passes enhances the dangers of the country. The Assembly, which ought
to be the firmest support of order, has become a focus of
conspiracies. The patriotism of three hundred of its members has been
unable to check its fatal tendencies. Instead of making laws in the
public interest it forges arms for civil war; it attacks the power
which I hold directly from the People, it encourages all bad passions,
it compromises the tranquillity of France; I have dissolved it, and I
constitute the whole People a judge between it and me. The men who
have ruined two monarchies wish to tie my hands in order to overthrow
the Republic; my duty is to frustrate their treacherous schemes, to
maintain the Republic, and to save the Country by appealing to the
solemn judgment of France.
"Such is my firm conviction. If you share it, declare it by your
votes. If, on the contrary, you prefer a government without strength,
Monarchical or Republican, borrowed I know not from what past, or from
what chimerical future, answer in the negative.
"But if you believe that the cause of which my name is the
symbol--that is to say, France regenerated by the Revolution of '89,
and organized by the Emperor, is to be still your own, proclaim it by
sanctioning the powers which I ask from you.
"Then France and Europe will be preserved from anarchy, obstacles will
be removed, rivalries will have disappeared, for all will respect, in
the decision of the People, the decree of Providence.
"Given at the Palace of the Elysee, 2d December,
1851. LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE."
[Sidenote: The Second December]
[Sidenote: Summary executions]
[Sidenote: Proscription]
During the same day the Assembly was dissolved by troops. Attempts at
public protests were roughly suppressed. A few barricades were thrown up,
but the crowds were quickly dispersed, and those agitators who were caught
were hurried off to prison. On December 4, the troops were ordered out in
force, and proceeded to clear the streets. Nearly a thousand persons were
shot during the course of the day. The insurrection was stamped out. A few
days later, when the National Assembly tried to meet again, a hundred and
eighty members were arrested. Then appeared two parallel lists of names.
One contained the names of those who could be counted on for the purposes
of Prince Napoleon. They were all created members of a consultative
committee, which was to sit "until the reorganization of the legislative
party." The other list contained the names of those who were proscribed
from French territory, from Algeria, and from the colonies "for the sake of
public safety." Among them were Victor Hugo, Thiers, Baune, Laboulaye,
Theodore Bac, and Lamarque. Many hundreds of compromised Republicans fled
before they were proscribed. Others were transported across the borders
without any publication of the fact. Still others were summarily shot in
the barrack courtyards.
[Sidenote: The plebiscite]
[Sidenote: Foreign congratulations]
[Sidenote: Palmerston dismissed]
On December 21, the result of the so-called popular plebiscite was
announced. Louis Napoleon had been elected President for ten years by an
alleged vote of 7,473,431 ays against 641,341 nays. He was clothed with
monarchical power and was authorized to issue a constitution for France.
Outside of France the results of the _coup d'etat_ were received with
equanimity. Pope Pius IX. went to a review held by General Gemeau in Rome
and begged him to congratulate Prince Louis Napoleon for him. Lord
Palmerston in London, it was stated, told the French Ambassador that he
"entirely approved of what had been done, and thought the President of the
French fully justified." The British Ambassador at Paris was instructed to
make no change in his relations with the French Government, and to do
nothing that might wear the appearance of English interference. It appeared
that Lord Palmerston had once more acted on his own initiative. He was
requested to resign. Before long the dismissed Minister had an opportunity
of showing the government how formidable an adversary he could be.
1852
[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon in power]
[Sidenote: Empire foreshadowed]
On the first day of January, Louis Napoleon was reinstalled as President of
France in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The day was made a public holiday.
On New Year's Eve the Diplomatic Corps had congratulated Prince Napoleon at
the Palace of the Tuileries. A few days later some of the more prominent of
the President's opponents, among them Changarnier and Lamorciere, were
conducted to the Belgian frontier. On January 10, the President banished
eighty-three members of the Legislative Assembly. Some six hundred persons
who had been arrested for resisting the _coup d'etat_ at the same time were
taken to Havre for transportation to Cayenne. On January 14, the new
constitution was made public. All real powers were vested in the President.
