proved herself a Minerva. She threw herself for support on her
Hungarian subjects, who responded with loyal enthusiasm to her appeal
made at the _Diet of Presburg_. Her forces drove the Bavarian and
French troops before them in Austria, entered Bavaria, and captured
_Munich_. Reluctantly the queen, in the _Peace of Breslau_
(1742), ceded _Silesia_ to _Frederick_, in order to lessen
the number of her antagonists. She was crowned (1743) in _Prague_,
and at length gained an ally in _George II._ of England. The
"Pragmatic Army," as it was called, defeated the French under Marshal
_Noailles_ at _Dettingen_. _Sardinia_ and _Saxony_
joined the Austrian alliance.
TO THE PEACE OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.--These events widened the dimensions
of the contest. France declared war directly against England and
Austria. _Frederick II._ of Prussia was now the ally of France,
and began the _second Silesian war_. He took _Prague_, but,
being deserted by the French, was driven back into _Saxony_. The
son of _Charles Albert_ of Bavaria, _Maximilian Joseph_, made
peace with Austria,--the Peace of _Füssen_,--promising to give his
vote to _Francis_, the husband of _Maria Theresa_, for the
office of emperor. _Francis_ (1745-1765) was crowned at Frankfort.
Victories in Saxony on the side of _Frederick_ led to the
_Treaty_ of _Dresden_, which left _Silesia_ in his hands
(1745). The most of the English army went back to England to fight the
Pretender. The war went on in the Netherlands and in Italy, and between
France and England; the English being victors on the sea under
_Anson_ (1747), while the French were generally successful on the
land. The peace of _Aix-la-Chapelle_ (1748) provided for a
reciprocal restoration of all conquests: _Silesia_ was given to
_Prussia_, and the _Pragmatic Sanction_ was sustained in
_Austria_.
ALLIANCE AGAINST FREDERICK.--_Frederick the Great_ used the next
eight years in doing what he could to encourage industry and to
increase the prosperity and resources of Prussia, at the same time
that he strengthened his military force. Prussia had evinced so much
power in the late conflicts as to be an object of envy and
apprehension. _Maria Theresa_ was anxious to recover
_Silesia_. _Frederick_ had a foe in _Elizabeth_,
empress of Russia, whose personal vices he made a subject of sarcastic
remark, and who, besides, coveted Prussian provinces on the Baltic. An
alliance was formed between _Russia_ and _Austria._ This was
joined by _Saxony_, and by _France;_ since _Louis XV._
had become alarmed by the calculating selfishness of
_Frederick's_ policy, and was induced to depart from the French
traditional policy, and to unite with Austria. The only ally of
_Frederick_ was _George II. _of England, which was then
engaged in a contest with France respecting the American colonies
(1756).
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.--Thus arose the _Seven Years' War._
_Frederick,_ secretly informed of the plans of his enemies,
anticipated their action by invading Saxony and capturing _Dresden
_(1756). At _Lobositz_ he defeated the Austrians: he soon took
eighteen thousand Saxon troops. He had now to encounter the military
strength of the various nations opposed to him. With the bulk of his
forces he marched into Bohemia, and gained a great but costly victory
at _Prague_ (1757). For the next six months, successes and
reverses alternated; but before the end of the year (1757)
_Frederick_ won two of his most famous triumphs,--one at
_Rossbach,_ over the French and the Imperialists; and the other
over the Austrians, at _Leuthen._ _Frederick_ was now
admired as a hero in England, and was furnished by the elder
_William Pitt,_ who had succeeded _Newcastle_, with money
and troops. In 1758 the Prussians vanquished the Russians at
_Zorndorf_, but were, in turn, soon defeated by the Austrians at
_Hochkirch_ Of the numerous battles in this prolonged war, in
which the military talents of _Frederick_ were so strikingly
shown, it is possible to refer only to a few of the most important. He
was defeated by the united Austrians and Russians at
_Kunersdorf;_ and so completely that he was for the moment thrown
into despair, and wrote to his minister _Finkenstein,_ "All is
lost." In 1760 _Berlin_ was held for a few days by the Russians,
but _Frederick_ soon defeated the Austrians once more at
_Torgau._ In 1761, however, his situation was in the highest
degree perilous. His resources were apparently exhausted. _Spain_
joined the ranks of his enemies. He faced them all with determined
resolution, but he confessed in his private letters that his hopes
were gone.
END OF THE WAR.--At this time there was a turn of events in his
favor. In Russia, _Peter III._, who succeeded _Elizabeth_,
was an admirer of _Frederick,_--so much so that he wore a Prussian
uniform,--and hastened to conclude a peace and alliance with him
(1762). _Peter_ was soon dethroned and killed by Russian nobles;
and his queen· and successor, _Catherine II._, recalled the troops
sent to _Frederick's_ aid. Nevertheless, they helped him to a
victory over the Austrians, under the command of _Daun,_ at
_Burkersdorf_ (1762). Austria, too, was exhausted and ready for
peace. The negotiations between England and France, which ended in the
_Peace of Paris_ (1763), made it certain that the French armies
would evacuate Germany. _Prussia_ and _Austria_ agreed to the
_Peace of Hubertsburg_, by which Prussia retained _Silesia_,
and promised her vote for the Archduke _Joseph_, son of _Maria
Theresa_, as king of Rome and successor to the empire (1763).
POSITION OF PRUSSIA.--_Joseph II_. succeeded his father as emperor
in 1765, and was associated by his mother, _Maria Theresa_, in the
government of her hereditary dominions. From the conclusion of the
Seven Years' War, _Prussia_ took her place as one of the five
great powers of Europe.
THE BRITISH INDIAN EMPIRE.--It was during this period that the empire
of the British in _India_ grew up out of the mercantile
settlements of a trading corporation, the _East India
Company_. The result was effected after a severe struggle with the
French. After the beginning of the eighteenth century, the _Mughal
empire_ at _Delhi_ declined. Insubordinate native princes
admitted only a nominal control over them. The effect of successive
_Mahratta_ and _Afghan_ invasions was such, that when England
and France went to war in Europe, in 1745, _India_ was broken up
into different sovereignties, to say nothing of the great number of
_petty_ chieftains who were practically
independent. _Pondicherry_ was the chief French settlement. For a
time it seemed that in the struggle for control France, under the
masterly guidance of _Dupleix_, must triumph. In 1756
_Calcutta_ was taken from the English by the _Nabob of
Bengal_, and many Englishmen died in the close room of the military
prison in which they were shut up,--"the Black Hole." In 1757
_Clive_ defeated a great army of the natives, with whom were a few
French, in the decisive battle of _Plassey_. He had previously
shown his indomitable courage in the seizure of _Arcot_, and in
its defense against a host of besiegers. The victory at _Plassey_
secured the British supremacy, which gradually extended itself over the
country. The various local sovereignties became like Roman
provinces. On the death of _Clive_, _Warren Hastings_ was
made governor-general (1772). After his recall, he was impeached
(1788), on charges of cruelty and oppression in India, and his trial by
the House of Lords did not end until seven years after it began. He was
then acquitted. Among the conductors of the impeachment on the part of
the House of Commons, were the celebrated orators _Edmund Burke_
and _Richard Brinsley Sheridan_. In 1784 the power of the
East-India Company had been restricted by the establishment of the
_Board of Control_. Up to that time the Indian Empire, made up of
dependent and subject states, had been governed by the sole authority
of the company.
CATHERINE II. OF RUSSIA.--_Catherine II_. (1762-1796) in her
private life was notoriously dissolute. If she did not connive at the
assassination of her husband, _Peter III_., she heaped gifts upon
his murderers. In her policy, she aimed to strengthen Russia,
especially towards the sea. This occasioned successful conflicts with
the Turks.
THE PARTITION OF POLAND.--At first inimical to _Frederick the Great,
Catherine_ afterwards made an alliance with him. She compelled the
election of one of her lovers, _Poniatowski_, to the throne of
_Poland_. Poland was mainly Catholic; and the _Confederation_
of _Bar_ (1768), made by the Poles to prevent the toleration of
Greek Christians and Protestants, was defeated by a Russian army, and
broken up. The Turks were worsted in the war which they made in defense
of the confederacy. As one result, Russia gained a firm footing on the
north coasts of the Black Sea (1774). The "free veto," oppression of
the peasantry, their distress, and the general want of union and public
spirit, had reduced Poland to a miserable condition. _Catherine_,
however, favored no reforms there looking to an improvement in the
constitution. She preferred to prolong the anarchy and confusion. She
wished to make the death of Poland in part a suicide. At length she
invited _Prussia_ and _Austria_ to take part with her in the
first seizure and partition of Polish territory (1772). Each took
certain provinces. In 1793 the second, and in 1795 the final partition
of Poland, was made by its three neighbors. The capture of
_Warsaw_, and the defeat of the national rising under
_Kosciusko_, obliterated that ancient kingdom from the map of
Europe. It should be said that a large part of the territory that
Russia acquired had once been Russian, and was inhabited by Greek
Christians. By the division of Poland, Russia was brought into close
contact with the Western powers. The _Crimea_ was incorporated
with Russia in 1783. After a second war, provoked by her, with the
Turks, who now had the Austrians to help them, the Russian boundaries
through the Treaty of _Jassy_ (1792) were carried to the
_Dniester_.
CHAPTER V. CONTEST OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN AMERICA: WAR OF AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
In this period the United States of America achieved their
independence, and began their existence as a distinct nation.
THE ENGLISH COLONIES.--The English colonies south of Canada had become
thirteen in number. In the southern part of what was called Carolina,
_Charleston_ was settled in 1680. More than a century before
(1562), a band of Huguenots under _Ribault_ had entered the harbor
of _Port Royal_, and given this name to it, and had built a fort
on the river May, which they called _Charlesfort_--the
_Carolina_--in honor of King _Charles IX_. of France. In 1663
the territory thus called, south of _Virginia_, was granted to the
_Earl of Clarendon_. In it were two distinct settlements in the
northern part. The English philosopher _John Locke_ drew up a
constitution for _Carolina_, never accepted by the freemen. The
rights of the proprietors were purchased by _George II._; and the
region was divided (1729) into two royal provinces, _North_ and
_South Carolina_, each province having a governor appointed by the
king, and an assembly elected by the people. Besides the English,
Huguenots and emigrants from the North of Ireland, as well as from
Scotland, planted themselves in South Carolina. _Georgia_ was
settled by _James Oglethorpe_, who made his settlement at
_Savannah_. He had a charter from _George II._, in whose
honor the region was named (1732). Soon the "trustees" gave up their
charter, and the government was shaped like that of the other colonies
(1752). _John Wesley_, afterwards the founder of Methodism,
sojourned for a time in Georgia. The settlement of _New Jersey_
was first made by members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, sent
over by _William Penn_, the son of an English admiral, and
familiar at court. The Quakers gave up the government to the crown, and
from 1702 to 1738 it formed one province with _New
York_. _Pennsylvania_ was granted to _Penn_ himself, by
the king, in discharge of a claim against the crown. _Penn_
procured also a title to _Delaware_. He sent out emigrants in
1681, and the next year came himself. By him _Philadelphia_ was
founded. He dealt kindly with all the settlers, and made a treaty of
peace and amity with the Indians. The government organized by
_Penn_ was just and liberal. In 1703 the inhabitants of
_Delaware_ began to have a governing assembly of their own.
_THE FRENCH COLONIES._--Among the French explorers in America,
_La Salle_ is one of the most famous. Having traversed the region
of the upper lakes, he reached the Mississippi, and floated in his
boats down to its mouth (1682). The region of the great river and of
its tributaries, he named _Louisiana_, in honor of his king,
_Louis XIV_. This name was applied to the whole region from the
Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains. On his return, _La Salle_
built _Fort St. Louis_. Afterwards (1684) he took part in an
expedition from France which had for its purpose the building of a fort
at the mouth of the _Mississippi_, but which was so wrongly guided
as to land on the coast of _Texas_. _La Salle_ himself
perished, while seeking to find his way to Canada. But a French
settlement was made near the mouth of the river (1699), and a
connection established by a series of forts with _Canada_.
