Chapter 35

Meanwhile the German Parliament had met again at Frankfort. After the resignation of the former Austrian chief of the Cabinet, Schmerling, the Parliament was split into two factions, according to their preferences for a German union with or without Austria. Early in January it had been decided to elect some German prince to assume the leadership of German affairs as Emperor of the Germans. To this plan the minor German sovereigns gave their consent. During the first week of March, when the Emperor of Austria issued his new Constitution, which declared the whole of the Austrian Empire under one indivisible constitutional monarchy, it was plain to the German delegates that Austria could no longer be reckoned on. On March 28, King Frederick IV. of Prussia was elected by 290 votes. Some 284 delegates, among whom were 100 Austrians, abstained from voting. An imperial constitution was adopted which limited the former sovereign rights of the various principalities, declared for the liberties of speech and of the press, religious worship, free public schools, and the total abolition of all feudal titles of nobility. On April 23, the great Parliamentary deputation, with President Simpson at its head, came to Berlin to notify the King of Prussia of his election. To the consternation of all, Frederick William declined the honor. He explained in private that he did not care "to accept a crown offered to him by the Revolution."

[Sidenote: Saxon revolution]

[Sidenote: South German risings]

[Sidenote: German Parliament dispersed]

The immediate effects of his rejection were new attempts at revolution in Germany. After Frederick William's refusal to enter into the plans of the German Parliament, this body fell into utter disrepute. Its radical elements could no longer be kept in control. Armed revolts, encouraged by the radical delegates, broke out in Frankfort, Kaiserslautern and throughout Saxony. The King of Saxony, with his Ministers, Von Beust and Rabenhorst, fled from Dresden. From the barricades the provisional government was proclaimed. The garrison was at the mercy of the insurgents, great numbers of whom flocked to Dresden from Leipzig and Pirna. Prussian troops overran Saxony. The revolutionary movement spread to Hesse, Baden, the Rhine provinces, Wurtemberg and the Bavarian Palatinate. Encounters with the troops occurred at Elbafeldt, Duesseldorf and Cologne. The reserves and municipal guards sided with the insurgents. All Baden rose and declared itself a republic, forming an alliance with the revolted Palatinate. The people of Wurtemberg, in a turbulent mass-meeting, demanded coalition with both of these countries. It was then that the Parliament at Frankfort decided to hold its future sessions at Stuttgart. Those principalities which had not yet succumbed to revolution withdrew their delegates. Prussia now gave to the Parliament its _coup de grace_ by arrogating to herself all further prosecution of the Danish war, on the ground that "the so-called central government of Frankfort had no more weight of its own to affect the balance of peace or war." The remnants of the Parliament tried to meet at Stuttgart, under the leadership of Loewe and Ludwig Uhland, the foremost living poet of Germany. When they came together at their meeting hall they found the doors blocked by troops. Attempts at protest were drowned by the roll of drums. Under the threat of a volley the delegates dispersed. Such was the end of the first German Parliament.

[Sidenote: Princes reinstated]

[Sidenote: Battle of Fridericia]

Prussian troops advanced into the Palatinate, Baden and Wurtemberg. After desultory encounters with ill-led bands of insurgents, the sovereigns of these principalities were reinstated on their thrones by the Prussian army. The refugees thronged into Switzerland. In the north, on the other hand, Prussia's further advance into Denmark was stopped by the threatening attitude of England, Russia and France. On July 5, the Danes made a sortie from Fridericia and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Schleswig-Holsteiners, capturing 28 guns and 1,500 prisoners. The Germans lost nearly 3,000 men in dead and wounded.

[Sidenote: Danish armistice]

Five days after this disgrace to German arms, the Prussian Government accepted an armistice, according to which Schleswig was to be cut in two to be occupied by Swedish and Prussian troops. The provisional government of this province was intrusted to a joint commission, presided over by an Englishman. Holstein was abandoned to its fate. The final downfall of all the ideals of the German Liberals was followed by a feeling of dejection in Germany akin to despair. The number of immigrants who left Germany to seek new homes in America and elsewhere rose abruptly to 113,000 persons.

