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THE GREAT FAMINE IN IRELAND.

421

felt by an increasing number of the citizens; but hitherto all Ch.30 attempts at promoting abolition have only resulted in embitter- A. D. ing the lot, and rivetting the chains of the captives.

1847.

land.

But we must return to the Old World, over which coming events began to project their shadows in the year 1847. ENGLAND at this period (1846-7) suffered severely. The State of very high prices demanded for the necessaries of life, and Engthe consequent distress brought upon large classes of the people; the fearful famine in Ireland, occasioned by successive failures in the potato crop, which reached its height at this time, and which brought with it scenes of horror almost unparalleled in European history; the immense sacrifices which were made by England to meet the emergency; the rapid fall of Consols; the unprecedented depreciation of railway property; all indicated a crisis destined severely to try the energies of the nation.

famine.

The measures of Government were vigorous and well Irish directed. Restrictions on the introduction of foreign grain to Ireland were instantly removed; the Navigation Laws were suspended, in order to give every facility for importation from foreign countries; the Irish Poor Law was both extended and modified; enormous sums were raised by private subscription; depots of corn and meal were formed; three millions of human beings were fed by public charity; and the plague which followed was at length, by the mercy of God, stayed: but not before nearly half a million of people had perished. Between public grants and private subscriptions, nearly eight millions sterling were in these two years bestowed by Great Britain upon Ireland, and this during a time when Consols had fallen to 79, and when railway property had depreciated above 50 per cent. The emigration that followed, chiefly to America, was so large, that ten years after the commencement of the famine it was found that the population of Ireland had diminished by two millions and a half.

Trou

Swit

SWITZERLAND, during a part of this time (1847), was dis- bles in tracted by civil commotions, arising out of Jesuitical intrigues, zerland.

422

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DISSATISFACTION IN FRANCE.

Ch. 30 the objects of which were to separate the seven Roman Catholic cantons, and to form them into a league, under the name of the 1847. Sonderbund, to defend convents and church property against the Federal Government. The army of the Federation was called out. Fribourgh and Lucerne, the head-quarters of the priestly party, were obliged to surrender, and the cost of the war was finally thrown upon the deluded cantons.

Qarties.

tion

France. FRANCE, in which it has been well said, "there exists no State of attachment to any individual, and no respect for any institution," never appeared more tranquil than it did in the beginning of the year 1848. The government, identified with the material interests of the middle classes, apparently enjoyed perfect security, and relying on its strength, for a long time disregarded the reproaches that were thrown upon it on all sides, on account of the notorious corruption, and gross abuse of patronage for political ends, which marked all its proceedDissa- ings. But at length danger became evident; the rupture of tisfac- the alliance with England, consequent on Spanish intrigueswith financial disorders-commercial losses-and, above all, the the Go- discoveries which were made from time to time of attempts to screen the most abominable frauds, led to a review of the proceedings of the last eighteen years, and to inquiries by the press as to what had actually been gained by the revolution of 1830. The votes of the Chambers were examined, and it soon came out that, "in every majority, more than one-half consisted of public functionaries." The state of the franchise was brought under review, when it appeared that thousands who were obliged to perform the most important and laborious civil duties, such as service in the National Guard, were altogether unrepresented.

vern

ment.

Move

ment

The discussions which followed were exceedingly distasteful for to the Government, and measures of repression were attempted. reform. "The mayors of the communes were forbidden to allow

deputies to meet their constituents at public dinners; newspapers were prosecuted; and finally, a reform banquet, which the liberal party had organized, was positively forbidden to

THE REVOLUTION OF 1848.

423

take place, the Government declaring its intention to resist Ch. 30 the attempt to hold it, if needful, with cannon.'

A. D.

This brought matters to a crisis. The 22nd of February, 1848. the day fixed for the banquet, came at last, and it was then found expedient, on account of the determination of the Government, to abandon the project. But the mischief was done. Crowds filled the streets, uttering revolutionary cries; and on the following day, at the instigation of the National Guard, the Guizot Ministry was dissolved.

of life.

The mob, excited and delighted by the news, now hurried Riots, from house to house, cheering and crying for an illumination. and loss All went on well till the people arrived before the hotel of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, when a single shot, fired accidentally it is supposed, broke the leg of a horse on which the officer commanding a detachment of troops was then sitting. In an instant, orders were given to fire upon the crowd; and so effectually was this done, that upwards of fifty persons were either killed or wounded.

tion.

