^^" This book is DUE on the last date stamped below ■-^L 3b3C DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE. SECOND VOLUME. •.c Democracy in Europe: A HISTORY. BY SIR THOMAS ERSKINE MAY, K.C.B., D.C.L. AcTHOB OP " TuE Constitutional History of England sincb THE Accession op George III., 1760-1871." IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL NEW YORK : A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON, 51 Kast lOtb Street, Near Broadwat, 1891. New York : J. J. Little & Co., Printors, 10 to 20 Astor Place. M4-5 CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. CHAPTEE X. THE NETHERLANDS. PAGE Character of tlie country 1 Dutch sailors 3 Early races of the Netherlands 3 Feudalism and the Church 4 Growth of cities 6 The burgomaster and the baron 9 Influence of trade guilds 13 The nobles as citizens 14 Military prowess of the towns 15 Confederation of towns, 1323 IG James Van Artevelde 16 Philip Van Artevelde 17 Guilds of the Flemish cities 18 Improved culture in the Netherlands 19 Guilds of rhetoric 20 Dutch and Flemish painters 20 The cities represented in the estates 21 Increasing power of the sovereigns 22 House of Burgundy 23 The great privilege 23 The archduke Maximilian 25 Philip the Fair 20 The Emperor Charles V 20 Former liberties in Spain 27 Decay of Spanish liberties 28 VI CONTENTS OF PAGE The Netherlands under Charles V 29 Rebellion of Ghent 30 Its punishment 30 The liberties of the Netherlands in abeyance 31 Fortunes of Italy and the Netherlands compared 31 Impending strug£^le for religious liberty 32 CHAPTEE XL THE NETHERLANDS — COntinV£d. Cliarles V, and the Reformation 33 Persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands 34 Religious persecution a political crime 34 Philip II. of Spain 36 Regency of the Duchess Margaret 37 William Prince of Orange 37 Spread of the Ref onnation 39 Severities of Philip 39 Efforts of nobles and people 40 Les Gueux 40 The Iconoclasts 41 The Duke of Alva 41 Outlawry of the Prince of Orange 44 Revolt of the Netherlands 46 Prince of Orange retires to Holland 47 Don Luis de Requesens 48 The siege of Leyden 48 Allegiance to Philip renounced 49 The ' Spanish fury ' 51 Pacification of Ghent 51 New union of Brussels 53 The Prince of Parma 54 The union of Utrecht 55 Attempts to seduce the Prince of Orange 55 His excommunication by the king 55 The prince's ' apology ' 56 He declines the government. 56 Independence of the Provinces proclaimed 57 Attempted assassination of the prince , 58 THE SECOND VOLUME. Til PAGB He becomes count of Holland 58 The ' French fury ' 58 The prince again refuses the government 59 His assassination 59 The prince the apostle of civil and religious liberty 60 Events succeeding his death 61 Negotiations with France 63 And with England 63 Aid given by Queen Elizabeth 63 The Spanish Armada 64 Prince Maurice 64 Decline of the Spanish power 65 Death of Philip of Spain 66 Prosperity of the republic 66 State of the Spanish provinces 67 The twelve years' truce 70 Religious toleration prayed for Catholics 71 Recognition of the republic 71 Union of freedom and commerce 73 Domestic history of the Dutch republic 74 The Stadtholder and Barneveldt 74 Wars of the republic 75 The house of Orange 75 England and Holland 76 The Perpetual edict, 1667 78 William HI. ascends the English throne 79 Declining fortunes of Holland 80 Revolution proclaimed by the French in Holland 83 Constitutional monarchy, 1813 83 Separation of Belgium from Holland 84 Ultramontanisra in Belgium 85 Continued freedom of the Netherlands 86 CHAPTER Xn. FEANCE. The country and the people of France 88 The Franks and feudalism 89 Growth of the monarchy 90 VUl CONTENTS OF PAGE Misery and discontent of the people 91 The Jacquerie 91 Stephen Marcel 93 Municipal liberties 93 States-general 95 Provincial assemblies 97 The parliaments 97 The monarchy absolute under Louis XIV 99 Centralisation in France 99 The courts of justice 100 The court of Louis XIV 103 High otEces monopolised by nobles 104 Sale of offices 104 Exemptions of nobles 105 Burthens upon the peasantry 106 Effects of non-residence of nobles 106 Peasant proprietors 108 The game laws 110 Burthensome taxes 110 The militia Ill Famine and bread riots 113 The provincial towns 113 Impoverishment of the nobles 113 Rise of vother classes ; official nobles 114 Capitalists 115 Men of letters 116 The bourgeoisie 116 Civic notables 117 The clergy 117 The lawyers * 118 The new philosophy 119 Voltaire 121 Rousseau 123 Diderot and the ' Encyclopedic ' 123 The Church and public opinion 125 The Huguenots 125 Absence of healthy public opinion 128 Political failures of Louis XIV 128 Reign of Louis XV 139 THE SECOND VOLUME. ix CHAPTER Xin. FRANCE — continued. PAGE Accession of Loxiis XVI 131 The reforms of Turgot 133 Opposition of tlie privileged classes 133 The war of American independence 134 Necker's compte rendu 135 An assembly of notables, 1787 136 The states-general convoked 137 Hazard of the experiment 138 Meeting of the states- general 141 Rights of the three orders 142 The national assembly 143 Union of the orders 144 Dismissal of Necker 144 Taking of the Bastile 145 Renunciation of privileges, August 4 148 Condition of Paris 150 The clubs 153 The invasion of Versailles by the mob 154 The king at Paris 154 New constitution proclaimed, July 13, 1790 156 Foreign aid invoked by the court 156 The king's flight to Varennes 159 Relations of the king to the revolution 159 National legislative assembly , 1G3 Position of the king 163 War with Austria 164 Riotous mob of petitioners, June 30, 1793 165 Duke of Brimswick's manifesto 166 Insurrection in Paris, August 10, 1793 167 The commune of Paris 168 The September massacres . 169 Abolition of the monarchy 171 The Girondists 173 The Mountain 173 Revolutionary propaganda 174 Trial of the king 17.T His dignified conduct 1"6 His execution ; and character 179 A3 X CONTENTS OF CHAPTER XIV. FEANCE — continued. PAGE Triumph of the Mountain 180 The coalition against France 180 Measures of defence 181 The committee of public safety 183 Arrest of the Girondists 183 The convention and the people 184 The invasion ; France in arms 186 Men of the revolution 188 Triumph of French arms 190 Cruelties of the Mountain ; Lyons, &c 191 Execution of Marie Antoinette 193 And of the Girondists 194 Heroism of the revolution 194 The worship of reason 195 Ascendency of Robespierre 196 The Revolutionary tribunal 197 Decline and fall of Robespierre 199 Reaction 201 Proceedings against the terrorists 203 Insurrections 204 Royalist reaction 205 New constitution 206 Defence of the convention by Napoleon Bonaparte 207 France under the Directory 208 The republican army 211 Return of Bonaparte from Egypt 214 Coup-d'ctat, 18Brumaire, 1799 215 Disregard of liberty throughout the revolution 218 Bonaparte First Consul 218 Constitution of Sieyes 218 f The rule of Bonaparte 220 Peace of Amiens 220 Bonaparte at Notre Dame 221 First Consul for life 222 Napoleon emperor 222 Napoleon and the revolution 224 THE SECOND VOLUME. XI FACE His military domination 226 His divorce and marriage 237 Decline of his fortunes 228 His abdication at Fontainebleau 229 Eesults of the revolution 230 Effects of the revolution upon Europe 330 CHAPTER XV. FRANCE — continued. Conditions of the restoration 234 Charter of Louis XVIH 235 Return of Napoleon from Elba 235 Second restoration 236 Weakness of the monarchy 236 Political parties 238 Violence of the royalists 239 Coup-d'etat, September 5, 1816 240 The king opposed to the royalists 242 Royalist reaction 243 Accession and character of Charles X 245 Unpopular measures 246 Dissolution, June, 1827 247 The Polignac ministry 249 Dissolution and coupd'etat, May, 1830 250 Insurrection in Paris, July, 1830 253 Abdication of Charles X 254 Louis Philippe, king of the French 255 Influence of the revolution of July, 1830, upon foreign States. . 355 CHAPTER XVL FRANCE — continued. Difficulties of Louis Philippe's position 257 State of parties 258 Contrast between 1789 and 1830 2(10 Aljolition of hereditary peerage 2fil Insurrections 20^ ill CONTENTS or PAGE Marshal Soult's ministry 204 Corruption 266 Attempts to assassinate the Mng 266 Ministry of Thiers, 1836 267 Louis Napoleon at Strasburg 267 Marshal Soult's second ministry 268 Insurrection of Barbes, 1839 268 Agitation for reform 269 Thiers restored to power 270 Louis Napoleon at Boulogne 271 Marshal Soult's third ministry 273 Discontents of the working classes 273 Reform agitation, 1840-1843 274 The Spanish marriages, 1846 277 Reform banquets, 1847-1848 279 Tumults, February 22, 1848 280 Ministry of Thiers and Odillou Barrot 281 Abdication of the king 283 Failures of Louis Philippe's reign 283 State of Europe from 1830 to 1848 284 Social changes 285 Intellectual progress 280 Effects of the revolution of 1848 upon Europe 287 CHAPTER XYII FEANCE — continued. ■ The republic of 1848 293 National workshops 294 Red republicans, socialists, and communists 295 Firmness of Lamartine 298 Invasion of the Hotel de Ville 300 Storming of the assembly 301 Cavaignac dictator 304 Louis Napoleon elected president 304 The president and the assembly 309 The coup-d'etat, December 2, 1851 314 The massacre on the boulevards 317 Measures of coercion 319 THE SECOND VOLUME. Xlll PAGE Louis Napoleon after the coup-d'etat 321 The second empire 323 The imperial court 324 Principles of government 325 AVars of the empire 325 Domestic policy 327 The war with Prussia 330 Its fatal issue ; the emperor deposed 331 Fate of the first and second empires compared 333 The government of National Defence 333 National assembly at Bordeaux 334 The Commune 337 Progress of socialism 338 Communist outrages 341 Paris in flames 343 The Commune suppressed 343 The republic under Thiers 344 The royalists and the Comte de Chambord 344 Marshal Mac Mahon p resident 346 The 16th May, 1877 347 The future of France 348 CHAPTER XVni. ENGLAND. History of England, that of liberty, not of democracy 349 Character of the country 350 The Celts 353 The Romans 353 The Anglo-Saxons 355 The Danes 358 The Norman conque&t 8G0 The Crown, the barons, and the people o61 Representation of the commons, 1265 363 Political and social progress in the fourteenth century 365 Decay of feudalism 366 Wat Tyler's insurrection 367 Reaction against tlic commons 368 Wars of the Roses 360 XIV CONTENTS OF PAOE Absolutism of Henry VIII 370 The Ref ormatioQ 371 The reign of Elizabeth 373 Social changes ; nobles and country gentlemen 374 The Puritans 378 CHAPTEE XIX. ENGLAm) — continued. Accession of James 1 383 His treatment of the commons 384 And of the Puritans 385 The king and the Church 386 His contests with parliament 389 Close of his reign 391 Charles I. and his parliaments 392 Resolves to govern without a parliament 396 Taxes by prerogative. 397 Ship-money 397 The star chamber and high commission courts 398 Laud and Strafford • 398 Rebellion in Scotland, 1639 400 Short parliament of 1640 400 The long parliament, 1640 402 Remedial measures 403 Impeachments 404 Attainder of Strafford 405 Parliamentary excesses 406 The king and the long parliament 408 Arrest of the five members 414 The Militia bill 415 CHAPTEE XX. ENGLAND — coniinued. The civil war 416 The solemn league and covenant 418 THE SECOND VOLUME. XV rAoE The Independents 419 Oliver Cromwell 420 Self-denying ordinance 431 The king given up by the Scots 423 Fall of the Church of England 433 Presbyterians and Independents 425 The king, the army, and the parliament 430 Growth of republican opinions 433 Trial and execution of the king 435 Contemporary opinion, and judgment of posterity 435 CHAPTER XXL ENGLAND — continued. Provisional government 438 Republican theories 439 Cromwell's supremacy 441 Cromwell protector 444 Vigour of his rule 446 Aspires to a crown 447 • His death 449 His character 449 Richard Cromwell protector 451 General Monk, and the Restoration 453 Effects of the civil war upon the monarchy 455 Reaction under Charles II 456 James II 457 Revolution of 1688 458 Securities for public liberty 459 Characteristics of the Revolution 460 William III 460 The representation 463 Power of the aristocracy 463 From the revolution to the accession of George III 464 Ascendency of the Crown, the Church, and the land 465 xvi CONTENTS OP THE SECOND VOLUME. CHAPTEE XXII. ENGLAND — Continued. PAOS First years of George III 4G8 The war of American Independence 469 Effects of the French revolution 470 Social changes 471 Growth of towns, commerce, and manufactures 473 The Church and dissent , . . 474 Political education 475 Political associations 478 The Catholic Association 480 Agitation for Parliamentary reform, 1830-1832 483 Repeal agitation 483 The Chartists 484 The 10th April, 1848 485 Anti-corn law league 486 Meetings in Hyde Park 487 Moral of political agitation 489 Trades unions 490 Changes in the representation 493 Increase of popular influence and remedial legislation 493 Democratic opinions 495 Loyalty 497 Reign of Queen Victoria 499 Illness and recovery of the Prince of Wales 500 Conservative elements of society 501 Index 503 Democracy in Europe. CHAPTER X. THE NETHEELiVNDS. CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY, AND OF THE PEOPLE — EARLY HISTORY — GROWTH OF TOWNS — THEIR CONTESTS WITH FEUDALISM — CHA- RACTERISTICS OF THE BXniGHERS — RIVALRY OP TOWNS — THEIR MILITARY PROWESS — JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTE\'ELDE — CUL- TURE AND ART — THE HOUSE OP BURGUNDY — THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. — ITALY AND THE NETHERLANDS COMPARED. The history of the Netherlands presents illustrations of democracy under two distinct aspects. T^^.^foj^^ The first exhibits the growth and political ^["dl^J^l™^ power of municipal institutions ; the second, "^'^y- the assertion of civil and religious liberty. Of these, the former was common to the Netherlands and other European States. The latter affords the first and most memorable example, in the history of the world, of the struggles of a nation for the rights of conscience. No country could form a greater contrast to Switz- ^ erland than the Netherlands. Instead of be- ciiaractcrot ing a land of mountains and valleys, Holland the country, and the greater part of Belgium are an alluvial plain, below the level of the sea. Formed by deposits from the Ehine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, it is a dead fiat, VUL. II. — 1 Z THE NETHERLANDS. as far as tlie eye can reacli. The landscape is broken by no hill or rising ground. But in this far-stretching plain, man has carried on a more difficult struggle with nature, than the Swiss mountaineer. He found it a morass, over which the waters of great rivers, and of the ocean, ilov/ed. By patient toil, by hardihood, and by skill, he reclaimed this watery wilderness fi'om nature, and converted it to his own enjoyment. He embanked the rivers : he raised huge barriers against the ocean : he drained the swampy soil which he had resciied from the floods ; and, by his skilful industry, he made it as fertile as the most favoured lands of Euj'ope. So little had nature helped him, that he might almost have claimed the toil-won earth as his own creation. The races by whom this stupendous work was done, wrestled with dangers, hardships and discouragements, without a parallel in the records of human enterprise. Nor could they rest from their labours, when the work was done. They had still to maintain an incessant battle v/ith the elements, to save their fields from being again engulfed ; and too often were they overcome in the unequal strife.^ They could find no foundations for their dwellings, but sand and bog, and piles. They had neither stone nor wood for building. Their quays and warehouses, inviting the commerce of the world, were raised above the waters, by forests of timber from distant lands. In all their undertakings nature continued adverse. Such men were brave, hardy, and resolute. Their lives were one sustained struggle for existence. Having thus divided the land on which they dwelt ' Sir W. Temple said : — ' They employ more men to repair the dykes than all the corn in the province would maintain.' — Observa- tions on the Uhitcd Provinces, ch. iii. p. 15 (Worksj. THE PEOPLE. 6 from tlie waters, tliese stalwart settlers, already sur- rounded by the sea, and by estuaries and Dutch navigable rivers, constructed a network of ''*^^^°'''- canals as the common highways of their country. They were natural-born sailors. They had thrust back the sea fi'om their homesteads : but they were ever ready to brave its dangers. Water was their element : they crossed the ocean, to foreign ports : they coasted along their own sinuous shores : they navigated the rivers and canals. Such a people were naturally des- tined to advance in commerce, in wealth, in industrial association, and in freedom. The races by which the Netherlands were peopled had sprung from Teutonic and Celtic tribes. ^^^^^ ^^^^^ The Frisian, Batavian, and Saxon Teutons Nethlr- generally migrated to the North : the Belgic '''"'^''• and Gallic Celts settled in the South. Holland be- came the home of the Teuk)ns : the greater part of Belgium of the Celts.^ Both had to contend with the natural difficulties of their country : but the hardest struggle, and the worst climate, were the lot of the northern settlers. The inhabitants of the North and of the South had many interests in common. The Frisians and the Flemings especially were united in the toilsome work of reclaiming their lands from the hungry waters, and they were engaged in the same maritime and industrial pursuits. But differences of ' Learued studies concerning the origin and settlements of tliese various tribes will be found in Desroches, Hist. Ancienne dcs Pays. BciH, liv. i. ; Scliayes, Lcs Pmjs-Ban avant et durant la domination Romaine; Renard, Hist. Poliiique ct Militnire de la Bclgiquc; Petigny, Etudes sur I'histoire do Vepoquc Merovingienne ; Juste, Ilist. de Bdfjique, cli. i.-iv. ; and Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, In- troduction. 4 THE NETHEELi^3IDS. race, of language, of social habits, and of religion, withheld them from so complete a fusion, as would probably have followed the settlement of kindred tribes. The one spoke a language of German root : the other generally shared the speech of the kindred Gauls. And their history discloses a continued diver- gence of character and of destiny, in these two an- cient families of man. All these tribes were naturally brave and warlike. Their early ^^^ Nervii, the Batavi,^ and the Belgse, are history. reuowued in history, as worthy foes of Csesar, and the Roman legions.^ All the races united, under the Batavian chief Civilis, and fought bravely, but in vain, to resist the dominion of the Roman Empire. The dwellers in the high grounds of the frontier, near the Meus6, — now the Walloon provinces, — took ser- vice in the Roman armies : but the inhabitants of the plains of Holland and Flanders steadily pursued their battles with nature, cultivated their lands, and en- gaged in new maritime adventures. After the fall of Imperial Rome, the Franks took possession of the Belgic Netherlands : but the Frisians of the north held out, until at length they were reduced by Charle- 924 A D magne, and became subjects of his vast em- pire. The Netherlands were afterwards lost to the Franks, and were united to Germany. Meanwhile feudalism and the Church of Rome were taking a firm hold upon these provinces. In and the the uortli the Count of Holland and the Bishop of Utrecht, — a Prince of the Church, — were the great feudal sovereigns. In the south, the ' Tlie Batavi are called by Tacitus ' ferox gens,' Hist. i. 59. * Ciesar, Be Bella Oallico, books i.-iv. EAELY HISTORY. 5 Dukes of Lorraine and Brabant, tlie Earls of Flan- ders, tlie Bishops of Liege and Tournay, and a host of counts and barons, divided the sovereignty of the country,^ Fortified castles ^vere as threatening, in the Flemish plains, as in the mountains of Switzer- land, and on the rivers of Germany. Friesland alone extorted concessions from Charlemagne, -which re- strained feudal rights ; and successfully resisted the claims of feudalism. The people maintained their ancient liberties, and acquired the name of the Free Frisians. For centuries the iron rule of feudalism held the Netherlands, like other parts of Europe, in its chains. Whatever may have been the traditions of freedom among the German races, they were lost * under the empire of force. But the causes which overcame feudalism elsewhere,^ were gradually un- dermining its power in the Netherlands. Eival counts were at war with one another, and with their sove- reign : feudal lords and bishops were meeting sword in hand, in the field of battle : nobles were impove- rished by costly state, and extravagance ; and the Crusades thinned their ranks, and ruined their for- tunes. Above all, the steadfast character of the peo- ple, and the peculiarities of their country, favoured an early development of maritime enterj^rise, com- merce, and manufactures. These were followed by the rapid growth of towns, and the formation of ur- ban communities of enterprising and wealthy burgli- ' A detailed account of the several provinces and their sovereigns, and their relations with France, the Empire, and Spain, is given ia Juste, nist. de Belgiqne, i. 150 ; ii. 261. See also Orimeston, Oene- red nut. of the Netherlands ; Wicqucfort, Uist. dcs Provinces Unia; Lr)tliian, Hint, of the Netherlands. * See supra, chap. vi. b THE NETHERLiVNDS. ers, — of mercliants, traders, and artificers. While feudalism was declining, the towns were ever increas- ing in power. The commerce and industrial arts of Italy had Growth of favoured the growth of its memorable repub- lics ; and the same causes developed the lib- erties of the great cities of the Netherlands. The po- sition of this country was no less favourable to com- merce, in the north of Europe, than that of Italy in the south. Bordering on France and Germany, and within a day's sail of England, its merchants were in the very centre of northern commerce. By the Rhine and the Elbe, they conveyed their merchandise into the very ' heart of Germany ; and the Scheldt and the Thames in- vited, from opposite shores, the interchange of Flemish and English products. Flanders also became an en- trepot for the commerce between the north of Europe and the Mediterranean. Bruges was the great central mart of the cities of the Hanseatic League, and was the rival of Venice in the Eastern trade. Italian mer- chants brought there the spices of the East, the silks and jewelry of Italy, and the rich productions of the Mediterranean : the English displayed their wools and famous woollen fabrics : the Flemings sold their cloths, lace, and linens ; and traders fi'om the Baltic and North Seas bartered their salt-fish, hides and tallow, for the tempting luxuries of Southern climes.^ Antwerp and Bruges have been aptly described as the Liverpool and Manchester of the fifteenth century. In course of time, new fields of commercial enter23rise were opened to Dutch and Flemish merchants. The discovery of America offered a new world to their commerce ; and > Robertson, Charles V. sect, i . ; Juste, Sist. de Belgique, i. 152, &c. GROWTH OF TOWNS. 7 the sea passage to the Indies, round the Cape of Good Hope, diverted the Eastern trade from the Ita- lian cities, and the Mediterranean, to the adventurous mariners of the Netherlands. In manufactures, and the industrial arts, the excel- lence of the Netherlands v/as no less marked. Their fabrics in silk, tapestry and linen, and their artistic works in brass and iron, were sought for in every mar- ket of Europe. In shipbuilding, their artificQrs were the most active and ingenious of their times. In navi- gation, their seamen were skilful and adventurous. Fleets of merchant ships traded with the coasts of England, France, Spain r.nd Portugal. Their fisheries were pursued, with extraordinary daring, as far as the coasts of Scotland. So far were they advanced in the arts of commerce, that in 1310, there was an insurance chamber at Bruges. Thousands of skilled artificers were busy in the factories and workshops of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and other prosperous cities. In the fourteenth century many of these cities had risen to extraordinary greatness. Ghent is said to have num- bered 250,000 inhabitants:* Bruges 100,000: Ypres 200,000: Antwerp nearly 200,000: Brussels about 50,000, — at a time when the population of London was less than 50,000, and that of Paris not more than 120,000. Noble cathedrals, churches, and town-halls still attest their splendour. Bruges was adorned with fifty churches; Tliiel with fifty-five. The domestic architecture of the chief cities bears witness to the magnificence and cultivated taste of their citizens. Their wealth and luxuries excited the envy of crowned ' At the siego of Ghent, in 1381. tliere were said to bo 80,000 men, bearing arms : Froissart, Chron. ii. ch. 91 (Collection do 13uchon). 8 THE NETHERLANDS. heads. In the seventeen provinces of tlie Netherlands there were 208 walled cities and 150 chartered towns. So vigorous a growth of town societies was necessa- rily accompanied by municipal organisation, and cor- porate privileges. Charlemagne had instituted municipal officers called Early con- scaUni ov sheriffs, to assist the counts in the the'town °* government of the cities. They were chosen 803 A.D. ^y ^jjQ count from patrician families, which, with some of the higher bourgecdsie, ruled these cities. From an early period the inhabitants secured exemp- tion from feudal servitude. But it was not until the twelfth century that they obtained the privileges of municipal self-government. Trade guUds were then organised, which laid the foundation of municipal liber- ties. The guilds chose wardens ; and they again elected two or more of their own body as burgomasters. And to these cities, charters were freely given by the counts, which encouraged self-government. Among their privileges was that of erecting a belfry, to the sound of whose bells the inhabitants assembled, to delibe- rate upon the affairs of the city, or flew to arms to repel their enemies.^ The chartered towns now governed themselves, hav- ing their own laws, their own courts of justice, their own system of finance, their police and burgher guards. Their constitutions were generally alike. Each town had its senate composed of burgomasters^ ' Oudegherst, Ghroniques et Annales de Flandre ; Van Praet, Origine des Communes de Flandre ; De Bast, Institution des Com- munes en Belgique ; Grimeston, Oeneral History of the Netherlands ; Juste, Hist, de Belgique, i. 178, 3rd Edition. ' Most of the towns had three or four burgomasters, but some had one only. CONTEST WITH FEUDALISM. 9 and slieriffs ; and a council of citizens, by wliom tlie senate was elected. The trade guilds were trained to arms, and assembled under tlieir distinctive banners, at tlie sound of the great bell, or by order of the magistrates. This municipal organisation favoured a spirit of liberty and independence, and placed con- siderable power in- the hands of an armed people. Flanders, being more favoured by its position, was in advance of Holland, in the number and prosperity of its towns; many of which obtained charters, a hun- dred years before their Dutch neighbours. A new political power was thus arising, which threatened the supremacy of the nobles. The burgomaster was becoming a more for- mas'eraiid midable power than the baron. The trained bands of the city guilds soon outnumbered the vassals ser\dng under the standards of their feudal chiefs. If less accomplished in the arts of war, they were brave, impetuous, and stubborn. If their onslaughts were not made according to the received tactics of their age, they were too vigorous and determined, to be easily repelled by the most experienced soldiers. These sturdy burghers, convinced of the justice of tlieir cause, and animated by a strong esprit de corps, were slow to admit defeat. If worsted in the strife, they returned to the battle-field, with redoubled force ; and rarely laid down their arms, until their cause was won.^ Their collisions with the counts were inces- ' You know, my Lord, the humour we of Ghent Have still indulged — we never cry for peace. But when we're out of breath : give breathing time. And ere the echo of our cry for peace Have died away, we drown it with ' War I war 1 ' rhilip Van Artcvdde, act i. so. 4. 1* 10 THE NETHEELAiroS. sant ; and wliile tlioir enemies werG continiially -weak- ened by divisions among themselves, tliey were ever increasing in numbers, in wealtli, in organisation, and in confidence. Tlie contest was otherwise unequal, on the side of Local dis- ^^^ barous. The confined area of the coun- of ^he'*^^^^ try at once restricted their numbers, and the barons. extent of their territories. It afforded no such field for feudal dominion as the wide plains of Germany and France. The towns were constantly encroaching upon these narrow domains : while their prosperity and freedom attracted multitudes of coun- try people, who gladly fled from feudal servitude, and agricultural labour, in the dullest of all habit- able lands, to the lucrative employments, the com- forts, and the free and active social life of the busy town. The peculiar character of the country itself also ^^g placed the barons at a certain disadvantage, suited for' ^^ preseuce of their powerful and combative defence. neighbours. In Italy and Sr^ritzerland, in Germany and France, we see the ruined castles of the feudal lords, frowning from rocky heights, and com- manding the rivers and valleys beneath them. The Alps, the Apennines, the Riviera, the Pyrenees, the Rhine, the Moselle, the Danube, and the Loire bristle with these grim monuments of mediaeval life. Nature had there provided fortresses for the warlike barons : but in the low plains of the Netherlands, they sought in vain for height, or crag, or other defensive vantage- ground. Nature had been niggardly in her gifts to this sorry land. The peasant could find no safe foun- dations for his humble cot : the lord could find no defence for his castle, save in the moat, the raised CHAEACTER OF THE BUEGHERS. 11 drawbridge, the looplioles and the battlements of his own construction. His stronghokl could be sur- rounded by his enemies : it was open to sudden as- saults and surprises, to the onslaught of armed men, or to the insidious torch. The hosts of burghers, who swarmed from the city walls, often found the castles of their baronial foes an easy j)rey to their impetuous raids. Such being the inequalities of the strife, it was natural that the towns should gradually have prevailed. Their quarrels with the no- of the bles were incessant. Sometimes new claims ""^^ ^^^' were repelled : sometimes the payment ' of accus- tomed dues was resisted : sometimes a casual provo- cation, on either side, was resented. In these rude times it were vain to inquire, to which side justice more often inclined. The barons were haughty, and exacting; and ever ready to draw the sword. The burghers, proud of their civic franchises, bearing their own municipal burthens, and inflated with local patri- otism, showed scant respect for feudal rights. Feu- dalism, with all its incidents, had been established by the power of the strongest ; and by a still stronger force, it might now be overthrown. The like conflicts had arisen everywhere : they were the natural results of feudalism, enduring in the midst of a changing and growing society. But nowhere had the burghers been so headstrong and aggressive, so resolute in the asser- tion of their rights, so prompt to assail others, as well as to defend themselves, as in the Netherlands. In Holland, they were stubborn and determined : in Flanders, Brabant, and other provinces, where the Celtic temperament prevailed, they were violent and impulsive. But all pursued the same ends, in their 12 THE NETHERLANDS. own fashion. In tlieir dealings witli local barons, oi* provincial sovereigns, they were ever determined to have their own way. Parley and compromise were not to their taste : their rude and hardy fibre prompted instant action. They were as ready to begin the fray, as to maintain it. They fought with nobles, as they had wrestled with the sea, and with adverse nature. They would not allow any power to withstand them. Such a temper advanced their liberties, while it dis- turbed the peace of the country, and checked their social prosperity. In admiring their courageous love of freedom, we cannot be blind to the rough and un- mannerly fashion in which it was, too often, asserted.^ They lived in a rude age, when men were more ready with blows than words: when force was still the first law of society: when every man's hand was raised against his neighbour: when the baron was at war with baron and burgher : when the lord of the ' Hallam says : — ' Liberty never wore a more unamiable counte- nance than among tliese burghers, who abused the strength she gave them by cruelty and insolence.' — Middle Ages, ii. 86. Mr, Motley says : — ' Doubtless the history of human liberty in Hol- land and Flanders, as everywhere else upon earth where there has been such a history, enrols many scenes of turbulence and blood- shed, although these features have been exaggerated by prejudiced historians. Still, if there were luxury and insolence, sedition and uproar, at any rate there was life. Those violent little common- wealths had blood in their veins : they were compact of proud, self- helping, muscular vigour.' — Rise of the Dutch BepubUc, Intr. p. 35. According to Juste : — ' Cette vieille terre de liberte ne sut jamais supporter le despotisme, quel qu'il f iit, religieux, ou philosophique, espagnol, autrichien ou hollandais. De la, le reproche de turbulence adresse mechamment a un peuple qui se bornait a defendre les droits les plus sacres, les libertes confirmees par le serment du prince, des traditions conservatrices de la nationalite.' — Hist, de Belgique, Intr. p. 10. OPLUENCE OF TRADE GUILDS. 13 strong castle was, at once, warrior and brigand. In such a condition of society, liard-workiug burghers are not to be judged by the standards of our settled times. They had sprung from robust northern races, more given to deeds of hardihood than to gentle man- ners : their lot had been cast in an unpromising land, and an ungenial climate: they could gaze upon no scenes of natural beauty : there was little of warmth or colouring in the atmosphere : there was nothing around them to inspire their imagination, to raise their thoughts above their daily toil, or to in\dte re- pose and tranquil enjoyments. They were traders, weavers, shipwrights, mariners, striving lustily in the battle of life : they worked under leaden skies, and looked out upon a landscape like the Isle of Dogs. Such men were naturally rough, earnest, and obsti- nate. They were brave, as the bravest knights : but they knew not chivalry, or courtesy. In following the rude struggles of the burghers for freedom, we must not overlook the influence P , ^ .11 ,1 • 1 J 1 Influence of oi trade guilds upon their character, and trade ... . fuiklgi political life. These associations, — useful, and even necessary, in the infancy of industrial trades, — contributed to the early civilisation of the inhabitants of towns, and forwarded their civil liber- ties. They were a great source of strength to the people : but tlie gathering together of a great number of men, engaged in the same employments, having common interests and sympathies, and separated from other members of the community, tended to narrow their political aims, and to encourage a dangerous esp'it dc corps. Like trades-unions of modern times, they could only see their own side, in any disj^utc : they were possessed by a single idea ; and they ad- 14 THE NETHEELAI^DS. vanced it witli passionate resolution. At home tliey were led into turbulence, factions and tumults : abroad, they were hurried into impulsive wars with nobles and rival cities. Such were the burghers of the Nether- lands ; and, whatever their faults, they won for them- selves an extraordinary measure of fi'eedom, at a time when freedom was little known in Europe. Unhappily, the rude struggles of these city com- jjj^,j^j monwealths were not confined to contests for cities. freedom. The eternal jealousies of rival cities had been fatal to the peace of Greece, of Italy, and of Switzerland; and they were no less disastrous in the Netherlands. Ghent and Bruges, and other cities,^ fought against each other with as much fury as any rival cities, in other lands. Chronic warfare was the lot of these unsettled times; and was common to burghers as well as barons. Had they lived in peace, and united their forces, no sovereign could have with- stood them, as was proved in many memorable suc- cesses, in later times. The country beyond the limits of the town-lands The nobles ^o^med the domains of the noblesse and of as citizens, 'bighops and abbeys. The nobles exercised an extensive jurisdiction; and were exempt from taxes, in consideration of their feudal obligations. Many of the nobles, however, attracted by the increasing luxu- ries of the towns, which offered a more agreeable residence than their own swampy plains, came to live among the citizens, and to share their security and ' ' Toutes ces guerres et liaines murent par orgueil et par envie que les bonnes \nlles tie Flandre avoient I'une sur I'autre, ceus de Gand sur ]a ville de Bruges, et ceux de Bruges sur la ville de Gand, et ainsi les autres villes, les unes sur les autres.' — Froissart, Chronique», ii. cb. lii. (Collection de Buchon). MILITAEY PEOWESS OF TOWNS. 15 ease. Between tlie two classes there was as little fel- lowship as between the earl and the alderman, of modern times. But, for the sake of pov/er, several nobles obtained admission to the trade-guilds, and concerned themselves in the municipal government. Some thus became leaders of the people : while others, by their haughty bearing, their violence, and attempts at usurpation, made themselves obnoxious to their fellow-citizens. In 1257, Utrecht thrust forth its bishop, and nobles, and began a lengthened struggle with feudalism. In 1303, Mechlin and Louvain, the two principal cities of Brabant, — like many of the Italian republics, — expelled the patrician families from their walls. As the military strength of the cities increased, their pretensions were no longer confined to local struggles with the nobles or rival cities. They re- sisted the decrees of the great sovereign dukes and counts of their provinces, and prowess of took up arms to maintain their rights. They were even able to contend against foreign kings. The Flemings, to overcome the Count of Flanders, had ac- cepted the sovereignty of Philip the Fair, King of France : but, discontented with the rule of their new master, they were not afraid to revolt against him. In 1301, the burghers of Bruges, led by Peter de Ko- ning, a draper, and John Breydel, a butcher, drove out the French garrison : and, in the following year, won a signal victory over the army of tlie King of France, at the battle of Courtrai. Other towns sent forth their militia ; and after two more years of stubborn warfare, the Flemings overcame their royal foe. This remarkable triumph of civic arms revealed the 16 THE NETHEELANDS. uses of union among the towns, in defence of their confodera- coDimon liberties; and a confederation was tl)wns^ formed between the towns of Flanders and 1333. Brabant. In 1323, the warlike Bruges was again in arms. With the aid of other Flemish cities, the stubborn burghers made war upon Count Louis of Flanders, and the nobles. They stormed, and dis- mantled the feudal castles, throughout the province, and they took prisoners, the Count himself, and the greater part of the nobles, who had fled, for safety, to Courtrai. But their triumph was short-lived. Ghent, the jealous rival of Bruges, had taken no part in the movement ; and the King of France, coming to the rescue of the Count, in a new disj^ute, routed and destroyed the gallant Flemings, at the battle of CasseL Ghent was the next city to take the lead in Flemish James Van poli^ics ; and, by the union of the burgher Arteveide. forces of Confederate cities, it was able to play a consj)icuous part in the history of the Nether- lands and of EurojDe. James Van Arteveide, a patri- cian, who, — in order to direct the councils of the citj, — had joined the guild of brewers, became the leader of the Flemish people. He soon swayed a greater power than the Count of Flanders himself. Having overcome the Count, and driven him into France, he assumed the popular sovereignty of the province. He negotiated a treaty of commerce with Edward III. of England ; and, having persuaded the Flemings to transfer their allegiance to that monarch, as King of France, he joined, like an independent power, in the war between the rival kings. He brought 60,000 men to the English army at Antwerp : and sent a Flemish squadron to Sluys to aid the English fleet. These timely reinforcements largely contributed to the sue- PHILIP ViVN AKTEVELDE. 17 cess of the Englisli arms. A truco was agreed to, be- tween tlie combatants ; and Van Artevelde ruled over Flanders, under the name of Euward, as a sovereign prince. According to Froissart, * there never was in Flanders, nor in any other country, prince, duke or other, that ruled a country so peacefully, for so long a time.' The power of the burghers, over feudalism, was illustrated by the wondi'ous career of the brewer of Ghent. But the popular sovereign, having risen to power by their favour, fell a victim to their wrath. Outraged by his attempts to transfer the sovereignty of Flanders, to the descendants of Edward III. of Eng- land ; and suspecting him of having sent the Flemish revenues out of the country, the citizens, especially the members of the lesser guilds, rose and slew him in his own house,^ The military power of the burghers of Ghent showed itself again, under the guidance of phiiipvan his no less distinguished son Philip. He overthrew Louis de Male, Count of Flanders, b}'^ a bold coup de main upon Bruges : ^ was proclaimed regent of the provinces ; and like his father, ruled with all the state of a sovereign prince. His burgher forces proved themselves not unworthy foes of the chivalry of France, commanded by their young king Charles "ST. in person ; but, weakened by ^.^^ ^ ^ the defection of many cities, and overcome ' Froissart, Chrmiiques, i. cli. 248 (Collection de Buclion). Few itliapters in Froissart are more interesting than tliis. lie was the noblest and the wisest man That ever ruled in Ghent ; yet, Sirs, ye slew him ; By his own door, here, where I stand, ye slew him. PMlip Van Artevelde, act ii. sc. 2. "■ Froissart, Chroniques. ii. rp. 101, 102. 121, 153-lGO (Collectiou do Bu'-'hou). 18 THE NETHEELANDS. by superior forces, the gallant Philip fell, upon the field of battle, in the midst of his routed host.^ While the burghers were thus contending with the nobles, and maintaining their rights against their feudal superiors, they were not without grave divi- sions amonsr themselves. The guilds were Guilds of _ _ _ . ° '^ , the Flemish divided luto greater or lesser trades, the former being composed of burghers, — gen- erally employers of labour, — and the latter of arti- ficers. The members of the greater guilds were wealthy, powerful and ambitious. They enjoyed the dignities of burgomasters and councillors : they were clothed in the municipal purple ; and they ruled with the power of an aristocracy, over the civic state. The working classes could gain admittance to the greater trades, by giving up manual labour for a year and a day : but the great mass of artificers, bound to the lesser trades, were continually striving against the power and privileges of their more exalted bre- thren. In every town, the old war was waged be- tween a commercial aristocracy and a democracy. At Brussels, Louvain and Antwerp, the people rose in arms against the privileged citizens. In many of the cities, the municipal constitutions having become close, and in a great measure self-elective, it was only by such demonstrations, that the lesser guilds were able to assert their influence. Such constitutions were not fi-amed upon a democratic basis : no provi- sion was made for tlie legitimate exjjression of popu- lar oj)inion, in the municipal councils, by the direct ' Froisaart, Chroniquea, ii. cli. 176-108 (Collection de Bnchon). The history of this time is delightfully told by Froissart, and may now be read, with redoubled interest, in Sir Henry Taylor's dra- matic romance of Philip Van Arlcoclde. CULTUEE AND ART. 19 election of representatives ; and the elements of de- mocracy, which abounded in these populous cities, instead of being duly associated with authority, were left to maintain irregular and impulsive struggles against it. The local government was often an oli- garchy, while the spirit of the burghers was pecu- liarly democratic. Violent factions were also formed, like the "White Hoods of Ghent, who, banded together, in p^j^^^^jg arms, took the direction of affairs out of the hands of the magistrates, and hurried the people into wars and tumults.^ It was by such bands as these, that the industrious burghers were often enticed from the factory and the workshop, to disturb the peace of the city, to slight and provoke their counts, or to en- gage in quarrels with their neighbours. In the midst of all these wars and tumults, society was advancing rapidly in culture. The re- improved vival of literature and the arts in Italy was ti'iVNcthcr- associated with the rise of its republics ; and the like result is to be observed in the free cities of the Netherlands. The culture of the wealthier citi- zens was higher than that of their own class, in any other part of Europe except Italy. Their sons were educated at their own renowned university of Lou- vain, at Paris, and at Padua. "Without neglecting the classics, they were proficient in modern lan- guages, so peculiarly necessary for a commercial peo- ' Froissart, Chroniques, ii. ch. 53, 60. For truly here there are a sort of crafts, So factious still for war, and obstinate. That we shall he endatif^er'tl. Suing for peace Is ever treason to tlu^ Whit(; Hoods. riulij^i Vait Arkvchle, act i. ac. 1. 20 THE NETHERLANDS. pie. Their artisans also were not only skilled in liandicrafts, but were remarkable for ilieir intelli- gence and mental activity : they associated in clubs and other societies for recreation and instruction, of which the most important were called guilds, or Guild, of chambers, of rhetoric. Here poetry, satires (ftfSh and lampoons were recited, plays, masques ceuiury). ^^^ pagcauts acted, and music performed. Among a free, robust and turbulent people, politics naturally intruded into such performances,— just as the Greek drama became political ; and these socie- ties exercised much influence upon the political sen- timents of the people. Great license was enjoyed by them ; and in anticipation of the printing press, which was about to revolutionise the mind of Eu- rope, they were powerful instruments for the associa- tion and political instruction of the people. While courted by princes and nobles, they boldly assailed the abuses of the government, and the vices of the clergy ; and they prepared the way for the Reforma- tion. In the arts, the free cities of the Netherlands were , not unworthy rivals of their more gifted Dutch and '' -, no t Flemish brethren of Italy. In the fifteenth century, the brothers Yan Eyck, Hans Hemlmg, and other masters were already founding a national school of painting, whose works became the admiration of Europe. In stately and picturesque architecture, the cities of Flanders and Brabant will bear comparison with the best examples of Italy. Their carvings in wood attained such perfection as to entitle them to rank with sculpture, as a fine art. Such are the evi- dences of a cultivated society, and of advanced civil- isation. CHANGES OF DYNASTY. 21 "Wliile tlie cities of the Netherlands were thus advancing in wealth, culture, and military The cities power, tiiey were acquiring more extended hi'the^"^'^'' political privileges in the government of the ^"''''°^- State. They sent delegates to the provincial assem- bly of the Estates,^ where they sat with the nobles, whom they generally outnumbered.^ In the thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries the principal cities of Holland, Flanders and Brabant, sent their dejiu- ties to the Estates ; and, while supreme in their own municipal affairs, they voted all the provincial taxes, and exercised a commanding influence in the general administration of the province.^ Here were all the characteristics and traditions of a free people, — the manly northern race that Character- had battled bravely with Koman conquerors, i^i'c^ "f — the long training of free institutions, the spirit of commercial enterprise, the culture which, in all ages, has been the handmaid of fi-eedom, and the association of citizens in business, in instruction and amusement. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the lib- erties of the Netherlands had attained their t,,,.,„^,,^ „f greatest development, when they were check- f") '""^"^y- ed by changes of dynasty, which were destined to provoke disastrous conflicts between the people and their rulers. The burghers had been no unequal match against their own counts and bishops, even when assisted ' In Holland tlic flcputies wero electnd l)y tlie senates, each city- Laving one only, whatever the number of deputies. * In BraV)ant there were fourteen deputies, of whom four were nobles, and ten were chosen by the burghers. ''' Davics, Hint, of Holland, i. 70 ct scq. 22 THE NETHERLANDS. by foreign alliances : but wlien tlie Netlierlauds fell increasino- ^^^^ ^^i® liancls of poweiful sovereigns, with FheTove- Standing armies, and foreign resources, they reigns. were at a serious disadvantage. They had been able to resist feudalism : it was now to be seen how far they could withstand the encroachments of monarchs upon their civil rights, and the assaults of tyrants upon their religious liberty. Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, first acquired the sovereignty of Flanders and Brabant ; and iJursundy, his accessiou promised well for the liberties of his subjects. So long as the dominion of the House of Burgundy was confined to these pro- vinces, the towns continued to display their accus- tomed independence. But at length Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, secured the sovereignty of nearly all the re- 1437 A.D. , . . o J J mainmg provinces of the Netherlands.^ And this new sovereign was also ruler over his own domains of Burgundy, and considerable territories in France. He found the burghers of Bruges and Ghent as intrac- table as ever : but he subdued them. Ghent resisted him, in open war, for two years : but, at length, he conquered the rebellious city, and punished it by the forfeiture of its most important privileges. He visited with greater severity the refractory burghers of Liege, and Dinant. The municipal councils had begun to exercise great influence, even beyond the boundaries of their own cities, and were able to control the sove- reign and the nobles. Philip confined them to their municipal aff'airs, and permitted no interference with ' His territories did not include Friesland, the bishopric of Utreclit, Guelders, or Li»'ge, Guelders was afterwards conquered by his son Charles the Bold. THE HOUSE OF EUKGTMDY. 23 Lis sovereignty. Ghent recovered its privileges from Charles the Bold ; ^ but Liege, again rebellious, was given up to pillage.^ This haughty and impetuous prince was too much engrossed with foreign wars, to concern himself much about the welfare of the Nether- lands : but he drained them by excessive taxes, and often provoked revolts by his exactions. He raised a standing army ; and he gave arbitrary powers to the supreme court, to deal with the charters of the pro- vinces. His power was weakened by the victories of the free and gallant Swiss ; and his early death de- ferred, for some years, the impending struggle between liberty and despotism.^ But while, during the rule of the first princes of the House of Burgundy, the political power of the people was subdued, their wealth and prosperity were rapidly on the increase, and were laying the foundation of their future freedom. At the death of Charles tho Bold, the provinces and towns assembled a conven- tion at Ghent, and extorted from the young Duchess Mary,* the 'Great Privilege,' or charter, by which the free constitution of Holland was restored. Tho oieat The right of the provinces and towns to hold ^'"^■''''*''*^- diets, for the consideration of public affairs, ^*" ^'°' was admitted. The sovereign was not to impose taxes, to declare war, or to coin money, without the consent of the Estates. The sovereign undertook to meet tho ' For a graphic account of the bold and unmannerly fashion in vhlch this was effected, Bee Philippe de Comniines, M('m. ii. ch. 4. He says : ' A la vorite dire, aprt^s le pcujile do liii'go, il n'en est nul plus inconstant que ceux de Qand.' Sec also Baranto, Jlitit. dcs Uucs dc Barbarities. crease their zeal. At length, maddened by their hatred of a persecuting Church, the people rose in the prin- cipal cities throughout the Netherlands, and destroyed the sacred emblems of Catholic worship. The ^j^^ j^^^,, noble churches were desecrated, their pic- *^'"^'''- ^'-^■ tures and statues defaced, their costly monuments of marble and precious stones demolished. The inquisi- tors were exterminating thousands of men and wo- men : the furious multitude were destroying the proud works of human genius- Religious hatreds, thus ex- acerbated, threatened civil war. Armed bodies of Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists, thirsted for each others' blood. At Antwerp they were only restrained from deadly conflict, by the influence and judgment of the Prince of Orange. The people were now threatened with a darker doom. Philip had resolved to rule his re- ^,,p p,„^g bellious subjects wdth a stronger hand; and of^iva. Alva was coming to the Netherlands, with a Spanish army. It was his mission to trample out rebellion and heresy with his soldieiy ; and how was he to be resisted ? The Prince of Orange knew but too well the fate which was impending over his country : but he stood alone. He had not one foreign ally : tlie confederation of frivolous nobles who had made merry ' Bcrghen died of grief in loG7, not without suspicion of poison ; and Montigni was privately executed in prisoii in 1570. 42 THE NETHEELANDS. as ' beggars ' was dissolved : Counts Egmont and Horn, — ^tlie foremost men of the Netherlands, next to the Prince himself, — still put their trust in Philip, and would not raise the standard of revolt against him : the provinces were without concert or preparation ; and the people without arms or discipline. If nobles and people had cordially united under the Prince, Alva might possibly have been held at bay : but resistance was now hopeless. The Prince retired into exile, in time to escape the death to which Philip had already sentenced him.^ In vain he warned Counts Egmont and Horn of their danger. They relied ujDon their own loyalty, and public services, and the good faith of their king ; and their confidence was repaid by the forfeiture of their lives, upon the scaffold. Alva at once established a revolting tyranny, — to UN cmci- ^^ execrated in all ages. His devilish ' coun- ties. i5Gr. jjji Qf blood ' struck terror into the hearts of the people. Its mission was to punish all persons concerned in the late troubles : it was supreme over all other courts : it was restrained by no laws but its own will : it took cognisance of all offences committed, or even not j)revented ; and every act of opposition to the government, — even the signing of petitions for re- dress, — was condemned as high treason, and punished with death. It may be briefly described, indeed, as a State Inquisition. Its commissioners were despatched all over the country to discover delinquents; and upon their reports the council promptly decided. In three months this dread tribunal had doomed to death no less than 1,800 victims. Men of high rank and character, and acknowledged loyalty, suffered death ' Motley, Dutch Republic, ii. 92. ALVA AS GOVEENOE-GENERAL. 43 for tlieir i^atiiotism or humanity. Not to have ap- proved of every measure of Philip's tyranny was high treason. To be rich was a dangerous crime, for con- fiscations formed the greater part of Alva's financial resources. Crowds would have fled from the accursed land of their birth : but the 'butcher' Alva had closed every outlet, and held his victims firmly in his toils. There was terror and mourning throughout the land : every household was stricken and sorrowful: the whole nation was in tears. No crime so great had yet disgraced the history of Christendom. Many had been the crimes of tyranny and bigotry : but none, — not even those of the Inquisition itself, — could equal, in calculating malignity, this concerted crime of Philip and Alva. The heart of Philip was gladdened by the wretched- ness of his people ; and Alva was rewarded for the innocent blood he had shed. The Governor- Duchess of Parma retired from the sickening scene ; and Alva ruled supreme as governor-general of the provinces. The council had been indefatiga- ble : but blood enough had not yet been shed ; and the Spanish Inquisition came to Alva's aid. By a sen- tence of that holy court,' — which reads like a solemn pleasantry, — all the inhabitants of the Netherlands were condemned to death, as heretics. It was fol- lowed by a royal proclamation, directing the sentence to be immediately executed, without respect for ago or station.^ This monstrous sentence did not aim at extermination : but it conferred absolute power over the lives of every man, woman and child in the ■February IG, 1508. "^ Mf)tley, Dutch Jtcpublir, ii. 158. 4A THE NETHERLAKDS. Netherlands, without proof of heresy, without trial, without a hearing. Why should any be heard? Were they not already condemned? They who escaped their doom, were to be accounted fortunate. And , thus blood flowed out ; and Alva's exchequer flou- rished. It was the work of demons, profaning the name of religion. The Prince of Orange, though out of the realm, was outiawi- cited before the blood council, condemned PrinM of ^^^ outlawed. His property was confiscated, onnge. g^^^ j^jg eldest son seized at the college of Louvain and sent captive into Spain. He published a noble 'justification' of himself; and proclaimed to the world the wrongs of his suifering country. Mean- while he had resolved to do battle with the tyrant : he was appealing to the sympathies of the Protestant provinces of Germany : he was in correspondence with England, and with the Huguenots of France : he was raising money and enlisting troops. He sold his own plate, jewels and furniture ; and he gathered subscriptions from princes, nobles, cities and private individuals. He was absolutely without personal ambition : he was no revolutionary leader : but he was striving to restore the liberties of his country, and to resist tyranny and persecution. Alva was now threatened with an invasion to rescue the Netherlands from his grasp. Never were troops led to fight in a nobler, or a holier cause, — the rescue of a whole people from oppression. But the incidents of the long struggle between the patriot Prince and the Spaniards cannot be related here. The first cam- paign, with the exception of a single victory by Prince Louis of Nassau, was disastrous : the invading forces were routed and destroyed ; and Alva was stronger and • EFFORTS OF THE PEINCE OF OEANGE. 45 fiercer than ever. The Prince's friends were discour- aged, and advised him to desist fi-om further eflforts : the Emperor Maximilian commanded him to lay down his arms : but the heroic William was not to be turned aside from his great mission, by defeat and dangers. The cause he had esj)oused was now doubly sacred in his eyes. Hitherto he had striven as a patriot to save his country from persecu- Prince's tion : but he had now renounced the Catholic Church; and the martyred Protestants were of his own brotherhood. His faith was grave and earnest, as became his great soul : but he was superior to the fanaticism of his age. While yet a Catholic, he had protected Protestants; and now his toleration em- braced Catholics, and every sect of reformers. In an age of narrow bigotry, he stood alone as the chamj^ion of religious liberty. Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists and Anabaptists were ready to burn one another : but he was resolute to protect them all alike. The council and the Inquisition still thirsted for more blood : but executions had ceased to be productive to the revenue. The richest men oppression. had already perished : commerce and indus- try had been stricken by the reign of terror. Alva was, therefore, driven to financial expedients less sim- ple than confiscation. He assembled the Estates, and demanded taxes which would have utterly ruined their trade.^ Overawed by Alva, they were, at first, disposed to assent to this ruinous taxation : but ultimately tliey obtained a commutation. Utrecht, more resolute in its resistance, was cnicUy punished for its contumacy. ' Among tlicm was a tax of ten per cent, on every salo of met* cliandise. 46 THE NETHEELANDS. Pliilip and Alva were, at length, sliamed into an ^,^ jjjj^ amnesty. Not that they were weary of shed- nesty. 1570. (Jjng blood : but the country was desolated ; and its sufferings had become a scandal throughout Europe. To save appearances, therefore, an act of grace was proclaimed, by which none were pardoned. In the words of Mr. Motley, * the innocent were alone forgiven.' It was a cruel mockery of the wretched people ; and no one was deceived by its merciful pre- tences. Alva now revived his ruinous scheme of taxation, which was everywhere resisted. The crushed the Nether- people Were almost goaded to revolt, when a lands. 1571. f. i t . j • - 1 • p i timely diversion was made m their favour, by a descent of privateers, in the service of the Prince of Orange, upon the coast of Holland, and the occupa- tion of Walcheren. At length there was hope for the people : city after city rose up against its magistrates and raised the Prince's banner: Holland, Zealand, Friesland and Utrecht were soon entirely his own. He was proclaimed stadtholder: but allegiance was sworn to the king of Spain. At a congress of the northern provinces at Dort, Congress of *^® Priuce obtained liberal supplies, and ^"'■^- raised an army. He marched boldly on- wards: many cities, — Mechlin among the number, — declared in his favour: he was supported by auxiliary forces from France, whence he was promised other re- inforcements. Mons had been seized by a successful raid of Count Louis of Nassau; and he seemed on the point of reconquering the Netherlands from its oppressors, when his prospects were sudden- St. Baitho- ly darkened by the astounding intellicrence lomew on of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. It was MASSACEE or ST. B.VETnOLOMEW. 47 a heavy blow to the Protestant cause, and destroyed all hope of further assistance fi'om France. Again was the Prince obliged to disband his army, and retire into Holland, leaving Mons and Mechlin to the savage vengeance of Alva, tirestoHoi- while other cities again bowed their necks before the conqueror. Flanders and Brabant were soon subdued: but the contest continued to rage in Holland. The sieges of Harlem and Alk- maar are memorable in histor}', for the heroic '""' * courage and endurance of their citizens, — ^worthy of the great cause for which they fought. With some brilliant successes, but many grievous losses, the Prince still maintained his ground, jjj^ in the northern provinces, with straitened re- »cti%ity. sources : seeking everywhere for help, and as yet find- ing none. Without advisers or agents, he performed all the labours of the State ; and he was in correspon- dence with most of the courts of Europe. He was often grieved by the excesses of his owti followers, who had caught the contagion of Spanish ferocity: but he was ever constant and hopeful. The two great purposes of his life were freedom of conscience, and the recovery of the ancient liberties of the commonwealth. His hopes were soon to be raised, once more, by the retirement of the tyrant Alva from the scene of his cruelties. He had been faith- or Aiva. ful to his master: he had not spared the rod, but his victims were not reduced to slavery by his chastisements: he had slain multitudes, in bat- tles and sieges : his rule had been signalised by more than eighteen thousand executions : he had scourged the land with confiscation, pillage, and the outrages of a brutal soldiery: but the Prince of Orange still 4S THE NETHEBLAIJDS. defied tis power, and Protestants had muUij)lied. He tad wrung ruinous taxes from the people : but his treasury was empty, and his troops were without pay. His name had become a reproach throughout Europe : yet his cruel mission had j)roved a failure. With a new governor, some change in the fortunes Don Lnis de ^^ ^^® country might be hoped for ; and Don i^'^i'ie^eus. L^^ig de Requesens, grand commander of Castile, was believed to be coming to rule by con- ciliation and clemency. To gain time and to deceive and divide his enemies, he favoured the illu- sion, and talked of an amnesty : but no such purpose was in the gloomy mind of Philip, who would grant no pardon to heretics. After many months, a mock amnesty was issued, granting pardon to all who should become reconciled to the Church of Rome. It was received with scorn by the stout Calvinists of Holland. Meanwhile, the war was continued with varying The siesje fortuues. At sea the patriot fleets were vic- of Leydeu. ^qj-jq^q . \y^^ qjj land au army under Count Louis was cut to pieces ; and that gallant com- mander, the very right hand of Orange, and his brother Count Henry, lost their lives. But the great event of this period was the remarkable siege of Leyden — unique in history. The courage and con- stancy of its citizens : the marvellous strategy of the Prince of Orange, who called in the ocean waves to circumvent the besieging Spaniards : the devotion of the husbandmen, wlio cheerfully gave up their lands and houses to the devouring flood : the advance of Admiral Boissot's fleet, over fields, through dykes, and under fortresses bristling with cannon, to the re- lief of the beleaguered city ; and the solemn thanks- THE CONGrvESS OF DELFT. 49 giving of the survivors of the siege, arc incidents which have consecrated, for all time, this heroic struggle, and its holy cause. At the instance of the Emperor Maximilian negotia- tions for peace were now commenced ; and Negotia- - conferences were held at Breda to arrange prace!^*"^ its terms. But the obstinate bigotry of the ^^~^- king rendered them hopeless. The people of Hol- land and Zealand had now become Protestants : few Catholics were to be found amongst them : yet Philip insisted that the Catholic faith should be restored throughout the Netherlands. One concession, in- deed, he made to Protestants. They were permitted to sell their goods, and leave the country. In other words, the inhabitants of the entire provinces were to submit to confiscation and banishment ! The con- ferences were broken off, and the civil war continued. To strem^then the national cause, the union .„ . "^ AlIorjiaTlCC of Holland and Zealand was agreed upon, to i-iuiip and the Prince of Orange became the ruler of the United Provinces. This was followed by the unanimous resolution of the nobles and cities, assem- bled in a Diet at Delft, to renounce their allegiance to the king, and to seek foreign assistance. They had no thought of founding a republic : but were ready to submit themselves to some other monarch, less bigoted and cruel than Philip. The sud.len death of De Eequesens placed tho government, for a time, under the State ^,,^.p^jj. , council of Brussels, and aflbrded a brief in- p^^^t terval of repose to the distracted provinces. The Prince redoubled his efforts to strengthen the national party. At the congress of Delft, he ^^^^.,^ j.^^^ reconstituted tho union of Holland and Zea- VOI-. ir.— 3 50 THE NETHEELANDS. land, upon a representative basis : the reformed faith was established, but no man was to be troubled on account of his belief or conscience ; and supreme, if not dictatorial, authority was conferred upon the Prince himself. Here was laid the foundation of the future republic. Help was urgently needed from abroad. The Foreiffiiaid couutry had been laid waste by war, and witiiheid. ^j^g truculent severities of the Spaniards : its resources in men and money were unequal to the con- flict with its oppressors. But help there was none. The Queen of Protestant England was profuse in ex- pressions of good-will, but held her purse-strings tight : in France, attempts to conciliate the Hugue- nots had raised the hopes of the Prince, without pre- sent result : in Germany there was coldness towards the Protestant cause, and bitterness between rival sects ; and the Prince's unceasing diplomacy was un- fruitful. And now there came a new and unexpected scourge upon the people. The Spanish troops, which Spanish liad been so long the bloody agents of op- pression, had grievances of their own. They had done their hateful work, but were denied their pay. There had already been mutinies for the same cause : and, at length, the whole army was in revolt, and preparing to pay itself by general pillage. That such savages should be let loose upon a defenceless people was a fearful evil : but it held out hopes for the popular cause. With a mutinous army, the government was re- conereps duced to impoteuce ; and the universal hatred of Ghent. ^^ ^i^g Spanish soldiery, might prove the ground of union among all the provinces. The Prince, THE 'SPANISH FUEY.' 61 with his usual sagacity, seized the occasion, and as- sembled a congress of all the provincial Estates at Ghent ; the State council at Brussels was arrested ; and, for a time, the Spanish rule seemed at an end. But the terrible soldiery were, in the midst The Spanish of the people, like unchained devils, — plun- ■''^'■^- ^^'^''* dering, murdering, ravishing. Maestricht was sacked, and its people butchered. The oj^ulent city of Ant- werp, however, suffered most from their brutality : it was wantonly set on fii'e, and its finest buildings burned to ashes ; its citizens were murdered by thou- sands, their women outraged, and their property stolen, wasted and destroyed. This devils' work was execrated as the 'Spanish Fury,' — a wrong never to be forgotten or forgiven. This awful tragedy quickened the deliberations of the congress ; and on November 8, a treaty - - , . , Pncification between the several provinces was agreed to, of ohent.^ known as the pacification of Ghent. The provinces bound themselves to unite in expelling the foreign soldiery ; the Protestant faith was established in Holland and Zealand, and entitled to toleration in the other provinces; and the Inquisition was con- demned. This treaty, confirmed by popular acclama- tion, seemed the commencement of a new era in the sad history of the Netherlands. On the arrival of the new governor, Don John of Austria, the Estates were able to dictate con- cations to his assumption oi the government. ofDoiuioim mi o -IT- inn j of Austria. ihey forced him to agree to the departure of the foreign troops ; and the Spanish forces were actually sent away. They extorted from him a colour- able adherence to the pacification of Ghent, and pro- mises to maintain the charters and constitutions of 52 THE NETHERLANDS. the Netherlands. But, on their side, they bound themselves to maintain the Catholic faith, and to disband their trooi^s.^ The Prince of Orange was ill pleased with these conditions. He distrusted the governor : he saw deceit and artifice in his conces- sions ; and was indignant that securities were wanting for the Protestant faith. In vain Don John attempted to gain over the Prince, by fair promises. The leader of the patriot party was not to be moved from his watchful and vigorous resistance to Philip, either by offers of personal rewards, or by hollow professions of lenity to his people. Don John, however, by his concessions, secured his acknowledgment as governor, and endeav- eiffiorts of oured to win popularity by mixing freely with the people. The Prince, meanwhile, was striv- ing to strengthen his party in the States. He gained little support from the nobles, who, however much opposed to the Spaniards, were fearful of taking an ac- tive part against the government, and were generally Catholics. But he found the heartiest sympathy, and most courageous self-sacrifice, from the middle classes. It was among them that the Reformation had taken root : they suffered most in their trade and industry, from the oppression of the Spaniards ; and they were animated by the same love of freedom as their burgher ancestors. There lay the Prince's strength ; and there has been found the spring and source of liberty, in all ages and in all countries. As the governor's power was weakened, the Prince His a?cen- of Orange recovered his ascendency through- ' '^"^^ ■ out the provinces. He was invited to Brus- ' The Perpetual Edict, signed February 17, 1577. ASCENDENCY OF ORANGE. 53 sels by tlie Estates : lie was received everywhere in triumpli; and was elected to the ancient office of Euward of Brabant, and Stadtholder of Flanders. The Netherlands were again under his rule. Even in the more Catholic provinces, the people were on his side : but the nobles were plotting against him. They endeavoured to supplant him, by inviting the Arch- duke Matthias to assume the government : but their intrigues were counteracted by the prudence and self- denial of the Prince, who was willing to take for him- seK a second place. Again and again was he obliged to deplore the inconstancy and treachery of the no- bles. Even when they offered resistance to the gov- ernment, they were rash, precipitate and violent, and did little to sustain his general policy. His sole reli- ance was upon the people. The Estates were persuaded by the Prince of Orange to adopt a remarkable act of toleration. The -.t tt • ■•- New Union Pacification of Ghent had recognised the tol- °^ Brussels, 'eration of reformers : the New Union of ^^''^■ Brussels bound all communions to protect each other from persecution. The Estates also agreed to a free representative constitution of the Netherlands. It was a great triumph of the Prince's policy : "but it was short-lived. In presence of the Spanish power, the State was not to be governed by the resolutions of a congress, but by the sword. The Prince's di2")lomacy and recent successes had, at length, secured promises of aid fi'om Elizabeth of England. It was the begin- ning of that course of meanness, irresolution, deceit and treachery, by which the Queen brought discredit upon herself, and embarrassment to the Netherlands. As yet, however, the Prince had nothing but native levies and mercenaries, commanded by nobles, unskil- 54 THE NETHERLANDS. ful in war, and of doubtful loj^alty to himself and to liis cause. A few weeks after the Union of Brussels, these forces were utterly destroyed in the disastrous battle of Gemblours ; and the Netherlands seemed again at the mercy of the Spanish governor. The Prince was expecting help from England and The Prince ^^^^ Frauce, wheu one other hope was found, ofParma. fQj. ^}jq national cause, in the illness and death of Don John of Austria. This hope, however, was doomed to speedy disappointment. Don John was succeeded by the Prince of Parma, the ablest and most politic of all the governors by whom the Netherlands had yet been ruled. The English contin- gent, — unpaid and demoralized, — was soon broken up ; and the Duke d'Alen§on disbanded his French troops, and retired into France. Meanwhile, the new gov- ernor, with Italian subtlety, was undermining the con- federacy by corruption. The Catholic nobles of the South were jealous of the Prince of Orange : they had no sympathy for the people : they were estranged, by their religion, from the national cause ; and they fore- saw more profit from the king of Spain, than from a popular stadtholder. Tempted by high rewards, they were able -to detach the five Walloon provinces^ from the union. The inhabitants were chiefly Catholics, of Celtic blood, and alien tongue ; and they were an agri- cultural people, with little of the intelligence of the commercial provinces of the North. They readily fol- lowed their faithless leaders, and withdrew 1579 from the national union, which they had so recently joined. This schism was a greater triumpli to absolutism, and the Catholic Church, than any which the arms of Alva had effected. ' Viz. Ilainault, Artois, Lille, Douay, and Orcliies. THE UNION OP UTEECHT. 55 This perilous defoction was immediately met by the Union of Utrecht, by which the Prince of The union Orange brought together the seven provinces °^ Utrecht. of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Gelderland, Zutphen, and the two Frisian provinces, into a league which was eventually to grow into the republic of the United ^ Netherlands. In this, as in every other act of the Prince, the principle of civil and religious liberty was maintained ; all local constitutions being upheld, and freedom of conscience respected. The diplomacy of Parma was seconded by equal vigour in arms. Maestricht fell, after a de- ^tt^^ptg ^^ fence as heroic as that of Harlem or Leyden, omn-l. and was punished with a truculent severity, ^^'^• worthy of Alva himself. Encouraged by his success with the nobles, Parma next approached the Prince of Orange with offers of high reward : but that noble soul put them aside as treason to his country. His trusted friends, men whose wrongs might have secured their constancy, were seduced from his side by bribes and high commands: he was surrounded by treach- ery: but — ruined and afflicted as he was — he was proof against every interest but that of his noble cause. Finding Orange superior to the subtle arts of Parma, the king now tried intimidation. He had long jj,^ excom- since favoured the secret assassination of his """lie-in- foe ; and now he fulminated against him a ban ^^• of civil excommunication.^ Ho denounced him as an enemy to the human race: gave his property' to any- one who should seize it; and offered 25,000 crowns, and a title of nobility, as reward for his assassination. ' Dated March 15, 1580 : but not publislictl until Juno. 66 THE NETHEELANDS. This infamous edict, — infamous even in a king already stained by every crime, — was nobly answered Prince's ^ "by ^lie Priuce, in an 'apology,' in which he proudly vindicated himself and his cause; and hurled defiance and rebuke at his oppressor. Hitherto the national party had continued to profess allegiance to the Spanish crown: but when allegiance all liope of coucessions had passed away, northern they began to discuss, with freedom, the provinces. , i-i, ijx- £ ' j recijDrocal rights and duties oi princes and their subjects. Forfeiture of hereditary right, by crimes against the people, was boldly maintained by the Prince in his apology ; and it was plain that the northern provinces would soon declare their inde- pendence. "Whatever the form of their government, — whether The Prince Constitutional monarchy, or republic, — there govcnt*"^" was but one man fit to rule them: the pa- ment. 5 0. ^^.^qj. Pj-jj^ce who had achieved their freedom. With a magnanimity peculiar to himself, the Prince renounced his proper place in the commonwealth. He had sacrificed everything for his country; and now that the highest reward of a patriot states- man, — the power by which he could best serve his countrymen, — was pressed upon him, he waved it aside as a bauble, and ofiered humble service to the State. This self-sacrifice was due, however, not to any His want of confidence in himself, — not to any motives. shrinking from peril or responsibility, — not even to fear of misconstruction by his enemies, — ^but to a desire to strengthen his alliance with foreign States. With this view he promoted an arrangement for securing the sovereignty of D'Alengon, now Duke DECLAKATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 57 d'Anjoii. He lioj)ed tlius to obtain the support of France and England against Spain : for Elizabeth was now coquetting with the Duke, and their union was believed to be assured. Holland and Zealand would submit to no ruler but their own beloved Prince : but the other ind^,pen. provinces accepted the sovereignty of Anjou ; prov^,ces"^^ and on July 26, 1581, the provinces at length P'ociaimed. solemnly declared their independence, by an act of abjuration, proclaiming the king lawfully deposed, for his tyranny, and the violation of the laws and fran- chises of the people. There was no pompous asser- tion of the abstract rights of the people : but a simple deposition of a sovereign who had broken his con- tract with them, and had forfeited his power by mis- rule. Its example was to be followed, in England, upon the same principles, a century later. But the provinces were divided. The Prince, who might have united them under his own rule, was with difficulty induced to accept the temporary government of Hol- land and Zealand, while the other provinces were left to the French prince. A republic was not yet estab- lished in name : but it was, at least, a State, or Com- monwealth, without a king. It was not intended that the Duke d' Anjou should be invested with more than a high dignity, and nomi- nal power : but it was a disastrous choice. The alli- ance proved worthless : his match with Eliza- ^j^^. ^^^^^^^ both was ridiculously broken off; and his d'Anjou. own conduct was to prove inconceivably base aiid treacherous. He was, however, received with groat rejoicings, and he swore to observe the ancient char- ters and constitutions of the provinces. How ho kept his oath will V)o seen presently. 3* 58 THE NETHERLANDS. Tlie Prince of Orange, meanwhile, was beset witli Attem tod dangers. Tlie ban was beginning to bear its assasi^ina- fruits. Ou March 18, 1582, be- was wound- tion of ' j" _ Orange. q^^ almost to cleatli, by a hired assassin. A bankrupt merchant Anastro had bargained with Phibp to get the murder done for 80,000 ducats, and the cross of Santiago. The wretch himself escaped : his instrument was cut to pieces for his crime ; and other agents in the plot were executed. The Prince survived; and his countrymen loved and trusted him more than ever. They now couift^of"*'^ insisted upon his acceptance of the office of Holland. QqijjjI; Qf Holland, which constituted him he- reditary ruler of Holland and Zealand. His powers, however, were limited by a singularly free constitu- His liberal ^^°^* "^^ derived his authority from the policy. people ; and all his powers were to be exer- cised subject to their representative Estates. This constitution was the work of his own hands : he sought no dominion for himself : but political liberty, justice, and freedom of conscience for his countrymen. The great aims of his policy were so far fulfilled, in his own little commonwealth. How different the lot of the provinces which had done homage to Anjou ! They were soon the Duke overruu again with Spanish troops ; and the Duke, their sworn protector, was plotting to seize the chief cities, and to hold them for the French January crowu. His treasou was at first successful : 1583. i^Q took possession of Dunkirk, Ostend, and some other towns : but was foiled in an attempt upon Bruges ; and routed in a shameful raid on ' French Antwerp. This ignoble enterprise was called ^^^'' the ' French Fury,' and revealed to the world ASSASSHUTION OF ORANGE. 59 tlie falseliood, treaclieiy, and cowardice of Anjon. The Netherlands had sought a powerful friend ; and had found a scourge as fierce as the Sj^aniards. This base prince, discovered and thwarted in his treason, denied his guilt, while he was bargaining with Spain for the sale of the towns he had surprised. Covered with infamy, if not with shame, he quitted the country, and died, not long afterwards, in France. The provinces, which had been thus betrayed, again besought the Prince of Orange, their natural and trusted chief, to assume the government ; aKaiiTre- and again his modesty, self-denial and free- Rovern- dom from ambition, held him back from a great mission. It is the duty of the foremost man in a State, to assume its highest responsibilities ; and the Prince's shrinking from that duty was his only short- coming, in a noble life of public service. Foreign alliances had hitherto brought nothing but disap- pointment and disaster. The union of the State, under such a ruler as Orange, would have served his country better than the intrigues of France, and the broken promises of Elizabeth. But the career of this great man was now drawing to a close. His unscrupulous enemies had jn, (i«s,ai?si. doomed him to death. : they could not con- "^^i""- quer him in war, or diplomacy, "but they could bribe assassins to take his life. He had escaped assassina- tion by poison, at Bruges, in July 1582 ; when the as- sassins confessed that they had been hired by the Duke of Parma.^ Three other attempts were made upon his life, in little more than twelve months ; and many bravos had received blood -money from the ' Tbo Duke d'Anjou was to have been poisoned at the same time. '60 THE NETHERLANDS. Spanish government, without giving work for their wages. At length the right man was found, in one Gerard. While coveting the rewards promised for his crime, he was a fanatic who believed that he was doing service unto God. Too well did the wretch carry out his plot ; and on July 10, 1584, the noble patriot was slain, in his own house at Delft, and in the midst of his family. The assassin suffered death : but his parents received the rewards of his crime, being ennobled by Philip, and endowed out of the estates of the murdered Prince. It was reserved for a king, so stained with crimes, to attain this crowning infamy ! Thus died the patriot, the soldier, the statesman, the orator and diplomatist, who had dedi- apolt^e of cated his life to his country, and to the sacred ?/gioii«"i'ib-^ cause of civil and religious liberty. He was ''' ^" the first statesman in Europe who had pro- claimed the doctrines of freedom of conscience: he was the first to teach the great political lesson that the rights of kings are forfeited by tyranny, and that subjects may lawfully take up arms to resist oppres- sion. Such doctrines practically maintained, in the sixteenth century, laid the foundation of European liberties. The man himself was worthy to be the apostle of such a cause. Pious, earnest, simple, con- stant, self-denying, generous, and brave, he stands forth as a central figure in history, a noble represen- tative of liberty. In his age, absolutism also had its representatives, in the Emperor Charles V., Philip of Spain, and Charles IX. of France. If a cause may be Judged by the character of the men who espouse it, the cause of William of Orange will not suffer by the contrast. HOLLAND AFTEH THE DEATH OF ORANGE. 61 The Netlierlancls mourned the loss of tlieir great leader witli iudiguant sorrow : but they had been trained to freedom : their couraG:e was ceeding his dcuth. high : their hatred of the Spaniards was sublimed by this crowning wrong ; and they resolved to wage war against their tyrant unto death. The ^ states-general of the provinces not yet recovered by Sj)ain/ appointed an executive state council, under the presidency of Prince Maurice, the second son and representative of William of Orange, — a noble youth of seventeen, who afterwards succeeded his father as stadtholder. It was a small State to resist ,,„, , . T . 1585. the richest and most powerful kingdom in Europe ; and was soon reduced by the defection or conquest of the parts of Flanders and Brabant which had hitherto held out against Parma. Ghent, Brus- sels and Mechlin capitulated ; and Antwerp sur- rendered, after one of the most eventful sieges in histoiy. The sad northern provinces of Holland, Zealand, Friesland and Utrecht alone remained to constitute the new republic. It was natural that so small a State, wasted by its protracted struggles, should desire, more g^^^., . earnestly than ever, an alliance with some f"i>ij,'n •^ . alliances. stronger power ; and it was among States supposed to have sympathies with Protestants, that such an alliance was sought. From the Protestant countries of Germany there was no promise of help ; and the eyes of the Dutch diplomatists were there- fore turned towards France and England. In France, the Huguenots, having recovered from ' Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, and parts of Flanders and Brabant. 62 THE NETHERL.yn)S. St. Bartholomew, now enjoyed toleration ; and were Ne'Totia- ^ rising and hopeful party, under the pa- France^'^ tronage of Henry of Navarre. If the king of France would protect Holland from Philip, and extend to its people the same toleration which he allowed his own subjects, Holland offered him the Bi'-oted sovereignty of the united provinces. This ivauce?^ tempting offer was declined : for a new 1585. policy was now to be declared, which united France and Spain in a bigoted crusade against the Protestant faith. The League, under the Duke de Guise, gained a fatal ascendency over the weak and frivolous king, Henry III., and held dominion in France. Henceforth the Catholic worship alone was to be allowed ; and heretics were to be punished with death and forfeiture. After six months, all who had not conformed to the Church were doomed to League banishment for life.^ Nor was the baneful Prote^uut^ influence of the League confined to France : fauh. ^^ formed a close alliance with Philip and the Pope, with whom it was plotting the overthrow of Protestant England, the subjection of the revolted provinces of Spain, and the general extirpation of heresy throughout Europe. War was declared, by absolutism and the Church of Home, against civil and religious liberty. The only hope of the Netherlands was now in England, which was threatened by a com- Nogotia- ° "^ tions with mon danger ; and envoys were sent to Eliza- beth with offers of the sovereignty, which had been declined by France. So little did the Dutch statesmen as yet contemplate a republic, that J Edict of Nantes, July 18, 1585. AID FROM ENGLAND. 63 tliey offered their country to any sovereign, in return for protection. Had bolder counsels prevailed, Elizabeth might, at once, have saved the Netherlands, and views of placed herself at the head of the Protestants of Europe. She saw her own danger, if Philip should recover the provinces : but she held her purse-strings with the grasp of a miser : she dreaded an open rup- ture with Spain ; and she was unwilling to provoke her own Catholic subjects. Sympathy with the Protestant cause, she had none. She discountenanced Catho- lics, because they denied her supremacy, and plotted against her life and throne : but she was indifferent to the Church of England, and hated the Calvinists. Her royal instincts were also naturally opposed to a rebellious people. Accordingly, in negotiating with Holland, she desired to afford as much assistance as would protect her own realm against Philip, at the least possible cost, without precipitating a war with Spain. She agreed to send men and money : but re- quired Flushing, Brill, and Eammekens to be held as a security for her loans. She refused the sove- reignty of the States : but she despatched troops to the Netherlands, and sent her favourite, the Earl of Leicester, to command them. As she had taken the rebellious subjects of Spain under her protection, Philip retaliated by the seizure of Bribish ships. * Spanish vengeance was not averted, while the Neth- erlands profited little by her aid. The English ex- pedition failed : the Netherlands were disheartened and suspicious : Elizabeth's scheming missed its mark ; and Philip was planning the invasion of Eng- land.^ ' fcico Froude, ' llist. oi' Eugland,' xii. I:j7, ^08, U78, 413. 64 THE NETHEELANDS. 'I The fortunes of Holland were at their lowest point, ^^^ when a momentous event suddenly opened ^anish a prospect of deliverance. The Spanish Ar- mada, which PhilijJ had prepared to ruin England and the Netherlands, with one blow, had been routed and dispersed into the North Seas, by the British fleet. Spain was humbled ; and the cause of absolutism and bigotry was cast down. Other critical events were also promising well for The the liberties of Holland. France was torn mFrliUce. by auarchy and civil wars. The king had 1589. destroyed or imprisoned the leaders of the League, and had been himself assassinated : Catha- rine de Medicis was dead : Henry of Navarre — the idol of the Huguenots — was in arms, claiming the crown, by hereditary right : Philij) of Sj^ain was fight- ing to gain it for hirhself or his daughter the Infanta. It was now Philip's dream to conquer France ; and thence to take vengeance upon England, and to re- cover the united provinces. All his eflbrts were to be first concentrated upon France ; and the Duke of Parma was withdrawn from his charge in Absence of ii>)ii Parmii Flauders, to fi^ht the kiuf? s battles upon from the ' ^. ® ■•■ Nether- Freuch soil. His absence offered the Neth- erlands an unexpected opportunity of deal- ing heavy blows against the Spaniards. With their accustomed gallantry, and signal military skill, they soon profited by the occasion. The young stadtholder, Prince Maurice, rising from Prince his boyish studies, proved himself at once a Maurice. consummate general. He reorganised the army, with the ripe judgment of a veteran, far in ad- vance of the military system of his own age. In cool- ness, courage, and scientific strategy, he had no equal DECLINB OP THE SPANISH POWER. 65 save his experienced enemy, tlie Dnke of Parma. Ably- supported by Olden-Barneveld, and other shrewd and vigorous councillors of the Republic, he resolved to recover all the fortified towns still held by the Spa- niards, in and near the united provinces. He ,^o„ ,.„„ surprised Breda : he took Zutphen, Deven- ter, Nymegen, and many other towns ; and the death of Parma opened fresh prospects of \dctory. Meanwhile, Philip's French enterprise had failed. The dashing and unscrupulous Henry of Na- jj^^^j.^ ^j varre had won his crown, by conforming to i^pcomc's the Catholic faith. Already the most popu- frafce! lar and powerful of the rival candidates, he thus removed the only bar to his claims : while he assured his Huguenot friends of protection, and free- dom in their worship. Great was the shock, given by his politic apostacy, to the religious sentiments of Europe : but it was fatal to the ambition of Philip ; and again the Netherlands could count upon the fi'iendship of a king of France. Their own needs were great : but the gallant little republic still found means to assist the Protestant champion against their common enemy, the king of Spain. In the Netherlands the Spanish power was declin- ing. The feeble successors of Parma were Decline of no match for Maurice of Nassau and the re- powen ^"'* * publican leaders: the Spanish troops were starving and mutinous : the provinces under Spa- nish rule were reduced to wretchedness and beggary. Cities and fortresses fell, one after another, into the hands of the stadtholder. The Dutch fleet . , . . . 1595-1597. joined that of England in a raid upon Spain itself, captured and sacked Cadi/, raised the flag of the republic on the battlements of that famous 66" THE NETHEHLANDS. city ; and left tlie Spanish fleet burning in the har- bour. Other events follov\^ed, deeply affecting the fortunes of the republic. Philip at length made peace Philip of with Henry of Navarre, and was again free Spam, -^ ^ . to coerce his revolted provinces. But his accursed rule was drawing to a close. In 1598 he made over the sovereignty of the Nether- lands to the Infanta Isabella and her affi- anced husband, the Archduke Albert, who had cast aside his cardinal's hat, his archbishopric, and his priestly vows of celibacy, for a consort so endowed. Philip had ceased to reign in the Netherlands ; and a few months afterwards he closed his evil life, in the odour of sanctity, — assured that he had done no man wrong, and needed no repentance. The tyrant was dead : tha little republic, which he had scourged so cruelly, was living and pros- ofthe^"^ j)6ro^"is. Throughout its trials, the sturdy citizens, masters of the sea, and trained to commerce and maritime enterprise, had extended their ventures far and wide, and had grown in wealth, and lucrative industry. The population was recruited by immigi'ants from the less favoured provinces. They had no democratic theories or sentiments ; but in re- sisting tyranny they had become, by force of circum- stances, a republic ; and their robust spirit of freedom displayed itself in all the acts of the commonwealth. While the despotic Philip, with all his vast posses- sions, was starving his soldiers, and repudiating his debts, this brave little citizen-state was bringing model armies into the field, was sending forth its fleets to victory, and its merchant-ships to discover new realms, and to trade with the whole world. It was helping THE SPANISH PROVINCES. G7 the Protestant cause in France with men and money ; and was speeding its blunt, outspoken envoys to the French king and English queen, to combat, with truth and earnestness, the artful diplomacy of crowned heads. While in the other States of Europe religious persecution raged, or toleration was only fitful and in- secure, freedom of conscience had been founded for ever, in this land of civil and religious liberty. Nor were its rulers less careful of the intellectual cul- ture of the people, than of their material welfare. The reno-^-ned University of Leyden was founded for the learned education of the rich, and free schools were established for the general instruction of all classes. Far different was the lot of the ill-fated provinces still in the grasp of the tyrant. The land lay waste and desolate : its inhabitants had tiie Spanish fled to England or Holland, or were reduced to want and beggary. Antwerp was ruined, and its commerce transferred to Amsterdam : weeds grew in the streets of Ghent and Bruges, which had once been thronged with crowds of thriving citizens. Merchants and artificers had been driven forth from a land, where their lives and property were held at the will of their oppressors, and where industry was blighted by war and rapine. England, France, and Holland were al- ready profiting by their skill and enterprise : while Spain had lost the best of her own subjects, and the most fruitful sources of her wealth. As the government of the republic was founded on the ancient constitutions of the provinces, it ^ . , ■■■ Coiitititu- was municipal rather than popular. The tionofthe *■ ^ _■'■•'■ roj)ublic. states-general, which exercised supreme au- thority, even over the state-council itself, consisted of 68 THE NETHERLANDS. delegates from tlie provincial assemblies. These as- semblies again were chosen by the municipal magis- trates of the different cities, who were themselves self-elected. Nowhere was there po]3ular election: the representation was municipal throughout. The few nobles in the republic had a voice in the provin- cial assemblies and in the states-general, as supposed representatives of the rural districts and smaller towns : but the greater number had left their northern home, and were in the councils, or armies of the king. Thus the entire power of the State was in the hands of the middle classes. From among themselves they elected magistrates and delegates, and so ruled their citizen-state. In theory it was far from being a model republic: but as yet, the interests of the community were bound up in a common cause ; and the staid burghers governed with honesty and patriotism. That the republic should have outlived its chief Further oppressor, was an event of happy augury : events. j^^^ years of trial and danger were still to be passed through. The victory of Meuport raised Prince Maurice's fame, as a soldier, to its 1 COO highest point ; and the gallant defence of Ostend, for upwards of three years, against the Spa- niards, j)roved that the courage and endurance of his soldiers, had not declined durino; the pro- 1601-1604 or tracted war. At sea the Dutch fleets won new victories over the Spaniards and Portuguese ; and privateers made constant ravages upon the ene- my's commerce. But there were also fail- 1604-1600. ■" ^ .7 .-I p .r ures and reverses, on the side of the re- public, dissensions among its leaders, and anxieties concerning the attitude of foreign States. And thus, with varied fortunes, this momentous NEGOTLVTIONS FOR PEACE. 69 •war had now continued for upwards of forty years. On both sides, the foremost men of two gen- erations had passed away : tens of thousands of'peace. had lost their lives in battles and sieges : all had undergone privations and suffering. The republic could only maintain the struggle by great sacrifices : the Spaniards obtained little succour fi'om Madrid, or revenue from the wasted provinces. Their neglected troops were in constant mutiny. On land, the prospects of tlie two parties were fairly balanced, and promised interminable war. At sea the Dutch had a decided and increasing superiority. On both sides there was a desire for peace. The Dutch would ac- cept nothing short of unconditional independence: the Spaniards almost despaired of reducing them to subjection, while they dreaded more republican vic- tories at sea, and the extension of Dutch maritime enterprise in the East. Overtures for peace were first made cautiously and secretly by the archdukes/ and received by the States with grave distrust. Jealous and "o"'* 1'"^ . T • peace. haughty was the bearing of the republic, in the negotiations which ensued. The states-general, in full session, represented Holland, and received the Si^anish envoys. The independence of the States was accepted, on both sides, as the basis of any treaty : but, as a preliminary to the negotiations, the republic insisted upon its formal recognition, as a free and equal State, in words dictated by itself ; and upon the consent of the king of Spain. Full of diplomatic wiles and subterfuges, the Spaniards in vain attempted to evade these conditions. They were foiled by the firm- ' This was the title of the archduke and arcliduchess. 70 THE NETIIEELANDS. ness, and straiglitforward purposes of the states-gen- eral. The proud little republic dictated its own con- ditions to the archdukes ; and at length an armistice was signed, in order to arrange the terms of a treaty of peace. It was a welcome breath- ing time : but peace was still beset with difficulties and obstacles. The Spaniards were insincere: they could not bring themselves to treat seriously, and in good faith, with heretics and rebels : they desired the re-establishment of the Church of Eome ; and they claimed the exclusive right of trading with the East and West Indies. The councils of the republic were also divided. Barneveldt, the civilian, was bent upon peace : Prince Maurice, the soldier, was burning for the renewal of the war. But Barneveldt and the peace party prevailed, and negotiations were conti- nued. Again and again, the armistice was renewed : but a treaty of peace seemed as remote as ever. At length, after infinite disputes, a truce for twelve years was agreed upon. In form it was a The twelve o j. years' truce, trucc, and uot a treaty of peace : but other- 1609. . wise the republic gained every point upon which it had insisted. Its freedom and independence were unconditionally recognised : it accej)ted no con- ditions concerning religion : it made no concessions in « regard to its trade with the Indies. The great bat- tle for freedom was won : the republic was free : its troubles and perils were at an end. Its oppressors had been the first to sue for peace : their commis- sioners had treated with the states -general at the Hague ; and they had yielded every point, for which they had been waging war for nearly half a cen- tury. Nor were these the only triumphs of the republic. EECOG^rmON OF THE REPUBLIC. 71 Philip had burned Protestants by thousands : but his son, in ratifying the truce, besought indul- ReiiL'ions gence for the Catholics. President Jeannin, pTaKd'for the French ambassador, made an eloquent ^'*"^''''^- appeal to them in the same cause, asserting that no slavery was so intolerable as restraints upon the free exercise of religion. The tables were turned ; and the republic had made illustrious converts to religious toleration. The recognition of the Dutch republic, by Spain and other States, was an important epocli in the history of European liberties. Ab- of the -111 en • -I republic. solute power had been successfully resisted : the right of a people to revolt against oppression had been recognised by crowned heads ; and freedom of conscience had been maintained against the Church of Rome, and the Inquisition. Such principles as these could not be confined within the narrow limits of the United Neth- itst^igni- erlands : but were spreading and bearing *^*=''"'^''- fruit throughout Europe. In France the Huguenots had recovered freedom of- worship, under Henry IV. In England there were already signs of the coming conflict between the Stuarts and the Parliament, in which the principles of the divine right of kings, and ecclesiastical dominion, on one side, and civil and religious liberty on the other, were to be fought out In Bohemia, the disciples of John Huss had long since obtained toleration for the reformed religion ; and at this very time,^ the Emperor granted freedom of worship to Protestants, in Hungary and Austria. In resisting the tyranny of Philip of Spain, the Neth- ' In Hungary, Oct. 19, 1G08 : in Austria, March 13, 1609. 72 THE NETHEKLANDS. eiiauds had been fighting the battle of Protestantism, and of European Kberties. The Spaniards and Portuguese had hitherto taken Union of the lead in geographical discoveries, and re- andcom- mote Commercial adventures : the Pope had ^^^^^- assumed to give them a monopoly in trade with the Indies : but now the fi-ee State of the Netherlands, whose commercial resources had ena- bled it to resist the overwhelming povv'er of Spain,^ wrested from the hands of despotism the primacy of the seas, and the commerce of all nations. Hence- forth England, — also advancing in freedom, — was to be its only rival in maritime enterprise, in distant conquests, and wide - spreading empire. Despotic Spain was declining in power, in wealth and intel- lectual activity ; and the two freest States in Europe were sharing the commerce, the riches, and the do- minion of the world. The intellectual development of Holland was also ^ „ , associated with its freedom. The whole Intellectual P'«£:'ess of population was educated ; and the higher classes Avere singularly accomplished, espe- cially in modern languages, in which they have re- tained their proficiency, in modern times. Among the liberties enjoyed, in the early days of Freedom of the republic, was a remarkable freedom of opinion. speech and of the press, upon all affairs of State, far exceeding that permitted in any other country, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Painfully instructive was the contrast between the other Netherland provinces, and the more fortunate ' Philip I. having conquered and annexed Portugal, enjoyed the dominion and commercial rights of both countries. THE SPAOTSn PEOVEnTES. - 73 republic, Tliey had cast in tlieir lot -witli despotism ; and had lost their very life-blood. Far sii- perior, m natural advantacres, to the north- spanfeh •■• . Ill Ti piovinces ern provinces, they had once engrossed the after t'le commerce and manufactures of the ISeth- erlands. But ships were now rotting in the port of Antwerp : the looms and workshops of Ghent and Bruges were silent as the grave. Eealms, once happy and prosperous, were blighted by tyranny ; and for more than two centuries, continued an ex- ample and a warning to Europe. On one side were freedom and prosperity : on the other, oppression and ruin. These provinces continued to observe their old con- stitutional forms. Their provincial assem- ^,^^5^. ^^^^_ blies, composed of the clergy, the nobility, t^'i'ution. and the third estate, or commons, were accustomed to meet: but their power was monopolised by a few churchmen and nobles. Deputies from the larger towTis were chosen by the privileged and self-elected magistrates; and all the smaller towns, and the country, were without even the form of representa- tion. After 1634, the summoning of the states-gene- ral was discontinued ; and the Netherlands, as a na- tion, were governed by the viceroy, without popular control or responsibility. But, apart from political administration, the people continued to enjoy many > privileges conceded to them in former times. The administration of justice was independent; and the liberty of the subject assured by law. Some of the provinces claimed peculiar franchises under charters, the most remarkable of wliich was the joyense entree of Brabant; and the old municipal constitutions of the cities were generally maintained: but with tlieiv life vol,. 11—4 74 THE NETHERLANDS. and spirit subdued by local oligarchies, and foreign rule. The Dutch republic was confirmed as an indepen- Doraestic dent State : its embassies were received with thf Dutdf consideration and respect, by crowned heads : Eepubhc. g^ great future of commercial prosperity, of colonial conquest, and European wars, by sea and land, was before it : but its domestic history cannot be followed without disappointment and sadness. A people who had won their freedom, by such heroic sacrifices, should have made its worthy enjoyment an example to the whole world : but they were distracted by religious discords and civil strife. A municipal constitution, and a federation of provinces, provoked disunion : while the jealousies and ambition of rulers, and tlie factious violence of the populace, brought re- proach uj)on a free country. The stadtholder, now become Prince of Orange, by Thestadt- ^^^ death of his ill-fated brother, was the Baraeveidt. ^^'^^ ^^ ^° wroug to the Republic, which he ^*'''^- had so nobly defended. His hatred of Bar- neveldt had increased since the truce, until he was bent upon his ruin, even at the cost of freedom and justice. To subvert his influence in the states-general, he arbitrarily changed the senates of many of the towns, and filled them with creatures of his own, — an act more worthy of the tyrants with whom he had done battle, than of the chief of a free commonwealth. This breach of the constitution was followed by the illegal arrest, and judicial murder, of the aged Barne- veldt, by which the freedom of the republic was pro- faned. Grotius, and other friends of this eminent statesman, were cast into prison ; and ministers of re- ligion of the 'remonstrant' party were banished and THE HOUSE OF ORiVNGE. 75 imprisoned. Such were the fruits of civil and reli- gious liberty, under Maurice of Nassau.^ And now the republic was to be drawn into the great whirlpool of European wars, which ^ar^ofthe desolated many lands for upwards of a cen- republic. tury. It fought for the Protestant cause, against the Catholic League, in the thirty years' war,^ which shook the foundations of absolutism and the Church of Eome. The twelve years' truce expired, and hostilities were resumed be- tween Spain and the Netherlands. The arms of the republic were again victorious : but it was nearly thirty years before an honourable peace was, at length, concluded. The gallant little State had won a considerable place among the powers of Europe ; and this period was the culminating point in the glories of the republic. Its maritime genius was not yet overshadowed by that of England : its struggles with foreign enemies had united domestic factions in a common cause ; and its extended com- merce and foreign possessions had poured prodigious riches into the land. Cultivation and the arts flou- rished with its wealth and liberty. It was the age of Grotius, Heinsius, and Meteren : of Rembrandt, Wou- vermans, Cuyp, and Paul Potter. A less propitious period was approaching. The office of stadtholder had become virtually ,p,,^ jj^^j^^ hereditary in the House of Orange, and "''^''■'"'se- those princes were assuming, more and more, the pre- ' See Mr. Motley's Life and Death of John of Barneveldt, ch. 18-22. "^ On one side were the Elector Palatine, Henry IV. of France, the kings of England, Denmark, and Sweden, and the United Provinces : on the other, the Pope, the Emperor of Germany, the king of Spain, and the archdukes of the Netherlands. 76 THE NETHERLANDS. tensions of royalty. William II. of Orange had mar- ried the princess - royal of England, daughter of Charles I. This alliance naturally assured his sym- pathies with that unfortunate monarch, and embroiled the republic with the English Parliament. In imita- tion of the errors of Charles, which had precij^itated his doom, he arrested six of the most emi- 1650 nent deputies of the states-general, and sur- rounded that assembly with troops. He attempted to seize Amsterdam, by an armed force, in the dead of night, and to wreak his vengeance upon that wealthy city, which had ventured to oppose his royal will. This hopeful prince would either have trampled un- der foot all the liberties of the republic, or, like his English model, would have provoked rebellion : but his career was suddenly cut short by death, at the early age of twenty-four. A week later, his princess gave birth to a son, — destined hereafter, as the renowned William William III., to rule over Enfi;land as well as Holland. Ill . , Meanwhile, the office of stadtholder was in abeyance ; and the states-general, relieved from the yoke of a master who had treated them so roughly, assumed to themselves the sovereignty of the republic. The English and the Dutch were bound together by so many ties, — by ancient friendships, andiioi- by religion, liberty and commerce, — that an alliance between the commonwealth and the republic would have seemed most natural ; and such was the wish of the English Parliament, and of many of the statesmen of Holland. But the sympathies of the Orange party, and of the people, were with the royal family of England. The Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II., had taken FURTHER DISORDERS. 77 refuge at the Hague ; and wlien Oliver St. Jolm and Walter Stricldand came as ambassadors from tlie Par- liament, tliey were hooted at, in the streets, by repub- lican mobs, as regicides. They sought the friendship of Holland : but, as they insisted upon the immediate exj)ulsion of the English fugitives, their mission would necessarily have failed, even if the temper of the peo- ple had been more friendly. They returned in anger ; and hostile measures were immediately commenced. The navigation act was passed, for the express pur- pose of ruining Dutch commerce:^ letters of reprisal were issued; and very soon the republics were at war. The two great naval powers were not unfairly matched : but the English proved themselves the stronger. Peace was soon restored : but • . 