On the principle that the country belonged to the explorer, Spain
claimed all the southern part of North America from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. The French claim stretched from the coast of _Nova
Scotia_ westward to the Great Lakes, and embraced the valley of the
Mississippi to its mouth. England claimed the country from
_Labrador_ as far south as _Florida_, and westward to the
Pacific. This region included within it the claims of the Dutch,
founded on the discoveries of _Henry Hudson_.
War between England and France, whenever it occurred, was attended
with conflicts between the English and the French settlements in
America. The Indians were most of them on the side of the French. But
the fierce _Iroquois_ in central New York, who wished to
monopolize the fur-trade, were hostile to them. A massacre perpetrated
by these at _La Chine_, near _Montreal_ (1689), provoked a
murderous attack of French and Indians upon the settlement at
Schenectady, the most northern post of the English. This was an
incident of _King William's War_ (1689). In _Queen Anne's
War_ (1702-1713) _Deerfield_ in Massachusetts was captured and
destroyed by French and Indians (1704). By an expedition fitted out in
Massachusetts, and commanded by _Sir William Phipps, Port Royal_
in Nova Scotia was captured (1710). The colonies incurred great
expense in fitting out expeditions (1709 and 1711) against Canada,
which were abandoned. The contest between France and England for
supremacy in America was further continued in a series of conflicts
lasting from 1744 for nearly twenty years. An early event of much
consequence in the contest known as _King George's War_,--a part
of the war of the Austrian succession (p. 476),--was the capture of
_Louisburg_, an important fortified place on Cape Breton, by an
expedition from Boston (1745). The colonists, who were with reason
proud of their achievement, had the mortification to see this place
restored to the French in the treaty of peace (1748). In these
contests the French had the help of their Indian allies, who fell upon
defenseless villages. The English were sometimes aided by the
Iroquois. The English founded _Halifax_ (1749).
THE "OLD FRENCH WAR" (1756-1763).--The "Old French and Indian War" in
America was a part of the Seven Years' War in Europe. A British
officer, Gen. _Braddock_, led a force which departed from Fort
Cumberland in Maryland, against _Fort Du Quesne_ at the junction
of the Monongahela and Alleghany Rivers. Disregarding the advice of
_George Washington_, who was on his staff, he allowed himself to
be surprised by the Indians and the French, and was mortally
wounded. The remains of his army were led by _Washington_, whose
courage and presence of mind had been conspicuous, to Philadelphia
(1755). Prior to the expedition, _Washington_ had made a perilous
journey as envoy, to demand of the French commander his reasons for
invading the Ohio valley. The English held Nova Scotia, and expelled
from their homes the French _Acadians_, seven thousand in number,
in a way that involved severe hardships, including the separation of
families (1755). They were carried off in ships, and scattered among
the colonies along the Atlantic shore. The English also took the forts
in _Acadia_. There were two battles near _Lake George_
(1755), in the first of which the French were victors, but in the
second they were routed. _Montcalm_, the French commander,
captured the English fort near _Oswego_, from which an expedition
was to have been sent against the French fort at _Niagara_
(1756). In 1757 he took _Fort William Henry_ on Lake George.
THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759.--The English were dissatisfied at their
want of success on the Continent and in America. But they had
advantages for prosecuting the conflict. The French, who had been
successful at the outset, had to bring their troops and supplies from
Europe. They were, to be sure, disciplined troops; but the English had
the substantial strength which was derived from the prosperous
agriculture, and still more from the brave and self-respecting spirit,
of their American colonies. The elder _William Pitt_, afterwards
_Earl of Chatham_, again entered the cabinet, and began to manage
the contest (1757). The French held posts at important points,--_Fort
Du Quesne_, where _Pittsburg_ now stands, for the defense of
the West; _Crown Point_ and _Ticonderoga_ on Lake Champlain,
guarding the approach to Canada; _Niagara_, near the Great Lakes
and the region of the fur-trade; and _Louisburg_, on the coast of
Nova Scotia, which protected the fisheries, and was a menace to New
England. To seize these posts, and to break down the French power in
America, was now the aim of the English. In 1758 an expedition of
_Gen. Abercrombie_, at the head of sixteen thousand men, against
Crown Point and Ticonderoga, was repulsed; Lord Howe was killed, and
the army retreated. _Louisburg_, to the joy of the colonies, was
captured anew by _Lord Amherst_ (1758). _Fort Du Quesne_ was
taken (1758), and named _Fort Pitt_; _Fort Frontenac_ on Lake
Ontario was destroyed. The object of the campaign of 1759 was the
conquest of Canada. _Fort Niagara_ was captured by _Sir William
Johnston_ (1759). _Ticonderoga_ and _Crown Point_ were
taken, and the French driven into Canada. Then came the great
expedition under Major-Gen, _Wolfe_, a most worthy and
high-spirited young officer, which left _Louisburg_ for the
capture of Quebec, "the Gibraltar of America." The attempt of
_Wolfe_ to storm the heights in front of the city, which were
defended by the army of _Montcalm_, failed of success. From a
point far up the river, he embarked a portion of his troops in the
night, and, silently descending the stream, climbed the heights in the
rear of the city, and intrenched himself on the "Plains of Abraham."
In the battle which took place in the morning, both commanders,
_Wolfe_ and _Montcalm_, were mortally wounded. _Wolfe_
lived just long enough to be assured of victory; _Montcalm_ died
the next day. Five days after the battle the town surrendered (1759).
An incident connected with Wolfe's approach by night to Quebec is thus
given by Mr. _Parkman_: "For full two hours the procession of
boats, borne on the current, steered silently down the
St. Lawrence. The stars were visible, but the night was moonless and
sufficiently dark. The general was in one of the foremost boats; and
near him was a young midshipman, John Robison, afterwards professor of
natural philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. He used to tell in
his later life how Wolfe, with a low voice, repeated Gray's _Elegy in
a Country Churchyard_ to the officers about him. Among the rest, was
the verse which his fate was soon to illustrate,--
'The paths of glory lead but to the grave.'
"'Gentlemen,' he said, as his recital ended, 'I would rather have
written those lines than take Quebec.' None were there to tell him
that the hero is greater than the poet." (_Montcalm and Wolfe_,
p. 287.)
In the following year _Montreal_ and all _Canada_ were in
the hands of the English. The English colonies were safe. It was
decided that English, not French, should be spoken in aftertimes on
the banks of the Ohio. In the _Peace of Paris_ (1763), France
kept _Louisiana_, but had already ceded it to Spain (1762).
CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.--The Indians in the West were dissatisfied with
the transference of Canada and the region of the Lakes to
England. _Pontiac_, chief of the _Ottawas_, combined a large
number of tribes, and kindled a war against the English, which spread
from the Mississippi to Canada (1763). He captured eight forts, but
failed to take Detroit and Fort Pitt. Three years passed before the
Indians were completely beaten, and a treaty of peace concluded with
their leader (1766).
STATE OF THE COLONIES: POPULATION.--At the close of the French war, the
population of the thirteen colonies probably exceeded two millions, of
whom not far from one fourth were negro slaves. The number of slaves in
New England was small. They were proportionately much more numerous in
New York, but they were found principally in the Southern colonies.
Quakers were always averse to slavery. The slave-trade was still kept
up. Newport in Rhode Island was one of the ports where slave-ships
frequently discharged their cargoes.
GOVERNMENT.--The forms of government in the different colonies
varied. All of them had their own legislative assemblies, and regarded
them as essential to their freedom. Under _Charles II._, the
charter which secured to Massachusetts its civil rights was annulled
(1684). Under _James II._, the attempt was made to revoke all the
New England charters. Sir _Edmund Andros_ was appointed governor
of New England, and by him the new system began to be enforced. The
revolution of 1688 restored to the colonies their privileges; but
Massachusetts (with which Plymouth was now united), under its new
charter (1691), no longer elected its governor. Prior to the
Revolution, there were three forms of government among the
colonies. Proprietary governments (that is, government by owners or
proprietors) still remained in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. In
these the king appointed no officers except in the customs and
admiralty courts. In Rhode Island and Connecticut, which like
Massachusetts retained their charters, the governors were chosen by the
people. New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, had royal or provincial governments: the governor and council
were appointed by the king.
OCCUPATIONS.--The chief occupation of the colonists was agriculture. In
the North, wheat and corn were raised. From Virginia and Maryland,
great crops of tobacco were exported from the plantations, in English
ships which came up the Potomac and the James. Rice was cultivated in
the Carolinas. Indigo was also raised. Cotton was grown in the
South. Labor in the fields in the Southern colonies was performed by
the negroes. Building of ships was a profitable occupation on the coast
of New England. The cod and other fisheries also gave employment to
many, and proved a school for the training of seamen. The colonists
were industrious and prosperous, but generally frugal and plain in
their style of living.
EDUCATION AND RELIGION.--Common schools were early established by law
in New England, and by the Dutch in New York. As Mr. _Bancroft_
well observes, "He that will understand the political character of New
England in the eighteenth century must study the constitution of its
towns, its congregations, its schools, and its militia." Harvard
College was founded in 1636; William and Mary, in 1693; Yale, in
1700. Eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, a
printing-press was set up at Cambridge. In 1704 the first American
newspaper, "The Boston News Letter," was established. In the Puritan
colonies, the minds of the people were quickened intellectually as well
as religiously, by the character of the pulpit discourses. Theology was
an absorbing theme of inquiry and discussion. In the town-meetings,
especially in the closing part of the colonial period, political
affairs became a subject of earnest debate. In all the colonies, the
representative assemblies furnished a practical training in political
life. In the Eastern colonies, the people were mostly
Congregationalists and Calvinists: Presbyterians were numerous in the
Middle States. In Virginia the Episcopal Church was supported by
legislative authority; and it was favored, though not established by
law, in New York. In Pennsylvania, while there was freedom in religion,
the Quakers "still swayed legislation and public opinion."
Philadelphia, with its population of thirty thousand, was the largest
city in America, and was held in high esteem for its intelligence and
refinement.
COMPLAINTS OF THE COLONIES.--The colonists all acknowledged the
authority of king and parliament, but they felt that they had brought
with them across the ocean the rights of Englishmen. One thing that was
more and more complained of was the laws compelling the colonies to
trade with the "mother country" exclusively, and the enactments laying
restraint on their manufactures. In the conflicts with the Indians from
time to time, the necessity had arisen for leagues; and, more than
once, congresses of delegates had met. One of these was held at Albany
in 1754, where _Benjamin Franklin_ was present. In the Old French
War, there had been a call for concert of action, and a deepening of
the sense of common interests and of being really one people.
NEW GROUNDS OF DISAFFECTION.--The colonies had taxed themselves in the
French War; but the condition of the finances in England at the close
of it inspired the wish there to enforce the laws of trade more rigidly
in America, and to levy additional taxes upon the provinces. These
English laws were so odious that they were often evaded. The _writs
of assistance_ in Massachusetts authorized custom-house officers to
search houses for smuggled goods (1761). In the legal resistance to
this measure, a sentence was uttered by a Boston patriot, _James
Otis_, which became a watchword. "Taxation," he said, "without
representation is tyranny." Taxation, it was contended, must be
ordained by the local colonial assemblies in which the tax-payers are
represented. But the _Stamp Act_ (1765), requiring for legal and
other documents the use of stamped paper, was a form of taxation. It
excited indignation in all the colonies, especially in Virginia and in
New England. In all the measures of resistance, _Virginia_ and
_Massachusetts_ were foremost. _Patrick Henry_, an
impassioned, patriotic orator, in the Virginia Legislature, was very
bold in denouncing the obnoxious Act, and the alleged right to tax the
colonies which it implied. This right was denied in a _Congress_
where nine colonies were represented, which met in New York in
1765. They called for the repeal of the Stamp Act, and declared against
the importation of English goods until the repeal should be
granted. _William Pitt_, in the House of Commons, eulogized the
spirit of the colonies. The Stamp Act was repealed. The discussions
which it had provoked in America had awakened the whole people, and
made them watchful against this sort of aggression. Political topics
engrossed attention. When Parliament ordered that the colonies should
support the troops quartered on them, and that the royal officers
should have fixed salaries, to be obtained, not by the voluntary grants
of colonial legislatures, but by the levy of new duties, there was a
renewed outburst of disaffection, especially in _New York_ and
_Boston_ (1768). By way of response to a petition that was sent to
the king against these Acts of Parliament, four regiments of troops
were sent to _Boston_. Their presence was a bitter grievance. In
one case, there was bloodshed in a broil in the street between the
populace and the soldiers, which was called "The Boston Massacre"
(1770). An influential leader of the popular party in Boston was the
stanch Puritan patriot, _Samuel Adams_.
