uppermost in American affairs from the outset of this year. After the
retirement of Daniel Webster from the State Department, active efforts
toward that end were begun. The Mexican Government, learning of this
movement, notified the United States that annexation would be regarded as a
cause for war. Texas first asked for American interference, and, failing in
this, came to an agreement with Great Britain. In return for England's
action in securing the recognition of independence by Mexico, Texas pledged
itself not to be annexed to any other country. This agreement was approved
in Mexico. The Texan debt was largely owed in England, and it was the
policy of Lord Aberdeen, accordingly, to encourage her independence. In
February, a note by Lord Aberdeen was transmitted to the American
Government, stating that Great Britain desired to see slavery abolished in
Texas, as elsewhere, but disclaimed any intention unduly to force that
point. This statement in itself whetted the desire of the Southern States
of the Union to incorporate Texas among the slave-holding States. Calhoun,
who as early as 1836 had demanded the annexation of Texas on behalf of the
interests of Southern slavery, was invited to join Tyler's Cabinet as
Secretary of State. The office had been rendered vacant by the calamitous
explosion of a new monster gun on the U.S.S. "Princeton," killing Secretary
of State Upshar and Secretary Gilmer of the Navy in the immediate vicinity
of President Tyler. Calhoun entered office on March 6, and on April 12 the
Texan treaty of annexation was signed. On April 18, Calhoun answered Lord
Aberdeen's note, declaring that "the British avowal made it the imperious
duty of the Federal Government to conclude in self-defence a treaty of
annexation with Texas." As to this transaction, Von Holst, Calhoun's
biographer, has said: "It may not be correct to apply, without
modification, the code of private ethics to politics; but, however flexible
political morality may be, a lie is a lie, and Calhoun knew there was not a
particle of truth in these assertions." The annexation treaty was held back
in the American Senate until the Democratic Convention of 1844 had declared
for the reannexation of Texas. In the hope that this would secure
ratification the treaty was submitted in June, but the Senate once more
rejected it by 35 to 16 votes. Undismayed by this, President Tyler within
three days sent another message to the House of Representatives asking for
reconsideration of the subject, but the matter went over until after the
Presidential campaign in the autumn. Henry Clay's vacillating stand
throughout this controversy proved fatal to his Presidential aspirations.
[Sidenote: Anti-Mormon riots]
[Sidenote: Brigham Young]
During this same year, the Indians surrendered the regions adjoining Lake
Superior, which were promptly settled by white men. Iron was then
discovered at Marquette and copper at Kewenaw Point. At Nauvoo, Illinois,
where the Mormons had just erected a temple, their revival of patriarchal
polygamy excited the wrath of the people. Riots broke out June 27. The
Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, and his brother, who had been lodged in jail,
were killed. Brigham Young thenceforth became the leader of the Mormons.
[Sidenote: Morse's telegraph]
[Sidenote: Wells' anaesthetic discovery]
By means of a Congressional grant of $30,000, Samuel B.F. Morse constructed
his first telegraph line over the forty miles between Baltimore and
Washington. The first message, "What hath God wrought?" is still preserved
by the Connecticut Historical Society. Before this Alfred Vail had
perfected his telegraph code of alphabetical signs, with his dry point
reading register and relay key. Now Ezra Cornell contributed his invention
of an inverted cup of glass for insulating live wires. Dr. Horace Wells, a
dentist of Hartford, Connecticut, first employed nitrous oxide gas,
popularly known as laughing gas, in extracting one of his own teeth.
[Sidenote: Death of John Dalton]
In England, Faraday published his first "Experimental Researches in
Electricity." The anonymous publication of "Vestiges of the Natural History
of Creation," containing the first enunciation of Darwin's doctrine of the
origin of species by evolution, was followed by a storm of controversy.
Another subject for controversy was furnished by the invention of the new
tonic system in music (Do re mi fa). Kingsley brought out his "Village
Sermons," while Max Mueller came into prominence by his new edition and
translation of "Hitopadesa," a collection of old Hindu fables. The
necrology of the year in England includes John Dalton, the physicist, and
Sir Francis Burdett, the parliamentarian and popular leader, who did so
much for liberty of speech and of the press. John Dalton, a strangely
original genius, and perhaps the greatest theoretical chemist of his
generation, first came into prominence by showing that water existed in air
as an independent gas. The wonderful theory of atoms, on which the whole
gigantic structure of modern chemistry rests, was the logical outgrowth of
the original conception of this country-bred, self-taught Quaker.
