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was concluded by which Louis was restored. A few of Napoleon's most strenuous supporters were excluded from the act of amnesty; Ney and Labedoyère were shot, but Lavalette escaped by the aid of his wife and some British officers.

The future peace of Europe now depended on the congress of Vienna, but the decrees of this body were guided more by the convenience of sovereigns than the wishes of nations. The ancient republics of Venice and Genoa were abolished, the territories of the former were given to Austria, while the latter was assigned to the king of Sardinia; Poland was annexed to the territories of Russia, and the Prussian dominions were enlarged at the expense of Saxony. When these arrangements were completed the sovereigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia entered into a solemn compact called the Holy Alliance; the professed object of the treaty was to preserve the peace of Europe, on the principles which God, in his revelation, has pointed out as the source of tranquillity and prosperity. But the contracting parties understood by these principles the maintenance of despotic power, and made their engagement a pretext for resisting the efforts made subsequently by several nations to establish constitutional freedom.

CHAPTER XI.

HISTORY OF THE PEACE.

SECTION I. State of Europe at the close of the War.

WHE

HEN the sanguinary and expensive wars arising out of the French revolution terminated, the different nations of Europe that shared in the contest were so enfeebled and harassed that they sank at once into inactive repose. But the transition from war to peace made such a complete change in all commercial transactions that credit was shaken, trade injured, manufactures checked, and thousands suddenly deprived of employment. These evils were more sensibly felt in England than in any other country; for while the tide of war swept over every other European state England, protected by her insular situation, enjoyed internal tranquillity, and was enabled to sell with profit not only her manufactures but her agricultural produce to less favoured countries. Peace permitted the people of the Continent to supply themselves with many of the articles which they had previously been forced to import; and the jealousy with which the continental sovereigns began to regard the commercial prosperity of England induced them to encourage native manufactures; hence the demand for British goods and produce suddenly slackened, and distress was felt by every portion of the community. Several serious riots occurred in the agricultural districts; but still more alarming symptoms of dissatisfaction were displayed in the metropolis, where meetings were held under pretence of procuring a reform in the constitution, but which threatened to end in revolution. Several strong restrictive statutes were passed by parliament, and energetic, if not severe, measures adopted by the government; it was not, however, until the commercial crisis had passed over, and the embarrassments of transition disappeared, that the public tranquillity was restored.

There were not, however, wanting more cheering occurrences which relieved the gloom; the piratical states of Algiers were humbled: Lord Exmouth, with a united squadron of English and Dutch, attacked the city of Algiers, destroyed its fortifications, and compelled the dey to abolish Christian slavery (A.D. 1816). Great

joy was also diffused by the marriage of the princess Charlotte, the pride and the hope of England, to Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg. But the expectations of the nation were fatally disappointed; the princess died on the 6th of November, 1817, after having been delivered of a dead child. The national sorrow was general and profound, and there never was an occasion in which the British nation showed greater regret for the loss of an individual. But this was only the beginning of a series of deaths in the royal family; Queen Charlotte died during the ensuing year, she was soon followed to the grave by the duke of Kent, and finally, the aged monarch George III., without having enjoyed one lucid interval during his long illness, sank quietly into the tomb.

France, much to the surprise of the neighbouring states, enjoyed the blessings of tranquillity under the mild and conciliatory government of Louis XVIII. The revolution, and its consequent wars, had given the chief property of the country, and consequently the elements of political power, to the middle classes of society; their interests could only be secured by the preservation of peace, and they became zealous royalists, because they regarded the monarchy as the surest pledge for the maintenance of public order. Some of them carried their zeal to such extravagant lengths that they provoked resistance, and the king was forced to interfere to prevent the ill consequences that were likely to result from the indiscretion of those who claimed to be his best friends.

The united kingdom of the Netherlands, though apparently tranquil, was secretly shaken by the national antipathy between the Belgians and the Dutch. Gratitude induced the sovereign to accede to the Holy Alliance, a circumstance which gave great offence to many of his subjects, especially in Flanders, where a republican spirit, fostered by municipal institutions, had prevailed from the time of the Middle Ages.

Great disappointment was felt in Germany by the delay or refusal of the constitutions which the several states had been taught to expect during the war of independence. But the principal sovereigns, especially the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia, alarmed by the remembrance of the calamities that political innovations had produced in France, steadily opposed every change in the forms of government, but at the same time zealously laboured to secure to their subjects the benefit of a just and enlightened administration.

