THE HISTORY MODERN CIVILIZATION A HANDBOOK BASED UPON M. GUSTAVE DUCOUDRAY'S " HISTOIRE SOMMAIRE DE LA CIVILISATION" WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL LIMITED 1891 LONDON : PRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO. CITY ROAD. PREFACE. THE aim of the Handbook of " The History of Modern Civili- zation " a continuation and completion of " The History of Ancient Civilization," published in the same form more than a year ago is to give to young students and general readers a comprehensive view of the progress of the nations, as far as it is known, out of the decadence of ancient civilization, through mediaeval barbarism, until they emerge in modern and advance to contemporary civilization. It is hoped that it may stimulate younger readers to pursue historical studies further, and may occasionally be useful to older students as a grouping together of knowledge already acquired. Though based on M. Ducoudray's " Histoire Sommaire de la Civilisation," this handbook is rather an adaptation than a trans- lation ; for M. Ducoudray's standpoint is so exclusively French, that it has been necessary not only to omit much and to correct freely, but also to fill numerous and extensive gaps in his know- ledge of England and other countries. J.V. January, 1891. CONTENTS. BOOK I. THE NEW RELIGION. CHAPTER I. CHRISTIANITY REORGANIZATION AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. PAGE SUMMARY. The Preparation for the Advent of Christianity ; the Con- dition of Religion and Philosophy in the Roman World Unity of the Roman World; the Right of Universal Citizenship The Christian Religion The Persecutions The Primitive Organiza- tion of the Church : the Catacombs The Apologists : Tertullian Influence of Christianity The Decadence of the Roman Empire ; its Causes ; the Absence of a Constitution The Power and Rivalry of the Praetorians and the Armies ; Civil Wars Invasion of the Barbarians Attempts at Restoration in the Fourth Century; Diocletian ; the Tetrarchy The Work of Constantino ; the Im- perial Power; the Great Officers Separation of the Military and Civil Powers Division of the Provinces into Prefectures, Dioceses, &c. The New Nobility The Classes The Curiales The Inferior Classes; the Plebs; Husbandmen Slaves The Taxes Con stan- tine and Christianity ; the Edict of Milan (313) Organization of the Church; Bishops, Archbishops, &c. The Council of Nicaea Constantinople The Pagan Reaction under Julian The Heresies ; the Fathers of the Greek Church The Fathers of the Latin Church Hermits and Monks Final Causes of the Fall of the Roman Empire, and of the Success of the Invasions What Rome has gi-ven to the World The Legacy of Antiquity. (Notes : The Roman Calendar Basilicas transformed into Churches) . . 1 Vlil CONTENTS. BOOK II. THE MIDDLE AGES. CHAPTER II. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. PAGE SVMMARY. The Middle Ages The New Races The Germans : Agri- cultural and Military Life The Germanic Family The Ger- manic Tribes Germanic Royalty The Assemblies Justice Individuality Slavery amongst the Germans Religion Bar- barian Kingdoms, Visigoths, Vandals, &c. Destruction of the Western Empire (476) The Ostrogoths: Theodoric The Bar- barian Laws Decadence of the Barbarian Kingdoms Mili- tary Supremacy of the Franks Frank and Roman Society: the Monarchy The Classes Finance; Justice The Church and Barbarian Society: the Bishops The Right of Asylum; the Ton- sure ; the Clerks The Councils : Excommunication Wealth of the Church The Monasteries The Papacy Alliance between the Frank Kings and the Church: Accession of the Carolingians The Temporal Power of the Popes Europe in the Eighth Century. (Notes : The Salic Law The Monasteries) 41 CHAPTER III. THE EASTERN EMPIRE. RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE WEST. SUMMARY. The Eastern Empire : Justinian Justinian's Legislative Work : the Monuments of Roman Law Luxury of the Emperors of the E;ist: Games in the Circus Byzantine Art Painting: Mosaics The Sect of Iconoclasts The Greek Schism (857 1054) Weakness and Longevity of the Byzantine Empire The West : Charlemagne and his Wars Restoration of the Western Empire : Coronation of Charlemagne (800) The Administration of Charlemagne: Roman Traditions Ecclesiastical Organization The Intellectual Renaissance Germanic Traditions Character of Charlemagne's Work : its Results. (Note : Sovereigns of the Eastern Empire) 65 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER IV. THE AKABS. THE CALIPHATES OF BAGDAD AND CORDOVA. MUSSULMAN CIVILIZATION. PAGE SUMMARY. The Invasion from the South ; its Character : the Arabs Mahomet and his Religion The Koran The Ulema : the Imaums Social and Political Influence of Mahomedanism Preaching by the Sword The Arah Empire : the two Caliphates Prosperity of the Caliphate of Bagdad : Commerce The Cali- phate of Cordova : Prosperity of Spain Arab Literature Science Art Character and Influence of Arab Civilization. (Note: Some Verses of the Koran) 80 CHAPTER V. THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. SUMMARY. Dismemberment of Charlemagne's Empire Feudalism Origin of Feudalism Subordination of the Land ; the Edict of Mersen (847) Public Offices become hereditary ; Edict of Kiersy- sur-Oise (877) Social Organization; the Nobility The Clergy The Inferior Classes Political Disorganization ; Feudal Monarchy Feudal Administration, "War, Justice, and Finance Feudal Activity and Independence Defects of the Feudal System . . 96 CHAPTER VI. FEUDAL AND CHRISTIAN EUROPE FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. SUMMARY. Efforts of the Church to counteract Disorder ; the Truce of God Distant Expeditions The Enfranchisement of the Church ; the Investitures; Pope Gregory VII. (1073 1085) Religious Unity; Theocracy The Crusades; their Causes Duration and Character of the Crusades (1095 1270) Political and Economic Results of the Crusades-/Chivalry The Monarchies ; the Cape- tians in France ; the Feudal Monarchy ; Commencement of the Administration Alliance of the Capetians with the Church and People England; Contrast between English and French Feu- dalism Spain ; the Crusade against the Moors ; Character of the CONTENTS. PAGE Spanish Nobility Italian Feudalism Germany ; Progress of Ger- man Feudalism The German Empire in the Middle Ages The Papacy ; Rivalry between the Sacerdotal Power and the Empire (1073 1250) Eesults; the Ruin of the two Ambitions; Progress of a National Spirit amongst the Populations Progress of the Urban Populations ; Imperial German Cities The Italian Re- publics ; the Democracy in Florence ; the Aristocracy in Venice The French Communes New Cities; the Middle Classes The Third Estate Advantages and Results of Communal Liberty Dangers and Decline of the Communal Movement The Country ; Progress of Enfranchisement ; the Parishes ; the Statutes of Louis X. (1315) Origin of Public Liberties ; the States-General in France (1302) The Great Charter in England (1215); the English Parliament (1258 1295) The Spanish Cones . . .109 CHAPTER VII. SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE AGES. SUMMAKY. Society in the Middle Ages The Nobility; Manners- Armorial Bearings Tournaments Meals The Commoners The Feudal Family The Rights of Primogeniture The Government of the Church ; the Councils The Bishops The Monasteries ; New Religious Orders; the Carthusians The Franciscans and Dominicans Ritual ; Religious Festivals Superstitions Heresies Industry The Corporations Commerce ; the Parisian Ex- change ; Restriction and Taxes The Jews ; Bills of Exchange Maritime Commerce; Venice; Genoa; the Hanseatic League Travels ; Marco-Polo Education ; the Paris Schools and Uni- versity Instruction ; Scholasticism Nominalism and Realism Philosophy and Theology ; the Great Doctors Formation of Languages ; the French Language Epic Poetry ; The Chansons de geste Allegoric Poetry Southern Poetry ; the Troubadours Birth of the Theatre Prose; History Law; Revival of the Roman Law ; the Sumptuary Laws The Sciences ; Alchemy Italian Language and Poetry ; Dante, Petrarch Art in Italy French Art; Military Architecture Religious Architecture; the Romance Style; the Gothic Style Sculpture Music in the Middle Ages Civilization in the Thirteenth Century The Four- teenth Century ; Decline of the Feudal System ; Transformation of Society. (Notes : Scholastics and Doctors of the Church Troubadours Chroniclers Savants, Physicians, Astronomers) . 132 CONTENTS. xi BOOK III. MODERN TIMES. CHAPTER VIII. MODERN STATES IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES. GREAT MARITIME DISCOVERIES. PAGE SUMMARY. Great Inventions and Great Discoveries Modern Times Evolution in Political Order ; Progress of Monarchy in France Decline of the Feudal System in England ; Wars of the Roses ; the Tudors The Spanish Monarchy Division of Germany ; Partition of Italy Formation and Greatness of Austria Power of Kings ; European Wars The Great Maritime Discoveries ; the Portuguese Discoveries by the Spaniards ; Christopher Columhus ; the New World (1492) Discovery of the Pacific Ocean; the First Voyage Round the World (1521) ; Mexico and Peru Colonial Policy of Spain and Portugal Commercial 'Monopoly Consequence of the Maritime Discoveries ; Development of Commerce Diffusion of Gold and Silver Money Change of the Commercial Routes Move- able Wealth . 181 CHAPTER IX. THE RENAISSANCE IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES. SUMMARY. The Renaissance; the Circumstances that aided it The Renaissance in Italy; the Humanists Italian Literature The Poets; Ariosto, Tasso History; Politics Machiavelli Guicciardini The Humanists in France The College of France Erasmus French Literature in the Fifteenth Century Poetry in the Sixteenth Century Marot, Ronsard, Jodelle Law History Philosophy Ramus, Montaigne, Rabelais Literature in the Sixteenth Century Spanish Literature Cervantes Lope de Vega Portugal ; Camoens Birth and Brilliancy of English Literature Shakespeare (1564 1616) The Birth of Science Copernicus (14931543) Tycho Brahe The Reform of the Calendar Mathematics Medicine : Paracelsus, Vesalius, Ambroise Pare Astrology and Sorcery The Renaissance of Art in Italy Architecture : Brunel- leschi and Bramante Michael Angelo French Architecture Philibert Delorme Pierre Lescot Italian Sculpture French Sculpture Painting : the Earliest Italian Masters of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries Giotto, Fra Angelico, Masaccio The Xll CONTENTS. PAGE Earliest Flemish Artists ; the Invention of Painting in Oil (1410) ; the Brothers Van Eyck Character of Italian Painting, Pagan and Christian Subjects The Italian Schools ; the Florentine School : Ptrugino, Leonardo da Vinci (1452 1519) The Roman School: Michael Angelo (1474 1564) Uaphael (1483 1520) School of Lombardy : Correggio (1494 1534) Venetian School : Giorgio Barbarelli (14771511), Titian (1477 1576) Tintoretto, Paul Veronese Bolognese School : the Carracci Painting in Spain Painting in France Flemish Painting German Painting : Holbein, Albert Diirer Ceramics : Bernard Palissy Music. (Note : The Principal Scientific Men of the Sixteenth Century) . . . .194 CHAPTER X. THE REFORMATION. SUMMARY. The Religious Reformation, its Causes Luther (1483 1546) ; Character of his Reformation The Reformation in the Northern Countries The Reformation in England The Reformation in Switzerland ; Zwingle ; Calvin (1509 1564) The Principles and Consequences of Calvinism Restoration of Catholicism ; Religious Wars Division of Europe between Catholicism and Protestantism Influence of the Protestant Reformation upon Politics, and upon the Economic and Intellectual Movement ... . 238 CHAPTER XI. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY RELIGION POLITICS TRADE AND FINANCE. SUMMARY. Protestantism and Catholicism in the Seventeenth Century The Thirty Years' War in Germany The Presbyterians and Puri- tans in England; the Revolutions of 1640 and 1688 Religious Wars in France under Louis XIII. ; the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes under Louis XIV. Influence of the Religious Revolution on Society Character of Christianity in the Seventeenth Century Religious Orders for Women ; Sisters of Charity ; Saint Vincent de Paul Political Europe in the Seventeenth Century ; the Great Wars ; Progress of Military Art The European Equilibrium ; the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) ; Diplomacy Preponderance of France ; the Wars of Louis XIV. Internal Policy of the Kingdoms; Triumph of Absolute Monarchy in France The Monarchy o Louis XIV. The Central Power ; Provincial Administration CONTENTS. X1U PAGB Police, the Army, Justice, Finance The Church The Monarch and Economic Interests Kesults and Vices of Absolute Monarchy in France Absolute Monarchy in Spain Monarchy in the various States of Europe The Stuarts in England The Revolutions of 1640 and of 1688 The Declaration of Rights ; the Constitutional Monarchy The Economic Movement Maritime and Colonial Em- pire of Holland England, her First Colonies ; the Navigation Act Economic Progress of France ; Sully, Richelieu Colbert's Ser- vices; Development of French Industry Colbert's Theories, the Protective System ; the System of Balance Internal Commerce The Navy and the Mercantile Fleets Commercial Companies, Colonies . 247 CHAPTER XII. LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. SUMMARY. The Intellectual Movement ; French Society in the Seven- teenth Century ; Conversation ; Wit French Literature ; Taste ; Malherbe ; the Authors of the first half of the Seventeenth Century, or the Age of Richelieu Classical Tragedy ; Corneille (16061684) Renaissance of Philosophy ; Prose ; Descartes ; Pascal Authors of the Reign of Louis XIV. ; the King's Personal Influence Poetry : Racine, Moliere, Boileau Eloquence in the Pulpit : Bourdaloue, Bossuet, Fenelon Madame de Sevigne ; La Bruyere La Fontaine The Quarrel between the Ancients and Moderns The Opera; Quinault Memoirs; History Philosophy; Malebranche Education ; the Learned Societies Origin of the Periodical Press Literature in England : Ben Jonson, Bacon Milton (16081674) Bunyan Locke (1632 1704) Holland; the Jew Spinoza Germany ; Leibnitz Spain ; Calderon ; Literary Decadence Science, Mathematics Astronomy : Kepler (1571 1630) ; Galileo (15641642) ; Newton (1642 1727) Physical Science ; Bacon's Experimental Method Galileo, Toricelli, Pascal, Mariotte Steam ; Denis Papin Natural Science ; the Botanical Gardens ; Tournefort Medicine The Arts ; French Architecture Sculpture ; Puget Painting ; the Italian School ; Guercino, Albano, Domenichino, Salvator Rosa Painting in Spain ; Ribera, 'Velasquez, Murillo French Painting ; Nicholas Poussin, Claude Lorraine Flemish Artists in France ; Philip de Champaign e ; Van der Meulen Greatness of the Flemish School : Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens Animal Painters ; Snyders The Painters of Genre ; David Teniers The Dutch School ; Rembrandt Gerard Dow, Terburg, Metzu Ruysdael, Hobbema The Results of the Seventeenth Century . 271 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. THE ARTS, SCIENTIFIC AND POLITICAL MOVEMENT OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. PA OK SUMMARY. New Character of Art in the Eighteenth Century Architec- ture Sculpture Artistic Furniture of Modern Times The Styles of Louis XIV., Louis XV., and Louis XVI. French Painting- Painting in Germany and England The Scientific Movement ; Mathematicians ; Euler, d'Alembert, Clairaut, Lagrange Astro- nomy ; Bradley, Herschell, Maupertuis, Mechain, Delambre Laplace The Physical Sciences ; Thermometers ; Air Balloons Steam Engines ; Newcomen, James Watt Electricity Franklin ; Lightning Conductors Dynamic Electricity ; G-alvani and Volta Chemistry ; Priestley, ScheeL 3 , Lavoisier The Natural Sciences ; Buffon, Linnaeus Medicine ; Jenner The Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb and for the Blind ; the Abbe de 1'Epee ; Valentine Haiiy French Literature in the Eighteenth Century; the Followers of the Traditions of the Preceding Century; Massillon, Saint-Simon Decadence of Poetry Voltaire the Dramatist Voltaire the Author, his Historical "Works Voltaire the Philosopher French Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century ; Condillac, Helvetius, the " Encyclo- pedia," d'Alembert, Diderot The Political Writers ; Montesquieu, the " Esprit des Lois " Jean- Jacques Rousseau ; the " Contrat Social ; " " Emile " Birth of Political Economy ; G-ournay, Quesnay, Adam Smith The Novel ; Lesage, Bernardin de Saint- Pierre Prose Comedies ; Marivaux, Beaumarchais Character and Influence of French Literature in the Eighteenth Century English Literature ; The Essayists ; Addison The Novel ; Defoe, Fielding Poetry in England Philosophy ; History ; Eloquence German Literature ; Lessing Poetry ; Klopstock Goethe Schiller Wie- land German Philosophy ; Kant Italian Literature Music ; its Progress in Modern Times ; Rameau, Gluck, Pergolesi, Gretry The German School Bach, Handel, Haydn- Mozart . . .302 CHAPTER XIV. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789. SUMMARY. The Economic Movement in the Eighteenth Century ; Insti- tution of Credit Law's System; the Bank Note Geographical Discoveries Maritime Commerce ; the Colonies ; Colonial Power CONTENTS. XV PAGE of England The Colonial System of Modern States Colonial Produce Emancipation of the English Colonies in America; the United States Industry in Europe ; French Industry Industry and Commerce in the Central and Northern Countries of Europe Political State of Europe ; the Latin Slavs ; the Civilization of Eastern Europe; Poland The Partition of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795) Origin and Development of the Kingdom of Prussia Frederic II. (17401786) ; the City of Berlin The Greeks and Slavs ; Formation and Progress of the Russian Empire Peter the Great (1672 1725) St. Petersburg (1703) The Work of Peter the Great Catherine II. (1762 1796) Character of Russian Civi- lization The Scandinavian States; Stockholm, Copenhagen Austria ; the Reforms of Joseph II. The Principalities of Ger- many and the Holy Roman Empire Portugal, Pombal The Bourbon Dynasty in Spain; Reforms of El Conde d'Aranda Italy Results of the Work of Modern Times State of France in 1789 Monarchical Principles The Feudal Constitution of the Government and Administration Justice Finance The Army The Church Feudal Character of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce Character of Society Political, Economic, and Social Causes of the Revolution 334 BOOK IV. THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD. CHAPTER XV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. SUMMARY. General Character of the Revolution, its Philosophical and Classical Spirit The Social, Economic, and Political Aim of the Revolution The Social Work of the Constituent Assembly ; the Principles of Equality ; the Night of the 4th of August Civil Equality Equality in the Family Political Action ; the Principles of 1789 Administrative Reforms, Political Unity ; the Departments Financial Reforms The Civil Constitution of the Clergy Repre- sentative Government; the Constitution of 1791 Economic Reform; the Development of Small Landowners ; Relief of Agriculture- Liberty of Industry and Commerce Effort to Return to Credit : the Assignats ; the Assembly and Law's System Result of the Work of the Constituent Assembly The Legislative Assembly ; XVI CONTENTS. Fall of the Monarchy (10th of August, 1792) The Republic ; the Convention (1792 1795) Divisions and Violence of the Convention The Thermidorian Reaction The Constitution of the Year III. Labours and Creations of the Convention The Directory (1795 1799) ; the Coups d'Etat Social Disorder Financial Disorder The Army ; the Law of Conscription Preponderance of the Army; the Coup d'Etat of the 18 and 19 Brumaire (9th and 10th of Novem- ber, 1799) .367 CHAPTER XVI. THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIKE NAPOLEONIC EUROPE DIFFUSION OF FRENCH IDEAS. SUMMARY. The Consulate ; Constitution of the Year VIII. Plebiscites The Electoral System ; the Lists of Notabilite Administrative Reorganization Justice ; the Courts of Appeal ; the Civil Code The New Financial System ; the Control and Collection of Taxes Religious Peace; the Concordat (1801 1802) The Legion of Honour (1802) ; Public Instruction, the Lyce'es Economic Reforms; Credit, the Bank of France The Work of the Consulate The Empire ; the Senatus-Consultum of the Year XII. (1804) The Great Dignitaries ; the New Nobility Napoleon's Work ; Military Art Finance The Codes Public Works Industry Exhibitions Industrial Consequences of the Continental Blockade The Univer- sity (1806) Imperial Absolutism The French Empire and Europe in 1810 Diffusion of Ideas of French Revolution in Europe ; Belgium, Holland, the Rhenish Provinces, Switzerland Effect of French Revolution on Italy Simplification of the Germanic Chaos Effect of French Revolution on Germany Effect of French Revolution on Spain; the Constitution of 1812 Prussia ; Reforms of Stein and Scharnhorst Effect of French Revolution on Sweden and Russia Principles of the Revolution turned against Napoleon 388 CHAPTER XVII. EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES SINCE 1815. SUMMARY. Europe in 1815 The Holy Alliance The Different Govern- ments in France since 1815 ; the Restoration (1815 1830) ; the Charter of 1814 Attempts at Political, Economic, and Social Re- CONTENTS. xvii PAGE action The Political Results of the Restoration ; Representative Government ; the Responsibility of Ministers The Monarchy of July ; Parliamentary Government Property Suffrage Political Consequences of the Economic Revolution ; Progress of the Indus- trial Classes; Socialism The Republic of 1848 ; Universal Suffrage ; the Constitution of 1848 The Constitution of 1852 The Second Empire and its Transformations (1852 1870) The National Assem- bly of 1871 ; the Third Republic ; the Constitution of 1875 Political Results of the Contemporary Epoch in France European Powers since 1815 ; Conflict between Modern Ideas and the Ancien Regime The Great Wars since 1848 Europe as it now is Progress of Liberal Ideas ; Parliamentary Government England : Progress of Liberal Ideas since 1815; Catholic Emancipation (1829); Parlia- mentary Reform Bill (1831 1832); Abolition of Slavery (J834) ; the Poor Laws Sir Robert Peel's great Economic Reforms ; the Income Tax ; Abolition of the Corn Laws (1846) ; Repeal of the Navigation Laws (1849); Liberty Granted to the Colonies Parlia- mentary Reforms in 1867 and 1884 England and Ireland The English Constitution ; the Government ; Parliament The Aristo- cracy, the Gentry ; Local Administration, Parishes, Counties, Justice Character of the English Nation Belgium and its Con- stitution (1831) Constitutional Monarchy in Spain (1837) ; Portugal Holland : Constitution of 1848 The Swiss Confederation ; the Federal Constitution Denmark Sweden : Constitution of 1866 Kingdom of Italy The Holy See Constitutional Austria (1861 1867) ; Austrian and Hungarian Parliaments Constitutional Rule in Prussia (1850 1867) The German Imperial Parliament (1871) ; Military Power of the German Empire Russia: the Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) Territory of the Principal States ; Population Military Power Maritime Power Financial Power Political Europe at the Present Time , 408 CHAPTER XVIII. LITF.RATUBE A\D ART IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. SUMMARY. Renovation of Literature : Revival of Religious and Poetic Feeling ; Chateaubriand Ma iame de Stael The Literary Move- ment under the Restoration; Influence of Foreign Literatures Lyrical Poetry; Lamartine (1790 1869) Victor Hugo (1802 18S5) Dispute between the Classicists and Romanticists Victor Hugo and the Drama Victor Hugo's last Works Casimir Dela- vigne; Beranger Poetry since 1830; Alfred de Musset (1810 1857) Tne Theatre since 1830 Novels The Historical Move- XVlii CONTENTS. PAGE ment ; Augustin Thierry ; Guizot Thiers Mignet, Michelet Erudition, learned Societies The Philosophical Movement ; Royer- Collard ; Cousin ; the various Schools The Religious Movement- Political Economy Parliamentary Eloquence The Press Literary Criticism English Literature ; Poetry ; the Lake School Byron, Shelley, Tennyson, Browning, Swinburne Walter Scott The Historical Novel Charles Dickens History and Philosophy Macaulay German Literature Italian Literature Art : David and his School Gros; Gerard The Classicists and the Romanticists; Ingres; Idealism Gericault Eugene Delacroix Paul Delaroche ; Ary Scheffer Artists since 1830; Horace Vernet Meissonier Hippolyte Flandrin ; Cabanel Painting in Germany, England, Belgium, &c. Sculpture Architecture Music, the Classical School The Great Operas : Rossini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Auber, &c. Comic Operas : Boieldieu, Adam, Auber, Herold, &c. . . 457 CHAPTER XIX. THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATION TO INDUSTRY. SUMMARY. The Scientific Movement ; Natural Sciences : Cuvier ; Geof- froy Saint- Hilaire Alexander von Hmnboldt Elie de Beaumont; Flourens Evolution Darwin : Wallace Mathematical and Physical Sciences : Ampere ; Arago ; Biot OErstedt ; Bunsen ; Faraday ; Humphry Davy Gay-Lussac Dumas ; Balard Astro- nomy : Arago; LeVerrier Meteorological Observations Medicine Physiology: Claude Bernard Application of the Physical Sciences ; Navigation by Steam Locomotives, Railways ; Stephen- son ; Seguin Electro-magnetism and the Telegraph Wheatstone and Morse's System of Telegraphy Electricity as an Industrial Agent, Ruhmkorff's System Artificial Light : Lighthouses Gas Light The Electric Light Air Balloons Artesian Wells Sus- pension Bridges Photography The Telephone The Phonograph Application of Chemistry The Scientific Movements of the Nineteenth Century 489 CHAPTER XX. ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS AND MORAL PROGRESS. SUMMARY. Agriculture Agricultural Shows and Societies Agriculture in Europe Industry ; Mechanical Processes ; First Experiments in the Eighteenth Century ; Arkwright (1732 1792); Cotton Spinning; CONTENTS. XIX PAGE the Spinning-Jenny Flax and Hemp Spinning ; Philippe de Girard Silk Spinning and Weaving ; Jacquard Manufacture of Paper hy Machinery Printing ; Lithography Porcelain in Saxony and France in the Eighteenth Century Glass Various Industries- Manufacture of Beetroot Sugar Importance of the Metal Industry Industrial Activity of the Different Nations Industrial Associa- tions : Co-operative Societies Railways Triumphs of Engineering Art ; the Mont Cenis and St. Gothard Tunnels The Revolution produced by Railways The Post; the Universal Postal Union The Telegraph Submarine Telegraphs Transatlantic Navi- gation Piercing of the Isthmus of Suez Ferdinand de Lesseps -Universal Exhibitions (1851. 1855, 1862, 1867, 1873, 1876, 1878, 1889) International Commissions ; Propagation of the Metric System Unity of Coinage Credit ; Institutions of Credit ; Insur- ances Free Trade and Commercial Treaties Commercial Activity of the Various Nations Results of the Economic Revolution Pro- longation of the Average of Life Moral Progress ; Public Educa- tion in France Public Education in Europe Progress of Legisla- tionDiminution of Crime Provident Institutions Charity ; Benevolent Institutions . .... 508 CHAPTER XXI. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. SUMMARY. Efforts made by European Civilization to extend over the World America ; Rapid Progress of the United States Govern- ment ; Federal Constitution of the United States ; Freedom of Indi- vidual States Army ; Navy ; Finance The North and South ; Slavery ; The War of Secession (1861 1865) Abolition of Slavery (1865) Agricultural Wealth of the United States Mineral Wealth : Coal, Iron, Petroleum, &c. Californian Gold Mines Industry and Commerce Railways in the United States Education Literature American Society Bdtish America ; the Dominion of Canada The North-West Passage South America ; the Emancipation of the Spanish Colonies Brazil The Republics of South and Central America Mexico Africa : British Possessions British South Africa France in Africa; Senegal Algeria Tunis The Exploration of Africa ; the Niger ; the Sources of the Nile Livingstone ; Southern and Central Africa Cameron ; Stanley The Congo Free State Ogowe : French Colony of the Congo Schweinfurth ; Nachtigal XX CONTENTS. PAGE Portuguese Colonies German Colonies The Colonial Empire of Holland The English in Australia European Powers in Asia; the British Empire in India The Material Condition of India : Popu- lation ; Railways The Productions of India Industry and Art Moral Condition ; Castes ; Religions The Russian Empire in Asia ; Siberia The Caucasian Provinces and Turkestan China Chinese Civilization ; Population ; Government Religion ; Legislation Agriculture Industry Progress of China Japan Government and Progress of Japan The World as it now is .... 639 HISTOEY OF MODEEN CIVILIZATION. BOOK I. THE NEW RELIGION. CHAPTER I. CHRISTIANITY REORGANIZATION AND FALL OP THE ROMAN EMPIRE. SUMMARY : The Preparation for the Advent of Christianity ; the Condition of Religion and Philosophy in the Roman World Unity of the Roman World; the Right of Universal Citizenship The Christian Religion The Persecutions The Primitive Organization of the Church : the Catacombs The Apologists : Tertullian Influence of Christianity The Decadence of the Roman Empire ; its Causes ; the Absence of a Constitution The Power and Rivalry of the Praetorians and the Armies; Civil Wars Invasion of the Barbarians Attempts at Restoration in the Fourth Century ; Diocletian ; the Tetrarchy The Work of Constantine ; the Imperial Power ; the Great Officers Separation of the Military and Civil Powers Division of the Provinces into Prefectures, Dioceses, &c. The New Nobility The Classes The Curiales The Inferior Classes ; the Plebs ; Husbandmen Slaves The Taxes Constantine and Chris- tianity ; the Edict of Milan (313) Organization of the Church; Bishop- rics, Archbishoprics, &c. The Council of Nicsea Constantinople The Pagan Reaction under Julian The Heresies ; the Fathers of the Greek Church The Fathers of the Latin Church Hermits and Monks Final Causes of the Fall of the Roman Empire, and of the Success of the In- vasions What Rome has given to the World The Legacy of Antiquity. NOTES : The Roman Calendar Basilicas transformed into Churches. The Preparation for the Advent of Christianity ; the Condition of Religion and Philosophy in the Roman World. Greek and Roman philosophy had vainly sought to sotve the problem which vexes the mind of man the problem of whence and whither 6 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. the problem of his own destiny. After he had exhausted systems and hypotheses nothing remained to man but confused theories about the Supreme Being, Providence, and the soul, with a morality the doctrines of which were accessible to the learned only. The contradictions between the eclectic beliefs of Cicero and the negations of Lucretius, between the hedonism of the Epicureans and the proud self-mastery of the Stoics, increased the scepticism of the multitude. Philosophy had no power to guide or govern the mind and life of man. Pagan mythology, with its absurd and inconsistent fables, could not satisfy the need of the soul. Its meaningless rites, its sacri- fices with no moral virtue, had contributed not a little to the moral disorder which rendered easy the corruption of the first days of the Empire. Hedonistic materialism, if not formally enunciated, yet at least implied in the doctrine of Epicurus, sanctioned abandon- ment to the passions. Synchronously with mocking or intellectual mistrust of the deities of Rome and Greece, a host of Oriental rites invaded Rome. " The ignorance into which men had fallen with respect to the gods," wrote Plutarch, " has formed into two streams, one of which, making its bed in hearts hard as rocks, led to the denial of the gods, while the other, spreading itself over gentle souls as on damp ground, gave rise to an exaggerated fear of the gods." Rome had made herself an asylum for all the divinities of the nations. In Italy temples were erected in honour of Syrian and Egyptian deities, there were mysteries, pompous ceremonies, Chaldean and Phrygian divination, numbers of expiatory sacrifices, even rites of blood and obscenity. On the other hand, the discussions of the philosophers on the Essence of the Supreme Being, and on his divers manifestations, predisposed men to accept the theories of Christianity. Justin saw in pagan philosophy the dim unconscious reflection of the Divine Word. Plutarch, in his religious treatises, formulated in explicit terms his belief in the unity and eternity of God in God as the creative and preservative energy of the world. He commented upon and approved of the delays of Divine justice. CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 3 The moral unrest of certain philosophers, the need of arriving at the knowledge of the Infinite and of " the beyond," the confusion of systems and of religions, showed that the world was prepared for the advent of a religion which should finally determine these dogmas, should give rest to reason by subordinating it to faith, and should respond to all the feelings of the human heart. Unity of the Roman World ; the Hit/lit of Universal Citizenship. The unity of the Roman world, encircling all other civilized nations, was eminently favourable to the preaching of the Gospel. Through- out its vast extent two languages alone were needed the Latin in the West, the Greek in the East in which to address its citi- zens and the army of its officials. From the time of Caracalla (213 A.D.), the right of citizenship was extended to all the pro- vinces : a revolution that passed almost unperceived, so lavishly had the right been bestowed, so little remained to be done to render the assimilation complete, and to make of Rome the fatherland of the world. The world had done with the old municipal egoism, which made the city the fatherland and its walls the horizon of society. All cities were now gathered into union with Rome, a result effected partly by the perfect toleration of other religions practised by the Romans, except in cases where it conflicted with what they thought was civi- lized; for instance, the human sacrifices of the Druids. The older re- ligions and their rivalries were at last reconciled in the Pantheon of Rome. A singular confraternity had succeeded to the savage exclu- sion of deities of neighbouring states, of cities opposing their peculiar gods to the gods of other towns ; all were now willing to adopt alike belief. " Almost at the opposite extremities of the Roman Empire inscriptions have been found. One is Jupiter, Serapis, and Jao ; one Hermes and Anubis." No doubt the Athenians, who had erected an altar even to the " unknown God," paid little attention to the preaching of St. Paul when he announced to them this unknown God. It would cost them but little to acknowledge one more deity, but of the true nature of the God of the Christians they had as a people an imperfect conception ; the might of this religion, at once practical and mystical, uniting God and man with the bonds THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. not of the intellect only, but of the heart, soon overshadowed all other religions, and one by one their idols fell before the cross of Jesus Christ. The Christian Beligion. The Gospel,* or good news of God, preached among the Jews in Galilee and Judaea as the full development of the Mosaic law, the crowning of their Mes- sianic hopes, had been rejected, and the true Messiah, Jesus, had suffered crucifixion at the hands of the Roman Procurator of Juda3a, in the reign of Tiberius, but his religion had survived. Preached first to the Jews and in Palestine only, by means of the Hellenistic Jews and proselytes, who were spread through nearly all the great cities and commercial centres of the Roman empire, it came quickly into contact with the Gentile world. The twelve original leaders, men of simple habits with no pretence to science or philosophy, did not foresee this. It was the material wants of the Hellenists of Jerusalem which first led to the introduction of their representatives into the service of the infant Church. The bolder note struck by Stephen (a Greek in name) in his impassioned defence, roused the anger of his judges to fury, and they who plotted the Master's death murdered his first Hellenistic apolo- gist. The unexpected result of this martyrdom was the detach- ment from their own party of their most brilliant champion. Saul, better known under his name as a Roman citizen, Paul (Paulus), passed from the ranks of the persecutors to those of the perse- cuted, from the old to the new religion ; originally a fervent Jew he became an enthusiastic Christian, and the first who thoroughly accepted the new religion's universality ; the first * Of the twenty-seven books which, compose the New Testament, the earliest in the state in which we have them are probably the Epistles of St. Paul, written before his imprisonment, a nd the Epistle of St. James ; the date of the two earliest Gospels cannot he fixed with certainty. Then come the Epistles written hy St. Paul during his first imprisonment. About the same time may date the Gospel of St. Luke, and the History of the Acts. After his imprisonment must be placed the Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude, and that of the Hebrews, with St. John as probably the last writer of the Apos- tolic band, with his Gospel and Epistles, which came after his Apocalypse, and closed the Canon of the New Testament. With the exception of the Apocalypse, all these books appear in a list of the hooks of the New Testa- ment appended to the canons of the Council of Laodicea, held in A.D. 363. CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 5 who saw that it was something more than Hebrew Hel- lenism ; the first who declared the impossibility of confining the religion of Christ by the limits of even the widest Judaism. From the date of the Council of Jerusalem, when the principles first enunciated with hesitation by St. Peter, after the conversion of the first Gentile convert, then boldly put in practice by St. Paul, had been adopted by the elder apostles and by the whole Christian society, Christianity set out on its full mission to conquer the world. From Syria and the Levant it quickly passed through Asia Minor to Macedonia and to Greece, in the reigns of Claudius and Nero. The Roman historians at first expressed loathing of it, a pestilent super- stition (exitiabilis superstitio) Tacitus calls it. But this despised seed germinated and sprang up in Rome, and in all the great cities of the East and West. When persecuted the Christians multi- plied the more : a struggle was begun between men armed with faith alone and all the power of the empire ; a struggle in which that power finally succumbed, and with it all its religions and their superstitions. The unity which Christianity accomplished survived the unity of the political empire, and continued when this was destroyed by the barbarians. Conscience, the family, society, government, all fell under the sway of these new principles. The God of the Christians is indeed a development of the God of the Jews and of Moses. The Bible is the Christians' book; they called it the Old Testament, or Covenant, only because they added to it the New. There was no break in the tra- dition. Christ is but the Greek interpretation of the Hebrew Messiah ; but the doctrine of Monotheism, which the Jews had kept to them- selves with jealous care, was taught to foreigners, to the Gentiles (the nations). It was the God of the family ; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; the God of Moses and of the Tribes ; the God of the Jewish nation before, of the Jewish race after, the Captivity, who was now proclaimed the God, the sole, exclusive God of every race, of all mankind. The Jews, who even before the destruction of Jerusalem had spread themselves in great numbers through all the cities of the East, had begun, though without preaching them, to be less exclusive in the communication of their doctrines. Was THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. not the adoration of the one only God their special privilege, and the mark of their nationality ? If they dreamt of a universal esta- blishment of monotheism it was through national rule, which would be secured by a conquering Messiah, making the whole world Jewish. They could not believe that this Messiah had come in the form of a man of the lower classes, no warrior, but a man of peace and mercy, busied in preaching inward perfec- tion and the purest morality. They had forced the Roman gover- nor to inflict on him the degrading capital punishment reserved for felons and for slaves, and this because he announced himself as their expected King. Christianity appeared to them as blasphemy against Jehovah, and in its fullest form an infraction of strict monotheism by its doctrine of the Trinity. To them it appeared a kind of idolatry, because it offered a God in three persons for their adoration, and they paid no attention to the protestations of the Christians who asserted the unity and indivisible equality of these three manifestations. By the coming of the Son of God, at the same time and equally both God and man, even in his life on earth, it became possible to know and to teach something authoritatively on the destiny of man and on the life beyond. The doctrines of immor- tality, of the resurrection, and of the final judgment could now be accepted and acted on not as mere matters of speculative belief or as opinions more or less probable, but as facts proved and verified by the human life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This certainty, this rude assertion of the fact, while it swept aside all the speculations of previous philosophers as thus become practically useless, except as mere preparatory schoolmasters to lead to the school of Christ, roused the opposition of the intellectual world against Christianity. The old gods had inspired only fear. Even Jehovah in the Old Testament was chiefly represented as a terrible God. The new law revealed a God of love and of infinite sympathy, who not only united Himself to man by the Incarnation, but, as fore- shadowed by the rites of many an older religion, continued to descend among men and to unite Himself with them as the Holy CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 7 Spirit. Humanity, far from being condemned to despair, received the hope of another life and the assurance that, if the conditions were fulfilled, mankind should enjoy that eternal life. "The kingdom of God is within you" was the teaching of Jesus, and the Christian's aim was to realise here and now, as well as to reach hereafter, that heavenly kingdom. The most admirable results ensued from this promise and from the salvation offered to all. First, there ensued universal equality. All men were children of God, bought from evil by the self-sacrifice of Christ, invited to share in the same rewards. Slavery, so laboriously justified by the philosophers, was condemned in principle, when both master and slaves became alike friends to the same Friend and Master.* Equality called itself fraternity, and fraternity adopted a new name : charity. This charity was not mere assistance due to the unfortunate, an assistance which, we must remember, had never been altogether neglected in ancient societies ; for it had been regulated by political interest in the cities, though it had never been declared a virtue. Christianity taught a complete self-surrender, and proclaimed the love of our neighbour as the first of all duties. It exalted humanity above all fatherlands, above the fatherland of Rome itself. The horizon which had before been bounded by the city or the State, became now co-extensive with the world. " Blessed are the meek," Christ had said in that Sermon on the Mount which summed up all his sublime in- structions. Gentleness, persuasion, example, these were the early Christian's only weapons, arms new and strange to the ancient world where only force or implacable laws supported by force prevailed. The worship was as simple as the doctrine. Salvation was no longer dependent on the details of ritual, but upon a per- fect faith and a pure conscience. Religion, from an external act, became an inner motive, and although it soon degenerated into pomp and ceremony, aimed at first only at strengthening the soul and subduing the heart. Fervent prayer, confession of sin, communion * The Stoics, it must be remembered, had already, not wholly without success, preached the equality of all men as men. 8 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of their spirits with the sublime Spirit of Christ, these were the means by which Christians endeavoured to draw near to the Deity and to unite themselves for ever with Jesus Christ. If later on religion became magnificent, that magnificence was not essential ; it could none the less be practised everywhere, even in the prison or in the desert, for it consisted in the constant uplifting of the soul to God, and in the effort to copy His perfections set forth in the perfect man Jesus Christ. The Persecutions. It must seem extraordinary that such noble doctrines should have encountered so many difficulties in a society which honoured philosophers. But, on the other hand, it seems still more extraordinary that this religion was able to triumph over the formidable powers that were bent upon its destruction. The emperors and the Roman officials tolerated every creed ; they pro- scribed Christianity. It was not, as might be supposed, through hatred of the Christian doctrines, for they were little acquainted with them, and would not even take the trouble to study them ; they persecuted the Christians because they separated themselves from the State. Not that Christians" were worse citizens or less valiant soldiers than were others ; on the contrary, the Romans were unable to avoid praising their public and private virtues. Christ had commanded them to " render to Caesar the things which are Cesar's, and to God the things which are God's." Christ had not defied the Roman procurator, by whose sentence the Jews had brought about His crucifixion. But by their doctrine the Christians ruined even the forms of the ancient State. The citizen was no doubt able to profess the most varied philosophical doctrines, but he was obliged to take part in the sacrifices and to follow the official worship. This was the law in every city, and the most sceptical or the most atheistical philosophers owed their liberty only to their obedience to the religious laws, which were also political laws. Idolatry penetrated into every act. All that ren- dered life in the ancient world tolerable, its art, its amusements, its love of beauty, were connected with things which the Chris- tian must abhor. Its art, if not sensuous, was idolatrous. The theatre, the circus, the gladiatorial games, the joyous processions CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 9 and feasts in honour of the gods, the libations at every meal, all these were abominations to the Christian, from all he must refrain. Sacrifice was probably the only occasion in the ancient world on which the multitude eat meat or drank pure wine. It was the larger-minded Christians only who would eat " meat offered to idols "as an indifferent thing. The more narrow-minded, if not the more really earnest, shrank from the pollution. It was this attitude of Christianity to the world which made it seem to the heathen as an unnatural thing. All joy seemed to be gone from life ; they loathed it as the Christian loathed their world ; scorn answered scorn; they feared while they hated it, and the world, having the power, took its revenge. The Christians refused to offer incense to the idols, to pour out libations, or to take part in the public or domestic sacrifices. They thus declared themselves the enemies of the domestic as well as of the city worship, and since above all these observances there was the worship of the Emperor, they appeared to be enemies both to the city and to ,the Emperor. The Christian meetings thus became conspiracies, their ceremonies, which they were obliged to hide, were regarded as inhuman sacrifices, their doctrines were represented as abomina- tions. They were therefore denounced by private persons, dragged before the magistrates, condemned to perish with criminals and thrown into the amphitheatre as food for wild beasts, to the ferocious joy of the spectators, who imagined that they merited the favour of the gods by applauding the death of those who de >pised them. Commenced under Nero, continued even under emperors like Trajan, or philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, these persecutions terminated only at the end of two centuries with that of Diocletian, the most terrible of all. In 311 A.D., a General Edict of toleration was published in the names of Galerius, Licinius, and Constantine. This was confirmed and extended by the edict of Milan, 313 A.D. The Primitive Organization of the Church : the Catacombs. The Christian society grew up in the midst of conflict. Like many another new community its earliest form was that of socialism or communism ; " they had all things common," the common evening meal, the Agapae, the Feast of Love, was also the highest act of 10 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. worship. The priesthood was universal ; there was no distinction of spiritual and secular. Except the Apostles, emphatically the witnesses and reporters of what Christ had said or done, the first teachers were they who showed the best qualification for their office by age, experience, or by gifts. The first appointment of regular adminis- trative officers, the deacons, arose out of the need of providing an equitable distribution of the goods of the society among its varied classes. Later on we find priests, literally elders, and superin- tendents, bishops, who cannot be distinguished from them in the New Testament as a separate order. The original phrase may be equally well translated " superintendent of the congregation " as " bishop of the Church ; " but on the im- mediate disciples and trained companions of the Apostles seems to have devolved almost exclusively the authority to set apart or appoint the elders of the congrega- tion. Later on, gradually, and not con- temporaneously in all parts of the Church, the superintendent became the bishop. It is remarkable how scanty are the tra- ditions of Christianity with regard to its first promulgators. We know more or less of the lives of all the chief companions of Mahommed, and of the chief members of his family. The biography of the emperors and generals contemporaneous with the rise of Christianity, if not full, is fairly trustworthy. But, with the exception of St. Paul, of the lives of those who were then founding an empire which should outlast all empires then in the world, apart from later legend we know absolutely nothing. There is scarcely a trustworthy tradition of the life and labours of any one of the Apostles. James the Elder we know was put to death by Herod, James the Less was the leader of the Church at Jerusalem, St. John probably died long after the rest, holding a like position at Ephesus. The most valid argument for the death of St. Peter at Rome lies in the fact that no other Church claims him as its martyr. Head of young Chris- tian girl. CHRISTIANITY- FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. n Of the rest all is silence or conjecture ; and so on many another point. The Christian seed was sown, and sprang up in silence men knew not how. The earliest Christian Apostle and mission- aries preached at first in the synagogues, or other accustomed places of Jewish worship; not till rejected and repulsed from them were separate assemblies held. As it progressed the influence of the Roman unity, which in its one-man rule brought, under the good emperors of the second century, such blessings to the distracted world, was reflected on the Christian Church. From an almost communistic. _s_o.ciety it gradually became hierarchical^ and, almost monarchical. The bishops of the capitals of former nations and empires became the patriarchs and the metropolitans, as at Jerusalem, and Antioch, and Alexandria ; but necessarily the greatest of all, that city to which all roads in the world then led, Rome, became finally the most important of them all. The Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter and St. Paul, was at length believed to be the heir of Peter only, and the possessor of the power of him to whom had been granted the keys of the kingdom of heaven. It has been often said that the first temples of the Church were the underground passages and the catacombs. The re- searches of modern science have destroyed this illusion. The catacombs may have been occasionally used, as the old Egyptian tombs were by the Christians in the Nile valley, or as the hermitages of the desert were throughout the East, for occasional refuge or for voluntary retreat. In this respect the catacombs of the city of Rome would be analogous to the monk or hermit- peopled solitudes of the country churches both in the East and West. But their main purpose was undoubtedly that of burial places. From the example of the entombment of their Master, the Christian had adopted the Jewish mode of interment in the earth, instead of the cremation which prevailed among the classical and Aryan races of antiquity. It was for purposes of Christian burial that the catacombs were first excavated ; the ordinary acts of wor- ship held therein besides the funeral rites would probably only be on the anniversaries of a friend's or of a martyr's death. It is singular to remark how long the pagan emblems lingered in painting 12 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. and in rude sculpture in these tombs ; a new significance was indeed given them, but only slowly and gradually were they re- placed by purely Christian symbolism. In later ages the crypt, so often used as a burial place, beneath a church, the soil under the porch, finally the churchyard round the church, replaced the cata- combs. The Apologists : Tertullian. Gradually a literature arose pecu- liar to Christianity. Clement of Rome and the so-called Apostolic Fathers followed the example of St. Paul in writing epistles to other churches. More unexpected is the early use made of the garb of fiction to propagate some knowledge of Christianity. The Shepherd of Hermas, the Clementine Homilies, parts of the apos- tolic constitutions, and the earliest of the apocryphal Gospels, may be taken as types of a literature which has its finest examples in the poems of Csedmon, the epics of Dante and of Milton, the " Pil- grim's Progress" of Bunyan, and the best of the religious fiction of our own day. In different and more serious style, full of historical interest, are the treatises written in defence of Christianity, the " Apologies" for its existence written and presented to the emperors by the early fathers. The first of these were offered to Hadrian by Aristides and Quadratus in 131 ; then follow those of Justin Martyr arid of Melito to Antoninus, 160 170 ; then that of Athenagoras in 176 180. Then the boldest and most celebrated of them all, the "Apology" of Tertullian, written between 178202. The style of Tertullian's African Latinity (he was born at Carthage 150 160) recalls that of Tacitus in the compressed fire and preg- nant force of his sentences. It is to the ordinary writing of that day what Carlyle's English prose is to the English of his day. He cannot remain only on the defensive, but rushes on to the attack. His very defence is more aggressive than the assaults of calmer writers. "We are accused," said he, "of not honouring the emperors by our sacrifices ; we do not offer victims, but we pray to the only true God for the safety of the Emperor; we respect the heads of the nation, but we do not call them gods, for we cannot lie. Yet our loyalty is beyond suspicion ; you have a con- vincing proof of it in the patience with which we suffer persecution; CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 13 we are often stoned, our houses are burnt ; the drunken fury of the populace does not spare even our dead, they are torn from their sepulchres and rent to pieces. What revenge have we taken for all these wrongs ? If we wished to make war upon you, do we lack arms or troops ? We are but of yesterday, and already we fill your cities, your islands, your municipalities, your markets, your camps, your tribes, the hustings, the Senate, the law courts. We have left you your temples only!" Tertullian's "Apology" is really a powerful accusation against paganism, he jeers at its my- thology, he denounces the corruption of a society plunged in mate- rialism. But Tertullian adopted the follies of Montanus, he exag- gerated the sternness of the doctrines of Christianity, he would have none of its mercy, and died at war with the Church, A.D. 245. Paganism also endeavoured to defend itself with nobler arms than those of the executioner. Before the preaching of Christianity Platonism and Greek philosophy had made alliance with Judaism at Alexandria, where the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, had been made some two centuries and a half before Christ. Of these doctrines Philo (B.C. 20 A.D. 54) was the chief exponent. But the philosophers generally would not admit of such assimilation ; they saw in Christianity their deadliest foe. The chiefs of this Neo-Platonic school, whose morality was set up as a rival to that of Christianity, were Porphyry (233 304), a man of universal knowledge, acquainted with the religious tradi- tions of the East, and even with those of the Hebrews, and Jambli- chus (died about 330), his disciple, who joined the practices of magic to those of philosophy, and claimed to establish direct communica- tion between God and man, and with the demons. Influence of Christianity. At first Christianity appeared to de- stroy the families which it divided. The Christians, in their thirst for martyrdom, were regardless of the ties of relationship and of family affection. They sacrificed all, and gloried in sacrificing everything to their faith, detaching themselves completely from the earth in order to reach heaven better. But this was only in the first ardour of conviction and conflict. In proportion as Christianity spread it was seen, on the contrary, to be favourable to the family 14 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. life, which it purified, and from which it expunged the excessive paternal severity which prevailed in the constitution of the Roman family. The doctrine of the gospel, without destroying parental authority, softened it, and the children, who shared equally with their father in a worship far more noble than that of the old domestic altar, were no longer in his eyes his mere absolute pro- perty. Their relations became more cordial, more intimate, and in the home as in the religion love had more place than fear. Mar- riage became a holy thing ; purity in the man, a thing to which all heathen religions had been indifferent, was taught to be of equal obligation with purity in the woman ; the Christians condemned all those irregular unions, easily dissolved, which had become more and more prevalent in Roman society. The clergy and other teachers regarded marriage as so holy an institution, making it indeed a sacrament, that they condemned second unions. Women were enwrapped in their widowhood as in a mourning veil, and the Church praised them for their chaste and dignified seclusion. Moreover, the whole condition of woman had been singularly raised by what was remembered of the teachings and example of Christ, which made woman the equal of man in the sight of God. Mary, the mother of the Saviour, began slowly to be regarded as a powerful intercessor between God and man ; all women were attracted to her worship, happy to find in her their own selves, their sympathies, and their sentiments. Women addressed themselves with affectionate confidence to the spotless Virgin-mother who had suffered so much at the foot of the cross ; they sought safety in her pleadings against the righteous sentence of the awful Judge who should come to judge the quick and the dead ; for the teach- ings of Jesus were gradually forgotten or distorted, and the terrible Jehovah had usurped the throne of the God of Love. Slaves found themselves regarded as free men in the meetings of the Christians. Thus Christianity from the first made numerous proselytes among the slaves, whose condition it could not wholly change, but it gave them at least resignation under suffering, and the hope of a better life. This was one of the most important revolutions effected by Christianity, and it was effected not by CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 15 demanding the abolition of slavery (cf. The Epistle to Philemon) but by the gradual leavening of society with the Spirit of Christ. The number of freed-men rapidly increased, not only among Christians but also among pagans, who were won over, in spite of themselves, by this contagion of goodness. The Roman laws grew milder, and diminished the exorbitant power possessed by the masters. Even in the time of the persecutions Christianity began to in- fluence the legislation as well as the habits of the Romans. The simple and self-denying life of the Christians, their charity, their de- votion to the poor and to the sick, the self-abnegation with which rich citizens shared their goods and spent their fortune in alleviating misery, inspired Roman society, hitherto so harsh, with more humane sentiments. Christianity could not yet exercise direct influence on the government, which was resolutely hostile to it. Nevertheless it paved the way for new principles in politics; forced to resist, it had conquered independence in its own proper domain in spiritual things ; if afterwards, when its own triumph was assured, it committed again the old mistake, this was by a contradiction of its own principles. Roman society thus underwent a transformation in spite of itself. It was won over to the new faith by the zeal evinced by slaves, by the poor, above all by the heroism of women : the private virtues of Christians and their courage under torture induced it to enter the Church. By the middle of the third century Christianity already foresaw the victory which it gained only in the fourth, and at the moment when the empire was almost lost. The Decadence of the Roman Empire : its Causes ; the Absence of a Constitution. Christianity might regenerate Roman society, it could not save the empire. This was threatened by the barbarians who were boldly pressing on all its frontiers, and by the internal disease of disorders that had become incurable, and which were increased by religious strife. The Roman empire existed only by a fiction ; its rule and order were more apparent than real. There was an unrivalled body of laws, but no definite constitution. The chief defect was the uncer- 16 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. tainty that prevailed as to the imperial succession and the trans* mission of the imperial power. It had been at first perpetuated in the house of Augustus, not by right of birth (since the republic still existed nominally), but by the choice of the Senate. Soon the army claimed a share in the election. The Flavian emperors and the Antonines checked these military assumptions, and by the adoption of wise precautions hindered the competition of rivals. The violent death of Commodus, 192 A.D., re-opened the era of dis- orders which, so to say, never afterwards ceased. The Power and Rivalry of the Pratorians and the Armies ; Civil Wars. The legions were scattered along the frontiers, but the Praatorian cohorts, who formed at Home the Imperial Guard, imposed their choice on the empire, or rather sold the purple to him who promised them most money. In their turn the legions in the provinces would endeavour to force their leaders on the empire, and mor,e than once the Pr^torians were conquered and disbanded, but only to be replaced by others who inherited their greed and their ambition. In the third century these struggles ended in a military anarchy without example in the history of the world : at short intervals as many as nineteen chiefs were disputing the shreds of the purple, which, according to the forcible expression of Chateaubriand, covered " in the morning an emperor, in the evening a victim, and formed the ornaments of a throne or of a coffin." Invasion of the Barbarians. The Romans had subdued the south of Europe, the whole of Northern Africa, and occupied part of Asia ; but they had stopped at the Euphrates in Asia, at the Sahara in Africa, and at the Danube and the Rhine in Europe. Trajan had, indeed, taken the offensive on the Danube and on the Euphrates ; he had extended the Empire on the one side to the Tigris, on the other to the foot of the Carpathians. But this offensive policy, wise as it was, alarmed Hadrian and his suc- cessors, who thought only of defending the empire, already far too large in their eyes. The military skill of the Romans, the colonies planted, the camps and fortresses posted along every frontier, these opposed a barrier CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 17 which might have been thought invincible. But the civil wars of the third century had laid it open. The barbarians penetrated into the Empire, and the spoils of the rich cities which they pillaged awakened their covetousness. The invasion began in an indirect manner ; the ranks of the army, and shortly afterwards its honours, were opened to the barbarians. In the anarchy of the third century a Thracian, of Gothic origin, Maxiniin, became emperor, thanks to his gigantic size and herculean strength, (235). A crafty Arab, Philip, praetorian prefect under Gordian III., killed the emperor and took his place (244). Probus (276) enlisted a great number of barbarians, and even established colonies of barbarians within the empire. This infiltration of foreign races could but hasten the decomposition of the empire and destroy patriotism. How could these barbarian chiefs, who knew scarcely a word of Latin, be imbued with senti- ments of Roman patriotism ? The legions, raised only for pay and largely diluted with barbarians, could they fight eagerly against peoples with whom they were already united by ties of kindred ? Attempts at Restoration in the Fourth Century; Diocletian; the Tetrarchj.The empire, nevertheless, maintained itself a century longer. Delivered by the energy of the Illyrian princes, especially by Aurelian and Probus, it was re-organized by Diocletian (285 305), who thought to strengthen it by division. Obliged to face both north and south, east and west, the emperors had recourse to representatives of their power. These lieutenants Diocletian resolved to associate with the empire, to make them interested in the pacification of the country, to make the imperial authority felt everywhere, and without dividing the territory, without break- ing its unity, to multiply its rulers, by creating two Augusti and two Caesars, the heirs presumptive of the Augusti. Diocletian saw in this singular combination of a tetrarchy the advantage of regu- lating beforehand the transmission of power and the avoidance of civil war, but he did not foresee that in multiplying thrones he of necessity multiplied the number of competitors for them. Of course the Praetorians ceased to be formidable, for they were replaced by other bodies. No doubt Diocletian maintained o 1 8 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. his pre-eminence ; but Rome was abandoned for Nicomedia, the residence of Diocletian in the east, and for Milan, the residence of Maximian in the west. The two Cassars had also their capital. The senate was isolated and neglected, and lost the little authority which remained to it. Unity was maintained solely by the authority of one man. The system of Diocletian necessarily, after his abdication, brought back greater troubles than before, and as many as six rivals disputed the titles of Empire. Unity, nevertheless, did not collapse, for Diocletian had set on foot another work to shore it up, which proved a real buttress. He had strengthened the civil power at the expense of the military power, he had sketched out an administrative hierarchy capable of maintaining obedience in the midst of discord. Diocletian cast off the old fictions of the Roman republic. He was emperor and supreme god on earth (Jove or Jupiter). Maximian was but an inferior god, Hercules. Loving the East, he revived its despotic traditions. Himself invisible, he made his activity felt everywhere ; surrounded by a cloud of officers of all ranks, who hid his divinity from the vulgar gaze, his seclusion rendered him the more awful. The magnificence of Darius and of Nebuchadnezzar reappeared. As formerly vanquished Greece had subjugated its conqueror Rome, so now Orientalism stealthily took its revenge and tri- umphed. It forged for the West the chains of a despotism which had little resemblance to the despotism of the emperors of the two first centuries. The Work of Constantine ; the Imperial Power; the Great Officers. It was Constantine who in 323, having defeated the last of his rivals, re-established the endangered unity, finished the work of Diocletian, and fixed the new constitution of the empire. This has left such deep traces in after history that it is necessary to study it in order to understand the origin of modern administra- tion. Constantine completed the task of making the imperial power absolute. The old sobriety of Roman speech was strained to reach the exaggerated style of the imperial dignities. New terms had to be invented, or borrowed from the orientalism and barbarism CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 19 which the true Roman had disdained. The emperor (once the imperator, the commander, the general), now a sacred personage, became "the living law," and was addressed as " Your Eternity." He was surrounded by a so-called council, a sacred consistory (for everything connected with the emperor was divine). The members of this council were counts (comites, companions) ; one was the count of the sacred chamber (the grand chamberlain) ; another was count of the domestics (i.e. commander of the body- guard) ; a third the count of the sacred largesses (i.e. treasurer and paymaster of the empire) ; a fourth master of the offices, charged with the superintendence of the police and of the adminis- tration and public works of the empire ; a fifth was the quaestor of the palace (secretary of state and minister of justice) ; a sixth the count of the private treasure, who managed the imperial property, and collected the enormous contributions and grants due to the emperor. Lastly, the army received orders from the master of the army, the master of the horse and master of the foot, who performed the functions of ministers of war. These dignitaries or great officers had a share in the imperial majesty, and were at once members of his privy council and instru- ments for the execution of his orders. They interposed between the master and his subjects, who feared him the more the less they saw of him. This isolation, which had been begun by Diocletian, doubtless shielded the emperors from military revolutions, but made them the prey of domestic revolutions in the palace. Their safety was not increased ; they had now to fear the plots and intrigues of ministers, eunuchs, and of women, and their assassination was more easy because it could be more easily kept secret. Absolute power must have its enjoyments, since it has turned so many heads, but history proves that it is not less fatal to those who exercise it than to those who submit to it. Separation of the Military and Civil Powers. Nevertheless, the Roman empire at length embodied a principle which was unknown to older times the principle of the separation of civil and mili- tary power ; a division which seems to us so logical and so simple, 20 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. but which had taken the ancient world long ages to comprehend and to formulate. Constantine very clearly distinguished between the" army and the administration, between the military and civil authorities. The troops were under the command of the masters of the army (magistri mttitwn), the master of the infantry and the master of the cavalry ; these had under them dukes, commanding the sub- divisions of the district, and counts, commanding smaller subdivi- sions. Endeavouring to render revolt impossible, Constantine gave all civil power into the hands of the prefects of the praetorium. If a military chief attempted to raise a province, he was held in check by the civil administration, and a prefect of the pra3toriuru could not revolt because he had no military force under his authority. The precautions of Constantine led him even to weaken the army which had been so long formidable ; he reduced the number of soldiers in the legion to fifteen hundred men, and divided them into home troops, the prince's guard, and the guard of the frontiers. The army was reduced and its prestige lowered at the very time when the empire had most need of its assistance. The peril of the situation consisted in this, that one danger could not be averted without failing into another ; as in desperate cases of disease, no remedy can be prescribed which does not provoke an additional danger. Division of the Provinces into Prefectures, Dioceses, d'c. Re- assuming in a different form the tetrarchy of Diocletian, but with simple functionaries, Constantine facilitated the administration of the empire by dividing it into four great prefectures, governed by prefects of the prsetorium (the East; Illyria; Italy, including Africa ; Gaul, including Spain and Britain). These prefects were, as we said above, purely civil magistrates who centralized the adminis- tration of the countries placed under their authority. Each prefecture had also its master of the troops, who was completely independent. These immense prefectures were subdivided into twelve vast dioceses, some of which were afterwards again divided ; they were administered by vicars, or lieutenants of the prefect of the prae- CHRISTIANITYFALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. torium. The dioceses were subdivided into provinces, and these were governed by consulars, rectors, co-rectors, presidents, &c. The titles varied according to the habits of the countries. To secure impartiality as much as possible, no one was allowed to govern his native province. The cities preserved their municipal rule, but were also under the supervision of a count. Below these powerful functionaries came a host of inferior agents depending on one or other of the great officers, and charged with the details of the finances or of the police. A long hierarchy was thus formed in each prefecture, to receive and transmit or to report news, homage, or complaints, but especially to forward the produce of the taxes to the imperial trea- sury. The new Nobility. C ons tan- tine wished that these function- aries, associated with the Im- perial power, should share its high-sounding titles, which he gave with oriental exaggera- tion. There were the Most Perfect and the Most Dis- tinguished (i.e., eminentusi- mi), the Most Renowned and the Illustrious. The office not only ennobled, but conferred substantial privileges and exemption from taxation. To the old and to the provincial nobility was now added the Imperial nobility. And since vanity is one of the greatest weaknesses of mankind, these traditions, far from being lost, have passed into the new world, and still exist. The Classes. Society was thus tending to hierarchy, almost to a system of castes, more strongly than before. Below the great officers and the high functionaries, the new nobility, and then the ancient, lastly, the free men themselves, were divided into different categories according to their fortunes. First of them were the A Family of the Fourth Century. 22 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. /anded proprietors, from whom the municipality, the curia3 of the city, the curiales, decuriones, were chosen ; they owned not less than twenty-five acres of land. The decuriones were selected from among the wealthiest. The Curiales. The town-councillors thus called to take part in the administration of the city business did not at all value this honour, for it was accompanied with burdens that became every day more crushing. The count who represented the emperor did not interfere with the details of the administration ; he fixed the amount of taxes to be paid, without troubling himself as to the way in which they were distributed. But the nobility were exempt from the greater part of the taxes, and so were the clergy. The curiales, obliged to make out the lists and collect the money, were, in times of distress, compelled to make up the deficiency themselves. Unpaid agents of absolute power, these city magistrates exhausted their own fortunes when they had squeezed out the last drop from the fortunes of their fellow-citizens. Thus the curiales sought to avoid these honours, either by enlisting in the army or by enter- ing the Church ; but formal laws bound them to their estates and to the municipality, and rendered obligatory both their service and their burthens. Still, the lot of the municipalities and of their officers cannot have been so sad in all parts of the empire. Funeral inscriptions still abundantly attest the pride with which the citizen discharged the honours and offices of his republic. This independent local administration of the cities laid the foundation of the free consular cities and medieval municipal republics of the south and south- west of Europe, and especially in Dalmatia. The payment of taxes in a lump sum to the State by the municipality, and the repartition to individuals by the local authorities, was continued up to the French revolution in many places of the south-west, and with results which were far from being disadvantageous ; and there are symptoms of a legislation returning to this older system of local distribution against the excessive centralization of more modern times. Tl\fi Inferior Classes ; the Plcbs ; Husbandmen. Below these CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 23 classes came the plebs, the indigent or pauperised populace fed at the expense of the city, and the artisans organized into corpora- tions. In the country lived the coloni, the husbandmen, the servile peasantry, a class of long standing in the empire, but much increased by the misery of the third century. They were either freedmen, farmers cultivating another man's land, or free heredi- tary farmers cultivating the same land from father to son, or small proprietors who had sold their fields but still remained as heredi- tary tenants, or, lastly, barbarian prisoners distributed among the landowners and not indeed reduced to slavery, but treated as serfs bound to the soil. Slaves. From the commencement of the empire the laws relat- ing to slaves had undergone many modifications. The master had lost his power of life and death over the slave for criminal offences. Claudius and Antoninus had still more improved the legislation. Constantine punished the murder of a slave with the same penalty as that of a free man. In the sales it was forbidden to separate the husband from the wife, or the children from their parents. In spite of the influence of Christianity slavery did not disappear, but it was transformed after the invasion. The Taxes. Owing to the exemption of the nobles the weight of taxation fell almost exclusively upon the lower classes. And the taxes were many: (i.), the land tax (the census or tributum), levied according to the extent of the property, with a fresh assess- ment every fifteen years ; this interval of fifteen years was called an indiction, and was used as an era for counting years the first began on September 1, 812 ; the calculation by indictions was long preserved in the Church, as may be seen in the tables prefixed until lately to the Book of Common Prayer;* (ii.), the * The Roman Calendar. Our actual calendar ia partly the Roman one, and it is worth while to see how it was formed. At first the Romans had ten months only, named Martius (from Mars, the god of war) ; Aprilis (the month when the buds open) ; Maius (from the goddess Maia) ; Junius (from the god of the same name) ; then the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months (Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December). The addition of Januarius (from the god Janus) and of Februarius (the month called from the festival of expiation, Februa), made up the twelve. The THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. poll, or income tax, levied espesially on the farmers, peasantry, and labourers ; (iii.), the chrysargyrtim (a tax on gold and silver), a kind of licence or excise, which hampered industry and com- merce, and various other requisitions, such as supplies for the army, forced labour for repairing the roads and bridges, and some vexatious benevolences, such as the " aurum coronarium," the "crown gold," as it was called, a benevolence once voluntary on the accession of an emperor, afterwards obligatory and exacted on the slightest pretext. We might also quote many other taxes, for the list was perpetually varying, and continually increasing. This accumulation of taxes which swelled the treasury was the most durable legacy which the old administration left to later times. months were lunar like those of the Greeks. Julius Caesar, thanks to the labours of Sobigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, made the civil year coincide with that of the sun. This was the Julian, or Solar year, which is still used with the subsequent rectification first introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582. In honour of Julius Caesar the fifth month (quintilis) was called Julius (July), and in honour of Augustus the sixth (sextilis) was called Augustus (August). But amongst the Eomans the month was not divided into weeks ; it had tbree great divisions : the calends, nones, and ides. In reckoning they counted : the day of the calends (the first day of the month), then the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, before the nones ; then the nones, the fifth of the month, afterwards the 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, before the ides. The ides were the thirteenth. After the ides the reckoning was Ihe 18th, 17th, 16th, 15th, 14th, 13th, 12th, llth, 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, before the calends of the following month. The division into weeks (hebdomades, or septimanse) was intro- duced only under the emperors. The days took the names of the sun and planets : dies solis, Sunday, which the Latin Christian changed into Dirs Dominica, Dimanche, the Lord's day; dies Lunae, the moon's day, Lundi, Monday ; Martis, Mars' day, Mardi, which we turn from Scandinavian mythology into Tiw's day, Tuesday; Mercurii, Mercury's day, Mercredi, or Wednesday, from Woden's day ; Jovis, Jupiter's day, Jeudi, or Thor's day, Thursday; Veneris, Venus' day, Vendredi, or Freya's day, Friday; Saturni, Saturn's day, Saturday. This heathen calendar uas adopted by the Christians on account of its use in the early ages of the Church, hut men did not observe that by commencing the month with January instead of March, the names of September, October, November, December, the last four months of the ten-month year, were erroneously applied to the 9th, 10th, llth, and 12th months of the solar year, and lost their significance. CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 25 Constantine and Christianity , the Edict of Milan (313). The administrative organization of the Roman Empire coincided with a change far more important to the world, the triumph of Chris- tianity. The son of a Christian mother, Helena, accustomed from his youth to see Christians protected by his father, Constantius Chlorus, Constantine, without being converted to the new religion, had adopted it as his chief support in his struggle against his rivals. Estimating the value of a religion by the help which he could draw from it, he had placed the monogram of Christ upon his standards, because he saw that the gods of the empire were power- less to help those who trusted in them. The victory at the Milvian bridge (312), which gave him half of the empire, determined him to lean towards Christianity. The Edict of Milan (313) guaranteed equal tolerance to the new and to the old religions. Christianity was now allowed a public worship ; the basilicas were transformed into churches,* and Constantine soon conceded to the Christian clergy all the privileges enjoyed by the heathen priests. * Basilicas transformed into Churches. From the older forms of architecture the Christians selected the building whose form was "best adapted to their cere- monies. This was the basilica, employed by the Romans as a guildhall for mer- chants and as a law court, an oblong building divided lengthways by rows of pillars into three navts (or rather a nave and two aisles), and with a cross division also near the upper end : it was easily adapted to Christian worship. The two side aisles were devoted respectively to men and women ; the nave contained in distinct divisions the catechumens, the choir, and the clergy. The upper part, raised a few steps, was consecrated to divine service; the altar occupied the middle of the sanctuary (the modern chancel) ; behind it the praetor's chair became the bishop's throne ; lastly, the presbyters sat on a low bench running round the walls of the semicircular apse. Later, the choir, the first of the great enclosures of the nave in front of the altar, was lengthened, and from its sides arms were thrown out to figure a cross ; this development was called the transept. Afterwards chapels were pierced in the walls all round the building. By these successive transformations the basi- lica became the Gothic cathedral, which still recalls the ancient plan designed by Roman architects. The front of the basilica was decorated by a portions, or porch, the roof of which leant against the facade of the building. In front of the porch was an atrium, or square court, and in the midst of the court rose a fountain for ablution. Three doors gave sepaiate entry to the men's and women's aisles and to the nave. From the ancient basilica arose the Christian Byzantine style, which gave birth to the Romanesque in 26 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Licinius, however, retained the East and protected paganism. Constantine, after ten years of partnership, marched against his colleague, who had become his enemy. The battle of Adrianople (323) was one of those important actions which decide the fate of the world. Licinius harangued his troops, calling on them to fi#ht for the gods of the empire. Constantine more than ever identified his cause with that of the Christians. The battle was thus a struggle between two religions and two opposed societies, the past and the future. Constantine was victorious, and with him the Cross. Christianity became the official religion, and Constantine, without understanding or indeed practising it, organized it and amalgamated it with the State. Organization of the Church; Bishoprics, Archbishoprics, <&c. The persecuted Church had had from very early times its presbyters, or priests, its bishops, or overseers. There was at first no distinction of order between the presbyter and the bishop, and \vhen the dis- tinction first arose the bishop was more like the rector of one of our large towns, with several vicarial churches under him, than like the bishop of a modern diocese. In some instances he alone con- secrated the elements of the eucharist, and sent them to the clergy of other churches in the city to be distributed by them in their own churches. Country and suburban churches were ruled by chorepiscopi, or suffragans. Towards the end of the second century bishops, with a rank and order more like those which they now possess, begin to appear in Western Asia. Con- Christian architecture, and, imitated by the Arabs, to Moorish architecture and the horse-shoe arch. The city of Home presents us with several churches in which, in spite of subsequent changes, the original internal arrangements may still be traced. Such was, before its destruction by fire, St. Paul's outside the walls, which dated from the time of Constantine ; there still remain St. Agnes and St. Lawrence; and, in restored shape, St. Marcel- linus and St. Peter, St. Sebastian, and St. Peter's in the Vatican, &c. Still more perfect examples may be found in Northern Italy and in Dalmatia. De Brosse, who saw St. Paul's before the conflagration, was astonished at the sight of its five naves, separated by a forest of four rows of columns of white Parian marble, of alabaster, of cipoline, of breccia, of granite, and other costly materials. These had been taken by Constantine from the mausoleum of Hadrian. CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 27 stantine not only acknowledged this hierarchy already established, but adapted it to the order of civil functionaries and to the division of the provinces. The chief cities had bishops appointed to watch over the faith and the conduct of the priests of the district. The bishops in the capitals of the provinces had, like the governor of the province over his provincials, a pre-eminence over the other bishops ; these were the archbishops, or metropolitans, who assumed the pallium.* Lastly, the metropolitans of the great capitals, as Alexandria, Antioch, &c., which were also apostolic sees, i.e. cities in which Apostles had resided, received a further title of honour, and were called patriarchs. The Bishop of Rome, the only metro- politan in the West, assumed for himself the title of pope,f and became, with less and less opposition, the head of the hierarchy of the Western Churches. This simple and powerful organization has lasted through all the centuries of barbarian invasions, wars, and revolutions, and has made the Catholic Church like an army always ready for service, and has saved it in times of danger both from external peril and from internal dissensions by the force of its discipline. The Council of Niccea. Nevertheless, the Church in the fourth century was far from resembling a monarchy ; it was rather a sort of republic within the empire ; it had its assemblies, and held the first of its councils, called oecumenical (universal), at NicaBa, in Bithynia, in 325. The bishops, who came from all parts of the Old World, met there to the number of 818, and some were pointed out still bearing the scars of tortures endured for the faith. After having condemned the heresy of Arius they drew up a fuller form of the creed which contained the Christian doctrines, and which served as a bond between all the Christian communities. The Church has clung to this creed with unshaken constancy, and has transmitted it to our times as a faith clearly denned, immovable, * The pallium is a kind of white woollen band worn round the neck with the ends hanging down before and behind. It is still sent to all archbishops by the Pope, and the reception of it is considered as an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the see of Rome, and of its sole jurisdiction. t The ordinary priests in the Russian and Greek churches are still called Papas Popes. 28 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. independent of all fluctuations, of nationalities, of the opinions of sects and parties. The Nicasan Creed is repeated, to this day, in the four quarters of the world in all the Catholic Churches. In their gratitude to the Emperor Constantine, who placed the whole forces of the administration at their service, the bishops did not realise the danger of identifying the Church with the State, and allowed the emperor in person to preside over the sittings of the Council of Nica3a, as formerly the CsBsars had presided over heathen ceremonies. The clergy found this union of religion and will of the empire to be the right thing as long as the union was to their advantage, but it proved to be an error, which later led to many a conflict. Under Constantine's immediate successors the bishops had to complain of Arian emperors, and to undergo fresh persecutions. Even these tribulations did not open their eyes, and the spiritual power was still confused with the temporal power. Constantinople. Although really the master, the power of the new religious society appeared so formidable to Constantine that he abandoned Rome as his capital, where, since the withdrawal of Diocletian, the authority of the bishop had almost balanced that of the emperor. Constantine left it in order to found, near the ancient Byzantium, on the banks of the Bosporus, where Europe and Asia approach each other the most closely, a new capital, which should be his own city and which he could fill with his greatness. Other considerations doubtless influenced Constantine in this important change. Although ravaged by the Persians, the East was less threatened than the West by the barbarians. The centre of administration was thus rendered more safe from surprise, and the site of Constantinople, protected by the sea and by the bulwark of the Balkans, was so well chosen that many an invasion passed it by. It proved the salvation of Europe and of the empire during the whole of the Middle Ages from a pre- mature establishment there of the Turkish power. This trans- ference of the capital to a city which by its situation must necessarily become a Grecian city, was yet another revenge taken by Greece. The Greek world had preserved its vitality ; as soon CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 29 as it had a capital it stood forth separately and alone. Even with- out the invasions the vast Roman Empire would have broken up according to the law which does not permit of the duration of too extensive conglomerations, and which ever opposes the principle of nationality to that of uniformity. Constantinople stood on the shore of a magnificent bay, the Golden Horn, in a fine climate, having the advantage over Rome of being a maritime city in easy communication with all the coasts of Asia Minor, Syria, Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, situated indeed a little too far to the north and east to be able to hold for long the dominion of the West, but excellently placed to remain the mistress of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. Constantine despoiled Rome and the Italian cities for the benefit of his new city, and accumulated there the treasures of antiquity, even while he gave it the impress of Christianity. From a political point of view Rome was declining. But in spite of the ravages of the barbarians, she continued to be the capital of the West. The religious potentate who dwelt there borrowed from Rome her old political influence, and adding to it his own episcopal ascendency, made her again the capital of a world of that Church which is still known as the Church of Rome. The Pagan Reaction tinder Julian. The victory of Christianity had not been achieved without exciting fierce irritation in the heathen world. This opposition took advantage of the discord in the empire which followed the death of Constantine, and of the quarrels among the Christians themselves, to resume the offensive. The Christians had made the emperor the master of their religion ; they quickly suffered for this. Constantius restored Arianism and persecuted the Catholic bishops ; Julian, proclaimed emperor at Paris by his soldiers, shortly after- wards declared himself the protector of paganism (360). The old religion * reappeared with his powerful sanction, the sacrifices * It was far from having wholly disappeared. In the cities and large towns, and along the great roads and chief commercial routes, Christianity had established itself; but a few miles off, in the country and in the villages (pagi], the inhabitants, the villagers (pagani], long remained averse to 30 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of animals were renewed, the palace and the gardens of Con- stantinople were transformed into a Pantheon, where countless idols were each in turn the object of the emperor's worship. Julian was a fanatical pagan, a thing which had been scarcely seen before ; he undertook a war against Christianity so much the more dangerous because it was skilfully carried on with the aid of philo- sophers and sophists rather than by the executioner. He went, however, so far on the road to persecution as to forbid Christians to teach secular literature. Perhaps he would have pushed still further this systematic persecution had not his reign been cut short by the mortal wound which he received in a battle against the Persians (363). The Heresies ; the Fathers of the Greek Church. Christianity had now to meet only the enemies in her own bosom and in the sphere of intellectual speculation. In her earliest days Judaism and the outward power of heathenism had been her only foes ; but as the doctrines of Christianity spread they necessarily met face to face not only the philosophies of Greece and Rome, but the older specu- lations and cosmogonies, the dualism, the emanations, the incar- nations of the divine, with which the East had long sought to solve and explain the problems of man's destiny and of the creation and of the existence of the external world. It was inevitable that some of these should influence or try to gain an introduction into Chris- tianity. For some time past the liberty of opinions, which had been very great in the first centuries when the Church had not yet defined her dogmas, settled her forms of liturgy, or fixed her hierarchy, had produced a multitude of doctrines which differed more or less from those of the Apostles. But none had appeared more dangerous than that of Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria (280 336), who, by maintaining that the Son of God was only of like and not of the same substance with the Father, destroyed the certainty of the revelation of God in Christ. It was to combat this Christianity. The old worship, with its habits, its festivals, and its super- stitions, was but tardily supplanted, and many of these last, in a newer dress, took rank among the festivals and the practices of the Christian church, and continued even when the villagers had ceased to be pagani (pagans) in the newer sense of the word. CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 31 heresy that Constantino had assembled the Council of Nicaea, where the bishops inserted in their creed the word (6/zoouo-iov) consub- stantial, of one substance, thus identifying the substance of the Father and the Son, and maintaining the unity of God in a trinity of three persons. Arius came from Alexandria. It was in that city where Greek philosophy had mingled with Hebrew doctrine, and had met the last utterances of the moribund religion of ancient Egypt, and the wilder and more daring, and perhaps more profound speculations of the East, that the greatest doctors and teachers, as well as the greatest heretics that ever disturbed the Church, arose. For awhile in the third century, under the guidance of Pantasnus (180), Dio- nysius (died' 265), Clement (190202), and Origen (185214), it seemed as if Christianity would absorb and make its own the highest philosophy and science of the day ; only once since, in the Middle Ages, have science and religion been so closely united, and never on such terms of perfect freedom. But this freedom brought with it the germs of deadlier strife, even if of nobler and more glorious victory. It was there Arianism had its birth. The decrees of the Council of Nicasa had by no means extinguished it. It still made numerous disciples in the East. In vain the most illustrious doc- tors of the Church, as St. Athanasius (296 373), afterwards patri- arch of Alexandria, opposed it first by word and by writing, and when the Arians had found a champion in the Emperor Constan- tius, by their constancy under persecution and in exile. The Arians triumphed during a great part of the fourth century ; and besides Athanasius, the Fathers of the Greek Church, St. Gregory of Nazi- anzus (330390), St. Gregory of Nyssa (335395), and the eloquent St. Basil (329 379), with many others, did not cease to oppose it in their writings. Thus a new literature grew up, invigorated by a noble faith, but quite inferior in beauty of form and style to the purer models of Greek antiquity, which the Fathers of the Church studied in the schools of Athens and of Alexandria. St. Basil had been a fellow student with Julian at Athens, and is said to have foreseen in him the future dangerous enemy of Chris- tianity. To the Fathers of the Greek Church at the end of the 32 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. fourth and the beginning of the fifth century we must add him who for his eloquence was called the golden-mouthed, St. John Chry- sostom (347 407). His life was spent not so much in combating speculative heresy as in opposing the growing corruption of the Church, in denouncing the luxury and orientalism of the Court, and the baneful influence of unprincipled women and of favourites and eunuchs in the administration of the empire and of the Church. With Athanasius, Chrysostom is perhaps the noblest champion of liberty against Byzantine despotism which these ages produced. The Fathers of the Latin Church. The West, although less troubled by heresies than the East, had also its eloquent doctors. After Tertullian and Cyprian in Western Africa, and Hosius in Spain, who presided for the West in the Council of Nicaea, St. Hilary of Poictiers (315 366) defended the Catholic faith against the Arians in Gaul, and was banished by the Emperor Constantius. He was one of the most venerated Apostles of Gaul, and he recog- nised the merits of and encouraged St. Martin (336 401), the founder of the first monasteries in Gaul, the preacher in the country districts, where he formed parishes, and destroyed the last lingering remnants of paganism. St. Ambrose (340 397), born at Treves, in the province of Gaul, and the son of a prefect of Southern Gaul, was first distinguished as a pleader, and rose to be prefect of that province in North Italy of which Milan was the capital. Although then a layman, he was, on the death of the bishop of the see, compelled by the acclamations of the people to be his successor, and his after conduct nobly justified this irregular selection. His virtue, his charity, his eloquence, and his wise administration secured him such authority that even emperors submitted to his influence. Theodosius quailed before his denun- ciations, when after the massacre of Thessalonica (390) he inter- dicted him from entering the cathedral of Milan ; an instance rare indeed at that time of moral power triumphing over physical force and compelling the master of the world to do penance. In the middle of the fourth century there was born, on the con- fines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, one whose name was to become very celebrated in the Western Church, St. Jerome f346 420). CHRISTIANITY- FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 33 He belonged to an obscure but wealthy family, and after severe study in his native province went to Rome for higher education. Converted to Christianity, he visited the East and West, and settled for some time in Rome, whence he finally migrated to pass most of the remainder of his life in his celebrated monastery at Beth- lehem. An ardent, and often, it must be confessed, a singularly unfair, controversialist, he took a part in all the theological disputes of his day. Disliked by some, he was an object of enthusiastic admira- tion to many. Exaggerating the merits of a life of virginity in the woman, and the merits of the monastic life, introduced into Rome by Athanasius, 337 ; lavish of his praises to such as would follow his guidance, vituperating all who refused it, he attracted to him- self some of the highest-born as well as the most virtuous of the ladies of Rome, and became the director of their consciences ; they laid all their possessions at his feet, followed him to the East, and enabled him to found the Monastery of Bethlehem, and to carry out the great object of his life. Jerome was possessed by a real love for the Scriptures. To understand the Old Testament better he learned Hebrew, a rare accomplishment in his day; he collected and compared manuscripts, was ever busy with commentary and translation, visited the holy places, left no means of research un- employed, and thus was enabled to produce the translation which still holds sway in the Roman Church, the Latin Vulgate, which has almost superseded, in that Church, the study of the originals, and has there an equal if not a greater authority. With all its faults, this will ever remain one of the most successful translations ever achieved by a single man. His chief helpers in this, as in all his works, were the Roman ladies who had followed him to Judaea, Paula and her daughter Eustochia, who copied his manuscripts, read to him, collated for him, and acted as the most intelligent and faithful of literary amanuenses. This busy, useful, though ever controversial life of Jerome at Bethlehem was broken into in his last moments ; he lived to hear of the sack of Rome by Alaric, to receive fugitives from the Eternal City, to see Bethlehem itself plundered by the Arabs, and to die amid the inroads D 34 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of the barbarians, after having outlived all his friends, in the year 420. Among the controversial correspondents of Jerome's later years was a young Christian of the province of Africa, St. Augustine (354 430). As a mystic, a commentator, a philosopher, and a theologian, St. Augustine is the greatest divine in the annals of the Western Latin Church. After a youth probably not more vicious than that of most young men of his day, but of the sins of which he has left us penitential details in his " Confessions," St. Augustine was attracted by the dualism of the Manichaeans, a system which appears to solve so plausibly the existence of evil in the world under a Deity of perfect goodness ; but, turning from it, he became the most successful antagonist of the errors which he had embraced. He was next involved in controversy with Pelagius, the British thinker, on the deep questions of man's free will and the divine foreknowledge. In this too he was successful. But the bitterest struggle of his life was with the Donatists, the Puritans of the early Church, who held that the sacraments were of no avail if adminis- tered by the unworthy, that the Church is composed of the godly alone ; while they set up bishop against bishop, and claimed to be the true Church in the midst of one corrupted by unworthiness. The theological work of St. Augustine has appeared at times to be for- gotten, but whenever great convulsions agitate the Church, when- ever the deep and almost insoluble problems with which he dealt engage men's minds, his writings will find eager students. It was so at the Reformation, and his impress is felt more or less in all the schools to which the name of Calvin is in any way attached. But perhaps the greatest work of St. Augus- tine from a literary point of view is " The City of God," written when it was already evident that Christianity would not be able to retard or to avert the downfall of the Roman Empire. It is the first of the great Christian Epics, in prose or verse, like Dante's " Divina Commedia," and Milton's " Paradise Lost," and Bossuet's " Histoire Universelle," written to do what man can never do completely : " to justify the ways of God to man." Augustine died just before the city of his see was taken, and before Christianity CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 35 was destroyed in the province for which he laboured so well and long, and the North African Church, the home of so many Fathers, the scene of many Councils, had ceased to exist. Hermits and Monks. During this period began the life of retire- ment from the world, of the anchorites, hermits, monks, and coenobites.