[Sidenote: Austrian-Russian alliance]

[Sidenote: Russians invade Hungary]

[Sidenote: Fall of Budapesth]

[Sidenote: Last Hungarian victories]

[Sidenote: Kemmisvar]

[Sidenote: Surrender of Vilagos]

[Sidenote: Batthyany hanged]

[Sidenote: Hungary crushed]

Worse even than in Germany fared the cause of popular government in Hungary. On the day that Goergey's Hungarians stormed Ofen (May 21), Emperor Francis Joseph had a personal interview with Czar Nicholas at Warsaw. A joint note announced that the interest of all European States demanded armed interference in Hungary. The Emperor of Russia placed his whole army, under the command of Paskievitch, at the disposal of his "dear brother, Francis Joseph." On June 3, the vanguard of the Russian main army occupied Pressburg. Paskievitch called upon all Magyars to submit. Instead of that, Kossuth called upon his countrymen to destroy their homes and property at the approach of the enemy, and to retreat into the interior as did the Russians before Napoleon. The rapid course of military events made this impracticable. While Kossuth and his government retired to Scegedin in the far southeast, Goergey, with the bulk of the army, took post on the upper Danube to prevent the junction of the Austrians and Russians. There the notorious Haynau, who had been recalled from Italy, was in command. While Goergey attacked his left wing on the River Vag, Haynau perfected his junction with the Russians. On June 28 their united forces, 80,000 strong, captured Raab, under the eyes of Francis Joseph. The Russians occupied Debreczin, while the Austrians moved on Budapesth. Goergey's attempts to stop them resulted only in placing him in a dangerous position between both armies. On the same day that the Austrians reoccupied Budapesth, the Hungarians under Vetter succeeded in inflicting another disastrous defeat on Jellacic at Hegyes. Three days later, Goergey won his last victory over the Russians at Waitzen. After this the tide of war turned against Hungary. The united army of Austria and Russia exceeded 225,000 men and 600 guns. The Hungarian resources were exhausted. In the first week of August the final conclusion of peace between Austria and Sardinia and the victorious movement against Venice put new forces at Austria's disposal. Dembinsky, who was to defend the passage of the Theiss before Scegedin, was defeated, on August 5, at Czoreg with heavy losses. Kossuth now gave the command to Bem. He fought the last battle of the campaign at Kemmisvar, on August 9, ending in the disastrous defeat of the Hungarians. Bem barely succeeded in saving the remnant of his army by crossing the Moldavian frontier. On August 11, Kossuth at Arad relinquished his dictatorship in favor of General Goergey. This headstrong soldier, in realization of his helplessness, led his army of 20,000 foot, 2,000 horse and 130 guns within the Russian lines at Vilagos and surrendered unconditionally. Goergey's life was spared. Not so those of his foremost fellow prisoners, who were handed over to the tender mercies of Haynau. "Hungary," wrote Paskievitch to the Czar, "lies at the feet of your Majesty." Goergey's galling explanation that he did not deign to surrender to his despised Austrian adversaries was brutally avenged by Haynau. The foremost Magyar officers and statesmen who fell into Austrian hands were court-martialled and shot. Count Batthyany, the former Prime Minister, was hanged as a common felon. Hungary lost all her ancient constitutional rights, besides her former territories of Transylvania and Croatia. The flower of her youth was enrolled in Austrian ranks and dispersed to the most remote garrisons of the empire. Her civil administration was handed over to German bureaucrats from Austria. The exiled patriots sought refuge in Turkey and in America.

