LITERATURE (1517-1648).
COLONIZATION IN AMERICA.
The European nations kept up their religious and political rivalship in
exploring and colonizing the New World.
FRENCH EXPLORERS.--The French and English sent their fishermen to the
coasts of _Newfoundland_ and _Nova Scotia_. French fishermen
from _Breton_ gave its name to _Cape Breton_. _Francis
I._ sent out _Verrazano_, an Italian sailor, who is thought to
have cruised along the coast of North America from Cape Fear northward
(1524). Later, _Jacques Cartier_ explored the _St. Lawrence_
as far as the site of _Montreal_ (1535); other expeditions
followed, and thus was founded the claim of the French to that region.
SPANISH EXPLORERS.--The Spaniards brought negroes from the coast of
Africa to the West Indies, to take the place of the Indians; and thus
the _slave-trade_ and _negro slavery_ were established. They
gave the name of _Florida_ to a vast region stretching from the
Atlantic to Mexico, and from the Gulf of Mexico to an undefined limit
in the North. From _Tampa Bay_, in what we now call
_Florida_, they sent into this unexplored region an expedition
under _Narvaez_ (1528); and afterwards, on the same track, another
party led by _Hernando de Soto_ (1539), which made its way to the
_Mississippi_ near the present site of _Vicksburg_. Tempted
by tales of rich cities, _Coronado_ led an army to the conquest of
the pueblos of the south-west. He penetrated as far as the boundary of
the present Nebraska.
CONTEST IN FLORIDA.--The great Huguenot leader, _Coligny_, made
three attempts to found Huguenot settlements in America. He wanted to
provide for them an asylum, and to extend the power of France. One
company went to _Brazil_, and failed; a second perished at _Port
Royal_ in _Florida_; a third (1564) built _Fort Caroline_
on the shores of the _St. John_. This last company was mercilessly
slaughtered by _Menendez_, the leader of a Spanish expedition
which founded _St. Augustine_ (1565), the oldest town in the
United States. The act was avenged by the massacre of the Spanish
settlers at _Fort Caroline_, by _Dominique de Gourgues_ and
the French company that came over with him.
ENGLISH VOYAGES.--The English, full of zeal for maritime discovery,
tried to find a north-west passage to Asia. This was attempted by
_Martin Frobisher_, a sea-captain, from whom _Frobisher's
Strait_ takes its name. After him followed _John Davis_, who
gave his name also to a strait. As the English grew stronger and bolder
on the water, they ceased to avoid a contest with Spain. In 1577 _Sir
Francis Drake_ set out from the harbor of _Plymouth_ on his
voyage around the globe. The defeat of the Spanish Armada occurred in
1588; and after that the English felt themselves to be stronger than
their old adversary.
GILBERT AND RALEIGH.--_Sir Humphrey Gilbert_, in 1583, took
possession of _Newfoundland_ in the name of the queen of England.
_Walter Raleigh_, his half-brother, on his voyage in 1584,
visited _Roanoke Island_, and named the whole country between the
French and the Spanish possessions, _Virginia_, in honor of "the
Virgin Queen," _Elizabeth_. A colony which he sent out to
_Roanoke_ (1585) failed, and a second settlement had no better
result. _Bartholomew Gosnold_ landed on _Cape Cod_, and
cruised along the neighboring coast (1602).
THE FRENCH IN CANADA.--In 1603 _Champlain_, a French gentleman,
sailed to _Canada_, whither the fur-trade enticed explorers. A
few years later he founded _Quebec_ (1608), and explored the
country as far as _Lake Huron_. The Jesuit missionaries commenced
their efforts to convert the Indian tribes, in which they evinced an
almost unparalleled fortitude and perseverance. The _Huron_ and
_Algonquin_ Indians helped _Champlain_ gain a victory over
the hostile and warlike _Iroquois_, who afterwards hated the
French. The French occupants of the country of the _St. Lawrence_
devoted themselves too exclusively to trading, and too little to the
tilling of the ground and to the forming of a community.
THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS.--The Dutch were as eager as the other maritime
powers to find a passage to India. In 1609 an English captain in their
service, _Henry Hudson_, balked in this endeavor, sailed up the
river now called by his name. The next year, being in the service of
an English company, he discovered _Hudson's
Bay_. _Amsterdam_ traders established themselves on the island
of _Manhattan_ (an Indian name); which led to the formation of
the New Netherlands Company, by whom a fort (_Orange_) was built
at the place afterwards called _Albany_ (1615). The West India
Company followed (1621), with authority over _New Netherlands_,
as the country was called. The powerful land-owners were styled
_patroons_. Their territory reached to Delaware Bay; and they had
a trading-post on the Connecticut, on the site of the present city of
Hartford.
In 1637 the Swedes made a settlement at the mouth of the Delaware
River, but in 1655 they were subdued by the Dutch.
SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.--The _Virginia Company_, divided into two
branches,--the _London Company_, having control in the South, and
the _Plymouth Company_, having control in the North,--received its
patent of privileges from _James I_. (1606). A settlement by the
_Plymouth Company_ on the _Kennebec River_ (1607)--the
_Popham Colony_--was given up. In 1607 _Jamestown_ in
Virginia, as the name _Virginia_ is now applied, was settled. A
majority of the first colonists were gentlemen not wonted to labor. The
military leader was Capt. _John Smith_, whose life, according to
his own account, was spared by _Powhatan_, an Indian
chief. Powhatan's daughter _Pocahontas_ married _Rolfe_, an
Englishman. The Jamestown colony seemed likely to become extinct, when,
in 1610, _Lord Delaware_ arrived with fresh supplies and
colonists. He was the first of a series of governors who ruled with
almost unlimited authority. But the colony grew to be more independent,
and in sympathy with the popular party in England. In 1619 the _House
of Burgesses_ first met, which brought in government by the people.
At this time _negroes_ began to be imported from Africa, and sold
as slaves.
THE PILGRIM SETTLEMENT.--The first permanent settlement in _New
England_ was made at _Plymouth_ in 1620, by a company of
English Christians, who landed from the "Mayflower." They were Puritans
of that class called "Independents," who had separated from the English
Church, and did not believe in any national church organization. The
emigrants left _Leyden_, in Holland, where they had lived for some
time in exile, and where the remainder of their congregation remained
under the guidance of a learned and able pastor, _John
Robinson_. In the harbor of _Provincetown_, they agreed to a
compact of government. Their civil polity was republican; their church
polity was _Congregational_. They endured with heroic and pious
fortitude the severities of the first winter, when half of their number
died. Their military leader was Capt. _Miles Standish_. In their
dealings with the Indians, they were equally just and brave.
SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS.--Somewhat different in its origin and
character from the "Pilgrim" settlement at _Plymouth_, was the
other Puritan settlement of _Massachusetts_. The emigrants to
Massachusetts were not separatists from the Church of England, but more
conservative Puritans who desired, however, many ecclesiastical changes
which they could not obtain at home. Both classes of settlers,
transferred to _New England_, found no difficulty in agreeing in
religious matters; for when left free, they desired about the same
things. But at _Plymouth_ there was more toleration for religious
dissent than in the later colony. In 1629 certain London merchants
formed a corporation called "the Governor and Company of the
Massachusetts Bay in New England," and received a charter directly from
_Charles I_. They sent out _John Endicott_ to be governor of
a settlement already formed at _Salem_. _Charles_ had
dissolved Parliament, and was beginning the experiment of
absolutism. The new company was strengthened by the accession of a
large number of Puritan gentlemen who were anxious to emigrate. They
resolved to transfer the company and its government to the shores of
America. _John Winthrop_ was chosen governor, and in 1630 landed
at _Charlestown_ with a large body of settlers. _Winthrop_
and his associates soon removed to the peninsula of _Boston_. The
new colony was well provided with artisans. Soon ships began to be
built. In 1636 a college, named in 1639, in honor of a benefactor,
_Harvard_, was founded at _Cambridge_. At first all the
voters met together to choose their rulers and frame their laws. As the
towns increased in number, a _General Court_, or legislative
assembly, was established by the colony, in which each town was
represented. Each town had its church, and only church-members
voted. The _General Court_ superintended the affairs of both town
and church. The political troubles in England stimulated
emigration. Within ten years, about twenty thousand Englishmen, mainly
Puritans, crossed the Atlantic, and took up their abode in New
England. In the ecclesiastical system each church was self-governing,
except as the _General Court_ was over all. There were no bishops,
and the liturgy was dispensed with in worship.
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT.--After the Dutch had built a trading-post on
the site of _Hartford_, people from _Plymouth_ formed a
settlement at _Windsor_, on the Connecticut, six miles above. From
_Boston_ and its neighborhood, there was a migration which settled
_Hartford_. In 1637 the three towns of _Windsor_,
_Wethersfield_, and _Hartford_ became the distinct colony of
_Connecticut_. A colony led by the younger _John Winthrop_,
under a patent given to _Lord Say and Sele_ and _Lord Brook_,
drove away the Dutch from the mouth of the Connecticut, and settled
_Saybrook_ (1635). This colony was afterwards united with the
Connecticut colony. A third colony was established at _New Haven_
(1638), which had an independent existence until 1662.
SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND OF MAINE.--_Roger
Williams_, a minister who was not allowed to live in
_Massachusetts_, on account of his differences with the
magistrates, was the founder of _Rhode Island_ (1636). He held
that the State should leave matters of religious opinion and worship
to the conscience of the individual, and confine government to secular
concerns. This was not the view of the Puritans generally; and the
incoming of dissenters from their religious and political system made
them afraid that the colony would be broken up, or fall into
disorder. _Williams_, in most of his qualities a noble man,
obtained a patent for his government, which was framed in accordance
with his liberal ideas. On lands granted by the Plymouth Company to
_Sir Ferdinando Gorges_, settlements were made in _New
Hampshire_ and in _Maine_ (1623). A line between the two was
drawn in 1631; _Gorges_ taking the territory on the east of the
_Piscataqua River_, and Capt. _John Mason_ taking the
remainder.
VIRGINIA.--After 1624 the king appointed the governor in Virginia,
which, however, had its own assembly. The colony grew rapidly, its
chief export being tobacco. The people lived on their estates or
plantations, employing indented servants and negro slaves.
MARYLAND.--Maryland was founded by George Calvert, _Lord
Baltimore_, a Roman Catholic, to whom _Charles I._ granted a
charter (1632). The first settlement was made by Calvert's sons, after
his death. They planted a colony near the mouth of the Potomac. The
_Calverts_ sent out both Puritans and Roman Catholics, and
secured the safety of the adherents of their own faith by the grant of
toleration to the Protestants. Under _Cromwell_, a Puritan
governor was appointed by _Lord Baltimore_ (1649). There were
boundary disputes with Virginia; and _Clayborne_, a Puritan and a
Virginian, at one time got control of the government, which the
_Calverts_ regained under _Charles II._ (1660).
NEW ENGLAND: NEW YORK.--During the war between king and Parliament in
England, the Puritan colonies were in sympathy with the popular party,
but were cautious in their avowals. They took great pains to prevent
the king, and later the Parliament under the Commonwealth, from taking
away their self-government. The English navigation acts, which forbade
them to use foreign ships for their trade and forced them to send
nearly all their products to English ports, were a grievance to
them. The rivalries of _the English_ and _the Dutch_ gave
the colonists a chance to expel _the Dutch_ from
_Connecticut_. _Charles II._ at length conquered _New
Netherland_, and ceded this territory to his brother, the Duke of
York, afterwards James II. _New Amsterdam_ became _New
York_, and _Fort Orange_ became _Albany_. In 1674 the
country was formally ceded to England by Holland.
