Note: Italics: _ Bold: %

%THE GREAT EVENTS%

BY

Famous Historians

A COMPREHENSIVE AND READABLE ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY. EMPHASIZINGTHE MORE IMPORTANT EVENTS. AND PRESENTING THESE AS COMPLETE NARRATIVES INTHE MASTER-WORDS OF THE MOST EMINENT HISTORIANS

%NON-SECTARIAN NON-PARTISAN NON-SECTIONAL%

ON THE PLAN EVOLVED FROM A CONSENSUS OF OPINIONS GATHERED FROM THE MOSTDISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. INCLUDING BRIEF INTRODUCTIONSBY SPECIALISTS TO CONNECT AND EXPLAIN THE CELEBRATED NARRATIVES, ARRANGEDCHRONOLOGICALLY. WITH THOROUGH INDICES. BIBLIOGRAPHIES. CHRONOLOGIES. ANDCOURSES OF READING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ROSSITER JOHNSON, LL. D. 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph. D. JOHN RUDD, LL. D. 

_With a staff of specialists VOLUME XII_

%The National Alumni% 1905

%CONTENTS%

VOLUME XII

_An Outline Narrative of the Great Events_CHARLES F. HORNE

_Louis XIV Establishes Absolute Monarchy (A. D. 1661)_JAMES COTTER MORISON

_New York Taken by the English (A. D. 1664)_JOHN R. BRODHEAD

_Great Plague in London (A. D. 1665)_DANIEL DEFOE

_Great Fire in London (A. D. 1666)_JOHN EVELYN

_Discovery of Gravitation (A. D. 1666)_SIR DAVID BREWSTER

_Morgan, the Buccaneer, Sacks Panama (A. D. 1671)_JOHANN W. VON ARCHENHOLZ

_Struggle of the Dutch against France and England (A. D. 1672)_C. M. DAVIES. 

_Discovery of the MississippiLa Salle Names Louisiana (A. D. 1673-1682)_FRANÇOIS XAVIER GARNEAU

_King Philip's War (A. D. 1675)_RICHARD HILDRETH

_Growth of Prussia under the Great ElectorHis Victory at Fehrbellin (A. D. 1675)_THOMAS CARLYLE

_William Penn Receives the Grant of PennsylvaniaFounding of Philadelphia (A. D. 1681)_GEORGE E. ELLIS

_Last Turkish Invasion of Europe Sobieski Saves Vienna (A. D. 1683)_SUTHERLAND MENZIES

_Monmouth's Rebellion (A. D. 1685)_GILBERT BURNET

_Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (A. D. 1685)_BON LOUIS HENRI MARTIN

_The English RevolutionFlight of James II (A. D. 1688)_GILBERT BURNETH. D. TRAILL

_Peter the Great Modernizes RussiaSuppression of the Streltsi (A. D. 1689)_ALFRED RAMBAUD

_Tyranny of Andros in New EnglandThe Bloodless Revolution (A. D. 1689)_CHARLES WYLLYS ELLIOTT

_Massacre of Lachine (A. D. 1689)_FRANÇOIS XAVIER GARNEAU

_Siege of Londonderry and Battle of the Boyne (A. D. 1689-1690)_TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT

_Salem Witchcraft Trials (A. D. 1692)_RICHARD HILDRETH

_Establishment of the Bank of England (A. D. 1694)_JOHN FRANCIS

_Colonization of Louisiana (A. D. 1699)_CHARLES E. T. GAYARRÉ

_Prussia Proclaimed a Kingdom (A. D. 1701)_LEOPOLD VON RANKE

_Founding of St. Petersburg (A. D. 1703)_K. WALISZEWSKI

_Battle of Blenheim (A. D. 1704)Curbing of Louis XIV_, SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY

_Union of England and Scotland (A. D. 1707)_JOHN HILL BURTON

_Downfall of Charles XII at Poltava (A. D. 1709)Triumph of Russia_K. WALISZEWSKI

_Capture of Port Royal (A. D. 1710)France Surrenders Nova Scotia to England_DUNCAN CAMPBELL

_Universal Chronology (A. D. 1661-1715)_JOHN RUDD

ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME XII

_Surrender of Marshal Tallard at the Battle of Blenheim_, Painting by R. Caton Woodville. 

_The Duke of Monmouth humiliates himself before King James II_, Painting byJ. Pettie, A. R. A. 

_Charles XII carried on a litter during the Battle of Poltava_, Painting byW. Hauschild. 

%AN OUTLINE NARRATIVE%

Tracing Briefly The Causes, Connections, And Consequencies Of

%THE GREAT EVENTS%

(Age Of Louis XIV)

CHARLES F. HORNE

It is related that in 1661, on the day following the death of the greatCardinal Mazarin, the various officials of the State approached their youngKing, Louis XIV. "To whom shall we go now for orders, Your Majesty?" "Tome, " answered Louis, and from that date until his death in 1715 they hadno other master. Whether we accept the tale as literal fact or only as thevivid French way of visualizing a truth, we find here the central pointof over fifty years of European history. The two celebrated cardinals, Richelieu and Mazarin, had, by their strength and wisdom, made France byfar the most powerful state in Europe. Moreover, they had so reduced theauthority of the French nobility, the clergy, and the courts of law as tohave become practically absolute and untrammelled in their control of theentire government. Now, all this enormous power, both at home and abroad, over France and over Europe, was assumed by a young man of twenty-three. "Iam the state, " said Louis at a later period of his career. He might almosthave said, "I am Europe, " looking as he did only to the Europe thatdominated, and took pleasure in itself, and made life one continuedglittering revel of splendor. Independent Europe, that claimed the right ofthinking for itself, the suffering Europe of the peasants, who starved andshed their blood in helpless agony--these were against Louis almost fromthe beginning, and ever increasingly against him. 

