with his spiritoal office. He mardwd
into the field himself, and enlarged the poaBcoaions of the Chmeh bj the
addition of Bologna, Aneona, Ferrara, and other towns and territorieSi
Leo X^ the highl j accomplished son of Lorenzo de Medio, united in
the Vatican all the splendor of art and refinement as aa inheritance of
his house. But in studying the productions of Greek and Boman pagan-
ism, he lost sight of the doctrine of the Church and of reverence he the
Gospel ; yet he taxed the religious faith of the people by the sale of
Raphael indulgences, that he might be able to support the expense of
A. D. building the magnificent church of St. Peter, and to rewsni
1488 - 1620. artists with a liberal hand. The « divine "^ painter, Baphad,
was the ornament of his court.
In Ferrara, during the fifteenth century, reigned the younger branch
of the house of Este, which was not less distinguished for refinement
and encouragement of the arts and sciences than the MedicL Ariosto,
the writer of ^ Orlando Furioso," and Torquato Tasso, the poet of *^ Jeni-
salem Delivered," were the ornaments of the ducal court (^Ferrara.
§ 291. The descendants of Charles of Anjou reigned in Naples, which,
since the fiill of the house of Hohenstaufen (§ 289, 240), had become a
papal fief. The Guelfic party found in them as zealous defenders, as the
Ghibelline in the kings of Sicily of the princely house of Aragon. Two
wicked queens, Joanna L and Joanna XL, filled the kinsdom
Joanna L . • « , , « . „« , ,%
A. D. 1848- ^"* *<^ ®^ cruelty, war, and confusion. The latter, before
18S2. her childless departure, named, first, an Aragonian, and afie^
Joanna H, wards a French prince, fi>r her heir, and by this means pn>-
A. D. 1414— doced two pardes, a French and an Aragonian, that oon-
^**** tended till the end of the fifteenth century, with great bitte^
ness and various success, for the possession of Naples, till Frederick the
Catholic of Aragon at length gsdned possession of it by caA
and the success of his arms, and again united it with Sicilj.
The kingdom of Naples and Sicily remained subject to the Spanicb
sceptre for two hundred years, and was governed by a vice-king. In-
O'ease of taxation, and the destruction of the privileges of the Estates,
gradually produced poverty and loss of fireedom.
5. THS NEW BUBOUKDIAIT TEBBITOBT.
PhiUp the S 292. Philip the Bold had received the dukedom of Bo^
Bold, A. D. gondy from his father, king John of France, in ^» He
1868-1404. united to this, by inheritance and marriage, die Burgtm^
John sans Franche Comtd, formerly an appanage of the German em-
Penr, A. D. pire, ttid the rich lands of Flanders, together with Axtdt)
1404-1419. Mechlin, Antwerp, Mid some other towns. EQa 80% i^
BUBfiUNPT. 191
mmTwr, and has gnndaoiiy Plulip the Gootl^ eiztanded their possetdanft
ym^ y^ BtiU &rther oyer tlie oUier states of the Netherlaads^ and
flood, A. D. established a kingdom that, in ciYiligatkm, indostry, and pros-
liu-1467. parity, oonld Tie with Italj* Philip the Good was one of the
most powerful and richest princes of his time, and his Netherknd chivalry
were distinguished by their q>lendor, adroitness, and polished manners*
The weidthy trading and manufacturing towns of Ghent, Brussels, Ant-
werp, Bruges, Louvain, &Qb, possessed great privileges and liberties, and
a warlike militia.
S 293. Philip's son, Charles the Bold, enlaiged the dukedom and raised
Onriesthe ^^ splendw of the chivalrous court to the highest point
Bol(^A.]>. He was a man of vigor, oourage, and warlike spirit; but
1467—1477. ambition and violent passions rendered him rash, insolent,
and obstinate. His efforts were directed to the enlargement of his duke-
dom into a Gallo-Burgundian kingdom, with the Rhine for its eastern
boundary. But his undertakings were frustrated by the crafty and faith-
less Louis XL of France. For when Charles the Bold threatened the
doke ui Lorraine (whose lands and chief city, Nancy, he was longing
fiir), with war, Louis brought about an alliance between Lorraine and
the Swiss. Hereupon, Charles, with a stately and splendidly equipped
aimy, marched across the Jura against the Swiss, but suffered such a
defeat in the battle of Granson, that the survivors were dis-
'. persed in disorderly flight; and the admirable artillery,
together with a magnificent camp, filled with costly stuffs, gold, silver,
sod precious stones, fdl into the hands of an enemy who did not know
their value. Maddened by this disgrace, Charles, a few months afler-
waids, marched with a firesh army against the confederates. But the
battle of Murten ended in the same way : the victors were again enriched
with an enormous booty ; Berne wrested the Yalais from the royal house
of Savoy, which was in alliance with Burgundy, and the duke of Lor-
nine again gained possession of his lands, whidi had been seized upon
by Charles. Misfortune confused the mind of the Burgundian duke :
blind with rage, and meditating nothing but vengeance, he rejected every
proposal of accommodation, and marched for the third time against the
enemy, who were prepared for the encounter. But in January, 1477,
his army suffered a third frightful overthrow in the froaen fields before
^ttcj, partly by the swords of the brave Svriss, Alsacians, and Lor-
niaers, and partly by the treachery of his Italian condottieri. Charles
himself was killed in a frozen morass during the fight.
§ 294. Afier the death of Charles, Louis XI. seized upon the i»oper
dnhedom of Burgundy (Boutgogne), as a vacant fief of the French
ctown, and attempted to get possession of the other lands. At this jnnc-
t.%,im ture, Charies's daughter, Mary, was married tothechival-
rous Maximilian of Austriat who overcame the Frend^
192 THK mSTOBT OF IHB MIDDLE AG&
and compelled them to reUnqiiish their parpoee. Mary di^ ahortlj afieip*
wards by a faU from her horse, whibt hawking. The French king again
renewed his treacherous intrigues for the purpose of exciting the towns
of the Netherlands against Maximilian, who had been appointed guard-
ian of his infant son, Philip of Burgundy. Ghent fell off; the guilds of
Bruges kept him for some time a prisoner ; Brabant wavered ; but never-
theless, Maximilian, by his courage and conduct, brought the whole of
the Netherlands to acknowledge his rights of guardianship. Philip's
son, Charles (V.), who was bom to him by the Spanish Joanna, and who
was bom in the beginning of the century at Ghent, inheri-
ted all the lands of his parents and grandparents. Tet his
heart was with the rich, cultivated, and industrious Netherlands, which
he had united into a whole by the acquisition of Utrecht, Gueldres, and
some other towns, and added to the Grerman empire, under the title of
the JBurgundian Circle.
6. SCANDINAYIA.
§ 295. Afler the daring sea expeditions and wanderings of the Nor-
mans and Danes (§ 204, 206) had ceased, an enterprising prince was
here and there successful in raising himself above the other heads of
tribes (fylken kings), and in founding a kingdom by uniting seven!
tribes (fylken) together. This was effected in Norway by Handd Fair-
A. D. 876. ^^ * ^^ Denmark, by Gorm the Old ; and in Swedeuy^ by
the Ynglians. But it was wi^h reluctance that the warlike
Norman chiefs bowed beneath the authority of a supreme
king, and many of the discontented renewed the expeditions by sea, and
sought for a new home abroad. Thus, BoUo (Robert) in Normandy
(§ 205). The contests of the kings with the chiefs of the tribes lasted
for many centuries, and impeded the rapid and effectual introduction of
Christianity into the Scandinavian kingdoms. For although the Gospel
had been preached in the three kingdoms as early as the ninth century,
by Ansgar, the ^ Apostle of the North," and single kings, as Harald
Bluetooth in Denmark, and Olaf Skotkonung in Sweden, had been con-
verted to it as early as the tenth century, yet the pagan worship of Odin
still wrestled with Christiilnity for the mastership, for more than a hun-
dred years. In Denmark, Harald's grandson, Canute the
Great (§ 207), and in Norway, Olaf the Saint, gave the vic-
tory to the doctrine of a cracified Saviour ; but this did not take place in
Sweden till the middle of the twelfth century, in the reign of Eric the
Pious, and not till even later than this among the half-ravage Fins.
Christianity produced the most beneficial effects in the Scandinavian
kingdoms. The Benedictine monks not only laid the germ of spiritoal
development, but they also improved the manner of living, and made the
people acquainted with the advantages of civilization. They introduced
SCAin)INAVIA. 193
the art of writing, and banished the rude and defective Ranic characters
by the Latin alphabet ; they encouraged agriculture and planted new
kinds of com ; they built mills, opened mines, and accustomed the war-
like people to the arts of peace, to trade and agriculture. Christianity
diminished the vast gulf that had hitherto existed between freemen and
slaves, by awakening in every breast the sentiments of the dignity of
human nature, and the equality of all men in the sight of Grod. In a
word, the clergy obtained great wealth, privileges, and possessions, so
that they could place themselves on terms of equality by the side of the
freeholders of land. But the peasant class, on the other hand, remained
in a state of dependence, and the towns arrivedf at neither prosperity nor
importance.
§ 296. Denmark, to which Norway was united, acquired a great extent
Waldemar II., ^^ ^^^ eleventh and twelfth centuries, under a few warlike
A. D. 1202- kings. Waldemar IL, the Conqueror, prosecuted the con«
^^^' quests of his father and grandfather on the coasts of the Baltic
with such success, that he at last united all the Slavic lands on the
south and east coasts of the Baltic, from Holstein to Esthonia, — Lauen-
burg, Mecklenburg, Fomerania, a part of Prussia, the coast land of
Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia, with his other possessions, and could
call himself king of the Danes and Slavi, and lord of Nordalbingia
(Sleswick-Holstein). • But his severity engendered hate and bitterness ;
80 that when, whilst engaged in the chase, he fell into the power of count
Henry of Schwerin, whom he had deeply injured, and was kept prisoner
by him for more than two years in the strong castle of Dan-
neberg ; the princes who were his yassals revolted from him
and maintained their independence with the sword ; so that, in a short
time, the proud fabric of Waldemar fell to the ground. Hamburg and
Lubeck became free imperial towns ; the peasant republic of the Ditan-
arsens regained its independence, and the German provinces returned to
the government of the emperor. Afler Waldemar IL's death, there oc-
curred a time of internal confusion, which was taken advantage of by
the aristocracy of nobles to increase their privileges. In addition to
Waldemar UL,*^^^ freedom from taxes, the holders of land now obtained a
A.i>. 1840- jurisdiction peculiar to themselves. Waldemar III. again
1876. governed with a firm hand : his daughter, Margareta, united
A. D. 1897. *^® three Scandinavian kingdoms under one sceptre, by the
Union of Calmar.
§ 297. In Sweden also, the power of the kings had been much dimin-
ished, and that of the chivalrous nobility increased, by the protracted
contests for the crown. Even the powerful family of the Folkungs^
which had ascended the throne about the middle of the thirteenth cen-
tury, succumbed in a few generations to the strokes of fate which smote
all the princely houses of Sweden. Of the seven kings of this royal
17
194 IHE HISTORY 07 THE MIDDLB AGS.
bouse, five were detbroned, and died either in priBon or bamahmen^
After the depoeition of the last Folkung, Magnus 11^ the
Swedish throne descended upon his sister's son, Albert of
Mecklenburg, who, however, after a few years, was conquered and robbed
of Us kingdom bj the Danish Margareta ; whereupon Swe-
den concluded the Union of Calmar with Denmark.
This Union of Calmar proved a blessing to neither of the three king-
doms. In Denmark and Norway, under the weak kings who succeeded
Margareta, the power of the state fell more and more into the hands of
the rich nobles, whilst Sweden was treated and governed by the Danish
kings almost as though it were a conquered country. Dissension soon
loosened the bonds of the Union of Calmar, without, however, tearing
them completely asunder. The Hanseates, who sought to prevent a firm
union of the three kingdoms by every possible method, encouraged these
Christi I divisions from interested motives. The house of Oldenbnxg
A. D. 1448- assumed the government of Denmark, in the person of
1481. Christian I. Sweden, abo, at the same time, obtained a
StenoStnre, sagacious and valiant ruler in Steno Sture. This prince
A. D. 1471- curbed the insolence of the nobles, elevated the peasant and
^^^' burgher classes, founded the university of Upsala, and invited
men of learning and printers from foreign lands into the country. Steno
Sture governed the kingdom with almost absolute power ; but when hia
second successor, Steno Sture the younger, quarrelled with the archbishop
of Upsala, the tyrannical. Christian 11. succeeded, by the aid of the latter,
in establishing anew the supremacy of Denmark over Sweden. Steno
Sture was overcome in the field and mortally wounded,
whereupon Christian 11. commanded ninety-four of the moat
influential and powerful nobles to be beheaded in Stockholm. But this
cruelty, after a few years, dissolved forever the bonds between Denmark
and Sweden.
7. HUNGARY.
§ 298. Shortly after Otho's victory on the Lechfeld (§ 210)
had put an end to the incursions of the Hungarians, Geisa
became a convert to Christianity, and ordered the doctrines of the Gos-
pel to be taught to his own people by German missionaries. What he
Stephen the ^^o^"^ ^^ brought to a conclusion by his son, Stephen the
Pious, Pious, who received the kingly dignity from the pope. He
A. D. 1000. provided for the diffusion of Christianity, (to which the Mag*
gyars, partly from inherent barbarism, and partly from dislike of the
Germans, were averse,) by foundihg monasteries, and calling the Bene-
dictine monks into th'b country ; he reduced the state to order by dividing
the kingdom into comitates (shires), and by intrusting the management
'of the affairs of the army, the . government) and the administration of
HUNGARY. 195
justice, to intendants appointed bj himself: he became a legislator, inas-
much as he accustomed his subjects to civil order, agriculture, and indus-
try. But the warlike character of the Magyars, and their repugnance to
the Christian worship of the West, which brought servitude, soccage
duties, and the troublesome labors of agriculture with it, in place of the
M wild freedom, occasioned desolating wars and fresh confusion after
the death of Stephen.
Geisall., Under Geisa 11., troops of Flemish and Low-Grerman
A. D. 1150. settlers established themselves in Transylvania, who, under
the name of Saxons, retain to this day the manners, customs, and institu-
tions of their fatherland. By patience and industry, they have con-
verted the land from a desert into a blooming region, with rich towns
and prosperous villages, and have vigorously defended their liberties
against all attacks. In the thirteenth century, the Hungarian nobles
(magnates) wrested a charter (" tlie golden privilege" ) from
the king, Andreas XL, which secured important privileges to
the clergy and nobility, and, like the Magna Charta of England (§ 276),
formed the foundation of the free coifstitution of Hungary. An infringe-
ment of the " golden privilege ** by the king justified the nobles in an
armed opposition.
§ 299. When the rojal house of Arpad was extinguished by the death
Loalfl the ^^ Andreas III., Hungary became an elective kingdom.
Gz«at, A. D. Hereupon, Louis the Great, of the rojal Neapolitan house
1842-1848. of Anjou, was raised to the throne. Under this distinguished
king, Hungary reached the highest point of its external power and domes-
tic prosperity. He obtained the crown of Poland, extended the frontiers
of Hungary to the Lower Danube, and made the Venetians his tribu-
taries. The hills around Tokay were planted with vines, the adminis-
tration of justice was improved, the citizens and peasants were secured
against oppression and arbitrary treatment ; schools for education were
established. After the death of Louis, who conducted many wars in
Italy, long and violent contests were carried on for the throne, at the ter-
mination of which, the German emperor, Sigismond, united the Hunga-
rian crown with his others, and arranged the representation of the king-
dom by means of Estates. Under the weak successors of his daughter,
Hungary would have fallen a prey to the Ottoman Turks, had not the
heroic Huniades saved the land by his valor and military skill. The
nation, out of gratitude, conferred the throne of Hungary upon his ener-
Ufltdiios Cor- S^^^ ^°' Matthias Corvinus, who occupied it for thirty-two
Tixrns, A.D. years, as the worthy successor of Stephen the Pious and
1458-1490. Louis the Great. Matthias shone in the arts of peace as
well as in those of war. He held the power of the Ottomans in check,
enlarged his territories towards Austria and Grermany, and improved
the affisun of the army. A new university was founded by him in Bada,
196 THE BISTORT OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
a library established, and the civilization of the people promoted by the
introduction from all quarters of men of learning and artists, printers and
architects, gardeners, persons skilled in agriculture, and artificers. Tbei»e
advantages were again lost under his successors. The Turks carried
their victorious arms over Belgrade, the western acquisitions were sur-
rendered by treaties of peace ; at the same time, the royal power was so
curtailed, that henceforth, not only the levying of taxes, but even war
and peace were dependent upon the National Diet, and at length, the
magnates took possession of the whole auihority for themselves. The
fall of Louis II. at Mohacs (§ 307) occasioned a contest for
the crown, the result of which was, that the country was
divided into two halves : Transylvania and East Hungary, as far as the
Theiss, which was under the dominion of the Turks ; and West Hungary,
which Ferdinand of Austria incorporated for some time with his other
dominions, till the whole fell into the hands of his successors.
8. POLAND.
§ 300. The vast plains of the Vistula and the lands on the Oder and
the Wartha were inhabited by Slavonic tribes, who were sometimes
governed by a single chief, and sometimes divided into several princi-
palities. From the time of the conversion of duke Miesco (Mieceslav)
to Christianity by German missionanes, Poland was looked upon as
a fief of the German empire, but was very slightly connected with it,
and in the time of Frederick II. rendered itself entirely independent.
The kingdom of Poland was torn and weakened by many divisions,
so that, in the twelfth century, the Silesian principality on the Oder
was entirely dissevered from it, and united with Germany. Poland
Vladislaus first rose to importance in the fourteenth century, when
IV., A. D. 1320. Vladislaus TV. permanently united the principalities on the
Wartha (Posen, &c.), as Great Poland, with the lands on the Vistula
(Little Poland) ; had himself crowned in Cracow, and transmitted the
Casimir the ^^^^^ ^^ ^^"? *^ ^^^ posterity. His son, Casimir the Great,
Great, a. d. who extended his domains over Gallicia and Red Russia,
1838 - 1370. and built a university in Cracow, also deserved well of Po-
land by his merits as a legislator. But despite his efforts to diminish
the power of the nobility and to increase that of the cities, no free bur-
gher class could flourish in a nation so addicted to war and so deficient
in civilization. The dominion that rested on the sword still remained
with the nobles, — money, retail traffic, and trade, with the Jews; the
peasant led a wretched life as a serf, and won but a miserable support
from the fertile coni-fields of the Vistula.
§301. With Casimir, the male line of the Piasti became extinct;
whereupon, the Poles transferred the crown to his sister's son, Louis the
Great of Hungary. From this time forth, Poland became an elective
THB RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 197
kmgdom ; the nation, nevertheless, adhered for two hundred years to the
L«aiBthe ' race of the JageUons, which, however, was obliged to grant
GfMt, A. D.' the nobles an immunity from taxes and other great privi-
TheJacel ^'^^ ^ return for its election. Under the first king of this
Ions, ▲. D. race, Jagello (Yladislaus), Lithuania was added to the Polish
1886-1672. empire, after Christianity had been established and the
idols overthrown there. The woolen garments that were distributed
during baptism attracted thousands of half-willing Lithuanians to the
Casimir IV. ^^^ faith. Jagello's second successor, Casimir IV., induced
A. D. 1447- the German orders to relinquish Culm, Elbing, and Marien*
1491. werder, and to recognize the suzerainship of Poland ; in doing
which, be was obliged to purchase by fresh concessions the aid of the
nobles, who, in the Polish diet, alone possessed the privilege of con-
senting to the nusing of taxes and the levying of troops. That every
noble might not always be obliged to appear personally at the Diet, it was
arranged that a certain number of authorized deputies should be sent
from all the Yoiwodeschafts, to whom the king added besides a few re-
presentatives of the clergy and of the higher officials. Without the con-
sent of this assembly, to which the burgher class was not admitted, the
king could adopt no measure, either of taxation or legislation, nor take
any important step in the government or in the conduct of war. The
nobles were regarded as the only true citizens of the state : and the
prindple that they were all exactly on an equality, raised their power in
the same proportion that frequent changes of the throne and wars of
succession depressed that of the king.
In the century of the Reformation, king Sigismond established the
suzerainship of Poland over the dukedom of Prussia, which had been
recently founded by the grand master of the German Order, Albert of
Brandenburg, who was a convert to Lutheranism, and enfeoffed Grotthard
Keltler, chief commander of the Order of the Sword, who had also gone
over to Protestantism, with Courland : but owing to the selfishness of
the nobles and internal dissensions, the Polish kingdom was unable, for a
permanency, to afford any sufficient opposition to the advance of the
Turks and Bussians.
9. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.
S 302. When the great grandson of the Varangian chief, Buric (§ 206),
Vigdimip the ^^l^dimir the Great, who held his residence in Eiow, intro-
Great, duced the Greek Christian Church into his dominions, the
A. D. 2000. latter extended from the Dnieper to the lake of Ladoga and
to the banks of the Dwina. But they suffered so much in their union
iad strength under his successors, by divisions among heirs and internal
A. D. 1287. ^^"^ ^^^ ^^ Lithuanians, Poles, and Brethren of the Sword,
&C., in the West, gained possession of large portions of terri-
17*
199 THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
iory, and at length, the Moguls conquered all the land from the Dnieper
to the Ybtula, and made Russia tributary. The great khan of the Golden
Horde of Kaptschak, whose residence, and fixed quarters were on the
east bank of the Volga, exacted, during two hundred years, an oppiessiTe
tribute from the Russian princes and their subjects. It was not untO the
power of the Grolden Horde had been broken by dissension, that the chief
Ivan Vasily- P"°<5e, Ivan Vasilyeyitsch the Great of Moscow, succeeded
evitschi ▲. D. in freeing his kingdom from tribute, and in extending it in
1462-1606. all directions by successful wars. The rich cityof Novo-
gorod, which belonged to the Hanseatic confederation, and which had
possessed, for centuries, a republican constitution, and had known how to
defend its liberties by a stout militia, was subjected and robbed of ita
privileges, and a number of its chief citizens were removed to other
towns. Ivan was not only a conqueror, but a legislator and politieiaD,
although in mind and manners he remained a rude and cruel barbarian.
He adopted measures respecting the succession of the throne, to the end
that the kingdom might not be farther divided ; and he invited masons
and mechanics from Germany and Italy, to plant the seeds of civilization
among his barbarous people. He built the Kremlin (citadel) for the de-
fence of his chief city, Moscow.
Since the destruction of Constantinople by the Turks, the Russian
metropolitan (afterwards called Patriarch) had been elected by the native
bishops, and thus the independence of the church maintained. Ivan's
y :i grandson, Ivan Yasilyevitsch, who first assumed the title of
evitschll., Tzar, or ruler of all the Russians, conquered Kasan and
^ ^' Astracan, extended his kingdom to the Caucasus, and made
* preparations for the discovery and subjection of Siberia. He
laid the foundation of a standing army by the establishment of the bri-
gade of arquebusiers (Strelitzes). The male line of Ruiic
became extinct with Ivan's son, Feodor.
10. MOGULS AND TURKS. -
Zengis-Khan, § 303. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Zengis-
A. D. 1227. Khan (Temudschin), the chief of a warlike nomadic horde,
marched forth to conquest from the elevated plains of Middle Asia. He
scaled the Chinese wall and subdued the «* celestial empire." Neither
Hindostan, nor the vast empire of the Carismans on the Caspian Sea and
in Persia, could withstand the savage strength of this advancing pastoral
tribe. Bochara,^ Samarcand, and Balch, with all their treasures of art
and science, perished in the flames. Zengis-Khan's sons and grandsons
pursued bis conquests. Batu subdued the lands to the north of the Black
Sea, made Russia tributary, burnt Cracow, and filled Poland and Hun«
gary with slaughter and desolation. At length, the Moguls (who are
also called Tatars) crossed the Oder; Breslau was reduced to ashes.
MOGULS AND TURKS. 199
duke Henry of Lower Silesia fell, with the flower of his Christian war-
riors, on the field of battle near Leignitz, beneath the blows of the pagan
nomads; the people took refuge in the mountains; the whole West
trembled ; the pope and the emperor, engaged in a furious quarrel
(! 236), did nothing towards aiding Christendom. Happily the enemy
proceeded no farther. The bravery of the European warriors and the
strength of their castles scared them away. They turned back from a
land where there were no riches to attract them, and carried their arms
against the luxurious khalifate of Bagdad, for which they prepared a
bloody end. Afler the last khalif, with 200,000 Moslems had fallen, and
the ancient seat of the empire of the Abassides had been plundered for
forty days, the Tatars pressed forward upon Syria, where they destroyed
the magnificent Haleb (Aleppo) and Damascus, and trampled the Chris-
tian and Arabian culture under the hoofs of their horses. In a few gene-
rations, the empire of the Moguls separated into a number of independent
states. But the Russians on the east of the Volga still bore for more
than two centuries the yoke of the ** Golden Horde," and Hungary and
Poland recovered but slowly from their devastations.
S 804. Towards the end of the thirteenth century, the Ottomans,
pressed upon by the Moguls, left the region they had hitherto occupied,
on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, and descended upon Asia Minor.
They were a warlike, nomadic race, professing the Mahommedan reli-
gion, and incited by their priests (dervishes) to make war upon the
Christians. Othman marched into Bithynia, chose Frusa
(Bursa) for the seat of his empire, and maintained his con-
quests against the indolent Greeks and their western mercenaries. His
suecessors unproved their army by forming the strongest and handsomest
youths, whom they selected from their Christian captives, into an effective
AmnrathL, Infantry (janissaries), by means of a military education.
^^' Afler Amurath I. had reduced the whole of Asia Minor
1161- 1889. untier his yoke, he passed into Europe, and subjected, in a
few campaigns, the whole country between the Hellespont and the
Hsmus. Adrianople was taken, embellished with splendid mosques, and
selected for the seat of Amurath's government His son, the energetic
but cruel Bajazet, continued the victorious course of his predecessor with
BajjueL ^^^^ success, that he was called the " lightning." He con-
^ »• quered Macedonia and Thessaly, penetrated through Ther-
-1408. uuopylflB into the desolated Greece and Peloponnesus, took
Argos by storm, and allowed his swift horsemen to wander to the south-
ernmost point of the ancient Laconia. At length, the West armed itself
against this terrible enemy. Sigismond of Hungary, John of Burgundy,
the flower of the French chivalry, and many German and Bohemian
nobles, together more than 100,000 strong, marched to the Lower Danube.
Bat in the bloody battle of Nicopolis, the Christians, despite their valor.
200 IHB mSTOBT OF THE MIDDLE AGE.
Buffered a great defeat Many counts and knights fell into the hands of
the Turks, and only obtained their liberty by a heavy ransom. 10,000
prisoners of inferior rank were put to death by the order of BajaseL
§ 305. The victorious course of this mighty prince was checked by an
enemy who trod a more vast and bloodier path than himself. This enem^
was the Mogul ruler, Timour the Lame (Tamerlane), a descendant dt
Zengis-Ehan, whose dilapidated kingdom he determined to restore. He
lefl Samarcand, the charmingly situated seat of his empire, at the head
of his warlike pastoral tribes, for the purpose of subjoeting every natioQ
between the wall of China and the Mediterranean, by the edge^ of the
sword. After he had marched triumphantly through India and Persia,
and destroyed Bagdad and Damascus, he filled Asia Minor with desola-
tion and terror. Smoke, ruins, and hills of slain madked his victorious
path. At this point, Bajazet relinquished the siege of Constantinople,
and marched against the conqueror of the world. A fearful
battle'was fought near Angora (Ancyra), which, despite the
valor and conduct of the Turks, terminated to the advantage of the
Moguls. Bajazet was taken prisoner, and died the following year of
grief. Timour's empire fell to pieces as rapidly as it had been formed.
AmnnthlL, ^ ^^^* Bigazet's grandson, Amorath U., restored the sbaU
A.D. 1421- tered Ottoman kingdom to its ancient strength and former
1461. compass in Asia and Europe. He reduced the Byzantine
empire to the strong chief city and a few neighboring places, and made ii
tributary. At this juncture, John VIL (PaliBologus), determined to
gain the aid of the West, by uniting the Eastern church with the Roman.
With this object, he proceeded to Italy, accompanied by the Patriarch
and a few bishops, where, eSter a long and vehement dispute upon
certain religious and ecclesiastical questions, an ambiguous union was
effected, which, however, was rejected by the zealous confessors of both
churches, and the division made greater than before. Nevertheless, the
composition was attended with this result, that the pope, by his legate,
Julian, united the Christian princes in a campaign agauist the Turks,
and in the mean while, attempted to persuade the Hungarians and Poles
to an attack upon the Ottoman empire. Ladislaus, king of Hungary and
Poland, and the heroic Huniades of Transylvania, crossed the Danube,
but were totally defeated in the bloody battle of Wama.
The young kipg was one of the slain ; his head was carried
about on a spear ; the legate, Julian, was overtaken by death during the
flight.
§ 307. The last hour of the Byzantine empire was approaching, when,
upon the death of Amurath II., his energetic but bloodthirsty son,
Mohanimed Mohammed IL, became sultan of the Ottomans. Besolyed
IL,A.D. upon making Constantinople the seat of his government, he
1461-1481. advanced to the siege of the city, and hariassed it for fifty
MOGULS AND TURKS. 201
days hj repeated assaults to such a degree, that, despite a gallant defence,
it could hold out no longer. When the walls were scaled, the last empe-
ror, Constantine, who still possessed some feeling for the old Roman
greatness — for freedom, for religion, and for his country, — joined in the
romhat, and fell bravelj fighting on the walls of his capital. The ancient
seat of Byzantine magnificence became the residence of the sultan. The
church of St. Sophia was turned into a mosque, and the half-moon of
Islam was planted on the ruins of Christian civilization. Many learned
men fled in terror to the West, and were instrumental in dlfiusing the
Greek language and literature. The fall of Constantinople was followed
by the conquest of Greece and the Morea (Peloponnesus), and the sub-
jection of the countries on the Danube ; it was only in the mountainous
regions of Albania and Epirus, that the warlike hero, Alexander Castriota
A. D. 1467. (Scanderbeg), maintained an independent authority till his
death, whibt the independence of Hungary was secured by
Magnificent, ^® victory of Huniades at Belgrade. But under Solyman
A.D.15S0- the Magnificent, who wrested the island of Rhodes (S 227)
^^^ from the knights of St John, afler a most gallant resistance,
the half of Hungary, together with Buda, fell, after the terrible battle of
Mohacs, into the hands of the Ottomans, who now extended
their ravages to the walls of Vienna, and alarmed the whole
West It was under Solyman that the Turkish empire attained its most
extended limits and its greatest internal strength. In Asia, it embraced
Syria and the whole country as far as the Tigris ; in Africa, Egypt, with
tlie sea-coast, and the piratical states of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripolis.
After Solyman, who died at an advanced age before Sigeth,
in Hungary, (in defence of which the magnanimous Zriny
met with the death of a hero), the warlike power of the Turks gradually
decayed under the exhausting influence of debauchery and sensual indul-
BOOK THIRD
THE MODERN EPOCH.
I THE F0REBUNNEB8 OF THE MODERN EPOCH.
1. THE SEA PASSAGE TO THE EAST INDIES, AKD THE BISCOVEBT OP
AXEBICA.
S 808. Ik the foarteenth and fifteenth centnries, many great inren-
tions hegan to be applied, by which the condition of the middle ages
experienced a complete revolution. An Italian, Flavio Gioga, prepared
a compass by means of the magnetic needle, by which a mighty impulse
was given to navigation ; gunpowder, which, according to some, was the
invention of a German monk, Berthold Schwarz, and in the opinion of
others, had been known at a remote period by the Chinese and Arabians,
came into use in the middle of the fourteenth century, and prepared the
downfall of chivalry^ But the invention which was most
fertile in results was the art of printing, which was called
into existence by John Guttenbui^ of Mayence. His assistants in the
work, who alone derived any advantage from the discovery, were Fust or
Faust, a goldsmith of Mayence, and Peter Schoffer, a writer of books.
The latter introduced types of metal in place of the wooden ones which
Guttenburg had employed. At first, the art was kept secret ; but it was
carried by German workmen into all the countries of civilized Europe.
By this means, books, which had hitherto been only attainable by the
rich, came into the hands of the people, inasmuch as their cost was ma-
terially lessened by the ease with which they were multiplied.
§ 809. By the use of the compass, it became possible to extend
navigation, which had hitherto been confined to the coast and the Medi-
terranean, over the ocean. This was first done by the Portuguese. The
discovery of the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, where the coltore
of the vine and sugar-cane succeeded admurably, was soon followed by the
possession of the Azores and by the discovery of the Cape de Yerd and
MASTEIHB BISCOVSRIES.
(he coast ci Upper Guinea, rich in gold dust, ivory, gam, and Negro
fllayes. XK>wer Guinea (Congo) was also discovered in the reign of king
John n. It was from this point that the daring Bartholo-
A. "D 1486
mew Diaz reached the southern extremity of Africa, the
original name of which, ^ the Cape of Storms," was soon changed by the
sanguine king into that of ^ the Cape of Good Hope.** Not more than
twenty years after, the enterprising Yasco da Gama discovered from this
point, in the reign of Emmanuel the Great, the sea passage to the East
Indies, when he sailed firom the east coast of Africa over the Indian Ocean
to the coast of Malabar, and entered the haven of Calicut. It was here
that the Portuguese, after some sharp encounters with the natives, esta-
blished the first European commercial colony, — an undertaking which
they completed with perseverance and courage.
AAer Yasco da Gama and Cabral (who discovered Brazil during the
passage, [a. d. 1500], and took possession of it for Portugal), came the
gallant Almeida, who reduced many of the Indian princes to pay tribute
•nd compelled them to submit to the establishment of factories in their
chief cities. Afler he had been killed by the wild Hottentots on his re-
turn, Albuquerque, in whom heroic courage was united with wisdom,
received the govemorBhip of India. He conquered Goa,
^^ and made it the capital of the Indian colony; he stormed
Malacca, the. emporium of the trade of Upper India, reduced the ruler
of Ormuz in the Gulf of Persia to subjection, and caused the name of '
Emmanuel to be feared and respected. But the latter rewarded his
fiuthfal servant with ingratitude; and grief at this broke the hero's heart.
During the next ten years, the Portuguese established colo-
nies and factories on the island of Ceylon, and the coast of
Coromandel, and subjected the spice-bearing Molucca and Sunda islands.
Lisbon became the seat of the commerce of the world; but avarice and
selfishness soon stifled the nobler emotions in the hearts of the Portu-
guese.
§ 310. The zeal for discovery, which was awakened by the enterprises
of the Portuguese, inspired the bold Gen^se, Christopher Columbus
(Cobn), with the thought of discovering a new way to the' vaunted In-
dies, by a western passage. He imparted his project to his native city,
Genoa, and begged for support ; but there, as well as by the Portuguese
and English, he was refused. At length, Isabella of Castile, in the joy
of her heart at the fortunate conquest of Granada, allowed herself to be
persuaded to fit out three vessels, and to intrust them to the bold voya-
ger. The title of Great Admiral and Yiceroy of all the lands and
islands that should be discovered, and a tenth part of the revenue that
might be expected to be received from them, were promised to himself
and his posterity, as the reward of his success. On the dd of August,
U92, the little fleet left the Andalusian harbor of Palos, and passed the
204 THB MODBBH EPOCH.
Canarj islands, sailing oonstantlj to die westward. The fear and anxie-
tj of the seamen increased with the distance they travetsed, and at
length broke into mnrmuring and open mutiny. The crew were alreadj
threatening their magnanimous leader with death nnless he returned,
when the discoverj of the island Guahanani (since then caDed St» Sal-
vador), on the 12th of October, saved him. They found a beautiful and
fruitful countiy, with naked copper-colored savages, who looked on with-
out the slightest suspicion, whilst their land was taken possession of in
the names of the rojal pair of Spidn, and who exchanged their goods
for tojs and spangles; but the anticipated treasures in gold, predons
stones, and pearls, were not met with in' the abundance that was hoped
for, either here or on the two larger islands of Cuba and Hayti (His-
paniola, St. Domingo), which were shortly afterwards discoverer]. After
Columbus had established a colony on Hispaniola, he returned to Spain,
and after a dangerous voyage, brotight back to astonished Europe the in-
telligence of a new world, which, in consequence of the original enx>r,
received the name of the West Indies. In the course of his three fol-
lowing voyages, Columbus discovered more islands (for example, Jamai-
ca), and at length, also, the north-east coast of South America, not &r
from the mouth of the Oronoco. But this new portion of the world did
not l>ear the name of its discoverer, but that of its deseriber, the Flor-
entine, Amerigo Yespucci. Columbus shared the lot of many other
great men ; he was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors. Hie
colony that had been left behind in Hispaniola had fallen into oonfusiony
in consequence of quarrels among themselves and with the natives.
When Columbus, for the purpose of restoring order, wished to punish
some of the most licentious disturbers of peace, the latter made an aceo-
sation against him at the Spanish court Hereupon, king Ferdinand
sent a narrow-minded official to make inquiries, who commenced his un-
dertaking by depriving Columbus of his governorship, and ordering him
to l>e carried in fetters to Spain. Here he was indeed released from his
chains, but nothing was thought about the fulfilment of the stipulated
contract. Columbus, deprived of his offices and dignities,
died, shortly after his last unfortunate voyage, in Yalladolid,
whence his dead body was afterwards carried to Cuba. The fetters in
which he had been brought bound to Spain, were placed with him in his
grave, by his son Diego.
§ 811. A new spirit of heroism had been awakened by Columbus; all
courageous men who were acquainted with the sea went forth to make
discoveries. Who could wbh to remain idle when so rich a field for
gold, renown, and ambition stood open? The hardy and enterprising
Balboa surmounted the rocky isthmus of Panama under in-
credible difficulties, and discovered the Pacific Ocean. The
Portuguese Magelhaens, sailed through the straits, named after him, into
C0KQUB8T OF MEXICO AND PEBU. 205
the Padficy reached the East India Islandsi after enduring the extremi-
ties of femine, and thus made the first voyage round the world. Both
died violent deaths, the former by his envious followers, the latter by the
hand of an assassin on the Philippines.
A.D.U10. ^^^ ™^' remarkable event, however, was the discovery
and conquest of Mexico by Ferdinand Cortez. The contest
A. D. 1&21. i^^jQ carried on was not with savages, but with a people who
dwelt in towns, exercised arts and trade, clothed themselves in cotton
stD&, and lived under a regular system of government, with a king, a
rich nobility, and a powerful priesthood. With 500 valiant Spaniards,
who were accompanied by a few native tribes (the Tlascalani) as allies,
Cortez subjected a populous nation, who.were deficient neither in warlike
spirit nor patriotism, took their king, Montezuma, prisoner in his own
palace, and conquered the chief city, Mexico. The frightful effects of
the thundering ordnance, the stately cavalry, the splendor of the Euro
pean military accoutrements, engendered a notion among the natives, that
the Spaniards myst be a higher order of beings, whom it was impossible
for them, with their feeble strength and miserable weapons (iron was
ooknown to them), to withstand. Within two years, Cortez conquered
the land, and put an end to the horrible idol-worship, in which thousands
of men were every yeajr offered in sacrifice; but he was prevented by the
suspicious government from establishing a new and regulated system.
He was recalled, and died foi^otten in Spain, a. d. 1547.
A. D. 1519- With still smaller means than Cortez, Pizarro and Alma^
^^- gro, men of great courage and enterprise, but without culti-
vation, and governed by selfishness and the coarser passions, effected the
conquest of the golden land of Peru. The Peruvians, ruled over by the
rich rojal race of Incas, were a civilized nation of mild character, un-
stained by the frightful idolatry of the Mexicans, but also devoid of their
militaiy virtue. A contest for the throne among the royal family facili-
tated the conquest of the land by the Spaniards. After the cruel Pizarro
had made himself master of the king, and, despite his promise to set him
free in return for an enormous mass of gold, ordered him to be executed,
k sobjected the beautiful land which abounded in the precious metals,
A. D. 1535- and founded the new capital, Lima. Francis Pizarro and
^^' his brother soon quarrelled with Almagro (who in the mean j
time had discovered Chili), and they turned their arms against each other. j
Ahnagro was overcome and beheaded, but his son avenged the death of
hb father on Francis Pizarro. The land was reduced to the brink of
destruction by the wild rage of the discoverers. At this crisis, Charles
v> sent a wise and prudent priest, Gasca, as governor to Peru : Gasca
A.i».i548 BU^u^ ^e rebellious troops, had the last Pizarro hung on
the gallows, and then arranged the state anew.
i 312. Much as we may admire the heroic courage and the enterpris-
18
206 TBS MOBSBH EPOCH.
ing spirit displayed by Europeans in the conquest ^ die Kew Worl^
we must equally deplore the severity and avarice' which impelM Ifacm
to the most cruel ill-usage of the natives. Those who escaped from the
sword, the destructive effects of gunpowder, and the multiplied diseases^
were mercilessly destroyed by severe labors. They were compelled to
take care of the plantations which the conquerors made on their prcK
perty, to dig in the gold and silver mines which were opened in their
country, and to carry burdens for which their feeble bodies were not
fitted. It was in vain that well-meaning priests, who attempted as mis-
sionaries to bring Christianity to the savages, preached kindness and
humanity, — selfishness hardened the hearts of the Europeans and ren-
dered them insensible to the teaching of the Gospel ; and when at length
the noble priest Las Casas, with the purpose of lightening the lot of the
Indians, recommended the more robust African negro for the severe
labors of the plantations, this gave occasion to the horrible slave-trade,
which was a curse upon the black population, without preventing the
gradual extinction of the copper-colored native. The discovery of the
New World and the introduction of American productions were attended
with vast results on the European manners and mode of living. Have
not colonial wares, coffee, sugar, tobacco, ice, since they have been in
general use, become indispensable necessaries ? Do not potatoes, which
we received from thence, form the most important part of the food of the
people ? What influence has not the increased quantity of the precious
metals, which the mines of Peru have yielded, exercised upon all the relar
tions of life and upon the value of property ? The natural sciences and
geography have been so enriched, that since then they have had an
entirely different aspect Trade also took a different direction: — as
formerly the Italian trading towns, so now the western states, Portu-
gal, Spain, the Netherlands, and, somewhat later, England, became
the centre of commerce and the seat of wealth. But as both the for-
mer fettered their trade from its very commencement, and excluded other
nations from their colonies, the season of their prosperity was bat
transient
2. THE BEVIVAL OF THE ARTS AKD SCIENCES.
§ 813. In the fifteenth century, Italy was the central point of Western
civilization ; many splendid courts and opulent cities contended for the
glory of becoming patrons of the arts and sciences. The Medici in Flo-
rence (§ 288, 289), and several popes, caused manuscripts to be pur-
chased, and founded libraries and academies; the printing establishments
which arose in all quarters came to the assbtance of their efforts. At
first, attention was exclusively directed to the Latin language and literft-
ture ; but when, after the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, many
of the learned men of Byzantium took refuge in Italy Greek also came
THB BSYIYAL OV IHB ABT8 AND SCIENCSS. 207
ioto fJMihioii. Dbtkuiaries and gramman were compiled ; the compre-
bension of the ancient authors was &cilitate4 bj commentaries and trans-
lations, and a classical Latin style became the distinguishing mark of an
educated man. The next consequence of the revival of classical studies
was the establishment of fresh seminaries of education, first, in Italy, and
afterwards, in the other countries of Europe* Many universities, g3rmna-
siama, and educational establishments of all sorts arose, especially in Ger-
many, which had long maintained a dose intercourse with Italy; and
many learned men, as John Reuchlin from Pforzheim (a. d. 1521),
Erasmus of Rotterdam (a. d. 1586), and Ulrick of Hutten (a. d. 1523),
rivalled the great Italians in the knowledge of the Greek and Latin lan-
guages and of science. The friends of the new culture were called Hu-
manists ; their opponents, the supporters of the scholastic wisdom of the
middle ages, and above all others, the Dominicans, were named Obscu- .
nmtists. The Humanists of all countries were connected with one
another. Latin, then the universal language of all learned and educated
men, and a rapid interchange of letters, which supplied the place of news-
papers, fiicilitated this intercourse. The contest between the new culture
and the Obscurantists, with their barbarous Latin, reached its highest
point in the dispute which was conducted by Reuchlin with the Domini-
cans of Cologne. The latter wished to bum all the Hebrew books,
because they were suppose to contain blasphemies against Jesus Christ.
Benddin, who was appointed umpire in the matter by the emperor, de-
clared the charge to be untrue, and opposed himself to the design. This
so enraged the monks, that they accused Reuchlin of heresy, openly burnt
one of his works, and condemned the study of the Greek and Hebrew
languages. This produced a literary war, in which all the friends of
education took the part of Reuchlin, and the cause of the Humanists
obtained a complete triumph. The pope at length put an end to the con-
test : the Dominicans were condemned to pay the costs of the process ;
and when they delayed to do this, they were forced to discharge their
obligations by Fiands Sickingen. From the crowd that assembled
itself around Reuchlin, proceeded the EpittoUB ohicurorum virorum^
which are swd to have been chiefly the production of Ulrick von Hutten.
In these letters, the proceedings and stupid insolence of the monks are
faithfully but satirically displayed in their own barbarous Latin. Hutten,
one of the boldest and most powerful advocates of Germany's freedom
and independence, died, persecuted and a fugitive, on the island of Ufnau
in the lake of Zurich, in the 86th year of his life. Erasmus of Rotterdam,
an elegant scholar in ancient literature, fought, with all the weapons of
wit and intellect, against schoohnen and monks. Among his numerous
woiks, the most important are The Praise of Folly, — a satirical compo-
sition, and an edition of the New Testament in the original Greek text,
with a Latin translation and paraphrase. At first, a friend of Luther
908 THE KOBEBH KPOCH.
and Hntten, he afterwards tamed from them and opposed them in
ment controveisial writings.
n. THE TIME OF THE EEFOEMATION.
1. THE GERMAN KEFOR1CA.TION.
a. DB. HABTIN LUTHEB.
§ 314. The cry that passed through Europe in the fifteenth centuij,
for a reformation of the Church both in its head and members, had
remained unheeded bj the popes; and the great ecclesiastical synods
(§ 264, 266) had been followed by no results. The Church had refused
the voluntary self-purification that had been required of her, and turned
a deaf ear to the voice of the people. Since then, the abuses bad not
been diminished. The court of Borne derived a vast revenue from the
churches of other countries ; the lower dergy were lazy, immoral, and
ignorant, and took little or no interest in the new culture and the impulse
that had been produced by it ; the higher clergy led an entirely worldly
life, found their enjoyment in sensual indulgeqces and princely magnifi-
cence, and in the study of works of art and literature, and of the philo-
sophy of heathen antiquity, frequently lost sight of the doctrines of the
Gospel. Nothing but an impulse was wanting to unite the dissatisfied
members of the Church in a mighty opposition. This impulse was given
by Pope Leo X. For the purpose of defraying the expenses of the
erection of the chureh of St. Peter, and of other woHes of art, Leo offered
an indulgence for sale, through the Elector, Albert of Mayence, in which
forgiveness of sins, reattainment of God's grace, and remission from the
punishments of purgatory, were assured to the purchaser. Albert, who
received one half of the profits, employed in Saxony the Dommican monk
Tetzel, in the sale, who went so audaciously to work, that the Augustine
monk, Dr. Martin Luther, who saw that real penitence and respect for
the confessional were thereby endangered, felt himself compelled to afiix
ninely-five theses to the castle chureh at Wittenbei^, on the eve of All-
Saints, i^ith the off*er to defend them against any one. In these, he con-
tested the efiicacy of absolution without repentance, and denied the power
of the pope to grant remission of sins to any except the penitent.
§ 815. Martin Luther was bom on the 10th of November, 1483. Des-
tined to study by his father, a respectable minfer, he had devoted himself
to jurisprudence, for four years, in Erftirt, when anxiety for the salvation
of his soul, and the sudden death of a friend during a heavy thundei^
storm, determined him to enter a cloister. He once more entertained
IHB GBRMAK RBFORHATION. 209
himself among his friends with cheerful singing, music, and wine, and
then shut himself up in the silent cell of an Augustine monasterj at
Eifurt He here submitted himself to all the duties and servile offices
of a mendicant monk, but without thereby obtaining alleviation of his
melancholj, or of the sufferings of his soul. It was not until he arrived
at the conviction that man can only be saved, not by his own works,
but by the mercy of God in Christ, that his heart found repose. By
the recommendation of the chief of the order, Staupitz, Luther was
summoned to Wittenberg, in 1508, to give lectures in the Univeruty
newly established by Frederick the Wise. He had attended with
great diligence to his duties as teacher, preacher, and pastor of souls,
when he was ^ now called by Providence to a more extended sphere of
exertion. ,
§ 816. This bold stepping forward of Luther, in whom a deep reli-
gious earnestness was not to be mistaken, found great sympathy in the
whole of Grermany. A summons was soon issued to him to come and
defend himself in Rome ; but upon the intercession of the Elector of
Saxony, who was favorably disposed to the reformer, the papal nuncio^
Gajetanus, undertook the examination in Augsburg. Luther, provided
with a safe conduct, appeared in a poor plight at Augsburg: the proud
Dominican thought to refute the humble monk by his theological learn-
ing ; but Luther displayed more depth and reading than the former had
given him credit for. After a short disputation, Cajetan commanded him
to be gone, and not to appear again before him till he (Cajetan) should
\call him. After drawing up an appeal to the pope better infarmed^
Luther fled hastily from Augsburg during the night. It was in vain
that Cajetan required the Elector either to send the audacious preacher to
Rome, or at least to banish him from his states. Frederick replied, that
Luther's wish to be brought before an impartial tribunal appeared to him
to be reasonable. This protection of the Elector was of the more impor-
tance to Luther, as the former, since the death of the emperor Maxi-
milian, was conducting the government, until the princes could agree
respecting a fresh election. For as the pope wished to exercise an influ-
ence on the election of emperor, he attempted to gain over the Electors to
his own side. Ho sent his chamberlain, Miltitz, an adroit Saxon noble-
man, with a golden rose, to Wittenberg. H6 was commissioned at the
same time to dissuade Luther from farther proceedings against the
Church. Luther promised to let the contest drop if the trade in indul-
gences was put a stop to,, and silence imposed upon his adversaries as
well as on himself; and to prove his sincerity, he required, in one of Ins
writings, every man to give respect and obedience to the Bomaa Church,
and assured the pope, in a humble letter, that it had never been his
intentTon to attack the privileges of the Roman chair.
I 817. But the wished-for reconciliation did not take place. John voft
18*
210 XHB MODIBJf XPOCH.
Eck (Eddiui),pr(ifiaaHir in Ingoibhidty s learned man and ^Ufak in aign-
ment, liad a diBputatioa with Lntlier in Letpsic. Here
™^' Lathery in the heat of oontroTenj, maintained that the
biflhop of Borne had bteome the head of the Chordi, not bj the ordi-
nation of Jctons, bat b j homan ammgements made centaries kter, and
threw doubts upon the infallibilitj of popes and councils. Initated at
this aadadtj, £ckias at once composed a learned hook, in whidi he
attempted to prove that the papacj was deirred from Christ himself
through Peter, and that, consequently, it must be a Divine institution.
^ Eckius hastened to Rome with this book, and procured a
Jimel6,1620. T» ,1 . 1. I - !• T .1 J J X .
Bull, m which a succession of Lathers doctrines were con-
demned as heretical, his writings sentenced to be burnt, and he himself
threatened with excommunication unless he recanted within sixty dajs.
This proceeding of the Roman court, which condemned the Grennan
reformer upon the accusation of an opponent, without so much as hear-
ing his defence, was disapproved of bj all Germany. The Bull of
excommunication, which was made known by Eckius, produced, there*
fore, very little effect ; it was only in Cologne, Mayence, and LouvaiD,
that the order for burning Luther's writings was carried into effect ; the
Bull was not even admitted into Saxony. By so much the greater was
the effect of some vigorous pamphlets of Luther, " To the Christiaa
Nobles of the German nation,'' and " On the Babylonian Captivity and
Christian Freedom," in which he exposed without reserve the abuses and
failings of the existing Church, and demanded their removal. Encouraged
by the enthusiasm with which these writings were received, and the ay
for freedom that resounded through the German nation, Luther now ven-
tured to take a step that separated him by an impenetrable gulf from
the Bomish Church. He proceeded, at the head of all the students, to
December 10, the Elster gate of Wittenberg, and there cast the Bull of ex-
1620. communication, together with the canons and decretals of the
Church, into the flames.
§ 818. Li the mean time, Maximilian's grandson, Charles Y. of Spain
and Burgundy (§ 294), was elected emperor of Germany, and his first
undertaking was to be an arrangement of the contentions of the ChurcL
He appointed a diet at Worms, and ordered Luther, under the assurance
«of a safe conduct, to appear.* Full of courage and confidence in God, but
not without fear of experiencing the fate of Huss (§ 264), Luther
arrived at Worms in the midst of the sympathizing crowd that was
-streaming thither. The splendid assembly, in which, besides the emperor
and the papal ambassador (Alexander), there were present many princes,
nobles, prelates, and deputies from the states, at first disconcerted him.
When called upon to recant, he begged till the following day for consi-
deration. At his second appearance, he had recovered the whole of his
strength and resolution. He declared himself, freely and openly, to be
IHE GERMAN BBFOBMATION. 211
the author of the writings that. were produced before him; rejected the
invitation to recant, with the words '' That so long as he should not be
coDTinced out of the Holy Scriptures that he was in error, he could not
and would not retract, for that his conscience was imprisoned in God's
Word ;" and concluded with the exclamation, ** Here I stand, I can take
no other course ; God help me. Amen." All attempts to induce him to
soften ibis declaration failed ; yet no violent proceeding was ventured
upon. Luther departed in safety ; many princes and members of the
diet did the same ; then, the ban of the empire was first uttered against
Luther and his adherents, and his writings condemned to the flames.
Charles Y., at thb time in more close alliance with the pope, was deter-
mmed to exterminate heresy. *But Luther was already secure. During
his return home, the Elector Frederick had him seized upon, and carried
a$ a prisoner to the castle of Wartburg, under the title of EiUer George.
He lived here nearly a year; at first, he was. lamented by his friends,
till some bold fugitive pieces, and an angry letter against Albert of May-
ence, who was again practising the sale of indulgences, convinced them
that he was still alive and active. Albert repented, and discontinued the
traffic
§ 319. Whilst Luther, although troubled by sickness and melancholy,
was leading an active life at tlie Wartburg, proceedings calculated to
disturb tranquillity arose in Wittenberg, which were not repressed with
snffident earnestness by the pious and peace-loving Elector. Dr. Carl-
stadt, a man of confused mind and unsettled in his principles, abdished
the mass, extended the cup to the laity, and exercised his zeal against
images and ceremonies. He was soon joined by the so-called Zurickhauer
prophets, — men without education, and under the dominion of fanatical
feelings, — who declaimed against the baptism of infants, insisted upon
the rebaptism of adults (hence called Anabaptists), and believed in im-
mediate inspirations from God. Images, and the garments used in the
celebration of the mass, were destroyed in some churches, monks fled
from their cloisters, and confusion took possession of men's minds. Lu-
ther was no longer at peace in the castle of Wartburg. He hastened to
Xuch ISM. Wittenberg, preached daily for a week against the overhasty
and uncharitable innovations, dismissed the Zurickhauer &-
natics, and won men's minds to a peaceable development of the Reforma-
tion. Wittenberg now became the centre of German culture. It was
here that Philip Melancthon of Bretten, who, when a youth of twenty,
had already fathomed the depths of learning, and by whose means the
Saxon schools and church attained a high degree of prosperity, Ubored
by the side of Luther. Luther's impetuous and boisterous energy was
well fitted to pluck down, whilst Melancthon's mild- and yielding nature
was adapted to the work of restoration ; and, as Melancthon, the great
Mept in, and pnxnoter of, humane studies, sought, by his learned Latin
212 THE MODERN EPOCH.
writings to establish tlie Dew Church doctrines on a scientific basis, so
Luther won the hearts of the people by bis Grerman writings and songs,
and especiallj by his translation of the Bible. This Lutheran Bible,
which was begun in the castle of Wartburg and finished in Wittenberg,
after careful consultation with his friends, appeared completed in 1534,
a master-piece of the German language and of the Grerman spirit.
§ 820. The new doctrine soon spread beyond the limits of Saxony.
Besides the Elector of Saxony, the energetic landgrave, Philip of Hesse,
the founder of the university of Marburg, was, in particular, a zealous
promoter of the Gospel. But it was the educated burghers of the impe-
rial cities who distinguished themselves beyond all others by their zeal.
The assembled people would often, of their own accord, set up a psalm or
a hymn, and by this means gave an impulse to the abolishing of the
mass. Where the church was denied to the evangelically-minded people,
they held their devotions in the open air, in fields and meadows ; and
where religious motives were not sufficiently powerful, there the view of
the Church property and worldly advantages helped out what was want-
ing. The whole of Germany appeared to be hurried away in this
church movement, and a national Church, independent of Borne, to
spring up from it. But the pope won over Ferdinand of
Austria, the duke of Bavaria, and several South-Grerman
bishops, to the alliance of Regensburg, in which they vowed mutually to
support each other, and to exclude the innovations of Wittenberg from
their dominions. Thus were the seeds of an unhappy division spread
abroad in Germany at the veiy moment when the freedom and inde
pendence of the nation was the aspiration of her noblest spirits.
b, THE PEAdANT WAS.
§ d2L The general call to freedom and independence, that, since La-
ther's appearance, had resounded through all Germany, filled the peasants
with the hope of alleviating their condition by their own exertions. Jn
this way originated the peasant war. At first, patriotically disposed
men, like Sickingen and Hutten, appeared to wish to place themselves at
the head of the movement, and to carry through the renovation of Ger-
many, both in state and Church, by the sword. But Sickingen's early
death during the siege of his castle of Landstuhl, and Hutten's fiight, de-
layed the outbreak, and robbed it of plan and proportion. The fanatical
discourses of the fickle Anabaptist, Thomas Mtinzer, who talked of
abolishing temporal and spiritual power, and of setting up a heavenly
kingdom where all men should be equal, and every distinction between
rich and poor, noble and base, should disappear, confused the understand-
ings of the excited peasants. It was not long before the people, from
the Boden Lake to Dreisam, assembled themselves around Hans Miiller
of Balgenbach, who had formerly been a soldier. He marched in a red
THE PEASANT WAR. 213
jnaatle and cap from village to village, at the head of his followers. The
cbief banner was borne behind him on a carriage decorated with boughs
and ribbons. They carried twelve articles with them, the importance of
which they were ready to maintain with their swords. By these arti-
cles, they demanded the liberty of hmdting, fishing, catting wood, &c.;
the abolition of serfdom, soocage duties, and tithes ; the right of choosing
their own ministers ; and the free preaching of the Gospel. Their ex-
ample was soon followed by the peasants in the Odenwald, and by those
on the Neckar and in Franconia, under the conduct of the audacious pub-
lican, George Metzler. They compelled the counts of Hohenlohe, Low-
enstein, Wertheim, Gemmingen^ the superiors of the German Order in
Mergentheim, and others to accept the articles, and to concede the privi-
leges demanded, to their subjects; whoever dared to resist them, as count
Helfenstein von Weinsberg, was put to a cruel death. They marched
through the land burning and devastating ; they destroyed the monaste-
ries and castles, and took a bloody revenge on their oppressors and ad-
versaries. Under the conduct of brave knights, like Florian Geier and
Cvdtz von Berlichingenof the Iron Hand, they penetrated into Wurzburg,
whilst other bands ravaged the lands of Baden. The insurrection soon
extended itself over the whole of Swabia, Franconia, Alsacia, and the
lands of the Rhine. The spiritual and temporal princes became alarmed,
and conceded a part of the demands of the irritated peasants. In Thu-'
ringia and the Harz,'the revolt assumed more of a religious character.
In Huhlhausen, Thomas Munzer had acquired great respect and the
reputad(m of a prophet He rejected Luther's moderate views, girded
himself with the sword of Gideon, and wished to establish a Divine
kingdom, the members of which should be all free and equal. The peo-
ple, excited by his preaching, destroyed castles, monasteries, and the me-
morials of antiquity, in their barbarous fury.
§ 322. In the commencement, before the insurrection had yet assumed
60 formidable an aspect, Luther attempted to restore peace: he represent-
ed to the nobles and princes that they had been guilty of acts of vio-
lence ; and at the same time, exhorted the peasants to refrain from rebel-
lion. But when the danger increased, when temporal and spiritual
things were mingled together, he published a forcible tract ^against the
plundering and bloodthirsty peasants," in which he called upon the magis-
trates to attack them with the sword, and to show them no sort of mercy.
Upon this, the nobles and knights assembled themselves from all quarters
against the rebels. The elector John of Saxony, the landgrave Philip
of Hesse, and others, marched into Thuringia and won an easy victory,
by means of their artillery, over Thomas Munzer and his half-armed
peasants. A place of execution was set up before Muhlhansen, on which
the Thnringian ^prophet" was put to a bloody death after undergoing
firigbtful tortures.
214 THK MODSRN EPOCH.
Truchseas of Waldbm^, captain of the Swabian lea^e, restored peace
in Swabia, and then marched, in conjunction with the Elector of the Pa-
latinate and the warlike archbishop of Triers, against the bands of Fran-
conia, who were besieging the strong castle of Wnrzbui^. Here, again,
superior military skill and better arms triumphed over the disorderly
crowd. The insurgents, after a short defence, betook themselves to a
headlong flight, in which most of them were killed ; the prisoners were
put to death, and a severe punishment inflicted on the citizens of the
Frank towns, who had sided with the rebels. The axe of the execu*
lioner was long busj in Wurzburg. The same was the case in Alsacia,
and the Middle Rhine-land, and also the Black Forest, and at the sources
of the Danube, where the insurrection had lasted longest. At length,
Truchsess of Waldburg and the renowned condottiere, George of Frends-
berg, succeeded, by dint of severity, in restoring order. In the majo-
rity of places, the peasants were again oppressed with all their fcMT-
mer burdens, and in many spots the ciy was loudly echoed, ^ If they
have formerly been chastised with rods, they shall now be scourged with
scorpions."
C. THE PROTESTATION AND THE CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG.
§ 323. The new Church grew stronger and stronger in the midst of
battles and disturbances, "and Luthei^s energy increased with oppo-
sition. He left the cloister of the Augustines in 1524, and, in the fol-
lowing year, married Catherine of Bora, who had been formerly a nun.
Surrounded by a circle of sincere friends, and by his brothers in office,
he now led the life of domestic happiness which was so well suited to his
disposition. His energy and cheerful confidence in Grod were neither
broken nor disturbed by his poverty, or the repeated attacks of illness he
experienced. By his two Catechisms he laid the foundation <^ a uniform
confession of faith, and of a better religious education. MelancthoD,
upon whom the Elector, about this time, devolved the troublesome task of
holding a general visitation of the churches all over Saxony, was not less
active. The Reformation made such advances by the united efforts of
these two men, that the Catholic princes, both temporal and spiritual,
became alarmed. They therefore passed a resolution at the diet of Spire,
that no farther innovations should be made in religion, that
the new doctrines should not be farther disseminated, and that
no impediment should be given to the celebration of the mass. It was
against this decree of the Diet, by which the Reformation would hare
been condemned to a fatal pause, that a Protest was entered by many of
the princes and imperial towns. It was for this reason that they, in com-
mon with all those who rejected the authority of the pope and the doc-
trines of the Roman Catholic Church, received the name of Pkotest-
Xnts. As the emperor would not I'eceive the protestation, which was
ULRIG ZWIK6LB. S15
Uoiight to him in Italy, the protestiiig princes and towns would at onoe
have arrai^^ a oonfederacj for their mntual defence, had not Lnther
and the evangelieal theologians, with ^ a magnanimous scrupulonsness,''
rejected every defence of the Word of God by worldly weapons.
§ 324. In the following spring, the emperor opened the splendid Diet
of Augsburg. It was here that the protesting Estates presented their
Confession, which had been drawn up by Melancthon both in the German
and Latin languages, and approved of by Luther. In this Confession,
they endeavored to show that they had no wish to establish a new Church,
bnt only to purify and restore the old one. This Confession of faith,
which was composed with great temperance and clearness, embraced, in
the first part, the doctrines of the Reformers, laid down in as dose accord-
ance as was possible with the faith of the Catholic Church ; and in the
second part, the abuses against which the Reformers were contending.
Aiter the reading of the Auosbttbo Cokfbssion, the assembly embra-
ced the resolution of justifying the doctrines and usages of the Catholic
Church by a refutation, and then seeing if it would not be possible to
bring about a composition by a conference between men of moderate
tempers selected from both parties. But the *^ Refutation/' drawn up by
£ckius, Cochkeus, and some others, produced but little effect, owing to
the weakness of its arguments, and was entirely overthrown by Melanc-
thon's ^ Apology ;** the conference also led to nothing, since both the
pope and Luther, who, during the Diet, had remaitfed at Coburg, were
aTerse to any further concessions. It seemed that the unity of the Church
could be only restored by the sword. The protesting princes and the
principal imperial towns rejected the decision of the Diet, by which they
were prohibited from extending their doctrine and were proscribed as a
sect, and quitted Augsburg. The resolution of the Diet that was deter-
mined oa aAer their departure, in which the new sect was threatened
with a rapid extirpation, and the sentence of excommunication denounced
against all those who, within a certain space, should not renounce their
aibitraiy innovations, alarmed neither the princes, the peace of whose
tonseiences was a matter of higher importance to them than the favor of
the emperor, nor the reformer of Wittenberg, whose confidence and
cheerful trust in God was at that time at its height, as is testified by the
immortal hymn, ^ The Lord is a strong castle," which was composed
during the storms of those days.
d, ULRIO ZWINGLE.
S 825. The Protestant Church of Grermany was unhappily, even at
this time, divided into the Lutheran and Zwinglian. Ulric Zwingle (bom
1484), a classically-educated, liberally-minded priest of repuUican prind-
^68, exerted himself zealously as canon of Zurich against the sale of
•iadnlgeneea by the Franciscan monk, Samson; against ecdesiastiea]
216 IHB MODERN EPOCH.
abuses of all kinds ; and against the custom of the Swiss, of
themselves as mercenaries in foreign services. Zwingle, a man of prac-
tical understanding, without the religious depth of mind or the disposition
of Luther, did not busj himself with the reformation of doctrine and
articles of faith, but with the improvement of life and morals. He set
about the work also with far less ceremonj, inasmuch as he wished to
restore primitive Christianitj in its simplest form. Having a good nnder-
standing with the chief council of Zurich, he undertook a complete revo-
lution of ecclesiastical doctrine and practice, banished all images, crosses^
candles, altars, and organs, from the churches, and administered the
Lord's Supper, in which he recognized nothing but a token of remem-
brance and fellowship, after the manner of the early Christian loveHfeasta;
that is, the communicants received the consecrated elements whilst sit^
ting. This latter proceeding entangled Zwingle in a fatal controversy
with Luther. Luther would not receive the words employed in institnt-
tmg the sacrament, ^ this is my body," in the sense of '^ this represents
my body," as Zwingle explained them, but asserted the bodily presence
of Christ in the Lord's Supper. It was in vain that Philip of Hesse
attempted to prevent this dangerous division by a disputatitm at Mar^
buig. Luther saw a denial of Christ in the doctrine maintained by hia
opponent, and thrust back the brotherly hand that Zwingle ofiei^ him
with tears. He also opposed himself to any union with the towns of
Upper Germany which had adopted Zwingle's views, so that these pre-
sented their own confession of faith to the Augsburg Diet
§ 325. The same disturbances succeeded the appearance of Zwingle
in Switzerland as had followed that <^ Luther in Germany. Li Zuridi,
Basle, Berne, in Schaffhausen, the Rhinethal, and other cantons, the
Church was reformed according to the principles of Zwingle ; in Appen*
zell, the Grisons, St. Gall, Glarus, and other places, the adherents of the
old Church contended with those of the new ; but in the four forest can-
tons (Schwitz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Lucerne), and in Zug, the Catholic
faith remained predominant. This was occasioned, in addition to the in-
fluence exercised on the simple inhabitants of these original cantons by
the monks and clergy, by the circumstance that the engaging in foreign
military services, a custom opposed by the Reformers, here formed chm
of the principal means of support. These five places concluded an alli-
ance with Austria, and suppressed every innovation with a strong hand;
whilst Berne and Zurich, on the other hand, afforded their assistance
with uncharitable zeal and violence in the frontier towns of the Beform-
atien. Li this exdted state of men's minds, a war was inevitable, partica*
lariy as Zwingle entertained the project of effecting such a political revo-
lution in Switzerland as would give the supremacy to the two most power*
fnl cantons, Berne and Zurich. Mutual revilings of the dergy, which
nmained unpunished, increased the irritation and provoked hostilities*
IHB WABS OV THB HOUSE OF HAPSBURO. 217
Zmica and Berne blodied up the public roads, and prevented the tratas-
port of goods and of the necessaries of life. This proceeding enraged the
Catholic cantons. They made preparations in secret, and fell upon the
people of Zurich. The latter, surprised, irresolute, and forsaken by the
Bernese, marched with a troop of 2,000 men against an enemy of four
times their number, but sustained a bloody defeat in the
battle of EappeL The courageous Zwingle, who had march-
ed with them as field preacher, fell beside the banner of the city, and
with him fell the staunchest friends of the Reformation. His dead body,
after being exposed to the insults of the enraged multitude, was at length
burnt and the ashes scattered Co the winds. This event restored the old
Church in many places that were favorably disposed to the Reformation,
and was the occasion of the religious divisions that since that time have
prevailed in Switzerland.
2. THE WARS OF THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG WITH FRANCE.
Chtfles y. S ^^^* Charles V. reigned over an empire such as had not
^* D* existed since the days of Charlemagne. Before arriving at
1600 -U68. y^„ Qf maturity, he was already lord of the rich Nether-
lands, which had devolved upon him as his paternal inheritance ; when a
youth (after the death of his paternal grandfather, Perdinand the Catho-
lic), he obtained possession of the united Spanish empire, with the beau-
tiful kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and the newly-discovered territories
in America in the West Indies; he inherited in early nuuihood the
Hapsburgo-Austrian States (which he relinquished to his brother Fer-
dinand), and became the successor of his grandfather, Maximilian, on the
imperial throne of Germany, by the choice of the Electors. He might
say with truth, that the sun never set in his dominions. He was a man
of rare sagacity and indefatigable activity ; great in the cabinet, as director
of the affairs of state, and brave in the field, as leader of the ranks of
war. His antagonist and rival was Francis I. of France, who was as much
renowned for his love of the arts and sciences, and for his chivalrous
conduct in the field, as he was infamous for his tyranny, his luxury, and
love of pleasure, and his devotion to his mistresses. An unextinguish-
able jealousy subsisted between Francis and Charles. Each wished to
be the first prince in Europe ; and each eagerly contested the possession
of the imperial throne of Grermany, which could alone procure him this
supremacy. Charies triumphed, and from that moment Francis became his
decided enemy, and sought every means of weakening his power. Four
wars arose out of this contention, which were principally occasioned by
Milan. This beautiful dukedom had remained in the hands of the French
since the battle of Marignano (§ 286) ; but Charles claimed it as a fief
of the German empire, and led a vast army, composed chiefly of German
peasants, under the conduct of the valiant condottieri, Frundsbergi
19
218 THB MODHBir. EPOCH.
SduirtliD, sad others^ against the Frendi and their allieB, the Swias. At
that time, war was carried on with meroenary tro(^ exdnsiYely ; no
nation could ventare to oppose themselTes to the Helvetians and G^
mans ; the knightly tacdes of an earlier period had ^siUen bdbre their
matchlo<^ as the castles before their heavy artillery* The French wewe
conquered. They lost Milan and Genoa, after several bloody encoun-
ters^and were forced to retreat over the Alps. It was during the retreat,
that the gallant Bayard, ^ the knight without fear and without reproach,"
fell by a ball from a German arquebusier. The imperial anny, conducted
by the Constable of Bourbon, the richest and the most powerful of the
French nobles, who had entered into Charles's service for the purpose
of revenging his injuries and wrongs upon the French court, marched
into the south of France, but soon found itself compelled to retireat by the
gallant resistance of the burghers of Marseilles.
§ 328. Francis I. himself now marched into Italy, at the head of a
stately and well-appointed army, for the purpdse of wiping off the dis-
grace of the defeat, and winning back that which had been loet. But
being detained for a long time before the walls ^ Pavia, the active Bonr^
bon succeeded in collecting a fresh army of peasants, and uniting himself
with the Spanish general, Pescara. But want of money and the neeea-
saries of life soon reduced the united forces to the greatest distress, whilst
the wealthy camp of the French was abundantly supplied with every
thing needful. Bourbon and Frundsberg took advantage of this drcom-
stance to excite the peasants to attempt the storm of the French camp.
The bloody fight of Pavia, in which the French wer^^de*
feated, originated in a nocturnal attack. Francis I. himself
after a chivalrous defence, was compelled to surrender, and to proceed
as a prisoner to Madrid. 10,000 gallant warriors found their deaths on
the field of battle, or in the waters of the Ticino. After a year's captivity,
Francis, with inward reluctance, consented to the Peace of Madrid, in
which he swore to renounce his claims upon Milan, and to surrender the
dukedom of Bui^undy.
Scarcely, however, had Francis, after giving up his two sons as hostr
ages, regained his own kingdom, than the pope released him from his
oath, and concluded a holy alliance with him, the king of England, and
some Italian princes, for the purpose of delivering Italy from the Span-
ish yoke. The flames of war burst forth anew in Italy ; the beat <^ the
drum was again heard in the German states to summon the peasants to
the standard. As this was an expedition against the pope, the Lutherans
came forward in crowds, so that the brave Frundsberg was soon enabled
to lead a gallant army across the Alps, and to unite himself with Bour-
bon. But money was soon wanting to pay the troops ; a rebellion in the
army gave such a shock to Frundsberg that he was deprived <^ speech
by an attack of apoplexy, and shortly after lost his life. The troops de-
THE yfAM OF THB BOUBE Of HAPSBUBG. 219
uanded to be led to Bome^ and Bourboa yielded to their wishes. It was
on the 6th of Maj^ 1527, that the Spanish and German seMiers scaled
the walls of Borne. B(mrb<»i was one of the first who fell^ The licea-
tious bands, unchecked by the presence of a leader, dispersed themselres
through the city and committed every sort of ontrage. The rich palaces
and dwelling-houses were plundered, the churches robbed of their ves-
sels and ornaments ; the Germans insulted the pope and cardinals by
tidicaloos processioos and mummeries. Clement was obliged to purchase
his freedom under harsh conditions, and made use of the first opportunity
to escape. The emperor affected a display of grief and displeasure at
the injuries suffered by the head of the Church, though inwardly pleased
at his humiliation.
In the meanwhile, the French had made some conquests in upper
Italy, and then marched into Naples, for the purpose of wresting this
kingdom from the Spaniards. But their army suffering severely from
pestilence, and the troops of the emperor being reduced one half by their
excesses in Bome, both parties became desirous of peace. The contend-
ing kings arranged their differences by the interposition of the mother of
Francis and the aunt of Charles, in what was called the
'Ladies' Peace of Cambray t in virtue of which, Francis re-
linquished his pretensions to Milan, aiid paid two million crowns for the
ransom of his two sons, but retained possession of Burgundy. The pope
also, and the Italian princes, soon made their peace. Charles was
invested with the Boman and Lombard crowns by Clement, who lived
with him in Bologna under the same roof, and prsmised, in return, to
exterminate heresy, and to bring back the expelled Medici to Florence.
The latter project was accomplished ; Florence was conquered and de-
prived of its republican constitution (§ 289). But the restoration of the
unity of the Church was no longer in the power of man. The Diet of
Augsburg, that was appointed for this purpose, did not conduce to the
desired result (§ 324).
§ 329. Francis, however, did not relinquish the thought of again
recovering the dukedom of Milan, and even entered into an alliance with
the Turks a short time aAer, for the purpose of attaining this object
In the' same year in which Charles took Tuni^ by a gallant attack,
put an end to the piracies of the Mohammedan prince, Hay-
raddin Barbarossa, and set 20,000 Christian captives at
liberty, Francis made a sudden campaign into.upper Italy, and took pos-
session, as a preliminary step> of Savoy and Piedmont, the duke of which
was a relative and ally o£ Charles. But in the following year, Charles
inarched with a stately army into Provence, for the purpose of carrying
the war into his enemy's own territory ; but was compelled to retreat
with loss, in consequence of the French general, the Constable Mont-
norenci^ reducing the whole of the level country between the Bhone and
220 XHB MODKBN BPOCH. *
the paBMB <^ the Alps to a desert, and thus producing scarcity and
disease in the emperor's annj. But as the whole of Christendom was
indignant at the alliance between Frands and the Ottomans, who com-
mitted horrible deyastations in lower Italy and the Greek islands, Pope
Paul m. interposed as a mediator, and brought aboat the
conclusion of the third war by the ten years' tnice of Nice,
which allowed every one to retain that <^ which he was then in posses-
sion. A personal interriew between the two monarchs was to have obli-
terated all their differences forever; and Charles was so
convinced of the knightly faith of his rival, that, in the fol-
lowing year, when an insurrection in Ghent required his immediate pre-
sencei in the Netherlands, he took his road thither through Paris. Bat this
friendship was not of long duration. In the year 1541, Charles undertook
A D 1641 ^ second African expedition, for the purpose of completely
destroying the corsairs, who rendered the Mediterranean
insecure from Algiers, as they had formerly done fi:om Tunis. But this
time, the attack was frustrated by the storms and rains of the later
autumn, and by the attacks of the enemy, which were rendered partioo-
larly dangerous by the swampy character of the ground. The emperor,
who magnanimously shared all the dangers and sufferings of the meanest
of his followers, was obliged to retreat without effecting his object, after
suffering a considerable loss in ships and troops. This termination oi the
enterprise may have filled the French king with the hope that he mig^
at length be able to overpower his adversary. He, therefore, after effecting
A. D. an alliance with the sultan, commenced a fourth war against
1642-1644. the emperor. But when the latter marched with a vast
army out of Grermany into Champagne, and approached within two days'
march of the terrified capital, Francis hastened to conclude
* the peace of Crespy. From this time, the supremacy of
the house of Hapsburg in Italy remained undisputed. Francis I. died
Henry IL tbr^e years afterwards, but his son and successor, Henry H,
A. D. followed the same path. During the war of religion in Ger-
1647 - 1669. inany, he entered into an alliance with the Protestant princes
(§ 387), whilst in his own dominions he suppressed the new doctrines by
bloody persecutions. When Charles Y. at length quitted the world^s stage,
the war was still continued for a few years between his son, Philip 11.,
and the French king, till at length the peace of Chateaa-
Cambresis put an end to the open contest between the two
monarchs, without, however, extinguishing the hereditary animositf
between the royal houses of France and Hapsburg.
8. THB WAR OF BELIGIOK IK QESMAKT.
§ 880. This war, and the apprehensions that were entertained of the
Turks, who led army after army into the Austrian territories, prevented
THB WAB OF BBUQION IN GERMANT. 221
tbe emperor from putting into effect the resolution of the Diet of Augs«
burg against the German Protestants, and compelling them by force to
return to the bosom of the Catholic Church. When, in consequence of
this order, the imperial chamber began to proceed against the evangelical
states on account of their confiscation of ecclesiastical property, the Lu-
theran princes and cities, under the conduct of the Elector of Saxony and
the landgrave of Hesse, formed themselves into a league at
Smalcald, in the Thuringian forest, for their mutual defence
in case any of them should be attacked for the word of God's sake. In
the following year, the emperor concluded the peace of Nuremberg with
this league, in which both parties promised to refrain from hostilities till
a Council of the Church, the calling of which was vehemently urged
upon Clement YII. by the emperor, should be assembled. The law pro-
ceedings were, in the mean time, to cease. This treaty bound the hands
of the Protestants, without giving them any assurance for the future ; but
afforded great facilities for the diffusion of the Gospel over the whole of
Germany. The introduction of the Lu&eran form of worship into Wir-
tembeiig was an event of the greatest importance. Duke Ulrick, a hasty-
tempered and cruel man, who, from motives of jealousy, had slain a
knight of his court (Hans von Hutten) with his own hand, had compelled
his wife to take flight by his bad treatment, had oppressed his subjects
and conquered the imperial city of Reutlingen, was at length outlawed
for disturbing the peace of the country, and driven from his land and
TBssak by the Swabian league. For fourteen years, Ulrick w|is com-
pelled to lead a wandering life abroad, and to shun his dukedom, which,
in the mean time, was placed under the government of Austria, when the
landgrave Philip of Hesse embraced the resolution of restoring to Wir-
temberg the duke, who was then living at his court He marched into
Swabia with a well-appointed army, defeated the Austrian governor at
Laofen on the Neckar, and reestablished the lawful ruler. Ulrick was
received with joy by his people, who had forgotten his former tyranny,
and who were easily induced to receive the evangelical doctrines which
Ulrick had adopted in his misfortunes, and which he now had dissemi-
nated by Brenz and Schnepf. The Church in Wirtemberg soon became
Lutheran, and Tubingen was one of the most distinguished seminaries of
CTangelical learning.
§ 331. But the new Church was not wanting in spurious growths.
Tbe doctrine of the Anabaptists, who mistook their own passions for
divine mspirations, had not been suppressed by the death of Thomas
Munzer (§ 322.) Notwithstanding the opposition of the Reformers and
the discouragement given by every lawful magistrate, it would re-appear
here and there, in places where it had been secretly carried by fugitives.
The doctrines of these Anabaptists displayed themselves in their most
frightful shape in Munster. It was in this place that the Reformation
10*
222 THB MODSBir XPOCH.
had made violent way for itself, and had compelled tbe bialiop and <
to take flight Bnt it soon became evident that Bottman, the most iaihi-
ential of its preachen, entertained Anabaptist notions. When two vaga-
bond prophets fhom the Netherlands, Jan Matthys and his conntrTmaii
and disciple, the tailor, John Bockhold (called John of Lejden,) joined
themselves to him, the Anabaptist party in a short time attained so com*
plete a supremacy, that they got possession of all the city offices, drove
all the inhabitants who were not of their own way of thinking out of the
to>vn in the midst of winter, and divided their property among them-
selves. They now established a religions commonwealth, in which
Matthys possessed unlimited power, introdaced community of goods, and
conducted the defence of the city against the besieging army of thebifthop
of Munster. The fanaticism rose to its height when Matthys was killed
in a sally against the enemy, and Bockold was placed at the head of the
commonwealth. This man transferred the goveniment of the city to
twelve elders, whom he selected from the most violent of the fanatics^
and among whom, Knipperdoling, who was burgomaster and execotiooer,
played the most distinguished part. He then introduced the practice of
polygamy, and mercilessly put to death those who indignantly denounced
this outrage to Christian morality. When this crazy fanaticism had
reached its highest pitch, the prophet assumed the title (from Divine
inspiration) of *< King of the New Israel." This "^ tailor king," onuk
mented with the insignia of his rank (a crown and a globe suspended by
a golden chain), and magnificently clothed, held his sittings for the ad*
ministration of justice in the market-place of Munster, where the '^ chair
of David " was set up, and introduced a government of mixed tyranny
and fanaticism, in which spiritual pride and carnal lust were most repol*
sively associated.
For a long time, the Anabaptists resbted the attacks of their imper-
fectly armed enemies with courage and success ; when the besi^ing
army had been reinforced by the empire, and the closely pressed town
began to suffer the horrors of famine, they still resolutely maintained
their defence ; and even when the enemy were within their walls, they
still resbted with the courage of desperation. Bottman fell fighting ;
John of Leyden and Knipperdoling were put to death by torture, and
their dead bodies suspended in iron cages on the tower ; the others were
either executed or expelled the city. The bishop, the canons, and the
nobility, returned and introduced Catholicism again in all its rigor, which
since that time has retained its preeminence in Munster.
After a few decenniums, the Anabaptists experienced a wholesome
reformation of their doctrines and discipline from Menno, in which they
have continued to the present day, under the name of Mennimites. They
are still distinguished by simplicity of dress and manner of Uving, by
their rejection of a separate priesthood, of infant baptism, of oaths, of
THB WAB OF BSLXOIQN Cf GEBMANT. 223
mflitaiy service, &c. ; hut tbej have given np those principles of an ear^
fier period which were dangerous to moralitj and the state. They lead
a quiet life as tenant farmers and peasants. ^
i 932. Shortly after this, the Reformed doctrines gaiped admission into
the duchy of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg, by the death
of two princes who had hitherto clung resolutely to the Roman Catholic
creed. Duke George of Saxony was followed by his brother
Henry, who, like his son Maurice, was devoted to the Refor-
mation, and ordered the Reformed worship to be established in Leipsic,
Mdssen, and Dresden. In the same year, Joachim 11. received the
Lord's Supper under both forms in Spandau, upon which the country
embraced the Protestant doctrine. The conversion of Saxony and
Bnudenburg was decisive for the whole north of Germany. Henry of
Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel, a cruel and profligate man, alone adhered to the
aodent Church, less from conviction than from animosity to the landgrave
of Hesse, the former friend of his youth. But the Gospel triumphed even
in Wolfenbuttel, when, after a furious controversy, ii^urious alike to the
dignity of princes and human nature, Henry was overpowered by Hes-
sian and Saxon troops and carried into captivity. Otho Heinreich order,
ed the Lutheran doctrines to be taught in the Upper Palatinate, by the
Nnremburger preacher, Osiander ; and a few weeks before Luther's
death, the Eucharist was administered in both forms in the Palatinate of
the Bhine, after the congregation which assembled on the Sd of January
to hear mass, in the Church of the Holy Ghost, had set up the evangeli-
cal hjmn, <^ Salvation hath visited us." Baden Durlach also acknow-
ledged the Reformed confession; and when the Elector, Hermann of
Cologne, proposed a moderate plan of reformation to his Estates, and the
duke of Cleves appeared inclined to join the league of Smalcald, it seem-
ed that the Catholic Church of Grermany must succumb, unless a stop
vers put to the progress of the Reformation by force. The emperor
was conrinoed that neither Diets nor religious discussions could heal the
dirision in the Church ; his hopes rested entirely on the general Council,
vhich Pope Paul HL had summoned at Trent But the Protestants,
who foresaw that their doctrines would be condemned in a Council that
was thus held under the authority of the pope, rejected it, as being nei-
ther free nor impartial, and demanded a general Synod of the Church
of Germany. This destroyed the emperor's last hope of an amica-
ble arrangement, and determined him to attempt the restoration of
Lather dies, the Church by force of arms. One year after Luther's
feb.lSQ^ death, at his native city of Eisleben, whither )ie had been
^^' summoned to compose a difference, the war of Smalcald
broke out between Charles V. and the Protestant princes and cities of
Germany.
1 333. When the emperor had determined upon war, he entered into a
224 THB MODERN BPOCH.
secret alliance with the pope, who promised him subsidies of mon^,
with the spiritual Electors, and with the duke of Bavaria ; but he foimd
the most important of his allies in the Protestant duke, Maurice of S«zo-
nj. This young, shrewd, and militaiy prince, who, unce 1541, had been
the ruler of Albertine Saxony, had long separated himself fixm the
league of Smalcald and joined the emperor, out of envy and hatred to
his cousin, John Frederick, although Philip of Hesse was his father-in-
law. This alliance was again renewed. Maurice promised obedieDce
and devotion to the emperor, and submission to the resolutions of the
Tridentine Council, provided it gave its sanction to the three chief points
in the Protestant view, — justification by fisiith, the cup, and the marriage
of the clergy. Charles, in return, held out the prospect of an increase
of his territories and the electorship of Saxony. The Protestants had so
h'ttle suspicion of this arrangement, that when the Smalcald forces march-
ed into the field, the Elector, during his absence with the army, made
over the government of Courland to his cousin Maurice. The braTe
Schartlin, whom the Upper German cities had chosen general, wished to
bring matters to a conclusion, by making a rapid advance upon B^ens-
burg, where the emperor was posted with a handful of troops ; but the
council of war, fearful of doing injury to Bavaria, forbade the enter-
prise. Upon this, Schartlin turned towards Tyrol, with the parpoae of
cutting off the advance of the Italian troops, or of dispersing the Coun-
cil of Trent ; — but this undertakiig was also disapproved of, lest Ferdi-
nand should be offended. In this manner, Charles, who had already
pronounced the ban against the Electors and landgraves for treason
against the emperor and the empire, gained time to draw his auxiliaries
from Italy, and to occupy a strong position at Ingolstadt. Here, also,
the Protestants threw away the time in trifling and useless enooonteia,
till the troops of the Netherlands having united themselves to the impe-
rial anny, Charles was in a position to assume the offensive. He march-
ed into Swabia, whither he was followed by the army of Smalcald* The
damp and cold weather occasioned sickness among the Spanish and
Italian troops, and afforded the Protestants a hope of effecting a favora-
ble composition, when the intelligence that Maurice and his friends and
companions in the faith had proved traitors, and had marched an hostile
army into Courland, changed the whole face of affairs. John Frederick
at once hastened back to his states ; the landgrave and the other leaders
soon returned, and in a short time the whole army of Smalcald was dis-
solved.
§ 334. South Germany now stood open to the emperor. Well-inteo-
tioned advisers endeavored to persuade him to allow free toleration to re-
ligious opinions, and by this means to bring back his estates to their
fonner obedience and devotion. But Charles was bent upon bringing
back the unity of the Church, and, at the same time, on restoring the
THE WAB OF BELI0lOBr IH «SRMANY. 335
buperia! ttutboiitj to its aadeBt dignity. WHh fids object^ he required
te prinees and dties of soudiem Germanj to sabiait themsehFes, and to
roHMuioe ihe kagae <^ Smaloald* The terrified imperial cities 8o<»i
yielded obedience to the demand. Ulm snrrendered her artillery, and
porehased the fSetvor of the emperor by large sums of money ; HeUbron,
Eofingeny Beutlingen, and many others, did the same. Augsburg wte
so well provided with artillery and provisions, that Schartlin offered tiie
nu^trates to defend it for a year and a day, till Protestant Germany
shoold have recovered itself and be prepared for fresh encounters ; but
tiie pusillanimous council of traders (Fugger, in particular) gained the
▼ictory. The emperor took possession of the town, and with it, the ad-
mirable artiUery and a large sum of money. Frankfort and Strasbnrg
800O foUowed. The old duke of Wirtemberg humbled himself, paid his
oontributions to the war, and surrendered his most important fortresses
to the imperial troops. The old Elector of Cologne, anathematised by
the pope, threatened by the Spanish troops, and at last abandoned by his
estates, renounced his office ii} &vor of a follower of the old creed, who
Mton thrust aside by the mass the German worship of God. By the
spring of 1547, the whole of southern Germany was reduced to obedi«
eaee without a blow being struck*
S 385. In the mean time, John Frederick had repulsed the troops of
Maurice, taken possession of his own territories with but little trouble,
and conquered the greater part of Albertine Saxony, as far as Dresden
and Leipsic. Wherever he went, he was received with acclamations
by the Protestant part of the population, and it would not have been
fifficult for him to collect a considerable force, and to bid defiance
t» the enemies of the evangelical doctrines ; but John Frederick
was not an enterprising man, and despite ^the ban, respect for the em-
peror was not yet extinguished in his pious heart; — he rejected the
proffered aid. Maurice in his need invoked the assistance of the empe-
ror. The latter hastened with his army mto Bavaria, in defiance of the
gout, and, uniting his forces with those of Maurice and Ferdinand,
nurched against his enemy, who was posted on the Elbe with 6000 men.
Vpon the approach of the emperor, John Frederick wished to fall back
upon the strong town of Wittemberg, until he could collect the scattered
dirisions of his army ; but the imperial force, 27,000 strong, crossed the
Elbe under the guidance of a peasant, surprised the cavahy, who were
ttigaged in a retreat, on a Sunday morning, when the Elector was attend-
ing Divine worship, and won an easy victory in the battle of MQhlberg.
Mm Frederick, a heavy man, was wounded in the fiice and taken pri-
aoner after a brave defence. In prison, he displayed the serenity of soul
which is the fruit of a good conscience and a firm trust in God. He
heard the sentence of death that was pronounced upon him by the empe-
rarwith the greatest composure, and without even interrupting the game^
THE MODEBH BPOGS.
cf ciieflB inwlueli he ms eogagei Bat CbaileBtt]
die Be&tenoe into ezecQtioD. He proposed to duBige die ]
death into that of impri0onment for life, upon emulitinn I
nek should give op his fortresses to the emperar, and i
toriesy together with the deetoral dignitj, to Maniioe. In this ■uumfT»
the electorship of Saxony passed fi:om the line of Ernest to that of
Albert
It was now the torn of the Uuidgiave of Hesse to be ponisfaed. Man-
rice and Joachim of Brandenbnig interceded for him, and obtained tibe
aasnnuicey ^ that if he woold make an nnooncBtiooal surrender, apolo-
gize for his proceedings, and deliver up his castles, he should be punidied
neither with death nor with perpetual imprisonment* TlieBe oonditians
were afterwards modified during a personal interview, and the two prinoes
assured the landgraye of the safety of his person and possessioDS. In
reliance on this assurance, Philip, provided with a safe conduct, preacnt-
ed himself at Halle, where the imperial camp was posted. It was here
that, aAer having asked pardon on his knees in the midst of a i
cent assembly, he was invited to supper by the duke of Alba, i
going to the castle, was retained priscmer in s[ttte of all objections. Hie
emperor could not deny himself the triumph of having his two greatest
opponents in his power. He shortly afterwards left Saxony, and took
his prisoners with him. This proceeding was the first occasion of a ooqI>
nesB between Maurice and the emperor.
i 336. In the meanwhile, the Council of Trent, which was opened on
die 13th <^ December, 1545, had held its first deliberati<ms. But as the
proceedings were carried on under the guidance of the papal legates, and
the chief part of the assembly consisted of the regular clergy and the
uncompromising adherents of .the pope, the resolutions assumed such a
shape that the Protestants saw in them rather a widening of the pie-
vious divisions, than any approach to a reconciliation. This coune was
highly displeasing to the emperor, who hoped now to have brought about
that unity of fiuth which had so long been wished for ; he remonstrated,
and wished the resolutions to be kept secret, as he had just brought the
Protestant Estates to promise that they would submit themselves to the
Council, if the points already determined upon might be reoonddered.
But Paul in., who saw clearly that the emperor cherished the wish of
limiting the power of the pope, and of introducing such reforms into the
Catholic Church that the Protestants should no longer hesitate to join her
communion, not only allowed the resolutions to become known, but re-
moved the Council to Bologna. The emperor was extremely irritated
at this ; he forbade the clergy to leave Trent, but could only retain the
smaller number, and for the purpose of paving the way to a reonicm of
the Church in Germany, he proclaimed an edict, which set forth how
matters should be conducted until the termination of the CoundL This
THB WAB OF BEUGION IN GSRMANT. 227
ivas done by the Augsburg Interim ; which, at first designed for both
religious parties^ was afterwards restricted to the Protestants. B7 this
instrument, the use of the cup and the marriage of priests were pei^
mitted to the confessors of the evangelical Church ; an attempt was made
to approach their opinions on the doctrines of justification, the mass, &c.,
bj the use of indefinite modes of expression ; but in the celebration of
Divine worship and in the ceremonies, the old usages were retained*
This Interim met with great opposition, less from the Protestant princes,
than from the towns and preachers. The latter could not be prevailed
upon to receive a religion that was offensive to their consciences, either
by deprivation of their offices or by loss of their property or freedom.
Driven from their posts, they left Uieir homes and household hearths to
fly by secret paths to the north of Germany, where the Interim was
utterly rejected. Nearly 400 preachers became exiles; Magdeburg,
which was under the ban, afforded an asylum to the greater number. In
Saxony, also, the cradle of the Beformation, many preachers fied, from
dislike to the Leipsic Interim, by the composition of which Melancthon
incurred the charge of weakness and want of courage. A multitude of
pamphlets, satires, satirical poems, and wood-cuts, proceeded fh)m Magde-
burg, which were intended to bring down hatred and contempt upon the
Interim and its originators.
S 387. At the moment when the emperor believed himself to be on
the point of attaining the object of his wishes ; when the Council had
been again removed to Trent, and even attended by some of the Pro-
testant Estates ; when every circumstance seemed to combine to raise
him to the position of temporal head of Christjendom, in the sense in
which the term was understood in the middle ages; when he already cher-
ished the thought of having his son elected as his successor, and thus
rendering the imperial throne hereditary in his family, — he suddenly
found an unexpected opponent in the man to whom he had been hitherto
indebted for his triumphs, — in Maurice of Saxony. This sagacious
prince saw plainly in what a perilous position the civil and religious liber-
ties of Germany would stand, if Charles should conduct his plans to a
successful issue ; he saw clearly that he had incurred the hate of all Pro-
testants by his treachery to the common cause, since he had undertaken,
in the name of the emperor, to prosecute the ban against Magdeburg,
stnd had already commenced the siege of the city, where alone the pure
vord of the Gospel had found an asylum. He could only restore his
lost reputation by a great and daring action. He concluded a secret alii*
ance with several German princes, and assured himself of the aid of the
French king, Henry 11., by a treaty, in virtue of which the latter was
permitted to occupy the towna of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, without
infringement of the rights of the empire. The chivabous nuurgrave,
Albert of Brandenburg Culnbaeh, conducted the negotiation. Upon this,
9S8 THK MOPSBH SPOCE.
IfBorioe granted pardoD and tbe free exercise of rdigioii to liMg^Awr^
wtidK immediately subnutted. WarniDgs were sent to the emperor, wko
wasatthattimeinlnnsbmck; bat Manricey who was a master in the ait
of deceptioiiy knew how to dissipate all suspicions as thej arose in lua
mind,. and Charies, who was practised in the intrignesof Spain and Italj,
thon^ it impossible that he should be ootwitted bja German. Maariee
Mtftth i&fio. fi^^^J adyanced with three divisions of his armj into the
' south, took possession of Augsburg, and marched into tbe
TjnoL He was already approaching Innsbruck with the purpose of mak-
ing the emperor prisoner, when a mutiny among the Gierman peasants
afforded the latter an opportunity for escape. The Tridentine GNmcU
was broken up in confusion, and Charles, after setting the imprisoned
Elector, John Frederidc, at liberty, fled during the nig^t, ill with, the
goat and disheartened, over the snow-covered mountains <^ the Tyrol
into Carinthia; leaving to his brother Ferdinand the difficult task of
establishing peace. Ferdinand immediately conduded the treaty of
Passau with the Protestant princes, by which unconditional refigiooa
liberty was granted to the adherents of the Augsburg Confession, the
Interim was abolished, the Protestants were declared independ^t of the
Council of Trent, and the landgrave of Hesse was set at liberty. A per-
manent peace and amnesty was at the same time decided upon.
§ 888. The treaty of Passau was the last work of Manrice. Wheo
bis former confederate, Albert of Brandenburg, refused to accede to it,
and continued his wars and robberies in Lower Saxony,
Maurice marched against him to compel him to peace. A
battle was fought near Sivershausen. The active Maurice was victo-
rious, but he received a gun-shot wound in the wild confiisioa of the bat-
tle, of which he died two days after, in the flower of his manly strength.
He was a man of rare qualities, ^prudent and secret, enterprismg and
eneigetic" Two years after his death, the Beligious Peace of Angpa-
burg was conduded, by which the Protestant Estates who followed the
Augsburg Confession were not only assured of full liberty of conscience
and religion, but also of political rights equal to those enjoyed by the
Catholics, and the continued possession of the confiscated ecclesiastical
property. A free right of 'departure was permitted to subjects who did
not follow the religion of the Electors ; and a free toleration for those
that remained. The demand made by the adherents of the ancient faith,
that, in future, those of the clergy who should join the new Church should
lose their incomes and offices, occasioned the most vehement disputes.
As it was impossible to come t9 an agreement, the point was left unde-
cided, and admitted as a spiritual reservation into the laws of peace -^>
^ a seed of bloody contests."
t 889. This religious peace frustrated the most zealous attempts of the
emperor to restore the unity of the Church, and deprived him of the
PR06RB88 OF THE REFORMATION THROUGH EUROPE. 229
interest be had hitherto taken in the affairs of the world. Oppressed
with diaoont^it and hodilj suffering, he embraced the resolution of re-
nouncing his government, and of passing the remainder of his dajs in
quiet retirement and monastic penance. With this object, he made oyer
to his eon Philip, at a solemn assembly at Brussels, first, the Nether-
lands, and a short time after, the kingdoms of Spain and Naples, to-
gether with the New World; he committed the government of
the Austrian states and the affairs of Germany, however, to his brother
Ferdinand. After this, he retired to the west of Spain, where
he had had a residence built near the convent of St Juste, on the
pleasant declivity of a hill, surrounded by plantations of trees. He lived
here for two years in quiet retirement, busied with the practices of reli-
gkm and with pious contemplation. In the mean time, Frederick L
leeeived the imperial throne of Germany by the election of the princes,
afiter he had pledged himself to observe the Peace of Religion, — an en-
gagement he honestly fulfilled.
4. PS0GBBS8 OF THE REFORMATION THROUGH EUROPE.
0. LUTHEEAKISM AMD CALTIKI8M.
S 340. The greatest divisions arose in Germany, where the move-
ments in the Church had taken their origin, in consequence of the Re-
formation. The Lutheran form of worship strove long with the Catholic
for the mastery. The former extended itself gradually from Saxony and
Hesse over the neighboring countries, acquired the supremacy in north-
ern Gemoany, made triumphant progress in Swabia and Franconia, and
<^)«ied itself a path from Strasburg into Alsacia and Lorraine. The
doetrines of Luther had penetrated at an early period to the Vistula and
the shores of the Baltic, where the Grand Master of the German Order
(S i27}, Albert of Brandenburg, pressed upon by the Poles and deserted
by the emperor and empire, had joined the evangelical Church, converted
Prussia into an hereditary dukedom, and acknowledged the suzerainship
of Poland. The same thing happened in Courland and Livonia, with
the Head of the Order of the Swoi*d. The Catholic form of worship
feand its most zealous partisans in the dukes of Bavaria, in the royal
bouse of Austria, in the spiritual Electors, and in the prince-bishops. In-
golstadt was an active seminary for the ancient faith. Nevertheless,* as
the two emperors, Ferdinand L and Maximilian IL, both disdiuned to do
violence to the consciences of their subjects, the evangeUcal doctrines
MOD obtained numerous adherents in the hereditary possessions of Aus-
tria. The Protestants obtained religious toleration for themselves, and
built several churches in the archduchy of Austria, in Carinthia, and
Stjria. In Hungary and Transylvania, the Reformation made such pro-
gress that the evangelical party outnumbered their opponents, and obtain-
ed religions freedom and equal political rights with the Catholics. In B<h
20
230 THE MODERN EPOCH.
hernia, the old Hassites (Utraquists) mostlj embraced the LiitKenii»
trines. But numerous as were the ti'eaties that guaranteed the n^4
Protestants in the Austrian dominions, they were disr^arded by ha
rulers, who restored the Catholic State Church to the preeminfiw.
The Reformed Church that originated in Swiuerland, also fnid Ik
way into Germany at an early period. It is true that the doetnoest^
Zwingle were only received and maintained by a few towns in the um
of Germany ; but when Calvin, in Geneva, seized upon the priacpiB
of Zwingle, and fashioned them into a complete system of dootnK bj
uniting them with his own views, the reformed Church in Germany gui-
ed a constant succession of adherents. Frederick III. introdoedi tls
system into his own land from the Palatinate, and ordered Uranos aii
Olevianus to draw up the Heidelberg Catechism, a viddi
extended compendium of Calvin's doctrine ; the same ^
happened in Hesse, Bremen, and Brandenburg. £ven MelanethonandVi
disciples (Philippists, and Cryptocalvinists) were convinced in their baiti
of the truth of Calvin's views. The former so embittered the cveiwg
of his life by promulgating these opinions, that he sank into hn gmt
calumniated and full of sorrow, and his disciples broo^
persecution and imprisonment upon themsdves in Saxony.
The Form of Concord, a confession of faith that was subscribed, sbom
1580, by ninety-six of the Lutheran Estates of the empire, was intended
to restore harmony among the German Protestants; but it merely ood-
firmed the division between the Calvinists and Lutherans, and increased
the unhappy animosity of one party against the other.
§ 841. Switzerland also received evangelical confessions of £uth,a6
well as the Catholic doctrines ; only the system of Zwingle, that was le-
ceived in the greater German cantons (§ 326), differed less from the
doctrine of Calvin which was predominant in French Switzerland, tkn
it did from that of Luther. John Calvin, a learned refugee from France,
introduced the Reformation and the confederation into Gveneva, t
town delightfully situated on the frontiers of Savoy and
France, and then, like the lawgivers of antiquity, he exe^
cised the greatest influence on the government, the religion, the maimers*
and the education of the city, till his death in 1564. Calvin was a nuiQ
of great intellect and moral power ; severe to others and to himself, and
hostile to all worldly enjoyments, — he acquired a command over men by
the reverence that was due to his strong and pure will. The doctrine of
Calvin is impressed with the character of its originator, — severity and
simplicity. In matters of faith, he adheres to Zwingle only so far as the
latter embraces the severe views of Augustine (§ 174), and holds that
men are incapable of doing good by their own wills. Calvin, like Zwin-
gle, goes back to the primitive apostolic times, and commands the great-
est simplicity in ceremonies and forms of worship. Images, ornamenu.
PROGRBSS OF THE BSFOBMATION THROUGH EUROPE. 231
organs, candles, crucifixes, all are banished from the churches ; the ser-
vice consists in prayer, preaching, and the sin^ng of psalms, which Gal-
Tin's faithful fellow-minister, Theodore Beza, had translated into French ;
there is no church feast except the rigorously observed Sunday (Sab-
bath). The constitution of the Calvinistic Church is a republican sjmo-
dial government. The congregation, represented by freely elected elders
(presbytery), exercises the power of the Church, chooses the ministers,
watches over morals by means of the elders, administers the discipline
and punbhments of the Church, and the distribution of alms. The min-
isters and a portion of the elders constitute the synod, whence the coun-
try churches receive their laws. Their severity of morals occasionally
induced the Calvinists to wage war against lawful amusements, such as
the theatre, dancing, and the more refined pleasures of society ; for this
reason, their doctrines found less acceptance among the higher than in
the middle classes.
§ 342. The Calvinistic doctrines extended themselves from Geneva
over the flourishing towns of southern France, where they
soon numbered so many adherents that they were able to
wage war for many years with the dominant Church. The French court
was for some time hesitating which form of religion it should adopt ;
political motives swayed the decision in favor of the Catholic Church.
Commands were now issued against ^ the so-called reformed religion,"
Calvinistic ministers were given over to the fiames, and an attempt was
made to prevent the diffusion of their doctrine by persecution and pun-
ishment. Calvinism penetrated into the Netherlands from
France and Switzerland, where, after many struggles, it be-
came victorious in the northern provinces (Holland). At the synod of
Dort (a. d. 1618), the views of the Arminians, who wished to give a
milder form to Calvin's severe doctrine of predestination, were condemn-
ed, and the Augustine doctrine of election maintained. The chiefs of
the Arminians, particularly the deserving statesman, (Van Olden Bam-
. veldt), and the distinguish^ historian, Hugo Grotius, were punished, the
one by death, the other by imprisonment (§ 860). In Scot-
"* *" land, the evangelical doctrines were long suppressed by the
court and the clergy, and many courageous confessors perished in the
fliimes. The regent, Mary of Guise, sprung from a French family,
which was zealously devoted to the Romish Church, in conjunction with
Cardinal Beaton, suppressed the innovators by severity. But when the
cardinal had fallen in his own house beneath the blows of a troop of
cunspirator^ and the regent had died atler a three years' contest with
the people who wvre striving fur the Gospel, the rude preacher, John
Knox, who had known Calvin in Geneva, succeeded in rendering the
Reformed doctrines triumphant. The doctrines, the form of worship,
and the synodiai constitution of the Calvinistic Church, were introduced
232 THS MOBKBN SPOCH.
into Scotland by a resolation of the parliament, the mass forbidd«B as
idolatrous, under penalty of fine and death, and the goods of the Cbareb
confiscated. Monasteries, cathedrals, and treasures of art were destrogr*
ed with a blind fury. At a later period, the Scottish Church received
the name of Presbyterian, from its assemblies. In England, similar
principles, entertained by the Puritans, succumbed to the power of tlie
High Church ; but they were diffused by numerous sects, and receiTed
their fullest development on the free shores of North America.
h. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ANGLICAN CHUKCH.
§ 343. In England, the disciples of Luther were at first bloodily per-
secuted, and King Henry VIII. obtained such favor with the court of
Bome^ by a learned controversial work against Luther on the subject of
the seven sacraments, that it conferred upon him the title of Defender
Henry VIIL ^^ ^^® Faith. But Henry's attachment to the pope was coo-
A. D. vei-ted into hatred when Clement YII. refused to separate
1509-1647. Ynta from his Spanish wife, Catherine, an aunt of the em-
peror Charles Y. Some internal scruples respecting the validity of his
marriage with Catherine, who had been the wife of his departed brother,
and a wish to unite himself to the lovely Anne Boleyn, at length induced
Henry to attempt the desired separation by a rapture with Borne. Sa|>-
ported by the opinions of native and foreign universities, and of many
learned bodies, as to the invalidity of his marriage, he had had bimaelf
divorced from Catherine, and married to Anne, by Thomas Cranmer, the
new bishop of Canterbury ; he then compelled the clergy to acknowledge
him as the head of the English Church, and had a number of acts passed
by the parliament, by which the pope's authority and infiuence were de-
stroyed in England. The king then set about effecting such alterations
in the Church as appeared to him to be useful, or which suited his
caprice, with unexampled severity and arbitrariness. The numoons
monasteries were violently dissolved, the monks and nans scarcely pro-
tected from hunger, and the conventual property either united to the
crown or bestowed upon courtiers* The tomb of Becket with its rich
altar was desecrated and plundered, and the memory of the ancient saint
(i 275) turned to. ridicule, by a ludicrous ceremony. The fiames, by which
Luthei*ans as well as papists were consumed, were lighted by the wooden
images of the saints. On the other hand, he left the remaining institn-
tions of the Catholic Church untouched, and commanded, by the statote
of the Six bloody Articles, the observance, under penalty of death, of
celibacy, auricular confession, monastic vows, low mass, transubstantia-
tion, and the withholding of the cup. The venerable Bish<^ Fbher and
the intellectual chancellor, Thomas More, the author of the ** Utopia,'*
died upon the scaffold, because they did not approve the innovations in
the Church. Enraged at this, the pope at length fulminated a violent
FROOBBSS OF THE RBFOBMAXXOIT THBOUGH BUROPB. 233
anathema against Henry and his adherents, at the moment when the dis-
content at the dissolution of the cloisters had produced an insurrection
among the peasantry in the north of the kingdom, in which monks
marched at the head of the bands. Upon this, Henry condemned the
friends and relations of Cai:dinal Pole, who had prepared the anathema,
to die upon the scaffold or gaUows, and delivered oyer abbots and monks
in the dress of their order to the executioner.
§ 344. But the despotism and sensuality of the king were most clearly
displayed in his treatment of his wives. Scarcely had the divorced Cathe-
rine died, far from the court, a victim to her sorrows and her wrongs,
before her rival, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded by the coinmand of her
jealous husband. His third wife, the young and gentle Jane Seymour,
died a few days after giving birth to the delicate Edward ; upon which,
Henry suffered himself to be seduced by the advice of his chancellor, and
by a portrait of Holbein's, into suing for the hand of a German princess,
Anne of Cleves. But neither her figure nor her disposition suited the
amorous king, who accordingly procured another divorce upon grounds
altogether frivolous. "Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, retained her
affection for a former lover after her elevation, and expiated her want of
fiuth upon the scaffold ; and Catherine Parr, the last of his queens, had
only her own shrewdness to thank that she did not faU a victim to her zeal
for the Reformation. Since the days of Nero and Domitian, there had
hardly been a monarch who had surrendered himself so completely to the
promptings of a despotic nature, a passion for blood, and a tyrannical
viU. Even on his death-bed, he issued orders for executions.
Ednud VL, S ^^^* '^^ ^^® ^^"^^ ^^ ^^ father's death, Edward VI. num-
A.D. bered but six years ; Henry had, in consequence, appointed
~^^^ a council, to conduct the government during his son's minoi^
itj. In this council, Edward's maternal uncle — the duke of Somerset,
and the Archbishop Cranmer, attained the greatest authority. The for^
mer, raised to the ofiOice of Protector of England, gradually got the whole
power of the state into his own hands, and favored the establishment of
an Anglican Church, which had been undertaken with prudence and mo-
deration by hb friend Cranmer. This consists of a mixture of Catholic
ami Protestant elements. Public worship was accommodated to the
Book of Common Prayer, in the English language, which was compiled
from the ancient Mass books ; the Communion was administered in both
kinds; the abolishing of celibacy, and the confession of faith in the
Thirty-nine Articles, is in conformity with other Protestant Churches ;
on the other hand, the episcopal constitution, the continuance in the use of
colcMed robes during divine worship, and a few ecclesiastical statutes, call
the Roouin Catholic system to mind ; only, instead of the pope, the king
is the head of the Church, and the bishops and archbishops are appointed
by him.
20*
J
234 THB MODERN EPOCH.
Somerset made manj enemies bj his ambition, who first procured Iiia
fall, and at length his execution. Warwick, earl of Northumberhuid, the
ambitious chief of the opposite partj, stepped into his place, and ezei^
dsed the same unlimited authority over the young king and the coontzy
as his predecessor had done. For the purpose of prolonging his swa^r,
he persuaded the dying Edward to alter the will of his father, and ap»
point as his successor, Jane Gray, a niece of Henry YIII., who was dis-
posed to the evangelical doctrines, instead of Edward's Catholic sbter,
Mary. But hatred to the ambitious Northumberiaqd, whose son, Dudley,
was the husband of Jane Gray, and the hereditary reverence for the
MaiT Tudor Intimate inheritor, operated in favor of Mary. She brought
*^' D. the people over to her side by the assurance that nobody
1658 - 1668. gijouid \yQ disturbed on account of his religion, and succeeded
in gaining the throne. .Northumberland died dn the scaffold. Dudley
and the classically accomplished Jane Gray, who was not less versed in
the writings of Plato than in the Bible, after pining for some time in pri-
son, were the victims of a similar fate.
§ 346. Mary did not remain true to her promise. Bred up in the
Catholic faith, for which her mother, Catherine, had suffered, she looked
upon the restoration of papacy and the ancient Church forms as the most
important of her duties as a ruler. She had the Church Reform of Cd-
wsurd VI. abolished by act of Parliament, and adopted measures, in con-
junction with Cardinal Pole, whom she raised to the archiepiscopal chair
of Canterbury, for the extirpation of heresy and the restoration of the
old system. The refractoiy bishops were deposed ; Cranroer and two of
his most zealous coadjutors given over to the flames, and the fires of
martyrdom lighted all over the kingdom. To neglect attending mass
was to put life in peril. Crowds of refugees fled over the seas, to seek
for refuge in Germany and Switzerland. When Mary gave her hand to
the fanatical Philip of Spain, the persecution waxed hotter. But grief
at the evident dislike of her husband, melancholy, and misanthropy
shortened her days. She died at the moment when she was deceiving
herself with the idle hope, that she was about to present a Catholic suc-
cessor to the nation.
Her half-sister, Elizabeth, the daughter of the unfortunate Anne
Boleyn, exchanged the residence she had hitherto occupied in the Tower*
where she had passed a troublous youth in the midst of sorrow and dan-
ger, for the royal palace, and restored, by the Act of Uniformity, the
Reformation that had been established under Edward VI. The Book of
Common Prayer and the Thirty-nine Articles again resumed their au-
thority ; and Elizabeth exercised the influence which she possessed as
the spiritual head of the Church, in establishing the Court of High Com-
mission. It was in vain that the exiles, on their return home, hoped to
induce the queen to undertake a thorough Reformation, on the model of
PROQBBSS 07 THE BBFOBHATION THROUGH EUBOPB. 235
the Calvinistic Church. Elizabeth's loftj spirit, and her love for reli-
gioas ceremonial and ecclesiastical pomp, despised the simplicity and
popular equality of the Calyinists, who, from their insisting upon the
purification of the Church, were called Puritans. When these men
found there was no hope for the reception of their doctrines into the An-
glican Church, thej separated themselves as nonconformists, and esta-
blished a religious system of their own, with presbyteries and synods, a
religious aerrioe from which art and poetry were banished, and a system
of Church discipline in which every earthly pleasure was a sm. Per-
secution was soon let loose against the Puritans, under which they be-
came still more gloomy and morose, and at length increased to a danger-
ous party.
€. THE REFORMATION IN THE THREE SCANDINAYIAN KINOD0M8.
I 847. In the sixteenth century, a complete revolution in the state of
affiurs took place in the three Scandinavian kingdoms. Christian II., the
last king of the united empire (§ 296), irritated the nobility to such an
extent by his severity and cruelty, that insurrections broke out at the
same time both in Denmark and Sweden, in consequence of which the
union of Calmar was dissolved, and the evangelical Church obtained the
supremacy. Gustavua Vasa, a courageous youth, endowed with the valor
and wisdom of the Stures, who were his relations, was the originator
of this ecclesiastical and political revolution in Sweden, and the founder
of a vigorous race of monarchs. He was carried into Denmark as a
hostage by Christian IL From this place, however, he soon found an
opportunity to escape into Lubeck, where he was not only protected but
provided with money, and encouraged with promises of the liberation of
his native country. In the same year in which the slaughter
of Stockholm produced a universal horror of the Danish
government, Gustavus landed on his native shores. In the midst of a
thousand dangers and adventures, he escaped the pursuits of Christian's
emissaries, who were perpetually at his heels, by his own courage and
the fidelity of his countrymen, till at length he found aid and protection
from the rude inhabitants of Northern Dalecarlia. With a band of hardy
peasants he conquered Falun, repulsed the troops of the Danes and their
allies, and took Upsala. The fame of his name and the attractive call of
liberty soon resounded through all lands, and attracted many warriors to
his side. Supported by the Lubeckers with troops, money, and artillery,
he compelled the Danish garrison to retreat, and then, af^r having been
elected king by the Diet of Strengnas, he held his entry into
' Stockholm. At first, the new kingdom of Sweden remained
an elective monarchy, till, twenty years later, the crown was declared by
the diet to be hereditary in the male line of Vasa. But as
the possessions of the throne had been so dilapidated by
236 XHB MODflBH BPOGH.
neglect as not to be sufficient to snpport the expeoditare, the new king^j
dignitj could not be supported with honor except by an aogmentatioo of
the kinglj revenue. For thb, the Beformation afforded a welcome op-
portnnitj. The people, instructed in the Lutheran doctrines by the
brothers Olaus and Lanrentius Petri, willinglj accepted die new fidth,
and the Diet placed the possessions of the clergj, who during the irpr
had sided with the Danes, and shown no interest in the independence of
their country, at the disposal of the king. GustaTus, sap-
A. D. 1627. port^ i^j ^ii3 resolution, gradually introduced the Reforai-
tion into the whole countiy, and deprived the Church of the greater psit
of its possessions, for the purpose of attaching them to the crown. The
nobility, who were enriched by the proceeding, supported the underttk-
ing. The bishops, who, after a long resistance, submitted to the new
system, remained Estates of the empire and heads of the Church, hot
were dependent upon the king, and held in check by the oonaistories.
