Part 38

The concluding triumphs of Orthes and Toulouse were succeeded by the general peace and by his own promotion to a dukedom, the baton of a field-marshal having previously been conferred upon him for his victory at Salamanca. In 1814, the Duke of Wellington was appointed Ambassador to France, and proceeded in that capacity to the Congress of Vienna. While there, the return of Napoleon from Elba once more called him to the field; and on June 18, 1815, he gained his greatest triumph at Waterloo. After this Wellington served his country in the capacity of a diplomat, as Commander-in-Chief of the army, Prime Minister, and again as Commander-in-Chief of the army. A public funeral was of course decreed. William Gladstone pronounced the funeral oration in Parliament. In the procession that followed Wellington's bier, British soldiers of every arm and of every regiment of the service for the first time marched together. From Grosvenor Gate to St. Paul's Cathedral there was not a foot of unoccupied ground. An unbroken silence was maintained as the procession moved slowly by to the mausoleum where the remains of England's great warrior were to be placed side by side with those of Nelson. Alfred Tennyson recited his famous ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington:

Bury the Great Duke With an empire's lamentation, Let us bury the Great Duke To the noise of the mourning of a mighty nation, Mourning when their leaders fall, Warriors carry the warrior's pall, And sorrow darkens hamlet and hall.

* * * * *

Lead out the pageant: sad and slow, As fits an universal woe, Let the long, long procession go, And let the sorrowing crowd about it grow, And let the mournful martial music blow; The last great Englishman is low.

[Sidenote: Disraeli and Gladstone]

A new Parliament assembled in November. The result of the elections left the government in as hopeless a minority as before. An elaborate system of finance brought forward by Disraeli was rudely handled by Gladstone. The debate was one of the fiercest ever heard in Parliament. The excitement on both sides was intense. Disraeli, animated by the power of desperation, was in a mood neither to give nor to take quarter. He assailed Sir Charles Wood, the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, with a vehemence which more than once went to the very limits of Parliamentary decorum. The House had not heard the concluding word of Disraeli's bitter and impassioned speech, when Gladstone leaped to his feet to answer him. The Government was defeated. Disraeli took his defeat with characteristic composure. The morning was cold and wet. "It will be an unpleasant day for going to Osborne," he quietly remarked to a friend as they went down Westminster Hall together and looked out into the dreary street. That day, at Osborne, the resignation of the Ministry was accepted by the Queen.

[Sidenote: New English Ministry]

The Earl of Aberdeen formed a new Ministry including Lord John Russell as Foreign Secretary; Lord Palmerston, Home Secretary; Earl Granville, President of the Council; Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Sir W. Molesworth, the historian, was Commissioner of Public Works. The Marquis of Lansdowne occupied a seat in the Cabinet without holding any office. It was another Ministry of all the talents. Recent events in France demanded instant attention, the more so since the municipal council of London had taken upon itself to send an address of congratulation to Louis Napoleon upon his assumption of the empire. In the end the British Government took the same course.

[Sidenote: End of French Republic]

[Sidenote: Second Empire]

In Paris, the Senate had been reconvened to consider the reinstitution of the empire. Within three days a _senatus consultum_ was ready recommending the desired change to another plebiscite. Every one of the Senators, so the Parisians suggested, had 30,000 francs' worth of reasons for advocating the change. The formality of a plebiscite was accomplished by November 21. The government functionaries reported 7,854,189 yeas against 253,145 nays. On the anniversary of his _coup d'etat_ of the previous year, Louis Napoleon took the title of Napoleon III., by the grace of God and the will of the nation, Emperor of the French. The title was made hereditary. In vain did the Count of Chambord voice the protest of the Royalists, and Victor Hugo, in his exile on the Island of Jersey, that of the Republicans. France was once more under imperial rule, and seemed content to remain so. About this time the great Credit Mobilier was established as a joint-stock company by Isaac and Emile Pereire.

[Sidenote: Holy Sepulchre controversy]

Outside of France, Louis Napoleon's second _coup d'etat_ created little stir. Only Emperor Nicholas of Russia refused to recognize Louis Napoleon as a full-fledged monarch. An ecclesiastical dispute concerning the guardianship of the holy places in Palestine threatened to make trouble between France and Russia. In the end the Sultan was prevailed upon to sign a treaty confirming the sole custody of the Holy Sepulchre to the French.