* In the solitudes of Egypt, and principally in the Thebaid, as early as the third century, some pious solitaries or anchorites like Paul (235 340) sought to attain the highest degree of Christian perfection by separation from the world, by bodily austerity and fasting, and by all kinds of asceticism. They attained a pitch of enthusiasm that issued in astonishing ex- travagance : St. Pachomius, in the fourth century, slept only standing against a wall ; St. Symeon Stylites (the pillar monk) lived on the top of a column, &c. From some of these retreats issued commentaries, copies of the Scriptures, books eagerly sought for in religious society. Even women shared this passion for solitude and for study. High-born Roman ladies, like Fabiola, gave all their goods to the poor, founded hospitals, and devoted themselves to a monastic life. Women like Marcella, Paula, Asella, Furia, descendants of the noblest families, set the example of a life of renunciation, of charity, and of prayer. But these associations, apart from the world, pure and holy 'and full of pious energy as they were at their commence- ment, could not save the world, or stay the ever-growing corrup- tion ; they could only preserve the seed which might be sown and bring forth fruit in better times. Final Causes of the Fall of the Eoman Empire, and of the Success of the Invasions. The Roman empire could no longer maintain itself in its old integrity, it could no longer resist the pressure exercised on every frontier by the barbarians. The organization of Diocletian and Constantine had come too * Anchorites, men retired from the world ; Hermits, eremites, dwellers in the desert ; Monks, monastics, those who lived alone ; Coenobites, those who lived in common in communities. These last terms have almost interchanged their true meaning 1 in common parlance, since almost all the monastic orders now live in communities. 36 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. late. It had only aggravated the mischief in the provinces, espe- cially in the west, where the invasions were the most frequent. The multitude of privileged functionaries merely served to diminish the number of tax-payers and to increase the expenditure. The taxes weighed more and more heavily on the less wealthy classes. The municipal officers, even at the sacrifice of their fortunes, were unable to make up the deficit, and sank themselves to swell the classes of the poor and the serfs. The middle class dis- appeared, as in the time of the Gracchi ; the peasants revolted, and the bagauda, hordes of plunderers, added their ravages to those of the barbarians. Misery led to depopulation. Patriotism had vanished. Eome had vindicated her rule by assur- ing peace and prosperity to the world. When prosperity and peace had vanished there was no longer any reason for fidelity to Rome. The title of Roman, which had become general since the time of Caracalla, had lost its prestige and no longer secured protection. Thus the provinces watched without resentment the advent of the new masters, who could not be more harsh towards them than was Rome herself. In many countries no defence against the bar- barians was even attempted. Besides, what defence could have been made ? The military spirit had been lost ; the legions, recruited for pay, included a mul- titude of barbarian soldiers, and in the later days of the empire Franks and Goths were commanders of the army, and its real rulers. This barbarian immigration prepared the way for the great invasion. In contrast with all this wretchedness, unheard-of luxury reigned in the palaces, long trains of horses and magnificent carriages, end- less festivals, the games of the circus, and gladiatorial combats, of which even Christians were spectators in spite of the pro- hibition of the Church. Society displayed every contrast : the dis- putes of the Christian sects, the last assaults of heathen philosophy, the artificiality of the poets of the decadence, and eloquent and earnest bishops. Grammar and rhetoric shared with the Holy Scriptures the favour of the learned ; thousands of officials adu- lated the prince, and bishops flattered or browbeat him; bitter CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 37 persecution of opponents and the highest virtues of evangelical cha- rity were seen side by side. The Empire was Roman only in name ; its capital was a Greek city, its court Oriental, the best works of literature were written in Greek. Nothing remained of the old re- ligion but a mythology neglected even by the philosophers. The titles of ancient Rome, once so sought after, were now worthless, its words had no signification, its traditions had been falsified, its memory was no longer powerful enough to impose respect upon the barbarians. The division of the empire between the two sons of Theodosius, Arcadius and Honorius (395), was but the formal admission of a fact that had been accomplished long before, but it marked the close of the empire. The Empire of the West, the real Roman Empire, perished in less than a century (395 476). The Empire of the East lasted until the end of the Middle Ages, but it really was, as it is commonly called, the Greek, or Byzantine Empire. What Rome has given to the World. The history of the Roman Empire occupies a considerable place in the history of humanity. Rome took seven hundred years to conquer the world, and she governed it for nearly five hundred. She conquered the universe by submitting herself to a rule of liberty ; because she had learned how to combine discipline with liberty, to subordinate private interests to public, gradually to bring all classes into harmony, to impose both domestic and civic virtues upon her citizens. Republican Rome offered splendid examples of valour, of abnegation, of patriotism, and of love of liberty. Though Rome was a city, her chief virtues were not those of a city. Her power depended, not like that of the cities of Greece, solely on those who dwelt within her walls ; she was at first neither a commercial nor a maritime power. Her strength and her virtues were those of a hardy country peasantry ; thrift, self-respect, hardi- hood, obstinate resolution, jealousy of others, and a narrow if ardent patriotism. When she lost her virtues, she displayed to the world the most frightful examples ; first, of civil wars, and then of the most insen- 38 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. sate tyranny under the worst of rulers. She substituted the most wretched traditions of despotism for the grand maxims of liberty, which had been her glory. Imperial Rome became servile and cor- rupt ; but she had, up to her own standard, pacified and civilized the ancient world. She left her impress on all administrative traditions; the municipal traditions founded, maintained, and extended by her, though apparently forgotten for a time, revived and flourished again after the invasion of the barbarians. Moreover, Rome created the science of law and made great ad- vance in military science. She has left numerous monuments which attest her care and great practical intelligence in material progress ; her roads and bridges, her camps and walls, stretched to the utmost limit of her frontiers. Her literature is remarkable for its dignity, though by no means so original as that of Greece ; and like her language it has left a deep imprint upon modern literature. Lastly, Rome bequeathed Christianity to the West; after having long resisted it, she adopted it and made it her own. In the eyes of the new races which subdued her Rome repre- sented an old-world civilization, summed up in her name ; she represented Christianity also, thus uniting and already harmonizing the two elements whence arose the civilization of later times. The Legacy of Antiquity. It is difficult, without repeating what we have just said, to determine exactly the nature of the legacy left by the old world to the new. That which strikes us most, in studying the Ancients, is the overwhelming influence of the idea of the State. That which they call liberty must be understood of political liberty only. Equality, not to be confounded with liberty, was unknown to them. Everywhere, in Greece as well as in Rome, in the Republics as well as under the Empire, were aristocracies, privileged classes, great social and political inequality, and slavery. The heathen religion, apart from some philosophical tendencies and the nobler teaching of a few writers, was chiefly a religion of fear. In earlier Greece, however, the service of religion was much more free and joyous than it ever was in Rome. But on the whole ancient civilization had been too exclusive, too selfish, too harsh. Nevertheless it was very brilliant, it knew every mental refine- CHRISTIANITY FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 39 inent and all delights of art. It opened to man the resources of poetry, of .philosophy, of history, of eloquence. Taken as a whole it was an immense advance on all the anterior civilizations of the East, of Egypt, and of Phoenicia. It moulded man's intellect into a higher form. Yet natural science was wanting. The ancients, refined artists, profound reasoners though they were, had not learnt the power of careful and scientific observation, and made few dis- coveries. In short Greece and Rome have done so much that in many things we cannot refuse to acknowledge them to be our masters, and Greece even more than Rome. Roman law has prevailed, more or less, in every European nation (in England, perhaps, least of all), from the time of Justinian to the promulgation of the Code Napo- leon ; and it was owing to the impulse of Greek literature and Greek art that civilization, violently interrupted for some centuries, had its renaissance, and resumed its accelerated march ; a renewal of progress which the moderns first acquired through the study of the masters of antiquity. Still, if the materials from which mediaeval and modern civiliza- tion were formed, were supplied by ancient civilization ; the shaping spirit which has dealt with them so as to make Europe what it is, the spirit which rules all progress in the present, and promises to rule all progress in the future, is the spirit, as yet imperfectly received in any society, which flows from the words and the life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. BOOK IT. THE MIDDLE AGES. CHAPTER II. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. SUMMARY : The Middle Ages The New Races The Germans : Agricultural and Military Life The Germanic Family The Germanic Tribes Germanic Royalty The Assemblies or Malls Justice Personal Indivi- duality Slavery amongst the Germans Religion Barbarian King- doms, Visigoths, Vandals, &c. Destruction of the Western Empire (476) The Ostrogoths : Theoderic The Barbarian Laws Decadence of the Barbarian Kingdoms Military Supremacy of the Franks Frank and Roman Society : the Monarchy The Classes Finance ; Justice The Church and Barbarian Society : the Bishops The Right of Asylum ; the Tonsure ; the Clerks The Councils : Excommunication Wealth of the Church The Monasteries The Papacy Alliance between the Frank Kings and the Church : Accession of the Carolingians The Temporal Power of the Popes Europe in the Eighth Century. K OTES : The Salic Law The Monasteries. The Middle Ages. The term, Middle Ages, defines the inter- mediate period between ancient and modern civilization. Man- kind has not received the power of advancing in moral and material progress without occasional retrogression. In the fifth century of the Christian era profound darkness followed the brilliant light that had radiated from Athens and Rome. The number of native Roman citizens had been gradually declin- ing. They had long since failed to supply legionaries for the armies, which were now mainly composed of barbarian mercenaries. The old Roman farmer, from whose ranks so many of the great consuls and dictators of old had sprung, cultivating his small estate with the assistance of his family and household slaves, had become 42 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. extinct, and had been replaced by owners of huge territorial tracts, which they used as pasture, or cultivated by slave labour alone. And even thus, corn-growing in Italy could not compete with the cheaper production of the provinces, and the capital became de- pendent exclusively on them for food for the vast multitude of unproductive citizens, who clamoured only for bread and games'; who united the vices of pauperism and cowardly servility with those of a turbulent democracy. The few corps of Roman sol- diery, the praetorian cohorts and home legions, were employed as instruments of political ambition and imperial intrigue rather than for the defence of the empire. All was hollow and corrupt ; there was no real force anywhere. Even law and administration, admir- able in their organization on paper, through the privileges and exemptions allowed to their officials, who formed a bureaucratic caste, with all the inefficiency, narrowness, and corruption of such a caste, became mere agents of oppression, and made the imperial rule at once hated and despised. And round the empire, still materially rich, with all its monuments unharmed, its treasures of art untouched, its cities gorged with unproductive wealth, its riches exaggerated by report, hung the barbarian kinsmen of the mercenaries who filled the ranks of its legions ; longing keenly for the spoil, eager to exchange the poor lands and rude climate, the forests and morasses of the north, for the sun and open fields and rich pastures of the south, and the marvels and the wealth of the empire of Rome. Gradually they learned how weak it was, taught by the rival generals and emperors, who used them for their own intrigues, reckless of the harm done to the empire. True, the barbarians brought with them the germs of a nobler world. They had the moral force and energy, the rude hardihood and power of endurance which the Romans had wholly lost. But they knew nothing of real civilization. Their desire was but the avaricious curiosity, the fierce and eager craving of the savage for goods that he cannot use. The treasures of antiquity, the learning of ages, the accumulated wealth of centuries, were to them like costly toys to children, things to be coveted for a moment, then broken and destroyed. They came for plunder and to spoil ; they THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 43 must destroy ere they could build up. It was impossible that they could do both at once, and they destroyed so much that at last even materials were lacking for reconstruction, the land became a desert. Even new languages had to be formed. Hence the long night of darkness that succeeded to the overthrow of Rome. The invasions were first commenced in the year 240 A.D., by tribes of barbarians, but were continued in the fifth century by hordes of uncivilized races, whose incursions were prolonged into the sixth. When the invasion from the north seemed ended another from the south commenced, and was followed by very different results. The Greek empire was dismembered, and the world found itself divided between new races and even new religions. The work of reorganization then began and had laboriously continued during several centuries, until, in the fifteenth, it suddenly quickened into rapid progress. This difficult work of amalgamation between different races and traditions, this effort of a broken civilization to influence its conquerors, forms the history of the Middle Ages, or the laborious infancy of the new society. Innumerable invasions, endless wars, nameless misery, this is all that history can show during more than five centuries (from the fifth to the eleventh). It seemed as though human society, once dissolved, had not power to recon- struct itself, and that the world must revert to the time of the Pelasgians. But all these confused mixed elements gradually arranged themselves, nations separated, mental power re-awakened, science revived, and, after a long slumber, bat not till the last vestige of the old world had disappeared, humanity was born again, and modern civilization commenced to expand. It would be unjust to ignore the patient labour of the Middle Ages, a period that has been too long undervalued. But on the other hand, we must not, through prejudice or political passions, allow ourselves to exaggerate our admiration for the brilliant exterior of a society which, vigorously freeing itself from barbarism, was rendered seductive by all the graces of youth. In the Middle Ages, as in all intermediate periods, we find violence and injustice by the side of the noblest virtues, apparent 44 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. order veiling the most frightful confusion, results which flowed from no principle, a frightful collision between ideas and nations seething as though they were in a gigantic crucible where different inetals are fusing, and where gold is mixed with copper. Nothing is more difficult to follow than the ebullitions of a society formed of so many differing elements. The New Races. But what were the first races that thus came to renew the ancient populations ? Three of them have been identified. The Teutonic or German, and the Slav races, both issued from the same Aryan source as the populations of Greece and Rome ; then followed the Tartars, more or less of the Mongol race, and much more refractory to civilization. Their representa- tives in the invasions were the Avars, Huns, Ugrian, Magyar and Turkish tribes. Between these were the Semitic and Arab races, who for a short time, from the seventh to eleventh centuries, attained a far higher civilization than the populations which they sup- planted. But Europe was peopled and modified by the two other races. The Slavs (Sarmatae, Quades, Venedi, Letes or Poles, Slovaks, Czechs or Bohemians, Servians, Moravians, Russians, Bosnians, and Croats), were for a long time in the background. Tall, strong, remarkable for their regular features and quick temperament, their suppleness and intelligence, they afterwards raised themselves and formed the populations of Eastern and of Central Europe. The Teutons, nearest in position to the empire, and for some time settled between the Rhine and the Elbe, extending in the persons of the Goths as far as the Oural, were the most active agents in the destruction of the empire, and the creators of the nations of Western Europe. These are the most necessary to be studied, for besides the more purely Teutonic nations, the influence of Goth and German may be traced in varied proportions in the physical type, the languages, laws, and ideas of even the Romance or Latin nations. Yet but for the remains of the old civilization, and still more the influence of Christianity, there are not wanting signs to show that the barbarians would have lost even their savage virtues and been THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 45 only corrupted by the unaccustomed wealth and luxury with which they were surrounded, the higher and better uses of which they were wholly unable to appreciate. But for the influence of the remains of Roman law and of provincial administration, but for the Church and its bishops, that great central commonwealth of which all men were citizens, whose laws in their moral and spiritual force were equally binding on Roman and barbarian, on noble and on slave but for these counteracting influences there is abundant evi- dence to show that civilized society might have utterly broken up ; that barbarian chiefs, with concubines and slaves, each in his petty district, with only his own caprice for law, might have lived and ruled, and fought in petty strife, until all Europe had become for a time a congeries of clans without law and without civilization. The Teutons or Germans : Agricultural and Military Life. Unreservedly praised or abused, extolled by Tacitus, who con- trasted their simple habits with Roman degradation, lauded by the Germans, who boast of their descent from these warlike races, disparaged by the partisans of the Latin races, the Teutons have not merited this great praise nor this excessive contempt. They belonged to the Aryan race and nearly resembled the Gauls, who preceded them on their road to the West. Tall, fair, strong, they had remained on the first steps of social life. Hunters and warriors wandering in tribes, they were nomads in the range of territory they occupied. They cultivated the soil, but changed districts after the harvest, and seem at first to have held no individual property in land. The Germanic Family. But this does not imply that these races had no political or social organization. Far from it. They had both regard and respect for family life. " The Germans," said Tacitus, " are almost alone amongst the barbarians in contenting themselves with one wife." The wife brought no dowry to her husband, but the husband gave a dowry to his wife (morgengab). Tacitus also notices the respect with which the Germans treated their wives. " They regarded the wife," he says, " as something holy and provident, and neglected neither her counsels nor her aspirations." Her husband's constant companion, she shared his 46 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. labour and his perils. During a battle she stayed on the chariots, but if the warriors retreated the women rushed to their assistance, encouraging them to return to the fight and winning or dying with them. Marital and paternal authority were only a trusteeship. The French civil code has adopted the principle of the guardianship or provision (mundium) which originated in the Teutonic customs and was followed by the common law, which vests family relations upon the need of protection for the weak and upon the guarantee given by the affection and tenderness of the parent.* The child attained his majority at fifteen ; he was then admitted to the rank of warrior ; he was free. Children inherited their father's pos- sessions and divided them equally. There was no will. The daughter, like her brothers, was admitted to a share of all per- sonal property. She was excluded from the Salic lands, a badly defined expression, upon which no authorities can agree, but which appears to have designated a land held in fief acquired by conquest. The Gennanic Tribes. Although these races appear to have cherished a strong sentiment of equality, there is documentary proof of the existence of an hereditary nobility,! but at the time of the invasion the noble families had greatly diminished. J Yet we find the Teutons, as we formerly found the Gauls, grouped round a chief of the tribe, whom they followed into battle, and whom no * "The Code of Gundsbad (A.D. 501) is the first written code of Europe which legally instituted the family according to the ties of blood ; it formulated as a positive law the emancipation of a man by proclaiming him sui juris when he attained majority ; it made the wife the husband's partner, and reserved the widow's rights in his property. This code went yet farther : it first proclaimed the widow's legal guardianship over her children, thus initiating the woman into all the rights of civil life and to the plenitude of her rights as mother." Valentine Smith, former Counsel to the Court oi Appeal at Paris (" De la famille chez les Bourgondes"). f Code of the Bavarians, Thuringians, Frisons, and Anglo-Saxons. Not peculiar either to Germans or Gauls, found among Iberians and Scotch, and many others. J In the sixth century there remained four amongst the Bavarians, two amongst the Goths, one amongst the Franks. Compare the race of Cerdic among the English before the Norman Conquest. Consult Fustel de Coulange's " Histoire des Institutions Politiques de 1'Ancienne France," vol. i. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 47 warrior could leave with honour if he fell in the field. This devotion of man to man formed the basis of a proud warlike clan- ship amongst the Germans very different from the pacific servile clients of the Roman gens. The chiefs were only masters on the field of battle ; the following day they were but equal to their sol- diers, and shared the booty with them, reserving only their fair portion. Germanic Royalty ; the Assemblies or Malls. But this was not because the Teutons had no ruler. They obeyed kings whom they chose, according to Tacitus, from the noblest families. These kings never undertook anything without first consulting the general assembly of the nation, the mullum or mall, a tumultuous assem- blage, where the chiefs and warriors, drawn up in battle array, listened to the king's proposals, signifying their approval by strik- ing their lances against their shields ; a noisy, stormy assertion of that liberty which by its powerful breath reanimated the old world, slumbering in Oriental slavery. Justice. The assemblage or council of chiefs also judged serious crimes. For minor crimes and offences the chiefs of the cantons traversed the country, held assizes, and tried the accused before his equals and his peers. However, this justice was little in re- quisition, for it only punished crimes against society, the crime of cowardice being the sole offence that entailed the penalty of death. All assaults against persons, private offences or crimes, were revenged by the members of the outraged family, not only upon the offender but upon his kindred conjointly answerable for the crime. The consequences of this vengeance were evaded by a composition, by pecuniary reparation for the injury inflicted. A murder amongst barbarians was only an injury ; it never occurred to them as a violation of the moral law. The price varied with the rank and wealth of the victim ; it was the wergild (price of the man), or wehrgild (price of the war). Personal Individuality. The sentiment of family individuality and independence and of personal individuality and indepen- dence were deeply imprinted upon the hearts of the Germans, who, wherever they passed, retained their own laws, and main- 48 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. tained their personal right to avenge their injuries. The in- dividual was everything, dared everything, devoted himself to a chieftain because the chief pleased him, but on the morrow could devote himself to another. He was a warrior, perfectly unused to the idea of citizenship. Slavery amongst the Germans. Although so proud of his liberty the German could lose it (by captivity, debt, or gambling) ; but amongst these peoples slavery had not the same character as amongst the Romans. The Teuton habits were at first simple and rough, and they did not need an army of slaves around them ; they therefore relegated their slaves to the country. Upon them devolved all the work of cultivating the land, and of gathering in the harvest, whilst the free men hunted and fought. Consequently the slaves held almost the same position as the Roman husband- men, and became in a measure blended with these husbandmen, whom the conquerors forced to cultivate the soil. Tacitus remarks, " that the Germans very rarely strike a slave or load him with irons ; they sometimes kill them, not through severity or as dis- cipline, but through violence or an angry impulse, as they would kill an enemy." Religion. Not unlike the religion of the Greeks and Romans, the Teutonic religion seems to have been a deification of the powers of nature. Religion exercised great influence among the Teutons ; it was the chief source of their valour. It is difficult to ascertain exactly the nature of the gods with whom they peopled heaven and earth. Odin, the All-Fadir, the sovereign god (Zeus Pater), the god of battles ; Donar, or Thor, the god of thunder ; Tyr, the god of the sword ; Freyr, the god of peace and harvest ; the goddess Friga, or Freya. There is conclusive evidence that they worshipped nature the sun, the moon (sunna, mani), the earth, the goddess Ertha. The names of the gods are reproduced in the Teuton calendar and in our own ; Sunday, Sonntag (sun's day) ; Monday, Montag (moon's day) ; Donnerstag (Donar's day), our Thursday, or Thor's day ; Freitag, Friday (Freya's day). In Swedish, Wed- nesday (Woden's day), is called Odin's-dag, and Tuesday (Tiu's day), is Zio, or Tyr's day, represented by a sword. The Teutons THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 49 believed in a future life, at all events for the warriors, who would dwell in heaven with the gods and goddesses, over whom Wotan, or Odin, presided in the beautiful palace of Walhalla, built in the midst of the clouds. According to their traditions their warriors were welcomed by the Walkyries, " daughters of battles," who led them to the Walhalla, where eternal banquets awarded their exploits. The peculiarity of this religion was that it looked on to the end of this mythology and the destruction of all their gods and a reconstruction of the heaven and the earth. The Barbarian Kingdoms, the Visigoths, Vandals, dc. ; Destruction of the Western Empire (476). The Eoman empire was, at first, disorganized rather than revived by the invasion of the Teutonic races. The family of the Goths of the West (the Visigoths), flying before the hordes of the Tartar race, made their first irruption into the empire of the East (376), but were thrown back upon the West through the policy of the Emperor of Constantinople and his ministers. After a long progress through Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Illyria, and Italy, after three sieges and the sack of Rome, they succeeded in founding a kingdom in Southern Gaul and Spain (419), of which Toulouse was the capital. The Burgundians, detaching themselves from the mass of the in- vaders, who in 406 407 had rolled across Gaul, founded a kingdom under Gundachar (413) in the Jura, the valleys of the Saone and the Rhone. The Suevians and the Vandals, who had formed the chief part of the four hundred thousand barbarians in the invasion of 406, remained in Spain, but, attacked by the Visi- goths, the Suevians were driven towards the north-west, the Vandals towards the south, where they settled in the valley of Bitis, which retains their name Andalusia. Thence they passed into Africa (430) and founded, under the formidable Genseric, a continental and maritime kingdom, which extended over the Roman province of Africa and the south of Spain, the capital being established at Carthage. To the north of Gaul the Franks, a small tribe often employed by the Romans as auxiliaries, advanced as far as the Somme (428). But closely following this first inroad of barbarians, the formid- 50 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. nble race of the Huns threatened to subjugate the whole of Europe. However, the nations already settled in the Roman empire would not allow themselves to be dispossessed. Seated at a plentiful feast, they would not submit to be displaced : Franks, Burgun- dians, and Visigoths united with the remnants of the Roman army in Gaul, and on the famous plains of Chalons broke the advance of this ferocious people, whose barbarism startled even the bar- barians themselves. The Tartar race, expelled from Gaul and driven from Italy, settled in cantonments on the plains of the Theiss, where it became gradually modified by contact with the Slavs and Teutons. The "Western empire was destroyed in the middle of the fifth century. Rome, ravaged by the Vandals under Genseric, whose ignorant brutality is branded for ever by the word Vandalism (455), could not rise again, and the empire only survived a few years, to fall under the attacks of Odoacer, an obscure chief of the Herulians (476). The Ostrogoths : Thcodoric. But this was not all. The second family of Goths, from the East (the Ostrogoths), after being for a long time subject to the Huns, freed themselves, and in their tarn descended towards the South. Theodoric outwitted and killed Odoacer, and in 493 established the Ostrogoths in Italy, in the neighbourhood of the Visigoths of Southern Gaul. Through a curious coincidence the two branches of the family of Goths again found themselves brought together exactly in the same order as they had been a century before, on the vast plains of the Volga, the Don, and the Dnieper. The family of Goths was the most numerous, the best organized, and the most civilized of the barbarian races. Converted to Chris- tianity, or at least Ariauism, for many years they appeared en- titled to the highest rank amongst the various tribes of the great families. The Visigoth kings held a brilliant court at Toulouse. Theoderic settled his Ostrogoths amongst the Romans in Italy, and applied himself to repairing the ancient ruins, and to erecting new edifices. He had been strongly influenced by the old civili- zation, which he, more than any other barbarian chieftain, endea- THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 51 voured to revive. His glory outshone that of the coarse and barbaric Clovis, King of the Franks. Theodoric occupied and re- animated Rome. The prestige of the ancient Queen of the World had dazzled all the barbarian chieftains, who only thought of reviving the empire for their own advantage. The Ostrogoths were assimilated to the Romans by Theoderic. Clovis himself assumed the insignia of Consul and "Patrician" sent to him by Anastasius, the Emperor of the East. We must not, like many modern historians, exag- gerate this tendency of the barbarians to amalgamate with the Roman populations. There are, nevertheless, many proofs that the earliest barbarian kings had no general ideas of organiza- tion, and never dreamed of substituting one nationality for another. Theoderic even sacrificed his own nationality to that of the Romans. Besides, the barbarians who settled in the country were not sufficiently numerous to repopulate it at once. The Visigoths are calculated to have numbered 200,000 ; the Ostrogoths rather more; the Burgundians only 60,000 or 80,000, and the first tribes under Clovis did not exceed more than 5,000 or 6,000 men. The great mass of Huns, who outnumbered them all, had been driven back. The Barbarian Laivs. But when forming an opinion upon the character of the barbarian kingdoms we must be chiefly guided by the character of their laws. The Visigoth, Burgundian, and Frank kings, as soon as the first disorder was over, all felt the necessity of publishing codes which more or less reflected the Teutonic or Roman ideas according to the degree in which the conquering race had been assimilated to the conquered. The Salic law, or Frank law, drawn up under Clovis, corrected under Dagobert, retained the Teutonic impression more than any of the others.* The * The Salic Law. "The text, in which many Teutonic words appear, contained 80 titles, and 260 articles or paragraphs. The purely Latin text has only 70, 71, or 72 titles, according to the different manuscripts, and 406, 407, or 408 articles. At first sight it is impossible to avoid being struck with the confusion of this law. It deals with everything: with political rights, civil rights, and criminal law ; with civil and criminal 52 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Ripuarian law, drawn up by order of Thierry I., King of Austrasia, and also corrected under Dagobert, was deeply impregnated with the Roman law. The Burgundian code, the Loi Gombette, whilst retaining its Teutonic character, displays a tendency towards the adoption of the Roman laws. Lastly, the Lex Roniana Visigothorum was compiled in 506, and formed the basis of the code of the Spanish Visigoths (or Forum Judicum) ; a considerable work, the result of several centuries of labour, which, in its details, unites both the Roman and Christian influences. But the Roman law was also still in force, applicable to the Roman populations, and it was even col- lected in special codes, like the one erroneously designated by the name of Breviaire (an abridgment) of Alaric II. ; it was, on the contrary, a compilation of the laws of the last emperors, and of treaties of jurisprudence, including those of Gaius amongst others. The great features of the Roman conquests were now completely reversed, and the inevitable results of the invasion of a civilized country by inferior races soon ensued. Roman traditions were maintained in the midst of the German customs, which their influence gradually tended to modify. This was the great work which continued from the sixth to the ninth century, and its progress was so favourable to the diffusion procedure, with the rural police, with everything pell-mell, without either distinction or classification. If each of the articles of our various codes were written out separately, and if, after being mixed in an urn, they were successively drawn out, the order in which chance would arrange the subjects and provisions would differ very little from their arrangement in the Salic Law. When the details of the code are more closely examined, we perceive that it is essentially penal, that criminal justice not only occupies the most important position, but fills most of the space. Political rights are only indirectly alluded to, in connection with institutions and facts, which are treated as entirely settled, which the code was not intended either to found or to define. In civil law it includes some definite, stringent, and formal provisions. But the penal law predominates, the code being evidently in- tended to repress offences and to inflict punishment. It is a penal code. We find in it 363 penal articles and only 65 on other subjects. This is the charac- ter of all early legislation ; it is through the penal laws that all races made their first visible progress, the first written step, if I may use the expression, outside barbarism." Guizot, " Histoire de la Civilisation en France," vol. i. 9th lesson. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 53 of Roman ideas that the kingdoms of the Visigoths and Ostrogoths appear to have been almost Roman kingdoms. This was even one cause of their rapid decadence. Decadence of the Barbarian Kingdoms. The family of Goths transplanted into the empire, unahle to nourish itself from German sources, found itself submerged in the ancient population. It lost its ferocity and became softened amongst the pleasures of Roman civilization, the southern climate completing the enervation of the hardy northern race. The Visigoths in France, with the exception of the Narbonnaise, retreated before the Franks under Clovis, and took refuge in Spain (507). The Ostrogoths were unable to resist the Greek armies commanded by Belisarius, who had already des- troyed the African kingdom of the Vandals (533). The south of Gaul, in spite of the Frank conquests, and Italy, in spite of the barbarian invasions, were still Roman ; and there, hidden under a thick layer of dust, the root of Roman ideas was preserved, still living and perennial. Military Supremacy of the Franks. The Franks were longer in becoming Romanised than the other races, and this was one of the principal causes of their success. Much less numerous than the Goths, they would have been still sooner submerged if they had not retained the organization of an army in the field. They settled in cantonments in the country, continuing their freedom of life, forcing the native population to cultivate the land for them, and for a long time living by pillage. Slowly advancing, step by step, from the Escaut (Scheldt) to the Somme, to the Seine and the Loire, they only crossed the latter in order to make profitable expeditions. Until the Carolingian epoch the south of Gaul remained almost inde- pendent. For a long time Burgundy formed a separate kingdom, although it was governed by Frank princes. Besides, the Franks were still reinforced from Germany, and new recruits were con- tinually adding to their strength. When the Franks in the West, or Neustria, appeared to have been too much influenced by Roman indolence, the eastern Franks from Austrasia domineered over them and resumed the march forward. Hence the apparently inex- plicable success which raised the Franks above all other barbarian 54 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. races and made them the true restorers of the Roman empire, although they seemed for a long time to be the most feeble and most implacable of its enemies. Frank and Roman Society : the Monarchy. Although at first the Frank monarchy was so antagonistic to Roman ideas, its repre- sentatives soon realised the advantages they could derive from their adoption. The royal authority was precarious, but when the princes perceived that the subject populations respected it as a continuation of the power wielded by the emperors, they became more ambitious, and endeavoured to imitate the imperial dignity in some degree. Brunehild's long struggle against the great Austrasian vassals, and the savage hatred they displayed towards her, were the result of attempts made by the queen to enforce Roman obedience. Dagobert already imitated not only the pomp, but also the tyranny of the emperors. The haughty vassals, who claimed to be judged only by their peers, were executed at once when the prince decreed their death. The monarch was seated on a throne, and around him were grouped Roman counsellors skilful in providing him with laws, and amongst others the ancient law of majestas (i.e. high treason). The Neustrian kings became almost Roman, and this was one cause of the decadence of Neustria. The oppressed Neustrian vassals took refuge amongst the Austrasians, where the Germanic ideas were so prevalent that royalty itself had dis- appeared. Pepin d'Heristal was only a military chief. The Classes. As we have already noticed, the Frank kings had caused the old customs to be written down ; and although the Salic law differed greatly from the spirit of Roman legislation, it was still a written code. The great vassals, who had protested so violently against the transformation of the royal authority, had not realised that they had allowed themselves to be entrapped into accepting Roman dignities : they assumed the titles of counts and dukes, and felt quite justified in claiming the privileges of the Roman nobility. The social organization remained as it had been under the Empire, and the scale of tariff for the wergeld shows us exactly the same ranks, with the addition of the Frank nobility ; the inhabitants of the towns continued to work at their handicraft's. The Gallo- THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 55 Romans who were fortunate enough to escape dispossession at the first invasion were still ranked according to their fortunes ; they were even treated as equals by the Frank chieftains, sharing with them the honours and benefices, or lands, conceded by the king. The invasion had passed over the land, but the great inequalities of life were unaltered ; slavery and the nobility were still existent. The class of small farmers was increased by the misery of the times, and the slave was transferred to country districts, and more per- manently attached to the land he cultivated than before. Finance ; Justice. The taxes were still less altered. The Frank kings found it convenient to retain this source of income, although it was greatly diminished by the misery produced by the invasion. Fredegonde and Chilperic kept registers of all the taxes. But the financial inexperience of the princes and minis- ters, the growing ignorance that resulted from endless wars, caused the same disorganization of this portion of the Roman administra- tion as had befallen every other department. We can hardly imagine the immense machinery of the Roman administration, so skilfully planned, so complicated in detail, set in motion by bar- barians, in the midst of the dreadful disorder that followed the long conflict between Neustria and Austrasia. No doubt it worked for some time, but it gradually broke, like an ingeniously constructed toy surrendered to the whims of a young child. During the Merovingian period Roman traditions still survived, but, by degrees, they were stifled by Germanic ideas. Justice by the ordeal of fire or of combat replaced the Roman procedure; instead of a formal trial, the oaths of the assembled compurgators tumultuously attested the innocence of the -accused ; compensation by payment of money took the place of punishment. Corporal penalties were almost entirely reserved for the lower classes, who were still further op- pressed and humiliated by the pride of the Frank nobility. The warrior aristocracy, which had been formed and which continued to enrich itself by conquest, \vas very different from the imperial nobility, even although frequently recruited from its ranks. At first, Roman civilization had influenced the Franks, but as they became more numerous, their arrogance displayed itself and 56 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. they imposed their own too frequently iniquitous customs, their own always rough and violent manners, upon the people. In fact, the invasion in Gaul was prolonged through all the Merovingian period, and during this time an ever-increasing darkness settled over the land. The Church and Barbarian Society ; the Bishops. The west, divided into barbarian kingdoms, which sank in turn, one before the other, was a prey to utter confusion, the result of the recent conquest and of the conflict which ensued between the Germanic and Roman customs. But if the empire were giving way, the Church still existed. Religious society was maintained in the midst of the ruins that accumulated on all sides; united, notwith- standing the numerous sects which disturbed it; disciplined in spite of the quarrels that troubled it; a hierarchy without ex- clusiveness, always ready to open its doors to new races, who were even welcomed by it as recruits. In the disorder produced by the invasions, the Church remained the sole protection of the cities that had been abandoned by the representatives of the civil author- ity. From the reign of Valentinian (365), the cities had been provided with a special magistrate, a defender; and if the bishops had not (as some have said without sufficient proof) received this legal title, they yet found themselves constrained to exert their moral authority. They encouraged the terrified inhabitants, fed the poor, negotiated with the barbarian chieftains. Dying at their post, if necessary, they displayed a steadiness and greatness of soul that won for them the well-deserved gratitude of the population, and the admiration even of their enemies. The Church had received what might almost be called a new army of learned doctors, who, without attaining the eloquence of the Fathers and though displaying every fault of a decadent style and perverted taste in literature, are still entitled to an honour- able rank amongst authors. Salvian,* in his vehement treatise on the Government of God, demonstrated that the barbarians were sent to regenerate society ; Sidonius Apollinaris,f whose letters pre- * Salvian, born at Cologne or at Treves (390484). t Sidonius Apollinaris, born at Lyons (430489). THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 57 Bent a vivid picture of the disorder caused by the invasions, offered at Clermont, where he directed the Church, such an ener- getic resistance to the Visigoths that he was afterwards exiled. Gregory,* the pious bishop of Tours, remonstrated with Chilperic and Fredegonde in the boldest terms, and has left a history of his times that recalls the work of Herodotus by its charm, and that has remained the most serious and the most interesting document we possess respecting that mixed society, where law and morality had so much trouble to defend themselves against brute force. The Bishop Fortunatus has also depicted this singular state of society in his Latin poems, where the description of barbarian customs is found mingled with vivid pictures of the relics of Roman elegance. The Eight of Asylum; the Tonsure ; the Clerks. The Church was the intermediary between the barbarians and the Romans, and she also prepared the way for the new civilization. At first the temples became asylums. All those who could take refuge in them were considered sacred, and those barbarians, who had at first ruined so many churches, learned to pause before their walls, filled with supernatural terror. The right of asylum, which later on produced so many abuses through its extension to criminals, was, in principle, a salutary right and an efficacious protection. The characteristics which distinguished the bishops and priests usually sheltered them from all violence. The tonsure, the mark of the priesthood, was therefore sought after, and the Church in order to multiply the number of her proteges, accorded the tonsure to all her officers. She conferred what are called minor orders (acolytes, porters, readers, exorcists), and thus increased the number of clerks, who belonged to the Church without being subject to the severe rules of the priesthood, but who yet enjoyed many privileges. A crowd of laymen, above all the feeble, the freedinen, the slaves, asked for the tonsure and became clerks. They thus formed an ecclesiastical society from which the priests and bishops were recruited, and who were always inclined to favour the lower orders from whom they sprang. * Gregory of Tours (544 595). He wrote "L'HistoireEcclesia-tiquedes Francs,' ' one of the first chronicles of French history. 58 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. The Church, although always subordinate to the civil power, which, in the hands of the barbarian chieftains, made itself at times roughly felt, tended then more and more to become a distinct society. She had her particular rules, her decrees or canons, her spiritual jurisdiction, and before long claimed to shelter the clergy from civil justice. This produced a source of conflict through aJl the Middle Ages. The Councils ; Excommunication. The Church held its assem- blies or councils,* which were very numerous in the first centuries, and which exercised considerable influence. It is through them that the Church not only maintained its doctrine and its discipline, but also ameliorated the legislation, and continually secured new privileges. Amongst the Visigoths in Spain, who became orthodox in the seventh century, the councils were almost confounded with the national assemblies, and the law of the Forum Judicumwas sanc- tioned by the councils of Toledo. Amongst the Franks they remained distinct, but the bishops also sat in the great assemblies, and the Constitution Perpetuelle of 615 under Clotaire II. was the work of an assembly wherein the bishops' influence predominated. Excommunication was the weapon used by the Church to overcome all resistance. The bishops wielded no material force, and were therefore obliged to influence the barbarians by moral penalties. The excommunicated person was cut off from the Church, and since the Church included the whole congregation of the faithful, he found himself cut off from the world. Pro- nounced with terribly impressive solemnities, excommunication seemed a living death, to be followed by eternal death if the culprit did not implore pardon. The Church recognising the power of this spiritual weapon, employed it until it became an abuse, and too often was only used to promote her temporal interests. Wealth of the Church. The kings and barbarian chiefs in their zealous ardour, and in the intervals between their violent deeds, * The private councils were numerous iuthe fourth and fifth centuiies. In Gaul there were fifteen in the fourth century, and twenty-five in the fifth. See the list of these councils in Guizot's " Histoire de la Civilization Francaise," vol. i. 3rd lesson. But they were of greater importance, and produced more lasting results, in Spain and Germany than in Fiance. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 59 showered riches on the churches, finding it more convenient to redeem their crimes by their generosity than by repentance, to which they were little susceptible. The troubled times increased the public piety, and the bishops found donations in lands and men flowing in on them. A great many unfortunates offered them- selves as serfs to the Church, seeking a refuge from their present misery, and the assurance of salvation to come. The wealth of the Church was the consequence and the crown of her power. The Monasteries. The Church soon found active auxiliaries in the monks, who, in spite of their isolation from the world, rendered it the greatest services. At first, vowing to pass their lives in prayer, they afterwards bound themselves to work, and adopted the famous rule that Saint Benedict of Nursia had estab- lished in the monastery of Mount Cassin (530 A.D.). The rule of Saint Benedict was published by his disciples, of whom Saint Maur was the most famous, and was soon adopted by all the Western Monasteries.* These retreats then became veritable farms ; the * The Monasteries. "The foundation of the majority of the great monas- teries in the southern provinces, belong* to the first half of the fifth century. The establishment of Saint Faustinas at Nimes is attributed to Saint Castor, Bishop of Apt, towards 422, with another in the same diocese. Towards the same date Cassian founded that of Saint Victor at Marseilles ; and Saint Honoratus and iSaint Caprasius, that of Lerins in one oi the lies d'Hyeres, the most celebrated of the century ; a little later the monasteries of Condat or Saint Claude in Franche-Comte, that of Gregory in the diocese of Vienne, and several others of less importance were founded. The primitive character of the Gallic monasteries was quite different from that of the Oriental monasteries. In the East,- the great object was isolation and contemplation ; men who withdrew from the world in Thebaid, wished to escape from the pleasures, temptations, and corruptions of civil society; they wished to abandon themselves, far from all social intercourse, to the fervour of their imaginations, and to strict obedience to their consciences. In the West, notwithstanding the imitation of the East, monasteries had another origin : they commenced by a common life, through the wish, not for isolation, but for intercourse. Civil society was subject to every kind of disaster ; national, provincial, or municipal, it di- solved on all sides. There was neither centre nor refuge for men who wished to study, practice virtue, or live together. They found one in the monasteries ; the monastic lire had therefore origi- nally neither a contemplative nor solitary character, on the contrary it was very sociable and active ; it formed a nucleus of intellectual development, and 60 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. monks buried themselves in the wilder districts of the country or in spots that had lapsed from cultivation after the invasions. They cleared, dug, and planted, thus restoring manual labour to an honourable position, teaching the art of husbandry, and transform- ing deserts into rich and fertile country. Entire districts like La Brie, near the Vosges, were thus cleared, and the abbeys at that time resembled scattered oases in the devastated regions of Gaul. The proudest monasteries of England, Westminster, Glastonbury, Godstow, Croyland, Ely, were all originally in the midst of swamps and marshy woods. It is the labour of the monks which made the soil such as we see it now ; not the monks who chose the best ground. The sanctity of the monasteries protected all the land belonging to them, and thus prevented their seclusion from being encroached upon. To agriculture, the monks added intellectual labour. They recopied manuscripts, opened schools, and in the midst of a society relapsing into ignorance, they preserved a feeble gleam of knowledge which afterwards sufficed to revive the whole science of the world. The Gallic monasteries, and particularly those in Ireland, Eng- land, and Scotland, also furnished numerous missionaries, the best known of whom are perhaps St. Columba, Columbanus, St. Gall, and Boniface, who penetrated into Germany and the Northern countries, preaching the Christian faith, exerting them- selves to arrest invasions, alwa} 7 s eager to recommend and spread both faith and civilization amongst the barbarian races. The Papacy. Freed by the invasions from the direct rule of the civil power, the bishops of Rome, although outwardly subject to the Emperor of Constantinople, had gradually become accustomed to consider themselves the masters of Rome and her territories. served as an instrument for the fermentation and propagation of ideas. The monasteries in the South of Gaul were the philosophic schools of Christianity; there men meditated, argued, taught, and from there issued new ideas, men- tal aspirations, and heresies. In the abbeys of Saint Victor and Lerins all the great qu< stions of free-will, predestination, grace, and original sin were most animatedly discussed, and in them the Pelagian doctrines found their chief nourishment and support during fifty years." Guizot, "History of Civiliza- tion," vol. i., 4th lesson. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 61 Their supremacy, although contested by the other bishops, was already firmly established in the West. Besides, they had also sent out missionaries charged with the evangelisation of heathen countries. Gregory the Great, at the end of the sixth century, sent the monk, Augustine, to convert the Anglo-Saxon Kings (597). The earlier British Church had given its martyrs to Christianity and its bishops had attended foreign councils even before the conversion of Constantine. But the national hatred was too great for it to convert the Saxon invaders. This was done partly in the north by Aidan and others of the Scots-Irish ; but the conference at Whitby (664) made the purely English a branch of Rome. The Anglo-Saxon Church was, there- fore, from its foundation, in some sense subject to the Bishop of Rome. Gregory also took advantage of the Lombard invasion of Italy and of the ruin of Greek power in the Peninsula, to loosen the tie that bound him to the Emperor of Constantinople, and the popularity that he had acquired in the city of Rome, defended by him, rendered him the real chief of the Roman territory, then called the Patrimony of Saint Peter, and it is to him that we must trace back the origin of the temporal power of the Popes, founded towards the same epoch, when their spiritual power developed itself, above all, in the West. The Popes acknowledged as the heads of the Church, having converted the Lombards by the influence of Theodelinda, and the Visigoths of Spain through Recared, now gained fresh strength by their alliance with the chiefs of the Austrasian Franks. Alliance between the Frank Kings and the Church ; Accession of the Carollngians ; the Temporal Power of the Popes. No doubt the Church had greatly benefited by her alliance with the Merovingians ; she had acquired both authority and wealth. For, if at times the bishops exercised preponderant influence in Merovingian history, the Merovingians, rough and barbarous, debauched and violent, had not hesitated to ill-treat the bishops and missionaries, who boldly reproached them with their crimes. If the Merovingians, from time to time, offered reparation for these crimes, by gifts to the churches, this did not prevent them from robbing the same churches for the 62 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. benefit of their vassals. They took back the land they had conceded and gave it as a reward to their warriors, thus introducing men of blood and pillage into the ranks of the Church. In the seventh and eighth centuries the Church in Gaul was completely deformed and corrupted by an invasion of another kind : the bishops, previously elected by the clergy and the people, were now nominated by the king. Those of the bishops who had preserved their purity of faith and manners lamented these disorders, which they foresaw must eventually prove fatal to religion. They hailed with delight the substitution of the family of the Pepins for the degenerate de- scendants of Meroveus. Renowned as much for its piety as for its valour this Austrasian dynasty protected the missionaries in Germany. The Mussulman invasion had been arrested on the glorious day of Poitiers by the prowess of Charles Martel (732). The Papacy eagerly seized the opportunity of interfering in a question of so much importance as a change of dynasty. Consulted in 752 by Pepin the Short on what he had better do with the Merovingian king, Pope Zacharias replied, " that the title ought to belong to the one who wielded the authority." Pepin proclaimed himself king, caused himself to be crowned by Boniface, Archbishop of Mayence, and a second time by Pope Stephen II. In return he defeated the Lombards and gave the Pope the exarchate of Ravenna and the Pentapolis (756), thus providing him with a State, rendering him a king similar to other kings, and securing his independence in a century when authority was not recognised without land, nor right without strength to enforce it. A really curious exchange was then made between the King of the Franks and the Pope. The latter, by holy unction, the revival of an old Hebraic rite, raised the Frank monarchy to the dignity of a sacerdocy ; Pepin converted a purely religious chief into a military chieftain. The Pope communicated his spiritual power, the King his temporal power. Thus in 752 and 756, two in some degree new authorities were established, a religious royalty and a royal papacy. The old Roman Empire of the West was again revived with the Pontifex Maxinius distinct from the Emperor, but both under divine THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS. GERMANIC SOCIETY. 63 sanction a grave change which filled the history of the Middle Ages and of modern times with its consequences ! Europe in the Eighth Century. This event marks the whole dis- tance traversed by the Church in four hundred years. In the fourth century she had scarcely triumphed over the early persecutions when the barbarian invasion threatened to engulf her in the ruin of the empire. In the eighth her chief was master of Rome and of an important province of Italy. In the fourth she was scarcely organized, and was defending herself against a number of heresies, which her most illustrious doctors refuted and which her councils condemned. She was subject to the Emperor Constantine, who presided over the religious assemblies, and even regulated the dogmas by his laws. Independent in the eighth she even domi- neered over kings. Her empire had grown in extent as well as in prestige ; it radiated beyond the limits of the ancient Roman empire as far as the savage mountains of Scotland, and even penetrated into the forests of Germany. The churches and monasteries resem- bled opulent cities. The barbarians adored where they had burnt, and enriched the temples they had robbed. Civil society, crushed, confused, apparently doomed to destruction, was saved by the Church, and was placed under her guardianship in some degree. All the barbarian kingdoms which opposed her had disappeared. The power of the Arian Visigoths was so far broken by Clovis that afterwards they were unable to defend Spain against the Arabs. The Arian Ostrogoths had been destroyed by the Greeks. The Arian Burgundians had been absorbed by the Franks. The Lom- bards, enemies although Catholics, also disappeared, crushed by the Franks. But nearly all Sj ain, Northern Africa, Egypt, and the East, had become Mahommedan. The Franks had conquered for the Church, and triumphed by the Church. They now benefited by religious unity, whilst establishing political unity to their own advantage ; and this was the goal to which the long confusion of the period of the invasions was tending. For a moment the confusion ceased ; society, almost destroyed, founded itself anew; civilization, almost stifled, reawakened; the harmony, so difficult to attain, between the principles of Germany 64 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. and the genius of Rome, was realised for an instant under the influence of Catholicism. For centuries the Church had laboured to soften the barbarians, to raise the Romans, and she fancied she had succeeded so well that she ventured to revive the title of Roman emperor for the benefit of a Frank chieftain, for Charle- magne, the most glorious descendant of Pepin's family CHAPTER III. THE EASTERN EMPIRE. RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE WEST. SUMKAEY : The Eastern Empire : Justinian Justinian's Legislative Work : the Monuments of Roman Law Luxury of the Emperors of the East : Games in the Circus Byzantine Art Painting : Mosaics The Sect of Iconoclasts The Greek Schism (857 1054) Weakness and Longevity of the Byzantine Empire The West : Charlemagne and his Wars (800) Restoration of the Western Empire : Coronation of Charlemagne (800) The Administration of Charlemagne : Roman Traditions Ecclesiastical Organization The Intellectual Renaissance Germanic Traditions Character of Charlemagne's Work : its Results. NOTE. Sovereigns of the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Empire : Justinian. Whilst the West was painfully seeking to reclaim its scattered members, the Eastern empire had maintained its unity. In spite of the weakness of Arcadius and Theodosius II., the barbarians had respected it, although Mar- cian had ventured to treat Attila's messengers with contempt. Anastasius, who flattered Clovis, the King of the Franks, by conferring Roman titles upon him, constructed a fortified wall forty-two miles long, between the Euxine and the Propontis. The Thracian Justin I. was a soldier. His nephew, Justinian (527 565), a prince of great ability, profited by the exhaustion of the barbarian races, who had occupied the south of Europe, and succeeded in reuniting almost the whole of the two portions of the Roman empire.* His general, Belisarius, with one vigorous * Sovereigns of the Eastern Empire. First Thracian line : Arcadius, Theo- dosius II., Marcian, Leo I., Zeno, Anastasius (395 518). Second Thracian line : Justin I. (518527), Justinian (527565), Justin II., Tiberius II., Maurice, Phocas (565610), Heraclius (610641). Line of Heraelim (641 715), anarchy, Isaur>an line (717 813). Phrygian line (820842). Macedonian line (8671081) ; the line of Comnenus and of the Ducas (1081 1204), the Latin empire; the French line (1204 1261); the Greek empire, line of Paleologus (12611453). F 66 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. stroke, overthrew the already weakened kingdom of the Vandals (533), and that of the Goths of Italy (540553). The whole The Emperor Anastasius in Consular Costume. basin of the Mediterranean, excepting the shores of part of Spain and of Gaul, submitted to the laws issued from Constantinople. THE EASTERN EMPIRE. 67 But it is chiefly as a legislator that Justinian merits an important place in history. Justinian's Legislative Work : the Monuments of Roman Law. The Roman law had been formed in the course of centuries,^ but never having been formally arranged, presented an inextricable mass of decisions. Some attempts had already been made to reduce this chaos to order (the Gregorian and Hermogenian codes and the code of Theodosius II.). Justinian formed a commission of nine savants, under the direction of the celebrated Tribonian, who revised all the documents belonging to judicial literature, and who published First, the Code, a collection of all the decrees, of the re- scripts relative to the common law, to the organization of the State, and to the administration. Second, the Pandects (Greek, general collection), a kind of encyclopedia of law, in which the provisions taken from more than two thousand treatises of jurisprudence, edicts, sentences, &c., are collected, an immense compilation called in Latin the Digesta (put in order). Third, an abridgment, the Institutes, in which the general principles of law were arranged in methodical order, and in clear, formal language, adopted from the works of Gaius and Ulpian. Fourth, the Novelise, or laws published after the completion of all these works. Every student who wishes to master the science of Roman law is obliged to study the Pandects. The Institutes is the classic still explained and commented upon by the pupils of the French law schools, for the Roman law has so far impregnated the French codes that the study of the former is the best initiation into the knowledge of the latter. These compilations and treatises, drawn up in the sixth century, after the complete triumph of Christianity, had been divested of the harshness and narrowness of the old law. The new Roman law, retained until the fifteenth century in the East, well known in the West, above all in Italy, has remained a treasure left by antiquity for the benefit of the new world. Unfortunately these laws, although so just in their application to details, enforced the absolute sovereignty of the prince, the only source of law, the " living law," to quote the jurisconsults, from whom the lawyers of the Middle Ages sought the dangerous maxims in 68 7 HE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. which, in order to improve the state of the disorderly society of the times, they attributed a!5 power to the king and ruined the liberal traditions imported by the Germans. Luxury of the Emperors of the East ; the Games in the Circus. The brilliancy of the Eastern empire concealed its vices. The princes continued the luxury of Diocletian and Constantine, adding to it every splendour that Oriental fancy could suggest. Arcadius and his successors never appeared without a procession of guards magnificently dressed, with gilded shields and lances. They drove in chariots drawn by white mules, covered with golden plates and precious stones. They wore bracelets and ear-rings, diadems of diamonds, robes covered with jewels, richly-worked tunics, and embroidered sandals. The rooms, staircases, and courts of the palace were sanded with gold dust. Constanti- nople had become a splendid city, ornamented with all kinds of buildings. The Hippodrome (from two Greek words signifying horse-races) was an immense portico surrounding a vast space, in which horses and chariots raced, and where the pacific games that had replaced the gladiatorial fights, now forbidden by Christianity, were celebrated. Let us, in fancy, enclose the course whe^e our horse-races are held and we can then picture the splendour of the Hippodrome, in which the Eastern crowd of Constantinople assembled, more passionately eager for the games of the circus than modern Englishmen for the excitement of a race. Byzantine Art. The Byzantine empire had its especial art, derived from its predilection for a profusion of ornament. The square, circular, or polygon form had been adopted for the con- struction of churches in the East. The temples were usually surmounted by an arch or cupola, which distinguished them from the Latin edifices, roofed in timber even when circular in form. This principle guided Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, who were commissioned by Justinian to build the church of Saint Sophia, at Constantinople.* From that time cupolas became * The great nave of Saint Sophia forms a Greek cross ; four irregular halls occupy the angles of the plan ; an immense central cupola seems all the wider for being elliptic; the fine curves of the aich are also much THE EASTERN EMPIRE. 69 distinctive of the Byzantine style, which blended the nobility of straight lines with the grace of curves, though it aimed at richness rather than grandeur. Justinian despoiled some of the antique temples of Asia to ornament his new construction with columns of porphyry and granite, tastelessly arranged in the interior of the edifice ; which, however, delighted Justinian, who exclaimed, '* Solomon ! I have surpassed thee ! " The Byzantine may be con- sidered as the parent, on the one side of Arabian, on the other of the Lombardo-Byzantine, Romanesque, and Norman Church architec- ture. Perhaps St. Mark's at Venice is the purest example of Byzantine architecture in the Western Church. Painting ; Mosaics. The success of Christianity had been fatal to ancient painting and sculpture ; for in their* zeal the Chris- tians had destroyed all profane works of art. Religious painting could not quickly replace Pagan subjects, and art was compara- tively lost. The bad taste of the times chiefly valued rich materials and mosaics, and thus dethroned painting. Instead of frescoes, or of encaustic painting, palaces and churches were decorated with mosaics in coloured stones. This was the sole art of the Greeks of the Lower Empire. The Sect of Iconoclasts. The passion for religious discussions which perpetually disturbed the Eastern empire was equally fa Flanders, was initiated into the new method of painting, and carried it into his own country, where the artists gladly adopted it. Character of the Italian Schools of Painting, Christian and Pagan Subjects. Painting in oil was discovered at a favourable moment, when the sudden impetus given to the studies of ancient * The brothers Van Eyck were natives of Maas-Eyck (Eyck-sur-Meuse). The eldest was called Hubert ; the second, the inventor of oil painting, Jan. He died in 1440. leaving a number of works now scattered in Ghent, Brussels, Berlin, London, and Paria. FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY RENAISSANCE. 223 art and literature aroused and excited the enthusiasm of the artists. The Renaissance of painting was the result of the Renaissance of letters. Fascinated by Dante and Petrarch, who had aided them to understand Homer, Virgil, and Horace, the painters evoked and represented in immortal pictures the immortal descriptions of the ancient and modern authors. But although mythology and history greatly influenced the work of the Italian masters, the Christian religion had a yet larger share in its development. From this point of view the Italian painters are the followers of the sculptors in wood and the illuminators. Dramatic and touching histories from the Bible, the lives of the patriarchs and prophets, the Gospel parables, the impressive incidents of the Passion, legends of saints and martyrs, mysterious ecstasies of the faithful, all furnished sub- jects, which with infinite variety in the combination of the natural and of the supernatural, of heaven and earth, of men and angels, never seem to have wearied admirers in spite of their perpetual repetition. The artists transferred the adora- tions, prayers, and aspirations of the Christian world to the walls of their churches or the pages of their illuminated manu- scripts. But this does not imply that all these artists were imbued with the naive ardent faith of the masons who built the cathedrals, the sculptors who ornamented their walls, and the artists who decorated the Bibles. What we know of the luxurious life, corruption, and scepticism of the sixteenth century remove all illusions on that head, and we can hardly suppose that the artists who surrounded Julian II. and Leo X. were better Christians than the warrior Pope or his epicurean successor, whose elegant but dissolute court would have drawn upon him the anathemas of the Fathers of the Church. This state of society explains the curious fashion in which some of the Italian painters have often travestied rather than idealised Chris- tian subjects. They treated them in the style of Greek art, using them only as a pretext for representing the human body in every posture, and for thus displaying their anatomical- knowledge. As a rule they have taken their subject from religion, their inspiration 22 4 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. from antiquity ; they have painted Christian figures like heathen deities. The Virgin of the Rock (picture by Leonardo da Vinci). Italian Schools ; the Florentine School : Peruyino, Leonardo da Vinci (1452 1519). Masaccio, in the fifteenth century, founded the first school of painting at Florence, and its renown increased FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY RENAISSANCE. 225 steadily until the end of the sixteenth century. Pietro Vanucci,* called Perugino, gave a particularly graceful expression, a vivid colouring and a golden tone, to his religious pictures. He was worthy to be Raphael's master. Near Florence, at the Castle da Vinci, in 1452, Leonardo was born : like Michael Angelo, he was at the same time sculptor, painter, and architect, in addition to his great powers as a mechanic and engineer. Brought into France to be the ornament of the brilliant court of Francis I., his pictures are not numerous, for Leonardo allowed himself to be fascinated too much by scientific to the detriment of artistic effort, and some of his finest efforts, such as the " Last Supper," a fresco in an old convent at Milan, quickly perished. f He died at Amboise in 1519. Leonardo, the first of the great masters, inspired the monk Bar- tolommeo della Porta,| known by the simple name of the Frate, beautified his figures of saints with an elevated expression and a fine tone of colour. Andrea del Sarto was distinguished by the purity of his drawing, the unity of his compositions, and the grace of the attitudes in which he placed his religious or profane personages. Florence produced Giorgio Vasari, less known by his paintings than by his history of the painters. || * Pietro Vanucci (1446 1524), called Perugino, because he was born at Perugia. The Louvre contains a " Nativity," a " Virgin in Glory," and a "Madonna." The Vatican possesses a " Kesurrection." But the museum at Munich possesses his chief work, the " Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard." t The Louvre possesses some fine specimens of Leonardo da Vinci. " The Virgin of the Rocks," " Saint Anne and the Virgin," the " La Belle Ferronniere," a badly named portrait, supposed to represent a Duchess of Mantua, and the celebrated " G-iconda." England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Naples, and Florence, also possess pictures by him. | Fra Bartolommeo della Porta (1469 1517) painted among other works a gigantic " Saint Mark" for the facade of his convent. He also painted a " Saint Sebastian," which' was sent to Francis I. Andrea Vannuchi (1488 1530), called Andrea del Sarto because he was a tailor's son, has left sixteen fine pictures now in the Pitti Palace. The Louvre contains an " Entombment," two " Holy Families," two " Assump- tions," and two "Annunciations." One of his finest works is the portrait of Lucrezia della Fede, a worthy pendant to the " Giconda." || Giorgio Vasari (15121574). 226 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. The Roman School: Michael Angela (1474 1564). Although a native of Tuscany, Michael Angelo Buonarrotti founded the school of Rome. For nearly a century Michael Angelo lived and worked, the glory of every art, foremost in sculpture as well as in painting and architecture. Disdaining narrow frames, he delighted in vast surfaces, which he covered with grand compositions, reproducing on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel the Creation of the World and Scripture History, interpreting scenes from the Bible, and making them live again before our eyes, with a vigour that equalled the inspired descriptions of Moses. Thoroughly master of anatomy, knowing every movement of the body, and how to vary the attitudes, exhausting all the resources and mechanism of the art of drawing, Michael Angelo was not afraid of handling even the subjects which had inspired Dante's genius, and he painted the " Last Judgment," a fresco which filled the whole wall of the Sistine Chapel facing the entrance. A colossal composition, where three hundred person- ages are represented ; a poem in colour, cleverly arranged ; a skilful combination of many scenes, harmoniously grouped this unique fresco compels admiration by the elevation of the subject, by the life that illumines the bodies of the elect and torments the condemned, by the contrasts between the terrestrial and celestial groups. Michael Angelo shut himself into the Sistine Chapel for nine years, working with enthusiasm, and no one else has attained such extraordinary power or such astonishing majesty. Raphael (1483 1520). Shorter, yet more productive in pro- portion to its duration, the career of Raphael d'Urbino marked the highest point of the Christian yet pagan art of the Renais- sance. In his frescoes and pictures, his portraits (Julius II., Leo X., and the Fornarina) and his Holy Families, Raphael, with- out apparent effort, attained perfection by his genius for composi- tion, drawing, and painting. We admire the calm effect produced by a skill certain of its own powers, making no efforts to express its thoughts, pious or secular, observing yet idealising nature, and satisfied when it had succeeded in representing upon canvas the images by which it wished to please and touch the spectators. Raphael's genius was essentially Greek. This is not only because FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY RENAISSANCE. 227 lie made great use of mythology and history in his work, but chieliy because he had caught anew the serenity and grace of the old ideals. The principal pictures by Raphael can be admired in mu- seums, but we must go to the Vatican to see the Loggia, the external gallery of one of the palace courts. In the ceiling of each of the triforiums of these galleries Raphael painted four Raphael's " Violin-player." pictures, and thus obtained a series of fifty-two subjects, com- prising the principal scenes of sacred history a really grand work, in which the master employed his pupils' services, chiefly those of Giulio Komano. In the same palace Raphael painted the chambers, that is, four large halls, where he arranged his vast compositions: the "Dispute of the Holy ISacrament " (also called the "Theology"), and the "School of Athens" 228 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. (or "Philosophy"), the " Parnassus " and "Jurisprudence," the history of Heliodorus stabbed on the threshold of the temple of Jerusalem, the " Deliverance of Saint Peter," the " Pope Saint Leo stopping the Advance of Attila," and the vast scenes wherein Raphael glorified Constantine, the protector of the Church. In these large compositions the arrangement is majestic and noble, the groups harmonize, the drawing is free, vigorous, correct, and elegant, the figures are graceful without affectation, and the whole picture is full of delicate sentiment which produces an undying charm. But the artist surpasses himself in the " Transfiguration," a picture which was exhibited at the head of the bed on which Raphael lay after death ; it was carried in his funeral procession. Raphael, in spite of the eminent artists that have succeeded him, has remained incontestably the inimitable model and the educator of the painters who follow him. * The School of Lombardy : Correggio (14941534), of Parma. Michael Angelo and Raphael had carried the secrets of the Floren- tine school to Rome, and had created the Roman school. But Italian genius for art is so predominant, that masters were found in most of the Italian cities. * The works of Raphael are chiefly found in the museums of Italy. The museum of Florence preserves the " Virgin and the Bird," the " Virgin Seated" (one of those masterpieces which have been copied by engraving and distributed all over the world), " Saint John in the Desert," the " Vision of Ezekiel," and the portraits of Julius II., Leo X., and the Fornarina. The "Saint Cecilia" is at Bologna. At Eome there are the four magnificent " Sybils " of Santa Maria della Pace, and the powerful " Isaac " of San Agos- tino, in which. Raphael measured himself against Michael Angelo. The " Triumph, of Galatea," and the " History of Psyche " in the Farnesina : in the Sciarra Palace, the portrait of a young man, name unknown, called the " Violin-player ' ' because he holds an old-fashioned bow in one hand with some flowers. At Madrid there are three portraits and seven pictures, the " Holy Family " and a " Spasimo," or "Christ carryinghis Cross." London possesses the seven cartoons, from Hampton Court, now in the South Ken- sington Museum, drawn for some tapestries made in Flanders, and afterwards acquired by Charles I. The National Gallery contains the " Enthronement of the Virgin," from Blenheim, and a " Saint Catherine." Lastly, the Louvre Museum has some portraits, the " Holy Family," supposed to have belonged to Francis I., and a " Saint Michael overcoming the Devil." FIFTEENTH A ND SIX TEE NTH CENTUR Y RENAISSANCE. 2 29 In the north, where Leonardo, who inhabited Milan for a long time, had also introduced Florentine methods, the so-called Lombardy School had boasted even before Leonardo's appearance 3f Andrea Mantegna * of Padua, and Bernardino Luini. Then alone, without seeing either Florence or Rome, and with- out any other inspiration than a single picture by Raphael (the ;< Saint Cecilia "), but which he felt awakened his genius, Antonio illegri,f called Correggio, almost rivalled the great masters. At Parma he painted the "Ascension" which decorates the lome of the church of San Giovanni, and the "Assumption" painted on the Duomo of Parma. Correggio was not only elegant md graceful, his painting is distinguished by a softness and suavity tvhich none of his pupils have been able to equal. Caravaggio, an original painter who only studied his own works md followed his own ideas, uncultivated, illiterate, disdaining the intique, affecting to despise Raphael and Correggio, recognised 3ut one master, nature. But he only represented the trivial, 3ommon side of nature, out of harmony with his refined epoch, though full of energy and truth. J The Venetian School: Giorgio Barbarelli (1477 1511), Titian J1477 1576.) The clear sky of Venice reflected in the blue waters rf the Adriatic, seems to have given the painters of that city some- thing of its colour and lustre. The Venetians are masters }f colour, and their artists lavished the most brilliant tints upon * Andrea Mantegna (14311506). f Antonio Allegri, called the Correggio because he was "born in the borough )f Correggio (1494 1534). The museum of Parma still preserves the " Saint Jerome," the "Virgin with the Cup ;" at Florence there is a " Virgin adoring ;he Infant Jesus;" at Naples, " Hagar in the Desert " and the " Myutical Marriage of Saint Catherine." Dresden possesses six original pictures by Correggio, amongst which is the " Nativity," or the " Night of Correggio." Paris also possesses two compositions, a "Marriage of Saint Catherine," and ;he masterpiece called the " Sleep of Antiope." J Michael- Angiolo Amerighi da Caravaggio (1569 1609). Rome has a ''Descent from the Cross " and the " Gamblers " by him ; Vienna, the por- trait of a " Young Girl playing the Lute ;" the Louvre, the " Death of the Virgin," which departs from tradition, and even from the religious style, the !< Fortune-teller," and some portraits. 230 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. their pictures. The Bellini, * two brothers, commenced that famous Venetian school afterwards so seductive and so fertile. Giorgio Barbarelli f (1477 1511) who died very young, decorated the Palace of the Doges at Venice with his frescoes, remarkable for their warm tones. He left very few pictures, for which the European museums eagerly compete. Giorgio or Giorgione was Titian's contemporary. Titian, like Michael Angelo, lived nearly a century and occupied this long career with a quantity of works, decorating the Venetian churches and palaces, composing religious and secular pictures for princes and for wealthy citizens, scarcely able, in spite of the great facility with which he worked, to satisfy his crowd of customers of bishops and kings, and it is said that the most illustrious of them, the Emperor Charles V., condescended to pick up the great artist's brush when he dropped it one day in the royal presence. With the greatest freedom, he passed from sacred to heathen subjects, from saints to mythological divinities, from Holy Families to Venus and Adonis, giving them all life with his magic brush, even to the coldest allegories or the most un- truthful apotheoses. Art with him was completely emancipated, and in religious subjects he was even less scrupulous than the other painters of the Renaissance. Titian allowed himself to be led away by his imagination, his taste, his caprices. But he portrayed his most capricious ideas in such glowing colours, his painting is of such brilliant tone, that it is still dazzling after the lapse of several centuries.} * Gentile Bellini (14211501). The Louvre possesses the "Reception of a Venetian Ambassador at Constantinople" by him. Giovanni Bellini (1426 1516) was called Jean Belin in France. t Giorgio Barbarelli de Castelfranco (14771511). At Venice, in the Academie des Beaux- Arts, we notice the " Tempest stilled by Saint Mark ;" at Florence, "Moses in the Trial of Burning Coals;" in the Pitti Palace, " Moses saved from the Water ; " at Madrid, a " David killing Goliath" and a " Family Portrait" (a wonderful work) ; at Dresden, the " Meeting of Jacob and Eachel;" at the Louvre, the "Open-air Concert" and a "Holy Family." | Titian, Tiziano Vecellio, of Cadore (14771576), died of the plague when he was ninety-nine years old. At Venice, where 'he passed the greater por- tion of his long life, many of his works are preserved, amongst others a FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY RENAISSANCE. 231 Tintoretto, Paul Veronese. Titian, who was jealous in spite of his glory, had dismissed one of his pupils from his studio. This was the son of a dyer, who rendered the name of his trade famous by becoming Tintoretto.* This artist endeavoured to be original instead of merely a copyist, and to avoid one of Titian's defects, for the latter was so much preoccupied with his colour that he neglected his drawing, which Tintoretto studied under Michael Angelo. His reputation was so great that he was invited to fill the churches and palaces of Venice with his work. He decorated the ceiling of the Great Council Hall, in the Ducal Palace, with a vast composition 64 feet long by 30 feet wide : the " Glory of Paradise.' 1 He seemed to have derived his spirit as well as his drawing from Michael Angelo, and was called the "Furious ; " but he worked too quickly, and never attained the perfection of his master, although he succeeded in rivalling Titian by his brilliant colouring. Paul Veronese, another of Titian's rivals, was also one of the great magicians of art. He decorated the Hall of the Council of Ten, "Visitation of Saint Elizabeth," a "Presentation in the Temple," an " Assumption " (a masterpiece) in the Church of Saint John and Saint Paul, the death of a monk, known by the name of " Saint Peter Martyr." The Senate by a special decree forbade that this picture should be carried beyond the limits of the territory of the Republic under penalty of death. Florence displays saints, which might be mistaken for Greek statues. Borne and Naples also possess some of Titian's pictures, but Madrid has retained the most (forty- two) portraits of Charles V., of Philip II., a " Christ bearing the Cross," an " Original Sin," two of the "Entombment of Christ;" a large allegory, a kind of apotheosis of Charles V. and his family; an admirable "Offering to Fertility," containing more than sixty figures of young children playing ; the "Arrival of Bacchus at the Isle of Naxos," an " Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto," &c. The pictures of Titian now in the Louvre are not all authentic, but there are three fine specimens the " Crowning with Thorns," the "Entombment," and the "Disciples at Emmaus." The portrait of Francis I. was not painted from nature but from a model. * Giacomo Eobusti (1512 1594), surnamed II Tintoretto, because he was a dyer's son. At the Academie des Beaux- Arts in Venice, the "Ascension," the " Assumption, " a "Madonna," a " Virgin in Glory," and a "Miracle of Saint Mark " are by him. The " Miracle " is one of the masterpieces of' art, and represents the deliverance of a slave from execution through the miraculous intervention of Saint Mark. 232 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. in the Ducal Palace, with the ''Apotheosis of Venice." He also painted the " Abduction of Europa," and above all four "Meals of our Lord " for monastic refectories. Of these works, the " Mar- riage of Cana " is one of the finest ornaments of the Louvre Museum. Paul Veronese broke through the traditions of the Koman school : he did not seek for historical truth but dressed all his personages in the fashion of his own times whatever epoch they may have lived in. His apostles are rich Venetians, feasting in palaces. His groups are so well arranged, his figures (which were all portraits) have so much nobility, so much life, his colour- ing is so bright and rich, that one never wearies of admiring his prodigious works. * To this school we may add Canaletto (1697 1768), who painted the canals, the buildings, and landscapes of his native city. The Bolognese School : the Caracci. The city of Bologna filled a place apart in the schools of painting, chiefly through the Caracci : Louis Caracci and his two cousins, Augustine and Annibal.f The last named, the boldest and the most original, succeeded in religious pictures, but above all in landscapes, for his works are the first fine examples of that style found in Italy. But the ' Bolognese school was particularly renowned in the seventeenth century through the pupils of the Caracci Domenichino, Guido Reni, and Albano. Painting in Spain. The influence of Italy spread all over Europe, and every artist desired to emulate the great masters. The relations between Italy and Spain were so closely linked that Spain was one of the first to imbibe enthusiasm for Italian art, and the schools of Valencia, Toledo, Seville, and Madrid were * Paolo Cagliari, of Verona, called Paul Veronese (15281588). The cele- brated "Marriage of Cana" is more than 30 feet wide and 21 feet high. In London we possess the " Alexander's Visit to the Family of Darius ; " the faces are all portraits of the Pisani family. t The Bologna Museum has thirteen works by Lodovico Caracci (1555 1619). Agostino Caracci (15581602) has left amongst other remarkable works an " Assumption " ahd a " Communion of Saint Jerome." The Louvre possesses twenty-six pictures by Annibale Caracci (1560 1609), in- cluding "Madonnas," a " Eesurrection, " two landscapes, and two pendants, " Hunting and Fishing." FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTUR Y RENAISSANCE. 233 formed. Yet, however great the merits of Alonzo Berruguete, Juan de Juanes, Luis de Morales, el Mudo surnamed the Spanish Titian or of Alonzo Sanchez Coello may have been, Spanish painting did not really nourish until the following century.* It required time before study could produce its fruits. Painting in France. In France, Italian artists were instructors of the French. Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, Rosso, f Primaticcio, J and Nicolo Abati, reigned at the court of Francis I., and formed what is called the school of Fontainebleau. But from the sixteenth century France produced a master, Jean Cousin, who excelled in painting and sculpture. || Jean Cousin designed some admirable church windows, but the Louvre possesses only one picture by him, a' chef-d'oeuvre, the "Last Judgment," where, in a narrow frame, the artist shows in the arrangement of his composition and his knowledge of the nude, a skill beyond that of any French artist of his time. Flemish Painting. Flanders, as we have said, in some measure anticipated Italy, but the Flemish artists, without losing their original characteristics, were influenced by the great Italian move- ment, and profited by the lessons of those to whom they had taught painting in oil. Roger Van der WeydenH went to Italy at the moment when Masaccio at Florence, Bellini at Venice, and Fra Angelico at Rome, were restoring the art of painting Haas Mending** has left considerable and varied work, displaying * Juan de Juanes (15231579), Luis de Morales (15091586). The Mudo (Juan Fernandez Navarette) (1526 1579) decorated the Escurial. Alunzo Sanchez Coello, died in 1590, painter and counier to Philip II. "We must also quote Pablo de Cespedes (1538 1608), who imitated Correg-gio. f The Rosso (Giovanni-Battista), "born at Florence (14961541). J Francesco Primaticcio, born at Bologna (14901570). Nicolo Abati, of Modena (15121571). || Born at Sorez, near the city of Leno, which has raised a statue to him. The dates of his birth are not accurately known (1500 ? 1590 ?). If 13991464. The Town Hall at Beaume has a " Last Judgment " by him, and his works are also found at Louvain, Berlin, Vienna, and Madrid. ** Hans Memling (1435 1495). His principal works are at Bruges in the St. John's Hospital. 234 Till*: HISTORY Of' (' I \-llJ7.ATION. scones from the life and passion of Christ, in admirable landscapes, full of elegance, feeling, and charm. It would take too long to enumerate the artists who now appeared in all the Flemish cities, but wo must not omit Quuntin Matsys,* the friend of Erasmus and of Sir Thomas More. The imitation of Italian painting was carried so far in the sixteenth century that entire colonies of Flemings settled in Florence and Komo. The taste for art aroused by wealth and luxury was so great that in 1500 the city of Antwerp alone contained three hun- dred and sixty painters and sculptors. Dynasties were created, and the talent became hereditary in certain families. Peter Breughel the Elder separated himself from the imitators of the Italians : ho remained Flemish, not seeking to rival the idealising genius which suits the vivid imagination and brilliant sky of Italy, but chiefly devoting himself to the study of nature and to a realism more in harmony with the climate anil spirit of his country. He depicted scenes of taverns, ports, and villa 'and his numerous works, scattered over the whole of Europe, have earned for him the title of the great comic artist of the Flemish school, through the j:a\ time that pervades his subjects. Hut this was only a beginning, and in the following century Flemish genius attained a degree of excellence that quite equalled the Italian art of the sixteenth century. f Gemian Paintim/: llullx'in, Albert Dilrer. The excellence of the Flemish painters aroused emulation in (Jennany. From the Rhino cities, the nearest to the I'.el^ian provinces, art pene- trated into Germany, and in the sixteenth century the country boasted of Holbein, from the school of Augsburg, who lived in ]>aslo and England. | His works, composed of historical pictures * Born at Louvain (1 HH'O. f Peter l>reui;-hel (he KUler (towards 1626 1569). Many of his pictures, both religious and secular, :nv :it Vienna. Amongst tlio latlor, the " Fair " and the " Marriage lY;ist " aro both noticeable. ; Hans Holbein, called the Younger, because ho was tho son of an already noted artist (14951543). He paint, .1 the Mooting of the Cloth of Gold " aud tho "Battle of Paviu." The Louvre contains a portrait of Erasmus by him. /- II' 1 T.HN'l // AND SIXTEENTH CENTUR Y RENAISSANCE. 235 i HIM I portraits, are now in Hampton Court Palace. Basle contains liis best designs mid cartoons ; amongst other things the famous " Dance Macabre," or "Dance of Death." Although his style was still naive, -,vo cunnot but admire Holbein's knowledge and tin ss, and above all his brilliant colouring, which places him amongst the masters of the Renaissance. At Dresden appeared Lucas Sunder or Lucas Kranach, a friend of Luther's, who has left a portrait of the Reformer and his disciple Melanohthon.