expulsion of that prince from Lisbon. His father, Dom Pedro, in Brazil,
thought it wise to recognize the liberal constitution imposed upon him by
his people. In the other Latin-American countries the people rebelled
against one-man rule. In Chile, General O'Higgins was forced to resign his
dictatorship and a provisional Triumvirate assumed the government. At Lima,
Bolivar found his powers curtailed. Mariano Prado was elected president.
The feeling against imperialism was so strong in Central America that all
the smaller States joined in confederation to ward off this danger
threatening them from Mexico. The Junta of San Salvador went so far as to
pass a resolution favoring annexation by the United States of North America
in case the Mexican imperialists crossed its borders. Eventually San
Salvador, together with Nicaragua and Costa Rica, joined the Central
American Union. The first Congress in Costa Rica elected Juan Mora
president. In Mexico, in the meantime, a strong provisional government was
established by Santa Anna. Ex-Emperor Iturbide, who in defiance of his
exile returned to Mexico, was arrested as he landed at Sota la Marina in
July. He was taken to the capital, tried, condemned, and shot. As he faced
death he said: "Mexicans, I die because I came to help you. I die gladly,
because I die among you. I die not as a traitor, but with honor." With
Iturbide out of the way, Santa Anna established a government strong enough
to accomplish the annexation of California. Henceforth there was no danger
of a return to Spanish rule. In England, Canning followed Monroe with an
absolute recognition of the independent governments in America.
[Sidenote: Death of Byron]
[Sidenote: Rhegas' hymn]
By this time public opinion in England had been aroused in behalf of the
Greeks still struggling for their independence from the yoke of Turkey. A
powerful impetus was given to this feeling by the tragic death of Lord
Byron in Greece. A few months before the poet had sailed from Genoa for
Greece to take active part in the war for freedom. He died of fever at
Missolonghi on April 19, at the age of thirty-six. One of his last poems
was a spirited translation of Rhegas' famous Greek national hymn:
Sons of the Greeks, arise!
The glorious hour shines forth,
And, worthy of such ties,
Display who gave us worth!
Sons of Greeks! let us go
In arms against the foe,
Till their hated blood shall flow
In a river past our feet.
Then manfully despise
The Turkish tyrant's yoke,
Let your country see you rise,
Till all her chains are broke.
Brave shades of chiefs and sages,
Behold the coming strife!
Greeks of past ages,
Oh, start again to life!
At the sound of my trumpet,
Break your sleep, join with me!
And the seven-hill'd city seek,
Fight, and win, till we are free!
[Sidenote: Goethe on Byron]
[Sidenote: Mazzini's verdict]
[Sidenote: Shelley's estimate]
[Sidenote: Symonds' judgment]
[Sidenote: Byron's best works]
Byron's death served the Greek cause better perhaps than all he could have
achieved had his life been prolonged. It caused a greater stir throughout
Continental Europe than it did in England. In truth Byron's poetry was
more appreciated by the world at large than by his countrymen--a literary
anomaly that has prevailed even to the end of the Nineteenth Century.
Goethe said of Byron after his death: "The English may think of Byron as
they please; but this is certain, that they can show no poet who is to be
compared with him. He is different from all the others, and for the most
part greater." Mazzini, many years later, concluded his famous essay on
Byron and Goethe with this vindication of the English poet's claim: "The
day will come when Democracy will remember all that it owes to Byron.
England too, will, I hope, one day remember the mission--so entirely
English, yet hitherto overlooked by her--which Byron fulfilled on the
Continent; the European cast given by him to English literature, and the
appreciation and sympathy for England which he awakened among us." Shelley,
who knew Byron intimately, has given perhaps the best expression to the
English view of him. He said of him in 1822: "The coarse music which he
produced touched a chord to which a million hearts responded.... Space
wondered less at the swift and fair creations of God when he grew weary of
vacancy, than I at this spirit of an angel in the mortal paradise of a
decaying body." To most Englishmen of his day, Byron, like Shelley,
appeared as a monster of impious wickedness. Unlike Shelley, he attained
thereby the vogue of the forbidden. His earliest poems achieved what the
French call a _succes de scandal_. His satire, "English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers," brought to the youthful poet a notoriety amounting to fame.