§ 348. A similar revolution had, in the mean time, taken place in Dea-
mark. Frederick L, acknowledged as king by the nobility and peofde,
sought, by supporting the evangelical doctrine, to strengthen himself
against his rival, Christian IL, who, although at first favorable to the
Reformation, had afterwards united himself to the emperor and the pqie
for the purpose of regaining possession of his states. In the same time
in which Frederick admitted Protestants to equal civil rights with Catho-
lics at the Diet of Odensee, and established the Danish Church's independ-
ence of Rome, Christian IL made an attack upon Denmark firom N(V-
way ; but was taken prisoner, and compelled to pine for sixteen years in
a gloomy tower, with no other companion than a Norwegian dwsiC
Ghristiaxi m. Under Christian III., the son of Frederidi: I., the Lutbena
▲. D. form of worship attained a complete triumph in DenmaEk
1684-1669. also. The clergy lost the greater part of their posseMioos
to the crown and the nobility, and the bishops, whose titles were retained
in the Scandinavian kingdoms, fell into complete dependence upon tbe
government In Norway, the new Church was quietly established \fj
the peasantry ; but in Iceland, the Episcopal party fell with the swoid
in their hands. The Swedish and Danish nobility gained great weahh,
power, and privileges by the Beformation.
§ 349. Gustavus Vasa had attempted to establish Sweden's prosperity
by wholesome laws, and by the encouragement of trade and indostrj;
but evil times came upon the land under the government of his eooi*
Erich XIY. £nch XIV. was' of so passionate a disposition that he at
A. D. length became insane. Whilst in this state, he murdered
1660-1668. ^^Yi his own hand several members of the fiunily of Store,
and caused all the nobles to tremble in anticipation ai a similar ftte;
whidi induced his brotheira to place him in confinement, and at length to
send him out of the worid by poison. His brother, John HI., a weak-
PBOaRESS OV THE RVFOBMATION THROUGH EUBOPB. 237
minded prince of unstable character^ succeeded to the government. Led
JohnHL astray bj his wife, a rigid CSatholie and the daughter of
^i>. a Polish prince, and bj a Jesuit who lived secretly in
1568 - 1592. Stockholm as an ambassador, John attempted again to intro-
duce the andent form of religion into his kingdom, and consented that
his son Sigismond, who was to be king both of Sweden find Poland,
should be brought up as a Catholic. His scheme proved abortive from
the resistance of the Swedish people to the Catholic ceremonies ; he him-
self afterwards repented of his attempt, when his second wife exerted her-
self in favor of the evangelical doctrine. But the attachment to the
Catholic Church proved of great detriment to his son, the Polish king,
Sigismond III. For when he refused compliance with the resolution of
the Diet, that the evangelical-Lutheran religion should be solely predomi-
nant and alone tolerated in Sweden, his uncle, Charles of Sudermania,
was named regent. It was in vain that Sigismond attempted
to defend his rights by force of arms, he was defeated by his
nncle ; whereupon the Diet required him either to renounce popery, and
to govern his hereditary kingdom in person; or to send his son to
Sweden, that he might be brought up in the religion of the country*
When Sigismond refused compliance with this demand, Charles IX.
received the crown he had long been striving for, and a new law of suc-
cession secured it to his family.
§ 350. At this time, a war arose between Sweden and Poland. This
Chukft IX. ^^^9 which, after Charles's death, was inherited by his son,
^ ». Gustavus Adolphus, terminated to the advantage of Sweden,
1600-1611. ^^^ g^j^^ united Livonia and a part of Prussia to Finland
and Esthonia, her other provinces on the Baltic.
From this time, the power of Poland gradually decayed. An attempt
at a reformation of the Church, which would have been attended by a
renovation of the state, and a more intimate connection with neighboring
ooontries, was suppressed by a selfish nobility, who thought of nothing
bat increasing their own power and privileges. It was only a few per-
secuted and fugitive teachers of the new doctrines that found protection
and toleration in Poland. They were opposed to the Catholic Poles
under the comprehensive term of DissideniSy and succeeded, after many
straggles, in obtaining toleration for their religion, and an equality of
civil rights ; possessions in which they were afterwards seriously dis-
turbed. Several opinions found toleration in Poland that had been
rejected by the Reformers as unorthodox. Among these may be men-
tioned those entertained by the sect -of Socinians (Unitarians) founded
by the Italian Socinus, who denied the Divine nature of Christ and the
doctrine of the Trinity.
238 THE MODERN EPOCH.
d, THE CATHpLIC CHUBGH.
§ 351. Traces of the Refonn^tion displayed themselves both in Spain
and Italy, but were prevented from extending partly by the character of
the people, and partly by the severity of the Inquisition ; the suspected
died in frightful dungeons, or at the stake. Among the confessors of the
new doctrine were found the most illustrious authors and men of learn-
ing, who, for the most part, took refuge abroad. Some adopted princi-
ples that were rejected as heretical even by the Reformers ; for example,
the two Italian brothers, Socinus;* and the Spaniard, Servetus, .who was
burnt to death at Geneva, at the suggestion of Calvin, for holding unor-
thodox opinions on the subject of the Trinity (a., d. 1553.)
The heads and leaders of the Catholic Church did not give up the
tliought of suppressing the new doctrines: wherever it was in their power,
they sought to attain this object by persecution and violence ; and when
this was not practicable, they opposed and impeded their diffusion in
Adrian VL every possible way. Almost all the popes, even those who,
A. D. 1522, like Adrian YI. and Paul III., were convinced of the pre-
1628. vailing abuses of the Church, and meditated plans for their
Panini., removal, displayed great severity agrinst tlie Protestants.
A. D. 1534- Thus Paul IV., an octogenarian and a gloomy monk, pro-
voked the people to such a degree, that, on the day of his
A. D. 1555 - ^^^^9 ^^^y mutilated his statues, and burnt down the hou^
1559. of the Inquisition. His successor, Pius lY., brought to a
Pius IV., termination the twice interrupted Council of Trent, the third
A. D. 1559- assembling of which commenced with the January of 1502,
1666. rpj^^ resolutions of this Council (in which the Catholics see
their own Reformation), form the foundation of the Catholic Church.
The religious doctrines that had hitherto been regarded as orthodox were
here recognized as infallible, and embodied in expressions as indefinite
as possible; a purer code of morals was established, the Church disci-
pline improved, and a more rigorous supervision of the clergy established.
The Council of Trent, which was gradually received in all Catholic
countries, is the final conclusion of Catholic doctrine ; from this time, no
more synods have been held. In this manner, every attempt at innova-
tion was prevented, and the character of stability impressed upon Catho-
licism ; whilst, on the contrary, the essence of Protestantism is develop-
ment and progress.
Gregory xm., Gregory XIII., who gave the calendar, which had fallen
A. D. 1572 - into confusion, its present improved arrangement, by passing
^^^- at once from the 18th of February to the Ist of March,
* This is a mistake. Lffilins Socinns and Fanstas Socinus were not brothers, but ancle
and nephew. The title of the Bibliotheca Fratrum Pobnorum, a collection of the works of
the Socinian theologians, may have led Dr. Weber into this error. Awl Ed,
THE CATHOLIC CHUBCH. 239
ordered a Te Deum to be sung for the extirpation of the enemies of
Christ when he heard the intelligence of the massacre of St. Bartholo-
mew (§ 863). The most remarkable prince of the Church, during the
gl^iQ^'y^ whole centurjy was Sixtus V., who, from the condition of a
A. r. liu - poor shepherd boj, had risen to be a Franciscan, inquisitor,
1^9^* cardinal, and at length, pope. He was a man of a strong
and imperious nature, who maintained the discipline of the Church with
inexorable severity, erected seyeral remarkable buildings, drew forth the
gigantic works of antiquity from their rubbish, and attempted to restore
the ancient splendor to the papal chair.
§ 352. The attempts of the popes to suppress the Reformation, or at
least to prevent its diffusion, found their chief support in the Order of
Jesuits, which was founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish
nobleman of excitable imagination and enthusiastic tempera-
ment. Affected by the histories of the saints, which he read during the
healing of a wound, Ignatius renounced the profession of soldier, to which
he had hitherto belonged, and accomplished a toilsome pilgrimage, with
prayers and penance, to the Holy Sepulchre. After his return, he
acquired, with incredible perseverance, the education in which he was
deficient, in Salamanca and Paris ; and then, together with six associates,
swore upon the host not only to be true to the three monastic vows of
poverty, chastity, and obedience, but to allow the object of their efforts
to be determined on by the pope, and then to submit themselves to his
decision with unconditional compliance. A short time after, they pros-
trated themselves at the feet of the Roman pontiff, and obtained a con-
firmation of the new Order, which received the name of the Society of
Jesus. Ignatius became the first general of the Order ; but it is not to
him, but to his successor, the Spaniard, Lainez, that the Society of Jesus
is indebted for its artfully designed constitution.
This constitution was military-monarchical. The superintendents of
the provinces (the provincials), were subject to the general in Rome, and
under these again were a multitude of heads in various steps and grada-
tions. Obedience and rigid subordination were the soul of the alliance.
All the members were most heedfully watched over, and were compelled
to tear asunder all the bands that connected them with the world.
Postulants were required to pass through a long period of probation,
during which, the talents and disposition of every individual were mi-
nutely scrutinized, so that he might be devoted to his most appropriate
sphere of action. Tlie Jesuits, who were endowed with great privileges,
soon attained' a vast and multifarious activity. The chief aim of the Order
was to oppose Protestantism, and to suppress the freedom of inquiry that
bad been awakened by the Reforrilation. They attempted these objects
by a variety of ways ; they endeavored to lead back the adherents of the
new faith into the bosom of the ancient Church by persuasion and seduce-
940 THB MODERN BPOOH.
ment ; the confessional was made use of to induce princes and men in
authority to oppose the Reformation, and to put limits to the freedom of
belief; and bj the education of jouth, which thej had known how to get
into their own hands, thej sought to bring up the young in their own
principles. The Order was enriched by presents and legacies, and this
wealth facilitated the erection of Jesuitical seminaries, which, plentifnilj
provided with eveiy thing that was requisite, imparted instmcticm gra-
tuitously, and thus attracted many of the necessitous. Moreover, tbe
object aimed at by the instruction given by the Jesuits was not a free
development of the mind, but only the acquirement of knowledge that
might be serviceable in life. It might rather be called training than
education. Sciences were presented in a certain contracted form, and
free speculation was prevented. Readiness in the Latin language, and
an acquaintance with a few sciences that were of practical utility, were
the aim of the Jesuitical education; the means — severe disciph'ne and
the excitement of ambition : philosophy, on the other hand, histoiy, and
every thing that directs men's minds to more elevated or comprehensive
views, were either banished or taught with restrictions. But what drew
down the curses of the people on the Jesuitical order was, that by its
dangerous morality it became the destroyer of truth and faith, and the
disseminator of malicious and false principles. The revolting doctrine
that the end sanctifies the means, and that words and oaths might be
rendered invalid by a mental reservation, were brought into use by the
Jesuits in a most audacious manner.
5. THE TIMES OF PHILIP II. (a. D. 1556 — 1598) AND ELIZABETH
(A.D. 1558 — 1603).
§ 353. Philip II. of Spain was a gloomy and misanthropical prince,
who proposed three objects to himself as the wms of hb existence,—
the increase of his power, the extirpation of Protestantism, and the anni-
hilation of liberty and popular rights. In the attainment of these ends,
he sacrificed the happiness of his people, the prosperity of his kingdoD,
and the affection of his subjects and nearest relations. His chivalrous
half-brother, Don Juan, who defeated the Turks in the sea-
^* ^* ^' engagement at Lepanto, was surrounded by the suspicious
king with such a web of falsehood, intrigpie, and espionage, and so fet-
tered in all his undertakings, that grief and vexation plunged him into an
early grave. Philip's son, the impetuous and passionate Don Carlos,
died in the dungeons of the Inquisition, — that mighty spiritual court,
which, under Philip, became the terror and horror of the people. By
means of this horrible Inquisition, and the dreadful aiUos c2a/e, he was
indeed successful in destroying every trace of heresy in Spain and Hir
pies, and in depriving the people of their freedom ; but he at the same
lime annihikted the prosperity, the wealth, and the national greatness of
POBTtrOAL UNITBD WITH BPAIK. 241
these countries ; and when he attempted to bend the Netherlands under
the same joke, that memorable contest burst forth, out of which liberty
came forth triumphant. After a reign of twelve years, which proved the
grave of Spain's greatness, and burdened the once rich4and with an op-
pressive national debt, Philip fell a victim to a dreadful disease. He had
a cruel executor of his tyrannical commands in Duke Alba. The curse
of the people rests on the names of both.
a. PORTUGAL UNITED WITH SPAIN.
§ 854. Portugal had a similar fate with Spain. In both countries, it
powerful priesthood supported by an absolute king, suppressed the spirit-
ual movements of the people, and paralyzed their powers. Freedom
and rights were lost, and the ancient heroism, the bloom and the pros-
perity of an earlier period, disappeared beneath sloth and slavery. This
was particularly the case when Portugal, by a gloomy fatality, was uni-
ted to Spain.
King Sebastian, a young man, and who had been educated by the
priests in rigid faith and obedience to the Church and pope, undertook an
expedition against the infidel Moors in northern Africa, with the purpose
of gratifying at once both his zeal for proselytism and his love of oon-
quest He commenced an impetuous attack, during the
burning heat of an August day, upon the superior force of
the enemy, in the plain of Alcassar, and suffered a dreadful defeat.
12,000 Christian warriors covered the field of battle. Sebastian him-
self was among those who were missing, but his body could be nowhere
discovered. The crown of Portugal descended to an ancient relative ;
tnd when he died, two years afterwards, without children, Philip 11. of
Spain made pretensions to the kingdom, and sent Duke Alba with an
army against the Portuguese, who, out of -national hatred and neighbor^
ly jealousy, favored the pretensions of a rival claimant, Antonio. But
the latter was not in a position to contest his pretended hereditary claims
•gainst the superior power of Spain. He was defeated and compelled
to fiy, apon which Lisbon and the whole country submitted to the Span-
iards. Antonio, after a few unsuccessful attempts, died, poor and hara»-
eed by perpetual plots, in Paris ; and the false Sebastians that arose from
time to time, and endeavored to stir up the Portuguese against their de-
tested neighbors, did not meet with the necessary support The fourth
Sebastian, who by many was regarded as the true one, ended his days in
A. D. 1580- a Spanish prison. The pernicious domination of Spain over
1640. Portugal endured for sixty yeftrs. At the end of this peri-
od, the illustrious duke of Braganza succeeded in bringing the crown
into his own fomily. But in the meanwhile, the navy of Portugal bad
fallen into decay, and her foreign possessions passed into other hands.
21
243 THE HOBEBN EPOCH.
h. THE STRUOOLE FOB LIBERTY IN THE NETHERLANDS.
§ 355. The Netherlands, from time unmemorialy had possessed char-
tered rights and liberties, .among which, consent to taxation bj the
Estates of the country, an independent jadicatnre, and the exclusion of
Spanish troops and officials, occupied the most prominent place. These
rights had been already occasionally infringed during the time of CharlfiB
y. ; but the loye of the emperor for the Netherlanders, among whom he
had been bom, and for whose manners and customs he retained an affec-
tion, prevented any greater hostilities. Philip, on the contFBury, was a
haughty Spaniard, who looked upon the Netherlands as a conquered
oountiy, and who perpetually Tiolated their hereditary privileges. He
appointed his half-sister, Margaret of Parma, a woman of masculine
spirit, his viceregent in Brussels ; but placed a state council at her side,
in which a foreigner. Cardinal Granvella, was president, and sent a
Spanish garrison into the countiy. But the Netherlandera, many of
whom were inclined to the evangelical doctrines, felt themselves most
aggrieved, when the king, for the purpose of maintaining the pure fidth
and the discipline of the Church, ordered the laws against heresy to be
rendered more stringent, and appointed fourteen new bishops in addition
to the four already existing. These regulations w^ere intended to facili-
tate the gradual introduction of the Spanish Inquisition ; and the Obi^
dinal Granvella, who, as archbishop of Mechlin, had ail the other bishop-
rics under him, already assumed the title of Grand-Inquisitor. All
attempts of the patriotic party, at the head of which stood William of
Orange and Count Egmont, to induce the king by petitions to respect the
institutions of the country, to mitigate the laws against heresy, and to
allow freedom of belief, were ineffectual. Philip replied, ^ that he would
rather die a thousand times, tlum suffer the slightest change in religion.*
§ 356. It was among the burgher class alone that any disciples of the
new Church were to be met with ; the nobility for the most part adhered
to the ancient faith, but were resolute in opposing the Inqubition with all
November, their power. With this object, about 400 nobles subscribed
1665. the so-called Compromise, and drew up a petition for the
repeal of the laws against heresy, and the discontinuance of the proceed-
ings of the Inquisition. When they presented themselves with this
before the palace of the vice-regent, she fell into a state of agitation. One
of the council who was standing beside her exclaimed, that she should
Jiot be alarmed by these beggars (gueux), a word that was communicated
to the confederates, and made use of by them as the sign of their alii-
anee. They named themselves Gueses, and from this time wore a medsl
<oand the neck, with the effigy of the king, and the inscription, " True to
the wallet" The petition remained without result Heretics were pun-
eahed in their freedom, property, and lives. Despite all this, the new
IHB STRUGGLB FOR LIBERTT IN IHE NSTHEBLAKBS. 243
doctrines made more and more progress ; psalms were sung, the preach-
ings of the evangelical clergy, which w^re oflen held in the open air,
were attended by thousands ; monks, images of the Virgin, and holj ob-
jects were turned to ridicule. At length, the long restrained wrath of
the people at the religious persecution burst its bounds in Antwerp^
Brussels, and the whole of Brabant. A mob, consisting of the lowest
class of the people, mutilated the crucifixes and images of the saints
which were standing in the roads ; but the increasing multitude soon
attacked the churches and cloisters, and perpetrated every kind of sacri-
legious atrocity. These occurrences produced a division. The moderate
party joined the regent, and assisted her in punishing the guilty. Order
was in a short time restored, and Margaret recommended gentleness and
moderation as the only means by which the tranquillity of the country
could be permanently established. But her representations found no
acceptance in Madrid. It was determined to send the cruel Alba with a
Spanish army to the Netherlands, and to reduce the people by force and
severity.
Alba, A. D. S 357. The intelligence of Alba's arrival caused the Nether-
1U7-1678. landers to take flight in crowds. William of Orange, a pru-
dent and circumspect man, in the full vigor of life, resolute, energetic,
and taciturn, yielded to the storm and retreated to Holland. He parted
in tears from Egmont, whom he vainly- attempted to persuade to follow
the same coarse. Egmont's happy nature could not giye credit to the
Spanish treachery, against which Orange warned him. He trusted to his
former services to the royal family of Spain, aqd remained. But Alba
had hardly arrived at Brussels, with unlimited powers, before
he placed the unsuspecting Egmont and the gallant Horn
nnder arrest, and caused them, with eighteen others of the nobility, to be
executed as traitors. He then established a council of rebellion, called
by the Netherlanders The Bloody Council, which punished with unex-
ampled severity not only the disciples of the evangelical doctrine, but the
resolute defenders of their country's rights and institutions. The regent,
disgusted with these horrors, resigned her office and retired to Italy. Her
memor}- was held in honor. Alba, however, erected a citadel in Antwerp,
and for six years (a. d. 1567-1573) exercised an oppressive tyranny
that threatened the greatest danger to liberty and prosperity. Without
regard to the laws of the land, which required that the taxes should be
allowed by the Estates df eveiy district, and collected in a manner the
best suited to their object. Alba imposed a fixed tax upon the country,
and levied it in a manner extremely unfavorable to trade and commerce,
tnasmoch as, in addition to a property tax, he introduced a high tariff.
'The discontent and irritation of the people at these oppressive imposts at
length produced such a fermentation in the countiy, that Alba's recall
was decided upon in Madrid. The intelligence that a band of exilee^
244 THB MODERN EPOCH.
I called Water-Gkieses, had stormed the sea-port, Briel, and that the north-
! era states, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and Friealand, had united together
I and reco^ized William of Orange as their Stadtholder,
miglit have convinced the Spanish court that Alba's pro-
ceedings were not leading to the desired result. Shortly after the Duke's
departure from the Netherlands, the northern states, in the synod of
Dort, raised Calvinism to be the religion of the state, received the Heid-
elberg Catechism, and erected a Protestant university in the town of
Leyden, as a reward for the heroic defence of the citizens against the
beleaguering Spanish army.
I Zaniga, a. d. § ^^^' Alba's successor, Louis of Zuniga and Rcquesceni,
j 16T8-1676. abolished the Bloody Council, and attempted by milder mea-
sures again to confirm the tottering power of Spain in the Netherlands;
but the hatred of the people against the foreign troops, whose licentious-
ness every day increased, prevented a reconciliation. Even his victoiy
on the Mokerheath, where two of the brothers of Orange died as became
heroes, failed in producing the expected results. Zuniga died two years
afterwards. Before his successor, Don Juan, Philip's gallant half-
Don Joan brother, could enter upon his difiicult office, the insolence of
I A. D. 1576- the savage and unpaid soldiery attained its highest pitch.
j 1W8. xhgy fiiigji ii^g wealthy cities of Maestricht and Antwerp
with murder, plunder, and desolation. At this crisis, the shrewd Orange
was successful in uniting the whole of the states, by the
alliance of Ghent, in the resolution of mutually assisting eack
other, with life and property, in driving out the Spanish troops; aod
Don Juan was not in a position, during the brief period of his exertions
in the Netherlands, to reestablish firmly the shattered power of Spaio.
Alexander ^^^ ^^° Juan, as well as his more experienced successor,
Famese, a. d. Alexander Famese of Parma, son of the regent, Margaret^
1678-1692. ^as intent upon fostering the jealousy and hereditary envy
between the northern and southern states, and on maintaining the rights of
the Catholic Church in the latter, that the dominion of Spain might be
preserved in the southern states at least. This scheme was seen through
by Orange, who, being convinced that even the weak were strengthened
by union, united the northern states, (Holland, Zealand, Geld-
ers, Utrecht, Friesland), into a closer confederacy for the
purpose of mutual cooperation, by the Union of Utrecht This alliance
was the foundation of the United States of the Pix>testant Nctheriands.
On the other hand, matters in the south became every day more confused
and divided by the intermeddling of foreign princes and nobles, so that
the energetic Parma was enabled in many places to suppress the in$a^
rection, and to bring back many of the towns to obedience* Philip'<
wrath was now directed against Orange. He had already outlawed him,
aod promised a title of nobility and a vast reward to whosoever sbooU
THB TIMS8 09 PHILIP U. AlH) EUZABSTH. 245
ddiver bim ap eitlier alive or dead. This tempting promise, and the ac-
tivity of fanatical priests, were followed bj several attempts at assassina*
tioD. Orange escaped one of these, but the ballet of the fanatic, Ger-
hard Af Franche-Comt^, laid him dead at the door of the
royal banqueting-haU of Delft The murderer was however
seixed and put to a cruel death. In the place of Orange, the northern
states elected his gallant son, Maurice, as Stadtholder and general.
§ 859. About this time, the religious animosity between Catholics and
Protestants was greater than ever in the west of Europe ; and whilst
the former placed aU their hopes upon Philip of Spain, the latter receiv-
ed assistance either private or open from Elizabeth of England. She
sent her favorite, Leicester, with an army into the Netherlands, to pre-
vent Parma's complete triumph; she assisted the Huguenots against
Philip's allies, the Leaguists and Jesuits (§ 862, 864), and consented to
the execution of Mary Stuart, when she found that her
own life was threatened by the daggers of fanatics (§ 868).
Upon this, Philip determined to annihilate all ^e enemies of the Catho-
lic Church by a mighty blow, and above all, to chastise heretical Eng-
hnd and her excommunicated queen. With this view, he fitted out the
Armada or ** Invincible Fleet," consisting of 180 large ships of war, and
sont them into the Channel, under the command of Medina
Sidonia, to the end that, supported by Parma's land force,
they might subject, at the same time, England, France, and the Nether-
hmds. But the undertaking ended in the shame and ruin of Spain. The
** Invincible Fleet** was destroyed by storms, and the skill and courage
of Uie English ; the greater part of that which escaped the fire-ships, the
ro^ and the enemy, in the Channel, was wrecks upon the Hebrides
aad Shetland islands, when Sidonia attempted to return to Spain by
flailing round Scothuid. It was a fatal blow. Philip admitted this, when
he composed the fears of the trembling admiral with the words, '^ I sent
yoQ against men,'not against rocks and storms." This event destroyed
Spain's supremacy at sea, and secured the independence of the Nether-
lands. The war, indeed, continu'ed for twenty years longer ; but the Span-
iards, despite the bravery of their troops and the skill of their command-
ers, were not in a condition to subject the whole of the country. The
northern states, who possessed an admirable leader in Maurice of Or-
ange, maintained the struggle for freedom and independence. A short
time before his death, Philip presented the Netherlands to his daughter,
Clara Eugenia, on her marriage with the archduke, Albert of Austria,
as a fief, under the condition, that the land should revert to Spain in the
event of her dying without children. The United States of Holland,
howeyer, would not consent to this scheme. They still continued the
^ war after the death of Philip II., till at length, by the intei^
mediation of Henry IV. of France, a truce was arranged,
21»
S46 THE MODERN EPOCH.
bj which their independence, reli^ous freedom, and trade with the East
Indies were secured to them. But it was not tali the peace of Westpha-
lia that the independence of the United States of HoUand was foanaaHj
acknowledged. The southern provinces (Belgium), on the other hand,
remained for a whole century subject to Spain, and then fell into the
hands of Austria.
§ 860. Trade. — GovERKMEyr. — Stnod of Dobt. — Holland
came forth from the struggle flourishing and powerful. Nayigation and
commerce received a vast impulse, after the Hollanders (particularij the
East India Company, established in 1602) entered into ^rect commer*
cial relations with India, and deprived the Portuguese of many of their
colonies. Batavia, in the island of Java, was the centre of their lucra-
tive traffic. The Constitution of the United States, which was mainly
the work of the great statesman. Van Olden Bamveldt, was republicin.
The States General, which were formed by deputies from the seven
provinces, possessed the power of legislation ; the High Council, with
the stadtholder at its head, conducted the government ; the ai&irs of
war, however, and the supreme command over the sea and land forces,
belonged to the stadtholder alone. The arts and sciences at the same
time flourished prosperously ; the study of antiquity, in particalar, met
with unusual attention in the Dutch universities.
But even Protestant Holland did not remain free from the mischiev-
ous wars of religion. A dispute respecting the Calvinistic doctrine of
predestination divided the country into two parties, — a severe party
(Gomarists), to which Maurice of Orange and his adherraits attadied
themselves, and a moderate party (Arminians), whose supporters were
Van Olden Bamveldt and Hugo Grotius. The synod of Dort (§ 342)
decided in &vor of the former ; upon which, Van Olden Bamveldt, who
had deserved so highly^ and was then in his seventy-second year, perish-
ed on the scaffold ; and Hugo Grotius, the learned hbtorian of the strag-
gles of the Netherlands for liberty, and the founder of civil and interna-
tional law according to the principles of the ancients, was confined in
prison till rescued by the cunning and fidelity of his wife.
C. FRANCE DURING THE WAR OF RELIGION.
I 361. During this period, furious religious wars were raging in France
also. Henry U., a determined enemy of the Huguenots (§ 342), died in
consequence of a wound he received during a tournament His feeble
YnnaiB IL, <^d delicate son, Francis U., was his successor. This prince
A. D. was married to the fascinating Mary Stuart of Scotland,
1669-1660. ^i^QgQ uncles, the Guises, in consequence, enjoyed great in-
fluence at the French court. The Guises, as zealous adherents of the
Cathdic Church and the papacy, made use of their loflty position to sup-
press the reformed party ; but by doing this, gave their opponents, and
THE TIMES OF PHILIP II. AND ELIZABETH. 247
in especial, the Prince Cond^, of the familj of Bourbon, and the Admi-
ral CoHgniy the opportunity of strengthening themselves by joining the
Hugnenots. The schism increased daily ; the one party strove to over-
throw the other, and to secure the victory to their own side by the as-
sistance of the king. The day on which the Estates assembled at Or-
leans was selected by both parties as a befitting time for the execution of
this project. The Guises gained the advantage. The chiefs of the Hu-
guenots already found themselves in prison, when a turn was given to
affiurs by the sudden death of the king. The queen-mother, Catherine
of Medicis, placed herself at the head of affairs during the minority of
Charles DL, ^be new king, Charles IX., and the Bourbons assumed a
A. IK 1560- position suited to their birth. The Guises, irritated at the
^^^^ neglect they experienced, retired with their niece, Mary Stu-
art, into Lorraine, whence the latter, shortly after, departed with sorrow
and mourning into Scotland.
$ 862. The removal of the Guises from the court was of advantage
to the reformed party. They obtained toleration. Enraged at this con-
cession, the duke of Guise concluded an alliance with some other power-
ful nobles for the preservation of the ancient futh in France, and return-
ed to Paris. During this return, a horrible slaughter was perpetrated
by the Guises and their attendants upon some Calvinists of the town of
Yassy, who were assembled together in a bam, for the celebration of
Dirine worship. This proved the signal for a religious war. The out-
rage given to the conceded liberty of conscience by this bloody act of
violence cried for vengeance. France was soon divided into two hostile
camps, that attacked each other with bitter animosity and religious rage.
The most horrible atrocities were committed, and the kingdom disturbed
to its inmost depths. The Catholics obtained aid from Rome and Spain,
the Protestants were assisted by England ; Germany and Switzerland
supplied soldiers. After the undecisive battle of Dreux, and the murder
of the Duke Francis of Guise, at the siege of Orleans, peace was for a
short time restored, and the Calvinists again assured of religious tolera-
tion— a promise that met with but little attention. The two parties
1. IMS. ^^^ ^^^° again arrayed in arms against each other. But
despite the bravery of the Huguenots in the battle of St.
Denis, where the elder Montmorend lost his life, the superiority remain-
ed on the side of the Catholics ; particularly when Catherine de Medicis,
who had hitherto sided with neither party, embraced the interests of the
Ifttter. The sight of crucifixes and sacred objects broken to pieces, dur-
ing a journey undertaken by the queen and her son, and the advice of
the duke of Alba, with whom she had an interview in Bayonne, had
produced this alteration in her opinions. After several bloody engage-
ments in the vicinity of La Bochelle, which the Huguenots had selected
tt their battlefield, and after their gallant leader, Conde, had been basely
248 THE HOBEBH BPOCH.
assiusinated daring one of them, the peace of St Grermain was arrai^
edt by which the Calvinists were again assured of the free exercise of
their religion. Condi's nephew, Henry of Bearo, who hjid
been bred up in the doctrine of Calvin bj his mother, Joanna
von Albret, now placed himself at the head of the Huguenots; bat the
^soul of the party was the brave Coligni, who stood by the side of the
prince as his guide and adviser.
S 363. Coligni possessed great influence at the court after the peace.
The young king respected him, and favored him with his confidence.
For the purpose of bringing about a permanent reconciliation betweea
the religious parties, the king now urged a marriage between his sister,
Margaret of Valois, and the Bourbon, Henry of Beam. This offended
the Guises, who believed that Coligni had procured the assassination of
Francis of Guise, and they resolved upon his destruction. Coligni was
fired at one evening, as he was returning to his own house from the
Louvre. The ball, however, only shattered his arm, and it was neoes-
sary to devise a fresh plan of destruction. The Guises, in oonjunctioii
with Catherine of Medicis, now entertained the horrible project of taking
advantage of the approaching marriage, for the solemnization of which
many illustrious Calvinists had hastened to the capital, to destroy the
chiefs of the Huguenot party. Thus originated the Bloody Nuptiids of
Paris, in the night of St. Bartholomew, August 24th, 1572. When the
alarm bell of St. Germain TAuxerrois gave the signal at midnight, bands
of armed ruffians fell upon the defenceless Calvinists. The grey-headed
hero, Coligni, was the first victim that the Guises sacrificed to their hate ;
the murderous bands then marched through all parts of the city, filled
the streets and houses with blood and corpses^ and laughed to scorn every
sentiment of humanity and justice. The butchery lasted for three days,
and was imitated in other towns, so that, at the lowest computation^
25,000 Huguenots must have perished. The king, to whom the plan
was communicated a short time before its execution, listened to the voioe
of his passions, and himself fired upon the fugitives. Afler the deed had
been accomplished, and the Guises had been fixed upon by the public
voice as. its instigators, and called upon to answer for their conduct,
Charles took the whole affair upon himself, and excused the crime by a
pretended conspiracy. Many of the French quitted their homes in hor-
ror, and sought for security in Switzerland, Germany, and the Nether-
lands. Henry of Beam saved his life by a compulsatory abjuration, bat
returned to his old faith as soon as he found himself in security.
§ 364. Charies IX. died two years after the night of
St. Bartholomew, troubled with evil dreams. His brother
g^^^j^ Qf Henry, who had been for a twelvemonth the elected king of
jL D. 1674- Poland, fied secretly from the rude shores of the Yistuk to
1589. (ij^e possession of the fairer crown of France. Heniy HL
A. D. 1674.
THB TIMES OF PHILIP IC. AND ELIZABETH. 2^
was a weak and luzuriouB prince, without either asfiidoity or energy.
Shut up with his favorites and pet dogs in the inmost apartments of the
palace, he forgot his kingdom with its disturbances and miseries; and
when remorse at his sinful life, which was passed in lust and debaucheiy,
seized upon him, he sought consolation in superstitious devotion, in pil-
grimages and processions, and in penance and flagellations. To bring
the Huguenots to peace, so that he might be able to devote himself to the
undisturbed enjoyment of the pleasures of his capital, Henry, inunediat^y
upon his accession, granted them freedom of conscience, and equal civil
rights with the Catholics. Enraged at these concessions, which destroyed
all th^ fruits of their previous exertions, the zealous Catholics, under the
guidance of Henry of Guise, and with the cognizance of Philip II. of
Spain, concluded die Holy League for the preservation of the Churcb in
all its ancient rights. Many members were won to this alliance by the
insinuations of the priests and monks, and by the intrigues of the Jesuits.
The fickle and faithless king, disturbed by this movement, united himself
with the Catholic zealots, declared himself the head of the League, and
curtailed the religious peace. The duke of Anjou, Henry's younger
brother, died a few years after this; and as he, like the king, was without
children, the Bourbon, Henry of Navarre (Beam), became the nearest
heir to the throne. This prospect of a Protestant king
alarmed the Catholic part of France, and gave fresh vigor
to the League. The weak king was obliged to recall all treaties with the
Huguenots, to announce the extirpation of heresy, and to approve the
arraDgements of the League. Henry of Guise, at first, only entertained
the notion of putting aside the Protestant successor to the throne, who
had been excommunicated by the pope ; but his courage rose with his
increasing power ; he soon made attempts upon the crown himself, whilst,
as a pretended descendant of the Carlovingi, he asserted the superiority
of his claims to those of the reigning family. A conspiracy was formed
in Paris (where the citizens were kept in a state of perpetual agitation
by fanatical popular orators) against the freedom or life of the king; and
w^en Henry IIL attempted to defend himself by calling in Swiss troops,
the agitation burst into rebellion. The people assembled themselves
around the Guises, who, against the king's commands, were entering the
capital, barricaded the streets and bridges, and commenced
^ * a furious contest with single divisions of the troops. The
trembling king fled with his favorites to Chartres, and lefl his capital in
the hands of his rival. Henry of Guise now possessed the same power
that had belonged to the mayors of the palace in the time of the Mero*
September, vingi (§ 184). But even this position did not satisfy the am-
16S8. bitious party leader. An assembly of £states, convoked a|
Blois, where the adherents of the Guises were the strongest party, propoa*
ed not only to deprive the Bourbons of their right to the throne and to ex*
250 THE MODEBK EPOCH.
terminate Calvinism, but to change the government, and to place the
whole power in the hands of the Guises. At this crisis, Henry hazarded
a bold stroke ; he had the duke of Guise and his brother, the Gardmal
Louis, assassinated, and imprisoned the most influential leaders of their
party. This proceeding produced a fearful commotion in the whole
nation: in Paris, alle^ance was renounced to the God-forsaken king,
who had overthrown the pillar of Catholicism ; the pope fulminated an
excommunication at him ; revolutionary movements took place in many
quarters. Despbed and forsaken, Henry m. saw no other way to safety
open to him than an alliance with Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots.
A frightful civil war burst out afresh, but fortune was hostile to the
League. Henry had already laid siege to Paris, and threatened to
reduce the faithless town to a heap of ruins, when the knife of a fanatical
monk put an end to liis life. Henry IIL, the last Yalois, died on the 1st
of August, 1589, after appointing Henry of Navarre and Beam his suc-
cessor.
§ 365. Henry IV. had still a long struggle to sustain before his head
was ornamented by the crown of France. Mayenne, the brother of the
murdered Guise, placed himself at ihe head of the League, and offered a
vehement resistance to the Calvinistic claimant of the throne. Philip TL
sought to turn the confusion to his own advantage, and commanded his
able general, Alexander of Parma, to march his forces from the Nether-
lands into France. Henry tried for a long time to get possession of his
inheritance by the sword : he laid siege to Paris, and caused
the citizens to feel all thQ horrors of famine ; but he at length
became convinced that he never could gain peaceable possession of the
French throne by battles and victories. He thought the crown of France
Jul 1598 ^^ worth a mass, and went over to the Catholic Church in
the cathedral of St. Denis, and by this means destroyed tbe
power of the League. Paris now threw open its gates, and welcomed
the bringer of peace with acclamations. The pope recalled the anathe-
ma ; the heads of the League concluded a treaty with him, and Philip H,
a short time before his death, consented to the peace of Vervins. After
1698 ^^r®'gn «"*d domestic tranquillity had been thus restored to
France, the king, by the Edict of Nantes, conferred upon the
Calvinists liberty of conscience, the full rights of citizenship, and many
other privileges ; such as separate chambers in the courts of justice,
several castles, with all their warlike munitions (La Rochelle, Montaa-
bkn, Nismes, &c,) and freedom from episcopal jurisdiction. He next
sought to heal the wounds that had been inflicted on the land by the war,
by encouraging agriculture, trade, and commerce ; and had the economy
of the state and the taxation admirably arranged by his friend and minis-
ter, Sully. He won for himself the warmest affections of his people by
his genuine French character, and by his cordial and cheerful disposition.
BLIZABBTH AND MABT BTUABT. 251
Hu solitary failing, his too great love for women, was a merit in tlie
ejes of the French. But fanaticism was only slumbering. Henry's
tolerant disposition towards heretics awakened it As he was meditating
the Tast plan (with the approval of the Dutch Union and other European
powers) of founding a Christian community with equal privileges for the
three Confessions, and by this means destroying the supre-
macy of the royal house of Hapsborg, he fell beneath the
knife of Bavaillac.
d. SLIZABETH AlTD MART STUABT.
EHiabeth ^ ^^^' ^^^^ France was being torn to pieces by the war
JUD.165S- of religion, Enghind, under Elizabeth, was making mighty
1608. advances in trade and commerce, in navigation, agriculture,
•nd literature. Elisabeth was a despotic ruler, who suppressed the
ecclesiastical freedom of the people, and who would suffer no opposition
to her will in parliament; but she possessed great talents for govern-
ment, a mind invigorated by severe studies, and an understanding that
enabled her invariably to recognize and select that whidi was most pro-
fitable for the country. She surrounded herself by sage councillors,
among whom, Cecil (Lord Burleigh) held the first raiik, and maintained
order and economy in the management of the state ; but the dissimula-
tion she had been accustomed to practise during her perilous youth,
rendered the crw^ed path of falsehood, and the subterfuges of a dis-
mgenoous policy agreeable to her. She displayed the latter more
especially, in her conduct towards Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland, who,
in character, personal qualities, and history, formed a contrast to her
neighboring rival. Whilst Elizabeth, from Uie misfortunes of her youth,
bad carried with her into life a dowry of unamiability, severity, false-
hood« and envy, the beautiful Mary, after a youth passed in joy and
happiness, had brought to the Scottish throne a cheerful and engaging
nature, an open heart, and a joyous disposition ; and whilst the English
qoeen was closely bound to Protestantism, and united in one Church with
ber people, Mary held fast to the Catholic faith and the papacy, in the
midst of a rude nation, who, with their own hands, had raised the Fres-
bjterian Church to be the Church of the kingdom, and who detested the
mass as idolatry. Her private chapel was attacked, and the stem
reformer, Knox, pronounced severe discourses against her from the
pulpit of the palace, as the prophets had once done against the idolatrous
kings of IsraeL
I 367. Mary united herself in a second marriage with
. ' Damley, a Scotch nobleman, who had been brought up in
England. The union, however, proved unfortunate. The vain, unthink-
ing husband, abandoned to the counctb of insincere friends, found plea*
snre in nothing but hunting and feasting ; and was indignant at finding
252 THB MODBRN BPOCH.
that the queen neglected him, and bestowed her ooofidence on the Binger,
Rizsio, from Turin, who conducted her correspondence with the Guises
and the pope. Damlej, urged on by jeakmsy, and a feeling of injoFed
honor, and irritated bj malicious friends, fbroMd a conspiracy with some
nobles, — and Mary's favorite, pierced by many daggers, fell
lifeless before the eyes of his mistress, in her own chamber.
This horrible deed filled the heart of the queen with bitterness against
her husband, of whose guilt, despite his denial, she felt convinced. She
separated herself more and more from him, entertained thoughts of a
divorce, and turned her favor upon Bothwell, another Scottish nobleman.
It was not till Daniley fell ill that she appeared to lay aside her displea-
sure. She attended upon him with the greatest assiduity, in a remote
Febraaryio, garden house. But the inhabitants of Edinburgh were
1M7. awakened one night, during Mary's absence, by a dreadful
explosion. The garden house was found shattered to pieces, and IkuiH
ley's body, at some distance, apparently suffocated. The public voice
pointed out Bothwell as the perpetrator of the deed ; and diree months
after, he was Mary's husband. Was it at all wonderful that she was
accused of being an accomplice in the murder? Irritated at this criminal
marriage, the Scottish nobility took up arms. BothweU fled before the
battle was fought, and led the life of a freebooter near the Hebrides, but
was taken by the Danes, and died in prison, insane. Mary was led in
triumph to Edinburgh, amidst the execrations of her people, and then
imprisoned in a solitary castle on the island of Lochleven, where she was
compelled to abdicate her crown, and to transfer the government to her
half-brother, Murray, during the minority of her son, James. Mary,
indeed, escaped, and found assistance from the powerful family of Hamil-
ton; but having been overcome in a battle, she would have fallen a
second time into the hands of her enemies, had she not fled
with the greatest haste into England, to seek protection from
Elizabeth.
§ 368. The queen of England declined every interview with Maiy
until the latter should have cleared herself fVom the charge of having
murdered her husband ; and since Mary, as an independent sovereign,
would not submit herself to an English tribunal, it was considered neces-
sary to retain her in England. But her presence soon endangered Eliza-
beth's safety. The duke of Norfolk attempted to gain Mary's hand, but
lost first his freedom and afterwards his life. The ancient Church still
numbered many adherents in the northern counties ; the earla of North-
umberland and Westmoreland raised the standard of rebellion, with the
purpose of setting Mary at liberty, and restoring the Catholic Church.
Their undertaking failed. Northumberland, given up by the
Soots as a fugitive, died upcm the scaffold. Mary was sua-
peoled as as aooompUce; she was removed from that neighborhood and
BLIZABXTH AND MARY STUART. 353
more closely watched. All the efforts of foreign courts to procure her
liberation were fruitless. The disturbed state of Scotland, where the
rage of party was leadii^ to assassination and civil war, and the religious
contests on the continent^ seemed to render her continued imprisonment
necessary. At this juncture, Babmgton, with a few companions, embraced
the project of murdering Elizaheth, and placing Mary, by the aid of
Spanish troops, upon the English throne. Their purpose was discovered.
The conspirators died upon the scaffold, and when it appeared, upon
examination, that Mary was privy to the plot, the court pronounced her
guilty, and Elizabeth was requested by the parliament, for the preserva^
tion of religion and the peace of the country, and for the security of her
own person, to let justice take its course. She wished for the death of her
enemy, but she feared the consequences. At length, the struggle ended.
Elizabeth signed the death-warrant, and Burleigh had it hastily executed.
Mary's head fell on the 7th of February, 1587, in the nineteenth year
of her imprisonment and the forty-fiflh of her life. She died with firm-
neas, and true to her faith. Elizabeth, however, complained that her
minister had ordered the execution against her commands, and punished
ker secretary, Davison, by fine and imprisonment, for having let the
warrant go out of his hands.
$ 369. The pope and Philip IL heard of the deed with horror. The
former outlawed the heretical queen, and summoned the Catholic powers
to vengeance ; the latter fitted out the vast Armada (§ 859), for the
parpose of subjecting England and the Netherlands at one blow, and of
afterwards founding a Catholic empire in the west of Europe, under the
rapremacy of Spain. But the deslruction of the ^Invincible Fleet"
raised the renown of England and its queen, and laid the foundation of
Britain's empire of the sea and of the greatness of her commerce. From
this time, her trade, her navigation, and her colonies, received a vast
impnlse. Drake, the celebrated circumnavigator of the globe, and other
maritime heroes, had discovered the element on which the power and
glory of England were to be raised.
It was only in Ireland that Elizabeth's undertakings were unsuccessfuL
This island, which for centuries had been conquered, but never taken
possession of, had been raised into a kingdom by Henry YIII., and sub-
jected to the religious laws of England. But it was only a small pro-
portion of the population, namely, the British colonists, who received the
Beformationj the native Irish remained true to their ancient faith and
clergy. Elizabeth attempted to bring about a closer political and eccle-
siastical union between the island and England. The earl of Tyrone,
one of the military chiefs, opposed himself to this project, and obtained
help from Spain and Rome. Upon this, the chivalrous earl of Essex,
to whom the queen had transferred the favor she had so long bestowed
^OQ his unworthy father-in-law, the earl of Leicester, received the go-
22
254 THE MODBBN SPOCH.
vernorship of Ireland. Bat instead of sabduing Tjroiie, he condoded a
disadyantageoas treaty with him. Eflsez, by this meana, incurred the
displeasure of the qaeen ; and when, instead of waiting qaietly far a
more favorable time, he formed a plot with James of Sootknd, and at-
tempted to compel £lizabeth by an insurrection to appcHut James her
successor, he was seized, and beheaded in the Tower, at the age of thirty-
three. Grief and remorse at the death of her favorite, and the oon-
sciousness that the affections of her people had mnch cooled towards her,
embittered the last years of the queen's life to such a degree, that she
passed days and nights in tears on the cushions with which the floon
were covered, till her death, at the age of seventy years, put an end to
her sorrows. On her death bed, she appointed Mar/s son, James of
Scothuid, her successor.
e, CULTURE AND LITERATURE IK THE CENTUBT OF THE
REFORMATION.
S 870. Civilization received a mighty impulse during the sixteenth
century in all countries. Schools were improved and universitiea mul-
tiplied ; art and literature were fostered and supported. The woris of
the ancients, which were everywhere translated and explained, awakened
new views and cultivated the taste ; and the mental energy that had
been caUed into existence by the disputes respecting religion and the
Church, furthered the general cultivation and enlightenment, and exalted
literary activity. The interest in intellectual gifts produced marveDoos
creations in the regions of art and science. Germany and Italy were
considered the chief seminaries of civilization.
1. The science of antiquity was more especially cultivated and devel-
oped in the numerous universities of Germany, and those learned eemi-
naries that rested upon the study of the ancient classical literature were
established by the efforts of Melancthon, which extended themselves
Copernicus ^^^^ *^ countries. It was in Germany that Nicholas Coper-
A. D. nicus, the great astronomer of Thorn, showed that the
1478-1648. Ptolemaic system of the universe, the truth of which had
remained unquestioned for fifteen hundred years, was founded on inoo^
rect data ; that the sun remained stationary in the midst of the planetaiy
system, but that the earth, like the other planets, in additioi^ to the revo-
lution on its axis, had besides an extremely regular elliptical motion
Kepler, around the sun. And Kepler, one of the greatest thinken
A. D 1671- of any age, sought, in the spirit of Plato, for the laws that
1681. govern the eternal order of the world, with the inspiratioo
of a prophet, and the creative power of a poet Unappredated, bow-
ever, and persecuted by religious zealots, he led a melancholy life, in (be
UTSRATUEB IN THB CENTUBY 07 THB REFOKMATION. 256
midst of opprefirive anxieties for the means of living. It fared no bet-
Q^j^^ ter with his great eontemporarj^ Galileo of Pisa, who, be-
A.D.i6d5- cause he shared the astronomical opinions of Copernicus,
1681. ^1^ summoned before the tribunal of the Inquisition, and
compelled to renounce his opinions on his knees. He was obliged after
this to linger for some years in the dungeons of the Inquisition, where
he contracted an affection of the eyes, which afterwards terminated in
blindness.
In the mean time, the ^ Meisteraong," a kind of burgher poetry in
HtDs S«ehs which Hans Sachs, a shoemaker of Nuremberg, particularly
A, D. 1494- distinguished himself, was flourishing in the German towns ;
1570- and Sebastian Brandt <(f Strasbuig (author of the '' Ship of
i«8^-i62i^ Fools"), and John Fischart of Mayence, raised satirical di-
Fisehart, a. d. dactic poetiy to high perfection. Luther, however, was the
U^i- creator of German prose by his translation of the Bible, and
the founder of German sacred poetry by his spiritual hymns.
The Grermans were also distinguished at this time in the fine arts.
The pictures of Albert Durer (a. d. 1548), Hans Holbein (▲. d. 1563),
and Lucas Cranach (a. d. 1553), are still much esteemed, although they
do not rival those of their great Italian contemporaries, Michael Angelo
(a. d. 1563), Baphael (a. d. 1520), Titian (a. d. 1576), Leonardo da
Vinci (a. d. 1519), or Correggio (a. d. 1543).
2. In Italy, the flourishing period of art and literature, which had
commenced in the fifteenth century, <^ntinued throughout the whole of
UKechiETsUi, the sixteenth. In Florence, Macchiavelli, one of the acutest
A. D. 1627. of thinkers and most politic of statesmen, composed his re*
markable works, ^ Discourses on Titus Livius," ** History of Florence,"
'^The Prince," which still excite universal admiration. In the much
talked-of book ^ The Prince," Macchiavelli presents the picture of a ruler
who, without regard to virtue, morality, or religion, knows how to esta-
blbh his own absolute power, and to make his own will the law. Freedom
and national prosperity are as little regarded in this book as truth and
justice ; intellect alone is held in any estimation. For this reason, a
Ariotto, futhless system of policy is distinguished by the epithet,
A. D. 1474- Macchiavellian. In Ferrara, Ariosto wrote the fascinating
^' and sportive heroic poem of " Orlando Furioso ; " and the
T«aco,A.D. melancholy Torquato Tasso celebrated the first crusade in
1^96. beautiful language in his '' Jerusalem. Delivered."
3. The sixteenth century was the golden age of art and literature in
(^^y^^i,^^ Spain and Portugal also. Cervantes, in his comico-satirical
A.D. romance of ^ Don Quixote," has represented, with such art,
1547-1616. II mmi ^]io completely mistakes the misty creations of a
world of dreams for actual existences, and fights for an object that exists
iK>where but in his own imagination, that the name of his hero has be- ^
1
856 tHS M ODEIOr spoch.
Lope de Vegft, come prorertnftL The drunalie poetrj cf Spdn nmAid iti
A.D.iSi8- colmiiialiiig point in Lope de Y^m nd CUderan. The
^***' Portngnese poet, Osmoens, hts ennobled the grett epodi of
^^^ thediflooTeiyoflndiainhispoeniafthe^Losiid.* Dmiiig
lesr! a pwMge home from the Eiist Indies, he lost his property
Camoenf, ^7 ^ shipwredc, and saved nothing hot his poem, thiit lie
A. D. 1624- held fast with his teeth as he swam. In Portngal, he gra-
1M9. dually fell into soch poverty that he had bread collected by
an Indian servant to prevent his dying of hanger.
4. In England, William Shakspeare, one of the greatest poets of any
Shakspeare, ^^9^ gave its fiiU perfection to dramatie poetiy, whether
▲. D. 1564- tragedy or comedy. EUs great dramas are fbonded either
^"•- upon historical events ("Henry IV.," ** Richard III.'^,or
npon the ordinary events of human life (** Macbeth,** ^ Lear,** ** Boneo
and Juliet," ''OtheUo"); the best known of his comedies are, «< Mid-
summer Night's Dream," and "The Merry Wives of Windsor ; ** in the
latter, the fat Falstaff, the companion of Henry Y., and the type of a
comic character, plays the chief part
m. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY.
1. THE THIRTY YEARS* WAR (A. D, 1618-1648).
O. BOHEMIA, PALATINATE, LOWER GERMANY, TILLY. APFEARAKCE
OF WALLENSTEIN.
f 871. Whilst the daric fanaticism of Philip 11. was plunging tk
Ferdinand L, West of Europe into a bloody religious war, arras were st
A. p. 1666- rest in Germany under the gentle government of FerdinsiMl
^^^' * I. and Maximilian II. Both these princes upheld the Peace
^aximilian, ^f Religion with impartiality and justice (§ 340). But when,
1576. ^^^^ ^^^ premature death of Maximih'an II., his son, Rudolf
Badolf n. ^^'f ^^^ ^^ ^®° brought up in Spain, came to the throoe,
A. D. 1676- complaints arose of the infringement of the law, and of vio-
1612. lation of liberty of conscience. Rudolf, a prince zealoaslj
devoted to the Catholic Church, but possessed of slender talents for
government, neglected the affairs of his kingdom for the study of astro-
nomy, painting, and antiquities, and trusted to the advice of the Jesniti,
who strewed with busy hands the seeds of religious discord, and called
forth strife, party-spirit, and confusion, both in the Gennan empire vA
in the hereditary states of Austria. When the archbishop, Gebhaid of
THK THIRTY YKABS' WAR. ' 257
Cologne, went over to the evangelical Church, that he might marrj the
heautif nl countess of Mansfeld, he was deprived of his dignity ; a pro-
ceeding that was declared by the evangelical States to be an infringe-
ment of the '^spiritual proviso." The archduke, Ferdmand, bred up and
guided by the Jesuits, refused the numerous Protestants in Styria,
Carinthia, and Erain, the religious liberties they had hitherto enjoyed ;
had the evangelical churches and schools pulled down, and the Bibles
burnt, and drove out of Ihe country, without mercy, all those who refused
to attend the mass. The imperial city of Donauworth, which was chiefly
Protestant, was placed qnder the ban for disturbing a procession, taken
possession of by the impatient duke, Maximilian I. of Bavaria, and
deprived of its Protestant worship. It was in vain that the evangelical
Estates presented complaints ; the weak and indifferent emperor gave no
redress. It was on this account that a number of evangelical princes
A. 0.1608. ^'^ imperial cities concluded a Protestant Union, at the
instigation of the Elector of the Palatinate, for mutual
A. D. 1609. assistance against aggression and violence. This Union was
opposed by the Catholic League, formed by Maximilian of Bavaria and
the spiritual Electors (Mayence, Treves, ond Cologne), and some bishops
(Wnrzburg, Augsburg, &c.). la this manner, Germany was again
dirided: the League united itself with Spain ; the Union secured the aid
of Henry of France and the Butch. The death of the childless duke of
Ckves and Berg, which occasioned a quarrel for his inheritance between
the palgrave of Neuburg, who had gone over to the Catholic Church,
and the evangelical Elector of Brandenburg, gave the first occasion for
hostilities between the two religious parties. After a long and destruc-
tire war, a division was agreed upon, by which Cleves was allotted to
Brandenburg, and Berg with Dusseldorf to the Palatinate.
§ 372. The incompetence and carelessness of Rudolf threatened to
destroy all respect for the royal house of Hapsburg. His relatives,
therefore, compelled him to surrender Austria and Hungary to his
Inother, Matthias. Rudolf, who was extremely favorable to 4he Bohe-
mians, whose capital, Prague, he had chosen for a residence, maintained
them for some time in their allegiance by the granting of letters patent,
which gave to the Utraquists and Lutherans freedom of conscience,
equality with the Catholics, and their own defenders. But he was
obliged at length to relinquish this kingdom also, with its surrounding
territories, to Matthias, so that, when death put an end to his
inglorious life, he was in possession of nothing but the power-
less imperial throne.
ihHhu^ But Matthias had just as little energy or talents for govern-
A.D. ment as Rudolf; and being old and childless, he appointed
^~^*^^' his cousin, Ferdinand of Carinthia, his successor in Austria,
Hungary, and Bohemia. The elevation of this rigid Catholic filled the
22*
S58 THB M OPBRH BPOCH.
Protestants (Uttaqaists, Latlieraiis) in Bohemia with alann for
religioiis liberties. This alarm increased, when, upon the hviUiiig if
two Protestant diixn^es on the territories of the abbot of Bniiuui and
of die monastery of Grab, near TopHtz, a deeinon was given, diat no
evangelieal dinrdi should be erected npon ecclesiastical property ; and
in consequence of this pn^bition, one chordi was shut up and the odier
destroyed. The defenders, who saw in this an infringement of the letien
patent, held a meeting, and proposed a remonstraiice to the emperor, who
was then absent in Hungary. The reply confirmed the prohibition, and
contained a severe reproof to the complainers. Irritated at this, the de-
fenders, under the guidance of the Count von Tfaurn, marched in ams
to the council-house, for the purpose of calling to account the imperial
council, to whom they attributed the offensive writing. After a shiBt
dispute, the irritated Protestants seized npon two of the coundllors who
were present, Martinitz and Slawata, who were particolariy offensiTe to
them as zealous Catholics, and threw them, together with the secretary,
Fabridus, out of the castle window. But notwithstanding the he^il^
and the shots that- were fired tSier them, they all escaped with their
lives. Upon this, the evangelical Estates established a new gOTenuaeal,
expelled the Jesuits, and fitted out an army under the command of
Thurn. The intelligence of these proceedings hastened the
^^ ' ' death of Matthias, who was already ailing. He died at the
moment in which Thurn, supported by the brave general, Ernest tod
Mansfeld, defeated the imperial troops who had marched
into Bohemia, and appeared with his army before the gales
of Vienna. The oppressed Protestants of Austria entered into an alli-
ance with Thurn, their ambassadors forced their way into the imperial
palace, and demanded from Frederick, with threats, religious toleration
and an equality of their rights with those of the Catholics. The danger
was pressing; but Ferdinand resolutely refused every concession, till the
arrival of Dampierre's dragoons freed him from constraint. Unfavonble
weather and a deficiency in provisions compelled Thurn to retreat.
§ 873. Shortly after this, Ferdinand 11. was elected emperor of Ger^
many in Frankfort ; but before his coronation took place, the Estates of
Bohemia and Moravia fell off from the house of Austria, and chose for
king the Elector, Frederick V., of the Palatinate, the head of the Pro-
testant Union. It was in vain tliat well-disposed friends warned him of
the dangerous gift ; — the voice of his haughty wife, a daughter of James I.
of England, the exhortatijons of his Calvinistic court preacher, Scultetus,
November, cmd his own ambition, determined the result The vain aod
leis. weak man assumed the Bohemian throne, and hastened to
receive homage and be invested with the crown at Prague, where he
squandered the time in idle shows, gave himself up to luzmious living,
iind ofiended tlie Utraquists and Lutherans in Bohemia by his zeal for
THE THIRTY YBARS' WAR. 259
^^ Calyinism. Ferdinand's conduct was altogether different. He concluded
" * an alliance with the shrewd Maximilian of Bavaria, who had been edu-
^* cated by the Jesuits, and who was the head of the well-provided League;
*? and who soon ordered his able general, Tilly, the Netherlander, to march
^^ Kovember 7, with his army into Bohemia. The battle at the White Hill
'«■ iwo. was soon fought, in which Frederick's exhausted troops were
^^ defeated by the superior force of the enemy, and sought their safety in
^^ headlong flight. A single hour decided the fate of Bohemia. Frederick
■r- lost courage and discretion so completely, that he fled with the greatest
1 <^ haste across Silesia to the Netherlands, pursued by the imperial sentence
si^ of outlawry, which deprived him of his hereditary possessions of the
'zz Palatinate. Bohemia and Moravia were again in a few months sub-
i? jeeted to Austria. Ferdinand cut the letters patent to pieces with his
SBK own hand ; twenty-seven of the most illustrious nobles died on the scaf*
ri ibid; hundreds expiated their offences by the forfeiture of. their goods;
:ic' and the confiscated property was bestowed upon the Jesuits and other
K^ religious orders. Tyranny, oppression, and seduction, gave a complete
»t triumph to the Catholic religion in a few decades, after upwards of
ff 30,000 families had left the country. Shortly after this, the Union,
0 which had looked quietly on during these proceedings, was dissolved in
'^ the midst of universal contempt
§ 874. After the subjugation of Bohemia, Tilly marched against the
I; Palatinate of the Bhine. Three courageous men ventured to take the
it field in the cause of the outlawed Electors and endangered Protestantism :
f : Christian of Brunswick, administrator of the bishopric of Halberstadt, a
::. rude soldier, who presented himself as the defender of the electoress
^i Elizabeth, and who, having collected a troop of soldiers, marched plun-
i dering through Westphalia towards the Maine ; Ernest von Mansfeld, a
\ knightly adventurer, who maintained his troops by plunder and levying
^ contributions, and treated the bishoprics and monasteries on the Maine
f and Rhine with great severity ; and the margrave, Greorge Frederick of
> Baden-Durlach. The two latter united gained a victory
' over Tilly at Wiesloch (Mingolsheim). But when the vic-
„ tors shortly after separated themselves, George Frederick,
the following month, lost the battle of Wimpfen, and would
have himself fallen into the hands of the enemy, had not 400 of the
dtizens of Pforzheim covered his retreat by an heroic death. A few
J 90th. months later, Christian of Brunswick also suffered a defeat
near Hochst, from Tilly's veteran troops, and marched in
ooDJanction with Mansfeld into the Netherlands, to obtain help from
England, whilst the League general stormed Heidelberg, Manheim, and
Fruikenthal, sent the Heidelberg library to Home, and filled every place
with blood and plunder. In the following year, Maximilian of Bavaria
teodved the electorship of the Palatinate, as a reward from the Diet of
fiegensberg.
S60 THE MODERN EPOCH.
§ 875. Feitlinand, not content with the defeat of his enemies, irished
to make use of his superiority to restore the Catholic Church and to sup-
press Protestantism. This occasioned anxiety, and procured the enemies of
the emperor the assistance of England, Holland, and Denmark. Mansfeld,
Christian of Brunswick, and the margrave of Baden, appeared again in
the field provided with troops and money, and were still supported by
Christian lY. of Denmark, who was induced to assume arms, partly by
religious zeal, and partly by the hope of increasing his territories. A
new storm burst forth. Upon this, the emperor, to whom the dependence
upon the League and the great authority of Maximilian appeared dan-
gerous, determined to raise an army of his own. In this undertaking,
Albert of Wallenstein, a Bohemian nobleman, offered him his assistance.
In possession of a vast property that he had gained by marriage, Wal-
lenstein presented himself before Ferdinand with the offer of supporting an
army of 50,000 men at his own expense, if he were allowed the unlimited
command of them, and the privilege of indemnifying himself from the con-
quered lands. After some hesitation, Ferdinand acceded to the proposal of
the bold adventurer, and granted him the governorship of Friedland,onthe
northern frontier of Bohemia, raised him to the office of Elector of the
empire, and afterwards conferred upon him the dignity of duke. Tbe
war now extended itself into the North of Germany. But when Wal-
lenstein with his wild bands took possession of the shores of the Elbe,
and effected a junction with Tilly, the army of the League and emperor
soon obtained the advantage. Mansfeld suffered a defeat from the
Friedlanders at the bridge of Dessau, and was overtaken by death at
Bosnia, as he was conducting the remains of his army by a difficolt
march through Hungary into the Netherlands. Christian of
Brunswick sunk into the grave in the same year, and Chris-
tian IV. was defeated by Tilly at Lutter, near the Baren-
berg, and compelled to retreat into Denmark. His ally, the
duke of Mecklenburg, was obliged to leave his territories, of which,
from that time, Wallenstein, with the emperor's permission, took posses-
sion ; Holstein, Schleswic, and Jutland soon fell into the hands of the
imperialists in the midst of horrible devastations ; Pomerania and Brand-
enburg were compelled to receive imperial garrisons ; the whole north
laid subdued at the feet of the emperor, and the Protestant princes and
cities awaited with fear and trembling the destiny that it should please
Austria and Bavaria to award them. In this strait, Stralsund gave an
ennobling example of patriotism and heroic courage. The citizens reso-
lutely refused to admit an imperial garrison within their walls. Here-
upon, Wallenstein advanced upon the town with his formidable army,
and swore that he would take it if it were bound to heaven with chains.
But all his attacks were frustrated by the strength of the place and the
heroism of the citizens. Afler he had encamped for ten weeks before
THB THIRTY TBARS' WAR. 261
the city, and saerifioed 12,000 men, he gave up the attempt, lliia result
chewed WallenBtein's plans of conquest, and brought the war to a more
rapid tennination. Christian IV. recovered his devastated
knds by the peace of Lubeck, but was obliged to promise
that he would refrain iit>m any farther interference in the affairs of
Germany.
{ 376. Austria was again victorious ; and the more decisive her victo-
ry, the greater was to be the triumph of the Catholic Church. The
Protestant worship was suppressed by violence in all the conquered and
occupied lands, and the supremacy of Catholicism gradually prepared
for. With this object, the emperor, at the instigation of the spuritual
^^^ Electors, published the Edict of Restitution, by virtue of
which, all foundations and ecclesiastical property that had
been confiscated since the treaty of Passau (§ 887), were to bei'estored
to the Catholic Church, the Calvinists were excluded from the religious
peace, and the Catholic Estates were not to be interfered with in their
attempts to convert their subjects. Tliis arrangement, which threatened
to wrest a great number of bishoprics, and almost all the foundations an4
abbeys of northern Germany, from the hands of their present proprie-
tors, filled the whole of the Protestant part of the country with terror
and alarm, and prolonged the destructive civil war. Many princes and
cities refused compliance, and the emperor found himself obliged to re-
tain his army under arms to give effect to the execution of the Edict.
But this army was no longer under the command of Wallenstein. For
when the princes made a general complmnt, at the Diet of Regensburg,
of the frightful ravages and barbarous method of warfare pursued by
die duke of Friedland, and Maximilian imperatively demanded the re-
moval of his presuming and overbearing rival, Ferdinand, who wished to
produce a favorable disposition towards the contemplated election of his
son, found himself compelled to pronounce Wallenstein's deposition. The
general was informed of the resolution whilst busied with his astrologi-
eal studies. He retired to his Bohemian estates, where, in proud repose,
and in the enjoyment of kmgly wealth, he awaited the time when his
presence would be again required. Tilly assumed the command over the
assembled host, and marched against Magdeburg, which had opposed the
execution of the Edict of Bestitution. But whilst the Protestant Estates
of Germany, helpless and overawed, bent before the superior power of
Austria, and looked forward in melancholy expectation for the postponed
execution of the Edict of Restitution, a fresh hero made his ap-
pearance on the soil of (Sermany — the Swedish king, Gustavus Adol-
pfaufl.
362 THE MODBBN KPOCH.
& IirrEBFE&ENCE OF SWEDEN. GVSTAYUS ADOLPHUS AHD
WALLENSTEiy.
§ 377. GtistaYos Adolphus, the grandson of GrastaTOs Vasa (§ 349),
detenoiiied to interfere in the war <^ Genaany, partly to defend Fn^
testantism, and partly to increase the power of Sweden. He was sap-
ported hy the shrewd Cardinal Bicheliea (§ 400), who al that time
goremed Franee, and who looked with jealousy np(Hi the increasiBg
power of the hoase of Hapsburg. As soon as Gustayoi Adolphos had
effected a landiog on the coast of Pomenuiia, the old duke
* ' of the country surrendered his lands, whioh had been fright-
fully ra^Kaged by the imperial troops, to Sweden* The piety of GustaTos,
and the strict discipline of his soldiers, who assembled thenselyea twice
. a day around their field preachers, formed a striking oootrast to the imo-
lating mode of warfare pursued by Tilly and Wailenstein, 00 that the
people every where greeted the Swedes and-th^r high-minded king as
rescuers and deliverers. Not so the princes, whoy from fear of tke em-
Febmaiy, peror's vengeance, rejected the alliance that was offered
1631. them, and at the Diet of Leipsic, embraced the resolntion of
observing a neutral position. The Electors of Brandenburg and Saxooj
refused permission to the Swedes to march thrbugh their territoiiea 3 and
w .. ..L whilst Gustavus Adolphus was delayed by negotiatiops on
War 16, 1681/ , . , . n^-- , , ^ ,1 .
this subject, Magdeburg, after repeated assaulksy was taken
and destroyed by Pappenheim and Tilly* The baibarous troops^ wged
on by k desire for vengeance, and a love of plunder, burst isto the kn^
less town, which was surrendered to them for three days' plQDd<», and
which now became the scene of the most revolting horrors, tiU a conia*
gration, which extended itself onfall sides, converted it at length into a
heap of ashes. Two churches and a few fishermen's hutsy were the sole
remains of this fiourishing imperial city.
§ 378. The destroyer of Magdebuig now turned a threateniag aspect
towards Saxony. The Elector, in the anguish of his hearty oonduded
an alliance with Gustavus Adolphus, that he might be able, by the help
of Sweden, to prevent the entrance of TlUy's incendiary troops into hu
September 7, territories. The battle of Leipsic and Breit^eld was soon
1631. fought, where the imperial army was completely d^eated.
Tilly, who was himself in danger of hi/} life, was obliged, aAer a grest
loss, to retreat rapidly into the south, whilst the Swedes turned towards
the Rhine and the Maine. Before the winter was over, the bishopHc of
Wurzbnrg, and the greater part of the Lower Palatinate, were in the
hands of the Swedes; and the towns of the Rhine also fell into the
power of Gustavus, afler he had accomplished the passage of the Rhine
at Oppenheim and driven back the Spaniards* In the spring, he marched
upon Nuremburg-on-the-Lech, where Tilly had occupied a strong posi-
THB THIRTY TEABS' WAR. 268
lioo. The Swedes Ibrced a passage across the vigorouslj defended riyer.
IXniag tbe storming of the intrenchraecits, Tillj was so sevcretj wounded
bj a oaanon-ball that he died fourteen days afler, at Ingolstadt, his mind
busied with military al&irs in the very hour of death. War filled the
entire soul of this here. Simple and moderate in his mode of living, he
despised wealth and possessions, as well as titles and dignities. Sensual
^ijoyments were as unknown to him, as high cultivation or nobilitj of
mind.
After the occupation cf Augsburg, where the evangelical fbrm of wor-
ship was again restored, Gnstavus Adolphus marched into Bavaria,
and took possession, as an indulgent conqueror, of Munich, which had
been deserted by the court A fine, and carrying off 140 concealed can-
nons, was tbe only punishment inflicted by the king upon the trembling
Bavarians.
S 379. In the mean time, the emperor, in his necessity, had again had
recourse to Wallenstein, and prevailed upon him by prayers and great
eoneessions, to raise a fresh army and to take the supreme command.
After a successful campaign against the Saxons in Bohemia, Wallenstein,
in conjunction with the Bavarians, marched into Franconia, where the
Swedes had occupied a strong position near Nuremburg. Here the hos-
tile armies lay encamped opposite each other for months, without coming
to an engagement, till at length, all the land for seven miles around the
spot was wasted, and even the abundant stores of Nuremburg began to
Ikil. Hereupon, Gustavus resolved to attack the strong camp of Wallen-
stein, but the gallant assailers were driven back by the tremendous dis-
charge of artillery. The attempt, af^er a severe loss, was obliged to be
relinquished, upon which the Wallensteiners marched into Saxony. The
November 16, Swedes soon followed them hither, and the eventful battle
istt. of Lutzen, where the Swedes triumphed, but their king
found the death of a hero in the tumult of the fight, took place upon a
fi)ggy day in November. Pappenheim, the gallant leader of cavalry,
was also borne from the field of battle mortally wounded ; and Wallen-
stein found himself compelled to leave the field to the enemy, and to
retreat into Bohemia with his defeated army. The Swedes dragged the
body of their heroic king, plundered and defaced by the hoofs of horses,
from beneath the dead, and had it committed to the earth in his native
land. •
S S80. Af^er the death of Gustavus Adolphus, the Swedish chancel-
lor, Axel Oxenstiem, a prudent and energetic statesman, undertook the
conduct of the war in Germany, after he had prevailed upon a number
of the evangelical princes and cities, by the alliance of Heilbom, to
continue steadfast in the treaty they had entered into with the
A.p.l9as. king of Sweden. Bemhard of Weimar and the Swedish
general, Horn, stood by his side as the chief military leaders. France
264 IHB MODERN EPOCH.
gave supplies of monej. Thus this mischievous war amtinned to rage.
Bavaria was severely visited hj the Swede9» who, since the death of th^
king, had not been a whit behind their opponents in the destructive way
of carrying on the war ; and the Friedlanders behaved in such a way in
Silesia, that the prosperity of the land was for a long time destxxyyed.
But Wallenstein's course was approaching its termination* His dibtfoiy
way of conducting the war, and his unnitelligible lingering in Bohemia,
were made use of by his numerous enemies and enviers to his destruo
tion. He was accused of entertaining the project of entering into an
alliance with Sweden, and of placing the crown of Bohemia upon his
own head ; it was for this reason that he had set at liberty the captive
Count Thum, the hereditary enemy of Austria ; and the contract that
had been entered into, by the mediation of Illo, between Wallenstein
and the leaders of the different divisions for mutual adherence^ pointed
to revolt and treachery. The emperor, guided by the friends of Maxi-
milian, by monks and Jesuits, who hated the duke on account of the
freedom of his religious views, determined upon the destruction of his
too powerful general. After the most influential leaders, GaUas, Picea*
lomini, and Altringer, had been secured, Ferdinand pronounced Wallen-
stein's deposition ; and when the latter marched towards Eger, with the
most devoted of his troops, to be nearer a juncture with the Swedes, he
was assassinated, together with his most trusty adherents, HIo, Tenka,
February 25, <Lnd Kinsky, by the Irishman, Butler, and a few confederates*
1684. The vast possessions of the duke and his friends weie con-
fiscated, and presented to his betrayers and murderers. Honors, digni-
ties, and wealth were the rewards of the criminals. Thus died Wal-
lenstein, the terror of the people, and the idol of the soldiery. He pos-
sessed an audacious and enterprising spirit, a commanding diaracter, that
was exalted by the taciturnity of his disposition and the gloomy severity
of his aspect, and a boundless pride and ambition. When his lofly fig-
ure, enveloped in a scarlet mantle, and with a red feather in the hat, was
seen pacing through the camp, a strange horror took possession of the
soldiers.
C. TEBMINATION OP THE WAR. PEACE OP WESTPHALIA.
.§ 381. After the death of Wallenstein, the imperial army marched
into Bavaria, and defeated Bemhard of Weimar in the battle of Nord-
Septembers, Ungen. Several German princes took occasion from this to
1684. conclude the peace of Prague with the emperor. But the
May, 1686. frightful war was not yet terminated. Richelieu, who was
not willing that the favorable moment for diminishing the power of the
Hapsburgs, and extending the territories of France, should escape vd-
improved, promised efficient assbtance, both in money and troops, to the
TBBIIIKAXION OV THB WAB. 265
Swedes, and sapported Bernhazd of Weimar in bis under-
^ ^' takings on the Upper Bhine. The Swedish general, Baner,
oonqoered Saxonj and Thuringia, and converted the fertile country into
a depopulated desert Unspeakable calamities were press*
1687. ^ npaa the German nation, when the emperor, Fer^nand
Fo^Buid m., n.9 ssmk into the grare, and was succeeded bj his son of
A.D. 1637- the same name. The warlike actions of Bemhard of Wei*
^^^' . mar were crowned with success. He conquered Rheinfelden,
Freiburg, and Breisach, and entertained the project of establishing an
independent principalitj on either side of the Rhine. But Bemhard
died suddenly in the flower of life, not without suspicion of
Jolr 18, 1689. . . j.. -ei i_.i_j x ^x1-»
poisonmg; and the French took advantage of the circum-
stance to take his army into their own paj, and make themselves masters
of Alsace. Thej soon crossed the Rhine and carried the war into the
south of Germany, whikt the gallant Baner again visited the unfortunate
Bohemia with the most frightful calamities. Bauer's audacious plan of
brsaking suddenly from his winter quarters, and seicing upon the Elec-
tors and emperor at the Diet in Begensburg, had not the expected result.
The breaking up of the frost and the arrival of the enemy compelled
the Swedish general to a retreat, during which he died from the effects
of bis exertions and of an mtemperate life.
{ 382. Torstenson was Bauer's successor; he was the most talented
disciple of the school of Gustavus Adolphus. On account of his suffer*
ingB from the gout, he was usually carried about in a litter ; nevertheless,
the rapidity of his movements was the astonishment of the world. He
overthrew the imperial army near Leipsic, and at the hill Tabor; pene*
A. D 1642. ^fi^^ repeatedly into the heart of the Austrian states, and
made the emperor tremble in his capital ; he then appeared
snexpectedly on the Lower Elbe, took possession of Holstein and Schles-
wic, and compelled the Danish king to a disadvantageous peace. At
length, exhausted by illness, he laid down the leading staff, which was
ohtained by the gallant Wrangel. Wrangel, in conjunction with the
French general, Turenne, carried the war into Bavaria,
compelled Maximilian to fly, and to conclude a truce, and
was about to unite himself with the Swedish general, Kdnigsmark, in
Bohemia, when the news of the conclusion of the peace of Westphalia
pat an end to military operations. The war ended in Prague, where it
hsd also taken its origin.
S 383. Alter Ave years of negotiations in Miknster and Osnaburg, the
peace of Westphalia, which the people who were wearied out by the wAr
demanded in despair, was at last concluded. France received the Aus-
trian portion of Alsace, Sundgau, and Briesach; but was obliged to
secore to the imperial cities both their former privileges, and their relik
tioDs to the German empire. Sweden received Upper Pomerania, the
23
966 IHS HODBBir IPOOK.
island of Kugen, and tiie taww of Stetttn, Weismftr, dec, tfie Inshoprics
of Bremen and Yerdim, a»d an indcinnifiGBtion la aaoney. Brandenbiirg
obtained the eastern part of Lower Pomenuiia, with tbe bisbopiicB of
Magdebmg, Halberstadt, MiadcB, Ice* Saxonj was indemnified bj
Lasatia; otber prmees with olher citieSy foundations, and bifiboprics.
Bavaria remained in possessiim of the Upper Palatinate and of the ElecCo-
ral dignity; and the Palatinate of the Shine, with the eighth Electoral
dignity, was restored to Charles Louis, the son of Froderidc V^ who died
in the jear 1632. The remaining pnaoes and Estates retained their
former possessions; and Switzerland and the Low Countries were
acknowledged as independent states.
With regard to the affairs of the Chureb, it was arranged, after long
disputes, that the treaty of Passau, and the religions peace of Augsboii^
should be confirmed to the Protestants, the ^spiritual proviso ** abolished,
and the peace extended to the Calvinists. Li regard to the possession of
ecdenastical property, and the right of free exercise of religion, the year
1 624 was taken as the standard. Everything was to remain, or to become^
what it bad been at that time. At tbe same time^ the privilege of relbim-
ation possessed by the princes ceased, and a free exerdse of refigion and
equal civil rights were assured to the three Christian confessions*
The farther consequences of the Thirty Tears' War were: — 1. An
increase of the power of the princes, which was the occasion of expensive
courts, standing armies, a multitude of officials, and a high and regdariy
levied taxation. 2. A purity of faith in the Church, whi<^ was net
founded upon mere warmth of religious feeling, but upon an unalteiabio
veneration for the literal meaning of the Symbolical Books. S. A deei^
of trade, of industiy, and of profitable commeree. Though agricoltore
revived again, and tbe plough and the mattock restored its former aspect
to the desolated countiy, the aforetime ]Mx>sperity of Germany never
returned. Many of the trading towns sunk into poverty; the imperial
towns were gradually overtaken by the princely residences; and trade,
industry, and wealth established their seats in Hdland and En^^and.
German art and literature decayed ; everything native was neglected,
and fashions, language, and poetry, IxMrrowed frran the Frendi. From
this period, tbe old German nationafity succumbed to the infioenee of
foreignerB«
CL SWEDEN UNDEB CHRISTINA AND OHABLES XL. CHANGE IN THE
CONSTITUTION OF DBNMABK.
f 884. After the premature death of Gustavus Adolphus, the crown
devolved upon his daughter Qiristina, during whose minority the goven-
men€ was conducted by a senate, and the opportunity made use of to
increase the privileges and prc^rty of the noble fiuntfies.
When the queen herself assumed the govenonent, die aaMm*
SWEDEN UNDER CDBKIirA AXD CHABLES X. 967
Ued around her a briOiaDt oovt, sammoned arlistB a&d learned men oat
«f all the eoontriee of Europe to Stockholm, and displi^ed a mascnllne
•pint and eharader in everjthing. Her taste for art and her love of
•dence found little support in the Protestant north, aad she consequently
aerer f^lt hefself at home there* It was on this aooount, that, after a
reign of ten jearSf Christina abdteated tiie throne of Sweden
A. D. 1664. .^ ^^^ ^ j^^ cousra, Chartes Gustavus of Pfalz-Zweiburc-
ken, reserved an aannitjr for herself, and quitted the knd of her fathers.
She was solemnlj admitted into the Roman Catholie Chureh at Innsbruck ;
she then travelled through the Netherhinds, France, and Italy, and at
length established her permanent residence in a city filled with all the
splendor of art — Rome. She died there in 1689.
CbarlM X- ^ ^^^* Christma's successor, Charles (X.) Gustavus, was
A. D. a great warrior. He undertook a campaign for the conquest
leM- 1660. Qf Poland, and made himself master of the western territories
of that country, in conjunction with the great Elector, Frederick William
of Brandenburg, to whom, in return, he promised the liberation of
Pmssia from the suzerainship of Poland. He would have gained pos-
T 1 ««•« session of the whole oountry after the three days' battle of
JnJy, 1656. .__ ,_ , ,4,^*^ . ,
Wanawy had not an mroad of the Danes mto the temtory
of Sweden called him to a dififereot seene. He left Poland, and marched
irith restless haste to the lower Elbe. The Danish army opposed no
resistance, so that, before the commencement of the winter, Sleswic and
Jutland, with the exception of the fortress of Fredericia, were in the
hsads of 'the Swedes. This Ibrtress idso was stormed, in the midst of
irinter, by so daring an enterprise that the king became jealous, and
sttenpted to edipse the exploit of his general by one still more ventur-
ons. He erossed with his army on foot, over the frozen channel of the
Little Beh, in Janoaiy, into Funen^ and a few days after, he passed the
Grest Belt into Zealand, in which passage two companies were drowned
before his eyes. Here such confusion was occasioned by the sudden ap-
pesnmee of the enemy, that defence was scarcdy thought of, and pro-
posals for peaoe were at once entered into. But great as were the
Mcrifices tluit the hardly-pressed Danish king offered to make, they were
rgected by Charles, who hoped to bring the three Scandinavian king-
doms uoder his own sceptre. But the ^lant attitude of the citizens of
Copenhagen, who, for a whole twelvemonth, bade defiance to the besieg-
ing Swedes, and the assistanoe of the Dutch, prolonged the war till the
ndden death of the kmg gave a turn to afiairs. The Swedish Diet, that
ooadncted the government during the minority of Charles XI., concluded
the peace of Oliva with the Poles, and that of Copenhagen
with the Danes. So great at that time was the respect for
the military skiU of the Swedes, that Sweden obtained hirge territories
nl hnportent advantages by both these peaces* Prussia's independenoe
268 THB MobxBH BPOCH.
of Poland was acknowledged* This war, in which the Danish nolnlitj,
who were in possession of great priyileges and revenues, made an open
display of their cowardice and selfishness, was made use of bj the emut
to OTerthrow the existing constitution. The eleetiTe monardiy was ooo-
verted into an hereditarj one, and unlimited power conferred upon tbe
king by the royal law. The nobility lost their former power and inde-
pendent position, and were bound to the throne by titles and orders. Li
Sweden also, the vast power of the nobility was broken by the politic and
Charies XI. severe Charles XL, who rigidly demanded back the alien-
A. D. 1060- ated possessions of the crown; the ancient institution)
1697. however, he allowed to remain.
2. THE REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND AND THE EXPULSION OF THE
STUABTS.
a. THE FIBST TWO STUABTS (JAXES I. 1603-1625, CHARLES L
1625-1649.)
James L • $ ^^- ^^^^^8 son, James L, was a weak and pedaatie
A. D. 1608- prince, of narrow mind and perverted mental constitutioD.
^^^* Bred up amidst the contentions of Presbyterian preacheiBi
he was especially furnished with theolo^cal learning, and willinglf
engaged in controversies respecting disputed points of divini^. He wai
extremely desirous of gaining the reputation of a deeply learned man,
both by his writing and conversation, and composed many books ; but he
was utterly wanting in the penetration and shrewdness necessaiy in a
ruler. A lover of peace from timidity, he sacrificed the honor of fail
country to its external quiet, and he was so prodigal of his favor as fre-
quently to give himself up entirely to the guidance of unworthy favoriteiL
Among these, George YiUiers, duke of Buckingham, distinguished by the
symmetry of his figure, exercised the greatest influence upon hia.
James entertained the most extravagant notions re^>ecting the kin^
power. He was firmly persuaded that it was derived immediately from
God, and that it was unlimited; and he sought for proofs of this in the
Old Testament. It was on this account that he hated the Presbyteiim
Church of Scotland, where the king was nothing more than an ar^amrj
member of the congregation ; but he was devoted to the Episcopal Church
of England, in which the king was regarded as the head and source of
all spiritual power. ** No bishop, no king" became therefore the motto
of all the Stuarts, and the introduction of the Episcopal Qiureh into
Scotland, and the suppression of the Puritans in England, was, henoe-
forth, the great object of the whole family.
§ 887. There are three points particularly worthy of notice in the
reign of James; the gunpowder plot» the nuptial expedition of the pnnoo
THE BEVOLUTION IK BNOLAND. 269
ofWaleSy and the increasing opposition in parliament. 1. James ^lad
promised toleration to the English Catholics, for the purpose of rendering
them favorable to his ascension of the throne. Scarcely, however, was
the crown firmly settled upon his head, before he, like Elizabeth, levied
a heavy capitation tax upon the Catholic non-conformists, that he might
enrich his favorites^ and defray the expenses of his court festivals. The
deluded Catholics were exasperated. A conspiracy was formed for blow-
ing up the king and all the. members of the Upper and Lower House at
the opening of parliament, by means of a mine of gunpowder to be formed
in the cellar of the parliament-house, and then for changing the govern-
ment The plot was discovered and frustrated a short time before its
execution, by a warning in writing received by a Catholic peer. The
chief conspirator (Guy Fawkes) was seized and executed ; the other
participators in the plot fled, and excited an insurrection, in which most
of them perished. The English Catholics were then compelled to pay a
heavy fine, and to take a particular oath of fidelity to the king. 2. James,
in bis conceit, thought that no one but the daughter of a king of the first
rank was a fit spouse for his son, and accordingly made proposals for the
hand of one of the Spanish princesses. This project excited great dis-
content among the English, both because they were unwilling to have a
Catholic queen, and because the lengthened negotiations with Spain that
were occasioned by it prevented the king from giving any assistance to
his exiled Protestant son-in-law, Frederick V. of the Paktinate (§ 378).
At length, the pope and the Spanish court gave their consent, and there
appeared to be nothing more to prevent the union. At this point, the
fiivdons Buckingham persuaded prince Charles to make a voyage to
Madrid, and the king, who in his youth had surprised his Danish bride
in a similar manner, favored the undertaking. They arrived at Madrid
under assumed names, and were treated when recognized with great dis-
tinction. But Buckingham's loose and insolent behavior gave ofience.
He made enemies of the Spanish court and prevented the marriage.
Henrietta of France became the wife of Charles. 3. Elizabeth had
given bat little liberty to the parliament ; but the greatness of her talents
for government, and her frugal administration, had afforded the people a
compensation. But when James, in the conviction of his kingly perfec-
tion, pursued the same path, abridged more and more the privileges of the
parliament, and burthened the importation and exportation of every kind
of goods with arbitrary taxes, a vehement opposition arose. It was in
vain the king threatened, repeatedly dissolved the parliament, and placed
the boldest speakers under arrest ; every fresh assembly held the same
hmguage; and when James at length declared that their supposed rights
were nothing but privileges for which they were indebted to the royal
A. A. leii &^^9 ^® members of the Lower House registered a protest,
by which they declared that the making of laws, the consent-
28*
870 IBB MODERN EPOCH.
ing to taxes, and the other befitting rights and privileges of pariiamqit,
were the undoubted native rights and inlieritanoe of ererj Bngtishman.
Enraged at this audacity, the king tore the leaf with his own hand from
the record, dissolved the pariiament, and otdered a few deputies to be
imprisoned ; bat the spirit of resistance remained alive among the peo-
ple, and displayed itself still more violently, when Charies L, a proud
and obstinate ruler, took possession of the throne.
Charles L, § 388. The government of Charles L b^an with so vio-
jL D. 1626- lent a quarrel with the parliament, that the latter was twice
^^^' dissolved during the first two years of his reign. The sup-
port afibrded to the German Protestants, and a war with France occi-
sioned by the fickle Buckingham, occasioned great expenses. The kiog
was consequently extremely indignant that the pariiament was sp^ng ia
voting supplies, and had not once, during his whole government, consent-
ed to the levying of tonnage and poundage upon exports and imports, as
had hitherto been the custom. But when the French war took a disas-
trous termination, and the blood and honor of England were ignomini-
ously sacrificed, the third parliament threatened Bucking-
ham with an impeachment The king, to save his favorite,
was obliged to recognize the validity of the Petition of Right presented
by both houses, and by this means to grant its ancient privileges to die
parliament, and liberty of speech and security of person and
property to its members. Buckingham was shortly afler as-
sassinated, upon which the king removed Thomas Wentworth, an elo-
quent member of the opposition, from parliament into the privy coandl,
made him earl of Strafford and governor of Ireland, and followed lus
advice in everything. Wentworth, an ambitious and energetic man, now
exerted his most zealous efforts to strengthen the power of the throne,
and with this object, advised the king to govern for some time witboat a
parliament. For the purpose of raising money for the current expenses,
the goveniment levied the usual imposts without the ccmsent of the pa^
hament, laid heavy indirect taxes upon light wines, salt, soap, and similar
articles, and revived ancient and obsolete claims of the throne, such as
ship-money, which in former times had replenished the royal treasnij.
Charles, at the same time, endeavored to establish the Anglican Church
on a firmer foundation, and to suppress the Puritans and Presbyterians,
whose democratic opinions were every day extending among the people.
In this undertaking, he made use of the services of Bishop Laud of
London, whom he appointed to the archbishopric of Canterbury. Land
had the cathedral of St Paul's consecrated afresh, enriched the churches
with images and ornaments, and the worship of God with ceremonies,
removed the Puritan preachers from their offices, and had heavy and
degrading punishments pronounced by the courts (the B^gh Commissioo
and the judges of the Star Chamber) against all those who opposed (he
THB BBVOUmOH IH raNHiAin). 271
eradag instHations. Thus Piynney & Pariten writer, wm oondeanei
to be exposed in the pillory, to loee both his ears, and to be imprisoned
fivr life, beonse, in « bulky Tolnme he had written, he had ooadcimaftd
dueing, masks, and llNeatrical amusements, matters in which the coiut
deUgfated.
§ 889. These measures, which threatened to annihilate the civil and
regions liberties of England, excited a great commotion over the whole
oonntry. John Hampden, a man of considerate and resolute character,
refused payment of the ship-money, and oondncted his defence before a
court of justice so snccessliilly, that the injustice of the government be-
came most apparent. The deposed Puritan ministers wandered about the
ooontry, representing the proceedings of Laud as the commencement of
the restoration of Oathotidsm, and, by their passionate exhortations,
strewed the seeds of hatred against the court and the clergy. But the
king retained his resolution ; and, unwarned by ihe discontent openly ex-
pressed in England, he even attempted to introduce the Episcopal Church
sod the Anglican form of worship into Scotland, a country ever zealous
for its faith. When the first attempt at celebrating divine service under
the new form was made in the cathedral church of Edinburgh, a tumult
snse against the performance of the ^ worship of Baal." The crowd
J«lT 1S87 '^^^^ ** I*«P« • " ** Antichrist 1 " « Stone him ! " hurled seaU
'* '' at the priest, and drove him from the building. The old
Covenant ^ for the protection of the pure religion and the Church against
the errors and corruptions of Popery" was renewed amidst fasting and
prayer. The bishops were driven away, the Presbyterian form of wor-
ship restored, and the people called to arms. Upon this, Charles deter-
mined to pot down resistance by force ; but his troops gave way power-
less bef<»e the zealous Scots, who marched into the field with prayer and
psalmody; the hostile squadrons crossed the English borders, and nothing
was left to the king but to call together the parliament, after
an interval of eleven years, and to ask the assistance of the
S 890. The parliament now summoned b known in hbtorj under the
nsme of the Long Parliament The must influential members and
speakers, as Hampden, Hollis, Hazelrig, Cromwell, &C., were opposed to
absolute monarchical power and Episcopal Church government; they
wanted security for the ancient privileges of the Estates, and for religi-
ous liberty. But during their contest against the absolute power of kings
and bishops, they separated from each other : the more violent gradually
acquired the democratical views of the Puritans ; and whilst they mingled
civil and religions freedom together, they aimed at an object that was
^y attainable in a free republican commonwealth. The new parlia-
aMot innnediately assumed a hostile attitude against the court and gov-
^nm&enu Instead of at once voting supplies against the Scottish rebels
272 THE MODERN EPOCH.
the parliament entered into a secret alliance with them, and was die
cause that they maintained their position on the frontiers. It then oqb-
menced its attack upon the arbitnuy proceedings in Church and Stste.
Strafford, ^^ the great apostate," and Archbishop Land, were impeached.
It was in vain that the king, for the purpose of saving them, yielded to
all the demands of the House ; it was in vain that Strafford defended
himself for seventeen days with dignity and presence of mind, and prov-
ed, in the most convincing manner, that the charges brought against
him could not be regarded as high treason ; — the Lower House dedsred
that he must be considered as convicted of an attempt to destroy the
liberties of the country ; the Upper House embraced the same opiDiOD,
and the king had the weakness to confirm the sentence, and to sacrtfioe
the most faithful of his servants to the rage of the people. Strafford
died upon the scaffold with great composure. Laud, his
May 11, 1641. \ . . « ^ * • j *i^
companion m misfortune, was retained three years m con-
finement, before his life also was put an end to by the axe of the execu-
tioner. The abolition of the spiritual courts, and the exclusion of the
bishops from the Upper House, were the forerunners of the fall <^ the
Episcopal High Church,
§ 891. Shortly after this, intelligence got abroaid that the Froteslaat
settlers in Ireland had been set upon and murdered by the Catholic o*
habitants. This event was laid to the charge of the court, and espedaDf
of the queen, and made use of as a proof that Papists, bishops, and cwn^
tiers had united in a conspiracy for the destruction of religion and libe^
ty. From this point, the struggle assumed more and more of a religioag
character ; and as the parliament now overstepped the limits of a mo-
narchical constitution in their demands, inasmuch as they interfered with
the prerogatives of government, and required that the appointment of
the higher officers of state, and of the commanders of the army, together
with the management of the land and sea forces, should be dependent
upon their approval, the two parties became more decidedly adTcne.
The people called the adherents of the king, who were mostly noblemen
and officers, *' Cavaliers;" they distinguished their opponents, however,
by the nickname of Roundheads, from the cut of their hair. The at-
tempt of the king to arrest five of the most violent leaders of the oppo-
sition during a debate failed. They fied, but were brought back the next
day to the parliament-house in .triumph by the people. Enraged at this,
Civil War, Charles retired to York and declared war. The queen fled
▲.D. 1642- to Holland to claim foreign assistance; but as the whole
^^^' military force of the Continent was engaged in the IWrtJ
Years' War, no help could be obtained. The war commenced with une-
qual means for the contest. For whilst the king was unprovided with
mcmey, and his army suffered from every kind of want, the parliament
was in possession not only of all the public revenue, but was amply sup-
TBE BBVOLXrriON HT XNGLAND. 273
ported by private oontribntions. At the first summons, fiimilies brought
didr plate, women their ornaments ; and every tax and impost, that had
been obstinatelj contested with the king, were cheerfully surrendered to
the parliament. Charles's small but practised army was, nevertheless,
at first successful i^ainst the parliamentary forces, that were led into the
field by the earl of Essex. In two encounters, the royal cavalry, which
was commanded by Charles's nephew, Rupert of the Palatinate, gained
the advantage. In the commencement of the second year, the parlia*
ment also experienced losses, among which, the death of the upright
and gallant Hampden was the most severely felt But when Oliver
Cromwell, a zealous Puritan, formed a resolute band of cavalry from
amongst his devout friends, which, in the cause of God, rushed blindly
Jul s 1644 ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ matters assumed a different aspect. In the
' ' battle of Marston Moor, Rupert, by his impetuosity, lost the
victory to Cromwell's ^oomy squadrons. From this time, the name of
Cromwell stood uppermost in the army, and the Puritans took advantage
of the favorable opportunity to banish the Book of Common Prayer
from Divine worship, and to thrust aside Episcopacy by the Calvinistic
discipline and the synodial form of Church government. Images, orna-
ments, organs, and so forth, disappeared from the churches, painted win-
dows were broken, monuments destroyed, and festivals forbidden.
{ 892. But divisions soon arose in the camp of the conquerors. The
Independents, the boldest and most energetic of the Puritans, were dis-
contented with the synodial constitution of the Presbyterians; they
demanded the entire independence, in religious matters, of every indivi-
dual congregation, and refused to recognize the decisions of the synods as
laws universally valid. Violent contests took place between the moderate
Puritans (Presbyterians), and the Radicals (Independents). The latter
f«bniary, passed the Self-denying Ordinance through the parliament,
l^tf* in virtue of which, no member of either house could fill any
place of command or official situation. Essex was, by tKis means, com-
pelled to lay down his military oflice, and Fairfax, a talented officer,
entirely under the influence of Cromwell, was placed at the head of the
amy. Cromwell, the head of the Independents, had been one of the
most zealous advocates of the Self-denying Ordinance. He repaired to
the army to resign his command into the hands of Fairfax ; but the latter
at once gave the parliament to understand that Cromwell was indispensa-
ble— it was only he who could lead the cavalry; for where he fought,
in the name of God, along with his pious squadron, there the victory was
sore to be. Parliament consented, and the civil war burst forth afresh
J 14. iius ^*^ redoubled violence. But the battle of Naseby destroyed
' the last hopes of Charles : he retreated with the remains of
bis army to Oxford. When Cromwell and Fairfax prepared to besiege
Um there, he embraced a desperate resolution ; disguised as a servant,
274 XHB MODERN EPOCH.
he escaped with two attendants to the Scottish camp on the luntlian
frontier^ in the hope of finding truth and attachment among his own
coontiTmen. But all sympathy for fallen greatness was extinguished m
the bosom ,of the Soots, who were guided entirelj by their austere deigj.
Thej watched him nanowlj, and compelled him to^attend the lengdieoed
discourses of iheir ministers, whose usual text was the misdeeds of him-
self and his ancestors ; and when thej found that it was impossible to
prevail upon him to accept the Presbyterian fiuth, or to subscribe the
Covenant, they sold their king for a small price. For the moderate sum
of £400,000, Charles was delivered up to the commissiooen
^^ of parliament, who confined him in a strong castle.
S 893. In the mean time, the division between the Presbyterians, who
were the superior party in the parliament, and the Independents, who
prevailed in the army, became every day greater. Cromwell was <hi the
side of the latter ; but he knew well how to conceal the falsehood of his
heart by an outward appearance of sanctimony.* Whilst he was playing
the part of a mediator, the captive Charles was carried off by a zealoiis
tailor, with a troop of horse, and delivered up into the power of the amy.
Upon this, Cromwell marched upon the capital for the pn^
' pose of giving the Independents the superiority in parliament
NoTember, also. In the meanwhile, the king escaped to the Isle of
1648. Wight ; and both Presbyterians and Independents sought,
for some time, to gain him over to their own side, and to make their
peace with him in return for certain concessions. But Charles, who
relied upon foreign assistance, conducted himself in a deceitful and am-
biguous manner, and thus deprived himself of the last chance (^ a peace-
ful release. Cromwell now resolved upon his destruction. The annji
acting under his secret directions, made itself master of the king's penoD,
and conducted him to a solitary castle on the sea-coast Colonel Pride
then surrounded the parliament-house with his troops, and commanded
December, eighty-one of the Presbyterian members to be excluded by
^^*®' force. After this proceeding, which was known by the name
of '^ Pride's Purge," Cromwell took possession of the royal apartments in
Whitehall, — for he was now lord and ruler, and the so-called Bamp
Parliament, which consisted of Independents, was a mere passive tool in
his hand. It was determined to accuse the king of treason before an
extraordinary court, for having made war against the parliament.
^ Charles Stuart" was four times put upon his trial, and condemned to
death as a traitor, murderer, and enemy of his country. He was allowed
three days to prepare himself, and to take leave of his children. He
«The character given by Weber in the text to Cromwell cannot be regarded mis
impartial one. Ciomwell^B behavior was certainly not always disUngniahed by peiftet
candor, bnthis worst enemies will scarcely deny that his religious professions were, ia ft
great measure, sincere.— TVnisIa^or.
THB RXVOLXTTION IK SNGLANB. 275
was then led fordi upon a scaffold constructed in front of Whitehall, and
Janoary 80, oovered with black, where the sentence was carried into exe-
1M9. cation bj two masked executioners. An innumerable multi-
tude gazed in silence upon the frightful scene. It was only when the
executioner seized the blood-dropping head by the hair, and exclumed,
<^This is the head of a traitor! " Uiat the assembled people relieved their
oppressed bosoms by a hollow groan.
h. OLIVER CBOMWBLL (a. D. 1649-1658).
§ 394. The intelligence of the king's death excited a fearful sensation
in Ireland and Scotland. The Prince of Wales, who was living in
Holland, was recalled to Scotland and acknowledged as
Charles 11., but was obliged, beforehand, to sign the Cove-
nant and enter the Presbyterian Church. Ireland also acknowledged
the new king, and flew to arms. Upon this, Cromwell, after arranging a
republican government in England, in which Milton, the blind composer
of ^ Paradise Lost," occupied a post, marched against the disobedient
island. His path to victory laid over blood and corpses ; and when he
himself lefl the country to carry the sword into Scotland, other republi-
can generals pursued the same course. In three years, the threatening
rebellion was quelled; but Ireland became a depopulated country of
lawless be^^ars, where the avenger of blood established his fearful dwell-
ing. The arms of the republic were triumphant in Scotland also. The
Scottish army had occupied a strong position, which Cromwell could not
reach. Hunger and sickness soon diminished the number of his troops,
80 that he was already meditating a retreat At this juncture, the
preachers who accompanied the Scottish army, and who were annoyed
by the cheerful military life and the hilarity of the king and his asso-
dates, advised the commanders to make an attack. When Cromwell
beheld the movement in the Presbyterian army, he exclaimed, ^ They
are coming down, the Lord has delivered them into our hands!" The
battle of Dunbar, fought upon Cromwell's birthday, Septem-
ber drd, terminated in the defeat of the Scots. Cromwell
took Edinburgh, and penetrated into the heart of the country. The Lord
of Hosts, who was invoked both by Presbyterians and Independents with
fasting and prayer and hypocritical lip-service, was with the bold and
strong. Charles suddenly hazarded a daring undertaking. He marched
with his troops across the English border, and called upon the adherents
of royalty for support Few joined htm, and thus it happened that the
SeiviemiMr 8, loyal army suffered a complete overthrow at Worcester,
1^1* exactly a twelvemonth after the battle of Dunbar. This
battle made Charles a houseless fugitive, for whose capture the parlia-
ment offered a large reward. After a thousand dangem and adventures,
k escaped in disguise to France. Scotland was compelled to submit to
276 THB MODERN EPOCH.
the republican govenunent by General Monk. The free state of dug-
land wa8 also mvolved in a war with Holland. During this, the republi-
cans showed that thej were not onlj Yictorioaa on land, but powerfal at
sea. Greatly as the maritime heroes of Holland, Tnnnp and Ru j^er,
distinguished themselves bj their courage and ability, Admiral Blake, a
man of the old republican stamp, and of rude virtues, and General Monk,
who was equally experienced in land and naval warfare, succeeded at
length in carrying off the victory. The Dutch were obliged to consent
to a disgraceful peace, whilst the Navigation Act, which was proclaimed
October, in £ngland during the war, and which prohibited foreigners
1661. from bringing any thing but their own productions to ISjig--
land in their own ships, gave a fresh impulse to commerce.
§ 395. During these proceedings, CromweU had fallen out with the
Lower House, and for this reason he resolved upon dissolving the Jxmg
(Rump) parliament. After surrounding the house with troops, he entered
. M ...» ^6 apartment in his dark puritanical dress, delivered a dis-
Apnl, 1658. 1 . , /•,!-..,. . , • . , ,
course which was filled with invectives, and then, with the
help of the soldiers who had entered, drove forth those who were present,
exclaiming to one, ^ You are a drunkard ; " to another, '^ You are an
adulterer ; " to a third, ^ You are a blasphemer of God ! " A state coun-
cil, under the presidentship of Cromwdl, then undertook the formation
of a new parliament. For this purpose, lists of all the Grod-fearing peo-
ple were made out in every quarter, and from these '^ saints" the repre-
sentatives of the kingdom were chosen. This assembly (namied in
mockery, Barebones' parliament, from the leathernseUer, Praise-Gk>d
Barebones), gave evidence of its disposition and religious views by the
Biblical names of the greater number of its members (Habakkuk,
Ezekiel, Stand-fast-in-the-Faitb* &c.). But Cromwell was not able to
manage these strange men so easily as he had hoped ; and as they wished
to introduce several vigorous measures, which would have produced great
changes, he took advantage of the openly-displayed discontent to effect a
December, violent dissolution by means of his soldiers. After this, a
1668. new constitution, projected by General Lamb^ came into
existence, in which a parliament of 400 members composed the legisla-
tive body, and Cromwell, as Lord Protector, possessed the executiv-e
power and the command of the land and sea forces. As Protector,
Cromwell governed energetically and gloriously. His talents for govern-
ment and his strength of will procured him respect and authority abroad,
and his respectable household, and his frugal and citizen*like mode of
life, awakened esteem and confidence at home. But honorably as he
filled the lofty situation in which fate had placed hi||i he nevertheless
found many enviers and opponents, both among the republicans and
royalists, who embittered the evening of his life, and never suffered him
to attain to a quiet possession of the government Rendered gloomy hj
THB REYOLUTIOir IN BKGLAND. 277
suspicion, and in constant fear of assassination, Cromwell died on big
Septembers, birthday, a daj that he had always regarded as particularly
16M. fortunate.
§ 396. Cromwell's weak son, Richard, inherited the dignity of Lord Pro-
tector, which, however, he did not know how to maintidn. Three powers
were soon arrayed in hostile opposition, the protector, the parliament,
and the army, commanded by Monk, Lambert, and others. The military
power was victorioas ; the parliament was dissolved, and the old Rump
parliament again summoned; Richard Cromwell, who was neither a
soldier nor a preacher, was obliged to abdicate, and to seek for
safety in a foreign land. But the Rump parliament was
also obliged to yield in a short time to the power of the army ; upon
which the direction of afiairs was undertaken by a committee of safety,
under the presidentship of Lambert During all these constitutional
straggles, the opinion gradually gained ground that nothing but the return
of the royal family, and the reestablishment of monarchy, could effect the
permanent reestablishment of order. For this purpose, General Monk
entered into an alliance with Charles Stuart, who was living in the
Netherlands, but concealed his plans and opinions mo<)t carefully. He
obtained the arrest of Lambert, the dissolution of the committee of safety,
and the assembly of a new parliament With this assembly, which con-
sisted for the most part of royalists. Monk hastened to effect the restora-
tion of the Stuarts. An amnesty, and liberty of conscience, were all that
lb M. 1S60 ^^'^"^^^ ^^ ^ promise before his solemn entrance into Lon-
' ' don, where he was received by an exulting people. But
even these conditions were not observed. Sentence of death was pro-
nounced upon all those who had sat in judgment upon Charles L, and ten
of them were actually executed as regicides. The triumph of the royalists
at the destruction of their enemies was much diminished by the resolu-
tion displayed by the Puritans in their last moments. Cromwell's body
was torn from the grave and suspended on the gallows. The Episcopal
Church was restored, and the Presbyterian clergy again deprived of
their places.
e. TH£ LAST TWO 8TUABT6 (CHARLES II. 1660-1685, AND
JAKES II. 1 685-- 1688.)
S 897. The government of the fickle, characterless, and voluptuous
Charles was fatal to England. Neither the fate of his father, nor the
melancholy passages in his own life, served him either for instruction or
^^wning. Severely as the land was visited by the plague, and by a
^ghtfttl conflagration that destroyed two thirds of London, no interrup-
^n was given to the splendid and joyous life that was led by the royal
^ooxi; and when extravagant expenditure had produced debts and want
^ money, and the parliament was not so free in its grants as the king
24
278 THE MODERN EPOCH.
desired, Charles sold the honor and interests of his eoantry to the French
king, Louis XIV. At that time especially, it was looked upon as a mark
of refinement in France if a man left the Protestant Church for the
Catholic. This way of thinking found some imitation in England. The
duke of York, the brother of the king, openly embraced Catholidsm, and
Charles was a Catholic in heart, although he outwardly conformed to the
English Church, and only betrayed his real convictions when on his
death-bed, by receiving the Catholic sacraments. The more, however,
the Stuarts favored CaUiolicism, the more sturdily did the people adhere
to the faith of their fathers. The fire of London was attributed by them
to the Papists, and this belief was perpetuated by a monument ; and that
the public offices should not be made use of as rewards for these changes <^
religion, the parliament, after a long contest, carried the Test Act, which
enacted that none but members of the Englbh Church, and confessors of
the Protestant doctrine, should be capable of admission into parliament,
or of holding offices or military posts. As long as CUirendon, the histo-
rian of the English '< KebelHon," remained at the head of the ministry,
the king was in some degree restrained within the bounds of moderation
and legality ; but when the former fell into disgrace, and was compelled
to end his days as an outlaw in a foreign country, Charles allowed him-
self to commit acts of all kinds of violence, tyranny, and lawlessness.
A ministry that was formed of talented but unprincipled statesmen, and
distinguished by the people as the ^ Cabal " ministry from the initials of
its members, now conducted the government according to the wishes of
the king, without regard to the privileges and honor of the people. Cor-
ruption and venality were*no longer regarded as disgraceful among the
higher classes, since the king himself drew a yearly stipend from Louis
XIV. for supporting the French in their war against the Dutch. A new
contest at this time sprang up between the king and the pariiament.
For, the more openly the former strove for absolute power, the more did
the latter endeavor to protect the privileges of the people and the religion
of the country. The parliament, anxious lest the English Church should
be exposed to danger under a Catholic king, demanded the exclusion of
the duke of York from the throne ; and Charles found himself so far
obliged to yield, that he sent his brother out of the country for some time,
and formed a new ministry, in which the ingenious earl of Shaftesbniy,
who had gone over from the king's council to the popular party, was the
president It was under his administration that the Habeas
Au, D 1679
Corpus Act, that sacred law for the freedom of person, came
into existence. According to this act, no one could be imprisoned, with-
out a written order of the court stating the grounds of the imprisonment ;
and within three days, the prisoner was to be brought before the ordi-
nary judges, and cause was to be shown why he should not be released.
In the midst of these parliamentary struggles, two parties sprang up, the
THE BSVOLUTION IN ENGLAND. 279
Whigs and the Tories, that exbt to the present day. The Whigs re-
garded the oonstitution of the state as a mutual eompact between the king
and the nation, and attributed to the latter the right of active resistance
in case of any infringement of the compact; the Tories, on the other
hand, rejected the principle that the royal power proceeded from the
people, and demanded passive obedience from the subject. The Tories
gained the upper hand during the latter years of Charles II.'s reign, in-
asmach as the court took advantage of a conspiracy contrived by some
worthless men against the lives of the king and his brother, to ruin the
heads of the Whig party. Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney, two of
the noblest and most respected of men, died upon the scaffold; Shaftes-
bury fled to Holland ; the duke of York again regained his rights and
offices ; and when Charles died a few years aflerwards with-
out legitimate ofisipring, the Duke ascended the English
throne, under the title of James 11.
Jamea II., § 398. A few weeks after James's ascension of the throne,
i.D. 16«6- Monmouth, a natural son of Charles II., attempted, by the
aid of the Whigs, to deprive his uncle of the crown. The
insurrection failed of success. Monmouth died on the scaffold, and the
frightful, cruelty that James displayed against all the supporters and
abettors of the enterprise destroyed the last sparks of attachment in the
hearts of the people. The name of the chief judge, Jeffreys, who pass-
ed through the counties with the axe of justice and a crew of execu-
tioners, is written with letters of blood in the annals of English history.
The victory which he had gained so easily, and the terror of the people,
induced the king to hope, that by cunning and severity he might gradu-
ally restore the Catholic religion to its former supremacy in England.
With this object, he made the detested Jeffreys chancellor, presented
many offices and military appointments to the Catholics and those who
had gone over to the Roman Church, and aimed at neutralizing the Test
Act by the introduction of an edict of toleration. But as the parlia-
ment, despite the bribery used in the elections, could not be brought to
accept this edict, James attempted to destroy the Test Act by another
plan ; he dechired that the throne possessed the power of granting a dis-
pensation from this law; a privilege by which the power and operation of
all laws would have been paralyzed. The English people looked on qui-
etly for some time at these proceedings, although with inward repugnance,
inasmuch a» the king being old and having no male descendants, and his
two daughters having been brought up in the English Church and mar-
ried to Protestant princes, the elder, Mary, to William of Orange
(§ 403), and the younger, Anne, to a Danish prince, they hoped for a
speedy deliverance. But when the intelligence of the birth of a prince
of Wales put an end to all hope of a release from the ydke of popery,
they began to entertain the purpose of freeing themselves by their own
2&) THE XODXRN EPOCH.
efforts, with the assistance of William of Orange. The genuineness of
the young prince was called in qaestion ; crowds of discontented Britons
streamed towards the Hague ; the Whigs united themselyes with William
of Orange, and promised him the support of the Protestant part of the
nation. James did not perceive the storm that was gathering anmnd his
head, untU William had landed with a Dutch force on the shores of Eng-
land, with the avowed purpose of defending the Protestant religion and
the liberties of the country. It was in vain that the king now tamed
himself to the army and the people, and promised the removal of every
measure repugnant to the Constitution; the ground on which he stood
had been rendered insecure by the treachery, hypocrisy, and peijniy
with which the Stuarts had rendered the nation familiar. When a part
of the army went over to William, and the general voice declared itself
against the king, James sent his wife and son to France, threw the great
seal into the Thames, and then fled himself in despair from the land of
December, ^is fathers, of whose fair crown he had deprived himself and
ipS8, his Catholic offipring. He lived from this time forth at St
Germain, a pensioner of Louis XIV.
§ 899. After the flight of James, the representatives of the Englisli
people declared the throne forsaken, and agreed that the Catholus fine of
the house of Stuart should be excluded from the government, and that
this should be placed in the hands of t^l^e royal pair, William and Mary.
Instructed however by the past, they secured the liberties of the nation
against any future arbitrary acts by the Bill of Rights, without at the
same time weakening overmuch the power of the king. The Scots ac-
knowledged the new government, and regained their Presbyterian
Church ; but the Catholic Irish, supported by France, and led into the
field by James 11. himself, were first compelled to snbmis-
^ ' sion by the bloody battle of the Boyne, and again curtailed
of their privileges and property. From this time, England, by her navd
power, her trade, industry, and prosperity, took the lead of all other na-
▲. D. 1701. ^^^^* When a premature death carried the sickly WiUian
Anne a. d. cliil^less to the grave, he was succeeded by Anne, the
1701 - 1714. younger daughter of James II., during whose reign the union
A.D. 1707. between Scotland and England was completed, so that, from
this time, the Scottish representatives gave their voices in the English
parliament. Anne also survived the whole of her children, so that the
English crown devolved upon the Elector, George of Hanover, the
grandson of Elizabeth, Palgravine and Queen of Bohemia. Two at-
tempts of the Stuarts, [a. d. 1715 and 1746], to expel the house of
Hanover by violence, and to repossess themselves of the English crown,
terminated unsuccessfully.
AOB OV I^UIS XIV. 381
8. THB AGK OF LOmS ZIT.
a. BICHBLIEU AKD MAZAKIK.