At first the young monarch found life very bright around him. His courtierscalled him "the rising sun, " and his ambition was to justify the title, tobe what with his enormous wealth and authority was scarcely difficult, theGrand Monarch. He rushed into causeless war and snatched provinces fromhis feeble neighbors, exhausted Germany and decaying Spain. He built hugefortresses along his frontiers, and military roads from end to end of hisdomains. His court was one continuous round of splendid entertainments. Heencouraged literature, or at least pensioned authors and had them clusteredaround him in what Frenchmen call the Augustan Age of their development. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Louis XIV Establishes Absolute Monarchy_, page 1. ]

The little German princes of the Rhine, each of them practicallyindependent ruler of a tiny state, could not of course compete with Louisor defy him. Nor for a time did they attempt it. His splendor dazzled them. They were content to imitate, and each little prince became a patron ofliterature, or giver of entertainments, or builder of huge fortressesabsurdly disproportioned to his territory and his revenues. Germany, it hasbeen aptly said, became a mere tail to the French kite, its leaders feeblydraggling after where Louis soared. Never had the common people of Europeor even the nobility had less voice in their own affairs. It was an age ofabsolute kingly power, an age of despotism. 

England, which under Cromwell had bid fair to take a foremost place inEurope, sank under Charles II into unimportance. Its people wearied withtumult, desired peace more than aught else; its King, experienced inadversity, and long a homeless wanderer in France and Holland, seemed tohave but one firm principle in life. Whatever happened he did not intend, as he himself phrased it, to go on his "travels" again. He dreaded andhated the English Parliament as all the Stuarts had; and, like his father, he avoided calling it together. To obtain money without its aid, heaccepted a pension from the French King. Thus England also became aservitor of Louis. Its policy, so far as Charles could mould it, wasFrance's policy. If we look for events in the English history of thetime we must find them in internal incidents, the terrible plague thatdevastated London in 1665, [1] the fire of the following year, that checkedthe plague but almost swept the city out of existence. [2] We must note thefounding of the Royal Society in 1660 for the advancement of science, orlook to Newton, its most celebrated member, beginning to puzzle out histheory of gravitation in his Woolsthorpe garden. [3]

[Footnote 1: See _Great Plague in London_, page 29. ]

[Footnote 2: See _Great Fire in London_, page 45. ]

[Footnote 3: See _Discovery of Gravitation_, page 51. ]

CONTINENTAL WARS

Louis's first real opponent he found in sturdy Holland. Her fleets andthose of England had learned to fight each other in Cromwell's time, andthey continued to struggle for the mastery of the seas. There were manydesperate naval battles. In 1664 an English fleet crossed the ocean toseize the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and it became New York. [4] In 1667a Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames and burned the shipping, almost reachingLondon itself. 

[Footnote 4: See _New York Taken by the English_, page 19. ]

Yet full as her hands might seem with strife like this, Holland did nothesitate to stand forth against the aggression of Louis's "rising sun. "When in his first burst of kingship, he seized the Spanish provinces of theNetherlands and so extended his authority to the border of Holland, itspeople, frightened at his advance, made peace with England and joined analliance against him. Louis drew back; and the Dutch authorized a medalwhich depicted Holland checking the rising sun. Louis never forgave them, and in 1672, having secured German neutrality and an English alliance, hesuddenly attacked Holland with all his forces. [5]

[Footnote 5: See _Struggle of the Dutch against France and England_, page86. ]

For a moment the little republic seemed helpless. Her navy indeed withstoodably the combined assaults of the French and English ships, but the Frencharmies overran almost her entire territory. It was then that her peopletalked of entering their ships and sailing away together, transportingtheir nation bodily to some colony beyond Louis's reach. It was then thatAmsterdam set the example which other districts heroically followed, ofopening her dykes and letting the ocean flood the land to drive out theFrench. The leaders of the republic were murdered in a factional strife, and the young Prince William III of Orange, descended from that Williamthe Silent who had led the Dutch against Philip II, was made practicallydictator of the land. This young Prince William, afterward King William IIIof England, was the antagonist who sprang up against Louis, and in the endunited all Europe against him and annihilated his power. 

Seeing the wonderful resistance that little Holland made against herapparently overwhelming antagonists, the rest of Germany took heart; alliescame to the Dutch. Brandenburg and Austria and Spain forced Louis to fallback upon his own frontier, though with much resolute battling by his greatgeneral, Turenne. 

Next to young William, Louis found his most persistent opponent inFrederick William, the "Great Elector" of Brandenburg and Prussia, undoubtedly the ablest German sovereign of the age, and the founder ofPrussia's modern importance. He had succeeded to his hereditary domains in1640, when they lay utterly waste and exhausted in the Thirty Years' War;and he reigned until 1688, nearly half a century, during which he was everand vigorously the champion of Germany against all outside enemies. Healone, in the feeble Germany of the day, resisted French influence, Frenchmanners, and French aggression. 