1653-54 Cromwell insisted that the States should ex- clude the infant Prince of Orange, and his descen- dants, fi'om the stadtholderate ; and to this unjust and ignoble condition, the pensionary De Witt persuaded them to submit. The republic was doomed to further wars, ruinous alike to its commerce, its finances and its constant industry. Its sympathies with the royal cause of the Stuarts, and its hospitality to Charles II., were forgotten ; and it was soon at war again with the English monarchy. It even measured jggg,^^ its strength with Enfrland and France com- bined. For years it battled bravely against Louis XIV. ; when, by a strange shifting of parts, its ' This memorable act prohibited the importation of the productions of Asia, Africa, and America, except in English ships, and the pro- ductions of Europe, except in the ships of the country whence tlioy wore imported. Nothing could have been more injurious to tho carrying trade of Holland. 78 THE NETHEELANDS. I only ally, in all Europe, was Spain, its traditional enemy. Its achievements during these wars, by sea ' and land, are memorable in history. All eyes were turned to the little State which was able to contend against the navies of England, and the armies of ' Le Grand Monarque.' But such contests were a severe trial to its re- ThePcr- sources, and aggravated the weight of its Edict. taxation. At the same time, internal dissen- 1G67. sions were introducing weakness and dis- orders into the administration of public affairs ; and serious changes in the constitution of the republic. In 16G7, the provincial Estates of Holland, led by the pensionary De Witt, fearful of renewed usurpations upon their freedom, and jealous of the Orange family, abolished, by what was termed the ' Perpetual Edict,' the office of stadtholder in that province. This edict was violently resented by the party of the young Prince of Orange, and was repugnant to the wishes of other provinces. But, on the breaking out of hos- tilities, the young Prince, scarcely of age,^ was ap- pointed captain-general, on condition that he should | refuse the stadtholderate, if offered to him. Instead j of preparing themselves, with one accord, to resist i their enemies, the parties of De Witt and of the Prince of Orange were almost plunged into civil war. In the midst of tumults and anarchy, the Perpetual Edict was revoked, and the Prince was proclaimed Death of stadtholder. De Witt and his brother Cor- nelius fell victims to the vengeance of the Orange party and the fury of a mob. Since the death ' His majority had been fixed at twenty-two, and lie still wanted a few months of that age. w n.TTA Ar ASCENDS THE ENGLISH THRONE. 79 of Barneveldt, tliere liad been no such statesman as John de Witt. The first had been sacrificed to the jealousy of a ruler : the second to party feuds, and popular violence. The fate of both these eminent men was a disgrace to the republic, and a rejDroach to its free institutions. The Prince of Orange (William HI.) T7as now mas- ter of the State, and immediately invaded ,p,,g p,.jjj,.g the liberties of the towns, by changing the ^yj^l-^^se. municipal governments, and filling them "i- with his own devoted followers. Repub- lican liberty had already been sacrificed, again and again, to each succeeding exigency ; and its ultimate destiny was now foreshadowed. Another important step, in the historj' of the republic, was soon to follow. The stadtholderate of the provinces was de- clared hereditary m the Prince of Orange, holder ■^ . , hereditary. and his descendants. He was now virtual- ly sovereign of the United Provinces ; and higher honours were awaiting him. In 1677, he mar- Ascends ried Princess Mary, daughter of the Duke of Ihro^e.^'^ York (afterwards James II.) ; and, in 1688, 1688-89. won for himself and his consort the throne of Eng- land. English liberties owed much to William III. : but Holland found herself a weak State under an hereditaiy prince, and allied to a stronger power, in whose wars she was entangled, and to whose interests her own were sacrificed. At his death, in 1702, without issue, Holland was released from this iniurious connection : but did not escape from the unceasing wars in after his which she had been involved. For several years, the government of the republic was resumed by the states-general : but in 1747, William Prince of 80 THE NETHERLANDS. Orange (William IV.) recovered the united offices of stadtliolder, captain and admiral - general, which, mainly through the influence of the nobles, were now declared hereditary in his family. He soon assumed most of the attributes of royalty. He was king, in all but the name ; and having the personal command of the army and navj, he was, in truth, far more powerful than a constitutional sove- reign. Meanwhile other changes were pass- ing over the government of the republic. Loud complaints were made of corruption in the states-general : offices of trust were said to be bought and sold : even the administration of justice was tainted with suspicions of bribery; and the muni- cipal councils had been so often arbitrarily changed, that they had lost their independence. The people, themselves, weighed down by heavy taxes, — the fruit of constant warfare, — and suffering from the gradual decay of Dutch commerce, appeared to be losing their old spirit of fi'eedom and patriotism. There had always been disunion among the provinces : cHning the feuds of rival parties had caused weak- ness to the State : but now the administra- tion seemed stricken with infirmity, and the people with political languor. The noble little State was rapidly declining : its navy was rotting : its harbours were being choked with sand : its colonies falling into decay : its trade and manufactures perishing under the rivalry of England. These various causes had long been undermining War with ^^® power of Holland, when her ruin was Engiaud. nearly completed by a war with England. 1780. jjej. commerce was swept from the high seas : her colonies fell, one after another, before the WAE WITH ENGLAND. 81 arms of her victorious rival ; and she was j^gg humbled by an ignominious peace. The failures of the government favoured the growth of a 'patriot' party, ofjposed to the stadt- Thcpauiot holder, and clamorous for the recovery of Ponlew*^"^" popular liberties. By the stru^crles of this ^^^'^i''^- party with the fiiends of the Prince of ' Orange, the country was plunged into civil war ; when the king of Prussia invaded the provinces and re- stored the ascendency of the Orange family. The patriots being now trampled upon, without mercy, by the dominant party, fled in great numbers to France, which was already throb- reiugJesiu bing with the first throes of its impending revolution. Hitherto there had been little of democracy either in the constitution of the repub- lic, or in the sentiments of the Dutch people. The populace had often been turbulent and riotous : but their sympathies were all on the side of the princes of the House of Orange. The patriot party had striven to diminish the excessive power of the stadt- holder, and to restore municipal liberties : but they professed none of the doctrines of theoretic demo- cracy. The recent foundation of a democratic repub- lic in America . had, indeed, awakened in Holland, as elsewhere, a bolder spirit of political discussion : but little had yet been heard of social equality and the rights of man. But now the banished patriots natu- rally caught the spirit of French democracy. They « allied themselves with the revolutionary party : and hoped to obtain their recall from exile, and the tri- umph of their cause, by the aid of the soldiers of the revolution. These exiles were in close communication with theii! 4* 82 THE NETHERLANDS. friends at home ; and when, in 1793, the National Convention declared war against the stadt- War with . " France. holder, a considerable party were in secret correspondence with the enemy, and hailing the invaders as champions of the liberties of Holland. Overpowered by the French, for whom a severe frost had bridged over the waters, — hitherto the natural bulwarks of Holland, — and weakened by domestic treason, the stadtholder and his family iled : 1794-1795. ' . I'll 1 Revolution and the revolution was proclaimed through- procaiiin, . ^^^^ ^-^^ provinces. Dutch citizens decked themselves with tricoloured emblems : fraternised with the French soldiery : planted the tree of liberty in every town, and celebrated the triumph of liberty, equality, and fraternity with feasts and dancing. A revolutionary committee was formed upon the The new I'rench model. The sovereignty of the peo- tkm '^^'^'^ pie and the rights of man were proclaimed : the ancient municipal constitution of the provinces was overthrown ; and a representative as- sembly summoned, to be chosen by universal suffrage. The hereditary titles of the nobility were abolished ; and their domains appropriated for the use of the State : feudal customs were abrogated : the use of heraldic devices and liveries was prohibited : even the gallows and the whipping-posts were pulled down as emblems of slavery. Revolutionary clubs were founded on the model of those of France : but they were less violent than their prototypes : they were not supported by ferocious mobs ; and they were held in restraint by a constitutional government.^ ' Juste, Hist, de Belgique, livre ix. cb. 1. Mrs. Davies, Mem. of Ondaatje (Utrecht, 1870), 172, 173. Many dutuils of the revolu- HOLLiVND A FEENCH PRO\TNCE. 83 The reYolution was accomplisiied : all Dutch citizens were free and equal : but their country was treated like a province of France. French a Fitmh troops were quartered upon them, and main- tained at their expense : French assignats were passed off upon them for good money; and the quarrels of France had become their otvti. For a few years the re- public was allowed a nominal independence, under the domination of France : but in 1806, Napoleon sent his brother Louis to rule as his vassal king ; and in 1810, he absorbed its territory into the French empire. For three years Holland suffered under the op- pressive rule of the emperor : she was ex- conj,,itu. hausted by taxes and exactions : the blood nio^arcby. of her sons was shed under the eagles of ^^^^• Napoleon, on the battle-fields of Europe ; and her commerce was utterly destroyed. But in 1813, she was able once more to cast off the yoke of the for- eigner, and to recover her independence. It was not a time for republican experiments ; and a constitu- tional monarchy was established in the House of Orange. The Netherlands were now included with Holland in the new kingdom of the Netherlands, un- der "William V., Prince of Orange.^ The same con- stitutional privileges were assured to them, as were enjoyed by the Dutch provinces, including complete religious freedom. The Belgians now enjoyed more constitutional freedom than had been their lot for three centuries ; and they were again united with the tionary movement in the Netherlands, not given in general histories, will be found in this work. ' At this time he was called 'sovereign prince' of the Nether- hinds. In March 1815 he proclaimed himself King of the Nether- lauds. 84 THE NETHERLANDS. nortliern provinces, under a descendant of tlie great William of Orange, who liad struggled, with their common ancestors, for civil and religious liberty. Brussels, a Belgian city, was the capital of the new kingdom ; and the commercial and agricultural pros- perity of Belgium received an impulse from restored freedom, which had been unknown to many genera- tions. This union, however, was not destined to be of long Holland and ^uratiou : it was the work of the allied sove- Bui-ium. reigns — not the spontaneous fusion of the two nations ; and the religious differences of the northern and southern provinces gravely aifected the stability of the new State. The Calvinists of the North and the Boman Catholics of the South had no common sympathies : while for upwards of two centuries they had been governed upon opposite principles, — the former being under the rule of a republic, — the lat- ter under foreign governors. Commercial rivalries, no less than political jealousies, contributed to the estrangement of the two peoples. Both in commerce and in political influence, Holland was the dominant power, and she regarded Belgium merely as an exten- sion of her territory : while Belgium, on her side, con- sidered herself annexed to a rival State, rather than united with a friendly people.^ Moreover, the king was a Dutchman : he carried a new constitution with a high hand against a majority of Belgian notables ; and otherwise favoured the interests and nationality of Holland. The highest offices in the State and in diplomacy were bestowed upon Dutchmen. By inter- ' Nothomb, Essai sur la revolution Beige, 44 ; Juste, Hist, de Bel- giquc, livr. ix. ch. 2. HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. 85 ferences v/itli freedom of education, by restraints upon the press, and by discouragement of the language and peculiar laws of the Belgians, the government united against itself the Roman Catholics and the Liberal party, — otherwise opposed. Pretensions to prerogatives, scarcely compatible with so new a mon- archy, increased the alienation of the Belgians. At length, in 1830, the Revolution in France precipitated an insurrection in Belgium, which resulted in the separation of that country from Holland, and the establishment of a free and prosperous kingdom, un- der the enlightened rule of Leopold L, king of the Belgians.^ The two kindred countries, whose fortunes had some- times been united, and sometimes dissevered, now became distinct constitutional monar- tuiismin chies. In both, the principles and traditions of freedom were maintained; and the rights of the peoj^le were guaranteed by liberal institutions, and by the good faith and moderation of their sovereigns. But in Holland the Protestant religion, for v/hich so noble a strucccrle had been made, in former times, has saved that State from the dangers of ecclesiastical domination. In Belgium, the ancient ascendency of the Church of Rome was upheld; and a grave con- flict has, for several years, been waged between the Ultramontane Catholics and the Liberal party, which threatens the civil liberties of the country. In no other European State have the pretensions of the Church, in recent times, been pressed so far, or with so much success. The issue of this conflict is yet to be determined. The majority of the people are Catlio- ' Juste, IJist. dc Bclgiquc, livr. ix. cli. 3. 86 THE NETHERLANDS. lies : the priestliood know how to wield popular forces in furtherance of their cause; and the Church of Rome, discomfited in other States, has exerted all her influence, to recover dominion in Belgium, which she has lost elsewhere. Bat the times are unpropi- tious to Ultramontane schemes : the Church of Home has lost her hold upon the leaders of thought, through- out Europe ; and the Belgians, however faithful to her creed, are not likely to suffer her pretensions to im- pair their cherished liberties. In a free State, such pretensions have become an anachronism ; and their ultimate failure is assured.^ The eventful history of the Netherlands : their an- continned cieut fi'eedom : their painful struggles against th? Nether- clespotism I their critical contest for the rights lauds. q£ conscience ; and their good and evil for- tunes, naturally command our sympathy. The two in- dependent States, into which the seventeen historic provinces are now divided, are both enjoying ample political freedom, and revived prosperity. In contend- ing for their traditional franchises, the people had never been moved by the principles and aims of demo- cracy. Holland had become a republic by the force of circumstances : it was not founded upon a demo- cratic basis ; and it soon submitted, once more, to the rule of an hereditary prince. The Batavian republic was but an offshoot of the French Eevolution. For ' ' Si dans les longs siecles du raoyen-Sge, la papaute a ete toute- puissante, n'est-ce point parce qu'elle dominait sur les esprits ? et si aujoard'hui elle perd sa puissance, n'est-ce pas parce que rempire des ames lui echappe? ' — ' Nous ne croyons pas a un veritable danger, car il est impossible que I'liumanite retourne dix siocles en arrierc.' — L'Eglise et VEtat depuis la Revolution. Preface. The third book of this very thoughtful work treats fully of Ultramontanism in Bel- gium ; and the whole volume deserves an attentive perusal. HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. 87 centuries the Netherlands desired nothing more than the enjoyment of municipal privileges, under their native sovereigns ; and Holland and Belgium are still free, prosj)erous, and contented under the mle of their constitutional kings. Their liberties are now far greater than any to which they aspired in former times. They have retained their municipal fran- chises : while the people have acquired the ]3olitical rights of citizens, and a share in the sovereignty of a free State. Their past struggles have fitted them for the temperate exercise of popular privileges ; and their institutions are in harmony with their traditional sentiments and predilections. CHAPTER Xn. FEANCE. THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE — GROWTH OP THE MONARCHY — GRADUAL OVERTHROW OF POPULAR LIBERTIES — CENTRALISATION —COURTIERS AND FEUDALISM — PRIVILEGES AND ABUSES — BUR- THENS UPON THE PEASANTRY — IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE NOBLES, AND ADVANCE OP OTHER CLASSES, IN SOCIETY— THE NEW PHI- LOSOPHY — THE CHURCH AND OPINION— LOUIS XIV. AND LOUIS XV. We now approach tlie history of a great European , , State, which illustrates, above all other ex- Late ' T • 1 B growth Of amples, the social and political causes o± in Fiance, clemocracj, its forces, and its dangers, in France, democracy was of a much later growth than in Italy, Switzerland, or the Netherlands. The revival of society, after the dark ages, had, indeed, secured some popular franchises, from the Crown and the nobles. But these were lost as the monarchy ad- vanced in power; and, until late in the eighteenth century, no government in Europe appeared more firmly established. Democracy then revealed itself, in new forms : professing new principles : seeking new . aims ; and causing unexampled revolutions. Of all the countries of Europe, France is the most favoured in situation, in climate, and in the The conn- ' ' ^lo'leoi" fertility of her soil. On the north, her coasts France. ^re opcu to the Commerce of England, and THE FRANKS AND FEUDALISM. 89 tlie States of nortliern Europe : on tlie west, to Spain and t]ie Atlantic ; and on the south to the Mediter- ranean. On the east, her frontiers extend to Germany and Switzerland. Her climate, adapted by the natural variations of so extended a realm to a great diversity of products, is everywhere temperate. Her soil yields corn, wine, and oil in generous abundance. Her peo- ple are endowed with rare intelligence, ingenuity, and taste. Gay, sociable, and fond of pleasure, they are yet industrious, temperate, and thrifty. An ad- vanced civilisation was the result of these fortunate conditions ; and France became distinguished, among the nations of Europe, in arms, in wealth, in culture, and in all the arts and accomplishments of social life. Yet, with all these natural advantages, the prosperity and happiness of the people were blighted by politi- cal and social ills. Misgovernment and unequal laws thwarted the beneficence of nature. Late in the fifth century, the Gauls had been con- quered by the Teutonic Franks, under Clo- vis. This small band of conquerors — not ex- ami foudui- cceding ten thousand — having overcome the Goths and the Burgundians, who had already settled in the country, laid the foundations of the French monarchy. Dividing amongst them the fairest do- mains of the conquered country, they established the rule of feudalism. The Franks were to the Gauls what, at a later period, the Normans were to tlie Anglo- Saxons. The landowners were of a different race from that of the tillers of the soil : they spoke another lan- guage, and had their own distinct laws, traditions and customs. The dominant race guarded their rule, and provided for their interests as landowners, by exact- ing all the rights and dues of feudal superiors. Large 90 PRANCE. grants of land were also made to tlie Churcli, to -wliicli all the feudal rights of that period were attached. In no other country was feudalism more firmly estab- lished. It lay heavily upon the people : but it was a cause of weakness to the monarchy. The enlargement and consolidation of the French Growth kingdom was the work of many centuries, of the J3y wars, intrigues and alliances, province monarchy. J ' o ^ j ± was added to province, until the magnificent realm of France was, at length, completed. Mean- awhile the monarchy was feudal, and in the earlier times, elective. Its wars were sustained by the mili- tary services of the vassals of the Grown. But their allegiance sat lightly upon them : at one time they disobeyed the summons of their chief, at another they encountered him in open war. The country was desolated by foreign wars, invasions, and internal strife : but, throughout all its troubles and vicissi- overthrow tudes, the powcr of the Crown was steadily daichie'fs! advancing. Princes and barons were suc- cessively brought under subjection : their dangerous power was broken by the civil wars of the 1644-1642 Fronde ; and finally overthrown by the vig- orous administration of Richelieu. The Church was long another source of weakness The to the Crown. With vast possessions and privileges, and supported by the alien power of Rome, she was nearly independent of the State, jgjg But, after protracted contests, Francis I. obtained from the Pope the nomination to ecclesiastical dignities ; and the clergy became amen- able to the direct influence of the Crown, and were liberal in their subsidies. By these continued conquests over feudalism and THE JACQUERIE. 91 the Cliurcli, the supremacy of the monarchy was established. The kinor, no longer relyiucr on „ . ^ , " J n Supreme the military services of his vassals, raised I'owe'of •^ ^ ^ ' tlio Crown. standing armies ; and assumed independent prerogatives of legislation, of judicature, and of taxa- tion. While France was thus advancing in greatness, and her kings in power, the people were suffer- Misery ana ing from the distracted state of the coun- onu"'^"'^ try, and the oj)pressive weight of feudalism, p'^"^^''^- They suffered from invasions and civil wars, from the rigour of feudal service, and from vexatious restraints upon their industry. They were serfs of nobles and of the Church ; and were bound to slavery in body and soul. The Albigenses and other heretics were hunted down like wolves, and learned some of that ferocity which disi3layed itself in later times. From the time of Charlemagne, we read of the wretched- ness of the peasantry ; and in the fourteenth century the country was desolated by famine and pestilence. This- period is also memorable for a formidable insurrection of the peasantry after the battle of -Poitiers, when King John had been taken prisoner to England, and the country was almost in a state of anarchy. The peasants suffering from ^,^^, j^^^ want, and resenting the oppression of the 'i"'^;"^'- feudal lords, rose in great numbers, in differ- ent parts of France : they burned many castles, mur- dered the owners, and committed the most frightful outrages upon women and children.^ Their fierce hatred of tlie nobles and gentry proved the severity of the feudal yoke : ^ but it also showed the savaj,'cry ' Froissfirt, CltJ'on. (Ccjllcction do Bucliun), ch. 385. "^ ' lis crurcat qu'il leur t-toit pormia de so soulevcr contre los 92 FKANCE. to wliicli a Froncli populace could bo roused. At this period, struggles with feudalism were rife in other parts of Europe. In England, they exploded in the rebellion of Wat Tyler : ^ in the Netherlands in the rising of the towns against the barons and the counts of Elanders.^ But nowhere did insurgents commit atrocities so barbarous as those of the French Jacque- rie,^ and in later times, the Kke passions were to be revealed, in excesses no less monstrous, and unna- tural. The Jacquerie was repressed with merciless se- verity:* but the spirit of vengeance long rankled in the minds of the peasantry ; and several years later a fresh outbreak was threatened. According 1382 • . . to Eroissart, if the king had been defeated in Elanders by Philip Van Artevelde, there would have been a general massacre of the nobles and gen- try of France.^ Nor was the democratic spirit confined to the pea- santry. Before the outrages of the Jacquerie, Stephen nobles da royaume, et de prendre leur revanclie des mauvais traite- ments qu'ils en avaient reQus.' — Cont. de Nangis, i\\. 119. ' Et cliacun d'eux dit, " II dit voir (vrai), il dit voir : honni soit celui par qui il demeurera que tous les gentils hommes ne soit detruits." ' — Froissart, Ghron. (Collection de Buchon), cli, 385, xii. 293. 1 In 1381. ^ See siqira, 15-17 ; Perrens, Democratic en France, ii. 31-37. 2 ' Certes oncques n'avint entre Chri'tiens et Sarrassins telle for- cenerio que ces gens fasoient, ni qui plus fissent de maus et de plus vilains faits, et tels que creature ne devroit oser penser, aviser, ni regarder.' — Froissart, Chron. livr. i. cli. 385. * ' Si commencerent aussi a tuer et a decouper ces mccbants gens, sans pitit', et sans raerci ; etles pendoieut par fois aux arbres, ou ils les trouvoient.' — Ibid. cli. 386. ' Ibid. livr. ii. ch. 186 (Collection de Buchon). REBELLION IN PARIS. 93 Marcel, Provost of Paris/ was master of the capital, and nearly of the kingdom. By him and his civic force, Paris was placed in a state of de- warcei" fence, against invaders. He dominated over the Estates, assembled at this crisis : he put the king's ministers to flight; and, by means of a committee of the Estates, he assumed the practical sovereignty of the State. He even joined his own name with that of the regent in summoning a meeting of the Estates. But his rule was short. The popular leader was slain by his fellow-citizens,'^ and the democracy was overthrown. The brief career of this "^ ' • remarkable provost naturally recalls the memory of Rienzi in Ital}'-, and the Van Ai'teveldes in Flanders.^ Each of these conspicuous men represented, for a time, the democracy of the fourteenth century : each lost his life in the cause he had espoused : not one of them permanently advanced the liberties of his country. But the mutinous spirit of Paris was not subdued ; and in 1382 the people, resenting some new Rebellion in taxes, rebelled against the king, broke open ^'"''*- ^■■^^^• the prisons, and armed themselves from the public ar- mouries. Eouen also joined in this rebellion.'* Ele- ments of disorder were widespread throughout France : but the Crown was steadily consolidating its power, and reducing nobles and people alike to subjection. The kings had at first favoured municipal liberties as a counterjooise to the power of the barons ; n,„„ici[,ai and as the towns increased in wealth and pros- ^'I^^^'ch. ' Prevost des marchands. ' Froissart, C'hro7i. livr. i. ch. 393 ; Perrens, La Dcmocratie en France, ch. i.-xii. ^ Perreus, La Democratia en France, i. 333. * Froib.sart, Chron. livr. ii. cL. 127, 128, 151. 94 FRANCE. perity, they sliowed much of that spirit of freedom and independence which had distinguished the free cities of other lands.^ In the south, traditions of the an- cient Roman municipalities may have served to keep alive this spirit ; ^ and everywhere resistance to feudal- ism, and the common interests of their trades, united the burghers into powerful municipal communities. They elected their own magistrates, and shared in the active public life of a fi'ee society. But at an early pe- riod, the government of most of the French towns had become the heritage of a small body of the richer burghers,^ who were more earnest in securing privi- leges for themselves than in advancing the political in- fluence of their municipalities. And, considering their importance, the towns played an inconsiderable part in the politics of France. In political power, they never approached the renowned cities of Italy, of the Neth- erlands, of Germany, or even of Spain. If any town displayed too much independence, it was promptly deprived of its municipal franchises ; * and Louis XI. subjected the jurisdiction of the towns to his own lieutenants.^ In 1692, Louis XIV. abolished all muni- cipal elections ; and sold the right of governing the ' De Tocqueville, L'anden Regime, 63 ; Freeman, Hist. Essays, 2nd ser. 12. ^ EolDertson, History of Charles V., sect, i, n. [Q] ; Lecky, Hist, of Rationalism, ii. 270. ^ ' Au onzieme ou douzi^me siecle les communes se montrent. Au treizi^me siecle la decadence etait deja, complete. II est certain que ces revolutions communales avaient ete I'ceuvre de la partie riche des habitants des villes. Les proletaires suivaieut : mais, lielas ! h aucun moment ils ne creent rien qui ait eu vie, meme d'lin jour.' — Edgar Quinet, La Revolution, i. 43. " e.g. Bordeaux, by Charles VII. ^ De Tocqueville, iy'ffl?iCi6ft Regime, 64; Cvoyre, Hist, of France, ii. 255. THE STATES-GENEExVL. 95 towns to the rich citizens, who wero ready to pur- chase it.^ The monarchy was now far too strong to siiifer from municipal independence ; and this traffic in offices was simply a financial expedient. So little did the king concern himself about popular privileges, . that no sooner had he sold the municipal offices, than he treated with the burghers for the repurchase of their rights. So great a mockery had municipal fi'an- chises become, that, in some towns, these rights were thus sold no less than seven times.^ But, whether sold to individuals or to the burghers at large, the result was practically the same : the towns being governed by a small oligarchy, uncontrolled by the "people, and completely under the direction of the officers of the Crown.^ They were effaced fi'om the political constitution of France. Another institution of the middle ages shared the same fate. The Estates of the realm were gt^tc^- assembled, in early times, to advise the king. Kenurai. These, indeed, were originally councils of barons and prelates.'* But, in 1302, Philip the Fair sum- moned the tiers etat, being delegates from the towns, to meet the nobles and prelates in Notre-Dame ; and this was the first convention of the states-general. They were afterwards assembled irregularly, in times of national difficulty and danger, or when the necessi- ties of kings drove them to demand extraordinary subsidies ; ^ and, in 1355, it appears that the three > De Tocqueville, 63. ^ Ibid. 64. ' ' Au dix-lmitlcme siocle le gouvemement municipal des villcs avait done drgt'm'rr partout en une petite oligarcliie.' — De Tocque- ville, L'ancicn Rrr/ime, 68. * e.g. The Parliament assembled in Paris in 1284, by Louis the Hardy. '' Louis 131auc, Hid. do la IlCo. Fr. i. 157 it scj. Do FRANCE. Estates deliberated together.^ Again, in 1484, tlie states-general were convoked, so as to ensure a nation- al representation, and embraced delegates from the country, as well as from tlie towns. Tliese delibera- tions were conducted not by orders, but in six bureaux, which comprised the representatives of all the orders, according to their territorial divisions.^ In England, assemblies such as these grew into a free and pow- erful Parliament, controlling the prerogatives of the Crown, and protecting the rights of the commons. But in France, they had no settled place in the consti- tution : they were clothed with no defined authority : they laid their complaints (cahiers) at the foot of the throne, without any assurance that they would be- listened to : they were called and dismissed, at the pleasure of the Crown; and were, at length, wholly discontinued.* With the states - general of 1614, these national assemblies were brought to a close; and, continu- heuceforth, the king levied his subsidies by prerogative. These assemblies had, indeed, imposed little restraint upon the increasing power of the Crown : but they had maintained the jDrincijile of representation, in the constitution of France. The nobles, the clergy, and the commons, had been brought into the presence of the king ; and the commons had been recognised as a political order. Two of these ' Perrens, La Democratie en France au moyen-age, i. 125. Tliis author says : ' Quel qu'ait ete le but poursuivi et le but atteint, il est impossible de ne pas remarquer qu'a leur insu nobles et prelats faisaient un premier pas dans la voie de I'egalite entre les trois ordres.' 2 Aug. Thierry, Essai sur I'histoire de la formation du Tiers-etat, i. 87 ; Louis Blanc, Hist, de la Revolution Fr. 1. 153. 3 Louis Blanc, Hist. i. 160-169. THE PAELIAMENTS. 97 orders, closely associated with the Crown, and profit- ing by its prerogatives, continued to enjoy great power and privileges ; but the third, or commonalty, now wholly lost their recognition as an Estate of the realm. Several of the provinces, which had been, from time to time, acquired by France, still retained provincial their ancient constitutions ; and their Estates assembues. imposed a certain check upon the prerogatives of the Crown, in the levying of taxes. In Languedoc, Bur- gundy, Provence, and Brittany, and other provinces, or pays d'itats, the Estates, consisting of bishops, no- bles, and city magistrates, met annually to grant sub- sidies to the king, and to assent to new taxes. Some- times they opposed his demands : but they were generally coerced by his overruling power. They were, however, mainly assemblies of nobles and churchmen, the last strongholds of feudalism; and Richelieu, in his contest with the survivors of feudal power, endeavoured to abolish them. Most of the provinces proved too powerful to be yet overcome, by the strong hand of prerogative. But Louis XIV. was afterwards able to deprive Normandy, Anjou, Tou- raine, and other provinces, of their provincial assem- blies. Languedoc, Burgundy, Provence, Brittany, and other provinces, were permitted to continue as 7?a?/s cTetats : but their assemblies were completely governed by the commissaries of the king. And thus another institution, endowed with some measure of constitu- tional independence, was overthrown. A further check upon prerogative was found in the Parliaments. These bodies, however, were T,,yp^riia. in no sense representative. They were nomi- '"'■""^• nees of the Crown ; and, as high courts of justice, they proved firm friends to prerogative, and enemies to VOL. n. — 5 98 FKANCE. feudalism.^ But courts are ever ready to enlarge tlieir own jurisdiction; and as the king promulgated 'liis decrees, or ordinances, by requiring them to be regis- tered by the Parliaments, they assumed the right of delaying or refusing this registration: or, in other words, of putting a veto upon the acts of the Crown. Having no commission from the king, nor from the people, for the exercise of such a function, tlieir pretensions were naturally resisted. The king knew how to maintain his prerogatives. He could over- come the contumacy of a Parliament, by holding a Lit de Justice ; and, if it continued refractory, he could banish its most mutinous members, or order the re- moval of the Parliament, in a body, until it submitted to his will.^ But, in the absence of any other con- trolling power, the opposition of the Parliaments of- ten expressed public opinion ; and as the only barrier against the arbitrary power of the king, they formed a popular element in the constitution.^ Nor did the Parliaments confine their opposition to the decrees of the Crown : they often ventured upon the strongest remonstrances against the policy of the government. The Parliament of Paris was the first of these dis- tinguished bodies : but the provincial parliaments, — • originally eight in number, and afterwards increased to fourteen, — were also powerful within their own jurisdictions. They exercised the highest judicature in their several provinces. They consisted of the most eminent lawyers and magistrates in France, mnobled by their offices, distinguished by their 1 Ilallam, Middle Ages, 193-196. ■•^ Henri Marten, Ilist. de France, ix. 109, xv. 142, &c.; Louis Blanc, Bist. do la Rev. Fr. i. 435 ; Laferriere, Hist, du Droit dc France. " Do Tocquoville, L'ancien Bcgimc, 244. CENTRALISATION. 99 learning, eloquence, and cultivation, — tlie ornaments of Freueli society.^ The Parliaments continued to display a strong spirit of independence, until they were abolished by Louis XY., in 1771.^ And thus, in each succeeding age, the prerogatives of the Crown were enlarged, while every Themon- other power in the State was subjected to fi^^e nmuT its dominion. And as the commonalty were ^""''^ ^^^'• advancing in wealth, in intelligence, and in social in- fluence, they were excluded from all voice in the gov- ernment of their country.^ Under Louis XIV. the mon- archy had become absolute. Whatever constitutional rights may have been oj^posed to the power of the king, he exercised prerogatives which overcame all resist- ance. He could silence a Parliament by a lit de justice: he could imprison his subjects by Icttres de cachet : he could banish them by lettres d'exil: he could confiscate their property : he could tax their revenues. Nor was he content to rule over the temporal rights of his sub- jects only : he assumed to govern their souls ; and, by revoking the Edict of Nantes, he subjected the con- sciences and worship of his people to his own will. And while the monarchy was thus acquiring a mono- poly of power, it was losing much of its feudal character. Most of the old local authorities had been gradually superseded by nominees of the Crown. The Ccntnilis'Ji- kind's council (le conseil du roi) combined the tion in highest powers, judicial, administrative, and ' ' France, so fertile of great men in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, might better spare, perhaps, from her annals, any class or description of them, than her lawyers.' — Hallam, Middle Ages, i. 19G. ' The spirit and learning of the French provincial magistracy,— the f)ld Parliamentary spirit, — was theverysalt of the nation before the lie volution of 1789.'— Keeve, Royal and Rev. France, ii. 93. * See infra, p. 129. ^ Mignet, Uist. de la Rev. Fr. lutr. 8, 9. 100 FBANCE. even legislative. Tlie comptroller-general was a min- Thcinten- ^®^^^' "^^° wieldecl nearly all the executive dants. power of the State. In every province was an intendant, who administered its affairs as agent of the government. In the words of Law, the notorious financier, ' the kingdom was governed by thirty in- tendants.' These officers levied the taxes, regulated the militia and police, superintended the roads, bridges, and other public works, and undertook the relief of the poor.^ The intendants even ruled over the towns as well as the country, — administering their finances, establishing their octrois, and author- ising the execution of their public works.^ In the villages the people once had a voice in the manage- ment of their own affairs : but in the eighteenth cen- tury, they had all fallen under the tutelage of the in- tendants. These active and vigilant officers greatly extended the power of the Crown : but in the same measure, they increased the burthens of the people. It was their first duty to enrich the royal treasury ; and they performed it with little regard to the suffer- ings and repugnance of the tax-jDayers. Even the courts found their jurisdiction superseded The courts ^J *^® administrative activity of the inten- of justice, dants. They continued to determine private suits between parties : but were not allowed to inter- fere in cases in which the government and its officers were concerned. These courts had done good service to liberty, under an absolute government. All their ' ' C'est radministration de I'etat qui s'etend, de toutes parts, sur les debris des pouvoirs locaux : c'est la hierarchie des fonctionnaires qui remplace, de plus en plus, le gouvemement des nobles.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 26. ^ De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 69. EVILS OF ABSOLUTISM. 101 proceedings were conducted in public : tlieir decisions were open to appeal : they were independent ; and, above all, they were not venal : they afforded protec- tion against public and private wrongs. It was a grievous blow to liberty, and to public security, when power prevailed over justice, and the people could only protect themselves by force.^ All these changes tended to concentrate the entire power of France in the capital. From early times Paris had been the seat of the court and of the govern- ment, the chosen resort of literature and the arts, and of society. It was also a centre of industry and manu- factures, to which great numbers of capitalists and skilled artisans were attracted. And while the capital was thus advancing in power, riches, and culture, the gradual absorption of all local authorities, by the cen- tral government, withdrew from the provinces their activity and life. The provinces were depleted ftf their life-blood by the capital. Their weakness and stagnation were increasing, while Paris was stimu- lated into excessive vitality. Its commercial industry attracted multitudes of workmen ; and the working classes acquired a dangerous preponderance.^ This concentration of all the powers of the State in the Crown was fatal not only to the liberties, g^,.,^ ^^ but to the material and social well-being, of "''^"'"tism. the country. No longer controlled in the levying of taxes, kings were free to riot in every extravagance. They engaged lightly in serious wars : they built costly palaces: they maintained extravagant establishments; they surrounded themselves with a court of extraor- ' De Tocqueville says : ' Quand un poui)le a dttruit dans son sein I'aristocratie, il court vers la centralisation commc de lui-mCine.' — L'ancien lii'gime, 89. '' De Tocquevillo, L'ancien Regime, ch. vii. 102 FRMCE. dinary stateliness and splendour. There were no bounds to their expenses ; and when more money was needed for the royal state, fresh taxes were laid upon the people. They lived for themselves alone, for their ambition, their pride and their pleasures. They had no thought of duty to their subjects. Euling by here- ditary right, they were the representatives of God upon earth, and were accountable to no man. The court of Louis XIV., at Versailles, was the most Court of magnificent and the most costly in Europe. L.uis XIV. j^o earthly sovereign could be surrounded by greater state, or approached with deeper reverence.^ So brilliant a society of princes and nobles had never been collected. Nowhere had graceful manners, well- bred courtesy, and polished conversation been cul- tivated to such perfection. This favoured circle formed the ideal of social elegance and refinement. lit made France famous as the politest of nations. But it was idle, fi'ivolous, and corrupt. Pleasure and pre- ferment were its only aims. It had no sense of public duty or responsibility. Courtiers enjoyed a gay society, which scarcely cared to cover its vices with the thin veil of gallantry. They j)erformed no useful service to the State : but were. ever seeking new offices and pensions. With all their pride of birth and station, they were not ashamed to beg unmerited favours from their royal master. And their insatiable greed mul- tiplied the burthens of the people.^ ' ' Depuis les Cesars, aucune vie humaine n'a tenu tant de place au soleil,' — Taine, Les Origines, 114. The second book of this re- markable work contains a description of this court, at once compre- hensive and minute. 5 As a single example : ' En 1757 I'impot est de 283,156,000 livres ; en 1789. de 470,394,000.'— Taine, Les Origines, 455. EVILS OF THE COURT. 103 The evils of such a court as this were grave enough : but its indirect consequences were fatal to j.^,,,^ ^^ ^j^^ the interests of society. The attraction of <=°"'"'^- nobles and high ecclesiastics, from their provincial strongholds, to the royal court, had commenced in the reign of Francis L, and increased with the decline of feudalism, and the aggrandisement of the monarchy. The warlike chiefs of one age, became the silken courtiers of another. Before the nobles were attracted to the court they lived upon their own territories : they were surrounded by their neighbours and de- pendents : they v/ere identified with the social life of the provinces. Their feudal rights were invidious and oppressive : but in the eyes of their own people, they were princes, to whom all accustomed services were rightly due. They kept alive a sentiment of hereditary loyalty.^ Their bravery and manly virtues, the splendour of their hospitality, their charities and fi'iendly offices, endeared them to their countrymen. And in more tranquil times, they were able to lay aside the sword, and assume the duties and respon- sibilities of magistrates, provincial councillors, and country gentlemen. At this very period, when they could have done the best service to society, the}^ de- serted their ancestral halls, and flocked to Paris and Versailles. Princes in the provinces, they now be- came the gilded servants of tlie king ; and their reve- nues, instead of maintaining their old feudal state, contributed to the splendour of the royal court. But they profited by the munificence of the king and the privileges of their order ; and while still enjoying the ' ' La seigneurie, le comtr, lo duclu' deviennent uno patrio quo Ton aime d'un instinct aveugle, et pour lariuelle on ao dcvoue.'— Taiuo, Lcs Origines, 13. 104 FEANCE. rights of feudalism, they escaped from all its duties. On the ground of their feudal services to the Crown, they had formerly claimed exemption from other pub- lic burthens ; and now that these services were no longer rendered, their exemption was maintained. All the highest offices in the Church, the State, and Hi"h offices ^^^^ army, were conferred upon nobles. No HsedT commoner could aspire to hold them. The nobles. bishop, the abbot, aigl the prior were of gen- tle birth : the half-starved cure was a plebeian.^ The bishop lived like a prince, surrounded by luxuries, and mixing freely in the gay, and not too moral society of the court. The cure, ill-housed and ill-fed, laboured in his humble calling, without encouragement from above, and without a hope of preferment. To be a captain in the army, an officer was required to prove that he had four degrees of nobility ; and throughout the service, ^Dromotion was to be gained, not by merit, but by court favour. Sinecures were multiplied for the nobles, in the public administration, and in the court. They were of no service to the State : they contributed little to the dignity of the royal house- hold : but they weighed heavily upon the national finances.^ Preposterous pensions were lavished upon courtiers and favoured ladies, without any pretence of service to the State.^ Nor were offices multiplied merely for the gratifica- • Sale of ^^^^ °^ courtiers. Since the fifteenth century, 'offices. ^Ijq gg_]^Q Qf p^ii3ii(} offices had been resorted to by the Crown as a source of revenue. To enhance ' Les vrais pasteurs des ames, Ics co-opcrateurs dans le saint mi- nistere, ont a peine une subsistance.' — Le Marquis de Mirabeau, cited by Taine, Les Origines, 94. See also Laurent, L'Eglise et VEtat, 3-11. » Taine, 81-89. " Ibid. 90. SALE OF OFFICES. 105 their saleable value, many of them were made here- ditary : some even carried with them a patent of no- bility : all entitled the fortunate holders to exemption from many taxes. Multitudes of offices were created, not because they were necessary, but because they could be sold. Such offices existed in every depart- ment of the State ; and thus there stood between the government and the people, an independent official aristocracy, very burthensome to the country, and lit- tle under the control of its rulers. To adminis-ter the affairs of a great State efficiently, with such a staflf, was out of the question; and Louis XIV., in great measure, superseded them by the appointment of an intendant and suhdclegues in every province. Yet more offices were created and sold ; and their holders being exempt from taxation, the burthens upon their less fortunate neighbours were increased; and their own privileges became the more obnoxious. Even the re- versions of offices were sold. Monopolies were also granted, at high prices, which crippled trade, and brought ruin upon numbers of industrious families. While the nobles were thus enjoying the lucrative offices and honours of the court, and distri- Exemptions buting favours to their friends, their feudal o^noWes. domains were deserted- The State taxes, fi'om which their own property and that of the Church were wholly or partly exempt, were constantly becoming more burthensome to the poorer proprietors, for whom there was no exemption. About one-half the soil be- longed to the favoured rich, and the other half to the heavily-laden poor.^ But yet more grievous were ' 'Si on dufalquo les terres publiques, les priviKgic's possidont la moitic du royaume. Et ce gros lot est, en mCiuc temps, le plus riche.' — Taine, Les Ongincs, 18. 5* 106 FRANCE. the feudal dues and local burtliens borne by tlie un- privileged lands. All tlie great nobles and dignitaries of the Church were now absentees; and the lesser nobles and proprietors, still resident, were deprived of their local functions by the officers of the State. Nothing of feudalism remained but its burthens ; and these were heavier than ever. The corvee, or statute-labour, exacted for the repair of the roads and various local works, tolls on uponthi the roads, ferries across the rivers, dues at pca^an ry. ^^.^^^ ^^^ markets, exclusive rights of grinding corn, of pressing grapes, and of keeping pigeons: fees on the sale of land, dues and ground-rents to the feudal lord, in money and in kind: tithes and seignorial dues to the Church: such were the chief burthens upon the land.^ As wealth and civilisation increased, more constant demands were made for pub- lic roads. They were most needed for the rich : but they were made at the cost of the poor peasants, to whom they were of little use.^ Besides these feudal dues, the public burthens upon the peasantry were grievous. Among them were the taille, a heavy per- sonal tax, unequally assessed and arbitrarily levied ; ^ and others no less onerous.^ These demands upon the peasant proprietors and Effects farmers became more repugnant when the re4d"Jli"ce ^udal Superiors had lost their power. So long as the nobles administered justice, exe- cuted the laws, and took the lead in all local affairs, these public duties seemed to Justify their rights. * De Tocqueville, L'ancien Begime, 42. "^ This peculiar hardship was strikingly condemned by the king himself in an edict against the cwvee. — Ibid. 2G6. 3 Ibid. 185. " See infra, p. 110. BUETHENS UPON THE PEASANTEY. 107 They stood in the same relation to the peoj)le as the State, — rendering services, and receiving taxes ; but now the services were withdrawn, and the exactions continued. These dues were constantly becoming more burthensome. In the absence of proprietors, agents and stewards were hard task-masters. It was their business to collect the uttermost farthing from the peasantry. The unjust steward knew how to pro- fit by his exactions : the honest servant was bound to meet the urgent necessities of his employer. Still worse was the lot of the unhappy peasant when the dues were leased to a stranger, or mortgaged to a creditor. Unfeeling and rapacious, such men, who now stood in the place of the proprietor, became the terror and scourge of the cultivators, — reducing them to beggary, and driving them from their homes.^ There were many proprietors, indeed, still resident upon their estates. Too poor to enjoy the Resident pleasures of the capital, for which they p™'''^^"^''^- longed, they lived penuriously in their own chateaux. They were relieved of all the public duties of a coun- try gentleman : ^ but they were tenacious of their old feudal rights, — the dove-cot, the warren, and the game preserves.^ With more sympathy for the peasantry than the collectors of absentee proprietors, they were ' ' On comprend que, exercee par leurs mains (les fermiers ou debiteure), la fOodalite piit ])araitre souvent plus dure qu'au moyen- Sge.'— De Tocqueville, Ijcmden Regime, 405 (note). 'C'est un loup ravissant, que Ton lache sur la terre, qui en tire jusqu'auK derniers sous, accable les sujets, les reduit a, la niendicite, fait de- serter les cultivateurs, rend odieux le maitre qui se trouve force de tolerer ses exactions, pour le faire jouir.' — Renauldon, 628, cited by Taine, Les Orifjines, 67. ' De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 39, 56, &c. ' Taine, Les OrigineK, 50. 108 FEANCE. too poor to be liberal They lived upon their feudal rights, and could not afford to forego them.^ Whe- ther the proprietor was resident or not, there was no relief for the peasant ; and at length the long-suffer- ing cultivators of the soil learned to cast sullen and revengeful looks upon the chateau. There lay the treasured title-deeds which had doomed them to pen- uiy. There might be found, at some future time, the means of rescue and redemption.^ Besides these two classes of feudal lando-^Tiers, Peasant there was a prodigious number of peasant proprietors, pi-opj^jg^ors, wlio had gradually acquired portions of the original feudal grants. Serfdom had been generally unknown for centuries before the Revolution.^ In Normandy it had ceased to exist so far back as the thirteenth century ; * and the pea- santry, no longer serfs, became, in vast numbers, pro- prietors of the soil. Long before the Revolution and the Code Napoleon, the extraordinary subdivision of the land, among peasant proprietors, had been ob- served by French statesmen.^ Numbers of nobles and landowners, impoverished by extravagance and by the mismanagement of their estates, were induced to sell portions of their land to the peasantry. To this class about one-third of the land of France be- longed. They were generally poor, ignorant, and struggling for a bare subsistence. Though they had ' ' Le peuple, qui d'un mot va souvent droit a I'idee, avait donne a ce petit gentilhorame le nom du moins gros des oiseaux de proie : il I'avait noinme le hobereau.' — De Tocqueville, 181. * Taine, Les Origines, 52. " The only exception was in territories in the east of France, ac- quired from Germany. * De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, livr. ii. ch. 1. * Ibid. ; Doniol, La Revolution Frangaise, et la Feodcilite. PEASANT PROPIIIETOIIS — METAYERS. 109 purchased their little i:>atolies of soil out of their scanty savings, they had not acquired exemption from feudal dues ; and as their richer neighbours, to whom these dues were paid, were exempt fi'om other taxes, the chief burthens fell upon this single class, which was least able to bear them. Whatever the pride of ownership, the peasant proprietor was still called upon to leave his own farm, and to work for another, ^^dthout reward. His crops were devoured by his great neighbour's game : his corn was ground dearly at the privileged mill ; and he still paid feudal rents for lands which he called his own. Can we wonder that the peasant proprietors hated the nobles and the Church ? ^ Another class of peasants, who shared the suffer- ings and wrongs of the small proprietors. Theme- were the peasant tenantry of the nobles and *'*^'^"" the Church, known as metayers, who paid their rent in kind. Without capital or skill, or interest in the soil, their farming was wretched. The landlord suf- fered by the unproductiveness of his land : the tenant was oppressed by agents, collectors, and money- lenders. At best, the metayer earned a bare subsist- ' Many interesting illustrations of the condition of the peasantry, before the Revolution, will be found in Bonnemere, Hifit. dcs Pay- sans ; in Boulanvilliers, Etat de la France ; and in L'Mstoire d'un Paysan, 1789, 1793, 1793, 1794-1815, by Erckmann-Chatrian. ' La noblesse et le clerge, ces deux ordres rapaces, se sont appropries tous les avantages de la society, ont fait tarir pour nous toutes les sources de I'aisance et de la prosperite ; on nous a vexes, luacircs, a peu pres comme des betes de sorame. Ces ennemis du bonheur des peuples ne paient rien si I'ctat, quoiqu'ils possedent les plus grands biens, des biens immenses : tout est il eux, rien a nous, et avec ce rien nous somnies obliges de fairo face a, tous les besoins de la chose publique.' — Ilcjlcxiom d'un PMosojihe Breton, Intr. au Moniteur, p. 509. 110 FEANCE. ence, — living a hard life, ill-fed, ill-clotlied, ill- lioiised, and ignorant; and upon liim fell the taxes fi-om which his privileged landlord was exempt. Both these classes of peasants were poor Poverty i i , , • -i- -i of the enough : but, to escape impositions, they pre- tended even greater poverty. Their wretch- ed houses were out of repair, and nearly stripped of furniture : their clothing was beggarly, and their food coarse and scanty.^ Another grievous wrong was suffered by the pea- Thegame- sautry, from the feudal game-laws. Game ^''"'®' was strictly preserved for the use of the lords of the soil : and for its protection, the peasant was exposed to the most vexatious injuries. His crops were destroyed without compensation : he was forbidden to protect them by the inclosure of his land : he could keep neither dog nor gun. Woe to him if, at the hatching season, he disturbed the partridges by cutting his own grass, or lucerne, or osiers. Any breach of these laws was punished with rigorous severity.^ The peasantry were ruined by State taxes, by local wei^'htof hurthens, and by feudal dues and services. taxes. iji^Q tax-gatherer was ever at their doors : he even pursued them as they came from church : their goods were sold for non-payment of taxes ; and their ignorance exposed them to extortion and fraud,^ Not only were these taxes ruinous in amount, but some, " ' Taine, Les Origines, 445. ^ ' Leurs capitaines de chasse, veneurs, gardes forestiers, gruyers, protegent les betes comme si elles etaient des hommes, et poursui- vent les hommes comme s'ils etaient des betes.' — Taine, Les Ori- gines, 73. ' La plupart . . . ressemblent aux fellahs d'Egypte, aux labou- reurs de I'lndoustan.' — Ibid. 4G6. THE lillLITIA- m like tlie salt-tax and the wine-tax, were levied by means so oppressive and vexatious, that the loss to industry and trade was more serious than the tax itself.^ The last wrong of the peasantry was that of recruit- ing for the militia. The military forces were drawn exclusively from the lower classes : all people in comfortable circumstances, as well as their servants, enjoyed exemption from service ; and none but the poor peasants, who had no friends, were pressed into the ranks.^ Dragged from their homes, and made soldiers against their will, they were treated with severity and neglect. While their noble officers were faring sumptuously every day, the common sol- diers were coarsely and sparely fed, ill-lodged, and ill- treated.^ Nowhere was the hard contrast between the noble and the peasant more striking than in a French regiment. The soldiers, sullen and discon- tented, deserted in thousands, and lived upon society as outlaws, marauders, poachers, and vagrants. There was no agricultural middle class, like that of yeomen, or large tenant farmers, as in Eng- Noagricui- land. The rural society was that of nobles, middle squires, and peasants. Nor did any of the middle class, enriched by trade, choose their homes in the country. Repelled by the haughty bearing of the proprietors,^ and by the local burthens which fell ' Ibid. 468-473. * 'Le service lour est si odieux, que souvent lis se sauvent dans les bois, ou 11 faut les poursuivre a main armco.' — Ibid. 513. 3 ' Six sous par jour, un lit etroit pour deux, du ])ain de cliien, et dopuis qudques annees, des coups commc u un cliicn.' — Taine, Lea Orif/inex, 513. ^ ' Le seigneur qui rusidait dans scs terres montrait d'ordinaire unc certaine bonhomie familicre envers les paysans ; uiais sou in- 112 FBANCE. heavily -upon tliem, as unprivileged owners, tliey took refuge in the towns, and swelled the ranks of the bourgeoisie} With such discouragements to the industry of the peasantry, we learn without surprise of the and bicad miseries by which large parts of France were often afflicted. Famines were not infrequent, which carried off multitudes of sufferers ; and reduced the survivors to the most frightful privations.^ "While nobles and prelates were feasting, at Yersailles, thou- sands of their wretched people were dying of hun- ger. Large tracts of land, deserted by the peasantry, were thrown out of cultivation. Many fled from their miseries to the provincial towns, and to Paris : where a starving populace were often driven to riots and pillage. They broke down the barriers at the octroi, they forced open granaries, and provision shops : they plundered markets, and they hung bakers. Multi- tudes of beggars infested the country roads, the towns and the capital. In 1767, no less than 50,000 were taken up, by order of the government.^ Bands of armed robbers and poachers cut down woods, swept away game and poultry, and plundered farm-houses. These dangerous vagabonds, trained to outrage, were ready to lead famished mobs in tumults and insurrec- tions.^ The towns were more prosperous than the country : science vis-a-vis des bourgeois, ses voisins, etait presque infinie.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 134. ' ' La presque totalite de la classo moyenne dans Tancien regime habitait les villes.'— Ibid. 134, 136. ^ Taine, Les Origines, 430 et scq. 2 De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 199. * Taine, Les Origines, 507, 508. mrOVEEISHMENT OF NOBLES. 113 but tliej suffered grievous burtliens. Tliey -were sub- ject to a heavy octroi, and to public and local ,j,,|^ j.^^^^^_ imposts : tlieir trade was injured by monopo- ^^'-^^ towus. lies, and fiscal vexations : no one was free to follow Ms calling in liis o^ti way : everywhere privilege was opposed to freedom. Numbers of tlieir own workmen were often without employment ; and they were overrun by paupers and vagrants from the country.^ While the country was suffering from misrule, in- justice, and selfishness, important changes were coming over the society of France. i"iiiiienrof The old nobles retained their ancient privi- leges : but their social position was gravely altered. Such was the respect due to birth, that nobility once stood alone and unapproachable in society. It was a distinct caste.^ Nobles rarely married beyond their own privileged circle, and never without discredit. They were also the only wealthy class : their great possessions placing them far above the reach of ri- valry. And when they resided upon their patrimo- nial estates, their influence over provincial societ}' was unbounded. But their ranks had been thinned by the civil wars ; and court life had impaii'ed their for- tunes. Their estates were impoverished by neglect and mismanagement : and not all the lavish bounty of the king sufficed to maintain their extravagance. Many sank deeply into debt : some saved themselves from ruin by unequal marriages.^ Above all, they i ' Ibid. 482, 505. - ' La noblesse est devenue une caste, c'est-ii-dire que ta marque distincte est la naissance.' — De Tocqueville, L'anden Regime, 124. ^ ' Depuis plusieurs siecles les nobles fran^ais n'avaient cessc de B'ai)pauvrir. " Malgre ses privileges, la noblesse bc mine, ot s'aue- 114 FRANCE. liacl wliolly abdicated tlicir proper duties, as a gov- erning class. While the country was disturbed by dangerous disorders, — mainly due to their neglect, — • they were spending a life of pleasure and frivolity. They were masters of wit and epigram : but they were without statesmanship, patriotism, or a sense of public duty. They had lost their influence over soci- ety ; and they took no pains to recover it. If they desired power they sought it through the favour of the king. They had no ambition apart from the court. And thus France was deprived of the guid- ance of its natural leaders. Meanwhile other classes had been rising in French societv. While the nobles were becoming Rise of -^ , n • 1,1 other poorer, mtendants, financiers, merchants and classes. ^ ' . •itpi lawyers were growing rich. If they had formed a powerful middle class, controlling the no- offlciai bles, and representing the interests of the nobles. people, they could have done much to repair the evils of French society. But it was their first ambition to be ennobled. A part of their wealth was at once invested in the purchase of an office, which conferred the rank and privileges of nobility.^ The social position of these ofiicial nobles was equi- vocal. By the old noUesse, they were still regarded as rohiriers ; and they added nothing to the politi- cal power, or social influence, of the nobility. On the other hand, they were viewed with jealousy, by their former equals. Their privileges were invidious ; antit tous les jours, et le tiers-t'tat s'empare des fortunes," ecrit tris- tement un gentilhomme, en 1755.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Re- gime, 117. ' In the time of Necker the number of such offices was no less than 4,000. — De Tocqueville, L'ancien liigime, 133. CAPITALISTS. 115 and tlieir pretensions offensive.^ They were exempt from burthens, which fell the more heavily upon their neighbours ; and their pride provoked envy and ridi- cule. They failed to acquire the respect of the people, like the ancient nobles : while they aggravated the sense of inequality, which had long been rankling in the minds of the unprivileged classes. Unlike the judicial nobles of the Parliaments, whose learning and public services ensured respect, they formed no element of stability in French society. But the increasing commerce of France had en- riched great numbers of citizens, beyond this privileged circle, — capitalists, bankers, con- tractors, and merchants. Such men became the chief creditors of the State and of the nobles ; and so great were the necessities of the court, that they often suf- fered losses, and ruinous delays, in the recovery of their debts.^ Many were richer than their debtors, lived in the same splendour, and vied with them in social pretensions.^ But there was a broad gulf be- tween them. The nobles were gradually relaxing some of their dignity : but they held themselves aloof from the roturiei's. They borrowed their money, but avoided their company. The capitalists had become a power in the State : but they were estranged from the court and the nobles.* ' ' Dans certaines provinces, les nouveaux anoblis sont repousses d'un cote parce qu'on ne les juge pas assez nobles, et de I'autre parce qu'on trouve qu'ils le sont doja trop.' — Ibid. 134. * Taine, Les Origines, 406. ^ ' lis avaient les m6mes idees, les memes habitudes, suivaient les meraes gouts, se livraient aux mr-mes plaisirs, lisaient les mcnies livres, parlaient le mOnie langage. lis ne diffcraient plus entre eux que par les droits.' — De Tocqucville, L'aiicien Itcgime, 121. * Ibid. 130. IIG FRANCE. The only class with whom the nobles associated, Men of npon equal terms, were men of letters. These letters. gave lustre to their salons ; and enlivened the conversation of the great, with wit and graceful learning. They v/ere courted and flattered, — often re- ceiving attentions due to men of the highest rank.^ There was no question of their birth, but only of their genius and celebrity. As leaders of public opinion, they might have been powerful auxiliaries of the court and the nobles : but their literary influence was hos- tile to the higher classes, and was undermining the ancient fabric of French society. If we search for a middle class in French society. The bour- ^^^ must looli to the bourgeoisie. But who geoue. were they? There was a time when they had a recognised place in the State. They exercised their municipal fi-auchises ; and they were represented as part of the tiers-ctat, in the Estates. But they had lost all these privileges : they performed no services to their country, or their order : but had become a race of greedy place-hunters. Vast numbers of small ofiices were created and sold for their gratification.^ Of these, many thousands exempted the holders from the whole or part of the public burthens, from service in the militia, from the land tax, or the corvee. Here ^ 'En beaucoup d'occasions, les titres litteraires avaient la pre- ference sur les titres de noblesse.' ... 'On voyait frequemment, dans le monde, des hommes de lettres, du deuxieme et du troisieme rang, accueillis et traitt'S avec des egards que n'obtenaieut pas les nobles de province.' — De Segur, Mem. cited by Taine, Les Origincs, 390. ^ ' De 1693 Ti 1709, seiilement, on calcule qu'il en fut cree quarante mille, presque toutes a la portee des moindres bourgeois.' . . . ' Chacun, suivant son etat, dit un contemporain, veut Ctre quelque chose de par le roi.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 137. THE BOUKGEOISIE. 117 "were more privileges and inequalities ! Tlie petty placeman, who served the king, was set above his fel- lows. He gave himself the airs of a great man : he contrived to shift the local burthens to the shoulders of his poorer townsmen ; and was repaid b}^ their envy and hatred. In every town, the government had created a privileged aristocracy, alienated from the people, useless to the State, and a just cause of popu- lar discontent. Nor was the civic aristocracy confined to placemen. The more prosperous burghers were members ^,j^,;^, ^^^^_ of corporate companies, or guilds. The mu- *^'*^*- nicipal functions of these bodies had long since passed away : but their members were notables of the toT;\Ti : ■they held themselves above their fellow-citizens ; and contended for precedence among themselves. The no- tables claimed to be sprinkled fii'st with holy water : the barbers would not ^deld the place of honour to the bakers. Such trifling disputes occupied the atten- tion of the intendant, the tribunals, the Parliaments, and even of the king himself.^ Everywhere there was privilege, inequality, pretension. There was no sound piiddle class, proud of its position, contented with its lot, and uniting to maintain the public liberties. But there was a bourgeoisie, divided against itself, and wholly separated fi-om the people. Such being the constitution of French society, to whom was the oppressed peasant, or humble . . Tlie clergy. artificer, to appeal, for the protection of his interests, and the redress of his wrongs? He could look for little help from the absentee noble, the im- poverished squire, the king's host of functionaries, or > Ibid. 141 118 FKANCE. the city notable. But lie had friends and advisers of the middle class, to whom he turned in all his troubles. The cure was of the same class as himself : his own lot in life had been hard and unthankful ; and he sympa- thised with the sufferings and wrongs of his afflicted flock. He knew too well the selfishness and indiffer- ence of the higher churchmen, and lords of the soil ; and he was a daily witness to the painful struggles of his humble brethren. His sympathies were with the poor ; and he revolted against the oppression of their rulers. He was poor and ignorant: he could give them little help : but he comforted them in their sor- rows, and hoped for better times, when he might serve them. But a more powerful adviser was at hand. In every rp^g dispute with a landlord, or collector, the lawyers. lawyer was ready to help his humble cli- ents. He was clever and dexterous : they could sel- dom read or write : he knew the subtleties of the law, and the tricks of agents and collectors ; and he could plead the cause of the poor with skill and bold- ness. Lawyers^ swarmed throughout the country ; and they exercised a prodigious influence over the people. Like the cures, they were of humble birth ; and were generally repelled from the society of their privileged neighbours. But in education they were superior to all but the highest class, and men of letters. They knew all the abuses of the law, and of official admin- istration; and they were familiar with the new phi- losophy. At the same time, they resented the social ' inequalities, under which they smarted ; and they jier- ceived, in the wrongs of the people, the means of ' Viz : Avocats, procureurs, notaires. CONDITION OF FRANCE. 119 reforming the intolerable evils of the State. Active and ambitious: with large opportunities of associa- tion, among themselves, and with other classes, — they prepared the way for a revolution, in which they were hereafter to play a conspicuous part.^ Such then was the political and social condition of France, in the eighteenth century. There p„]5ticai was a monarchy all but absolute : a feudal con{fi?fin nobility with oppressive powers, and invidi- of France. ous privileges : a burthensome official aristocracy, with its own privileges and exemptions : an exacting royal administration : injurious monopolies ; and an op- pressed and suffering people, without political rights. These were evils which threatened the State with danger. They were \aewed with indifference by the courtly nobles at Versailles : but they did not escape the notice of an acute English observer. Lord Ches- terfield, writing fi-om Paris Dec. 25, 1753, said : ' In short, all the symptoms I have ever met with in his- tory, previous to great changes and revolutions in government, now exist and daily increase in France.' '~ But where was redress to be sought for the griev- ances of the people? The states -general Thenew might have represented the national wrongs, p'''io'^ophy. and withheld subsidies until relief was obtained : but they had long ceased to have a place among the insti- tutions of France. A fi'ee press might have awakened the attention of rulers to the dangerous condition of the country : but, until late in the eighteenth century, political discussions were prohibited. Any attack upon the government or its officers was visited with ■ Taino, Lcs Origincs, 518-531. ^ Lord Chcsterfidd's Letters. 120 FEANCE. severity : but tlie utmost license Tvas permitted to tlie discussion of abstract questions of religion, philosophy, and politics. God might be insulted with impunity : the foundations of society, the rights of property, and the sacred duty of insurrection might be discussed : but let a wi-iter beware how he criticised an inten- dant.^ The country needed a bold exposure of existing evils, and a practical discussion of suitable remedies. But the literature of the eighteenth century took a direction ill calculated to redress the wrongs of the people. Instead of pursuing a sober investigation of practical evils, it revelled in abstract speculations. Instead of exposing distinct abuses in Church and State, it assailed religion, and aimed at the recon- struction of society, upon a theoretic basis. A host of brilliant writers were discussing the most momen- tous questions in religion and politics: but not one contributed to the moral and social improvement of his countrymen. They wrote without practical know- ledge, and without serious aims. They knew little of the peasantry : they possessed little sympathy with their wrongs : but they were eloquent in their visions of ideal bliss. For all the ills of an old and complex society, they could perceive no remedy but in a return to nature. They wrote for theorists and sentiment- alists, — not for statesmen or earnest philanthropists.^ ' ' Le gouvernement permet de discuter fort librement toutes sortes de tlieories generales et abstraites, en matiere de religion, de pliilosophie, de morale, et meme de politique. II souffre assez volon- tiers qu'on attaqiie les principes fondamentaux sur lesquels repo- sait alors la societe, et qu'on discute jusqu'il Dieu meme, pourvu qu'on ne glose point sur ses moindres agents.' — De Tocqueville, L'anden Begime, 95. * ' Jamais de faits : rien que des abstractions, des enfilades de sen- tences sur la nature, la raison, le peuple, les tyrans, la liberte, sorto THE NEW PHELOSOPHy. 121 The two principal authors of the new philosophy were Voltaire and Kousseau ; and for many years the vigorous and versatile intellect "^'"'®- of the former exercised tlie greatest influence over French thought. He united more conspicuous talents than any man of letters, of his ov/n, or perhaps of other, times. Wit, epigram, raillery, satire, ridicule, and argument, were equally at his command. He was at home in every variety of literature, — in history, poetry, the drama, the essay, or the romance. Bril- liant in conversation, he was the delight of the most polished society in Europe. Crowned heads were among his disciples. He had little faith in religion, in moral systems, in governments, or in human na- ture ; and he projected no schemes for the regenera- tion of society. But throughout his long life, he laboured to assail the Church, to shake the national faith, and to overthrow traditions. There was no reverence in his being : he had no respect for authori- ties : his philosophy was that of a reckless icono- clast. It was his single mission to cast down the cherished idols of his countrymen. His mocking spirit was congenial to the fashionable society of his age : the frivolous courtiers made no secret of their infidelity ; and even the higher ecclesiastics professed little earnestness in the faith of the Catholic Church.^ de ballons gonflus et entreclioqm's inutilement dans los espaces.' — Taine, Les Orir/ines, 202. ' Tous pensent qii'il convient do substituer de.s n-gles sim])]os et ('li'mentaires, puisi'es dans la raison et dans la loi naturelle, aux coutumes compliquCes et traditionelles, qui n'gis- sent la societu de leur temps.' — De Tocqucville, L'ancicn Regime, 205. ' ' It was as necessary to the character of an accomplished man that he should desjiisc the rtjligion of his country, as tliat ho should know Lis letters.' — Mucaulay's Essays, ill. 114 (Kankc's Ilist. of the Popes). VOL. II.— 122 FEANCE. His caustic sarcasms were repeated in every salon, and inspired the profane wit of minor writers.^ Rousseau formed a singular contrast to his great contemporary. Gifted with an original ge- Rousseau. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^ sublime egotist : a visionary, with a vein of madness : a philosopher whose belief was in fictions. According to his scheme, property was a wrongful appropriation of what belonged to society : government was an usurpation of the com- mon rights of the people. He was the advocate of communism, and of the absolute sovereignty of the people. The existing order of society was the viola- tion of an imaginary social contract, into which men in a state of nature and equality had entered ; and all who opposed a return to this state of nature — kings, priests, or nobles — were to be overthrown, as enemies to the human race. The individual rights, interests, and affections of the citizen were to be renounced in favour of the general community. Even the educa- tion of children was to be withdrawn fi-om the pa- rents, and entrusted to the State. All the natural instincts, passions and habits of mankind: all the laws, customs, and traditions of society were ignored ; and a fanciful contract, opposed to all human expe- rience, was to be assumed as the supreme rule for the government of the world. Voltaire had been first in the work of demolition : Rousseau became the apostle of social reconstruction ; and during the latter part of the eighteenth century, his philosophy was in the ascendant.^ It was attractive even to the polite ' Taine, Les Origines, 375-384. ' 'On pent dire que la seconde moitie du siecle lui appartient.' — Taine, Les Origines, 354. ' Dans les classes mitoyennes et inf crieures, Eousseau a eu cent THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 123 circles, wlio followed Yoltaire, and it was accepted with entliusiasm by tlie middle classes — the provincial lawyers and the bourgeoisie. lu a land of privileges and inequality, it taught that all men were equal : in the midst of suflering and wrong, it promised the ideal happiness of a primitive society. A crowd of able ^\Titers contributed to the spread of the new philosophy, of whom Diderot was ^ • e -r, > i • i • Diderot and the chief. Powerful m his own resources, he t''« ^^^y- associated with his literary labours a body of learned men, who, in the renowned ' Encyclopedie,' discussed every question in religion, philosophy, and politics, with unexampled freedom. The new phi- losophy was spread throughout Europe ; and it was made j^opular in tracts, tales, and comedies. It gave the tone to all the thought and literature of the agc.^ Its doctrines were not original : ^ they were bor- rowed from English philosophers : ^ but in England they had never taken root. They had been confined fois plus de lecteurs que Voltaire.' — Mallet-Dupan, cited by Taine, ibid. 414. ' Mr. Lecky maintains that ' a revolutionary movement of some kind was the normal result of the tendencies of the age, and that its chief causes are to be sought entirely outside the discussions of political philosophers,' but he allows that ' they undoubtedly modi- fied, and in a measure directed, the movement that produced them.' — Rationalism, in Europe, ii. 234. ' Had there been no Voltaire, there would have been no Camille Desmoulins. Had there been no Diderot, there would have been no Marat.' — Lord Lytton, The Paridans, ii. 183. * ' Una pareille pensee n't-tait pas nouvelle : elle passait et re- passait sans cesse depuis trois mille ans a travers I'imagiiiation dos liommes, sans pouvoir s'y fixer.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien lli-f/ime, 205. ' Comte gave Ilobbes credit for being the first philosopher of this schmj] : — ' C'est surtout a Ilobbes, en effet, que reniontent liis- toriquement les plus iniportantei couccptions critiques, qu'un irra- 124 FRANCE. to tlie realms of speculation, like perpetual motion and the philosopher's stone. The practical English mind addressed itself to the redress of present griev- ances, and the amendment of existing laws. It ac- cepted the State and society as it found them, with- out dreaming of their theoretical reconstruction. But in France, where practical political discussion had long been unknown, and men of letters and wits were the chief disputants, the startling theories of the new school captivated the imagination, and in- spired the eloquence, of a host of contemporary writers. The minds of men were unsettled : their faith was shaken in every principle which had hither- to been their guide ; and no practicable aims were set before them, to direct their future course. Nor were the doctrines of the new school confined Opinion in to Frauce. They reached the thrones as uiTrnkicne well as the salons of Europe. The brilliant eiL,'iiteentii Writings of Voltaire touched alike the coarse ^^^^ "'^' nature of Frederick the Great of Prussia, the hard instincts of Catherine of Russia, and the liberal spirit of Josepli II. of Austria. Even the Pope, Benedict XIV., was among the number of his disciples. The spirit of free inquiry took possession of despotic rulers, whose influence gave a further im- pulse to the prevailing sentiment of the times.^ To believe in nothing was the new creed ; and how tionel usage attribiie encore a nos philosophes du xviii" siecle, qui ii'en furent essentiellement que les indispensables propagateurs. ' — P/tilos. Pos. V. 713 ; and see Taine, Les Origines, 330. ' See Mill, Bepr. Govt. 15. ' L'irreligion etait repandue parmi les princes et les beaux esprits: elle ne penctrait guere encore dans le sein des classes moyennes et du peuple.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien R'gime, 220. THE CnUnCH AND PUBLIC OriNION. 125 was it to be combated by those who held fast to the old faith ? The philosophers, men of let- _ , 1 •. -i 1 • • , The Church ters, and wits, were its champions : society ''^"^^ i'"^'*<^ T • 1 /-^i 1 opinion. accepted it : the Church stood alone in re- sisting it. But the Church had lost much of her in- fluence since the Middle Ages. Her wealth, dignity, and invidious privileges remained : but her spiritual authority had been weakened by the Keformatiou — by religious controversies — by contentions wdth the Parliaments — and, above all, by the growing spirit of philosopliical inquiry, which marked the eighteenth century. The intellect of France had received a great impulse from the revival of learning in Italy.^ Re- ligious thought had been awakened by the Eeforma- tion : but the Church was immutable in her teaching and her policy : she had rejjressed all freedom of opinion. Having failed to exterminate the Huguenots, in one age, she had driven them out of France, in ^,,p another. They were the most prosperous, iJ>'K"enot3. enlightened, and well-ordered of the king's subjects : thev were the flower of the middle classes. If tole- ration had been extended to them, they would have formed a barrier between the Church and infidelity. Their spirit was earnestly religious ; and if they had questioned the doctrines of the Church, they would have discussed them with reverence, while spreading more widely a knowledge of Christian truth. But, left to her own unchanging course, the Church con- tinued to teach the doctrines of the Middle Ages ; and left the people in the darkest ignorance. She enjoined obedience, submission, and self-abasement to ' Aug. Thierry, Ensai mr VlILt. da Ticm Flat, i. 107, 108. 126 FRANCE. a people suffering from intolerable wrongs. And, un- conscious of danger, she was suddenly confronted by a new class of thinkers, hostile to the Church and to religion itself. The intolerance which had repressed even the modest faith of the Huguenots, naturally promoted a reaction. The Church now encountered the most searchiiig criticism of her doctrines and traditions, a scathing exposure of her abuses, and ribald sarcasms upon her faith. And to those who shrank from infidelity, were presented the most at- tractive pictures of the perfectibility of the human race, and of a social paradise, from which men had hitherto been excluded by cruel barriers which the Church herself had raised. Need it be said that the Church was unequal to the strife ? She had lost the great weapon of persecution ; and the intellect and temper of the age were opposed to her teaching.^ Sometimes attempts were made to restrain the license of the press : but they were such as to irritate, rather than to frisrhten the writers into silence.^ Prosecuted for irreligion, they redoubled their assaults upon the Church and its doctrines. And authors had now be- come the most powerful order in the State. They were courted by kings, princes, and nobles : they were worshipped in society : they were flattered by ladies of rank and fashion ; and they directed the public opinion of their time.^ ' 'No Bossuet, no Pascal came forth to encounter Voltaire.' — Macaulny's Essays, iii. 340 (Ranke's Hist, of the Popes). ^ ' Les auteurs n'etaient persecutes que dans la mesure qui fait plaindre, et non dans celle qui fait trembler.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Rer/ime, 225. ^ ' Visiblement, dans ce monde, le premier role est aux ecrivains ; on ne s'entretient que de leurs f aits et gestes : on ne se lasse pas de leur rendre hommage.' — Taine, Les Origines, 870. ' La vie politique THE CHUECn AND rUELIC OPINION. 127 But tlie peasantry, and multitudes of tlie French people, were still ignorant; few of them The lower could read or write. Philosophical treatises classes. were above their comprehension : even the popular literature could scarcely reach them. But the spirit of the new philosophy had penetrated society. The leaders of thought and action were everywhere pos- sessed by it. Even the courtiers of Louis XV. were apt to mingle with their license and frivolity, a free- dom of f)hilosophical thought which threatened their own order. It was natural that they should think lightly of religion : but their speculations spared neither the Church, nor any of the traditions upon which the State and society were founded.^ The same freedom of discussion was observed in other circles less exalted; and, as at the Reformation, oj)inion3 spread rapidly from the thinking classes to the lowly and uneducated ; so the spirit of the new philosophy gradually reached deep into the strata of French society. And it was quickened by the growing dis- contents of the people. If they failed to understand the principles of a philosophy which was discussed so freely, they were yet unsettled by the opinions of others, and prepared to follow those who promised relief from their sufferings, and a happier future. They were not unfaithful to their religion, like the higher classes : but they were moved by visions of earthly happiness. flit violeniinent refouk'e dans la littt'rature, et les t'crivainR, prenant oil main la direction do I'opinion, se troiivcTent un moment tenir la place que le;? chefs de parti occupent d'ordinaire dans les pays libres.'— De Tocqueville, 209. ' ' Nous goutions a la fois les avantai^es du patriciat, ct les dou- ceurs d'unc i)liilo.so])hio i)l('b('iciine,' aaid u young uoblo (Do Segur), cited by Tuine, Les Orifjincs, o90. 128 FRANCE. If tlie pooplo had been familiarised, by freedom, Absence of ""'i^^ ^^^^ practical administration of public nubHc^ affairs, they would have been less influenced opiuiou. -^j dangerous sj^eculations. But political intelligence had been dulled by centralisation : the nobles had long ceased to exercise independent influ- ence over public opinion ; and, so far as their influence extended, it was in favour of those theories v.hich were destined to overthrow their own order, and sub- vert the government on which they rested. Kulers were wholly blind to the dangers by which the State was threatened. They had no such warnings as those which are given in a free State, where the grievances and sentiments of the people are made kuo"ftTi. Theo- retical writers were confident and powerful : while those classes, by whom the State should have been governed, were inert and without foresight or statesmanship. And while the new philosophy was alienating its Classical disciplcs from the Church and religion, and earmiio;. fjui^g them with aspiratious for the political rights of man, the scholarship of the age dwelt with admiration upon the examples of antiquity, and the glories of the Greek and Roman republics. In the courtly dramas of Corneille, and the grave romances of Fenelon, republican virtues were gracefully repre- sented. Ideal characters were easily transformed into living beings, worthy of present imitation. Such studies stimulated the prevailing sentiments of so- ciety ; and classical names and models were hereafter to assume a conspicuous place in the Eevolution. Such being the condition of society and of opinion, in the eighteenth century, the reigns of two failures of of the kiugs who rulcd over France, during that period, were adverse to the influence FAILUKES OF LOUIS XIV. 129 and stability of tlie tliroue. Tlie wars of Louis XIV., and bis domestic extravagance, tried seyerely tlie resources of the State. Taxes were multiplied : but no exactions could supply the needs of tlie ex- hausted treasury ; and the sufferings of the people were aggravated by the final embarrassments of the government. Nor were the disorders of the internal administration reduced by the ascendency of France in Europe. The ambition of Louis XIV. had over- reached itself; and his latter days were clouded by failures and reverses. After all the sacrifices of France, the lustre of her great king was fading. His taxes and exactions continued : but his glory was de- parting. The reign £>i Louis XV. aggravated all the evils under which France was suffering. The neignof monarchy was degraded by his vices : the ^^^^ ^^' nobles and society were debased by his scandalous court. The feebleness of his rule encouraged feuds between the Chiirch and the Parliaments, and dis- cussions were provoked, in which the Crown and all the privileged orders were, in turn, assailed. By an unwaiTantable interference with the Parliament of Paris, to screen a minister charged with corruption, he stirred the resentment of the Parliaments ; and was driven at last to suppress them, with the strong hand of prerogative. These eminent bodies were supported by public opinion : they were regarded as the only bulwarks against arbitrary power ; and their fall left the people wholly at the mercy of a corrupt court, and an oppressive and in- caj^able government.^ ' De Tocqueville, L'aiicicn Regime, 244. 6* 130 FEANCE. Tho credit of tlie king was furfclier impaired by Lis feeble foreign policy and military failures, by tlie disastrous battle of Kosbacli, and tlie treaty of Paris. France was at once oppressed and dishonoured. Yio- lations of public faith to creditors were already fre- quent : a national bankruptcy was threatening : the load of taxation was heavier, and more galling than ever : discontents were rife, and ominous disorders prevailed throughout the country. The deplorable policy of the government was assailed with unwonted freedom. The speculative writings of the last fifty years were now succeeded by controversies upon political economy and finance, and other questions directly affecting the administration of the State. Still founding their views upon the abstract princi- ples of the philosophers, they questioned every law and institution of the State, and condemned the abuses under which the country was suffering.^ And never had there been a time when the monarchy could so ill bear the scrutiny of public opinion. The ignoble reign of Louis XY., in dishonouring the mon- archy, had forfeited the loyal veneration of his sub- jects, and shaken the hereditary throne of the kings of France.^ ' ' Toutes les institutions que la Revolution devait abolir sans retour, ont ete I'objet particulier de leurs attaques ; aucune n'a trouve grace a leurs yeux.' — De Tocqueville, L'anden Regime, 234. ' lis ont deja couyu la pensee de toutes les rc'l'ormes sociales et administratives que la Revolution a faites, avant que I'idee dcs institutions libres ait commence a se faire jour dans leur esprit.' — ma, 3;35. ^ Henri Marten, Hist, de France, livre cli. ; Louis Blanc, Hist, de la Eev. Fr. i. 432 et seq. ; Crowe, Hist, of France, ch. 35, 36. CHAPTEE XIII. FiLUS'CE {continued). LOUIS XVI. — KEFORMS ARKESTED BY PRIVILEGE — ALLIANCE WITU AMERICAN COLONIES — FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES — THE STATES- GENERAL — TRIUMPH OP THE COMMONS — PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION — FOREIGN AID INVOKED — EMIGRATION OF NOBLES — THE KING'S FLIGHT — THE SEPTEMBER MASSACRES — ABOLITION OF THE MONARCHY — THE KING'S TRIAL AND DEATH. Theeatendtg, indeed, were tlie prospects of France, when Louis XYL ascended tlie throne : the Accc^s^ion finances of the State disordered : the people xvi.'"May discontented and turbulent : factions embit- ' " ' tered : the higher and lower classes hostile : the Crown weakened : the nobles discredited and un- pojDular : the Parliaments dissolved, but still intrac- table : a public opinion aroused and inflammable ; and a country without a single institution commanding public confidence.^ Never was there a more amiable or virtuous king than Louis XVI., nor one more alive to his ms own duties and responsibilities. rLe was ' Tlio jreneral narrative of evonts during tliis reign, and thronp;!!- out llie Revolution, is mainly founded upon tlie Histories of Thiers, Mignet, Louis Blanc, Lamartine {Hist, dcs Girondins), Von Sybel, Crowe {Hid. of France), De Tocqueville {L'ancicn licffime ct la llevolutioii). With the widest divergencies of opinion among these writers, there is a general agrcciueut as to the leading events of the period. 132 FEANCE. ready to redress all tlie grievances of his subjects, with modest beneficence : but lie was himself without capacity to govern.^ He had succeeded to a perilous inheritance ; and, innocent himself, was doomed to suifer for the faults of his ancestors. His reign was opened with reforms. He at onco His diffl- reduced the overgro^vn royal establishments, cuities. jjg recalled the Parliaments, and commenced the revision of the finances. But the institutions and society of France were unfitted for the safe execution of necessary reforms, and the king was at once in the midst of troubles. For centuries it had been the policy of the State to multiply privileges ; and now the time had come when they must be overthrown. The reforms His able minister Turgot, relying upon the oiTiirgot. i^garty support of his royal master,^ grap- pled at once with some of the worst abuses under which France was suffering. He abolished at once the obnoxious corvee : ^ he wrested trade from the grasp of the guilds, and released it from internal cus- toms dues : he made the system of taxation less bur- thensome, while he extended it to the nobles and the clergy. He even held out the hope of enlarged political rights, by means of provincial assemblies, and ultimately of the states-generaL Little had the bold and honest reformer calculated upon the opposition which his measures would en- counter. But the privileged classes united against * ' Prince equitable, modere dans ses gouts, negligemment eleve, mais porte au bien par un penchant naturel.' — Thiers, Hist, de la Bev. Fr. i. 7. ^ ' Louis xvi. a repete souvent, " II n'y a que moi et Turgot, qui soyons les amis du peuple." ' — Thiers, Hist, de la Rev. Fr. i. 7. ^ In the preamble to the edict, the king condemned this impost in the most forcible language. — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime^ 266. I BEFOKMS OF TURGOT. 133 him : and lie was without that popular support upon which he might have relied in a free coun- opposition try. The court cried out against his mea- vlieged^" sures as ruinous to the Crown and the aris- ^'^'*®*^^- tocracy ; and the Duke of Orleans fomented riots, in the streets of Paris, against a reforming minister, who was striving to redress the wrongs of the people. Turgot had none to support him but the king himself; and he, at length, gave way to the influence of his court and the clamours of misguided mobs. A firmer will than his might possibly have j^i'e vailed : yet how was such a combination of powerful interests to be overborne ? The j)eople, for whose benefit these re- forms were proposed, were ignorant, and without po- litical rights : there was no party or popular organ- isation : no representative chamber. The Parliament of Paris, itself a privileged body, hotly espoused the cause of the nobles and the guilds. The intelli- gence, 'as well as the power of the country, was on the side of privilege. The minister fell : his healing measures were summarily revoked ; and a policy of reaction was commenced. Such reforms as those of Turgot, approved by the people and accepted by the pri\dleged classes, might have averted the revolution. They anticipated, by several years, the scheme of the revolution itself. They were the commencement of a remedial policy, which would gradually have miti- gated the sufferings, and appeased the discontents of the people. Now they proclaimed abuses, without correcting them, raised hopes and disappointed them, and revealed the power and selfishness of the privi- leged classes, already liated by the j)eople.^ ' De Tocqueville says : — ' L'expoiience apprond que le moment le plus diingeroux pour un mauvais gouvernement est d'ordinaire celui 134 FEANCE. These events were soon followed by the recognition The war of ^^ ^^^ revolted American colonies, and the ki'depeu-"^ war with England. Here was another pro- dence. lude to revolution. Already the minds of men, — not in France only, but throughout Europe, — had been disturbed by the discussion of abstract po- litical rights ; and now the king of France was the ally of the rebellious subjects of another monarch, and supporting the foundation of a democratic re- public.^ It was the realisation of the dreams of Eousseau : it was the theory of popular philoso- phers, reduced to practice by American statesmen, and approved and maintained by the king of France. And when the great republic was fully established, as an independent State, it afforded an example of free- dom and equality, unknown in the previous history of the world. Nor was it only by the spread of democratic sen- Expenscs timcuts, that this war advanced the cause oitiiewar. ^f revolution. Costly armaments had been undertaken, with an ill-furnished exchequer : the re- sources of taxation were almost exhausted : a loose administration of the finances permitted heavy ar- rears and deficits ; and a reckless system of loans was ou il commence A, se reformer.' ' Le mal qu'on soufErait patiemment comme inevitable, semble insupportable des qu'ou concoit I'idee do s'y soustraire.' — L'ancien Regime, 259. We must, however, guard ourselves against the conclusion, that it is safer to maintain abuses than to correct them. ' ' La France presidait a I'origine d'une nation libre, et elle avait mis elle-mCme la main dans ce berceau.' — Edgar Quinet, La Rev. i.48. ' Par quel vertige les amis d'un roi absolu I'avaient-ils pousse a tendre la main a des insurgents ? ' — Louis Blanc, Hist, dc la Rev. Fr. ii. 43. PROVINCLiL ASSEMBLIES. 135 hurrying on the State to bankruptcy. Meanwhile the inordinate expenses of the court were not re- duced. Necker, who had succeeded Turgot, fell in attempting to restrain them : Calonne sought favour with the courtiers, by giving free scope to their ex- ti'avagance. Meanwhile, the king and his ministers were intro- ducing further reforms into the administration. In 1779, provincial assemblies were revived, in many parts of France, and somewhat later assemblies throughout the realm; and they applied themselves with great zeal to the discussion of the grievances of the people.^ In 1787, they were en- trusted with considerable powers, — executive and ad- ministrative, — and encroached upon the functions of the intendants. Local self-government, so long un- known, was suddenly endowed with life and activity. Useful reforms were made ; and in several of the provinces the nobles and clergy displayed a praise- worthy desire to relieve the people, and to contribute their due share to the public burthens.^ But generally they exposed abuses, without redressing them, and inflamed discontents, instead of allajdng them. Mean- while these elective assemblies became masters of tlie seigneurs ; and the revolution was half effected by the State itself.^ Another critical reform, at this period, was the pub- lication of Necker's memorable 'com2^ie rendu.' Neckcr's A system of loans was necessarily founded r"','du. upon public credit; and, to satisfy the capi- ' De Tocquoville, L'aneien Regime, 270. * Taine, Leu Origines, 393-300 ; De Lavergne, Les AumnhUes Pro- vinciales. " De Tocquevillo, cb. vii. 136 FRANCE. talists, whose money lie was anxious to borrow, Necker, for the first time, published a full account of the re- ceipts and expenditure of the State. Whatevear its effect upon the public creditors, its consequences were otherwise momentous. It revealed the monstrous ex- travagance of the court : it enabled the people to con- trast the excessive emoluments of the nobles, who engrossed all the higher oiSces of the State, and in the army, with the niggardly pay of the minor civil functionaries, and of the neglected soldiers — all men of the people ; — and it acknowledged the new principle of public responsibility. Hitherto the government had been accountable to no one : henceforth it became accountable to the country and to public opinion. The discussion of reforms had stimulated public Piibiic opinion, throughout the country. Already opinion. awakened by the controversies of previous reigns,^ it had now acquired an extraordinary influ- ence. The king was still absolute in theory : but he was constrained to consult and to flatter it.^ The press had cast off all restraints, and was freely dis- cussing the measures of the government. Without free institutions, the monarchy was surrounded by the irregular forces of democracy. At length, in 1787, bankruptcy could no longer be averted, except by a new financial policy ; An assem- . . t'yof, and Calonne revived the remedial schemes notables. ire?"^"^^ of Turgot. "Warned by the experience of his predecessors, he endeavoured to propitiate the privileged classes, by submitting his plans to an ' See supra, p. 130. "^ ' D6s 1784, Necker disait dans un document public, comme un fait inconteste : "La plupart des etrangers ont peine u se faire une idee de I'autorite qu'exerce en France aujourd'hui I'opinion publique ; THE STATES-GENEIUL. 137 assembly of notables : ^ but, far fi'om giving liim suj)- port, they urged liis removal from oflfice. The Parlia- ment of Paris also condemned his measures. Again the court, and the privileged classes, were too strong for a reforming minister, however urgent the public necessities ; and Calonne, like his far worthier prede- cessors, was sacrificed to their resentment. But it was not enough to reject his schemes : the evils he was attempting to surmount were beyond dispute, and de- manded instant remedies. His successor, De Brienne, appealed to the Parliament of Paris for its assent to new taxes. It refused ; and the king endeavoured to coerce it, and other Parliaments who made common caose with it, by an arbitrary use of his prerogatives, ua;5uited to the times, and resented by public opinion. Ho even exiled the members of the Parlia- ment of Paris — 235 in number — to Troyes, by lettres de cachet And having recalled the Parlia- ment, he ventured, in ominous imitation of Charles L, to arrest two of its leading members — D'Espremenil and Goislart — in the hall of the Parliament itself. It was now too late to govern by prerogative ; and the two bodies which had been consulted, on behalf of the nation, were opposed to the Crown. Some new course was inevitable ; and the Parlia- ment of Paris had already demanded that Thostates- the states-general should be assembled, to s^"^'"'''- devise measures for the relief of the country.' It was ils comprennent difficilemeiit ce que c'est cette puissance invisible, qui commande j usque daus lo palais du roi.' — De Tocquoville, L'ancien Regime, 25G. ' There had been no assembly of notables since 1G2G, under llicho- lieu. « Thiers, Ilist. de la Rev. i. 14. 138 FE-\NCE. nearly two hundred years since tliis disused and almost forgotten body had been called into existence.^ The policy of reviving such an assembly, at this critical time, was distrusted by the government as uncertain, if not dangerous. But it was advocated by powerful classes, who hoped to strengthen their own interests : it was honestly desired by many, as a national council suited to the emergency : it was prayed for by the dis- tressed peasantry, as the only hope of relief ; and it was demanded by the enemies of the court and the government, as a means of embarrassment, and possi- bly of disorder. And, at length, the king, distracted by divided councils, but leaning to a liberal policy, Jan 24 resolved uf)on this hazardous venture, and 1789. convoked the states -general.^ Meanwhile De Brienne retired, and Necker was restored to power. The approaching experiment was fraught with dan- ger. Under an established constitution it is the experi- difficult to forecast the result of an appeal to the people : but in France everything was un- certain — the electors, the members, and the constitu- tion of the body itself, and the relations of its different orders. The notables were again assembled to advise upon these matters : but afforded little aid to the gov- ernment. The ministry settled that the deputies of the tiers-etat, elected by nearly universal suffrage, should be double the number of the other orders. Yet it was " not determined whether the three orders should sit apart, as in former times, or sit and vote together, in a single chamber. The one course assured the ancient ' Its last meeting was in 1614. See supra, pp. 95, 96. 5 For May 5, 1789. THE STATES-GENEEAL. 139 ascendoncy of tlie nobles and the clergy : the latter at once transferred their power to the lowest order, which had hitherto been without political influence. This critical question was hotly discussed by the two parties : the nobles denouncing any infraction of their rights : the popular party insisting upon a scheme which promised them an easy triumph. And it was asked why was the number of the commons double that of each of the other orders, unless with a view to their powers of voting ? Meanwhile the elections were held, with this important question still unsettled. This uncertainty increased the excitement, which was marked by some threatening riots. The f)opular cause was signally advanced by an- other incident of the elections. In each district, the electors were invited to prepare a statement of their grievances, for the instruction of the deputies, known as caMers ; and thus were brought together, and dis- cussed, the most formidable indictments against the entire polity of the State.^ They were generally drawn up by the lawyers, who, having been familiar with the sufferings of their neighbours, promptly as- sumed the position of their advisers and leaders at this crisis. The discontents of the people were uni- versal ; and they received exf)ression in such a form as to command attention. Eeforms amounting to ' Cliassin publislied a collection of these caldcrs, wliicli De Tocque- ville justly calls ' un document unique dans I'bistoire.' Again Lo says, ' Quand je viens a reunir ensemble tous ces vceux particu- liers (des trois ordres), je m'aperf;ois avec uno sorte de terreur, quo ce qu'on reclame est rabolition simultanee et systematique de toutes les lois, et de tous les usages ayant cours dans le pays : je vois sur- le-cliamp qu'il va s'agir d'une des plus vastes et des plus dangc- reuses revolutions qui aient jamais paru dans le vaondQ.' ■— L' ancien Rrfjime, 211. 140 FRANCE. revolution were everywhere demanded ; and a new and untried assembly was about to consider them. At this time, the king and his ministers were at state of issue with the nobles, and in conflict with parties. f^Q Parliaments: the treasury was empty: the people were famishing : factions were raging furi- ously; and public opinion was disturbed and threat- ening. Even the fidelity of the troops was doubtful : the officers leaning to their noble order ; and the sol- diers sympathising with the wrongs of the peasant class, and having discontents of their own.^ The result of the elections marked the dominant feelings of the country. Many of the nobles, tioii of the indoctrinated with the new philosophy, were reformers and philanthropists: but the ma- jority sternly maintained the rights of their order. The great body of the delegates from the clergy were cures,^ having an earnest sympathy with the peojile. They had boldly demanded the redress of all the pop- ular grievances, and they asserted the right of the peo- ple to tax themselves, through their representatives.^ Of the 600 deputies from the iiers-etat,^ there were no less than 374 lawyers ; ^ — the authors and instigators of the cahiey^s: there were men of letters, artists, and citizens ; but few country gentlemen. The noble, Mi- rabeau, expelled from his own order, and the Abbe ' Four months after the opening of the states-general, there were 16,000 deserters roving about Paris. — Taine, Les Origines, 515. ' Mr. Carlyle says of them, ' who, indeed, are properly little other than commons disguised in curate-frocks.' — Fr. Rev. b. iv. ch. 4. " De Tocqueville, L'anden Regime, 168, 169 ; Louis Blanc, Hist. de la Rev. Fr. ii. 221. * The total number of deputies to the states-general was 1314, one half of whom were from the ticrs-etat. ^ Bonill6, Mem. i. 68. THE STATES-GENERAL. 141 Sieyos, liad cast tlieir lot with the commons. It was a body intent upon reforms, and a sturdy foe to privi- leges. Its mission was to satisfy the complaints of the people ; and it was burning to resist the preten- sions of the nobles and the Church.^ On May 5, the states-general were opened, by the king himself, in the Salle des Menus, at Ver- sailles, according to the stately ceremonial th^gmes- of 1614 The clergy assembled on his right, ^^^^"^^ ' the nobles on the left, and the modest commons at the lower end of the chamber.^ The king and his minis- ters were welcomed with hearty acclamations, and his majesty's generous and earnest speech was received with applause. But here ended all that was hopeful, on this remarkable day. Neither the king nor his ministers, Barentin and Necker, who afterwards ad- dressed the states, proposed a certain policy, or spe- cific measures of relief: but, proclaiming the urgent necessities of the country, they appealed to the wis- dom and patriotism of the assembly ; whom they cau- tioned against extreme measures, and invited to union. The supreme question of the separate or united voting of the orders, was left to the deter- ^., . ^ / Sittings mination of those rival orders themselves : v/ P"' Estates. not, however, without intimations that the ' ' Ce ne sont ni les impots, ni les lettres de cachet, ni tous les au- tres abus de I'autorite, ce ne sont point les vexations des iiitendants, et les longueurs ruineuses de la justice qui ont le plus irrite la na- tion : c'est la prejuge de la noblesse par lequel elle a nianifeste plus de haine.' — Rivarol, Mem. cited by Taine, Le8 Origines, 419. * The ceremony was marked by a significant incident. When the king, being seated upon his throne, put on his hat, the clergy and nobles proceeded to cover themselves, according to ancient custom ; when, for the first time, the commons asserted the like privilege, in the presence of royalty. 142 FRANCE. ancient usage was favoured by the government. This fatal hesitation was due to the distracted councils of the king's advisers. The king himself would have shared his prerogatives with the people, for the com- mon good : but neither the clergy, the nobles, nor the court were prepared to sacrifice their own inter- ests or privileges. They had successfully resisted the king and his reforming ministers, Turgot, Necker and Calonne ; and they would not submit to the despised commons. The position was, indeed, embarrassing. If the orders voted separately, there was little hope of satisfaction to the people : if they voted together, there was immediate hazard of revolution. But to leave the orders, who hated and distrusted one another, to de- termine their own rights, was an invitation to anarchy. The two higher orders now sat apart in their re- The com- spectivc chambers, leaving the commons, as sumltT the largest body, in possession of the great National ^^^^ ' ^ ^^^ proceeded to the separate verifi- Assembiy. catiou of their powers. The commons, being resolved that there should be no separation of orders, insisted that the verification of the powers of the three Estates should be conducted by the entire body; and awaited the coming of the two other orders. Their inaction assured their ultimate triumph. They were united to a man ; while many of the nobles were on their side : they commanded the sympathies of the inferior clergy ; and they were supported by the peo- ple. After five weeks of fruitless negotiations, the June 17 commons took a bolder step; and declared 1789. themselves 'the National Assembly.'