THE INDIANS.--When America was discovered, _Mexico_, _Central
America_, and _Peru_ were empires, to a considerable degree
civilized. Relics taken from the mounds of the Ohio and Mississippi
valleys indicate, also, that races somewhat advanced in culture had
once dwelt in those regions. The most of both continents was inhabited
by very numerous tribes of _Indians_, who were savages, with the
ordinary virtues and vices of savage life. They were brave and patient,
but indolent, treacherous, and implacable. There was an immense variety
of dialects among them, yet there are traces of a common original unity
of language. The tribes had no fixed boundaries, but roamed over
extensive hunting-grounds. The _Iroquois_, or the Six Nations,
occupied central New York from the Hudson to the Genesee. The
_Algonquins_ were spread over nearly all the rest of the country
on the east of the _Mississippi River_, and north of _North
Carolina_. The _Creeks_, _Choctaws_, and _Chickasaws_
were in the South.
THE WHITES AND THE RED MEN.--It was fortunate for the settlers of New
England, that, before their arrival, the Indians had been much reduced
in numbers by pestilence. Sometimes they were treated wisely and
humanely, and efforts were made by noble men like _John Eliot_
(1604-1690), who has been called "the Apostle to the Indians," to
teach and civilize them. But this spirit was not always shown by the
whites, and wrongs done by an individual are avenged by savages upon
his race. The first important conflict between the English and the
Indians was the _Pequot War_ (1636), when the English, helped by
the _Narragansetts_, who were under the influence of _Roger
Williams_, crushed the _Pequots_, who were a dangerous
tribe. A league between the New-England colonies, for mutual counsel
and aid, followed (1643). Into this league, _Massachusetts_ would
not allow _Rhode Island_, whose constitution was disliked, to be
admitted. There were to be two commissioners to represent each colony
in common meetings.
SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE.
ASTRONOMY.--In this period wonderful progress was made in astronomy.
_Copernicus_, a German or Polish priest (1473-1543), detected the
error of the Ptolemaic system, which made not the sun, but the earth,
the center of the solar system. Thus a revolution was made in that
science. _Tycho Brahe_, a Danish astronomer (1546-1601), was a
most accurate and indefatigable observer, although he did not adopt
the Copernican theory. His pupil _Kepler_ (1571-1630) discovered
those great principles respecting the orbits and motions of the
planets, which are called the "Laws of Kepler." _Galileo_
(1564-1642), the Italian scientist, in addition to important
discoveries in mechanics, with the telescopes, which his ingenuity had
constructed, discerned the moons of Jupiter, and made other striking
discoveries in the heavens. In promulgating the Copernican doctrine,
he incurred the displeasure of ecclesiastics, and was driven by the
Inquisition to renounce his opinion. It was reserved for _Sir Isaac
Newton_ (1643-1727) to discover the law of gravitation.
JURISPRUDENCE.--In jurisprudence, the Roman law was more and more
studied in universities. In political science, _Bodin_, a learned
Frenchman (1530-1596), wrote a work on the State, advocating a strong
monarchy. In the Netherlands, _Hugo Grotius_ (1583-1645), a great
jurist and scholar, was one of the principal founders of the science
of _International Law_. An eminent expounder of natural and
international law in Germany was _Pufendorf_ (1632-1694).
HISTORICAL WRITINGS.--In history, _Sleidan_, a German (1506-1556),
and later a learned statesman, _Seckendorf_ (1626-1692), wrote
histories of the Reformation. _De Thou_, a Frenchman (1553-1617),
wrote a valuable history of his own times. _Grotius_ described the
war for independence in the Netherlands. Church history, on the
Protestant side, was written by a company of authors called the
_Magdeburg Centuriators_; and on the Catholic side, in the Annals
of _Baronius_ (who died in 1607). In the Tower of London, _Sir
Walter Raleigh_ employed himself in writing a History of the World,
remarkable, if not for its researches, for passages of noble
eloquence. In Italy, historians followed in the path opened by
_Machiavelli_, through his _Discourses on Livy_ and his
_Florentine History_. _Davila_ (1576-1631) composed a
narrative of the Civil Wars in France, and the Cardinal
_Bentivoglio_ wrote the history of the Civil War in the
Netherlands. _Sarpi_, a keen Venetian, of much independence of
thought, related the history of the Council of Trent, which was
followed by a history of the same Council by the more orthodox
_Pallavicini_. In Spain, there was at least one historian of
superior value, _Mariana_, who composed a history of his own
country.
MEDICINE.--Medicine felt the benefit of the revival of
learning. _Hippocrates_ and _Galen_ were studied, and were
translated into Latin. _Paracelsus_, a German physician
(1493-1541), besides broaching various theories more or less visionary,
advanced the science on the chemical side, introducing certain mineral
remedies. _Vesalius_, a native of _Brussels_ (1514-1564), who
became chief physician of _Charles V_. and _Philip II_.,
dissected the human body, and produced the first comprehensive and
systematic view of anatomy. In the sixteenth century clinical
instruction was introduced into hospitals. _Harvey_, an English
physician (1578-1657), discovered the circulation of the blood. In the
seventeenth century activity in medical study was shown by the rise of
various discordant systems.
PHILOSOPHY.--In philosophy, _Aristotle_ continued to be the
master in the most conservative schools, where the old ways of
thinking were cherished. His ethical doctrines were especially
attacked by _Luther_. _Giordano Bruno_, an Italian, not
without genius, promulgated a theory of pantheism, which identified
the Deity with the world. He wandered from land to land, was a
vehement assailant of received religious views, and was burned at the
stake at _Rome_ (1600). In some gifted minds, the conflict of
doctrinal systems, and the influence of the Renaissance, engendered
skepticism. _Montaigne_ (1533-1592), the genial essayist on men
and manners, the Plutarch of France, is an example of this class. The
opposition to _Aristotle_ and to the schoolmen found a great
leader in the English philosopher, _Francis Bacon_
(1561-1626). The influence of _Lord Bacon_ was more in
stimulating to the use of the inductive method, the method of
observation, than in any special value belonging to the rules laid
down for it. He pointed out the path of fruitful investigation.
_Hobbes_ (1588-1679), an English writer, propounded, in his
_Leviathan_ (1651) and in other writings, his theory of the
absolute authority of the king, and the related doctrine that right is
founded on the necessity of "a common power," if the desires are to be
gratified, and if endless destructive contention is to be
avoided. From the epoch of Bacon, the natural and physical sciences
acquire a new importance. In metaphysical science, the modern epoch
dates from _Descartes_ (1596-1650), born in France, who insisted
that philosophy must assume nothing, but must start with the
proposition, "I think, therefore I am." Before, philosophy had been
"the handmaid of theology." It had taken for granted a body of
beliefs respecting God, man, and the world. _Descartes_ was a
theist. _Spinoza_ (1632-1677), of Jewish extraction, born in
_Holland_, is the founder of modern pantheism. He taught that
there is but one substance; that God and the world--the totality of
things--are the manifestation of one impersonal being.
LITERATURE IN ITALY.--In Italy, among many authors in different
departments of poetry, _Tasso_ (1544-1595), the author of the
epic _Jerusalem Delivered_, is the most eminent. In it, the
classic and the romantic styles are combined; the spirit of the Middle
Ages blends with the unity and harmony of Homer and Virgil. In the
seventeenth century, under the hard Spanish rule, the literary spirit
in Italy was chilled.
LITERATURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.--In Spain, it was poetry and the
drama that chiefly flourished. Other sorts of literary activity were
stifled with the extinction of liberty. _Lope de Vega_
(1562-1635), one of the most facile and marvelous of all poets, the
author of twenty-two hundred dramas,--was the precursor of a
school. After him came _Calderon_ (1600-1681), who carried the
Spanish drama to its perfection. Early in the seventeenth century
_Cervantes_ published the classic tale of _Don Quixote_, "to
render abhorred of men the false and absurd stories contained in books
of chivalry," an end which he accomplished. _Mariana's_
(1536-1623) vivid and interesting _History of Spain_ was continued
in a less attractive style by _Sandoval_. _Herrera_
(1549-1625) composed a General History of the Indies. Other works
relating to the New World and the Spanish conquests were written. In
the production of proverbs, the Spanish mind is without a rival. Not
the least of the bad effects of the despotic system of _Philip
II_. was the decay of literature.
The most celebrated writer of _Portugal_ is the poet
_Camoens_ (1524-1579), who, in his epic the _Lusiad_, has
treated of the glorious events in the history of his country, giving
special prominence to the discovery by _Vasco da Gama_ of the
passage to India.
LITERATURE IN FRANCE.--In France, with the exception of
_Montaigne_, it was _Rabelais_ (1495-1553), a physician,
philosopher, and humorist, who, notwithstanding his profanity and
obscenity, was the most popular author of his day, and who well
represents the tone of the Renaissance in that country. _Ronsard_
(1524-1585), an imitator of the Latins and Greeks, was the favorite
poet of _Mary, Queen of Scots_. In the first half of the
seventeenth century the light literature of the French is ruled by
fashion, and is void of serious feeling. In this time the literary
societies of France take their rise. _Madame de Rambouillet_
(1588-1665), a lady of Italian birth, set the example in establishing
such reunions. She made her hotel a resort for writers and
politicians. Being an invalid, she kept her bed, which was placed in an
alcove of the _salon_ where she received her visitors.
LITERATURE IN ENGLAND.--In England, in the age of _Elizabeth_,
there is a galaxy of great authors in prose and verse. The events and
debates of the Reformation, the voyages and geographical discoveries of
the period, gave a powerful quickening to thought and imagination. The
Renaissance culture, which made familiar the stories of Greek and Roman
mythology, and the romantic tales and poetry of Italy and Spain, was
potent in its effect. Some of the numerous theological writers, as
Bishop _Hall_ (1574-1656), _Jeremy Taylor_ (1613-1667), and
_Richard Hooker_ (1553-1600), have gained a high place in general
literature. _Bacon_, apart from his philosophical writings, towers
above almost all his contemporaries in the field of letters. The
chivalrous _Sir Philip Sidney_ (1554-1586) wrote the pastoral
romance of _Arcadia_. _Burton_ (1576-1640), the author of
_The Anatomy of Melancholy_, and _Sir Thomas Brown_, who
published (1642) the _Religio Medici_ (the religion of a
physician) and, at a later date, the _Urn Burial_, are quaint and
original authors. The merit of _Shakspeare_ (1564-1616) is so
exalted and unique that he almost eclipses even the greatest names. The
English drama did not heed what are called the classic unities of time
and place, which limit the action of a play to a brief duration and a
contracted area. Other celebrated dramatic writers are _Beaumont_
(1586-1615) and _Fletcher_ (1579-1625), who wrote many plays
jointly; _Ben Jonson_ (1574-1637), and _Massinger_
(1584-1640). The imaginative poetry which is not dramatic, in this
period, begins with _Spenser_ (1553-1599), whose _Faërie
Queene_ is a poem of chivalry; and it ends with _Milton_
(1608-1674), the Puritan poet, imbued with the culture of the
Renaissance, whose majesty and beauty place him almost on a level, at
least in the esteem of readers of the English race, with Dante. Among
the religious poets is _George Herbert_ (1593-1635). One of the
most famous of the lyric authors was the last of them, _Cowley_
(1618-1667).
LITERATURE IN GERMANY.--In Germany, the great literary product of this
period was _Luther's_ translation of the _Bible_. The
immediate effect of the controversy in religion was not favorable to
the cause of letters. Attention was engrossed by theological inquiries
and discussion. But in most of the countries, in the department of
theology, preachers and writers of much ability and learning appeared
on both sides of the controversy. Biblical study and historical
researches were of necessity fostered by the exigencies of religious
debate.
ASIATIC NATIONS.