In this first general war of the Germans and their allies against Louis, Frederick William proved the only one of their leaders seriously to befeared. Louis made an alliance with Sweden and persuaded the Swedes tooverrun Brandenburg during its ruler's absence with his forces on theRhine. But so firmly had the Great Elector established himself at home, sowas he loved, that the very peasantry rose to his assistance. "We are onlypeasants, " said their banners, "but we can die for our lord. " Pitiful cry!Pitiful proof of how unused the commons were to even a little kindness, howeagerly responsive! Frederick William came riding like a whirlwind from theRhine, his army straggling along behind in a vain effort to keep up. Hehurled himself with his foremost troops upon the Swedes, and won thecelebrated battle of Fehrbellin. He swept his astonished foes back intotheir northern peninsula. Brandenburg became the chief power of northernGermany. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Growth of Prussia under the Great Elector: His Victory atFehrbellin_, page 138. ]

In 1679 the Peace of Ryswick ended the general war, and left Hollandunconquered, but with the French frontier extended to the Rhine, and Louisat the height of his power, the acknowledged head of European affairs. Austria was under the rule of Leopold I, Emperor of Germany from 1657 to1705, whose pride and incompetence wholly prevented him from being whathis position as chief of the Hapsburgs would naturally have made him, theleader of the opposition, the centre around whom all Europe could rally towithstand Louis's territorial greed. Leopold hated Louis, but he hated alsothe rising Protestant "Brandenburger, " he hated the "merchant" Dutch, hated everybody in short who dared intrude upon the ancient order of hissuperiority, who refused to recognize his impotent authority. So he wouldgladly have seen Louis crush every opponent except himself, would havefound it a pleasant vengeance indeed to see all these upstart powersdestroying one another. 

Moreover, Austria was again engaged in desperate strife with the Turks. These were in the last burst of their effort at European conquest. Nolonger content with Hungary, twice in Leopold's reign did they advance toattack Vienna. Twice were they repulsed by Hungarian and Austrian valor. The final siege was in 1683. A vast horde estimated as high as two hundredthousand men marched against the devoted city. Leopold and most of thearistocracy fled, in despair of its defence. Only the common people whocould not flee, remained, and with the resolution of despair beat off therepeated assaults of the Mahometans. [2]

[Footnote 2: See _Last Turkish Invasion of Europe: Sobieski Saves Vienna_, page 164. ]

They were saved by John Sobieski, a king who had raised Poland to one ofher rare outflashing periods of splendor. With his small but gallant Polisharmy he came to the rescue of Christendom, charged furiously upon the hugeTurkish horde, and swept it from the field in utter flight. The tide ofTurkish power receded forever; that was its last great wave which brokebefore the walls of Vienna. All Hungary was regained, mainly through theefforts of Austria's greatest general, Prince Eugene of Savoy. The centreof the centuries of strife shifted back where it had been in Hunyady'stime, from Vienna to the mighty frontier fortress of Belgrad, which wastaken and retaken by opposing forces. 

LATER EFFORTS OF LOUIS XIV

The earlier career of Louis XIV seems to have been mainly influenced by hispassion for personal renown; but he had always been a serious Catholic, andin his later life his interest in religion became a most important factorin his world. The Protestants of France had for wellnigh a century heldtheir faith unmolested, safeguarded by that Edict of Nantes, which had beengranted by Henry IV, a Catholic at least in name, and confirmed by CardinalRichelieu, a Catholic by profession. Persuasive measures had indeed beenfrequently employed to win the deserters back to the ancient Church; butnow under Louis's direction, a harsher course was attempted. The celebrated"dragonades" quartered a wild and licentious soldiery in Protestantlocalities, in the homes of Protestant house-owners, with special orders tomake themselves offensive to their hosts. Under this grim discouragementProtestantism seemed dying out of France, and at last, in 1685, Louis, encouraged by success, took the final step and revoked the Edict of Nantes, commanding all his subjects to accept Catholicism, while at the same timeforbidding any to leave the country. Huguenots who attempted flight wereseized; many were slain. Externally at least, the reformed religiondisappeared from France. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Revocation of the Edict of Nantes_, page 180. ]

Of course, despite the edict restraining them, many Huguenots, the mostearnest and vigorous of the sect, did escape by flight; and some hundredthousands of France's ablest citizens were thus lost to her forever. Largenumbers found a welcome in neighboring Holland; the Great Elector stoodforward and gave homes to a wandering host of the exiles. England receivedcolonies of them; and even distant America was benefited by the numbers whosought her freer shores. No enemy to France in all the world but received awelcome accession to its strength against her. 

In the same year that Protestant Europe was thus assailed and terrified bythe reviving spectre of religious persecution, Charles II of England diedand his brother James II succeeded him. Charles may have been Catholic atheart, but in name at least he had retained the English religion. Jameswas openly Catholic. A hasty rebellion raised against him by his nephew, Monmouth, fell to pieces;[1] and James, having executed Monmouth andapproved a cruel persecution of his followers, began to take serious stepstoward forcing the whole land back to the ancient faith. 

[Footnote 1: See _Monmouth's Rebellion_, page 172. ]

So here was kingly absolutism coming to the aid of the old religiousintolerance. The English people, however, had already killed one king indefence of their liberties; and their resolute opposition to James began tosuggest that they might kill another. Many of the leading nobles appealedsecretly to William of Orange for help. William was, as we have said, thecentre of opposition to Louis, and that began to mean to Catholicism aswell. Also, William had married a daughter of King James and had thus someclaim to interfere in the family domains. And, most important of all, aschief ruler of Holland, William had an army at command. With a portion ofthat army he set sail late in 1688 and landed in England. Englishmen of allranks flocked to join him. King James fled to France, and a Parliament, hastily assembled in 1689, declared him no longer king and placed Williamand his wife Mary on the throne as joint rulers. [2] Thus William had twocountries instead of one to aid him in his life-long effort against Louis. 

