311

having executed an unconditional abdication on the part of himself and his heirs, 1st April, 1814. He was soon after escorted to Elba, which he received with full sovereignty, with a pension of two and a half millions from the revenues of France, and with a body guard of four hundred men.

Louis XVIII. had spent his time in Italy, Germany, Russia, and finally England. The same month that restored to France her king, beheld three other princes, who had been driven from their thrones, ascend them again.—Pius VII., returned to Rome, Ferdinand VII. to Madrid, and Victor Emanuel to Turin.

59. To restore the political system of Europe, which had been so completely subverted, a General Congress was assembled at Vienna, 1st November, 1814. Six of the crowned heads of Europe were present, united in peace as in war, with a long and splendid list of princes, ambassadors, and ministers. While they were engaged in their difficult and important deliberations, an event occurred which was the cause of the sixth and last coalition of the European powers. "The man of destiny" again made his appearance on the bloody arena where he had lately acted so conspicuous a part, but whence, it was hoped, he had been excluded forever. Having escaped from Elba, Bonaparte, after an unparralleled adventure, reached Paris, and re-seated himself on the imperial throne. A temporary confusion ensued, but the result proved that the army, and not the nation, was the support of that throne. The great day of Waterloo, the 18th June, 1815, buried the hopes of Napoleon Bonaparte in the dust. § The French king, upon Bonaparte's return to Paris, withdrew to Lille, and afterwards to Ghent. He came back to his capital after an absence of one hundred days, and was the second time seated on his throne.

In the whole career of Bonaparte, nothing was more extraordinary than his progress through France, and re-occupancy of the throne. He landed at Cannes, March 1st, 1815, and in twenty days from that time, accompanied with about fifteen hundred men, he reached, though without opposition, the scene of his former triumphs. No blood was spilt. The previous conspiracy seems not to have been very extensive, because the emperor could, and of course did, rely on the assistance of the troops. They received him with enthusiastic shouts. The nation was held in mute astonishment for a time; but it soon became evident that he had lost in a measure his influence over it. Instead of ruling the parties as formerly, he seems to have been swayed by them. So much the more energetic were his warlike preparations-he could now indulge no hope of peace.

It was a happy circumstance that the news of Napoleon's return,

reached the congress of Vienna, while still in session. The most prompt and decisive measures were adopted. By a special act, he was declared the enemy of the nations, and to have forfeited the protection of the laws. Almost every nation in Europe, small and great, combined against the usurper. The sum of all the contingents to be furnished, amounted to 1,057,400 fighting men. A British-German and a Prussian army were assembled with the utmost speed, under Wellington and Blucher. Napoleon was equally active, and pressed forward across the boundaries with 170,000 men, 15th June, 1815. He first met "the gray hero" (Blucher,) at Ligny, who, after a bold resistance was forced back to Wavre. Meanwhile the army of Wellington was drawn up at Waterloo. Napoleon commenced the attack at noon, of the 18th June, with a great superiority. After an awful conflict, the victory was fluctuating at evening, when Blucher appeared with his auxiliaries, at the right crisis, and decided the battle.

Bonaparte fled to Paris, abdicated anew in favour of his son, and after fruitless attempts to escape to America, he surrendered himself to a British ship of the line; but instead of being permitted to land in England, as he wished, he was transported to the island of St. Helena, Oct. 16th, and was detained as a prisoner of war till his death, which happened 5th May, 1821.

Thus "on an island rock in the midst of the ocean, died, almost unnoticed, the man, whose name but a short space before, had filled the world. His plans were wrecked; from the thraldom, which he was preparing for the nations, there sprang liberty in more than one quarter of the globe. Unknown to himself, he was but the instrument of a higher power; for his objects were not its objects. Whatever judgement posterity may pass on him, universal his tory can view him only from this point." He was the author of several valuable institutions, and effected some propitious changes, not only in France, but in the rest of Europe; yet they were purchased at too dear a price-infinitely dearer than if he had taken Washington, and not Cæsar, as his model. Like other great conquerors, he sacrificed the repose, liberty, and happiness of millions, to his insatiable ambition.

France, having been conquered the second time, by the second taking of its capital, was required to indemnify the allies for their expenses and sacrifices. She was left a great and a powerful nation, little less diminished in territory than after the first pacification. which fixed her limits nearly as they were in 1789. The indemnity which the allies received, consisted chiefly in money, and in the occupancy of eighteen fortresses, by a portion of their troops, to be supported at the cost of France. These troops, however, were all withdrawn long before the term agreed on, which was five years.

Louis XVIII., whose reign was that of a prudent, though inefficient monarch, died in 1824, and was succeeded by his brother, the Count d' Artois, under the appellation of Charles X. The principal event of the reign of Louis, was the invasion of Spain, in 1823,

by a French army under the Duke d' Angouleme, but without a declaration of war, in consequence of the decisions of the congress of Verona, in 1822. This unjustifiable act resulted in the overthrow of the Cortes; and the despotism of absolute royalty was immediately re-established.

ITALIAN STATES.