Spain was far more unfortunate, the imbecile Ferdinand was the tool of the courtiers and the priests; at their instigation he revived the ancient principles of despotism and bigotry, punishing with remorseless severity every expression of liberal sentiments in politics or religion. The arbitrary conduct of the court was not the

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only cause of the misery that prevailed in the Peninsula; the South American colonies, which had long been regarded as the chief and almost the only source of the small share of commercial prosperity which the Spaniards retained, openly revolted, and raised the standard of independence. Ferdinand made some faint efforts to subdue the insurgents, but he was badly supported by his subjects, and the troops he had assembled refused to embark. Finally, the liberals having gained over a great portion of the army, compelled the king to establish a democratic constitution, by which the royal power was almost annihilated (A.D. 1820). Similar revolutions took place in Portugal, Naples, and Piedmont; alarm seized the minds of the European sovereigns, and they secretly combined to check popular movements. But experience soon proved that those who had framed the Spanish constitution were ignorant of the wants and wishes of the Spanish people. Louis XVIII., alarmed for the safety of France by the revolutionary movements in Spain, sent an army, under the command of the duke of Angouleme, to restore the royal authority; the invaders encountered no effective opposition; the cortes fled before them to Cadiz, and when the French approached that city they permitted the king to resume his former despotic authority (A.D. 1823). The revolutions of Naples and Piedmont ended similarly; the liberals laid down their arms on the approach of the Austrian armies; and the new constitution was abolished.

The accession of Charles John Bernadotte to the crown of Sweden made no change in the politics of the northern nations; his right of inheritance had been solemnly recognised by the allied sovereigns at the congress of Vienna, and his conduct as crownprince had taught the Swedes to respect and love the monarch they had chosen. Even the Norwegians became reconciled to their fate, and learned to console themselves for the loss of national independence by the blessings that result from paternal government.

No sooner was peace restored between Great Britain and the United States than the old feelings of friendship and kindred revived between the two countries, and the leading statesmen in both showed an earnest desire to have former animosities buried in oblivion. But far different were the feelings between Spain and her revolted colonies; the South American states vigorously maintained their struggle for independence, and finally succeeded. The English government delayed acknowledging these republics until the duke of Angouleme had crossed the Pyrenees, when consuls were sent out to the chief states and commercial treaties formed with their governments.

From this rapid sketch it will be seen that throughout the

greater part of the civilised world there was a struggle between the principles of monarchy and democracy, and that even England, though it had long enjoyed the blessings of a free constitution, was not wholly exempt from the agitation.

SECTION II. History of Europe during the reign of George IV.

GEORGE IV. had so long wielded the supreme executive power in England, under the title of regent, that no political change was made or expected when he assumed the royal dignity. A month had not elapsed after his accession, when a plot was discovered for the murder of all his majesty's ministers, and thus facilitating a revolution, which had been planned by a few obscure enthusiasts. The conspirators used to assemble in Cato Street, an obscure place near the Edgeware Road; they were arrested in their rendezvous just as they were preparing to execute their project, all their plans having been betrayed to government by a spy who had pretended to join in the conspiracy. Such were the insanity and misery of these wretched men, who proposed to subvert a powerful government, that when they were searched not even a shilling was found among the whole party. The government, pitying their delusion, punished only the ringleaders, and this clemency. had a beneficial effect in calming political agitation.

Preparations were now made for the king's coronation, when they were suspended by an event which excited more public interest, and stimulated more angry passions, than any other which had occurred for several years. This was the return of Queen Caroline to England, and her subsequent trial before the House of Lords. Her marriage had been unfortunate almost from the commencement; she was early separated from her husband; after the lapse of some years her conduct was made the subject of official inquiry; at the commencement of the regency she was excluded from court; and these indignities induced her to quit England. She visited the most celebrated spots along the coast of the Mediterranean, and then selected a permanent residence in that part of Italy subject to the Austrian government. Reports injurious to her character were circulated; commissioners were sent to Milan to investigate them, and the ministers, in consequence of the evidence thus collected, excluded her name from the liturgy, on the king's accession. Irritated at such an insult, she resolved to return to England, though a pension of fifty thousand pounds annually was offered to purchase her submission, and though she was informed that her landing would be the signal for the commencement of a prosecution.

No sooner had the queen landed than messages were sent to

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