LoQis xm. S 400. The first partof the reignof the weak Louis XIH,
A.]>. 1610- who only numbered nine years at the time of his father^s
IMS. marder (§ 365), was full of mischief for France. Daring
the time the queen-mother, Mary of Medicis, conducted the government^
Italian favorites exerted a great influence upon affairs, enriched them-
selves at the expense of the French, and irritated the pride of the na-
tion by their insolence. Enraged at this, the nobility took up arms, and
filled the country with rebellion and the tumult of war. When at length
Louis XIII. himself, upon coming of age, assumed the government, he
indeed consented that the foreign favorites should be removed by murder
and execution, and banished his mother from the court ; but the people
gained little by it. The new favorites in whom the king, who possessed
no self-reliance, reposed his confidence, were not distinguished from the
former either by virtue or talents ; for this reason, both the nobles of the
kingdom and the Huguenots, who felt themselves injured in their rights,
again rose against the government, and threw the land into fresh confu-
sion. This melancholy condition of affairs was only put an end to when
Cardinal Richelieu was admitted into the state council, and
^ ^* introduced a complete change of system. This gr^at states-
man maintained an almost absolute sway in the court and in the kingdom
for nearly eighteen years, though the king never loved him, the queen
and the nobility were constantly attempting his overthrow, and a succes-
fikm of cabals and conspiracies were plotted against him. The greatness
of his mind triumphed over all obstacles. Richelieu's efforts were di-
rected towards the extension and rounding of the French territory with-
out, and the increasing and strengthening of the royal power within. In
fortherance of the former of these objects, he sought to weaken the house
of Hapsburg, and for this purpose entered into alliances with the enemies
of the emperor not only in Germany, in the time of the Thirty Years'
War, but in Italy and other places ; and, to attain his aims in regard to
the latter project, he neglected to call together the estates of the king-
dom, broke the power of the nobility and of the independent officials
and judges in the parliament, and attacked the Huguenots, who had form-
ed an almost independent alliance in the south and west of France, with
their own fortresses, an effective militia, and great privileges. After
conquering the most important of the Huguenot towns (Nismes, Mon-
taoban, Montpellier), and destroying their fortifications, }n three wars,
and when he had at length taken Rochelle, the bulwark of the Calviui*
iits, after a siege of fourteen months, he proceeded to deprive the Pro-
testants of their political privileges and of their independent pontioBi
24*
282 THB MODERN EPOCH.
bat granted them^ by the Edict of Nismes, liberty of oonscienoe and
equal rights with Catholic sabjects. The turbulent nobles had been de-
prived of their greatest support by the disarming of the Huguenots, and
the war could now be prosecuted against them with success. The most
daring were got rid of by banishment and the executioner. Even the
queen-mother and her second son, the duke of Orleans, who had at-
tempted to procure the fall of Richelieu, were compelled to leare the
country, and the confidential friend of the latter, Henry, duke of Mont-
morency, a scion of one of the most renowned families of France, died
at Toulouse by the hand of the executioner. A similar fate
awaited the count of Cinq-Mars and his friend, De Thou, a
few years later, when, in conjunction with the queen and some of (he
nobles, they formed a conspiracy against the mighty cardinal. The par-
liament, the upper tax-offices and courts of justice, which, like the kin^
claimed an independent authority on account of their offices being he-
reditary, were weakened by the establishment of extraordinary courts
and higher officers, who were dependent upon the minister.
I 401. In the year 1642, died Richelieu, hated and feared by the no>
bility and the people, but admired by contemporaries and posterity ;
Louis XIII., a prince without either great virtues or great vices, and de-
pendent upon every one who could either acquire his favor or render
himself formidable to him, soon followed him. His widow, Anne of
Austria, the proud and ambitious sister of the king of Spain, undertook
Louis XIV. ^^® government during the minority of his son. But as she
A. D. 1648- reposed the whole of her confidence on the Italian, Maxario,
^7^^* the inheritor of the office and the principles of Richelieu, she
met with vehement opposers among the nobility and in the parliament, who
attempted to regain their former power and position. The people, in the
hope of being relieved of some of their heavy taxes, and guided by the
clever and dexterous Cardinal Retx, embraced their cause, with the in-
tent of compelling the court to remove Mazarin, and to adopt a different
A. 0. plan <^ government. This gave occasion to a furious eiril
1648-1663. war, which is known in history as'Mhe War of the Fnmde."
Mazarin was obliged to leave the country for a short time, but so immo-
vable were the favor and confidence of the queen, that he governed
l^rance from Cologne as he had formerly done in Paris. But his ban-
ishment did not last long. When Louis XIY. had attained the years of
kingly majority, and Turenne, the commander of the royal troops, had
conquered his rival, the great Cond^, the general of the insurgents, in
the suburb of St. Antoine, Mazarin returned in triumph.
His solemn entry into Paris was a sign that absolute power
had gained the victory, and that henceforth the will of the monarch was to
be law. Mazarin enjoyed for six years longer the greatest respect in
France and Europe ; Cardinal Retz, the ingenious composer of the Me-
AO^.OF LOUIS XIY. . 288
moin of this war, was obliged to leave his ooantrjy after he had preyiQusIj
expiated his turbulent coodact in the prison of Vinoennes ; Conde, poor
and unhappy, wandered among the Spaniards, till the grace of bis master
allowed him to retam and take possession of his estates; Mazarin's
nieces, Italian females without name or position, were endowed with the
wealth of France, and sought for as brides by the greatest nobles ; and
the members of parliament adapted themselves without opposition to the
directions they received from above, after Louis had appeared before
them in his boots and riding whip, and demanded their obedience with
threats. Louis now gave effect to his principle, ^ I am the state " (retail
A. p. 16&9. ^'^' mot). The peace of the Pyrenees with Spain was the
last work of Mazarin. He died shortly after, leaving enor-
Mireh 9, mous wealth behind him. His death took place at the mo-
^^^' ment when Louis began to grow weary of him, and was
longing to seise the reins of government in his own powerful grasp.
k OOVBHNMENT AND CONQUESTS OF LOUIS XIV.
{ 402. After the death of Mazarin, Louis XIY., in whom kingly abso-
latian attained its highest point, appointed no prime minister, but sur-
rounded himself with men who merely executed his will, and whose
highest aim was to increase and spread abroad the renown, glory, and
honor of the king. Li the choice of these men, Louis displayed judg-
ment and the talents of a ruler. His ministers, especially Colbert, the
great promoter of French industry, manufactures, and trades, as well as
his generals, Turenne, Conde, Luxemburg, and the engineer, Yauban, as
modi surpassed, in talent, acquirements, and dexterity, the statesmen and
ficddiers of all other countries, as Loub XIY. himself was preeminent
among the princes of his age, in the greatness of his -power, in command-
ing presence, and kingly digni^. He rendered the age of Louis XIY.
the most illustrious in the French annals, and caused the Court of Yer-
sailles (the seat of the royal residence) to be everywhere praised and
admired as the model of taste, of refinement, and of a distinguished
mode of living. But as he sought nothing but the gratification of his own
selfishness, of his own love of pleasure, of his pride, and of his desire for
renown and splendor, his reign became the grave of freedom, of morals,
of firmness of character, and of manly sentiments. Court favor was the
end of every effort, and fiattery the surest road to arrive at it ; virtue
and merit met with little acknowledgment.
§ 403. Louis XIY. wished to enlarge his empire, and to render his
name illustrious by military renown. He took advantage, therefore, of
the death of the Spanish king, Philip lY., to make pretensions to his
Sptajih War inheritance as the husband of Philip's daughter, and to march
1. ». an army into the Spanish Netherlands. By the triple alliance
Uir-i66S. of £ngyuid^ HoUand, and Sweden, he was indeed compelled,
S84 TEB HODXBN EPOCH.
by the peace of Aix, to surrender, after a short eampaign, the greiier
Ma 1668 ^^^ ^ ^^® conquests ; but manj of the frontier towns of
' Flanders remained with France, toid were concerted by Yta>
ban into impregnable fortresses. As Holland had been the chief instni-
ment in checking the ^ctorioDS coarse of the haughty king, so she did not
fail to experience the vengeance of the French potentate. He won Swe-
den to his side, purchased the favor of the English king by annuities and
mistresses (| 897), and concluded an alliance with the Elector of Cologne
and the bishop of Munster. Thus prepared and protected on every side,
Dutch War ^^^ began a second war, which at first was directed agsint
A. D. Holland alone, but in which almost all the European' states
1672-167B. ^gj^ involved during the seven years of its conunuanee.
AAer the celebrated passage of the Rhine at Tolhuis, the French army pur-
sued its rapid course of victories into the territories of the States GenenL
Holland was now in extremities. The republicans, who had hitherto coo-
ducted the affairs of the State with great credit, had been more solidtoaa
about improving the navy than upon maintaining or increasing the land
forces ; how could they resist the stately armies of France, conducted, ai
they were, by the most celebrated generals ? liege, Utrecht, and Upper
Issel, fell into the hands of the enemy ; French dragoons already nisde
incursions into the province of Holland, and approached to within two
miles of the capital ; — the terrified republicans implored peace, but were
not listened to. But whilst the French army was wasting time in tbe
siege of the Dutch fortresses, the republicans, to whom the whole d
the mischief was ascribed, were overthrown by the Orange party^ their
chiefs, John and Cornelius de Witt, murdered in the streets of the cspi*
tal, and the government then placed in the hands of the shrewd and wa^
like stadtholder, William III. of Orange. This celebrated general aroused
the courage and patriotic enthusiasm of the Hollanders; they cat throu^
their dykes, and rendered the inundated country inapproachable by the
French ; the walls of Groningen defied all the efforts of the enemy, and
the marshal of Luxemburg's daring march against Amsterdam, over the
frozen waters, was frustrated by a sudden thaw. These and other ci^
cumstances saved Holland. For as the great Elector of Brandenborg,
Frederick William, now came to the assistance of the Dutch, and also
induced the emperor Leopold to take an interest in the war, the French
were obliged to divide their power, and to send their chief
force to the Rhine. Spain, ialso^ add the German empire,
soon entered into the war against France.
§ 404. The military power of France increased with the number of
her enemies. Turenne crossed the Rhine, after having barbarootljT
ravaged the lands of the Palatinate, and pressed forwards, burning aad
ravaging, into Franconia. The German princes were divided ; the im'
penal minister of war was in the pay of Louis, and betrayed the mil^
AGB OF LOUIS ZIV. 285
tarj plans to the enemy ; the Austrian generals were either incompetent,
or, like Montecncoli, engaged in Hungary. The triumph of France
would have been complete, had not the great Elector saved the military
reputation of Germany. Louis XIV., for the purpose of compelling the
latter to separate himself from the army of the Rhine, had induced his
allies, the Swedes, to attack the march of Brandenburg. But the ener-
getic Frederick William appeared in his own territories before the
enemy entertained the slightest suspicion of his approach, and gave the
surprised Swedes a complete overthrow in the battle of
' * Fehrbellin. This battle was the foundation of Prussia's
greatness. A month later; Turenne, the greatest general of his age, was
killed by a cannon-ball, near Sasbach, and the enemy compelled to
retreat across the Rhine. But the war nevertheless continued for three
years longer, and was particularly destructive to the lands on the Mosel
and the Saar, where the French committed frightful ravages. It was
not until the English parliament demanded, with menaces, that the
government should dissolve the alliance with France and support the
Dutch, that Louis resolved to put an end to the war. By
* the peace of Nimeguen, the Dutch, who in the mean time
had made the office of stadtholder hereditary in the male line of the gal-
lant William of Orange, received back the whole of their lost towns and
territories. On the other hand, the Spaniards were obliged to relinquish
Franche-Comt^, and the whole of the fortified places in the line of Va-
lenciennes and Maubeuge, to France, and the German empire lost not
only the town of Freiburg in the Breisgau, but was obliged to submit to
the greatest humiliations. The dukedom of Lorraine, which belonged to
Germany, and of which the French had taken possession at the com-
mencement of the war, was given back to the duke, who was engaged in
the Austrian service, under such degrading conditions, that the latter
preferred to allow it to remain still jn the hands of the enemy ; and the
great Elector saw himself compelled to give up to the Swedes the lands
and towns he had conquered with so much difficulty in Pomerania.
§ 405. The timorous acquiescence of the German princes infiamed the
insolence and ambition of Louis XIV. He asserted that a number of
dbtricts and portions of territory, which, at an earlier period, had belonged
to the towns and provinces which had fallen to France in the Peaces of
Westphalia and Nimeguen, were included in the cession. To arrange
this matter, he established the so-called chambers of reunion in Metz and
Breisach, and, supported by their decisions, took possession of a number
of cities, towns, boroughs, villages, mills, nay, even whole provinces, on
the left bank of the Rhine. Success only increased the audacity of the
French king, so that, at length, in the midst of peace, he wrested the
September, ^^^ town of Strasburg from the German empire. The trai-
U8L torous bishop, Francis Egon, of Furstenburg, assisted in the
286 • ZHB MODERN EPOCH.
surprise and occupation of the place. The once free burghers were i
pelled, after being disarmed, to take the oath of subjectioa to the foreign
potentate upon their knees. The ornaments of German architectDTO
were restored to the Catholic worship, and the arsenal was emptied. In-
stead of chastising this insolence with their united forces, Austria, Spain,
Angast 16, ^^^ the German empire concluded a truce for twenty jetm
1684. with the tyrannical king, at Regensburg, by which all the
annexed and plundered provinces were given up to Louis, with the
single condition, that he should be satisfied with what he had got, and
should put an end to his annexations.
Austria's distress and triuhph.
§ 406. During this time, the emperor Leopold was engaged in the
eastern portion of his dominions. In Hungary, the oppression exercised
by the government upon the Protestants, the burdensome quartering of
troops, and some acts of violence against certain magnates, had produced
a formidable rebellion at the moment when the Turks were renewing
their former plans of conquest, and some active chief viziers were awak-
ning the warlike spirit of the janisaries. The Austrian government
hoped to suppress the insurrection by severity. It condemned the leaders
to death upon the scaffold, and outraged the chartered rights of the
nation. But these acts of violence excited the love of free-
dom and the military spirit of the Hungarians. Emmerick
Tokeli, an active noble, whose property had been confiscated, unfurled
the banner of rebellion. In a short time, he had it consider-
able army at his command, with which he drove the Aus-
trian forces out of Hungary. Louis XIY. afforded him assistance, and
the Porte, which recognized him as tributary king of Hun-
gary, despatched a powerful army for his defence. The
Turks marched, plundering and devastating, to the walls of Vienna. The
court fied to Lintz, and the capital of Austria seemed lost But the
courage of the citizens and of their leader, Rudtger von Staremberg, to-
gether with the Ottoman's want of skill in conducting sieges, preserved
Vienna for sixty days, in spite of all attacks, till at length the imperial
army, commanded by Charles of Lorraine, and in conjunction with a
Polish force under the heroic king, John Sobieski, came to the help of
September, the hardly-pressed town. A bloody engagement under the
1688. walls of Vienna terminated to the disadvantage of the Turks.
They made a hasty retreat, and left an enormous booty in the hands of
the victors. From this time, the fortune of the war remained with the
Austrians. Hungary was conquered, Tokeli compelled to fiy, and Bnda,
which had been in possession of the Turks for 146 years, was wrested
from their hands. After the criminal court . of Eperies had deprived
the Hungarian nobility of their most enterprising leaders, and spread te^
AGE OV LOUIS XIY. 287
Tor throagh the whole nation, the emperor Leopold was enabled, at the
Diet at Presbarg, to abolish elective monarchy, and to banish certain
piivil^^ from the constitution that interfered with the royal power,
without any opposition. In this way, Hungary became the inheritance
of the house of Hapsburg. The Turks made great efforts to regain that
vhich had been lost, and streams of Turkish and Christian blood were
shed around the walls of Belgrade ; but those great heroes, Charles of
Lorraine, prince Eugene, and Louis of Baden, held victory
firmly to the Austrian banners. By the peace of Carlowitz,
Transylvania, and the whole of the land between the Danube and the
Theiss, were ceded to the Austrians.
d. THE WAS OF ORLEAKS.
S 407. For the purpose of creating a diversion in favor of the Turks
against the superior power of Austria, Louis XIV. took advantage of
affairs relating to the inheritance of the Palatinate and the election of the
War of archbishop of Cologne, to engage in the third war, called the
Orieus, A. D. war of Orleans. When the elector Charles died without
i6&9-ie97. jQi^Q issue, and the land fell into the collateral Catholic line
of Pfalz Neuberg, Loub XIV. claimed not only the movable property,
bot also the immovable estate, as the inheritance of Elizabeth Charlotte,
the sister of the deceased Elector, and the wife of Louis's brother, the duke
of Orleans ; and when this claim was not admitted, he marched an army
upon the Rhine* For the purpose of rendering it impossible for the
enemy to penetrate into France, Louvois, the hard-hearted minister of
war, gave command for creating a desert between the two kingdoms by
devastating the banks of the Rhine. Hereupon, the wild troops fell like
incendiaries upon the fiourishing villages of the Bergstrasse, the rich
cities on the Rhine, and the blooming districts of the southern Palatinate,
and reduced them to heaps of ashes. The shattered tower of the castle
of Heidelberg is yet a silent witness of the barbarity with which Melac
and other leaders executed the commands of a merciless government
Towns and vilkges, vineyards and orchards, were in flames from Haardt*
gebirge to ^ahe ; in Manheim, the inhabitants themselves were obliged
to assist in destroying their own buildings and fortifications ; a great part
of Heidelberg was consumed by fire, afler the bridge of the Neckar had
been blown up ; in Worms, the cathedral with many of the dwelling-
hooses became the prey of the fiames ; and in Spire, the French drove
out the citizens, set fire to the plundered city and the ve-
' nerable cathedral, and desecrated the bones of the ancient
emperors.
The second occasion of the war, in which, beside the German empire
and the emperor, the Netherlands, Spain, and the dukes of Savoy and
Piedmont became involved, was the appointment to the spiritual electo^
288 m MODBBV BPOOB.
slnp in CologiDe, where Look XIY<^ hy dint of bribeiy, had Beemed Ae
election of William Ton Funteobofg, a man in the interests of Fmee;
bat both pope and emperor refused confirmation. In this nar, aieoi
which lasted for eight jeara, the French armj, which waa oondoded ^
the most distinguished generals, maintained its supremacy over tbe fir
superior force of the enemy. In Italy, in the Netheilandd, in betfilj
afflicted Germany, in the north of Spain, the French had generally fk
advantage ; even at sea they maintained their honor, altboo^
the battle of La Hogue went against them. It was a cause
of much surprise that Louis should consent to the nniveraalljr desired io^
mination of the war, and should show himself far more no-
derate in the peace of Ryswick (between Hague and D(Mj
tban in that of Nimeguen. The German empire was the only losers
inasmuch as it was obliged to leave Strasburg and -all the annexed pn-
vinces to France. Louis's reason for concluding the peace so hastily vai,
that he wished to have his hands free at the approaching vacancy of tke
Spanish crown.
€. LIFE XT THE COUBT. LITEHATURE. CHT7RCH.
§ 408. It was daring the last three decades of the seventeenth oentiny
tliat France stood at the culminating point of her power abrtMul andof
her prosperity at home, so that the flattering chronicles of those days ik-
scribed the age of Louis XIY. as the golden age of France. Tnde tai
industry received a prodigious development bj the care of Colbert; tbe
woollen and silk manufactories, the stocking and cloth weaving; vldA
flourished in the southern towns, brought prosperity, the maritime feicc
increased, colonies were planted, and the productions of France weie ca^
ried by trading companies to all quarters of the globe.
The court of France displayed a magnificence that had never befixe
been witnessed. The palace of Versailles, and the gardens wfaicli vere
adorned with statues, fountains, and alleys of trees, were a model of tute
for all Europe ; fetes of all kinds, jovial parties, ballets, firewoib, tbe
opera and the theatre, in the service of which the first intellects in
France employed their talents, followed upon each other in attraedTe
succession ; poets, artists, men of learning, all were eager to do hoDor to
a prince who rewarded with a liberal hand every kind of talent that coo-
duced either to his amusement or to his glory. Sumptuous bnildlDgs*
as the Hospital of Invalides, costly libraries, magnificent productions d
the press, vast establishments for the natural sciences, academies, 9^
similar institutions, exalted the glory and renown of the great Loai^
The refined air of society, the polished tone, the easy manners of the
nobility and courtiers, subdued Europe more permanently and exteo*
aively than the weapons of the army. The French fashions, language,
and Uteiatttre, bore sway from this time in all circles of the higher ciassei.
▲OS OF LOUIS XIV. 289
The consequences of the establishment of the French Academy by Riche-
lieo were a development of the language, style, and literary composition,
that was extremely favorable to the diffusion of the literature. The lan-
guage, so particularly adapted for social intercourse, for conversation, and
for epistolary writing, remained from henceforth the language of diplo-
macy, of courts, and of the higher classes ; and although the literary pro-
ductions are wanting in strength, elevation, and nature, — the polish of the
form, and the ease and felicity of the style, gave French taste the supre-
macy in Europe, and strengthened the French people in the agreeable
delusion that they were the most civilized of nations. In the time of
Louis, dramatic poetry reached its highest excellence in Peter Corneille
(1684), whose ^ Gid" is regarded as the foundation and commencement
ofckssical stage poetry; in J.Racine (1699), who, in his Iphigenia and
Phaedra ventured to emulate £uripedes, and in the talented writer of
comedies, Moliere (1678), whose Tartuffe, L'Avare, Le Misanthrope, &;c.
evince a profound knowledge of human nature in its aberrations. Boi-
leau (Despreaux) (1711), a dexterous versifier, was admired as the
French Horace on account of his odes and satires ; Lafontaine's (1694)
&bles and stories are still familiar in all families as school and children's
books, and the adventures of Telemachus by Bishop Fenelon (1715) are
translated into all European langul^^es, and have an immense circulation*
At the same time, the eloquence of the pulpit was cultivated by JBossuet
(1704) and other spiritual orators ; the philosophy of scepticism, by the
Huguenot, Bayle ; and the literature of polemics by the religious party
of the Jansenists, in its contests against the Jesuits and their dangerous
morality. In this latter dass, the Provincial Letters of Pascal occupy
the first rank.
§ 409. But however fiatterers may sing the praises of the age of Louis
XIY^ one spot of shame remains ineradicable — the persecution of the
Huguenots. The French king believed that the unity of the Church
was inseparable from a perfect monarchy. For this reason he oppressed
the Jansenists, a Catholic party, which first contended against the Jesuits,
and afterwards against the head of the Church himself; and he compelled
the Calvinists, by the most severe persecutions, either to fiy, or to return
into the bosom of the Catholic Church. Colbert, who esteemed the
Huguenots as active and industrious citizens, prevented for some time
these violent measures ; but the suggestions of the royal confessor, La
Chaise, the zeal for conversion of the afiTectedly pious Madame Main-
tenon, who had been first a tutoress of the court, and afterwards Louis's
trusted wife, and the cruelty of Louvois, the minister of war, at length
triumphed over the advice of Colbert. A long succession of oppressive
proceedings against the Huguenots prepared the way for the great stroke*
The number of their churches was restricted, and their worship confined
to a few of the principal towns. Louis's paroxysms of repentance and
25
SH) XU MCmSBN BPOOH«
derotioB were always the aources of fresh opfnreanoiis to the GalTinisde
liereticfly bj whose cooTersioii he thought to expiate his own erimes.
Thej were gradually ezduded from office and dignities ; converts were
fieiToied ; in ibis way, the ambitious were enticed, the poor were' won by
money, which fk>wed from the king's conversion chest, and from the libe-
ral gifts of the pious illustrious ; a wide field was opened to the zeal for
proselytism by the enactment that the conversion of children under age
was valid. Families were divided, children were torn from their parents
and brought up as Catholics* Court and deigy, the heartless and ekh
qnent bishop Bossuet at their head, set all means in motion to establish
the ecclesiastical unity of France. When all other means of converaioB
fiukd, came the dragonades. At the command of Louvois, the cavalry
took possession of the southern provinces, and established their qoarteiB
in the dwellings of the Huguenots. The prosperity of the indostrions
citizens, whose substance was devoured by the dragoons, soon disap-
peared. The bad treatment by these booted missionaries, who qaitted the
houses of the apostates to fall in doubled numbers upon those who re-
mained stodiast, operated more effectually than all the enticements of the
€ourt or the seductions of the priests. Thousands fied abroad that th^
October, might preserve their faith upon a foreign soil. At last came
1686. the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The religious woi^
ship of the Calvinists was now forbidden, their churches were torn down,
their schools closed, their preachers banished from the land ; when the
emigration increased to a formidable degree, this was forbidden, under
punishment of the galleys and forfeiture of goods. But despite all threats
and prohibitions, upwards of 500,000 French Calvinists carried their
industry, their faith, and their courage to Protestant lands. Switzerland,
the Palatinate of the Ehine, Brandenboig, Holland, and England, offered
an asylum to the persecuted. The silk manufacture and stocking-weav-
ing were carried abroad by the fugitive Huguenots. Flatterers extolled
the king as the exterminator of heresy, but the courage of the peasants
in Cevennes, and the number of Huguenots who contented themselves
with private devotion, show how little religious oppression conduced to
the desired end. For when the persecution was carried into the distant
valleys of the Cevennes, where Waldenses and Calvinists lived, according
to ancient custom, in the simplicity of the faith, the oppressors met with
an obstinate resistance. Persecution called forth the courage of its vic-
tims, oppression urged zeal into fanaticism. Led on by a young mecha-
nic, the Camisardes, clad in a linen frock, rushed *' with naked breast
against the marshals." A frightful civil war filled the peaceful valleys
of Cevennes ; fugitive priests, in the gloom of the forest, exhorted the
evangelical brethren to a desperate defence, till, at length, the perBeeotore
-grew weary. Neariy two millions of the Hugnenots remained withoat
(Xighti and widiout religious worship.
SOUTH AKSBICA. S91
IV. THE COLONIZATION OP NORTH AMERICA.
[a. d. 1606-1732.]
§ 410. North America, with the exception of Mexico, was not colo-
nized bj Europeans so early as the southern part of the Continent. The
discoveries of Cabot had given England a valid claim to the
whole coast from Labrador to Florida ; but the country pre-
sented none of the allurements that had incited and rewarded the Spanish
adventurers. Fertile and well-wooded, indeed, intersected by noble rivers,
and inclosing safe and capacious harbors and bays, it seemed a promis-
ing region for permanent settlements and agricultural industry, but
offered only a faint prospect of wealth to be obtained from gold and silver
mines, or from plundering the native inhabitants. There was little
chance of glory or gain in subduing feeble and destitute tribes, who had
hardly risen above the lowest stage of savage life. Buccaneering Eng-
lishmen, like Drake, Frobisher, and Hawkins, thirsting for adventure
and gold, contemptuously overlooked the North American Indians, pre-
ferring to attack and rob the wealthy settlements already formed by the
Spaniards at the south. A party of French Huguenots attempted to
colonize Florida ; but the Spaniards, who claimed the country, surprised
the infant settlement, and massacred nearly all its inhabitants, not sparing
even the women and children. This slaughter was soon
avenged by a Frenchnuui, Dominique de Grourges, who cap-
tured Fort Carolina, where the victors had established themselves, and
hanged all his prisoners ; but he made no attempt to form another colony,
and did not even disturb the little Spanish city of St. Augustine, which
remained, but did not flourish, as the only permanent settlement of Euro-
peans on the coast north of the Gulf of Mexico during the sixteenth cen-
tury.
The English, under the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh and his half-
brother. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, attempted to create a settlement on
A. D. tlie coast of what was subsequently called North Carolina.
i&£3-i5€7. Three parties of colonists were sent thither, but they were
few in number, and ill provided with necessaries ; one returned, and the
other two perished, either fi-om starvation or the hostility of the natives.
Early in the seventeenth century, the French, under De Monts and
Champlain, explored the country around the Bay of Fundy and that bor-
dering on the St. Lawrence, laying claim to Acadie (Nova Scotia) and
Canada, which together were called New France. De Monts founded
Port Royal (Annapolis), on the eastern shore of the Bay of Fundy, in
1606 ; and two years afterwards, Champlain estabUshed on the St. Law-
rence the post of Quebec In 1609, the Dutch sent out Henry Hudson,
who explored the American coast for a considerable distanoey entered
292 THE MODERN EPOCH.
New York harbor, and sailed up the river which now bears his name.
Stimulated by a feeling of rivalry with the French, the English renewed
their attempts at colonization on a larger scale. James I. granted the
whole country, from Cape Fear to Passamaquoddy Bay, to two companies
of merchants and adventurers. The southern portion, from the thirty-
fourth to the forty-first degree of latitude was given to the London Com-
pany; and the northern part, from the thirty-eighth to the forty-fifth
degree, was to be colonized by the Plymouth Company. Neither was to
commence a settlement within one hundred miles of a spot already occu-
pied by the other. Such associations, looking only to the profits of trade,
and intended to remain as commercial corporations within the limits of
England, were but ill fitted for the great enterprise of founding and nour-
ishing colonies on a distant coast. All their undertakings resulted in dis-
appointment and loss ; and they were finally dissolved while the settle-
ments which they had created were still in the weakness of infancy.
§ 411. Virginia. The first band of colonists sent out by the London
Company established themselves on a spot which they called
Jamestown, on the James river, about fifty miles above ite
entrance into Chesapeake Bay. The situation was an unhealthy one,
and most of the adventurers were poor gentlemen or broken down trades-
men, unused to toil, and " fitter to breed a riot than to found a colony.*
The direction of afiairs had been given to a council, consisting of seven
persons, nominated by the Company in England. John Smith, a military
adventurer of great courage, enterprise, and sagacity, was one of them ;
and the incompetency of his colleagues soon becoming manifest, he gm-
dually assumed the lead, and several times rescued the feeble settlements
from the imminent perils of savage warfare and famine. Half of the
emigrants perished during the first six months ; and if the colony had not
been fed by frequent supplies of food and additional settlers from Eng-
land, the enterprise must soon have been abandoned. In spite of Smith's
remonstrances, the settlers wasted their time in seeking for gold and sil-
ver, instead of cultivating the ground ; and they actually sent a vessel to
England laden with dirt in which glittering specks had been discovered,
which they mistook for gold. Smith explored the country, and coasted
the bay in an open boat, entering the principal rivers and inlets, and thus
obtaining the requisite information for the construction of a chart, which
was transmitted to England and published. In one of these expeditions,
he fell into the hands of the savages, and was on the point of being put to
death, when he was rescued by the chieftain's daughter, Pocahontas, and
after an imprisonment of a few weeks, was sent back to Jamestown. But
the colony was soon deprived of his invaluable services ; in 1609, he was
severely injured by the accidental explosion of his powder bog, and was
compelled to return to England for surgical aid. After his departure,
the affiiirs of the colony again declined, and the settlers more than oooe
VIROINIA. 293
detennined to abandon the undertaking, and return home. But they
were prevented by the seasonable arrival of ships, bringing fresh sup-
plies and a reinforoement of men, whose broken fortunes in their native
knd made them eager to brave the perils of a desperate enterprise. Thus
oiien rescued from the brink of ruin, the colony struggled on, till its
members at last became inured to their novel situation, and acquired the
habits of life which alone could meet its exigencies. Novel recruits were
sent out from time to time to keep up their numbers. In 1619, ninety
young women arrived, of irreproachable character, who were sold at the
prioe of their passage, to become wives to the planters. Many cargoes
ef vagrants, thieves, and jailbirds also came, to serve as indented servants
for a term of years, and afterwards to become free colonists. Then a
more lasting impression was made on the future character and fortunes
ci the settlement by the introduction of twenty negro slaves, who were
brought by a Dutch trading vessel, and readily purchased by the settlers.
Tobacco had now become the staple product of the colony, and slaves
were profitably employed in its cultivation. -**
f 412. The London Company obtained a new charter in 1609, which
gave them the power of enacting all necessary laws for the Colony, and
i^pointing a governor and other officers to see that the laws were exe-
cuted. Whatever discontent may have been excited among the emi-
grants by this measure, which gave the whole control of their affairs to a
oooncil resident in England, they welcomed the appointment of Lord
De la War to be their first governor, as the good abilities and amiable
but resolute character of this nobleman seemed to promise a successful
administration. Unfortunately he remained in office but a short time,
owing to the failure of his health ; and his successors, Dale, Grates, and
Argal, governed with a rigor and severity which occasioned loud com-
plaints. But they had many dissolute and turbulent subjects to rule;
and the order and discipline which they preserved were favorable to the
prosperity of the settlement Hitherto the land had been held in com-
mon, and the products of all labor were thrown into a common stock.
But experience having shown that this policy placed the idle and the
diBflolute oa a par with the virtuous and the industrious, besides dis-
couraging the latter, each settler now received an allotment of land as
his own, and was allowed to work on his own account. The savages had
occasionally given much trouble, and in 1622, they were nearly success-
ful in a plot which they had formed for the entire destruction of the set-
tlements. In one day, they killed three hundred and forty^even of the
whites. A furious war succeeded, in which the Lidians, indeed, were
defeated and driven back with great slaughter, so that they never became
formidable again. But the colony had received a fearful blow, firom
which it recovered with slowness and difficulty. The number of settle-
ncnts was reduced from ei^^ty to eight, and a famine ensued that de-
25*
D94 rHB MODBRir EPOCH.
gtroyed manj liyes. The first eoloniai assembly was called by Oor.
Teardley in 1619, and two years afterwards, a special ordinance eotH
irmed the right of holding such a local legislature.
The proceedings of the Company in England had now awakened the
jealousy of the crown ; and these misfortunes gave King James the
pretext that he wanted for depriving them of theii' charter, and taking
^e government into his own hands. Of course, it was administered on
die arbitrary principles which were then in favor at conrt Complete
legislative and executive power was given to a governor and a cooneil oi
twelve persons, all nominated by the crown ; and this power was tyran-
nically exerdsed.'^Yet the General Assembly, though not formally
Authorized, was still permitted to meet, though it was much restricted
in the exercise of its functions. At one time, the patience of the settlers
gave way, and they seised their governor. Sir John Harrey,
and sent him a prisoner to England to answer for his mis-
conduct With the native obstinacy of his character, Charles L reseated
this act as savoring of audacity and rebellton, and sent back the obnoz*
ious governor, with a fresh commission, under which he ruled more
^rrannically than ever. Still, the prevailing sentiment in the ctAotkj was
eminently loyal, and during the English Civil War, they took sides, as
long as they durst, with the king, against the Pariiament Many of the
•ettlers, as has been said, were decayed gentlemen and unportioned sons
of noble families, in whose minds the prejudices of rank were rather
heightened than diminished by the want of fortune. The Chureh of
England was established by law, regular stipends bdi^ allotted to its
ministers in every parish, and the preachers of any other persuasioA were
not allowed to exercise their functions. The English law of primogeni-
ture and entail regulated the descent of property; and the wealthier
colonists, directing the labor of many indented servants and slaves, lived
apart on their plantations, affecting something of the state of a landed
aristocracy. After the ruin of the king's cause at home, in 1645, many
of the disbanded cavaliers found refuge in Virginia, bringing with them
their sentiment of chivalrous attachment to Church and King.
§ 418. In 1671, Gov. Berkeley estimated the population of the coloay
at 40,000, including 2,000 negro slaves, and 6,000 indented white ser-
vants. The character of his administration may be inferred from a com-
munication made by him, this year, to the English Privy Conncil. ^ I
thank Grod," he wrote, ^' there are no free schools or printing, and I hope
Ire shall not have any these hundred years ; for learning has brought
disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has
divulged them, and libels against the best government. God keep aft
fW>m bothP Yet a few years afterwards, discontent had become 60
general that a rebellion broke out, and for a few months the insurgents
hud entire control of the government. Nathaniel Bacon, ft yovng law*
viRannA. 9M
jer, £Bfcui|;iii8lied for his talents and activity, was the popular leader in
tfiis moTement The people wished to commence hostilities with the
Indians, whose eondaot had been such as to occasion great excitement
and fears of a general conspiracy against the whites. But it is probable
that other grievances) some of which were of long standing, were the
true causes of the outbreak, and that the Indian war was only a pretext
Six hudred volunteers were collected. Bacon was chosen
their leader, and Gkiv. Berkeley was asked to give^him a com-
mission to act against the savages. ^The governor not only refused, but
commanded the men to disperse under pain of being considered as traitors ;
and summoning those who were faithful to his standard, he set out in ptu^
soit of them. But while he was gone, the counties near Jamestown bn^e
oat in insurrection, seized the capital, and took possession of the govern-
meat. Berkeley was compelled to yield, to dissolve the old Assembly,
which had been long in session and had become unpopular, and to issue
writs for a new election. Bacon and a large majority of his friends were
returaed to the new Assembly. Among them were many persons of
wealth and inflnence. A commission to act against the Indians was stitt
refused him, and fearing treachery, he left the city, called together his
adherents, returned at the head of 600 men, and dictated his own terms to
the enraged but powerless Berkeley. Bacon was appointed general, was
authorized to raise an army of a thousand men, and to prosecute the war
vigorously. The Assembly th€n turned its attention to the redress of
grievances. The right of choosing members of the Assembly and of
voting in parish matters was restored to the freemen, some unjust exemp-
tions from taxes were taken away, tippling houses were regulated, and an
act was passed of oblivion and indemnity for those who had been engaged
in the recent disturbances. But the governor's spirit was not yet snb-
daed. After the Assembly was dissolved, he again denounced Bacon as
a rebel, retired for a time to Accomac to muster his friends, and then
momed with an armed force, and took possession of the cajNtaL But
the insurgents besieged him there, and he was again obliged to leave^
while the town was set on fire and wholly consumed. But in the midst
of these successes. Bacon was suddenly ti^en sick and died ; and no pro-
per person being found to take his place, the army was dispersed, and
the iosorrection abandoned. Berkeley returned in triumph, and punishp
ed the rebels with great rigor, some of their leaders being condemned
and executed, and others were sentenced to pay heavy fines. He then
went to England,, where, instead of the praise and rewards that he
expected, he was severely censured for his cruelty. He died a few
months afterwards, as it was reported, of chagrin. An act of general
pardon and oblivion was sent out from EngUuid, and other mild and
popukr measures soon wiped out the memory of Bacon's rebellion.
Needy and covetous govemorB still provoked occasional discontent; bat
396 THB HODBRN EPOCH.
the spirit of the people was eminently lo jal, 8o that they were tardy an!
reluctant to acknowledge the revolution of 1688, and only afker repeated
commands was a proclamation issued announcing the aoeoesitoa ei
William and Mary to the English throne.
§ 414. Pjltmouth. Far different was the character of the emigrants
who founded the New England Colonies, under grants from the Ply-
mouth Company. These were Puritans of the straitest sect, Independ*
ents in their notions of Church goTemment, and now fast verging
towards republicanism, in consequence of their long continued oppoeitioA
to the constituted authorities of Church and State at home. The intolc'
rant spirit of the English hierarchy and the arbitrary proceedings of the
court made their residence in England uncomfortable, if not perilous;
and they looked to voluntary exile for deliverance. A company of them,
under the Bev. John Robinson as pastor, and William Brewster as
ruling elder, embariced for Holland in 1608^ carrying iheir wives^
children, and little property along with them. They were kindly
leceived by the Dutch, who were Protestants, and they remained over
ten years in peace at Leyden. But Puritans as they were, they were
still Englishmen ; they disliked the sound of a foreign language, and the
prospect that their children would intermarry with the Dutch, and forget
their English parentage and the customs of their forefathers. The
greater part of them, therefore, determined to emigrate to America, and
for this purpose, returned first to England, whtere they easily procured
the promise of a grant of land from the London Company, as they in*
tended to establish themselves within what were then the limits of Vir-
ginia. They sailed from Plymouth in the ship Mayflower, and after a
tedious and stormy voyage of over two months, arrived at Gape God,
nearly two degrees north of the place which they had aimed at. The
lateness of the season, however, the fatigues of the voyage, and the perils
<tf coasting along a shore which had been but imperfectly explored, pre-
vented them from putting to sea again, and they sought a spot for their
settlement in that neighborhood. But as they were th^ without the
limits of the Virginia Company, and the Crown * had refused to grant
them a charter, they deemed it necessary, befoire* leaving the vessel, to
sign an agreement, promising to submit to whateyiftr ^just and equal
laws and ordinances might be thought convenient for the general good."
They selected Plymouth, which offered a tolerably ^good harbor in the
southwestern part of Massachusetts Bay, as a suitable place for the com-
mencement of a colony; and on the 22d of December, 1620, the PiL-
GRIHS, as they might now well be termed, landed there, numbering only
one hundred and one, including the women and children.' John Carver
was chosen their first governor, and Miles Standish their militaiy leader,
as they had some apprehensions of the savages. Divided into nineteen
fiEonilieS} they immediately b^gan to fell trees and construct houses, la
PLTMOUIH. S97
wbich to find shelter against the rigors of the winter. But their expo-
sure was necessarily great, and thej had bat a slender stock of provisions
and other necessaries. Sickness came upon them, and during the first
five months, thej lost more than half of their number.
One of their associates, who had been left behind in England, obtained
for them a grant of land from the Company which was now incorporated,
wider a new charter, as "^ The Council established at Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, (England,) for the Planting, Ruling, Ordering, and
Gk>Teming of New England in America." This grant authorized the
colonists to choose a Governor, Council, and General Court, for the
enactment and execution of laws. Strictly speaking, however, the Com-
pany had no right to give them any thing more than the property of the
soil. A charter from the Crown was necessary to complete their politi-
cal organization ; and this they never obtained. But the necessity of the
case compelled them to act as if they had received full powers; and their
remoteness and insignificance prevented the authorities at home from
questioning their right. The agreement which they had signed on board
the Mayflower was the basis of their l^islation ; and for some time, all
the settlers came together in a general assembly, to enact the necessary
bws. Thus, in its origin, the colony was the purest democracy on earth,
lime showed the inconveniences of such an arrangement, and the legisla-
tive power was then delegated to an Assembly, composed of representa-
tives from the several towns. Land and other property were at first
held in common, the Company in England being entitled to a specified
share of the total profits, t But this experiment turned out like the simi-
lar one in Virginia ; finding that industry was dbcouraged by it, the
Colonists succeeded in purchasing, on cr^it, the share of the London
partners. A division was then made of the land and movable property,
and henceforth each one reaped the fruits of his own toil. The people
were united in religious fiuth, and wished not to be disturbed by theolo-
gical controversies ; so, when one Lyford, a clergyman of the Church of
England, was sent out to them as a suitable pastor, in pkice of Robinson,
who had died at Leyden, they refused to receive him, and exercised their
undoubted right of ownership of the soil, by expelling him, and two who
adhered to him, Oldham and Conant, from their territory. These
banished persons established themselves at Nantasket, just beyond the
limits of the Plymouth colonists. The soil around Plymouth was thin
and poor, and the people had brought but few worldly goods along with
them ; thus, the progress of the settlement was slow. Some of their old
companions, who had been left behind in Holland, now came out to Join
them; and a few others, attracted by similarity of worship, and by the
prospect of driving a little traffic in fish and peltry, were added to their
nnmber. But ten years after the landing at Plymouth, the population
numbered only three hundred. Their territory, indeed, was but small|
298 « THB MODBRK X?OCH.
being bounded on the land side by a line drawn northerly fVom the mooth
of Narraganset river, till it met one carried westeriy from Cohasset
rfvnlet, ^ at the uttermost limits of a place called Pocanoket."
S 415. Massachusetts. But encouraged by the growth of this
colony, feeble as it wa9, the Council of y^wJEngland proceeded to make
lavish grants of their remaining lands, ao^^^^nd out other bands of
emigrants, taking little care to define the^mi^^es of the new grants,
or to avoid ceding to one company or individual o^ veiy tract already
bestowed upon another. This negligence was thegra^^ of much subse-
quent dispute and difficulty. A few persons also established themselves
at various points along the coast, who had no formafffie to any land, bat
who were afterwards generally admitted to have m impeifect right,
founded on occupancy and prescription. Some few fishing settlements
Vere thus established; but their inhabitants had not the disposition to
toil, the habits of order and self-denial, or the indomitable perseverance
which characterized the Puritans. All their establishments were subse-
quently absorbed by the Massachusetts colony, which became the chief
agent in the settlement of New England.
The persecution of all who would not conform to the Established
Church still continuing in England, and king Charies having avowed his
purpose to govern without a ParUament, many of the wealthier dass of
Puritans now determined to emigrate to America. A company was
formed at the instigation of Mr. White, a clergyman of Dordiester;
among its members were John Humphrey and Isaac Johnson, two brt^
thers*in*law of the Earl of Lincoln, John Winthrop, a gentleman of
landed property in Suffolk, Sir Richard Saltonstijl, John Endieott^
Thomas Dudley, William Coddington, Richard Bellingham, Matthew
Cradock, and other merchants and lawyers of wealth and infiaence in
London and some of the northern and midland counties. They obtained
from the Council for New England a grant of a tract of land^ bounded
by two parallel lines running westward to the Pacific Ocean, one drawn
three miles north of any part of the Merrimac river, and the other, three
miles south of any portion of the Charles. Soon afterwards, their organ*
ization was completed by a charter from the Crown, which incorporated
them under the title of the ** Governor and Company of Massachusetts
Bay in New England," with power to admit what new members or free-
men they might choose. They were supposed to be a private trading
corporation, resident in England, where they were to make laws and
regulations for the government of their colony in America. A goveinor,
deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants were to have the management
of their affairs ; and these officers were to be'^chosen, and all important
laws enacted, at a ^ Great and General Court" of all the freemen, to be
held quarteriy. A company of sixty or seventy persons, under John
Bndioott^ were sent out in 1626, who oommenoed a settlement at Salem;
and these were followed, the next year, by six ships, bringing abont two
hmdred colonists, of whom many were indented seirantv, together witb
a stock of cattle and o&er necessaries. It was soon manifest, bowevel:,
that a colony, to be prospevons, most hare the manageiherit of its own
affairs, withoirt being obliged to wait for orders from a distance. John
Winthrop and many other leading stockholders offered to emigrate, if
they were allowed to carry the charter and the government along with
them. The legality of su<^ a measure was at least doubtful ; but the
mgency of the case remoTod all scruple, and the colonists probably hoped
that the remoteness of their new home would screen their proceedings
from public notice. New officers were therefore chosen fW>m those who
were disposed to emigrate; and in April, 1630, a fleet of fifteen ships,
equipped at an expense of £20,000, sailed from the Isle of Wight, hay-
ing on board Winthrop and Dudley as governor and deputy-governor,
togedier whh most of the assistants, and a company of about one thou-
sand persona. They b^an a settlement at Charlestown, but soon removed
to the neighborii^ peninsula of Trimountain, which they named Boston,
after the English town whence some of the chief emigrants came. «The
hardships of the first winter, which was a severe one, caused disease to
break out among them, and over two hundred died, among whom were
Isaac Johnson, and his wife, the lady Arabella. But after this period, the
ORler and industry which prevailed in the colony, the commencement of
trade with Virginia and the Dutch at Manhattan (New York), and the
rapid influx of settlers, driven away from England by the religious and
political persecution which still raged there, laid the foundations of steady
growth and permanent prosperity. During the first ten years afler the
settlement of Massachusetts, about twenty-five thousand persons left their
native land to find a home in New England.
f 416. The government of the colony was theocratic in many of its
features, modified at first by an aristocratic or patriarchal element, which
was soon eliminated, however, by the force of circumstances, that set
strongly towards republican institutions. The few men of wealth and con-
sideration, who were the leaders of the emigration, naturally strove to
retain the chief power and influence in their own hands, and to govern
acQording to their notions of what religion and the word of Grod required ;
and in this attempt, they were strongly seconded by the ministers of the
churcbes. At first, the people, with the instinctive respect of English-
men for rank and station, gave way to them, and conferred the whole
power of legislation on the governor and the assistants, who were fami-
liarly known as ^the magistrates.** Even a council for life at one time
was instituted, but it continued only for a few years, and the freemen
tbo resumed the power of enacting laws^^^ly they were moderate in
te exercise of their functions ; and persons once chosen to the board of
nagistntes were nsoally reappointed, no one being leH out but for som^
300 !CHB MOBBN BPOOH.
extraordinary cause. Purity of fiuth and worsliip was the chief modTB
for establishing the colony. The people wished to be free, not only from
persecution, but from the presence of other sects and from theological oon-
trorersies. Only such persons were to be admitted to be freemen, or yoters,
as those who were already freemen should designate ; and this priTHege
was soon confined by law to those who were members of the drarches.
But as there was little difference among them in p<xnt of religions opi-
nion, and as most of the adult males, or at least, neariy all the heads of
fiunilies, were church members, this exclusive privilege created no gene-
ral discontent. The magistrates exercised their huge powers resolutdy
to keep out heretics and schismatics, and to maintain religious worship
and practice in all their purity. Those who did not agree with them
were required to go elsewhere, and establish a colony for themselve^
Eoger Williams, and some followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, did so, and
founded a new settlement in Rhode Island. Others took refuge in New
Hampshire ; but Massachusetts claimed the land there as a part of her
own territory, and from 1640 to 1680, the claim was made good. A few
Quakers gave great annoyance by their fanatical and outrageous conduct;
they were once and again dismissed, with threats in case they retumel
They did come again, and then three of them were hanged. The magis-
trates, on this occasion, published a defence of their conduct, dweDii^
especially on the case of Mary Dyer, who was a third ccnner, and had
been once reprieved when already on the gallows, as a proof that they
desired, not the death, but the absence, of the Quakers. Some adherents
of the Church of England, who had come out without invitation to join
them, were summarily sent back to the mother country. Two hundred
years ago, the principles of religious toleration were but little understood;
yet as the Company owned the territory, and had emigrated for the
avowed purpose of forming a religious conununity by themselves, it is
perhaps harsh in us to chaige them with intolerance. Ihey had a right
to expel intruders. -v/
'^ § 417. Of course, great severity of manners and punctiliousness of reli-
gious observances were enjoined. Various sumptuary laws were enact*
ed ; the Sabbath was observed with Jewish strictness ; blasphemy, witch-
craft, and adulteiy, were punished with death ; slanderers were whipt,
cropped, and banished. But except in these particuUrs, and a few othen
of no great importance, the Mosaic law was not established in the odooy.
The people had good sense enough to see that it was not adapted to the
circumstances and the times. No restriction was imposed upon them
except that contained in the Charter, that no laws should be nuide repug-
nant to the laws of England ; and this was construed very liberally, to
mean that no part of the English law was in force there till it was
expressly reenacted. At first, the magistrates governed without any
other rule than their own sense of right and their interpretation of the
\
MABSAOHUSaiTS. 301
law of God. Bot the people becoming jealous of so lai^ a discretion, a
code, or ** Bodj of Liberties,** was established, consisting of
one hundred articles, drawn np with singular brevity and
deaniess, embracing manj of the best and most liberal provisions of the
English Common Law, and, in some respects, in advance both of English
and American law at tbe present day. This code became the basis of
legislation, not only in Massachusetts, but throughout New England, the
other colonies adopting many of its most important provisions. In one
important respect, the Mosaic rule was followed in preference to the
English law ; the estates of persons dying without a will were divided
equally among the children, except that the eldest son received a double
share. This law, favoring the distribution rather than the aggregation
of property, made the establishment of a territorial aristocracy impossible,
kept up the idea of equality among the people, and tended strongly to the
development of republican sentiments.
Another circumstance, which silently fostered the democratic spirit of
the people, was the great extent of their territory in comparison with
their numbers, and the disposition that has characterized them from that
day to this, to spread themselves over the face of the country, instead of
remaining together on one spot. When as yet they were only a few hun-
dred in number, instead of seeking protection against the savages and
other perils of the wilderness by union and concentration, they colonized
a dozen or twenty distinct townships, the extr^oaes of which were some
thirty miles apart Eight townships were represented in a General
Court held only two years after Winthrop landed ; and before the colony
was ten years old, or contained in all more than 15,000 settlers, at least
twenty distinct settlements were formed. But the most remarkable
instance of this tendency to segregation took place as early as 1684, when
Mr. Hooker and his whole church at Newtown petitioned for leave to
remove to Connecticut, the avowed reason for this step being the want
of pasturage for their cattle ; and ^ it was alleged by Mr. Hooker as a
fundamental error, that the towns were set so near to each other." The
settlements being thus scattered, and the colony as a whole being imper-
fectly organized, each town was obliged from the first to direct its own
expenditures and manage its own affairs. The inhabitants held town-
meetings, levied taxes to provide for their common wants, chose execu-
tive officers, afterwards termed ^ selectmen," and in fact created a little
republic nearly complete in organization. It is now generally admitted,
that the tone of American politics and the general character of American
institutions have been more controlled by tiie influences of the township-
system of New England than by all other causes united.
In the nuun, also, there was great equality among the colonists in p<Hnt
d fortune and social position. Many English genUemen and wealthy
merchants, as we have seen, favored the emigration, and some embarked
902 THS MOBBBV EPOCH.
«
in it. But the ba^^j and the powerfol do not <^ten go into exik, and
the perils and hardships of a home in the wilderness pcorented maaj
persons of wealth from joining in the enterprise, and caosed others to
leave it af^er a brief sojoam in New England. Humphrej, SaltoBslatt,
Vane, and Yassall returned to their native land after a short stay, and
the Johnsons died. The great bulk of the colonists were of the middling
and lower classes of English society ; very few were wealthy, neariy all
were dependent on the labor of their hands. Equality of social claims
was the natural basis of equality of political rights. There was a germ
of republicanism in the colony from the outset, — a natural tendengr
towards universal eligibility and universal suffrage.
§ 418. The first care of the settlers of Massachusetts was to provide
for universal education and universal worship. The several townships
that were organized were so many distinct churches, which admitted thdr
own members, chose their own pastors, and managed their own aflhin.
Each town, either by levying a tax or by voluntary contributions, pro-
vided buildings for public worship and salaries for their ministers. Whes
Boston was but six years old, the General Court passed an order, appro-
priating a sum, equal to the amount raised by a year's taxation to def Ay
all the public expenditures of the colony, for the establishment of a col-
lege at Newtown ; and two years afterwards, John Harvard, a clergyaasn
of Charlestown, bequeathing half of his estate for the same object. Har-
vard College was founded. Free schools were established in several tf
the towns; and in 1649, a general system of popular education was esta-
blished throughout the colony, each township being required to
a free school for reading and writing, and. every town of a hundred 1
holders a grammar school, ''to fit youths for the university." The pre-
amble of this law declares that the motive for passing it was to provide
'' that learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers,^ — "'it be-
ing one chief project of that old deluder, Sathan, to keep men from the
knowledge of the Scriptures, as in fonner times keeping ihem in an
unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading men from the use
of tongues." The grim Puritan of those days believed his child's sool
would be in danger if he were not enabled to read the Bible for himself; * ^
and thus care for general education naturally grew out of careWbr the
interests of religion. As the democratic spirit spread among the people^
they reclaimed the legislative authority for themselves ; and a body of
representatives, consisting of two or three del^ates from eaah
town, were united with '' the magistrates " for the purpose of
enacting laws. At first, the representatives sat and voted in the same
chamber with the assistants ; but in 1644, a division was made, and the
two classes afterwards formed separate houses of legislation. .
§ 419. During the first few years in the histoiy of the settlem^it, the
Indians had given no cause for alann. Just before the arrival of Ae
]fi£8AaHU8Rn!& 960
I a eoiitagioiis disease had nged among the native tribes, neavljr
cactetminaling some of them, so that the territory seemed providentialljr
left vacant for occupation by the Eng^sh. Bat as the white settlement^
increased in nnmber, the jealonsj of the Indians was aroused; and m
1687, the Pequods, a tribe dwelling on the banks of what is now called
'fhe Thames river, in Connecticut, began hostilities. But as they were
yet very imperfectly provided with fire-arms, they formed but a con-
temptible enemy* A band of eighty men, under Captain Mason, were
sent against them, who, with the aid of a few friendly Indians, attacked
their palisadoed village in the grey of the morning, forced their way into
it, set fire to the wigwams, and killed about six hundred of the savages.
The next month, another band attacked the remainder of the tribe, who
had taken refuge in a swamp, killed many of them, and took about two
hundred prisoners, who were afterwards kept as slaves, a portion being
sent to the West Indies to be sold. The few who escaped found a home
among the Narraganset and Mohegan Indians, and the Pequod tribe
eeased to exist >
To guard against the dangers apprehended not only from the Indians,
but from the Dut<^ and the French, a confederacy was formed in 1643,
between the four colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and
New Haven, to form rules for regulating intercourse with the savages,
and to render mutual aid if a war should break out. In consequence of
fills union, the whites became more respected and feared by the native
tribes, several of whom sought their alliance and protection. But in
1675, Philip of Mount Hope, a chief of the Wampanoags in Rhode
Idand, began hostilities, in which he was soon joined by nearly all the
aative tribes in New England. The Indians were now well supplied
with fire«arms, and were ^cpert in the arts of amhush and forest waifare,
in which as yet the whites were very deficient. A fearful contest ensued,
wfaidi brought all the white settlements to the verge of destruction. It
lasted nearly a year, in the course of which, upwards of two thousand
Indians were killed or taken, and some of the New England tribes were
exterminated. The whites suffered terribly ; twelve or thirteen of their
towns w^re entirely ruined, six hundred houses had been burned,' and
about jfix hundred men had fallen in battle. No assistance was received
from England, and the expenses of the war burdened Massachusetts with
a heavy debt But henceforward, no great danger was apprehended from
the Indians,' except when they acted as allies of the French.
! 420. Frequent complaints were made to the Privy Council in Eng-
land, that the acts of trade were generally disregarded by Massachusetts,
sad that the eopdnct and laws of the colony in many other respects were
in violation of the charter and subversive of the authority of the crown.
Coou&igsioners were sent oot to make inquiries respecting these subjects
rfcomplaint 'Bat the breach was only wiOsBed by thismeasure, as the
904 THB M OBBBN BPOOH.
commissioners were ciiptioas and insolent in their language and condnel,
and the General Court was obstinate and not over respectfuL Chalks
n.9 who had just triumphed aflter a long contest with the popular partf
at home, had taken away the franchises of the city of London, and oooiis-
cated the charters of nearly all the boroughs in the reaUn, was in no
humor to be bearded by a few daring sectaries in New England. Legpd
proceedings were instituted, and before Massachusetts could engage coun-
sel in her defence, judgment was entered by default, and the charter de-
clared to be forfeited. The government of the colony was thus thrown
entirely into the hands of the king ; and James 11., who had now come to
the throne, appointed Sir Edmund Andros to be governor of all New
England, the charters of the other colonies being either forfeited or in
abeyance. The popular legislative assemblies were dissolved, and Sir
Edmund, with authority to appoint and remove the members of his coim-
dl at pleasure, enacted laws and governed as he saw fit. For more than
two years, Lis yoke was heavy upon the necks of the people. Then came
a rumor that a revolution had taken place in England, and that the PrincB
of Orange already was, or would soon be, on the throne, in place of the
deposed James II. ; and without waiting to learn whether it was any thii^
April, more than a rumor, the inhabitants of Boston seized their
A. D. 1689. arms, imprisoned Andros and his chief adherents, and rein-
stated their beloved charter government, with the venerable Simon Brad-
street at its head. Tlien ensued a negotiation with the government of
William and Mary, for the restoration of the old charter. But the king
and his ministers were determined to strengthen the royal prero^tive,
and they would only offer a new charter, far less liberal in its provisions
than the old one, with the significant intimation that the colony migkt
take that or none. Finding that they would otherwise be governed at
the royal pleasure, the people very reluctantly accepted the new instru-
ment, by which Plymouth and Maine were united to Massachusetts, and
the appointment of the governor, secretary, and all admiralty officers was
reserved to the crown. The governor might convoke and adjourn the
General Court at pleasure ; he had a negative upon the election of coun-
cillors and the enactment of laws, and a right to nominate ail judges and
military officers. The laws were to be transmitted to England, even
after he had sanctioned them ; and if disapproved by the king within
three years from the time of their enactment, they became void. Tbe
right of suffrage was no longer confined to church members, but ms
given to all who had 40 shillings income from freehold property, or 40
pounds of personal estate.
§ 421. The first royal governor appointed was Sir William Phips,
whose administration was distinguished only by the unhappy popular
delusion, usually called the Salem Witchcraft. Some children
were, or pretended to be, thrown into convulsions ; and they
NEW ENGLAND. SOfi
toeosed certain persons of bewitching them. The mania spread ; olJiers
deekured that they were afflicted, pinched, and bruised, and when the wit-
nesaes and the accused were confronted in open court, the former seemed
to be thrown into an agony, and charged the latter with tormenting theoi
by diabolical means. Every one against whom they " cried out " was
arrested, and the prisons were soon filled. Some weak-minded persons
among the prisoners were persuaded or terrified into a confession of
guilt, and then bore witness against others ; and upon this accumulation
of evidence, many were convicted. Twenty persons were hanged, among
whom was Mr. Burroughs, a clergyman ; and one old man, aged eighty
years, was pressed to death. Many others were cried out against, and
fled for their lives. At last, the extravagance of the evil began to work
its cure. The witnesses accused some persons who stood so high in
eharecter and station, that the belief even of the credulous mob was
shocked. A reaction took place, juries refused to convict, the jails were
emptied, and some of the judges and those who had been active in the
prosecutions made a public profession of their errors and their peni-
tence.
§ 422. Other New England Colonies. Having sketched the
history of Yirginia, Plymouth, and !&Iassachusetts, during the seven-
teenth century, a few words must suffice for the other Colonies. Roger
Williams and some other religious exiles from Massachusetts colonized
Bhode Island in 1638, having purchased the land of the Narraganset
Indians. They obtained a patent from the Long Parliament six years
afterwards, and in 1 663, Charles II. granted them a very liberal dmrter,
under which they chose their own ofiicers and enacted their own laws
with almost as much freedom as if they had been an independent
republic. By the infiuenoe of Williams, perfect religious toleration was
established in this Colony, men being held responsible for their religious
opinions and practice only to their God. The temtory of Connecticut
was granted, in 1630, to the Earl of Warwick, who soon assigned his
right to Lord Say and Scale, Lord Brook, and others. Several settle-
ments were formed on the Connecticut river, in 1635 - 6, by Mr. Hooker
and other emigrants from Massachusetts, who at first acknowledged the
authority of the Colony they had just left, but soon established a govern-
ment for themselves, modelled on that of Massachusetts. Hartford was
their chief town. About the same time. Lord Say and Scale with his
associates sent over John Wiuthrop the younger, with instructions to
build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut, and erect buildings to
accommodate such settlers as might come thither. This was the origin
of Saybrook. In 1637, Mr. Davenport, with a company of emigrants,
Bome of them men of wealth, arrived in New England, and after some
hesitation as to the choice of a place, they founded a settlement at New
Haven. They were rigid Puritans, who wished to establish a community
26*
806 THB MODSRK JEPOCH.
CMdbimiBg in «U thiogs to their peculiar principlea. They ffcdmitted
Qolj church members to be freemen, and resolved that the Word of God
should be the only rule iu their administration. The Dutch lud claim
to the whole country, and the dispute between them and the English
settlers was more than once on the verge of breaking out into open war.
Charles IL, soon after his restoration, granted to Connecticut a charter
quite as liberal as that given to Rhode Island ; but as this instrument
brought t<^ether the two distinct settlements of Hartford and New
Haven, the people of the latter place were very reluctant to accept it,
and only yielded, after some years* delay, to the fear that a general
governor might be sent out from England to rule them. From the
period of this union, 1665, the progress of the Colony was steady and
prosperous. The territory of New Hahpshibb was granted by the
Plymouth Company to Capt. John Mason, in 1629. But few settlements
were formed under his management, principally by fishermen and exiles
from Massachusetts, who remained for some time without any goven*
ment but such as they established for themselves. Exeter, Dover, and
Portsmouth, then called Strawberry Bank, were the only towns that con*
tained many inhabitants. In 1641, they voluntarily placed themselves
under the protection of Massachusetts, who had always claimed the Ytaaif
and who continued to govern them till 1679, when, by a decree of the
king in council. New Hampshire was made a separate province, to be
governed by a President and Council, appointed by the king, and a
House of Representatives elected by the people. Frequent disputes
ensued, both with their rulers, and with Mason and his heirs respecdog
the titles to their lands. But after the Revolution of 1688, most of these
controvefsies were quieted, and excepting frequent hostilities with As
Indians, the people prospered. Maine was originally granted to Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, and was purchased of his heirs, in 1677, by Massa-
chusetts, for £1,200, it having been governed by that Colony for many
years piievious, under a disputed title. The controversy ending with thb
purchase, Maine remained a part of Massachusetts till a very recent
period.
§ 423. New York. The Dutch, founding on the explorations of
Henry Hudson a claim to the Hudson river and an indefinite extent of
territory through which it flows, built some fortified trading posts near
its mouth as early as 1613. They also explored the northern coast of
Long Island Sound, and both shores of Delaware Bay ; and on the
strength of these discoveries, an Amsterdam company obtained from the
States General an exclusive gi*ant to trade along the coast between the
40th and 45th degrees of latitude, a region by them called New Nether-
land. The £nglish never allowed their claim, which only became im-
portant when, in 1621, it passed into the hands of the Dutch West lodis
Company, a wealthy association with large privileges;, and capable of
NBW 70&K. 307
condacUng extensive operations. Under their direction, Fort Orange
was buUt where Albany now stands; and in 1626, the island of Man«
hattan was purchased of the Indians, and Fort Amsterdam erected at
its southern extremity. As yet, traffic with the savages in peltry was
the only object of these establishments ; but in 1629, a scheme was ma-
tured for forming Dutch settlements in the countiy. Extensive grants
of land were offered to any member of the Company, who, under the*
name of Patroon, should establish a colony of at least fifty persons upon
it; and as much land as they could cultivate was offered to any free
settlers who should remove thither at their own expense. Under these
offers, some of the most inviting lands were taken up; but the progress
of colonization was slow, agriculture being made secondary to trade with
the Indians. A port was established on the Connecticut, near Hartford^
which soon led to a sluirp dispute with the English settlers in that
region. The Swedes also came into collision with the Dutch, by attempt-
ing, under the sanction of the renowned Gustavus Adolphus, to found a
settlement and trading post on the west shore of Delaware Bay, a region
diumed by the Hollanders. The Swedes bought some land of the
Indians, and built a fort called Christina, — the germ of the Colony of
New Sweden, now the State of Delaware. The infant settlement was
prudently managed, and might in a few years have become prosperous,
if the Dutch had not attacked it, in 1655, with a force of six hundred
men, who captured all the Swedish posts, and the region was again
absorbed into New Netherkmd.
A destructive Indian war was added to the other embarrassments of
the Dutch. The latter showed themselves as great savages as their red
opponents, who nearly overmatched them, and destroyed many of their
most flourishing '' boweries,** or plantations. The people were harshly
governed, being allowed no voice in the administration, and they com*
plained that^ " under a king they could not be worse treated." The
English were determined to monopolize the coast, and in 1664, Charles
II. granted to his brother a large region, including New Netherland, to
be called, in future, in honor of the Duke, New York. An expedition
of six hundred men, under Sir Robert Nicholb, was fitted out to take
possession ; and so many English were now settled in the Colony, the
Dutch also being lukewarm towards their own government, that no op<
position was offered. Liberal terms of capitulation were granted, and
the territory was annexed without a blow to the domain of England.
No popular representation in the government was allowed till 1684, the
Duke of York appointing a governor who ruled arbitrarily ; and even
after that period, the administration continued to be distasteful to the
people. When the news of the revolution of 1688 arrived, the inhabit-
ants of New York rose in anns, like their brethren of Boston, and under
the gnidaaoe of Jacob Leislery a wealthy German merchant deposed the
308 THE MODEKN EPOCH.
former authorities of the place, and instituted a government of their own.
The colon J remained under Leisler's rule till March. 1691, when Col.
Sloughter arrived, ^ith a commission as governor, and his agent de-
manded peremptorily the surrender of the fort. Leisler hesitated and
delayed, and when at last he did obey, he was seized, togetiier with his
son-in-law, Milbourne, tried for rebellion, and executed. This proceed-
ing was a harsh and hasty one ; and the king subsequently restored their
confiscated estates to their heirs, and allowed their bodies to be taken
up and reinterred with pomp, while the people cherished their memoi^'
with affection and respect.
§ 424. Mabtland. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a Koman Catho-
lic by religion, obtained from Charles I., in 1630, a grant of the then
uninhabited shores of Chesapeake Bay, as an asylum for the persecuted
Papists. The charter, which secured liberty of conscience, and equal
privileges to the members of all Christian sects, was not issued till after
this lord's death, and was then given to Cecil, his eldest son and heir.
He sent out his brotlier, Leonard Calvert, as governor^ with
about two hundred emigrants, mostly Roman Catholics, and
a settlement was formed at St. Mary's, the new colony being called
Maktland, in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria. The proprietaiy had
full power to enact all necessary laws, not repugnant to the laws of Eng-
land, and not without the advice and approbation of the freemen of the
province or their representatives; — this being the first provision in any
colonial charier for giving a legislative power to the people. The provinoe
was wisely and moderately governed, liberal grants of land being offered
to all comers, to be held by the payment of a quit rent to the proprietor.
Baltimore did not wish to shut out heretics from his colony ; Puritans
and Church of England men were invited to oome, under a promise of
enjoying equal privileges with the Catholics ; thus Maryland became a
general asylum for the persecuted of all sects. We are not surprised to
learn, therefore, that, before Lord Baltimore's death in 1676, he was in
receipt of a considerable income from the province, which then contained
about sixteen thousand inhabitants, most of whom were Pi-otestants. The
people wisely sought support from agriculture rather than mining and
trade. Yet they did not pass through the time of the Civil War and the
domination of the Long Parliament without annoyances and contests.
During this period, of course, Lord Baltimore's principles were not in
favor, and his colony was regarded with a jealous eye. William Clay-
borne had obtained a royal license to trade in all those parts, and he and
his associates denied the legality of the Maryland grant. The Parlia-
ment sent out commissioners who displaced the officers of the proprietary,
and put the government into the hands of the Puritans, who soon passed
an act that excluded papists and prelatists from the benefit of the act of
toleration. A civil war at one time raged in the colony, Boondheadi
THB OAKOLINAS. 309
and Cayalien being opposed to each other, as in the mother knd. Bat
with the restoration of Charles IL, these troubles ceased, and the pros*
peritj of the settlement for a long period suffered but little interruption.
Yet an order was passed in 1681, for intrustfng all offices to Protestants,
so that the Catholics were disfranchised a second time in the colony they
had founded.
S 425. Thb Carolinas. The territory on the coast south of Virgi-
nia, extending nominally as far south as St. Augustine, was granted, in
166d, to the great Lord Clarendon, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and six
other eminent individuals. The whole region was to constitute one pro-
vince, under the name of Carolina, the proprietors receiving, together
with the grant of the land, ample powers of government. But a settle-
meat had already been formed near Albemarle Sound by some religious
exiks from Virginia, and another one, near the mouth of Cape Fear
river, by some adventurers from New England, afterwards reinforced by
a band of emigrants from Barbadoes. In 1670, three ships were fitted
out with colonists from England, under the command of William Sayle,
who formed a settlement at Port Royal, which he soon removed to the
peninsula at the mouth of the Ashley and the Cooper rivers, giving to the
town that he founded there the name of Charleston. As this place was re-
mote fron Albemarle, it obtained a separate government, and thus were
created the two colonies of North and South Carolina. The proprietors
gave public assurance that the settlers should enjoy unrestricted religious
liberty, and that their representatives should have a voice in the enact-
ment of laws. Unluckily they employed the celebrated philosopher, John
Locke, to devise a scheme of government for the colony ; and he gave
them, under the name of the ^ Grand Model," the most complicated and
fiudful system that the wit of man ever contrived, and which was a per-
petoal source of trouble and confusion for the quarter of a century dur-
ing which it was in partial operation. It established two orders of nobi-
lity, landgraves, and caciques; it assigned two fifths of the land for
seignories, baronies, and manors, to be cultivated by a race of tenants
attached to the soil, and the remaining three fifths were allotted to private
freeholders ; and it erected a formidable bureaucracy, with officers and
titles enough for a populous kingdom of the Old World. This rickety
system could never be put into full operation, and in 1693, it was entirely
abrogated. The motley population was swelled by two ship-loads of
Dutch emigrants from ^ew York, and by a cargo of slaves from Barbadoes.
AAer the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, many Huguenots came to
South Carolina, and settled along the Santee ; they had been preceded
by some Presbyterian settlers from the north of Ireland, and by a Scotch
eokmy led by Lord Cardross. Religious toleration and the prospect of
obtaining land on easy terms were the lures which drew so many diffei>
ent classes of immigrants. The population thus formed did not show
SIO THB MODKBir EPOCH.
themselTes rerj tractable. They persisted in keeping op fm iU^il tn£-
fic with New England, they grumbled at paying quit rent to the propgie*
tariesy and they quarrelled with the arbitrary and rapacioiis governors
who were sent to rule over fbem. But in spite of these inteiTuptionSy
, the two oolonies prospered, advancing steadily, though not rapidly, both
in population and wealth.
S 426. New Jebset. The territory between the Delaware and Hod-
son rivers, being included in the sunender by the Dutch to the En^ish
in 1664) was granted by the Duke of York, under the name of New
Jbssbt, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret They sent over
Philip Carteret as governor, with a liberal constilntion lor
^^' the new colony, and bountiful offers of land to all settlers
who would oome thither. Lord Berkeley sold his right, after be had held
it ten years, to a company of Quakers, who, wishing to govern separately
a region which might be an asylum for the persecuted of their sect, made
an agreement with Carteret for the partition of the territory. The west-
em portion was assigned to them, the eastern to Carteret A lai^ge con-
pany, consisting principally of Quakers, then came from England, and
settled in Burlington and its ndghborhood, ample privileges being secured
to them by a new constitution. A dispute ensued with the Duke of Yoric
respecting the title to their lands, as he pretended that, under a new
patent which he had obtained from the crown, his original rif^ts wers
restored. But the commissioners in England, to whom the matter was
referred, adjudged his claim to be invalid, and new settlers continuing to
arrive, the colony became very prosperous. East Jersey, also^ in 1682^
was sold by the heirs of Carteret to Willtam Penn and twenty-three asso*
dates, mostly Quakers, who appointed Robert Barclay governor, and
endeavored to attract emigrants thither. Many of the Scottish Cove-
nanters, now suffering a deplorable persecution under Lauderdale and
Claverhouse, fled from their native land, and found a pleasant and safe
asylum in East Jersey. The numerous proprietors, weary of quarrelling
with each other and with the people, surrendered their rights to the
crown in 1702 ; and the two divisions were then united under one govern-
ment
i 4i7. Pennstltania. Another Quaker colony was established, on
a larger scale, by 4he celebrated William Penn, a man of great ability
and integrity, resolute in purpose and energetic in conduct, a keen con-
tioversialist, and one who displayed on many occasions more shrewd-
ness, knowledge of the world, and practical talent than are ofien found
united with a fervor and sincerity of religious belief which had the
appearance of an unruly fanaticism. The Quakers, indeed, while pre>
serving with great steadfastness most of their inoffensive external peen-
liaritiesi had quietly undeigone a considerable change in the manner and
spirit of their proceedings,— a change attributable in some degree fee
PEXNSYLVAinA. 311
dlB inflneiice of Penn himself. Thej were no longer the wild and ex«
travagant sectaries, whose ootrageoos conduct, twenty years before, had
troubled the peace of Massachusetts. Their manners had become qaiet
and discreet, and though they remained fearless of persecution, they no
longer courted it In consideration of the services of his father, a dis-
tinguished admiral, Penn obtained from Charies II. a grant
of the territory on the west bank of the river Delaware, ex-
tending fire degrees in longitude, and bounded by the 40th and 48d
parallels of latitude ; and the king insisted on naming it Pennstltania.*
The charter gave him the absolute property of the soil and ample powers
of government, but required the advice and consent of the freemen of the
province for the enactment of laws. The sturdy and independent spirit
of the New England colonies having taught the crown lawyers a lesson
of caution in drawing up colonial charters, it was stipulated in this case
that the king might negative any enactment of the assembly, that parlia-
ment might levy taxes, and that an appeal might be made to the crown
from the decisions of the courts of justice.
Acting under this charter, Penn drew up a very liberal ^ Frame of
Goverament,** and also published a body of l^wa, that had been examined
and approved by a company of proposed emigrants in England. He
ako advertised the lands for sale, asking forty shillings, besides a perpe*
tnal quttrent of one shilling, for every hundred acres. Unlimited free-
dom of oonsctence, and the right to be governed by laws Enacted by
themselves, were secured to the people. As the terms were liberal, and
the advantages of the territory, in respect to climate, situation, fertility
of the soil, and the friendly disposition of the neighboring Indians, were
considerable, a crowd of emigrants presented themselves, comprising
many Quakers and a number from Holland and Germany. The Duke
of York, afterwards James H., with whom Penn was high in favor, made
over to him all his own right to the three lower counties on the Dela-
ware, first peopled by the Swedes, which had lately been governed as
an appendage to the Duke's province of New York. These counties
belonged geographically rather to Pennsylvania than New York, and
possession of them was important for the new colony, as they already
contained about 8,000 inhabitants, Swedes, Finns, and Dutch, steady and
industrious in their habits, and inured to their situation. Besides these,
a number of Swedish, Dutch, and English settlers were already establish-
ed in other portions of the territory, by whom the new government was
favorably received. William Markham, one of Penn's kinsmen, was
sent out in 1681, with three ships and about three hundred emigrants,
bearing a plan of the city which was to be founded at the confluence of
the Schnylkill with the Delaware, and a very friendly message to the
Indians, whose good will the new proprietor was anxious to concili-
ate. Penn himself came out the next year, in the course of which
312 * THE MODERN EPOCH.
twenty-three yessels anrived laden with goods and emigtanis. He heli
a friendly conference with the savages, under a large elm at Ken8ingtol^
which afterwards became an obrject of much curiosity and respect, as
marking the site of this famous interview. A treaty was made by wbidi
the Indians sold their lands on terms satisfactory to them, and stipulated
to maintain peace and friendship, which promise was long religioaslj
observed. The savages named him Onas, and though they gave the
same title to the subsequent governors of the colony, they always referred
to him as the great and good Onas. After laying out the new dtj of
Philadelphia, so called from the spirit of brotherly love which wai to
animate its inhabitants, and holding a conference with Lord Baltimon
about the disputed boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania, Peaa
returned, in 1684, to £ngland. He did not visit America again till
1699, and then made but a short stay. The progress of the new pro-
vince was as rapid as its commencement had been auspicious. In 1684
it contained twenty settled townships and seven thousand inhalMtaotB ;
and not many years afterwards, the population was estimated at thirtj
thousand. Some of the laws proposed by Penn and adopted by the
Assembly bore the imprint of his quaint and benevolent dbpositioD.
To prevent lawsuits, three arbitrators were to be appointed by the county
courts, to hear and determine small controversies; children were to bs
taught some useful trade, to the end that none might be idle ; agenti
who wronged their employers should make restitution and one third
over ; and the property of intestates was to be divided equally amoiig
the children, except that the eldest son should receive a double shares
And yet Penn reaped little but disappointment and vexation from Us
connection with the colony. His great mistake seems to have oonsisted
in reserving a quitrent, instead of making over the land absolutely to the
settlers. Though the annual payment was but small, and was justly doe
to him, as in no other manner c6uld he be remunerated for his aetusl
outlay, the demand of it was a fruitful source of annoyance and discoo-
tent. Penn had great difficulty in collecting it, became impoverished,
and was at one time imprisoned for debt. The impossibility of satisfying
all the demands of the people while their uneasiness really proceeded
from this annual exaction, and the boundary controversy with Loid
Baltimore, embittered all the latter part of his life. He founded a pros-
perous colony, but he sacrificed his own interests and his peace of nund
in the undertaking. The lower counties on the Delaware, complaioing
that their peculiar interests were not attended to^ were allowed to dissolve
the legislative union with Pennsylvania, but remained subject to ibe
same governor.
§ 428. Geoboia was founded in 1732, under a plan formed by Gene-
ral Oglethorpe and some other benevolent gentlemen, in order to eeti-
blish a place of refuge for poor debtors and other indigent persons &O0
GBOBQIA. 818
Ghreat Britain, and for penecnted Protestants from all nadons. A grant
^iras obtained from the king of the unoccupied territory on the right bank
of the Savannah river, the land to be apportioned gratuitously among the
settlers, charitable donations being made to defray the expense of trans-
p<yrting them across the Athintic, and supporting them during the first
season. Funds were freely contributed for this generous purpose, under
the hope that the measure would reduce the poor rates in England, and
empty the workhouses and debtors* jails. But the class of persons thus
sent out were very unfit for the work of creating a new settlement and
subduing the wilderness. They were chiefly broken-down tradesmen
and impoverished debauchees ; while sailors, agriculturists, and laborers
from the country were needed. A company of persecuted Lutherans
from Salzburg, and one of Scotch Highliuiders, who settled respectively
tlie towns of Ebenezer and New Inverness, formed industrious and thriv-
ing colonists. Oglethorpe brought over the first band of emigrants, and
founded the city of Savannah. The colony being regarded as in a state
of pupilage, its affairs were administered, for the first twenty years, by a
board of trustees, nominated in the charter, who were to appoint their
asaociates and successors, and had the ezdnsive right of legislation. The
generous motto on their official seal, non $My $ed aiitt (not for them-
selves, but for others,) showed the benevolent purposes with which they
acted. Some of their measures were wise, others were preposterous.
They strictly forbade the introduction of negro slaves ; the use of rum
was prohibited; no grant of land was to exceed five hundred acres; the
land was not to be sold or devised by the holders, but was to descend to
male children only, and in case of the failure of such heirs, was to revert
to the trustees. But these laws did not long remain in force ; slavery
was introduced from the neighboring province of Carolina ; females were
allowed to inherit, and the land became subject to the same regulations
as other property. So long as the colony was managed by trustees, and
considered as an object of charity, it languished, and large sums were
expended upon it in vain. At last, the government was abandoned to
the crown, its institutions were assimilated to those of the other colonies,
and it then had a steady and prosperous growth. The Methodists and
Moravians were numerous in Georgia, the two renowned preachers of
the former denomination, Wesley and Whitefield, residing in it for seve-
ral years.
§ 429. It is apparent from this review, that the English colonies in
North America, with the exception of Virginia and New York, were
founded and peopled chiefly by religious exiles. The English Puritans
were most numerous in New England, the Quakers in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, the Roman Catholics in Maryland, Scotch Presbyterians,
French Huguenots, and Methodists in the south, and German Lutherans
in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Earnestness, sobriety, an independent
814 THB MOnSBF EPOCH.
spirit, and a determined hatred of oppression thus cfaaractmaed tko
people from the beginning. Whatever emigrants came out solelj in
quest of wealth were soon disabused of their error, and either returned
to the Old World, or learned to labor and to endure in their new home.
Property was very evenly distributed, and there were no marked ineqaa-
lities of rank or social position. Protected bj their feebleness and insig-
nificance in the outset, and by their distance from the mother country,
the colonists were, in the main, allowed to enact their own laws, and
manage their own afiairs. Without any marked purpose of deviating
from the policy, or shaking off the yoke, of England, they were, from the
commencement, semi-republican and semi-indispendent. Disciplined by
privation, exile, and peril, thrown on their own iresources, governing
themselves, their situation developed in them the elements of a thought-
ful, vigorous, and resolute character. After they had overcome the first
difficulties and obstructions in the way of founding a new home in the
wilderness, their habits of endurance, industry, and frugality soon gave
prosperity to their undertakings. Agriculture and commerce flourished,
and they increased rapidly in population and wealth. They were no
longer the feeble dependencies of a remote power; they could boast that
they had laid the foundations of a great empire.
V. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
1. THE SPANISH WAR OF SUCCESSION (1702-1714).
§ 480. When the childless Charles II., the last of the house of Haps-
burg in Spain, was near his end, he suffered himself, from a feeling of
irritation towards the European powers who had arranged a partition of
his lands during his life, to be persuaded by the French ambassadofs to
make a secret will, by which the second grandson of Louis XIY., duke
Philip of Anjou, was named heir to the whole Spanish monarchy, to the
exclusion of Austria, which, according to an earlier family compact, bad
the nearest claim upon the vacant throne. Charles II. died
at the commencement of the new century,' and Loub XIY.,
guided by his council and his second wife, Madame Maintenon, a woman
of inferior birth, determined, after some hesitation, to adopt the will,
much as his exhausted kingdom required repose. This resolution was
followed by the most desperate war that had hitherto taken place. The
Leopold, emperor Leopold took up arms for the purpose of securing
A. n. the inheritance of the Hapsburgs for his second son, Charles,
166T- 1706. ^j force. On the side of Austria were ranged, not only the
WAB OF IHI SFAinflS SUtCESSION. 315
greater part of the prinees of Germany, particolarlj the Elector, Frede-
rick of BraDdeiiburg, who for this assktanoe was adorned with the title
ofkingof Fmssia, and Hanover, for which a ninth Electorate had re-
cently been made, but the maritime powers, England and Holland; the
latter, out of fear of the threatening superiority of France, the former,
from anger that the Fr^Qch king had recognised the Pretender, James
(HL) Stuart, on the death of his father, as king of England. The Elec-
tor of BaTaria and his brother, the Elector of Cologne, were the only
princes that sided with France. Spain was di\rided. The eastern pro-
vinces, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, were for the Austrian claimant of
the throne ; Castile, on the other hand, and the rest of the kingdom, took
up arms to defend the Bourbon king,^ Philip Y., who was descended on
his mother's side from the Hapsburgs, and whose character bore the im-
press^of Spain.
$ 431. The reason that the fortune of the war remained this time so
ckwely bound to the banners of Austria and England, was, that their
annies were conducted by the two greatest generals of the age, prince
Eugene of Savoy, and the duke of Marlborough. The former at once
Jocieased the renown he had already acquired in the war against the
Turks by a masterly campaign in Italy, where he drove back the gallant
General Catinat and brought over the duke of Savoy and
Piedmont to the side of Austria ; while Marlborough, who
was the chief of the Whigs, (who since Anne's coming to the govern-
ment had guided the political helm,) and consequently, endowed with
almost unlimited power, was distinguished both as a warrior and states-
man, but stained his glory by avarice and love of gain. The duke
of Savoy brought the calamities of war upon his own land by his
alliance with Austria. Yendome, a skilful general, subdued Pied-
mont and the fertile plains of Lombardy, and thought to unite himself
with the Elector of Bavaria who had marched into the Tyrol ; but the
daring rise of the gallant Tyrolese, who, from their inaccessi-
ble mountain heights and the crevices of their valleys,
attacked the Bavarians with their rifles, and prevented their advance by
a well-managed guerilla warfare, prevented this plan. The Elector was
compelled, afler severe loss, to evacuate the. Tyrol ; whereupon he joined
the French army, which had marched through the Einrigthal in Swabia,
under the command of the marshals Yillars and Tallard. It was here
that Eugene, and Louis of Baden, the commander of the imperial forces,
opposed themselves to the enemy. M^lborough, after a masterly march
on the Bhine and the Mosel, soon joined the other two, upon which,
Eugene and Marlborough despatched the old and cautious Louis to the
nege of Ingoldstadt, and then defeated the French and Bavarian army
A^utu, ^ ^e battle of HSchstldt, (or, as the English call it, the
ITM. battle of Blenheim). Tallard, and a great part of his force:
316 XHB MODBRN BPOCH.
were made piisonen ; the whole of the mmiidoiis of war fell into tlie
hands of the enemy. The Elector of Bayaria was obliged to follow die
French over the Rhine, and expose his territories to the Austrians, who
exercised the most frightful oppression there ; so that, at length, the peo-
ple, driven to despair, made an insurrection, which, however, had ooly
the effect of increasing the measure of their sufferings. For the purpose
of chastising the unpatriotic sentiments of the princely house of BaTaria,
Joseph L, the new emperor, Joseph I., who trod the same path his
▲. D. father had done, pronounced the ban against Max £mma-
1706-1711. jjji^i^ j^j jjig brother, the Elector of Cologne.
§ 432. Fortune was also adyerse to the French both in the Nether-
May ss, IsLuds and in Italy. In the former country, Marlborough
1706. gained the splendid victory of Bamillies from the incompe-
tent marshal Villeroi, the favorite of Madame Maintenon ; upon which,
the Spanish Netherlands acknowledged the Austrian competitor for the
September 7, throne : and in Italy, prince Eugene defeated the superior
1706. force of the French at Turin ; whereupon, Milan and Lom-
bardy, together with Lower Italy and Sicily, fell into the hands of the
victors. The glory of Eugene spread far and wide, and his name be-
came henceforth familiar in the mouths of the people, who celebrated his
deeds in their songs. It was in Spain only that Philip of Anjou main-
tained himself against the English and Austrian army. It is true, that
the provinces of the ancient kingdom of Aragon, out of national hatred
to Castile, sided, for the most part, with the Austrian claimant of the
throne, when the latter landed in Catalonia. Barcelona, Valencia, and
all the cities of importance united themselves to him, whilst
the English fleet took Gibraltar. Philip V. neverthelen
maintained his supremacy by the adherence of the Castilians, and visited
the revolted provinces with a severe chastisement after the victory of
April 26, Almanza. The beautiful plains of Valencia were ravaged,
1707. the resolute inhabitants, who were prepared to undergo the
worst extremities rather than submit themselves to the detested Casti-
lians, suffered death in all its forms ; and, to avoid the insults of their
enemies, they even set fire to their own houses, and perished, like the
citizens of Saguntum and Numantia, beneath the ruins. When at length
resistance was broken by the capture of Saiiagossa and Lerida, and the
heads of the boldest had fallen beneath the axe of the executioner, the
three provinces of Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon lost the last remains
of their rights, and were governed henceforth by the laws of Castfle.
Barcelona, however, maintained a gallant resistance to the end of the
war.
S 438. In the year 1708, the two great generals, Eugene and Mail-
Jnly 11, borough, increased their military renown by the vidoiy of
1708. Oudenarde on the Scheldt. At this pomt, Louis XIV. bc^ .
WAR 07 THE SPANISH S1TCCSSSI0N. 317
to despair of the successful tennioation of the war ; and, taking the ex-
hausted condition of his kingdom into consideration, he now wished for
peace. But, bj the influence of Eugene and Marlborough, who wished
to take advantage of their success for the humiliation of France, condi-
tions of great severity were demanded of him. It was not only required
that the French king should renounce all pretensions to the collective
empire of Spain, but that he sHisuld surrender Alsace and Strasburg ;
and, hard as this abasement must have appeared to the proud potentate,
he would have accepted the conditions, had not his enemies added the
degrading demand, that Ix>ui8 should himself assist in driving his own
grandson out of Spain. This appeared too severe to the French court,
September 11, <U9d thovwar continued. But in the murderous battle of
1709. Malplaquet, France lost more troops than in any previous
engagement, and would have been compelled to accept peace under any
conditions, had not Divine Providence now wished to chastise the inso-
lence of others, that men might learn moderation.
I 434. A quarrel between the proud and ambitious wife of Marl-
borough and queen Anne, and the intrigues that sprung from it, had
occasioned the exclusion of the duchess from the court, and the expul-
sion of the Whig ministry by the Tories. The latter, with the cele-
brated statesman and writer Bolingbroke at their head, now wished for
the termination of the war, in order that Marlborough, who was at the
head of the opposite party, might be no longer indispensable ; and with
this object, entered into negotiations for peace with France, which were
brought to a more rapid termination by the death of the em-
peror Joseph I. without male heirs, in the following year,
Charles YL, and by the succession of his brother, Charles, who was the
ITU 1740 intended inheritor of the Spanish monarchy. It could now
be no longer the interest of the foreign powers to add the
territories of Spain to those of Austria, and thus to establish the supre-
macy of the house of Hapsburg in Europe. A truce between England
and Spain, after the conclusion of which Marlborough lost all his offices,
Xtvii, and was accused in parliament of embezzlement, was the
1713. forerunner of the peace of Utrecht. By this, the Spanish
and American possessions were left to the Bourbon king, Philip Y.,
imder the condition that the crowns of France and Spain were never to
be united ; England received Nova Scotia and other possessions in North
America from France, and Gibraltar, and certain commercial advantages
from Spain ; the duke of Savoy received the island of Sardinia and the
title of king.
•The emperor and the German empire did not join in the peace of
Utredit^ and continued the war for some time longer. But the emperor
quickly became convinced that he was unequal to conduct the war by
Umself for any lengthened period, and gave his consent to the peace of
27*
318 THB MODBRN EPOCH.
Baetadt, to which also the German empire acceded at Baden in tho
ym^^T Aargao. Bj tfaiBi Austria obtained the Spanish Nether-
1714. lands, and Milan, Naples, and Sicily, in Italy; the Elec^
September, ors of Bavaria and Cologne were agun restored to their
171^- lands and titles, and the royalty of Prussia generally m>
knowledged.
September 1, § 4^^* FRANCE. Louis' XIV. died in the following year,
1714 weary ofi life, and borne down by severe strokes of fate.
Within two years, he had lost his son, his grandson, and his intelleetual
Louis XV. ^'^®> ^^^ ^^ eldest great-grandchild, so that his youngest
A. D. great-grandchild, then five years of age, succeeded to the
1716 • 1774. throne, under the title of Louis XV. During his minority,
Orleans, the government was conducted by Philip duke of Orleans.
Kegent,A. D. This prince, like his former preceptor, cardinal Dubois^
~ ^ ^ ' whom he raised to the ministry, was a man of intellect and
talent, but of most profligate morals, who despised religion and virtue,
and by' his dissolute and voluptuous life outraged decency and morality,
and squandered the revenues of the state. The Mississippi scheme^
which was established by the Scotchman, Law, and which not only
promised a high rate of interest, but held out hopes of vast profits ia
America, produced an incredible intoxication of mind throughout all
France, which the unprincipled regent and his companion well knew how
to take advantage of. Almost all the gold coin flowed into the bank,
and was exchanged for paper money, till at length a bankruptcy took
place, which deprived thousands of their property, whilst the greedy
magnates were enriched by the spoils.
§ 436. Spain. The Spanish king, Philip V., was a weak prince, who
was governed by women, and who at length fell entirely into melancholy,
and surrendered the government of his empire to his ambitious second
wife, Elizabeth of Parma, and the intriguing Italian, Alberoni. These
two contrived, by dint of war and intrigue, that Elizabeth's eldest son,
Charles, should receive the kingdom of Naples and Sicily; and her
second son, Philip, the dukedom of Parma, with Piacenza and Guastalla.
Li this way, these states received Bourbon rulers. When Philip V.
Ferdinand VI. ^^^^f ^^11 of trouble, into the grave, he was succeeded by
A. D. his son, Ferdinand VL, who inherited his father's hypo-
1746-1769. chondria, and at length sunk into an incurable melancholy,
which, like that of Saul, could only be relieved by singing and play-
ing on the harp ; hence the singer Farinelli obtained great influence at
the court.
§ 437. Enoland. The free constitution of England obtained such
George I., stability during the reigns of the kings of the house of Hano>
A.D. yer, George L, IL, and IIL, that the personal character of
1714-1727. ^Q monarch exercised but little influence upon the oouiae of
8WBDBN Ain> &U8BIA. 319
The governmeDty which was respcmsible to parliament^ had
G««89 n., more regard to the prosperity of the kingdom and to the
im-1760. gr^ft^eas of the nation, than to the wishes of the court. It
GMne m ^^ ^' ^^^ reason that trade, industry, navigation, and pros*
A. D. perity received an immense development Under George L,
1760-1820. ^j^ restored the Whigs to his confidence, James (UL) Stu-
A. ». 1715-17. ^^ attempted, with the aid of the discontented Tories (Jaco-
bites), to regain the English throne ; but his undertaking failed, and in-
volved his adherents in heavy penalties* The same thing took place in a
second attempt, which was hazarded by James's son, Charles Edward, in
A L 1746 ^® ^^go^ of George IL Aided by France, he landed in Scot^
land, where he found numerous adherents among the gal-
lant Highlanders. His first successes encouraged him to march upon
. 1746 ^S^^ ^"^ fortune soon forsook him, and the battle
' * of CuUoden destroyed the hopes of the Stuarts for ever.
Charles Edward, upon whose head the English government had set a
price, was saved, as once Charles IL had been, by the friends and adher-
ents of his house, in a wonderful and romantic manner. His abettors were
proceeded against with frightful severity ; there was no end to executions
and confiscations of property ; the prisons were filled with Jacobites from
Edinburgh to London.
2. CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN AND PETER THE OREAT OF RUSSIA IN
THE NORTHERN WAR (1700-1718).
I 438. Sweden and Bussia. At the commencement of the eight-
eenth century, Sweden stood at the highest point of her power. The
possessions oi the crown had been increased, and the treasury filled, by
the prudence and frugality of Charles XI. ; the fleet and army were in
good condition ; the coast lands of the Baltic, with the rich towns of Wis-
mar, Stralsund, Stettin, Biga, and Beval, and the effluxes of the Weser,
Oder, Dwina, and Neva, were included in the Swedish territory, the site
now occupied by Sl Petersburg being a swampy hollow on Swedish
land. In courage and military spirit the Swedes were inferior to none.
ImpexialhonseBut apoweiful neighbor had arisen in the East, since the
A. D. ™*^**'' Bussians had united and strengthened themselves under the
1618-1730. rule of the bouse of Bomanof ; and they now began to extend
their frontiers in every direction. This was especially the case under
Alexis, Alexis Bomanof and his two sons, Feodor and Peter. Alexis
^' ^' conquered Smolensk and the Ukraine, compelled the warlike
and well-mounted Cossacks to acknowledge the supremacy
of Russia, and encouraged the civilization and industry of the country ;
Fwdor, ^^^ 1^ ^^ Feodor who established the absolute power of the
^ ^- Tzars, by destroying the genealogical registers upon which
' ^ the noble families founded dieir pretensions.
/
320 THB MOBEltK BPOCE.
S 439. Peteb THB Great. Peter the Great perfected that
Peter the ^^ predecessors had commenced. By his extensive travek
Great, a. d. through the countries of Europe, he made himself acquainted
l6S9-l7a5« ^itjj iIj^ customs of civilized nations, and with the advan-
tages of a regular government; bj this means he obtained a love for
civilization, and directed the whole of his efforts to convert Russia from
an Asiatic state, which it had hitherto been, into a European one. With
this object, he encouraged the immigration of foreign artisans, marineis,
and officers into Russia, without regard to the hatred of foreigners enter-
tained bj his countrymen ; that he might himself be able to share their
labors, he made himself acquainted with the art of ship-building in Hol-
land and England, and inspected the workshops of artists and of the art-
\ isans of mills, dams, machinery, &;c. An insurrection of the Strelitzes,
produced by the exasperation occasioned by these innovations, was sup-
pressed, and taken advantage of by the emperor for reforming the affairs
of the army upon the European model. By the frightful punishments
inflicted upon the guilty, the hangings, beheadings, and breakings upon
the wheel, which continued for weeks, and in which the Tzar himaeif
took a share, Peter showed that civilization had not penetrated hb own
heart. Despite all his efforts to introduce European refinement into his
dominions, and despite his European dress, which he commanded to be
worn by all his subjects, he remained, in manners, in mind, and in his
mode of governing, a barbarian, devoted to brandy, coarse in his desires,
and frantic in his wrath.
§ 440. Poland under Frederick Augustus the Strong. Whilst
Russia was raising and confirming her power, Poland, by her wild and no-
governed freedom, was proceeding towards her downfall. Alter the death
of the military king, John Sobieski, a furious contest arose
respecting the election of another sovereign, from which
Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony, a prince distinguished for his
bodily strength, bs well as for gallantry and love of magnificence, at
length came forth victorious. He was called to the throne
A. D> 1697a
'of Poland, after having gone over to the Roman Catholic
Church. But the Polish nobility, who alone were in possession of any
political rights, whilst the peasants pined in ser^om and the citizens were
unable to raise themselves from their subordinate position, had already
so contracted the royal power, that the state had acquired the form of an
aristocratic republic, in which the elected chief was little more than the
executor of the resolutions of the Diet.
§ 441. When Charles XII. ascended the throne, at the age of sixteen
Charles ZIL 7^^^^' ^^^ rulers of Russia, Poland, and Denmaric thought
A. D. the time was arrived for depriving Sweden of the lands she
MOT-ins. jj^^ conquered. The Russian Tzar, Peter the Great, wished
to obtain a firm footing on the shores of the Baltic ; the elective king of
>.
SWEDEN AND BUSSU. 321
Poland, Frederick Augustas the Strong, Elector of Saxony, endeavored
to get possession of Liyonia; and the Danish king, Frederick IV^
attempted to wrest Schleswic from the duke of Holstein-Goftorp, a bro*
ther-in-law of Charles XII. They accordingly concluded ah alliance by
the mediation of the Livonian, Patkul, after which, Frederick Augustus
marched with a Saxon army to the frontiers of Livonia, and threatened
Biga ; whilst the Russians attacked Esihonia and besieged Narva ; and
the Danish king waged war with the duke of Holstein-Gottorp. But to
the astonishment of Europe, the young king of Sweden, who had hitherto
been looked upon as obtuse and of weak intellect, suddenly displayed a
lively and energetic spirit and distinguish^ military talents. P^nraged
at the unprincipled attempts of his enemies, he rapidly crossed over to the
island of Zealand with his gallant army, commenced at once ^1
the siege of Copenhagen, and spread such terror among the
Danes, that Frederick IV. renounced the alliance against the Swedes, in
the peace of Travendal, and promised to indemnify the duke of Holstein.
Hereupon, Charles directed his arms against his other oppo-
nents. Chi the 30th of November, with 8,000 Swedes, he
defeated a force of the Russians of ten times that number, before Narva,
and captured a number of cannon and a large quantity of ammunition.
He then marched across Livonia and Courland (into Poland, repeatedly
defeated the united armies of Saxony and Poland, and took one town
after another. The trembling citizens of Warsaw surren-
dered him the keys of their capital, and paid the military
levies imposed upon them ; Cracow fell into his hands, and the fertile
plains of the Vistula, with Thorn, Elbing, and Dantzic, were soon in the
power of the Swedes. Charles now demanded of the Poles that they
should depose their king, Frederick Augustus, and undertake
a new election; and despite the resistance of the nobi-
lity, the Swedish king, supported by the Polish party spirit, compelled
the required deposition, and obtained the election of Stanislaus Leczinski,
voiwode of Posen, a creature of his own, in an elective
^' ' assembly which was surrounded by Swedish soldiers.
§ 442. After a few difficult campaigns in the southern provinces of
Poland, where the Swedish king, despite the boggy soil and the poverty
of the country, drove back the superior forces of the- enemy, Charles de-
termined upon seeking his opponent, BVederick Augustus, in his own ter-
ritories. Without asking permission of the emperor, he marched across
Silesia into Lusatia, and was soon in the heart of Saxony, which, not-
withstanding the severe military discipline of Charles, was dreadfully
desolated by the hostile force. The inhabitants of the plains fled into the
towns, the royal family sought refuge in jthe neighboring state. Augus-
September 24. tus, for the sake of saving his land, gave his consent to the
1^^ disgraceful peace of Altranstadt, by which he engaged to
THB MODBBir SPOCH.
^enoanoe the crown of Poland foit fahnself and his posteritj, to AaolTe
his alliance with the Tzar, and to gire up the Livonian, Patkul, to ttie
king of Swed^ who put him to a emel death upon the wheel. Never*
theless, the hostite army still remained for a whole jear in Saxonj, to
ihe great detriment of the country, which sufPered from the eztravaganoe
of the court Of Dresden, as well as by the quartering of troops and mili-
tary levies. Whilst the Estates consented with sighs to the heayy taxes,
and the impoverished peasant was almost starving, the Elector gave one
magnificent court banquet after the other, and squandered enonnoos
sums upon his country-seats. What did not the entertainment and sop-
port of the mistresses and illegitimate children of the gallant prince
cost!
Charles XIL was a remarkable contrast to this luxurious and frivolous
prince. ' He possessed the nature of a perfect soldier ; his temperance
was so great that he refrained from all spirituous liquors, and whilst in
the field, contented himself with the slender rations of the army ; he
wore the same plain dress both in summer and winter — a soldier^s k>Dg
frock, with brass buttons, and horseman's large boots ; doring a march or
in battle, he subjected himself to the greatest toils, privations, and dtn-
gers ; he avoided the company of women ; the only thing that possessed
any charms for him was the military life and its dangers ; the noise of
battle, the whistling of balls, and the neigh of the war-horse were more
congenial to him than operas, court-banquets, and concerts.
§ 448. Whilst Charles XIL was lingering in Poland and Saxonj,
Peter the Great was making preparations for subjecting the possessions
of Sweden on the Baltic, and adding them to his own dominicms. . He
built the fortresses of Schulsselburg and Eronstadty had the swampy
hollows of the Neva drained by serfs after unspeakable exertions, sod
laid the foundation of the new capital city, St. Petersbnig.
Nobles, merchants, artisans and their families, from Moscow
and other cities, were compelled to settle there, and foreigners wen
encouraged to emigrate thither. Had Charles XH., when he at length
left Saxony to turn his arms against the last and greatest of his foe$,
chosen the lands of the Baltic for the scene of his military operations,
Peter's new plans and creations might easily have been destroyed ; bat
fortunately for him, Charles decided to march upon Moscow, and to pene-
trate into the heart of the Russian dominions. He captured
Grodno and Wilno, crossed the Beresina in June, and par-
sued his course towards Smolensk. No Russian army opposed the fool-
hardy king, who, at the head of his gallant forces, waded through stresmi
and marched across pathless morasses. But now came the turning point
In the life of Charles. Instead of waiting for his general, Lowenbsopty
Who was on his way to join him with fresh troops, and with clothing sod
provisions for the exhausted army, he suffered himself to be persuaded
SWEDEN AND RUSSIA. 333
bj the old Cossack chief, Mazeppa, to undertake a toilsome march in the
woody and desert Ukraine. Lowenhaupt, attacked by a superior force
of Russians, despite ^is distinguished military talents, was obliged to
sacrifice the whole %»f his artillery, his baggage, and his provisions, to
enable himself, with a small host, to reach the king, who was restlessly
^^„ ^ hastening" forward. The autumnal rains were followed by
A. D. 1708-9. *^ „ ... - , . .
an unusually severe winter, m the course of which, many
hardy warriors perished of cold, and the hands and feet of thousands
became frost-bitten. At length, Charles advanced to the siege of the
strong city of Pultowa, which, however, was protracted by the want of
artillery, till Peter himself approached with a vast army. The battle
of Pultowa, which terminated in the total defeat of the
Swedish army, was now fought; all the baggage and the
rich military chest fell into the hands of the enemy, and the surviving
officers and soldiers were made prisoners. Charles XII., the once proud
conqueror of three kings, was now a helf^ess fugitive, who by his utmost
exertions barely succeeded in saving himself, with about 2,000 followers^
in a foodless and shelterless desert in the dominions of Turkey. Lowen-
haupt collected the remainder of the fugitives, but as retreat was im-
possible from the want of provisions and artillery, he was obliged to
surrender himself with 16,000 men. Not one of these brave warriors
ever revisited his home ; they were dispersed over the vast empire, and
some died in the mines of Siberia, others as beggars on the highways*
Thus perished this heroic band, as admirable in their endurance as in
their triumphs.
S 444. Charles XII. was honorably received and generously treated
by the Turks. In his camp before Bender, he lived in royal
fashion as the guest of the sultan. But the thought of
returning as a vanquished man, without an army, to his kingdom, was
onendnrable to his haughty soul. He wished to persuade the Turks to
a war with Russia, and then to march at their head through the terri>>
tories of his enemy. Whilst he was wasting his time and energies at
Bender in furtherance of this project, and employing every means to
gain over the Turks to his plans, his three opponents renewed their
former alliance ; upon which, Frederick Augustus again made himself
master of the throne of Poland, the Tzar Peter extended his conquests to
the Baltic, and the king of Denmark again took possession of Schleswic
Prussia and Hanover, also, soon united themselves, and seized upon the
Swedish possessions in Germany. At lengthy the plans of Charles
seemed about to succeed. A Turkish army marched into Moldavia, and
reduced the Tzar to so critical a position on the Pnith, that
he and his whole army were in great danger of becoming
prisoners of war. But Peter's wife, Catherine, who, from a slave of the
BuBcian minister, Menzikoff, had become empress of all the Rossiaiy
324 THE MODERN EPOCH.
found means to corrupt the Turkish army, and to bring about the con-
clusion of a peace. Charles XII. foamed with rage at finding the end
he thought so near now farther removed than ever. He however still
adhered to his purpose, and even remained at Beiyler after the Porte
had withdrawn its hospitality, discontinued the supplies of money it had
hitherto furnished, and commanded him to quit the Turkish territory.
He allowed the Porte to supply money for his journey, and nevertheless
remained. At length the janisaries stormed his camp, set fire to the
house in which he defended himself like a lion, and took him prisoner as
he made a furious sally. But he still remained ten months longer in
captivity in Turkey, and wasted his strength in childish obstinacy. Was
it to be wondered that people at length began to look upon him as
deranged ? It was not until news was brought him that his possessions
in Grermany, as far as Stralsund, were in the hands of the enemy, that
he suddenly quitted Turkey, after a residence of &ve years, and arrived
October unexpectedly before the gates of Stralsund, after a journey
1711. of fourteen days, performed on horseback without the slight-
est interruption.
§ 445. Stralsund was defended, hy dint of the greatest exertions, for
December, upwards of a year by the brave Swedes ; at length, the city
1716. was compelled to yield, whereupon Pomerania, with the
island of Rugen, fell into the hands of the Prussians. But still the
obstinate king would not listen to a peace. By the advice of the intrigu-
ing Baron von Gorz, he caused paper money to be prepared to defray
the expenses of his new preparations for war, and withoat
awaiting the result of the negotiations that Gorz had entered
into with the Russian emperor, he fell upon Norway with two divisions
of his army, for the purpose of chastising the king of Denmark for his
breach of the peace. It was here that Charles met with liis death before
the fortress of Fried richshall, which he was besieging in the midst of
winter. As he was leaning at night upon a breastwork, inspecting the
operations in the trenches, he was killed by a bullet, which came, appa-
rently, from the hand of an assassin. The Swedish nobility now assumed
December 11, all the power to themselves, excluded the rightful heir to
1718. the throne (Frederick of IIolstein-Gottorp) from the govern-
ment, and presented it, under great restrictions, to Charles*s younger
sister, Ulrica Eleonora, and her husband, Frederick of Hesse-CasseL
From this time forth, Sweden was a monarchy in nothing but name; the
power was all in the hands of a senate of nobles. The barbarous execa-
1719 *^^" ^^ ^^® count Gorz, and the hasty conclusion of a succes-
sion of treaties of peace, by which Sweden, in return for an
indemnification in money, gave up all her foreign posses-
sions, with the exception of a small portion of Pomenuiia,
was the commencement of the government of a selfish aristocracy, who
cared nothing for the honor or well-being of the country.
BWBDBN AND RUSSU. 325
{ 446. Whilst Sweden, broken and exhausted, was thus escaping from
the contest, Russia was rising into European importance. The acquisi-
tion of the Swedish provinces of Ingria, Estjionia, and Livonia, to which
Courland was also added a few decades later, was the commencement of
a new epoch for Russia. As long as Moscow had remained the capital
eitj, the views of the Tzars had been directed towards Asia, to the
inhabitants and customs of which the Russians were more assimilated
than to those of Europe ; but since Petersburg, which lay nearer to the
civilization of the west, had become the seat of the government, and risen
into importance bj the magnificence of its plan and of its buildings,
Russia had become a European empire.
The restless activity of the great emperor produced a total revolution.
Trade and navigation were encouraged by the formation of roads, canals,
and harbors ; internal industry, trades, manufactories, and mining met
with special encouragement; and even learning and a higher grade of
refinement were provided for by the foundation of an academy of
sciences. The government and police were also remodeUed upon the
pattern of other free states, so that the power of the emperor was in-
creased and that of the nobles (Boyards) diminished. One of the inno-
vations of Peter the Great, which was foUowed by the most important
consequences, was the abolition of the dignity of Patriarch, and the
creation of the sacred synod as the chief ecclesiastical court, to which the
emperor communicated his orders.
f 447. Whilst Peter was thus reforming his kingdom, he saw, with
grief, that his only son, Alexis, was disinclined to the alterations, restrict-
ed his intercourse entirely to the friends of the old system, and cherished
the intention of again removing his residence to Moscow. It was in vain
that the emperor attempted to bend the stubborn and defiant spirit of his
son, and to make him a friend to European civilization ; Alexis retained
his opinions, and at length disappeared from the kingdom. Upon this,
Peter, anxious for the permanence of his institutions, ordered his son to
be arrested, brought home as a prisoner, and condemned to
death. Whether Alexis was put to death, or whether he
died before the execuUon of the sentence, is disputed. An ukase declared
the appointment of a successor to the throne to be dependent upon the
Citherine L, ^'^' ^^ *^® reigning emperor. After Peter's death, his wife,
A.D. Catherine I., succeeded him in the government. Under her
17S6-1TS7. and her successor, Peter 11., Menzikoff, who had risen from
Peter H, the lowest condition to be the favorite of the emperor and an
A. D. all-powerful minister, exercised the greatest influence upon
1717-1780. ^g government But he was overthrown at the moment
Jbnft, when he imagined that he was about to marry his daughter
^^ to the young emperor, and ended his days in exile in Siberia.
Anna, the successor of Peter II., reposed her confidence in
28
836 THE MODERN IPOOH.
two energetic Germans, Ostermann and Munnich, of whom the fonaiet vw
at the head of the cabinet, the latter conducted and arranged the affiun
of the ann J. But theae^ as well as Anna's favorite, Biron, who was to
have Buunaged the goyemment after her death, were banished to Siberia,
Elizabeth ^^'^ Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Peter the Grett,
A. D. was raised to the throne by a revolution in the palace. Ivan,
17^1-1762. a child one year old, whom Anna had named her socoeseor,
was thrown into prison, where he grew up like a brute without the slight-
est education. Elizabeth gave herself up to a voluptuous and profligtte
life, and relinquished the government to her fitvorites.
§ 448. Under Frederick Augustus 11., the love of Biagnifloeoee, the
luxury and debauchery, that prevailed in Dresden, penetrated into Po-
land, and destroyed the remaining moral power of the nobles* New
vices were associated to the old ones, and proved the more peniicioosi
inasmuch as the Polish nobility possessed merely the outward polish of
European civilization, and that inward barbarism and sensual excitability
were united with refinement. Frivolity, arrogance, and religious intole-
rance were now more prevalent in Poland than ever. The Jesuits sue-
ceeded in depriving the Polish Dissidents <^ their civil aad
religious privileges by an extraordinary Diet, and when the
general hatred broke forth in a popular inaunreetion in the Protestant
town of Thorn against the Jesnitieal colleges, the burgomaster was pirt
to death and the town severely punished. Aiter the death of Fredmek
1788 Augustus II. arose the Polish war of succession^ Stanislaos
Lecainski (who, fiying ftt>m Poland after the battle of Pol*
towa, had wandered in poverty about Alsacia, till he was delivered fiom
want by the marriage of his daughter with Louis XV.) again made
claims to the crown, and, trusting to aid from France, travelled in dis-
guise to Warsaw. But Russia and Austria supported the chum of
Frederick Frederick Augustus III. of Saxony. Stanislaus, althon^
Augiutas, acknowledged by the majority of the Polish nation, was
A* P* obliged to yield the field to bis opponent when the Russian
1783-1768. anny, under the conduct of Munnich, marched into Poland.
He fled in the dress of a peasant to Eonigsburg, and from thence to
France. ' After some time, however, a peace was concluded
which was extremely favorable both to France and Stanis-
laus. When the house of Medici was nearly extinct in
Florence, the emperor Charles VI. wished his son-in-law,
Francis Stephen, to exchange his hereditary dukedom of Lorraine for
Tuscany, so that the former might devolve upon Stanislaus, and, after
his death, upon France. Charles YI. made this sacrifice to secore the
aooession of the French king to the Pragmatic Sanction. Stanislaus
Lecainski lived for twentynoine years after this in Kancy, a bene*
factor of the poor, aud a patrpn of the arts and sciences. But Poland,
BisB 07 roussu* 337
qnder the governaaeot of tbe weak an4 indolent Frederick Augustus
m^ WM approaching every day nearer to its dissolution.
d, BISE OF PRUSSIA.
Frederick ^ ^^' ^f^^ck William, the great Elector of Brandon-
WiiUao, burg, enlarged his territories on the east and west bj suo-
A. D. cessful wars, and secured the lofty position of bis state by
1640-1688. ^^ formation of a considerable army ; he, at the same time,
encouraged the internal prosperity and dvilization of his dominions, by
g:iviQg efficient aid to industry and the arts of peace, and by favoring im-
migration from civilized foreign countries, esp^ally that of the French
Huguenots, into his own states. After this energetic and sagacious
Frederi<^ UL P^^^9 ^is splendor-loving son succeeded, Elector Frederick
us king. IIL, to whom the outward magnificeo.ce with which Louif
Fiederiok L, XIY. had surrounded the court of Versailles appeared the
A- D. greatest triumph of earthly miyesty. He accordingly attacb-
1688- 1« 13. ^ ^^ highest importance to a splendid court and magnifl-
cent feasts. He looked with envy upon the Electors of Hanover and
Qaxqny, who had obtained that, which, in his eyes, was tlie most inesti-
mable of possessions — a royal crown, the former in England, the latter
ii^ Poland; and great was bis joy when the emperor X>eopold showed
fainaself disposed to confer upon him the title of king of Prussia, in return
lor his assurances of vigorous support in the war of the Spar
nisb suocession. After a solemn Qoronation in Konigsburg, la
which the Elector placed the crown upon his own head and upon that pf
his wife, and after a succession of splendid baoqqets, the new king, Fre-
derick !•, held a magnificent entry into Berlin, which he attempted to
render a suitable residence for royalty, by public buildings, pleasure
grounds, and monuments of art. The arts and sciences were encouraged*
In the country seat of Gharlottenberg, where the highly accomplished
queen Sophia Charlotte held her gracious rule, there was always an
assemblage of distinguished and intellectuid people. Societies for the
cultivation of the arts and sciences were established in Berlin, under the
auspices of the great pbiloflopher Leibnitz ; a flourishing university aros^
in Halle, distinguished by a noble freedom of spirit, and became the
scene of the labors of such men as Christopher Thomasius, the powerful
advocate of reason, and oi the German language and mode of thinking,
the pious Hermann Franke, the founder of the orphan asylum, that
'^ trophy of trust in God and love tp men," and the philosopher, Christo-
pher Wolf.