* At the same time Albert Diirer, whose genius was universal, wiiir.o he was sculptor, architect, painter, engraver, arid author, unites in his pictures the Flemish method with Italian in- spiration, but his art seems to belong to a much earlier period. His serious style is powerful, profound, and mystical. He was the last great (It rniaii artist. Tlio Reformation, in its hostility to images, turned (in many from the cultivation of the arts, which Mm long vicissitudes of the Thirty Years' War also forcibly interrupted. Painting in (iermany commenced and ended with Albert Ihirer and Holbein, t Ceramict; lirnmnl /Wm//. Art tended to embellish every- thing. Prini'.c.H, nobles, and burghers prided themselves on a worthy use of their wealth ; elegant furniture of Henry II. 's time, tapestries worked from designs furnished by the great painters were used to ornament the Humptuous dwellings which the archi- tects built with no much taste and skill and the sculptors decorated so carefully. The old forgotten art of ceramics now revived. From the fifteenth 'century, Luca della Robbia, sculptor and painter, was seized with the idea of taking his earthen models and of enveloping them in a vitrified unbreakable coating. His process was * Lucas Kranach (14721553). Berlin possesses a rich collection of Knmarir.s works. Hut hiw typ-,s of \\OIIHII an- he;i\) ami (irnuan. Tiier,- in ii'ilhm^ in 1hcm rOMIfibling the, Italian |>n i t Albert Diiror, Alt.il,l, Diirer (1471- 1-VJS). Hi H works urn in the Mu;riim id JMadrid, ;i " (Jul vary," some " Allotforio.M," a " Portrait of the, 1'aintcr;" at Munich, Krventrrn jilctiiros, compriHin^ a " DcHcont from 11m ," ;i " Nativity, " tho "Four r l'eiiiper;iiiieiilH " or the; " l (1 (.ur l-lvange- liMtHj" at Vuinnii, portraits, "Madonnas," and a "Trinity," a largo mystical work. 2 3 6 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. imitated, and the Italian majolicas, attributed to the Renaissance were eagerly competed for. Francis of Medici himself owned work- shops and furnaces ; he ranked amongst the artists. Tuscany, the Marches, and Venetia, became covered with factories, from whence issued an infinite number of varied and elegantly shaped vases. Italian artists went to France, Arnboise, Lyons, Nantes, and Croisie, but Bernard Palissy,* at first a common glazier, soon Jug by Bernard Palissy. resolved to do better, to abandon the use of painting on the sur- face, and to discover enamel through fusion. Pursuing his idea with rare pertinacity, sacrificing his modest resources, burning even his furniture and the floors of his house to feed his furnace, some- times weary but still unconquered, Bernard Palissy was one of those men who cannot be too highly honoured, for he was one of those * Bernard Palissy, born at Capelle-Biron, near Agen (1510 ? 1690). FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY RENAISSANCE. 237 extraordinary inventors who triumph over difficulties, and en- rich the world with new sources of wealth and with masterpieces of art; in fact, Bernard Palissy succeeded in making enamel, in encasing in unalterable colours, figures of animals or human faces upon his vases, dishes, and cups. Modern races had regained all that the ancients had acquired, they now possessed ceramics as well as sculpture, painting, and architecture. Music. We cannot judge the music of the ancients, but mo- dern times are supreme in this art, or rather this language of the soul. The instruments of the Middle Ages, the rebecq, monochord, and spinet, were perfected : the rebecq became the violin. An Antwerp carpenter, Hans Buckers, improved the key- board by giving it four octaves. From that time chants with different parts could be arranged for the Masses, and religious music found a voice through Palestrina (1 529 1594), several of whose chants are still used in churches. Religious music opened the way to secular music, which in the following centuries so successfully translated the sentiments of the heart. Such progress in the arts denotes the great power that the human mind acquired in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; men learned to see and to aspire after the beautiful, a sublime pleasure which never wearies but which raises man above the common passions of daily life. CHAPTER X. THE REFORMATION. SUMMARY: The Religious Reformation, its Causes Luther (1483 1-546) ; Cha- racter of his Reformation The Reformation in the Northern Countries The Reformation in England The Reformation in Switzerland; Zwingle ; Calvin (1-509 1564) The Principles and Consequences of Calvinism Restoration of Catholicism ; Religious Wars Division of Europe "between Catholicism and Protestantism Influence of the Protestant Reformation upon Politics, and upon the Economic and Intellectual Movement. The Religious Reformation, its Causes. The careful study of the intellectual and artistic movement of the sixteenth century furnishes us with the explanation of the religious revolution which took place at the same date. The mental freedom, the greater bold- ness of reasoning, the multiplicity of writers and thinkers, reopened the religious discussions that had been stifled by the harshness of governments and of the Inquisition. Literary paganism had also weakened the old beliefs, and the scepticism of the ancient philo- sophers could not fail to shake the faith that had hitherto been so firm. The religious revolution had the inevitable result of literary and even of artistic revolution. Art, as we have seen, had become paganised in the churches and in the pontifical court. Artists when interpreting the finest scenes of the Bible or Gospel history no longer sought for the inner meaning, they devoted all their attention to form, costume, the harmony of the groups, composition and colouring. At the time when architects, aided by ideas gathered from pagan temples, were erecting the largest church in the world, the construction of this very church of St. Peter cost the Holy See one-half of its empire, lost through the scandals that the necessity for providing the immense sums required for the building had provoked. THE REFORMATION. 239 But these scandals were not altogether new. The vast territorial wealth of the Church had led to abuses, and had seriously changed her evangelical character. The great schism of the West, the conflicts betweej^rival Popes anathematising each other, and the disputes between the Popes and the Councils of Constance (1414) and Basle (1431), had considerably weakened the authority of the Court of Rome, and their deplorable effects had survived the re-establishment of unity. . The division of the Church had commenced in Germany with the wars of the Hussites, and Germany was already on the verge of separation from the Catholic Church. The great dispute between the Papacy and the Empire which had troubled that country for so long had roused a strong hatred against Rome, to whom every misfortune was attributed. The clergy too were richer there than in any other country and eccle- siastical feudalism, more powerful and more oppressive than that of the laity, was frequently in collision with the feudal lords. Ger- many, particularly in the North, had become impatient under the dominion of its prince-bishops, and was the first country in which the Reformation preached by Luther could find an echo. Luther (14831546); Character of his Reformation. The Augustinian monk Luther, a Professor of the University of Wittem- berg, who so deeply moved both Germany end the world, first conceived his reformation after a visit to Rome, where his sincere piety had been scandalised by the scenes which he witnessed in the city which he had deemed so holy. He felt the necessity of re- calling the Church to Evangelical simplicity and purity. Luther, unlike the heretics who preceded him, had at first no inten- tion of attacking dogma. He did not lose himself in theological discussions which passed over the people's heads. Vehemently denouncing the sale of indulgences, the abuses and wealth of the clergy, he at once aroused the enthusiasm of princes and people ; of the people who found the echo of their own sentiments in his ardent words ; of the princes, who regarded with covetous- ness the possessions of the clergy. Luther did not appear as an innovator, but as a reformer (1517 1520). He did not come 240 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. as he averred, to change religion, but to restore it, and instead of avowing all his proposals at once, he only gradually unfolded them; first denying indulgences, then the worship of saints, appealing from the badly-informed Pope to the well-informed Pope, and finally rejecting the Papal authority to claim a trial by a council ; he seemed during the greater part of his life to leave a door open for discussion and reconciliation, only increasing in boldness as he created a solid bulwark of supporters, and never really formulating his doctrine until the diet of Augsburg, in 1530, through his dis- ciple Melanchthon. It was to these tactics and to the character of his preaching, which really never altered the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, that Luther owed his escape from the same fate that John Huss had suffered a few years before. At first Luther's Reformation appeared to be a stricter applica- tion of the acknowledged rules of Christianity. Its real meaning was not understood until later on. Luther denying the saving effi- cacy of works, observances, and ceremonies, and interpreting St. Augustine's doctrine upon grace according to his own impressions, preached the justification by faith alone, by faith the gift of the divine grace. Without carrying, as others have done since, this prin- ciple to its extreme limits, so dangerous to the doctrine of free will, Luther reduced the number of sacraments to four, and en- deavoured to curtail the pomp and magnificence of Catholic worship. He also, whilst retaining the sacrament of orders, destroyed the sacerdotal caste by the marriage of the priests, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy by severing it from its head, the Pope. He divided the Church into as many parts as there are nations and replaced it under the rule of princes, who embraced the Lutheran Reformation with extreme ardour, because it added to their wealth and power. Luther, then, although he riveted the Church to the State, yet owed his popularity to his teaching of liberty. Rejecting the exclusive authority of the Church he laid the Bible and the gospel open to each man's private interpretation ; it was free examination. On one side Luther bound the Christian to his faith ; on the other he opened the door to discussion, and consequently to doubt and denial. Luther himself, forced to contend with the THE REFORMATION. 241 Anabaptists, who applied the Bible in a brutal and sanguinary sense, saw during his lifetime some of the effects of this contra- diction full of grave consequences for his reformation, which, through free examination, was before long considered insufficient and erroneous. Luther's doctrines, however, spread rapidly in Germany, par- ticularly in the North; the protection extended to the Lutherans by the powerful Electors, who were Lutherans themselves, the bait offered by the vast domains now usurped by the nobles and secu- larised even by the bishops and abbots, who gladly seized the opportunity of converting the estates of the Church into personal properties, the hesitation of Charles V., then embarrassed by his long struggle against Francis I. and against the Turks, all com- bined to secure the triumph of the Reformation in Germany after the peace of Augsburg (1555), and from that time new causes of animosity were added to political rivalries. The Reformation in the Northern Countries. The Lutheran Reformation, so favourable to the development of monarchical power, was established by the kings, Gustavus Vasa, in Sweden (15241529), and Frederick of Holstein in Denmark (1530). In Sweden it appeared rather as a schism and a reaction against the Roman domination, for Gustavus Vasa respected the ancient hierarchy, which, as soon as it had acknowledged his supremacy, no longer inconvenienced him, and he also retained a great part of the . liturgy so as not to disturb the habits of the people. The doctrine was Lutheran, but the ritual, although simplified, still recalled the Catholic worship. The Reformation became more radical in Denmark under Chris- tian III. (1537), for he replaced the bishops by superintendents, who could not at first acquire the moral and political influence wielded by the former heads of the Church. The Reformation in England. In England Henry VIII., at first (1521) surnamed the Defender of the Faith, because he refuted the Lutheran doctrines, separated himself from the Catholic Church (1534) and proclaimed himself the head of the Anglican Church. He profited by the aversion which the people had conceived towards R 242 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. the Papacy, which had been too exacting in its demands for Peter's Pence, and too ambitious in its pretensions of exercising real sove- reignty over the English kings. Still, Henry VIII. only succeeded in establishing his religious and political despotism through the terror excited by his violence. But the Lutheran doctrines, although attacked as well as the Catholic dogmas by a king who separated from the Church without being willing to own himself a Protestant, had made great progress, and under Edward VI. and Elizabeth, they largely influenced the reorganization of the Anglican Church. Protestant in its doctrines and in the simplicity of its ritual, this Church, like the Swedish, was hierarchised, governed by bishops, retaining in its liturgy many of the prayers used in the Catholic liturgy. In England more than anywhere else, the Church became united to the State, and suffered from the absolute rule first of the Tudors, then of the Stuarts. The Reformation in Switzerland : Zwingle ; Calvin (1509 1564). Principles and Consequences of Calvinism. A priest of Zurich, Zwingle, had preceded Luther in preaching the reformed gospel (1484 1531). He endeavoured to reconcile his doctrines with those of the German reformer, but Luther, proud of his success, refused to recognise the more liberal principles of Zwingle, who had modelled his Church upon the republican organization of the Swiss cantons. The Frenchman Calvin, a refugee in Geneva, went even further than Zwingle, and propounded, with a logic characteristic of his country, the extreme conclusions of the Lutheran doctrines. He carried the doctrine of free grace and justification by faith to the belief in predestination, and that of free examination to the inde- pendent interpretation of the Scriptures by each individual, conse- quently destroying all religious authority. He again simplified the creed and the ritual, rejected the sacraments retained by Luther, denying his doctrine of the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist, and thus reduced the Christian worship to pious meetings under the presidency of pastors, who, though venerable, had probably never received any particular consecration. Calvin's religion, wholly subjective, entirely spiritual, was the last THE REFORMATION. 243 expression of the reaction against the tendency of Christianity in the Middle Ages to materialise the faith, and to fall back into the errors which formerly disfigured the heathen creeds. The simple organization of his Church seemed also a reaction against the social hierarchy established in Europe, and his equalising doctrines pleased the free Swiss populations, the commercial burgher cities of Holland, a part of the bourgeoisie and nobility of France, im- patiently resenting the feudal yoke, and, lastly, the patriarchal clans of Scotland ; they seemed the first step towards the re-estab- lishment of that social equality, which afterwards asserted itself even in Catholic countries. The whole tone of Calvin's reforma- tion was derived from a spirit of equality and republicanism. Free examination applied to religious dogmas could not fail to be also applied to political theories, until then absolute as dogmas. The Calvinist reformation foreshadowed the philosophical spirit of the eighteenth century, which inspired the leaders of the French revolution. Yet Calvin, who exerted himself to preserve the strict unity of his doctrines, could not prevent his principles from tending to an infinite multiplication of Protestant sects. His followers were always subdividing, and no Church ever broke up into so many Churches, that varied according to the character of the people, and even of the individual. Still less did he imagine that the rule he laid down to strengthen the faith, could on the contrary seriously weaken it. In Geneva and France free examination has resulted in scepti- cism, rationalism, and even atheism, a result that would have caused terrible grief to this austere, rigid preacher, who made Geneva a kind of convent, could he have foreseen in the future the progress of materialistic doctrines, that are as hostile to the Protestant as they are to the Catholic faith. Restoration of Catholicism ; Religious Wars. Vanquished at first, Catholicism retreated ; but it soon regained confidence, defined its dogmas at the Council of Trent (1545 1563), and feeling its need of renewed study and austerity, it closed round its chief, whose power has since been unquestioned. At the same time a new religions order was created to confront 244 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. the Protestant doctrines, an order mingling with the world, seeking to control education, and later on to direct sovereigns, absolutely subject to the wishes of the Pope and opposing to the spirit of independence in Europe the example of implicit obedience. This was the Jesuit order, which, by the zeal of its missionaries and the learning of its members, rendered the greatest services to the Church, and then ambitiously endeavoured to seize the direction of the world. Catholicism then rallied. Unfortunately, instead of content- ing itself with moral weapons it attacked heresy with material force. And then commenced the great drama of the religious wars, the most terrible of all wars. The fire broke out (1565) in the Spanish provinces of the Low Countries, where the sovereign, Philip II., endeavoured to arrest the spread of heresy by severe measures. He made himself the champion of Catholicism, and contended against the Reformation in England by conspiracies, in France by the sword of the Guises, in the Low Countries by the Duke of Alva's cruelty and the execu- tioner's axe. Towards the year 1572 Catholicism appeared to triumph. Mary Stuart, although a prisoner, made Elizabeth tremble. The Duke of Alva trampled on the terrified Flemings at Antwerp. The horrible massacre of Saint Bartholomew is a lasting stain upon French Catholicism. Then the scene suddenly changed. A young republic, beggared yet undaunted, sprang from the inundated plains of Holland, and at Brielle raised the standard of Protestantism. England, pacified by the execution of the unfortunate Mary Stuart (1587), was saved from a Spanish invasion by the dispersion of the Armada (1588), and became the bulwark of the Reformation. In France the defeated League (15761598) fell at the feet of Henry IV., whose victory secured, though, alas ! for too short a time, the prevalence of toleration. Division of JZurope between Catholicism and Protestantism. Re- ligious unity was definitely shattered, and Europe found herself completely divided between the two forces of Christianity. Roman Catholicism retained the southern countries, Spain and THE REFORMATION. 245 Italy, and the central kingdoms of Austria and France, where the old faith was too deeply rooted to be moved by the attacks made upon it ; Protestantism retained England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Northern Germany. An austere religion, appealing more to the reason than to the imagination, with less of ritual and ceremony, without pictures or images, was doubtless more in harmony with the populations that, as a rule, inhabited cold barren plains and mountains, populations ac- customed to calculate and to reflect, rather than to feel and admire; active, indefatigable, not caring to lose time in festivals, and in the evenings finding in the perusal of the Bible a new charm and interest added to the domestic life that is so dear to them. Influence of the Reformation upon Politics and upon the Economic and Intellectual Movement. The Protestant Reformation consider- ably changed the political situation and the national alliances. It aroused a national spirit in the Low Countries, and added the republic of the Seven United Provinces to the list of States, a re- public that through its maritime power was destined to fill an im- portant position. Religious animosities added bitterness to rival politics and augmented the great troubles of the seventeenth cen- tury. The Protestant powers leagued together to counterbalance the Catholic powers, and thenceforth all possibility of European political unity was ended, the idea even becoming absolutely chimerical after religious unity was hopelessly destroyed. The economic revolution received a new impulsion from Protestantism. The increase in the number of working days, the necessity that forced the reformers, excluded from all offices and from all the Liberal professions, to devote themselves to industry and commerce, added greatly to the number of workers in Catholic countri s. The equalising spirit of the Calvinistic countries also tended in a great measure to weaken the nobility and to raise the industrial and commercial classes, who prided themselves on the wealth they had acquired by their labour. Protestantism also quickened intellectual production and scien- tific researches, now freed from all restraints. Holland and Switzer- land became the favourite countries for the refuge of persecuted 2,; 6 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. authors. Amsterdam and Geneva printed the proscribed books. The philosophical spirit developed with a boldness until then un- known. But the Reformation \vas not at first favourable to art, for it prohibited religious pictures. German art, which had scarcely ap- peared, was suddenly arrested ; English art only awakened two centuries later, and the empire of Italian and Flemish art was still undisputed. We may say that Dutch art rivalled the art of the Belgian Catholic provinces, as we shall see later on, but that was the result of the more realistic than ideal genius of the northern artists. If we seek for the real influence of Protestantism we shall find it in the practical, and in a measure positive, spirit of this particular form of the Christian religion. It appealed less exclusively to imagi- nation and sentiment. It was cold, simple, not antagonistic to asceticism, as shown by Puritanism, but hostile to the religious Orders separated from the world ; it disturbed the ordinary condi- tions of civil life as little as possible, imposed less observances and severities ; it rarely proscribed, excepting for Sunday, which was strictly respected, any working days, and therefore accommodated itself better to the ever increasing labour which the peoples' aspirations for a more comfortable life inevitably produced. Pro- testant countries were in advance of all others in this desire for comfort combined with the cultivation of a simplicity which tended to abolish the differences of customs between the various classes. Above all, they contributed to form the modern spirit, turned towards the amelioration of the earthly life even in Catholic countries, which became less disdainful of material advantages. By suppressing the religious corporations and sacerdotalism they developed the civil spirit, which has ended by dominating even the countries where the clergy have retained their influence. But the sixteenth century is only a starting point, and we must follow through succeeding ages the quadruple evolution that has brought society to contemporary civilization. CHAPTEK XI. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY RELIGION POLITICS TRADE \NT) FINANCE. SUMMARY : Protestantism and Catholicism in the Seventeenth Century Thirty Years' War in Germany The Presbyterians and Puritans in England; the Revolutions of 1640 and 1688 Religious "Wars in France under Louis XIII., the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes under Louis XIV. Influence of the Religious Revolution on Society Cha- racter of Christianity in the Seventeenth Century Religious Orders for Women ; Sisters of Charity ; Saint Vincent de Paul Political Europe in the Seventeenth Century ; the Great Wars ; Progress of Military Art The European Equilibrium; the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) ; Dip- lomacy Preponderance of France ; the Wars of Louis XIV. Internal Policy of the Kingdoms ; Triumph of Absolute Monarchy in France The Monarchy of Louis XIV. The Central Power ; Provincial Ad- ministration Police, the Army, Justice, Finance The Church The Monarch and Economic Interests Results and Vices of Absolute Monarchy in France Absolute Monarchy in Spain Monarchy in the various States of Europe The Stuarts in England The Revolutions of 1640 and of 1688 The Declaration of Rights; the Constitutional Monarchy The Economic Movement Maritime and Colonial Empire of Holland England, her First Colonies ; the Navigation Act Economic Progress of France ; Sully. Richelieu Colbert's Services ; Development of French Industry Colbert's Theories, the Protective System ; the System of Balance Internal Commerce Naval and Mercantile Fleets Commercial Companies, Colonies. Protestantism and Catholicism in the Seventeenth Century ; the Thirty Years' War in Germany.' The war between Catholicism and Protestantism, which had filled nearly the whole of the six- teenth century, was prolonged into the seventeenth. During thirty years (1618 1648), Germany was troubled by a bitter conflict between the Protestant States in the North and the Catholic States in the South, who grouped themselves round the power- ful house of Austria. The latter, endeavouring to realise both religious and political unity, successively overthrew the Elector 248 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Palatine (16181625), and the King of Denmark (1625 1629), both protectors of the Reformers. For a moment fortune wavered between the Austrians and the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adol- phus, who, in 1630, brilliantly defended the Protestant cause, but who fell two years later at the moment of victory at Lutzen (1632), leaving the Northern Germans and the Swedes at the mercy of the Emperor Ferdinand II., the victor at Nordlingen (1634). A French Cardinal, a prince of the Church, Richelieu, then undertook (a sign of the times and of the new spirit awakening) the defence of the German Protestants, and separating, with a clear-sightedness little common at that date, religion from politics, he unhesitatingly raised the sword fallen from the hands of Gustavus Adolphus and secured, by the intervention of Catholic France, that freedom for Protestants in Germany which he deemed essential to the in- terests of his country. Another Cardinal, Mazarin, continued his able and farseeing policy, and directed the negotiations for the peace of Westphalia, 1648, which guaranteed the religious independence of the Protestant princes as well as their political position. Germany couldnow enjoy toleration, although incomplete, for only, one religion was admitted into each State, yet still a great advance towards the pacification of men's minds by full liberty of conscience. The Presbyterians and Puritans in England ; the Revolutions of 1640 and of 1688. This pacification cost England more than fifty years of trouble. At first united against the Catholics, who were proscribed after the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 with methodical and merciless severity, the English Protestants afterwards divided. The Presbyterians, disciples of Calvin, and the Puritans, his ex- aggerated imitators, revolted against the royal and Anglican yoke. Unskilful despots, the Stuarts provoked a civil war (1640) in which they were worsted, and which ended by the execution of Charles I. (1649) and the dictatorship of a Puritan, Oliver Cromwell. Restored to the throne, the Stuarts had not yet pro- fited by their terrible lesson ; Charles II. and James II. * recommenced religious persecutions, and the latter even endea- * The Stuarts: James I. (16031625); Charles I. 1625 - 1649); Charles II. 16601685) ; James II. (16851688). THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 249 voured to reinstate Roman Catholicism in a country which had freed itself from it for more than a century. He fell in 1688, and England, under her new King, William of Orange, preserved her Protestant traditions by extending toleration and restoring peace amongst the dissentient sects by liberty of conscience. Religious Wars in France under Louis XIII., the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes under Louis XIV. The glory of promoting this pacification in France belonged to Henry IV., who promul- gated the admirable Edict of Nantes (1598). But his policy, wise as it was generous, was abandoned by his widow Marie de Medici, who provoked a new civil war. The Protestants then conceived the idea of forming as it were a Calvinist France in the heart of Catholic France. Richelieu destroyed these hopes before they were definitely planned, and with the same energy that he had displayed in the conduct of foreign affairs, he consolidated the peace of the country by the peace of Alais (1629) ; without touch- ing the stipulations of the Edict of Nantes relative to the Pro- testant worship, he re-established political unity without restrain- ing religious liberty, and calmed excited feelings without wounding consciences. Unfortunately Louis XIV., in the second half of the seventeenth century, led away by the passion for unity and absolute rule, offended both men's consciences and sentiments by the Revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). This persecution, although applauded by society at that epoch, depopulated one quarter of the kingdom, arrested the progress of French industry, which had been almost entirely in the hands of the Protestants, transferred French manufactures to foreign States, making them flourish at the ex- pense of France, and to use Saint-Simon's energetic expressions, "presented the spectacle of a proscribed people, stripped, fugitive, wandering ; without a crime, seeking a refuge from their native land." Influence of the Religious Revolution upon Society ; Character of Christianity in the Seventeenth Century. But the violence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had led, amongst Protestant as well as among Catholics, to a reaction, which tended to the greater influence of Christianity. The Protestants, divided as they were, 250 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. at least agreed upon the necessity for personal devotion, for living faith, for obedience to the maxims of the Bible and the Gospel. Although less visible in its external demonstrations, religious sentiment was as deeply imprinted amongst the Puritans as amongst the Anglicans ; amongst the Calvinists as strongly as amongst the Lutherans. Society in England, Germany, Holland, and Switzer- land even assumed a religious tone, and affected a severity which has not yet disappeared, although greatly softened in our own days. Assiduous attendance at church, the taste for the perusal of the Bible, the passion for theological and moral discussions, the, at all events outward, rigidity of manners, the strict observance of the Sabbath rest, imposed by public opinion quite as much as by the civil authorities, distinguish Protestant countries, where religion concentrated in the soul assumes an importance that heightens tie earnestness and gravity of the populations of the north. Protestantism has imprinted its seal upon the English and the Dutch, the Swiss and the Germans. It has become a national cha- racteristic, it is part of true patriotism, and rules society, which, in these nations more than others, glories in the name of Christian. Catholicism in the countries where it still predominated devoted itself, without renouncing its external pomp, to returning to a more serious practice of the Christian virtues. New religious orders, founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, endeavoured some, like the Capuchins and the Feuillants to re-establish the severe rules of the old mendicant orders ; others like the Con- gregation of the Oratory and the Reformed Benedictines of Saint Maur to revive learning at the same time as piety amongst the clergy. Saint Vincent de Paul, in 1632, founded the Congregation of Lazarists, intended for the education of missionaries ; whilst the Congregation of Saint Sulpice devoted itself to the special instruc- tion of the clergy and the creation of seminaries for their education. The Trappists, under the direction of Ranee, were vowed to agricultural labour and to absolute silence. The celebrated abbey of Port Royal des Champs, near Paris, became a luminous centre of erudition; it carried austerity to a point which, by the doctrines it had borrowed from Jansenius, nearly approached the THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 251 Calvinistic severity, and won for it the hostility of the Jesuit order, which more worldly, more disposed to soften the rules of Chris- tianity drew upon itself Pascal's biting and eloquent reply, the Provincial Letters. Reiyious Orders for Women: Sisters of Charity; Saint Vincent de Paul. Women particularly thronged the new orders founded for them, such as the Visitation, founded by Saint Francis de Sales and Madame de Chantal ; the Ursulines, which followed the rule of Saint Augustine ; the Carmelites, which adopted the reform accomplished in Spain during the sixteenth century by Santa Theresa, vowed to the strictest seclusion and to an extraordinary asceticism. But Saint Vincent de Paul, the apostle of charity, exercised the greatest influence over women. With moderate resources but infi- nite zeal, Vincent de Paul, in 1617, founded at Chatillon-les-Dombes (Ain), the first Confraternity of Servants and Nurses for the Poor ; then, in 1634, the Confraternity of Daughters or Sisters of Charity ; and lastly, in 1638, the admirable work of Foundling Hospitals, by which he rescued so many children from death or from crime. Preaching by example and devotion, this humble peasant of the Landes, who, protected by the noblest families, refused all honours for himself, inspired the Sisters, who consecrated themselves to the care of children and invalids, with his own self-abnegation, and by his heroism in the misfortunes of France well deserved the surname of Grand Almoner of France, the Steward of Providence. The Sisters of Charity still follow his precepts and practise his virtues, exhibiting their patience and gentleness to modern society. Neither the Greek nor the Eoman world ever knew the gentle face of a Sister of Charity sacrificing her life in alleviating human misery, never shrinking from death, but on the contrary making death itself recede before her admirable, cheerful courage. Political Europe in the Seventeenth Century : the Great Wars ; Progress of Military Art. But although the seventeenth century was remarkable for a spirit of charity, which contrasted with the still prevalent intolerance, it effected no improvement in the relations 252 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. between the nations. Henry IV., after healing the wounds of civil war in France, had dreamed of creating a European confederation. He perished in 1610, at the moment when he hoped to realise his plan, which was too reasonable and too generous to be even yet accomplished. Scarcely had this patriotic and humanitarian king disappeared, when the Thirty Years' War broke out, a result of the religious quarrels of the sixteenth century, and of the struggle for pre-eminence always carried on between Germany and the House of Austria. It was really a European war, for it reddened Europe with blood from Hungary to the Baltic Sea, from the North Sea to the Danube, and from the Rhine to the Alps and Pyrenees. It witnessed the formation of great armies, and the exploits of a number of generals who rivalled each other in skill and courage : King Gustavus Adolphus and his followers, Bernard de Weimar, Banner, Torstenson, and Wrangel ; his adversaries, W f allen- stein, Tilly, Gallas, Piccolomini, Jean de Werth, and Merci, and the French Captains Turenne, Conde, Fabert, Guebriant, Eantzau, &c. Gustavus Adolphus revived strategy and tactics. His bold and sudden marches, the way in which he marshalled his troops on an improved system whilst extending his lines, the use he made of his cavalry, which then formed the greater part of the armies, the topographical knowledge with which he placed his artillery, gave birth to military art. His reforms were adopted everywhere. The heavy horse soldiery was reformed and lances taken away ; it was separated from the arquebusiers, who formerly mingled in its ranks and who became dragoons. Nearly all body armour was abandoned and the men retained only their open helmets and breastplates ; they then became cuirassiers. The cavalry, posted on the wings, reconnoitred the front and scoured the country ; it had found its true mission. The old bands of in- fantry were divided into regiments, the arquebus was replaced by the musket, the foot soldiers were relieved of the iron corslet, which hindered their march. The close order of four ranks deep was still retained, but it was a substantial improvement upon the olJ irregular masses that were so difficult to move. Discipline THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 253 was established and uniforms were introduced. Louvois, the Secretary of State in the wars of Louis XIV., organized the French army, diminished without suppressing the pikemen, formed files of soldiers to throw grenades grenadiers substituted the rifle for the musket, and the rifle, completed by the bayonet, became the most terrible weapon of modern times. He ordered that the men should walk in step, and forced the noble officers to serve before commanding, to study before directing. He fur- nished Louis XIV. with admirable armies, numbering four hundred thousand men, provided with stores of provisions, ammunition, clothes, and all the necessary baggage for such large numbers. At the same time sieges became scientific. Fabert invented parallel trenches at the siege of Stenay (1654), and Vauban and Cohorn perfected the art of attack and defence of cities and posi- tions. The old Roman and feudal walls became useless, since balls could form breaches in them and bombs could be dropped even into the city. Vauban lowered the fortifications, making them level with the ground, and relied for protection upon a simple earthen wall preceded by a moat and interrupted by so many angles and zigzags that it was impossible to approach it from the front ; the wall sheltered powerful batteries which kept the assailants at a distance ; citadels or forts, often designed in the form of stars, also defended important places. The science of military engineering was created. The European Equilibrium; the Treaty of Westphalia (1648); Diplomacy. The different kingdoms of Europe, occupied with the increase of their military strength, endeavoured to maintain equilibrium and to prevent any nation from imposing its rule upon the others. The Thirty Years' War ended in the peace of West- phalia (1648), which for the first time established a kind of balance of power between the various kingdoms of Europe. The House of Austria found itself obliged to renounce its pretensions to universal monarchy ; in the North of Germany, Brandenburg and the Pro- testant States acted as a counterpoise. The Protestant Powers, Sweden and Denmark, Holland and Switzerland, entered the Euro- pean alliance. Diplomacy, which exerts itself to prevent or to limit wars, found 254 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION, its influence increasing through the growth of military art, for as the means of destruction become more rapid and the weapons more terrible, there is greater hesitation before using them. The Con- gress of Munster, in Westphalia, was the first European congress where the delegates of the Powers devoted themselves to regulating the relations between nations, to arranging differences, to contract- ing alliances, and to fixing the peoples' rights, and from that time the horrors of war have somewhat diminished. Preponderance of France ; the Wars of Louis XIV. France, al- though she had contributed so much to the establishment of the European equilibrium, was not long before she disturbed it under Louis XIV. If this prince had confined his ambition to claiming the natural frontiers of Gaul it might not, even though it aroused jealousy, have provoked a coalition of Europe against him. But the invasion of Holland (1672) and later on, in 1689, the haughty pre- tension to force England to receive back a sovereign she had al- ready deposed, the tendency of Louis XIV. to resume the role of Philip II., and lastly his ambitious desire to unite Spain to France, irritated Europe, and all the Powers revolted against a preponder- ance too openly asserted. France became wearied by the inces- sant coalitions formed against her, always beaten, yet always renewed the triple alliance of 1668, the Augsburg League (1686 and 1688), the great coalition of the Hague (1701). The French power, so formidable on land and sea, crushed by the victories of Marlborough and Eugene, was falling to pieces. Louis XIV. before dying saw the work of the Congress of Westphalia ruined by the Congress of Utrecht of 1718, and the European equilibrium rearranged to his disadvantage. Internal Policy of the Kingdoms ; Triumph of Absolute Monarchy in France. France owed to her unity the preponderance that she gained and which she had compromised in the course of the seven- teenth century. Henry IV. had strengthened the absolute power by making it popular. Cardinal Richelieu rendered it terrible. Feared by the nobility, who bowed before his priestly rank, he had commenced his work of centralization by the institution of Intendants (1635). These magistrates, already ancient but ob- THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 255 scure, acquired a formidable ascendency that diminished or rather ruined the authority of the governors of the provinces by gradually concentrating all the civil powers in their own hands. After Richelieu's death a reaction broke out, and the Intendants disap- peared for a time. Parliament and the prince united against Maza- rin, but the frivolous war of the Fronde proved the impotence of the nobility and magistracy, who bent humbly before the sceptre of Louis XIV. The Monarchy of Louis XIV. Louis XIV. revived imperial maxims. He was the law. He personified the country. " L'Etat, c'est moi." The Roman doctrine which resumed in one man millions of men, had never been proclaimed with more frankness or arrogance. Louis XIV. also adopted the principle of feudal royalty, he declared himself the owner of the kingdom. Suzerain of all the nobles and of the nobles' serfs, he possessed the whole of France, for gradually the royal dominions had extended all over the country. Lastly, and above all else, Louis XIV. realised the type of Christian royalty. He considered himself the representative of God. Like Charle- magne, with greater refinement of manners and customs, he united in himself the Christian king, Roman emperor, and German chief. The State found itself identified with the king ; everything gave way to him. All was done for the king's service ; justice emanated from the king, judicial authorities were the king's men ; the troops were the royal army ; the money, the royal coinage ; the prison, the king's prison. The nobles fought for the king's glory, and the taxes, which crushed the people, were raised for the king's pleasures and extravagances, although his prodigality was lavished upon unworthy recipients. Louis XIV. never separated the man from the king ; he did not understand what is called private life, and had no scruples about displaying his weaknesses and scandals. The Central Power ; Provincial Administration. A central power was organized, like that of the old Roman empire. Councils or Committees (Superior Councils, Councils of State, Councils for the Provinces and the post, finance, commerce, war and conscience) were called to enlighten the sovereign, not to control him. Secre- 256 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. taries of State (Foreign Affairs, War, the Navy, the King's House- hold) were the instruments, docile even to servility, of the master who could plunge them into the obscurity from whence he had up- lifted them. The Chancellor presided over the administration of jus- tice ; a permanent officer, no doubt, but still liable to exile and to be replaced in his office if not in his dignity. The General Controller of the Finances, although one of the most important personages, had no more security or independence than the other Secretaries of State. The dignities of Constable and Admiral had been abo- lished by Richelieu, as throwing royalty too much into the shade, and the Sovereign was the direct chief of the army, as well as of the navy. In short, the necessity for watching over a vast kingdom and for regulating a number of details which the sove- reign wished to direct, had induced the Kings of France to reconstitute, in their own fashion, with many incoherences and traces of the feudal spirit, a central administration, a weakened image of the Imperial administration of the Romans, a rough draft of the Government of modern States. But so faulty were the methods, that they united the tyranny of centralization with the drawbacks of provincial government, without the advantages of either. The State watched, regulated and domineered over every- thing. The Police ; the Army ; Justice ; Finance. General security was served by the army, and by a new, essentially modern, institution, the police. Louis XIV. appointed the first Lieutenant-General of Police in 1667. The work of legislation, commenced under the Valois in the full fury of religious war, and continued by Richelieu, was resumed and completed by the Ordonnance Civile of 1667, and by the Ordonnance Criminelle of 1670, which remained the codes of France until the Revolution. The judicial administration retained still more of the incoherence of the administration of the Middle Ages ; the tribunals of the baillages (bailiwick) and the senechaussces (seneschal's juris- diction) became confused with seignorial justice and ecclesias tical justice ; the presidiaux, courts of appeal for the com- moners, but first courts for the nobles, had above them the THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 257 Provincial Parliaments, and the Parliament of Paris superior to the rest through the extent of its jurisdiction, the authority of its magistrates and the fact that it admitted no appeal. Added to this, the Parliaments, outside their judicial attributions, intervened in administrative affairs and increased the confusion by their quasi- universal assumptions. The financial administration was not less complicated. High treasurers, intendants of provinces, farmers of taxes, monopolies, privileges, excise, custom houses and duties between neighbour- ing districts, made any fair and profitable system of taxation impossible. The iniquity of the mediaeval system of exempting the privileged classes, the nobles and the clergy, from taxation, and making the whole burden fall on the commoners and the labouring classes, became more apparent and more galling as the nobles left the country to reside only at the court. The army was apparently quite modern, formed into regiments and disciplined according to the requirements enforced by the advance of military art. Its recruitment by means of money, the right of ownership possessed by colonels over their regiments, by captains over their companies, and the monopoly of command retained by the nobility, made it a military caste. Nor was it exclusively national, for it included some foreign regiments. The Church. Louis XIV. made even the Church subservient to his authority. Without being a titular head, like the Pro- testant sovereigns of England and Sweden, he yet held the clergy under his control by the nomination to bishoprics, and the gift of ecclesiastical benefices. Jealous even of the papal authority, following the example of St. Louis, he upheld the Gallican Church by the assembly of the clergy and declaration in 1682, and forced the Church to purchase his protection by strict obedience. The confusion between the civil and religious powers was felt amongst Catholics as well as amongst Protestants. The State sanctioned the Church laws by her own, and Louis XIV. recommenced reli- gious persecutions, desiring that in France there should be but one faith, as there was but one king. Results and Vices of Absolute Monarchy in France. Louis XIV. S 258 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. like Henry IV., was fortunate in his ministers, especially in Colbert, who did much to soften the mischiefs of absolute power and extravagant taxation by developing the industries and internal commerce and communications of the country. Owing to him no other country possessed such a well-arranged central and provin- cial administration, in spite of the many incoherences we now see in it. No other kingdom had such strong political unity, and if the king's agents only thought of the royal power, they were also working to lower the barriers that centuries had Braised between the various parts of France, which nature had formed for unity. The monarchy secured tranquillity and order unknown in the Middle Ages, yet indispensable to the development of prosperity. If it had not yet attained unity of legislation, it was preparing for it. It rendered France a great military, maritime, agricul- tural, industrial, and commercial nation. It opened to her the seas, and the trade of America, Africa, and India. At the same time the magnificence and elegance of Louis XIV. 's court formed an example that every court endeavoured to imitate. The artificial magnificence of Versailles is the expression of his character and policy, the monument and symbol of his royalty. He created it on a sterile spot. He made the soil, and by immense works he carried water to it. He built a palace, and founded a town. And the palace, with its fine view over the gardens, reproduced the regularity and majesty that charmed the king. The immense avenues, that ended on either side in the marble court and royal chamber, seemed the prolonga- tion and the radiation of the master's glance, which seemed to fall upon everything and everybody. Even the gardens were artificial. Yet his influence formed the style and dominated the taste of courtly Europe for more than a century. Absolute Monarchy in Spain. Spain had already, during the course of the seventeenth century, displayed the disadvantages of absolute monarchy, exercised with unparalleled harshness and want of in- telligence. In one century, from 1598 to 1700, from Philip III. to Philip IV. and Charles II., she had virtually descended all the steps THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. of decadence. She had lost her preponderance in Europe, part of her annexed provinces, and her population was weakened by the expulsion of 500,000 Moors and by perpetual emigration to America. Her agriculture was so completely ruined that entire districts had lapsed into solitudes ; lastly, she no longer possessed either industry, commerce, a navy, or an army. Political and religious despotism had never ended in more complete degradation of a haughty people or in more frightful misery amongst a people who still owned rich gold and silver mines. This decadence of Spain, contrasting with the prosperity and greatness of France, is one of the saddest and most instructive facts of the history of the seventeenth century. Still the lesson was lost upon France, which, instead of profiting by it, infatuated with monarchical pride, only sought to make Spain a satellite of her own. Monarchy in the various States of Europe. The monarchy was equally absolute in the Austrian States, where the Emperor, less implicitly obeyed in Germany, found himself free to exercise his authority without control. The Scandinavian States, however, although the royal power had been strengthened by the religious power, had not renounced the old traditional form of national representation. The nobility restrained the monarch, who was forced to hold the formal assemblies of the States, and in spite of his attacks on their privileges and of his efforts to become absolute, he was obliged to respect the old feudal liberty. The Stuarts in England; the Revolutions of 1640 and of 1688. France, in love with unity and order, turned towards a Roman ideal which ennobled the majesty of Louis XIV. England, less penetrated with Roman ideas, more Germanic by blood, tem- perament, and intellect, aroused the older maxims of liberty that had lain dormant under the Tudors, and held up before the eyes of astonished Europe a light which afterwards guided other nations. The Tudors had suspended public liberties without destroying them. They directed the religious reformation with politic tyranny, using but not opposing the authority of their docile parliaments. The Stuarts practised and openly displayed both political and religious tyranny ; persecuting the Presbyterians and 260 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Puritans in the name of Anglicanism ; haughtily dismissing parlia- ments, which in exchange for subsidies demanded satisfaction for their grievances. James I. and Charles I. teased, wearied, irritated, and finally roused the English people, who, menaced in their liberty and their conscience, rebelled against the sovereign. The Long Parliament of 1640 triumphed over the King. Cromwell appeared, strong in his religious convictions, stronger in his military genius ; after many victories in the field he controlled Parliament and con- demned the King. The execution of Charles I. (9th of February, 1649) caused profound dismay in monarchical Europe. Cromwell, however, too republican to form a dynasty, and too prudent to impose a form of government on the country which it could not Understand, contented himself with reigning under the title of Pro- tector, and left, after his death, the door open to a restoration of the monarchy, which was not long delayed (1649 1660). The Stuarts, reinstated, fell back into the faults and infatuation which were apparently traditional in the family, the most tragic example of mis- fortunes sought and found. The gay, frivolous Charles II., the pensioner and imitator of Louis XIV., discredited himself so much by the corruption of his court, and so greatly irritated even those members of Parliament who had recalled him, that a fresh revolution seemed imminent. But Charles II. yielded, and the English, in 1679, gained a first advantage by the Habeas Corpus Act, a valu- able guarantee of individual liberty. At this date we find England dividing into the two great parties of Whigs (Liberals) and Tories (Conservatives), who by their opposing forces secure the equilibrium and stability of government. Charles II. succeeded in coercing the Whigs, but his brother, James II., in a few years provoked a uni- versal uprising. Then, when the Stuarts had already endured so much through the protection which they extended to Anglicanism, which, after all, was a variety of Protestantism, James II. en- deavoured to bring England back to Catholicism. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes had succeeded in France against a minority. James II. could not hope to triumph over a majority. He at- tempted it, and was deposed (1688). At the same time the English recovered their religious and political liberty. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 261 The Declaration of Rights; Constitutional Monarchy (1689). - This time they would not risk it again. They forced such cond.i- 262 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. tions upon William of Orange that it may be said of this Prince, at the same time chief of a Republic and of a kingdom, " that he was stadtholder in England and King in Holland." The Declaration of Rights, 1689, confirmed the Great Charter, which it amplified. The King could not raise taxes or maintain a permanent army without the consent of Parliament, and the members so greatly diminished the royal prerogatives that the real power passed into their own hands. The Habeas Corpus Act and trial by jury pro- tected the citizens from any arbitrary deed. The right of petition became as recognised as religious liberty. The Anglican Church retained her privileges as the Established Church, but every Pro- testant sect was free ; Catholicism was the sole exception. How- ever definite a constitution may be, it is only valuable through the method in which it is applied, and the admirable theories which Locke advanced in his " Essay on Government " would scarcely have sufficed to establish the constitutional government in England in a definite manner but for the spirit with which the Parliaments maintained their rights. William III.,* a Dutchman, could not break through the chains that bound him. He was succeeded by a woman, the good Queen Anne. The English, after her death, invited a German House to ascend the throne, because it offered them a guarantee for fidelity to the Protestant faith, and these Princes, foreigners in their new kingdom, considered themselves fortunate in being delivered from the difficulties of government ; they allowed the Whigs and Tories to dispute for the direction of affairs, and the nation governed itself. After the revolution of 1688, England became a kind of aristocratic republic. The division into parties was not made according to class ; it did not take place in horizontal lines, if we may use the expression, as it afterwards did in France, but in vertical lines ; that is to say, each of the two great parties is composed in nearly equal proportions of nobles and commone:s. The aristocracy, like the people, was divided between the Whigs and the Tories, and when one or the * William III., first constitutional king (1689 1702) ; Anne Stuart (1702 1714); house of Brunswi k-Hanover, George I. (1714 1727); George II. (17271760); George III. (17601820), &c. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 263 other was in power, through the decision of the election, it had its representatives in the government as well as in popular support. This mechanism, complicated yet simple, produced harmony between authority and liberty, and its results, fertile in the greatness and prosperity of England, could not fail to attract the attention of the philosophers and statesmen of Europe. England has instructed European powers in political liberty. The English Revolution, national and local, exclusively political and religious, had in no way modified the social constitution. It did not directly affect the condition of the separate classes of society, nor alter the tenure of property. Owing to the wisely progressive spirit of the Tory lords, the nobility retained its terri- torial power, which it preserved by continuing the right of primo- geniture. No country has shown more anxiety to preserve its traditions, or more respect for the past. England had no need to destroy the society of the Middle Ages, because she was free from the worst abuses of those ages. Just as she transformed the old buildings by adding to them whatever was required for comfort or luxury in modern times, she continued the traditions of political liberty which she had won and preserved through the Middle Ages. Feudal through custom and the hierarchy of classes, modern in her principles of government, she is well represented materially by the immense building where Parliament meets. Although rebuilt in 1840-52, the Houses of Parliament, placed near to Westminster Abbey, have been designed in the Gothic flamboyant style ; they are surmounted by a veritable forest of gables, battle- ments, buttresses, and turrets, which recall the Middle Ages to an assembly imbued with new maxims, and where the boldest discussions between the representatives of a free people are publicly held. The Economic Movement ; Maritime and Colonial Empire of Holland. The seventeenth century continued and extended the movement which urged European nations towards navigation, in- dustry, and commerce. But the chief aetors had changed. The Spanish annexation of Portugal in 1580, by attaching the Por- 264 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. tuguese colonies to a monarchy in decadence, led to their ruin. Spain, exhausted by the ambition of Philip II. and the insensate despotism of his successors, in spite of its vast colonial empire, through bad administration had become, from the most influential, one of the weakest powers in Europe. The Dutch replaced the Spaniards and Portuguese upon the seas. The war for liberty had stimulated their energy ; the narrow limits of their country, and the small resources offered by their low marshy lands, compelled them to venture upon the seas, in search of richer and more fertile countries. Kestricted from buying the products of India from Lisbon, they resolved to go to India themselves. England had founded her East India Com- pany in 1600, and in 1602 the Dutch East India Company was founded. The Dutch replaced the Portuguese in the markets of Hindustan, settled at Ceylon, took possession of the Moluccas, then of the magnificent islands of Surida, Java, Sumatra, Celebes, Amboyna, and Timor. In the island of Java, they founded a city (1619) to which they proudly gave their old historical name Batavia, the city of the Batavians. From 1609 they traded with Japan, and to secure the road did not neglect the necessary settlements on the coasts of Africa, which led to the formation of the West India Company (1621). This company also traded with America. The Dutch had occupied several points on the Western coast of North America, and founded (1614) New Amsterdam on the site now occupied by New York. In the seventeenth century, they possessed a merchant fleet which surpassed all the combined fleets of other countries. Am- sterdam replaced Antwerp, ruined by the closing of the Scheldt. She became the Northern Venice. The Dutch were now the only European importers of spices, cinnamon, sandal-wood, indigo, Chinese tea, lacquer, Japanese porcelain and silk. In the Baltic they had, through competition, ruined the commerce of the Hanse- atic cities. All the Continental peoples were their tributaries, and the Zealand fishers, so long obscure and poor, now exchanged their barrels of herrings for barrels of gold. England, her First Colonies; the Navigation Act. The English THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 265 were the chief rivals of the Dutch in these enterprises.* In the seven- teenth century the English colonies were founded, and with extra- ordinary labour the settlers cleared the forests of New England, dug the soil, worked the mines, an,i replaced the solitude by admirable cultivation and industrious cities. But however inclined the English might be to imitate the Dutch, they were at first unable to rival them. Cromwell forced them to make the attempt. By the Navigation Act (1651) completed under Charles II. in 1660, the coasting trade was reserved for British vessels, as well as all trade with English colonies. By a single blow the Dutch found themselves excluded from the ports and colonies. They were still more injured by the clauses in the Navigation Act which provided that the produce of Asia, Africa, and America could be carried only in the English ships. The European nations could import only the produce of their own soil and labour to England. Now the Dutch had not sufficient agricul- ture nor industries to nourish their commerce. They were only commission merchants, the carriers of the seas, as they were called. These provisos completely ruined their trade with England, and * The skilful policy of Queen Elizabeth encouraged the navigators, and in her reign Hawkins (1562 64) and Frobisher (1576 78), Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish, distinguished themselves by their bold expeditions ; Cavendish and Drake went round the world in 1577 80, 1586 88. John Davis discovered the straits that bear his name. Sir "Walter Raleigh at- tempted to found a colony on the land which he called Virginia in honour of the Queen. Through the intolerance of James I. and of Charles I. the half- desert coasts of North America were settled with Puritans, who took refuge there, seeking safety for their property and their faith, and liberty for their discussions and their prayers. To the south of the Protestant colonies of Massachusetts (1620), New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, and Ehode Island, a Catholic Irishman, Lord Baltimore, established himself, and, in virtue of a royal charter, founded the colony of Maryland. The impetus that Cromwell had given to the navy led to the conquest of Jamaica. The wars with Hol- land under Charles II. put the English in possession of the Dutch settlements, which became the states of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware ; and lastly, the English nobles, encouraged by Charles II., founded in the hot southern plains the State called Carolina, whifh was afterwards divided. The same prince also conceded to "William Pf-nn, one of the heads of the eccentiic sect of the Quakers, the vast forest which became Pennsylvania. In the eighteenth century this long list of colonies is closed with' Georgia. 2 66 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. they only submitted to them after two sanguinary and disastrous wars. England succeeded in depriving Holland of the empire of the seas, and after the revolution of 1688 the momentary union of the two countries, under the rule of William III., was naturally unfavourable to Holland, the less important of the two States. Economic Progress of France: Sully, Richelieu. France, pacified by Henry IV., was vigorously urged to industry by his efforts. Supporting and at times correcting his minister Sully, he assisted by his authority all the measures that the latter introduced for the relief of agriculture, and in his turn forced the Minister to attach more importance to industry, the value of which the severe Huguenot, the enemy of all luxury, could not understand. If France had not the mines of Mexico or Peru, Sully replaced them by agriculture and pasturage, and Henry IV. by silk manufactures. The commencement of the agricultural, industrial, and commer- cial prosperity of France dates from the reign of thib generous Prince, who wished that every peasant could add a fowl to his Sunday dinner. Richelieu, anxious for progress as well as eager for power, con- tinued the economic as well as the external policy of Henry IV. He had not time to follow it with the same attention, but he protected the peasants, the manufacturers, and the commerce, particularly foreign trade. By the development of the navy he opened distant countries to commerce, and France followed, though at some dis- tance, the colonial movement of other nations. Champlain continued to organize Canada, New France, as it was then called. The French acquired some of the West Indian islands, Saint Christopher, Barbados, part of Saint Domingo, and established themselves in Guiana, and in Senegal. Colbert's Services ; Development of French Industry. Colbert, so justly called the Minister of Peace, under Louis XIV. really created French industry ; inviting foreign workmen, subsidising manufactures, and even establishing royal ones. The establish- ments of Sedan, Louviers, Abbeville, and Elbeuf rivalled those of the Belgian provinces and of Holland. The woollen industry employed 60,000 workmen. The tapestry weavers, although en- THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 267 couraged from the time of Francis I., now became remarkable in the royal manufactures of Beauvais, the Savonnerie, and above all the Gobelins. The working of glass, imported from Venice, was commenced at Tourlaville, near Cherbourg. The cities of Lyons and Tours increased their silk looms and improved the manufacture. Their lace and velvet rivalled the Venetian lace and the Genoese velvet. Wrought iron, steel, fine porcelain, and morocco leather were also from that date manufactured in France. But there is no doubt that Colbert, with excellent intentions, to prevent fraud, and to maintain the good quality and fame of French manufactures, renewed and even increased the old restrictions that formerly prevailed in the corporations. He held industry too much in leading-strings ; whilst he encouraged it on one side he fettered it on the other ; but if he thus misused his authority, by interfering in questions which were not in his province, he at the same time gave the impulse to and laid the foundation of the industrial power of France. Colbert's Theories ; the Protective System ; the System of Balance. He laid this foundation chiefly by the system he applied to com- merce the protective system. Inspired probably by the Naviga- tion Act, Colbert resolved that France should provide for herself. By raising a wall of duties against foreign merchandise he forced the country to manufacture the articles required by the people. This system of protection, which defends a growing industry against the competition of more advanced rivals, was good under the circumstances and in the degree applied by Colbert, for without it manufactures could not have developed. But it became inju- rious through its exaggeration ; privileges, which at first act as an incentive to a backward industry, afterwards become an obstacle to progress, an encouragement to routine, a fatal bribe to manu- facturers, and a burden to the consumers. The science of Political Economy, the true " Wealth of Nations," was not yet founded, and Colbert could but follow out the best ideas of his time. Internal Commerce. More praiseworthy are the measures taken by Colbert to encourage internal trade. The list of tolls was revised, and the necessary examination led to the suppression of many heavy burdens on commerce. The Loire was subject to 268 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. twenty-eight tolls, and had become so impracticable that land carriage was preferred ; and this carriage also was greatly ham- peied. The territorial unity of France had been made by successive additions, and many of the provinces retained their own customs dues. Colbert endeavoured to abolish these customs dues, and, though forced to respect existing treaties, he led twelve provinces to associate ; these provinces, which had only a single line of custom- houses, were called the " Provinces des cinq grosses fermes." The opening, maintenance, and security of the highways and canals was the object of Colbert's active solicitude (Canal d'Orleans, Canal de Languedoc). The Ordonnance du Commerce, published in 1673, served as a model for the code of 1807. Colbert also instituted a Council of Commerce, over which Louis XIV. pre- sided every fortnight, he established insurance offices, punished bankrupts severely, but could not succeed in his attempts to im- pose unity of weights and measures. Naval and Mercantile Fleets ; Commercial Companies ; Colonies. Colbert endowed France with a navy. Louis XIV. had 176 men of war, many of them carrying more than 100 guns. In order to man them, Colbert established the naval conscription, which still serves to recruit the sailors of the fleet. At the same time Colbert gave a sudden impulse to the mercan- tile navy, and the protective system, which aided industry, also encouraged the shipowners. The Dutch could not enter the French ports without paying a due of fifty sous per ton (equal to six francs, or five shillings of the present coinage), the French commenced to build ships, and the mercantile fleet developed. In 16'29 Richelieu declared that maritime commerce was not derogatory to the nobility. An edict of Louis XIV. in 1669, also allowed the nobles to engage in wholesale trade. Colbert formed a West Indian Company, in which he took great interest. But commercial inexperience, joined to administrative routine, the cupidity and bad faith of the merchants, added to the pride and tyranny of the governors, upset the best-laid plans and ruined the most brilliant calculations. In 1673 a Senegal Company obtained the exclusive monopoly of a shameful trade, then practised by other THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 269 nations, the slave trade. The Northern Company, directed against the Dutch, and the Levant Company, formed for the improvement 270 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of trade with Turkey, were as unsuccessful as their Indian sisters. Colbert had the merit of raising the colonial power of France by purchasing several of the Antilles.* But he made the mistake, common to all nations at the time, of applying to the colonies the government, the administration, the categories of classes, the religious intolerance, and the taxes of the metropolis. Added to this the prohibition upon intercourse with foreigners, and upon the cultivation of certain plants, upon tobacco, for instance, in America ; the regulations that forced the colonists to send to France for all that they needed, and to sell their produce only to France ; privileges to certain persons in the colonies, severe rules for the relations between them and the native populations, who were treated as inferiors ; all proved impediments which pre- vented the colonists from deriving any benefit from the rich and fertile soil. Yet the French held the St. Lawrence, a magnificent stream, and the great lakes which feed the river with their surplus waters on its way to the ocean. Bold travellers, P. Marquette and the Sieur de Jolliet (1(573), then Robert Cavalier de la Salle (1680), descended and explored the rich valley of the Mississippi, the king of rivers. A settlement was founded at the outlet of this immense valley, and the country was named Louisiana. France found herself admirably placed for taking possession of the New Continent, but she neglected the opportunity and America was ultimately appropriated and developed by the Anglo-Saxon race. * France then possessed in America : Canada, Acadia, Newfoundland, the islands of Martinique, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Saint Chris- topher, Saint Bartholomew, and St. Martin, Saint Croix, the Tortugas, a part of Saint Domingo, Guiana ; in Africa, some settlements in Senegal and in the island of Madagascar, the Mutuitiup, and Bourbon Islands; and Surat, in Asia. CHAPTER XII. LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ARTS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. SUMMARY : The Intellectual Movement ; French Society in the Seventeenth Century ; Conversation ; Wit French Literature ; Taste ; Malherbe ; the Authors of the first half of the Seventeenth Century, or the Age of Richelieu Classical Tragedy; Corneille (1606 1684) Renaissance of Philosophy ; Prose ; Descartes ; Pascal Authors of the Reign of Louis XIV. ; the King's Personal Influence Poetry : Racine, Moliere, Boileau Eloquence in the Pulpit : Bourdaloue, Bossuet, Fenelon Madame de Sevigne ; La Bruyere La Fontaine The Quarrel between the Ancients and Moderns The Opera ; Quinault Memoirs ; History Philosophy ; Malebranche Education ; the Learned Societies Origin of the Periodical Press Literature in England : Ben Jonson, Bacon Milton (1608 1674) Bunyan Locke (1632 1704) Holland ; the Jew Spinosa Germany; Leibnitz Spain; Calderon ; Literary Deca- dence Science, Mathematics Astronomy: Kepler (1571 1630); Galileo (1564 1642); Newton (1642 1727) Physical Science; Bacon's Experimental Method Galileo, Toricelli, Pascal, Mariotte Steam ; Denis Papin Natural Science ; the Botanical Gardens ; Tournefort Medicine The Arts ; French Architecture Sculpture ; Puget Painting ; the Italian School ; Guercino, Albano, Domenichino, Sal- vator Rosa Painting in Spain ; Ribera, "Velasquez, Murillo French Painting ; Nicholas Poussin, Claude Lorraine Flemish Artists in France ; Philip de Champaigne ; Van der Meulen Greatness of the Flemish School : Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens Animal Painters ; Snyders The Painters of Genre ; David Teniers The Dutch School ; Rembrandt Gerard Dow, Terburg, Matzu Ruysdael, Hobbema The Results of the Seventeenth Century. The Intellectual Movement; French Society in the Seventeenth Century; Conversation; Wit. The improvement of the material conditions of life, security, tranquillity protected by a power which no one dreamed of disputing, and luxury increasing with industry, all modified the aspects of society. The nobles instead of fighting visited each other. The court, peopled with the noblemen, 2 ; 2 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. now rivals only in elegance and deportment, gave the tone to the city ; women asserted their empire, enforced politeness, and the chivalric spirit as it softened ended in gallantry. Chiefly in France, but also in Italy, from the reign of Louis XIII., the intercourse of society and the art of conversation were sedulously cultivated, and the assemblies and drawing-rooms almost recalled the Academy of Athens in the days of Greek literature and philosophy. Tha Hotel de Rambouillet became the model of these learned but not pedantic assemblies, where French society became refined, displayed its gaiety, and purified its language. Conversation became an important business, and woman's quick, delicate intelli- gence gave a lively fascination, a refined, agreeable tone to con- versation, so that it won admiration for the French language and made it the fashionable tongue in almost every court of Europe. French Literature ; Taste, Malherbe ; the Authors of the First Hal/ of the Seventeenth Century, or the Age of Richelieu. French literature, the expression of this elegant, polished society, natur- ally and without effort attained regularity, easy nobility, simple majesty, charming though studied grace, poetic sentiment, elo- quence, comic humour, and at the same time philosophic severity. It was a golden age of letters, one of those fortunate epochs when literature asserts its power, like the ages of Augustus and Pericles. The prolonged study of the ancient classics gave birth to a new literature also worthy to be called classic. Devo- tion to these models, softened by woman's influence, animated by the still living faith of Christianity, produced a literature antique yet modern, agreeable if not deeply inspired, correct and elegant through imitation, which revived the beauty of its Athenian and Roman models in works that were yet eminently French. Malherbe,* from the reign of Henry IV., controlled the poetic taste, and under Louis XIII. continued a dictatorship which purified the language from the defects of the sixteenth century, regulated the metre, gave just value to words, and fit cadence to the rhyme. Vaugelas,f grammarian rather than author, * Malherbe (15561628). t Vaugelas (15851650). THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE, ETC. 273 commenced the reformation of prose. Balzac * and Voiture aided him, one by his breadth, the other by his grace. Balzac marred his rhetoric by pomposity and heaviness. Voiture, one of the heroes of the Hdtel de Rambouillet, diminished his grace by his conceits and subtleties, which were as affected on the one hand as the pomposity of Balzac on the other. But these authors and a number of others of secondary rank, were really only the pre- cursors of the great writers. Classic Tragedy ; Corneille (16061684). Pierre Corneille re- discovered, we can truly say, the ancient tragedies. More restrained, more sober than Shakespeare, who never bound him- self to any rules, more concentrated than the Spaniards, from whom he borrowed the subject of his first masterpiece, " The Cid " (1636), he arranged his plays in the triple unity of time, scene, and action, without too much injuring their probability, and increased their interest by the rapid succession of the scenes. Though Corneiile cannot compare with the Greek tragedians, nor with Shakespeare in the wide range of his power, nor even with the Spanish dramatists in the rich beauty of their verse, his plays are admirably adapted for the stage. He has real enthusiasm for the heroic virtues and for patriotism as then understood. As rhetorical declamation in verse his pieces have never been sur- passed. They give a dignity to every worthy actor of them, and it is probably owing to them that the stage in France has had a greater, influence, and exercised more power than in any other country, and that too even when actors were excommunicated by the Church. Renaissance of Philosophy; Prose; Descartes, Pascal. At the same time that tragedy was influencing and elevating the heart and soul, ancient philosophy reappeared to occupy the intellect. One year after Corneille had written the first masterpiece of dramatic art, Descartes published the first book of true philosophy. The " Cid " gave a tone to poetry, the "Discourses on Method," by Descartes, * Balzac (1594 1654). The works of Balzac consist of letters and trea- tises of " The Prince; " " Aristippus," and the " Christian Socrates." THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. formed a model of prose at the same time that it defined the rules of thought. Descartes, applying the laws of scientific observation that Bacon had formulated in England, to the phenomena of conscience, sought therein a new metaphysical basis for theology. From his famous formula: " Ego cogito, ergo sum," "I think, therefore I am," he proved the existence of God, and built thereon his whole system of philosophy. Although the doctrines peculiar to Descartes have been aban- doned, his methods have remained ; he initiated the methods by the aid of which modern philosophers have penetrated further into the abstract world than the ancient philosophers. The Car- tesian philosophy retained the Christian character, the mark of the seventeenth century. Although bold enough to argue outside religion, Descartes' chief aim was to base religion on human reason. He never ceased to subordinate reason to faith.* Pascal treated reason as still more strictly subject to faith. To him we owe some of the deepest and most philosophical reflections on religion ; intended as a defence they are sometimes almost destructive by their incisive penetration, and remaining a fragment only, they suggest more doubts than they solve. But as an author his chief service to French prose consisted in freeing it from Descartes' long periods, by rendering it lighter and more concise in his inimitable masterpiece, " The Provincial Letters ; " a biting satire on the Jesuits' doctrines, their wit has saved these letters from the oblivion that has fallen upon all the subtle works of the doctors of that age. Pascal f and Descartes, however, were universal geniuses, and their scientific influence was as great as their literary position. These authors shone during the first half of the seventeenth century, which has been distinguished by the name of the Age of Richelieu. Pascal's masterpieces, however, were not written until * Descartes (1596 1650), born in Touraine. The two chief works of Descartes are the "Discourse on Method" and "Metaphysical Medi- tations." t Blaise Pascal, torn at Glermont (16231662). THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, ETC. 2 75 after Richelieu's death. Descartes passed most of his life in a foreign land. But Corneille was numbered among the Cardinal poet's pensioners and fellow-labourers. Richelieu honoured authors so much that he was even jealous of them ; but the greatest service that he rendered to literature was by establishing the French Academy (1635), that literary senate which is really unique, the arbitrator in all questions affecting the language or taste, despotic, yet beneficent, often imitated by foreign nations, though it is doubtful whether its merits compensate for its defects. Authors of the Reign of Louis XIV. ; the King's Personal In- fluence. It is a question how far Louis XIV. influenced the litera- ture of his age by his policy and his person. The distinction and grace which rendered him the model of his nobles, as much as the severity which made him their master, the correctness of his judgment, the good sense which revolted from all extremes (except of his own ambition), all influenced the men of genius whom he encouraged. La Fontaine alone, the most independent and the truest genius of all, revolted from the stilted pomp and trammels which pleased the King. He was therefore neglected, for Louis XIV. only esteemed those who fell into the place marked out for them, received the reflection of his majesty and merged their glory in his own. Poetry : Racine, Moliere, Boileau. Racine,* Moliere,! Boileau,| three friends and three of the writers most honoured by Louis XIV., possessed very different styles. Racine divides with Corneille the glory of French classical tragedy. Inferior in force and declama- tion, his verse is more flowing and harmonious ; he deals better with the softer passions. If we except the Spaniards he alone has succeeded in making religious and Biblical themes acceptable on the modern stage. Moliere may be regarded as the creator of French comedy, in spite of Corneille's " Menteur." Far higher than either Racine or Corneille, he is supreme in his own art and within his limits. * Racine, born at Ferte-Milon (Aisne) (16391699). t Jean-Baptiste Poquelin de Moliere (16221673). \ Boileau (16361711). 276 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. For the only pure comedy which has equalled that of Moliere we must go back to the Greeks. He is unrivalled in modern Europe. Although Boileau cannot be admitted to the same rank as his two friends, he was a laborious poet and a better critic. His in- fluence over poetry ruled in Europe down to the beginning of the present century. Through Pope it prevailed in England to the age of Byron and of Wordsworth, who mark a new school. He is the head of the Classical in opposition to the Romantic school. Eloquence in the Pulpit : JBourdaloue, Bossuet, Fenelon. But the inspiration of Christianity was chiefly demonstrated in the orators of the pulpit : Bourdaloue,* Bossuet, Fenelon. Bourda- oue was only a sermon writer, and his reputation never attained the height of that of the two other preachers. He was too logical, too formal, and too special. Bossuet and Fenelon were of wider genius. The former,! orator, historian, philosopher, filled the pulpit with the most sublime eloquence, particularly in his funeral orations, He threw a penetrating glance over the past in his " Discourse upon Universal History," and reconciled philosophy with religion in his " Treatise on the Knowledge of God and One's Self." Fenelon J also showed himself a philosopher in his treatise on the " Existence of God ; " he was not an historian, but his romance of " Telemachus " revived the primitive ages of Greece, and his sermons were masterpieces of grace and unction. In addition, in his ideas on education Fenelon was in advance of his time. In politics Bossuet could conceive nothing finer than the monar- chical government of Louis XIV., and he endeavoured to base it upon divine authority. One might have been tempted to think, had one not known that his inspiration was chiefly drawn from the Bible, that instead of modelling the monarchy of Louis XIV. upon the divine monarchy, he had modelled his idea of God on the image of Louis XIV. * Bourdaloue (16321704). t Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, born at Dijon (1627 1704). THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A 7 'URE, ETC. 277 Fenelon, in his Telemachus, through Bernardin de St. Pierre, led up to the theories of J. J. Rousseau, and may thus be reckoned one of the precursors of the Revolution. Yet Bossuet and Fenelon still remain the most brilliant person- ifications of Christian genius, as understood by French genius, polished and shaped by assiduous study of the ancients. Madame de Seviyne ; Jean de La Bruyere. Women, who had contributed to the elegance of this society, could not fail also to find expression in a superior writer. This genius was Madame de Sevigne,* whose letters, lively, observant, and witty, still charm us by their pictures of a past society, which there re- appears as in a mirror. The first of feminine letter-writers, she raises, embellishes, animates and illumines all that she touches, and she touches every subject save the highest. In fact all great subjects were forbidden ; to handle them was full of danger. La Bruyere warns us of this. And thus this moralist, who emulated La Rochefoucauld! though more lively in style, endeavoured only to paint eccentricities and types. His book is a comedy without action, full of malice and of true observation. La Bruyere, however, raised his tone when attacking libertinage, and was, as he said himself, a Christian and a Frenchman. La Fontaine. La Fontaine was also a classical scholar, and although he seemingly avoided all rules, J he yet enjoyed and admired the works of antiquity. La Fontaine is the first of fabulists. He excels in the art which conceals all art. His naivete is inimitable, yet he never descends to puerility, still less to the nonsensical. He has a true feeling for nature, a horror of what is artificial ; he was in advance of his age, or ruther he be- longs to all ages, like his own vvork. * Marie de Rabutin, Marquise de Sevigne (1627 1696). Amongst the women who rank as authors we must also name Mdme. de la Fayette (1683 1693), one of Mdme. de Sevigne's friends, who brought romance back to natural life. t The Duke of La Rochefoucauld (16131680) published some maxims of great wit and rare precision, but too much stamped with his own disillusion- ment on the subject of human virtue. J Jean de la Fontaine (16211695). 278 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. The Opera; QuinauU* One of the most singular alliances be- tween the imitation of the ancient and modern taste, was the creation of opera, which took form with Quinault, at the same time that Lulli's t music added another charm to the poet's verses, and aided the expression of sentiment. Opera owes most of its success to the musicians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but it dates from the seventeenth. Memoirs ; History. Full of great events, the seventeenth century occupied itself with transmitting them to posterity. Memoirs, that were already numerous and interesting in the sixteenth century, were now multiplied ; those written by Car- dinal de Retz form a masterpiece of wit and style, if not of modesty. J It is a vivid picturesque description of the Fronde, of which he was one of the most active leaders ; it is not history, for the witness is partial, but it is one of those paintings which history cannot dispense with. With the exception of the " Discourse on Universal History," by Bossuet, in which a high philosophy of history is visible, thera were only learned works written, distant imitations of ancient history, like those of Mezeray|| and Vertot,U Boulainvilliers'** Dissertations, Saint-Real's ft elegant work on the " Conspiracy of Venice," the ecclesiastical history of Fleury,|| &c. Philosophy ; Malebranche. In philosophy, Descartes had opened a path which was chiefly followed by Malebranche, a priest of the Oratory. In his book on the " Search for Truth" he differed * Quinatft (16351688). f Lulli (16331687). See " Music " in the following chapter. I Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz (16H 1679). Saint-Simon belongs to the eighteenth century, but we must name amongst the important memoirs of the epoch those of Sully and Richelieu, so important for politics, of the Duke de La Rochefoucauld, of Mdlle. de Mont- pensier, Mdme. de Motteville, the Abbe de Choissy, and Gi-ourville. || Mezeray (16101683). II Vertot (1655 1735). ** The Count de Boulainvilliers (16581722). ft Saint- Real (16391692). H Fleury (16401723). 6$ Malebranche (1631-1715). THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, ETC. 279 from his master's theories by his theory of the " Vision of God," which he exaggerated by carrying it to mysticism. He endeavoured to conciliate philosophy with the Christian religion, already com- bated by Bayle and by Spinoza. Education ; the Learned Societies. None of these writers would have been able to train themselves without the organization of a classical education. The Jesuits had founded a number of col- leges ; the Jansenists shone at Port-Royal, that school of virtue and knowledge, where judicious methods of education were elabo- rated in solitude. The University itself, although hampered by the routine of the Middle Ages, opened its colleges to the new methods. The birth of modern education is with some reason attributed to the seven- teenth century, though Ascham, who found some disciples, had pointed out the way a century before in England. Colbert, the successor of Richelieu, had also encouraged associa- tions of learned men, and he created those noble societies which, placed round the French Academy, have acquired so much renown, the Academic des Inscriptions (1663), the Academie des Sciences (1666). The intellectual movement spread into the provinces, and in most of the important cities learned societies were founded, which chiefly developed in the eighteenth century, many in union with the French Academy, and priding themselves on being, in a measure, daughter institutions. The movement also spread to other countries. Origin of the Periodical Press. Timid and shy, the periodical press, that in the nineteenth century rules the world, first appeared in the seventeenth century. The first French newspaper, the Mercure Frangais, founded by Richer in 1605, became the organ of elegant society : it carried the echoes of the salons into the town, and the rumours of the town into the salons. It was a mere gazette. Theophraste Renaudot, in 1635, pub- lished a real newspaper, the Gazette de France, but after 1644 this did not interfere with the continuation of the Mercure. Of course we must not expect these first attempts of the press, still unconscious of its power, to display much boldness ; this in fact would have 28o THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. been cut short at once, by a power that even distrusted books, and by a Parliament that showed little mercy for any forcible language that did not emanate from itself. Literature in England ; Ben Jonson; Bacon. English literature from the seventeenth century was still dominated by the great name of Shakespeare. But Ben Jonson was honoured by his side. He was a classic, theoretically fascinated by the unities of Aristotle, imitating Juvenal as a satirist, but succeeding better hi lyrical poetry, and in his tragedies drawing inspiration from Tacitus and Sallust.* Francis Bacon, f a member of Parliament, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, Lord Chancellor of England under James I., led men's ideas back to philosophy and science. Exerting himseJf to embrace both the intellectual and physical world, he formed the scheme of an immense work, the " Great Restoration of Science," of which he only completed three parts. The most important was the "Novum Organum" (1620), by which he opened a method of investigation of nature by induction which had been too much neglected since the days of Aristotle. To deduction he opposed induction. Bacon mounted from the particular to the general, a method attempted by Descartes in creating philosophy, and by men of science in discovering the laws of the physical world. Bacon placed the human mind on the right path. In England Bacon's principles were almost immediately applied to philosophy by Hobbes (1588 1680), whose philosophy has been lately revived, but whose writings in his own day had more influence on politics than on philosophy. Milton (1608 1647). The two revolutions of 1640 and 1688 produced grave effects upon men's minds, and almost equal conse- * Ben Jonson, born in 1574; his dramatic career extended from 1596 to 1633. His three best comedies are the " Silent Woman," the "Alchemist," and the " Fox." He also won fame as a writer of masques. f Bacon (15611626). The first part of the "Great Kestoration of Science" was the "Advancement of Learning" (1605); the second the "Novum Organum;" the third was composed of various treatises on Natuial History. THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, ETC. s 8 1 quences on literature. That of 1640 was chiefly religious ; it ruined the theatre, and almost put secular poetry to flight. But it inspired the gemus of Milton, an independent in politics as in religion, an ardent reformer, who lost his sight through overwork ; after the storm had calmed, he wrote his fine poem of " Paradise Lost." In secular poetry he reached his highest mark in " Comus " and in " Lycidas ; " but the majestic organ roll of his blank verse in the " Paradise Lost " has influenced English literature in all departments. His " Samson Agonistes " is the one English tragedy successfully modelled on the old Greek drama, if we except Mr. Swinburne's " Atalanta in Calydon." Bunyan,* the son of a poor tinker, was also filled with religious inspiration. A courageous, persecuted preacher, he wrote the " Pilgrim's Progress from this World to the next ; " not less original for being on an old theme, and the one allegory whose characters are flesh and blood, and which has thus become really popular. The restoration of Charles II. was also a restoration of pleasure, laughter, light, humorous poetry. Samuel Butler,} in his burlesque epic of " Hudibras," derided the savage zeal of the sectarians, and in his satires lashed the licentiousness of the court of Charles II. The theatre applied itself to the imitation of the French theatre, but was unsuccessful both in tragedy and comedy. John Dryden,\ in the first rank, not through his tragedies and comedies, but in secondary styles, excelled in political satire and in the Ode. His poetry, though it introduced the classical couplet, is far more vigorous than that of Pope, as are also his translations ; his style, especially in prose, is full of merit, and through it he is worthy to be called a classic. Locke (1632 1704). The revolution of 1688 was in its turn * Bunyan( 1628 1688). t Butler (16121680). t Dryden (16311700). His political satires were "Absalom and Achi- tophel," " MacFlecknoe," &c. Locke, besides his " Essay upon Civil Government " and his " Essay upon the Human Understanding," also wrote " Thoughts concerning Educa- tion," a \vork which ranks amongst the most remarkable of its kind. 282 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. represented by Locke, who was its theorist and its apologist. In his " Essay upon Civil Government " he explained the new govern- ment, and already anticipated the " Social Contract." In politics as in philosophy he was already almost a man of the eighteenth cen- tury. In fact, if he adopted Descartes' method, he combated his doctrines. In his " Essay upon the Human Understanding," seek- ing for the origin of ideas, he imagined he had found it in reflection and sense ; he was the father of the English idealists and, by reaction, of the Scotch empirical school. English literature was never subjected to rules in the same way as French literature. It was the true expression of an energetic, active, varied society, which had grasped political and religious liberty. Less polished less elegant, it sought, not for beauty of form, but for strength of ideas, yet it almost reached perfection of expression in Milton's poems. The coffee-houses and clubs filled the office of the salons and academies of France. Holland : the Jew Spinoza. Holland, which was also a land of liberty, then afforded a refuge to a colony of sceptics, and French scholars, such as Bayle, Basnage, and Leclerc. The Jew Spinoza* formulated a philosophical doctrine, that contrasted with the French doctrines. Only seeing substance in the world, he pretended that God cannot exist without nature, even as nature cannot exist without God. He thus tended to pantheism. Spinoza denied free will, and in politics supported the omnipotence of the State. His doctrines were afterwards developed by disciples, who were never more numerous than at the present day. Germany : Leibnitz. The German, Leibnitz, a mathematician and philosopher, protested against Descartes, whose books he called " the antechamber of truth." But he endeavoured to reconcile his doctrine with Locke's theories. He combated innate ideas, and made an important restriction in the maxim of philosophers of the experimental school : " There is nothing in the mind that has not first been in the senses." Leibnitz added, " unless it is the mind itself." f * Born at Amsterdam (1632 1677). His most important work was called the "Ethics." t Leibnitz, born at Leipzig (16461716). THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE, ETC. 283 Spain: Calderon; Literary Decadence. Spain rapidly decaying in the seventeenth century, still retained a reflection of her literary glory of the preceding century. The school of Lope de Vega multiplied religious and secular dramas and comedies. Montalvan and Tellez* were of almost inexhaustible fertility. Guillen de Castrof borrowed from the popular romances his magnificent drama of the " Cid," which inspired Corneille. Alarcon,J by his comedies, furnished models that Corneille imitated in the " Menteur." Calderon de la Barca, first soldier, then priest, was perhaps the most fertile, and certainly the greatest dramatic poet of Spain. His secular dramas are animated with powerful and passionate interest, and in them he exalts the sentiment of honour, always so dear to Spaniards. His comedies were full of complicated intrigues and surprises. He used considerable variety in the metres he employed ; deficient in the study of character, no writer has lavished more brilliant poetry on his plays. We quite forget who utters the sentiments in the dazzling beauty of the verses. Even scholastic abstractions can gain a hearing thus. Decadence had commenced in literature as well as in politics. The Inquisition stifled thought by its increasing suspiciousness. Spain was then full of intolerance, and the butcheries of the autos-da-fe || threw a sinister light over the popular rejoicings of which they formed part. Poets therefore took refuge in affected conceits, and Luis de Gongora founded a school of bad taste ; Gongorisms reigned without rival. Such a country could not develop philosophy and history. The historians were only historiographers. H * Montalvan (1602 1638) ; Telles, better known as Tirso de Molina (16131648) ; both belonged to the Church. f Guillen de Castro, born at Valencia (1567 1631). J Juan Ruiz de Alarcon, born at Mexico, came to Europe towards 1621. Calderon de la Barca, born at Madrid (1600 1681), wrote a great many religious dramas, or sacramental acts (autos), secular dramas, and comedies. || There were great autos da-fe in 1623, even in 1680 under Charles II. U However, Mendoza showed real talent in describing the revolt of Granada under Philip II. Juan de Mariana, a Jesuit, in his " History of Spain," 284 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Science ; Mathematics. The seventeenth century, which in literature revived the glory of the ancients, had its peculiar distinc- tion in its scientific progress. It is strange to note that the human mind has attained real knowledge chiefly through combinations of figures, numbers and lines, and through the science of mathematics ; thus freeing itself from the dreams of astrology, discovered through astronomy the true movements of the celestial bodies ; lastly, observing physical phenomena, experimenting with them, studying their laws, it has made them instruments which have increased the power of industry tenfold. Men of science are the most active pioneers of civiliza- tion, the most worthy of admiration and of the gratitude of all. They have really created the modern world. Mathematicians have no nationality. They develop themselves almost simultaneously in every country ; in Italy there arose Gali- leo, Cavalieri,* Viviani, Ricci;f in France Descartes, who applied algebra to geometry; Pascal, who wrote his "Essay on the Conic Sections," and invented a new method of geometrical analysis the arithmetical machine ; Fermat,J to whom we owe the perfection of algebra, the method of maximum and of minimum, the calculation of probabilities ; Roberval, one of the founders of the Academy of Science ; in Germany Kepler, who invented logarithms, the philo- sopher Leibnitz, who discovered the differential and infinitesimal calculus ; in England Napier, Henry Briggs, who shared with Kepler the honour of the discovery of logarithms, Barrow, the master of Newton, Newton himself, who would not have been so illustrious an astronomer had he not been a greater mathematician ; in Holland, Huyghens, one of the creators of the science of me- chanics ; in Belgium, Simon of Bruges and Gregory of Saint Vin- endeavoured to imitate Livy ; Antonio de Herrera wrote a " History of the Indies." We must also quote Moncada, Coloma, Antonio de Solis, the last particularly; he wrote the " Conquest of Mexico." * Bonaventura Cavalieri, horn at Milan (15981647). t Vincent Viviani (16221703) ; Michael Angelo Kicci (16191682). % Born near Montauban (1601 1665). He was a councillor of the Parliament of Toulouse. THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, ETC. 285 cent; in Switzerland, Jacques Bernoulli, and others whom we cannot enumerate here. Astronomy; Kepler (15711630) ; Galileo (15641642); New- ton (1642 1727). In the sixteenth century, Tycho-Brahe still mingled astrology with astronomy. One of his disciples, Kepler, born in Wurtemberg, calculated instead of dreaming. Striving to find unity and harmony in the apparent disorder of the world, he nearly touched the law of universal gravitation. He at least found some laws, which bear his name, like those of the eclipses. He wrote curious works on light, refraction, eclipses, and comets. Galileo, born at Pisa, constructed the first astronomical telescopes magnifying the diameter one hundred times, studied the moon, the stars and planets, and discovered Jupiter's four satellites, the spots on the sun, the revolution of the sun on its axis, and, reviving the system of Copernicus, he confirmed the rotary move- ment of the earth. Superstition was still so powerful that Galileo, although protected by the more enlightened Popes, was condemned to retract his works by the tribunal of the Inquisition ; but this did not impede the earth's motion, and Galileo himself, rising after abjuring his pretended error, murmured, "And yet it moves!" Galileo had marked the earth's place in the solar system. Isaac Newton, the son of a Lincolnshire farmer, gifted with an ex- traordinary aptitude for mathematics, discovered the law which binds the earth to the celestial bodies. He proved that the sun acted upon the planets and that the planets acted upon each other in proportion to their bulk, and formulated the universal law in the simple words, " The force of attraction of a body is inversely proportional to the square of the distance."