386 A. D. CHARACTER OF DANIEL O'CONNELL. Ch. 29 over the Irish mind, was unquestionably a man of splendid talents. No one, perhaps, ever possessed to a greater degree 1829. the power of moving the passions of a multitude. At the same time, few could excel him in the conduct of a legal argument, or in power of debate in the House of Commons. The peculiar characteristic of the man was, that he seemed to live but for one object—that of promoting the designs and interests of the Court of Rome; and in the accomplishment of this object he was as unscrupulous as a fanatic of the Middle Ages. His language, when speaking of his opponents, was frequently ferocious; but his disposition was not cruel, and he was Agita thoroughly opposed to violence. His faith in moral pressure was unbounded; but he had none whatever in physical force, repeal of the when wielded by a mob. Although sustained for many years Union. in a most discreditable way by the donations of his poorer tion for of the countrymen, he was not avaricious, and he died poor. His The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts was effected Repeal on the 28th of April, 1828, the acts having long before pracTest tically gone into desuetude. For nearly a century they had and remained on the statute book, obsolete but offensive; and Corporation their removal put an end to the discreditable practice of Acts. making the reception of the Lord's Supper, according to the rites of the Church of England, legally necessary to admission into corporations or public offices. The resolution of the people to secure, at all hazards, a reform in the representation of the country in Parliament, CHARACTER OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 387 began now to be expressed in modes which clearly indicated Ch. 29 that a measure of the sort could not much longer be deferred. A. D. Political unions of a formidable character sprang up on all 1830. sides; discontent everywhere prevailed; machinery was extensively destroyed; and incendiary fires were multiplied; all indicating a tendency to social disorganization, which might well occasion both thoughtfulness and alarm. George On the 26th of June, 1830, the King-George the Fourth Death -died, and was succeeded by his brother, the Duke of of Clarence, who ascended the throne under the title William IV. of IV. The character of the deceased Monarch was not one on which it is possible to dwell with satisfaction. That he possessed a fine person, winning manners, good talents, and a highly cultivated understanding, will not be disputed; but in spite of these great natural advantages he was unloveable and unloved. He was eminently selfish, and very capricious His conduct to his early political friends partook of treachery; and his later life was disgraced by his cruelty and infidelity to his wife; by his frequent violations of truth; and by an egotism so great, that it led him to sacrifice everybody and everything to his passions and pleasures. He reigned, either as Regent or King, during one of the most remarkable periods in English history, and yet he personally did nothing for the advancement of his generation. He lived only for himself, and he died so unregretted, that it has been questioned whether he left behind him a single friend. Such a life conveys a moral, on which it is needless to enlarge. His cha racter. France We must now turn our attention to the state of the Continent. In FRANCE, the return of Louis XVIII. to the throne of his ancestors restored for a time the blessings of tranquillity to State of that restless nation. But the boon was not of long con-under tinuance. Despotic measures were forced upon the King by Louis the ultra-royalist party, who, at the Restoration, formed the majority in the Chamber of Deputies; men of liberal principles were systematically discountenanced; and a re-action XVIII. 388 A. D. 1818 FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XVIII. Ch. 29 encouraged, under which the persecution of Protestants was in some parts carried on both with cruelty and impunity. The evil consequences attendant on such a state of things soon became manifest; and after the final withdrawal of the Allied 1830. troops, which took place in 1818, a revolutionary spirit openly displayed itself. to Death of Louis On the 13th of February, 1820, the assassination of the Duc de Berri filled France with horror and alarm; for it was but too plain that the murderer was actuated by hatred to the reigning family. The measures that followed were singularly ill-judged. The suffrage was restricted; the press silenced; and the Charter, although not formally violated, was in spirit set aside. On Louis did not long survive his restoration to power. the 16th of September, 1823, having reached the seventieth XVIII. year of his age, he sank under the weight of accumulated cares and a complication of disorders, and was succeeded by his brother, under the title of Charles X. Charles The reign of Charles was one great blunder; it was an incessant struggle to maintain arbitrary power. At length matters approached a crisis. In 1827 the Chamber of Deputies, through which a bill for still further restraining the liberty of printing