I. CHINA.
THE JESUIT MISSIONS.--The _Ming_ dynasty continued in power in
China until 1644. About the middle of the sixteenth century the
_Portuguese_ came to the island of Macao, and commercial relations
began between China and Europe. They brought opium into China, which
had previously been imported overland from India. In 1583 _Matteo
Ricci_, a Jesuit missionary, began his labors in China. He and his
associates had great success. His knowledge of the book language was
most remarkable. The concessions of the Jesuit fathers to the Chinese
in matters of ritual excited much opposition in the Church. But for
this dissension among the different Catholic orders, the Roman Catholic
faith, which had gained very numerous converts, would have spread far
more widely.
THE MANCHU CONQUEST.--There were notable literary achievements in this
period, one of which was an _encyclopedia_ in more than twenty-two
thousand books. Four copies were made: only one, a damaged copy, now
remains. The great political event of the time was the seizure of the
throne by the _Manchu Tartars_ (1644), who came in as auxiliaries
against a rebellion, but have worn the crown until now. The shaved head
and the long cue are customs introduced by the Tartar
conquerors. Certain privileges, and certain habits to which the natives
clung, as the mode of dress for women, and the compression of their
feet, were retained by express stipulation.
II. JAPAN.
FEUDAL SYSTEM.--In 1603 _Iyéyasu_, an eminent general, founded the
_Tokugawa_ dynasty, which continued until the resignation of the
last Shôgun (or Tycoon) in 1867. The rulers of that line held their
court at _Yedo_, which grew into a flourishing city. The long
period of anarchy and bloodshed that had preceded, was brought to an
end. Iyéyasu laid the foundation of a feudal system which his grandson
_Iyémitsu_ (1623-1650) completed. Japan was divided into fiefs,
each under a _daimiô_ for its chief, who enjoyed a large degree of
independence. The people consisted of four classes:
(1) the military families, who had the right to wear two swords,
the clansmen of the great nobles; (2) the farming class; (3) the
artisans; (4) the tradesmen.
CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN.--Christianity was preached in Japan by
_Xavier_, a successful Jesuit missionary, in 1583. Other Jesuit
preachers followed. A multitude of converts were made. But on account
of immoralities of Europeans, and the dread of foreign political
domination, the government engaged in a series of severe
persecutions. In 1614 an edict proscribed Christianity. A portion of
the peasants who were converts were so oppressed, that they revolted
(1637). The result was an act of terrible cruelty,--the massacre of
all Christians; so that none remained openly to profess the Christian
faith.
III. INDIA.
THE MUGHAL EMPIRE.--In the latter half of the fourteenth and in the
fifteenth centuries, the most of _India_ was ruled by distinct
Mohammedan dynasties. The dominion of the Afghan dynasty at
_Delhi_ was thus greatly reduced. In 1525 the _Mughal
(Mogul)_ Empire was founded by _Babar_, a descendant of
_Tamerlane. Babar_ invaded India, and defeated the Sultan of
_Delhi_ in the battle of _Paniput_. The new empire was not
permanently established until his grandson _Akbar_ (1556-1605), in
a series of conquests, spread his dominion over all India north of the
Vindhyar mountains. Not until the reign of _Aurungzeb_
(1658-1707), was the Deccan subdued. After 1600 the Portuguese no
longer had the monopoly of the foreign trade: the Dutch and English
became their rivals.
LITERATURE.--See lists of works on general history, p. 16; on modern
history, p. 395; on the history of particular countries, p. 359.
General Works on the Period. De Thou's _History of his own
Times_; ROBERTSON'S _History of Charles V_. (Prescott's ed.);
Von Raumer's _Gesch. Europas seit d. Ende d, 15 tu Jahrk_, (8
vols).; Hallam's _Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the
Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries_; RANKE'S series
of works on this period,--the _History of the Popes_, and the
Histories of Germany, France, and England; Histories of the
Reformation by D'Aubigné, Döllinger (Roman Catholic), Spalding (Roman
Catholic), Fisher, HAUSSER, Hardwick, Stebbing; Laurent, _La
Reforme_; Lavisse et Rambaud, _Histoire Genérale_ (iv. and
v.); Seebohm's _Era of Protestant Revolution_; Works of Janssen,
Pastor, Creighton.
On the German and Swiss Reformation: Waddington's _History_,
etc.; Hagenhach, _Vorlesungen_, etc.; Lives of Luther, by
Meurer, Michelet, Beard, KÖSTLIN; Lives of Zwingh, by CHRISTOFFEL,
MORIKOFER; Lives of Calvin, by HENRY, Dyer, Kampschulte (Roman
Catholic).
Reformation in France. Works by Soldan, Von Polenz, Smiles, Browning;
BAIRD'S works on _Huguenots_; Perkins, _France under Richelieu
and Mazarin_ (2 vols.); Hanotaux, _Richelieu_ (2 vols.).
The Revolt of the Netherlands. Blok's _History of the Netherlands
_(3 vols.), etc.; MOTLEY'S _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, and
_History of the United Netherlands_; PRESCOTT'S _History of
Philip II._; TH. JUSTE, _Hist, de la Rèvol. des Pays-Bas_,
etc. (2 vols).
The Reformation in England. The Histories of Macaulay. Lingard,
Froude, Burnet's _History of the Reformation in
England_. S. R. Gardiner's _History of England_ (1603 to
1656); Clarendon's _History of the Great Rebellion_; a series of
works on this period by GUIZOT; Neal's _History of the
Puritans_; Gairdner, _History of the English Church from Henry
VIII. to Mary_; selections of documents by Prothero and by
Gardiner; Lives of Cromwell, by CARLYLE, by Forster, Gardiner,
Harrison, Firth; Strype's Lives of the Leading Reformers--Cranmer,
etc.
On the Reformation in Scotland. BURTON'S _History of Scotland_;
Robertson's _History of Scotland_; McCrie's _Life of John
Knox_; W. M. TAYLOR, _Life of John Knox_.
On the Thirty Years' War. GINDELY'S _History_, etc.; Gardiner,
_The Thirty Years' War; Life of Gustavus Adolphus_.
For more extended lists, see Adams's _Manual_, etc.; and
Fisher's _The Reformation_ (Appendix). For list of works on
colonization in America, see the list at the end of Period III.
PERIOD III. FROM THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
(1648-1789)
INTRODUCTION.
CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD.--One feature of this period is the efforts
made by the nations to improve their condition, especially to increase
the thrift and to raise the standing of the middle class. An
illustration is what is called the "mercantile system" in France. Along
with this change, there is progress in the direction of greater breadth
in education and culture. In both of these movements, rulers and
peoples cooperate. Monarchical power, upheld by standing armies,
reaches its climax. The result is internal order, coupled with
tyranny. Great wars were carried on, mostly contests for succession to
thrones. The outcome was an equilibrium in the European state system,
dependent on the relations of five great powers.
FIRST SECTION OF THE PERIOD.--In the first half of the period, the East
and the West of Europe are slightly connected. In the West,
_France_ gains the preponderance over _Austria_, until, by
the Spanish war of succession, _England_ restores the balance. In
the East, _Sweden_ is in the van, until, in the great Northern war
(1700-1721), _Russia_ becomes predominant.
SECOND SECTION OF THE PERIOD.--In the second half of the period, the
East and the West of Europe are brought together in one state system,
in particular by the rise of the power of _Prussia_.
CHIEF EVENTS.--The fall of _Sweden_ and the rise of _Russia_
and _Prussia_ are political events of capital importance. The
maritime supremacy of _England_, with the loss by England of the
_American_ colonies, is another leading fact. In the closing part
of the period appear the intellectual and political signs of the great
Revolution which broke out in _France_ near the end of the
eighteenth century.
CHAPTER I. THE PREPONDERANCE OF FRANCE: FIRST PART OF THE REIGN OF
LOUIS XIV. (TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK, 1697): THE RESTORATION OF THE
STUARTS: THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1688.
LOUIS XIV.: MAZARIN.--The great minister _Richelieu_ died in
1642. "Abroad, though a cardinal of the Church, he arrested the
Catholic reaction, freed Northern from Southern Europe, and made
toleration possible; at home, out of the broken fragments of her
liberties and her national prosperity, he paved the way for the glory
of France." He paved the way, also, for the despotism of her kings. He
had been feared and hated by king and people, but had been obeyed by
both. A few months later _Louis XIII._, a sovereign without either
marked virtues or vices, followed him (1643). _Louis XIV._
(1643-1715) was then only five years old; and _Mazarin_, the heir
of _Richelieu's_ power, stood at the helm until his death
(1661). To this Italian statesman, ambitious of power and wealth, but
astute, and, like _Richelieu_, devoted to France, the queen,
_Anne_ of Austria, willingly left the management of the
government. The rebellion of the _Fronde_ (1648-1653) was a rising
of the nobles to throw off the yoke laid on them by
_Richelieu_. They were helped by the discontent of parliament and
people with the oppressive taxation. In Paris, there was a rising of
the populace, who built barricades; but the revolt was quelled. Its
leaders, _Conti_, the Cardinal de _Retz_, and the great
_Condé_, a famous soldier, were compelled to fly from the
country. _Mazarin_, who had been obliged to fly to Cologne,
returned in triumph. After that, resistance to the absolute monarch
ceased,--the monarch whose theory of government was expressed in the
assertion, "I am the State" (_l'etat c'est moi_). In the
_Peace_ of the _Pyrenees_ (1659), _Spain_ gave in
marriage to _Louis_, the Infanta _Maria Theresa_, the
daughter of _Philip IV._, and ceded to France important places in
the Netherlands. _Maria_ renounced all claims on her inheritance,
for herself and her issue, in consideration of a dowry of five hundred
thousand crowns to be paid by Spain. Shortly after, _Mazarin_, who
had negotiated the treaty, in full possession of his exalted authority
and the incalculable treasures which he had amassed, died.
LOUIS XIV. AND HIS OFFICERS.--_Louis XIV._ was now his own
master. His appetite for power was united with a relish for pomp and
splendor, which led him to make _Versailles_, the seat of his
court, as splendid as architectural skill and lavish expenditure could
render it, and to make France the model in art, literature, manners,
and modes of life, for all Europe. With sensual propensities he mingled
a religious or superstitious vein, so that from time to time he sought
to compound for his vices by the persecution of the Huguenots. He was
the central figure in the European life of his time. Taking care that
his own personal authority should not be in the least impaired, he made
_Colbert_ controller-general, to whom was given charge of the
finances of the kingdom. _Louvois_ was made the minister of
war. _Colbert_ not only provided the money for the costly wars,
the luxurious palaces, and the gorgeous festivities of his master, but
constructed canals, fostered manufactures, and built up the French
marine. _Louvois_, with equal success, organized the military
forces in a way that was copied by other European states. Able
generals--_Turenne_, _Condé_, and _Luxemburg_--were in
command. The nobles who held the offices, military as well as civil,
vied with one another in their obsequious devotion to the "great king."
_Vauban_, the most skillful engineer of the age, erected
impregnable fortifications in the border towns that were seized by
conquest. In the arts of diplomacy, the French ambassadors were equally
superior. The monarch was sustained by the national pride of the
people, and by their ambition to dominate in Europe.
ATTACK ON THE NETHERLANDS.--_Louis_ had already purchased of the
English _Dunkirk_,--which was shamefully sold to him by _Charles
II._,--when _Philip IV._ of Spain died (1665). He now claimed
parts of the Netherlands as being an inheritance of his queen,
according to an old law of those provinces. He conquered the county of
_Burgundy_, or _Franche Comté_, and various places in that
country. _Holland_, afraid that he might push his conquests
farther, formed the _Triple Alliance_ with _England_ and
_Sweden_. In the Treaty of _Aachen_ (Aix), Louis gave up to
the Spaniards _Franche Comté_, but retained the captured cities in
the Netherlands (1668), which _Vauban_ proceeded to fortify.