^ It was ' La Salle des Mats. ^ Edgar Quinet truly says, ' Ce nom, qui evoquait la nation, ctait dC'ja la victoire.' — La Ecvolution, i. 76. THE STATES-GENERAL. 143 an act of usurpation whicli marked the commencement of tlie revolution. Nor was it a mere declaration of right : it was followed by decrees designed to ensure their own authority. Taxes imposed by the Crown were declared illegal : but their collection was pro- visionally allowed, during the sitting of the National Assembly. The public debts were consolidated, to the great satisfaction of the public creditors ; and a committee of subsistence was appointed to provide for the wants of the people. As they were thus as- suming superior legislative power, it was clear that they must be put down, or that the Crown, and the tv/o other orders, must associate themselves with their labours. The court persuaded the king to adopt the former course : and, on the plea of an approaching royal seance, the doors of the hall v/ere closed against the Assembly. The commons at once adjourned to the racket court, where they swore not to separate until they had given a constitution to France. The racket court being soon closed against them, they adiourned to the Church of St. . . June 22. Louis ; and here they were joined by the majority of the clergy. On the following day the king came, in state, to the hall of the states-general, rebuked the As- ^iieking sembly, and annulled its decrees as illegal, ^{""^^{/"he He directed that the separate orders should Asseini!iy" be maintained: announced certain reforms, J""^'^^- comprised in thirty-five articles, which he invited the states-general to accept ; and intimated that, unless they were agreed to, he should himself promote the welfare of his people.^ At the same time, he threat- ened them with a dissolution. In conclusion, bo ' ' Bcul je forai Ic bica do mes ijeuples.' 144 FBANCE. ordered the deputies to separate. The nobles and the clergy at once left the hall : but the commons refused to move. Beminded of the king's orders by his usher, De Breze, they re^Dlied, by the mouth of Mirabeau, * Go, Monsieur, tell those who sent you that we are here by the will of the people, and that nothing but the force of bayonets shall send us hence.' They resolved to persist in their decrees, which the king had Just condemned ; and voted the inviolability of their members. This defiance of the king's authority, instead of being met by the threatened dissolution, was submitted to by the court ; and from that day, power passed into the hands of the Assembly. Another victory was soon gained by the popular Union of party. The Assembly, resuming its sittings the oiiiers. jjj ^jjg church of St. Louis, was at once joined by the clergy, who had sat there before, and in a few days by forty-seven nobles, including the Duke of Orleans, and at last by the en- tire body of the nobles and clergy. The union of the orders was now complete, and the ascendency of the commons was assured.^ The two foremost Estates of the realm were, in truth, effaced from the constitution of France; and the Crown itself had lost its sove- reignty.^ The court had sustained a grave discomfiture : but Dismissal ^^ ^^^ ^^^ eveu yet too late to initiate re- of Necivcr. forms and assume the direction of the popu- lar movement : but, unhappily, the reactionary party again prevailed in the king's councils. It was deter- ' 'Jusqu'ii ce jour, du moins, la bourgeoisie fut la Revolution: elle futle peuple.' — Louis Blanc, JTifit. de la Bev. Fr. ii. 315. "^ ' La royaute n'ttait plus au palais de Louis xvi. : elle etait a la Sa]]e des Etats.'— Ibid. 813. ALAEMING DISOEDERS. 145 mined to overawe tlie Assembly : its liall was sur- rounded by a foreign soldiery ; and large bodies of troops were concentrated upon Versailles, upon Paris and its en\-irons. Wlien these military pre- parations were completed, Necker was dis- '^"'^^^' missed, and banished from France. Hitherto the issue had been between the court and the Assembly : it was now a conflict between ^ , . •^ TaKinc; of the government and the people. The Pari- ^''^ is^istue. sians rushed to arms, and the troops refused to fight against them : the Bastile was stormed; and j„, ,jj the caj)ital was in the hands of the populace.^ ^^^^^• The king now came to the Assembly, assured them of his confidence, and promised the immediate withdrawal of the troops from Paris and Versailles. On the fol- lowing day he visited Paris, without guards, and was received with loyal demonstrations. " ^ ' ' But he was forced to humble himself before the peo- ple. Waving his hat, decked with the insurrectionary cockade, from the windows of the Hotel de Ville, he aroused transports of enthusiasm from the crowd be- low. He had made his peace, for a time, with his capital : but he had worn the badge of the revolution, nnd played the part of a citizen lociucd. king.^ The policy of the court had been foiled ; and Necker was recalled from his exile. Paris, with its popular magistrates and national guards, reconciled for a time to the king, was, how- ' On hearing of these events from the Duke de Liancourt, the king said, ' C'est une revolte I' ' Non, sire,' replied the Duke, ' c'estune revolution.' ^ ' Le souverain f eodal venait de disparaitre ; il ne restait plus en France qu'un monarque, chef des bourgeois. ' — Louis Blanc, Uist. ii. 422. VOL. IT. — 7 146 FILVNCE. ever, independent. Otlior cities followed its exam- ple, and electing new magistrates, and enrol- diso^eW. ling national guards, sided with tlie popular "^'^'^°' cause. In the provinces there were grave disorders : castles were burnt down : nobles and coun- try gentlemen were murdered; and their title-deeds destroyed by the peasantry: monasteries and farm- houses v/ere plundered: estates were forcibly occu- pied by squatters: rents and services were withheld fi-om the proprietors : tax-gatherers were hunted down like wild beasts : the peasantry roved over fields and forests in pursuit of game, which they cooked on the spot with wood from the plantations of their seigneurs. Life and property were a prey to agrarian anarchy.^ The three orders being now united, the Assembly, — henceforward called the Constituent Assem- tions of the bly, — cousisted of more than twelve hundred Assembly. , , • <> t ti members: a number excessive for delibera- tion, and liable to sudden and uncontrollable im- pulses. Its members had come recently from their constituents, who were aroused to a keen sense of their wrongs, and expected immediate relief from their representatives : while the prevailing excitement in Paris, and in the provinces, could not fail to influence tlieir deliberations. As public life in France had long been suppressed, by centralised administration, there Avere no men, in all this vast body, trained to states- - So early as July 1790, the Constituent Assembly received a re- port that ' property was everywhere the prey to brigandage : that on all sides castles were burned, convents wrecked, and farms given up to pillage : that all seignorial rights were at an end : that the laws were without force, the magistrates without authority, and justice but a phantom which was sought in vain in the tribunals.' — Nettement, Vie de M. la Marquise de la HocJuja'juelein, 71. DELIBEEATIONS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 147 mansliip, or qualified by experience, or political repu- tation, to direct its counsels, and guide it througli the fearful dangers by which it was surrounded. The nobles were unaccustomed to deliberative bodies : they had never practised public speaking, or the politic man- agement of men of different classes.^ No ministers of the Crown were there to concert a policy, upon which the executive and legislative authorities might agree : but jealousy and suspicion were rife between them. There were parties indeed, — the right, or royalist; the centre, or constitutional ; and the left, or demo- cratic: — but there was little party organisation, or concerted action, which might have given consistency to the policy of the Assembly. It was without any rules or traditions of order. A hundred deputies would rise together, and insist upon being heard. They even read their speeches.^ Motions were made, and decrees passed, Avithout notice, and upon the sud- den impulse of the moment.^ Its galleries were filled with strangers, Vv'ho cheered and hissed, without a check, and interrupted the debates with threatening clamours. Its foremost member was Mirabeau, — a man distinguished, above all his rivals, by genius, eloquence, and statesmanship ; and, in the early stages of the revolution, all his influence was used to forward the popular cause. The Abbe Sieyes, great in con- ' 'Jamais conducteurs d'hommes n'ont tellement desappris I'art do conduire les hommes, art qui consiste a inarclier sur la memo route, mais en tcte, et a guider leur travail en y preuant part.' — Taine, Lcs Orif/i7ics, 64. ^ Arthur Young's Travels, i. Ill et seq. ' This practice was continued throughout the revolutionary pe- riod, and has not boon corrected in recent times. Under tlio ])resi- dency of M. Tliiors, critical votes were taken witliout notice. c.(/. on the vote of confidence, Nov, 30, 1873. 148 FEANCE. stitution-inaking, found ample scope for his iuventive talents, in tliis political chaos; and Talleyrand, the bishop of Autun, was preparing to sacrifice his Church to the revolutionary cause, and his own ambition. General Lafayette, overflowing with vanity, moved by a restless ambition, and fresh from American politics, was ready to proclaim the rights of man, while he se- cured his own ascendency. D'Orleans, a prince of the blood, sat dark and silent, on the left, as an enemy of the court. Eobespierre was there, not yet a conspicu- ous figure, but brooding over the future. The people were clamouring for reforms, and the Assembly promptly ministered to their im- Renuncia- , . rni i • • tionof patience. There was a general uprising Aujiust 4,' against feudal ricirhts ; and in a sudden out- 1789. o ' burst of enthusiasm, the orders agreed to the renunciation of class privileges, and a wholesale redress of grievances. Feudal rights were redeemed, and personal servitude abolished : tithes were discon- tinued : exemptions from taxes renounced : plurality of oflices surrendered : the exclusive rights in game, and various other feudal privileges and jurisdictions, con- demned. In a single night, nearly all the grievances of the people were redressed.^ The nobles and the Church renounced the privileges which it had taken them centuries of struggle and usurpation to acquire. Just and necessary as were these concessions, they were made, not with the judgment of lawgivers, but with the rashness and impulsiveness of revolutionists ; and so sudden an interference with existing rights, with- out securities for the maintenance of order, gave a fresh impulse to anarchy. ' Thiers, Hist. i. 123 dseq.; Mignet, Elst. i. 100; Von Sybel, Hist. i. 84 ; Louis Blanc, Hist. ii. 484. PiUlTIES IN THE ASSEIJBLY. 149 The reYolution had now wrested power from the hands of the king, and privileges fi'om the ^ ^^ ^ Church and the nobles : but it had not yet ""^^'-^e overthrown the framework of the govern- '^''*°- ment. The king still reigned, but with a limited authority : an Assembly representing all classes of the people, and generally animated with sentiments of patriotism and moderation, was preparing to secure the fruits of the great national movement to which it owed its birth. At this jDeriod, indeed, it seemed possible that the revolution would assume a constitu- tional form. But the Assembly was divided ■ • • PirtiGS into three principal parties, whose principles in the and aims, and whose relations to the govern- ""'''^ ^' ment, prevented the solution of constitutional diffi- culties. The right, consisting chiefly of nobles and ecclesiastics, clung obstinately to the old regime : the centre desired moderate reforms, and constitutional liberty : the left were the revolutionary party, — advo- cates of the rights of man, — enemies of the Church and the nobles, — and though not yet republicans,^ hostile to the Crown. The work of reconstruction was discusssed : but in vain. An idle, vapouring, and mischievous declaration of the rights of man was, in- deed, adopted : ^ but a definite constitution could not be agreed upon. A senate, or second chamber, was proposed : but the nobles naturally desired to make it the means of recovering their power ; and who could ' Caraille Desmoulins said, ' Nous n'otions pas alors plus do dix republicains en France.' — Louis Blanc, Bev. Fr. livr. ii. ch. 4. '^ ' La France rompant avec lo passe, et voulant rGmonter it I'tlat de nature, dut aspirer ;I donner une declaration complete de tous les droits de I'liomme et du citoyon.' — Thiers, Hist. i. 137. See also Comte, PhU. Pos. vi. 358, SCO, 3'J8. 150 FEANCE. seriously hope that the commons, who had so lately triumphed over the two other Estates, would suddenly agree to restore a separate chamber, of equal authority with their own ? Again, it was proposed to secure to the king a veto upon all legislative acts of the Assem- bly : but this was considered by the popular party too great a power, and the veto was restricted to the dura- tion of two assemblies.^ But, in truth, the passions of the different parties Condition concerned in the revolution, were too heated of Paris. J.Q allow a peaceful settlement of the mo- mentous questions now at issue. Paris was excited and turbulent : the clubs were maintaining a danger- ous agitation; and multitudes of the people were starving. At the very time when the central nient of government had been dangerously weakened, the power of the municipality of Paris was no less dangerously increased. Its mayor was a great political personage : its national guard was an army of 30,000 men, ever on the spot ; while the king's forces were jealously removed from the capital. Its general, Lafayette, at once a soldier and politician, was mas- ter of the city and of the State. Its constitution was essentially democratic. The municipal administra- tion was vested in a large body of representatives, — originally 120, but soon increased to 300 : while every section had its own noisy assembly to dictate to the Hotel de Yille. Every great city has its dangerous classes : they swarm in the back stTeets, courts and alleys : Its people. , , . . _ in they are to be seen amidst the crowds of the greater thoroughfares. No one can walk among ' Thiers. Ilisf. i. 141-153. » STATE OF PARIS. 151 tliom, watch tlieir countenances, and overliear tlieir language, without wondering how the peace and safety of society can be guarded. But Paris, at this period, surpassed all other cities, — except perhaj)s ancient Rome, — in the disproportionate numbers of its poor, wretched, unemployed, and desperate inhabitants, — included in the comprehensive term of 'proUtaires. France had, for generations, been infested with crowds of vagrants and beggars.^ Of these, multi- tudes swarmed to the capital : the disorders of the time increased their number : thousands of workmen were thrown out of employment by the disorganisa- tion of society : the smaller employers suifered as much as the workmen ; and there was a fearful scar- city of food. A partial and inadequate poor-law was quite unequal to cope with such prodigious pauper- ism ; and the police, in Paris, as elsewhere, was scanty and ill-organised. Such were the elements of disor- der and violence, at a time of fevered political excite- ment. The people, suffering and excited, grossly ig- norant and credulous, were exposed to the wildest delusions. Democratic newspapers aroused their pas- sions ; and inflammatory placards appealed to them, upon all the walls of the capital. Journalism was a new force in the Revolution.'^ The artful whispers of revolutionary agents, and the declamations of mob- orators, goaded them to madness. There were turbu- lent meetings, in the sections and in the Palais Royal : there were riots in the streets, — sometimes the natural fruits of anarchy, — sometimes provoked by the secret ' In 1789 the number was estimated at 2,000,000. — Louis Blanc, Hint. livr. iv. cli. 2. "^ A full account of the journali.sin of this period will be found in Louis Blanc, Uist. tie la llCv. Fr. iii. 121 ct scq. 152 FRANCE. macliinations and tlie bribes of revolutionary dema- gogues. Society was seething witli tempestuous pas- sions ; and the gold of Orleans, and other dark con- spirators, was not wanting to inflame them.^ Order was partially maintained by the municipal authorities and the national guard : seditious meet- ings in the Palais Eoyal were prohibited : restraints were put upon the press : ^ a police force was organ- ised by General Lafayette : public workshops were provided for the unemployed poor : the municipal funds were exhausted in furnishing cheap bread to the people ; and at length, the State was obliged to save the multitude from starving. Immediate danger was averted by these expe- dients : but the general condition of Paris was aggra- vated. Cheap bread, and public wages for nominal work, attracted crowds to the capital, bringing with them fresh elements of discontent and turbulence ; and not long afterwards it was found necessary to close the public workshops.^ It was soon to be seen how little these masses could be controlled by au- thority ; and how easily they could be stirred to in- surrection. 'For evidence as to these transactions, see Mirabeau, Cott.; Bailly, Mim. ii. 293 ; Croker, Essays, pp. 50, 70 ; Von Sybel, Hist. i. 76, 114, 119, 124, 133 ; Lord Auckland's Corr. ii. 365 ; Ducoin, Philippe (V Orleans, 72. Spealting of the alleged bribes of the Duke of Orleans, M. Thiers says : — ' Du reste, cette influence n'est point a compter parmi les causes de la revolution, car ce n'est pas avec un peu d'or, et des manceuvres secretes qu'on ebranle une nation de vingt-cinq millions d'hommes.' — Hist, de la Rev. Fr.\. 80. This portion of his history is strongly criticised by Croker. * No printed matter was to be issued without the name of an editor. 3 July 1, 1790. THE CLUBS. 153 But tlio force of tlie revolution was mainly derived from tlie clubs and political associations. ^,i,Q^.)^^,g Here men were brought together to discuss their grievances, and give vent to their fierce pas- sions. The club orators were the true apostles of the revolution. Speculation gave way to political action ; and the ambition of leaders, and the hot zeal of partisans, lashed an ignorant and famishing people to fury.^ The most powerful and dangerous of these clubs was that of the Jacobins, which was to play a decisive part in the revolution. For Danton and other revolutionists, however, even this club was not violent enough ; and they founded the more hot- headed Cordeliers. Another club, — the Feuillants, — established by Lafayette and Bailly, was too mod- erate to excite the passions of the crowd.^ These clubs were formidable enough in themselves : but they became more dangerous by the union and corre- spondence of numbers of affiliated societies.^ While the popular party were busy in the Assem- bly, in the clubs, and among the populace Reaction of Paris, the court were smarting under the byThi'*'^'^ indignities to which the king had already """^ ' ' ' Jamfiis les livres ne produiront une revolution durable, si Ton n'y ajoute la parole publique. C'est elle seule qui porte et com- munique la vie.' 'Si la seizieme siicle n'avait eu que dcs ecri- vains, jamais il n'aurait enfantu la Refoniie. II fallut que les the- ologiens devinssent missionnaires. Les livres de Luther, de Cal- vin, de Zwingle firent des theologiens. Leur parole vivante re- pot''c, oommentt'e par des orate urs emus, fit Ig revolution religieuse.' — Edgar Quinet, La R'v. i. 73. * Thiers, UinL de la Rev. Fr. i. 213, ii. 12 et seq. ; Carlyle, Ili^t. of tJic Fr. Rev. b. ii. ch. 5. 3 ' The Paris Jacobins became the mother society, Pociote M^to ; and had as many as three hundred shrill-tongued daughters iu direct correspondence with her.'— Carlyle, Hid. of the Fr. Rev. b. ii. ch. 5. 7* 154 FEANCE. been exposed, and the abasement of tlie nobles. They were powerless in the Assembly ; and despaired of recovering their position otherwise than by force. The king still had an army. Why not leave Ver- sailles, and, surrounded by his faithful soldiers, defy his enemies, and trample down sedition ? Reaction was again attempted by a display of military force at Paris and Versailles ; and sinister rumours were spread of a sudden dissolution of the Assembly, and a couv d'etat. They were confirmed by the The ban- -^ . quetsof festivities of the kind's bodyguard at the the kind's . body" castle, in which the officers, with loud de- oct. 1 and monstrations of loyalty, trampled upon the ' ' ■ national cockades, and decked themselves with the white cockade of the Bourbons. These threats of military reaction, while they irritated and alarmed the revolutionists, were not sufficient to over- awe them. They were met by frantic excitement in ^ , , ,, Paris, by the celebrated march of the women Oct. 5 and 6. ' -^ upon Versailles, by the invasion of the cas- tle itself by a riotous mob, and by the enforced re- moval of the king and his family to Paris. The king was henceforth at the mercy of the mob. The king Deprived of his guards, and at a distance at Pans. from his army, he was in the centre of the revolution ; and surrounded by an excited and hungry populace. He was followed to Paris by the Assem- bly ; and, for the present, was protected fi'om further outrages by Lafayette and the national guards. Mira- beau, who was now in secret communication with the court, warned the king of his danger, in the midst of the revolutionary capital. *The mob of Paris,' he said, * will scourge the corpses of the king and queen.' He saw no hope of safety for them, or for the State, THE KING AT PAEIS. 155 but in their withdrawal from this i3ressing danger, to Fontainebleau or Eoiien, and in a strong goyernment, supijorted by the Assembly, pursuing liberal mea- sures, and quelling anarch}-. His counsels were fr-us- trated by events ; and the reyolution had advanced too far to be controlled by this secret and suspected adviser of the kiug.-^ Meanwhile, the Assembly was busy with further schemes of revolution and desperate finance, other France was divided into departments : the "fTh"°^ property of the Church was appropriated to '""^™ ^' meet the urgent necessities of the State : the disas- trous assignats were issued : the subjection of the cler- gy to the civil power was decreed : the Parliaments were superseded, and the judicature of the country was reconstituted, upon a popular basis : titles of honour, orders of knighthood, armorial bear- j^^^^ „q ings — even liveries — were abolished: the ^™°- army was reorganised, and the privileges of birth were made to yield to service and seniority.^ All French- men were henceforth equal, as 'citoyens:' and their new privileges were wildly celebrated by the plant- ing of trees of liberty. The monarchy was still recog- nised : but it stood alone, in the midst of revolution. This new constitution was accepted by the king, ' The relations of Mirabeau with the court have since been fully revealed in the interesting Corrcspondance entrc le Comtc de Mira- beau et U Comte de la Marck pendant les annees 1789, 1790 et 1791. Par M. de Bacourt, 1851. Mr. Reeve ' can discover no c\ndcncc of the common, but conjectural belief, that if the life of Mirabeau had V)een prolonged, it would have fared otherwise, with the French revolution.' — Royal and RepvJIdican France, i. 230. 5 Thiers, IHd. i. 22G et Hc.q. It is to be noted that on Feb. 34, 1790, the Constituent Assembly decreed the equal division of property, among children, without a single protest on the part of the nobles. 156 FRANCE. and consecrated by a pompous ceremony in the Cliamp do Mars : but the revolution, as it New con- Btitution advanced, had raised hosts of enemies who prdclaimcd. i • • • -n Jaiy i-z, were combining to arrest it. Every power, interest and privilege had been assailed ; and the most powerful classes of society were arrayed against it. The king had sworn to observe the new constitution : but he found himself stripped of his kingly attributes, separated from his friends, a pris- oner in the midst of a jealous and turbulent mob, and • exposed, at any moment, to insult and outrage. The nobles had lost their power, their privileges and their titles : the clergy their property and independence : the provincial parliaments, judges and other function- aries, their time-honoured jurisdictions : officers in the army their birthright of promotion. And large bodies of moderate and thoughtful men were alarmed by the rapid movements of the revolution, the collapse of every recognised authority, and the absorption of power by popular municipalities, national guards, revolutionary clubs, restless agitators, and a riotous populace. The hasty and impulsive legislation of the Assembly had spread anarchy throughout France. In vain the nobles and the clergy attempted to stir Forein-n aid ^P ^^^^ people, in the proviuces, against the invoked. Assembly. With the country at large the new laws were popular : they had redressed many flagrant abuses, and had relieved the peasantry from oppression and wrong. Nor had absentee nobles much influence over neighbours and dependents, to whom they were only known by their exactions. Failing to arouse a sj)irit of reaction, within the king- dom, the nobles began to cherish hopes of assistance from abroad. Twice the display of an armed force FOREIGN AID INVOKED. 157 had precipitated the king into deeper troubles : but if his faithful troops could be supported by friendly powers, and the reactionary party encouraged by for- eign sympathies, the good cause might yet prevail. With these hopes great numbers of the nobles began to emigrate. Many, indeed, had already fled to save their lives : their homes had been laid waste : their families outraged.^ Surrounded by dangers, they were powerless to save the king. If they submitted without resistance to the revolution, they appeared to acquiesce in it : if they attemj)ted to resist it, they were denounced as rebels to the king, in whose name it was conducted. They were glad to quit a country in which their lives and property were in danger, and where they had lost their dignity and influence. They had bsen trained to arms, and hoped to return at the head of triumjihant armies. They were invited to serve the royal cause, by the king's nearest re- latives, and foremost adherents, and were swayed by the example of the flower of the French nobil- ity. And if they were accused of appearing in arms against their country, they replied that they were supporting the king against his rebellious subjects.^ Nor were there wanting examples in the history of France in which foreign aid had been invoked by ' Madame de Sta6l, in her Considerations sur la Rtwlution Fran- raise, says : — ' jusqu'eii 1791, remigration ne fut provoquce par aucune sorte de dangers, et qu'elle dut etre considi'rre conime une ceuvre depart! ; tandisqu'en 1793, 1'emigration futn'ellement forcee.' But their dangers had commenced in July 1790. See sitpra, p. 145. " The best defence of the emigrants is to be found in Nettement, Vie de Madame de la Rochejaquelein, 71 et scq. He says that even Napoleon acknowledged that the emigrants ' merely obeyed the sum- mons of their princes, whom they regarded as their captains-general.' —Ibid. 73. 158 FRANCE. political parties.^ But, whatever tlieir motives, tliey left the king surrounded- by his dangerous enemies, and exposed to the charge of waging war against his country. The violence of parties threatened civil war at home, while the emigrants were planning invasion from abroad. The political condition of Europe, indeed, favoured Situation ^^® hopes of the emigrants. Kings had been of Europe, appalled by the revolutionary movements of a neighbouring country. Their ambition and rivalries were for a time forgotten, and the Emperors of Austiia and Eussia, and the Kings of Prussia and Sweden, were regarding France as the common enemy of Eu- rope.^ In England, not only the king, but the great majority of the governing and educated classes, re- sponding to the impassioned appeals of Edward Burke, dreaded the revolution as a pressing danger. To minds so prepared, the appeals of the emigrants were not made in vain. A formidable confederacy of European States^ was concerted against France ; and crowds of distinguished emigrants assembled under the banners of the Prince de Conde and the Count d'Artois. Meanwhile, the king was ill at ease in Paris. He was little more than a State prisoner : he was not even > ' Pendant la Ligue, les catholiques avaient pu s'appuyer sur les Espagnols ; les Protestants sur les Allemands et les Anglais ; pen- dant la Fronde, Conde avait donne la main aux Espagnols, et Mazarin avait pu revenir avec une ai-nice d' Allemands, sans exciter I'indig- nation que de pare illes alliances exciteraientaujourd'hui.' — Ibid. 74. ^ In May 1791 a convention was secretly signed between the king and the Geraian emperor, providing for the invasion of France with 100,000 men in the following July. ^ Austria, Russia, Prussia, Spain, Sardinia, and Smtzerland. — Mignet, Hist. i. 190 ct scq. FLIGHT OF THE KING. 159 allowed to drive to his palace at St. Cloud : Lis queen was exposed to insults and obloquy : lie was 111 • 1 1 1 • Kestraints surrounaed by a riotous populace ; and, since mwu the the decrees of the Assembly against the ^"^' Church, he had become entirely estranged from the revolution. His friends had long urged his flight; and on one occasion had even attempted to carry him off fi'om the Tuileries.^ The efforts of his troops, and of his partisans and allies, could avail him little while he continued in the hands of his enemies ; and at length he fled. It was a bold scheme. Had he eluded the vigilance of his j)ursuers, and placed himself at the head of the armies of France piirrht of — supported by his allies — he might yet have froai Paris. overcome the revolution, and recovered his ^."^'If' power. But his flight was clumsily carried ^™^- out. In a light caUche he might perhaps have es- caped : but he chose a lumbering berlin, drawn by eight horses, — at once slow and inviting suspicion. His untoward arrest at Varennes proved fatal to him- self and to the monarchy. He was suspended from his functions by the Assembly : a guard was mounted over him ; and the rei^ublican party now ojDenly avowed its aims. The relations of the king to the revolution, and to his own people, were hopelessly changed. ji,.].jii^„g He had fled to join the enemies of his coun- [;[ l\]'^_ J.^'^^. try, to crush the revolution, and to restore ^""'^"• the old regime. The revolutionary party were no longer under any restraint, in exasperating popular prejudices against tlie king. Even calm and mode- rate citizens, who had not aided the revolution, were • Miguet, Ilvit. i. 183. IGO FRANCE. shocked that the king should seek the aid of foreign- ers against his own country : they dreaded the re- newal of feudalism, and the triumph of the haughty nobles. The revolution was still poj)ular with the masses of the jDeople ; and all who had profited by it, viewed with dismay an attempt to wrest from them their recent gains, by force of arms. Were they to pay tithes again? Were feudal rents and services ac^ain to be wrung from them ? Were the Church lands, which they had bought cheap, to be restored ? In truth, the king's ill-omened flight united all classes, except the nobles and the clergy, against himself, and in support of the revolution. The king had been thus laid low, and the revolu- tionists elated, when the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia issued the memorable decla- tionof'" ration of Pilnitz, in which they demanded Piliiitz . July 2?, that the king should be restored to power and freedom, and the Assembly dissolved, under pain of an immediate invasion.^ Need it be said, that so haughty a dictation to a great people aroused indignation and a determined spirit of re- sistance, instead of submission? The king's cause was gravely compromised by the indiscretion of his friends. Another step in the progress of the revolution was about to be made. The Constituent Assem- forthenew bly, lu a false spirit of self-denial, had de- creed that no member of the Assembly should be capable of re-election, or of accepting, for four years, any office from the king.^ Nothing could ' Mignet, Hist. i. 204. ^ Mirabeau had insisted, in the Assembly, that deputies should be able to hold offices in the government, in order to bring ministers ELECTIONS FOE THE NEW ASSEMBLY. 161 have been more fatal to tlie stability of tlie laws and policy of France. The Assembly had consummated a great revolution : but it comprised many statesmen and patriots ; and the majority were disposed to mode- rate councils. It had represented the sentiments of the middle classes rather than of the multitude : it had aimed at the redress of grievances and con- stitutional reforms, and not at revolution ; and it had striven to maintain order, and moderate the violence of extreme parties. But now an assembly of new men, without experience, or the responsibilities of a tried public life, was to be summoned, under an ex- tended franchise. No State can break safely with the past ; and such was the condition of France in the very throes of a revolution. Not less injurious was the exclusion of ministers of the Crown from seats in the National Assembly. No single measure could have contributed so much to bring the executive govern- ment into harmony with the legislature, as the choice of the foremost men of the majority as ministers, and the ascendency of their influence and eloquence in the Assembly.^ At the same time, Lafayette resigned the command of the National Guard ; and Bailly, the mayoralty of Paris. Both had lately striven to maintain order in the capital; and their retirement increased the perils of the king. The future was dark : but every circumstance seemed to be conspiring against him. into bamiony with the legislature ; but the Assembly, wishing to weaken the government, and jealous of Mirabeau, Avho was suspected of aspiring to power, determined otherwise. — Von Sybel, Hist. i. 137, 149. ' See some excellent remarks upon this question in the Quarterly Uevicii}, July 1872, p. 48. 162 FEANCE. The new 'National Legislative Assembly' met on October 1, 1791. Its constitution was natu- Lcgi^ative rally more democratic than tbat of tlie late Assembly, ^gggj^l^^jy^ The nobilit}^ and the clergy, rely- ing upon help from abroad, had not cared to use their influence in the elections ; and accordingly there was no party in favour of the old regime. The most con- servative party was that of the Feuillants, who were prepared to maintain the constitution lately decreed. The Girondists, so called from their eminent leaders Yergniaud, Guadet, and others who represented the Gironde, were more advanced : but, in the main, were adverse to extreme measures.^ There was a third party, far more democratic, sometimes acting with the Girondists in the Assembly, but closely allied with Robespierre and the Jacobins, Danton and the Corde- liers, and the Parisian demagogues. The two latter parties, both favouring democracy, together formed a large majority in the Assembly. These parties were distinguished as the right, the centre, and the left ; the extreme section of the latter being afterwards known as the Mountain.^ The early relations of the Assembly with the king were unfriendly. His Majesty received its Its relations p ■. • i- i m i i i i.'i ^dth the formal communications coldly and naughtily ; ^'^' and the Assembly retorted by voting that, on coming to the Chamber, the king should have a chair, like that of the President, instead of the royal tlirone, and should not be addressed as ' sire ' or ' his majesty.' This insulting vote, however — agreed to in a sudden fit of ill-humour — ^was revoked the next day, ' Von Sybel represents them as far more democratic tlian they would appear, from other authorities, to have been. — Hist. i. 814 €t seq. "^ Cut of 745 members no less than 400 were lawyers. POSITION OF THE KING. 163 and the king was received ■vritli the accustomed cere- monies. He was greeted with cordial acclamations, and his conciliatory speech was well calculated to bring the throne and the Assembly into friendly ac- cord. This result was desired by the ting himself, by his ministers, and by the Feuillants, or constitu- tional party in the Assembly, to which they belonged. But it was rendered hopeless by the court, the emi- grants, the armed coalition, and the clergy on one side, and the more advanced parties on the other. What was the ]position of the king himself? He had sworn to observe the new constitution, position of to which he had assented : but his family, and *'"^ '^'"s- most zealous personal friends had protested against it, as a surrender of the rights of his crown. His nearest relatives, and the first nobles of the land, were in arms against their country, in order to recover his preroga- tives; and crowds of emigrants were on their way, to serve under their standards. Upwards of fifteen thousand had assembled, at Coblentz: officers from the king's army had joined them : arms were being forged for them at Liege: horses were bought to mount their cavalry in the German fairs :• an army of Frenchmen was threatening the frontiers of France, and its leaders were loud in their cries for vengeance. His cause was espoused by an armed coalition of pow- erful allies, who were preparing to invade his realm. By his flight, he had shown his repugnance to the revolution, if not his sympathy with the enemies of his country. Such being his relations with the party of reaction, he was soon brought into conflict with the Assembly. That body, in preparing for the witii the defence of the State, could not overlook the 104 FRANCE. emigrants, or tlie disaffected nonjuring priests, wlio were fomenting disorders in tlie provinces. Three de- crees were accordingly passed : the first required the king's eldest brother, Monsieur, to return to France on pain of forfeiting the regency : the second was directed against the emigrants assembled on the fron- tier ; and the third against the nonjuring priests. To the first of these decrees the king assented; to the second and third he signified his veto. But, at the instance of the Assembly, he called upon the German princes to repress the hostile assemblage of French emigrants in their States, or otherwise threatened them with war. He further gratified the Assembly by choosing a new ministry from the Girondist party, which, by the remarkable eloquence of its leaders, and by its holding more advanced opinions than the con- stitutionalists, for the time, commanded a majority.^ Upon the advice of his new ministers, he proposed to War with ^^^^ Assembly to declare war against Austria. Austria. rj\^Q jj^jjjg .^^s thus drawu into a war against his own friends : but it availed him nothing with his people. It was destined to complete the triumph of the revolution, and to precipitate his fall. "War had been originally provoked by the king's friends, in order to repress the revolution : ^ but its mission was to propagate democracy throughout Europe. ' Tlie court sneered at it as the sans-culotte ministry. ^ Most historians concur in this view : but Von Sybel says, ' The war was begun by the Gironde to do away with the monarchical constitution of 1789 ; ' and he treats the combination of the king, the emigres, and the foreign powers as a mere pretext to secure the support of the people. — Hist, of Fr. Rev. i. 381. He furthers says, ' the whole future policy of the Gironde was comprehended in this debate (Dec. 17, 1791). War in all directions, without regard to the law of nations ; and by means of war, the revolutionary rule over WAR WITH AUSTFJA. 165 The commencemeut of the war was disastrous to the French arms ; and the Jacobins saw in sue- Disasters cessive defeats the treachery of reactionists, ° ^ °^''^'^' and complicity with the invaders. The Assembly voted its sittings permanent, disbanded the king's guard, decreed the formation of an army of 20,000 men in Paris, and armed the people with pikes. And, to discourage internal troubles, it decreed the banishment of the nonjuring priests. The king dis- missed his ministers, and refused his assent to the decrees relating to the army of Paris, and the priests. Again he resorted to the constitutional party, which was weaker than ever. Its restoration to power re- vived the hopes of the reactionists : while it threw the Girondists more into the hands of the Jacobins. Their intentions were not yet hostile to the mon- archy : but, in order to recover power, they allied 'themselves with the people, and adopted the tactics of the Mountain. The population had been incited to petition in favour of the late decrees ; and on June „. . . Riotou8 20, a tumultuous assemblage of petitioners mob of ' , . petitioners. marched to the Hall of the Assembly. A jnneao, deputation was admitted, and after a violent speech from its spokesman, the whole mob of peti- tioners, numbering 30,000, — men, women, and chil- dren, — some carrying revolutionary flags and em- blems, others armed with pikes, and shouting popular watchwords, were allowed to file through tlie hall. Such a degradation of the Assembly showed, but too clearly, that legitimate authority was to be over- borne by the violence of the populace. The mob, France, and the extension of the revolution throughout tlie neigh- bouring States. '--Ibid. 394. 166 FRANCE. tlius encouraged, marclied on to the king's palace, forced their way into the royal apartments, and passed noisily before his majesty, demanding his sanction to the decrees of the Assembly. With calm- ness and dignity, he declined to pledge himself to grant the prayer of the petition : but he appeased their clamours by putting on a red cap of liberty, which was handed to him on the top of a pike.^ Such outrages as these caused an apparent reac- Partiaire- tiou in favour of the king, which Lafayette action. ^^^ ^YiQ constitutional party endeavoured to turn to account : but they received no encourage- ment from the court, which now cherished more hope from its allies abroad, than from any party at home. Meanwhile the Girondists were daily becoming more hostile to the court : the relations of the king with the enemies of his country were openly denounced ; and his deposition was not obscurely threatened.* The The Assembly declared the country in dan- cLarc'dm^^ ger, and called the people to arms. The anger. revolution was now identified with the de- fence of the country. The king was declared to be in league with the enemies of France ; and both must be resisted by an uprising of the people. At this perilous conjuncture, the Duke of Bruns- Tho Duke "wick, who Commanded the confederate army, \t^ck-'s"'^ issued an extravagant manifesto, — more in- juiyis^'^' jurious to the monarchy than any of the ^'''•'^- machinations of its enemies. In the name ' Of June 20 Edgar Quinet says : — ' La journee du 20 Juin avait laisse en lui (le roi) une elevation morale, qu'il garda jusqu'a la fin, et qui le livra, les mains liees, a la Revolution. L'liomme gran- dit, le Chretien se montra, et le prince f ut perdu. ' — La Bivolution, i. 386. INSUKRECTION m PARIS. 167 of tiie Emj)eror of Austria, and the King of Prussia, he declared that the allies were marching to juiyss, put down anarchy in France, and to restore ^''^~' the king to his rights and liberty. He threatened vengeance upon any towns which should dare to de- fend themselves, and especially upon Paris, which would be given up to destruction. All the members of the Assembly, and other functionaries, were to be Judged by military law. To complete the insults of this missive, the people of Paris were promised that, if they obeyed these haughty mandates, the great potentates would intercede with the king for the par- don of their offences ! This ill-judged manifesto, identifying the king throughout with the invasion, and chiding and scolding a great people like children, twniu was the deathblow of the monarchy. The Ausnkio, 1792. Girondists were now prepared to depose the king, by a vote of the Assembly: but the Jacobins were bent upon more violent measures, and organised an insurrection in the capital. The faubourgs were armed : the national guard was deprived of ammu- nition : impassioned federes from Marseilles, and other cities, inflamed the popular excitement; while the as- semblies of the sections of Paris, sitting en permanence^ voted the deposition of the king, and sent commis- sioners to the Hotel de Ville, to supersede the muni- cipality, as a new commune. On August 10, the insurgents marched against the Tuileries ; and the troops and national guards showed themselves unwilling to defend the palace. In this imminent danger, the king, accompanied by the queen, sought protection in the hall of the Assembly, saying that he came to prevent a great crime. After the king 168 FRANCE. had left tlie palace, it was assailed by the insurgents, his Swiss guards were massacred, and the royal apart- ments overrun by a howling mob. The assailants led to this decisive outrage were but a few thousand : but when the deed was done, they were joined by the popu- lace of Paris. A knot of conspirators, with their re- solute band of ruffians, were able to overthrow the monarchy of Franco.^ The revolution, which had com- menced in the discontents of the country, was con- summated by the violence of a mob, fi-om the streets of Paris. The Assembly was immediately besieged by importunate deputations, insisting upon the depo- sition of the king. These demands were acceded to by the suspension of the king, the restoration of the Girondists to power, and the convocation of a national convention. The unhappy king, to whom every stage of the The kill- revolution brought yet darker troubles, was TemTe""^ scut to the Temple as a prisouer. The 20th of June had overthrown the authority of the Assembly : the 10th August completed its ruin. The king was cast down, and the authority of the Assem- The com ^^^ ^^^ rapidly passing into the hands of the Tads ""^ commune of Paris. Tliis revolutionary body usurped power in the name of the people, and, with the aid of the sections and the mob, dictated 1 1 ' Au moment du combat, il n'y avait guere parmi les assaillants que trois mille hommes ; apres le succes, ce fut un peuple immense. Des poignees d'hommes decidaient de tout. Plus tard, quand cette tete fut detruite, il resta, comme par le passe, une nation etonnee de ce qU'elle avait fait, prete a renier ses guides.' ' L'ame vivante de la revolution etait dans un petit nombre : voila pourquoi la nation s'en est si vite lassce. Elle suivait les audaces de quelques-uns, passive encore jusque dans ses plus fieres revoltes.'— Edgar Quinet, La Revolution, i. 303. THE SEPTEMBER MASSACRES. 169 its will to the Assembly. Its leaders, the Jacobins, were now masters of France. The commune had insisted upon the imprisonment of the king in the Temple ; and now it decreed the removal of the statues of the kings and the destruction of every em- blem of the monarchy ; and it forced the Assembly to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. Sus- pected persons were arrested and put upon their trial by the sectional assemblies. The revolutionary army of Paris was increased to 100,000 men : the democracy of the capital was armed, and disciplined to do the bidding of its leaders. The bourgeoisie of the national guard was generally disarmed. The property of the emigrants was confiscated. All ground rents were abolished as feudal dues. The church plate was seized and melted, for the use of the commune. Dan- ton was the leading spirit of the commune, and with him were associated Marat, Tallien, and others who became memorable in the blood-stained history of the revolution. These desperate leaders knew that the revolutionary party formed a minority of tlie French people, and were resolved to overcome the majority by terror.^ At length the Prussians had crossed the frontier, and were advancing towards Paris. While , Pie 1 • T T-i Massacres schemes oi deience were being discussed, it of sent. 1792 was the terrible Danton who first proposed ' At this very time, wlien the revolution appeared victorious, Dan- ton said, 'Le 10 aout a divise la France en deux partis, dont I'un est attache a la royaute, et I'autre veut la republiquo. Celui-ci, dont vous ne pouvez vous dissimuler I'extrrme minorite dans I'Etat, est le seul sur lequel vous puissiez coriipter pour combattro.' — Mignet, i. oOl : thus admitting that the republicans were in a mino- rity. vol.. IT.- 8 170 TEANCE. to subdue the royalists by terror, and to enlist tlie wild and maddened spirit of tlie revolution in defence of France. Tlie commune, carried out his scheme of intimidation, by domiciliary visits, by constant arrests, and, lastly, by the wholesale massacre of the royalists confined in the various prisons. It was the com- mencement of that reign of terror to which so many Frenchmen fell victims, and which ultimately avenged them by the punishment of its authors. Terror was not confined to Paris: but commissioners were des- patched into the provinces, with instructions ' to let the blood of all traitors be the first sacrifice offered up to liberty, so that when we march against our enemies, we may leave none behind to molest us.' ^ These atrocious massacres were executed by a mere handful of wretches, who did the bidding of Danton and Marat ; and Paris, surprised and stupefied with terror, remained a passive witness of murders which public indignation ought to have arrested.^ The com- mune of Paris publicly avov/ed these monstrous crimes, saying that ferocious conspirators, detained in the prisons, had been put to death by the people, and inviting the Vv^hole nation to imitate their ex- Milit.irv „_ spirit of the ample. To resist the invasion the tocsin was nation. ^ sounded, cannon were fired, and masses of armed men were reviewed on the Champ de Mars, and despatched to the frontier. The revolution was supreme, and the invasion was repelled.^ No one will ' Circular of Danton : Blondier-Langlois, i. 2G2. '^ These horrors are fully described in Thiers, Hist, de la Rev. P/\ ii. ch. G. 2 It was about this time that Danton said, ' II nous faut de I'au- dace, et encore de I'audace, et toujours de I'audace.' — Moniteur, Hist. Pari. xvi. 347 ; Thiers, Hist, ii, 316. ABOLITION OF THE MOKiKCHy. 171 now be persuaded tliat this cruel and wicked system of terror was necessary for tlie defence of France from her foreign enemies : the national enthusiasm might have been aroused by worthier means : but its terrible efficacy cannot be questioned. Internal resistance to the prosecution of the war was crushed : the royalists were overawed ; and a wild and passionate enthusiasm was excited in the revolutionary party. The irresistible powers of the democracy were yet to be develoi^ed : but this first essay revealed its capabilities. The revolution was now to advance with giant strides. Violence and terror had been used throughout France to secure the return of of the revolutionary candidates to the National s.pt. 2u, ' Convention. The Parisian deputies were all ultra-democratic : but in the provinces, candidates of the moderate parties, notwithstanding every discour- agement, very generally prevailed. The great major- ity of the convention, however, were republicans. That the extreme party were in a minority was con- fessed. * All France is against us,' cried the younger Bobespierre, in the Jacobin Club : ' our only hope is in the citizens of Paris.' And proofs abound that, in every period of the revolution, the party of order, throughout France, and even in Paris itself, was sup- ported by a majority of the people.^ The first act of the National Convention was to abolish the monarchy and proclaim a republic. Its revolutionary enthusi- asm, and contempt for the past, were further dis- played by decreeing that henceforth the revolution ' See supra, 168, 1G9 ; tn/r«, 205-211 ; Mortimer-Ternaux, Uistoire de la Terreur, 1792-1794 ; Adolplie Sclimidt, Tableaux de Id lir volu- tion Franraise ; Dauban, La Dcmagoyie, en 1793, a Paris ; et Paris en 1794 et 1795. 172 FEANCE. should date from tlie first year of tlie French repub- lic.^ The Girondists, advancing with the revolutionary rp,,g passion of the times, had now become repub- Giioiidists. licans : but the ideal of this refined and in- tellectual party was a republic governed by capable statesmen, and resting upon the intelligence and patri- otism of the most enlightened classes.^ They had no sympathy with the ignorance and passions of the pop- ulace, and they revolted from cruelty and bloodshed. But the time had passed for the trial of a philoso- phical republic. This party had, indeed, a majority in the convention : but there was little earnestness, and neither party organisation nor discipline. They were also too far compromised by their share in the revolution to be able to arrest its progress. Their sympathy with the revolution was colder than that of the Mountain, and consequently less popular : while it went far enough to precipitate the greatest events of this momentous time. Their dangerous rivals, the Mountain, cared little ,p,^3 for the votes of the convention. Their reli- Mountain. ^^qq ^^^g upon the commuue of Paris, upon the Jacobins, and the populace of the faubourgs. ' Up till this time, 1793 was the fourth year of liberty : the year of our Lord having been discontinued in 1789. ^ ' lis se proposaient de faire une constitution repnblicaine, a; I'image de cette seule classe devant laquelle venaient de s'evanouir la royaute, I'eglise et I'aristocratie. Sous le nom de republique, ils sous-entendaient le r6gne des lumifires, des vertus, de la propriete, des talents, dont leur classe avait desormais le privilege.' — Lamar- tiue, Hist, des Oirondins, iv. 90. ' Ce parti . . . ne voulait pas la republique qui lui echut en 1793 ; il la revait avec tous ses prestiges, avee ses vertus, et ses mceurs sev^res.' — Thiers, Ilist. ii. 13. GIRONDISTS AND JACOBINS. 173 Tlie commune ruled the capital, and the capital domi- nated over France. If the Mountain v/as in a minority in the chamber, it could rely upon the acclamations of the galleries, upon savage threats to its opjjonents ; and upon the clubs, and armed mobs of Paris. The time had passed when eloquence, or reason, or the votes of the representatives of the people, were to guide the councils of the State. The destinies of France were in the hands of those who swayed the revolu- tionary i:)roUtaires} The leaders of this redoubtable party were the too notorious Danton, Eobespierre, and Marat. Of Robespierre it has been well said by a thoughtful historian, that he owed it to his inferior abilities that he apj)eared among the last of the revo- lutionary leaders — a great advantage in a revolution ; ^ for the earlier leaders are certain to be swej)t away. These two parties were jealous and hostile : their principles and their ambition alike brought ,p^g ^^^.^ them into conflict. The Girondists, utterly paries. condemning the September massacres, denounced the blood-stained democrats who had brought them about. They strove at once to discourage such revolutionary excesses, and to overthrow the rival party which had been guilty of them. They appealed to the better feelings of the country, in the hope of conducting the new republic upon principles of moderation and jus- tice. There was a third and intermediate party in the convention, called the Plain, which sided now with the right and now with the left, according to their convic- tions, or their fears. Such a party has been common ' ' Les clubs acquii-rent a ccttc cpoqiie une plus grande importance. Agitatours sous la constituanto, ils dcvinreiit dominatcurs sous la legislative.' — Ibid. " Mignet, Uifst. dc la Rev. i. 323. 174 FEANCE. to most popular assemblies ; and its action lias gene- rally been more mischievous than useful. Upon one point all parties were agreed. "Whatever their domestic policy, they equally favoured Eevolution- ,■, . p . , , . , ary piopa- the Waging oi wars against kings, and a cru- sade in support of republicanism, and the rights of man, in concert with the oppressed nations of Europe. This was the popular cry of the commune and the faubourgs ; and no party could hope for tole- ration unless they joined in it. The Girondists, as authors of the war, were not less zealous than the Mountain, in the revolutionary war-cry. The Jaco- bins encouraged it, as strengthening the revolution, and uniting different parties in its cause, which were Qpj j9 otherwise moderate or reactionary. This pas- 1793. gJQjj -fQj. y^Q^y. ^g^g further encouraged by the desperate state of the finances. The property of the Church, and of the emigrants, had been sold; and even their bankers were ordered, under pain of death, to take to the exchequer all their effects and papers. Assignats had been recklessly multiplied: but still the exchequer was empty. It was now time to levy contributions upon other countries ; and the armies of victorious France were to be supported by the enfran- chised peoples of Belgium, Holland, and Germany. In November the convention declared that France j^„^. jg offered her help to all nations who were 17112. struggling for freedom ; and that her generals should be ready to support them. This decree was ordered to be translated into all languages, and distri- buted among the peoples.^ In reply to deputations from Nice and Savoy, Gregoire, the president of the » Monitcur (1792). 1379. THE king's TIIL\L. 175 conrention, said: 'All governments are our enemies: all peoples are our allies : we shall fall, or all nations will be free.' But in what sense this promising alliance was to be carried out was soon disclosed by another j^^^ ^g decree of the convention. It was decreed ^'^s^- that the conditions of French military aid should be the abolition of taxes, tithes, feudal rights, titles, and all other privileges : the confiscation of the pro- perty of the State, of corporations, and of royalists : the administration of the government by French com- missioners ; and the maintenance of the French armies, at the cost of the rescued people.^ But the Mountain were preparing a stroke, which should give a decisive impulse to the revolu- T,^eMoun- tion, and frustrate the policy of their rivals, [he'^t^hi^of In the revolutionary clubs and coteries, the ^^^ ^^°- fate of the unhappy king had been discussed ynth ominous severity : petitions were presented to the con- vention calling for vengeance upon Louis Capet; and the Jacobins were stirring up the people to cry aloud for his blood. The popular anger against him was further inflamed by the discovery of papers at the Tuileries, Discovery which betrayed his secret relations with the at thi"^'^^ emigrants, the priests, and the coalition. He "' ^"*^''' was accused, in a report to the convention, of having plotted to betray the State, and overthrow the Revo- lution. Evidence was also discovered of liis previous intrigues with Mirabeau, and other pojjular leaders.^ ' Ihirl. (1702), 1496. * Thiers, Hist. ii. 197. Von Sybel casts doubts upon this part of the case ; and gives it a secondary ini])ortanco (ii. 2C5). Danton had aroused suspicions as to tho good faith of these discoveries by 176 FRANCE. The momentous question was now proposed to tlie Discussions Convention — What should be done with the warof'"^ illustrious prisoner at the Temple? Such ^ '""■ was the state of public feeling, and such the constitution of the convention, that none were found bold enough to defend the king, and justify his con- duct. A committee reported that the king ought to be tried by the convention. The Girondists, of the however, endeavoured to save him fi'om a Girondists, . • i l i • -i t i i trial, upon tecnnical grounds , and pro- posed to consider whether he should be continued in captivity, or banished the realm. The Mountain, represented by St. Just and Robes- and of the pierre, contended, with characteristic vio- lence, that Louis was not an accused person, nor the convention his judges, but that he stood already adjudged and condemned ; and that nothing remained for the convention but to decree his death, as a traitor to France, and a criminal to humanity. So monstrous a proposal was naturally repugnant to the great majority of the convention : but it gratified the revolutionists of Paris, and increased the em- barrassment of those who were attempting to save the king. Ultimately, the majority chose the middle course, and following the opinion of its own commit- tee, resolved that the king should be brought to trial before the convention itself. Never did the king acquit himself with greater dignity and courage than when his deepest conduct of troubles were gathering round about him. the king. <^ o Summoned to the bar of the convention, he going alone to open the iron armoury, in wliich the papers were concealed. ' The conduct of the Girondists, throughout these proceedings, is fully described by Lamartiiie, Hist, des Giroiidins, liv. xxxvii. THE KING CONDEMNED. 177 answered tlie questions put to him calml}^, and with singular readiness and judgment. He asked for coun- sel, and his demand was granted. To Malesherbes, who had offered to undertake this perilous office, Louis said nobly, in prison, ' I am certain they will take my life : but, no matter, let us apply ourselves to my cause, as if I ought to gain it ; and, indeed, I shall gain it, since my memory will be without a stain. ' His defence was delivered by Deseze,^ a distin- guished young advocate ; and nothing was nis wanting to persuade a just tribunal, — not '■''^^^^• under the influence of fear, and revolutionary zeal, — that his reign had been one of beneficence to his peo- ple, and that none of his acts could be adjudged as crimes against the State. The Girondists could still have saved him ; — but they were irresolute, temporising, and Aci,iudgcd alarmed.^ The Mountain were, as usual, ^"'"^• loud and threatening : the galleries were crowded with armed Jacobins ; and the multitude, thronging the courts and corridors of the convention, clamoured for vengeance. After many days,^ the Convention unanimously pronounced him guilty : but some, in the hope of saving him, proposed that his punish- ment should be referred to tlie primary electoral as- ' Malesherbes was too old and nervous to speak before the Conven- . tion. Target declined the arduous task, on account of ill health: but published a pamphlet in support of the king ; and so the de- fence fell to Desc'ze. '^ When Vergniaud pronounced 'La mart,' Danton whispered to Brissot, 'Vantez done vos orateurs. Des paroles sublimes, des actes luches.' — Lamartlne, Hist, des Qirondins, v. 60. * The proceedings upon this trial commenced on December 26, and were not brought to a close until January 19. 8"- 178 FKANCE. semLlies : some desired his imprisonment or banish- ment : others, chiefly Girondists, were for passing sentence of death, with a reprieve. When the votes were taken, sentence of death was declared by a ma- jority of twenty-six. Many had voted in the hoi)e of securing a reprieve : but this was rejected ; and the dread sentence was at once pronounced. The judgment was not that of a court of justice, nor the srave vote of a popular assembly : but it C'liinionr and intimi- -^as secured by clamour and intimidation, datioii. "^ 1 1 J • p inside and outside the chamber,^ lasting lor many days, and organised by the Jacobins. The Mountain exulted, but the great body of the people mourned. In vain, however, were all sympathies with the fallen monarch. The blow had been dealt so sud- denly, that loyal subjects and peaceful citizens were stunned by its shock.^ The unhappy Louis was doomed to die, not for crimes which he had committed, but to advance the fierce designs of the Jacobins. They had resolved to Aims of the crush their enemies by terror ; and the royal- jucobius. jg^g were stricken by the same blow as the king. They sought to triumph over the Girondists and moderate republicans, by appealing to the wildest passions of the revolution ; and by this audacious ' ' Les tribunes accueillaient par des murmures tout vote qui n'etait point pour la mort ; souvent elles adressaient ii I'assemLlee ellememe des gestes mena^ants. Les deputes y repondaient de" Finterieur de la salle, et il en resultait un echange tumultueux de menaces, et de paroles injurieuses.' — Thiers, Hist. iii. 252. * ' Dans Paris regnait une stupeur profonde ; I'audace du nouveau gouvernement avait produit I'effet ordinaire de la force sur les masses ; elle avait paralyse, rt'duit a silence le plus grand nombre, "et excite seulement I'indignation de quelques ames plus fortes.' —Ibid. ui. 260. EXECUTION OF THE KING. 179 deed, tliey liurled defiance at tlie sovereigns wlio had espoused tlie cause of the fallen king, and committed the French nation irrevocably to the yvm: It was by terror that they designed to overawe hostile majori- ties, to gratify the democracy of Paris, and to lay France at their feet. The weakness of the Girondists had cost the kincr Lis life ; and in quailing before the lawless . .. „ ,, 1 i- ,1 . Weakness spirit oi the revolution, they were preparinfic "•". "'^■ tor themselves the same inevitable doom. Louis met his cruel fate with calmness and dignity, and with a clear conscience. To Malesherbes Execution he said, 'I sv/ear to you, in all the truth of jau''iif"^- a ^^ my heart, as a man who is about to appear ^^^'^- io«^»^ '^ before his God, — I have constantly desired the happi- ness of my people, and never have I formed a wish which was opposed to it.' Among the long roll of kings, of modern Europe, few have been distinguished by more virtues, ^j^ or stained by less vices. The revolution was character, caused by no faults of his ; and if moderation and self- denial could have averted it, they were found in his gentle rule. In such evil times, more force of charac- ter, and a greater mastery over his friends and coun- cillors, would have served him better than all his virtues : but the revolution was an irresistible force, wliich probably no firmness or sagacity could have checked, or diverted from its fearful course. CHAPTER XIV. FEANCE (continued). TRIUMPH OF THE MOUNTAIN — MEASURES OF DEFENCE AGAINST THE COALITION — OVERTHROW OF THE GIRONDISTS — THE CONVENTION AND THE PEOPLE — REVOLUTIONARY VIGOUR — THE REIGN OF TERROR — FALL OF ROBESPIERRE — REACTION — THE DIRECTORY — NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AND THE ARMY — FIRST CONSUL AND EM- PEROR — HIS FALL — RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION. The execution of tlie king was a national crime, and, in tlie interests of France, a political error : of'th^'^ but it was a crowning triumph to the revolu- tionists. Tlieir dread policy had prevailed, and the ascendency of the Mountain was assured. France was irrevocably committed to the revolution, and to the impassioned rule of its leaders. These desperate men, having shocked all but their own headstrong followers, and defied Europe, were driven to rely more than ever upon violent courses, and upon the passions of the multitude. In the words of Marat, 'They had broken down the bridges behind them.' And their hands were strengthened by the dangers which threatened their country. The coali- tion against tiou, wliicli had received a fresh impulse from the defiant attitude of France, enabled them to appeal to the frenzy and fanaticism of the populace. Their country must be defended against MEASUEES OF DEFENCE. 181 the invaders : tlie aristocrats wlio conspired witli tliem, must be put down : the entire nation-must rise in the names of ' Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity : ' the law must bow before the will of the people. France was compassed round about by foreign ene- mies. Eno;land had, at length, ioined the ^.r o ' o ' J Measures of coalition : ^ Holland, Spain, the Eoman States, defence. and Naples had taken the same side : all Germany was now united against the republic. The convention decreed a new lev^' of 300,000 men ; and, under pre- tence of maintaining security at home against the enemies of the revolution, the Mountain secured the nomination of a revolutionary tribunal of nine mem- bers, with undefined powers, — an evil augury to the future of the revolution.^ The army was revolution- ised by the fusion of the volunteers with the regular army, and by the election of two-thirds of the officers by the soldiers themselves. General Dumouriez, at first victorious in Belcjium, suffered si<:;;nal reverses in Holland. The latter were ascribed, by the Jacobins, to the treachery and incompetence of the Girondists ' This war was not sought by England. After the king had been cast into prison, she had withdrawn her ambassador from Paris, but with assurances that she had no desire to interfere in the internal affairs of France ; and, notwithstanding grave provocations, these assurances were afterwards repeated. The French ambassador, M. de Chauvelin, was not ordered to quit London until after the execu- tion of the king and the marching of a French army upon Holland : when, on Feb. 1, 1793, war was declared by France herself, not by England. Such was the attitude of France towards other States, that war could not have been long averted : but the blame of this rupture cannot justly be laid upon England. See Von Sybel, lUd. ii. 246 et seq. ; Thiers, JIxHt. iii. 283. ' Ministers, generals, and members of the convention were ex- empted from its jurisdiction, unless impeached by that body it- self. 182 FRANCE. and tlieir generals, who were held up to popular exe- March 10, cration. The Jacobins were so impatient to 1793. p^jjj their rivals that they even conspired to take their lives in the convention : but their infamous conspiracy was frustrated.^ Untaught by recent ex- The perience, the Girondists still hoped to main- Girondists. ^g^^ their ground by noble sentiments and fine speeches : while the Mountain rested upon the commune, the clubs, the sections of Paris, the tocsin, and an armed populace. It was an unequal strife be- tween words and force :^ but throughout their perilous struggle, the Girondists maintained a lofty courage, and defied their truculent foes, in the heroic strains of Roman patriots. Every danger to the State afforded a new power to the revolution. The insurrection of La Yen- Committee , , p n n i . , of Public dee was lollowed by severe measures against Sclfctv the j)riests and emigrants, who were placed out of the pale of the law. The alarming defection of Dumouriez led to the appointment of the Committee of Public Safety. The battle of jDarties was rapidly approaching a The strife of crisis. The Jacobins accused the Girondists parties. ^f being in league with the traitor Dumou- riez. The convention, besieged and threatened by the mob, resolved to jDut down the commune, by whom these disorders had been encourafjed. A committee o ' In liis eloquent denunciation of this conspiracy Vergniaud finely said, with the spirit of a prophet, ' Citoyens, il est a. craindre que la revolution, coinme Saturne, ne devore successivement tous ses enfans, et n'engendre enfin le despotisme avec les calamites qui raccompagnent.' — Buzot, Mem. 107 ; Mignet, Ilist. i. 375. * Danton said of them, ' Ce sont de beaux diseurs, et gens de pro- cedes, Mais ils n'ont jamais portc que la plume, et le baton d'huis- sier.' — Mem. de Baudot, quoted by Edgar Quinet, i. 303. THE CONVENTION EITFADED EY THE MOB. 183 of twelve was appointed to inquire into the authors of these conspiracies ; and Hebert, an active member of the commune, was arrested. This vigour ™ ' _ o Theconven- on the part of the convention, was resisted ''^dcjib by insurrection. The commune, attended by "'" ™"'^- deputations fiom different sections of Paris, and by a revolutionary mob, invested the convention. Insist- ing upon the dissolution of the committee of ^j.,^, g- twelve, and the release of Hebert, they took ^'^^^. possession of the benches, and voted with the Moun- tain, in favour of their own importunate demands. The nest day these irregular and scandalous votes were rescinded : but the Jacobins, resolved to tri- ^,,n^5„„ p, umi^h over the convention, organised the mob "'"^ '"""• . . . . May 1. of Paris, j)ut arms into their hands, and paid them forty sous a day. The tocsin was sounded, the ragged rout was marshalled in the faubourgs, and marched upon the convention. A hundred thousand men were under arms, that day, in Paris. There were horse, foot, and artillery, — a revolutionary army. Again the suppression of the committee of twelve was demanded tumultuously, at the bar, and was con- ceded to clamour and intimidation. But this was not enough for the Jacobins : tliey had resolved to put down the Girondists, and the agitation of Paris was continued. The dreadful tocsin was sounded once more, and deputations, petitioners, and the armed mob invaded the convention, and de- f'o 'inron- mandod the arrest of the members who were junes, conspiring against their country. Marat, who had contrived this outrage, himself designated tlio conspirators; and the foremost members of the Gi- rondist party were placed under arrest. Henceforth the convention was at the feet of Marat, Pobespicrre, 184 FRANCE. and the Jacobins. Moderation must ever be sacrificed, in revolutionary times; and tlie Girondists, witli all tlieir eloquence and public virtues, had committed errors which precipitated their fall. They had been the only barrier against the worst excesses of the revolution, and they were now swept away.^ The wild course of the revolution was made more Contact of furious and uncontrollable by the close con- tionwur"' tact of the convention with the people. the people, rjij^^j.^ ^^^^ ^^ |ggg ^i^^^ tweuty-four tri- bunes for spectators. These were crowded by the popvilace of Paris, of whom one or two thousand gained admission. The upper benches of the conven- tion reached up to the tribunes ; and the deputies held free converse with the audience. The passions of the multitude swayed the deliberations of the As- sembly. Mobs, not satisfied with the tribunes, some- times invaded the hall of the convention itself. Dep- utations were constantly presenting themselves at the bar. Crowds of men and women forced themselves into the middle of the hall, and fraternised with their representatives. Political cries, threats, and compli- ments were bandied about between the depu- ties and the mob. Deliberation was impos- sible in the midst of tumults.^ The debates were 1 ' Ce parti tomba de faiblesse et d'indecision, comme le roi qu'il avait renverse.' — Lamartine, Hist, des Oirondins, vi. 151. ' La pensee, Tunite, la politique, la resolution, tout leur manquait. lis avaient fait la republique sans la vouloir : ils la gouvernaient sans la comprendre.' — Ibid. 153. ^ ' The experience of France has shown other dangers, arising from the number of spectators, equalling or exceeding that of the Assem- bly.' . . . ' There are some men, who, surrounded with the popu- larity of the moment, would be more engaged with the audience than with the Assembly ; and the discussion would take a turn moro THE CONVENTION AND THE PEOPLE. 185 conductecl with frenzied anger: insults, threats, and denunciations were exchanged : yiolent gesticulations added force to words : daggers and pistols, grasped with furj, showed the violence and lawlessness of the »en who held the destinies of France in their hands, it was a wild scene of revolution and anarchy, such as the world had not witnessed since the latter days of the Roman republic. The resolutions of the conven- tion were passionate and impulsive. The hall, ill- lighted by day as well as by night, was a fit abode for gloomy thoughts, imaginations, and passions. Yet this convention, urged on by the force of the revolution, achieved some great reforms. It .f t ^ ' o Its useful abolished slaverv, and condemned the slave ni«asi"e9- trade : it founded a system of national education : it made provision for the sick and aged : it promulgated a civil code, which was to be the foundation of the Code Napoleon : ^ it inaugurated the decimal system : it established uniformity of weights and measures; and it created the Institute of France. But the revolutionists were not allowed to enjoy their triumph without a further struggle. The Girondists and the royalists raised for- tion;^ in the • t -, -, • ,. • 11 • -I provinces. midable insurrections m the provinces ; and La Yendee was more threatening than ever. Lyons, Marseilles and Bordeaux were in arms ; and no less tlian sixty departments supported the insurrection. The country was shocked at the violence and usurpa- tion of the revolutionists of the capital ; and resented favourable to the excitements of oratory, than to logical proofs.' — Bontham, ' Political Tactics ;' Bovvring's Ed., Worls, ii. 33G. ' This code was the work of Cambaccres, Thibaudoan, and other jurists of the convention, who reproduced their own work in 1803, and allowed Napoleon the credit of it. 186 FBANCE. the outrages committed against its representatives. The fanatical vengeance wreaked upon Marat, by the heroic Charlotte Corday, was but an example of the indignation which burned against the blood-stained leaders of the Mountain.^ While insurrection and civil war were raging in France, the country was surrounded by ene- invasionof mies : and the treachery of Dumouriez, and France. ' , . en- the disorganisation of his army, had opened the northern frontiers to the invaders. To repel such dangers demanded extraordinary New con- vigour ou the part of the Mountain. Nor stitution. .^g^g ji; wanting either in the men, or in the democracy, which they governed. A new constitution was framed, founded upon the sovereignty of the people, with universal suffrage, and an assembly an- nually chosen. This constitution did homage to the revolution : but it formed no government for such a crisis : nor did it secure the absolute rule of its au- thors. This was not a time for trifling with political theories and sentiments : but for giving force and con- centration to the national will The constitution was Franco in therefore suspended ; the committee of pub- anns. ^q safety was reconstituted ; and a levy of all citizens, between the ages of eighteen and twenty- five, was decreed by the convention. France was transformed into a huge camp, and military arsenal : fourteen armies were raised : twelve hundred thou- sand men were under arms : they were supported by forced requisitions : a warlike frenzy possessed the entire people. ' The young men shall go to the bat- ' Of Marat, Lamartine says :— ' L'Evangile etait toujours ouvert sur sa table. La revolution, disait-il a ceux qui s'en etonnaient, est tout eutiere dans I'Evangile.' — Hist, dea Girondins, v. 313. FRANCE IN AEMS. 187 tie,' said Barrere: 'it is tlieir task to conquer: tlio married men shall forge arms, transport baggage and artillery, and provide subsistence : tlie women sliall work at soldiers' clothes, make tents, serve in the hospitals : the children shall scrape old linen into surgeons' lint : the old men shall have themselves carried into the public places, and there, by their words, arouse the courage of the young, preach hatred to kings, and security to the republic.'^ The pubKc dangers, and revolutionary fanaticism combined to secure enthusiastic support to the prodigious efforts of the executive. The poorer citizens of Paris, sub- sidised with forty sous a day, flocked to the meet- ings of their sections, and applauded every revolu- tionary measure. Nor were the amusements of the peoi^le forgotten. Even free theatres were opened, — after the manner of the Athenians. The sovereignty of the people in other lands, and 'war to the castle, peace to the cottage,' were proclaimed, in the conven- tion.^ But at what a cost were these warlike preparations made ! Forced loans : requisitions for mili- tary stores and equipments : extravagant tionaiy fines ujion citizens, for pretended offences ^ against the people: confiscation of the property of aristocrats, and emigrants : spoliation of churches : wholesale plunder and robbery : — such were the means by which the armies of the republic were sent forth to the war. These lawless and tyrannical measures, however successful, were ruinous to the country. Not ' Moniteur : Di'hats, August 2.3, 1793. * Fehruarj- 1, 1793. C'aubon concluded liis speech in favour of the revolutionary ])ropaganda abroad with these words — 'Guerre aux chateaux : paix aux chaumieres.' — Thiers, Hist. iii. 285. 188 FEANCE. only was tlie property of citizens forcibly and capri- ciously taken, for the service of the State : but it was injured, wasted, and stolen. While industrious citi- zens were ruined, the public treasury was still empty ; and regiments were marched to the frontier, half- clothed and ill - provisioned. In France itself, the troops were maintained, as in an enemy's country. Nor could regular taxes be levied upon those who had already been plundered and impoverished. NotAvithstanding these prodigious armaments, the armies of France were ill-disciplined and irregular. The revolutionary sentiments of the time had de- moralised the troops. Hatred of aristocrats bred disobedience to officers ; and liberty and equality were not congenial to discipline. The elected officers were ignorant and incapable : the soldiers unruly : and as most of the recruits had been driven to the standards by force, the regiments were alarmingly thinned by desertion. But these evils were vigorously checked; and a reorganisation of the army Avas ef- fected. That it was extravagautly and wastefully man- aged, there can be little doubt : that it was led with- out regard to the cost of life and materials is certain : but, with all its shortcomings, it achieved the most signal victories and conquests. These great wars were conducted by civilians with- Men of the ^^* experience — by men whom the revolution revolution. ^^^^ tlirowu to the surface. Lawyers, priests, men of letters, newspaper writers, clerks, were the great administrators. The lawyer, Merlin de Thion- ville, defended fortresses : the Protestant minister, St. Andre, was made an admiral, and reorganised the fleet : the student, St. Just, fought with the armies of France, and was, at once, a political leader and an in- MEN OF THE EEVOLUTION. 189 defatigable administrator. The trained leaders, upon wliom a State is accustomed to rely, had emigrated, or were hostile to the republic ; and it was necessary to choose other men to take their place. The revolution had suddenly reduced France to the condition of a new country, and her humble citizens were serving her in the cabinet, in the office, or on the battle-field.^ As the revolution advanced, a lower class was gradu- ally rising to power. The free-thinking nobles and gentlemen had given the first impulse to the Eevolu- tion : the lavv^yers, men of letters, and the middle classes continued it : the fanatics and low adventurers completed it.^ At no time did a peasant or artisan take the head of the proletariat. There was no Masa- niello, or John of Leyden : but lawyers and men of letters, like Marat, St. Just, and Eobespierre, and others above the working class, were the leaders of the poj)ulace. The only peasant-leader was Catheli- neau, the royalist voiturier of La Yendee, under whose standard the highest nobles — De Lescure, de la Roche- jacquelein, de Charette, and de Bonchamps — were content to serve.^ ' The same phenomenon was witnessed seventy years later, iu the civil war of America : when lawyers, railway-managers, and trades- men suddenly appeared as generals, and officers of cavalry and artillery. The emergencies were alike, and produced the same re- sults. ^ Collot d'llerbois was a half-starved actor from Lyons. Hi'bert had been ticket-collector at a theatre before he became editor of the infamous Pere Duchesne. Billaud-Varennes, son of a poor advo- cate at La Rochelle, married his father's maid-servant, and became an actor, a pamplileteer, and a teaclicr. Henriot, Avho played so im- portant a part in the Commune, had been a domestic servant, a petty officer of customs, and a police spy. — Von Sybel, Hid. iii. 09. "Nettemeut, Vie de Madame de la lioc/icjacqudcin, 11)5, I'Jl, &-c. 190 FEANCE. The policy of tlie Mountain would have been im- Law perfectly carried out without a scheme of ^fspertcd terror, and accordingly the law against sus- persous. pected persons was decreed. Every one sus- pected of unfriendliness to the government, was at the mercy of the committee of public safety. The nobles had fled : but France abounded with royalists and moderate republicans of other classes, whom it was necessary to overawe. Many worthy citizens were thrown into prison, — there to be detained until the peace. Not in Paris only, but throughout France, the new law was put in force, with no less caprice than injustice and cruelty. These extraordinary efforts were everywhere crown- , ^ ed with success. Insurrection was trampled Trinmpli of . . . ^ French out lu the pro\dnces : invasion was repelled arms. ■■■ _ ■■■ fi'om the frontiers of France. A regular government, aided by the patriotism of the people, might have achieved these astonishing triumphs : but a revolutionary executive, supported by a furious jDopular enthusiasm, superior to the usual restraints of law, and subduing hostile parties by terror, wielded powers hitherto unknown in the history of the world : they were used with passionate resolution, and the result was the triumj^h of France, and of the revolu- ,^ , ^. tion. No despot was ever more absolute Absolutism ^ of the than the republic, nor was the will of rulers republic. ^ ^ ' ever enforced with more rigorous severity. A national cause and a despotic executive, wheth- er under a king or a republic, are the best instru- ments of military prowess. Under the monarchy, all executive power had been centred in the Crown : under the republic, it was wielded by revolution- ary leaders. The jirerogatives of kings had been REIGN OP TERROR. 191 above tlie law, and were now usurped by the revolu- tion.^ Meanwhile, we recoil with horror from the cruelty and bloodthirstiness, with which the reputed cmeitics enemies of the revolution were pursued. Momuain. All men were accounted enemies, who did ^''"^^' not heartily join the revolutionary party. The local clubs and committees were formed of needy mal- contents who hated the rich. In their eyes, every rich man was an aristocrat, and an enemy of the re- public. It was well for him, if they were satisfied with extortion and plunder. Thousands of quiet mer- chants and traders, who had taken no part in politics, but had naturally held themselves aloof from the Jacobins and sans-culottes, were cast into prison, and dragged to the guillotine. At Strasburg, St. Just boasted to Robespierre that all the aristocrats of the municipality, the courts of justice, and the regiments had been put to death.^ Everywhere the law was set at naught ; and society was shaken to its very founda- tion.^ Such was the revolutionary rule throughout France, where there had been no rising of royalists or yi- T T en-' ^ Severities Girondists. Let us now follow it into places asiinst (V T 1 insurgents. where resistance had been oiiered to the re- public. The insurgents of Lyons, Marseilles, Toulon and Bordeaux, were punished with pitiless severity. Lyons had revolted, and the convention decreed ' De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 277 et seq. ^ Robespierre, in tho Jacobin Club, November 21, 1793, cited by Von Sybel, iii. 233. Another revolutionist thus spoke f)f these atroci- ties : — 'Sainte Guillotine est dans la plus brilhiutc activito ! Quel maitre bouchcr que ce gar(;on la, ! ' •' Do Todiuevillo, L'aacieu llf'jiine, cli. 7. 192 FRANCE. the destruction of the city, the confiscation of the pro- perty of the rich, for the benefit of the ]3atri- ^°°^" ots, and the punishment of the insurgents by martial law. Couthon, a commissioner well tried in cruelty, hesitated to carry into execution this mon- strous decree, and was superseded by Collot d'Her- bois and Fouche. Thousands of v/orkmen were now employed in the work of destruction : whole streets fell under their pickaxes : the j)risons were gorged : the guillotine was too slow for revolutionary ven- geance, and crowds of prisoners were shot, in murder- ous mitraillades. The victims were cast into the Ehnne, or buried on the spot ; and when the musket had failed to do its work, the spade was uplifted against the dying, before they were hurled into the pit.^ At Marseilles, twelve thousand of the richest citi- zens fled from the venf^eance of the revolu- tionists, and their property was confiscated, and jDlundered. When Toulon fell before the strategy of Bonaparte, _ , the savage vengjeance and cruelty of the Toulon. ^ . . . conquerors were indulged without restraint. All the inhabitants were compromised by the insur- rection, and Freron, the commissioner, seemed bent upon their extermination. The dockyard labourers were put to the sword : gangs of prisoners were brought out and executed hjficsillades : the guillotine also claimed its victims : the sans-culottes rioted in confiscation and plunder. At Bordeaux, Tallien threw fifteen thousand citi- „ , zens into prison. Hundreds fell under the Bordeaux. n . n i guillotine ; and the possessions and pro- ' Carlyle, Ilist. iii. 185, who cites Deux Amis, xii. 351-263. heign of terror. 193 perty of the ricli were offered up to outrage and rob- bery. But all these atrocities were far surpassed in La Vendee. There, the royalists had made the most determined stand against the revolu- tion. Nobles, gentry, and peasants, devoted to the Catholic faith, and to the monarchy, had long main- tained an heroic struggle against the overwhelming forces of tlie republic.^ When they were, at length, overcome, no quarter was given to the wounded or prisoners : unarmed peasants were shot : old men and women were put to the sword : whole villages were reduced to ashes. The barbarities of warfare were yet surpassed by the vengeance of the conquer- ors, when the insurrection was, at last, overcome. At Nantes, the monster Carrier outstripped his rivals in cruelty and insatiable thirst for blood. Not contented with wholesale mitraillades, he designed that masterpiece of cruelty, the noyades ; and thousands of men, women, and children who es- caped the muskets of the rabble soldiery, were de- liberately drowned in the waters of the Loire. In four months, his victims reached fifteen thousand. At Angers, and other towns in La Vendee, these hid- eous noT/ades were added to the terrors of the guillotine and the fusillades. The bounds of human wickedness were passed ; and men had assumed the form of devils. While these horrors were covering the revolution with infamv, the unhappy Marie Antoinette, ^ after revolting cruelties and insults, was sent "'' ^}>]'\^ to the scaffold, as a defiance to Europe. ' Nettement, Vie de Mad. de la Rochcjacquclcin, 123, 128-133, &c. ; 'L'A.hhd Trcsvaux, La persicution revolutionnaire en Bra- tar/ne. VOL. II. — 9 194 FRANCE. The Girondist deputies were delivered from their Andoftiie prison to the executioner. The temperate Girondiets. ^^^ high-principkd Bailly, who had pre- sided over the National Assembly, and, as mayor of Paris, had moderated the violence of the revolution, ■was sacrificed for the crime of halting behind the rapid strides of the Jacobins. Even Egalite, Duke of Orleans, fell an unpitied victim of the jealousies of the Mountain. The fury which had possessed the Jacobin leaders was not that of democracy, but of an unprincipled faction, bent upon the ruin of its rivals. It was the bloodthirstiness of Marius, Sulla, and the triumvirs, in the anarchical period of the Boman re- public. It was the murderous fi-enzy of St. Bartholo- mew. The civil feuds of France had ever been infa- mous for a savagery, which culminated in the reign of The com- terror.^ The committee of public safety, now public "^ wholly of the Mountain party, exercised ab- ^'^ ^ ^' solute power in the name of the convention, and arrested its enemies, at pleasure ; while the revo- lutionary tribunal condemned the accused, almost without a hearing, in the name of liberty.' One of the redeeming characteristics of the revolu- tion — in the midst of its violence, its rash- Heroism of T ', • .,1-1 . ».. therevoiu- uess, and its crimes — is the heroism of its principal characters. The victims of the guillotine displayed the noblest courage and endu- 1 ' Les Franrjais, qui sont le peuple le plus doux, et meme le plus bienveillant de la terre, tant qu'il demeure tranquille dans son naturel, en devient le plus bavbare, des que de violentes passions Ten font sortir.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, 275 ; Freeman, Hist, of Fed. Govt. i. 60, n. * In the midst of this reign of terror twenty-tliree theatres were open every night in Paris, and sixty dancing saloons. — Mercier, Mem. ii. 124. EXTEAVAG.VNCES OF THE REVOLUTION. 195 ranee. The king and queen died in the spirit of Chris- tian martyrs : Madame Koland, Danton, and the Gi- rondists met their doom with the calm fortitude of the ancient stoics. Condorcet hid himself in Paris until he had finished his Progres de Vespirit kumain, when he came forth from his hiding-place to die. In the midst of events so momentous, we read of the childish reformation of the Calendar with a sad smile. History and Christianity tioir^Tfho were to be effaced, by dividing time upon a new republican model. The Sabbath was ingeniously suiDj^ressed, by changing the familiar weeks into pe- riods of ten days, and by a strange nomenclature. An extravagance, yet more profane, disgraced the revolutionary party. The commune, headed by Hebert, insisted upon substituting for the niilp o^" Christian faith the worship of Reason. The noble cathedral of Notre-Dame was consecrated, in the presence of the convention, to the god- November dess of Reason, personated by a ballet dancer, ^*^' ^'"^• in the transparent costume of the stage. But the committee of public safety, under Robesjoierre, main- tained the worship of the Supreme Being, and as- serted the principle of religious liberty. The great mass of the people, inflamed by the revolutionary spirit, had been hostile to the Church, as a privileged body : but infidelity had not taken deep root amongst them. The frantic leaders of the revolution were in- fidels of various types: but their hatred of Chris- tianity was alien to the principles of democracy, and to the general sentiments of the French people.^ The Church of Rome survived their assaults. There was ' De Tocqueville, Vancicn Regime, 275. lOG FRANCE. no new faitli to supplant it : ^ but it was opposed by a negation of all faitli, or by strange and idle fantasies, wliicli appealed neither to the sentiments nor the reasonable judgment of the nation. The revolution, hostile to all religion, found support from none;^ and while it abased the Catholic clergy, its contempt for every creed restrained it from religious perse- cution.^ The commune and the committee of public safety Ascon- shared in all the iniquities of the reign of uphis^^ terror : but the commune surpassed their Pierre. rivals in revolutionary extravagance. Mean- while, in the party of the Mountain itseK were men who, having so far advanced with the revolution, now desired a pause in its career of violence and blood- shed, and some legal restraints upon the tyranny of the executive. Foremost among them were the re- doubtable Dauton and Camille Desmoulins. Eobes- pierre, and the committee of public safety, were as- sailed by both these parties : by Hebert and the com- mune on one side, and by Danton and his friends on the other. With consummate cunning, Kobespierre effected the ruin of both. The former were con- demned as anarchists, the latter as enemies of the revolution.* Eobespierre was now master of the con- ' ' line religion ne peut 6tre extirpee que par une autre religion.' — Edgar Quinet, La Rev. ii, 36. 2 ly^^ j jg^ ^ ' II y a deux inanieres de resoudre les questions religieuses : ou I'interdiction, ou la libertt'. La revolution n'a employe ni I'une ni I'autre de ces moyens. Les revolutionnaires proscrivaient, en fait, les cultes, et ils gardaient, en theorie, la tolerance ; ce qui I'utait, a la fois, I'avantage que les modernes tirent de la tolerance, et I'avan- tage que les anciens ont tire de la proscription.' — Ibid. i. 128. * At this time Robespierre thus described his policy : — ' Le ressort da gouvernement populaire, en revolution, est a la fois la vertu et ASCENDENCY OP EOBESPIEERE. 197 vention, of the commune, of the committee of public safety, of the revolutionary tribunal, and of France. He justified his uncontrolled power as * the despotism of liberty against tyranny.' The committee of public safety, known as the De- cemvirs, were insatiate of blood, — not from TUecom- any natural cruelty or ferocity of character, pni.uc " but from a settled conviction that terror was ^^ ^'^' necessary for uniting the forces of the revolution against foreign and domestic enemies. There was also a cold calculation that death was the only secu- rity against their enemies. In the words of Earrere, *I1 n'y a que les morts qui ne reviennent pas.' The dread triumvirate most guilty of these monstrous outrages upon humanity were Robespierre, St. Just, and Couthon, who ruled the committee of public safety. The first is said to have been the least blood- thirsty of the three. Before his revolutionary career, lie had resigned a judgeship at Arras rather than con- demn a fellow-creature to deatli.^ But he was a fa- natic, who believed in terror as a sacred duty. St. Just was a philosopher, of intense convictions, rather than a fanatic — bold, resolute, and without human pity. ' Dare,' said he, — * there lies the whole secret of revolutions.' Couthon was another fanatic, whose countenance bespoke gentleness : but his devilish creed of terror steeled him against mercy. Yet these men, whose rule was the shedding of 1)lood, who were blind to justice and insen- a republic sible to the common principles of humanity, virtues pro whose cold and calculated cruelties are with- claiined. la terreur : la vcrtu, Bans laquelle la terrcurest funeste ; la terreur, Bans la(iuolle la vortu est iinpuissanto.' ' Carlyle, Hid. i. 124. 198 FEANCE. out a parallel in tlie history of nations, were plan- ning a model republic, representing all tlie virtues. Its watcli words were 'liberty, equality, and frater- nity : ' its first principle was virtue : its worship the Supreme Being : the rule of its citizens probity, good sense, and modesty. This hideous mockery of prin- ciples, which were hourly outraged in practice, was gravely inaugurated by its authors. Fetes were de- creed in honour of the Supreme Being, truth, justice, modesty, fiiendship, frugality, and good faith ! This new republican creed was celebrated through- „ ^ . out France, on the 20th Prairial, 1794 At Robespierre . . . ' itsiiigh Paris, Robespierre ofiiciated as its high priest. ' _ ■■• ^ o 20 Pn.iriai, priest. Attired in a sky-blue coat and black breeches, and holding a bouquet of flowers and wheat-ears, he strutted fifteen paces in fi'ont of the convention. This strange augury of the new re- public was not lost upon observers. In the high priest of liberty and equality, men perceived the com- ing usurper. Robespierre had triumphed over all his enemies, and he mic-ht now rest awhile. Surely blood Increased '-^ -^ fuiyof the enouojh had been shed! Not so thouc^ht the tnbiiual. ^ '^ ^ _ '^ triumvirs. The revolutionary tribunal was too slow, and trammelled by too many forms. The accused had found defenders : none should hence- forth be allowed. They were now tried singly : let them hereafter be tried in battalions : They had been judged according to revolutionary law : let them now be judged by the conscience of the jury. Mem- bers of the convention could not be judged without the consent of their own body : this privilege they were forced to renounce, and henceforth they were the slaves of the committee of public safety. The DECLINE OF ROBESPIEREE. 199 tribunal could not condemn its victims fast enongli ; and it was divided into four, that its vengeance miglit be fourfold. Fouquier Thinville, and his colleagues, were' now able to send fifty victims daily to the hungry guillotine. Pretended plots were discovered among the helpless prisoners : and their overcrowded cells were cleared by the nightly tumbril, which bore them to ruthless trial and execution. But the end of this murderous tyranny was ap- proaching. The terrible Robespierre had i^ppuneof struck down the leaders of every party : he pjeJ^'^r.g was himself the idol of the populace : the I'^wcr. leading spirit of the Jacobins : all powerful with the commune of Paris : supreme in the convention : the chief of the revolution. But in his blood-stained career, he had raised against himself implacable ha- treds, jealousies, and suspicions. In his own com- mittees,^ through which he governed, and in the con- vention, which he had subdued to his will, he had enemies and rivals, who distrusted him as an usurper. Thwarted by his colleagues, he withdrew from the committees and the convention, and threw himself more than ever upon the Jacobins and the demo- cracy of Paris. With tliese he plotted the overthrow of the committees, and of the convention. First he endeavoured to arouse the convention against tlie committees: but all parties united to oppose him, and he was foiled. He had lost his influence over that body, which had lately been terrified into sub- mission. From the convention, he appealed to the demo- ' TLere was the committee de aalut publ'iffue and de surete gmS' rule. 200 FRANCE. cracy : he denounced his recent defeat as the proscrip- ^ tion of the patriots, and conspired with the upon the commune and the Jacobins, to overthrow his convention. ' mkio7" enemies by an armed coup d'etat. Before it was effected, the triumvirs again tried their strength in the convention : but their conspiracy was already known, and they were denounced and arrested. TJie commune released them from their arrest, and conducted them to the Hotel de Ville : the tocsin was sounded, and the people were called to arms. For a time the convention was in imminent danger : even its own guns were turned against it: but the gunners, seduced for a moment, refused to fire. The conven- tion confronted its dangers with courage : it placed the conspirators beyond the law ; and its commis- sioners, hastening to the insurgent sections, brought them over to the side of the convention. While the conspirators were preparing to march against the Fall of the Tuileries, the convention invested the Hotel triumvirs. ^^ YiHe. The triumvirs and their confede- rates were at bay, and there was no escape. Kobes- pierre endeavoured to elude his enemies by blowing out his brains : but was seized, with his jaw broken. Couthon also vainly attempted suicide : St. Just awaited his arrest with composure.^ Kobesj)ierre was carried upon a litcer, shattered and bleeding, to the committee of general safety, of Robes- There he was assailed with taunts and re- proaches, and. sent on to the Conciergerie. Condemned by his own revolutionary tribunal, with upwards of twenty of his confederates, he was borne ' There are different versions of tliis arrest, but tliis is tlie most generally received. FALL OF ROBESPIEERE. 201 to the scaffold, amidst the execrations and rejoicings of the multitude. The brutal mob was ever ready to exult over the shedding of blood. It had loThermi. yelled at the execution of royalists and Gi- '^°''' ^''*^- rondists, of Danton and Hebert ; and now it revelled in the death of Kobespierre. The leader of the Jacobins seemed to have no friends. He had lately been extolled as the incorruptible ; and now he was condemned and reviled as infamous. Even the Jaco- bin clubs forswore him. A few months before, Danton had said — 'I carry Robespierre with me: Robespierre follows me ; ' and his prediction was now fulfilled. The crimes of which he had been guilty were, at length, avenged upon his own head. The leaders of every fac- tion, which had borne a part in this bloody revolution, had now been brought to the scaffold, or had died a violent death — roj-alists, constitutional revolutionists, Girondists, Hebertists, Danton and his followers, and at last, the arch-revolutionist and his confederates. The fall of Robespierre was followed by the first svmptoms of reaction, in the revolutionary fe- vcr. Blood enough had been shed to sicken all but fanatics and savages ; and the majority of the convention, differing in many points, were agreed that tlie reign of terror should be closed. The revolutionary tribunal was susjoended ; and its hateful president, Fouquier Thinville, was nThcrmi- / tried and executed for his crimes. The tri- '^"'■■ bunal was re-constituted ; and the regular procedure of a court of justice restored. The suspected, who had escaped the guillotine, were treated with indul- gence, and gradually released from prison. The sec- tions of Paris, instead of meeting every day, were restricted to a meeting once in ten days; and the fee 202 FRANCE. of forty sous a day was -witlidrawn from tlie poorer citizens wlio attended. So far this was a return to law and order; and Acrentsof tliose wlio Were now brought to judgment, terror'puu-^ Were uot the suspected enemies of the revo- ished. lution, but the most guilty agents of the reign of terror, who had cruelly and wantonly shed the blood of innocent men, women, and children. The followers of Robespierre, however, led by Bil- laud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, and Carrier, ers of Ro- Were not content to submit to the dominant e^piene. p^j,^^. ^^ ^^q convention,^ by whom they had been threatened with punishment for their past mis- deeds. They had lost their influence in the convention, and in the commune : but they had still the support of the Jacobins, and were busy in the faubourgs of Paris. They complained of their proscription : patriots, they said, were now thrown into dungeons, from which aristocrats had been released : the convention was de- nounced; and dangerous appeals were addressed to the populace. But this was a period of general reaction, and the jennes^e couveutiou boldly profited by its support, doree. jj^ -p-^^ dowu the famous confederation of clubs.^ It met the agitators upon their own ground, in the faubourgs, and appealed to the sections for sup- port against the disturbers of order. The most no- ticeable sign of reaction, however, was found in the jeunesse doree, a body of young men who marched through the streets, as defenders of order.^ Armed ' Since tlie fall of Robespierre, this party had been called the Tliermidorien party. ' Supra, p. 153. ^ They wore grey coats with black collars, and crape on the arm, in memory of the reign of terror ; and wore long hair plaited at the temples. BEACTION. 203 witli loaded canes, they boldly charged the revolu- tionary mobs, and took the Jacobin club by storm. This formidable club was now closed, by order of the convention, and the revolutionists were de23rived of their chief rallying point. The conservative character of the convention was also strengthened, by recalling sixty-seven continued members who had been excluded for their reaction. moderation ; and twenty-two members of the con- ventional and Girondist parties who had been pro- scribed.^ The decree for the exile of the nobles and priests was rej)ealed ; and public worship was re- stored.^ Nor was the reaction confined to remedial laws. To satisfy justice, and to guard against a re- proceed- vival of the revolution, Billaud-Varennes, '"s^ ' ' agumst the Collot d'Herbois, and other prominent ter- t^='™iists. rorists, were brought to trial, and numbers of public functionaries of that party were removed. Again the faubourgs were aroused. Great numbers had been implicated in the events of the last two years ; and who could say how far the proscription of the patriots would be pressed ? The agitation was increased by wide-spread sufi'ering among the people. There was great scarcity of provisions : prices had risen, and the forty sous a day had been withdrawn fi'om the poor. Trade had been ruined by the disorders of the time. There was little demand for manual labour : the rich had been driven into exile, guillotined, or imprisoned : employers, in terror of their lives, subject to requisi- tions, without security for their capital, and embar- * They had been absent for eigliteen months. " A few months afterwards, in consequence of the activity of the royalist priests, this latter conce.ssion was withdrawn. 204 FRANCE. rassed by worthless assignats and tlie extravagant law of the maximum, were paralysed in their enterprises. Here were accumulated the most dangerous elements of revolution ; and they soon threatened the over- throw of the reactionary government. First, a rising was attempted to save the terrorist insurrcc- chiefs from trial. A mob of petitioners tions. marched upon the convention, but were routed by the jeunesse doree. While the trial was proceeding before the convention, armed insurgents forced the guard, and made their way into the very chamber of the convention. A second time the con- vention was rescued by friendly citizens : the tocsin^ was sounded, and the neighbouring sections flew to arms and repelled the insurgents. A third insurrection, more deeply planned, was well Invasion ^^n^ successful. The deliberations of the convention, couveution Were interrupted by the intrusion 1 prairial, of an armed mob, clamouring for bread and the constitution of 1793. The chamber be- came the scene of a fearful fray. Deputies drew their swords : the guards rushed in to their rescue : shots were fired by the insurgents : one deputy was killed, and another wounded : most of the deputies fled ; and the mob gained possession of the chamber. Boissy- d'Anglas, the temporary president of the convention, behaved with noble firmness. With pikes at his breast, the mob insisted upon his putting to the vote the demands of the insurgents : but he refused, and rebuked them for their violence. But the other depu- ties, who had kept their places, being in league with ' This fonnidable signal had been taken from the commune, and was now the safeguard of the convention. ROYALIST EEACTION. 205 the insurgents, at once proceeded to decree their de- mands, which released the 'patriots,' restored the constitution of 1793, and placed the government in their hands. Meanwhile, the commissaries of the convention, who had been despatched to the sections for aid, returned at the head of a body of armed the con- citizens, drove out the insurgents at the point of the bayonet, and recalled the deputies, who had fled for safety, to their places. The decrees of the false deputies and the usuri3ing mob were forthwith annulled ; and twenty-eight of the conspiring dej)uties were arrested and sent out of Paris. The sections were now disarmed : they had already lost . . The their leaders and their organisation; and sections henceforth the populace of Paris ceased to rule the destinies of France. The government was restored to the moderate party in the convention — the representatives of the middle classes. The extreme party of the revolution had fallen : but not until by its extraordinary vigour, it . . TT r* France vic- had made France victorious over all her en- toiious in . the wars. emies. Her troops had occuj)ied the Neth- erlands, and held possession of the Ehine. Prussia and Spain had made peace. The country was safe from invasion ; and its very safety contributed to the fall of the extreme party, whose violent and arbitrary measures could no longer be necessary for its de- fence. But the reaction did not rest here. The royalists rejoiced at the fall of the terrorists : but they Royalist spared the revolution : they respected the republican convention no more than the committee of public safety. Their single aim was the res- 206 FRANCE. toration of the monarcliy.^ They differed widely, in- deed, among themselves : the priests and nobles would have restored the ancien regime, with all its privileges : the middle classes and bourgeoisie desired a consti- tutional monarchy, with free institutions. The old jealousies of orders and classes were not forgotten, but they all agreed in enmity to the republic. The convention stood between the royalists on one side, and the violent revolutionists, whom it had lately re- pressed, on the other. The jeunesse doree, lately the champions of order, and defenders of the convention, now sided with the royalists, and threatened the re- public. France was just escaping from the revolutionary Royalist ^eigu of terror; and now the royalists, in excesses. ^j^g proviuces, Were wreaking vengeance uj)on their late oppressors. At Lyons, at Marseilles, and other towns, they nearly rivalled the commissaries of the committee of public safety. Eevolutionista were slaughtered in their prisons, pursued and cut down in the streets, or cast headlong into the river. The revolution was still demanding its victims ; and it was the turn of its authors and agents to suffer. Meanwhile, "the convention, opposed to both ex- New consti- tremes, and intent upon restoring peace and tution. order to- France, was maturing a new con- stitution. The executive power was invested in a Directory of five members : the legislative in two councils or chambers, — the council of five hundred, and the council of ' ancients,' consisting of two hundred and fifty. One-third of each of these bodies was to be ' The Dauphin, only son of Louis XVI., died in prison on June 8, 1795 ; and his succession to the throne had fallen upon Loviis XVIII., then in command of the emigrant army. ROYALIST mSUEEECTION. 207 renewed every year, but, in order to frustrate tlie de- signs of the royalists, it was provided that, at the first election, two-thirds of the council of five hundred should be chosen from members of the convention. The Directory was to be nominated by the council of five hundred, and appointed by the council of an- cients. The royalists revolted against the new constitution, and especially the re-election of members of the convention, whom they had hoped to iLunec- sup2)lant ; and raised a formidable insurrec- tion in Paris. The convention entrusted its defence to Barras, and to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had al- ready shown his generalshij^ at the taking of Toulon. The appointment of this extraordinary man changed the course of the revolution, and of the history of Europe.