[Footnote 2: See _The English Revolution: Flight of James II_, page 200. ]

Louis, indeed, accepted the accession of his enemy as a threat of war and, taking up the cause of the fugitive James, despatched him with Frenchtroops to Ireland, where his Catholic faith made the mass of the people hisdevoted adherents. There were, however, Protestant Irish as well, and thesedefied James and held his troops at bay in the siege of Londonderry, whileKing William hurried over to Ireland with an army. Father-in-law andson-in-law met in the battle of the Boyne, and James was defeated in waras he had been in diplomacy. He fled back to France, leaving his Catholicadherents to withstand William as best they might. Limerick, the Catholicstronghold, was twice besieged and only yielded when full religious freedomhad been guaranteed. Irishmen to this day call it with bitterness "the cityof the violated treaty. "[1]

[Footnote 1: See _Siege of Londonderry and the Battle of the Boyne_, page258. ]

Meanwhile the strife between Louis and William had spread into anothergeneral European war. William had difficulties to encounter in his newkingdom. Its people cared little for his Continental aims and gave himlittle loyalty of service. In fact, peculation among public officials wasso widespread that, despite large expenditures of money, England had onlya most feeble, inefficient army in the field, and William was in blackdisgust against his new subjects. It was partly to aid the Government inits financial straits that the Bank of England was formed in 1694. [2]

[Footnote 2: See _Establishment of the Bank of England_, page 286. ]

Yet Louis's troubles were greater and of deeper root. Catholic Austria andeven the Pope himself, unable to submit to the arrogance of the "GrandMonarch, " took part against him in this war. It can therefore no longer beregarded as a religious struggle. It marks the turning-point in Louis'sfortunes. His boundless extravagance had exhausted France at last. Both inwealth and population she began to feel the drain. The French generals wonrepeated victories, yet they had to give slowly back before their morenumerous foes; and in 1697 Louis purchased peace by making concessions ofterritory as well as courtesy. 

This peace proved little more than a truce. For almost half a century theEuropean sovereigns had been waiting for Charles II of Spain to die. Hewas the last of his race, last of the Spanish Hapsburgs descended fromthe Emperor Charles V, and so infirm and feeble was he that it seemed theflickering candle of his life must puff out with each passing wind. Whoshould succeed him? In Mazarin's time, that crafty minister had schemedthat the prize should go to France, and had wedded young Louis XIV to aSpanish princess. The Austrian Hapsburgs of course wanted the place forthemselves, though to establish a common ancestry with their Spanish kinthey must turn back over a century and a half to Ferdinand and Isabella. 

But strong men grew old and died, while the invalid Charles II still clungto his tottering throne. Louis ceased hoping to occupy it himself andclaimed it for his son, then for his grandson, Philip. Not until 1700, after a reign of nearly forty years, did Charles give up the worthless gameand expire. He declared Philip his heir, and the aged Louis sent the youthto Spain with an eager boast, "Go; there are no longer any Pyrenees. " Thatis, France and Spain were to be one, a mighty Bourbon empire. 

That was just what Europe, experienced in Louis's unscrupulous aggression, dared not allow. So another general alliance was formed, with William ofHolland and England at its head, to drive Philip from his new throne infavor of a Hapsburg. William died before the war was well under way, butthe British people understood his purposes now and upheld them. Once morethey felt themselves the champions of Protestantism in Europe. Anne, thesecond daughter of the deposed King James, was chosen as queen; and underher the two realms of England and Scotland were finally joined in one bythe Act of Union (1707), with but a single Parliament. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Union of England and Scotland_, page 341. ]

Meanwhile Marlborough was sent to the Rhine with a strong British army. Prince Eugene paused in fighting the Turks and joined him with Austrian andGerman troops. Together they defeated the French in the celebrated battleof Blenheim (1704), [2] and followed it in later years with Oudenarde andMalplaquet. Louis was beaten. France was exhausted. The Grand Monarchpleaded for peace on almost any terms. 

[Footnote 2: See _Battle of Blenheim: Curbing of Louis XIV_, page 327. ]

Yet his grandson remained on the Spanish throne. For one reason, theSpaniards themselves upheld him and fought for him. For another, theallies' Austrian candidate became Emperor of Germany, and to make him rulerof Spain as well would only have been to consolidate the Hapsburg powerinstead of that of the Bourbons. Made dubious by this balance betweenevils, Europe abandoned the war. So there were two Bourbon kingdoms afterall--but both too exhausted to be dangerous. 

Louis had indeed outlived his fame. He had roused the opposition of all hisneighbors, and ruined France in the effort to extend her greatness. Thepraises and flattery of his earlier years reached him now only from thelips of a few determined courtiers. His people hated him, and in 1715celebrated his death as a release. Frenchmen high and low had begun thecareer which ended in their terrific Revolution. Lying on his drearydeath-bed, the Grand Monarch apologized that he should "take so long indying. " Perhaps he, also, felt that he delayed the coming of the new age. What his career had done was to spread over all Europe a new culture andrefinement, to rouse a new splendor and recklessness among the upperclasses, and to widen almost irretrievably the gap between rich and poor, between kings and commons. In the very years that parliamentary governmentwas becoming supreme in England, absolutism established itself upon theContinent. 

CHANGES IN NORTHERN EUROPE

Toward the close of this age the balance of power in Northern Europeshifted quite as markedly as it had farther south. Three of the Germanelectoral princes became kings. The Elector of Saxony was chosen King ofPoland, thereby adding greatly to his power. George, Elector of Hanover, became King of England on the death of Queen Anne. And the Elector ofBrandenburg, son of the Great Elector, when the war of 1701 against Franceand Spain broke out, only lent his aid to the European coalition oncondition that the German Emperor should authorize him also to assume thetitle of king, not of Brandenburg but of his other and smaller domain ofPrussia, which lay outside the empire. Most of the European sovereignssmiled at this empty change of title without a change of dominions; butBrandenburg or Prussia was thus made more united, more consolidated, andit soon rose to be the leader of Northern Germany. A new family, theHohenzollerns, contested European supremacy with the Hapsburgs and theBourbons. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Prussia Proclaimed a Kingdom_, page 310. ]