[Sidenote: Paris insurrection suppressed]

[Sidenote: French enter Rome]

[Sidenote: Flight of Garibaldi]

[Sidenote: Pio Nono firm]

The French interference in Rome aroused the Republicans in France. While Oudinot was carrying on siege operations against Rome, Ledru-Rollin, in Paris, demanded the impeachment of the Ministry. The rejection of this motion by the Chambers was followed by revolutionary risings at Paris, Lyons, Marseilles and other cities. Then it was shown that France had a new master. President Louis Napoleon was on his guard. Large forces of troops, held in readiness for this event, put down the insurrections without much trouble. The siege of Rome was pressed to its conclusion. On June 14, Oudinot began his bombardment of Rome. Garibaldi prolonged his defence until the end of the month. Then, when sufficient breaches had been opened, the French stormed the ramparts and entered Rome. Garibaldi attempted to throw his forces into Venice to prolong the war against Austria. With his ever-dwindling followers he was hunted from place to place. In the end, through the devotion of Italian patriots, he managed to escape to America. On July 14, the restoration of the Pope's authority over Rome was announced by Oudinot. Pio Nono, however, showed no inclination to place himself in the power of his protectors. Remaining at Gaeta, he sent a commission of cardinals to take over the government of Rome. Their first act was to restore the Inquisition, and to appoint a court for the trial of all persons implicated in the Roman revolution. Thereat great wrath arose among the Republicans of France. Louis Napoleon felt compromised. In reliance on the growing ascendency of Austria, the Pope insisted on his absolute rights as a sovereign of Rome. All that Pio Nono would consent to, under the pressure of the French Government, was to suffer his political prisoners to go into exile, and to bestow a small measure of local powers upon the municipalities of the various States.

After the fall of Rome and of Hungary no hope remained for Venice. A fortnight after the surrender of Vilagos, and several months after the subjugation of the Venetian mainland, the Republic of St. Mark, reduced by cholera and famine, gave up its long struggle. The Austrians re-entered Venice.

Having gained a free hand in her Hungarian and Italian dominions, Austria set to work to recover her ascendency in Germany.

1850

[Sidenote: Blockade of the Piraeus]

[Sidenote: Cholera in England]

At the opening of the year the British Foreign Office determined to bring pressure to bear upon Greece for payment of the public debts which were owing to English bankers. A British squadron, during January, blockaded the Piraeus. On January 17, a resolution was passed in the British House of Lords condemning the foreign policy of the government in Greece. Later France interposed in behalf of Greece and the blockade was discontinued. Throughout the earlier part of the year the scourge of cholera continued in England. In London alone the death-rate for a while was 1,000 per week. More than 50,000 people died from the epidemic in England and Wales.

[Sidenote: Death of Wordsworth]

[Sidenote: "Lyrical Ballads" and "Peter Bell"]

[Sidenote: The "Lake School"]

[Sidenote: Wordsworth's doctrine]

William Wordsworth, the English Poet Laureate, died on April 23, at Rydal Mount. Born at Cockermouth in 1770, Wordsworth received his academic education at Cambridge University. Two years after his graduation, he made his first appearance as a poet with the publication of "An Evening Walk; an Epistle in Verse." In the same year he published "Descriptive Sketches in Verse," inspired by a pedestrian tour through the Alps. These poems brought the appreciation of Coleridge, and both men soon became friends. Together with Wordsworth's sister they made a tour of Germany. On their return, Wordsworth brought out the first volume of his "Lyrical Ballads," which won great popularity, and the anonymous "Peter Bell," the most condemned of all his poems. After his marriage in 1803, Wordsworth settled at Grasmere in the lake country, where he was joined by Southey and Coleridge. This caused the writings of all three to be classified under the generic title of "The Lake School of Poetry" by the "Edinburgh Review." The fame of Wordsworth's poetic productions, and especially of his sonnets, slowly grew. While he won the immediate approbation of his countrymen by some of his stirring patriotic pieces, his strongest appeal to the world at large and to future generations lay in his poetic appreciation of the beauties of nature and of the essential traits of human character. As he sang in the famous preface to "The Excursion":

Beauty--a living presence of the earth, Surpassing the most fair ideal forms Which craft of delicate spirits hath composed From earth's materials--waits upon my steps; Pitches her tents before me as I move, An hourly neighbor. Paradise, and groves Elysian, Fortunate Fields--like those of old Sought in the Atlantic main--why should they be A history only of departed things, Or a mere fiction of what never was? For the discerning intellect of man, When wedded to this goodly universe In love and holy passion, shall find these A simple produce of the common day.