$ 4d0. This expenditure, combined with tbo support of a considerable
army in the service of the emperor, pressed hard upon the impoverished
hud; the citicen and peasant class were oppressed with heavy taxes;
the new splendor pf (he roy^ house appeared to be full of evjl for tb^
338 THB MODBRN EPOCH.
country ; fortunatelj, the extravagant Frederick L was suooeeded bj tbe
Ffederiok ^^S^ Frederick William L, who was in every thing the
William L, opposite of his predecessor. The jewels and costly furniture
^ !>• that had been collected by the father were sold by the son,
1718- 1740. ^1^^ p^^ ^^ king's debts with the pitx^eeds; every thing in
the shape of luxury was banished from the court, the attendants were
reduced to those that were absolutely necessary, and every superfluous
expense avoided. The king and his court lived like citizens, the meals
consisted of household fare, and the queen and her daughter were obliged
to occupy themselves in domestic duties. The clothing and furniture
were simple. The smoking-club, in which Frederick William and his
''good friends" practised coarse jests at the expense of the simple w
good-natured, and where every one was obliged to have a pipe in his
mouth, usurped the place of the intellectual circle with which Frederick
I. and his wife had surrounded themselves ; the opera-singers and acton
were discharged ; French beaux etprits, as well as teachers of languages
and dancing, were banished; poets, artists, and men of learning wera
deprived oi their pensions in part, or entirely ; Wolf, whose philosophy
was offensive to the orthodox and pious, received notice to quit Halle
within twenty-four hours, *^ under penalty of the rope.* But offensive as
this severity and coarseness on the part of the king might be, as well as
his contempt for all cultivation, learning, and refinement, it must be eon*
fessed that his powerful nature, his sound judgment, and his sparing
housekeeping gave strength and firmness to the young state. He relieved
the peasants for the purpose of raising agriculture ; he encouraged in-
ternal industry, and forbade the importati<Hi of foreign mannfactures ;
he settled the Protestants, who had been driven from their houses by the
bishop of Salzburg, in his own dominions ; and although his severity was
occasionally exercised at the expense of personal freedom,, it also com-
pelled judges and officials to an efficient performance of their duties.
The king's own example affords a proof of how much may be effected by
fhigality and good management ; for although he spent enormous sums
upon his Potsdam guards, for which he had ^ tall fellows " enlisted or
kidnapped from all the countries of Europe, and although he called many
useful institutions into exbtence, he left, at his death, a sum of money
amounting to 8,000,000 thalers, a great treasure in silver plate, a regu-
lated revenue, and a large and admirably organized attid disciplined
army.
§ 451. His great son, Frederick II. pursued a different path; whilst
Bom January ^^ father was engaged in his wild hunting parties, or pursu-
34, 17U. ing his coarse amusements with his companions, the talented
and intellectual prince was busied with the writers of France, and with
his flute, which be passionately loved. The difference of their disposi-
tions rendered them strangers to each other. Frederidk was offended
FBBDBBICK n. MARIA THERKSA. S29
Ij bis fiither^s harshnessy and the latter was angry with his son for pur-
suing a different course, and would willingly have forced him from it by
severity. This coldness and aversion increased with years; so that
Frederick, when his father, out of eaprice,,refused to sanction hfs intended
marriage with an English princess, embraced the resolution with a few
young friends of flying to England. An intercepted letter
of Frederick's to his confidant, the lieutenant von Eiitte,
revealed the secret. The king foamed with rage. He commanded the
crown prince to be confined in a fortress, and Katte to be executed before
the windows ; all those who were suspected of being implicated were
severely punished by the irritated monarch. It was not until Frederick
had penitently implored his father^s pardon, that he was released from
the fortress, and had his sword and uniform restored to him. Shortly
after this, followed the marriage of Frederick with a daughter
of the princely house of Brunswick-Bevem. But his spirit
found little pleasure in the narrow bounds of domestic life; he seldom
visited his wife, especially afte)* his father had relinquished the little
town of Bheinsberg to him, where, from this time, he led a cheerful life
amidst a circle of intellectual, accomplished, and free*thinking friends,
in whidli wit, jest, and lively conversation alternated with grave and
divenified studies. He read the works of the ancients in French trans-
lations, and derived from them a noble ambition of emulating the heroes
of Greece and Rome in their mighty deeds and their mental cultivation ;
he admired French literature, and conceived such a veneration for Vol-
taire, that he addressed the most flattering letters to him, and, at a later
period, summoned htm to his presence. They were both, however, soon
oonvinced that no personal intercourse could long endure between men
of such similarly sarcastic natures, and separated from each other in
anger ; but they still kept up a correspondence in writing. Frederick
displayed bis free way of thinking by receiving a number of French
authors, who had been banished from France on account of the hostility
of their writings to the Church ; and, after his ascension of the throne,
proved the liberality of his views in regard to religion, by
recalling Wolf to Halle, with the well-known expression,
*^ that, in his kingdom, every man might be happy in his own way."
4. THE TIMES OF FREDERICK II. AND MARIA THERESA.
O. THE AUSTRIAN WAR OF SUCCESSION (a. D. 1740 — 1748).
I 452. The emperor Charles VL, a good-natured but in no ways dis-
tmguished prince, died shortly after the accession of Frederick IL,
September 18, having, however, concluded the disgraceful peace of Bel-
nis. grade wich the Turks previous to liis death. As he had
28*
330 SHE MOPBRN fPOOH.
no male heire, it had been his anxiooa oare througli his whde leign, to
secare the sucGession of his only daughter, Maria Theresa, wife of
.Francis Stephen of Lorraine, to the hereditaiy states of Austria. With
this object, he purchased, bj great sacrifices, the acknowledgment horn
all the courts of the domestic law known as the Pragmatic Sancd<Hi, bj
virtue of which, the Austrian hereditary lands remained undivided, and,
in the event of the male line becoming extinct, descended upon the
female branch. Scarcely had the emperor closed his eyes, before Charka
Albert, Elector of Bavaria, who was descended from the eldest daughter
of the emperor Ferdinand I., made claims upon the Austrian patrimo-
nial states, not only in right of his descent, but upon some pretended
testamentary intentions of the emperor. Charies Albert, who was a
weak, narrow-minded man, devoted to superstition and ostentatioo,
would not have been in a position to make \m claims valid by the
resources of his exhausted land, bad not the French court, despite its
acknowledgment of the Pragmatic Sanctiixi, supported him with money
and troops, in the hope of thereby rendering the emperor and the Ger-
man nation dependent upon France. In the treaty of Nymphenbeij^
the Bavarian Elector sold himself to France, as his predecessor^ Chaiies
Emmanuel, had done before, for gold for his vanity, and troops fer
the acquisition of the throne. Frederick IL of Prussia« also, was not
willing to let slip the favorable opportunity of uiging the established
pretensions of his £unily to the inheritance of the Silesian principalities
of Jagendorf, Leignitz, Brieg, and Wohlau ; and accordingly supported
the Bavarian Elector in his claims upon Austria, Hungary, and Bohenua,
and in his suit for the imperial crown. Saxony, also^ would not lelia-
quish her share of the expected booty ; the indolent and stupid Augus-
tus III., who left his government entirely in the hands of the extravagant
and unprincipled count Brtihl, raised claims to Moravia, and brought
inexpressible misery upon his wretched and heavily oppressed ooontiy
by his participation in the war.
October 10, § ^58. A few weeks after the death of Charles YJ., Fre-
1740. derick II. marched with his admirable army into Silesia.
The king himself accompanied his troops, more for the sake of learning
the art of war, and of exciting the courage of the soldiers by his pre*
sence, than with any purpose of assuming the chief command, which he
^ P rather relinquished to the two experienced generals, Schwe-
1740-1742. rin and Leopold of Dessau. This first Silesian war soon
April 10, showed that a fresh spirit had come over the Prussians.
1741. After their victory in the battle of Molwitz, they took pos-
session of the greater part of Upper and Lower Silesia.
The French army, under BeUeisle, shortly after marched into Ger-
mmji aud being supported by Bavaria and Saxony, made themselves
qutttera of the territories of Upper Austria and Bohenw* Charjes
VRSDBItlOiC U. UAVA THSRB8A. 831
October, Albert Teeeivftd homage as archduke in liaz, and vas in-
1741. vested with the royal crown of Bohemia at Prague, in the
midat of magnificent ooiqnatioii bapqueta. He pow stood at the »ui|iniit
Chftfies VIL ^^ ^^^ hapiuness. The election of empevor ha4 teruuuated in
A. p. his fiivor, and he was already making preparations for a
1741 - 1746. gpienjjjd coronation in Frankfort.
$ 454. In this distress, Maria Theresa turned towards the Hungarians.
At a Diet in Fresbnrg (where, according to a widely-circulated legend,
abe is said to have appeared with her young son, Joseph, in her arms),
ahe ezdted such an enthusiasm among the magnates by the description
of her distresses, and by gracious promises, that they rose up with an
unanimous shout of *^ Yiyat Maria Theresa Bez,*^ and called their war-
like countrymen to arms* The Tyrolese, also, in a similar manner,
announced their ancient truthfulness to Austria, A gallant force soon
tnarched into the field from the lowlands of Hungary, The warlike
tribes of the Tbeiss and the Maroech, the wild bands of the Croats,
Slaves, and Pandoqrs, under the conduct of KhevenhuUer and B&renklau
(Perekk>), marched into Austria, drove back the Bavarian and French
troops with little difficulty, and pressed forward, plundering and ravag-
ing^ into Bavaria. At the very moment at which Charles Albert, by
French assistance, and in the midst of splendid banquets, was invested
Janoaiy 34, with the much*coveted imperial crown, the enemy entered
1749. his capital, Munich, occupied Landshut, and foraged the
eountry as fiur as the liCdi with their wild horsemep. Deprived of his
hereditary possessions, the new emperor, Charles VII., was soon reduced
to such extremities, that he could only support himself by the assistapce
ef France,
( 465. At the same time, an Austrian army marched into Bohemia to
drive the French out of this country also ; and Maria Theresa, to deprive
them of the assistance of the Prussians, consented, though with a heavy
heart, to the peace of Breslau, by which almost the whole of
' ' Upper and Lower Silesia was surrendered to Frederick. In
a short time, the greater portion of Bohemia was again in the hands of
the Austrians ; the capital, where Beileisle lay with a considerable army,
was already besieged. At this juncture, Beileisle, by his daring retreat
from J?rague to £ger, in the midst of winter, showed that the military
spirit of the French was not yet extinguished. The road was indeed
strewed with dead or torpid bodies, and even those who escaped bore the
seeds of death within them.
In the followmg spring, Maria Theresa was crowned in
^^' ^ Prague, and at the same time acquired a powerful confede-
rate in George IL of Hanover and England, After the
Jue 27, 1748. ^^ ^ Dettingeu (near Aschaffenburg), where the £aglish
«mI Austrian troops bore off the victory, the French retreated over the
832 THB MOBXRir SPOCH.
Bhine, and Saxony embraced the caose of Anstriay and receired subA-
dies from England.
§ 456. The success of the Anstrians rendered Frederidc IL anxiouB
for the possession of Silesia, and he therefore commenced a second Sile-
^,>. sian war against Maria Theresa. Whilst he was hastily
1744-174S. advancing upon Bohemia, as a confederate of the emperor,
with a strong army of imperial auxiliaries, Charles VII. found an o[^>or-
tunity of regaining his hereditary territory of Bavaria, and of returning
Jannary 20, to his capital, Munich, where, however, he shortly after died.
1746. His son, Maximilian Joseph, renounced all claim to the Aos-
ApriL trian heritage in the treaty of Fussen, and at the election of
emperor, gave his voice for the husband of Maria Theresa, whereupon
the latter was crowned in Frankfort as Francis L In the mean whfle,
Frederick 11. had lost the greater part of Silesia to the brave Aostrian
field-marshal, Traun ; but the splendid victory of Hohenfreid-
berg again restored him the superiority. The military re-
nown of the Prussian monarch, and of his generals, Zeithen, TVinterfeld,
and others, had spread far and wide, and prince Ferdinand of Brunswick
gave the first proof of his talents as a general at Sorr. When the old
Dessauer conquered the Saxons in the midst of winter, in the bloody
field of Kesselsdorf, and Frederick marched into the. capital of Dresden,
December 26, which had been deserted by Augustus III., Maria Theresa,
^^^' in the peace of Dresden, again consented to the cession of
^^^^'^ Silesia; and Frederick, in return, acknowledged her hu8>
1746-1766. band as emperor.
§ 457. The war, which was ended in Germany, continued for some time
longer in the Netherlands. It was here that the French, under the con-
duct of the talented and brave, but immoral and dissolute, marahal Saxe,
▲. D. a natural son of Frederick Augustus II., gained a succession
1746-1747. of splendid victories in the battles of Fontenoy, Raucoux,
and Laffeld, by which the Austrian Netherlands fell almost entirely into
October their power. But as the exhausted states were all longing
18- 20, 1748. for a cessation of hostilities, the peace of Aix was at length
arranged, by which the Austrian hereditary territories were awarded to
Maria Theresa, with the exception of Silesia, which remained with Pros-
sia, and a few possessions in Italy, which she gave up to Sardinia and to
the Spanish-Bourbon prince, Philip. The other states resumed tfadr
former rehitions, and France gained nothing by this expensive war hot
military renown.
b. THE SEVEN TEAJKS' WAB (a. D. 1756-1768).
§ 458. Maria Theresa could not forget the loss of Silesia. She thers-
lore took advantage of the eight yeare of peace that followed the condosioa
of the Austrian war of succession, to form alliances that prodooed impo^
THE 6BVBN TXAES' WAB.
taat consequences. Kussia's dissolute empress, Elisabeth, offended bj
the sarcasms of Frederick, was easily induced by her minister, Bestu-
cheff, to enter into a confederation with Maria Theresa; as was also
Augustus in. of Saxony, by count Bruhl, who likewise felt himself
injured by the scorn with which the great king always spoke of him. But
it was a masterstroke of crafty policy that Maria Theresa, by her shrewd
and dexteroua minister, Kaunitz, induced the court of Versailles to re-
nounce the ancient policy of France, which had always been directed to
"weakening the house of Hapsburg, and to unite itself with Austria
against Prussia. For many years past, Louis XV. had allowed himself
to be led into a profligate course of life by the pleasure-seeking and dis-
solute nobles. In the society of his licentious favorites and shameless
mistresses, he gave himself up eittirely to his sensual nature, and plunged
from one pleasure into another. In the excesses of the table, and the
joys of the chase and the bottle, he forgot his kingdom and the welfare
of hb people. Maria Theresa made use of these circumstances for her
own advantage. The proud empress, who stood upon her morality and
virtue, descended so far as to write a flattering letter to Louis's all-pow-
erful mistress, madame Pompadour, for the purpose of winning her over
to her interest. An alliance was accordingly entered into, by means of
the Pompadour and her creatures, by France and Austria, the object of
which was to deprive the king of Prussia of his conquests, aiid to re-
September, duce him again to the condition of an Elector of Branden-
1761. burg.
§ 459. Frederick, who received accurate information of all the plots
laid against him from a secretary of Bruhl's, whop:i he had
corrupted, determined to anticipate his enemies by an unex-
pected attack. He fell suddenly upon Saxony, took possession of Leip-
sic, Wittenberg, and Dresden, which had been deserted by the court, and
established the Prussian form of government. The taxes and all the
public rents were seized, the magazines thrown open to the Prussian
army, and the arms and- artillery sent to Magdeburg. For the purpose
of justifying these proceedings, he published the documents which he had
discovered in Dresden, and which contained the plans of his opponents.
The Saxon troops, who had taken up a strong position at Pima, on the
Elbe, were blockaded by the Prussians, and compelled by hunger to sur-
render. 14,000 gallant warriors were made prisoners. Frederick com-
pelled them to enter the Prussian service ; but they fled in troops at the
first opportunity into Poland, where the Saxon court remained during
the whole war. Frederick lingered in Dresden, and exacted heavy con-
tributions in money and recruits from the conquered country, for which,
war was declared against him by the German empire, for breach of the
Land-peace ; and the aristocratic government of Sweden, which only
acted according to the instigations of France, also joined the enemies of
834 VHB MODBBir VfOCB.
FniBsia. It was only England and a few Qerman states (Hanover, Bmna-
wick, Hesse-Cnssel, Gotba) that adhered to the cause of Frederick.
S 460. In the spring of the following year, Frederidc marched with
his chief force towards Bohemia, whilst his allies advanced
against the French, who were between the Rhine and the
Weser. Bj the gallant efforts of his troops, and bj the heroic courage
May 6 1767. ^^^ heroic death of Schwerin, Frederick won the splendid
but dearly bonght victory of Prague. But no later than the
Jnoe 18. following month, the defeat at Collin, by the brave Austrian
field-marshal Daun, deprived the Prussian king of all his advantages.
Ilis melancholy, both before and after the day of Collin, gave evidence of
the weight of care by which he was oppressed. A short time after, the
French also gained a victo^ over Frederick's allies at Hast-
enbeck, on the Weser, and prepared to take, up their winter
quarters in Saxony along with the German imperial army. The prince
of Soubise, a favorite of madame Pompadour, and a confidential associate
in the orgies of Louis XV., was already on the Saale with a large anny,
when Frederick made an unexpected attack, and in the battle
of Rosbach, gained a most splendid victory. The imperial
army fled so hastily at the very commencement of the battle, that it le*
received the name of the Runaway Army from the jests of the witty ;
the French soon followed, abandoning their baggage, which was rich in
articles of luxury and fashion. Seydlitz, the leader of the cavalry, had
particularly distinguished himself. A month later, the Pms-
sian king also won a famous victory from Daun, m the battle
of Beuthen, and again occupied Silesia. But in the mean time, the mis-
eries of war pressed heavily upon poor Crermany ; Hanover, Brunswick,
and Hesse-Cassel, in particular, were harshly treated by the extravagant
and dissolute duke of Richelieu, by exactions and military levies*
f 461. Since the battle of Rosbach, Frederick had been
* no less the idol of the people in England, than in France
and Germany. The English ministry, in which the elder Pitt (Lord
Chatham) possessed the greatest influence, accordingly determined to
support the king of Prussia more liberally with troops and money ; and
to leave the appointment of generals in his hands. He named the cir-
cumspect Ferdinand of Brunswick the leader of the allied force, who
drove back the French over the Rhine in the commencement
* of the spring, and secured the north of Germany against
their predatory inroads. In the mean while, the Russians, under Bestn-
cheff, had penetrated as far as the Oder ; but as this general behaved
in a very ambiguous manner during a dangerous illness of the empress
Elizabeth, he was banished, and Fermor appointed in his stead. The
latter oocopied East Prussia, compelled Eonigsburg to do homage, and
ivtlvanced with his wild hordes, ravaghig and plundering, into Branden^
TBM 0BtEll TXAMB' WAR. 935
btiTg. Hereupon, Frederick exeoated a masterly march upon the Oder^
and, m the bloody battle of Zomdoff, gained a tictorj that
^^^^ was certainly dearly purchased. After this, Frederick wished
to march into Saxony to the assistance of his brother Henry ; but being
surprised in an unfavorable position by the superior force of Daun, hd
lost the whole of his artillery and many brave soldiers in the attack at
^ ^ ^ _ Hochkirk. He nevertheless effected a juncture with Henry
October 14. , , , , , , . «
by a dexterous march, and again drove the enemy out of
Silesia and Saxony.
S 462. Frederick's means of continuing the war began to
dwindle. Whilst he was with difficulty filling up the gaps in
his ranks by oppressive levies of young and inexperienced recruits, and
could only supply his want of money and necessaries by severe war-
taxes and imposts, Maria Theresa was constantly receiving fresh supplies
of money and men from France and Russia.
For the purpose of preventing the union of the Russians and Austrians,
Frederick advanced to the Oder, but was so completely defeated by the
Avgast 12, Austrians under their skilful general, jLaudon, in the bloody
1769. * engagement of Kunersdorf, after he had already victoriously
repulsed the Russians, that he began to despair of a successful termination
of the war. Dresden and the greater part of Saxony was lost to the
Prussians. But the want of union between the Russians and Austrians
prevented the proper advantage being taken of the victory. In the mean
time, the allies of Frederick, under Ferdinand of Brunswick, had been
more successfully engaged against the French. It is true, that Broglio
ApriFis, had obtained the advantage in the battle of Bergen at Frank-
1769. fort-on-the-Main, but Ferdinand's victory at Minden drove
back the French over the Rhine, and saved Westphalia and Hanover.
§ 463. The war had already so weakened the Prussian
army, that the king, contrary to his usual custom, was com-
pelled to remain on the defensive. It is true that Frederick's name, and
the dexterity of his recruiting officers, brought troops of soldiers from all
quarters to the Prussian standard ; but even Frederick's military talents
could not entirely replace the loss of expert officers and veteran troops.
To defray the expenses of the war, he was obliged to have recourse to
the most oppressive taxes and to a debased coinage. Whilst Frederick
was in Saxony, the brave Fouquet, the friend of the king, suffisred a de-
feat in Silesia, in consequence of which the Austrians took possession of
the whole country. Upon this, Frederick relinquished Saxony, that he
. might again conquer Silesia. He gained this object by the vie
tory over Laudon at Leignits on the Katzbach ; but he was unable
to prevent the Austrian and Russian troops from breaking into Prussia,
taking possession of Berlin, and visiting the hereditary lands of the king
With plunder and desdation. Daan now occupied a strong position on an
336 THB MODBBN KPOCH.
eminence near the Elbe, for the purpose of wintering in Saxgoj. To
prevent this, Frederick hazarded a dcBperate attack upon Daon's campy
though* his brave soldiers fell in crowds before the artillery. Bj the
. dearly bought victory of Toreau, which was gained by the
November 8. . - «. , , -r* . , . . . , «
assistance of Ziethen, the Prussian king again regained Sax-
ony, and could make his winter quarters in Leipsic ; but 14,000 of his
soldiers required no shelter ; Daun's camp had been their burial place.
§464. (1761-1763.) In the year 1761, it appeared that Frederick
must succumb before the disaster that were pouring in upon him on ail
sides ; for not only had his numerous enemies taken possession of a great
part of his lands, but England, after the accession of George III., had
refused all farther assistance. Frederick indeed resisted with vigor the
enemies that were pressing upon him ; but his melancholy and despon-
dency are betrayed in his letters to his friends, and in his poetry. It ap-
peared that Silesia must fall to Austria, and Prussia to Hussia. But in
the very extremity of Frederick's distress, the empress Elizabeth died,
January 5, and her nephew, who was a great venerator of the Pniasian
1762. king, ascended the throne of Russia. This change produced
a sudden alteration in the state of afi&irs. Peter, a good-natured but in-
considerate prince, who acted over hastily, at once concluded a treaty of
peace with Frederick, and united his Russian army vrith the Prussian.
This connection, however, did not last long. Peter made enemies of his
subjects by imprudent innovations in the Church and State, and by re-
modelling the army upon the Prussian pattern* A conspiracy was formed
against him, with the knowledge of his wife, whom Peter treated harshly
on account of her dissolute behavior, in consequence of which, Peter m.
was barbarously murdered by some Russian noblemen, and Catherine XL
made herself mistress of the government which belonged by
^ * ' right to her son, Paul. The empress recalled her army fnmi
Prussia, but confirmed the peace that had been concluded with Freder-
ick ; and the Russian general, before his departure, assisted the Prussian
king in obtaining a victory.
§ 4G5. The exhausted states were now all anxious for the conclusioo
of the war. The Germans, whose lands had been ravaged, whose in
dustry had become stagnant, whose agriculture had been ruined, and
whose prosperity had been destroyed, demanded peace in despair ; this in
duced the greater number of the princes to withdraw from the alliance
against Frederick ; and, as the finances of Austria were also deranged,
Maria Theresa no longer opposed the peace that was universally desired.
February 21, A truce afibrded an opportunity for negotiations, which, in
1768. the following February, led to the peace of Hubertsburg. In
this, the possession of Silesia was secured to the king of Prussia for ever.
The fluctuating land and naval war, that had been carried on between
England and France in America, was, at the same time, terminated by
THB GERMAN EMPIRB. 337
the peace of Paris, bj which England got possession of Canada. From
this time, Prussia assumed her position among the five great powers of
Europe.
C. THE GERMAN EMPIRE AND THE AGE OF FREDERICK.
§ 466. The German empire had so entirely lost all respect as a po-
litical body, that it was not represented at the peace negotiations at
Hubertsburg, and the sentence of outlawry pronounced against Frede-
rick II. was received with scorn and ridicule. The power of the Empe-
ror was sunk to an empty shadow, and his revenue to a few thousand
florins. Nearly 350 princes and commonwealths, with the most varied
powers and the most unequal extent of territory, ruled in Germany with
all the rights of sovereignty, and Icfl nothing to their common chief but
the confirmation of mutual compacts, promotions, declarations of majority,
and the determination of precedence. During war, the Grerman princes
not unfrequently embraced the hostile cause. Bavaria was always in
alliance with France. The Diet, which had, ibr a long time, been held in
Regensburg, and which consisted of repre.sentatives of the princes and im-
perial towns, had lost all respect, since it was too much occupied with
speeches and debates to come to any decision, or if it came to any, was
unable to give it authority. Obsolete rights were contended for with a
little-minded jealousy ; rank, title, and the right of suffrage, were watched
over with the greatest care, and all time and energy devoted to doctrinal
disputes without object ; whilst foreign nations made Germany the thea-
tre of their wars, and treated the imbecile body politic with insolence and
contempt. The state of tribunals of justice was not less melancholy.
The imperial chamber of Wetzlar, in which the complaints of Estates of
the empire against each other or against their vassals were examined,
proceeded with such tediousness and prolixity, that causes were oAen
pending for years befbre judgment was pronounced, the suitors either
died or fell into poverty, and the records increased to an immeasurable
extent. T}ie judges were chiefly dependent upon the fees for their re-
muneration, and in this way a door was thrown open to corruption. An
attempt on the part pf the emperor, Joseph II., to improve and accelerate
Joseph n., the progress of justice in the imperial chamber, was frustrated
1766 - 1790. by the selfishness of the interested parties. As regards the
lower courts, the great diversity in the laws, the number of small states,
and the unlimited power of the judges and officials, rendered it extremely
difficult for the humble man to procure justice. The weak were exposed
without defence to every injustice of the crafty and the strong. It was
the golden age of jurists and advocates.
§ 467. Whilst the German empire was sinking Ipwer and lower, Prus-
sia, under her sagacious and energetic king, rose to ever increasing power
and prosperity. Frederick attempted to heal the wounds inflicted by
29
338 IHB MODEBK EPOCH.
the seven years' war, to the best of his ability, by supporting the decayed
land proprietors and the manufacturers in Silesia and the March with
money, by remitting their taxes for a few years, and by relieving the lot
of the peasants. He encouraged agriculture, planting, and mining;
established colonies in the uncultivated portions of his dominions ; and
fostered industry, trade, and commerce with the greatest care. By these
means, the country became prosperous, and he was enabled to increase
his taxes without oppressing the people. His own frugality, the simplicity
of his court, and the well-regulated economy of the state, were the ooca-
sion that the public treasury was every year better replenished. It was
not until a later period that he adopted severe and oppressive measures.
Among these, his management of the customs and excise may be par-
ticularly mentioned. He made the sale of coffee, tobacco, salt, dec, a
royal monopoly, and forbade the free trade in these articles. For the
purpose of preventing any clandestine traffic, he appointed a number of
French excise officers, who, by their insolence, made the regulation, which
was othervi'ise so oppressive to the citizens and peasants, utterly detes-
table. The affairs of the Church and of education gained the least by
the attention of the king. In a small place, the situation of public in-
structor was frequently a retiring post for a discharged petty officer,
whilst the higher institutions were often left to the management of
Frenchmen. The free-thinking king took little interest in the affairs of
Christianity or the Church ; but we must admit that he procured the
universal admission of the principle of Christian toleration in his domi-
nions. Frederick devoted great attention to the affairs of justice. The
rack and the horrible and degrading punishments of the middle age were
abolished, the course of justice simplified, and the laws improved. The
new book of laws that was introduced under his successor, Fred.erick
William II., as the Prussian code, was prepared under Frederick. More
important, however, than all tnese laws and arrangements was the fact,
that Frederick II. inspected^every thing himself, and narrowly inquired,
during his journeys, after the administration of justice and the manage-
ment of affairs, ejected the negligent and chastised the dishonest. By
his untiring activity from early morning till late at night, he acquired a
.comprehensive knowledge of all the affairs of his kingdom, and his com-
manding character, which scrupled not at corporal punishment, terrified
the slothful and the unjust. One peculiarity of the great king has often
heen blamed with justice — his love for what was foreign, and his neg-
lect, nay contempt, for the things of his own country. It was not only
in literature that Frederick gave the preference to the French, so that
he wrote his own letters and works in their language; the whole proceed-
ings of this nation were adpiired, and, as far as possible, imitated by him.
French adventurers, by the hundred, found honor and support in Prussia;
And as this admiration of foreigners became the mode in other courts, all
THE AQE OF FREDERICK. 389
quarters of Germany swarmed with hair-brained Frenchmen. Parisian
barbers, dancing-masters, and boasters were often preferred to the mo$>t
deserving natives in the appointment to the higher offices of the court
and government.
§ 4Gd. Frederick, in his old age, was once more involved in a war
with Austria. At the close of the year 1777, the Bavarian line of the
hou:te of Wittclsbach became extinct with Maximilian Joseph, and the'
elcL-torshtp devolred to the next heir, Charles Theodore of the Palatinate.
This licentious, profligate, and bigoted prince, who, despite his many
failing:s and vices, is still affectionately remembered by the people of the
Palatinate, and whose love of art is borne witness to by many remarkable
erections in Mannheim, Schwetzingen, and Heidelberg, possessed neither
legitimate offspring nor love for the land he inherited. He consequently
ea>ily allowed himself to be persuaded by the emperor Joseph 11. to a
treaty, in which he acknowledged the validity of Austria's claims to
Lower Bavaria, the upper Palatinate, and the territory of Mindelheim^
and declared himself ready to relinquish these lands in return for certain
advantagel^ being assured to his natural children. Frederick IL, alarmed
at this aggrandizement of Austria, attempted to interfere with the project
by inducing the future heir, duke Charles of Zweibrucken, to protest
against the contract in the Diet ; and as this was attended by no results,
he ordered an army to march into Bohemia to prevent any change in the
existing state of things. This gave occasion to the Bavarian war of suc-
A. D. 1778, cession, which was carried on more with the pen than the
1779. sword, inasmuch as both parties attempted to prove them-
selves in the right by learned treatises. But as all the states were
averse to a general war, Russia and France succeeded in persuading
Maria Theresa^, who had no liking for the zeal for innovation displayed
by her son, to the peace of Teschen, by which Bavaria was secured to
the house of the Palatinate, Innviertel with Braunau to Austria, and the
succession of the Margravate of Anspach and Bayreuth to Prussia. The
emperor, irritated at this, made a second attempt, eSter the death of
Maria Theresa, to possess himself of Bavaria, offering in exchange the
Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) as the Buigundian king-
dom. Charles Theodore allowed himself to be persuaded to
til is also. But Frederick H. now attempted to frustrate this project, and
to secure the succession in Bavaria to the house of the Palatinate, by
establishing an alliance of princes, which was gradually joined by most of
the princes of Germany. This princely confederation increased the
power and consequence of the king of Prussia, in th^ same proportion
that it entirely undermined the authority of the emperor. Each prince
sought for independent and unlimited power ; each formed a miniature
court, to which, in magnificence and profusion, in morals and fashions, in
language, literature, and art, the court of Versailles served as a pattern.
340 THE MODBRN EPOCH.
d. THE INTELLECTUAL POPULAR LIFE IK GERMANY.
§ 469. Prejudicial as this division of Germany was to its external
power and greatness, it was in an equal degree advantageous to the de-
velopment of the arts and sciences. Many princes were patrons and
encouragers of literature and cultivation ; they sought to attract men of
celebrity to their capitals and universities, and encouraged poets and men
of learning to undertake great works by rewards and distinction?. Thus
it happened, that in the second half of the eighteenth century, when Ger-
many's political and military consequence was entirely 16st, literature^
poetry, science, and the entire spiritual life, received a mighty impul^^e,
and created a degree of refinement such as has scarcely been equalled in
Klopetock, naodem history. Poetry especially flourished. Klopstoek,
A. D. by his great epic poem, the ^ Messiah," and by his odes and
1724 - 1808. ^ar-songs, awakened a warmth of Christian feeling, and a
patriotic spirit of liberty ; he formed his severe and solemn diction and
LosAing ^^^ rhymless metre upon the model of the ancients. Lessing,
A. i>. the great thinker and critic, in his " Hamburg-Dramaturgy,"
1729-1781. gj^j exposed the weakness of French dramatic literature,
and by his own pieces for the stage ('^ Minna von Bamhelm," ^ Emilia
Galotti," « Nathan the Wise,") showed the way by which it was possible
to attain to genuine dramatic poetry ; he at the same time, in his **' Lao-
coon," opened the eyes of thinkers to the essence of poetry and plastic
Wbckelmanu *^ ^® understanding of which was revealed during the
A. D. same period by Winckelmann, in a different way ; and in his
1717-1768. remarkable controversial writings agunst the pastor Goze of
Hamburg, on the Wolfenbuttel fragments, he displayed a vigor of lan-
guage and a clearness of argument which are astonishing. Upon his
Herder shoulders Stands the poetical and intellectual Herder, who
A- D- went back to the original sources of language and poetry, aiKl
**"^ ^* revealed with fine taste the beauties of the Oriental poetry
of nature (" On the Spirit of Hebrew Poetry," " Palm-leaves," &c.), and
displayed the deep iperit of the artless popular songs of different nations
(in the " Cid," • Voices of the People in Songs"), and gave a mighty im-
impulse to further inquiries by his " Ideas towards a Philosophy of the
Wieland History of Man." Wieland, the cheerful philosopher of life,
A. D- in his romances ("Agathon," "The Abderites," "Aristip-
17SS 1811L \ «j ' *
pus"), which are for the most part based upon the ancient
Greek manners, with a modem coloring, addressed the sentiments and
mode of thinking of the upper classes, which were formed upon the
French model, and preached the wise enjoyment of life in loose and wag-
gish language, a doctrine well suited to the higher ranks of society, and
introduced Gennan literature into a circle that had hitherto read nothing
bat French works. He, at the same time, renewed the romantic epic
THB INTELLBCTUAL POPULAR LIFE IK GERMANT. 341
poetry of the middle age in his ^ Oberon." Gennan prose received a
complete revolation from these three men: Lessing gave it strength,
sharpness, and perspicuity ; Herder, elevation and richness of imagery ;
"Wieland, fluency and grace. It was on the ground prepared by these men
Goethe, ^^ Goethe, the great genius of the century, brought forward
A. D. his creations, in which the spiritual life of the nation and the
1749-188S. progress of his own culture are reflected. At the genial and
energetic age of seventeen, when the youth who was pressing 4>nwards
with violence, despised all the rules of art and usage, set no value on
any thing but the productions (even when formless) of genius, praised
the depths of original and natural poetry, delighted in popular btillada,
and gazed in wondering admiration upon Ossian and Shakspeare, ^ The
Sorrows of Werther," a romance in letters, and the drama of ^^ Gotz von
Berlichingen," in which these poets served as models, awakened a
storm of enthusiasm ; when Lessing and Winckelmann had revived the
interest for andent art in Germany, the ckssical dramas, *^ Tasso " and
^ Iphigenia," in the spirit and in the clear and harmonious form of anti-
quity, appeared in a time adapted for them ; and the impressions and feel-
ings that the poet had received during his travels in Italy are reflected in
the unsurpassable popular scenes of the tragedy of ^ Egmont" The idyllic
epic, ^ Hermann and Dorothea,'' touched upon the mighty period of the
French revolution and the sorrows of the emigrants ; the romance of ^ Wil-
behn Meister," in which the life of a player is described, and the novel of
^ Elective Affinities," belong to the new romantic time, which found plea-
sure in the mysterious, the wonderful, and the fiibulous. In ^ Poetry and
Truth," Goethe dispUys the progress of his own life and ;nental develop-
ment ; and in the magniflcent dramatic poem of ^ Faust," with which
we find him engaged through his whole life, he has left to posterity a
picture of the most inward conditions of his souL In the mean while,
the political world had experienced violent convulsions, and the at^
tendon of the people was directed towards history and the afiairs of
Schiltor *^^ -^^ ^^ juncture, Schiller, by his historical dramaH,
A. D. * that presented before the soul of the nation similar tempest-
17M-1806. ^^^g periods taken from foreign and domestic history, and by
his enthusiasm for freedom, fiitherland, and human happiness, struck the
chords that found the deepest response in the bosoms of the people. His
first three tragedies, «* The Robbers," « Love and Intrigue," and " Fiesko,"
belong to the stormy period of youth ; with the drama of ^ Don Carlos "
begins a more refined period ; during his residence in Jena as professor
of history, he occupied himself with the "^ Thirty Years' War," with the
« Revolt of the Netherlands," and with the trilogy of <^ Wallenstein ;" and
in the last years of his life, in Weimar, which were rendered gloomy by
aiekness and anxieties about the means of subsistence, he composed
"^ liana Stuart," the ''Maid of Orleans," the <" Bride of Messina," and the
29*
342 THB MODERN EPOCH.
magnificent drama of ^ William Tell.** Schiller gained the friendship of
Goethe hy the purity of his feelings and the truthfulness of his efforts,
different as the natures of the two men were. Their united actiTity
marks the culminating point of German poetry.
§ 470. Not poetry alone, hut the science of reli^on, philosophy, hi»»
tory, the affairs of education, in a word, the whole spiritual life, expe-
rienced a mighty revolution. Protestant theologians searched through
the Bible, and presented systems of Christianity in accordance with the
Lavater direction of their own minds. Some, like Lavater, the pastor
A. D. of Zurich, sought to preserve the world in a rigid fiiith hy
1741-1801. means of religious writings, and to establish the conviction
that man is brought into immediate union with God by prayer ; others,
Kicolai ^^ ^^® Berlin bookseller and author, Nicolai, would admit *
A. D. no other judge in spiritual things than human reason and the
1788-1811. p^^er Qf reflection, and declared that every thing that was
opposed to this was superstition. The' former class were called Saper-
naturalists, the latter Rationalists. A third party, which included Hanumn,
the philosopher, Fr. H. Jacobi, and the ^oet Fr. Stolberg, like the mys-
tics of the middle ages, made religion a matter of feeling. Lavater was
also the inventor of the dubious science of physiognomy, which teaches
how to discover men's characters from the contour of the head and fea-
tures of the countenance, bul which was exposed to some severe attacks
from the clever humorist and satirist, Lichtenberg of Grottingen. In phi-
Kant, A. D. losophy, the great thinker, Kant of Konigsburg, erected a
1724-1804. system that soon penetrated into all the sciences, and excited
and swayed the learned world of Germany. Spittier, by his perspicuity
and acuteness, and the Swiss, John Muller, by his learning and artistic
descriptions, established a new epoch in historical writing ; and in the
affairs of education, Basedow, by the model seminary of Dessau ( Phi-
Ian thropium), and Campe and Salzmann, by their writings for children,
called a new method of instruction into existence, upon which the Swiss^
Pestalozzi, founded his sysCem of infant education and of popular schools.
VL THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW WORLD.
1. CONTEST OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE FRENCH FOU THE POSSES-
SION OF NOBTH ABCERICA.
[a.d. 170Q-1763.]
§ 471. The French regarded with some uneasiness and alarm the en-
largement and prosperity of the English colonies in North America.
Their own settiements in Acadie (Nova Scotia), along the shores of the
Bay of Fundy, and in Canada, though formed before Jamestown was
built or the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth, seemed to have no element
THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH IN AMKRIOA. 343
of life or progress ; they were military or missionary ][x>8ts, ratber than
agricultural colonies firmly rooted in the soil. Among the French were
found excellent pioneers, bold explorers of the wilderness, and devoted
and successful missionaries. Fond of rambling and adventure, averse to
the prolonged labors of agriculture, and satisfied with moderate gains and
much amusement, they pushed their exploratipns and their alliances with
the Indians far beyond the English, but gained no permanent possession
of the country. The plastic nature of the Frenchman fitted him to be-
come a friend and ally of the red men ; he did not do much towards civil-
izing the savages, but was in some danger of becoming a savage himself.
He joined them in the chase and the dance, built a wigwam in their vil-
lage for Ills dusky concubine, and trained his children to become members
of the tribe, and to adopt every peculiarity of Indian costume and man-
ners. Still, he did not lose his nationality, but preserved his loyalty and
his religious faith, and rendered cheerful obedience to the representative
of his monarch, the governor of Canada. The Jesuits and Recollet mis-
sionaries braved all the perils of the wilderness in their zeal to Christ-
ianize the natives ; they made converts of many, — that is, they baptized
them, hung crucifixes about their necks, and taught them to repeat the
simplest formulas of prayer. While in company with their spiritual
guides, the Indians were docile and devout ; separated from them, they
soon relapsed into all the excesses of barbarism. The French mission-
aries made many geographical discoveries ; they were the first to explore
the Great Lakes, the first white men who beheld the great Falls of the
Niagara. As early as 1565, Father AUouez reached the outlet of Lake
Superior, and, three years afterward, in company with Marquette and
Dablon, he visited the tribes on the southern border of this lake, and tra-
versed the country between it and the foot of Lake Michigan. Trading
and missionary posts were established by the French in this region, and
they became the rallying points of civilization for the country around the
upper Lakes. In 1673, Marquette and Joliet discovered the Missis-
sippi, finding their way to it by the Fox and the Wisconsin rivers ; they
sailed down the great stream to Arkansas, and on their return, passed up
the Illinois, and thence found their way back to Green Bay. Nine years
afterwards, Robert de la Salle accomplished the work which they had
begun, by passing down the river to its entrance into the
^ Gulf of Mexico, and taking possession of the country on its
banks and at its mouth in the name of his king, in whose honor he called
it Louisiana. Louis XIV. granted him a commission to found a colony
there, and an expedition on a liberal scale was fitted out from France for
this purpose. The vessels arrived in the Gulf of Mexico, but were not
able to find the entrance of the Mississippi, and the company were obliged
to land on the coast of Texas, where they formed a temporary settlement
While conducting an expedition by land to dbcover the great river, La
344 THE MODSRN BPOCH.
Salle was murdered by one of his companions, and his
Texas were attacked and massacred by the Indians. So disastrous was
the failure of this expedition that the French did not renew, far some
years, the attempt to colonize Louisiana.
§ 472. But Louis XIV. was anxious to complete the ^ries of his
reign by creating for France a colonial dominion on the banks of the
great '< Father of Waters," which should rival or eclipse the flourishing
colonies of England on the Atlantic coast, that had been planted for her,
in their penury and homelessness, by the hard hands and stout hearts of
her political and religious exiles. After the peace of Ryswich, therefore,
a brave French officer, Iberville, assisted by his two brothers, SauvoUe and
Bienville, was sent out in command of four vessels, and a band of aboat
200 emigrants, to renew the attempt made by La Salle.
Aided by Father Anastasius, who had been one of La Salle's
companions, he succeeded in finding the entrance of the Mississippi
from the Gulf. But the low and marshy banks of this river appearing
an unsuitable position for a settlement, he chose rather the barren and
sandy shore of Biloxi bay, at some distance to the eastward from the
river's mouth, and there disembarked his companions. As the emigrants
thought not at all of agriculture, but only of mining and trade with the
Indians, they readily accepted a spot where no green thing ooold ever
grow, any more than on the desert of Sahara. Expecting to receive
their chief supplies from France, their first object was to secure easy
communication with the ships. But even this end was imperfectly ob*
tained, for owing to the shallowness of the water, vessels could not come
within a league's distance of the shore. The colony was afterwards
transferred to an island over against the bay, where also the soQ was a
fine sand, white and shining as snow. About the same time. Mobile was
founded, at the head of the bay of that name. An offer of four hundred
Huguenot families, already inured to exile, hardship, and toil, to join
.the settlement, was rejected by the bigotry of the king and bis ministers;
and the colony was left to consist of Canadian hunters, vagrant specola-
tors, intent only upon trafficking in furs and hunting for the precious
metals, and indolent office-holders who thought of nothing but their sala-
ries. We are not surprised to learn, therefore, that, in 1708, the colonists
hardly equalled in number those who first came out with Iberville^
though a fresh band of emigrants had joined them almost every year.
In 1723, the French government was informed that the inhabitants
could not subsist if they did not receive a supply of salt provision. A few
years before, an eye-witness says the famine was so great at Biloxi, that
over five hundred people died of hunger. The kvish supplies furnished
by the mother country abne preserved the colony from extinction. Bot
the government, growing weary of such a burden, sold the settlement, in
1712, to a wealthy merchant, who, in return for the exclusive right of
THE FRENCH AND XNOLISH DT AMERICA. 345
trade and other privileges, UDdertook to defray its expenses ; and fire
years afterwards, this merchant transferred his right to the famous Mis-
sissippi Company, which was projected and managed by John Law. The
money lavished upon Louisiana for a few years by this gigantic corpora-
tion, and the involuntary or hired emigrants who were sent thither, gave
it for a time a gleam of prosperity. New Orleans was founded, and a
xf^o fort and settlement begun higher up the river, where Natchez
now stands.
§ 473. On the possession of this sickly colony, and on the previous
explorations which had made known the course of the great river and
the country around the great Lakes, the French founded their chtim to
the whole valley of the Mississippi. But the English always maintained
that their possession of the seacoast gave them a valid title to the coun-
try in the interior for an indefinite extent to the west; and in conformity
with this idea, the charters of several of the Colonies made their territory
stretch across the whole breadth of the continent, from sea to sea. The
Five Nations, a powerful Indian confederacy, the steadfast friends of
the English and enemies of the French, also claimed by right of conquest
the whole country of the northwest, lying between the Alleghanies, the
Great Lakes, and the Mississippi ; and Enghind sought to perfect her
title by annexing to it this pretension of the savages. So long as the
two countries were at peace with each other, this controversy led only
to a series of border disputes, encroachments, and intrigues with the na-
tive tribes, neither party being numerous enough to colonize the territory
which both coveted. But when England and France were at war, their
respective Colonies in America also engaged in a murderous and protrac-
ted conflict, which, because the savages were enlisted in it, was fearfully de-
structive of life and property. The details of this warfare in the wilder-
ness are shocking to humanity. It spared no sex, profession, or age, and
through the mutual exasperation that it provoked, both parties in it were <
guilty of excesses which shamed their pretensions to Christian civilization.
§ 474. The first struggle took place during the war whicli began with
the accession of William of Orange to the English throne, and ended
with the peace of Ryswick, in 1697. The weight of it, in America, fell
chiefly upon New England and New York, the other Colonies being
protected by their distance from the French settlements, and the mother
country having too much employment for its arms in Europe, to be able
to send much aid to its suffering children in America. At this period,
and during the subsequent wars, ^he people of New Enghind had their
own peculiar ground^ of quarrel with the French, who were their rivals
in the fisheries, who encroached upon their boundaries, endangered their
outlying settlements, and stirred up the savages against them, and whom,
as Roman Catholics, they feared and hated even more than if they/had
been pagans. The French in Acadie and Canada, too feeble and few in
346 THE MODERN EPOCH.
DDmb^r to accomplish much by their own efforts, placed their chief de-
pendence upon their Indian alfies, the native tribes at the eastward
being uniformly on their side. They thus succeeded in desolating the
frontier, while Massachusetts retaliated by fitting out regular expeditions,
and striking heavy blows against the chief settlements of the French.
Dover, in New Hampshire, was burned by the Indians, and its inhabi-
tahts were killed or carried off as prisoners ; the fort at Fem-
aquid was taken, and though an attack upon Casco was re-
pulsed, all the settlements further east were desolated. The next year,
Schenectady, on the Mohawk river, was attacked at midnight, burned,
and most of the people were massacred, while another party of French
and Indians destroyed Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, and a third re-
duced Casco. Massachusetts, in return, sent out a little fleet, conveying
about 700 men, under Sir William Phips, against Acadie ; he easily sub-
dued Port Royal, and by ravaging that place and the neighboring setde-
ments, obtained plunder enough to defray all the expenses of the ex-
pedition. He then sailed with 32 ships and 2,000 men, to attack Qae- v
bee, while a little army of Massachusetts and New York troops, under
Fitz John Winthrop, marched against Montreal. Both were unsuccess-
ful, being defeated by the great activity and vigilance of the aged Const
Frontenac, then goveitior of Canada. The expenses of* these bootleg
expeditions proved a heavy burthen to Massachusetts, obliging the Gene-
ral Court to make a considerable issue of paper money. The war then
languished, though a sickening contest was kept up by small parties oo
the frontiers, which caused great misery, and ruined many flourishixig
settlements. Peace was made in 1697,*the treaty stipulating that each
party should retain the. possessions it had before the war.
§ 475. Four years afterwards, hostilities were renewed by the war of •
the Spanish Succession, which ended only with the Treaty of Utrecht,
in 1713. The Spaniards had a few small settlements in Florida, and
as they were now the allies of the French, some of the disasters of the
war fell u()on the English Colonies at the south. Governor Moore, of
South Carolina, led 600 men against the fort and settlement at St Au-
gustine ; but before the fort had surrendered, the appearance
* of two Spanish men-of-war in the offing induced him to re-
treat precipitately, leaving behind his vessels and stores. Three years
afterwards, he conducted fifty white volunteers and about a thoosand
friendly Creek Indians against St. Marks, Florida:, and the Spanish mis-
sionary villages in its vicinity, where a portion of the Appalachian tribe,
half civilized and converted to Christianity, were established. The fort
could not be taken, but Moore desolated the Indian villages, robbed and
burned the churches, and gave up the country to his Creek allies, the
Appalachians removing their settlement to the banks of the Altamaha.
In retaliation, a French frigate and four Spanish sloops made an attack
THE FRENCH AND ENQUSH IN AMERICA. 347
Dpon Charleston ; but the governor of South Carolina assembled 900
men, captured the French vessel, and beat off the assailants
with great loss. At the north, the war was conducted, as be-
fore, by small parties of Canadians and Indians, who made daring in-
Toada into the English settlements, plundered and burned one or two
towns, massacred half of the inhabitants, and carried off the others into
Canada, before a force could be collected' to oppose them ; while the Colo-
nies, with a little help from England, sent out formidable expeditions
against Acadie, Montreal, and Quebec, which were generally unsuccess*
fal, though they sometimes inflicted great suffering upon the enemy, esp^
cially upon the Acadians. Deerfield and Haverhill in Massachusetts were
thus sacked and burned by a party of French and Indians under De
Rouville, and the alarm spread even to the towns in the near vicinity of
Boston. The government offered a considerable reward for Indian prison-
ers or for scalps, — a fearful act, which shows how the atrocities committed
during the war had broken down all the feelings of a common humanity.
Indeed, after the terrible scenes which had taken place at Schenectady,
Deerfield, and Haverhill, the colonists had come to regard the French
and Indians as wolves that should be hunted down without pity. Stimu-
lated by these rewards, a class of forest scouts and Indian hunters was
gradually formed and trained, who soon rivalled their savage foes in all
the arts of bush-fighting and in disregarding the cry for mercy. Massa-
chusettsy assisted by Rhode Island and New Hampshire, sent
out an expedition of a thousand men, under Colonel March,
against Acadie, hoping thus to check the destructive war on the eastern*
frontier. March did not succeed in capturing Port Royal, but he rava-
ged all the settlements along the coast, and did much to cripple the ene-
my's strength in that quarter. Much greater preparations were made
two years afterwards, by a combination of the northern Colonies, for an
attack on Montreal and Quebec, under the expectation that a British
fleet and army would be sent to cooperate with them. But the Bri- •
tish ministry did not keep their promise, and after .waiting a long time
for the appearance of the fleet, the forces were disbanded without at*
tempting anything. At last, in 1711, the Tory ministry of Queen Anne
did make an effort against Canada for the relief of the suffering Ameri-
cans. A powerful fleet under Sir H. Walker, and a large body of troops
commanded by General Hill, brother of the celebrated Mrs. Masham,
arrived at Boston when nobody was expecting them. But some provi-
sions and Colonial forces were hastily got together, and embarked in the
fleet, while a large force was collected at Albany to proceed against
Montreal, as soon as they should hear of the fall of Quebec But the
Britbh commanders proved to be wholly incompetent for so important a
trust Through the obstinacy and negligence of Walker, eight or nine
of the transports were wrecked in the St Lawrence, and a thousand men
348 IHB MODRBN XPOCH.
were drowned. The disheartened adminil immediatel j tamed aboat and
made sail for England, and the troopa at Albany were dismissed before
they had seen the enemy. The disgracefbl fiulnre of this enterprise ex-
cited much grief and indignation both in the Colonies and in the EngM
House of Commons, where the whole undertaking, so suddenly b^;mi
and lightly abandoned, was denonnced as a flagrant political j<^. Hie
treaty of Utrecht pat an end to the war, and afforded a little goaran^
for the future, as it ceded the province of Acadie or Koth Scotia to the
English, and recognized the Five Nations as subjects of England. But
it was long before the northern Colonies recovered from the disaslen
they had experienced in the murderous and ill-managed conflict.
§ 476. Sir Bobert Walpole's ministry maintained peace for about a
quarter of a century, a peace broken in America only by a few short sad
comparatively insignificant contests with the Indians. But this mhdsur
was driven against his wiU into a war with Spain in 1789, and thns
years afterwards, France also became a party in the contest. Gca.
Oglethorpe was appointed military commander in Grcoi^ and the Cuo-
linas ; and with about 1,200 men, and a body of Indians, he
A jy^ 1740 ' ' ^ '
made an attack upon St Augustine, but was unsucceasfiiL
All the Colonies were then required to furnish their quotas for a fMca of
about 4,000 men, to aid Admiral Vernon in his unfortunate expeditios
against Carthagena. They readily complied, furnishing both men sod
money, and were thus deeply concerned by the failure of that ill-staired
enterprise. Then the Spaniards, in their turn, became the assaihnts,
• and sent a considerable force against (Georgia and Carolina, which m
repelled by Oglethorpe without much difficulty. At the north, the chief
incident of the war was the capture of the strong French fortraw of
Louisbuig, on Cape Breton, by an army fitted out in great part finn
Massachusetts, and commanded by an enterprising mflitit
officer. Colonel Pepperell. This place had been so heavily
■ fortified as to be deemed impregnable, and it was called the Dunkiik or
Gibraltar of Amerjpa. In war, it was a source of great annoyance to
the New England Colonies, as it gave shelter to the privateers whidi
swarmed upon the coast, clestroying their fisheries and breaking up thdr
general commerce. Its unexpected capture, after a siege of six or seTcn
weeks, by a force seemingly very inadequate to make an impressioD opoa
it, was about the only gleam of good fortune that illustrated the anna of
Great Britain during this inglorious war. CoL Pepperell received a
baronetcy as his reward. Again a project was formed to capture Que-
bec by a fleet and army fnmi England, to be joined at Louisboiig by
troops from New England, while an army furnished by the other Colo-
nies should proceed against Montreal ; and again, after a laige Colooiil
force had been collected, and great expense incurred, the English fleet
and anny £uled to appear, and the enterprise was abandoned^ As ^bir
THE FRENCH A2n> ENGLISH IK AMERICA. 349
Miehiuetts guarded her frontiers with as mnch energy as she had shown
ia acting against Lonisbarg, she suffered comparativelj little from the
incursions of the French and Indians. The war was ended in 1748 by
the treaty of Aiz fai Chapelle, which, to the great chagrin of the New
Englanders, ceded hank Louisburg to the French.
f 477. The decisive struggle between France and England for the
possession of the country on the Mississippi and the Great Lakes began
ID 1753, though war was not formally declared till three years later.
Louisiana had at last gained wealth and strength, and the French mis-
sionary and trading establishments on the Lakes had been converted into
military poets, formidable not so much from the strength of their garri-
sons, as from the savage allies by whom they were surrounded, or who
could be quickly summoned to their defence. A plan was formed to
connect Canada with Louisiana by a line of foi^, extending from Lake
Erie along the upper waters of the Ohio, and thence by the course of
that river to the Mississippi ; thus hemming in the British settlements,
which occupied a narrow strip of land on the Atlantic coast, and had
nowhere passed the Alleghanies. This project soon brought the French
into collision with the Ohio Company, an association formed in London and
Virginia, which had obtained from the crown a grant of a large tract of
land along the Ohio, and had erected trading houses there. The French
warned the English traders off, or sent them prisoners to Canada ; and
complaint was therefore made to the Governor of Virginia, who sent out
George .Washington, then a young officer in the militia service, on a
message to the French commander, requiring him to withdraw his troops
from that region. An unsatisfactory answer was returned, and Col.
Washington was again despatched, at the head of four hundred men, to
drive off the intruders. He captured a scouting party that
was sent against him, but was soon after assailed by a very
superior force of French and Indians, and after a brave defence, was
obliged to capitulate on honorable terms, and return to the eastward.
Preparations for war were now made by both parties, though the con-
test seemed a very unequal one. The population of the English colonies
amounted to a million and a half, while the French scarcely num-
bered one hundred thousand. But the latter were difficult to be reached,
» as their forts were remote points in the wilderness, surrounded by a cloud
of Indian allies; and from these forest fastnesses, they menaced the
whole English frontier. The British army of that day was an unwieldy
and cumbrous machine, overburdened with baggage arid the munitions
of war, led by brave but pedantic officers, and likely to be thrown into
inextricable confusion and distress by the difficulties of hewing a path
through the forests and over themountainsyin constant danger of surprise
by a light-heeled and enterprising foe.
I 478. General Braddoek was sent from England with two regiments,
80
350 THE MODERN BF0O&
to be joined by some provincial troops from Yiiginia, and tben to
against Fort da Qoesne, which the French had lately boiU
at the head of the Ohio, where Pittsbuigfa now stands.
He crossed the mountains in June, with about two thousand men, Colonel
Washington acting as his aid-de-camp. The difficulty of making a road
through the wilderness induced him, at Washington's advice, to leave
behind his heavy baggage under a rear guard, and press forward rapidly
with a band of 1,200 men, to secure the post before French saoeors
could arrive. . Neglecting the precautions which he had been urged to
take against surprise, when near his joumejr's end, he fell into an ambus-
cade formed by only 250 French, with a large party of Indians, and was
totally routed, more than half of his troops being killed or woonded.
Braddock himself was slain ; and the panic being communicated to the
rear guard, all the artillery and baggage were abandoned, and the feeble
remains of the army fled in great disorder across the mountaina, leaving
the border settlements defenceless. The other expeditions planned by
the British ministry and the Colonies for this year had but little success.
Acadie, or Nova Scotia, indeed, was easily reduced, the French inhabit-
ants of this province, notwithstanding its cession to England thirty years
before, having assisted the operations of the enemy* For (his act, and
September, ^oi" refusing to take the oath of allegiance, they were now in-
1755. humanly punished ; seven thousand of them were forcibly
put on shipboard, and transported to the English colonies, where they
were scattered round, and maintained as paupers. Their villages were
burned, their fields devastated, and the few that remained were driven
for shelter to the woods and mountains. An army under Sir William
Johnson, directed against Crown Point, was encountered, near Lake
George, by Baron Dieskau, who had recently arrived with fresh troops
from France. An English party that had been sent in advance fell into
an ambuscade, and was routed with great loss. But when the French,
flushed with this success, advanced to attack Johnson's main body, who had
now thrown up a slight entrenchment, they were very warmly received,
and, after an obstinate conflict, were driven from the field, and totally dis-
persed, their commander being wounded and taken prisoner. Satisfied
with this victory, Sir William Johnson gave up the movement agamst
Crown Point ; and the expedition to Niagara also proved a failure, the
troops not being able to reach that place, owing to the lateness of the
season.
s
§ 479. A meeting of delegates from seven of the Colonies had been
A.D. 1754. ^^^ ^ Albany, to secure the friendship of the Indian con-
federacy of the Five Nations, and to take other measures for
the common safety. A phin of union between the several Colonies, drairn
up by Dr. Franklin, was proposed at this convention, and accepted by the
delegates. Had it gone into operation, it would have given greater unity
THE FRENCH AKD ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 351
to the efforts of the Colonists in war, and might have led to important
consequences by cultiyating among them, at this early day, a feeling of
nationality and a sense of mutual dependence. But the project fell to
the ground, being disliked in £ngland because it gave too much power to
the people in the Colonies, and in America, because it conceded too much
to the crown.
§ 480. The year 1756 passed away without any thing of consequence
being attempted by the English in America ; while the French, under
the able guidance of the Marquis de Montcalm, now their commander-
in-chief, struck one vigorous and important blow. This was directed
against Oswego, a strong English post on the southern shore of Lake
Ontario, which the French suddenly invested with a large armament,
and compelled it to surrender, with a garrison of over a thousand men,
and a great quantity of artillery and stores. The western Indians, sus-
tained ^d guided by the French at Fort Du Quesne, wasted the frontiers
of Pennsylvania and Virginia with a pitiless and desolating war, and their
scalping parties came within thirty miles of Philadelphia. The next year
was marked by equal inactivity and feebleness on the part of
the English, and by another successful enterprise of the French.
Several of the Colonies showed great energy in raising men and money ;
but their efforts were paralyzed by the want of concert with each other,
by the necessity of waiting for orders from England, and by the pompous
and dilatory proceedings of the incompetent generals who were sent over
to command them. On the other hand, Montcalm, not obliged to take
oomicil with any one, suddenly collected a force of 8,000 men, crossed
Lake Greorge, and laid siege to Fort William Henry at its southera ex-
tremity. The garrison was 2,000 strong, and General Webb was at
Fort Edward, only fourteen miles distant, with 4,000 more. But not a
man did Webb send to the relief of the beleagured fort ; and after six
days' siege, the garrison was compelled to surrender, on condition of being
allowed to retire to Fort Edward unmolested. But as soon as they were
disarmed, Montcalm's Indian allies fell upon them, massacred a consider-
able number, and drove the others into the woods, where many perished
before reaching the settlements. The capture of this post created great
alarm in New England and New York. Peppei'ell, the captor of Louis-
burg, was called out from his retirement and made Lieutcnant-General
of Massachusetts, where 20,000 men were collected in arms. But satis-
fied with the success already obtained, Montcalm retired to Canada with-
out attempting any thing further.
Thus far, the war had been very disastrous to the English. After
three campaigns, the French not only retained possession of every foot
of the disputed ground, but had captured Oswego, driven their opponents
&>m Lake Creorge, and, through their savage confederates, had carried
the brand and the tomahawk into the heart of the English settlements.
S62 THB MODBBK EPOCH.
f 481. To remedy this train of disastera, the elder Pitt was calkdto
the head of the English ministrj, and his vigor and determination boob
gave a new aspect to the war. Abercromhie, who wh
called to the command in America, found himself at die
head of 50,000 men, of whom abont one half were provincial leriet.
All the Canadians who could bear arms did nift exceed 20,000, and theK
had been kept so constantly in service that agriculture had been almoit
entirely neglected, and the horrors of a ikmine were added to those ui
war. An attack was first made on«LouisbuFg, which was soon com-
pelled to surrender by a large fleet and an army of 14,000 men, under
General Amherst. Forbes marched against Fort Du Quesne with eo
considerable a force that the garrison, reduced by the desertion of most
of their Indian allies to less than 500 men, did not venture to await hii
approach, but set fire to the works, and retreated down the river. Aber-
crombie, who advanced with the main body of the army againA Tiooo*
deroga, was not so successful. Montcalm had thrown himself into that
fortress with a strong garrison, and had so obstructed the approaches to
it by an abatis of felled trees, that the place was really impregnable ex-
cept by the regular operations of a siege. The English rashly attacked
at once, and in front, with bulldog courag^ but after a gallant straggle,
they were beaten off with heavy loss, and compelled to retreat in dis-
order to Fort William Henry. But Bradstreet, at the head of a pro-
vincial force from New England and New York, made amends for Oas
repulse by the capture of Frontenac, which gave the English the ooin-
mand of Lake Ontario, and shut off Montreal and Quebec from the
French posts at the west. The Indian tribes along the Ohio and the
upper Lakes now sued for peace ; %nd a treaty, formed with them at
Easton, once more gave security to the frontiers of Virginia and Penn-
sylvania.
§ 482. Stimulated by the successes of this year^ Pitt resolved to make
a great effort, the next campaign, for the conquest of Canada.- lie
Colonies, their former expenditures having been promptly reimbursed hf
the English government, nobly seconded his endeavor by bringing
20,000 men into the field, and raising a large sum in money for their
outfit. The command of the main expedition against Quebec was given
to Wolfe, a young general of much gallantry and promise,
who appeared in the St. Lawrende in June, with a powerful
fleet, and an army of 8,000 regular troops. Two subsidiary expeditions
were organized, one, under Amherst, to proceed by way of Lake Cham*
plain against Montreal, and the other, under Prideaux, against Fort
Niagara. The want of vessels impeded Amherst's operations; bot
Ticonderoga and Crown Point fell into his hands without a struggle, ibe
danger of Quebec having caused the garrisons to be withdrawn ; snd a
detachment from his army attacked and burned the Indian village d St
THE FREXGH AKD ENQUSH IN AMERICA. 8S3
Francis, whence many of those sd^ping pardes had issued whieh had
desolated the frontiers of New England. Prideauz was killed at the
eaege of Niagara by the bursting of a gna ; but his svcoessor, Sir William
Johnson^ defeated a force of 1,200 French who advanced to relieve the
place, and pressed the siege with so mach vigor, that the garrison soon
surrendered. He should then have proceeded down the Lake and the
St. Lawrence, to cooperate in the attack upon Quebec; but the want of
vessels frustrated this part of the project also, and Wolfe was thus lefl
to his original resources. His force, indeed, outnumbered that of the
enemy, and was better disciplined ; but the latter had the advantage of
one of the strongest positions in the world, well fortified, and were com-
manded by a general who had merited the highest honors in war. As
long as Wolfe attacked the French intrenchments below the city, along
the banks of the St. Charles, on which side alone he was expected,
Montcalm easily frustrated all bis efforts. But the British general con-
ceived the bold plan of secretly passing up the river, and scaling by sur-
prise the Heights of Abraham, as the lofty plateau is called on a pro-
jecting point of which lies the upper town of Quebec. The project was
gallantly executed, though the lofty bank of the river was so precipitous
that the men could with difficulty pull themselves up by clinging to pro-
jecting roots and stones. Finding that the English had thus got in his
rear, where his defences were weak, Montcalm drew out all his troops
before the city, and put the fate of Canada upon the arbitrament of a
single battle. The issue was not long doubtful ; the undisciplined and
half famished levies that formed the greater part of the French army,
fled hastily afler a few vollies, and were pursued with great execution to
the gates of the city. Montcalm and Wolfe both fell on the field, mor-
September 16, tally wounded. Quebec surrendered in less than a week,
1759. and the war in North America was virtually at an end,
though Montreal was not taken by the English till the foUowing year. A
capitulation was then signed by the French governor-general, which sur-
rendered to the English all the remaining posts in western Canada. The
peace of Paris soon followed, by which France ceded to
England all North America east of the MissisWppi, except
the island and city of New Orleans, which, with all Louisiana west of
the great river, were given to Spain. England also received Florida
from Spain, in exchange for the Havana.
§ 483. The war between the Europeans was at an end ; but the Eng-
lisli Colonies had still to sustain a desperate struggle of the Indians, who
could not be easily won to respect the authority of their new masters.
The Cherokees had previously broken out into a war, after
suffering some gross wrong from the English; had ravaged
the frontiers of Virginia and the Carolinas, and defeated a considerable
detachment of troops, and were finally driven to sue for peace only by
80*
854 IHB MODRRN XPOCH.
the presence of an overwhelming iwce. Hardly had the English takea
possession of the poets at the west and aroond the Lakes, when PontiflC^
an Indian chief of much activity and address, was able to unite all the
.... northwestern tribes in a conspiracy against them. The secret
A, D. 1768. „ - , , . , . , L
was so well kept that, at the appointed time, the savages took
by surprise all the posts at the west, except Detroit and Fort Pitt (Da
Quesne), and massacred the garrisons. The border settlements were
swept with a more destructive war than they had ever before experienced.
Several detachments of troops, that were sent out to relieve the two belea-
guered forts, were intercepted and cut to pieces. At last, two consider-
able expeditions were fitted out, the one to advance through Pennsylvania,
and the other to proceed along the Lakes ; and after some bard fighting
with the former one, the Indians submitted, and made peace
A. D. 1764. , - ' . , - ,
upon the terms that were required of them.
§ 484 The protracted contest with the French and the Indians being
brought to a close by the complete triumph of the English, the American
Colonies were seemingly in the full tide of prosperity. The great exe^
tions they had made during the last war had taught them the secret of
their strength ; that war had cost them, it was computed, about 30,(KK)
lives and over sixteen millions of dollars, of which only five millions
were repaid by the British ministry. Immigration rapidly increased, and
the vast forest in the interior began to be explored by those who were in
search of a new home. The Delaware and Hudson rivers were crossed
by a thronging multitude, the Alleghanies were surmounted, and white
settlements were formed upon the upper tributaries of the Ohia No
longer hemmed in, as with a ring of iron, by the French and the savages,
the internal principle of expansion, which has been at work ever sioce^
received its first free development, and carried the limits of civilization
every year farther west. Trade flourished on the sea-coast ; Boston had
long been distinguished for enterprising traffic, and Newport, New Toik,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore were rising rapidly in commercial impo^
tance. Printing presses and newspapers, schools and colleges, flourished,
though the Uterature of the Colonies as yet existed only in the hamble
form of seirmons. Yet the metaphysical writings of Jonathan Edwards
slowly acquired a European reputation, and the fame of Dr. Franklin
was carried, by his brilliant discoveries in electricity, to the bounds (d
the dviUzed world.
2. THE WAR OP AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, AND THE ESTABLISHMEST
OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.
§ 485. But the prosperity of America was now to receive a sodden
check, and a contest to begin more important to her, and more momeotooi
in its consequences, than any which the world had ever witnessed. Eog-
iand waa oppressed by a heavy debt, which had been more than doubled
THB AMEBIGAN RBVOLTTriON. 355
by the heavy expenses of the late war, and the people were oyerhnxw
dened with taxes. In an evil hour, it occurred to the Chancellor of the
Sxchequer that this pressure might be lightened, if the American ColO"
nies could be made to contribute to the general expenses of the empire.
The war, though not undertaken for their relief or advantage, but to gra-
tify the ambition of the mother country by enlarging the bounds of her
colonial dominion, had still, by its successful termination, contributed
largely to their prosperity ; and it was plausibly urged that they ought
to bear a portion of the weight which it had entailed upon the nation.
It was forgotten that they had expended blood and treasure during the
contest at least as freely, in proportion to their means, as England ; that
if the war had benefitted them more, it had also cost them more ; and
that they were already heavily taxed by their assemblies, to pay the inte-
rest on their colonial debts and defray the necessary expenses of these
provincial governments. Though they had never been taxed by the
authority of England, they had made liberal contributions to the king's
service when asked to do so, and when they were invited to judge of the
exigency of the case, and to determine how the money should be nused.
They did not refuse to give, but they insisted that their money should
not be given without their consent, — that they should not be taxed with-
out their consent. But the British ministry refused to listen to these
considerations ; they thought only of the paramount authority of parlia-
ment, and of the means of lessening their own unpopularity by alleviating
the taxes at home. The late war had thrown new light upon the magni-
tude of the resources of the Colonies ; and to the argument that they had.
never been taxed before, the minister had no better answer to make than
the insolent plea of Dr. Johnson, that ^ the ox had no reason to complain
of the aggravation of the burdens laid upon the calf." They forgot that
the horns of the ox had grown ; that if the Americans were now more
able to pay taxes, they were also more able to defend themselves against
unjust impositions. Yet was the step not taken without some hesitation.
The plan had been proposed before, to the ministry of Sir Robert Wal-
pole and to that of the Pelhams. But those sagacious statesmen had
refused to hazard so dangerous an experiment. Even George Gren-
ville, the author of the present scheme of parliamentary taxation, would
not reduce it to practice till he had tried the temper of the people, and
ascertained by parliamentary measures how much they were able and
willing to bear.
§ 486. The Americans had always admitted, in general terms, that
parliament had a right to regulate their trade; but practically, and
&vored by their insignificance and remoteness, they had always evaded
these r^ulations, and had enjoyed almost as much license in commerce
as in the management of their domestic affairs. A large part of the trade
maintained by the northern Colonies was known to be contraband, and
356 THE MODERy EPOCH.
the occasional endeavors of the government to enforce the Xavigatioii
Act and other laws of commerce had no other effect than to hara^ and
irritate the people. A vigorous attempt to enforce these laws to the let-
ter was to he the prelude to direct taxation. Cruisers were stationed on
the coast, and enjoined to he vigilant ; custom-house officers and informers
were stimulated by the offer of rewards ; and Writs of Assistance were
granted, which empowered an officer to enter any shop or dwelling liou>e.
and search for contraband goods. So gross a violation of tlie principle uY
English law that every man's house is his castle, could not fail to mukc* a
ferment ; no name or occasion being specified in the writ, the officer who
held it could select any dwelling that he saw fit, and thus, perhaps, gra-
tify some personal grudge. The legality of these writs was denied^ and
on as good ground, apparently, as that on which the validity of *• gen-
eral warrants " was afterwards questioned in England. When the cau>c
February, w'hich was to determine their legality came on for trial at
1761. Boston, James Otis, a lawyer of great ability, high reputation,
and an eager and impetuous spirit, resigned his lucrative office of advo-
cate-general for the crown, which would have obliged him to ai^e in
favor of the writs, and appeared as counsel for the petitioners in oppo&i*
tion to them. The speech which he then delivered, for boldness and elo-
quence in asserting and defending the rights of the Colonies, was a
memorable one, and produced a marked effect on public opinion in Mas-
sachusetts. John Adams, who was present at its delivery, says, " Every
man of an immense crowded audience appeared to me to go away, as I
did, ready to take arms against Writs of Assistance. Then and there was
the first scene of the first act of opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great
Britain. Then and there the child Independence was bom. In fifteen
years, that is, in 1776, he grew up to manhood, and declared himself
free.'' The court postponed judgment on the case, and never delivered
it; but these writs were never afterwards used in the Colony.
§ 487. After this scene, and many others of similar tendency, had cre-
ated much alarm and awakened a spirit of determined resistance in
February 6, America, Mr. Grenville introduced into parliament his hill
A. D. 1766. for imposing a stamp tax on the Americiin Colonies, and it
became a law with little opposition. Stamped papers, upon which a con-
siderable impost was to be paid, were required for all judicial proceed-
ings, clearances at the custom-house, bills of lading, and even the diplo-
mas granted by seminaries of learning. The law was not to take effect
for about seven or eight months after its passage. The news that the
bill had become a law arrived in Boston early in April ; and the effect
was as if a cannon had been fired so near the ears of the people that
they were all stunned by the explosion. They seemed stupified at
first; there was no popular outbreak, no meeting for the passage of vio-
lent resolutions. But it was the lull which precedes, and not that whidi
THE AMBRICAU RBVOLimON. 367
foUowB the tempest The General Court assembled in May, and thej
immediatelj resolved that the other Colonies should be invited to unite
'with them in sending delegates to a Congress, to be held in New York
in October, to consult together on the present state of affiurs and the
recent acts of parliament This was a significant intimation that the
Colonies were at last aware of the strength and firmness which they
might acquire bj concert and union. As this Stamp Act Congress, as it
wras called, was not to meet till the month before the time appointed
for the law to go into operation, the people meanwhile took the afiair
into their own hands. Newspapers, pamphlets, sermons, and associa*
tions served to kindle and to manifest their indignant feelings. An
agreement not to import any more goods from £ngland till the obnox-
ious act should be repealed was very generally signed in the com-
mercial towns ; and combinations were also formed to encourage Amei^
ican manufactures, to* wear American cloth, and to increase the supply of
wool by ceasing to eat lamb or mutton. Such a ferment of opinion could
not long prevail without leading to acts of violence ; though the patriot
leaders deplored this result, and exerted themselves to prevent it, fore-
seeing its injurious efiect upon the cause. Mr. Oliver, who had accepted
the post of distributor of stamps in Boston, was hung in effigy, a building
designed for his office was demolished, his house was assaulted, and he
was so much frightened that he consented to appear before the people
and publicly resign his commission. A few days afVerwards, the mob
entered the houses of two officers of the customs, and damaged the fur-
niture, and then proceeded to the residence of Lieut Governor Hutcbin-
Bon, which they completely gutted, and burned his furniture in the street
A town meeting was held the next day, at which the citizens expressed
their detestation of these outrages, and offered aid to the ma^strates in
their endeavors to prevent a repetition of them. In the other Colonies,
also, the stamp distributors resigned their offices, enough of popular vio-
lence being shown to intimidate them. The Virginia Assembly, as soon
as the news of the passage of the Stamp Act arrived, passed a series of
resolutions, under the influence of Patrick Henry, one of which declared
that *^ the sole right and power to lay taxes was vested in the General
Assembly," and could not be transferred to any- other persons whatever.
But this resolution passed by a majority of only one vote, and the next
day, it was reconsidered and expunged from the journals. Delegates
^ from nine of the Colonies assembled at the Congress in New
York, and assurances were received from two other Colonies
that they would acquiesce in the result. The proceedings of this Con-
gress were singularly moderate, considering the excited temper of
the people. They only published a declaration of the Rights and
Grievances of the Cok)nies, and addressed a petition to the king, and me-
morials to the two houses (xf parliament; and the tone of these documentSi
358 THB MODERN EPOCH.
tliough finn, was mild, aigamentative, and respectful. They cluned
all the privileges of British subjects, and especially that of not being taxed
without their own consent. When these papers were signed, the Con-
gress was dissolved, after a session of little more than a fortnight. The
chief advantage derived from it was, that it made the patriot leadeis
from the different Colonies acquainted with each other, and enabled them
to give assurances of mutual support. November came, but the stamps
were nowhere used, and the business even of the courts of justice, after a
short suspension, was resumed. The act was practicallj nullified, with
the assent, either free or enforced, of the judges and the governors.
§ 488. The cause of the Colonies, which they pleaded with much ear-
nestness and ability, soon found sympathy in the whole of Europe ; and
in England itself, it was embraced by a powerful party, which opposed
the measures of government both in speech and writing. At the head
of this opposition stood the great statesman and orator, the elder William
Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham ; and he was actively supported by
Conway, Col. Barre, and Lord Camden, afterwards Lord CbanceUoTy
and, next to Lord Mansfield, the highest legal authority in the realm.
This powerful oppositicm produced a change of ministry in July, 176^
and, after a vehement debate, after Dr. Franklin had undex^gone a memo-
rable examination before the House of CommoAs, in which he de<dared
that the Act could never be enforced, the Stamp Act was repealed. Hut
a bill was passed at the same time, declaratory of the power
* and right of parliament to bind America in all cases what*
soever. Li the Colonies, the news of the repeal was received with great
rejoicing, the accompanying act being justly regarded as a mere cootii-
vance to save the honor of government. Lord Camden, indeed, in the
House of Lords, had strenuously opposed the declaratory bill aa ^ ab-
solutely illegal." *^ Taxation and representation," he declared, ^^aie
inseparably united ; God hath joined them, and no British parliament
can put them asunder." Indemnity was demanded from the Colonies for
those officers of the crown who had suffered from the late riots; and
both New York and Massachusetts granted them full compensation.
§ 489. But the joy of the Americans was of short duration, for in
little more than a year, another act was passed by parliament, imposing
duties on all tea, paper, glass, paints, and lead, that should be imported
into the Colonies. This was an avowed attempt to raise a revenue,
though, in form, the bill was like other acts for regulating trade ; and it
was hoped that, on this account, it would escape censure. But the prin-
ciple first advanced by James Otis was now generally adopted by the
Colonists, that revenue bilb under the form of regulations of trade vio-
lated their rights quite as much as direct taxation. Thus the flame of
opposidon was kindled anew, and raged as hotly as ever. Non-importa-
tion was an obvious and legal means of escaping these taxes ; and ex-
THB AMERICAN REVOLtJTIOK. 890
tensiye combinations were therefore formed to refrain from the use, not
on\j of the taxed articles, but, as far as possible, of all other British oom-
modities. Able leaders and defenders of the popular canse were not
wanting. Besides James Otis, there were the two Adamses (Samuel
and John,) and John Hancock in Massachusetts^ John Dickenson in
Pennsylvania, (the author of the celebrated ^ Farmer's Letters,*' an able
plea for Colonial rights,) Patrick Henry and R. H. Lee in Virginia, and
Gadsden and Rutledge in South Carolina, besides Dr« Franklin, whose
reputation and abilities were of great weight in Loddon, where he resi-
ded for many years as agent of several of the Colonies. The profits of
British merchants were soon so much diminbhed by the non-importation
agreements, that they petitioned for a repeal of the law ; and in deference
to their wishes, not to the rights of America, the duties were taken off
from all the articles except tea, the impost on that being avowedly re-
tained for the sole purpose of asserting the authority of parliament to
pass such a law. ' This duty was very small, only three pence on the
pound ; and as a drawback was now allowed, of a shilling on the pound,
originally paid on the importation of the article into Great Britain, the
Colonists might actually receive their tea at a lower price than they had
formeriy paid. But the principle was at stake ; the Americans saw very
well, that if they submitted to this law, all imported commodities would
soon be subjected to heavy duties. No tea was imported; and other sub-
jects of controversy also coming up, a furious contest, in speech and print,
raged both in England and America. But public sentiment in the former
country was generally turned against the Colonies ; high notions of govern-
ment and unfounded opinions in political economy, the pride of national
dominion and a disposition to stretch the authority of parliament to the
utmost, all served to nourish the fatal error. As Dr. Franklin observed,
^* every man in England seems to consider himself as a piece of a sove-
reign over America ; seem84o jostle himself into the throne with the king,
and talks of ^our tuhjecU in the Colonies* " George III. also, with the high
notions of prerogative that had been instilled into him before he came
to the throne, and with the dogged obstinacy of a dull intellect, adhered
to the delusion long after the nation, the parliament, and even the minis-
try, had been cured of it, and wished to retract
§ 490. The war of pamphlets, newspapers, and speeches, the sharp
eontrovereies between colonial assemblies and royal governors, and occar
sional outbreaks of popular violence continued for four or five years, till
the Americans were well nigh weaned from their old affection for the
land of their forefathers, and had ceased to glory in the British name.
Boston was the head quarters of opposition to the policy of the English
ministers, and several regiments of British troops were accordingly sent
thither to dragoon the inhabitants into submission. But this measure
aerved only to increase the irritation, and to make the breach irreparablet ^
300 THB MODEBN BPOCH.
An affray soon took place between the mob and the soldiers, in wimsh
ViiKih 5 77 ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ *°^ killed three of their unarmed asaaikntB,
' besides dangerously wounding five others. It was late la
the evening ; the alarm bells rang, the citizens rushed into the streets^
and an open battle between the people and the troops was with difficulty
prevented. The next day, the irritation of the people was so strongly
manifested in a town meeting, that the governor and the military com-
mander consented to remove the troops to an island in the harbor, and
quiet was restored. The soldiers who had fired, with their officer, were
brought to trial for murder ; but Adams and Quincy, two of the most
distinguished advocates of popular rights, nobly consented to act as
their legal defenders, and made out so clear a case for theui, that they
had acted under strong provocation, that the jury acquitted them of mur-
der, and only two were convicted of manslaughter and slightly punished.
Yet the story of " the Boston Massacre," as it was called, served long to
inflame the passions of the multitude against their British oppressors.
§ 491. As yet, no revenue had been received from the duty on tea,
because the Americans would not import any of that commodity, the
little which they consumed being obtained by smaggling. But the con-
test was brought to a crisis, in 1773, by the £ast India Company, which,
instigated by the English ministry, sent several cargoes of tea to the
Colmiies, supposing with good reason that it would be purchased if it could
only be landed and offered for sale. But the patriots were on the alert,
and immediately formed combinations to prevent the landing <^ the tea,
and to, force the consignees to send it back. In New York and Phila-
delphia, popular vengeance was denounced against any persons who
should receive the article, and even against the pilots if they should guide
the ships into the harbor ; and the vessels were thus obliged to return to
England, without even effecting an entry at the custom-house. At
Charleston, the tea was landed and stored in damp cellars, where it was
quickly spoiled. At Boston, Governor Hutchinson and Admiral Moatagae
succeeded in preventing the vessels from leaving the harbor, in spite of the
menaces of the inhabitants ; whereupon, about fifty persons disguised them-
selves as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships at the wharf, and, in the pre-
sence of a great crowd of people, drew up the chests of tea from the holds,
and emptied their contents into the water. When the news of this act
arrived in England, the indignant ministry resolved to punish the contuma-
cious Bostonians, and for this purpose, introduced three bills into parlia-
M h 1771 ^^^^ one of which shut up the port of Boston, and removed
the custom-house to Salem ; another virtually abrogated the
charter of Massachusetts, by giving to the crown or to the governor the
appointment of the Council and of all officers, and even the selection of
juries, and by prohibiting town meetings from being held without the
governor's consent ; and a third provided that persons accused of mar*
IHB AMSRIOAH BBVOLUTIOK. 301
der might be sent to England for trial. These bills were strenoouslj
opposed by Fox, Burke, Barr^, and Dunning, but were carried bj ma-
joritiee of more than four to one. Another laW provided for the quar-
tering of troops in America. Four more regiments were sent to Boston,
so that the town was now strongly garrisoned ; and Gen. Gage being ap-
pointed governor, in place of Hutchinson, the people of the province
were virtually placed under military law. The Quebec Act passed at
the same session, for the purpose of preventing Canada from taking part
with the other Colonies, extended the boundaries of that province to the
Ohio and the Mississippi, established the old French law in all judicial
proceedings, and secured to the Catholic Church there the enjoyment
of all its lands and revenues. A short time before, as if the feelings
of the people of Massachusetts had not been sufficiently irritated,
their agent in London, Dr. Franklin, was made the object of an in-
decent and scurrilous invective before the Privy Council by the Soli-
citor General, Wedderbum, the avowed intention being to insult him and
his constituents. He was charged with having transmitted to Massachu-
setts certain letters, written by some officers of the crown in that province,
on public subjects, to their friends in office in England, which letters had
been given to Franklin by some person who had obtained them by strata-
gem or unfair means. But before making this charge, the ministers
themselves had repeatedly intercepted the letters of Franklin and other
Colonial agents, and read them.
§ 492. The passage of the Boston Port Bill was the virtual commence-
ment of the American Revolution, though a collision with arms did not
take place till another year had elapsed^ The agreements to import no
more British goods, and to abstain from the consumption of them, were
renewed with greater solemnity and strictness than before. Another
general Congress was called by Massachusetts, to meet at Philadelphia
in September; and committees of correspondence were instituted, to
render the action of the different Colonies harmonious, and to keep
them advised of each other's proceedings. Closing the harbor had de-
prived the people of Boston of their usual means of livelihood; but
Salem and Marblehead generously tendered them the use of their wharves,
and subscriptions for the more indigent were obtained all over the coun-
try. The Congress met at the appointed time and place, and twelve
Colonies were represented in it, only Georgia sending no delegates.
Among the members were the two Adamses from Massachusetts, and
Washington and Patrick Henry from Virginia. Memorials and ad-
dresses were sent forth, as by the former assembly ; and the tone of these
papers was naturally firmer and more decisive than on the former occap
sion, though it was still moderate. A dignified and eloquent Address to
the People of Great Britain,^ written by Mr. Jay, was much adnured*
The Declaration of Colonial Rights was precise and comprehensive, and
31
962 THB MODERN EPOCH.
it included a protest against the employment of a standing armj in tlie
Colonies without their consent. • Professions were made of perfect loyalty
to the king, and of great solidtade for the restoration of former harmony
with Great Britain ; and, from a majority of the delegates, these profes-
sions were undoubtedly sincere. After a session of eight weeks, the dele-
gates separated, having first recommended that another Congress should
meet in the ensuing May, if the difficulties with England were not preri-
onsly adjusted.
§ 493. In Massachusetts, hostilities seemed to be on the point of break-
ing out Governor Gage prorogued the General Court before it had
come together ; but the members met at Salem, in spite of the proroga-
tion, organized themselves into a provincial congress, chose John Han-
cock for their president, and proceeded to business. In an address to
the governor, they protested against the presence of British troops and
the erection of the fortifications in Boston. They appointed a committee
of safety, to take measures for the defence of the province, and another
committee to obtain provisions and military stores. They forbade the
payment of any more money to the late treasurer, and ordered all taxes
to be collected by an officer whom they had appointed. Three generals
were commissioned by them, to take the command of the militia, who
were organized and disciplined with much diligence. Gage issued ooon-
ter orders and proclamations, but no one out of the range of his soldiers'
muskets listened to them. His power was limited to Boston, which be
held by a considerable military force, and had carefully fortified ; but the
people throughout Massachusetts rendered strict and cheerful obedience
to the provincial congress. Later in the year, 12,000 ** minute men"
were enrolled, being volunteers from the militia, who pledged themselTes
. to be ready for service at a minute's notice. Minute men were also en-
rolled in the other New England colonies, where, also, measures were
taken to procure artillery and military stores.
§ 494. A striking peculiarity of the early part of the contest was the
hearty and spontaneous cooperation of the larger and smaller towns
throughout New England. The movement did not begin in a conspiracy
first organized in the metropolis, and gradually diffused, by the action of
a secret society, throughout the land. In fact, there was no secrecy, no
conspiracy, in the case. The opposition to the offensive acts of parlia-
ment was open and avowed from the first ; it was manifested with as much
spirit in little villages — in such places as Hingham, Bedford, C(»ooni,
and Dan vers — as in Boston. The common people, the farmers and
mechanics, of these little communities acted in concert with the only
authorities whom they were wont to recognize, — with their own select-
men. They held town meetings, in which they concerted measures of
defence, and passed resolutions dedaratoiy of their opinions and their
rights, and expressing sympathy with the people of Boston. Having
THB AMERICAN RBYOLUTIOK. 363
made their rude militaiy preparations, they waited patiently, with arms
in their hands, for the first act of aggression on the part of the British.
From the commencement of the difficulties, their attitude was strictly a
defensive one ; they waited till the first blow should be struck by their
opponents. They were not entirely unanimous ; in most of the towns,
there were individuals known to favor the cause of the crown. But these
persons were watched with great vigilance, and whenever their move-
ments became suspicious, they were seized and placed in custody. There
^-ere some popular outbreaks ; but the mob did not seize obnoxious per-
sons, and hang them up to a lamp post, or to the next tree, and then
make targets of their bodies. In a few instances, the houses of known
Tories were roughly visited, and their furniture was injured or destroyed ;
but the greatest violence ever done to their persons was to tar and fea-
ther them. And even these outrages were discountenanced or sharply
reproved by the most influential patriots. The machinery of popular
agitation on a large scale had not then been invented. The people con-
sequently manifested but little enthusiasm ; but they adhered to their
purpose with a cool and dogged determination, and an unflinching forti-
tude, which bore them triumphantly through the long struggle. Other
wars, before and since, have been waged ^br the people, and in the name
of the people ; but the American revolution was the first war actually
waged by the people, that is recorded in history. Because town and coun-
try acted heartily together, neither absolutely taking the lead, and nei-
ther being wholly dependent on the other, the occupation of Boston by
the British was no greater detriment to the patriot cause than if the
troops had been stationed anywhere else in the province. The object
was to get rid of them altogether ; and in their measures for obtaining
this end, the people were as careful to keep law and justice on their side
as to provide for defence against unprovoked aggression. The Port Bill
went into operation in June, 1774, and the battle of Lexington was not
fought till the following April. During the intervening months, the atti-
tude of the whole people was calm and watchful ; they did not collect
together in large bodies, they made no menacing demonstrations, but
waited patiently till their opponents should commit the first overt act of
hostility.
§ 495. It was the firing of the king's troops on Lexington common
which rang the alarm bell of the revolution, and the hitherto
^ * ' seemingly quiescent Colony burst at once into a flame. This
event took place at four o'clock in the morning; and before noon, the hills
and roads were alive with "minute men," hurrying from all quarters
to the scene of ccmflict General Gage had sent out Colonel Smith,
the night before, with 800 men, to destroy some military stores which
the patriots had collected at Concord. On arriving at Lexington, Colonel
Smith found a company of " minute men" collected on the coaaaoskt who
364 IHB MODBRK BPOCH.
were ordered to disperse, and almost at the same moment^ were fired npn
bj the Britiah, who killed or wounded eighteen of them. A few shots
were fired in return, and the king's troops then passed on to Gonoord,
where they destroyed a few stores, were attained by the provineials, and
commenced their retreat to Boston about noon. But ^e minute men
were now rapidly coming up from the neighboring towns, and each com-
pany, as it arrived, without waiting for orders, or stopping to concert
action with those already on the field, took the best position it oonld find
for annoying the enemy, and opened its fire. The woods and stone waUs
on each side of the road were lined with sharp shooters, who availed
themselves of every advantage of the ground as skilfully as if they had
been directed by an able general. When the British, on their retreat,
had reached Lexington, they were met by a reinforcement of 1^00 men,
without which they. would probably have been cut off. But as soon ai
they resumed their march, they were again attacked, and the afifair con-
tinued as it had begun, each company of the rustic soldiery finding its
own station and fighting on its own hook. The action ended only when
the harassed king's troops reached Charlestown, where they found safety
under the guns of their shipping. They lost about 270 in killed, wounded
and missing, while the American loss was but 93.
§ 496. The manner in which this battle was fought was a type of the
whole contest in New England, from the time when the tea was destroyed
till Boston was evacuated. It is the most striking, perhaps the only com-
plete, instance which all history affords, of the whole population of a cooft-
try, self-moved and self-governed, acting together with great unanimity and
^gor, yet acting patiently, prudently, and with even a punctilious regard
for the laws, while their exdtment was intense, and while they were
bravely defying a powerful empire, and setting at nought an authority,
which, when exercised within the bounds of justice, they and their fathers
had always implicitly, and even lovingly, recognized. The first action
of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, after the battle of Lexington,
was characteristic of the men and the times. They appointed a commit-
tee to take the depositions of those who were present, in order to prove
that the British fired fir$L If they had been conducting a lawsuit aboot
the title to a farm, they could not have been more anxious to collect testi-
mony, and show that ^ the law ** was on their side. Most of the resolu-
tions which they passed at this period were accompanied by formidable
preambles, in which the justice and legality of the measure proposed were
demonstrated at length, though often with more earnestness than logic.
The time for action had now arrived, and it soon i^peared that the spirit
which the people had shown at Lexington was no transient feeling.
Within a few days, an army of about 16,000 men had come together, and
tha siege of Boston was b^n. This, again, was a spontaneous and nn*
ooncarted movement; they assembled before preparatiooQ wera made for
THE AHEBICAN BEYOLXmON. 365
tbem, before a Gommander-in-chief had been appointed, or any plan of
action formed. Rhode Island and Connecticut retained the control of
their own troops, and the care of providing them with arms and suste-
nance, merely instructing them to cooperate with the Massachusetts army.
But for the excellent spirit of the men, the army would have been mere-
ly an armed mob. But the ranks were filled with steady fanners and
mechanics, who were brought thither by their attachment to the cause,
and wlio needed little discipline to keep them in order.
§ 497. Ammunition and artillery were yet wanting, though great ex-
ertions had been made to obtain military stores. But this want was par-
tially supplied by an enterprise of the '' Green Mountain Boys," as the
inhabitants of the country which is now the State of Vermont were then
called. It was known that the fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point
had but slender garrisons and were imperfectly guarded. Ethan Allen
and Seth Warner, who commanded some armed volunteers in that region,
undertook upon their own responsibility to take these forts by
. . surprise, and they succeeded. Two hundred pieces of artil-
lery and a considerable supply of powder were thus obtained for the
camp near Boston. The British army at that place had been reinforced,
and now amounted to 10,000 men, under Generals Howe, Clinton, and
Burgoyne. To straiten their quarters. Col. Prescott was sent, with about
a thousand men from the American army, to throw up an entrenchment
on Bunker's Hill in Charlestown. A small redoubt was constructed
there in the night time, on which, as soon as it was discovered
in the morning, the English ships in the harbor opened their
£re. This produced but little effect ; and the reinforcements sent to
Prescott during the forenoon enabled him to throw up an imperfect breast-
work, and other slight fortifications outsNe of the redoubt Generals
Putnam, Pomeroy, and Warren joined him at this time, but did not take
the command out of his hands. Three thousand men were sent over at
noon from Boston, led by Howe and Pigot, to take the hill by assault
They advanced bravely, but the fire of the Americans was so close and
well-sustained, that the British wavered, and fell back in great disorder.
Gage then ordered the village of Charlestown, which was near the foot of
the hill, to be set on fire, and while the fiames were raging, the troops again
moved forward. Again, as they approached the redoubt, the murderous
fire of the Americans, many of whom were practised marksmen, burst
forth, and again the assailants were driven back to the landing place.
They formed and advanced a third time, and as the ammunition of the
Americans was now nearly spent, they succeeded in getting possession of
the hill. But their opponents retired in a body, and were not pursued,
though they suffered much from the fire of the shipping in their retreat
The victory of Howe might well be considered a defeat, for he lost over
a thousand men in killed and wounded, while the American loss was not
3r
THB MODERN EPOCH.
Lalf as great But Gen. Warren was among the slam. The battle wis
as characteristic as that of Lexington ; a Colonel conunanded, and three
Generals either served under him, or acted independently in directing
the troops. The result was very encouraging to the Americans, as it
proved that their raw levies were capable of waging a desperate conflict
with regular troops.
§ 498. Congress had again assembled at Philadelphia, at the appointed
time, and it began to. exercise all the functions of a govern-
ment, though there was no formal union of the Colonies, and
the cheerful acquiescence of the people was the onlj basis ofitsauthoritj.
But the delegates were not yet prepared for a total rupture with England ;
they voted to send another petition to the king, and an address to the people
of Great Britain, in which they declared that they did not intend to throw
off their allegiance, i^nd professed an anxious desire for peace. At the
same time, they resolved to put the country in a state of defence, and to
complete the organization of an army. . George Washington, a delate
from Virginia, was chosen commander-in-chief, the members from New Eng-
land heartily concurring in his nomination, from their wish to secure the co-
operation of the southern Colonies. Ward, Lee, Schuyler, and Putnam were
conmiissioned as major-generals, and ten brigadiers were appointed, among
whom were Gates, Greene, Montgomery, and Sullivan. Most of these
officers had seen service in the French and Lidianwars. Bills of credit,
or paper money, were issued to the amount of three millions of dollars;
a post-office department was organized, and a committee was appointed to
secure, if possible, the neutrality of the Lidians. Massachusetts asked
the advice of Congress, in reference to its form of government ; and it
was advised to establish a provisional government, that should conform as
nearly as possible to the chaiter. The governors of most of the Colonies
had now either abandoned their posts, or were cooperating with the ene-
mies of the country; and the direction of affairs had generally fallen into
the hands either of the most numerous representative body under the old
organization, or of such an assembly created for the occasion. Itmajbe
observed here, by anticipation, that new constitutions of government were
established by all the Colonies, except Connecticut and Rliode Island,
during the progress of the war. New Hampshire formed such a consti-
tution in 1775 ; New Jersey, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsjlrania,
Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina, in 1776, — the first three be-
fore the Declaration of Independence ; Geoiigia and New York, in 1777;
Massachusetts, in 1780. The forms of government thus established were
not arbitrary and novel. They supplied omissions, it is true ; but thfff
made no unnecessary innovations. They were the old fonns of politj,
adopted by the first settlers, or created for them by charter, with such
modifications only as were rendered necessary by the transition from a
state of partial, to one of total, independence. Connecticut and Bhode
THB AMBBICAN BBYOLUTION. 967
Island did not find it necessary to make any change ; their charters were
BO liberal that the people, in fact, bad always chosen all their own officers,
and enacts all their own laws ; and under these charters, the government
continued to be administered for nearly half a centuiy after the Revo-
lution.
§ 499. Washington assumed the command of the army before Boston
about a fortnight after the battle of Bunker Hill, and immediately en-
deavored to improve its organization and discipline, and to obtain supplies
of arms and military stores. The troops at first consisted entirely of
volunteers, and so many of these left and went home after a short stay,
that it was feared the camp would be deserted. An attempt was now
made to enlist soldiers for definite periods, to form them into regiments, and
accustom them to discipline and the use of their arms. The most pressing
want was that of powder, of which there was not enough to furnish nine
rounds to a man, and the whole supply in the country was so inadequate
that active operations could not be undertaken for some months. At-
tempts were made to establish manufactories of saltpetre and to import
powder and lead from the West Indies ; and a small supply of military
stores was obtained from captured vessels. The patience and firmness of
the commander-in-chief were severely taxed by the many discouraging
circumstances of his position, at the head of a motley collection of troops,
with insufficient means of paying them and of providing many necessa-
ries of war. Reserved and dignified in his demeanor, inflexible in pur-
pose, circumspect and yet enterprising in his plans, industrious and me-
tho^cal in business, he united the highest qualifications for the elevated
post which he was called to fill. His equanimity was seldom ruffled,
and no fiulures or disasters could dishearten him or paralyse his energies.
A keen judge of character and qualifications, he was generally fortunate
in selecting his agents and giving his confidence. Under his direction,
and in spite of the most adverse circumstances, the raw levies were gra-
dually converted into disciplined and efiective troops, and the efforts of an.
enemy greatly superior in means and equipment were successfully foiled*
§ 500. Congress had projected an expedition against Canada, in the
hope of obtaining the sympathy and aid of the French inhabitants of that
province, or perhaps of inducing them to unite with the other Colonies in
resistance to the British ministry. Schuyler and Montgomery, at the
head of a small body of troops, advanced by way of Lake
'^**^"*^ ' Champlain against Montreal, whilst Arnold, with about a
thousand men, was detached from the camp before Boston, to ascend the
Kennebec river, and then make his way through the wilderness to the
banks of the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec Schuyler being prevented
by iUness from advancing farther than St John's on the Sorel, the com-
mand devolved on Montgomery, who, after a few weeks'
siege, captured St. John's, and dien advanced against Mon-
THE MODERN KPOCH.
treal, which was surrendered to him without resista&oe. Arnold's troops,
after sufferisg great hardships from exposure and want <^ ibod while
passing through a wild and uninhabited region, reached the sootheni
bank of the St. Lawrence, where they were joined by Mont-
gomery, who came down the river to meet them. Their
united forces hardly exceeded a thousand men, while Carleton, the Bri-
tish commander, by landing the sailors and organizing the citizeBS into
military companies, had garrisoned Quebec with 1,200. The artillery of
the Americans not being sufficient to make any impression on the works,
they resolved to attempt to carry the place by assault. Under cover of
^ ^ » a snow-storm, the men advanced to the attack with ereat gal-
December 81. , ^ :, 1. , r . . . ,^ , , -^M
lantry, and forced their way mto the lower town ; but Mont-
gomery was killed, Arnold's leg was broken by a musket ball, and after
some desperate fighting, the party in the streets found themselves sur-
rounded and were obliged to surrender. Arnold, with about 600 men,
retreated a few miles up the river, and there kept up the blockade of
Quebec through the winter. Reinforcements were sent to him ; but afUr
the spring opened, a large body of British troops arrived at Quebec, and
the Americans were forced to retire, first to Montreal, and afterwards to
St John's.
§ 501'. Howe's army in Boston, having learned caution from the battle
of Bunker Hill, made no attempt at offensive (^rations during the
autumn and winter ; and the want of cannon and powder in the Ameri-
can camp prevented Washington from attacking them. But through the
great exertions of Ck)1onel Eiiox, over fifty pieces of artillery were
draped on sleds, over the frozen lake and the snow, from Crown Point
and Tioonderoga ; and active measures were then adopted to drive the
British out of the place. On the evening of the 4th of March,
the attention of the enemy being drawn by a brisk cannonade
to the opposite quarter, a large body of troops secretly took possession
of Dorchester heights, and erected a line of fortifications there whidi
commanded the harbor and the town. The English general made imme-
diate preparation to attack these works ; but a furious storm of wind and
rain, that prevailed for two days, prevented the troops from crossing in
boats to Dorchester, and when this had ceased, the intrenchments seemed
too strong to be forced. Greneral Howe consequently resolved to evacu-
ate the town ; and on the 17th, the fleet sailed, carrying off the whole
army, and about one thousand inhabitants of the place and its vicinity
who adhered to the king's cause. The recovery of Boston caused great
rejoicing throughout the country ; the thanks of Congress were voted to
the general and his army, and a gold medal was ordered to be struck in
commemoration of the event. After a delay of a few days, Washington
marched with the main body of the army to New York. The Loyalists,
or Tories, as the favorers of the British cause were called, were nume-
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 369
rons in that place and its neighborhood, and for this reason, among others,
it was supposed that Howe wouid carry his army thither. In reality, the
British troops sailed for Halifax, where they remained inactive till the
end of June, and then, after receiving large reinforcements, proceeded
to New York.
§ 502. A year had now elapsed since the battle of Lexington ; it had
been passed in active hostilities, the exasperation of both parties had in-
creased, and there seemed to be no longer any hope of a reconciliation
with England. Lord North's ministry, supported by the obstinacy of the
king and by a large majority in both houses of Parliament, evinced no
disposition to change its policy ; on the contrary, treaties bad been formed
with several of the minor powers of Germany, in virtue of which about
17,000 Hessians, Waldeckers, and Hanoverians were collected by crafty
recruiting officers, and' hired out to England for the purpose of putting
down the rebellion in America. Of course, the news that these merce-
naries were to be employed greatly increased the irritation of the Colo-
nies. Thomas Paine, a very coarse but vigorous writer, published his
famous pamphlet, called " Common Sense," to prove that a final separa-
tion from England was inevitable and ought not to be delayed. Written
in an eminently popular style, it had an immense circulation, and was of
great service in preparing the minds of the people for independence. A
proposition to dissolve all connection with Great Britain was first intro-
duced in Congress by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and was warmly
supported by John Adams and other members from New England. But
it was not carried without difficulty; New York, Pennsylvania, Mary-
land, and South Carolina hesitated. Indeed, the legislatures of the two
former Colonies had expressly instructed their representatives in Congress
to vote against it. But the tide of popular opinion now set strongly
towards independence, and the waverers were carried along with it, ini
spite of their efforts. The recusant Colonies recalled their instructions^
and on the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence, written;
by Thomas Jefferson, and revised by a committee, of which John Adams,
and Dr. Franklin were members, was solemnly adopted in Congress by a
vote of the whole Thirteen States. This memorable Declaration asserts
in grave and dignified language the right of the people to institute, alter,
or abolish any form of government ; to justify the exercise of this right
at the present time, it enumerates at length the wrongs which had been
inflicted on the Colonies by the king of Great Britain, and concludes that
he is no longer worthy to be the ruler of a free people ; and it ends with
the formal assertion, that *' these United Colonies are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent States, and that they are absolved from aU
allegiance to the British crown:" — in support of which declaration, the
signers of the instrument mutually pledge to each other their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor.
^0 THE MODERN EPOCH.
§ 503. The progress of the contest had been watched with great atten-
tion on the Continent of Europe, where the efibrts of the Americans
were naturally regarded with favor and sympathy, partly out of jealonsy
of England, but still more from the entbusiasm which a gallant contest
for freedom always awakens in the hearts of the people. Among the
French particularly, this feeling was very strong, as the success of the
patriots would humiliate and weaken the haughty rival that had recently
triumphed over France, and deprived her of nearly all her colonial domi-
nion. Congress had previously appointed a *' Committee of Secret Cor-
respondence," to keep up intercourse with the friends of the cause in
various parts of Europe ; and now that the United States had become an
independent power, it seemed proper to extend this intercourse, and to
establish diplomatic relations with other governments. Three commis-
sioners, of whom Dr. Franklin was one, were sent to Paris, and Arthar
Lee was deputed by them to visit Prussia and Spain. These agents
were not formally received at court, for no European power was yet pre-
pared for war with England. But the Frendi ministers treated them
with much courtesy, and agreed to furnish the Americans with secret
supplies of money, arms, and military stores, to a considerable amoonL
Many shipments were consequently made, and the aid thus received was
very seasonable. The appearance of Dr. Franklin, with his high repu-
tation as a philosopher, his plain garb, and agreeable manners, as an
envoy from the combatants for freedom in the New World, created a
great sensation among the excitable people of Paris. Honors and atten-
tions of all kinds were lavished upon him. " Men imagined,'' says La-
cretelle, '' that they saw in him a sage of antiquity, come back to give
austere lessons and generous examples to the modems. They personified
in him the republic of which he was the representative and the legislator."
The young and wealthy Marquis of Lafayette, inspired with a noble
enthusiasm, crossed the ocean to hazard life and property in the cause of
American freedom. Some Germans, also, among whom Kalb and Steu-
ben, were best known, and the gallant Pole, Kosciuzko, with a number
of volunteers from other nations, went to the aid of the Americans.
§ 504. The campaign of 1776 was very disastrous to the American
arms, and but for the surpassing fortitude and magnanimity of their great
military leader, it would liave been ruinous to the cause. Washington's
army was very weak when it arrived in New York ; several regiments had
been left behind to garrison Boston, and others were detached to strengthen
-the northern army, then lying near Montreal. Unfortunately, also, the
men had been enlisted for very short periods, owing to the uncertaiaty
how long the war would continue ; and now, when their services were
most wanted, and they had been trained and disciplined, whole regiments
had to be disbanded and sent home, and their places were taken by raw
recruits. Frequent drafts were made from the militia, to meet pressing
THE AMERICAN KEVOLUTION. 371
emergencies ; but these raw troops could not he depended upon for effi-
cient service. The Continental troops under Washington at New York
did not number more than 8,000, while the British army, which Howe
led thither in June, including the German mercenaries, amounted to
24,000. Among them were the troops lately employed against Charles-
ton, South Carolina, where they had attempted to land, but the feet
had been driven off by the heavy fire from the forts. The fortifications at
New York did not prove so formidable, as the British vessels passed
them without damage, and entered the Hudson river. Howe landed most
of his troops on Long Island, where the Tories were very numerous, and
marched to attack the Americans, who were in an entrenched camp at
the western end of the island, opposite New York. A battle followed, in
which the British army succeeded in gaining the rear of the Americans
by an unguarded road, and totally defeated them, taking over a thousand
prisoners. The remainder of the army secretly retreated, on the second
night afler the battle, from Long Island to New York. Leaving a gar-
rison in the town, Washington placed the body of the troops on Haerlem
heights, a strong position at the northward. But the garrison was soon
obliged with loss to quit New York, as the place was not tenable except
by a large force, and even the troops on the heights behaved so ill that a
farther retreat became necessary. Discouragement was now very gene-
ral ; the militia deserted by companies, and the Continentals, as the regu-
lar troops were called, began to follow their example. Washington
adopted the only system of warfare which was practicable under these
gloomy circumstances ; he resolved to risk no general engagement, to
encamp only in strong positions, to weary out the enemy by frequent
marches, and not to meet them except in skirmishes. A par-
tial action was fought at White Plains without any decisive
result, and most of the Americans were then withdrawn to the western
shore of the Hudson, as an invasion of New Jersey was threatened. A
large garrison was lef^ in Fort Washington, on New York island, about
ten miles above the city ; but the British attacked it before the fortifica-
tions were completed, and the commander was obliged to capitulate, giv-
ing up the place and stores, and over 2,000 prisoners. The enemy then
crossed the Hudson in force, and Washington was obliged to abandon
Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore, with a great quantity of baggage and
artillery. He then retreated rapidly southward through New Jersey as
far as Trenton, where, for safety, the army crossed the Delaware into
Pennsylvania. At this gloomy period for the Am^can cause. Sir Wil-
liam Howe issued a proclamation, offering pardon to all who would return
to their allegiance within sixty days, and commanding all persons who
had taken up arms, and all congresses and associations to desist from
their treasonable proceedings and give up their usurped authority. Many
individuals, among whom were two fi>rmer members of Congress, were
372 THE MODERN EPOCH.
weak enough to accept the proposal. As the British army approached
Philadelphia, Congr^s adjourned to Baltimore, having first granted to
the commander-in-chief almost dictatorial power.
§ 505. Washington perceived that some bold stroke was necessary to
revive the spirits of his countrymen. Some reinforcements had joined
him, and the English army had gone into winter-quarters, being stationed
in detachments at several places in New Jersey. On Christmas night, at
the head of 2,500 men, he recrossed the Delaware with gn^at difiiculij,
as the river was full of floating ice, surprised a body of Hessians in Tren-
ton, took 900 prisoners and then returned to his former position with
only a trifling loss. A week afterwards, he reoccupied Trenton with a lar-
ger force ; but Lord Comwallis came up to meet him with a large portion
of the British army, and it appeared too hazardous either to stand an en-
gagement, or retreat when the enemy were so near. Washington devised
a manoeuvre which was completely successful. Leaving the watch fires
burning in the deserted camp, the troops were led by a circuitous route
into the rear of the British, and then conducted to Princeton, where they
fell unexpectedly upon three regiments that were stationed there, drore
them out of the town with great loss, and took 300 prisoners. Comwal-
lis heard the firing in his rear, and divining the cause, hurried oflTin pur-
suit ; but before he could overtake the Americans, they were encamped
on unassailable ground at Morristown. These exploits taught Sir William
Howe to respect an op{x>nent whom he had begun to contemn ; and he
therefore withdrew his troops from the greater part of New Jersey, and
concentrated them round New York. Washington stationed his army
at Morristown, Princeton, and in the Highlands on the Hudson ; and
the next six months were spent in organizing it anew, and reducing it to
discipline. The British had taken possession of the southern part of
Rhode Island, and had surprised and captured Gen. Lee. On the other
hand, privateers ^and national cruisers had been fitted out in the ports
of Massachusetts, and had captured many valuable British ships, which
were carried to the West Indies and the harbors of continental Europe,
and sold.
§ 506, The next year was the turning point, or critical period, of the
,^^^ war. It was checkered by cood and evil fortune. It was
A. D. 1777. ,
a period of much financial difliculty and great suffering both
by the army and the people ; but towards its close, the unexpected and
great success of the American arms at the north really decided the fate
of the contest, and showed that the attempt of Great Britain to reduce
the Colonies by force to their former allegiance was a hopeless undertak-
ing. About the end of May, the American army, now much strength-
ened by recruits, left its winter quarters, and took a strong position at
Middletown. Howe manoeuvred for some time, in the hope of inducing
or compelling it to fight a battle* on equal ground. Bat finding that
THB AMERICAN REV0LT7TI0N. 373
Washifigton was too cautious to run this hazard, he suddenly embarked
his army on board the fleet, and carried it round to the head of Chesa-
peake Bay, where he landed and began his march for Philadelphia. He
was obliged to take this route, as the American fortifications on the Dela-
ware made it too hazardous for the fleet to ascend that rirer. Anxious
to save the city which was the seat of Congress and was regarded in some
measure as the capital of the country, Washington marched hurriedly south-
ward to intercept him. After passing through Philadelphia, he first at-
tempted to check the progress of the enemy at Brandywine, where a creek,
everywhere fordable, guarded the front of the American position. The Bri-
Ush passed this stream in two divisions, at considerable distance
^ ' from each other ; and Washington's army being thus attacked
in front and on the flank, some regiments broke and fled, and the rest were
forced to retreat in some disorder. The Americans again offered battle five
days afterwards, but a violent storm interrupted the engagement almost
as soon as it began. The hope of saving PhOadelphia was then aban-
doned; Congress adjourned to Lancaster, the magazines and public
stores were removed, and Howe entered the city on the 25th, leaving
the bulk of his army ten miles off, at Germantovm. It was a barren
conquest ; experience was now teaching the British that they could hold
no more ground in America than what they actually occupied with their
troops ; and these were not to be too much scattered, or they were liable
to be cut off in detail. To raise the sinking spirits of his men, Washing-
ton planned a surprise of the British army in Germantown. The enters
October 4. ^"^ Seemed successful at first ; but the troops got separa-
ted from each other, in the darkness of the morning, by the
inequalities of the ground, a panic seized upon some, and the whole were
then driven to make a disorderly retreat Rightly deeming that Wash-
ington could not soon make another attack after this repulse, Howe re-
solved to attack the forts on the Delaware, in order to establish com-
munication with his fleet, which had not yet been able to pass up the
river. Count Donop, with 1,200 Hessians, assaulted the post at Bed
Bank, on the Jersey shore, but fell in the attempt, and his
men were driven off with great sLiughter ; and of the ships
which assailed Fort Miflen, on an island in the Delaware, a sixty-four
was blovim up, a frigate was burned, and the others were much injured
and compelled to retire. The enemy then erected land-batteries, which
kept up so heavy a fire that the fortifications were ruined, and the gar- <
risen was withdrawn. Bed Bank was also evacuated, and the Dela-
ware was thus opened to the British fleet.
{ 507. But the most important military operations of this year took
place at the north. Gen. Burgoyne received the command in Canada,
with a finely appointed army of 10,000 men, and was instructed to force
his way down Lake Champlain, and then cross to Albany, and descend
874 THE MOBERir EPOCH.
the Hndson, to join the British forces in New York. . This plan, if exe-
cuted, would hare cut off New England from the other Colonies, and
have rendered the suhjugation of the Americans extremely probable.
And there was great danger for a time that it would be executed.