More important still was the strife between Sweden and Russia. Sweden hadbeen raised by Gustavus Adolphus to be the chief power of the North, thechosen ally of Richelieu and Mazarin. Her soldiers were esteemed the bestof the time. The prestige of the Swedes had, to be sure, suffered somewhatin the days when the Great Elector defeated them so completely atFehrbellin and elsewhere. But Louis XIV had stood by them as his allies, and saved them from any loss of territory, so that in 1700 Sweden stillheld not only the Scandinavian peninsula but all the lands east of theBaltic as far as where St. Petersburg now stands, and much of the Germancoast to southward. The Baltic was thus almost a Swedish lake, when in1697 a new warrior king, Charles XII, rose to reassert the warlikesupremacy of his race. He was but fifteen when he reached the throne; andDenmark, Poland, and Russia all sought to snatch away his territories. Hefought the Danes and defeated them. He fought the Saxon Elector who hadbecome king of Poland. Soon both Poland and Saxony lay crushed at the feetof the "Lion of the North, " as they called him then--"Madman of theNorth, " after his great designs had failed. Only Russia remained to opposehim--Russia, as yet almost unknown to Europe, a semi-barbaric frontierland, supposedly helpless against the strength and resources ofcivilization. 

Russia was in the pangs of a most sudden revolution. Against her will shewas being suddenly and sharply modernized by Peter the Great, most famousof her czars. He had overthrown the turbulent militia who really ruled theland, and had waded through a sea of bloody executions to establish hisown absolute power. [1] He had travelled abroad in disguise, studiedshipbuilding in Holland, the art of government in England, andfortification and war wheresoever he could find a teacher. Removing fromthe ancient, conservative capital of Moscow, he planted his government, in defiance of Sweden, upon her very frontier, causing the city of St. Petersburg to arise as if by magic from a desolate, icy swamp in the farnorth. [2]

[Footnote 1: See _Peter the Great Modernizes Russia: Suppression of theStreltsi_, page 223. ]

[Footnote 2: See _Founding of St. Petersburg_, page 319. ]

Charles of Sweden scorned and defied him. At Narva in 1700, Charles witha small force of his famous troops drove Peter with a huge horde of hisRussians to shameful flight. "They will teach us to beat them, " said Peterphilosophically; and so in truth he gathered knowledge from defeat afterdefeat, until at length at Poltava in 1709 he completely turned the tablesupon Charles, overthrew him and so crushed his power that Russiasucceeded Sweden as ruler of the extreme North, a rank she has ever sinceretained. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Downfall of Charles XII at Poltava: Triumph of Russia_, page 352. ]

GROWTH OF AMERICA

The vast political and social changes of Europe in this age found theirecho in the New World. The decay of Spain left her American colonies tofeebleness and decay. The islands of the Caribbean Sea became the haunt ofthe buccaneers, pirates, desperadoes of all nations who preyed upon Spanishships, and, as their power grew, extended their depredations northwardalong the American coast. So important did these buccaneers become thatthey formed regular governments among themselves. The most famed of theirleaders was knighted by England as Sir Henry Morgan; and the most renownedof his achievements was the storm and capture of the Spanish treasure city, Panama. [2]

[Footnote 2: See _Morgan, the Buccaneer, Sacks Panama_, page 66. ]

As Spain grew weak in America, France grew strong. From her Canadiancolonies she sent out daring missionaries and traders, who explored thegreat lakes and the Mississippi valley. [3] They made friends with theIndians; they founded Louisiana. [4] All the north and west of the continentfell into their hands. 

[Footnote 3: See _Discovery of the Mississippi_, page 108. ]

[Footnote 4: See _Colonization of Louisiana_, page 297. ]

Never, however, did their numbers approach those of the English colonistsalong the Atlantic coast. Both Massachusetts and Virginia were grown intoimportant commonwealths, almost independent of England, and well able tosupport the weaker settlements rising around them. After the great Puritanexodus to New England to escape the oppression of Charles I, there had comea Royalist exodus to Virginia to escape the Puritanic tyranny of Cromwell'stime. Large numbers of Catholics fled to Maryland. Huguenots establishedthemselves in the Carolinas and elsewhere. Then came Penn to build a greatQuaker state among the scattered Dutch settlements along the Delaware. [1]The American seaboard became the refuge of each man who refused to bow hisneck to despotism of whatever type. 

[Footnote 1: See _William Penn Receives the Grant of Pennsylvania: Foundingof Philadelphia_, page 153. ]

Under such settlers English America soon ceased to be a mere offshoot ofEurope. It became a world of its own; its people developed into a new race. They had their own springs of action, their own ways of thought, differentfrom those of Europe, more simple and intense as was shown in the Salemwitchcraft excitement, or more resolute and advanced as was revealed inBacon's Virginia rebellion. [2]

[Footnote 2: See _Salem Witchcraft Trials_, page 268. ]

The aboriginal inhabitants, the Indians, found themselves pressed everbackward from the coast. They resisted, and in 1675 there arose in NewEngland, King Philip's war, which for that section at least settled theIndian question forever. The red men of New England were practicallyexterminated. [3] Those of New York, the Iroquois, were more fortunate ormore crafty. They dwelt deeper in the wilderness, and formed a buffer statebetween the French in Canada and the English to the south, drawing aid nowfrom one, now from the other. 

[Footnote 3: See _King Philip's War_, page 125. ]

Each war between England and Louis XIV was echoed by strife between theirrival colonies. When King William supplanted James in 1688 there followedin America also a "bloodless revolution. "[4] Governor Andros, whom Jameshad sent to imitate his own harsh tyranny in the colonies, was seized andshipped back to England. William was proclaimed king. The ensuing strifewith France was marked by the most bloody of all America's Indianmassacres. The Iroquois descended suddenly on Canada; the very suburbsof its capital, Montreal, were burned, and more than a thousand of theunsuspecting settlers were tortured, or more mercifully slain outright. [5]

[Footnote 4: See _Tyranny of Andros in New England: The BloodlessRevolution_, page 241. ]

[Footnote 5: See _Massacre of Lachine_, page 248. ]

In the later war about the Spanish throne, England captured Nova Scotia, the southern extremity of the French Canadian seaboard; and part of theprice Louis XIV paid for peace was to leave this colony in England'shands. [1] The scale of American power began to swing markedly in her favor. Everywhere over the world, as the eighteenth century progressed, Englandwith her parliamentary government was rising into power at the expense ofFrance and absolutism. 