After the publication of the first two cantos of "Childe Harold," in 1812,
according to his own phrase, he awoke to find himself famous, and became a
spoiled child of society. Trelawney has recorded that Byron was what London
in the days of the Prince Regent made him. One of Byron's ablest critics,
Symonds, has put this even more strongly: "His judgment of the world was
prematurely warped, while his naturally earnest feelings were overlaid with
affectations and prejudices which he never succeeded in shaking off.... It
was his misfortune to be well born, but ill bred, combining the pride of a
peer with the self-consciousness of a parvenu." Byron's life in London
between 1812 and 1816 certainly increased his tendency to cynicism, as did
his divorce from his wife. While these experiences distorted his personal
character, they supplied him, however, with much of the irony wrought into
his masterpiece, "Don Juan." His poetic genius derived its strongest
stimulus from his imbittered domestic life and from his travels in Spain,
Italy and Greece. This twofold character of the poet it is that is revealed
in his best poems, "Childe Harold" and "Don Juan." He used both works as
receptacles for the most incongruous ideas. "If things are farcical," he
once said to Trelawney, "they will do for 'Don Juan'; if heroical, you
shall have another canto of 'Childe Harold.'" This means of disposing of
his poetic ideas accounts for the great volume of Byron's verse as well as
for its inequality. That "Don Juan" was never finished cannot therefore be
regretted.
[Sidenote: His last verses]
Byron's last verses were lines written on January 22, 1824, at Missolonghi.
To one of his English military associates in the expedition of Lepanto he
remarked: "You were complaining that I never write any poetry now. This is
my birthday, and I have just finished something which, I think, is better
than what I usually write." They were the famous lines, "On this Day I
complete my Thirty-sixth Year":
'Tis time the heart should be unmoved,
Since others it hath ceased to move;
Yet, though I cannot be beloved,
Still let me love!
My days are in the yellow leaf;
The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mine alone!
* * * * *
Awake! (not Greece--she is awake!)
Awake my spirit! Think through whom
Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
And then strike home!
If thou regret'st thy youth, why live?
The land of honorable death
Is here--Up, to the field, and give
Away thy breath!
Seek out--less often sought than found--
A soldier's grave, for thee the best!
Then look around, and choose thy ground,
And take thy rest!
[Sidenote: Russian suzerainty rejected by Greeks]
[Sidenote: Ibrahim invades Greece]
[Sidenote: Sack of Psara]
When Byron died, Missolonghi had been delivered from its first siege.
Greece was plunged in civil war. Kolokotrones, who set himself up against
the government of Konduriottes and Kolletes, was overthrown and lodged in
a prison on the island of Hydra. An offer of Russian intervention at the
price of Russian suzerainty was rejected by the Greeks. Encouraged by this,
the Sultan appealed to his vassal, Mehemet Ali of Egypt, to help him
exterminate the Greeks. The island of Crete was held out to Mehemet Ali as
a prize. The ambitious ruler of Egypt responded with enthusiasm. He raised
an army of 90,000 men and a fleet, and sent them forth under the command of
his adopted son Ibrahim. Early in the spring the Egyptian expedition landed
in Crete and all but exterminated its Greek population. The island of
Kossos was next captured; and its inhabitants were butchered. In July, the
Turkish fleet took advantage of the Greek Government's weakness to make a
descent upon Psara, one of the choicest islands of Greece. In spite of
desperate resistance, the citadel of Psara was stormed, and the Psariotes
were put to the sword. Thousands were slain, while the women and children
were carried off as slaves. How little the miseries of the Greeks affected
the rulers of Europe may be gathered from this bright side light on
Metternich given by his secretary Gentz:
[Sidenote: Metternich's comment]
[Sidenote: Defeat of Turkish fleet]
"Prince Metternich was taking an excursion, in which unfortunately I could
not accompany him. I at once sent a letter after him from Ischl with the
important news of the Psariote defeat.... The prince soon came back to me;
and (pianissimo, in order that friends of Greece might not hear it) we
congratulated one another on the event, which may very well prove the
beginning of the end for the Greek insurrection." The Greeks, instead of
desponding, were aroused to fiercer resistance than ever. A Hydriote fleet
foiled Ibrahim Pasha's attempt on Samos. When he tried to return to Crete
his fleet was beaten back with a signal reverse. Finally, late in the year,
the Egyptians succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the Hydriote
sea-captains, and regained their base of supplies in Crete.