He had the initiative for all new measures, as well as the veto on
deliberations of both Senate and Legislative Assembly. The Senators were to
be appointed by him. The sessions of both bodies were to be held behind
closed doors. The impotence of the legislators was offset by their princely
salaries. Senators were to receive 30,000 francs per year, while the
Deputies drew half that sum. The actual sessions of the Legislature were
limited to three years. The President himself was to draw an annual salary
of 12,000,000 francs. The money for these expenditures was raised by
extraordinary means. A decree on January 22 confiscated all former crown
lands and the estates of the Princes of Orleans. The press was gagged by a
decree prohibiting the publication of any newspaper without the sanction of
the government. All liberty poles were chopped down, and the motto of
"Liberte, Fraternite, Egalite," was tabooed. On February 29, the elections
for the Legislative Assembly were held. The government nominated all the
candidates, and practically all were elected. Late in March, Prince Louis
Napoleon opened the Senate and Corps Legislatif. His address throughout was
couched in the language of a monarch. While he conceded the intention of
the republican reforms to be harmless, he suggested the possibility that he
might be called upon "to demand from France in the interest of peace a new
title, by which the powers that have been conferred upon me may be
confirmed once for all." A Cabinet was formed of the President's most
devoted followers, under the nominal leadership of Persigny. One of the
first votes of the Legislature, after fixing the President's salary, was a
grant of 80,000,000 francs for public works wherewith to occupy the
laboring classes. This done, the President made a triumphal tour of France.
The government officials saw to it that he received a magnificent welcome
wherever he appeared.
[Sidenote: Death of Schwarzenberg]
[Sidenote: Buol Schauenstein, Austrian Minister]
In the neighboring countries the progress of events in France created less
misgivings than had the doings of the Republic. In Austria, Emperor
Francis Joseph further undid the work of the recent revolution by his total
abolition of the rights of trial by jury on January 15. Shortly afterward,
Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, the Prime Minister, died in Vienna. He was a
nephew of Charles Philippe, the famous Prince of Schwarzenberg who
negotiated the marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise, and later led the
allied armies against Napoleon. In 1848, Prince Felix Schwarzenberg
commanded a division in Italy. Later he joined Windischgraetz in the
military occupation of Jena, and soon took charge of the civil
administration of the empire, in which he continued until his death. He was
succeeded by Count Buol von Schauenstein.
[Sidenote: German affairs]
[Sidenote: The Danish succession]
[Sidenote: German fleet sold]
Throughout the year the affairs in Germany were tranquil. Shortly after the
death of the old King of Hanover, a tariff union was established with
Russia, while a postal and telegraph union was extended to all the German
States. Early in the year the King of Prussia revived the old Council of
State as it was before 1848. The Constitution underwent new modifications.
In May, a conference of the great Powers met at London to treat of certain
German affairs. An agreement was signed practically assuring the
independence of the Swiss district of Neuchatel, which had revolted from
Prussia in 1848. Three days later, on May 8, a protocol was signed
concerning the Danish succession. This intricate problem continued to vex
the souls of diplomats. Lord Palmerston, when interrogated about it, said
that there were only three persons who understood the Danish succession.
One was the Queen Dowager of Denmark, the second was God Almighty, and the
third was a German professor, but he had gone mad. While attempting to
settle the terms of the succession the five great Powers and Sweden signed
a treaty guaranteeing the integrity of the Danish monarchy. The throne was
granted to Christian of Sonderburg-Gluecksburg. Christian, Duke of
Augustenburg-Holstein, consented to surrender his rights for a money
consideration. The treaty was not recognized by the German Confederation,
but was accepted by Hanover, Saxony and Wurtemberg. In June, Germans had
the humiliating experience of seeing their fleet, the formation of which
was undertaken in 1848, sold at public auction. All aspirations for sea
power had been abandoned by the Bund. In July, Prussia's representative at
the Bund meetings, Baron Bismarck, was sent as envoy to Austria. Through
his efforts at Vienna the Austrian Government was prevailed upon to join
the German Zollverein and to sign commercial treaties.