[Sidenote: O'Connell's trial]
[Sidenote: Government monopoly of English railways]
[Sidenote: Y.M.C.A. founded]
A feature of the year was the sensational trial of Daniel O'Connell and his
associates on charges of sedition in Ireland. On May 30, O'Connell was
sentenced to imprisonment for one year and fined L2,000. After Lord
Heytesbury's advent as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland the judgment of the Irish
Court of Queen's Bench against O'Connell was reversed and O'Connell and his
associates were liberated. Baring's bill for a renewal of the Bank of
England's charter was passed with a handsome government majority. The new
Royal Exchange was opened by the Queen in October. Another measure which
was speedily passed through Parliament, owing to the slight importance
attached to it, was Gladstone's bill requiring the railroads of England to
provide proper accommodations and to run cheap trains daily. The government
was authorized, with the approval of Parliament, to undertake the gradual
purchase of all existing railways before the year 1866. At this same time
there were but fourteen miles of railroad in all British America. Minor
events of importance to Englishmen were the foundation of the Young Men's
Christian Association by certain drygoods clerks of London, and the
demolition of the notorious Fleet Prison, made immortal by the novels of
Dickens.
[Sidenote: Secession of Santo Domingo]
The discovery of gold in South Australia drew hordes of immigrants to that
colony. Others were attracted to America by the discovery of diamonds in
Brazil. In the West Indies, the successful rising against President Boyer
of Hayti resulted in the foundation of the Black Republic of Santo Domingo.
President Riviere, at the head of 20,000 negroes from Hayti, was defeated
and had to abandon his attempt to subdue the Dominicans. Guerrier
superseded him as President of Hayti. The warlike spirit of these negroes
spread to the neighboring island of Cuba. Various armed risings of the
blacks in the province of Santiago and elsewhere were sternly put down by
the Spaniards and their white descendants in Cuba.
[Sidenote: Otto's reign in Greece]
A bloodless revolution in Greece resulted in the dismissal of King Otto's
Bavarian Ministry and the King's acceptance of a Constitution, which left
the King almost as absolute as before. Yet his government was weak and
slipshod. The wretched fiscal system and heavy taxation of the old Turkish
regime were retained, while ill-managed innovations from Bavaria, such as
military conscription, drove large numbers to brigandage. As an American
traveller remarked at the time: "The whole Greek Government is one enormous
job."
[Sidenote: Revolt of Calabria]
The long-smouldering discontent of the common people in Italy and Sicily,
fomented by the secret agitation of such men as Mazzini and Garibaldi,
found premature vent in a popular insurrection in Calabria. The revolt was
ruthlessly put down. The patriotic leaders, Attilio and Emilio Bandiero,
with eighteen others, were shot for their part in the affair.
[Sidenote: Death of Bernadotte]
On March 8, Bernadotte, latterly known as King Charles XIV. of Sweden, died
in his eighty-first year. During the last years of his reign he received
many signs of love and appreciation from his adopted people, notably on the
occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coronation. Shortly before
his death this self-made king asserted with good reason: "No one living has
made a career like mine."
[Sidenote: Progress in Sweden]
[Sidenote: Geijer]
[Sidenote: Tegner's "Frithiof's Saga"]
The reign of Bernadotte produced a new line of eminent scientists and was
the golden age of Swedish literature. Berzelius remolded the science of
chemistry and founded theoretical chemistry. Elias Fries devised a new
system of botany. Sven Nilsson, a distinguished zoologist, also became the
founder of a new science, comparative archeology. Schlyter brought out a
complete collection of the old Scandinavian laws, a work of equal
importance to philology and jurisprudence. Ling invented the Swedish system
of gymnastics and founded the Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm, where
his Swedish massage or movement cure was further developed. Geijer, as a
philosopher, was a follower of Hoeijer, while as a historian he attained
foremost rank in Sweden. As a poet and composer, Geijer also attained
noteworthy success. Professor of History at Upsala, he was accused of
atheism, but acquitted. His political career was equally remarkable. Geijer
was a firm supporter of the government until fifty-seven years of age, when
he joined the opposition. Swedish writers were divided in factions as
opposed to each other as political parties. The old Gustavian school, of
which Leopold remained the last representative, was attacked by the "New
School," which was inspired by German Romanticism. Of this so-called
"phosphoristic" school Atterbom was the leader. Stagnelius, the young poet,
who died early, belonged to the same group. The New School was in turn
opposed by the Gothic Society or Scandinavian School, among whom were Ling
and Geijer. Franzen and Wallin devoted themselves to religious poetry. The
most famous of all modern Swedish poets was Esaias Tegner, whose
"Frithiof's Saga" achieved an international reputation. Politically, he was
conspicuous for his inveterate hostility to the "Holy Alliance" and its
reactionary spirit in state, church and literature.