1853

[Sidenote: Empress Eugenie]

[Sidenote: French Royalists reconciled]

On January 30, Louis Napoleon married Eugenie Marie de Montijo de Guzman, a Spanish beauty. Raised to the rank of Empress, this ambitious lady at once became a leader of fashion. The Czar of Russia, acting in conformity with the sovereigns of Austria and Prussia, finally consented to acknowledge Napoleon III. as Emperor of the French, and Great Britain followed. Strengthened by this outward recognition, Louis Napoleon deemed it safe to extend an amnesty to some 4,500 political prisoners and Republican exiles. On February 5, however, General Saint-Priest, with many other Royalists, was secretly arrested on charges of communicating with the Comte de Chambord and of sending false news to foreign newspapers. Not long afterward a bill was passed restoring capital punishment for attempts to subvert the imperial government and for plots against the life of the Emperor. On the recognition of the Empire by Great Britain, application was made to the English Government for a surrender of the Great Napoleon's last testament. The request was granted. Louis Napoleon thereupon undertook to carry out his famous uncle's bequests. Under the stress of adversity, the two branches of the Bourbon family became reconciled to each other. The Duke de Nemours, on behalf of the House of Orleans, made his peace with the Comte de Chambord. Henceforth, the Count of Paris was recognized by the Royalists of France as the rightful pretender to the crown.

[Sidenote: Gervinus' State trial]

[Sidenote: Death of Tieck]

In Germany, reactionary measures of repression were still in order. An alleged democratic conspiracy was unearthed at Berlin in March, and another in April. In Baden, Georg Gervinus, the historian, on charges of high treason for writing his "Introduction to the History of the Nineteenth Century," was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment, and his book was ordered to be burned. The sentence of imprisonment, however, was not executed. On April 28, Ludwig Tieck, the great German Shakespearian scholar and romantic poet, died at Berlin. Born in 1778 at Berlin, he entered into literary activity at the opening of the Nineteenth Century, and joined the enlightened circle of Weimar. There he issued his great collection of German medieval romances, and of the works of the Minnesingers. It was he who drew Goethe into the study of Shakespeare, and who persuaded Henry Steffens, the Norwegian philosopher, to try his hand at purely literary productions. Together with Schlegel he was the greatest German exponent of the works of Shakespeare.

[Sidenote: Reaction in Italy]

In Italy, likewise, severe measures of reaction were inflicted on the people of the governments of Austria, Naples and some of the petty principalities. In Tuscany, the reading of the Bible was prohibited. In February, a revolt at Milan, instigated by Mazzini, was ruthlessly put down. A few months later a revolutionary plot was revealed at Rome. Some hundred and fifty conspirators were thrown into prison. As heretofore, Garibaldi figured in these movements. In Sardinia alone, under the enlightened Ministry of Count Cavour, the liberal movement for united Italy was encouraged. The Pope's hostile attitude was resented by the passage of anti-clerical measures in Sardinia. Thus at first ecclesiastical jurisdiction was abolished, and later bills were proposed for the suppression of convents and for the ultimate withdrawal of all State support from the clergy.

[Sidenote: Tommaso Grossi]

In October, while the conspiracy trials were still in full prosecution at Milan, Tommaso Grossi, the Italian romantic poet, died in that city. Grossi was born at Belland, on Lake Como, in 1791, and at an early age won distinction by a patriotic satire against Austrian rule in northern Italy. In 1817 he published "La Fuggitiva," a love story of the French wars, which found great favor. Inspired by his intercourse with Manzoni, a few years later he wrote "Ildegonda," a romantic poem treating of the times of chivalry and cloister life. This poem won a great success. Less happy was his attempt to rival Tasso with an epic poem in fifteen cantos on the Crusades. Among his prose tales, the most lasting in interest are the historical novel "Marco Visconti" and the idyl "Ulrico e Lida." Of his lyric songs, "La Rondiella" achieved the greatest popularity.