ATTACK ON HOLLAND.--The next attack of _Louis_ was upon
_Holland_. Holland and the Spanish Netherlands were at variance in
religion, as well as in their political systems, and rivals in trade
and industry. The first minister of the emperor, _Leopold._, was
in the pay of _Louis_. Sweden, in the minority of _Charles
XI._, was in the hands of the Swedish nobles. England had now joined
_Louis_, who, in return for help in the Netherlands, was to
furnish subsidies to assist _Charles II._ in establishing
Catholicism in his realm. In Holland, there was a division between the
republicans, of whom the grand pensionary, _John de Witt_, was the
chief, and the adherents of the house of Orange.
THE WAR: THE PEACE OF NIMWEGEN.--_Louis_, having first seized
_Lorraine_,--whose duke had allied himself to the United
Provinces,--accompanied by his famous generals, _Condé, Turenne,_
and _Vauban_, put himself at the head of an army of one hundred
and twenty thousand men, which crossed the Rhine, and advanced to the
neighborhood of the capital of Holland. The Orange party charged the
blame of the failure to defend the land on their adversaries, whom they
accused of treachery. _De Witt_ and his brother, _Cornelius_,
were killed in the streets of Hague. _William III._, the Prince of
Orange (1672-1702), assumed power. _Gröningen_ held out against
the French troops. Storms on the sea and on the land aided the
patriotic defenders of their country. The "Great Elector" of
Brandenburg, _Frederic William_, lent them help. At length the
German emperor was driven by the French aggressions to join actively in
the war, on the side of the Dutch. The English Parliament (1674) forced
_Charles II._ to conclude peace with them. In the battle of
_Sasbach_, _Turenne_ fell (1675). _Sweden_ took the side
of France, and invaded the elector's territory; but the elector's
victory at _Fehrbellin_ (1675) laid the foundation of the
greatness of _Prussia_. _William III._ kept the field against
the great generals of France, and married the daughter of _James_,
the Duke of York, the brother of _Charles II._ In bringing the war
to an end, _Louis_, by shrewd diplomacy, settled with the United
Provinces first. By the _Peace of Nimwegen_ (1678 and 1679),
Holland received back its whole territory; France kept most of her new
conquests in the Netherlands, with the county of _Burgundy_, the
city of _Besançon_, and some imperial towns in _Alsace_ not
ceded in the Peace of Westphalia; the emperor lost to France
_Freiburg_ in the Breisgau. The elector, left to shift for
himself, was forced to give back his profitable conquests to Sweden
(1679).
EFFECT OF THE WAR.--In the war with Holland, _Louis_ had shown his
military strength, and his skill in making and breaking alliances. He
had made progress towards the goal of his ambition, which was to act as
dictator in the European family of states. To the end of the century,
France stood on the pinnacle of power and apparent prosperity.
CONDITION OF FRANCE.--Manufactures flourished to an astonishing
degree. France became a naval power with a large fleet and with all its
services better organized than those of the contemporary English
marine. _Colbert_ finished the canal between the Mediterranean and
the Atlantic. Colonies were founded in _St. Domingo_,
_Cayenne_, _Madagascar_. _Canada_ was increasing in
strength. A uniform, strict judicial system was established. Restless
nobles were cowed, and the common people thus drawn to the monarch.
THE FRENCH COURT.--In his court, the king established elaborate forms
of etiquette, and made himself almost an object of worship. The
nobility swarmed about him, and sought advancement from his
favor. Festivals and shows of all sorts--plays, ballets, banquets,
dazzling fireworks--were the costly diversion of the gay throngs of
courtiers, male and female, in that court, where sensuality was thinly
veiled by ceremonious politeness and punctilious religious
observances. Poets, artists, and scholars were liberally patronized,
and joined in the common adulation offered to the sovereign. Stately
edifices were built, great libraries gathered; academies of art and of
science, an astronomical observatory, and the botanic garden for the
promotion of the study of natural history, were founded. The palace at
_Versailles_, with its statues, fountains, and gardens, furnished
a pattern which all the rest of Europe aspired to copy. Every thing
there wore an artificial stamp, from the trimming of the trees to the
etiquette of the ballroom. But there was a splendor and a fascination
which caused the French fashions, the French language and literature,
with the levity and immorality which traveled in their company, to
spread in the higher circles of the other European countries.
THE GALLICAN CHURCH.--_Louis XIV._ desired, without any rupture
with Rome, to take to himself a power in ecclesiastical affairs like
that assumed in England by _Henry VIII_. Under the pontificate of
_Innocent XI._, the assembly of the French clergy passed four
propositions asserting the rights of the national Gallican Church, and
limiting the Pope's prerogative (1682). The king had for his
ecclesiastical champion the able and eloquent _Bossuet_, the
Bishop of Meaux. Subsequently, under _Innocent XII._,
_Louis_, afraid of a schism and anxious to procure other
advantages, yielded up the four obnoxious propositions.
JANSENISM.--The controversy raised by the _Jansenists_ was an
important event in the history of France. They took their name from
_Jansenius_, who had been Bishop of _Ypres_, an ardent
disciple of _St. Augustine's_ theology. They strenuously opposed
the theology and moral maxims of the powerful Jesuit order. Their
leaders, _St. Cyran_, _Pascal_, _Arnauld_,
_Nicole_, and others, were called _Port Royalists_, from
their relation to a cloister at _Port Royal_, where some of them
resided. They were men of literary and philosophical genius, as well as
theologians and devotees. _Blaise Pascal_ wrote the "Provincial
Letters," a satirical and polemical work against the Jesuit
doctrines. This has always been deemed in style a masterpiece of French
prose. His posthumous _Thoughts_ is a profound and suggestive
fragment on the evidences of religion. In the heated controversy that
arose, the Jansenist leaders were for a more limited definition of the
Pope's authority in deciding questions of doctrine. The French court at
length took the side of the Jesuits. In 1713 the Pope's bull against
the _Moral Reflections_ of _Quesnel_, a Jansenist author, was
a heavy blow at his party. Finally, the Jansenists were proscribed by
the king, and the cloister at Port Royal leveled to the ground. The
Jansenist influence made a part of the tendencies to liberalism that
led to the Revolution at the close of the century.
THE HUGUENOTS.--After _Mazarin's_ death, the king fell under the
influence of a party hostile to the Huguenots. _Louvois_ fostered
this feeling in him, as did _Madame de Maintenon_, whom he had
secretly married, and by whom he was influenced through life. As he
grew older, he sought to appease a guilty conscience by inflicting
tortures on religious dissenters. He issued edicts of the most cruel
character. He adopted the atrocious scheme of the _dragonade_, or
the billeting of soldiers, over whom there was no restraint, in
Huguenot families. In the course of three years, fifty thousand
families, industrious and virtuous people, had fled the country. In
1685 the _Edict of Nantes_, the charter of Protestant rights, was
revoked. Emigration was forbidden; yet not far from a quarter of a
million of refugees escaped, to enrich by their skill and labor the
Protestant countries where they found an asylum. Many of the refugees
were received by the Elector _Frederick_, and helped to build up
_Berlin_, then a small city of twelve thousand
inhabitants. France was not only in a degree impoverished by those who
fled, but, also, by the much larger number who remained to be harassed
and ruined by the foolish and brutal bigotry of their ruler.
The loss to France by the exile of the Huguenots was incalculable.
"Here were the thriftiest, the bravest, the most intelligent of
Frenchmen, the very flower of the race; some of their best and purest
blood, some of their fairest and most virtuous women, all their picked
artisans. In war, in diplomacy, in literature, in production of
wealth, these refugees gave what they took from France to her enemies;
for they carried with them that bitter sense of wrong which made them
henceforth foremost among those enemies, the forlorn hope of every
attack on their ancient fatherland. Large numbers of officers, and
those among the ablest, emigrated; among them pre-eminent Marshal
Schomberg, 'the best general in Europe.' The fleet especially
suffered: the best of the sailors emigrated; the ships were almost
unmanned. The seamen carried tidings of their country's madness to the
ends of the earth: as Voltaire says, 'the French were as widely
dispersed as the Jews.' Not only in industry, but in thought and
mental activity, there was a terrible loss. From this time literature
in France loses all spring and power."
In England, the Huguenot exiles quickened manufactures; in Holland,
commerce; in Brandenburg, they made a new era in agriculture. Moreover,
from this time the policy of Brandenburg was changed: the hostility to
the emperor and the house of Austria gave way. An antagonism to France
arose: "a process begun by the Great Elector, carried on by Frederick
the Great, and brought to a triumphant close in our own days, dates
from the revocation of the Edict of Nantes."
THE COST OF NATIONAL UNITY IN FRANCE.--From the beginning of the
Reformation, the problem for the nations to solve was, how to combine
_religious freedom_ with _national unity_. The intolerance of
the Spanish branch of the Hapsburgs deprived them of _Holland_,
and broke down their power. This effort to secure uniformity of belief
was shattered. A like effort in _Germany_ resulted in the Thirty
Years' War, and the utter loss of the national unity which it aimed to
restore. The civil wars in _France_, aiming at the same result,
uniformity of belief, ended in an accommodation between the parties,
secured by _Henry IV_. in the _Edict of Nantes_. There was a
partial sacrifice of national unity. This was reestablished by the
policy of _Richelieu_ and the acts of _Louis XIV.,_ but at a
fearful cost. The loss of the Huguenot emigrants; the loss of
character, with the loss of the spirit of independence, in the nobles
of France; the full sway of a monarchical despotism,--this was the
price paid for national unity.
AGGRESSIONS OF LOUIS.--The readiness of the European states to accept
the provisions of the _Nimwegen Treaty_ emboldened _Louis_ to
further outrages and aggressions. Germany, split into a multitude of
sovereignties, and for the most part inactive as if a paralysis lay
upon her, was a tempting prey to the spoiler. He claimed that all the
places which had stood in a feudal relation to the places acquired by
France in the Westphalian and Nimwegen treaties, should become
dependencies of France. He constituted _Reunions_, or courts of
his own, to decide what these places were, and enforced their decrees
with his troops (1679). He went so far, in a time of peace, as to seize
and wrest from the German Empire the city of _Strasburg_, to
establish his domination there, and to introduce the Catholic worship,
in the room of the Protestant, in the minster (1681). Instead of
heeding the warning of the Prince of Orange, the empire concluded with
_Louis_ the truce of _Regensburg_, by which he was suffered
to retain these conquests. He evinced his arrogance in making a quarrel
with _Genoa_, in bombarding the city, and in forcing the doge to
come to Versailles and beg for peace (1684).
HUNGARY AND AUSTRIA.--The Emperor _Leopold_ was busy in the
eastern part of his dominions. The success of the Turks, who gained
possession of Lower Hungary, called out a more energetic resistance;
but a victory gained by the imperial general, _Montecuculi_, at
_St. Gothard_, on the Raab (1664), only resulted in a truce. The
Austrian government, guided by the minister, _Lobkowitz_, used the
opportunity to rob the Hungarians of their liberties and
rights. Political tyranny and religious persecution went hand in
hand. Protestant preachers were sold as galley-slaves. _Tököly_,
an Hungarian nobleman, led in a revolt, and invoked the help of the
Turks. In 1683 the Turks laid siege to _Vienna_, which was saved
by a great victory gained under its walls by a united German and Polish
army; the hero in the conflict being _John Sobieski_, king of
Poland. The German princes and _Venice_ now united in the
prosecution of the war. The conquest of Hungary from the Turks enabled
_Leopold_ to destroy Hungarian independence. After their defeat by
_Charles of Lorraine_ at _Mohacs_ (1687), the Diet of
_Pressburg_ conferred on the male Austrian line the crown of
Hungary, and abandoned its old privilege of resisting unconstitutional
ordinances (1687). A great victory gained over the Turks by Prince
_Eugene_ at _Zenta_ was followed by the Peace of
_Carlowitz_, which gave Hungary and Transylvania to Austria, Morea
to Venice, and Azof to Russia. _Tököly_ died in exile.