[Sidenote: Burmese war]
[Sidenote: Siege of Rangoon]
[Sidenote: British checked at Donabew]
While Canning's Ministry was still preparing the ground for European
intervention in Greece, the British Government in India found itself with
another native war on its hands. In 1822, the Burmese leader Bundula had
invaded the countries between Burma and Bengal. The Burmese conquered the
independent principalities of Assam and Munipore, and threatened Cachar.
Next Bundula invaded British territory and cut off a detachment of British
sepoys. It was evident that the Burmese were bent on the conquest of
Bengal. Lord Amherst, who had assumed charge early in 1824, sent an
expedition against them under Sir Archibald Campbell. The resistance of the
Burmese was despicable. The British soldiers nowhere found foes worthy of
their steel. In May, the British expedition, having marched straight to
Burma, occupied the capital Rangoon, which was found deserted and denuded
of all supplies. Ill fed and far from succor, the British had to spend a
rainy season there. Taking advantage of their precarious position, Bundula
returned late in the year with an army of 60,000 men. The Englishmen were
besieged. In December they made a successful sortie and stormed the
Burmese stockades. Bundula with the remains of his army was driven up the
banks of the river Irawaddy. They made a stand at Donabew, some forty miles
from Rangoon, where they held the British in check.
[Sidenote: German letters]
The rest of the world throughout this year lay in profound peace. In
Germany the rulers of the various principalities were allowed to continue
their reigns undisturbed. Only in Brunswick the assumption of the
government by Charles Frederick William met with the disapproval of the
German Diet. Although pronounced incapable of reigning, he succeeded none
the less in clinging to his throne. A more important event for the
enlightened element in Germany was the appearance of the first of Leopold
von Ranke's great histories of the Romance and Teutonic peoples. In the
realm of poetry a stir was created by the publication of Rueckert's and
Boerne's lyrics, and Heinrich Heine's "Alamansor" and "Ratcliffe."
[Sidenote: French literature]
[Sidenote: Clericals in the ascendant]
[Sidenote: Chateaubriand dismissed]
[Sidenote: Death of Louis XVIII.]
In France, Lamartine brought out his "Death of Socrates," and Louis Thiers
published the first instalments of his great "History of the French
Revolution." Simultaneously there appeared Francois Mignet's "History of
the French Revolution." While these historians were expounding the lessons
of this great regeneration of France, the Royalists in the Chambers did
their best to undo its work. After the ejection of Manuel from the
Chambers, and the Ministers' consequent appeal to the country, the
elections were so manipulated by the government that only nineteen Liberal
members were returned to the Chambers. Immediate advantage was taken of
this to favor the Clericals and returned Emigrees, and to change the laws
so as to elect a new House every seven years, instead of one-fifth part of
the Chamber each year. Monseigneur Frayssinous, the leader of the
Clericals, was made Minister of Public Instruction. The friction between
Prime Minister Villele and Chateaubriand was ended by Villele's summary
dismissal of Chateaubriand as Foreign Minister. Chateaubriand at once
became the most formidable opponent of the Ministry in the "Journal des
Debats," and in the Chamber of Peers. At this stage of public affairs Louis
XVIII. died, on September 16, with the ancient pomp of royalty. Before he
expired he said, pointing to his bed: "My brother will not die in that
bed." The old King's prophecy was based on the character of the French
people as much as on that of his brother. Indeed, Louis XVIII. was the only
French ruler during the Nineteenth Century who died as a sovereign in his
bed. He was duly succeeded by his brother, Count of Artois, who took the
title "Charles X." and retained Villele as Minister of France.
1825
[Sidenote: Charles X.]