[Sidenote: Gustave Courbet]

Gustave Courbet, the French originator of realism in painting, the author of "Le Beau c'est le Laid," the man who claimed that all search for the beautiful or ideality in art was a gross error, this year exhibited his "Women Bathing," and again created a stir on the exhibition of his "Funeral at Ornans" and his "Drunken Peasants at Flagny." This early exponent of realism in its most radical form, despite his taste for vulgar types, showed such strength of technique that his landscapes were accepted almost at once as masterpieces.

[Sidenote: International expositions]

In England, a period of great prosperity had set in, notwithstanding several great labor strikes, among them that of the London cabmen, and of many thousands of operatives at Stockport and Preston. The success of the Crystal Palace Exhibition had been such that another great Industrial Exhibition was held at Dublin. It was made the occasion of Queen Victoria's second visit to Ireland. International expositions were likewise held at Berlin and in New York.

[Sidenote: President Pierce inaugurated]

The change of Administration in the United States of North America gave a new tone to affairs there, and incidentally brought America into closer touch with the East. Congress had counted the electoral vote on February 9, giving to Pierce 254 and 42 to Scott. Franklin Pierce was forty-nine years of age when he became President, and was the youngest man who had been elected to that office. During the Mexican war he had fought with credit under Scott. William L. Marcy became Secretary of State, and Guthrie, McClelland, Jefferson Davis, Dobbin, Campbell and Cushing completed the Cabinet. It was said that Pierce came into office with no bitter opposition and went out with none. In his inaugural message he spoke with doubt concerning his own powers. In truth, he proved himself the tool of different managers.

[Sidenote: Kane's Arctic voyage]

The American Government also assisted Grinnell in fitting out a second expedition to the Arctic under charge of Dr. Kane, who was surgeon and naturalist of the former expedition. The ships were frozen fast on the shores of Greenland. Kane's crew, without waiting for relief, set out to return in open boats, and after a voyage of 1,300 miles reached a Danish settlement in Greenland, where a relief expedition met them. They reached New York on October 11, 1855, where they were welcomed as men risen from the dead. They brought no news concerning Sir John Franklin.

[Sidenote: Death of Arago]

Dominique Francois Arago died on October 2, at the age of sixty-seven. Scientists remember him chiefly for his experiments and discoveries in magnetism and optics. He was one of the few men who championed Fresnel during the controversy which raged at the time when the undulatory theory of light was first announced. As a popular expounder of scientific facts, Arago had few equals. With Gay-Lussac he was the founder of "Annales de Chimie et de Physique." He was also an active politician, and was a member of the French Provisional Government of 1848.

[Sidenote: The opening of Japan]

[Sidenote: Japanese dissensions]

[Sidenote: Preparing for intrusion]

A thriving oriental trade had sprung up, fostered partly by the development of steam navigation and partly by the discovery of gold in California. A few years previously a first attempt had been made by the United States Government to break down if possible the system of exclusion kept up by Japan. Commodore Biddle was despatched with two war vessels. His mission proved unsatisfactory, and the Commodore was subjected to humiliating experiences. Early in 1853, President Fillmore sent Commodore Perry with a squadron of four vessels to present a letter from the President of the United States to the Mikado of Japan, asking consent to the negotiation of a treaty of friendship and commerce between the two governments. On July 7, Commodore Perry's squadron steamed into the harbor of Yeddo. Perry got a favorable reception after using his big guns. The President's letter was left with the Mikado for the consideration of the Japanese Government, while Perry sailed away, promising to return the following spring. In the meanwhile violent upheavals in Japan resulted from the appearance of the American mission at Yeddo. The appearance of the squadron had long been anticipated, and was the subject of violent political discussions. Japan at that time was threatened with civil war. Two parties were disputing concerning the proper successor to the worn-out Shogun, who had hitherto wielded the powers of the impotent Mikado. The head of one party was Ee Kamong No Kami, the head of the Fudai Daimios. By right he was to be appointed Regent in case of an emergency. The head of the other party was the Prince of Mito, one of the "three families," hereditary Vice-Shogun in Yeddo, and connected by marriage with the family of the Emperor and with the wealthiest Daimios. The two parties made the arrival of the American squadron a pretext for grasping at the reins of power. Letters were sent to all the Daimios and Ometkis, requesting their opinions as to the reception to be given to the Americans. The majority were for resenting any foreign interference in the affairs of Japan by force. It was agreed, however, that open declaration of war had best be deferred until the comparatively defenceless shores of Japan could be strengthened and sea forts could be erected. Orders were sent to the Daimios to muster the full strength of their retainers and munitions of war, for "if Japan does not conquer, it will be a great disgrace."