[Footnote 1: See _Capture of Port Royal: France Surrenders Nova Scotia toEngland_, page 373. ]

[Footnote: FOR THE NEXT SECTION OF THIS GENERAL SURVEY SEE VOLUME XIII. ]

%LOUIS XIV ESTABLISHES ABSOLUTE MONARCHY%

A. D. 1661

JAMES COTTER MORISON

Not only was the reign of Louis XIV one of the longest in the world'shistory, but it also marked among Western nations the highest developmentof the purely monarchical principle. Including the time that Louis ruledunder the guardianship of his mother and the control of his minister, Cardinal Mazarin, the reign covered more than seventy years (1643-1715). 

The sovereign who could say, "I am the state" ("_l'État c'est moi_"), andsee his subjects acquiesce with almost Asiatic humility, while Europelooked on in admiration and fear, may be said to have embodied for moderntimes the essence of absolutism. 

That all things, domestic and foreign, seemed to be in concurrence forgiving practical effect to the Grand Monarque's assumption of supremacy isshown by the fact that his name dominates the whole history of his time. His reign was not only "the Augustan Age of France"; it marked theascendency of France in Europe. 

Of such a reign no adequate impression is to be derived from reading eventhe most faithful narrative of its thronging events. But the reign as wellas the personality of Louis is set in clear perspective for us by Morison'spicturesque and discriminating treatment. 

The reign of Louis XIV was the culminating epoch in the history of theFrench monarchy. What the age of Pericles was in the history of theAthenian democracy, what the age of the Scipios was in the history of theRoman Republic, that was the reign of Louis XIV in the history of the oldmonarchy of France. The type of polity which that monarchy embodied, theprinciples of government on which it reposed or brought into play, in thisreign attain their supreme expression and development. Before Louis XIV theFrench monarchy has evidently not attained its full stature; it is thwartedand limited by other forces in the state. After him, though unresisted fromwithout, it manifests symptoms of decay from within. It rapidly declines, and totally disappears seventy-seven years after his death. 

But it is not only the most conspicuous reign in the history of France--itis the most conspicuous reign in the history of monarchy in general. Ofthe very many kings whom history mentions, who have striven to exalt themonarchical principle, none of them achieved a success remotely comparableto his. His two great predecessors in kingly ambition, Charles V and PhilipII, remained far behind him in this respect. They may have ruled over widerdominions, but they never attained the exceptional position of power andprestige which he enjoyed for more than half a century. They never wereobeyed so submissively at home nor so dreaded and even respected abroad. For Louis XIV carried off that last reward of complete success, that hefor a time silenced even envy, and turned it into admiration. We who canexamine with cold scrutiny the make and composition of this colossus ofa French monarchy; who can perceive how much the brass and clay in itexceeded the gold; who know how it afterward fell with a resounding ruin, the last echoes of which have scarcely died away, have difficulty inrealizing the fascination it exercised upon contemporaries who witnessedits first setting up. 

Louis XIV's reign was the very triumph of commonplace greatness, ofexternal magnificence and success, such as the vulgar among mankind canbest and most sincerely appreciate. Had he been a great and profound ruler, had he considered with unselfish meditation the real interests of France, had he with wise insight discerned and followed the remote lines ofprogress along which the future of Europe was destined to move, it islamentably probable that he would have been misunderstood in his lifetimeand calumniated after his death. 

Louis XIV was exposed to no such misconception. His qualities were on thesurface, visible and comprehensible to all; and although none of them wasbrilliant, he had several which have a peculiarly impressive effect whendisplayed in an exalted station. He was indefatigably industrious; workedon an average eight hours a day for fifty-four years; had great tenacityof will; that kind of solid judgment which comes of slowness of brain, andwithal a most majestic port and great dignity of manners. He had also asmuch kindliness of nature as the very great can be expected to have; histemper was under severe control; and, in his earlier years at least, hehad a moral apprehensiveness greater than the limitations of his intellectwould have led one to expect. 

His conduct toward Molière was throughout truly noble, and the more so thathe never intellectually appreciated Molière's real greatness. But he musthave had great original fineness of tact, though it was in the end nearlyextinguished by adulation and incense. His court was an extraordinarycreation, and the greatest thing he achieved. He made it the microcosm ofall that was the most brilliant and prominent in France. Every order ofmerit was invited there and received courteous welcome. To no circumstancedid he so much owe his enduring popularity. By its means he impressed intohis service that galaxy of great writers, the first and the last classicauthors of France, whose calm and serene lustre will forever illumine theepoch of his existence. It may even be admitted that his share in thatlustre was not so accidental and undeserved as certain king-haters havesupposed. 

That subtle critic, M. Sainte-Beuve, thinks he can trace a marked rise evenin Bossuet's style from the moment he became a courtier of Louis XIV. The King brought men together, placed them in a position where theywere induced and urged to bring their talents to a focus. His court wasalternately a high-bred gala and a stately university. If we contrast hislife with those of his predecessor and successor, with the dreary existenceof Louis XIII and the crapulous lifelong debauch of Louis XV, we becomesensible that Louis XIV was distinguished in no common degree; and when wefurther reflect that much of his home and all of his foreign policy wasprecisely adapted to flatter, in its deepest self-love, the national spiritof France, it will not be quite impossible to understand the long-continuedreverberation of his fame. 