PROGRESS OF THE CONTROVERSY.--After the other taxes were repealed, the
tax on tea remained in force. A mob of young men, disguised as Indians,
went on board three vessels in Boston Harbor, and threw overboard their
freight of tea (1773). Before, there had been outbreakings of popular
wrath against the stamp-officers. Their houses had been sometimes
attacked: they had been burnt in effigy, and in some cases driven to
resign. In general, however, the methods of resistance had been legal
and orderly. When the news of the destruction of the tea reached
England, Parliament retaliated by passing the _Boston Port Bill_
(1774), which closed that port to the exportation or importation of
goods, except food or fuel. The courts, moreover, were given the power
to send persons charged with high crimes to England, or to another
colony, for trial. To crown all, General _Gage_, the commander of
the British troops, was made Governor of Massachusetts.
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.--In order to produce concert of action,
committees of correspondence between the several colonies were
established. The First Continental Congress, composed of delegates from
the colonies, was convened in Philadelphia (1774). The remedies to
which they resorted were, addresses to the king and to the people of
Great Britain; an appeal for support to Canada; and a resolve not to
trade with Great Britain until there should be a redress of grievances.
CONCORD AND BUNKER HILL.--The Legislature in Massachusetts, which
_Gage_ would not recognize, formed itself into the "Provincial
Congress." The first collision took place at _Concord_ (April 19,
1775), where a detachment of British troops was sent to destroy the
military stores gathered by this body. On _Lexington_ Green, the
British troops fired on the militia, and killed seven men. Arriving at
_Concord_, they encountered resistance. There the first shot was
fired by America in the momentous struggle,--"the shot heard round the
world." A number were killed on both sides, and the attacking force was
harassed all the way on its return to Boston. The people everywhere
rose in arms. Men flocked from their farms and workshops to the camp
which was formed near Boston. _Israel Putnam_, who had been an
officer in the French War, left his plow in the field at his home in
Connecticut, and rode to that place, a distance of sixty-eight miles,
in one day. _Stark_ from New Hampshire, and _Greene_ from
Rhode Island, soon arrived.
THE _SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS_, in session at Philadelphia,
assumed control of military operations in all the colonies. At the
suggestion first made by _John Adams_ of Massachusetts, Colonel
_George Washington_ of Virginia was unanimously appointed
commander-in-chief. His mingled courage and prudence, his lofty and
unselfish patriotism, his admirable sobriety of judgment, and his rare
power of self-control, connected as it was with a not less rare power
of command, and with a firmness which no disaster could shake, made him
one of the noblest of men. Before he reached _Cambridge_, where he
assumed command of the gathering forces (July 3, 1775), he received the
news of the battle of _Bunker Hill_, in which the provincial
soldiers, under _Putnam_ and _Prescott_, made a stand against
the "regulars," as the British troops were called, and retreated only
on the third assault, and when their ammunition had given
out. _Dr. Joseph Warren_, a leading Boston patriot, was slain in
the battle. Before this time, _Fort Ticonderoga_ had been captured
by _Ethan Allen_, and cannon been sent from it to aid in the siege
of Boston (1775). But an attack on Quebec by _Arnold_ and
_Montgomery_, who entered Canada by different routes, failed of
its object. Before British reinforcements arrived, the American troops
abandoned Canada. In the attack on Quebec, _Montgomery_ fell, and
_Arnold_ was severely wounded (Dec. 31, 1775).
INDEPENDENCE.--Only a brief sketch can here be given of the seven
years' struggle of the United Colonies. On the 4th of July, 1776, the
Declaration of Independence, drawn up in the main by _Thomas
Jefferson_, and of which _John Adams_ was the most eloquent
advocate on the floor of Congress, passed that body. It was signed by
the President, _John Hancock_, and fifty-five members. The
colonies easily converted themselves into States, nearly all of them
framing new constitutions. Thirteen _Articles of Confederation_
made them into a league, under the name of the _United States_ of
America, each State retaining its sovereignty (1777). _Franklin_,
an old man, and respected in Europe as well as at home for his
scientific attainments as well as for his sturdy sagacity, went to
France as their envoy. Among the soldiers who came from Europe to join
the Americans were _La Fayette_,--a young French nobleman, who was
inspired with a zeal for liberty, and was not without a thirst for
fame, which, however, he desired to merit,--and _Steuben_, an
officer trained under _Frederick the Great_. In Parliament, the
Whig orators spoke out manfully for the American cause. The king hired
German troops for the subjugation of its defenders.
THE EVENTS OF THE WAR.--The maneuvers of _Washington_ forced
_Gage_ to evacuate _Boston_. The American general then
undertook the defense of New York. The British forces, to the number
of thirty thousand, under _Gen. Howe_, and _Admiral Howe_
his brother, were collected on Staten Island. The Americans were
defeated in a battle on Long Island (Aug. 27, 1776), and could not
hold the city. It remained in the hands of the British to the end of
the war. _Washington_ withdrew his troops to _White Plains_.
_Fort Washington_ and _Fort Lee_ were lost. The American
commander, followed by _Lord Cornwallis_, retreated slowly
through New Jersey (1776). These were serious reverses. By bold and
successful attacks at _Trenton_ and _Princeton_, the
depressed spirits of the army and the country were revived. In the
spring of 1777 _Howe_ sought to capture _Philadelphia_, and
landed his forces at the head of Chesapeake Bay. The Americans were
defeated at _Brandywine_ (Sept. 10); and Philadelphia, which had
been the seat of Congress, was, like New York, in the possession of
the British. Their policy was to isolate New England. To this end,
Gen. _Burgoyne_, with a large army of French and Indians, came
down from the north of Lake Champlain. A detachment of his forces was
defeated by _Stark_ at _Bennington_. _Burgoyne_ himself
was obliged to surrender, with six thousand men, to _Gates_, at
Saratoga (Oct. 17). This event made its due impression
abroad. _France_ recognized the independence of the United
States, and entered into an alliance with them. This alliance was a
turning-point in the struggle. _Washington's_ army, ill-clad and
ill-fed, suffered terribly in the winter of 1777-78 at _Valley
Forge_; but he shared in their rough fare, and their discipline was
much improved by the drill which they received there from
_Steuben_. Sir Henry _Clinton_ left Philadelphia in order
that the British forces might be concentrated in New York. He was
overtaken by Washington, and the battle of _Monmouth_ took place,
which was, on the whole, a success for the Americans. The design of
the British to separate New England from the rest of the States had
failed. _Washington_ was again at _White Plains_. They now
began operations in the Southern States. Among the occurrences in this
period of the war were the massacre of the settlements in the valley
of the _Wyoming_, in Pennsylvania, by the Indian auxiliaries of
the British; the surrender of Savannah, and with it Georgia and
Charleston, by the Americans; the gallant storming of _Stony
Point_, on the Hudson, by _Wayne_ (July 15, 1779), and a
brilliant naval victory of _Paul Jones_ in a desperate engagement
with two British frigates near the north-eastern coast of England
(Sept. 1779). The American "partisan leaders," Marion, Sumter, and
Pickens, carried forward an irregular but harassing warfare in South
Carolina. At Camden, _Gates_ was defeated by _Cornwallis_;
and _Baron de Kalb_, a brave French officer, of German
extraction, in the American service, fell (Aug. 16, 1780). In this
year (1780) _Benedict Arnold's_ treason was detected; and Major
_André_, a British officer through whom Arnold had made
arrangements for giving up the fortress of _West Point_ to the
enemy, was taken captive, and executed as a spy. In the next year
Gen. _Nathanael Greene_ conducted military operations in
_Georgia_ and the _Carolinas_ with much skill, and succeeded
in pressing the army of Lord _Cornwallis_ into the peninsula
formed by the York and James Rivers in Virginia. Thither the French
fleet sailed under Count _De Grasse_; and _Washington_, by
forced marches, was enabled to join with the French in surrounding the
British works at _Yorktown_. On the day when _Clinton_ left
New York, at the head of his forces, to unite with _Cornwallis_,
that officer surrendered, with his entire army of seven thousand men,
to _Washington_ (1781). This blow was fatal to the British
cause. The independence of the United States was recognized by
Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Russia (1782). The war had been
prolonged by the personal obstinacy of _George III_., against the
wishes of his minister, Lord _North_. The surrender of
_Cornwallis_ made it plain that further effort to conquer America
was hopeless. Spain and Holland had joined hands with France, but
_Rodney_ had won a great naval victory over _De Grasse_
(April 12, 1782). By the treaty of peace, signed at _Paris_ and
_Versailles_ (1783), England recognized the independence of her
former colonies.
AMERICA AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.--The Congress during the war had
issued paper money to the amount of twenty millions of dollars. It had
no power to lay taxes, or to compel the States to pay their several
portions of the public indebtedness. The States themselves were poor,
and largely in debt. They surrendered, however, their unoccupied
public lands to the United States. In 1787 Congress made one territory
of the district north-west of the Ohio River, which Virginia had
ceded, and by an ordinance excluded slavery from it for ever.
THE CONSTITUTION.--The lack of one system of law for the different
States in reference to duties on imports, and on various other matters
of common concern, and disorders springing up in different places,
inspired an anxious desire for a stronger central government. A
convention, over which _Washington_ presided, met in
_Philadelphia_ in 1787, and formed the new _Constitution_.
_Hamilton_ of New York and _Madison_ of Virginia were leading
members. There was much opposition to the new plan of government which
they agreed upon, but it was finally adopted by all the States. It
supplied the defects of the old confederation by uniting
_national_ with _federal_ elements. To the Senate, made up of
two delegates from each State, it added a _House of
Representatives_, where the number of members from each State was
made proportionate to the population. It put the general government,
within the limit of its defined functions, into a _direct_
relation to the citizens, and gave to it judicial and executive
departments to carry out and enforce its legislation. It committed to
the central authority the management of foreign affairs, and various
other powers necessary for the preservation of peace and unity in the
land, and for the securing of the common weal of the whole
country. _Washington_ was unanimously chosen as the first
president of the Republic, and _John Adams_ was chosen
vice-president. The first Congress met in _New York_ in April,
1789, although the day appointed was March 4.
CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND RELIGION.
LITERATURE.
I. FRANCE.
POETRY AND THE DRAMA.--The literature of France in the age of _Louis
XIV_. was classical in its spirit. The ancient Greek and Roman
writers were admired and imitated. The Renaissance was now to run its
course. The French Academy, founded by _Richelieu_, undertook to
regulate and improve the French language. Measure, finish, elegance,
were demanded by the reigning taste, in all literary
productions. _Corneille_ (1606-1684), the father of French
tragedy, was the most virile of the French dramatists. _Racine_
(1639-1699), who followed, if less grand, was more pathetic. We find,
however, in writers of genius,--even in the great preachers, as
_Bourdaloue_ and _Massillon_, who formed a type of pulpit
eloquence peculiar to France,--a tendency to what seems now a stilted
style. The master in comedy was _Molière_ (1622-1673), an actor,
as well as an author of inimitable humor. One of the most popular of
French authors has been _La Fontaine_ (1621-1695), whose fables
have charmed multitudes by their smooth versification, as well as by
their contents. _Boileau_ (1636-1711), the Horace of France,
prescribed, as a lawgiver, rules upon the "Art of Poetry," and himself
wrote satires and other poems of high merit.