[Sidenote: Ode on immortality]

The annunciation of this doctrine was greeted by the critic of the "Edinburgh Review" with the insolent: "This will never do." In truth, Wordsworth's fondness for the inner beauty of common things sometimes led his verse into the commonplace. Wordsworth reached the height of his poetic fervor in his "Ode on the Intimations of Immortality," containing the famous lines:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar.

[Sidenote: Shelley's sonnet to Wordsworth]

It is at the end of this ode that Wordsworth summed up his veneration for nature in the lines:

To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

After the death of his friend Southey, the mantle of the Poet Laureate fell upon him. His acceptance of this honor, and of the humble office of stamp distributer in the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, was decried by some of his fellow poets as a sordid compromise. Robert Browning then wrote his stirring invective, "The Lost Leader," while Shelley wrote the famous sonnet addressed to Wordsworth:

Poet of Nature, thou hast wept to know That things depart which never may return: Childhood and youth, friendship and love's first glow, Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn. These common woes I feel. One loss is mine Which thou too feel'st, yet I alone deplore. Thou wert as a lone star, whose light did shine On some frail bark in winter's midnight roar, Thou hast like to a rock-built refuge stood Above the blind and battling multitude: In honored poverty thy voice did weave Songs consecrate to truth and liberty-- Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve, Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be.

[Sidenote: "The Prelude"]

Sir Robert Peel's recognition of Wordsworth's genius, on the other hand, was regarded by the English Liberals as one of the brightest points in that famous statesman's career. The University of Oxford, shortly afterward, bestowed upon Wordsworth an honorary degree. One of Wordsworth's latest poems was addressed to the Mount of Wanswell, rising above his country home at Ambroside, closing with the prophetic lines:

When we are gone From every object dear to mortal sight, As soon we shall be, may these words attest How oft, to elevate our spirits, shone Thy visionary majesties of light, How in thy pensive glooms our hearts found rest.

After Wordsworth's death, appeared "The Prelude, or Growth of the Poet's Mind," an autobiographical poem.

[Sidenote: Death of Peel]

[Sidenote: First international cable]

[Sidenote: The Koh-i-noor]

The next noted death in England this year was that of Sir Robert Peel, which occurred after a stirring debate on the foreign policy of Lord Palmerston in Greece. On the following day Peel was thrown from his horse while riding near London. The injuries he received were such that he died three days later. A monument to his memory was erected in Westminster Abbey; but in accordance with his own wish he was buried in the village churchyard of Drayton Bassett. Of other events arousing interest in England, the most noteworthy was the laying of the first submarine electric telegraph between England and France. The cable, which was twenty-seven miles long and covered with gutta-percha, stretched from Dover to Cape Gris Nez. Messages were interchanged, but the cable soon parted. During the same year the great East Indian diamond, Koh-i-noor, was presented to Queen Victoria. The history of this great jewel was more stirring, in its way, than that of any living man. Its original weight was nearly 800 carats. By the lack of skill of the European diamond cutters this was reduced to 270 carats.

[Sidenote: Death of Taouk Wang]

[Sidenote: Hien Fong, Emperor]

[Sidenote: The Taiping rebellion]

[Sidenote: Chinese emigration]