had been with difficulty carried, was X. and angrily dissolved, and seventy-six new peers were created. This measure was immediately followed by the formation of a Government under Prince Polignac, a man who was remarkably unpopular, and by many absolutely hated. Under the advice of the Prince the famous "Ordinances were issued, by which the King, acting as an absolute monarch, changed the Constitution, and, in point of fact, cancelled the Charter. his Minis. ters. Revo The publication of these decrees, six in number, took place on the 26th of July, 1830, and, on the day following, an outbreak commenced. The people rose almost to a man, and lution sustained for three days a contest with the soldiery, which of the issued in the complete triumph of the popular cause. By the days. end of that time the King and his family had fled; a Provi three REVOLUTION OF THE THREE DAYS. 389 sional Government was formed; and the National Guard was Ch. 29 placed under the command of the revolutionary hero-La Fayette. On the 9th of August, the Duke of Orleans, who was introduced by the veteran Marquis as the friend of the people, and declared by M. Odillon Barrot, one of the popular leaders, to be in himself "the best of Republics," was called to the Throne, which was henceforward to be supported by free institutions. Charles X., having formally abdicated, was allowed quietly to retire to Scotland, where the English Government provided for him an asylum in Holyrood House. A. D. 1830 tion in The example thus set by France was instantly imitated in RevoluBELGIUM, where the dissatisfaction which had been created by Belunion with Holland, instead of diminishing, had been con- - gium. stantly on the increase. Scarcely had the news of events in Paris reached Brussels, before revolt commenced; the troops of the King were speedily vanquished; and the Revolution, thus inaugurated, eventually led to the separation of the two countries, which, from that time to the present, have formed independent kingdoms. The Dutch tenaciously held the citadel of Antwerp, until November, 1832, when a French army was sent to besiege it. After a sharp struggle it was taken, and delivered over to a Belgian garrison, and the French then retired. sion of In July, 1831, Prince Leopold, the widower of the Princess Charlotte, was elected King of the Belgians; and under his Accesconstitutional rule Belgium has ever since enjoyed a continued Leopold stream of prosperity. On the 9th August, 1832, Leopold to the again married, choosing for his second wife a daughter of Louis Philippe. Throne. and the ITALY, after 1815, fell into a state of chronic insurrection. In the year 1820 a spirited attempt was made to throw off the yoke of the King of Naples, and it so far succeeded, that the Naples monarch was obliged to grant the Neapolitans a constitution. Sicilies But the triumph was short-lived. Austria interfered in favour in 1820. of despotism, and both Naples and Sicily were obliged to endure the falsehood of a ruler who, having solemnly sworn 390 A. D. CONDITION OF ITALY. Ch. 29 to keep the Constitution he had granted, hastened to improve the first opportunity that occurred for its abolition. The 1820. Carbonari, by which name the revolutionists were known, from that time plotted in secret. Out in Sar break Similar events occurred in Sardinia. In the year 1821 an dinia. insurrection broke out at Turin, provoked by the arbitrary proceedings of Victor Emmanuel, who had returned in 1815, having, like other princes, learnt nothing by adversity. In consequence of this outbreak, the king was obliged to abdicate in favour of his brother, Charles Felix, who was supposed to favour liberal principles. But again Austria interfered, and the old system was maintained till the year 1831, when the King died, and was succeeded by Charles Albert. The In Tuscany alone, the Grand Duke Leopold, although absolute, contrived to rule without alienating the affections of his people. Pope Pius VII. enjoyed the dominion restored to him at Popes. the Peace of Paris, till the year 1822, when he died, and was succeeded by Leo XII., who reigned seven years. Pius VIII. came to the Pontificate in 1829, and two years afterwards in turn made way for his successor, Gregory XVI. lution action. SPAIN, on the return of Ferdinand, at the close of the war, quickly relapsed into her old state of servitude. All the acts of the Cortes, which had governed the country during his absence, were disowned; the Inquisition was re-established; the Jesuits again placed in offices of trust; and patriots everywhere persecuted. In the year 1820, however, an insurrection in favour of Revo- liberty broke out, and was partially successful. The king, of 1820, obliged to proclaim a constitution, and to summon a Cortes, and re- yielded for a short period to the popular will, and governed justly. A re-action, under priestly influence, unfortunately took place two or three years afterwards; and in 1823, Louis XVIII. seized the opportunity to march a large army into Spain, by means of which, although not without a severe struggle, liberty was once more overthrown. The leading patriots fled to England in 1825, and tyranny then resumed its sway. |