THE RESTORATION IN ENGLAND (1660).--_Richard Cromwell_ quietly
succeeded to the Protectorate. But the officers of the army recalled
the "Rump" Parliament, the survivors of the Long Parliament. After
eight months _Richard_ gave up his office. The "Rump" was soon in
a quarrel again with the army, and was expelled by its chief,
_Lambert_. _Monk_, the commander of the English troops in
_Scotland_, refused to recognize the government set up by the
officers in London. The fleet declared itself on the side of
Parliament. _Lambert_ was forsaken, and _Monk_ entered London
(1660). A new Parliament or Convention was convoked, which included the
Upper House. The restoration of _Charles II_. was now effected by
means of the combined influence of the Episcopalians and Presbyterians,
and through the agency of _Monk_. _Charles_, in his
Declaration from _Breda_, prior to his return, promised "liberty
to tender consciences." This and subsequent pledges were falsified: he
had the Stuart infirmity of breaking his engagements. With an easy
good-nature and complaisant manners, he was void of moral principle,
and in his conduct an open profligate. At heart he was a Roman
Catholic, and simply from motives of expediency deferred the avowal of
his belief to his death-bed. The army was disbanded. Vengeance was
taken on such of the "regicides," the judges of _Charles I_., as
could be caught, and on the bodies of _Cromwell_, _Ireton_,
and _Bradshaw_. The Cavalier party had now every thing their own
way. The Episcopal system was reestablished, and a stringent _Act of
Uniformity_ was passed. Two thousand Presbyterian ministers were
turned out of their parishes. If there was at any time indulgence to
the nonconformists, it was only for the sake of the Roman
Catholics. _John Bunyan_, the author of "Pilgrim's Progress," was
kept in prison for more than twelve years. The sale of _Dunkirk_
to France (1662) awakened general indignation.
THE "YEAR OF WONDERS:" THE CONDUCT OF CHARLES.--The year 1665 was
marked as the year of the _Great Plague_ in London, where the
narrow and dirty streets admitted little fresh air. It was estimated
that not less than one hundred thousand people perished. In less than a
year after the plague ceased, there occurred the _Great Fire_ in
London (Sept., 1666), which burned for three days, and laid London in
ashes from the Tower to the Temple, and from the Thames to
Smithfield. St. Paul's, the largest cathedral in England, was consumed,
and was replaced by the present church of the same name, planned by
_Sir Christopher Wren_. The king showed an unexpected energy in
trying to stay the progress of the flames. But neither public
calamities, nor the sorrow and indignation of all good men, including
his most loyal and attached adherents, could check the shameless
profligacy of his palace-life. The diaries of _Evelyn_ and of
_Pepys_, both of whom were familiar with the court, picture the
disgraceful depravation of morals, which was stimulated by the king's
example. But the nation was even more aggrieved by his conduct in
respect to foreign nations. In a war with Holland, arising out of
commercial rivalry, the English had the mortification of seeing the
Thames blockaded by the Dutch fleet (1667). _Hyde_, Earl of
Clarendon, Charles's principal adviser, whose daughter married the Duke
of York, was driven from office, and went into exile to escape a
trial. The _Triple Alliance_ against Louis (p. 453) was gratifying
to the people; but in the _Treaty of Dover_ (1670), _Charles_
engaged to declare himself a Roman Catholic as soon as he could do so
with prudence, and promised to join his cousin, _Louis XIV_.,
against Holland, and to aid him in his schemes; in return for which he
was to receive a large subsidy from _Louis_, a pension during the
war, and armed help in case of an insurrection in England.
THE "CABAL" MINISTRY.--A _cabinet_, as we now term it,--a small
number of persons,--had, before this reign, begun to exercise the
functions which belonged of old to the King's Council. At this time,
the _cabal_ ministry--so called from the first letters of the
names, which together made the word--was in power. In 1672 war with
_Holland_ was declared, and was kept up for two years.
DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE.--When _Charles_ began this second Dutch
war, he issued orders for the suspension of the laws against the
Catholics and Dissenters. His design was to weaken the Church of
England. The anger of Parliament and of the people at this usurpation
obliged him to recall the declaration.
THE TEST ACT.--Parliament, in 1673, passed an act which shut out all
Dissenters from office. This act the king did not venture to reject;
although the effect of it was to oblige his brother _James_, the
Duke of York, to resign his office of lord high admiral.
DANBY'S MINISTRY.--The cabal ministry was gradually broken up; and
_Shaftesbury_, an able minister, went over to the other side. The
_Earl of Danby_ became the chief minister. He was in agreement
with the House of Commons. He favored the marriage which united
_Mary_, the daughter of the Duke of York, to _William_,
Prince of Orange.
THE "POPISH PLOT" (1678).--The already exasperated nation was
infuriated by an alleged "Popish Plot" for the subverting of the
government, and for the murder of the king and of all
Protestants. _Titus Oates_, a perjurer, was the main
witness. Many innocent Roman Catholics were put to death. This
pretended plot led to stringent measures shutting out papists from
office. _Halifax_, an able man who called himself "a trimmer,"
because he did not always stay on one side or with one party, opposed
a bill that would have excluded the king's brother from the
succession, and it failed.
HABEAS CORPUS ACT.--In 1679 the _Habeas Corpus Act_ was passed,
providing effectually against the arbitrary imprisonment of
subjects. Persons arrested must be brought to trial, or proved in open
court to be legally confined.
PARTIES: RUSSELL AND SIDNEY.--At this time the party names of
_Whig_ and _Tory_ came into vogue. Insurgent Presbyterians in
Scotland had been called "Whigs," a Scotch word meaning whey, or sour
milk. The nickname was now applied to _Shaftesbury's_ adherents,
opponents of the court, who wished to exclude the Duke of York from the
throne on account of his being a Catholic. _Tories_, also a
nickname, the designation of the supporters of the court, meant
originally Romanist outlaws, or robbers, in the bogs of Ireland. Many
of the Whigs began to devise plans of insurrection, from hatred of
_Charles's_ arbitrary system of government. Some of them were
disposed to put forward _Monmouth_, the eldest of Charles's
illegitimate sons, and a favorite of the common people. The
"_Rye-House Plot_" for the assassination of the king and his
brother was the occasion of the trial and execution of two eminent
patriots,--_William_, Lord _Russell_, and _Algernon
Sidney_, a warm advocate of republican government. Both, it is
believed, were unjustly condemned. The Duke of York assumed once more
the office of admiral. _Charles_, before his death, received the
sacrament from a priest of the Church of Rome (1685).
JAMES II. (1685-1688): MONMOUTH'S REBELLION.--A few months after
James's accession, the Duke of Monmouth landed in England; but his
effort to get the crown failed. His forces, mostly made up of
peasants, were defeated at _Sedgemoor_; and he perished on the
scaffold. Vengeance was taken upon all concerned in the revolt; and
Chief Justice _Jeffreys_, for his brutal conduct in the "Bloody
Assizes," in which, savage as he was, he nevertheless became rich by
the sale of pardons, was rewarded with the office of lord chancelor.
JAMES'S ARBITRARY GOVERNMENT.--James paid no heed to his promise to
defend the Church of England. Of a slow and obstinate mind, he could
not yield to the advice of moderate Roman Catholics, and of the Pope,
_Innocent XI._; but set out, by such means as dispensing with the
laws, to restore the old religion, and at the same time to extinguish
civil liberty. He turned out the judges who did not please him. He
created a new _Ecclesiastical Commission_, for the coercion of
the clergy, with the notorious _Jeffreys_ at its head. After
having treated with great cruelty the Protestant dissenters, he
unlawfully issued a _Declaration of Indulgence_ (1687) in their
favor, in order to get their support for his schemes in behalf of his
own religion. He turned out the fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford,
for refusing to appoint a Catholic for their president. He sent seven
bishops to the Tower in 1688, who had signed a petition against the
order requiring a second Declaration of Indulgence to be read in the
churches. Popular sympathy was strongly with the accused, and the news
of their acquittal was received in the streets of London with shouts
of joy.
REVOLUTION OF 1688: WILLIAM AND MARY (1689-1694).--The birth of a
Prince of Wales by his second wife, _Mary of Modena_, increased
the disaffection of the English people. His two daughters by his first
wife--_Mary_ and _Anne_--were married to Protestants;
_Mary_, to _William_, Prince of Orange and stadtholder of
Holland, and _Anne_ to _George_, Prince of Denmark. By a
combination of parties hostile to the king, _William_ was invited
to take the English throne. _James_ was blind to the signs of the
approaching danger, and to the warnings of _Louis XIV_. of
France. When it was too late, he attempted in vain to disarm the
conspiracy by concessions. _William_ landed in safety at
_Torbay_. He was joined by persons of rank. Lord _Churchill_,
afterwards the celebrated _Duke of Marlborough_, left the royal
force of which he had the command, and went over to him. The king's
daughter, _Anne_, fled to the insurgents in the
North. _William_ was quite willing that _James_ should leave
the kingdom, and purposely caused him to be negligently guarded by
Dutch soldiers. He fled to France, never to return. Parliament declared
the throne to be, on divers grounds, vacant, and promulgated a
_Declaration of Right_ affirming the ancient rights and liberties
of England. It offered the crown to _William and Mary_, who
accepted it (1689). A few months later, the estates of Scotland
bestowed upon them the crown of that country. Presbyterianism was made
the established form of religion there. The union of the kingdoms was
consummated under their successor, _Anne_, when Scotland began to
be represented in the English Parliament.
THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE.--A Highland chief, _MacIan_ of
_Glencoe_, with many of his followers, was treacherously
slaughtered by order of _Dalrymple_, the Master of Stair, who
governed Scotland, and had obtained by misrepresentation from William
leave to extirpate that "set of thieves," as he had called them.
WILLIAM IN IRELAND.--The sovereignty of Ireland passed, with that of
England, to _William_ and _Mary_. There _James II_.,
supported by France, made a stout resistance. It was a conflict of the
Irish Catholics, together with the descendants of the Norman-English
settlers, comprising together about a million of people, against the
English and Scottish colonists, not far from two hundred thousand in
number. The latter, with steadfast courage, sustained a siege in
_Londonderry_ until the city was relieved by ships from
England. Many of the inhabitants had perished from hunger. The victory
of William at _Boyne_ (1690), where _Schomberg_, his brave
general, a Huguenot French marshal, fell, decided the
contest. _William_ led his troops in person through the Boyne
River, with his sword in his left hand, since his right arm was
disabled by a wound. _James_ was a spectator of the fight at a
safe distance.
ENGLISH LIBERTY.--In _William's_ reign, liberty in England was
fortified by the _Bill of Rights_, containing a series of
safeguards against regal usurpation. Papists were made ineligible to
the throne. The _Toleration Act_ afforded to Protestant dissenters
a large measure of protection and freedom. The press was made free from
censorship (1695), and newspapers began to be published. Provision was
made for the fair trial of persons indicted for treason. The _Act of
Settlement_ (1701) settled the crown, if there should be no heirs of
_Anne_ or of _William_, upon the Princess _Sophia,
Electress of Hanover_, the daughter of _Elizabeth_ of Bohemia,
and granddaughter of _James I_., and on her heirs, being
Protestants.
THE GRAND ALLIANCE: TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK.--The next war which
_Louis XIV_. began was that of the succession in the territory of
the Palatinate, which he claimed, on the extinction of the male line of
electors, for _Elizabeth Charlotte_, the gifted and excellent
sister of the deceased Elector _Charles_, and the wife of the
_Duke of Orleans_, the king's brother.
The table which follows will show the nature of this claim:--
FREDERIC, V, 1610-1632, Elector and King of Bohemia, _m_.
Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England.
|
+--CHARLES LEWIS, 1649-1680.
| |
| +--CHARLES, 1680-1685.
| |
| +--Elizabeth, _m_. Philip, Duke of Orleans, _d_. 1701.
|
+--Sophia, _m_. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover.
|
+--George I of England.
_Philip_, _Duke of Orleans_, was the only brother of Louis
XIV. From him descended King _Louis Philippe_ (1830-1848).
Another reason that Louis had for war was his determination to secure
the archbishopric of Cologne for the bishop of Strasburg, a candidate
of his own. In 1686 the _League of Augsburg_ had been formed by
the emperor with Sweden, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony, and the Palatinate,
for defense against France. The _Grand Alliance_, in which England
and Holland were included, was now made (1689). In the year before, by
the advice of _Louvois_, the French had deliberately devastated
the Palatinate, demolishing buildings, and burning cities and villages
without mercy. The ruins of the _Castle of Heidelberg_ are a
monument of this worse than vandal incursion, the pretext for which was
a desire to prevent the invasion of France. In the war the English and
Dutch fleets, under _Admiral Russell_, defeated the French, and
burned their ships, at the battle of _La Hogue_ (1692). This
battle was a turning-point in naval history: "as at Lepanto," says
Ranke, where the Turks were defeated (1571), "so at La Hogue, the
mastery of the sea passed from one side to the other." But in the
Netherlands, where _William III_., the soul of the League,
steadfastly kept the field, after being defeated by _Luxemburg_;
in Italy, where the Duke of Savoy was opposed by the Marshal
_Catinat_; and in a naval battle between the English and French at
_Lagos Bay_,--the French commanders were successful. In 1695
_William's_ troops besieged and captured the town of
_Namur_. At length _Louis_ was moved by the exhaustion of his
treasury, and the stagnation of industry in France, to conclude the
_Peace of Ryswick_ with England, Spain, and Holland (1697). The
_Duke of Savoy_ had been detached from the alliance. Most of the
conquests on both sides were restored. _William III._ was
acknowledged to be king of England. In the treaty with the emperor,
France retained _Strasburg_. _William_ was a man of sterling
worth, but he was a Dutchman, and was cold in his manners. The plots of
the Jacobites, as the adherents of James were called, did more than any
thing else to make him popular with his subjects.
CHAPTER II. WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION (TO THE PEACE OF UTRECHT,
1713); DECLINE OF THE POWER OF FRANCE: POWER AND MARITIME SUPREMACY OF
ENGLAND.
OCCASION OF THE WAR.--The death of _Charles II._ of Spain (1700)
was followed by the War of the Spanish Succession. The desire of
_Louis_ to have his hands free in the event of _Charles's_
death had influenced him in making the Treaty of
_Rysivick_. _Charles_ had no children. It had been agreed in
treaties, to which France was a party, that the Spanish monarchy should
not be united either to Austria or to France; and that Archduke
_Charles, second_ son of the Emperor _Leopold I._, should
have Spain and the Indies. But _Charles II._ of Spain left a will
making Louis's second grandson, _Philip_ Duke of Anjou, the heir
of all his dominions, with the condition annexed that the crowns of
France and Spain should not be united. Instigated by dynastic ambition,
_Louis_ made up his mind to break the previous agreements, and
seize the inheritance for Philip. _Philip V._ thus became king of
Spain. On the death of _James II._ (1701), _Louis_ recognized
his son _James_, called "the Pretender," as king of Great
Britain. This act, as a violation of the Treaty of Ryswick, and as an
arrogant intermeddling on the part of a foreign ruler, excited the
wrath of the English people, and inclined them to war. The _Grand
Alliance_ against France (1701) included the Empire, England,
Holland, Brandenburg (or Prussia), and afterwards Portugal and Savoy
(1703). France was supported by the electors of Bavaria and Cologne,
and at first by Savoy. _William III._ died in 1702, and was
succeeded by _Anne_, the sister of his deceased wife, and the
second daughter of _James II_.
The following table will help to make clear the several claims to the
Spanish succession:--
Philip III, King of Spain, 1598-1621.
|
+--Maria Anna, _m._ Emperor Ferdinand III.
| |
| +--Leopold I, _m._ (3) Eleanor, daughter of Elector Palatine.
| | |
| | +--Joseph I, d. 1711.
| | |
| | +--Charles VI.[2]
| |
| +--Anna Maria
| _m._
+--PHILIP IV (1621-1665)
| |
| +--CHARLES II, 1665-1700.
| |
| +--Margaret Theresa _m._ Leopold I
| | |
| | +--Maria Antonia _m._ Maximilian of Bavaria
| | |
| | +--Joseph Ferdinand, [1] Electoral Prince of Bavaria.
| |
| +--(1) Maria Theresa.
| _m._
| +--Louis XIV
| | |
| | +--Louis, the Dauphin.
| | |
| | +--Philip of Anjou [2] (PHILIP V of Spain), d. 1746.
| |
+--Anne. _m._ Louis XIII of France
1 Recognized as heir of Charles II of Spain until his death.
2 Rival claimants for the Spanish crown after Charles II, the elder
brother of each having resigned his pretensions.
EVENTS OF THE WAR.--In this war, there were displayed the military
talents of two great generals,--the _Duke of Marlborough_ and
Prince _Eugene_ of Savoy. _Marlborough_ had two glaring
faults, He was avaricious, and, like other prominent public men in
England at that day, was double-faced. After deserting the service of
_James_ for that of _William_, he still kept up at times a
correspondence with the exiled house. He was a man of stately and
winning presence, a careful commander, in battle cool and
self-possessed. At the council board, he had the art of quietly
composing differences by winning all to an adhesion to his own views.
It is said of him, that he "never committed a rash act, and never
missed an opportunity for striking an effective blow." _Eugene_,
on his father's side, sprang from the house of Savoy. His mother was a
niece of _Mazarin_. He was brought up at the court of _Louis
XIV_.; but when the king repeatedly refused him a commission in the
army, he entered the service of Austria, was employed in campaigns
against the Turks, and rose to the highest distinction. Flattering
offers from _Louis XIV_. he indignantly rejected. His career as a
soldier was long and brilliant. The personal sympathy of _Eugene_
and _Marlborough_ with each other was one important cause of their
success. _Eugene_ was first sent to Italy. There he drove
_Catinat_, the French general, back on _Milan_, and captured
his successor in command, _Villeroi_ (1702). After a drawn battle
between _Eugene_ and _Vendome_ (1702), a commander of much
more skill than his predecessor, the French had the advantage in
Italy. In 1703, _Eugene_ came to Germany, and _Marlborough_
invaded the Spanish Netherlands. In 1704 Marlborough carried out the
plan of a grand campaign which he had devised. He crossed the Rhine at
Cologne, moved southward, captured _Donauwörth_, and drove the
Bavarians across the Danube. The united forces of _Marlborough_
and _Eugene_ defeated the French and Bavarian armies at
_Blenheim_ (or _Hochstädt_), on the left bank of the river,
with great slaughter. There were captured fifteen thousand French
soldiers, with their general _Tallard_. This victory raised
_Marlborough's_ reputation, already great on account of his
masterly conduct of his army, to the highest point. He was made a duke
by Queen _Anne_, and a prince of the Empire by _Leopold_. In
Spain, the English captured _Gibraltar_. _Charles_ of Austria
(who had assumed the title of _Charles III._ of Spain) conquered
Madrid (1706), but held it for only a short time. The country generally
favored _Philip_; the arms of _Vendome_ were triumphant; and
_Aragon_, _Catalonia_, and _Valencia_ had to submit to
Castilian laws as the penalty of their adhesion to the Austrian
cause. In 1706 _Marlborough_ vanquished _Villeroi_ at
_Ramillies_, a village in the Netherlands, in a great battle in
which the French army was routed, and their banners and war material
captured. The Netherlands submitted to Austria. At _Turin_,
_Eugene_ gained a victory over an army of eighty thousand men; and
the fame of this modest and unpretending, but brave and skillful leader
was now on a level with that of the English general. Lombardy submitted
to _Charles III_., and the French were excluded from
Italy. Another victory of the two commanders at _Oudenarde_ (1708)
over _Vendome_ and the _Duke of Burgundy_, broke down the
hopes of _Louis_, and moved him to offer the largest concessions,
which embraced the giving up of _Strasburg_ and of
_Spain_. But the allies, flushed with success, went so far as to
demand that he should aid in driving his grandson out of Spain. This
roused France, as well as _Louis_ himself, to another grand
effort. At _Malplaquet_, in a bloody conflict, the French were
again defeated by _Marlborough_ and _Eugene_.
TO THE PEACE OF UTRECHT.--Circumstances now favored the vanquished and
humbled king of France. The Whig ministry in England, which the
victories of _Marlborough_ had kept in office, fell from power
(1710); and its enemies, and the enemies of _Marlborough_, were
anxious to weaken him. _Anne_ dismissed from her service the
Duchess of Marlborough, a haughty woman of a violent
temper. _Harley_, Earl of Oxford, and _St. John_, afterwards
Viscount _Bolingbroke_, became the queen's principal ministers.
They wished to end the war. The Emperor _Joseph_ (1705-1711), who
had succeeded _Leopold I._, died; so that _Charles_, if he
had acquired Spain, would have restored the vast monarchy of
_Charles V_., and brought in a new source of jealousy and
alarm. Negotiations for peace began. _Marlborough_, who had been
guilty of traitorous conduct, was removed from his command, and
deprived of all his offices (1712). In 1713 the Peace of _Utrecht_
was concluded between England and France, in which Holland, Prussia,
Savoy, and Portugal soon joined. It was followed by the Peace of
_Rastadt_ and _Baden_ with the emperor (1714). Spain and
Spanish America were left to _Philip V_., the Bourbon king, with
the proviso that the crowns of France and Spain should never be
united. France ceded to England _Newfoundland_, _Nova
Scotia_, and the _Hudson Bay Territory_. Spain ceded to England
_Gibraltar_ and _Minorca_. The _Elector of Brandenburg_
was recognized as _King of Prussia_. Savoy received the island of
_Sicily_, which was exchanged seven years later for
_Sardinia_, and for the title of king for the duke. Holland gained
certain "barrier" fortresses on its border. Austria received the
appanages of the Spanish monarchy,--the _Spanish Netherlands_,
_Naples_, _Sardinia_, and _Milan_, but not
_Sicily_. The emperor did not recognize the Bourbons in Spain.
LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XIV.--In the next year after the peace, _Louis
XIV_. died. Within two years (1710-1712) he had lost his son, his
grandson the _Duke of Burgundy_ (whom the pious _Fenélon_ had
trained), his wife, and his eldest great-grandson, and, two years later
(1714), his third grandson, the _Duke of Berry_. He left France
overwhelmed with debt, its resources exhausted, its credit gone, its
maritime power prostrate; a land covered with poverty and
wretchedness. This was the reward of lawless pride and ambition in a
monarch who owed his strength, however, to the sympathy and
subservience of the nation.
LAW'S BANK.--During the minority of _Louis XV_. (1715-1774)
_Philip, Duke of Orleans_, was regent, a man of extraordinary
talents, but addicted to shameful debauchery. The opportunity for
effective reform was neglected. The most influential minister was
Cardinal _Dubois_, likewise a man of unprincipled character. The
state was really bankrupt, when a Scottish adventurer and gambler,
_John Law_, possessed of unusual financial talents, but infected
with the economical errors of the time, offered to rescue the national
finances by means of a _bank_, which he was allowed to found, the
notes of which were to serve as currency. Almost all the coined money
flowed into its coffers; its notes went everywhere in the kingdom, and
were taken for government dues; it combined with its business "the
Mississippi scheme," or the control of the trade, and almost the
sovereignty, in the _Mississippi_ region; it absorbed the
privileges of the different companies for trading with the East;
finally it took charge of the national mint and the issue of coin, and
of the taxation of the kingdom, and it assumed the national debt. The
temporary success of the gigantic financial scheme turned the heads of
the people, and a fever of speculation ran through all ranks. The
crash came, the shares in the bank sunk in value, the notes
depreciated; and, in the wrath which ensued upon the general
bankruptcy, _Law_, who had been honored and courted by the high
and the low, fled from the kingdom. He died in poverty at
_Venice_. The state alone was a gainer by having escaped from a
great part of its indebtedness.