[Sidenote: Taipings capture Nanking]

[Sidenote: Peking threatened]

In China, the Taipings, having captured Kinkiang and Gurking, closely invested Nanking. After a fortnight's siege, the city surrendered to an armed rabble. The Tartar colony of 200,000 threw themselves upon Tien Wang's mercy, but not a hundred of them escaped: "We killed them all," said one of the Taipings; "we left not a root to sprout from." The acquisition of Nanking, the second city in the empire, made the Taipings a formidable rival to the Manchus, and Tien Wang became a contestant with Hienfung for imperial honors. It cut off communication between north and south China. Chinkiangfoo, at the entrance of the Grand Canal, and Yangchow, on the north bank of the river, also fell into their hands. Tien Wang proclaimed Nanking, the old Ming city, his capital. At a council of war it was decided to provision and fortify Nanking, and then march against Peking. By the end of May the Taiping army numbered 80,000. They attacked Kaifong and were repulsed, but continued their march toward Peking. After crossing the Hoang-ho, they were again repulsed at Hwaiking. Passing on, they defeated a Manchu force in the Sin Simming Pass, and in September added the province of Pechili, and came to Tsing, twenty miles south of Tien-tsin, less than a hundred miles from Peking. The fate of the Manchu dynasty trembled in the balance. The Mongol levies at last arrived under their great chief, Sankolinsin, and the invaders retired to their fortified camp at Tsinghai and sent to Tien Wang for succor. At Tsinghai they were closely beleaguered for some time to come.

[Sidenote: American declaration as to Cuba]

The recurrence of American filibustering expeditions to Cuba appeared to the governments of England and France as evidence of an American purpose to secure Cuba and the West Indian Islands. To avert this, they suggested to the United States Government to make a treaty which should secure Cuba to Spain. The American Government was asked "to decline now and forever hereafter all intention to obtain possession of the island of Cuba and to discontinue all such attempts in that direction on the part of any individual or power whatever." Secretary of State Everett replied that the question affected American and not European policy, coming not properly within the scope of the interference of European Cabinets; that the United States did not intend to violate any existing laws; that the American Government claimed the right to act regarding Cuba independently of any other power, and that it could not view with indifference the fall of Cuba into any other hands than those of Spain. This was tantamount to a reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine. France did not reply to Everett's note, and the correspondence with the British Foreign Office was scarcely more satisfactory.

[Sidenote: Gadsden's Mexican treaty]

A new treaty with Mexico was negotiated by Gadsden, by which the United States secured Marrila Valley, with 44,000 square miles, on the payment of $10,000,000. This settled the Mexican boundary dispute and averted all danger of further war.

[Sidenote: Koszta episode]

Another international complication had arisen with Austria. On June 21, Martin Koszta, a Hungarian refugee and would-be American citizen, travelling under a United States passport, was arrested by the Austrian consul at Smyrna. Captain Ingraham of the United States sloop-of-war "St. Louis," cruising in Turkish waters, hearing of this, put into Smyrna. In accordance with the recent treaty governing Austrian refugees in Turkey, he demanded the surrender of Koszta within eight hours. If the man were not surrendered he threatened to land marines and take him by force. It was finally agreed to leave Koszta in the hands of the French consul, who presently released him. Austria issued a circular note to the courts of Europe protesting against the conduct of Captain Ingraham, and followed this up with a formal protest to the government of the United States. The reply of the American Congress was to vote a medal for Captain Ingraham. There the incident closed.