* This principle, which became the starting point of all astronomical studies, was not well understood at first, and yet it is one of the most astonishing discoveries that * Newton also determined, by the flatness of Jupiter's poles, the real form of the earth ; from the flattening of the globe at the two poles he deduced the precession of the equinoxes, and referred the phenomena of the tides to the law of universal gravitation. 286 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. have been made by man. Newton solved by it one great secret of the universe. The heavens were opened to fruitful observation. Edmund Halley calculated the orbit of a comet which appeared in 1681, and which has retained his name. Flamstead * wrote a catalogue of the stars, and was the first director of the Greenwich Observatory (1676). Observatories had already been established at Copenhagen (1632) by Longomontanus, at Dantzig (1641), founded by Hevelius, and at Altorf, in Bavaria (1667). The one in Paris was commenced in 1667, and completed in 1671, from Cassini's plans. The family of Cassini was a dynasty of savants, that resembled the dynasties of the Flemish painters. f The Abbe, Jean Picard, shared the first labours of the Paris Observatory. Picard also devoted himself to determining the meridian of Paris, and his labours were continued by Jacques Cassini, who prolonged the meridian to the south as far as the Canigou, to the north as far as Dunkirk. Huyghens,|| a universal savant, manufactured his own telescopes, which surpassed all that had yet been attempted. He was the first to see Saturn surrounded by a luminous band which was the ring (1655) ; he afterwards discovered one of the satellites, and Domi- nique Cassini discovered some of the others. 1F * Edmund Halley (16561742). Flamstead (16461719). t Jean -Dominique Cassini, born in the county of Nice (1625 1712); his son Jacques Cassini, born at Paris (1677 1756) ; Jacques' son, Cassini de Thury (17141784) ; Jacques-Dominique Cassini, son of the last-named, died in 1845. % Picard (16201682). On their side P. Zucchi, James Gregory, and the French Professor Casse- grain had perfected the telescope. The micrometer adapted to magnifying glasses and telescopes served to measure the objects depicted upon them. || Born at the Hague (16291695). II We must add Hevelius (16111687), of Dantzig, who devoted himself to the study of the moon, and who drew the first maps of it; Grimaldi (1618 1663), of Bologna, who also drew a lunar rr.ap, and who discovered the phenomenon of the diffraction of light. Simon Marius and David Fabricius, German astronomers, studied the stars ; Simon Marius discovered the first nebula. Richard Norwood measured the distance between London and York (1635). THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, ETC. 287 A Dane, Olaus Roemer,* brought to France by Picard in 1672, and lodged in the Observatory, had a large share in the astro- nomical labours of the French; then, recalled to Copenhagen, he continued his researches there. He succeeded (1700) in arranging a magnifying glass that, while remaining fixed in the plane of the meridian, was movable on its axis. He calculated that the light was eight minutes coming from the sun to the earth. Physical Science; Bacon's Experimental Method. The labours of astronomers and mathematicians were valuable aids to physical science. Bacon estimated them at their true value ; he kept them ever in view when exalting the dignity of science. He advised savants to observe nature, to study and analyse phenomena, and to found laws on facts alone. " Man is the servant and interpreter of nature " was his motto. The recognition of this places the name of Bacon at the head of the list of natural philosophers, although personally he made no scientific discovery, and though, while an admirable moral essayist, his conduct fell far short of his teaching. G-alileo ; Torricelli ; Pascal ; Mariotte. A few men of great genius had not waited for Bacon's writings before devoting them- selves to experiment. We are amazed when we think what simple daily facts have led men to their greatest discoveries, Galileo watched a lamp that oscillated in the cathedral of Pisa (1583). He observed that even when this oscillation diminished the arcs, although smaller, were all traversed in the same space of time. He formulated hence the law of the isochronism of the oscillations of a pendulum ; and afterwards determined the law of gravity. A Florentine gardener, having constructed an unusually large pump, observed with surprise that the water never rose above thirty-two feet ; Galileo vainly endeavoured to explain the fact. His disciple, Torricelli, solved the difficulty, and his experiments on the weight of the atmosphere led him to construct the tubes which led to the invention of the barometer. Pascal continued Torricelli's experiments, measured the height of the column of mercury at Clermont, and on the top of the Puy * Olaus Roemer (16441710). *88 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. de Dome (1648), and found that the height was inversely propor- tionate to the elevation of the country. He verified this fact by fresh observations at Paris, on the tower of Saint Jacques-la-Bou cherie.* Descartes, although learned in physical science was rather a mathematician, and followed a mistaken theory of vortices, which, however, may be noted from an historical point of view, for it, perhaps, directed Newton towards the road which led to his discoveries. The Abbe Mariotte,f who died in 1684, and who had belonged to the Academy of Sciences from its foundation, discovered the law that has retained his name, and that has been too much generalized, namely, <* that the temperature remaining the same, the volume of a given mass of any gas is in inverse proportion to the pressure that it supports." The German, Otto de Guericke, J applied himself to forming a vacuum, and constructed the first pneumatic machine. The Irishman, Boyle, contributed to the formation of the Royal Society of London, which soon became celebrated. We must also add Samuel Morland|| to this list ; he devoted himself to the study of mechanics, and particularly of hydrostatics. Steam ; Denis Papin. Lastly, one of those discoveries which effect a revolution in the world dates from this epoch ; that of the power of steam. Denis Papin, H born at Blois, but driven from France by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had from the year 1674 made various experiments upon water heated in the open air and overheated in a closed vase. His invention is attributed to the observation of the effect produced upon the lid of a saucepan by the steam of the boiling water. However that may be, he succeeded in constructing, under the name of the digester, an apparatus intended to extract, by steam at high pressure, the gelatinous * Robert Hook (16381703), in England, continued these experiments on the weight of the air and barometers, and -was the inventor of the ordinary clock-faced or wheel barometer. t Mariotte (Edme) usually resided at Digne. His law dates from 1676. I Otto de Guericke, of Magdeburg (16021686). Robert Boyle (16261691). || Samuel Morland (1625-1695). IT Denis Papin, born in 1647, died at Marburg in 1714. THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, E TC. 289 portion of bone. He also invented the first steam-engine with a piston, and launched on the Fulda, in Germany, a real steam- boat, which ignorant and jealous sailors destroyed. Another century passed before this new force, which Papin had discovered, could be turned to account ; it has since changed the face of the world. Natural Science : The Botanical Gardens ; Tourncfort. The science of botany was less novel, for the observation of plants had always been favourably regarded, but it now made great progress.* Amsterdam possessed a botanical garden under the direction of Frederic Ruisch ; Italy had one at Bologna, which became cele- brated under the supervision of the brothers Ambrosini ; France had one in 1626, under Richelieu, and Guy de la Brosse was the first superintendent of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. But France chiefly gloried in Tournefort.t He not only studied and brought back a considerable number of plants from the missions confided to him under Louis XIV., but he formed a classification, which was accepted for more than a century. Medicine. In the sixteenth century, the progress of surgery had stirred the emulation of the physicians. The celebrated Har- vey} then commenced his labours, and he discovered the laws of the circulation of the blood, and thus in a measure the vital prin- ciple. Sydenham studied the laws of epidemics ; there are also to be named the Dutchman Boerhaave,|| one of the founders of clinical medicine ; and the Frenchman Pecquet,U whose name has been given to one of the canals in the human body which serves to distribute the chyle. The old a priori medicine vainly en- deavoured to contend against experimental science, and speedily * The brothers Bauhin, in Switzerland; Parkinson, Morison, and Eay; the Germans Jung, Jungermann, Hermann, &c., devoted their lives to the study and description of plants, whilst the exploration of distant countries was continually providing new species for observation. t Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, born at Aix (16561708). I William Harvey (15781657). Sydenham (16241689). His name is still attached to a composition of laudanum invented by him. || Boerhaave, born near Leyden (16681738). H Jean Pecquet, born at Dieppe (16221674). U 2 9 o TUB HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. succumbed under the ridicule which Moliere directed against the pedantry of the doctors, who were formerly powerful enough to humiliate the surgeons, by causing their college to be amalgamated with the company of master barbers. The Arts ; French Architecture. The progress of science prepared the means of ameliorating the conditions of life ; art continued to embellish it. But the Italian imagination, so brilliant in the sixteenth century, was now exhausted. Bernini,* in- toxicated by a premature success, endeavoured to surpass his masters, and introduced into architecture, as decorative ele- ments, the excess of ornament, scrolls, festoons, and garlands. Borromini f exaggerated these caprices, which degenerated into extravagances. French architecture was still modelled upon Italian architecture, and followed its blunders. At this epoch it was chiefly dominated by the Jesuit style, perhaps the worst of all -Christian religious styles, marking the curious contrast between the success of the Order in science and education and its absolute failure in art. The French architects borrowed the cupola from the fine buildings in Italy, at first modest in the Church of the Sorbonne, but larger and bolder at Val-de-Grace, and lighter at the Church of the Invalides. Civil architecture was more fortunate. Jacques de Brosse built (towards 1611) the Luxembourg Palace for Marie de Medicis, the facades of which recall the architecture of the interior of the Pitti Palace. Richelieu erected the Palais-Cardinal (now the Palais Royal). Mazarin the College des Quatres Nations (now the Institute). Lemercier J continued the embellishment of Fontaine- bleau, where he developed the plans of Pierre Lescot, and con- structed the central pavilion crowned with a quadrangular dome. Paris was embellished with the triumphal arches of the Porte Saint- Denis, the work of Francois Blondel, and the Porte Saint-Martin. * Jean-Laurent Bernini, born at Naples in 1598, designed the colonnade of St. Peter's Place, the Navone fountain, &c. t Francois Borromini (15991667). J Lemeicier (1595 1660). Francois Blondel, Sieur des Croiscltes (16181686). THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE, ETC. 291 Architecture servilely followed the will of Louis XIV. To satisfy the prince's taste, Claude Perrault placed a colonnacie ; 292 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. in imitation of the antique, in front of the Louvre of the Renais- sance ; he procured a majestic effect with this fine arrangement of fifty-two columns and pilasters coupled and fluted, ninety-one feet high, over a distance of 576 feet. His work at the time excited great enthusiasm. But in Paris Louis XIV. found it impossible to maintain his favourite use of the straight line; he therefore constructed the immense palace of Versailles. Its facade, which looks over the garden, is of imposing dimensions. Jules Hardouin Mansart * had built a magnificent chapel there, and he wished the palace to be of the same height. Louis XIV. refused, to the great detri- ment of the building, over which the chapel dominates like a monstrous cenotaph. Versailles repeats, of course, the colonnade, which was then considered the most perfect form of architectural decoration. French Sculpture ; Puget. Pierre Sarazin continued the tradi- tions of the sculptors of the sixteenth century ; he designed some remarkable mausoleums, and the Caryatides of the central build- ing of the Louvre. f But Pierre Puget, J a free and independent genius, refused to submit to the orders of Louis XIV. 's ministers. Obeying his genius, he did not shrink from the most complicated works. " I am nourished on great works," said he ; "I am at home on them, and the marble yields before me, however large the block." He carved the enormous group of Perseus and Andro- meda, Hercules in repose, Milo of Crotona and the lion, and the bas-relief of Alexander and Diogenes. Painting; the Italian School; Guercino, Albano, Domenichino, Salvator Rosa. Painting, which had been the glory of Italy in the sixteenth century, was still cultivated with ardour. The school of Bologna at last distinguished itself above the others with Guercino, * Jules Hardouin, called Mansart, great-nephew of Fra^ois Mansart (16461708). t Born at Noyon (1588 1660). He built the mausoleums of the Prince de Conde and Cardinal de Berulle. % Pierre Puget, born at Marseilles (16321694). G. F. Barbieri, surnamed il Guercino (15901666). THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR Y LITER A TURE, ETC. 293 flattered by a too-ambitious title, " the magician of painting.'' Albano, * called " the Anacreon of painting," loved to reproduce mythological subjects in small proportions. Domenichino, f one of the chief painters of the Bolognese school, executed some fine reli- gious and secular works ; the Vatican museum possesses his most renowned picture, " The Last Communion of St. Jerome." Guido Reni, J a prolific artist, was more theatrical, and treated his religious subjects with irreverent and even with meretricious prettiness, with sentimentality instead of with true feeling, and he marks the debasement and decline of true religious art. The Neapolitan school boasted of one remarkable and popular artist, Salvator Rosa, at once painter, poet, musician and actor. Born at Naples, he lived chiefly away from his country, distributing his battle-scenes, landscapes, and sea-pieces everywhere. Painting in Spain : Ribera, Velasquez, Murillo. Italy, although in decadence, still attracted and inspired painters. She awakened the genius of the Spanish painter Ribera. || Living like a vaga- bond in Rome, he studied the pictures of Caravaggio and Correggio, then settling at Naples he accumulated wealth, and became one of the most important personages of his time. But though he de- serted his country, he never renounced it, and infused Spanish fire into Italian imitations. He preferred subjects in which he could introduce violent contrasts of light and shade. He was a realist, who revelled in the terrible, the savage, and the hideous, and we are forced to admire the power of his work. * Francesco Albano (15781660). f Domenico Zampieri, called Domenichino (1581 1641). I Guido Reni (15751642). The Louvre possesses a great number of Guide's works, amongst others four large compositions from the History of Hercules. Salvator Rosa (16151673). The moat celebrated picture by Salvator Rosa is the " Cataline's Conspiracy " in the Pitti Palace at Florence. jj Jose Ribera (1588 1659). Naples, in a Carthusian convent now con- verted into a hospital, hasRibera's '' Communion of the Apostles," " The Pro- phets," a " Descent from the Cross " (a masterpiece) ; and at the Museum, " Saint Jerome in the Desert." The Louvre possesses " The Adoration of the Shepherds." At Madrid we find Jacob's Ladder," The Twelve Apostles," " Mary the Egyptian," and " The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew." 294 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Zurbaran * has been surnamed with some exaggeration "the Spanish Caravaggio," probably because of the bluish tints which he preferred, but no one ever depicted the rigours of an ascetic life better than he. Herrera the elder and Pachecof are chiefly distinguished because they were the masters of Velasquez. Velas- quez,! painter and friend of Philip IV., the greatest painter of the Spanish school, succeeded in every style history, portraits, land- scapes, scenes of familiar life, animals, flowers, and fruit. Jean- Jacques Rousseau called him " the man of nature and truth." His portraits are masterpieces and seem almost able to speak. Ve- lasquez was not so ascetically or mystically religious as other Spanish painters, and his paintings have a wider range. He is the artist of the Court rather than of the Convent and the Church. But in Catholic Spain religious painting could not be abandoned, and Murillo rendered it glorious. A follower of Velasquez, he also imitated the Italian masters. At Seville he painted innumerable works for the churches and convents, and many of them have now been collected in a convent, which has been converted into a picture gallery. His Virgins, the ecstasies of the saints, his Annunciations and Assumptions are distinguished by a nameless charm which reproduces the mystical inspiration of the artist, who is classed amongst the glories of Spain and of painting. * Francisco Zurbaran (15981662). t Herrera the Elder (15761656), Pacheco (15711654). % Don Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez (1599 1660). Sixty-four of Velasquez's pictures are in the Royal Museum of Madrid. Amongst his pictures of familiar lite we find " The Spinners," "Vulcan's Forge," " The ] >runkards," " The Scene of the Portrait of the Infanta Margarita," or " The Menins." Amongst the historical pictures we find "The Surrender of Breda," called also " The Picture of Lances." Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618 1682). Amongst his works we notice at Seville " The Multiplication of Loaves in the Desert," ' Moses Striking the Rock," several Madonnas, Conceptions or Apotheoses of the Virgin. The Royal Museum at Madrid possesses forty -five specimens of his work. The Museum of the Hermitage at St. Petersburg has nineteen. The Louvre contains a " Holy Trinity," a " Conception," " The Young Beggar," and " The Virgin," so called of Seville. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE, ETC. 295 But after Murillo and Juan Carreno,* an imitator of Velas- quez, the arts in Spain fell into the decadence that had already affected literature. The languor which had seized the nation spread to literature and art. French Painting : Nicholas Poussin ; Claude Lorraine. In the sixteenth century the French had been not only instructed, but also supplanted in their own country by Italians ; in the seven- teenth they rivalled their teachers. Simon Vouet,f after fourteen years' sojourn in Home, brought back specimens of the Bolognese school, and himself deserved to be a model to the painters who succeeded him. Nicholas Poussin arrived at Rome, like Ribera, as a beggar, settled there, and, like him, remained true to his own country. The grave, austere tendency of his genius was blended with great knowledge of anatomy and philosophy and familiarity with history and poetry. Poussin shows us how much science has done to raise and nourish art. In religious subjects, in secular pictures, and in landscapes, for he cultivated all styles with equal success, Poussin carried the arrangement and com- position of his subjects, the expression of sentiment, and the always noble style of his personages, to great perfection. He is one of the most brilliant disciples of the great Italian masters, and at the same time an original artist who retained in his pictures the logic and good taste that belong to his native land. He is the prince of the elder French school. J * Juan Carreno, died in 1685. f Simon Vouet (15901649), painler to Louis XIII. The works that still exist by him are a "Presentation in the Temple," an "Entombment," a " Madonna," and " Roman Charity." % Nicholas Poussin (1594 1665). Poussin painted several large pic- tures. At Paris we find a "Lord's Supper," "Saint Francis Xavier in India," " Saint James's Vision of the Virgin." But he preferred what are called easel pictures, and we must name amongst his biblical and religious worts "Rebecca at the Fountain," "Moses in the Bulrushee," "Moses Saved from the Water," "Manna in the Desert," " The Judgment of Solo- mon," "The Four Seasons" represented by four pictures, " Adam and Eve," " Ruth and Naomi," " The Return of the Spies from the Promised Land," 296 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Claude Gelee, called Lorraine, first of all French landscape painters, was also influenced by the real Italians. His poetical talent, in love with nature and the real, delighted in landscapes and sea-pieces, the former breathing calm and freshness, the latter sparkling with sunlight. He has been surnamed the " Raphael of landscapes." * J. C. Callot (1592 1685), a really powerful engraver of beg- gars and ruffians, and the picaresque and grotesque style, should not be omitted in the catalogue of French art. Eustache Lesueur (1617 1655) is an example of the clear, correct, classical style, which was now inaugurated, and which dominated French art until the nineteenth century. Lebrun, Mignard, Rigaud, are still more artificial and theatrical, their work is infected by a false mythology, and they are rather decorators than true painters. Flemish Artists in France : Philip de Champaigne ; Van der Meulen. By the side of the French artists, and almost French themselves, worked the artists from the busy hive of Flanders. Fra^ois Porbus,f the younger, who painted portraits of Henry IV., Marie de Medicis, and Louis XIII. ; Jacques Foucquier, Philip de Champaigne, Van der Meulen. For the two last there is almost a contention between Flanders where they were born, and France where they lived. Philip de Champaigne, painter to Anne "The Deluge," one of his masterpieces. The Louvre also possesses an "Adoration of the Magi," "The Rest in Egypt," "The Blind Men in Jericho," " The Vision of St. Paul." As specimens of his secular work, Paris has " The Rape of the Sabines ; " as mythological subjects, " The Death of Eurydice " and "Flora's Triumph." " Arcadia " is one of his most charm- ing pastorals. * Claude Gelee, born in Lorraine (1600 1682). The Louvre contains several landscapes by him, a view of Campo Vaccino in Rome, and some sea- pieces. London, Madrid, St. Petersburg, and many other galleries also possess examples of Claude Lorraine's work. f Frar^ois Porbus (15691622). J Philip de Champaigne was born at Brussels (1602 1674). The Louvre possesses twenty-three pictures by him, amongst them a "Dead Christ " and the portrait of Richelieu. A friend of Port Royal, he also painted a portrait of Sister Angelique Arnauld. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE, ETC. 29? of Austria, worked in France and left most of his pictures there ; they are distinguished by their noble composition, and by the correctness which afterwards became the glory of the French school. Van der Meulen * was the historiographer of Louis XIV. He was present at every war, and reproduced what he saw on large or small canvases, according to his subjects. Although a foreigner, he was so much influenced by French patronage that he consecrated his talent to the glorification of his country's enemy. Greatness of the Flemish School; Rubens. These lead us to the Flemish school itself, the most prolific and most brilliant in the seventeenth century. The Flemings, through their study of Italy, replaced the latter, and the seventeenth century was their golden age. Rubens, f by his prodigious activity, his facility and powerful work, and also by his brilliant colouring, recalled the great artists of the sixteenth century, whom he surpassed by his wealth, his luxury, and the favour which he enjoyed in his own country, in France, Spain, and England, where he was the guest and painter of sovereigns. Religious and mythological, historical and alle- gorical, portrait or landscape, he mastered every style. It was no longer the concentration of an artist striving to attain perfec- tion in a few finished works, but the genius of an artist revelling in the somewhat coarse beauty of the flesh, delighting in difficulties, Van der Meulen, born at Brussels (1634 1690). The Louvre and Ver- sailles contain most of his work. t Peter Paul Rubens, born at Siegen, in the Duchy of Nassau, belonged to a Belgian family, proscribed by the Duke of Alva ; he returned to Belgium young, and settled at Antwerp (1577 1640). His industry was immense, and his pictures are distributed everywhere. Antwerp contains one hundred pictures ; Munich, ninety-three ; Vienna, ninety ; the Prado of Madrid, sixty- six ; the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, sixty-three ; the Louvre, fifty-four ; England, more than two hundred. We must mention some of his most remarkable works: "The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Udefonso" (Museum at Vienna), " The Adoration of the Shepherds " (St. John's Church, Mechlin), " The Last Judgment " (in the Pinakothek at Munich, his largest picture), " The History of Decius " (six pictures at Vienna), a " Miraculous Draught of Fishes" (Church of Notre-Dame at Mechlin), "The Battle of the Amazons" (Munich), " The Descent from the Cross " at Antwerp, the twenty- four pictures in the Medicis Gallery of the Louvre, &o. 20.8 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. in love with his occupation, throwing in the principal lines of his frequently happy compositions, and concealing all imperfections of drawing and unshapeliness of outline under a brilliancy of colour that dazzles the eye. Van Dyck ; Jordaans. Rubens, admired and feted, had a large school, from which some pupils issued that rivalled their master. Van Dyck* travelled like him, and w r as also a favourite with princes. He painted magnificent pictures for churches, but he was chiefly celebrated for his portraits. He painted thirty-eight portraits of Charles I. and Henrietta, without counting nobles or princesses, who eagerly competed for the honour of seeing their own features reproduced on canvas by a brush which gave them the expression and vitality of nature, whilst it flattered them by a distinction and grace peculiar to Van Dyck's work. Jordaens,f another of Rubens' pupils, succeeded equally in portraiture, but he also touched every other subject, religious or popular, allegorical or historical. Gaspard de Grayer treated reli- gious and historical subjects, and with Corneille de Vos deserves mention ; nor must Franz Snyders, the painter of the chase, be forgotten among the contemporaries of Rubens. The Painters of Genre ; David Tenters. David Teniers, son of a painter, son-in-law of Velvet Breughel, raised himself to the first rank by the creation of genre painting. Teniers depicts life, and particularly the Flemish life. Teniers saw with the eyes of genius the blustering sensual life of his fellow-countrymen ; he reproduces the smoky taverns, the card parties, the pots of beer, the abundant feasting, the animated fairs of his country, and portrays initimably the coarse, shrewd humour of the peasants of * Van Dyck, born at Antwerp (1599 1641), died young:, but, nevertheless, left an immense number of works. England alone possesses three hundred and fifty ; Vienna, sixty-seven ; Munich, forty-one ; St. Petersburg, thirty- two ; the Louvre, twenty-four ; Madrid, twenty-one ; and Dresden, nine- teen. f Jean- Jacques Jordaens, born at Antwerp (1593 1678). His two best pictures are in the Brussels Museum. The " Miracle of Saint Martin " and " Autumn ;" the " Satyr " and the " Peasant " (at Munich) are also men- tioned, and the " Triumph of the Prince of Orange," allegory (at Brussels). THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE, ETC. 299 the north. Teniers brings us down to earth ; but better than any historian he has described for us one side of the spirit of his age.* The Dutch School; Rembrandt. Nature awakened the Dutch genius ; the green trees, the damp meadows, the herds of cattle, the sea and the ships, impressed and inspired the artists of the land that has been wrested from water by the patient industry of its inhabi- tants. For a long time the Dutch, united to the Flemings under the Spanish rule, had only the Flemish artists. But art emanci- pated itself at the same time as the country, and in the seventeenth century a school appeared that rivalled the Flemish. Rembrandt was the chief and the most glorious of its masters. Whilst Rubens sought for brilliant light and exaggerated colouring, Rembrandt found new poetry in the opposition of light and shade. He sought for night effects and contrasts of colour. He loved to illumine and brighten his figures on a dark background. His work was con- siderable, and is distributed amongst the different museums of Europe. His masterpieces, "The Anatomy Lesson" (at the Hague), and " The Night Watch," at Amsterdam, are popular classics, continually reproduced by engravings. Rembrandt de- signed his pictures admirably; they at once seize the imagination, and by his cleverly graduated distribution of colours, by his power- ful contrasts, they leave a profound impression. He was also in the first rank of portrait-painters, f * David Teniers (16101694), "born at Antwerp; his pictures are every- where. Madrid has fifty-two ; Vienna, forty-three ; St. Petersburg, forty- six ; the Louvre, thirty-four ; Munich, twenty-nine ; Dresden, twenty-four ; the National Gallery, nineteen. His " Confraternity of the Arquebusiers of Antwerp" is considered his masterpiece. It was painted in 1643, and is now in the Museum of the Hermitage. Forty-five personages are repre- sented, and they are all admirably painted. t Rembrandt Van Ryn (16081674). "We nmst cite besides "The Ana- tomy Lesson" (the Hague) and "The Night Watch" (Amsterdam), " The Syndics of the Corporation of Cloth Merchants at Amsterdam." The Louvre possesses " The Angel Raphael Leaving the Family of Tobit," " The Disciples at Emmaus," "The Good Samaritan ;" Munich has a "Cruci- fixion," an " Entombment," a "Nativity," a " Resurrection," an "Ascen- sion ; " and lastly, the celebrated " Descent from the Cross." England pos- 300 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Gerard Dow ; Terburg ; Metzu. Gerard Dow, the most cele- brated disciple of Rembrandt, was a portrait and genre painter, wbo paid great attention to details and to the subject of his works.* Terburg f followed the same line with equal spirit and brilliancy. Metzu was equally successful with simple subjects, and his pictures reveal correct observation. J To these names we must add those of Mieris, a pupil of Gerard Dow, of Wouvermans, J| who delights in battle pieces, of Van der Hayden, and, above all, of Paul Potter, H the finest animal painter of the age. Ruysdael; Hobbema. Ruysdael** was the head of the landscape school, and was the most poetic of the Northern landscape painters. His country scenes incite to reveries, for Ruysdael not only saw nature, he lived with her and translated her soul. His friend and pupil, Hobbema, ff only painted her smiling and serene. We ought to add the names of many other artists to our list, for Holland boasted of a number of painters of great merit, up to Van Huysum,||: who prolonged the glory of the Dutch school as far as the middle of the eighteenth century, but with whom the school ended. sesses many of his portraits. The Museum at Cassel has twenty-eight of Rembrandt's works. The Hermitage at St. Petersburg contains forty-five. The Dutch School abounds in artists who follow Rembrandt. "We must name Bartholomew Van der Heist ; Albert Cuyp (16051672) ; Adrian Van Ostade (1610 1685), who recalls Teniers by the genre scenes in which he delights. * Gerard Dow (16131680). His masterpiece was the "Dropsical Woman" (Louvre). " The Empiric " (St. Petersburg), " The Charlatan " (Munich), and " The Night School," at Amsterdam, also deserve mention. t Gerard Terburg (16081681). J Gabriel Metzii (16581664). $ Franz Mieris (16351681). || Philip Wouvermans (16201668). IF Paul Potter (16251654). ** Jacques Ruysdael (1620 or 1625 1681). The Louvre contains only a few of his works" The Sunstroke," " The Thicket," a " Tempest; " the Museum at Amsterdam contains a " Waterfall " and a view of the Castle of Bentheim. The Museums of London, St. Petersburg, Munich, and Vienna all possess works by Ruysdael. At Vienna is preserved a masterpiece, " The Forest." ft Mindert Hobbema (1638 1709). His works are rare. At Munich there is a " Dutch Cottage ; " at Berlin, a " Forest of Oaks," &c. tJ John Van Huysum (16821749). THE SE VENTEENTH CENTUR YL ITERA TURE, ETC. 301 The Results of the Seventeenth Century. Art ID the seventeenth century assumed the realistic tone it was to retain. In some degree it descended to earth, although French art still tended towards the idealism of the Italians. Thought, already freed, though the century was given up to intolerance, had opened the vast fields of natural science, where reason braced and strength- ened herself, and by her speculations more and more daring and practical, approached nearer to the Infinite reason, whose laws she had vainly sought to understand by a priori argument. Modern languages had their classical authors, who again inspired others. Science made its appearance with discoveries that have produced marvellous results. Human society was transformed and polished, Kingdoms were established, and England offered a model of liberty. The march of ideas was accelerated in the seventeenth century. Already over Europe, still priest-ridden and still feudal, a breath of criticism was passing, which in the eighteenth century broke down the old barriers, prejudices, and tyrannies. CHAPTER XIII. THE ARTS, SCIENTIFIC AND POLITICAL MOVEMENT OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. SUMMAKY : New Character of Art in the Eighteenth Century Architecture Sculpture Artistic Furniture of Modern Times The styles of Louis XIV., Louis XV., and Louis XVI. French Painting- Painting in Germany and England The Scientific Movement ; Mathematicians ; Euler, d'Alembert, Clairaut, Lagrange Astronomy ; Bradley, Her- echell, Maupertuis, Mechain, Delambre Laplace The Physical Sciences ; Thermometers ; Air Balloons Steam Engines ; Newcomen, James "Watt Electricity Franklin ; Lightning Conductors Dynamic Electricity ; Galvani and Volta Chemistry ; Priestley, Scheelr 1 , Lavoisier The Natural Sciences ; Buff on, Linnaeus Medicine ; Jenner The Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb and for the Blind ; the Abbe de PEpee ; Valentine Haiiy French Literature in the Eighteenth Cen- tury; the Followers of the Traditions of the Preceding Century; Mas- sillon, Saint-SimonDecadence of Poetry Voltaire the Dramatist Voltaire the Author, his Historical Works Voltaire the Philosopher French Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century; Condillac, Helvetius, the " Encyclopedia," d'Alembert, Diderot The Political Writers ; Mon- tesquieu, the " Esprit des Lois" Jean- Jacques Rousseau; the " Contrat Social;" "Emile" Birth of Political Economy; Gournay, Quesnay, Adam Smith The Novel ; Lesage, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre Prose Comedies ; Marivaux, Beaumarchais Character and Influence of French Literature in the Eighteenth Century English Literature ; The Essayists ; Addison The Novel ; Defoe, Fielding Poetry in England Philosophy; History; Eloquence German Literature; Lessing Poetry ; Klopstock Goethe Schiller Wieland German Philosophy ; Kant Italian Literature Music ; its Progress in Modern Times ; Ra- meau, Gluck, Pergolese, Gretry The German School Bach, Handel, Haydn Mozart. New Character of Art in the Eighteenth Century. Art, so brilliant in the seventeenth century, underwent an eclipse in the eighteenth. It seemed as though exhausted, and became second-rate, whilst THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 303 society, which had acquired wealth, sought for and encouraged it more than ever. It failed through imitation, and was less earnest because society ifc.elf had become more frivolous, and re-acting upon art made it the expression of social life. An age of transition the close of the movement commenced in the fifteenth century, the starting point of a new revolution the eighteenth century lived on the past, whilst preparing for the future, enjoyed the advantages already acquired and dreamed of greater ; it still struggled in the midst of confusion produced by the conflict of modern ideas with the shackles of the Middle Ages. It was an age of discussion, of argument, not of sentiment. Now art lives by sentiment. Sceptical or indifferent towards religious questions, the eighteenth century was no longer in- spired by Christianity ; middle class and worldly, it had lost the inspiration of nature ; dry, mocking and frivolous, it had not, even in spite of its humanitarian theories, the inspiration of the heart. Architecture. Already, the architectural works produced in the sevc nteenth century had been perceptibly inferior to those of the sixteenth. The Italian and French architects had confined them- selves to copying, often to dwarfing their models. France can only boast of the architects Louis,* Gabriel,! Servandoni,J and Souffiot. They imitated, either the colonnades of Louis XIV.'s time, or, like Soufflot, the Italian cupolas ; they invented only details, and chiefly sought for the agreeable and pretty. They be- came coquettish to please their century; Oppenordj] even went so far as to introduce the style of the Italian decadence, called the * Louis built the Theatre Francais at Paris, and the galleries, of the Palais- Royal ; at Bordeaux the Grand Theatre, the finest that had yet been seen. t Jacques- Ange Gabriel (17101782) constructed the Ecole Militaire, the buildings in the Place de la Concorde and the Chateau de Compiegne. J Servandoni, born at Florence (1695 1756), settled in France. He de- signed the doorway of Saint-Sulpice. Jacques-Germain Soufflot, born at Irancy (1714 1781), constructed the Pantheon, in imitation of Agrippa's Pantheon, surmounting it, like St. Peter's at Rome, by a high dome supported by a colonnade. |j Gilles- Marie Oppenord was a decorator rather than an architect. 304 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. rococo. In other countries this style became the churriguer- esque, plateresque, and the sham classical where stucco replaces stone. Sculpture. Sculpture, however, maintained its nobility with William Coustou,* andEtienne Falconet,f but Bouchardon J chiefly devoted himself to modelling Cupids and Psyches in the Pompadour style. Houdon also sacrificed himself to this style, but by his statue of Voltaire he belongs to the nineteenth century. In Germany Dannecker has left us his Ariadne. Far superior to any of these, Canova revived true art by his works, which orna- ment Rome and Vienna. Artistic Furniture of Modern Times. One of the most remark- able features of the eighteenth century is the development and transformation of decorative furniture. In the Middle Ages it commanded little attention. A few carved benches placed before the wide chimneys, a few massive chairs, four-post bedsteads raised upon platforms, a few primitive chests, were the sole ornaments of the immense chilly halls of the great castles. Turners and wood carvers chiefly occupied themselves in decorating the stalls in the churches. In the sixteenth century, furniture still perpetuated the Gothic forms. The Renaissance revived a taste for the classical, and ornamented furniture, like architecture, imitated its pediments and arcades. The articles of furniture employed for domestic purposes became more numerous, the exploration of distant countries excited a taste for Eastern curiosities, painted boxes from Turkey, Oriental carpets, Chinese porcelain. The Renaissance style was most * William Coustou (16781746), brother to Nicholas, carved the Ecuyers de Marly, now removed to the Champs-Elysees. t Etienne Falconet (17161791) executed the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, now at St. Petersburg. { Edmund Bouchardon (1698 1752). 5 Canoya (1757 1822) designed at Rome, in the Church of the Apostles, the mausoleum of Clement XIV. ; at St. Peter's, the tomb of Pius VI., and other works now in the Vatican Museum; at Vienna, the mausoleum of Maria-Christina of Austria, daughter of Maria Theresa. He also wrought the fine group of " Theseus Conquering the Minotaur." THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 305 graceful ; it was the epoch when the credence, a simple table in- tended for the testing of the viands, became a carved, ornamental buffet; or a cabinet, presenting an architectural effect, carved with figures in relief, medallions with busts, and arabesques. Woods softer and finer than oak were eagerly sought for; first walnut was used, then ebony, enlivened with inlaying of mother-of- peaii and ivory. The Italians particularly excelled in this manufac- ture, which led to marquetry, with woods of different colours. Boule, or Buhl, Furniture ; the Styles of Louis XIV., Louis XV., and Louis XVI. In the seventeenth century, under Henry IV. and Louis XIII., an epoch of transition, furniture was remark- able for its carvings, but heavy and cumbersome in appearance. The cabinet became a sideboard, a chest arranged with drawers. Louis XIV., who aimed at grandeur, retained the vast dimensions of the furniture ; but he was also anxious that it should look well in his immense apartments, where the walls and ceilings were pictures framed in gilded reliefs, or were hidden under magnificent Gobelins tapestries. The celebrated cabinet-maker, Andre Charles Boule,* then appeared. He conceived the idea of making his furni- ture in ebony, and covering large surfaces with devices in thin tortoiseshell inlaid as arabesques, with foliage and ornaments of brass and copper, relieved with engravings by hand. This brilliant mosaic was accompanied with bas-reliefs in chased and gilded bronze masks, foliage, mouldings, entablatures, corner pieces, which formed a frame to the design and points of light, which prevented the eye from losing itself in unmeaning confusion. Boule's furniture was most appropriate for the decoration of the gigantic drawing- rooms and state apartments fashionable under Louis XIV. ; large ornamental consoles filled the spaces between the windows and were laden with gold, jasper, porphyry vases, with gilded mountings and garlands, reflected in innumerable mirrors, t Furniture had adopted the style which it still retains, only varied in its ornaments. Boule first opened the school ; he had four sons and several pupils, who gave the tone to the eighteenth century. * Boule (16421732). f Jacquemart, " Histoire du Mobilier." x 306 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Furniture then became the chief object. Louis XV. avoided large apartments, and preferred small rooms, tiny retreats, where the walls were hidden by simple wood panellings elegantly carved and relieved by golden lines. Nobles and commoners imitated the king. Life became less solemn, more friendly. Comfort was com- bined with elegance, variety and softness in chairs, a profusion of small objects, commodes, chiffoniers with drawers and secretaires. The coquetry of women reacted upon the decoration of apartments. The taste of the century was reflected in the capriciously varied shapes of the furniture. However, a reaction took place towards the end of Louis XV.'s reign. The simplicity, though artificial, of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette affected it, and from that time furniture, whilst still elegant, has been more regular, preserves the graceful style that characterized it in the reign of Louis XVI., and is better adapted to manners becoming more and more bourgeois, and to moderate fortunes, that each day become more numerous. French Painting. French painting easily adapted itself to the new tastes, and the light graceful compositions of Watteau* and Boucher, f suffice as examples of that smiling art, which only seeking flowers, garlands and love, falsifies nature under pretext of loving it, and falls into affectation under the name of ele- gance. Nature herself reappeared upon the canvas, with the sea pieces of Joseph Vernet,| and the village scenes, the poetic figures by Greuze, the precursor of the following century, at the opening of which he died. Painting in Germany and England. On the other hand coun- tries which had not before produced anything now opened schools of artists. Germany, sterile since Albert Diirer, boasted, in the * "Watteau (16841721). He chiefly excelled in pictures of elegant festivals. t Boucher (1730 1770). In the midst of insipid, fanciful landscapes he places shepherdesses and sheep not less be-ribboned than their guardians. j Joseph Vernet (17141789). One gallery in the Louvre is entirely filled with, his sea pieces. Greuze (1725 1805); one of his finest pictures is the "Accordee de Village." THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 307 eighteenth century, of Denner,* who was so skilful in his profes- sion that he was continually attempting the impossible ; of Die- trich, f a talented copyist rather than an original artist, and above all of Raphael Mengs, J a follower of the Italians, a patient worker, who widely influenced and gave a false bias to the Spanish school, but completed only a few pictures. The English also at length profited by the lessons of the Italians and Flemish artists. In the eighteenth century they had, if not a school, at least some celebrated artists, William Hogarth, excellent as a painter of contemporary manners, and as a moralist in art. Reynolds,|| supreme in portraiture, and not less distinguished as a writer on art, is considered the first great English painter. Gainsborough, 1T great as a portrait painter, was especially the founder of the English school of landscape-painting, of which he is among the best representatives. The Scientific Movement; Mathematicians; Euler, d'Alembert, Clairaut, Layrange. England and Germany were unequal to the task of reviving art, exhausted as it was in France, in Flanders, in Holland, as well as in Italy and Spain. But they had an important share in the scientific and literary movement, the most honourable characteristic of the eighteenth century, and the first step towards future progress. A family of savants, natives of Switzerland, but settled in Italy, had, during the eighteenth century, continued the mathematical work commenced in the preceding century ; these were the Bernouilli,** * Balthazar Denner, of Hamburg (16851747). t Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, Weimar (17121774). Dresden possesses fifty-one pictures by him. { Raphael Mengs, born in Bohemia (17281779). His father, a painter in enamel, in order to force him to study the great masters, shut him into the Vatican with bread and water. The Museum at Madrid contains a great " Adoration of the Shepherds " by him. William Hogarth (16971764). The National Gallery contains his " Marriage a la Mode " and the " Cock Fight." || Reynolds (17231792). IT Thomas Gainsborough (17271788). Richard Wilson is also mentioned (17141782). ** Jean Bernouilli (16671748). His brother Jacques, then Nicolas and Daniel Bernouilli. We must add for Italy, G. Riccati (Venice, 16761734). So8 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. who particularly devoted themselves to the calculation of proba- bilities. England boasts of many distinguished mathematicians.* Germany is particularly honoured by the celebrated Euler,f who, although born at Basle, lived at St. Petersburg and Berlin. He wrote for a Princess of Anhalt-Dessau, " Letters upon some Subjects of Physics and Philosophy," which brought science with- in the range of all. He formulated the integral calculus, the inverse of differential calculus. The small republic of Geneva, afterwards a literary centre, had also its savants, amongst others Gabriel Cramer, author of an " Introduction to the Analysis of Curved Lines in Algebra; " and the Trembleys, a family of savants like the Bernouilli. France produced brilliant mathematicians. D'Alembert, \ de- serted as a child by his parents, was gifted with such extra- ordinary facility for calculations that at twenty- four he was a member of the Acad^mie des Sciences ; he wrote a " Treatise upon the Integral Calculus," a " Treatise on the Equilibrium and Move- ment of Fluids ; " he also took part in all the great astronomical works. Clairaut, like d'Alembert, was an infant prodigy, and at twelve years old attracted the attention of the learned world by a memoir on four Geometrical Curves. He afterwards travelled to Lapland with Maupertuis, to measure a degree of meridian, and also to make immense calculations upon Halley's comet. He also published " Elements of Geometry." Lastly, Lagrauge || ac- quired universal renown by his " Analytical Mechanics," his "Cal- culation of Variations;" his glorious career was prolonged into the first years of the nineteenth century. Napoleon called him " the high pyramid of mathematical science." * Chiefly, Brook Taylor (London, 1685 1731) ; Roger Cotes, professor at Cambridge (1682 1716); MacLaurin (York, 16981746); Matthew Stewart (Edinburgh, 17171785) . t Euler (Leonard) (1707 1783). Another savant, Henry Lambert, born at Mulhouse, died at Berlin (17281777). He was at the same time a mathematician and astronomer. J D'Alembert (Jean Lerond) (17171783). Clairaut (1713 1765). || Lagrange, born at Turin, settled in "France (17361813). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 309 Astronomy ; Bradley, Herschell, Maupertuis, Mechain, Delambre, Sc. French, German, and English were seized with noble emulation, all striving to formulate with precision the laws of astronomy, that had been dimly seen during the preceding cen- tury. In England, Bradley,* by the observation of a slight move- ment of the stars, was led to explain it by the mutation of the earth's axis, combined with that of the light of the stars: he thus discovered the cause of the aberration of light, and at the same time proved the truth of the systems of Copernicus and Galileo. Instruments for observation were then perfected, and Herschell, born at Hanover, first introduced reflecting telescopes. Herscheli, who settled in England himself in 1774, constructed a reflecting telescope, with which he observed Saturn's ring and Jupiter's satel- lites. He afterwards discovered the planet Uranus, thus further extending for us the limits of the celestial world. f In France the Academic des Sciences and the Government com- missioned (1735) Godin, Bouger, and La Condamine to go to Peru, in the Western hemisphere, with the Spaniard Ulloa, to measure an arc of the meridian near the equator. Maupertuis ,| on his side, left (1736) for Lapland, with Clairaut, Camus, Le Mormier, and the Swedish Professor Celsius. Lacaille also under took the works of triangulation to verify the great meridian of France. These voyages and studies served to prove the flattening of the earth at the poles, and the measurement of a degree of the meridian seemed to the Constituent Assembly to be the surest basis for the determination of the unity of measure, or the metre. Mechain jj * James Bradley, professor at Oxford University (1692 1762). t William Herschell (17381822). J Moreau de Maupertuis, born at Saint-Malo (16981759), was invited by Frederic II. to reorganize the Academy at Berlin. He was chiefly celebrated for his disagreement with Voltaire. Lacaille (17131762). || Andre Mechain, born at Laon (17441805), aided Cassini deThury and Legendre to determine the idifference of longitude between the observa- tories of Paris and Greenwich, and contributed to the " Connaissance des Temps." 310 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. and Delambre * measured the meridian between Dunkerque and Barcelona, and later on Arago and Biot continued their measure- ments in Spain.f D'Alembert and Lagrange also contributed to the progress of astronomy by studying the librations of the moon. Fontenelle,j at the same time author and savant, had as it were prepared for these great works by his popular book, " Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds." Lalande engraved a celebrated astronomical map, and being an eminent professor, educated a great number of pupils. Bailly|| also merited a high rank amongst learned men by his " History of Astronomy," before he presided over the Revolution, of which he was one of the most celebrated victims. Laplace. But one name stands out above all others; it is that of Laplace, 11 who resumed Newton's calculations. He ex- plained the movements of the stars, the inequalities of the planets, and formulated with regard to Jupiter's satellites two theorems, known by the name of the laws of Laplace. The penetrating genius of Newton had been baffled by certain variations, which to him appeared inexplicable. He thought that the world's system at certain times required the intervention of the Creator, to restore its equilibrium. Laplace solved the problem and justified the eternal wisdom of God, who does not need to retouch His work, but who has traced unalterable laws without a flaw. The great mathematician recognised that if the planetary ellipses are variable the great axis of each orbit remains the same ; and consequently the revolution of each planet is limited to an impassable course. * Joseph "Delambre, born at Amiens (17491805), had a large part in the elaboration of the metric system, but was particularly distinguished for his " History of Astronomy." f This was the largest arc then measured. It has lately been continued from Mount Mulahacen, across the Mediterranean, to the Atlas range. % Fontenelle, died in 1757, it is said in his hundredth year. Lalande (17321807). II Bailly (1736 1793). IT Laplace (1749 1827). Although he lived into the nineteenth century, Laplace is still one of the most illustrious savants of the eighteenth. His masterpiece was the " Treatise on Celestial Mechanics," published in 1799. THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 311 Besides this, Laplace studied the lunar perturbations and proved that the rotatory movement of the earth round its axis is invariable. He also explained the equilibrium of Saturn's rings. Physical Sciences ; Thermometers ; Air Balloons. The physical sciences, which had been backward until then, now seemed by their activity anxious to regain lost time. Experiments with the thermometer, commenced in the seventeenth century, were con- tinued into the eighteenth by Fahrenheit,* then by Reaumur,! and by the Swede Celsius. J Towards the end of the century the brothers Montgolfier made (1783) their first experiments with air- balloons at Annonay, before the states of the province of Vivarais. Invited by the Academic des Sciences to go to Paris, they repeated their experiments at Versailles, in presence of Louis XVI. The 21st of November in the same year, Stephen Montgolfier dis- patched another balloon from the Chateau de la Muette, in which Pilatre de Rozier boldly ascended. Man essayed to take possession of the air ; but although the science of air-balloons has since made some progress he has not yet succeeded. Steam-Engines ; Newcomen ; James Watt. Man has learned to discipline the forces of nature in a wonderful way. An iron- monger and a glazier from Dartmouth, Devonshire, Newcomen and Cowley, taking advantage of the discoveries made in the preceding century with regard to steam, constructed engines furnished with boilers, in which the steam was formed, and with them succeeded in pumping mines. But although this first attempt was of the greatest importance, it cannot be compared to the labours of Janies Watt. This poor workman, an artisan of a town in Scotland, invented some improvements that almost formed the modern steam-engine. Instead of condensing the steam in the same cylinder in which it worked the piston, he conducted it * Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (16901740) constructed a thermometer with spirits of wine, and afterwards with mercury, divided into 212 degrees. f The Reaumur thermometer, divided into 80 degrees, was invented in 1730. | The Celsius, or Centigrade, thermometer dates from 1742. James Watt (17361819). 3 12 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. into a separate receptacle, where it returned to liquid : he had discovered the condenser. He also invented the system by which the steam acts upon both sides of the piston, and found means to transmit two successive movements to the beam of the machine, resulting from the raising and lowering of the piston. Finally, by the use of the crank, he transformed the reciprocating movement of the propeller of the machine into a rotatory move- ment. A French engineer, Joseph Cugnot, constructed in 1770 some steam-carriages, which, although unserviceable, were the first attempts at locomotives. In America, Oliver Evans, the inventor of the high-pressure machine, built in 1790 some steam- carriages that travelled on the usual roads. This was a complete revolution, the importance of which was little suspected. Electricity. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries men first suspected the existence of electricity. The Englishman Hauksbee succeeded in 1709 in constructing an electric machine, by replacing the sulphur machine of Otto de Guericke by a glass globe rubbed by the hand. Stephen Gray and Wheeler, also English- men, continued (1729) these experiments on electricity, and dis- covered that there were conducting and non-conducting substances. D. Dufay,* a French naturalist and physician, formulated a theory of electricity, in which he recognised the two sorts ; he proved that electric sparks could be drawn from the human body. The Abbe Nollet f aided Dufay in his labours, and afterwards continued them. The Germans, Boze, Wolfius, and Winckler, modified the electric machine, which was still further perfected by the Eng- lishman Ramsden. At Leyden, in Holland, Munschenbroek, while electrifying water in a phial, accidentally placed one hand upon the metallic conductor which led the electricity from the machine into the water ; he instantly felt so violent a shock in the arms and chest that he thought he was killed. This accident led to the invention of the Leyden jar (1745). The Abbe Nollet, in Paris, Watson * D. Dufay (16981739), f Nollet (17001770). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 313 and Bevis in England, also made curious experiments on the transmission of electricity, at the same time giving the Leyden jar its definite form. Franklin; Lightning Conductors. These studies in electricity suggested to the scientists, Gray, Nollet, Barberet, and Romas, its connection with thunder. In America, Franklin, at first printer and publisher, natural philosopher, politician, and diplomatist, invented a curious experiment with a kite which he launched into the air, near Philadelphia, during a storm (1752). The same experiment was at that time being repeated in Paris by Dalibard, with a long iron wire on an isolated body. Buffon repeated it again with an iron rod, placed upon his Chateau de Montbard. Professor Richmann, a member of the Scientific Academy at Saint Petersburg, died, stricken by lightning, at the moment when he was essaying some new experiments (1753). De Romas, the same year, resumed them at Nerac with more success, obtaining conclusive evidence. The principle of lightning conductors was found. Franklin erected the first at Philadelphia in 1760, but time was still required before this protective invention, enthusiastically adopted in America, was used in England in 1762, and it was not used in France before 1782. Sir W. Snow Harris applied it to ships in 1830. Dynamic Electricity ; Galvani and Volta. Galvani,* a professor at Bologna, was led by some experiments upon frogs, to affirm the existence of an electricity which he believed to be distinct from atmospheric electricity, and which he called animal electricity ; we now call it dynamic electricity (1789). Volta,f disputing Galvani's theories, placed on the contrary the source of electricity in metals, while the Bolognese professor placed it in the bodies of animals. He constructed (1799) with pieces of copper or silver joined to pieces of zinc, yet separated by pieces of cardboard soaked in salt water, a pile which accu- mulated electricity at each extremity or pole, at the one positive electricity, at the other negative electricity. This pile formed a * Galvani (17371798). f Alexander Volta, born at Como (17451827). 314 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. current, and its power was destined to produce marvels that daily become more astonishing. Chemistry ; Priestley, Scheele, and Lavoisier. Chemistry really appeared in the eighteenth century, with Priestley, Scheele, and Lavoisier. The Englishman Priestley,* experienced in nearly every science, made numerous experiments upon the gases, and investi- gated particularly the properties of carbonic acid gas, oxygen, azote, oxide of carbon, and bicarburated hydrogen. Scheele,! who was born at Stralsund, but lived in Sweden, made new discoveries about oxygen and the analysis of the air, disco- vered chlorine, arsenic acid, Prussian blue, prussic acid, oxalic acid, &c. In France the eminent Lavoisier J solved the composition of the atmosphere, decomposed and recomposed water. In 1783 he made some admirable experiments before Louis XVI. and several savants ; he really founded the school of modern chemistry. Berthollet, Fourcroy, Cavendish, Lavoisier's disciples, continued his labours ; Guyton de Morveau of Dijon, Berthollet of An- necy, Fourcroy, born in Paris, by their instruction, aided greatly in diffusing a taste for chemistry. In England, Cavendish distin- guished himself by his experiments upon hydrogen, nitric acid, &c. To these names we must add the Irishman Kirwan, and the German Goettling. The Natural Sciences; Buffon, Linnaeus. The natural sciences were defined, enriched by careful observations, and at last reduced to accurate classification. Buffon,|| an elegant writer as well as an illustrious student, deserves to be called father of natural history, and by his clear, interesting style has added greatly to men's knowledge of and * Joseph Priestley (17331804). t Charles William Scheele (17421786). J Lavoisier (17431794). Guyton de Morveau (1737 1816) ; Claude Louis Berthollet (17481822) ; Ant. Fourcroy (17551809) ; Cavendish (17311810) ; Kirwan (17501812); Goettling (1755 1809). || Jean-Louis Leclerc, Count de Buffon, born at Montbard (Cote-d'or) (17071788). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 3'5 taste for that science. Daubenton studied animals anatomically, and was the first to reconstruct fossil animals. He introduced merino sheep into France. The Swede Linnaeus* formed an ingenious botanical classification, which was in use for a long time. Medicine; Jenner. The progress of natural sciences added greatly to the advance of medicine, which, freed in the preceding century from the yoke of routine, made fresh steps forward with the Frenchmen Bordeuf and Barthez.J In Paris, the Royal Society of Medicine was founded in 1778. In Italy, Vallisneri was both naturalist and doctor ; Spallanzani, || an anatomist, made important observations upon the circulation of the blood, the digestion, &c. Morgagni II inaugurated pathological anatomy. In England, Cheselden,** a surgeon, attempted the first operation upon cataract, and restored sight to one that was born blind. Lastly, Jenner ft remarked that inoculation with cowpox preserved from smallpox, that formidable scourge which, until then, no one had been able to combat. His successful experiments created a great sensation, and won for him honours that could not be too great considering the service he rendered to humanity. The Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb and for the Blind ; the Abbe de VEpee; Valentine Hauy. The highest ambition began to be devoted to the relief of suffering humanity. The Abbe de l'Epee,J J following the principles taught in Spain by the Benedictine Pedro Ponce (1520 1584) and improved by Juan P. Bonnet (1620), enabled the deaf and dumb to share in life's duties and pleasures, by substituting the movements of the hands for the sounds of the voice, and by creating a visible alphabet which replaced the ears * Charles Linnaeus, born at Rashult, in Sweden (1707 1778), t Bordeu (1722 1776). % Barthez, born at Montpellier (17341800). Vallisneri (16611730). || Spallanzani (17291799). IT Morgagni (16821771). ** Cheselden (16881752). ft Jenner, born at Berkeley, Gloucester (1749 1823), %\ Charles Michel, Abbe de TEj^ee, born at Versailles (1712 1789). 36 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. by the eyes. On the other hand, for those who were deprived of sight, Valentine Haiiy,* brother to the mineralogist, invented an alphabet in relief, and replaced the lost sense by the sense of touch, developed to marvellous accuracy and delicacy. Lastly, Doctor Pinel,f protesting against the barbarous methods of treating the insane, who were, at that time, kept in chains, treated them as invalids, who could be cured, or at least relieved, by kindness and attentive care. These are three great conquests of civilization, victorious over the infirmities of nature. French Literature in the Eighteenth Century ; the Followers of the Traditions of the Preceding Century; Massillon ; Saint-Simon. One century cannot separate itself from the traditions of the age preceding it. What Linnrcus said of nature, " She does not advance by bounds," can also be asserted of literature. The classical and religious traditions of the seventeenth century were at first continued even in the midst of the licence of the eighteenth century. Massillon, who had already attracted some attention at the end of the preceding century, J prolonged the glory of the Christian pulpit by his Lenten sermons. More rhetorical, less earnest, less of a theologian than his predecessors, he was equally popular. His sermons mark the beginning of a style which culminated in Scotland in the sermons and rhetoric of Hugh Blair (1718 1800). Saint-Simon carefully concealed his wonderful " Memoirs," in which he paints the opening of the eighteenth century, as well as relates the misfortunes of the end of the seventeenth. But, although antagonistic to Louis XIV., Saint-Simon is still a man of the past, tainted by the privileges of the nobles, not comprehending the working of the ideas that he was watching, preoccupied with the * Valentine Haiiy (17451822). f Pinel (17451826). J Massillon (1663 1743), priest of the Oratory, afterwards Bishop of Cler- mont, preached before the aged Louis XIV. during several Lents, and his masterpiece, the " Petite Careme," was preached before Louis XV., then a child. Saint-Simon (1675 17oo). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 317 pettiness of an etiquette which his vanity raised to the proportions of State events. His style, although very original and quite personal, still retained the long periods and even the spirit, indeed sometimes the incoherence, of the sixteenth century. Decadence of Poetry. Poetry disappeared in this new society, intoxicated with the progress of wealth, mocking, sceptical, or even materialist. The lyrical impulse of J. B. Rousseau came from the mind, not from the heart.* Gresset's " Vert Vert," the history of a parrot, is a masterpiece of light and graceful verse. Gilbert's satires were powerless against the mocking tone of the age ; his last verses on his own approaching death surpass in true pathos, and are almost equal in form, to Gray's " Elegy." Only one poet foreshadowed the Renaissance of true poetry, Andre Che- nier,f whose genius was unfortunately cut short by the revolu- tionary axe. He was a Greek by birth and spirit. Comedy in verse now languished far behind Moliere or even Reynard, with Destouches,J Piron, author of the " Metromanie," and Gresset, the author of the " Mechant," mentioned above. But comedy was fortunately transformed at this epoch by its alliance with music. Favart || and SedainelT mark the rise of comic opera, which has so completely usurped the place of the older " Masques." Voltaire (1694 1778); his Plays. Tragedy was attempted by the genius of Voltaire, a man of universal genius, poet, philoso- pher, and historian, whose name alone symbolises the epoch. Voltaire filled the eighteenth century with his life and works. In taste a disciple of the writers of the preceding century, an admirer of the ancients, whom he really never understood, he trod the road opened by Corneille and Racine ; while a residence beyond the Channel had introduced him to Shakespeare.** But Voltaire * Jean Baptiste Rousseau (16701741). Gresset (17091777). Gilbert (17511780). f Andre Chenier (17621794). % Destouches (1680-1754). Piron (1689 1V73). || Favart (1712 1792). 11 Sedaine (1719 1797). ** The principal tragedies by Voltaire are, " GEdipus " (1718), "Brutus" 31 8 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. made his tragedies a medium of political, of so-called philoso- phical, and even of anti- Christian propaganda. He never misses an opportunity of attacking religious faith, without, however, directly assaulting Catholicism. The same philosophical and poetic ten- dencies reappear in the "Henriade," in which he unsuccess- fully attempted to give France a national poem. His utter want of the true patriotism and earnestness required for such a pur- pose are shown in " La Pucelle," a licentious libel on the noble life of the " Maid of Orleans," and a lasting disgrace to its au- thor. Voltaire, the Prose Writer ; his Historical Works. Voltaire was more at home in prose. It was his proper weapon. He wielded it as no one else had done before him, and moulded it to the image of his intellect. He is the true father of modern French, clear, unam- biguous, pleasant without pretension, noble without heaviness, grave without pedantry, lively without vulgarity. He applied this animated style to history, and gave admirable models of narrative in "Charles XII.," and the "Century of Louis XIV." History in his hands was lacking in earnestness, but he appreciated it as an art. Voltaire the Philosopher. But Voltaire was philosopher and philanthropist above all. Not a philosopher in the scientific, nor a philanthropist in the religious sense. His philosophy, and we use this expression for want of another term, consisted in subjecting everything to the examination of reason, to argument, to a search for truth. His philanthropy consisted in hatred of intolerance of all kinds ; he thus put an end to the persecution of Protestants in France, though he had no sympathy with their doctrine. He chiefly constituted himself the defender of the generous ideas of humanity, of tolerance and justice, and his influence, like his popularity, was immense, increasing with his age and the diffusion of his ideas. French Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century ; Condillac } Helvetius, the Encyclopedia, d'Alembert, Diderot. Doctrinal phi- (1730), "Zaire" (1732), the "Death of Csesar" (1733), "Alzire" (1736), " Mahomet" (1741), and Merope," (1743). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 319 losophy in the eighteenth century owed its existence in France solely to Condillac,* who, resuming and exaggerating the theories of Locke, asserted that everything in us springs from sensation. This theory of sensation was also taught by Helvetius,! and resulted in a doctrine of materialised Epicureanism utterly inimical to true morality. La Mettrie J and d'Holbach also propagated this specious philosophy. No fresh discoveries either in science or philosophy came from this school. Their great literary product was the " Encyclopaedia," whose chief editors were d'Alembert and Diderot, || both masters of a clear scientific style ; the influence of the " Encyclopaedia " on the age was immense ; but rather on the world of practical politics and current thought than on that of strict science and literature. To philosophers we can add moralists, but only in small numbers, particularly Vauvenargues,Hwho preserved the traditions of the seventeenth century, and who resembles both Pascal and de la Bruyere. The Political Writers; Montesquieu (1689 1755), the " Esprit des Lois." This contradictory age, in spite of its frivolity, produced some deeper thinkers, like Montesquieu. He passed twenty years in writing a single book, the " Esprit des Lois," which analysed the different forms of government and the various legislations which had succeeded and combated each other in the world. Montesquieu admired the English government more than any other, and proposed to adopt it as a model : his book, one of the few legal and political treatises which can be read with pleasure as a work of literature, dealt a serious blow to absolute monarchy in France. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (17121778) ; the " Contrat Social," * Condillac (17141780). f Helvetius, born at Paris, the descendant of a Dutch family (17151771). t La Mettrie (17091751). D'Holbach (17231789). || Diderot (17131784). H Vanvenargues, born at Aix (1715 1747). He wrote an " Introduction to the Knowledge of the Human Mind," followed by "Reflections and Maxims." 320 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. " Emile." The name of Rousseau attained the same rank as those of Montesquieu and Voltaire, and exercised probably a greater in- fluence on his contemporaries. Born in" the city of Geneva, which was then a centre of French learning, Rousseau went early to France, where, being poor, he was forced to ply all kinds of trades to earn his living and his education. He was a self-made man ; and this fact inspired him with too much pride to allow him to believe in any one but himself. His work is the result of a current of thought which may be traced from Fenelon and Bernardin de St. Pierre down to the Revolution. His false sentiment, his morbid sensuality, his artificial view of nature, influenced a whole school of literature, of which Cha- teaubriand in France, the early writings of Schiller and Goethe in Germany, and Byron in England may be considered as ex- amples. His " Contrat Social " is echoed in the " Declaration des Droits de rHomme " in 1789. His "Emile" marks an epoch in the history of education. His " Confessions " are the antithesis of those of St. Augustin, and might be almost called an apology for vice. In style he marks a new era, he leaves an impression of deeper earnestness, he can play as an ar,tist with the strings of passion and of pathos ; it is not the merely cynical mocking persiflage of Voltaire and the Encyclopedists. Morbid, half insane, as his nature was, he has deeper power to move his readers than these more brilliant, but no less superficial writers. In some remote degree he may be considered as the founder of the Romantic school, and of the new feeling for nature. Birth of Political Economy : Gournay, Quesnay, Adam Smith. But a new science was now rising, destined eventually to over- throw the sentimental and unpractical political philosophy of the school of Rousseau : this was political economy. Towards the end of Louifi XIV. 's reign, Vauban and Bois-Guillebert had directed their attention towards the financial and commercial organization of the State. Vauban had displeased the King, and affected public opinion by his book on the dime royale (the royal tithes). Bois- THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 321 Guillebert, a Royal Intendant, had protested against the abuses of the protective system and the tyranny of the internal taxation.* But the real authors of political economy belong to the eighteenth century, Gournay f and Quesnay. J Gournay's axiom was the celebrated motto applied to the Manchester school of our day, Laisser faire, laisser aller, that is to say : everybody has a right to make what he likes, and how he likes, to sell every kind of merchandise at the price that suits him best to any purchaser he can find. Quesnay the son of a lawyer, a distinguished surgeon, doctor to King Louis XV., who called him his thinker, probably because he felt the need of having some one who thought for him studied chiefly rural interests. He sacrificed everything to agriculture, apparently considering industry as merely a source of revenue. The theory of the Scotchman Adam Smith, who lived for some time in France, was more general and more just : in his eyes wealth consisted in labour. He demanded liberty for labour. A visit to a pin manufactory taught him another principle, the division of labour. He was also the first to establish the law of supply ana demand upon the rise and fall of prices. The Novel: Lesage ; Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. Lesage, || in his amusing book of " Gil Bias," took up the picaresque or reali tic style. " Gil Bias " is perhaps the best description of the life of another country ever written by a foreigner. Spaniards long refused to believe that the tale had not been stolen from one of themselves. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre II has also survived with his charming idyll of " Paul et Virginie," which seemed already inspired by the truer sentiments of the succeeding century, and acquired an immense popularity, not in France alone, but in all neighbouring countries. Voltaire aimed chiefly at satire in his novels. * Bois-Guillebert, or Guilbert, died in 1714. t Gournay, born at Saint Malo (17121759). I Quesnay (16941774). Adam Smith (17231790). || Lesage (16681747). U Bernardin de Saint Pierre (17371814). Y 322 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Prose Comedies : Marivaux ; Beaumarchais. Comedy lan- guished in verse, but the light, witty prose of the eighteenth century was admirably handled in the theatre. Lesage wrote " Turcaret," a remarkable picture of the financiers of the times. Marivaux,* avoiding great subjects, and devoting himself to sentiment, almost fell back into the language of the precieuses. He added to it so much grace and delicacy that his comedies are still favourites with literary men. At the end of the century the tone was raised. Comedy became an aggressive weapon with Beaumarchais,! who dared to place on the stage social questions, which were becoming more and more burning. He created the immortal type of " Figaro," the incarnation of the equalizing aspirations of the people. He concealed his attacks against the nobility in pieces so diverting, so amusing, that the nobles themselves applauded them. However, putting the allusions on one side, the " Barber of Seville" and the "Marriage of Figaro" are excellent comedies, written in a witty, satirical style, and still hold their own in literature and on the stage, like the plays of Goldsmith and Sheridan in English. Character and Influence of French Literature in the Eighteenth Century. Play or novel, works of economist, philosopher or his- torian, had at that period another aim as well as the great object of pleasing the reader. Authors put forth ideas which soon trans- lated themselves into facts. The literature of the seventeenth century, nobler, more majestic, more serious, held itself aloft in the higher spheres of art and sentiment. It had above all contributed to the formation of taste, still contributes to it, and remains a most substantial nourishment for the soul and the intellect. The authors of the eighteenth century worked chiefly for their own time. Literature had never given greater proof of the influence which it exercises over politics. As we shall see later on, the * Marivaux (16881763). f Pierre- Augufctiu Caron de Beaumarchais (17321799). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 323 French Revolution proceeded directly from the philosophical movement. Moreover, this influence was universal. The writers of the seventeenth century had been admired by the whole of Europe ; those of the eighteenth were sought for with keener interest. France, declining from a political point of view during the sad reign of Louis XV., exercised an intellectual supremacy over the neighbouring nations, thirsting for every work published in Paris. Voltaire, Diderot, and D'Alembert were cultivated by sovereigns, who invited them to their courts or maintained an active corre- spondence with them. English Literature ; the Essayists ; Addison. ^The impulse given to literature in England in the seventeenth century continued. The appearance of periodical publications, the Essayists, the press, had been one of the results of the Revolution of 1688. Daniel Defoe,* the first of the political Essayists or pamphleteers, commenced in Newgate Prison the publication of the "Review," which appeared three times a week, and which he edited without assistance during nine years. Steele then published the " Tatler " (1709), and the " Spectator" (1711), of which Addison was the chief editor, and which was considered the best among these periodicals.! Addison, inferior as a poet but noticeable as a critic, nourished on the study of the ancients, was above all an amiable, pleasant moralist, striving to extend the love of virtue. His polished and elegant style is, however, a little tedious, it recalls the traditions of the French school of the seventeenth century, although the substance of his work was impressed with the bourgeois character of the reign of Queen Anne and the first George. The Novel : Defoe ; Fielding. Daniel Defoe, who created the review, also brought the novel into fashion, by fictions to which * Daniel Defoe (1663-1731). t The Reviews published during the eighteenth century : the " Rambler," the "Idler," the "Adventurer," the "Mirror," the "Lounger." Edinburgh became a particularly important literary centre. 324 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. he gave an air of complete veracity. He captivated his readers by the apparent truthfulness of his narrations, and the "Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" are still popular all over the world. Richardson,* in his novels, followed rather the example in style, but not in morals, of the French school. His novels are written for women, Fielding's for men. Fielding! did not shrink from painting vice, and in knowledge of human nature and sheer strength as a writer, stands high above his contemporaries. Goldsmith]: touched all hearts by the natural pathos and grace of the " Vicar of Wake- field." As a poet, and also in comedy, he was above any of his contemporaries. Very different was the harsh, bitter genius of Swift, the most powerful prose writer of his day ; his " Gulliver's Travels " (like his other works) is a keen satire on human nature and human life. Lawrence Sterne, || an eccentric humourist, is at his best in " Tris- tram Shandy," in his " Sentimental Journey" he introduced into England the shallow sentimentalism of the School of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. Poetry in England. Poetry was still classical with Pope,U whoso personal deformity affected his whole character. At twenty years of age he published his " Essay upon Criticism ; " then exercising the vivacity of his wit in satire, he sought to reanimate philosophy in his moral epistles, above all in the "Essay on Man." An admirer and translator of the ancients, particularly of Homer, Pope attained remarkable elegance in style ; his works are a reflection of the great French literary century. Pope became the chief of a school. Amongst his disciples, Young ** had, curiously, a far greater influence and vogue abroad than in England. His " Night Thoughts " consist of sorrowful meditations on the nothingness of life. Gray and Collins are far superior as classical poets. Thomson! t * Samuel Richardson (16891761). t Fielding (17071754). I Goldsmith (17281774). Swift (16671745). || Lawrence Sterne (17131768). II Pope (16881744). ** Young (16811765). J{ James Thomson (17001748). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 325 had more passion, and, in the " Seasons," he first of the poets sang the epic of nature ; with him began the descriptive school. Samuel Johnson * is also named amongst the poets, but he was only a versifier. He succeeded better in criticism and wrote in a more sonorous and studied prose than any one before him. He was the acknowledged master of his day ; but is now best known by the memoirs of his faithful observer and admirer Boswell. English poetry, at that time somewhat cold and formal, found life and truth to nature in the pious William Cowperf,the precursor of a real renaissance. Enthusiastic in his love of nature, Cowper painted it without affectation, obeying only his inspiration and the intense sensitiveness of his own personality. Robert Burns, J the son of a poor Scotch farmer, reached without effort the true lyrical note. He is the greatest poet Scotland has produced. He is the first true song-writer in Great Britain since the Elizabethan age. George Crabbe prolonged his career into the present century ; he was both a preacher and a realistic poet. Chatterton,|| " the marvellous boy," published some fictitious English poems of the fifteenth century, an imitation of the ancient ballads, and by an energy and literary inspiration unparalleled in one so young, gave promise of great achievements, the accomplishment of which was prevented by his untimely end. MacphersonH counted upon the growing taste for the past with marvellous skill and audacity. He forged a long poem, " Fingal," purporting to be a prose translation from the work of a Celtic bard, Ossian, and by his skilful imitation deceived the public, which believed in the genuineness of the work. The poem must be closely studied before the fraud can be detected. This grandiose work, however, had a great success and exercised con- siderable influence. Weary of the regular beauties of Latin and Greek, the English and even the French were seized with admira- * Samuel Johnson (1709 1784). f William Cowper (1731 1800). ' % Robert Burns (17591796). George Crabbe (17551832). || Chatterton (17521770). f Macpherson (17381796). 326 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. tion for the songs of the Celts. It led finally to the regular study of the wild warlike poetry of the Northern countries. Philosophy; History; Eloquence. English philosophy, more serious than French philosophy, followed out to their extreme consequences the doctrines of Locke. Berkeley* denied the reality of all sensuous experience. Humef denied the reality of all mental or spiritual experience. His doctrines alarmed one of his fellow- countrymen, Thomas Reid,J who recognized the existence of certain powers in the mind anterior to experience, and the re- action that he directed against the empiricism of Locke's disci- ples was continued by his pupil, Dugald Stewart, and by T. Brown. 1 1 The philosopher Hume was also an historian, endeavouring to imitate Livy by the clearness of his narration, but sceptical and pre- judiced : in him, the philosopher injured the historian. Robert- son, IF on the contrary, a heavier but more conscientious writer, formed himself on the Greek historians. The scholarly Gibbon,** greatest of English writers of history, was the author of " The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire," a masterpiece, hardly superseded by modern works, but impressed with the prejudices of the century, and hostile to Christianity. We must not omit, in this short summary of the literary activity of the English, some refer- ence to the orators, who recall the glory of ancient Athens and Rome. A government by debate, the English Government demands of necessit)' political eloquence. The House of Commons, and after- wards the House of Lords, re-echoed with the powerful voice of William Pitt, if afterwards Lord Chatham, whose speeches are placed amongst the classics. The Irishman Burke J J appeared when Pitt was nearly dying. "It was," said Macaulay, "a splendid sunset, and a splendid dawn." But Burke had too much fire, too * Berkeley (16841753). t David Hume (17111776). t Thomas Reid (17101796). Dugald Stewart (17531828). || T. Brown (17781820). IF William Kobertson (17211793). ** Edwa'd Gibbon (17371794). f+ William Pitt (17081778). H Burke (17291797). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 327 much impetuosity, and his eloquence, more philosophical but less practical, full as a torrent, flowed forth in floods of invective, metaphor, and dazzling imagery to almost empty benches. Fox,* no less ardent, no less impetuous, had far greater power in political debate. Sheridan f gained renown by his showy eloquence, and the second William Pitt,| who inherited his father's oratorical power as well as his patriotism, ruled the House of Commons by his ardent speeches, his progressive arguments, his demonstra- tions, which impressed his hearers by the arrangement of the whole rather than by brilliancy of detail. As a politician he was far in advance of his time, but was hampered by ill-health, and by the prejudices of the King and of his own party. German Literature; Lessing. Civilization in the eighteenth century had made so much progress that Germany was able, in her turn, to boast of a literature. German genius, aroused by Luther, had required two centuries more before it fully awakened. The language which the great Reformer had, as it were, moulded into form, by his translation of the Bible, had not yet been adopted for literary work. Leibnitz had thought and written in Latin. In the eighteenth century the German language was used by two Swiss critics and professors at Zurich, who borrowed the system of reviews from the English. It was also used for scholarly and philological works by Heyne|| on " Virgil," and by August WolfH on "Homer," for history by Louis de Schloezer** and the Swiss Jean de Muller,ft who wrote a fine history of his native land. Lessing, J J born in Switzerland, acquired a great reputation as a critic and author by his collections of " Letters on Contemporary Literature," and his " Hamburgische Dramaturgic," the best criti cism upon the theatre which had appeared in the eighteenth * Charles James Fox (17491806). f Sheridan (17511816). + William Pitt, 2nd (17591806). Bodmer (16981783), Breitinger (17011776). || Heyne (17291812). H August Wolf (17591824). ** Louis de Schloezer (17371809). ft Jean de Miiller (1752 1809). 328 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION, century, although it is frequently very exaggerated in its injustice to the French theatre. The " Laocoon " was a calmer, more philo- sophical composition a discussion on the general principles of art, an aesthetic work. Lessing opposed the ancients to the moderns. The scholar Winckelmann* aided still further the diffusion of a taste for antiquity by works on art : he published the " Letters on the Discoveries of Herculaneum," and a " History of Art amongst the Ancients." The Germans, however, affected French literature, and Rousseau awakened the reflections of Herder, f who searched deeply into antiquity before writing his observations of human society. At- taching himself to ideas rather than to facts, Herder wrote a " History of Poetry amongst the Hebrews," and his " Ideas on the Philosophy of History." This last work is a remarkable essay, a general view, in the fashion of Bossuet and De Montesquieu, but with more freedom, of the gradual development of humanity in every direction. Poetry ; Klopstock. German poetry made its first attempt with De Haller,]: who sang of the Alps, then with Gessner, the author of some sentimental idylls, and of a narrative poem, " The Death of Abel." It brought forth also Klopstock, || a religious poet, an imitator of Milton, who wrote a mediocre Christian epic " The Messiah." Goethe.*\\ French influence, penetrating more and more into Germany, produced there a literary revolution, towards 1768 and 1772. The town of Gottingen became a centre of writers who strove to break through the routine of tradition. One of the authors of this revolution was Goethe, the most illustrious of German writers. An universal genius, poet and scholar, critic and artist, in love equally with nature and the ideal, versed in science * Winckelmann (1717 1768). f Herder, born in Prussia (17441803). J Albrecht de Haller, of Berne (17081777). Gessner (17301787). || Frederic- Gottlieb Klopstock, of Quedlinhnrg (17241803). H Johann- Wolfgang Goethe, born at Ftankfort- on- Maine (17491832). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 329 and philosophy, matter-of-fact observer and dreamer, lover of the past and of the present, Goethe was already in advance of the eighteenth century, to which only one half of his life belonged. Following by turns the ancient Greek poets, and the morbid sentimentality of the school of Eousseau, he passed from light poetry to novels ("Werther," "Wilhelin Meister "), then to the drama, then from historical tragedy (" Egmont ") to a pastoral idyll ("Hermann and Dorothea"), and finally took leave and summed up his legendary epic, of which " Faust " transports us so far from antiquity. Goethe is the ideal of the man of letters, bent on the improve- ment of his intellectual and imaginative powers to the utmost extent. Unmoved by the deeper religious and political passions of his day. he strove to live in a lofty mental sphere, a region of supreme art far a.bove all these. He is the greatest German poet, and one of the few of all time. Schiller.* Schiller was Goethe's friend. Less devoted to art but not less poetical, he was also one of the principal partizans and leaders of the literary revolution. He excelled in the drama and in history, which he looked upon as an art. His " History of the Revolt of the Low Countries," and above all, his " History of the Thirty Years' War," are models of prose diction. A lyrical poet in his ballads, he is yet more renowned for his tragedies : " The Robbers," "Don Carlos," the celebrated " Wallenstein," "Mary Stuart," "Joan of Arc," and the drama of " William Tell," which is full of enthusiam for nature and liberty. He does not require so much exertion of intellect as does Goethe for the enjoyment of his dramas, and, though a lesser poet, is, perhaps, really more popular. Wieland.} Wieland first published some didactic and religious poems ; then, falling in love with French genius, he passed to the philosophical school of the eighteenth century. He afterwards wrote some light, mocking, and rather sensual poems. Then, * Schiller, born in Wurtemberg (17591805). * Martin Wieland, born in Suabia (17331813). 330 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. settling down, he became Professor of Philosophy at the University of Erfurth, and was distinguished at the learned court of Weimar, at that time known as the Athens of Germany. He wrote some political and satirical novels, and returning to poetry, published " The New Amadis," in the style of the heroic-comic poems of Italy, and lastly " Oberon," his masterpiece. German Philosophy : Kant. Although Wieland had taught phi- losophy he was not counted amongst the philosophers. Germany had then a leader of philosophy, Kant,* at first a disciple of Leibnitz and Wolf, then an admirer of Hume, lastly the creator of an original system which has exercised great influence. His philo- sophical writings, like those of most of his successors, are more thorough and profound than any previous system, but obscure, too little based on fact and observation, and with too much of a priori reasoning. Kant endeavoured to classify human knowledge ; he connects our knowledge with the senses, under- standing, and reason, but subdivides the faculties, and criticises them until he almost reaches scepticism. His criticism of practical reason rectifies whatever is too absolute in his criticism of pure reason. Kant inspired Fichtef and the chief philosophers of contempo- rary Germany, whose successive systems through Schelling to Hegel have been opposed chiefly by the English School, by the French school of Comte, and by the physiologists. Italian Literature. Italy, who in the seventeenth century ap- peared dead, strove in the eighteenth to lift the stone from the sepul- chre. She had received from Vico J a philosophy of history, which his contemporaries ignored, but which is still worthy of study. She aad poets like Cesarotti, Gozzi, |] who excelled in light comedy, and above all Alfieri,H the Byron of Italy, whose austere trage- * Emmanuel Kant, born at Koenigsberg (1724 1804). t Fichte (17621814). J Giovanni Battista Vico, born at Naples (1G68 1744). Cesarotti, of Padua (17301808). || Carlo Gozzi, of Venice (17181806). If Alfieri, born at Asti (Piedmont) (17491803). THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 331 dies were full of ideas. Economists, like Beccaria* and Filan- gieri,f promulgated fruitful theories upon legislation, and created a political science of higher morality and utility than that of Machiavelli. Italy had derived more benefit from French writings than any other country, and later on French arms were to complete her awakening, that is to say her deliverance. Music; its Progress in Modern Times. The expression of feeling received at this period powerful assistance from music, old as the world itself, no doubt, but yet never in a position to rival the other arts until the eighteenth century. Instruments were then per- fected; the organ, developed since the fourteenth century by more or less gigantic pipes, filled the churches with its grave reli- gious music ; then the harp, the bass-viol, the violin, so simple yet so penetrating, the flute with its variations, the harpsichord that in the eighteenth century became the pianoforte, blended their notes and facilitated orchestral combinations. Kings had cham- ber music as well as the chapel music, and gradually, like all other arts, musical composition emancipated itself from ecclesiastic guardianship, under the auspices of which it had first appeared. Louis XIV. had his concert of twenty-four violins, called the King's violins, and during his reign Lulli wrote a number of remarkable pieces as well as his operas. But the opera came from Italy. In this home of gaiety and amuse- ments music was introduced into the dramatic representations from the fifteenth century. Italian opera made its first appearance in Paris in 1645, thanks to Mazarin, who had sent for a troupe of Italian artists, and Lulli's operas were only imitations adapted to the special character of the French people. His choruses were very harmonious, and many of his pieces reveal graceful inspira- tion ; besides this, Lulli considerably increased the strength of the orchestra (16331687). Rameau, Gluck, Pergolese, Gretry. Lulli had many pupils, but music only started upon its real career in the eighteenth century * Beccaria, born at Milan (17381796). t Filangieri, born at Naples (17521788). 