Beyond the immediate shores of England the course of events kept the British Colonial Office fully occupied. In Canada, a movement arose for the annexation of British America to the United States. Earl Grey, the Colonial Secretary, took occasion to warn all Canadians against this movement as an act of high treason. In India, the Afghans succeeded in reconquering Balkh. The fifth Kaffir war broke out in South Africa. The affairs of China gave fresh concern. On February 24, Emperor Taouk Wang died in his sixty-ninth year. The thirty years during which he reigned were among the most eventful, and in some respects the most portentous, for China. His strenuous opposition to the evils of the opium trade mark him as a wise, if not a powerful, ruler. He never wasted the public moneys of China on his own person, and his expenditures in behalf of the court and mere pomp were less than that of most of his predecessors. One of Taouk Wang's last acts showed how his mind and his health had been affected by the recent misfortunes of the empire. It appeared that the Chinese New Year's Day--February 12, 1850--was marked by an eclipse of the sun. Such an event being considered inauspicious in China, the Emperor decreed that the new year should begin on the previous day. The decree was utterly disregarded, and the Chinese year began at the appointed time. Taouk Wang's end was hastened by the outbreak of a great fire in Pekin, which threatened the imperial city with destruction. On February 25, a grand council was held in the Emperor's bedchamber, and Taouk Wang wrote in his bed an edict proclaiming his fourth son, Yihchoo, ruler of the empire. Prince Yihchoo, who was less than twenty years old, took the name of Hien Fong, which means great abundance, and immediately upon his accession drew to his aid his four younger brothers, a new departure in Manchu rule. Their uncle, Hwuy Wang, who had made one attempt to seize the throne from his brother Taouk Wang, once more put forward his pretensions. After the imperial Ministers, Kiaying and Muchangah, had been degraded, Hwuy Wang's attempt signally failed, but his life was spared. Later in the year, as a result partly of poor harvests, the great Taiping rebellion began. The great secret society of the Triads started the movement by raising an outcry in southern China against the Manchus. Their leader, Hung Tsiuen, a Hakka or Romany, proclaimed himself as Tien Wang, which means the head of the Prince. Under the cloud of the impending upheaval, Chinese coolies in great numbers began to emigrate to the United States. At the same time the bitter feeling against foreigners was intensified by an encounter of the British steamship "Media" with a fleet of piratical Chinese junks. Thirteen of the junks were destroyed.

[Sidenote: California an American issue]

[Sidenote: Fugitive slave bill]

In California, where most of the Chinese immigrants landed, this movement was scarcely considered in the heat of the discussion whether California should be admitted into the Union as a pro-slavery or anti-slavery State. In the American Senate, Henry Clay introduced a bill for a compromise of the controversy on slavery. His proposal favored the admission of California as a free State. On March 7, Daniel Webster delivered a memorable speech in which he antagonized his anti-slavery friends in the North. This was denounced as the betrayal of his constituents. State Conventions in South Carolina called for a Southern Congress to voice their claims. Not long afterward a fugitive slave bill was adopted by the United States Congress. A fine of $1,000 and six months' imprisonment was to be imposed on any person harboring a fugitive slave or aiding him to escape. Fugitives were to be surrendered on demand, without the benefit of testimony or trial by jury. This served to terrorize some 20,000 escaped slaves and created intense indignation in the North. The issues were still more sharply drawn by the resignation of Jefferson Davis from the Senate, to run as a State-rights candidate for Governor of Mississippi. His Unionist rival, Foote, was elected.

[Sidenote: American filibusters in Cuba]

[Sidenote: Bulwer-Clayton treaty]

[Sidenote: Friction with Portugal]

In the meanwhile trouble had arisen with Spain and Portugal. On May 19, General Narcisso Lopez, with 600 American filibusters, landed at Cardenas to liberate Cuba from the dominion of Spain. He was defeated and his expedition dispersed. Another Cuban expedition was agitated in America. On April 25, President Taylor felt constrained to issue a second proclamation against filibusters. In May, the United States, in conjunction with Great Britain, recognized the independence of the Dominican Republic. Both countries at the same time agreed not to interfere in the affairs of Central America. In accordance with this agreement the famous Bulwer-Clayton Treaty was completed. It provided that neither country should obtain exclusive control over any inter-oceanic canal in Central America, nor erect fortifications along its line. In June an American squadron was sent to Portugal to support the United States demand for American war claims of 1812. The claims were refused and the American Minister was recalled from Lisbon. The American fleet was withdrawn without further hostile demonstrations. The American President, in pursuance of his policy of peace, proclaimed neutrality in the civil war which had arisen in Mexico.

[Sidenote: Shields' prophecy]

[Sidenote: Webster scourged]