[Sidenote: Austria supports Montenegrins]

[Sidenote: Russia threatens Turkey]

Other affairs absorbed the interest of Austria's Foreign Minister. A treaty was signed with Prussia establishing a virtual defensive and offensive alliance. At the same time Austria joined the German Zollverein for twelve years. When the Montenegrins rose against their Turkish oppressors, Austria supported their cause and demanded a redress of their grievances from Turkey. After protracted negotiations this was granted. The wrongs of the Montenegrins and other Christian subjects of Turkey were warmly espoused by Russia. Czar Nicholas, as the pontiff of the Russian-Greek Church, claimed a protectorate over the Greek Christians in Turkey. The pending difficulties concerning the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem became part of the controversy. On the pretext of legalizing the predominant position of the Greek Church as one of the guardians of the Holy Sepulchre, the Czar assumed a threatening attitude toward Turkey. For a while Lord Stratford Canning, the British Ambassador at Constantinople, succeeded in mediating between Russia and France. A temporary agreement was effected. At this point the appearance of a French fleet in Turkish waters gave great offence to Russia, making it appear that the concessions to France had been extorted by a menace. Already Sir Hamilton Seymour, the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, had been sounded by the Czar. It was on that occasion that Nicholas uttered the historic phrase that "the sick man was dying," meaning the Ottoman Empire. It was then, too, that tentative offers were made to England to let her take Egypt and the island of Candia, provided Russia could make herself mistress of the Balkans.

[Sidenote: International concern]

The traditional aspirations of Russia toward Constantinople were well understood in Europe. With the exception of Prussia, the European Powers, contrary to the Czar's expectations, were resolved to preserve the integrity of Turkey.

[Sidenote: Austria's timely measures]

[Sidenote: Menzikov's mission]

[Sidenote: French-English naval demonstration]

The Continental Powers diplomatically met the Czar on his own religious ground. Protestant England, on the other hand, with no pilgrims to defend, could protest only on the score of preserving the balance of power. A deeper reason for British opposition lay in the possible opening of the Black Sea to Russian commerce, and the consequent loss of oriental trade to English merchants. Louis Napoleon, who could hardly begin his imperial reign in France more auspiciously than by avenging the disasters of his immortal uncle and of the Grand Army in Russia, entered the lists as the champion of the Roman Catholic Christians of the Orient. Austria, though she took no active part against her recent ally, ingeniously frustrated the plans of the Russian autocrat by bringing the Sultan to terms in his attempt to crush the insurgent Montenegrins, who had been incited by Russia to revolt. Thus was Nicholas robbed of his best pretext for impressing his will upon Turkey. Chagrined at the triumph of Austria, angered by the demands made by the French Ambassador, Marquis de Lavalette, in behalf of Roman Catholic pilgrims, Nicholas sent his Admiral, Prince Menzikov, as Ambassador Extraordinary to the Porte. With unusual ostentation Menzikov gathered the Russian fleet and an army of 30,000 men at Sebastopol, and then went alone to Constantinople. He demanded an audience of the Sultan, and on March 2 appeared before him in a plain overcoat and with boots covered with dust. His appearance was in keeping with his mission. In the name of his master he demanded the protectorate over all Greek Christians. Failing to attain his end, Menzikov, after a six weeks' stay, delivered a Russian ultimatum. Late in May he left Constantinople, prophesying his speedy reappearance in uniform. Three weeks later the French and English fleets cast anchor in the entrance to the Dardanelles.

[Sidenote: Russians cross Pruth]

[Sidenote: Cossacks in Danube provinces]

It was not to be expected that a ruler like Nicholas would shrink from war. On July 7, he despatched Prince Michael Gortschakov, together with two army divisions of 40,000 men each, respectively commanded by Generals Lueders and Danneberg, across the Pruth, with orders to hold the Danube principalities until the Sultan had granted the Russian demands. Sultan Abdul Majid, through his grand vizier, Reschid Pasha, issued a firman recognizing the rights of his Christian subjects. Upon crossing the Pruth, the Russian Commander-in-Chief assured the people of Moldavia and Wallachia that their property and persons would not be molested; but the Russian soldiers seized the public funds, compelled peasants to give up their cattle and their grain, and pressed the native militia into the Czar's service.

[Sidenote: Turkish ultimatum]

[Sidenote: Russia declares war]

[Sidenote: Oltenizza]