^ The convention was about to be assailed by an armed insurrectionary force of forty tlfbu- Defence of sand men, and was defended by five thou- tlonlfy"^^'^" sand. Bonaparte, with the cool judgment of Bonapane. a consummate soldier, drew up his troops and miXT '^'^" artillery so as to place the convention be- i^"^^^- yond the reach of assault. He dealt with the insur- gents as with an enemy on the field of battle, and routed them — not by street fighting, but by military skill and strategy. His terrible artillery, loaded with graposhot, swept them from the quays and streets, and the insurrection was at an end. That day proved the mastery of an army over a mob, and foresha- dowed the time when the sword should overcome the revolution. ' M. I.aiifroy lias thrown much new light upon his character ; nist. de Napoleon I". 208 FEANCE. Wlieu the insurrection had been repressed, the new constitution was completed. The two coun- cminciis cils, wheu Constituted, appointed the Direc- elccted. ^ -l x tory,^ and the new government was complete. The convention, which had passed through so many vicissitudes,^ was no more ; but among its last acts it had decreed an amnesty, and had changed the Place of the Revolution into the Place of Concord. A more settled form of government had now been established : each of the extreme parties under the had, in tum, been overcome : the moderate Directory. , ,. . , ,, , republicans were m power ; and the people, exhausted by their struggles and sufferings, were sigh- ing for repose. Passionate faith in the revolution had been rudely shaken : illusions had vanished : but a republic had been secured. The Directory were confronted by bankru23t finances, by disorganised armies, and by famine : but they met these evils with energy and ' judgment. Their moderation inspired general confidence. They put down the lingering in- surrection in La Vendee : they discovered and pun- ished the conspiracy of the communists under Ba- bceuf,^ and the plots of the royalists in the army. The first signs of political calm were followed by a marked social revival. Society began to resume its wonted habits and luxuries : commerce improved ; and the working classes, whose labour had been set free from all restraints, by the abolition of corporations and privileges, were prosperous. At length, the wounds ' La Reveillere-Lepeaus, Eewbell.Letourneur, Barras, andCarnot. - The convention liad lasted from Sept, 21, 1793, to Oct. 20, 1795. ' This seems almost, if not quite, the first outbreak of commu- nism. The conspirators proclaimed the ' common good ' and ' a di- vision of property.' THE DIRECTORY. 209 of the revolution appeared to be healing. Paris gave itseK up once more to pleasure and gaiety. Released from terror, the Parisians wantoned again in the de- lights of their bright capital. Prosperity and confidence were reviving in France : but the war had been languishing, and the The wr treachery of Pichegru had exposed the re- public to serious danger. Prompt measures were taken for restoring the military power of the country. Bonaparte, Jourdan, and Moreau vrere entrusted Avith the command of three great armies ; and to Bona- parte was given the army of Italy. By the marvel- lous victories of this great general, Austria was forced to submit to a disastrous peace : republican institu- tions were further extended beyond the bounds of France ; and the victorious general became master of the republic. He created the Cisalpine re- public of Milan and the Boman States,^ and the republics of Venice and Genoa.^ The arms of the French republic had overthrown the monarchies of Europe ; and the foundation of republics everywhere followed her victories. Emperors and kings had com- bined against democracy ; and democracy had been spreading, like a flood, over their fairest domains. Hitherto the Directory had been well supported by the councils : but in the elections in May, „ ,. , 1797, the rovalists obtained a maiority in i"the ' • . . councils. both assemblies. The traitor Pichegru was elected president of the council of five hundred ; the royalist Barthelemy was nominated to the Directory. ' The Roma^a, Bologna, and Ferrara, were ceded by the Pope, and united to the Cisaliune republic of the Mihuiais. '' By the treaty of Campo Formio, Venice was afterwards given up to Austria. 210 FRANCE. The reaction, whicli had already been strong in the provinces and in the streets of Paris, was now for a time master of the legishiture, and had gained a foot- ing in the executive. It was supported and encour- aged by crowds of emigrant nobles and priests, who had returned from their exile. The republic and the government were too strong to be suddenly over- thrown by the royalists in the legislature. But what if another election should fill it with royalists ? Their leaders counted upon this result, and were plotting to overthrow the Directory. The new constitution threatened the ruin of the republic; and the Directory determined to Measures ■•• . « <>f the appeal suddenly from the royalists of the Directory. ■'•■'■_ -^ . "^ legislature, and the provinces, to the repub- lican armies of France. Threatening addresses were presented to the councils. ' Tremble, ye royalists,' said the army of Italy ; ' from the Adige to the Seine is but a stop.' Menaces were promj^tly followed by deeds. Troops were brought from the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, and quartered at Versailles, 18 Frncti- Meudou, and Vincennes. On the night of 3Aug"st,' August 2, the troops entered Paris under Augereau, and early in the morning oc- cupied the Tuileries, and arrested Pichegru and the leading members of the royalist party. The councils were dispersed, and ordered to meet at the Odeon and the School of Medicine. The direc- tors Carnot and Barthelemy were also placed under arrest. Whatever the constitution of France, she was France clearly to be governed by the sword. Bona- tke^'^^o'd P^'i'te had saved the republican convention by his artillery; Augereau had overthrown BON.iPAETE AND THE .iEMY. 211 the royalist councils at the point of the bayonet. To this had the republic come. The monarchy had been struck down : the king and queen had died upon the scaffold : thousands of royalists had suffered death, exile, or the dungeon : libert}', equalit}', and fi'aternity had been proclaimed among men : a subtle constitution had been framed to ward oft' usurjDers ; and noAV a military coup d'etat, after the example of Cromwell, was necessary to save the republic from a royalist reaction ! This bold coup cVetat was followed by a general pro- scription of the royalist party. Hitherto „ IIP 1 • '111 Proscnp- each defeated party m succession had been 'ion ofthe . royalists. sent to the guillotine : but now the pro- scribed royalists were transported to Cayenne or the island of Be — a hopeful change in the bloody annals of the revolution. But the proscription was not less thorough. Hostile journalists, and active partisans in the elections, were banished : the law permit- ting the return of priests and emigrants was re- pealed : the elections of many departments were annulled, to make room for republican candidates. Throughout France the royalists were again beaten down by force, and by violations of the new constitu- tion. Meanwhile, the army had saved the republic at home : it had scattered the enemies of France The abroad. The armed coalition was at an end : rcDnbiican and England was the only power still at war with the republic. Bonaparte was received in Paris with all the honours of a Iloman triumph ; and the coming Cassar was welcomed with enthusiasm. But what should now be done with the army, and with its too 2)owcrful general ? The Directory had won its 212 FRANCE. present power by tlie sword, and was not yet pre- pared to submit to its rule. The troops could nei- ther be kept at home, nor disbanded with safety ; and, above all, Bonaparte must be dispatched to a Expeditioa distant enterprise. With these views, an ex- to Egypt. peclition to Egypt was projected, to v/ound England through her Indian possessions. Bonaparte readily accepted the command, which promised fresh victories and glory. Its distance, its difficulties, and even the vagueness of its objects, ax3j)ealed to the imagination : it was another chapter from the life of 19 May, Csesar. Sailing from Toulon with a fleet of ^™' four hundred sail, bearing part of the army of Italy, he took possession of Malta, and passed on to the fabled land of Egypt. There were other enterprises nearer home, for the To switzer- rcstless valour of the army. The republican '^"'^' constitution of Switzerland was no protec- tion against French democracy ; and the Directory soon found occasion to establish the Helvetic Repub- lic, upon French revolutionary principles, by force of arms.^ Rome was also changed by French arms into a re- Propa- public. Naples was soon afterwards added fherevoiu- to the number of revolutionised States, as the Parthenopean Republic. The victories of French arms became everywhere the triumphs of democracy. Revolutionary France was making con- verts, as Mohammed had made them, at the point of the sword : but the flashing sword of France, however terrible, was not destined to continue much longer the harbinger of democracy. ' See supra, vol. i., 394-403. TROUBLES OF THE DIEECTOKY. 213 The Directory, which had lately been seeking out- lets for its troops, was snddculy surprised Renewal by events which demanded all the military coaiiuon resources of France. Negotiations with the Fiance. emperor at Kastadt were broken off; the ^^^^• French plenipotentiaries, on their return home, were murdered : the coaKtion was renewed : and France was again at war with Europe. Under like circum- stances, the revolutionary government had relied upon a levy en masse : but the Directory introduced the more regular system of a conscription, which at once placed at its disposal two hundred thousand men, and laid the foundation of the military ascen- denc}^ of France. The first issues of the war, however, were disas- trous to the French. Thev were defeated Tronhles in Italy, on the Rhine, in Holland, and in oft'"-' "^ . . Directory. Switzerland ; and the invasion of France was threatened on every side. Military failures are gen- erally fatal to an executive government ; and they were not the only troubles by which the Directory was be- set. In the elections of May, 1798, the prostration of the royalists had led to the triumph of many of the extreme revolutionary or ' anarchist ' party, whose elections were annulled by the Directory. Again, at the elections of May, 1799, conducted in the midst of military disasters, the extreme republicans, and other candidates hostile to the Directory, prevailed over the friends of the government. Hitherto the Direc- tory, when at variance with the legislature, had over- come it bv force of arms and liigh-handed iRjunc, violations of the constitution : but weakened '" and divided, it was now forced to yield to the angry majority in the councils, and resigned. 214 PEANCE. In the new Directory, the moderate and extreme The new republicans were both represented ; ^ and irectoiy. gaj-j-ag, having belonged to each of the revo- lutionary parties in turn, now began to intrigue with the royalists.^ In the midst of distracted councils, the parties into which France had been divided, dur- ing the revolution, were seeking for mastery. The hopes of the royalists had been revived by the threat- ening advances of the coalition, which, however, were soon checked by French victories. The revolutionists and the moderate republicans were watching each other, in the Directory and in the councils, and were plotting the overthrow of their rivals. Barras was in correspondence with the Bourbons ; Sieyes, whose ideal had long been a moderate republic, was prepar- ing to defend the constitution against the revolution- ists, by another military coup d'etat. In this critical condition of parties, Bonaparte re- Bonapartc tumed from Egyj)t. His exploits had been from"' brilliant, but unfruitful : he saw no field, in '^^' ' that distant realm, for further glory ; and political affairs at home demanded his immediate presence in the capital. He was the foremost citizen of France, her greatest general, the idol of the army, an adroit and resolute negotiator, the creator of foreign republics ; and his career had kept him aloof from domestic factions. His ambition was as vast as his genius ; and he was without scruples. Force was his ' The new directory were Barras, Sieyes, Moulins, Eoger-Ducos, and Goliier, "^ ' Ayant tralii, tour a toiir, tons les partis, renie toutes les opinions, il ne representait plusqu'une chose, rimmoralite : niais telle etait la corruption publique et privt^e, que c'utait encore la une force.' — Lanfrey, Hist, de Nap. I", i. 434. ■ I i BON-VPAETE AND THE ARMY. 215 ideal of goyernment. Before Lis expedition to Egypt, lie had conceived projects of usurpation, which would have been carried into effect if the Directory had failed in its coup tVctat against the councils (3rd Aug. 1797), and had the time seemed ripe for action. In his journey through France, and in Paris, he was received with ovations. He was courted by all parties, but committed himself to none, tionrwuh Sieyes, wlio was seeking a general to over- ^^^'''" throw the Jacobins, penetrated the dangerous ambi- tion of Bonaparte, and hesitated to confide to him his scheme. But they were brought together by mutual friends : the suspicions of Sieyes were allayed ; and Bonaparte found in the practised politician an o23por- tune ally. On November 9 their arrangements were completed. The council of ancients, alarmed by tales of Jacobin conspiracies and the renewal of the d'etat. reign of terror, were easily persuaded, by ac- niah™' complices of the crafty Sieyes, to decree the ^'''^' removal of the legislature to St. Cloud. Bonaparte was appointed general of the seventeenth division, and entrusted with the execution of their decree. All had been prepared: Bonaparte was ready with his troops and with proclamations to the people. The Directory, taken by surprise and deprived of their guard, oifered no resistance. But there were grave dangers yet to be surmounted. The and lua republicans of Paris were provoked to frenzy by tlie daring plot. Bonaparte was execrated as a Caisar and a Cromwell, and however anxious for a time to wear a mask, his proclamations had betrayed his ambition and egotism. He reproved the Directory with the airs of a potentate. ' What have you done,' 216 FBANCE. he said, ' witli this France which I left you so glori- ous ? I left you peace : I find war. I left you victo- ries : I find reverses. I left you the millions of Italy : I find everywhere spoliation and misery. What have you done with a hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew — all my comrades in glory ? They are dead.' In vain he assured the people that any attempt upon the liberties of France would be a sacrilege. The dictator stood revealed, and the men who had made so many sacrifices for fi-eedom gnashed their teeth with rage. Would Paris rise, in its might, against the ambitious soldier ? Would his troops be true to him, or to the republic ? The submission of the Directory : the adhesion of the council of ancients : a vague dread of the Jacobins : confidence in the constitutional party, and the prompt measures of the conspirators, com- bined to avert a rising of the populace of Paris. But there was still the council of five hundred to over- come, and it proved the greatest peril of the enterprise. On the following day, the councils met at the palace The council of St. Cloud, whicli was surrounded by troops. of ancients, gjgy^g^ cunuing in the tactics of revolution, had counselled the previous arrest of his most dan- gerous opponents. Bonaparte despised their impo- tence, and trusted to the bayonets of his soldiers. First presenting himself at the bar of the council of ancients, he complained of the calumnies against him- self, and professed his devotion to liberty and equal- ity. He was desired to swear obedience to the con- stitution : but having recounted, with great presence of mind, how often the constitution had already been violated, he said that new guarantees were required. The ancients were satisfied, and applauded. As they had already made themselves parties to the cokjj cVeiat, THE COUP d'etat. 217 their compliance was to be counted upon. But it was otherwise with the five hundred. Flushed with his recent success, Bonaparte pro- ceeded to the hall of the five hundred, at- ' The Conn- tended by some soldiers, whom he left mside cii of Five 111-11 1 1 Uundicd. the door, while he advanced alone and un- covered to the bar. But the deputies, on seeing the soldiers, shouted ' Down with the dictator ! ' and one of them, taking him by the arm, rebuked him so sternly that he withdrew, escorted by his soldiers.^ In the council there was tumult : cries were raised to place the tyi-ant beyond the law, and his brother Lucien, the president, left the chair. Sieyes and Bonaparte, informed of the tumult, sent troops into the council, who returned with Lucien Bonaparte. The latter assured the troops that daggers had been raised against their general in the council : that the majority of the deputies were held in terror by their colleagues. Bonaparte gave orders to clear the coun- cil, and a body of grenadiers marched into the hall and turned out the indignant deputies at the point of the bayonet. The plot was ill designed and clum- sily executed, but it was successful. Like Cromwell, Bonaparte was too strong to be resisted : but to assem- ble the councils merely to disperse them, by a coarse display of military force, was a wanton and perilous outrage, which, for a time, was on the point of failure.'^ ' ' Venu pour intimidcr, le general pillit, il torabo en defaillance dans les bras de ses grenadiers, qui I'eutrainent liors de la salle.' — Lanf rcy, JJUt. de Nap. I", i. 473. " Louis Napoleon, half a century later, perpetrated his daring and unscrupulous coup d'Hat with far more judgment. He arrested the leaders of the Assembly in the night ; and did not allow tho meeting of the body, which he had resolved to overthrow. Soo infra, chap, xvii, VOL. II.— 10 218 FRANCE. From this time forth, it was idle to speak of any government hut that of the sword. Through- forii&rty out the revolution, indeed, there had never therevoiu- been any semblance of liberty. How had each party, in succession, gained the ascen- dent? By tumults, by violence, by mobs, by terror, by the guillotine, by armed insurrections, and by mili- tary force. The Directory had violated the constitu- tion again and again, against royalists and Jacobins. No party had scrupled to use force, to acquire or to retain power. Bonaparte was preparing to trample upon all parties alike. He acknowledged no party: he recognised no principles : but, filled with a selfish ambition, he was resolved to rule by the sword. Sieyes and his party, and probably the republican soldiers who had obeyed the orders of their general, believed that he was merely repressing anarchy: but he had made himself master of the republic. The republican leaders knew that the republic was no more : but the people, after years of revo- First cou- lution and popular misrule, were slow to realise the danger of a military despot. The royalists flattered themselves that the Bourbons would be restored : while the moderation of the new rulers went far to allay suspicions of the dictator. A pro- visional government was announced, consisting of three consuls, — Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Eoger-Ducos; and of two commissions for the preparation of another constitution. Sieyes was once more in his element, framing an in- genious and impracticable constitution. Af- tion^of" ter all his experience of the revolution, he ^^^^^' was still contriving to shackle ambition, and enchain factions, with constitutional cobwebs. He BONiVPAETE FIRST CONSUL. 219 offered tlie ambitions soldier, who had the republic at his feet, the high-sounding office of pi^oclamateur- cledeur, with great diguit}'', and reyenues, but with power little more than nominal. Bonaparte contemp- tuously asked how any man of talent could be ex- pected to play the part of a hog fattening upon some millions;^ and the scheme was at once put aside. The constitution of Sieyes, amended by Bonaparte, laid the foundations of an imperial throne. The ex- ecutive power was entrusted to the first consul, with whom two consuls were associated for consultation. The senate, nominated by the consuls, the legislature elected by the senate, the tribunate and the conseU d'etat, were the institutions of an autocracy. The first consul was everything : the people were ignored. This narrow constitution was, nevertheless, apjjroved by more than three million citizens.^ The reaction against revolution, and in favour of order, and a settled government, was general, q^^^^^^^ A series of revolutions without liberty: a action. succession of rulers, arbitrary, violent, and oppres- sive : disorders, anarchy, mob-rule, and the reign of terror, had wearied the i3eople of revolutionary ex- periments. Among this party of reaction were to be reckoned the new owners of the soil, who had bought church lands and confiscated estates. These men dreaded, above all things, any disturbance of their rights : they were in fear of the return of the royalists, on one side, and of renewed revolutions, on the other. ' 'Voulut se rcsigner au rule d'un coclion a, I'engrais de quelques millions.' " Tlio jjlcbiscitc was not now introducod for the first timo. The constitution of 179:' had bfion ap])rovod by less than two millions; and that of the year III. by little more than one million votes. ^20 FRANCE. Hence they welcomed a government founded upon tlioi principles of tlie revolution, and supported by the army. Bonaparte was now chief of the State : but in wield- Theruieof iug the sccptre, he did not lay aside the MaTand^ sword. He recouquered Italy at Marengo, June, 1800. g^mj returned, after a brief absence, with new glories, and increased popularity. In civil affairs, his first efforts were directed to the conciliation of parties. Superior to all, and connected with none, he desired to bring the best men, of every party, into the service of the State. This policy, however, was rudely interrupted. His assassination was attempted, by an infernal machine, planned in England, by royal- ists (chouans). Attributing the plot to the republicans, he arbitrarily transported one hundred and thirty members of that party ; and created special military tribunals for the trial of offences. These arbitrary acts at once alienated the republicans, and the consti- tutional party, who protested against violations of the law. They served also to betray the despotic spirit of the chief of the republic. The peace, at length concluded with the European Peace of powers, left the first consul free to apply Marci'25 himself to the internal condition of Francci 1802. ]3-y a^jj amnesty, and by indulgence to the emigrant nobles and refractory priests, he endeavoured to restore society to its accustomed relations. He en- couraged industry and commerce. By his celebrated codes, he designed a new body of law for a country which, having cast off its ancient traditions, and passed through a period of convulsion, specially needed a new system of jurisprudence. France was without liberty, but she prospered under the enlight- ened despotism of the first consul bon.u'aiite's ambition. 221 While restoring peace, order, respect for law, aud the material welfare of liis country, he was at the same time filled with schemes of paitu-s ambition. He was already maintaining the state and ceremonies of a court, at the Tuileries ; and he cherished visions of the imperial purple. He was preparing society, and the institutions of France, for its acceptance. By re-establishing the Catholic Church,^ he calculated upon the supjiort of the Poj3e, and of a grateful clergy, to his future throne. Sunday, and the Catholic fete days were restored, and the revolutionary calendar was discontinued. This ecclesiastical revivalyt — utterly repugnant to the spirit of the revolution,^ — was celebrated ^ ■■■ ' Ceremony by a grand ceremony at Notre-Dame. The ^^^''^' first consul drove to the cathedral in the state carriages of the Bourbon court. The senate, the legislative body, and all the high officers of state attended high mass, and large bodies of troops added brilliancy to the festival. A proclamation announced to the people the reconciliation of France with the sovereign pontiff ; and the streets were illuminated in honour of the great event. Having thus allied himself with the clergy and the Catholic laity, it was time to gratify the army. This he attempted by the creation of of Honour, the Legion of Honour, which he designed for the double purpose of rewarding military services, and of reviving honorary titles in French society. ' By a concordat with the Pope, ratified August 15, 1801. ' It was happily said by General Del mas to Bonaparte : — ' C'etait une belle capucinnde : il n'y manquait qu'un million d'liommes qui ont etc tues pour dOtruire ce que vous retablissez.' — Miguet, Hist. ii. 300. 222 FBANCE. This reactionary policy was received witli great re- pugnance : but it formed part of liis scheme for over- throwing the republic ; and his will could not be resisted. , These measures were but preparatory to the further aRgrandisement of his own power and dig- Bonaparte Ofcl . -, I ry . /-I first consul mtj. He was appointed, by a benatus-ton- May6,i802. sidtum, fimt cousul for ten years; and three Angusts, months later, first consul for life. A new ^^^" constitution followed, under which the senate was empowered to change constitutions : to suspend trial by jury : to annul the judgments of tribunals : to place departments beyond the constitution; and to dissolve the legislative body and the tribunate. The first consul had with him the army and the clergy. The new political bodies, — the conseil d'etat, the senate, the tribunate, and the legislature, — were his creatures. No more pov/er was possible to the chief of a re- public : but higher flights of ambition were emperor. before him. The renewal of the war with June 1803. England, in 1803, raised fresh visions of glory and conquest ; and some months later the obsequious senate invited him, in the interests of his May 18, ' couutry, to assume the hereditary dignity of emperor. This imperial crown he accepted, as he affirmed, *in order to secure irrevocably the triumph of equality and public liberty.' A military empire was established upon the foundations of de- mocracy.^ A modern Csesarism was created, after the ' The Napoleonic scheme of exercising absolute power in the name of the people had already been conceived by Frederick the Great, and fonns part of his code. — De Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime, note, p. 336. ' Desceudez an fond de sa pensce, vous verrez qu'il avait pour N.iTOLEON EMPEROR. 223 models of Rome and Byzantium. The grateful clergy perceived, in the French empire, the linger of God, and the order of providence ! The people submitted, without a murmur, to a despotism far heavier than that of the Bourbons, as it still proclaimed the prin- ciples of the revolution. It was fit that the emperor should have his satel- lites ; and he surrounded himself with princes ^hc impe- and marshals of the empire. His court glit- ""^ '^°"''*" tered with chamberlains, pages, and a pra3torian guard. Tliat his rule would be absolute was soon shown. The press had already little liberty enough : but it was withdraAvn : the tribunate was docile : but its sittings were henceforth secret. No voice was to be heard in the preparation of laws : but the will of the emperor would be made known in decrees and proclamations. The last act of this reactionary drama was the coro- nation. This was celebrated at Notre-Dame, The coro- by Pope Pius VII. in person, with all possible Nl,poieon. pomp and splendour. Napoleon was there iJec. 2, 1804. enthroned, wearing the imperial purple, and crown, and holding the coveted sceptre in his hand : the crown and sword of Charlemagne were borne before him. The usurping consul was made ' God's anointed' by the hands of the Pope : heralds proclaimed him ' Emperor of the French : ' thanksgivings were ad- dressed to heaven, in the solemn strains of the Te iJeum ; and cannon aimounced the joyful tidings to mankind. The French had renounced their revolution ! They idi'al I'ompire de Constantin, et do Tlirodoro ; et cctte tradition, il la tenait de ces ancr-tres, comine tous le.s Oliibelins Italiens.' — Edgar Quinnt, Jjd lli'T). ii. 8()B. ' L'e£;i)rit Ijutiu de Uumc viciUic so retrouvo eii tuut.'— ibid. 224: FEANCE. had overtlirown tlieir ancient monarcliy : tliey had cast down their Church : they had abjured the The revo- •' i n i iuti.,n Christian faith ; and now they had chosen renounced. _ i i i a military autocrat to rule over tliem : they saw him crowned and anointed, in the metropol- itan cathedral, by the head of the Church which they had humbled ; and they heard praises offered to God, according to the rites of a religion at which they had lately scoffed ! They had abolished titles, and confiscated the estates of the nobles : but rank and dignities were revived, and the nobles were soon to recover the greater part of their property.^ No- thing remained of a revolution which had cost such sacrifices. Not a hero of the republic was held in popular veneration : not a single fete was continued, to commemorate its glories.^ Napoleon had no faith in the principles of the revolution. He had known how to flatter Napoleon and the republicans, and found republics : he had levouition. ■•■ ' . -^ learned the familiar language of his coun- trymen : but he believed that Frenchmen had no real affection for liberty, equality, and fraternity ; and were moved by one sentiment only — that of honour.^ Upon this belief he acted. He did not scruple to sacrifice liberties which he deemed to be so little prized.; and he appealed, with confidence, to that sentiment of honour, which ministered to his own ambition. The principles of the revolution, which the arms of 1 Niebuhr, History of Rome, iii. 374. See infra, p. 246. ^ * Le peuple n'a pas garde una seule des fetes de 1789 a 1800 : cet immense boiileversement n'a pu deplacer iin seul saint de village.' ■ — Edgar Quinet, La Rev. ii. 131. 3 Mem. inalits de Thibaudeau, cited by Miguet, ii. 301. EEPUDLiTION OP REPUBLICS. 225 the republic liad forced upon foreign States, were now to be renounced. Democratic propagandism at once became a mockery, under the empire, tion oi; The military ascendency of France con- tinued : but kingdoms took the place of republics. The cisalpine republic which Napoleon had created, became a kingdom ; and he was crowned king of Italy at Milan, with the ancient iron crown May 21, of Lombardy. Genoa, which he had formed ^^'^' into the Ligurian republic, was united to the empire. He endowed his sister and her husband, the Prince of Piombino, with the little republic of Lucca. The towering ambition of Napoleon was now more dreaded by the sovereigns of Europe than ^^ oieon's the propagandism of the republic. It threat- ^'^-jJ-J^ ened universal domination ; and Europe was again in arms against him. But his own genius, and the valour and devotion of his soldiers, routed his enemies, and increased the ascendency of France. The zeal of his armies was influenced by victories and honours : the enthusiasm of his people, under all their sacrifices, was sustained by the sentiment of national glory. After Austerlitz, and the peace of Presburg, he received, from his admiring subjects, the Napoleon title of Napoleon the Great. It was their -'^ homage to the greatness of France, which he repre- sented. At home he recast the institutions of France, upon the model of a military empire. An ^^^ hereditary nobility was restored ; and it was his aim to reconstitute the ancienne noblesse of France : military schools, or lycees, replaced the central schools of the republic ; and the civil administration of the State was organised so as to execute, with mechanical 10* 226 FKANCE. obedience, tlie dictates of a single will. Tlie central- isation of the monarchy, and the arbitrary powers of the republic, had prepared the way for his imperial rule. Abroad the domination of Napoleon was continu- Domination ^^^J extended by his marvellous triumphs. cf Napoleon jjjg Q^yjj Jjingdom of Italy was enlarged by Europe. couqucsts from Austria, and the Pope : Wur- temburg and Bavaria, raised into kingdoms by his arms, owed fealty to his crown : he deposed Ferdinand, king of Naples, and placed his brother, Joseph Bona- parte, on the throne, as king of the Two Sicilies : he converted the republic of Holland into a kingdom, and sent his brother Louis to reign over it : fiefs of the empire were multiplied in Germany and Italy : he constituted himself mediator of the Swiss republic ; and protector of the German princes who formed the confederation of the Rhine. Such was his influence in Germany, that Francis II. renounced his proud title of emperor. Having humbled and despoiled Austria, he partitioned Prussia. He erected the kingdoms of Saxony and Westphalia, and conferred the 1806-7 . latter upon his brother Jerome. He placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, and trans- ferred the crown of Naples to his brother-in- 1S08 • law Murat. He wielded the sceptre of Charle- magne ; and his vassak did homage from the north, and from the south. He dethroned the Pope, and seized his remaining territories : he deposed his brother Louis, and added Holland to the empire. Bernadotte, one of his own generals, was elected to the throne of Sweden.^ ' He was elected hereditary prince, and adopted by tlie king, Charles XIII. napoleon's divorce. 227 Great was the empire of Napoleon. It threatened to be universal ; and it was hereditary : but lie had no son. Hence the flagitious di- (iivo?;ce°and vorce of the Empress Josephine, and his ill- '"'^™'*=®- judged alliance with Marie Louise of Austria.^ The last link which connected him with the revolution was broken. He had been raised to power by the repub- lican armies of France : he had established a military empire, and supported it by victories and glory : ho had proved himself a greater enemy to crowned heads than the republic itself; and the poj^ular ardour, which had sustained the republican arms, followed the victorious emperor through his wonderful career of conquest and dominion. Though absolute master of France, he was still a son of the revolution. But his second marriage connected him with the old regime. He was admitted to the great family of European kings, and severed from the people. Legitimacy was beyond his reach : it was the heritage of another race : but, to the revolutionary origin of the usurper, he now added the pretensions of a legitimate sovereign. Hitlierto his nobility had been formed of his mar- shals, generals, and high officers of state — the new men of the revolution — now he sought to surround himself with the ancient nobles of France, and to blend the old regime v/ith the empire. The Rirth of the first object of the marriage was, however, ko,',h" attained. An heir was born to the imperial ^''"'''' ^"^^• crown, and from his cradle, bore the title of King of Home. But this dazzling career of power and aggrandise- ' ' Que do vies g('nereuses n'avait-il pas fallu iinmolcr, do part et d'autre, pour qu'une semhlable alliance fut possible ontre Tancien et le nouvcau Cesar.' — Lanfrey, llist. de Nap. I" , v. 177. 228 FBANCE. ment was about to be cliecked. Napoleon's scheme of a continental blockade, to ruin the com- Napokfon'g merce of Enerland, liad pressed severely upon tlie maritime States of the North, and upon the general commerce of Europe. The haughty do- mination of Napoleon had aroused the hatred of every independent State ; and now he provoked the hostility of the commercial interests of his own, and other countries. In Spain his armies were defeated by the valour of the English troops, and the genius of Wel- lington. His rash march upon Moscow, and his dis- astrous retreat, brought ruin upon his arms, and upon his empire. A great army was destroyed : his own prestige of victory was lost ; and combinations against a falling power were encouraged. His domi- nation over Europe was everywhere endured with re- pugnance. The States he had created turned against him, and made common cause with the kings whom he had conquered and despoiled. His military genius shone more brilliantly than ever: but the battle of Leipsic nearly completed the ruin which the retreat from Moscow had commenced. Pressed by defeats, disasters, and defections abroad, Discontents his positiou at home was no less threaten- in France. • ^^^^ Coustaut victories had long sustained the national ardour : an exhausting conscription and burthensome taxes had been borne for the sake of glory : but defeats quickly awakened the people to a sense of their sacrifices and sufferings. They had surrendered their liberties for honour : their sons had bled on every battlefield in Europe : their industry and thrift had been burthened with the cost of pro- digious armaments: their commerce had been crip- pled by rigorous blockades; and yet their beloved DECLINE OP napoleon's FORTUNES. 229 country, stripped of her conquests, was again tlireat- ened with invasion. They were weary of wars, and they had lost faith in their restless and exacting em- peror. Formidable parties in the State were again scheming against his power. The priesthood, who had been gained over by the re-establishment of their Church, had since been alienated by the dethrone- ment of the Pope, and the spoliation of the Holy See. Their natural sentiments were in favour of the Bourbons and the old regime; and their rupture with Napoleon, and his impending ruin, quickened their loyalty to the fallen House. The royalists, who had never despaired of their cause, foresaw in the re- verses of the emperor, and the successes of the con- federate sovereigns, an early realisation of their long deferred hopes, and 23lotted actively against the gov- ernment. The party of the revolution, who had been their most formidable opponents, were now inert and indifferent. Napoleon had outraged them ; and they cared not for his fall. The feelings of the country found expression in the legislative body. Until Napoleon's retreat t,,,. Le^jg. from Leipsic, they had ever been obsequi- ^^|,';;^,^,j]y ous to his will : but now, instead of offering aid, in the prosecution of the war, they demanded a surrender of his conquests, and the restoration of liberty. The enemies of Napoleon were closing in upon him on every side. In vain were fresh victories, Napoicon-s and the most brilliant campaigns oi his wonderful career. He was overpowered by numbers, and weakened by defections : the allies entered his capital, and the senate deposed him from Apmn, his throne. His abdication, on behalf of 230 FRANCE. liimjelf and liis son, was soon forced uponliim at FonLainebleau ; and he exchanged for his vast Euro- pean empire, the sovereignty of the petty island of Elba. France had now struggled, suifered, and bled for ^ , , five-and-twenty years, through a fearful rev- Results of J J J o ttie revo- olution and ruinous wars ; and what were lutiou. the results ? Her enemies were m posses- sion of her capital : all ^er conquests were surren- dered ; and the Bourbons were restored to the throne of their ancestors. But these were not the only consequences of the late convulsions, to France or to Europe. France, indeed, was governed by another Bourbon king : but the anden regime was no more : the oppressive privi- leges of feudalism had been abolished ; and a consti- tutional charter was granted by Louis XVIII. But all these benefits had been secured in the first two years of the revolution, before the monarchy had been destroyed, without a reign of terror, and with- out desolating wars. She had gained nothing by her crimes, her madness, her sacrifices, and her suffer- ings, since the constitution of the 14th September, 1791. Upon Europe, the effects of the revolution were con- Effects of spicuous. The old regime of France was sub- uoVupon" verted ; and in most European States, where Europe. ^ similar system had been maintained, since the middle ages, its foundations were shaken. The principles of the revolution awakened the minds of men to political thought ; and the power of absolute governments was controlled by the force of public opinion. The earlier campaigns of revolutionary France also spread democracy abroad, and created EESULT3 OF THE EETOLUTION. 231 a democratic party, in many States, wliere such a party liad been hitherto unknown. The French rev- olution, in its expansive force, resembled the reli- gious reformation of the sixteenth century, which stirred the whole of Christendom.* The sympathies of every people in Europe were aroused : the princi- ples proclaimed in France were common to all nations alike : they were preached with the ardour of a new faith : liberty, equality, and fraternity were not only the rights of Frenchmen, but the universal * rights of man : ' they were to politics, what the right of private judgment was to religion.^ The principles and cha- racter of democracy were changed, as well as the rela- tions of rulers to their subjects. The passionate, sentiments which the revolution had at first aroused, in other States, were natu- rally repressed by the rough domination of po^^ition of the French republic, and the haughty ascen- dency of Napoleon. The principles of the revolution were also discredited by the reign of terror,^ and the military empire. But a change had come over the po- litical life of Europe. Subjects had sometimes been ' ' La revolution franr;aise est done une revolution politique qui a operc il la nianirre, et qui a pris, en quelque chose, I'aspect d'une revolution religieuse.' — De Tocqueville, L'ancicn lityime, IG, * ' Comma elle avait I'air de tendre a la regeneration du genre hu- main plus encore quTi la rt'forme de la France, elle a allume une passion que, jusque-la, les n'volutions politiqucs les plus violentes n'avaient jamais pu produire.' — Ibid. 19. See also Lecky, Itaiional- ism in Europe, ii. 240. " ' La terreur est ce qui a fait perdre, en partio, au monde le sens de la revolution. La libert(' paiut un mensonge, le jour ou on I'iii- voqua, une bacLe il la main. LV'galite donna le frisson, mCme S, ses amants, quand elle fut I't'-galitc' devant I'cchafaud. La frater- nite? Quelle enigme, quand on vit les honimes s'cutr'egorger en son nom.' — Louis Blanc, Ilinl. dc In lic-v. xii. 51)8. 232 FRANCE. provoked to rebellion by oppression, and wrongs : but loyalty, and reverence for tlie divine riglit of kings, had become a tradition, and almost a faith. This sentiment was severely tried by the French revolu- tion, and the empire. Kings were dethroned, and re- publics created, to give place to new kings with no other title than the will of a foreign despot. The al- legiance of subjects was transferred from one ruler to another, by the sword of the conqueror. Crowns seemed but baubles, to be worn for a day, and put aside, or snatched by some other hand. The tradi- tional reverence for thrones^ could not withstand the teaching of such examples. With reverence less un- doubting, there arose an assertion of popular rights, and a questioning of the laws by which States were governed. A marked change came over the relations of rulers and subjects, which was hereafter to show itself in revolutions, and constitutional charters; and everywhere, in the abatement of prerogatives and privileges, and the extension of popular influ- ences. But while the principles of the revolution were silently working political changes in Europe, reaction in they wero naturally abhorrent to rulers. The dangers of democracy had been pain- fully revealed : its excesses had aroused the horror and indignation of the civilised world : all that was noble in the revolution had been overshadowed by its crimes. Hence a reaction, dangerous to liberty itself, succeeded the first outburst of sympathy with the re- ' ' There's such divinity doth hedge a king. That treason can but peep at what it would, Acts little of his will.' — Hamlet, act iv. sc. 5. RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 233 generation of a great people, Monarclis dreaded de- mocracy, as dangerous to their thrones : the governing classes feared it, as subversive of order, and the rights of property ; and liberty was everywhere confounded with democracy. For several years after the revolu- tionary period, political reaction was general through- out Euroi^e. CHAPTER XV. FRANCE (continued). THE RESTORATION— LOUIS XVIII.— WEAKNESS OP THE MONARCHY — STATE OF PARTIES — THE ROYALISTS— CHARLES X. — THE PRIEST PARTY — THE POLIGNAC MINISTRY — THE THREE DAYS OP JULY — LOUIS PHILIPPE RAISED TO THE THRONE— EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 UPON EUROPE. Louis XYIII. was recalled to the throne of his ances- tors by the senate of his own country : but, ofthe^re"^ in truth, he was imposed upon France by the btoration. ^^j'g^j govereigns, whose victorious armies occupied the capital.^ Such a title, accepted by royal- ists who had supported the prerogatives of Louis XVI. by force of arms, was humiliating to France, which had passionately resented foreign intervention. It was repugnant alike to the revolutionary party, whose schemes were frustrated, and to the adherents of Napoleon, who had derived his power from the Eevolution, and had assumed to represent its senti- ' In the narrative of the period of the restoration (including the reigns of Louis XVIII. and Charles X.) the following works have been mainly relied on, viz. : Lamartine, Histoirc dc In Bestauration ; Capefigue, Hist, de la Restaur ntion, par un homme d'etat; Lacretelle, Hist, de la Restaur ation ; Lubis, Hid. de la Restaur ation ; Chateau- briand, Memoires d' outre tombe; Louis XVIII., Lettres et Instructions au Comte de St. Priest, pn'cedees d'une notice, par M. de Barante ; Politique de la Restaumtion d 1823 et 1833, par le Comte de Mar- cell us. THE CHAETER OF 1814 235 ments. The revolution tad been in vain: the con- quests of France had been wrested from her : her vic- tories had been followed by crushing defeat. The restoration of the monarchy, under such conditions, was unj^ropitious. Nor were the acts of the king such as to win popularity. Even in granting a constitutional charter, the Bourbon stood confessed. He declared him- ™ , , Charter of self to be in full possession of his hereditary ^°?j'^j rights, while he desired so to exercise the May 27, 1S14 authority which he had received fi-om God and his fathers, as to place ' limits' to his own power.^ France was to receive her liberties as the fi-ee and gra- cious gift of the king, who ruled over her by divine right and hereditary title. And, still further to ignore the revolution, the charter was dated 'in the nine- teenth year of our reign.' The revolution was further spurned by the abolition of the national tricolor, under which the greatest glories of the French armies had been achieved, and the restoration of the white Hag of the Bourbons, which had almost come to be regarded as the standard of an enemy. Well miglit Napoleon say of the Bourbons, ' lis n'ont rien appris : ils n'ont rien oublies.' The insecurity of the Bourbon crown, notwithstand- ing its divine and hereditary title, was soon j^^^,,^,, ^^ disastrously proved by the triumphant return j^o,\"'^.;;j^ of Napoleon from Elba, and the flight of Louis from the realm, which he had so lately recov- ered. After an exile of a hundred days, he was again restored by his victorious allies, who had triumphed over the French armies at Waterloo ; and he returned ' Speecli of the Chancellor M. d'Ambray. 236 FRANCE. under tlie very shadow of the British and Prussian standards.^ France was doubly humbled by this second resto- second ration. Again her capital was occupied by restoration. fQ^gjgjj armies : her destinies were at the mercy of her enemies: the Louvre was stripped of the treasures of art which she had taken from foreifm galleries : her frontiers were contracted : an indem- nity of upwards of 60,000,000L was exacted by her conquerors : prodigious armies were for a long time quartered upon the country ; ^ and when they were at length withdrawn, a hostile army of occupation,^ to be supported by herself, was left in her fortresses. The monarchy was restored : but, in its cause, the patriot- ism and honour of France were deeply wounded. And what support had the king upon his throne ? _ , France, which he was now called upon to of the govern, was the France of the revolution and moaarchy. ^ . the empire. The principles, the passions, the parties, and the interests of a transformed society, stood between him and the monarchy of his forefa- thers. There was a royalist party, indeed : but the old nohlesse had been crushed by the revolution : their es- tates had been confiscated, and a great part of their domains had passed into the hands of new proprie- tors — the creatures of the revolution. They were eclipsed by the new nobility of the empire, whose names were associated with the military glories of their country. The Church, once a great territorial ' The provisional government, in a message to the Chambers, on the 7th July, 1815, stated that ' Tous les souverains s'etaient enga- ges a replacer Louis XVIII. sur la trone, et qu'il doit faire ce soir, ou demain son entree dans lacapitale.' — Lamartine, Hist, de la Rest. V. 117. * No less tlian 1,140,000 men. ^ 150.000 men. WEAKNESS OF THE MONAECHY. 237 power, had lost her possessions, and was a humble pensioner of the State. Nor could her influence be soon recovered. The wild irreligion of revolutionary times was not to be suddenly checked by a weakened and impoverished clergy. All the sympathies of the army, it was but too well knowTi, were with Napoleon at St. Helena. Could Louis rely upon the tradition- ary devotion of the people to his royal house ? Un- der the old monarchy, loyalty was a tender Decay of sentiment of affection and duty, akin to reli- ^°^*"y- gion. It passed away with the revolution, and could not be revived. Napoleon had awakened it for a time, as the representative of national glory : but the ancient sentiment had not survived the revolutions, factions, and political changes of the past generation. Nor had Louis any personal claims to the attachment of his people. After his long exile, he was as much a stranger to them, as if he had dropped from the clouds. Meanwhile, France herself had been trans- formed by time and the revolution. Her manners, in- stitutions, sentiments, — all were changed. France was as strange to Louis, as he to France.^ Loj-alt}' — the great strength of monarchies — was shaken, and respect for the law had been lost, amid the convulsions and anarchy of the revolutionary period. Authority had been too long known as an arbitrary and capricious force : it had slio-^Ti itself in executions, pillage, ter- ror, prisons, and the guillotine ; and, without confidence in a government, there can be no respect for the law. ' ' Tout etait chang«' dans la patrie — mccurs, institutions, esprit religieux. Une generation nouvelle t'tait nt'e ct croissait a I'ombre des opinions et des idLCs de la revolution fian^aise. . . . Unc cour vieillie et France jeuue, I'einigration etla revolution allaient Ctreen presence.' — Capefigue, Uist. de la licst. i. 404. 238 FPvANCE. The revolution and the empire still lived in the Political hearts of Frenchmen. Many clung to the parties. « rights of man,' and ' the sovereignty of the people :' many had profited by the ruin of the Church r and the noblesse : all were proud of the glories of French valour, under the republic and the empire. Formidable parties were opposed to the Bourbon dynasty,* — the republicans, a section of the liberal or constitutional party ,^ and, above all, the imperialists. The latter commanded great power and influence, notwithstanding a reaction against Napoleon, after his recent disasters. It comprised the foremost men in the army, and in the State ; and was strengthened by the glorious memories of the greatest soldier of France. There was scarcely yet an Orleans party : but an influential coterie, attached to the interests of the Duke, formed a section of the liberal party. But none of these parties were so embarrassing to the king, or so dangerous to his throne, as his too zealous friends, the royalists.^ They formed the party of re- action : they saw in the restoration a revival of the ancien regime: they abhorred all the principles of the revolution ; and they were burning for vengeance upon their enemies. They had suffered exile and confisca- tions : they had witnessed the ruin of every institu- ' ' Toutefois, les parties politiques etaient testes debout. Jamais les passions baineuses, les exigences des factions, n'avaient ete plus grandes ; et le spectacle des malbeurs de la patrie, qui devait etre si puissant sur des coeurs fran^ais, n'arretait pas ce debordement des opinions.' — Capefigue, Hist, de la Best, iii. 2. ^ One section of this party was really constitutional : another was estranged from the Bourbons, and opposed to the dynasty. — Cape- figue, Hist, de la Best. iv. 83. ' ' Les royautes neuves perissent par leurs ennemis, les restaura- tions par leurs amis.' — Lamartine, Hist, de la Best. viii. 413. THE EOYALISTS. 239 tion, and the violation of every principle, wliich tliey had learned to cherish ; and, at length, the good time had come when their wrongs were to be redressed and avenged. The monarchy was now constitutional : but prero- gative was still to be paramount, in the gov- ernment of the State. One of the king's first prTroga- acts was to issue a royal ordinance altering the electoral law, and summoning a new legislative body, with an extended suffrage. By another ordi- nance he reconstructed the chamber of peers, and made it hereditary. The king further relieved all publica- tions, except journals, from the censorship. Some of these measures were liberal : but they were the acts of prerogative, not of the legislature. Before the elections, the temper of the royalists had been displayed in many parts of France, and especially in the south. At Marseilles, at of th'^*^° Nismes, and at Toulouse, the violence of roy- '^"^'^ alist mobs recalled the atrocities of the Jacobins in 1793. An overwhelming majority of royalists found a place in the legislature, bent upon vengeance against the imperialist party, and upon a reactionary policy in the State. Their first measures provided for the punishment of seditious cries, for indefinite arrest, and for the trial of political offenders by courts- martiak Tliey insisted upon the trial and execution of Marshal Ney, and his brethren in arms, who had returned to the standards of Napoleon.^ When a ' Of this act Lamartino says : — 'Un sentiment plus dangereux que la colr-re, parce qu'il est plus durable, couva dans les couirs de la jeunesse inipartialo, de rarnn'e oiitragre, du peu])l(3 rccoiuiaissant. Ce fut le degout pour la pusillanimite de cette cour (|ui ii';ivait pas comVmltu, et qui laissait rcpaudre jxjur sa cause uu sang populaire 240 FRANCE. general amnesty was proclaimed, they opposed the king's act of clemency. This party was far more roy- alist than the king himself; and was soon in open opposition to his government. They defeated a new electoral law, which threatened their own influence : they resisted the budget, and were opposed to the moderation, and remedial measures of the ministers. Boyalism was becoming one of the chief dangers of the State ; and while the government was embarrassed by royalist zeal on one side, it was threatened, on the other, by dangerous republican conspiracies at Paris, Grenoble, and Lyons. To meet these difficulties the king resorted to the Coup characteristic expedient of French policy, a Sept. 5, coup d'etat. He suddenly dissolved the legis- •'^^'^- lative body, and by a royal decree pro- claimed a new electoral law, with a suffrage restricted to persons paying three hundred francs direct taxa- tion to the State, and generally resembling that pro- vided by the charter of 1814. It was considered as a middle-class franchise, comprising the small proprie- tors and tradesmen, and it was founded upon the prin- ciple of direct representation. This stretch of pre- rogative provoked the bitterest denunciations of the royalists : ^ but it was condoned by the republican and imperialist parties, as promising increased influ- ence to themselves. It was clear that constitutional government had not yet taken root in France; and et glorieux, en libation a I'etranger sur un sol foule encore par nos ennemis.' — Lamartine, Hist, de la Best. iv. 59. ' ' Dissoudre la seule assembli'e,' said Chateaubriand, ' qui depuis 1789 ait manifesto des sentiinens purement royalistes, c'est, & mon avis, une etrange maniere de sauver la monarcliie.' — La Monarchie selon, la Charte. (Euvres, xviii. 431. LIBERAL MEASURES. 241 that neither the excesses of the old monarchy, nor of the revolution had been forgotten. At the elections, the relations of parties were sin- gular. The moderate party and the repub- Defeat licans supported the crovernment : the roy- of the , , . rni royalists. alists were everywhere opposed to it. The new electoral act, however, had been so dexterously contrived that the ministerial party secured a majority. The new chamber immediately passed another electo- ral law, founded upon the same principles as the last or- dinance, which was constitutionally agreed to by the chamber of peers and the king. The law of restrictions upon the liberty of the press, and the liberty of the person, were also continued for a year. The royalist ministers were removed, and the govern- ment was formed entirely from the moderate ljij^jj^i liberal part}^ which commanded a majority ^ii^isure?. in the chamber. By the late electoral law one-fifth of the chamber was to be renewed annuall}^, and the successive elections of 1817 and 1818 increased the strength of the liberal, and even of the democratic party ; and was gradually excluding the royalists from the chamber. The firmest friends of the monarchy were losing ground ; and were supplanted by the revo- lutionarj' and imperialist parties. The moderate min- istry of the Duke de Riclielieu was broken up, and succeeded by a ministry of more advanced opinions, under General Dessoles. Oblivion of past offences was the main policy of this ministry. The officers of Na2")0- leon were restored to commands in the army ; and the magistracy and civil service were filled with adherents of the revolution and the empire. The censorship of the press was removed; and the trial of offences of the press entrusted to juries. vuj.. n. -11 242 FEANCE. The royalisis, powerless in the representative cham- ThckiiK' ber, still commanded a majority in the cham- opposed to Ijqj. Qf peers. There they insisted upon a royalists. change in the electoral law, which had been the ruin of their party. They were answered by the March 8 Creation of sixty-three new peers, all of the ^^^"^^ liberal party, among whom were six of Napo- leon's marshals. By one couj) cVc'tat the king had over- come the royalists in the legislative body : by another he overthrew them in the hereditary chamber. The reliance of the crown was now placed upon the very parties which had opposed the restoration of the monarchy. The king was pressed by a hard alterna- tive. If he cast in his fortunes with the royalists, he hazarded revolution : if he severed himself fi*om them, he was drifting into the arms of his enemies. The latter danger was aggravated by the elections , . of 1819, which resulted in the return of a Increasma: ' tiiL™c'n'''o"^ large majority of the democratic party. The cratic party. Jjing, alarmed by the rapid advances of de- mocracy, was persuaded that another revision of the electoral law was necessary for the security of his throne. As his liberal ministers did not concur in this view, a new ministry was formed under M. De- cazes, to carry it into effect. This rupture with the liberal party provoked the most violent attacks of the enfranchised press, and fresh conspiracies against the monarchy. When the excitement caused by this change of policy was at its height, the assassination Royalist re- °^ ^^® Duke de Berri, produced a sudden re- action, action in favour of the royalists; and the Duke de Richelieu was restored to office, with the support of that partj^. Its policy was the revival of the censorship of the press, a continuance of discre- EOYALIST REACTION. 2i3 tionary arrest (in the nature of a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act), and a new electoral law. Not- withstanding a violent opposition in the chambers and in the press, and serious disturbances in the streets of Paris, and elsewhere, these three measures were passed. By the electoral law, a new constitu- ency was created, favourable to rank and property; and the king supported the roj^alist party with all the influence of the crown. Before the elections, he ad- dressed a lithographed autograph circular to every elector in his realm, advising him to vote for candi- dates devoted to his throne, and to the charter. The result of the elections could not be doubtful. The new fi'anchise, and a strong reaction in favour of the king, secured the royalists and their allies, the priest party, a large majority. The moderate, or constitu- tional, party was unable to hold its ground; and a royalist ministry was soon appointed, under M. de Villele. The State was ever destined to be impelled from one extreme to another. The first measure of the new ministry was a law imposing fi'esh restrictions upon the press, Royalist and withdrawing the trial of press offences from juries. It was passed : but the exas- l)eration of tlie liberal party was extreme. Power had been wrested from their hands ; and the policy of roj'alist reaction had been avowed. There were popular commotions, and some insurrectionary move- ments in the provinces, which were promptly sup- pressed. But the worst symptom of the time was the formation of secret societies, in correspondence with the Italian Carbonari.* Lafayette, who, thirty years ' ' La carbonaiisinc, dont I'origine se perd dans la nuit du moyou- iige, commc la irauc niaroiURrie, dont il I'ut, tour u lour, I'allk' et iniuistry. 1821. 2M FR^lNCE. before, had played so active a part in the great revo- lution, was not yet weary of revolutionary intrigues : but was the chief promoter of these dangerous demo- cratic conspiracies.^ The extreme parties of the rev- olution were again in full activity, and moderate constitutional councils, which had been the con- stant aim of the king, were exposed to the obloquy of royalists on one side, and of republicans on the other. Successive elections continued to increase the spani.-h strength of the royalist party. Meanwhile, ^''''"' the death of Napoleon had depressed the hopes of the imperialists ; and a diversion had been caused, from the fierce conflict of parties, by the bril- liant success of the brief war in Sj)ain. That war was, indeed, a royalist war. It was concerted with the despotic powers at the congress of Verona,^ and French armies were marched to support the King of Spain against a popular revolution. Such a jDolicy was repugnant to tlie liberal party in France, and throughout Europe : but militarj^ glory has ever ral- lied the French people round their rulers, whether royal or republican. For a time, the monarchy was strengthened by this siiccess : but the pretensions of the royalists were dangerously encouraged.^ France had accepted the repressive policy of the Holy Alli- ance ; and her rulers were to become yet more defi- ant of the principles of the revolution. I'ennemi, ctait une sorte de Jacobinisme Italien.' — Lamartine, Ilist. de la Best. vi. 312. " Lamartine, Hist, de la Best. vii. 26 et seq. ; Capefigue, Hid. de la B^st. vii. 308. - Capefigue, Hist, de la Best. vii. 345 et seq. 2 Lamartine, Hist, do la Best. vii. 323. CHAELES X. 245 The policy of Louis XVIII. liimself liad been one of moderation, clemency, and justice ; and Death of at liis death, in September, 1823, he left xviTi. France apparently more safe from the war of Sept. le, factions, than at any period of his troubled reign. ^ It was a fortunate moment for the commencement of a new reign ; and the king's brother, the Comte d'Artois, who succeeded him, as of Charles X., had many showy and popular qualities to recommend him to the favour of the French people. His first act was to conciliate the press, by the abolition of the censorship ; and the Journals proclaimed the inauguration of freedom, and mutual confidence between the king and his people. But his popularity was shortlived. With generous sentiments, Charles X. cherished a lofty ideal jjj^ of his own prerogatives : as leader of the ^''^'-icter. royalist party, in the late reign, he was identified with their principles;^ and having grown devout, after a ' ' Si la restauration, le plus difficile des gouvernements, n'eut que ce rcgne, ce fut la faute de son dge, ce ue fut pas celle de ,sa po- litique. II avait en lui le genie flexible, tempero et m'gociateur des restaurations.' — Lamartine, Ilist. de la Rent. vii. 340. ' All conseil rareraent il inclinait pour les partis violens : il savait que dans un pays agite par les revolutions, les termes moyens sont encore ce qui vit le plus long temps.' — Capefigue, Hist, de la Rest. X. 381. '^ Loui.-i XVWI. said to one of his ministers : — ' Mon frcTC est im- patient de devorer mon regno, mais qu'il se souvienne que s'il no change pas, le sol tremblcra sous lui.' — Capefigue, Hist, de la Rest. (title-page). On his deathbed Louis XVIII., warning his brother against the royalists, ' lui peignit, par des mots entrecoupes et faibles, les diffi- cultes de son regno, Ic moyen d'eviter les ecueils qu'uno trop grande exaltation des opinions royalistes pouvait produire,' adding, ' Agissez 246 FEANCE. youtli of gaiety, lie was surrounded by priests and Jesuits. The evil influence of the latter determined his policy, and was fatal to his crown. During the late reign, the poverty of the Church had been re- lieved by increased endowments : the religious feel- ings of the people had shown signs of revival ; and the Church promised, at no distant time, to recover her spiritual influence. But there was still a strong jealousy of the priesthood, and a repugnance to the political domination of the Church. The king continued the royalist ministry in power ; PriePtiv ^^^ -^^ constituted a priestly camarilla his intiuence. secret couucillors, and keepers of his con- science. His palace was made gloomy with incessant prayers and masses : his household was filled with creatures of the Jesuits ; and many important offices of state were entrusted to the priest party. Such favour to the ultramontane faction was unpopular in itself ; and the priestly policy was disastrous. The army was oifended by a large scheme of super- unpopuiar aunuatiou, designed to remove from active measures, service the marshals and generals of the em- pire. An indemnity of 40,000,000^. was granted to the royalist emigrants, whose estates had been con- fiscated during the revolution. A law of extreme se- verity was passed against sacrilege. An attempt was made to restore the rights of primogeniture, to which the people were passionately opposed : but it failed, even in the house of peers. A doleful religious jubilee was celebrated throughout France, for six tedious weeks ; and Thanin, the narrow ultramontane bishop comme jo I'ai fait, et vous arriverez i1 cette fin de pais et de trau- quillitC-.'— Ibid. x. 377. OPPOSITION TO THE COUET. 247 of Scrasburg, was appointed preceptor to the young Due de Bordeaux. These measures had provoked the vehement oppo- sition of the press ; and their secret authors j^^^^^^^, were scourged with merciless invectives. It *^"'^''- was not from priestly rulers that tolerance of free dis- cussion could be expected ; and they retaliated by proposing a severe law against the press. Such was its severity, that, resisted by intelligent men of all parties, it was defeated in its most stringent provi- sions ; and served but to increase the enmity of the journalists, and the intellectual classes. The ill-feel- ing caused by the reactionary policy of the cabinet and the camarilla was yet rife, when the king reviewed the national guard of Paris, and expression was given to the popular discontents by some soldiers of the tenth legion. Cries were raised of 'A has les ministres! a has les Jesuites!' It was a breach oi discipline, de- manding prompt repression and punishment : but the king was advised, by his dangerous councillors, to as- sert his dignity by a signal mark of his displeasure. He, at once, disbanded the entire national guard. If this severity was necessary, prudence would have suggested the disarming of the force : yet 40,000 men, offended and resentful, were left in possession of their arms and accoutrements. But the incapacity of the priestly statesmen was soon to be shown upon more momentous . , /■ . , Dissolution occasions. Their maiority m the chambers "l "'^■, ■' _ •' ^ (hambcr of had been shaken by their recent policy ; and i>«p<'ti«s. they found themselves exposed to bold criti- cism, and often to serious resistance. The country was far more hostile to the government than the chambers : yet a dissolution was determined upon, 248 FR^mCE. ' at tills critical time. No sooner was tlie session closed than the censorship of the press was re- June 1827. it t t^t i stored by a royal ordinance, in JSovember, no less than seventy-six peers were created ; and the chamber of deputies was dissolved. The impolicy of the dissolution was soon made evident. Even the higher class of electors, who had been created to se- cure the success of royalist candidates, turned against the court. There were riots in Paris, where liberal candidates were returned, in the midst of dangerous popular excitement ; and the temper of the leaders of the liberal party threatened a determined onslaught upon the government. The ministry of de Villele yielded to the coming Liberal storm, aiid withdrew before the meeting of the ncw^ °^ the chambers : but did not escape censure chambers. ^^^ ^^^ chamber of deputies. The minis- try of de Martignac had been constituted to appease the anger of the liberal party : but, being obnoxious to the king and his camarilla, it was to be dismissed when it had served its purpose. The new chambers showed a reforming spirit, repugnant to the policy of the court. They restrained the army of govern- ment officers from voting at elections, and they re- stored the liberty of the press. And, in order to satisfy the prevailing sentiment against the Jesuits, the king was prevailed upon to issue ordinances sup- pressing schools under their management, and limit- ing the number of students for holy orders. This ministry having neither the confidence of the king, nor of the chambers, was dismissed, and was suc- ceeded by the famous royalist administration of the Prince de Polignac. This ill-omened minister, with many eminent quali- THE POLIGNAO MEsISTEY. 249 ties, was in statesmansliip little better tlian a priest : his policy ivas that of a past age. He re- ^^^ garded the iirero^atives of the crown as sa- i''.'ii?nac f J. o ^ ^ mmisiiy. cred, and above all laws and constitutions : Angu^t and freedom of worship as ' an outrage against the altar of the true God.' ^ Such a minister was dear to the inmost hearts of the Jesuits : but to the French people, just recovering from the wild license of the revolution, his nomination was a defiance. The new ministers were everywhere denounced. The press foretold the downfall of the monarchy : Guizot and Thiers deplored the blindness and infatuation of the king: Lafayette organised the political socie- ties ; and made a tour of agitation in the south of France.^ In March 1830, while this popular excitement con- tinued, the chambers were opened ; and the . . . . Want of deputies, in their address to the kinp;, con- comidLiice i ' >=>' in the veyed, in measured and respectful terms, p<.'ivini-ic '' ^ . ■'• . ministry. their want of confidence in the Polignac ministry. The king resented this address as an as- sault upon his prerogative. Denying the March 2, right of the chamber to advise him in the ^^^' choice of his own ministry, he would not allow the Prince de Polignac to resign : but prepared for a contest with his antagonists. He replied to the ob- noxious address in language which bespoke his de- termination ; and on the following day the chambers were prorogued, before any of the business of the ' Lamartine, Ilist. de la Erst. viii. 329. ' ' La contre-revolution pleine ct enthre arrivo avec M. de Polig- nac : alors le sol a tniinble sons les pas de Charlos X., pour nous Bervir do la prophutique expression de son frcre.' — Capcfigue, ZJist, de la Best. x. 394. 11* 250 FRANCE. session had been transacted. The breach between the king and his parliament was now complete. That it was full of danger to the monarchy, none but the blindest councillors could fail to see ; and the infatuation of the high-prerogative faction jDre- cipitated the impending crisis. Prosecutions were commenced against several newspapers, which in- creased the exasperation of the popular party : while the royalist journals openly exhorted the king to exer- cise his prerogatives for the defeat of disloyal factions. Notwithstanding the unmistakable public sentiment Another agaiust the policy of the court, ministers re- ^*^°Jg"°"" solved upon another appeal to the people ; 1830. and in May the chambers were dissolved. As every one but ministers had foreseen, an over- whelming liberal majority was returned. The verdict of the country was unequivocally pronounced against the reactionary policy of the king and his advisers : Coup but they resolved to brave it. The hostile jii'iy 25 chamber of deputies could not be safely en- 1830. countered, and it was dissolved before the day appointed for its meeting. So far, the king, though taking a violent and dangerous course, was acting within his prerogative. But how was another hostile majority to be averted ? By a new electoral law, under the sole authority of a royal ordinance ! This illegal ordinance was accompanied by another, prohibiting the publication of any newspapers, with- out a license from the government. The misguided king had been advised that the fourteenth article of the charter ^ permitted such an exercise of prerogative ; and it was affirmed that Louis XVIII. had issued simi- ' ' Le roi . . . fait les reglemens et les ordonnances neces- saires pour I'exccution des lois, et la surete de Tctat,' THE THEEE DAYS OF JULY, 1830. 251 lar ordinances without objection. But it was forgotten that the king was now repealing express acts of the legislature, which had been passed since the ordi- nances of the late reign ; and that he was unquestion- ably exceeding the powers of a constitutional sove- reign.^ His contest with the popular party had already been fraught with danger : but, by this plain violation of the law, he gave his adversaries an overwhelming advantage, by which they were not slow to profit. The king had committed himself to a violation of the law and the constitution : he had offended the press, the liberal party, and the people, pripaia- His policy was that of force. He had taken his stand upon his own prerogatives, and should have been prepared to defend the dangerous position he had assumed. Yet such was the blind confidence of his advisers in the royal authority, and such their ig- norance of j)opular sentiments, that, while provoking insurrection, they had taken no measures to repress it. Paris was the great centre of political movements, the source of all former revolutions : it had a turbu- lent populace, a discontented hoitrgeoisie, a disbanded, but not disarmed, national guard, two hundred thou- sand men trained to arms, and bold leaders versed in the tactics of street-fighting. What were the forces prepared to resist these formidable elements of dis- order? In Paris tliere were about ten thousand ti-oops, of all arms, of whom 4,600 were of the royal guard, and twelve guns,'~ with six rounds of grapc- ' Even the Duke of Wellington, one of the best friends of the Bourbons, and certainly no unfriendly critic of prerofrativo, ad- mitted ' that the throne of Charles X. had fallen from his own acts.' « Four of these were at the Invalides, and were not brought into action. 252 FEANCE. sliot. No attempt liad been made to strengthen tlie garrison, from other stations, and Marshal Marmont, who had just been apjDointed to the command, being ignorant of the impending coup (Vttat, had made no preparations for the defence of the capital. His scanty force vras ill supplied with food and ammuni- tion, and without the means of securing immediate reinforcements, or supplies. Such was the condition of Paris when the ordi- nances were published. The leading oppo- tioniu sition joumalists, advised that they were July s6, illegal, refused obedience to the law for the 1830. . regulation of the press, and published a pro- test, in which they proclaimed their determination to resist it. This protest was signed by forty-four journalists, among whom was Thiers. Attempts tq seize the refi'actorv iournals, and close their July 27. , " . . oiiices, provoked disorders in the streets. "While a meeting of thirty liberal deputies, including Casimir Perier, Dupin, and Guizot, were deliberating upon the perilous situation of affairs, a general insur- rection had broken out in Paris : barricades were erected : the people were arming themselves with pikes and seizing arms : the disbanded national guards were in the midst of them, not ranged on the side of order, but in arms against the handful of troops, which had been left to defend the capital, and tlie monarchy. This small force, half-starved, thirsty, ill provided with ammunition, and wearied with excessive duty, was wholly unequal to cope with the over- whelming masses by which it was surrounded : but it succeeded in carrying several of the barricades, and other strong positions of the insurgents. At length, however, the troops of the line, who had been left for AEDICATION OF CHAELES X- 253 hours in conversation with the people, were seduced h'oni their allegiance, and offered no further resistance to the insurgents. The royal guard continued faith- ful to the last : but the insurgents had gained posses- sion of the Hotel de Ville, the Louvre, and the Tuileries : the tricolor flag was flying from the towers of Notre-Dame ; and the insurrection was everywhere triumphant. Meanwhile, the liberal leaders, who had been in fre- quent consultation during tliese events, were ^j^^ ]j^j^|.j^j encouraged, by the progress of the insurrec- leaders. tion, to place themselves at the head of the movement. Guizot, Thiers, and Villemain shrank from taking j^art in the insurrection : but Lafitte, Lafayette, and others resolved to make common cause with the insurgents. Lafayette accepted tlie command of the insurrection- ary forces, and established himself at the Hotel de Ville, at the head of a provisional government ; while other leaders were busy with plans for giving a safe direction to the successful movement. When the king was fully informed of the state of the capital, he revoked the obnoxious ordi- r^^^^ ^. » nances, and dismissed his ministers : but it j*„']y ^q^" \ was too late ; and a proclamation was issued, ^^^- i fi'om the Hotel de Ville, declaring that Charles X. had ceased to reign in France. On the folloAving day he abdicated in favour of his grandson, the Due de Bordeaux.' His abdication was accepted: but the suc- ' ' Telle f ut la fin de la restauration, — gouvernemont Ic plus difficile de tous ceux que I'histoire retrace en legon aux homraes, et ou les fautes sont les plus inevitables, meme aux plus droitcs intentions, parce que les choses abolies pur la r<'vohition, ct pcraonnifu'es.dans les dynasties proHcrites, s'efforceiit, par nature, de revonir avec ccs dynasties, et portent outrage auxclioses nouvelles.' — Lamartiue, Hid. do la Rest. viii. 441, 254 FEANCE. cession was repudiated by all but the defeated royal- Abdica- ists ', aud tlie unfortunate monarcli, anxious Charles X. to avcrt tlie shedding of more blood in his "^''*'' ■ cause, retreated to Cherbourg, where he em- barked for Edinburgh. There was no attempt to arrest his flight ; and the revolution was spared the embarrassment of determining the fate of a captive king. The examples of English history were followed. One king had been brought to the scaffold : another was suffered to escape. The throne was vacant ; and how should Franco be governed? The republicans had been the authors of the revolution, had fought in the streets, and had con- quered : Lafayette, their leader, was in command of their armed multitudes, — a revolutionist of more than forty years' experience, and ambitious of being the founder and dictator of a new republic. The empire had multitudes of friends : but the death of Napoleon, and the youth of the King of Bome, discouraged any attemjDts in favour of that dynasty. But there were wiser heads at work upon another scheme. They had taken no part in the insurrection : they had incurred no danger : all the fighting had been done for them : but they now sat in conclave to distribute the fruits of the victory. Lafitte, the banker, Guizot, Thiers, and other journalists were determined, if possible, to rescue France from another period of revolution, and mob-rule. Lafitte had long maintained the closest re- lations of confidence with the Duke of Orleans ; and during the last two reigns had assumed the lead of the Orleanist party, or coterie. The chief journalists, being men of political moderation, were either as- sociated with that party, or friendly to the objects which it had in view. With rare address and manatre- LOUIS PHILIPPE KING. 255 ment, this little knot of clever men issued a procla- mation recommending the Duke of Orleans to the va- cant throne. Thej overcame the irresolution of that prince himself: they prevailed upon the deputies and peers then in Paris to offer him the crown : they extolled the claims of their candidate in all their nev/spajjers : they outwitted Lafayette and the republicans ; and obtained their reluctant acquies- cence in 'a throne surrounded by republican institu- tions.' ^ In a few days every difficulty was surmounted : a new constitution was prepared : Louis Phi- ^onig lippe accepted the crowTi, as 'King of tHe kin'<^''orthe "French,' and swore to observe the constitu- ^[f.r'lf^t' tion. The new settlement of the crown re- '^^"^i'-'- sembled that of England in 1689. The essential laws of the State were little changed : the charter of Louis XVIII., with the exception of the 14th article, which had caused tlie fatal errors of the late reign, was gen- erally maintained : the tricolor flag was restored ; and the trial of press offences was once more remitted to juries. The revolution of July had changed the d^masty of France, and founded a constitutional mon- arch}'. It was th^ work of few hands : it of the was no national movement : but it was ac- on foitiga cepted by the nation, as the overthrow of royalist principles repugnant to the constitution. In other European States it encouraged a revolt against the absolutist policy which had been maintained since the peace of 1815. The vague declarations of the ' Of these proceedings, it is cleverly said by ^Ir. Reeve, ' The crown was disposed of by a liand-bili, and the dynasty enthroned by a [>lacard.' — Roydl and Ri publican France, ii. 52. 25 G FEANCE. Holy Alliance ^ acquired significance at Troppau, at Laybacli, and at Verona. The great powers, — dread- ing a revival of the revolutionary spirit, v/hich had shaken thrones, and disturbed the peace of nations, — had combined to repress popular movements in Na- ples, in Piedmont, and in Spain ; and they had ex- ercised their influence everywhere in discouraging democracy. Greece alone had been aided in her struggle for freedom and independence, by the liberal policy of England, and the religious sympathies of Russia. The revolution of July suddenly fi'ustrated the re- pressive policy of the great powers, and was the com- mencement of a new era in the liberties of Europe. It gave an impulse to the revolution in Belgium : to the insurrection in Poland; to the democratic con- stitutions of Switzerland : to political reforms in seve- ral of the States of Germany ; and to parliamentary reform in England. Its influence was felt in Italy, in Spain, and Portugal : in Hungary, and in the Sclavonic provinces of Austria. And, even beyond the bounds of Europe, it reached fi^om Egypt and Syria, in the east, to South America, in the west. The period of reaction was now closed, to be succeeded by the progressive development of constitutional freedom. 1 On September 26, 1815, tlie Emperors of Russia and Austria and the King of Prussia had entered into a convention, known as the Holy Alliance, to give efEect to the precepts of justice, Christian charity, and peace; but its true objects were subsequently disclosed. CHAPTER XYL FEANCE {continued). REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE — STATE OP PAKTIES — KELIANCE UPON THE MIDDLE CLASSES — INSURRECTIONS— LOUIS NAPOLEON AT STRASBURG AND BOULOGNE — REFORM AGITATION — THE SPANISH MARRIAGES — THE FALL OF LOUIS PHILIPPE — EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 UPON THE DIFFERENT STATES OF EUROPE. Upon Louis Pliilippe liad devolved tlie difficult experi- ment of a constitutional government, — to be r^^^ ,.. ,g maintained against royalists on one side, and fiifficuities. republicans and Bonapartists on the other : with rival parties supporting his throne, and hostile factions plotting to subvert it : v/ith all the principles of the revolution in full activity ; and with few of the safe- guards of an established monarchy.^ Journalists had been the king-makers of this crisis, and were rewarded ' The followiug are tlie principal works relating to the reign of Louis Philippe. They differ essentially in principles, aims, and party views : but they agree generally in their narratives of the chief events of the period : — Louis Blanc, Hist, de Dix Arts, 1830-1840 ; and Hist, de Huit Avs, 1840-1848 ; Capcfigue, Dix Ans de Louis PMlippe ; Lamartine, Hist, de la Rev. de 1848 ; Gamier Pages, Hist, de la Rev. de 1848 ; Duvernier de Hauranne, Hist, du Gouv. Pari. 1814-1848 ; Kegnault, Hist, de Huit Ans, 1840-1848, and Hist, du Gouvcrnement Provisoire ; Qranier de Cassagnac, Hist, de la Chute de Louis Philippe, d:c.; Quizot, M('m. pour servir a I'Histoire de mon Temps; lyilaussonville, Hist, de la Politique exterieure du Goiiverne- ment Franrais, 1830-1848 ; Beaumont-Vassy, Hist, de m" --^t J. */ liuulo^'uc. His work, ' Les Idees Napok'oniennes,' pre- sented the policy of the Emperor in its most attractive aspects ; and friendly newspapers dwelt upon the glories of the empire, and the freedom and happiness of France under its beneficent influence. Too con- fident in the strength of his party, and impelled by a fatalism, which had taken possession of him, lie re- solved upon another desperate enterprise. Without awaiting the arrival of the ashes of Napoleon in France, and the enthusiasm of such an occasion, he made his memorable descent upon Boulogne. The incidents of this adventure and its failure August 6, were covered with ridicule : but his procla- ^^"' mation appealed to the sentiments of the French people. Glory and freedom were his watchwords ; and he trusted to a resjionse from republicans and Bonapartists alike. Condemned to imprisonment for life in the castle of Ham, his visions of empire were as clear as ever ; and in the solitude of his prison he ])repared himself, by patient study and contemplation, for his great destiny. His prison doors had Derombcr not long closed ui^on him, when tlio onihusi- ^''' '*^" astic cries of 'Vive I'Eiapcreur ! ' which hailed the 272 FEANCE. obsequies of Napoleon, at tlie luvalides, gave fresh encouragement to his aspirations.^ The flattery which Thiers had offered to republi- sudcien fall caus ou oue side, and to Bonapartists on the of ihiers. Q^j^gj.^ j^^jj j^q^ been without risk to the throne of Louis Philippe. Meanwhile, the professions of the leader of the opposition were not realised by the responsible minister, and the liberals murmured at his shortcomings. But his fall came suddenly, fi'om an unexpected quarter. It was not from the king, nor from the chambers, nor from the streets of Paris, that a blow was struck at his power : but from the cabinet in London. The ignominious failure of his diplomacy in the affairs of Turkey and Egypt : the isolation of France fi-om the other powers of Europe : the brilliant exploits of the English fleet on the coast of Syria : the evasion of the French squadron from the scene of those achievements, in which it had no part to play ; and war angrily threatened, but not declared, — were humiliations which no minister could survive. Power was restored to the conservative party. The veteran Soult was, for the third time, premier, third and Guizot became minister for foreign af- October 39, fairs. Heuceforth, the councils of the State were directed mainly by the latter f and the conservative policy of the king was maintained throughout the remainder of his reign. One measure demands special notice. Thiers had Fortiflca- P^oposed the fortification of Paris ; and this Paris"' scheme was now vigorously carried out by Soult. It had been recommended for de- * Jerrold, Life of Na'poUon III. vol. ii. B. iv. v. ^ He did not. become president of the council, or premier, until September 1847. DISCONTENTS. 273 fence against foreign invaders : but the detaclied forts ■were no less designed to command the streets of Paris. This object was but too manifest to the revolutionists, and thej denounced the scheme as another menace to the liberties of the j)eople. At this time France was prosperous : but its expen- diture was excessive : and its people were Discontents heavil}^ taxed. The multiplication of offices ^^volkfncr and contracts continued to afford to the '^'''*'^^''^- government vast influence over the chambers and the electoral body. In the chamber of deputies there Avere one hundred and thirt}^ placemen : in the coun- try there were one hundred and thirty thousand of- fices at the disposal of the executive.- The wealth of the country was constantly increasing : the land was laboriously cultivated by the peasant proprie- tors :^ commerce and manufactures were flourishing ; and railways were opening up fi-esh fields of enter- prise and industry. Merchants, traders, and the mid- dle classes generally, were satisfied with a government to which they owed so much. But the ouvriers were still discontented : they were in perpetual conflict with their employers, and sometimes in open revolt : republican and socialist doctrines were gaining ground amongst them ; and they scowled with sullen aversion upon the rule of the hourgeoisie. They denounced its corruption, its selfishness, its treachery to the popu- lar cause, and its reckless extravagance. Above them > De CsiTn^, Etudes mrVUst. du Oouv. repr. 1789-1848, ii. 238, 280, 321. ^ At this time there were 10,800,000 separate properties in land, supposed to belong to about 6,000,000 Y)Toj)TietoYs.—8tntistiqne.i de la France, vii. 90 ; Regnault, Hist, de Huit Am de Louis PUlippe, ii. 276. 12* •< 274: FEANCE. was a large class, excluded from the narrow franchise, wlio demanded admission to the privileges of the con- stitution. Nothing short of universal suffrage would meet the political aims of the ouvriers : but they espoused the cause of parliamentary reform, as an assault upon the unpopular chamber of deputies. They aimed at social revolution : but they were not the less ready to strike an immediate blow against the dominion of their masters in the chambers, and in the government of the State. Such being the political and social condition of France, electoral reform became the fore- reform.'* most question of the time. During the min- istry of Thiers, an active agitation had been organised : reform banquets had been celebrated in Reform various parts of the country : eloquent ad- june"juiy dresses in support of the cause were de- Axvnist livered by Arago, Odillon Barrot, Garnier 1840. Pages, and other popular leaders : the press shared eagerly in the discussions ; and the question was ably debated in the chamber of deputies. But it found no support from the liberal minister. No interference had hitherto been afctemj)ted with ^j.^j^ the political banquets : but, soon after the banquet accessiou of the Soult-Guizot ministry, a N^YsTi'^'"' Polish banquet, in which the French demo- cratic leaders were to take part, was pro- hibited by the prefect of police. Such an exercise of power was naturally resented by the democratic press : the government retaliated with prosecutions, and provoked the fierce hostility of the liberal party, and of the press. The indignation of the press was further aroused by a judgment of the chamber of peers, which held newspapers guilty of moral com- RETCilM AGITATION. 275 plicity in crimes committed by others, after tlie pub- lication of inflammatory articles.^ In 1842, the question of electoral reform was pre- sented, in the chamber of deputies, in a very Electoral modest form. It was proposed that the fi-an- J!?!^™- chise should simply be extended to all per- ^^^• sons qualified to serve upon juries : but it was resisted, and Guizot declared his opinion that the agitation for reform was promoted by the enemies of social order. This, indeed, was the conviction of the king, and of his ministers ; and they dreaded lest any enlargement of the franchise should weaken the security of law and order, in a country distracted by factions, and still convulsed by the passions of the revolution. Another proposal, for disqualifying future deputies for office, was also resisted by the govern- ment. Ministers had determined to take tiveresis- their stand upon a limited fi'anchise, and po- litical corruption. They could not hope to conciliate democracy by moderate concessions : but they might have strengthened the monarchy against its enemies, by forming a wider basis of representation. By re- fusing any change, they repelled numbers of good citizens, beyond the narrow circle of the franchise,^ wlio, in a growing society, would have formed a bul- wark against democracy. They took up the same position, in regard to electoral reform, as that as- sumed by the Duke of Wellington, in 1831. The con- stitution was perfect, and there was no reasonable ground for change. In England, this question was soon brought to an issue by a strong parliamentary • Caso of tin; Jminuil du Peuple, Novonibor 1841. ' At this time there were ^24,000 electors ouly. 276 FRANCE. party : in France, being left to democratic agitation, it was preparing the way for revolution. The melancholy death of the Due d'Orleans, in July 1842, was a serious shock to the present the Due dynasty. Under a more settled monarchy, July 13, ' his infant heir, the Comte de Paris, would have sufficiently represented the royal line : but, under a government recently founded upon revo- lution and the choice of the people, it could not be doubted that the sudden removal of a manly and popular prince from the succession, threatened the stability of the throne. With many causes of anxiety, the conservative policy was successfully maintained for some years. Continued ,^, , . . . , opposition iiie parliamentary opposition was becoming more formidable, in talent and in numbers : but ministers commanded a steady majority. The press continued hostile : the revolutionists were disaf- fected ; and the national guard were not to be trusted. Neither the king nor his ministers were popular. Even the middle classes of Paris were alienated by the narrow principles of the conservative party : but, with the support of a fi'iendly parliament and a faith- ful army, the steady course of administration was pur- sued. In May 1846, Louis Philippe was reminded, by the escape of Louis Napoleon fi'om Ham, of the Louis presence of a dangerous pretender to his May 35, ' tliroue. The prince courted, at once, the friends of the revolution and of the empire : he addressed himself to their sympathies : he pro- mised them freedom and glory : but as yet his preten- sions were but the dreams of a few conspirators — not the watchword of a party. THE SPANISH MAREUGES. 277 A dissolution soon afterwards confirmed the minis- terial majority. Everything promised peace T,,ggpj^„i^,j and security to the throne, when Louis Phi- juiy'i'^g; lippe's unworthy intrigues to bring about the j„iy ^^ q^. Spanish marriages^ suddenly disturbed his to^^'''is4G. cordial relations with England, and shook his credit for good faith, in France and throughout Europe. In addition to charges of domestic misgovernment, his enemies were now able to accuse him of sacrificing the honour of France, to his own family ambition. The estrangement of England from France was fol- lowed by a marked opposition in their foreign policy. In Ital}^ and Sicily, in Spain, Portugal, and Switzer- land, England was found in sympathy with the liberal party, and favouring constitutional freedom : while France, dreading revolution everywhere, was concert- ing measures with the absolute powers of Europe, to discourage and repress all popular movements in those States.^ In foreign and domestic policy, the citizen-king was now reverting to the traditions of the Bourbons. This contrast between the policy of England under a liberal ministry, and that of France under a conservative king and ministers, could not fail to embitter the hostility of the democratic party; and the 'king of the barricades' was de- ^g^Q_^^_ ' nounced as the enemy of freedom, at home ' Mucb additional lij^lit has been thrown upon these intrigues by the Manoirs of Baron Siockmar, 11. 130-207; and the first volume of Mr. Theodore Martin's Life of the Prince Consort. ' ' Les grandes puissances de I'Europe venaient tcmoigner a la France le dt'slr de se concerter avec ellc, a Texclusion do I'Angle- terre. Notro cabinet avait accepto leurs ouvertures : un jour I'tait pris (le 15 Mars) pour donner aux arrangeniens dt'jji. debattus uno forino arrrtre et precise.' — D'llaussonville, Ilist. de la Politique cxt. du Com. Fr. I«a0-l«-iy, 11. 381. 278 FRANCE. and abroad. Popular discontents were further in- flamed by scarcity and high prices, and severe com- mercial and financial pressure. While the government was thus surrounded by troubles, some scandalous transactions were conuption. revealcd on the part of M. Teste, lately minis- ter of public works, and others, connected with a concession of certain salt mines.^ This, and some other discoveries of a like nature, confirmed the accusations of corruption, by which the chambers and the government had long been assailed, shook .public confidence, and threw fresh weapons of offence into the hands of the democratic party. The present unpopularity of the government en- couraged the revival of agitation for electoral agitation reform. Nor was this movement confined to the liberal opposition and the revolutionists. The Bonajjartists supported it, with the hope of over- throwing the ministers, if not the monarchy. The bour- geoisie of Paris, which had been gradually becoming more liberal, and less satisfied with the government, supported the opposition leaders. The advocates of the cause resolved to excite the public feeling in its favour to the utmost. Thiers, as leader of the oppo- sition, stood foremost in the cause ; and was supported by Odillon Barrot, Duvergier de Hauranne, and other Reform public men ; and the revival of reform ban- banquets. quets was choseu as the best form of agita- ' In tliis reign the public works had been one of the chief means of corruption. ' Pour qu'on put agrandir la sphere des faveurs a dis- tribuer, et donner pature aux ames venales, la direction des travaux publics, enlevee a I'etat, est devenue un instrument d'agiotage pour les banquiers, un moyen d'aclialandage electoral pour les ministres.' — Louis Blanc, Ilist. de Dix Ans, v. 333. EEFORM BANQUETS. 279 tion. Tliese banquets commenced in July 1847 ; and tlie parliamentary leaders, resting upon the revolution of July 1830, advocated reforms consistent with the con- stitution : but Lamartine, already a popular leader, ex- pressed more revolutionary sentiments ; and at some of the banquets, the socialists did not miss the opj)or- tunity of advancing their peculiar principles of social revolution.^ Partly from these divisions, but mainly fi'om the absence of any real earnestness in the cause, the banquets had no striking success ; and before the meeting of the chambers at the end of December, the agitation showed symptoms of failure. December In the chamber of deputies, a laboured as- ^> ^**''- sault upon the policy of the government also failed, and the opposition saw that, without more vigorous action, their cause was lost. A reform banquet, announced for January 19, had been postponed, in consequence of a prohibi- Reform tion of the police, under a law of 1790 : but ^''^"'i'"''- ' On January 37, 1848, M. de Tocqneville had said, in tlio chamber of deputies : — ' The working classes are not agitated, as they some- times have been, by political passions ; but can you not pei'ceive that their jjassions, which were political, are now social? Can you not see that opinions and ideas are spreading amongst them, which tend not only to overthrow this or that law, this or that minister, or even this or that government, but society itself, and to shake the foundations on which it rests? Can you not hear what is daily rc- I)eated, that everything which is above their own condition is inca- pable and unworthy to govern them : that the present division of wealth in the world is unjust : that property rests upon no equitable basis? And are you not aware that, when such ojunions as those take root, when they are widely diffused, wlicn they penetrate the masses, they will bring about, sooner or later — I know not when, I know not how — the most tremendous revolutions? Such, sir, is my conviction : we are slumbering on a volcano. I am certain of it.' — Reeve, lioyal and Republican France, ii. lliO. 280 FEANCE. the leaders now determined to defy this proliibition, February ^^ illegal, and announccd a banquet for Feb- 14, 1848. ruary 22. As the time approached, however, public excitement had been so much aroused by the impending collision between the reformers and the government, that the leaders, alarmed at the crisis which they themselves had raised, readily listened to a compromise. It was agreed that the meeting should separate at the first summons of the police ; and that the right of meeting, and the legality of the prohibi- tion, should be determined by a court of law. But, to prevent the complete failure of their demonstra- tion, they announced that there would be a procession to the place of meeting, in the Champs Elysees, in The pro- wliich the national guard were invited to at- tend, in uniform. This demonstration was obviously far more dangerous than the banquet, which had been abandoned ; and the government determined to prevent it, by force of arms. Again the leaders of the movement shrank from the dangers wliich they had provoked ; and exhorted the people to give up the procession. The popular gathering being thus aban- doned by its promoters, the military preparations for preventing it were discontinued. Meanwhile, though no procession was attempted, a ^ large concourse of people assembled in the 2-i^m8^ streets of the capital. The republicans, in- dignant at the desertion of their parliamen- tary leaders, had encouraged a peaceful demonstration in favour of reform : many were ignorant that the pro- cession had been countermanded : multitudes, indif- ferent to the cause, gathered together, in expectation of disorders, or in search of excitement, and to gratify curiosity. All day the streets were occupied by agi- THESES AND ODILLON BARROT. 281 tated and expectant crowds : bnt no disorders were committed until tlie evening, when some troops of cavalry were pelted by the mob, and attempts were made to raise barricades. Such another day, how- ever, could not safely be encountered, and the govern- ment resolved upon a military occupation of the city by troops of the line, and the national guard. The latter promptly answered to the call : but they assem- bled, — not to fight against their fellow-citizens, but to make common cause with them against the government. Their disaffection was too soon declared. Defection They shouted ' Vive la re/orme I ' and placed national themselves between the soldiers and the peo- ^'"'"' " pie. The troops could not disperse the mob, without a conflict with the national guards, and were thus re- duced to inaction. There was no fighting : but the people were efiectually protected by the artful inter- vention of their armed allies. Without a blow, au- thority had been overcome ; and the mob had tri- umphed over the government. Guizot resigned, and was succeeded by Thiers, to whom Odillon Barrot was soon added. So Ministry of far, the cause of reform, and the ambition of odiium'" the opposition leaders, had prevailed. But in the streets and in the offices of the democratic journals, the * Reforme ' and the ' National,' the de- fection of the national guards, the victory of the populace, and the surrender of the government, were triumphs too great to be satisfied by a change of min- istry. They wore an encouragement to revolution ; and while the national guards returned home, after a day of equivocal distinction, the republicans organ- ised armed bands of revolutionists to marcli through tho streets, and renew the popular excitement. A 282 FRANCE. sliot being fired at tlio soldiers on guard at the Hotel of Foreign Aiiairs, they replied with a volley. Up- wards of fifty of the mob were killed, and their bodies were carried through the streets, and exhibited as the victims of an atrocious tyranny. The Paris '^^"^ ghastly spectacle aroused the fury of the populace, and Paris was soon in a state of insurrection. In presence of this new danger. Mar- shal Bugeaud was promptly appointed to the military command of Paris, and General Lamoriciere to the command of the national guard. The marshal lost no time in restoring order. Not a shot was fired : but every barricade was levelled, every position of the in- surgents taken ; and in a few hours the military oc- cupation of the capital was completed. The insur- rection was overcome : authority was vindicated ; and nothing was nov/ wanting, but to ins])ire the people with confidence in the new ministers. At this very- moment, when the government had been rescued from its danger. Marshal Bugeaud received an order to withdraw his troops from their positions ! Thiers and Odillon Barrot had resolved upon this fatal or- der, to conciliate the people, and avert further disor- ders. But it proved the death-warrant of the mon- archy. Abashed and dispirited, the troops withdrew ; and Paris was left at the mercy of the republican leaders and the populace. Thiers, scared by the mischief he had done, resigned in favour of Odillon Barrot : but it was now too late to arrest the dancjer. The mob had occupied the Palais Royal, and was advancing to the Tuileries. The troops were fra- Abdication tcmising with the people. The king, as- -mg. g^j.Q(j ^jjg^^ jj^g cause was lost, signed his abdication in favour of his grandson, the young FAILUEES OF LOUIS PHILIPPE' S REIGN. 283 Comte de Paris. Tlie royal family had scarcely time to escape from the palace, when it was in the hands of the mob, to be wrecked and rifled at their pleasure. The courageous Duchesse d'Orleans hastened to the chamber with her two sons, the Comte The de Paris and the Due de Chartres ; and orieanf and the chamber, by acclamation, declared the young prince king, and his mother regent. But, sud- denly an armed mob burst into the hall, and in the midst of tumult and violence, a provisional govern- ment was appointed, with Lamartine at its head. Meanwhile another provisional government The pro- had been proclaimed at the Hotel de Ville : ^rovoru- but a fusion was effected, under the presi- dency of Dupont de I'Eure; and the republic was proclaimed by Lamartine, from the front of the Hotel de Ville. A Parisian mob had overthrown the mon- archy, and, in opposition to the chambers and the vast majority of the people of France, had suddenly established a republic ! ^ Thus ended the trial of constitutional government under Louis Philippe. Whatever his faults p,,i,„rt-sof and failures, there had been more of liberty }:',;i',ippc,g and respect for the law, and more material •'''«'"■ prosperity, during his reign, than in any former pe- riod in the history of France. On every side, there had been disastrous errors. The foundations of his throne, which liad always been narrow, were further contracted by the reactionary policy of the last years ' ' Donner la France do 1818 -X la monarchic, c'clait la doinu'r aux factions. Le pays devait prendre Ka dictature. La dictatiire du paya c'est la republiquo.' — Lamartine, Hist, de la Rest. {Pream- Inilr, 10). 284 FBANCE. of liis reign. Less reliance upon corruption, and more confidence in tlie people, might have saved his throne. The reform agitation had been grossly mis- managed by the opposition, on one side, and by the conservative ministry, on the other. In the crisis of the revolution, the king and his family were timid and irresolute : but the crowning error was that of Thiers and Odillon Barrot. The insurrection, which brought them into power, was trifling compared with those which had been repressed by Marshal Soult ; and it had been already overcome, when they de- livered up the capital to the populace. Their royal master was the king of the barricades : they were themselves the creatures of the present crisis ; and they shrank from the unpopularity of a conflict with the people. As for the republican journalists, the leaders of secret societies, and professional revolu- tionists, they found their opportunity in the anar- chy which they had encouraged, and which minis- ters and liberal deputies had weakly suffered to gain ground. The revolution of 1830 had awakened the democracy state of of Europe : the revolution of 1848 aroused it from'isM to stiU greater activity. Eighteen years had to 1848. worked many changes in European politics and society. During that period, France had been governed by a constitutional king, deriving his power from the people, and renouncing the old traditions of the Bourbons. England had strengthened her popu- lar institutions, and reformed the abuses and corrup- tions of centuries. A new political life, — healthy, vigorous, and hopeful, — was animating her people at home, and throughout her colonial empire. Her ex- ample, and the liberal foreign policy of her statesmen, STATE OF EUEOPE 1830-18tt8. 285 "was giving encouragement to tlie aspirations of patri- ots in other lands. In Greece, the birthplace of Eu- ropean liberties, an historic peoj)le had cast off the Turkish yoke, and were enjoying independence and constitutional freedom, under the protection of Eng- land, France, and Russia. In Belgium, the new mon- archy, guided by the consummate judgment of King Leopold, presented a consj)icuous example of freedom, reviving prosperity, and contentment. Spain, aided by English sympathies, had overthrown the absolut- ism of the Bourbons, which had been fastened ujDon her by French intervention in 1822 ; and secured guarantees for constitutional government, under the youthful Queen Isabella. Italy had been fretting, more impatiently than ever, against foreign domina- tion, and the repressive policy of her rulers. Hungary had grown discontented with her subjection to Austria. The States of Germany were stirred with aspirations for national freedom, and for German unity. Every- where was to be observed a sympathetic movement of races, nationalities, and religions, in favour of inde- pendence and union. Such sentiments had once been little regarded in European politics, but were now becoming a potential force in the destinies of nations. While Europe was thus prepared for further poli- tical changes, her social development had ^^^^^^ vastly increased the power of the people, changes. Having recovered from the exhaustion of the revolu- tionary wars, they had made unprecedented advances in material welfare, and intellectual activity. The inventions of science had enlarged the capacity of human labour. Steam had extended the productive forces of manufactures, the range of commerce, and the communications of the world. The electric tele- 286 FEANCE. grapli liad C9mmenced its magic operations, and was quickening the intercourse of society and of nations. Some restraints upon trade and commerce had al- ready been removed : sounder principles of taxation were beginning to be accepted : industry was encour- aged by more enlightened laws, by bolder enterprises, and improved organisation. Wealth and capital were rapidly increasing : evidences of growing prosperity were universal. The industrial classes were acquir- ing an extended social influence. Yet more remarkable had been the intellectual Intellectual progrcss of society during this period. In progress. gcieuce and philosophy there was a bold spirit of inquiry, allied with practical aims for the im- mediate welfare of mankind. In literature there was unexampled variety, and a rare freedom of thought. The labours of the learned were now popularised for the use of the multitude. The successful pursuit of knowledge was accompanied by its general diffu- sion. A cheap literature found its way into every household. It had become the wise policy of most States to encourage the education of the people ; and popular writers completed the work which govern- ments had commenced. In politics, the newspaper press had acquired extraordinary expansion, and ex- ercised an influence previously unknown, except in revolutionary times. All questions of public interest were disciissed with earnestness and freedom. Even in States where the liberty of the jiress was little re- spected, newspapers had become an acknowledged political power. Thus nations had been instructed ; and public opinion had become a force which rulers could not defy with safety. Such being the development of European society. A YEAE OF EEYOLUTIONS. 287 tlie revolution of February 1848 suddenly aroused the latent discontents of many nations. In sudden Ital}', repugnance to the Bourbons and to the rwoiu- Austrian rule, had become irrepressible. February Sicily was already in revolt, and Naples was threatened with immediate insurrection, i" ^^''^y- Milan rose in arms against the Austrians, and drove out their forces, under Marshal Radetzky, ^^^^.