Burg03me summoned the Indians to his standard, and easily drove
the feeble and disorganized army of St. Clair before him, captured
Ticonderoga and Skenesborough, and prepared to force his way
through the wilderness, from the head of the lake to the Hud-
son. St Clair had brought a poor remnant of his army to join Schuyler
at Fort Edward, on the Hudson ; but their united forces did not number
5,000, most of them were militia, and both ammuniticm and provisions
were wanting. The news of the loss of Ticonderoga and the rapid pro-
gress of Burgoyne created great consternation ; the militia of New Eng-
land came forward readily, and in considerable numbers, to strengthen
the northern army, which also received some detachments from the posts
in the Highlands. Schuyler was superseded by Gren. Gates, and under
him were placed Arnold, Morgan, Lincoln, and others, who were among
the best officers in the army. Burgoyne had succeeded in reaching the
Hudson after immense labor and fiatigue, but he found that difficulties were
now beginning to thicken around him. He had sent out a atzong d^ach-
ment of regular troops, Tories, and Indians, to his right, to turn the alarm
to the western frontier of New Toric, and lay siege to Fort Schuyler
at the head of the Mohawk. Arnold was sent against him, and the fear
of his approach caused so many of the Indians to desert, that St. L^er
was compelled to raise the siege and retire so precipitately
that most of his stones and baggage fell into the hands of the
Americans. Another and stronger detachment was sent out to the left,
under Col. Baum, to try the temper of the people and to .obtain horses
and provisions ; this was encountered, at Benniugton, by some
^^' New Hampshire militia and Green Mountain Boys, under
Col. Stark, and totally defeated, most of the Grerman soldiers being taken
prisoners. Col. Breyman, who had been sent with 500 men to aid Baum,
came up two hours after the battle was fought, was himself attacked by
the victorious party, and obliged to make the best retreat he could, with
the loss of all his baggage and artillery. Thus both of Burgoyne's wings
were clipped, and he found himself at Saratoga, on the west side of the
Hudson, in the heart of a difficult country, shoi-t of provisions, and with
an enemy constantly increasing in numbers on all sides of him. He first
tried an attack upon Gate's camp, upon Behmus's Heights^
^^ in his front ; and the result was a drawn battle, in which be
lost 500 men, and gained not a single advantage. A party of Lincoln's
militia had got into his rear, surprised the posts around Lake George, and
besieged Ticonderoga, so that his communications were cut off. But he
was encouraged to hold out, as a letter reached him from Clinton in New
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 375
York, saying that the latter was about to make an expedition up the Hud-
son, which would operate as a diversion, and might reach Albany, so as
to place Gates between two fires. The promise was kept, the passes of
the Highlands were forced, and the British had proceeded as far north as
Esopus, when they learned that they were too late, and found it prudent
to return. Burgoyne offered battle again on the 7th of October, and his
troops were defeated and driven back into his camp, his entrenchments
in one quarter were forced, and a part of his artillery and ammu-
nition were captured. His position was thus rendered untenable, and^
he secretly drew back in the night to a rising ground in the rear. Thence
he retreated, two days afterwards, to Saratoga, and found that the diffi-
culties of the country and the position of the American parties were such
that he could go no further. He held out a week longer ; and then, his
provisions being exhausted and his camp surrounded and hard
pressed, he was obliged to capitulate. He had already lost
about 4,000 men, and 5,642 others were now surrendered as prisoners of
war, all his arms, baggage, and camp equipage also passing into the hands
of the victors. The garrison of Tioonderoga, when they heard of this cala-
mity, hastily retreated into Canada, and the Americans again took posses-
sion of this renowned forti*ess.
i 508. Two days after the news arrived at Paris of the capture of
Burgoyne and the battle of Germantown, the French ministry intimated
to Dr. Franklin that they were willing to consider the project of a treaty
of alliance with the American States. Two treaties were accordingly
framed, in one of which France acknowledged the independ-
' * ence of the States, and formed relations of amity and com-
merce with them ; in the other, which was to go into effect if Great
Britain should make war upon France, the two contracting parties bound
themselves to aid each other as good friends and allies, to maintain the
sovereignty and independence of the American States, and not to make
a truce or peace except by mutual consent. About the same time, the
British ministry caused two laws to be enacted, declaring that no tax
should hereafter be imposed by parliament on the Colonies, and appoint-
ing commissioners to treat with them on almost any terms short of absolute
independence. The concession was ample, but it came too late ; Congress
refused even to hold a conference with the commissioners before the
British armies were withdrawn and the independence of the country ac-
knowledged. England therefore declared war against France, and pre-
pared to keep up in America some years longer a useless, expensive, and
murderous conflict, in which she had hardly a hope of ultimate success.
The Colonists were indeed compelled to pay a heavy price for their free-
dom. The public finances were in a deplorable state ; recruits could not
be obtained except by enormous bounties, and the troops were but half
fed and half clothed ; and the people generally were suffering from the
876 THB MODERN EPOCH.
interraption of trade and agricultare» and the scareitj of hreadstoA.
There was hardly a family in the land to which the war had not already
brought privaticm and bereavement. And yet tie spirit of the people
continued high ; tliey expected much from the French alliance, and, ex-
cept among the Tories, hardly a wish was breathed for peace on any
terms short of independence. For the army, which had passed the winter
in miserable huts at Valley Forge, suffering from cold and disease, and to
some extent also from hunger and nakedness, Washington set impart a day
for rejoicing when the news of the treaty with France were received.
Losses and hardships were then forgotten in the general exultation ;
^ every heart was filled with gratitude to the French king, and every
mouth spoke his praise."
§ 509. The quarters of the British army were now found to be too
much extended ; and it was resolved to evacuate Philadelphia and retreat
to New York. The American army, which had been reinforced in the
spring, and somewhat trailed and disciplined through the great efforts of
Baron Steuben, a brave and skilful Prussian officer, hung upon their rear
and gave them much trouble. A battle between them was fonght at
Monmouth, with indecisive results, though the British loss
considerably exceeded that of the Americans. Many of the
German soldiers, also, took the opportunity to desert. Count D'Estaing
soon arrived with a powerful fleet, having 4,000 French soldiers on board,
and a scheme for a combined attack on New York having failed because
the pilots would not conduct the heavier ships over the bar, an expedition
against Newport was agreed upon, that place being held by Gen. Pigot,
at the head of 6,000 men. The fleet blockaded the harbor, and forced
the English to sink some of their frigates; but the Conti-
nental troops and New England militia did not arrive soon
enough to cooperate with the ships, which were compelled t6 pat to sea
by Lord Howe's fleet, and were also crippled by a storm. The under*
taking was abandoned, and Gen. Sullivan had much difficulty in bringing
off the American troops, as the British had received a large reinforcemenL
Thes€ were the only military operations on a large scale during the year;
though as the war was now prosecuted both by the British and the Tories
in a less hopeful and more revengeful spirit, several predatory expeditions
were sent out that did much wanton injury, and in some skirmishes no
quarter was given, and acts of sickening barbarity were committed.
Wyoming, a flourishing settlement in Pennsylvania, was desolated by an
incursion of Lidians and Tories, the male inhabitants were massacred,
the houses burned, and the cattle killed or driven off. Some towns on
the coast of Massachusetts were burned, and a heavy contribution was
levied on a defenceless island. Li New York, Baylor^s troop of dragoons
were surprised, and the men bayonetted, under Gen. Gray's orders to
give DO quarter ; and the same &te befell the infieuitry of Pulaski's legion*
THB AMBRIOAN BEYOLtJTIOK. 377
Xbere was some excuse for the Tories in these proceedings; their pro-
perty had heen very gen^^rallj confiscated, thej often had rough personal
treatment, and on slight pretexts, some of them had t^een hanged.
§ 510. During the next two years, the war was chiefly carried on hj
the British in the southern States, where the population was more scat-
tered and divided in opinion, and the country offered fewer means of de-
fence. At the close of 1778, Savannah was taken by an expedition from
New York, and another body of royal troops coming up from Florida,
nearly completed the conquest of Georgia. Gen. Lincoln was sent to take
the command in this department, and by great exertions he
protected Charleston and South Carolina from the enemy till
September, when D^Estaing, with a French fleet and 6,000 men, arrived
on the coast, and the two armies in concert laid seige to Savannah. But
as the French could remain but a short time, the attack was made prema-
turely, and the besiegers were beaten off with great loss, the
gallant Count Pulaski being among the slain. Gen. Mat-
thews was sent from New York, with 2,500 men, on a plundering expe-
dition to Virginia. He took possession of Portsmouth and
Norfolk, burned some ships of war and many private vesseb,
and brought off a large quantity of tobacco, after destroying private pro-
perty to the amount of two millions of dollars. At the north, Congress
took measures to punbh the Indians for the atrocities they had committed
at Wyoming, and other places. Gen. Sullivan led an expedition of
4,000 men into the heart of their country, in the western part of the
s«ntemh«r ^**^ ^^ ^^^ York, destroyed their villages, cut down their
fruit trees, and so devastated the region, that the miserable
savages could attempt nothing more till the close of the war. Some
British troops under Gen. Tryon paid a marauding visit to the Connecti-
cut shore, plundered and burned several towns, and destroy-
ed a large amount of property. About the only legitimate
military exploits of the year, at the north, were the capture by the Bri-
tiih of Stony Point and Yerplanck's Point on the Hudson, thus rendering
the communication between New England and the Middle Stateis more
circuitous and difficult, and the recapture of Stony Point in a very gallant
manner by the Americans under Gen. Wayne.
§ oil. Spain had now joined the alliance against England, though
J 1770 ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ defiuite purpose, except the hope that, while the
attention of the British ministry was occupied by so many
enemies, she might regain possession of Gibraltar. For a short time,
the united French and Spanish fleet swept the British seas ; but it was soon
compelled to go into harbor. The next year, 1780, added another Euro-
pean power to the list of England's enemies, and brought her assigned
empire of the seas into great danger. To check the maritime superior*
Itj of the British, who, during the war, had greatly disturbed the neutral
82»
378 THE HOBSBN EPOCH.
trade at sea, and molested the ships of every ooantrj hj an oppressive
search for contraband goods, Catherine 11. of Bussia concluded an alli-
ance with the several neutral powers, which should midntain the princi-
ple of ^ free ships, free goods," and thus secure the trade of the neutral
states on the coasts and in the harbors of either of the belligerent powers.
The confederacy also declared that no blockade of any port should be
deemed effectual, so as to exclude neutral vessels from entering it, if there
were not an adequate naval force present to maintain the blockade and ren-
der it very dangerous for any ship to attempt to enter. This neutral alli-
ance was constituted successively by Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia*
Austria, Naples, and Portugal. But Holland, whose adherence was very
important from her situation and maritime strength, hesitated so long that
England got information of the project, and declared war against the
Dutch before they could give in their adhesion at St Petersburg. Hol-
land thus disappeared from the list of the neutral powers, and the alli-
ance was deprived of her aid towards accomplishing their great purpose.
§ 512. A powerful British armament, under Clinton and A]:i>uthzH>t,
appeared before Charleston in February, 1780, and laid siege to it, with
a view to the ultimate conquest of the whole State. Gren. Lincoln's means
of defence were very inadequate, and though he made every effort, he
was compelled, after a resistance of 42 days, to surrender the city and
give up his whole army as prisoners of war. The enemy then easily
overran South CaroHna ; and many of the inhabitants, to avoid the extre-
mities of war, took ^ protections " from them, and thereby avowed them-
selves to be British subjects. Lord Comwallis was then left to conunand
at the South, while Clinton returned to New York. Congress appointed
Gen. Gates to oppose the former, and by great exertions an army of
4,000 men was collected for this purpose, mostly militia, who were ill
fed and ill armed, and not at all disciplined. With the rash confidence
inspired by his success against Burgoyne, Gates advanced hastily and
with little precaution, was attacked under unfavorable dr-
^^ cumstances by Comwallis, near Camden, and his army so
completely routed that not a fourth part of them could be again brought
together. The southern States were thus rendered almost entirely de-
fenceless, though the British for the present were not able to invade North
Carolina from the want of supplies. Sumter and Marion, also, noted
partizan officers, gave them great annoyance by collecting bands of irre-
gular troops, and waging a kind of guerilla warfare against their outposts
and detachments. One motley collection of such troops, chiefly mounted
backwoodsmen with their rifles, under Shelby and Sevier, intercepted
^^ Ferguson, an active Loyalist, at the head of about 1,000
Tories, at Bang's Mountain, and totally defeated him, taking
most of his men prisoners, and hanging some of them as traitors. At the
end of the year. Gen. Greene was sent to take Gates's pkee, and a smaU
THE AMSRICi^ RBVOLUTION. 379
regular annj was collected for him, which he led with consummate ahili-
tj. At the north, a French fleet and army, the latter under Rochamheau,
arrived at Newport, but were blockaded there hj a superior British fleet,
fio that thej accomplished nothing. Another remarkable incident of the
year was the treason of Gen. Arnold, a rery brave officer, but dissolute,
wayward, and extravagant, who sold himself to the British for £10,000
and a general's commission, covenanting to give into their power, also,
"West Point and the other American fortresses in the Highlands. The
conspiracy was detected just before the time fixed for its eze-
^ ^ ^' cntion. Arnold succeeded in making his escape ; but Major
Andr^, a gallant English officer whom Clinton had sent to negotiate with
him, was seized when in disguise within the American lines, and was
tried and executed as a spy. The want of pay, and the impossibility of
complying with the just demands of the soldiers, caused some Pennsylva-
nia regiments, who were encamped near Morristown, to break out into open
revolt They were invited to join the British, as Arnold had done ; but
they refused, and after the matter had been compromised by Congress,
some of their grievances being redressed, they gave up the emissaries of
the enemy, who were hanged as spies. Some New Jersey troops quickly
followed this example of insubordination ; but their revolt was crushed
with a strong hand, and a few of the ringleaders were executed.
§ 518. The comparative ease with which Greorgia and South Carolina
had been subdued caused great efforts to be made, in 1781, for the con-
quest of North Carolina and Virginia. In January of this year, the
traitor Arnold was sent with 1,600 men, chiefly Tories, to plunder and
devastate the country on the Chesapeake and the James river, in order
to cripple the resources of the State ; and after he had accomplished this
service, he was joined by Gen. Phillips, with 2,000 troops from New
Tork. But these marauding expeditions did not help the British cause
much ; they caused great misery, but they incensed the people so much
that they lost all thoughts of acquiescence and submission, and made des-
perate efforts to repulse the destroyers. The plan was, that Comwallis
should march north, to join Phillips and Arnold, their united forces being
deemed sufficient to crush all opposition at the South. But Comwallis
had now an able and determined opponent in Greene, who gave him
enough to do in the Carolinas. Half of Greene's force, under Morgan,
who had been sent to put down the Tories in the west, encountered the
British light troops under Tarleton, at the Cowpens, and gave them a
signal defeat, killing or takmg prisoners over 600 of them. Comwallis
mstantly started off in great haste, to overtake and punish Morgan before
he could rejoin his commander. But the activity of the Americans baffled
him. Still the British general pushed on ; and Greene's whole force be-
^^ ing much inferior, he was obliged to make a rapid retreat into
Yiiginia. He soon returned, however, with some reinforce-
380 ZHB MODBRN EPOCH.
meotSy and offered battle at Guilford Court HousCy where Coniwallis in*
deed defeated him, but the victory was equivalent to a defeat. The Bri-
tish loss was greater than the American, and Coniwallis was obliged to
retire to Wilmington/ near the sea. Greene pursued him for a while, and
then took the bold step of marching directly into South Carolina, which
had been left in charge of Lord Bawdon with a small force. Finding it
impossible to overtake him, Cornwallis imitated his bold policy by march-
ing north, to join the king's troops in Virginia. Greene and Rawdon came
in conflict with each other at Hobkirk's Hill, and the former
was again defeated, though his loss was no greater than the
enemy's, and the advantages of the encounter were all on his side. Lee
and Marion, with other partizan officers, encouraged by his presence,
roused the inhabitants to arms, nearly all the British posts in the upper
country were captured or abandoned, and the larger part of South Caro-
lina was restored to the Americans. Their irritated opponents shot as
deserters all whom they captured in arms that had once accepted British
protection ; among these victims was Cobnel Hayne, an eminent citixeii
of Charleston, whose fate caused much sorrow and indignation. The
conflict on both sides had all the aggravated features of a civil war.
§ 514. The arrival of a powerful fleet under Count De Grasse having
given the French a temporary superiority at sea, the French forces at
Newport were released, and an attack upon the British in New York was
projected for the combined army of Washington and Rochambeau. But this
came to be thought an enterprise beyond their strangth, and it was reserved
in preference to strike a blow at Cornwallis at Virginia. That entei^
prising general, after vainly endeavoring to overtake and crush the small
American force commanded by Lafayette, had retired to Yorktown, a
peninsula at the mouth of York river, whero he had strongly intrenched
himself at the head of 8,000 men. Here he was blodkaded by D&
Se tomb GrBBse's fleet, and, a fortnight afterwards, was invested by
the combined French and American army, 16,000 strong.
About the same time, also, the ever active Greene had fought another
battle with the British in South Carolina, at Eutaw Springs, the imme-
diate result of which was indecisive, the loss on each side being about 700 ;
but the general consequence was, that the British were thenceforwaid
cooped up in Charleston and the small district between the Cooper and
Ashley rivers. Cornwallis was vigorously pressed, his intrenchments be-
ing ruined and his guns dismounted by the fire of heavy breaching bat*
teries. He tried a sally without improving his situation ; and then, all
hope of aid from New York having failed, he was obliged to capitulate
and surrender his whole army, still about 7,000 strong, as piiaoners of
war. This grand stroke was -virtually the end of the armed contest ij»
America ; having sacrificed two large armies, and protracted the struggle
for six years, the British could no longer hope to retain a foothold in the
United States, &x less to bring them back to their former allegiance.
THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 881
§ 515. Sacb now came to be the general opinion eyen in England, wbere,
indeed, for the last three years, the war bad been very unpopular. It had
added over one hundred millions sterling to the national debt ; it had sullied
the military reputation of the kingdom, which had never stood higher than
in 1760, and never lower than after the capture of Comwallis ; it bad
brought France^ Spain, and Holland into a league of hostilities against her,
and had combined the other, professedly neutral, powers in an alliance
hardly less injurious to her interests and her fame. Even the signal vic-
tory obtained by the English admiral, Lord Rodney, over De
^" ' " Grasse's fleet in the West Indies, and the equally signal
defeat of the Spaniards in their last and desperate attempt to take Gi-
bralter, failed to restore English self-complacency, or to re-
p em or. ^jj^jj^ ^y^^ nation to that ministry, (Lord North's,) which had
brought them into so humiliating a position. These successes were but
casual gleams of good fortune that came to lighten the close of a long
period of disaster and shame. The phalanx of Lord North's parliament-
ary supporters was broken, his ministry was driven from office, tlie king's
obstinacy was overcome, and the Whigs, under the guidance of Lord
Hockingham, were established in power, with the express understanding
that they were to make peace by submitting to the independence of the
United States. Negotiations were immediately commenced with the
American oommissioners at Paris, Franklin, Adams, Laurens, and Jay ;
they were protracted by points of form, and by the breaking up of the
Whig ministry through the death of Rockingham ; but provisional arti-
cles of peace were signed on the dOth of November, 1782, and the ces-
sation of hostilities was agreed upon in January following. Owing to the
necessity of including the Continental powers of Europe in the pacifi-
cation, the definitive treaty of peace was not concluded till the next Sep-
tember. In this, the independence of the United States was acknowledged,
their boundaries adjusted, and a share in the fisheries secured to them ;
while the claims of the other belligerent powers were adjusted by the
surrender or return of the conquered towns and islands.
§ 516. The peace came not too soon for exhausted and bleeding Ame-
rica. The impossibility of satisfying the just demands of the army, the
consequent sufferings both of officers and men, and the prospect of being
disbanded at the peace and sent home in utter poverty, created a deter-
mination among many of them to insist upon the payment of their dues
with arms in their hands. Nothing but the moderation, wisdom, and firm-
ness of their great commander-in-chief saved the country from the horrors
of military usurpation. Some of the officers so far misjudged Washing-
ton as to think that he might be tempted to play the part of Cromwell ; but
bis prompt and stem rebuke put an immediate end to the project. He
then exerted himself, and with success, to soothe the passions that bad
been excited, and to lead the army back to moderate and patriotic coun«
382 THB ICODERK £POGH.
Bels. The officers and men were persuaded to accept certificates of d^t,
with interest, for the arrears that were due to them, and to rel j upon the
efforts of Congress and the gratitude of the people for.their redemption.
The troops were quietly disbanded in the course of the sum-
mer and autumn, and towards the close of the year, after the
British had evacuated every place upon the seaboard, Washington was
admitted to a public audience by Congress, when he resigned his commis-
sion, and took a final leave, as he supposed, '^ of all the employments of
public life." Universal gratitude and respect, which amounted almost to
veneration, attended him to his retirement at Mount Vernon.
§ 517. At the close of the war, the United States were burdened with
a heavy debt, of which they had not the means even of paying the interest,
the public credit was annihilated, commerce and manufactures were in a
torpid condition, and the country was almost without a government
During the greater part of the struggle, Congress had possessed no au-
thority but what was tacitly granted to it from the necessity of the case.
The individual States were unwilling to give up any portion of that inde-
pendence which they were striving to vindicate against a foreign power.
They claimed complete sovereignty, and were unwilling to appear only
as the members of a confederacy, under the general control of a oential
government. Besides, it was hard to adjust the terms of such an alli-
ance. Perfect equality was hardly to be expected among states that dif-
fered so widely from each other in regard to population, wealth, and ex-
tent of territoiy ; yet on no terms short of equality would any one State
consent to a union with the others. There were also many unadjusted con-
troversies between them, in respect to boundary, and the ownership of that
vast territory beyond the Alleghanies which had been wrested from the
French. In 1777, a plan of union had been framed and adopted in Con-
gress, after two years' discussion, not as the best which could be imagined,
or as adapted to all exigencies, but as the only one *^ suited to existing
circumstances, or at all lil^ely to be adopted." It was not to go into eSeci
until it was ratified by all the States ; and only four of them could be induced
at first to adopt it. Slowly and reluctantly the otliers gave in their adhe-
sion, the consent of New Jersey and Delaware not being obtained till
1 779, and that of Maryland not till 1781, when, at last, the final sanction of
the articles of Confederation, as they were termed, was joyfully announced
by Congress. But the union thus effected was very inadequate for the
ends in view. It did not establish a central government ; it was only a
league of several independent sovereignties. Congress was the >oalj
organ of the confederacy ; each State had but one vote in this body on
the dedsion of any question ; and in respect to many subjects, the consent
of nine States was requisite before the measure could go into effect
And after all. Congress had no power but to recommend measures ; it
could not enforce them. It could *^ ascertain the sums neoessaiy to be
THB AMBRIOAN ABVOLUTION. • 383
raised for the seirice of the United States," and determine the quota or
proportion which each State ought to paj ; but it depended upon the
States whether the specified amount should be raised and paid, or the re-
commendation entirely neglected. The fact generally was, that they
refused compliance, or paid no attention to the demand ; of the many re-
quisitions of Congress, not one fourth were complied with. Excuses or
palliations of such conduct were not wanting ; the States were very poor,
and had heavy dqbts of their own to provide for. Again, Congress could
not impose duties upon imports, and the circumstances of the case pre-
vented even the individual States from exercising this power. If im-
ported goods were taxed by one, they were admitted free by another,
vrbich thus obtained a larger share of domestic and foreign trade, while
the ports of its rival were deserted. Treaties with foreign powers could
not be negotiated, as there was no power in the country to enforce the
provisions made in them, the authority of Congress and that of the sepa-
rate members of the confederacy just serving to paralyze each other.
There was no common tribunal to which the States could appeal for the
adjustment of their controversies with each other; and the ill compacted
league was therefore liable to be brolcen by the first serious dispute
which might grow out of many conflicting interests. It was obvious that
this state of things could not long continue without bringing upon the
country all the evils of anarchy and civil war.
§ 518. The condition and temper of the people increased this hazard.
The vast exertions they had made during the armed struggle had ex-
hausted their energies, and, to a certain extent, had demoralized them.
On the one hand, there was a general feeling of lassitude, an indisposi-
tion to make any further sacrifices or efforts, and on the other, a fierce
impatience of any act or movement which should even seem to limit their
recently acquired, universal freedom. The load of public and private
debt was enormous. Of what use was it, that the people had successfully
resisted English bayonets, if they were now to be called upon to respect
implicitly the orders of the sheriff and the staff of the constable ? To
what purpose, had they braved the wrath of the crown and the parlia-
ment, if creditors were still to distress them, and county courts sentence
them to fine and imprisonment? Or why tax themselves millions of
hard dollars, when they had just gone through a seven years' war because
they would not pay an impost of three pence a pound on tea ? It is no
cause for wonder that such questions were frequently asked, or even that
a majority of the people were inclined to answer them in a way most con-
sonant with their present feelings. It was a period of general anxiety
and gloom, — a true crisis in the history of free institutions, not only in
this country, but throughout the world. It was now to be determined
whether national independence was to prove a blessing or a curse ; —
whether the people, after throwing off all foreign restraint, would be wise
884 * rCHB MODSRK BPOOH.
and magnanimous enough to impose laws npon themselves, and to lespeet
them when made, or whether thej would fbllow that coarse of anaidiy,
license, and civil war which has subseqaentl/ rendered the history of the
South American republics and of the ephemeral republican goTeroments
of the Old World a warning to mankind.
§ 519. The matter was brought to a crisis in 1786, by the breakii^
out of a rebellion in Massachusetts, the object of the insurgents being to
close by violence the courts of law, thus putting a stop to legal measures
for the collection of debts, and to compel the government to issue paper
money, in order that all obligations might be discharged in a much de-
preciated currency. Job Shattuck and Daniel Shays, formerly a captain
in the revolutionary army, were the leaders of the disaffected party, and
it was at least doubtful whether they did not count a majority of the
people among their followers. Job Shattuck, at the head of an armed
force, took possession of the court-house at Worcester, and sent a written
message to the judges, '* that it was the sense of the people that the courts
should not sit." At last, by great exertions on the part of the govern-
ment and the well-affected citizens, an army of 4,000 men, under Gene-
ral Lincoln, was fitted out, and after a very severe campaign in the midst
of winter, this dangerous insurrection was suppressed with but little loss
of life. An indirect but happy consequence of this rebellion was, that it
convinced a majority of the people throughout the United States that a
strong centra! government was indispensable, not merely for their well-
being, but for the preservation of society itself from anarchy and ruin.
"You talk, my good Sir," wrote Washington from Mount "Vernon, **af
employing infittence to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts. I
know not where that influence is to be found ; and, if attainable, it would
not be a proper remedy for these disorders. Influence is not govern-
ment. Let us have a government, by which our lives, liberties, and pro-
perties will be secured, or let us know the worst at once.**
§ 520. Accordingly, a Convention of delegates from eleven of the
States was held at Philadelphia in May, 1787, to revise the Articles of
Confederation, or, in other words, to frame a Constitution of government
for the whole country. The delegates from New Hampshire did not
appear till the Convention had been two months in session, and Rhode
Island was never represented at alL Among the members present were
Dr. Franklin, then in his 81st year, and Washington, who was unani-
mously chosen president of the Convention. After they had been in ses-
sion four months, with closed doors, strict secrecy being observed as to
all their proceedings, they framed and published the present Constitutkn
of the United States, approved by the signatures of all but three of the
delegates who were then present, and which was to go into effect after it
had been ratified in nine of the States, by conventions that were to be
called for the occasion. Not without great difficulty, and many compio-
THS AMXRKUN JLEVOLUTION. 285
miAes of cdnflictiog opinions and intMests, bad thk great fitep been taken.
The central goTernment established hj the Constitution was to consist of
three departments, legislatiyey executive, and judicial The legislature,
called the Congrc^ was to consist of two branches, the Senate and the
House of Bepresentatiyea. In the former, the representation was equal,
each Stale haying two senators ; in the latter, the number of represent-
ativea was to be proportioned to the population, which was to be ascer-
tained every ten years by adding to the whole number of the freemen
three-fifths of the slaves. Two classes of opposing claims were thus ad*
Justed by concessions on both sides. The executive power was vested in
a president, chosen for four years, by electors equal in number, for each
State, to all its senators and representatives in Congress. The President
was allowed a qualified negative on the enactments of the legislature, as a
bill to which he refiised his consent was to become a law only when ap-
proved by two-thirds of the voles in both branches. The judicial power
was vested in a Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as Congress
might establish ; and it extended to all cases arising under the Constitu*
tion, the laws of Congress, and treaties made with foreign powers, to all
cases of maritime jurisdiction, and all controversies between States, be-
tween citizens of difieient States, and between fore^ners and citizens.
Congress was not to prevent the importation of slaves till the year 1808,
and slaves escaping from one State to another were to be delivered up.
Congress received the power to declare war, to raise and support armies,
to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to coin money, to
establish post-ofiices and post-roads, to provide and maintain a navy,
and to call forth the militia for the purpose of executing the laws, sup-
pressing insurrections, and repeUmg invasions. The States were prohi-
bited, generally, from exercising any of the functions that were conferred
upon Congress. In general terms, the States retained the power of do-
mestic legblation upon all subjects in regard to which their interests
were not likely to conflict, or which could be effectually disposed of with-
out the cooperation of the whole Union ; while the Federal government
assumed the functions which the States were deprived of, and received
wha^ver other authority was needed to enable it to negotiate effectively
with foreign powers as the representative of one nation. Numerous pro-
visioos were borrowed from Magna Charta and the more liberal, portions
of the Englisli Common Law, and incorporated into the Constitution, to
protect the liberty and the rights of individuals, and to guard against acts
of oppression and ii\justioe on the part either of the Federal or the State
government The instrument was very practical in its character, and far
more simple and concise than could reasonably have been expected, con-
sidering the complicated sulgect with which it had to do, and the diffi-
culty of adjusting the relations of the Federal government to the indi-
vidual States, and of so distributing power between them that they could
83
386 THB MOBEBN EPOCH.
work together harmonioualj and effectivelj. Ab a whole, if jadged dther
bj the most approved maxuns of political science, or bj the light reflected
upon it from that experience of more than sixtj jears to which it has
been subjected, it may claim a high place among tiie best models of go-
Tcmment that have been devised in ancient or modem times. It has
required but few and slight amendments, and it has accomplished the
whole work which it was designed to perform.
§ 521. Great difficulties were again experienced in obtaining its ratifi-
cation by the conventions in the several States to which it was soon sub-
mitted. The two parties which were then formed, cf its advocates and
opponents, divided the people very equally between them, and, with some
modifications, these parties have subsisted to the present day. The con-
sent of nine States was necessary ; five ratified the instrument soon and
with little difficulty. Then the question came up in Massachusetts, where
the parties were nearly eqaal, though the democratic and independent
spirit of the people seemed to incline the balance against the Constitu-
tion. Every thing was thought to depend upon the decision in this State
and Virginia, on account of their great weight in the Union, and the in-
fluence which they would respectively exert at the north and the south.
Governor Hancodc and Samuel Adams, the former being the president
of the Convention, and the latter one of its most influential members, wa>
vered. The Convention at last decided to propose certain amendments
for adoption in the form prescribed by the Constitution itself ; these served
as an anodyne for the scruples of the two leading patriots, and the rati-
fication was finally carried, though by a very slender majority. The con-
sent of Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire was then obtain-
ed, and next came that of Virginia, though after as warm a struggle as in
Massachusetts, the opposition being led with great effect by Fatridc Heniy.
The question was now virtually decided, and New York therefore gave
a tardy and reluctant assent, which would probably have been a refusal
if the measure could thereby have been defeated. North Carolina would
only ratify upon certain conditions, and Rhode Island would not even hold
a Convention to consider the subject ; but as eleven States had adopted
the Constitution, their approval was not absolutely necessary, and it was
finally given after the new form of government had been some time in
operation. It must be granted, in favor of the opposition, that they
showed no factious spirit, but calmly acquiesced in the decision of the
majority of their countrymen. Congress appointed the first Wednes-
day in January, 1789, for the choice of electors, the first Wednes-
day in February for those electors to choose a president, and the first
Wednesday in March for the new government to go into opera-
tion. As had been anticipated, George Washington was unanimously
elected president ; indeed, the certainty that he would be chosen to this
office induced many to vote for the Constitutiou who would otherwise have
THB AMERICAN KEVOLUTION* 387
oppofipd it John Adams was elected Yioe-President, and senators and
representatiyes were also chosen to form the first Congress. Proceedings
"were commenced at New York on the 4th of March, 1789 ; hut a quorum
c£ both houses did not come together till April, and on the dOth of this
month, President Washington was sworn into office, and the new govem-
ment went into full operation.
BOOK FOURTH
THE LATEST PERIOD.
A. THE FORERUNNERS OF THE REVOLUTION.
1. THE LITESATUBE OF ILLUMINATION.
§ 522. In the course of tbe eighteenth century, a Bhock was giren to
all existing ideas bj the literature of France. Ingenious, but, in part,
mistaken men, opposed religious constitutions and ecclesiastical order, at-
tacked the forms of government, and represented the conditions and shapes
of society in the light of antiquated abuses. Whilst, at first, they hid
hold of real blemishes and faults as points of attack, in religion and the
Church, in politics and law, in civil regulations and social relations, they
undermined by degrees all the foundations of human society and con-
vulsed all rules of customary ordinance ; whilst they sought to annul im-
munities, privileges, and class prerogatives, and to give freedom and per>
sonal merit their due value, they weakened also the force of old statutes
and rights, and the strength of authority ; and whilst they assailed super-
stitious prejudices and worn-out opinions, they perplexed at the same
time faith and conscience, destroyed the veneration and esteem for things
holy and customary in the hearts of men, and propagated the idea that tbe
happiness of the world could blossom only on the ruins of existing things.
This was done especially by Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, wbo^e
ingenious writings, owing to the charm of beautiful language and powers
of description, were read by the whole of educated Europe. The paths
were different, but the result the same.
§ 523. Yoltairo, a versatile and ingenious author, who had distinguished
Voltaire, himself in all kinds of literature, attacked with the arms of
jL D. wit and a sharp intellect every thing customary and long-
1694-1778. established, all dominant opinions and existing regulations,
without concerning himself about what should come in their place. In
poems, dramatic and epic, ( " Mahomet," <<The Henriad,'' << The Maid
THS LfrB&AOTBB QI IUL.UMINATION. 389
of Orleans," ) in saitires and romaaees, in historical and philosophical
woriia (^ Essay on the Custoais and Genius of Nations," '' Times of
Louia XIV^" "* History <tf Charles XIL of Sweden/' &c) he laid down
hiB views and doabts, his thoughts and criticisms, his investigations and
conclusions. Beligion and the Chnroh, priesthood and popular beliefy
experienced the most violent attacks; and if it cannot be denied that Vol-
taire's sarcasm and wit have destroyed many prejudices, removed many
superstitions, and exhibited ecclesiastical exclusiveness in all its naked-
ness, so also it is to be lamented that he has broken down religious feel-
V]g in many a heart, sown doubt and unbelief in many a mind, together
wii^ cold, worldly wisdom, and . therewith selfishness, and represented
self-We and self-interest as the highest motives of human actions.
Bfontesquie^ Montesquieu, a more earnest writer, drew attention to the
A. D. faultiness and absurdity of the existing state of things, with
1689-1766. ayiew to its improvement and reorganization in accordance
with the spirit o( the age. In the ^ Persian Letters," he attacked with
the same wanton scorn as Voltaire the faith of the Church, and the whole
form and system of government in France, and in the same way, by wit
and irony, turned the cuMoms and social position of his contemporaries
into ridicule. In his ingenious treatise ^ On the Causes of the Greatness
and the Decline of the Bomatks," he tried to prove that patriotism and
self-reliance rendered a state great, but that despotism brouglit it to de-
struction. His third work, " On the Spirit of Laws," presents the con-
stitutional government of England as that best suited to the present race
of men.
J.J.BoQfleean, J* J* Rousseau, the son of a watchmaker of Geneva, com-
^' !>• batted existing conditions of society by an alluring descrip-
1712-1772* ^^jj ^f jyj opposite state of things. After a youth full of
mutations and abounding in necessities and errors, which he has display-
ed to the world with singular candor in his '' Confessions," he arrived, by
the solution of a prize question on the influence of the arta and sciences^
upon manners, at the fundamental doctrine of his whole life and efforts,
— namely, to the principle, that a high degree of civilization is the
occasion of all the misery and all the crimes of mankind ; and that,
consequently, it is only by a return to a state of nature, full of innocence
and simplicity, and by shaking off all the fetters imposed by civilization,
education, and custom, that the world can arrive at happiness and safety.
This principle forms the central point of all his writings, which are more
distinguished by sentiment and attractive descriptions, than by profundi-
ty or truthfulness. In the ^ Nouvelle Heloise," a romance written in po-
etical language and in the epbtolary form, he contrasts the pleasures of
a sentimental life of nature with the perverted relations of actual exis-
tence and the compulsions of society. In the '^ Emile," he attempted to
establish a rational system of educatioOjt^i^d^ ^V^ nature and parental
33»
390 THB LATB8T PERIOD.
affection, and thus expiated the sin he had committed hj allowiag his
own children to be taken to the foundling hospitaL The ^ Confesriom of
Faith of a Savoyard Vicar," which is to be found in this woik, and in
which he taught and recommended a religion of the heart and feelings in
opposition to the predominant Church doctrine, brought banishment and
persecution upon him. In the ^ Social Contract," he represented the
equality of all men as the condition of a well-ordered state, and found
the most estimable government in a perfect democracy, with legislatiTe
popular assemblies. In all these writings, golden truths are contained side
by side with many essential errors and seductive fallacies. His words ai«
the expression of a deep inward feeling, and penetrate to the heart be-
cause they come from the heart. The effect of his writings was imnaea-
surable, anil every spot which his foot had trod, or where he hs^ resided
as a persecuted fugitive, was gazed upon with reverence hy the rising
generation. A feeling for nature, simplicity, and the domestic affections
was awakened in France by Rousseau ; but at the sama time, there was
aroused a passionate longing' for the lauded state of primitive liberty and
equality, which could only be slaked by the destruction of existing
arrangements and relations.
§ 524. The influence of these men upon the opinions of all Europe
was so much the greater, inasmuch as Paris then gave the fashion in
every thing ; the French language and literature were alone read or
spoken by the higher classes, and these writings excited universal atten-
tion by their agreeable form and ingenious descriptions. Princes, like
Frederick II., Gustavus III. of Sweden, Charles III. of Spain, Catha*
rine II. of Russia, the greatest statesmen of all countries, and many per-
sons of influence, were in personal or epistolary correspondence with Vol-
taire and many of bis similarly-minded contemporaries. Among these
contemporaries, D'Alembert, mathematician and philosopher, and the
wanton poet, Diderot, are particularly well known. They were the origin-
ators of the Encyelopasdic Dictionary, which was a clear, laige-minded, and
unprejudiced summary of all human science, but hostile to every lofty
effort From this work, they and their coadjutors received the name dP
Encyclopiedists.
The flrst consequence of this literary activity was the triumph of en-
lightenment in most of the countries of Europe. This victory shortly
displayed itself in religious toleration, in the successful struggle of reason
against superstition and prejudice, in the vigorous reforms of many princes
and ministers, and, above all, in the abolition of the order of
'the Jesuits, in the formation of the society of lUuminati, in
the Latin work of the 8u£fragan bishop, Hontheim of Treves (who, under
the name of Febronius, pointed out the origin of the papal power and
attempted to derive a new canon law therefrom), and in the attempts of
several German prelates, in the Congress of Ems, to procure for the Ga-
FORBRUNNKKS OF THE REVOLUTIOIT. 891
tholic Church of Grennanj a free position in regard to the Boman See*
The Order of the Jesuits, the great eflfort of which was to hinder
this enlightenment, to retain the people in a state of pupilage,
and to oppose every reform and innovation, could not long exist at a time
IV hen the whole educated world was striving in the contrary direction,
ikccordinglj, when the minister, Pombal, in Portugal, closed the colleges of
the Jesuits, and sent the members of the Order to the States of the Church,
and when his example was followed in all the countries governed by the
house of Bourbon (Spain, Naples, Parma,) Pope Clement XIV., a libe-
ral and sensible prince of the Church, saw himself con-
strained to abolish the Order. This obliged Maria Theresa,
who had long attempted to retain the Order in Austria, to consent to its
dissolution, and the papal order was also carried into effect in Bavaria
and the other Catholic countries of Germany. But the activity of the
members of the Order was not thereby destroyed. Ex-Jesuits prose-
cuted the objects of the society with undisturbed perseverance, and strove
against the spirit of the time. For the purpose of paralyzing their efforts,
Adam Weishaupt, professor in Ingolstadt, in conjunction
with Knigge and others, founded the secret society of lUumi-
nati, whose objects were the enlightenment of the people, and the im*
provement of humanity. Their contest against the ex-Jesuits, monks,
and clergy, was soon checked by the legal pix)8ecutions of the Bavarian
government.
$ 525. In the war which the British Colonies of North America had car-
ried on agiunst their mother country, Europe, which was filled with the
ideas and dreams of Rousseau, saw the beginning of that great struggle by
which mankind were to enter into a state of paradisiacal happiness ; a
struggle, by the victorious termination of which the inborn rights of hu*
manity and the people were to attain validity. The North American
War of Independence was the first contest of young freedom against the
andent prerogatives, forms, and institutions ; and for this reason it had
a particular interest for Europe.
Holland, where the hereditary Stadtholder, William V., and his former
guardian and constant adviser, Ernest of Brunswick, were entirely de-
voted to the English, whilst the aristocracy, from regard to the interests
of commerce, were in alliance with the French, was injured in its trade,
in its navigation, and in its colonies, by this war. Besides the irrepara-
ble losses incurred by the East and West Indian trading companies, the
Dutch possessions in the East Indies suffered a diminution. Holland
afterwards entered into more intimate relations with France. Her people,
excited by the notions of republicanism and democratic freedom, which,
since the American war, had spread over Europe, gave vent to the ani-
mosity they felt against their government, which was favorably disposed
towards England, by an insurrection. Duke Ernest of Brunswick was
39S THB LATEST PERIOD.
obliged to leave the oonntry, the Stadtholder and his wife were threatened,
and armed mobs committed violence in some of the towBS.
At length, Frederick William 11. of Prussia, brother of the
A. D. 1787. Stadtholder's wife, marched troops into Holland, who qoiddj
put an end to the insurrection and restored order.
2. INNOVATIONS OF FBINCKS AND lONISTEBS.
§ 526. The French illuminative philosophy and the Parisian spirit of
the age exercised the greatest influence upon the views and measures of
princes and governments. Not onlj were all the productions of French
literature eagerly read and admired in the higher circles of Europe, bat
it also became the fashion for the well-bom youth to spend some time in
Paris to complete their education, and no man of consequence could
reckon upon consideration or regard if he had not been admitted into the
intellectual circles of the French capital. AH the princes and statesmen
of Europe strove for the favor and friendship of the French literati and
philosophers. Is it then to be wondered at, that, in the three last decen-
niums which preceded the French Revolution, many reforms and innova*
tions were undertaken, which had their origin in that spirit of the times
which had been formed in France ? The endeavor was to apply practi-
cally that which, in speech and in writing, was allowed to be the truth. Zeal-
ous efforts were accordingly made on all sides to revolutionize ancient
ibrms and institutions, laws and customs, and to adapt them by fresh
arrangements to the spirit of the age. In the region of religion and the
Church, this spirit first displayed itself in the establishment of the liberal
and magnanimous principle of toleration in matters of faith, in the abolition
of the Order of the Jesuits and of the Inquisition, and in the moderadon
of all principles and institutions dangerous to philanthropy or the rights
of mankind. This new epoch of humanity exhibited itself most actively
and with the best results in the affairs of law, where effortis were every-
where made to establish, as far as possible, the equal administration of
justice to every man, and to ameliorate or abolish the statutes and bur-
dens which had descended from the middle ages. In many countries, serf-
dom was abolished, feudal duties were done away with, oppressive or de-
grading relations removed ; new codes and ordinances respecting the ad-
ministration of justice annulled the cruel punishments of a stem and
gloomy period, such as the rack, wheel, &;c, and conferred the privileges
of humanity even on the criminal. In regard to the economy of the
state, new principles were established in France, which were adopted in
many countries. According to these, money is the great lever of state
science, and, consequently, the great object is to raise as large a revenue
as possible by labor and by making use of natural agents. If this prin-
ciple, on the one hand, was the occasion of the encouragement of agri-
culture, mining, and planting, and that trade, industry, and useful inven-
nrNOVATIONS OF PRINCES AND MINI6TSR8. 393
dons were patronized, it led, on the other, to oppressive duties, to the
royal right of preemption, to indirect taxation, and to paper money.
§ 527. The first who reorganized the relations of the state upon these
Joseph Em- principles was Pombal, in Portugal, the aU-powerful minis-
Dumnei, a. d. ter of Joseph £mmanuel. An attempt to murder the king,
17©0-1777. which was ascribed to the powerful family of Tavora and
A. D. 1768. ^1,^ instigations of the Jesuits, was made use of to drive the
members of this Order out of Portugal, and aHerwards to efiect the en-
lightenment of the people by new seminaries of education and by the dif-
fusion of printed books. The pervading activity of this able man was
felt in every quarter. He had the affairs of the army and those relating to
war placed on a better footing by the German marshal, WHliam of Lippe-
Schaumburg ; he encouraged agriculture and industry, to draw the people
from dirt and indolence; and when a fearful earthquake destroyed
November, 30,000 houses in Lisbon, he was indefatigable in repairing the
^'^^' mischief. Pombal united the severity and arbitrariness of a
despot to the courage and the penetrating will of a reformef. All the
prisons were filled with those who opposed him. When these regained
their liberty under the reign of the weak Maria, they united themselves
for the ovei^row of the minister, after which, Portu^l was again plung-
ed into the same wretched state as before. In Spain, similar attempts
Charl in ^^'^ tn&de to reorganize the affairs tff Church and State by
A. D. *' liberal ministers, like Aranda and others. When the Jesuits
1759-1788. opposed these innovations, Anmda ordered 5,000 of them to
be arrested in a single night, embarked on board ships, without distinc-
tion of age or rank, and carried off like criminals, with great harshness,
to the States of the Church. Their property was confiscated and their
establishments closed. During tke latter years of the reign of Charles
III., however, the clergy and Inquisition again acquired great infiuence,
and destroyed or disturbed the greater number of the reforms. In
France. France, the vfnister Choiseul belonged to the promoters of
Chofeeul. enlightenment and progress ; but under the government of a
voluptuous king, like Louis XV., no improvement could take place.
After the ascension of the throne by Louis XVL, two men were called
to the ministry who possessed both the power and the will to heal the
shattered constitution of the state by effectual reforms — Tuigot and
Halasherbes. They proposed that a new mode of taxation
Majli&berbes. should be introduced, that the nobility and clergy should
A. D. 1776. ^m. ^)jg|f share of the burdens of the state, and that the
institutions of the middle ages should be modified so as to suit the
present timest Civil equality before the law,, without regard to person,
rank, or religion, was to be everywhere maintained ; but their plans
were slupwrecked by the selfishness of the nobles and the clergy, and by
the blindness of the court
394 THS LATEST PERIOD.
§ 528. Similar attempts at reform were made about the same time
Christian, vn. ^^ ^^*^ North and East of Europe. In Denmark, under the
A. D. imbecile king, Christian VIJ., the German physician, Stmen-
1768-1808. g^^^ arrived at the dignity of count of the empire and prime
minister, bj the aid of the queen, Caroline Matilda, a daughter of tLe
rojal house of England. Furnished with unheard-of powers, so that all
orders signed by him and provided with the seal of the cabinet po&^es5i<l
the same validity as if the king himself had subscribed them, Struensee
adopted a multitude of arrangements, in the spirit of the age, for the re-
lief of the citizen and peasant classes, for the curtailment of the power
of the nobility, and for the improvement of the proceedings of justictr.
A man without remarkable qualities, without strength of character, with-
out courage or resolution, he soon laid himself open in such a way tliat his
fall was readily accomplished. His confidential relations with the high-
minded although imprudent queen received an unfavorable interpretation ;
be offended the national feeling of the Danes by his use of the German
language in all official proclamations ; and by the want of courage he
displayed on t\)e occasion of a trifling tumult among the military and sail-
ors, he rendered himself contemptible, and inspired his opponents with
confidence. Whilst the minister was at a ball, Juliana, Christian's step-
mother, pressed into )^e king's bedchamber with some of her confidant,
and, by her description tf the dangers that were threatening, induced hina
to sign a number of orden^ of arrest that were already prepared. Upon
this, Struensee and his friend Brandt were committed to prison, and, after
a most iniquitously conducted tHal, punished, the one by being beheaded,
AagaBt28, the Other by the loss ^f his right hand. Caroline Matilda,
1773. betrayed by the weakness of Struensee, was separated from
A. D. 1776. the king, and died, af^er three years of wretchedness, in
Celle. After the death of Struensee, JuVana took possession of the gov-
ernment, and ordered, through her favorite Guldberg, all the offensive
reforms to be repealed. But when the Crowo Prince, Frederick, came
of age, he conducted the government in his father's name, and made over
the conduct of the ministry to the gallant BemstorC
§ 529. In Sweden, the power of the aristocracy auained its full deve-
Adolf Fredc- lopment under the reign of the good-natured king, Adolf Fre-
rick, A. D. derick. The council of state, which had the management of
1/57-1771. eye|iy thing, consisted of men without either hoisor or patriot-
ism, who sold themselves to foreign powers, and served the Interests of
those states from which they drew the largest sums of money ; the honor
and well-being of the country was a point they never considered. Two
parties, called ** Hats " and " Caps," the former in the pay of France, the
latter in that of Russia, hated and persecuted each other even unto blood-
shed, and made the Diet the scene of their hostile attacks. The king
possessed neither power nor respect. This state of things came to an eua.
nmOVATIONB OF PRINCES AND MINISTSBS. 395
when, after the death of Adolf Frederick, the adroit and popular Gns-
G ta m. ^^^^ ^^* ^^scended the throne. Brave, chivalrous, and elo-
A. D. '^ ' quent, he easily gained over the Swedish army and people to
1771-1791. ^ ^^^^ *^^ ^^^ compelled the state conndl, after he had
surrounded their h9U8e of assembly with troops> to consent to
alterations in the government By this bloodless revolution, the execn*
tive power was restored to the crown, and the council of state reduced
within the bounds of a deliberative assembly. The disposition of the
land and sea forces, and the appointment of state and military officers,
were in the hands of the king. He was to collect the votes of the Es-
tates before levying a tax, declaring war, or concluding a peace. But
after a few years, he freed himself from this restraint also, by an arbitra-
ry exercise of power, and gave absolute authority to the throne. En-
dowed with many talents and kingly qualities, Gustavus III. took ad-
vantage of his lofty position to introduce many reforms in the govern-
ment and administration of justice, which contributed to the welfare of
his people, and were in accordance with the spirit of the times. But
many of his proceedings were the result of a love of magnificence, a de-
sire to imitate French fashions, and an attachment to the departed times
of chivalry. The funding of an academy upon the French model, the
erection of theatres and opera houses, the revival of tournaments and
running at the ring, occasioned great expenses to the impoverished
country. Ths king's unseasonable dreams of heroism, and his chivalrous
whims, gave a distorted turn to his activity. When he declared that the
distillation of brandy was a privilege of royalty, and compelled the Swedes
to buy their accustomed beverage, which hitherto almost every famOy
had prepared for itself, for a high price at the royal distilleries, and when
he undertook a useless and expensive war, both by sea and land, with
Russia, the affection of his people gradually decayed ; and
when, at length, before the former wounds had ceased to bleed,
'he meditated a war with France, for the purpose of opposing
the Revolution, and saving the crown of Louis XYL, a
1^2! ' conspiracy was formed, in consequence of which Gustavus
III. was shot at a masked ball by Ankarstrom, a former
officer of the guard. ■
§ 530. In Austria, Maria Theresa, in conjunction with the
enlightened minister, Kaunitz, was the first to abolish many
abuses, and to introduce many timely reforms. The affairs of the army
and of war were reorganized, the administration of justice was in every way
improved ; new seminaries of education were established, and the econo-
my of the state properly arranged. But she proceeded with prudence
and discretion, and treated with forbearance not only the national faith,
but the national rights, and the established usages and customs. Not so
her son Joseph 11. Scarcely had he become the absolute ruler of the
396 XBB LATBSI PSBIOD.
va«t Austrian empire^ before he undertoA a series of refonns wbidi
oflbnded the dergj and the sealous friends of the Qiufx^
Joseph n., pr^udiced the privileged nobilitjy and outraged the national
ir80-i790. fe^tingB of the subjects of the imperial house. He first in-
troduced religious tcderation, and aflforded the adherents of
the Lutheran^ Calviaistic, and Gredi Churdies the free exercise of their
religion, and equal civil and political rights with the Catholics ; he then
diminished the number of monasteries, and applied the property of the
Church which was thus obtained to the improvement of schools, and to
the erection of establishments of general utility $ he limited pilgrimages
and processions, and embarrassed the communication and intercourse of
the clergy with Borne. It was in vain that pope Pius VL endeavored to
bring the emperor to a different course by the unexampled proceeding
of a journey to Vienna. Joseph received him with the greatest respect,
but remained firm to his purpose. Not less fertile of results were bis
reforms in civil and political matters. He established personal freedom
by the abolition of serfdom, and civil legal equality by the introduction
of an equitable system of taxation, and of equiility in the eye of th^law,
without regard to rank or person. Joseph IL had the noblest intentions
in these innovations ; but he proceeded with too great haste, and too liule
regard to existing relations, customs, and prejudices, and did not aUow
the seed the necessary time to ripen. He thus placed in the hands of
the opponents of progress the means of throwing suspiciou upon his ae»
tions and efibrts, and of depriving his measures, which were calculated
for the happiness of mankind, of all their fruits. When he attempted to
introduce bis reforms into the Austrian Netherlands also, established a
new high court of justice in Brussels, and commenced the reorganization of
the university of Louvatn, which was under the guidance of the der^^
disturbances arose that at length terminated in a universal rebellion.
The Netherlanders refused the taxes, drove the Austrian re-
gency, along with the weak garrison, out of the country, and
declared in a congress the independence of the Netherlands. This event,
which had been brought about by the nobility and dergy,
and similar occurrences in Hungary, broke the heart of tb«
February 20, irritable emperor, and hastened his death, the seeds of
which he had imbibed in the unhealthy lands of the Danube,
during the Turkish wars, when he was the ally of Bussia. Joseph's
ijide&tigable exertions, and the activity with which he superintended
every thing himself, the freedom with which he admitted both high
and low to his presence, and his abolition of the tyranny of officials, met
with no appreciation; his views were misunderstood and misrepresented,
Leopold n., his noblest plans were frustrated, and his name calumniated.
▲. D. But posterity, which can appreciate more justly his intentions
1790-1792. ^j^ ^ rfforts, will ever bless his memory. His brother and
WAB OF RUSSIA WITH TfiB WftKS. 397
sneceuor, Leopold 2L, restored most of the aodeDt usages, and thus
Invnght back peace in Belgium and Hungary.
SoniB. § ^^1* "Rvt^ uiicmlized Russia felt the influence of the
CaUMrine IL, spirit of the age, under the long and splendid reign of Cath^
^. D. rine II. The empress possessed great talents for goyerti-
l76S-ir96. nent, and a susceptible mind ; she muntained a correspond-
ence with Voltaire and others of similar sentiments. Invited Diderot to
Sl Petersburg, and encouraged sciences and arts. She improved the
Rdministration of justice, founded schools and academies, and adopted
many arrangements that gave an air of civiHzation to the country, and
which were loudly applauded by the French authors. But the greater
part was mere illusion ; the celebrated journey of the empress to Tauris,
daring which, artificial villages, shepherds and their flocks driven to the
spot, and country festivals along the road, were to produce the belief that
the land was blooming and prosperous, is an image of her whole reign.
As regards the private life of the empress and her court, the same immo-
rality, dissoluteness, and luxuty reigned in St. Petersburg as in Paris.
Aft^ Gregor Orloff, to whom the voluptuous empress had surrendered
both her person and her empire in return for the share he had taken in
the murder of her husband, followed a succession of other paramours,
who were all loaded with wealdi and honors. The situation of the fa-
Tored lover of the empress was at length disposed of like a court-office.
No one, however, enjoyed her &vor so long as Potemkin the Taurian.
For a space of sixteen years, he conducted the affairs of government acd
Potemkin, the plans of conquest, lived during the whole of the time in
A.P. 17SL It state of magniflcence that bordered on the fabuk>us, and
disj^yed the wealth that was showered upon him by his liberal mistress
in a manner truly remarkable. It was only a man with a spirit of en-
terprise so daring as to spare neither money nor human life, who, in the
eyes of the empress, was capable of giving the befitting gkxry and renown
to her government. The rebellion of Pugatscheff, a Don Cossack, who
' called himself Peter III., and who found many adherents in
the neighborhood of the Volga, was speedily suppressed.
Pugatscheff*, betrayed by his bosom friend, was beheaded in
Moscow, and his body cut to pieces.
3. THE PABTITIOVS OF POLAND, ANI> SUBSIA's WAB WITH
THE TURKS.
S 532. The kingdom of Poland bad long been a rotten structure, which
was preserved upright only by the divisions and jealousies of the neighbor-
ing states, and not by its own strength. The elective oonstitution was the
misfortune of the country ; every vacancy of the throne produced the
most violent contests, by which the nation was divided into parties, bri-
bery and corruption became predominant, and the nobles attafned such
34
398 IHE LATEST PERIOD.
privil^ies as were inoonnslent witb anj well oigaoixed state poficf • TIm
throne was powerless; the Diet, from which ^Republican Poland" »»-
ceived her laws, became proverbial from the Tehement partj oonteaU
that rendered every debate fruitless ; the whole power was placed in the
hands of the armed confederation. A kingdom, where it was only the
noble who possessed liberty or the privilege of bearing arms, and who,
relying upon his sword, despised the law ; where enslaved peasants were
held in a condition of serfdom ; where commerce, which in other lands
is carried on by a cultivated class of citizens, was in the hands of sor>
did and avaricious Jews, must needs have excited the cupidity of ambi-
tious neighbors.
AiigiutaB nL, After the death of Augustus III., the Polish empire again
▲. D. 1708. became the prey of the old elective tempests, till at lengtliy
Stanislaus Foniatowski, one of the former lovers of the empress Oathe-
line IL, was chosen king in the plain of Wola, amidst the dash of Ri»-
September. 4, si^n sabres. Foniatowski was a connoisieur and patron of
1764. literature and the arts, and an amiable and accomplished gen-
Foniatowski, tleman, but without strength of character or power of wilL
A. D. Weak, and with no consistency of character, he was a mere
1764-1796. tennis-ball in the hands of the powerful The Russian am-
bassador in Warsaw possessed greater power than he did ; and, to pre*
vent the possibility of Poland's escape from this state of disorder and
feebleness, Russia and Prussia determined upon maintaining the ancient
constitution unaltered.
f 533. It happened at this crisis, that the Polish Dissidents, under
which term were included not only the Protestants and Socinians, bat
also the adherents of the Greek Church, petitioned the Diet for the resto-
ration of the ecclesiastical and civil privileges of which they had been de*
prived by the Jesuits. Their petition, although supported by Rasday
Prussia, and most of the Protestant governments, was rejected at the
Diet by the Catholic nobility, at the instigation of the clergy. The Dis-
sidents, in combination with the ^ discontented," now formed "the General
Confederation of Radom, called upon Russia for asdstance^
' ' and extorted the free exercise of religion, admission to o^
fices, and the churches they had before possessed, from the Diet. Snr-
rounded by Russian troops, the representatives subscribed, under the
portrait of the empress, the act of toleration, that was greeted by all
Europe, and which was the sign of the impotence of Poland. That this
impotence might be permanent, it was deckled that no change should be
made in the existing constitution without the consent of Russia.
These proceedings o£fended the national feeling of the Polish patriots,
and aroused the religious hatred of the Catholic zealots. The ante-con-
Febnutzy 88, federation of Bar was formed, which was to free the P<^
1768. fxom Russian supremacy, and to wrest from the Dissidents
WAB OP RUSSIA WITH THB TURKS. 399
fhe rights that had been conceded them. France supported it with
money and officers. A furious war now arose between the two oonfede-
rations. But the Russian army, which had remained in the country for
the protection of the Diet and the Dissidents, carried off the victory.
Bar and Cracow, the chief strongholds of the enemy, were stormed, and
they were compelled to take refuge in the Turkish dominions. The Rus-
sians followed them over the borders, and did not refrain from murder*
ing, plundering, and devastating even on a foreign soil.
§ 534. This infKngement of territory induced the Porte, which was
urged on by the French ambassaidors, to declare hostilities against Rus-
First Turkish ^^ whereupon the Turkish war burst forth, which for six
War, ▲. Du years fearfully convulsed the east of Europe both by land
1768-1774. and sea. Whilst Romanzoff, after two bloody encounters,
was conquering Moldavia and Wallachia, and the dreadful storm of Ben-
der was filling all Europe with astonishment, the Morea, where the
Greeks, relying upon the assistance of Russia, had risen against the rule
of the Turks, was horribly ravaged with fire and sword by the latter, so
that whole districts were covered with ruins and corpses ; and in the
haven of Tschesme, opposite the island of Chios, the whole Turkish
July, IS, fleet was destroyed by fire. At the same time, Moscow and
A. D. 1771. its neighborhood were visited by a desolating pestilence, and,
in Poland, the civil war still raged with increasing fury. It was only
by a miracle that Foniatowski escaped from some conspirators, who
wished to carry him off from Warsaw. On every side the eye encoun-
tered plains soaked with blood, villages burnt to the ground, and weep-
ing inhabitants. The impotence and divisions of PoUind invited the
neighboring powers to attempt a partition of her territory. After a per-
sonal interview between Frederick II. and Joseph II. (the rightminded
Maria Theresa was hostile to the scheme,) and a visit of prince Henry of
August 8, Prussia to St Petersburg, a treaty of partition was arranged
1772. between Russia, Austria, and Prussia, in consequence of
which each of these, states took possession of the portion of Poland which
adjoined their own territories. It was in vain that the Diet opposed it-
self courageously and resolutely to the execution of this project, and
showed that the pretended rights and claims which the powers insisted
upon had long been given up by contracts, surrenders, and treaties of
peace ; it was in vain that it solemnly protested before 6od and the
world against such an abuse of superior power, and against a proceeding
which outraged truth and good faith; surrounded and threatened by
Russian arms, it at length yielded to force, and consented to the surrender
of the country. It was thus that Polish Prussia, together with the dis-
trict of the Netz, and the fertile lands of the Vistula (Elbing, Marien-
bnrg. Culm, &c) became the property of Prussia; Galida, with the
ridi mines of Wielicza, of Austria; and the lands on the Dwina and
400 THB LATEST PERIOD.
Dnieper, of Russia. The establishment of a ^ perpetual ooundl,'' that
was completely under Russian influenoe, deprived the king of the last
remains <^ power. From this time forth, the Russian ambassador in
Warsaw was the real gOYemor of the Polish republic. Sbortlj afler,
Russia, bj the peace of Eudschuck Eainardsche with the Porte, obtained
the right of passage through the Dardanelles, and the protective gov-
ernment of Moldavia and Wallachia, and the peninsida of tbe Crimea.
§ 535. Russia's thirst of conquest was not satisfied with this. A few
years afterwards, the khan of the Tartars was compelled to laj down his
office ; upon which, Potemkin conquered the Crimea, after
dreadful devastations, and united it, with the other lands on
the Black Sea, into one territorj, distinguished bj the andent name of
Tauris. Colonists were called forth from Germanj into the desolate
•teppes, the trading towns of Cherson and Odessa arose, and deceived tbe
world by the outward appearance of civilisation. But the happiness
and prosperity of the inhabitants disappeared with freedom ; the once
splendid city of tents degenerated into a camp of gypsies ; and the hoases
and palaces of stone fell into ruins. The threatening neighborhood of
Second Turk- Russia was a cause of anxiety to the Porte. Before long, a
Ssh War, a. d. second furious war broke out, by land and sea, between Bus-
1787-1792. sia and Turkey. But this time, also, victory accompanied
the Russian army and its dreadful leader. In the midst of winter, Po-
December If, temkin stormed the strong city of Oczakow, after he had
1788. filled the trenches with blood and dead bodies ; and the brave
Suwaro£P took the fortress of Isma^ under circumstances of similar hor-
December 23, ror. The road to Constantinople now stood open to tbe Rus-
1790. sians, and the name of Catherine's second grandchild, ** Con-
stantine," was supposed to indicate the secret intention of the empress to
introduce a Christian prince into the Byzantine capital. This love of
conquest displayed by Russia occasioned uneasiness to the other states.
England and Prussia assumed a threatening aspect ; Gofttavus III. of
Sweden attached the Russians by sea and land ; and Poland thought
that the favorable moment had arrived for withdrawing herself from tbe
dictatorial influence of Russia, and for again regaining her political inde-
pendence. In alliance with Prussia, the Poles dissolved the perpetual
council, turned the elective empire into an hereditary moo-
' ' archy, gave themselves a constitutional government with
two chambers, and a stricter separation of the executive, legislative, and
judicial powers.
§ 586. This constitution, appropriate to the age, and the m*ork of pa-
triotically-disposed men, was received with applause by the whole <^
Europe. The king swore to observe it. Frederick William II. ex-
pressed his favorable wishes : even Catherine concealed her vexation. A
new spirit seemed to have taken possession of the nation. But party-
THS PARTITIOKS 07 POLAND. 401
Spirit and selfishness destroyed the good woik. Manjof the nobles
were discontented with the change ; a party was formed for the preserva-
tion of Polish ^ libertj," as they, in their delusion, called the ancient sys-
tem, and they invoked the aid of the empress. The latter had jast concluded
the peace of Jassy with the Porte, and embraced with avidity the oppor*
tonity of marching her army upon the frontiers. Trusting to this assist-
Jaiiiiuy, ance, the Bussian party formed the confederation of Tai^
1792. vricz, for the restoration of the old constitution. A Russian
Hay 14, army soon stood in the heart of Poland. In vain the patri-
17S2. ots called upon Prussia for assistance ; opinions had changed
in Berlin ; an alliance with Russia was preferred to the frienship of Po>
land, more particularly as an imitation of the new French ideas and
forms of government was detected in the new constitution. Nevertheless^
the Poles did not despair of their righteous cause. Kosduzko, a brave
soldier, who had fbught in the cause of freedom under Washington in
America, placed himself at the head of the patriots, and encountered the
July 17, superior force of the Russians at Dubieqka. .But party-spirit,
1792. dissension, treachery, and want of system impeded every un-
dertaking, and paralyzed every power. The king, hitherto an enthusias-
tic adherent of the new constitution, soon fell into hb old irresolution and
faint-hejirtedness, and allowed himself to be so terrified by a threatening
letter of the empress, that he joined the alliance of Targowicz, and re-
nounced all further hostilities. The gallant warriors laid down the sword
in wrath, and left their homes to escape the scorn of the victors.
But a new act of violence followed the victory. In April, Russia and
Prussia declared that it was necessary to inclose Poland
▲.D. 1798. ... 1. . i. , -.«....
withm narrower limits, for the purpose of stifling the intoxi-
cation of liberty which had penetrated into the republic from France, and
of preserving the neighboring states from every taint of democratic Jaco-
binism. It was in vain that the Diet assembled at Grodno opposed itself
to this new treaty of partition. Every opposition gradually ceased, when
Bussian troops surrounded the house of assembly, and violently carried
off the boldest speakers. Thus followed the second division of Poland,
July 22 ; by which Russia obtained the most important of the eastern
October 14, districts (Lithuania, Little Poland, Yolhynia, Podolia, Ukra-
^"^' ine) ; Prussia gained possession of Great Poland, along with
Dantzic and Thorn. The republic of Poland retained scarce a third of
her former territory.
§ 537. The partitioned land was occupied by Russian and Prussian
troops; and Catherine's ambassador, the coarse and brutal Igelstrom,
ruled with pride and insolence in Warsaw. The national spirit of Pohmd
was once more aroused. A secret conspiracy was formed, which ex-
tended its branches over the whole country. Eosciuzko and the emi-
grant patriots returned, and placed themselves at the head of the move-
84*
4t3 XHB LAIBBI PSBIOB.
menty the ceatnl pobt of which was Crsoow. It was bom this place
that EoBciiuko^ who had been named the aheolote chief of the imHnnal
Ibice, issued aanimnoiis to the people, in which he represented the restom*
tion of the freedom and independence of the coontrj, the reoonquest of
the s^iNuated teiritoriesy and the introdaction of a oonstitntional goveni-
j^pijli7, menty as the objects of the struggle. The insnrrectioa
I7d4. quickly extended itself to the capitaL The Russian garrison
in Wanaw was attacked on Maundj-Thursdaj, and either cut to pieces
or madci prisoners* Igelstrom'a palace was destroyed by fire ; foor of
the most illustrious adherents of Russia died upon the gallows. The
provinces. followed the example of the capital; the king approved the
revolt of the misused nation ; and every thing promised a successful is-
sue. The Prussians, who had marched into the neighborhood of Wai^
saw, were compelled to a hasty and disastrous retreat by the brave
generals Kosciuzko, Dombrowski, and Joseph Poniatowski (the nephew
of the king.) But the success of the Poles increased the enemy's de^
sire of vengeance* Catherine, with the consent of Austria and Prussia,
sent her most redoubted general, Suwaroff, into Poland. Kosduzko was
obliged to yield to the superior strength of his opponent. After an un»
successful engagement, he fell, wounded, from his horse, with the exda-
Ootobcr 10, mation, ^' the end of Poland I " and was carried off a prisoner.
17M. On the 4th of November, the suburb, Praga,was stormed by
Suwaroff; 12,000 defenceless people were either slain or drowned in
the Vistula. The shrieks of the slaughtered terrified the inhabitants of
the capital, and made them willing to surrender. On the 9th of Novem-
ber, Suwaroff made his splendid entry into Warsaw as a conqueror.
Pomatowski was obliged to surrender the crown. He lived in St. Pe-
tersburg, on an annuity, till his death in 1798, an object of deserved con-
tempt. A few months later, the three powers declared that
^^* ' out of love for peace and the welfare of their subjects, they
had decided upon the partition of the whole republic of Poland. Ac-
cordingly, the south, with Cracow, went to Austria ; the land on the left
of the Vistula, with the capital, Warsaw, to Prussia ; Russia took pos-
session of all the rest Thus the once renowned and powerful Poland
disappeared from the ranks of independent States, a victim to a weakness
for which she was indebted to herself, and a violence that despised the
lights of foreign nations. Kosciuzko, after being set at liberty by Paul
L, died as a private man in Switzerland (October, 1817). His dead
body was conveyed to Cracow.
THB niRNCH BBVOLUnON. 403
B. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
1. THE LAST DAYS OF ABSOLUTS IfONABCHT.
§ 588. LoQis XV. at first possessed the affections of his people to such
Louis XV. a degree, that he was named the ** Much-beloved ; " and when
died 1774. h^ ^ng attacked by a dangerous ilhiess in Mets, the whole
hind went into moulding, and his recovery was celebrated by the greatest
rejoicings. But this love gradually changed into hatred and contempt
when the king gave himself up to the most shameless debaucheries, and
surrendered the government of the country, the command of the army,
and the decision upon points of law and state policy, to the companions
of his orgies and the ministers of his lusts and pleasures ; and when
mistresses, without morals or decency, ruled the court and the empire.
Among these women, none possessed greater or more enduring influence
than Uie Marchioness of Pompadour, who guided the whole policy
of France ibr a period of twenty years, filled the most important offioes
with her favorites, decided upon peace or war, and disposed of the revenues
of the state as she did of her private purse, so that, after a life passed in
luxury and splendor, she left millions behind her. She and her creatures
encouraged Louis's excesses and love of pleasure, that he might plunge
oontinuidly deeper in the pool of vice, and leave to them the government
of the state. For the rest, the Pompadour used her position and her in*
fluence with a certain dignity, and with tact and discretion ; but when the
oountess Du Barry, a woman from the very dregs of the people, occupied
her place, the court lost all authority and respect.
$ 539. This reign of lust and extravagance, together with the uiseless
and costly wars in Germany, exhausted the treasury and increased the
burden of debts and taxation. And as all these taxes and imposts press-
ed entirely upon the citizen and peasant class, whilst the wealthy no-
bility and the clergy enjoyed an exemption, the man of moderate means
was very heavily burdened, especially as the government did not super-
intend their collection, but left it in the hands of the farmers-general of
the revenue and of their blood-sucking subordinates. The land and
property-tax, the capitation-tax, the house-tax, the tolls and duties upon
salt, wrested from the lower classes (who, in addition, had to pay tithes,
labor-dues, and other feudal taxes to their landlords), the fruits of their
industry, and prevented the rise of a prosperous middle dass. It was
the custom that all laws and ordinances relating to taxes should be re-
gbtered in the parliament of Paris ; hence it followed, that in default of
theiStates-Gre]Aeral, which since 1614 had no more been summoned, the
validity of taxes and orders depended upon its sanction ; and that it alse
poeseseed the ri^t of opposhig the laws and edicts relating to taxes by
404 THE LATBST PEBIOB.
refusing their registration. This produced a violent contest between the
parliament and government at every new tax, which was usuaUj termi-
nated by the king holding a '< bed of justice," and overpowering resistance.
Beside the tax edicts, the arbitrary lettres de cachet were another source
of contention between the court and the parliament These terrible let-
ters, which were easily to be obtained by any one possessing any influ-
ence at court, were a despotic attack upon the liberty of the person, in-
asmuch as by their means any one might be arrested and imprisoned
without a hearing. For ten years did the parliament struggle against
the court and government, till Louis XV., weary of the perpetual opposi-
tion, at length gave a new direction to the matter, and ordered
the members of the opposition to be arrested. But they
again assumed the same attitude under his successor.
$ 540. When Louis XV., in consequence of his excesses, was carried
off in the midst of his sins by a frightful distemper, the treasury was ex-
hausted, the country in debt, credit gone, and the people heavily oppress-
Louis XVI., ed ^y their burdens. It was under these melancholy cir-
A. D. cumstances, that an absolute throne descended to a prince
1774-1798. ^jjjj certainly possessed the best of hearts, but a weak un-
derstanding ; who was good-natured enough to wbh to relieve the condi-
tion of the people, but who possessed neither strength nor intellect for
efficient measures. This prince was Louis XVT. Weak and indulgent,
he allowed the frivolity and extravagance of his brothers, the count of
Provence (afterwards Louis XVIIL), and the count of Artois (Charles
X.) ; and permitted his wife, Marie Antoinette, the highly-accomplished
daughter of Maria Theresa, to interfere in matters of state, and to exert
a considerable influence upon the court and government. The queen, by
her pride and haughty bearing, incurred the dislike of the people, so that
they ascribed every unpopular measure to her influence, and put a bad
construction upon every liberty she allowed herself in private. Even in
the celebrated story of the nei^lace, in which some swindler made use
of her name to gain possession of a splendid ornament, nuiny believed
her participation in the guilt.
The prevailing want of money, and the disordered state of the revenue,
could only be remedied by including the nobility and clergy in the taxa-
tion, by large reforms in the whole system of government, like those pro-
posed by Turgot and Malasherbes, and by order and economy in the ex-
penditure. But Louis XVI. had neither strength nor resolution to carry
out such decisive measures ; and as for economy, the extravagant court of
Versailles would not listen to it. The Genevese banker, Necker, who
Necker^B first undertook the management of the flnances after Turgot, was
ministiy, as little in a position as his predecessor to reduce the disorder
^'^' in the state economy ; and when, upon the occasion of a loan,
1771-1781. ^ exposed the financial condition of France in a pamphlet,
THE FBmrOH EBVOLIITION. 405
he drew upon himself the displeasure of the court and the aristocnu^ to
such a degree, that he was obliged to resign his office. This
happened at the time when the American war had increased
the scardtj of money, and aroused the feeling of liberty and republican-
ism in France. It was, therefore, a great misfortune for the French
monarchy, that just at this critical moment the frivolous and eztraya-
gant Cakmne undertook the management of the finances. This man de-
parted from the frugal plan of Necker, acceded to the wishes of the queen
and the necessities of the princes and courtiers, and deluded the world
with high-sounding promises of putting an end to all difficulties. The
most splendid festirals were celebrated in Versailles, and the talents of
Galonne loudly extolled. But his means, also, were soon exhausted. He
was obliged to resolve upon calling an Assembly of Notables, consisting
of nobles, clergy, high state officials, parliamentary couneil-
17^"''^* lors, and a few representatives of the towns. They r^ected
the proposal of a universal taxation, which should embrace
both the nobles and deigy, and threatened the minister of finance with
impeadunent, who thereupon resigned his situation and proceeded to
London.
S 541. Calonne's successor in the management of the finances, Lo-
menie de Brienne, was in a difficult position. To cover the deficit in the
revenue, he was obliged to have recourse to the usual measures, increas-
ing the taxes and raising a loan, but encountered so violent an opposition
from the parliament of Paris, that the government determined, since the
worn out method of compulsion-^ a royal sitting-^ no longer availed,
to cffrest the boldest speakers and banish them to Troyes.
'^^ ' This proceeding excited a great commotion among the peo-
ple, which induced the government to arrange a compromise with the
banished members, and to again sanction the assemblies. But the spirit
of opposition had become too strong, and had already seized upon the
people. They formed a tumultuous meeting around the house of as-
sembly, and saluted the speakers of the opposition with acclamations and
the government party with abuse. They burned the detested minister
of finance every day in effigy, and in several towns displayed the excited
state of their minds by riotous proceedings. The cry for the States-Gen-
eral was heard in the streets as well as in parliament It was in vain
that the ministry attempted to overcome the opposition by eonverting the
parliament into an upper court (cimr pUnihrt) and several
^'^^ ' inferior courts ; a new spirit had taken possession of the na-
tion, that was at length to gain the victory. Brienne was
Mcond mJnis- Compelled to resign at a time when the scarcity of money
izj, had' become so great that all ready money payments were
^ ^' suspended, and a state bankruptcy appeared inevitable. The
^ ^'^ popular fiivorite, Necker, was a second time summoned to the
406 THE LATB6T PEBIOD.
^Biiiiistrj. He first alkjed the irritation by repealsag the resohtei
against the pariiament, and then made preparations for summoning the
Estates. Owing to this, there soon arose a division between him and the
pariiament and Notables, whom he had again consulted* The latter were
if( qpinion that the new assCTublj shoold conform itself, both as to the
mmBoher of representatives and the mode of procedure, to the Estates of
1614^ whilst Necker wisl^ed to allow a double representatioD to the third
Estate, and that they should vote individually, and not as a class ; a
view that was supported by some of the ablest writers of the nation in a
multitude of pamphlets. (Abbe Sieyes: << What is the tioiid Estate?")
Necker^s opinion triumphed. An order of the king fixed' the number d
noble and ecclesiastical members at 800 each, that of the dttsens at 600,
Deoember, <u[^ appointed the following May as the time of opening.
tt9%. Necker was the hero of the day, but he was not the pilot of
the ship, he only ^ drove with the wind."
2. THE PEBIOD OF THE NATIONAL A83EMBLT.
( 542. In the beginning of May, the deputies of the three Estates, and
among them some of the ablest and most accomplished men of Fraaoe,
assembled at Versailles. The third Estate, initated by the n^ect
of the court at the opening and during the audience, came to a
rupture with the two privileged Estates at the fint sitting, when the
latter required that the Estates should carry on their debates sepantdy,
whilst the fbrmer insisted upon a general council and individual votei.
After a contest of some weeks, the third Estate, whidi had chosen the
astronomer, Bailli, the freedom-inspired representative of
Paris, for its President, bat irtnch was guided by the superior
talents of Sieyes and Mirabeau, declared itself a National Assembl/,
upon which it was joined by portions of the other Estates. The Assem-
bly at once passed the resolution of allowing the levying of the present
taxes only so long as the Estates should remiun undissolved. This pro-
ceeding disturbed the oourt, and inspired it with the thought of grantiDg
a constitution to the nation, and thus rendering the Estates unneceseaiy.
For this purpose, a royal sitting was • appointed, and the ball
of assembly closed for a few days. Upon the istelli-
gence of this, the deputies proceeded to the empty saloon of the Tensis
Court, and raised their hands in a solemn vow not to separate till thej hsd
given anew constitution to the nation. When this Court also was closed,
the meetings were held in the church of St. Louis. The royal sitting to(^
place on the 23d of June. But neither the speech <^ the king, nor tbe
aketoh of the new constitution, afforded due satisfaction, and they were
consequently received with coldness. After the terminaticm of the sitdsg*
Louis dissolved the Assembly. The nobility and clergy obeyed, but the
citiaen dass xetained their seats, and when the master of the ceremonies
THE FRENCH REVOLimON. 40?
called upon them to obej, Mirabean exclaimed, ^TeB your master tiiat
we Bit here by the power of the people, and that we are only to be driven
ont by the bayonet I " The weak king did not venture to en-
counter this resolute resistance by force, but rather advised
the nobility and clergy to join the citizens.
$ 543. The Stobmiko of the Bastille. — Doring these proceed-
ings, the fickle populace of Paris were kept in a state of perpetual ezdte-
ment by journals, pamphlets, and inflammatory harangues. In the open
squares, in the coffee-houses, in taverns, and especially in the Palaia-
Boyal, the dwelling of the profligate, ambitious, and wealthy duke of Or-
leans, violent discourses were held upon popular freedom, the rights of
men, and the equality of all classes, by seditious demagogues, and the as-
sembled crowds were excited to obtain these advantages by violence.
Among these popular orators, the accomplished advocate, Camille Des-
moulins, a fanatic in the cause of liberty, was especially preeminent The
military who were present in the capital were hurried away by the enthu-
fiiasm for liberty, atid a portion enrolled themselves in the newly-formed
National Guard. The government of the city was made over to a demo-
cratic municipality, at the head of which stood Bailli, as mayor. The court,
alarmed at this increasing ferment, determined upon retiring to VersailleB
with a few regiments of German and Swiss troops. In this proceeding,
the leaders of the movement believed they saw the purpose of some act of
violence, and made use of it accordingly to excite fresh irritation. The
intelligence was spread abroad in Paris, that Necker had been suddenly
dismi^ed and banished from the country, and a favorite of the queen
placed in hb office. This was interpreted as the first step in the contem-
plated outrage, and proved the signal for a general rise. Crowds of the
lowest mob, wearing the newly-invented national cockade, (bine, white,
and red,) paraded riotously through the streets, the alarm-bell was
sounded, the work-shops of the gunsmiths plundered ; tumult and confu-
sion reigned every where. On the 14th of July, after die popidace had
taken 30,000 stand of arms and some cannon from the Hospital of the
Invalides, took place the storming of the Bastille, an old castle that served
as a state prison. The governor, Delaunay, and seven of the garrison,
fell victims to the popular rage ; their heads were carried through the
streets upon poles ; and many men who were hated as aristocrats were
put to death. The banished Necker was recalled, and his entrance into
the towns and villages of France was celebrated as that of a hero crowned
with victory. In this joyous reception of the minister, the people dis-
played their enthusiasm for liberty and their hatred to the court and the
aristocracy. Lafayette, the champion of the liberty of America, was ap-
pointed commander of the National Guard, and whilst the king returned
to Paris, and exhibited himself to the assembled people frem the balcony
of the council-house with the cockade in his hat, the count of Axtots,
408 THE LATEST PERIOD.
and many nobles of the first rank, as Conde, Polignac, left their ooontij
in moumfol anticipation of coming events.
§ 544. The New Ststem. — Since the storming of the Basdlle, the
laws and magistrates had lost their authority in France, and the power
lay in the hands of the populace. The country people no longer paid
their tithes, taxes, and feudal dues to the clergy and nobles, bat took tco-
geanoe for the long oppression they had suffered by destroying the ma-
norial castles. When intelligence of these proceedings spread abroad, it
was proposed, in the National Assembly, that the upper classes should
prove to the people by their actions, that they were willing to lighten their
burdens, and that, with this purpose, they should renounce, of their own
free will, all the inherited feudal privileges of the middle ages. Tbia
proposal excited a storm of enthusiasm and self-renunciation. None
would be behind-hand. Estates, towns, provinces, each strove
* for the honor of making the greatest sacrifices for the com-
mon good. This was the celebrated 4th of August, when, in one feverish
and excited session, all tithes, labor-dues, manorial rights, corporate
bodies, &C., were abolished, the soil was declared free, md the equality
of all citizens of the state before the law and in regard to taxation was
decreed. These resolutions, and the necessary laws and arrangements
required for their reduction to practice, which were gradually adopted,
produced in a short time a complete revolution in all existing conditiQn&
The Church lost her possessions and was subjected to the state ; monas-
teries and religious orders were dissolved, and the^Jergy paid by the state,
the bishoprics newly regulated, and religious freedom established. Priests
were required to swear allegiance, like officers of state, to the new con-
stitution ; but as the pope forbade it, the greater number refused the oath,
which was the occasion of the French cleigy being divided into sworn
and unsworn priests ; the latter lost their offices and were exposed to sD
kinds of persecutions, but enjoyed the confidence of the faithful among
the people. The noble forfeited not only his privileges and the greater
part of his income, but he also lost the external distinctions of his nmk,
by the abolition of all titles, coats of arms, orders, &c. Upon the prin-
ciple of equality, all Frenchmen were to be addressed as ^citizens." For
the purpose of annihilating every remnant of the ancient system, France
received a new geographical division into departments and arrondut^'
menU; a new system of judicature with jurymen ; equality of weights,
measures, and standards; and lastly, a constitutional government, in
which the privileges of royalty were limited more than was reasonable,
and the legisUitive power committed to a single chamber, with a universal
right of sufirage.
§ 545. The King aitd the National Assembly at Pabis.—
When the king hesitated to promulgate the resolutions of the Assembly
as laws, the report was again propagated of a contemplated stroke of
THB FBXKCH BBYOLUTION. 409
state poK<^. This report gained strength when the Flemish regiment
was ordered to VersaiUes, and the king was indiscreet enough to show
himself, with the queen and dauphin, at a feast given by the bodj-guard
to the newly^rrived officers, and thus to give occasion to imprudent
speeches, toasts, and songs, among^the assembled troops, who were heated
with drinking. This occurrence was soon mad« known by busj tongues
in Paris, and added to the popular excitement, which had besides been
increased by a scarcity of bread. Accordingly, on the 5th of October, an
immense multitude, chiefly of women, proceeded to Versailles to de-
mand from the king relief from the scarcity of bread, and a return of
the court to Paris. The king at first attempted to pacify them by a con-
ciliatory answer. But a wing of the palace was stormed during the
night, and the guard put to the sword ; the arrival of Lafayette, with
the National Guard, prevented any further mischief. Upon the follow-
ing day, the king was obliged to consent to proceed to Paris with his
fiunily, under the escort of this frightful crew, and to take up his resi-
dence in the Tuileries, which had for many years remained unoccupied.
Shortly after, the National Assembly also followed, for whom the riding-
school in the neighborhood of the pabice had been prepared. The power
now fell more and more into the hands of the lower class, who were
kept in perpetual excitement by licentious journalists and popular lead-
ers, and were goaded to hatred against the court and th^ " aristocrats."
The " Friend of the People," of the insolent Marat, a physician from
Neufchatel, was distinguished by its violence. The democratic clubs,
which increased every day in extent and influence, also aided the revolu-
tion. The Jacobin dub, in particular, which had branches in all the
towns of France, acquired a place in the history of the world. The
members, who wore the red cap of the convicts of the galleys as a distinc-
tion, aimed at a republic, with freedom and equality for all the '^ citizens."
With these was joined the club of Cordeliers, which numbered some of
the most daring men of the revolution, as Danton and Camille Desmou-
lins, among its members. The Constitutional club, on the other hand, to
which Lafayette had joined himself, declined in importance every day.
§ 546. l^B Oebemont of Federation. — Flight of the Kisa.
On the day of the year in which the Bastille was taken, a
' grand federative festival was arranged in the Champ de
Mars. It must have been a moving spectacle, when Talleyrand, at the
head of 800 priests, clothed in white, and girded with tri-colored scarfs,
performed the consecration of the banner at the altar of the country ;
when Lafayette, in the name of t\e National Guard, the president of
the National Assembly, and, at length, the king himself, vowed fidelity
to the Constitution ; when the innumerable multitude raised their hands
akxfl and repeated after him the oath of dtizenship, and the queen her-
self, carried away by enthusiasm, raised the Itaiuphin in the air and
35
410 XBX LATEST FRBIOD.
joined in the acclamations. This was the last day of happiness for the
king, whose situation 9£ter this grew constantlj worse. Necker, bo kmget
equal to the difficulties, left France and retired to Switieriaad. Mha-
beau, won over by the court, opposed farther encroachments upon the
kingly power with the whole of bis eloquence, inagmudi as he bdieved
a constitutional monarchy and not a republic to be the best govemraent
for France. Unfortunately for the kii^ this great man died,
in his forty-second year, of a std^ness brought cm by his dis*
orderly life and by overexertion. A splendid funeral ceremony gave
evidence of the ii^uence of the man in whom sank the last strong pillar
of the throne. Weak and unself reliant as Louis XYL was, he now
lost all firmness. By his refusal to recdve an unsworn priest as his
confessor, or to declare the ^nignmts traitors, who were endeavoring
from Coblents to excite the European courts to a crusade against France,
he excited a suspicion thai he was not honesdy a supporter of the «»-
stitutton he had sworn to maintain, and not altogether ignorant of the
efforts of the emigrants. The more this suspicion gained ground with
the people, the more perilous became the position of the king. At this
crisis, Louis embraced the desperate resolution of secretly flying to the
northern frontier of his kingdom. Bouilld, a resolute general in Lor^
raine, was let into the secret, and ]Mxiniised to support the scheme with
his troops. Leaving behind him a letter, in which he protested agaiost
all the acts whidi had been forced from him unce October, 1789, the
king happily escaped, with his femily, from Paris in a lai^ carriage.
«. ,..», But the clumsily executed project nevertheless misearned.
June 81, 1791. T . .*.o-»'r i.tji.i^
Louts was recogmzed m St. Menehooid by the poednaster,
Drouet, stopped by the militia at Yarennes, and led back to Paris at the
command of the National Assembly, who sent three of their memben,
and among them, Petion, to receive the royal family. The suspension
of the rojal' authority, which had already been pronounced by the As-
sembly, remained in force, till Louis prodaimed, and swore to observe,
the Constitution completed at the end of September.
8. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLT AlTD THE FALL OF THE MOKABCHT
(OCTOBEB 1, 1791 — SEPTEMBER 20, 1792.)
i 547. The Girondists.—- As the members of the Constitnent As-
sembly had voluntarily excluded themselves from the new Chamber, the
elections to the Legislative Assembly, which were earned on under the in-
fluence of the Jacobins, mostly terminated in £Btvor of the republicans.
These latter, however, soon divided into a radical-democratic and a mo-
derate party: the former, from its position in the House, was caUed tha
Mountain; the latter received the name of Girondists, because many of
itsapeakeis were from Bordeaux and the department of the Girood^
THE reSKeS UTOLimON. . 411
Among the lattari wbo^ at tbe oommencemeiit, ataemUed tfaems^ea
around the munster, Sidand, and his intelligent and high-«inded wife,
were men of great oratorical talents and exalted civic virtaes, as Verg-,
niaud, Laiyuinaia, Barbaroux, Brioaot, &€.> The Gifoadiett fonned tiie
nuyoritj, and the miaigtiy, coasistuig of Roland, Dnmonrier, &c, be-
longed to this party.
The attention of the government and the Assemblj was particularly
directed to the priests, who had refused the oath, and to the emigrants.
Both were endeavoring to overthrow the existing <Hrder of things : the
former by exciting hatred and discontent among the French people ; the
latter by making military preparations at Coblenta, and endeavoring to
atir up foreign powers to an armed invasion of France. The Assembly
therefore determined upon seeking out and arresting the unsworn priests,
and declaring the emigrants traitors and conspirators, and punishing than
by the loss of their estates and incomes. The king put his veto upon
both these resolutione, and prevented th^ execution. This refusal was
ascribed to the secret hopes, entertained by the court, of assistance from
foreign powers and of the triumph of the emigrants, and thus the temper
of the people grew continually more hostile. It was also known that the
queen was in correspondence with her brother, the emperor of Austria,
and that she looked for support and safety to the emigrant nobility. Neir
ther was it any longer doubtful that war must soon break out, since the
emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia, after a confer^ioe in Pillnitc
(August, 1791,) were making preparations, and demanded of the French
government not only to make befittii^ indemnification to the German
princes and nobles who had suffered loss by the abolition of tithes and
feudal burdens, and to restore the province of Avignon, that had been
wrested from the pope, but to arrange the government upon the pka
proposed by the king himself in June, 1789. These demands were fd-
ikprilso, lowed by a declaration of war against Austria and Prussia
1793. on the part of the French government, to which the king
yielded his consent with tears. For the purpose of securing the capital
and the National Assembly against any attack, it was resolved to sum-
mon 20,000 of the federates tcom the southern provinces, under pretence
- of celebrating the festival of the Bastille, and to commit the defence of
Paris to them. But Louis refused his consent to this resolution also.
Upon this, the Girondist ministers kid down their offices, after Madame
Roland had reproached and reprimanded the king in a letter that was
soon in the hands of every body. These proceedings increased the irri-
tation to such an extent that it became easy for the rcfNiblicans to ex-
cite a popular insurrection. On the 20th of June, the anniversary of
the meeting in the Tennis Ck>urt, the terrible moh, aimed with pikesi
marched from the suburbs, under the conduct of the brewer, Santerre,
and the butcher, L^;endre, into the Tuileries, to foroe the king to
412 THB LATBST PERIOD.
finn the decree against the nnswoni priests and fer the Bommoiung of
the National Gaard. But here also Louis remained finn. He defied
for several hours all threats and dangers, and endured the insolence of
the mob, who eyen placed the red Jacobin cap upon his head and gave
him wine to drink, with the courage of a martyr. The rather tardj
arrival of Petion with the National guard at length freed him from hb
perilous position.
$ 548. These proceedings were the prelude to the eventful tenth of
August. War had already commenced, to the great joy of the Prus-
sian officers, who promised themselves great glory and little trouble from
the ^military promenade," as they called the French campaign. The
Prussians marched into Lorraine under the command of duke Ferdinand
of Brunswick, who had become known in the Seven Years' war. An
Austrian force, under Clerfait, was placed at his command ; 12,000 oni-
grants joined themselves to him, who were burning with eagemeas to
overthrow the *^ government of advocates,'' and to have vengeance upon
their enemies. On setting out, the duke published a manifesto, drawn
up by one of the emigrants, full of injurious menaces against the National
Assembly, the city of Paris, the National Gruard, and all the French
who favored the new system. The insolent tone of this proclamation
made an indescribable impression upon the people, who were enthasiascic
for the new order of things, and produced the fiercest rage against tbe
emigrants and their defenders. This feeling was taken advantage of by
the Jacobins for the overthrow of the king. Supported by the dedan-
tion of the Assembly, <* The country is in danger," they summoned from
Marseilles, Brest, and other maritime towns, crowds of the lowest refuse
of the people, even galley-slaves, to Paris, then formed a committee of
insurrection, and prepared the rude and sturdy inhabitants of the su-
burbs for a decisive blow. The alarm sounded at midni^t on the 10th
of August A fearful mob proceeded, in the first phice, to the Hotel de
Yille, for the purpose of establishing a new democratic munidpalitj, and
then marched to the royal palace, which was defended by 900 Swiss^
and the Parisian National Guard under the command of Mandat. The
honest Mandat was resolved to check the advancing masses, which were
ever assuming a more menacing aspect, by force ; his destrucdon was
consequently resolved upon by the democrats. He was commanded to
appear at the Hotel de YUle, and assassinated on his way thither; upon
which the National Guard, uncertain what to do, and disgusted by the
presence of a number of nobles in the palace, for the most part dispersed.
The mob constantly assumed a more threatening aspect ; cannon were
turned upon the palace, the pikemen pressed forwards upon eveiy en-
trance, the people loudly demanded the deposition of the king. At this
crisis, Louis suffered himself to be persuaded to seek for protectioQ with
his family in the hall of the National Assembly, where they passed six-
IHB FRENCH SEVOLUTION. 413
teen hours in a narrow closet The king had scarcely left the palace,
before the tnmultttous maltitude pressed forward more violently; the
Swiss guard maintained a gallant resistance, and defended the entrance.
When the report of musketry was heard in the adjoining Assembly, the
indignant representatires of the people compelled the intimidated king
to give his guard orders to cease firing. By this order, the faithful de-
fenders of monarchy were doomed to destruction. Scarcely had the
furious mob observed that the enemy's fire had ceased, before they
stormed the palace, slaughtered those they found in it, and destroyed the
furniture. Nearly 5,000 men, and among them, 700 Swiss, fell in the
straggle, or died afterwards, the victims of the popular fury. In the
mean time, the National Assembly, upon the proposal of Yergniaud,
embraced the resolution ** to suspend the royal authority, tp place the
king and his family under control, to give the prince a tutor, and to
assemble a National Convention." The Temple, a strong fortress
erected by the knights templars, soon enclosed the imprisoned royal
fiimily.
§ 549. Th£ Dats of Septembeb. — After the suspension of the
king, a new ministry was formed by the National Assembly, in which,
by the side of the Girondist, Boland, and others, the terrible Danton
held oflSce as minister of justice. This ministry, and the new Common
Council of Paris which had appointed itself, and which, after the 10th
of August, had strengthened itself by members who might be depended
upon as hesitating at no wickedness, now possessed the whole power.
The Municipal Council ordered the police of the capital to be conducted
by pikemen, and the prisons were quickly filled with the ^ suspected "
and " aristocrats.'' It was now that the frightful resolution was matured
of getting rid of the opponents of the new order of things by a bloody
tribonal, and of suppressing all resistance by terror. After the recusant
priests had been slaughtered by hundreds in the monasteries and prisons,
the dreadful days of September were oommenoed. From the 2d to
the 7th of September, bands of hired murderers and villains were collected
round the prisons. Twelve of them acted as jurymen and judge, the
others as executioners. The imprisoned, with the exception of a few
whose names wero marked upon a list, were put to death by this in-
human crew under a semblance of judicial proceedings. Nearly 3,000
human beings wero either put to death singly, or slaughtered in masses,
by these wretches, who received a daily stipend from the Common Coun-
cil for their <^ labors." Among the murdered was the princess Lamballe,
the friend of the queen ; a troop of pikemen carried her head upon a
pole to the Temple, and held it before Maria Antoinette's window. The
example of the capital was imitated in many of the departments. The
barbarous destruction of all statues, coats of arms, inscriptions, and other
memoriaLi of a former period, formed the conclusion of the August and
85*
414 THE LATEST PERIOD.
September dajSj wiuch were the truiftitioa period between tke ViOMk
monarchy and republic. The autnnnal eqninox was diatingiiiBhed m
I s tembe 21 ^^^ Commencement of the leign of liberty and eqnalitj under
I ep r . ^^^ republican National Convention.
! Lafayette, who was serving with the northern army, and who^ albf
j the days of June, had returned to Paris on his own reeponsibilitj, for
, the purpose, if possible, of saving the king, was now summoned beftn
the National Assembly to answer for his conduct Convinced that tlia
Jacobins were seeking his death, he fled, with some friends who dUred
his sentiments, to Holland, that he might escape to America ; but he iUI
into the hands of enemies, who treated him like a prisoner of war, aod
allowed him to live for five years in the dungeons of Olmutz and Mj^
deburg. Talleyrand repaired to England, and thence to America, vfaen
he awaited better times.
4. BEPUBLICAN FBJlNOE UKDBB THE GOTEBMMXMT OF THE SATIOKAL
CONVENTION (SEPTEMBER, 1792 — OCTOBER, 1795).
§ 550. Execution op the King. — The new Assembly, whidi,
under the influence of the Jacobins, had been elected by univerml su^
frage, was composed almost exclusively of republiean% bat of different
dispositions and opinions. The moderates, Girondists, who were aimbg
at a republican form of government upon the model of antiquity, or opw
that of the North Americans, and who abhorred bloodshed as a metns,
gradually fell before the radicals and denioorats, who first overthrew by
violence all the existing arrangements, and then sought to found a new
system of ^ liberty and equality " upon the levelled surface. They acted
upon the principle, ^ that he who is not for us ia againat us," and a^
tempted to bear down all opposition by terror and bloodshed. Stnwg ia
the Jacobin clubs and in the wild bands of the numerooa defenden d
the revolution, who were distinguished by the name of ^ Sans-Gulottes,*
and who were maintained in a constant state of excitement by sod^
(Marseillaise, Ca ira), revolution festivals, trees of liberty, and sad)
matters, the destructive party soon obtained the upper hand. Tbe trial
of the king, '< Louis Capet," was one of the first proceedings of the
National Convention. An iron safe had been discovered in a wall of
the Tuileries, containing secret letters and documents, from which it was
apparent that the French court had not only been in alliance with
Austria and the emigrants, and had projected phins for overthrowtDg the
Constitution that had been sworn to by Louis, but that it had also at-
tempted to win over single members of the National Assembly (forexaai"
pie, Mirabeau), by annuities, bribery, and other means. It was apoo tfaii
that the republicans, who would willingly have beoi quit of the hii^
founded a charge of treason and coospixacy against the ooontry and tfaa
people. Louis, with the assistance of two advocates, to ythom tibe aoUa
THl IRBVGS BBVOI.DTEOK. 41$
MilMhcibes, of his own freo impulBOy afleooUilej hims^, appeared twioo
before the Omveiitioii (11th and 26th December), bat despite hk own
dignified bearing and defence^ and despite the efforts of the Girondist
pmrtj to have the sentence referred to a general assembly of the people,
Jannaiy 17, Loois was condemned to death in a storm j meeting, b j a
17^ small»mijorit7 of five voices. The party of the Mountain,
wliere the advocate, Maximilian Robespierre, the former marquis St.
Jost, the frightful Danton, the hune Couthon, and the duke of Orleans,
who had assumed the name of Citizen Egalite, were the leaders and
chiefs, had left no means unattempted to produce this result bj terror ;
thej would, nevertheless, have fieuled in their purpose, had thej not car-
ried a resolution beforehand in the Assembly, that a bare majority should
be sufficient for a sentence of death, and not, as had heretofore been the
costom, that two thirds of the votes should be necessary. The murder
was thus veiled by a show of justice. On the 21st of January, the un*
finrtunate king ascended the scaffold in the square of the Bevolntion.
The drums of the National Guard drowned his last words, and " Robes*
pierre's women" greeted his bloody head with the shout of ^Yive la
Bepoblique."
$ 551. DuHOUBiBiu — In the mean time, the Prussians had marched
through Lorraine into Champagne. But the duke of Brunswick, accus*
tomed to the slow and drcumspecft proceedings of the Seven Years' war,
wasted time in the conquest of unimportant fortresses, and entered
Champagne in an unfavorable period of the year, when the roads were
impassable fix)m the rain, and the army was weakened and destroyed by
September 90, the use of unwholesome provisions and of unripe fruit AflLer
17». the battle of Valmy, where Dumourier and KeUerman suc«
oessfnlly repulsed the attack of the enemy, the Prussian generals relin-
quished the idea of any farther advance, and concluded a compromise
with Dumourier, by which the Prussians were assured of an uninter-
rupted retreat. The Austrians, who had marched from the Netherlands,
met with no better success. After the battle of Jemappes,
Dumourier conquered Belgium and Liege, and threatened
the frontiers of HoUand, whilst the hussar-general, Custine, made him-
October 11, Bclf master of the towns on the Rhine, and gained the for-
1792. ip^gg Qf Mayence, where there were many adherents of the
ideas of freedom and equality, for the French republic The citizens of
Mayence, de^rted by their elector, theur clergy, and the nobility, received
the French troops with enthusiasm. Greorge Foster, the circumnavigator of
the globe, was the soul of the republican party in Mayence. This success
of the French arms inspired the republicans with f^h courage, and the
powers of Europe with fresh alann. Were they to look quietly on,
whilst a king was murdered in a revoltiBg manner in Paris, whilst the
revohitionkts, intoxicated with sncoess, called upon the people eveiy-
416 THE LATEST PERIOD.
where to overthroi^ their monardbical govenimentSy and ptomued 1
the protection of the French nation in establishing their republics ? 'Die
enthusiasm of the people for the new ideas gave great assistance to the
republican arms : not only the thrones of kings and the dominions of
princes, but the privileges and possessions of the nobility and dei^,
were in peril. Fresh armies from all parts of Europe were therefore
marched across the French frontiers, for the purpose of suppressing a
revolution which endangered the pe-ace and security of other states. Eng-
land, where the Tories, under the guidance of the younger Pitt, were ia
possession of the government, and where the orator, Edmund Boike,
once the advocate of the American War of Liberty both in speech and
writing, look the field against the Revolution, and solenmly separated
himself from his old friend. Fox, the leader of the liberal Whigs, headed
the *^ Coalition " against France. English subsidies soon gave fresh life
to the war. An Austrian army appeared in the Netherlands under die
prince of Coburg, who was assisted by Clerfait and the Archduke Gluuies,
March 18, drove back the French over the Maase, and defeated DnmoiF
1798. pjer at Neerwinden. This defeat was ascribed by Dumoo-
rier principally to the Jacobins, because they had corrupted the army,
had neglected the necessary military supplies, and had placed an incom*
potent coadjutor by his side. In his disgust, he allowed it to appear
pretty unequivocally that he meditated the overthrow of the repubUcao
constitution, and the reestablishment of a king (for which office he had
selected the duke of Orleans, or his son, Louis Philippe.) The Conven-
tion, apprised of this intention, impeached the general, and required his
presence in Paris to answer for himself. But instead of obeying the
summons, Dumourier ordered the ambassadors of the Convention to be
seized and delivered up to the enemy, and then went over with a part
of his troops to the Austrians.
About the same time, Mayenoe, after the most obstinate defence, and
after enduring the extremities of famine, fell again into the hands of the
Prussians, who once more approached the frontiers of France.
§ 552. Dumourier's treachery was employed by the Jacobins for the
overthrow of the Girondists, to which party Dumourier had belonged.
The Girondists, enraged at the increasing power of the populace in Paris,
and the unbridled acts of violence committed by the mob, entertained the
project of converting France into a republican union like North America,
and by this means, destroying the supremacy of the capital. The Mooo-
tain and the Jacobins, who saw that this scheme would weaken the revo-
lutionary power of France, and endanger the future of the democratic re-
public, commenced a war of life and death with the Girondists (also cal-
led Brissotins) upon this point They accused them of an understanding
with Dumourier, they reproached them with weakening ibe power of the
people, and destroying the repnblie at a moment when France was
THE ?EBNOH RKVOLUTION. 417
threatened witb enemiea both within and without ; and when all these
attach were ignominioufily repnlsed hy the victorious eloquence of the Gi-
rondists, the savage Marat, in his ^ Friend of the People," called upon
the populace to rise against the moderate and lukewarm, and thus gave
occasion to daily riots and tumults, which disturbed the capital and en-
dangered life axJd property. All moderate and reputable people were
in continual peril. It was in vain that the Girondists succeeded in
having Marat brought before a court of justice, he was acquitted by the
Jacobins, and carried back to the Convention in triumph by the people ;
it was in vain that the Girondists procured the appointment of a Com-
mission of Twelve, who were to discover and punish the exciters of the
tumult. When the Commission ordered Hebcrt, who, in his vulgar and
libellous journal, ^ Pere Duchesne," excited the people to tumult and
murder, and some of his associates, to be imprisoned, the raging mob
compelled their release, and then arranged the great insurrection of the
81st of May and 1st of June. They made the branded Henriot, who
liad first been a lacquey, then a smuggler, and lastly a spy of the police,
commander of the National Ghiard. Under his guidance, the innumerable
multitude of the sans-culottes surrounded the Tuileries, where the Con-
vention was holding its meeting, and demanded with threats the abolition
of the Commission of Twelve, and the exclusion of the Girondists and
the moderates. It was in vain that the latter employed the whole force
of their eloquence to induce the Assembly not to consent to the demands
of the people: the mob pressed into the hall and the galleries, and de-
manded its sacrifice with wild shouts and cries. It was in vain that the
minority of the Assembly, the courageous president, Herault, at their
head, attempted to leave the apartment where they could no longer de-
bate in freedom; driven back by Henriot, nothing was left to them but
to consent to the demands of the people and the party of the Mountain,
and to admit the supremacy of the mob. Thirty-four Girondists were
immediately thrust out and imprisoned ; twenty of them (Petion, Guadet,
and Barbaroux, were of the number) escaped, and summoned the inhabit-
ants of Normandy, Bretagne, and the maritime cities of the south, to
take up arms against the Jacobins ; the remainder died some time after
on the guillotine. The assassination of Marat, by the noble Charlotte
Corday, who was inspired by a spirit of genuine liberty, and a frightful
civil war, were the first results of this act of violence. Most of the
escaped Girondists also died violent deaths, by their own hands or those
of others. Thus died Boland, Potion, Barbaroux, Condoroet, and
others. Madame Boland also died on the guillotine. Seventy-three
members of the Convention, who had sided with the Girondists, were
also expelled, so that the Convention was now entirely ruled by the demo-
crats of the Mountain.
I 553. The Reign of the Jacobins. — The National Convention
418 THE LATB8T PEBIOD.
aeqnired greater nnanimity b j the ezdusion of the Giroodisti and die
moderates ; so that, from tlus time, it was enabled to deyelop a fnghtfid
power and activity. F.or the purpose of better saperintendiiig and ood-
ducting its maltitadinous affairs, it resolved itself into committees, of
which the committee of public safety and that of public security acquired
a frightful celebrity by the persecution of every one opposed to the new
order of things. A revolutionary tribunal, consisting of twelve jurymen
and five judges, to which that man of blood, Fouquier Tinville, occupied
the office of public accuser, seconded the activity of these committees by
a cruel and summary administration of justice. At the head of the com-
mittee of public safet}' stood three men, whose names became the terror
and horror of all just men ; the envious and malignant Hobeepierre, the
bloodthirsty Couthon, and the fanatic for republican liberty and equality,
St Just They pursued their bloody object without regard to human
life; every thing that ventured to oppose their stormy course was unpity-
ingly hurled down. Thus originated the terrible period of the years '93
and '94, which displayed itself in three different directions — within, bj
a cruel persecution of all citizens who were known as aristocrats or hr
vorera of royalty, and by a bloody suppression of insurrectioDs in the
south and west ; without, by a vigorous defensive war against innumerable
enemies.
§ 554 — 1. Febsbcutioit op Abistocbats. — Since tlie munidpal
government in Paris had been in the exclusive possession of Jacobins
and democrats of the extreme class, since democratical committees had
had the political supervision of all the sections, since, besides the National
Guard, a revolutionary army of sans-culottes had stood at the disposal ci
the republican government, the whole power had been in the hands of
the populace and their frantic leaders. The Jacobin dubs in Paris and
the provincial cities possessed the government ; their orators and presi-
dents executed, with the aid of the people, the most sanguinary outrages
upon all who were not of their own party. The most effectual means
of destroying all opponents was the frightful law against the suspected,
which threatened with death all " enemies of the countiy," all who mani-
fested any attachment to the former condition of things, or to the priest-
hood or the nobility. In consequence of this and similar laws, the pri-
sons were filled with thousands of so-called aristocrats ; and forty or sixty
men were daily dragged to the guillotine. All those who were distin-
guished from the ruling democracy by rank, wealth, refinement, or no>
bility of mind, stood in continual peril of their lives. The malicious
slander of an enemy, the accusation of a spy, the hatred of a sans-culotte,
were sufficient to bring an innocent man to prison, and from prison to
the scaffi>ld. The transition was so sadden, that death lost iu terrors,
and the prison became the scenes of cheerful and refined society, and of
intellectual conversation. The most noble and distinguished men of France
THB FRKNCH KEVOLUTION. 419
were among the Tictims. The former minister, Malasherbes, the mem*
bers of the Constituent Assembly, Bailli, Barnave, &c^ all who belonged
to the old monarchy, and who had not saved themselves by flight, died
by the guillotine. Among them was the severely-tried queen, Marie
Antoinette, who displayed, during her trial and at her exe-
cution, a firmness and strength of soul that was worthy of
her education and her birth. Her son died beneath the cruel treatment
of a Jacobin ; her daughter (the duchess of Angouleme) carried a gloomy
epirie and an embittered heart with her to the grave. Louis XYI.'s
May 10, pious sister, Elizabeth, also died on the scaffold ; the head
1794. of the profligate duke of Orleans, whom even the favor of
Danton could not preserve from the envy of Robespierre, had fallen be-
fore her own.
§555. — 2. Outrages in the South. — The bloody rule of the
Mountain party displayed itself in its most frightful excess in the sup-
pression of the revolt against the reign of terror. When the inhabitants
of Normandy and Bretagne rose in support of the excluded Girondists,
the committee of public safety ordered the district between the Seine,
the Loire, and the extreme sea-coast, to be visited with blood and
slaughter by the terrible Carrier. This monster ordered, at Nantes, his
Tictims to be drovmed by hundreds in the Loire, by means of ships with
movable bottoms (naycuUs), The proceedings of the Jacobins in the
cities of the south, Lyons, Marseilles, and Toulon, were still more barba-
rous.. In the first of these towns, Chalier, who had formerly been a'
priest, and now was president of the Jacobin club, excited the people by
scandalous placards to plunder and destroy the ^ aristocrats.** Irritat^
ftt this audacity, the respectable and wealthy citizens of Lyons, who were
thus menaced in their lives and property, procured the exe-
' cution of the demagogue. This deed filled the Parisian ter-
rorists with fury. A republican army appeared before the walls of the
town, which, after an obstinate contest, was taken and fearfully punished.
Freron, a companion of Marat, Fouche, Couthon, and others, caused the
inhabitants to be shot down in crowds, because the guillotine was too
tedious in its operations ; whole streets were either pulled down or blown
into the air with gunpowder. The goods of the rich were divided
among the populace ; Lyons was to be annihilated, reduced to a name-
less common. The republicans raged in a similar way in Marseilles and
Toulon. The royalists of Toulon had called upon the English for assist-
ance, and surrendered to them their town and harbor. Confident in
this assistance, and in the strength of their walls, the citizens of Toulon
bade defiance to their republican enemies. , But the army of sans-culottes,
in which the young Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte, exhibited the first
proofs of his military talents, overcame all obstacles. Toulon was storm-
ed* The English, unable to maintain the town, set fire to the fleet, and
420 THE LATEST PERIOD.
left the anforttmate inhabitants to the frightful Tengeance of the
Convention. Here also the barbarous Freron ordered all the wealthy
citizens to be shot, and their property to be divided among the sans-
culottes. The respectable inhabitants fed, and abandoned the city to the
mob and the galley-slaves. Tallien behaved in a similar manner in
Bourdeaox ; and in the north of France, Lebon marched from place to
place with a guillotine.
§ 556. Scenes op blood in La Vend£e. — But the fate of Xa
Vendue was the most frightfuL This singular country, situated ip the
west of France, was covered with woods, hedges, and thickets, and inter-
sected by ditches. Here dwelt a contented people, in rural quietude^ and
in the simplicity of the olden time. The peasants and tenants were at-
tached to their landlords ; they loved the king ; and clung with reverence
to their plergy and their church usages, which had been dear and sacred
to them from their youth. When the National Assembly slaughtered
or expelled their unsworn priests, when the blood of their king was
poured out on the guillotine, when the children of the peasants were
called away, by a general summons, to the army — then the enraged
people roused themselves to resistance and civil conflict Under brave
leaders, of undistinguished birth, as Charette, Stofflet, Cathelineau, who
were joined by a few nobles, Laroche-Jaquelein, D'Ellb^e, ^cc, they at
first drove back the republican army, conquered Saumur, and threatened
Nantes. Upon this, the Convention despatched a revolutionary army to
La Vendue, under the command of Westermann and the frantic Jacobins,
Bonsin and Rossignol. These fell upon the inhabitants like wild beasts,
set fire to towns, villages, farms, and woods, and attempted to overcome
the resistance of the " royalists " by terror and outrage. But the courage
of the Vend^an peasants remained unsubdued. It was not until
general £leber marched against La Vendue with the brave troops who
had returned to their homes after the surrender of Mayence, thai this
unfortunate people gradually succumbed to the attacks of their enemies,
afler the land had become a desert, and thousands of the inhabitants had
saturated the soil with their blood. La Vendee, however, was only re-
stored to tranquillity when Hoche, who was equally renowned for his
courage and philanthropy, assumed the command of the army, offered
peace to those who were weary of the contest, and reduced the refractory
to submission. Stofflet and Charette were made prisoners of war, and
shot.
§ 557. Fall op the Dantonists. — The rage and cruelty of the
Jacobins at length excited the disgust of the chiefs of the Cordeliers,
Danton and Camille Desmoulins. The former, who was rather a volup-
tuary than a tyrant, and who was capable of kindly feelings, had grown
weary of slaughter, and had retired into the country for a few months
with a yoong wife, to enjoy the wealth and happiness that the reTolntkn
THB fBBKCH BBVOLUTION. 421
liad brought him;' but Camille Desmoulins, in his much read paper,
^ The Old Cordelier^" applied the passages where the Roman historian,
Tacitus, describes the tyrannj and cruelty of Tiberius, so appropriately
to his own times, that the application to the three chiefs of the committee
of safe^ and their laws against the suspect^ was not to be mistaken.
This enraged the Jacobins ; and when, about this time, several friends
and adherents of Danton (Fabre d'Eglantine, Chabot, &^) were guilty
of deceit and corruption in connection with the aboHtion of the East In-
dia Company, and others gave offence by their sacrilegious proceedings,
the committee of safe^ made use of the opportunity to destroy the
whole party of Danton* For since the Convention had altered the ca-
lendar and the names of the months, had made the year commence oa
the 22nd of September, had abolished the observance of Sunday and the
festivals, and introduced in their place the decades and sans-culotte feasts,
many Dantonists, like Hebert, Chaumette, Momoro, Cloots, and others,
had occasioned great scandal by their animosity to priests and Christian-
ity. They desecrated and plundered the churches, ridiculed the mass
TCBtments and the church utensils, which they carried through the streets
in blasphemous processions, raged with the spirit of Vandals against all
the monuments of Christianity, and at length carried a resolution
through the Convention, that the worship of Reason should be intro-
duced in place of the catholic service of God. A solemn festival, in
which Momoro's pretty wife personated the Groddess of Reason in the
church of Notre Dame, mariced the commencement of this new religion.
Robespierre, who plumed himself upon his reputation for virtue, because
be was not a participator in the excesses or avarice of Danton and his
associates, took offence at these proceedings. He determined to destroy
their originators, and in their fall to involve the destruction of Desmou-
lins and Danton, before whose powerful natures his own spirit, which was
filled with envy and ambition, stood abashed. Scarcely, therefore, had
Danton resumed his seat in the Convention, before St. Just
began the violent struggle by a remarkable proposal, in which
he divided the enemies of the republic into three classes, the corrupt,
the ultra-revolutionary, and the moderates, and insisted upon their pun-
ishment This prop<Mal resulted in nineteen of the ultra-revolutionaries,
and among them Cloots, Momoro, Ronsin, and several members of the
Common Council, being led to the guillotine on the 19th of March. On
the 31st of April, the corrupt were placed before the Revolutionary Tri-
bunal, and Danton, Camillb Desmoulins, Herault de Sechelles, &c were
Bialiciously distinguished as their partisans and involved in their fate.