[Sidenote: Oscar I. of Sweden]
Bernadotte's son, Oscar I., was forty-five years old when he ascended the
throne. Like his father, he was a patron of the fine arts. Upon his
accession several important reforms were at once enacted by the new
Riksdag. It was decided that this assembly should meet every third instead
of every fifth year; the liberty of the press was extended, and equal
rights were accorded to women in certain matters of inheritance and of
marriage. This last reform aroused so much criticism that a powerful
opposition was organized in the Riksdag, under the leadership of
Hartmansdorff and Bishop Wingan.
[Sidenote: Death of Thorvaldsen]
[Sidenote: The great sculptor's career]
Albert Bertal Thorvaldsen, the great Danish sculptor, died suddenly on
March 25, at Copenhagen. Thorvaldsen was the son of an Icelandic sailor,
who incidentally earned a living by carving wooden figure-heads for ships.
The boy was born at sea, in 1770, while his mother was making a voyage to
Copenhagen. At the age of twenty-four, young Thorvaldsen, who had attended
the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Copenhagen, won the grand prize, which
enabled him to pursue his studies at Rome. His first work was the model of
a colossal statue of Jason, a marble execution of which was ordered by
Thomas Hope, the English banker. For this work Thorvaldsen asked six
hundred sequins. Hope offered him eight hundred. Yet Thorvaldsen did not
fulfil his contract with Hope until fourteen years had passed. At the house
of Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt, in Rome, Thorvaldsen met Count von Moltke,
who commissioned him to execute two statues of Bacchus and Ariadne. About
the same time he made his famous "Cupid and Psyche" for the Countess von
Ronzov. The fame of these statues and others was such that the Academy of
Copenhagen bestowed upon the young sculptor another prize of four hundred
crowns.
[Sidenote: Famous works]
[Sidenote: A Napoleonic order]
[Sidenote: "Morning and Night"]
In the spring of 1805 Thorvaldsen made his first important bass-relief,
"The Abduction of Briseis," which still remains one of the most celebrated
of the sculptor's works. Orders now began to come in from all over the
world. Marquis Torlogna commissioned Thorvaldsen to make companion pieces
to Canova's famous group "Hercules and Lycas" in the Palazzo Brazzino,
while a government representative of the United States offered to pay five
thousand crowns apiece for colossal statues of a Liberty and a Victory to
be erected in the city of Washington. These and other works Thorvaldsen was
prevented from executing by his unfortunate entanglement with Signora
d'Uhden, whose fits of jealousy imbittered his life. About this time the
sculptor formed life-long friendships with his German fellow-sculptor,
Rauch, and with Prince Louis of Bavaria, who commissioned him to execute an
Adonis for the Munich Museum, and to restore the AEgean marbles lately
acquired by that prince. Napoleon's visit to Rome in 1811 resulted in a
characteristic order. The Emperor left to Thorvaldsen the choice of the
subject, but gave him only three months' time wherein to finish his models.
The sculptor accordingly executed his colossal frieze presenting the "Entry
of Alexander the Great into Babylon." It remains one of the largest and
most ambitious of Thorvaldsen's works. It was intended for the Temple of
Glory, now the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, and the price stipulated
by Napoleon was 320,000 francs. Before Thorvaldsen could execute the frieze
in marble, Napoleon suffered his reverses and was exiled to Elba. The
Bourbon Government in France refused to take the monument. A replica in
marble now adorns the Palace of Christianborg in Denmark. No less abortive
was Thorvaldsen's undertaking of a great monument intended to commemorate
the re-establishment of Poland. The monument was ordered in 1812, after
Napoleon's entry into Warsaw. By the time the work was finished Poland was
no more. To the year 1815 belong Thorvaldsen's famous bass-reliefs "The
Workshop of Vulcan," "Achilles and Priam," and the two well-known
medallions, "Morning" and "Night," which were reproduced a thousand-fold
throughout Europe. They were conceived, it is said, during a sleepless
night, and were modelled in one day.