Dispersion, and cries for vengeance, immediately followed; The barricades sprang up as if by magic; and before morning all RevoluParis was in arms, exasperated by the impression which then prevailed, although since proved to be false, that the massacre had been perpetrated by authority. In a few hours all was over the Government was in a state of paralysis; the troops of the line were withdrawn; the municipal guard disbanded; the King had abdicated and fled; and the regency of the Duchess of Orleans, as guardian of the interests of the Count de Paris, was proclaimed.

ess of

Alas! it was too late. The Duchess, who, with a spirit worthy The of better fortune, had instantly proceeded to the Chamber, Duchleading her two sons by the hand, was obliged to fly before an Orleans infuriated mob, who, with savage gesticulations and threats, demanded a republic. A Provisional Government was accordingly formed, and Lamartine was appointed Minister of Foreign

A Year of Revolution;" by the Marquis of Normanby.

and her

sons.

424

VIOLENCE OF THE POPULACE.

Ch.30 Affairs,—a man who, soon after, by his resistless eloquence, and high moral courage, saved Paris from massacre and plunder.

A. D.

1848.

Paris.

For sixty hours after the departure of the mob from the Chamber of Deputies, the entire city was in the hands of an infuriated rabble, half drunk, and almost all armed. Nearly State of sixty thousand people, twelve thousand of whom were armed, filled the Place du Grève and its environs; and from all this vast multitude rose the cry for blood and vengeance. Lamartine, with bayonets pointed at his breast, stood firm,—declared his abhorrence of a reign of terror, and boldly proposed and obtained, by the force of his eloquence alone, the abolition of the punishment of death for political offences.

the

ries.

The ascendancy thus gained, he managed to keep until order was in some degree restored, and the Provisional Government established. The most deplorable excesses had, however, taken place. For nearly a fortnight the palace of the Tuileries Sack of was in the possession of the lowest of the mob. The orgies Tuile- carried on during this period, as described by an eyewitness who accidentally obtained entrance, were of the most disgusting character. Men in robes de chambre, made out of the damask hangings or the velvet curtains, "were parading about the palace. One fellow had the King's cocked hat stuck upon his head. The vilest women of the town were on the floors, dressed in satin and silver, while works of art of the most costly kind were thrown about in all directions. Valuable pictures were cut into strips with a knife. The toilette tables of the royal ladies were ransacked, and low debauchery of the grossest kind polluted every chamber.

De

struc

Neuilly, the country palace of Louis Philippe, was sacked tion of and burnt; and Suresnes, a beautiful villa belonging to Baron Neuilly. Rothschild, full of objects of art and luxury, was also gutted and destroyed.

The proceedings of the Provisional Government were marked by an indecision and a want of practical wisdom rarely manifested. The more violent members, such as Ledru Rollin and Cremieux, overruled or thwarted the moderate counsels

ORGANIZATION OF LABOUR.

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425 of Lamartine; while Louis Blanc, and Albert the ouvrier, Ch.30 advocated, and endeavoured to carry into practice, the most absurd theories in relation to the organization of labor. 1848. Ateliers Nationaux, as they were termed, or public workshops for the unemployed, were opened, and tens of thousands of working men became the temporary pensioners of the State. English mechanics, laborers, and servants were everywhere Organidischarged, and the greatest distress was occasioned to thou- of sands of poor families who had long been resident in labor. France. The evil thus created was for a time aggravated by the unwillingness or inability of the Government to return the money that had been deposited by these persons in the savings banks.

zation

lence of

The unscrupulous attempts that were made to control the Vioelections by Ledru Rollin, acting as Minister of the Interior, Ledru and the absurdities into which Louis Blanc and Albert fell in Rollin. their attempts to "organize labour," thoroughly disgusted all but the Jacobin clubs and the Communists, and it soon became evident that this desperate party must be ejected from power, even though the attempt should involve another struggle in the streets. Confidence, credit, employment, money, were all fast departing, and everything tended to indicate the rapid approach of anarchy. Processions of ragged urchins, headed by the curés, and the servants of the church in gold-laced Proliveries, consecrated, amid the secret curses of starving shop-gress of keepers, the sickly poplars which were everywhere stuck into order. the ground, and called Trees of Liberty; while thoughtful men could not fail to be struck with the aptness of the illustration these proceedings furnished of the unreal and unnatural state of things which everywhere prevailed.

tion of

the

At length the discordant elements of society could no longer Irrupbe even outwardly united. Property was openly attacked as "robbery;" and schemes for the spoliation of the rich were mob. advocated, under the name of "justice to the laboring classes." The very existence of civilized society was at stake. 16th of May a second irruption of the mob, yelling and

On the

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