ITALY.--Before the middle of the eighteenth century, the Spanish
Bourbons again had possession of _Naples_ and _Sicily_,
besides other smaller Italian states. Austria, besides holding
_Milan_, was the virtual ruler of _Tuscany_.
SPAIN IN ITALY.--_Philip V_. was afflicted with a mental
derangement peculiar to his family. The government was managed by the
ambitious queen, _Elizabeth_ of Parma, and the intriguing Italian,
_Alberoni_, the minister in whom she confided. He sought to get
back the Italian states lost by the Peace of _Utrecht_. But
_Sardinia_ and _Sicily_ were restored when he was overthrown,
through the fear excited by the _Quadruple Alliance_ of France,
England, Austria, and Holland (1718). Later, the queen succeeded in
obtaining the kingdom of _Naples_ and _Sicily_ for her oldest
son, _Don Carlos_, under the name of _Charles III. Parma,
Piacenza_, and _Guastalla_, she gained for her second son,
_Philip_ (1735). When _Charles_ succeeded to the Spanish
throne (1759-1788), he left _Naples_ and _Sicily_ to his
third son, _Ferdinand_.
AUSTRIA IN ITALY.--The house of Savoy steadily advanced in power. By
the Peace of Ryswick, Victor _Amadeus II_. (1675-1730), secured
important places previously gained. He became "King of Sardinia"
(1720). By him the University of Turin was founded, and the
administration of justice much improved. His next two successors
carried forward this good work. _Venice_ lost _Morea_ to the
Turks, but retained _Corfu_ and her conquests in _Dalmatia_
(1718). Liberty was gone, and there was decay and conscious weakness in
the once powerful republic. _Genoa_ was coveted by Savoy, Austria,
and France. The consequent struggles are the material of Genoese
history for a long period. _Corsica_ was oppressed, and
_Genoa_ called on France to lend help in suppressing its revolt
(1736). The Corsicans especially, under _Paoli_, defended
themselves with such energy that France found its work of subjugation
hard and slow (1755). The island was ceded to France by
Genoa(1768). _Milan_, with Mantua, was Austrian, after the Peace
of Utrecht (1713). _Tuscany_ under _Ferdinand
II_. (1628-1670) bestowed its treasure on Austria and Spain, and
fell under the sway of ecclesiastics. Under _Cosmo
III_. (1670-1723), the process of decline went on. After the death
of the last of the Medici, _John Gasto_ (1737), Tuscany was
practically under the power of Austria, notwithstanding the stipulation
that both states should not have the same ruler. It was governed by
_Francis Stephen_ (1738-1765), Duke of Lorraine, husband of the
Empress _Maria Theresa_; and, when he became emperor (_Francis
I_.), by his second son, _Leopold_ (1765-1790). At Rome, Pope
_Innocent XI_. (1676-1689) had many conflicts with _Louis
XVI_. which came to an end under the well-meaning _Innocent
XII_. (1691-1700). Contests arose on the part of Rome against the
Bourbon courts respecting the Jesuit order, and with the forces adverse
to the Church and the Papacy, in the closing part of the eighteenth
century. In 1735, the Emperor _Charles VI_. allowed that Naples
and Sicily should be handed over, as a kingdom, to _Don Carlos_,
the son of the Spanish Bourbon king, under the name of _Charles
III_., by whom it was granted to his son _Ferdinand
IV_. (1759).
CLOSE OF ANNE'S REIGN.--_Anne's_ husband, Prince _George of
Denmark_, had no influence, and deserved none. One of the important
events of her reign was the Union of England and Scotland in 1707
(p. 461). After the Tories came into power, the two leaders,
_Oxford_ and _Bolingbroke_, were rivals. An angry dispute
between them hastened the queen's death (1714). One of the Tory
measures, prompted by hostility to Dissenters, was a law forbidding any
one to keep a school without a license from a bishop.
GEORGE I, 1714-1727, _m._ Sophia Dorothea of Zell.
|
+--GEORGE II, 1727-1760, _m._ Caroline,
daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Anspach.
|
+--Frederick, Prince of Wales, _d._ 1751, _m._
Augusta of Saxe Gotha.
|
+--Augusta _m._
| Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick.
| |
| +--Caroline
| _m._
| +--GEORGE IV, 1820-1830.
| |
+--GEORGE III, 1760-1820, _m._
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
|
+--WILLIAM IV, 1830-1837.
|
+--Edward, Duke of Kent, _d._ 1820, _m._
Victoria of Saxe Coburg.
|
+--VICTORIA, succeeded 1837, _m._
Albert of Saxe Coburg.
REIGN OF GEORGE I.--_George I_., the first king of the house of
_Hanover_, could not speak English. His private life was immoral.
His first ministers were Whigs. _Bolingbroke_ and _Oxford_
were impeached, and fled the country. The "_Pretender_," _James
Edward_ (son of _James II_.), with the aid of Tory partisans,
endeavored to recover the English crown. His standard was raised in the
Highlands and in North England (1715), but this Jacobite rebellion was
crushed. After the rebellion of 1715, a law was passed, which is still
in force, allowing a Parliament to continue for the term of seven
years. A second conspiracy in 1717 had the same fate. England had an
experience analogous to that of France with _Law_, with the
_South Sea_ Company, which had a monopoly of trade with the
Spanish coasts of South America. A rage for speculation was followed by
a panic. The estates of the directors of the company were confiscated
by Parliament for the benefit of the losers. _Robert Walpole_ was
made first minister, a place which he held under _George I._ and
_George II._ for twenty-one years. _William_ and _Anne_
had attended the meetings of the Cabinet. _George I._, who could
not speak English, staid away. From this time, one of the ministers was
called the "prime minister."
THE REIGN OF GEORGE II.--George II. was systematic in his ways, frugal,
willful, and fond of war. In his private life, he followed the evil
ways of his father. _Walpole's_ influence was predominant. The
clever Queen _Caroline_ lent him her support. Walpole reluctantly
entered into war with _Spain_ (1739), on account of the measures
adopted by that power to prevent English ships from carrying goods, in
violation of the treaty of _Utrecht_, to her South American
colonies. The principal success of England was the taking of _Porto
Bello_ by _Admiral Vernon_.
When the war was declared, the people expressed their joy by the
ringing of bells. "They are ringing the bells now," said
_Walpole:_ "they will be wringing their hands soon." The blame for
the want of better success in the war was laid on the prime minister,
and he was driven to resign. Then followed the ministry of the
_Pelhams_, Henry Pelham and the Duke of Newcastle, who, like
Walpole, managed Parliament by bribing the members through the gift of
offices.
In the war of the Austrian succession (1740), England took part with
Austria, and the king in person fought in Germany. In 1745 _Prince
Charles Edward Stuart_, the young _Pretender_ (whose father,
the old Pretender, styled himself _James III_.), landed in the
Highlands. The Highlanders defeated the English at _Preston
Pans_, near Edinburgh. The Pretender marched into England as far as
Derby, at the head of the Jacobite force, but had to turn back and
retreat to Scotland. The contest was decided by the victory of the
English under the _Duke of Cumberland_, at Culloden (1746), which
was attended by an atrocious slaughter of the wounded. _Culloden_
was the last battle fought in behalf of the Stuarts. Nearly eighty
Jacobite conspirators, one of whom was an octogenarian, _Lord
Lovat_, were executed as traitors. These Jacobites were the last
persons who were beheaded in England. The Pretender wandered in the
Highlands and Western Islands for five months, under different
disguises. He was concealed and aided by a Scottish lady, _Flora
Macdonald_. Then he escaped to the Continent, where he led a
miserable and dissipated life, and died in 1788. His brother Henry,
Cardinal York, the last of the Stuarts in the male line, died in 1807.
CHAPTER III. THE GREAT NORTHERN WAR: THE FALL OP SWEDEN: GROWTH OF
THE POWER OF RUSSIA.
SWEDEN.--The eventful epoch in the history of Sweden, in this period,
is the reign of Charles XII. (1697-1718). At his accession, when he was
only sixteen years old, Sweden ruled the Baltic. Its army was strong
and well disciplined. What is now St. Petersburg was a patch of swampy
ground in Swedish territory, where a few fishermen lived in their
huts. The youth of Charles was prophetic of his career. In doors, he
read the exploits of Alexander the Great; out of doors, gymnastic
sports and the hunting of the bear were his favorite diversions. He
became an adventurous warrior after, the type of Alexander. His
rashness and obstinacy occasioned at last the downfall of his
country. Three great powers, _Russia, Poland_, and _Denmark,_
with the support of _Patkul_, a disaffected Livonian subject of
Sweden, joined in an attack on the youthful monarch
(1699). _Patkul_, who was a patriot, unable to secure the rights
of Livonia, and condemned as a rebel, had entered the service of the
Elector Augustus of Saxony, who was king of Poland. There were
territories belonging to Sweden which each of the confederates
coveted. _Frederick IV._ of Denmark expected to incorporate Sweden
itself in his dominions.
RUSSIA: PETER THE GREAT.--The first ruler of the house of Romanoff,
which has raised Russia to its present rank, was _Michael_
(1613-1645). Under _Alexis,_ his son (1645-1676), important
conquests were made from the Poles, and the _Cossacks_
acknowledged the sovereignty of the Czar. The principal founder of
Russian civilization was _Peter the Great_ (1682-1725). Through
the machinations of his half-sister _Sophia_, who contrived to get
the armed aid of the streltzi,--the native militia,--he had to share
the throne with a half-brother, _Ivan_, who was older than
himself, and lived until 1696. _Sophia_ pushed aside Peter's
mother, and grasped the reins of power. Peter learned Latin, German,
and Dutch, and acquired much knowledge of various sorts. As he grew
older, his life was in danger; but at the age of seventeen, he was able
to crush his enemies (1689). _Sophia_, who was at their head, he
shut up in a monastery for the remainder of her days. From
_Lefort_, a Swiss, and other foreigners, Peter derived information
about foreign lands, and was led to visit them in order to instruct
himself, and to introduce into his own country the arts and inventions
of civilized peoples. He invited into Russia artisans, seamen, and
officers from abroad. He traveled through _Germany _and _Holland
_to _England_, and with his own hands worked at ship-building
at the dock-yards of _Zaandam_ (near Amsterdam) and
_Deptford_. On his way to Venice, he was called home by a revolt
of the streltzi, which he put down. He was unsparing in his vengeance,
and, despite his veneer of culture, never got rid of his innate
barbarism. _Azoff _he conquered, and it was ceded to him by the
Turks in the Peace of _Carlowitz_ (1699). Then his ambitious
thoughts turned to the Baltic, for he was bent on making Russia a naval
power. He formed a secret alliance with Denmark and Poland against
Sweden.
CONDITION OF POLAND.--In 1697 _Frederick Augustus _II.,--Augustus
_the Strong_,--Duke of Saxony, was elected king of Poland: he
became a Roman Catholic that he might get the crown. But the Polish
nobles took care to increase their power, which was already far too
great to be compatible with unity or order. Under the anarchical but
despotic nobility and higher clergy, stood the serfs, embracing
nine-tenths of the whole population, who were without protection
against the greed and tyranny of their lords.
EVENTS OF THE NORTHERN WAR.--The _Danes _first attacked the
territory of _Holstein Gottorp_, whose duke had married the sister
of _Charles XII_. _William III_. of England supported Sweden.