332 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. with Rameau,* who produced twenty-two very varied operas, and who knew how to adapt his music to the words uttered. His music, really beautiful although now out of fashion, was soon surpassed by that of Chevalier Gluck. f This eminent artist was really modern, he thoroughly adapted his music to the situations represented, and his lyrical tragedies of "Alcestis" and "Orpheus" are still admired. His pathetic airs produce real emotion in the soul. However, the Italians protested against the new taste. Proud of Pergolesi \ and of Piccinni, they had zealous partisans in Paris, where the quarrel of the Piccinnistes and the Gluckists divided the drawing-rooms. Gluck and French taste won the victory. French taste has also a very eminent representative in Gretry, || who introduced humour into his music, and who was the father of a style that became highly popular in France the comic opera. At the end of this century Mehul became dis- tinguished. H The German School : Bach, Handel, Haydn. Germany also had her masters, who were of a very different genius. At the same time that her literature appeared, her great masters were heard. John Sebastian Bach,** an organist, the most celebrated member of a family of distinguished musicians, wrote some remarkable musical compositions, chiefly religious ; then Handel, if who aban- doned Germany for England, excited so much admiration in that country by his oratorios and his church music, that he received the honour of a tomb in Westminster Abbey. Haydn, J J born in Austria, chiefly succeeded in instrumental music, was second to Handel alone in oratorio, and discovered an infinite variety of combinations of chords and sounds in his symphonies, his quar- * Rameau, born at Dijon (16831764). f Gluck, born in the Upper Palatine, lived in France (1714 1787). J Pergolesi (1710 1736). His masterpiece was the "Serva Padrona " and the " Stabat Mater." Piccinni (17281800). || Gretry, born at Liege (17611813). U Mehul (17631817). He composed the Chant du Depart." ** John Sebastian Bach, born at Eisenach (16851750). ft Handel, born at Halle (1685 1759). "Messiah," "Israel in Egypt," &c. U Ha) dn (1732 1809). " Creatiun," &c. THE ARTS, ETC., OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 333 tettes, trios, concertos, and sonatas. These commenced the learned school called the Classical School. Mozart. Austria also gave birth to one of those natural geniuses who seem to owe little to art Mozart.* Yet this German belongs rather to Italy, where his musical education was really carried on. His charming airs, simple in spite of profound knowledge, issue from the soul, lively, gay, or sad, but free and clear ; his graceful, flowing melodies express the most varied sentiments of the per- sonages of "Don Juan" or "Les Noces de Figaro," not to speak of any other of his chefs d'ceuvre. Man, thanks to Mozart and to all the masters of the eighteenth century, the precursors of the masters of the nineteenth, had acquired a new language, which seemed stolen from the most melodious of birds. Music, the least sensual of all sensuous delights, came to add an elevating pleasure and a new grace to civilization, and quickly became almost a necessity of life in the larger cities, and in the family life of the educated classes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. * Mozart, born at Salzburg (1756 -1791). " Don Juan," the " Eequiem." CHAPTER XIV. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. CAUSES OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789. SUMMARY : The Economic Movement in the Eighteenth Century ; Insti- tution of Credit Law's System ; the Bank Note Geographical Dis- coveriesMaritime Commerce ; the Colonies ; Colonial Power of England The Colonial System of Modern States Colonial Produce Emanci- pation of the English Colonies in America ; the United States Industry in Europe ; French Industry Industry and Commerce in the Central and Northern Countries of Europe Political State of Europe ; the Latin Slavs ; the Civilization of Eastern Europe ; Poland The Partition of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795) Origin and Development of the Kingdom of Prussia Frederic II. (17401786) ; the City of Berlin The Greeks and Slavs ; Formation and Progress of the Russian Empire Peter the Great (1672 1725) St. Petersburg (1703) The Work of Peter the Great Catherine II. (1762 1796) Character of Russian Civilization The Scandinavian States ; Stockholm, Copenhagen Austria ; the Re- forms of Joseph II. The Principalities of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire Portugal, Pombal The Bourbon Dynasty in Spain ; Reforms of Ei Conde d'Aranda Italy Results of the Work of Modern Times State of France in 1789 Monarchical Principles The Feudal Constitution of the Government and Administration Justice Finance The Army The Church Feudal Character of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce Character of Society Political, Economic, and Social Causes of the Revolution. The Economic Movement in the Eighteenth Century ; the Institu- tion of Ore Jit. Economic interests had benefited by the mental impulse produced by literature and the progress of science. Men studied commerce as well as politics, and the eighteenth century revealed the power of credit. Among the ancients slaves manufactured all the articles required. If capital were wanted it could only be obtained by submitting to the exactions of the usurer. Among moderns the liberty of the workman has considerably developed industry, and it has been still EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 335 more aided by the facility of credit. In the Middle Ages this new system faintly dawned in the letters of exchange, which we have already alluded to, their invention being traced to the Jews. Paper already played the part of money. The discovery of America threw an immense quantity of specie into circulation, and increased commercial relations. Voyages became more frequent, bills of exchange, trading bills, and notes to order became general. Banks* were established which advanced loans to merchants upon securities of value. The first real bank was that of Barcelona in 1401. The Bank of Stockholm (1668) was the first to issue bank notes. The banks of Amsterdam and Hamburg were in the seventeenth century remarkable for their large business. The Bank of England dates from 1694. It was the first to undertake to cash the bills of ex- change before they became due, retaining a commission propor- tioned to the time that was yet to elapse : what we are now so familiar with as discount. But if all these banks aided business, they did not yet constitute real credit. The Scotchman Law perceived this. Law's System : the Bank Note. Habituated in his own country to the business of a banker from an early age, Law realised the advan- tage of the use of paper as money, and resolved to render it more general. The Regent Philippe d' Orleans allowed him to try his system in France ; in the vain hope of paying the State debts, he brought the finances of the kingdom to the verge of bankruptcy. There was some truth in the Scotch financier's principle, namely, that multiplying specie would multiply trade. But what may be true of specie is not true of paper ; paper has no value by itself, and if multiplied indefinitely it no longer represents anything. Law also deceived himself in wishing to convert the State into a great commercial company. The proposition he made to the Re- gent was certainly dazzling, the General Company of Commerce, being identified with the State, would pay the public debts with its shares, and then, in the future, would render taxes unnecessary. The bank was the solid part of Law's system. Founded in 1716 * From the Italian word banco, bench on which the Lombard money- changers were seated. 336 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. with a capital of six millions, divided into twelve hundred shares, it received deposits of money, discounted commercial bills, and itself issued bank notes, payable at sight in specie, unvarying in weight and standard. During periods when the coinage was subject to considerable alterations this was a great advantage. The bank, moreover, discounted at a moderate rate, and in that way freed commerce from the usurers. It was made a Eoyal Bank (4th December, 1718). Everybody disputed for its notes, so useful in large transactions, and as precious as money, since they could be at any time exchanged for specie. Its credit was founded. Law wishing to extend it, ruined it. The Company of Commerce was at first limited to trade with the colonies, it then farmed the taxes, secured monopoly of coinage, ani its shares were competed for with a feverish eagerness that raised their price to an exorbitant premium. To satisfy the public avidity and facilitate the exchange of shares, Law multiplied his bank notes indefinitely. The value of the paper exceeded ten milliards, whilst the specie in France was only one milliard. Confidence was shaken, was lost ; everyone rushed to convert his paper into cash. Law made the mistake of joining the Company to the Bank, the chimera to the useful insti- tution (J720). Nominated Controller-general he attempted to make notes the only medium of change. This was impossible, and soon the State, itself exhausted, declared that notes would no longer be accepted as money : this was a frightful catastrophe. Law fled from the kingdom (December, 1721). The counterpart of Law's system in England was the South-Sea Bubble (171020). No doubt this catastrophe discouraged any fresh trial of credit for a long time : the State acknowledged itself the debtor of the Company's creditors, and the public debt was increased by thirteen millions of annual interest, but during the years of abundance Law had freed agriculture from the tax of one-tenth upon the land, and from the arrears due upon the capitation tax ; he had suppressed a number of onerous duties, and moreover the interest upon money had diminished. Commerce and industry had taken such bold flight that even the catastrophe did not stop it. The powers of banking were better understood, it was seen that paper could EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, 337 circulate as money not issued beyond the limits of the real value that it represented. The sale of shares, which facilitated the union of large capitals by companies, continued more wisely. This originated the speculation and market of the Parisian Bourse reorganized in 1724. Geographical Discoveries. The extension of commerce followed hard on that of geographical discovery. The discoveries of the sixteenth century had been continued in the seventeenth, when America had completely revealed her extent and internal wealth. The Dutch had discovered a portion of the innumerable islands which people the Pacific Ocean, and which were to form a fifth part of the world, Oceania. They also sighted the vast territory which they called New Holland, but which passed to the English and was called Australia. It was chiefly in the eighteenth century that the English and French navigators explored Oceania. Dampier, in 1688 90, visited the north-west coast of Australia, and discovered New Britain. Wallis, Carteret, Bourgainville, and afterwards the famous Captain Cook, revealed the existence of numerous archipelagoes. Cook sighted New Zealand, discovered New Caledonia, the Society Islands, the Friendly and the Sandwich Islands. He crossed the Antarctic Polar Circle three times. Afterwards his course was followed by Laperouse, d'Entrecasteaux, Vancouver, and others. The Dane Behring left his name to the strait which bounds the eastern extremity of Asia. The entire globe was thus traced upon maps that became more and more exact, and man learned the utmost limits of his domain. Maritime Commerce; the Colonies; Colonial Power of England. The merchants advanced closely behind the explorers, and European commerce extended speedily and continuously. England reaped the fruits of the Act of Navigation and of a policy which had been almost exclusively directed towards the conquest of the seas. In 1703, by Methuen's treaty, she had opened Portugal for herself, and inundated the country with her merchandise, thus killing the native industry. Portugal became a British market, or rather farm. Spain even, although so jealous of her colonial mono- z 338 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. polies, conceded to England the assieuto, the monopoly of the slave trade, and the right of annually sending one ship to Porto-Bello laden with merchandise, a ship there was no need to replace, for her cargo was continually resupplied. It was a floating depot. The Austrian War of Succession, and the Seven Years' War caused the decadence of the French navy. England threw herself upon the French colonies, which were badly protected, and commenced to establish that immense empire in Hindustan which Dupleix had dreamed of securing for France. She seized Canada and her maritime commerce, which, in 1700, amounted to 330,000 tons, rose in 1770 to 760,000 tons. The English, to supply their trade, developed their industry and exported Norwich cloths, Dublin and Exeter linen, cotton stuffs from Manchester, and ironmongery from Leeds. The invention of mechanical looms for spinning wool (1767 to 1787), and the appli- cation of Watt's steam-engine (1769 to 1775), gave a new impulse to industry, and produced the rapid advance which has not paused since that time. England, who supplied Europe with exotic pro- ductions, intended also to furnish her with manufactured goods. She endeavoured to become the sole manufacturer and the sole merchant. Colonial System of Modern States. England failed, and her own colonies were the first to turn against her. From the fifteenth century modern states retained the old principle that their colonies, daughters of the mother country, should trade only with her. The colonies were regarded merely as an easy market from whence to procure exotic produce, and an outlet for the industry of the mother country. The colonies could receive the goods they required from her alone, and certain industries were even prohibited to them. If the Indian companies prospered it was in spite of the active opposition of the English manufacturers, who protested against the importation of the beautiful silken and cotton materials sent from India. The colonies and distant trade were considered to be simply a source of raw materials, of productions foreign to our climate. Industrial labour must remain the privilege of Europe. In a word, the consequence was to drain, not to enrich the colonies. EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 339 Colonial Produce. But the prosperity of the colonies was not long retarded, owing to the extended use, which now commenced in Europe, of exotic or colonial produce, such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, tea and spices. We may also add the productions of Asia, and above all of America, cotton and wool, various kinds of precious woods, a great number of skins, some materials for dyeing, several varieties of dried and candied fruits. The cultivation of tobacco, first planted in Virginia in 1616, speedily became a source of great wealth to that state. The culture of the sugar-cane commenced in Jamaica in 1506. In 1702 the cultivation of rice was introduced from Madagascar into the Carolinas. In 1720 the French planted coffee in Martinique, and coffee, one of the sources of wealth in Arabia, was grown in the British West Indies from 1732. The consumption of coffee, sugar, cocoa, and tobacco increased con- siderably in Europe, and produced a revolution in social habits as well as in food. Emancipation of the English Colonies in America : the United States. The mother countries persisted in their claim of exclusive commerce with their colonies. England endeavoured to enchain her American colonies in this way, but the latter, filled with the same feverish activity, wished to develop themselves freely. The immense line of coast, the vicinity of the French and Spanish colonies, facili- tated a contraband trade, which secured large profits to the colo- nists, but which produced frequent quarrels with England, quarrels which resulted in the War of Independence. We need not dwell here upon this War of Independence (1776 to 1783), which was even more political than economic in character, arising from the claim of the Home Parliament to tax the colonies without their representation or consent. The English colonies in America emancipated themselves with the aid of France, excepting Canada, which remained in the power of the English. The rapid advance of the United States justified their separation, and has been of almost equal advantage to the mother country. England has more legitimately compensated herself for the loss of her American colonies by the extension of her Indian empire, and by the extension of Australia, where she founded Sydney 340 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. (1788), which, originally a convict station, is now one of her most prosperous colonies. Industry in Europe ; French Industry. England could no longer continue the only merchant in the world. The industrial pro- gress of other countries was to deprive her of the hope of being the only manufacturer. France, whose industry had been momen- tarily arrested by the emigration of the Protestants, had resumed her work. In the eighteenth century she already contained many important centres for spinning flax, hemp, and wool. Valenciennes, Cambrai, and Saint- Quentin were remarkable for their laces and their cam- brics, due to the fine quality of flax grown in the district. Lille had become the most important factory for sewing cottons ; the cities of Amiens and Abbeville manufactured common stuffs. Mans, Laval, Alen^on, and Lisieux produced such an immense variety of materials that more than 50,000 looms were usually occupied in their fabrication. Brittany employed its flax in the manufacture of fine light linens, amongst which the fabrics of Cholet had a great reputation. The linen industry also prospered in Bearn and Gascony. The cotton industry was then first appear- ing, and France as yet only used four millions of kilogrammes of raw cotton. The great metallic industries were scarcely founded.* A reaction commenced against Colbert's protective system, necessary in a country where industry is being created, but more injurious than advantageous as soon as industry has gained strength. The family pact between the Princes of the House of Bourbon (1761) and the commercial treaties had mutually opened the French and Spanish markets ; a commercial treaty was arranged with England in 1786. Industry and Commerce in the Central and Northern Countries of Europe. Holland, who had fallen from her past greatness, chiefly devoted herself to profiting by the advantages which her still * In 1787 the coal mines in France gave 2,150,000 quintals of this valuable combustible. In 1789 the production of the smelting furnaces amounted to 91,279 quintals, and the manufacture of iron to 408,059 quintals. EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 341 immense trade secured to her.* She had fought against England in the American War, for she was more interested than any of the other powers in maintaining the rights of neutrals and the freedom of the seas. This war was, however, of no advantage to her, and England had a fresh opportunity of weakening a navy which inconvenienced her. Holland, however, remained a colonial power of the first order. The other northern powers, Sweden and Denmark, had also renounced ambition and retired to their peninsulas, with the exception of Denmark, who still possessed Norway. They almost exclusively devoted themselves to their internal development, to industry and commerce. Political State of Europe; the Latin Slavs; the Civilization oj Eastern Europe ; Poland. In contrast to the ancient civilization which had become immoveable in the circle of the Roman Empire, modern civilization carried with it a germ of life, which stimulated it to expand in an ever-increasing circle. It now advanced in Europe towards the north and east. Slowly at first, under the German Emperors, the march for- ward had conducted Christianity and Latin civilization from the banks of the Elbe to the shores of the Oder and the marshes of the Spree, to the Vistula, then to the Niemen ; whilst Greek civilization and Christianity penetrated through the valley of the Dnieper to the centre of the vast plains of Eastern Europe. The Slav family, which had for a long time bent beneath the weight of invasions, raised itself and entered the arena with its rare physical vigour, its open intelligence, its suppleness, its numbers and strength. This Slav family had from the Middle Ages been distinguished * Holland had ceded to the English (Treaty of Versailles, 1783) her estab- lishment of Negapatam, in India, but she had recovered St. Eustache, in the Antilles, and she possessed, in America, G-uiana and the Curasao Islands; in Africa, settlements on the Gold Coast and the colony of the Cape of Grood Hope ; in Asia, Cochin, on the coast of Malabar, Madras on that of Coro- mandel, Ceylon, Malacca ; and lastly, the finest jewels of her colonial empire, the Islands of Sunda, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes Timor, and the Moluccas. She had also a settlement in Japan (Nagasaki). 342 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. in Eastern Europe by the tribes of the Lets or Polenes (Slavs from the plain), converted to Catholicism from the tenth century and organized in a kingdom, under the dynasty of the Piasts, in the eleventh (towards the year ]000). Adopting the Latin Church, they still further separated from the other Slavs, who had remained pagans or had been converted to the Greek Church. In the fifteenth century the kingdom of Poland was augmented by Lithu- ania (1444), and, under the dynasty of the Jagellons, became one of the most powerful states of Europe, extending on one side to the Baltic, on the other to the Black Sea, and on the east beyond Smolensko. The Polish knights, as brave and as renowned as the old French knights, arrested the progress of the Turks in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The plain of the Vistula, so long uncultivated, became covered with cities, of which Warsaw (Yarsawa) was the capital, and it was soon a centre of study, for the Poles had active and alert minds. Unfortunately, upon the extinction of the Jagellons (1572), the nobles rendered the crown elective, with the right of veto on the election, and commenced the era of civil dis- cord. Obliged to recede before the Turks in the south and the Swedes in the north, the Poles found their kingdom considerably diminished, although at the commencement of the eighteenth century it was still considerable, since it was bordered by the Car- pathians on the south, by the Baltic on the north, whilst on the east it extended beyond the Dnieper. The Partition of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795). The decadence of Poland, far from being arrested, increased. The Polish nobility did not know how to follow the movement of Western ideas. A brilliant cavalry, when battles were being won by infantry, loving liberty even to anarchy, whilst the neighbouring peoples loved order even to servitude, this nobility, destroying itself, com- promised its independence for privileges, and ruined its nationality by its absurd pretensions. Always on horseback, blending conflict with deliberations, it cherished, as principle, that in a diet the resistance of one deputy would suffice to negative a resolution, and that the enemies of a law united in confederation could EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 343 oppose the law by the sword. It became simply a system of legalised aristocratic anarchy. Moreover, the nobility, whilst lov- ing liberty for themselves, still caused the yoke of slavery to weigh heavily upon the peasantry. The neighbouring powers took advantage of this division of classes, and had only to contend against the nobles, who formed the sole organized military force. Lastly, the Poles, ardent Catholics, retained in the middle of the eighteenth century the spirit of intolerance, and their religious persecutions of the Greeks and the Protestants afforded the sove- reigns of Prussia and Russia a pretext for intervention. This inter- vention terminated in three partitions of the kingdom (1772, 1793, 1795). But the nation, attached to its faith, its customs and its language, resisted the Germans as forcibly as the Russians, and for more than a century obstinately refused to die, and, since it retains its language, its literature, and its aspirations, must even now be said to be captive, not dead. Origin and Development of the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia, although its primitive populations belonged to the Slav race, increased principally through its Germanic element. Its name is derived from Borussia, and the Duchy of Prussia enclosed in Poland, but its strength came from the Germanic populations, who fertilised the lands of Brandenburg. A German dynasty, the Hohenzollern, purchased the Electorate of Brandenburg in 1415, and raised it to the rank of the most important princi- palities of Northern Germany. The Duchy of Prussia, the pro- perty of the Teutonic Knights, was secularised by a cadet of the HOUSB of Brandenburg in 1525, and united to the Electorate in 1611. The Hohenzollerns seized with both hands, and never lost hold of anything they had once acquired. From 1648 their dominions were scattered between the borders of the Rhine and the Niemen. From that time they devoted themselves to uniting them, and in 1701, the Elector Frederick III. took the title of King of Prussia with the consent of the Emperor of Germany : the title was acknowledged by Europe in 1713. Frederick William I., who succeeded Frederick I., understood that his kingdom, which had neither unity nor frontiers, could not 344 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. last without a really superior military force. Recruiting men of great stature, subjecting them to a close and rigid discipline, he introduced a mathematical regularity into the manosuvres, which transformed his battalions into automatic machines. Untroubled by the derision which he excited by an almost parsimonious economy, he created an army and the greatness of Prussia without overburthen- ing the country. Frederick II. made it illustrious by his victories. Frederick II. (17401786) ; the City of Berlin. Gifted with rare genius, this skilful captain perfected the art of war, and with the aid of France, held Austria in check ; afterwards, allied with England, he resisted France, Austria and Russia, who all opposed him at the same time. The two great conflicts of the War of the Succession in Austria (1740 1748) and of the Seven Years' War (1756 1763) proved the vitality of the artificial kingdom, which, at first unsettled in the vast plains of Northern Germany, fixed its centre in the valley of the Oder by the conquest of Silesia. Frederick II., as intelligent in administration as in war, de- voted himself to the development of agriculture, industry, and commerce. He had to contend against a barren soil and a total ignorance of husbandry. In Upper Silesia he established colonies of Germans and foreigners, giving to each colonist his house, stable, barn, garden, and twelve to twenty acres of land, besides some cattle. When Prussia took her share of Poland, thousands of Polish families were transported into the sparsely inhabited districts of Pomerania. Berlin, with a population of only 6,000 inhabitants in the seventeenth century, owed, during the reign of the great Elector,* her first manufactures to the French refugees, who were received there after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Frederick II. raised the city from the ruins to which the Seven Years' War had reduced it, and rendered it one of the most important cities in Germany, even whilst he retained its military appearance as its dominant characteristic. This great opponent of French politics appreciated the genius, literature, and art of France, and the patron of Voltaire peopled Berlin not only with barracks, but * Frederick William, the great Elector (16401688). EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 345 with colleges and academies. From that time a taste for science accompanied a taste for war amongst still unpolished people, and they contributed in an almost equal degree to the prodigious success of Prussia. The Greek Slavs : Formation and Progress of the Russian People: Peter the Great (1682 1725). The development of Kussia was still more rapid and extraordinary. The Slavs of Muscovy, long since converted to Christianity, and freed, in the fifteenth cen- tury, from the yoke of the Mongols of the " Golden Horde," were scarcely counted among the nations of Europe in the seventeenth century. Peter the Great, a semi-barbarian, appreciating something of the civilization of the West, forcibly implanted it in his kingdom, which he extended on one side to the Baltic, on the other to the Black Sea, thus providing it with some outlets and means of communi- cation with the rest of Europe. He formed an army, which he trained in the same school as the Swedish armies of Charles XII., subjugated and controlled the nobility, made himself the head of the Greek religion, undertook great public works, introduced manufactures and encouraged commerce. St. Petersburg (1703). With rare perspicacity, he founded his capital near the Gulf of Finland, upon the shores of the Neva, in a region subject daring five months to intense cold, but close to the Baltic, and consequently nearer to the Western powers. Like Alexander, who made entire cities issue from the earth, Peter made his city, St. Petersburg, issue from the ice of the Neva, at first building it upon piles (1703). The small house in which the Czar installed himself to superintend the works was soon surrounded by palaces and superb churches. By the Ladoga Canal the city was placed in communication with the great water- way of the Volga, which opened a way into Asia, whilst the first Russian vessels appeared in the Baltic and the seas of Europe. The Work of Peter the Great. The spectacle of a nation formed by the work of one man, perseveringly carried on during forty- three years, is a strange one. Peter the Great, who worked as a ship's carpenter in Holland, handled men like the carpenter's materials, and did not hesitate to use the axe. By his powerful 346 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. despotism he transported in one block all the arts of the West into Muscovy, which had until then remained Asiatic. The constitution of the Slav tribes waa modified : the people were enrolled and classed as burghers and as serfs, whose situa- tion Peter the Great ameliorated without abolishing slavery. The public administration, the police, the military organization were based upon the Swedish, German, and French administra- tions. Peter invited to his court all the foreigners who could enlighten and aid him. He transformed the customs, habits, and costumes of the Slavs ; imposed the politeness and elegance of European manners by the stick ; ordered drawing-rooms to be opened, and commanded festivals and masquerades, even imitating the follies of Western societies. It was an immense change of scene : the forests in the south fell to give place to harvests ; marshes were drained, rivers rendered navigable ; the roads, if not opened, were at least indicated by posts marking the distances, and very useful in those vast plains, in winter covered by deep snow ; the cities were embellished ; schools and colleges were opened, academies were founded. The Russians, at least the nobles and the burghers, were encouraged to educate themselves, and were offered a share of the treasures of ancient and modern science. There was no uncertain groping for them, they had only to translate the works of the West into their supple language. The progress which Europe had made in thirteen centuries Russia seemed to accomplish in a few years, thanks to this singular invasion, willed and regulated by the Czar, whose energy was victorious over the resistance which he met with, and whose ferocity was congenial to the barbarism of the Slavs. Catherine II. (1762 1796); Character of Russian Civilization. Catherine II. resumed his work of reformation and carried it still further ; she also continued and extended his conquests. She divided the enlarged territory into fifty governments, founded nearly two hundred cities, added to the embellishment of St. Peters- burg and Moscow, in which cities the magnificent churches, with their numerous gilded cupolas, recall the Byzantine style ; re- organized justice and education, that is for the higher classes ; as for EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 347 the people, they were still fast bound in slavery and Catherine would 55 not free them. Admiring the works of the French authors, she 348 J. HE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. collected around her the most eminent philosophers, and French literature became the model which Russian writers successfully endeavoured to copy. German by birth, French by education, she was yet, above all, Russian. She carried the sentiment of national honour to the highest point, and with her reign begins a Russian literature. But we must not permit illusions ; it was a merely fictitious surface civilization, brilliant outwardly and at the court, but with no roots in the nation. The Russians remind us of the barbarians investing themselves with the tinsel of Roman civilization. The social constitution, far from being ameliorated, had been rendered more unequal by the distinction of classes.* The political constitution was a despotism, strengthened by reli- gious authority. Russia became a powerful monarchy, formidable through the forty millions of inhabitants that she already pos- sessed, through her easily recruited troops marching beneath the knout, and through the navy which commenced to issue from the port of Sebastopol. She was to weigh heavily in the scale of European forces, but she has yet much more to receive from the West than to give it. Russia was and still is, in spite of the progress accomplished since the eighteenth century, a society in course of formation. The Scandinavian States: Stockholm, Copenhagen. Sweden, * The organization of the army was a type of that of the people; the whole of the administrative and political stuff were enrolled in the same way. The fundamental idea of the tchin, that is to say of rank, belonged to Peter the Great; the tchin starts from the idea that merit is superior to birth, but it is frequently favour that creates merit. Originally the ranks were divided into sixteen class s ; thuy were afterwards reduced to fourteen. The grades in the army corresponded with the civil grades. In the army the six lowest grades of official rank confer personal nobility ; the eight others, heredi- tary nobility. In the civil order hereditary nobility partly depends upon the Czar's will, and the personal nobility is in most cases replaced by official position. The Russian peasants were divided into eight classes the odnodvortsi, or freedmen ; the free peasants, the peasants belonging to lands possessed by the odnodvortsi, the p> asants of the ports, the peasants of the forests, the peasants of the appanages, the peasants of the crown (the most numerous), the serfs attached to the soil, belonging to noble landlords. These have beuii gradually manumitted since 1863. EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 349 which from a political point of view had unceasingly declined since the follies of Charles XII., revived in the reign of Gustavus III. (1771 to 1792). French influence made itself felt during this reign and produced serious progress : abolition of torture, prohibition of mendicity, the foundation of houses for work, a better distribution of the taxes, encouragements to labour, industry, commerce, science, literature ; embellishments of the capital, Stockholm. As in Russia, these improvements were the work of the sovereign, who, by the State decree of 1772, had succeeded in rendering his power absolute, even whilst maintaining the ancient form of the control of the States. The mists which enveloped Denmark did not prevent develop- ment in the cities of Jutland, and above all in the Island of Zee- land. Copenhagen, which as a capital only dates from the fifteenth century, and was almost destroyed by fire in 1728, arose from its ashes, built in stone, and, like the German cities, endowed with vast edifices and studious academies. She was what she has always remained, one of the scientific capitals of the north. By the minister Bernstorff, in the reign of Frederick V., the Ger- man Struensee, in that of Christian VII., then by Andre, the nephew of the great Bernstorff, legislation was improved, all classes were de- clared equal before the law, and many other reforms were intro- duced. On the eve of 1789, a decree dated the 20th of June, 1788, destroyed the last bond which attached the peasant to the land the sternsband : serfdom disappeared. The Scandinavian states are all Protestant. Austria; the Reforms of Joseph II. In the centre of Europe, Austria, which seemed vowed to immobility, was regenerated by Joseph II., another sovereign in advance of his people, an imi- tator less brutal though equally despotic, of Peter the Great and Frederick II. Simple in taste, opposed to pomp and display, Joseph II. (1765 to 1790) reduced the luxury of the court, taxed the estates of the nobility and clergy to relieve the inhabitants of the country, suppressed a number of judicial and feudal offices, per- sonal slavery, game preservation and statute labour. He preceded the French Constituent and Legislate e Assemblies in the sup^res- 350 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. sion of the religious orders, which had become too numerous. He even attempted to reform the Church, and it might be said that during his reign Austria left Catholicism without entering Protestantism. Agriculture, industry, and commerce received an active impulse from Joseph II., who was not afraid to put his hand to the plough. Thanks to him, the wealth of Austria developed itself at the same time that schools, asylums, and hospitals were opened on all sides. Joseph II. encouraged literature and favoured artists ; he so well succeeded in attaching Mozart to his person that the great musician, in spite of the most brilliant offers from foreign princes, refused to leave his court. Joseph II. is the type of the doctrinaire reformer, his schemes succeeded chiefly on paper, and were soon practically abandoned. The Principalities of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. But Joseph II. could not exercise the same authority over Germany, although he was Emperor. Germany was still divided into three hundred principalities, forming the Holy Roman Empire, which, according to Voltaire's witty criticism, was neither Holy, nor Empire, nor Roman. The Electors considered themselves equal to the Kings, and most of them were Kings. The three ecclesias- tical Electors, the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves, and Cologne, held all the lower valley of the Moselle, and some of the finest parts of the valley of the Rhine. In spite of the numerous seculariza- tions which had followed the wars of the Reformation, many of the ecclesiastical princes still made a great display. By the side of the bishop-princes came the dukes, landgraves, margraves, and the cities of the Empire. Below the states which could be reckoned as such existed the ridiculous microscopic principalities, the duchies in duodecimo as they were called, and the possessions of eight or nine hundred nobles who, owners of some small borough or of some village, considered themselves sovereigns. Restrictions upon commerce, duties, tolls, monopolies, privi- leges of every kind, statute labour and crushing burdens upon agriculture, feudal serfdom, barbarity in the penal laws, intolerance of Protestants persecuting Catholics and of Catholics persecuting Protestants, harshness towards the Jews, and the literary censure EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 351 which directed books that were considered dangerous to be burnt by the executioner : in a word, all the miseries and all the abuses produced by long centuries of oppression still existed. Most of the German princes, especially the smallest, played at imitating Louis XIV. The Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel sold his subjects to foreign service, and in one year (1775) he furnished England with 12,800 men destined to fight against the Americans. But this multiplicity of small states, which facilitated local tyranny, the worst of all tyrannies, occasionally aided individual liberty. An author proscribed in one duchy passed into another. The court of Weimar shone with brilliant lustre ; a literary centre, it united all the great writers of the period. The University of Jena numbered eight hundred students. The Academy of Science at Munich dates from 1758. German literary men were enthusi- astic about Rousseau and Montesquieu, and admired the English economist Adam Smith ; the newspapers sharply attacked the nobility of the Empire, and the need of tolerant edicts, of codi- fied laws, and of political and administrative reforms was felt on all sides. Portugal; Pombal. The spirit of reform was everywhere. In Portugal the Marquis de Pombal, Minister of King Joseph I. from 1750 to 1777, whom the Portuguese have called the Great Marquis (0 Gram Marquez], revealed a rare spirit of decision joined to an inflexibility which has been compared to that of Cardinal Richelieu. Through his intelligent measures, agriculture and industry, which had fallen into a very depressed state, revived, commerce became more active and was enabled to defy the English competition, which had been so crushing since Methuen's treaty. The grandees having conspired, he struck terror into them by some executions ; he made the all-powerful clergy tremble by proscribing the active and ambitious order of the Jesuits (1759), and thus set the example of a proscription which was soon imitated in Spain, France, and other countries of Europe. He reorganized education and dimi- nished the authority of the tribunal of the Inquisition. He sup- pressed the distinction between old and new Christians, in order that the Portuguese, " children of the same Church," should all 352 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. become brothers in the same body. He encouraged printing and the translation of the best French books, created the Royal College of the Nobles, instituted elementary and professional schools for the benefit of the people, and established some gratuitous ones. Never, perhaps, have so many liberal ideas been carried out with such absolute authority. Philosopher yet despot, Pombal favoured only those innovations which suited him ; he retained the censure upon all books, and even caused some of them to be burnt ; he endeavoured to diminish privileges and to ameliorate the condition of the people, but he defended the Papal power with all the more energy because in so doing he defended himself. The Dynasty of the Bourbons in Spain : the Conde d'Aranda's Reforms. Spain had been roused from her lethargy by the French dynasty of the Bourbons, Philip V.,* Ferdinand VI., Charles III. Louis XIV. 's grandson had received an almost depopulated king- dom, the number of inhabitants being reckoned about seven mil- lions, whilst in the Middle Ages the peninsula contained twenty-one millions. There were no roads : in this respect Spain resembled a wild country, and Castille could scarcely be crossed even on the back of a mule. More than sixty-three million acres had fallen out of cultivation in a beautiful climate, given up to useless pastur- age ; the mountains were dry and unwooded, the rich industries of Seville, Segovia, Cordova, and Valencia were almost entirely ruined, and the treasury was the poorest in Europe, in spite of the annual fleet of galleons bringing bullion from the mines of Mexico and Peru. The Italian Alberoni, who was at first Prime Minister to Philip V., exhausted the small remnant of strength which yet remained to the kingdom, in an attempt to domineer over Europe with a ruined state at home. However, he essayed some useful reforms in the interior, re-estabiished discipline in the army, reanimated the navy, and established a royal manufactory at Guadalaxara, for which he imported five hundred families from Holland. If literature and art no longer included any great names, they were not the less honoured, and the Royal Academy of Fine v * Philip V. (17011746). EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 353 Arts, of Languages and History, at Madrid, dates from the reign of Philip V. The wise reign of Ferdinand VI., his encouragement of agriculture, the care with which he ordered the finances, brought Spain back into the right road, where she progressed with a more rapid step under Charles III. The Conde d'Aranda (1766) chiefly attacked the celebrated Order of the Jesuits, which had given umbrage to every government, and which had been driven out of Portugal in 1759, of France in 1764 ; it was proscribed in Spain in 1767 with more violence than in any other country. D'Aranda, in spite of the opposition of the Holy See, suppressed the right of asylum., which converted the churches into a place of refuge for criminals ; he attacked the still all-powerful tribunal of the Inqui- sition, and restricted its jurisdiction, a boldness which led to his fall ; but the other purely material reforms which he had undertaken were continued by Florida Blanca, his rival (1777), then by Cam- pomanes (1788). Charles III. felt himself more at ease in aiding his Ministers to embellish Madrid, which henceforth was lighted by night, and was supplied with police ; and in encouraging agricul- ture. He sent eight thousand German labourers to the Sierra Morena, and caused plantations to be made on the barren naked plains of La Mancha and Castille ; by his orders the works on the Aragon Canal were resumed, a linen manufacture was established in the royal residence of Saint Udefonso, and the manufacture of steel weapons was revived in Toledo. In spite of these reforms, Campomanes and Florida Blanca had no intention of renouncing the principles of absolute monarchy, and the worship of royalty was still a religion, although the Spaniards regretted the liberty of their ancient representative assemblies, and were passionately attached to the fueros of their provinces. Moreover, Spain was still one of the most backward countries. Her population had only reached eleven millions ; in the official census, fifteen hundred deserted towns or villages were mentioned. Industry, fettered by a number of onerous rights and by various kinds of monopolies, was unable to make any great advance. The industrial population only numbered one hundred and fifty thousand individuals. In 1789 it was estimated that A A 354 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Spain, which furnished other countries with precious metals, had the smallest amount of specie in Europe. Education, widely diffused amongst the upper classes (for there were twenty-three universi- ties), did not descend to the lower ; the publication of books was severely scrutinised, and the ministers, who had adopted French ideas, prohibited even scientific works which were current in France and England. Italy. In the eighteenth century Italy, not yet united, was subject to Austria and Spain. The country which had dominated the world in antiquity and had instructed it at the commencement of modern times, seemed erased from the list of nations. But there also it was only a semblance of death. The Italian spirit revived at the breath of French ideas. The masters were to be regenerated by their disciples. Milan belonged to Austria, and that power was then under the rule of Joseph II. His minister at Milan, the Comte de Firmian, had been educated in the lessons of French philosophy. Firmian encouraged science, established a chair for political economy, and protected the University of Pavia, where the natural philosopher Volta afterwards distinguished himself. Austria also reigned in Tuscany under the name of a descendant of the Lorraine princes, the Grand Duke Leopold I. Leopold was an enlightened ruler, and reformed education, jus- tice, legislation, and administration after the fashion of the day. The Universities of Pisa and Siena nourished once more. Without any anxiety for his sovereignty, which was placed under the pro- tection of the great powers, Leopold suppressed the army, and made Florence a kind of Tarentum, where men became enervated in idleness. The Spanish princes, masters of the kingdom of Naples, the duchies of Parma and Plaisance, were Bourbons, descendants of Louis XIV. Dutillois was Regent of the duchies of Parma and Plaisance in the name of Don Philip, and in these miniature states copied the reforms of larger ones. The kingdom of Naples had been governed by Charles IV., who became Charles III. in Spain, and who had given his confidence to a so-called Liberal Minister, Tannucci ; the latter retained the power under Ferdinand IV., and in a Ministry which lasted forty- EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 355 two years (1735 to 1777) he accomplished a number of im- provements. Naples saw a free, sound education arise in her midst, and in 1751 her university was enriched by a chair of poli- tical economy similar to the one that Firmian had founded at Milan for Beccaria. Authors in Naples, as in Milan, expressed the philosophic ideas of the eighteenth century with the vivacity natural to their language and their country. They spoke of justice, truth, humanity, and liberty in a country where govern- ments were still absolute, where torture existed, where obsolete legislation and abuses of every description obstructed the path of modern civilization. The old regime still maintained itself, and the independent purely Italian States, Piedmont, the government of the Holy See, and the republics clung to it obstinately. Venice thought of her com- mercial profits only, but yet they were declining since the dis- covery of new worlds had changed the commercial routes. In Rome the pontifical chair had been filled by enlightened and skilful politicians Benedict XIV., Clement XIII., Clement XIV., Pius VI. ; but however generous they might be in the protection they ac- corded to literature and the sciences, they could not look favour-^ ably upon ideas which attacked the power of the Church and of religion. Piedmont, raised to the dignity of a monarchy since the Duke of Savoy had obtained the title, first of King of the Two Sicilies (1713), afterwards of King of Sardinia (1720), when Sicily had been taken from him, did not yet appear called to any high destiny. Victor Amadeus II. and Charles Emmanuel only thought of tacking between France and Austria, of siding with the strongest and of receiving with both hands. With regard to their internal policy, it was always that of absolute government. Liberty was so much restricted that the poet Alfieri, finding that he could not get scope to his inspiration, left the country, where, said he, the small king of so small a kingdom interfered in the small affairs of every family. But these futile doctrinaire reforms, this patronising playing with liberty by paternal absolute monarchs, could not last. The lot of the mass of their subjects was scarcely benefited thereby. 356 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. They read a far deeper meaning into the attacks of the philoso- phers on the old regime ; their situation seemed to them at length intolerable, and the outbreak, the great Revolution came at last. State of France in 1789. Why did this Revolution first start in France ? Because the contrast between the freedom of ideas, the theoretical liberty taught, and the misery and oppression of the people was greater there than in other countries. Louis XVI., king in 1774, might perhaps have averted the tempest had he persevered in the wise efforts which he made in the commencement of his reign (1774 and 1776) to carry out the reforms of Malesherbes and Turgot. Unfortunately, the character of Louis XVI. was not equal to his position ; he allowed himself to be stunned by the selfish clamours of the privileged classes, which urged him to a resistance for which he had little natural inclination, and in which he was unable to persevere, for he was alternately feeble and violent, incapable of either leading or stopping the movement in which he perished, entangled and crushed with the whole of the old society. Feudal Constitution of the Government and Administration. Louis XVI. had inherited feudal traditions. His court was encum- bered with dignitaries whose offices, useless though they really were, yet sanctioned by time appeared a necessity of the state of the Sovereign. Although this etiquette wearied the King, who pre- ferred private life, he maintained it, sacrificing his tastes to the enforced pomp of the great receptions at Versailles, happy when he could snatch a few moments for his locksmith's work or his geogra- phical studies, as was his Queen, Marie Antoinette, in playing the shepherdess at Trianon. The administration, a confused mixture of feudal and of Roman absolutism, with the memory only of lost liberties, was utterly incoherent. The intendants, of burgher origin, bowed before the governors of the provinces, all great nobles, whom they were com- missioned to annihilate. Moreover, the provinces were as confused as the jurisdictions, and the authorities as ill-defined as the adminis- trative divisions, for the thirty-three intendancies were confused EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 357 with the thirty-four financial generalities,* and were again entangled in the thirty-two military governments and in the ecclesiastical and judicial divisions, &c., all unequally defined; without counting the duchies, counties, vicounties, and baronies that still existed, or where the king's agents encroached upon the f-eignorial officials. Justice. Justice was still ruled by the principle of personality, so dear to the Germans. There were as many jurisdictions as privileged persons : tribunals of the connetablie, of the admiralty, of the marechals, of the waters and forests, and of the universities, financial tribunals and ecclesiastical courts were retained by the side of the royal justice, rendered by the tribunals of the provost- ship and the bailiwick, the presidial and the parliamentary courts, without alluding to the thousands of still existent seignorial justices. The venality of offices had confused the idea of duty and authority with that of property. The Roman law had stifled the principles of liberty, and delivered the accused to the dis- cretion of the judges, without any power of self-defence. Iniquity still prevailed in the procedure, which was always secret. Not- withstanding all this unwieldy apparatus of justice, the king could still imprison at will, for a term of years or for life, for any or for no offence, as if no tribunal at all existed, and Louis XVI. alone had, at last, abolished torture. The penalties were according to the rank of the accused, and the punishments were numerous and cruel the whip, the brand, the hand cut off, the tongue cut out or pierced, the wheel, &c. Finance. The public treasure was not distinguished from the king's, since the King identified himself with the kingdom. The secret of the expenditure was the royal secret, and Necker was disgraced in 1781 for having by his compte rendu submitted the budget to public opinion, when it should have been known only to Louis XVI. The king had no need to account for the orders by which he disposed of sums, frequently of considerable amount, thus disturbing the most carefully-balanced budget. The nobility were exempt from taxation, though the perpetually^ * Authorities are not agreed about figures, because the numbers varied and the denominations have often been mistaken for each other. 358 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. growing necessities of an expensive administration had compelled the sovereign to have recourse to excise, to taxes upon salt, and to a poll-tax payable by all. What made the weight of taxation and of the feudal abuses more bitterly resented was their extreme inequality. Inequality not only between the classes, but between the different provinces, between the lands of the different lords, nay, between the estates and parishes belonging to the same lord. Practical free trade and self-government subsisted side by side with the old abuses of feudal protection and seignorial justice. It is this which made the French Revolution a passion for equality rather than for liberty in its better sense. The Ai*my. Although organized according to the requirements of modern warfare, the army rested upon the feudal principle. The nobles no longer led their vassals, and in the last years of Louis XIV. 's reign the convocation of the arriere-ban appeared ridiculous. But, instead of vassals, the nobles led soldiers re- cruited by themselves, and the regiments constituted a property, which was bequeathed with the castle, even to the children in the cradle. The nobility owed military service : in return, it received a monopoly of command. The reforms of Louvois and his suc- cessors had compelled the officers to work and to perform their duties, without affecting the privileges inherent to their caste, arid of which the officers of the royal navy were equally jealous ; they were called officers of the pavilion blanc, and were full of contempt for the officers of the pavilion bleu, or merchant navy. The Church. The Church, which should have been preserved from feudal contagion by its democratic principles, had, in the Middle Ages, allowed itself to be won by the allurement of rich livings ; it had reproduced in itself the image of society, and also clung to its privileges, which assured it of considerable power. The bishoprics were still feudal estates, like the abbeys, and, even in the eighteenth century, the titular heads of abbeys were sometimes princes, who lavished upon their pleasures the revenues formerly created for the relief of the poor. The higher clergy, usually re- cruited from the nobility, rivalled the nobility in magnificence, whilst the lower clergy issued from the ranks of the people, and vegetated in EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 359 the depths of the country with scarcely the means of subsistence. The clergy also held fast to their special jurisdictions, to their tithes, to their exemption from taxes, and contented themselves with sharing in the public burdens through gratuitous gifts, which varied according to the pressure of the times. The pomp of some of the prelates and the frivolity of many of the abbes in the eighteenth century made the attacks of the philosophical sceptics popular ; and their privileges made the clergy hated by all who sought only for equality. The Feudal Character of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce. The gilded crowd of lay and ecclesiastical lords, of ennobled judges, of officers prouder of their birth than of their courage, at- tached less value to their honorary privileges than to the innumer- able rights which they exercised in the country. No doubt, the division of property had commenced long before 1789, but the smaller properties could not be productive : they were crushed by feudal dues, statute labour and requisitions, quit rent and dues of every kind, toils from the harvests, tolls from the vines, heriots, the abuse of the game laws, feudal service, &c., all burdened the peasant's work. It has been truly said that the land was delivered, rather than divided, by the Revolution. Industrial labour had been unable to free itself from the tyranny of corporations. Moreover, royalty had monopolized certain pro- fessions to form them into offices, and thus create new taxes upon commerce and industry. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were jurors, tasters of brandy, tasters of butter and cheese, sellers of poultry, measurers and sifters of wheat, measurers of freestone and of linen, town-criers, who announced funerals, &c. Exaggerated regulations arrested all spirit of ini- tiative ; every improvement carried out involved a new burden in cfhape of additional tax or fine ; the royal protection was re- quired before a hat-maker of Paris, named Le Prevot, could manufacture hats mixed with silk. Commerce was fettered by internal dues, the remains of the old frontiers of the small states of the Middle Ages. Colbert had certainly succeeded in forming a union of the twelve provinces, 360 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. called the five large farms ; but the others still constituted two zones, one of the provinces reputed foreign, the other of provinces treated as foreign. The list of tolls, although simplified, was still very long. Since the seventeenth century high roads had been constructed, which, though not so solidly built as the Roman roads, were equally useful. But these great arteries had no affluents, and the country roads were still impracticable in winter. Character of Society. This state of things, which we can now judge dispassionately, is explained by the long duration of a society founded in the Middle Ages by war and violence. Nobles of old race, or inheritors of titles acquired by money, regarded them- selves as a nation above the nation. No doubt the higher nobility disdained those whose title-deeds had not yet had time to become yellow, and above all the nobles of the magistracy, who wished to take rank with the nobility of the sword. But, whatever their divi- sions, they were all agreed in maintaining their privileges. The right of primogeniture enabled the family traditions to be maintained and the transmission of the estates attached to the title of nobility. The nobles although their numbers did not exceed 83,000 persons according to some authorities, 140,000 according to others dis- posed of one-fifth of the soil. Retaining their privileges they had lost the duties and responsibilities which had once almost com- pensated for them. They neither led armies to their country's aid, nor acted as ministers to the king. They were simply his courtiers, an appanage of his state ; but rendering no service to the country or to the people in return for the sums they took from them. The lower they bent at Versailles, the higher they carried them- selves in their provincial domains, where they really played at being kings.* Through contact with the philosophical ideas and * The Nobility, the Lords in the Eighteenth Century. " Let us turn to lesser personages, to a nobleman of medium dignity, in his square league of country, in the midst of the thousand inhabitants who have been his villains or his serfs. Whatever may have been done to lower it, his place is still very high. ' He is still,' say the intendants, 'the first inhabitant ; ' he is a prince, who has been gradually deprived of his public functions and restricted in his honorary and useful dues, but he remains a prince. In the church he has a special bench and the right of sepulture in the choir ; the hangings bear EUROPE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 361 culture which they applauded in the drawing-rooms of Paris, they had divested themselves of their rough manners, not of their pride. They regarded themselves as of another race, another blood, than their tenants. Although the unity of the kingdom had his coat-of-anns ; incense is given to him, 'the holy water presented to him first.' Frequently the founder of the church, he is its patron, chooses the cure, tells him what to do ; in the country he advances or retards the parochial masses to suit his own convenience. If he has a title he is grand judiciary, and there are entire provinces, such as Maine and Anjou, where there is not one fief without a justice. In this case he nominates the bailiff, the registrar, and other representatives of law and justice, attorneys, lawyers, seignorial constables, sheriff's officers, and country tipstaffs, who served writs or judged in his name in civil or criminal cases in the inferior courts. For delinquents of various kinds he has his prison, sometimes his private gallows. On the other hand, as compensation for his expenses as justice, he receives the goods of a man condemned to death or confiscation within his estate ; he succeeds to a bastard born and deceased on his manor intestate or without legitimate children ; he appropriates to himself all movable property, living or inanimate, found or strayed, the owner of which is unknown; he deducts one-third or one -half of all treasures discovered ; and on the coast he claims for himself all the waifs and strays, flotsam and jetsam from wrecks ; lastly, and this was most fruitful of all in those times of misery, he became owner of all abandoned property that had been out of cultivation for ten years. High and mighty lords of a dovecot, of a frog marsh and of a warren, the more they lacked substance, the more they attached themselves to their name and honorary privileges. Without being ignorant of those humane ideas, diffused by the writers of the eighteenth century, they could not cede anything of their feudal rights, since they lived by those rights, and as a rule they were for the peasants only creditors forced to be harsh for their own existence. From this resulted violent animosities, which rapidly increased round the castle. " The lord lived in isolation, a stranger to his vassals ; and his powerful authority and the privileges he had retained made for him a life apart. When he quitted this isolation it was necessarily to augment public misery. From the soil, ruined by the public treasury, he came to take a share of the produce, so many sheaves of wheat, so many casks of wine. His pigeons and game devoured the harvest. The peasants were forced to grind their corn in his mills, and to leave one-sixteenth of the flour. A field sold for six hundred pounds put one hundred into his pocket. " The brother's inheritance could only be enjoyed by a brother after being pared of one year's income. Twenty other dues, formerly of public utility, now only served to nourish one private person." (H. Taine, " Les Origines de la Societe Contemporaine." Tome l er , " L'Ancien Regime.") 362 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. been created, a thousand local sovereignties counteracted and spoilt it. To this pride, which many bishops shared through their birth, the clergy added the arrogance of their territorial pov/er and of their numerous piivileges. A distinct class, they had even the pretension, through their religious character, of claiming the first rank. They were jealous of the nobility, which envied them in turn. The twenty-five millions of inhabitants, who in the towns and country formed the third class of the tiers etat, were regarded as a subject nation ; and although this nation had singularly increased in knowledge and wealth, principally in the cities, although the middle class (bourgeoisie) furnished a considerable number of officers of justice and finance, it was still in a measure tainted with servitude, disdained by those who plundered or made use of it. The plebeians were no longer in fact, through the progress of society, yet always in law, subject to taxation and statute labour at will. Political, Economic, and Social Causes of the Revolution. The system was bad every way, it united the evils of despotism and excessive centralisation to those of inequality and local privi- leges. The confusion could hardly be greater, and was so through all parts of the social structure. For a long time society struggled in the midst of an inextricable situation. At the end of the eighteenth century the need of complete remodelling, not only of one or more parts of society, but of the fabric itself, was dimly felt. No doubt the Revolution began with the financial crisis which forced Louis XVI. to convoke the States General in 1789, but what engendered this financial crisis except the utterly false constitution of society ? Passions are doubled by misery, for the formidable cry, " Bread ! bread!" was heard more than once in the eighteenth century before it re-echoed in threatening tones at the gates of the palace of Versailles on the 5th and 6th of October, 1789. But whence did this misery arise but from the oppressive laws to which the land was still subject, and which ruined agricul- ture just as they fettered industry and commerce and prevented the establishment of a useful administration ? All these various STATE OF FRANCE IN 1789. POLITICAL STATE. SOCIAL STATE. Government. Absolute monarchy ; divine right. No written constitution. States General no longer held, Submission of the Parliament. Provincial States an- nulled. Administration. Six Ministers : 2 Ministers and 4 Secretaries of State. High Chancellor (Justice) ; Controller General of Fi- nance ; Secretaries of the King's house, of War, of the Navy, and of Foreign Affairs. The ministers divided not only business, but the territory. /Supreme Council; Council of State or parties ; Coun- Councils. J cil of Despatches ; Coun- cil of conscience, of com- (merce, etc. Provosts. Bailiffs, Intendants (33). Governors of Provinces (32). Finances. Controller-General. Chamber of Accounts. Court of Excise. General Farmers; Financial gene- ralities (34). Taxes: Tallage, Poll Tax, Tax of one-tenth, Salt Tax, Town Dues. Public and Royal Treasures com- prised in one. Acquits au comptant. Justice. Parliament of Paris. 12 Provincial Parliaments. 4 Provincial 100 Presidial Councils. Tribunals of the Bailiwick ; Ecclesiastical Tribunals or Courts. Exceptional Tribunals. Unequal legislation ; one district fol- lowed customary, another written law ; inequalities of the penal code; cruel punishments. War and Marine. No law of recruitment ; the regi- ments belonged to the nobles. f White Officers (the King's). Navy. -I Blue Officers (Merchant ( Service). Foreign regiments. Nobility of the sword and robe. Small or provincial no- bility. Nobility. THREE CLASSES. Right of Primogeni- ture. Exemption from tal- lage. Rank in the army. Large estates. Feudal rights, Clergry. Eighteen Archbishoprics, 120 Bishoprics. Upper and lower clergy ; Abbeys, real estates. Tithes and privileges. Ecclesiastical Justice. Assemblies of the clergy. Exemption from taxes. Gratuitous gifts. Third State (Tiers Etat). Commoners and people paying taxes were inferior to the other orders Plebeians could not obtain rank in the army ; they were subject to statute labour a'nd feudal claims. Protestants and Jews. No civil position. Excluded from society. ECONOMIC STATE. Agriculture. Requisitions. Tithes. Lack of all facility for communication between the villages. Statute labour. Feudal ser- vice. Customs between the provinces. Feudal claims ; sporting rights, pigeons ; ban-vin ; an infinite variety of often perpetual dues. Result Poverty. Industry. Corporations, wardens, freemen's rights of privilege (Maitrises) abolished by Turgot ; re-established after him. " Regulations on the manufacture of stuffs ; fetters upon progress. Commerce. Corporations : Internal customs. Provinces of the five large farms, provinces considered foreign. High roads made during the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries, but still numerous tolls, particularly upon streams and rivers. Colonies. Diminution of the Colonial empire in the eighteenth century. Retention of monopolies and of bur- densome regulations. 364 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. causes, both economic and political, could then be summed up in one only, the social cause, and the fate of all these reforms was bound up in the destruction of the feudal system, which excited hatred that had accumulated during centuries. The storm at last gathered and burst. The people in Paris rose, destroyed the Bastille, which was rather a symbol than a weapon of despotism. At thie sound all the small feudal bastilles crumbled away, first in France, then in other countries. Upon these smoking ruins, in the midst of armies which clashed, and inundated the whole of Europe with blood, a German author Goethe said, when the sun set on Yalmy, " In this place and on this day com- mences a new epoch in the world's history." The Aerial Telegraph, 1794, BOOK IV. CONTEMPORARY PERIOD. CHAPTER XV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. SUMMARY : General Character of the Eevolution, its Philosophical and Clas- sical Spirit The Social, Economic, and Political Aim of the Revolution The Social Work of the Constituent Assembly ; the Principles of Equality ; the Night of the 4th of August Civil Equality ; Equality in the Family Political Action ; the Principles of 1789 Administrative Reforms, Political Unity ; the Departments Financial Reforms The Civil Constitution of the Clergy Representative Government ; the Con- stitution of 179,1 Economic Reform ; the Development of Small Land- owners; Relief of Agriculture Liberty of Industry and Commerce Effort to Return to Credit ; the Assignats ; the Assembly and Law's System Result of the Work of the Constituent Assembly The Legisla- tive Assembly; Fall of the Monarchy (10th of August, 1792) The Re- public; the Convention (1792 1795) Divisions and Violence of the Convention The Thermidorian Reaction The Constitution of the Year III. Labours and Creations of the Convention The Directory (1795 1799) ; the Coups d'Etat Social Disorder Financial Disorder The Army ; the Law of Conscription Preponderance of the Army; the Coup d'Etat of the 18th and 19th Brumaire (9th and 10th November, 1799). General Character of the Eevolution : Its Philosophical and Classical Spirit. French genius, developed in the last two centu- ries, had attained something of the brilliant clearness that formerly distinguished the genius of Rome and Greece. It was intensely logical. The French wished to apply philosophy to society, to trans- late into facts those truths that their authors had brought to light and propagated. Legislative changes had been either the work of one man, or of centuries. The French Revolution by the hands 368 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of an entire people rejuvenated in ten years a society aged four- teen hundred. Never was such difficult work more impetuous, more methodical, and more violent ; never were more confusion and blood seen in the midst of noble discussions, or passions more vile unchained to contend against reason, too often discredited, in the heat of the struggle, even by those who claimed to personify her. The Revolution was so largely if not completely produced by the" philosophy of the eighteenth century that the special influence exer- cised by the three principal writers over the periods of this great movement has been carefully denned. Voltaire chiefly interested him- self in questions of tolerance, humanity, and justice ; Montesquieu in constitutional questions ; Rousseau in social questions. Voltaire excited the generous sentiments which characterized the first impulse ; Montesquieu formed the jurists, who distinguished them- selves in the Constituent Assembly ; and the most plausible theories of Rousseau were re-echoed in the politics and language of the Convention. It is singular how little practical influence the Revo- lution and Independence of the United States had on the course of the French Revolution in comparison with the wildest a priori theories of doctrinaires and philosophers. This language, as well as that used by the orators of the Con- stituent Assembly, also revealed another influence, that of a false classicalism. Studies in Latin and Greek had revealed the ideas of liberty so dear to antiquity. Souvenirs of republican Rome reared themselves in front of those of imperial Rome, which were also to have their day of triumph. Speeches, pamphlets, decrees were about to be filled with reminiscences of Greek and Roman history, and the modern world revived even the festivals and costumes of anti- quity. But all this with scarcely any real understanding of ancient history. Men imagined they were imitating Greece and Rome while making the most confused travesty of history. Social, Economic, and Political Aim of the Revolution. We have defined the aim of the Revolution in explaining its causes. If the old society had suffered from misery, it was produced not only by the vices of the political constitution, but by its faulty social constitu- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 369 tion. It was necessary to transform society in order to reform politics and satisfy conflicting interests. Economic progress could be produced only by social amelioration. It was afterwards necessary to render the political progress stable in order to make all other possible. This was the work of the Revolution, which in its advance followed this logical and natural order. Social Work of the Constituent Assembly ; the Principles of Equality ; the Night of the ktli of August. On the 5th of May, 1789, when the States General met in the Hall of Menus at Versailles, one might, save for a few changes of costume, have fancied oneself car- ried back to the Assemblies of the old monarchy : the obsolete ceremonial was exhumed, with all the old customs usual to these assemblies. The three orders were distinct by rank and costume, there were still three classes, three peoples ; but the spirit was no longer the same, and the deputies of the Tiers, or Third Estate, double in number to that of the two other orders, were no longer the timid men of 1614. Conscious of their strength, from the first day they touched the true question by demanding a vote by heads. The powerlessness of the States General had arisen from the division of the classes, which always enabled the votes of the two privi- leged orders to overrule all the popular demands. The deputies of the Third Estate understood and averted this danger. The celebrated oath of the Jeu de Paume on the 20th of June, the re- sistance offered to the royal injunctions on the 23rd of June, and Mirabeau's eloquent apostrophe, intimidated the King and the privileged classes, who yielded on the 28th, recognising the exist- ence of a single Assembly. When sitting, the same twelve hun- dred deputies were seen who had met the preceding month, but it was no longer the States General, it was the National Assembly, blending in one majestic unity the deputies of the nobility, clergy, and people, binding in one sheaf the living forces of the country, mingling and consequently effacing classes, asserting the principle of equality even as the title of Constituent asserted the sovereignty of the people delegated to their elected representatives. Feudalism and absolutism, having been thus vanquished first by the firm attitude assumed by the deputies of the Third Estate, then by the B B 370 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. popular outbreak which destroyed the Bastille (14th of July), the Assembly commenced to work with decision. In the celebrated sitting of the night of the 4th of August, it decreed in a few hours the de- struction of the feudal system, upon the initiative and with the frantic applause of the privileged orders themselves, carried away by the strong current of reason and enthusiasm. It is said that after the prophet Mahomet had triumphed at Mecca, he made the tour of the Caaba with his newly-converted disciples, striking the hundreds of idols which surrounded it, and which fell broken in pieces by a crowd of their former worshippers. Thus, in the night of the 4th of August, rights and abuses of the nobles and clergy, the immunities of the provinces and cities, were all destroyed in the flush of generous excitement, even by those men who had profited by them. It was a triumph of generous enthusiasm victorious over egoism and self-interest. These enthusiastic resolutions were at once translated into decrees, which rapidly succeeded each other during the month of August, and in the principles formulated by the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a judicial summary of the theories recognised and enjoyed by men of other nations, but which the philosophers of the eighteenth century thought they had discovered for themselves. It is an affirmation of all the duties of a citizen, and the guarantee of all his rights, which can be opposed as easily to the tyranny of one man as to that of the multitude. Civil Equality: Equality in the Family. Society found itself reformed upon the natural basis. There was no longer any dis- tinction of birth or religion in the eyes of the law : this is called civil equality. Marriage, until then an exclusively religious action, was also to be a civil action, preceding the religious marriage. It became a contract placed under the guarantee of society as well as of conscience. Public officers were instituted to keep "the registers of births, deaths, and marriages, which had formerly only existed in parishes, and in which all events relative to the individual subject were to be inscribed, without any allusion to titles or creeds. Equality was also enforced in the family, where the rights of primogeniture disappeared, and society returned to the equitable THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 371 division of property between the children, which had formerly prevailed amongst the Germans. Political Action ; the Principles of 1789. Equality was the first of the principles which extricated itself from the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which are called the principles of 1789. The others referred to the organization of society founded upon liberty ; the sovereignty of the people ; popular origin of the law ; responsibility of the agents of the executive power ; liberty of opinion, of worship, of the press ; inviolability of property. Dis- puted, if not in their essence, at least in their application, they gave rise to long discussions in the Constituent Assembly, and were afterwards subjected to numerous vicissitudes, whilst it has been the work of succeeding generations, since that date, to seek for the balance between authority and liberty. Administrative Preforms : Political Unity; the Departments. The Constituent Assembly had the merit of determining in a durable manner the direction in which the nation should move. It established administrative unity, and for the old provinces substituted smaller territorial divisions, which have been perpetuated through all the after political changes. From January 21st, 1790, the Assembly, destroy- ing the old provinces, voted the division of France into eighty-three departments. Paying no attention to either geography or history, contradicting both when necessary, the sole principle of division was to nearly balance the population of each department, placing under the same jurisdiction cities that had formerly been enemies, separating those that had been too closely allied, blending races as far as possible, in order to create above all rivalries devotion to the entire country, and to fuse local patriotisms into one and the same general patriotism. Perhaps the nobility of the aim made it exceed moderation, and the same result might have been obtained witti more respect for geographical necessities and historical traditions, which would have prevented the life-blood from rushing too much to the centre and draining the extremities. However, the names of the most important provinces have survived, like their costumes and manners, so difficult is it to destroy longstanding traditions. The departments were divided, in obedience to the same principles, 372 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. into districts, the districts into cantons, the cantons into communes ; but the departments, districts, and communes only were adminis- trative unities, and they alone had directories and councils. The old local and provincial parliaments or law courts gave way to uni- form justice and procedure, under regular gradations. A Juge de Paix was appointed for each canton, a civil court for each district, a criminal one for each department. Trial by jury was introduced. All these offices of justice as well as the municipalities were made elective. However, the Constituent Assembly, whilst granting to all French- men the right of suffrage, added a few restrictions with the object of raising the title of citizen ; it formulated conditions of age, domi- cile, and property; it invented the distinction between active citizen and passive citizen, which bordered upon the ridiculous ; it applied the principle of secondary election by making the primary assem- blies, composed of active citizens, nominate the electors chosen amongst those who possessed the most important estates.* These magistrates of the commune, the electors (in proportion of one per cent.), were instructed to choose the administrators of the district and department, the judges, and lastly the deputies. The primary assemblies were composed of all the active citizens. To be an active citizen it was necessary to be French, twenty-five years old, and resident in the canton for at least one year, paying a personal tax of the value of three days' work, and not in a state of domesticity. To be eligible as an elector it was first necessary to be an active citizen, and the Constitution of 1791 also exacted in important cities, as qualification, the ownership or usufruct of a property equalling an income of two hundred days' work, or a rent equalling one hundred and fifty days' work : in small towns the qualifications were reduced, the revenue of the property being lowered to one hundred and fifty days' work, and the assessment of the rent to one hundred days. In the country it was necessary to be owner or enjoy the usufruct of property valued at an income of one hundred days' work, or to be tenant or farmer of property * The primary assemblies at once nominated the electors, appointed the administrators, the magistrates and the deputies. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 373 valued at eighty days' work qualifications which do not essentially differ from those required in order to be freeholder, or neighbour, in the old communes. Financial Reforms. From a financial point of view, the Con- stituent Assembly had to liquidate the past, to provide for the present, and to secure the future. It liquidated the past by voting upon Necker's proposal, and under the scourge of Mirabeau's eloquent words a tax of one-quarter of the income at which each citizen was assessed. It enriched the State with the property of the Church, ''placed at the disposal of the nation." It then provided for the present by expedients, by the creation of the assignats, which we will describe a little later, for we are now occupied with the durable reforms and principles. The Constituent Assembly applied the grand principle of the equality of all citizens as regards taxation. It abolished all the eccen- tric, confused, vexatious taxes of the old regime a salutary clear- ance which cannot be too highly praised. Still, it retained a few fiscal souvenirs of the old regime, which appeared too profitable to be abandoned, and which were justified by the guarantees of authen- ticity which they gave to deeds and contracts ; for instance, duties on registration, stamps, and mortgage. It deserves the credit of having clearly laid down the division of taxes taxes on land, taxes on personal property. It certainly abandoned excise taxes, that convenient resource of governments ; but we must take into account the hatred which had been displayed against the excise officials, and which then rendered the re-establishment of an analo- gous administration almost impossible. The reproach that might really be made against the Assembly is its mode of collection of the direct taxes, and that, unfaithful to its own principle of the separation of the powers, it left to the departmental administrations, which were essentially political, the care of drawing up the lists and regulating the collection. Hence abuses quickly arose. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Above all, the Assembly was guilty of a much more serious infidelity to its principles of separation and distinction between the powers. It combined the Church with the State ; it endeavoured to assimilate the eccle- 374 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. siastical hierarchy to the civil functionaries, to subject it to the election of the citizens, who chose their pastor as they chose their judge, a theory which the French Church rejected with additional energy, from the fact that she was much less disposed to return to the elections of primitive times, since this elective principle had been adopted by the Calvinists. On the contrary, the Church, since the Council of Trent, had consolidated her hierarchy, attaching it more closely to the Pope, and the civil constitution that was imposed upon the French clergy destroyed this bond and broke the unity ; it was an absolute schism, which complicated difficulties and added religious to civil war. Representative Government ; the Constitution of 1791. After renewing the administration the Assembly endeavoured to agree upon a more debateable question, that of the central government ; and no one can reproach it with being unable to attain a definitive solu- tion ; for ten different solutions have since been proposed and tried in France. The Assembly had the merit of proclaiming, on this point, the separation of the legislative and executive powers, defining the rights of the king and those of the Assembly which was to govern with him. It applied the principle of the sovereignty of the people and overthrew the basis on which former French governments were founded. But clearness of ideas is only apparent in the Constitution of 1791. The Assembly organized the monarchy like a republic. It desired a king, yet annihilated him, leaving only empty honours and an illusive right of veto to Louis XVI. Economic Reform ; Development of Small Landowners ; Relief of Agriculture. The social and political reforms had suddenly produced important economic changes. The suppression of the right of primogeniture diminished the concentration of estates in the hands of the great families, and the suppression of the rights of mortmain, confiscation of the estates of the nobles, sale of crown and public lands, threw vast estates open to the general public. Some economists regret this crumbling of the great estates of the old regime, which, according to their theories, pre- vented cultivation on a large scale and industrial establishments. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 375 They may be answered, that large properties renew themselves by the accidents of inheritance. One century has passed, and there is still cultivation on a large scale. On the other hand, a small property exacts more efforts from the cultivator, who exerts him- self to make his piece of ground produce all that it is capable of doing, to vary the rotation of crops, and to increase the fertility of the soil by manure. The yield has doubled, cultivation has invaded the smallest allotments capable of receiving it, and the soil has tripled in value. This, however, is but coincident with the general rise in values, and is not more marked in France than in other countries. But the chief contribution to the prosperity of agriculture was the relief afforded by the disappearance of the innumerable restric- tions which fettered it. The land was free, and henceforth the peasant worked on it with more energy, reflecting that he was labouring for his wife and family only. Liberty of Industry and Commerce. Industrial labour was also free. The privileges of the artisans vanished like those of the nobles. The Assembly (16th of February, 1791) suppressed the corporations of arts and trades, the jurors and maitrises. Competi- tion was at once established, and excited the complaints of the former manufacturers and merchants, who did not understand that every one could have the right to manufacture and sell as well as themselves. However, to maintain the rights of inventors, the, laws of the 7th of January and 25th of May, 1791, established the patent laws. Then a general tax was imposed upon all industry, which still exists, the license tax.* Commerce derived immense advantages from the suppression of internal customs and tolls, the ideas of Gournay and of Turgot ; " Laissez faire, iaissez alter " were applied, in the interior at least, for the difficulties of free trade have given rise to many controversies that have not yet been closed. Effort to Return to Credit; the Assignats ; the Assembly and Law's System. Seventy years had passed over the system of credit * The license tax is composed of a fixed and a proportional duty. 376 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. attempted by Law, and, in the financial crisis which was the inevitable consequence of so many changes, and of so much con- fusion, the deputies thought it advisable to return to it. Since the enormous mass of national property could not be sold immediately, it was decided to cede it to the communes, which could gradually effect its sale, and to furnish creditors of the State with bonds on the communes, which they would meet with the produce of the sales. This was the origin of the assignats, which then had a forced currency. The principle of the assignats was as sound as that of Law's notes, since the assignats were guaranteed by a real value in land. But credit exists only on confidence. Now, in proportion to the increase of confusion, men doubted the success of the Revolution, and the assignats lost their value. When they became depreciated, the Government, to supplement their value by quantity, doubled their issue, and their abundance added to their depreciation. The assignats were retained by force during the whole of the Revolution, and an increasing quantity was perpetually required to represent the same amount of specie. However, although the system of the Constituent Assembly proved so disastrous, for it ended like that of Law, in ruin, it still aided in tiding over a perilous epoch. Paper served as money. The conditions of credit were better understood. The errors were at least corrected, the ruins were repaired : credit remained. It is now the most powerful lever of industry and commerce. Results of the Work of the Constituent Assembly. We must, then, in order to judge the work of the Constituent Assembly in an impartial manner, take into account the difficult circumstances under which it was forced in great haste to remodel the government of society. This Assembly, which by its mixture of nobles, priests, burghers, artisans, and even peasants, reproduced in the commencement (for numerous vacancies occurred later on) the most exact image of the France of the day, then boldly undertook and carried through to the end, a task which had never been, and has never since been imposed upon an Assembly. It had demolished the old society, formed by fifteen centuries, and in two years had reconstructed THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 377 another, a quite new society, upon the foundation of the inalienable rights of man, such as they were imagined to be. Proclaiming and applying popular sovereignty, it asserted, if it it did not always observe, the idea of separation of the powers. It honoured, even to an abuse, the principle of election. For despotism it substituted law. It re-established equity in the social organization, in the distribution of justice, but to the task of introducing order into the finances it was not equal. It formed one nation of three jealous peoples, occupying the same territory ; of thirty- six rival provinces, it made, by administrative and judicial unity, a single country ; by the just division of dues and charges, and the community of interests, a single mother country. Free to work in their fields or at their trades, free in their commerce, the citizens were also to be free in their consciences and opinions. If they violated the protecting laws of society, the latter only recognised them as guilty after the decision of other citizens sitting as jury. If men merited great rewards, humble birth no longer forbade them to hope for them. All privileges were abolished, all fetters broken, a great step towards the end of all misery. Defective, like all human work, the work of the National Assembly answered to the outcry for liberty and equality, freed from the oppression of the Middle Ages. This above all else is the social reform which made the Assembly triumph. Subsequent govern- ments have more or less restrained or extended liberty ; they have maintained equality before the law, the corner stone of modern society, henceforth placed upon its basis. The Legislative Assembly ; Fall of the Monarchy (Wth of August, 1792). Through a disinterestedness which has been used as a reproach against it, the Constituent Assembly made the fatal mistake of excluding its members from the new Legislative As- sembly, which was to govern in concert with Louis XVI., and the mission of applying the Constitution of 1791 devolved on a genera- tion of young ardent deputies, who cared little for a. constitution which they had not made, and which they took as a starting point instead of a settlement. Moreover, these deputies, carried away in their turn by the spirit of logic, wished to push to the utmost 378 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. results the principles of the Constitution of 1791. The monarchy was merely nominal, and Louis XVI., who since the return from Varennes had lost all prestige, was personally a captive in the Tuileries, as he was morally of the Assembly which sat in the Riding Hall. The Girondins forced themselves upon him, filled the ministries with their friends (for the deputies could not be ministers), and in order to bind him to the Revolution, dragged him into war against Austria and the emigrants ; then finding him far from docile to their counsels they abandoned him, and no longer endeavoured to avert the movement which was to end in the ruin of the monarchy. On the 10th of August, 1792, the Capetian Monarchy was destroyed. This ended the political revolution. Royalty, which had formerly taken the initiative in all reforms, was at last completely iden- tified with the privileged orders, which involved it in their own ruin. It had committed so many faults that it fell a victim to the popular hatred, under a king who recalled the goodness of Louis XII. Private virtues were insufficient to stem the current ; in its violence, so long restrained, it swept away the oldest monarchy and the most ancient dynasty of Europe like an empty wreck. The Republic; the Convention (1792 1795.) The National Con- vention, which met to the noise of the cannon which hailed the victory of Valmy (21st of September, 1792), proclaimed the Republic. The name of this Assembly recalled the sovereign assemblies which had been formed in the English colonies of America after the War of Independence, a name that had not been wholly forgotten even in Southern France. It declared itself sovereign, and absolute sovereign. It concentrated the two powers, legislative and executive, in the hands of the deputies ; making laws and applying them, it was divided into committees for the administration, passing resolutions in general sittings ; later on, sending deputies and commissioners into the country and even to the armies to exact obedience to its decrees, it extended its formidable shadow everywhere. It was the sovereignty of the people exercised directly through its delegates, without counter- balance and without a check. In three years the situation was reversed ; it was no longer the sovereign, it was an Assembly that THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 379 reigned, legislated, governed, administered, received and expended, made treaties and fought; it summarized and incarnated the nation, and for Louis XIV. 's celebrated speech, "L'Etat c'est moi," might have substituted the words, " L'Etat c'est nous." Divisions and Violence of the Convention. This excessive power, the dangers of which were not at first perceived, through the neces- sity of action in the presence of national danger, soon led to serious consequences for liberty, and even for society. Power belonged to the party who could best secure the popular favour, practically that of the Paris mob. To gain this each party outbid the other in violence, till at last exhaustion and reaction came. The Mountain, the extreme Left, bolder than the Girondins, compromised the latter in their violent policy by leading them to vote for the death of Louis XVI., then freed themselves from them by a revolt and proscription (31st of May, 2nd of June, 1793). They then reigned by terror ; incapable even of remaining united amongst themselves, dividing into the exaggerated and the moderates, into Hebertists and Dantonists, destroying each other at the instigation and to the advantage of a dull, ambitious fanatic, Maximilian Robespierre, who sought to increase the anarchy in order to remain sole master, and who, in spite of his wish to return to better things, fell at last amidst universal odium, for if he possessed the craft of a Cromwell, he had neither his courage nor his intelligence. In the disorder of foreign war, complicated by civil war (the rising in the Vendee and the Girondin departments), the Con- vention carried the social as well as the political revolution to extremes. Proscription struck all those who clung to the old regime, the nobles or priests were imprisoned, rendered answerable for and victims of the blunders of the emigrants. The sans-culottes triumphed, destroying equality in their turn, crushing under foot the rights of man, and so completely overturning society that we may say that during fourteen months it no longer existed. There was no more order, for two-thirds of France was in revolt ; no more security under the law of the suspected and the Committee of Public Safety ; no more justice in the revolutionary 380 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. tribunal, which only parodied its forms ; no more equality, unless it were on the scaffold and in the bloody basket, where the heads of nobles and commons rolled together ; no more religion, for the churches were shut and the priests proscribed ; no longer a nation, since one part of France fought against the other ; such was the situation produced by the broils of the Convention, and more hideous even than the guillotining in Paris were the massacres in the provinces, at Nantes and at Lyons. Prohibitions of entry pre- vented external commerce, the high rate of prices ruined internal commerce, disorder arrested industry, and the prevailing misery was extreme. More than once it became necessary, in Paris, to reduce the rations of bread sold by the bakers. No doubt the Convention producing, so to speak, armies and generals had by its savage energy repulsed the foreigner and pre- served French unity. But La Vende"e was crushed from the month of December, 1793, and from November to December the frontiers of the north and east had been saved by Jourdan, the victor of Wattignies (16th of October), and by Hoche, the hero of Wissem- burg (22nd to 26th of December). Now the terror and anarchy redoubled precisely in the first six months of 1794, and the contra- diction between the fury of the Convention and the successes of the armies became so great that a revolt took place when the vic- tory of Fleurus (26th of June, 1794) rendered it more startling. It was really the cannon of Fleurus which overthrew Robespierre, and, as though in bitter derision, his colleague, Saint-Just, whilst still covered with the dust of the battle-field, took his place by him on the 10th Thermidor (28th of July), in the supreme hecatomb which put an end to all the hecatombs. The Thermidorian Eeaction. We must turn quickly away from such spectacles in our search for the progress of civilization, for they would be the denial of this progress had not society, for one moment overthrown, recovered its balance almost immediately. Arrived at results as absurd as they were odious, the Revolution frightened at itself halted in its work with the aid of the few remain- ing Men of the Mountain. The reaction, inevitable in human affairs, became rapid after the 10th Thermidor, and like the Revolution THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. was carried to an extreme in its turn, and successful generals succeeded to the power of theorizing fanatics. At first the reaction was only manifested against the system of the Terror. The Convention recalled the proscribed deputies, the fugitive Girondins, and reunited its broken forces. This reaction soon tried the patience of the Mountain, the men who had over- thrown Robespierre and who felt threatened in their turn. The insurrection which they led against the Assembly on the 1st Prai- rial (20th of May, 1795) failed, the revolutionary tribunal was abolished, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, at Paris, was disarmed. The Convention also hurried forward the consideration and vote for a new Constitution, to replace the ultra-democratic Constitution voted in 1793, now inapplicable. This reaction advanced so quickly that it awakened the hopes of the Royalists. The Con- vention, which was obliged to defend itself against the Jacobins on the 1st Prairial, was protected on the 13th Vendemaire (5th of October, 1795) by Buonaparte, whose success dates from that day. Then the Convention, which had been assailed now by the revolutionary sections, now by the reactionary sections of the Parisian militia, abolished this militia. The Constitution of the Year III. The Convention itself had suffered from its omnipotence. The sovereign with eight hundred heads had lost too many of them not to be cured of its ambition. The new Constitution, dating from the year III. (1795), therefore returned to the principle of the separation of the powers and to that of the duality of the Assemblies, so imprudently abandoned by the Constituent Assembly. The executive power was to be confided to a directory of five members, the legislative power to two councils the Council of Ancients and the Council of the Five Hundred. The Convention returned to the election by two degrees, which had been suppressed. It divided that is to say, weakened the execu- tive power ; but it was a great step, as we have said, to have rendered it personal. The balance between the two councils was cleverly maintained, and the Council of the Ancients, a prepon- derant authority, could approve or reject the laws voted by the Legislative Body. In a word, if this Constitution had its defects, 382 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. if it too nearly annihilated the executive power, if by its too frequent elections it maintained perpetual change in the Legislative Body, it at least made a serious attempt to arrange a republican organiza- tion. One director was elected every year, and one-third of each of the Legislative Councils. It failed more through the fault of men than through its principles. Labours and Creations of the Convention. The Convention which had the merit, very rare in an assembly, of amending itself, of recognising and repairing its political errors applied itself also, in the latter period of its career, to carrying on the work of social and economic progress. Already at the height of the civil war, under the pressure of financial necessities, it had, on the proposal of Cambon, unified the debt by creating the great book of the public debt. All the national debts were included in one single and same debt, bearing the same interest, and irredeemable. The credit of the State was thus founded. This system appeared so favourable that, from this time, loans have been continually added to loans ; but this does not mean that this facility has not been abused nor that economy is not as imperative for States as it is for families. On the 9th of August, 1793, Cambaceres laid before the Con- vention the first project of the civil code. It was rejected as not sufficiently embodying the ideas of the Revolution. In 1794 and 1796 again his project was rejected without discussion. At length, under the Consulate (1800), a commission was formed to draw up the New Code, the first portion of which, the Civil Code, was promulgated in 1804. In the midst of the revolutionary confusion schools and colleges had almost disappeared. The Convention, adopting Condorcet's general ideas, decreed, after hearing several reports by Professor Lakanal (which are still celebrated), a vast system of national instruction. In the primary schools the people were to learn the elements of the French language, of arithmetic, and the principles of surveying ; in the central schools the wealthier classes could place at the disposal of their children the sciences, literature, the dead languages, and the most suitable of the living languages, history, and political economy. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 383 To form an army of distinguished professors the Convention decreed the foundation of an Ecole Normale (30th of October, 1793). Special schools were created for medicine, the law, and veterinary surgery. From this period date the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, 1794, the Conservatoire de Musique, 3rd August, 1795, the Bureau des Longitudes (21st June, 1795), the Ecole Poly- technique (28th September, 1794), established under the name of Central School of Public Works ; the Natural History Museum, opened on the 10th June, 1793 ; the first organization of the Institute intended to replace the old Academies (25th October, 1795). For the encouragement of the Arts the Convention ordered the formation of the Museum, opened in the Louvre on the 8th November, 1793. The Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles was organized on the 28th July, 1795. The Archives were collected in a general depot under the direction of Camus. It is to the Convention that we owe the adoption in France (7th April, 1793) of the system of weights and measures called the metric system, which gave a scientific basis to the unity of weights and measures, according to the wish of the Constituent Assembly. A much less useful innovation was the Republican Calendar (24th November, 1793). It was retrospective, beginning from 22nd September, 1792 (1 Vendemaire, An I.), and lasted to 81st December, 1805 (10 Nivose, An XIV.). The Metrical System of money, weights and measures, and the Code Napoleon are the two great gifts of the Revolution to the civilized world. The Convention did its best to dissipate the memory of the days of blood. It reformed the government and the adminis- tration. It reanimated society, which it had terrified. Above all, and it is through this that its fury has been forgiven, it excited patriotism and military honour to the highest point. It excited France to enthusiasm, and when it retired peaceably on the 26th October, 1795, it had delivered the country, con- quered Belgium, Holland, and the provinces of the Rhine. It restored to France her natural frontiers, and realised in a few years the work so long dreamed of by tho old monarchy. 384 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. One century later we find that the magnificent extension given to France by the Convention has been seriously clipped and deformed. The Directory (1795 1799); the Covps-d' Etat. The Govern- ment established by the Constitution of the Year III. compromised by its weakness and perpetual oscillations the situation which had been bequeathed to it by the Convention. Uncertain in its ad- vance, moderate in character, violent by necessity, passing from indolence to energy, and falling back into indolence, the Directory endeavoured to separate itself equally from both the factions, Jacobin and Royalist ; this made its strength ; but undecided and divided, it allowed itself to be too much drawn first to one side, then to the other, and this made its weakness. The Convention had believed that on withdrawing it would guarantee the security of the new Government, by voting a mea- sure contrary to that which the Constituent Assembly had voted. Far from excluding its members from the new Government, it de- cided that the new Councils should be taken, at least two-thirds of them, from the Convention. It also wished to secure a con- tinuance of its traditions and to perpetuate itself under another name. But the Councils were about to be renewed, and elections favourable to the Royalists modified the majority, above all in the Council of the Five Hundred. A division and a struggle then took place between the legislative and executive powers. The coup-d'etat of the 18th Fructidor (4th September, 1797) led to the exclusion of fifty-three deputies and of two Directors. The army was employed for this stroke, and thus a disastrous example was given. The precautions taken by the Constitution proved useless. The da;y of the 18th Fructidor had ruined the hopes of the Royalists, the Jacobins raised their head, and triumphed in the elections of the Year VI. The Directory, again overwhelmed, provoked some counter-elections by the minorities, and itself chose the deputies who were to enter the Councils. This was the coup-d'etat of the 22nd Floreal (llth May, 1798). The Councils revenged them- selves, and in their turn, on the 80th Prairial (18th June, 1799), forced three Directors Lareveillere-Lepaux, Treilhard, and Mer- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 385 lin of Douai to send in their resignation. Thus the Govern- ment itself set the example of anarchy, and its administration was affected by these weaknesses and violences. Social Disorder, To the disorder which these repeated coups d'etat produced in the minds of the people a real moral disorder was now added. The revolutionary tumult, which had troubled and almost annihilated social relations, overthrown the conditions of life, and led many consciences astray, was gradually subsiding. As in a lake troubled by a storm, the mud had been brought to the surface ; it required time before it sank again. The confusion was additionally great because a new society, endowed with new laws, sought to organize itself with the remnants of the old, broken by the tempest. During the crisis no one thought of anything but his safety. "What have you done all this time?" someone asked Sieyes. He replied, "I have lived." When calm was re-estab- lished, joy overflowed in a generation that during fourteen months had scarcely dared to breathe. The reign of the carmagnole and clubs had passed, that of the drawing-room recommenced ; ele- gance and intellect, being no longer causes of proscription, society abandoned itself to luxury and festival with a liberty that, no longer restrained by the old etiquette, soon degenerated into licence. The pillage of the State finances, inevitable under an administration that had become feeble after having been cruel, and speculations in paper money, created immense fortunes, and the newly rich sought to win pardon for themselves by prodigality ; the dispersion of the wealth of families, the exile of the clergy, and the absence of religion, the abuse of divorce, the freedom of manners which led to freedom of morals; all produced a general relaxation, a species of madness, of which the worship of the Goddess of Reason in 1793 4, and Robespierre's Decree of the Supreme Being are the culminating points. Comedy, in describing the Incroyables, has traced only the ridiculous side, which history cannot excuse, even whilst explaining it. Financial Disorder. The financial disorder equalled the moral disorder. The issue of the assignats had been carried to the sum of forty-five milliards, which were only worth four or five hundred c c 386 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. millions. A forced loan had been levied upon the rich. The Directory had at last found itself obliged to abandon the assignats, but it replaced them by another kind of paper money, the terri- torial mandates, also secured on the national property, though soon depreciated, yet with which two-thirds of the debt was repaid ; it was a species of bankruptcy which was called the bankruptcy of the two-thirds. Only one-third of the debt was retained on the great book ; this was the consolidated third. The Directory might have faced this serious position by maintaining peace after the glorious treaty of Campo Forinio. On the contrary, it provoked the formation of a new coalition by a policy of violent and unseason- able propagandism. The Army ; the Law of Conscription. The new dangers which France encountered in 1798 at least furnished the Directory with an opportunity of reorganizing the military forces. The wars of the Revolution had ended by giving France real armies ; this had been seen in 1794, 1795, 1796 ; the amalgamation of battalions of volunteers and of the troops of the line had been made ; one uni- form only was used for the infantry, the blue coats and the white coats and the regimental names of the old monarchy had disap- peared ; two half- brigades, each of three battalions, and which soon afterwards took the name of regiments, formed the brigade ; above the brigade came the division, a real strategic unity, a copy of the old Roman legion, for besides the brigades of infantry it included cavalry, artillery in a word, all that constitutes an army. The staff was organized, but the essential point, that is to say, a regular law of recruitment, was lacking, for until then requisitions, or a levy in mass, had always been resorted to. On the 19th Fructidor an VI. (5th September, 1798) the Coun- cils adopted a law which forced all young men between twenty and twenty-five years of age to enter the military service (with certain exceptions and dispensations) ; the defenseurs consents (this was the term used), were divided into five classes or years. The legislative power settled the number of the contingent, and the executive power proceeded to the roll-call, commencing by the youngest. Called or not called, the defenseurs consents were THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 387 on the list five years after their inscription, and then received their final dismissal unless the country were at war. This was the starting point of the regular levies which constituted the military power of France. Preponderance of the Army ; the Coup d 1 Etat of the 18th and 19th Brumaire (9th and Wth November, 1799). These long wars, by forming the army, gave a preponderance to the military element which soon facilitated the projects of General Buonaparte. His marvellous Italian campaign, in 1796 1797, had already raised him above all others ; in Egypt he had increased his prestige by his brilliant victories of the Pyramids (1798), and Aboukir (1799), and the check of his army at Acre and the destruction of his fleet at the Battle of the Nile had not lessened it in France. He knew that he could easily overthrow a government so utterly divided if he could only find in it some accomplice to aid him in carrying out his designs. The defeats sustained in his absence, the loss of Italy, the internal disorganization, the disturbances which recommenced in the provinces, the financial crisis, the relaxation of all social bonds, produced the dread of a veritable dissolution of France, who, wearied with ten years of revolution, endeavoured to recover her balance, order, and prosperity. Buonaparte then ended the series of the coups d'etat of the Directory by a military coup d'etat. Having caused the removal of the Corps Legislatif to the Chateau de Saint Cloud on the 18th Brumaire (9th November, 1799), he wished to modify the Constitution of the Year III. The Council of Ancients accepted his propositions, but the majority of the Five Hundred rejected them with indignation. The General then appealed to his soldiers, who dispersed the deputies (19th Brumaire, 10th November). The .Revolution was arrested, and France had a master. CHAPTER XVI. THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE NAPOLEONIC EUEOPE - DIFFUSION OF FRENCH IDEAS. SUMMARY: The Consulate; Constitution of the Year VIII. Plebiscites The Electoral System ; the Lists of Notabilite Administrative Reor- ganization Justice ; the Courts of Appeal ; the Civil Code The New Financial System ; the Control and Collection of Taxes Religious Peace ; the Concordat (18011802) The Legion of Honour (1802) ; Public Instruction, the Lycees Economic Reforms; Credit, the Bank of France The Work of the Consulate The Empire ; the Senatus-Con- sultum of the Year XII. (1804) The Great Dignitaries; the New Nobility Napoleon's Work ; Military Art Finance The Codes Public Works Industry Exhibitions Industrial Consequences of the Continental Blockade The University (1806) Imperial Absolutism The French Empire and Europe in 1810 Diffusion of Ideas of French Revolution in Europe ; Belgium, Holland, the Rhenish Provinces, Switzerland Effect of French Revolution on Italy Simplification of the Germanic Chaos Effects of French Revolution on Germany Effect of French Revolution on Spain ; the Constitution of 1812 Prussia ; Reforms of Stein and Scharnhorst Effect of French Revolu- tion in Sweden and Russia Principles of the Revolution turned against Napoleon. The Consulate ; Constitution of the Year VIII. The new Govern- ment established by Buonaparte after the 18th Brumaire, assumed ancient names borrowed from the classical recollections which had continued in fashion during the Revolution. The painter David, under the Convention, sought in antiquity for the models of the festivals he was empowered to organize, and for the costumes he was asked to design. The directors and the members of the Councils made the Roman toga fashionable, accompanying it by eccentric ornaments, and the Roman cap, which they surmounted with ridiculous plumes. The titles of the new chiefs of the so-called Republican government were therefore also chosen from the Roman THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE. 389 republic ; but there were three Consuls instead of two, and, in reality, there was only one the First Consul, Buonaparte. " This man," says Sieyes, " knows everything, wills everything, and can do everything." The Constitution of the year VIII. was borrowed from one of Sieyes' complicated plans, considerably modified by Buonaparte. It was a Monarchical constitution under Republican forms, just as the Constitution of 1791 had been Republican under a Monarchical form. Until then the Executive power had been subordinate to the Legislative power, then equal to the latter ; this time it was rendered superior* The First Consul, elected for ten years, then for life (1802), nominated and dismissed the ministers, ambassadors, the officers of land and sea, and the agents of the administration. He kept the initiative and the pro- mulgation of the laws, declared war, and made treaties of peace. He had as auxiliary a new body, the Council of State a council of consultation nominated by the First Consul, a closed upper chamber where the laws which were to be submitted to the Corps Legislatif were elaborated, and, lastly, a great administrative tri- bunal. This was one of the most important wheels in the mechanism of the new government. The Executive power was concentrated and strengthened, the Legislative power divided and weakened. It included a Tribunate which discussed, a Corps Legislatif which voted in silence, a Senate charged to watch over the maintenance of the Constitution. Plebiscites. The popular sovereignty, however, was recognised, for the Constitution of the year VIII. was subjected to the sanction of the people, who accepted it by 3,011,007 votes against 1,562, and the old Roman term of Plebiscite was revived. The modifi- cations introduced into the Constitution in the year X., by the nomination of Buonaparte as Consul for life, were also ratified by a plebiscite, which was again resorted to for the Empire, 3,572,329 against 2,569. The Electoral System; The Lists of Notabilite. Buonaparte, however, intended to act against the electoral system of the assemblies of the Revolution, which seemed too liberal in his eyes. He borrowed from Sieyes' plans the system of the lists of nota- 300 7 HE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. hilite. Every Frenchman was still an elector, but the electors of each ward chose every tenth man from amongst their number, and they formed the lists of communal notobilite. From this list the executive power selected the officials of the ward. The citizens of the communal notabilite again nominated one-tenth of themselves to form the departmental list, from which the officials for the department were chosen. The citizens on the departmental list again chose one-tenth of their number ; this was the national list, from which the Senate elected the members of the Tribunate, the Corps Legislatif, &c. The election thus passed through three degrees, without counting the intervention of the Executive power. Administrative Reorganization. If Buonaparte prepared for a return to monarchy, and the incarnation in his own person of the entire people by virtue of the popular right, as Louis XIV. had formulated it in the name of the Divine right, he at least completed the administrative work of the Constituent Assembly. He established a civil hierarchy of the functionaries, dispersed throughout the de- partments. He strengthened the action of authority in all parts of France by his presets and his sous prefets, and consolidated political unity by organizing a powerful centralization which has survived every subsequent crisis. He established a series of small as- semblies for each department, district, and parish, parallel to that of the actual magistrates of the parish, district, and departments. The discussion of local interests was secured as well as the execution of the decisions of the sovereign power in each locality. Justice; the Courts of Appeal ; the Civil Code. The judicial divi- sions established by the Constituent Assembly were maintained, but it had left a deficiency. An appeal was carried from one tribunal to another. Buonaparte instituted twenty-nine Courts of Appeal, placed chiefly in the cities which had been the centres of judicial learning. The labours of the Civil Code, commenced by the Con- vention, were resumed, and ended (1803 1808). This code, founded on the principles of 1789, was composed of five great codes : the Civil Code (1804), the Code of Civil Procedure (1806), of Commerce (1807), of Criminal Instruction (1808), the Penal Code (1810). They were developed with a clearness, a close logic THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE. 391 unknown until then ; in short, they recalled the precision of the Roman jurisconsults. It was the most important body of laws that had been formed since Justinian, the condensation of all French learning, the successful fusion of the old written law and the old law of customs, the reconciliation of all the Roman, Germanic, and Christian principles that had so long con- flicted with each other the true code of modern society and one of the least imperfect monuments of human wisdom. Its importance may be estimated by the way in which all subsequent European legal codes, with the exception of England's, have been influenced by it. The New Financial System, Control, and Collection of Taxes. The Constituent Assembly and the Convention had been unable to organ- ize a sound administration of the finances. The First Consul estab- lished it upon a logical basis. He separated the assessment of taxes from the collection ; a simple idea which averted all the abuses, all the vexations, and all the dilapidations of the public funds. A law settled the public debt, and the landed estates were assigned to a sinking-fund, which was to sell them gradually, in order to purchase stock, and diminish the public debt. Religious Peace; the Concordat (18011802). The civil consti- tution of the clergy, in 1790, had produced a real schism. It had never been cordially accepted, and the Catholic clergy had been proscribed, The Constitution of the year III. proclaimed freedom of worship, and the Catholic worship was re-established in many localities. But from the end of December, 1799, the First Consul re-opened the churches that had been closed by the Administration, and regulated the religious question by a Concordat signed by the Pope. It was difficult for the Court of Rome to refuse to accept the material position which the sale of her property had created for the Church, and therefore it only asked for compensation, which, moreover, had been already promised by the Constituent Assembly. It was decided that in place of the lost property the clergy should receive their stipends from the State. The First Consul exercised the power of nominating the bishops that had been wielded by the old kings since Francis I. ; the Pope appointed thera. With the 392 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. agreement of the Holy See, Buonaparte made a new division of bishoprics and archbishoprics, greatly reducing their numbers. The Concordat, signed on the 15th July, 1801, adopted by the Corps Legislatif on the 8th April, 1802, and solemnly promul- gated on the 18th April, Easter Day, re-established religious peace. At the same time as the Concordat, Buonaparte caused a law to be passed by the Corps Legislatif, entitled Articles organiques, an essentially internal law, which was intended to define the relations between the Church and the State and to prevent encroachments by the Court of Rome. The Legion of Honour (1802) ; Public Instruction ; the Lycees. The Revolution had destroyed the orders of Saint Louis and Saint Michael. Napoleon wished to recognise all the services rendered to the state by the Military as well as by the citizens, to create a dis- tinction which should be open to all. He caused the law of the Legion of Honour to be passed (19th May, 1802). Though opposed at first as a violation of the principle of equality, it has become exceedingly popular. The future of France depended above all upon the education of the young. The First Consul did little for primary instruction : the expense alarmed him. He believed that secondary education was of more importance, and the middle classes, who in reality directed public opinion, appeared to him more in need of instruction. He therefore suppressed the Central schools and replaced them by twenty-nine establishments called by a Greek name, Lycees, in which he once more raised literature to honour. For superior and special instruction, he decreed, when Consul, ten schools of law and six schools of medicine. The Ecole Poly- technique, which already existed, was improved. He added to it a school of Bridges and Roads, and then established at Compiegne a school of Mechanical Arts, which, transported to Chalons-sur- Marne, became the jficole des Arts et Metiers. Economic Reforms: Credit, the Bank of France. Buonaparte, at the same time that he reorganized France politically, repaired or opened roads and canals, embellished the capital, stimulated agri- THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE. 393 culture, industry, and commerce. He had the glory of re-estab- lishing credit by a Kiore careful adaptation of the schemes invented by Law, and the Constituent Assembly. The Bank of France, organized in 1800, and continually developed until 1806, was both a private and State institution. Formed by a group of capitalists, it received the deposits of private individuals, and of the public treasury (as a deposit bank), it discounted commer- cial bills (a discounting bank), and it had also the privilege of issuing notes (a circulating bank). This was a return to paper money. Without being riches by themselves, bank notes, simple pieces of paper, have considerably developed public wealth. How does this happen ? " It is," said the illustrious economist Rossi, " because for a crowd of little known debtors, a debtor whom all the world knows, and whom all the world accepts, has been sub- stituted the Bank. The Bank takes the drafts and gives the manufacturers notes, that is to say, money orders, that it draws on the public payable at sight and guaranteed by the stock of bullion and the directors of the bank. By its credit it supplies producers with the thing they lack, the disposition of their capital. With the credit of the Bank they obtain all that they require. An inter- rupted chain of creditors is thus formed, replacing each other, and transmitting more or less rapidly to each other, a more or less considerable portion of capital, a transmission which could not have taken place if the first creditor had not been supported by the credit of the State." The role of the bank is not only commercial, it is also financial ; it regulates the movements of specie, by raising or lowering the discount. If the specie leaves it in too great quantities, it is because the need of money is making itself felt, and the bank raises the value of money by raising the discount ; that is to say, it requires a higher interest for the sums which it advances on commercial bills : it thus prevents its treasury from being emptied too quickly. If, on the contrary, specie remains in its cash boxes, it is because specie abounds, or trade languishes ; it lowers the charge for discount, extends its credit, and facilitates exchanges, to quicken the circulation, and raise the price of money. 394 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. "The Bank," says Bossi, " should be the pendulum of the mone- tary system, it ought to regulate its general movement, and render the oscillations slow and equal." All this is common to the Bank of England, and banks in other countries, instituted long before the Bank of France. The Work of the Consulate. The Consulate had then been a period of activity and greatness for France, during which the principal results of the Revolution had been fixed. The social revolution, consummated by the appeasement of parties ; the eco- nomic revolution developed by the energetic impulse given to it by the re-establishment of order ; the political revolution consecrated partially at least by an administration, learnedly conceived and solidly balanced. All classes were included ; all arms worked ; and restored France, great in peace and in war, showed herself glorious before the world, the Civil Code in one hand, and in the other the sword of Marengo. The Empire: The Senatus Consultant of the Year XII. (1804). But Buonaparte, who had acquired so many titles to the gratitude of the nation, compromised his work by wishing to carry it further. Not content with the powers he wielded, he wished to extend them still more, and to heighten them by the imperial title. After the memories of the Roman republic, those of the Roman empire re- appeared with the crowned soldier, who wished to combine both Csesar and Charlemagne. Haughtier even than Charlemagne, Napoleon would not go to Rome for his consecration : he made Pope Pius VII. go to Paris ; and, even whilst invoking the blessing of the religious ceremony, he took, and himself placed the crown upon his head (2nd December, 1804). It seemed at that moment, when no one could foresee the future, that this was the end of the political reaction. The monarchy was re-established, no longer the feudal monarchy of olden times, but a military monarchy, consigning the civil and religious character to the second rank. Moreover, the new sovereignty, although consecrated by the church, was based upon a plebiscite, and the national sovereignty. Napoleon pretended to crown, in his own person, the revolution, whose son he willingly THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE. 395 declared himself. But practically he crushed all maxims under his feet. He was absolute monarch in fact, if not by law. The Constitution of the year VIII. had been modified in 1802, when Napoleon had already received all the attributes of a king. He had increased his power over the Senate, which was to serve as his instrument in altering the constitution at his pleasure. He had reduced the Tribunate to fifty members, and taken the drawing up of treaties from the Corps Legislatif to confer it upon a privy council. The lists of notabilite rendered immovable, had trans- formed the electoral colleges into electoral colleges for life. The elections could make no further changes. Napoleon, proclaimed Emperor, had therefore nothing to fear from the constitution of 1802. The senatus-consultum of the year XII. was only relative to the, new dignity conferred upon the First Consul and to the hereditary principle established in his family. To win acceptance for this usurpation, he increased apparently the importance of the Corps Legislatif, by restoring its influence in the Committees, and of the senate by nominating two commissions for the liberty of the press, and for individual liberty, purely illusory commissions under such a master as Napoleon. The Great Dignitaries: The New Nobility. The senatus-con- sultum of the year XII., in order to heighten the lustre of the throne, surrounded it with great dignitaries, High Chancellor, High Treasurer, Grand Elector, Constable, High Admiral, and the great officials, the chief of whom were the sixteen Marshals of the Empire, who by their famous names rendered this resumption of the dignity of the old monarchy illustrious, whilst the other pompous titles recalled memories of the defunct Germanic Empire. Thus the mixture of ancient and German traditions, which is found in every part of the history of France, was continued. Napoleon, by his political ambition, found himself drawn into a kind of social reaction. He formed a new aristocracy, not only around the throne, but below it, by the concession of large fiefs and the creation of a new nobility, undoubtedly deprived of privi- leges, but in which he wished to embody the social traditions of the older nobility, and to conceal the plebeian origin of 306 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. his court and empire. He had also, by the electoral colleges for life, formed a veritable administrative aristocracy, dowered, in default of titles, with political rights. Napoleon's Work ; Military Art. The early years of the Empire were at first only a continuation of the Consulate. The glorious treaties of Presburg (1805) and Tilsit (1807) consolidated the French Empire in Europe. The marvellous success and the military qualities of the armies excited the national pride. Napoleon carried the art of war to a very high point. The mathematical combinations of his strategy and tactics left those of antiquity far behind. He formulated rules which enabled masses of men to be moved, and to be handled like machines, rendered hundreds of thousands obedient to a single will ; he perfected the modern army, which compels admiration by its discipline, its flexibility, the precision and rapidity of its movements. Finance. Even in the midst of his most urgent military occupations, Napoleon thought of the administration, which he directed with the same energy as he did war. From the plains of Moravia and Poland he governed his Empire as though he had been in Paris. On his return to the capital he worked with feverish ardour to improve all the branches of the public service. He per- fected the financial system established under the Commune by placing tax-collectors in every important commune ; braved popular prejudices by adding indirect taxes to the direct taxes ; regulated the accounts by ordering them to be kept by double entry ; com- pleted the mechanism of the Bank ; introduced strict honesty and economy into all the services, for he had to create not only an administration, but also the morals of an administration. The Codes. Continuing the judicial improvements, he brought the study of the codes of Civil Procedure (1806), of criminal trials (1807), and of the Penal Code (1810), to a successful con- clusion, and restored to society the guarantees which it required to support and defend itself. But he still left in them too many traces of ancient ideas. He retouched the old commercial legis- lation, and in 1807 promulgated the Commercial Code, which retained the election of the jury, serving gratuitously; extended the NAPOLEONIC EUROPE. 397 sphere of the consular judges, who now became veritable magis- trates, whose importance was to be still further augmented by the increase of private fortunes. Public Works. Public works had not received so great an impulse since the time of Louis XIV. and Colbert : roads, canals, ports in France and in the subject countries, were the objects of considerable grants. With the gold of Europe at his disposal, Napoleon did not fear to bury it in these productive works, which, continued after him, have changed the aspect of France and Europe. He lowered the Simplon, Mont Cenis, and Mont Genevre by making wide roads over them. He caused the famous mole of Cherbourg, commenced under Louis XVI., to be con- tinued. He dowered Paris, Milan, and Turin with useful or sumptuous monuments. He restored the prosperity of the port of Antwerp as a rival to England, and his solicitude, increasing with his ambition, extended to Hamburg and Borne. Industry ; Exhibitions. Napoleon, whose intelligence was awak- ened to every modern necessity, understood the power of industry : he pensioned the celebrated Jacquard, who perfected the loom for weaving silk ; encouraged the cotton industry, then new in France, founded by two manufacturers, Richard and Lenoir, who spread the use of the spinning -jenny, invented by an English wigmaker, Arkwright. He rewarded Oberkampf, who popularized the in- dustry of printed calicoes; the clock-makers, Carcel, Breguet, &c. Lastly, he invited chemists to endeavour to replace cane sugar by beetroot sugar, and thus created a new source of wealth. He resumed the project of exhibitions, already attempted under the Directory. In 1798 France offered the spectacle of a first industrial exhibition, but at that time only 210 exhibitors had assembled : at the Exhibition of 1806 there were 1,422. Industrial Consequences of the Continental Blockade. No doubt Napoleon was compelled by his faulty foreign policy to renew the old economic errors with the continental blockade. The man who hurried to the Council of State, between two campaigns, to discuss the titles of the Commercial Code, ruined foreign commerce. Taking nations for war machines, and sacrificing interests like 398 TPIE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. soldiers, he conceived the project of closing the whole of Europe to English commerce. On every frontier were seen confiscations and destruction of merchandise. Europe was obliged to dispense with colonial produce. However, this system, which caused great sufferings in maritime countries, had analogous results to those produced by Colbert's protective system. " You must be manufacturers," replied Napo- leon to those who complained, " and provide for yourselves the goods you have formerly sought from others, manufacture your printed calicoes, your sugar, your indigo. You can make it all for yourselves. Whilst I endeavour to win the freedom of the seas, the industry of France will be developed and created." When in 1815 the Continent was reopened to England, she was astonished to find it peopled with factories. French industry particularly had greatly prospered, for other nations, deprived of English merchandise, had sent to it for the articles which they required. England therefore met with active competition. The University (1806).* Napoleon from the time of his Con- sulate had organised education. But it was necessary to form a staff to devote itself to the laborious task of instruction. A law of the 10th of May, 1806, organized, under the name of the Imperial * The decrees of the 17th of March, 1808, and the 5th of November, 1811, completed the law of 18()6, and assigned the direction of education to a Grand Master assisted by a Council. General inspectors visited the educa- tional establishments. There were as many Academies as there were Im- perial Law Courts At the head of each Academy a rector was placed, also assisted by a council, and who himself had inspectors under his orders. In each academical chief town a Faculty of Letters and a Faculty of Science delivered the highest in.-truction . The Ecole Norm ale was formed to prepare young men destined to be profese-ors. Those who formed part of the Uni- versity could not be expelled, except by the judgment of the body itself of whieh they were members ; to strengthen the fellow-feeling by a feeling of ownership the decrees of the 17th of March, 17th of September, and llth of December, 1808, secured to the University its private fortune, four hundred thousand pounds of income inscribed in the Exchequer, and the produce of entrance fees and special taxes ; it has ceased to exist as an independent corporation since the law of the loth of March, 1850. Now the State teaches and confers degrees on examination, but the name, University, has survived as a titlw of the whole body of higher public education in France. NAPOLEONIC EUROPE. $39 University, a body charged to instruct, the members oi which contracted special and temporary obligations. It was in his idea a kind of lay corporation. "I must," said he, " create a disinter- ested, serious, civil profession, who will labour only for literature and science ; this is the ideal of my University of France, and I may say beyond France." The new Charlemagne would have been flattered to see around him a galaxy of great authors. " If Corneille had lived in my time," he said, " I would have made him a prince." But this did not pre- vent his making Chateaubriand his enemy, or sending Madame de Stael into exile, thus assailing the two best writers of the day. Napoleon clung too closely to his absolute authority to endure an independent literature. After all, he appreciated science, and treated savants better than Louis XIV. treated poets. Nearly all were made senators or barons, and received endowments like generals. Artists also profited by the Imperial liberality, and painting recommenced to shine with David, Gros, Gerard, Girodet, Guerin, and Prud'hon. Imperial Absolutism. If the moral, economic, and administrative work of Napoleon were fertile, and if in the period between the Consulate and the Empire he solidly established the course of modern society, his reign, from a political point of view, marks a complete reaction against the liberties that had sprung from the Kevolution. Drawn by his ambition into more and more gigan- tic projects, he at last no longer took particular interests into account, but was irritated by resistance which, by delaying his too rapid advance, would have saved him. Liberty of debate no longer existed ; the Senate and the Corps Legislatif could only find words of praise for the conqueror of Europe. The Tribunate, which was by this time only a shadow of itself, but in which lingered a remnant of opposition, was suppressed in 1807. The Deputies were not even consulted ; a senatus-consultum sufficed. Conscrip- tion consequently became a positive scourge, and the defaulters were as many as fifty thousand. Individual liberty was no longer guaranteed ; Napoleon exiled arbitrarily, like Louis XIV. The liberty of the press existed still less, for the police overlooked the periodical press and the Drevious 400 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. censure of manuscripts was established. Lastly, commercial liberty, completely destroyed externally, was also fettered in the interior. In 1811 a deficient grain harvest raised the price of bread. Napoleon wished to victual Paris himself, and even went so far as to settle, in imitation of the Convention, a maximum for the price of grain ; in his eager haste to execute all his military and pacific enterprises, he thought that he would be forgiven the sacrifice of every liberty on account of the glory and wealth which he secured to France. But at least it was necessary to secure them, and he ruined them by endeavouring to domineer over Europe. The French Empire and Europe in 1810. Napoleon intended to imitate Charlemagne and Charles V. at an epoch when nationalities were too much formed to bend to the unity which he dreamt of establishing beneath the shadow of his imperial sceptre. He wished in ten years to reconstruct the Roman Empire, the work of seven centuries ; and for one moment he appeared to have succeeded. The French Empire attained its greatest limits in 1810. Napo- leon had defeated Russia and Austria at Austerlitz (1805), con- quered Prussia at Jena (1806), raised Poland at Eylau and Friedland (1807). Spain submitted to him in 1808, and he again defeated Austria at Wagram (1809). He entered Berlin and Madrid, and twice entered Tienna. By a simple decree he abolished the temporal power of the Pope, and placed Rome below Paris. He was the friend of the powerful Emperor of the North, who, at Tilsit and Erfurt, dazzled him by his flatteries; and he was son-in-law to the Emperor of Austria. His empire extended from Garigliano to the mouth of the Elbe, and included one hundred and thirty departments. Geneva and Ghent, Nice and Antwerp, Aix-la-Chapelle and Florence, Am- sterdam and Genoa, Hamburg and Rome, were governed by his prefets. To this immense empire were attached, as feudatory states, the kingdoms of Italy, Naples, Spain, Westphalia, the Confederation of the Rhine, in which the kingdoms of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Saxony, also created by him, were included, DIFFUSION OF FRENCH IDEAS. 401 and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Napoleon styled himself the mediator of Switzerland. Prussia, half destroyed, now only existed because he allowed her to do so, and was completely at his mercy. Austria, considerably enfeebled, had also, by close alliance, entered the French Emperor's circle. Napoleon held one half of Europe under his hand. Russia, aggrandized by Finland, Wallachia, and Moldavia, possessed the other half. Peace depended upon the agreement between the two Emperors, and war upon the collision of these two ambitions. England paid very dearly for her maritime dominion. Isolated, and reduced to a contraband commerce, she avenged the closing of the Continent to her by capturing the colonies of France and of her allies, and laid the foundations of her vast colonial empire. Diffusion of the ideas of the French Revolution in Europe : Belgium, Holland, Rhenish Provinces, Switzerland. The Convention had re- plied to the threats of the sovereigns and the invasion of French terri- tory by the propaganda of the new principles and by the emancipa- tion of the nations. It had decreed on the 15th of December, 1792, that in every country where the French generals entered they should proclaim the sovereignty of the people and the abolition of the feudal laws. The Rhenish Provinces, Belgium and Holland, received French laws, which have become acclimatized there. Switzerland, under the pressure of the armies sent by the Directory, also effected her revolution. Although the country had been republican from its origin to the fourteenth century, the aristocracy and feudal traditions still prevailed there. Several cantons still kept the people in subjection. In 1798 the Directory organized a new government, modelled upon the French Constitu- tion of the year III. The new Assemblies decreed absolute freedom of trade between all the cantons, the abolition of torture and of the tax on the Jews, permission for marriage to be celebrated between persons of different religions, and the complete abolition of feudal privileges. In 1803, Napoieon, in his quality of mediator, completed the pacification of Switzerland and the transformation of its social and D D 402 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. political regime. He divided the country into nineteen cantons (instead of thirteen in 1789). The Federal Act establishing the unity of Switzerland abolished the subjection of territories, the privileges of certain districts, or of birth and rank. It prohibited all internal town dues, of import, transit, or customs. Effect of the French Revolution on Italy. In a measure the French repaid to Italy the debt they had contracted towards the country that had revived literature and the arts in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Italy was freed from the Austrian yoke, organized into republics, then, following the fluctuation of France itself, into French kingdoms. Napoleon's rule was substituted for that of Austria. One part of Italy, and that not the least rich, the portion that lies between the Apennines and the Mediterranean, was annexed to France. The kingdom of Italy between the Apennines and the Adriatic was governed by Napoleon's step-son, the Prince Eugene, and the kingdom of Naples by his brother-in- law, Murat. The free cities of Italy were destroyed, but the principles of 1789 were applied to a country hitherto governed almost entirely by petty foreign princes. The French codes, the encouragement given to agriculture, the embellishments of the city of Naples, remain as souvenirs of Murat's reign. In the Kingdom of the North, the magnificent roads traced by Napoleon across the Alps facilitated relations with France and Switzerland. Milan became one of the most flourishing capitals of Europe ; the reform of diverse and obsolete legislation, regu- larity in the finances, and the suppression of ancient taxes and statute labour, encouragement given to industry, the creation of schools, protection accorded to science, literature, and the arts, all marked the commencement of a new era for Italy. Napo- leon treated Italy, whose language was his mother tongue, as a country which he wished to make a sister and friend to the French nation. Simplification of the Germanic Chaos. Germany was shaken, but its condition was also simplified and ameliorated by the French rule. From the time of the Consulate, Napoleon had endeavoured to intro- DIFFUSION OF FRENCH IDEAS, 403 duce some order into the chaos of the Germanic principalities, and favoured the secularization of a great number of ecclesiastical do- mains. He contemplated this spoliation of German wealth, which might have entailed civil war, with indifference ; he preferred secur- ing French adherents beyond the Rhine and believed he could rely upon German gratitude. He did more : when he had destroyed the German, i.e., the last vestige of the old Roman Empire, he created German kingdoms, raising Wurtemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony to that rank, which he considered counterbalanced by the French kingdom of Westphalia. He augmented the importance of the grand duchies, and by breaking the dependence of a number of small princes and of knights on the Empire, he prepared the ruin of the feudal system, already greatly shaken by the secularizations of 1803. All the small dukes, princes, and knights whose territory was enclosed in that of the Confederate States, lost their direct sovereignty: they only retained empty honours, forming a class of privileged aristocracy, taking the first rank as subjects. A profound revolution which simplified German geography, relieved the people from a maintenance of small courts and of veritable armies of officials, distributed the power in the hands of a few sovereigns, overthrew the influence of the Empire, and hastened the welfare of Germany, not that of France. Effects of the French Revolution on Germany. These changes, the submission of the majority of the German princes to Napoleon as the Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, the prolonged presence of the French armies, completely changed the social and moral state of the country. In Saxon}', where the Protestants, even under Catholic electors, oppressed the Roman Catholics, the latter were raised and freed ; and for once the application of the principle of toleration, which had encountered so much resistance from the Court of Rome, proved beneficial to Catholi- cism ; in the Catholic states like Bavaria, it benefited the Protes- tants ; on the borders of the Rhine and Maine, it relieved the numerous Jews settled in those districts. No great solicitude for political liberty could be expected from Napoleon ; however, the constitutions which he gave to the grand duchies of Warsaw, 40 4 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Frankfort, and Berg, and to the kingdom of Westphalia, were at least representative, impregnated with modern ideas, and feudal servitude disappeared everywhere. Maximilian-Joseph, the King of Bavaria, had taken as minister a Frenchman by birth and education, Montgelas, and his reforms were very extensive ; the French administration was closely imitated. The adoption of the Code Napoleon was delayed in Bavaria until 1814 that is to say, it was never admitted there any more than in Wurtemberg and Saxony, where the old Saxon legislation is still retained. But French legislation triumphed in Baden, Hesse Darmstadt, and Frankfort ; also in the grand duchy of Berg and the kingdom of Westphalia. It also penetrated into Poland, for the grand duchy of Warsaw, although under the nominal authority of the King of Saxony, was really under the all powerful influence of its creator, Napoleon. Effect of the French Revolution on Spain: the Constitution of 1812. In Spain, owing to the imbecility of the Bourbon kings, and the shameful influence of favourites, a considerable party of the most highly-educated men would have welcomed a change, and became dfrancesados. But the excesses of the French soldiery, the requi- sitions and plunder of the generals, soon roused the country against them. When Napoleon entered Madrid he abolished the Inquisition, reduced two-thirds of the convents, abolished the feudal laws, suppressed the provincial custom-houses, the seign- orial justices, &c., but this failed to make his own usurpation popular. The clergy, who had great influence in Spain, excited the religious feeling against France at the same time as the national sentiment. The force of the new principles was, however, so great that a more enlightened portion of the Spanish nation employed them as weapons against the French, who had introduced them. The Cortes had retired to Cadiz, but still maintained its opposition to the Government of King Joseph, which had been organized in imitation of the Imperial Govern- ment. Not to allow itself to be outdone in liberalism, the Cortes greatly modified society and the constitution, abolished the seign- orial dues and privileges, revised the laws of mortmain and DIFFUSION OF FRENCH IDEAS. 405 majorities, suppressed the mesta, which, to encourage the breeding of merino sheep, obliged the landowners to leave certain lands uncultivated, and open for the passage of the wandering flocks. Then, exceeding the liberalism of King Joseph in their political reforms, they coupled the divine right of Ferdinand the Seventh with the contradictory principle of the national sovereignty, and took for their model the Constituent Assembly that had opposed Napoleon. The French constitution of 1791 reappeared in the Spanish constitution of 1812, which, after the restoration, was unceasingly demanded by the Spanish Liberals. Instead of basing their reforms on the old constitutional and provincial liberties of Spain, the patriots unhappily parodied those of France and of England, and produced schisms which have never yet been healed. Prussia : Reforms of Stein and Scharnhorst. A singular thing is that the countries which resisted France reformed themselves more thoroughly than those which obeyed her ; for instance, Prussia, almost destroyed, reduced to five millions of inhabitants, occupied by French troops, forbidden to maintain more than 42,000 men under arms, was roused under Napoleon's iron hand to find means of re-organizing herself. Tyranny, as often is the case, forged the weapons for her own destruction. Napoleon, who desired to control even the choice of the Prussian Ministers, allowed King Frederick William to employ Baron Stein, born in the Duchy of Nassau, whose sentiments he mistook. Stein undertook to regenerate the country, destroyed the serfdom of the land, abolished the territorial privileges of the nobility, allowed the burghers and peasants to acquire land, and the nobles to devote themselves to industry and commerce ; he thus founded civil equality. He also created municipal life by introducing in the choice of magistrates the principle of election by all the citizens with certain qualifications. He also decided that advancement in the army should be regulated not by birth, but by merit. The nobility still remained, what it had always been, the first class in the state, and in possession of the upper ranks in the army, because it was exclusively military. Stein's real intentions could 406 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. not escape Napoleon. Dismissed by a decree, declared the enemy of France and of the Confederation of the Rhine, the Prussian Minister took refuge in Russia, whence he continued to arouse Germany, Scharnhorst, a Hanoverian officer and Minister of War, secured by the most skilful measures a national army for Prussia. He determined to convert the whole nation into soldiers by making the army a simple training school, imposing the principles of enforced military service, but never raising the whole contingent at a time. He thus made all the citizens pass through the army in succession, replacing the trained soldiers by recruits, without ever exceeding the number allowed by Napoleon, or by the precarious state of the finances. He thus, between 1808 and 1812, prepared a strong reserve of men drilled and ready at the first signal to enter the line. Effect of the French Revolution on Sweden and Prussia. Sweden had herself asked for a French prince. Napoleon allowed Bernadotte to be elected heir to Charles XIII. There is no doubt that Berna- dotte betrayed his confidence and, what is more serious, France her- self, to preserve his crown. But it is not the less true that French ideas went and reigned with him in the Scandinavian peninsula, transformed the country, and drew it into the modern movement. Finally Russia was invaded in 1812 by an army composed of men of twenty nations, but which included one hundred and fifty thousand Frenchmen. Napoleon, according to the grandiloquent ideas with which he loved to clothe his ambition, as the head of the west, was to repel the barbarism of the east. This extra- ordinary enterprise, which was the direct cause of his fall, failed against the obstinate resistance of the Russian people. The French were compelled to retire from burning Moscow in the depth of the terrible winter of 1812. The Russians, joined by all the peoples whom the licence of the French, and the tyranny of Napoleon and his generals, had roused to fury, reached Paris. Such a mixture of nations had never been witnessed before, When, however, the wars were over, when the nations had returned to their countries, the old conditions had changed. The DIFFUSION OF FRENCH IDEAS. 407 Czar and the Russian aristocracy in their turn found themselves obliged to reckon with modern principles, which would not remain buried like the grand army in the snows of Russia. We may then without exaggeration compare this movement of the expansion of the ideas of the Revolution to that of the Greek ideas, sown by the Macedonian conqueror upon the highways of Asia. The new Alexander, in spite of the mantle sown with golden bees in which he at times enveloped himself, was only a successful general sprung from the Revolution, the principles of which he diffused and opposed at the same time. These kings of yesterday, these marshals in brilliant uniforms and haughty plumes, with whom he surrounded himself, were the sons of low- class parents, and their supreme chief delighted to recall his first experiences as an artillery officer before the Kings of old Europe. The French army was equality on the march, and wherever it passed feudalism was broken, to the great relief of the peoples. The tri-coloured flag displayed in every capital was, over a great part of Europe, the commencement of modern society. The Principles of the Revolution turned against Napoleon. If the kings ultimately triumphed over Napoleon, it was because, opening their eyes at last, they understood the force of the principles which they had so long rejected. They promised to their people the liberty so strangely violated by Napoleon, and crushed the ruler of Europe under the weight of the nations that had revolted against his tyranny. By an outburst similar to that of the French in 1792, the peoples of Germany precipitated themselves against France, and rendered her responsible for the faults of the man who had driven her beyond the goal. In the name of the principles of the Revolution itself, violated by this crowned soldier, they came to stifle in Paris the Revolution ; yet to it Europe owes, in a great measure, her new form, her new laws, and the immense progress that she has accomplished in our century. The impulse of the French Revolution is not yet exhausted ; its ultimate issues are still uncertain. CHAPTER XVII. EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES SINCE 1815. SUMMARY : Europe in 1815 The Holy Alliance The different Governments in France since 1815 ; the Restoration (18151830) ; the Charter of 1814 Attempts at Political, Economic, and Social Reaction The Political Results of the Restoration ; Representative Government ; the Responsibility of Ministers The Monarchy of July ; Parliamentary Government Property Suffrage Political Consequences of the Econo- mic Revolution ; Progress of the Industrial Classes ; Socialism The Republic of 1848 ; Universal Suffrage ; the Constitution of 1848 The Constitution of 1852 The Second Empire and its Transformations (1852 1870) The National Assembly of 1871 ; the Third Republic ; the Constitution of 1875 Political Results of the Contemporary Epoch in France European Powers since 1815; Conflict between Modern Ideas and the Ancient Regime The Great Wars since 1848 Europe as it now is Progress of Liberal Ideas ; Parliamentary Government England : Progress of Liberal Ideas since 1815 ; Catholic Emancipation (1829); Parliamentary Reform Bill (18311832) ; Abolition of Slavery (1834) ; the Poor Laws Sir Robert Peel's great Economic Reforms ; the Income Tax ; Abolition of the Corn Laws (1846) ; Repeal of the Naviga- tion Laws (1849) ; Liberty granted to the Colonies Parliamentary Reforms in 1867 and 1884 England and Ireland The English Consti- tution ; the Government ; Parliament The Aristocracy, the Gentry ; Local Administration, Parishes, Counties, Justice Character of the English Nation Belgium and its Constitution (1831) Constitutional Monarchy in Spain (1837) ; Portugal Holland : Constitution of 1848 The Swiss Confederation ; the Federal Constitution Denmark Sweden : Constitution of 1866 Kingdom of Italy The Holy See- Constitutional Austria (1861 1867) ; Austrian and Hungarian Parlia- ments Constitutional Rule in Prussia (18501867) The German Imperial Parliament (1871); Military Power of the German Empire Russia : the Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) Territory of the Princi- pal States ; Population Military Power Maritime Power Financial Power Political Europe at the present time. Europe in 1815. Napoleon's overthrow led to a complete re- arrangement of the map of Europe. He had neglected ancient GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 409 traditions, and had shaped and planned the states he conquered, dividing races like herds of cattle, without paying the least atten- tion to nationalities. The allied sovereigns when victorious, in their turn, followed the same course, and the famous Congress of Vienna, 1814 1815, was only a market where royal greed for terri- tory endeavoured to satisfy itself, the only check being the collision of rival ambitions. The political map of Europe after this treaty was entirely altered from its territorial aspect in 1789, and France paid dearly for her moment of expansion and the excitement of her triumph. She expiated them by mutilation in the first place, and then by the aggrandizement of rival countries who were strengthened by her losses. Reduced to the limits of 1789, she lost all the advan- tages gained by the conquests of the Revolution and the territories which completed her natural possessions, even Savoy being wrested from her. A kingdom was formed on her northern frontier by the union of Belgium and Holland. Prussia and Bavaria divided the Rhenish provinces, and threatened her adjoining territories thus left completely exposed to their attacks. The kingdom of Prussia, enlarged by part of the rich valley of the Rhine with a portion of Saxony and Pomerania, recovered the duchy of Posen, its share of the spoil of Poland. Although still subject to certain international restrictions, Prussia then extended from the Moselle to the Niemen, predominating through the whole of Northern Germany. Austria regained the provinces it had lost, with the addition of Venetia and Lombardy in Italy, and was the only power that could counter- act the influence of Prussia. The German empire was not re-established, but it had been replaced by a Confederation, outwardly governed by a diet, but in fact ruled by Austria and Prussia, whose rival ambitions were thus to a certain extent neutralized. Denmark lost Norway, which was given to Sweden, and in spite of itself some of its duchies were considered to belong to the German Confederation, and, after a war, these were incorporated with Germany in 1864. Switzerland was enlarged by three cantons given from the districts taken from France. 4 io THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Russia seized the lion's share, nearly the whole of Poland, and its possessions penetrated into German}^ like a formidable wedge. England retained its new and vast foreign possessions and the empire of the seas. This partition of the countries by the Congress of Vienna was, however, redeemed by the proclamation of new principles : the perpetual neutralization of Switzerland, henceforth protected from all rival competitors ; the condemnation of the negro slave trade, and the establishment of free navigation on rivers. But at the same time the Europe of 1815 was arranged in a way very dangerous to France. It differed from the Europe of 1789 through the sudden aggrandizement of England and Russia, the simplification of German politics, and the confederative union, which so closely bound it to Prussia and Austria ; the complete suppression of Poland, the retreat of Sweden towards the north and of Turkey towards the south ; the re-organization of Switzerland and the destruction of small navies. In fact the balance of power no longer existed. The three continental military powers and one mari- time state composed so formidable a group that France, even while rallying the secondary powers to its support, could not withstand the immense resources of the combined empires. The Teutons and Slavs ruled over Europe, to the detriment of the Frank and Latin races. The Holy Alliance. With the object of increasing this joint influence the sovereigns of these powerful empires entered into a close alliance formed to oppose the Revolution, and even the prin- ciples which had led to it. This was called the Holy Alliance, a political and mystic union, concluded between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, for mutual support in all those crises which might arise from the discontent of newly awakened populations. The Holy Alliance encouraged the reaction which tended to destroy the work of the sixteen years of revolution ; but it was unsuccessful, for those sixteen years had produced the effect of a century's progress. The Different Governments in France since 1815; the Restora- tion, 18151830; the Charter of 1814. The political reaction in France had apparently reached its highest point under the Empire ; GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 411 but, it was not yet complete, since in 1814 and 1815 the monarchy of the Bourbons was restored : a brother of Louis XVI., Louis XVIII., ascended the throne ; but this restoration was not as unconditional as that of Charles Stuart in 1660. The new king granted a charter, which indicated the extent of the reaction and at the same time limited its further progress. The preamble to this charter denied the principle of the sove- reignty of the nation, and asserted the old rights of the hereditary monarchy ; but, practically, the charter recognised the right of the country to be represented by two Chambers, the right of free public debate, of responsible ministers, of the public vote for the budget, for taxes, for naval and military supplies ; at the same time it provided for the maintenance of the principal institutions of the Consulate and the Empire ; that is to say, the political and social organization of France, such as she issued from the chaos of the Revolution, and such as she still remains after the other storms of the con- temporary epoch. Of the two Chambers, the first, that of the Peers, was heredi- tary; the aristocracy intended to use it to entrench and re-establish its old position : the other, the Chamber of Deputies, was elected by a suffrage of two degrees (law of 1817), which imposed certain qualifications upon the electors who were to exercise the right of voting. These qualifications were increased by the law called the double vote in 1820. The Chamber was, therefore, the organ of the territorial and financial aristocracy, rather than that of the nation. Attempts at Political, Economic, and Social Reaction. The Restoration in 1815 took advantage of the presence of the allied troops to return to the old system of proscriptions, and it avenged the Reign of Terror by a new terror, which fortunately did not last long. Louis XVIII., a man of sceptical, moderate views, was strong enough to resist the urgent demands of the returned emi- grants, and even used the principles of the new representative government against them by dismissing the Chamber in 1816 (the Chambre introuvable), when it proved to be more royalist than the king, and hardly concealed its opposition under the disguise of 412 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. fidelity. He pursued an oscillating policy much extolled by the minister Decazes, who sought to restrain and satisfy the ultra- Eoyalists alternately with the Liberals ; but the assassination of the Due de Berry (February, 1820) restored the ultra-Royalists to power with the minister Villele. The work of reaction was then continued by the Parliamentary laws, and the laws against the press, and it was even carried into the economic department. A system of protection only favour- able to great landowners became a kind of political doctrine. This reaction was carried on beyond the frontiers of France, and the same French generals who had carried the principles of the Revolution into Spain proceeded, in the name of the Holy Alli- ance, to re-establish by armed force the absolute authority of the incapable Ferdinand VII., 1823. The Chamber, which to avoid frequent elections had given itself a term of seven years, was soon drawn into a more rapid course of reaction than it intended, under the rule of Charles X., who succeeded Louis XVIII. (18241830.) This Prince, who in exile " had learnt nothing and forgotten nothing," reproduced under the new society the spectacle of a coronation, copied from the ancient ceremonials, with the costumes and etiquette of the past. Under the lofty arches of Rheims Cathedral he vainly revived the ancient monarchy. By an indem- nity of a milliard (40,000,000), which he caused to be voted for the emigrants, he compensated those whose property had been confiscated and sold by the Revolution. By the law of sacrilege he re-established the former subordination of the State to the Church, which was soon seen in the influence of the Congregation, a society formed to defend the throne and the altar at the same time. Charles X. also attempted a social reaction by proposing to re-establish the right of primogeniture. The project failed in the Chamber of Peers, thrown out by a number of digni- taries who had been raised to high rank under the Revolution. Charles X. failed in his attempt to silence the press in 1827 ; but he disbanded the National Guard, although it was chiefly recruited from the middle classes ; and finally, in July 25, GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 413 1830, he crowned this work of political blindness by openly violating the charter and endeavouring to re-establish absolute power. The Political Results of the Restoration; Representative Govern- ment; the Responsibility of Ministers. The Revolution of 1830 proved that the Restoration was mistaken in its estimate of the force of modern ideas. The representative government, which it had granted, had been gaining strength during fifteen years, and the systematic intervention of the Chambers in public affairs had naturally led to the Ministers becoming responsible for the acts of the governing power. The position of the Ministers had been badly defined in the Constitutions of the Revolution, which gave them little power, and still less influence. During the reign of Napoleon, they were responsible to their Master only, but afterwards their responsibility developed into a necessary and recognised accessory of office, when they became the executive of the Sovereign, and were at the head of a vast hierarchy of officials : the executive power became much stronger through this change than it had been even under the old regime. It was better obeyed and, still more important, it was more universally obeyed, for there no longer existed any excep- tions to the general laws, any special treaties with individuals or corporations ; the Convention, followed by Napoleon, had accus- tomed the country to complete submission. The sole guarantee against any abuse of power was therefore found in the control exercised by the Chambers over the Government, and this control could only be effectual through the Ministers being held respon- sible for the acts of the Crown. Louis XVIII. and Charles X. would probably have refused to admit that the Deputies had the right to dismiss their Ministers. But they found themselves obliged to present to the Chambers as ministers, those only who could, in accord with the Deputies, obtain a majority to vote for the laws proposed and for the budget. Louis XVIII. was much attached to the Due de Decazes, but he found himself compelled to sacrifice his friend in 1820, because the Royalist majority wished to abandor a liberal policy. The 4H THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Due de Richelieu, who had contributed to the fall of the Due de Decazes, succumbed in his turn, because he endeavoured to mode- rate the reactionary impulse which triumphed with Villele (1821). But the latter, after a reign of seven years, was obliged to yield to a new Chamber, and was replaced by Martignac (1828). The royal authority was thus covered by the Ministers, who fell when they had made a mistake ; the King remained infallible. Charles X., instead of appreciating this mechanism, resolved to destroy it, and forced the Chamber to accept Prince Polignac as Minister, intending with his aid to nullify the guarantees given in the charter. The three days of the 27th, 28th, and 29th of July was the reply given to the famous ordonnances. This insurrection alone proved how completely constitutional government had become part of the institutions of the country. The public debates in the Chambers, the eloquence of powerful orators, enabled every citizen to follow the course of political events. Thus in spite of some unsettled years, the Government of the Restoration had raised Prance from the fallen and shattered state produced by the invasion, had paid the ransom exacted by the allies, and brought prosperity back to the country, whilst the results of the economic revolution, which had been arrested by the Napoleonic wars, were successfully tested through a period of internal and external peace. Moral and intellectual activity equalled the pro- gress of industry and commerce, and the Restoration was an epoch of revival in literature, science, and art. The Monarchy of July : Parliamentary Government (1830 1848). The throne was re-established after the days of July as quickly as it had been overthrown. But the position of Louis Philippe bore no resemblance to that of Louis XVIII. The traditions of the Revolution, driven back for a moment, had triumphantly re- asserted themselves. The principle of the sovereignty of the nation was clearly proclaimed and acted upon. Although the Charter of 1814 was maintained, considerable modifications changed its character, and Louis Philippe did not grant, he accepted it ; no longer a concession, it had become a contract. The Sovereign GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 4:5 bore the title of King of the French that is to say, he did not reign in virtue of hereditary right, but of election. The mechanism of government was unchanged in outward appearance only. The Government of the Restoration was repre- sentative, i.e. the nation was represented in it ; the Government of Louis Philippe was a Parliamentary Government, in which the will of Parliament, the organ of the nation, predominated. As Thiers wittily remarked, a parliamentary Sovereign " reigns, but does not govern." Louis Philippe accepted his Ministers from the Chambers, and merely invested them with an authority which did not emanate from himself. The Ministers were answerable for each other ; they formed an homogeneous cabinet which fell with the first hostile vote, and fell entirely. The responsibility was indivi- dual and collective ; and it placed the Ministers, and consequently the King, at the mercy of the Chamber. It would have been a Republican Government had the representation of the country been placed on a wider basis. Property Suffrage. Parliament could not truthfully be called the nation. The election laws under the Restoration had been very slightly modified. The qualification for an elector had been lowered from three hundred to two hundred francs,* but even men who followed liberal professions could not exercise the right of voting unless they paid the taxes required by the law. A poor man, although he might be educated, was deprived of a right which was granted to an ignorant man because he owned a fortune. The new dynasty had not frankly accepted the principle of popu- lar sovereignty, and it resembled the Restoration as closely as possible, without, however, obtaining the support of the nobility and clergy, who accused it of usurpation. Representing neither legitimacy nor the popular rights, it was repulsed by the aristo- cracy and distrusted by the people, whilst it devoted itself to satis- * In order to vote it was necessary to be twenty-five years old and to pay two hundred francs in direct taxes. Members and correspondents of the Institute and retired officers were admitted to electoral rights with a qualifi- cation of one hundred francs. They were called assistant voters (electeurs adjoints). 4 i 6 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. fying the middle classes, whose loyalty was unequal to the task of protecting it. The Political Consequences of the Economic Revolution ; Progress of the Industrial Classes ; Socialism. The measures taken by the Government of July alienated the people at precisely the time when the development of agriculture, industry and commerce, had aug- mented the importance of the agricultural and working classes. The progress of industry, the inevitable crowding of large numbers of the population in the mills and factories had greatly modified the aspect of society. Whilst machinery facilitated the work of man, man became the slave of machines, and was consequently subject to a painful life of drudgery, forming a striking contrast to the ease and comfort daily becoming more widely diffused throughout the country. The working classes, ignorant of eco- nomic questions, incapable of reasoning about capital and labour, soon began to doubt whether any social revolution had really been accomplished. They deceived themselves with the false idea of the equality of man, not unnaturally confusing the relations between workmen and their employers with those that existed between the people and the old privileged classes. Led away by skilful sophists, who persuaded them that the remedy for their sufferings lay in a second overthrow of social order, they at last believed that the whole social system ought to be changed in a country where the revolu- tion of 1789 had passed all the old customs through a sieve, and had attempted to regulate society according to the eternal laws of nature and reason. They dreamt of a chimerical equality of fortune amongst all men, and in order to realise their dream they demanded an authorised organization of industry, Socialism, which was to regulate the labour and profits of every man, distributing the one according to the strength, and the other according to the needs, of the individual, ignoring the fact that the individual has an in- curable tendency to spare his strength and to exaggerate the amount of his requirements.* * Socialism in France. Since the commencement of the century the pro- gress of ideas has been very rapid, and numerous theories, now quite forgotten, excited public feeling for a moment. Count Henry Claude de St. GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 417 The July Government did not trouble itself about the Socialist movement until it threatened to interfere with public order. No effort was made to enlighten the people or to relieve the working classes of one at least of their principal grievances by admitting them to a fuller share of political life. It maintained a legally privileged class in the nation, above the nation itself : it fell ia consequence. The Republic of 1848; Universal Suffrage; the Constitution of 1848.The nation which, on the 24th of February, 1848, had been victorious without a struggle, at once returned to the republican form of government, and the first public measure introduced by its leaders was the proclamation of universal suffrage (decree of the Provisional Government, 5th of March, 1848). The rank of elector was conferred upon every Frenchman who had reached the age of Simon, a scion of the same family as the celebrated author of the " Memoirs " (1760 1825), had, under the Restoration, founded the Industrialist School which taught that knowledge and industry formed the basis of society. It made a religion of philanthropy, exaggerated the defects of our social system, and aimed at the modification of the conditions of labour, property, and religion. The disciples of St. Simon wished to establish the absolute equality of man and woman, to abolish hereditary rights in short, to found a new creed. This school created a great sensation, held public meetings and founded a sect on the hill of Menilmontant, under the direction of Father Enfantin, based on the principle of fraternity. The members of the sect tried to impress the public by their original costume and eccentric observances. Ihe society of the St. Simonians was dissolved by a judicial sentence in 1833. Unpractical as this system now seems, some of the most distinguished writers and economists in France belonged to it for a time. Charles Fourier, born at Besancon (1772 1837), tried to reform society on the basis of a new organization of labour; and by association and co-operation, he hoped to convert the world into an immense phalanstery, where universal harmony would triumph, where labour would be a pleasure, a passion. Considerant, Fourier's principal disciple, a deputy, vainly sought the help of the Government t for these projects. These ideas, however, were received with little favour by the lower classes, who could not understand complicated systems. They found more favour in America and the United States, where attempts were made to reduce them to practice. Other innovators de- manded the equalization of salaries and fortunes, and amongst them we find Cabet (1788 1856), the best known of the communist writers, who published the " Voyage in Icaria." He endeavoured to carry his ideas into effect by founding a colony in the United States on the shores of the Bed Eiver, E E 48 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. twenty-one in the enjoyment of his civil rights. Without tran- sition, a change was made from 300,000 to 8,000,000 of voters. It decreed the establishment of national workshops, where work was to be found for all. The failure of these brought on an insurrection, which broke out and inundated Paris with blood in the fatal days of June, 1848, alarmed the middle classes and the whole country. The Consti- tution of 1848 was modified after this, and the Executive power strengthened ; it established a single Assembly and a President, but it rendered them independent of each other, and thus prepared a source of perpetual conflict.* A nephew of Napoleon I., Louis Napoleon, owed his election as President of the Republic by more than 5,000,000 votes to the magic of his name. The task of carrying out the Constitution was confided to him, but for three hut it was unsuccessful. Louis B^nc (18131882), whose popularity was chiefly due to his historical works, explained the ideas of the socialists in his book on the " Organization of Labour." He formulated the maxim of the *' Right to "Work." Substituting the State for the individual, his theory was based on the formation of a vast association under the patronage of the State. To counterbalance the inevitable inequality which exists between the requirements of each individua 1 and their relative faculties, he would force the man who possessed the most faculties to contribute to the require- ments of the one who had the least. He deprived activity of its greatest stimulant, the hope of reward, and his theories would have proved the greatest encouragement to idlenets. Whenever the State, assuming the office of arbitrator, wishes to dispose of the fruits of labour, by dividing them equally, without consideration being paid to the energy of the workers, this energy will cease, and labour will soon be at an end. Proudhon's system was very different (1809 1865). He was the son of a cooper at Besanc/m. By dint of hard work and economy, he managed to acquire some education, and became a voluminous writer. His talent is undoubted. He is the most radical writer of his school. His maxim, " Property is robbery," struck at the basis of society. His works, in spite of their literary talent, were crushed by the condemnations of successive governments. But he still has followers. * The Constitution of the 12th of November, 1848, established a single Assembly of 750 members, a President, elected for four years, who had the control of the army and the administration, but exercised no power over the Assembly. The President was elected by universal suffrage. The A ssembly and the President had the same origin, and could equally claim to represent the country. This proved a source of continual conflict. GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 419 years he endeavoured to throw discredit upon it, at last destroyed it by a coup d'dtat on the 2nd of December, 1851, and a year later was proclaimed Emperor. France once more swung violently from extreme liberty to extreme submission. The Constitution of January 14, 1852. The Constitution of 1852, drawn up by Louis Napoleon alone, but afterwards submitted to the sanction of a plebiscite (or vote by the whole people), was based upon the Constitution of the year VIII. It destroyed all parliamentary liberties, and concentrated all the power in the hands of a Presi- dent, elected for ten years. It suppressed the responsibility of the ministers, and whilst retaining the two Chambers, the Legislative Chamber and the Senate, it left them no originating power, and their debates, no longer freely published for the country, were stifled under a cold analysis. The tribunal was nearly silenced. A decree published on the 17th of February, 1852, subjected the press to a system of warnings and suspensions a purely admini- strative system which placed it at the mercy of the ministers, whilst its proper function was to exercise control over them. The power of the central authority was strengthened over the whole hierarchy ; officials of every rank and every order were henceforth compelled to submit to a discipline which recalled the imperial rule. The Second Empire, and its Transformations (1852 1870). It may, therefore, be said that this Constitution required little change to become suited to an imperial rule. The empire was re-established December 2nd, 1852, after the model of 1804, and in its turn was sanctioned by a plebiscite. France thus recommenced her history. The new Emperor added to his power by claiming the right of himself concluding commercial treaties, and of modifying by simple decrees the relations between the great bodies of the State and the executive power. Although the imperial monarchy was based upon universal suffrage and recognised the national sovereignty, in the title of each of its decrees, it gradually became less repre- sentative, like the monarchy of the Bourbons, and more absolute than it had been. The country remained silent for eight years : Napoleon III. 420 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. himself broke this silence. After the Italian war of 1859 had awakened liberal aspirations in the country, by an authoritative stroke (a commercial treaty with England, 5th of January, 1860) he inaugurated free trade, and on the 24th of November of the same year he added political liberty to it. He gave the Senate and legislative body the right of voting an address. The debates in the Chambers were to be published in extenso in the official papers. In 1861 the Emperor renounced the right of raising extra loans during the intervals between the sessions of the legislative body. In 1867 Napoleon III., under the pressure of serious circum- stances, produced by errors in his foreign policy, advanced a step further ; he sent the ministers themselves to defend their actions before the Chambers, and replaced the right of address by that of interpellation. In 1868 a law re-placed the press under the authority of the tribunals, and another regulated the right of meeting. Although slow, the evolution was real. It continued until 1869, and reached the climax on the 2nd of January, 1870, in parliamentary government, restored with the responsibility of the ministers, the right of initiative, of interpellation, and of amend- ment granted to the deputies. The Senate afterwards lost its con- stituent power, and a third plebiscite sanctioned these important modifications, which brought the same mechanism employed in the monarchy of July into the imperial government. These curious changes proved that the sovereign was free from prejudice, and sufficiently compliant to yield to the lessons given by experience. But the empire was a military monarchy ; it could only last by adding to the national glory and prosperity. It was utopian to believe that freedom could save it after a defeat. Napoleon I. had also published the additional Act before Waterloo. Napoleon III. could not be saved, even by his constitutional rule, after the terrible disaster of Sedan. He had allowed, or, at least, had not resisted, the growth of another monarchy, far more military than his own, beyond the Rhine that of Prussia. The invasion of 1870 led to the fall of the imperial throne, and France herself issued from that terrible war vanquished, seriously weak- ened, and, moreover, mutilated by the loss of part of her territory. GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 421 The National Assembly, 1871; the Third Republic; the Consti- tution of 1875. In 1871, after the capitulation of Paris, and during an armistice, France found herself free, under the most painful circumstances, to choose a government. A National Assembly met at Bordeaux on the 13th of February, 1871, and afterwards at Versailles. Peace was made, February 26, with Germany by the cession of Lorraine and Alsace, and the payment of 200,000,000. The Government had to contend against an insurrection which obliged the army to take Paris from the Commune after a two months' siege. When the Assembly had succeeded in pacifying and liberating the country, it occupied itself in once more forming a Constitution. Now, so many different governments following in rapid succession had neces- sarily left as marks of their passage many waifs and strays, and many partisans. The Assembly of 1871 might have been taken as a summary of the internal history of France since 1789. Some members demanded the Constitution of 1791 or that of 1848 ; others even recalled souvenirs of the Convention and the Mountain ; others, again, would have been delighted with a Council of Five Hundred and a Council of Ancients ; and, lastly, the partisans of imperial traditions remained faithful to them, whilst the friends of the Restoration or of the Govern- ment of July were still more numerous. The Assembly of 1871 was obliged to trace its own path in the midst of all these ephemeral constitutions, to choose between these experiments which had all failed, and to struggle in the midst of all these parties, each embittered against the other. After many conflicts, the details of which we have no space to dwell upon here, it at last succeeded in formulating the Constitution of the 25th of February, 1875. This Constitution, although provisional in the eyes of the monar- chical party, which supported it, was in some degree influenced by the character of each of the Constitutions which had preceded it. It retained the universal suffrage of 1848 and of the imperial Constitutions, and also the imperial title of Senate for the second Chamber. It also revived the title of Chamber of Deputies, em- 422 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. ployed under the Government of July. It attempted a reaction against universal suffrage by making election to the Senate depend upon a restricted suffrage of two degrees. The laws were sub- mitted to the ordeal of three readings, as in the Constitution of 1848 and in the Constitutions of the epoch of the Revolution. The executive power was confided to a President, elected for seven years by the Chambers, in the same way that Louis Philippe had been elected ; and, moreover, he was irresponsible, in point of fact a constitutional monarch. And, lastly, the responsibility of the ministers rendered the new Government a parliamentary govern- ment, modelled on that of 1830. But institutions are only valuable according to the men who carry them into effect. The National Assembly was dissolved at the close of the year 1875, and the elections that took place to form the new Chambers gave a large majority to the Repub- lican side in the Chamber of Deputies. The Constitution of 1875, although elaborately devised under the influence of the monarchical party, became the Constitution of a Republican government. Political Results of the Contemporary Epoch in France. The task of France since 1789 has been to establish the balance between order and liberty, both equally necessary. Nothing could have been more variable, more uncertain than her political system. The Constitution of 1791, created by a monarchy, ended in a republic. The Republican constitution of the year III led to a return to despotism with the empire. The empire brought back the old monarchy established under the Bourbons. The Restora- tion perished through an attempt to revive the ancient govern- ment. The Government of July foundered, because it did not know how to use its authority, nor to satisfy liberal aspirations. The republic of 1848 fell a victim to the socialistic anarchy by which it was menaced, and which seconded the ambition of a nephew of Napoleon. Lastly, after a new empire, which lasted eighteen years, during which period the lovers of public order were the only ones satisfied, but which was marked by a vast increase of material prosperity, France is seeking, under a third GOVERNMENTS AND MODERN LIBERTIES. 4 2 3 republic, to consolidate the nation, seriously disturbed by so many shocks. She is pursuing a very difficult work in a country still so divided ; the reconciliation between the rival traditions of authority and liberty, which we have seen perpetually in conflict in every epoch of history. The European Powers since 1815; Conflict between Modern Ideas and the Old Regime. The struggle between modern principles and the old regime was continued in Europe as well as in France after 1815. After the wars of the Empire, the old monarchies imagined that they could return to their legislative traditions. A European, as well as a French Restoration took place. But from 1830 disturbances recommenced ; revolutions broke out in Naples, Turin, and Spain, they were suppressed by the armies of the Holy Alliance, and the sovereigns of Prussia, Austria, and Russia cemented their union at the Congresses of Troppau, 1820, Laybach, 1821, and Verona, 1822, entering into an agreement to regulate the policy of Europe. The Revolution in Spain hastened the emanci- pation of the Spanish Colonies. America, between 1810 and 1826, became independent in the South as well as in the North, and was divided into Republics. Brazil only, although free, remained a monarchy. The disorder which had reigned in Europe during the wars of the Revolution and of the Empire had not affected those countries that were still under Turkish rule. But these nations had thrilled with sympathy, hoping for their own liberty. Greece, above all, proud of its glorious history, groaned beneath the yoke of Turkey. The Greeks rebelled in 1821, and the European Powers found themselves obliged to assist them. In the battle of Navarino, 1827, the naval power of Turkey was destroyed. Greek freedom was completely won in 1829, and in 1832 the Kingdom of Greece was established. In 1830 the July Revolution became the signal for a new European revolution. Poland roused itself, and the Polish levies at first successfully resisted the Russian troops sent against them. Belgium, which had been forcibly united to Holland, separated from the Dutch rule (August, 1830). The German and Italian 1 , i i l 5a J a n | 1 1 jj 3 g 11 i & 1 5 E o i i i - I bC ^T.s ^1 f i s . j tt i" 3 V -S 2 c ^ CO 03 cc^ 5 M O s 1 i ^ g o l! 11 1 1 || | 9 2 ^^ 73 1! is ^ "g 00 > A p OT w i i 31 1 H S & a fl P '3 p 1 * ii b j 1 1 LEGISLATIVE POWER. 3 1 Two Councils, e Ancients. The Five Hui Three Assemblies : rribunate, Legislative B( Senate. s* 3 '-2 cC o || hereditary Chamber of Pe Chamber of Deputies. lamber of Peers, not hered Chamber of Deputies. A Legislative Assembly ^ ^ ^ A 73 ^.> j a ^ c .2 a 1 nate nominated by a resti suffrage. Chamber of Deputies. EH H H 6 " i 2 "3 fc o> r " o *"" * 2 1 1 i 1 rf .2 1 ?| M Ij 1. 1 5 ^3 oT-2 3 o J 'a; 3w ,a *j '1 ^.-s |1| 2 If if 1* II III 1. 3 as 0.5 S-3 sii 1 fl|| } r^3 j *5 E *3 O K * -S OS t-- 1^ IcT a . o . s oo s oo -2 1 "S ? "-" at "w ' 00 1 5 C .- -S 5 -1 NJ "Is -H'll *l Madou (17961887). ** Leys (18151869). ft Munkaczy, born in 1844. %% Thorwaldsen (1770 1844). His chief works are the statues of Christ NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE AND ART. 485 In Germany sculpture was restricted for a long time by Protest- antism, but it has also produced some fine statues. Dannecker,* the sculptor of the Ariadne at Frankfort, Kiss,f whose " Amazon and Panther " stands in Berlin, Christian Rauch, J who carved the mau- soleum statue of Louisa of Prussia, Rietschel, &c. The brilliant French school of sculpture continued to maintain its reputation, and Houdon prolonged his career until 1828. At the same time it boasted of Bosio,|| Barye,U Foyatier,** the author of the * ' Spartacus ' ' in the Tuilleries ; Pradier , f f and above all of the celebrated David D'Angers, \\ who carved the facade of the Pan- theon, and a great number of statues of famous persons ; of Rude, who created the bold figures in high relief on the Triumphal Arch, called " Le Depart " or c La Marseillaise ; " of Preault,|||j Falguiere, Clesinger.Hl! Guillaume, Carpeaux,*** Paul Dubois, Mercie, Chapu, and Bartholdi, who lately modelled a gigantic figure of Liberty, intended for the Port of New York. Architecture. Contemporary architecture is too learned to be original. Pierre Vignon copied the antique temples when he designed the Madeleine ; Brongniart and Labarre did the same for the Bourse, the temple of wealth. Then columns were erected in Paris in imitation of the Roman columns (du Vendome et de Juillet), and triumphal arches (du Carrousel et de 1'etoile). The latter surpasses the Roman arches in height and width, and its admir- able situation enhances its grandeur. Amongst contemporary architects we must also name Lesueur, Questel, Ballu, who designed the Hotel de Ville, after the destruction of the old building in 1871 ; Gamier, who constructed a large ornamental building for the new Opera House ; Abadie, Bailly, &c. But and his Apostles at Copenhagen; the "Tomb of Pius VII." in Rome ; the statue of " Poniatowski," at Warsaw, and of " Gutenberg " at Mayence. * Dannecker (17591841). t Kiss (18021865). I Rauch (17771857). Rietschel (18041861). || Bosio (17681845). If Barye (17951875). * Foyatier (17931863). ft Pradier (17921862). JJ David d' Angers (17891856). Francois Rude (17841855). IIJI Preault (18101879). f H Clesinger (18141883). *** Carpeaux (18251875). 486 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION-. modern architects have applied themselves chiefly to the new buildings necessitated by the progress of industry, in which more science than art is required viaducts, railway stations, and exhi- bition buildings. In an artistic sense architecture has yet to learn how to mould its new materials into shapes of beauty. Music: the Classical School. Music, which made rapid strides in the eighteenth century, became one of the principal arts in the nineteenth, and has attained noble harmony with the German masters of the classic school Beethoven,* whose sonatas, fanta- sias, preludes, rondos, and varied airs display profound knowledge and genius; Mendelssohn,! not less harmonious, but lighter and more melodious; Schubert ; I Weber, the author of " Der Frey- schiitz," and Schumann. Italy produced dementi. || The Great Operas ; Rossini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Auber, d'C. Italy was also the birthplace (at Pesaro) of one of the most extra- ordinary modern composers, Rossini, IT author of "II Barbiere de Seviglia," " Guglielmo Tell," &c., whose marvellous facility aston- ished the world; he was followed by Donizetti,** Bellini, If Verdi, JJ and Cherubini. Although born in Berlin, Meyerbeer, like the * Beethoven, born in Bonn (17701827). t Mendelssohn, born at Hamburg (1809 1847). % Schubert, bom at Vienna (17971828). AVeber (1786 182n). || dementi, born in Rome (17521832). IT Rossini (1792- 1868). ** Donizetti, born in Bergamo (1798 1848), wrote "Lucia di Lammer- moor," first performed in Naples (1835), and among other pieces a comic opera, " La Figlia del Reggimento." ft Bellini, born at Catana (1802 1835), is cbiefly remarkable for his scores of " S ( nnnmbula," " Norma," and " I Puritani." $1 Verdi, born in the ancient duchy of Parma in 1814, has written a great number of operas for the Italian stage. The most popular of his works in Europe are " Rigoletto," taken from Victor Hugo's " Le Roi s'amuse." " II Trovatore " distinguished by its pathetic airs, " La Traviata " and "Aida." Meyerbeer (1794 1864) has composed some masterpieces, "Robert le Diable" (1831), " Les Huguenots" (1836), " Le Prophete " (1849), "L'Afri- caine," first performed affer his death. He also wrote two charming comic operas, "Le Pardon de Ploermel " and " L'Et<>ile du Nord." NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE AND ART. 487 Italian Rossini, lived at Paris, where they both produced their masterpieces at the same time as Halevy* wrote " La Juive," and Auberf " Fra Diavolo " and " Le Domino Noir." These illustrious masters, whose works must always delight true lovers of music, developed the opera so that it not only delighted the ear, but even rivalled tragedy in moving the passions and stirring the emotions of the audience. Gounod, J Ambroise Thomas, and Massenet have continued the traditions of the great masters and rank with them. We must also mention amongst the composers of a more serious, elevated style, Saint-Saens, Berlioz, || Chopin, U who composed for the piano, Liszt, ** the first of performers on it, &c. Comic Operas: Bo'ieldieu, Adam, Auber, Herold, <&c. But music is an amusement as well as an art, and comic opera has become an infinite source of delicate enjoyment. Rossini rendered the gaiety of Figaro, in the " Barbiere de Seviglia," with brilliant spirit ; Doni- zetti could also bend to familiar gaiety. Boieldieuft and Adolphe AdamJJ have given models of this style in the easy, charming melodies of the " Dame Blanche," &c. Herold has also attained success in the " Pre-aux-Clercs." Auber was the most fertile and most French of composers : his clear, elegant, correct, and witty music has won popularity for the " Domino Noir," " Fra Dia- * Halevy (17991862). f Auber, born at Caen (17821871). % Gounod, born in Paris, 1818, was first noticed for his religious com- positions. He then wrote a lyrical drama, " Sapho," followed by the opera " Faust," which placed him amongst the masters. Saint-Saens, born in Paris, 1835. || Berlioz, born in Cote Saint Andre (Isere) (18031869). II Chopin, born near Warsaw (1810 1849). He introduced mazurkas into France. ** Li&zt, born in Roeding (Hungary) in 1811, died in 1886. tf Boi'eldieu, born in Rouen (17751834). His two masterpieces are the " Chaperon Rouge" and the " Dame Blanche " (1825). H Adolphe Adam, born in Paris (18031856). His most popular works are the " Chalet " (1834), the " Postilion de Lonjumeau " (1836), the "Toreador" (1849), " Giralda " (1850), etc. Herold, born in Paris of a German father (17D1 1833). His chief works are the " Muleteer," " Marie," "Zampa," and the " Pre-aux-Clercs." 