^^ j to Mantua and Verona. Venice, animated ^^js. by the same spirit, and encouraged by the success of the Milanese, renounced the dominion of ... T 1 • T ■ • 1 March 26. Austria, and proclaimed a provisional gov- ernment. The Dukes of Parma and Modena fled from the sudden wrath of their subjects. The Grand Duke of Tuscany saved his throne by making . , 1 I • 1 • 1 1 • March 14. common cause with his people against his old allies, the Austrians. The Pope hastened to allay the discontents of the Romans, by granting them a new representative constitution : but was driven nevertheless, by the continued demonstra- tions of his people, into a declaration of war ^^ against Austria. But the most signal event of this period — decisive of the destinies of Italy — was the determination of Charles Albert, the King of Sardinia, to unfurl the standard of Italian unity, and to brave the Austrian legions, as leader of that national cause. Italy was now in arms against her rulers ; and was entering upon that long and criti- cal struggle, by which her foreign rulers were ulti- mately expelled from her soil, and freedom and na- tional union were achieved under Victor Emmanuel. Threatened in her Italian dominions, Austria was suiToundod by dangers yet more critical at home. In the capital, tumultuary risings 283 FRANCE. were followed by the concession of constitutional re- forms, and by tlie flight of Prince Mettemicli, the Teteran councillor of absolutism. Twice the emperor withdrew from the continued disorders of Yienna : nor could the city be reduced except by a besieging army. And at length he resigned his crown into the Dewmber ^lore yigorous hands of his youthful nephew, 2, 1*45. Francis John. Meanwhile the empire was in danger of dismemberment. Hungaiy was preparing to assert her independence : the jealous and hostile races of Germans, Masrvars, and Sclayes were arrayed aorainst each other : SclaTonic diets were conyened : schemes of a new Selayonic monarchy were projected ; and a provisional goyemment was proclaimed at Prasrae. Eaces and nationalities had become an im- minent peril to the State. Through the agonies of this crisis the empire passed, with a fearful strain upon its power. The Hungarian insuiTection could not be crushed without the aid of Eussian arms : the Selayonic troubles were overcome, for a time, by force and by concessions. ITltimately, a fi'ee constitution was granted to Hungary ; and the institutions of the Austrian empire were remodelled upon a constitu- tional basis. Throughout its dominions, the princi- ples of absolutism were renounced in favour of fi-ee- dom. The conflicting claims of rival races and na- tionalities, in this composite empire, have since proved a grave embarrassment : but Austrian statesmen have learned to treat them with moderation and liberality, and in harmony with the principles of a fi'ee State. Throughout the neighbouring States of Germany, the shock of the revolution was no less vio- ™^'^' lent Notwithstanding the reforms of 1830, these States had generally maintained their former A YEAE OF REYOLUnONS. 289 laws and cnstoms. In every kingdom, or feudal prin- cipality, were to be seen an old-fashioned conrt, an exclusive society, a grotesque worship of rank, titles, pedigrees, and armorial quarterings, a tenacious eti- quette, invidious privileges, and a narrow political rule. Prussia, under Frederick the Great, continued to be the type of the German States, in the nineteenth century. Wise councillors had long foreseen the ne- cessity of timely concessions to the advancing public opinion of the time : but an inert conservatism had resisted change, and was now to encounter revolution. Nowhere was society more ripe for political changes than in Germany. In the midst of old-world customs, had arisen a learned and speculative generation of thinkers, who had ventured, with singular originality and boldness, into every department of serious study. In history, in philosophy, in politics, and in religion, they had questioned the received opinions of the world. As defiant of authorities and prejudice as the French encyclop?edists, they were far deeper and more earnest in their researches, and more demon- strative in their reasoning. The novel speculations of professors were eagerly caught up by enthusiastic students ; and the educated classes were trained to original thought. German literature was animated by a free spii'it of inquiry ; and an expanding society, which bore little part in the government of the coun- try, had learned political principles opposed to the narrow policy of their rulers. Everywhere the revolutionary spirit of the time revealed itself. The Grand Duke of Ba- den averted tumults by promptly conceding tionar>-' libei-ty of the press, a national guard, and trial by jury. Popular demonstrations at "\\'iesbaden, VOL. II.— 13 290 FEANCE. Frankfort, Diisseldorf, Cologi:e, and Hesse-Cassel were followed by concessions of political franchises. In Bavaria, the art-loving king Ludwig, who had made his capital a classic city, vras forced to abdicate. At Dresden and Hanover, popular movements were satisfied by constitutional guarantees. Disorders spread from the cities to the country, where a peasant war was imminent. Castles were stormed : their ar- chives were burned ; and the frightened inmates fled for their lives. Throughout the whole of Germany a strong agitation arose in support of German unity, May 13 "which resulted in the meeting of a national ^**^- assembly a,t Frankfort. At Berlin the king endeavoured to allay the popular excitement by liberal concessions, and by adhesion to the cause of national unity. But there were disastrous collisions between the troops and the populace ; and the square beneath the very windows of the royal palace was stained with blood. The king bowed down before the people, and accepted the revolution. He rode through the city, wearing the colours of the Ger- man democracy,^ and promised to take the lead of German liberty and unity. Without pursuing further the progress of events in Germany, it may be briefly said that the revolutionary storm had burst over the land, and that everything was changed. Feudalism, pri\dleges, and old-world traditions gave way before the force of public opinion, and the pressure of a new society. Democracy was held in check by the politi- cal and social conditions of the fatherland : there were numbers of speculative politicians, — democrats, of every creed, republicans and communists, — and so- ' The tricolour of black, red, and yellow. A YEAE OF REVOLUTIONS. 291 ciety Tvas, for a time, disturbed and demoralised : but the free institutions of England formed tlie ideal of the German liberals.^ Constitutional freedom was achieved ; and, after many years, the dream j^^^^^^^ of German unity was realised in the conquer- i*- ^^^^• ing sceptre of the Emperor William. While other countries were thus convulsed by the irresistible force of the revolution, the moral strength of free States presented an instruc- iuuf'""^ tive political example. Belgium, so lately '^^^^ ' enfranchised, contemptuously repelled the insignifi- cant efforts of French and native revolutionists.^ In England, the time-honoured home of freedom, the government, enjoying the hearty confidence of the people, easily repressed the threatening movements of chartists and repealers. Those governments only were secure which rested upon the broad basis of public opinion and national support. And from this critical year of revolutions the moral may be drawn, that fi-eedom is the surest safeguard against demo- cracy.^ ' On Marcli 26, at a great meeting at Heidelberg, Ilerr Welcker said, ' Let England be our model : she has long enjoyed free insti- tutions : she alone now remains unshaken by the storm which is howling around ; and it is to her we must look as our model and our guide.'— Anil. Rig. 1848, p. 363. - 'Belgium,' wrote the Queen of England to King Leopold, 'is a bright star in the midst of dark clouds.' — Theodore Martin, Life of the Prince Consort, ii. 23. Among the most striking portions of this interesting work are the admirable letters of the Queen herself. 2 For a fuller narrative of the events of 1848, in different parts of Europe, see Lord Normanby, yl Tear of Revolution ; Cayley, The European Revolutions of 1848 ; the Annual Register , 1848 ; Tlieodore Martin, Life of the Prince Consort, vol. ii.; Lamartiue, Uitit. de la Rev. de 1848. CHAPTER XVn. PKANCE (continued). THE KEPTJBLIC OP 1848— LOUIS NAPOLEON ELECTED PRESIDENT — HIS RELATIONS WITH THE ASSEMBLY — THE COUP D'ETAT OP DECEMBER 3, 1851 — THE SECOND EMPIRE — FALL OP THE EM- PEROR—THE REPUBLIC OP 1870 — THE COMMUNE, 1871 — THE REPUBLIC UNDER THIERS AND MARSHAL MACMAHON. Feance was now under a democratic republic ;^ and after nearly five-and-forty years of Imperial public of and monarcnical rule, democracy was again in tlie ascendant.^ Its cliaracter and aims ' The following are the principal authorities upon the Eepublic of 1848 and the Second Empire : — Laniartine, Hist de la BJv. de 1848 ; lb. Mem. imdits ; Granier de Cassaguac, Hist, de la Chute du Boi Louis-Philippe, de la Bepuhlique de 1848 et du BCtdblissement de V Empire ; Louis Blanc, Pages d'Hist. de la Bev. de Fevrier; lb. Hist, de la Bcv. de 1848 ; lb. Bivilations Historiques ; Regnault, Hist, du Gouverncment Provisoire ; Lord Normanby, Tear of Bevolutions ; Caussidiere, Mem.; Emile Thomas, 2Ks«. des Ateliers Nationaux ; Proudhon, Confessions d'un Bevolutionnaire ; Guy, Hist, de Napoleon III. ; Lespez, Hist, de Louis-Napoleon ; Prevost Paradol, La France Noutelle, 1869 ; Memoir cs posthumes d'Odilon Parrot ; Jules Simon, Souvenirs du ^ Septemhre : Origine et Chute du Second Empire; lb. Oouvernement de la Defense Nationale ; lb. La Liberie; Mauduit, Bemlution Militaire ; Xavier Durrien, Le Coup d'Etat ; Hippolyte Magen, Hist, de la Terreur Bonnpariiste ; LaY&nte, Becucil d'Actes Ojftciels ; Annuaire. ' Writing in 1849, M. Guizot thus speaks of democracy :— ' C'estle drapeau de toutes les esperances, de toutes les ambitions sociales de EEPUBLIC OF 1848. 293 liad undergone some ctanges : but its fundamental principles were tlie same as ever. Tlie revolution of February, 1848, was characterised by the same lenity as that of 1830. So far from attempting to arrest the royal family in their flight, the provisional govern- ment forwarded money to speed them on their way.i The late ministers were threatened, to gratify the people : but, in happy contrast to the reign of terror, suffered no molestation. And, further, a decree was issued abolishing capital punishment for political offences. Otherwise the new republic resembled its celebrated prototype of 1792.^ Once more the almost forgotten words, 'Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite,' appeared upon all the ^^^ ^ public buildings : again ' citoyen ' and ' cito- ^or*,f ^'f t,ie yenne ' took the place of * monsieur ' and * ma- K^-'^o'i'twi- rhumanite, pures ou impures, nobles ou basses, sensces ou insen- sees, possibles ou chimeriques.' — De la Dhnoeraiie en France, 3. ' L' empire du motdcmocratie n'est point un accident, local, passagcr. C'est le developpement — d'autres diraient, le dccliainenient — do la nature humaine tout eutiure, sur toute la ligae et fl toutes les pro- fondeurs de la societe ; et par consequent la lutte flagrante, gene- rale, continue, inevitable, de ses bons et de ses mauvais penchants, do ses vertus et de ses vices, de toutes ses passions et de toutes ses forces, pour perfectionner et pour cori-ompre, pour elever et pour abaisser, pour crCer et pour dctruire. C'est la dcsormais I'ttat social, la condition permanente de notre nation.' — Ibid. 5. 1 Lamartine, Ilist. de la Ji'v. de 1848, livre x. cb. 2-11 ; Lord Nor- manby, A Year of Revolution, i. 180 (t scq. ^ ' La rcpublique, telle que I'entendait Lamartine, n'iitait point un bouleversement a tout hasard de la France et du monde ; c'ctait un av.'nement revolutionnaire, accidental, soudain dans la foimo, nniis rc'-gulier dans son developpement de la democratic ; un progres dans les voies do la philosopliie et do rbumaniti' ; une seconde et ])lu3 heureuse tentative d'un grand peuple pour se tirer de la tutolle dea dynasties, ot pour apprendre ilse gouverner lui-mCmo.' — Lamartine, Hint, de la Rev. de 1848, livro ix. ch. 7. 294 FRANCE. dame : ' all titles of honour were abolislied : ' tlie streets received revolutionary names : trees of lib- Pl'GCGCl Silts of irya erty were planted, and a red ribbon was ap- pointed to be worn in the button-liole of every good citizen. Such were the playthings of the revo- lution. In its more serious form, the revolutionary spirit of former times was also revealed. The tranquil rule of the bourgeoisie was overthrown. The clubs, which had Clubs re- been closed, were now reopened, and re- opyiiB . sumed their dangerous activity. The streets and environs of Paris were still crowded by the insur- gents, by workmen out of employment, and by the convicts, thieves, and ruffians of that vast city.^ To avoid general plunder, it was necessary that this hun- Natioiiai gry multitude should be fed. The provi- worv.shops. g-Qjjg^j government decreed that employment should be ensured to all citizens ; and, by opening national workshops, they at once met this pressing danger, and gratified the socialists. The city was still in possession of the populace : the municipal guard had been disbanded, and the troops sent out of Paris ; and, for the double purpose of protection and of the employment of dangerous proletaires, the government ' This was done without the consent of Lamartine, who said, ' Ne commeugons pas la revolution par un ridicule ; la noblesse est abolie, mais on n'abolit ni les souvenirs ni les vanites.' — Hist, de la Rev. de 1848, livre x. ch. 1. ^ The populace of Paris may be compared with that of Rome, in the days of Catiline, as described by Sallust ; — ' Sed urbana plebes, ea vero prjeceps ierat multis de causis. Primum omnium, qui ubique probro, atque petulantia maxume priBstabant : item alii, per dedecora, patrimoniis amissis ; postremo omnes, quos flagitium, aut facinus domo expulerat, hi Romam, sicuti in sentinam, confluxe- rant.' — Bellum Catilinarium, 30. REPUBLIC OF 1848. 295 organised the Garde 3IohiIe from tlie men who had lately fought upon the barricades. The revolution had been mainly the work of red rejjublicans and socialists, and the country Red Re- was in danger of falling into the hands of ''" that desperate party. These men were imbued with the principles and examples of the revolution of 1789. They were burning to establish the dictation of the mob, by terror, by confiscations, by the dungeon and the guillotine. France was not to govern herself by fair representation : but was to be ruled by the clubs and demagogues of Paris. Their appropriate signal was the red flag. Their followers were the proUtaircs of the capital, — the dregs of the populace.^ They clamoured for the red flag, as the standard of the republic : but Lamartine bravely maintained tlie na- tional tricolour. They fiercely claimed dominion, in their turn, over the bourgeoisie, 'who had sold the sweat of their brows to the monarchy.' They de- manded immediate war against all thrones and aris- tocracies : terror to traitors ; and the suspension of the axe of the people over the heads of their eternal enemies.^ But the most important characteristic of the revolu- tion is to he found in the increasing power . T Socialists and activitv of the socialists and commu- ""J <:<>"i- •^ niuuists. nists. Of these there were several schools. All aimed at the suppression of proiierty, and commu- nity of goods : some by direct means : others, of whom Louis Blanc was the cliicf exponent, by the organisa- tion of labour, which, without confiscating projierty, was calculated to exhaust capital.'^ There were the ' Lamanino, ITist. de la licv. de 1848, livre vii. 2 Ibid. i. ;J71, 393. « Ibid, livrc xii. 296 FBANCE. « discij)les of Fourrier, whose doctrine of the commu- nity of goods tliey clierislied as a religious faith.^ They were peaceful enthusiasts, — not conspirators. There were the followers of Cabet, of Pierre Le- rous, of Proudhon, and of Raspail, — some practical, some metaphysical, and some even religious, in their schemes of communism. The aims of all these philo- sophic sects of communists were, at least, philanthro- pic. If they were wild and impracticable, they had in view the happiness of the human race, according to their own Utopia. These theories gave a certain air of political wisdom and morality to the wildest specu- lations. They had the merits, no less than the de- fects, of a false religion. But other communists, with- out the excuse of such theories, aimed simply at destruction and pillage. They hated and envied the rich ; and were bent on sharing the good things of this world, which the favoured few had hitherto appro- priated to themselves.^ In the midst of these danger- ous factions, the provisional government, by assuming a position of firm moderation, propitiated the upper classes and the bourgeoisie, and gained the confidence of foreign powers : but were estranged from the com- munists and red republicans.^ They dissatisfied these violent factions : but they saved France from anarchy.* The socialist views of the rights of labour were partially ci;ratified by the establishment of tion of national workshops, in which upwards of 100,000 were soon employed, at two francs a ' liamartine. Hist, de la Rev. de 1848, livre vii, ' Ibid, livre vii. xi. '•' Ibid, livre ix. Lamartine sadly confessed, ' II n'y a pas de genie humain qui soit a la hauteur d'une fausse situation.' * Ibid. ^ REPUBLIC OF 1818. 297 day. Louis Blanc vainly attempted to organise these establishments, upon the favourite socialist principle of community of labour and profits among the work- men, without the control of employers.^ The para- mount interests of workmen were also regarded in the legislation of the republic. It was decreed that the hours of labour should be limited in Paris to ten hours, and elsewhere to twelve.^ Promises were given that wages should not be reduced in times of March 26, depression. No wonder that thousands of ^'^^' workmen were now discharged, and thrown upon the national workshops. By another decree, the taxes on salt and other articles of consumption . New taxes. were remitted ; and the direct taxes were in- ■ Louis Blanc, Pages de mist, de la Revolution de Fevrier, 63. ' Le coeur de Louis Blanc eclatait en sentiments f raternels, sa parole en images, mais son systc'me en tcnebres.' — Lamartiue, Hist, de la Rev. de 1848, livre ix. ch. 21. The principles and aims of Louis Blanc maybe briefly explained in liis own words: — 'La vie, le travail, toute la destince liumaine tient dans ces deux mots supremes. Done, en demandant que le droit de vivre par le travail soit regie, soit garanti,on fait mieux encore que disputerdes millions de malheureux si I'oppression de la force ou du liiisard: on embrasse dans sa generalite la plus liaute, dans sa signi- fication la plus profonde, la cause de I'etre liumaine ; on salue le Createur dans son oeuvre.' — Organisation du Travail, Intr. 4 (5meed.) ' Le gouvernment serait considere comme le regulateur supreme de la production, et investe, pour accomplir sa tacLe, d'une graude force.'— Ibid. 102. ' Une revolution sociale doit Ctre tentee.' — Ibid. 117. See also Louis Blanc, Uist. de dix Ans, ii. 277-282, iii. 109, 110; Le Play, Organisation du Travail ; and Organisation de la Famille ; Emile Thomas, IJist. dcs Atel. Nat. ^ Reduced to eleven on April 2. In England, the Imurs of labour of women and children in factories and worlcshops have been al)ridged by laws whicli have also indirectly affected the einph)v- ment of men. In other trades, the hours of labour have been short- ened by combinations of workmen. 13* 298 FRANCE. 9 creased forty-five per cent. Tlio proprietors of land in the provinces, who had taken no part in the revo- lution, recognised in this decree a scheme of the com- munists of Paris, for relieving themselves at the ex- pense of their neighbours, and were resolved to seize the first opportunity of resistance. It was, indeed, by the firmness of Lamartine, and Firmness of some of his collcagucs, that the princij)les of Lamartine. ^Jjq j.q^ republicans were not suflered to pre- vail. He disclaimed revolutionary propagandism : he assured Europe of the pacific disposition of the re- public : ^ he turned a deaf ear to Mr. Smith O'Brien and his deputation of Irish republicans : he resisted the ultra-democratic schemes of Ledru Eollin, Louis Blanc, and the red republicans : he braved the vio- lence of Blanqui, Barbes, and their revolutionary mobs.^ And, instead of usurping power for a faction, he appealed to the free judgment of his country- men.^ The good faith of the provisional government was ' ' La guerre n'est done pas le principe de la rc'publique fran^aise, comme elle en devint la fatale et glorieuse necessity en 1793.'— Manifesto a I'Europe ; Lamartine, Ilist. de la Rev. de 1848, livre ix. cli. 15. ' Lord Palmerston et le cabinet anglais paraissent avoir compris, avec une haute sagacite, le caractere pacifique, modure et civilisa- teur de la rt'publique, dirigee au dehors dans un esprit de respect et d'iuviolabilite aus institutions diverses des peuples.' — Ibid, livre xi. ch. 10. '■^ All these events are graphically detailed by Lamartine himself, in his history of the revolution of 1848, and in his Trois Mois au Pouvoir. ' ' Les hommes serieux, partisans du gouvernement democratique, dans le conseil du gouvernement provisoire, voulaient que la rcpub- lique fut un droit et non une escroqueriede la force ou la ruse d'une faction.' — Lamartine, Hist, de la Rev. de 1848, livro vi. ch. 8. EEPTJBLIC OF 1848. 299 sliowu in the prompt convocation of a national as- sembly, to determine the future constitution ^, ^. , ■> ' _ National of France.^ Universal suffrage was the basis Assembly of representation : no narrower franchise would have suited a democratic republic, or satis- fied the revolutionary party.^ Secret voting was also established. The assembly was to consist of nine hundred members, each of whom was entitled to twenty-five francs a day during the session.^ Paris alone had achieved the revolution. Would France ratify it ? Its authors and leaders were the rulers of the State : their principles to tuu eiec- were in the ascendant. Would France ap- prove and confirm them? Such were the questions which agitated the capital and the provinces, the members of the provisional government, and the red republicans. Commissioners were despatched to every part of France to secure support to the govern- ment and the republic : doubtful prefects were dis- missed : impassioned exhortations were addressed to the electors : threats were uttered of another appeal to the barricades. The socialists and red republicans of Paris naturally distrusted the provincial electors. At present they were masters of the situation : they had the clubs and populace at their command : the ' ' Nous comptons les jours. Nous avons bate de remettre la re- publique a la nation,' said the provisional government, in a procla- mation to the people.' — Lamartine, livre xii. ch. 5. '^ ' L'election appartient a tons sans exception. A datcr do cetto loi, il n'y a plus de prolctaires eu France.' — Proclamation of the pro- visional government. '•' The decrees for convoking and constituting the asFCinhly were issued on the 5th and 12th March, 1848. The elections were fixed for the 27th April, and its meeting was appointed for the 4th May, the anniversary of the assembling of the states-general in 1789. 300 FKANCE. government were without troops : tlie national guards were a democratic force, drawn from the working classes ; and Ledru Rollin and other members of the provisional government were known to favour their extreme opinions. Should they await the verdict of the provinces, or at once assail a weak government, which seemed in their power? Their choice was made in the true spirit of French revolutionists. On March 17 they organised a threatening procession to the Hotel de Ville. The socialists were the H6tei represented by Louis Blanc and Albert : the de Ville . red republicans by Blanqui, Raspail, and the democratic clubs : red flags were waved above the companies as they marched : the procession extended from the Champs-Elysees to the Place de Greve, and mustered more than a hundred thousand men.' A deputation from this vast body was admitted ; and Blanqui, as their spokesman, demanded the postpone- ment of the elections, and the absolute submission of the government to the will of the people, as repre- sented by the democratic clubs. Even Louis Blanc was shocked by the extravagance of these demands : nor was Ledru Eollin prepared to surrender his pov/er to Blanqui and his confederates. The provisional government, therefore, firmly withstood the deputa- tion, who retired sullen and revengeful, to rcction lead away their discomfited followers. They thwarted. . t , i i , , i . • • -i immediately plotted an insurrection, m order to take the Htjtel de Ville by storm, to postpone the dreaded elections, and to force themselves into the provisional government. The storming of the Hotel de Ville, however, by an organised mob, was prevented ' ' On I'evaluait a cent ou cent quarante mille hommes.' — Lamar- tine, Hist, de la Btv. de 1848, livre xii. cli. 9, REPUBLIC OF 1848. 301 by the courage of Lamartine and the military skill of General Cliangarnier ; and France was again saved from the red republic.^ At length the elections -were held, and the national assembly met in Paris. In the capital, and j[ygtij,g the great towns, the republicans of different °^J^',f,yy^ types were triumphant : but in the depart- "^i"'' ~^- ments, a general reaction against the revolu- '^^^^ "*• tion could not be disguised. The leaders of the red republicans, Blanqui, Barbes, Rasj^ail, and Cabet, found no places in the assembly. One of the first acts of the assembly was to appoint an executive com- mission, to supersede the provisional government.^ Not one of the extreme democrats was chosen. Min- isters were nominated by the commission. Not one belonged to the extreme party. Their cause was evi- dently lost, unless it could be restored by force. They had striven to overthrow the provisional government, and now they directed their forces against the assembly. Under pretence of presenting a petition for the relief of Poland, a mob burst into the hall of the assembly, turned out the members, of the " declared the assembly dissolved, and pro- '''' "^"^ ^' claimed a new provisional government. Among the new rulers of France were Barbes, Blanqui, j^j.^^ j^ Louis Blanc, Raspail, Albert, and Proudhon. ^^•'^• Happily the rule of these red republicans and so- cialists was short. The hall of the assembly was soon cleared by the national guards : the members of the new provisional government were besieged and ' I.amartine, Hist, de la R'v. de 1848, livre xiii. cli. 10-34 ; Lord Nomianby, Year of Revolutions, i. 332-^3(5. * They were Arago, Uariiiur-PagiJs Marie, Lamartine, and Ledru- Rollin. 302 FRANCE. * arrested, in the Hotel de Yille, and the Prefecture of Police : the democratic clubs "v^'ere again closed ; and order seemed to be restored.^ But these dangerous conspirators were not discour- Now eiec- 3,ged. In June there were several new elec- tions, tions, and Paris returned Proudhon and other socialist leaders. The general result of these elec- tions, however, was not favourable to that party: while Count Mole, Thiers, and several other statesmen of the monarchy recovered seats in the assembly ; Prince ^^^ ^^ ^^® same time Prince Louis Napo- Napivieon ^^ou was elected by no less than four depart- eiected. meuts. He had been supported not only by Bonapartists, but by red republicans, and even by communists, to whom his speculative writings had commended him.^ Many parties confronted one an- other in the assembly : but the ultra-democrats formed an insignificant minority. Growing more desperate as political power eluded their grasp, they were plot- ting another insurrection, when the assembly deter- mined to disperse the idle and dangerous workmen in the national workshops, who had now risen to one hundred and twenty thousand. ' Lamartine, livre xv. ch. 1-15. ^ Jerrold, Life of Napoleon III., ii. 395-400. The Prince wrote to the President of the Assembly: — 'Je u'ai pas cherche I'honneur d'etre representant du peuple, parce que je savais les soupgons in- jurieuses dont j'etais I'objet. Je rechercherais encore moins le pou- voir. Si le peuple m'imposait des devoirs, je saiirais les remplir.' — Ibid. 405. He resigned his seat in tlie Assembly, and in September was again elected for no less than five departments. — Ibid. 410. He now ' went quietly to the Hotel du Rhiu, in the Place Vendume, from the windows of which he could see towering over the capital the figure of the great man whose genius had been the guiding star of his life.'— Ibid. 411. CAVAIGNAC DICTATOE. 303 This moment of discontent was promptly seized upon. The clubs and the red republican and jjj<,^rrec- socialist leaders appealed to the worlimen, j°',eoo_25 to the revolutionary prolctaireSy and to the ^^^• fargats,^ and Paris flew to arms. Of all the insurrec- tions of the revolutionary period, this was the best planned, the most skilfully executed, and the most formidable. It was not a riotous gathering of the people, with uncertain purposes : but the insurrec- tionary forces were distributed with military strategy : the most important positions in the city were occu- pied by barricades of stone, bricks, and earthworks :^ the windows were crowded with tirailleurs to fire uj^on the troops ; and the insurgents were inspired with a desjDerate courage and resolution. So immi- nent was the danger, that General Cavaignac cavaignac was appointed dictator. It was not until June 24,' 1848 after hundreds of bloody fights, on four suc- cessive days, with fearful loss of life on both sides, that this terrific insurrection was overcome. On either side, there were prodigies of bravery : but the most memorable incident of the strife was the heroic self- sacrifice of Monseigneur Afire, Archbishop of Paris, who fell upon the barricade in the Place de la Bastille, in a vain attempt to arrest the slaughter.^ The red republican insurrection was crushed: a terrible danger had been surmounted : but France was more than ever awakened to against the the perils which threatened her peace and ' It was estimated that no less than 10,000 of this latter class took part in the insurrection. Lainartine, Hint, de la R>'v. dc .1818, livre XV. ch. 14-17 ; Lord Normanhy, A Yiar of Itcvobtlions, ii. 27. ' There were nearly 4,000 liarricades in diflorent parts of the city. ^ Lord Normanby, Yca/r of licvoluiions, ii. 59. 304 FKANCE. social order. Her caj)ital had been desolated by a civil war; and if the insurgents had conquered, her for- tunes would have been at the mercy of red republi- cans and socialists. The reaction against democracy was universal ; and Frenchmen of all classes were resolved that their noble country should not fall a prey to the canaille of Paris. The dictatorship of Cavaignac was continued : the Measures of Capital was surrouudcd by troops : the na- cavaignac. tioual workshops Were closed : the disaf- fected or untrustworthy legions of the national guard were disbanded : the democratic newspapers were sus- pended : repressive laws against the press were re- vived : the clubs were suppressed. Liberty was sur- rendered for a time, to save the State from anarchy. But the extent of the reaction was soon to be New constl- , . i m • i> rrn tutioii. shown m a more striking form. The per- Nov.' 4, manent constitution of the republic was yet 1&48. . to be determined; and the assembly, after much deliberation, decreed that the future govern- ment should be vested in a single chamber, and in a president, to be elected for four years, by universal suifrage. The principal candidates for the presidency were Louis Cavaignac, the dictator, who had saved eiected'^'^ France from the red republic ; Ledru-RoUin presi CD . ^^^ Lamartine, — the most eminent members of the late provisional government, — and Prince Louis Napoleon. Cavaignac still commanded all the influ- ence of the government : he was known to be an earnest republican ; and his late services, in the cause of order, deserved well of his country : but Prince Louis Napo- leon was chosen by 5,434,226 votes. He also pro- fessed devotion to the republic, and proclaimed the LOUIS N.\POLEON PRESIDENT. 305 sovereignty of tlie people.^ But was lie chosen to maintain the republic, or to restore the empire? That he secured the votes of all Bonapartists, and of millions who still cherished the glorious memory of the great Emperor, is certain : ^ but his election was also an emjihatic protest of the middle classes and of the proj3rietors of the soil against the red republic and the mob-rule of the capital.^ For the prince him- self, the long dream of his life was realised.* Like his uncle, he was chief magistrate of the French re- public ; and his foot was well nigh upon the steps of the imperial throne.^ 'In the presence of God, and before the French people represented by the national assembly,' he swore ' to remain faithful to the demo- ' So far back as October 21, 1843, he wrote from liis prison at Ham: — 'J'avais une haute ambition, iiiais je la pouvais avouer — I'ambi- tion de reunir autour de mon nom populaire tons les partisans de la souverainete du peuple, tous ceux qui voulaient la gloire et la liberty.' — Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i, 46. And this continued to be the strain of Ms later appeals. "^ ' Le peuple ne savait pas, en definitive, de la revolution que ce qu'il ajiprenait dans les ecoles et dans Ics camps — les vraies ecoles de I'Empire : il croyait en Napoleon, rcdempteur de la France et du peuple, crucifie par les rois sur le Calvaire de Saintc-Helene.' — E'e- lord, nint. du Second Empire, i. 121. ^ ' 11 s'agit moins pour le pays, dans le mouvcmont de reaction auquel 11 est livre, de revenir a tel on tel des regimes dt'chus, qiie d'avoir raison enfin d'uii esprit de subversion qui s'attaque indis- tinctement a, tous les regimes, et qui depuis soixante ans n'a consent! u en laisser durer aucun.' — Dunoyer, Jai R^v. de 24 Fcvricr, 188. * ' Le jcune pretendaut dut entendre i)lus d'une fois, au fond des bo.squets d'Arenenberg, des voix qui lui disaient : " Tu regneras.'" — Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i. 28. ' On January 9, 1849, Walter 'Savage Landor wrote : — ' Necessity will comjiel liira to assume the imperial imwcr, to which tlie voice of the army and people will call him.'— Jerrold, Life of Napoleon III. ii. a70. 306 FEANCE. cratic republic :' but visions of tlio empire were ever floating before his eyes. We will not follow Louis Napoleon tlirougli Lis liis presi- brief presidency. His ambition and bis des- "°*'^' tiny were divined, alike by republicans, legitimists, and Orleanists ; ^ and all parties united in resistance to his aims. They were naturally hos- tile to his pretensions. Red republicans and social- ists dreaded the strong hand of a ruler supported by the army and the party of order. Eex)ublicans de- tected, in his fair promises, the betrayer of the re- public, and the crafty usurper. Royalists, who, in the fall of Louis Philippe and the anarchy of the revolution, had cherished hopes of another restora- tion, feared lest an empire should again stand be- tween the Bourbons and their inheritance. Orlean- ists, who had lately been cast down from their high places, were fretting for the recovery of their power. In vain he endeavoured to allay suspicions of his ulterior designs, by profuse protestations of his alle- giance to the republic, and his respect for the laws.^ ' Granier de Cassagnac, Hist. ii. 34 et seq. ' Before liis election in December, 1848, he said : — ' Je ne suis pas un ambitieux. Eleve dans des pays libres, et a I'ecole du inalheur, je resterai toujours fidele aus devoirs que m'imposeront vos suf- frages et les volontes de I'Assemblee.' And after his election, he said : — ' Le serment que je viens de preter commande ma conduite future. Mon devoir est trace : je le remplirai en homme d'hon- neur. Je verrai des ennemis de la patrie dans tons ceux qui ten- teraient de changer, par des voies illegales, ce que la France entiere a etabli.' — Dunoyer, Le Second Empire, i. 146, 147. And to the Assembly he addressed these words, on December 20, 1848 : — ' Vous voulez, comme moi, travailler au bien-etre, a la gloire, a la pro- sperite, du peuple qui nous a elus, et, comme moi, vous pensez que les meilleurs moyens d'y parvenir ne sont pas la violence et la ruse, mais la fermete et la justice.' — Ibid. 147, At Lyons, on August 13, LOXnS NAPOLEON PRESIDENT. 307 His GiDponents distrusted his assurances, and multi- tudes of his supporters were already prepared to wel- come the revival of the empire.^ He met with opposition on every side. The revolu- tionists of Paris were a<]rain busy with plots : f^ J L January 29, but one insurrection ignomiuiously failed, i^o- and another was easily repressed. A social- june 13, ist insurrection at Lyons was promjjtly over- come, with great slaughter. Within the walls of the assembly, he encountered difficulties of another kind. He was the elect of France, and was bent upon as- serting his personal rule, — the onlj^ rule hitherto known in France to king, president, or emperor. The assembly, chosen like himself by universal suffrage, and having a title equal to his own, disputed with him the government of the country. They claimed that his ministers should have the confidence of the majority of their body : the president, resting uj)on the confidence of the people, assumed the right of nominating ministers at his own discretion. Hence jealousy and contrariety of views could not fail to arise between the executive and the legislature. Such were the relations of parties to the president and to one another, that an orderly government, by I^arliamentary majorities, was naturally beset with difficulties. Similar difficulties, however, had lately been overcome by Louis Philippe ; and miglit have been successfully encountered by Louis Napoleon, if he had been faithful to the republican constitution. 1849, lie said : — 'Les surprises et I'usurpation pcuvent rtre la rcve des i)arti.s sans appui dans la nation ; mais I'clu de six millions de sulTra^'es ext'cute les volontes du peuple : il ne les trahit pas.' — De- lord, Jlint. du Second Empire, i. 194. ' Dunoycr, Lc Second Empire, i. 14.G ct seq. 808 FBANCE. But liG was not disposed to share his power with political rivals : he regarded the representatives of the people as obstacles to his own supremacy ; and was actively scheming the restoration of the empire, upon the ruins of the republic. After the elections, in May 1849, the president dis- missed the ministry of Odillon Barrot, which had com- manded a majority of the assembly ; ^ and formed a new ministry of obscure men, from all parties. He explained his purpose by declaring to the assembly October 31 that he needed men who acknowledged ' the 1849. necessity of a single and firm direction,' in other words, men who looked to Iiimself, and not to the assembly, for guidance.^ Such a declaration in- creased the estrangement of the assembly. Alarmed March 10, at the elcctiou of six socialist candidates in Paris, they passed a bill ^ requiring three years' residence for the exercise of the franchise, and otherwise striking at the revolutionary ^ro?c'to ires, of ' According to some authorities, tlie strength of the republican party was increased in tlie national assembly : but Delord says : — 'L'Assemblee constituaute etait republicaiue : I'Assemblee legisla- tive qui lui succedait se composait en grande majorite de royalistes.' — Hist, du Second Empire, i. 153. So also Jerrold, Kap. III. iii. 87. Bat, however that may have been, the president resolved to set himself free from the restraints of party government. ^ In his message to the assembly, he said : — ' La France, inquiete parce qu'elle ne voit pas de direction, cherche la main, la voloute, de I'olu du 10 dt'cembre.' The national will had been expressed by the election of a Napoleon ; and ' ce nom est a lui seul tout un pro- gramme.' — Dunoyer, Le Second Emjnre, i. 155. " ' It was afterwards alleged that this measure had been passed in opposition to the wishes of the president : but, according to Delord, ' I'histoire ne trouve aucune trace de cette pretendue repug- nance de M. Louis Bonaparte, ni dans ses discours, ni dans ses con- versations.' — Hist, du Second Empire, i. 187. But see Jerrold, ]^ap III. iii. 134. THE PEESIDENT AND THE ASSEMBLY. 309 all nations, wlio infested Paris. They opposed tlio angmentation of tlie president's salary : tliey denied liim tlie nomination of mayors ; and they appointed an unfriendly commission, from the different parties, to control him during the recess.^ Meanwhile the president, opposed by all parties in the assembly, — which, however adverse to Thopregi- one another, were ever ready to combine the at" against him,^ — appealed to the sympathy of ^^'" ^'' the people,^ and the attachment of the army. At Lyons, at Strasburg, and other large towns, his pre- sence was greeted with enthusiasm. At re- Q^^^^^^.Y ^^ views he was cheered with cries of * Yive Na- ^'^^*'- poleon ! ' and at Satorj^ the cavalry, as they passed him, shouted *Vive Napoleon! Vive I'Empereur ! ' ^ The infantry, in obedience to the orders of November their general, Neumeyer, were silent ; and the general was soon afterwards removed from his com- mand. At other reviews the like cries were heard.^ Soon afterwards. General Changarnier issued an order to the troops under his command,^ reminding them that the law and military regulations forbade thorn to utter cries while under arms. Two months afterwards ' Granier de Cassagnac, ii. 147-160. ' ' On voyait toujours quatre partis prets a fairo cause commune coutre un seul.' — Dunoyor, Le Second Empire, i. 31. ^ At Dijon lie said, on January 1, 1850 : — ' J'appelle do tous mes voeux le moment ou la voix puissanto de la nation dominera toutes les oppositions et mettra d'accord toutes les rivalitrs.' — Biscmirs ct Proclamations, 150. * Dolord, nint. du Second Empire, i. Ifl3. ' ' Lo pri'sidnnt pendant ce tcnifjs-la j)asse des revues ofl on crio, ' Vive reinpereur ! ' commo aa temps ou lea legions faisaient dea Cesars.'— Delord, IliHt. i. 207. " ITe was commander of tlio troops of Paris and tbo department of the Seine. « 310 FRANCE. he was superseded.^ Other generals were promoted, who enjoyed the entire confidence of the president; and officers friendly to his ambition were carefully sought out and encouraged.^ He was constantly pro- claiming his reliance upon the fidelity of the army.^ While making these appeals to the people and the army, he continued his professions of fidelity to the constitution, and endeavoured to disarm suspicions by affecting a lofty disinterestedness. To the assem- bly he said, on November 30, 1850 : ' The noblest ob- ject, and the most worthy of an exalted mind, is not to seek, when in power, how to perpetuate it, but to la- bour to fortify, for the benefit of all, those principles of authority and morality, which defy the passions of mankind and the instability of laws.' The suspicious policy of the president was met by January 14, ^ rcsolutiou of the assembly, declaring that ^^^^' it had no confidence in his ministers. He changed his ministry : but not a single minister did he choose from among the members of the assembly. After a continuance of the strife for some time, he April 10 invited Odillon Barrot to form a ministry; is^i- and, on his failure, he again resorted to the assembly for a cabinet. The new ministry, however, did not embrace any of the leaders of parties ; and was not designed to conciliate their support. The president's policy of personal rule was incompatible with representative government ; and his ulterior aims alienated all parties but his own. The time was approaching when a revision of the constitution was demanded : but while a ma- theconsti- jority of the assembly approved it, a vote of three-fourths, as required by the constitu- ' Dunoyer, Le Second Empire, i, 159. " ibj^, i_ iei_ s ibj^ 174 THE PRESIDENT AND THE ASSEMBLY. 311 tion, could not be obtained. The powers of the presi- dent were limited to four years, and he was juiyao, disqualified for re-election. He was already ^^^' straitened in his civil list ; and he must soon lay down his power, and retire into poverty and obscurity. An event so fatal to his ambition, he was resolved to avert. His ultimate reliance was u^^on the army and the people : but, in the meantime, he sought, by a popular measure, to increase his influence and popu- larity. If he found the assembly intractable, other means must be tried to ensure the continuance of his power. Believing that the restoration of universal suffrage would favour his own claims, he now urged the repeal of the law of May 31, 1850. His ministers, fearing a socialist majority in the next assembly, ob- jected to the change, and resigned ; and, with the advice of a new ministry, the proposal was made by the president to the assemblj-. But his ob- xovembor ject in seeking an extension of the sufirage '*' ^^''^' was too well known to find favour with his opponents. The republicans were drawn towards him by so demo- cratic a measure : but the royalists were no less op- posed to it than to its author.^ The distrust of the assembly in the designs of the president was now further aroused by a i Distrust speech addressed by him to the officers of "fi'i' some regiments lately arrived in Paris, se- lected as faithful to his cause. He told them that he had placed at their head men wlio had his entire confidence ; and that, if the gravity of affairs should compel him to appeal to their devotion, he was as- sured that he should not be disappointed. He would ' Delord, ITist. du ^Second Empire, i. 249-355. 312 FRANCE. not say to them, * March, and I will follow you : ' but he would say, ' I march : follow me.' Such words as these seemed to betray some hidden purpose, not war- ranted by the foreign or domestic necessities of the State. General St. Arnaud, the new minister of war, also issued an order of the day, protesting against the power of the assembly to require the aid of a mili- tary force. To guard against surprise from the mas- ter of many legions, the assembly looked about for some means of defence. Accordingly, the quasstora submitted a motion for giving effect to a decree of May 11, 1848, which empowered the president to re- quire the armed force of the State for its protection. November A Committee adopted this motion ; and no 17, 1851. j^gg than three hundred members supported it by their votes in the assembly.^ A serious conflict between the president and the as- Thepre«i- sembly was now imminent. Prefects, mayors, the as-"*^ and the Bonapartist press espoused the cause sembiy. q£ ^j^^ president, and rebuked the assembly as factious and unpatriotic. It was accused of thwart- ing his enlightened measures, and even of plotting against his authority. But, in truth, the president had himself provoked the contest, by dissociating himself from the representatives of the people, by his alarming appeals to the army, and by his ill-concealed designs of personal ambition.^ The strife, however, was ' Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i. 255-266. 2 ' Des projets de decrets prepares dans le cas ou. I'Assemblee serait obligee de requerir la force publique ne sont pas des actes de con- spiration.' — Delord, Hist, du Second Emjnre, i. 272. According to De Tocqueville, ' Les amis de M. Louis-Napoleon, pour excuser Facte qu'il vient de commettre, repetent qu'il n'a fait que prendre les devants sur les mesures hostiles que I'Assemblee allait adopter con- tre lui. Cette maniere de se defendre n'est pas nouvelle en France. THE PRESIDENT AM) THE ASSEMBLY. 313 unequal. The president -was armed with all the powers of the State : the assembly was utterly defenceless. Its diflferent sections might concert measures for the protection of the republic : they might resolve and pro- test : they might beat the air, but they could not com- mand the services of a single soldier or policeman.^ Meanwhile the president was busy with a daring scheme of usurpation. It could not be at- prepara- tempted without assurances of the support ti"e%(^ of the army, and these were obtained at a November confidential meeting at General Magnau's, ~~. it^i- where twenty-one general officers engaged to obey his orders, and to save France.^ The army was safe, and the president was acquiring the command of the police, the magistracy, and all the executive depart- ments, for carrying out his designs against the as- sembly.^ His advisers were not responsible ministers, Tou3 nos revolutionnaires en oat use pendant ces soixante deruitres annees. . . . L'Assembk'e, loin de cousi)irer centre Louis-Napol-'on et de lui cliercher querelle, a pousse la moderation et le desir de vivre avec lui en bon intelligence jiresque a un degre voisin de la pusillauimite.' — Letter to the Times, November 11, 1853. IMr. King- lake says : — ' It is not true, as was afterwards pretended, that tlie executive was wickedly or perversely thwarted either by the votes of the assembly, or by the speeches of its members : still less is it true that the representative body was engaged in hatching plots against the president.' — Kinglako, Invasion of tJie Crimea, i. 20G (4th edition). ' For some obscure evidences of the defensive plans of the as- sembly, see Lcspez, ii. 351 ; Ashley, Life of Lord Palmcrsion, i. 286; Jerrold, Nap. III. iii. 304-317. " Dolord, UiHt. du Second /Empire, i. 244. 3 De Tocqueville, writing to Mr. Senior on November 28, said : — ' 11 ne pent plus aboutir qu'il de grandes catastrophes. Cette previ- sion si claire et si prochaine me remplit le ccjcur d'nno douleur si profondc et .si amere que je cliorclic, autant quo jo lo puis, a en do- tourner ma ■[>cu^t''e.'—(j!/uvre8 et Oorr. incdilcs, ii. 183. VOL. II. — 14 old FRANCE. ■whose names y/ould have been a guarantee for consti- tutional measures : but were creatures of his own, do- voted to his cause, — daring and unscrupulous men, who were fitted for the dark schemes of conspirators. There was no more persistent schemer ihan the presi- dent ; and he found in his confederates — De Morny, Fleury, Persigny, St. Arnaud, De Maupas, and De Beville — men bolder and more resolute than himself. To make their services effective, the most important offices were entrusted to them. De Morny as Minister of the Interior, St. Arnaud as Minister of War, and De Maupas as Prefect of Police, commanded the civil and military forces of the State ; and were ready to use them, without scruple, for the overthrow of the Kepublic. The plan concerted by them was more deeply plotted than that of the 18th Brumaire, of which it was other- wise the parallel : it was matured with the secresy and craft of a conspiracy, and carried out with a self- ish and cruel resolution which recalls the deeds of the terrorists of 1793.^ On the night of December 1 everything was ready, when the president took final counsel with his of Dec. 3, secret advisers, the Comte de Morny, General St. Arnaud, De Maupas, Prefect of Police, De Persigny, and Colonel de Beville ; and the bold enterprise was at once carried into execution. They had at their disposal all the powers of the State, the army, the national guard, the police, the civil admin- istration, the courts of justice, the State printing- office, and a Bonapartist press, while the assembly was divided and disarmed. The parliamentary leaders ' Supra, p. 315. COUP d'etat, DECEMBER 2, 1851. 315 ■were fast asleep in their beds at two o'clock in the morning of December 2, wlien tliey were aroused by tlie police, and carried off to prison. The most dis- tinguished generals shared the same fate. The fore- most men of France^ were treated like felons, and carted away in the dead of night to ignominious cells.^ The hopeful career of many was stopped for ever, and all hopes of liberty or constitutional government were extinguished. The chief revolutionists of the clubs and secret societies were at the same time arrested and imprisoned. Eighty-four of the men w^hose resis- tance was most feared were in safe custody. All but the Bonapartist newspapers were seized and silenced. Before daylight the walls of Paris were placarded with a proclamation,^ announcing to the astonished world the dissolution of the assembly, the repeal of the law of May 31, 1850, and the election of another as- sembly by universal suffrage. The council of state v/as dissolved, and Paris was declared in a state of siege. The president accused the assembly of forging the arms of ci-vdl war, and plotting to overthrow the power whicli he held from the people. At the same time, he submitted the scheme of a new constitution, consist- ing of a chief magistrate elected for ten years, a cabi- ' 'Centre qui sont dirigees les premieres et les plus grandes vio- lences de M. Louis Bonaparte ? Est-ce centre les d*'magogues et lea iinarclustes? Non ; c'est contre les amis de I'ordre les plus connus, les plus considrrables, les plus di'voues.' — Dunoyer, Le Second Em- pire, i. 18;j. ' Les adversaires do son ambition, voila les veritables objets de sa liaine et les ennemis (ju'il faut surtout domptcr.' — Ibid. 181. ^ They were conveyed, ' de i)ropos dt'libi'n', dans les voituros do- stin I'es au transport des criminels condamnrs au bagne.' — Ibid. 2:51. " Tliis proclamation bad been i)rinted at the State printing-office, the printers Laving wuiliud in custody of the police. 316 FBANCE. net appointed by himself alone, a new council of state, a legislative body chosen by universal suffrage, and a second chamber of illustrious m*en. And he asked these favours on behalf of the cause of which his name was the symbol.^ When the members of the assembly, who had been spared by the police, learned the arrest of members their coUeagues, they hastened to concert a of the . o ' J assembly resistance to the coup d'etat. They met at different places. Some found their way into the hall of the assembly itself, whence they were driven by force, twelve of their number being seized and hurried off to prison. At length two hundred and twenty deputies assembled at the Mairie of the 10th Arrondissement, where they decreed the deposition of the president, and declared that the executive power had passed to the national assembly. Their delibera- tions, however, were soon interrupted by the entry of soldiers and police ; and as they refused to disperse, they were marched off as prisoners to the cavalry barracks on the Quai d'Orsay.^ Hence, after nightfall, they were conveyed, in prison vans, to Yincennes and to the prison of Mazas.^ Two hundred and thirty- five representatives of the people, including twelve statesmen who had been cabinet ministers, were treated as felons.* Many were afterwards banished fi'om France.^ The high court of justice, while deliberating upon ' ' Si vous croyez que la cause dont mon nom est le symbole — c'est- a-dire, la France regeneree par la revolution de 1789, et organisee par I'empereur — est toujours lavutre, proclamez-leenconsacrant lespou- voirs que je vous demande.' — Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i. 282. 5 Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i. 309-333. 3 Ibid. 335, 336, 34-4 et seq. 3G3. * Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea, i. 251, 252. ^ Ibid. 390. COUP d'etat, decembee 2, 1851. 317 the violations of the constitution, which it was its function to restrain, was interrupted by the police, and was closed by force.^ Every con- court ot- stituted authority was silenced ; and sca-ttered deputies and journalists vainly attempted to arouse a popular insurrection against the president. The hour- geoisie and the people were divided, the assembly was unpopular, and the president still professed his fidelity to the republic. There was no common ground of re- sistance to the coujJ d'etat. Parties and classes were disunited and surprised : while the executive wielded the army, the police, and the civil administration of the State. The red republican party had been shot down in the street fights of June, 1848, imprisoned, and transported ; and their surviving leaders had just been captured. The troops, among whom the president had dis- tributed fifty thousand francs — the last re- p t • • I p I 9 1 • 1 The massa- mams oi his private fortune '^ — continued ere on the p • ,^ P -I , -i ' 1 t ,1 ' boulevards. laithtui to his cause; and under their pro- tection he rode through the streets of Paris. He was received with acclamations : but the people, jj^^. „ taken by surprise, and uncertain as to the true purport of the startling events of the morning, were curious and wondering rather than demonstra- tive.^ The capital was commanded and held in check by an overwhelming force : yet several barricades were raised, which for a long time were not assailed by ' Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i. 335-328, 254-355 ; Annuaire, p. '5(.j. '' Granior de Cassagnac, ii. 431. ^ Mr. Kinglake says, ' Upon tlie whole, the reception ho met with seems to liave hofii neither fricindly nor violently hostile, but chill- ing, and in a quiet way .scorulul.' — Lovasioii, of the Criiiica, i. 245. 318 FEANCE. the troops, but at lengtli, on December 4, they were easily carried. All who were found upon the Dec 4 . barricades were put to death: no quarter was given to insurgents. But the gravest incident of this day was the firing of the troops upon the win- dows of the houses on the boulevards, and upon the loiterers on the pavement.^ In vindication of this murderous fire, it was alleged that the houses were occupied by insurgents, who threatened the passing troops : but the assertion is contradicted by the best contemporary evidence. The extent of the slaughter may have been partly due to misapprehension and panic: but there is too much reason to believe that the assault was designed to strike terror into the people, and to display the resolution of the troops. The contrivers of the coup d'etat were almost discon- certed by the tame submission of the people. Where was the danger which had justified these daring vio- lations of the law? This unwarrantable massacre at once magnified an abortive insurrection, and proved the vigour of the usurper. Charles X. and Louis Philippe had quailed before the populace of Paris: but Louis Napoleon had no pity upon insurgents. The capital was subdued and terror-stricken, and the sjDirit of resistance was trampled out in blood. No act during the numberless conflicts in the streets of Paris was remembered with so much bitterness and resentment. The coup d'etat was successful: but it was stained with innocent blood, the shedding of which was never forgiven.^ ' Delord, Eist. du Second Empire, i. 367-384 ; Kinglake, Eist. of the Crimean War, i. 265-274 ; Ann. Beg. 1851. ^ See the account of the coup d'etat iu the Times of December 11, 1851, written by M. de Tocqueville, who was one of the deputies COUP d'etat, DECEMBER 2, 1851. 319 Great numbers of citizens were known to be faith- ful to tlie republic. They had taken no part Measures of in the street fights : they had not opposed *^"'''''^*°"- the irresistible forces of the coup d'etat : but they were dangerous, and must be disabled. All men who had been members of secret societies were declared liable to transportation to Algeria or Cayenne ; ^ and for this cause thousands of active citizens were transported without a triah Within a few weeks after December 2 no less than 26,500 persons were transported as guilty of divers offences against the State.^ About two thousand republican journalists, lawj^ers, physi- cians and other educated men, were imprisoned until all fear of popular movements had passed away. The revolution had been wholly the work of the rulers of arrested on December 2. — Reeve, Royal and Republican France, ii. 136, 137. Also letter of Captain Jesse to the Times, December 13. — Ann. Register. De Tocqueville says, in one of his letters, ' This gov- ernment has establifihed itself by one of the greatest crimes recorded in history.'— Ibid. ii. 138. ' II faut qu'on le sache bien, en eilet, nulle transaction avec I'esprit revolutionnaire, avec ce detestable esprit de violence et de frauds dont I'attentat du 2 dccembre a ete la plus odieuse manifestation parmi nous, ne saurait ttre de nature a nous assurer la paix.' — Dunoyer, Le Second Empire, i. 115. ' II est manifeste pour tout hom-me de bon sens qui prend la peine d'examiner les faits, que cette acte d'insigne f clonic n'Otait neces- salre, ni pour la conservation des pouvoirs It'gaux du pn'sident, ni pour la defense de la socicte contre la demagogie socialistc, ni pour la conciliation des partis modertis.' — Ibid. i. 145. One of the best, but most severe, accounts of this grievous inci- dent is to be found in Mr. Kinglake's //irrtfflon. of the Crimea, i. 2Go- 274 (4th edition). Mr. Jerrold justifies this and every other incident of the coup d'etat more boldly than any French writer {Life of Na- 2>oleon III. iii. B. 8). ' Decree of December 8, 1851. ' Qranier de Cassagnac, ii. 438 ; Delord, Uist. da Second Empire, 11. Oi. 320 FRANCE. France : it liad met witli a feeble resistance : yet tlie proscription which ensued was as merciless as if the people had risen in arms against a lawful govern- ment. In any other country, such deeds would have been followed by the execrations of Europe : but in this land of revolutions, where force had long been the arbiter of laAvs and liberty, they were too easily condoned by Frenchmen, and by European opinion. The capital was subdued by force, and the jDro- vinces were under control. Twelve dej^artments round Paris were in a state of siege: thirty-two depart- ments were placed under martial law ; and elsewhere, the prefects, the mayors, and all other functionaries were ordered, under pain of instant dismissal, to se- cure the adhesion of the people in the approaching pU- hiscite. In overthrowing the assembly and the consti- tution, the president was everywhere proclaimed as the champion of order, and the unrelenting enemy of so- cialists and red republicans. By supporting his au- thority good citizens would put down socialism and anarchy. Commissaries were despatched into the provinces to overawe resistance, and the priests were active in leading their flocks to the poll. No meet- ings were permitted : the press was silenced : the dis- tribution of negative voting-papers was forbidden : the The pie- army had already voted * Yes,' and few out of the mass of affrighted electors ventured to say * No.' They had but to say * Yes ' or * No ; ' and in this form the acts of the president and the new con- stitution were ratified by the votes of 7,439,216 elec- tors ; and Louis Napoleon, absolute master of France, was left to choose his own time for the restoration of the empire. .VFTER THE COUP d'eTAT. 321 His aims were soon disclosed. Ho immediately replaced the Eoman eagle upon the national j^^^^j^ standards, and took up his residence at the fft^°thT Tuileries.^ His new presidency, or dictature, '^''"^ d'Uat. "was celebrated at Notre Dame, with a pomp which re- called the glories of the First Napoleon.^ His powers, under the new constitution, were little less than im- perial.^ He was president for ten years: he com- manded all the forces of the State, by land and sea : he made treaties with foreign powers : with him rested the initiation, the sanction, and the execution of the laws ; justice was administered in his name : he exer- cised the prerogative of mercy. The legislature was stripped of every inconvenient privilege. It could neither initiate laws, nor ask questions of ministers. No amendments could be discussed without the pre- vious approval of the Conseil cTEtat. The budget was no longer voted in chapters, or articles, but in minis- terial departments.^ The president, in truth, was already emperor, save in name ; and this consumma- tion was not long delayed. In all his proclamations and addresses, the empire was held up as the ideal of national happiness and glory.^ And, while gratify- ing the army, and the natural j)ride of Frenchmen, by ' January 1, 1872. — Delord, IlisL du Second Empire, i. 397. 2 Ibid. ' ' In the making of such laws as he intended to give the country. Prince Louis was highly skilled, for ho knew how to enfold the crea- tion of a sheer oriental autocracy in a nomenclature taken from the polity of free European States.' — Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea, i. ?,m. * 'Par ministore.'— Delord, i. 401, 402. ' In distributing eagles to the army, on May 10, he said : — 'L'aigle romaine, adoptre par rempcreur Napoleon au commencement do ce sit^cle, fut la signification la i)lus ('clatanto de la regeneration et de la grandeur dc; la France.' — Ibid. 4l»7. 14* 322 FRANCE. recollections of tlie military prowess of the first em- pire, he apjDealed to the prudence and sobriety of the middle classes, and the susceptibilities of foreign powers, by proclaiming the forthcoming empire as the inauguration of peace. ' L'empire, c'est la paix,' he said at Bordeaux ; and his words were accepted as a pledge that, in succeeding to the throne of Napoleon I., he renounced his policy of war and aggression. The State functionaries and the Bonapartist press were busy in preparing public opinion for the impending change : conspicuous demonstrations in honour of the coming Caesar were concerted : he was greeted with enthusiastic cries of 'Vive I'Empereur! ' and at length he announced that the signal manifestation, through- out France, in favour of the restoration of the empire, imposed upon him the duty of consulting the senate. That body was devoted : the people accepted a i^Zt'^is- cite restoring the imperial dignity by 7,824,129 votes ; December ^^^ Louis Napoleon accepted the proffered 1, 1852. crown as Napoleon III.^ The second empire was proclaimed with becoming The second ccremouies, and an imperial court was formed empire. Qf j-are magnificence. The scattered mem- bers of the Bonaparte family appeared again upon the scene, as princes and princesses of the empire. The authors of the coup cVetat, and other friends and followers of the emperor, were rewarded with dignified and lucrative offices. The imperial household was graced by numbers of stately functionaries, with high- sounding titles. The representation of the empire was arranged upon a scale of splendour and extrava- gance, which recalled the times of Louis le Grand. ' His title was ' Napoleon III., by tlie grace of God, and by the will of tbe people, Emperor of the French.' TEE SECOND EMPIEE. 323 But tliis grandeur was incomplete "without a consort to preside over the society of the court ; and the dynasty was insecure without an heir emperor's to the crown. The emperor, having vainly sought a bride in the royal houses of Baden and Hohenzollern, hastened to offer his hand to the beau- tiful Spaniard, Eugenie de Montego. She could boast of no royal lineage : but the Austrian alliance of the First Napoleon had proved the worthlessness of such a union to a revolutionary throne ; and the fair lady of his choice was well fitted, by her graces and vir- tues, to adorn the new imperial court. After the coup d'etat, Louis Napoleon had already restored titles of honour ; and he now en- deavoured to surround himself by the most illustrious nobles of France. The nobiKty of the first empire were naturally the chief ornaments of his court : but the old Legitimist and Orleanist nobles generally held themselves aloof from the Bonapartist circle, and affected the more select society of their own friends in the Faubourgs St. Germain and St. Honore.^ But if the old nobility were absent from the Tuileries, there was no lack of aspirants for new honours and distinctions. Military dukedoms, and ' At first 'la majorite du parti legitimiste semblait plus disposce u suivrerexcmpledu clergc, devenu ardent Bonapartiste, qu'a se ral- lier a la voix de I'lieritier des lis.' — Delovd, Uid. du Second Empire, ii. 122. Several accepted public employments : but they became more and more estranged from the empire, and the greater part absented themselves from the court. ' In France, for the most part, the gen- tlemen of the country resolved to stand aloof from the government, and not only declined to vouchsafe their society to the new occupant of the Tuileries, but even looked coldly tipon any stray i)erson of their own station, who suffered himself to be tempted thither by money.' — Kinglake, Invamn of the Crimea, i. 333. 324 FEANCE. otlier titles of nobility, were created, as in tlie first empire. Plebeian names were dignified by the en- nobling prefix, so mucb cherished in French society ; and the legion of honour was lavished with such pro- fusion, that to be without its too familiar red ribbon was, at length, accounted a mark of distinction. A court so constituted could not represent the highest refinement of French society. It; inipeiiai was gay, luxurious, pleasure-seeking, and extravagant :^ but adventurers, speculators, and persons of doubtful repute,^ were in too much favour to win for it the moral respect of France or of Europe. Nor did it gain lustre from the intellect of the age.'^ Men of letters were generally faithful to the fallen monarchies or to the republic ; and were not to be won over by the patronage of the empire. They had been cruelly scourged by Louis Napoleon, and neither the principles of his rule, nor the charac- ter of his associates, attracted the intellectual classes.^ ' ' La cour donne un bal aujourd'hui : demain c'est le ministre, apres-demain le directeur-general : la semaine prochaine le chef de bureau. Le luxe sevit d'un degre a I'autre de I'eclielle des families comme une epidemie. Ce fleau moral epuise la nation : depenser plus que Ton ne gagne, voila I'economie politique du luxe : tous les moyens sont bons pour gagner de I'argent, telle est sa morale.' — Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, i. 508. * ' Un pouvoir cree par la force, avec la rapidite d'un changement de decor a vue, ne groupe autour de lui que des hommes assaillis d'embarras d' argent, prets a embrasser la premiere cause que leur offre une chance de se delivrer de leurs creanciers.' — Ibid. ii. 2. 2 ' There is an absolute divorce between the political system and the intellectual culture of the nation.' — Lord Lytton, The Parisians, i. 187. * ' La presse, I'academie, les salons, I'universite, toutes les forces intellectuelles du pays, sauf le clerge, etaient tous en hostilite, ouverte ou cachee, contre le gouverneraent, reduit a les comprimer pour assurer son existence.' — Delord, Hist, du Second Empire, ii. 872. TEE SECOND EMPIRE. 325 Material force, wealth, and splendour were tlie idols of his court, and the i^oet and philosopher were ill at ease in such a company. The empire was now firmly established, and Louis Napoleon wielded a power as great as that „„ ,. T-»i_i 11 Pi'inciples of any former king or emperor. Hm Jie ruled of govern- by a different title, and upon other principles of government. His empire, founded upon the sove- reignty of the people, was a strange development of democracy. He had been chosen by universal suf- frage, yet he' wielded a power all but absolute and ir- responsible. He ruled by the voice of the people : but he forbad the expression of their sentiments in the press or at public meetings. The chamber of deputies was elected, like himself, by the whole peo- ple. An assembly so popular in its origin ought to have been a check upon the will of the emperor : but it did not hesitate to accept his policy and approve his acts. Enjoying a freedom of discussion unknown beyond its walls, it was able to give expression to public opinion : but it never aspired to independence. Yet the democracy of France was not ignored : the emperor was sensitively alive to the national senti- ments, which he was always striving to propitiate : he never forgot the democratic origin and basis of his throne. Political liberties were repressed : but pub- lic opinion, so far as it could be divined without free discussion, was deferred to and respected. To satisfy this public opinion, and to win the sup- port of various sentiments, interests and par- ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ties, the policy of the emperor assumed many ^'"i"''^- forms. He had proclaimed the empire as peace :^ but, ' Speech at Bordeaux, October 8, 1852 : — ' L'empire, c'est la paix.' 326 niANCE. to gratify tlie susceptibilities of Frenclimen, lie after- wards declared that 'not a gun should be fired in Europe v.ifchout the consent of the Tuileries ;' and he desired to revive the military glories of France, to re- store his influence in the councils of Europe, and to gratify the army, to whom he mainly owed his crown. Hence his forwardness in bringinsr about 1854 • <~) o the Crimean war. Urged by the same mo- tives, he espoused the cause of Italy, against Aus- tria, while he conciliated the reiDublicau party and their confederates, the carbonari, by fighting the battles of Italian liberty. He was no soldier : but in the Italian war he took the lead of French armies, and strove to emulate the military re- nown of the First Napoleon. His warlike ambition was allied to a greed of territorial aggrandisement;^ and his services to Italy were re- warded by the cession of Savoy and Nice. This ad- venturous policy was popular; and it diverted the thoughts of Frenchmen from the loss of their liber- ties : but it was frauo-ht with dancjers.^ New iSo9-61. ^ " ~ enterprises were planned : French armies ' * La France seule, avait dit Napoleon III., combat pour une idee. Cette idee, pour le second empire, comma pour le premier, n'etait- elle que FaugmeatatioQ de sou territoire.' — Delord, H.'st. du Second Empire, ii. 664. - De Tocqueville forecast these dangers eighteen years before the fall of the second empire. He wrote : — ' This government, which comes by the army, which can only be lost by the anny, which traces back its popularity and even its essence to the recollections of mili- tary glory, — this government will be fatally impelled to seek for aggrandisement of territory and for exclusive influence abroad ; in other words, to war. That at last is what I fear, and what all rea- sonable men dread as I do. War would assuredly be its death, but its death would perhaps cost dear.' — Reeve, Royal and Eepublkan France, ii. 139. THE SECOND EMPIEE. 327 were despatclied to Morocco, to Cliina, and to S^^ia ; and a wild sclieme of intervention in the affairs of Mexico, in order to extend tbe influence of France in America,^ resulted in conspicuous failure and liumiliation.^ This failure was the turninc;- point in the fortunes of his reign ; and at length he was hurried into a still graver error. Jealous of the victories and aggrandisement of Prussia, and pos- sessed by the passionate faith of his coun- trjTnen, that the Khine was the natural fron- tier of France,^ he brooded over schemes of conquest, and annexation, until he plunged into the fatal war with his too powerful neighbour, which was to be his ruin. In his military ambition Louis Napoleon followed the traditions of the empire. In his domes- j)„n,csti(, tic policy, he took examples from the empire, po''cy. ^ the reign of Louis Philipj^e, and the republic of 1848. Wliile yet president, he had propitiated the clergy, and outraged the republicans, by assisting the Pope, against the Koman republic. Wlien he threw himself into the Italian wars, he con- ■ ' M. Michel Chevalier, membre du senat, en annon^ant, dans un recueil inijiortant, le clioix do I'arcliiduc Masimilien, "dusignc' pour la lourdo taclie d'inaugurer la couroune mexicaino," di'clarait quo I'expedition du Mexiqvie avait pour but d'assurer la preponderance de la France sur les races latines, et d'augmenter I'infiuence de ces dernieres en Ann'rique.' — Dclord, Uist. du Second Empire, iii. o49. ^ Ibid. iv. 169, et neq. America declared ' qu'il ne convient pas a la politique des Etats-Unis de reconnaitre un gouvernement nionar- chique clevt' en Ann'rique sur les mines d'un gouvernement rt'publi- cain, et sous les ausjnces d'un pouvoir euro})Len quel qu'il soit.' The Emperor Maximilian was sacrificed, and the French scheme of Latin domination collapsed. — Ibid. iv. 241. = Ibid. iv. 478-486. 328 FRANCE. tinued lais patronage to his Holiness, and by otlier measures strove to secure the good will of the clergy and the Catholic laity. He was not less rigorous than the First Napoleon in restraining the liberty of the press, and of political association. He even inter- dicted a banquet to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare.^ Not less reso- ^^^' lute was he in maintaining his personal rule, and swaying ministers and senates, in obedience to his will. The imperial court was maintained in un- exampled splendour and profusion. In all things, he revived the memories of the first empire. Nor was he unmindful of the lessons of Louis Philippe. That monarch's power had rested orrupion. ^^^^^ ^i^^^ Commercial and middle classes. The rule of the emperor was founded upon a far wider basis : but he studied the interests of the bour- geoisie with even greater care than the citizen king himself. He gave encouragement to every commer- cial and industrial enterprise. He developed, with signal success, the material resources of the country. The activity of the Bourse — mischievous in many ways — afforded evidence of the abounding energies of French commerce. By international exhibitions, he stimulated invention, and attracted rulers and people of all nations to his capital Notwithstanding an ever- increasing taxation, the people were growing rich. Not without economic errors, his policy was so far ,„„„ statesmanlike ; and in his commercial treaty I860. ' . '' with England he encouraged free trade, m an enlightened spirit, far in advance of French opinion. But, further, he practised the arts of corruption upon ' Delord, Sisi. du Second Mnpire, iii. 517. THE SECOND EMriEE. 829 a far larger scale than Louis Philippe. By couces- sions of railways and other public works, he -pub riches into the hands of eager capitalists and specu- lators. He gratified the municipalities and the in- habitants of provincial towns with costly palaces of justice, markets, and other public buildings, not un- worthy of a capital. He multiplied places, with a lavish hand ; and the legion of honour adorned the button-holes of thousands of faithful citizens. Black was their ingratitude, if they proved unfaithful to the empire. The republic had recently tried the dangerous experiment of national workshops, which had resulted in failure and insurrection, mentof But the emperor found, in that communist scheme, suggestions for an imperial design, which united with j^ublic employment a monumental work to the honour and glory of France. The working classes had proved a chronic danger to the State : and he re- solved to associate them with his policy and his am- bition. It had been the boast of the Emperor Augus- tus that he had found Bome brick, and had left it marble ;^ and the French Caesar, emulous of his fame, determined to rebuild his capital, upon a scale of costly magnificence. In this enterprise his chosen agent was Haussmann, the bold and spirited Prefect of the Seine. The work of reconstruction was under- taken : large numbers of workmen were maintained in constant employment : the narrow and crooked streets of the ancient city were replaced by broad thorough- ' ' Urbera, neque pro majestate imperii ornatam, ct inundationibus incendiiscjue obnoxiain, excoluit adeo, ut juro bit gloriatiis, niarmo- roam so rclinquc-rc, <• tained by a voluntary association oi com- tique, m 1793. (1873.) Von Sybel, ITist of the Fr. Rev. i. 250, iii. 230 et seq. ; Stein, GescJiichte der Socialen Beicegung in Frankreich, 1850. 1 Fourier, Theorie de I'unite universeUe, &c. ; Cabet, Voyage en Icarie. ■ Supr-a, p. 294. ^ L' Internationale, par Oscar Testut, 3. Debate in the House of Commons, April 12, 1872 ; Correspondence with. Spain, presented to Parliament, 1872. * Proudhon, Qu'est-ce que la propritte : Theorie de 7a propri'te ; St. Beuve, Mudes sur Proudhon ; Blanqui, De VEeonomie politique de- puis lea anciens jusqu'd nos jours ; Reybaud, Etudes, &c. ; Pierre Leroux, L'Egalite, De Vhumanite, &c. ; Louis Blanc, Organisation de Travail, &c. ^ ^ Diebueck, 1847 ; Schulze - Delitzsch (H.), AssociationslnicJi filr deutsche Handwerker und Arheiter, 1853 ; Dr. Jacobi, 1850 ; Karl Marx, 1862 ; Das Kapital, 1867. COMMUNIST OUTRAGES. 341 munes.^ Nor were these communes to be simple mu- uicijjalities. Tliey were designed to carry ont tlie principles of socialism, — the confiscation of individual property, community of goods, and the organisation of labour. The communists wished to divide their fair country into 37,000 little sovereign states, or com- munes. In each, the property of the rich was to be appropriated for the use of the community : in each, the individual citizen was to be merged in the State. Frenchmen would have exchanged their country for their commune. The intellect, the arts, the industry of her people, all brought into the common stock, would have been lowered to the baser function of providing mere subsistence for the community. Her high civilisation would have been followed by another age of darkness and slavery.^ The leaders of the movement further advocated the suppression of re- ligious worship.^ To meet their immediate exigencies, the Commune exacted loans from the Bank of France, and communist from other administrative departments, and outrages. appropriated the receipts of the octroi. Their con- ' Proclamation, April 19, 1851. ' Of communism, M. Franck says : — ' II supprimo la proprietc, il snpprime la libertt' taut civile que politique, il supprimo la famillc. On peut dire qu'il supprime la personne humaine, et, par consoquent, la conscience morale de I'liomme, pour mettre a sa place la toute- puissance, la tyrannic collective et necessairement irresponsable de I't'tat.' — Le C'/mrnvniwie JKf/e j)ar riddoire, prcf. And again : — ' Ij'i'lat sera le maitro unique, absolu, des lionimes et des clioscs, des biens et dos personnes. Nous serons en plein communisme, et le conimunisme lui-mCme ne pourra s'c'tablir et so conserver quo sous la n'gle du despotisme Demcurc le seal entrepreneur, le Kcul capltaliste, I'ctat sera tout, et I'individu ne sera rien, co qui est la marque distinctivo du communisme.' — Ibid. prof. 2 De Beaumont-Vassy, 83, 8;i. 312 PE.\NCE. federates and followers were among tlie poor : their enemies were the rich and the hourgeoisie ; and to gra- tify one of these classes at the expense of the other, they decreed that the rents of all lodgers, between October and April, should be remitted. The sale of articles deposited at the mont-de-jyiete was also sus- pended. At first there were no signs of a ferocious spirit ; and the guillotine was publicly burned in the cause of humanity. But as the siege advanced, a spirit of fury and vengeance took possession of the combatants. Denouncing one another as bandits and assassins, they waged war without truce or pity.^ The insurgents were treated as rebels ; and Duval, one of their generals, being taken prisoner, and shot, the Commune threatened the most terrible reprisals. They decreed that for every communist prisoner exe- cuted by the government of Versailles, three hostages should be put to death. They arrested the arch- bishop of Paris, his two grand vicars, and several priests and other persons, whom they detained in jDrison as hostages. They declared their enmity to the memory of the great Napoleon, by the destruc- tion of his celebrated column in the Place Vendome, as a ' monument of barbarism, and a symbol of brute force and false glory : ' ^ they demolished the house of M. Thiers, and confiscated his books and works of art : they despoiled churches ; and when their ene- mies were, at length, closing in upon them, they ' The Marquis de Gallifet, in an order of the day, said : — ' War has been declared by the bandits of Paris ; yesterday, the day be- fore, and to-day they have assassinated my soldiers. It is a war without truce or pity that I wage against those assassins.' The Commune called their enemies ' the banditti of Versailles.' ^ Journal Officid, April 13. OVEETHROW OF THE COMSIUNE. 343 resolved upon a desperate vengeance. The city wliicli they could no longer defend, should be destroyed ; the conquerors should fmd nothing but a heap of ruins. The word was given ; and the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the Hotel de Yille, the Ministry of -,-,. " Pans in Finance, the Hotel of the Quai d'Orsay, the flames. Palace of the Legion of Honour, and other ^^ public buildings, and private houses, were in flames. The unoffending Dominicans at Arceuil were massa- cred. The venerable archbishop, and the other hostages, were hastily brought before "^ a court martial, and shot. Numbers of priests, gen- darmes, and other obnoxious persons, were seized and slaughtered. Kuffians were let loose to feed the raging conflagration with petroleum.^ The communists had done their worst during their term of power ; and it was now their turn to suffer the vengeance of their conquerors. Overpowered by the troops from Versailles, under Marshal MacMahon, of uie^' they were shot down without trial, and with- out mercy. Numbers of wretched women, accused of incendiarism, shared their fate. About 10,000 insur- gents lost their lives ; and the prisons were filled to overflowing. The trials of communist prisoners were continued when their crimes had been almost forgot- ten. It has been the unhappy destiny of France that most of her political conflicts have been stained Avitli blood ; and this — the latest of a deplorable series — ' ' On a trouve sur les fedcres tui's auji barricades, et on a saisi dans los perquisitions faites apres la chute de la Commune, beau- CTiup d'ordros iiuHsi formels quo laconicjups, no laissant aucun douto Hur les terriblcH intentions des homnios de I'llutol do Villo, rclutivc- ment il la destruction par le feu de la malhourouse cite, qu'ils avaicnt condaninre d'avance, en cas do dufaito, Ti un complet ancantisse- meiit.' — De Beaumont-Vassy, 235. 3M FEANCE. was as cruel and merciless as any in the dreadful annals.^ The reign of the Commune had been maintained for two anxious months ; and the republic was The rcpub- lie undui- now free to conclude its negotiations with its Thiers. conquerors, and to restore order, and a set- tled government to the distracted country. It was a republic without a constitution, and, as it was said, withoiit republicans. The assembly was monarchical; and the legitimists and Orleanists, if united, were masters of the State. But Thiers, the chief of the ex- ecutive, — a monarchist in principle, and by his ante- cedents, — had become convinced that a republic was then the only possible government for France. Such being the political situation, the majority of the as- sembly were bent upon two main purposes, — a fusion of the royalist parties, and the prevention of a defini- tive constitution of the republic. The reimblic might be a present necessity : but they hoped that it would soon give way to a restored monarchy. They elected the distinguished chief of the executive, who had per- formed conspicuous services to the State, as president of the republic ; and accepted him as a provisional ruler, until their scheme of a monarchy was ripe for execution. And this scheme would assuredly have been accom- Thero ai- plished, if the head of the house of Bour- Comte'de'^" bon, — for whom the crown was destined, — chambord. j^^d uot frustrated all their efforts. But the ' De Beaumont-Vassy, Hist, de la Commune ; Dauban, Lefond de la Societe, 1873; Sudre, Hist, du Communisme; Leighton, Paris during the Commune ; Reybaud, Etudes sur les Rfformateurs, ou So- cialistes Modernes ; Maxime du Camp, Les priso7is de Paris sous la Commune; Bevue des Deux Mondes, i.-iv. 1877. — De Pere, Paris sous la Commune. THE BEPUBLIC. 345 Comte de Cliambord was every inch a Bourbon, — un- clianged and uncliangeaLle. He still clung to the di- Tine right of kings : he would concede nothing to mod- ern ideas : he refused to parley with the revolution. He lost no time in proclaiming that if called jniy 5, by France, he would come with his principles ^^'^' and his flag, — ' that white flag which had been the standard of Henry lY., of Francis I., and of Joan of Arc' Some months later he declared that January *no one would, under any pretext, obtain his ^^"'' consent to become the lei^jitimate kinjij of revolution.' Notwithstanding these discouragements, the moderate royalists were not without hopes of the ultimate tri- umph of their cause. The republicans were gaining ground, and the president seemed to be inclined to their side. The imperialists, recovering from theii- prostration, were giving signs of renewed activity. The republicans were demanding a dissolution of the assembly ; and a revision of the constitution was im- pending, which might permanently establish the re- public. The situation was critical for the royalist cause ; and fi'esh efforts must be made to promote it. The death of the ex-emperor, which checked j,in„,jjy 9 the immediate designs of the imperialists, ^''~^- revived the hopes of the royalists. One pretender to the throne had been removed ; and if the claims of the two royal princes could be reconciled, tbeir united parties were still strong enough to restore the monar- chy. The Orloanist princes humbled themselves at the shrine of the Chcqidle Expiatoire of Louis jj,j,„(jry 21 XVL, in commemorating the martyrdom of ^^''^• the Bourbon king ; and submissive overtures were made to the Comte de Chambord. Meanwhile, discussions upon the new constitution 15* 34:G FRANCE. were prococding, 'wliicli led to the resignation of Marshal ^^® j)^'®^^^®^!^' -^^ "^^^ succeeded by Marshal mesideuT'^ MacMahon, — once a legitimist, and lately in the confidence of the emperor, — wliose sym- pathies were certainly not with the republic. A Ma u supreme effort was now made to effect a fusion 1873. Qf ^]jQ royal houses. The Comte de Paris jpaid homage to the Comte de Chambord at Frohsdorf, and withdrew his claim to the throne, in favour of his August 5, royal cousin. The cousins embraced ; and the ^^'^' desired fusion seemed assured. Throughout France, the royalists and the clergy were elated, and a restoration was thought to be at hand. But as yet, the Bourbon prince had been silent or ambigu- ous. Negotiations were continued ; and, at length, M. Chesnelong, who had waited upon him, at Salzburg, with a deputation, reported his acceptance of the prin- ciples of liberty of conscience, equality before the law, the right of all parties to public employment, uni- versal suffrage, and liberty of the press ; the critical question of the flag being reserved for future consid- eration. Encouraged by these politic concessions, the royalists were preparing resolutions to submit to the assembly, at its meeting on November 5, for calling the Comte de Chambord to his hereditarv throne, when all their hopes were suddenly extinguished. The Bourbon prince disclaimed his supposed conces- sions.^ He had been misunderstood : he would not become the legitimist king of a revolution : he would not renounce the white flag of France — the standard of Arques and Ivry : he would submit to no conditions. The Comte de Paris had waived the claims of the • Letter to M. Chesnelong, dated Salzburg, Oct. 27. EEPUELICVN CONSTITUTION COMrLETED. 347 house of Orleans in his favour : and now he stub- bornly renounced the crown. The royalists now turned to the president as the only safeguard of their cause. He promised „ ,,. •' o _ _ -t^ Republican a conservative policy, while they promoted tj^'^ c„!''. the extension of his powers ; and at length p'eted. the septennate was decreed. The president v/as secured in his rule for seven years ; and such were his powers, and such rpj^^ g the relations of parties, that he was more ^"cwnber like a constitutional king than the chief of '9,1873. a republic. The strife of rival parties continued : and it was not until late in 1875 that the new constitution, embracing a senate and a chamber of deputies, was finally agreed upon. But the septennate afforded a salutaiy pause in the momentous political issues which still excited France. The cause of royalty was in abeyance. The heir of Napoleon III. was in his minority ; and time was yet required to revive his cause and consolidate his j^arty : but his adherents were active and confident. The republicans were gaining strength, and hoped to prevail over all pre- tenders to the crown. At the dissolution, in January 1876, they secured a majority in the chamber of depu- ties ; and the most powerful section of that party, under the leadership of Gambetta, have since dis- played a remarkable moderation. To all these par- ties the septennate continues to offer hopes of future victory ; and, in the meantime, the President, secured in the possession of his powers, has been able to maintain public order and security. The State had been spared from tlie fear of cwips (Vetat, or Mnyio, popular revolutions, until May 10, 1877, wlien ^*^''" France was again thrown into confusion by the sudden 348 FRANCE. dismissal of the republican ministry of M. Jules Simon, followed by tlie dissolution of the chamber of depu- ties, and a vigorous policy of reaction. And still the destinies of France are hanging in the balance. After ninety years of revolutions, future of without liberty : after bloody civil wars and France. . -^^ . . , cruel proscriptions : after multiplied experi- ments in republican, imperial, and monarchical insti- tutions, who shall venture to forecast her political future ? Her democratic excesses have discredited the cause of popular government : the usurpations and bad faith of her rulers have shaken confidence in law and order. She has advanced the liberties of other states, without securing her own. She has aimed at social equality : but, — save in the levelling spirit of her people, — she is as far from its attain- ment as ever. The fearful troubles through which she has passed have checked her prosperity, de- moralised her society, and arrested the intellectual growth of her gifted people. Yet is she great and powerful ; and high — if not the first — in the scale of civilised nations. Blessed with recuperative powers, beyond those of any other state, she is rapidly effacing the scars of war and revolution ; and, profiting by the errors of the past, she may yet found a stable gov- ernment, enjoying the confidence of all classes, and worthy of her greatness and her enlightenment. CHAPTEE XVin. ENGLAND. CHABACTER OF THE COUNTRY— RACES BY -WTIICH IT WAS PEOPLED — CELTS, ROMANS, ANGLO-SAXONS, DANES, AND NORMANS — GROWTH OF ENGLISH LIBERTIES — INCREASING POWER OP PARLIAMENT — SOCIAL CHANGES — REACTION UNDER THE TUDORS — THE REFORMA- TION — THE PURITANS — THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH THE TURNING POINT IN THE POLITICAL FORTUNES OF ENGLAND. Let us now turn from France to England, — lier neigh- bour and ancient rival. The history of the History of one, in modern times, is the history of demo- S"rt'of'^ cracy, not of liberty : the history of the of'ciemc^°' other is the history of liberty, not of demo- "^'^^' cracy. It is the history of popular rights and fran- chises acquired, maintained, extended, and devel- oped, -without subverting the ancient constitution of the State. It is the history of reforms, and not of revolutions.^ It is the history of a monarchy, under which the people have acquired all the freedom^ of a ' ' II en est de mOme dans tout lo cours de I'histoire d'Angleterre ; jamais aucun t'li'nicnt ancien no perit complc'tement, jamais auciin ('•l>'ment nouvcau ne triomplie tout-a-fait, jamais aucun principo special ne parvient il une domination exclusive. II y a toujours de- veloppement siraultanc des differentes forces, transaction entre leurs pretentions ot leurs inti'rOts.' — Quizot, //j.v^. de la Civ. 3;]5. ^ Thiers, speaking in the National Assembly, at Versailles, on June 8, 1871, declared 'that he found greater liberty existing in London than in Washington.' — Times, June 10, 1871. In a recent 350 ENGLAND. republic. It is the history of a country in which the forms of a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a republic, have been combined in a manner and to an extent without example elsewhere.^ Britain has been marked out, by nature, as the home of a maritime and industrial people. Her in- Character . . -t • i of the sular position familiarises a larce part of her countiy. ■■• , - population with the sea ; and her shores, in- dented with bays, creeks, estuaries, and natural har- bours, are singularly favourable to navigation. Her geograj^hical position commands an extended com- mercial intercourse with other nations. On the east, she stretches out towards the Netherlands, and the north of Europe. On the south, she approaches the shores of France and Spain. On the west, the broad Atlantic opens to her the commerce of the world. Her climate, less genial than that of France, is The temperate, healthful, and invigorating. Vari- able, humid, and often inclement, it is ex- empt from the extremes of heat and cold, which affect many lands otherwise more favoured.^ It is such as to promote the strength, vigour, and activity of the stalwart races who at different times have peoj^led the country. This northern land was not destined to be the retreat of ease and luxury : but was fitted for war and the chase, for deeds of daring and hardship, for bold enterprises, for struggles with man and na- political satire, tlie constitutional monarcliy has been irreverently described as ' a democratic republic, tempered by snobbism and corruption. ' — Prince Florcstan. ' M. le Play says England ' is patriarchal in tlie borne, demo- cratic in the parish, aristocratic in the country, and monarchical in the state.' — La Constitution d'Angleterre, 1876. "^ 'Cojlum crebris imbribus, ac nebulis fcedum : asperitas f rigor;im abest.' — Tacitus, Agrkola, 12. CHAEACTER OP THE COUNTRY. 351 ture, for stubborn resolution, for an earnest faith, and for a manly spirit of freedom. Tlie soil is generally fertile. Not blessed with the rich and varied abundance of France, its „, . ' The soil. pastures are renowned for the rearing of Hocks and herds, and for the breeding of horses : its tillage yields a fair return to the skill and labour of the husbandman. The products of the earth are not to be won, as in more favoured climes, by an easy re- liance upon the bounties of nature : but are earned by skill and watchful husbandry, and by the sweat of the brow. The tiller of the soil must be no slug- gard, if he would prosper in his work. The natural aspects of the country are varied and attractive. Hill and dale, and woodland, the ^ ' _ , ^ ' lis scenery. picturesque glade, the winding river, the spangled meadow, the breezy down and common, — such are its characteristic features. Nature has made it tlie fitting homo of a people who delight in a coun- try life. The Teutonic races, even in the most inhos- pitable regions of the north, shrank from the con- finement of towns ; and in Britain they found a land which invited them to dwell in the midst of its cheer- ful scenes. They loved it, and helped to make it what it is. They built their homesteads on sunny slopes, and in smiling valleys ; and sought pleasure in the chase, and in the manly pursuits and duties of rural life. In no other country, is the rustic home so redolent of comfort and contentment. Nowhere has the careful art of the husbandman and gardener done such justice to the gifts of nature. In every genera- tion, the land has been improved and beautified by culture, and the loving taste of its inhabitants ; and while trade and manufactures have massed large 352 ENGLAND. populations in the towns, the ideal home of the English- man is ever in the country. The Frenchman is never so haj)py as in a town : the Englishman pines in the narrow street, and exults in the free air of the hill-side, the river, and the sea-coast. And this abiding love of country life has exercised a remarkable influence upon the society, and the political destinies of England. Another physical characteristic of Britain is her mineral- wealth. No country in Europe is so rich in coal and iron, in tin, lead and coj^per. Nature, which had made her a maritime State, had also destined her to be the seat of mining and manu- facturing industry. But the treasures of the earth could only be acquired by labour, by dangers, and by endurance. The perils of the mine are no less fearful than the perils of the deep.^ Whether at sea, or on land, it has been the lot of great numbers of our countrymen to brave hardships,- exhausting toil, and the loss of life and health, in pursuit of their useful callings. And in every form of labour, their strength and steadfastness have made them the fore- most workers of the world. Such has been the fibre, and such the moral force, of the British people, that they have steadily advanced in civilisation, in social development, and in political freedom. It is not among the earlier Celtic races who peopled the land,^ that we need search for the germs of British freedom. But, though little ad- * Her Majesty has lately been graciously pleased to include miners, and other workers on land, in the honours of the Albert medal, which had previously been confined to the reward of acts of heroic courage in saving life at sea. — London Gazette, May 1, 1877. '^ They are enumerated and described in Wright, The Celt, tlie Bo- man, and the Saxon, 39-44. TEE ROMANS. 353 vanced in civilisation, tliey already gave promise of the industrial destinies of England, their productive tin-mines being known to the Phoenicians, the Cartha- ginians, and the Romans. The conquest of Britain, by the Eomans, introduced a higher civilisation, a vigorous admiuistra- .j,^^ tion, and some free institutions, which sur- ^^'g^^'^,^- vived their rule. To build and inhabit forti- 4i8 a.d. fied cities had been the custom of that great jieople, in Italy, and in every country conquered by their arms. In Britain they founded walled towns, through- out the land and on the coasts, as centres of military defence, association, and trade. London, Canterbury, Dover, "Winchester, York, Chester, and many other cities and towns, which have since risen to impor- tance, owe their origin to the civilising genius of the Romans. They had come as conquerors, but settled as colonists. Military conquest was followed by immi- gration : Roman citizens from many lands, — Germans, Belgians, Gauls, Spaniards, and Thracians,^ — men of different races, but all subject to the laws, and speak- ing the language of Imperial Rome, — flocked to this northern land, which offered them a new field for con- quest and enterprise. Britain was reduced to a Roman province ; and Roman laws, institutions, and customs were everywhere established. In the towns, Yiomtm municipalities were founded upon the repub- ^°"'"^- lican model of Rome and the Italian cities;'^ and as the towns increased in population, and were recruited by the continued immigration of Teutonic and other races, they became almost independent communities.' ' Wright, T/ce Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, 253-257, and ch. v. ' Ibid. c]i. xii. See svpra, vol. i. IGO. 2 Wrii,'ht, 3'Jl. 354 ENGLAND. If these institutions did not survive the overtlirow of the Roman power, their traditions were not wholly lost:^ while town life, with which they were asso- ciated, was encouraged among the Saxons, whose tastes were otherwise rural. The life of a highly civilised people, who dwelt in iiuiiience the land for four centuries, cannot be effaced updu'hacr from the history of England. Supplanted times. i^y races less advanced, their ancient civil- isation was trodden down : their arts and learning were lost : even Christianity, which was taking root among them, relapsed into Paganism. The Romans left fewer traces of their rule in Britain than in some other lands : but in the social revival of later times, their continued influence is not to be ignored. We may even be allowed to speculate how far the admix- ture of Roman blood, and the character and example of that great people, may have moulded the political destinies of England. The characteristics which dis- tinguished ancient Rome, — a stern love of liberty, a prolonged constitutional development, a strong and steadfast purpose, world-wide conquests, and a pecu- liar power of governing subject races, — have since ' ' We trace here and there the preservation of Roman power, and Roman principles, and we trace still more distinctly almost every municipal right, and municipal power, which were, at a later period, guaranteed by royal or other charter, and which, by comparison with the privileges and government of corporate towns in France and Italy, and elsewhere on the continent, we learn to have been derived from the political constitution of the Romans.' — Ibid. 454 On the other hand, Mr. Freeman says : ' The municipal institu- tions of the Roman towns utterly perished : no dream of ingenious men is more groundless than that which seeks to trace the fran- chises of English cities to a Roman source.' — Hist, of Norman Con,' quest, i. 17. THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 355 been illustrated in tlie history of England. No other modern State has presented so many points of resem- blance ; ^ and Englishmen may proudly ascribe to Roman ancestry and tutelage, some part in the his- toric glories of their country. The Roman legions, weakened by the decay of the Western Empire, by revolts, and by internal rj,^^ aik^io- divisions, were at length overcome by the Saxous. Picts and Scots ; and the Celts were once more su- preme in their ancient home. But they soon found new masters in the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. In their earlier emigrations these Teutonic races appear to have found fi-iends and allies in kindred tribes, who had already settled under the protection of the Romans.^ But they after- wards descended upon the shores, as enemies and conquerors ; and pushed on their conquests, by fire and sword, throughout the land. They came from the north of Europe, from Schleswig, Holstein, and Friesland, from the countries between the Rhine and the Oder, and from Jutland. Akin to the hardy races that had peopled the Netherlands, they were natural- born seamen, and braced to adventures by the hard- ships and dangers of their northern homes. While the towns were thus being peopled by the mixed races of the Roman and Anglo-Saxon ^ , migrations, the country was occupied by the ^"m'laste new invaders. They drove out or slew the Celtic inhabitants, or reduced tliem to slavery ; ^ and the chiefs took possession of the land, upon ' See supra, vol. i. p. 140 n. ' Wright, The Celt, &c. , 393-396. ^ The Anglo-Saxon conquest is generally described as one of ex- termination : but it may be doubted whether the extinction of the Celts in the conquered districts, was so comijleto as the testimony 356 ENGLAND. wliich they settled witli their households and follow- ers. For three centuries they continued to -press forward their settlements, driving the Celts further to the north and to the west, — to Scotland, to Wales, and to Cornwall^ In no other parts of the Eoman Empire, had Teutonic races achieved so complete a cojiquest. They made the land their own, in name, in language, in nationality, and in freedom. They changed a Koman province into a free Teutonic State. Everywhere the Anglo-Saxons carried with them their own Teutonic laws and customs;^ and laws and it is to these that we must mainly look for the origin of English institutions. Their society was as primitive as that of the ancient Greeks. Their kings ^ and princes claimed descent from the of historians, confirmed by the evidence of language, would imply. It must be remembered that the invaders came in boats, ill-suited for the transport of entire families, and that the greater part were probably young adventurers, without incumbrance. After the earlier invasions, a more complete emigration followed ; but there are some grounds for believing that the English have more Celtic blood in their veins than is usually supposed. — See Nicholas, T7ie Pedigree of the Englisli People, third edition. 'The women would doubtless be largely spared : but as far as the male sex is con- cerned, we may feel sure that death, emigration, or personal slavery, were the only alternatives which the vanquished found at the hands of our fathers .'—Freeman, Hist, of Norman Conquest, i. 18. ■ The occupation of Cumberland and Westmoreland, in the north, and of Somersetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, being effected at a later period, when the rage of con- quest had somewhat subsided, and the hostility of the two races had been abated by the common profession of the Christian faith, the Celts, or Welsh, as they were called, were not driven out. * See supra, vol. i. p. 234-236. ^ ' The Saxons had no kings at home ; but they create kings in Britain.' — Stubbs, Const. Hist. i. G6. See also Freeman, Hist, of Nor- man Conquest, i. 73, and App. K. THE AKGLO-SAXONS. 357 god Woden : the nobles, or * eorls,' were tlie cliiefs of their tribes, in war and peace : the priests presided at the pagan sacrifices ; and the people were divided into freemen and slaves.^ Their customs were remarkable for the important place assigned to the community. The king's title was hereditary in certain families, but subject to personal election by the witenagemot, by whom he could also be depo-sed. He enjoyed many prerogatives and privileges, and extensive possessions : but he was a constitutional sovereign, bound to govern justly, and according to the laws. Of the nobles, some derived their rank from descent, but the greater part fi'om service under the crown, as ealdormen and thegns. And, when the Anglo-Saxons had accepted the Christian faith, their bishops and abbots took their places among the nobles, as councillors of the king, and members of the local and national assemblies. In the mark, the township, the tithing, and tlio parish, the principles of local representation p^,,j, 5,,^^;. and self-government were maintained in the tmions. gemot.'"^ Every \dllage was a little commonwealth. In ' Of tliese there were two classes, — the cultivating serf and the absolute slave. ' ' The vestry is the representative of the gemot, with which it was once identical.' — Stubbs, Const. Uist. i. 91. The mark or township ' was an organised and self-acting group of Teutonic families, exercising a common proprietorship over a definite tract of land, its mark, cultivating its domain on a common system, and sustaining itself by the produce. It is described in Tacitus, in the "Germany," as the " Vicus : " it is well known to have been the proprietary and even the political unit of the earliest English society.' — Maine, Vilhir/e Communities, 10. •The village community of India exhibits resemblances to the Teutonic towu.ship which are much too strong and numerous to bo accidental. . . It has the same double aspect of a group of families united by the assumption of common kinship, and of a company of 358 ENGLAND. the burli-gemot, tlie hundred-moofc, and the shire- moot, the freeholders bore their part in local adminis- tration and judicature ; and in the several kingdoms of the heptarchy, and afterwards in the united realm, there was the supreme witenagemut, or meeting of the wise, by whose advice and consent the king made laws for his people, levied taxes, exercised supreme judicature, and made grants of land. These assemblies delibe- rated upon affairs of State, and questions of war and peace. They were not representative : but the free- men assisted at their deliberations, according to the primitive customs of their race ; and shouted approval or dissent. The Saxon witena^emot has been univer- sally accepted as the origin of the parliaments of later times.^ But as the kingdom extended, the voice of the freeman was rarely heard in the national councils. He could still attend the moot of the hundred or the shire : but without representation, the distant assem- bly of barons, prelates, and thegns was far beyond his reach. The Anglo-Saxons had long been masters of the The Danes, couutry : their society was advancing in se- i87-958. curity and civilisation : they had been en- lightened and refined by the Christian Church ; and their institiitions had assumed a national character, when they were threatened with the same fate as that of the Celtic races whom they had overthrown. The persons exercising joint cmiership over land.' — Ibid. 12. See also ibid. 61, 62,81, 82, 120, 133. Freeman, Hist. JSTorman Conquest, i. 83. ' 'Alone among tbe political assemblies of the greater States of Europe, the Parliament of England can trace its unbroken descent from the Teutonic institutions of the earliest times. . . No other nation, as a nation, can show the same unbroken continuity of politi- cal being.' — Freeman's Comp. Pol. 46, 47. THE DAXES. 359 Scandinavian Danes, from Denmark and Norway, de- scended upon their coasts, and orerran their peace- ful towns and villages. They were pirates and ma- raudersj> and they were heathens. They burned and plundered churches and monasteries : they destroyed, with the brutal ignorance of barbarians, the cher- ished treasures of a more civilised peoj)le ; and they pushed on their conquests, till more than half of Eng- land had fallen under their rule. The civilisation of the Romans had perished under the conquering Sax- ons ; and now the civilisation of the Saxons was endan- gered by the ruder Danes. But the Danes, arrested in their conquests by Alfi'ed the Great, accepted the Christian faith. They were of kindred northern races : they were governed by the like customs and tradi- tions; and, gradually mingling with the earlier set- tlers, they formed part of the great Eug- . 