[Sidenote: Death of Froebel]
During this year in Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel, the German
educator, died at Marienthal on July 21, in his seventieth year. After an
unsettled and aimless youth, he started teaching, and soon developed a
system which has become famous under the name of Kindergarten (children's
garden). It was intended to convert schooling into play, which, according
to Froebel, is the child's most serious business. The first Kindergarten
was opened in 1840 at Blankenburg, Prussia. Meeting at first with little
encouragement, it gradually gained a footing in most civilized countries.
Froebel was largely assisted in the propagation of his ideas by the
Baroness Marenholz-Buelow. He was the author of "Die Menschenerziehung"
(Human Education) and "Mutter und Koselieder," a book of nursery songs and
pictures for children.
[Sidenote: "Prometheus" affair]
In England, the dismissal of Lord Palmerston left the Foreign Office in an
embarrassing position as regarded Louis Napoleon's government. Other
embarrassments were likewise bequeathed. Thus, on January 10, Lord
Palmerston's successor, Lord Granville, had to disavow to the American
Minister the act of the British man-of-war "Empress," which had fired into
the American steamer "Prometheus." England offered an apology which was
accepted.
[Sidenote: "The Third of February"]
The caustic comments of the English press on French affairs, together with
the free utterances of Victor Hugo and other French exiles on English soil,
gave great offence to Louis Napoleon. Count Valevski's diplomatic protests
found support in the British House of Lords. It was then that Alfred
Tennyson, undeterred by the supposed reserve of his Poet Laureateship,
wrote the invective lines entitled "The Third of February."
[Sidenote: "Henry Esmond"]
About the same time Thackeray brought out his "History of Henry Esmond," a
masterpiece of English historical fiction. In the dedication to Lord
Ashburton, Thackeray thus announced his departure for America. "My volume
will reach you when the author is on his voyage to a country where your
name is as well known as here."
[Sidenote: Transvaal's independence recognized]
In South Africa, at the Sand River Convention on January 17, the British
virtually accepted the independence of the Transvaal. In the meanwhile the
fifth war with the Kaffirs was begun by Sir George Cathcart. Incidentally a
crushing defeat was inflicted on the Basutos at Guerea. Toward the close of
the year the situation grew so alarming that martial law was proclaimed by
the Governor of Cape Colony. All inhabitants were bidden to the frontier
for the defence of the colonies.
[Sidenote: Progress of Taiping rebellion]
In China, the Taiping rebellion grew ever more threatening. Early in the
year Tien Wang decided to march out of Kmaysi to invade the vast untouched
provinces of Central China. He averred that he had "the divine commission
to possess the Empire as its true sovereign." The rebels now became known
as Taipings, after a town of that name in Kwangsi province. Tien Wang began
his northern march in April. Irritated by the conduct of Tien Wang's
lieutenants, the Triads took a secret departure and made peace with the
Imperialists. Their secession put an end to the purpose of attacking Canton
which Tien Wang had cherished, and he made an assault on Kweisling. The
Imperial Commissioners at that place having beaten them back failed to
pursue and conquer them, and they advanced unopposed across the vast
province of Hoonan. At Changsha they encountered strong resistance. After a
siege of eighty days they abandoned the attack and marched northward. They
captured Yoochow, which was an important arsenal, and soon afterward
Hankow, Manchong and How-Kong were taken.
[Sidenote: South American struggles]
In the Argentine Republic, the civil war and its consequent upheavals were
continued. On February 3, General Urquiza, commanding the combined army of
Entre Rios and Brazil, defeated General Rosas at Monte Cazeros, "the gate
of Buenos Ayres." The city capitulated and the civil war seemed ended.
Urquiza announced himself as provisional dictator. On May 31, he was
elected Provisional President, while Vincente Lopez was elected Governor of
Buenos Ayres. One month later, Urquiza, having won over the army by a
sudden _coup d'etat_, seized the reins of government as dictator. His first
measure was to acknowledge the independence of Paraguay. In September,
Urquiza's refusal to recognize the political and commercial pre-eminence of
Buenos Ayres produced another revolt. On September 11, the people of Buenos
Ayres, under the leadership of Bartholomay Mitre, seceded from the
confederacy. Urquiza was compelled to leave Buenos Ayres and proceeded to
Santa Fe, where he was acknowledged as President by the thirteen other
provinces. They bound themselves by a treaty to secure the free navigation
of all rivers flowing into the La Plata. On November 20, the Congress of
the Confederation met at Santa Fe and invested Urquiza with full powers to
suppress the revolution in Buenos Ayres. Urquiza's blockade of the city by
sea led to another revolution within the walls of Buenos Ayres. General
Pintos assumed charge and Urquiza withdrew.