4 88 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. volo," " Haydee," the " Part du Diable," &c. We must not omit " Jeannette" and " Galatea " by Victor Masse,* the melodies of Felicien David, f G. Bizet, J Leo Delibes, &c., nor forget the really comic genius of Offenbach, || Lecocq, Audran, and Herve, who have made operetta a special branch of art. Music is the characteristic art of the nineteenth century, and the School of Wagner 11 is now endeavouring to advance its claims, and to make other arts subservient to it. * Victor Masse, born at Lorient in 1822, composed the " Noces de Jean- nette" (1853), "Galatee" (1853), "Paul et Virginie " (1876). f Felicien David, born at Cadenet (Vaucluse) (18101876), author of the symphony of the "Desert," the comic optra, " Lalla Rookh " (1862), and the opera of " Herculaneum" (1859). I Georges Bizet, born in Paris (1838187-5), composer of " Carmen." Leo Delibes, born in 1836, author of " Lakme." || Offenbach, born in Cologne (1819 1880), wrote more than sixty works. Many of them are very popular. f Richard Wagner, born in Leipzig (1813 1883), formed an original and truly powerful conception of the lyric drama, which may be eaid to have revolutionised music ; he wrote " The Flying Dutchman," " Tannhaiiser," ' Lohengrin," "Tristan and Yseult," "The Niebelungen Lied," "The Master Singer," &o. CHAPTER XIX. THE SCIENCES AND THEIE APPLICATION TO INDUSTRY. SUMMARY: The Scientific Movement; Natural Sciences: Cuvier; Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire Alexander von Humboldt Elie de Beaumont ; Flourens Evolution Darwin ; Wallace Mathematical and Physical Sciences : Ampere; Arago ; Biot Oerstedt; Bun sen ; Faraday ; Humphry Davy Gay-Lussac Dumas; Balard Astronomy: Arago; Le Verrier Me- teorological Observations Medicine Physiology : Claude Bernard Ap- plication of the Physical Sciences ; Navigation by Steam Locomotives, Railways ; Stephenson ; Seguin Electro-magnetism and the Telegraph Wheatstone and Morse's System of Telegraphy Electricity as an Industrial Agent, Ruhmkorff's System Artificial Light : Lighthouses Gas Light The Electric Light Air Balloons Artesian Wells Sus- pension Bridges Photography The Telephone The Phonograph Application of Chemistry Pasteur's Discoveries The Scientific Move- ments of the Nineteenth Century. The Scientific Movement ; Natural Sciences ; G. Cuvier; Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire. The scientific movement, which commenced in the seventeenth century and continued in the eighteenth, has de- veloped with extraordinary strength and activity during the nine- teenth century. Cuvier,* already celebrated under the Empire, astonished scien- tific men by his discoveries relating to the antediluvian world and his revelations of the changes which have taken place in the globe which we inhabit. With the aid of a few bones only, he recon- structed the different species of gigantic animals which preceded man on the earth. Geoffroy Saint-Hit air e,} who emulated Cuvier, but restricted his studies to living species, established the anatomical principle of * Cuvier (17691832). f Geoffroy Suint-Hilaire (17721844). 490 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. unity of the organic composition of all animal bodies. Geoffroy formulated laws, and discovered the fundamental fact that the materials found in one family exist in every other; he first announced that unity of organic composition was a law of nature. Alexander von Humboldt. One of the most famous names of our century is that of Alexander von Humboldt ; born in Berlin, 17^9, he died in the same city in 1859 ; but he lived many years in Paris, and having travelled over nearly the whole world made it and its inhabitants the subject of his comprehensive studies. Humboldt, in his youth, studied the natural sciences, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, and astronomy. After travelling through Holland, France, and England, he, with the botanist A. Bonpland, obtained permission Irom the Court of Spain to visit the Spanish colonies, and from 1799 to 1804 he explored America in every direction. He returned to Europe with rich collections. He published the results of his travels, in Paris, in an immense work, which the most celebrated scientific men of the day aided him to arrange. In 1828, Humboldt reluctantly quitted this congenial society and went to Berlin, where he held a professorship, and was the favourite scientific attendant of the Prussian Court. In 1829 he started on a new journey, in which he explored Siberia and central Asia. Humboldt published the results of his long studies in a magnificent work, the " Cosmos," a real panorama of the world and of science. Elie de Beaumont ; Flourens. Elie de Beaumont* distinguished himself by his geological studies, and continued the preparation of a geological map of France, commenced under the Eestoration. Sir R. Murchison, Sir R. Owen, the anatomist, Sir Charles Lyell, and other Englishmen have also won a prominent position. By their labours geology now ranks as the first of the natural sciences ; linked through palaeontology with biology and prehistoric archae- ology, its domain is ever widening in value and interest. Flourens f applied himself to the study of man ; by careful and delicate experiments he discovered the connection between the organs of the brain and intellectual phenomena, and disclosed the * Elie de Beaumont (17981874). t Flourens (17941867). THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 491 mysteries of the nervous system. Combining great ability as an author with profound scientific knowledge, Flourens was appointed perpetual secretary of the Academie des Sciences, and was elected member of the Academie Franchise in 1840. Brongniart* attained an important position by his knowledge of the natural sciences and of ceramics, as director of the manufactory at Sevres. The botanist Pyrame de Candolle f reformed the classifications of plants. But all previous systems of botany, as well as biology in general, have been most profoundly modified by the theories and discoveries of Charles Darwin, \ Wallace, A. Gray, and others, on the origin of species and the doctrines of evolution and of natural selection. They have changed the whole study, not only of natural but of nearly all science and history. No more fruitful conception has taken place since the discovery of gravitation by Sir Isaac Newton. Among the chief disciples of Darwin we may mention Sir C. Lyell in geology, Huxley in biology, Sir J. Lubbock in natural history, Tylor in prehistoric archeology, and the Germans H&ckel and Virchow. Mathematical and Physical Sciences: Amph'e, Arago, Biot. Three men at this epoch made great strides in mathematics, astronomy, and physics by their private work and the ultimate combination of the results. They were Ampere. || Francois Arago, IT and Biot.** Under the Empire Biot and Arago had travelled together in Spain, where they measured an arc of the terrestrial meridian. Biot was elected a member of the Academie des Sciences in 1803, when he was only twenty-eight, and Arago enjoyed the same distinction in 1809, at the age of twenty-three. Biot is known for his studies of the astronomy of the ancients and the polarization of light ; Arago for his discoveries in electro- magnetism, and the phenomena of the Aurora Borealis. He con- tinued his experiments with Ampere, and they then made one of the most important discoveries of the century, that of electro- dynamics. * Brongniart (17701847). f Pyrame de Candolle (17781811). J C. Darwin (18091882). Sir C. Lyell (1797187-5). II Ampere (1775 1836). H Francois Arago (1786 1853). ** Biot (1774 1862). 492 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Oersted ; Bunsen; Faraday. Scientific men in other countries made rapid progress. The Dane, Oersted,* professor of physics at Copenhagen, made the first steps in electro-magnetism, Bunsen, f a professor at the Heidelberg University, invented the carbon pile (1843) which is now generally used, the magnesium light, and dis- covered above all the spectrum analysis. The Englishman, Faraday, J discovered the laws of electric induction, which have been applied in the construction of machines for induction, and the magneto-electric machines, which are now used in so many ingenious ways. Electric light, the working of quarries, the piercing of tunnels, the deflagration of highly-charged mines, have been considerably assisted by the use of inductive cylinders. By his labours for the liquefaction of gases, Faraday also contributed to the progress of chemistry. Humphry Davy. All the sciences are connected with each'other, and chemistry rapidly followed in the track of physics, supported by them and aiding them in its turn. Humphry Davy studied the protoxyde of azote, invented the miner's safety lamp, and dis- covered potassium and iodine. The Swede, Berzelius,|| revealed the power exercised by the voltaic pile upon composite bodies. Gay-Lussac. Gay-Lussac H is also classed amongst the masters of chemistry, although he was equally learned in other subjects. He made some celebrated ascensions by balloon, accompanied by Biot (1804), and voyages of exploration with Humboldt ; he was distinguished not only as a professor, but also by his numerous applications of chemistry to practical life. Dumas; Balard. J. B. Dumas** pursued the science of chemis- try still further. Between 1828 and 1843 he published his fine work of " Chemistry applied to the Arts." His studies were chiefly directed towards organic matters ; he made important observations upon the alkalis, ether and its combinations, nitric acid, #c. Balard ft replaced Thenard at the Faculte des Sciences, and dis- * Hans Christian Oersted (17771851). t Bunsen, born in 1811. I Michael Faraday (17911867). Humphry Davy, born in Cornwall (17781829). || Berzelius (1779 1848). II Gay-Lussac (1778 1850). ** J. B, Dumas (18001884). ft Balard (18021876). THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 493 tinguished himself by his experiments upon bromine and its compo- sites. He rendered great service to industry by discovering how to extract from sea-water the sulphate of soda, with which manu- factured soda and potass salts are prepared. We must also mention the names of the Englishmen, Wollaston,* Thomas Graham,! Dalton,| and the German Liebig, professor at the University of Munich, who was the first to apply chemistry to agriculture. Astronomy : Arago ; Le Verrier. We have seen that Fra^ois Arago and Biot continued the labours of the astronomers of the eighteenth century. Arago was a distinguished writer, and his works added greatly to the popularity of science. When director of the Paris Observatory he constructed the equatorial of Paris, an instrument capable of being successively turned to every star in the firmament, and of following them in their daily course ; his observations were facilitated by the improvements which Leon Foucault had introduced into telescopes. Simultaneously with Professor Adams, at Cambridge, but quite independently, by a calculation of the perturbation noticed in the orbit of Uranus, Le Verrier || discovered the existence of a then unknown planet, which caused these deviations. By his calculations he determined the bulk, orbit, and position of the new planet, and in 1846 he told the Academie des Sciences in what position the star would be visible on the 1st of January in the following year. Astronomers eagerly searched in the direction indicated, and the German, Galle, found the new planet, on the 23rd of Septem- ber, at a longitude that only differed by two degrees from the longitude indicated. The precision of these astronomical calcula- tions and the wonderful power of abstraction required for such labour were much admired, and the French public called the new planet Le Verrier, although science has given it the name of Neptune to preserve the uniformity of the solar system. Astro- nomy continued to advance, with Delaunay, who explained the Wollaston (17661828). t Thomas Graham (18051869). % Dalton (176d1844). Liebig (18031873). (1 Le Verrier (1811 1877). 494 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. variation of the sidereal day, and distinguished himself by his theories of the course and movements of the earth; a great im- pulse has also been given to astronomy by the use of the spectrum analysis and celestial photography, especially during eclipses of the sun. With the aid of photography the whole heavens are now being accurately mapped out from all parts of the globe. Meteorological Observations. Astronomy has extended its range of study and experiment. Le Verrier established, in conjunction with Admiral Fitzroy, a complete network of posts intended for the observation of the barometrical and thermometrical variations in France, the changes of wind, the rainfall, and the course of the storms. Lieutenant Maury, of the United States, Janssen, Scott, and others have successfully extended these stations ; which now exist in most countries of the civilized world. These observations are centralised in each country by an office now rendered distinct from the astronomical observatory, and completed by observations from abroad ; they enable the path of atmospheric disturbances to be carefully studied. Storm signals are issued over the whole districts the disturbances will cross, for the rate they travel at is surpassed by the telegraph ; ships are warned when about to leave ports ; and besides this, the serious, daily, and almost universal study directed to the movements of the air currents will no doubt eventually give some solid basis to meteorology, a new science which will yet reveal many unknown facts to mankind. Medicine, Physiology : Claude Bernard. Medicine, which had made decided progress in the last century, now advanced as rapidly as the other sciences. Bichat,* who died at the commencement of this century, aged only thirty-two, was one of the leaders in the new paths, by coupling in his admirable lessons all that was then known of organization and life. His statue has been suitably placed in the court of honour of the School of Medicine in Paris. Broussais,f one of his pupils, an eloquent professor and ardent polemist, led clinical medicine to careful observation and attentive examination of the organs of life. GallJ particularly studied the * Bichat (1771 1802). f Broussais (17721838). J Gall, a German, naturalised as a Frenchman (17^8 1828). THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 495 brain ; Corvisart* the lungs and heart. Laennecf rendered great service by discovering the system of auscultation, now in general use. To these names we must add those of Magendie,} Bouillaud, Trousseau, Tardieu, Vulpian, &c., the surgeons Dupuytren, Velpeau, Nelaton, and a number of others, who have carried medi- cine and surgery to a high state of science and skill. To Sir J. Simpson is due the discovery of chloroform, which, with other anesthetics, has done so much to lessen human pain. Physiology, a new science which examines the organs of life in the exercise of their functions, owes its development to Claude Bernard. || It has since been immensely advanced by the studies of Huxley, Hseckel, Virchow, and others. Application of the Physical Sciences : Navigation by Steam. The application of science to industry has produced a series of wonders. One of the first miracles worked by steam was, speaking comparatively, the annihilation of distance. Fulton, U an engineer, repulsed in France and little understood in England, had returned to his native country, the United States, where he first attempted navigation by steam in 1806. Before he died, in 1815, the world had realised the immense advantages of his discovery, and the rivers of the United States were already covered with rapid boats, recognised from afar by their plume of smoke. In England (1818) Dawson established a steam boat for the river service between Gravesend and London. In France, on August 20th, 1816, during the fetes celebrated in honour of the marriage of the Due de Berri, Jouffroy launched a steam-boat at Petit-Bercy for the navigation of the Seine. Several companies were formed, and Captain Audriel was sent by one of them to England, where he bought a steam- boat and attempted to cross the Channel in it. A severe gale met him, but the steam power withstood the waves and winds, and Captain Audriel successfully moored his boat to the Quai du Louvre. * Corvisart (17551821). f Laennec, born at Quimper (1781 1826). His name has be^n given to one of the hospitals in Paris. J Magendie (17831855) Dupuytren (1777 1835). |j Claude Bernard (1813 K 78). f Fulton, boru in Pennsylvania (17651815). 4Q6 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Steam then could replace sails. An American ship confirmed the fact by successfully crossing from Savannah to Liverpool in 26 days (1819). In 1825, an English steamer, the Enterprise, made the voyage to India. Between 1825 and 1830 oar rivers and sea- ports were served by regular services of steam-boats. Frederic Sauvage * improved the system of navigation by the introduction of the screw, which had been the first idea of Watts, first prac- tically applied by Ericsson and F. Pettit Smith in 18378. Locomotives, Railways: Stephen son, Seguin. The use made of steam in industrial work had, in 1770, suggested to Joseph Cugnot the idea of applying it to the traction of carriages. In America, Oliver Evans, the inventor of high pressure machines, constructed, in 1790, some steam carriages for use on ordinary roads, but they were unsuccessful. Trevethick and Vivianf and W. Hedley in 1813, employed a locomotive on roads prepared with iron rails in their mines, and the day on which they first substituted steam for horse- power was the real date of the invention of railways. In 1814 George Stephensonf constructed the first large machines, which were used on the railroad in the mines of Killingworth. These first locomotives travelled twenty-one miles in four hours : they simply replaced waggoning. In 1813 an English engineer, Blackett, noticed that by adding considerable weight to the loco- motive the sliding was diminished and the wheels no longer turned on the same spot. The Colliery Company of Saint Etienne et de Rive-de-Gier introduced the first railway into France in 1827, and as an im- provement on the original machines an engineer, Seguin of Annonay, invented (1829) the tubular boiler; then in order to quicken the flame he placed a ventilator in front of the furnace. Robert Stephenson, brother to George, added another improve- ment ; he threw a jet of steam into the pipe of the chimney, which, after producing its action upon the piston, served to increase the draught power. At an open competition held in England, Robert * Frederic Sauvage, born at Boulogne-Sur-Mer, 1785, died in 1857. f Trevethick and Vivian, contractors in Cornwall. J George Stephenson (17811848). Seguin (1786 1875). THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 417 and George Stephenson exhibited the Eocket, constructed upon the Seguin system. On October 6th, 1829, the Rocket drew a weight of 13 tons at the rate of 19 miles an hour. Without any weight attached it travelled six miles in fourteen minutes. The problem of traction was solved ! The Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened to passengers in 1825, the Manchester and Liverpool line in 1830. From 1830 improvements have been continually effected, and railways have now attained marvellous development, and as we shall see further on, have produced the most extra- ordinary transformation of the world. Man travels with marvellous rapidity, triumphant to every point of his vast domain. Space and time are annihilated. Electro-magnetism and the Telegraph. The idea of rapid trans- mission of news is very ancient. At every epoch men varied the signals given by fire or other devices. At the time of the Revolu- tion Claude Chappe invented a system of signals indicated by movable bars, placed at different angles, and installed upon towers or high buildings. The Convention adopted his system, and the first line was established as far as the Northern frontier ; the words corresponded to numbers. At noon, on the 1st of September, 1794, a message left the tower of Saint Catherine, at Lille, and passed from station to station until it reached the dome of the Louvre, in Paris. The Convention was then assembling. Carnot ascended the tribune, and announced that he had received the following news by telegram : " Conde is restored to the Republic. The surrender took place at six o'clock this morning." The infor- mation was greeted with frantic applause, and from that time aerial telegraphs were established in every direction, although now they appear dilatory in comparison to the electric telegraph. Volta, in 1800, had by his pile procured an electric current that could be easily conducted. In 1811 Soemmering had already invented a system of telegraphy by conducting currents of elec- tricity into different vases of water representing the twenty-four letters of the alphabet. In 1820 Oerstedt observed the great fact of electro-magnetism. If a voltaic current is made to circulate round a magnetized needle, the needle is seen to deviate, oscillate, K K 498 THE HISTORY O* CIVILIZATION. and abandon its direction towards the north. Ampere repented the experiment, and at once realized its applicability to the tele- graph. " Take," he said, " as many magnetized needles as you have letters of the alphabet, put them in movement by conductors already in communication with the pile, and you have a system of correspondence that will pass over any distance." Arago dis- covered the fundamental fact that electricity circulating round a blade of soft iron, magnetises it. Interrupt the current, the magnetism ceases. In this way an alternate movement is obtained by magnetising and demagnetising a bar of iron, which in its turn attracts or repels a second bar of iron. This is the principle of all the systems of electric telegraphy, although their mechanism is infinitely varied. Wheatstone and Morse's Si/stem of Telegraphy. In England Professor Wheatstone, in 1837, invented the needle telegraph. His alphabetical printing telegraph was patented in 1841, and soon used throughout the country in spite of its complications. He also invented the telegraph dial, particularly adapted to the use of railways. An American, Samuel Morse, invented the system now used in America and throughout Europe. The electric current moves a steel style which marks a series of dots or small lines upon a strong paper. With these points and lines, which are elongated or diminished according to the duration of the current, which is interrupted by blank spaces to separate the words, a kind of hieroglyphic language has been arranged, which is afterwards translated by the Morse alphabet. The first telegraph line was instituted in the United States in 1844. In France, at the same epoch, the Foy-Bregnet telegraph was established the whole length of the railway from Paris to Rouen, where it reproduced the signals of the aerial telegraph at every station on Ihe lire. Tn 1850 the first submarine telegraph was laid between Dover and Calais. This was but the infancy of the art. Ingenious systems have succeeded each other, such as those of the American Blain, the Englishman Blackwell, and the Hughes * Samuel Mors , died ; n 1872. THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 499 apparatus. The Abbe Caselli, of Florence, invented the pan- telegraph, where the style follows the letters drawn upon the paper. Bonelli discovered the printing telegraph. Further appli- cations are constantly being made by voice (telephone), automatic writing and registration and reproduction of sounds, by the spoken or singing voice or by musical apparatus (phonograph). Electricity as an Industrial Agent ; Ruhmkorff's Apparatus. Electricity is also a power and an instrument, a real implement of labour. In 1837 Spencer, an Englishman, observed that the current of Volta's pile could fuse metal and render it fit to be moulded in any shape required ; this is the principle of galvano- plastic art, or electro-metallurgy. Medals were speedily ob- tained, and then the new process was used fur gilding and silvering metals by Ruolz and Elkington in 1840. In 1841 Ruolz* read an account of his methods of applying gold and silver to metals before the Academic des Sciences. A grand discovery that has been made since that time is that of Ruhinkorff, j a manufacturer of physical instruments in Paris, who constructed an admirable machine for utilising electricity by induc- tion. This machine, very easy to use and therefore popular, has enabled electricity to be applied to a number of mechanisms. Another manufacturer, named Froment, employed electricity in moving complicated machines, which are used in making instru- ments of wonderful delicacy. Electricity has given new power to Jac]uard's ingenious loom, and the electric apparatus invented by Bonelli advantageously replaced the cards and their accessories. Marcel Deprez, in 1885, proved that through electricity force could be transmitted for a great distance. From Creil, he put machinery in action that was erected at the Gare du Nord. Motors for the storage and transmission of electrical force are coming rapidly into more general use. Electric clockwork has added another service to the many * Ruolz, chemist, born 1808. t Ruhmk-.rff, bom in Germany, but settled in Paris (18031877). Ruhm- kcrff rw.L.ived the grand prize of 50,000 francs from the Fieuch Government ii* 1864. 500 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. received from electricity. By means of a single regulating pen- dulum, the hour, minute, and second can be indicated upon different dials at great distances. In the United States, England, and Germany, this system of clockwork is already adopted for private use. In the town of Ghent, in Belgium, the time is indicated by means of electricity upon more than a hundred dials placed upon the gas lamps. Artificial Light: Lighthouses. Fresnel, under the Restoration, directed his studies upon light to the perfecting, or rather inven- tion, of lighthouses. For reflectors he substituted lenses of glass, arranged so as to refract horizontally the rays of light issuing from their centre. Eight lenses are used in this apparatus. This system had the advantage of transmitting nine-tenths of the incidental rays, whilst the ordinary reflectors only gave one-half. Still one inconvenience remained ; the light was only directed to one point. Fresnel remedied this defect by introducing a rotatory movement, which prevented the lighthouse beacon from being mistaken for any other. The modern lighthouse was created. Gas Light. In 1786, Philippe Lebon, a French engineer,* first thought of using the gas that arose from burning wood for the purpose of giving artificial light. At Havre in 1789 Lebon first attempted to establish the thermo-lamps, but with little success. An English engineer, Murdoch, who knew of Lebon's experiments, lighted first his own house (1792), and then James Watts' manufactory by means of gas taken from coal (1798). In 1804 Winsor formed a company in England for the manufacture of gas light, and in 1816 he went to Paris, where he met with great difficulties in the establishment of his new system of light, of which the first specimen was given in the Passage des Panoramas. Towards 1820 a gasometer was built for lighting the Luxembourg Palace and the neighbourhood around it. Meanwhile gas had been used in London from 1807 to 1810, when the first Gas Company was formed. The government under Louis XVIII. having taken the new invention under its protection, a company, * Philippe Lebnn, born towards 17G5 at Bruchet (Haute Marne) ; died, assassinated, in 1804. THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 501 placed under the patronage of the king, was founded in 1822, with the assistance of Chaptal and other scientific notabilities ; and from that time the frightful oil lamps, drawn up and down by cords, have disappeared even from the smallest towns ; but the reign of gas is now threatened by that of the electric light. The JSlectric Litjht. Through an electric current, established between the two disconnected extremities of a conducting wire, a luminous arch is produced between these extremities, the intensity of the light given depending upon the pile used. This is the principle, though new variations are continually appearing in the systems used. Duboscq's electric lamp appeared in the Paris Exhibition of 1855. The magneto-electric light was used for light- houses in 1858. In 1876 a Russian engineer, Jablochkoff, invented the electric candle, composed of two pieces of parallel carbon separated by plaster, a fusible, non-conducting substance. Between the two pieces of carbon that receive the current from the pile, the luminous arch is produced and maintained because the plaster becomes volatilised in proportion to the combustion of the carbon ; these candles have enabled electricity to be used for lighting halls and apartments. The voltaic pile has been sup- pressed and a steam-engine is now used, which by its movement produces the electric current. This simple arrangement has caused the electric light to be tried on a large scale for lighting public squares, and the cities of London, Paris, New York, and Madrid have partially adopted this new light, which, concentrated in a few dazzling centres, throws a strong light, much resembling that of the moon, over an immense surface. At last the American, Thomas Edison, and the Englishman, Swan, in 1878 perfected the incandescent lamps, that is to say, lamps in which the light is produced by a metallic conductor sufficiently heated by the electric current to be at white heat, and thus give a strong steady light. Constant improvements have since been made by these inventors, and by others, and the use of the electric light is spreading fast. Air Balloons. We have noticed that towards the end of the last century scientific men had found means of expanding balloons and THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. rising into the air. After the experiments made by Montgolfier, Pilatre de Rozier, Charles, Robert, and de Blanchard, it was realised that this discovery could be utilised for military observa- tions, and balloons belonging to the company of aeronauts floated over the battle-field oi Fleurus (June 26th, 1794). These balloons were retained captive, and are no longer used. However, in 1804, Biot and Gay-Lussac availed themselves of them in order to make some most interesting scientific observations upon the upper strata of the atmosphere. The balloon was afterwards used only as a means of amusement, and no public festivals took place without the services of aeronauts. But scientific men continued the study of this difficult ques- tion, which involves so many others, with more energy than ever. In 1874 Croce-Spinelli and Sivel rose to a height of 26,160 feet, and brought back with them exact information upon the rarefaction of the atmosphere at that elevation. In 1875 they attempted to ascend yet higher, accompanied by M. Tissandier, but the two former perished, victims of their devotion to science. Great attention is now being paid to the problem of steering balloons, chiefly for war purposes, and for survey, and in the military establishment of Chalais-Meudon experiments are being made with the view of adapting the motive powers used on land and water to the currents of the atmosphere. Man endeavours to conquer the air and the winds as he has already conquered the waves, but small addition to scientific knowledge has hitherto been made by this means. Artesian Wells. Earth, at least, opens more and more her se- crets to man. He knows how to fathom the depths, where to find springs of water, and how to bring the water to its surface ; and this art has been known for a long time, judging by the wells dug in Italy in the Middle Ages, and by the wells bored in Artois, the oldest of which (at Lillers) dates from the reign of Louis le Gros. Bernard Palissy describes an instrument which he had invented, and which is analogous to our boring instrument or drill. But it is chiefly in the nineteenth century that, with more exact knowledge of the laws of the equilibrium of liquids, the number THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 503 of artesian wells has been increased. Hericart de Thury and Degousee developed the theory and perfected the art of boring. The well of Grenelle in Paris (1833 1844) brings water from a depth of 1,798 feet, and gives 1,000 gallons per minute. At Pesth water rises from a depth of 3,182 feet, and at fct. Louis, in Missouri, of 3,843 feet. Artesian wells have also rendered the greatest service in Algeria and in the Sahara regions, for water, the source of life in those burning regions, has thus been obtained in every direction. Suspension Bridges. The progress of mathematics, mechanics, and industry has enabled the two banks of a stream, or the two extremities of a valley, to be united by bridges, far more wonder- ful than any of the works bequeathed to us by the Romans. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the theory of suspension bridges was already known, but it was Findley, in America, who built the first permanent suspension bridge for the use of carriages. England and France followed this example, and we may men- tion the famous tubular bridge over the Menai Straits in England, the suspension bridge at Friburg, in Switzerland, and in France those of Cubzac and Garabit. In America a fine bridge connects the two shores of Niagara over the fall itself ; it is built in two stories, one for the railway, and the other for carriages and foot passengers. The Brooklyn bridge, between New York and its suburb, is still longer and wider. The piles are placed at distances of 545^ yards, and rise 92f yards out of the water ; the span is 43f, and the highest clippers can pass underneath it without lowering their masts ; but all these have been surpassed by the Forth Bridge, recently constructed on principles similar to those on which the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Exhibition of 1889 was built. Photography. The discovery of photography by Niepce and Daguerre has been one of the most popular achievements of this century. Niepce* first succeeded in reproducing, by the chemical action of light, the images of external objects. He commenced his labours in 1813, and afterwards became acquainted with Daguerre, * Niepce, b.,rn at Cbakns-on-Saone (17621833). 504 THE HISTORY CF CIVILIZATION. the inventor of the diorama. The latter perfected the discovery of Niepce, who died in 1833, without enjoying any of the fruits of his successful labours. Daguerre* continued his studies alone, and succeeded in obtain- ing photographic pictures in 1839. In the same year Mr. Fox Talbot succeeded in producing a negative photograph, from which copies could be printed. At that time only stationary objects could be photographed, but through later improvements moving objects can now be instantaneously reproduced. In 1847 Blanquart- Evrard discovered the method of fixing photographs on paper. Photography, in addition to its pleasant and important work of reproducing the features of individuals, is daily becoming of greater service in scientific observations and in art. Meteorological photo- graphic instruments themselves inscribe the atmospherical changes that affect them, and microscopical objects can be reproduced in enlarged size by this means, an immense advantage in the study of natural history. Celestial photography is a great help to astron- omy, especially in mapping out the heavens. The Telephone. Cassar relates that the Gauls in their campaigns placed men at intervals, who shouted news and orders from post to post. The massacre of the Romans at Genabuiu was thus known on the same day to the inhabitants of Gergovia, in spite of the two places being eighty leagues apart. In our century we have surpassed these methods by means of electricity. Electric vibrators were constructed first (1847 1852), and in 1861 Philippe Reiss established the first telephone, which only transmitted iso- lated or musical sounds. An American of English origin, Graham Bell, first transmitted words. His apparatus was noticed in the Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, and with its aid, Graham Bell engaged in a conversation at a distance of thirteen miles ; this apparatus is particularly convenient because the wires of the ordi- nary telegraph are available for the transmission of its sounds. Other machines have been invented by Gower Bell and Edison, and the use of the telephone has gradually spread both in Europe and America, not only for messages in the precincts of the * Daguerre, born in Paris (17891851). He died at Petit-Biy (Seine). THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 505 same town, but between distant cities. Another modern method of annihilating space and time. The Phonograph. But yet more has been accomplished. A simple printer's reader, Leon Scott, discovered, in France, a method of making words inscribe themselves. The first patent for it was taken out by Mr. Fenby in 1863. The celebrated mechanician, Edison, completed the solution of the problem, and caused metal to reproduce the words stored up in itself. This instrument, the phonograph (1877), registers, preserves, and then emits the sounds that have been confided to it ; of little practical importance at present, it has probably a vast future before it. Applications of Chemistry ; Pasteur's Discoveries. The applica- tions of Chemistry to industry, which Chaptal had commenced under the Consulate and the Empire, were continued by Thenard, Chevreul, Dumas, and Balard, and are becoming yearly of greater importance to art, and moreover they have given great impetus to the industries of dyeing, oil manufactures, and chemical produc- tions, &c. Sainte-Claire Deville, aided by Debray, discovered the means of making a new metal, aluminium, which can be used instead of silver for many purposes. By means of the use of symbols, and the correspondence of facts, ratios and relations with them, chemistry is now becoming almost a mathematical science. Lastly, Pasteur,* by dint of patient, methodical studies of the microscopic world, guided by extraordinary genius, succeeded in wresting from nature some unsuspected secrets, some of which have proved, and some of which may perhaps prove, practically useful. In his laboratory, in the ficole Normale Superieure, be first devoted himself, from 1857, to an examination of the warmly disputed question of spontaneous generation ; he denied this doc- trine, and was led to inquire into the influence exercised by the atoms contained in the atmosphere over the putrefaction of matter and liquids. He carefully studied the manufactures of vinegar and beer, and the causes of the wine diseases. Proving that these diseases came from a vegetation which was generated in them, he found that to preserve wine from deteriorating, it only needed to * Louis Pasteur, born at Dole (Ju*a), 1822. 5o6 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. be raised for some instants to a temperature of 55 deg. to CO deg. This theory of atmospheric germs has been carried out in England by Tyndall and others. Pasteur's attention was then directed to the silk-worm disease, which ruined the industry of several departments. Pasteur denned it, recognised it in the butterflies' eggs, and pointed out a practical method of discerning the good or bad eggs. Wealth was restored to the Basses -Alpes, Ardeche, Gard, Drome, and all the districts where silkworms are cultivated. The indefatigable chemist, without allowing illness to interfere with his v\ork, then discovered and fostered the microbes which produce fermentation, and at last manufactured a vaccine against virulent illnesses, even trying conclusions against charbon in sheep, and with very doubt- ful success, if not with absolute failure, against hydrophobia in men. The Scientific Movement of the Nineteenth Century. The imagi- nation is overwhelmed by the spectacle of the marvellous material successes accomplished by science. Our century certainly inhe- rited the systems and discoveries of former ages, but what fruits have been produced of late by chemists, physicians, engineers, mathematicians, and astronomers ! Nature reveals her secrets one by one, and each aids in unravelling the mysteries yet unsolved. Steam, now disciplined, gives incalculable force to industry ; elec- tricity transmits the thoughts and words of man, gives him light, and moreover serves as a powerful motor. Scientific men have analysed nearly every substance, decomposed almost every body, extricated and utilised the gases. The sun is forced to print pic- tures of men and countries upon paper, and even life has been prolonged. Peaceful victories have been won, more glorious than military conquests, for they are rendering man the master of that nature which had made him its victim and plaything for so long. Fruitful victories are these which contribute by the mutual increase of comfort to the union of nations, and in a word to civilization : victories, which enable us to measure the value of the human intelligence, and prove that it is derived from a principle superior to matter, which it commands, bends, and directs at its will. The more science enlarges its domain the higher man rises, and his THE SCIENCES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 507. reason proves his close connection with the sovereign infinite reason which governs the world. One peculiarity of the present condition of science is that in many cases, such as that of elec- tricity and its applications, practice has outstripped theory. Man now makes use of forces of whose composition he is ignorant. When this is known, science may again be revolutionized, and all our previous knowledge seem comparatively small. CHAPTER XX. ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS AND MORAL PROGRESS. SUMMARY : Agriculture Agricultural Shows and Societies Agriculture in Europe Industry ; Mechanical Processes ; First Experiments in the Eighteenth Century; Arkwright (1732 1792); Cotton Spinning; the Spinning-Jenny Flax and Hernp Spinning ; Philippe de Girard Silk Spinning and Weaving; Jacquard Manufacture of Paper by Machinery Printing ; Lithography Porcelain in Saxony and France in. the Eighteenth Century Glass Various Industries Manufacture of Beetroot Sugar Importance of the Metal Industry Industrial Ac- tivity of the Different Nations Industrial Associations : Co-operative Societies Triumphs of Engineering Art ; the Mont Cenis and St. Gothard Tunnels The Revolution produced by Eailways The Post ; the Universal Postal Union The Telegraph Sub-marine Telegraphs Transatlantic Navigation Piercing of the Isthmuses of Suez and Panama Ferdinand de Lesseps Universal Exhibitions (1851, 1855, 1862, 1867, 1873, 1876, 1878, 1889) International Commissions; Pro- pagation of the Metric System Unity of Coinage Credit ; Institutions of Credit ; Insurances Free Trade and Commercial Treaties Com- mercial Activity of the Various Nations Results of the Economic Revolution ; Prolongation of the Average of Life Moral Progress ; Public Education in France Public Education in Europe Progress of Legislation Diminution of Crime Provident Institutions Charity; Benevolent Institutions. Agriculture. Science has changed the conditions of agriculture, industry, and trade. Agriculture, formerly traditional, has become experimental and deductive. It has even become a science with Matthew de Dombasle, Liebig, Sir J. Lawes, Gasparin, and a number of others, who have created special schools, analysed the soil, studied the rotation of crops and the value of manures, and taught men how to produce excellent harvests even from poor land. The so-called artificial and chemical manures and guano TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 509 have been used to increase the fertility of the land. The breeding of cattle has been greatly improved by the labours of Bates, Booth, and other Englishmen. The progress of machinery has enabled steam-power to supple- ment manual labour. At the end of the eighteenth century threshing machines, drills, and weeding hoes were already known. In the vast plains of North America the scarcity of labour stimu- lated inventive genius, and mowing and reaping machines were constructed. The steam-engine has come to the farmer's assist- ance. It is either stationary in the farms, or is taken from village to village to give the necessary aid ; in many countries it replaces the labour of oxen and horses. Machines now plough the fields, cut the corn,* bind the sheaves, thresh out the grain, separate the straw, and winnow the chaff, thus saving labour and enabling agriculture to be successfully carried on under more adverse con- ditions. Agricultural Shows and Societies. Agriculture received great impetus from the shows, or exhibitions, long established in England, and organized in France since 1844. They are now annual in many places, and a peaceable contest takes place between the finest breeds of cattle, and the most perfect instruments, imple- ments, and apparatus. Besides this, free associations and agri- cultural societies discuss the best process of cultivation, organize the competitions, and by means of prizes reward the most suc- cessful exhibitors. Agriculture in Europe. In England agriculture is greatly honoured. Seconded by capital, which no one fears to invest in this way, the English have succeeded in obtaining a yield per acre almost double that obtained in France. Publications relating to husbandry abound, agricultural colleges are opened, and the countries least dowered by nature pay the most attention to agricultural studies. Sweden has a number of schools, farms, and model sheep-farms. A Royal Academy of Agriculture was founded there in 1811. The Dutch have succeeded wonder- * In America, 1831, MacCormick first invented the method of giving a to- and-fro movement to the scythe that cut the wheat stems. 5io THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. fully in protecting their land from invasion by the sea; and by draining the lake at Haarlem and the polders, they have now vast plains for cultivation situated from four to six yards below the level of the sea. They have thus acquired 35,550 acres. Denmark set the example of rural education at the commence- ment of the nineteenth century, and her progress of late years, owing to state-aided edusation, has been very rapid, particularly in d-dry farming. Belgium had only to persevere in the rules of old Flemish traditions, their superiority was recognised in the Middle Ages, and the Flemings have succe sfully maintained their reputation, Belgium is still the best-cultivated and most productive country in Europe. Life in Switzerland is chiefly pastoral, and agricultural education is adopted and highly valued there. In the centre of Europe, in the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, the pea- sants' inferior, dependent position and the seigniorial rights re- mained unchanged until 1848, but since that time rapid progress has been made. Russia has entered the same path, and the immense corn-fields of the tchernozoum (black land) form with the Hungarian plains the chief granaries of Europe. We cannot but echo Buffon's exclamation, " How beautiful cultivated nature is ! " as we admire the vineyards on every side of the hills, wherever the sun can ripen the grapes, the seas of harvests in Beauce, Brie, Limngne, in France, Hungary, Russia, &c., the pastures of Normandy, England, and Holland. No large tract of European land can DOW be found, capable of cultivation, which is not used for cereals, dyeing plants, the vine, hops, or pasturage. The immense tracts of waste land that existed in France during the last century are now cultivated, and agricultural life is everywhere recognised as the primitive source of a nation's wealth. In barbarous times Europe was only a forest intersected by a few fields here and there. Now that the forests have been only too completely removed, it is a field intersected by a few woods, and in some parts may be described as a fertile garden. Industry; Mechanical Processes; First Experiments in the Eighteenth Century; Arkicriyht (17321792); Cotton Spinning; the Spin- inny Jenny. Man formerly possesse 1 only his two hands and TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 511 a few rough tools ; he has now a thousand implements, each more ingenious than the other, an infinite variety of powerful machines and delicate mechanisms, by the aid of which he can transform raw materials with a rapidity which gives him infinite power of production. Until the eighteenth century the distaff and wheel were still the only means of spinning, and, in fact, the latter appears to have been introduced about the fifteenth century. In 1767, Hargreaves, a mechanic, near Blackburn, invented the first spinning machine ; this was improved by Arkwright * in 1769. In 1769 he established a first cotton mill at Nottingham, in 1771 a second at Cromfort, Derbyshire, and in a short time he became one of the richest manufacturers in England. In 1779 Samuel Crompton \ invented some new machines, which he called mule- jennies, and which first became general in France after 1784, and then in Europe. After some interval they were again improved, and became the self-acting mule-jenny, which automati- cally effect the various operations required in the manufacture of cotton goods. A skilful French mechanic, Yaucanson,]: endeavoured to add a weaving machine to his numerous ingenious inventions. But he was discouraged by the manufacturers' reluctance to change the routine of their mills, and his fruitless attempts were perfected in England, where the success of the Arkwright looms acted as an incentive to other inventors. Between 1785 and 1787 Edmund Cartwright succeeded in making the first weaving loom. His loom was soon improved, and from that time rapid progress was made. In 1820 England and Scotland had already 160,000 looms. They now employ more than 500,000. Richard and Lenoir-Dufresne introduced tbe English machines into France during the reign of Napoleon I., and in 1814 more than 7,589 tons of cotton were already spun. * Kichard Arkwright, born at Pieston, in Lancashire (1732 1792). t Samuel Crompton, born in Lancashire (1753 1827). J Jacques de Vaucanson, horn at Grenoble (1709 1782). Edmund Cartwright, born at Marnham, Nottingham (17431823). 5f2 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Flax and Hemp Spinning ; Philippe de Girard. Richard, who had assumed the name of Lenoir, was ruined by the foreign inva- sion of 1814, and at the same time an inventive genius of the first order, Philippe de Girard,* who had succeeded in 1810 in making looms for spinning hemp and flax, failed in business and left France for Austria and Poland, whence he returned the year before his death. The French were afterwards obliged to go to England for the machines invented by Philippe de Girard (1833), whom his native country learnt to appreciate too late. Silk Spinning and Weaving; Jacqitard.\ The mechanical pro- cess formerly used in silk weaving dates from the later half of the fifteenth century. It is attributed to a workman of Bologna, named Borghesano Lucchesi, but was very imperfect. In the eighteenth century, Vaucanson discovered a new system, and made models of his machines. He bequeathed these models to Louis XVI., and this bequest formed the nucleus of the collections of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, organized by the Conven- tion. A workman in Lyons, named Jacquard, who hai passed his childhood in the midst of the looms, adopted the trade of a mechanic, and in 1801 received a reward from the Exhibition of products of French national industry. He succeeded in the construction of a machine for making fishing-nets, and was sent to Paris (1803) to exhibit his machine at the Conservatoire. " You are, then, the man," said Carnot, as he greeted him, "who claims to have succeeded in a work no man can do, making a knot with a tight string." The mechanism was shown to Bonaparte, who greatly admired it, and it justified Jacquard's pretensions. He was appointed to the Conservatoire, where he was employed in repairing machines ; here he invented a loom for weaving double- piled velvets, and others for weaving cotton with two or three shuttles. He put Vaucanson's famous loom in working order, and then returned to Lyons, where he was employed to establish a workshop for making figured materials and Gobelins tapestries by a * Philippe de G-irard, born at Lourmarin, Vaucluse (1775 1845). f Jacquard, born at Lyons (17521834). TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 5*3 process which he had invented. A decree dated from Berlin in 1806, authorised the municipal administration of Lyons to buy L L 514 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. the patent of Jacquard's inventions. The old weaving looms were cumbered with ropes and pedals, which rendered it necessary for the weaver to have assistance in working them. Thanks to Jacquard, this labour, which was very heavy, w r as dispensed with, and each loom was worked entirely by the weaver, thus releasing the poor children and young girls who had been usually employed in the work, to the great detriment of their health. The workmen, believing that this new invention would ruin them by employing less workers, broke the looms and tried to throw the inventor into the Rhone. The truth that all machinery by accelerating labour, far from diminishing the number of workers, increases it by lowering the price of produce and thus doubling the consumption, was not realised until some years afterwards. Jacquard died at Oulins, near Lyons, aged eighty-two (1834), and in 1840 a statue was raised in his honour by the sons of those workmen who, in their ignorance, had destroyed his first machines. Manufacture of Paper by Machinery. The manufacture of paper was particularly affected by the progress of steam machinery. In 1799 the first machine was used at Essonnes, at the paper mills belonging to Francois Didot ; it was improved in England, taken back to France in 1814, and afterwards established at Annonay. An immense number of materials have been found suitable for con- version into paper. In 1772 a learned German, Jean Charles Schoaffer, published a volume at Ratisbon containing eighty-one specimens of paper obtained with different substances. But now the progress has been so rapid that in the fine paper-mills at Essonnes (belonging to Messrs. Darblay) one may see the trunk of a tree seized by a machine, split into several pieces, reduced to shavings, then to pulp, and at last to paste, gradually dried and made thinner until it becomes a sheet of paper. The applications of paper to other uses than those of printing and writing are con- stantly becoming more numerous. Printing ; Lithography. Until our century printing had made very slow progress since Gutenberg's discovery. At the end of the last century an iron press and font were substituted by Stan- hope for the old wooden ones. The brothers Didot introduced it TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 515 into France in 1818. Bauer and Koenig succeeded in constructing a mechanical press in Germany, which was bought by the pro- prietor of the English Times newspaper. On December 28th, 1814, a notice placed at the head of the paper informed the world that the number had been printed by a steam press. In 1823 the steam press was established in France, and from that time printing made rapid progress. Type-composing machines were introduced in 1842. At last the perfection of the Marinoni machines enabled 36,000 sheets to be printed in one hour, and daily newspapers to satisfy public curiosity with marvellous rapidity. This has since been far surpassed, and improvements are being continually made in these machines, especially in colour printing. In 1798 Alois Senefelder, a poor actor in Munich, discovered lithography, which was soon introduced into France (1814) and then into Europe. Between 1830 and 1837 the superior process of chromo-lithography was discovered, which has since been greatly improved and extended. Porcelain in Saxony and France in the Eighteenth Century. The potter's industry, one of the most ancient as well as the most necessary, has gradually developed, improving, as we have already noticed, through all the centuries. The Renaissance produced some beautiful specimens of ceramics, but common pottery was never really manufactured in France until the seventeenth century, when a gentleman belonging to the court of the Duke de Nivernais, named Conrad, established, with the aid of Italian workmen, a factory for pottery, imitated from that made in Faenza in Italy. These potteries were called faiences in France (a corruption of the word fayances), and became very popular ; but in the eighteenth century they met with great competition from the fine earthenware invented in England, although the application of this manufacture was largely developed in France after 1820. But both were eclipsed by porcelain. This name had been given to mother-of-pearl in the Middle Ages because of the resemblance between its whiteness and that of Chinese pottery. But no clay could be found at all resembling the Chinese kaolin. In 1709 Johann Frederic Bottcher succeeded in making a white trans- 516 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. lucid porcelain in Saxony, and he was charged by the Elector to organize a large porcelain manufacture in the castle of Albert, at Meissen, where he was strictly watched to prevent the secret of its fabrication being divulged. But nevertheless the secret was soon carried into Russia, Switzerland, Holland, England, and France. But it was not easy to find suitable clay; a lady, named Darnet, wife of a surgeon of Saint- Yrieix, in Limousin, discovered kaolin there in 1768. It has since been found in other parts of France, and in America. A new porcelain, which excited great enthusiasm, was produced at the royal factory at Sevres, and the fine delicate porcelain and vitreous porcelain ca ] led old Sevres is still eagerly competed for by the china lovers of all nations. In 1773 this factory was established at Limoges, where it developed the manufacture of useful articles. The Sevres factory has main- tained its artistic reputation ; its chemists, designers, painters, gilders, modellers, and even its bakers are scientists. In England the manufacturers of porcelain were far behind their foreign rivals until 1759, when Wedgewood, with Flaxman as his designer, introduced the beauty of outline and rich colour that had distinguished the Greek ceramics. He also invented terra-cotta, which could be made to resemble porphyry, granite, and other beautiful stones, and produced fine biscuit porcelain, black, white, cane-coloured, &c. After his death Minton, Doulton, and others devoted their energies to the improvement of ceramics, and our English porcelain has competed successfully with foreign productions. Glass. The nineteenth century only continued the ancient tra- ditions in glass-making prevalent in Bohemia and Venice, and in the manufacture of plate-glass and mirrors at Saint Gobain. Crystal (a silicate of potass and lead) dates only from the last century. It was first made in the glass-works of Saint Louis (Lorraine), but was greatly developed in the crystal factory at Baccarat, and the old glass-works of Saint Anne, where a com- pany, formed in 1822, disposed of a vast amount of material. Baccarat* crystal has become famous throughout Europe. Tem- * Baccarat, near Luneville (Meurthe-et-Moselle). TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 517 pered or toughened glass, invented by De la Bastie in 1875, may yet have a future before it. Various Industries. We should wander too far if we endeavoured to point out the numerous improvements that have been made in every branch of industry. Horology, that in the Middle Ages could only be applied to stationary clocks, is now used for portable apparatus. In the seventeenth century the invention of a spiral regulator led to the manufacture of watches, and then to repeating watches ; in the eighteenth century this manufacture was carried to great perfection by the Englishmen, Graham and Harrison, and the Swiss, Louis Breguet. Chronometers are now relied upon for navigation. The application of machinery to watchmaking has given an immense impulse to the production of watches in America. The nineteenth century has also developed the beautiful industry of art bronzes, which enables the masterpieces of sculpture to be reproduced and multiplied. It has perfected the manufacture of toys, fancy goods, and that which sends artistic furniture even to remote country districts, and thus perpetuates the traditions of art and the wonders of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We must also mention the manufacture of musical instruments, jewelry, &c. Art is now allied to industry, and every day new ingenious combinations are produced which satisfy the require- ments and fancies of mankind, placing comfort within the reach of the majority. The Manufacture of Beet-root Sugar. Industry has also improved the production of food, and at the commencement of the century a complete revolution took place in the manufacture of sugar. Until then sugar had been made from the sugar-cane only, and the attempts of a German chemist, Margraff,* to extract sugar from beet-root in 1747, attracted little attention, except from a few scientific men. The wars of the Revolution and of the Empire, added to the continental blockade, deprived France of cane-sugar, and it became necessary to continue the experiments commenced in the last century. They at last succeeded, and a factory was established at Passy by Benjamin Delessert, where Napoleon * Margraff, born in Berlin (17091780). Si 8 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. himself went and decorated the inventor in his workshop (1812). Crespel Delisse on his side obtained magnificent results at Lille, and he endowed the northern departments of France with the sugar industry. It is the most successful example of an industry fostered and established by State-protection. The production of beet-root sugar in France now amounts to more than 225,051 tons per annum, whilst the consumption is so great that the colonial sugar would never suffice if the imports were not supplemented by the beet-root sugar. It is also largely grown in Germany and Austria, and the quantity of beet-root sugar made in Europe is far in excess of that made elsewhere from the sugar-cane. Germany sends over 6,000,000 worth of sugar to Great Britain, and over 50,000 tons to the United States. Importance of the Metal Industry. But the mind is most im- pressed with the success now reached by the metal industry in the construction of machines, of iron bridges and frame-works of the im- mense mass of railway material, cannons, and iron and steel-built and armour-plated ships. Considerable numbers of workmen are now concentrated in large establishments, and monster engines have been invented to cope with these enormous works. Creusot,* in France, was only a wild uninhabited village in 1782. The factory established at that date first began to develop in 1837. Now the place is a town of fire and smoke, capped by high chimneys, one of which is 260 feet high. A thousand furnaces light up the night: all the outbuildings are connected by railway, and a population of more than 20,000 workmen labour in the enormous workshops, rolling and turning the iron to make tools, which afterwards serve to roll, turn, shape, file, construct, and fit the various parts of the heavy locomotives, the boilers, pistons, wheels, rails, rings, spans of bridges, &c. In Rhenish Prussia, near Essen, the Krupp factory, which in 1810 commenced modestly with a small forge, has now become one of the most extraordinary establishments in the whole world. It contains 39 boilers, and 450 steam machines, equal to 1,558 horse-power. There are 1,553 furnaces, 1,662 mechanical tools, and 82 steam hammers. It * Creusot is about 19 miles S.E. of Autun (Saone-et-Loirel. TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. daily consumes 3,100 tons of coal. Establishments almost equal to these are to be found in Great Britain, Belgium, the United States, and other countries. To form any idea of the industrial power that has now been at- tained we ought to describe each of the machines used in these city factories, and follow all their operations. The steam hammer invented by a Scotchman, Nasmyth, in 1838, is an apparatus for striking, composed of a mass of cast iron, weighing from 40 Ibs. to 80 tons, which slides between two vertical columns. Moved by steam this mass can crush the hardest materials, yet regulated in its descent, it can cork a glass bottle without breaking it. This is one of the most wonderful creations of industrial invention, and it is now generally used in large factories. The ready conversion of iron into steel, by the Bessemer process, 1856, since improved by Krupp, Siemens, and others, has doubled the utility of iron ores. Industrial Activity of Different Nations. England gave the first impetus to this industrial activity, and in spite of the progress accomplished by other nations still holds the first place. It is impossible to do more than mention the existence of the immense factories in London and Manchester, the cotton-cities' queen surrounded by towns which have sprung up round her, as though built by magic Oldham, Bolton, Preston, Rochdale, &c. ;* Birmingham and Sheffield are the centres of the iron and steel manufactures ; Nottingham, Leeds Bradford, &c., are the seats of the woollen industries, Glasgow in Scotland of ship-building, and Belfast in Ireland of the linen trade. England is a mass of coal and iron, and its inhabitants have used them with wonderful results. France, without attaining the industrial power of her neigh- * London . . 4,350,000 inhab. Manchester Oldham . Bolton . . Preston Kochdale . 378,000 142,000 114,000 104,000 68,866 Birmingham . 454,000 Sheffield . . . 327,000 inhab. Nottingham . 237,000 Leeds . . . 357,000 ,, Bradford . . 235,000 Glasgow . . 528,000 Belfast . . 230,000 5*0 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. hour, yet boasts of coal mines which employ 110,000 men, and produce annually 20 million tons of coal. Her iron mines produce 3 million tons, only two-thirds of the quantity she manufactures at Lille, le Creusot, St. Etienne, &c. Her textile factories employ over a million hands. Silk is chiefly manufactured in the hand and power-looms at Lyons, paper at Angouleme, and all kinds of fancy products at Paris. Belgium is one immense manufactory : Brus- sels, Ghent, Liege, Verviers, Mons, Charleroi, Tournai, Courtrai, Namur, Malines, &e., are all hives of industry. The portion of the Rhine valley which belongs to Prussia pos- sesses a number of active cities, where iron and stuffs are manu- factured, Elberfeld, Crefeld, and Essen (famous for the Krupp foundries). Silesia is rich in mines, and the kingdom and duchies of Saxony possess many important manufacturing centres. Austria-Hungary, already rich in agriculture and forestry, develops its manufactures in Moravia, Bohemia, Lower Austria, Galicia, and Hungary. Mines are worked, brass, iron, and steel are produced in the vast foundries of Styria, Carinthia and Tran- sylvania. Switzerland, in spite of the agricultural tendencies of its population, competes with its neighbours in industrial productions. Sweden and Russia follow the general movement. Moscow is the industrial capital of the empire, drawing into its orbit the cities of Vladimir, Toula, Kalouga, Nijni-Novgorod, &c., and the dis- coveries of mineral oils on the Caspian have added immensely to its resources. Spain, rich in mines of iron and copper, especially the unrivalled Rio Tinto copper mine, follows more slowly, except in Catalonia ; Italy is developing her manufactures in Milan, Genoa, Udine, and Florence. Industrial Associations: Co-operative Societies. This continual extension of the industrial movement has produced many problems which are daily becoming more difficult to solve ; this accumula- tion of workmen in mines, founderies, and factories, the extinc- tion of so many private and local industries, forcing the artisans to flock to the large founderies and factories, has greatly changed the conditions of social life for a large portion of the popu- lation. Some of thj heads of the great industries have interested TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 521 themselves in these questions, and have tried to improve the position of the workmen, either by admitting them to a small share of the profits of the business, or by building small houses near the factories, which can be acquired on easy terms. In Eng- land and Alsace, particularly in Mulhouse, workmen's cities have been thus formed, where the workman, who forms part of a machine during many hours, may find on his return from labour a pleasant home, sometimes a garden, and that family life which is so necessary to morality. The workmen (particularly in England) have on their side, by their own initiation, discovered means of diminishing their expenses and encouraging thrift. They have formed associations, of which the Co-operative Societies are the most remarkable. In 1844 the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers, to diminish the daily expenses of each household, united to supply their own provisions, buying their merchandise wholesale, and thus profiting by the difference in price of wholesale and retail goods. Their society prospered, and their modest capital made such returns that for forty years they have paid very hiph dividends. Their example has been imitated, co-ope- rative societies have been formed by hundreds all over England, and the problem of cheap provisions has been solved at the same time that the stores became practical savings banks. Other societies, called trades unions, have also been formed with another object. Workmen associate in order to prevent the lowering of wages in individual cases. Their means of resistance are often detrimental to industry by the advantage they give to the industry in other countries or places not on strike. This system is Ihe most formidable weapon possessed by the workmen in the struggle between capital and labour, which is steadily becoming the pressing problem of the age. In Germany loan societies were started in 1850, in Prussian Saxony. With small contributions the workmen succeeded in forming a capital which enables them to make advances to the members. In France the co-operation and loan systems have both failed. The workmen apparently prefer co-operative societies for production, that is to say, joining together and working a trade for THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. their own benefit. But this system would be very difficult to manage if applied to large numbers. Triumphs of Engineering Art : the Mont Cenis and Saint Gothard Tunnels. The Greek historian Polybius tells of the works that Hannibal undertook in order to enable his elephants to pass the Rhone as a marvel of skill. But even this feat was much less Railway Viaduct. difficult than the transport of locomotives and tr ins of immense weight, and yet the latter has been accomplished by the aid of iron bridges of imperishable strength. Viaducts are used to overcome differences of level, and whole valleys are spanned by works of greater beauty than anything made since the great aqueducts bequeathed to us by the Romans. The locomotives pierce through mountains by the aid of tunnels, and even tbe mass of the Alps has not deterred the energy of modern engineers. Mont Cenis was entered under the Col de Frejus, and this tunnel is one of the finest TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 523 illustrations of the triumph of the science of mechanics. The rock was pierced by compressed-air perforators, which prepared the blasting mines. The length of the tunnel from Modana to Bardon- eche is more than seven miles, and fourteen years were occupied in excavating it (1857 1871). The Alps have been pierced a second time, and the Saint Gothard, in spite of its enormous size, is now traversed by a tunnel nearly nine miles long. It was opened in 1882. The Revolution produced by RaUwayt. Railways have produced a greater revolution in industry and commerce than even the dis- coveries of the fifteenth century. Yet they scarcely existed fifty years ago ! Distance is diminished and mountains are, as it were, removed, the extremities of a country are in rapid communication with each other, millions of tons of merchandise are carried from one end of Europe to the other, entire populations are occupied in constructing and working the lines, new openings are made for every industry and every commerce : an inconceivable mingling of men and of ideas, of the interests of nations inextricably affected by the exchange of productions, different countries perpetually visited by merchants and tourists, costumes and customs modified by these daily communications, ought to produce some degree of neighbourly feeling amongst all the peoples of Europe. The Post, the Universal Postal Union. We are also far in ad- vance of the time when Madame de Sevigne pitied the poor courriers who, over mountains and valleys, through winter and summer, carried her letters to Provence.* Now letters circulate as quickly as travellers, and newspapers are delivered at different parts of the country almost at the same moment. The nations of Europe * Posts and Telegraphs : Great Britain has 1,550 millions of letters, more than 32,000 miles of telegraph lines, and 53,000,000 telegrams ; Germany, 891 millions of letters, 55,400 miles of lines, 18,362,000 telegrams ; Fiance, 628 millions of letters, 55,858 miles of lines. 24,260,000 telegrams ; Austria- Hungary, 410 millions of letters 28,400 miles of lines, 9,495,000 telegrams ; Italy, 149 millions of letters, 20,580 miles of lines, 6,455,000 telegrams ; Russia, 148 millions of letters, 70,100 miles of lines, 9,800,000 telegrams; Belgium, 117 millions of letters, 4,361 miles of lines, 6,896.000 telegrams; Spain, 95 millions of letters, 12,370 miles of lines, 2,524,000 telegrams. 524 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. realising the advantages of easy communication adopted a Universal Postal Union. This Union, regulating the price of postage and equalising it all over Europe, was concluded at Berne, October 9th, 1874, and extended by the treaty of Paris, June 1st, 1878. The principal States of Asia, Africa, and America have now joined it. The Telegraph. The telegraph completes the railway by con- veying information. Europe now resembles one immense city. No event of importance can take place in any part of it without the fact being at once communicated to the whole continent. The construction of telegraph lines is very simple and much less diffi- cult and expensive than that of railways, so that they have been extended to the most remote districts. Submarine Telegraphs. The railway passes under moun- tains and the telegraph under seas. In 1849 a cable was con- structed of gutta percha, formed from the sap of a tree grown in the Malay Peninsula, which is found to be an excellent isolator, and this cable was successfully laid between Dover and Calais in 1851. It was speedily followed by a cable under the North Sea, another under the Irish Sea, and at last one was laid under the Atlantic Ocean, 1858. With the aid of the Great Eastern, which carried the Transatlantic cable, it was renewed in 1865 between Ireland (Valentia) and Newfoundland. Europe was con- nected with America. Other lines were added between 1866 and 1872, and England is now. linked with America by several cables ; she is also united by cable with Africa, India, Australia, and South America. France in 1869 established direct communication with the new world by a cable between Brest and the small island of St. Pierre, near Newfoundland, afterwards joining the mainland at Plymouth, Massachusetts ; two other lines now connect France with the Antilles and South America. The differences of longitude cause changes in time, which pro- duce the curious result that cablegrams dispatched from Europe reach North America six hours before the time they started. Sent off at 10 A.M., the message is received almost immediately, and this hour corresponds with 4 A.M. in America. A new measure of international time, and of longitude, is fast becoming a necessity, TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 525 and is under consideration. Asia also is connected with Europe, and ere long telegraphic lines will surround the whole world. Transatlantic Navigation. The necessities of trade and the spirit of enterprise have produced an immense amount of steam naviga- tion across the Atlantic. The old boats were not sufficiently large or fast ; it became necessary to increase their size, and in spite of the added weight, their rate of travelling. The problem has been successfully solved, and now immense vessels of 4,000, 6,000, and. even 10,000 tons are built, propelled by enormously-powerful engines. Steam has been used to obtain power, and screws sub- stituted for paddles to increase the speed. Now steamers cross the Atlantic in six days, and all the great ports of Europe, Lon- don, Liverpool, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Havre, Bordeaux, Mar- seilles, &c., are in rapid and direct communication with all parts of the world. The ocean is a great highway, traversed by an n- creasing throng of vessels of all sizes. These magnificent steamers, used for passenger traffic, resemble floating hotels. No expense is spared to supply them with every modern luxury ; gilded saloons, decorated with mirrors, hangings, carpets, and handsome furniture ; large and elegant dining-rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens, all lighted by electricity ; nothing is omitted, and these vessels are fitted up like palaces in which men may relieve the tedium of a voyage by every amuseme/it. Piercing of the Isthmuses of Suez and Panama ; Ferdinand de 'Lesseps. As mountains have been cut and tunnelled for railways so isthmuses have been pierced for the passage of steamers. A Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps, succeeded in removing the barrier which separated the Mediterranean from the Red Sea and thus greatly lengthened the journey between India and Europe. M. de Lesseps succeeded,- after many years of travels and negotia- tions, in forming the Isthmus of Suez Company (15th December, 1858). In the month of March the first spade was thrust into the desert sands, and the work never ceased until the waves of the Red Sea and of the Mediterranean had celebrated their difficult but use- ful union in 1869. The Port Said Canal at Suez is 92 miles lon^ O> and passes by the Menzalah, Timsah, and Bitter Lakes. A canal 526 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of soft water at Ismailia brings the Nile water to the isthmus, and thus enables it to be cultivated. The whole country is now habit- able, and towns are springing up. More than 3,000 vessels annu- ally pass through the canal. The success of this wonderful enterprise suggested another, also headed by M. de Lesseps. He has undertaken to cut through the isthmus of Panama. The canal will be nearly forty-seven miles long, from Aspinwall to Panama. It runs by the Kio Chagres, and by the tributaries of that stream, the Obispo, pierces the ridge of the Culebra in the Cordilleras, and follows the Rio Grande, another stream, as far as the Pacific. This canal has proved far more difficult to make than that of Suez. In 1889 the Company became bankrupt, and the works have been suspended. A rival scheme, the Nicaraguan Canal, commenced by Americans in 1889, is more likely to be completed. Universal Exhibitions (1851, 1855, 1862, 1867, 1873, 1876, 1878, 1889). The improvement in the means of intercommuni- cation facilitated the introduction of universal exhibitions, in which each nation displayed the results of its own progress and studied that of other peoples. Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria of England, first initiated these peaceful rivalries, and in 1851 the first Exhibition was opened in London in the Crystal Palace, built expressly for this international display. In 1855 France followed the example, and with the exception of Russia, the nations of Europe sent their productions to Paris, where, in the Champs-Elysees, a building, more remarkable for size than for beauty, had been constructed. In 1862 another large Exhi- bition was held in London, at Kensington ; more than six million visitors were registered at its entrance gates. France, unwilling to be surpassed, then undertook the fine Exhibition of 1867. This exhibition has been surpassed by that of 1889, the centenary year of the commencement of the French Revolution. The advances in industry were not so striking as in some previous decades, but the buildings themselves, and the Eiffel Tower, were triumphs of French engineering skill. As a spectacular festival it surpassed all its predecessors. International, national, and TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 527 universal exhibitions are the means whereby the world now takes stock of its progress in material industry, in science, and in art. International Commissions ; Propagation of the Metric System. In London, 1851, the first International Congress of Statistics was proposed, and in 1853 it met at Brussels, in 1855 at Paris, in Vienna in 1857, in London in 1860, &c. To these must be added the numerous Congress meetings for the study of scientific, medical, and economic questions, now so frequently held, which unite scientific men of all nations into one vast community, in which nationalities only rival each other in the ardour of their zeal, and the merit of their discoveries. An association was also formed in 1855 for the propagation of the metric system. Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal have adopted this rational and easy system. In England, in 1864, a Bill, repealed in 1878, was passed which allows it to be quoted non- officially. In 1869 the French Government, in answer to a wish expressed by the Academic des Sciences, invited the Govern- ments of the different countries to send representatives to a com- mission charged to construct a metre, which could be adopted as an international prototype. This proposition was accepted, and the delegates of the various powers met in Paris (1870, 1872, and 1884), nominated a permanent committee, and a diplomatic conference regulated the installation of an International Offi.ce of Weights and Measures. England unhappily is still the great obstacle to the adoption of a uniform and universal system of weights and measures. Unity of Coinage. The relations between the different countries have become so closely connected that unity of coinage becomes more and more necessary. Every people praises the decimal system, which is as clear and simple for large sums as for small ones. But tradition is so strong that the monetary union has only been arranged in Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, France, and partially in Spain. A monetary convention was concluded with these coun- tries in 1866, and seventy millions of men use the same system of coinage in all commercial dealings. The decimal system has also been adopted in the Danubian Principalities (1867), now the King- 528 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. dom of Roumania, in Germany, and in the United States. The fluctuating relative value of gold and silver forms the chief difficulty in the way of a uniform coinage. Credit; Institutions of -Credit ; Insurances. Commerce exists through credit, and therefore banks, the institutions of credit, have developed on a very large scale. In England, besides the national bank, there are more than 2,250 private banks, which have also the privilege of issuing paper money. * In France this privilege is confined to the Banque de France. But at the same time numerous credit societies have been formed under different names, with the object of receiving deposits from private individuals, of discounting commercial effects, and of arranging loans, &c. The number of State loans, of shares in companies, and of different bonds have entailed the development of financial markets or bourses, which correspond with each other, and are in a measure responsible for each other. In the enormous circulation of commercial values troubles sometimes arise owing to political or economic causes, and produce catastrophes, or a " crash," to use a familiar term. Under normal circumstances, these crashes seem to return at stated periods, after times of greater prosperity. Insurances are made either against fire or against other risks ; life insurances are very common in England, but are less commo . in France. Savings' Banks for smaller sums have greatly ex- tended in France and England, and now hold large deposits made by the poorer and the working classes. They are now managed in both countries in connection with the Post Offices. Free Trade and Commercial Treaties. England, by a bold re- * A few numbers will suffice to give an approximate idea of the circulation of the notes. Notes to the amount of 114,000,000 are circulated from the Banque de France, to the value of 37,000,000 from the Bank of England. We must not forget that the Bank of England has no monopoly of the issue of notes, and we must add to tht-se numbers the notes issued by private banks. The Bank of the German Empire had notes in circulation worth 1,007,948,750 francs, and the Bank of Austria-Hungary for 918 millions of francs. The values of the other notes, bonds, &c., circulated through all The financial markets of the globe, cannot be even approxi- mately computed. TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 529 action against the prejudices of former centuries, inaugurated her commercial reforms in 1846, by throwing all her ports open to cereals and foreign cattle, and by abandoning a prohibitive system. Belgium had also accomplished an economic reform. France, in 1860, was too violently urged in this direction by the deter- mination of the Emperor Napoleon III., and the commercial treaty arranged with England was forced upon French industry at a time when it was quite unable to bear English competition. France, however, only advanced from prohibition to protection, and high duties were still retained upon English importations, although England accepted French wines and agricultural productions almost free from duty. Similar commercial treaties were arranged successively from 1860 to 1866 between France and Belgium, the Zollverein, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, Spain, the Low Countries and Austria. Now the treaties which assisted the southern departments, chiefly agricultural in their products, led to very serious crises in the industrial departments of the north, which, through the expenses connected with their machinery, the pressure caused by the high price of labour, and the burden of taxation, were unable to bear the competition. Prussia, victorious in 1870, forced France to accept an onerous clause in the Treaty of Frankfort, which bound the French Government to grant to Germany the tariffs of the most- favoured nation, and German industry has bene- fited largely by this concession. The economic laws have given rise to warm discussions in the French Chambers, and Protectionist theories have regained their ascendency without triumphing com- pletely. Commercial treaties have been considerably modified, and France like the rest of Europe still hesitates between free trade and protection. America, in its turn, has adopted protection, and defends itself by high duties against the invasion of European productions, even of works of art, as though these works had a market price, or could be produced by the power of protective tariffs, which are constantly being increased. Nations have certainly the right and the duty of watching over the legitimate interests of their industries, but are there no other M M 530 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. means of doing so than by establishing fictitious walls, just when men have succeeded in levelling all natural walls ? It is really not worth while to tunnel mountains or to pierce through isthmuses, to double the speed of locomotives and steamers, to multiply tele- graphs and telephones, if international commerce is to be hampered at every frontier by lines of custom-houses, which stop its advance and paralyse its efforts. Scientific progress and the continual mixture of peoples necessitate a reform of economic laws and a general agreement between the nations. This is one of the pro- blems of the future. At present there is a strong reaction in many governments against the principles of free trade. Commercial Activity of Various Nations. In spite of the restric- tions which still exist, the commercial activity of the different nations is a marvellous spectacle. No one can conceive the amount of business transacted in a single year, or the immense quantity of merchandise exchanged. England is greatly in advance of other nations through the size and wealth of her colonies in Africa, Asia, Australia, and America, and through her numerous rela- tions with every country. Her commerce extends over the whole surface of the Globe, and London is the centre of it. This city, which contains over 4,000,000 inhabitants, warehouses in the immense docks built on the banks of the Thames (itself black with vessels) the produce of both East and West, which is thence dis- tributed to Great Britain and to all other countries. All the towns on the estuary of the Thames are merely suburbs of the great city and of its port, which extends to Gravesend. We must also mention the port of Liverpool, with 606,000 inhabitants, its docks, which rival those of London, and the immense business which it transacts with America ; the equally densely populated port of Glasgow, on the Clyde, with its quays more than a mile long ; the ports of Hull (208,000), Newcastle (160,000), Bristol (229,000), Portsmouth (141,000), &c. Belgium has its magnificent port of Antwerp (210,000), Holland, its active hives of Amsterdam (408,000), the Venice of the North, and Rotterdam (197,000). France has the ports of the Havre (112,000), Nantes (127,000), TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 531 and Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux (240,000), and Marseilles, the Queen of the Mediterranean (376,000), &c. Paris is not in connection with the sea, although a project of bringing it up to the capital has been discussed. But placed in the centre of a vast network of rail- ways, its importance is daily increasing, and its population now numbers 2,300,000 inhabitants. Lyons is the commercial capital of the valley of the Rhone (400,000), Toulouse that of the valley of the Garonne (147,000). Italy has not lost the commercial tastes which created and still preserve the wealth of Naples (494,000), Genoa (180,000), and Venice (154,000). Austria possesses a valuable port in Trieste, on the Adriatic (144,000). And we must enumerate the Northern ports : Hamburg, the usual port for the embarkation of emigrants for America (289,000), Copenhagen (307,000), Stockholm (228,000), Dantzic (108,000), &c. ; in the South the numerous ports of Greece, and on the Bosphoras the magnificent port of Constanti- nople (875,000), still the commercial link between Europe and Asia, &c. We must also consider the commercial traffic on the canals, roads, and railways, where the carriage of goods never ceases by night or by day, and we shall attain figures which appal us by their immensity, and which no longer represent anything to our imagination, incapable of really grasping them. Results of the Economic Revolution ; Prolongation of the Average of Life. The development of agricultural, industrial, and commer- cial life is visible in the improvement of the social conditions of the peoples, now extended to the lowest classes, which in former times were in the most wretched state. In France, and in all the chief countries in Europe, the development of industry has placed com- fortable clothing within the reach of even the poorest, and above all the working classes are better fed. We may hope that a recurrence of the frightful famines of the eighteenth century are impossible in the future with the increased and increasing facilities of exchange and transport. In 1815 France consumed 85 million hectolitres of wheat; it now consumes 120 millions. The consumption of meat has doubled. In Paris, where the largest amount is used, every inhabitant is 5.72 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. computed to consume 84 kilogrammes annually (about 1 32 Ibs.). The consumption of wine has increased in the same proportion, and that of beer 70 per 100. The consumption of salt, one of the first necessities of life, was in 1788, 3 Ibs. 2| oz. per head ; it now exceeds 18 pounds ; that of sugar is sixteen times greater than in 1812. Before 1820 coffee was little used for food, and scarcely \ Ib. was consumed per person, now more than l Ibs. are used, and in Paris nearly 7 Ibs. per person are annually consumed. The average length of life has increased in the same proportion since the commencement of the century. In 1801, 28 out of every 1,000 died annually, and in 1883, 22. In the last century the average length of life was scarcely 28 years, now it is 39 or 40. But in France the decrease of the birthrate (from 26 per 1,000 in 1873 to 24 in 1882) now attracts the attention of economists and the anxiety of politicians. Moral Progress ; Public Education in France. The nineteenth century has also seen great moral improvements, and has declared war upon ignorance. In our century the education of the people has greatly progressed, and has become a part of the business of the State in England, in France, and elsewhere. Some progress had been made in the two preceding centuries, which should not be depreciated, but that progress was only due to isolated attempts. The Assemblies of the Revolution, particularly the Convention, had projected vast schemes of national education. As we have already mentioned, Napoleon I. partially realised these plans by organizing secondary instruction and the superior courses of education, and by founding the University. The July Government established primary educa- tion by the law of 1833, due to M. Guizot, then Minister, and the Educational Budget was raised from three millions to seventeen. The laws of March 15, 1850, and 1875, established free education i.e. the right to everyone, under conditions of character and capacity, to open private schools in competition with the State schools. The number of pupils in the State schools is about 4| millions, in free schools, a little over one million. The budget for education costs the State over 5,000,000. TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 533 The Bill passed on the 22nd of March, 1882, rendered primary instruction compulsory and gratuitous. Public Education in Europe. Primary education in England is merely aided by the State. Private societies and institutions develop it and receive subsidies, if they fulfil the conditions im- posed and satisfy the Government Inspector. The subsidies increase considerably; the Education Grant in 1889 amounted to 5,917,891. Since 1870 a great movement of public opinion has led the House of Commons to interfere more directly in the superintendence of education. In England primary education is carried on partly in Board schools, supported by a special rate, and partly in voluntary schools, of which the Church of England schools form the vast majority. In Germany education has been compulsory for a very long time, and severe laws enforce its continuance up to the age of fourteen. * Classical education is given in the gymnasiums or public schools, and technical education in the GeiverbschuJen, whilst the higher branches of education are obtained in Universities, as celebrated as those of England. In Austria the imperial scholastic law of May 14th, 1869, enforced attendance at school ; in Hungary the same law had been adopted since 1868. Denmark, Sweden, and * Education in Germany and Switzerland. Education, as we have al- ready noticed, has been carefully attended to in Germany since the com- mencement of modern times. Under the influence of religious ideas, the German Protestants, particularly the Pietists, amongst others Francke (1663 1727), greatly aided the work of education. Francke founded two important establishments at Halle, and his disciples created the first real schools in Germany. Several states had rendered primary education com- pulsory, and Frederic II. imposed it upon Prussia in 1763, immediately after the severe trials of the Seven Years' War. A Prussian noble, Kochow (1734 1805) founded some village schools. At the close of the eighteenth century a true apostle of public education appeared, named Pestalozzi (1746 1827). He was born in Switzerland, at Zurich, and died at Brugg, in Argovia. With the rarest disinterestedness, he consecrated his life to an often ungrateful task, seeking out even the most backward intellects in order to aid and enlighten them. Pestalozzi opened the Refuge for poor children at Neuhof (1775 17cSO), the Orphan Asylum at Stanz (1798 1799), the primary schools, the Institution at Berthoud, and lastly the Institution at Yverdun (1805 1825). lie defined intuitive 53+ THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Norway had enforced this law for a long time, and it is now one of the usual customs. We must notice that Protestant States do not separate the Church from the school, and the period of com- pulsory attendance ends with the age for confirmation in Lutheran States. Switzerland, which rivalled Germany in its zeal for the development of education, and where most of the cantonal legislations have for a long time adopted compulsory education, inserted it in the Federal Act of 1874. Spain proclaimed the same principle in 1857, but has never applied it. Italy accepted it in the law of the 15th July, 1877 ; Portugal in that of May 2nd, 1878. In Belgium and Holland the liberal parties have not yet succeeded in passing it, although in the former gratuitous education is provided. Progress of Legislation. Progress in legislation corresponds with progress of education, which produces softening of manners. In France a law in 1832 abolished the penalty of death for offences against property, and coiners were no longer subject to this terrible punishment. The same law gave to juries tne means of alleviating the extreme harshness of the penal code by giving the culprit the benefit of extenuating circumstances ; the jury, whilst acknow- ledging the prisoner's guilt, can soften the penalty and thus diminish the number of capital sentences. The pillory, brand, and the loss of a hand for parricides, were also effaced from the code. The Republic of 1848 abolished the sentence of death for political offences, and suppressed slavery in the colonies. Under the Second Empire, in 1852, a law of rehabilitation, which was extended in 1864, gave convicts the hope of regaining their forfeited rights and dignity. A law, May 31, 1854, abolished civil death, education, that which appeals to the intelligence through the senses, which suppresses abstract study as much as possible, and by stimulating the curiosity awakens the desire to learn. This is the true method, and primary instruction is seeking to apply it in the nineteenth century. Froabel's system (1802 1852) applied in Germany in 1849 and introduced into England in 1851, named the Kindergarten, aims at developing the intelligence of children chiefly through the senses. An extension of the principle, confined to manual education, is the Swedish Slojd system, more lately introduced. This may be considered as yet only on its trial. TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 535 which took from the condemned man all power of possessing property and all his hereditary rights. From 1854 penal servitude was to be passed in a colony, and no longer in the galleys or the baynio, with their terrible traditions, A law passed on the 13th May, 1863, modified sixty-five Articles of the Penal Code, and removed petty offences from the list of crimes. Another, in 1865, authorized ihejuyes d' instruction to grant the accused, in matters of offences and crimes, the benefits of provisional liberty with or without bail. The law, so called, of coalitions, brought forward by Emile Ollivier, modified three Articles of the Penal Code (414, 415, 416) to secure free discussion of wages between masters and workmen. In 1867 the abolition of imprisonment for debt (22nd July, 1867) ended the ancient legislation which made the debtor's person forfeit to his creditor. Lastly, the code of military justice was altered in accordance with the progress of civilization, and its severity was mitigated without interfering with discipline. Since 1871 many improvements have been made in civil law. Diminution of Crime. These improvements in the legislation correspond with a diminution of crime. Not that offences against the person have diminished, for they are often prompted by violent passions, which never change, but respect for property has in- creased considerably. Between 1826 and 1830 the average of offences against property in France amounted to 5,306. In 1882 there were not more than 1,978 condemnations, and 2,911 accu- sations. The number of accused has fallen in a few years, from 7,317 to 4,814 (about 13 per 100,000 inhabitants). In 1863 there were only 20 capital sentences, and only 11 executions. In 1864 there were only 9 sentences and only 5 executions. It must be admitted, however, that crimes against the person have led of late to a larger number of capital sentences, i.e., 35 in 1882 ; and on the other hand the spirit of the times has diminished the number of executions (4 in 1882). Out of 148 sentenced to death from 1881-5, only 27 were executed. When we remember in relation to crime the education of the accused, we find, in 1882, 1,265 utterly illiterate (or 26 per 100) ; 3,353 able to read or write (or 70 per 100), and only 196 (or 4 536 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. per 100) who had received a good education. Unfortunately second convictions increase, from 47 per 100 they have risen to 52, and in 1885 it became necessary to arrest these relapses into crime by a severe law punishing second offences by banishment. Provident Institutions. As society becomes more truly civilized the interests of the majority are daily better protected. The best means of destroying socialism is by depriving men and women of any cause of complaint, and diminishing as far as possible the misery which leads to social crises. Providence and thrift are the best and surest methods of doing this, and since 1848 great attention has been given to the creation of numerous institutions, formed to aid the people and to enable the working classes to provide for old age and mis- fortune. Savings banks, first established in Switzerland in 1787, are now common throughout France and Europe. In France alone, in 1883, there were 4,535,431 deposits, representing a sum of nearly 70,000,000. In England the deposits exceed 50,000,000. By the law of the 18th June, 1850, a superannuation fund for old age was opened, which now manages more than 20,000,000 besides the insurance offices in case of accident or death, without counting the numerous private insurance companies to which we have alluded. The most interesting of these modern institutions is the Society for Mutual Help, and this is also the most popular and the most useful. It was authorised by the Government, in 1850 and 1852, and in 1882 there were 5,188 recognised branches of it. These branches are composed of workmen and clerks, and distribute relief in case of sickness, and secure annuities in old age. Their capital, which scarcely exceeded 400,000 in 1852, had reached the sum of more than 4,500,000 in 1882. England and other countries have also a great number of these societies, the benefits of which are continually extending. Charity, Benevolent Institutions. Charity endeavours to relieve all the misery which the provident institutions have been unable to avert. Since the Revolution in France the municipalities have undertaken to assist the porr and to organize the work of benevo- lence. There are now more than 14,000 offices devoted to this TRANSFORMATIONS AND PROGRESS. 