Charles X. was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Rheims. His first
public measure was the appropriation of a million francs to indemnify the
French Royalists, whose lands had been confiscated during the French
Revolution. Next came the proposal of a law on sacrilege, and one for
primogeniture. Both bills were strenuously opposed by the Liberals. Broglie
exclaimed: "What you are now preparing is a social and political
revolution, a revolution against the revolution which changed France nearly
forty years ago." Old Lafayette was glad to leave the country to visit
North America.
[Sidenote: American election contest]
[Sidenote: John Quincy Adams President]
[Sidenote: Henry Clay rewarded]
[Sidenote: Changes in American politics]
[Sidenote: Adams's first message]
In the United States the election of 1824 had to be decided by the House of
Representatives. For the Presidency the candidates were Andrew Jackson,
John Quincy Adams, Crawford and Clay, and for the Vice-Presidency Calhoun,
Sanford, Macon, Jackson, Van Buren and Clay. They all belonged to the
Democratic-Republican party. Jackson had received the highest number of
electoral votes--99 were for him and 84 for Adams. Calhoun, as candidate
for Vice-President, led with 182 votes. In the House of Representatives
Clay, as leader, opposed Jackson. Adams was declared President, with
Calhoun for Vice-President. The electoral vote of thirteen States was given
to Adams, while Jackson received seven. John Quincy Adams was then
fifty-eight years of age. Washington had made him Minister to The Hague,
and then to Lisbon, and in 1797 his father, then President, sent him as
Minister to Berlin. In 1803, he was United States Senator. Six years later
he was Minister to Russia. During both of Monroe's terms he was Secretary
of State. Upon his inauguration as President, Adams made Clay Secretary of
State. Wirt, McLean and Southard were retained in the Cabinet. The
adherents of Jackson declared that a bargain had been made between Clay and
Adams, who then paid Clay they alleged for his support in the "scrub race"
for the Presidency. Randolph characterized the supposed arrangement as a
"bargain between the Puritan and the Black Leg," and in consequence was
challenged by Clay to fight a duel. Neither was injured. The election was
followed by an immediate reorganization of political parties, on the
question of supporting Adams's administration. Whether the successor of
Adams should be a Northerner or a Southerner was the question at issue. His
opponents were slave-holders and their Northern friends; his supporters,
the antagonists of the Democratic party, whether known as National
Republican, Whig or Republican party, all of which terms were in use. For
the first time the new Congress, under the reapportionment, represented the
entire population of the country, with New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio in
the lead. In the Senate were men of brilliant promise. Clay was still a
leader, and so was Webster, in the rising majesty of his renown. The
contest between the parties was narrowed down to two great issues--internal
improvements under national auspices and tariff for the protection of
manufactures. President Adams in his first message gave opportunity for
concerted opposition. He took advanced ground in favor of national
expenditure on internal improvements, and urged the multiplication of
canals, the endowment of a national university, expenditures for scientific
research, and the erection of a national observatory. He announced that an
invitation had been accepted from the South American states to a conference
at Panama, in regard to the formation of a political and commercial league
between the two Americas. The Senate requested President Adams to give it
information "touching the principles and practice of the Spanish-American
states, or any of them--in regard to negro slavery." The subject was
debated for almost the entire session. When enough had been said to show
that slavery must not be interfered with, the delegates were nominated and
an appropriation was made. The delegates never went.
[Sidenote: Erie Canal completed]
[Sidenote: Beneficial results]
On November 4, the first boat travelling along the new Erie Canal reached
New York. Through the efforts of De Witt Clinton, the State of New York
without Congressional aid had completed the great Erie Canal. Its annual
tolls were found to amount to half its cost. The financial and commercial
results of the great work were immediate and manifest. The cost of
carrying freight between Albany and New York was reduced from the 1820 rate
of $88 per ton, to $22.50, and soon to $6.50. Travel was no less
facilitated, so that it was possible for emigrants to reach Michigan,
Illinois and Wisconsin cheaply. These fertile States grew accordingly in
population. In 1825 the Capitol at Washington was nearly completed; the
outer walls proved to be uninjured by the fire of 1814. The foundation of
the central building had been laid in 1818, and this edifice was now
completed on its original plan.