But Danton and Desmoulins, supported by a raging mob that were de-
voted to them, demanded with vehemence that their accusers should be
oonfronijed with them. For three days, Danton's voice of thunder and
the tumult among the populkce rendered his condemnatioD impossible*
d6
422 THE LATEST PERIOD*
For the first time, the bloody moD of the BeTolutidnarj TribmuJ be-
came confused. The ConventioD at length, bj a law of its own, gare
the Tribuoal the power of c<Midemning the accosed who were endearor*
ing to subvert the existing order of things by an insurrection, without
farther hearing ; upon which the blood-stained heroes of the 10th of
August and the days of September, who during their trial had shown
that a lofty spirit might dwell even in the bosom of criminals, were led
to the guillotine and beheaded, with a crowd of inferior He-
' bertists. They died with courage and resolution.
§ 558^ — 3. Wabs of the Republic. First Coalition^ — ^Whilst
these bloody proceedbgs were going on within, the armies of almost aD
the nations of Europe were marching upon the frontiers of France.
The Dutch, Austrians, and English were in the Netherlands ; Dntdi,
Prussian, and Austrian troops crossed the Rhine ; Sardinia threatened
the south-east; and Spanish and Portuguese armies occupied the Pyre-
nees : at the same time, the English government, conducted by Pitt^
sought to destroy the naval power of France, to conquer her coloniesr
and to keep the war alive by. large subsidies to the continental powers.
At first, the arms of the allies met with some success ; Alsace and Flan-
ders fell into their hands, and the way to Paris stood open. But want
of union and want of system prevented any brilliant success, althoajdi
the new method of warfare had not yet been created in France. The
republicans wished to gain the victory by terror. General Beauhamois,
who arrived too late to relieve ]klayence, died on the guillotine ; Custine
and his son experienced the same fate ; Houchard, the victor over the
September 8, Dutch and Hanoverians at Handschooten, had a similar fate
1788. when he was afterwards obliged to retire before the superior
Kovember force of the enemy ; and Hoche expiated in prison the de-
28-80. f^^ suffered by the Hollanders and Prussians at Kaiserslaa-
tem. But the brave and active Camot now took his seat in the commit-
tee of safety, and gave unity and system to the military operations. The
whole nation was interested in the war by a general summons ; the newly
acquired freedom awi^ened courage and enthusiasm among the troops ;
fiuiatical bands were now opposed to the enemy in masses, and no longer
in small divisions ; and the greatest commanders of the century rose from
the ranks. The generals with their antiquated tactics, and with soldiers
who fought for pay, and not for liberty or their fatherland, could not
^ maintain their ground. Jourdain compelled the evacuation
' ' * of Belgium in June, after the battle of Fleuros ; and, by the
beginning of autumn, the Austrian Netherlands and the frontier fortresses
of Holland were in the hands of the French. It thus became practica-
ble for General Pichegru to undertake a daring expedition in December
and Jaiiuary across the frozen waters, against the States-General of
Holland. Pichegru, with an army that was suffering from a want of
THB FRENCH BBYOLiniON. 423
clothing and provisions^ made himself master of the rieh land, drove the
hereditary Stadtholder to England, and brought about the establishment
of a Batavian Republic, with democratic rights, with trees of Kbertj,
and popular Clubs. From this time, Holland remained united with
France ; and not only were the French troops clothed and maintained at
the cost of the country, and vast sums sent to Paris to defray the expen-
ses of the war, but the English at the same time seized upon the Dutch
ships and colonies, so that the unfortunate country was a sufferer on all
hands.
§ 559. Thk Peacb of Baslb. — The French arms were equally
successful on the Rhine. The Austrian and Prussian troops retreated
across the German river in October, and abandoned the
A* D. 1794.
further side to the French. Shortly aAer, the Prussian
government, which was busied with the proceedings in Poland
commenced negotiations with France which led to the peace
' ' of Basle. By this disgraceful peace, not only was the left
bank of the Rhine, together with Holland, abandoned to the enemy, but
the northern portion of Grermany separated by a line of demarcation
from the southern. Whilst the war was carried on in the latter, the
former was declared neutral territory. The Austrians, on the other
hand, under the conduct of the brave leaders Clerfait and Wurmser, con-
tinued the war with greater energy. After Clerfait's victory over
Fichegrn at Handschuchsheim, the imperialists took Heidelberg, which
September 84, was in the possession of the French, and, after a frightful
1796. bombardment of several days, the strong town of Mannheim,
which, with its abundant military provisions, had been disgracefully sur-
rendered to the enemy at the first summons by the governor, Palgrave
Obemdorf. A part of the town was in ruins when the Germans again
entered it The archduke Charles, the brother of the emperor, gave
September 8, splendid proofs of distinguished military talents. He de*
1796. feated Jourdain at Wiirzburg, and compelled him to a hasty
retreat upon the Rhine. The inhabitants of Spessart and Odenwald,
enraged at the oppressions and exactions of the French, rose upon their
retreating enemies, and destroyed them wherever they appeared singly.
Moreau was more fortunate; he was indeed driven back from Bavaria
and Swabia, but he gained the Rhine without any great loss by a masterly
September 19 '^'cat through the valleys of the Black Forest. The Qer-
_October 24, man governments, far from encouraging the people in this
179S. rising against the enemies of the empire, imitated, for
the most part, the example of Prussia, and concluded a peace with
France.
§ 560. Robespierre's Fall. — Since the fall of Danton, the oom«
mittee of safety had ruled with wellnigh unlimited sway, and by re-
peated executions and arrests had brought the reign of terror to its high-
^S4 ZHB LATBST PERIOD.
est point. But its chiefs had lost the oooAdenee of the people and of tte
Convention. The friends of Danton were on the watch for the &Torable
moment of attack, Bj^d the number of their enemies was increased, when
Robespierre, to put an end to the blasphemous proceedings of the ad-
, herents of the worship of Beason, had a resolution passed bj the Con*
vention in May, ^ That the existence of a Supreme Being and the im-
mortalitj of the soul were truths :" and rendered himself at once hateful
and ridiculous bj his pride at the new festival in honor of the Sopreme
Being in the Tuileries, at which he officiated as high priest. Among his
opponents was Tallien, who at a former period had been goilty of ex-
cesses in Bourdeaux, but who had been brought to adopt different principles
bj the fascinating Fontenaj Cabarrus. With him were joined Freron,
Fouche, Vadier, the polished rhetorician Barrere, and others.
^ ' ' On the 9th ThermidcM*, a battle for life or death commenced
in the Convention. Robespierre and his adherents were not allowed to
speak ; their voices were drowned in the cries of their enemies, who car-
ried through a stormy meeting the resolution, '' That the three chie& of
the committee of safety, Robespierre, St. Just, Couthon, and their confede-
rate, Henriot, should be denounced, and conveyed as prisoners to the
Luxembourg palace." They were liberated by the mob on their way;
whereupon the drunken Henriot threatened the Convention with the
National Guard, whilst the others betook themselves to the Hotel de
Ville. But the National Assembly was beforehand with them by a hasty
resolution. A loudly proclaimed sentence of outlawry suddenly dispersed
Henriot's army, whilst the citizens who were opposed to the Jacobins
arranged themselves around the Convention. The accused were again
secured in the Hotel de Ville. Henriot crept into a sewer, whence he
was dragged forth by hooks. Robespierre attempted to destroy himiself
by a pistol-shot, but only succeeded in shattering his lower jaw, and was
first coQveyed, horribly disfigured, amidst the curses and execrations of
the people, before the Revolutionary Tribunal, and then guillotined, with
Jni 28 twenty-one of his adherents. On the two following days,
seventy-two Jacobins shared the fate of their leaders.
S 561. The Last Dats of the Contention. — Robespierre's over-
throw by the ^ Thermidorians " was the commencement of a return to
moderation and order. The assemblies of the people were gradually
limited, the power of the Common Council diminished, and the lower
classes deprived of their weapons. Freron, converted from a republican
bloodhound into an aristocrat, assembled the young men, who from their
clothing were called the ^ gilded youth," around him. These, with the
heavy stick they usually carried about them, attacked the Jacobins in the
streets and in their clubs at every opportunity, and opposed the song of
the *< Awakening of the People" to the Marseillaise. At length, the
dob was shut up and the cloister of the Jacobins pulled down. The
FRANCB UKDIB THB DIBICTORT. 425
CkxnTentioii streagthened itself by the reeali of the expelled members and
of such Girondists a» were still leA, and ordered the worst of the Terror-
iste, Lebon, Carrier, Fouquier TinviUe, &c., to be executed. But when
four of the most active members of the committee of safety (Barrere,
Vadier, CoUot d'HerboiSy and BiUaud^Varennes) were denounced, the
Jacobins collected the hut remains of their strength, and drove the
people, who were suffering from a scarcity and want of money, to a
frightful msurrection. Crowds of grisly wretches surrounded the bouse
Uarehsi. of assembly, and demanded, with threatening cries, the
April 1, 17S6. liberaticm of the patriots, bread, and the constitution of
1793. Pichegru, who was just at this moment in Paris, came to the as*
aistance of the distressed ConventioB with soldiers and citixens, and dis*
persed the crowd. The still more formidable insurrection of the 1st
Prairial, in which the mob held the Convention surrounded
* ' both within and without, from seven o'clock in the morning
f ill two at night, for the purpose of enforcing a return to the reign of
terror, was also suppressed by the courageous president, Boissy d'Anglas*
From this time, the power of the Terrorists was no more. Many Jaco-
bins died by their own hands; others were beheaded, imprisoned, or
transported* By so much the stronger became the party of the royalists,
who wished to have a king again ; and when the new government was
shortly after determined upon, by which the executive power was to be
. delivered to a Directory of five persons, the legislative power to a
council of Ancients and a councU of Five Hundred, the republican
members of the Convention feared that in the new election they might be
thmst aside by the royalists. They therefore mad^ additions to the
original charter of the constitution, wherein it was declared that two-
thirds of the two legislative councils must be chosen from members of
the Convention. The royalists raised objections against this and ^ome
other limitations of the freedom of election ; and when these were un-
attended with success, they occasioned the insurrection of the Sections.
Hereupon, the Convention made over to the Corsican, Napoleon Bona-
parte, the supression of the insurgent royalists, who were joined by all
the enemies of the republic and of the revolution. The victory of the
October ft, l^^b Yendemiaire, which was fought in the streets of Paris,
I7d6. guyQ ^^ supremacy to the republicans of the Convention,
and the command of the Italian army to Napoleon, who was then twenty-
six years of age, and who, a short time before, had married Josephine,
the widow of General Beanhamois.
5. fsakce undeb thb directory (october, 1795 — november
9th, 1799).
S 562. Napoleoit dv Italy. — The French army in Savoy and oa
the frontiers of Italy was in a melancholy condition. The soldiers were
B6»
426 THE LATI8T PSBIOD.
in want of every thing. At this crisis, Napoleon appeared as their <
mander-in-chief, and in a short time contrived so to inspirit the despond-
ing troops and attach them to his person, that under his guidance thej
cheerfully encountered the greatest dangers. Where the love of glorj and
the sentiment of honor were not sufficient, there the treasures of wealthy
Italy served as a stimulus to valor. In April, Napoleon
defeated the octogenarian Austrian general, Beanlien, at
Milesimo and Montenotte, separated, hy this victory, the Anstrians fron
the Sardinians, and so terrified the king, Victor Amadeus, that he con-
sented to a disadvantageous peace, by which he surrendered Savoy and
Nice to the French, gave up six fortresses to the general, and submitted
to the oppressive condition of allowing the French army to march
through his land at any time. By these and other oppressive conditioDi,
the coqntry became entirely dependent upon France, so that, npon the
king's death, which took place soon after, his son, Charles Emmannel
(1796 — 1802), surrendered Piedmont to the enemy, and settled himself
and his family in Sardinia. The course of Napoleon's victories in Up-
per Italy was equally rapid. After the memorable passage
^ ' 'of the bridge of Lodi, he marched into Austrian Milan,
subjected the Lombard towns, and so terrified the smaller princes by the
success of his arms and his insolence, that they were only too happy to
make peace with the victor at any price. Napoleon extorted large sums
of money, and valuable pictures, treasures of art and manuscripts, from
the dukes of Parma, Modena, Lucca, Tuscany, Sec He behaved as the
Boman generals, with whose lives he was acquainted from the descrip-
tions of Plutarch, had once done ; he enriched the French capital with
the productions of the mind, that he might please the vain and spectacle-
loving Parisians. He supported the weak Directory with the extorted
supplies of money.
Wurmser now took the place of the old Beaulien. But he also was
defeated at Gastiglione, and afterwards besieged in Mantua.
^ ' The army under Alvinzi that was sent to his relief sustained
January, three defeats (at Areola, Bivoli, La Favorita), by whidi the
Febniaiy, whole Austrian force in Italy was destroyed, dispersed, or
^7^* captured. This compelled the gallant Wurmser to deliver
up Mantua to the glorious victor. Bonaparte, respecting the courage
of his enemy, permitted a free retreat to the gray-headed marshal, hk
staff, and a part of the brave garrison. Pope Pius YI., terrified at these
rapid successes, hastened to purchase the peace of Tolentino
e ruary, . ^^ eessions of territory, sums of money, and works of art
Archduke Charles now assumed the command of the Austrian army
in Italy. But he also was compelled to a disastrous retreat, and was
pursued by Bonaparte as far as Klagenfurt, with the view of falling
npon Vienna. The emperor Frauds, anxious for the fate of his capital,
FBANCB UlTDBR THB DIRBCTORT. 427
allowed himself to be penoaded bj female influenee to conclude the dis-
A M 18 707 ^^^Q^^^^S^*'^ preliminary peace of Leoben, at the yerj mo-
* 'ment when, bj the non-arrival of the expected reinforce-
ments, and the threatening movements of the lyrolese, Styrians, and
Carinthians, the position of the French army was becoming critical.
About the time this treaty of peace was concluded, a popular insurrec-
tion arose in the rear of the French army, in the territory of the republic
of Venice, in consequence of which many Frenchmen were murdered
in Verona and its neighborhood, and even the sick and wounded in the
hospitals were not spared* This was taken advantage of by Napoleon
to destroy the Venetian republic. The cowardice of the aristocratic
councillors, who, instead of offering a brave resistance and &lling with
honor, humbly implored the grace of the proud conqueror, and surren-
dered the government to a democratic council, fiualitated the enterprise.
As early as May, the French marched into Venice, carried off the ships
and the stores of the arsenal, robbed the churches, galleries, and libraries
of their choicest ornaments and most valued treasures, and kept posses-
sion of the city till the negotiations with Austria were so far advanced,
October 17, ^^ the peace of Campo Formio, by which Upper Italy fell
1707* into the hands of France under the name of liie Cisalpine
Republic, was concluded. Austria, who by this peace also surrendered
Belgium to the French republic, and consented to the cession of the lef^
bank of the Rhine with Mayence, received the territory of Venice,
together with Dahnatia, as a recompense for this loss. The princes,
prelates, and nobles, who suffered by this abandonment of the farther
Bhineland, were to be indemnified on the right bank of the river, and
this, as well as all other points relating to Grermany, were to be settled
December, ' R^ ^^^ Congress at Rastadt Napoleon opened this congress
1797. himself, and then returned to Paris where he was received
with acclamations.
i 563. Gracchus Bab(eitf. The Royalists. — The reign of the
live directors, among whom La Reveillere-Lepeaux (founder of the
Society of the Theo-Philanthropists, Friends of God and Men) and
Camot possessed the greatest influence, was detested by the violent re-
publicans as well as by the royalists, and had, consequently, to sustain
the attacks of both parties. The first attempt to overthrow it was made
by the republicans, under the guidance of Gracchus Baboeuf, who, like
the Roman tribune whose name he had assumed, wished to establish an
equalization of property, and a new division of lands. He was joined
by some of the old Jacobins, particularly by Dronet The conspiracy
was discovered. After some legal proc^dings, which attracted a great
deal of attention, Baboeuf and one other were executed, the others were
banished. But greater than this was the danger with which the direc-
toral government was threateyied by the royalists. When, in accordance
428 IHX LATIST PBBIOD.
with the duurter of tlie CknstitatioB, at the expiiation of the fisst jeir,
a third part of the eoancil vacated their seats, and were replaced hj a
fresh election, the rojalists, who had foanded the dub of Clichj, succeed-
ed, almost entirely, in retuniing people of their own way of thinking to
the legislatire assembly. Among them was Fichegru^ who as commander
of the Rhine army, had been connected with the emigrants, and now,
as president of the Council of the Five Hundred, was seeking to eflfect
the restoration of the king. This caused anxie^ to the republicans in
the Directory and in the kgislatiTe chamber. They accordingly sought
assistance from Bonaparte. The latter despatched a division of his
army to Paris, under the conduct of the shrewd Bemadotte and the
gallant Aogereao, ostensibly to convey thither the conquered standards,
September 4, ^^ in reality to assist the Directors against the royalists.
1797. . On the 18th Fructidor, Augereau surrounded the Toileriea
with his troops, and ordered the royalist deputies to be arrested ; upon
which, eleven members of the Council of Ancients, for^-two of the Five
Hundred (among them Pichegm), and two Directors, were sentenced to
deportation. The royalist elections were then dedared invalid, the re*
turned emigrants again banished, and many journals suppressed. The
directoral government, however, possessed neither respect nor confi-
dence. Trade, industry, and agriculture fell into decay, and the natJotml
finances were in a dilapidated state. At the commencement of the
Revolution, the government had ordered paper money to be issued,
for the security and guarantee of which they assigned the confiscated
property of the Church and of the emigrants. These notes were called
assignats. A want of confidence in the stability of the revolationai^
government soon produced a depreciation of this paper money, espeda&y
as the increasing number of assignats rendered their redemption every
day more improbable. During the reign of terror, no one refused an
acceptance that was commanded by law, and the assignats had thus a
compuUatory circulation. But after the fi&U of Robespierre, and the
dedine of terrorism, this paper money sank daily in value ; and, despite
the efforts made by the directoral government to restore the confidence
of the people by discharging the old assignats and issuing fresh bills
(mandats, inscriptions), the new notes were soon as worthless as the old
ones. The losses were enormous ; property had fled from the rich and
the illustrious to the lower classes. To defray the expenses of war and
other outlays, the Directory established a complete system of plunder in
the conquered countries.
§ 564. Thb Repubucans ix Italy. CHAJraas nr Switzerland.
Italy and Switzerland were particularly exposed to the insolence and
rapadty of the directoral government. In the winter of 1797, repub*
lican commotions took place in Rome and other parts of the States of
the Church, which were occasioned by French influence. During the
FRAKCS XTNDER THB DIBECTOBT. 429
Boppression of these by the papal troopa, general Dophot, who was present
in Rome, lost his life. This afforded the French government an opp<^-
tunitj of ordering Berthier to march with an army into Rome. A tree
February, o^ liberty was erected in the midst of the Roman Fornm,
1798. the Pope was deprived of his temporal power, which was
made over to a republican government, consisting of consuls, senators,
and tribunes. The French then imposed severe military levies and im-
posts upon the town, and carried off the most valuable works of art to
Paris : and when this proceeding occasioned some popular commotions,
A i79fi ^^^ grey-headed pope, Pius VL, was led away to Paris,
' ' where he died m the following year, and the cardinals were
subjected to severe persecutions. Lucca and Grenoa also received demo-
cratical constitutions, and paid for them with their treasures. But the
inost remarkable occurrences took place in Naples. The hard-hearted
and cowardly king Ferdinand governed there, and devoted himself en-
tirely to hunting and fishing, whilst he left the business of the state to his
impetuous wife, Caroline, a daughter of Maria Theresa, who, on her
aide, allowed heiself to be entirely guided by the notorious courtezan,
Xiady Hamilton, the wife of the English ambassador. Filled with deadly
hate against France and the regicide republicans, and informed that the
European powers had determined upon a fresh campaign, the queen
persuaded her husband to allow a Neapolitan army, under the command
of the Austrian general Mack, to march into the States of the Church.
The French were at first driven out of Rome, and the town taken pos-
session of; but in a few days they again returned, under Championnet,
put the Neapolitans to flight, and marched into the territory of their
enemy. Confused and helpless, the Neapolitan court fled to Sicily, or-
NoTember dered its own fleet to be set on fire, and abandoned the capi-
December, tal and the whole country to the conquerors. But the popu-
1798. ]j|CQ q£ Naples, excited by the monks and defgy, now arose.
Troops of ragamuffins (lazzaroni), united with peasants and galley-slaves,
took possession of Naples, and spread such alarm, that the viceroy fled
to Sicily, and Mack sought protection among the French. Championnet
then marched over blood and corpses into the stubbornly defended town,
1799 ^^^ established the Parthenopeian Republic All the re-
' spectable and educated Neapolitans, who were inspired with
any feeling of patriotism, delighted to escape from years of kingly and
priestly despotism, attached themselves with enthusiasm to the new order
of things.
In the year 1798, Switzerland also experienced a change in her oob-
atitution. Bern, and its aasodate, Vaud, were governed by an aristo-
eratie council, all the members of which belonged to patrician families.
The Vaudois, excited by the French republicans, seised their arms fiw
the purpose of freeing themselves from the government of the Bei^^
430 THE LATEST PERIOD.
nese, Bot as thej were not a match for their opponents^ thej daimed
the assistance of France ; upon which general Brane took poesesson
of Bern, made himself master of the rich treasures and of the arsenal,
and extorted large sums from the land bj military levies. Supported
hj the democratic partj, with Ochs of Basle and Laharpe of Yaud at
their head, the French conyerted Switzerland into the single and
indivisible Helvetic Republic, with a form of policy borrow^ from
the directoral government of France. It was in vain that the Catholic
cantons on the lake of Lucerne, excited bj thdr priests, opposed
themselves to this arrangement and took up arms ; thej were dcdfeated,
and compelled to conform to the new system. Geneva was united to
France.
§ 565. The War op the Second Coalition. — These proceedings,
and the sirouhaneous expedition of Napoleon to Egypt and Syria, pro-
duced a fresh coalition of the three great European powers, Russia, Eng-
land, and Austria, against France. Russia had been governed since the
year 1796 by Paul, the eldest son of Catherine, a prince with a mind
somewhat deranged, who cherished the bitterest hatred against the Re-
volution; and who, as a great admirer of the Order of Malta, to (he
Grand Mastership of which he had had himself appointed, saw, in the
cafiture of that island by Napoleon, a cause for war. England feared
danger to her foreign possessions from the Egyptian expedition, and
scattered money with a liberal hand to raise up fresh enemies against
France. Austria was at variance with the directoral government, be-
cause the house of the French ambassador in Vienna, Bemadotte, had
been broken open, and the tricolor fiag torn down and burnt, during a
popular festival, without the Austrian government having afforded the re-
quired satisfaction.
War was waged, at the same time, in Germany, in Italy, in Switzer-
land, and in the Netherlands. Afler the French had been defeated at
Stockach by the archduke Charles, and forced over the Rhine,
' 'the French ambassadors (Roberjot, Bonnier, Jean Debrv),
who had hitherto conducted the affairs of peace in Rastadt, and rendered
themselves universally odious by their pride and insolence, wished to re-
turn. But scarcely had they left Rastadt at the commencement of night,
before they were attacked, in defiance of all the rights of na-
^ tions, by Szekler hussars, robbed of their papers, and treated
in such a way that two died immediately, and Jean Debry, who was
severely wounded, only saved his life by crawling into a ditch. Thij
deed excited universal disgust, and was taken advantage of by the Direc-
tory to excite the people to vengeance. In Italy, also, the French had
the disadvantage. The Russians, under Suwarrow, conquered the Cisal-
pine Republic in a few weeks, after Moreau had been defeated at Cassane^
and Macdonaldy who had led the French army out of Naples, at Trebis^
June 17—10.
FRANCS UNDER THE DIRICTORT. 431
famoQs for the Tictorj of Hannibal. The bloodj defeat of the French
in the battle of Novi, where the young general Joubert died
the death of a hero, completed the loss of Italy. This change
Augusts. in affairs was a death-blow to the Parthenopeian Republic.
Scarcely had the French army left Naples, before the barbarous cardinal
Ruffo stormed the city with bands of Calabrian peasknts and
exasperated lazzaroni, and the court returned from Sicily.
The republicans of Naples were now visited by a frightful punishment.
Supported by Admiral Nelson, who lay with his fleet before the city, and
who, seduced by the charms of Lady Hamilton, allowed himself to be
made the instrument of an ignominious vengeance, the priesthood and the
royal government practised deeds, before which the atrocities of the
French reign of terror retreat into obscurity. After the murderings and
plunderings of the hizzaroni were over, the business of the judge, the
executioner, and the gaoler commenced. Every partisan, adherent, or
favorer of the republican institutions was persecuted. Upwards of
4,000 of the most respectable and refined men and females died upon the
scaffold or in frightful dungeons. For it was precisely the noblest por-
tion of the nation, who wished to redeem the people from their degrada-
tion and Ignorance, that had joined themselves with patriotic enthu-
siasm to the new system. The grey-haired prince, Caraccioli, the
former confidant of Ferdinand and the friend of Nelson, was hanged
at the yard-arm, and his body plunged, loaded with weights, into
the waves. The republican government was also dissolved in
Kome, whereupon the new pope, Pius YH., again took possession of
the Vatican.
After the conquest of Italy, Suwarrow surmounted the pathless ice-
bergs of the Alps, with the purpose of driving the French out of Switz-
erland. The Russian army had incredible difficulties and dangers to
encounter in this expedition. Combats were sustained on the Gothard
and at the Devil's Bridge against the enemy and natural difficulties, that
may be classed with the most daring feJEtts in the world's history. But
despite all their efforts, the Russians, owing to not being sufficiently sup-
ported by the Austrians, were defeated by the French in the battle of
September 25, Zurich. (During the capture of Zurich, which followed,
26, 1799. Lavater was mortally wounded.) Suwarrow conducted the
remains of his army across the frozen heights of the Grisons to their
home, where he shortly after died. The simultaneous at-
tempt of the English to drive the French out of the Nether-
lands, and restore the Stadtholder, had a disastrous termination. The
unskilful general, the duke of York, purchased the retreat of himself
be 1799 *°*^ ^" ^""^ ^^ * disgraceful convention, without troubling
' * himself about his allies, the Russians. This ignoble and
•elfish behavior of the English and Austrians exasperated the Russian
432 XBB LAISST PERIOD*
emperor, Paul, so much against tiie alHes, that he retired from the
coalition.
§ 566. BoKAPARTK IN EoTFT AHD Stbu.. — Doiing these trans-
actions, Bonaparte found himself in B^pt, at the head of a consider-
able armj. In the June of 1798, he had sailed from the island of
Malta, which had been wrested from the knights of St. John bj treach-
ery, towards the land of the Nile. The chief inducements to this straiige
and adventurous undertaking were the wish to inspire the excitable
French nation with enthusiasm for himself by eztraordinaiy actions, the
desire of glory, and the thought of being able to weaken the maritime
power of England, and to threaten her possessions in the £ast Indies
from Egypt. After his disembarkation at Alexandria, the whole of the
French fleet at Aboukir, owing to the caielessneas of the admiral, was
defeated and captured by the English naval hero, Nelson ; and Napoleon
was in consequence obliged to make arrangements for a longer stay. In
July, be marched from Alexandria through the Egyptian desert to Cairo.
The distress of the army, unprovided with water or sufficient necessaries,
in the burning heat, was very great In the battle of the
^ * * Pyramids, " from the tops of which 4,000 years looked down
upon the combatants," the Mamalukes, who at diat time swayed Egypt
under the Turkish government, were defeated ; whereupon Bonaparte
marched into Cairo, and established a new government, police, and taxa-
tion, upon the European pattern, and ordered the curiosities of this won-
derful land to be examined, and its monuments and antiquities to be col-
lected and described, by the artists and men of learning who accompanied
his army. In the meanwhile, although Bonaparte and his troops treated
the religious customs of the Mahommedans with every possible forbear-
ance, and showed all outward respect to their priests, mosques, ceremo-
nies, and customs, fanaticism was, nevertheless, raging in the bosoms of
the Mussulmans, and rendered the rule of the Christians detestable to
them. This hatred was increased when the French general levied taxes
and imposts ; and the Porte, which would not allow itself to be deceived
by Napoleon's false shows of friendship and devotion, called upon tbe
Mahommedans to fight against the Christians. A dreadful insurrec-
Octobersi, ^^^ broke out in Cairo, which could only be suppressed
1798. ^j^ji difficulty by the superiority of European tactics, after
nearly 6,000 Mahommedans had been slain. Napoleon made use of tbe
February, victory to extort money, and then marched with his Turki:»b
1709. troops against Syria. After the conquest of Jaffa, where he
ordered 2,000 Amauts, whom he had a second time taken prisoners, to
be shot as perjured, he proceeded to the siege of Jean d'Acre. It was
there that the fortune of Napoleon met with its first rebuff!
The Turks, provided with artillery by the Ei^lish admiral,
Sir Sidney Smith, repelled the assaults of the enemy, despite their
PRAXCE UNDER THE BIRECTOBT. 433
wonderful valor. At the same time, a Turkish armj threatened the
European soldiers in the interior of the country. The former was, in*
deed, defeated and dispersed by Junot at Nazareth, and at Mount Tabor
bj Kleber ; nevertheless, upon the plague breaking out among his troops,
Napoleon found himself compelled to give up Acre and to commence a
retreat The hones were laden with the sick ; the soldiers suffered the
most dreadful privations ; the dangers and distresses of the war were
frightful. Napoleon shared all the fatigues with the meanest of his
armj ; he is even said to have visited a hospital filled with those sick of
the plague. He again reached Cairo in June, and in the following
month, defeated a Turkish army of three times his number,
at Aboukir. A short time after this, he learned the disasters
of the French in Italy from some newspapers ; and the intelligence pro-
duced such an effect upon himj that he determined upon returning to
France. He quietly made his preparations for departure with the
greatest expedition. After transferring the command of the Egyptian
army to Kleber, Napoleon sailed from the harbor of Alexandria with
two frigates and a few small transports, and about 500 followers, and,
October », guided by the star of his fortunes, reached the coast of France
1799. undiscovered by the English, and landed at Frejus amidst
the acclamations of the people.
f 567. The Eighteenth Brumaire. — Upon his arrival in Paris,
Kapoleon embraced the resolution of overthrowing the directoral gov*
emment, which had lost all authority and consideration. With this pur-
pose, he made himself secure of the officers and troops that were in
Paris, and consulted with Sieye^, one of the directors, and his own
brother, Lucien Bonaparte, who had been elected president of the Five
Hundred, on the means of carrying his plan into execution. Lucien
transferred the sittings of the council to St. Cloud, for the purpose of
bringing the members within the power of the soldiers. There, Napo-
leon first attempted to win over the members to his plans by persuasion ;
when he found that he could not succeed in this, but rather, tliat he was
overwhelmed with threats and reproaches, he commanded his grenadiers
to clear the room with levelled bayonets. The republicans, who pre-
sented a bold front to the danger, were at length compelled to yield to
superior force, and sought their safety through the doors and windows.
KoTwmber 9^ "^is done, a commission of fifty persons was appointed to
1799. draw' up a fresh constitution. Thus ended the violent pro-
cedure of the 18th Brumiure, in consequence of which Napoleon Bona-
parte took the oondoct of affiiirs into his own strcxig hands.
S7
434 XHB LATER PSBIOD.
C. GOVERNMENT OF NAPOLEON BONAFASXB.
I. THE CONSUULTE (1800-1804).
S 568. AcoordiDg to the coiwiilar ooostitatioii, the power of Uie «tM
was divided in the following manner : — !• To the Senate, whidi eonsaied
of eightj members, belonged the privilege of selecting fwoat the list cf
names sent in bj the departments the members of the legislatiTe power,
and the chief officials and jodges. 2. The legislative power was ^vided
(a) into the Tribunate, which numbered <Mie hundred members, and whose
office it was to examine and debate upon the proposals of the govern-
ment ; and (b) the legislative bodies, who had only to receive or reject
these proposals unconditionally. 3. The government consisted of three
Consuls, who were elected for ten years. Of these Consols, the first,
Bonaparte, exercised the powers of government, properly so called;
whilst the second and third Consuls (Oambacdres and Lebnin) were
merely placed at his side as advisers. Bonaparte, as first Consul, sm^
rounded himself with a state council and a ministry, for which he se-
lected the most talented and experienced men. Talleyrand, the dexiei^
ous diplomatist, was minister of the exterior ; the astute Fooch4 super*
intended the police; Berthier held the staff of generaL The Code
Napoleon, in the composition of which the most renowned lawyers cf
France were employed, is an illustrious proof ci the sagacity of the
state council
§ 569. Mabbnoo akd HoHEinLnnoEN. — After the arrangement of
the new constitution, Bonaparte wrote a letter with his own hand to
the king of England, in which he made an offer of peace ; he did the
same to the emperor. But this unusual proceeding found little sympa*
thy. A cold answer, in measured terms, spoke of the restoration of the
Bourbons, and of a return to the ancient boundaries. The contrast be-
tween the apparent warmth, openness, and magnanimity of Napokoo,
and the repulsive coldness of the cabinets of London and Vienna, ex*
dted the greatest -enthusiasm and military ardor among the fiery
French. Napoleon was more successful in his attempts to gain over the
czar of Russia to his cause. Paul's love for soldiers, and his disgust at
the Austrians and English, who would not exchange the captured Riis>
dans, were dexterously made use of by Napoleon.' He sent some
ihousands of these prisoners, fresh armed and clothed, back to their
homes, without ransom. By this means he won the heart of the em-
peror, who, with all his eccentricities, possessed a chivalrous spirit; 90
that the latter entered into a friendly alliance with Bonaparte, and
•withdrew himself entirely from his former allies.
The First Consul now assembled a large anny, with all secrecy, in
60VBBNMSNT OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 485
the neighborhood of the Lake of Geneva, and undertook the wonderful
passage of the great St. Bernard with the main bodj, whilst
' other diTisions penetrated into Italj by the Simplon, St*
Gothard, and other passes. This bold undertaking, with its difficulties
and dangers, recalls to mind the heroic age of Hannibal. The army
inarched pa^t the Hospice, placed in the midst of snow and icebergSi
down into the valley of the Dora Baltea, where the fortress of Bard,
which was occupied by the Austrians, appeared to present insurmounta-
ble difficulties. But Napoleon's genius discovered an escape. The
troops surmounted the neighboring heights by a sheep-path, whilst the
artillery was conveyed secretly under the guns of the fort by an artifice*
In this way the French descended, quite unexpectedly, upon Upper
Italy, at the very moment when the Austrians had compelled Genoa to
surrender, and were in possession of the whole country. But the posi-
June 9. tion of affiiirs was soon changed. Five days after the fall
June 14. of Genoa, the Austrians received a defeat at Montebelb,and
a short time after, the battle of Marengo was fought near Alexandria,
where the Austrians under Melas were completely routed. The unez'
pected arrival of the brave Desaix from Egypt produced this chaq^e,
and snatched the victory that was deemed secure from the hands of the
Austrians. Desaix, one of the greatest and most noble men of tbd time
of the Revolution, died the death of a hero at Marengo. Milan and
Lombardy were the prize of the day. At the same time^ an army
under Moreau had forced its way into Swabia and Bavaria, driven back
the Austrians in several encounters, and compelled them to a truce ; but
it was the glorious march of Maodonald and Modcey over
i«l7- the icy Grisons, and Morean's splendid victory is the bloody
December s. field of Hohenlinden, that first compelled th9 Austrians to
accept, in the peace of Lunevilie, the conditions that had
^ "*"^ ^* been entered into at Oampo Foxmia and ifi acknowledge the
▼alleys of the Rhme and the Adige as the boundaries of the French
empire. The formation of an Italian republic under the presidentship
of Bonaparte, and the indemnification of the losses of the German
princes and the imperial estates, by the secvlarized Church property
and the abolished imperial cities on the right side of the Rhine, were
the most important articles in the peace of Lunevilie. The arrange-
ment that was made, two years later, in the territories of the German
States, by the so-called decree of the /mperial Diet, was the first step
February 26, towards the dissolution of the German empire, and the es-
180S. tablishment of sovereign kingdoms and principalities.
§ 570. Thb Psaoe of Amieits. — After the peace of Lunevilie,
England akme letained her armi^ and as the Russian emperor, Paul, out
of hatred to the selfish and insolent islanders, had only a short time be-
fore lenewed the alliaaoe with Prussia, Sweden, and Denmark, for an
436 HUE LATEST PERIOD.
armed Dcatralitj, and hj this means stirred up enemies against the
British in the Baltic, the English people also were longing for rest and
refreshment. Negotiations for peace were aceordinglj entered into, hut
were attended for a long time by no result, inasmuch as the parties could
not agree respecting Egjpt. For Kleber, angiy as he was at Napoleon s
retreat, had successfully maintained himself against the Turks and the
«, . English, and in the battle near Heliopolis, had defeated an
March20,1800. ^ - . ,. ,. , ^ * a u u j r n u
army of six times his numbers. But after he had fallen by
the dagger of a fiinatical Mussulman, in the garden of his palace at Cairo,
on the day of the battle of Marengo, the French army, under the con-
duct of his incompetent successor, Menou, who had embraced Islam tsm,
fell gradually into such distress, that the English entertained the hope of
compelling it to surrender, and consequently delayed the negotiations for
peace. It was not until the gallant Englbh general, Aber-
' 'crombie, had fallen in the battle of Canopus, that they were
convinced that neither their own land force, which was composed of re-
cruits from all nations, nor the undisciplined TuriLish squadrons, were in
ftcptember, A condition to overcome the tactics of the Frencli in Egypt
1^. A treaty was concluded, by virtue of which the French
arm>r, 24,000 strong, with arms, munitions, and all the treasures of
science and art, were conveyed back to France in English vesseb. This
was the preliminary to the peace of Amiens, by which the English
„ , «^ ,«^ promised to surrender the greater part of their foreign oon*
March 27,1801.'^ , ,. . , , . , , ^ ^, <, n , . , ,
quests, and to relinquish the island of Malta, of which they
had gained possession, to the knights of St. John. This peace, wbkh
was concluded vith great precipitation on the part of England, met with
violent opposition in the country. The press raised its voice loudly
against it, and adopted at the same time a hostile tone towards Napoleon.
These attacks irritated the First Consul, who could bear neither censure
nor opposiUon ; be repHed in a similar strain by the French government
paper (Moniteur). This occasioned a mutual ill-temper, which promised
a speedy renewal of ^lostilities; and the English accordingly delayed the
evacuation of Malta, aad the execution of the disadvantageous conditions
of the peace. The drea6 of Russia had passed, since Paul liad met with
a violent death. The cruelty, the arbitrary measures, and the gloomy
suspicions of this emperor, \bA increased to such an extent, that there
could be no longer a doubt tbu his mind was incurably affected. A con-
spiracy was therefore formed ainongst those around him, the threads of
which were guided by the powerful oount Pahlen. The result of this'
was, that the emperor Paul was attacked in his bed-chamber by Suboft
Benningsen, and others, and when he refused the required abdication of
Ma 24 1801 ^^ throne, he was cruelly strangled, and his son Alexander
*^ ' * prodaimed as his successor* Undar these circumstances, the
May 18, 1808. peace of Amiens had no permanence. At the expintioo of
GOVBBNMSKT OF KAPOLEON BONAPARTB. 437
a year, the Englisli again declared war, and Pitt reentered the ministry.
A short time before. Napoleon had reduced Switzerland to the same
state of subjection as Holland and Italy. By the so-called Act of
K-_.-_ i-Q- ^^*t'o°> ^® ^^ effected such a change in the constitution
* of the Helvetic republic, that the cantons had again become
independent, but a Landamman and a Diet represented the confederation
as a collective state.
§ 571. The new Court and the Concordat. — Bonaparte was
at first engaged in reconciling the old with the new, in combining the
results of the Revolution with the forms and manners of the monarchical
period. But he very soon made known his preference for the ancient
system, by tire restoration of all the former arrangements and customs.
The times and fashions of a previous period, the forms of the old
etiquette, the elegance of the kingly period, were soon to be seen at the
court of the First Consul in the Tuileries. An aristocratic demeanor,
a dignified bearing, and polished manners, were again held in estimation,
as the advantages of good society. The social gifts of his wife, Josephine,
the beauty and amiability of his step-children (Eugene and Hortense
Beauhamais) and sisters (Pauline, Elise), assisted him in this matter.*
The reductions in the emigrant lists brought back many royalists to their
homes, and the favor shown to them made them courteous and pliant in
the service of the new court Madame de Stael (daughter of Necker)
collected, as in the old time, a circle of accomplished and illustrious men
in her saloon. The vanity of the French favored Napoleon's efforts ;
when he instituted the Order of the Legion of Honor, republicans and
royalists grasped eagerly at the new plaything of human weakness.
One of the first cares of the Consul was the 'restoration of Christian
worship in the French churches. After he had abolished the republican
festivals (10th August, 21st January), and introduced the
^ ' ob^rvance of the Sabbath, negotiations were opened with
the Boman court, which at length led to the conclusion of the Concordat.
April 8. By this Concordat, the French clergy lost their early inde-
• Genealogical Table of the Bonaparte family of Ajaccio, in Corsica.
Cliarles Bonaparte, » L«titia n^e Ramolini, A. d. 1786, at Borne.
1. Joseph B^ • 2. Napoleon B., 8. Lncien B., 4. Eliza Bacciochi,
Count SnrvilUerB, ' ▲. D. 1769 - 1821. Prince Canino, ▲. d. 1777 - 1830.
A. D. 1767 - 1844. A. D. ins > 1841.
fi. Louia B., 6. Pauline Botjg^iete, T. OazoUne Mnrat, 8. Jefome B.,
Dnke of St. Leu, A. D. 1781 - 1826. A. d. 1781 - 1889. bom 1784,
A. D. 1778 - 1846. Duke of Monfort.
Napoleon Bonaparte, sJoiephine Beanhamaii, n^e Tascher de la Pageiie,
A. n. 1768-1814.
A. n. 1887.
Dnke of Lenohtenbeirig, Hoitense, DnchMs of St. Leo, « Louis B.
i. i>. 1781 - 1824. Looia Napoleon,
President of the French Bepablic.
87*
438 THE LATEST PERIOD.
pendence, and were subjected to the head of the Chnrch as well as to
the niler of the state.
No less attention did Napoleon devote to theaffain of education ; but
he particularlj patronized the establishments for practical science, as the
Polytechnic School in Paris. An arbitrary and power-loving man,
Napoleon wished to guide and govern every thing himself, and thus be-
came the creator of the pernicious system of centralization, by which the
vital circulation was suppressed, and the seeds of death were planted in
the whole body of the state.
§ 572. Conspiracies. — Napoleon possessed a despotic nature, that
found no pleasure in a life of freedom ; he accordingly curtailed the
liberty and political rights of the citizens, persecuted the Jacobins and
Bepublicans, whom he called ^ Ideologists," and reposed his confidence
in his guard, and in a vigorous triple police, under the superintendence
of the crafty Fouche. Repeated conspiracies against the life of the First
Consul, sometimes undertaken by the republicans and sometimes by the
royalists, were always followed by fresh restrictions and a more rig<»t>i»
system of espionage. The most desperate undertaking of this kind was
the attempt, by means of the so-called infernal machine, — a cask filled
Dec«mber 24, ^^^^ gunpowder, bullets, and inflammable materials, to blow
1800. up Bonaparte on his way to the opera-house, — an attempt
which he escaped by the rapidity with which his coachman was driv-
ing, but which destroyed many houses and killed several pec^le. In
consequence of this atrocious deed, a great number of Jacobins were con-
demned to deportation, though it afterwards turned out that the plot was
undertaken by the royalists. Still more dangerous and extensive were
the conspiracies against Napoleon, when the office of Consul was conferred
upon him for life by the voice of the people, with the privi-
^^ ' * lege of naming his successor. By this means, the Bourbons
were cut off from the last hopes of a return, and the emigrants accord-
ingly lefl no means untried of destroying him. The desperate Geoige
Cadoudal, and Pichegru, who was residing in England, and who was as
strong as a giant, allowed themselves to be employed as tools. They
conveyed themselves secretly to France, but were discovered and arrest-
ed, with about forty confederates. Before their fate was decided, Napoleon
allowed himself to be hurried into the commission of a revolting crime.
It had been represented to him that the duke d'Enghien, the chivalrous
grandson of the prince of Conde, was the soul of all the royalist conspi-
racies. Accordingly, this young nobleman, who was residing at Etten-
heim, a small town of Baden, was seized at Napoleon's command, by a
troop of armed men, conducted with the greatest haste throng Stras-
burg to Paris, condemned to death by a hurried court-martial, and,
despite a magnanimous defence, shot in the trenches of
' 'Vincennes. This deed, which placed Bonaparte on a level
KAF0I.B02!r, EHPSBOB.
with the men of the reign of terror in 1798, revoHed all Europe, and
put an end to the praises of his admirers. The poet Chateaubriand, the
author of the *^ Genius of Christianity," resigned the official situation
that had been conferred upon him bj Bonaparte's sister, Eliza, and
retired to Switzerland. The fate of the conspirators was shortly after
decided upon. Pichegru had already died a violent death in prison,
whether by his own hand or that of another is uncertain. George
Cadoudal, with eleven confederates, ascended the guOlotine. General
Moreau, who was implicated, retired into voluntaiy banishment in
America.
U. NAPOI.EON, EMPBBOB (A.D. 1804-1814).
1. THE EKPIBE.
§ 573. The royalist conspiracies were made use of by Bonaparte to
establish an hereditary monarchy. At the instigation of his adherents,
the making over the hereditary dignity of emperor to Napoleon was
proposed to the Tribunat, sanctioned by the Senate, and confirmed by the
whole people by the subscription of their names. Whilst .the minds of
men were still painfully excited by the kte bloody execu-
* tions, Napoleon was proclaimed emperor of the French, and
at the end of the year, solemnly anointed by the pope in the church of
Kotre Dame. The crown, however, he placed on his own head, as well
as on that of his wife, Josephine, who knelt before him. This magnifi-
cent coronation appeared to be the conclusion of the Revolution, since
the whole ancient system, for the extinction of which thousands of human
lives had been sacrificed, gradually returned. The new emperor sur-
rounded his throne with a brilliant court, in which the former titles,
orders, and gradations of rank were revived under difierent names. He
himself certainly retained his old military simplicity, but the members
of his family were made princes and prinopsses; his generals became
marshals; the devoted servants and promoters of his plans wero con-
nected with the throne as the great officers of the crown, or as senators
with large incomes. The establishment of a new feudal nobiKty, with
the old titles of princes, dukes, counts, barons, completed the splendid
edifice of a magnificent imperial court, which soon outshone the courts
of princes. The republican arrangement gradually disappeared. The
old calendar was again restored ; the new nobility were at liberty to
establish the right of primogeniture, the press was placed under a censor-
ship, and civil freedom was more and moro restricted. Any opposition
was intolerable to the ruler ; for this reason, he first reduced the number
of Tribunes to fifty, and then abolished the whole Tribunat.
Obedience was henceforth the only thing ; and France was
placed under a tyranny more severe than that of the ancient monarchy*
But then the tyrant was a great man, and therefore the people willingly
440 IHB LATEST PEUOO.
submitted to him ; and hardly as the rigorous oonscriptioo, the aerero
restrictions apon trade, and the heavy taxation might press upon then,
the burden was the more lightly borne, inasmuch as Uie great ends at-
tained by the Berolution — equality before the law, the peasantsT ri^t
of property in the soil and other possessions, remained untoncbcSl. In-
dustry made great progress, civil arts and trades received a vast impulse ;
and an unaccustomed prosperity made itself everywhere visible. Mag-
nificent roads, like those over the Alps, canals, bridges, and umprove-
ments of all kinds, are, to the present day, eloquent memorials of the
restless activity of this remarkable man. Splendid palaces, majestic
bridges, and noble streets, arose in Paris, every thing great or magnifi-
cent that art had produced was united in the Louvre ; the capital of
France glittered with a splendor that had never before been witnessed.
The university was arranged upon a most magnificent footing, and ap-
pointed the supreme court of supervision and control over the whole ays^
tem of schools and education. The glory that was conferred by the em-
peror upon the nation rendered every yoke light to the latter; she forgot
that the voice of freedom was dying away amidst the dash of arms and
the dang of trumpets, and that the high-flown tone of bulletins, and the
ornate language of the senate and legislative body, wero destructive of
truth and justice.
2. AUSTRRLITZ, PBS8BUBG. CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE.
S 574. Tlie English took advantage of the renewal of the war with
France to make an unexpected seisure of Dutch and French ships, and
then sought to unite Russia and Austria in a new coalition. Napoleon,
on the other hand, ordered his troops to advance upon the
^' Weser, and to occupy the electorate of Hanover, wliidi be-
longed to the king of England. The Hanoverian people and army were
resolved to hazard life and property in defence of their country ; but the
selfish aristocracy and offidals preferred a disgraceful capitulation, which
surrendered the whole country to the French, to fighting. The gallant
army was forced to retreat across the Elbe, and there to disband. Arms,
munitions of war, and splendid horses, fell into the hands of the French,
who forthwith occupied the countiy with their troops, and exhausted it
by military levies and exactions. Tlie threatening attitude assumed by
Napoleon in Hanover against the whole north, as well as his arbitrary
prooeedingB in Holland, Italy, and other countries, were sources of anxi-
ety to other powers. In Italy, not only was the Italian republic changed
Utnh ir, ii^to the kingdom of Italy, and Eugene Beauhamais, the step*
isos* son of the emperor, placed there as viceroy, but Napoleon
also enlarged it by the addition of Parma, and gave Lucca to his sister
£lisa,the wife of ^e Corsican, Baodochi. 'In Spain and Germany, also^
Napoleon acted in the same imperious and arbitraiy manner. These,
NAPOLBON) BMPSBOB. 441
and o^r causes, united Russia, Austria, and Sweden with England
against France, and renewed the war with greater vigor. In Prassia,
also, there was a strong party, headed by -the high-spirited queen Louisa
and prince Louis Ferdinand, in fiivor of an alliance with the united
powers against Bonaparte ; buC the three ministers, Haugwitz, Lucche-
sini, and Lombard, who were inclined to France, and utterly wanting in
any feeling of patriotism, stiU possessed the confidence of the irresolute
and peaee-ioving king. Thus Prussia remained neutral, to its own de*
struction.
§ 575. Whilst the attention of all Europe was directed to the western
trxist of France, where Napoleon was fitting out ships of every kind with
the greatest diligence, and assembling a vast camp at Boulogne, with the
purpose, as was believed, of efiecting a landing on the English coast, he
was making preparations, in all silence, for the memorable campaign of
1805. Never were Napoleon's talents for command or his military
genius displayed in a more brilliant light than in the plan of this cam-
paign. Assured of the assistance of most of the princes of southern
Grermany, Bonaparte crossed the Rhine in th^ autumn with seven divi-
sions,'commanded by his most experienced marshals, Ney, Lannes, Mar-
mont, Soult, Murat, &;c., and marched into Swabia ; whilst Bemadotte,
disregarding Prussia's neutrality, pressed forward through the Branden-
burg Margravate of Anspach-Bayreuth upon the Isar. This violation of
bis neutral position irritated the king, Frederick William IIL, to such a
degree, that he entered into closer relationship with the allies, and as*
sumed a threatening aspect, without, however, actually declaring war.
The Electors of Baden, Wirtemberg, and Bavaria, on the other hand,
strengthened with their troops the army of the too-powerful enemy, from
whose grace they had as much to hope as they had to fear from his
frowns. The dukes of Hesse^ Nassau, &c., did the same. After Ney's
successful engagement at Elchingen, the Austrian general,
Mack, was shut up in Ulm, and cut off from the mmn army.
Helpless, and despairing of deliverance, the incompetent commander com-
menced negotiations with the French, which terminated in the disgrace-
ful capitulation of Ulm. By this arrangement, 33,000 Auatri-
October 20. . \ ,. ..^ i u • r n
ans, mdudmg thirteen generals, became prisoners of war. Cov-
ered with shame, the once-brave warriors marched before Napoleon, laid
down their arms before the victor, placed forty banners at his feet, and
delivered up sixty cannon with their horses. When too late, it was seen
in Vienna that Mack was not equal to his lofty position, and he was de«
prived of his honor, his dignities, and the advantages of his office, by a
conrt-martiaL Napoleon's joy at this unexampled good fortune was,
however, diminished by the contemporaneous maritime victoiy of the
English at Trafalgar, which annihilated the whole Frendi
fieet« but which also cost the life of the great naval heroi
Nelson.
442 ZHB LATEST PBBIOD.
§ 576. The waNpartj had gained'the upper hand in Pniasia aiwe the
violation of the neutral territory bj Bemadotte. The king renewed ^
bondPef perpetual friendship ^ith the sensitive emperor Alexander, in
the church of the garrison at Potsdam, over the coffin of Frederii^ tbe
Great, at night, and then sent Hangwits with threatening demands to
Napoleon. The French emperor, u the meantime, proceeded along the
Danube towards the Austrian states, not without mailj bloodj engage-
ments, of which the battles of Dimstein and Stein against the Bnssiau
under Eutusoff and Bagration were ci especial impoitaneb
' If the French found brave and circumspect oppon^its in the
Bussians in these encounters, they had the easier game in Austm.
Murat took possession of Vienna without Uie slightest troo*
* ble ; and the prince of Auersbnig, who had orders either to
defend the bridge over the Danube, which vras fortified and filled with
gunpowder, or to blow it into the air, allowed himself to be so complelelj
deceived by the bold cunning of the French general, and by pretended
negotiations of peace, that he surrendered it to the enemy nninjnred and
undefended. The irresolution of the emperor Frauds, md ^the diviskm
between the Austrians and Russians, facilitated the victory of the Freaeii,
who, laden with enormous booty, pursued the Austro-Russian army, in
the midst of perpetual engagements, into Moravia. In Moravia, tlie
December a, battle of Austerlits, in which three emperors were presest,
1806. was fought on the day of the year in which the emperor was
crowned, and in which the winter sun shone upon the most splendid of Napo-
leon's victories. The emperor Francis, widiing for the termination of the
war, suffered himself to be persuaded to pay a humble visit to Kapoleon
in the French camp, and then consented to a truce which stipuUted ht
^ the retreat of the Russians from the Austrian states. Upon
this, negotiations were commenced whidi terminated in the
peace of Fresburg.
By this peace, Austria lost the territory of Yenioe, which was united
to the kingdom of Italy ; Tyrol, which fell to Bavaria ; and a portion of
Austria, of which the Briesgau and the lands of the Black Forest were
allotted to Baden. Bavaria and Wirtemberg received the rank of king-
doms ; Baden, that of an archduchy ; and all three were joined to the
imperial house of Napoleon by the ties of relationship. The daughter of
the new king, Max Joseph of Bavaria, was married to the emperor's
adopted son-in-law, £ugene Beauhamois, in Wirtembeig; GatberuM,
the noble daughter of a princely fcouse, was obliged to consent to a nsr-
riage with Napoleon's frivolous brother, Jerome, who had shortly before
been separated from his citizen wife ; and in Baden, Charles, the gisnd-
son of the excellent archduke Frederick, was nnited to Stephanie Beio-
bamois, a niece of the empress Josephine, who had been adopted bj
Napoleon. The lands on the Lower Rhine were united into the arcb-
VAPOLBON, BMPBBOB. 443
duehj of Qeve-Beiig, with the capitAl, Duaseldorf, and presented to the
emperor's brother-io-law, Joachim Murat. Holland also was compelled
to exchange her republican constitution for a monarchj, and to>bega
creature of Napoleon's for a ruler ; upon which, the French emperor
named his brother Louis king of Holland. The royal familj of Naples
experienced the wrath of the potentate beyond all others. During the
war, an Anglo-Russian fleet had hinded at Naples, and been received by
Ferdinand and Caroline with joy. Hereupon, Napoleon, the day after
the conclusion of the peace of Presbui^ at Schdnbrunn, subscribed the
decree which contained the notorious decision, ^ The dynasty of the Bour-
bons has ceased to reign in Naples." Upon this, Joseph
Bonaparte was named king of Naples, and installed in his
new dignity by a French army. The royal family, who vainly strove to
avert the loss of the beanUfol land, at first by entreaties, and afterwards
by stirring up the lazzaroni and Calabrese, fled with their friends and
treasures to Sicily, where they lived under the protection of the English
till Napoleon's downfall. A number of imperial fiefs, with considerable
revenues, were established in the conquered and surrendered provinces
of Italy, and conferred upon French marshals and statesmen, together
with the title of duke. «
After the battle of Austerlitz, the Prussian ambassador, Haugwitz, did
not venture to convey the charge of his court to the victorious emperor ;
without asking permission in Berlin, he allowed himself to be induced,
partly by threats, and partly by the engaging afiability of Napoleon, to
subscribe an unfavorable contract, by which Prussia exchanged the Fran*
conian principality of Anspach, some lands on the Lower Rhine, and the
principality of Neuremberg in Switzerland, for Hanover. It was in
vain that the king resisted the exchange, which threatened to involve
him in hostilities with England; separated from Austria by the hastj
conclusion of the peace of Presburg, nothing was lefl to the king but to
submit to the dictation of the victor. The news of the sudden change in
affairs produced by the battle of Austerlitz produced such an
effect upon the English minister, Pitt, that he shortly after
died.
§ 577. The constitution of the tjrerman empire was already dissolved
by the elevation of the Elector of Bavaria and of the duke of Wirtembei^
into independent monarchs. Napoleon, in consequence, entertained the
project of entirely removing the south and west of Germany from the
influence of Austria, and of uniting them to himself by the formation of
the Confederation of the Rhine. A prospect of enlarging their territo-
ries and increasing their power, and fear of the mighty ruler from whose
side victory appeared inseparable, induced a great number of princes
and estates of the empire to separate themselves from the German em-
pire and to join France* Self-interest was more powerful than patriot-
444 XHB LATEST PBBIOD.
ism. On the 12tb of Jalj, the treaty was ngned in Parts, bj virtae of
which Napoleon, as protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, reoog-
nixed the fnll soyereigntj of the individaal members, npon condition of
their maintaining a certain contingent of troops ready at the emperor^s
disposal. Bavaria, Wirtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, and
seyeral others, formed the keniel aronnd whidi the lesser principalities, as
Hohenzollem, Leichtensten, Solms, Sce^ effected themselves, till at length
almost all the German confederate states of the second and third rank gave
in their adhesion. The Elector arch-chancellor Dalberg, who had been
made prince-primate, and who had received Frankfort, together with
Hanau and Fulda as a principality, was chosen Napoleon's representa-
tive in the Confederation of the Rhine* By the subjection of many
small and formerly independent states of the empire under the govera*
. ment of the great prince, the power of the larger number of the mem-
hers of the confederation was considerably increased. Francis II. now
abdicated the title of emperor of Germany, and called himself Francis L,
emperor of Austria, and withdrew the whole of his states from the Ger-
man Union. By this proceeding, the ** Holy R<»naa empire of the Grer^
man nation * was dissolved. It had been long nnoe reduced to a shadow
by internal dissensions and a powerless supreme government. Its might-
iest limbs were now the vassals of a foreign tyrant. The sense of degra-
dation pressed heavily npon many a German breast ; but who would
dare to utter his thoughts after the bold bookseller, Palm, of Nuremberg,
had become the victim of a disgraceful judidai murder, for
'^*"*^ refusing to give up the author of a pamphlet published by
him on the abasement of Grcrmany?
3* JSNA* TILSIT. BBVUBT.
§ 578. The wavering conduct of Prussia had filled Napoleon with the
deepest angef, and convinced him that the king would be untrustworthy
as a friend, and cowardly and innocuous, as an enemy. He accordingly
flung- aside all respect and forbearance, and purposely inflicted many
mortifications upon the Prussian government. The irritation produced
by this was soon aggravated into a complete rupture by two causes.
1. The fbrmadon of the Confederation of the Rhine appeared to indicate
an intention of gradually rendering Germany as dependent upon the
French empire as were Italy and Holland. Prussia accordingly at-
tempted to frustrate this plan by the establishment of a northern confede-
ration, to which all the estates of the empire which had not yet joined
that of the Rhine might connect themselves ; and felt herself deeply
aggrieved when Napoleon prevented the execution of the project. 2. It
was made known in Berlin that the French emperor, during the renewal
of the negotiations for peace with the English government, had offered to
restore the Electorate of Hanover, that had been surrendered to Prussia
KAPOLEON, SaiPSROB. 445
without coosalting with the Prussian goyernment on the subject This
intelligence, together with' numerous violations of territory, convinced
the Prussian government that they had the worst to expect from France.
A redress of all grievances was demanded in the so-called Ultimatum,
the army wa6 pla^d upon a war-footing, and all connection with France
broken off.
§ 579. Whilst people in Berlin were expecting the final answer of
France, the French troops under Napoleon and his experienced marshals
were already in the heart of Thuringia and Saxony, the Elector of which
had united himself, after some hesitation, to Prussia. The first engage-
ment at Saalfeld, where the gallant prince Louis found his
death, went against the Prussians ; but the defeat suffered
by the army under the command of the old duke of Brunswick, in the
great double battle of Jena and Auerstadt, waa terrible and
fataL It decided the fate of the countries between the Rhine
and the Elbe. The former presumption of the officers and young nobles
was suddenly turned into despondency, and the great(;st confusion and
helplessness took possession of the leaders. Hohenlohe, with 17,000 men,
laid down his arms at Prenzlow ; the fortresses of Erfurt,
Magdeburg, Spondau, Stettin, k^ sqrrendered within a few
days, with such wonderful celerity, that the commandants of many of
them were suspected of treachery, so utterly unaccountable did such cow-
ardice and such entity want of self-reliance appear. Blucher alone
saved the honor of Prussia by the bloody combat in and around Lubeck^
though he could not prevent the horrible storming of this slightly-forti-
fied town ; in Colberg, also, Gneisenau and Schill, supported by the
brave citizen, Nettlebeck, courageously resisted the superior force of the
enemy. Thirteen days aAer the battle of Jena, Napoleon marched into
Berlin, and issued his mandates from thence. The elector of Hesse,
who wished to remain neutral, and who had withdrawn hb forces from the
contest, was obliged to surrender both land and army to the enemy, and
to seek for protection as a fugitive in a foreign land. He took up his
residence in Prague. The duke of Brunswick, who had been severely
wounded, and who was carried into his capital on a litter after the battle
of Jena, was compelled to seek for refuge in Denmark to die in peace.
Jena and East Friesland were united to Holland ; the Hanse tovms, as
- well as Leipsic, were oppressed by the deprivation of all English wares,
and by severe militaiy taxes ; and treasures of art and science, and the
trophies of former victories, were carried away from all quarters. It
was only to the Elector of Saxony, whose troops had fought at Jena, that
Napoleon showed any favor. He set the Saxon prisoners at liberty, and
w S'^^ ^® Elector a &vorable peace ; upon which the latter,
dignified with the title of king, joined die Confederation of
the Bhine, like the other Saxon dukes. From this time, Frederick
38
446 THE LATEST PERIOD.
Augustas, to the misfortune of himself and his people, ieh himself bound
by the ties of gratitude to the French emperor.
§ 580. The king of Prussia had fled to Kbnigsbeig, where he Tainly
attempted to obtain peace. Napoleon's demands rose with his foitonea.
In his necessity, Frederick William turned to his friend Alexander, who
immediately despatched a Russian army under Benningsen and others
into East Prussia, to prevent the French passing the Vistula. Upon this,
Napoleon issued a proclamation to the Poles, pretendedly in the name of
Kosciusko, by which these misused people were summoned to fight for
liberty and independence. The Poles willingly made the greatest sacri*
fices, and strengthened the ranks of the Frendi by their brave soldiers
under the command of Dombrowski. Napoleon marched into Warsaw
amidst the rejoicings of the people ; but the Poles discoyered, only too
soon, that the foreign potentate was more intent upon the gratification of
his own ambition and love of power, than upon the restoration of their
empire. Murderous battles were now fought on the banks of the Yistala,
and torrents of blood shed at Poltusk and Morungen. Bat the great
Febnxary 8, bk)w was struck in the battle of Preuss-Eylau, where the
1807. martial spirit of the French and Russians ^ve rise to a
contest which in loss of men equals any event of the sort in the world's
history. Both parties claimed the victory, and their efibrts and exhaustiofi
wero so great, that the war suffered an interruption of four months.
During this interval, negotiations were again renewed ; but much as the
king, who was waiting with his family in Memel, might desiro the ter-
mination of the war, that he might free his subjects from the dreadfnl ex-
actions of the French, he was too honest to dissever his own cause from
that of his ally. But when the Silesian fortresses on the Oder, Glogao,
Brieg, Schweidnitz, and Breslau, fell into the hands of the French by the
cowardice of their commandants, and even Dantzic was sar>
rendered to the marshal Lefebvre by the gallant governor
Kalkreuth, the king lost all confidence in a successful insue. When,
after the recommencement of hostilities, the French gained a brilliant
victory over the Russians in the battle of Priedland, on tlie anniversary
of tiie battle of Marengo, and took possession of Kdnigsberg, tlie allied
monarchs, after a personal interview with Bonaparte on the Niemen,
thought it prudent to consent to the peace of Tilsit, oppressive
as were the conditions. By this peace, Frederick William'
lost half his states ; he was compelled to surrender all the lands between
the Rhine and the Elbe, to consent to the establishment of a dukedom
of Warsaw under the suprenuu^ of the king of Saxony, to the elevation
of Dantzic into a free state, and to the payment of the unheard sum of
150 millions to defray the expenses of the war. Napoleon formed the
states ceded by Prussia, along with electoral Hesse, Brunswick, and
South Hanover, into the new kingdom <^ Westphalia, with the capital,
SAPOLBOH, SBfPSBOB. 447
CJuflely and plaeed there his youngest brother Jerome as king, under eon*
dition, that, as a member of the Rhine Confederation, he should supply
the emperor with Westphalian tioops, and make over to him one-half
the receipts of his treasury.
§ 581. Austerlits and Jena had broken the power of Austria and
Prussia, so that the destinies of Europe were now guided by France,
England, and Russia* These three great powers were unanimous in
this, that they paid no regard to right except where there existed the
power of self<<lefence, as was shown by the proceedings in Sweden and
Denmark. Gustavus lY. of Sweden would not accede to the peace of
Tilsit ; but, supported by England, continued the war alone against Na-
poleon. Although his conduct at first displayed strength of character
and magnanimily, his boundless conceit, and his total misapprehension of
his position and powers, soon showed that his mind must be in a deranged
state. Strongly impressed with the sanctity of the kingly dignity, he re-
vised the title of emperor to the ruler of France, and only addressed
him as Greneral Bonaparte ; invo^^red in the meshes of religious fanati-
cism, he believed himself ordained by Providence to re-instate the
Bourbons, and to overthrow the *^ beast of the Revelations" (Napoleon).
He carried his hatred against Bonaparte so far as mortally to offend
Russia and Prussia by sending back their orders, and banishing their
ambassadors, from Stockholm, because these powers bad concluded a
peace with the usurper. The French conquered Strakund and the
island of Rugen, whibt the Russian army penetrated into Finland and
made themselves masters of the country; The attempts of the French
emperor to destroy the trade ci Great Britain by a continental blockade
made the Swedish war a matter of importance to the English. They
feared lest the French should establish a firm footing on the Baltic, and
exclude their ships from its shores by shutting up the Sound. They ac-
cordingly made a proposal to Denmark to enter into an alliance with
them, and to yield up her noble fleet to their keeping. This proposal
war rejected with indignation ; whereupon the English fleet appeared in
SeptMober the Sound, bombarded Copenhagen, laid a part of the town
a -6, ib07. in ashes, and canied off the whole Danish fleet as their prey.
This breach of the rights of nations enraged the king of Denmark to
such a degree, that he united himself dpsely to France, and declared war
against the En^h and their ally, the king of Sweden. At this time,
Napoleon and Alexander were allies. They held the celebrated meeting
September ST, "1 Erfuit, where the whole splendor of European magnifi-
isos. cence was displayed, and where four kings and thirty-four
princes were assembled together out of Germany, for the purpose of
paying their homage to the mighty potentate. Here the two emperors
promised not to interrupt each other in their plans of conquest, so
that Ni^eon was to be left unfettered in Spain, and Alexander in
448 THB LATEST FEBIOD.
Finland, Moldavia, and Wallachia. Tbe kingdom of Sweden was now
threatened on all sides. The Roasians were already approaching the
capital, the Danes, and the Spanish troops, who, under the eoBUDand of
La Bomana, were serving Napoleon, were upon the frontiers ; the amnj
and miUtarj affairs of Sweden were in the most wretched condition ; the
heavy taxes conld not be ndsed from the exhansted land ; and yet the
king obstinately refused all proposals of peace. At this crisis, a eon^i-
racy was formed in the army and capital, in eonseqaence of which Gos-
tavus lY. was violently seised in his pahice, compelled to abdicate his
throne, and then conducted to an old insular castle. Hereupon the
Diet declared Gustavus IV. and all his posterity to have
' 'forfeited tbe crown, invited his uncle, Charles XIII^ to the
throne, and restricted the monarchical power. This revolution was fol-
lowed by a peace, by which Finland and the Aaland islands remained
with Russia. The election of a successor to the throne, which waa
dered necessary by the childless old age of the king, fell upon the
shal Bemadotte (Ponte-Corvo), who, by his friendly treatment of the
Swedish troops during the Prussian war, had gained many friends among
the officers. Bemadotte was, with the unwillingly yielded consent of
August 21, Napoleon, 'declared successor to the Swedish throne, nnd,
1810. after his accession to the Lutheran church, adopted by
Charles XIII.
4. THE EVENTS IN THE PTBBNEAK PENINSULA.
§« 582. Led astray by the success of his arms, Napoleon now proceeded
from one enterprise to another. Like Charlemagne, whom he ad<^ed as
his model, he wished to unite the Southeni and Western states of Europe
into a vast empire under the supremacy of France. With this object,
he sought to gain possession of the Spanish peninsula, and to make him-
self master of the provinces still left unconquered in Italy. In the first
place, he demanded of the Portuguese government to renounce tlie alli-
ance with England, and to close their harbors against English veasels.
When tbe court of Lisbon refused to yield submission to this mandate,
Napoleon bought over the all-poweiful favorite of the royal pair of
Spain, the " prince of peace," Godoy, by the prospect of s principality
in Portugal, and sent marshal Junot with an army directly through Spain
into that country. The dastardly court of Lisbon did not await tbe
November, coming of the French, but fled, with all its treasures, in
1807. English ships, to the Brazils ; upon which Junot, who had
been created duke of Abrantes, took possession of the capital and the
whole country, and then declared, in the name of hia commander, '^that
the house of Braganza had ceased to reign." Godoy, who^ wicfaoat
Febnuiry 1, either virtue, talent, or merit, had become the absohite mler
1808. of Spain by the mere &vor of the profligate queen and tbe
NAPOLEON, SMPBROB. 449
boundless weakness of Charles lY., now delivered up his countrf into
the hands of Napoleon. Spanish troops under La Romana entered into
the service of the emperor, and fought on the Danish islands against the
Swedes, whilst the soldiers of France were oocupjing Spain in great
numbers. This caused commotions amongst the Spanish people ; dis-
turbances broke out in Aranjnez and Madrid, in which the palace of the
detested favorite was plundered and destroyed, and he himself roughly
handled and threatened with death. Terrified bj these occurrences, the
1808 ^^^ Charles abdicated his throne in favor of his eldest son
' * Ferdinand, who, as the enemy of Godoy, was loved by the
people, but, for the same reason, mortally hated by his parents. But
notwithstanding the humility with which Ferdinand attempted to gain
Napoleon's consent to this change of the crown, and at the same time be-
came a suitor for the hand of one of his relatives — the French emperor
concealed his sentiments, ordered Murat to take possession of Madrid,
and' then invited the royal pair, along with the ^ prince of peace " and
Terdinand, to a personal conference with him in Bayonne. Ferdinand
did not dare to resist the summons of the potentate, although warned by
his friends, and though the people sought to restrain him from undertak-
ing this fatal journey. Once in Bayonne, the royal family of Spain was
entangled by Napoleon in the meshes of a false and insidious state policy.
Charles was prevailed upon to revoke his abdication, and to transfer the
regained crown to Napoleon and his family. Ferdinand, incapable of a
vigorous resolution, allowed himself to be induced by the emperor's
threats and intrigues to acknowledge this arbitrary act. He resided
henceforth in France, in the enjoyment of an annuity, whilst Charles
IV. and his family settled in Rome. Napoleon then named his brother
Joseph king of Spain, and sought to win over the people to
the new system by the restoration of the Cortes Constitu-
tion, and by improving the affairs of government, and of the adminis-
tration of justice. But the frightful insurrection in Madrid, by which
1200 French soldiers of Murafs army were killed, whilst
the intrigues in Bayonne were yet pending, showed that the
nation would not submit so easily to the foreign yoke as the imbecile royal
family.
§ 583. Even before Joseph, after the surrender of the kingdom of
Naples to his brother-in-law, Murat, held his solemn entry into Madrid,
juntas were formed in several towns, which, as provisional governments,
took the regulation of affairs into their own hands, and refused obedience
to the new king. Armed bands under daring leaders, served them for
defence ; and, favored by the ravines and mountain heights of their coun-
try, began a guerilla war against the French soldiers. Whilst the edu-
cated and enlightened were more attached to the new system, which
afforded a life of political freedom, than to the kingly absolutism and
38 •
450 THE LATEST PEBIOD.
priestly role of the fonner period, and were consequentlj niduamed
*' Josephinos," the great mass of the people blindly followed the exhorta-
tions of fanatical monks and priests, who held the sacrilegious French in
horror. It is tme that Napoleon's army possessed sufficient power to
maintidn the king and his minister in Madrid, liat their laws were re-
spected no further than they could be supported by French baymieta.
The more remote towns and provinces followed partly the juntas, which
had their central point in the grand junta of Seville, and partly their
own will, without recognizing any government whatever. But anarchy
was the very thing that saved Spain in this stormy period. Europe
gazed in astonishment upon a people who courageously faced death for
their nationality and independence, for their ancient manners and reli-
gious usages, for tlieir superstitions and customary arrangements. The
leaders of the bands, with their brave but undisciplined followers, avoided
open battles ; their strength consisted in unexpected attacks and petty
warfare. And whibt the French dissipated their strength in these single
encounters, and in the seige of well-defended towns, the English, sup-
ported by the natives, began the first successful war by land against Na-
poleon. At first, the French arms were successful. Bes&ieres drove
back the unpractised troops of Spain at Rio Secco, and it
* ' seemed as if the assumption of arms by the Spanish people
was only to increase the triumph of the military emperor, — when sud-
denly the report spread abroad of Dupont's capitulation at Baylen, in
Andalusia, by which 20,000 Frenchmen were made prisoners
of war, and perished miserably. This blow filled the nation
with enthusiasm and military ardor. Joseph left Madrid, the French
army retreated beyond the Ebro, and intelligence was shortly slier
brought that, in Portugal also, the French were obliged to retreat before
the English, under Wellington, Moore, and others,' and that they would
have experienced a fate similar to that of Duponf s army, if the English,
August 30, by the over-hasty capitulation of Cintra, had not allowed
1808. Junot's troops a free passage to France. The afiairs of the
French in the Spanish peninsula seemed ruined.
§ 584. Napoleon himself now marched at the head of a mighty army
into Spain. The unpractised troops of the insurgents, who opposed
themselves without any regular plan to the great winner of battles, were
defeated in several engagements, so that the emperor, in four weeks, was
J>606mber 4, ^^1^ ^ enter Madrid and to give back the crown to his
1808. brother Joseph. Whilst Napoleon was making fresh arrange-
ments in the capital, attempting by kindness and threats to induce the
Spaniards to acknowledge Joseph, and inflicting severe punishments upon
some of the most refractory, his marshals were sustaining bloody en-
Febmary 20, counters with the guerilla chiefs and the English. San^gossa
1809. was taken after the most desperate resistance, and the gallant
NAPOLEON, EMPEROR. 451
JalT28 defender of the city, Palafox, conveyed to France; the
brave general Moore was killed whilst embarking his troops
at Corunna ; and although Wellington obtained the advantage in the
battle of Talavera, yet the English army restricted itself
for some time to the defence of Portugal. Seville, also, and
the whole of Andalusia and Granada, fell into the hands of the French.
Spain, nevertheless, held herself erect. The national government re-
moved to Cadiz, which bade defiance to every storm ; and the Spanish
general, La Romana, who, upon the news of his country's rise, had
escaped with his troops from Denmark in English ships to his native soil,
brought system and order to the guerilU warfare.
When, in the year 1809, the new war with Austria called the emperor
from Spain, he left behind him a large army, consisting for the most' part of
Germans. At the conclusion of the Austrian war, this force was increased
to nearly 300,000 men, who, under the command of his most experienced
roarslials, (Soult, Mnssena, Suchet, Ney, St. Cyr, Marmont, Macdonald,
&c.), traversed the peninsula in every direction, and raised the renown
of the French arms. But victories only increased tlie hatred towards
the French; the petty war, under the daring leaders, Ballasteros,
Empecinado, Morillo, O'Donnel, Mina, Moreto^ assumed a more sangui-
nary character, and no courage was of avail against the assassinations to
which the revengeful Spaniards were driven by rage and fanaticism.
The most heroic deeds that were performed by Napoleon's warriors,
under the fervid sun of Spain, now in the battle-field, and now in toil-
some marches, through mountains and ravines, and again in sieges and
storms (Valencia, Gerona), contributed nothing to the quiet possession
of the country. In the meanwhile, the Cortes Assembly in Cadiz pro-
jected the liberal constitution, which is known as the Constitution of
the year '12, and which was to have destroyed absolute monarchy
and the power of the priests in Spain for ever. But this Constitution,
owing to the hatred of the priests, remained unknown and detested by
the people.
§ 585. The Russian campaign of 1812 compelled the empei-or to
diminish the Spanish army. Wellington took advantage of this to march
into Spain with a larger force. Supported by the guerilla bands, the
British army soon obtained advantages over their opponents, who were
sufierins from every kind of want. After Marmont*s defeat
Julv 22 1812.
^ ' at Salamanca by Wellington, the English took possession of
Madrid and drove out the French king. Suchet, duke of Albufero, and
Soult, both alike brave and rapacious, held fortune firm to their standards,
apd Joseph was once more able to take possession of his tottering throne ;
but the frightful catastrophe produced by the Russian campaign com-
pelled the French army in the western peninsula also to retreat, and
obliged Joseph to quit the Spanish territory. After the victory of
452 THE LATEST PERIOD.
Vittoria, Wellington followed the retreating forces over the Pyrenees,
J SI i8ia. ^^^ ^ound * brave opponent in Soalt, even on French groond.
^^ ' So late as the lOthof April, 1814, when the allies were en-
camped on the Eljsian fields of Paris, the marBhal still resisted the ad-
vancing enemj at Toaloase, although compelled to yield the field to the
saperior enemy.
S 586. Imprisonment of the Pope. — The hatred against the
French, and the fanatical fury of the Spaniards, were the work of the
priests. Napoleon might have learned from this what power the religion
he denied, and its venerable osages, were capable of exerting upon the
minds of believers ; but in his pride he refused to recognize any bonds
tliat could limit his ambition. When the pope refused to lay an embargo
upon the English ships in the ports of the States of the Church, and to
enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with France, Napoleon in-
flicted upon him a succession of injuries, and united some portions of the
ecclesiastical States to the kingdom of Italy. This, however, in no ways
subdued the resolution of the inflexible prince of the Church ; on the
contrary, he was thereby induced, in the second war with Austria, to
make common cause with the opponents of the emperor, against the
Ma 27 1809 ^"P^™"<^7 ^^ France. Hereupon, Napoleon, in a decree
published at Schdnbmnn, declared that the temporal power
of the pope had ceased ; and when the holy father, irritated at this, ful-
.^une 16. minated an excommunication against the emperor. Napoleon
J, ^ ordered him to be carried off from Rome by violence, ba-
nished the cardinals, and united the States of the Church with
the French territory. Pius VII. lived in several towns, till at length a
residence was allotted him in Fontainbleau. As he obstinately refused^
whilst in a state of captivity and deprived of his council of cardinals, to
fill up the vacant bishoprics, or iv Mrrpnge any ecclesiastical afiairs, Na-
poleon found himself again compelled to arbitrary and despotic measures.
The pope, however, at length allowed himself, in an unguarded mo-
ment, to be persuaded to an arrangement by which his authority was
diminished.
5. THE SECOND AUSTRIAN TVAR. HOFER. 8CHILL. (1809.)
§ 587. Napoleon's arbitrary proceedings in Italy, and his increasing
influence in Germany, awakened the anxiety of Austria. The cabinet
of Vienna, therefore, resolved once more to try the fortune of war. The
popular war in Spain, in which the French emperor was obliged to em-
ploy a considerable pgrtion of his forces, the universal discontent at the
restrictions upon commerce, the deep movement in Northern Germany,
all this seemed to point out that the favorable moment was arrived Ibr
Austria to regain the power she had lost, and to break to pieces the
foreign despotism. The landstunn was called oat, and an attempt was
KAPOLBON, EMPEROR. 458
made, by means ci vehement proclamations, full of fine promisea, to
awaken enthusiasm and patriotic feeling. But the magic of the imperial
name was still too powerfnL The princes of the Rhine Confederation
strengthened the French annj with their brave troops, and the soldiers
of South Germany poured forth their blood for a foreign despot against
t]|D warriors of their own race.
In April, Austria ordered its army, which was placed under
'the command of the archduke Charles, to march into Bavaria
* and Italy. But the first encounters decided the fate of the war. Napo-
leon, supported by Wirtemberg and Bavaria^lnarched down the Danube
with a considerable force, drove the enemy over the Inn by a succession
April 90—22, of victorious encounters (Abensberg, Eckmiihl), and marched
1809. for the second time into the heart of the Austrian dominions.
On the 10th of May, the emperor stood before the walls of the capital,
which, three days after, he entered as a conqueror. Below Vienna, the
north bank of the Danube, which is thero crossed by numerous bridges,
was defended by the arohduka Charies* Upon the French army attempt-
hig to cross the river from Lobau, an island in the stream, they met with
such (^positiott in the two days' combat of Aspern and £s-
lingen, that they wero obliged to relinquish the attempt.
This bloody, though indecisive battle, whero 12,000 French soldiers, in-
dttding marshal Lannes, wero left upon the field, gave the first shock to
the belief in Napoleon's invincibility, and increased the confidence of the
oppressed people* It was only when the emperor had received reenforce-
ments, and Eugene Beauharnais had united himself to the grand army,
after the victory at Baab, that the Fronch again, and this time with
moro success, attempted the passage of the river, and defeated
the archduke in the great battle of Wagram. The loss on
both sides was tolerably equal, and it was not to be disputed that the Fronch
DO longer rotained their former superiority in the field. Austria, a few
' days later, condnded, over hastily, the truce of Znaym, that
^ she might open negotiations for a fresh peace.
{ 588. This truce was fatal to the lyrolese. The warlike inhabitants
of the mountainous rogion ci the Tyrol, who wero attached with the
truest devotion to Austria, had risen at the commencement of the war to
free themselves from the detested government of Bavaria, under which
they had been placed by the peace of Presburg. Tlie stimulating exhor-
tadons of their priests, who possessed great infiuence over these simple
mountaineers, and the enticements and promises of Austria, produced a
general insurrection. Trusting to the assistance of Austria, the Tyrolese
seixed the fiuniliar rifle, and, like the Spaniards, directed from the moun-
tain heights and gullies the unerring tube against the French and Bava-
rians, haiaiding life and property in defence of the customs of their fathers.
At their head stood Andreas Hofer, a publican in the Passeyrthal, a man
454 TUE LATEST PERIOD.
of great consideration among bid conntrjmen both on account of his bodflj
strength and courage, as well as bis piety, his patriotism, and his honoF-
able character. Shrewder and more far-sighted men, as Hormajr, the
historian of the Tyrol and of this war, made use of Hofer^s influence with
the people to carry the movement through the whole land. By the side
of Hofer stood Speckbacher, the soul of the confederation. A frightfvi
war broke out ; the Bavarians were compelled to evacuate the German
Tyrol, and Hofer took possession of Innspruck as the Austrian com-
mandant The truce of Znaym produced discouragement and irresolutioD
among the insurgents, without, however, putting an end to the war. Bui
when the conclusion of the peace of Vienna or Schonbrunn, by which
Austria again lost 2000 square (German) miles and three millions of
subjects, deprived the Tyrolese of all hopes of assistance,. and the Bava-
rians and French, with increased forces, marched into the land from three
different quarters, the insurrection was quelled. Innspruck again fell
into the hands of the Bavarians. Speckbacher and other leaders sought
their safety in flight ; but Hofer, who, led astray by bad counsel, had
again taken up arms, was discovered in a cave where he had concealed
Febroary 18, himself for two months with his family, and shot in Mantua.
1810. He died with the courage of a hero, and highly reverenced
by his countrymen. Tyrol was divided into three portions.
§ 589. During the second Austrian war, attempts were made in various
parts of Germany to shake off" the foreign yoke. In Kurhessen, the
colonel. Yon Dorenberg, attempted to overthrow the king of Westphalia by
an insurrection. The failure of this attempt did not deter the brave rn^or
Yon Schill from hazarding a similar one in Prussia. With a troop of
bold volunteers, he hoped to arouse the North of Grermany against the
foreign despotism. But fear of the great emperor of battles paralyzed
the arms of the people. Pursued by the enemy, Schill threw himself
May 81, into the strong town of Stralsnnd, in the hope of being able
1809. to take ship from thence to England. But he fell during an
assault, together with most of his companions in arms, beneath the sabres
of the enemy's cavalry ; the rest were made prisoners of war, the (Officers
shot in Wesel and Brunswick, and the privates condemned to the French
galleys.
Duke William of Brunswick, the heroic son of the fleid-marshal, was
more fortunate. He had marched to the aid of Austria with his ^ black
band ; " but treating the truce of Znaym with contempt, because in it he
had only been regarded as an Austrian marshal, and not as an independent
prince of the empire, he fought his way with incredible bravery through
hostile lands and armies to the North Sea, whence he escaped with his
October 12, followers to England. The intense excitement of men's minds
1809. was evinced by the attempted assassination of Napoleon by a
young man of Hamburg named Staps. Being seised by General Bappy
and confessing his intention, he was lead to death.
KAPOLEON, SMPKBOB. 456
If the enterprises of Schill and Ddrenberg were foolliardj and incon-
siderate, they were nevertheless of importance as proofs of the sentim^U
prevailing among the people, and of the newly-aroased patriotism. These
sentiments were encouraged and fostered chiefly in Prassia. It was here
that patriotically disposed men had assumed the conduct of afiiurs after
the disastrous days of Jena and Tilsit, and driven the characterless old
Prussian party from the councils of the king. The high-minded baron
Von Stein attempted to elevate the citizen and peasant class by introduc-
ing a liberal municipal government, rendering the possession of landed
property attainable by every one, and limiting the class privileges of the
middle ages. Schamhorst completely revolutionized the affiurs of the
army: the employment of mercenary troops was superseded by the
universal obligation to bear arms, the feelings of honor were excited
among the privates by throwing open the rank of officer to all, and by the
abolition of degrading punishments. It is true that the king, in a short
time, found himself compelled to remove his patriotic advisers, when the
mandate of Napoleon outlawed the baron Yon Stein, and oompelled him
to take refuge in Russia. But their works, nevertheless, remained, and
formed the groundwork of a system of government which was founded
upon the legal equality of the whole of the citizens. Stein's successor,
the astute chancellor Yon Hardenberg, proceeded, as much as possible^
upon the same principles ; and the Tugendbund, which was joined by some
of the noblest men of the country, aroused and encouraged patriotism and
love of freedom among the people and the ardent youth.
{ 590. The French Empire at its height. — Napoleon stood at
the summit of his power and greatness after the peace of Yienna. It
was only the reflection that he had no heir that occasioned him any dis*
quiet ; he accordingly got himself divorced from Josephine, upon the
December 15, ground of some informality in their nuptials, and married
1800. Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of Austria. It was
on the Ist of April, 1810, tliat he celebrated his nuptials with the ^< daughter
of the Caesars." Five queens supported the train of the bride, and an
unexampled magnificence was displayed. But a fire during the ball that
vras given by the Austrian ambassador, Schwarzenberg, in honor of the
newly-married pair, and in which his sister perished in the flames, was
regarded as an omen of evil promise. When a son was bom to the em-
March 20, peror in the following year, who received the pompous title
181 L of king of Rome, Napoleon's fortune seemed to be oomplete
and the future of France secured. But pride and ambition drove him on
from one act of violence to another; there was no end of the allianoes,
eeparatbns, and interchanges of lands and territories : what the despot
created to-day, he destroyed on the morrow ; him whom he made a great
man one year he humbled in the following. The blockade of the continent
became daily more rigid, to the despair of merchants and traden. When
466 TBB LATEST PEBZOD.
king Loak of Holland resisted this, and pennitted his people aome relax-
ati^y he was so unkindly and unworthily treated by his imperial brother
that he renounced the throne, upon which Napdeon united the kingdom
of Holland with France. A few months later, he also added the Hanse
towns, Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, and, besides these, the dukedom of
Oldenburg and the provinces between the Rhine and the Elbe, to the
French empire, which now ruled the whole coast of the North Sea, and
numbered 130 departments. Hamburg was made the capital of the new
territory, and the cruel Davoust placed there as ruler. The slavery
within increased with the extension without. A formidaUe state-police sup-
pressed the last remains of freedom, and threatened every suspected person
with persecution and imprisonment. Arbitrariness, passion, and despotism,
usurped the place of popular rights ; restrictions on trade, oppresBive lax*
ation, and military oonscripti<»s were the burdens imposed upon friendly
states ; the calamities of war, exactions, and the quarterings of troops, were
the miseries of the hostile.
6. THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA.
S 591. The extension of the empire of France even to the shores of die
Baltic, by which means the duke of Oldenburg, a near relation of the im-
perial family of Russia, was deprived of his lands, completely destroyed
the friendship between Alexander and Napoleon, which had already
grown cold since the increase of the dukedom of Warsaw by the peace
ik Vienna. This hostile feeling, which was first displayed in the angry
language of diplomatists and in newspaper articles, was increased when
the Russian government proclaimed a new tariff unfavorable to the im-
portation of French goods. Both parties prepared themselves for a des-
perate struggle. The empennr of Russia concluded a peace with the
Turks by the mediation of the English, and brought over to his side
Bemadotte of Sweden, whom Napoleon had greatly injured ; the French
emperor, on tlie other hand, arranged a treaty with Prussia and Austria,
by which he obtained a considerable increase of his forces. Alexander's
defiant demand, that the French garrisons should at once evacuate Pome-
rania and Russia, produced a declaration of war.
§ 592. In May, Napoleon, accompanied by his wife, made his appear*
anoe ip Dresden, where the princes of the Rhine Confederation, the em-
peror of Austria, and the king of Prussia, were likewise present to pay
their homage to the potentate who was now summoning half Europe to
arms against Russia. After a residence of ten days am<mg this brilliant
assemblage of princes. Napoleon hastened to his army, nearly half a
million strong, and which, with more than a thousand cannon and 80,000
baggage waggons, was lying scattered along between the Vistula and the
Niemen. The left wing, consisting for the most part of Poles and Pms-
iians, under the command of Macdonald, was placed upon the banks of
KAPOUBOy, BMPBBOR. 457
the Baltic ; the right, formed by the Austrian aaziliaries led by Schwar^
zenbergy with a division of French and Saxons under Begnier, stood on
the Lower Bag, opposite the southern army of the Bussians ; the body,
commanded by Napoleon himself, and under him by the most experienced
marshals of his school, crossed the Niemen in June and marched into
Wilna. The appearance of the French awakened the most sanguine ex-
pectations and warlike enthusiasm among the Poles. The diet of War-
saw declared the restoration of the kingdom of Poland, and determined
upon the formation of a general confederation. But popular movements
were not to Napoleon's taste ; he forbade a rise en nuute^ and damped
the enthusiasm by declaring, that, out of regard to Austria, he could not
consent to the restoration of the Polish republic in its whole extent.
Nevertheless, Polish Warriors under Poniatowski-and others fought with
their accustomed valor beneath the eagles of Napoleon, and the Polish
people supported, to the best of their power, the foreign troops that were
now marching in the midst of dreadful rains from Wilna to Witepsk*
Moscow, ''the heart of Bussia," was Napoleon's aim; but he soon dis-
covered what powerful allies the Bussians were possessed of in the nature
of their country. The roads were impassable, supplies did not arrive,
the poor and badly cultivated soil afforded little means of subsistence ;
diocatm diminished the number of troops and filled the hospitals.
S 593. The Bussian generals, Barclay de Tolly and Bagration, avoided
a ftucd battle, and lured the emperor onwards deeper into the country.
August 17, The first battle was fought at Smolensk ; but after fighting a
isis. whole day without any decisive result, the Bussians, in the
night, left the town, which was in flames. On the following morning,
the French found the site of the town drenched with blood and covered
with corpses. A council of war was held in Smolensk, but, despite the
number of voices that were raised against the continuance of the cam-
paign, Napoleon insisted upon the conquest of Moscow, where he intended
to pass the winter, and to force Alexander to a peace. The Bussians
murmured at Barclay's mode of conducting the war, as the Bomans had
once done at the delay of Fabius; for which reason, Alexander appointed
General Kutusoff to the command, who, as a native of the country, was
nearer to the people, and who was much beloved by the lower class of
Bussians for his attachment to the religious customs, and to the old Bus-
sian manners and usages. Kutusoff dared not allow the holy city of
Moscow, with its innumerable towers and golden cupolas, to fall into
the hands of the French, unless he wished to forfeit all the affections of
the people. He halted his troops, and by this means brought about the
faiiK0 7 murderous battle of Borodino, on the Moskwa, in which the
^ ' French indeed remained in possession of the field, but were
obliged to allow the Bussians to retire in good order. Upwards of 70^
000 bodies oovered the field ; Ney» ** the prince of the Moskwa," was thf
39
458 * THB LATEST PBRIOD.
hero of the day. On the 14th of September, the French entered Mos-
cow. The nobilitj and the better class of citizens had left the place.
A secret horror fell upon the soldiers as thej entered the town, and saw
nothing but a few of the rabble creeping about ; but who can describe
their terror when the four days' conflagration of Moscow, which, in the
absence of all means of extinguishing it, soon became a sea of flame, re-
duced the citj, which was built of wood, and the ancient Kremlin, which
Napoleon himself had chosen for a residence, to ashes ? The governor
of Moscow, Bostopschin, had given orders for this horrible deed, without
the command of the Tzar, for the purpose of depriving the grand annj
of its winter quarters, and of compelling it to a disastrous retreat. For-
getful of all order and discipline, the soldiers rushed into the bnmiDg
houses to gratify their passions and lote of plunder.
§ 594. From all this it was apparent that the Russians were waging
a war of extermination ; and yet Napoleon, from some onaceountable
delusion, suffered himself to be decoyed, by the artfully sustained hopes
of a peace, into remaining thirty-four days in Moscow without perceiving
that Kutusoff was seeking to detain him till the commencement <^ winter,
that during the retreat the cold might destroy the half-clad Boldiers, who
were suffering from the want of the merest necessaries. At length, late
in October, was commenced that fatal retreat of the grand army, which
has no parallel in the history of the sufferings of war. The plan at first
contemplated, of marching upon Kaluga, was given up after
the dreadful battle of Malo-Jaroslowetz, and the road towards
Smolensk over the corpse-covered battle field of Borodino was entered
upon. In November, the cold reached 18, and afterwards became 27
degrees below zero. Who can describe all the sufferings, battles^ and
fatigues, by which the grand army was gradually destroyed in the midst
of the stern winter? Hunger, cold, and exhaustion produced greater
ravages than the bullets of the Russians or the lances of the Cossacks.
It was a horrible sight to see thousands of starved or frozen soldiers lying
in the public roads, or on the desolate steppes covered with snow and ice,
intermingled with fallen horses, abandoned arms, and rich articles of
plunder. Kutusoff, who, in a proclamation, ascribed the burning of
Moscow to the French, to inflame the hatred of the people still more
against them, never left their fiank, and forced them to contest eveiy
yard of ground. When Smolensk was reached, about the middle of No-
vember, the army still numbered about 40,000 men, fit for service ; these
were followed by upwards of of 30,000 unarmed stragglers, without dis«
cipline, order, or leaders ; a picture of wretchedness and horror. And
yet it was here that the greatest misery began, inasmuch as, by some
error in the orders, the expected supplies of arms, clothes, and necessaries
were not forthcoming in the town, and the enemy with increased forces
were obstructing the path of march. The hero of the retreat was Ney,
GERMAN WAR OF . LIBERATION. 459
the commander of the rear, the "bravest of the brave." His passage
over the frozen hnt partly thawed Dnieper, during the night, was one of
the most daring feats recorded in history. On the 25th of November,
the armj arrived at the ever*memorable river Beresina. Two bridges
were thrown across the stream in the presence of 'the hostile army, and
the small remnant that still preserved its discipline passed over in the
midst of innamerable dangers ; but nearly 18,000 stragglers, that did not
arrive in time, fell into the hands of the enemy. How many were
drowned between the masses of ice in the cold waves of the river, or were
trampled down and destroyed in the dreadful press, no one can tell. Af-
NoTember ter the passage of the Beresina, Napoleon had still 8,000
S6-29. soldiers fit for service. Ney was the last man of the rear-
guard. According to the official account, 248,600 enemies' bodies were
buried in Bussia. Half of Europe had cause to mourn. On the dd of
December, Napoleon published the celebrated 29th bulletin, which in-
formed the expectant people, who had been without intelligence for
months, that the emperor was safe and the grand army destroyed. Two
days afterwards, he made over the command to Murat, and hastened to
Paris to arrange fresh armaments.
D. DISSOLUTION OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE, AND
ESTABLISHMENT OF A FRESH SYSTEM.
1. THE GERMAN WAR OF LIBERATION, Aim THE FALL OF
NAPOLEON.
S 595. The saying attributed to Talleyrand, that the Russian cam-
paign was ** the beginning of the end," soon proved true. No doubt,
oppressive conscriptions soon filled up the chasms in the French army,
bat the faith in Napoleon's invincibility was gone; and fresh armies
formed from young and inexperienced men were opposed to an enemy
inspired to great actions both by the victory they had attained, and by
the newly-awakened feeling of patriotism. So early as the 80th of De-
cember) the Prussian general, York, who commanded under Macdonald,
on the east coast, had entered into an understanding with the Russian
marshal, Diebitsch, and had' desisted, together with his troops, from any
further hostilities. It is true that this proceeding was publicly censured
in Berlin ; but the king's journey to Breslau, where many patriotic men
assembled themselves around him, was the first step towards the alliance
with Russia, which was completed in the following February. The
Febnuuy 8, boundless ill-usage experienced by Prussia had excited such
18K- a detestation of the foreign despotism, that the king's ^ Call
lo his people ** to take up arms awakened an incredible ardor for war.
460 THB LATB8T PBBIOD.
The enthusiasm seized upon all ages and conditions. Youths and
withdrew themselves from their wonted occupations, and from the cirelet
of affection, that thej might dedicate their strength to the libeimtiofi of
their fatherland. Students and teachers left the lecture-room, officiala
left their posts, young nobles the homes of their fathers ; thej s^zed the
musket and knapsack, and placed themselves in the ranks as common
soldiers, along with the mechanic who had come forth from his workshop,
and the peasant who had exchanged the ploughshare for the sword.
§ 596. The allied monarchs attempted to win over the king of Saxon j
to their cause* But Frederick Augustus resisted the invitation. Grati-
tude for the many proo& of favor and confidence which had been shown
him bj Napoleon, and fear of the anger of that potentate, bound him fast
to his alliance with the French emperor. He placed his lands, his for-
tresses, and his troops at his disposal, and Saxony accordingly became the
seat of the war. In the first battles at Lutzen, the Frendi indeed re-
tained possession of the field, and drove back their ^^pooeiitt
as far as the Oder; but the herobm of the young Germao
Hay 20. warriors, who fearlessly presented their breasts to the stoEm
of balls, showed the enemy that a different spirit had taken possession of
the Prussians from that displayed at Jena. Schamhorst breathed forth
his heroic soul at Lutzen. Among the thousands who strewed the field
in these two engagements were Bessieres and Duroc The death of the
latter, whom Napoleon loved and esteemed above all others for his amia-
bility, fidelity, and attachment, was a great shock to the French emperor.
For the first time, a dark presentiment of the mutabilities of life seemed
to take possession <^ his breast But pride and presumption hurried
.him onwards. It was in vain that Austria endeavored, during a short
cessation of hosdlities, to negotiate a peace at the Congress of Prague ;
Napoleon insolently refused to surrender any of the ooii-
' ' quered countries. This was followed by a breaking up of
August 12. the truce, and by Austria's declaration of war against France.
A 1 26-27 ^^ ^ ^^^ ^^ Napoleon, in the battle of Dresden, ooce more
' chained victory to his eagles, and had the pleasure of seeing
his opponent, Moreau, whom Alexander had summoned from America,
carried from the field mortally wounded ; but the fruits of the Dresden
victory were destroyed (1) by Blucher^s simultaneous engagement on the
Eatzbach in Silesia, against Macdonald, a battle in which
^ Marshal *< Forwards" gained the title of a prince of the
battle-field ; (2) by the French general, Vandanlme, being defeated and
made prisoner with his whole army, in the hotly contested battle of
Culm, a catastrophe that was brought about by Kleist's daring march
across the heights of Nollendorf, and by the pertinacioas
^' ~ ' courage of the Bussian guards under Ostermann ; and (8)
August ss. by the splendid feats of the Pnisso-Swedish army at 6vM-
Septembers. Becien and Dennewitz.
GERMAN WAK OF LIBIRATION. 461
{ 597. By the autumn, the result of this great stru^le was scarcely
doubtful ; tl^ princes of the Confederation of the Rhine gradually fell
off from Napoleon, and joined the allies ; thus Bavaria, who
concluded the treaty of Ried with Austria. In October, the
armies united themselves together in the broad plain of Leipsic ; the
Austrians, under prince Schwarzenberg, in whose hands the management
of the whole was pbiced ; the Russians, under Barclay, Benningsen, and
others ; the Prussians, under Blucher ; and the Swedes, und^r Bema-
doUe. The forces of the allies (300,000 men) were superior to the army
conducted by Ni^leon himself by. 100,000 men. It was in vain that the
French emperor, to whom the god of battles had so often been propitious,
unfolded his mighty talents ; it was in vain that the most distinguished
marshals of his school, Ney, Murat, Augereau, Macdonald, the Pole
Foniatowski, and many others, exerted their strength to the utmost. The
October 16-18. ^^^^^ days' battle fought in Leipsic and the neighboring vil*
lages was the grave of the French empire. After suffering
ac enormo'ss loss. Napoleon, in the night of the 19th October, quitted the
town, which was immediately taken possession of by the allies. The
over-hasty destruction of the Ebter bridge delivered up 18,000 soldiera
fit for battle into the hands of the victors, to say nothing of the sick and
the wounded. Foniatowski, who during the battle had been made mar-
shal, found his death in the waters. The French, closely pursued by the
enemy, advanced by hasty marches by Erfurt to the Rhine. Their pas-
sage was opposed at Hanau by Wrede, with Bavarians and Austrians ;
but by this he only gave the ^ dying lion" an opportunity of displaying
Ootober 80, his military skill. The victory that was gained at Hanau
#1- over the wounded Wrede opened to the French the passage
to the Rhine by the way of Frankfurt But the unfortunates all carried
the germs of mortal disease in their breasts, and half of them died before
the end of the year in over-crowded hospitals. The dissolution of the
kingdom of Westphalia, the return of the Elector of Hesse, and of the
dukes of Brunswick and Oldenberg, to their own dominions, the impri-
sonment of the king of Saxony, and the breaking up of the Confederation
of the Rhine, now followed in quick succession. Dalberg renounced his
archdukedom of Frankfurt ; Wirtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, con*
eluded treaties with Austria, and arrayed their troops beneath the stand-
ard of the allies. It was only in Hamburg that the French maintained
themselves, under the cruel Davoust, till the May of 18^4, and practised
dreadful exactions and oppressions. The king of Denmark was punished
for his adherence to Napoleon by the loss of Norway, which was given
January 14, to Sweden by the peace of Kiel. The same thing happened
1814. in Italy. The viceroy, Eugene, left the beautiful lands of the
Po to the Austrians, after a gallant defence, and j(»ned his father-in-law
in Bavaria. The archduke Ferdinand retun>ed to Tuscany, and the
89»
462 TBM L4XKS PEBIOD.
States of the Church reeeived the severely-tried Pope Fins YU. Nsplet
alone remained for a short time in the hands of the caTaliy leadei^ If mat,
who, having quarrelled with his brother-in-law, joined himself to Austria.
§ 598. The allied monarchs held a council with their ministers and
generals in Frankfurt, established a provisional government over the con-
quered lands, and again made the French emperor an offer of peace, if
he would content himself with the Rhine as the boundary of France. As,
however, the vast preparations that Napoleon was making, bj means of
a severe conscription, convinced the allied powers that their adversaiy
was going once more to try the chances of battle, it was determined to
Jannarj 1, cross the Rhine. It was on new-year's night that Blucber
181^ crossed the German river, at several points between Mann-
heim and Goblentz, with the Silesian army, whilst Schwarzenberg marched
with the main body through Switzerland to the south-east of France, and
a second Prussian army, under Bulow, freed Holland, and enabled the
Stadtholder to return to his states. In Champagne, the armies of Bliicher
and Schwarzenberg met tc^ther, and won the battle of
Brienne (4a Rothiere). But, as the difficult of obtaining
provisions compelled the two armies again to separate, whilst Schwarzen-
berg marched along the Seine, and Blucher followed the course of the
Marne, the French emperor, whose military talents again blazed forth in
their fullest lustre, succeeded in repeatedly defeating the Silesian army
(at Montmirail, Chateau-Thierry), and compelling it to retreat. After
^^ this, he suddenly threw himself upon the main army, and
February 18. , , . , , , rn T t . ^ ^J
drove this also back upon Troyes 4>y the victory of Monte-
reau. These events made such an impression upon the allies, that it
would not have been difficult for the emperor, in the fresh negotiations
for peace that were opened at Chatillon, to have secured himself upos
the throne of France, if he would only have given up the other conquered
countries. But, as he increased his demands with every ^Eivorable turn
of fortune, only gave limited powers to his ambassador, Caulaincoort,
and paralyzed the negotiations by ambiguous and undecisive declarations,
the decision was delayed until Blucher, Napoleon's mo^
' ' implacable enemy, had gained fresh advantages over the de-
bilitated Fi'ench army at Craonne and Laon. The negotiadons were
now broken off, and the dethronement of Bonaparte resolved upon. The
battle of Arcis on tlie Aube, convinced the French emperor
' ' that his weakened and exhausted army would avail no longer
against the iron ranks of the enemy ; and this conviction made him irre-
solute. Whilst the allies were marching upon Paris, and his presence
in the capital was imperatively called for, he wasted his time in daring
but fruitless marches. The heroic exertions of a few thousand National
Guards at F^re-Champenoise was the last display of popular eneigy. A
few days later, the hostile army stormed Montmartre. Upon this, Joseph,
THB BEBTOKATION AND THB HUITDBBI) DATS. * 463
to whom Napoleon had entrusted the defence of the capital, placed his
anthority in the hands of Mbrtier and Marmont, and retired with the
empress and the regency to BIcms. The two marshals were soon com-
peDed to yield to superior force, and to surrender the city by
treaty. Hereupon followed the entrance of the allies into
Paris, and the establishment of a provisional government under the pre-
sidentship of Talleyrand. This astute diplomatist, a master in every in-
trigue and artifice, now devoted himself to the interests of the royal
family, and attempted, by the employment of the principle of legitimacy,
to exclude Napoleon, and to bring about the restoration of the Bourbons.
2. THE RESTORATION AND THE HUNDRED DATS.
§ 599. In the meanwhile, Napoleon, with his Guard and his friends,
the number of which diminished every day, was lingering in Fontain-
bleau. He changed helplessly from one resolution to another, till, at
length, the news of Marmont's defection decided him upon abdicating
the throne in favor of his son. But this conditional abdica-
' tion was not received by the allied powers; he could not
continue the contest, for even his nearest friends, Berthier, Ney, Oudinot,
and others, had deserted him, and turned towards the new sun. In this
extremity. Napoleon signed the unconditional act of abdicap
tion as dictated by the allies. He received the island of
Elba as his property, an income of 2,000,000 francs, and the permission
to retam 400 of his faithful guard around his person. His wife, Maria
Louisa, obtained the duchy of Parma. On the 20th of April, Napoleon
ordered the grenadiers of his guard to be drawn up in the castle-yard of
Fontainbleau, and, with a broken heart, took an affecting leave of them,
amidst the sobs of the veteran heroes. On the 4th of May, he landed
at Elba. Shortly after, to the great joy of the people, who were weary
of war, the first Peace of Paris was concluded, by which
France received Louis XYIH. as king, a new constitutional
government, and the boundaries of 1792. The foreign armies left the
French territories, and the Congress of Vienna was to have placed the
new order of things in Europe upon a firm foundation.
§ 600. It was a splendid assembly this Vienna Congress. Emperors
and kings, princes and nobles, the most celebrated men of all countries,
were there assembled, and rejoicing over their victory. The migesty
and civilization of all Europe there displayed themselves in their fullest
Instre; and the magnificent festivals, the riotous feasts, splendid balls,
and evening assemblies, had no end. But the establishment of the new
system was no light task; and, in the midst of all this splendor and re-
joicing, violent passions were in motion, which threatened to destroy the
work of peace before its completion. The return of the legitimate royal
fionilies to their lost thrones, and the most complete destruction that was
464' 9HB LAtBST V&lOh.
possible <rf the repablioan constitatioiis, were the tiro piiiicfples on wlfek^
all parties were soon agreed ; but when questions respecting the dmsioa
of the conquered and vacated lasids, and the indemnification of tlie alHes,
came to be discassed, envy, selfishness, avance, and all irapare motives
were aroused. The conrt of Berlin demanded the anion of Saxony with
the Prussian kingdom, and Russia entertained the view of getting entire
possession of Poland ; both demands met with vehement opposition ; the
dispute seemed to threaten a renewal of hostilities, and the armies were
placed upon a war footing. These appearances, and the proceedings in
France, where the constitution granted by Louis XVIII. aflbrded bat
little defence against the reaction, awakened new hopes in Napoleon.
The Bourbons showed by their proceedings *'that they had learned
nothing, and forgotten nothing.** The memory of the Revolution aod
of the empire was, as far as possible, destroyed. The trioolored national
cockade was thrust aside by the white ; the old aristocracy treated the
new nobility with insolence and contempt, and drove them from the
neighborhood of the court, where the tone was given by the polite count
of Artois and the gloomy duchess of Angouleme (daughter of Louis
XVI.), whose heart was filled with hatred and venom against the mea
of the Revolution. The guards were discharged, and their places sop-
plied by well-paid Swiss; the officers of the grand army were dismiss^
upon half-pay ; the Legion of Honor was rendered mean and contempti-
ble by the distribution of innumerable crosses to the nn worthy; the
compact with the banished emperor himself was not adhered to; the
clergy and the emigrants, who met with particular favor in the paiaoe,
began to dream of a restoration of their lost estates, tithes, and feudal
privileges ; great discontent took possession of the nation ; the wish fbr
a change again became lively, par^cularly when nearly 100,000 French
soldiers, some who had been prisoners of war, and others from foreign
fortresses, returned to their country, and diffused their Bonapartist sen*
timents over the whole land.
§ 601. When Napoleon heard of these errors of the Bourbons^ when
he learned that there was a wish to restore their lands to the emigrants
because ^Uhey kept the straight path/' when he was instructed by
Fouch^, Davoost, Maret, the duchess of St. Leu, and others pf his ad-
herents, who kept up a constant correspondence with him, of the dispo-
sition of the people, he resolved once more to try his fortune. He
landed on the south coast of France with a few hundred
' * men ; he soon won all hearts to himself by some shrewdlj
planned and rapidly diffused proclamations. The tricolor was in a short
time again predominant everywhere, the troops that were sent to oppose
him deserted to him in crowds; the dtiaens of Grenoble threw open
^ iheir gates when he approached their town, and Colonel La-
bedoydre placed the ganisott at his diaponL It^
THB KESTOBATXOir AND THB HUNBBED BATS. 405
tbat the oonot of Artob fanted to Lyooa, and attempted lo gain the
aeMieia by oonfldence. The shoat of <* Vive V Smpereor t" raag every*
uliere in his eats; and when eren Ney, who had awoni to bring the
wuiper in chains to Paris, went over to hit fenner companion in anns,
tlie Bourbons, hapless and confounded, quitted for the second
time the land of their home* Louis XVIII., with a fow
futhful adlierents, took up his residence in Ghent, whilst Napoleon once
-more entered the Tuileries, and fonned a new ministry from among liis
followers. Thus began the reign of the Hundred Days, and Europe was
threatened with fresh couTulsions. Clubs were again formed, and the
songs of the Bevolution were again heard. But Napoleon had not yet
laid aside his dislike to popular moyements ; he also had learned nothing
and forgotten nothing. The imperial throne, with its splendor and its
national nobility, was again to arise. This, however, was resisted by
the people. The new constitution, which was sworn to at the
festival of the Champ de Mai, did not satisfy their demands.
§ 602. These events produced the greatest confusion in the Viennese
Ckmgress, and restored the unanimity which had been disturbed. Austria
and Russia did not at first appear disinclined to open fresh negotiations
with Napoleon, who promised to abide by the conditions of the Peace of
Paris and never again to disturb the tranquillity of Europe, and to leave
either him or his son in possession of the crown of France. But the
activity of Talleyrand and the imprudence of Murat again gave the
victory to the principles of legitimai^. Murat had at first joined the
allies, and made war on the viceroy of Italy. But he spon felt that this
was an unnatural proceeding ; such treachery to the 6ommon cause re*
volted his honest military feelings. Napoleon's landing and triumphant
course were the signal for his taking up arms. The emperor in vain
warned him against over-hasty proceedings. Without waiting to see
what course events would take, Murat declared war against Austria, and
called the people of Italy to arms to defend the unity and independence
of the beautiful land of the Apennines. The battle of To-
' * lentino went against him ; his army melted away, and whilst
he was fiying in haste to the south of France, the Austrians marched
into his capital and gave back his crown to its former possessor, Ferdi*
nand. After the battle of Waterloo^ Murat wandered for s<Nne time
around the south coast of France, only carefully concealing himself from
the pursuit of the Bourbons. At length he escaped to Corsica, and un-
dertook from thence a voyage to Calabria, for the purpose of exciting
the people to revolt against Ferdinand. But he and his fow followers
wore easily overpowered, and Murat paid the penal^ of his attempt with
his life. On the 15th of October, Joadiim Murat, who by his courage
and good fortune had been raised from the son of an innkeeper to be the
king of the most beantiiU of knds, was shot at Fisao.
406 THB LATB8T PXBIOD.
$ 608. Nupoleon's £Bite was decided even earlier. Hie Emopeaii
powers aet npwards of half a million of men in motion against the ouIp
lawed nsorper* Before thej had all mardied forth. Napoleon, after the
<^pening of the Chambers of Paris, advanced, with the soldiers that flodwd
to him from all quarters, into the Netherlands, to make head against the
armies of Wellington and Blikcher. The commenoement of the cam-
paign was fiEiYorable to the French. At Lignj, the Prussi-
ans were forced back after the most desperate resistance ;
whilst at Qnatre Bras, Nej resisted Wellington's army, compooed of
English, Dutch, Hanoverians, &c. Bluoher was wounded in the former
place, and in the latter, the chivalrous duke William of Brunswick foond
his death. Even on the decisive day, the victory was long doubtful. It
was not till the Prussians, at the critical moment, came to the assistance
of the hardly-pressed army of Wellington, whilst marshal Grouchy, who
had been despatched by Napoleon to follow Blucher, kept aloof from the
field, that the French, despite the heroic bravery of the veteran warriors,
were totally defeated in the battle of Belle-Allianoe or
Waterloo. The struggle on the height of Mount St. Jeaa^
from whence the French name the battle, was terrible ; and the woids
which were afterwards attributed to General Osmbronne, ''The guard
dies, it never surrenders I ** were retained by the nation in honorable re-
membrance ; whilst the disgrace which Bourmont incurred by his treadi-
ery, and Grouchy by his ambiguous conduct, could be obliterated by no
d^noe. Napoleon, pale and confused, allowed himself to be led out of
the battle by Soult, and hastened to Paris. The flight soon became gene-
ral ; the whole of the artillery fell into the hands of the enemy ; only a
fourth part of the brave army was able to escape.
§ 604. The Chambers of Paris, in which Fonch^ was exhibiting a
wretched display of intrigue and deceit, proposed to the emperor, on his
return, that he should renounce the crown. After some resistance, the
humbled potentate yielded to the proposal ; be laid down the govem-
ment in favor of bis son, Napoleon U^ and then fied to
Bochefort, with the purpose of escaping to America, when he
saw the victorious enemy a second time approaching the walls of Paris.
As the English, however, held the harbor blockaded, Napoleon, trusting
to the generosity of the British people, sought shelter in one of their
ships (Bellerophon). But the statesmen who then guided the helm had
no compassion for fallen greatness. Arrived at the coast of England,
Napoleon received the terrible information that he must pass the remain-
der of his life as a state prisoner on the island of St. Helena. All pro*
testations were useless : on the 18th of October, he landed on the place
.of his banishment, in the midst of the Atlantic ocean.
.Here Napoleon lived, a chained Prometheus, separated from his friends
in an unhealthy climate, and under the rigid guardianship of the on*
THE RESTORATION AND THB HUNDRED DATS. 467
friendlj governor, Sir Hudson Lowe. A few friends, among them General
Bertrand and his famUj, Montholon, Las Casas, shared his banishment
Grief at his fall, want of his accustomed activity, and irritation at the
un worthy treatment he received, broke his proud and strong spirit before
its time. After six years of suffering, he found that quiet in the grave,
to which during life he had been a stranger. He died on the 5th of May,
1821. His ashes were afterwards conveyed to Paris (1842), and buried
in the Hotel of Invalides.