1013-1042. lish people. At a later period they renewed their conquests, and Danish kings ruled over the fair realm of England : but the laws and customs of the Saxons were little changed ; and when the old line of native kings was restored, in the person of Edward the Confessor, the Danes had left few traces of their rule, save in the names of places in which they dwelt, and in the mixture of their northern blood, with that of the races which they had overcome. Their fibre was even harder than that of the Saxons : their in- dependence was no less resolute ; and in the sturdy races of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Kortlmmberland, and other northern counties, which have since been for- ward in the industrial and political development of England, we may recognise the descendants of Danish conquerors. The Norman conquest wrouglit more serious 860 ENGLAND. changes in tlie social and political destinies of Eng- ,j,[jg land. The Normans, descended from a strong conJfue"t nortliern stock, — akin to the Saxons and the 1066. Danes, — had been civilised by their settle- ment in a more genial clime, and by intercourse with their polished neighbours in France. They were more advanced than the Saxons, in the arts of peace and war : but in their laws and customs, liberty found scant recognition. They ruled England as conquer- ors, and wherever they met with resistance, they pur- sued their enemies with merciless severity. But Wil- liam the Conqueror accepted the crown as successor to the English kings : he strove to maintain the laws of Edward the Confessor ; and it formed no part of his design to overthrow the institutions of his new do- main. Yet the conquest introduced essential changes in the social and political relations of the rulers and the people, and in the administration of the laws. Of these, the greatest was effected by the appropriation and tenure of the lands. William rewarded his fol- lowers by prodigious grants of the conquered territo- ries : he retained large possessions as the property of the crown : and where he spared native owners, he brought them into subjection as vassals to himself, or other feudal superiors of the Norman race. Military service was the condition under which the Norman entire soil of England was henceforth to be feudalism, gj^^j^yg^ i,j {^q owuers. This strict feudalism at once increased the power of the crown, and of the nobles. The great landowners were the king's vassals : while their own feudal rights made them complete masters of the people. Feudalism under the Saxons had been patriarchal : it had grown out of the rela- tions of the family and the tribe : but feudalism under NORMAl? FEUDALISM — POLITIC.^ CHANGES. 361 tlie Normans was a stern military organisation, wliicli bound all the subjects of the realm to serve under the standards of the kincc and his barons. The most ob- noxious characteristics of continental feudalism were now displayed. The Saxon nobles had lived in simple dwellings, in the midst of their kinsmen and people. The Normans dwelt in fortified castles, defended with fosse and drawbridge, with battlements and loopholes : they surrounded themselves with armed retainers, and dominated roughly over their neighbours. They were foreigners ; and they lived as in an enemy's country. They plundered the peasants : they waged w-ar upon one another ; and they laid waste the land with vio- lence and rapine. This social change was naturally accompanied by political innovations no less notable. To political weaken the nobles, the Conqueror continued *^^'"'ses. the gemots of the hundred and the shire : but, the scheme of government being purely feudal, the wite- nagemot gave place to a great council of barons, pre- lates, and abbots, w^ho were summoned as tenants- in-chief of the crown. The people had no voice in their deliberations : the realm belonged to the king and his vassals ; and the commons were no longer within the pale of the constitution. All the high of- fices were filled with foreigners ; and Englishmen were treated as a conquered race. But the Norman rule, however adverse to popular liberties, was not long maintained withoiit ^, / P ^ , The crown serious inroads upon its scheme of military »"<• V"-' government. The king found his vassals too powerful for the security of his crown ; whilst the barons were ever struggling against his prerogatives. Neither power singly could overcome the other. vor. IT. — If) 862 ENGLAND. Hence botli alike looked to the people for support. William Kufus overcame his unruly barons by the aid of his subjects, to whom he promised a redress of grievances. Henry I. gave the people a chartar of liberties, and promised to restore the laws of Edward the Confessor. To London, and many other towns, he granted municipal charters. Henry 11. also fa- voured the commonalty. He reduced the power of the barons, by judicial and administrative reforms : he demolished their dreaded castles : he overcame them by force of arms ; and, while enlarging the pre- rogatives of the crown, he extended the privileges of tlie people. By commuting military services for scu- tage, he was enabled to raise forces independently of the barons ; and, by the ' assize of arms,' he superseded the baronial levies, by a national militia under his ovm direct command. By these measures the domination of feudalism was arrested. And in his reign, the fusion of the Normans with the English was nearly com- pleted ; and the rule of the foreigner was no longer a scourge to the people. England was restored to the English ; and their social freedom and political influence were extended by the absorption of the dominant race.^ So far the crown had received support from the peo- ple against the barons. At a later period, and the"*"^ the barons and the Church were aided by the peop e. people, in extorting the Great Charter from King John. Hitherto the barons had fought for them- selves alone : now they became the national , charta. leaders in maintaining the liberties of Eng- land. But society was not yet sufficiently * Mr. Freeman says : ' The older and stronger elements still sur- vived, and, in the long run, they again made good their supremacy.' — Hist. Norman Conquest, intro. 1. THE CROWlv, THE BAEONS, AND THE PEOPLE. 363 advanced to ensure tlie enjoyment of liberties so ex- tended. Tiie crown, tlie nobles, and tbe Church were powerful : the country was disturbed by disorders and civil wars ; and the people were still too weak to as- sert their rights. But the Great Charter was aj^pealed to as the basis of English freedom : it was confirmed again and again ; ^ and, while often violated, its prin- ciples were accepted as the constitutional law of Eng- land. Further contests between the crown and the barons continued to advance the rights of the peo- ple ; and it was to Simon de Montfort, who penTation led the armed barons against Henry III., commone. that the commons first owed their represen- tation in parliament. In the reign of Edward I., the commons acquired a more settled place in the legislature : knights incrcfi<^-na,"i"„°J°t represent the counties, and citizens and bur- ^*-^^- gesses to represent the cities and towns. But as yet their influence was little felt. They accepted their mission with reluctance, and shrank from the costly honour of obeying the royal summons to appear and be duly taxed. The barons still took the lead in re- sisting abuses of the king's prerogative. To them was mainly due a renewed confirmation of the Great Char- ter, and the denial of the king's claim to raise taxes otlierwise than with the consent of the realm. The parliaments of Edward II. insisted upon the dismissal of obnoxious ministers, upon the redress of grievances before the granting of subsidies ' ' II y en eut plus de trente confirmations entre le xiii. et lo xvi. Biecles.' — Uuizot. IHnt. de la civUizaiion en Europe, 314. 364 ENGLAND. to the crown, and upon the legislative rights of the commons. And, further, a parliament of this reign assumed the right of deposing the king, for the violation of his coronation oath, and other oifences, — a precedent to be followed in the case of Richard II., and again, on a more memorable occasion, in 1688. These spirited acts, though mainly the work of the barons, extended the constitutional rights of parliament. Under Edward III., the two houses assumed their present form; and the House of Commons acquired an independent place in the councils of the realm. It denounced abuses, it im- peached ministers, it insisted upon the an- nual calling of parliaments, it re-affirmed the principle that to raise money without the consent of parliament was illegal, and it maintained the free- dom of elections. It was now fully established that every law required the concurrence of king, lords, and commons, and that it was the undoubted right of par- liament to advise the king in matters concerning peace and war. The principles of political freedom were established. Under Eichard II., the commons insisted upon their right, not only to vote subsidies, but to limit tlieir appropriation, and to examine public accountants ; and they exercised their right of inquiring into public abuses, and impeaching ministers of the crown. The Parliament also deposed the king himself, for his 'no- torious demerits;' and furnished another precedent for the revolution of 1688. The same bold and inde- pendent spirit was displayed by the commons, under Henry IV. and Henry V. The parliamentary history of the fourteenth cen- tury foreshadowed the momentous movements of the POLITICAL AND SOCLiL PEOGRESS, 365 seventeenth. Liberties were then acquired which could never be wholly overthrown. The p^y^i^^g^ prerosatives of the crown, and the privileges ^^"^ ^°^^'^} ^ , in" progress in of parliament, were defined ; and the mon- tygJi^"''" archy was limited and constitutional. These century. political changes were accompanied by a remarkable development of English society. The commons were enabled to assume a more important place in the gov- ernment of the State, by the increasing influence of the commonalty, throughout the country. The ranks of the barons were thinned by civil wars, and failures in the succession ; while the number of country gen- tlemen, yeomen, and tenants was continually on the increase. The towns were making rapid advances in wealth and prosperity : the burgesses had been trained in the arts of self-government, and emboldened by civic freedom. At the same time, England was sharing in the revival of learning, for which the age was remarkable, throughout Europe : her language was assuming a national character; and the universities were stimulating a taste for classical literature and philosophy. In every aspect, society v/as advancing ; and its claims to political power were maintained by the increasing boldness of the House of Commons. Meanwhile, religious and social changes were ad- vancing, which gravely affected the political wyciiffe destinies of England. The bold spirit and ""ntrioiis genius of Wycliffe were laying the founda- i"^i"'''i'- tions of the Protestant reformation. He stirred the minds of scholars, churchmen, and citizens to a new religious thought : he exposed the abuses of the Church of Rome, and shook its traditional doctrines and authority. His followers, the Lollards, began the long strife between nonconformity 366 ENGLAND. and the united forces of Cliurcli and State ; and tliG people were awakened to controversies wliicli have not yet ceased to disturb the minds and consciences of Christians. The faith of considerable numbers was already severed from that of the State Church. The Lollards, — the parents of Puritanism, — by inveighing against the Church, and exposing the abuses of the clergy, promoted the spirit of religious revolt which, in another age, was the support of the Reformation. Their creed, founded upon the lives of the early Christians, and affected by the social discontents of the time, was not without the taint of communism. They were punished without mercy, and their sect was repressed with an iron hand : but the conflict be- tween civil and ecclesiastical power on one side, and nonconformity on the other, was to be resumed here- after, upon less unequal terms. While society was aroused to religious thought, it Decny of ^^^ couvulsed by the decay of feudalism, and feudalism. ^]jg j.[qq ^f j^^-^ agricultural classes. Serf- dom had gradually given way to improved social re- lations ; and the soil was beginning to be cultivated, as in modern times, by tenant farmers, by freeholders, and copyholders, and by free labourers. Changes so important in the relations of landowners to the cultiva- tors of the soil, could not be effected without serious disturbance. The fourteenth century was marked, in other countries, by collisions between feudalism and a growing society;^ and the like conflicts arose in England. The gradual emancipation and es- cape of serfs had caused a great scarcity of labourers, which was aggravated by the depopulation '-S'wp?^, p. 93-95. DECAY OF FEUDALISM. 3G7 of tlie country, — in common witli tlie rest of Europe, — by the plague, or ' black death.' The landowners were not prepared to submit to the operation of these natural causes: but took vigorous measures for the recovery of their feudal rights, and the securing of forced labour. Serfs v/ho had been set fi'ee, or had taken refuge in the towns, were labourers. again reduced to servitude ; and free labour- ers, forbidden to leave their own parish, were bound to serve their employers, at wages fixed by statute. These high-handed measures, to restore the hate- ful yoke of feudalism, provoked a passionate resis- tance. Stung with a sense of oppression and wrong, and suffering from the harsh rule of their mas- pop„,,,r ^jg. ters, the orderly and patient peasantry were contents. goaded into a formidable revolt. For the first time, in our history, we discover a fierce hatred of nobles and gentlemen, and a startling assertion of levelling principles. John Ball, a Kentish priest, preached doctrines of social equality, as bold as any which were taught, four centuries later, by the revolutionists of France. The popular feeling of the time was ex- pressed in the familiar couplet: ' Wlien Adam delved, and Eve span, Wlio was then the gentleman 1 ' The gentlemen of England were oppressing the poor ; and their claims were rudely questioned. These dis- contents were influenced by an iniquitous poll-tax; and at length an alarming insurrection burst out under the leadership of the celebrated AVat . . . Wat Tvlor's Tyler. This rcsvolt against feudalism, and iM-'uncc- the injustice of feudal law-givers, was marked 368 ENGLAND. by some of tlie excesses of tlie French Jacquerie.* Manor-houses were burned: manorial records were destroyed: obnoxious lawyers were murdered: the primate, and two of the chief officers concerned in the levy of the poll-tax, were beheaded on Tower Hill. But neither in the revolt itself, nor in its sup- pression, was there an apjjroach to the savagery of contemporary France. Throughout these times, the commons had been advancing in influence ; and had maintained a-Jainst the the due authority of their order in the coun- cils of the State. But a period of reaction was at hand, when the power of the commons sensibly declined. Several causes contributed to this reaction. The commons were still the weakest estate of the realm ; and they were at the mercy of the crown, the nobles, and the church. Whichever of these powers haj)pened to be in the ascendent, the commons inevi- tably suffered, except when their aid was sought by one of these rival powers. In the reign of Henry VI., the barons had recovered much of their former domi- nation : they were jealous of the growing influence of the commons ; and such, for a time, was the weakness of the crown, and of the church, that they had no need of an alliance with the popular forces. By j^3Q narrowing the old freehold franchise of the counties to 40.s. freeholders, and by disfran- chising the leaseholders and copyholders, they became masters of the county representation. Meanwhile a similar reaction was at work in the boroughs. The franchises of the burgesses had been gradually re- stricted ; and their municipal and electoral privileges ^ Supra, 91. POLITICAL EEACTION. 369 were monopolised by select oligarcliies. Everywliere, barons and landowners were acquiring a dominant influence in elections. The commons were becoming the creatures of the crown and the nobles, rather than representatives of the people. Armed barons dominated in the country, and in the Parliament. That there were grave discontents among 1450. the people was betrayed by the insurrection under Jack Cade : but the commonalty were held in safe subjection. The rivalries of the houses of York and Lancaster, however, entirely changed the balance of po- ^y.,^^ ^^ ^j^^ litical power. In the wars of the Yf hite and ^^"'''^'^• Red Hoses, all England was convulsed by the bloody strife : the barons were divided into hostile camps ; and the flower of the English nobility perished on the bat- tle-field, or on the scaffold.^ Feudalism was crushed; and the crown reigned supreme over a prostrate realm. The armed barons, who alone could hold it in check, were no more; and the people were not yet suffi- ciently strong to assert their rights. Accustomed to rely upon the barons, as leaders, they were without union or force, in opposition to the power of the crown. The landowners, who had succeeded the barons in ter- ritorial influence, were engaged in a bitter strife with their discontented peasantry, and were in no mood to become popular leaders : but looked to the crown for support. And the Church, alarmed by heresies and ' ' I take it, after tlie battle of Tewkesbury, a Norman baron was almost as rare a being, in England, as a wolf is now.' — ConiiigHhy. ' Of the shattered aristocracy of England, only twenty-nine pre- sented tliemselves when Henry called his first Parliament ; and many of these were recent creations.' — Forster : IVic Grand licmon- sirnnce, 68. 10* 370 ENGLAXD. by lier own unpopularity, was glad to link lier for- tunes with those of the ruling power. The liberties of England, acquired by so many struggles, seemed to have been suddenly lost in the absolutism of Ed- ward IV. Throughout Europe, the kingly power was rising at this period, upon the ruins of feudalism; and the prosjiects of freedom appeared to be no more promising in England, than in Spain, in France, or in Germany. The authority of Parliament was now set at naught. It was rarely assembled : confiscations had made the king comparatively independent of subsi- dies; and, with the advice of his council, he assumed to make laws, and levy taxes. Benevolences and forced loans again formed part of the royal finance : arbi- trary imprisonments, and judicial murders, marked the rule of an absolute king. The popular preten- sions of Richard III. caused a brief revival of the influence of Parliaments : but Henry YII. confirmed the absolutism of Edward IV. Parliaments were put aside ; and the royal miser relied upon prerogative to fill his treasury with benevolences, fines, and other exactions. The reign of Henry VIII. was no less opposed to .^ , ,. public liberty. The character of the king, of^Henry q^j^^ \}^q pecuHar circumstauces of his time, alike impelled him to strain his prerogatives. By nature a tyrant, his strife with the Church of Rome, and his own unruly passions, gave full sway to his despotism. Other kings had renounced the inter- ference of parliaments : but they had been controlled by a council of prelates and nobles. Henry put aside his council and exercised his vast prerogatives, in Church and State, with the aid of a single confiden- tial minister. Yet he could not always prevail over AESOLUTISil OF HEIOIY YIIL 371 the rights and liberties of liis subjects. While served by the politic Wolsey, he never summoned a parlia- ment save for the raising of subsidies : but he found the commons stubborn in resisting extravagant de- mands ; and when he resorted to the old ex- pedient of benevolences, he was threatened by the resistance of the people. The traditions of liberty were still able to prevail over absolutism. But when the king was heated by oj^position to his divorce, by his fierce conflict with the Church of Eome, and by his singular matri- ti.e Re- . 1 . , . ,-, i/>i -I 1 formation. monial inconstancies, the semsh and cruel tyrant was revealed.^ Queens, nobles, prelates, and faithful statesmen perished on the scaffold : no power could withstand his lust or his anger : the church was struck down : laws and liberty bowed before the will of the despot. In repelling the jurisdiction of the Pope, the royal supremacy was estab- lished, which made the king absolute master of the church. He was at once king and pope.^ By nomi- nating the bishops, and claiming to depose them, he made them his creatures : he bridled the convocation: he dictated the preaching of the clergy : he curbed them in his ecclesiastical courts : he assumed to determine the religion of the State and of his people. No longer afraid of parliaments, he invited them to act as con- venient instruments of his will. They passed the Act of Supremacy : they sanctioned the suppression of the monasteries : they registered acts of attainder : they created new treasons and felonies : they clothed ' Mr. Froude's able defence of Henry has not affected the judg- ment of history, upon his true character. ' In the vulgar phrase of the time, he was ' a king with a pope in his belly.' 372 ENGLAND. the royal mandates in tlie recognised forms of Eng- lish law. They were associated with the king in every act of the great reformation. But while doing his bidding, they shared, and represented, the religious feelings of considerable numbers of their countrymen, who, scandalised by the abuses of the clergy, and stirred by the religious controversies of the time, were prepared to acce23t the ecclesiastical changes which their rulers were bringing about. The independence of parliament was overborne in the excitement of so great a crisis. The power of the crown was increased by the pro- digious wealth of the church, which was power of now at its disposal. The great nobles who the crown. ^ , -t • , ,-i c i- i- revolted against the reiormation were slam, or brought to the block ; and the last representatives of the old feudalism were destroyed. The new nobles were creatures of the king, enriched by the plunder of the church, and ready instruments of the royal will. The lords spiritual, already Henry's humble servants, were bound up with him in the great work of reforming the church, and changing the religion of the country. The commons, in great part, nominees of the crown, were also led to support prerogative, by their earnestness as reformers. The courts of justice were as ready as the parliament to uphold the king's strong measures ; while the royal council was usurp- ing an extraordinary judicature, untrammelled by the liberal doctrines of the common law. Everywhere prerogative was paramount. Koyal proclamations as- sumed the force of statutes ; and loans and benevo- lences were levied like lawful subsidies. Throughout the further course of the religious revo- lutions of the sixteenth century, the passionate im- THE REFORMATION. 373 pulses of tlie movement continued adverse to civil and religious liberty. The reformation of ^ " J Course of Henry was completed under Edward VI. t^'^Re- •1 _ ^ formation. Some of his absolute powers were re- nounced : but the reforms of the church were carried out with no less violence and disregard for law ; while the zeal of the reformers hurried them into the de- plorable policy of persecution. The Catholic reac- tion under Queen Mary was marked by the same arbitrary power, and by a more resolute per- secution. Parliament, which had concurred cimilgesof in the reformation, was now prompt to undo its own work. The Catholic faith was restored : the State humbled itself before the Holy See : but the parliament, while lending itself to this sudden reac- tion, resisted the more violent and bigoted measures of the queen, and displayed a spirit of independence which had been rarely shown in the two last reigns. Happily this bloody reign was short. Hundreds of Protestants perished at the stake : but before their faith could be utterly cast down, another Pro- . . 1531-1559 testant queen was preparing to restore it for ever, as the religion of the State. For the fourth time, within the life of a single generation, the na- tional faith was changed by the crown and the jiar- liament, without the general consent of the people. But the long reign of Elizabeth proved the turning point in the political fortunes of England. K,.ijj„„f Not less resolute than her predecessors in Elizabeth. maintaining her prerogatives, she found herself op- posed by popular forces to which she was sometimes constrainod to submit. When parliaments liad done their work in the religious revolutions of the ago, the queen, dreading their intrusion in allairs of State, 374 ENGLAND. called tliem togetlier as rarely as possible. She levied taxes by prerogative : she raised money by the grant of monopolies : she invaded the province of the legis- lature by royal proclamations. By the creation and revival of boroughs, the influence of the crown had been largely increased. But when she was forced to meet her parliaments, they displayed a temper long since unknown. The commons asserted their privi- leges, — freedom of speech, freedom from arrest, the determining matters of election, and the right to dis- cuss affairs of State. They successfully resisted the grant of monopolies. For more than a hundred years, their political powers had been in abeyance ; and now they were about to be recovered and extended. Pre- rogative was safe in the strong hands of Elizabeth : but new social forces were rapidly changing the bal- ance of political power. "With the decline of feudalism, English society had acquired an extraordinary development. The changes. nobles, cnjoying few invidious privileges, country Were raised little above the country gentle- fifcntlsniGn.. men : their sons and daughters married freely into the families of their country neighbours ; and their descendants were soon lost in the ranks of the commonalty. As an estate of the realm, they formed a support to the crown : but they also gave importance and strength to the people. Country gentlemen had succeeded the feudal barons, as a proprietary class, and their relations with the people were essentially changed. No longer relying upon feudal services for their support, and for the cultivation of the soil, they lived upon the rental of their estates, while the soil was tilled by farmers, yeomen, and free labourers. The gloomy castles of feudal times were succeeded by COUNTRY GENTLEIVIEN. 375 cliecrful and elegant country bouses. New leaders of tlie people were multiplied tliroughout tlie land. En- riched by the division of the old baronial estates, and by the spoils of the church, they were wealthy and prosperous. But they were not set up above the people, like the feudal lords of the soiL They were , at the head of a free society, and were associated with its duties and interests. In other countries they would have been ennobled : but here they cast in their for- tunes with the commons. As sheriffs, and justices of the peace, they were active in the administration of the law : they took the lead in all local affairs : they encouraged the agriculture and the sports of the neighbourhood : they were welcomed as the leaders of society. They loved the country : they devoted their fortunes to the supj)ort of the ancestral hall, or manor- house, the park, the pleasaunce, and the preserves, and to fi-ee-handed hospitalities, and charity : but tliey found little attraction in the distant capital.^ No class has contributed so much to the social and poli- tical stability of England. Their instincts were in favour of the traditions of English liberty ; and they were prepared to maintain, with honest resolution, the legal rights of the people. But they were conservative and unchanging. Not easily moved by impulses or theories, they were ready to resist innovations, whether proceeding from the king, the church, or the people. ' ' Poggio, in his travels, wrote, three centuries ago, this sentence so full of truths and of conse(|uonccs : "Among the English, tho nobles think it shameful to sojourn in cities ; they inhiibit rctirccl parts of the country among woods and pastures ; they consider liim the most noble who has the largest revenue ; they addict themselves to field affairs, sell their wf)ol and their cattle, and do not consider rural profits disgraceful.'" — Taine, Notes on EiKjland, 170. 376 ENGLAND. Sucli men were returned to parliament by tlieir own counties, and neighbouring boroughs, and were the most indejDendent members of the House of Commons. Surrounded by courtiers, placemen, and lawyers, their voices were raised in support of the privileges of i3ar- liament, and the rights and liberties of the people. To them is mainly due the contrast between the jjolitical destinies of England and of France. With such a class of country gentlemen, the liberties of Frenchmen might have been extended, without the terrors of per- petual revolutions. While the gentry were drawn nearer to the people jj.^^jg than the barons of old, the increasing pros- ciasses. perity of the country had raised a numerous and powerful middle class, between them and the great body of the nation. The forest, the marsh, and the moor, were receding before the persevering toil of the husbandman. Agriculture, freed from the shackles of feudal service, and encouraged by the united inter- ests of landlords and tenants, had become more skil- ful and productive. Farmers and yeomen had grown into a considerable social class. At the same time, manufactures, commerce, and shipping had enriched the towns and sea- aXnanu! ports. The wooUeu manufacture had become factures. ^^ important industry ; and manufacturers in linen, in silk, and in iron, however modest in their pretensions, were already contributing to the wealth of the middle class. Commerce and navigation had made prodigious advances. There had long been an active intercourse with the Netherlands ; and the wreck of Flemish prosperity, under the tyranny of Spain, had driven numbers of merchants, manufac- turers, and artificers to our shores, who quickened the COMMEKCE AND MANUTACTUKES. 377 enterj)rise, and enlarged the relations of British com- merce. Our merchants traded with the north of Eu- rope : with Italy, and the Mediterranean : with the East and West Indies, and with America. They were beginning to rival landowners in wealth and influence. Their dwellings, if less stately than the palaces of Italian princes, and less picturesque than the houses of the magnificent citizens of Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp, bore witness to their riches, taste, and social advancement. The smaller traders and artificers showed the like signs of prosperity ; and the busy communities of commercial towns were becoming a new, and ever increasing, power in society, and in the State. The intellectual progress of society had kept pace with its material improvement. The revival intellectual of learning in Europe had borne its fruits in i""»"^'"'- England as elsewhere : the study of the classics had raised the standard of thought and culture : a new national literature appealed to the tastes and senti- ments of the people : the printing press had spread far and wide the writings of the learned, the specu- lations of philosophers, the fancies of poets and dra- matists, and the popular pamphlets and songs of the period. For centuries the universities had promoted the culture of the country ; and the grammar schools of Edward VI. and Elizabeth at once proved the growing desire of the middle classes for improved means of education, and gave a marked impulse to thoir intellectual advancement.^ But none of these causes contributed so much to ' The national j)rogTf!SS utidcr the Plantaf^cuiets and TudorH is ad- iniral)ly descriljod by Mr. Orecn, in his reuiaikuble history of the English people, chaps, iv. and V. 378 ENGLAND. tlie moral and intellectual development of society, and to its political activity, as the religious inovl-°"^ controversies and revolutions which had so "^"^ ' long convulsed the country. Since the days of Wycliffe, the minds and consciences of the people had been awakened to religious thought ; and the furious conflicts of the reformation had divided so- ciety into hostile and irreconcilable religious sects. The persecutions which all in turn had suffered, had hardened their convictions, had exasperated their zeal, and widened their divisions. The people, in- deed, had not been consulted in regard to the suc- cessive changes of the national faith : but they were profoundly stirred by all the religious questions of the time. Before the close of the long reign of Eliza- beth, the great majority of the English people had renounced the Catholic faith : but they were far from accepting a single Protestant creed. The doctrines and ceremonial of the Church of England had been founded upon the moderate principles of Luther, and his school of reformers. The errors of the Church of Rome were condemned, and her authority re- pudiated : but the reformed church was otherwise modelled upon the foundations of the old establish- ment. The State had determined the national faith, and The exacted a rigorous uniformity of public wor- puritans. gj^jp^ g^t the religious dissensions of the age had advanced too far to be composed by acts of parliament. Calvin had his followers as well as Luther : his doctrines and church polity had been embraced in Switzerland, in the Netherlands, and in Scotland ; and in England he found many disciples. They deplored that any Romish doctrines and ob- THE PUEITANS. 379 servances liad been retained in tlie reformed cliurcli : they affected simpler forms of worship, and revolted against the rule of State bishops. Many Calvinists, to escape the persecutions of Queen Mary, had taken refuge in Switzerland and Holland, where their con- victions were confirmed, and their alienation from the Church embittered. The English Bible was now in the hands of the whole people : it was accepted as the rule of faith : and every man interpreted the sacred book, according to his own private judgment. It was a new revelation, which inspired earnest souls with reverence and passionate devotion. It occupied all their thoughts : scriptural phrases and imagery entered into their familiar speech : children received Hebrew names at their baptism : the family, and so- cial life, were governed by the precepts and examples of Holy Writ. The politics of the age were identified with its religion. As the revival of classical literature had, for a time, transformed the thoughts and lan- guage of the learned, so did the Bible now give a new direction to the spirit of general society. This form of religious thought had attracted many of the clergy, and numbers of countr}^ gentle- men: but it was among the farmers, the yeomen, I'lintnn ^ . cliaracter. and the middle classes, that its full force and vitality were revealed. Such men, and all whose reli- gious views were more serious than those of ordinary churchmen, were distinguished as Puritans. If wo could form our ideal of the Puritan character, from so noble a gentleman as Colonel Hutchinson, as por- trayed by his loving biographer, or fiom so rare a genius a^ Milton, it would stand out as a model of grave and lofty virtues. Nor can it be doubted that the Puritans had conceived a higher standard of rcli- 380 ENGLAKD. gious and moral purity than tlieir contemporaries. But tlie greater number, having no other guide than the Bible, which they applied, after their own fashion, to all the affairs of daily life, were stern, narrow and unsocial. They frowned upon the amusements of the world as sinful : they condemned the ceremonies of the church as idolatrous ; and they learned to dis- trust their rulers, as the patrons of a system, in Church and State, which was obnoxious to their faith. Elizabeth and her bishops had vainly striven to repress divisions in the church : the eccle- Beets of siastical commission had strained its lormi- dable power to secure uniformity of doc- trine and worship : numbers of pious ministers were cast out : but puritanism was gaining ground in the Church, and sectaries were multiplied. The Star Chamber endeavoured to stifle religious controversies in the press : but the church and the bishops were as- sailed with increasing boldness. The earlier Puritans were churchmen: but considerable sects of noncon- formists were now growing up, outside the pale of the church. Of these, the most powerful were the Pres- byterians, and the Separatists or Independents. These various sects, however opposed to one another, Political were hostile to the church, and estranged views of from the civil polity which was identified puntans. ^-^j^ ^^qy I'ule. The queeu and her bishops were supreme in Church and State alike ; and religion assumed the first place in the politics of the age. The republican spirit of the Presbyterians, in ecclesi- astical affairs, shaped their political views, and in- clined them to stubborn resistance to the civil power. Other Puritans also, relying upon the Bible for guid- THE PURITANS. 381 ance in civil life, judged tlieir rulers witli the stern independence of their austere creed. Upon the most momentous question of the time, all Puritans, — whether churchmen or non- Their conformists, — were earnestly a"rreed. They j«aioiisyof Catholics were zealous in the cause of Protestantism ; and never was zeal more justified in a holy cause. Throughout Europe the Protestant faith was threat- ened : the great work of the reformation seemed about to be undone : the Church of Kome was recovering her shattered dominion. There was Catholic reaction in Austria and Southern Germany: Spanish armies were trampling upon Protesta,ntism and liberty, in the Netherlands : the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the apostacy of Henry of Navarre, had crushed the hopes of the Huguenots in France. Who could say that the true faith was safe in England ? There had been a fearful Catholic reaction under Mary: there had been Catholic insurrections and conspiracies against Elizabeth. Catholics at home and abroad had hailed Mary Stuart as the coming queen of Catho- lic England. The queen herself was not without Catholic predilections : nor had the reformed church been purged of all Eomish superstitions : the most earnest Protestants were persecuted by Erastiau bishops, and prelacy might again be in alliance with popery. Elizabeth herself was confronted by the stubborn spirit of the Puritans : ^ but, counselled by able ministers, she knew how to avert dan- ami' the gerous conflicts ; and her glorious triumj)h ' Ilallam, Connt. JTiit. i. 252, ct neq.; Froudc, IHxt. of England, xii. 54!) et seq. ; Forstrt Hiatory of the English People, chaj). viii. 382 ENGLMID, over Catliolic Spain aroused the patriotic sympathies of her Protestant subjects. She left the power of the crown unimpaired : but social and religious forces had arisen within her realm, which were about to change tlie destinies of the English monarchy. The period of reaction against popular rights had passed ; and a new era of constitutional freedom was approaching. CHAPTER XIX. ENGLAND (continued). JAMES I. — HIS VIEWS OF PREROGATIVE — HIS RELATIONS WITH THE PARLIAMENT, THE CHURCH, AKD OTHER COMMUNIONS — CHARLES I. AND HIS PARLIAMENTS — TAXES BY PREROGATIVE — THE KING AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT. Such was tlie condition of society, and such the state of religious opinion, when the Stuarts Accession succeeded to the throne. I^he commons stuans. were powerful, and sensitive to any invasion of their liberties: the Stuarts had high notions of their prerogatives ; and the church, while she went hand in hand with the crown in temporal affairs, was becoming reactionary in her own creed, and persecut- ing to other communions.^ It was not unnatural that the Stuarts should jeal- ously maintain the prerogatives of their ci,„racter crown. They w^ere encouraged, as well by "^ J'lniesi. the example of English kings, as of foreign monarchs. ' Tliroughout Europe, the power of kings dominated over that of nobles, parliaments, and popular institu- ' For the reipiis of tlip two first Stuarts there \s a wealth of au- thorities. In addition to tlie histories of Clarendon and Maj', and other contemporary writers, considerable light has been recently tlirown upon these times by the writings of Forster, Gardiner, and Kanke. 38i ENGLAND. tions. They had assumed to direct the religion and conscience of their subjects, no less than their civil duties. They had, indeed, discovered, in the religious movements of the time, some dangerous elements of resistance ; and the revolt of the Netherlands had proved the force of a national struggle against op- pression. But they had not yet learned to measure the strength of a people; and, in their eyes, the as- sertion of public rights was simj^le disaffection.^ Elizabeth had carried her prerogatives with a high hand, and often with much of a woman's temper : but her own character, her sex, and latterly her age, the statesmanship of her councillors, her popularity with the Protestants, — who feared to disturb the succes- sion, — and the respect of her people, averted a col- lision between the crown and the commons. But James I. had openly asserted doctrines of preroga- tive, which were strange in the mouth of an English king. With dull pedantry, he had already main- tained, in print, his startling opinions upon mon- archy.^ In his view, a king ruled by right divine : he had power to make and suspend laws, without being bound to obey them : while the duty of his subjects was simply that of passive obedience to his will. And he lost no time in proving that he was prepared to reduce his theories to practice. The pedantry of the nis treat- study accompanicd him to the throne. He commous. ^ was ever ready with a lecture. He lectured the nonconformists in one proclamation : he lectured the constituencies in another; and he was ' James himself said in the Star Chamber, ' It is presumption and a high contempt in a subject to dispute what a king can do, or to say that a king cannot do this or that.' ^ True Law of Free Monarchies, King James's Works. JAMES I.'S VIEWS OP PREROGATIVE. 385 soon at issue with the commons upon questions of privilege and grievance. He commanded them to hold a conference with the judges concerning a con- troverted election : he rebuked them for the freedom of their debates, and reminded them that they held their privileges solely by his grace. They responded with a spirited ' apology,' in which the rights and lib- erties of the commons were boldly vindicated.^ Still he continued to take notice of their debates, and to admonish them not to consider petitions and griev- ances which had been brought before them. Every unpopular act was made more provoking by the blunt assertion of some arbitrary principle. It was always made clear that the only rule of government must be the royal pleasure. But he committed errors far more grave and dangerous than these wranglings with the Andoftue commons. Smarting under the affronts he I'^nit^iis- had suffered fi'om his Presbyterian subjects in Scot- land, he was determined to show no mercy to English nonconformists. He threw ten clergymen into prison for presenting to him a respectful petition, signed by upwards of 800 clergy, praying for changes in the for- mularies of the church. He insulted the j^n^j^^y Puritan divines at the conference at Hamp- ^''"^• ton Court.^ He issued a haughty proclamation for enforcing conformity, in which he declared his own judgment to be the rule for the consciences of other men ; and commanded the bishops, — who were only too ready to obey him, — to seek out and punish the clergy who neglected any of the ceremonies of the ' Commons Journ., 20tli Juno, 1C04 ; Hume, Iliat. chap. 45 ; Gar- diner, Ilixt. i. 201-208. » Gardiner, Hist, of Eiifjland, i. 1G7-173. VOL. II.— 17 o8G ENGLxYND. cliurcli. The convocation, in excess of tlieir jurisdic- tion, assumed to impose civil disabilities' upon and the ^ all wlio sLould deny the truth of any of the Thirty-nine Articles ; and the king, v/hose notions of his own and other jurisdictions were con- fused, assented to these extravagant canons.^ The king was ever disposed to support the pretensions of the church, which was not less constant in her zeal Canons of ^^^ prerogative. The bishops and the high- i60i. church clergy were never weary of exalting prerogative and abasing civil liberty ; while they strove, in alliance with the king, to enlarge the spiri- tual power of the church. The High Commission Court, by its unwarrantable encroachments of juris- diction, and invasions of civil rights, displayed the dangers of ecclesiastical rule ; and increased the un- popularity of the church, which had already become obnoxious to the Puritans. This was no fitting time for the assertion of such pretensions in Church and State. Country gentlemen and lawyers condemned them, as opposed to the laws and liberties of Eng- land. The Puritans, who could discover no warrant for them in Holy Writ, rejected them as contrary to the Word of God. The relations of the king to the various religious Keiations commuuions of his realm, already sufficiently toreiigioul critical, were rendered dangerous by this parties. narrow policy. The Catholic worship was already forbidden ; priests saying mass were subject to the penalties of treason; and heavy fines were levied upon Popish recusants. The discon- tents and fanaticism of the Catholics exploded ' They were treated as invalid by the courts. JAMES I. Aira THE CHURCH. 387 in tlie monstrous Gunpowder Plot; and this des- perate outrage naturally provoked further severities against the followers of an obnoxious faith, so deeply- stained with treason. To persecute Catholics was popular : but James soon aroused the jealousies of the Puritans by an unwonted toleration of Poj)ish recu- sants. A wise scheme of toleration was beyond the conception of this age. It might have averted many of the impending perils of the State : but when con- lined to a single creed, — and that at once the weakest and the most unpopular, — it was resented as part of an insidious scheme of foreign and domestic policy, adverse to the Protestant cause. The Puritans were daily gaining strength and influence : they were be- coming the strongest and most united party in the country: yet James scourged them with unrelenting severity. In Scotland, — his ovm native land, — where a Presbyterian Church had been founded by the will of the people,^ he vexed his Calvinist subjects with a revival of episcopacy, and by unwelcome interferences vnth. their national faith. He had cast his lot with his reactionary bishops, and defied the English Puri- tans and Scottish Presbyterians, who formed the most earnest and resolute portion of his subjects. Having provoked the commons, and alienated a powerful body of his subjects by religious Levy of persecution, the king ventured upon a still pTi^rlal more dangerous measure, — the levy of taxes ' ' The Scotch Kirk was the result of a democratic movement, and for some time, almost alone in Europe, it was the unflinching cham- y)ion of political liberty.'— Lecky, Itationalum, i. 14G. ' Scotland was the only kingdom in which the Reformation triumphed over the resistance of the state ; and Ireland was the only instance where it failed, in si)itc of government support.' — Lord Acton, TIi6 UiHlory of Frctidmn, in (JhrUtianity, 7. 388 ENGLAND. by prerogative. Having levied an import duty upon currants, the legality of which was affirmed by the Court of Exchequer, he was em- boldened to issue a new tariff of duties to be collected, at the ports, upon merchandise. Such a measure struck at once at the privileges of the commons, and at the acknowledged liberties of the people. If taxes could be levied by prerogative, what property was safe from the king's demand ? The commons contested the prerogative, and though com- manded by the king not to question the impositions, they presented a remonstrance, in which strancer°° they firmly maintained their right of free discussion, and condemned the illegal taxes. They further passed a bill to annul them. Other re- monstrances followed against the High Commission Court, the abuse of proclamations, assuming the force of laws, monopolies, and other grievances. But no redress was obtained, and the first parliament of James, which had so resolutely maintained the con- stitutional rights of the people against prerogative, was dissolved, in displeasure. This parliament had represented the general sentiments of the country. It had upheld the traditional rights of the commons, and a faithful observance of the laws by the king, and by the church. On his part, the king had strained his prerogatives : he had asserted principles of arbi- trary rule, obnoxious to his subjects ; and in his per- sonal character he had exposed himself to obloquy and ridicule. It was an inauspicious commencement of the rule of the Stuarts. James, having vainly endeavoured to support his revenue, by loans and other expedients,^ summoned • Among otlaers, by the creation and sale of baronetcies. THE king's contests WITH P.UILIAMENT. 389 anotlier parliament in 1614 The first act of the com- mons was again to denounce the illegal cus- ,, , . , . , New par- toms duties levied at the out-ports. They iiament , ■■■ "^ dissolved, voted no subsidy ; and parliament was soon ^^^^ ^ '' ' _ ■■■ members dissolved without passing a single statute, committed. Immediately after the dissolution, James fur- ther strained his prerogative, and outraged the privi- leges of the commons, by committing four members to prison, as a punishment for their independence. So strong was the public feeling against the measures of the court, that the country, or popular party, were returned in much greater numbers, and among them Pym, Wentworth, and Eliot, who were to bear a con- siderable part in the future history of this time. For six years, James now governed without a par- liament. By forced loans and benevolences, james by monopolies and licences, by an excise without a duty on malt, by fines inflicted by the Star '"^"^ """«"'^- Chamber, and other expedients, he endeavoured to maintain his revenue, without the authority of par- liament. He was safe, at present, from the remon- strances of the watchful commons : but it was an interval fraught with mischief to the crown. The people were smarting under his illegal exactions : while the arbitrary judgments of the Court of Star Chamber, the Privy Council, and the High Commis- sion Court, the cruel treatment of Lady Arabella Stuart, the mysterious murder of Overbury, and the execution of Raleigh, were making the king and his government odious in the sight of his subjects. In 1G21, James was obliged to call another parlia- ment ; and the commons soon displayed their ciimrrcis energy and public spirit, by the impeach- jmriiumeut ment of Mompesson, and Bacon. Tliey also 390 ENGLAND. resented an ill-advised admonition from the king not to meddle in aifairs of State. They vindicated their privilege of freedom of speech, in a celebrated ' pro- testation,' which the king, with his own hand, olfen- sively struck out of the journal. A dissolution soon followed this passionate quarrel ; and again the privi- leges of the commons were grossly violated by the commitment of Sir Edward Coke, Sir R. Philips, Mr, Pym, and others, for their conduct in parliament. Such measures naturally increased the unpopularity of the king, while the political vigilance of the com- monalty was more than ever awakened. But when another parliament was summoned in 1624, the rup- ture of the unpopular negotiations with Spain, for Parliament *^® marriage of Prince Charles with the In- ofiG-u. fanta, had so far restored the commons to good humour, that further quarrels with the king were averted. The spirit of parliament was, however, sho%vn by the impeachment of the Earl of Middlesex, and the abolition of monopolies by statute. Throughout these contests, the commons were ear- incroasing uestly Supported by their constituents. Not- coSuen- withstanding the limitations of the franchise, '^"^^' the creation of dependent boroughs, and the close electoral privileges which had been secured by corporations, the commons had become a great repre- sentative body. The country gentlemen enjoyed the confidence of the freeholders of their counties, and exercised a commanding influence in the neighbour- ing boroughs ; and when important principles were at stake, they were supported by public opinion. At this period, and in later times, before the cor- rection of electoral abuses, — however imperfect the representation, and however powerful the influence of CLOSE OF James's reign. 391 the crown, and of the peerage, — tlie love of freedom, •whicli ever animated the English people, made itself felt in parliament. The ill-omened reign of James was now drawing to a close ; and he left a perilous inheritance to his son. With personal qualities which jamL's excited contempt and aversion, the princi- *^'^'*' pies of his rule had been such as to arouse the jeal- ousies of his people against the prerogatives of the crown, the domination of the church, and the arbi- trary judgments of the courts of justice ; and to awaken them to their duty of maintaining the civil and religious liberties of their country. The pre- rogatives of the crown, and the rights of the com- mons, had been fearlessly discussed : the popular party had successfully met the crown lawi^ers, upon their own ground of law and precedent, and had ex- posed the weakness of the royal claims. They had also displayed the power and resolution of the com- mons, in defence of public rights. The gentlemen of England had not quailed before the displeasure of the king; and it was clear that, if Tudor kings had been able to overcome the patriotism of parlianient, a new power had now arisen, with which the Stuarts could not safely trifle. The question at issue was no longer one of precedents, and legal disputation : but whether the crown or the people were now the stronger force in the realm. The king liad accepted a policy of reaction in Church and State : the com- mons had withstood him: but the decisive contest was reserved for the next reign. Many of the errors of James were due to his con- ceit and pedantic convictions, rather than to cnracter an arbitrary temper. But Cliarles, far su- orchurieei. 392 ENGLAND. perior to liis fatlier in Lis personal character and vir- tues, was more absolute in liis will, and more unyield- ing in his resolutions. He succeeded to the throne when grave issues were pending between prerogative on one side, and law and parliamentary privilege on the other, which were embittered by his policy, until his country was convulsed by civil war. To the embarrassments that he had inherited, he added that of a w^ar with Spain and France. li'imcm of He distrusted parliaments : but their help Charles. • -,• i i p • 1 1 was indispensable lor carrying on the war. A parliament was accordingly summoned : but as the commons were smartinf]r under the grievances of the late reign, none of which had yet been redressed, their temper was sullen ; and they were bent upon extorting concessions from Charles, before they granted him an adequate revenue. It had long been the custom, at the commencement of every reign, to grant the duties of tonnage and poundage for the king's life : but they now displayed their distrust of Charles, and their determination to secure their own rights, by granting these duties for one year only. The bill, so limited, was thrown out by the Lords ; and conse- quently no grant of these duties took effect. They granted two subsidies : but, before further arrange- ments could be made for meeting the financial neces- sities of the State, parliament was suddenly dissolved, in order to avert proceedings which were threatened against the king's favourite, the Duke of Buckingham. Some of the members most obnoxious to the court were appointed sheriffs of their counties,^ in order to ' Sir Edward Coke, Sir Robert Philips, Sir Thomas Wentworth, and Sir Francis Seymour. CHAELES L AND HIS PAELIASIENTS. 393 disqualify them from sitting in tlie new parliament : but this artifice failed to weaken the opposi- tion, while it added another provocation to the reiationf ' popular party. The attack upon the Duke of new pariia- Buckingham was about to be renewed in the commons, when the king sent a message forbidding them to question any of his servants ; and another threatening them with dissolution. An impeachment, however, was voted ; and the king sent two Membera of the managers, Sir John Eliot and Sir '^°'"°" Dudley Digges, to the Tower, for words spoken in the cause. Nor did he spare the privileges of the lords. He committed the Earl of Arundel to the Tower, and refused a writ of summons to the Earl of Bristol, who sat by patent. Again Buckingham was saved by a dissolution. The arbitrary measures of the court were now reaching a climax. The commons had voted five subsidies, but had not passed the bill, levied when parliament was dissolved. Yet the consent government attempted to collect them, as if nu-ii't. tlicy had been granted by parliament. The people, however, resisted ; and the attempt was too grossly illegal to be persisted in. Other expedients, not less arbitrary, were now resorted to. The king had already raised money by loan, from the Forcea more wealthy gentlemen of the different "'"'"' J counties, whose names had been returned by the lords-lieutenant. And now a general loan was de- manded of all persons liable to assessment for sub- sidies. No stretch of prerogative so monstrous had yet been tried. The king was demanding an equiva- lent for the subsidies that he had failed to obtain from parliament. The country would, indeed, have 17* 394 ENGLAOT). been witliout spirit, if it had tamely submitted to such an exaction. Many country gentlemen refused to pay, and were committed to prison by the Privy Council. Five of them, of whom the great John Hampden was one, sought their release by a writ of habeas corpus : but, as they had been committed by special mandate of the king,^ the court refused them relief. This judgment was opposed to the most cher- ished doctrines of English liberty ; and proved but too plainly, that the judges, like the bishops, were prepared to uphold prerogative, in its encroachments upon the settled law of the land. But these and other exactions, no less unlawful. Another Were uuequal to meet the pressing necessi- summoned ties of the State ; and another parliament was ^'^^"^^- summoned in 1628. So little did Charles expect a compliant temper in this parliament, that he was preparing to bring over troops from Flanders, in case of need. And, in truth, no parliament had ever met in England, with more just causes of resent- ment against a king. But the commons contented themselves with a grave and temperate vindication of the just liberties of the people. They passed the celebrated * Petition of Right,' which con- Petition ^ t> ' ^^ Kight. demned as illegal, exactions by way of loan, the commitment of persons refusing to pay, and the denial of their habeas corpus, the billeting of soldiers and sailors, and punishments by martial law. The lords, after vainly attempting to amend this bill, were constrained to concur in it. The king endeavoured to escape from an express assent to it, by evasion and equivocation : but both houses took ' * Per speciale mandatum regis.' CHARLES I. AlH) HIS P.iRLIAMENTS. 395 umbrage at this treatment, and, at length, he made the petition law, by his royal assent. The commons immediately granted five subsidies : thus showing that, if grievances were redressed, they were ready to provide amply for the service of the State. At this time, a reconciliation of the rights of the crown, and the parliament, and mutual con- The king's fidence might have been established : but the king soon betrayed his duplicity and bad faith, — qualities which were ere long destined to forfeit the loyalty of his subjects. He had resolved that this re- strictive law should be evaded or overruled. Before his first equivocating answer, he had asked the judges how far the law could be evaded, if he gave his assent ; and when he had been obliged to agree to it, and parliament had been prorogued, he actually printed the statute with his first answer annexed to it, as if it had not received the royal assent in the usual form.^ He had received the subsidies as the price of this statute ; and he had resolved, by un- worthy subterfuges, and by evasions of the law, to repudiate the conditions to which he had assented. The commons, meanwhile, having secured the royal assent to the petition of right, were prepar- ^^^^^.^^ ^^ ing to pass a bill granting duties of tonnage ^"\\"')[J^,,j. and poundage, the bill of the late parlia- ^g^- ment having been lost by the dissolution. But before this bill was passed, they prepared a re- monstrance against the levying of such duties with- out the consent of parliament. The king, however, to avoid receiving the remonstrance, aliruptly prorogued parliament : at the same time plainly announcing his ' See further Forster's Life of Sir J. Eliot, ii. 229-271. 396 ENGLAND. determination to continue tlie collection of tonnage and poundage, as his own rightful revenue. Nor when this parliament met again, were any fur- ther measures taken to establish the reve- Provoca- ^onoi the nues of the crown upon a legal foundation. The Puritans were now exasperated by the rigours of the high church prelates against them- selves, by the approaches which the church was mak- ing, in doctrines and ceremonies, to the hated church of Eome, by the indulgence shown to Catholics, and by the extravagant doctrines of passive obedience preached by high church divines. Their repugnance to the spirit of the church was aggravated by the Catholic reaction abroad, and by the discomfiture of their Protestant brethren in foreign lands. Their faith was everywhere in danger, and must be guarded against its insidious foes. When the commons showed the temper in which they were preparing to resent these grievances, the king at once dissolved the par- liament. Three parliaments had now been successively dis- solved by Charles in four years ; and, having leioivesto fouud that institution intractable, he deter- without a mined to rule without it. So far from dis- guismg this resolution, he announced it, m a proclamation to his people. He cast all the respon- sibility of this step, upon those who had opposed his will, and threatened tliem with punishment. Nor was he slow to carry out his threats. In violation of the petition of right, to which he had so recently assented, he committed several of the most obnoxious Commit- ment of Sir members of the House of Commons, — includ- John Eliot ' and other jng Sir Joliu Eliot, Deuzil Holies, Selden, members. c> ^ ' ' and strode, — for their conduct in parliament. CHx^ELES I. AND HIS PAEUAMENTS. 397 All, howeyer, were soon released, except Sir Jolin Eliot, who was singled out for the vengeance of the court, Mr. Denzil Holies, and Mr. Valentine, who were sentenced to imprisonment during the king's pleasure. Sir John Eliot, the most eminent of these j)risoners, refused to make any submission, and, as is too well known, died several years afterwards in the Tower.^ The illegality and injustice of these proceed- ings were long afterwards ^ decisively condemned by both houses of parliament ; and the judgment itself was reversed by the House of Lords.^ Meanwhile the king was ruling without a parlia- ment, and was driven to extremities to sup- port his revenue. The customs duties con- prero|a-^ tinned to be levied, by prerogative only : money was raised by compositions for knighthood, by fines for encroachments upon the royal forests, by grants of monopolies, and lastly by the memorable levy of ship money. Every class was ag- grieved, — nobles, country gentlemen, mer- mo'ney. chants, and traders. But it was the illegal exaction of ship money, first at the seaports, and afterwards throughout the country, that caused an irreparable breach between the king and his subjects. The noble resistance of Hampden stirred up the coun- try to a full sense of its wrongs. The tax itself was plainly unlawful, and in express violation of a recent statute, — the petition of right ; while the arguments by which the judges maintained it, distinctly raised the king's prerogative above the law, and placed the ' The history of his (lep))]y int(iro8tinpf life is told most clTcctively by Forstcr, in liis remarkable biography, which embraces all the events of this period. ' In 1067. * In 166?. 398 ENGLAND. property of liis subjects at his absolute disposal. And, further, the king, by his proclamations, vexatiously interfered with various trades and manufactures. The time had plainly come when it must be deter- mined whether England should be governed by pre- rogative, or by law, — whether the king should be absolute, like the kings of France and Spain, or should rule according to the time-honoured consti- tution of his country. Another grievance of this time was the severity of the Court of Star Chamber in the punishment Chamber of oifeuces. Ruiuous fines, imprisonment, and High _ , . . . Son Courts ^^^ pi^lo^Jj mutilatiou, whipping, branding, — such were its repulsive sentences. And too often the fines were determined, not by the gravity of the ofifence, but by the wealth of the offender, and the poverty of the exchequer. The court was the tyran- nous agent of an arbitrary rule. And while civil of- fences were thus cruelly punished by the Star Cham- ber, offences against the ecclesiastical laws were* punished, with no less cruelty, by the High Commis- sion Court. Such grievances as these were a sore affliction to L md and ^^® pcople. There were other wrongs, how- stiafford. ever, which weighed even more heavily upon the minds of the leaders of the popular party, and of the Puritans. In the absence of parliament, the king's policy, in Church and State, had been mainly directed by the counsels of Laud and Strafford, — tlie one a narrow, arbitrary and reactionary prelate ; the other an apostate patriot, and now a bold and un- scrupulous statesman, in the service of the crown. The policy of the latter, in his own expressive phrase, was ' thorough.' He favoured absolute rule by pre- LAUD AND S'nLVPFORD. 399 rogatiYe : even tlie judges of liis time ■were too timid in its assertion, and threw too many obstacles in tlie way of its exercise : lie scorned any halting or com- promise. Laud, and his high church prelates and divines, lent the full authority of the church to such a policy ; and, in the government of the church, while exacting from the Puritan clergy a rigorous con- formity, and seeking every occasion to drive them from their benefices, were themselves leaning, more and more, to Romish tenets and observances.^ No toleration or mercy was shown to Puritans: indul- gence was reserved for Catholics. Toleration formed no part of their policy : but the court and the high church clergy simply persecuted those to whom they were hostile, and favoured those with whom they sympathised.^ So grievous was this oppressive rule in Church and State, and so hopeless seemed the cause of DcspMirof civil and religious liberty in England, that tans. ^'^ numbers of worthy Puritans left her shores e',"i!cn"ion, in despair ; and founded, on the other side i"^^'>30. of the Atlantic, those settlements of New England which were destined, in after ages, to be the founda- tion of the greatest republic in the history of the world. No party in England dreamed of resistance to the arbitrary rule under which they suffered. Growing f. liPT • i.1 11 discontent. Some sought freedom m other lands: some ' In tlie words of Lord Falkland, ' It seemed that their work was to try how much of a Papist might be brought in without Popery.' . . . ' Tlie design has been to bring in an English, though not a Koman Popery. 1 mean not only the outside and dress of it, but an ciiually absolute and blind dependence of the pcojilo ujxm the cl(>rgy, and of the clergy ujwn themselves.' — Debates on the Grand lirinon- strance. Forster, 208, 217. * May, lliHtDry of the Parliament, chap. ii. 400 ENGLAND. hopefully awaited redress from a future parliament : but throughout the country, and among all classes, there was an ever-growing discontent. In Scotland, the oppressive and vexatious rule of the dominant party provoked a different in Scot- spirit. Above all things, the Scots prized their Presbyterian faith, and simple cere- monial. The king, guided by the evil counsels of Laud, forced upon them a high church ritual, utterly repugnant to their religious convictions and national habits. They had ever shown a stubborn and inde- pendent spirit, especially in matters of religion ; and this last outrage upon their faith goaded them to re- bellion.^ With Scotland in arms, the king was in greater embarrassment than ever : but rather than summon a parliament to his aid, even in this perilous conjuncture, he sought contributions from Catholic nobles and gentlemen, who were grateful for the in- dulgence they had received, and expected further con- cessions from rulers who showed so much leaning to their faith. But these small doles were quite unequal to the support of a war ; and Charles was soon re- duced to make terms with the Scots, at Berwick. The respite thus obtained was brief: fresh disor- ders broke out in Scotland: the treasury liamentof was empty: and at last Charles consented, 1640. ... against his own judgment, to call another parliament. The new parliament met in April 1640, after a parliamentary interregnum of eleven years, during which the king had exercised all the powers of the State. He had taxed his subjects without the consent of parliament: he had enacted laws in the * May, History of the Parliament, cliaps. iii., iv., v., vi. PAELLIXENT OP 1640. 401 form of proclamations : lie had dispensed witli, and ignored statutes ; and now lie was to confi-ont a body whose authority he had usurped. Meanwhile, the commons, whose privileges had been outraged, had become a more powerful estate : the commerce, indus- try and wealth of the people had been rajiidly in- creasing; and the wrongs which they had suffered had filled them with deep political con'\dctions. They had long brooded over the redress of their grievances ; and at last their opportunity was at hand. The members of the new House of Commons were grave, temperate, and earnest men : resolute char-.cter in their duty of redressing grievances: in- HJillfyof^" flexible of purpose: but wholly fi'ee fi'om commons. disloyalty to the king. They had no schemes of aggression uj^on his just prerogatives: but were de- termined to protect their own privileges, and the con- stitutional liberties of the people. That much was expected of them, was soon made evident by the un- usual number of petitions praying for the redress of notorious grievances. But all hope of useful de- liberation was soon dispelled. The king demanded twelve subsidies: but, according to time-honoured custom, — never so much needing observance as at this time, — the commons first aj^iDlied themselves to the consideration of grievances. The lords ventured to advise them to vote the subsidies first; and their advice was naturally resented. The king offered to discontinue the levy of ship money, if the subsidies were voted ; but the commons were resolved to con- demn that impost as illegal, and to restrain the arbitrary exercise of prerogative. The king sharply rebuked them for tlicir audacity, and impa- tiently dissolved parliament. He had ob- '^ 402 ENGLAND. tained no subsidies for liimseK; and Lad greatly increased tlie irritation and suspicions of his people. He further exasperated the commons by committing Bellasis, Sir John Hotham, and Crew, — members of their house, — for their conduct in parliament. This sudden rupture with the parliament left no hope of accommodation between Charles and Rebellion in , . i • ■ tt- i- i Scotland re- his suDjects. His exactious became more general, and were enforced with greater se- verity: but in vain. The Scots were again in open rebellion, and their forces crossed the English bor- ders. The king had driven one of his kingdoms into revolt; and had forfeited the confidence of another. Ireland also, notwithstanding the vigorous rule of Strafford, was in a state of rebellion and disorder. It was clear that such difficulties could only be over- come by the willing aid of an English parliament, en- joying the confidence, and wielding the resources of the country. But, with ruin threatening him, Charles dreaded another Puritan parliament more than the invading Scots. He knew that his cherished preroga- tives would be wrung from him, and he recoiled from the sacrifice. To postpone the evil day, he summoned a council of peers at York : but they could give him no help, and merely offered the unwelcome advice, that he should summon another parliament. Humbled by the victorious Scots, and harassed by The Long divided councils and pressing embarrass- RimmSfJd, ments, he assented to this hateful necessity, ■"^^ with a heavy heart. The memorable Long Parliament met, and the struggle between prerogative and popular power at once began, which was destined to overthrow the ancient monarchy, and to establish a republic upon its ruins. We are approaching the THE LONG PAELIAMENT. 403 most critical and eventful period in tlie domestic his- tory of England. The Long Parliament was not a revolutionary as- sembly. It comprised men of the best fami- lies in England, loyal country gentlemen, I'-ir'ia- <-' . ./ o ' meiit meets eminent lawyers, rich merchants, many faith- ^."^ • 3, ful courtiers, and a large body of resolute Puritans, of unflinching purpose, but as yet aiming at nothing but effectual securities for liberty.^ It differed little, in its composition, from the late par- liament : but recent events had embittered its rela- tions with the king ; and its leaders, taught by ex- perience, and encouraged by strong popular sup- port, were preparing to gi-apple with prerogative, and to punish evil councillors. Distrusting the king and his advisers, who had set aside laws, and out- raged liberty, they determined to bind them down, in future, by restraints which they could not break through. The first and greatest abuse was the long intermis- sion of parliaments ; and tliis was corrected R^,n,e(iiai by the Triennial Bill. Ship money was measures. condemned as illegal, and the iniquitous judgment against Hampden was annulled by statute. The levy- ing of customs duties, otherwise than with the con- sent of parliament, was once more pronounced il- legal : while the customary duties of tonnage and poundage were at length formally granted to the croAvn. The Star Chamber and the High Commis- ' For a list of the members of the Long Parliament, see Pari. IJint. ii. 597. Amonp^ tlicm will be found such bonoured Enp:lisb names as Hampden, Verncy, Hiy)peslcy, Carew, Temple, During, Biiller, Trevor, Vivian, Curzon, Seymour, Russell, Strode, North- cote, Strangways, Lumley, Mildniay, Kuigliiley, and Vane. 4.01 ENGL.\.ND. sion Court were abolislied. The abuses of purvey- ance, of compulsory kniglitliood, and of tlie royal forests were corrected. Impressment for tlie army was condemned. The privileges of parliament were vindicated. Such were the principal laws by v/hich the Long Parliament recovered and confirmed the liberties of England. They were all temperate and judicious : they infringed no constitutional preroga- tive of the crown : they followed ancient precedents : they were framed for defence, not for aggression : they secured liberty, but were not conceived in the spirit of democracy.^ But it was not enough to pass good laws, which Impeach- Hiight again be trampled upon by arbitrary ments. rulers and compliant judges. Prerogative had been upheld as superior to the law : crimes had been committed against the State ; and it was neces- sary to punish the offenders, as an example and a warning to after times. The commons struck first at the greatest offenders. They impeached the Earl of ' The Venetian ambassador, Giovanni Giustinian, writing on the 11th of January, 1641, N. S., speaks of a bill for securing the an- nual meeting of Parliament, which the commons had passed and sent to the lords, as 'fraught with important consequences,' and says, ' The lords are apprehensive lest similar diminution of the royal authority, coupled with the frequency of parliaments, may augment immoderately the licentiousness of the people ; and that, after throwing off the yoke of the monarchy, there is evident risk of their next dispensing with the nobility likewise, and reducing the government of this realm to a pure democracy, which is the sole aim of the most seditious of these politicians, and above all of the Puritans. The king on his part, encourages this opinion to the utmost, and labours arduously to prevent the commons from succeeding in so bold a project, which wounds his prerogative in Its most vital part.' — MSS. (Mr. Rawdon Brown), vol. xlvi. (Record Office). ATTAINDER OF STRAETORD. 405 Strafford and Arclibisliop Laud of liigli treason, and the lords committed them to the Tower. The Lord Keeper Finch, and Secretary Windebank, were also impeached : but they escaped, and fled to the conti- nent. The unhappy prelate was left to languish in prison ; and the wrath of parliament was first di- rected against Strafford. To sustain an impeachment against him, such a con- struction of the laws of treason and of evi- Attainder of dence was necessary, as was repugnant to ^•^"^'^^'d. the principles of English jurisprudence. This form of proceeding was therefore dropped; and a bill of attainder was introduced. This bill was readily passed by the commons ; and the expected resistance of the lords was overcome by the intimidation of armed mobs, which besieged the houses of parliament, and clamoured for justice against Strafford.^ The painful struggles of Charles with his own conscience, on this critical occasion, have been often described : but one of his efforts to save the life of his faithful minister must not be passed over in silence. He declared his readiness to pledge himself never to employ Strafford again in the public service. Unhappily this proposal was made by Charles to induce the House of Lords not to pass the bill of attainder ; and, instead of being accepted as a concession, by the popular party, was re- sented as an interference with the privileges of parlia- ' ment.^ The king, assailed by popular clamours, and overcome by the embarrassments and dangers of his position, at length consented to the sacrifice of his councillor ; and Strafford expiated his politi- ^„y j^^ cal crimes upon the scaffold. In these peace- "'^^'* ' Clarcnaon, IliHt. i. 233, 250 ; Rush worth, v. 248. '' lluHLwortb, V. 239. 40G ENGLAND. able times, we condemn tlie severity witli wliicli Straf- ford was pursued to deatli : but lie had committed crimes, and be was judged according to the spirit and usage of bis age. Tbe bands of English kings and councillors were red with tbe blood of many innocent men condemned as traitors ; and power was now pass- ing from the king to parliament. The commons were without mercy ; but at this crisis, their pitiless temper was aroused in defence of the liberties of England. So far the acts of the commons were constitutional, and within the acknowledged limits of the Extraor- " dinary ^ authority of parliament. But, having en- the"^ariia- ^Gi'^d upou an Unexampled contest with the ment. j^jj^g ^nd his councillors, they did not hesi- tate to assume powers, for which there was no warrant in law or precedent. The king had stretched his pre- rogative ; and now the parliament entered upon a sys- tematic abuse of its privileges. Not contented with their unquestionable right to denounce abuses, with a view to the passing of new laws, or the punishment of offences against the law, before the legal tribunals, par- liament claimed to punish, as delinquents, all persons jjgjj^ whom they adjudged guilty of offences against quents. j^]^q law.^ Reviewing the late course of ad- ministration, they condemned, as delinquents, largo classes of persons who lip.d been concerned in tlie performance of duties authorised by the executive ' ' This word " delinquent " was very much in use during this par- liament. Thus, a great number of those who had been most noted for their adiierence to the maxims of the court, or the principles of the archbishop, were voted Delinquents, and thereby kept in awe by the commons, who, according as they behaved well or ill to them, could prosecute or leave them unmolested.' — Rapin, Hist. ii. 356. See also Rushworth, iv, 58 ; Clarendon, Hist. i. 141, 144 ; Hume, Hist. V. 9, 10. PiUlLIAMENTAEY EXCESSES. 4:07 government, — lieutenants of counties for executing the king's orders, and slieriifs for levying sliijD money : ^ officers of tlie revenue, wlio had collected the duties of tonnage and poundage. The judges who had given judgment against Hampden in the great case of ship money, were accused before the ^ House of Lords, and required to give surety for their appearance. Judge Berkeley was even seized, by order of the house, while sitting in his court.^ Clergy- men, who had introduced new ceremonies into the church, were declared delinquents, and committed to prison.^ And a committee for scandalous ministers having been appointed, numbers of ministers, obnox- ious to the Puritans, were censured and expelled from their livings, by the sole authority of the commons.'* They also made orders for the pulling down of all crucifixes, images, and altars in the churches. Even crosses were removed, by their authority, from the public streets and market places.^ In September, 1641, a joint committee of the two houses, with con- siderable executive and coercive powers, was ap- pointed to sit during the recess.^ And similar com- mittees, with unaccustomed functions, continued to form part of the administration of the parliament. Nor did they encroach upon the law alone : their en- croachments upon prerogative commenced very early in the strife. In August 1641, the two houses passed an ordinance, witliout the assent of the king, for dis- 'f'laronflon, 1.308-310. •' Whitlocke, 39 ; Pari. JTikL ii. 917. » Pari. ILst. ii. 078 ; Clarendon, I/int. i. 47.'5 ; llushwortli, v. 203, ♦ Nalson, Collrdion, ii. 234, 245. ' Wiiitlocko, 45. • llushwortb, v. 387 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 910-915. 408 ENGLAND. arming all tlie papists in England;^ and, in Novem- ber, another ordinance for raising forces for the de- fence of Ireland.^ And similar ordinances were passed throughout the time of the Long Parliament.^ These encroachments of the commons served to terrify all the agents of the government, to strengthen the par- liament, and to discourage opposition to its measures : but they were no more defensible than the excesses of which the king and his ministers had been accused ; and they marked the commencement of the revolu- tionary movement upon which parliament was about to enter. The revolutionary spirit of the Long Parliament was further shown by the dealings of the ence with commous with the House of Lords, its own members, and the people. Their own will was the only law which they were prepared to recog- nise. In December 1641, taking notice that certain bills had not been returned by the lords, they desired their lordships should be acquainted, at a conference, * that this house, being the representative body of the whole kingdom, and their lordships being but as par- ticular persons, and coming to parliament in a particu- lar capacity, that if they shall not be pleased to con- sent to the passing of those acts, and others necessary to the preservation and safety of the kingdom, that then this house, together with such of the lords that are more sensible of the safety of the kingdom, may join together and represent the same unto his Ma- jesty.'^ Thus early was displayed a determination to ' Com. Journ. Aug. 30, 1641 ; Clarendon, Hist. ii. 3. ^ Com. Journ. Nov. 9, 1641. ^ See Husband's Acts and Ordinances. * Com. Journ. Dec. 3, 1641, ii. 330. PARLIAMENTAKY EXCESSES. 409 deny tlie lords tlieir lawful rights of legislation. Nor would tlie J allow debates in tlie other house, of which they disapjiroved, to pass without censure. They j)un- ished the Duke of Eichmond for a few words, spoken in his place ;^ and impeached twelve of the bishops for a protest against the validity of proceedings of the House of Lords, while they were prevented from attending by the mob.^ In their own house they violently repressed all freedom of de- debate re- bate. Opposition to the majority was treated as a contempt, and punished with commitment or ex- pulsion.^ Privilege had become more formidable than prerogative. Petitions had now become an important instrument of j)olitical agitation. But the parliament AndriRht would not tolerate petitions, however mode- " ^'^ '"""' rate and respectful, which opposed their policy, or represented the opinions of the minority. Often the luckless petitioners were even sent to prison.* But petitioners, who approved the measures of the ma- jority, were received with favour, even when attended by mobs, which ought to have been discouraged and repelled.^ In our own time the multiplication of peti- tions in support of popular views of public poi)uiar policy, and as a means oi innuencmg parlia- ment and public opinion, has become familiar to us: but, until the meeting of this parliament, it had been < wildly unknown. Now, however, petitions were pre- ' Com. Journ. ii. 400, 543, &c. ; Pari. Ilist. ii. 1003. "^ Pari. Ilist. ii. 90p, 1093 ; Clarendon, Ilist. ii. 118-131. •< Com. Journ. ii. 158, 411, 703, &c. ; Pari. nUt. ii. 1073. * Pari. nut. ii. 1147, 1150, 1188 ; Clarendon, in.,„,. May, 1641. kmg could not rest here. They held him in profound distrust : they dreaded a dissolution, and a government by the sword. They had provided against the intermission of parliaments : but how should they protect themselves from the sudden overthrow of their own power, the renewed domination of the king, and his vengeance against themselves ? Their only j)rotection was to be sought in a bold invasion of the royal pre- rogative. They passed a bill to forbid a dissolution of the j)resent j^arliament, without its own consent ; and to this aggressive measure the king, humbled by de- feat, was constrained to give his assent. It was the fii'st undoubted infringement of the constitutional rights of the crown ; and it secured not only the in- dependence, but the mastery of the resolute commons. The parliament, having secured its own perma- nence, was more formidable than ever. But its victories over prerogative had satisfied atacco^n* many of the popular party : the public lib- erties had been* recovered : grievances had been re- dressed : unlawful acts had been condemned and pun- ished: might not peace and confidence between the king and the commons be, at length, restored ? For a time such a result seemed attainable, by the admis- sion of some of the parliamentary leaders to the service of tlie crowni :' but the more violent sections of the i)arty : the Presbyterians and Independents : men ' TTie Earls of Essex and Ilollaiul, Lords Say and Falkland, and Mr. St. .Tolin. The Earls of Hertford, Bedford, Bristol, and War- wick, and tLo Lords Savilo and Kimbolton, were also admitted to 412 ENGLAND. who desired furtlier clianges in Cliurcli and State : men who profoundly distrusted Charles and his court, determined that the struggft should not yet be closed. Nor was it possible to embrace all the leaders of tlie opposition, or to persuade the selected few to sepa- rate themselves from their party, and desert a cause which was still hotly pursued by their friends and adherents. The distrust of the popular party was further inflamed by the rebellion in Ireland. The horrible excesses of the Irish rebels could not be suffered to continue : but what if an army, raised for service in Ireland, should be used for the coercion of the English parliament? In June 1641 this party carried a bill to deprive the bishops of their votes in the House of Lords : but it was rejected by the other house. Again, to keep alive the strife, in November 1611, they voted a grand remonstrance to the king, in which they reviewed the several grievances under v/hich the country had lately suffered, the progress made by parliament in redressing them, and the ob- stacles still opposed to further reforms. It was a terrible indictment against the policy of the court; and was desicjned not so much as a remonstrance to the king, as an appeal to the people ; ^ and it was the Privy Council. Clarendon, Hist. i. 369 ; Rusliworth, v. 189. It was further proposed to make Holies Secretary of State, Pym Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, Lord Say Master of the Wards, the Earl of Esses governor, and Hampden tutor to the Prince of Wales. Claren- don, Uist. i. 210, 211. ■ Clarendon, Hist. ii. 49 ct seq. : 'It is the most authentic state- ment ever put forth of the wrongs endured by all classes of the English people during the first fifteen years of the reign of Charles I. ; and for that reason, the most complete justification on record of the Great Rebellion.' (Forster, The Grand Jlemonstrance, 114.) Every incident connected with this remonstrance is related, with ex- haustive fulness, in the work just cited. THE PURITANS. 413 responded to with passionate entliusiasm. The city of London made common cause with the parliament; and associations were formed, in the provinces, for the support of the commons in their bokl struggles for the public liberties. The chief political grievances, indeed, had been ali'eady redressed. But the Puritans were poijij^jj, more inflamed by religious than by political ^[r^larty^re^. grievances. They detested the bishops with ^r^'^sed. as much fury as their brethren in Scotland: they hated the liturgy : they were offended by the r^^^^ p^^j surplice: they objected to bowing towards ^*"^- the altar : they disapproved of the use of the cross in baptism, and of the ring in marriage; and of other usages and ceremonies of the church. The Scots had rebelled against these things, and had recovered their cherished forms of worship : the English Puritans were bent upon securing equal privileges for them- selves.^ The heroic and successful resistance of Calvinistic Holland to the oppressions of Pmitan Philip II., and the establishment of Puritan forms of worship in that countr}^ also animated the English Puritans with a more active and aggressive spirit. With them religion ever had the foremost place in politics ; and they could not rest until their faith had prevailed. AVith such religious zeal and hatreds among the Puritans, the revolutionary spirit was sus- rcvoIu- tained so long as the royal cause continued FpiXsus- to be identified with the church. Such men were ready to assist in any political convulsions which should ensure the fall of tlic church ; and, from the ' Clarciidon, Jlid. i. 230. 414 ENGLAND. peculiar religious opinions of this time, Church and State soon became confounded in the minds of zealots, in a common hatred, and exalted into a holy cause.^ The animosity and distrust of this party were not allayed by past successes : the more violent were medi- tating further restraints upon the king, and renewed assaults upon the bishops : while the courtiers pro- voked them by their haughty bearing and contemp- tuous language. The main object of the leaders, Pym, Hampden, and St. John, was to restrain the undue exercise of prerogative : the first aim of their Puritan followers, — the most irreconcilable members of the party, — was to overthrow episcopacy, and the domina- tion of the high church divines, and to arrest the Romish reaction, which was undoing the work of the reformers of the last century. On one side, the court regarded this party as in- Rashnessof soleut and disaffected, and its measures as the court, intolerable encroachments upon the just pre- rogatives of the crown. On the other, the majority of the patriots were bent upon the subversion of the existing polity, in Church and State. A mortal strug- gle was still threatenincr, which could only be Arrest of . the five averted by restoring some measure of confi- members, "^ . Januarys, deuce between the king and the commons, 1642. ^ , when Charles's rash and foolish attempt to ar- rest the five leaders of the popular party,^ in the House • In the seventeenth centuiy the church had so allied itself to the tyranny of the king and the persecution of other sects, that puritan- ism in England became the representative of democracy. — Lecky, nationalism in Europe, ii. 9. ■^ Pym, Hampden, Denzel Holies, Sir Arthur Haslerig, and Strode. May, 5zs^ oftlie Pari, book ii. chap. ii. ; Forster, Arrat of the Five Members, xii.-xxi. &c. In this work, much of the history of the time is grouped round this central incident. THE MILITLV BILL. 415 of Commons, at once destroyed all hope of accommoda- tion. To have put down the obnoxious parliament, by force of arms, might have been attempted by a strong- handed monarch : but to irritate a powerful and hos- tile body, by this feeble outrage, was fatal to Charles and to the monarchy. Many who had still hoped to control prerogative by remonstrances and remedial statutes now saw that they had to deal with a king, whose insincerity had been too often exposed, whom no constitutional securities could restrain, and whose arbitrary temper was ever ready to outrage law and privilege. Still stronger measures were now determined upon. First, the Puritans were gratified by the pass- ing of their cherished measure, for depriving opposition the bishops of their seats in the upper house, to which the lords agreed, and the king was con- strained to give his assent. Next, a more serious in- vasion of prerogative was proposed, than any which had yet been ventured upon. The commons had, for some time, shown their jealousy of the king's uncon- trolled power over the military forces of the country • and they now passed a bill to wrest the con- 1 p 1 '1- ' 1 The Militia trol oi the mihtia from the crown, and to ^iii. . ' Feb. 1042. place it under the orders of the two houses of parliament. To such a bill tlie king could not bo expected to consent. He could not deliver up his Bword to his ^^nomies, without first doing battle. If willing to share his power with the parliament, he could not strip himself of it altogether. After some parley, he at lengtli refused his assent to the bill ; * and prepared for the impending contest, which was to cost him Iji.s life. ' Clarendon, Ilitit. ii. 261. CHAPTER XX. ENGLAND {continued). THE CrVTL WAR — RUIN OF THE 150YAL CAUSE — THE KING, THE ARMY — CROMWELL AND THE PARLIAMENT — REPUBLICAN OPINIONS — TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF CHARLES, A CRISIS was now at hand, in which parliamentary strife was to give place to the arbitrament of the sword. ^1^^ i.. ^ The public excitement which prevailed, and loaves the tumultuous assemblages which the par- London. ^ " X liamentary struggle had encouraged, afforded the king sufficient ground for leaving his capital : but he was already preparing to resist any further inva- sion of his prerogatives, by an appeal to arms. His queen was sent abroad, with the crown jewels, to equip foreign troops for the king's service, while he himself retired to the north of England, and com- menced preparations for raising an army.^ At York, he was followed by the 'nineteen propositions' which, if assented to, would have made him a mere puppet in the hands of the parliament. "With the fortunes of war before him, no king could have submitted to such conditions ; and his preparations were continued. He was soon surrounded by faithful followers and prepara- adherents to his cause. Peers and members war^"*^ of the House of Commons, who had vainly raised their voices for him at Westmin- ' May, Hist, of the Pari, book ii. ch. ii. THE CIVIL WAE. 417 ster, followed him to York. Tliey were generally averse to war; and would have advised any reason- able accommodation betwen the king and the parlia- ment. There were country gentlemen, friends of liberty, but loyal to the crown, and resolute to de- The king's fend their king against his enemies. There adherents. were spirited young nobles and gentlemen eager to chastise the rebellious Puritans, whom they despised and hated. There were Catholics ready to draw their swords for what they believed to be the common cause of the monarchy and the Catholic faith. And there were soldiers, trained to arms in continental wars, who were burning to gain fresh laurels upon English battle-fields. A cause thus supported soon gathered together a considerable army. Was it to be used for making reasonable terms with the parlia- ment, or for overthrowing the popular part}', and crushing the liberties of the people, which had lately been secured? The best and worthiest advisers of Charles desired no more than to save his just pre- rogatives from the encroachments of the parliament. The courtiers, the soldiers, and the more headstrong of the royalists, were eager to march to Westminster, to scourge the parliamentary rebels, and to restore the king to Whitehall, as absolute master of his do- minions. That the king's forces would soon be en- gaged with the troops was only too certain. Sir John Hotliara, who had been made governor of Hull, re- fused admittance to the king liimself,^ and everywhere preparations were being made, by the parliament, for meeting the royal forces in the field. ' May, Uint. of the Pari, book ii. cli. ii. 18* 418 ENGIAND. If there were divided counsels at York, there were Divided counsels iio Ibss divided at Westminster. Westt^?*^ The parliament had not been slow in collect- Kter. jj^g g^jj army to resist the king : but the ap- proaching civil war was regarded with conflicting feelings by different sections of the popular party. The royalists had generally seceded from both houses : but there remained many moderate men who deplored the extremities to which they had been driven, and would gladly have averted the shedding of blood. But when the sword had been drawn, vain was the office of peacemakers on either side. The early suc- cesses of the king, indeed, strengthened for a time the endeavours of the peace party in parliament : but, at the same time, they gave encouragement to the uncom- promising party among the royalists. Negotiations were tried at Oxford between the king and the par- liament: but neither pai*ty was ready to make con- cessions which the other could accept ; and the final issue was now left to the sword. On both sides, the contest assumed a more irrecon- The civil cilable character. The secession of other war. royalists and moderate men from the par- liament, left the conduct of affairs in the hands of the extreme party at "Westminster; while the rup- ture of negotiations for peace confirmed the ascen- dency of the warlike party, in the councils of the king. The commons impeached the queen : the king declared the two houses to be no parliament: the two houses passed an ordinance for making a new great seal ; and, in order to win over the Scots, they entered into a ' solemn league and covenant ' league and to abolish prelacy, and adopt the Presbyte- covenant. • <• t> i t i • -n i i nan lorm oi church government m Jiingiand : THE INDEPENDENTS. 419 they persecuted the clergy of the Anglican Church: they revived the impeachment of Laud, which had been suffered to sleep for the last three jj^^^^j^ lo years, while the unhappy prelate remained ^'*^- a prisoner in the Tower, and at length brought him to the block. Meanwhile, the king had summoned another parlia- ment at Oxford,^ which threatened to be as ^^t .- ' Ncgotia- troublesome as some former parliaments at ti""«f«r -i peace, Westminster. It was moderate and consti- ^''^• tutional, and more earnest in its aversion to Catholics, than in its zeal for the king's cause : but, above all, it was pacific, and insisted upon further overtures for peace. Negotiations were accordingly carried on at Uxbridge : but the breach was too wide between the two parties, and the fortunes of war were as yet too undecided, to allow of a peaceful solution of the strife. Nor, if the conditions of a peace could have been agreed upon, could Charles and his indissoluble par- liament have quietly laid down their arms, and re- turned to the steady track of constitutional govern- ment. They had drawn the sword, and could not sheathe it again until one or other was the conqueror. The two parties were irreconcilable ; and their long- continued strife had embittered their personal feuds, and increased the divergence of their principles. A republican spirit was now beginning to be apjia- rent, especially among the Independents. ^,,^. j^^^j^ These men no longer sought concessions pendents. from the crown, or securities for popular rights : but aimed at the overthrow of the monarchy, and the ruin ' In the convention at Oxford with tlio king there were more peers than at Westminster, and nearly two hundred nienibors of tho Ilouse of Commons. Pari. Uiat. iii. 202. 420 ENGLAND. of the hated cliurcli. They were the first example of a democratic party in England. Liberty had often had its fearless champions : but democracy was un- known. The Independents had gradually separated themselves from the Presbyterians; and as their creed was more subversive of ecclesiastical institu- tions, so were their political views more violent and implacable. Their political ideal was a republic, without king or nobles, in which all citizens should enjoy an absolute equality. Of this stern and reso- lute party Oliver Cromwell, Sir Harry Yane, Natha- niel Eiennes, and Oliver St. John were the leaders ; and their capacity and strength of will were destined to prevail over their rivals. In parliament and in the country, their party formed an insignificant minority : it was in the parliamentary army alone that they could hope to attain ascendency. Cromwell, who had already risen to eminence as a Oliver soldier, clearly foresaw that the army would Cromwell. ^^^^ , ^-^^ |^^ l^^^j^ ^^ ^^^^ ^ud parliament ; ' ^ and his character and opportunities alike led him to seek power from the soldiery rather than from parlia- ment. A consummate general, and a popular comman- der, his influence in the army was paramount. His skill and bravery in the field : his familiarity with his Puritan soldiers : his fanatical spirit : his prayers and pious exhortations, made him the idol of the Ptound- head soldiery, who held the fortunes of the country in their hands. In parliament he could not have at- tained pre-eminence, otherwise than as a successful soldier. As a speaker he was tedious, obscure, con- fused and unimpressive : his purposes were dark and » Statement of the Earl of Manchester. Clarendon, Hist, of the Bchellion, v. 5G1. SELF-DENYING ORDINiVlsCE. 421 inscrutable ; and lie addressed a Presbyterian majority, who were members of a different school in religion and politics, and distrusted his policy and his ambition. The leaders of the Independents were no less strong in the pulpit than in the army ; and, when- ever they desired to sway public opinion, pendent*^' their preachers were ready at their calL ^^'^^'^'^^''■ With the word of God for ever in their mouths, they interpreted his will, at pleasure, with all the force of revelation ; and every design of their leaders was pro- claimed as the voice of the Holy Spirit. With the fervid faith of the ancient Hebrews, they taught that God's hand directed and controlled every act of man ; and they assumed to reveal his divine purposes. In their eyes, the government of England had become a theocracy, and God himself ruled through his minis- ters and instruments. No more powerful auxiliaries could have been found than these impassioned preacli- ers, whoso inspiration was never doubted by their God- fearing flocks.^ The ambitious leaders of the Independent party, jealous of the ascendency of the Presbyte- rians in parliament, in the army, and in the inK'>n"-^ chief offices of State, conceived a cunning scheme for stripping them of their power. Their preachers, having first denounced the self-seeking and covetous disposition of members of parliament, who had taken to themselves the cliief commands in the army, and the most lucrative civil offices, — to the in- jury of tlie State, and against the manifest will of God, who had made their enterprises to fail, — they pro- posed the celebrated ' self-denying ordinance.' By ' See Seldon, Tablr. Talk, Work.s, iii., part ii. 2012. 422 ENGLAND. this ordinance tlie members of both houses were called upon to renounce all their military commands and civil offices ; and, after much debate, and with many misgivings, the Presbyterian majority, against whose domination it was obviously directed, were per- suaded or constrained to submit to this act of sui- cide. By this artful scheme Cromwell at once superseded Presby- Lords Essex, Manchester and Warwick, and geneniis other chief officers of the army. Sir Thomas superseded. pg^jj.fg^-j ^g^g appointed general, while Crom- well himself, cunningly evading the operation of the ordinance, contrived to retain his command as lieu- tenant-general ; and became practically the leader of the parliamentary forces. Never had a political party been so outwitted by the bold artifices of a crafty mi- nority. All power was now in the hands of the Inde- pendents ; and a fierce republican spirit animated their councils. Hitherto commissions in the parliamentary army had been issued in the name of the king and parliament : Fairfax's commission was granted by the parliament only. Even the pretence of loyalty was now cast aside. With new officers in command, the army was in- New spired with fresh fanaticism. The officers ofVe ^°^ preached and prayed with their men ; and army, o. gQ|(jJQj.g^ possessed with a wild religious fervour, sang psalms and songs of praise, and dis- cussed among themselves the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, which had been vouchsafed to them. This religious enthusiasm, — however derided by the royalists, and however repugnant to the taste of other sects in that and succeeding ages, — formed the great strength of the parliamentary army. It maintained r.\LL OF THE CinniCH OF ENGLAND. 423 the influence of the sectarian officers : it animated the men to fight and suffer in a holy cause ; and it en- sured a stern and spontaneous discipline. While riot and disorders weakened the royalist forces, and made them objects of dread no less to their friends than to their foes, the despised Roundheads, steady, earnest and elated, -were marching, with the spirit of cru- saders, to victory. The battle of Naseby ruined the fortunes of the king, and established the ascendency of The battle CromwelL The unhappy king, everywhere june^i^/' defeated, and without hope from any of the ^j^.g English parties, at length sought refuge with ^'^• the Scots at Newark. The Presbyterians were less hostile to him than the dominant Independents ; and he hoped for the friendly mediation of his northern subjects. Never were hopes more falsified. He found himself a prisoner in the Scottish camp ; and no sooner had the Scots, turning their royal prize to good account, made terms with the English January 30, parliament, for the payment of their arrears, than they surrendered their captive to his enemies. With the overthrow of the royal cause by the hands of the Puritans, the ruin of the Church of England was also consummated. Prelacy cimrciiof had been, for some time, abolished; and now the Presbyterian polity was introduced into the Church : but lawyers and laj-men of rational views of church government, assisted by the Independents, were able to moderate the intolerance and priestly pretensions of the scheme which Scottish Presbyte- rians would fain have imposed upon England.^ In a ' See the Ordinance ; Rusbwortb, vii. 210 ; ibid. 2G0, 308 ; Wliite- lock, 100. 424 ENGLAND. Presbyterian cliurcli tliere was no toleration for the Episcopal clergy. Denounced as prelatists and royal- ists, about one half were ejected from their benefices :^ the other half being content to conform to the new establishment, to give up the liturgy, and subscribe the covenant. Nor was this settlement long allowed to continue without disturbance : for when the Inde23endent3 gained the ascendent, they were opposed to a national established church, and preferred ministers of their own sect, or itinerant preachers, to the Presbyterian and conform- ing clergy.^ The parliament was victorious, and was not slow to claim the rights of conquerors. It was com- of the par- puted that nearly half the estates of England were sequestered during the civil war, as the property of delinquents. Committees were appointed throughout the country to seek out delinquents, se- quester their estates, and subject them to fines and imprisonment. They were absolute masters of the fortunes and liberty of Englishmen ; and their powers were exercised with rude severity, and with scarcely any control from the parliament.^ The committee-men, no less renowned for their piety than for their rigour, proclaimed it as their mission to spoil the Egyptians, and offered up prayers that the sins of their victims might be forgiven. ' Dr. John Walker, Numbers and Sufferings of the Clergy. ' In Wales, the clergy having been ejected as Malignants, their places were supplied by a few itinerant preachers. Dr. John Walker, Numbers and Sufferings of the Clergy, 147. This was probably one of the first causes of the general spread of dissent in Wales. ^ Walker, Hist, of Independency, 5 ; Eush worth, vii. 598. Claren- don, Hist, of the EebeUion, vii. 250, vii. 188. CROMWELL OVERCOMES THE T.UILL^MENT. 425 The king being powerless, and liis cause desperate, the contest for power now lay between the Qf^^f^i^.^ ^g. Presbyterians and the Independents, and be- byflrJans""* tween the parliament and the army. The pen^entt Presbyterians still commanded a majority in i^'-it^^i- parliament : but they well knew the insecurity of their power, in presence of a victorious army, commanded by the leaders of the rival faction. As the war had been brought to a successful issue, they proposed to disband a part of the army, and further to weaken it by sending detachments for service in Ireland. But their crafty rivals were not to be overcome by these devices. A mutiny in the army was readily fomented. The devout sectaries denounced the sinfulness of dis- banding soldiers who had fought God's battles against the unrighteous : two ' agitators ' were chosen by each troop or company ; and the whole army was organised to resist the parliament. While Cromwell was affect- ing to mediate between the parliament and the army, the king, who had hitherto been in the custody of parliamentaiy commissioners, was seized and brouglit into the camp. Master of the king's person, and un- disputed leader of the army, Cromwell now assumed tlio chief command, and suddenly marched his forces against the parliament. That body had few friends to rally in its defence. Even in the peculiar sanctity of the time, it cromwoii had been outdone by the sectarian army. "iy,''''^",Iii'i^ The rule of the parliament was at an end, "'^"^• and had passed into the hands of the bold and crafty general. The leaders of the Presbyterian party were proscribed, and forced to withdraw ; and every demand of the army was conceded. When the army withdrew, tlie parliamont was coerced by the npprontices and 426 ENGLAND. IDopulace of London. In times of revolution, when law and order are in abeyance, a parliament is im- potent. Its accustomed supports, — respect for tlie law, the reverence of the people, and the material aid of the executive power, — are wanting, and it becomes the sport of military dictation on one side, and popu- lar violence on the other. And such was now the ab- ject condition of the once powerful Long Parliament. Meanwhile the captive king was courted by all par- Thckin-in ties. Whichever party could make terms captivity. ^^-^ 1^-^^ seemed assured of a triumph over the other. The king's chief reliance was upon the army, which was at once the most powerful body, and seemed the most indulgent to himself. Cromwell and his generals were courteous and respectful : they spoke of his restoration, and discussed his preroga- tives and the settlement of his revenue. On his side, the king endeavoured to tempt their ambition by offers of honours and high commands.^ That Crom- well could have been seduced from his greater ambi- tion, and from his republican principles, by any rewards which the king was able to offer, is most improbable : nor could he have counted upon the support of his fanatical troops in restoring a king, whom they had been taught to abhor as Antichrist. In their eyes, he would have been a traitor to their common cause, bought over by the enemy. But, while cherishing hopes from Cromwell and the He rejects army, the king was active in his negotiations tions of'the witli the parliament and the Scots ; and was """^" endeavouring to play off each party against 'According to Hume, he offered Cromwell the Garter, the earl- dom of Esses, and the command of the army ; and Ireton the lieu- tenancy of Ireland. Hist of England, v. 333, THE KING ESCAPES FROM ILUilPTON COURT. 427 tlie otlier. At length the propositions of the army- were submitted to him at Hampton Court ; and, still hoping to secure better terms elsewhere, he rejected them. That the conditions were hard, cannot be denied : but they were less severe than any yet pro- posed, even when his fortunes were not so low. He was conquered and a captive : the army alone could restore him to his throne : it could trample upon the parliament, and defy the Scots, whose succour he vainly expected : yet he ventured to offend his mas- ters at this crisis of his fate. It may, indeed, be doubt- ed whether these conditions were framed, in good faith, for his acceptance. For the time, all parties seemed to be agreed that the king must be treated with, and his concurrence secured in the future gov- ernment of the State. Hence the army was bound to make proposals for a settlement : but none of the parties, in treaty with the king, were so little disposed to favour the revival of his power, as the fierce re- publican soldiery and their ambitious leaders. But, whatever the motives which dictated these proposals, their rejection was resented by the army : his dealings in other quarters were not unknown to the leaders : liis letters had been intercepted; and designs unfa- vourable to themselves were apprehended. Hence- forth the king's captivity was made intolerable : a stricter watch was kept over him : his accustomed in- dulgences were witlidrawn; and even the danger of assassination was hinted at. Ill at ease, and despairing of more favourable treat- ment from the army, Charles hastily escaped Escape from Hampton Court. It was well to re- ii.impton cover his freedom ; and, if he could have fled across the Chamud, his life, and possibly his throne, 428 ENGLAND. miglit have been saved. But, with a strange fatuity, he directed his steps to the Isle of Wight, — as to a trap, — and was immediately made a safe prisoner in Carisbrook Castle. Even here there still seemed hopes of the roj^al The king cause, though in truth his enemies were paHia'-^ gathering round about him. Charles offered uient. fresh terms of accommodation to the parlia- ment : but, in reply, they submitted to him four bills, as preliminaries to a treaty, to which he refused his assent. The commons, acting upon the advice of Ire- ton and Cromwell, retorted by a resolution that no more addresses should be presented to the king, nor communications received from him ; and. in this reso- lution the lords were induced to concur. So decisive a resolution, amounting to a renunciation of allegi- ance, by both houses of parliament, marked the in- creasing breach between the king and his enemies. By fresh elections the Independents had gained strength in the House of Commons ; and, through the lapse of the self-denying ordinance, the chief officers of the army belonging to that party, had found seats in that assembly. Cromwell, who had first encour- aged political agitation in the army, in order to coerce the parliament, had found it necessary, for the sake of discipline, to repress it. And now that his own party had recovered influence in parliament, he pru- dently put that body forward, in furtherance of his own designs, while he kept the army, for a time, in the background. Not the less were the destinies of the country still Resolution govemed by Cromwell and his generals. generals, And about this time they came to a momen- ^^" tons resolution concerning the king's fate. THE SCOTTISH INYASION. 