60. In the history of ITALY, during modern ages, nothing important occurred till the late convulsions, occasioned by the French revolution. The Italian states shared deeply in them, as has already appeared. It may be only added, that the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, decreed the subdivision of Italy, between the house of Austria, the king of Sardinia, the Pope, and the king of Naples. The free republics of Venice, Genoa, and Lucca, have, in consequence, been amalgamated with arbitrary sovereignties; and Austria is become the preponderating power of Italy.

SPAIN.

61. Philip V., the monarch of SPAIN, at the commencement of this period, reigned till the year 1746. During his long rule, the nation degenerated as before, from the operation of a despotic government, a superstitious and cruel religion, aided by the natural indolence of the people.

§ In 1717, the Spaniards took Sardinia; but the next year invaded Sicily, without success.

62. Philip was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand VI., 1746, who was a mild and pacific prince, but whose reign is barren of those events which usually furnish matter for history. The indolent and effeminate Charles III., brother of Ferdinand, succeeded him, in 1759, who reigned till the year 1788. The principal events of his reign were, the formation of the family compact, between France and Spain; the union of these nations against England, in the American war; and their unsuccessful siege of Gibraltar.

§ In the siege of Gibraltar, twelve thousand pieces of heavy ordinance were accumulated before the place, for the numerous intended attacks by sea and land; there were, also, in proportion, gun-boats, bomb-vessels, battering ships, military stores, and ammunition. Indeed, nearly all the frigates and smaller armed vessels of the kingdom, were assembled to afford requisite assistance, and the combined deets of France and Spain, amounting to about fifty ships of the line,

were to cover and support the attack. But all this formidable force was employed in vain, from the almost impregnable situation of the fort. and the valour of its defenders. It seemed as if so many cannon and other means of destruction, playing upon the rock, would have annihilated it-all looked like a mass of fire in and around it, but the loss sustained by the besieged was much less than might have been expected, while that of the Spanish and French was immense. The mortification which the Spaniards always have felt, ever since this fortress fell into the hands of the English, was greatly increased by the unsuccessful issue of this celebrated siege.

63. Charles IV. possessed the crown upon the death of his father, 1788. He was an inefficient and unfortunate monarch. In 1792, he entered into a league against the French republic, but being defeated, he united with France against Great Britain. After the rupture of the treaty of Amiens, Spain professed to be neutral, till the capture of several of her treasure ships, by a British squadron, after which, the weakness of the government led to an insurrection, and Ferdinand VII. dethroned his father.

The father and son, under the influence of French intrigue, afterwards appealed to Napoleon, to whom the father formally surrendered his kingdom, at Bayonne, for the purpose of defeating the claims of his son; who, after being also obliged to sign a renunciation of the throne, was then treacherously detained a state prisoner, at Compeigne, in France. From this period, the situation of Spain, appears in the account already given concerning France.

§ Since the restoration of the general peace, Spain has been more unfortunate than any other of the European communities. Abroad, she has lost her colonies in South America; at home, the horrors of anarchy and internal war, and, at length, of despotism and the Inquisition, she has been doomed to bear.

Portugal has experienced scarcely a milder fate than Spain. Its situation since the emigration of the royal family to Brazil, has been singular, and at the present time, is deplorable. A monarch residing in a colony, and governing the parent state, is altogether a novelty in the history of the world; yet such has been the fact in regard to the emperor of Brazil. At this moment, the despotism of the usurper, Don Miguel, is producing consternation and distress among the adherents of the regular government.

The history of Portugal, from the time of its independence under John, duke of Braganza, in 1664, to the time of the French revolution, is of so little consequence, that it has been omitted altogether. Since the latter period, the incidental notices which have been given of its affairs, must suffice. It may be remarked, that the Portuguese

are still rich in colonial possessions, notwithstanding they have lost most of what they used to hold in Asia.

THE NETHERLANDS.

64. The history of the Netherlands, under the name of Holland, was briefly sketched in the period preceding the last. Holland, as including seven united provinces, and as constituting an independent nation, was the most important portion of the Low Countries. The character of its inhabitants, as an eminently enterprising and industrious people, also placed them at the head of these countries. In the ages preceding the French revolution, their commerce was exceeded by that of no nation, and wealth from this source poured in upon them apace. Their maritime force was consequently extensive, and they had numerous collisions with their great rivals, the British, who were destined, at last, far to surpass them in riches and naval power.

Towards the latter part of the eighteenth century, it was apparent, that the Dutch were falling from their high elevation. Indolence, luxury, and avarice, the consequence of wealth, had, in a degree, affected this excellent people; and their spirit, which would otherwise have been invincible, yielded to French intrigue and military enthusiasm, at the era of the revolution.

The ten provinces, called Belgium, or Flanders, since they were freed from the Spanish yoke, have been usually divided into Austrian, French, and Dutch Netherlands. Prussia, also, has shared in them; and, indeed, they have often changed masters. They were swallowed up eventually in the great political vortex, to which reference has been so frequently made.

§ No space remains for an account of the stadtholders of Holland, since the time of Maurice, who was mentioned in the eighth period. Nor is their history very important, as the stadtholdership was several times abolished. During the separate times of its existence, it has been held by the princes of the house of Orange.

65. After the United Netherlands were overrun by the French, in 1795, and the stadtholder and his family were obliged to flee to England, the whole country was oppressed and plundered by the French, and the melancholy spectacle was presented, of ruined commerce and civil discord, with an