But Louis XIV's reign has better titles than the adulations of courtiersand the eulogies of wits and poets to the attention of posterity. It marksone of the most memorable epochs in the annals of mankind. It stretchesacross history like a great mountain range, separating ancient Francefrom the France of modern times. On the further slope are Catholicism andfeudalism in their various stages of splendor and decay--the France ofcrusade and chivalry, of St. Louis and Bayard. On the hither side arefreethought, industry, and centralization--the France of Voltaire, Turgot, and Condorcet. 

When Louis came to the throne the Thirty Years' War still wanted six yearsof its end, and the heat of theological strife was at its intensest glow. When he died the religious temperature had cooled nearly to freezing-point, and a new vegetation of science and positive inquiry was overspreading theworld. This amounts to saying that his reign covers the greatest epochof mental transition through which the human mind has hitherto passed, excepting the transition we are witnessing in the day which now is. We needbut recall the names of the writers and thinkers who arose during LouisXIV's reign, and shed their seminal ideas broadcast upon the air, torealize how full a period it was, both of birth and decay; of the passingaway of the old and the uprising of the new forms of thought. 

To mention only the greatest; the following are among the chiefs whohelped to transform the mental fabric of Europe in the age of Louis XIV:Descartes, Newton, Leibnitz, Locke, Boyle. Under these leaders the firstfirm irreversible advance was made out of the dim twilight of theology intothe clear dawn of positive and demonstrative science. 

Inferior to these founders of modern knowledge, but holding a high rank ascontributors to the mental activity of the age, were Pascal, Malebranche, Spinoza, and Bayle. The result of their efforts was such a stride forwardas has no parallel in the history of the human mind. One of the mostcurious and significant proofs of it was the spontaneous extinction of thebelief in witchcraft among the cultivated classes of Europe, as the Englishhistorian of rationalism has so judiciously pointed out. The superstitionwas not much attacked, and it was vigorously defended, yet it died anatural and quiet death from the changed moral climate of the world. 

But the chief interest which the reign of Louis XIV offers to the studentof history has yet to be mentioned. It was the great turning-point in thehistory of the French people. The triumph of the monarchical principle wasso complete under him, independence and self-reliance were so effectuallycrushed, both in localities and individuals, that a permanent bent wasgiven to the national mind--a habit of looking to the government for allaction and initiative permanently established. 

Before the reign of Louis XIV it was a question which might fairly beconsidered undecided: whether the country would be able or not, willing ornot, to coöperate with its rulers in the work of the government and thereform of abuses. On more than one occasion such coöperation did not seementirely impossible or improbable. The admirable wisdom and moderationshown by the Tiers-État in the States-General of 1614, the divers effortsof the Parliament of Paris to check extravagant expenditure, the vigorousstruggles of the provincial assemblies to preserve some relic of theirlocal liberties, seemed to promise that France would continue to advanceunder the leadership indeed of the monarchy, yet still retaining in largemeasure the bright, free, independent spirit of old Gaul, the Gaul ofRabelais, Montaigne, and Joinville. 

After the reign of Louis XIV such coöperation of the ruler and the ruledbecame impossible. The government of France had become a machine dependingupon the action of a single spring. Spontaneity in the population at largewas extinct, and whatever there was to do must be done by the centralauthority. As long as the government could correct abuses it was well; ifit ceased to be equal to this task, they must go uncorrected. When at lastthe reform of secular and gigantic abuses presented itself with imperiousurgency, the alternative before the monarchy was either to carry the reformwith a high hand or perish in the failure to do so. We know how signal thefailure was, and could not help being, under the circumstances; and throughhaving placed the monarchy between these alternatives, it is no paradoxto say that Louis XIV was one of the most direct ancestors of the "GreatRevolution. "

Nothing but special conditions in the politics both of Europe and of Francecan explain this singular importance and prominence of Louis XIV's reign. And we find that both France and Europe were indeed in an exceptionalposition when he ascended the throne. The Continent of Europe, from oneend to the other, was still bleeding and prostrate from the effect of theThirty Years' War when the young Louis, in the sixteenth year of his age, was anointed king at Rheims. Although France had suffered terribly in thatawful struggle, she had probably suffered less than any of the combatants, unless it be Sweden. 

It happened by a remarkable coincidence that precisely at this moment, whenthe condition of Europe was such that an aggressive policy on the part ofFrance could be only with difficulty resisted by her neighbors, the powerand prerogatives of the French crown attained an expansion and preeminencewhich they had never enjoyed in the previous history of the country. Theschemes and hopes of Philip the Fair, of Louis XI, of Henry IV, and ofRichelieu had been realized at last; and their efforts to throw off theinsolent coercion of the great feudal lords had been crowned with completesuccess. The monarchy could hardly have conjectured how strong it hadbecome but for the abortive resistance and hostility it met with in theFronde. 

The flames of insurrection which had shot up, forked and menacing, fellback underground, where they smouldered for four generations yet to come. The kingly power soared, single and supreme, over its prostrate foes. Longbefore Louis XIV had shown any aptitude or disposition for authority, hewas the object of adulation as cringing as was ever offered to a Romanemperor. When he returned from his consecration at Rheims, the rector ofthe University of Paris, at the head of his professorial staff, addressedthe young King in these words: "We are so dazzled by the new splendor whichsurrounds your majesty that we are not ashamed to appear dumfounded at theaspect of a light so brilliant and so extraordinary"; and at the foot of anengraving at the same date he is in so many words called a demigod. 

It is evident that ample materials had been prepared for what the vulgarconsider a great reign. Abundant opportunity for an insolent andaggressive foreign policy, owing to the condition of Europe. Security fromremonstrance or check at home, owing to the condition of France. The templeis prepared for the deity; the priests stand by, ready to offer victims onthe smoking altar; the incense is burning in anticipation of his advent. Onthe death of Mazarin, in 1661, he entered into his own. 