429 At a secret council held at Windsor, they agreed that, so long as the king lived, the country would be dis- turbed by insurrections and civil wars ; and that it was therefore necessary to bring him to justice for his crimes against the people.^ The execution of these dread counsels, however, was for the present suspended. As a last rpi^gg^^j. hope of safety, Charles had executed a se- tishmva- cret treaty with the Scots' commissioners, in which he engaged to establish the Presbyterian dis- cipline in England, and to suppress the Independents and other rival sects, while the Scots, in return for this concession to their faith, promised him the aid of an army to restore him to the tlirone. In execution of this treaty, a Scottish army marched into England; and insurrections were raised in various parts of the country. In the midst of negotiations with the army, and the leaders of the Independents, he had betra^^ed them to their Presbyterian rivals, and had again brought civil war into the land. Cromwell and the army now bitterly accused him of treachery and treason. But for a time, this diversion seemed hope- ful to the royal cause. Fairfax, Cromwell, and the generals hurried, with the army, to the north, to re- pel the invasion, and quell the insurrections ; and the Presbyterian party in parliament, strengthened by their absence, and emboldened by the invasion of their Scottish brethren, revoked the hostile votes against the king, and opened fresh negotiations with liim for the settlement of the kingdom. But Tmityof before the terms of the treaty of Newport, as sipt!""^ ' it was termed, could bo agreed upon, the ' Claroriflon. JTixt. v. 92, vi. 224 ; Sir J. Berldcy, Man. Masere^ Tracts, i. 'Mi ; Sumcrs' Trucln, vi. 4'JU ; Ilumo, Hist. v. 242. 430 ENGLAND. Scottish invaders were routed, and the royalist ris- ings everywhere crushed by the vigour and prompti- tude of the parliamentary generals. The victorious army was once more opposed to the parliament ; and the resolutions of its leaders t-trance of wcre uow opeuly declared. At a council of the army, , , , Nov. 17, generals, a remonstrance was agreed upon, denouncing the proposed treaty with the king, and demanding that he should be brought to justice for the treason and bloodshed of which he had been guilty.^ Petitions to the same effect were pre- sented to the commons : while clamours were raised among the soldiers, and appeals thundered from the pulpits, for punishing the great delinquent for his crimes. For a time, the parliament withstood the haughty The army demands of the army with dignity : but troops pariia-" Were quickly despatched to Westminster to mcnt. invest the houses of parliament. Even then the commons were preparing to conclude the treaty with the king : but further resistance to the will of the generals was summarily prevented by a coup cTetat Colonel Pride with his soldiers seized 41 members, and excluded by force 160 other members of the Pres- byterian party. By 'Pride's purge,' as it was purine. Dec. jocularly termed, the House of Commons was now reduced to about 60 members, wholly devoted to Cromwell and his confederates. Since the beginning of the strife little freedom had been al- lowed in parliament : opposition had been punished as delinquency,^ and lately the army had dictated its pleasure to the majority : but never yet had so gross ' Nov. 17tli, 1648. Pari. Hist. iu. 1077. ' See supra, 40G. THE AEMY AND THE P^mLIMIENT. 431 au outrage been attempted upon the privileges and indejjendence of parliament. Yet so little did tliat body command tlie respect of the j)eople, that its ignominy excited more ridicule than resentment. This remnant of the Long Parliament was a ready instrument for carrying out Cromwell's de- _^ '' " . Theparha- signs. It was no part of his policy that he "^^^^^j^^"'^ and his generals should have the responsi- bility of bringing the king to trial. It was fitter that it should fall upon the j^arliament. Nay, even as a member of that body, he shrank fi'om advising a mea- sure, upon the execution of which he had long since determined ; and, with characteristic hypocrisy, he assigned to divine inspiration, the bloody counsels which he shrank from avowing as his own.^ The commons, familiar with the hypocritical language of their own school, were not slow to carry out the set- tled scheme of their crafty leaders. They resolved that it was treason for a king to levy war against his parliament ; and appointed a High Court of Justice to try Charles Stuart, King of England, for this of- fence. The lords unanimously refused to concur in this resolution : whereuj^on the commons declared * that the people are, under God, the origin of all just power; and that the commons of England, being chosen by and representing the people, have the su- preme power of the nation ; and that whatsoever is enacted and declared for law by the com- j.^^, ^ mous in parliament assembled, hath the force ^'''^• ' lie said, ' Since ProvUlence and necessity have cast us u])on it, I will pray God for a blessinj^ on your counsels, tliou^li T iini not pre- piired to give you my advice upon this inii)ortant occnsion. . . . When I was lately offerinf^ up petitions for his Majesty's restora- tion, I felt my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, and con- 432 ENGLAND. of a law, and all tlie people of tliis nation are con- cluded thereby, althougli the consent and concurrence of the king or the House of Peers be not had thereto.' Having thus disposed of all authority but their own, they passed the ordinance for the trial of the king. The most democratic act in the history of Europe, was about to be consummated, by the will of Growth of I 1 1 P . • 1 it'i)ubiicaa a few resolute men, supported by a lanaticai army, and a small minority of the represen- tatives of the people. It is certain that a majority of Englishmen did not desire the execution of the king, or the foundation of a republic. Rancorous hatred of the king, and schemes of republican government, were mainly confined to the Independents and other fana- tical sects, with whom these sentiments were inflamed by the fervid harangues of their ministers, by their own perverted readings of the Scriptures, and by the excitement of a bloody civil war. The soldiers of those sects had received a further impulse, in this di- rection, from their ambitious officers, who used their passionate devotion to urge them on to deeds of dar- ing in the battle-field. The political organisation of the army, and the en- couragements given to discussions among the SjOldiers, had also advanced the growth of tieaimy. j-epublicau opiuious. In the new -modelled army, the king was commonly denounced as a tyrant, and his death spoken of as a just atonement for his crimes. The levellers and Commonwealth's Levellers. men insisted upon the abolition of the mon- archy and the House of Lords, and the establishment sidered this preternatural movement as the answer which Heaven, having rejected the king, had sent to my supplications.' — Pari. Hist. Kepubli- canism in EEPUBLICAN OPINIONS. 433 of a new commonwealtli in wliicli all men should be equal. The sectarian preachers found amj^le warrant in Scripture for bringing the king to the sc,.iptu,.ai scaffold. Casting all the blame of the war wanams. upon him, they cried, 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed ; ' ^ and again, ' The land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.' ^ The king's enemies were saints in their sight, and were ex- horted, in the words of the Psalmist, ' to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron : to execute upon them the judgment written : this honour have all his saints.' ^ Nor were these religious inducements confined to fanatical preachers and their coarse and ig- pioty and norant followers. Such was the spirit of the '^'"^''" *^' time, that grave and temperate men like Colonel Hutchinson persuaded themselves that God had en- lightened them in prayer, and had guided their con- sciences to a righteous judgment.^ The Presbyterians were not less earnest in their re- ligious faith than the Independents, and had r^^^ p,.,jg. especially laboured to overthrow the Church i>:it^"""«- of England, and establish their own ecclesiastical polity. They had been foremost in resisting the early encroachments of prerogative, and had entered with zeal into all the measures of the parliament for bring- ing the civil war to a successful issue. But between them and the Independents a separation arose, during . the contest, which was continually widening. They were united in their opposition to the church : but ' Genesis ix. G. Somcrs' Tracts, v. IGO ct seq. » * Numbers xxxv. 33. ' 4«t1i Psalm. * HuLcliiusou, Mem. 303. VOL. II.— 1!) 43i ENGLAND. tlie Presbyterians desired another clmrcli government upon tlieir own model : wliile the Independents claimed for each congregation complete freedom and independence. The Presbyterian church polity was republican in form, and tended to develop a demo- cratic spirit in politics, as the history of Scotland, since the Eeformation, had shown. But this spirit, while it encouraged resistance to the civil power, in ques- tions affecting the church, and a stubborn and turbu- lent fi'eedom in temporal affairs, did not assume hos- tility to the principles of monarchical government. The Independents, insisting upon individual free- The intie- ^°^ ^^ religion, were led to more advanced pendents, speculations upon the form of civil govern- ment, which tended, more and more, towards republi- canism. In religion, they surpassed their rivals in the outward forms of sanctity, in scriptural phrase- ology, and in theocratic faith. Led by ambitious soldiers, and bearing the brunt of the later battles against the king, their hatred of royalty was inflamed by dangers, by hard-won victories, and by the enmi- ties of ci^dl war. This party, which claimed superior godliness, and sought the Almighty for guidance in all its actions, was now bent upon bringing the king to the block, and overthrowing the monarchy. The regicides of England, in the seventeenth century, were distinguished for their religious fervour : the regicides of France, in the eighteenth century, were no less consj)icuous for their frantic zeal against religion. But the political principles of these parties were the same ; and, in each case, according to the necessaiy l,aw of revolutions, the extreme party ultimately tri- umphed, before a reaction set in against their vio- lence. TEIAL AND EXECUTION OF THE KING. 435 Upon tliis independent party, represented by Crom- •well and liis generals, and by the small band o ' -^ _ Trial niul of members permitted to sifin tlie House of execution .,.,. (•!• • of the king. Commons, rests the responsibility ot bringing the king to trial. There was no flinching on their part : no weakness or hesitation in venturing upon this unprecedented measure. The High Court of Jus- tice was appointed by the commons ; and among its members were Cromwell and his generals, and men who had prejudged his cause. Charles, who had borne his long troubles with patient dignity, acquitted himself nobly on this momentous occasion. He was accused of having traitorously and maliciously levied war against the parliament : he refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of a court founded upon usurpation : the judges were his subjects, and could not sit in judgment on their lawful king, who could do no wrong. Such pleas were not likely to be regarded ; and on the fourth day of his trial, sentence of death was pronounced upon him. Some few of his enemies would even now have spared his life : but Cromwell and his confederates were obdurate ; and j,„, g^^ three days afterwards, the unfortunate king ^^'-i^^- expiated the errors of his life, upon the memorable scaffold, at Whitehall. Tlio men who had done this deed of blood justified themselves to God, and to their own cou- scienccs : but Enjrland and all Jliurope ex- rmy wnti- 1 • 1 • ••11 1 • ^• mciils. claimed against it with horror and indigna- tion. The king's errors had made him, for a time, unpopular with his people : but the violence and in- justice of tlie fjiction wlio hud taken his life, and tlio nolde dignity v/ith Avliich lie luul borne liis sniiorings, went far t(j revive their atlcctions for himself and his 436 ENGLAND. family. Beyond the narrow bounds of tlie Indepen- dents and tlie army, there were none to approve the execution of the fallen king. By the royalists of that day, and later by the High o inions Church and Tory party, the memory of 'King upon the Charles the Martyr,' was held sacred ; and cutioii. |;i^0 res'icides have been condemned as mur- derers. On the other side, the execution of the king has been extolled, in this and other countries, as a great act of national justice. But we have now learned to view controversies between rulers and their sub- jects, with a more temperate judgment. That the parliament, ha^dng taken up arms against the king and conquered, would have been justified in mem of" deposing him, can scarcely be questioned by pos en y. ^^^ ^^^ accept the principles of the revolu- tion of 1688. And such is the course which woidd have been approved by the judgment of posterity. But few will be found to vindicate his execution as a traitor. The responsibility of the civil war was shared by the king and the parliament. They fought : they negotiated; and at length the parliament prevailed. The king was their prisoner : but is it lawful to put a prisoner of war to death? He was condemned, not for his early abuses of prerogative, but simply for making war upon the parliament, and the people whom they represented, — a crime unknown to the laws of England. Nor was this the parliament whom the people had chosen. The royalists had been ex- pelled as delinquents : the Presbyterians had been driven out by military force ; the peers had been set aside ; and a small minority of the king's bitterest enemies had been left to do the bidding of the victo- rious generals, who had resolved that their royal pri- OPINIONS UPON THE KING's EXECUTION. 437 soner sliould die tlie deatli of .1 traitor. No sufficient plea of averting danger to tlie State, can be urged in defence of this act of political vengeance. Still less will the revelations of God's pleasure, as interpreted by religious, or hypocritical, enthusiasts, be accepted as an excuse. In truth, the execution of Charles was the worst, and, happily, one of the last, of the judicial murders by which the annals of England have been stained. CHAPTEPw XXI. ENGLAND [continued). THE COMMONWEALTH — REPUBLICAN THEORIES — CROMWELL PRO. TECTOR — HIS ARBITRARY RULE — VIGOUR OF HIS ADMINISTRA- TION—HIS AMBITION — HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER— RICHARD CROMWELL — THE RESTORATION — REVOLUTION OF 1688 — POLITI- CAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND FROM THAT PERIOD UNTIL THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III, The king was dead ; and England was without a law- Provisionai ^^^^ government. The parties which liad me^nt"'' been unable to save his life, were powerless to call a successor to his throne ; and the State became, by the force of circumstances, a re- Feb. oand Public or commonwealth, as Cromwell had 7, 1648-19. designed it to be.^ The commons resolved that the House of Peers and the monarchy should be abolished ; and soon afterwards a Council of State was appointed, charged with the executive administration of the State. But as yet no republican constitution was promulgated.^ At length ' The principal authorities for this period are : Clareodon, Ilist. of the Rebellion, and State Papers; Bisset, Hist, of the Common- wealth; Walker, Hist, of Independency ; Thurloe, State Papers; Burton, Diary ; Carlyle, Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches; Guizot, The Repiihlte and Cromxcell. ^ A new great seal was struck, with a motto inscribed ' On the first year of freedom, by God's blessing restored, 1648,' which may have served as a model to French republicans in the next century. Clarendon, Ilist. vi. 247. REPUBLICAN THEORIES. 439 acts were passed for the abolition of the kingly office and of the House of Lords ; and the com- March mons published a declaration, in which they ^'' ^^' explained the grounds upon which they had ' judged it necessary to change the government of this nation from the former monarchy into a republic, and not to have any more a king to tyrannise oyer them.' ^ It was now declared that the people of England * shall be and are hereby constituted, made, estab- lished, and confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free State.' There was no lack of republican theories. The levellers contended for a political and social Republican equality, and a community of goods, not un- theories. like the scheme of the French socialists of a later age.^ The Millenarians, or fifth monarchy men, lioj)ed ' Pari. ntst. iii. 1292. ** Probably these extreme views were held by a small section only of the party generally described as levellers ; while the majority were steady republicans, who opposed the pretensions of Cromwell and his officers. Some ' were willing to acknowledge the proprie- tors of lands, and principally the lords of manors, as their elder brothers, and rightfully possessed of the chief inheritance ; but prayed to be allowed to cultivate the wastes and commons for their support' (Hutchinson, Mem. 317, w. Bohn's ed.)- Wallier, in his Uistory of Independency, part ii. p. 138, says of them : ' They are the truest assertors of humane liberty, and the most constant and faithful to their jjrinciplen of any in the army . . . though they have many redundancies and superfluous opinions yet to be pruned off by conversing with discreet honest men, or rather, by a discreet and just publique autliority.' Again he calls them ' enemies to ar- bitrary government, tyranny, and oppression, whether they find it in the government of one or many ; whether in a councel of officers, a councel of state, or a fag end of a House of Commons ; whether it vailo itselfe with the title of a sui)reine authority, or a logislativo ])Ower.' And he hcrf; i)rints a decl.iriitiou of that body entitled ' England's Standard advanced,' in which there is no trace of tho 440 ENGLAND. to establisli a theocracy, in wliicli Christ should su- persede the agencies of men, until his second com- ing.^ The Anabaptists cherished a democratic ideal of the reign of reason in Church and State. The peculiar views attributed to them (ibid. 168). Elsewliere he ex- tracts from ' The Leveller Vindicated ' the following passage : ' The whole fabrick of this commonwealth is fallen into the grossest and vilest tyranny that ever Englishmen groaned under, &c.,' in proof that their aim was to resist the martial domination of Cromwell and his officers (ibid. 348). Clarendon speaks of the levellers as a ' des- perate party — many whereof had been the most active agitators in the army, who had executed his (Cromwell's) orders and designs in incensing the army against the Parliament, and had been at this time his sole confidents and bedfellows : who, from the time he as- sumed the title of protector, which to them was as odious as that of king, possessed a mortal hatred to his person ' (Hist, of the Be- hellion, vii. 34). In ' The Leveller, or the Principles and Maxims concerning gov- ernment and religion which are assorted by those that are com- monly called " Levellers," ' 1659, the tenets imputed to them of favouring a division of lands are denied. In politics their prin- ciples are there defined as equality before the law : the making of laws and levying of money by the people's deputies in Parlia- ment, and the putting down of mercenary armies. In religion the widest toleration is asserted in some remarkable passages. It is said ' the only means to preach the true religion, under any gov- ernment, is to endeavour rightly to inform the people's consciences, by whose dictates God commands them to be guided.' 'Christ never mentioned any penalties to be inflicted on the bodies or purses of unbelievers, because of their unbelief.' — Harleian Miscel- lany, iv. 543. See also Godwin, Hist, of the Commonwealth, iii. 65 ; iv. 160-165, 260. ' The creed of this party is exemplified by the grotesque scene of the Five Lights, enacted at Walton-on-Thames by Master Faucet, the minister of the parish, in which he revealed the will of God, that the Sabbath, tithes, ministers, magistrates, and even the bible should be abolished as ' useless, now that Christ himself is in puri- tie of spirit come amongst us, and hath erected the kingdom of the saints upon earth . . . now Christ is in glory amongst us' ("Walker, Hist, of Independency, part. ii. 152). ' Some, struck with CKO]\nVELL's SUPREMACY. 441 Antinomians indulged in a scheme by wliicli the elect were to govern themselves from their inner conscious- ness. But these visionaries, while they swelled the ranks of the rei3ublican party, had no influence in determining the future settlement of the constitution ; and they were generally opposed to the pretensions of Cromwell.^ A more practical form of government had been sketched bv a council of officers, in Novem- ber 1647, in which all power was vested in a repre- sentative assembly. But for the present, the settlement of the common- wealth Avas provisional. Cromwell was in re- eromweirs ality supreme in the State, and in the army. s»P»<-''nacy. enthusiasm and besotted with fanatic notions, do allow of none to have a share iu government besides the saints, and these are called Christian royalists, or Fifth Monarchy men ' (Clarendon, Hid. vii. 272). They believed ' in the reign of the saints on earth, being the millennium, or thousand years, spoken of in the book of Revelations when men should live together in a state of sinless perfection, and vice and crime be wholly imknown.' According to them, ' all earthly governments are to be broken in pieces and re- moved, like the iron and clay that composed the feet of Nebuchad- nezzar's image. All the kingdoms of the world are to become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ.' 'Supreme absolute legisla- tive power, and authority, are originally and essentially in the Lord Jesus Clnist, by right, conquest, gift, election, and inheritance ' (Commons' Joum. April 11, 1657, vii. 521; Thurloe, vi. 184-188; Ludlow, 4C2 ; Godwin, Hist, of the Commonwealth, iv. 372-378). Even the sage Milton thus argued against monarchy : ' All Protest- ants hold that Clirist in his Church hath loft no vicegerent of his power, but himself without deputy is tlic only head thereof, govern- ing it from heaven ; how then can any man derive his kingship from Clirist, but with worse usurpation than the Pope his headshij) over the Cliurch' {Fh'ec Commomrenlth). ' ' Tliey who were raised by him, and who had raised him, even almost the whole body of sectaries. Anabaptists, Independents, Qua- kers, declared an implacable hatred against him.' — Clarendon, Hid. vii. 254. 442 ENGLAND. He liad not assumed tlie ostensible character of a civil governor, but became captain-general of tlie forces in England ; and there was yet other work for him to do. Scotland, far from adopting a republic, proclaimed the Prince of Wales as king : a civil war was still raging in Ireland; and the prince raised the royal standard again in England. But Cromwell Sept. 3, "^^^ equal to every emergency : the battle of 1651. "Worcester utterly destroyed the last hopes of the royalists ; and Charles escaped from his pur- suers, to seek safety in a foreign land. Cromwell now jDerceived that supreme power was within his reach, and even cherished dreams The Long j> ' • ,i n • i • i Parliament oi reviviug tlie moiiarchv, m his own person.^ dissolved. ^x. . t , • i . rlis immediate aim, however, was to secure his present ascendency. The people were held in subjection by force: there was no pretence of free- dom : even trial by jury, in cases of treason, was su- perseded by a high court of justice: but a settled government, and an assured title to power were want- ing. After a time, the parliament began to show signs April 10, ^^ independence. He broke in upon it with 1653. j^ig soldiers: he took away 'that bauble,' the mace, — the emblem of its authority, — and dissolved the assembly which was no longer his slave. It was a rough coitp d'etat, executed without dignity or de- cency : but it showed the brute force of the military chief, and the contemptible impotence of the parlia- ment, which, under his patronage, had exercised so terrible a power. The members whom he now in- sulted and trampled upon, were of his own Indepen- dent party : they had served his purpose for a time ; » Wliitolock, 516. CEOMWELL PROTECTOR. 443 and were now jDut out of his way. The royalists and tlie Presbyterians rejoiced over tlieir fall; and the people were indifferent to the fate of a body which had long ceased to represent them. But, however absolute the power of Cromwell, in wielding the military force, he did not ven- pjjjg|,o^g,a ture to govern vrithout some semblance of a Pir'ia- o ^ meut. parliament ; and not venturing upon any general appeal to the country, he summoned, by the advice of his council of officers, 128 persons, named by himself, to sit as a parliament at Westminster. Having separated himself from the more mode- rate section of the Indej)endents, he chose for this strange assembly a number of fanatics, possessed with the wildest views of religion a^d politics. Never was so godly a parliament brought together : they spent more time in prayers than in debate ; and, instead of enlightening one another by words of worldly wisdom, they were for ever seeking the Lord. Even in that age of religious extravagance, this devout body became an object of derision ; and, acquiring the name of one of its most ridiculous members, was laughed at as 'Barebone's Parliament.' Believing the earth to be already ripe for the reign of the saints, they were bent upon the destruction of such merely human in- stitutions as the clergy, tithes, the universities, the commo2i law, and the lawyers. So contemptible an assembly was never collected in this or any other country. Even Cromwell was ashamed of its absur- dities, and ill-pleased that his own creatures should affoct to derive their power from the Lord, instead of fi'om himself.^ The pretended parliament was there- ' Thurloe, i. 303. Clarendon. ITixt. vii. 13. 444 ENGLAND. fore dissolved as irregularly as it liad been called to- Dee' le,. gether. The Speaker and a few of its mem- ^''^" bers resigned its authority to Cromwell, in the name of the whole body ; and the rest were turned out by his soldiers. England was now literally without a civil govern- cromweii Hient. Cromwell ruled it as captain-general protector, ^f ^]^q forces : but there was no parliament, and even the army perceived that their general should be invested with some civil authority. A council of ofl&cers, at his instance, drew up a new constitiition, under which he was declared Protector for life. It was a strange function for a military council to frame a political constitution: even Barebone's parliament would have been a Miejc body for such a work. But the new scheme so far did them credit, that Cromwell was not entrusted with absolute power. The protec- ^ .. tor, indeed, was all but king, but he was to Constiiu- ' ' C3' tion of the ijg controlled by a council of State : he was protector- -^ ^^^- bound to summon a parliament every three years, which was to sit for five months without being prorogued or dissolved ; and was only allowed a sus- pensive veto upon their acts for twenty days. Until the parliament was assembled, the protector in council might pass laws, subject to the approval of parlia- ment.^ Nor did it appear that this parliament was to be a phantom of representation, like those which had preceded it. The protector fi-amed a new scheme, or reform act, which disfranchised the smaller boroughs, increased the number of county members, enfran- chised Manchester, Leeds, and Halifax, and equalised the qualifications of electors, — a measure nearly two 1 Wbitelock, 571 ; Somers' Tracts, vi. 257 ; TLurloe, vi. 243. CKOMWELL PKOTECTOR. 445 centuries in advance of tlie policy of liis own time.^ For the first time, also, lie effected a parliamentary union with Scotland and Ireland ; ^ and thirty mem- bers were returned by each of these countries to the parliament at Westminster. The results of a free election, under this extended scheme of representation, proved how little _ ^ •*• The new Cromwell had secured the confidence of the paiiiament, 10o4. people. Eioyalists, Presbyterians, Indepen- dents, and Kepublicans, united against him. His au- thority as protector was questioned in the very first debate of the new parliament : but Cromwell sent for the members to the Painted Chamber, and rebuked them with more than the haughtiness of a Plantage- net or "Tudor king. Charles in his lectures to his parliaments had been gentle compared with the usurper. The Protector obliged them to sign an ac- knowledgment of his authority ; and none were ad- mitted to their places in the house until they had signed it. But their refractory sjjirit was jan. 22, not overcome, and he dissolved them. 1054-55. Again, without a parliament, and opposed by all political parties, Cromwell relied upon the cromweii army alone ; and an abortive rising of the with u'le royalists afforded him a pretext for extend- ''™^' '^" ing the military occupation of the countr3^ To pun- ish the royalists the protector, in council, imposed a * decimation,' or tax of a tenth-penny, upon that party ; and for the collection of this tax, divided England into twelve military districts, under major-gonerals, who exercised uncontrolled power throughout the country. There was no longer a pretence of civil ' Act for tlie Sottlcment of tlio Govorniiiont of tlic Comiuon- wealtb, Dec. 16, 165:J. •' Oidiuiiuce, April 12, 1054. M6 ENGLAND. liberty : England was openly governed by a dictator and liis army. Taxes were levied at the sole will of the protector, and exacted with more rigour than any former taxes by prerogative : there was a strict cen- sorship of the press ; and subjects were denied re- dress against the arbitrary acts of the government. Cromwell was an usurj^er, and had trampled upon vifTonr of ^11 ^^® liberties of the people : but even his his rule. enemies could not deny that he was a great ruler. At home he had subdued the rebellions and disorders of England, Scotland, and Ireland : he had maintained a respect for the law : he had displayed a spirit of religious toleration far in advance of his times : he had shown marks of high statesmanship ; and he had upheld the dignity of the first magistrate of the commonwealth. Abroad he had made the name of England as much respected and feared as in the palmiest days of Queen Elizabeth. It was his boast that an Englishman should be held in the same esteem as a Roman citizen of antiquity. The warlike spirit of England had been aroused by the civil wars : her generals and soldiers had been perfected in the arts and toils of war ; and the concentration of power in a single hand gave vigour and efiiciency to the na- val and military forces of England. No State is more powerful in war than a republic when its resources are wielded by a dictator, supported by the enthusi- asm of the people, or coerced by his extraordinary authority. The victories of Blake estab- *" ' lished the naval supremacy of England, which has never since been shaken:^ the common- ■ For a narrative of these victories, Hepworth Dixon's Life of Blake may ])e consulted. CROMWELL PROTECTOR. 447 wealth triumplied over Holland and Spain; and ex- ercised a commanding influence over France, Sweden, and other European States. The foreign policy of the protector, if not prudent, in the interests of Eng- land, was especially popular with the great body of the people, as it ever favoured the Protestant subjects of foreign States. Amidst all the divisions of party, Englishmen had begun to be proud of their great ruler, who had raised the glories of his country : but so bitter were the hatreds excited by the civil wars, that he was continually threatened with assassina- tion ; and the political parties, upon whom he had successively trampled, were alienated, and hostile. Meanwhile, Cromwell was himself fully sensible of the disadvantages and dangers of a military Hecaiis 11 'J. i.1 1. another rule, and was anxious to secure the support parliament, of another parliament. Accordingly, in 1656, he issued writs for the election of representatives ; and hoped, by the credit of his adrhinistration, and by the influence of his oflicers over the electors, to secure a majority friendly to his government. But, notwithstanding an active interference of the army with the elections, he found the new parliament hostile ; and it was only by forcibly excluding a hun- dred members, that he was able to secure a majority. The unbounded ambition of Cromwell was not sat- isfied with liis present dignit}'. Unlike the promwcirs gi'eat patriot, William of Orange, who had Jt'i'tition. rescued his country from tyranny, he aspired to a crown ; and it was the mission of his parliamentary friends to j)laco this prize within his reach. This pro- posal was accordingly made ; and, despite the resis- tance of the cliief officers of the army, was accepted by a large majority. A committee was appointed to 418 ENGLAND. confer witli tlie protector, and to persuade liim to be* come their king. Never had Cromwell been agitated bj such doubts and misgivings. That he coveted the crown for himself and his descendants, is certain : that he had himself prompted the offer, which was now made to him, cannot be doubted : that he be- lieved its acceptance would confirm his own j)ower, and secure the settlement and tranquillity of the country, can scarcely be questioned. Yet the obsta- cles he encountered were grave and perilous. The fiercest republicans in the land were his own generals, and fanatical soldiery. They had been taught to abhor a king, with pious horror, as Antichrist : they had followed their great chief as the enemy of crowned heads. Could they now be prevailed upon to forswear the republic, and to make their leader a king to reign over them ? The army had long been his sole support : could he now brave their fierce re- sentment ? He was threatened with assassination if he mounted the throne, which he had himself cast down : could he defy his assassins ? He was bold enough to confi'ont these dangers : but his ovv^n family, and truest friends, besought him to decline the prof- fered crown ; and, after a long struggle with his doubts and forebodings, the protector announced his determination to resist the great temptation, by which he had, for a time, been overcome. The greatest weakness ever betrayed by his strong nature, was this ill-disguised longing for the crown, which, when laid at his feet, he did not venture to raise to his brow. But, having refused the crown, he was glad to re- confimied ceive from the parliament a confirmation of tector'^M™" ^^^ powers, under the title of Lord Protector. 19,1657. Hitherto his title had been derived from the DEATH OF CROMWELL. M9 army : it was now confirmed by parliament : liis reve- nue was settled; and lie was empowered to nominate liis successor. At tlie same time, a second chamber was revived, under the name of the other house. "WTien Cromwell next met his parliament, he pro- fited little by his new parliamentary title. The opposition had recovered strength : the of the par- republicans, m the commons, were indignant Jan. 20, with the other house, which had assumed the title of the Lords' house ;^ and Cromwell angrily dissolved the parliament which had offered him the crown, and confirmed his powers as protector. Dissolutions had become as frequent as in the reign of Chajies I. But his davs were now drawing to a close. Beset with diiSculties and anxieties : apprehend- j^^j^j,, j,, ing revolts in the army : in constant dread of cromweii. assassination; and harassed by discords in his own family, he was stricken with mortal illness ; g,^ j g and he died, at the meridian of his power, ^'^• and in the most threatening crisis of his fortunes. Cromwell was the foremost Englishman of his age ; and may claim a place among the great men of history. As a soldier, his self-taught ge- of crom- nius was conspicuous. In the field he was at once bold and circumspect : in the camp he knew how best to recruit and organise his forces, what of- ficers to trust, and how to sustain the warlike spirit and devotion of his army. In civil affairs he was no less bold and cautious than in war : his ambition and fanaticism urged him to undertake the boldest enter- prises : but he veiled them with the most jDrofound ' Whitolock, 605; Purl. Uist. iii. 1533; TLurloe, vi. 1107. 450 ENGLAOT). i dissimulation. Instruments were never wanting to further liis ambition : religion was ever found to sanc- tion his most questionable acts. His hypocrisy and dissimulation, v/liich impair his title to greatness, were mainly due to the peculiar religious school of which he was an accomplished professor. When God's j)leasure was assumed for every design of a bold and ambitious man, he naturally seemed a h^^pocrite in the eyes of all but the elect. He had brought a king to the scaffold, and had founded a republic : but he displayed no love of liberty. In the early contests of the parliament with Charles I. he laboured with the other leaders of the popular party to secure the rights of the people : but when the civil war broke out, the principles of liberty were set at defiance, — as they always are in times of revolution. When he exercised supreme power in the State, he governed by the army, and trampled upon parliaments. He had carried his supremacy by force : the authority of successive par- liaments had no better foundation than his own ; and as the master of twenty legions, he refused to submit to them. When all parties were leagued against him, he could only rule by the sword. In religion only did he display a greater sense of freedom than many of His toiera- ^^^ Contemporaries. While the Presbyterians tion. -were in the ascendent, they proved them- selves more intolerant than Laud and his bishops : but Cromwell, belonging to a sect which professed congregational independence, naturally leaned to tole- ra'tion. But, as he excepted from his favour Eoman Catholics and prelatists, his principles were scarcely those of a broad and comprehensive toleration.^ He . ' Tlio extent of Cromwell's toleration may be judged by consult- EICHAED CROMWELL. 451 fell sLort of the ideal spiritual liberty for which Mil- ton then contended/ and which was not destined to be fully realised for two hundred years : but he was in advance of his own age, and of the narrow sectaries by whom he was surrounded. The strong hand of Cromwell alone was able to maintain the commonwealth ; and it did not long survive the accession of his feeble son cronfweii Eichard. Boyalists, Presbyterians, and hon- ^^'^ ''*' °'^* est republicans were united in their aversion to the military rule of the protector : the tyranny of the ma- jor-generals had exasperated all classes of the people ; and such was the irreconcilable division of parties, that a settled constitutional government, under a com- monwealth, was impracticable. But Eichard had to meet a still greater danger. His father had kept down every faction, by his army : but the foremost generals, and leading fanatics of the army, were now conspiring against himself. He had summoned a par- liament which seemed not unfriendly to his rule : but the generals insisted upon its immediate dis- ^ j, ^ solution. He consented ; and a few days ^'^^'•'• later, resigned his protectorate. ing the following authorities : Neal, Hist, of the Puritans, ii. 98, iv. 28, 138, 144, 338, &c. ; Whitelock, Mtm. 499, 570, 614 ; Collier, Hist. 829; Bates' Elcn. pt. ii. 211; Clarendon, i/zA^<. vii. 233; Baxter's Life, i. 64 ; Kennet, Hist. iii. 206 ; Rush worth, vii. 308 ; Short, Hist. 425 ; Brook, Hist, of Rclig. Lib. i. 504, 513-528. ' ' The whole freedom of man consists either in spiritual or civil liberty. As for spiritual, who can be at rest, who can enjoy any- thing in this world with contentment, who hath not liberty to serve God, and to save his own .soul, according to the best light which God hath planted in him for that purpose, by the reading of his re- vealed will, and the guidance of his own JSpirit.' — Milton, Free Com- monwcaMh. 452 ENGLAND. England was ruled again by tlie army alone : but the council of officers, in order to give some Pariiamelt preteuce of civil authority to their rule, re- YiYe(j ^iie Long Parliament. With the sub- tlety of old lawyers, they maintained that, as this parliament had never consented to its own dissolu- tion, it was still lawfully in existence, and need only resume its sittings. And accordingly this singular body, consisting of about seventy members, proceeded to sit, with their old speaker Lenthal in the chair. But this pretence of legality was sufficiently exposed by the continued exclusion of the members whom Cromwell had forcibly turned out. No wonder that this absurd assemblage should have been called, with the coarse humour of the age, * the Eump.' But the revival of the Long Parliament proved a double error. It was more hateful to the people than the army itself; and it endeavoured to become the master, instead of the slave, of the generals. The unpopularity of both these powers, and the anarchy into which the State seemed Q^j j3 drifting, encouraged a royalist movement. 1659. ' This, however, was soon repressed : when the army proceeded to disperse the parliament. The authority of the latter was replaced by a 'committee of safety,' chosen by the officers of the army themselves. Li truth, however, the country was without a gov- ernment: it was profoundly disturbed, and narc y. jonging for some settlement : rival generals were following their own ambitions ; and a civil war Dec 26 '^^^ imminent between different divisions of 1859. ' ^jjg, army. Again the Long Parliament was revived, which so far served the cause of order, that it broke up the republican army under Fleetwood and Lambert. THE EESTOEATION. 453 From this deplorable anarchy the country was rescued by the prudent caution of General q^^^.^^i Monk. Marching from the north at the ^^°"^^- head of his army, he found the people everywhere dis- posed for the restoration of royalty, to which his own wishes and judgment inclined. But, refraining from any premature disclosure of his designs, which might have frustrated their execution, he marched on to Westminster. There he insisted upon the re- jj^^^^jj jg suscitated parliament dissolving itself; and, ^''^•'■ in order to ensure its obedience, he restored the ex- cluded members to their places. The Long Parliament was at last effectually dis- solved ; and the histoiy of that body, and of every other parliament, since the commence- ihimont ment of the civil war, shows that in times of revolution, freedom of election, and freedom of discus- sion, in a legislative body, are unknown. The legisla- ture is subservient to the dominant party in the army, or among the populace ; and independence is incompati- ble with the conditions of a revolutionary'^ government. A free parliament was now to be chosen, and a general enthusiasm was shown in favour of Tj^p^p^io. the monarchy. Presbyterians who had fought »""''""• against the late king were now vying with the royalists, who had fought by his side, to recal his son to the throne of his ancestors. The people, wearied by civil wars, military oppression, burthensomo taxes, and anarchy, cried aloud for a revival of the good old times before the commonwealth. That government had brought neither peace nor liberty to the people : it had disappointed the hopes of republicans :^ it had ' ' Wliere is this goodly towor of a comnionwealtb which the Eng- lish boasted they would build to overshadow kings, and be anothol 454 ENGLAM). dispelled tlie visions of religious and political enthu- siasts : it had outraged all the parties, in succession, which had taken part in the revolution and civil war. Meanwhile, Monk, who still kept his own counsels, had taken effectual measures for disabling, and hold- ing in check, the scattered forces of the republican army ; and when the new parliament met, the resto- ration of Charles was unanimously voted, amidst the acclamations of the people. The lords returned to their places in the upper house, and joined in the popular vote. Monk was blamed, at the time, by partisans of the king, and since by many writers, for undue caiuh>To'f caution and reserve, in this delicate enter- ^^°"'" prise : but his reticence disarmed the dan- gerous resistance of the republicans in the army, the parliament, and the country ; and it secured the consti- tutional restoration of the monarchy by a free parlia- ment, instead of by military force. He had maintained the peace of the country, while it freely pronounced its opinion, instead of restoring his sovereign by a conp (JHetat; and his politic measures contributed to the enthusiasm with which Charles was received by his joyful people. Stern republicans complained with Milton^ that, 'having been delivered by the Lord from a king, they were returning to the captivity fi'om Rome in the West ? The foundation thej' lay gallantly, but fell into a worse confusion, not of tongues, but of factions, than those at the tower of Babel ; and have left no memorial of their work behind them remaining but in the common laughter of Europe.' — Milton, Free Commonwealth. ' ' As if he shall hear now, how much less will he hear when we cry hereafter, who once delivered by him from a king, and not with- out wondrous acts of his providence, insensible and unwortliy of those high mercies, are returning precipitantly, if he withhold us THE RESTORATION. 455 wlience lie freed tliem:' but the multitude received their hereditary king with lojal devotion. For eighteen years the country had suffered all the evils of ci%-il war, of military oppression and gg^^^^ ^^ anarchy ; and at length the monarchy was "^e chii ^ ' " •' var upori restored, with its ancient prerogatives un- themouar- ipon chy. diminished. The revolution seemed to have borne no fruit : another king reigned in the place of him who had been sacrificed to the cause of liberty : but otherwise the political constitution of England appeared to be unchanged. But, in truth, the late struggles had materially altered the relations of the people to the crown. The power of the parliament, and of the commons of England, had been demon- strated; and a democratic spirit had been suddenly aroused among the people. The responsibilities of kings and statesmen had been terribly illustrated : the traditional reverence for power, whether exercised by king or parliament, had been rudely shaken. The political sentiments of the nation had also been awakened by the impassioned appeals of the pulpit and the press. Throughout this revolutionary period of our history, the pulpit had made its religious mission subservient to political agitation ; and the religious fanaticism of the time became identified with its fierce political passions. The activity of the press was unexampled : the rise of political Avritings, for universal circulation, may be dated from tliis time : of which thirty thousand political pamphlets and newspapers have been preserved.^ A deep interest not, back to the captivity from whence he freed us.' — Free Common- wealth. ' They were collected by Mr. Thomasaon, and occupy 2,000 volumes in tlic British Museum. Disriieli, Cariosities of Literature, 1. 175 ; Knight, Old Printer and Modern Press, 199. 456 ENGLAND. in politics was aroused by tlie personal conflicts and sufferings of the civil war. The political results of the revolution were briefly these : increased politi- cal knowledge, a more independent spirit, quickened popular instincts, and greater powers of combination among the people, without any sensible diminution of their traditional loyalty. They had learned their powers of resistance to prerogative : but they had also suffered from the ox)pression of usurping parlia- ments, and republican armies. The lessons they had learned led them to value liberty more than ever, and to associate it with a constitutional monarclij^ Upon the restoration, the work of the late revolu- „ ,. tion was speedily undone. The monarchy Reaction . . "^ nnder "was reinstated without any new limitations : Charles II. '' the House of Lords was admitted to its an- cient privileges : prelacy was revived : the bishops were restored to their seats in parliament ; and the Pres- byterian and Puritan clergy, who had obtained bene- fices in the church in the late anti-prelatical timos^ were thrust out again by a rigorous act of uniformity. The church, restored to her former ascendency, further avenged herself ujDon the Puritans, for her late pro- stration, with penal laws, and civil disabilities. These severities, which delighted royalists and churchmen, were not unacceptable to the great body of the people. The gloomy fanaticism, and religious extravagances y of their late rulers, had disgusted them with the pray- ing and preaching sects, who were now in disgrace, and drove them to the opposite extreme of royalist license. Every sign betokened a complete revival of the former government in Church and State : the Elements i j • t i i p « of future revolution appeared to have left no traces of its destructive force. But it was soon to be JAMES II. 457 discoYered tliat tlie people, educated in freedom, were prepared to resist, by force, any invasion of their rights. And, in later times, the alienation of the non- conformists bore fruits, in the weakening of the church establishment, and the strengthening of popular move- ments in favour of civil and religious liberty. The renewed confidence of the English people in the Stuarts was ill requited. Before many Charles II. years had passed, Charles II. was shamefully intriguing with his great neighbour Louis XIV., for aid in repressing the liberties, and subvert- . . • 1678 ing the religion of his own subjects.^ The last years of his life were sj)ent in straining his prerogatives : while his courtiers, lawyers, and high churchmen proclaimed his divine right, and incul- cated upon his subjects the duty of passive obedience. The monarchy seemed as powerful as in the early years of Charles I. The lessons of that reign had been forgotten ; and Charles died too soon to be re- minded of them- But his brother, James II., more blind than himself to the political experience of his familj', and to the signs of the times, was rudel}- awak- ened to the danger of trifling with the liberties and the religion of his country. Such were the sentiments of loyalty, by which the great body of the people were animated, and such the subservience of parlia- ment, — influenced by corruption and artful ' manage- ment,' — that James's monstrous designs upon the civil liberties of England might not have provoked resis- tance. But, as he was clearly bent upon restoring the lloman Catholic faith, which was odious to the whole ' Dalrymiilc, 1G3, 230, 337. VOL. n.— 20 458 englainT). country, cliurcl\men and nonconformists, and tlie friends of civil liberty united against liim, and ex- pelled him from his throne. The very bishops who had preached the doctrines of non-resistance, and the University of Oxford which had asserted the divine rights of the Lord's anointed, were now foremost in resisting his dangerous encroachments upon the liber- ties and religion of the people. Democracy bore so small a part in 'the glorious Revolution I'svolutiou ' of 1688, that its incidents need of loss. not here be dwelt upon. But it can scarcely be doubted that so prompt and general a resistance to James could not have been organised, unless the people had been prepared, by the traditions of the great rebellion, to withstand invasions of their rights, and even to take up arms against their king. The op- position to Charles was inflamed and embittered by religious passions ; and his son encountered the same dangerous union of political and religious zeal. In both cases, the English people determined to main- tain their rights, even by the sword, against the un- lawful acts of their sovereign. Twice they overcame the reverence and awe in which the majesty of the king was held. Twice they rebelled, when rebellion was accounted a sin. And now the revolution, not for the first time,^ — recognised the right of subjects to re- sist violations of their lawful rights. For centuries the supreme and indefeasible rights „ . . , of the monarchy had been maintained : but Pimciples -J huionoT"' henceforth it became a constitutional maxim '^'^- that the parliament and people of England could depose a king for a violation of the laws, » Supra, pp. 363, 364. REVOLUTION OF 1688. 459 and place another upon his throne.^ The right of chanoinsr and limiting the succession to the crown, and defining its prerogatives, was also maintained by parliament. From this time forth, the monarchy, while still based upon hereditary right, was unques- tionably subject to the laws of the realm, and to the judgment of the parliament and people of England. It was a constitutional monarchy, brought into har- mony with a fi'ee people, and democratic institutions. The revolution of 1688 is a memorable example of the temperate and orderly spirit of Eng- lish freedom. Every security was taken for for puwic . . , liberty the public liberties : every principle affirmed that was essential to the government of a free people : yet were these popular privileges maintained, not in the spirit of democracy, but in assertion of lawful rights and franchises. The revolution, indeed, was founded upon the democratic principle, that the judg- ment and will of the people should prevail over here- ditary rights, and royal prerogatives. But the states- men and parties, who afiirmed that principle, were as far removed as possible from the character of demo- crats. It formed no part of their design to favour the ascendency of the people in the national councils. They had appealed to the sentiments of their country- men, in defence of their religion and liberties : but so soon as the revolution had been achieved, they were ' The terms of the celebrated resolution of the commons, Jan. 28, 1088 (agreed to by the lords on Feb. 6) were these : ' That King James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of this kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and peo- ple, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the tlirono is thereby vacant.' 4C0 ENGLAND. prepared to govern on tlie old lines of the constitu- tion. The stability of the settlement of 1688 was due to Character- ^^® respBct in which it held the ancient laws revohitfon''^ and institutions of the State. There was no of 1688. theoretical reconstruction of institutions : no Irreverence for traditions : no neglect of the interests of different classes. The constitution had been the growth of many centuries : its fundamental laws and liberties were well known, and cherished by the peo- ple : kings had lately violated them, and had been deposed : the commonwealth had outraged them, and liad perished ; and now the constitution was restored to its normal limits. The prerogatives of the crown wore restrained, and placed in trust for the welfare of the people : securities were taken for the due exe- cution of the laws : the church was secured in its faith, its polity, and its revenues, while freedom of worship was extended to other communions : the peers were maintained in their ancient honours and privileges : the commons were confirmed in their in- dependence, and in their valued right of taxation : the people were assured of their liberties ; and the property and interests of all parties and classes were respected. Such a revolution was not the triumph of one party over another ; but the renovation of the State, in the spirit of its own traditions and predilec- tions. Such being the spirit of the revolution, the reign of William William III. was marked by a vigorous spirit ni- of constitutional reform. The prerogatives of the crown were limited : the authority of parlia- ment was enlarged. Henceforth, the military forces, and the resources of the crov/n, became absolutely WILLLVM m. 4G1 subject to tlie will of parliament. Many remedial laws were passed for securing freedom of election, the in- dependence of parliament, and the liberty of the sub- ject : but all were conceived in a constitutional spirit, and were consistent with the principles of a limited monarchy. In none of the legislation, or parliamen- tary debates, is there to be found a trace of revolu- tionary or republican sentiments. No republican party appears to have survived the commonwealth. But the spirit of free inquiry, which had been aroused by the struggles of that period, continued to animate the speculative and controversial writers of William's reign ; and the principles affirmed by the revolution, when hotly pressed into their service, could not fail to assume a republican colour. To dwell upon the sovereignty of the people ; to urge that all civil gov- ernment is founded upon the consent of society, and an original contract between the people and their rulers, was unquestionably to maintain the principles of democracy. But such abstract speculations, which were common at this time,^ were without influence upon the practical government of the State. The theories of John Locke affected the political move- ments of his own age, no more than the ' Eepublic ' of Plato, the ' Utopia ' of Sir Thomas More, the * Ecclesi- astical Polity' of Hooker," or the Tree Common- wealth ' of Milton. The whig writers and pamphleteers of the reign of William, founding their arguments upon the princi- ples of the revolution, often advanced propositions which exposed them to the taunt of rej)ublicanism ' Sco Fhmers' Tracts, especially x. 148 ; and State T'racts of Wil. liam III,, 3 vols. fol. '' See books i. and viii. 462 ENGLAND. from their opponents : but nothing could be more harmless than their writings. It was their aim to up- hold the principles, and defend the conduct, of their own party, — to advocate measures which they fa- voured, — and to expose the reactionary principles of their Tory rivals. Their controversies were nothing more than the contentions of rival jDarliamentary par- ties, seeking for power and advancement under the monarchy ; and to reproach the Whig writers of that day with democratic sentiments can only provoke a smile. Whatever the principles of the revolution, and of Thcwhie found in tlm sixth chapter of the 'author's Condilutioiud Illnlori/ of En'jldud niucc tho acccmon of Ocor'jc III., 5th ed. 464 ENGLAND. ciples of Englisli freedom were not overtlirown. The "Wliigs, who were identified with the reigning family, continued to assert the liberal principles v/hicli had called it to the throne ; and even their Tory rivals were fain to borrow them, in their endeavours to ob- tain popular support. The rivalry of parties favoured liberty ; and popular institutions, however corrupted, kept alive the free spirit of the nation. Parliamen- tary government was assuming a form most favourable to freedom. Ministers of the crown, no longer able to govern the State without the confidence of parlia- ment, were constrained to defer to public opinion ; and whatever of personal power was thus lost to the crown was gained by the people. At the same time, the growing influence of the press, — corrupt and venal as it was, — became a safeguard against misgovern- ment, and flagrant abuses of power. From the revolution to the accession of George III., From the while England enjoyed more freedom than jevo^u^wn Q^j^j country in the world, there are no traces '"• of democracy. There were, indeed, two dan- gerous rebellions : but they aimed at the restoration of the reactionary Stuarts, who had been deposed for violating the liberties of the people. That the people could be aroused to a successful resistance of unpopu- lar measures, was proved by the resolute opposition of the Irish, under the influence of Swift's celebrated jy23 'Drapier's Letters,' to the introduction of "Wood's new halfpence into Ireland : ^ by the nas. popular clamours against Sir R. Walpole's excise scheme : by the riotous agitation of the me- ' See a spirited account in Tliackeray's Humorists (Swift) as well as in tlie usual histories. THE LiVNDED INTEREST. 465 tropolis against tlie gin act, whicli led to its repeal;^ and, again, by the successful outcry for the i73q_i-j42 rejDeal of the recent act for the natural- isation of the Jews. But such explosions of ^'^^• popular discontent were not signs of a democratic spirit among the people. In all countries, even the most despotic, — in Asia, in Turkey, in the autocratic States of Europe, and in all ages, — such outbreaks have been known. But they are evidences not of freedom of opinion, or of popular control over the government : but of the sufierings, passions, and pre- judices of the multitude. They have, indeed, bee;j most frequent in States in which there was the least hope of securing the redress of grievances by con- stitutional means. Free institutions have formed the best safeguards against popular tumults. Dur- ing this period, many useful securities were devised for public liberty ; and tlie commonalty, rapidly advancing in niimbers, wealth and intelligence, were laying the foundations of increased political power. Powerful middle classes were rapidly rising up : but as yet the crown, the church, the nobles, and ., , • ,1 Ascciidcncy the country gentlemen were m the ascen- oniiu T11T- IT T ciowii, the dent. In wealth, dignity, public respect, and tiiiirch, and social influence, they prevailed over all other fors of the classes ; and their political power corres- ponded with tlioir commanding position in society. Tlie church litid recovered from the rough assaults of Presbyterians and Independents, and was enjoying a period of repose and security. Dissenters, discountenanced and repressed by civil ' Smollett, Hitit. ii. 331, 438. 20* 466 ENGLAND. disabilities, were no longer dreaded as enemies of tlie establislimeni The clergy, inert and indif- ^^^ ^i- fgreij^^ were losing much of their spiritual influence : but, in union with the crown and the pro- prietors of the soil, they wielded a great social and political power. The nobles, continually increasing in numbers, and enriched by the spoils of the church, by The nobles. i i- i t i i xxi i grants oi croAvn lands, by great omces, by inheritance, and by alliances, had become possessed of extensive territories in every county. Like their ^refathers, they cherished their country homes. They built noble mansions : they surrounded them- selves with parks, woods, and pleasure grounds : their domains were tastefully planted, cultivated, and fenced : the traveller recognised them, at a glance, as the stately abodes of the great and noble. These surroundings were more congenial to their tastes than the attractions of the capital. James I. had discour- aged their resort to Whitehall ; ^ but Charles II. had seduced many from their retirement, by the gaieties and pleasures of his profligate court. Like the no- bles of Louis XIV., they were in danger of exchang- ing their feudal power, in the country, for the frivo- lous life of gilded courtiers. But this peril to their order passed away, in succeeding reigns ; and the nobles continued to enjoy the power, without the in- vidious privileges of feudalism. As leaders of soci- • ' He was wont to be very earnest with the country gentlemen to go from London to their country seats. And sometimes he would say thus to them : "Gentlemen, at London you are like ships in a sea, which show like nothing ; but in your country villages you are like ships in a river, which look like great things." ' — Lord Bacon, Apophthegms ; Hume, Hist. iv. 355. THE LANDED INTEREST. 467 ety : as magistrates : as patrons of every local enter- prise, their influence was paramount. The country gentlemen formed another section of the aristocracy of the land. Many boasted of a lineage as ancient as that of the proud- try gemiu- est peer ; and in wealth and influence this more considerable body even surpassed the peerage : but these two orders, instead of impairing their power by political rivalries, were firmly united in principles and interests ; and made common cause in maintain- ing the ascendency of the proprietors of the soil over all other classes of society. Their power was confirmed by their extraordinary influence over the clergy. The bishops were the relatives, college friends, and tutors of nobles and ministers of State ; and a large proportion of the clergy owed their bene- fices to the favour of lay patrons. Most of them were connected with the county families : and all were be- holden to the peer, or to the squire, for hospitality and social courtesies. Never was a church so closely identified with the land. A society so constituted naturally commanded political supremacy, until other classes should arise to contest it ; and this develop- ment of social forces, already silently advancing, was to reveal itself in later times. CHAPTEE XXn. ENGLAND {continued). FIRST YEARS OF GEORGE in. — THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE — THE FRENCH REVOLUTION — REPRESSION OP PUBLIC OPINION — REIGN OP GEORGE IV. — SOCIAL CHANGES— GROWTH OF TOWNS — IN- CREASE OF DISSENT — DISTURBANCE OP THE BALANCE OP POWER — THE PRESS AND POLITICAL AGITATION — POPULAR REPRESENTATION — SALUTARY REFORMS — DEMOCRATIC ASPECTS OP THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT— LOYALTY — CONSERVATIVE ELEMENTS OP SOCIETY. The first twenty years of George III.'s reign dis- played the augmented force and activity of of George popular movements. That monarch endea- voured to revive the personal influence of the sovereign, in the government of the State, which had been little exercised since the time of William III. ; and his unpopular measures aroused a spirit of oppo- sition, vdiich suddenly revealed the power of public opinion, and developed new agencies for giving ex- pression to it. The storm of ridicule and abuse by which the royal favourite. Lord Bute, was driven from favour : the bold and artful agitation of Wilkes : the increasing boldness of the press : the triumphant per- sistence of the printers in publishing Parliamentary debates : the turbulent spirit of the people : the in- fluence of public meetings and political associations ; and the increasing freedom of speech in Parliament,^ ' See the author's Constitutional History, chaps, vii. viii. ix., for a more particular account of these movements. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 469 were symptoms of a democratic force long iinkno\vii in Encjland. This popular movement received an extraordinary impulse from the revolt of the American colonies. The contest between the two great English -me war of parties, in relation to the insurgent colonists, -^X^pl-n-" brought out, in bold relief, the democratic '^''"'^'^• principles of 1642, and 1688 — the unlawfulness of tax- ation without the consent of the taxpayers, through their representatives, and the right of the people to resist oppression by force. This controversy encour- aged the formation of a small democratic party in England : ^ while the ultimate success of the rebel- lion, and the triumph of the English party which had espoused the cause of the colonies, further advanced the principles of democracy. But it was in France, far more than in England, that the struggle of the American colonies jtg ejects for independence encouraged the spirit of jvam^! |",,,i democracy. Whatever the abstract princi- '"England. pies involved in the contest between the mother coun- try and her colonies, the honour and interests of Eng- land were at stake, and the feelings of Englishmen were naturally enlisted in support of their own coun- try : while in France, which had made common cause with the colonies against England, the principles of her new allies were eagerly espoused, and popu- larised. Englishmen, again, were generally contented with their constitutional fi-eedom: while the French were suffering from the accumulated ills of many centuries of arbitrary rule. Hence, in England, the popular excitement caused by the American war of ' Steplion, TAfc of Home Tooke, i. 162-175, ii. 38; Cooke, Uist. of Party, iii. 188 ; Wy vill, PuiUicul Papers, ii. 4G3. 470 ENGLAND. independence soon subsided : wliilo in France, it con- tributed, witli other grave causes of political and social discontent, to the momentous revolution of 1789.1 The sympathy -which vibrates, with mysterious force, Democratic through different nations, in times of revolu- rn*Engiand. tiou, was illustrated upon this, as upon other ^'^'^' similar occasions.^ It was now followed by an active democratic movement in England and Scot- land. It failed to reach any considerable number of the people : it embraced no persons of position or influence ; and it was sternly repressed by the author- ity of Parliament.^ If France had contented herself with the redress of her acknowledged grievances, and the establishment of well-ordered liberty, she would have commanded the sympathy of most Englishmen : but her revolutionary excesses at once revolted and alarmed them. The principles of the French revolu- tionary leaders were wholly foreign to English sen- timents ; and their wild bloodthirstiness outraged humanity. Hence the higher and middle classes of English society not only recoiled from any contract with democracy : but, in their determination to re- press it, notwithstanding the eloquent remonstrances of Fox and other popular leaders, were forgetful of their cherished principles of liberty. The revolutionary wars and propagandism of Franco Effects of increased the repugnance of English society tiie French to Freucli principles : and democracy ap- revolution. x jr ' j i peared to be utterly crushed. The severity of the laws, and the overwhelming force of public * See supra, ii. 134 ct seq. 2 E.g. 1830, 1848. Supra, pp. 255, 284. ^ See cliap. ix. of tlie author's Constitutional History. THE SIX ACTS. 471 opinion, combined to stamp it out. But the influence of the French revolution, throughout Europe, was never effaced. It has since borne fruits in every country;^ and in England, democracy, though effectu- ally repressed, as an outward danger to the State, or to the governing classes, from that time became a politi- cal force, which was destined to acquire increasing power and development. For thirty years the repres- sive policy of the government was maintained: prose- cutions of the j^ress abounded ; and the popular dis- contents of the last years of the regency brought down upon the press, and upon public meetings, re- strictions of increased severity. But the six acts of Lord Sidmouth, may be taken as the turning-point in the fortunes of Eng- ^,^g g.^ lish liberties. Under the dark shadows of ^^^^- ^^^^^ the French revolution, society had supported the re- pressive measures of the government : but in 1819, when the fires of that revolution had burned out, and democracy was no longer a danger, or a bugbear, re- straints upon public liberty were received with far less favour. They were opposed by many eminent statesmen, by the Wliig party in Parliament, and by a strong popular sentiment in the country, which con- tinued throughout the reign of George IV. And during this long period of repression, society had undergone remarkable changes. It had g^^^^^ advanced in power, in knowledge, and in poli- ciiungcs. ' ' Cette date de 1780 est la f^rande date do tons les peuples. Bean- coup d'institutions sont tonibees ft cette date ; celles qui no sont pas toinh('"Cs se sont transfomu'es ; quelques-unes qui paraiss(!!it vivre, ne sont plus que dcs oml)rc3. Dans la pratique do tous h^a jxniplos, et dans la speculation do tous los ],eui>los, est la trace j)lillosophiqu0 de la Revolution Fran(;aisc.' — .Julo;* Simon, La Liberie', i. 42. 472 ENGLAND. tical sentiment. The middle classes had attained far higher influence and consideration ; and new genera- tions were claiming a fuller recognition in society and in politics, than any to which their fathers had aspired. The exclusive territorial basis, ixpon which social pri- vileges and political power had long been founded, could not much longer be maintained. An advancing society, and growing interests, demanded a wider polity. Since the accession of George III. the face of Eng- ^ ,^ , land had been changed; and was still con- Growth of 1 • • Jl towns, com- gpicuously changing. Her destinies, as the navigation. ^^^^ commercial and manufacturing country in the world, were being fulfilled. Since the colonisa- tion of America, in the seventeenth century, and the industrial decay of the Netherlands, England had been making continued advances in navigation, commerce, and manufactures. But the most signal progress was observable from the beginning of the present century. The population had enormously increased ; and this increase was chiefly in the cities and towns.^ Agri- culture was encouraged, and the cultivation of the soil was improved and extended : but agricultural indus try was far outstripped by trade and manufactures. Land which had once been the principal source of wealth, and the main support of the population, was losing its preponderance as a national interest. Vast 1 In 1801 the population of Great Britain was 10,942,354, in 1831 it had increased to 16,539,318. Population Returns of 1801 and 1831 ; Porter, Progress of the Nation, chap. i. •^ In 1811, 895,998 families were employed in agriculture in Great Britain, and 129,049 in trade and manufactures ; in 1831, 961,134 families were employed in the former, and 1,434,873 in the lat- ter. In 1841, 1,490,785 persons were employed in agriculture, and 3,092,787 in trade and manufactures. Porter, chap. ii. 2 rro GBOWTH OF TOWNS AND COMMERCE. 47 tovms had arisen, "vyith a marvellous growth. The population of London was equal to that of Scotland. Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Glasgow, had become like the capitals of consider- able States. The woollen and cotton manufactures, having acquired prodigious powers from the spinning jenny, and the steam engine, were supplying the world with their varied fabrics. Manufactures of iron, and other metals, and of machinery, were advancing with no less vigour. Mining enterprise kept pace with these industries ; and the production of coal and iron was facilitated by all the resources of science. The internal communications of the country had been ex- tended by canals, by the improvement of navigable rivers, and by the best roads in Europe ; and were about to be multiplied by the wonder-working inven- tions of railways and locomotive engines. Steam navigation had made the sea a safe highv/ay for the coasting trade, and foreign commerce. Arkwright, Watt, and Stephenson had revolution- ised the industry of England and the world, and had transformed society. Wealthy mer- its relations chants, sJiipowners, and manufacturers were aiuiiuanu- , , . ,111 • • 1 1 factures. now rivalling the landowners, in riches and social pretensions : thousands of traders were en- riched by supplying the wants of an increasing and prosperous population ; and skilled artificers were be- ginning to outnumber the tillers of the soil. Nor were these the only social changes of the period. Tlie constant accumulation of capital had created a con- siderable body of independent gentry, and a new mid- dle class, attached neither to the land nor to trade, whose claims to a share of political power could not be ignored. Bath, Cheltenham, Leamington, Brigh- 474 ENGLAND. ton, Hastings, a,nd tlie suburbs of London bear wit- ness to their numbers and tlieir wealtli. The balance of political power was shaken. The landed proprie- tors, profiting by the increasing prosperity of the country, were richer than ever ; and by the zealous discharge of the public and private duties of tlieir station, had sustained their accustomed local influ- ence : but they could no longer claim an undisputed supremacy in the State. These industrial and social changes, remarkable as they were in the reign 'of George lY., have since continued, with a still more striking development; and this period of social ad- vancement has been signalised by a yet more memo- rable political progress. While the relations of the land to the trading classes were undergoing these notable changes, the Church and church was also losing much of her exclusive authority, as the representative of the na- tional faith. Puritanism had been nearly trampled out by the restoration ; and early in the eighteenth century, nonconformists had shared the contented slumbers of churchmen. The fierce contentions of former times were succeeded by a period of religious repose. But Wesley and Whitefield had since ar/ak- ened a new spiritual movement ; and dissent had been making alarming progress throughout the land. Wales was almost lost to the church : the teeming popula- tions of the manufacturing towns became the ready disciples of dissenting preachers : where the church had been negligent, dissent was active and zealous ; until at length the humble chapels and meeting- houses of various sects of dissenters, were beginning to outnumber the churches of the establishment. The church still enjoyed all her legal rights and securities : POLITICAL EDUCATION. 475 but she was no longer ^tlie acknowledged clnircli of the people. The union of Presbyterian Scotland and Catholic Ireland, had further affected the position of the English establishment as a State church. The church and the land had been firm allies ; and the power of both was alike impaired. They had successfully maintained religious disa- of'tiio" ^^^ 1 .,. , . T J 1 J 1 church and bilities, a narrow and corrupt electoral sys- the hmd , n • c 1 1 1 CI threatened. tem, the maniiold abuses oi close corpora- tions, a criminal code of reckless severity, unequal and oppressive taxes, and injurious restrictions upon trade, and upon the food and labour of the people. The conservative powers of society had now to en- counter the restless and aggressive forces of demo- cracy. The country was opposed to the towns ; and the church to Catholics and nonconformists. And in the approaching struggle, society was nov/ armed with new weapons for coping with its powerful rulers in Church and State. The political education of the country had kept pace with its material and social progress. poHiJcai No single cause, perhaps, had more contri- ttiacation. buted to this result than the free publication of de- bates in Parliament. Measures had been discussed more boldly, by minorities, when they could appeal, from the closely-packed benches of the dominant party, to the judgment of their countrj-men. And when the people were admitted to the councils of their rulers, a public opinion was formed, to which all parties were constrained to defer. If tlie press liad done nothing more for public instruction, this single service to the cause of popular government would claim the highest acknowledgment. But the press had rendered other services to the same cause. Not- 476 ENGLAND. withstanding tlie restraints tg which it had been sub- ject, despite the severity with which the law had been administered, it had been constantly extending its in- fluence. And as society advanced in knowledge and cultivation, a higher class of minds was attracted to the labours of the periodical press.^ Sunday newspapers had also established a position in the periodical press, favourable to the careful and studied investigation of j^olitical questions, and quali- fied for the guidance of thoughtful minds. From the beginning of the reign of George IV., the Freedom of pi'^ss enjoyed so much of the confidence of the press, ^j^g people ES to eusure its general immunity from rigorous oppression ; and its complete freedom was soon to be established. Ten years later 1830 1831. were witnessed the last i:)rosecutions of the press by the government ; and an unrestrained freedom of political discussion has since been allowed by the ' The Edinburgh and Quarterly Renews had introduced a states- man-like spirit into political discussions, in which the opinions of the Whig and Tory parties had been represented. In 1823, the West- minster Review was established by Jeremy Benthain, for the ad- vancement of his own opinions, and for promoting the cause of the Radical party, as against the "Whigs. It commenced with an as- sault upon the Edinburgh Revieio and the Whig party, and a scheme of radical policy, written by Mr. James Mill, author of the History of British India. This new review continued, for several years, to represent the opinions of the philosophical radicals and advanced Liberal party. Written with force and spirit, and expressing the earnest convictions of the Benthamite and radical schools of thought, at a time when there was a general movement in public opinion, favourable to a more liberal policy in the State, it undoubtedly con- tributed to strengthen the Liberal cause. See Autobiography, by John Stuart Mill, p. 87 et seq. This school, however, was never popular in England ; and the Review, with all its ability, failed to reach an extended circulation. Ibid. p. 129. EDUCATION. 477 State. This general freedom of the press was followed by the repeal of the advertisement duty in 1853, of the newspaper stamp in 1855, and of the paper duty in 1861. These successive measures removed every re- straint upon the activity and energies of the press. Henceforth a freedom of opinion, unknown in any other age or country, and unexampled agencies for its expression, brought every class of society within the extended circle of political thought and deliberation. Never since the assembled citizens of Athens had been consulted, in the agora, upon aflairs of State, had a whole people been so freely called into council, as in England, after the complete emancipation of the press. The democracy of small States had raised its voice in streets and market-places : the democracy of the great English monarchy made itself heard through its mul- titudinous press.^ With this great extension of political freedom and ac- tivity in the press, there was a simultaneous advance in the general education of society. It was not in political writings only that the resources of the press were developed. Cheap literature, ac- cessible to the multitude, had been popularised by at- tractive publications, designed to bring science, litera- ture, and art within the reach and comprehension of all readers. The treasures of the learned were freely shared with mankind. Foremost in this useful work were the teachers of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, — Lord Brougham, Mr. Matthew Davenport Hill, and Mr. Charles Knight; who were successfully followed by the Society for Promoting ' Some good illustrations of tlio operation of freedom of the jiress in Franee, and of restraints upon it, will bo found in Jules Simon's La Libcrli', ii. \'A1 ct seq. 4.13 ENGLAND. Christian Knowledge, and by the Messrs. Chambers. Schools had laid the foundations of instruction : but to the press we owe the general spread of education and enlightenment. Another agency for the expression of public opinion was found in the increasing development of associa- political associatious and public meetings. These powerful instruments of agitation had been exercised since the early years of George III.^ By these means the popular cause of Wilkes had been supported : the movement in favour of economical and 1763-1770 parliamentary reform advanced : the fanatical Protestantism of Lord George Gordon and his followers inflamed : the abolition of the slave trade achieved. But the revolutionary crisis, which agitated the latter years of the last cen- tury, arrested the progress of such popular move- ments. Public meetings and associations, which had been permitted in more tranquil times, were now dis- couraged and repressed. Popular liberties were sac- rificed, for a time, for the sake of quelling dangerous disorders, sedition, and treasonable designs.^ Fresh disorders during the regency caused a revival of this repressive policy ; and political agitation, in its vari- ous forms, was effectually discountenanced. But the time was now approaching in which public Pciiticai opinion was to prevail over governments and !"soda-° °' parliaments ; and as the press was acquir- tions. ijjg increased power and freedom, so public meetings and political organisations displayed the growing force of popular demonstrations. The asso- ciation of strong bodies of men in support of a politi- ' See the author's Constitutional History of England, chap. is. '' Ibid. chap. vii. POLITIC.VL ASSOCLN.TIONS. 479 cal cause, differs from the action of the j)ress upon public opinion. It is more powerful, and it is more democratic. It is at once an expression of public opinion, and a demonstration of physical force. It attests not only the convictions of numbers, but their earnestness. It allies thought with action. It brings men together for discussion, as in the agora ; and the reasoning, the eloquence, and the passions of the speakers "thrill multitudes with emotion and stern re- solves. Its iniiuence in politics is like that of com- munions and preaching, in religion. Zeal can only be aroused by the contact of man with man. New thoughts are born in the study : but they take hold of nations by association, by discussion, by s^^mjDathy, and by the voices of the leaders of men. Nor is popular agitation confined to the propaga- tion of oj^inions. The union of numbers, in n . P 1 Daneers of a common cause, may threaten force and vastassem- coercion. Vast assemblages of men may occasion tumults and ci\T.l war. Meetings of citizens in the ancient Greek cities, or in the modern Swiss cantons, were free from danger : but prodigious gath- erings in the populous cities of Great Britain, may be dangerous to life and property, and menace freedom in the councils of the State. Public discussion may assume the form of intimidation and violence. Num- bers, not satisfied witli arguments, may resort to force. ♦ Here are the elements of democratic revolution, so often developed with fatal force in various countries, and especially in France. Popular wrongs and sufler- ings, violent loaders, an unpopular government, and a weak executive, have, again and again, been the causes of sudden revolutions. The danger of such revolu- tions is in relative proportion to the good government 480 ENGLAND. of States. Wliere the government, and the adminis- tration of the laws, enjoy the confidence of the people : where the great majority of subjects are prepared to support their rulers : where princijjles of wisdom, equity, and moderation prevail in the national coun- cils, — there will the dangers of revolution be the least. The history of England, during the last fifty years, presents striking illustrations of these truths. It ex- hibits the triumph of great causes by political agita- tion ; and it shows how revolutionary forces have been held in check by confidence in the government, and respect for the laws. Such being the force, and such the dangers of j^oli- tical agitation, we may proceed to follow its Catholic instructive history. The penal laws against twn- Catholics had been maintained long alter their policy had been renounced by the most enlightened statesmen of the age. Their repeal had been advocated, for several years, in parliament and in the press : but a powerful majority, faithful to the narrow principles of government, in Church and State, which had descended to them from former times, suc- cessfully resisted it. At length, in 1823, an organisa- tion was created for securing Catholic relief, which extended over the whole of Ireland. The Catholic population were taught to demand their rights, as with a single voice. They were represented in Dub- lin by the association, which assumed the authority of a parliament : contributions were levied in support of the cause in every parish : the press appealed to the passions of the people : the Catholic pulpits resounded with fervent exhortations to the faitliful. While the Catholics were thus pressing their claims by a move- ment little short of national, the Protestants were CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 481 resisting them by Orange societies and other associa- tions, less numerous indeed, but not less earnest and impassioned. A religious war seemed imminent ; and parliament, not being yet prepared to allay the strife, by concessions to the stronger party, resolved in 1828 to protect the public peace, by suppressing these dan- gerous associations, — as well Protestant as Catholic. But the dansrer could not be so arrested. The act of the legislature was evaded, and in three years it ex- pired. The danger was now more formidable than ever. The public excitement had increased, the as- . , • • 1 1 T 1 1 Catholic sociations were more violent, and vast meet- meetings. iugs of Catholics were assembled, with the discipline and symbols of a military array. Such meetings were not designed for the expression of opinions, but were threatening demonstrations of phy- sical force. If suffered to continue without a check, they endangered the public peace, and were calculated to overawe the government and the Protestant com- munity. If repressed by military force, there was the hazard of bloody collisions between the troops and vast masses of the people. The position was one of extreme emergency. The government, however, pro- hibited the meetings, as causing terror to peaceable subjects ; and tlie association, unwilling to brave a collision, and sensible that the government was sup- ported by an overwhelming force of public opinion, submitted to the prohibition. Bloodshed was averted by the firmness of tlie government, and the discretion of the Catholic leaders: but the cause of Catholic emancipation was pressed with greater energy than ever, and its triumph was at hand. In tlie next session, a Protestant ministry and a VOL. n.— 21 482 ENGL.VNI>. Protestant parliament, pledged to resist the Catholic Catholic claims, were forced to concede them. Their tion"*^*^^' convictions were unchanged : but they were 1829. coerced by a popular agitation which they could no longer venture to resist. The State had been overcome by the irregular forces of democracy. But the cause which had prevailed was just and righteous : it had been too long opposed by narrow statesmanship and religious prejudice. It was supported b}^ eminent English statesmen, and by the liberal judgment of an enlightened party in parliament and in the country. In these events we see the power of a government, resting upon public opinion, to repress disorder ; and the force of popular agitation, in securing the triumph of a just cause without violence. This national agitation was soon followed by an- A'^itntion ^tlicr, yet more formidable, in support of par- ruMuai'''^ liamentary reform. Democracy had received 1830^32. ^ strong impulse from the recent revolution in France ; and the circumstances of the times encouraged its activity. A popular ministry was at length engaged in passing a measure for the enfranchisement of the people ; and was resisted by that party which had long ruled England by means of a narrow representation, and a dependent parliament. Such were the forces opposed to this measure, that its success was doubtful; and the people came for- ward, with passionate energy, to support it. The press was violent : political unions v^ere threatening : pub- lic meetings of unexampled magnitude were assembled. Riots and disorders disturbed the public peace. Revo- lution seemed to be impending. But it was averted by the ultimate submission of the Tory party, in the House of Lords, to irresistible pressure. The peers REPEAL AGITATION. 483 were coerced and liumbled ; and jtopular agitation again prevailed. But liere it was not tlie State wliicli was overcome : the ministers of the crown, an over- whelming majority of the House of Commons, and a considerable minority in the Upper House itself, had ardently supported the Reform Bill. It was not the cause of demagogues or revolutionary mobs, but the scheme of responsible statesmen, who enjoyed the general confidence of their countrymen. Noblemen and gentlemen of high station had been the leaders of the movement ; and the middle and working classes had laboured together in support of it. The agita- tion was democratic, and almost revolutionary : but the cause which it advanced was constitutional and statesmanlike. The scheme brought no revolutionary changes, but sought to restore the representation of the people to its theoretical design. But for the f>ro- tracted resistance of the peers, it might have been discussed, in parliament, without provoking excessive agitation in the country. Again a just and constitu- tional measure was carried by the aid of the irregu- lar forces of democracy. Yet, however potent these forces, they were but the auxiliaries of a good cause, supported by constitutional means. While this dangerous excitement was rife in Eng- land, an agitation scarcely less formidable had been organised, in Ireland, for the re- iiirit^tion. • 1830-31 peal of the union. Mr. O'Connell, lately tri- umphant as the champion of the Catholic claims, was now threatening to rend asunder the legislative union of England and Ireland. But far diil'erent was the cause he had now espoused. It had no loaders but demagogues : it was repudiated by statesmen of all parties : it was condemned by the public opinion of 484 ENGLAND. tlie United Kingdom. The repealers made noisy de- monstrations : but the government, resting upon the support of parliament and the country, were able to repress them. A few years later, the mischievous agitation was revived. A more extended organisation was established ; and * monster meetings ' were assembled which endangered the public peace. But again the government were able to quell the agita- tion, and to bring its leaders within the reach of the law. The cause was bad : it was obnoxious alike to the State and to society, and its failure was signal and complete. No less easily was the pernicious organisation of the Orange lodges repressed. Founded upon lodges. religious hate, and party passions, it endan- gered the public peace, and affected the ad- ministration of justice. It could expect no support from an enlightened public opinion, and it fell before the condemnation of parliament. While these agitations in favour of unworthy ends ^^^. had failed, the anti-slavery association, by ioder peaceful and orderly appeals to the good 1833. feelings and reason of their countrymen, had succeeded in their humane and righteous cause, and had given freedom to the slaves of the wide British Empire. While the repeal agitation was still rife in Ireland, the Chartist organisation, not unlike it in its The . . Chartists, character and incidents, had risen to impor- 1884—1 S48 tance in England. It consisted almost en- tirely of working men, who had adopted as the five points of their 'charter,' universal suffrage, vote by ballot, annual parliaments, payment of members, and THE CHARTISTS. 485 the abolition of tlieir property qualification. This scheme of radical reform met with no favour from the higher and middle classes, who were satisfied with the recent settlement of the representation ; and was specially repugnant to the employers of labour. But the working men, discontented with their lot in life, and hoping to improve it by remedial laws, were encouraged by the success of other political agita- tions, to resort to the familiar expedients of an ex- tended association, crowded meetings, and 'monster petitions.' Too often their activity led to riots, which were promptly quelled by the magistracy. Their numbers were great, and their organisation was main- tained for several years : when suddenly the revolu- tion in France, in February 184:8, which re-animated democracy throughout Europe, determined the Char- tists to attempt a revolutionary movement in favour of their charter. Having complained that their petitions had been neglected, they resolved to march to the rp,,^,,oj^ House of Commons, in force, and present Ap.ii, i848. another petition, said to have been signed by five million persons. For this purpose, a vast meeting was summoned, on the lOtli April, at Kennington Com- mon, whence a procession was to march to Westminster. In Paris, such assemblages had often accomplished revolutions. But in London, the 10th April afforded a memorable proof of the strength of the govern- ment, and of society, in resisting revolutionary move- ments condemned by public opinion. The meeting was declared illegal, by proclamation: 170,000 spe- cial constables were sworn in to maintain tlie pul)lic peace: Westminster Bridge and the api)roaches to the Houses (;f Parliamfnt were guarded, as for a 486 ENGKYND. siege, by artillery and soldiers, carefully concealed from view. The meeting proved a failure: the pro- cession over Westminster Bridge was interdicted ; and the dispirited crowds dispersed to their homes with- out disturbance. The scheme of the Chartists had been ill-planned : Weakness tl^^ir leaders were little in earnest, and they cUrtist were incapable and cowardly : but even with cause. better leaders, their failure would have been assured. They stood alone, — without the sympathy of other classes, without the countenance of any par- liamentary or national party, and without a cause which appealed to the general sentiments of the peo- ple. They were strong in numbers, but they were opposed by the united force of the State and of so- ciety; and they were powerless. They might have caused disorders and riot, but they could not have achieved a political triumph. Meanwhile, another agitation, differing widely from , ,. ^ that of the Chartists, and followed by other Anti-Corn ' -^ League rcsults, had bccu brought to a successful 1838-1846. conclusion. The Anti-Corn Law League af- fords the example of an agitation in which the cause itself was good, the object national, and the triumph complete. Here the employers of labour, and the working classes, were combined in support of in- terests common to them both: the leaders of the movement, Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, were able and popular speakers, capable alike of enforcing the truths of political science, and arousing the passions of the people; and their principles had long been main- tained by many eminent men, and a considerable party in parliament — foremost among whom was its able and consistent advocate, Mr. Charles Villiers. liEETINGS IN HYDE PAEK. 487 But the interests opposed to tliem seemed over- whelming. Protection had been, for ages, the settled principle of English commercial policy. The land- owners and farmers looked upon restricted imports of corn as essential to British agriculture : the man- ufacturers were not, at first, alive to the impor- tance of fi'ee trade ; and the cause was resisted by overpowering majorities in parliament. But the agi- tation was pursued with rare energy and persistence : it was favoured by concurrent political and social conditions — more particularly by the Irish famine — and in less than eight years, it had converted public opinion, rival statesmen, and parliament itself, to the doctrines of fi-ee trade. Its victory was not achieved without bitterness: tlie landlords and farmers, and the statemen ranged on their side, were assailed with fierce denunciations : the working classes were aroused to a deep sense of wrong : but, although the interests and passions of the multitude were engaged in the strife, it was not discredited by any acts of violence or intimidation. This agitation, if an illustration of the force of democracy, is also an example of tlie power of reason, in a free State. The country and its rulers were convinced by argument, and swayed by popular demonstrations : but the good cause was won by rational conviction, and not by the overruling force of democracy. Many years now passed without any conspicuous popular movement. At length, in 18GG, the j^|pp,ij,„8 revival of parliajuentary reform, in the legis- j'.',Jjl^'^'' lature, aroused some popular excitement. ^«''"'^" Tlio lleforra League announced a public meeting in Hyde Park, on the 23rd July. It was prohibited 488 ENGLAND. by tlie government: but inadequate precautions for enforcing this prohibition led to the memorable de- struction of the railings, and the triumphant occupa- tion of the park by the mob. In the following year, jj. g another meeting in Hyde Park was prohib- 1867. ited, but was held in defiance of the govern- ment. On both occasions, democracy prevailed over the government : but the legality of prohibiting meet- ings in the park was at least doubtful : and the weak- ness and irresolution with which the popular move- ment was encountered by the executive, were mainly responsible for the contempt shown by the populace to the authority of the State. Meetings in Hyde Park have since been subjected to regulation, but not to prohibition ; and have be- come public nuisances, rather than popular demon- strations. If they sometimes molest society, and threaten disorder, they have wholly failed to influence public opinion, or to aflect the resolutions of the legis- lature. They are examples of democracy in its least attractive forms, exhibiting the sores of society, and not its healthful action. Another small agitation scarcely deserves notice, except that it was the last, and achieved a Tax. ' sudden success. In 1871, the Chancellor of 1871 the Exchequer having proposed, as part of his budget for the year, a tax upon lucifer-matches, the principal manufacturers of those articles sudden- ly threw their workpeople out of employment, who crowded down to Westminster, by the streets, and by the Thames Embankment, to protest^ against the ob- noxious proposal. It was a trivial tax upon a single industry, and found scant favour with the House of Commons, or with the public : the poor match-makers MOBAL OF POLITICAL AGITATION. 489 met witli general sympathy ; and tlie abortive sclieme was promptly abandoned. Tlie popular demonstration quickened the determination of ministers : but the new tax had been at once condemned by public opinion ; and the successful remonstrances of the threatened interest can scarcely be cited as among the triumphs of democracy. From these examples of political agitation, we are able to draw some conclusions concerning democracy, as it affects our laws and insti- political tutions. The public peace has often been ° threatened by popular demonstrations ; and vast gath- erings of men, in populous places, must always be at- tended with danger. The government and parliament have sometimes been overborne by powerful combi- nations, using the manifold arts of modern agitation. The passions of society have been aroused to the very verge of rebellion. The evils incident to great pojDu- lar excitement are unquestionable : but cases have been rare in which tumults and disorders have arisen out of the agitation of political questions. The law has been strong enough to restrain and to punish them. None of the great agitations in our histoiy have proved successful unless founded upon a good cause, and supported by a parliamentary party, and by a large measure of public opinion. Good laws have thus been forced upon the acceptance of the legisla- ture : but bad causes, however clamorously urged, liave failed before the firm resistance of the govern- ment and of society. Of smaller agitations little need be said : but they liave become so numerous as gravely to af- j,i„„rai>'"'o"8- representation in the legislature. If democracy had ' ' Pauvres Fran^ais, si pauvres, et qui vivent campi's ! Nous somnics d'liier, et ruint's de pore en fils par Louis XIV., par Louis XV., par la Ri'volution, par I'Empire. Nous avons di'moli, il a fallu tout rcfairo a nouveau. I^i, la griu'ration suivante ne roinjd pas avec la prectdento : les reformes se superposent aux institutions, et le pn'sent, appuye sur le passe, le continue.' — Taine, Notes aur V Anglctcrre, cliap. iv. 496 ENGLAND. been making decided advances, in public opinion, we sliould have seen parliaments growing more and more democratic, after each appeal to the country. But, so far from presenting evidence of such results, some re- markable illustrations of a different tendency may be mentioned. In little more than two years after the passing of the Reform Act of 1832, which had been opposed by the Tory party, as revolutionary, that party had nearly recovered their strength. Again overpowered by the Liberal party, in 1835, they were restored to power in 1841, supported by a powerful majority of the representatives of the people. Three times again were that party entrusted with the gov- ernment of the State, within a period of fifteen years ; ^ and, lastly, in 1874, — when democracy was said to have received a great impulse from household suffrage and vote by ballot, — the triumph of the same party over the party of progress was not less signal than in 1841, — before those democratic measures had yet in- creased the popular power. In some of its aspects, the government of England is one of the rarest ideals of a democracy, in aspects <.f the history of the world. It is directed by Govern- the intelligent judgment of the whole people. In Athens, the citizens met in the Ecclesia, discussed affairs of State, and voted with impulsive acclamations : but they only swayed the destinies of a single brilliant city. The people of the great State of England cannot, indeed, meet together in a market- place : but they choose their representatives in the national councils, they assemble freely in public meet- ings, they have the right of petition, they enjoy a per- ' Viz. 1852, 1858 and 1866. LOYALTY. 497 fectly free press, they manage all tlieir local affairs, and in place of ruling a city, tliey govern an em- pire. But, on the other hand, the State enjoys all the securities of an ancient monarchy, of old- ^^^^^^^ established institutions, and of a powerful r'tiicrtiian ' 1 democracy and well - organised society. All orders, advanced. classes, and interests have found adequate represen- tation; and the State has been governed by public opinion, and not by the dominating force of numbers. Hank, property, high attainments and commercial opulence, have maintained their natural influence in society, and in the State. Loyalty to the crown, and respect for the law, have contributed, not less than free institutions, to the steady course of English political his s- Loyalty. tory. Loyalty has generally been regarded as a sen- timent of the olden time, which is declining in an util- itarian age. Yet the period in which devotion to the king's person is assumed to have been the greatest, was marked by rival pretensions to the crown, by bloody civil wars and insurrections. The Wars of the Eoses, the convulsions of the Reformation, the Catho- lic insurrections and plots against Elizabeth and James L, the civil war of Charles I., the revolution of 1688, the Jacobite rebellions of George I. and George IL, are blots upon the idejxl loyalty of former ages. If kings held a more conspicuous place in the eyes of their people, they were yet identified with hostile parties in the State, with religious persecutions, with judicial murders, and with cruel severities against great numbers of their subjects. The loyalty and devotion of tlieir own followers may have been great : but the allegiance of the country was divided by the 498 ENGLAND. bitterest feuds. If tliey were beloved by many, by many were they feared and hated. But constitutional government, while it has, in a Effect of great measure, withdrawn the monarch from upon'^'^ that personal exercise of power, which ap- ^^ ^' peals to the imagination of men, has relieved him fi'om party conflicts, from responsibility for un- popular measures, and from the rigours of the ex- ecutive government. If he is not associated with de- votion to a cause or a party, neither is he pursued with the hatred of religious sects or political factions. The rancour of his subjects is exhausted upon one another : he is himself above and beyond it : none can reach him, upon his throne. He holds an even balance between rival statesmen and parties : he es- pouses no cause or policy. Ministers are responsible for the exercise of his prerogatives ; and take upon themselves the unpopularity of every act of the ex- ecutive. At the same time, all honours and acts of grace proceed directly fi'om the crown itself. All these circumstances concur in associating loy- Loyaityand alty with patriotism, and a respect for law patriotism. ^^^ order, of which the crown is at once the symbol and the guarantee. Such sentiments are more constant and enduring than loyalty itself ; and they are the special characteristics of Englishmen. They sustain the spirit of loyalty, even when per- sonal devotion to the sovereign is weakened by ex- ceptional causes. After the overthrow of the Stuarts, several sovereigns failed to conciliate the affections and sympathies of their subjects. William III., not- v/ithstanding his great services to the State, was unpopular. He was a foreigner, and his manners were cold and uugenial. The reign of Queen Anne LOYALTY AND PATRIOTISM. 499 was illumined with glory : but though her amiability won her the title of 'Good Queen Aime,' she had none of the qualities which arouse devotion. The two first Georges were foreigners, and took little pains to acquire popularity with their alien subjects ; while the loyalty of the country was undermined by Jacobite intrigues. But with George III. the traditional loyalty of the English people was revived. He was an Loyalty to Englishman, a plain country gentleman, of ^"'^''^ simple tastes and habits, pious and domestic, and fairly representing the character of the Englishmen of his time. He took too active and personal a part in politics, to escape occasional unpoi^ularity : but he gen- erally possessed, throughout his long and chequered reign, the affections of his people. The character of George IV. was not such as to command re- ^ ^ . George IV. spect ; and at the very commencement of his reign, he braved unpopularity by his proceedings against Queen Caroline. Yet was he greeted with remarkable demonstrations of loyalty ; and his ad- miring people delighted to honour ' the first gentle- man in Europe.' The name of William IV. being associated with the great measure of Parliamentary reform, he became the most popular of kings : but politics are an unstable foundation of public attachment ; and before the close of his reign, his popularity had sensibly declined. AVith the reign of Queen Victoria, the chivalrous loyalty of Enfflishmen was revived. A fair young Queen, endowed with every virtue, (^>iutii and graced with every accomplishment, won the ready affections of her people. None of her an- cestors had aroused a loyalty so genuine and uiii- 500 ENGLAND. versal. Holding herself above political parties, and faithfully observing the obligations of a constitutional sovereign, her popularity has never been impaired by the errors of statesmen, or the jealousy of factions. Never did sovereign more truly deserve, or more abundantly enjoy, the loyalty of a nation. Restrained by a great affliction, and afterwards by ill health, from some of the more public functions of sove- reignty, it was feared by many that her poijularity had declined : but such fears were promptly dispelled, whenever the people found an occasion for displaying their feelings. No more touching example of loyal and affectionate devotion to the Queen and the royal family recovery of cau be coucoived, than the episode of the ill- of Wales, ness and recovery of the Prince of Wales, in 1871 the winter of 1871. While he was in danger, the anxiety of all classes was that of friends and re- lations : crowds pressed forward to read the bulletins : the thoughts of all men were fixed upon the sufferer at Sandringham. When his haj^py recovery was cele- brated by the thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, not even George III. on a similar occasion, received demonstrations of attachment so earnest and univer- sal. No man who witnessed the events of that memo- rable day, — the solemn service in the metropolitan church, — the vast crowds that greeted the royal pro- cession, with earnest sympathy, for many miles, through the streets of London, and the rejoicings of a whole people, will venture to doubt the loyalty of Her Ma- jesty's subjects. Nor have such manifestations of hearty loyalty been confined to the capital. Wlien- ever Her Majesty, the Prince of Wales, or other mem- bers of the Royal Family, have visited great industrial CONSERVATIVE ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY. 501 or manufacturing cities, which are supposed to be leavened with a republican spirit, they have been re- ceived with enthusiastic devotion. All evidence, therefore, contradicts the assertion that loyalty has declined in England. The j^gpro. personal sentiment is sustained, with all its Jep^jb"ic°^ touching interests and affections ; and it is ''"^*'"- associated with a sober reverence for the laws and in- stitutions of the country.^ It is well knowm that re- publican speculations have occasionally been ventured upon : but they have not found favour with any con- siderable class of society : they have not been ad- dressed to a single constituency : they have not been even whispered in Parliament ; and they are repelled by tlie general sentiment of the country. While loyalty to the crown has survived all the advances of democracy, the church has congerva- awakened from a long period of inaction, and [^'"^t.^isof by her zeal and good works, has recovered '■"'^''■^y- much of her former influence ; while the continual in- crease of wealth has strengthened the conservative elements of society. The nobility, augmented in num- bers, still enjoy an influence little loss than feudal, in their several counties. The country gentlemen, united with them in interests and sympathies, liavo become far richer and more powerful tlian in the time of George III. : wliile tliey have advanced, still more conspicuously, in culture and accomplishjnents. Trained in the public schools and universities, the army, and the Inns of Court, they are qualified, as well for their high social position, as for the magis- ■ 'Reverence for the past, confidence in the present, faitli in the future, tliut is the sum of iMi^'lisli Btat(!snmns1iip.' — Speech of Sir Willium Vernon llurcourt ut Oxford, 8tli Sept., 1873. 