The Anglo-Dutch fleet came to Charles's assistance. He landed his
troops in _Zealand_. The Danes gave up their alliance, and sued
for peace. Europe was now astonished to discover that the Swedish king
was an antagonist to be feared. In the field he shared the hardships of
the common soldier, and was as brave as a lion. _Charles _now
attacked the Russian army before _Narva_, in Livonia. With the
Swedish infantry he stormed the camp of the Russians, and routed their
army, which was much larger in numbers than his own (1700). He then
raised the siege of _Riga_, which the Poles and Saxons were
besieging, having first defeated their troops on the
_Dwina_. These brilliant successes might have enabled _Charles
_to conclude peace on very advantageous terms. But he lacked
moderation. He was as passionate in his public conduct as _Peter the
Great _was in his private life. He was resolved to dethrone
_Augustus _in Poland. After the battle of _Clissau_ (1703),
he occupied that country, and made the Diet give the crown to
_Stanislas Lesczinski_, the Palatine of Posen. To prevent Russia
and Saxony from uniting against the new king, _Charles_ carried
the war into Saxony, and forced _Augustus_, in the Peace of
_Altranstädt_, to renounce his claim to the Polish crown, and to
surrender _Patkul_, the rebel, who had become a subject of Russia,
whom he put to death with circumstances of cruelty. In 1703
_Peter_ laid the foundations of the new city of
_St. Petersburg_. But, a few years later, Russia was invaded by
_Charles_, who in 1708 almost captured the Czar at _Grodno_,
defeated his army near _Smolensk_, and was expected to advance to
_Moscow_. But the imprudent Swede turned southward into the
district of the _Ukraine_, there to be joined by _Mazeppa_,
the "hetman" of the Cossacks, who led them in revolt against
Peter. Mazeppa was able, however, to bring him but few auxiliaries. The
harshness of the winter, and other untoward events, weakened the
Swedish force. The battle of _Pultowa_ (1709) was a great victory
for the Czar. Charles escaped with difficulty to Turkey. There he
remained for three years, supported with his retinue, at _Bender_,
by the Sultan. His object was to bring about a war between the Sultan
and the Czar. He so far succeeded that _Peter_, when surrounded on
the _Pruth_ by Turkish troops, was rescued only by the courage and
energy of _Catherine_, the mistress whom he afterwards
married. _Charles_ was finally obliged to leave Turkey, after
being exposed to imminent peril in an attack by the janizaries, who
seized his camp and took him captive. With a few attendants, riding by
day and sleeping in a cart or carriage by night, he journeyed back to
Sweden, and arrived at _Stralsund_ (1714). The hostile allies,
together with _Hanover_ and _Prussia_, were once more in
array against him. _Baron van Görtz_, a German, became his
principal adviser. He negotiated a peace with _Peter_, of whom the
other allies were beginning to be jealous. _Charles's_ plan was to
invade Norway, then to land in Scotland, and, with the help of Spain
and of the Jacobites, to restore the Stuarts to the English
throne. While besieging _Friedrichshall_, a fortress in Norway, he
exposed himself near the trenches, and was killed by a bullet
(1718). It was long a question whether the fatal shot was fired from
the enemy or by an assassin. Not until 1859 was it settled, by an
examination of the skull, that the gun was discharged from the
fortress.
RESULTS OF THE WAR--One result of the Northern war was the execution of
_Görtz_, to whom the Swedish aristocracy were inimical, and a
reduction of the king's authority. _Hanover_ received
_Bremen_ and _Verden_; _Prussia_, the largest part of
_Pomerania_; _Sweden_ gave up its freedom from custom duties
in the Sound. _Augustus_ was recognized as king of
_Poland_. _Russia_, by the _Peace of Nystadt_ (1721),
obtained _Livonia, Esthonia, Ingermannland,_ and a part of
_Carelia_, but restored _Finland_. _Sweden_ no longer
had a place among the great powers. The place that Sweden had held was
now taken by _Russia_.
CHANGES IN RUSSIA.--The Czar, _Peter_, took the title of emperor.
He transferred the capital from _Moscow_ to _St. Petersburg_.
By constructing canals, roads, and harbors, he promoted trade and
commerce. By fostering manufactures and the mechanic arts, and by
opening the mines, he increased the wealth of the country. He altered
the method of government, making the _ukases_, or edicts, emanate
from the sole will of the emperor. He abolished the dignity of
_Patriarch_, making the _Holy Synod_, of which the Czar is
president, the supreme ecclesiastical authority. _Peter_ made a
second journey through Germany, Holland, and France (1716). His son
_Alexis_, who allied himself with a reactionary party that aimed
to reverse the Czar's policy, he finally caused to be tried for
treason. He was condemned, but died either from the bodily torture
inflicted on him to extort confession, or, as many have believed, by
poison, or other means, used by the direction of his father. His
friends, after being barbarously tortured, were put to death.
Great as was the work of _Peter_, "he brought Russia prematurely
into the circle of European politics. The result has been to turn the
rulers of Russia away from home affairs, and the regular development of
internal institutions, to foreign politics and the creation of a great
military power." In his last years, the frugality of his own way of
living in his new capital was in striking contrast with the splendor
with which his queen, _Catherine_, preferred to surround
herself. He died at the age of fifty-three, in consequence of plunging
into icy water to save a boat in distress.
The document called "The Testament of Peter the Great," which
explains what has to be done in order that Russia may conquer all
Europe, is not genuine. It is first heard of in 1812, in a book
published by _Lesur_, probably by direction of Napoleon
I. "Lesur's book," says _Mr. E. Schuyler_, "was merely a
pamphlet to justify the invasion of Russia by Napoleon." (Schuyler's
_Life of Peter the Great_, vol. ii, p. 512.)
CHAPTER IV. WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION; GROWTH OP THE POWER OF
PRUSSIA: THE DESTRUCTION OF POLAND.
THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.--On the death of _Augustus II._, there
were two competitors for the Polish crown,--his son, _Augustus
III._ of Saxony, and _Stanislaus Lesczinski_ whom France
supported. After a contest, by the consent of the Emperor _Charles
VI._, _Lesczinski_, whose daughter had married _Louis
XV._, obtained the duchy of _Lorraine_, which thus became a
possession of France (1735). In return, the emperor's son-in-law,
_Francis Stephen_ (afterwards _Francis I._), was to have
_Tuscany_; and France, in connection with the other powers,
assented to the _Pragmatic Sanction_, according to which the
hereditary possessions of Austria were to descend intact in the female
line. It was expected that the empire would pass along with them.
PRUSSIA: FREDERICK WILLIAM I.--In 1611 the duchy of _Prussia_ and
the mark or electorate of _Brandenburg_ were joined together. The
duchy was then a fief of Poland. But under the Great Elector,
_Frederick William_ (1640-1688), this relation of the duchy to
Poland ended. By him the military strength of the electorate was
increased. _Frederick_, his son (1688-1713), with the emperor's
license, took the title of King of Prussia (_Frederick I._). He
built up the city of _Berlin_, and encouraged art and
learning. King _Frederick William I._ (1713-1740), unlike his
predecessor, was exceedingly frugal in his court. He was upright and
just in his principles, but extremely rough in his ways, and governed
his own household, as well as his subjects generally, with a Spartan
rigor. Individuals whom he met in the street, whose conduct or dress
he thought unbecoming, he did not hesitate to scold, and he even used
his cane to chastise them on the spot. He cared nothing for
literature: artists and players were his abomination. He favored
industry, and was a friend of the working-class. Every thing was done
with despotic energy. He disciplined the military force of Prussia,
and gathered at _Potsdam_ a regiment of tall guards, made up of
men of gigantic height, who were brought together from all
quarters. He left to his son, _Frederick II._ (1740-1786), a
strong army and a full treasury.
CHARACTER OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.--Young _Frederick_ had no
sympathy with his father's austere ways. The strict system of training
arranged for him, in which he was cut off from Latin and from other
studies for which he had a taste, his time all parceled out, and a
succession of tasks rigorously ordained for him, he found a yoke too
heavy to bear. Once he attempted to escape to the court of his uncle,
_George II._ of England; but the scheme was discovered, and the
incensed father was strongly inclined to execute the decree of a
court-martial, which pronounced him worthy of death. _Frederick_,
from the window of the place where he was confined, saw _Katte_,
his favorite tutor, who had helped him in his attempt at flight, led to
the scaffold, where he was hanged. In the later years of the old king,
the relations of father and son were improved. The prince had for his
abode the little town of _Rheinsberg_, where he could indulge,
with a circle of congenial friends, in the studies and amusements to
which he was partial. He grew up with a strong predilection for French
literature, and for the French habits and fashions--free-thinking in
religion included--which were now spreading over Europe. On his
accession to the throne, _Frederick_ broke up the Potsdam regiment
of giants, and called back to Halle the philosopher _Wolf_, whom
his father had banished. _Frederick_ was visited by
_Voltaire_, who at a later day took up his abode for a time with
him in _Berlin_. But the king was fond of banter, and the foibles
of each of these companions were a target for the unsparing wit of the
other; so that eventually they parted company with mutual
disgust. Later they resumed their correspondence, and never wholly lost
their intellectual sympathy with each other. As a soldier,
_Frederick_ had not the military genius of the greatest
captains. He applied superior talents to the discharge of the duties of
a king, and to the business of war. He was cool, knew how to profit by
his errors and to repair his losses, and to press forward in the
darkest hour. Napoleon said of him that "he was great, especially at
critical moments."
WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCESSION---_Charles VI._ was succeeded, in
1740, by his daughter _Maria Theresa_, who united in her character
many of the finest qualities of a woman and of a sovereign.
Notwithstanding the _pragmatic sanction_ by which all the Austrian
lands were to be hers, different princes deemed the occasion favorable
for seizing on the whole, or on portions, of her inheritance.
_Charles_, elector of Bavaria, claimed to be the lawful heir, and
was aided by France, which was afraid of losing _Lorraine_ if
_Maria Theresa's _ husband, _Francis Stephen_, should become
emperor. _Augustus III._ of Poland was a participant in the
plot. _Frederick II._ of Prussia claimed _Silesia_, and,
after defeating the Austrians at _Molwitz_ (1741), seized the
greater part of that district. Soon after, the French and Bavarians
overran Austria. The Bavarian elector was chosen emperor. Even the
elector of Hanover (_George II._ of England) engaged not to assist
the empress.
The claims to Austria were as follows:--
_Augustus III._, king of Saxony, and _Charles Albert_,
elector of Bavaria, had married daughters of the Emperor _Joseph
I._ (the brother and predecessor of _Charles VI._). The wife
of _Charles Albert _ was the _younger_ daughter; but he
appealed to an alleged provision in the will of the Emperor
_Ferdinand I._, according to which the posterity of his
daughter _Anna_ (who married a Bavarian duke) was to inherit
the duchy of Austria and Bohemia, in case his _male_
descendants should die out. It was not to the _male_
descendants, but to the _legitimate_ descendants, however, that
the will referred. The _Bourbons_ in France and Spain seized
the occasion to regain the possessions of Spain lost in the Peace of
Utrecht (p. 466). _Francis Stephen_, the husband of _Maria
Theresa_, it was feared, might seek to get back Lorraine from
France (p. 474). Spain was anxious to recover Milan. _Philip
V._ of Spain claimed the Austrian possessions on the basis of
certain stipulations of _Charles V._ and _Philip III._ in
the cession of them. To weaken the Austrian house in Germany, was an
aim of France. The courts of France and Spain were ready, on all
these grounds, to support _Charles_ of Bavaria. They were
ready, also, to support _Frederick II._ in legal claims which
he set up to a portion of Silesia. The empress rejected the offer of
_Frederick_ to defend Austria if she would give up this
territory.