PROSE LITERATURE.--_Bossuet_ (1627-1704) was an eloquent preacher
and historical writer, and an expert theological polemic of the liberal
Catholic school. Of a very different tone is _Rochefoucauld_,
whose _Maxims_, expressed in pithy language, seek to trace all
virtuous action to self-seeking. The French fondness for epigram--for
terse, paradoxical statement--is exemplified even in the best writers,
as, for example, _Blaise Pascal_. _La Bruyère_ (1645-1696), a
genial philosopher, wrote in a most attractive style a work entitled
_The Characters of Our Age_. The metaphysician _Malebranche_
(1638-1715) taught that we know through our spiritual union with God,
or that we see all things in God. A disciple of _Des Cartes_, he
did not strictly follow his master. _Fénelon_ (1651-1715),
illustrious for his piety as well as for his versatile authorship,
wrote on religious topics and on education. Of all his writings, his
_Telemachus_, composed for the young Duke of Burgundy, his pupil,
has been the most read. The letters of Madame _de Sévigné_,
addressed to her daughter, and not meant for publication, present most
graphic descriptions of the characters and occurrences of the day.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.--When we cross the limit of the eighteenth
century, we meet with growing signs of skepticism in religion, and of
innovation in political thought. Criticism of the past, of traditional
creeds and established institutions, is spreading. The _Historical
and Critical Dictionary of Bayle_, a storehouse of chronicle and
anecdote, is leavened with the spirit of doubt. Three great writers
deserve special attention. _Montesquieu_ (1689-1755) satirized all
dogma in his _Persian Letters_. His celebrated work on the
_Spirit of Laws_ is just and humane in its tone, and full of
original and inspiring views on history and government. He is one of
the founders of modern political science. _Voltaire_ (1694-1778),
the most popular of all the writers of his age, was the incarnation of
its critical and skeptical spirit, the highest example of its wit as of
its levity, and of the artificial character of its literary ideals. He
was play-writer, poet, historian, critic, and brilliant converser, all
in one. In religion, a scoffer not only at superstition, but at all
beliefs and rites which imply revelation, he still clung to the belief
in a personal God. His creed was deism, _Jean Jacques Rousseau_
(1712-1778) was, like _Voltaire_, a deist in his creed; but in
religion, as in all his mental action, there was a vein of
sentiment. By the fascination of his style, he was able, in his various
writings, including his autobiographical _Confessions_, to
interest profoundly multitudes of readers of both sexes, and even to
move them to sympathy with himself in a career which deserves not less
abhorrence than commiseration. He was, perhaps, the first author to
evoke in others a genuine relish, which he felt himself, for the wild
scenery of nature. In his _Social Contract_ he maintained that
government grows out of a contract of individuals with one another, all
of whom in the state of nature are free and independent. He carried to
a great extreme an idea which in England had been held by
_Hooker_, and more explicitly expounded by _Locke_. His
doctrine furnished a theory for the political revolution in France. The
"Encyclopædists" went much beyond _Voltaire_ and
_Rousseau_. _D'Alembert_, _Helvetius_, _Holbach_,
advocated atheism and materialism. _Condillac_ (1715-1780) sought
to reduce this species of infidelity to an exact philosophical system
by tracing even conscience to sensation and self-interest. All
religious sentiment was condemned as morbid illusion.
II. GERMANY.
In Germany, the great name in philosophy is that of _Leibnitz_
(1646-1716), a rival of _Newton_ in mathematics and natural
science, and an eminent thinker in metaphysics, theology, and in
jurisprudence. In intellect and in variety of attainments, he is almost
the peer of _Aristotle_. _Wolf_ (1679-1754) his disciple,
systemized and modified his philosophical views. _Klopstock_
(1724-1803), the author of _Messiah_, written somewhat after the
manner of the _Paradise Lost_ of _Milton_, excelled the other
German poets of his day. _Frederick the Great_ treated with
disrespect the native literary products of his country. Yet a new era
in German letters and criticism was opened by _Lessing_
(1729-1781), a poet, and a critic of admirable insight, whose influence
in this direction in Germany has been likened in its power to that of
_Luther_ in religion.
III. ITALY.
In the eighteenth century, there was a new revival of literature in
Italy. _Vico_ (1668-1744) almost made an epoch in the scientific
treatment of history and mythology; in political economy and in
archeology, there were numerous explorers; Florence became once more a
seat of learning. _Beccaria_ (1738-1794) by his writings
introduced more humane views in criminal jurisprudence. _Volta_
(1745-1827), an electrician, constructed the instrument called the
voltaic pile. _Metastasio_ (1698-1782) fostered the melodrama, or
Italian opera, by his dramatic writings. _Goldoni_ (1707-1793), a
Venetian, was the most eminent writer of comedies. Tragedy reached its
acme in the works of _Alfieri_ (1749-1803), the founder of a new
school.
IV. ENGLAND.
In England, after the Restoration, the influence of French standards
in literature is obvious. The drama declined, partly from the earlier
antagonism of the Puritans, and partly from the rage for indecency
which infected the dramatic writers,--even those of much ability, as
_Congreve_,--and defiled the stage. The _Pilgrim's Progress_
of _Bunyan_ (1628-88) is written in a plain, unaffected style,
and is the most popular work of that age. In sharp contrast with
_Bunyan_ is _Butler's Hudibras_, a witty satire, in doggerel
verse, upon Puritanism. The principal writer, prior to Queen
_Anne_, is _Dryden_ (1631-1700). We have passed now from the
_Romantic_ school of poetry, in which Shakspeare is the most
exalted name, to the _Classical_ school. In the age of Queen
_Anne_, _Pope_ (1688-1744), with his vigor, without
elevation, of thought, his smooth versification and bright wit, is the
principal figure. The same period produced the labored novels of
_Richardson_ (1689-1761), and the vigorous and lifelike fictions
of _Fielding_ (1707-1754), which are, unhappily, disfigured by
coarse and licentious passages. In the early part of the century,
_Addison_ (1672-1719) and _Steele_ (1672-1729) were the most
distinguished essayists. In them, as in the novels of _Defoe_
(1661-1731), the author of _Robinson Crusoe_, and in the prose
writings of _Swift_ (1667-1745), the richness and idiomatic force
of the English tongue are seen; while in _Samuel Johnson_, the
literary dictator in the latter part of the century, the author of the
_English Dictionary_, of _The Rambler_, the _Lives of the
Poets_, and _Rasselas_, we have a striking and contagious
example of a stately, sounding, Latinized diction. In pleasing
contrast, as regards style, which charms from its simplicity, are the
writings of _Goldsmith_ (1728-74). In poetry, _Gray_
(1716-71), the author of the _Elegy in a Country Churchyard_, and
_Collins_ (1721-59), wrote little, but wrote well. The
triumvirate of great English historians of the century are
_Hume_, _Robertson_, and _Gibbon_. Gibbon's _Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire_ is a monument of masterly ability and
of vast research; a work, however, marred by a want of naturalness in
style, and, still more, by a lack of religious faith and reverence,
and by impurity of tone and allusion. _Hume's_ style is one of
his chief claims to esteem as an historian; for he was indolent in his
researches, and prejudiced in his views. He merited distinction
chiefly as an economist and a metaphysician.
PHILOSOPHY.--In English philosophy, there are several writers of
extraordinary talents and influence. _John Locke_ (1632-1704), an
upright man and a lover of freedom, wrote the celebrated _Essay on
the Understanding_, besides other important works in political
science and theology. He traced all our knowledge to two sources,
_sensation_ and _reflection_, ultimately to the first of
these. _Berkeley_ (1685-1753) advocated with rare genius an ideal
theory of matter, and defended theism. _Hume_ (1711-76) indirectly
gave rise to much of the later philosophy, by his acute speculations in
behalf of skepticism as to the reality of human knowledge and the
foundation of accepted beliefs. _Reid_ (1710-96) rescued
philosophy from the attacks of _Hume_ by the doctrine of "common
sense," and thus founded the Scottish school of metaphysicians. Among
the numerous authors who cultivated both philosophy and theology,
particular distinction belongs to _Dr. Samuel Clarke_ (1675-1729),
and to Bishop _Joseph Butler_ (1692-1752) who wrote briefly, but
with marked power, on the nature of conscience, and on the
_Analogy_ between religion and what we know of the constitution
and course of nature.
NEWTON: ADAM SMITH.--_Sir Isaac Newton_ (1642-1727), the
discoverer of the law of gravitation, made, through his
_Principia_, one of the most important contributions ever made to
the advancement of physical science. In 1776 _Adam Smith_, a
Scotchman, who had previously written on metaphysics and politics,
published his treatise on _The Wealth of Nations_, the first
complete system of political economy. He showed that money is not
wealth, but simply one product serving as a means of exchange. He made
it clear, that, for one nation to gain in trade, it is not requisite
that another should lose. Much light was thrown on political economy by
essays of _Hume._
V. AMERICA.
The most notable American writers before the War of Independence were
_Jonathan Edwards_ (1703-58), a great metaphysical genius, and the
founder of a school in theology; and _Benjamin Franklin_
(1706-90), whose writings, in excellent English, related mainly to
ethical and economical topics. As the Revolution approached, there
sprung up authors of ability on the political questions of the
day. _The Federalist_, written after the war, by _Hamilton,
Madison_, and _Jay_, in favor of the proposed Constitution, is
a work of high merit, as regards both matter and style.
NATURAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE.
The inductive method, or the "Baconian" method of observation and
experiment, began to bear rich fruits. _Sir Isaac Newton_
(1642-1727) not only discovered the law of gravitation: other
discoveries by him in mechanics and optics were of great moment in the
progress of those sciences. Fluxions, or the differential calculus, was
discovered independently by both _Newton_ and
_Leibnitz_. _Euler_, a Swiss mathematician of the highest
ability (1707-1783), contributed essentially to the advancement of
mechanics. _Napier_ invented logarithms, to shorten mathematical
calculations. _Huygens_, a Dutch philosopher (1629-1695), invented
the pendulum clock. _Gregory_ (1638-1675) invented the reflecting
telescope, _Halley_, an English astronomer (1656-1742), gave his
name to a comet whose return he predicted. _Guericke_ invented
(1680), and _Robert Boyle_ (1627-1691) perfected, the
air-pump. _Boyle_ was active in founding the Royal Society
(1660). _Volta_, by the invention of the pile called by his name,
and _Franklin_, signally advanced the study of electricity. In the
history of zoölogy, _Buffon_ is a great name, as is that of
_Lavoisier_ in chemistry. _Linnaeus_, a Swede, born in the
same year with Buffon (1707), attained to the highest distinction by
reducing botany to a system. The lives of the eminent astronomers
_Lagrange_ (1736-1813), _Laplace_ (1749-1827), and _Sir
William Herschel_ (1738-1822), outlasted the eighteenth century.
The radical improvement of the steam-engine by _James Watt_, a
Scotchman (1736-1819),--who obtained his first patent in 1769,--and the
invention of the spinning-jenny by _Richard Arkwright_
(1732-1792), are indicative of a new era of progress in the application
of science to practical arts and uses.
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY.
ENGLISH DEISM.--The religious debates and the religious wars of the
seventeenth century were followed by much indifference and disbelief in
the eighteenth. Weariness with sectarian struggles, and revolt against
the yoke of creeds, were pushed to the extreme of a denial of revealed
religion,--finally, in France, to a denial of the truths of natural
religion also. In England, there appeared a school of deistical
writers, beginning earlier with _Lord Herbert_ of Cherbury
(1581-1648), and continued through _Tindal_, _Morgan_,
_Bolingbroke_, _Shaftesbury_, _Collins_, and others. On
the other side, _Butler_, _Lardner_ (1684-1768),
_Bentley_, the best of England's classical scholars and critics
(1662-1742), and, later, _Paley_ (1743-1805), were among the
authors who defended the divine origin of Christianity on rational and
historical grounds. Of these writers, _Butler_ was the most
profound, _Lardner_ and _Bentley_ the most learned, and
_Paley_ the most lucid.