502 ENGLAND. tracy and public affairs. Commercial wealtli has been lavished upon tlie land; and merchants and manu- facturers have recruited the ranks of a class, to whom they were once opposed. The goodly array of inde- pendent gentry, multiplied by the increasing wealth of the country, and by public employments, have generally cast in their lot with the proprietors of the soil. The professional classes, enlarged in numbers, in variety of pursuits, and in social influence, have generally associated themselves with the property of the country, with which their fortunes are identified. The employers of labour, anxiously concerned in the safety of their property and interests, and irritated by the disputes of their workmen, have looked coldly upon democratic movements. Great numbers of per- sons in the employment of public companies and com- mercial firms, may be included in the ranks which give stability to English society. It may be added that many of the higher grades of operatives invest their savings, and are bound up with the interests of their employers ; and that a considerable number of the working classes gain their livelihood from the ex- penditure of the rich. A society so strong, so varied, and so composite, assures the stability of our institutions, and Sns'oT' the equitable policy of our laws. In France, sociLty. ^^^ disorganization of society has been the main cause of revolutions : in England, its sound con- dition has been the foundation of political progress and constitutional safety. INDEX. AAR AAEAU, Peace of [Swiss Con- federation]. Absolutism, evils of, ii. 101 ; of the French Republic, 190. Achaian League, the, its services to Greece, i. 135 ; one of the earliest examples of a federal State, 135 ; compared with de- mocracy of Athens, 135, 136. Act of Mediation [Siciss Confede- ration]. Advertisement duty repealed, ii. 476. Affre, Monseigneur, archbishop of Paris, killed on the barricades, ii. 303. Agitation, political, in England, 477-488 ; the moral of, ii. 489. Agora, the, its beneficial influ- ences, i. 47. Agrarian law, of Si)urius Cas- sius, i. 151 ; of Liclnius, 179 ; contlnuiilly demanded in Rome, 179 ; of Tiberius Gracchus, 182, 183. Agricultural communities, con- serviitivfj, but with clinnents favourable to freedom, Introd. xxxvii. ; different classes of cultivators, xxxviii. ; the Me- tayer system, xxxs'iii.; general character of, xl.; in (heeco, i. 60 ; in Rome, 150, 103, 178 ; in ANJ the dark ages, 230; in Italy, 286 ; in Switzerland, 352, 358- 355, 371 ; in the Netherlands, ii. 2 ; iu France, 91, 105-112 ; in England, 350, 374, 467, 501. Albigcnses, the, i. 277 ; ii. 91. Albizzi, the [Florence]. Alfred the Great, arrests the pro- gress of the Danes in England, ii. 359. Alkmaar, the siege of, ii. 47. Alps, the, scenery of, and its in- fluence on man, i. 348. Alva, the Duke of [Netherlands, the]. American War of Independence, the, a prelude to revolution in Europe, ii. 134 ; alliance of France with the colonists, 134 ; stimulates the pojjular move- ment in England, 469 ; and in France, 409, Amiens, peace of, ii. 220. Amphictyonic Council, the, i. 52. Amsterdam, attempts of William j II. of Orange to seize, ii. 70. j Anabaptists, the, i. 281 ; in Eng- 1 land, their ideal, ii. 440. Anglo-Saxons, the [England]. Anjou, the Due d', sovereign of 1 the United Provinces, except 604 INDEX. XST ATH Holland and Zealand, ii. 57 ; his match with Queen Elizabeth broken off, 57 ; takes the oath to observe the charters and con- stitutions, 57 ; his treason, 58, 59 ; his departure and death, 59. Anti-Coru-Law League, the, its action and triumph, ii. 486 ; moral of the agitation, 487. Antinomians, the, ii. 441. Anti-Slavery Society, the, its suc- cess, ii. 484. Antwerp, burnt, and its citizens massacred by the Spaniards, ii. 51 ; raid of Anjou on, 58 ; ca- pitulates to Prince of Parma, 61. Arabs, the [Saracens]. Aragon, liberties of the Cortes, ii. 37 ; insurrection in, 28. Aquinas, St. Thomas, his politi- cal views, Introd. xxiii. n. Archons, government of, at Ath- ens, i. 70 ; office thrown open by Aristides, 77 ; election by lot, 78 ; deprived of judicial functions, 79. Areopagus, the, its powers, i. 78 ; obnoxious to the demo- cratic party, 78 ; stripped of its powers, 79. Aristocracy, one of the first forms of government, Introd. xxvii. ; its influence surviving its ex- clusive power, xxviii. ; the na- tural constitution of a pastoral State, xxxvii. ; aptitude of, for government, Iv. ; conflicts with the people, Ivii. ; conflict of, with democracy, i. 59 and n. ; united with monarchy and pop- Tilar institutions at Sparta, 66 and n. ; the Roman patricians, 142, 143, 150, 151 ; fusion of old and new, at Rome, 159, 100 ; political reaction of Roman, 172 ; ascendency of, after fall of the Gracchi, 189 ; the novi homines, 199 ; relations of, with the Church of Rome, 249 ; tho feudal, 252 ; of Venice, 302, sqq. ; conflict of, with demo- cracy at Genoa, 307 ; at Flor- ence, 317, sqq. ; growth of a new, at Florence, 321 ; the commercial, 325, 326 ; of Berne, 366 ; of Fribourg, 368 ; of France, ii. 102 ; in England, 360, 362, 374 ; power of, after the Revolution, 463. Armies, standing, the formation of, a check to the development of democracy, Introd. Ixi. ; in- jurious effects of, Ixi. ; conse- quences of, in Rome, i. 173 ; danger of, under Marius, 190 ; organised under the empire, 217 ; governed Rome, 227 ; ap- proach to establishment of, by Swiss Confederation, 375 ; raised by Charles the Bold, ii. 23. Arnold of Brescia [Rome]. Axtevelde, James van, becomes leader of the Flemings, ii. 16 ; sovereign of Flanders, his ex- ploits, 16 ; his death, 17. — Philip van, his exploits and death, ii. 17, 18. Arundel, Earl of, committed to the Tower, ii. 393. Aryans, their original seat and migrations, i. 40, 41 ; their civilisation attested by their language, 41 ; contributed to European liberty, 42, n. Associations [Political Associa- tions]. Athens, contrasted with Sparta, i. 69 ; the intellectual centre of Greece, 70 ; an oligarchy, gov- ernment by Archons, 70 ; con- stitution of Solon, 71 ; council of Four Hundred, 72 ; Ecclesia, 73 ; encouragement of com- INDEX. 505 ATS AXIS merce, 73 ; suspension of free- dom under Peisistratus and liis sons, 73 ; constitution of Cleis- tlienes, 73 ; division into ten tribes, 74 ; Senate of Five Hundred, 75 ; the Ecclesia, 75; ostracism, 7a ; changes in con- stitution of Cleisthenes, 77 ; reforms of Pericles, 78 ; the Areopagus, 78 ; the dicasteries, 79 ; scrutiny of magistrates, 81 ; restraints upon the democracy, 83 ; increased power of the Ec- clesia, 8"i ; the Council of Five Hundred, 83 ; introduction of payment for public services, 84, 85, 86 ; popular amusements provided at expense of the State, 87 ; distribution of pro- fits of mines of Laiirium among the citizens, 87, n. ; public works promoted by Pericles, 87 ; the Theoricon, 88 ; exam- ple of a pure democracy, 90 ; ambassadors received by the as-;embly, 91 ; her democratic influence, 92 ; overthrow of the democracy by Peisander, 92 ; overthrow of the oli- garchs, 94 ; a polity estab- lished, 94 ; democracy restored, 94 ; humiliation and surrender of the city to Lysander, 94 ; rule of the Thirty Tyrants, 95 ; proscription, 95 ; rescued by Thrasybulus. 98 ; the demo- cracy restored, 96 ; decline of her ascendency, 96 ; her orators and philosophers, 97 ; Macedo- nian conquest, fall of the demo- cracy, 97. - Her greatness under the de- mocracy, 99 ; coincidc^nce of en- liglitenment and freedom, 99 ; her warlike spirit, 100 ; her great victories, 101 ; employ- ment of mercenary troops, 101 ; its bad ofTects, lO'J ; her politi- cal activity, 103 ; her loaders, 104 ; influence of birtli, 105, 106 ; disparagement of the ' de- magogues,' 106 ; good and bad demagogues, 107 ; study of oratory, 107 ; the sophists, 107; freedom of speech, the natural growth of Athenian life, 109 ; attempt to restrict it, 109, n. ; licence of the stage, 110 ; So- crates an example of Athenian toleration, and of its breach, 110 ; the drama, music. 111, 112 ; means of culture, 112 and n. ; smalluess of Athens as a State, 113 ; rudeness of its form of government, 114 ; need of representation, 115 ; the Greek religicm, 110 ; slavery, 120 ; selfishness of Athenian policy, 121 ; Athenian franchise, 131 ; lowering of the franchise, 123 ; lowering of the character of the democracy, 123 ; its power increased, 124 ; burthens upon the rich, and upon the poor, 125 ; patriotism undermined by payments for attendance, 125, 126 ; paid advocates, 127 ; popu- lar judicature, 128 ; the Syco- phants, 128 ; public anui^e- ments at cost of the State, 129 ; the system comjdeted by Eubu- ]us, 130 ; misai)propriation of money, 132 ; corriiption of gene- rals and envoys, 132 ; eflorts of Demosthenes to reform abuses, 133 ; poor laws, 133 ; public life in, compared with Konie, 168 ; Athenian democracy com- pared with Konian, 218 ; their judicatures compared, 219 ; compared with Florence, 310. Athens, the Duke of [Florence^. Augsburg, Diet of, allows rulers to determine the faith of their subjects, ii. 35, n. Augustus [Octavius], Austria, the German Emperor signs Declaration of Pilnitz. ii. 160 ; joins with I'russia in de- claration of war against Friince, 167; Francis II. rem. uncos title of Emperor of (ieririaiiy, 226 ; insurrections in Italy against 506 INDEX. BAI BLA lier rule (1848), 287 ; disturb- ances at Vienna, abdication of tlie Emperor, 288 ; new consti- tution, 288. BAILLY, Mayor of Paris, ii. 153 ; resigns, 161 ; execut- ed, 194 Ball, John, his bold social doc- trines, ii. 3G7. Ballot, the, iised in Rome, i. 181 ; adopted in England, 1872, ii. 493. Barbes, his insurrection, ii. 268 ; its object, 268 ; resisted by Lamartine, 298 ; member of provisional government, arrest- ed, 302. Barebone's Parliament [England]. Barneveldt, .Tan van Olden, sup- ports Prince Maurice, ii. 65 ; his peace policy, 70 ; his illegal arrest and execution, 74. Barras, ii. 207, 214. Barrot, Odillon, his opposition to repressive measures o* Louis Philippe, ii. 265 ; leads agita- tion for reform, 270, 278 ; min- ister with M. Thiers, 281 ; first minister, 282 ; his ministry dis- missed by Louis Napoleon, 308 ; invited to form a ministry, 311. Basle, a municipal republic, i. 357 ; its mixed constitution, 368, 360 ; peasant war, 387 ; revolution at, 396 ; the bishop- ric annexed to France, 396 ; domination of the town over the country, 404. Bavaria, abdication of King Lud- wig, ii. 290. Belgium, Celtic settlers in, ii. 3 ; occupied by the Franks, 4 ; in- surrection in. 85 ; made a sepa- rate kingdom under Leopold I., 85 ; ascendency of Ultr anion - tanism, 85 ; progress of, 1830 to 1848, 285 ; remains at peace in 1848, 291 [Netherlands, and Ncticerlands, kingdom of the]. Berlin, insurrection at, 1848, ii. 290. Bernadotte, elected King of Swe- den, ii. 226. Berne, a municipal republic, i. 357 ; privileges of its burghers, 357 ; forms alliance "with Fri- bourg, Bienne, and Neufchiltel, 357 ; its aristocratic constitu- tion, 366, 367 ; corruption of the rulers, 381 and n. ; peasant war in, 387 ; becomes an oligar- chy, 390 ; intervenes against the burghers of Geneva, 392 ; again, with Zurich, France, and Savoy, occupies the town, and suppresses its liberties, 393 ; heavy contributions levied by the French, 400 ; oligarchic rule restored, 404 ; revolution of 1830, 405 ; conciliation of parties, 412. Berri, the Due de, assassination of, ii. 242. Bianchi and Neri, the, at Flor- ence, i. 319. Bible, the English, its influence on English society, ii. 379. Billaud-Varennes, ii. 189 n., 202, 203. Bishops, in England, nominated by the king, ii. 371 ; proposal of the Commons to deprive them of their seats in the House of Lords, 412 ; the bill passed, 415 ; reinstated at the Restora- tion, 456. Blanc, Louis, Socialist leader, ii. 295 ; attempts to organize na- tional workshops, 296, 297 and n. ; resisted by Lamartine, 297 ; takes part in invasion of the Hntel de Ville, 300 ; in storm- ing of the Assembly, 301 ; mem- BLA INDEX. 507 surance chamber, 7 ; expels the French garrison, IG ; vic- tory over the French at Cour- trai, 16 ; joins in war against Count of Flanders, 16 ; resists Philip the Good, 23 ; seizure and imprisonment of Archduke Maximilian by the townsmen, 25 ; they extort a treaty from him, 25 ; unsuccessfully at- tacked by Duke of Anjou, 58. ber of provisional government, arrested, 301. Blanqui, takes part in the insur- rection of Barbt>s, ii. 268; leader of the Red Republicans in in- vasion of the Hotel de Ville, 300 ; member of provisional government, arrested, 301. Bohemia, pro\'isional government proclaimed at Prague, ii. 288. Boissy d'Anglas, his firmness as ' Brussels, capitulates to Prince of president of the Convention, u. | p^nna, ii. 01 ; capital of the 201. I new kingdom of the Nether- Bologna, the head of the confed- ! lands, 84. eraiion of cities south of the Po, i. 312 ; joins the Lombard League, 313 ; staunch to the Guelphic party, 315. Bonaj^rte, Jerome, made King of Westphalia, ii. 226. — , Joseph, made King of the Two Sicilies, ii. 226 ; king of Spain, 226. — , Louis, made King of Holland, and deposed, ii. 226. — , Napoleon [J^ajjoleon Bona- parte]. Bordeaux, under the Reign of Terror, ii. 192 ; meeting of Na- tional Assembly at, 331. Borromean League, the, alliance of Seven Catholic Cantons of Switzerland, i. 383. Bourbons, the, fruitless attempts at fusion of the two bouses, ii. 316. Bourgeoisie, the, the middle class in France, ii. 116. Brahmans, the, interpreters and administrators of the law, i. 4 ; pride of caste, 5. Bright, >fr. , one of tl>e loaders of tlie Anti-Corn-Law League, ii. 486. Bruges, tlie central mart of the llunsealic League, ii. 6 ; its iu- Buckingham, Duke of, proceed- ings against him threatened, ii. 392 ; the ]>arliament dis- solved to avert them, 393 ; im- peachment voted, again saved by a dissolution, 393. Buddhism, freedom uuknown to, i, 3. Bugeaud, Marshal, commander of Paris, ii. 282. Bureaucracy, growth of, at Rome, i. 216. Burgundy, House of, acquires sovereignty of the Netherlands, ii. 22. Bussolari, Jacob del, his enter- prise at Pavia, i. 330. CADIZ, capture and sack of, by Dutch and English fleets, ii, 65. Cajsar, C. Julius, one of the lead- ers of the Roman democracy, i. 201 ; bids for popularity, 203 ; Pontifex Maximus, 204 ; alli- ance with Pomi)ey, 2U5 ; his jwpular measures, 206 ; mili- tary commands, 206 ; victories, 207; triumvir, 208 ; rivalry with Pompcy, 200 ; crosses the Rubicon, 210 ; master of Rome, 211 ; his powerfi and ])olicy, 211 ; his constitutioniil and ro- mudial laws, 212 ; slain, 213 ; 508 INDEX. CAIi CHA tlie assassins justified by Mon- tesquieu, 213, n. ; routs the Helvetii, 33C. Calendar, reformation of the, ii. 195. Calonne, ii. 135 ; his measures, 137 ; his fall, 137. Calvin, John, his scheme of church government, i. 282 ; his influence in reformation of Switzerland, 382 ; his rule in Geneva, 384 ; moral influence of his religious discipline, 385 ; his doctrines and polity em- braced by many in England, ii. 378. Calvinists, the supporters of po- litical liberties, Introd. Ixv. [Pvritans]. Capital punishment, for political offences abolished in France, ii. 293. Capitalists, a class of, created at Home, i. 174 ; in France, be- come a power in the State, ii. 115. Capponi, Florentine statesman, 1. 338. Carrier, at Nantes, ii. 193, 202. Carthage, its republican consti- tution, i. 31 ; democratic ele- ments, 32 ; growth of an oli- garchy, 32 ; analogy with con- stituti-on of Venice. ' 32 ; the Punic wars, 164 ; invasion of Italy by Hannibal, 164 ; colony at, founded by Csesar, 213. Caste, in India, i. 5 ; in Persia, 15 ; in Egypt, 27. Castile, liberties of, the Cortes, ii. 27 ; the king deposed. 27 ; remonstrance of the holy jtintn rejected by Charles V,. 28 ; in- surrection under Padilla, sup- pressed, and Padilla put to death, 28. Catalonia, the king deposed by the people, ii. 27. Cathelineau, Vendean leader, ii. 189. Catholic Association, the, formed, ii. 480 ; Act for suppression of, passed, 481 ; meetings prohib- ited, 481. Catholic Emancipation, conceded, ii. 482. Catholics {Church of liome]. Catiline, L. Sergius, his conspi- racy, i. 204. Cato, the censor, i. 176. Cato, M. Porcius, leader of sena- torial party, i. 204 ; his tactics, 206, n. Cavaignac, General, ap^inted Dictator, suj)presses Socialist insurrection at Paris, ii. 303 ; his measures, 304 ; candidate for the Presidency, 304. Celts, the, their early condition, Introd. xlvi. ; state of countries peopled by, xlvi., xlvii. ; settlers in Belgium, ii. 3 ; in England, 352. Censorship of the Press, in France, partially removed, ii. 239 ; re- moved, 241 ; revived, 242 ; abolished, 245 ; restored, 248 ; abolished, 248 ; in England, under Cromwell, 446. Centralisation, in France, ii. 99- 101. Chambord, Comte de,his resolute adhesion to the white flag, ii. 345 ; failure of attempts at fu- sion, 346. Changarnier; General, prevents storming of the Hotel de Ville, ii. 300, 301; superseded in com- mand of Paris, 309, 310. Charlemagne, his schools, i. 264, 265 ; reduces the Frisians, i|. 4 ; his appointment of muni- INDEX. 509 CHA CHR cipal officers in the Nether- lands, 8. Cliarles the Bold, Duke of Bur- gundy, thrice defeated by the Swiss, i. 362 ; gives up Lii'ge to pillage, ii. 23 ; his tyranny in the Netherlands, 23. Charles X. of France, his acces- sion, ii. 245 ; his character, 245 and n. ; under priestly influ- ence, 246, 247 [Fraiice]. Qiarles Albert, King of Sardinia, begins the war for Italian unity, ii. 287. Charles V., Emperor, becomes sovereign of the Netherlands^, ii. 26 ; enlarges powei*s of the Spanish crown, 28 ; suppresses insurrections and overthrows ancient liberties, of Spain, 28; his rule in the Netherlands, 29 ; his hostility to the Reforma- tion, 33 ; his cruel persecution of Protestants in the Nether- lands, 34 ; abdicates, 36. Charles I. of England, his charac- ter, ii. .301, 392 ; his bad faith, 395 ; resolves to govern with- out a Parliament, 396 ; con- vokes another, 40 ', ; dissolves it, 401 ; summons a council of peers at York, 402 ; summons the Long Parliament, 402 ; as- sents to attainder of Strafford, 405 ; his rights infringed by Act agaiiist dissolution of par- liament, 411 ; attempts to ar- rest the five members, 414 ; re- fuses assent to the Militia Bill, 415 ; leaves Ijf)ndon, 4I(J ; i)re- pares foi* war, 416 ; his adhe- rents, 417 ; divided counsels, 418 ; summons a parliament at Oxff>rd, 419 ; negotiations at Uxbridge, 419 ; defeated at Naseby, 423 ; takes refuge with the Scots, 423 ; given up l)y i th(!m, 423 ; soizwl and tal^cn j to tlie camp, 425 ; in ca])tivity, 426 ; rejects the propositions of i the army, 426, 427 ; escapes from Hampton Court, 427 ; im- prisoned in Carisbrook Castle, 428 ; treats with the parlia- ment, 428 ; his secret treaty with the Scots, 429 ; accused of treachery and treason ; his trial demanded, 430 ; his trial and execution, 435 ; contempo- rary sentiments, 435 ; the judg- ' ment of posterity, 436. Charles, Prince of Wales, pro- claimed King in Scotland, ii. 442 ; defeated by Cromwell at Worcester, 442 ; restoration of, 454 ; his rule, 457. Chartists, the, in England, or- ganisation of, ii. 484 ; their methods of action, 485 ; the procession to Westminster of April 10, 1848, prohibited and prevented, 435, 4S6 ; weakness of their cause, 486. China, early civilisation of, i. 16 ; theoretical principles of its government, 17 ; Confucius and Slencius, 17 ; restraints upon the i)ower of the emperor, 18 ; superiority of its j urisprudence, 18; functionaries, 19; boards and other offices, 19 ; vices of administration, 19 ; the censors, - 19 ; extensive system of educa- tion, 20 ; learning the sole road to power, 20 ; influence of the literati upon public opinion, 21; frequency of insurrections, 21; village communities, 21 ; sim- plicity of the State religion, 21; industry of the people, 22 ; causes of the absence of free- dom, 23 ; absence of wealthy and middle classes, 23 ; density of pojiulation, 23 ; moral condi- tion of the people, 24 ; their unsocial isolation, 24. Chivalry, institution of, its refin- ing influences, i. 253. Christianity, influenco of, upon European civilisation, i. 239 ; 510 INDEX. CHU its precepts, 239 ; addresses it- self to the individual, 239, n. ; appealed to iu support of oppo- site systems, 240, 241, nu. ; its propagation, 242 ; corruptions of churches, 243 ; church gov- ernment, 243; growth of power of bishops and priests, 243 [Church ofliome]. Cliurch of England, the revival in the, Introd. Ixii. ; the royal supremacy established by Hen- ry VIII., ii. 371 ; reformation effected by the king, 372 ; its doctrines and ceremonies main- ly Lutheran, 378 ; revolt of the Puritans against, 378; attempts of Queen Elizabeth to repress divisions, 380 ; rise of non-con- formity, 380 ; Catholic reaction under Mary, 381 ; illegal canons of Convocation sanctioned by James I., 386 ; exalts preroga- tive, 386 ; passive obedience taught, 396 ; its policy directed by Laud, 398 ; proceedings of the Long Parliament against the clergy, 407 ; episcopacy as- sailed by the Puritans, 414; the Presbyterian polity intro- duced, the Episcopal clergy ejected, 423 ; held sacred the meraorv of ' King Charles the Martyr/ 436; restored to as- cendency at the Restoration, 456 ; persecutes the Puritans, 456 ; resists the encroachments of James II., 458 ; its repose in the 18th century, 465 ; dis- turbed by Wesley and Wliite- field, 474; affected as the church of the people, 475 ; her policy threatened, 475 [Bishops, Pres- hytcrians, Puritans']. Church of Rome, her hold on cultivated minds shaken by modern free thought, Introd. Ixii. ; partial recovery of her power, Ixii. ; the revival ac- companied by superstitious doc- trines and practices, Ixii. ; the CIO pontiff, i. 244 ; influence of, upon freedom, 244 ; the ascetic spirit, 345 ; its teaching adverse to freedom, 246 ; the church and civilisation, 246; the priest- hood, 247 ; its salutary moral influence, 248 ; its relations to the poor, 248 ; to the aristoc- racy, 249 ; to kings, 249 ; claims of the Pope, 249 ; its spiritual and secular power a check to freedom, 251 ; represses free inquiry, 271 ; its influence im- paired by growth of modern languages, 271 ; conflict of, with freedom of thought, 276 ; its unity threatened by heresies, 277 ; the Inquisition, 278 ; growth of opposition to, 279 ; its claim of supreme dominion, 279 ; the Protestant Reforma- tion. 280; Catholic reaction, 282 ; ascendency of, maintained in Belgium, ii. 85 ; in France, originally a source of weakness to the crown, 90 ; resists the new philosophy of France, 125 ; her teaching imchanged, 125 ; expulsion of the Huguenots, 125 ; when exposed to criticism, unequal to the strife, 126 ; re- established in France by Bo- naparte, 221 ; strife of Henry VIII. with, 370, 371 ; Catholic reaction in Europe, 381 ; perse- cution of Catholics by James I., 386. Cicero, M. Tullius, wins popular- ity, i. 203 ; discovers Catihne's conspiracv, 204 ; banished, 207 ; recalled, 209. Cimon, rival of Pericles, his lar- gesses to the people, i. 86; takes part in fortifications of Athens, 87. Cinna, L. Corn., his reversal of Sulla's policv, i. 195 ; with Ma- rius. takes Rome, 196 ; consul, 196 ; slain, 197. Ciompi, the [B'lorence]. INDEX. CIS Cisalpine republic, tlie, created, ii. 209 ; made a kingdom, :i25. Civilis, Batavian chief, resists the Romaus, ii. 4. CivilisatioD, its connection with freedom, Introd. sxii. ; contrasts between Eastern and Western, i. 1; inferiority of Eastern, i-3 ; its unprogressive character, 2 ; arrested by wars, 2 ; freedom uuknowa to it, 3 ; Greek, 138 ; European, promoted by intiu- ence of traditions of Rome, 236, 237 ; by the church, 246 ; by chivalry, 253 ; Byzantine, char- acterised, 267 ; Saracen, 268 ; influence of the Jews on Euro- pean, 369 ; ancient, recovered, 272. Cleisthenes. constitution of, i. 73- 77. Clients, class of, at Rome, i. 174. Clodius, demagogue at Rome, i, 207. Climate, effects of, on freedom, Introd. xxxii. ; tropical, con- ducive to despotism, xxxiii. ; temperate, conducive to free- dom, xxxiv ; of India, i. 7 ; of Palestine, 33 ; of Greece, 44 ; of Italv, 141 ; of Switzerland, 349 ; of tho Netherlands, ii. 13 ; of France, 89 ; of England, 350. Clubs, political, at Athens, i. 9'3 ; enter into plot of Peisander, 93 ; at Rome, 156 ; revival of, pro- posed by Clodius, 207, n. ; at Geneva, 39 J ; revolutionary, at Paris, confederation of, ii. 153 ; their importance, 173, n. ; their confederation KU])pressed, 202 ; reopened in France, 294 ; join in inciting to insurrection, June 1848, 303 ; suj)i)ressed by Ca- vaignac, 304. Cobden, Mr., one of the leaders of the Anti-Corn-Law League, ii. 486. COM Collot d'Herbois, ii. 511 189, n., 192, 202, 203. Colonisation, Greek, i. 137, 138 ; relations of colonies to mother country, 137, n.; Roman, in Italy, 161 ; beyond the Alps, proposed by Marius, 191 ; Brit- ish colonies under responsible government, ii. 494. Columbus, Christopher, i. 275. Comitia, the, at Rome, admission of the plcbs to, i. 149 ; checks upon, 157 ; vote by ballot in- troduced, 184 ; order of voting changed, 186 ; changes under Sulla, 200 ; daily report of its proceedings ordered by Caesar, 206 ; controlled by Uctavius, 215 ; fall into disi;se, 216 ; ir- regular action of, 222. Committee of Public Safety [^F'rench Bevolutioii]. ^Commons, the House of, acquires independent place in the legis- lature, ii. 364 ; its growing powers, 365 ; reaction against, 368 ; under Henry VIII. nomi- nees of the crown, 372 ; claims freedom of speech under Eliza- beth, 374 ; contests the prero- gative under James I., 388 ; presents a remonstrance to the king, 388 ; Charles I. and his Parliaments, 392-405 ; inter- feres with the House of Lords, 408 ; restrains freedom of de- bate and right of petition, 409 ; presents the Grand Remon- .strance to the king, 412 and n.; arrest of the five niombors, 414 ; passes the Militia Bill, 415 ; ap- points High Court of Justice for trial of Charies I., 431; de-. clares itself supremo, 431 ; man- agement of, by 'xil't of i)lace3 and pensions, an art of states- nianshi)), after the Revolution, 463 [ l'(irlwiiKnt\ Commonwealth, the [EvQland]. 612 INDEX. COM Commune, tlie [France, Paris]. Communists, the most mischie- vous fanatics of democracy, Introd. Ixvi.; decry ' individual- ism," Ixvii. ; tyranny of com- munism, its depression of higher natures, Ixviii. ; pro- scription of higher aims of society, Ixviii. and n. ; its dreams realised in France, Ixix. ; culmination of its dan- gers in the Paris Commune, 1871, ixx.; a revolt against cap- ital, Ixx. ; overcome by the second French empire, Ixx. ; in France, conspiracy of Ba- bceuf , ii. 208 and n. ; under re- public of 1848, 295 [Interna- tional Association Socialists]. Condottieri, the, i. 327 ; Swiss, 378. C/onfucius, 1, 16. Conscience, freedom of, pro- claimed by William, Prince of Orange, ii. 60 ; progress of the struggle for, in Europe, 71. Conscription, the, introduced in France, ii. 213. CHO Constantinople, saved amidst wreck of Europe, i. 266 ; orien- tal character of its civilisation, 266, 267 ; arts of, 267 ; its liter- ary treasures, buried, 267. Constituent Assembly [FrencJi Revolution]. Consuls, chiefs of Roman Repub- lic, i. 145 ; their simple state, 146 ; office suspended and mili- tary tribunes appointed, 155 ; restored, first plebeian elected, 155 ; canvassing for the consul- I ate forbidden, 155 ; their check upon the Comitia, 157 ; form of consulate preserved under the empire, 216. Corday, Charlotte, ii. 186. Cordeliers' Club, the, ii. 155, 163. Cortes, the, of Spanish kingdoms, ii. 27. Corvee, the, in France, ii. 106. Country gentlemen, their position and influence in England, ii. 365, 368, 467, 501. Couthon, ii. 192, 197. Crassus, M. Licinius, one of the chiefs of the oligarchy, i. 201 ; joins the democracy, 203 ; his wealth and influence, 203 ; Triumvir, commander in Syria, 208 ; death, 209. Critias, author of the proscription at Athens, i. 95 ; his death, 96. Cromwell, Oliver, one of the leaders of the Independents, ii. 420 ; his character and intiu- ence, 420 ; under the self-deny- ing ordinance, supersedes the Presbyterian generals, 422 ; de- feats Charles I. at Naseby, 423 ; assumes chief command, 425 ; overcomes the Parliament, 425 ; represses political agita- tion in the anuy, 428 ; with his generals resolves to bring the king to justice, 428, 429, repels invasion of the Scots, 430; ' Pride's Purge,' 430; declines to advise trial of Charles I. ,431 and n.; as captain-general, virtually supreme, 441, 442 ; dissolves the Long Parliament, 442 ; nom- inates Barebone's Parliament, 443 ; dissolves it, 444 ; declared Protector for life, 444 ; his elec- toral reform Act, 444 ; his au- thority questioned by the new Parliament, 445 ; dissolves it, 445 ; governs with the army, 445 ; vigour of his rule, 446 ; threatened with assassination, 447 ; calls another Parliament, 447 ; his ambition, the crown offered to him, 447, 448 ; and re- fused, 448 ; confirmed as Pro- tector, 448 ; dissolves the Par- liament, 449; his death, 449; his INDEX. 513 CRO character, 449, 450 ; his tolera- tion, 450. Cromwell, Richard, succeeds his father as Protector of tlie Com- monwealth, ii. 451 ; resigns, 451. Crusades, the, i. 254 ; their in- fluence upon European enlight- enment, 255 ; upon feudalism, 255, 25G ; upon the enfranchise- ment of communes, 256. DANTE, banished from Flor- ence, 1. ol9. Danton. ii. 153, 163 ; leader of the Commune of Paris, 169, 170, and n., 173 ; weary of blood- shed, 196 ; overthrow by Robes- pierre, 196, 201. Dark Ages, the, i. 230, 231, 233, 250 ; life of man in, 273, n. De Brienne, exiles the Parliament of Paris, and recals it, ii. 137 ; arrests d'Espremenil and Gois lart, 187 ; resigns, 138. 'Defensional,' the [Sioiss Confed- eration]. ' Delinquents,' ii, 406 and n., 407 ; sequestration of their estates, 42i. Democracy, development of popu- lar i)ower a natural law, Introd. xxix., XXX. and n. ; illustrations from English history, and from French history, xxx., xxxi.; democratic tendencies of town jjopiilations, xliii.; its power increased by events following the Protestant Reformation, xlviii.; and the Fn;nch revolu- tion, xlix.; freedom the firmest barrier against it, Ix.; its de- velopment arrested by forma- tion of great standing armi(!s, Ixi. ; and checked by ecclesias- tical revival, Ixii.; relations of infidelity with, Ixi v., Ixv. ; its excesses in Europe, Ixvi. , 22* DEM irreverence and intolerance of the extreme party, Ixvi. ; high- est ideal of, Ixvi. ; its ideal de- cried by Communists, Ixvii. ; its probable future progress, Ixxiii., Ixxiv. and nu. ; element of, in republic of Carthage, i. 31 ; in Jewish theocracy, 36, 37 ; in Greek republics, 45 ; in the Agora, 46 ; advance of, in Greece, 54 ; moderate, prefer- red by Aristotle, 55, n. , and 57, n. ; varieties of, 50 ; advanced by growth of towns, 62 ; demo- cratic institutions at Sparta, 68 ; most fully developed at Athens, 70 ; scheme of, consummated by introduction of payment for l)ublic services, 86 ; evils of Athenian, 90 ; lowering of its character, 123 ; general princi- ples illustrated by study of Greek democracy, 134 ; growth of, in Rome, 152 ; Roman com- pared with Athenian, 219 ; its share in the overthrow of the republic, 220. - Extinguished during the dark ages, i. 232 ; Greek and Teu- tonic, contrasted, 260 ; germ of, in Calvin's theocracy, 282 ; of the Italian republics, 288 ; the basis of Savonarola's reform, 341 ; examples of, in Switzer- land, 347 ; simplest form of, in the Forest Cantons, 355, 356 ; in the Grisons, 370 ; in the ru- ral cantons, conservative, 373 ; primary doctrine of a pure de- mocracy, 415 ; maintained in Swiss institutions, 415 ; instruc- tive study of, afforded by the Swiss Confederation, 430, 431 ; twofold illustration of. in his- tory of the Netherlands, ii. 1; Dutch refugees catch the spirit of I'^encb democracy, 81 ; late growth of, in France, 88 ; the Jacquerie, 91 ; Sl,(q)lien Marcel, 93 ; rejiresented in 14th century by Rienzi, Marcel, and the Van Arteveldes, 93 ; democratic 5M IITOES. DEM basis of tlie French Empire, 223 ; spread of, by campaigns of revolutionary France, 229 ; its principles and character changed, 281 ; reaction against it, in Europe, 2o2 ; advances of, in France, 242 ; impulse from the revolution of July, 256 ; held in check in Germany, 290 ; freedom the safeguard against it, 291 ; ascendency of, in France, 292 and n. ; universal reaction against, 304 ; new de- velopment of, in second French Empire, o2o ; combination of, with Imperialism, attempted by Napoleon III., 381 ; in England, represented by Puritanism, 414, n, ; the Independents, first de- mocratic party in England, 419, 420 ; bears small share in re- volution of 1688, 458, 459 ; its principles maintained by specu- lative writers, but without in- fluence on practical govern- ' ment, 461 ; symptoms of, in first years of George III., 468 ; fostered by American War of Independence, 469 ; democratic movement in England, 470 ; re- pressed by Parliament and pub- lic opinion, 470 ; becomes a great political force, 471 ; ad- vances towards it, by changes ■ in the representation, 493, 494 ; spread of democratic opinions in England, 495 ; democratic aspects of the English govern- ment, 496 [England, Florence, France, Greece, Italian Repub- lics, Netherlands, Borne, Switzer- land, etc.]. Demosthenes, i. 97 ; his efforts to refonn abuses, 125, 131, 133. Desi'ze, defends Louis XVI. on his trial, ii. 177. Desmoulins, Camille, ii. 196. De Witt, John, pensionary of Holland, ii. 77 ; procures the passing of the Perpetual Edict, EDU 78 ; murdered, with his brother Cornelius, 78. Dicasteries, the, of Athens, i. 75 ; constitution and jurisdiction of, 79, 80 ; a field for cultivation of orator J', 80 ; contribute to intellectual development of the citizens, 81. Diderot, and the Encyclopcdie, ii. 123 ; its doctrines, borrowed from English philosophers, 123 ; their prevalence in Europe, 124 ; society penetrated by them, 127. Digges, Sir Dudlev, committed to the Tower, ii. 393. Directory, the [France, French Jievolution]. Dissent, progress of, in England and Wales, ii. 474 [Valvinista, Nonconformists, Puritans], Doge, the, of Venice, first election and powers of, i. 300, 301 ; limitations of his power, 303 ; of Genoa, 807. Dumouriez, General, ii. 181. EAST, the [Aryans, Cartliage, China, Civilisation, Egypt, India, Japan, Jews, Persia, Phoenicians, Turkey]. Ecclesia, of Athens, the sovereign political power, i. 75 ; exten- sion of its powers, 83 ; payment for attendance introduced, 86 ; receives ambassadors, 91, n. ; range of its powers and func- tions, 92. Edward the Confessor, the old line of native kings restored in him, ii. 359. Edward I., II., III., IV. [Parlia- ment.] Education, extensive system of, in China, i. 20 ; ideal of Greek, 112 ; means of, at Athens, 113 ; INDEX. 515 EC4M EXG free under Roman empire, 228 ; obstacles to, in the darii ages, 251 ; revival of learning, 2(34 ; promoted by Charlemagne ; his schools and universities, 264 ; promoted by the Saracens, the schools of Bagdad, 268 ; and in Spain, 268 ; the Scholastic sys- tem, 270 ; interference of the Jesuits with, in Switzerland, 208 ; high standard of, in the Netherlands, ii. 19 ; universal- ity of, in Holland, 72 ; national system of, founded in France, by the Convention, 185 ; general diffusion of, in Europe, 286_; progress of, in England, 365, 377, 477 ; promoted by cheap literature, 477. Egmont, Count [Netherlcvids]. Egypt, its religion and polity of Eastern origin, i. 26 ; division of society into castes, 27 ; en- lightenment confined to the rulers, 23 ; despotic govern- ment, supported by physical conditions of the country, 28 ; and confirmed by Turkish con- qu -st, 28 ; introduction of European civilisation, 28 ; the Khedive absolute, 29 ; captivity of Israelites in, 34. Eliot, Sir John, committed to the Tower, ii. 393 ; again, 39G ; re- fuses submission and dies in the Tower, 397 ; the judgment reversed by House of Lords, 397. Elizabeth, queen of England, re- fuses aid to the United Prov- inces, ii. .50 ; promis(!3 aid, 53 ; sovereignty of tlie Netherlands offered to her, 62 ; declines it, but sends troops, 63 ; hf;r views, 63 ; her reign the; turning j)oint in tlic politic.ll fortunes of Eng- land, 373 ; maintains her pre- rogativ*', 374. Empire, the French, first and second [France, Napoleon Bo- naparte, Napoleon. Louis]. Eucyclopedie, the {Diderot]. England, her aid sought by the Dutch, ii. 62, 63 ; ties between England and Holland, 76 ; joins the coalition against France, 181 and n. ; her relations with France disturbed by intrigues of Louis Philippe about the Spanish marriages, 277 ; opposi- tion in their foreign policy, 277 ; state of, 1830 to 184«, 284; secure amidst revolutions of 1848, 291 ; her history that of liberty, not of democracy, 349 ; character of the country, 350 ; the climate, the soil, 350, 351 ; the scenery, 351 ; minerals, 352 ; the Celts, the Romans, 352, 353 ; Roman towns, 353 ; influence of Rome upon later times, 354 ; resemblance between an- cient Rome and England, 355 ; the Anglo-Saxons, 355 ; their conquests, 355 and n. ; Teu- tonic laws and customs intro- duced, 356 ; free institutions, 357 and n. ; the witenagemot, 358 ; the Danes, 358 ; the Nor- man Conquest, 360 ; policy of William the Conqueror, 360 ; Norman feudalism, a military organisation, 360 ; political changes, 361 ; the crown and the people, 361 ; measures of Henry L and Henry II. 362 ; the barons and the ])eople, 362 ; Magna Charta, 362 ; increasing power of parliament, 363 ; de- position of Edward II. and Richard II. by the i)arliament, 364; political and social i)ro- gress in the f(Jurteonth century, 365 ; Wycliffe and religious in- quiry, 365; the Lollards, 366 ; decay of feudalism, 366 ; sta- tutes of labourers, 3(!7 : po])ular discontents, 367 ; Wat TyUn-'s insurrection, 367 ; reaction against the Commons, 368 ; 6iG INDEX. ENG Wars of the Eoses, feudalism crushed, 8(39 and n. ; increase of kingly power, 370 ; absolut- ism of Edward IV., of Henry Vll., and Henry VIII., 370; Henry VIII. effects the Refor- mation, 371 ; his supremacy, 371 ; the parliaments do his bidding, 373 ; increased power of the crown, 372 ; course of the Reformation, 373 ; Catholic reaction under Queen Mary, frequent changes of religion, 373 ; reign of Elizabeth, 373, 374 ; social changes, nobles and country gentlemen, 374, 375 ; their conservatism, 375 ; rise of a powerful middle class, 376 ; commerce and manufactures, 376 ; intellectual progress, 377 ; Grammar schools, 377 ; religi- ous movements, 378 ; character and position of the reformed church, 378 ; Calvinists, 378 ; the English Bible, 379 ; the Puritan character, 879 ; Eliza- beth and the Puritans, 381. - Accession of the Stuarts, 383 ; James I. , 384 ; the king and the church, 386 ; canons of 1604, 386 ; Gunpowder plot, 387 ; levy of taxes by prerogative, 387*; dissolution of first parlia- ment of James I., 388; a sec- ond summoned and dissolved, members committed to prison, 389 ; government without a parliament, 389 ; third parlia- ment meets, and is dissolved by the king, 389, 390 ; fourth meets, 390 ; increasing power of constituencies, 390 ; close of James's reign, 391 ; first parlia- ment of Charles I., 392 ; limited grant of tonnage and pound- age ; dissolution of parliament, 392 ; the king's relations with the new parliament, 393 ; taxes levied without consent of par- liament, 393 ; forced loans, 393 ; another parliament sum- moned, 394 ; the Petition of ENG Right, 394 ; the king's bad faith, 395 ; duties of tonnage and poundage, 895 ; the king's determination to govern with- out a parliament, 396 : commit- tal of Sir John Eliot and other members, 396 ; taxes by prero- gative, 397 ; ship-money, 397 ; tyranny and severity of the Star Chamber and High Commission Courts, 398 ; the king's policy directed by Laud and Strafford, 398 ; persecution of the Puri- tans, 399 ; their emigration, 399 ; growing discontent, 399 ; rebellion in Scotland, 400 ; the king's embarrassment, 400 ; the short parliament of 1640, 400 ; character of the new House of Commons, 401 ; dissolution, 401 ; the Scots in rebellion, in- vasion of England, 402 ; the long parliament, 402 ; remedial measures, 403, 404 ; impeach- ments, 404, 405 ; rashness of the court, 414 ; arrest of the five members, 414 ; the militia bill, 415. - The civil war, 418 ; fruitless negotiations for peace, 419 ; Oliver Cromw(-ll,420 ; the self- denying ordinance, 421 ; new modelling of the armj', 422 ; its religious enthusiasm, 422 ; the battle of Naseby, 423 ; fall of the Church of England, 423 ; severities of the parliament, 424 ; invasion by the Scots, 429 ; growth of republican opinions, 432 ; republicanism in the army, 432 ; the Level- lers, 432 ; piety and regicide, 433 ; execution of the king, 435 ; the Commonwealth, Coun- cil of State appointed, 438 ; abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords, 439 ; re- publican theories, 439 and n., 440 and n. ; Cromwell's supre- macy, 442 ; the long parliament dissolved, 442 ; Barebone's Par- liament, 443 ; the Protectorate, ETOEX. 517 ENQ 444 ; its constitution, 444 ; the new parliament, 445 ; govern- ment by the anny, military dis- tricts formed under major-gen- erals, 445 ; commanding posi- tion of the Commonwealth, 447; death of Cromwell, 449 ; Rich- ard Cromwell Protector, 451 ; his resignation, 451 ; ' the Rump,' 452 ; a committee of safety, 452 ; anarchy, 452 ; in- tervention of General Monk, 453 ; a new parliament, 454 ; the Restoration, 454 ; effects of the civil war upon the mon- archy, 455 ; reaction under Charles II., 453 ; elements of future freedom, 453 ; James II., 457; the Revolution of 1688, 458 ; its principles, 458 ; secu- rities taken for public liberties, 459; characteristics of the Revo- lution, 460 ; reign of William III., 460, 431 ; the political writ- ings of the time. 431, 462 ; the representation, 462 ; ' manage- ment' of the Common;5, 408 ; power of the aristocracy, 464 ; inflaence of the press, 464 ; agitations against unpopular measures, 464 ; ascendency of the crown, the church, and the land-owners, 435 ; tlie nobles, 466 ; the country gentlemen, 407. - Fir ^t years of George III., 468; effects of American War of In- dependence, 46't ; democratic movement, 470 ; effects of the French Revolution, 470, 471 and n. ; the Six Acts, 471 ; social changes, 471 ; growth of towns, commerce, and navigation, 472 ; tholand in its relations to trade and manufactures, 47:J ; the Church and Dissent, 474 ; the policy of the church and the land thr(!aten('d, 475 ; j)o]itical education, 475 ; freedom of the press, 476 ; education, 477 ; po- litical associations, 478; dangers of vast assemblages, 479 ; the EUR Catholic association, 480 ; Cath- olic meetings, 481 ; Catholic emancipation, 482 ; Reform Bill, 1832, 482 ; Anti-slavery Socie- ty, 484 ; the Chartists, 484, 485 ; Anti-Corn - Law League, 486 ; meetings in Hyde Park, 487, 488 ; the Match Tax, 488 ; mi- nor agitation.s, 489, 490 ; Trades Unions, 490 ; changes in the representation, 493 ; Ballot Act, 493 ; increase of popular intlu- euce, 493 ; continuity of re- forms, 495 ; loyalty of the Eng- lish, 497-501 ; no professions of republicanism, 501 ; conser- vative elements of society, 501, 502 ; sound conditions of socie- ty, 502 [Commo?is, Indipciid- ents, Lords. Purliamcid, Prcs- bytLvians, Puritans, lirform]. Ephialtes, democratic leader at Athens, i. 79 ; effect of his scru- tiny of magistrates, 81. Ephors, council of the, i. 00, 08. Europe, its physical conditions favourable to freedom, Intvod. xxxvi. ; later developments of democracy, xlviii.-li. ; disorgan- isation of society in, after fall of Western empire, i. 230 ; barba- rian conquests, 231 ; the dark ages, 231 ; the feudal system, 232 ; causes of social and polit- ical improvement, 233 ; rude freedom of Teutonic invaders, 233 ; their customs introduced into Italy and elsewhere, 234 ; relations of chiefs and vassals, 235 ; influence of traditional in- stitutions of Rome, 236 ; feu- dalism ruinous to towns, 237^ great monarchies favoured by traditions of Rome, 237 ; Ro- man laws, jurists, 238 ; Chris- tianity and the Catholic Church, 239 ; six centuries of darknos^., 250; some schoolmen favourable to liberty, 250, n. ; growing re- finement of the barons, 252 ; mi n- strelsy, 252 ; chivalry, 253 ; en- 618 INDEX. PAI thusiasm of the Crusades, 254 ; their intluence upon European enlightenment, 255 ; upon feu- dalism, 255 ; upon the enfran- chisement of communes, 25G ; revival of towns, 257 ; decay of feudalism, 260 ; Imperial and free cities of Germany, 2(jl ; growth of European constitu- tions, 263 ; revival of learning, 264 ; schools and universities, 264 ; influence of monasteries, 265 ; introduction of Saracen culture, 268 ; influence of Jew- ish culture, 261) ; of the school- men, 270 ; growth of modern European languages, 272 ; re- covery of classical learning, 272 ; the revival of learning, 272 ; scientific discoveries, 275; churchmen supplanting nobles in the service of the State, 276 ; heresies and schisms, 277 ; first struggles for civil and religious liberty , 279 ; the Inq uisition, 278 ; the Protestant Reformation, 280 ; prerogative increased by Lutheranism, 281 ; Calvinism, 282 ; Catholic reaction, 282 ; prevalence of the new philoso- phy in Europe in the 18th cen- tury, ii. 124 ; the church and public opinion, 125, ct scq. ; ftate of, at the period of the French Revolution, 1789, 158 ; effects of the Revolution, 229 ; altered position of kings, 231 ; political reaction in, 232 ; influ- ence of Revolution of July, 1830, on States of, 256 ; state of, from 1830 to 1848. 284, 285 ; social changes, 285, 286 ; intel- lectual progress, 286 ; sudden 'effects of the Revolution of February, 1848, 287. I FAIRFAX, Sir Thomas, ap- pointed general of the par- liamentary army, ii. 422 ; takes part in repelling Scottish in- vasion, 429. Favre, Jules, his circular to FLO the foreign representatives of France, ii. 333. Federalism ; the Achalan League, i. 135 ; the Lycian League, 137 ; Free cities of Germany, 261 ; the Hanseatic and Rhen- ish Leagues, 262, 263 ; in Swit- zerland, 357, 859, 862, 413 ; con- federation of towns of Flan- ders and Brabant, ii. 16. Feudal system, the, i. 232; ruin- ous to towns, 237 ; refining in- fluence of chivalry, 253'; de- cline of, promoted by crusades, 255 ; its decay, 260 ; alliance of feudal lords in Italy with the burghers, 286 ; in Switzerland, 851, 365 ; in the Netherlands, ii. 4, 5 ; successfully resisted by the Frisians, 5 ; the baron and the burgomaster, 9 ; re- solute hostility of the Dutch burghers, 11, 12 and n. ; estab- lished in France by the Franks, 89 ; overthrown by Richelieu, 90 ; struggles against, in 14th century, 92 ; feudal rights and privileges renounced by French Constituent Assembly, 18; Norman feudalism, 860 ; in England, weakened by meas- ures of Henry II., 362; Wat Tyler's insurrection, a revolt against, 367 ; crushed by T\ ars of the Roses, 369 ; the kingiy power rising upon its ruins, 870. Feuillants' Club, the, at Paris, ii. 153, 162, 163. Fieschi, his attempt to assassinate Louis Philippe, ii. 266. Fifth Monarchy Men {Millenari- ans\. Five Hundred, Council of, at Athens, i. 75 ; its proceedings watched by assessors, 82 ; its functions and deficiencies, 83, Florence, its favourable position, i. 309 ; compared with Athens, INDEX. 519 FLO 310 ; its constitution, 311 ; Guelpli and Gliibeline, 311 ; a foieiga podestd chosen, 311, n. ; democratic Tuovement in, elec- tion of the Signoria, 316 ; its vigorous policy, the Guel]>liic nobles recalled, war against the Qhibeline cities, 31G ; tak- en pos3ession of, by Qhibeline army, 31G ; new democratic constitution, 317 ; ascendency of the mercantile class, 317 ; exclusion of nobles fi-om the Signoria, 317 ; first appointment of the gonfalonier of justice, 318 ; an oligarchy established, 318 ; feuds and factions, 319 ; jealous spirit of democracy, choice of rulers by lot, 319, 330 ; constitution of 1328, 320 ; the leader of free republics, 320 ; aims at a balance of power in Italy, 320 ; resists John of Bohemia, 321 ; rule of the Dulce of Athens, 321 ; drives him away, 321 ; growth of a new aristocracy, 321, 322 ; ri- valry of old and new families (fourteenth century), 322 ; tlie Medici, 322; revolt of the C'i- ompi, 322, 323 ; Michael de Lando i)rocIairaed gonfalonier, and soon afterwards exiled, 323, 321; overthrow of the Ci- ompi and suI)je(:tioa of the de- mocracy, 324 ; democratic spirit of the republic, 324 ; conspi- racy of the I'a/iZi, assassination of Julian de' Medici, 33G ; con- dition of, in tlie fifteenth cen- tury, 337 ; poi)uhir rule of the Albizzi, 337; tlu^ir rivals and successors, the Medici, 337; the 'parliaments' ready instru- ments of revolution, 337 ; Cos- mo de' Medici, 337, 338 ; pros- perity under his rule, 338, 339 ; Peter de' Medici, Lorcm/.o de' Medici, 339 ; change in the con- stitution, 339 ; and in foreign relations, 340 ; Savonarola, his religious and ])olitical reforms, 340, 311 ; expulsion of the Mc- FKA dici, 340 ; election of a gonfa- lonier for life with dictatorial powers, 341 ; Peter Soderiui first chosen, 341 ; the Medici recalled, and again expelled, 342 ; fall of the republic, 343 ; Alexander de' Medici, 342.^^^.^^ Forest Cantons, the [Switzerland]. Four Hundred, Council of, at Athens, i. 72 : converted by Cleisthenes into Council of Five Hundred, 75 ; established by Peisander, 93 ; deposed, 94. France, bigoted policy of the League, ii, 02 ; Ilenrj' III. de- clines offer of sovereignt}' of the Netherlands, G2 ; anarchy in, 64 ; conquest of, projected by Philip II., 64 ; late growth of democracy in, 88 ; the coun- try and the people, 88,89 ; con- quest of the Gauls by the Franks, 89 ; establishment of feudalism, 90 ; growth of the monarchy, 90 ; overthrow of the feudal chiefs, 90 ; the church, 90 ; supreme power of ilie crown, 91 ; misery and discon- tents of the people, 91 ; the Jacquerie, 91, 92 ; d(!m()cratic career of Stephen Marcel, 93 ; rebellion in Paris, 93 ; muni- cii)al liberties, 93 ; the states- general, first convened i)y Philip the Fair, 95 ; proviniial assem- blies, 97 ; the jjarlianients, 97 ; the monarchy absolute nnd<;r Louis XIV., 99 ; centralisa- tion, 99 ; functions of the in- tendants, 100 ; tin'; courts of justice, 100 ; concentration of y)ow(!r in Paris, 101 ; evils of absolutism, 101 ; court of Louis XIV., 102 ; evils of the court. 103 ; high offices monopolised by the nobles, 104; sale of of- fic(!s, 104 ;exeni))tinns of nobles, li)5 ; burdens upon tlio ])ens- antry, lOG ; effects of non-resi- dence, lOG, 107, n. ; n^sident pro])rietors, 107 ; peasant i)ro- prjfitors, 108 and n. ; the mciU' 520 INDEX. FEA FRA yers, 109 ; the game-laws, 110 ; weight of taxes, 110 ; the mili- tia, 111 ; no agricultural mid- ■dle - class. 111 ; famines and bread riots, 112 ; beggars, 112 ; impoverishment of the nobles, 118 ; abdication of their duties as a governing class, 114 ; rise of other classes, official nobles, 114 ; capitalists a power in the State, 115 ; influence of men of letters, IIG ; the brmrgeoisic, a race of place-hunters, 116 ; ci- vic notables, their pretensions and disputes, 117 ; the clergy, their sympatliies with the poor, 117, 118 ; multitude of lawyers, 118 ; political and social con- dition of the country, 119 ; the new philosophy, 119 ; prohibi- tion of political discussion, 119 ; Voltaire, his aims and influ- ence, 121 ; Rousseau, his phi- losophy, 122 ; Diderot and the Encyclopedie, 128 and n. ; the church and public opinion, 125 ; the Huguenots, 125 ; the low- er classes unsettled by the new doctrines, 127 ; absence of healthy public opinion, 128 ; influence of classical learning, 128 ; political failures of Louis XIV., 128, 129 ; reign and pol- icy of Louis XV., 129, 130. - Louis XVL, 131 ; reforms of Turgot, 132, 133 ; recognition of American independence and war with England, 134, 469 ; expenses of the war 134 ; pro- vincial assemblies revived, 135 ; Necker's compte rendu, 135 ; power of public opinion, 136 and n. ; an assembly of nota- bles, 136 ; Calonne, 136 ; De Brienne, exile of parliament of Paris, 137 ; the states-general demanded, 137; convoked, 138 ; events of the revolution, 140- 207 ; France under the Direc- tory, 208 ; the war, 209 ; royal- ists in the councils, 209 ; meas- ures of the Directory, 210 ; coup d'etat of 18 Fructidor, 210; ruled by the sword, 210 ; pro- scription of the royalists, 211 ; the republican army, 211 ; ex- pedition to Egypt, 212 ; to Switzerland, 212 ; propaganda of the Revolution, 212 ; renew- al of the coalition, 213 ; the conscription introduced, 213 ; troubles of the Directory, 213 ; the new Directory, 214 ; return of Bonaparte from Egypt, 214 ; C0U2) d't'tut, 18 Brumaire, 215 ; the Council of Ancients, 216 ; the Council of Five Hundred dispersed, 217 ; disregard for liberty throughout the revolu- tion, 218 ; Bonaparte first con- sul, 218 ; constitution of Sieyfs;, 219; the plebiscite introduced, 219, n. ; general reaction, 219. - The rule of Bonaparte, 220 ; Peace of Amiens, 220 ; the Catholic church re established, 221 ; Bonaparte first consul for life, the empire, 222 ; the im- perial court, the coronation of Napoleon, 223 ; the revolution renounced, 224 ; Napoleon and the revolution, 224 ; repudia- tion of republics, 225 ; heiedi- tary nobility restored, 225 ; the invasion of Russia, battle of Leipsic, 228 ; discontents in the country, 228 ; the legislative assembly, 229 ; abdication of Napoleon, 229 ; results of the revolution, 230 ; Louis XVHI. restored, 234 ; conditions of the restoration, 234 ; his cliarter of 1814, 235 ; return of Napoleon from Elba, 235 ; second re- storation, foreign occupation, 236 ; weakness of the mon- archy, 236 ; decay of loyalty, 237 ;' France transformed", 237 and n. ; political parties, 238 ; exercise of prerogative, 239 ; violence of the royalists, 239 ; coup d'etat, 1816, 240 ; defeat of the royalists, 241 ; electoral law of 1817, 241 ; liberal meas- INDEX. 521 FRA FRA ores, 2 11 ; the king opposed to the royalists, 243 ; creation of new peers, 242 ; increasing strength of the democratic party, 242 ; royalist reaction, 242 ; the Villele ministry, 243 ; formation of secret societies, 243 ; the Spanish war, 244 ; death of Louis XVIIl., 245; accession of Charles X., 245 ; the king surrounded by priests and Jesuits, 246 ; unpopular measures, discontents, 246, 247 ; dissolution of the Cham- ber of Deputies, 247 ; creation of new peers, 248 ; the De Mar- tignac ministry, 248 ; liberal measures of the new chambers, 248 ; the Polignac ministry, 248 ; want of confidence in it, 249 ; another dissolution, 250 ; coup d'etat, 259 ; the ordi- nance ;, 250 ; want of prepara- tion, 251; insurrection in Paris, July 1830, 252 ; the liberal leaders, 253 ; the king deposed, 253 ; his abdication and flight, 254 ; Louis Philippe, king of the French, 255 ; influence of the revolution on foreign States, 255. - The king's difficulties, 257; stata of ])artios, 258 ; reliance upon the middle classes, 250 and n. ; socialism, 260 ; con- trast between 1789 and 1830, 260 ; ministry of Lafitte, of Casimir Perier, 260 ; abolition of hereditary ])eorage, 261 discontents and insurrections 262 ^insurrootion in Paris, 262 , the king f)bliged to exceed the law, the ' rod republic,' 263 Marshal Soult's ministry, 204 creation of new peers, 265 relation of tlio king to parties 265 ; r(;pressive measures re sisted, 265 ; corruption, 266 attempts to assassinate the king, 266 and n. ; ministry of Thiers, 267 ; att(!ni])t of Louis Napoleon at Strasbiirg, 267 ; conflict of parties, creation of new peers, 267, 268 ; Soult's second ministry, 268 ; insurrec- tion of Barbes, 268 ; its objects, 268 ; parliamentary parties, 269 ; agitation for reform, 269 ; conservatism of the king, 270 ; second ministry of Thiers, 270 ; Louis Napoleon at Bou- log-ne, 271 ; fall of Thiers, 272 ; third ministry of Soult, 272 ; discontent of the working classes, 273, 274 ; agitation for electoral reform, reform ban- quets, 274 ; Polish banquet prohibited, 274 ; electoral re- form resisted by the govern- ment, 275 ; death of the Due d'Orleans, 276 ; continued op- position to reforai, 276 ; escape of Louis Napoleon, 276 ; the Spanish marriages, 277 ; es- trangement of England, 277 ; exposure of corruption, 278 ; revived agitation for reform, reform banquets, 278, 279 ; socialist agitation, 279, n. ; re- form banquet, Feb. 1848, 279 ; the procession abandoned, 280 ; tumults, 280 ; defection of the National Guard, 281 ; ministry of Thiers and Odillon Barrot, 281 ; insurrection in Paris, 282 ; military occu])ation, the troops withdrav/n, 282 ; abdication of the king, 282 ; the Duchess of Orleans and her sons. 283 ; the provisional government, 283 ; a republic proclaimed, 283 ; failures of Louis Philippe's reign, 283. - The repiiblic of 1848, demo- cracy in the ascendant, 292 ; watchwords of the revolution, precedents of 1792 f(jllowed, 293, 294 ; national worlcshops, 294 ; the Garde Mobile, I^ed Kejmblicans, 295 ; Socialists and C'ommunists, 295 ; orLjan- isHtion of labor, 296, 297 and n.; new taxes, 297; national assembly convoked, 299 ; In- 522 INDEX. FRA FRE vasion of the Hotel de Ville by- Socialists and Red Republicans, 300 ; an insurrection thwarted, 300 ; meeting of the Assenibly, 301 ; storming of the Assembly, 301 ; Socialist insurrection of June 1848, 303 ; General Ca- vaignac dictator, the insurrec- tion suppressed, 303 ; reaction against the revolution, 304 ; new constitution decreed, 304 ; Louis Napoleon elected presi- dent, 304 ; significance of his election, 305 ; resistance of parties to his aims, 306 and n. ; difference and jealousy be- , tween the president and the Assembly, 307, 308, S09 and nn. ; change of ministry, 310 ; revision of the constitution, 310 ; a conflict imminent, 313 and n. ; the cowp d'etat m pre- paration, 313 ; accomplished (Dec. 2, 1851), 314 ; dissolution of the Assembly, 315 ; arrest and imprisonment of members of the Assembly, 316 ; the high court of justice closed by force, 317 ; the massacre on the Boulevards, 318 and n. ; meas- ures of coercion, 319 ; the de- partments in a state of siege or under martial law, 330 ; the plt'biscite, Louis Napoleon abso- lute master of France, 320 ; preparations for the second empire, 323 ; the empire estab- lished by plebiscite, 323 ; the emperor's marriage, 333 ; the nobles, 333 and n. ; the im- perial court, 334 and nn. ; prin- ciples of government, 325 ; wars of the empire, 325, 32G, 327 ; domestic policy, 327 ; cor- ruption, 328 ; em-ployment of labor, 329 ; war with Prussia (1870), 330 ; a liberal ministry, 331 ; fatal issue of the war, Sedan, 331, 332 : deposition of the emperor, the republic pro- claimed, the Government of National Defence appointed, 332 ; fate of the first and second empires compared, 332 ; resis- tance continued by the Govern- ment of National Defence, 330 ; fall of Paris, 334 ; the National Assembly at Bordeaux, 334; rigorous conditions of the peace, 335 ; deposition of the emperor confirmed, 335 ; the Commune, 336, 3o7, 338 and n. ; its prin- ciples, 340, 341 and n. ; Com- munist outrages, 341, 342 ; Paris in flames, 343 ; over- throw of the Commune, 343 ; executions of Communists, 343 ; the republic under Thiers, 344 ; the royalists and the Comte de Chambord, 344, 345 ; the con- flicts of parties, 345 ; Marshal MacMahon president, 346 ; the Septennate decreed, 347 ; the new constitution, 347 ; the re- publican ministry dismissed, the Chambers dissolved, 348 ; political future of France, 348 [French Rtvoluticm , JVdpolcon Bonaparte, Napoleon Louis, States-General]. Franks, the, land, i. 350 ii. 89. subjugate Switzer- ; conquer the Gauls, Frederick Barbarossa, emperor, attacks the cities of North Italy, i. 312 ; deprives them of their liberties, 312 ; his rivalry with the Pope, 313 ; resisted by the Lombard League, concludes a truce, 313 ; concludes treaty of Constance, 313. Freedom, its connection with civilisation, Introd. xxi., xxii. ; moral, social, and political causes of, xxii. sgq. ; its ob- ligations to statesmen and thinkers, xxiii. ; doctrines of Aquinas, xxiii. n. ; of Marsilio of Padua, xxiii. n. ; influence of superstition, xxiv.; influence of a higher religion, xxv. ; popular enlightenment its foun- dation, xxvi. ; social causes of, xxviii. ; influence of physical INDEX. 523 FRE FBI law?, xxxii. ; inlluence of the grandeur aud terrors of nature, XXXV. ; physical conditions of Europe favourable to, xxxvi. ; its elements wanting in a pas- toral state, xxxvii. ; and par- tially wanting in agricultural countries, xxxvii. ; influence of mountains, xl. ; influence of the sea, xli. ; of navigable rivers and lakes, xlii. ; of min- erals, xllii. ; of cities and towns, xliii. ; of race, xli v. ; England the historic laome of, xlvii. ; influence of the Protestant Re- formation, xlviii. ; the subse- quent revolutions, xlix. ; con- stitutional, acquired by revolu- tionary movements, li. ; influ- ence of, upon enlightenment, lii. and notes ; upon science, liii.; advantages of union of old institutions with popular fran- chises, liv. and n. ; a safeguard against democracy, Ix. [De- mocracy, England, iSmtzerland, cndence, and is unittul with \\w Belgian ))roviiicos in tin; iumv kingdom of the Netherlands, 83 ; again 528 INDEX. HOL a separate kingdom, 85 \_NetU- erlands, Wcihcrlands, Kingdom of, WilUamJIJ.]. Holies, Denzil, committed by Charles I., ii. 396; one of the five members arrested by the king, 414. Holy Alliance, the, for repression of European liberties, i. 405, ii. 256 and n. Horn, Count [IVethcrlands]. Hotham, Sir John, governor of Hull, refuses to admit the king, ii. 417. Huguenots, the, in France, tol- erated, ii. 01 ; expulsion of, 125 ; the flower of the middle classes, 125. ' Hundred Days,' the, ii, 235. Hungarians, the, invasion of Italy by, i. 285. Hungary, insurrection in, sup- ])ressed by Russians, ii. 338 ; free constitution granted, 288. Hussites, the, struggles of, in Bo- hemia, i. 277. Hyde Park, meetings in (1866 and 1867), prohibited and held, ii. 487, 488 ; regulated, 488. INDEPENDENTS, the, rise of, in England, ii. 380 ; their dis- trust of Charles I., 412; their republican spirit, the first dem- ocratic party, 419, 420 ; their preachers, 421 ; exercise the chief power, 422 ; opposed to a national church, 424 ; their con- flict with the Presbyterians, 425 ; gain stn-ngth in parlia- ment, 428 ; their separation from the Presbyterians, 433 ; their character and views, 434 ; responsible for the trial and execution of the king, 435. India, ignorance of the people, i. Q ; tropical climate adverse to IBE their elevation, 7 ; oppression of industrial classes, 8 ; influ- ence of physical laws upon temperament, 8 ; danger from snakes and tigers, 9, n. ; Eng- lish rule favourable to free- dom, 14 [BraJimnns, BuddMsm, Castes, Hindus, Menu, Village Communities^ Infidelity, the groAvth of, Introd. Ixiv. ; in France alone, the ally of democracy and revolution, Ixiv. ; by whom favoured, Ixv. Inquisition, the, founded by Pope Innocent 111., i. 278; its juris- diction and cruelty, 278 ; its tyranny over conscience and thought, 278 ; introduced in the Netherlands by Charles V., ii. 34. Intercourse, free, of nations, its results, Introd. 1. International Society of Work- men, the, establishment of, In- trod. Ixx. ; declaies vv'ar against capital, its journals, Isxi. ; con- gresses held, Ixxi.; its local sections, and their sentiments, Ixxii.; declaration at Lyons, Ixxii. and n. ; its leaders promo- ters of the Paris Commune, 1871, Ixxii.; not favoured in England, Ixxiii.; aims of its off- shoot, tlie Commune of Paris, ii. 337 ; extends the principles of socialism, 340 ; its doctrines, 490 and n. Ireland, rebellion in, ii. 402 ; its effect on popular feeling in England, 41 2 ; parliamentary union with England effected by Cromwell, 445; the Catholic Association formed, and sup- pressed, 480, 481 ; Catholic meetings, 481 ; Catholic eman- cipation, 482 ; Repeal agitation, 483 ; Orange lodges, 484 ; the Protestant Church disestab- lished, 494. INDEX. 529 ITA ITA Italian republics, general view of their government, i. 288 ; their rapid advance in population and prosperity, 290 ; thought emboldened by liberty, 2D0 ; association of culture and free- dom, 291 ; their architecture, 291 ; practical direction of studies, 292 ; classical learning, 292 ; useful arts, agriculture, 292 ; civic patriotism, 29o ; dis- sensions, 294 ; Greek and Ita- lian republics compared, 294 ; points of reseml^lance, 295 and n.; their different conditions, 290 ; diversities in the charac- ter of their society, 297 ; in the relations of the nobles with the people, 298 ; disorders in Italian cities, 298 ; rarity of eloquence, 299 ; feudalism chief cause of their ruin, 300 ; chief cities and their allies, 311 ; first blow to their liberties dealt by Fred- erick Carbaroisa, 312 ; the Lom- bard League, 313 ; the rights of the confederate cities secured by treaty of Constance, 313 ; election of podcstas, 314 ; ascen- dency of the nobles, 314 ; their factious violence, 314; Guelph and (ihibeline parties, 315 ; the period after the peace of Con- stance, 316 ; strife of classes in the cities, 324 ; the new society overcoming feudalism, 325 ; novi homilies in Rome and Italy, 326 ; mercenary forces em- ployed in cities of Lombardy, 327 ; the condotticri, 327 ; rule of usurpers, 327 ; turbulence and ambition of nobles, 32-3 ; increased power of the signors, its abuse, 328 ; the ruin of Italian libcrrty completed l)y feuds of (iuelpli and Qhil;eline, 338 ; family feuds, 329 ; the tale of Imilda do Lambertazzi, 329, n. ; rnpiil)iican Hoiitimeiit aroiisod by revival of classical learning, 330; survival of Venice, 343 ; review of the re- publics, 344 ; com])arisou of vor.. II.— 23 them with despotisms, 344 ; Italian and Swiss liberties com- pared, 3G3, 364, n. [Florence, Milan, Pisa, Venice, etc.] Italy, Greek colonies in, i. 137, 138 ; geographical advantages of, 141 ; overthrow of monar- chies in, 142 ; Roman conquest of, 160 ; various relations of the conquered races to Rome, 160 Roman and Latin colonies, 161 discontent of Italians, 162 effects of conquest of, upon society of Rome, 162 ; evil re- sults for Italy, 163 ; enfranchise- ment of Italian allies, 193 ; Italian war, 194 ; municipal government conferred on tlio towns, 213 ; Teutonic customs introduced by invaders, 234 ; benefited by the Crusades, 255 ; Saracen conquests and arts in, 269 ; takes the lead in the revival of learning, 272; early rise of cities, 281; their ancient origin, 284; Saracen and Hungarian settle- ments in, 285 ; building of city walls, 285 ; the feudal lords in, 286 ; weakness of Italian sove- reigns, 287 ; fusion of Northern races with Italians, 287 ; dis- tribution of lands, 288 ; growth of republics, 288 ; social degen- eracy under the tyrants, 332 ; character of the tyrants, 333 ; tyrannicide, 334 ; devastation of the land, 842 ; its subjection to foreign rule, 343 ; its later fortunes, 345 ; united and frtio under Victor Emmanuel, 345; development of lociil ^;('lf-gov- ernment, 346, n. ; fortunes of Italy and the Netherlands com- • j)ared, ii. 31 ; a kingdom under Napoleon I., 225 ; state of, be- tween 1830 and 1848, 285 ; sudden effects of French revo- lution of February, 1848,287; war for Italian unity begun by (Miarlfs Albert, king of Sar- dinia, 287 ; services rendered 530 JAC to, by Louis Napoleon, lltaliaii liepuUics]. JACOBINS, the, ii. 153, 163, 165, 167 ; masters of France, 169, 174 ; their aims, 178, 182, 188 ; the club closed, 3U3 ; so- cialist doctrines proclaimed by, 339. INDEX. LAM 326 their history, 38 ; Jewish intel- lect, 39 ; their sacred writings, 39 ; example of association of intelligence and freedom, 39. John of Bohemia, resisted by Florence, i. 321. Jurists, European, their place in society, their influence, i. 238, 239. Jacquerie, the, in France, ii. 91, 92. 1 James I. of England, his charac- ter, his views of prerogative, ii. 384 ; his treatment of the Com- mons, 384 ; his treatment of the Puritans, 385 ; sanctions the illegal canons of Convocation, 386; his relations to religious parties, 38G ; his toleration of . Popish recusants, 387 ; revives episcopacy in Scotland, 387 [England]. James II., his encroachments on liberty, 457 ; deposed, 458. Japan, its original civilisation, i. 25 ; absolute power of the Mikado, 25 ; introduction _ of European customs, 25 ; opening of a parliament, 25 ; problem of free institutions awaiting solu- tion, 26. Jesuits, the, in Switzerland, i. 408 [Sondcrbunil]. Jeunesse doree, the, ii. 203. Jews, the, example of freedom in an Eastern race, i. 33 ; descrip- tion of Palestine, 33 ; their early institutions, 33 ; advan- tages derived from their capti- vity in Egypt, 34 ; Moses, 34 ; their commonwealth a theocra- tic federal republic, 35 ; politi- cal equality its declared princi- ple, 35, n.; their tlieocracy a free state, 36 ; action of the prophets, 36 ; the monarchy freely adopted, 37 ; popular power maintained throughout K ING, ideal of a, in heroic ages of Greece, i. 46 ; of Rome, 144 ; altered position of kings after the French Revolution, ii. 231 ; among the Teutonic races, 357 ; right of deposing assumed by the parliament of Edward II., 364; of Richard II., 364; of James II., 458. LACEDEMONIANS and Athen- ians, differences between them, i. 60, 61. Lafayette, General, ii. 148 ; gov- ernor of Paris, 150; with Eailly, founds the Feuillants' Club, 153 ; protects the king, 154 ; resigns command of National Guard, 161, 166 ; promotes formation of secret societies, 244, 249 ; tates command of insurgents of July, 1830, 253 ; his ambition, 254 ; outwitted, 255 ; his death, 265, n. Lafitte, ii. 253, 254 ; leader of Or- leanists, 254, 258 ; ministry of, 2G0. Lamartine, M., takes part in agi- tation for reform, ii. 379 ; head of provisional government, 283 ; proclaims the republic, 283 ; maintains the tricolor, 295 ; his firmness, 398 ; con- vokes a National Assembly, 399 ; prevents storming of the Hotel de Ville, 300, 301 ; can- didate for the presidency, 304. Lam.oricitTe, General, commander of the National Guard, ii. 283. INDEX. 631 LAN LOU Land, iu England, loses its pre- ponderance as a national intlu- ence, ii. 472 ; its relations to trade and manufactures, 473 ; alliance of, with the Church, 474 ; their policy threatened, 475. Larissa, a democracy, i. 61. Laud, Archbishop, directs the Church policy of Charles L, ii. 398, 89'J and n. ; counsels im- position of High Church ritual upon the Scottish Kirk, 400 ; impeached and sent to tho Tower, 405 ; executed, 419. La Vendue, insurrection in, ii. 182, 185 ; punished by the Ter- roi'ists, 193 ; insurrection sup- pressed, 208 ; attempt of the Duchess of Berri in, 2G3. League, the, in France, ii. 62, 04. Legion of Honour, the, ii. 221. Legislative. \sserably,the[i^/vi! wee, French licvolution]. Leicester, Earl of, his expedition to the Netherlands, ii. 08. Lepidiis, a leader of the Roman democracy, i. 201 ; member of the second triumvirate, 214. Levellers, the, ii. 432 ; their ob- jects, 439 and n. Lcyden, siege of, by the S[)an- iards, ii. 48 ; its university, 07. Liberty, civil and religious, first struggles for, i. 277 {^Democracy, Freedom]. Licinian Laws, i. 155 and n. Lii'gp, resists Pliilip tlioOood, ii. 22 ; pillag(!d by Charles the Bold, 23 and n. Livius DruHus, bis proposed re- forms, i. 192 ; the laws annul- led, 192 ; assassinated, 192. Loans, forced, levied by Edward IV., ii. 370; Henry VIIL, 371; Charles I., 393. Locke, effects of his treatise on civil government, Introd. xlviii. n. Lollards, the, i. 277 ; the parents of Puritanism, ii. 366. Lombard League, the, i. 313 ; treaty of Constance, 313. Lombards, the, iu Italy, i. 234. Lords, the House of, ii. 361, 364, 369 n., 374; passes bill of at- tainder against Strafford, 405 ; rights of, attacked by the Com- mons, 408 ; rejects proposal to deprive bishops of their seats, 412 ; passes the bill, 415 ; en- ters into the Solemn League and Covenant, 418 ; refuses to concur in appointment of High Court of Justice for trial of Charles I., 431 ; abolished by the Commons, 439 ; a second chamber called, which takes the title of the Lords' House, 449 ; the house reinstated at the Restoration, 456 [^Parlia- ment], Lot, choice of rulers by [Athens, Florence] . Louis XIV. of France, liis wars with the Dutch, ii. 77 ; abol- ishes all municipal elections, sells the offices, 94 ; suppresses provincial assemblies of Nor- mandy, Anjou, &c. , 97; the monarchy under him absolute, 99 ; revokes Edict of Nantes, 99 ; his court at Versailles, 102 ; his political failures, 128. Louis XV., abolishes the Parlia- ments, ii. 99, 129 ; his reign and policy, 129, 130. Louis XVI., his accession, ii, ];{1 ; his character, 131, 179; his diilicuUios, 132 ; convolve on it, 259 ; its rise to power in England, 376 ; education of, provided for l)y Grammar Schools of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabetli, 377 ; its increasing influence in Eng- land, 472. Milan, its antiquity, pre eminence in war, i. 308 ; sujiromacy in Lombardy, .308 ; resists the cm- 7)oror Frederi(;k Bai])arossa, 312 ; the citizens l)anish('d, tho walls razed, 312 ; rebuilt by the Lombard League, 313 ; ex- 534 INDEX. Mlli NAP pels the nobles 315 ; falls un- der the dominion of the Viscon- ti, 327 ; assasbiuation of the duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza, 335 ; fate of the three conspi- rators, 335 ; drives away the Austrians, ii. 287. Millenarians, the, their aims, ii. 439, 440 and n. Milton, his ideal of spiritual lib- erty, ii. 451 and n. Minerals, influence of discovery of, upon political development, Introd. xliii. ; in England, ii. 352, 473. Mirabeau, ii. 144, 147 ; warns the king of danger, 154, 155 n. Moderation, religious, prevalence of, Introd. Ixiii. ; toleration the fruit of its union with freedom, Ixiii. Mole, Count, his ministry, ii. 267 ; member of National Assembly, 302. Monarchies, characteristics of, Introd. liv. [Greece, Italy, t&c] Monasteries, their literary ser- vices, i. 265 ; indifference of the monks to classical learning, 265. Monk, General, dissolves the Long Parliament, ii. 453 ; as- sembles a new one, 454 ; his caution, 454. Monopolies, in England, abol- ished, ii. 390. Moors, the [Saracens]. Moreau, ii. 209. Morgarten, victory of the Swiss over Leopold, duke of Austria, at, i. 359. Morny, Count de, made minister of the interior by Louis Napo- leon, ii. 314. Moses, i. 34 ; his theocratic fed- eral republic, 35. Mountain, the, French revolu- tionary party, ii. 162 ; rivals of the Girondists, 172, 173 ; pro- ject trial of the king, 175 ; their clamour against him, 178 and n. ; their triumph, 180 ; the law against suspected per- sons, 190 ; their cruelties, 191 [French Revolution]. Mountains, their influence upon society and freedom, Introd. xl. ; hinder agriculture and commerce, xl. ; characteristics of mountain races, xli. [Switz- erland.] Municipia, their various relations to Eome, i. 160. Murat, made king of Naples, ii. Music, church, of the Revival, its character, i. 274. NANTES, the noyades of, ii. 193. Naples, threatened insurrection in, ii. 287. Napoleon Bonaparte, his conquest of Venice, i. 343 ; conquest of Italy, 345 ; pystem of govern- ment and administration, 345 ; takes military occupation of Switzerland, 401; appoints a commission on its future gov- ernment, 401 ; his Act of Medi- ation, 402 ; takes Toulon, ii. 192 ; defends the Convention, 207 ; commands army of Italy, 209 ; expedition to Egypt, 212 ; returns, 214; his relations with Sieyes, 215 ; the coup d'etat, 18 Brumaire, 215 ; First Consul, 218 ; his rule, 220 ; attempt to assassinate him, 220 ; re-estab- lishes tlie Catholic church, 221; first consul for life, emperor, 222 ; crowned by Pope Pius N^VP VII. , 223 ; has no faith in the revolution, 324 ; his military ambition, 225 ; named ' The Great,' 225 ; his domination over Europe, 226 ; divorced from Josephine, 227 ; marries Marie Louise of Austria, 227 ; birth of the King of Rome, 227 ; decline of his fortunes, 228 ; abdication, Elba, 229, 230 ; his return, 2o5 ; Waterloo, 235 ; his rera-iins removed from St. Helena to the Invalides, 271. Napoleon, Louis, contributes to unity of Italy, i. 345 ; his at- tempt at Strasburg, ii. 267 ; his book, Les Idees Nupoleoniennes, 271 ; his descent on Boulogne, 271 ; imprisoned at Ham, 271 ; his escape, 276 ; member of National Assembly, 302 and n.; chosen president of the repub- lic, 304 ; his ambition, 305 and n. ; his popularity with tlie ar- my, 309 ; proposes extension of the suffrage, 311 ; his speech to officers of the army, 311 ; distrusted by the Assembly, 312 ; prepares the coup d'etat, 313 ; his confederates, 314 ; ex- ecutes the coup d'etat, 314, 315 ; accepts imperial crown as Na- poleon III., 322 ; marries Eu- genie de Montijo, 323 ; his warlilce amljition and failures, 326, 327 ; appoints a liberal ministry, 331 ; goes to warwitli Prussia, 331 ; captured with his army at Sedan, deposed, 332 ; deposition of him and his dynasty voted by National As- sembly at Bordeaux, 335 ; his death,' 345 [France]. Nascby, battle of, ii. 423. National Assembly [France, French Iteculution]. National Convention [French liewlulion]. National fJuard, of France, dis- banded by Cliurles X., ii. 247 ; INDEX. 535 NET fights against his troops, 253 ; defection of, February, 1848, 281 ; supports the Commune, 336. Nature, influence of its grandeur and terrors on freedom, Introd. sxxv. ; its terrors dispelled by religion, sxxvi. Navigation Act, English, passed, to injure Dutch commerce, ii, 77 and n. Necker, M., ii. 135 ; his compte rendu, 135 ; recalled, 138 ; dis- missed and banished, 145 ; re- called, 145. Netherlands, the, twofold illus- tration of democracy in history of, ii. 1 ; character of the coun- try, 1, 2 ; Dutch sailors, 3 ; early races of, 3 ; their early history, 4 ; feudalism and the cliurch, 4 ; decline of feudal- ism, growth of cities, 5, 6 ; de- velopment of commerce, ; of manufactures and the indus- trial arts, 7 ; population of the great cities in the fourteenth century, 7 ; early constitution of the towns, 8 ; the trade guilds, 8 ; the burgomaster and the baron, 9 ; local disad- vantages of the barons, 10 ; the country ill-suited for defence, 10 ; character of the burghers, 11, 12 and n. ; influence of trade guilds, 13 ; jealousies of rival cities, 14; the nobles as citizens, 14 ; military prowess of the towns, 15 ; confederation of towns, 16 ; Ghent and James van Artevelde, 16 ; the Flem- ings take ]>art with Edward III. in war witli France, Ki ; PliiJi]) van Artevelde, 17; e;uildsof the I'lcmi^li cities, 18 ; factions, 19 ; improved culture, 19 ; guilds of rhetoric, 20; painters and architects, 20 ; the cities represented in the Estates, 21 ; characteristics of freedom, 21 ; 536 INDEX. NET NET clianges of dynasty, 31 ; increas- ing power of tlie sovereigns, 22 ; House of Burgundy, 22 ; tyranny of Charles tlie Bold, 23 ; the ' Great Privilege,' 23 ; becomes a considerable State, 24 ; constitution of the Estates, 24 ; becomes, by the marriage of the Duchess Mary with Arch- duke Maximilian, an inheri- tance of the JHouse of Haps- burg, 25 ; the charters annulled, 25 ; death of the Princess Mary, rebellion against the archduke, 25 ; invaded by the emperor, 25 ; Philip the Fair, by his marriage with Johanna of Spain, brings the country un- der rule of Charles V., 26 ; character of his rule, 29 ; new taxation, 29 ; rebellion of Ghent, its punishment, 30 ; liberties of, in abeyance, 31 ; fortunes of Italy and the Netherlands compared, 31 ; impending strug- gle for religious liberty, 32. - Persecution of Protestants by Charles V. , 34 ; the Inquisi- tion introduced, 34 ; Philip II. of Spain, 36 ; the persecution continued, 36 ; demands and remonstrances of the Estates, 36 ; regency of Duchess Mar- garet of Panna, 37 ; Cardinal Granvelle, 37 ; confronted by William, Prince of Orange, 37; rapid spread of the Reforma- tion, 39 ; severities of Philip, 39 ; opposition of Counts Eg- mont and Horn, 39 ; efforts of nobles and people, 40 ; confed- eracy of Les Oueux, 40 ; a mis- sion to Philip, 40 ; fate of the envoys, 41, n. ; continued bar- barities, 41 ; the Iconoclasts, 41 ; mission of Duke of Alva with a Spanish army, 41 ; dis- solution of the confederacy of nobles, 41, 42 ; Counts Egmont and Horn executed, 42 ; Alva's Council of Blood, its proceed- ings and its victims, 42 ; a reign of terror, 42, 43 ; Alva made governor, 43 ; all tlie inhabi- tants condemned to death by the Inquisition, the decree con- firmed by Philip, 43 ; efforts of the Prince of Orange, 44 ; fail- ure of the first campaign, 44 ; continued oppression, 45 ; a mock amnesty proclaimed, 46 ; outbreak of the great revolt, 46 ; congress of Dort, 46 ; the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 46 ; retirement of Orange to Holland, 47 ; retirement of Alva, 47 ; Don Luis de Reque- sens governor, 48 ; another mock amnesty, 48 ; siege of Leyden, 48 ; fruitless negotia- tions for peace at Breda, 49 ; allegiance to Philip renounced, 49 ; congress of Delf t,49 ; foreign aid withheld, 50 ; mutiny of Spanish troops, 50 ; congress of Provincial Estates at Ghent, 51 ; the ' Spanish Fury,' 51 ; pacification of Ghent, 51 ; Don John of Austria, governor, his concessions, 51 ; ascendency of Prince of Orange, 52 ; new Union of Brussels, 53 ; defeat of the Dutch at Gemblours, 54; death of Don John, appoint- ment of the Prince of Parma, 54 ; defection of the five Wal- loon provinces, 54 ; the Union of Utrecht, 55 ; divided sov- ereignty, 57 ; the Duke of Anjou, 57 ; treason of Anjou, the ' French Fury,' 58 ; assas- sination of the Prince of Or- ange, 60 ; Parma called to serve in France, 64 ; decline of Span- ish power, 65 ; sovereignty of Spanish provinces abdicated by Philip II., and given to the In- fanta Isabella and Archduke Albert, 66 ; state of the Spanish provinces, 67, 73 ; their consti- tiition, 73 ; united with Hol- land to form new kingdom of the Netherlands, 83 ; continued freedom of, 86 [Belgium, Hoi- land'\. XET kingdom Netherlands, kingdom of the, constituted, ii. 83 ; constitu- tional monarchy established in house of Orange, under Wil- liam v., 83 ; causes of estrange- ment of Holland and Belgium, 84 ; insurrection in Belgium, 1830, 85 ; separation of Hol- land and Belgium, 85. Neufchatel joins the Swiss Con- federation, 1. 403. Newport, the treaty of, ii. 430. Newspaper stamp, in England, abolished, ii. 477. Ney, Marshal, the trial of, ii. 239 and n. Nonconformists, modern, Introd. Ixiii. ; the firmest supporters of political liberties, Ixiv. ; rise of, in England, ii. 380 ; persecuted by James I., 385 [Puritans]. Normans, the, their origin and civilization, ii. 360 ; their con- quest of England, 3G0. . OCHLOCRACY, i. 57. O'Connell, Mr., leader of the Repeal agitation, ii. 483. Octavius (Augustus), member of second triumvirate, i. 214 ; heir of Caesar, secures the empire at Actium, 214 ; consolidation of his power, 214. Ogulnian Laws, the, i. 155 n. Olgiati, takes part in the assas- sination of tlie Duke of Milan, i. 335 ; his punishment, 335. riigarchy, i. 55 ; established at Athens by Peisander, 92 ; over- thrown, 94 ; at Rome, a mili- tary, 201. Omar Khayyum, Persian poet, i. 10 n. Opinion, public, a dominating force in every State, Introd. Iviii. ; most powerful in free 23* INDEX. 537 PAD States, Iviii.; its organs in Eng- land, Iviii. n. ; its uses in the government of a State, Ix. ; its force in England, ii. 477, 478. Orange, the House of, William, Prince of Orange, 37-00 ; mar- riage of William 11. with the Princess Royal of England, ii. 76 ; his arrest of deputies, at- tempt on Amsterdam and death, 76 ; exclusion of the family • from the Stadtholderate, 77 ; constitutional monarchy of the Netherlands established in the family, 83 [Holland, Nether- lands, The, William of Nassau, WUliam IJI.]. Orange societies, formed by Pro- testants, ii. 481 ; suppressed, 481, 484. Oratory, its services to the Greeks, i. 48 ; study of, at Athens, 107; a fine art, 108 ; at Rome, 162 ; of advocates, 168 ; flourishes only in free States, 171 ; limit- ed freedom of, under the Ro- man empire, 228 ; Teutonic, 233 ; rarity of, in Italian re- publics, 299 ; power of, com- pared with books, ii. 153, n. Orgetorix, Helvetian chief, i. 349. Orleans, Dukeof (Egalitc), ii. 133, 148, 152 and n. ; executed, 194; Louis Philippe becomes king of the French, 255. Orleans, Duchess of, with her sons, appears in the Chamber of Deputies, ii. 283. Ostend, the siege of, ii. 68. Ostracism, introduced at Athens by Cleisthenes, i. 75 ; its prin- cijilo iii(l('f(Misil)l(', 76 ; com- j)arlson witli inipcachincnt and attainder, 7(5 ; Aristotle's view of it, 77, n. ; Plutarch's, 77, nn. 1).\])ILLA, Don Juan do [CantUc, Toledo]. 533 Ea)EX. PAG Paganism, decline of, in Greece, i. llfc) ; opinion of Poiybius, 118 ; decline of, in Rome, 177. Pamphlets, political, multitude of, under the Commonwealth, ii. 455. Paper, invention of, i. 275, n. Paper duty, in England, abolish- ed, ii. 477. Papists [Church of Home]. Paris, rebellion in, ii. 03 ; the parliament of, 98 ; concentra- tion of power in, 101 ; the parliament exiled t6 Troyes, 137 ; arrest of two of its mem- bers, 137 ; concentration of troops on, 145 ; condition of the city, 150 ; its government and people, 150, 151 ; attempts to maintain order, 152 ; the clubs, 153 ; the Commune, 168 ; advance of the Prussians to- wards, 170 ; insurrection in, 253 ; another, 262 ; declared in a state of siege, 26o ; fortifica- tiojis constructed, 272 ; military occupation of, 281 ; insurrec- tion, Feb. 1848, 282 ; retui-ns sis Socialist candidates to the Assembly, 308 : declared in a state of siege by Louis Napo- leon, 315 ; massacre en the Boulevards, 318 ; reconstruc- tion of, by Napoleon III., 329 ; capitulates to the Germans, 334 ; entered by German troops, 335 ; insurrection of the Com- mune, 836, 337 ; siege of, be- gun by authorities at Ver- sailles, 337 ; the city burnt by the Communists, 343 [France, FrencJi Revolution, '80]. Parliament, the English, origi- nated in the Sason witenage- mot, ii. 358 and n. ; the Com- mons first represented in it, 363 ; its increasing power un- der Edward I., 363 ; assumes right of deposing the king (Ed- PAR ward II.), and again (Richard II.), 364 ; assumes its present form under Edward III., 364; its right to advise the king in matters of peace and war estab- lished, 364 ; its privileges de- fined, 364, 365 ; dominated by the barons, 369 ; rarely assem- bled under Edward IV., 370; its influence revived under Richard III., set aside under Henry VII., 370; subservient to Henry VIII., 371, 372 ; mider Mary undoes its own work, 373 ; reasserts itself under Elizabeth, 374 ; and under James I. ; dissolutions of, by James I., 388, 389 ; not assem- bled for sis years, 389 ; new, dissolved, 380, 890 ; the great struggle betv/cen jirerogative and popular power begun by the Long Parliament, 402 ; tho Triennial Bill passed, 403 ; pro- posal for annual meeting of, 404, n. ; assumes estraordina- ry powers, 406 ; appointment of committees, 407 ; proceeds against delinquents, 406 and n. , 407 ; passes ordinances with- out assent of the king, 407, 408 ; its revolutionary spirit, 408 ; intolerant of petitions, 409 ; committees on grievances, 410 ; popular leaders support- ed by mobs, 410 and n. ; Act against dissolution passed, 411 ; attempts at accommodation with the king, 411 ; supported by the city of London, 413 ; the Puritan party, 413, 414 ; di- vided counsels, 418 ; the es- treme party in power, 418 ; en- ters into the Solemn League and Covenant, 418 ; its severi- ties against delinquents, 424 ; its conflict with the army, 425 ; overcome by Cromwell, 425 ; resolves to icceive no further communications from the king, 428 ; fresh negotiations opened by Presbyterian party, 429 ; opposed by the army, 430 ; INDEX. 539 PAK 'Pride's Purge,' 430 ; the rem- nant devoted to Cromwell, 4o0 ; dissolved by him, 442 ; Bare- bone's Parliament nominated, 443 ; and dissolved, 444 ; a new one meets, and is dissolved, 445 ; another called, 447 ; ex- clusion of a hundred members, 447 ; a second Chamber, 449 ; revival of the Long Parliament (the Rump), 452 ; its dissolu- tion by General Monk, 453 ; subservience of, under James II., 457 ; power of, to depose a king, recognised by the revolu- tion of 16S3, 458, 4)9 and n.; its authority enlarged under William III., 460 ; electoral corruption, 462 ; publication of the debates. 468 and 475 [Charles I. , Commons, Lords]. Parliament, the Short, the Long [England]. Parliaments, the, of France, ii. 97 ; claim a veto upon acts of the Crown, 98 ; their contumacy overome by a lit de justice, and banisliment, 98 ; form a barrier against arbitrary power, 98 ; their numbers and juris- diction, 98, 99 and n. ; abol- ished, 99, 139 ; recalled, 132 ; superseded, 155. Parma, tlio Prince of, governor of the Netherlands, ii. 54 ; suc- ceeds in detaching the Wal- loon provinces from the Union, 54 ; takes and severely pun- ishes Maestricht, 55 ; attempts to seduce the Prince of Orang.^, 55 ; called to serve in France, G4 , his death, 65. Parthenon, the, i. 87. Pastoral States, wanting in ele- ments of freeo- j litical views, '.'.80 ; their jea- lousy of Catliolics and the grounds for it, 3Sl ; confront Klizahrt.h, 3.^1 ; treatment of, by James I., 3H5-387 ; f)rovoca- tion of, by High Church pre- 542 INDEX. PYM lates, 396 ; persecution of, 399 ; their despair and emigration, 31)9 ; inflamed by religious grie- vances, 413 ; growth of their influence, 413 ; revolutionary spirit sustained, 413 ; represen- tatives of democracy, 414, n. ; aim at overthrow of episcopacy, 414 ; their ministers ejected from their livings vmder Act of Uniformity, 456 ; severe laws against them, 456 [^Presbyteri- ans, Ind..pendents\ PjTii, committed by James I., ii. 390 ; one of the five members arrested by Charles I., 414. I) ACE, influence of, upon social V and political development, Introd. xliv. ; varieties of man- kind, xliv. and notes ; the Teu- tons and the Celts contrasted, xiv., xlvi. ; distinctive charac- ters of early races traceable in their descendants, xlvi. Eed Republicans, the [Francel. Referendum, the [Swiss Confed- eration]. Re form, parliamentary, in France, agitation for, ii. 269 ; becomes tiie foremost question, 274 ; pro- posals in the Chamber, 275 ; re- sistance to, 275 ; agitation re- vived, 278 ; banquets, 279 ; in England, Cromwell's Act, 444 ; agitation for, 482 ; the Reform Acts of 1832 passed, 482 ; of 1867 and 1868. 493 ; Ballot Act of 1872, 493 [France]. Reform League, the, its proces- sion of Trades' Dnions, ii. 491 [Bi/de Park]. Reformation, the Protestant, 1. 280 ; its effects upon freedom, Introd. xlvi., i. 280; prevails among Teutonic races, 280 ; po- litical views of the reformers, 281 ; forms the commencement of a revolutionary period, 283 ; REQ in Switzerland, 382 ; in Geneva, 384 ; its moral effects, 385 ; its political results, 385 ; social improvements, 386 ; hostility of Charles V. to it, ii. 33 ; its extent, strength in Germany, 33 ; persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands, 34 ; tolera- tion of Protestants secured by diet of Augsburg, 35, n. ; the French ' League ' against the Protestants, 62 ; in Hungary and Austria, freedom of wor- ship granted to Protestants by the emperor, 71 ; in England, effected by Henry VIIL, 371 ; its course, 373 [Calvin, jStciss C'onfederatio-n]. Regicide, in England, ii. 433 ; the religious character of the regicides, 434 ; the French re- gicides, 434 [Tpratinicide], Reign of Terror, the [Fi'ench lievuluiion]. Religion, the ally of freedom, Introd. xxiv. Remonstrance, the Grand, to Charles I. , voted by the Com- mons, ii. 412. Repeal of the Union, agitation for, in Ireland, ii. 483 ; agita- tion revived, monster meetings, 484 ; their failure, 484. Representation, need of, at Ath- ens, i. 115 ; unknown in Greece, 136 ; a]>proximations to, 136 ; reserved for modern times, 137 ; principle of, involved in the scheme of Caius Gracchus, 187 ; Roman senate made a represen- tative body, 198 ; need of, at Rome, 223 ; principle of the referendum in Swiss cantons inconsistent with, 417; in Span- ish kingdoms, ii. 27 ; adopted in the Netherlands, 53 ; under William III., a fiction, 462. Requesens, Don Luis de [Nether- lands]. KEV Reviews, the EdmbuvffJi, Quar- terly, and Wedmintitcr, their services to political education, ii. 476, n. Revival of learning, the, charac- ter of, i. 272 ; Italy foremost in, 273 ; its emaucipatlou of the intellect, 273 ; its services to re- '. ligion, its church music, 274 ; revival of original thought, 275. llevival, ecclesiastical, in Church of Home, lutrod. Ixii. ; in Church of England, Isii. Kevolution, the Glorious, of 1688 [Englaiid], Revolutionary movements, rapid spread of, in Europe, Introd. 1. ; ii. 255-287. Rhenish League, the, i. 2G3 ; its alliance with the cities of Swa- bia, 263. Richelieu, overthrows feudalism in France, ii. 00 ; attempts to abolish provincial assemblie.s, 97. Rienzi, i. peojde. 330 ; as tribune of the revives the Roman re- public, 331. Robespierre, ii. 148, 171, 173, 183 ; his ascenduxK'v, 196 ; a fanatic, 196, 197 ; higlipriest of the re- public of the virtues, 198 ; de- cline of his power, 199 ; his fall, 200 ; execution, 200, 201. RoHin, Ledru, his schemes rersist- ed by iiamartine, ii. 298; candi- date for the presidency, 301. Romans, the, in Britain [Enf/land^. Rome, differences in the genius of ( J reeks and Romans, i. 140, 141; institutions of tlio nion- arcliy, 142 ; the j)ublic domains, 143 ; classification of citizens, 141; its basis, property, 144; tht! national religion, 14.") and n. ; consuls, constitutiuu of the INDEX. 543 ROM republic, 145, 146 and n. ; the priesthood, 147 ; the senate, its constitution and es tensive pow- ers, 147 ; patrician character of the republic, 149 ; public vir- tues of the patricians, 150 ; their ascendency, 150 ; frequent assassination of citizens, 151 ; haughty bearing of patricians towards plebeians, 151 ; tactics of delay, 151, n. ; growth of de- mocracy, 152 ; secession to the Mons Sacer, new constitution, 153 ; tribunes of the people, 153 ; privileges acquired for the plebeians, 154 ; laws of the Twelve Tables, 154 ; further advance of plebeian privileges, 154, 155 ; consulate opened to plebeians, 155 ; and other liigh offices, 155 ; canvassing forbid- den, 155 ; union of the senate with old plebeians, 156 ; checks upon the comitia, 157 ; Ma3nian laws, 157 ; extension of popular suffrage, 158 ; redress of griev- ances by Licinian and other laws, 159 ; fusion of the old and new aristocracy. 159 ; struggle of classes, 160 ; con- quest of Italy, 160 ; various forms of government establish- ed, 100 ; colonies, 161 ; patri- cian infl4ience maintained, 161; effects of Italian cfmquest upon society of R(mie, 163 ; progres- sive condition of tlie republic. 162; the Punic Wars, 164; disasters, courage and constan- cy, 164 ; Roman virtues, 165, 166 and n.; Rome a religion to the ])eople, 166, n.; inllucnce of the Stoic philosophy, 166 ; Roman Stoics and English Puri- tans comy>ared, 167 ; faults of l{oman character, 168 ; ])nblic life in, fomparod with Athens, 108 ; courts of justice, advo- cates, 170, 171. — Effects of conquests n])on the rc[)ublic, 172; political reac- tion of tho patrioiiai.;, 172 ; 544 INDEX. ROM KOM consequences of standing ar- mies, and of provincial ru]e,173; becomes capital of an empire, 174 ; social changes, the class of clients, 174 ; the populace, 175; growth of corruption, 175; public amusements, 175 ; order- ly government disturbed by factions and tumults, 176; Cato the Censor, 176 ; increase of luxury, 176 ; Greek arts and refinements, 176 ; decline of paganism, 177 ; want of a mid- dle class, 178 ; the public do- mains cultivated by slaves, 178 ; agrarian discontents, 179 ; de- pendence and corruj)tion of the poor, .179; relations of debtor and creditor, 180 ; demoralisa- tion of slavery, 180 ; resistance to abuses, 181 ; impunity of provincial governors, 181 ; un- due influence of the nobles, the ballot, 181 ; appeals to the populace, 182 ; measures of Ti- berius Gracchus, tribune, 182 ; his agrarian law, 183 ; his death, 184; beginning of anarchy, 184; Caius Gracchus, tribune, 184 ; his measures, 185, 186, 187; his death, 188 ; the memory of the Gracchi, 188 ; patrician advan- ces to the people, 189 ; danger of military dictation, 189 ; Marius, 189 ; Apuleian laws, 191 ; popular election of Ponti- fex Maximus, 191 ; recovery of power by the senate, 191 ; re- forms proposed by Livius Dru- sus, 192 ; enfranchisement of Italian allies, 193 ; Italian war, state of Rome after the war, 194 ; reforms of P. Sulpicius Ruf us, 194 ; Sulla ma-ter of Rome, 194 ; proscription and reactionary policy, 195 ; his policy reversed by Cinna, 195 ; civil war, the city taken by Marius and Cinna, 196 ; pro- scriptions, 196 ; Cinna and Marias consuls, 193 ; dictator- ship of Sulla, 197 ; proscrip- tions, 197 ; reactionary mea- sures, the senate recruited, 198 ; novi hoitiines, 199 ; other mea- sures of Sulla, 300 ; a military oligarchy, 201 ; its chiefs, 201; chiefs of the democracy, 201; Pompey, 301 ; ascendency of the oligarchy, 203 ; Pompey and the democracy, 203 ; over- throw of the constitution of Sulla, 303 ; Caesar, Crassus, and Cicero bid for popularity, 203 ; conspiracy of Catiline, 204 ; Cato the yoimger, 204. — Alliance of Cfesar and Pompey, 205 ; Caesar's popular measures, 206 ; his militarj' commands, 206 ; victories, 207 ; anarchy in the city, 207 ; triumvirate of Pompey, Ca3sar, and Crassus, 308 ; the patrician party, 309 ; dictatorship of Pompey, 209 ; rivalry of Pompey and Caesar, 209 ; Caesar master of Rome, 211 ; the usurper slain, 213 ; anarchy, 214 ; battle of Phi- lippi, 214 ; battle of Actium, 214 ; under Octavius, 214 ; con- solidation of his power, 214 ; transition from the republic to the empire, 215 ; growth of a bureaucracy, 216 ; organisation of a standing army, 217 ; im- perial taxation, 217 ; homage paid by emperors to freedom, 217 ; causes of the fall of the republic, 217 ; defects of the government, 218 ; never a pure democracy, 218 ; conflicts of judicature, 219 ; irregular forces of democracy, 220 ; its share in the fall of the republic, 220 ; anarchy repressed by the sword, 231 ; faults in institu- tions, 322 ; position of the senate, 223 ; irregular action of the comitia, 332 ; need of re- presentation, 223 ; attributes of the senate, 234 ; concentration of powers originally divided, 234 ; need of a division of pow- ers, 325 ; social causes of poli- tical failure, 325 ; corruption KON of morals, 226 ; demoralisation under the empire, 337 ; domina- tion of the army, 227 ; intellec- tual development of Augustan age, 228; freedom of tiiought under the empire, 228 ; de- moralisation of Komans, 23'J ; influence of traditions of Rome upon civilisation of Europe, 238; its political condition in the twelfth century, 'S30 ; re- vival of the republic by Arnold of Brescia, 830 ; removal of the i pojws to Avignon, the conse- | quent anarchy, 381 ; strife of the Colonna and Orsini, 331 ; revolution of Rienzi, 331 ; government of tlie bannerets, 331 ; return of the popes, 331 ; their tyranny, 332. Roncaglia, Diet of, i. 312. Rouen, rebellion at, ii. 93. Roundheads, the, their character as soldiers, ii. 423. Rousseau, his philosophy, the apostle of social reconstruction, ii. 122. Rudolph of Hapsburg, confirms the charters of Swiss towns, i. 356. Rump, the [Parliament, T7ie Eng- luli]. Russia, social clianges progress- ing in, Introd. xlix. ST. ARNAUD, General, minis- ter of war to Louis Napoleon, ii. 312. St. Just, ii. 176, 188, 101, 197. San Marino, smallest of Italian republics, i. 344. Saracens, the, civilisation of, i. 268 ; the schools of Bagdad, 268 ; their culture introduced into Europe, 208 ; its limited influence, 209 ; in Italy, 269, 285. INDEX. 545 SEN Savonarola {Florence^ Savoy, the Duke of, his office of vidome of Geneva abolished, i. 384. Schaffhausen, its chart«i-s con- firmed by Rudolph of Hai>s- burg, i. 357 ; its mixed consti- tution, 369 ; domination of the towns, 40'!. Schoolmen, the, how far favour- able to liberty, i. 250, n.; their studies and services, 270. Schweitz, its contest with abbot of Eiusidlen, i. 853 ; one of the Forest Cantons, 358 \_Sicitzer- land\ Scotland, rebellion in, under Charles I., ii. 400 ; peace of Berv,ick, renewed disorders, 400 ; rebellion renewed, 402 ; secret treaty concluded by Charles I. with the Scots, 439 ; Scottish invasion of England, 439 ; the Prince of Wales pro- claimed king in, 442 ; parlia- mentary union with England effected by Cromwell, 445 ; de- mocratic movement in, 470. Sea, tlie, its influence u]>on free- dom, Introd. xli. ; L 61, 74. Sedan, the battle of, ii. 333. Selden, committed by Charles I., ii. 396. Sempach, victory of the Swiss over Leopold III., Duke of Aus- tria, at, i. 359 ; decree of, 359. Senate, the, of Rome, its consti- tution and powers, i. 147 ; di- rected entire policy of the State, 148 ; its high character, 148 ; Comte's view of it, and Cicero's, 148, 140, n.; alliance with old plebeians, 150 ; deprived of vtto u|K)n pU-bkcitn, 157 ; loss of re- spect and power, 189; rticovery of power, 192 ; number in- creased by Sulla, 195 ; loss of 64G BIDEX. SEB SPA power under Man us aud Cinna, proscription of senators, I'JO ; recruited by Sulla, I'JS ; be- comes a quasi representative body, 198 ; enlarged by Caesar, deprived of independent power, 212 ; its decline under the em- pire, 216 ; its position of anta- gonism to the tribunes and co- mitia, 222 : its attributes, 224. Serfdom, in France, cessation of, ii. 108 ; in England, conflicts consequent on its diminution, oUG. Sforza, Galezzo !Maria \_Milan\ — Ludovico, betrayal of, to the French, i. SSI and n. Ship-money, illegal exaction of, ii. 397 ; resisted, by Hampden, 397 ; condemned as illegal, 40o. Sicilv, conquest of, by Rome, i. 164 ; revolt in, ii. 287. Sieyes, Abbe, ii. 147, 214-218 ; his constitution, 218. Signoria, the [Florence]. Simon de Montfort, author of re- presentation of the Commons in Parliament, ii. 363. Six Acts, the, passed, ii. 451. Slavery, among the Greeks, at Athens, i. 120 ; in Rome, 180 ; servile wars, 181. Socialists, the, in France, ii. 260, 269 ; their increasing power, 295 ; form a provisional govern- ment which is immediately overthrown, 301; insurrection of June 1848, suppressed by Cavaignac, 303 ; early traces of Socialism, 338 ; its doctrines proclaimed by the Jacobins, 339 ; popularised by Rousseau, 339 ; partiallv carried out in the Revolution of 1789, 339; and in Revolution of 1848, 340; first in the ascendent in Paris Commune, 340 [Communists, International Socicti/]. Socrates, his teachings and his death, i. 111. Soleure, its cliarters confirmed by Rudolph of Hapsburg, i. 357 ; its aristocratic constitution, 368; peasant war in, 387 ; in alliance with Berne, 393 ; heavy contri- bution levied by the French, 400 ; domination of the towns, 404. Solon, constitution of, i. 71, 72. Sonderbund, the, league of seven Catholic cantons of Switzer- land, foi-med, i. 408 ; over- thro^vn by army of the confed- eration, 409. Sophists, the, at Athens, i. 107. Soult, Marshal, suppresses insur- rections at Lyons and Paris, ii. 262 ; ministry of, 264 ; second ministry, 268 ; third, 272. Spain, introduction of Saracen culture, i. 268 ; early liberties of, ii. 27 ; power of the cities, 27, 28 ; decav of liberties, 28 ; state of, from 1.^30 to 1848, 285; English negotiations with, for marriage of Prince Charles, 390. * Spanish Fury,' the, ii. 51. Spanish marriages, the, intrigues concerning, ii. 277. Sparta, its peculiar constitution, i. 65 ; council of Ephors, 66 ; si- lence and secrecy characteris- tics of her rule, 66; constitution commended, 66, n.; narrow pol- ity, 66, (i7 ; stability of her in- stitutions, 67 ; cost of stability, 67 ; democratic institutions, 68 ; Lycurgus a social leveller, 08 ; sumptuary laws, 68 ; severity of training, 69 ; war their chief business, 69 ; contrasted with Athens, 70 ; her oligarchical influence, 92 ; her supremacy, INDEX. 517 SPA SWI 96 ; her share in great victories of the Greeks, lUl ; compared with Venice, 305. Spartacus, revolt of, i. 203. Stadtholderate, the [ Holland, William III. of Orange]. Stantz, Convention of ISwiss Con- federatiori]. Star Chamber, the Court of, its tyranny and severity, ii. 398 ; abolished, 404. States-General, the, of France, first convention of, by Philip the Fair, ii. 95 ; method of their deliberations, 96 ; con- voked and dismissed at will I of the crown, 96 ; discontin- ued, 93 ; convocation of, de- manded, 137 ; convoked by Louis XVI., 138 ; hazard of the experiment, 138 ; the cakiers, 139 and n. ; composition of the assembly, 140 ; meeting of, 141 ; sittings of the Estates, 142 ; the Commons declare them- selves the ' National Assembly,' 142 ; threatened with dissolu- tion by the king, 143 ; union of the orders, 141 [France, French Revolution, Tiers Etat]. Stoic philosopliy, influence of, upon Roman character, i. 166 ; Stoics and Puritans compared, 167. Strafford, the Earl of, directs the policy of Charles I., ii. 398; lord-deputy of Ireland, 403 ; impeached and sent to the Tow- er, 405; bill of attainder passed, 405 ; executed, 405. Strode, committed by Cliarles I., ii. 396 ; one of the five mem- bers arrested by the king, 414. Stuarts, the, accession of, to the Engli.sh throne, ii. .383 ; their maintenance of prerogative, 383, miJC'/uirks I., James 1., Jamss li.\. Succession duty, i. 208, n. Sulla, L. Corn., opposes reforms of P. Sulpicius Rufus, i. 194 ; superseded in command by Ma- rius, defeats him, 194 ; pro- scription, reactionary policy, 195 ; his policy reversed by Cinna, 195; his return and cap- ture of Rome, 197 ; dictator, 197 ; proscriptions, 197 ; his re- actionary measures, 198 ; re- cruits the senate, 198 ; his other measures, 200 ; retires, 200 ; his constitution over- thrown, 203. Sulpicius Rufus, P., his reforms, i. 194 ; slain by Sulla, 195. Sumptuary laws, at Sparta, i. 68 ; at Rome, 213. Superstition, the ally of despot- ism, Introd. sxiv. Supremacv, royal, established by Henry VIII., u. 871. Swiss Confederation, the, estab- lished, i. 359 ; its victory at Sempach, 359 ; consolidated early in the fifteenth century, 359 ; other alliances, 360 ; de- fects in the constitution, 361 ; wars of rival cantons, 361 ; civil war averted by convention of Stantz, 361 ; victories over Charles the Bold and the Em- peror Maximilian I., 363; na- tional independence secured, 363; leagueof thirteen cantons completed by union of Basle and Schaffliausen, 363 ; battle of Marignano,' perpetual peace' with France, 363 ; Italian and Swiss liberties compared, 363 ; its fortunes comjjared with other States, 364; constitutions of tlie cantons, 365 ; their origi- nal type outgrown in the larger cantons, 365 ; democratic or- ganisation of the army, 3(!6 ; inlhionce of the nol)les, 36() ; the aristocratic cantons, Berne, 648 INDEX. swi swi Lucerne, Fribourg, 366, 367, 368 ; rule of the nobles, 868 ; mixed constitutions, Zurich, Basle, and Schafihausen, 368, 369 ; democratic cantons, the Forest cantons, Zug, Glarus, Appenzell, 370 ; the constitu- tion of the Grisons, 370 ; causes of the diversity of constitu- tions, 371 ; democracy of the rural cantons, 371 ; peculiar conditions of these cantons, 372 ; their democracy conserva- tive, 373 ; principles of the con- federation, 373 ; the diets, 374 ; special diets, 374; provisions of the •■ Defeusional,' 375 ; defects of the confederation, 375 ; po- litical state of Switzerland early in the sixteenth centurv, 376. - Social changes, military ser- vice, 377 ; Swiss condottieri, 378 ; Swiss mercenary troops, 378, 379 and n.; evil conse- quences of mercenary service, 379 and n., 380 and n. ; other forms of corruption, 381 and n. ; religious discords, 382 ; discus- sions consequent on the Refor- mation, 382 ; divisions among the cantons, 383 ; defensive al- liance of Protestant cantons, alliance of Catholic cantons with Archduke of Austria, 383 ; the Borromean League, 383 ; war of Toggenburg, 387 ; peace of Aargau, 387 ; peasant war, 387, 388 ; increasing prosperity, 388 ; virtues of the Swiss, 389 ; relations of Switzerland to Ger- many and France, 389 ; inde- pendence of the Confederation, declared by treaty of West- phalia, 389 ; ascendency of France, 389; party of the nobles favoured by Louis XIV., 389 ; the commercial cantons, 393 ; democratic cantons, 394; effects of the French Revolution, 394 et seq. ; revolutionary troubles, French conquest, 396 ; the Con- federation dissolved, the Hel- vetic Republic founded, 396; division of the country into departments, the constitution, 397 ; resistance of the rural cantons, 397 ; victory of the French, 398 ; renewed resist- ance of Schweitz, Uri, Unter- walden, and Zug, 399; obstinate bravery of Unterwalden and Schweitz, 399 ; repugnance to French democracy. 399 ; the new constitution forced on the peo- ple, French oppression, 400 ; overthrow of the new consti- tution, anarchy and civil war, 400 ; provisions of the treaty of Luneville, 401 ; military occu- pation of Switzerland by Na- poleon, 401 ; the federal union revived by his Act of Media- tion, 402 ; the Federal Pact ; Geneva, Neufchatel, and the Valais added to the Confedera- tion, 403. - Prosperity after the peace, 404 ; continued political reac- tion, 404 ; revolutions of 1830, 405 ; their general aim, 406 new constitution proposed, 407 troubles In the cantons, 407 the convents of Aargau sup- pressed, 407 ; increasing influ- ence of the Jesuits, 408 ; the Sonderbund formed, 408; over- thrown by federal army, 409 ; scheme of a new constitution, 409 ; constitution of 1848, 410, 411; its democratic basis, 411 ; its principal objects, 412 ; gov- ernment of the cantons since 1848, 412 ; political condition of the country, 413 ; difficulties of federal imion, 413 ; intellectual character of the Swiss, 414 ; great names, 415 ; doctrine of the sovereignty of the people urged, 415 ; distrust of dele- gates, 417 ; principles of the referendum, 417 ; their incon- sistency with representation, 418 ; jealousy of the central inde: O-J iO SWI THI government, 418 ; amendment ■ Tallien, ii. 169 ; at Bordeaux, 192, of the federal constitution, 419, ' _, . .-if. i Teutonic races, the freest people of antiquity, Introd. si v. ; tlieir rude freedom, tlieir customs, 420 ; pei-manence of the Swiss Kepublic, 420 [Bcformatlon, the Protestant]. Smtzerland, examples of pure democracy in, i. 347 ; its na- tural features, 347 ; the Alps, 348 ; varieties of its climate, 349 ; results of its geographical | features, 349 ; early independ- \ ence of the Swiss, 349 ; early j invasion of Gaul, 350 ; they be- ! come subjects of the Roman empire, 350 ; overrun by North- ern races, 350 ; under the Franks, 350 ; growth of feudal- ism, 351 ; power and strife of barons and churchmen, 351 ; growth of municipal privileges, 352 ; formation of the cantons, 352 ; given as a fief by the emperor to dukes of Zcerin- geu, 352; the towns favoured by princes, 352 ; establishment of small republics, 353 ; rural can- tnnished, 45 [Union of i iftrccM}. early history, municipal con- stitution, 300 ; the Doge, 300 ; St. Mark, her patron saint, 301 ; her extended relations with other States, 302 ; her wars, 302 ; union with Genoa and Pisa in the Crusades, 302 ; head of confederation of free cities, 302 ; her ai-istocracy, 302 ; government, 303 ; the Great Council, 303 ; tlie senate, tlie Council of Ten, 303, 304 ; merits and defects of the aris- tocracy, 304 ; compared with Sparta, 305; under an oligarchy, 337 ; survives other republics of Italy, 343; falls under power of Napoleon Bonaparte, 343 ; subsequent history, 343 ; throws off yoke of Austria, proclaims a provisional government, ii. 287. Versailles, peace of, ii. 334 ; con- firmed by the National Assem- bly, 335. Village communities, iii India, original design and character of, i. 10, nn. ; their constitu- tion, 11 ; their principles not democratic, 12 ; resemblance to Teutonic institutions in Eu- roy)e, 12, n. , and ii. 35(), and n.; princi])los of self-government in, i. 13 ; in Cliina, 21. Villiers, Mr. Charles, advocates repeal of the corn laws, ii. 486. Visconti, the, masters of Milan, i. 327. Voltaire, liis influence, character, and aims, ii. 121. w ALDENSES, the, i. 277. War, civili.sation advanced I by, Introd. Ii. and n. VALENTINE, Mr., committed , Wat Tyler, his insurrection, ii. by Charles I., ii. 397. 307. * Venice, her antiquity, i. 300; her f^Weslcy and Whitefield, the spiri- 552 INDEX. ■WES tual movement originated by them, ii. 474. Westplialia, treaty of, i. 389 [Swiss Confederation]. Whig party, tlie, of the revolu- tion of 1688, ii. 403, 403. William the Conqueror [Eng- land]. William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, account of him, ii. 37 ; his resolution to counteract se- cret agreement of Philip II. and Henry II. to extir^iate heresy, 88 ; called the ' Silent,' 88, n. ; his toleration, 38 ; opposes Granvelle and the Inquisition, 39, 40 ; stands alone, goes into exile, 42 ; outlawed and his property confiscated, 44 ; pre- pares to do battle witli Philip, 44 ; the first campaign, 44 ; commanded by the Emperor Maximilian to lay down his arms, 45 ; becomes a Protes- tant, 45 ; Lis toleration, 45 ; proclaimed stadtholder, 46 ; close of the campaign, he re- tires to Holland, and continues the war there, 47 ; his activity, 47 ; ruler of the United Pro- vinces, 49 ; proof against se- duction by D(m John, 53 ; his strength in the middle classes, 53 ; recovers his ascendency, 53 ; intrigue of the nobles against him, 53 ; gets the New Union of Brussels adojited, 53 ; foiTOS the Union of Utrecht, 65 ; proof against seduction by Prince of Parma, 55 ; civil excommunication pronounced against him by Philip II., 55; his ' Apology,' 56 ; declines of- fer of the government, 56 ; his motives, 56 ; accei)ts temporary government of Holland and Zealand, 57 ; attempt to assas- ZWI sinate him, 58 ; made Count of Holland, 58 ; his liberal policy, 58 ; again refuses the govern- ment, 59 ; attempts on his life, 59 ; assassinated by (Jerard, 60 ; the apostle of civil and re- ligious liberty, 60 [Holland, Netherlands, The]. William III., Prince of Orange, his birth, ii. 76 ; himself and his descendants escluded from the stadtholderate, on demand of Cromwell, 77 ; conditionally appointed captain-geiieral, 78 ; the stadtholderate declared hereditary in him and his de- scendants, 79 ; marries Princess Mary of England, ascends the English throne, 79. Window Tax, the, i. 317, n. Witenagemot, the, ii. 358. Women, respect for, among the Greeks, i. 50. Worcester, the battle of, ii. 443. Workshops, national, opened in France, ii. 394 ; closed by Ca- vaignac, 304 ; virtually estab- lished by Napoleon 111., 330. Wycliffe, lays the foundations of the Protestant Reformation, ii. 365. ZUKICII, a municipal republic, i. 357 ; alliance of, with Scliweita and Uri, 358 ; its mixed constitution, 308, 309 ; intervenes against the burghers of Geneva, 393 ; again, 393 ; revolution at, 396 ; domination of the towns, 404 ; revolution of 1830, 405 ; expulsion of the Jesuits, 408. 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