§ 605. After Napoleon's abdication, a provisional government was
established under the direction of Fouch^. The latter arranged with
Wellington and Blucher that no man was to be punished for his actions
or opinions, and then surrendered the capital. A few days
later, the Bourbons again entered the Tuileries, under the
guard of foreign bayonets. The people were quiet and indifferent The
armies were disbanded, the Chambers dissolved, and by a succession of
proscriptions, a number of men, who had hitherto guided the fate of
France and of her armies, were either deprived of their offices, thrust
into banishment, or, as in the case of Ney and Labedoy^re, condemned to
death.* The allied monarchs again established their residence in Paris,
and assisted the Bourbons in settling the new system. At length, when
Korember the Restoration appeared secure, the second Peace of Paris
so, 1816. was arranged, by which France was confined to the bounda-
ries of 1790, restored all the plundered treasures of art and science to
their former owners, paid 700,000,000 francs for the expenses of war,
and was obliged to support an allied ariny of 150,000 men in the frontier
fortresses. These garrison troops remained for three years in the French
fortresses.
* Labedoy^re and Ney were condemned to death by the Court of Peers, and shot
The execution of the renowned manihal of the Moekwa, who, when he was shot, with
military spirit gaye the word of command himself, was looked upon as an infraction
of the treaty arranged with Wellington, and brought great disgrace npon the court of
Paris. Lavalotte also, who, in his capacity of director of the poet, had exerted himself
for Napoleon*8 restoration, was condemned to death, bat was delivered from prison
by his faithful wife. Among the banished were to be fonnd all the members of Na-
poleon's family ; the marshals and statesmen who had joined him during the hundred
days, as Soult, Maret, Thibaudeau, Mouton, &e. ; and finally, all the regicides, i. c
the members of the Convention who had voted for Louis XVI.*8 death ; Fouch^ was
one of these, and he was accordingly obliged to relinquish the office of minister of
police, which he had at first been allowed by the. Bourbons to retain, and to retire
abroad. Camot, Sieyes, Cambacdres, and others did the same. Most of them resided in
Bmssels.
4fi8 THE LATB8T PERIOD.
R THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
FH03C THE FORMATIOK OF THE FEDERAL COKSTTTUTIOir, TO THE
PEACE OF 1815.
Washington's Administration. [1789-1797.] § 606. Geof^ge
Washington, having been unanimously reelected at the expiration of his
first term of office, was President of the United States for eight years, —
a period long enough to fix, in many respects, the policy of the govern-
ment, and to determine the practical character of the new constituUon.
The country was doubly fortunate in securing his services for so long a
period, and at this particular crisis in its affairs. Others may have been
equally patriotic and disinterested; but no other person could have
brought to the office an equal weight of character and influence, or so
happy a combination of calmness (^judgment, equanimity in good and ill
fortune, impartiality towards individuals, and inflexibility of purpose.
The friends and opponents of the Federal Constitution were already
arrayed against each other as two political parties, styled respectively
the Federalists and the Democrats, between whom the people were very
equally divided, and who contended vehemently with each other for the
control of affairs, each hoping to imprint its peculiar principles upon the
early measures of the administration, and upon the oi^nization of the
government The Federalists were reproached as being anti-republican
and even monarchical in their notions and their measures ; and they, in
return, charged their adversaries with hostility towards any stable fona
of government or any ^ective union of the States, with indifference as
to the preservation of the public faith and credit, and with carrying their
democratic principles so far as to undermine every species of authority
and reduce the nation to anarchy. Washington's electi<m to the presi*
dency was not a party triumph ; in the opinion even of his (^pooents,
he was without and above all party ties, — the only man in the Union
who possessed the confidence of the wIm^o people. He had no personal
preferences or prejudices ; but politically, he was a strong Federalist, an
avowed defender of every thing which tended to give unity and strength
to the central government. He deplored the excesses of party spirit,
and it was his constant endeavor to moderate or prevent them. , Upon
this principle, he formed his first cabinet, appointing Jefferson, the Demo-
cratic leader. Secretary of State, and Hamilton, the ablest of the Fede-
ralists, Secretary of the Treasury. Knox and Randolph, the Secretary
of War and the Attorney-General, were also opposed to each other in
politics, and strongly contrasted in personal character. But under Wash-
ington's firm, dignified, and impartial guidance, these men worked to-
gether zealously and efficiently ; and through them, the President ]
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 469
tained hiB inflaence with parties, and preserved tbe national and equally
balanced character of his administration.
i 607. To establish a revenue for the maintenance of government, and to
provide for the debts contracted during the Revoludonaiy war, were the
first objects that claimed the attention of Congress. Hamilton's ^financial
talents were of the. highest order, and the plans whidi he proposed for
the acoomplishment of these ends, though vehemently contested, were
finally approved and carried into effect with the happiest results. As
the government for more than ten years had been bankrupt, the public
securities, or evidences of its indebtedness, had passed from hand to
hand at prices far below their nommal value ; and the Democrats now
strenuously maintained that they should be redeemed at no higher rate
than their present possessors had paid for them. But Hamilton declared
that the public faith must be kept by paying the whole amount which
the government had originally promised, and also by assuming the debts
which the individual States had contracted in support of the common
cause. The aggregate debt was a portion of the price which the whole
nation had paid for its freediMn ; and the burden of it, therefore, ought
to be equally borne by the whole people. It was the dictate of sound
policy, also, as well as of abstract justice, that all pecuniary obligations
should be faithfully discharged ; for public credit would thus be main-
tained for any future exigency, and the government would be strength-
ened, as the great body of the public creditors, the wealthiest and most
influential dass in the community, would be directly interested in itd
support ^ These views ultimately prevailed by a small majority, — a
migority obtained in one case only by an agreement to transfer the seat
of government from Philadelphia to the banks of the Potomac, thus con-
ciliating the fitvor of some members of Congress from the southern
States. The whole amount of debt thus consolidated and funded was
about eighty millions of dollars. At Hamilton's recommendation, also, a
Bank of the United States was chartered, with a capital of ten millions,
one-flfih of which was subscribed by government, while individuals, who
contributed the remainder, were alk>wed to pay but one-fourth in cash,
and the other three-fourths in public 8to<^ A revenue act was also
passed, imposing duties on goods imported into the United States and on
tonnage, due discrimination being made so as to encourage American
manufactures and shipping. The eflect of these measures upon public
confidence and the interests of commerce was almost magical. The
large amount of public stocks dius created furnished capital and cur*
rency, neariy as available as coin, and far more secure than paper money.
The funding system afibrded a guaranty of the stability <^ the Union,
and eneooraged merchants to undertake the large enterprises, an opening
tor which MS created by the country's release from the shackles of colo*
nial depcJRnce. A trade sprang up with India, China, and the north-
' 40
470 THE LATEST PEftlOD.
west coast of the AmericaD continent ; and the flag of the new natioo
was soon displayed in every sea, in friendly competition with that of the
great naval power, which threatened, a few years before, almost to mono-
polize the commerce of the earth. The population continuing to multi-
ply and expand, new States were successively formed and admitted into
the Union, and the strength of the chain seemed to increase with every
addition to the number of its links. Thus, a long pending controversy
between New York, New Hampshire, and the '^ Green Mountain Boys,"
respecting the owneiiship of the territory between the Connecticut river
and Lake Champlain, was at length adjusted by the creation of the new
State of Vermont ; and soon afterwards, Kentucky was ad-
mitted into the Union, the first State formed in tha great
valley of the Mississippi. \
§ 608. The progress of the settlements at the west, however, was much
retarded by hostilities with the Indian tribes on the banks of the Ohio, the
Miami, and the Wabash. These claimed the Ohio river as the boundary
of their territory, being encouraged to put forward this claim, and to
support it by making war upon the Americans, by the British authorities
in Canada and at those military posts on the Lakes and the upper tribu-
taries of the Mississippi, which were still retained as a security for the
due performance of certain articles in the treaty of peace. The United
States had too hastily disarmed themselves at the close of the Revolution-
ary struggle ; weary of the war, and unable to pay the troops, the whole
army, with an insignificant exception, had been disbanded. The only
force, therefore, which could now be sent against the savages, was com-
posed ahnost entirely of militia, who could not be relied upon for the
great hazards and exposures of a conflict with the Indians in their forest
home. Gen. Harmer was first sent against them, with 1,100 men ; but
several of his detachments were surprised and defeated, and he returned
October, in disgrace, before he had accomplished any thing. Further
1790. attempts to settle the difficulties by negotiation having failed,
St. Clair was next sent, with an army of 2,000 men, into the Indian
country; but when he had reached the banks of the Wabash, the savages
Norembor 4 &<^^<^l^ed his camp by surprise in the grey of the morning,
1791. and af^er some hard fighting, in which about half of the
army were killed or wounded, the others were compelled to make a pre-
cipitate flight Gen. Wayne, an officer of much experience and reputa-
tion, was then placed in this difficult command, and great exertioos were
made to raise an adequate force to support him. One year he spent in
unavailing negotiations for peace, limiting his military operations mean-
while to the protection of the frontiers. In August, 17U4, he advanced,
at the head of more than 3,000 men, totally defeated the Indians in one
hard-fought engagement, ravaged their principal settlemei^ destroyed
their stores, and left a fort well garrisoned in the heart of tHr oonntij.
en^d<
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 471
This decisive blow effectually cowed the native tribes, who soon con-
sented to a peace, the faithful observance of which for manj years
left no check to the marvellously rapid growth of the settlements at the
west.
§ 609. Another difficulty which the government had to contend with was
the disaffection created by the excise taxes that had been imposed to eke
out the revenue obtained from duties on imported goods. The tax on
distilled spirits, especially, bore hard upon the western counties of Penn-
eylvania, where the people, from the imperfect means of transportation,
could not obtain a market for their grain except by distilling it into whis-
key ; and as they were rude and turbulent backwoodsmen, little accus-
tomed to the restraints of government and civilized life, they could not
understand the necessity of paying a heavy excise on the most profitable
article which they prepared for sale. They set the law at defiance, at-
tacked the revenue officers, drove back the few soldiers who were sent
to defend them, and entered into extensive combinations to resist the
governmenL A proclamation of the President, calling on the magistrates
to execute the Uws, had no effect ; and it was computed that there were
over 7,000 insurgents prepared to carry out their purposes by force of
arms. Washington then resolved to vindicate the majesty of the laws
by employing a force large enough to prevent any show of resistance.
The militia of four of the States was called out, to the number of 15,000
^ men, and Gen. Lee, of Virginia, marched at their head into
' ' ' the disaffected counties, and effectually put down the insui^
rection without bloodshed. Some leaders of the movement were tried
and convicted of treason ; but they were all pardoned, and this lenity
won back the affections of those who had gone astray, while the vigor
and promptitude that had been shown made a great addition to the
strength of the government.
£610. Mr. Jay, who had been appointed minister to £ngland for the
purpose, succeeded at last in forming a treaty with that power, which ad-
justed many subjectsof controversy between the two nations, though it left
others still pending. The treaty of peace of 1783 had been very imper-
fectly observed on both sides. Debts to British subjects, contracted be-
fore the war, could not be recovered until the national judiciary had been
established under the Federal Constitution, and many of them remained
etill undischarged, and the Loyalists could not recover their confiscated
estates ; on the other hand, the British troops, when they evacuated the
country, had carried off many slaves, for whom compensation was de-
manded, and the military posts on the northwestern frontier had not been
delivered up. The possession of these forts enabled the British to con-
trol the trade with the Indians, and even, as was supposed, to incite them
to hostilities against the United States. The breaking out of the war
between revolutionary France and England opened the immense profits
^
472 THB LATEST PERIOD.
.of a neutnJ trade to the Americans, but also exposed them to the manj
annoyances and vexations that resulted from the exercise of belligerent
rights against neutrals. American seamen, not bemg easily distingnisli-
able from Englishmen, were often impressed to serve on British men-of-
war, and American ships were overiiauled to search for contraband goodsL
Naval stores, also^ were asserted by the English to be contraband of war,
though in other treaties they were regarded as free goods. Jay^s treaty
was the best that could be obtained at the time, though it had many ac-
knowledged deficiencies ; but as it removed many subjects of dispute, and
averted a renewal of the war between the two countries, which seemed
to be imminent if no treaty were framed, the Senate apprDv-
^^' ' ' ed it by a very close vote, and it was ratified by the Presi-
dent A storm of popular indignation immediately burst forth, in which
were united all the old feeling of hostility towards England and the ill
will that had been nursed by the recent controversies. The discussion
of the subject agitated the whole country during the autumn, and it soon
i^>peared, when Congress came together in the winter, that a lai^ nmn-
ber, if not a majority, of the Representatives were fiercely opposed to
the execution of the treaty. But the President firmly maintained his
ground, against the insane clamor out of doors and the fierce oppositioQ
in Congress ; and after a vehement debate, the appropriations that were
needed to carry out the compact were made by a majority of two, and
the treaty went into effect Its happy results soon proved that Washr
ington's course had been as enlightened and far-sighted, as it unquestioD-
ably was dignified and independent.
§ 61 1. The troubles growing out of the French Revolution were not con-
fined to the European side of the AUantic. The agitation reached the United
States also, and, for a time, the republican institutions of America seemed
to reel under that shock which had prostrated so many monarchies in
the Old World. New bitterness and violence were added to the fmmer
dissension between the two great parties into which the people were
divided ; the Democrats generally espoused the cause of France, with a
pardonable preference for what seemed to be the cause of freedom and
enlightenment against the old powers of despotism and darkness ; while
the Federalists, deploring the excesses into which the revolutionisto of
France had plunged, and foreseeing the anarchy and final triumph of mili-
tary usurpation which would be their inevitable result, — animated also
by a lingering attachment for the land of their forefathers, their kngoage,
and their faith,— by a love which ten years of conflict had failed to*ex-
tinguish, and which a rapid extension of the commercial ties between the
two countries was now kindling anew, — generally looked with favor and
hope towards England. Unfortunately, belligerent France and England,
in the fury of their contest with each other, both disregarded, or rather
designedly trampled upon, the neutral rights of America. There wu^
THE mnrsD siatss of ambkica. 473
perhaps, legitimate caase of war against both countries ; but the Demo-
crats clamored for war against Eoglandf and were disposed to overlook
or excuse all slights and injuries received from her opponent ; while the
Federalists were hostile to Franooy and palliated every wrong whidi
Great Britain could commit Again the firmness, moderation, and wis-
dom of Wadiingtbn were the means of saving the people from the disas-
ters and sufferings of another war, and from the effects of their own
furious party conflicts and ill regulated passions. He saw no causes of
dispute, which had yet arisen, that could not be removed or palliated by
patience and amicable negotiation ; he saw, also, that the country abso-
lutely needed repose and an opportunity to recruit her energies, before
she could engage in another struggle with one of the great powers of
Europe, with any hope of success, or even of safety. Jay's treaty had
averted for a time the hazard of war with England ; and Washington
^ _» ,..»« ^^ >1^ issued a memorable prodamation of Neutrality, ad-
monishing the people of their duty to observe the strictest
impartiality between the two belligerent powers, and to abstain from
every act which could justly give un^brage to either. This naturally
gave great offence to the party, which, remembering the obligations of
America to France for aid bounteonsly given in the hour of her necessity,
and sympathizing with those who assumed to defend the rights of the
people everywhere against the oppression of their hereditary rulers, was
eager to defend by arms the cause of the French Revolution. They
were insanely desirous of plunging into the vortex of European politics
and a foreign war. The French republican government, also, adopted
an insolent and overbearing tone in its diplomacy, which added fuel to
the flame of excitement in the United States. Citizen Genet, the French
envoy to America, was received with a popular ovation in Charleston
and other pkces, which so inflamed his ardent temper and republican
zeal, that he authorized privateers to be fitted out to cruise against the
enemies of France, and when checked in his outrageous conduct, threat-
ened to appeal from the government to the people. But this was going
too iar ; even his friends resented this insuh to their great President,
and Washington demanded and obtained his recall. The conduct of his
successor, M. Fauchet, though more moderate, was still offensive ; and
the administration had a difSknilt task in preventing him from stirring up
the people to the commission of acts which would afford England a just
pretext for hostilities. But the vast influence and reputation of the
President, and the evident ipterest which the country had in the pre-
servation of peace, moderated the excitement, and the aggressive conduct
of the French, in makmg many captures of American vessels on very
slight pretexts, soon weaned the nation from its excessive admiration for
their principles. The government had the wisdom and good fortune also^
40*
474 THE LATBST PERIOD.
af^er the difficulties with Spain had risen to an alarming height to form
a treaty with that power, which not only secured the continu-
ance of peace, but gave to the United States the free navi-
gation of the Mississippi, and the priTilege of depositing cargoes at New
Orleans.
§ 612. When the close of the second period of his administration was at
hand, Washington determined to seek that repose in private life of which he
had long been desirous. He prepared and published a Farewell Address
to his countrymen, in which he announced to them this resolation^ and
added wise and affectionate advice respecting their future course, and the
evils with which the young republic was menaced. Especially he warned
them against foreign influence and interference in the controversies of
European nations ; against all measures which tended to a separation of
the Union, or to array parties against each other by geographical discri-
minations ; against the excesses of party spirit, and the first symptoms of
disregard for the authority of the laws. ** The very idea of the power
and right of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of
every individual to obey the established government." This Address
was received and read throughout the Union with sentiments approaching
to veneration, and has probably contributed more than any state paper
that was ever framed to guide the conduct and control the destiny dP a
whole people. Washington retired to his estate at Mount Vernon, where
he spent the short remaining period of his life in arranging his papers
and cultivating an extensive farm. He died on the 14th of December,
1799, leaving a reputation unequalled in the world's history as a patriot
leader and statesman, ^ first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts
of his countrymen.'*
Adams's Administration, [1797-1801.] § 613. John Adams, the can-
didate of the Fedeitil party, was elected President for the third term, by
a majority of only two votes over Thomas Jefferson, who was supported
by the Democrats. His administration was a turbulent and rather un-
fortunate one. In spite of his eminent services during the Revolntionary
period, and his acknowledged abilities and integrity, he did not enjoy so
much consideration with his own party as Hamilton, who was an admirable
political leader ; and his opponents wrongly attributed to him arbitrary
and monarchical notions of government His own views of policy were
generally sound ; but his quick, vehement, and self-willed disposition sel-
dom allowed him to seek or follow the counsels of others, so that he often
suffered more in the estimation of his friends than in that of his oppo-
nents. Dissension soon appeared in the ranks of the Federalists, and
they lost ground with the people, while the other party every day
acquired fresh strength. The relations of the country with France still
formed the chief difficulty of the government, and the principal subject of
dispute between the two parties. The Directory were now in power at
THE UKITED STATES OF AMERICA. 475
Paris, and their feeble, but aggressive and rapacious, policy was nowhere
more sigoalij manifested than in their conduct towards America. Thej
refused to receive Thomas Fincknej, who had been accredited to them as
minister bj Washington, and even ordered him to quit the territory of
the republic ; and this insult was given at the very time when their pri-
vateers were capturing scores of American vessels, upon pretexts so slight,
that, in several cases, they were compelled to admit that they owed repa-
ration for the wrong. Congress manifested a proper spirit, and imme-
diately adopted measures to vindicate the national honor. Laws were
passed to hold 80,000 militia in readiness, to fortify the harbors, to fit
out vessels of war, and to put the country generally in a state of defence-
Still, to manifest the sincerity of their desire for peace, Pinckney, Mar-
shall, and Gerry, (the last named being a Democrat, and therefore re-
garded as friendly to France,) were sent out as joint envoys to the
Prench Republic, to seek for a reconciliation. On their arrival at Paris,
a reception was denied them ; but it was intimated to them unofficially,
that, on the payment of a heavy bribe to the individual members of the
Directory, and the loan of a considerable sum to the republic, a negotia-
tion might be opened. This proposal excited general disgust and indig-
nation in America. '* Millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute,''
was the almost universal cry ; and vigorous preparations were instantly
made for war, to which the Democratic party offered hardly any opposi-
tion. Large additional grants were made for the increase of the navy,
the purchase of arms and ammunition, and the fortification of the harbors ;
and the President was authorized to raise, when necessary, an army of
10,000 men, besides accepting the services of volunteers. There was ^
great revulsion of opinion throughout the country, which contributed
largely to postpone the decline and fall of the Federalist party. Ships
of war were authorized to capture any armed vessels which had com-
mitted depredations on American commerce, or which were found cruis-
ing near the coast with the apparent purpose of committing such acts.
There were many French emigrants in the country, and some of these
were suspected of acting as government emissaries or spies; the Presi-
dent was therefore authorized to send out of the country any foreigner
whose residence in it he might consider to be dangerous. Another act
was passed, to define more precisely the crime of treason, and to defiife
and punish that of sedition, which subjected to fine and imprisonment any
person who, by writing, printing, or speaking, should attempt to justify
the hostile conduct of the French, or to defame or weaken the govern-
ment or laws of the United States. These two laws, known as the Alien
and the Sedition Acts, passed while the people were in a feverish state
fiom the vehemence of party controversy, and only to be justified by the
magnitude of tha war then deemed to be imminent, were afterwards the
oljecU ci bitter reproach, and contributed largely to the downfall of the
Federalists.
476 THE LATEST PEBIOD.
§ 614. The anthori^ given to act agunst French armed yeseels, now
extended to permission to capture them under any circamstanoes, did not
long remain unexercised. The frigate Constellation, Captain Tmxtooy
captured the Frendi frigate, L' Insurgente, of superior force, after an
hour's action. Truxton afterwards engaged a still heavier French frigate,
La Vengeance, and nearly disabled her, though she succeeded in eeci^ing
in the night. Some other French embers were taken, and, under the
commissions granted to private armed vessels, over fiftj French privateers
were captured and brought into port, and manj American merchantmen
were re-captured. SdD, war was not formallj declared, and the probabilit j
of its occurrence was now much lessened bj a sudden and eccentric act on
the part of President Adams, who, contrarj to the wishes of his party,
and without even consulting the members of his cabinet, surprised every-
body by nominating another minister to France, to make another attempt
at negotiation. This act occasioned an irreparable breach in the Federal
party. Hamilton, Pickering, and other leaders of it made hardly any
secret of their aversion to the President. Owing to the reverses in war
which the French had lately experienced, and to a consequent change in
the Directory, assurances were sent that the new mission from the United
States would be kindly received. In fact, on their arrival in France, the
ministers found that a revolution had taken place, and that Bonaparte
was now at the head of affiiirs, who» not wishing to have another enemy
on his hands, was eager to negotiate. Difficulties obstructed the condn-
sion of a perfect treaty ; but a convention was agreed upon, by which all
captured property not already condenmed was to be restored, the indem-
nities mutually claimed were referred to future negotiations, and all pre-
sent hazard of war was avierted.
§ 615. The dissensions of the Federalists had already foreshadowed the
defeat of their party at the approaching presidential election. Adams and
Pinckney, their candidates, received but sixty-five electoral votes, while
seventy-three were cast for Jefferson and Burr, the favorites of the DeoKh
cratic party. As these two had an equal number, it devolved upon the
House of Representatives, as the Constitution then stood, to decide which
of them should be President, and whidi, Vice-President. The Federal-
ists, who then had the control of the House, formed the strange and Ac-
tions project of electing Burr instead of Jefferson to the higher office, in
order to spoil the victory of their opponents, and because they entertained
a faint hope that the former, owing his unexpected elevation to them,
might adopt a policy more favorable to the views of their party. The
scheme was ind^ensible either on moral or political grounds, and most
of the people rejoiced when it was frustrated* After remaining in sessioa
seven days, and baUoting thirty-six times, some of the Federalists gave
way, and Jefferson was chosen. The office of Yice-Pk^dent then 4^
volved of right upon Burr. To prevent the repetition of so ^Bscreditable
THE UKITEI) STATES OF AMSBICA. 477
a sc^ne, an amendment of the Constitution was soon effected, which re-
quired each elector to vote separately for a President and a Vice-Presi-
dent.
Jefferson's Administration. [1801-1809.] § 616. The country
was in a very prosperous state when Jefferson's party came into power.
The serious difficulties that obstructed the formation of the government
had all been removed ; the finances and the several departments of the
government had been fully organized, and the system was in complete
and successful operation. The responsibility of devising the requisite
measures for these ends had fallen upon the Federalists, the odium which
many of them had occasioned had been spent, and the Democrats now
entered upon the enjoyment of their predecessors' labors. The revenue,
commerce, and population of the country had increased with unexampled
rapidity. The census of 1801 showed that the population amounted to
5,300,000, being an increase of nearly a million and a half in ten years.
Within the same period, the exports had risen from nineteen to ninety
millions, the tonnage had doubled, and the revenue was increased from
four to twelve millions. At the same time, also, there was a lull in the
storm of European warfare. The peace of Luneville was concluded
early in 1801, that of Amiens followed a year afterwards, and hostilities
were not recommenced till May, 1803. Thus, all the perplexing and
dangerous controversies respecting impressment and neutral rights were
temporarily put at rest, and the United States reaped the full benefits of
a prosperous and uninterrupted commerce. Even the prospect of a re-
newal of hostilities operated in one respect to the advantage of the Ame-
ricans. Louisiana had recently been transferred from Spain to France ;
and as Bonaparte foresaw that he could not defend so distant a possession
against the naval power of England, he listened favorably to a proposal
for selling the territory to the United States, who were very anxious to
obtain it, as it would secure to them the uninterrupted navigation of the
Mississippi. A treaty was concluded in April, 1803, which made over
Louisiana to the United States upon the payment of fifteen millions of
dollars, one-fourth of this sum being retained to meet the claims for the
French spoliations of American commerce. Congress had no power ex-
pressly granted in the Constitution to purchase additional territory; and
as the Democratic party had always maintained that all powers not spe-
cifically enumerated were reserved to the States, it was a little awkward
for Jefferson to complete this contract But as no one doubted the great
utility of this vast accession of territory, or that it had been obtained on
reasonable terms, he swallowed his scruples, and his adherents did the
same.
f 617. The depredations of the Barbary powers upon the commerce of
the United States in the Mediteiranean, gave rise, in 1801, to a war with
Tripoli. Peace had hitherto been purchased with several of these pira-
478 THB LATEST PEBIOB.
tical states by the payment of a heavy annual tribote ; bat their <
having become inordinate, a oonsiderable naval force, commanded at fint
by Morris, and afterwards by Preble, was sent ont to blodcade TripdB,
and to act as occasion might require against the other Barfa«ry powers.
Several naval actions took place, in which the officers and crews £»>
played great gallantry, and which caused the American flag to be lugfalj
respected in the Mediterranean ; while the blockade kept the piraticti
cruisers in port, and thus protected the commercial shipping. Bat the
Tripolitans were at length brought to terms through a very hazardous
and romantic enterprise, undertaken by a gallant American adventurer,
named Eaton. The rightful bashaw of Tripoli had been deprived of his
government, and exiled, by a younger brother, some yea» before. Eaton
entered into a compact with him to reconquer his dominions, invading
them* from the side of Egypt. A few hundred men were collected for
this purpose, only one-fourth of them being Christians, and of these hot
nine were Americans. This insignificant and motley troop crossed the
A 1 isofi d^ci% suffering frightful hardships by the way, captared the
' important Tripolitan port of Deme, maintained it against an
attack by a vastly lai^r force of the enemy, and so frightened the reign-
ing bashaw, that he hastily concluded a peace, conceding all the demands
of the Americans. A great, indirect advantage obtained from these
operations in the Mediterranean was, that they prevented the American
vessels of war from going to decay, or being sold, by the ill-judged eco-
nomy of Jefferson's administration. The party in power were hostile to
the existence of a navy, partly because they wished to diminish the ex-
penditures of the national government, and partly because they were
averse or indifferent to the growth and prosperity of the foreign com-
mercial interest of the country, and sou^t to develope onlj tlie agri-
culture and home trade of the States. Jefferson wished to limit the
defensive efforts of the country to some very feeble and absurd attempts
to protect the coasts and harbors by gun-boats, which could act only in
shallow waters, the idea being probably borrowed from Bonaparte^s
curious maritime preparations at Boulogne. If merchants asked that their
ships might be protected, they were told to keep their ships at home.
Had not the insults and depredations of the Barbary pirates roused the
national spirit so much that it became necessary to make some effort to
punish them, it is probable that, before the dose of Jefferson's adminis-
tration, the United States would not have had a single ship of war afloot.
§ 618. The renewal of the war in Europe, the constantly increasing
aggressions of the belligerent powers upon neutral commerce, and the dif-
ferent schemes proposed by the two rival parties in the country to meet and
repel these agressions, renewed the vehemence of party controversy
during the second term of Jefferson's administration, and gave a serious
check to the commercial prosperity of the United States. The Demo-
THE UNITRD BTATBS. OF AUEBICA. 479
crats retained their old feelings of hostility towards Great Britain, and
their predilection for France, though the latter country, under the impe-
rial sway of Napoleon, was now, in truth, governed by despotic power.
The strength of the Federal party lay in the commercial States, cities,
and towns ; and the intimate relations of an extensive foreign trade dis-
posed them to resent but slightly the dommeering and aggressive policy
of England, while they looked with horror upon the conduct of the em-
peror of the French. JBut if war should break out with either of the
rival powers, it was very certain, from the administration policy of break-
ing up the navy, and limiting all efforts to coast and harbor ddence, that
American commerce would be swept from the ocean. The Federalists,
therefore, were bent upon preserving peace at all hazards ; the Demo-
crats, who depended chiefly upon agriculture, manufactures, and the
home trade, who saw no risk tiiat the country would be invaded, and
who, after the acquisition of Louisiana, were eager to gain possession of
Canada also, by conquest, believing that the English had too much to do
in Europe to be able to defend so distant a colony, were clamorous for
war. In these opposite feelings and desires, we find a key to the party
controversies and the domestic and foreign policy of the United States-
down to the general pacification in 1815.
§ 619. In 1806, Munroe and Pinckney succeeded in negotiating a treaty
with the English ministry, which, like Jay's in 1794, though it left many
subjects of dispute undetermined, still adjusted the most pressing contro-
versies, opened the trade between the United States and the European
possessions of Great Britain (m a footing of entire reciprocity, and
afforded a tolerable assurance that peace might be maintained for many
years. This treaty President Jefferson rejected, without even con-
sulting the Senate, because it did not directly prohibit the impress-
ment of seamen from American vessels by the British cruisers, though
there was a tadt understanding on the subject, which would have led to
the gradual abandonment of the practice. Events soon showed that the
rejection of this treaty was an act pregnant with a long series of impor-
tant and disastrous consequences. France and England, endeavoring to
retaliate upon each other, published a succession of decrees, the combined
effect of which was almost to annihilate neutral commerce, and to subject
every American vessel engaged in foreign trade to capture and confisca-
tion by one or the other party. To comply with the regulations made
by one of the belligerents, was to afford grounds for seizure by the other.
KoTember, "^^ Berlin decree, published by Napoleon, declared the •
1S06. British islands in a state of blockade, and subjected to cap-
ture every neutral vessel that attempted to trade with them ; this was
a retaliatory act, because England had blockaded several Continental
Morember, poi^ which she had not invested by her ships of war. Great
1807. Britain now proceeded to deoree, that neutrals should not
480 THB LATBSF PBBIOD.
trade with Fnnoe or her aUks tiH thej had paid her a tribute. The
December, French emperor retorted bj a decree, issued at ICibiiY sob-
1807. jecting erery vessel to coniiscatHm whidi should paj this
tribute, or submit to be visited by a British eraiser. The United States
December, then engaged in this game of prohibitions, by passing the
1807. noted Embaigo Act, which dosed the American porta to all
foreign trade whatever, either by native or f<weign vessels ; ^ven veseeb
engaged in the coasting trade were required to give heavy bonds that
they would reland their cargo within the limits of the United States.
This was punishing one's self a great deal for the sake of punishing an
opponent a very little. America renounced the whole of her own foreign
trade, for the sake of deprivii^ fbrdgn nations, France and England par-
ticularly, of a portion of theirs* But as a great effect had been produced,
during the contest which preceded the Revolutionary war, by the Non-
Importation agreements, Congress had now a vague impression that
Great Britain might quickly be brought to terras by a refusal to boy
her manufactures, or to seU American produce. This impression was
totally unfounded ; the feelings of the people not being enlisted in sup-
port of the Embargo, a considerable illicit traffic was kept up, which alle-
viHted the effect of the measure upon England, though the commercial
interest of the United States suffered a ruinous depression. Our own
unemployed shipping rotted at the wharves, while enormous prices were
paid for British goods to smugglers. The pressure upon the countiy
was too great ; in New England, even the Democratic party opposed the
Febniftiy, ^^^' After it had been in force little over a year, the £m-
1809. bargo was repealed, and a Non-Intercourse Act was substi-
tuted for it, prohibiting all trade with Great Britain and France, and
their dependencies, up to the end of the next session of Congress.
Madison's Abministbjltion, (1809 - 1817.) S 620. While the pobhc
mind was agitated by these subjects, the end of Jefierson's second term of
office approached, and James Madison, the Democratic candidate, was
elected his successor, by 122 out of 176 electoral votes. This event did
not materially affect the policy oi the country, as the new President
generally followed the steps of his predecessor, though he was somewhat
more moderate in his political opinions, and if he had not been pushed on
by the excited feelings of the younger members of his party, he would
probably have averted or pos^xmed a war. As it was, however, the
relations between Great Britain and the United States every day assumed
a more hostile aspect, and it was evident that peace could not long be
maintained between them if the war m Ean^ should not
^ * cease. A negotiation with Erskine, the British minister at
Washington, produced an anrangement of tiie more pressing subjects of
controversy; but it soon appeared that Erskine had exceeded his instroe^
tions. The English ministiy disavowed his act, and the £qpute remained
THE UNITED STATES 07 AMERICA. 481
in a wone condition than ever. The American frigate Chesapeake, two
jeare hefore, had been attacked and captured by the Leopard, a British
ship of superior force, under Admiral BeriLlej's orders,- because her cap-
tain refused to surrender some seamen who were alleged to be deserters
from the British navj ; and though the frigate was returned, and Berk-
ley's orders were disavowed, the terms of reparation for the injury and
insult could not be agreed upon, and the affair impeded all subsequent
negotiation^ It was the main cause of the rejection of Erskine's arrange-
ment.
f 621. The Non-Intercourse Act expired in May, 1810^ when an ofier
was made that, if either England or France would revoke its edicts against
neutral commerce, the act should be renewed and enforced against the
other belligerent, till its edicts also were revoked. France had recently
given additional provocation, by a decree issued at Rambouillet, confis-
cating all American vessels and their cargoes then found in ports under
the control of the French, and directing that, if any should enter a French
harbor in future, it should also be seized and sold. Under this decree,
American property valued at eight millions^ of dollars fell into the hands
of the French. But Napoleon now took a conciliatory step ; he assured
the American minister at Paris that the Berlin and Milan decrees were
revoked, though the revocation was not to take effect till the first of
November next. Belying on this assurance, Mr. Madison,
early in November, issued a proclamation restoring the free-
dom of commerce with France, and prohibiting all intercourse with Great
Britain. The English ministry refused to rescind their Orders in Council,
under the pretext that they had no official evidence that the French em-
peror had kept his promise to rescind the Berlin and Milan decrees. The
Orders were enforced more rigorously than ever, English cruisers being
stationed along the American coast, which boarded and searched all
American merchantmen, impressed many of their seamen, and often con-
fiscated both vessel and cargo, if the former was bound to a French
port One of these cruisers, the Little Belt, of 18 guns, feU in with the
American frigate President, and an action commenced be-
^^ ' ' tween them, both parties alleging that the other fired first*
The British vessel was soon reduced almost to a wreck, when her oppo-
nent ceased firing, and she was allowed to pursue her voyage. This
affair was passed over on both sides, as an unfortunate mistake, and terms
of reparation were at length offered for the attack on the Chesapeake,
which were accepted.
§ 622. In the autumn of 181 1, the Indian tribes round the Upper Lakes
showed a hostile disposition, and Governor Harrison was sent against
them, with 800 men, to make a treaty, if possible, otherwise to strike a
Uow which should prevent hostilities in future. When he arrived neae
Tippecanoe, their principal town, he was met by a deputation of tha
41
482 IHB LATEST PBBIOD.
ULVBgs^ wlio said that thej desired peace, and agreed to return for aa
amicable conlerence the ne^ct daj* Tlie troops therefore encamped where
ihej were, bat took strict precaatioos against an attack bj
sarprise. It was well that thej did so ; for just before daj-
break, the Indians in considerable numbers made a furious assaalt upon
them, and were repulsed with difficultj, after an hour^s fighting. Their
town was then burned, and Harrison, being encumbered by his woiuided
men^ retreated to Vincennes. The savages caused greater alann at this
time, as it was believed that the British traders and agents from Canada
held secret intercourse with them, and uiged them to hostilities.
§ 623. As the impressments and captures by the English cruisers con-
tinued and even increased in number, Congress was called together earij in
November, and, at the recommendation of the President, thej made active
preparations for war. It was hoped that Great Britain, thus seeing that
America was in earnest, would be unwilling to increase the number of
her enemies, and would recede from her imperious and aggressiTe posi-
tion. This hope was fallacious ; the English ministry was obstinate, their
majority in Parliament was subservient, and the spirit of the nation was
high. After waging a stubborn war for many years, at least on equal
terms, with the great subverter of monarchies and conquerer of half of
Europe, they were not to be driven from their position by the menace of
hostilities from a young and feeble nation on the other side of the Atlan-
tic. Congress, after spending the winter and spring in warm debates,
and in passing bills for augmenting the army and navy, received a secret
message from the President on the 1st of June. It was con-
sidered in secret session by both Houses, and on the 18th of
June, the doors were thrown open, and it was announced that the United
States had declared war against Great Britain.
§ 624. Though it had been voted to raise an army of 35,000 men, the
United States had but 10,000 men under arms when the contest began, and
with these it was resolved to attempt the conquest of Canada. The coast
was not fortified, and the navy consisted only of three or four frigates and
a few sloops of war : but the chief reliance was placed upon privateers, as
a means of annoying the enemy. This expectation was justified by the
event ; during the two years and a half that the war continued, over l,oOO
British merchantmen were captured by American privateers. The pub-
Mo vessels of war, also^ slowly increased in number by a few frigates and
smaller ships, though detained in port much of the time by a large block-
ading force, in a few cruises and encounters at sea were veiy successful,
and acquired just fame by destroying the common belief of British in-
vincibility on the ocean. The American navy fought itself into popularity
during this war, and has ever smce been regarded with peculiar aflectiott
and pride by the people. But the attempt to conquer Canada Jed only
to a series of petty and ingloiious oonfiids on the frontier, not henomUe
THE UNITED STATES OF AMEIUCA. 483
to either party, leading to no important results, and the details of which
are almost beneath the notice of history. The British Orders in Council
were revoked June 23^ before the news of the American declaration of
war arrived in England ; but though an attempt was then made to nego-
tiate, hostilities were finally allowed to continue on the ground of impress-
ment alone. Never was a more meaningless contest ; after fighting two
years and a half, a treaty of peace was made, leaving this question about
impressment precisely where it was before*
§ 625. General Hull, who commanded the northwestern army at De-
.^ ^ troit, marched a few miles into Canada, with about 1,800 men,
Jmie 12, 1812. ,\ ., . - ^/;, ^ . « ,
and laid siege to a petty fort at Maiden. But before the
August 8. place surrendered, he was obliged to recross the river, and
take post at Detroit, where his army was soon invested by a superior
force of Canadian militia and Indians. The British had
' hardly opened their fire, before Hull ofiered to capitulate,
and surrendered to them his whole force, thus leaving the Territory of
Michigan open to them and the Indians. The absolute want of supplies,
the consequent inability to stand a siege, and the distance from all means
of succor, were the reasons alleged for this mortifying step. Anothet
American army had been collected on the Niagara River, commanded
by Van Rensselaer, who sent over a detachment of about 1,000 men, to
attack the British village of Queenstown. They effected a
landing, and had some success at first ; but the militia refused
to pass over to their aid, for the constitutional reason that they could be
.called out only to repel an invasion, not to invade another country.
Thus deserted, the party who had crossed the river, after some sharp
fightmg, were compelled to surrender, the total loss to the Americans
being about 1,000 men. Another attempt was made on this frontier,
about six weeks afterwards, by General Smythe, which proved so
ludicrous a failure that the contriver of it was obliged to
resign his command, and became an object of general ridicule.
The third army, the most numerous and best appointed of all, commanded
by General Dearborn, on the frontier near loke Champlain, attempted
little and accomplished nothing. The British and Americans vied with
each other, during this season, in their efforts to construct a naval force
which might obtain the command of the two Lakes, Erie and Ontario ;
but no action of importance took place between them till the next year.
§ G26. To make up for these disasters and failures on land, the Ameri-
cans had signal success at sea. Yet so little hope was entertained of the
little navy effecting anything against the immense maritime power of Eng-
land, that the Democratic administration was on the point of ordering all the
ships to remain in port, to secure them from inevitable capture; and
Captains Bainbridge and Stewart with difficulty obtained leave to put to
sea. Hardly two months elapsed before their confidence was justified
484 THE LATEST PERIOD.
hj eyents. The frigate Constifution overtook and captured, after a
Aagn8t'i9. short action, the British frigate Guerriere, of slightlr
inferior force. Of the English crew, 79 were killed or wounded, and
their ship was so much injured that it was set on fire and blown up.
The Constitution sustained but little injury, and lost onlj 14 of her sea-
men. The American sloop of war Wasp, of 18 guns, Cap-
tain Jones, captured the English war brig Frolic, of 22 guns,
after an action of 45 minutes. The Wasp had but five killed and ^\e
wounded, while the loss of the enemj was about 80, only 20 of her crew
remaining uninjured. Before the Americans could repair damages, a
British 74 came up and captured both vessels. A few dajs
later, the frigate United States, Captain Decatur, encoun-
tered and captured the British frigato Macedonian, of slightly inferior
force, the disparity of loss being quite as great as on former occasions.
A fourth victory was obtained on the 29th of December, when the 6on-
stitution, then commanded by Captain Bainbridge, made prize of the
British frigate Java, after a bloody action of three hours, the killed and
wounded in the Java numbering 161, while the loss of the Americans
was but 34. The effect of these naval victories was very great ; they
proved that the English had at last found their match on the ocean, and
they wholly overcame the prejudice of the Democratic American party
against a navy. Congress forthwith ordered the construction of four
seventy-fours, six frigates, six sloops of war, and as many vessels on the
Lakes as might be needed.
Congress met early in November, and voted to increase the regular
army, and to dispense with the volunteer force, which was found to be
both costly and inefficient. Additional pay and bounty were offered, but
recruits were still obtained with great difficulty. The finances of the
country were already in great confusion, the ordinary revenue being
quite insufficient for the expenses of the war, and the loans oould not be
fiUed up except at usurious rates. Internal taxes were very unpopular,
and Congress naturally hesitated to impose them ; but the necessities of
the government were so great, that an act was finally passed to raise ^\e
millions of dollars in this manner, though the taxes were not to com-
mence till 1814.
§ 627. The military operations of 1813, though a little more honorable
to the American arms than those of the year before, were equally destitute
of any important results. There were many skirmishes and actions of
minor importance, that need not be noticed. At the northwest. General
Winchester advanced with a portion of Harrison's army, in the hope of
January 22, driving the enemy out of Michigan. But he was encoun-
1818. tered at Frenchtown by a superior force of British and
Indians, under Colonel Proctor, and entirely defeated, most of his troops
being obliged to surrender. The wounded prisoners were left behind.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 485
and most of them were butchered the next daj bj the Indiiems. About
300 men perished in the battle and massacre, and 600 more were taken
prisoners. Harrison then advanced with the rest of the armj, but was
obliged to stop on the Maumee Rtyer, where he garrisoned Fort Meigs,
and was besieged in it by the British under Proctor. In May, 1,200
Kentuckians came to his relief, half of whom, after capturing the batteries
of the enemj, were surprised and made prisoners, while the others,
uniting with Harrison, obliged Proctor to retire to Maiden.
On the St Lawrence frontier, Ogdensburgh was attacked and casried
by the British, and a great amount of public and private
^^ * property destroyed or carried off. On the other hand, Com-
modore Chauncey had succeeded in fitting out a small fleet which gave
the Americans the command of Lake Ontario. A party of 1,600 picked
men were embarked in . this fleet, and transported over the Lake, to
attack York, the capital of Upper Canada. This enterprise was success-
fill, a garrison of 800 men being driven out of the place,
' several vessels of war captured or burned, and many naval
and military stores destroyed. But the explosion of a magazine killed
or wounded 200 of the assailants, among whom was their brave com-
mander. General Pike. Another expedition, fitted out in the
same manner, caused the evacuation of all the British posts
on the Niagara River, including Fort George and Fort Erie. But when
a portion of the Americans advanced in pursuit of the enemy, they were
surprised by a night attack, and Generals Chandler and
Winder, witii about 100 men, were made prisoners- Another
misfortune followed; Colonel Boerstler, who had been sent with 600
men to attack the British at Beaver Dams, fell into an am-
buscade, and his whole force was obliged to surrender. The
enemy, having launched a new frigate, now recovered the command of
the Lake, Chauncey was blockaded, and an attack was made on Sacket's
Harbor. General Brown succeeded in repelling this attack, but during
the alarm, several ships and many naval stores of the Americans were
destroyed. The war then languished in this quarter, a few incursions
on both sides leading to no important result But splendid success
awaited the Americans on Lake Erie, where Commodore Perry had
succeeded in fitting out a little squadron, composed of two war brigs, the
Niagara and the Lawrence, of 20 guns each, and seven smaller vessels.
He suled in August to meet the enemy's squadron, commanded by Cap-
tain Barclay, and consisting of two ships, one of 19 and the other of 17
guns, and four smaller vessels, one of which mounted 18, and another
10, guns. The force on both sides was about equal; for though the
Americans had in all but 55 guns, while their opponents had 63, the
weight of metal was in favor of the former. The two
^"f^^^^^^ squadrons met near the western endof the lake, and afier a
41*
486 THS LATB89 PIBIOD.
furions combat of about three houn, in the course of whidi FeriT's ship,
the Lawrence, was disabled, and he ahifted his flag to the Niagara, all
the enemy's vessels were compelled to surfijBiider. The loss on either
side was about 150 killed and wounded. Perry aunouioed his suceess
in a very laconic epistle:— -^ We have met the enemy, and tlieyaie
ours.'' As this victory gave the Americans the command ci the Upper
I^akes, Harrison's army advanced and crossed the river, by the aid of
Perry's fleet, into Canada, where they found that Proctor had hastily
evacuated Maiden, after dismantling the fort and bumii^ the barracks.
garrison soon marched in pursuit, and found the enemy, who were about
800 in number, ^iih a lai^ body of Indians, posted near the Moravian
town on the river Thames. A rapid chaige of the Aotiericaos
broke the British line Cfp both flanks, when the greater pan
of the enemy threw down their arms and surrendered, though Proctor,
with about 200 men, effected his escape. The noted Indian chief,
Xeoumseh, who was the instigator of the war on the part of the savages,
was killed in this battle, which was also the means of gaining back aU
tho ground that had been lost by HuU, and of bringing aboot a peace
with the northwestern tribes. Harrison then embarked, with 1,300 men,
for Bufialo, to strengthen the army of the centre, as the one on the
Niagara frontier was called. This army was now entered to advance
upon Montreal. On its way, the British, in about equal force,
' were encountered at Chrystler's Fields, and a severe battle
was fought with indecisive results. The troops advanced no farther than
St Regis, where the army from Plattsburg failed to join them, and the
expedition was consequently given up*
$ 638. Meanwhile British squadrons were blo(^ding the Delaware
iM^d Chesapeake bi^, New York, Chariestoa, and other ports, often
landing small parties, which burned several villages and did much wan-
ton injury. The Chesapeake, indeed, wm permanently occupied by a
powerful fleet of the enemy, which kept up a harassing warfare along the
fpoast, without attempting any enterprise of moment. The bitter fruits
w^re now reaped of that wretched economy on the part of the goveni-
inent, whioh had so long left an immense line of seaooast ahnost totally
unprovided with fortifications. In spite of the blockading force, a few
American ships of war succeeded in getting to sea, eager to rival the
naval exploits of the former year. The sloop-of-war Hornet captured
«. ^4 snnk the British brig Peacock, of nearly equal force, in
a very short action. But the unlucky Chesapeake fngate,
with a discontented aii^d undisciplined crew, having sailed from Boston
to accept a challenge from the British frigate Shannon, was captured bj
her after a short but furious action, — the first instance of
the American flag at sea being struck to a force which wss
not 4^dedly superior. But again, the A^tK^ aloop-of-rwar was cap*
TAB UinTBD 8TATSS OF AMSBICA. 487
tared bj the British brig Pdiean, of somewhat soperior force,
after a severe engagement. The Americans soon had their
revenge, however, as the Enterprise, of 12 gnns, encountered the Bri-
tish brig Boxer, of 14 gnns, and compelled her to strike affcer a desperate
conflict
§ .629. The only other important operations of this year grew out of a
war with the Creek and Qierokee Indians, against whom Gen. Jackson
was employed, with a militia force from Georgia, Tennessee, and the pre-
sent state of Mississippi. He first marched against them in October, and
in a two months' campaign, captured many of their villages, and defeated
several bands of them with great slaughter. So many <^ Jackson's men
then left him, from weariness of the hard service, that he was reduced to
inactivity. The consequence was, that in January, 1814, his troops were
thrice attacked, and the savages were repulsed with great difficulty.
More militia were then called out, and Jackson, having succeeded in
cooping up a large body of the Indians in a peninsula formed by a bend
of the Tallapoosa river, forced their breastwork, and made frightful havoc
among them. About 600 of the savages were killed or drowned, and
250 taken prisoners. Their spirit was thus efiectaally broken, and the
remainder of the tribe sued for peace on any terms.
f 630. The campaign of 1814 was, in general, honorable to the Ameri-
can arms, though some great reverses were sustained ; the troops were now
better disciplined, and were led by more experienced and skilful officers,
than in the earlier part of the war. Yet the country labored under great
difficulties, and a tone of discouragement was perceptible even in the
President's message to Congress. The finances were in great diMxrder,
and the public credit had fidlen so low that money could not be obtatned
on loan except at a ruinous sacrifice. The whole Atlantic coast was
now blockaded by the British fleet, the slaves in the southern States were
encouraged to desert to the ships, and the only mode of preventing the
enemy from being supplied with food and other necessaries from the
shore was to pass a hiw absolutely forbidding all exports. The large
cities on the coast were kept in constant apprehension (^ an attack, and
the militia had to be called out in great numbers to defend them. New
England had always been opposed to the war, and seemed deteimined
to do little but defend her own borders, and sullenly obey the requisitions
of Congi^ess. The oessatwn of the war in Europe, through the overthrow
of Napoleon and the entrance of the allies into Paris, eariy in the spring
of 1814, put the fleets aad army of England at liberty, and enabled the
British ministers to make large detachments to carry on the war in
America. On the part of the Americans, all idea of ooaqnering Canada
had to be given up, and the war became entirely defensive in its db»r
racter. But the spirit of the people rose with their difficuMea, an obati-
nato resistanee was made at many points, aad the resolution was formed
and adhered to^ not to submit to peace on disadvantageous terms.
488 THE LATBST PEKIOD.
S 631. The military operations of the jear were distribated orer so Tsst
a theatre, and comprehended so many petty conflicts, that only the more
important events can be noticed. On the Niagara frontier, die Ameri-
can army, after it had been rigidly disciplined for sevend months by
Gen. Brown, who was admirably seconded by Soott, Ripley, Jessnp, and
other Me officers, was led across the river, 8,000 strong, and enooon-
, , . ^^ tered the enemy, of eqaal force, nnder Oen. RialL at Chip-
July 6, 1814. A*.. ,•- T.,,
pewa. A funous engagement ensued, the first pitched bat-
tle of the war ; after great loss on both sides, the British gave way, and
retreated in disorder to their retrenchments in the rear. The next day,
they abandoned these also, and retired to Bariington heights. Large
reinforcements from England, under Gen. Drummond, arrived to
strengthen Riall's position, and on the 25th, the two armies again met in
a pitched battle at Bridgewater, very near Niagara Falls. The conflict
lasted from noon till midnight, the ground being obstinately contested on
both sides, and the result not very decisive, though the Americans had
the advantage. They captured Gren. Biall himself and many other pri-
soners, took the whole of the British artillery, and retained poesession of
the battle-field for some time after the enemy retired. The Britbh loss
was '878, and the American, 743. The army, not strong enough to
advance, and unwilling to retreat across the river, then took shelter in
Fort Erie, and Gen. Gaines came to take the command. Drummond
advanced with a much larger force, and laid siege to the fort, on which
he at length made a furious attack by night. After some
hard fighting, he was repulsed with the loss of nearly a thou-
sand men, while the Americans lost but 84. Brown then came to re-
sume the command, and found that the enemy were pushing forwards
their works for a regular investment of the place. He resolved to tiy
^ . a sortie, which was completely successfuL The guns of the
September 17. , . ' ., , %^ . . ,^i , -^
besiegers were spiked, their magazines blown upy and 400
prisoners brought off, the killed and wounded amounting to 600 more.
The American loss was not half so great. The desired effect soon fol-
lowed, as Drummond hastily raised the siege and retired behind the
Chippewa. This was the end of active operations on the Niagara fron-
tier, as Izard, who next assumed the command, brought the army back
to the American shore.
S 682. Events equally honorable to the Americans took place on Lake
Cfaamplain. From their camp at Phttsbui^, most of the troops had
been drawn away to aid the operations on Lake Ontario and the Niagara.
Macomb was left in command, with only 8,000 men, many of them inva-
lids, and some militia. Sir George Prevost, the governor of Canada,
led an army of 12,000 regular troops over the frontier towards PhUts-
burg^ while the British squadron, under Downie, numbering sixteen ves-
eels, and canying ninety-five guns and 1,000 seamen, sailed down the
THB UNTTRD 8TATB8 OF AMERICA. 489
lake to the same point McDonoagh, the American Commodore, had
moored at Plattsbnrg his fleet, consisting of four vessels and ten ganboats,
canTing in all eighty-six guns and 850 men. Macomb's force was
Btronglj posted behind the river Saranac, a rocky and nnfordable stream*
SeDtember 11 '^^ *ttack by land and water took place simultaneously. In
* two hours and a half, all of Downie's larger vessels were
obliged to strike to the Americans, and his gunboats escaped with diffi-
culty. Frevost's attack on land had been a feeble one, and immediately
after the capture of his fleet, it was abandoned, and the army retreated
that night in great haste, leaving baggage and stores, and even the sick
and wounded, behind them. A panic seems to have seized Frevost and
his troops, neutralizing their great superiority of force.
S 638. But this was the end of American success for the year ; the rest
is a story of disaster, with a gleam of light at the close. In July, the enemy
took possession of Eastport, in Maine, and in September, they sailed up
the Penobscot, burned the frigate Adams, that had taken refuge there,
and ** annexed " all the country east of that river to the British domi*
Dions. Early in August, the English fleet in the Chesapeake was
largely reinforced, a considerable body of English troops having arrived
fiom Europe. Great alarm was caused on shore, and the militia were
called out in force ibr the defence of Washington and Baltimore, there
being very few regular troops in that r^on. Most of the British fleet
passed the Fotomac, and sailed up the Patuxent to Benedict, where
Gen. Boss landed with about 5,000 men, and commenced his
"'^ march for Washington, which was about forty miles distant,
the road passing through a thinly populated country. Several bodies of
militia fell back before him, and a flotilla of gunboats was blown up, the
sailors who had manned them being landed and joined to the troops, fcft
the purpose of serving the artillery. At Bladensburg, the British A-
- countered a motley array of militia and a few regulars,
°^°^ under Gven. Winder, assisted by the President and the mem-
bers of the cabinet, most of whom fled before the first shot reached their
ranks. But the artillery, served by the sailors, did good execution, until
deserted by the other troops, when the guns were necessarily abandoned.
Boss then marched on and occupied Washington, where two new vessels
of war and the magazines of stores had already been set on fire and de-
stroyed. The capitol, the President's house, and the public offices were
burned by the enemy, who also destroyed some private property. Hav-
ing effected this wanton injury, and being fearful that troops enough
might be collected to impede their retreat, the English hastily returned
to their shipping. Three days afterwards, their frigates passed up the
Potomac as far as Alexandria, and extorted a heavy ransom from that
city. The British fleet next appeared off the Patapsco, and the troops
were landed again for an attack on Bkdtimore. A skirmish ensued with
490 THl LATB0I PmO])*
m advanoed bod j oT the militia a| North Point, Gen. Bom was kiUed,
and the Americans were not driTen fiom the gimmd tiQ
several hnndied had fidkn on either side* The
of the forts bj the ships having piodneed bat little efieet, and the i
appearing to be stron^j inlrenehed about the oitj, the enemy oondaded
to retire without effecting any thia^
§ 684. The next attonpt was made upon New Orieans. Jackson, who
commanded in that quarter, had been compelled, in October, to storm the
fort and seize the citj of Pensaoola, because the Spaniards there had admit-
ted British tro(^ into the place, who had begun to train the refugee
Creek Indians for hostilities against the United States. - He heard, sood
afterwards, that a powerful expedition was on its way to attack New
Orleans, and he marched thither, and todc very energetic measures to
provide for its defence. The militia were called in, martial law was pro-
claimed, and all able-bodied persons were compelled to woriL npon the
fortifications or to bear arms. Gen. Pakenham, with 8,000 British rega-
lars, approached the city by way of Lake Boigne, while
Jackson had but 5,000 men to oppose him, of whom fo«r
fifths were militia. When the enemy had taken post abont fifteen miles
_^ below New Orleans, the American general drew out most of
his troops to make a night attack upon their camp. He
threw them into great confusion, and then made good his retreat, with a
loss of 220 in killed and wounded, the British loss being somewhat
greater. This check made Pakenham more cautious, and he waited for
reinforcements and artillery from the fleet, thus giving the Americans
time to strengthen their position. During this interval, also, 2,000 Een-
tuckians arrived, and Jadkson was enabled to throw up fortifications on
the other side of the river, fearing an attack in that quarter. On the
8th of January, the grand attack was made, the British with
true bulldog courage marching up in front to storm a positicm
that had been made almost impregnable. A tremendous fire was opened
upon them, Pakenham was killed, two other generals were wounded, one
mortally, and at last the enemy were compelled to retire, with a loss of
over 2,000 men. The Americans, who fought under shelter, lost bat 71.
The efiect of this blow was decisive, and the eoemy, as soon as they
could bury their dead, retreated to their shipping.
f 685. The battle of New Orleans was the closing event <^ the war. On
the 11th of February, a vessel arrived at New York,' bringing an unex-
pected treaty of peace, which had been negotiated at Ghent between the
English and American commissioners, and already ratified by the British
government. Never were tidings more welcome ; bonfires and illumi-
nations were made in the principal cities, and the strifes of opposite
fisustions were forgotten in the general rejoicing. The treaty was a very
eimple one ; nothing was determined in it respecting neutral trade and
jai HOLT ALIiUVCS. 491
iapresuttentythe difleawioB of theae aobjeott having been rendered nnne-
cessary by the general pacification of Europe, and moat of the leaaer
aubjecta of diapiite being referred to aubsequent negotiation. The two
paxtiea, at the cloae of the war, remained just aa thej had been, with
reapect to each other, at ita oommencement. Both were exhauated by
the prodigioua eflbrta they had made, and were weary both of victoriea
And defeata, of glory, haaard, and auffering. Excepting aome petty con-
flieta with the Indian tribea, the United Statea, after the coneluaion of the
treaty of Ghent, remained at peace with all ibe world for thirty yeara, —
a period long enough for a new generation to ariae, whidi oould learn
only by hearaay the atory of the few triumpha and many disaatera of the
war of 1812.
F. THE PEOPLE AND STATES OF EUROPE FROM THE
HOLY ALLLiNCE TO THE PRESENT TIME.
1. THE HOLT ALLIANCE AND THE POaiTION OF PARTIE8.
§ 636. The upper atrata of aodety, which, in the ordinary oonrse of eventa,
anffer little from the mutationa of life, had, through the Revolution and
the military deapotiam of Napoleon, been viaited by aevere atrokea of
fortune. A more profound conaideration of the revolutionary movement
pointed to ihe auperviaion of a Higher Power, which bringa to nought
every impioua endeavor, and every preaamptuoua aelf-reliance. Reli-
gioua feeling again retomed to the boaoma of men, and gave predomi*
nance to piety and Ghriatian faith among the upper claaaea. Penetrated
by thia feeling, the three allied monarcha, Alexander of Ruaaia, Francia
of Auatna, and Frederick William III. of Pruaaia, before their departure
September 26, from Paria, concluded the Holy Alliance, which waa joined
UU- by all the aovereigna of Europe, with the exception of the
pope and the king of England. In thia holy alliance, which waa formed
vrithout ainoere reference to religioua viewa, the three potentatea awore,
** That in accordance with the worda of Holy Scripture, which commanda
all men to love each other aa brethren, they would remain united in the
banda df true and indiaaoluble brotherly love ; that they would mutually
help and aaaiat each other ; that they would govern their people like
fathers of familiea, and that they would maintain religion, peace, and jua-
tice." Thia alliance, beautiful in theory, waa aoon made the inatrument
of a fidthleaa and liberty-endangering policy, which aought, by meaaa qf
religion, to eatabliah the abaolutiam of princes, and the omnipotence of
govemmenta, and to anppreaa the doctrine of the aovereignty of the peo-
ple, and the democratical and oonstitntioiial forma of government whioh
•are ita noeeaaary reaolt. Whilal the Holy AlUanee made uae ef (%riaM<
492 THB LATEST PKBIOp.
anity to establish reactionary principles, it drew upon the whole woik
the reproach of hypocrisy, and the hatred of the people.
§ 687. Whilst princes and goyemments were, for the most part, sfrir*
ing after absolute monarchical forms, the wishes of the people were
directed to the establishment of constitutional goTcrnments. According to
the constitution which has grown up on the free soil of Britain, the r^ift
of voting taxes, and of having a share in the government and the Iqpsfah
tion, belongs to the people, as represented by their members of pariiament
As the authority of the king and the rights and liberties of the people
are alike discerned in this representative constitution, this form appeared
best suited for civilized states* The chief efforts of the European na-
. tions were accordingly directed to the establishment or enlargement of
this constitutional form of government, and public energy was almost ex-
clusively turned to affairs of state and internal political life. Two pow*
erful parties were formed, the one (called sometimes aristocratic, scmie-
times conservative, sometimes servile) which wished to grant the people
as few, the other (called democratic, liberal, and, when its views were
extreme, radical) which wished to grant the people as many, privileges
as possible ; and whilst the former hindered, as &r as it could, the intn^
duction of constitutional forms of state, or, if introduced, attempted to de-
prive them, by any means, of their democratical elements, the efforts of
the latter were directed to the founding and developing of the oonstitiK
tional life, and to increasing the privileges of the people. Grovemments
were, in general, in the hands of the former ; consequently, the liberals
formed the opposition. Of the five great European powers, England and
France alone possessed constitutional governments ; Russia, Austria, and
Prussia held fast their monarohical absolutism. In Germany, Italy, and
the Pyrenean peninsula, history turns principally upon these constitutional
contests, by which now one, and now the other, of these state principles
obtained the upper hand.
2. FRAVCB.
S 688. A remarkable revolution in opinions and mode €i thinking took
place in this much convulsed country after the Restoration. The party
of zealous royalists (Ultras, or ^ White Jacobins," as they were called
by their opponents) acquired such predominance, that the king had some
difficulty in maintaining the constitutional charter. In the place of
the freethinking opinions, and the hostility to the Church, which prevailed
at a former period, a fanatical religious credulity made its appearance,
which, combined with the most enthusiastic loyalty, called into existence
horrors which surpassed the bloodiest deeds of the Revolu*
^ ' tion. In Marseilles, Toulon, Nimes, Touloase, and other
places, a furious and fiinatical mob fell upon such inhabitants as were
known to be Protestants, Bonapartists, or Republicans, and murdered haD>
FRANCE. 493
dreds of them (among others. Marshal Bnine) in a most barbarous man-
Febroarj 18, ner. The assassination of the Due de Bern, that nephew of '
1820. t|,Q ]^{ug iip^Q wiiom all the hopes of the Bourbons were
placed, bj Louvel, a political fanatic, facilitated the efforts of the reac*
tionary party, at the head of which stood the count of Artois and the
duke of Angouleme. The king found himself compelled to dismiss the
. ^ ^ moderate ministry of Decazes, and to consent to a limitation
of the freedom of the person, of the precm, and of the right
of voting. The zeal of the royalists reached its climax under
* the ministry of Villele. The Chamber expelled the liberal
deputy, Manuel, from their body, and the army, conducted by Angou-
leme, crossed the Pyrenees at the command of the Holy Alliance, for
the purpose of restoring unlimited monarchy in Spain.
§ 639. On the 16th of September, 1824, Louis XVIII. concluded his
varied and severely-tried existence. Stem experience had taught him
compassion and moderation ; the impetuous violence of the other mem-
bers of the royal family filled the heart of the dying man with melan-
choly auguries for the future. His brother, the count of Artois, became
king of France as Charles X. By his solemn corona-
' ' tion and anointing in Rheims, he appeared to indicate that
he intended to govern after the manner of the old ^ Most Christian "
kings. He accordingly turned his affections towards the nobility and
clergy, and surrendered himself entirely to the reactionary party, with
the watchword " Throne and altar.** The emigrants who had suffered
losses during the Revolution received 1,000 million francs from the
royal Chambers as an indemnification ; and a series of laws in favor of
the Church and of the Christian religion announced the intention of
the king to erect a mighty barrier against revolutionary notions by the
ecclesiastical regeneration of France. Charles X. thought to establish
this regeneration by founding rich prelacies, by restoring to the clergy
their former influential position, by favoring the system of Orders, and
by bringing back that holiness of the Church which is founded upon
works, together with the whole of the new Romish pomp* The Jesuits,
who had long been re-established by the pope, returned, although not
publicly ; they founded meetings for pious exercises (congregations),
and attempted to get the education of youth into their hands. By these
means, the king strengthened the liberal opposition, inasmuch as all men
of philosophical education, every friend of light and of enlightenment,
turned from a government that favored obscurantism. Whilst the delud-
ed monarch believed that he could impose the old fetters upon the minds
of the people by inopportune missions and penitential processions, or by
compulsory laws and Imutations, the assiduous youth were listening to
the liberal discourses and doctrines of the enlightened professors of the
University of Paris (Gnisot, Yillemain, Boyer-CoUard, &c,) or reading
42
494 THE LATEST PERIOD.
the bold and free discussions of the opposition press ( GZa&s, Kationaly Con'
sUtuHonnel)y or delighting themselves with B^iangei's songs of freedom,
and the satires of the Hellenbt, Paul Louis Courier ; whilst the citixea
read the widely-spread works of Yoltaire and the EncjdopsediatSy or
the histories and memorials of the Revolution, and of the renowned reign
of Napoleon (Thiers, Mignet, &c)
3. THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLES IN THE PTESVEAJT PENINSULA
AND IN ITALT.
§ 640« In Spain and Italy, the new political ideas had made no pro-
gress among the people, who were ruled by their priests ; they existed in
the heads of the educated, and, as it was dangerous to avow them openly,
they were disseminated in secret societies. Such political associations
were the " Freemasons " in Spain and Portugal, and the " Carbonari ** in
Italy. Abolition of priestly power, introduction of free constitutional
forms, enlightenment of the people, arousing patriotism and a feeling of
nationality, ^ere their great objects. Their influence was first attended
with results in Spain. Ferdinand, a false and suspicious man, and a
master in dissimulation, overthrew, after his return, the Cortes^
' ' Constitution in Spain, and brought back the unlimited monari
chy of the old time and all its evils. Nobility and dei^y again recovered
their exemption from taxes ; the monasteries were restored ; the Jesuits
ventured to make their appearance; the Inquisition reappeared, and
irith it the rack and all the horrors of a dark age. A frightful persecu-
tion now arose, not only against all the adherents of France (Afrances-
ados), and all who had filled offices under Joseph, or had in any way
served him, but against the chiefs and adherents of the Cortes, against
the leaders of the bands who had shed their heart's blood for king and
country, and who now claimed, as a well-deserved reward, a share in the
government and civil freedom. Many of these heroic warriors died by
the hand of the executioner, others wandered in foreign countries as out-
laws and fugitives ; -those who remained behind concealed their views
and their resentment in the silence of their own bosoms. A camarilla,
consisting of the selfish privileged class, fanatical priests, obsequious cour-
tiers, and intriguing women, secured Ferdinand's confidence, and incited
him to the most cruel persecution of every liberal. The government and
the affairs of justice were in a most deplorable condition, the treasury was
exhausted, despite the oppressive taxes, trade was stagnant, the Sontli
American colonies renounced allegiance to Spain, and engaged in a war
which ended in the independence of the separate states, and the establish-
ment of several republics.
§ 641. At this juncture, it happened that, on the New Yearns Day of
1820, a military conspiracy broke out among the regiments assembled at
Cadiz for embarkation for South America. The standard of rebellion
•
BPAIN, PO&TUCtALi AKD ITALT. 495
was raiaed and the Constitotioo of the Cortes proclaimed. Colonel Biego
was the soul of the undertakiDg; Qnifog% who had heen liberated from
prison, undertook the eondncl of the whole. The insuiftection soon spread
to every quarter of Spain; the Coistitation of the year '12 was every*
wh^e demanded, and nothing was left to the king bat to yield to the de^
1820 '^^^^^y ^^ san^n^^H^ the Cortes, and to swear to the consdtntion.
' ' This trinmph of the Spanish democrats excited their party in
Portugal and Italy to imitation. Popalar tumults took place in Lisbon
and OportO) and resulted in the removal of Lord Beresford, who governed
the country in the name of the king, who was still lingering in Brazil, the
summoning of the Estates (Cortes), and the introduction of a constitution
Jannanr 26, on the model of that of Spain. John VL returned to Usbon,
1821. and swore to the new constitution for Portugal and Brazil.
The Carbonari excite^ a military oonspiracy in Naples, which soon made
such progress, that king Ferdinand found himself compelled to consent to
the introduction 9f the Spanish constitution. William Pepe and Caras-
oosa, the heads of the conspiracy, marched in triumph, at the
^^ ' head of the insurgent troops and the Carbonari, who had
joined them, into Naples. A revolutionary movement broke out also in
Piedmont against the absolute monarchy, supported by the aristocracy
and priesthood, in consequence of which Victor Emmanuel
* ' abdicated, and the Spanish constitution was introduced into
the kingdom of Sardinia also.
§ 642. The chiefs of the Holy Alliance, dbturbed by this new revolu-
tionary spirit, that seemed to have seized upon the German youth also,
embraced the resolution, at the instigation of Mettemich, of suppressing
Jed 1821 ^® ^^"^ movement ^ At the congress of Laybach, at which
'king Ferdinand of Naples was also present by the invitation
of the monarehs, it was determined to overthrow the constitutional govem«>
ment in Naples by violence. Ferdinand approved the proposal. An
Austrian army was marched in ; the dastardly forces of Pepe and Caras*
oosa were quickly overpowered, and either dispersed or forced to surren*
der, upon which the king again abolished the constitutional government.
From this time, priestly power and absolute monarchy, supported by
mercenary troops and a system of police, were united together for the
suppression of every movement of freedom by terror and the bondage of
the intellect.
This result decided the fate of the Piedmontese constitution. It is true
that the enthusiastic tiberals, under Santa Rosa, resisted their enemies at
1821 •^^^*"* ^^ without glory ; bnt their strength was soon broken.
* Turin and Alessandria were occupied by the Austrians ; and
unlimited monarchy in its severest form, and with all the horrors of the
reaction, was again restei^ {n Sardinia*
I 643. Not mnch ftiore splendid was the end of the Spanish Cortes.
496 THE LATS8T PBRIOD.
When the liberals abused thdr victoryy placed andae restrictioDs spoa
the kinglj power, and proceeded with great violeiice against the priest-
hood, the privileged dasses, and the ancient and traditionary priTilegi»
and usages, the priests and the adherents of absolute power stirred up
the people to resistance. A bloody civil war once more threatened to
tear the unhappy country to pieces. At this juncture, the members of
the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Verona required the
' ' Cortes in Madrid to alter the constitution, and to give the
king greater powers. The Cortes rejected this demand with defiance.
A French army, under the command of the duke of Angouleme, now
#ebraai7, marched over the Pyrenees. It was in vain that the Cortes
1833. • summoned the nation to arms ; constitutional freedom was a
word without meaning for people led by priests and monks, and the new
system was opposed to their habits and feelings ; the popular war, the
old renowned guerilla, on which the Cortes had placed its confidence,
did not arise ; the people and the camarilla saluted the French as deli-
Terers from the detested rule of the Freemasons. It was in vain that a
few leaders, like Mina in Barcelona and Quiroga in Leon, resisted with
courage and spirit the foreign army; the soldiers showed little love for
fighting, and sought to secure themselves betimes by capitulations. The
French marched triumphantly into Madrid, and, as the Cortes and king
had fled to the south, they appointed a regency. The strong city of
Cadiz was the last place of rduge for the friends of the constitntioa ;
Angnflt 6, the French appeared before the town. The courage of the
1828. members of the Cortes sank ; instead of burying themselves
beneath the ruins of the town, as they had formerly grandiloquently
expressed it, they concluded a treaty with the besiegers, b^ which they
consented to their own dissolution and set the king at liberty. Ferdi-
nand YII. was now replaced in the fulness of his power by foreign
bayonets ; the constitution and all its arrangements fdl into desuetude,
and the apostolic par^ let loose all the demons of rage and vengeance
against its opponents. Riego and many of his confederates
died by the hands of the executioner, thousands wandered
about in foreign countries as starving and houseless fugitives and
outlaws, and an equal number were compelled to expiate in mouldy
dungeons the crime of having attempted to rob the people of the
institutions to which three hundred years of despotism had accustomed
them.
§ 644. The lamentable end of the Cortes government of Spain in-
spired the queen of Portugal (sister of Ferdinand YIL) and her second
son, Don Miguel, with the project of getting rid, at the same time, of their
detested constitution by an act of violence. They induced the weak
king, John YL, to abolish the Constitution of the Cortes, and to sanction
the persecution of the Constitutionalists and the Freemasons. Shortly
0R8AT BRITADr. ' 497
after this, I>on MSguel exeited a rebellioB against his own father, with
tiie purpose of obtaining the regency, bat gamed instead a
^^"^^ sentence of hamshment from the eovntry. John VL died
two jears afterwards. His eldest son, Don Pedro, who,
' 'being constitutional emperor of Brazil, could not at the same
time become king of Portugal, made over the goTcmment of the mother
country to his daughter, Donna Maria da Gloria, who was a minor, and
granted the Portuguese a liberal constitution. His brother, Don Miguel,
having returned from banishment, succeeded, some time after, in again
overthrowing this constitution by the aid of the apostolic party. He
robbed his niece of her right to the throne, had himself pro-
' claimed absolute king, and proceeded by banishment, impri-
sonment, and death, agiunst the friends and adherents of constitutional
order. But his reign was short Don Pedro, compelled in Bnizil
to surrender his crown to his son, who was under age, landed in Portugal
X. D. with the soldiers he had raised, and reduced his tyrannical
18» 1SS4. brother to such extromities in a war of two years' duration,
that he at length renounced the crown and retired abroad. Upon this,
Pedro again restored the Cortes government, which, after his early death,
however, underwent many attacks and alterations.
4. 6BBAT BRITAIN.
{ 645. England had come forth from 'the long struggle with France
powerful and victorious. She had destroyed the fleets of other nations,
and put her own marine on such a footing that her empire of the sea
was incontestable ; she had increased her colonies in the West Indies,
had raised Canada, had planted colonies in the west and south of Africa,
and had created an empire in the East Indies, after the conquest of the
mighty sultan Tippoo Saib, that far surpassed the mother country in size
and population, and was an inexhaustible souree of trade and commerce.
Distant islands, opened to the view of the astonished world by daring
navigators, like Cook and others, bowed themselves beneath the sceptre
of the island empress of the sea. The possession of Gibraltar and Malta,
the protective government of the Ionian Isles, the free passage through
the Dardanelles, secured to her, after the peace of Paris, the dominion
of the Mediterranean and intercourse with the LcTant. By her firmly-
established constitution, with the liberty of the press and of speech,
and the narrowly defined limits between the rights of the king and of
the people, England excited the envy of other nations. But with all
this power and prosperity without, the state was suffering from incurable
wounds. 1. Whilst a small proportion of the people had amassed
enormous wealth, the larger number of them were sunk in the most op-
pressive poverty. The expensive land and naval wars, and the enormous
aabeidies that the government sent to the Continent, had raised the
42*
498 THK LATEST PBRIOD.
national debt to such a sum that tlie yearly interest amoonted to tluity-
four million pounds. This burden of debt^ together with an extravaganC
court and excessive salaries, increased the expenditure of the state to such
a degree that the necessary sums could only be obtained by a perpetuallj
increasing taxation of articles of trade, necessaries of life, income (in-
come-tax), houses, and landed property. This occasioned the impoTer^
ishment of the small landed proprietors and of tradesmen with moderate
capitals. The lands fell into the hands of the rich nobles, who discovered
the means of increasing their incomes by raising rents and preventing
the importation of foreign com by the corn-laws. Trade fell into the
bands of the rich manufacturers, who, by enlaiging their business, outdid
men of smaller means ; the middle class of citizens decreased, while the
number of artisans, who lived from hand to mouth, increased to a for-
midable amount. Heavy poor-rates imposed upon the public^ and oc-
casional contributions by the government, were not sufficient to counter-
act the evil. The lower orders, exdted by want and misery, made re-
peated attempts to improve their condition by insurrections, bat their
illegal proceedings invariably resulted in their own injury. The nn-
armed crowd "was easily dispersed by the military ; but the sanguinary
punishments inflicted upon the insurgents of Manchester
brought severe censure upon the government. The lower
classes soon began to strive for political influence also. To give them-
selves a voice in the legislature, they demanded universal suffinage,
yearly parliaments, and vote by ballot. They laid down their principles
in a people's charter, whence they received the name of Chartists. It is
to their exertions that the relaxation of the corn-laws, by which the in-
troduction of foreign com was facilitated, is to be ascribed.
* In 1846, the corn-laws were entirely repealed.
§ 646. 2. After the severe contest against I^apoleon, there came a
Court and period of torpor in England. George IV., a king sunk in
Qoyemment vice and pleasure, who in his youth had gone with the oppo-
sition, put his confidence in the cold-blooded Tories who had grown grey
in the state-wisdom of Pitt, and turned away his ejes and his heart from
the people. The latter rewarded him with aversion and hatred, especially
when he gave notoriety to the first year of his independent reign by a
scandalous action for divorce, before the Upper Hou«e,
against his wife, Caroline of Branswick, who was living in
unwilling separation from him. When the queen died, in
'the following year, the sympathy and compassion of the
nation foUowed her to the grave, little as her conduct or morals were
(Reserving of praise. Castlereagh, the old associate of George, and the
August la, supporter of a fiilse and faithless policy, died by his own
1888. lumd during a paroxysm of melancholy. This was a great
shock to the king, who was burdened by so many sins of youth, and
GRBAT BRITAIN. 499
made him abun society. He passed the last years of his life in gloomy
retirement, whilst the great statesman, Canning, who approached the
principles of the Whigs, restored its former preeminence to the insular
empire of England. George IV.'s only daughter, the intelligent and
amiable princess Charlotte (wife of Leopold of Cobui^, afterwards king
of the Belgians), having died young and without children, William lY^
the king's brother, a plain, homely man, ascended the throne after
William IV. George's death. Under him, the Whigs got the manage-
A. D. 1S30- ment of affairs into their hands, and the important measure
1837. Qf pariiamentary reform, by which the elections for parlia*
ment were arranged afresh according to the number of the population,
and the right of suffrage was made dependent upon a certain income,
March 1, 1831. ^as carried aHer the most violent opposition, and formed the
August, 18S6. triumph of the middle class over the aristocracy. Shortly
after this, slave emancipation, at which Wilberforce and other philan*
thi-opists had been working for years, was carried. England, after vast
sums paid in indemnifying the planters, set the slaves at liberty in her
colonies, and has since endeavored with all her strength to induce other
nations to take a similar step, and to entirely suppress the
' ' slave traffic After William IV., his niece, Victoria, married
since (the 10th of February, 1840) to prince Albert of Coburg, received
the crown of England. Under her government, the great statesman,
Sir Robert Peel, attempted to give a fresh impulse to trade by moderat*
ing the import duties. Since then, "free-trade" has been the watch-
word of the day.
§ 647. Ireland to the present hour is the sore spot in the body politic
of England. The maltreatment of former generations ^has
produced a gulf between England and Ireland which never
permitted a perfect union between two people different in race, religion,
and institutions. Two things especially, produced by an old injustice,
excited the hatred of the irritable Irish, — the harsh treatment of the
poor peasants by their noble English landlords, and the unnatural con*
dition of the Church, where Anglican priests are in possession of the
Irish Church temporalities, whilst the poor Catholic population are
obliged to maintain their unpaid clergy from their necessity. The com-
plaints of the Irish were unheard ; the insurrections that were attempted
were suppressed, and increased the oppression. It was not
until admission into the English parliament was granted to
Irish Catholics by the Emancipation Act, that the Irish people had an
opportunity of demanding an abolition of abuses. Daniel CConnell, who
now entered parliament with a " tail" of more than forty similarly-minded
Irishmen, threatened a Repeal of the Union, unless attention was paid
to the righteous demands of the Irish people. The increasing poverty
which, owing to the failure of the potato crop, produced pestilence and
500 THE LATEST PERIOD.
fiunine, required stringent remedies for the prevailing abuses. Owing to
the irritable and excitable nature of the Irish, it was an easj task for the
groat popular orator and demagogue, (yConnell, to keep the countiy in a
perpetual ferment, and, bj the watchword of '^ repeal," to direct the
whole energj of the people to a single object. Repeal associations were
formed in every spot and comer, with a common fund for furthering the
aims of CConnell ; the Catholic priesthood, who exercised an onlimited
power over the ignorant people, were in his service ; his word was law
in Ireland. The principal demand of the Irish was the abolition of the
tithes, which were paid in Ireland to the English dergj. When their
proposals were not received by the English parliament, the tenants re-
fused to pay the tithes, and opposed the distraints ; and, when the English
had recourse to force, they employed force in return. Bands of armed
men marched through the countij, marking their course with blood and
fire. These things pressingly admonished the government to give its
best attention to ^ starving and revolutionary Ireland, the land of passions
and of misery." The country was threatened with a state of waifiu^e by
the Irish Coercion Bill, in order to maintain obedience by terror ; and an
attempt was made by the Irish Church Bill, and the so-oilled appropria-
tion clause, to abolish or moderate the Church payments of the tenants,
and to apply a portion of the Church property to secular pnrpoees,
namely, to the improvement of public education. But this project en-
countered such resistance from the Higfa-Charoh party and the aristo-
cratic Tories, that it was not till after a pariiamentary contest of a twelve-
month that the Tithes Bill was passed, and even then in a mutilated
shape. The High-Church oppo6it:on formed the so-called Orange dubs,
which attempted to frustrate all concessions to the Irish, and kept re-
ligious and natk>nal hatred in constant activity.
5. 6EBXANT.
S 648. Germany, after the Congress of Vienna, was weaker and los
united than she had been during the empire. It is true that the number
of independent principalities and states had been lessened by more than
a hundred, and that the bishoprics, abbacies, and imperial towns had been
deprived of their independent position ; but, on the other hand, thirty-
eight territories which had been included in the German Union received
sovereign powers, as far as their internal affairs were concerned. In
place of the old imperial Diet appeared the Federative Diet of Frankfbrt-
on-the-Maine, composed of representatives of the different governments,
under the presidentship of Austria. But, as this assembly was entirely
directed by the wishes oC single governments, it had no independent
power ; and the German Union was an impotent member among Euro-
pean states, dependent upon the influence of liie two great powers, Austria
and Prussia, which assumed the first rank, in virtue of their Gennaa
6BKMAKY. 601
provinces. Even foreign kingdoms sent representatives to the Frankfort
Diet, as Denmark for Holstein, and the Netherlands for Luxemburg.;
This powerless oonditioa of Germany gave as little satisikction abroad as
the internal arrangements sufficed at home. Instead of a strong union,
with a united federative government and a popular representation, such
as patriotic men had hoped and striven for, the creation of the Viennese
Congress was a union formed of a number of sovereign states, in which
the govenmients, but not the people, were ropresented; and the Idth
article of the Union Act, by which a general promise was given of the
introduction of a state constitution, without any distinct notice ci the time
and manner of its accomplishment, did not satisfy the expectations of the
people. As Prussia, where the men of the retrograde movement, Haller,
Schmals, and others, soon obtained the upper hand of the patriots of thei
war of liberty, delayed bringing forward the promised state constitution,
and at length, instead of the desired imperial legislature, granted only
provincial estates with consulting voices, without either publicity or gen-
eral interest, the discontent of the German people became every day
greater. Austria, under the influence of Mettemich, was governed in a
spirit of complete absolutism, and kept as far aloof from Germany as pos-
dble ; and Prussia gave herself up more and more to the same views,
and aUowed herself to be made the instrument of the execution of most
unpopular measures. As there was no general system* of management
or debate, the constitutions that were gradually introduced into Saxe*
Weimar, Baden, Wirtemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and many other small
states, turned out very different from each other, so that, in this respect
also, Germany appeared torn and divided. And then the duties between
different countries, which acted as a bar to their intercourse I It seemed
as though Germany was about to be broken up into its separate races
and states !
§ 649. This state of things flUed the German people with discontent,
and shook their confidence in the patriotism of the governments. ^The
liberal party, which was aiming at a progressive development of state
aflfairs in a democratic direction, and kept alive the idea of German unity,
gained ground daily. But, above all, the German youth, who had been
filled with an admiration of the middle ages by the new romantic poetry,
were dissatisfied with the present They longed fi>r the empire of the
middle age, and for the former unity and greatness of Germany ; and
sought to give life to the new ideas of popular government under the old
Grerman forms and titles. Without clearness of aim, and without know*
ledge or respect for obstacles, the youths who, in the German high schools,
.had formed the fraternal alliance of the ^ Greneral Bursehensohaft,** strove
afler an ideal worid and state creation upon the old German system. This
October 18, feeUng first displayed itself during the festival of the Wart*
1817. burg. On the day of the battle of Leipeie, a fi»tival was
•503 THB LATEST PERIOD.
celebrated as an introdaction to the dOOth aniuTersary of the RefonnatioQ,
which is always solemnized with great enthusiasm in Protestant Germanj;
and at the same time, in remembmnoe of the struggle for liberty, a num-
ber of students held a meeting at the Wartburg, near Eisenach, at which
fiery speeches were made by the young men, and at the conclusion, fbl*
lowing the example of Luther, certain writings of Kotzebue, Kampti«
Haller, Jari^e, and others, which were offensive to their views, together
with some symbob of an antiquated and feudal period, such as iMgtails,
breastrlaoes, corporals' canes, were, with youthful wantonness, committed
to the flames. If an undue importance was attached by the govemme&t
to this occurrence, yet it is not to be wondered at that the bloody deed
oi one of these confederates of the Wartburg, George Sand, should be
looked upon as the act of a great poUtical conspiracy, and give rise to a
series of legal investigations and prosecutions, on account of ^ demagogic
intrigues.'* Sand, of Wunsiedel, a pious and patriotic youth, but full of
fanaticism and governed by vanity, embraced the criminal resolutioo of
killing the Russian councillor, Augustus Yon Kotzebue, who was suspected
March 28, of endangering Grermany's freedom and politic development
1819. by conveying information to St Petersburg; he wished to
rid the German nation from this ** Russian spy," this *^ traitor to the
country." He approached the unsuspecting man in Mannhmm with
a letter, and pieroed him through with a stroke of a dagger as he wss
reading it The attempt to kill himself was not successful Sand, re-
September, covered from his wounds, ended his life on the scafibld. After
1819. this followed the decrees of Carlbad, which restrained the
freedom of the press by the censorship, established a court of investiga*
tion in Mayence, for the suppression of ^ demagogic intrigues," interdicted
the alliances of the Bur§eh€n$ehaft with their gymnasia, placed the uniTei^
si ties under the supervision of special government officials, and finailj
gave unconditional validity to the resolutions of the Diet for all govern-
ments. Bounds were at the same time set to the democratical spirit of
«r ,. .«^. ^he south German provinces by the concluding act of Vieaiia.
May 16, 1820. -. . ,.,,;. i . , , ^, i.
Prussia, which had been so long the hope and confidence of
all German patriots, now took the lead in the reactionary and unpopular
measures. Men like Arndt, Jahn, &c., whose voices and example had
had such influence in time of need, were now brought to judgment as
fiivorers of demagogic intrigues, deprived of their offices, and watched bj
the police. From this time, the unity of Germany was looked upon as a
dream ; he who expressed a wish of the sort made himself suspected of
demagogic efforts. Every separate state was r^arded as an independent
whole, and governed without relation to the general interest of the coun-
try ; and, although many excellent arrangements were adopted in the
government administration of justice, and in the affairs of religion and edu-
cation, little or nothing was done for arousing the feelings of nationality
and patriotism.
0RB1BCB. 503
6. gbeeoe's stbuoolb fob libebtt.
$ 650. While the public eoergies of tlie nations of Europe were held in
firm bonds by the Holy Alliance, the news of Greece's rise against the
Turks produced great enthusiasm, and aroused a fresh political interest
among the torpid people. Alexander Ypdilanti, a Moldavian noble in
the military service of Russia, was the first who rose up in his country as
a liberator, and published a call to his countrymen, which referred to the
protection of Russia, to shake off the Turkish yoke. A society, Hetceria,
with widely-spread ramifications, the secret object of which was a separar
tion from Turkey, came to the aid of the project. In a short time, Morea
(Peloponnesus), Livadia (Hellas), Thessaly, and the Greek islands, were
in arms. But the expected aid of Russia did not arrive.
* ' Willingly as the emperor Alexander would have favored the
movement, both from religious sympathy and political interest, the in-
fluence of Mettemich, who, at the Congress of Laybach, placed the insur-
rection of the Greeks on a par with the simultaneous democratical move-
ments in Italy and Spain, prevented any support being given to them.
The Turks foamed with rage, and took a bloody vengeance. The Patriarch
of Constantinople, the supreme head of the Greek Church, was torn from
the high altar on £aster-day by the infidel Mahommedans, and hung up
along with his bishops at the principal door of his church ; the greater
number of the Greek families of the capital died by violence, or wlere
obliged to wander forth as beggars into banishment The sacred band
of Greeks, under the conduct of Tpsilanti, succumbed to the
' superior power of the Turks in Wallachia, and were totally
annihilated in the desperate battle of Dragaschan, where they fought with
the heroic courage of a Leonidas. Ypsilanti fied to Austria, but was
doomed to pine for years in a Hungarian fortress. The fall of these mag-
nanimous warriors showed that they were animated by a different spirit
from that of the Spanish and Italian champions of freedom.
§ 651. A frightful national war now broke out in all quarters of
Greece. In Morea, the wild and warlike Mainotes of the Taygetus rose
up «nder tlie conduct of Mauromichali and Kolokotroni, and the other in-
habitants of Peloponnesus shortly after followed, restrained to a more
systematic plan of warfare by Demetrius Ypsilanti, the brother of Alex-
ander. At the same time, the Greeks in Livadia and the islands fought
with glory and success ; their valor recalled to recollection the deeds of their
ancestors, little of the Hellenic blood as may fiow in the veins of the
modem Greeks. Europe gazed in sympathy upon this war in the east,
and hastened to collect money and troops by means of Philhellenic unions
to support the courage of the warriors, who, in the beginning of the year
1822, had united themselves into a republic under Ypsilanti and Mav-
rokordato. The object was to support civilization and Christianity
504 THB LATBSX PERIOD.
a^inst savage bartMurians. Whilst the princes of the H0I7 Alliance,
from a regard for their ease, were exposing a Christian people to die
attacks of infidel bands of marderers, crowds of foreign PhilheUeniitBy
under the conduct of Nonnann and others, marched to the ancient birth-
place of Christian ciTilization. The English poet, Bjitxu devoted hm
talents, his wealth, and his energy, to the affiurs of Greece^
' ' where the climate and exertion occasioned his death.
Despite the dissentions and selfishness of the Greek leaders* their
arms were generally successful tiU the June of 1825. At that period,
the Porte obtained a powerful supporter in Mehemet Ali, who, as Pasha
of Egypt, had destroyed the power of the Mamalukes, and es&tHblisbed
an army and government upon the plau of those of Europe, by which
means Western civilization and Oriental despotism were placed in hor-
rible conjunction. This man sdnt his son, Ibrahim, with a considerable
anny of mingled materials to Peloponnesus, on the business of the sultan.
The small and disunited body of Greeks was unable to resist him ; one
town after another fell into his hands ; the march of Ibrahim and his bru-
tal troops proceeded onwards over blood, corpses, and burning houses.
Peloponnesus and the coasts of Livadia were frightfully ravaged for two
yean, from the strong city of Tripolizza, which they had cho»en as their
point of support, whilst cabinets were in vain endeavoring to restrain the
war by diplomatic negotiations. The fall of Missolonghi first produced
a change in afiairs. When that hardly-pressed town was unable
' any longer to defend itself, the heroic inhabitants with their
wives and children made a sally upon the beleagoring enemy ; the third
part were slain, Missolonghi disappeared in flames, and all who remained
in it perished beneath the ruins. The cry of anger that passed through all
Europe at this event, awakened the governments from their lethargy.
Deeembw 1, I ^^^* -^ ^ort time before this, the emperor Alexander
1826. had descended to his grave, and as the elder brother Con-
stantine had already renounced the throne, his brother Nicholas obtained
the Russian sceptre, after the bloody suppression of a military conspiracy
that was to have changed the government and the succession to the
throne. In England, the rudder of state was intrusted to the skilful
hands of the high-minded Canning, who, in the maturity of his life, had
not forgotten the dreams of his youth or his enthusiasm for the liberatioa
of Greece. In France, the government thought itself obliged to pay some
attention to the loud clamors of the Philhellenists, especially as, at this
time, the bloody destruction of the Janissaries in Constanti-
^' nople, by which 15,000 Mahommedans died a violent death,
fiUed civilised Europe with horror at the inhumanity of the Turiu. At
the proposal of Canning, therefore, the three European powers, Russia,
England, and France, concluded an alliance, by which they agreed to
employ their common exertions to induce the Porte to allow the Greeks
^THE KBW .BOMANHO uteraturb. 505
their liberty. A combiDed fleet appeared in the waters of the Morea,
and demanded from Ibrahim the evacaadon of the peninsula ; upon the
October so, r^ection of this demand followed the battle of Navarino^
1837. where the Turko-Egyptian fleet was annihilated bj the Euro^
pean. This decision came so qaicklj that the allied powers were aston-
iahed at the *' unexpected event." The battle of Navarino consequently
August s, remained without results, and as, after Canning's death, the
1827. English, who were anxious about their trade, showed them*
selves more favorably disposed to the Porte, the resolute sultan Mahmud
remained firm to his purpose of not giving the Greeks their liberty, and
behaved so insolently to the Russians that they declared war against him*
This roused the hopes of the Greeks. Whilst the forces of the Ottomans
were marching into the lands of the Danube, Ibrahim was at length
compelled by the French fleet to evacuate the Morea, whereupon Capo
d*Istria, from Corfu, was appointed president of the Greek state. The
J11I7, ISIS, daring military achievements of the Russians, who, under
September 14, Diebitsch (Sabalkanski), surmounted the Balkan, at length
1828. compelled the Forte, by the peace of Adrianople, to grant
the Russians favorable conditions, and to acknowledge the independence
of Greece. But as it was long before the question of boundaries could
be settled, the war still continued for some time in Greece, during which
time the admiral, Miaulis, blew up the Greek fleet rather than allpw it to
fall into strange hands. At length, the three powers agreed in London to
form a constitutional kingdom out of Morea, Livadia, a part of Thessaly,
Eubcea, and the Cyclades, over which (aa Capo d'Istria had in the mean*
time been murdered by the brothers Manromichali) Otho I., of the royal
house of Bavaria, was placed as king. Since then, Greece
^* has striven to elevate herself to the position of a civilized
state, the forms of which she has assumed, without however being able
to free herself entirely from the conditions of barbarism and a life of
plunder. At a later period, the Greeks, from national jea-
busy, drove away the German foreigners that had oome in
the train of the court, and thus deprived themselves, at the same time,
of the supports of modem civilisation.
7. THE KEW BOMANTIC LITKSATURE.
} 653. The years of the Holy Alliance were the flourishing period of
romantic literature and art, the chief creators and supporters of which
The Sehle- were the brothers, Augustus William and Frederick Schle*
g«l*- gel, the poet Novalis, and Lndwig Tieck. They quitted the
Kovalb. path of religious illumination and of political candor, and
Lndwig Tieok. escaped to the ideas of the middle age and the religious con*
temphuion of the East The fluth in mirades and the religious mysti*
cism of an eariy period of Christianilgr, the love aflairs and the sensaal
43
606 ' THB LATBST HBIOD.
religious worship of the departed days of chirahy, the saered art of the
middle ages, the flowery poetry of the East, Uie popular songs and the
meditative world of fable of the distant past, permanently engaged thdr
interest. It was for this reason that their views were directed to the
forgotten prodactions of the literature of romance, whilst, following the
example of Herder, they collected and elaborated the legends, traditions,
and popular songs of German antiquity, and then sought to introduce
the chivalrous poetry of the Italians and Spaniards into Grermany by
means of translations ; and drew the mythology, and the poetry founded
upon it, of the East and of the Scandinavian North, within the circle of
their activity. The profound Dante, the profuse Shakspeare, the Span-
ish poet Calderon, Cervantes, and many others, were admirably transla-
ted by the romanticists, and naturalized in Germany* The Schl^eb,
in particular, distinguished themselves by their critical and sestbetical
writings, by their intelligent researches in the region of the history of
literature, by translations, and by references to the language, literature,
and ^ wisdom " of the Indians. Tieck obtained his greatest fame by his
elaboration of old popular legends and tales (Genoveva, Kaiser Octavi*
anus, Fortunatus, &c) ; and the prematurely deceased Francis Yoo
Hardenburg (Nqvalis,) by his melancholy poems and poetical essays
(^ Bliithenstaub,'* ** Spiritual Songs,"), and the unfinished romance,
Henry of Ofterdingen. In the same spirit sang the lyric poets, Matthi-
son, Chamisso, Max Von Schenkendorf, the romance writer Amim, de
la Motte Fouqu^, Clemens Brentano, Hoffmann, &c. The orientalist,
Hammer-Purgstall, excited by the romantidsts, undertook the transia*'
tion of the Arabian and Persian poets, and the great collective work,
^ Fundgruben des Orients ; " and Fr. Ruckert, renowned as a lyric poet
(<< Harnessed Sonnets," ^ Eastern Roses,"), brought the art of translation
and imitation to perfection (^ Nal and Damijanti," ^ Die Makamen des
Hariri"). The brothers Grimm, (Jacob and William), were excited by
the romanticists to their successful inquiries into the old German lan-
guage and literature, and to their collection of popular and domestic tales.
At the same time, the romanticists elevated poetry and literature gene-
rally to a loftier station, gave it digniQr and nobleness, and awakened
love and sensibility for the fine arts ; on the other hand, they afforded
pernicious examples in regard to public morality and decency of life.
An unbridled and restless life of wandering and travels, to which nsost of
them gave themselves up without restraint, favored the sensual appetites
and passions. Not misled by the romanticists, and treading in the path of
Schiller, Theodore Komer, Ludwig Uhland, Moriz Amdt, H. Zsdiokke,
Seume, and others, composed poetry ; and the lyric and dramatic wri-
ters in the spirit of Aristophanes, like Augustus Yon Platen (^TIm
Bomantic CSdipus," ^ The Fatal Forik"), paid homage to the spirit of
progress. The party of the Kberals and the great mass of the Geimaii
THE JXTLT BEVOLmnOK OF PAKIS. 507
people took most pleasure in the freer, if less yigorous, poetry of the
latter.
8. THE JULT BEYOLUTION OF PABISy AND ITS COK8EQUENCES.
S 654. Charles X. proceeded in the path of reaction without regard to
public opinion. The liberal ministiy of Martignac had been obliged,
aince January, 1828, to yield to an ultra royalist one, under the presi-
Angust 8, dentship of Polignac ; and when the Chambers, in their open-
18S9. jug address, expressed their discontent at the policy of the
government, they were dissolved and a new election followed. In vain
the men of the opposition re-appeared in increased numbers, and con*
firmed the mistrust of the people in the new ministry. Charles X. would
16 1880 °®^ ^^*™ wisdom. He vainly hoped that the military re-
' * nown which the French troops had gained about this time in
Africa,— where, to revenge the insults offered by the Bey of Algiers to
the ships and oonsul of France, they had taken possession of his capital,
and planted the French banners upon the battlements of the
old city of robbers,— would produce a favorable feeling in
the nation. Scarcely had the ^ Moniteur " published the three celebra-
ted ordinances, by which the freedom of the press was sus-
pended, the new Chambers dissolved, and the order of elec-
tion of the, next arbitrarily changed, before the July Revolution broke
out, by which the people, after an heroic contest of three days, obtained
their release from the royal house of Bourbon, and from the rule of the
priests. The deputies who were present in Paris established a provis-
ional government on the 29th July, whilst the contest in the streets was
at the hottest, in which the banker Lafitte, Casimir Perier, Odillon-Bar-
Tot, and others, bore a part, until the constitutional party triumphed
over the republican, and Loub Philippe, duke of Orleans, was named
regent of the empire. When it was too late, Charles X. offered to recal
the obnoxious ordinances, and to summon a popular ministry ; but he
was obliged lor the third time to go into exile with his family, whilst his
more sagacious relative, Louis Philippe, after he had sworn to observe
the hastily revised charter, ascended the throne as king of the French.
The rest<mition of the national cotors, and the reMablishment of the
National Guard, under the command of Lafayette, marked the commence*
ment of the new citizen monarchy established by the people. Charles
X. died in the year 1836, at Gdrz.
§ 655. The revolution of July occasioned the total fall of the Holy
Alliance, which had already received a shock by the death of Alexander,
and called forth a movement throughout all Europe which produced an
important change in affairs. It is true that the government of the ** citizen
kii^ " soon assumed a pacific attitude in regard to other states, and the
liberals who had arrived at power in Paris preferred moderate and con-
606 THB lATXffi PERIOD.
eSiatory modes of proeedare to waging war, and attempted to win over
all the moderate and undecided to the snpport of the existing sjstem, \j
establishing the principle of ** the ytMto mmeu;" but the tumult of the
first storm was strong enough to give a severe shock to the artful stne-
ture of the Viennese Congress. In Belgium, Gennanj, Poland, Italj,
kc^ insurrections broke out that could only be suppressed or composed
afler a two years' contest ; and though theiivfloence of the absolute powers
of the east — Russia, Austria, and Prussia *<* was strong enough to pre-
serve or bring back the old system in most states, free opinions, from this
lame, acquired greater importance, and pubHe opinion increased to a power
that bade defiance to all efforts of ^'stato police" and <« bureaucracy."
In the west of Europe, owing to the influence of England and France,
constitutional government and the dvU freedom which is allied to it
maintained the preeminence.
§ 656. The Revolution m Beloium was the first consequence of
tiie Parisian July days. The Congress of Vienna, without r^ard to
religion, language, or national interest, had united the Flemish and Bra*
bant provinces to the States-General of Holland, in one kingdom of the
Netherlands. The Hollanders regarded themselves as the rulers ; they
compelled the Belgians not only to share the great national debt and tba
high taxes, but attempted to force their own language and laws upon
them, and placed the education of the Catholic people under the super-
vision of Protestant courts. When the press aUowed itself to adopt a
hostile tone against the government, the writers were proceeded against
with fine, imprisonment, and banishment. Upon this, the French liberal
party, which was struggling for a free poliUcid life, and which was in
alliance with the chiefs of the Paris opposition, formed a confederacy with
the Catholic ultramontane party, which demanded freedom of educatioB,
against the Dutoh government, — which the king in his speech from the
throne designated as *4n&mous.'' The dissatisfaction thus produced
had already reached the highest piteh, when the news arrived in Brus-
sels of the July events, and set the whole land in a flame. On the even-
ing of the 25th August, after the representatioQ of the opera, ** The Mute
of Portid," the mob destroyed the printing-house of a journal favorable
to the interests of Holland, the palace of the minister of justice, the dwell-
ing of the director of police, Sec To restrain any farther devastations on
the part of the people, a civic guard and committee were formed, till the
radical and ultramontane parties united themselves in a National Con-
gress, under the guidance of Potter. The example of the capital was
followed, so that, in a short time, the standard of Brabant was waving
over the whole of Belgium. An attack of the Dutch upon Brussels was
repulsed, and the Belgian insuigents even nmrehed against Antweip^ to
deprive their detested nei^ibors of this town also. Upon this, the Dutch
general, Chass^ retired into the strong citadel and fired upon the unftr-
THE JULY KEYOLUTION OF PARIS. S09
tuDate town for seven hours, with 800 cannoD, by which a vast amount
of goods of great value was destroyed. Irritated at this proceeding, the
National Congress now declared the independence of Belgium,
and the exdusion of the house of Orange from the Belgian
throne. During the continuance of the war between Belgium and Hol-
land, the five great powers held a conference in London. It was here
resolved, after long diplomatic negotiations, to separate Bel-
gium from Holland, and to arrange the boundaries in an
equitable manner. In accordance with this, Leopold of Saze-Ck>burg,
who was related to the royal family of England^ and who was shortly
after united, by a second marriage, to a daughter of Louis Philippe,
received the Belgian throne, and attempted to conciliate the liberals by
granting a free representative constitution, and the Catholic clergy by tj^e
complete independence of the church of the state. It was in vain tliat
the Hollanders attempted again to subject the rebels by force. Threatened
and opposed by the French and English, they were compelled, despite
December, the bravery of their army and the courage of their sailors, to
1882. desist from the contest. Belgium; on the other hand, flou-
rished under the influence of free institutions and energetic industry.
$ 657. The successful termination of the French and Belgian revolu-
tions urged the Poles to an insurrection. Baised to a kingdom by the
Congress of Vienna, and placed under the government of the emperor of
Russia, Poland was in a better position than when subjected to the old
anarchy. The constitution, with diets and a national armament, afforded
the people a regulated freedom ; industry increased, literature flourished,
passable roads facilitated intercourse ; but all these advantages, which, to
say the truth, suffered much prejudice from the despotic character of the
viceroy, Constantino, were not sufficient to prevent the Poles from che-
rishing the thought of again revivifying their divided country ; and the
hope that the French, after the revolution of July, would not neglect to
hasten to the assistance of their old confederates, confirmed them in the
belief that the moment for the regeneration of the old Pohwd was again
come. It was six o'clock on the evening of the 20th Novem-
ber, when twenty armed young men of the Cadet school,
members of a widely-spread military conspiracy, rushed into the palace
of the viceroy for the purpose of dispatching him, whilst other conspirators
called the inhabitants of the capital to arms. It was only with difficulty
that the prince escaped the fate designed for him. He yielded to the
storm, and retired from the country with his Russian soldiers and officials.
A provisional government, with Czartoryski, Niemcewics, General Chlo-
piki, and others at its head, undertook the conduct of affairs in Poland.
Instead, however, of employing the newly-aroused military ^irit and the
fresh enthusiasm of the people in a spirited attack upon unprepared Rus*
aia, the regen^, whkh belonged to the aristocracy of Poland, chose the
43*
510 THE LATEST PERIOD.
path of D^otiation, and placed tbdr hopes upon the promises of Frendi
diplomatists. It made little difference that Chlopiki was shoftlj aAer
named dictator, and entrusted with the sapreme command of miiitaiy
affairs ; and that the diet, which was hastily called together, invested the
prince Radzivil with the most unlimited power; the irresolute aristocracj,
discontented with the Tiolence of the republican and democratic dobs, kept
things in check, and paralysed every undertaking by hesitation and da-
sensions. Whilst the emperor of Russia ordered an army of 300,000
Jannary 36, n^^Q to march into Poland, under the command of field-mar-
1831. shal Diebitsch, the diet pronounced the dethronement of the
house of Romanoff in Poland, but rejected, from selfish motives, that
which could alone save the country, the liberation of the peasants and the
^citement of a popular war. What mattered it that the Polish army
again gave the most splendid proofs of courage in the field, that Chlopiki
and Skrzynecki fought like heroes, and that Dwernicki, who wished to
excite Volhynia to insurrection, astonished the worid by his daring retreat
upon the Austrian territory ? When Diebitsch carried off the victory
from the army of Skrzynecki, in the battle of Ostrolenka,
' * Pohmd, through dissension, par^ spirit, treachery, and the
siron voices of French go-betweens, went rapidly to her downfalL Die-
bitsch died of the cholera. His successor was the enterprising Paskewitsch
(Eriwanski). He crossed the Prussian Vistula and approached the walls
of Warsaw. The inhabitants of the capital, believing that the miscarriage
of the rovolution had been occasioned by treachery, gave the reins to
their fary against the aristocrats and friends of the Russians, and slaugh-
tered thirty of these unfortunates. Gzartoryski, in whose
°^^^ hands the government had been placed, fied in horror to the
camp of Dembinski. Krukowiecki was now named president of the
government by the diet, with dictatorial power, and thus the supreme
authority was placed in the hands of a man who was either a fool or a
traitor. When Paskewitsch approached the capital, the dictator gave
evidence of his cowardice and despair by the most contradictory orders
and preposterous arrangements. The Polish army made a gallant resis-
tance to the attacks of the enemy at Wola, the ancient place of election
of the kings, and the heroic deeds of the fourth regiment have since been
September celebrated in songs ; but after a storm of two days, Kruko-
6,7,1881. wiecki surrendered Warsaw and Praga by capitulation,
whereupon the government and the diet, with the troops that were still
left, fled to the Prussian territory. Here the bold warriors were dis-
armed, and detained till the complete subjection of Poland; they then
obtained permission to return, under the assurance of an amnesty. But
thousands among them rejected the grace of the emperor, and turned their
backs upon their fatherland, preferring to eat the bread of affliction upon
free, if foreign ground, rather than to gaze quietly upon the gradual ex-
XHS JVhY BBVOLUnON OF PARIS. 511
tinction of the nationaUt j of their eountrj. The sjmpath j of the Gennao
people, who received and entertained the anfortnnates in their meUincholj
joarnej, was an alleviation of their misery. Severe panishments were
inflicted upon the gutltj in Poland, Lithuania, Yolhynia : the mines of
Siberia grew popaloos with the condemned. Poland then lost her con-
stitution, her diet, and her state council, hj the " organic statute," and
was attached to the great Muscovite empire, with a separate government
and administration of justice. Since then, Paskewitsch reigns as impe-
rial lieutenant, with iron sceptre, in humbled Warsaw. The Poles had
once more shown that thej were capable of magnanimous, patriotic emo-
tions, and of gallant deeds ; but not of a united effort or of noble self-
sacrifice. The emigrants, however, in vain attempted, in tlie sequel, to
effect the restoration of their country by conspiracies and insurrections in
Cracow, Gallicia, and Posen. Fresh persecutions, and at length, the in-
corporation of the free state of Cracow with the Austrian empire (1846),
vrere the consequences of their foolhardy attempts.
§ 658. In Germany, also, the news of the July revolution called forth
a mighty movement The princes, anxious lest the well-known hanker-
ing of the French for the boundary of the Rhine should be the occasion
of a new war, saw with uneasiness the existing divisions between subjects
and governments, and hastened to allay irritation and prevent a general
movement, partly by reasonable concessions, and partly by the hasty
recognition of successfully accomplished reforms. The insurrections in
the kingdoms of Hanover and Saxony were appeased by granting liberal
constitutions, and by abolishing oppressive abuses and restrictions ; in
Brunswick, where the people destroyed the palace and compelled the
tyrannical duke Charies to fly, his brother assumed the government, and
conciliated the minds of his* subjects by improving the constitution of the
country. In Hesse-Oassel, the Elector, William II., was compelled by
an insurrection to give the country a free constitution. But
* the hatred whicli the people shortly after displayed against
the countess Reichenbach (Lessonitz), his wife, a woman of inferior
birth, offended the Elector to that degree, that he raised his son, the elect-
oral prince, to the co-regentship, and removed with his wife and treasures
from Hesse. The freedom of the press was introduced in Baden, the
liberals obtained the upper hand in the Chambers of southern Germany,
and insisted upon alterations and reforms in the constitution and govern-
ment But their increasing audacity in speech and writing, which was
Mat 87, particularly displayed at the Hambacher festival in Rhenish
188S. Bavaria, soon brought about a reaction and restriction. The
peaceful character of the July monarchy and the fall of Warsaw relieved
the German governments from the apprehension that the liberal move-
ments might be supported from abroad; and the incon-
' ' siderate attempts of a few young madcapsi studentSi literary
612 THE LATBST PBRIOD«
tneii, and political refogeeB, to disperse the Diet, and to produce a YiokBl
revolutioD by tlie eonspiracj of Frankfurt, aided the cause of the retrogres*
sive party. This foolish attempt and its lamentable result gave a deep
wound to the cause of liberalism, and brought a severe persecution upon
its chiefs and leaders. The guilty and the suspected were visited br
numberless arrests and judicial examinations; prisons and fortresses were
filled with political offenders ; numberless fugitives were wandering ia
France and Switserland; the censorship was i^in employed with the
greatest severity ; the book trade watched, and the privileges of the Es-
tates circumscribed. Thus again were the efforts of the progressive
party frustrated by the violence and indiscreet zeal of some of its cham-
pions. The governments obtained the most complete triumph ; but bv
the use they made of it, they outraged the people's sense of justice and
insulted public opinion. This was especially the case, when, by the
ascension of the throne of England by queen Victoria, the crown of
Hanover fell, according to the prero^tive of German princes, to her
uncle, Ernest Augustus of Cumberland, who abolished the constitution
which had been granted by his predecessors to the Estates, and restored
the former arrangements. Undeterred by the opposition
' that was displayed against this arbitrary [Hrooeeding from
" ^ ' every quarter, the king ordered an oath ci obedience and
homage to be tendered to all servants of the state ; and when seven pro-
fessors of the Gottingen university, among them, Dahlmann, Gervinos,
and the brothers Grimm, would not yield to the demand, they were
deprived of their chairs, and some of them banished from the country;
when the assembled Estates were ineompeteat to pass resolutions from a
deficiency of numbers, the absentees were replaced by the eleetion of
the minority. By these measures, a deep gulf was formed between the
people and the government, and a profound dissatisfaction with the
" police state ** took possession of the nation. The existing government
was attacked by means of the press, literature, and poetry, and every
opposition to the state officials was saluted by the nation with joy. One
single effort was visible in the midst d contests and divisions, and was
the ^ red thread" that ran through the whole public life of the people —
the striving after national and political unity ; and this effort the Prus-
sian government came forward to assist by establishing the Zollverein,
the foundation-stone of Grerman unity.
§ 659. In Italy also, the July revolution occasioned some serious
commotions. But the hopes of the patriots found an early grave. The
insurrections in Bologna, tfodena, and Parma, were somi suppressed by
Austrian troops ; and the regents, who had been driven horn the two
latter places, were restored to their govemmenta. In the States of the
Church the papal troops, who were reinforced by bandits and con victs, were
employed in keeping down the rebellious provinees. These men be>
THE JULY REVOLUTION OP PARIS. 618
haved in such a way that it was necessary to call in the forces of Austria
to protect the land against its own soldiers. To prevent the Austrians
Febniai7,28, getting the whole power over Italy into their own hands, the
1883. French seized upon Anoona hy a coup de mainy and held it
for several years. An attack upon Savoy, from Switzerland, undertaken
bj a troop of refugees under the command of the Polish general, Ramo-
rino, with the purpose of overthrowing the Sardinian throne, and, in
conjunction with '' young Italy," of exciting the whole land to a revolu-
tion, had a lamentable result
In Spain, the liberals, after the July revolution, again got the upper
hand, not by their own strength, however, but in consequence of a quar-
rel for the crown. King Ferdinand had allowed himself to be induc-
ed by his fourth wife, Maria Christina, to abolish the Salic law which
March 29, prevails in all Bourbon states, and which excludes females
1880. from succeeding to the throne, and thus to secure the in-
October, heritance of the crown to his daughter, Isabella, who was
1880. bom in the same year. This alteration displeased the apos-
tolic party, which had placed all its trust on Ferdinand's younger
September 29, blTOther, Don Carlos. Scarcely therefore had the king closed
1888. his eyes, before the absolutists (Carlists) called Don Carlos
to the throne as Charles Y., and excited a civil war. They found sup-
port in the north, especially among the rude mountaineers of the
October, Basque provinces. Inflamed by priests and monks, and led
1888. by bold and enterprising chiefs (Zumalacarreguy, Cabrera),
the warlike Basques drew the sword for an absolute king who sought
for refuge among them. For the purpose of resisting them with success,
the queen, Maria Christina, who had been appointed to the regency
until the majority of her daughter Isabella, sought to win the party of
the constitution and the liberals to her cause by. again introducing the
Cortes constitution, and permitting the fugitives and outlaws to return to
their homes. In this manner, the contest for the throne took the shape
of a civil war and a struggle of opinions. After many bloody battles,
August 81, ^he " Christinos" gained the upper hand. Greneral Espar-
1S39. . tero compelled the Carlist leader, Maroto, to lay down his
arms by the treaty of Pergara, whereupon Don Carlos, with his family
and several officers and priests, took refuge in France. In Spain itself,
£spartero fell into a quarrel with the queen mother, which produced a
fresh crop of party contests, alterations of the constitution, and intrigues
of the palace. Espartero, created duke of Vittoria, was
May, 1841. g^fficientiy powerful to effect the removal of Christina for
Bome time, and to get the government into his own hands. But he was
soon overthrown by general Narvaez, an adherent of the queen mother, '
and compelled to fly to England. After this, Christina, and
^' her daughter, when she came of age, carried on the govern-
ment in entire accordance with the wishes of France.