THE "QUAKERS."--During this period, the Society of Friends, "Quakers,"
was founded in England by _George Fox_ (1624-1691), who in 1647,
impelled by what he considered a divine call, began the life of an
itinerant preacher. He and his followers were subjected frequently to
cruel persecution, both in England and America. In exceptional cases,
they fell into extravagances of enthusiasm, interrupted public worship,
walked in the streets clothed in sackcloth, or in some instances
naked. They condemned war, practiced non-resistance, objected to oaths
and to a paid ministry, and set an example of the utmost plainness and
simplicity in speech and dress. Among their many converts were
_William Penn_, and their able and learned theologian, _Robert
Barclay_ (1648-1690). The Friends, by their Christian forbearance
and patience, their purity of conduct and their philanthropy, and their
tranquil piety, gradually won the respect of the other religious
bodies, who were at first offended by their novel tenets and manners,
and by the occasional occurrence of revolting manifestations of a
half-insane enthusiasm.
METHODISM.--Of the religious movements in Protestant countries,
Methodism is the most noteworthy. This movement was originated by a
little group of students at Oxford, of whom _John Wesley_, his
brother _Charles_, and _George Whitefield_ were the chief. Of
these, _John Wesley_ (1703-1791) united with intellectual ability
and cultivation, and religious fervor, a remarkable organizing
capacity. _Whitefield_ was an orator in the pulpit, of unrivaled
eloquence. He was a Calvinist in his theology, and separated from
_Wesley_ on account of Wesley's Arminian views. They were
nicknamed "Methodists," from their strictness of life in the
University, and their systematic ways. _Wesley_ and his associates
preached to the common people in England, including the poor colliers
and miners, with untiring ardor and surprising effect. Their converts
were very numerous, and were formed into societies under a definite
polity and discipline. The Wesleyan movement was much opposed in the
Church of England by those who stood in dread of enthusiasm. By
ordaining lay preachers and superintendents for America, and by putting
its chapels under the protection of the Toleration Act,--measures which
_Wesley_ deemed necessary,--Methodism became separate from the
Anglican Established Church. As a distinct body, it gained a. multitude
of adherents in England and America.
MORAVIANISM.--In 1722 a company of persecuted Moravian Christians was
received by Count _Zinzendorf_ (1700-1760) on his estate, situated
on the borders of Bohemia. They founded a town called
_Herrnkut_. _Zinzendorf_ became their bishop. The new
community was distinguished for sincere piety and for missionary
zeal. They did not in the least antagonize the Lutheran churches, yet
had an organization of their own. Some of them settled in America. The
Moravians never became a very numerous body; but their influence in
promoting spiritual religion and education, and in carrying
Christianity to the heathen, has been more potent than that of many
larger bodies of Christians. It was specially wholesome in Germany, at
a time when, under the auspices of _Frederick the Great_, the
French type of unbelief prevailed in the higher classes of society.
PIETISM.--Prior to _Zinzendorf_, _Spener_ (1635-1705), a man
of devout feeling, had given rise to the "Pietists," as the promoters
of a warmer type of religious experience than was approved by the
current opinion were derisively named.
SWEDENBORG.--_Swedenborg_ (1688-1772), a Swedish noble, a
mathematician and naturalist of large attainments, communicated, in
copious writings, what he sincerely professed to consider special
revelations made to him respecting God, the unseen world, and the sense
of the Scriptures. His adherents are called "The New Church," or
Swedenborgians.
THE JESUIT ORDER.--Under the influences that had sway in the eighteenth
century, the authority of the popes sank in the Catholic countries. The
spirit of innovation was rife. One of the remarkable incidents of the
time, characteristic of its tendency, was the conflict of Portugal and
the Bourbon courts of France and Spain, with the Society of
Jesuits. The Jesuits had secretly established, unobserved, a state
under their own exclusive control in _Paraguay_, a part of which,
by a treaty of Portugal with Spain, fell to Portugal. Other charges,
some relating to interference in political affairs, and some to other
and different grounds of complaint, led to the expulsion of the order
from all Portuguese territory (1757); and soon after, it was suppressed
in France and in Spain, and in several of the Italian states. The
Jesuit order was formally abolished by _Pope Clement XIV._ in
1773, to be again restored by papal authority in 1814.
ESSAYS AT POLITICAL REFORM.
RUSSIA: GERMANY.--The minds of men were unsettled, not only by the
prevalent tone of literature and speculation, but by governmental
changes and reforms. The disposition was to introduce French methods of
administration. _Catherine II._ of Russia (1762-1796) tried the
experiment of various judicial and educational reforms. _Frederick
the Great_, with more wisdom and consistency, introduced many
changes for the benefit of the industrial class. The most sweeping
reforms were undertaken by the Emperor _Joseph II_. (1780-1790),
after the death of his mother, _Maria Theresa_. His measures for
the reduction of the power of the clergy and of the nobility, the
closing of monasteries, and the weakening of the connection of the
Austrian Church with Rome, were of a very radical character. He himself
finally became convinced that they were too radical to be completely
realized, in the existing state of opinion among his subjects. Two of
his reforms--the abolition of serfdom, and the edict of religious
toleration--remained in force. The other changes did not survive
him. The attempts to impose his reforms in the Austrian Netherlands
provoked an insurrection. _Leopold II. _(1790-1792),
_Joseph's_ successor, suppressed the Belgian revolt, but repealed
the ordinances of his brother which had occasioned it.
TUSCANY.--In Tuscany, the brother of _Joseph II., Leopold,_ prior
to his becoming emperor, undertook likewise a great plan of
ecclesiastical reform in the same line as that of _Joseph_ (1786);
but there the opposition of the bishops prevented him from practically
carrying out his scheme.
PORTUGAL.--In Portugal, the house of _Braganza_ had ascended the
throne in 1640. _Joseph Emanuel_ (1750-1777) left the management
of the government to his minister, _Pombal_. His measures were
contrived to weaken the power of the nobles and the clergy. By him the
warfare against the Jesuits was carried forward. The fall of
_Pombal_, which followed the death of the king, led to the
abolition of all his reforms, which had the same fate as those
undertaken later in Austria by _Joseph II_.
LITERATURE.--See the lists of works on pp. 16, 395, 450, and Adams's
_Manual of Historical Literature_; SCHLOSSER'S _History of the
Eighteenth Century_ (8 vols,); NOORDEN'S _Europaische Gesch. im
18tn. Jahr.: Der Spanische Erbfolgekrieg_ (2 vols.); Lord John
Wakeman, _European History_, 1598-1715; Hassall, _European
History_, 1715-1789; Perlcins, _Regency_ and _Louis XV_,
(3 vols.); St. Simon, _The Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XIV. and
the Regency_ [an abridgment, 3 vols.]; Voltaire, _Age of Louis
XIV_.; PHILIPPSON (in Oncken's Series), _Das Zeitalter Ludwigs
d. Vierzehten_; A. de Broglie, _Louis XV: The King's Secret
Correspondence with his Agents_, etc. (2 vols.); A. Thiers, _The
Mississippi Bubble_; Morley's _Life of Voltaire_, and _Life
of Rousseau_.
A. v, Arneth, _Geschichte Maria Theresas_ (10 vols., 1863-79):
DUNCKER, _Aus der Zeit Friedrichs d. Grossen_, etc.; RANKE,
_Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg, and History of Prussia during
the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries_ (3 vols); CARLYLE'S
_History of Frederick the Second_ (6 vols.); Tuttle, _History
of Prussia_ (4 vols.); Von Raumer, _Frederick the Second and his
Times_; A. de Broglie, _Frederick the Great and Maria
Theresa_ (2 vols.); ONCKEN, _Das Zeitalter Friedrich
d. Grossen_ (2 vols.).
The _Diaries_ of PEPYS and EVELYN; R. Vaughan, _Protectorate
of Oliver Cromwell_; MACAULAY'S _History of England from the
Accession of James II_. (4 vols.); MAHON'S _History of
England_ (1701-13), also _History of England_ (1713 to 1783)
(7 vols.); BURTON, _History of the Reign of Queen Anne_;
E.E.MORRIS, _The Age of Anne_; Alison, _Military Life of the
Duke of Marlborough_; _Life of Marlborough_, by Gleig, by
Coxe (3 vols.); LECKY'S _History of England in the Eighteenth
Century_ (2 vols.); Froude, _The English in Ireland in the
Eighteenth Century_ (2 vols.); Mahan, _Influence of the Sea
Power on History_; Egerton, _Short History of British Colonial
Policy_; Seeley, _The Expansion of England_; Payne,
_European Colonies_; Lucas, _Introduction to a Historical
Geography of the British Colonies_; H. Walpole, _Memoirs of the
Reign of George II._ (3 vols.), and of _George III_. (4
vols.); J. G. Phillimore, _History of England during the Reign of
George III_.; J. Adolphus, _History of England_ [1760 83] (3
vols.); Wraxall (1751-1831), _Historical Memoirs of his own
Time_ (4 vols.). and _Posthumous Memoirs of his own Time_, (3
vols.); May, _Constitutional History of England_ [1760-1860] (2
vols.); STOUGHTON, _History of Religion in England from the Opening
of the Long Parliament to the End of the Eighteenth Century_ (6
vols.); TYERMAN'S _Life of Wesley_; SOUTHEY'S _Life of
Wesley_; TYERMAN'S _Life of Whitefield_; TYLER'S _History
of American Literature_; VAN LAUN, _History of French
Literature_ (3 vols.); MORLEY'S _Series of English Men of
Letters_; TAINE'S _History of English Literature_.
Schuyler's _Life of Peter the Great_; Catherine II., _Memoirs
written by herself_; RAM-BAUD'S _History of Russia_.
Histories of the United States by BANCROFT, HILDRETH, McMaster,
Bryant and Howard, DOYLE, Wilson, Laboulaye, NEUMANN, Fiske,
Schouler; Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History of America_
(8 vols.); Hart, _American History told by Contemporaries_ (4
vols.); Macdonald, _Select Charters_ and _Select
Documents_; Preston, _Documents_; Channing, _The United
States of America_ (1765-1865); Higginson, _Larger History of
the United States_; Goldwin Smith, _The United States_;
LODGE'S _Short History of the English Colonies in America_;
PARKMAN'S Series of Histories of the French in America; Frothingham,
_Rise of the Republic_ [to 1790]; Weeden, _Economic and
Social History of New England_; Palfrey's _History of New
England_; Sabine's _American Loyalists_; Bruce, _Economic
History of Virginia_; Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_
(1766-76); LOSSING, _Field Book of the American Revolution_;
Fiske's _Old Virginia_ and _Dutch and Quaker Colonies_;
brief treatment of epochs by Fisher, Thwaites, Hart, Sloane, Walker.
_Lives_ of Washington, by MARSHALL, SPARKS, IRVING, Weems;
_Lives_ of John Adams, by C. F. ADAMS, by MORSE; _Life of
Franklin_, by himself (Bigelow's ed.), by SPARKS, by Parton;
_Lives_ of Jefferson, by RANDALL, Parton, Morse; Tudor's
_Life of James Otis_; _Life_ of Samuel Adams, by Wells, by
Hosmer; _Life_ of Hamilton, by MORSE; _Life_ of Madison,
by RIVES; W. Jay's _Life of John Jay_ (2 vols.); H. Von Hoist,
_Constitutional and Political History of the United States_
[from 1759]; Sparks's _American Biography_ (2 series, 25
vols.). WINSOR's _Reader's Handbook of the American
Revolution_ (1761-83), a very useful work, gives the literature
on the subject (1880); Bancroft, _History of the Formation of the
Constitution of the United States_.
PERIOD IV. THE ERA OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. (1789-1815.)
INTRODUCTION.