[Illustration: EXECUTION OF SEPOY REBELS
Painted by Verestchagin]
[Sidenote: Death of Gogol]
[Sidenote: "Dead Souls"]
Nicholas Vasilievitch Gogol died on March 4 at Moscow. Born in 1810, at
Soroczince, in the district of Poltava, he began his career as a writer
with poems and a metrical tragedy, written in the dialect of Little Russia.
To this period belongs his ballad "Two Fishes." After travelling in
Germany, he was called to a professorship at the patriotic institute of St.
Petersburg, where he wrote his famous prose romances in Greater Russian
dialect. His "Evenings at a Farm" admitted him to the literary circles of
the capital and brought him the friendship of his fellow poet, Pushkin. He
wrote a series of short stories, treating of life in the Russian provinces,
and among the middle class, which were subsequently published in the
collection of four volumes, entitled "Mirgorod." In 1833, Gogol brought out
his satirical comedy, "The Commissioner," in which he laid bare the
all-pervading corruption of Russian official life. After prolonged travels
through Germany, France, Italy and Palestine, Gogol returned to Russia and
settled near St. Petersburg. He wrote more short stories and descriptions
of travel, and finally published the incomplete satirical novel, "Dead
Souls," which is the best of his works. In this novel he handled Russian
life fearlessly, with satirical comments on the weak points of Russian
society. It is stated that he finished the story before his death, but
burned the manuscript. When he died he was acknowledged as the best writer
of satirical prose in Russia.
[Sidenote: Palmerston's revenge]
[Sidenote: Earl of Derby Premier]
On February 20, Lord Palmerston was enabled to make his former colleagues
in the Cabinet feel his power. Owing to general vague apprehensions that
Prince Louis Napoleon might revive his illustrious namesake's projects
against England, a cry had arisen for the strengthening of the national
defences. To satisfy this demand, Lord John Russell brought in a local
militia bill. Lord Palmerston promptly moved an amendment for a general
volunteer force instead of local militia, thus totally altering the nature
of the bill. The amendment was sustained by a majority of eleven votes.
Lord John Russell's Ministry thereupon resigned, and the Earl of Derby was
called in. The most conspicuous member of the new Cabinet was Benjamin
Disraeli, who took the portfolio of the Exchequer. Disraeli by this time
had already achieved popularity as an author. Some idea of his personality
may be gathered from a contemporary's description of his outward appearance
in those days:
[Sidenote: Disraeli's appearance]
"Usually he wore a slate-colored velvet coat lined with satin, purple
trousers with a gold band down the outside seam, a scarlet waistcoat, long
lace ruffles falling down to the tips of his fingers, white gloves with
brilliant rings outside them, and long black ringlets rippling down over
his shoulders. When he rose in the House, he wore a bottle-green frock
coat, with a white waistcoat, collarless, and a needless display of gold
chains."
[Sidenote: American fisheries dispute]
The new Ministry was so distinctly protectionist that the Anti-Corn Law
League was reorganized to resume the agitation for free trade. Soon the
perennial troubles with America about the fisheries of Newfoundland broke
out afresh. The new Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Malmesbury, insisted
upon a strict fulfilment of the terms agreed upon in the convention of
1818. Armed vessels were sent to the coast of British North America. The
United States likewise sent a war steamer to the disputed fishing-grounds.
Many vessels were boarded for information, but both sides abstained from
giving serious grounds for complaint.
[Sidenote: Franklin Pierce elected]
In the United States, the Whigs, encouraged by their success with Taylor,
put forth another military officer, General Scott, as their Presidential
candidate. At the convention held in Baltimore in June, Webster, Fillmore
and Scott were put in nomination. Fifty-two ballots were cast before Scott
was nominated. The candidates before the Democratic Convention in Baltimore
were Buchanan, Cass, Marcy and Douglas. Franklin Pierce was chosen after
more than forty ballots. The Free Democrats selected John P. Hale and
Julian of Indiana. Pierce carried twenty-seven States, to Scott's four,
receiving 254 votes to Scott's 42.