[Sidenote: Lafayette visits America]
The American visit of the old Marquis de la Fayette--to give him his French
name--was celebrated with national rejoicings. Years ago, when he left the
American republic after its independence was achieved, it was a poor, weak
and struggling nation. Its prosperity and increasing power now amazed him.
The thirteen colonies along the coast had increased to twenty-four
independent, growing and progressive commonwealths, reaching a thousand
miles westward from the sea. Lafayette was the nation's guest for a year.
On June 17, 1825, just fifty years after the battle of Bunker Hill, he laid
the cornerstone of the obelisk which commemorates that battle in Boston. On
this same occasion Daniel Webster made one of his great speeches. Lafayette
returned to France in the American frigate "Brandywine," named in honor of
the first battle in which Lafayette fought and was wounded half a century
before. Congress presented him with a gift of $200,000 in money, and with a
township of land in recognition of the disinterested services of his
youth.
[Sidenote: Argentine Republic]
Shortly before President Adams accepted the invitation to send North
American representatives to the proposed Congress of Panama, thirteen
independent States joined at Buenos Ayres in a powerful confederation and
formed the Republic of Argentine. A national constitution was adopted and
Rivadiera elected President. The new republic was soon called upon to prove
its mettle in the war levied against it by Brazil for the possession of
Uruguay. In the end Uruguay remained a part of Argentina. Brazil had
previously achieved its complete independence from the mother country by
assuming the public debt of Portugal, amounting to some ten million
dollars. England gave its official recognition to these new changes of
government as it had to the others.
[Sidenote: Burmese reverses]
[Sidenote: New British acquisitions]
The British war against the Burmese was nearly over. Early in the year the
British forces left at Rangoon advanced up the river Irawaddy toward
Donabew. The first attempt to take this stronghold was repulsed, whereupon
the British settled down to a regular siege. While trying to get the range
with their mortars the gunners succeeded in killing Bundula, the chieftain
of the Burmese. His brother flinched from the command of the army and was
promptly beheaded. The Burmese forces went to pieces. The British proceeded
to Prome, and inflicted another crushing defeat on the remaining
detachments of the Burmese army. At the approach of the British column the
Burmese rulers at Ava became frantic. All the demented women that could be
found in and about Ava were gathered together and conducted to the front
that they might bewitch the English. When this measure proved ineffectual,
Prince Tharawadi tried to stem the British approach, but could not get his
followers to face the enemy. All the country from Rangoon to Ava was under
British control. The Burmese came to terms. As a result of the conflict the
territories of Assam, Arrakan and Tenaserim were ceded to the British.
[Sidenote: Crisis in Bhurtpore]
[Sidenote: Summary British dealings]
While the British were still in the midst of this campaign a crisis
occurred in Bhurtpore. The sudden death of the Rajah there left no
successor to the throne but an infant son of seven. He was proclaimed Rajah
under the guardianship of his uncle. A cousin of the dead king won over the
army of Bhurtpore, and putting the uncle to death imprisoned the little
Rajah. Sir David Ochterlony, the aged British Resident at Delhi, interfered
in behalf of the little prince and advanced British troops into Bhurtpore.
His measures were repudiated by Lord Amherst. Sir David took the rebuff so
much to heart that he resigned his appointment. Within two months after his
retirement the old soldier died in bitterness of soul. The sequel
vindicated his judgment. In defiance of the British Government, the usurper
of Bhurtpore rallied around him all the dissatisfied spirits of the
Mahrattas, Pindarees, Jats and Rajputs. Lord Amherst was forced to retreat
to Vera. The British army under Lord Combermere crossed the border and
pushed through to Bhurtpore. The heavy mud walls of the capital had to be
breached with mines. The usurper was deposed and put out of harm's way in a
British prison. With the restoration of the infant Prince in Bhurtpore, all
danger of another great Indian rising seemed at end.
[Illustration: SOLFERINO
Painted by E. Meissonier
From Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co., N.Y.]
[Sidenote: The first railway]