CHARACTER OF THE REVOLUTION.--The French Revolution was a tremendous
upheaval of society, which brought with it the abolition of feudalism
and monarchy, and the securing of an equality of political rights. Its
immediate result in France was the establishment of a democratic
republic, followed by an empire resting on military power. Its
conquests, and the predominance of France, provoked an uprising of the
other European peoples in behalf of national independence. This
overthrew the French empire, and produced a temporary restoration of
the old dynasty. But the effect of the Revolution, in which the other
civilized nations largely shared, was the substitution, in the room of
the _medieval state_, of the _modern state_ resting on a
broader basis of equality as regards the rights and obligations of
different classes. In the Western nations of the Continent, serfdom,
and manifold abuses, civil and ecclesiastical, were abolished.
CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION.--First among the causes of the Revolution in
France, was the hostility felt towards the privileged classes,--the
king, the nobles, and the clergy,--on account of the disabilities and
burdens which law and custom imposed on the classes beneath them. When
_Charles Vll_. organized a standing army, and laid direct taxes to
support it, the burghers and peasants rejoiced (p. 328). The monarchy
was thus enabled to shield them, and subdue the great nobles. _Louis
XIV_., as long as he was successful, was sustained by the pride and
national spirit of the country. Yet his domination over the nobility
and the Church left the higher orders in possession not only of the
offices and honors which helped to fasten them submissively to the
monarch, but also left them in the exercise of the numberless
complicated privileges of local rule and taxation,--privileges which
were the growth of ages, and which laid on the necks of the people a
yoke too heavy to be borne.
1. THE LAND: THE PEASANTS.--Nearly two-thirds of the land in France
was in the hands of the nobles and of the clergy. A great part of it
was ill cultivated by its indolent owners. The nobles preferred the
gayeties of Paris to a residence on their estates. There were many
small land-owners, but many had individually too little land to
furnish them with subsistence. The treatment of the peasant was often
such that when he "looked upon the towers of his lord's castle, the
dearest wish of his heart was to burn it down, with all its registers
of debt." There was not a large middle class of land-owners, possessed
of farms which, although small, were yet adequate to yield them a
living. The clergy, besides having the whole management of education,
held an immense amount of land, seigniorial control over thousands of
peasants, and a vast income from tithes and other sources. In some
provinces, there was a better state of things than in others; but, in
general, the rich had the enjoyments, and the poor carried the
burdens.
2. MONOPOLIES.--Manufactures and trade, although encouraged under
_Colbert_, were fettered by oppressive monopolies and a strict
organization of guilds.
3. CORRUPT GOVERNMENT.--The administration of government was both
arbitrary and corrupt. Places in parliament and in the army, and most
higher offices, were sold, but sold, as a rule, only to nobles. When
parliament refused to register decrees of taxation, the king held "beds
of justice,"--a method of passing laws against parliamentary protest
(p. 299). Warrants of arrest and imprisonment--_lettres de
cachet_--were issued by his sole authority.
4. LOSS OF RESPECT FOR ROYALTY.--Respect for the throne was lost. Under
_Louis XIV_., the number of salable offices was incredibly
multiplied. In his last days, "in many towns the trade in timber, wine,
and spirits was taken out of private hands; nay, even the poor earnings
of those who towed boats on the rivers, of porters and funeral mutes,
were made a monopoly, and secured to certain families exclusively, in
consideration of a large premium." "Famine prevailed in every
province. The bark of trees was the daily food of hundreds of
thousands." The debauchery of _Louis XV_., and his feeble foreign
policy, tended to dissipate what reverence for royalty was left.
5. ABORTIVE ESSAYS AT REFORM.--The efforts at political and social
reform in France and in other countries, emanating from sovereigns
after the great wars, produced a restless feeling without effecting
their purpose of social reorganization.
6. POLITICAL SPECULATION.--The current of thought was in a
revolutionary direction. Traditional beliefs in religion were boldly
questioned. Political speculation was rife. _Montesquieu_ had
drawn attention to the liberty secured by the English constitution.
_Voltaire_ had dwelt on human rights,--the rights of the
individual. _Rousseau_ had expatiated on the sovereign right of
the majority.
7. EXAMPLE OF AMERICA.--Add to these agencies, the influence of the
American Revolution, and of the American Declaration of Independence,
with its proclamation of human rights, and of the foundation of
government in contract and the consent of the people.
8. THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE.--The immediate cause of the Revolution was the
immense public debt, and the virtual bankruptcy of the government.
CHAPTER I. FROM THE ASSEMBLING OF THE STATES GENERAL TO THE EXECUTION
OF LOUIS XVI. (1789-1793).
LOUIS XVI. (1774-92): THE QUEEN.--_Louis XVI_. differed from his
two predecessors in being morally pure, and benevolent in his feelings;
but he was of a dull mind, void of energy, and with an obstinacy of
character that did not supply the place of an enlightened firmness. He
had married (1770) _Marie Antoinette_, the daughter of the Empress
_Maria Theresa_. The vivacious young queen, as well as the
youthful king, at first charmed the people. But her disregard of court
etiquette, and her gay, impulsive ways, provoked the dislike of many
high in station, and exposed her to the natural but unmerited
suspicion, on the part of the people, that she had faults worse than
mere indiscretion. A great scandal connected with a _diamond
necklace_, which an unprincipled woman, the _Countess Lamotte_,
falsely asserted that the queen desired the _Cardinal de Rohan_ to
purchase for her, did much to make her the victim of gross defamation
(1785). Her forbearance towards unworthy favorites, and her
intermeddling in the affairs of government, in opposition to political
reforms, gradually kindled against her wide-spread disrespect and
aversion.
TO THE STATES GENERAL.--Helpless under the pressure of the heavy debt
and the deficit in revenue, the king called to his side _Turgot_
(1774) as controller-general of finance, a political economist and
statesman of remarkable integrity and insight. He set to work to reduce
the enormous and extravagant public expenditures, and to introduce
reforms for the purpose of increasing the public income. He proposed to
do away with internal duties on articles of commerce; to break up many
guilds; to abolish the _corvée_, or the hard and hateful
requirement upon the peasant to labor so many days on the land of the
lord; and to introduce a greater amount of local
self-government. These, and other wholesome reforms in the civil
service and in the army, excited the violent opposition of the nobles
and the clergy, and of the whole body of interested courtiers. The king
weakly yielded; the great minister was dismissed; and France lost its
golden opportunity to prevent infinitely greater calamities than any
which the selfish opponents of change dreaded for
themselves. _Necker_, a Genevan banker of far less financial
ability, was now placed at the helm (1776-1781). His remedies were not
radical; yet his movements in the direction of economy, and for giving
publicity to the financial situation of the government, provoked such
hatred in the classes affected that he had to withdraw. _Calonne_,
a prodigal and incapable successor, in connection with the increased
expenses of the government consequent on the American War, brought
things to such a pass that the king called together (1787) an
_Assembly of Notables_, not so much to get their advice as to
obtain their support for a plan of reform not unlike that of
_Turgot_. This necessary reform they selfishly refused to
sanction. _Calonne_ fled to London. _Necker_, to the joy of
the people, who built on him vain hopes, was recalled (1788); and it
was resolved to summon the States General, who had not met since
1614. To this measure the incompetence and selfishness of the ruling
classes had inevitably led.
THE TRIUMPH OF THE THIRD ESTATE.--The States General met at
Versailles, May 5, 1789. The clergy numbered three hundred, the nobles
three hundred, and the third estate (_tiers etat_)--whose plain
black dress was in contrast with the more showy costume of the higher
orders--numbered six hundred. A pamphlet of Abbé _Sieyés_, in
answer to the question, "What is the Third Estate?" declared that is
the nation in its true sovereignty and supreme authority. A contest
arose at once on the question, whether there should be three houses,
or whether all the members should sit together. The Third Estate
insisted on the latter plan. The Parisian astronomer, _Bailly_,
was their president. Among the members were _Sieyes_, and
_Mirabeau_, a man of great intellect and of commanding
eloquence. They declared themselves to be the _National
Assembly_; and they persisted, against the king's will, in sitting
apart until, at his request, the other orders gave away and joined
them. It was resolved not to adjourn until the nation should be put in
possession of a constitution; meantime, however, that, so long as the
body should not be dissolved, money should be raised by increase of
taxation, and the interest be paid on the public debt. The attempts of
_Louis_ to dissolve the assembly were firmly resisted by the
third estate, which was joined by _Talleyrand_, Bishop of Autun,
_Gregoire_, afterwards Bishop of Blois, and, of the nobility, by
the rich, ambitious, and unprincipled _Duke of Orleans_. The king
again yielded, and advised the nobles and clergy to remain.
DESTRUCTION OF THE BASTILLE: EMIGRATION OF NOBLES.--The aristocratic
party, on account of this victory of the third estate, and because
they could not trust the guard of the king, procured the substitution
for it of German and Swiss troops. The excitement caused by this
proceeding, and the news of _Necker's_ dismissal, led to a mob of
the rough Parisian populace, who seized weapons from the workshops,
and forced the surrender of the _Bastille_, the grim old prison
where political offenders had been immured,--the visible monument of
ages of royal tyranny,--which they razed to the ground. The heads of
_Delaunay_ the governor, and several of the garrison, were
carried on pikes through the streets by the frenzied crowd. The mob
wore _cockades_ on their hats; these became the badges of the
Revolution. This first outbreaking of mob violence had at once
important effects. _Necker_ was recalled. _Lafayette_ was
made commander of the militia of Paris, organized as a _National
Guard_. The _tricolor_--red, white, and blue--was adopted for
the flag. _Bailly_ became mayor of Paris. The king came to Paris,
and showed himself, with the national colors on his breast, to the
people, at the _Hotel de Ville_, thereby giving a tacit sanction
to what had been done. Then began the _emigration_ of the nobles
to foreign countries: the king's brother, the _Prince of Condé_,
and others high in rank, left the country. The vices which the nobles
had learned to practice at home were now to be exhibited abroad. The
passions of the revolutionary party were to be inflamed by the
suspicion of a complicity of the king and court with the plots of
their absent supporters, who strove to enlist other nations in the
work of trampling down liberty in France. The emigrants had some
reason to fear. Municipal guards were formed in various towns by the
party of progress. Soon there were risings of peasantry in several
districts. Individuals in _Paris_--among them one of the
ministers who succeeded _Necker_-were massacred. Nevertheless,
the emigration was a grand error. The danger at the moment was not
great; and, whatever the peril, the evils of desertion were far more
to be deprecated.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION: ASSIGNATS.--The National Assembly, at the
instigation of _Lafayette_, passed a Declaration of Rights, after
the pattern of the American Declaration of Independence. On motion of
his brother-in-law, the _Vicomte de Noailles_, the representatives
of the nobles, in an outburst of enthusiastic self-renunciation, gave
up their feudal rights and privileges. They liberated the peasants from
their burdensome obligations: the clergy relinquished their tithes; the
sale of offices and titles was abolished; equality of taxes was
ordained; all citizens were made eligible to all stations, civil and
military. The new constitution provided for one legislative chamber, to
which should belong the right to initiate all enactments. The king's
veto only suspended the adoption of a measure for two legislative
terms. The assent of the chamber was necessary for the validity of all
foreign treaties, and for declaring war or concluding peace. The State
assumed the support of the clergy. It was a _constitutional
monarchy_ that was framed,--such a system as _La Fayette_ and
moderate republicans desired. The essence of republicanism was secured
under old forms. _Assignats_, or notes, were issued as a currency,
for which the public lands were to be the security,--a safeguard that
was ineffective.
THE MOB AT VERSAILLES.--The delay of the king to proclaim the
constitution, the call of a regiment of troops to _Versailles_,
imprudent speeches and songs at a court banquet, stirred up the
Parisian mob, who ascribed the scarcity of food to the absence of the
king from Paris. A countless throng, made up largely of coarse women,
went out to _Versailles_, intruded into the legislative chamber,
and at night (Oct. 5) made their way into the palace, over the bodies
of the guards. The royal family were rescued by La Fayette and the
National Guard. The next day they were forced to go to Paris, attended
by this wild and hungry retinue, and took up their abode in the
_Tuileries_. To Paris, also, the National Assembly transferred
itself. More and more, _Paris_ gained control.
PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION.--The independence of the clergy, and the
judicial authority of the parliaments, were now extinguished by the
Assembly, The property of the Church was confiscated, as the salaries
of the clergy were to be paid by the State; the cloisters and monastic
orders were abolished; the clergy were to be chosen by the people;
there was to be absolute religious freedom; there was a new
organization of bishoprics; the press was to be free; France was
divided, for purposes of government, into eighty-three departments;
civil officers were to be chosen, directly or indirectly, by popular
vote; hereditary nobility, with titles and coats-of-arms, was swept
away. The equality of all citizens was ordained. There was to be
uniformity in measures, weights, and coinage. A uniform judicial
system was instituted, with jury trials in criminal cases.
THE CLERGY.--Thenceforward the clergy were divided into two
classes,--those who took the required oath to the constitution (about
one third of the whole number), and the "refractory" ones, who, in
accordance with the Pope's will, refused it.
THE CLUBS: PARIS.--While these constitutional changes were taking
place, the mass of the populace were becoming more and more excited by
vehement orators, who discoursed of human rights, and by inflammatory
journals. _Clubs_ were organized for democratic agitation, which
were named, from the places where they met, _Jacobins_ and
_Cordeliers_. The latter had for their head _Danton_, with
his stentorian voice, and the brilliant young journalist _Camille
Desmoulins_. The _Jacobins_ aimed later at the destruction of
the old institutions. The moderate monarchists, such as _Bailly_
and _La Fayette_, then formed another club (the
_Feuillants_). The municipality or commune of Paris was divided
into forty-eight sections, each with an assembly which served as a
theater for demagogical harangues.
FÊTE OF THE FEDERATION.--For a time the skies appeared bright. On the
14th of July, 1790, a great _Federative Commemoration_, or
festival of civic fraternity, was held on the _Champ de Mars_ in
_Paris_. _Talleyrand_ at the head of three hundred priests
clad in white, with tri-color sashes, officiated at an altar in the
midst of the arena. First, _La Fayette_ as president of the
National Guard, then the president of the Assembly, and last the king,
took an oath before the half-million of spectators to uphold the
constitution. Then the queen, partaking in the common enthusiasm, held
up the dauphin in her arms, and pledged his future obedience to the
oath. There was unbounded joy at what was supposed to be a new
millennial era of political freedom and brotherhood. The grand
festival awakened sympathy and hope in all the countries of Europe.
FLIGHT OF THE KING.--The hope of unity and political bliss, which
exalted all minds to a high pitch of emotion, proved, before long, to
be an illusive dream. The king was not ready to confirm the ordinance
respecting priests, which made them civil officers; nor was he ready
to declare the plotting emigrant nobles at _Coblenz_ and
_Worms_ traitors. _Mirabeau_, who had enlisted in behalf of
the king in a resistance to further measures for the reduction of
regal authority, and in behalf of a constitutional monarchy, in which
the legislative, judicial, and executive functions should be kept
apart, suddenly died (April 2, 1791), at the age of forty-two. His
death, caused partly by overwork of brain, and partly by dissolute
habits, deprived the conservative republicans and the court of their
ablest defender. No one like him was left to stem the current of
revolutionary passion, which threatened to burst through all
barriers. The Paris sections became more and more violent. They
hindered a proposed journey of _Louis_ to _St. Cloud_. This
determined him, against the urgent wishes of the queen, to escape,
with his family, to the army of the _Marquis de Bouillé_, at
_Montmédy_. But the fugitives were stopped in their flight, at
_Varennes_, and brought back in custody to Paris. This unwise and
abortive proceeding of the king, coupled with his formal annulling of
all that he had done in the two years previous, had for its natural
consequence his suspension from office. An insurrection of the mob, to
put an end to the monarchy, was suppressed by _La Fayette_. At
the end of September, _Louis_ swore to the revised constitution,
and was restored to the throne. The Assembly then dissolved, to give
place to another, which should complete the new political creation by
needful legislation: hence it was called
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (Oct. 1791-Sept. 1792).--It was composed of
seven hundred and forty-five members, mostly young men, among them a
number of eloquent orators. One-half of the body were advocates. The
National Assembly, by a kind of self-denying ordinance, had voted to
exclude themselves from membership in the new body, which thus lacked
the benefit of their knowledge and experience. In the Assembly, on the
right, were the different classes of supporters of constitutional
monarchy, the _royalists_, and the _Feuillants_ (of the
school of _La Fayette_). On the left, were the majority, which
steadily increased in numbers, and embraced (1) the _Girondists_,
or moderate republicans; (2) the _Mountain_,--so called from their
higher seats in the hall,--comprising the most decided democrats or
radicals. Here were the leaders of the _Jacobins_ and
_Cordeliers_. A few of the _Girondists_ were for going beyond
the constitution of 1791, in the direction of a republic after the
model of the United States. They were enamored of the spirit of the
ancient commonwealths. They were fond of recurring to the Roman orators
and historians. _Roland_, _Brissot_, and _Vergniaud_
were among their leaders.
THE PARISIAN POPULACE.--The populace of _Paris_ made
_Pétion_, a democrat, their mayor. In the Jacobin club were
_Robespierre_; _Marat_, who denounced fiercely in his
journal, "The Friend of the People," as aristocrats, all classes above
the common level, whether by birth or property, and the former
play-actor, _D'Herbois_. _Danton_, and _Camille
Desmoulins_, who belonged to the _Cordeliers_, took part in its
sessions. From this company, the _Girondists_ separated after the
fall of the king. The red Jacobin cap came into vogue as a badge of
republicanism, and the _Marseillaise_ as its favorite inspiring
song. Declaimers and journals were in full blast, stirring up the fears
and wrath of the people.
THE ASSEMBLY AND THE KING.--The Assembly passed penal acts against the
recusant priests,--those who refused the oath; and against the
emigrants, who were trying to stir up the powers of Europe against the
French government in its new form. These enactments were met by the
king with a veto.
WAR WITH AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA.--The authors of the French Revolution
have been so generally objects of execration, and so terrible crimes
were actually perpetrated in the course of it, that it is only just to
note the circumstances which explain the origin of these atrocities,
and which enabled violent leaders and wild passions to usurp
control. The efforts of the constitutionalists to save the throne were
balked by the exiles and the foreign governments. _Frederick William
II_. of Prussia (1786-1797), and _Leopold II_. the emperor
(1790-1792), in the Declaration of _Pilnitz_ (Aug. 27, 1791),
called on the other European powers to join them in aiding _Louis
XVI_. to establish a right sort of government. From Russia, Sweden,
Spain, and even Switzerland, there were not wanting manifestations of
hostility. The attitude of _Austria_ had the effect to bring into
power a _Girondist_ ministry. They wanted war as the best means of
attaining the objects which they had in view at home. On April 20,
1792, _Louis_ was compelled to go to the Assembly, and propose a
declaration of war against Austria. "The courts of Europe had heaped up
the fuel: the _Girondists_ applied the torch." They were not
averse to a crusade in behalf of liberty.
THE CONDITION OF GERMANY.--Germany consisted of a multitude of states,
of which _Austria_ (which had large territories not German) and
_Prussia_ were the chief, and were in constant rivalry. The Holy
Roman Empire kept up its name and forms. Besides smaller sovereignties,
as Saxony and Bavaria, there were two hundred and fifty petty
principalities, fifty imperial cities, and several hundred knights,
each with an insignificant domain subject to him. The empire was one
body only in theory. National feeling had died out. The Diet had little
to do, and no efficiency. Austria, which held the imperial office, and
included in its extensive dominions _Milan_ and _Southern
Netherlands_, had sunk into a "gloomy and soulless despotism." The
reforms of _Joseph II_. produced a ferment; but after the death of
_Leopold II_. (1790-1792), under _Francis II_., a sickly and
selfish ruler, a reactionary policy, inspired by the dread of change,
had full sway. _Thugut_, the minister of _Francis_, cared
only for the acquisition of territory: the people were so many millions
"to be taxed, to be drilled, to be kept down by the police." In
Prussia, _Frederick William II_. (1786-1797) and his people had no
feeling so strong as that of hostility to Austria, whose influence was
predominant in the minor states. Prussia cared more for getting
additional Polish territory than for helping the French emigrants. The
Prussian people were separated by rigorous lines into three
classes,--nobles, burghers, and peasants. The nobles were poor. The
lawful occupations of each class were prescribed by law. "The mass of
the peasantry, at least in the country east of the Elbe, were serfs
attached to the soil." The offices in the army were confined to nobles,
on whose absolute obedience the king could count. Blows were inflicted
on the common soldier as if he were a slave. In some of the other
Protestant states, the character of the government had improved. In the
south and west, the serfs had been set free. In the ecclesiastical
states, including the electorates of _Mentz_, _Trèves_, and
_Cologne_, the prince-bishops and canons were nobles, who led a
gay and luxurious life. Nowhere were poverty and wretchedness so
general as in the lands of the knights. The political life of Germany,
notwithstanding its abundant resources, mainly from the decay of public
spirit and the want of political unity, had become stagnant and
corrupt. Germany was almost incapable of vigorous, united action.
CONFLICT OF LOUIS AND THE ASSEMBLY.--There was no real union between
_Louis XVI._ and the Assembly. Troops of the National Guard, to
the number of twenty thousand, from the provinces were to encamp near
_Paris_. This measure, as well as a decree for the banishment of
the non-juring clergy, the king refused to sanction. The Girondist
ministers laid down their office. A mob burst into the Tuileries: they
put on the king's head a Jacobin cap, but he remained calm and
steadfast in his refusal to assent to the decrees. _La Fayette_
came to Paris from the Northern army, to restore order; but the queen
treated him with habitual distrust, and he fell under suspicion with
the radicals. He went back to the army without effecting any thing.
IMPRISONMENT OF THE KING.--Prussia had joined its rival, Austria.
_Ferdinand of Brunswick_, an officer trained under _Frederick
the Great_, commanded the Prussian forces. He issued (July 25) a
threatening proclamation to the French people. There were three French
armies in the field, under _Rochambeau_, _La Fayette_, and
_Luckner_; but the fire of the Revolution had not yet entered into
the veins of the soldiers. Military reverses heightened the
revolutionary excitement in Paris. The municipal government was broken
up by _Danton_ and his associates, with the mob of poor and
desperate partisans at their back; and its place was taken by
commissioners from the sections. An armed throng again attacked the
Tuileries. The king took refuge in the hall of the Assembly. The Swiss
guards fought bravely against the assailants, when they received an
order from him to cease firing. The result was that they were
slaughtered without mercy. The uniform composure of the king in the
most trying situations, and his conscientious feelings, were a poor
substitute for intellectual force. The Assembly voted to suspend the
exercise of his authority, to put him and his family under
surveillance, to hand over the young prince to the custody of a person
charged with his education, and to call a national convention to draw
up a constitution. The royal family were given into the hands of the
Paris commune, and lodged as prisoners, in apartments scantily
furnished, in the castle called _the Temple_.
MASSACRES OF SEPTEMBER.--The blundering of the royalists, their
intrigues, and the pressure of the coalition of foreign enemies, had
thrown the power into the hands of the _Jacobins_. The city
council, and _Danton_, the minister of justice, were really
supreme, although the _Girondists_ had a share in the new
ministry. _La Fayette_ was accused and proscribed, and fled from
the country. He was captured by the Austrians, and kept in prison at
_Olmutz_ until 1797. The news of the advance of the allies led to
the "massacres of September," when the prisons in Paris, which had been
filled with priests and laymen arrested on charges of complicity with
the enemies of liberty, were entered by ruffians acting under influence
of _Marat_ and the commune's "committee of surveillance," and,
after "a burlesque trial" before an armed jury, were murdered. In
_Versailles_, _Lyons_, _Orleans_, and other towns, there
were like massacres. The victims of these massacres numbered about two
thousand.
TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF THE KING.--The National Convention was made up
entirely of republicans. The monarchy was abolished, and France was
declared a republic. The Girondists had at first the preponderance in
numbers; but the Jacobins, led by _Robespierre_, _Danton_,
_Marat_, _Couthon_, _Fouché_, the _Duke of Orleans_
(who called himself _Philip Égalité_), _St. Just_,
_Billaud-Varenne_, _Barère,_ were supported by the clubs and
the city council, and by the savage populace of the sections,--the
_sans culottes_. The _guillotine_--a machine for beheading,
which _Guillotin,_ a physician, did not invent, but recommended
for use--was the instrument on which the fanatical revolutionists
placed most of their reliance for the extirpation of "aristocracy." The
energy of the _Jacobins_, aided by the general dread of a
restoration of the royalists to power, and by the fury of the Paris
populace, proved too strong for the more moderate party to
withstand. The king, designated as _Louis Capet_, was arraigned
before the assembly, tried, and condemned to death. There were seven
hundred and twenty-one votes: his death was decreed by a small majority
(Jan. 17, 1793). Through all the terrible scenes of the trial, the
parting with his wife and children, and the execution (Jan. 21),
_Louis_ manifested a serene and Christian temper.
VICTORIES OF FRANCE.--Meantime, in France the war was felt, and justly,
to be a war of self-defense. The enemies were a privileged class in
alliance with foreign invaders. Volunteers flocked to the field. The
troops under _Dumouriez_ and others had been successful. At
_Valmy_ (Sept. 20, 1792) the allies, under _Brunswick_, were
defeated. The victory of _Dumouriez_ at _Jemmappes_ was
followed by the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands (Nov., 1792).
_Savoy_ and _Nice_ were annexed to France. The _Scheldt_
was declared free and open to commerce, and _Antwerp_ was made an
open port.
CHAPTER II. FROM THE EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI. TO THE FALL OF ROBESPIERRE
(JAN. 21, 1793-JULY 27, 1794).
THE FIRST COALITION.-The execution of the king was the signal for the
union of the European powers against France. The intention of the
revolutionary party to propagate their system in other countries
afforded one excuse for this interference. The Convention (Nov. 19,
1792) had offered their assistance to peoples wishing to throw off the
existing governments. Another reason was the recent annexations, and
the proceedings in respect to the free navigation of the
_Scheldt_. The main ground and cement of the coalition was the
dread which the governments felt of revolutionary movements among their
own subjects, from their sympathy with the new institutions in France.
POLITICS IN ENGLAND.--The reason just mentioned was operative in Great
Britain. The revolution of 1688 had given power to a group of Whig
families and their retainers. To shake off this Whig control, which had
long continued, was a constant aim of _George III_. In _William
Pitt_, the younger, he found a minister capable, under the favoring
circumstances, of achieving this result. He was made prime minister in
1783, when he was only twenty-five years old. The king, in 1788, had
been attacked with insanity; and while he was thus afflicted,
_George_, _Prince of Wales_, who was unpopular on account of
his loose morals, ruled as regent. The regent affiliated with the
Whigs, but _Pitt_ retained his office. The leader of the liberal
party was _Charles James Fox_, a man of noble talents and generous
instincts, but notoriously irregular in his habits. The sympathy in
England with the Revolution of 1789 was widely diffused. _Edmund
Burke_, however, the great philosophical statesman, who had defended
the cause of freedom in the American War, was alarmed by the events in
France, and still more by the theories of human rights propounded by
the enthusiastic friends of the Revolution. These ideas were set forth
in England, in an offensive form, in the writings of _Thomas
Paine_. _Burke_ published, in 1790, his _Reflections on the
French Revolution_, in which he attacked as visionary the political
notions of the French school in regard to human rights, and denounced
them for their dangerous tendency. He separated from his party, and
publicly broke friendship with _Fox_. Pitt was personally averse
to war with France, but was driven into it by the prevailing
sentiment. The anti-revolutionary feeling excited by the news of the
death of _Louis_ moved England to an armed interference which
involved the most important consequences to all Europe. A Tory
minister, _Pitt_ was supported in the long struggle in Europe by a
majority of the Whigs. In the next twenty years, Great Britain, by her
military strength on the land, and much more on the sea, and in
particular by her wealth, freely poured out in subsidies to her allies
on the Continent, was a powerful, as well as the most persevering,
antagonist of France.
FALL OF THE GIRONDISTS.--The advance of the allied armies increased
the violence and strengthened the hands of the
Jacobins. _Dumouriez_ lost a battle in _Neerwinden_ (March
18, 1793), and fell back, through Belgium, to the French frontier. He
was in sympathy with the _Girondists_, and complained of the
doings of the _Jacobins_ in Paris and in his army. Being called
to account, he went over to the Austrians. This desertion weakened the
Girondist party, and put new force into the party of
_Jacobins_. At the same time, news came of a royalist revolt in
the West, and of conflicts between the Jacobins and their adversaries
in the cities of the South. Danton, who understood that "audacity" was
the secret of success, procured the appointment by the convention of a
_Committee of Public Safety_ (April 6, 1793), which was to
exercise the most frightful dictatorship known in history. A
"committee of general security" was put in charge of the police of the
whole country. The commune of Paris co-operated in the energetic
efforts of the Jacobin leaders to collect recruits and to strengthen
the military force. The three chiefs were _Danton, Marat_, and
_Robespierre_. There was a mortal struggle between the advocates
of order and the apostles of anarchy. The fate of the moderates and
Girondists was sealed by a great insurrection in Paris, and an
invasion of the Convention by an armed force. The violent party had at
their back eighty thousand National Guards, who hemmed in the
Convention. Twenty-nine Girondist leaders were placed under
arrest. Their party fell. The boldest and most reckless faction, which
had the Paris commune behind it, triumphed.
WAR OF LA VENDÉE.--Outside of _Paris_, in other parts of France,
there were risings against the Jacobin rule. The most formidable of
these was in the West, where the relation of the nobles to the
peasants had been kindly, and where the common people looked on the
violent proceedings at Paris with anger and disgust. Thus began the
war of _La Vendée_, a terrible episode of civil strife, in which
the people of that region were subdued, but not until after protracted
conflict and immense slaughter.
THE JACOBIN REVOLUTION.--_Danton_ and the other revolutionary
leaders showed a tremendous energy in their attack on both domestic
and foreign enemies. A levy was ordered of the whole male population
capable of bearing arms. A _maximum_ price was fixed by law for
commodities, and also for wages. The government paid its dues in
depreciated _assignats_ at the face value. Its emissaries were in
all parts of France, stirring up the people and forming revolutionary
committees. Thus a system of revolutionary government was everywhere
established. A new _constitution_, of an extreme democratic type,
was offered to the acceptance of the people. This dominion of the
_Jacobins_, it must be observed, was a second revolution. The
Revolution of 1792 was as different from that of 1789 as was the
proposed constitution of 1793 from that of 1791. The insurrections,
except at _Lyons_ and _Toulon_ and in _La Vendée_, were
soon quelled. The Jacobin rule was identified with the cause of
patriotism in arms against foreign invasion, and with antipathy to the
restoration of Bourbon royalty and misrule. In _Paris_, the
revolutionary tribunal was filling the prisons with the suspected, and
sending daily its wagon-loads of victims to the guillotine.
MILITARY SUCCESSES OF FRANCE.-The achievements of the great coalition
were not at all in proportion to its apparent strength. It was
weakened by mutual jealousies and inefficient commanders. In the
South, the Spaniards and Piedmontese did not profit by their
successes. In the North and North-east, the summer of 1793 was partly
wasted by the English, Austrians, and Prussians, in long sieges and in
dissensions among themselves. Meantime the French army was growing
stronger, and more and more on fire with patriotic ardor. The _Duke
of York_, an incapable general, was obliged to raise the siege of
_Dunkirk_ (Sept. 8, 1793). The forces of the coalition began to
retire from ground that they had won. At _Paris_, _Carnot's_
efficient management of military affairs gave France an advantage over
her foes. The Prussians were inactive on the Rhine; and
_Jourdan_, reinforced by a French detachment from that quarter,
defeated the Austrians at _Wattignies_. By the movements of
_Hoche_, the allies were driven out of Alsace. _Lyons_,
after a stubborn defense, was captured and savagely punished, and the
brave _Vendeans_ were completely defeated by _Kleber_ at
_Savenay_. Near the end of the year, _Toulon_, then in
revolt, was captured. At the siege, a young artillery officer,
_Napoleon Bonaparte_, first distinguished himself by pointing out
the proper spot for the planting of batteries that would drive away
the English and Spanish fleets, and by carrying out his project.
BONAPARTE.--Napoleon was born on the island of _Corsica_,
Aug. 15, 1769, two months after Corsica became subject to the
French. His family, on both sides, were Italians. _Napoleon_
himself never became so fully master of the French tongue that he did
not betray in his speech his foreign extraction. He was educated at
the military school of _Brienne_ (1779-1784), and then went to
the military school at _Paris_. His principal studies were
mathematics and history. He quickly made manifest his military
talents, and seems first to have aspired to gain distinction and
power, in this line, in Corsica. His connection was at first with the
_Jacobins_, although he afterwards denied it. He had imbibed the
ideas of the Revolution, and saw that in the service of the leaders in
the war there was opened to him a military career. He turned against
his patriotic countryman, _Paoli_, when the latter sought to
separate Corsica from France, at that time under the Jacobin rule.
THE REIGN OF TERROR.--The Reign of Terror had now established itself
in France. The Committee of Public Safety wielded absolute
power. Every man, woman, and child was called upon to take part in the
defense of the country. The property of all the "emigrants" and
prisoners of state was seized. Whoever was suspected of being hostile
to the established tyranny was thrown into prison. Even to be lukewarm
in adhesion to it, was a serious offense. Summary trials were followed
by swift executions. The tenderness of youth and the venerableness of
age were no protection. Day after day, the stream of human blood
continued to flow. A new calendar was ordained: Sept. 22, 1792, was
the beginning of the year _one_. There was a new division of
months; in the room of the week, each tenth day was made a
holiday. The commune of _Paris_, followed by other cities, began
a crusade against Christianity. Fashions of dress, modes of speech,
and manners were revolutionized. Every vestige of "aristocracy" was to
be swept off the earth. There was a wild license given to divorce and
to profligacy. _Paris_ was like a camp where young soldiers were
drilled, weapons were forged, and lint and bandages made ready for the
wounded. There were seen, even in the hall of the Convention, throngs
of coarse and fierce men, and of coarser and fiercer women, with their
songs and wild outcries and gestures. The commune of _Paris_
instituted a sacrilegious festival in the ancient cathedral of Notre
Dame, where an actress was enthroned as "Goddess of Liberty." There
were priests and bishops who abjured the Christian faith, and there
were others who adhered to it at the peril of their lives. The
prisons, which were packed with all classes, were theaters of strange
and thrilling scenes. In many cases, death, made familiar, ceased to
terrify. Crowds escorted the batch of victims carried on carts each
day to the place of execution, and insulted them with their brutal
shouts. The arrested Girondist deputies were executed. Some of the
leaders of that party, including _Roland_, perished by
suicide. Among the eminent persons sent to the guillotine were the
eloquent _Vergniaud, Brissot, Bailly, Malesherbes_ (the brave
advocate who had defended _Louis XVI._), and _Madame
Roland_; also the infamous _Duke of Orleans_, who had
intrigued to get himself raised to the throne. _Marie
Antoinette_, her hair turned white in the tragic scenes through
which she had passed, miserably clad, was dragged before the merciless
tribunal. There she was insulted with foul accusations which nobody
believed. After the mockery of a trial, she was carried like a common
criminal, in a cart, with her arms bound, to the place of execution
(Oct. 16). Her dignity and serenity, her pallid countenance, and the
simple, pathetic words uttered by her at her arraignment, touched for
the moment the hardened hearts of the imbruted spectators. Her sad
fate has blinded many to the calamitous errors committed by her in the
days of her power.