[Sidenote: Death of Clay]
[Sidenote: Death of Webster]
[Sidenote: Webster's oratory]
[Sidenote: The Concord speech]
[Sidenote: Webster in Congress]
Henry Clay died in June. He was a candidate for the Presidency three times.
Few Americans have been more idolized than he. His great success was
largely due to his manner, which captivated opponents as well as friends.
In will and fine sense of honor he was as firm and lofty as Jackson or
Jefferson. He it was who said that he would "rather be right than
President." His death was followed in October by that of his great rival,
Daniel Webster. This great American orator was born in 1782, the son of a
New England farmer. He was graduated from Dartmouth College, and began the
study of law. While reading Vattel, Montesquieu, and Blackstone, he eked
out a humble income as a school teacher. He became associated with
Christopher Gore, a noted lawyer of those days in Boston, and presently
acquired a reputation as an orator. An address delivered at Fryeburg in
1802 furnished the model for his great Concord speech four years later. As
a result of the speeches in opposition to Jefferson's and Madison's embargo
policy against England, Daniel Webster was elected by the Federalists of
New Hampshire to represent them in the Thirteenth Congress. Henceforth
Webster's stirring addresses were delivered in the national forum of the
United States. Pitted against such distinguished speakers as Calhoun and
Henry Clay, he gradually came to be acknowledged the foremost orator of
America. He was at the height of his reputation when he died. His most
lasting achievement, perhaps, was the conclusion of the famous
Webster-Ashburton treaty with England, settling the boundaries between
British North America and the United States.
Shortly before Webster's death another orator of world-wide reputation was
heard at Washington. This was Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian exile. On the
occasion of a banquet tendered to him by the American Congress early in the
year, Kossuth delivered the famous speech in which he compared the Roman
Senate of antiquity to that of the New World.
[Sidenote: Junius Brutus Booth]
Junius Brutus Booth, the great English tragedian, died in America while
returning from a lucrative tour to California. Booth made his debut at
Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1814 as Richard III. His personal
resemblance to the hunchbacked tyrant conformed so well to the traditions
of the stage, and his personification of the character was in other
respects so striking, that he eclipsed Edmund Keane, then acting at Drury
Lane. The rivalry of the two actors grew so intense that Booth was driven
from the stage by a serious theatrical riot. In 1821, he made his first
appearance in the United States, again as Richard III., and was received
with such enthusiasm that he settled permanently at Baltimore. From here he
made professional excursions to other American cities. Among his most
familiar personations were Iago, Hamlet, Shylock, Sir Giles Overreach, and
Sir Edmund Mortimer. Over his audiences he ever exercised a wonderful
power. On his death he left two sons, both actors like himself, and both
destined to make their mark in life.
[Sidenote: Death of Tom Moore]
[Sidenote: Moore's American impressions]
The death of Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, excited as much attention in
America as it did in England. Born at Dublin in 1779, Tom Moore, as he was
usually called, wrote verses in early youth. Like Pope, he may be said to
have lisped in numbers. At the age of thirteen he was a contributor to the
"Anthologia Hibernica." After graduating at Trinity College he came to
London, and there dedicated his translation of the poems of Anacreon to the
Prince Regent. He became a favorite of fashionable society. Among his
patrons were the Earl of Moira, Lord Holland, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and
other noblemen of the Whig party. He obtained the appointment of Registrar
to the Admiralty in Bermuda, but on arriving there hired a deputy to
discharge the duties of the office and went on a tour to America. Like some
other famous travellers, he conceived a poor opinion of the American
people. In commemoration of his trip, Moore brought out "Epistles, Odes and
other Poems," containing many defamatory verses on America. One scurrilous
stanza read:
The patriot, fresh from Freedom's councils come,
Now pleas'd retires to lash his slaves at home;
Or woo, perhaps, some black Aspasia's charms,
And dream of freedom in his bondmaid's arms.
[Sidenote: "Irish Melodies"]
[Sidenote: "Lalla Rookh"]