Despite the urgent requests of his countrymen, Thorvaldsen would not be
weaned from Rome. About this time Thorvaldsen produced his famous "Dancing
Girl," "Love Victorious," "Ganymede and the Eagle," and "A Young Shepherd
with his Dog." It was then, too, that he modelled the portrait of Lord
Byron which served for the monument subsequently erected to that poet in
the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.
[Sidenote: "The Lion of Luzerne"]
[Sidenote: Thorvaldsen in Copenhagen]
At last, after thirty-three years of absence from home, Thorvaldsen
resolved to return to Denmark. On the way he stopped at Luzerne in
Switzerland, and there executed the famous Lion of Luzerne, carved into the
solid rock of the Alps. When he modelled this monument, Thorvaldsen had
never seen a live lion. From Luzerne, Thorvaldsen proceeded straight to
Copenhagen. He was received like a royal sovereign. At Copenhagen the
artist began his great series of sculptural embellishments for the
Cathedral. As completed, they comprised almost all his works on religious
subjects, among them the colossal "Christ and the Twelve Apostles," the
grand frieze of "Christ on the Road to Calvary," "The Baptism of Christ,"
"The Preachings of St. John the Baptist," "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem,"
and "The Lord's Supper." From Copenhagen Thorvaldsen went to Warsaw, where
he executed a bust of Emperor Alexander, and an equestrian statue of Prince
Poniatovski. This monument did not reach Warsaw until 1829. It was never
put up. What became of it is still a matter of conjecture.
[Sidenote: Roman honors]
[Sidenote: Thorvaldsen's friends]
[Sidenote: Sculptures for Germany]
[Sidenote: The Thorvaldsen Museum]
The accidental collapse of Thorvaldsen's studio at Rome, and the damage
done to several of his sculptures there, hastened his return to that city.
On the death of Pope Pius VII., shortly afterward, Thorvaldsen was
commissioned by Cardinal Consalvi to execute a monument to his memory. The
death of Canova having left the Academy of St. Luke without a president,
Pope Leo XII. himself nominated Thorvaldsen as Canova's successor. When
objections were raised that he was a heretic, the Holy Father asked: "Is
there any doubt that Thorvaldsen is the greatest sculptor in Rome?" "The
fact is incontestable," answered the prelates. "Then Thorvaldsen shall be
made president," said Leo XII. The office was held by the Danish sculptor
for the full term of three years, when he was glad to resign it. Just
before the outbreak of the Paris Revolution of 1830, Thorvaldsen was
commissioned to execute a colossal bust of Napoleon I. He entered upon this
task with enthusiasm. During the trying times of the revolution at Rome,
Thorvaldsen formed a close friendship with Horace Vernet, the French
artist, and Felix Mendelssohn, the German composer. Mendelssohn would play
on the piano in Thorvaldsen's studio at Rome, while the sculptor worked on
his models. About this time, too, occurred the famous interview between
Thorvaldsen and Walter Scott. Neither understood the other's language, yet
they took a warm liking to each other. Later, Thorvaldsen modelled a bust
of Sir Walter Scott. Shortly after the Revolution of 1830, the new French
Government of Louis Philippe appointed Thorvaldsen an officer of the Legion
of Honor. At the invitation of King Louis of Bavaria, Thorvaldsen went to
Munich. There he finished his monument to Prince Eugene, the equestrian
statue of Elector Maximilian, and another model of his famous "Adonis,"
ordered by that art-loving King. For the city of Mainz he finished his
model of Gutenberg, for which he refused to receive any pay, while for the
city of Stuttgart he made a monument of Schiller. On Thorvaldsen's return
to Rome, his stay there was brought to an end by an epidemic of cholera.
The government of Denmark sent a royal frigate to Leghorn to bring
Thorvaldsen and all his sculptures back to his native land. Arriving in
Copenhagen, the old artist was received with even greater honor than
before. The Castle of Nysoe was put at his disposal, and there he executed
his last works, among them a statue of himself. In his seventy-second year
he died very suddenly, while attending a performance at the Royal Theatre
at Copenhagen. His obsequies were marked by all the pomp and ceremony due
to a sovereign of Denmark. Four years later, after the completion of the
Thorvaldsen Museum, his remains were laid in the vault that had been
prepared for him there, amid the rich collection of his masterpieces.
[Sidenote: The master's pupils]
As a sculptor, Thorvaldsen's name will always be linked with that of his
great rival and contemporary, Canova. Both sculptors are equally remarkable
for the way they returned to the classic traditions of Hellenic sculpture.