537 department, which distribute aid to 1,500,000 persons (the pro- portion is rather more than 3 per 100 of the population), and the normal resources amount to nearly 2,000,000. This, no doubt, is very little for a great country like France, but it must be remem- bered that the poor assisted by public benevolence are, as a rule, ako profiting by private charity. There are 1636 hospitals in France, which contain 166,381 beds, and in 1881 more than 462,000 patients were treated in them, whilst more than 63,000 infirm and incurable old people were cared for in the retreats for old age. If all these resources are estimated their value amounts to 4,800,000. We must also mention the idiot asylums (61 asylums in the departments, and 14 partial asylums), the orphanages, creches, and infant asylums, the institution of cantonal dispensaries, that is to say, the gratuitous distribution of medicine to the needy, organized since 1854, the convalescent homes, &c. The Assistance Publique, in Paris, with its magnificent hospitals, and its asylums of every kind, dis- poses of a revenue of more than 1,700,000, exceeding the whole income of more than one large city. It is impossible to estimate the whole revenue devoted to charity throughout France, besides public relief, the assistance given by numerous bene- volent societies, by religious congregations anxious to retain in modern society the privileges of that charity, of which they had formerly a monopoly ; it is impossible to ascertain all that the well- to-do classes give every year, whether they are asked for subscrip- tions or through fetes and bazaars, the sums collected for providing for foundlings, for instructing, educating, and apprenticing them to a trade ; for relieving the sufferings of victims of work, or the yet more frequent victims of vice ; for the shelter of the despairing (workhouses, night refuges, &c.) ; for watching over the aged and infirm. What delicate feet daily ascend the winding staircases which lead to the garrets of the poor, what gentle hands have cared for sick children and deserted women ! If the nineteenth century has given a marvellous impetus to industry and commerce, if it has created infinite sources of wealth, it has also opened infinite paths of mercy. The upper classes in France, England, a^d 538 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of the countries of Europe, have never been more sympathetic to misery and sorrow, which a sound political economy will gradually diminish, but which no social system can ever completely abolish. The nineteenth century, whatever pessimists may say, has triumphed in the field of benevolence, as well as in every other quarter. It has revealed the compassionate character of modern society, so far penetrated by Christian principles that it practises them even by the hands of those who reject all religions. Yet still the great problem remains unsolved ; pauperism outstrips all measures instituted for its relief, and its extinction is even now simply a dream of the future ; for in many countries, and in England in particular, those physically, morally, and economically most unfit, marry early and increase the population to a far greater ex- tent than do the fittest, and thus ensure the survival of poverty, vice, and disease in the nation. CHAPTER XXI. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. SUMMARY : Efforts made by European civilization to extend over the world America; rapid progress of the United States Government: Federal Constitution of the United States : Freedom of Individual States Army ; Navy ; Federal Finances The North and South : Slavery : The War of Secession (1861 1865) Abolition of Slavery (1865) Agri- cultural Wealth of the United States Mineral Wealth : Coal, Iron, Petroleum, &c. Californian Gold Mines Industry and Commerce Railways in the United States Education Literature American Society British America ; the Dominion of Canada The North- West Passage South America ; the Emancipation of the Spanish Colonies Brazil The Kepublics of South and Central America Mexico Africa : British Possessions France in Africa ; Senegal Algeria Tunis The Exploration of Africa ; the Niger ; the Sources of the Nile Livingstone ; Southern and Central Africa Cameron ; Stanley The Congo Free State Ogowe : French Colony of the Congo Sch^einfurth ; Nachtigal Portuguese Colonies German Colonies The Colonial Empire of Holland The English in Australia European Powers in Asia ; the British Em- pire of India The Material Condition of India : Population ; Railways The Productions of India Industry and Art Moral Condition; Castes ; Religions The Russian Empire in Asia ; Siberia The Caucasian Provinces and Turkestan China Chinese Civilization ; Population ; Government Religion ; Legislation Agriculture Industry Progress of China Japan Government and Progress of Japan The World as it now is. Efforts made by European Civilization to extend over the World. The Old World was confined within very narrow limits. But the nominally Christian civilization of Europe has constantly ex- tended its boundaries, and since the sixteenth century has endea- voured to gain possession of the whole earth. The world, excepting the interior of Africa, was fully explored by the opening of the nineteenth century. English, Portuguese, 540 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Spaniards, Dutch, and French had founded prosperous colonies in every part of the globe. But the nations of Europe have expanded with greater rapidity during the present century, and have spread into every country, with an energy and perseverance which have completely modified the aspect of the other continents. America ; Rapid Progress of the United States. America, four times larger than Europe, and in its length of 9,000 miles, con- taining a range of every climate, is almost entirely civilized at the present date. In the north the Anglo-Saxons, and in the south and central provinces the Spaniards have overwhelmed and almost destroyed the native populations. The formation of the United States, upon their rupture with the mother country, and the famous declaration of independence on the 4th July, 1776, are matters of modern history. The articles of federation were drawn up in 1777, and the present constitution was adopted in 1787. The federation then included thirteen States only. It now comprises forty-three,* and the flag of the union, which represents the number of the States by its stars, will pro- bably soon receive additions to that brilliant constellation. The population of the United States at the time of the first census in 1790 was under four million inhabitants ; it now exceeds sixty millions. European emigration has greatly contributed to this rapid increase, and Germany and Ireland have furnished the * The thirteen original States are : Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. Vermont separated from the State of New York (1791), Kentucky from Virginia (1792), Tennessee from North Carolina (1796), Maiue from Massa- chusetts (1820). The Confederation was then enlarged by Ohio (1802), Louisiana, bought from France in 1803 and admitted into the Union in 1812, Florida, bought from Spain in 1819 and admitted into the Union in 1845, Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Missouri (1821), Arkansas (1836j, Michigan (1837), Texas (1845), Iowa (1846), "Wis- consin (1848), California (1850), Minnesota (1857), Oregon (1859), Kansas (1861), Western Virginia (1863), Nevada (1864), Nebraska (1867), Colorado (1876), Columbia (1890), Montana (1889), Washington (1889), Dakota (1889), "Wyoming (1890). A State is not admired into the Union unless its European population exceeds 50,000 inhabitants. There are five terri- tories, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho. Alaska. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 541 largest contingents, whilst the number of European emigrants, far from decreasing, still amounts annually to from 500,000 to 700,000 persons. Government : Federal Constitution of the United States : Freedom of Individual States. The United States are a number of inde- pendent States, only united by the necessities of mutual defence and prosperity. The citizens of the individual States do not allow the Government to act for them. Individual freedom in the heart of the State, liberty of the States in the heart of the Union, is the principle of the federal constitution, and of the constitution of each of the States. There are three distinct powers in the government of the Union : the legislative power, the executive power, and the judicial power. The legislative power is the most important, and is exercised by two chambers, one nominated for two years by universal and direct suffrage, this is the House of Representatives ; the other, formed of two senators from each State, elected by the local legislatures, is called the Senate ; every two years one-third of the senators are changed. These two Houses form the Congress. The Congress governs ; it has the sole initiative of the laws, regulates taxes and imports, contracts loans, makes commercial treaties, has the right to direct the movements of the army and to levy troops. The Senate has the right of adding amendments to the bills proposed by the House of Representatives, and intervenes in most of the decisions of the executive power. The latter is confided to a President, who has no legislative initiative, and whose ministers do not sit in Con- gress ; but he has a veto, which can only be set aside by a two-thirds vote of both houses, and he can always secure a fresh debate on the bills which do not please him. He is the head of the army and navy of the Union, but he cannot nominate ambassa- dors, ministers, councillors, or judges of the Supreme Court, without the consent of the Senate. The President is elected for four years by a college of electors chosen from each State ; he can offer himself for re-election. The judicial power is very simple, and is composed of a Supreme Court, and of Circuit Courts established by the Congress. These 542 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. courts only try political cases, questions of maritime jurisprudence, actions relative to treaties, and conflicts between two or more States, or any difficult cases which may arise. The Supreme Court is only the tribunal of the Union, just as the President is only the arm of the Union, and the Congress represents the ideas and wishes of all the combined States. The powers not given to Congress are reserved to the individual States. The Union does not interfere with the liberty of the States, any more than the State interferes with that of the citizens, who are pro- tected by the Habeas Corpus Act, which cannot be suspended except in the most serious emergency ; they have also the right of meeting and of petition. Nothing is required from the Union for their material or moral interests ; each town has power to enact municipal laws, has its own budget, its educational establishments, hospitals, prisons, control of public works, &c. The whole system is based on complete decentralization. Army; Navy, Federal Finances. The United States have nothing to fear from abroad, and can therefore dispense with the immense armies which overwhelm European budgets. The law provides for an army of 25,000 men, but this is only a nucleus which, as in the case of the terrible War of Secession of 1861 to 1865, can be readily augmented by the militia in case of need. The navy is more necessary and more important. It includes 63 men-of-war, &c., which carry more than 374 guns; this does not include torpedoes, &c. The budget does not exceed seventy-eight millions sterling, but to this we must add the budgets of each State. The public debt, although swollen by the civil war, has been diminished by a per- severing system of reductions to about 213,000,000, and the United States can boast of being the only power which seriously aims at the extinction of its national debt. The North and the South : Slavery : the War of Secession (1861 1865). This great and prosperous. Union was, not many years ago, nearly destroyed. The geographical position of the United States, their different productions, the difference between the occu- pations, character and customs of the inhabitants of the North and DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 543 South, help us to realize why the latter wished tc dissolve the old Union. The plebeian origin of the majority of the Northern Ame- ricans, their religious and philosophical spirit, and their feverish activity in pursuit of the dollar, sharply contrasted with the aris- tocratic origin and pride of the Southern planters, who were less blustering, more careful about the elegancies of life, and less de- voted to mere money-making ; an agricultural aristocracy in the South was opposed to an industrial population, or one composed of small farmers in the North. The South, which produced all the cotton of the United States, but which possessed neither industry nor commerce, wished to free itself from the control of the North, its interests were opposed to the protectionist tariffs forced on it by the Northern Government. But the question of slavery was ostensibly the vital point, and affected the nation more than any details of tariffs, industry, commerce, or even characteristic anti- pathies. In the Northern States, where the Puritan spirit predominated, and where slavery could not, owing to the temperate climate, contribute to the necessities of agriculture, most of the Americans rejected this shameful custom. It was retained in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, etc., in short, wherever the hot climate rendered it impossible for Europeans to work in the plantations, and where the slaves were regarded as neces- sary instruments in the production of rice, indigo, and cotton. In 1820 the Missouri compromise decided that slavery should not be tolerated north of the thirty-sixth degree of latitude. Now the Union was extending itself towards the South, and in 1850 there were sixteen free and fifteen slave States. Between 1801 and 1850 the number of slaves was tripled, and in 1869 there were nearly four million slaves. The Southerners in 1850 had obtained another compromise which enabled them to pursue and arrest fugitive slaves throughout the whole territory of the United States, and ordered the authorities to assist the slave- hunters. This agreement produced dramatic scenes in which the best sentiments of humanity were outraged. The South retained the political direction of the Union for a long time, 544 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. and the Slave States took advantage of the arrangement, not only to maintain but even to extend what they called their special insti- tution. John Brown, an old enthusiast, who headed an abortive rising against the slave-owners' government, was hanged as a rebel by them, December 2, 1859 ; and his death, celebrated as that of a martyr throughout the North, reanimated the abolitionist move- ment. At the same time the balance of parties was disturbed, and the republican party in the Northern States gained the ascendency. The words Republican and Democrat must not be understood in the sense they bear in Europe, for in America the Republican party is in favour of greater centralization, whilst, on the contrary, the Demo- crats wish for an extension of the freedom of individual States ; they formed the majority in the South, for decentralization facilitated the maintenance of slavery. The Southern Democrats were irritated and annoyed when the Republicans elected Lincoln as President, and re- sumed the campaign in favour of the abolition of slavery. In 1861 the Union was broken by the States of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, etc., which formed a separate Confederation. They were known as the Confederates. The States that remained faithful to the Union, besides possessing a larger population, had also much more of the sinews of war money and supplies. They were known as the Federals. The planters of the South had no resources beyond their estates and the produce of the labour of their slaves ; but, educated as gentlemen, they were better trained in the art of warfare than the merchants and artizans of the Northern cities: the Federal army and navy had been officered chiefly by them, and most of these officers now abandoned their regiments to rally round the flag of tLeir States. The South improvised a navy, and they also gave letters of marque and organized privateers to prey on the Northern merchantmen a system of warfare which is now illegal, and un- recognised in the international code of Europe. The struggle con- tinued four years through many painful vicissitudes, and battles between immense armies sometimes lasted three or four days. The Northern States were at first completely worsted in many great battles, and were forced to increase their fleet, and to acquire DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 545 a real army. They had at last a regular army of 600,000 men in the field, and the loss on their side alone amounted to 360,000 men. It has been calculated that more than 2,600,000 volunteers joined the Federal army. The debt increased from 102,000,000 to 556,000,000, and the issue of a large amount of paper money led to great trouble in the commercial world. But the sources of prosperity are so vast in the United States that the losses caused by the war were quickly repaired. Even the South has regained much of its old prosperity, and has become more industrial and commercial. Abolition of Slavery (1865). Humanity has fortunately reaped the chief benefit of this terrible war. On the 22nd September, 1862, Lincoln pronounced the enfranchisement of all the slaves in the States or fractions of the States that had rebelled against the Union. The Federal government recognised the negro republics of Liberia and Haiti. On the 31st January, 1865, the Congress enthusiastically voted an amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, and the legislatures of the Confederate States gave in their adherence to the amendment one after the other. The right of voting was given to all citizens, irrespective of race or colour. But the reality is far different to what appears on the surface, the rapid increase of the negro population, which will soon outnumber the whites in the Southern States, threatens serious damage to the United States ; and already the whites have forcibly prevented the negro from exercising the right of franchise, and in the North, even more rigidly than the South, the negro is treated as an inferior being, not as a citizen of the Union. Agricultural Wealth of the United States. The prosperity of the country, arrested for an instant by the terrible crisis of the Con- federate war, advanced rapidly as soon as peace was concluded, and no country in the world ever developed as quickly in agricultural, industrial and commercial wealth. The immense prairies of the west, formerly covered by coarse grass, are now changed into seas of wheat. They resemble a huge chessboard of cultivation, for in these new countries the colonists have used geometrical lines ex- clusively. A straight line marks the boundaries of every farm, which N N 546 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. as a rule averages 160 acres (this is the amount of land granted to settlers, who receive the same grant for every adult member of the family). The United States now produce 240,000,000 quarters of cereals, and so much of this is exported to Europe that the latter, amply provided for in years of scarcity, is now anxious about the pressure of this competition on her own agriculture in years of plenty. The United States also supply the European cotton in- dustry, and their harvest amounted to 7,425,000 bales in 1887. They also provide most of the tobacco, of which they export to the value of 6, 000, 000. The supply of beef sent to Europe from the prairies of the West is enormous, and immense and superb forests add still more to the agricultural wealth of the country, where, far from land being wanted for man's use, men are still wanting to cultivate the land. The vine is yearly becoming of more importance, especially in California. Mineral Wealth: Coal, Iron, Petroleum, d'c. The fertile soil hides immense mineral wealth : coal, iron, copper, silver, oil, and in California, gold. The coal-beds have an area of 200,000 square miles, eighty-three times that of England. There are also wells communicating with subterranean lakes of petroleum. These lakes were only discovered in 1859, and they led to a steady flow of population into the oil districts. Cities like Oil-City sprang from the earth to disappear again almost immediately when the springs were exhausted ; others then arose wherever boring revealed the presence of this valuable but dangerous combustible. Iron is found in immense quantities. At present the United States only produces one-half as much as England, but it will probably double our annual production in a few years. At the commencement of the century only a few hundred tons of coal had been extracted from the mines; now more than 100,000,000 tons are annually raised. This quantity is inferior to that raised in England (163,000,000), but the mines are almost unlimited; and in this respect also the United States, with the rapidity which characterises each step of its progress, will ere long take the first place. CaUfornian Gold Mines. In 1848 a rumour arose that gold had DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 547 been discovered in the allotment belonging to a California!! colonist, and that little labour was required in excavating the soil before the veins of gold could be reached. Americans and Europeans crowded to this hitherto unknown territory. The richest deposits were found in the sand of the rivers in the Sacramento valley. Besides these " diggings," the mountains are full of auriferous quartz. The gold- seekers threw themselves upon the "diggings," which were easier to work, and men frequently found three or four ounces of gold per diem, worth fifty or sixty dollars. But these deposits were soon comparatively exhausted, and no longer yielded such rich profits ; it was then necessary to sink mines, and to extract the gold from the quartz, which had to be crushed by powerful machines. Adventurers were forced to withdraw from a field which could no t be worked without capital and serious attention. The production, although less considerable, became at least regular ; and California, which from 1848 to 1882 produced 237,000,000, still annually yields more than 4,000,000 sterling. The discovery of other mines in Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Mon- tana, and particularly in Australia, diverted the most adventurous spirits from California. The gold fever decreased, but it had brought the population out West with a rapidity otherwise unattain- able ; and the Americans soon understood that they could do better than wrest fragments of gold from the rocks, by cultivating the fertile soil, clearing the forests and building cities. The popula- tion of California has already risen to more than 864,000 inhabi- tants. San Francisco, the capital, contains more than 233,000 inhabitants. Since the land has been cultivated it produces more wheat than it can consume, and more larley than the whole of the United States together. It also sells building timber, the produce of its quicksilver mines, wool, skins, &c. The agricultural wealth in cattle, cereals, wine, fruits, woods, &c., already far exceeds the mineral wealth, and is constantly increasing. The State of Nevada and the territory of Utah produce an immense quantity of silver ; the mines have only been worked since 1870. The United States annually produce more than the value of twenty millions of precious metals. 548 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. The immense amount of specie thus thrown into circulation has led to an economic revolution, resembling that of the sixteenth century. But the transition has been less abrupt, and instead of the sudden change from extreme scarcity to abundance of specie, there has only been a more rapid advance in monetary wealth. The chief disturbance has been in the relative value of silver in regard to gold : and in the greater cheapness of money, affecting incomes from funded capital. Industrial and commercial progress have certainly benefited, since 1850, by the facility with which capital has been obtained. Industry and Commerce. Besides an abundance of iron, gold and silver, the United States possesses remarkable beds of copper near the great lakes, and this valuable metal is also found in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, &c. The metal industries have therefore developed enormously particularly in the Northern States. Immense foundries and factories have been built in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pitts- burg, Cleveland, Detroit, Newark, Milwaukee, &c. The Americans have not only adopted all the latest European methods, but with the energy and inventive genius peculiar to the nation, under the pressure of a greater scarcity of manual labour, they have equalled, and in many ways surpassed Europeans in the variety of their machines, and the application of natuial and mechanical forces to the saving of manual labour. America, the rich market for raw materials, has now become a manufacturing country. The United States manufactures its own materials, and, to encourage its industries and fill the pockets of its millionaires, has adopted protection, so that Europe now finds this important country to a great extent closed to its productions, whilst America is paying off its heavy debt by the proceeds of the duties on foreign goods. Commercial activity is feverish at New York, the most important city in the Union, which possesses a population of 1,206,000, without the suburban towns of Brooklyn and Jersey City. The city rivals London and Paris, and is one of the capitals of the world. Philadelphia has more than 847,000 inhabitants ; Chicago, DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 549 which increases with marvellous rapidity, has more than 500,000, and her western rival, Saint Louis, has already 350,000. The United States also contain a number of cities of more than 300,000, 200,000, and 150,000 inhabitants. The extraordinary facility of natural communications, the navi- gation of the great lakes and immense rivers, is most favourable to the development of commerce, and next to the English the Americans are perhaps the most active of nations. They are found all over the world ; their merchant fleet, of over 100 tons burden, is estimated at 3,573 vessels, with a tonnage of 1,918,175 tons. On the rivers saloon-decked steamboats, and on the seas gigantic steamers, carry travellers and merchandise, and this activity, far from diminishing, is perpetually increasing. The total commerce of the United States amounts to over 300,000,000. Railways in the United States. With their practical genius the Americans at once realized the advantages of railways, and in 1831 the first passenger trains were started on the banks of the Hudson, the river that had borne the first steamboat. Pausing neither for the formalities nor the extreme precautions which delayed and complicated the construction of railways in Europe, the Americans quickly laid them all over the country. Accidents never alarmed them, and they have advanced so rapidly that they now possess about 150,000 miles of railways. In seven years, between 1862 and 1869, they have constructed an iron road between the Atlantic and the Pacific 3,000 miles long, which connects New York with San Francisco, through Chicago, (Jrnaha, the immense prairies of the west, the Rocky Mountains, aDd the Sierra Nevada. Steep declivities, abrupt curves, and wide rivers have not deterred them, and the Pacific Railway enables travellers to cross the American continent in a week. The success of this great undertaking led to the construction of similar lines in otlier districts, such as the Northern Pacific, which runs towards Oregon. The posts and telegraphs have developed in the same proportion, and we must not forget that America is the birthplace of the telephone and phonograph. Education; Literature. The Puritans who founded the colony 550 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of Massachusetts proclaimed in 1635 the principle that " the educa- \ '1111 tion of the children of the whole nation should be at the expense of the whole nation." From 1642 they established compulsory DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 551 education. No country ever made or is now making greater sacri- fices for primary education, and to this is probably due the great intelligence and energy of the working classes. The American cities rival each other in the number of their scholastic establish- ments of every kind, and the most important of them annually publish special reports, in which the progress made is shown by statistics. In 1867 an act of Congress established a National Education Office at Washington, which, without restricting the freedom of the towns, centralizes all the information that relates to the schools and methods of teaching. It has been calculated that the expenses of the public schools throughout the States amount to more than 16,000,000 (80,732,838 dollars). Although the natural bent of the national genius tends to practical education, the Americans have not despised intellectual culture, and can boast of some rather celebrated authors and scientists. Europe has gladly welcomed the imaginative works of Fenimore Cooper,* Edgar Poe,f and Nathaniel Hawthorne, the poems of Longfellow, J Whittier, Lowell, and the advent of the poetic prose of Whitman. The novels of Henry James, W. D. Howells, and others are able to hold a place in the keen competition of popular literature in England. The prose works of Bret Harte and Mark Twain, and the verse of poets like Mrs. Moulton, Joaquin Miller, Edgar Fawcett, and others also deserve mention. Boston is the Athens of the States, a centre of literary culture and refinement ; but California and the West have already made themselves felt in literature. Historians are numerous : William Prescott wrote a fine his- tory of " The Conquest of Mexico and Peru;" Washington Irving|| " The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus," and " The Conquest of Granada ; " George Bancroft, U a learned " History * Fenimore Cooper (1789 1851) has given us a vivid picture of the original population and the early years of the colonies in his works, "The Spy," ''The Pioneers," " The Pathfinder," "The Last of the Mohicans," &c. f Edgar Poe (18111849). I Longfellow (1807 1-S82). William Prescott (17961859). || Washington living (1783 1859). II G. Bancroft, born in 1800. 552 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of the United States." We must also name Motley,* Channing,f the philosopher and poet Emerson,; &c. American Society. American society, original and strong in spite of its youth, has been formed with marvellous rapidity, because it inherited much of the attainments of civilization, which Europe had developed with so much time and effort. It had no traditions, but then its progress was not impeded by obstacles in the past. It could develop all the aptitudes of the Anglo-Saxon race, and has given the world an example of a successfully-organised democracy. The task of the Americans has been to extend freely over vast tracts of land, to clear them, build, cultivate or trade, without troubling themselves about anything but the maintenance of order. The energy of individuals is left free without restraint of irritating laws. An American relies upon himself only, and cities follow the same rule as individuals. Neither the city nor the individual claims anything from the central government, except external protection. Under these circumstances, the faculties of man develop rapidly, and the humble pioneer, the petty shopman, may reach the highest positions ; many millionaires, statesmen, and even presidents have risen from humble stations. But their rise does not destroy the equality which exists even more in the habits than in the laws. The President returns after office to his profession, and exercises it again as if he had never been the ruler of his countrymen. There are no political castes in the United States, only inequalities of fortune, yet nowhere is the distinction of blood and race-hatred more marked than between the white, the negro, and the Chinese in the United States. Philanthropy is one of the most honourable distinctions of American society, sincerely religious in the midst of many varieties of creed, which are all free. Protestantism with its many sects predominates, but Catholicism has more churches, as well as bishops and archbishops than any other single sect. Religion is taught in all * Motley (18041877), author of the "History of the Netherlands," and the " History of the Dutch Republic." f Charming (1780 184'2). J Emerson (1803 1882). DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 553 the schools, and the only conflicts arise from the peaceful rivalries of the various denominations. The religious spirit is particularly powerful in the Northern States, where the Biblical traditions of the Puritans still survive. Still the United States cannot be considered superior to the old countries of Europe in morality. Excessive freedom leads to licence, the thirst for gold, the excessive love of luxury, intem- perance, and the rough manners which are perceptible in spite of some surface refinement, all prevent this society from being set up as a model in spite of its ostentation. There is, moreover, such a mixture of various elements and races Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Dutch, French, and German that the aspect of the society changes, so to speak, in each state. This new world, of course, emanates from Europe, but it has all the virtues and all the faults of youth ; lively, ardent, devoted to work and to material pleasures, rough in manner, bold even to temerity, admirable in its struggle with nature through its fertile inventions and its powerful enterprises, it cannot yet aspire to rival either in literature or art the older European societies, who have behind them the traditions of antiquity, the results of the civilization of a thousand years. America, too, has not, during the last few years, escaped the social troubles of the older world. Anarchism, Socialism, and the difficulties that are perpetually arising between capital and labour, now awaken a growing anxiety. Neither there, any more than in Europe, are these great problems yet solved. British America ; the Dominion of Canada. France, which had colonized the shores of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi River?, has been forced to allow England to take its place, and the latter has developed a colonial empire to the north of the great lakes, between the Atlantic and the Pacific, which, if it cannot compensate for the loss of the United States, is still one of the finest regions in the world. The absurd restrictions of the old colonial system have been abandoned, and the colonies of Columbia and Canada have been gradually emancipated until they no\v form a quasi- independent state, called the Dominion of Canada. The French race still predominates on the shores of the St. Lawrence 554 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. at Quebec and Montreal. The prevalent civilization and customs are thoroughly French, and the costumes and language of the eighteenth century are still in use. The English have settled in Ottawa, in north Canada, and the west, and carry, if not their settlements, at all events their expeditions, as far as the icy banks of Hudson's Bay and the Mackenzie River. The population of these vast regions, which are fertile and habitable in certain districts only, is not more than 5,000,000 inhabitants, but the progress of modern industry is shown by the development of the railways, which already exceed 12,000 miles. One line alone with its branches, the Canadian Pacific, from Halifax to Vancouver, covers 4,319 miles. The North-West Passage. In the eighteenth century the English and Americans resumed the exploration of the icebound territories which connect North America with the Pole. They were searching for a North-West passage, not because it could be serviceable to commerce, but in order to prove that the Atlantic Ocean communicated in the North as well as in the South with the Pacific. Captain Ross, an Englishman (1818, 1819), discovered Melville Island, and in 1829 the peninsula of Boothia. Parry penetrated to the Barrow Straits (1819, 1820). Sir John Frank- lin, after some bold voyages in the midst of the ice, disappeared in 1845, with his two ships, the Erebus and Terror. His courageous wife continued to send out expeditions in search of him, but no traces of the devoted party were found until 1859, when Captain, now Admiral Sir Leopold, MacClintock found a tin box in King William's Island, which contained a report written by some of Franklin's sailors. They stated that Franklin had died in 1847, and it was ascertained that all the sailors who survived him ha 1 perished of hunger. Fresh efforts were made to discover the North- West passage by way of Baffin's Bay. MacClure solved the problem by starting from Behring's Straits and bringing home his crew by Davis Straits (1850 1854). He had proved that it was possible to go from one sea to the other a great result, but one which really only con- cerned science. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 555 In 1861 Doctor Hayes reached 81 35' of north latitude ; and in 1886 Captain Lockwood reached 83 24'. This was the highest latitude then reached, but Nansen, who has already crossed Green- land on snow-shoes, purposes shortly to attempt to reach the North Pole. South America : the Emancipation of the Spanish Colonies (1808 1826). At the commencement of the nineteenth century Spain possessed the largest part of the American continent : Mexico, Central America, and South America, except Brazil. But it held fast to the old system and to monopolies, and endeavoured to isolate its colonies from the rest of the world, although their extent was quite out of proportion to the power of the mother country. The Spaniards treated not only the indigenous population, but even the Creoles and Spaniards born in America, with the greatest contempt, and the latter found themselves excluded from the public offices. The cultivation of the vine and olive were prohi- bited in Mexico, and it was forced to receive all its imports from Spain. Taught by the example of the United States, and excited by rumours of European revolutions, the populations of Spanish America exerted themselves to secure their commercial and poli- tical emancipation. The French usurpation in Spain in 1808, and the accession of a new dynasty, provided the opportunity for the first attempt, and in 1809 the revolt began in Peru, Venezuela, and Ecuador, followed in 1810 by Buenos Ayres, Chili, and Mexico. The struggle continued till 1826, by which date all the Spanish- American colonies had become independent, and republican ; but some can hardly yet be said to have attained permanent and regular government. Brazil. Brazil peacefully separated from the Portuguese mo- narchy, and established an empire under the dynasty of Braganza (1822). There were two Emperors only, Dorn Pedro I. and Doni Pedro II.,* whose reign lasted till November, 1889, when a republic was established, and the whole of America south of Canada became * Dom Pedro I. (1822 1831) abdicated in 1831 in favour of Ms son, Dum Pedio II. (1&31 1889). 556 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. entirely republican. Slavery in Brazil had been finally abolished in 1888. The Brazilian empire alone represents two-fifths of the South American continent. Its coasts are nearly 4,000 miles long, its breadth more than 2,500 miles, and its whole area over 3,000,000 square miles (about fourteen times as large as France). But the population is scanty and scattered, for Brazil has only fourteen million inhabitants,* a number quite inadequate to cultivate the magnificent basins of the Amazon and the Parana. The progress of Brazil is hampered by the wealth of its exube- rant vegetation, its immense forests, where the trees and creepers form an impenetrable thicket, where the rivers overflow and the great heat develops life in a multitude of plants and insects, but also produces miasma from the masses of verdure, with their accu- mulating and decaying refuse. Colonization is more difficult there than anywhere else, and the flow of emigration is very weak. Still the population is increasing, railways are being made (there are about 5,200 miles already, and 800 under construction) and Brazil, thanks to the excellence of its productions (coffee, sugar, tobacco, etc.), seems likely to realise, by its prosperity and its active trade, the hopes which have been raised by the fertility of its soil, watered by grand navigable rivers under a most varied climate. The Republics of South and Central America. The Brazilian empire is surrounded by the republics which have been established in the pampas of the Bio de la Plata, or upon the sides of the chain of the Andes, enclosed between the Cordilleras and the Pacific Ocean. The fine watercourses of the Parana and the Paraguay, which both spring from the Central Plateau of Brazil and flow towards the south-west, enclose the State of Paraguay and part of the Argentine Confederation. They meet at 270 leagues from the ocean, at Corrientes, and then water the immense pampas of the Argentine Republic. Above Buenos Ayres this river, already doubled, is tripled by the Uruguay, which also comes from Brazil * Brazil has a few important cities. The capital, Eio de Janeiro, with its eight suburbs, numbers 350,000 inhabitants ; Bahia has 128,000 : Pernambuco, 116,000, &c. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATJON. 557 and forms the western boundary of the republic to which it gives its name. This reunion of the three great waterways forms the Rio de la Plata, which pours its abundant waters into the Atlantic Ocean by a magnificent estuary 35 leagues wide. The Argentine Con- federation to the west of these rivers has an area of 1,000,000 square miles, and yet numbers scarcely more than four million inhabitants. Emigration into these countries is chiefly from the south of Europe, Basques, Spaniards, Italians, and men from the Canary Islands, Irish and Welsh from Great Britain. Paraguay is rising quickly from the heroic struggle it maintained against the Argen- tine Confederation and Brazil. The progress of Uruguay has been arrested by the wars it has perpetually waged against- its ambitious neighbours, and by internal disorders. Chili, Peru, and the other republics of the Andes have never ceased to fight against each other, and consequently to impede each other's prosperity. Yet since the commencement of the century the total population of the old Spanish colonies has far more than doubled ; from eleven millions it has risen to thirty-one millions. Railways have been constructed. The immense herds of cattle of the Argentine Con- federation, the copper and silver mines of Chili, and the guano of Peru, the coffee, tobacco, and quinine of Colombia, &c., supply a very active trade. Buenos Ayres contains 300,000 inhabitants. The ports of Santiago and of Valparaiso, in Chili, contain 190,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. Intellectual and moral progress follow material prosperity. Education is becoming more general ; news- papers are published by thousands, and enjoy perfect liberty ; and libraries and schools are rapidly increasing in numbers. The future of South America is very great, and a federal commercial union with the United States will probably give greater stability and a quicker rate of increase to these republics.* * The States of South America are : The Argentine Confederation, com- prising 14 provinces, the chief of which, are, Buenos Ayres, C Trientes, Entre Rios, Sante Fe, Cordova, &c. It has 5,000 miles of railway ; its climate is the best in South America, and in spite of the temporary check caused by the present financial crisis (1890-1) its commerce and immigration may be said to be steadily increasing. Uruguay, or Banda Oriental, of which Montevideo is the capital, is a 55* THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Mexico. The government in Mexico was organized as a federal republic after the short reign of Iturbide. The new constitution, based on that of the United States, was completjd in 1824, but from that time the two parties of Federalists and Monarchists have perpetually disputed for power, and nearly all the Presi- dents have been overthrown after a time by rivals. The United States profited by these revolutions, and took possession of the two provinces of California and New Mexico (1848). Europe interfered several times, and Spain, England, and France joined in a military expedition in 1861, but the two former retired in 1862, when the French Government, under Napoleon III., endeavoured to establish a monarchy under the Austrian Archduke Maximilian, but the French troops could not remain to support it, the home government finding itself obliged to recall them owing to the determined opposition to European interference shown by the smaller state on the North of Ihe La Plata; extent, 72,000 square miles ; population, 700,000. The soil and climate are excellent for agricultural and pastoral purposes. Paraguay, the only state in which Indian and European blood seemed to have mingled on equal terms has had an unfortunate history. Through over- loyalty to its dictators Francii and Lopez it has heen involved in quarrels with its powerful neighbours, the Argentine Confederation and Brazil, and was almost annihilated 1854 1870. It is, however, fast recovering, and hns a population of 476,000. Chili, the most uniformly prosperous of these republics, is on Ihe western slope of the Andes. It has come victorious from its contest with Peru, and its prosperity is yearly increasing. Population over 3,000,000. Peru is at present crippled by her disastrous struggle with Chili. It is very rich in minerals. Population a little under 3,000,000. Bolivia, an inland state, is very rich in minerals, especially silver at Potosi. Its area is only 472 000 square miles ; population, 2,300,000. Colombia, the most northerly stae of South America, includes the Isthmus of Panama. Its area is 331,000 square miles ; population, 3,500,000, halt Indian. Formerly called New Granada. Ecuador, iu the Andes ; area, 248,000 square miles ; population, 1,100,000. Venezuela, on th^ Carribean Sea : area, 566,000 square miles ; population, 2.100,000; and British (population, 252,000), Dutch (65,000), and Fren, h Guiana (28,000), complete the civilized states ot South America. The Central American republics, between Colombia and Mexico, are C- sta Rica (population, 200,000), Nicaragua (300,000), Honduras (400,000), San Salvador (650,000), Guatemala (1,400,000), British Honduras (27,000). DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 559 United States. A revolution soon followed, and after a reign of three years the Emperor Maximilian was taken prisoner and shot at Queretaro, June 19, 1867. After the troubles and losses of this long war, Mexico endea- voured to inaugurate internal improvements, and to commence a new era of progress. The country, which is three times larger than France, contains only 10 million inhabitants. In 1862 there was not a single railway, but during the French expedition an attempt was made to construct a line from Vera Cruz to Mexico, and there are now about 4,600 miles open. Africa : British Possessions. Until the present century, the continent of Africa had been almost entirely neglected. The Por- tuguese had only touched the coasts, but other European powers have since extended their influence over vast tracts of country, and travellers from all nations have revealed the riches of the interior. England possesses the best portions of the whole Continent, important settlements on the Western Coast, the River Gambia, the magnificent Niger Territories, and the coast of the Gulf of Guinea ; and chiefly on the south the Cape Colony, the extreme point of Africa, taken from the Dutch in 1806, and its offshoots Natal, Zululand, Bechuanaland, Basutoland, and the new region which is the realm of the British South Africa Company. This company will probably be the great success in colonization of the nineteenth century, a success due to the far-reaching plans and extraordinary energy of its founder and master-spirit, the statesman Mr. Cecil Rhodes, now the Cape Premier, and to the wealth in gold and the magnificent climate and soil of its immense territories, which include Matabeleland, Mashonaland, Manica, &c. Here, on a cool and well-watered plateau, the British race can thrive and increase, and will probably attain a very high development. The working of the goldfields of Mashonaland has already begun, and, attracting a large and rapid influx of Englishmen, will make the work of colonization swift and easy. The Company has already begun its work north of the Zambezi, and reaches up almost to the head-waters of the Congo ; portions of this country, for instance 560 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. the land of the Barotse, are reported to be as healthy and habitable for white men as Mashonaland itself. The Cape Colony has a free constitution and a Parliamentary government, based upon the English model. The mineral resources of the country, gold, coal, copper, and the wonderful De Beers diamond mines discovered at Kimberley in 1871, are its most remarkable features. From this colony the English have spread northwards to the Zambezi, and beyond the Zambezi to Nyasaland with its great lakes, Nyasa and Tanganyika ; they rule the natives, but the Boers, the descendants of the Dutch, and the French Huguenots, have maintained their independence in the Orange State and the Transvaal.* The federation of the various states south of the Zambezi into a United South Africa is the one great political work necessary to British expansion in this region of Africa. The newly explored territories of Central and East Africa have lately been partitioned among the English, Germans, Italians, French, and Portuguese. The British East Africa Company is the chief power in East Africa an 1 is beginning to develop the commerce of extensive territories and thus to introduce civilization. France in Africa ; Senegal. France, in addition to Keunion and Nossi Be, has devoted itself to colonising two points, Senegal and Algeria. The late treaty of partition unites Senegal with Algeria and the whole of the Sahara to Lake Tchad, and gives to France a large share of the African continent. Algeria. The conquest of Algeria has been one of the most useful works that the French have accomplished during our century. Com- menced by Charles X., who wished to avenge the continual insults of the Dey of Algiers and to destroy piracy, it was continued under Louis Philippe and the governments which succeeded him. The town of Algiers was taken on July 4th, 1830. The French then seized the ports of Oran (1831) and Bona (1832). From these three points they have gained possession of the interior. * Orange Free State, independent of Cape Colony since 1854 ; population, 133,000 inhabitants; capital, Bloemfontein. Transvaal State, for a short time under the British fl^g, recovered its inde- pendence in 1880. Total population (black and while), 815,000 inhabitants ; capital, Pretoria DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 561 In 1834 they declared war against a famous Er^ir, revered both as a general and a prophet, Abd-el-Kader, Bey of Mascara, and the struggle lasted thirteen years. The French have moved farther towards the south than the Romans ever ventured to do, and are gradually advancing beyond the limits of the Sahara towards Burnou and Sokoto. Tunis. The presence of the French in Tunis must also be a great advantage to Algeria, for th'" Regency of Tunis, over which France assumed a protectorate in 1881, covers Algeria to the east, and, in fact, forms part of the same country. It contains more than 2,000,000 inhabitants. The administration of the Bey has been re-organized, and Tunis is now able to profit by the im- provements already established in Algeria. The total commerce amounts to nearly 2,000,000, and the railways already working are 258 miles long. The Exploration of Africa ; the Niger ; the Sources of the Nile. In the sixteenth century the Portuguese had made the circuit of Africa, and had mapped out its coast line. But they were unable to maintain effective occupation even in the few places where they attempted it. And their Colonies have decayed so that at Mozam- bique and on the East Coast they are merely tolerated by the natives, while in the interior their occupation is altogether imagi- nary. They habitually encourage slavery, set an example of de- generacy and vice, and are obstacles not aids to the development of civilization. The map of inner Africa remained a blank until fifty years ago ; it is now being gradually filled up by intrepid explorers, who have penetrated into the unknown country and are opening the continent of Africa to European activity, formerly confined to the coasts. The most dangerous enemy that man encounters is man himself. The history of the first explorations of the interior of Africa is there- fore a long list of martyrs, most of them victims of the ferocity of the natives. Mungo Park (1795 1803) commmenced this history by exploring the Soudan and the Niger. He was followed by Clapperton (1823) ; Laing (1825) ; Lander (1830) ; Barth (1850 1855); Richardson (18491851); Vogel (1856). Thanks to o o 562 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. these travellers, whose skill equalled their courage, the Soudan, Senegambia, the course of the Niger, and the basin of Lake Tchad were discovered, and the native populations are being yearly brought more into contact with the commerce and civilization of Europe. Europe was more deeply interested when the mysterious region of the sources of the Nile was at last penetrated. Since the last century many travellers had endeavoured to reach it, but their attempts to ascend the valley were frustrated by the hostility of the population and the dangerous climate. Speke and Burton attacked the problem more scientifically (1858). Leaving the eastern coast, they crossed the chain of which the summits, Kenia and Kilimanjaro, exceed 20,000 feet, and reached the African pla- teau, where they discovered an inland sea, Lake Tanganyika. They felt assured that other lakes existed to the north, and Speke in a second journey, accompanied by Grant instead of Burton, resolved to reach these lakes, which there was reason to believe were the sources of the Nile. Between 1860 and 1863 Speke and Grant accomplished this important expedition, and discovered a lake, which they named Victoria Nyanza. They proved that a large river issued from it, and hearing of another lake through which the same liver flowed, they continued their journey towards the north, ulti- mately reaching the Nile. Sir Samuel Baker met them, having started in search of the party in 1861, accompanied by his courage- ous wife. Baker had followed the old route and ascended the Nile. Furnished with valuable information and maps drawn by Speke, he travelled towards the lakes which were to be explored, but it required three years of fatigue and peril before he reached the second lake, which he named Albert Nyanza (March 14th, 1864). Livinystone : Southern and Central Africa. The most original and celebrated African traveller was a simple Protestant missionary, the Scotch doctor, David Livingstone. Urged, first by evangelical zeal, and then by love of science, he undertook immense explora- tions, and, travelling alone, confronted the difficulties of a deadly climate, venturing into the midst of savage populations without any protection save that of calm courage, and a gentle, persuasive DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 563 treatment of the people he met. Livingstone never used his firearms except against wild beasts. He left the Cape in 1840, and extended his travels into Southern Africa, and the shores of Lake Ngami, finally descending into the valley of the Zam- bezi. In 1852 he ascended the valley and penetrated as far as the Portuguese possessions in the kingdom of Angola, and reached St. Paul de Loanda. He then returned to the valley of the Zambezi and descended it, determined to follow it to the end. He discovered the cataracts (to which he gave the name Victoria), where the river, 1,900 yards wide, falls into an abyss twice as deep as that of Niagara. At last he reached Quilimane on the western side, after a journey of more than 2,400 miles (1852 1856). Livingstone afterwards explored the basin of the Zambezi, and discovered lakes Shirwa and Nyasa (1859) ; then, ascending to the equatorial regions, he found a number of lakes (Bangweolo, Moero, &c.), and finally reached the great Lualabu River the upper waters of the Congo, which he, however, believed to be the Nile. He remained amongst the tribes of Africa so long that he was believed to be dead. The editor of the New York Herald then asked Stanley, one of the special correspondents of that paper, to go in search of Livingstone. Stanley accepted the mission and started by the route traced out by Speke and Grant. He reached Tanganyika, and at Ujiji had the satisfaction of meeting a white man almost exhausted by illness who proved to be Livingstone. Stanley supplied him with provisions and endeavoured to persuade him to return home with him (1871). Livingstone refused, and two years later he succumbed to fatigue and hardships, in Ilala (1873). Cameron, who had been sent to the relief of Living- stone in 1872, met his followers carrying his corpse to the sea (Unyanyembe, August, 1873), and brought it back to England, where it was buried in Westminster Abbey, amongst the most illustrious men of whom Great Britain boasts. Livingstone was one of the greatest pioneers of civilization the world has known, and the warrior exploits of the heroes of antiquity pale before the pacific heroism of this simple missionary, who, by the weapons 564 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of patience, kindness, and courage, overcame all obstacles and passed safely through the fastnesses of barbarism. Cameron ; Stanley. Cameron, after taking the necessary pre- cautions for the safe transport of Livingstone's remains, between 1873 and 1875 drifted across the continent of Africa to the south of the basin of the Congo, and reached Benguela. Stanley, in his turn, in a great expedition which lasted three years (1874 1877), proved the separation of the basins of the Nile and the Congo, and practically discovered and explored the latter river, which makes a curve up to three degrees north of the equator. He called the upper portion of the river after Livingstone. Stanley, during this wonderful journey, fought thirty-two battles against the warlike natives. He returned with only 111 men of 847 who left Zanzibar with him. Congo Free State. Stanley then entered the service of the " Association Internationale du Congo," under the patronage of Leopold II., King of the Belgians. Aided by committees in each country, the African Association dispatched expeditions equipped with every modern accessory. Stanley established many stations in the basin of the Congo. A conference assembled at Berlin (1885) recognised the existence and independence of the Congo Free State, and the commercial freedom of the river, which is open to the shipping of all nations. In 1886 an expedition was formed for the relief of Emin Pacha, who had been left isolated in the Egyptian province of Equatorial Africa since the taking of Khartoum and death of Gordon, Janu- ary, 1885. The command was given to Stanley, who selected the Congo State for his point of departure. He reached the Aru- wimi Falls, June, 1887; for nearly two years nothing was heard of him ; the leader of the rear column, left at Yambuya, Major Barttelot, was murdered in June, 1888. Stanley, meanwhile, after great difficulties in marching through a vast equatorial forest, had reached the Albert Nyanza, December, 1887 ; but Emin refused to leave his province. Stanley returned to the Aruwimi, reformed his expedition, and again pressed forward to rescue Emin. He reached the Albert Nyanza for the second time, January, 1889, after a DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 565 march of even greater difficulty than the former one. Emin Pacha, against whom a rebellion had broken out in 1888, reluctantly yielded to Stanley's pressure, and with five hundred of his fol- lowers they started together for the East coast, April, 1889, and on December 5, 1889, sighted the Indian Ocean at Bagamoyo, opposite Zanzibar. After a short stay in Egypt Stanley returned to Europe, April, 1890, while Emin remained in Africa, and headed a new expedition in the service of Germany. Among the numerous English travellers who have done good work in exploring and opening up the interior of Africa may be mentioned Mr. H. H. Johnston, of Cross River and Kilima-njaro and Tanganyika fame, perhaps the most successful follower of Livingstone in his method of peacefully influencing the native races ; Mr. Selous, the cele- brated South African hunter; and Mr. Joseph Thomson, the Massai-land and Sokoto explorer. The Ogowe ; French Colony of the Congo. The French, stimu- lated by these discoveries, had since 1872 endeavoured to penetrate into the interior of Equatorial Africa by the Gaboon and the Ogowe. Alfred Marche and the Marquis de Compiegne studied this country (18721874). In 1876 di Brazza, an officer in the French navy, commenced his expeditions, and with a handful of men advanced into the basin of the Ogowe and its tributaries, and into that of the tributaries of the Congo (1876 1879). He started on a second journey, succeeded in exploring a large terri- tory and in signing treaties with one of the most powerful kings of these countries King Makoko. He founded stations at France- ville and Brazzaville, on the northern shore of Stanley Pool, placing all the tribes under the protection of the French flag (1882). Finally, supported by the French Government, he was able to occupy new positions and establish a new French colony, of which the limits on the left bank of the Congo were defined by a treaty in 1885. Schweinfurth ; Nachtigal. A learned Russian botanist Schweinfurth advancing towards the western side of the Nile basin, visited the country of the Niams-Niams and that of the Akkas, a race of dwarfs (18681871). The German, Nachtigal, 566 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. accomplished another very difficult journey. He left Tripoli in 1869, and visited the districts round Lake Tchad, the countries of Bagirmi and Wada'i, returning in 1874, by Darfur and Kordofan, to Khartum, at the junction of the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The upper courses of the Senegal and the Niger have lately been explored by French travellers. Portuguese Colonies. The Portuguese, who had first explored and conquered the coasts of Africa, roused themselves at the tidings of the discoveries of others, which showed all that they might have gained during their long possession of the country. In 1877 the Government dispatched an expedition, commanded by Major Serpa Pinto, who traced the tributaries of the Zambezi, descended towards the south through the Desert of Kalahari, and crossing Southern Africa reached Durban, in the colony of Natal. The Portuguese at first claimed the basins of the Congo and of the Zambezi as part of their possessions, but their pretensions were rejected by the conference at Berlin, and the boundaries of the Portuguese colonies are not yet clearly defined ; for except at points on the coast they have no effective occupation whatever in East Africa, though they have accomplished something in West Africa. German Colonies. Germany held aloof from this movement of colonial expansion until the last few years, but now seems anxious to carry its flag into the most distant countries, and has established settlements at the Cameroons, on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. It has also obtained possession of the west coast of Africa, from Cape Frio to the Orange Eiver. More recently (1886) it has assumed a protectorate on the East Coast opposite Zanzibar, from the river Rovumo to the south end of the Victoria Nyanza. The Colonial Empire of Holland. The Dutch have retained and developed the colonial empire which they conquered during the seventeenth century in Oceania, that world of fertile islands be- tween Asia and America. This empire extends over Java, Sumatra, and the Sunda Islands. They contain more than twenty millions of inhabitants. The State governs the colonies, but a part of the government is left in the hands of the natives, the old DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 567 chieftains being merely reduced to the rank of tributary princes. Slavery was abolished in the Dutch Indies by the law passed on May 7th, 1859; but the old Mahomeclan system is still in force in Java. The State owns the land and regulates all the details of labour; it is agricultural and commercial, and claims a right to the labour of the natives, selling the produce of the land for the supply of the budget of Holland. The Dutch endeavour to enlighten the natives, and improve them. They provide numerous schools, and a central committee of public instruction sits at Batavia. These islands have enjoyed and enjoy great prosperity under the Dutch rule. Coffee, sugar, rice, indigo, tea, cochineal, and cinnamon are the chief exports. Java has an active trade with Holland, England, France, Belgium, the Cape, Arabia, and Japan. The Dutch seek to acclimatize trees in all their possessions, particularly the cocoa and clove trees. The island of Java has more than 380 miles of railway. In Sumatra the Dutch were engaged in severe wars with the native chiefs from 1873 to 1882. The English in Australia. Australia has been colonized by the English. Towards the end of the last century they founded convict stations, first at Botany Bay, then near to the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson. Each convict received a grant of land ; and if their moral standard was not very high, they became hard workers and bold pioneers. In 1864 the Australian colonies refused to receive convicts. In 1851 the discovery of the gold mines gave fresh impetus to emigration. The first " diggings " were at Summerhill Creek, and gold was also found on the banks of the Turon, a tributary of the Macquarie, about thirty miles from Bathurst. Successful searches were then made over a vast space of 12 latitude and 11 of longitude. The immense plains of Australia feed great numbers of sheep of very fine breeds, and their wool forms the chief export of the colony, providing a source of wealth that surpasses the pro- duce of the gold mines. The total yield of gold from 1851 to the end of 1885, was over 267,000,000. The other mineral wealth, especially in copper arid silver, is very great. The total value 568 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. of exports in 1888 was over 57,000,000 ; of imports, over 65,000,000. There are now five distinct colonies in Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Western Australia. Tasmania, a large island to the south-west, separated by Bass's Straits, is often reckoned with Australia. Twelve hundred miles to the east are the islands of New Zealand, little less in size than Great Britain and Ireland They will probably prove to be the England of the South Pacific. The European population is 600,000; the Maories, gradually declining, about 41,000. The exports are over 7,000,000. In Australia and New Zealand, railways, telegraphs, and every appliance of civilized life are to be found. Since 1872 a telegraph crosses Australia from north to south, and all the colonies are in telegraphic communication with Europe. A new civilized quarter has been added to the globe during the nineteenth century. The population of New South Wales has increased since 1836 from 65,000 to more than a million, and the total population of the Australian continent amounts to 2,833,608. Melbourne and Sydney contain nearly 300,000 inhabitants, and resemble European cities in their appearance. The European Powers in Asia; the British Empire of India. In spite of the importance which the colonization of Oceania and Africa has acquired, Asia, the largest of the five quarters of the globe, with its rich productions and its 800 millions of inhabitants, still offers the widest field for European rivalries. The English secured their footing in Hindostan in the eighteenth century, and assured their conquest by taking possession of Delhi, the ancient capital of the Mogul emperors (1803). They extended their power through the valley of the Indus, and conquered Sindh (1843), the Kingdom of Lahore (1846), and the Punjab (1849), and entered Indo-China through Aracan and Assam (1824), Lower Burmah (1852), Upper Burmah (1885). They then attempted to penetrate into Afghanistan, but the expedition ended in a disaster (1841 1842). The English, how- ever, were not discouraged but recommenced their enterprise in 1879 and 1881, when they at least secured their influence in Cabul. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 569 The English rule in India was, however, seriously endangered by the terrible mutiny of 1857. India was the theatre of massacre and arson, and afterwards of the severe measures adopted by the English to quell the rebellion and avenge their murdered countrymen. They were entirely successful, owing partly to the loyalty of some of the native princes, but Great Britain had learnt a terrible lesson. The East India Company was abolished, England now assumed the direct government of India (1858), and instituted a Secretary of State for India, assisted by a council of fifteen members. In 1876, Mr. Disraeli, the Prime Minister, passed a bill investing the Queen with the title of Empress of India, January 1, 1877. The policy of England is now gradually to train the natives, and admit them to the highest offices, to govern India for the benefit of the natives as well as for that of the home government. The Material Condition of India ; the Population, Railways. The Indian empire is magnificent with its area of more than 1,600,000 square miles and its population of 252,660,550 inhab- itants, amongst whom are counted only 80,000 English. No greater proof could be given of the superiority of the Europeans, who have thus established their rule, with the aid of small numbers, over such masses of human beings, and no greater proof could be given too of British genius and skill. Great Britain has realised how she could best consolidate her rule over India, and has busied herself with material improvements. A vast network of railways has been constructed through jungles, over mountains and rocks, through impenetrable forests, over- coming almost insuperable difficulties. These railways have placed the cities of the valley of the Ganges an i the Indus in communication with those of the Deccan ; they cross from one sea to the other, from the coasts of Malabar to that of Coromande], from north to south. During the last thirty years, 15,000 miles of railway have been constructed, for the first iron road dates only from 1853.* The Productions of India. Amongst the most useful public * India, thanks to its active commerce, now contains many cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants. Amongst them Calcutta, 7bO,000 ; Bombay, 570 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. works is the system of irrigation, intended to avert the droughts which prevail in that burning climate, and which produce frightful famines. Since 1771 twenty-one great famines and several smaller ones have cost tens of thousands of lives. They are caused by the droughts, by the limited extent of arable land (for scarcely one-third of India is cultivated), and by a culture too much restricted to certain crops. Their effects are aggravated by the superstitions of the inhabitants, who prefer to die rather than to eat the flesh of certain animals, prohibited by their religion. Oxen and cows are considered sacred by the Hindoos, who, on this account, are almost exclusively vegetarians. India produces besides cereals a large quantity of opium, which is exported into China (value about 5,000,000) ; cotton, which rivals that of America ; jute, a textile plant, very useful in industry ; rice, tea since 1834, coffee, spices, sugar, and perfumes. Industry and Art. Manufactures are as yet undeveloped in India, although coal is very plentiful, the area of the deposits being estimated at about 40,OOL) squ ire n iles. But India has always excelled in the production of artistic and textile industries. The Hindoos also excel in embroidering, and, like most orientals, are endued with the sense of colour, and so attain harmonies unknown to us. Cashmere shawls are still of undimiuished value and fame. Nothing can surpass the luxury of the Rajahs of India, and their palaces, gardens, terraces, and mausoleums astonish and delight travellers from Europe. The original architecture of these palaces, of the Buddhist temples and Mussulman mosques, their carved balconies of lace-like marble, all prove the vivid imagina- tion of these races that, after being the ancestors of our civili- zation, have remained for so long in a state of decadence. If Hindoo and Buddhist architecture is almost always grotesque in details, the Arabic art of India is superb. The Taj Mahal at Agra (1620) is a dream of beauty in stone. The Hindoos manufacture jewelry of infinite variety. Their lacquerwork, their 773,000 ; Madras, 406,000 ; Hyderabad, 354,000 ; Lucknow, 261,000 ; Benares, 200,000; Delhi, 173,000; Patna, 170,000; Agra, 160,000; Lahore,' 150,000, &c. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 571 carving in sandal- wood, and incrustation of ivory are of remarkable delicacy. Calcutta and Bombay produce iron and wooden furniture Window of Man Munder, Benares. carved like lace-work. To these industries, the ancient inheritance of India, the English have added every modern industry which can 572 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. be acclimatized on the banks of the Ganges. India commences to manufacture not only for herself, but for other countries. Her commerce at present amounts to about 120,000,000 ; this seems little in proportion to the population, but it is steadily increasing. Moral Condition : Castes, Religions. The Hindoos are still divided into castes. Four groups are recognised the Brahmins, the country people, the merchants, and the artisans or labourers. But the number of castes is very variable, for trades are frequently regarded as castes. There are also millions of individuals without race or rights unclean, as they are called, and not pariahs, as they are wrongly termed, for this word has a special meaning and designates a group of thirteen castes. Brahminism predominates, and is the religion of 187,000,000 of Hindoos. There are only 3,500,000 of Buddhists. There is a considerable increase in the number of Mussulmans and Christians 50,000,000 of Mahomeclans and 1,862,634 Christians (Protestants and Catholics). There are 26 Catholic archbishops or bishops and 1,200 priests. There are also about 6,000,000 who worship nature, and 5,000,000 members of eccentric sects. Still European ideas are visibly spreading, and su ttee the sacrifice of widows on their husbands' funeral pyres has been abolished by law. Child-marriage, a cause of name- less cruelties and a fruitful source of the degeneration of the race, is already sentenced by public opinion in England, and will, like suttee, shortly be done away by law. Schools are opened, and the number of pupils has increased a hundredfold in fifty years. Colleges have been founded in Calcutta, Poonah, Delhi, Agra, Benares, &c., and the young Hindoos are easily taught every branch of modern science, whose cradle, we must remember, was India itself. It was there the Arabs learnt the astronomy, algebra, and all the other sciences which they introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages. Learned societies have been formed on the plan of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, and museums have been founded like that of Allahabad. India, where for many centuries men of the same race as Europeans have been quietly vegetating, is now returning to life. The work, though rapidly DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 573 advancing, is little more than begun, for it must act upon a popula- tion of 252,000,000. The Russian Empire in Asia : Siberia. Russia has been attack- ing Asia on the north and western frontiers for many years. In the north it possesses the Province of Siberia (5,500,000 square miles). It forms the northern boundary of China, and has already encroached upon the Chinese territory by taking possession of the coast beyond the river Amur between its tributary the Usuri and the coast of the Gulf of Tartary. This area of more than 1,000,000 square miles now forms the provinces of Amur and the Maritime Region. The axe is laid to the forests of Southern Siberia, and steamboats plough the great waterway of the Amur. The mines near Lake Baikal are being worked, and the Russians derive great profit from these countries in spite of their northern latitude. The Caucasian Provinces. Since the opening of this century the Russians have passed the Caucasus, and have acquired the fine country situated in the southern watershed. These magnificent terraces and valleys are sheltered from the north winds, and now form the Transcaucasian Provinces (350,000 square miles and 6,290,000 inhabitants), which Russia uses every effort to extend to the detriment of Persia and Turkey. An immense source of wealth has lately been opened in the petroleum springs at Baku on the Caspian ; besides the commercial value, this renders the Black Sea and river navy of Russia independent of foreign coal. The Russians and Turkestan. By crossing the Caucasus, the Russians approached the Caspian Sea on the south : they already surrounded it on the north. Passing the Sea of Aral, which sepa- rated them from Turkestan, they entered into relations with the nomad hordes of the Kirghiz, who wander over the immense steppes of this country, covered by deep snow in winter and dried up by the extreme heat in summer. After reiterated and unsuc- cessful attempts against the oasis of Khiva, Russia has succeeded in conquering Turkestan. It first extended its influence over the Khanate of Khokand (1860 1864), which it annexed in 1875 with its principal cities Tashkend, Khojend (the latter founded by the 574 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Macedonian conqueror), and lastly Bokhara. In 1868 the Russians occupied the ancient city of Sainarcand, so celebrated in the Middle Ages, and obliged the Eniir of Bokhara to surrender the Khanate of Samarcand. Russian armies were then dispatched to punish the Khan of Khiva, still only partly subdued (18721873). The Khan was conquered, obliged to acknowledge himself the vassal of the Czar, and to cede a portion of his territory on the right bank of the Oxus. The Russians also endeavoured to annex Zungaria (1871) ; the Chinese protested, and Russia only retained the southern portion and the passages through the Celestial Mountains, which gave them access to the basin of the Tariin. The Russians thus found themselves masters of an area of about 450,000 square miles, partly sterile, and occupied by a scattered population of 6,000,000. But the Russians were not tempted by the intrinsic value of these vast steppes : they require a road to India, or to the Indian Ocean. The Russians have no seaport for the commerce of these vast regions. The English therefore endeavoured to balance their progress by advancing into Afghanistan. The Russians made the English expedition a pretext for penetrating still farther into the south of Turkestan. In 1881 General Skobeleff took possession of Geok-Tepe, and in 1884 the Russians occupied Merv, an impor- tant point on the road to Balkh and Herat. They are thus quite near to Afghanistan, and its mountains only separate them from the valley of the Indus. The English are therefore compelled to establish a strong line of defence against this new foe, and to bring it into communication with their Indian forces. With the double object of facilitating commerce with these countries, and of preparing for what seems to be an inevitable conflict, the Russians have constructed the Transcaspian railway. The difficulties were very great, for terrible deserts had to be crossed. They have been overcome : companies of soldiers were lodged in well-furnished railway carriages, and advanced with their house-train as fast as they laid the rails (1886). The line to Merv is now finished, and the Russian troops can no longer be stopped by the desert. With all the harshness of her rule, and her DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 575 imperfect civilization, the advance of Russia in Central Asia is of benefit to the native populations. China. China, the oldest empire in the world, is also attracting the attention of the European powers, which, joined together, do not equal it in extent or population. China obstinately closed its ports to all commerce, and the English could only succeed in the introduction of opium, of which the Chinese are passionately fond. The Chinese Government wished to prohibit this importation, and their attempt led to the Opium War (1839 1842). British men of war blockaded the coasts, and British troops occupied the large towns, such as Amoy, Ning-po, and Shang-hai. British vessels ascended the Yang-Tse, the largest river and principal artery of China. They appeared in front of Nanking. The imperial canal, which connects the provinces of the north and south, was closed, and then the Chinese decided to come to terms. China opened five ports to all foreigners, and ceded the island of Hong Kong, in the bay of Canton, to England. The French Government, under Louis Philippe, profited by this opportunity to arrange a treaty with China, but it was only a blind. In 1859 the French and English became persuaded that the country would not be opened without a serious expedition. 12,000 French under the command of General Cousin Montauban, and 23,000 English under General Grant, were sent to China. The ports of Pe'i-ho were taken (August, 1860). The two victories of Tchang-Kia and of Palikiao opened the road to Pekin, and the burning of the summer palace (for which the English are respon- sible) decided the Chinese Government to treat with the invaders. From 1861 to 1870 China was disturbed by successive revolts, the most important of which, that of the Taepings, was put down with the aid of General Gordon and other European officers. The French and Chinese came into collision in 1884, on the northern frontier of Tonquin, but peace was made in 1886. The treaties of Pekin opened sixteen ports to Europeans. Chinese Civilization ; Population ; Government. China is the largest reservoir of men in the whole world. The exact number is unknown, but the population is estimated at 378 millions of in- THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. habitants, dwelling in an area of 4,500,000 square miles.* Nearly all this mass are crowded into China proper, yet the density of population is only moderate (95 to the square mile). Europeans naturally sought to penetrate into this country, and to open up a trade with this vast mass of human beings. It is not astonishing that this large and populous empire, which had prospered during hundreds of centuries, should have refused to enter into communi- cation with Europeans, who appeared to it like barbarians, an inferior race greedy for pillage. The celestial empire is now modifying its prejudices, and Europe is changing its ideas. The political and social organization of the empire is better understood ; the religious character of the monarchy results in the traditional despotism of the Emperor, who is so completely hidden from the eyes of his subjects that the streets must be deserted and the houses closed when he crosses Peking ; the religious character of paternal authority renders it equally absolute ; and the people worship their ancestors, whose tombs become altars. We have witnessed the same thing at the commencement of the history of the Greeks and Romans. Woman is still in an inferior position ; she lives secluded and under restraint, and polygamy, which is legally authorised, maintains this inferiority. The Government is highly centralised. The provinces are usually governed by two officials a governor-general and a governor, with a strictly regulated body of officials under them. The mandarins or officials are all learned men, who have studied deeply, and have been chosen by competitive tests. They are held by their superiors in a state of terror, which they also inspire in their subordinates. It is an application of the old despotic system of the ancient Asiatic empires. Religion ; Legislation. There are no castes in China, for com- plete equality prevails in the country, only there is a profound * China has a total area of 4,500,000 square miles, really peopled. Of this China proper has an area of 1,500,000 square miles, and a population of about 350 millions of inhabitants (95 to the square mile). The other parts of the Empire, Manchuria, Mongolia, Thibet, Corea, &c., only contain 28,000,000 inhabitants for an area of 3,000,000 square miles (9 to the square mile). DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 577 difference between learned men and the ignorant masses. The religion of the educated classes is that of Confucius (550 479 B.C.), a system of ethics rather than a mythology, which regulated the State as well as religion, and which proposed an ideal hierarchy of scientists and philosophers, who should fill the various offices, with the Emperor as their head. Buddhism and Taouism have also many followers,* whilst the worship of ancestors usually accompanies these various doctrines. Although many of these doctrines are inspired by philosophy, they have not softened the punishments inflicted by the legislation, which are still very cruel. In refinement of torture and studied cruelty they surpass those of Europe during the Middle Ages. The least and most common penalty is the bastinado, from which no one can feel safe, for dignitaries as well as others are liable to this degradation. Agriculture. China is cultivated with extreme care, in spite of the imperfection of the implements used. Agriculture resembles gardening. A complete system of irrigation has been formed for the cultivation of the rice plant, which occupies one-eighth of the cleared land. Besides vegetables and fruit, China produces cotton, Indian millet, sugar, oranges, mulberries, pulse, sweet potato, &c. The forests have been cleared to extend the area of cultivation, particularly of the tea plant. Agriculture has always been venerated in China as the chief support of life. The Emperor is himself regarded as the first cultivator, and not long ago he was still obliged, at the opening of the year, to dress in a peasant's costume, and to plough three furrows in the sacred field. The Chinese have little pasturage, and raise few cattle. Oxen are used only for labour. The people's food consists principally of rice, vegetables, fish, and poultry, and pork is the most popular meat. Tea is in universal use and is the chief article of export. Industry. Industry as well as agriculture in China is tradi- tional. From the most remote ages the Chinese excelled in the * Taou is one of tne names given to the Supreme Being amongst the Chinese. The worship of Taou practised by the sect of Taou-tsee was probably older than that of Confucius. P P 578 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. manufacture of stuffs, and in the working of metals. Very intelligent and patient, father and son following the same trade, they have transformed industry into art. Every production is the work of a single artist, for a division of labour is unknown. The Chinese were the first to manufacture paper from linen, and they probably invented the compass and gunpowder. They 'could print from wood-blocks, and at the end of the sixth century this art is alluded to as being already old. But all these inventions required to pass through the hands of Europeans in order to produce their present results. The great number of signs which the Chinese require, for their language contains as many monosyllabic signs as they have ideas, renders the use of movable types very difficult. Their books are usually printed upon silky paper. China is rich in various metals and salt, whilst the country already occupies the sixth rank among the states which produce coal. The Chinese have not ne- glected the metal industries, but are skilful in forming alloys of copper, lead, tin, zinc, silver, and gold. Contact with Europeans will probably aid in the development of these industries. The manufacture of silk is the national handicraft of the Chinese, who taught it to the Persians, and who probably furnished the first specimens of this fine material to the Roman patricians. The man- darins are distinguished by the richness of their robes, and silks are used instead of tapestry in the Imperial palace. The Chinese also excel in the art of manufacturing lacquer, caskets, porcelains, enamels, and bronzes. They make lacquer with a sticky liquid which exudes from the Phils vernicifera, a small kind of Sumach-tree. At Canton the lacquer is black, and at Pekin it is red. With it workboxes, stands, vases, fan mounts, &c., are made. Porcelain is gradually disappearing in China. It was formerly one of the chief industries, and near Nanking a porcelain tower was erected 200 feet high ; it was destroyed by the Taepings in 1868. Old vases and plates are becoming very rare, and are sold for extravagant prices, but modern, common china is very abundant. As a rule, the Chinese have no perception of form in art. In their porcelains the colours may be inimitable, the paste and the glaze DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 579 may be of peculiar quality and whiteness, and thus excite the admi- Porcelain Tower at Nankin (destroyed), ration of collectors, but a cup of Sevres china, a tiny figure of 5-?o THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Dresden manufacture, will possess an artistic design and a graceful outline which the Chinese productions never attain. Progress of China In spite of the resistance of the Govern- ment, the relations now established between Europe and China must open a new future to this vast country. The trade with foreigners amounts to about 50,000,000, and in 1882 there were 440 European merchants' offices in the twenty-two open ports,* of which more than half are English. The Chinese, who have been accused of immobility, have now started on the path of progress. They have commenced "railways, and have ordered war-ships in Europe ; already ironclads built in England are to be seen in Chi- nese waters, armed with the newest and most perfect weapons, and if their vessels dare not yet engage with the French men-of-war under Courbet, who destroyed the arsenal of Foo-chou, the Chinese troops proved in the Tonquin War that they are the undisciplined troops of Palikaio no longer. The Catholic and other Christian missions have already dimin- ished the distance which separates the races ; they now, in spite of long persecutions, number 1,094,000 converts, with 41 bishops, 664 European priests, and 559 native priests. The number of Protestant Chinese is increasing. Japan. Japan was even more obstinate than China in resisting the entrance of Europeans. Japan is composed of four large islands and a group of smaller ones, forming altogether an area of 147,000 square miles. Two centuries ago these countries were opened to missionaries, who converted great numbers of the people. But in 1637 frightful massacres exterminated the Christians, and for a long time Japan opposed an insurmountable barrier to Europeans. The Dutch only were allowed to communicate with the Japanese, and they were confined to a small island near Nagasaki, and ham- * Principal ports open to foreigners : Canton (1,600,000 inhabitants). Tien-tsin (950,000), Hankou (750,1.00), Foo-chou (630,000), Shanghai (350,000), Ning-po (260,000), Takao and Taiwan (235,000), Amoy (95,000), &c. It is unnecessary to add that these figures are merely approximate, for the statistics are very uncertain. Even for Peking, the capital, they vary between 500,000 and 1,650,000 inhabitants. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 581 Japanese Vase. pered by a number of severe restrictions. In March, 1854, the United States first succeeded in signing a treaty with Japan ; the 582 THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. other nations then forced an entry into the breach opened by the Americans. On the 14th October, of the same year, the English Admiral Sterling concluded a similar treaty at Nagasaki. The Dutch and the Russians obtained the same advantages by the treaties of the 9th November, 1855, and August, 1858. By trading on the rumours, which had reached Japan, of the opera- tions against the Chinese, in 1858, France and England obtained still greater concessions. In August, 1858, Lord Elgin appeared before Yedo with three men-of-war, and the Japanese Government dared not refuse to sign the treaty he presented, 26th August. One month later the French Ambassador, Baron Gros, concluded a similar treaty, whilst the American Consul and the Russian Admiral Poutiakine exacted new concessions in their own favour. The French, English, Russians, &c., were allowed to establish them- selves freely in the open ^ orts of Kanagawa, Hiogo, and Naga- saki. Since 1862 foreigners have been allowed to establish themselves at Yedo (or fkio) and Osaka. The bombardment of Shimonoseki in 1864 finally convinced the Japanese that resistance to European armies was impossible. In 1865 the Mikado gave his official sanction to the treaties, and a curious revolution soon took place in Japan. Government and Progress of Japan. The Tycoon, the temporal sovereign with whom the Europeans had treated, was in reality only an agent of the Mikado. For a long time the Tycoon had illegally assumed the sovereign power, he had placed himself at the head of the eighteen great daimios, who divided the country between them, and played the part of mayor of the palace. After foreigners had been admitted to Japan, the Tycoon endeavoured to establish absolute authority over the daimios ; those of the south rebelled, left Jeddo and advanced on Kioto, the residence of the Mikado. The Tycoon's troops were defeated, but the Mikado pardoned the Tycoon, who then returned to his original rank as a noble. The Mikado entered Jeddo on the 25th November, 1868. The daimios of the north then rose against the Mikado, but being defeated, they soon submitted to the sovereign. The Mikado then applied himself to centralising the administration of a country DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 583 which still lived under almost feudal laws ; he overthrew all the feudal power of the Daimios, or nobles, and made them simple tenants at will on their own estates. For a time the Mikado was absolute, but in 1875 he decreed a new constitution, with a parlia- ment of two chambers. In 1884 a new order of hereditary nobility was established, and the constitution enlarged in 1889, when religious toleration and abolition of slavery were proclaimed. The Mikado has encouraged the study of foreign languages, ordered railways to be constructed, opened a maritime arsenal at Yo- koska, and a mint at Osaka. Formerly hidden from all his sub- jects, he now shows himself in public as freely as European sovereigns, speaks to the ambassadors accredited to him, reviews his troops in the uniform of a French general, and also visits the provinces of his empire. The city of Yokohama is lighted with gas, Japan took part in the Universal Exhibitions of 1878, 1879, &c., where she occupied an important position, and she has held exhibitions of her own. Besides great agricultural wealth, Japan possesses original industry, and weaves magnificent stuifs of the most brilliant colours ; she also excels in lacquer-ware, caskets, painted porcelain vases, ornaments in mother-of-pearl, tortoise- shell, ivory, &c. There is at present even a movement towards the adoption of Christianity as the official religion, though not so much on religious as on political grounds. Japan seems in all respects to be, with extraordinary rapidity, assimilating European civilization. The population of Japan almost equals that of France viz : 39,000,000 inhabitants ; its fleet consists of thirty-one men-of- war, and its army exceeds 100,000 men. Its commerce is over 20 millions annually. The World as it now is. The civilized world, w ich once con- sisted of the nations round the Mediterranean and its eastern shores, has greatly enlarged its boundaries. In the forefront of material civilization and practical scientific invention, stands now the world unknown to the ancients the United States of North America, in resources probably the most powerful of all existing States, and the only one which no enemy threatens. The white race has there THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. for ever dispossessed the red ; but to the South the problem of the races is still unsolved. No monarchy has yet permanently main- tained itself on the American continent. Democracy rules there, and the form of government is republican. In Oceania and Australia similar states are growing up. The Asiatic races, one by one, are becoming more open to civilization. Asia Minor, Persia, and Arabia are still oppressed by Moslem rule, which alone makes the African slave trade profitable. Equatorial Africa is disputed by, or divided between, four nations, and presents a virgin field for colonization. Civilization advances with rapid strides, and its appliances are useful to millions who benefit by them without understanding them. The whole world lies open to the commerce of to-day, and news is transmitted from distant towns to the centres of civilization before it is known to the neighbouring villages. This is the spectacle reserved for posterity : Asia covered with roads and telegraphs ; trains of travellers and merchandise directed towards the Indian Ocean by the Trans-Caspian railways, and later on, no doubt, by Siberia towards Pekin ; the great cities of the land which cradled humanity reconstructed, embellished, improved by every modern comfort, without losing their originality or the customs which vary with every climate ; the mountains tunnelled, and the locomotive, perhaps, penetrating into the untravelled regions which Asiatics named " the roof of the world ; " Africa, with its millions of black men, its magnificent regions of the Zam- bezi, the Congo, and the Niger, cleared, occupied, and developed into another England, France, Belgium, or Germany. And the fulfilment of this dream is not so improbable as was that of the first conquerors of America. Yet America has become, in less than four centuries, one of the most prosperous and progressive quarters of the world. Its great English dominion of Canada in the north, its vast Anglo-Saxon republic of the United States, its fifteen Spanish republics in the centre, and its Portuguese republic of Brazil in the south, render its map one of the most varied in the world, whilst the energy of its populations, which seem to have renewed their vigour on the soil of a New World, has enabled them to rise, and to rank amongst the boldest pioneers of civilization. DIFFUSION OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. 585 Do not such results justify every hope ? Who knows whether, in Africa as well as in Asia, the wonderful transformations which have taken place in America may not be repeated ? Who knows whether Europeans may not be animated by the magnitude of the enterprise and rear up mighty states where now wild animals and wild vegetation have the land almost to themselves ? whether the native populations, so long degraded or asleep, may not awaken at their touch ? whether civilization may not, at last, shine from the islands of Japan to the borders of Mongolia ; from Siberia to Indo-China ; from Annam to Afghanistan ; from Algiers to the Cape, from the Congo to the Nile, as it now shines from Canada to the Rio de la Plata ? European civilization evidently contains a force which urges it to encircle the globe. And foremost among all Europeans as colonizers and civilizers are the men of Great Britain. In America, in Australia, in New Zealand, they have established a Greater Britain ; and now having acquired the better part of habitable Africa, that is of those parts of Africa where, as in Mashonaland, Europeans can live in health and propagate a healthy race another Britain may be developed by British energy and enterprise, and British Africa become as truly the home of the Anglo-Saxon race as British America. H it&48iiJ*i llgiliiiiiii^iii i* yiii.iijiiii^i *J5 ^ c ' fcb T3 -I &s .j= ^s s=~ s a eg^2^|/-|cS~:= ' St ~'rt"' 5 'I*- 3 B -2 S ,2 lltfrflS 33 v a *> t- 01 ^ }S c > CO OH .^~ || *^6S'^ a M oq W E M-C " co S -3 S fe H ^ tf 1 3^|liiii-i sS|lft|^|s| ^1^8- p?^ cs QJ i c! r> ~ 5^iHW -isl'ille '^'"jlgsrl iQ S = -3^ 1 S .- ,- l|l.s t> <; "S O fo ffi fe-s H THIS BOOK IS DUB ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. APR 6 1936 -ftffr LD 21-100m-7,'33 YC 73Ubb r UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY