From the Rio Grande's waters to the icy lakes of Maine, Let us all exult! for we have met the enemy again. Beneath their stern old mountains we have met them in their pride, And rolled from Buena Vista back the battle's bloody tide; Where the enemy came surging swift, like the Mississippi's flood, And the reaper, Death, with strong arms swung his sickle red with blood.

After the battle of Buena Vista, General Taylor returned to the United States, his task finished. The exploit shed such lustre on his name that he was soon regarded as the fittest candidate for the Presidency.

[Sidenote: San Juan d'Ulloa captured]

[Sidenote: Battle of Cerro Gordo]

[Sidenote: American advance into Mexico]

In March, Scott's army of 12,000 landed at Vera Cruz. After four days' bombardment by land and water, the city and castle of San Juan d'Ulloa surrendered. General Worth was left in command at Vera Cruz, and Scott started on his march to the City of Mexico, two hundred miles away. Santa Anna, with the flower of his army, awaited him in the strong position of Cerro Gordo, fifty miles northwest. General Twiggs turned the Mexican left flank. On the following morning, April 18, the Americans attacked in three columns. Pellow advanced against the Mexican right, where three hills at an angle in the road were crowned with batteries. Shields' division, climbing by a pass, fell upon Santa Anna's right and rear. Twiggs and Worth, bearing to the right, covered the El Telegrafo Hill, and attacked the height of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna commanded in person. Carrying this position, they turned its guns on the retreating Mexicans. Caught between the columns of Pellow, Twiggs and Worth, Santa Anna's forces surrendered. The American troops thus gained the national road to the capital of Mexico. They had made 3,000 prisoners and taken forty-three cannon, with $22,000 in silver and immense munitions of war. They lost, at Cerro Gordo, 481 killed and wounded; the Mexican loss was 2,000. Jalapa was occupied on April 19, and on the 22d the American flag waved above the Castle of Perote, fifty miles beyond. Puebla, containing 80,000 inhabitants, was occupied without opposition on May 15. On account of the sufferings of the men in the hot climate, General Scott rested at Puebla for several months.

[Sidenote: Doniphan's exploit]

The authority of the United States was established on the Pacific Coast, after a final defeat of the Mexicans at San Gabriel. Colonel Doniphan of Kearney's command, having been left in charge in New Mexico, compelled the Navajo Indians to enter into a treaty of peace, after which he set out with 1,000 Missourians to join General Wool. At Bracto, a Mexican commander with a superior force sent a black flag demanding his surrender. On refusal of this summons notice was given that no quarter should be granted. The Mexicans then advanced firing; the Americans lying down to escape the bullets. Cheering, the Mexicans ran forward, when suddenly Doniphan's command rose and fired, killing more than 200 Mexicans. The rest turned and fled. Near the capital of Chihuahua, Doniphan, after a sharp encounter, dispersed 4,000 Mexicans. The Stars and Stripes were raised above the citadel. In May, Doniphan rejoined Wool at Saltillo. Then followed a long lull in the Mexican campaign.

[Sidenote: Slavery controversy revived]

The question concerning the power of the American Congress to legislate on slavery again came up in connection with the bill for the establishment of the Oregon Territorial government. In February Calhoun had introduced his new slavery resolution, declaring the Territories to be the common property of all the States, and denying the right and power of Congress to prohibit slavery in any Territory. Thus began the agitation which led to the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise. By the terms of an amendment offered for the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean, slavery was to be excluded from all future territory in the West. This amendment was lost, but the bill passed with another, incorporating the anti-slavery clause of the ordinance of 1787. Calhoun declared that the exclusion of slavery from any Territory was a subversion of the Union, and proclaimed "the separation of the Northern and Southern States complete."

[Sidenote: John Franklin's career]

[Sidenote: Long overland journey]

[Sidenote: The Northwest Passage]

In British North America a new era of home rule began after the Earl of Elgin took his oath as Governor-General of Canada in January. The imperial government abandoned all control over the customs of Canada. The building of the first great Canadian railroad was begun on the main line of the Grand Trunk system. Discouraging reports from the extreme northern regions of America at last confirmed the impression that Sir John Franklin, with the other members of his expedition, had perished in the Arctic regions. A romantic naval career was thus brought to a close. Born in 1786, John Franklin entered the British navy at the age of fourteen as a midshipman, and soon saw his first active service at the battle of Copenhagen in 1801. In the following year he was taken on his first trip of exploration to Australia by his cousin, Captain Flinders of the "Investigator." In 1818 he was a member of an expedition sent out by the British Government to attempt a passage to India by crossing the Polar Sea. His bold seamanship during this voyage brought him into such prominence that during the next year he was appointed by the Admiralty to command an expedition to travel overland from Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Ocean. During the course of this expedition he and his companions walked 5,560 miles and endured many hardships, of which Franklin wrote a thrilling narrative on his return to England in 1822. He then married Eleanor Porden, the author of the heroic poem "Coeur de Lion." In 1825 he was appointed to the command of another overland Arctic expedition. When the day of his departure arrived, his wife was dying of consumption. Lying at the point of death as she was, she would not let him delay his voyage, and gave him for a parting gift a silk flag to hoist when he reached the Polar Sea. On the day after Franklin left England she died. When he returned again he was knighted and showered with honors by various scientific societies of England and France. After serving as Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir John, in 1845, was appointed an admiral, and then another Arctic expedition to discover the Northwest Passage was organized. He sailed from Sheerness on May 26, 1845, and was last seen by a whaler in Baffin's Bay. Many years later a record was found on the northwest shore of King William's Land, announcing that Sir John Franklin died in the spring of 1847, and that the survivors of his expedition had attempted to make their way back on the ice to the American continent. To Sir John Franklin belongs the honor of the first discovery of the northwest passage leading from Lancaster Sound to Behring Strait.

[Sidenote: O'Connell's last speech]

[Sidenote: Death of O'Connell]

On February 8, Daniel O'Connell, the great Irish Parliamentary leader, made his last speech in the English House of Commons. The question on which he spoke was a proposed bill for the relief of famine in Ireland: "I am afraid," he said, in the course of this address, "that the English people are not sufficiently impressed with the horrors of the situation in Ireland. I do not think they understand the accumulated miseries which my people are suffering. It has been estimated that 5,000 adults and 10,000 children have already died from famine, and that one-fourth of the whole population must perish unless something is done." Failing in health himself, O'Connell went to Italy. At Rome, Pope Pius IX. prepared a magnificent reception for him. Before he could reach the Eternal City, O'Connell died in his seventy-second year. Lacordaire, who but shortly before this had pronounced his greatest of funeral orations over the bier of General Drouot, thus spoke of O'Connell: "Honor, glory and eternal gratitude for the man who gave to his country the boon of liberty of conscience. Where is a man in the Church since the time of Constantine who has at one stroke enfranchised six millions of souls?" When the body of O'Connell was buried at Glasnevin, it was followed to the grave by fifty thousand mourners, among whom Orangemen and Ribbonmen walked side by side. In England, O'Connell's death was regarded with a feeling akin to relief. There his persistent demands of "justice for Ireland" had come to be regarded with derision, bringing him the nickname of "Big Beggarman."

[Sidenote: Death of Thomas Chalmers]

[Sidenote: "Vanity Fair"]

[Sidenote: "Jane Eyre"]

[Sidenote: Jenny Lind]

Another spirit that won religious renown in England passed away with Thomas Chalmers, the great Scotch divine. As a teacher of theology at Edinburgh he wrote no less than twenty-five volumes, the most famous of which is his "Evidences of the Christian Revelations," a reprint of his article on "Christianity" contributed to the "Encyclopedia Britannica." In other respects it was a notable year for English letters. Charles Dickens had just published his famous stories "Dombey and Son" and "The Haunted Man." The success of these novels was surpassed by that of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." Three writers now made their appearance. Anthony Trollope brought out his "MacDermotts of Ballycoran"; Emily Bronte published her first novel, "Wuthering Heights," while her sister, Charlotte Bronte, at the same time achieved an immense success with her story of "Jane Eyre." These successes were more than rivalled by that of Jenny Lind, the great soprano singer, who made her first appearance in London during this season. Another event for intellectual England was the sale at auction of Shakespeare's house at Stratford. It was acquired by a united committee of Shakespeare lovers for the sum of L3,000.

[Sidenote: Jewish disabilities reconfirmed]

The oft-mooted question of the civil disabilities of the Jews in England was brought up again by the election of Baron Rothschild as a member of Parliament for London, together with Lord John Russell. The Premier, whose name was already identified with the cause of civil and religious liberty, made another strong effort to obtain the recognition of his colleague's claim to his seat. He was supported in this not only by most of the Whigs in the House of Commons, but also by three such prominent men of the opposition as Lord Bentinck, Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, himself of Jewish lineage. As heretofore, this proposed reform was accepted by the Commons only to be rejected by the Lords, now installed in their new House of Peers. Otherwise, Lord Russell's Ministry followed largely in the footsteps of their immediate predecessors. Palmerston pursued his wonted vigorous foreign policy.

[Sidenote: Don Pacifico affair]

[Sidenote: British retaliation]

[Sidenote: Palmerston obdurate]

It had been customary in Greek towns to celebrate Easter by burning an effigy of Judas Iscariot. This year the police of Athens were ordered to prevent this performance, and the mob, disappointed of their favorite amusement, ascribed the new orders to the influence of the Jews. The house of one Don Pacifico, a Portuguese Jew of Gibraltar, happened to stand near the spot where the Judas was annually burned. Don Pacifico was known to be a Jew, and the anger of the mob was wreaked upon him accordingly. On April 4, his house was sacked. Don Pacifico made a claim against the Greek Government for compensation. He estimated his losses, direct and indirect, at nearly L32,000. Another claim was made at the same time by another British subject, Finlay, the historian of Greece. The Greek Government, which was all but bankrupt, was dilatory in settling these claims. A British fleet was ordered to the Piraeus. It seized all the Greek vessels belonging to the government and to private merchants that were found within those waters. The Greek Government appealed to France and Russia as Powers joined with England in the treaty to protect the independence of Greece. France and Russia both made bitter complaint of not having been consulted in the first instance by the British Government, nor was their feeling softened by Lord Palmerston's peremptory reply that it was all a question between England and Greece. It was on this occasion that Palmerston made the famous speech harking back to the sentiment expressed in the old Roman boast "Civis Romanus Sum."

[Sidenote: Troubles in China]

[Sidenote: Bogue forts recaptured]

[Sidenote: A Chinese protest]

Next, new troubles arose with China. During the previous year riots broke out in Canton, by reason of a superstitious belief that a weather-vane on top of the flagstaff over the American Consulate interfered with the spirits of the air. A Chinaman was shot during the riots. The British had to interfere on behalf of the threatened Americans. The outraged feelings of the Chinese populace were allayed by a conciliatory declaration of Emperor Taouk-Wang, to the effect that the Christian religion could be commended as a faith for inculcating the principles of virtue. At the same time he sent a special commissioner, Ke-Ying, "amicably to regulate the commerce with foreign merchants at Canton." Trouble again broke out in March, when a small English hunting and fishing party violated the agreement confining them to the foreign concession at Canton. They were pelted with stones by the natives. Sir John Davis denounced this incident as international outrage, and, in disregard of the accepted treaty provisions, proclaimed "that he would exact and acquire from the Chinese Government that British subjects should be as free from molestation and insult in China as they would be in England." On April 1, all the available forces at Hong Kong were summoned to Canton. Three steamships, bearing two regiments of soldiers, convoyed by a British man-of-war, attacked the Bogue forts. The Chinese, acting under orders from Ke-Ying, made no resistance. A British landing force seized the batteries and spiked the guns. Next, the forts opposite Canton were captured without a blow. Without a shot fired, Canton, on April 3, lay at the mercy of the British guns. Ke-Ying accepted the British ultimatum that the whole city of Canton should be opened to Englishmen two years from date. The agreement was closed with this significant statement on behalf of the Chinese Emperor: "If mutual good-will is to be maintained between the Chinese and foreigners, the common feelings of mankind, as well as the just principles of heaven, must be considered and conformed with."

[Sidenote: Nicaragua coerced]

[Sidenote: Threatened intervention in Portugal]

A new phase in Great Britain's boundary dispute with Nicaragua was reached by a British squadron's abrupt seizure of the harbor of San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua's only seaport on the Atlantic coast. In regard to the demands made for the free navigation of the La Plata River, the Argentine Republic at last came to terms. The joint squadrons of England and France thereupon raised their blockade of Buenos Ayres. At London a conference of English and French statesmen, to which Spain was likewise admitted, had come to an agreement to interfere on behalf of Queen Maria II., in Portugal. When this was made known, Bandiera, one of the chief partisans of Dom Pedro, announced his submission. Nonetheless, Pedro's followers persevered, and on June 26 the Junta at Oporto had to capitulate to Pedro's army.

[Sidenote: German Parliamentary essays]

[Sidenote: Schleswig-Holstein issue]

In Germany, in the meanwhile, the agitation for Parliamentary government steadily gained ground. In Bavaria, where King Louis's open liaison with the dancer Lola Montez had turned his subjects against him, the deputies of the Landtag exerted their power to abolish the crown lotteries by a unanimous vote. In Prussia, King Frederick William IV. at last issued his long-promised summons for a united provincial Diet. A semblance of representative government was established. It was at this time that Frederick William became Elector of Hesse-Cassel. The agitation for a representative government grew. On September 12, the Liberals held a meeting at Orthenburg. Within a month the Constitutional party met at Heppenheim, in Hesse. At length a united Prussian Parliament, called the Landtag, was convoked at Berlin. The first question to claim the attention of this Parliament was that of Schleswig-Holstein. The gauntlet recently flung down to the German population of Schleswig and Holstein, by King Christian VIII. of Denmark, was picked up not only by the anti-Danish Holsteiners, but by the whole German nation as well. Little Schleswig, with its 160 square miles and 400,000 inhabitants, was claimed by every German as German borderland. King Christian at this time was failing in health. His condition had been aggravated by the recent great fire at Copenhagen, which, amid other costly properties, destroyed invaluable records of Icelandic literature, including more than 2,000 unpublished manuscripts.

[Sidenote: Death of Mendelssohn]

[Sidenote: "Songs Without Words"]

An event of like international importance was the death of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, at the age of thirty-eight. He was the grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and the son of the gifted Lea Solomon-Bartholdy, from whom he received his first piano lessons. At the age of ten he joined the Singing Academy of Berlin, where a composition of his, the "Nineteenth Psalm," was performed shortly after his entry. In 1825 his father took him to Paris to consult Cherubini, as to his future. Cherubini offered to take him as a pupil, but his father preferred to bring him up in the musical atmosphere of his own home. There the boy perfected himself as a piano player and wrote a host of early compositions. The overture to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was written in 1826, when Mendelssohn was but seventeen years old. Two years later his first opera, "The Marriage of Camecho," was given at the Berlin Opera. In Berlin, Mendelssohn became the leading figure in the propaganda for the music of Bach. Having undertaken a journey to England, at the suggestion of Moscheles, he gave a series of concerts there, after which he travelled throughout Europe. It was at this time that he wrote his "Songs Without Words," and composed the overture, "A Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage." After filling a musical directorship at Duesseldorf, he was summoned to conduct the orchestra of the Gewandhaus there. This proved an important turn in his career. In 1841, Frederick William IV. of Prussia invited him to Berlin, where he organized the famous Cathedral choir. Returning to Leipzig, he founded the musical conservatory in that city. The sudden death of his favorite sister, Fannie, gave him such a shock that he died within a few months after her. Mendelssohn exerted little influence as an operatic composer, but achieved the highest rank by such vocal compositions as the oratorios "St. Paul" and "Elijah," and some of his beautiful songs, which have become folksongs. Of his orchestral pieces, the most famous are his concert overtures, such as that of the "Midsummer Night's Dream," or "Ruy Blas," and his "Funeral March." The most celebrated of his piano pieces are the popular "Songs Without Words," the "Wedding March" and the brilliant "Rondo Capriccioso."

[Sidenote: Death of Marilhat]

[Sidenote: Gautier on Marilhat]

By the death of Prosper Marilhat, a young artist of great promise was lost to France. But a few years before, Marilhat sent no less than eight masterpieces to the Salon, but they were received so coldly that the young artist fell into a state from which death was a happy deliverance. Theophile Gautier wrote of him, "That exhibition was Marilhat's swan song, and the works he sent were eight diamonds." After Marilhat's death, some of his unfinished paintings commanded great prices. Thus his "Entrance to Jerusalem," at the Wertheimer sale at Paris in 1861, fetched 16,000 francs. Fifteen years later, at the Oppenheim sale in Paris, Marilhat's "Ruins Near Cairo" brought no less than 29,000 francs. It was as a painter of Oriental subjects that Marilhat won his most lasting distinction. Having travelled to the East with Baron Hugel, he remained for many years in Egypt, painted portraits of the Khedive and decorated several of the buildings of Alexandria. In an obituary article published in the "Revue des Deux Mondes," Theophile Gautier wrote: "Marilhat was a Syrian Arab. He must have had in his veins some blood of the Saracens whom Charles Martel did not kill.... One of the glories of Marilhat was that he preserved his originality in presence of Decamps. The talents of these two men are parallel lines, it is true, but they do not touch each other. The more fruitful fancy of the one is balanced by the character in the works of the other."

[Sidenote: Death of Oudinot]

[Sidenote: Death of Grouchy]

[Sidenote: Death of Marie Louise]

[Sidenote: Merimee and Dumas]

In France the dissatisfaction with Louis Philippe's government, as administered by Guizot, was steadily increasing. The Socialist party, led by Louis Blanc, agitated the country for reform. An appeal to Revolutionary traditions was made by the simultaneous publication of Blanc's and Michelet's histories of the French Revolution. At the same time, Lamartine brought out his "Histoire des Girondins." Napoleonic traditions were revived by a series of events following the death of General Drouot. In September came the death of Marshal Oudinot, the hero of Bitche, Moorlautern, Treves, Ingolstadt, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Ostralenka, Friesland and Wagram. Oudinot was wounded innumerable times and was twice made a prisoner. He bore a prominent part throughout the Russian campaign and that of 1814. During the Hundred Days he remained in retirement. For this he was made Commander-in-chief of the National Guards under the Restoration, and passed through the campaign of Spain in 1823, when he captured Madrid. After his death, Marshal Soult, another veteran of the Napoleonic wars, succeeded him as general commander of the French army. Before this, Marshal Grouchy had likewise expired in his eighty-first year. He it was who was held responsible by Napoleon for the final crushing defeat at Waterloo. There he failed to support his chief, when Bluecher came to the support of Wellington. To the end of his days, Grouchy insisted that Napoleon's orders to this effect never reached him, but it was held up against him that some of his officers on that occasion had vainly urged him to march on the sound of the cannons at Waterloo. On October 10, Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother and the quondam king of Westphalia, was permitted to return to France after an exile of thirty-two years. Late in the year, ex-Empress Marie Louise, Napoleon's second wife, died at the age of fifty-six in Austria. Never beloved like her predecessor Josephine, she lost the esteem of all Frenchmen by her failure to stand by her husband after his downfall and exile to St. Helena, and by her subsequent liaison with her chamberlain, Neipperg, to whom she bore several children. Other events of lasting interest in France, during this year, were the opening of the great canal from Marseilles to Durano, the death of Duc de Polignac, who helped cause the downfall of his royal master Charles X., and the publication of Merimee's "Carmen" and of "Aventures de Quatre Femmes et d'un Perroquet," by the younger Dumas.

[Sidenote: Austrians occupy Ferrara]

[Sidenote: Italy aroused]

Under the stimulus of Pius IX.'s apparent sympathy for the cause of national unity in Italy, as well as that of the teachings of Mazzini, the Italian patriots took heart again. One group, consisting mostly of the politicians and military men of Piedmont, centred their hopes in the traditional antagonism of the princes of Savoy against Austria. Charles Albert of Carrignano, whom Metternich had attempted to exclude from the succession, showed marked independence in his dealings with Austria. In 1847, the Italian question came uppermost again when the Austrian Government, on a new interpretation in one of the clauses in the treaty of Vienna, occupied the town of Ferrara in the ecclesiastical states. Pius IX. promptly protested against this trespass of his territories. The King of Sardinia openly announced his intention to take the field against Austria, should war break out. English and French warships appeared at Naples. In Sicily and southern Italy the attitude of the patriots grew threatening. Apprehensions of a general revolution throughout Italy at length induced Metternich to agree with the neutral powers on a compromise concerning the occupation of Ferrara. Lucca was united with Tuscany. Still patriotic passion seethed in Italy.

[Sidenote: Mexican campaigns resumed]

[Sidenote: Santa Anna outflanked]

In America, after several months of comparative inaction, the war in Mexico was renewed with vigor. On August 6, General Scott received reinforcements. Leaving a governor at Puebla, he marched on with 14,000 men. He met with no resistance at the passes of the Cordilleras. On August 10, from the top of the Rio Frio Mountains, the City of Mexico, lying in a fertile, lake-dotted basin, was in sight. The land around the city was under water, and the capital was approached by causeways across the low and marshy ground. The numerous rocky hills were all fortified. Scott passed around Lake Chalco to the southwest, and thence moved west skirting the south shore. Santa Anna, intercepting the Americans, took up his headquarters at San Antonio, five miles from the city. His position was flanked on the west by broken lava, and on the east by marshy ground. The ground was as bad as could well be encountered. Santa Anna sent orders to General Valencia, who held a fortified hill in front of the Americans, to spike his guns, destroy his stores and retreat, but Valencia refused. Riley, occupying a hill in his rear, took his intrenchments in reverse. He was cut off both north and south; 2,000 of his force were killed and wounded; a thousand with four generals were captured, and guns, stores and ammunition fell into the hands of the Americans.

[Sidenote: Battle of Contreras]

The divisions of Pellow and Twiggs were ordered, August 19, to storm Contreras. The line between that position and Santa Anne's reserves was cut at the close of the day, and General Persifer F. Smith at sunrise the next morning led an assault on the Mexican camp, and in less than half an hour drove 6,000 Mexicans out of the fortification. Shortly afterward General Worth attacked Santa Anna and routed the garrison.

[Sidenote: Churubusco]

The Americans followed to Churubusco on the road to the capital, where Santa Anna had concentrated his whole force. Here the river was protected by levees, the head of the bridge strongly fortified, and the stone convent surrounded by a strong field-work. The attack on the bridge and the convent was desperate. Pierce and Shields had made a detour to the main road in the rear of Churubusco. They struck the Mexican reserves, and all the troops on both sides were engaged. Worth and Pellow carried the bridge in time to save Pierce and Shields. The Mexican left gave way. A detachment crossed the river and threatened the bridge from the rear. Worth threw his whole force upon the broken line. Through ditches and over parapets they went with a rush, and the battle was won. The Americans lost a thousand men and seventy-six officers.

[Sidenote: Santa Fe captured]

[Sidenote: Mexican reverses]

General Kearney had left Fort Leavenworth in the spring of 1847. To him fell the task of conquering New Mexico and California. On August 18, Santa Fe was captured, and all New Mexico submitted. From Santa Fe, Kearney, with 400 dragoons, set off for California. Kit Carson, whom he met on the road, informed him that Colonel Fremont had conquered California. On learning this Kearney sent back most of his force, and with the few remaining pushed on to the coast. In the five distinct victories thus far gained over the Mexican army of 80,000, scarcely 10,000 Americans had been engaged, 4,000 Mexicans had been killed and wounded, and 3,000 made prisoners, and thirty-seven pieces of artillery were captured.

[Sidenote: Another armistice]

Scott again made overtures for peace. He had with him a government commissioner, Trist, who had already made a vain effort to secure peace. Scott accordingly advanced to Tecubaya within three miles of the capital, and on August 21 sent to Santa Anna a proposition for an armistice looking to negotiations for peace. The proposition was accepted, and Trist entered the capital on the 24th, where he remained until September 5. He reported that the American proposition had not only been rejected, but that Santa Anna had improved the armistice to strengthen the city's defences. Scott instantly declared the armistice at an end.

[Sidenote: Molino del Rey]

Scott had now 8,500 men and 68 guns. He moved, September 7, upon Molino del Rey (King's Mill), a group of stone buildings 500 yards long, forming the western side of the inclosure surrounding the rock and castle of Chapultepec, and 1,100 yards from the castle, which is a mile and a half from the city wall. Scott's purpose was to enter the city on the south, and he considered the castle of slight importance. He supposed that the battle of Molino would be a small affair. Worth anticipated a desperate struggle, and took up his position in the dark on the morning of the 8th. At 3 A.M. he opened fire with his twenty-four pounders, and his storming party advanced toward the point where the enemy's batteries had been, but their position had been changed, and they suddenly opened fire on the flank of his 500. After various contests, the fighting became a struggle for the possession of the Molino. A desperate and deadly fight took place. The southern gate gave way and the Americans passed in. The fight was renewed with bayonet and sword, and Worth lost a large number of the flower of his forces. At last the Mexicans, all but 700, retreated to Chapultepec. On the left the Americans were received with a murderous fire, which was long continued. Their whole artillery was then concentrated upon the Casa Mata and its works, which, after a desperate defence, were abandoned. Except as an outpost to Chapultepec, the position had no value. By Scott's order Worth withdrew his command, and left to the enemy the field which had been so dearly won. Of 3,500 Americans in the fight, 787 had fallen, including 59 officers.

[Sidenote: Chapultepec]

The Rock of Chapultepec rises 150 feet, and is crowned by the great castle. The northern side was inaccessible; the eastern and southern sides nearly so, and the southwestern and western could be scaled. A zigzag road on the southern side was swept by a battery at an angle. The crest was strongly fortified; ditches and strong walls and a redoubt were constructed at various points. The garrison numbered 2,000, and thirteen long guns were mounted. A select party under Captain Joseph Hooker seized the Molino, and at night Pellow threw his whole force into it. Two forces made a desperate assault on the intrenchments in front, united and passed the Mexicans and mounted the western slope. A party passed around the western front, which they scaled, and gained the parapet. Their comrades on the western side climbed the southern slope at the same time and joined the two. The whole castle was occupied. The Mexicans were dislodged and many prisoners were taken.

[Sidenote: Fall of City of Mexico]

The approach to the capital was difficult. It was by two roads, each along a stone aqueduct. On the Belen road the Mexicans were gradually pressed back, however, and the Americans entered the first work, where they were confronted by the citadel commanded by Santa Anna. A terrible fire rendered further advance impossible. On the San Cosme road the enemy was pursued to a second barricade, which was carried under Lieutenant U.S. Grant and Lieutenant Gire. Worth's columns pushed on. Having passed the arches, they began breaking their way through the walls of the houses. Howitzers were hauled to the roofs, and at last the main gate was carried. During the night a delegation proposed a capitulation. Scott refused to grant terms. At dawn Quitman advanced to the grand palace and occupied the Plaza, and an hour later Scott took up his headquarters there. Presently some 2,000 liberated convicts and others began casting paving stones on the soldiers, and it became necessary to sweep the streets with grape and canister. By the 15th Scott was in full possession of the City of Mexico.

[Sidenote: Flight of Santa Anna]

On the morning of September 14, Generals Quitman and Worth raised the American flag over the national palace, and Scott soon afterward reined up at the Grand Plaza, where he removed his hat, and, raising his hand, proclaimed the conquest of Mexico. Santa Anna's men afterward treacherously attacked the hospital at Puebla, where were 2,000 Americans, sick and wounded. They bravely resisted and were presently rescued; the Mexicans being routed by General Lane. Santa Anna, again a fugitive, fled for safety to the shores of the Gulf.

[Sidenote: Many reputations made]

Among the officers who distinguished themselves were many who gained a lasting reputation fifteen years later, during the American civil war; for instance, Jefferson Davis, Grant, Lee, McClellan, Beauregard, Sherman, Hill, Jackson, Hooker, Longstreet, Buell, Johnston, Lyon, Kearney, Reynolds, French, Ewell and Sumner.

[Sidenote: Premonitions of trouble in France]

Late in the year simultaneous risings against the Bourbon government of Naples and Sicily occurred in Calabria and at Messina. In the north a conspiracy against further government by Austria assumed the proportions of a national movement. In France the popular clamor for reforms grew to threatening proportions. Prime Minister Guizot declined to enter into any of the radical schemes for reform. In the Chambers, Guizot declared: "The maintenance of the union of the Conservative party, of its policy and power, will be the fixed idea of the rule of conduct in the Cabinet." Late in December the Chambers met but promised no reforms. Defeated in this, the opposition determined to voice its protests at a political banquet in Paris similar to those that had been held at Strasburg, Lille, Lyons, Rouen, and other cities. The government forbade the banquet. It was postponed until the nest year. Popular passions for the moment were appeased by Abd-el-Kader's final surrender to General Lamorciere in Algeria, and the reported end of the troublesome war with the Arabs.



1848

[Sidenote: Revolution in Palermo]

[Sidenote: Neapolitan constitution granted]

[Sidenote: Anti-Austrian riots at Milan]

[Sidenote: Northern Italy aflame]

[Sidenote: Revolt at Rome]

[Sidenote: Rome bombarded]

The long seething discontent of the lower classes in Italy, fomented by the national aspirations of such radical leaders as Mazzini and Manin, had reached its culmination by this time. The centenary of the expulsion of the Austrians from Genoa had just been celebrated with such enthusiasm throughout central Italy that Austria was forewarned of the storm that was about to burst. Metternich wrote to Apponyi, "The world is very sick. The general condition of Europe is dangerous." Communications passed between the patriots in northern Italy and the opponents of the Bourbon government in Sicily. On January 12, the people of Palermo rose in revolt. The government troops were driven from the city. Palermo was bombarded and fighting continued for a full fortnight. In the end the insurgents were victorious, and a provisional government was established. Other towns in Sicily followed suit. On January 27, revolutionary riots broke out in Naples. Threatened by revolution throughout his dominions, King Ferdinand II. of Naples and Sicily, like his grandfather, made haste to proclaim a popular constitution. A Liberal Ministry was called in on January 29. The city of Messina was still in full insurrection when the standard of revolt was raised in northern Italy. In order to deprive the Austrian Government of one of its chief financial supports, the patriotic societies of Italy formed a resolution to abstain from the use of tobacco, on which the government had a monopoly. On the following Sunday, Austrian officers, smoking in the streets of Milan, were attacked by the populace. The troops had to be called to arms, and blood was shed on both sides. Similar outbreaks followed in Padua and elsewhere. Radetzky, the Austrian commander-in-chief, proclaimed martial law. On February 15, the people rose in Tuscany, and compelled their grandduke to proclaim a constitution. In March the insurrectionary movement spread from Lombardy to Piedmont. The republic of Venice was proclaimed. The King of Sardinia declared himself in sympathy with the liberation of Venice from Austrian rule. For a while Pope Pio Nono showed similar leanings. On March 15, the Nationalists of Rome declared against the Pope. The National Guards joined in the movement. The Papal troops had to be called out to put down the revolt by force of arms. The hordes of Roman lazzaroni or beggars profited by the confusion to commit hideous crimes. The Pope created a high council and Chamber of Deputies with privileges of limited legislation, the Pope retaining his full veto power on whatever they might decree. But on April 29, after the Jesuits had been expelled from Sardinia, Pio Nono turned his back on these reforms, and returned to the conservative policy of his immediate predecessors in the chair of St. Peter. His definite refusal to declare against Austria provoked another insurrection at Rome. This time the revolt grew to such proportions that the city had to be subjected to bombardment by artillery.

[Sidenote: Spread of the revolution]

[Sidenote: Democratic governments spared]

In the meanwhile a revolution of far more serious proportions had broken out at Paris. Successful from the start, the contagion of its example had spread from France to most of the various principalities of Germany, to Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, and thence to almost every quarter in Europe. Few other events afford so striking an illustration of the modern cosmopolitan spirit that had arisen in Europe during the first half of the Nineteenth Century. The great revolutions of England, of America and of France, in previous times, affected the rest of humanity only long after their occurrence. The overthrow of Charles X. in 1830 gave rise to more or less abortive revolutions in Belgium, Italy and Poland, as well as some of the smaller German States. But the French February revolution of 1848 spread instantly to all the civilized communities of the world, except Switzerland, Great Britain, and the United States of North America. The exemption of these three countries, where alone true democratic forms of government prevailed, was in itself a revelation of the general discontent of European peoples. Other explanations in plenty have been given, every one of which contained its measure of truth. To Polish refugees the upheavals of this year have been in part attributed. The rise of the new national spirit in literature was revealed in Italy and Germany as well as among the Magyars, Slavs and Greeks. The apparently epidemic character of the movement found another explanation in the improved means of transit and communication, and the great development of the public press.

[Sidenote: Changes in Switzerland]

In the countries untouched by revolution internal progress kept pace with the continued spread of civilization. In Switzerland, the expulsion of the Jesuits resulted in the attempted secession of the seven Catholic cantons. This was frustrated by General Dufour's prompt occupation of Freibourg and Luzerne. The so-called Sonderbund of the seceding cantons was dissolved. In place of the former union of sovereign cantons, the Swiss republic was now reconstituted after the model of the United States of North America, as a union of States with a central federal government at Berne. The Swiss army, postal system and finances were put under federal control and a national coinage was established. The separate interest of the cantons found representation in the Staenderat, while the Swiss people at large were represented in the Nationalrath, the members of which were elected from districts apportioned among the cantons according to equal numbers of population.

[Sidenote: England unaffected]

[Sidenote: Insurrection in Tipperary]

[Sidenote: Queen Victoria in Ireland]

[Sidenote: Orange River territory annexed to England]

The people of England, though the stirring events on the Continent were brought home to them by so many eminent refugees seeking shelter in their land, held the issues at stake too well settled by their own great revolution of 1649 to find a sufficient incentive for another such movement. The popularity of the young Queen doubtless contributed its share to the stability of the government. The renewed demonstrations of the Chartists in London were merely co-incident with the revolutionary demonstrations abroad. Still the influence of contemporaneous events in Europe was strong enough to frighten Parliament into passing an act which made the utterance of seditious speeches a felony. A popular insurrection in Tipperary, Ireland, was made the pretext for once more suspending the habeas corpus act in Ireland. By the end of July the revolt was put down. Its leaders, John Mitchell, O'Brien and others were apprehended and tried in court for high treason. They were sentenced to death, but the Queen mitigated their sentences to transportation. A calming effect on Ireland was produced by the personal visit of the young Queen and her royal consort to Ireland. When she held her court at Dublin in midsummer, the most poignant causes for discontent were lost sight of amid wild demonstrations of apparently universal loyalty. A constitution on home rule principles was proclaimed in West Australia. In South Africa, Sir Harry Smith, the Governor of Cape Colony, after his successful termination of a fourth war with the Kaffirs, proclaimed the authority of Great Britain over the Orange River territory. The Boer settlers there under the leadership of Pretorius found themselves unable to maintain their independence. The adjoining lands of the Basutos were declared under British protectorate.

[Sidenote: Massacre of Multan]

[Sidenote: Punjab up in arms]

[Sidenote: Sikhs and Afghans join revolt]

Early in the year, Lord Dalhousie had relieved Lord Hardinge as Governor-General of India. Up to that time the British occupation of the Punjab had continued without material change. Now a new fiscal system was to be introduced there to settle up the arrears of Viceroy Mulraj of Multan. In April, Vance Agnew, a British commissioner, with a military escort of three hundred men, arrived at Multan to occupy the citadel as surety for these arrears. The British officers were admitted to the city, but as they emerged from the citadel they were attacked, and all the Englishmen were massacred. Mulraj called upon the Sikhs to rise against the English. A force of seven thousand British troops were sent against Multan. When they reached the city all the native troops turned against them. The whole of the Punjab revolted and a holy war was proclaimed against England. Lord Dalhousie rose to the occasion. As he left Bengal to go to the front he delivered a characteristic speech containing the historic declaration: "Unwarned by precedent, uninfluenced by example, the Sikh nation have called for war. On my word, sirs, they shall have it with vengeance!" The Sikh garrisons of Peshawar joined in the revolt, which was quickly taken up by the Afghans. George Lawrence, the British Resident there, was carried off as a prisoner. In the fort of Attock, Captain Herbert held out for a while, but in the end was forced to succumb. The first general engagement between Lord Gough and Sagr Singh at Ramluggar, late in the year, resulted in a drawn battle. On both sides reinforcements were hurried up wherewith to wage the coming year's campaign.

[Sidenote: More Arctic expeditions]

[Sidenote: Death of George Stephenson]

[Sidenote: Stephenson's career]

From England, during this time, two more expeditions had been sent out in search of Sir John Franklin. The first of these was commanded by Sir James Ross, the famous Antarctic explorer. The second expedition, while discovering no trace of Franklin, claimed that it had discovered the long sought for Northwest Passage. The science of astronomy lost one of its most distinguished representatives in England by the death of Caroline Herschel, the sister of the famous discoverer of Uranus. Besides her the necrology of the year in England included the two authors, Isaac d'Israeli, the father of Lord Beaconsfield, and Captain Frederick Marryat, the romancer of the sea; Lord Alexander Ashburton, the framer of the Canadian boundary treaty that commemorates his name, and George Stephenson, the inventor of the first practicable locomotive. Stephenson began life as a pit-engine boy at twopence a day near Newcastle-on-Tyne. Having risen to the grade of engineman, he was employed in the collieries of Lord Ravensworth improving the wagon way and railway planes under ground. In 1814 he completed a locomotive steam-engine, which was successfully tried on the Killingworth Railway. The locomotive "Rocket," constructed by Stephenson and his son Robert, which won the premium of five hundred pounds in 1829, offered by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, ushered in the greatest mechanical revolution since the invention of the steam-engine by Watt. After this Stephenson became a locomotive builder on a large scale and acquired enormous wealth. Another invention standing to the credit of Stephenson was one of the earliest safety lamps, but a committee which investigated the subject accorded to Sir Humphry Davy the priority of this invention. During this year Sir Austin Henry Layard published the results of his original researches of Nineveh and its remains. Macaulay printed the first two volumes of his "History of England," while Matthew Arnold brought out his "Strayed Reveller" and other poems. Elizabeth Gaskell published "Mary Barton."

Of the various expeditions undertaken in search of Sir John Franklin, the most noteworthy perhaps was Dr. John Rae's overland journey through the northwestern territory of America from the Mackenzie to the Copper Mine River. This opened up a vast tract of country to adventurous Canadians. Another lasting benefit was conferred upon Upper Canada by the reorganization of the public school system of Ontario.

[Sidenote: Peace with Mexico]

[Sidenote: Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]

[Sidenote: American expansion]

On the part of the United States the war with Mexico was brought to a close. The President of the Mexican Congress assumed provisional authority, and, on February 2, that body at Guadaloupe Hidalgo concluded peace with the United States. With slight amendments the treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10, and by the Mexican Congress at Queratero on the 30th of May. President Polk, on July 4 following, finally proclaimed peace. The Americans under the terms of the treaty evacuated Mexico within three months, paid Mexico $3,000,000 immediately, and $12,000,000 in three annual instalments, and assumed debts of $3,500,000 due from Mexico to American citizens. These payments were made in consideration of new accessions of territory which gave to the United States not only Texas, but Arizona, New Mexico and California. The war had cost the United States approximately $25,000,000 and 25,000 men.

[Sidenote: Gold found in California]

While these negotiations were under way, Colonel Sutter had begun the erection of a mill at Colonna on the American branch of the Sacramento River. In January one Marshall, who was engaged in digging a race-way for the mill for Colonel Sutter, found a metal which he had not seen before, and, on testing it in the fire, found that it was gold. The "finds" were sent to Sacramento and tested, with the result that they were declared to be pure gold. The mint at Philadelphia also declared the metal to be gold, and the President referred to the fact in his annual message to Congress.

[Sidenote: Influx of Gold Seekers]

Then the gold seekers poured into California. They arrived in multitudes from all parts of America and other countries—thousands tracking across the plains and mountains with ox-teams and on foot, and other thousands crossing the Isthmus with scarcely less difficulty, while around the Horn a steady procession of ships passed up the coast of South America and Mexico to the new El Dorado. In two years the population of California increased 100,000, and still the hordes of gold seekers came.

Wisconsin, the thirtieth State, was admitted May 29. It had been one of the first districts to receive the visits of the fur traders and the French missionaries, who went thither in 1639.

[Sidenote: Death of John Quincy Adams]

John Quincy Adams was overtaken by death in the midst of his career. On February 21 he entered the House and took his seat. Suddenly he fell to the floor, stricken with apoplexy. As he was carried to the Speaker's room and was laid on a lounge, he feebly murmured: "This is the last of earth. I am content." He died on February 23.

[Sidenote: His diplomatic career]

[Sidenote: Morse on Adams]

John Quincy Adams's long career is unique in American history. At the age of eleven he accompanied his father on a diplomatic mission to Europe, and early acquired a knowledge of French and German. When barely fourteen he went to St. Petersburg as private secretary to the American Minister, Dana. At sixteen Adams served as one of the secretaries of the American Plenipotentiaries during the negotiations resulting in the treaty of peace and independence of 1783. At the age of twenty-seven he was appointed Minister to Holland by President Washington, and afterward was Minister to Berlin and Commissioner to Sweden. After serving for some years in the United States Senate he was sent, in 1809, as Minister to Russia, where he remained till 1815. Then he was transferred to London, where he resided till 1817, when he became Secretary of State. His career as President of the United States and his subsequent Congressional life was honorable in the extreme. Yet Adams's biographer, Morse, has aptly said: "Never did a man of pure life and just purposes have fewer friends or more enemies.... If he could ever have gathered even a small personal following, his character and abilities would have insured him a brilliant and prolonged success; but for a man of his calibre and influence, we see him as one of the most lonely and desolate of the great men of history."

[Sidenote: James Russell Lowell]

During this year James Russell Lowell published his "Bigelow Papers," a humorous satire on the Mexican war in Yankee dialect, the "Indian Summer Reverie," and "A Fable for Critics."

[Sidenote: Death of Donizetti]

[Sidenote: Early operas]

[Sidenote: Prolific compositions]

On April 8, Gaetano Donizetti—who together with Rossini and Bellini formed the brilliant triumvirate of Italian composers in the first half of the Nineteenth Century—died in his native town of Bergamo. Donizetti composed his first opera, "Enrico di Borgogna," in 1819, while serving as a soldier in Venice. Three other operas followed quickly. His fourth, "Zoraide di Granada," was such a success that he was exempted from further military service in 1822. During the following six years he wrote no less than twenty-three operas, many of which were cheap imitations of Rossini. In 1880, stung by the success of Bellini, he wrote "Anna Bolena," which inaugurated his second more original period, which included "Lucrecia Borgia" and the immensely popular "Lucia di Lammermoor." The prohibition of his opera "Poliecto," while he was serving as a director of the Naples Conservatory, so exasperated Donizetti that he betook himself to Paris in 1838. There he brought out the "Daughter of the Regiment" and "La Favorita." After a few years he went to Vienna, where his "Linda di Chamounix," sung in 1842, achieved an immense success. Having returned to Italy he was stricken with paralysis from overwork in 1845. He never recovered. Besides more than threescore of operas, Donizetti composed seven masses, twelve string quartets, and a host of songs, cantatas and vespers, as well as pianoforte music.

[Sidenote: Death of Chateaubriand]

[Sidenote: New world inspirations]

[Sidenote: "Essay on Revolutions"]

[Sidenote: "Atala"]

[Sidenote: "Rene"]

[Sidenote: "Genius of Christianity"]

[Sidenote: "The Last of the Abencerrages"]

[Sidenote: "The monarchy under the Charter"]

[Sidenote: The poet's political career]

Another figure of world-wide renown was lost by the death of the French poet Francois Rene de Chateaubriand. Born at chateau Combourg in 1768, the scion of one of the noblest families of France, he received a careful education at chateau Combourg. Roaming about on the sea-shore and in the famous forest of Brezilien, the youth received his earliest impressions of the grandeurs of nature. Shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution he was sent to Paris, where he received a commission in the royal army. It was then he published his first poem, "L'Amour de la Campagne," in the Almanach des Muses. Dissatisfied with the revolutionary turn of affairs, he resigned his commission in 1790, and journeyed to North America. There he travelled extensively, seeking poetic inspiration from the wilderness and the primitive customs of the Indians. After the downfall of King Louis XVI. and the French nobility, Chateaubriand hastily returned to France and joined the army of emigres under Prince Conde. At the siege of Thionville he was wounded and went to England. By the time Chateaubriand recovered he found himself in abject poverty, and had to spend his days in bed for lack of fuel. In England, he wrote his "Essai sur les Revolutions," in which he compared the recent rising in France to that of the English Commonwealth. On the fall of the Directorate he returned to France, and became one of the editors of Fontaine's "Mercure de France." At the opening of the Nineteenth Century he published "Atala," an episode of his epic poem "Les Natchez," treating of the suicide of an Indian virgin, who sought death rather than violate a solemn vow of chastity given to her mother. In 1802 appeared the second episode, "Rene," a subjective story treating of the hapless love of a sister for her brother, full of a French form of maladie du monde akin to Goethe's Weltschmerz in the "Sorrows of Werther." During the same year, Chateaubriand brought out his famous "Genius of Christianity, or the Beauties of the Christian Religion," which achieved an immense success. It won the approbation even of Napoleon, who appointed Chateaubriand to diplomatic posts at Rome and Vallis. The execution of the Duc d'Enghien was so horrifying to Chateaubriand that he forthwith resigned his appointments. After extensive travels through Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land, Chateaubriand went to Spain, where he found inspiration at the Alhambra to write "Le dernier des Abencerrages." There, too, he wrote his story of "The Martyrs, or the Triumph of the Christian Religion," brought out in Paris in 1809. Less successful was his tragedy "Moses." In 1810, Chateaubriand published the famous political pamphlet "La Monarchie selon la Charte," which was made the basis of the subsequent royal constitution of France. On the restoration of the Bourbons he wrote another political pamphlet, directed against Bonaparte, which sent him into exile together with Louis XVIII. during the Hundred Days. On the return of Louis XVIII. he was made a member of State, a peer of France, and member of the French Academy. In 1820 he was sent as ambassador to Berlin and then to London, from where he was recalled into the Cabinet. Crowded out of the Cabinet by Villele, he became one of the leaders of the opposition. In 1828, he went on another diplomatic mission to Rome. The rest of his life was uneventful. Shortly before his death he brought out his complete works, including his latest "Etudes Historiques." A posthumous work was his "Memoires d'Outre-Tombe," containing the famous comparison between the characters of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte.

[Sidenote: Paris reform banquet]

[Sidenote: Ministry impeached]

In the French Chambers, early in February, a great debate had been held on the Reform Bill. Guizot, the Prime Minister, held firm in his opposition to all the proposed reforms. It was now proposed to hold the reform banquet, that had repeatedly been prohibited and postponed, on February 22. The banquet was once more interdicted, and it was announced that any unlawful assemblage would be dispersed by force. Thereupon the banquet was abandoned. The evening papers declared that the deputies of the opposition had agreed to abstain from the proposed manifestation. A manifesto published by the "Journal National" was the cause of a noisy demonstration in the streets of the 12th Arrondissement. The National Guards were called out. On the same day fifty-two deputies of the Left laid before the Chambers a bill of impeachment against the Ministry. The King and his advisers were in a state of blind security.

[Sidenote: Street demonstrations]

[Sidenote: National Guard disaffected]

On the morning of the eventful 22d of February, the Parisian populace congregated by thousands near the Madeleine and the Rue Royale, shouting "Vive la reforme; a bas les ministres!" and singing the "Marseillaise." No troops made their appearance; but encounters occurred at several points between the mob and the municipal guards. Still the day passed over without serious hostilities. On the next day, the National Guards of Paris were called out. Their cry, as they marched through the different quarters of the city, was "Vive la reforme!" This emboldened the leaders of the revolutionists. The members of the secret societies flew to arms; and in the skirmishes which followed between the populace and the regular troops, the National Guard everywhere interfered in favor of the former. Thus confronted, officers and soldiers hesitated to commit a general assault upon their fellow citizens. They allowed themselves to be reduced to inaction. The insurrection thus triumphed almost without actual strife.

[Sidenote: Fall of Guizot's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Barricades erected]

[Sidenote: Thiers' manifesto]

[Sidenote: The last stroke]

[Sidenote: Louis Philippe succumbs]

The King at length became acquainted with the true situation. In the afternoon of the 23d, Guizot tendered his resignation, which was promptly accepted, and published as an act of satisfaction on the part of the King to the demands of the people. Count Mole was charged with the formation of a new Ministry. It was now generally expected that tranquillity would be at once restored. But late at night the detachment of troops posted at the Office of Foreign Affairs was attacked by a band of rioters. The commanding officer ordered them to fire, and several persons in the crowd were shot down. Their dead bodies were paraded through the city. This spectacle raised the indignation of the multitude to the highest pitch. Fresh barricades were erected in all the most populous quarters of the city, and the soldiers, stupefied and panic-struck, renounced all further opposition to the revolt. The King now named Marshal Bugeaud to the supreme command of the whole military force at Paris. Mole having declined the task of constructing a Ministry, the King summoned Thiers to the head of affairs. This statesman, in conjunction with Odillon-Barrot, immediately issued a proclamation announcing their appointment as Ministers, and stating that orders had been given to the troops to withdraw and abandon the contest. This gave the last blow to the monarchy of Louis Philippe. Marshal Bugeaud resigned his command. The soldiers quitted their ranks, giving up arms and ammunition to the insurgents. The National Guard openly joined the masses of the people and marched with them upon the Tuileries. The catastrophe was now inevitable. Louis Philippe, feeling that all was lost, signed an act of abdication in favor of his grandson the Comte de Paris, and withdrew to St. Cloud.

[Sidenote: Mob invades the Chamber]

An attempt was made to obtain the recognition of the Duchess of Orleans as regent, and thus to preserve the throne to the heir of Louis Philippe, according to the terms of his abdication. The Duchess went to the Chamber of Deputies, holding by the hand her sons the Comte de Paris and the Duc de Chartres. They took their seats in front of the tribune. More than one member spoke earnestly in favor of the regency. In the midst of the debate the Chamber was invaded by a tumultuous throng of armed men. One of them was Arnold Boecklin, the Swiss artist, who subsequently rose to highest rank among the painters of the Nineteenth Century. Marie, a violent Republican, ascending the tribune, announced that the first duty of the Legislature was to appoint a strong provisional government capable of re-establishing public confidence and order. Cremieux, Ledru-Rollin and Lamartine in turn insisted on a new government and constitution to be sanctioned by the sovereign people. The proposition was hailed with tumultuous acclamations. The Duchess of Orleans and her children retired precipitately.

[Sidenote: Provisional Government formed]

[Sidenote: Fulsome promises]

[Sidenote: Proclamation of French Republic]

The Republicans remained masters of the field. A provisional government was forthwith nominated. It included the poet Lamartine, Ledru-Rollin, Garnier-Pages and Arago. While the mob was searching the Hotel de Ville these men conferred in a small out-of-the-way chamber behind locked doors. Louis Blanc, the great socialistic writer, and one Albert, a locksmith, were added to the provisional government. Every half hour Lamartine had to confront some new crowd of rioters preferring fresh claims. The confusion lasted several days. Throughout this time more barricades were thrown up, until the government gained a breathing space by a promise to distribute one million francs among the laboring men. Louis Blanc and Ledru-Rollin signed another decree whereby they pledged the government to furnish every Frenchman with work. With the help of National Guardsmen, and an organized body of students, Caussidiere, the new police prefect, succeeded at last in keeping the mob out of the Hotel de Ville and the Palais Bourbon. On February 27, the Republic was formally proclaimed from the Place de la Bastille. The barricades were levelled and the crowds that had surged through the streets of Paris gradually dispersed. Throughout France the Republic was accepted without serious opposition.

[Sidenote: Flight of royal family]

For a while it was feared that Louis Philippe's sons in Algiers, the Duke d'Aumale and Prince de Joinville, who commanded the French army and navy, disposing of more than a hundred thousand men, might make a stroke on their father's behalf. This hope of the Royalists was doomed to disappointment. Both princes resigned their command, to be succeeded by General Cavignac, who took charge of the forces in the name of the French Republic. The other members of the dynasty accomplished their escape from France amid many curious adventures. After leaving Paris the party separated so as to avoid suspicion. Louis Philippe and the Queen with a few attendants fled to Honfleur, where they lay for nearly a week in concealment. At length the packet steamer "Express" was placed at their disposal by the British Government. On March 4, Louis Philippe, having assumed the name of William Smith, landed at Newhaven in Sussex. With the Queen he proceeded to Claremont, a country-seat belonging to his son-in-law, King Leopold of Belgium. The Duke of Montpensier with the Duchess of Nemours fled to Belgium, as did the Duchess of Orleans.

[Sidenote: English Chartists encouraged]

[Sidenote: Inflammatory speeches]

[Sidenote: London ready for revolution]

[Sidenote: Rioters discouraged]

The French Revolution gave quickening impulse to the Chartist movement in England. Feargus O'Connor had been returned at the General Election of 1847 as member for Nottingham. He threw himself into a renewal of the agitation with all the strength and vigor of a madman. A National Convention was summoned, and it was determined that another monster petition should be carried to the House of Commons, to be followed by a procession of half a million persons. The idea got abroad that a revolution might break out in London on the presentation of the petition. Ernest Jones had exclaimed on Kensington Common, "Never fear the vile men of the law; the police, the troops, sympathize with you. Down with the Ministry! Dissolve the Parliament! The Charter, and no surrender!" At the National Convention, Vernon declared: "If a few hundreds do fall on each side, they will only be the casualties in a mighty movement." On April 10 a great demonstration was to be held on Kensington Common. In anticipation, special constables to the number of 170,000 were sworn in to keep the peace; troops were quartered in the houses of the main thoroughfares; two thousand stands of arms were supplied to the officials of the General Post-Office; the Custom House, Bank, Exchange, and other public buildings were similarly equipped; the Admiralty was garrisoned by a body of marines, and the Tower guns were mounted. On the eventful morning, London assumed a military guise such as it had never worn before. Traffic was suspended along the streets for fear that the vehicles should be employed, as in France, in the construction of barricades. Finally a proclamation was issued warning people against collecting for disorderly purposes. The military arrangements were in the hands of the Duke of Wellington. Owing to these thorough precautions the threatened mass meeting collapsed. The procession was never held. The whole affair was covered with ridicule. The "monster petition" was found to contain not six million signatures as was alleged, but only 1,975,469, and many of these proved to be fictitious, whole sheets being found to be in the same handwriting, and containing such names as Victoria Rex, Prince Albert, Punch, and so forth.

[Sidenote: Collapse of Chartism]

[Sidenote: End of Feargus O'Connor]

In the words of a contemporary, "Chartism had received its death-blow. O'Brien, Vincent, and others endeavored to revive it, but in vain. Its members fell off in disappointment and allied themselves with reformers of greater moderation, and Feargus O'Connor, who for ten years had madly spent his force and energy in carrying forward the movement, gave it up in despair. Everything he had touched had proved a failure. From being an object of terror, Chartism had become an object of ridicule. O'Connor took the matter so much to heart that he soon became an inmate of a lunatic asylum, and never recovered his reason."

[Sidenote: Progress of Italian Revolution]

[Sidenote: Austrians driven northward]

[Sidenote: Radetzky seeks refuge]

All Italy now, from the southern shores of Sicily to the Alps, was in a blaze of insurrection. Venice, Piedmont and Lombardy were in arms. Charles Albert, the King of Sardinia, put himself at the head of the movement in northern Italy. From all parts of Italy volunteers crowded to his banners. In defiance of the Pope's orders a compact body of these volunteers marched from Rome. Radetzky, the Austrian commander, a veteran of all the Austrian wars since the outbreak of the French Revolution, had long prepared for this struggle by formidable fortifications at Verona. When Milan revolted and the Austrian Vice-Governor, O'Donnell, was captured, Radetzky evacuated the city at the approach of Charles Albert's army from Piedmont. His outlying garrison was cut off by the Italians. Preferring the loss of Milan to a possible annihilation of the army, Radetzky fell back upon Verona. On the banks of the Adige, about twenty-five miles east of the Mincio, he rapidly concentrated all available forces, while the Italians threw up intrenchments on the Mincio. There, with the armies of Piedmont and Lombardy in front of him and the revolutionary forces of Venice behind him, Radetzky stubbornly held his ground. Nothing remained to Austria on Italian ground but Verona and the neighboring fortresses on the Adige and Mincio.

[Sidenote: Kossuth's appeal]

[Sidenote: Magyar Constitution proclaimed]

[Sidenote: Stocks fall in Vienna]

The Austrian Empire itself, by this time, was shaken to its foundations. When the news of the February Revolution in Paris reached Austria the Magyar Diet was in session in Hungary. The success of the revolutionists in France inflamed the Liberal leaders in Hungary. Casting aside all reserve, Kossuth declared in the Diet: "From the charnel house of the Viennese system a poison-laden atmosphere steals over us. It would paralyze our nerves and pin us down when we might soar. The future of Hungary can never be secured while Austria maintains a system of government in direct antagonism to every constitutional principle. Our task is to found a happier future on the brotherhood of all the races in Austria. For a union enforced by bayonets and police spies let us substitute the enduring bond of a free constitution!" On March 3, the Hungarian Lower House triumphantly passed a resolution to that effect. The cry for a liberal constitution was instantly taken up in the other dominions of Austria. It so happened that the Provincial Estates of Lower Austria were to meet about this time. It was planned that an address embodying demands similar to those of Hungary should be forwarded to the Emperor by this assembly. The political agitation in Vienna became feverish. The students indulged in noisy demonstrations. Rumors of the impending repudiation of the paper currency and of State bankruptcy made matters worse. A sharp decline in stocks showed Metternich that a public catastrophe was near at hand.

[Sidenote: Viennese Diet stormed]

[Sidenote: Fighting in the street]

[Sidenote: Imperial palace invaded]

[Sidenote: Downfall of Metternich]

On March 13, the Provincial Diet met. Dense crowds surged about the Diet Hall. The students marched around in procession. Street orators harangued the crowds. The tumult was at its height when a slip of paper was let down from one of the windows of the hall, stating that the Diet was inclining to half measures. An announcement to this effect was received with a roar of fury. The mob overran the guards and burst into the Diet Hall. All debate was stopped, and the leading members of the Estates were forced to head a deputation to the Emperor's palace to exact a hearing. All the approaches to the palace were choked with people. Street fighting had already begun. Detachments of soldiers were hurried to the palace and to the Diet Hall. From the roof and windows of the Diet Hall missiles were hurled upon the soldiery. The interior of the Hall was demolished. The soldiers now fired a volley and cleared the Hall with their bayonets. Blood flowed freely and many were killed. The sound of the shots was received by the crowds around the palace with howls of rage. The whole city was in an uproar. Barricades were thrown up and the gunsmith shops were sacked. At the palace, where the Emperor himself remained invisible, Metternich and his assembled Council received the deputation in state. The Council urged the aged Prime Minister to grant the demanded concession. At length he withdrew into an adjoining chamber to draft an order annulling the censorship of the press. While he was thus engaged the cry was raised, "Down with Metternich!" The deputies in the Council Chamber peremptorily demanded his dismissal. When the old statesman returned he found himself abandoned even by his colleagues. Metternich realized that the end had come. He made a brief farewell speech, marked by all the dignity and self-possession of his greatest days, and left the Council Chamber to announce his resignation to the Emperor.

[Sidenote: Quiet restored]

[Sidenote: Hungarian demands]

[Sidenote: Kossuth in Vienna]

[Sidenote: Demonstrations of enthusiasm]

The news of Metternich's downfall was received with deafening cheers. His personality was so closely identified with all that was most hateful in Austrian politics that the mere announcement of his resignation sufficed to quell the popular tumult. On the night of March 14, Metternich contrived to escape from Vienna unobserved, and fled across the frontier. On the same day a National Guard was established in Vienna, and was supplied with arms taken from the government arsenal. The Viennese outbreak gave irresistible force to the national movement in Hungary. Now the Chamber of Magnates, which had hitherto opposed the demands of the Lower House, adopted the same by a unanimous vote. On March 15, a deputation was despatched to Vienna to demand from the Emperor not only a liberal constitution, but a separate Ministry, absolute freedom of the press, trial by jury, equality of religion, and a free public-school system. The Hungarians, with Kossuth in the lead, were received in triumph in Vienna. They paraded through the streets, and were greeted by Emperor Ferdinand in person. He consented to everything and issued an imperial rescript, promising a liberal constitution to the rest of Austria as well. The light-hearted Viennese indulged in indescribable jubilations. On March 18, the Emperor drove through the city. Somebody put a revolutionary banner into his hands. The black, red and gold ensign of united Germany was hoisted over the tower of St. Stephen. In an intoxication of joy the people took the horses from the imperial carriage and drew it triumphantly through the streets. The regular troops around the imperial palace were superseded by the new National Guards.

[Sidenote: Germany in a ferment]

[Sidenote: Prussian Assembly convoked]

[Sidenote: King of Prussia cowed]

[Sidenote: Revolt in Berlin]

[Sidenote: Prince William's part]

[Sidenote: King of Prussia submissive]

[Sidenote: Royal promises]

[Sidenote: Rising of Schleswig-Holstein]

[Sidenote: Reverse at Bau]

By this time the same storm of revolution was sweeping over Germany. Popular demonstrations occurred at Mannheim, Cassel, Breslau, Koenigsberg and along the Rhine region in Cologne, Duesseldorf and Aix-la-Chapelle. A popular convention at Heidelberg, on March 5, had resolved upon a national assembly to be held at Frankfort-on-the-Main by the end of March. Elections for this assembly were being held throughout Germany. The long-desired union of Germany was at last to be accomplished. On March 14, King Frederick William of Prussia convoked the Prussian Assembly for April 27, to deliberate upon Prussia's part in the proposed German union. Then came the news of the events in Vienna. Crowds gathered in the streets excitedly discussing the events of the day. Attempts on the part of the police to disperse them led to threatening encounters. Under the stress of alarming bulletins from Vienna, the King issued a rescript on March 18, in which he not only convoked the Prussian Assembly for the earlier date of April 2, but himself proposed such reforms as constitutional government, liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and the reconstitution of the Germanic Federation as a national union of states—a realization in brief of all the most ardent ideals of the German Liberals. Now the popular agitators proposed a monster demonstration to thank the King for his concessions. Shortly after noon, on March 18, the processions converged upon the palace. Immense crowds filled the streets. The appearance of the King upon the balcony was greeted with cheers. King Frederick William tried to speak but could not make himself heard. The troops set out to clear the palace grounds. Angry shouts arose for the withdrawal of the soldiery. In the confusion two shots were fired. A panic ensued: "We are betrayed," cried the leaders, and called the people to arms. The troops of the garrison charged into the rioters. Barricades were thrown up, and here and there church bells rang the tocsin. From three in the afternoon until early the next morning, fighting continued in the streets. The entire garrison of Berlin was called out and with the help of the bright moonlight succeeded in clearing one street after another. Prince William, the future German Emperor, gained unenviable notoriety by his zeal. At two in the morning the King gave orders to stop firing. He issued a proclamation: "To my dear people of Berlin," the mild tone of which only betrayed his weakness. On the following day all the troops were withdrawn and ordered out of the city. Prince William likewise left Berlin in deep chagrin and departed for England. His palace had to be protected from the fury of the people by placards pronouncing it the property of the nation. Once more the rioters appeared before the royal palace with the bodies of some of their slain. The King convoked a new Ministry and consented to substitute armed citizens and students for his royal guards. A general amnesty was proclaimed. On March 21, the King agreed to adopt "the sacred colors of the German Empire" for those of Prussia. After the manner of the weak Emperor of Austria, he rode through the streets of Berlin wearing a tricolor sash. Not satisfied with this, the revolutionists, on March 22, paraded before the palace with the open biers of 187 men that had been killed during the riots. Standing on his balcony with bared head, King Frederick William reviewed the ghastly procession. In a manifesto published at the close of the day he declared: "Germany is in ferment within and exposed from without to danger from more than one side. Deliverance from this danger can come only from the most intimate union of the German princes and people under a single leadership. I take this leadership upon me for the hour of peril. I have to-day assumed the old German colors, and placed myself and my people under the venerable banner of the German Empire. Prussia is henceforth merged into Germany." Thus Frederick William, by word and acts, which he afterward described as a comedy, directly encouraged the imperial aspirations of liberal Germany. The passage of his address in which he spoke of external dangers threatening Germany came true sooner than was expected. King Christian VIII. of Denmark had died early in the year. The fear of revolution at Copenhagen drove his son Frederick VII., the last of the Oldenburg line, to prick the war bubble blown by his father. On March 22, he called the leaders of the Eider-Dane party—the party which regarded the Eider as the boundary of the Danish dominions, thus converting Schleswig into a Danish province—to take the reins of government. The people of Schleswig and Holstein protested. The King was checkmated at Kiel by the appointment of a provisional government. The troops joined the people, and the insurrection spread over the whole province. The struggle then began. Volunteers from all parts of Germany rushed to the northern frontier. The German Bundestag admitted a representative of the threatened Duchies, and intrusted Prussia with their defence. An attempt was made to organize a German fleet. General Wrangel was placed in command of the Prussian forces despatched toward Denmark. Before he could arrive, the untrained volunteer army of Schleswig-Holsteiners suffered defeat at Bau. A corps of students from the University of Kiel was all but annihilated.

[Sidenote: Russia stems revolution]

An attempted rising of the Poles, in the Prussian province of Posen and at Cracow, was quickly suppressed. As soon as the news of the revolution in Paris reached Russia, the absolute ruler of that vast empire mobilized his armies, "so that, if circumstances should demand it, the tide of Anarchy could be dammed." After the abortive revolt at Cracow, Czar Nicholas issued an imperial manifesto, closing with a quotation from Isaiah: "Listen, ye heathen, and submit, for with us is God." When the spirit of revolt spread to Moldavia and Wallachia, Emperor Nicholas without further ado despatched a Russian army corps across the Pruth. The Sultan of Turkey was prevailed upon to do the same. Russian and Turkish troops occupied Jassy and Bucharest during the summer.



[Sidenote: Frankfort Vor-Parlament]

[Sidenote: Revolution in Baden]

[Sidenote: General Gagern shot]

[Sidenote: Flight of rebels]

The German preliminary Parliament of five hundred delegates had met at Frankfort in April. It lasted but five days. The Republicans found themselves outnumbered, when they submitted their scheme for a national constitution. Repulsed in this, the Liberals proposed that they should continue in session until the real National Parliament should meet, thus extending their function beyond the limits of a mere constituent assembly. Outvoted in this, the leaders of the extreme Republicans resorted to armed revolt. Assisted by Polish refugees and men from France, they raised the red flag in Baden. Friedrich Hecker, a popular orator and representative of Baden, headed the movement. George Herwegh, the poet, took charge of the refugees from Switzerland and a group of German operatives recently returned from France. A provisional government was declared in the lake district of Baden. The Parliamentary majority of Frankfort, on breaking up, left behind a committee of fifty to prepare the draft of a constitution. The Bundestag meeting at the same time called for military measures against the insurgents. From three sides troops advanced into Baden. A Bavarian detachment marched from Lindau, Swabian troops came from the Black Forest, while from the north Hessian forces were led by General von Gagern, a brother of the new Prime Minister of Hesse. On April 19, Von Gagern encountered the revolutionists under Hecker at Kandern. While haranguing the insurgents, he was shot from his horse. The troops charged the insurgents with the bayonet and dispersed them in less than an hour. Four days later the revolutionary intrenchments at Freiburg were stormed. On the 27th, Herwegh's corps of 1,000 refugees was dispersed by General Miller. Hecker fled to America. The other leaders likewise made good their escape. On April 29 they issued a manifesto at Strasburg: "An overwhelming number of imported bestial mercenaries have crushed Republican aspirations in Baden, and have once more subjected the people to the hateful tyranny of princes."

[Sidenote: The cause of Italy]

[Sidenote: Other Powers hostile]

[Sidenote: Italy isolated]

The unexpected outbreak of revolution in Vienna and Hungary had inspired the Italians to rebel against Austrian rule with new confidence. On March 30, Pio Nono at Rome issued a proclamation to the people of Italy, in which he said: "The events which have followed one another with such astounding rapidity during the last two months are not the work of man. Woe to him who, in this storm that shatters cedars as well as oaks, hears not the voice of the Lord." Under the command of General Durando, a band of Crociati, or crusaders, marched from Rome against the Austrians. Count Balbo was placed in command of the Piedmontese army. To the remonstrances of the British Ambassador at Turin, King Charles Albert replied that he must either march against Austria or lose his crown. England, indeed, was emphatic in its disapproval of the Italian national movement. In the pages of the "Edinburgh Review," Sir Archibald Allison, the court historian, wrote: "It is utterly repugnant to the first principles of English policy, and to every page in English history, to lend encouragement to the separation of nationalities from other empires." The new republican government in France, on its part, had no desire to see a strong Italian national State spring up on its southern frontier. Lamartine, the French Foreign Minister, declined Charles Albert's request to sanction his military occupation of Lombardy. A strong French army of observation was concentrated on the Italian frontier in the Alps. Germany, which in later years was destined to become the strongest ally of Italy, was still so bound up with Austria that when Arnold Ruge in the Frankfort Parliament dared to express a wish for the victory of Italian arms against Austria, a great storm of indignation broke out in Germany. As a last resort, Charles Albert, on April 6, proposed an offensive and defensive alliance to Switzerland, but the little republic wisely declined to emerge from its traditional neutrality. It was then that the Italians raised the defiant cry: "Italia fara de se" (Italy will fight her own battles). When the hard beset Austrian Government, in a confidential communication of Minister Wessendberg to Count Casati, showed itself inclined to yield Lombardy upon payment of Lombardy's share in the Austrian national debt, the proposition was curtly declined.