It can be said of them that they bridged the chasm of nearly two thousand
years that had elapsed between antiquity and modern times. It was reserved
to their successors to introduce a modern note in sculpture. Like Canova,
Thorvaldsen exerted great influence on almost all the sculptors who came to
Rome in his day. Thus Rauch declared himself indebted to him for the purity
of his style. From his school in turn issued Riechel of Dresden, Drake,
Wolff and Blauser of Cologne. Among the friends of Thorvaldsen, who
profited by his councils, were Dannecker, Schadow and Schwanthaler. At
Rome, Tenerini, Louis Bienaime, Pierre Galli and Emile Wolff proved
themselves apt pupils of the Danish master, while, at Copenhagen,
Thorvaldsen's influence was kept alive by Bisson.
[Sidenote: Death of Saint Hilaire]
[Sidenote: Comte]
[Sidenote: Lacordaire]
[Sidenote: "Count of Monte Cristo"]
In France two other great personages of Napoleonic days passed away with
Joseph Bonaparte, the great Napoleon's brother and quondam king of Naples
and Spain, and Jacques Lafitte, Napoleon's banker, to whose honor were
intrusted the millions left behind by Napoleon, when he fled from Paris.
More lamented than their death, perhaps, was that of Etienne Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire, the great French naturalist. Born in 1772, he first came
into prominence as the curator of the wild animals in the Jardin des
Plantes. Here he formed his life-long friendship with Cuvier. General
Bonaparte took him along on the expedition to Egypt, where Saint-Hilaire
helped found the Institute of Cairo. In 1807 he was admitted into the
French Institute, and two years later was appointed Professor of Zoology
and Comparative Physiology in the Faculty of Sciences. This chair he
retained until his death. Starting as a pure zoologist, Saint-Hilaire
became the founder of the science of philosophical anatomy. This new
doctrine was fully expounded in his "Philosophie Anatomique" (1818-1822).
Other important works of Saint-Hilaire were "Histoire Naturelle des
Mammiferes," collaborated with Cuvier (1819-1837); "Principes de la
Philosophie Zoologique" (1830), and "Etudes Progressives d'un Naturaliste."
During this same year Comte published his "Discours sur l'Esprit Positive."
Pere Lacordaire brought out his "Funeral Orations," while Charles
Lenormais, with others, published the great French work on "Ceramographic
Monuments." Practical effect to the teachings of Saint-Simon, Fourier and
Louis Blanc was given by the establishment of the so-called Creches, or
infant asylums for the temporary care of children of working mothers. The
greatest literary success of the year was that of Alexandre Dumas's serial
novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo."
[Sidenote: French war with Morocco]
[Sidenote: Hawaiian independence guaranteed]
The foreign affairs of France throughout this year were conducted by
Guizot. As a result of the military occupation of Algiers, war with Morocco
broke out in May. The Prince de Joinville bombarded and captured the
fortified town of Mogador. Marshal Buguead won a signal victory over the
Moors on the banks of Isly. After the defeat of the rebellious subjects of
the Sultan of Morocco, this potentate, Abder Rahman, made common cause with
the French against Abd-el-Kader. A French treaty with China was negotiated
by Guizot in October. In regard to the vexed problem of Tahiti and the
Hawaiian Islands an understanding was reached with the other Powers. Amends
were made to England for the French indignities to the British Consul at
Tahiti, while the independence of Hawaii was guaranteed by a joint
declaration of France, Great Britain and the United States. Toward the
close of the year the uncertainties of government in Spain were once more
made manifest by a military insurrection, headed by General Zurbano.
1845
[Sidenote: Poe's "Raven"]
At the beginning of the year, in America, came a literary sensation of
unwonted brilliancy. In the New York "Evening Mirror," January 29, Edgar
Allan Poe's famous poem "The Raven" was reprinted from the advance sheets
of "The American Whig Review," in which the name of the author was masked
under the pseudonym of "Quarles." The poem was copied all over America and
soon reached England. Baudelaire translated it into French. As Poe's
biographer, Woodberry, has said: "No great poem ever established itself so
immediately, so widely and so imperishably in men's minds." A literary
tradition has it that Poe only received ten dollars for this masterpiece,
and had to wait a year and more for his money.
[Sidenote: Texas annexed to the United States]
[Sidenote: Florida admitted to Union]
[Sidenote: James K. Polk, President]
[Sidenote: Oregon dispute settled.]