514 THB LAXBBT PEBIOD.
9. OTXBTHKOW OF THE THmOHE OF JULT, AHD THB
BKVOLUnOlLlKT TKMFS8T8.
a. THB TEAS8 OF POLITICAL AKD SOCIAL AGFTATIOV.
§ GGO. FRA17CE. — The July monarchy, erected upon the HOStahlA
foondation of the soTereignty of the people, was exposed to manj attacks.
Both the adherents of the Bourbons and of monarchy ^ by the grace of
Giod" (Legitimists, Carlists), and the republicans, gmmbled at the new
system, and attempted to overthrow iL It was only the prospenNU
middle class, which, intent upon gain and the peaceable enjoyment of its
earnings, could find its safety and object in a constitutional monarchy,
that was content with the government of July ; and it was upon this
class in especial that Louis Philippe leaned for support. But, as die
king neglected to give the less wealthy class of citizens a share of politi-
cal power by extending the suffrage, the number of hia adherents was
not great. Neither did the king understand how to win the hearts of the
French by greatness of mind and noble actions. In the possession of
enormous wealth, he made use of his lohj position for the constant in-
crease of his property, and thereby incurred -the reproach of selfishnw,
avarice, and cupidity. This reproach also attached more or less to his
councillors, ministers, and officials, who were accused of covetousneas and
venality ; so that, in the eyes of the people, the stiun of ^ corruption"
infected the whole July government. The first hostilities agunst the
citizen throne and the ministry of the ^jtute milieu" proceeded from
the legitimists. But the hatred of the people against the Bourbons was
Ftbnury 16, ^^ ^ recent for their attempts to be successfuL The erec-
1881. tion of the white banner on -the anniversary of the deadi
of tlie due de Berri excited a disturbance, in consequence of which
Ncyrember ^^ archiepiscopal palace was destroyed. Just as little sac>
1882. ' cess attended the attempt of the duchess of Berri to rouse the
faithful Yead^ns to arms. When she was arrested and the secret of a
private marriage came to light, the romantic magic that had hitherto
attached to the royal family gradually melted away. The legitimists, with
the groy-haired poet, Chateaubriand, at their head, now gave up the
hope of raising to the throne their favorite, the duke of Bordeaux
(Chambord), whom they had bedecked with the ostentatious name ci
Heniy V., and rotired sullenly into the suburb of St. Germaine.
The undertakings of the republicans were moro perilous to the throne
A. n. 1881. of July. Afler the public insurrections in Lyons and Paris
A.D. 1882. had b^n suppressed by the military power, and their origi-
▲.n. 1884. nators and participators punished, they refrained from any
'fiirther attempts by open violence, but made constant efforts to increase the
THE LATEST POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS. S15
number of their adherents bj diffiMing their opinions in joamals, and by
means of secret societies. The ** National," conducted bj. Armand
Carrel, anfl, after his death in a doel, by Marrast, was the mnch perse-
cuted and much punished organ of their party. But the republicans
soon separated in different directicHis* Whilst the moderate (honest)
republicans only sought to attack the existing government, and aimed at
revolutionizing the affairs of state, others (like Proudhon) declared pro*
I)erty to be robbery, and threatened war to all who were in possession of
anything ; or (like Louis Blanc) they flattered the self-love and self*
rei^pect of the working-classQB by an over-estimate of their functions
and importance, preached up the equality of capital and labor, and
demanded better payment and greater security to the latter from the state*
These men sought to revolutionize social relations, and to reduce to prao-
lice the systems of Socialism and Communism, devised by a few vision-
aries and men of perverted intellects. Without any conception of the
vast machinery of human intercourse, they applied to society the petty
measure of the workshop and the club. Liberty, equality, fraternity,
were their watchwords ; and hatred to the hourgeatsu (shopkeepers, mid-
dle class,) the essence of their doctrine. These Communistic and Social
ideas spread and increased ; shrouded in the veil of the forbidden and the
mysterious, they seemed to narrow minds and stunted natures the depth
of wisdom, the anchor of salvation from poverty and wretchedness*
Influenced by the notion that the French government was only held
together by the skill and dexterity of its chief, the members of the secret
union sought the life of the king, that they might proclaim a republic in
the moment of confusion, and then proceed at once with their social re*
forms. Eight attempts at assassination were made upon Louis Philippe,
<Tom the whole of which he escaped with wondeHnl good fortune. The
most dreadful of these was that made in the Boulevards, on
° ^ ' the celebration of the July days, 1885, by the Corsican, Fies-
chi, by means of the so-called infernal machine, by which twenty-one
people who were near the king, and, among others, the grey-haired mai^
shal Mortier, tost their lives. Fieschi and his two confederates died by
the guillotine ; but their death did not deter others from similar attempts.
Restrictions of the press, of the privilege of forming unions, and of pei^
sonal liberty, were the result of each of these designs. It was a hard
fate for Louis Philippe that his eldest son, the beloved duke
^ ^ * of Orleans, met with his death by a fall from his carriage.
§ 6GI. In the second half of the fifth decenninm, all the States of
Europe were powerfully excited by events of varied character. In Italy,
Pope Pius IX. took the lead of all other princes by his timely reforms,
and again made the papacy the political centre of the country. He gave
greater freedom to the press, improved the affairs of g^enunent and the
administration of justice, gave the ci^ of Rome a libend miinicyftl
516 THE LATEST PERIOD.
goyernment, and took preparatory measures for a confederation of tbe
Italian States. A mighty enthusiasm seized upon the excitable Italianf,
and fresh hopes sprang op in the bosoms of the patriots. Sicilj raised
January, the standai-d of independence, and commenced a fierce war
1648. against its oppressor ; the king of Naples sought to appeaie
the threatened insurrection of his subjects by giving them a constitution,
and thus obliged the other princes to take a similar step. Archduke
Leopold of Tuscany, and Charles Albert of Sardinia, followed his ex-
ample. The duke of Modena, a zealous defender of the divine right of
princes, withdrew himself from the hatred of his people by flight ; ami
Beoember 18, ^^ Parma, the throne became vacant by the death of the
1847. duchess Maria Louisa, the little-loved and little-re?pected
widow of Napoleon. These events filled the Italians with the hope of
national unity and civil freedom. Only two powers, a spiritual and a
secular, seemed to stand in the way of this object — the Jesuits and the
Austrians. Tlie fiery hate of the Italians was consequently directed
against both. Vivas for Gioberti, the enemy of the Jesuits, and ^ Death
to the Germans," against Austria, were mingled with the shouts for Pio
Nono.
In Germany, the opposition between the people and the governments
had risen to the uttermost. The polite literature of "young Germany ;**
the stirring poetry of Herwegh, Hofiman Von Fallersleben, and other
singers of political freedom ; the daring daily press ; the freethinking and
anti-church writings of young philosophers and theologians ; the dis-
courses and doctrines of the " friends of light " in the Protestant Church,
and of the ^ German Catholics " in the Catholic — all these spiritual striv-
ings betrayed the profound discontent of a large portion of the German
people with the existing conditions of State and Church, and their aver-
sion to the system retained and defended by the governments. Frederick
William IV., who, since 1840, had borne the crown of Prussia, a prince
of high accomplishments and active mind, deemed himself obliged to make
some concessions to the spirit of the age. He threw open the courts of
justice, and permitted oral pleadings ; he diminished ecclesiastical
restraints by an edict of toleration ; and by the patent of the
3d of February, he summoned the " United Estates " to a Diet
in Berlin. It was here that, despite all the restrictions contained in the
patent, so violent an opposition was displayed, former promi^^es were so
emphatically referred to, the righteous claims of a civilized nation to
liberty of the press and the other privileges of a free state, were so elo-
quently urged, that the old system of government appeared no longer
tenable. The nation followed with pride the proceedings of an assembly
which displayed such splendid powers of oratory and such a fulness of
intelligence and judgment Whilst the educated and wealthy were follow-
ing with intense interest these inward struggles in the region of Church
THE LATB8T POLITICAL BEVOLUTIONS. 517
and State, and looking with anxietj on the disturbances in the trading
world, where a succeesion of bankruptcies had deprived thousands of their
property, the cry of famine sounded in the huts of the starving, who, in
the increasing deamess of provisions, were unable to supply their neces-
sities. The intelligence of the fearful distress which, in Upper Silesia,
had engendered pestilence, and in many trading and manufacturing places
had produced scenes of Irish misery, together with the exciting literature
in the hands of the lower classes, and die suffering that was everywhere
prevalent, produced a vast irritation, which at length burst forth in insur-
rections in Stuttgardt, Munich, and other towns. It is true that these
were suppressed by the military and the police, and the benevolence of the
wealthy and an abundant harvest soon put an end to the temporary dis*
tress ; but the increasing poverty, and the great inequality in property
and in the enjoyments of life, were now for the first time revealed in
their full extent. Men gazed into the abyss of misery and wretchedness
in whidi the lower classes were found. The irritation and discontent
thus excited against the political arrangements, to which the whole of
the mischief was ascribed, was increased to the highest pitch by the in-
telligence that the old king^Louis of Bavaria, had been entangled in the
snares of a Spanish dancer, Lola Montez, and had allowed himself to be
led by her into acts of folly and enormous extravagance. The ultramon-
tane party, which had ruled the king and the country for years, quar-
relled with this courtesan, who had been created countess of Landsfeldt,
and suddenly found itself threatened with loss of power. The ministry
of Abel and the heads of the ultramontane party in the universities were
dismissed. This occasioned a commotion among the Bavarian people ;
and when the king, indignant that the students attached themselves to the
ultramontane party, and did not show the respect he required to the in-
solent dancer, ordered the university of Munich to be closed, and com-
manded the students to leave the place, an insurrection broke out, by
which Louis found himself obliged to recal the suspension, and to get rid
of the countess.
About this time there prevailed a great enmity in Switzeblakd be-
twc!en the Catholics and Protestants, and the conservatives and radicals.
In the Aargau, the radical government had abolished the eight monas-
teries of the country as ^ meeting-places of rebellion,** and confiscated
their property. The protests of the seven Catholic cantons (Schwytz,
Urv, Unterwalden, Lucerne, Zug, Freiburg, Yalais,) produced no effect
at the Diet The division was increased when the ultramontane govern-
ment of Lucerne, with the aid of the people of the canton, called in the
Jesuits to superintend the education of the youth, and repulsed the radi-
cals,* who wished to produce a revolution by means of a volunteer exjpe-
dition. The contest now resolved itself into a desperate
'^^ straggle between Jesoitisin and radicalism. The seven
44
fil8 THB LATEST PKRIOD.
GKtholic eanton8 demanded ponbhrnent of the volunteers, and l^^ pco-
tectioQ against umilar undertakings} and the restoration of the monas-
teriea of the Aarg/m ; and when their denuuids were not aooeded Uk
formed a << special confederation " for mutual defence against attacks frooi
within and without The radicals, who^ hj means of the '^ Putache," hid
a migoritj in the Diet at Vaud^ GeneTa, and other places, procured a
resolution which dissolved the special confederatioo, as incompatible with
Jul 184T ^ government of the union, and banished the Jesuits. As
the members of the special confederation refused submisnon
to the decisions of the Diet, the sword became the arbiter. Contraiy
to expectation, the struggle was soon over. A confederate armj, under
Mov«mb«r 4. Dufour, subdued Freiburg and Lucerne with little resistance,
whereupon the other cantons freelv submitted. They were
^^^^™ ' obliged to renounce the Sonderbund, to banish the Jesuits, to
alter, the cantonal government, and to pay the expenses of the war» When
too late, the three great powers, Austria, France, and Prussia, offered
their mediation. The French found the Sonderbund already dissolved;
and the discovery that the minister, Guizot, took the part of the Jesuits,
increased the dissatis&ction in France with the July government. The
Swiss took advantage of circumstances to remodel their constitution^ and
to create a stronger federative government*
& THE PARIS SEYOLI7TION OF FEBBUAST AND FFS CONSSQinSXCES.
§ 662. About the time that the events in Italy and Switserland were
exciting a strong feeling in France, and the policy of Guiaot was giving
great offence to the liberals, an action for bribery agEunst General Cohieres
and the minister, Teste, and the dreadful murder of the duchess of Praslin
in her bed-chamber by her own husband, revealed the total want of
morality in the upper classes that were grouped around the throne of
July. The feelii^ that a system of government founded upon such rotten
supports could not endure, became more and more prevalent among the
nation ; and the call for elective reform, by which it hoped to infuse fresh
vigor into the Chamber and the government, became the watchword of
the day. Reform banquets were arranged in all comers of the land, in
which the sins of the existing government were mercilessly exposed in
daring speeches and toasts. The government not only prohibited this
reform festival, but censure was cast in the speech from the throne oo a
movement that was excited by blind or hostile passions. Despite the
prohibition, the chiefs of the opposition in the Chambers, and some c^
the leaden of the liberals and moderate republicans, proceeded with their
preparations for a reform banquet, and published a programme of the
procession and the arrangement of the dinner; when, however, the
government adopted military measures to ensure respect to its orders, the
greater number of the arrangers oi the festival desisted fnnn dieir pur-
THE LATB6T POLITICAL BBV0LUTI0N8. 519
pwe, and the members of the Left (opposition) resolved to bring forward
A motion in the next session for impeaching the minbtrj for injuring the
ooDStitotion*
Bat the people were already too mndi excited to be pacified bj sudi
a measare as this. Crowds of artisans, men in blouses, students, and
the refuse of the streets, paraded through the squares and thoroughfiires
of the capital, with the crj of ^ Reform 1 " and <" Down with Guizot ! "
Their numbers increased from hour to hour; the military acted with
forbearance, the police was no match for the multitude; in some
streets, barricades were erected and maintained. The contest bad con-
tinued for two dajs with increasing bitterness, when the king dismissed
Febnuiy 22, the ministry of Guizot and promised reform. This news
^ occasioned unspeakable pleasure among the excited populace.
The crowds marched through the streets with songs and shouts of j<^,
the barricades disappeared, and the houses were illuminated. At this
point it happened that a troop of people marched through the Boule-
vards, about ten o'clock, with banners and torches. They halted before
the foreign office, and demanded the illumination of the house. At this
moment a shot was heard, and occasioned a belief, among the military
posted in the building, that they were attacked. A volley was suddenly
fired upon the crowd, fifly-two of whom fell to the ground either killed
or wounded. An indescribable fury took possession of the people. A
bier was covered with dead bodies, and paraded through the streets of
the city with torches, in the midst of the cries, ^ To arms ! " '^ We are
slaughtered ! " The alarm-bell was sounded at midnight, and by the morn-
ing of the 24th of February, the whole of Paris was closed up with bar-
ricades. Victory, after a violent contest, inclined to the side of the peo-
ple. Louis Philippe abdicated in favor <^ his grandson, the count of
Paris, and fled with his wife to England, where the other members of
his family also arrived by different ways and after many perils. Here-
upon, a republican government was established in Paris, under the pre-
sidentship of the old Dupont de TEure, and in which the poet Lamar-
tine, Ledru-Rollin, the leader of the Left, Arago^ Gamier-Pages, and
the socialist Louis Blanc had a share.
But the new form of government did not bring tlie anticipated happi-
ness. The intoxication of the republican festival, with its joyous feasts
and consecration of banners, and the enthusiasm for the watchwords,
^ liberty, equality, fraternity," passed away, and sober practical life
brought with it many difficulties. As the Revolution was the work of
the laboring classes, it was necessary to give some thoughts to their ele-
vation and improvement National workshops were established, where
the unemployed were to find occupation and support It was now that
the utter instability of Socialism became a[^)arent The expenses of the
state rose incredibly, and the number of paupers increased daily. It
520 THE LATEST PERIOD.
was soon dear to every one that such a system must, in a short time, lead
to the rain of the state, the impoTerishment of those who possessed anj
thing, and the destruction of civilization. Accordingly, when a CMistitaeiit
National Assembly, elected by the voices of the whole people, met together
in May, one of its first measures was to dose these shops and to with-
draw the assistance of the state from thei workmen. Upon this, the woik-
men attempted a new revolution, for the purpose of giving the supreme
power to the fourth estate. This led to the dreadful scenes of June,
when the supporters of the ^ red republic " disgraced themselves by
deeds of savage brutality. They murdered general Brea and the arch-
bishop of Paris, and filled the barricades with the dead bodies of thdr
opponents. Horrified at this barbarity, the National Assembly invested
general Cavaignac with dictatorial power. Cavaignac defeated the rebels,
had crowds of them arrested and deported, and put Paris under mili-
tary law. Protected by these measures, the AssemUy then ccHmpleted
the republican government with a single Chamber, and a president, who
was to be elected every four years. It would willingly have given the
majority of votes, also, to general Cavaignac at the election of president ;
but the people, dazzled by the lustre of the imperial name, chose Lonis
Bonaparte, the same nephew of Napoleon who had before twice attonpted
to overthrow the government of Louis Philippe by insurrections, and
who had paid the penalty of his folly by long imprisonments.
§ 663. The news of the Paris revolution of February occasioned a
violent shock all over Europe. Popular commotions took place in Ger-
many, Hungary, Italy, and other places, which, in extent and vi(denoe^
far surpassed all previous dbturbances. A propaganda, which had ita
seat and centre in Paris, stirred the revolutionary fire, and difiiised re-
publican ideas, with a tincture of Communism and Sodalism, as the
means of exdting the lower classes. The first efiects displayed them*
selves in Baden. The active political life which has always distinguished
the Grand Duchy, appeared to give it the right of marching foremost
with the banner of progress and reform. Urgent petitions, tumultuoosly
presented to the Estates of the country just then assembled, demanded
freedom of the press, juries, a militia under freely elected leaders, and a
German parliament, as a popular house, by the side of the Diet. The
Baden government not only granted these demands so far as laid in its
power, but even adopted other conciliatory measures. The example
of Baden acted upon the other states of Germany. The same demands
were gradually made every where, and yielded to, and others joined with
them. In Wirtemberg, Saxony, and other states, the heads of the liberal
opposition were summoned to the ministry and the reins of government
placed in their hands. But the Austrian empire suffered the greatest
convulsions. An insurrection in Vienna, occasioned by some
students and young rioters, and supported by the rabble, had
THE LATEST KEVOLUTIONS. 521
rach unexpected sucoeas that prince Metternich laid down his exalted
office, and sought refuge as a grey-headed fugitive in England. Upon
this the old system was dissolved, and a state of lawlessness took posses-
sion of the capital. The freedom of the press soon produced a revolu*
tionarj daily literature ; the right of assembly was made use of for form-
ing tumultuous mobs and democratic dubs ; the great number of unem-
ployed workmen facilitated the schemes of the revolutionary party. Thus
it happened, that, by the activity of the democrats, who streamed together
into Vienna from all quarters, insurrections and street fights were
crowded upon each other* The emperor retired, with his
court, to Innspruck ; and only returned to his capital when the
Diet, which had in the mean time been chosen by universal
suffrage, assembled, and required him by pressing messages
to resume his seat in Vienmu
Berlin had its March days as well as the imperial city. After long
hesitation, the Prussian government at length consented to freedom of
^^ the press and other reforms, and held out a prospect of a
revolution in the relations of the German confederation.
But as hostile encounters had, for several days past, taken place between
the military and the people, these concessions did not restore tranquillity ;
the removal of the troops and the formation of a mUitia were demanded.
Poles and other foreign agitators increased the hatred and excitement by
inflammatory discourses. The assemblies in front of the
palace incr^ised, and the threats against the soldiery became
constantly louder. A division of infantry now marched out of the palace,
to drive back the increasing masses. Two shots were fired, by whom or
from which party is uncertain. They gave the signal for a desperate
street battle of fourteen hours. On the morning of the 19th of March,
the contest was yet undecided, although most of the barricades had been
taken or destroyed by the courage of the soldiers and by the effects of the
grape-shot The king at length gave command for the retreat of the
military, dismissed the ministry, and consented to the formation of a
militia for the defence of the city and the guard of the palace. An un-
conditional amnesty, which was shortly after announced, and which was
imitated in the other states of Germany, freed from punishment all those
condemned for political crimes or offences, and permitted the return of
fugitives ; and three days later, the king promised in a pro-
clamation, and during a solemn procession through the city,
that he would place himself as constitutional king at the head of a free
and united Germany. A constituent National Assembly, elected by
universal suffrage, undertook, a few weeks later, the great work of fram-
ing a representative constitution for the Prussian monarchy.
§ 664. In the mean time, a mighty revolution had taken place in all
the German states. The Diet had experienced an increase of liberal
44*
522 XHB iiAmx pmiQB.
members, and seventeen trnstwortli j men were oomnuMioned to dedga a
new constitBtioD. In Bavaria^ king Lonis gave waj bdbie
pablic opinion, and re8^;ned the government to tlie cnnm
prince, MaTimiKan ; a similar ckange took plaoa in Hesae^Darmataik
In Hanover, Kur-Hease, and tbe greater namber ei states, the often-pcr*
secnted leaden of the liberals were now called to the ministry, and re-
forms were introdoced in a democratic spirit imd with destmctive basie.
But the movement soon became so powerful that rdbrms were no kmger
safiudent, and, here and there, the path of revdation waa entered upon.
In some neighborhoods, the peasants drove away the stewards, destroyed
the land and tithe registers, and the seats of the hmdiorda. It was not
sufficient for the bvers of radical relbnn that the parliament of Frank-
furt-on-the-Main, which assembled by ita own authority in the beginning
of April, laid down the principle of the sovereignty of the people, and
embraced the resolution that a freely elected National Assembly should
prepare a new constitution for collective Germany, and that a perpetual
committee of fifty should watch over the strict execution of thb resolu-
tion on the part of the government; a radical party, with Hedcer, Strnve,
and others at its head, called the people to arms in the upper part of
Baden, for the purpose of establishing a German republic The repabli*
can arms, however, made little pn^;ress. Afler a few expeditioaa^ in
which the union general, Frederick Yon Gagem, lost his lifew the inanr*
rection was quelled and the leaders obliged to fly.
On the 18th of Maj, the sittings of the National Assembly, which was
to frame a constitution, were opened. The assembly in the diurch of
St. Paul in Frankfurt, distinguished by its talent and eloquenoe, was
a worthy expression of German opinion and civilization. One of the
first acts of the Frankfurt parliament was to set aside the Diet, and
establish a new central power. Afler some sharp parliamentary con-
tests, in which the ** bold grasp'' of the president, Henry Yon Gagem,
determined the result, it was finally arranged that the National Assembly
should choose an irresponsible regent, who was then to surround himself
with a responsible ministry. The election, which lock place on the 29th
J of June, was decided in favor of archduke John of Austria,
who, afler his entrance into Frankfurt, received from the
hands of the president of the Diet the power exercised by that body.
S 665. Not less violent were the convubions and mutations produced
in iTALT-by the revolution of February. In Sicilt, the war against
Naples was continued for upwards of a year with great vigor and perse-
verance, without, however, the unfortunate island being able to attain its
asserted independence. The king of Naples, strong in his mercenaiy
Swiss troops, reduced the Sicilians to submission, and then deatroyed by
violence the constitutional government in Naples, which he had gxanted
m a moment of necessity.
THE LATBBT SKyOLUTIONS. 823
In RoHB, the movement soon became too pofwerfal for tbe weak Pope,
nns nL, to eootroL It was in Tain that be promised a eoastitutional
government to die Bcelesiastical State, and summoned an aatemblj of the
Estates to the capital. His minister, Boesi, was killed by tbQ thrust of a
Korember IS, dagger in the throat on the Steps of the House of AssemUj,
l8>is. after which the democrats took the whole power into their
own hands. The pope, filled with terrar, fled in disguise to Gaeta, and
Febniaiy, relinquished the eternal dtj to the populace and the volun-
1M9. teers, who now established the Roman republic and seiaed
upon tbe property of tbe church. Mazainiy the eaergetie chief of Young
I^ly, and Garibaldi, the daring leader of tbe volunteers, ruled in Rome.
The pope now addressed himself to the protecting powers of the Church,
and succeeded so fiir that a French army, under the command of General
Oudinot, marched to the walls of Rome, and demanded the restoration of
the former system. When this was refused, the French proceeded to lay
atege to the city, but encountered so fierce a resistance, that it was only
after weeks of sanguinary attacks and encounters that they got possession
Jul 8 ifi49 ^ ^^^ place. The republicans sought for safety in flight ;
and the old state of things gradually came back under the
protection of bayonets.
In TuscAirr, also, the democrats gained the upper hand for a short
time, and compelled the Grand Duke to take flight ; but the republican
government lasted but a few we^s.
The most remarkable revolutwn in afiairs took place in Uppek Italy.
In Milan and Venice, the Austrian garrisons were driven out
by popukur insurrections and street-fights, whereupon the
standard of independence was raised throughout the whole of Lombardy.
This filled the king, Charles Albert of Sardinia, with the hope of making
himself master of the Lombard- Venetian kingdom. He declared war
against Austria ; and being supported in the first moments of enthusiasm
and surprise by numerous Italian volunteers, he drove bade the enemy
to the northern frontier of Italy. But the state of aflbirs soon changed.
On the 25tb of July, field-marshal Radetaky, who was eighty-six years
of age, gained a victory at Custossa, which was followed by the recon-
quest of Milan and the whole ei Looabardy. The king of Sardinia fied
during the night to his own dominions, and condnded a tmoe with the
victors. Urged on by the democrats, Charles Albert again tried the for-
March 20-34, ^u°o of arms in the following spring. But the okl Radetzk/s
1S40. campaign of four days on the Tesnno and near Novara
brought tbe enterprise to a rapid termination, and rendered abortive the
hopes fji the Italian patriots. Charles Albert, despairing of success, ab-
dicated his throne in favor of his son, Vietw Emmanuel, and fled by secret
paths from the land of his fathers, tall be found a refuge in Portngali
where be shortly after died. The young king then concluded a disad-
Tantageoas peace with Austria.
524 THE LATEST PERIOD.
Yenioe, rendered impregnable bj its poMtion, withstood far some
months longer the besieging armj of Anstrians, till dissensioDs within
and sufferinsB withont cave back the renowned city of the
August 26. . ... m^* .
lagunes to its anaent possessors. Things now ererywhere
returned to their former state, but the honor of Italy had been redeemed
bj the struggle.
f 666. In the mean time, Germany and Hungary experienced still
more violent revolutionary storms and convulsions. Whilst the consdtnent
National Assembly was eonsulting in Frankfurt over the new oonfederaSe
constitution, a sanguinary national war was going on in Schleswic-Holstein
against Denmark. Supported by a good old settlement, according to
which the duchies Schleswic-Holstein were to remain united, and to descend
as a heritage to the male line of the princely house of Oidenbuf^ only, the
sturdy inhabitants of these duchies wished, upon the approaching extinc-
tion of the royal family of Denmaik, to be united to their German rda-
tions under the legitimate and native duke of Augustenburg. Tliis hope
the king of DenmariL, incited by the strong Danish party, had
^ ^ ' ' destroyed by the ^ public letter," in which he announced the
indissoluble connection of Schkswic with Denmark and the undisturbed
integrity of the Danish monarchy. When, in consequence of the Febni-
ary revolution, a mighty movement was communicated to all nations, the
duchies also thought that they must gain their rights by their own
strength. Trusting to the assistance of Germany, which had been pro-
mised to them in many addresses, they erected a provisional goveniment
till their legitimate position should be secured. The central goveniment
of Frankfurt recognized their right, and appointed a lieutenancy. This
was the signal for war. The Grerman people interested themselves for
the land attacked by the Danes. Volunteers, among whom were many
students and promising youths, perilled life and health in the unequal
contest; the German confederate troops, under the command of PnuBia,
cleared Schleswic of the Danes. &ut the strife was rendered unequal
by the want of a German fleet, and the maritime trade of the north suf-
fered much loss and disturbance. This circumstance, and the threatening
attitude of Russia and England, operated in favor of the Danes ; so that
the Prussian government, which had committed the management of the
Schleswio-Holstein question to the central authority of Grermany, entered
into diplomatic negotiations, and concluded the not very creditable truce
Angiutse, of Malmd. When this truce, after long and violent opposi-
1848. tion, was sanctioned by the National Assembly at Frankfurt,
the German republican party, which had long been dissatisfied with the
prudent moderation of the parliament, made this decision a pretext for
attempting to disperse the assembly in the church of St. Paul by means
of an insurrection and street^fight, and then to bring about a revolntioo
and a republic The project was frustrated by calling in the confederate
troops ; but the frightful murder of two memben of the parliament, Aners-
THB LATEST BBYOIiUTIONS. 525
wald and Lichnowskj, in the Bornheimer wood, by the mob,
' afibrded a fearful proof of the height to which rudeness and
barbarism had already risen among the irritated popuhice.
§ 667. This barbarism shortly afterwards displayed itself in the Austrian
empire by two deeds not less horrible. The 'Hungarians, who had for
some time past been excited against Austria by Magyar agitators, strove
to obtain national independence. The kingdom of Hungary was to have
its own government and a separate political existence, totally indepen-
dent of the imperial government in Vienna, and to share neither in the
military system, the national debt or the finance, tax, or trade legislation
of the rest of the empire. These efforts of the Magyars, by which the
kingdom of Hungary was to have retained merely a ** personal union ^
with the Austrian empire, were now developed with greater en ergy, but
encountered a vehement resistance, not in Vienna alone, but among the
Slavish races, Croats, Slavonians, Servians, &c, which were united with
the Magyars in the Hungarian kingdom. Jellachich, Ban of Croatia,
took the field against the Magyars ; his undertaking met with secret
encouragement from the court and ministry. This excited the rage of
the Magyars to such a height, that the furious mob put the imperial corn-
October 8, missioner, Lamberg, to a frightful death upon the bridge of
1848. BndarPesth. This deed called forth an imperial war mani-
festo, in consequence of which a portion of the Austrian army received
orders to march upon Hungary. But the Viennese democrats, who saw
their own cause in the insurrection in Hungary, prevented the march,
and excited a rebellion in the capital that surpassed in violence and im-
portance all. that had preceded it A crowd of people, furious with Latour,
the minister of war, who had had communications with Jellachich, forced
their way into the war-office and killed the unfortunate man with blows
of hammers and thrusts of pikes. This was the commence-
ment of the Vienna October days, the most violent catastrophe
of this deeply-moved time. Horrified at the fierce proceedings of the
aroused masses, the king again left the capital and retired to Olmutz in
Moravia. Thence he issued his commands to prince Windischgratz, who,
a few months before, had displayed his vigor and resolution
by the energetic suppression of a Slavish insurrection in
Prague, to reduce the insurgent capital to submission. Thus commenced
the memorable siege and storm of Vienna.. For three weeks, the demo-
crats, who were supported by a licentious press, by clubs, and public
speeches, defended Uiemselves against the besieging troops. Volunteers
and democratic leaders, united together from all parts in the capital, kept
alive the spirit of contest At length, the military superiority of the
army carried off the victory. The town was taken by storm and put
under martial law ; and the leaders and promoters of the revolutionary
movement severely punished. ^Many found their death from what, in
military law, is called " powder and lead." Among these was Robert
626 THB LATB8T PERIOD.
"BHam, a member of the Fnmkfait Natknud AsMmblj, and chief speaker
of the ^Left" He had taken a share in the straggle ; his charactw as
representative of die people eoold not save him from the iron seieritjr of
the general ; the Geimon democrats regarded him as the martjrr of fiberty,
and celebrated a general* funeral solemnity. The Austrian legislative
National Assembly was removed from Vienna to Kremsier in Moravia.
§ 668. These proceedings, and the violent contest that sprang up
in Hungary, when WindischgriLtz, with the proud conscioosness of a
victor, led the Austrian army agunst Pesth, confirmed the majority of
the Frankfurt parliament in the persuasion that it would be adrantageooa,
as well for the Germans as the Austrian confederacy, if eadi were sepa-
rately to erect its new system of government upon a liberal basis, and
then to conclude farther federative relations with a trade and costoms
legislation common to both. Prassia was to be at the head of the Ger*-
. nlan union. This project found its most decided supporter in the presi-
dent, Henry Von Gagem, who, for the purpose of carrying oat the
scheme more effectually, assumed in December the presidentship of the
imperial ministry. The plan, however, enoountered the greatest opposi-
tion from the Austrian delegates, who discovered in it the exclusion of
Austria from Germany ; from the Catholics, who feared the prepondfr^
ranee of Protestant Prassia ; and from the republicans, who saw, in a
powerful hereditary monarchy, an insuperable obstacle to ^he reaUxatiott
of their principles, and who were irritated with the Prussian government
on account of the dissolution of the constituent imperial assembly in Ber-
lin. The king of Prussia had long been a witness of the senseless pro-
ceedings of the democrats ; he had repeatedly changed his ministry in
accordance with their widies, he had offered no impediment to the debates
of the Diet where the democratic party was in a majority, he had surren*
dered the capital to the defence of the militia. But when the presump-
tion of the populace, who were kept in a constant state of fermentation by
foreign and native agitators, by placards on the walls, and by publk
orators, exceeded ail bounds; when the popular unions ruled the- city ;
when crowds of noisy rioters surrounded U10 National Assembly, and
exercised an influence upon the course of the debates by intimidation,
the king at length resolved to put an end to these proceedings. The new
Brandenburg-Manteuffel ministry adjourned the National Assembly, and
removed the next sitting to the town of Brandenbuig ; and when a con-
siderable number of the members refused obedience to the command, and
continued their meetings in Berlin, despite the state of war with whidi
Koyember ^ ^^ ^'^ threatened, and, at length, when driven out by
and December, the military, declared the levying of taxes to be contrary to
1848. ]^^^ ^Yi^ dissolution took place. At tiie same time, the
government itself proclaimed a constitution vpon an extremdy liberal
basis, which was to be submitted to a new elective assemUy with two
doanbeiBy for its examination and approval.
THB LATB8T BBTOLimONS* 823
% 669. It WBB not long before a einikr mewnre followed is Aiittria.
For the pnrpoee of getting a free field, the emperor Ferdinand, who, al
the time of the disturbances, had made manj promieee, had been indnoed
to resign the goTemment as earij as December, whereupon his youthful
nephew, Francis Joseph, obtained the imperial throne. He dissolyed the
constituent Diet of Kremsier, in March, 1649, and then proclaimed an
^ octroyed " * constitution, and a kw respecting seignorial rights and the
indemnification for feodal dues. Hungary was at the same time to be
restrained by fresh exertions of power. But the Austrians encountered
a noble resistance from this warlike and hardy equestrian and nomadic
lieople, the Magyars. Excited by the fiery doqnence of Kossuth, and
supported by Polish leaders, like Dembinski and Bem, the Hungarians
compelled the hostile forces to retreat, captured Buda, and got possession
of all the fortresses. Gorgey, a braye and able general, was at the head
of the forces. The army of the insurgents was strengthened by the native
militia (Honyeds), and by foreign volunteers ; Hungarian bank-notes,
prepared by Kossuth, were paid and accepted as money. Full of proud
April 14, confidence, the Diet of Debreczin declared Hungary's inde*
1849. pendence of Austria, and established a provisional govern-
ment under the direction of Kossuth. It was now discovered in Austria
that Windischgr&tz had undertaken a task to which he was not equal ; he
was recalled, and field-marshal Haynau appointed in his place. As the
Austrian court was convinced that he could not, with his own forces, sup-
press the Hungarian insurgents, who were now approaching the frontiers
of Austria, it called upon Russia for assistance. The hostile armies now
marched into Hungary from three quarters : on the north, Paskewitsch
with his Russians ; on the west, Haynaa with his Austrian troops ; and
on the south, Jellachich with his Croats. The Hungarian army never-
theless resisted for many months, and Gdrgey, Klapka, and other brave
generals yet gained many a splendid victory. But internal dissensions
among the Polish and Magyar leaders, and a division that had arisen
between Kossuth and Goigey, paralysed the strength of the insurgents.
Pressed upon on all sides, G<$rgey, who had been named dictator, laid
Angiut 11, down his arms to the Rus«ans at Vilagos, and thus brought
1S49. about the subjection of the country. Kossuth and many of
the insurgent leaders found refiige in Turkey ; but who can tell how
great was the number of those who died by the sentence of courts martial,
or pined away in dungeons, or who served in the baggage and convey-
ance department of the Austrian army ? Goigey has since lived in
Carinthia ; but the public voice of his nation accuses him of treachery to
the cause of his country.
f 670. Hungary's fsJl, by the catastroj^ of Vilagos, was the close of
• Thai is, pnoted by the lOverdgD, of his own free will, tnd thevefore owing its TsUcDty
to his tntfaority, instead of being fonned and decreed by the people themsehes or by thiir
lepreeentatlvei.
528 THB LATBST PEBIOD.
Uie reTolutionary moTement that had spread over Europe after the Pflrii-
ian revolution of Februaiy. It had reached its termination some time
previously in Germany.
In the midst of many contests, the Frankfurt National Assembly had
at length accomplished the solution of its task. It had established and
made known the ^ fundamental rights of the German people," and had
at last accomplished the formation of an imperial constitution. The
Gagem party, which was striving for a German confederacy, with an
hereditary emperor, and a legislative assembly divided into a govemmeat
and popular house, had at last carried their proposal by a small majority,
afler they had won the support of many members of the Left bj accept-
ing a democratic elective law with universal right of suffrage. The new
imperial constitution was brought to a conclusion by this
^ compromise," and the transference of the hereditary dig-
nity of the emperor to the king of Prussia was also carried. A solemn
deputation, headed by the worthy president Simson, now conveyed the
resolution of the Assembly to the king of Prussia, and made him an offer
of the imperial crown, upon condition of his accepting the constitution in
all its details. It was a great historical moment when, on the 3d of
April, king Frederick William IV. met the deputation in the great hall
of his palace in Berlin ; the results of this event were looked for with
the utmost eagerness by the German nation. But the king first gave an
ambiguous answer, and at length decisively rejected the dignity offered
him by the people. The deputies of parliament had gone forth, as it
were, in triumph ; they returned . to Frankfurt very like scattered fugi-
tives. When the Prussian Assembly of Estates, which, in the mean
time, had been again summoned, voted an address to the throne, in which
the acceptance of the imperial office and constitution was recommended
as the wish of the nation, the second chamber was dissolved and the first
adjourned, and then followed an alteration of the elective
^" law, so that, in future, an electiop arranged upon the three
tax-paying classes was to take place of the universal right of suffrage.
§ 671. This rejection of the imperial constitution brought fresh revo>
lutionary storms upon Germany. The democrats, who had hitherto been
satisfied neither with the Frankfurt parliament, with the imperial con-
stitution, nor with the ^ historical sentimentality " of an hereditary em-
peror, now took advantage of the rejection for again assuming arms.
Violent insurrections and sanguinary street-fights took place, for the pur-
pose of '* carrying through the imperial constitution;'* and even first
of all in those states which had opposed its introduction — in Saxony, in
the Bavarian Palatinate, and in some parts of Rhenish Prussia. Other
states also were soon hurried away by the movement; and when a
mutiny broke out among the soldiers in the fortress of Rastadt, in the
grand duchy of Baden, where the government had acknowledged the
imperial constitution, which extended itself to Carlsruhe, and in conse>
THE LATEST BEVOLUTIONS. 529
quenoe of which the grand duke was compelled to take flight, and the
gOYernment fell into the hands of the democratic and repuhlican party,
the revolntion had guned a hroad foundation. In the Frankfurt National
Assembly, also, the Left was constantly gaining power by the opposition
of the governments to the woik of the constitntion ; especially when
many of the conservatiTe and constitutional party voluntarily resigned
their seats, and others yielded obedience to the calls of their governments.
In this melancholy position, Germany was saved from ruin by the
bravery of the Prussian army. Prussian troops first repressed the iso*
lated outbreaks in Eberfeld, Dusseldorf, and many other places ; Prus-
sian troops marched to Dresden, at the call of the Saxon government,
and rescued the dty, after a barricade-fight of six days, from the hands
of the provisional government; lastly, Prussian troops and militia
marched into Baden and the Bavarian Palatinate, when the grand duke
sought assistance from Berlin, and suppressed the revolution at the mo-
ment when it threatened to seize upon the kingdom of Wirtemberg. For
whilst these proceedings were taking place, the Frankfurt National As-
sembly was gradually losing its conservative members, so that, at last, the
whole authority devolved upon the men of the Left These determined
to support themselves upon the revolution, and accordingly removed
their sittings from Frankfurt to Stuttgart, to be nearer the revolutionary
mass. The ** Bump Parliament," scarcely a hundred men strong, went
over to Wirtemberg, established an ^ imperial regency ** of five members,
and gave a weight to the revolutionary movements, till the minister,
Romer, a man of firm hand and resolute temper, put a term
to their proceedings, and compelled them to leave the king-
dom. At the same time, the Russian soldiers, supported by the imperial
forces, marched through the grand duchy of Baden, defeated the revolted
troops and volunteers, under the Polish adventurer, Mierolawski, in seve-
ral engagements, and again restored the old system. Some promoters
of the insurrection, and among them the parliamentary member, Trutsch-
ler, were shot by the sentence of a court-martial ; but the immediate
originators and leaders saved themselves by fljring to republican countries.
Whilst the movement was still raging unsuppressed in the open field, the
king of Prussia issued a proclamation to hb people, which was calculated
to awaken their confidence. He promised to satisfy the longing for Ger-
man unity by establishing a union with a popular representation ; and,
shortly after, i^peared a new imperial constitution on the basis of the
Frankfurt proposal, in the name of the three kingdoms, Prussia, Hanover,
and Saxony. The approval with which this proffered gift was received
by all the moderate party, and in favor of which a large number of the
Frankfurt parliament, assembled in Gotha, (the after parilament), declared
themselves, ocmtributed materially to the padficatum of the disturbed
countries. It was not long, however, before Saxony and Hanover, sup-
45
530 IHB LATI8T PERIOD.
poirted by Anstria, retired from the ^ league of the three kings ;" upon
which Pnusia, who^ since swearing to the new consHtation oa F^bnuaj
6» 1850y has entered into the number of <wistitntional monarchies
attempted, at the Erfurt Diet, to unite the German States, whidi sdU
adhered to the league, into a oonfedenicy. But this plan also met with
opposition fifwn Austria and the other kingdoms, which required the restor-
ation of the old Diet
f 672. Owing to these divisions and parties, affiiurs in Sdileswie-
H<^tein took a diaastrous turn* The contest had b^;un anew in March,
1849, and the news flew like lightning in the dark night throu^ the
country, that German troops had sunk the Danish ship of the line,
^ XSbristian VnL," hj means of strand batteries ; and that the proud
A rii 6 ^'^^ '^ Geflon," had been compelled to surrender, afier the
loss of her rudder. The Tictorious Germans soon mardied
to Frederica, and laid siege to this frontier fortress. But the aetiviqr
of the allied troops of Prussia and Germany being paralysed by the
peace negotiations commenced with Dennuuk, the enemy found an op-
portunity to reinforce the garrison of Frederica, and afterwards to drive
back the German army by an unexpected sally, and to make themaelTes
masters of the trenches and the artillery. A fresh truce was now
arranged, in consequence of which, Schleswk was placed
^' under a neutral government, and garrisoned with German and
Swedish troops. This truce became a peace in the foUowing year, by
which Schleswio-Holstein was to have resumed its former relatioos with
Denmark. But the lieutenancy, that had been established there during
the war by the Gennan central power, would not accede to the peace,
and determined, after the retreat of the Prussian garrison, to maintain
its right by its own strength, and the voluntary assistance of the German
nation.
CoNOLUSiOH. The revolutionary storms of the years 1848 and 1849
have now reached their termination* These two years were rich in
hopes and experiences, in disappointments and griefr. Providence has
once more placed the conduct and shaping of affidrs in the hands of
princes; may they employ this power wisely, and to the boiefit of thdr
people, that confidence may be once more restored to the minds of men!
For, true as it is, that no political or social anrangement can secure the
true happiness of the people, unless a deeper morality and religion, a
more active sense of dvil and domestic virtue, and a wanner feeling ^
duty, preexist in their minds ; so true is it also, that states can only
prosper and flourish when the public faith between a prince and his peo-
ple is firmly estiOilished, and the oonfidenoe in the honest and benevoleot
I of the govemamit is exposed to no disturbance.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
B. C.
NiscROD builds Babjlon 2100
Niniu builds Kineyfth 2000
Abraham flourished . • 2000
Joseph do. • • * 1800
Sesostrisking 1900
Moses flouijshed 1600
Joshua do. • .^ 1490
Trojan war 1184
Samuel flourished 1150
HeracIidaB return to Pdopoimesas 1104
Saul flourished . 1095
Maeris and Cheops 1080
Codrus, king of Athens, dies 1068
David flourished 1050
Solomon do. 1000
Rehoboamdo. 975
Jeroboam do. 971
Sardanapalus destroys himself 888
Lycurgus reforms the Spartan oonstitntion . • . • . • 884
Carthage founded 880
Necho (Pharaoh) 800
Foundation of Borne 758
Annual Archons at Athens » 752
First Messenian war 748 — 724
Salmaneser flourishes 730
Salmaneser subdues Phoenicia • • 780 .
Ten Tribes of Israel removed hj Salmaneser 722
(Judah remains 180 years longer.)
Sennacherib flouriAes 720
Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem, but his army is destroyed • 720
Archilochus the poet bom at Pares . . , ' . . . 700
NumaPompilius king of Rome 700
Second Messenian war 687 — 670
Psammedcus puts down the power of the Egyptian priests by Greek
mereenaries 650
Tullus Hostilhis king of Borne 650
AncusMartiuS do. • • 629
532 CHBONOLOGICAL TABLB.
B.C.
Draco legislator • 6M
Ktneyeh destrojed 606
Kebuchadnezzar begins to reign over Babjrioii 600
Nebuchadnezzar^plnnden the temple at Jenmlem, and removes the
chief inhabitants 600
Periander reigns in Corinth . 600
Sappho the poetess bom at Lesbos 600
AlceuB the poet bom at Mitjlene 600
TarqainiusPriscus king of Borne 600
Kebuchadnezzar's attempt on Tyre fiuls &90
Judah taken into captivity hj Nebnchadnemr, and remains therein
seTentjjrears: Jenualem destroyed • &SS
Pythagoras floorishes, bom at Samos 584
Astysges the Median king floorished 575
Cyms the Great da 560
Pisistratos tyrant of Athens • 560
SerriusTulliuskingofBome 550
Polycrates tyrant of Samos 550
Babylon taken by the Persians, and Cyras pves the Jews leare to
return home • 558
Tarquinius Superbus reigns • • . . « • . from 553 — 500
Cambyses conquers Egypt, and flourishes .... from 529 — 521
Hippias and Hipparchus begin to rule at Athens . . . • 527
Darius Hystaspes comes to the throne, and reigns • . frtm 521 — -485
The Temple at Jerusalem completed in the reign of Darius . . 515
Republic established at Athens 510
Abolition of royalty in Rome 50»
Oppression of the plebeians by patricians to debt .... 495
Secession to the Sacred Mount 494
Destraction of liGletus 494
Coric^us banished from Rome 490
Battle of Marathon \ rr - ••^ I *^
Battle at the Pass of Themiopyls . . ( XTT'^n^'T ) ^^
Battle of SaUmis . ^^ . . . ( *>y*J«Greeks J ^
BatdeofPUt«a ...... )o^^**^^*"^( 479
Banishment of Themistocles for ten yean 471
Earthquake at Sparta . . . . , 465
Ezra and Nehcmiah rebuild Jenualem- 460
Cincinnatus taken from the plough to be dictator 453
Ambassadors sent to Grascia Magna and Athens, to collect the laws of
Solon and select others 452
Decemvirs appointed • • • • . 450
Herodotus bom ..'••••••••. 450
Battle of ChsBronea 447
The peace of Pericles 445
The plebeians obtain a share in the consulate . . • • • 444
Military tribunals appointed 442
Isocrates flourished 456 — 558
CHBONOLOGIOAL TABLS. 533
B.C.
Thucydidef bom • . • . 430
Flato floarisfaed 429 — S48
Death of Pericles bjtlieplagnewbk^iiated Athens . . . • 429
AtheniMis under Denioslhenes capture I^los 426
The peace of Nidas with Sparta 421
The Athenian expedition against Syraonae 415
Destruction of the Athenian fleet at iBgosPotamos • • • . 405
Athens compelled to surrender to the Spartans 404
Xenophon bom • 400
Socrates dies hj poison 999
Antisthenes flourished 996
Veii subdued bj Camillus • • • . 396
Demosthenes flourished 385 — 832
Peace of Antalcidas (Corinthian War) 387
Death of M.3iIan]ius(Capitolinu8) 383
Battle of Lenctra 371
Aristippus flourished 370
Battle of Manljnea 362
Destruction of Sidon * • 350
War between the Bomans and Latins 342
Peace between the Bomans and Samnites 340
The Latins are defeated bjr the patriotism of Dedns . • • • 338
BattleofChsronea, liberty of Greece ended ..... 338
Battle ofGranicus (Persians defeated) 334
Darius Codomanus defeated at Issos • 333
Destruction of Tyre by Alexander ....••. 332
Batdesof ArbelaandGaugamela 331
AgisH, king of Sparta, defeated at Megalopolis 330
Bupture between the Romans and Samnites 325
Di^nes flourished ... ...... 324
Alexander the Great dies at Babylon . 323
Demosthenes destroys himself 322
Antigonus assumes the chief power after Alexander's death . 321
Syracuse besieged by the Carthaginians . , • • 317
Antigonus is acknowledged regent of Alexander's empire • 316
JEschines flourished • 314
The Stoics flourished 312
Battle of Issos. Defeat of Antigonus 301
Samnites defeated by the doTOtion of the younger Decius • 295
Samnitesacknowledge the supremacy of Borne 290
The Mamentines seize Mesnna, and devastate Syracuse ... 289
The translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek, called the Septu-
agint Vernon 284
Pyrrhus engaged in war with Rome .281
Theocritus the poet flourished 280
Euclid the mathematician flourished in Alexandria .... 280
Pyrriius defeated by the Bomans at BeneTeatnm .'•••• 275
P^rrrfaQf dies before Aigos 272
45*
684 OH&OKOLOOIOAL TABLB.
B.CL
Hie Romana win their fint BaTal battle at M^ls Ml
Hie Epicureans floarish 100
Aratus the Sicyon choeen eommandei^n-eliief of Ifae AdMsaa iaagna . fW
The Bomans make a succeesfol aaUy againtt tlie Ctoiiaginiinii ftom
FanonnQs 143
The Carthagenians, defeated at the ^jgatian iriaad^ eoneent to peace,
and give up Sicily .... * 142
Agifl IIL, king of 8parta, flourished 240
Sicily made a Roman proTince • .138
Cleomenes III^ king of Spaita, flourished ISO
The Cisalpine Gauls make an inroad into Etruria, but are defeated.
The Roman province, Gallia Cisalpina, established . . . . 222
Defeat of the Spartans by the combined forces of the AflhsMmn and
Macedonians at SeUasia .....•«. .821
Hannibal crosses the Apennines 217
Defeat of the Romans at CannsD, by Hannibal 2U
They successfully engage twice with the Caithaginians • . • .115
Marcellus besieges Syracuse - 114
Archimedes the mathematician flourished in Sicily . • • . 112
8}Tacuse, by the aid of Archimedes, holds out three yean before it is
taken and destroyed 112
The Capuans, deserted by Hannibal, surrender to Rome • • • 211
Hasdrubal crosses the Alps to join Hannibal 106
Philopoemen reduces Sparta and destroys it 107
Hasdrubal is slain, and his army destroyed at the river Metaanis . . 107
Scipio passes over into Africa 104
Battle of Zama. Defeat of the Carthagenians 102
Philip compelled by the Romans to acknowledge the iad^ndenee of
Greece 197
Perseus defeated at Fydna by Panlus ^milius IM
Macedonia made a Roman province by Metellus 148
Corinth destroyed by Mummius US
The Maccabees are goremors and high priests of Judea . • 143 — 195
Numantia taken by the younger Scipio 1^
Tib. Gracchus proposes the renewal of the agrarian law ... 133
His brother, Caius Gracchus, proposes the same after his deadi . . 123
The attempts of C. Gracchus utteriy defeated 121
The Romans defeated by the Teutones and Cimbri at Carinthia . • 113
Metellus sent into Africa against Jugurtha, and retrieTes the character
of the Roman aimy • . • • 109
C. Marius chosen consul by the people 107
The Teutones are defeated at Aquas Sexti» by Marini ... 102
Marius chosen consul for the sixth time 100
The Social war • . . . . 90—88
Sylla sent against Mithridates (first Mithridatic war) . . • . 88
Athens captured. Delphi jduiidered by Sylla 87
Marius gratifies his revenge: it chosen consul for the WdvmHk Inaey but
dies a few months after 86
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 535
B. C.
Tlie death of Sylla 78
The second Mthridatie war 74 — 65
Pompey puts down the reMt under Sertorios * .* • • • . 78
The revolt of the slaves 72
They are defeated by M. Crassus 71
Lacullas defeats Tlgranes at Tigranocerta 69
Pompey subdues the Annenians and defeats Mithridates . • • 66
Pompey turns his arms against the pirates in the East . . . . 67
The Triumvirate formed (Pompey, Csssar, Crassus) . • • • 60
Cflesar made governor of Gaul 58
Caesar's wars in Gaul 58 — 50
The last insurrection put down at Alesia, by Csssar • • • . 52
The second civil war at Rome 49, 48
Caesar advances upon Rome with his army 49
Pompey defeated at Pharaalus: is assassinated in Egypt ... 48
The hopes of the republicans at Borne and their anny destroyed at
Thapsus 46
The remnant of Pompey's friends defeated at Munda • • • . * 45
CsBsar assassinated 44
Second Triumvirate fonned (Ootavins, Anthony, Lepidus) . . • 48
The republicans defeated at Philippi 42
The victory of Octavios at Actium 81
Egypt becomes a province c^ the Roman empire 80
Augustus, emperor f®*^*^^
A. D.
The Roman legions under Yams defeated by the Grermans ... 9
Augustus dies at Nola 14
Tiberius emperor 14 — 37
Caligula da 87 — 41
Claudius da 41 — 54
Nero da . 54 — 68
Galba, Otho, Yitellius, emperors 68 — 70
Vespasian emperor 70 — 79
Jerusalem destro3red by Titus 70
Vespasian succeeded hy his son Titus ...••• 79 — 81
Domitian emperor . . . • 81 — 96
Nerva da . • • • 96 — 98
Tn^n da 98 — 117
Adrian da 117—188
The Jewish nation, as a state, at an end 125
Antoninus Pius emperor . 188 — 161
Marcus Anrelius da 161 — 180
Commodus da 180 — 192
Pertinaz da 198
Septimius Seyems da 198 — 211
Caracalla da 211—917
536 CHBONOLOGICAL TABLB.
A. 9.
Heliogabaliu emperor •••••••• 918 — S3t
Alexander Seyenu da S82 — 235
Philip the Anb da - S48 — 249
Dedus da S49 — 2S1
Gallienns do. .*•••••. 259 — 2S8
AurelianuB da S70 — 275
Tacitus (descendant of the historian) da 275, 2 7€
Probiis da 276 — 282
Caros da 282 — 284
Diocletian do. 284 — 805
Constantine oyerthrows Maxentius at the Milvian bridge, and takes
possesion of Borne 813
Constantine becomes sole emperor. He &Ton the CHiristiana . 825
Constantinas emperor 857 — 860
Julian restores the renown of the Roman army in the Netheriands 857
Julian proclaimed emperor > ^^
Constantius' death >
Julian reigns as emperor 861 — 868
Jovian do. da 868, 864
The empire divided j 1^^""^ rules over Ae EasI . . . 864-878
^ ( Yalentinian L rules over the West . . 364—895
The Goths devastate Thessalj, Central Greece, and the Pelopon-
nesus : made to retreat hj Stilicho 896
Alaric devastates the banks of the Po, but is obliged to retreat . 408
Duke Badagais and his barbarous horde defeated hj Stilicho . 406
Bome besieged, taken, and plundered bj Alaric . • • . 410
Adolffoundsthekingdomofthe West Goths in South Ganl . 412
Yalentinian m. reigned 425 — 455
Clovis defeats the Alemanni at Zulpich 486
iEtius defeats Attila on the Catalannian plains .... 451
Attila retreats into Hungary 452
An end is put to Uie Western Empire of Borne by Odoacer . • 467
Clovis, king of the Franks, conquers the country between the Sdne
and Loire . • . . 486
Clovis puts to death the chiefii of the Frank tribes ... 507
Justinian emperor of the Byxantine empire . • . . • 527 — 565
Amalasanta, Theodoric's daughter, murdered .... 584
Belisarius defends Bome against the Gothi 587
Totila made king of the Goths 540
Tejas made king of the Goths, but slain in a batde with Narses . 554
Mohammed flourished 571 — 682
Mohammed's flight from Mecca (Hegira), 16th July • . 628
Abu Bekir succeeds Mohammed 682 — 684
Omarkhalif 684—644
Persia becomes subject to the Modems . . • • . 684
Alexandria taken by the Mohammedans under Amm • . • 640
Othman succeeds to the khali&to 644 — 656
The Ommiades take the khali&to 660
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 537
A. D.
riie Mohammedans cany their anoa through Cypnu, Bhodee, Ana
Minor, and attack Byzantinm . .^ . . 668 — 675
Leo the Isaurian emperor of Byzantium 717 — 741
Charles Martel defeats the Sancens between Touts and Pdctien . 7S2
Constantine Copronymns emperor of Byzantium . • • . 741^745
The dynasty of the Ommiades orerthrown 752
Pepin dies, and divides his kingdom between his sons . . . . 768
Charlemagne made emperor of the Franks 771
The West Goths orerthrown at Xeres de la Frontera by the
Arabians . 712
Charlemagne takes Ae fortress of Eresbuig, and compels the Sax-
ons to make peace 772
diaries conquers Pavia, and unites Upper Italy to his empire 774
Leo IV. emperor of Byzantium 775 — 780
Charles the second time subdues the Saxons ^ 777
Thassilo, Duke of Bavaria, attempts to throw off the Frank yoke . ^ 788
Irene empress of Byzantium 800
Leo the Armenian emperor of Byzantium 818 — 820
Louis the Debonnaire flourished 814 — 840
Egbert establishes the hierarchy in England 827
The sons of Louis take up arms against him 836
Louis dies near Jugelheim 840
The treaty of partition of Verdun 848
Basilius the Macedonian emperor of Byzantium .... 867
Alfred the Great flourished . . < 871 — 901
The kingdom in Norway founded by Harold Fairhair; and in Den-
mark, by Goim the old 875
Charles the Fat flourished 876 — 887
Amulf flourished . 887 — 898
Charles the Simple flourished 898 — 929
Kingdom formed in Sweden by the Yngiians .... 900
Conrad I. elected emperor of Germany 911 — 919
Henry the Fowler 916 — 986
He defeats the Hungarians at Merseburg 988
Otho the Great flourished 986 — 973
He puts an end to the depredations of the Hungarians . . . 955
The victory of Otho over the Hungarians on tlie Lechfield . . 978
Otho n. emperor of Germany 973 — 983
OthoHL do. 983 — 1002
Hugh Capet king of the Franks 987 — 996
Stephen the Fious king of Hungary ...... 1000
Vladimir the Great emperor of Rosna 1000
Canute the Great flourished 1017 — 1035
Conrad IL emperor of Germany 1024 — 1039
Canute the Great of Denmark and Olaf of Norway become Chris-
tians 1025
The Moorish dynasty in Spain divided 1088
Henry EL emperor of Germany 1039 — 1056
538 CHBONOLOGIGAL TABLE.
A. Dl
Edward the ConfiBMor 1041 — 10(6
Bobeii Gviacard (a Norman noble) becomes master of part of
Lower Italy 1060
^niliam the Conqoeror overthrows Harold at Hastings 10$€
Robert Guiscard's son, Bdhemond, increases his territory . « 1<^72
Henry IV. defeats the Saxons at Unstmtfa .... 1075
He personally implores the withdrawal of the ban of excommuni-
cation at Borne 1077
Gregory deposed, and Clement IIL dected Pope ... 1081
Henry's expedition against pope Gregory .... 1089
Pope Gregory dies at Salerno 1084
At the Assembly at Clermont, pope Urban 11. calls upon Europe
to recover Palestine 1085
The first Crusade 1096-^1099
A large army under celebrated leaders arrives at Antioch on its
way to Jerusalem 1097
They come in sight of Jerusalem 1099
Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders, July 15 ... . 1099
The Cid (Campeador) flourished 1099
Henry V. emperor of Germany , ^ 1106 — 1145
Lothaire the Saxon emperor of Germany 1125 — 1137
Boger II. flourished, and forms the kingdom of Naples and Sicfly 1180 — 1 1 54
Louis VIL king of France 1187 — 1180
Conrad m. Emperor of Germany 1188 — 1153
Henry the Proud (House of Ghielph) dies .... lUS
The second Crasade originated by St Bernard 1149
Grisa II. king of Hungary . . . . . 1150
, Frederick Barbarossa emperor of Germany . .1152 — 1190
Henry n., of Anjou, king of England 1154 — 1189
Frederick undertakes a second expedition against Milan . • 1158
Death of archbishop Thomas-arBecket 1170
The Germans, under Frederick, defeated at Legnano 1176
Frederick deprives Henry the lion of his dukedoms . • 1179
Philip Augustus n. king of France 1180—1223
The Crusaders, defeated at Tiberius, and many towns, together
with Jerusalem, taken by Saladin 1187
Richard Lion-heart ascends the English throne . . 1189. 1190
Henry ni. emperor of Germany 1190 — 1197
The news of the taking of Jerusalem gives rise to the third Cra-
sade ' . . 1192
John (Lackland) king of England 1199 — 1216
Waldemar H., the Conqueror, king of Denmark . . .1 209 — 1 24 1
The fourth Crusade 1203, 1204
The Cross is preached, by order of the Pope, against Baimond
YL and the Albigenaes 1205
Philip of Swabia murdered 1908
Innocent IH. renews the war between the Gnelpha and Ghibel^
lines 1210
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLB.
539
hy Henry of
from
Twentj thousand children leame tfieir homes lor the Holy Lmd
Mftgoft Chartft granted
Henry m. king of England
Frederick IL emperor of Germany
The House of ZKhringen becomea extinol
Louis Vni. king of France
St Louis da
Woldemar, king of Denmark, made prisoner
Schwerin . . > ,
Zengis Khan chief of the Moguls, or Tartars
The fiflh Crusade undertaken by Frederick TL
Jerusalem and a part of Palestine ceded to him
Charter ('' The Golden Bull '') obtained by the Hungarians
Andreas TL
Bussia made tributaiy to the Moguls ....
Pope Gregory ES. dies '
The Christians are defeated at Graza by the Carismians
Henry Raspe, of Thuringia, riral emperor to Frederick H.
Alfonso X. king of Spain
Manfred defeated at Beneventum by treachery .
Conradine falls into the hands of Charies of Anjou
Egypt fiUls into the hands of the Mamelukes
Edward L king of England
Ottocar, king of Bohemia, defeated at Marchfield
Rudolf of Hapsburg chosen emperor of Grermany
The French are slain on the Sicilian vespers
Peter of Aragon frees Sicily of Charles of Anjou
Dispute between Bruce and Baliol for the Scottish crown
Philip the Fur king of France ....
Adolf of Nassau emperor of Germany
The Christians retire from Syria, when the Mamelukes
Antioch
Adolf of Nassau is defeated and slain in the battle at (rollheim
Albert of Austria emperor of Grejrmany
Osman makes Prusa in Bithynia his cajHtal, and carries on
against Greece ....
Pope Boni&ce VHI. dies .
Pope Clement V. removes his court from Eome to Avignon
Edward TL on the English throne ....
Henry VII. of Luxemburg emperor of Grermany
The persecution of the Templars by Philip the Fair •
Moby, their Grand Master, tried upon various chaigea
Henry VH. makes an expedition into Italy
Molay condeomed and burnt
Leopold defeated by the Swiss at Morguton
Yladislaus lY. king of Poland
Frederick the Fair defeated at MuhkUnf .
Alfonso XL king of Spain . . • •
take
war
1216.
1218-
1228-
1226-
A.I>.
1218
1916
-1272
-1260
1218
-1226
-1270
1227
1227
1228
1299
1284
1287
1241
1244
1246
1268 — 1284
1960
1968
1970
•1807
1278
-1298
1282
1272
1278
1286-
1291-
1288
-1814
-1298
1291
1298
1298 --1808
1999
1808
1805
-1897
-1818
1807-
1808-
1894 —
1310
1810
1812
1816
1820
1822
1840
540 CHBONOLOaiCAL TABLE.
DealJi of Leopold, the brother of Fredetickliie Eur ... IIM
Kdward m. king of England 1827— 1S77
Philip YI. king of France 1328 — 1847
Casimir the Great king of Poland 1888—1370
The tax, Alcavala, introduced into Spain ..... 1840
Waldemarm. king of Denmark 1840 — 1875
Louis the Groat (of Anjou) elected king of Hungary . . . 1842 — 1848
Johanna L queen of Naples 1848 — 1882
Louis of Bavaria has a riyal for the empire in the son of John of
Bohemia 1346
Batde of Creasy (English victorious) 1846
A new republican Borne establbhed 1847
Charles IV. emperor of Germany 1847 — 1878
John the Good king of France 1847 — 1864
Charles IV. opened the German Univenity in Prague . . 1848
Louis of Bavaria lost his life in a bear-hunt near Munich • 1849
Peter the Cruel of Spaia 1850 — 1869
The Swiss obtain their freedom by the battle of Sempach . 1851
The death of CoU di Rienzi, instigator of the rebellion at Borne . 1854
Victory of the English at Poictiers 1856
Insurrection in Paris 1358
Calais and the south-west of France ceded to the English . • 1860
Murad I., chief of the Ottomans, subdues Asia Minor, and passes
into Europe 1361 — 1889
Philip the Bold Duke of Burgundy 1868 — 1404
Magnus IL deposed from the Swedish throne .... 1368
John the Good returns to his captivity, and dies .... 13S4
Charles V. king of France 1864 — 1880
Louis the Great made king of Hungary ..... 1870 — 1382
Death of die Black Prince i
Calais alone left to the English ( ^'^^
Bichard XL king of England 1877 — 1899
Wenceslaus emperor of Germany 1878 — 1400
Charics VI. king of France 1880 — 1422
Wickliff flourished 1884
Battle of Sempach 1886
The Jagellons retain the crown of Poland 1886 — 1572
The great cities' war commenced 1888
Biyazet, chief of the Ottomans, continues the victories of his
&lherMnradI • . 1889-1403
The three Scandinavian kingdoms under one sceptre by the
union of Calmar 1897
rHeniy IV. (Lancaster) king of England 1899 — 1418
Zurich, Berne, and Zug join the Swiss ConfederatioQ . . 1899
The electors depose Wenceslaus from the empire of Germany , 1400
Rupert ofthe Palatinate is chosen emperor . . \ . 1400 -- 1410
Hie Turks are defeated, and Bajazet made prisoner by the Mo-
guls, under Tamerlane, at Angon 1402
GHBONOLOGICAL TABLE. 641
A. D.
Jolin, Sans Pear, dnke of Bttignndy 1404 — 1419
Sigismond emperor of Grermany 1410 — 14S7
Henry Y. king of England 1418 — 1422
Coancil of Constance 1414 — 1418
Joanna n. queen of Naples . ' 1414 — 1485
HnsB condemned 1415
Yictory of the English under Henry V. at Aginconrt . . . 1415
Alfonso y. of Spain 1416 — 1456
Wenceslaus died of apoplexy . . . . . . . 1419
rUGp the Good, duke of Burgundy 1419 — 1467
^lurad IL restores the Ottoman empire 1421 — 1451
Death of Heniy V. of EngUnd, and Charies YI of France . 1422
Henry VI. succeeds to the English throne 1422 — 1461
Charles VIL to that of France 1422 — 1461
Cosmo de Medici (Florence) 1428 — 1464
Joan of Arc deliTers Orleans 1429
She is captured by the English and burned . • . . 1481
Council of Basle ^ . . 1481 — 1449
The Taborites defeated at Prague . . . ' . . 1488
Calais remains the only English possession in France . • . 1485
Charles's entry into Paris . • 1486
Albert II. of Austria, emperor 1487 — 1489
Frederick m. do 1440 — 1498
John Guttenburg of Mayence invents printing .... 1440
Hungarians and Poles defeated by the Turks at Wama . 1444
Casimir lY. on the Polish throne 1447 — 1492
Christian! (Oldenburgh) of Denmark 1448 — 1481
NichoUs v., Pope, founder of the Vatican library . . . 1450 — 1460
The House of Visconti extinct in Milan 1450
Mohammed IL on the Ottoman throne : he takes Constantinople,
and puts an end to the Byzantine empire .... 1451 — 1481
Sebastian Brandt, poet of Strasburg, flourished .... 1458 — 1521
Matthias Corvinus (son of Huniades) made king . . . 1458 — 1490
PalgraTe Frederick's (the Victorious) Tictory .... 1461
Louis XI. on the French throne 1461 — 1488
Edwaitliy. (York) king of England 1461 — 1488
Ivan the Great throws off the Mogul yoke 1462 — 1505
Alexander Castriota (Scanderbeg) maintains his independence
against the Tuiks 1467
Charles the Bold, duke of Buigundy 1467 — 1477
St^no Sture, king of Sweden (separated from Denmark) . . 1471 — 1504
Iy>renzo de' Medici the Magnificent (Florence) .... 1472 — 1492
Copernicus, the astronomer, flourished 1478 — 1548
Isabella queen of Spain 1474 — 1504
Ariosto the poet flourished 1474 — 1588
Michael Angelo flourished 1474 — 1568
Charies of Bmgundy defeated at Granson by the Swiss • 1476
46
MS CHBONOLOGICAL TABLE.
Majumiliaa of Austria foiled the attempt of Louis XL upon the
dvkedom of Bui^rnndy 1479
Fetdinand king of Spain 1479 — 1516
Raphael the painter flourished 1483 — 15S9
BichardllLofEn^d . 1483 — 1495
ChariesVin. of France 1483 — 1498
Battle of Bosworth 1485
Henry YH. (House of Todor) king of England .... 1485 — 1509
Bartholomew Diaz reaches the Cape of Good Hope . . . 148S
Discovery of America by Ck>lumbus 1499
Louis Xn. of France 1493 — 1515
Maximilian L emperor of Qermany 1493 — 1495
Hans Sachs, the shoemaker poet, flourished .... 1494 — 1573
The land-peace established at the Diet of Wonns . . . 1495
Cabot explores the coast of North Amtsrica ...» 1497
Hie return of the Medici 1498
Maximilian admits the independence of the Swiss • • • 1499
Louis Xn. of France conquers Milan 1500
Charles v. of Burgundy 1500
Fetdinand ofAragon gets possesnon of Naples «... 1504
Death of Columbus at VaUadolid 1506
The League of Cambray, for dividing the Venetian terriUny . 1508
Henry YHL of England 1509 — 1547
Julius n. the warlike pope 1510
Albuquerque founds a Portuguese colony in India . * . 1510
Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean 1514
Hie Portuguese establish colonies and fSu^tories in Ceylon and on
the Coromandel coast « . 1513
«<Bataeofthe Giants" of Marignano. Swiss defeated. . . 1515
Luther denies the supremacy of the pope 1519
Leonardo da Vinci flourished 1519
Steno Sture slain; Sweden reunited to Denmark « • • 1520
Soliman the Magnificent on the Ottoman throne • • . 1590 — 1596
Oooquestof Mexico by Cortex 1521
Luther^s doctrines denounced as heretical, and his writings sen-
tenced to be burned June 16, 1520
Lulher bams the bull of exoommunicatioa Dec. 10, 1520
Slaughter at Stockhohn 1590
The Knights of St John, expelled from Bhodes, receive Malta • 1522
Luther establishes peace at Wittembeig March, 1522
Adrian VL pope ... 1522, 1523
€hi8tavus made king of Sweden by the Diet of Strengnaa • ^ 1523
Camoens the Portuguese poet 1524 — 1569
The defeat of the French at Pbvia by the Germans . . . 1525
Hungary divided on the death of Louis H. at Mohacs • • 1523
Maechiavelli, the statesman, flourished . . » . . 1527
Eeme taken by the Spamaids and Germans .... May 6, 1527
Gnstavus introduced Christianity into his dominions • < . 1527
GHROVOI.OaiCAL TAMLSL 548
Andrea DovJA frees Genoa of the French 16SS
BatfofHiiBgarjrftUs into the power of the OttonaDf 15M
Pfenrro and Almagro oonqoer Pern 16M«^16Si
BietofSpiro 16M
The Ladies' peace of Gambray 1689
Charles Y. restores the Medici, expelled a second time • 1630
The men of Zurich defeated and Zwingle slain • • • . IMl
Leagoe between the Landgmva of Hesse and Eleotor of flaxonj
atSmalcaU 16S1
Ivan VasilyeTitoch n. the first Czar 1583—158$
The Bible completed in German by Lather . . • . ^ 1584
Christian IIL introduces Christianity into Denmaik • • 1584 *^ 1588
Contest between Fisarro and Ahnagro. Discoveiy of Chffi • 1585 — 1588
Charles Y. captores Tunis 1585
The ten years' truce of Nice 1588
The Beformation established at Leipsic and Dresden . • • 1588
<%arles Y. sends a second expedition to Africa . • • • 1541
FrtAois L commences a fourth war against Charles Y. • 1642-~1544
The order of the Jesoite founded by Ignatius Loyola • 1548
Paul m. pope of Rome ^ 1548 — 1549
Corregio flourished 1548
The peace of Crespy 1544
The ciown of Sweden giTen to the male line of Yasa , • 1544
Council of Trent opened Deo. 18, 1545
Death of Luther Feb. 18, 1548
Fiesoo attempts the overthrow of the house of Doria . • 1547
Henry IL on the French throne 1547 — 1558
Edward YL of Enghmd 1547 — 1558
Cerrantes flourished 1547 — 1616
Gasca sent to settle the affikin of Peru 1548
Albert Durer flourished 1548
Maurice of Saxony rises against CharieiY. . . « . liarch, 1558
Lope de Yega, Spanish poet 1558 -—1685
Thevictory of Maurice oyer Albeit of Brsndeabnxy • • • 1558
Maiy Tudor queen of England 1558 — 1658
L«cas Craaach flourished . . • • • 1558
FlsallY.pope 1555 — 1558
Philip IL of Spain 1556 — 1598
Ferdinand L emperor of Germany 1556 — 1564
Elisabeth queen of England . • • • • • 1558 — 1608
Peace of Chateau Cambresis 1559
The Heidelberg Catechism drawn ^ • . • • • 1558
HusIY.pope 1559 — 1565
Francis n. on the French throne 1559 — 1560
Death of Melancthon 1560
Erich XIY. king of Sweden 1560^1568
Charles IX. king of France 1560*-" 1574
Baoi Holbein flourished 1568
oH CHROKOLOaiCAL XAjIIiK.
A.D.
8hakipe«re,tlie£iigl]AhdiBiiUklist 1564 — 1S16
Maximilian IL emperor of Gennanj 1564 — 1S76
400 nobles petition against the Inqnisitiion in the Netheriands • Nor. IMS
Maiy Stuart marries Damle^ IS65
Galileo ilonrished 1565—1631
Death of Solimanat.Sigeth(Hangar7) 1566
Mary's faTonrite, lUxzio, mnrdered 1566
Duke Alba of Spain sent to sabdoe the Netheilands . . 1567 — 1571
Death of Damley, Mary's husband Feb. 10, 1567
John m. king of Sweden 1568 — 159S
Egmont and others put to death in the Netherlands . 1566
The Huguenots defeated at St Denis bj the Catholics 156S
Mary Stoarf 8 flight into Enghind 156S
Earls of Northumberiand and Westmoreland &il to set Mary at
Kberty . 1569
Henry of Beam takes the lead of the Hugoenote •' 1570
Kepler flourished 1572 — 1651
Gregory XTTT. pope (arranged the present calendar) . . 1572 — 1585
Ihe Northern States of the Netherlands reoogniie WiDiam of
Orange as Stadtholder 1572
Louis of Zuniga succeeds Alba in the Netherlands . . . 157S — 1576
Henry Hiking of France 1574 — 1589
Don Juan succeeds Zuniga 1576 — 157S
The Alliance of Ghent 1576
Titian flourished 1576
Rudolf n. emperor of Germany 1576 — 1612
King Sebastian of Spain defeated by the Moon . . • • 1578
Alexander Famese succeeds Don Juan 1578 — 1592
The Union of Utrecht 1579
The domination of Spain over Portugal lasts nxty yean • • 1580 — 1640
William of Orange assassinated 1581
Siztus y. rose from a shepherd boy to be pope . . • ^ . 1585 — 1590
Execution of Mary Stuart in Eng^d 1587
The Inyincible Annada sent against England • • . . 1588
Henry of Guise creates a rebellion in Paris .... May 12, 1588
Henry lY. besieges Paris 1590
John Fischart, poet of Mayence, flourished 1591
Henry lY. becomes a Catholic 1599
Tasso the poet flourished 1595
Henry allows liberty of conscience to the Calrinists by the Edict
ofNantes 1598
First permanent French settlement in America .... 1607
First settiement of Yirginia at Jamestown 1607
Champlain disooven Lake Champlain 1609
Charles IX. king of Sweden 1600—1611
Calderon, Spanish poet 1600 — 1687
James L (Stuart) king of England 160S — 1625
The Ph>te6tant Union in Germany concluded .... 1608, 1609
CHRONOLOGICAL TABL^. 64S
A. D
A trace between the Netherianders and Spaniards ; the indepen-
dence of the former acknowledged 1609
Henry lY. murdered hy BaYaillac 1610
Louis Xm. of France .... ... 1610 — 1648
Matthias oh the imperial throne * 1612 — 1619
The Dutch erect some trading posts at the mouth of the Hudson
river 1618
Imperial House of Romanoff (Russia) 1618 — 1676
Death of Matthias May 20, 1619
Frederick Y. of the Palatinate made king of Bohemia . . Not. 1619
First settlement of New England, at Plymouth . . . . Dec. 22, 1620
Ernest of Mansfield defeats llUly, the imperialist general, at
Wiesloch April, 1623
Bichelieu changes the government in France . . . . 1624
Charles I. of England 1625 — 1649
Frederick of Bohemia defeated by Ferdinand H. . . • Not. 7, 1625
Ernest of Mansfield and Christian of Brunswick die . • . 1626
Christian lY. defeated by Tilly at Lutter Aug. 27, 1626
The validity of the Petition of lUght acknowledged ... 1628
Settlement of Salem, in Massachusetts 1628
Duke of Buckingham assassinated 16^9
Christian recovers his kinds by the peace of Lubeck . . • 1629
The Edict of Restitution published by Ferdinand H. . . . 1629
Fomerania surrendered to Gustavus Addphus .... 1680
Settlement of Boston, in Massachusetts ..... 1680
DietofLeipsic Feb. 1681
Magdeburg taken by Tilly May 16, 1681
The imperial army defeated at Leipsic and BreitenfiekK . . Sept 7, 1681
The victory of the Swedes at Lutzen Nov. 16, 1682
Alliance of Heilbron (Swedes and Germans) .... 1688
Settlement of Maryland 1688
Wallenstein, the general of Ferdinand H., murdered • . . Feb. 25, 1684
The peace of Prague between the German princes and the
emperor 1684
Richelieu encourages the Swedes in their undertakings in Ger-
many 1635
Settlement of Hartford, in Connecticut 1686
Saxony and Thuringia conquered by the Swedes . . . 1686
War with the Pequod Indians in Connecticut . • . • 1687
Ferdinand ni. emperor of Germany 1687 — 1657
Settlement of New Haven, in Connecticut . . . . • 1687
Episcopal form of service repelled from Scotland • . • 1687
Rhode Island colonized by Roger Wiliiams .... 1688
Death of Bemhard of Weimar . . . ' . . ' • 1689
Charies L (Stuart) calls a parliament after eleven years' delay . 1640
Formation of the New England Confederacy .... 1648
Frederick William elector of Brandenburg .... 1640—1688
Strafford and Laud convicted of high treason .... iM
46*
646 CHBOKOLOGICiL TABLE.
Civil vnr between Charles and the parliament . • . . 1642 — \M
The Swedes defeat the imperial arm^ at Leipsic . . 1642
Louis XIY. on the French throne . ... 1643 — 1715
Christina qneen of Sweden 1644
Battle of Marston-Moor July S, 1644
Contests between the Presbyterians and Independents . . Feb. 1645
Charles defeated at Naseby Jane 14, 1645
Alexis reduces the Cossacks to subjection 1645 — 1676
Charles delivered prisoner to the pariiament .... 1646
Peace of Westphalia 1647
Cromwell marches upon London to ^ve the Independents the
superiority in Parliament June, 1647
Escape of Charles L Nov. 1645
Eighty-one Presbyterians expelled from Parliament . . . Dec 1648
War of the Fronde 1648 — 1658
Execution of Charles L Jan. 30, 1649
Prince of Wales recalled from Holland, and acknowledged as
Charles IL by the Presbyterians 1650
Cromwell's victory over the Scots at Dunbar .... 1650
The royal army overthrown at Worcester 1651
Navigation act passed in England 1651
Long parliament dissolved by Cromwell April, 1653
Cromwell dissolves by force his second parliament . • . Dec. 1653
Mazarin's return to Paris 1653
Christina abdicates in favor of Charies Gostavus ... 1654
Charles X. of Sweden 1654 — 1660
Battle of Warsaw July, 1656
Emperor Leopold takes up arms to secure the crown of Spain for
his son 1657 — 1705
Cromwell's death Sept 3, 1658
Knmp parliament restored and dissolved by the army . . April, 1659
Charles IL returns as king May 29, 1660
Oliva, king of the Poles, makes peace with Sweden ... 1660
Charles XL of Sweden 1660 — 1697
Death of Mazarin March 9, 1661
T.** English wrest New York fhm the Dutch . . . • 1664
Seolement of New Jersey 1665
Spanish war 1667 1668
Louis XIY. compelled to surrender the greater part of his con-
quests in the Spanish Netheriands * . 1668
The A'j/vtrian government executes the leaders of the insurrec-
tion in Hungaiy 1671
Louis XIY. carries his arms against Holland .... 1672 — 1679
Marquette and Joliet discover the idississippi river . . • 1673
Molieredied . • 1673
Spain and Germany join in the war agiunst France ... 1674
The Swedes defeated by Frederick William .... 1675
King Philip's war in New Eng^d 16T5
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 547
A. D.
Bacon's rebellion in Viif^inia 1676
Feodorczar 1676 — 1682
The peace of Nimegnen , 1679
Habeas Corpus act ... • . . • • 1679
StrasbuTg taken from the Gennana by Lonis XlV. • . Sept 1681
t^ennsyWania granted to William Penn 1681
La Salle sails down the Mississippi 1682
The Tarks defeated before the walls of Vienna .... Sept 1688
Peter Comeille, French dramatic poet ... • 1684
Peace concladed with France at Regensbnrg .... Avg. 15, 1684
James IL ascended the English throne 1685
Bevocation of the Edict of Nantes by Lonis XIY. . . . Oct 1685
James U. fled from England Dec. 1688
Sir Edmund Andros deposed at Boston, MasBachusetts • 1689
Frederick Iking of Prussia 1688 — 1713
The French take and bum Spire June, 1689
Montesquieu flourished 1689 — 1755
WarofOrieans 1689 — 1697
Peter the Great car 1689 — 1725
Expeditions fitted out hy Massachusetts against Acadie and
Quebec 1690
Kew Charter of Massachusetts 1691
French defeated in the batde of La Hogne .... 1692
Witches hanged at Salem 1692
Lafontaine died 1694
Voltaire flourished 1694 — 1778
Death ofking John Sobieski of Poland 1696
Frederick Augustus chosen king of Pdand .... 1697
Charles Xn. of Sweden 1697 — 1718
Peace of R^swick 1697
James U. and the Catholic Lidi defeated at the Bojne . . July, 1699
Peace of Carlowit* 1699
Racine died 1699
Settlement of Louisiana 1699
Death of Charles IL of Spain 1700
Charles of Sweden besieges Copenhagen ... • 1700
Frederick L solemnly crowned at Konigsbuig .... 1700
Anne queen of England 1701 — 1714
General Catinat defeated, and Savoy and Piedmont made allies
of Austria by prince Eugene 1701
Charles of Sweden defeats the Prussians near Narva ... 1 701
Spanish war of succession . .' 1702 — 1714
Surrender of Warsaw to Charles xn. 1702
TheriseoftheTyroIese 1703
Charies XEL deposes Augustus king of Poland .... 1703
Peter the Great founds St Petersburg 1703
Bossnetdied 1704
Battle of Hochstadt (Blenheim) Aug. 18, 1704
/
548 OHBOirOXiOGIOAI* vabia.
BtMudansLeczuiflki elected king of Fobuid .... 17M
Captare of Gibraltar b)r the English 17M
Joseph L emperor 1705 — 1711
Defeat of the French at Bamilies by Marlborough . . • Ma^r 2S, 170$
The French defeated at Turin by prince iSagpne • • . Sept. 7, 1706
Peace of Altranstadt Sept. 24, 1706
Scottish representatives admitted into parliament ... 1707
Victory of Ahnanza Apr. 25, 1707
BatUe of Oudenarde won by Marlboroagh and priaoe EngMM • Jdy 11, 1708
Charles XII. makes an ezpeditionagainst Moscow ... 1708
Charles's army suffers greatly from the soTere winter • • . 1 708
The Swedish army defeated at Pohowa July 8, 1709
Battle of Malplaqnet. Defeat of the French . . . . Sept 11, 1700
Death of Joseph! 1710
Charles Xn. escapes into Turkey . . . ^ . . 1710
BoOeandied 1711
AbortiTe expedition against Canada, under Walker and HiU • 1711
Charles VI emperor of Germany 1711 — 1740
The army of Peter the Great almost made prisoners on the Prath
by the Turks 1711
Charies XD. arriTOs before the gates of Strabund . . . Oet. 1711
Frederick n. bom .Jan. 24, 1712
BouBseau flourished 1712 — 1772
Peace of Utrecht . . . . • May 11, 1712
Frederick William L king of Praasia 1718 — 1 740
Peace of Rastadt, between the Grermans and French . . • Mar. 7, 1714
The Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sicily, giyen to
Austria. The electors of Bayaria and Cologne restored to
their lands and titles , . Sept. 1714
Deaih of Louis XIV Sept 1, 1714
George I. of England . • 1714 — 1727
^ Bishop F^n^lon died T . . 1715
Louis XV. of France 1716 — 1774
Philip'of Orieans regent ^ .1715 — 1725
James (DI.) Stuart attempts to regain the throne . . • 1715 — 1717
Stralsund surrendered to the Prussians Dec 1715
Insurrection in Thorn against the Jesaits 1717
Winkelmann flourished . 1717 — 1768
Charies XH. killed befose Friederidistadt Dec. 11, 1 718
Execution of Baron de Gorz 1719
Sweden surrenders neariy all her foreign poBsenons . « . 1719, 1720
Alexia condemned to death by Peter the Great, his &iher . . 1722
Ktopstock the poet 1724 — 1803
Kant the philosopher 1724 — 1804
Catherine L empress of Russia ..••••• 1725 — 1727
GeoTgeH. of England 1727 — 1760
Peter IL emperor of Bnssia 1727 — 1730
Lessing Nourished 1729 — 1781
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 649
A.I>.
Anna empress of Russia 1780 — 1740
Georgia founded by general Oglethorpe 1732
The Polish war of succession 178S
Frederick Augustus III. king of Poland * . . . . 1 788 — 1 763
Wieland lived 1788 — 1813
Frederick II. marries into the House- of Brunswick . . . 1784
Francis Stephen exchanges Lorraine for Tuscany . . • 1787
Charles YI. concludes the peace of Belgrade .... Sept. 18, 1 789
Frederick II. ascends the Prussian throne 1 740
He makes an expedition into Silesia Oct 1 740
First Silcsian war 1740 -«• 1742
Battle of Molwitz. Yictoiy of the Prussians . . . April 1 0, 1 74 1
. Elizabeth empress of Russia 1741—1762
Charles Albert crowned king of Bavaria at Prague . . . Oct 1 741
He is elected emperor of Grermany, and reigns . . . .1741 — 1745
His capital, Munich, taken by the enemy Jan. 24, 1742
Peace of Breslaw July 28, 1742
Maria Theresa crowned at Prague 1748
French defeated at the battle of Dettingen .... June 27, 1748
Second Silesian war 1744,1745
Herder ^ 1744 — 1808
Death of Charles Vn. at Munich Jan. 20, 1746
Treaty of Fussen April, 1745
Victory of Frederick IL at HohenfHedberg .... June 4, 1745
BaUle of Kesseldorf. Frederick marches to Dresden. Silesia
ceded to him in the peace of Dresden Dec. 25, 1745
Francis I. emperor of Germany 1745 — 1765
Victories of the French at Fontenoy and Laffeld . . 1745 — 1 74 7
Charies Edward the Pretender L&nds in Scotland . • . 1745
Capture of Louisburg, on Cape Breton, by troops from Massachu-
setts 1745
Ferdinand VI king of Spain 1746 — 1759
Defeat of the Pretender at Ctilloden April 27, 1746
Peace of Aix la Chapelle with the French .... 1748
Goethe flourished ......... 1749 — 1882
Joseph Emmanuel king of Portugal . . . • • • 1750 — 1777
Alliance between Maria Theresa and the French king against the
king of Prussia Sept 1751
Braddock's defeat by the French and Indians . . • • 1755
Earthquake in Lisbon . ........' Nov. 1755
The French driven into exile from Acadie 1755
Frederick of Prus£a falls suddenly on Saxony .... 1756
He marches against Bohemia 1757
He is victorious at the battle of Prague May 6, 1757
He is defeated at CoUin June 18,1757
The French defeat his allies at Hastenbeck Jnl^i 1 757
He gains a splendid victoiy at Rosbach Not. 5, 1757
He defeats Daun at the battle of Beuthen Deo. 175 ^
550 CHKONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D.
Capture of Fort William Henry by Montcalm .... 1757
Adolf Frederick of Sweden 1757 — 1771
Unsucceasfnl attack on Ticonderoga, by Abercrombie ... 175d
Frederick of Prussia receiTes support from England ... 1 753
His victoiy at Zomdorf Aug. 25, 1753
He is worsted at Hochkirk Oct 14, 175S
He is defeated by the Austrians at Eunersdoif .... Aug. 12, 1 759
Ferdinand defeats the French at Minden April IS, 1759
Schiller flourished 1759 — 1805
The Jesuits expelled from Portugal • 1 759
Battle of Quebec and death of Wolfe 1759
Charles HL of Spain 1759 — 178d
Ferdinand defeats Laudon and regains Silesia .... Aug. 15, 1760
George Hiking of England ^1760—1820
Ferdinand obtains the dearly-bought victory of Toigau . . Nov. 3, 1760
Elizabeth, empress of Russia, dies Jan. 5, 1 762
Peter HI, emperor of Russia, murdered July 9, 1 762
Catherine IL of Russia 1762 — 1796
Frederick concludes the peace of Hubertsburg .... Feb. 21, 1763
The English obtain Canada by the peace of Paris ... 1763
Deathof Augustus m. of Poland 1763
War with the Indians, usually called Pontiac's war ... 1764
Poniatowski chosen king of Poland Sept. 1764 — 1795
Passage of the Stamp Act for taxing America .... 1 765
Joseph n. ascends the imperial throne of (jermany . . . 1765 — 1790
Stamp Act Congress at New York October, 1765
Repeal of the Stamp Act March, 1766
Christian VH. of Denmark 1766—1808
The General Confederation of Radovi formed .... July 23, 1 767
The Confederation of Bar, in Poland, defeated .... Feb. 1768
The war between Russia and Turkey . . . . . 1768 — 1774
Afiray with the soldiers at Boston March 5, 1770
Gustavus HL comes to the throne of Sweden 1771 — 1791
Moscow visited by pestilence, and civil war in Poland . . . 1 771
Louis Xy. orders his opponents in the parliament to be arrested 1771
Neckar's first ministry 1771 — 1781
The treaty of partition of Poland between Russia, Austria, and
Prussia Aug, 5, 1772
The abolition of the Order of Jesuits 1773
Destruction of the Tea in Boston harbor 1773
The English increase their forces, and shut up the harbor of
Boston 1774
A Congress of the American Colonies meet at Philadelphia Sept 17, 1774
Rebellion of Pugatscheff, a Don Cossack 1774
Louis XV. of France dies 1774
Battle of Lexington, in Massachusetts April 19, 1775
Battle of Bunker's Hill .June 17, 1775
Juliana, stepmother of Christian, directs the Danish government 1775
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 561
A. D.
Montgomery killed in an attack on Quebec .... Dec. 81, 1775
Fugatscheff 18 betrayed and sufien death 1775
The British troops evacuate Boston March 17, 1776
Tuigot and Malasherbes (ministers) reorganize France . . 1776
The Declaration of Independence adopted by the American Con-
gress July 4, 1776
Battle of Long Island and defeat of the Americans . . • Aug. 27, 1 776
Battle of Trenton Dec. 25, 1776
Battle of Bennington Aug. 16, 1777
Battle of Brandy wine Sept. 11, 1777
Battle of Germantown Oct 4, 1777
Buigoyne's army capitulates at Saratoga Oct 15, 1777
The Bavarian war of succession 1778 — 1779
The French form an alliance with America .... Feb. 6, 1778
Battle of Monmouth . . . .' June 28, 1778
Spain forms an alliance with America June 26, 1779
The French and Americans repulsed at Savannah . . . Oct. 9, 1779
Gen. Lincoln capitulates at Charleston May 12, 1780
Gates defeated by Comwallis at Camden .... Aug. 16, 1780
England declares war against Holland Nov. 1780
Joseph n. of Austria . ..." 1780--1790
Battle of Guilford Court House March 15, 1781
Neckar obliged to resign his ofEce 1 781
Comwallis surrenders to the French American army . . . Oct. 19, 1782
The attempt of the Spaniards to take Gibraltar foiled . . Sept 1 782
The independence of America acknowledged by the English in
the peace of Versailles Nov. 80, 1782
Nicolai of Berlin 1788 — 1811
Crimea conquered by Potemkin 1 788
A democratic insurrection in Holland 1 784
Joseph n. offers the Austrian Netherlands in exchange for Bavaria 1 785
Shays's rebeUion in Massachusetts 1 786
Frederick William H. restores order in Holland • . . 1787
The Netherlanders expel the Austrians 1787
Second Turkish war 1787— Jl 798
Calonne calls an Assembly of Notables Feb. 1787
The boldest speakers against taxation in the parliament of Paris
are arrested and banished to Troyes Aug. 1787
Gustavus lU. wages war with Russia 1 788
Brienne compelled to resign his ministry Aug. 1 788
Neckar*8 second ministry 1788,1789
The Estates summoned Dec. 1788
Oczakow stormed by Potemkin . Dec. 17, 1783
The Federal Constitution of the United States of America goes
into effect March 4, 1789
Geoi^e Washington, President of the United States . . . 1789^1797
The Third Estate declares itself a National Assembly . June 1 7, 1 789
The Hall of Assembly closed June 20, 1789
$5S CHEOlirOLOGICAL TABLE.
Ifirabean opposes the dinolntion of the Assembly . • Jvne 27, 1781
Storming of the BastJlle July 14, 1789
The eqmJitj of dtjzens declared Aug. 4, 1789
Gustavas meditates war with France 1790
The Netherlands declare their independence .... 1790
Death of Joseph n. Feb. 20, 1790
Leopold!!, of Austria 1790—1792
The fortress of Ismail stormed by Suwaroff Dec. 22, 1790
Feast of the Federation at Paris July 14, 1790
Prince Potcmkin, faTorite of Catherine 11., died ... 1791
The death of Mirabeau Apr. 2, 1791
The Poles reorganize their government May 8, 1791
Louis attempts to escape from Paris June 21, 1791
The Russian party in Poland form the Confederation of Tar-
gowicz Jan. 1792
Gustavus is murdered by Ankerstrom Mar. 29, 1792
France declares war against Austria and Prussia . . . April, 1792
A Russian army advances into Poland May, 1792
Kosciuzko defeated by the Rusdans July 17, 1792
The assault on the Hdtel de Yille Aug. 10, 1792
The Prussians defeated at Yahny . , Sept 20, 1792
Republicanism established in France Sept 21, 1792
Custines obtains possession of Mayence Oct. 21, 1792
Battle of Jemappes Nov. 6, 1792
New partition of Poland between Russia and Prussia . . . 1799
Condemnation of Louis . . . - Jan. 17, 1798
His execution Jan. 21, 1798
Dumourier defeated by the Austrians at Neerwinden . , Mar. 18, 1798
Chalier, the demagogue, executed at Lyons .... July 16, 1798
The Dutch and Hanoverians defeated at Handschooten . Sept. 8, 1798
TriaJ and execution of Marie Antoinette '. . . . Oct 1798
The French, under Hoche, defeated at Eaiserslautem . . Nov. 1798
Insurrection of the Poles under Kosciuzko Apr. 1794
Execution of Danton and Desmoulins Apr. 5, 1794
Execution of Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI. . . . . May 10, 1794
Jourdain compels the evacuation of Belgium .... June 26, 1794
The Jacobins denounced in the Convention . . . .July 27, 1794
Execution of Robespierre, St Just, Couthon, Henriot, and other
Jacobins, July 28, 1794
Defeat of Kosciuzko Oct 10, 1794
The French compel the Prussians to retreat .... Oct 1794
Poland divided between Austria, Prussia, and Russia . . Jan. 1795
The Convention surrounded by the Mob . . Mar. 81, Ap. 1, 1795
Peace of Basle Apr. 5, 1795
The insiurection of the 1st Prairial . . . . . . May 20, 1795
The Austrians get possesion of Heidelberg ..... Sept 24, 1795
The Royalist party suppressed Oct 5, 1795
Bonaparte defeats Beaulieu at Milesimo and Montenotte . . 1796
CBR090L0aiQAX» lABJA
653
Bonaparte's victory at the Bri^ga of IhmK •
Wnnnaer defeated at Ca4tigIione
Joaxdain defeated at Worzbiiig .
Retreat of Moreau through the Black Bbirest
Peace concluded between the GennanB and French
French yictoricfl at Areola, Rivoli, La Favorita •
Fope Pius VL concludes the peace of Tolentino .
Austria concludes the peace of Leoben with Bonaparte
The royalist deputies arrested at Uie Taileriei
The peace of Campo-Fonnio
Bonaparte opens the congress at Bastadt .
Pius YI. deprived of his temporal power •
Mamelukes defeated by Bonaparte near the Pyramids
Insurrection at Cairo against the French .
Rome retaken from the Neapolitans .
The Parthenopeian republic estaUished at Naples
Bonaparte marches against Syria
He besieges Jean d'Acre, but is repulsed .
French defeated at Stockach by Archduke Charles
The French ambassadors assaidited on leaving Rastadt
The Russians conquer the Cisalpine republic
Cardinal Ruffo storms Naples ....
Bonaparte defeats the Turks at Abonkir
Pope Pius VL dies in Paria «...
French defeated at the battle of Novi .
Russians defeated by lihe French at Zurich
The Duke of York's retreat from the Netheriajids
Bonaparte returns to France
He forms a new constitution in Francey and takes the direction
of affairs into his own hands ....
Victory of Kleber at Heliopolis ....
Death of Suwaroff
Napoleon's passage of the Great St Bernard
Tlie Anstrians defeated at Montebello
The rout of the Austrians at Marengo
March of Macdonald and Moncey over the Orisons
Defeat of the Austrians at Hohenlinden
Attempt to kill Bonaparte by the infernal machine
Peace of Luneville
Battle of Canopus in Egypt Death of Abercrombie
The French clergy made subject to the Pope
Alexander, son of Paul, dechned emperor of Russia
The Concordat concluded widi Rome
The French conveyed by the English from Egypt
Peace of Amiens
Bonaparte made consul fer life .
The Imperial Diet (Germany) ....
The cantons in Switzerland are made independent
47
A. D.
. May 10, 1796
^ Aug. 5, 1796
. Septs, 1796
.Sept 19, 1796
. Oct 84, 1796
Jan., Feb. 1797
. Feb. 19, 1797
. Apr. 18, 1797
, Sept 4, 1797
. Oct. 17, 1797
Dec. 1797
Feb. 1798
. July 21,1798
. Oct 21,1798
Nov. 1798
Jan. 1799
Feb. 1799
. Mar. 20, 1799
. Mar. 25, 1799
. Apr. 28, 1799
June, 1799
.June 18, 1799
. July 25,1799
Aug. 1799
. Aug. 5, 1799
Sept 25, 26, 1799
Oct 1799
Oct 9, 1799
. Nov. 9, 1799
. Mar. 20, 1800
. May, 1800
May, 1800
. June 9, 1800
. June 14, 1800
July, 1800
. J>ec. 8, 1800
. Dec. 24, 1800
. Feb. 9, 1801
. Mar. 21, 1801
. April 8, 1801
. May 24, 1801
. July 15, 1801
Sept 1801
. Mar. 27, 1802
. Aug. 2, 1802
: Feb. 25, 1808
Feb. 1808
654
CH&OKOLOeiOAL TABLE.
War declared by the English against t2ie French
Bonaparte's troops advance upon UanoTer
Execution of the Duke d'Enghien
Napoleon proclaimed emperor .
Republicanism in Italy changed into monarchy
The Austrian general, Mack, shut up in Uhn
The capitulation of Ulm ....
Battle of Trafalgar. Death of Nelson
Napoleon defeats the Russians at Dimstein
Murat enters Vienna
Victory of Napoleon at Austerlitz
The peace of Presburg ....
The dynasty of the Bourbons ceases in Naples
Death of Pitt . . ' .
Palm, bookseller of Nuremberg, suffers death
The Prussians defeated at Saalfield by the French
The double battle of Jena and Auerstadt .
Hohenlohe and 17,000 men surrender at Prenzlow
Napoleon makes peace with the Elector of Saxony
Batde of Eylau between the French and Rnssiaiut
Dantzic surrendered to marshal Lefebvre .
Napoleon abolishes the tribunate . .
Peace of Tilsit concluded ....
Bombardment of Copenhagen. Captore of the
the English
The flight of the Lisbon court to the Brazils.
session of Lisbon
Godoy delivers Spain to Napoleon
Charles IV. abdicates the throne of Spun .
1,200 French killed in the insurrection at Madrid
Napoleon names his brother Joseph king of Spain
The Spaniards driven back at Rio Seco by Beasi^res
Duponf s capitulation at Baylen, in Andalnsia
Capitulation of Cintra ....
Meeting at Erfurt of Alexander and Napoleon
Napoleon enters Madrid, and restores Joseph
Saragossa taken by the French .
Gustavus IV. deprived of the crown of Sweden
Austria sends an army into Bavaria and Italy
It is defeated at Abensberg and Eckmnhl .
The two days' combat at Aspem and Eslingen
Napoleon destroys the temporal power of the pope
Major Von Schill falls during the assault of Stralsund
Pope Pius VH. taken from Rome by violence .
The Austrians defeated at Wagram
. May 18, 1801
May, 180S
. Mar. SI, 18M
. May 18, 1804
. March, 1805
. Oct. 14, 1805
. Oct. 20, 1805
. Oct. 21, 1805
Nov. 1805
. Nov. IS, 1805
. Dec. 2, 1805
. Dee. 26, 1805
. Dec 27, 1805
1806
. Aug. 26, 1806
. Oct. 10, 1806
. Oct. 14, 1806
. Oct. 28, 1806
Dec. 1806
. Feb. 8, 1807
. May 24, 1807
1807
June 7-9, 1807
Danish fleet by
Sept 2-5,1807
takes pofr-
Nov. 1807
. Feb. 1, 1808
. March, 1808
. May 2, 1808
. June 6, 1808
. July 14, 1808
July 22, 1808
Jonot
. Aug. 30, 1808
. Sept 27, 1808
. Dea 4, 1808
. Feb. 20, 1809
. Mar. 13, 1809
1809
April 20 -22, 1809
May 21, 22, 1809
. May 27, 1809
. May 31, 1809
. June 16, 1809
July 5, 6, 1809
Napoleon unites the States of the Church to the French temfeory July 6, 1809
The Austrians conclude the truce of Znaym
The French defeated by Wellington at Talavera
July IS, 1809
July 26, 1809
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
555
the
duchy
A. D
July 28, 1809
Oct 12, 1809
Dec. 15, 1809
Feb. 18, 1810
July 9, 1810
. Aug. 21, 1810
. Mar. 20, 1812
. July 16, 1812
. July 22, 1812
.Aug. 17, 1812
. Sept. 7, 1812
. Sept. 14, 1812
. Oct. 24, 1812
Nov. 26-29, 1812
. Feb. 3, 1813
May 2 and 20, 1813
. June 21, 1813
. July 12, 1813
Aug. 12, 1813
Death of Sir John Moore at Corunna
7%e attempted aBBasrination of Napdeon by Stapa
Napoleon divorced from Josephine
Hofer, the T^rolese, shot at Mantna .
Napoleon annexes Hamburg, Bremen, Labeck, and
of Oldenburg to the French empire
Bemadotte declared successor to t^e Swedish throne
Birth of a son (the king of Rome) to Napoleon .
The French cross the Niemen, and enter Wilna
Wellington defeats Marmont at Salamanca
The battle of Smolensk fought ....
The French gain the battle of the Borodino
The French army enters Moscow
The battle of MalonJaroslowetz ....
The passage of the Beresina ....
Prussia forms an alliance with Russia
The French victorious at Llitzen and Bautzen .
The English gain the battle of Yittoria
Austria negotiates at the congress of Prague
Austria declares war against France .
The Prusso-Swedish army victorious in the battles of Gros-Beeren
andDennewitz Aug. 23 and Sept. 6, 1813
Napoleon wins the battle of Dresden Aug. 26, 27, 1813
Macdonald defeated on the Katzbach, in Sile&a .... Aug. 26, 1813
Yandamme and his whole army surrounded and made prisoners
at Culm Aug. 29, 80, 1813
The allied armies unite in the plain of Leipsio .... Oct 8, 1813
The French defeated at the battle of Leipnc . . Oct 16, 18, 1813
Yictory gained by the French at Hanau .... Oct 30, 31, 1813
Blucher crosses the Rhine Jan. 1, 1814
Norway given to Sweden by the peace of Kiel . . . Jan. 14, 1814
The armies of Blucher and Schwarzenberg meet in Champagne,
and gain the battle of Brienne Feb. 1, 1814
Napoleon obtains the victory of Monterean Feb. 18, 1814
Blucher gains fresh advantages over the French at Craonne and
Laon Mar. 7 and 9, 1814
Ne^tiations between the allies and Napoleon broken off, and
his dethronement resolved on Mar. 20, 21, 1814
The allies enter Paris Mar. 31, 1814
Napoleon resolves to abdicate in &vor of his son .... April 4, 1814
He signs an unconditional act of abdication April 7, 1814
Soult defeated by Wellington at Toulouse April 10, 1814
Napoleon lands at Elba May 4, 1814
Ferdinand restores unlimited monarchy in Spain . . May 10, 1814
First peace of P^uis concluded May 80, 1814
Louis XYHL placed on the French throne .... May 80, 1814
Napoleon lands on the south coast of France .... Mar. 1, 1815
Grenoble opens her gates to him Mar. 20, 1815
55!6 GSBOSrOLOGICAL lABLB.
A.]».
Mnntdefeated in the battle of Tolentmo llaj S3, 181$
The French compel the FnunMis to rotnat at MiP7 • • June 16, 1815
Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815
Napoleon reagns in &Tor of Napoleon 11 Jnne 22, 1815
Paiu surrendered to Wellington and Blocher .... JvAj 8, 1815
Alexander of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Frederick ^Hlliam
UL of Prussia form the Holj Alliance Sept 25, 1815
Napoleon arrives at St Helena Oct 18, 1815
Second peace of Paris arranged Not. 20, 1815
Democratic display at the festival of the Wartbni^ . • • Oct 18, 1817
James Mnnroe, President of the United States . • . .1817 — 1825
Geoiige Sand assassinates Eotzebue Mar. 25, 1819
Sand is executed Sept 1819
Riots at Manchester suppressed hj the militaxy .... 1819
Insurrection of the soldiers at Cadiz Jan. 1, 1820
GecHgelY. king of England 1820^1880
Assassination of the due de Berri by Loavel .... Feb. 13, 1820
Dismisnon of the moderate ministry of Decaze .... March, 1820
Ferdinand of Spain obliged to sumnnon the Cortes and swear to
the constitution Mar. 7, 1820
Pepe and Carascosa, with the insmgents, enter Naples . July 15, 1820
George lY. attempts to divorce his wife 1820
The Holy Alliance suppresses the liberal movement • • • Jan. 1821
Missouri admitted into the Union by a compromise on the 8nb|ect
of slavery 1821
John YL returns to Lisbon, and swears to a new constitution for
Portugal and Brazil Jan. 26, 1821
A revolution in Piedmont Yictor Emmanuel abdicalea . . Much, 1821
Greece rises in arms Mareh, 1821
The Piedmontese liberals resist at Novara April, 1821
Ni^poleon Bonaparte died May 5, 1831
The sacred band of the Greeks destroyed by the Toxhs in
WaUachia Jnne 19, 1821
Queen Caroline (of England) died Aug. 7, 1821
Lord Castlereagh committed suicide Aug. 12, 1822
The Holy Alliance requires the Spanish Cortes to alter the con-
stitution Oct 1822
A French army, under the duke of Angouleme, creeses the
Pyrenees Feb. 1825
They appear before Cadiz Aug. 5, 1825
Ferdinand YH. replaced on the Spanish throne .... Nov. 7, 1825
Byron dies in Greece • . . April 19, 1821
Don Miguel is banished from Portugal April, 1824
Gen. La&yette visits the United States 1824
Louis XYHL dies Sept 16, 1824
John Qnincy Adams, President of the United States . . * 1825^ 1829
Count of Artois becomes king of France, as Chaiies X. . . May 29, 1825
Emperor Alexander dies Dec 1, 1825
OHROHOLOeiCAL TABU. 657
A. D.
John YI. of Portagal dies Mar. 10, 1826
maBokmgbi taken April 22, 1826
The destruction of the Jaciasaries al Constttnthu^e * June, 1826
Canning, prime minister of Engkmd, dies Aug. 8, 1827
Battle of Navarino < . . Oct 20, 1827
]>on Miguel is proclaimed king of Poitngal .... June, 1828
Irish Catholics admitted to pariiament 1829
Gen. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States . . 1829 — 1887
Capo d'Istria appomted President of the Greek States • July, 1829
The French Chambers dissdlTed Aug. 8, 182a
The Russians surmount the Balkan Sept. 14, 1829
William lY. on the English throne 1880 — 1837
Frederick of Spain abolishes the Salie law Mar. 29, 1830
A%iers taken hj the French July 5, 1880
The Bevolution of July broke out July 26, 1830
Louis Philippe appointed regent July 29, 1830
Louis Philippe king of the French 1880 — 1847
A conspiracy against Russia breaks out in Poland • • • 1830
Isabella, daughter of Frederick of Spain, bom • • . . Oct. 1880
Antwerp bombarded by the Dutch general, ChaaB^ • ^ • Nov. 1880
A free constitution given to Hesse Cassel 1881
A Russian army of 200,000 men marehes into Poland . • Jan. 25, 1881
A disturbance excited in Pkm on the day of the due de Beings
deadi, by the raising of the white flag Feb. 15, 1881
The Reform Bill passed Mar. 1, 1881
Insurrections in Paris and Lyons suppressed . • • 1881, 1882, 1884
Battle of Ostrolenka May 26, 1881
Belgium separated from Holland . . . • • . . June, 1881
Thirty friends of the Russians murdered at Warsaw. Czar-
toryski flies to the camp of Dembinski Aug. 1881
Warsaw and Praga surrender Sept 6, 7, 1831
Don Pedro compels Don Miguel to renounce the Portuguese
crown, and leave the country 1882 — 1884
The French seize on Anoona, and keep it several years • . Feb. 28, 1882
Otho elected king of Greece ..*.... May, 1882
The Hambacher Festival, in Rhenish Bavaria .... May 27, 1882
The duchess of Berri unsuccessftil in raising Vend^ • • Nov. 1882
South Carolina attempts to nullify a law of the United States . Nov. 19, 1882
Holland desists from die contest with Belgium .... Dec. 1882
The German liberals attempt to disperse the diet . . April 8, 1838
Frederick Vn. of Spain dies Sept 29, 1883
The Basques, led by Zumalacaireguy and Cabrera, rise in &vor
of Don Caries Oet 1888
Twenty-one persons lose their lives by the attempt of Fiesehi to
murder Lmiis Philippe July 28, 1885
Save Emancipation Bill passed ....... Aug. 1885
Charles X. c6es at Gorz 1880
Msrtiik Van Buzen, President of the United States . . 1SS7 — 1841
558 CHBOKOLOaiCAL XABLB.
£nie8t Anguftiu becomes king of HanoTer • • • . 1817
y ictoria ascends the British thixme Jme 80, 16S7
The old oonstitation of Hanover restored Jolfy 1837
The Carlist leader, Maroto, lays down his amis • • • . Aug. 81, 1839
Frederick William IT. king of Pronia 1840
Queen Victoria marries prince Albert of Saxe Coborg, • . Feb. 10, 1840
Gen. W. H. Harrison, President of the United States. His
death April 4, 1841
Espartero effectB the removal of Christina fion Spain . May, 1841
The English com laws relaxed 184S
Duke of Orieans killed by an accident . . . . . July 18, 1842
Treaty of Washington, negotiated by Mr. Webster and Lord
Ashbarton, settles the north-eastern boundary of the United
States Aug. 1842
The Greeks drive away the Bavarians 1848
Switzerland disturbed by a struggle between Jesnitism and Badi-
calism March, 1848
Espartero being overthrown, Christina and her daughter cany
on the Spanish government Jnlfi 1848
Annexation of Texas to the United States March, 1845
James K. Polk, President of the United States .... 1845 — 1849
War between Mexico and the United States .... April, 1846
Gen. Taylor defeats the Mexican army at Palo Alto and Besaca
de la Pahna May 8, 9, 1840
The king of Denmark destroys the hope of the ScUeswio-
Holsteiners of being united to Germany July 8, 1840
Oregon Treaty with Great Britain settles the northwestern
boundary of the United States July, 1840
Capture of Monterey and defeat of the Mexicans by Gen.
Taylor Sept 21, 28, 1840
Battle of El Paso ; Mexicans defeated by CoL Doniphan . Dec. 25, 1840
Frederick William IV. makes some concessions to the Prussians 1847
Battle of Buena Vista ; Santa Anna with 22,000 men defeated by
Gen. Taylor with 5,000 Feb. 28, 1847
Battle of Sacramento ; CoL Doniphan defeats the Mexicans . Feb. 28, 1847
Vera Cruz surrendered to Gen. Scott Mar. 29, 1847
Mexicans defeated at Cerro Gordo by Gen. Scott . . . April 18, 1847
The Swiss radicals dissolve the Sonderbund . . July, 1847
Battles of 'Contreras and Churubusco ; Mexican army defeated
with great slaughter Aug. 20, 1847
Bloody battle of Molino del Bey; Mexicans defeated by Gen«
Worth Sept. 8, 1847
Chapultepec stormed and the city of Mexico taken by assault
by the American aimy under Gen. Scott . • Sept 12, 14, 1847
A confederate army subdues Freibuig and Lucerne . • . Nov. 4, 1847
The other cantons obliged to submit Dec. 1, 1847
Death of the duchess Maria Louisa Dec 18, 1847
Sicily revolts from the king of Nicies Jan. 1848
CHBONOLOGICAL TABLE. 559
A. D.
Louis Philippe dismisses Guizot, and promises refonn . . Feb. 22, 28, 1848
Louis Philippe abdicates in favor of the Count of Paris. A republi-
can government fonned Feb. 24, 1848
An insurrection in Vienna causes Mettemich to resign . . Mar. 18, 1848
The Prussian government consents to freedom of the press, and
other reforms • . Mar. 17, 1848
Disturbances in Berlin Mar. 18, 1848
King Louis resigns the crown of Bavaria Mar. 20, 1848
Afler an undecided street-fight of fourteen hours, the king of
Prussia grants an unconditional amnesty . . Mar. 21, 1848
The Austrian garrisons in Milan and Venice expelled hj popular
insurrections March, 1848
The^emperor of Austria and his court retire to Innspruck . . May, 1848
Treaty of 6uada]oupe Hidalgo, making peace between Mexico
and the United States May 80, 1848
The emperor returns on the invitation of the Austrian Diet . July, 1848
Archduke John of Austria is elected regent of Gennany, and
enters Frankfurt July 11, 1848
Badetzky gains a victory at Custosxa July 25, 1848
The truce of Malm5 concluded by Prussia Aug. 26, 1848
The Gennan republicans attempt in vain to disperse the National
Assembly, and bring about a revolution and republic . . Sept 18, 1848
The Magyar mob, enraged at Jellachich taking the field against
Hungary, murder Lamberg at Buda-Pesth .... Oct 8, 1848
Latour murdered at Vienna Oct. 6, 1848
Bossi, the pope's minister, murdered Nov. 15, 1848
Francis Joseph becomes emperor of Austria .... Dec. 2, 1848
A liberal constitution granted in Prussia . . i . . Dec. 5, 1848
The pope flies to Graeta. A republic is established in Borne . Feb. 1849
Charies Albert takes up aims for the Italians, but is soon de-
feated by Badetzky March 20- 24, 1849
The dignity of emperor of Gennany offered to the king of
Prussia March, 1849
A Danish line-of-battle ship and frigate destroyed by the Ger-
mans at Eckemford April 5, 1849
The Diet declares Hungary to be independent of Austria, and
appoints a provisional government April 14, 1849
The dissolution of the second, and prorogation of the first, cham-
ber of the German Assembly April 27, 1849
Prince Windischgratz sent to reduce Vienna .... June, 1849
The minister, Romer, puts a stop to the revolutionists, and com-
pels them to leave Grermany June 18, 1849
A truce completed between Schleswic and Denmark . . . July, 1849
The French, after a fierce resistance, enter Borne . . July 8, 1849
Gorgey surrenders to the Bussians at VUlagos .... Aug. 11, 1849
Venice retaken by the Austrians Aug. 25, 1849
THE END.
ir
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