Louis XIV never forgot the trials and humiliations to which he and hismother had been subjected during the troubles of the Fronde. It has oftenbeen remarked that rulers born in the purple have seldom shown muchefficiency unless they have been exposed to exceptional and, as it were, artificial probations during their youth. During the first eleven yearsof Louis' reign--incomparably the most creditable to him--we can traceunmistakably the influence of the wisdom and experience acquired in thatperiod of anxiety and defeat. He then learned the value of money and thesupreme benefits of a full exchequer. He also acquired a thorough dread ofsubjection to ministers and favorites--a dread so deep that it implied aconsciousness of probable weakness on that side. As he went on in life heto a great extent forgot both these valuable lessons, but their influencewas never entirely effaced. To the astonishment of the courtiers and evenof his mother he announced his intention of governing independently, andof looking after everything himself. They openly doubted his perseverance. "You do not know him, " said Mazarin. "He will begin rather late, but hewill go further than most. There is enough stuff in him to make four kingsand an honest man besides. "

His first measures were dictated less by great energy of initiative than byabsolute necessity. The finances had fallen into such a chaos of jobberyand confusion that the very existence of the government depended upon aprompt and trenchant reform. It was Louis' rare good-fortune to findbeside him one of the most able and vigorous administrators who have everlived--Colbert. He had the merit--not a small one in that age--of lettingthis great minister invent and carry out the most daring and beneficialmeasures of reform, of which he assumed all the credit to himself. Thefirst step was a vigorous attack on the gang of financial plunderers, who, with Fouquet at their head, simply embezzled the bulk of the staterevenues. The money-lenders not only obtained the most usurious interestfor their loans, but actually held in mortgage the most productive sourcesof the national taxation: and, not content with that, they bought up, at 10per cent. Of their nominal value, an enormous amount of discredited bills, issued by the government in the time of the Fronde, which they forced thetreasury to pay off at par; and this was done with the very money they hadjust before advanced to the government. 

Such barefaced plunder could not be endured, and Colbert was the last manto endure it. He not only repressed peculation, but introduced a number ofpractical improvements in the distribution, and especially in the mode oflevying the taxes. So imperfect were the arrangements connected with thelatter that it was estimated that of eighty-four millions paid by thepeople, only thirty-two millions entered into the coffers of the state. Thealmost instantaneous effects of Colbert's measures--the yawning deficitwas changed into a surplus of forty-five millions in less than twoyears--showed how gross and flagrant had been the malversation preceding. 

Far more difficult, and far nobler in the order of constructivestatesmanship, were his vast schemes to endow France with manufactures, with a commercial and belligerent navy, with colonies, besides his manifoldreforms in the internal administration--tariffs and customs betweenneighboring provinces of France; the great work of the Languedoc canal; infact, in every part and province of government. His success was various, but in some cases really stupendous. His creation of a navy almostsurpasses belief. In 1661, when he first became free to act, Francepossessed only thirty vessels-of-war of all sizes. At the peace ofNimwegen, in 1678, she had acquired a fleet of one hundred twenty ships, and in 1683 she had got a fleet of one hundred seventy-six vessels; andthe increase was quite as great in the size and armament of the individualships as in their number. 

A perfect giant of administration, Colbert found no labor too great forhis energies, and worked with unflagging energy sixteen hours a day fortwenty-two years. It is melancholy to be forced to add that all this toilwas as good as thrown away, and that the strong man went broken-hearted tothe grave, through seeing too clearly that he had labored in vain for anungrateful egotist. His great visions of a prosperous France, increasing inwealth and contentment, were blighted; and he closed his eyes upon scenesof improvidence and waste more injurious to the country than the financialrobbery which he had combated in his early days. The government was notplundered as it had been, but itself was exhausting the very springs ofwealth by its impoverishment of the people. 

Boisguillebert, writing in 1698, only fifteen years after Colbert's death, estimated the productive powers of France to have diminished by one-halfin the previous thirty years. It seems, indeed, probable that the almostmagical rapidity and effect of Colbert's early reforms turned Louis XIV'shead, and that he was convinced that it only depended on his good pleasureto renew them to obtain the same result. He never found, as he neverdeserved to find, another Colbert; and he stumbled onward in ever deeperruin to his disastrous end. 

His first breach of public faith was his attack on the Spanish Netherlands, under color of certain pretended rights of the Queen, his wife--the InfantaMarie Thérèse; although he had renounced all claims in her name at hismarriage. This aggression was followed by his famous campaign in the LowCountries, when Franche-Comté was overrun and conquered in fifteen days. Hewas stopped by the celebrated triple alliance in mid career. He had not yetbeen intoxicated by success and vanity; Colbert's influence, always exertedon the side of peace, was at its height, the menacing attitude of Holland, England, and Sweden awed him, and he drew back. His pride was deeplywounded, and he revolved deep and savage schemes of revenge. Not onEngland, whose abject sovereign he knew could be had whenever he chose tobuy him, but on the heroic little republic which had dared to cross hisvictorious path. His mingled contempt and rage against Holland were indeedinstinctive, spontaneous, and in the nature of things. Holland was theliving, triumphant incarnation of the two things he hated most--theprinciple of liberty in politics and the principle of free inquiry inreligion. 

With a passion too deep for hurry or carelessness he made his preparations. The army was submitted to a complete reorganization. A change in theweapons of the infantry was effected, which was as momentous in its day asthe introduction of the breech-loading rifle in ours. The old inefficientfirelock was replaced by the flint musket, and the rapidity and certaintyof fire vastly increased. The undisciplined independence of the officerscommanding regiments and companies was suppressed by the rigorous andmethodical Colonel Martinet, whose name has remained in other armiesbesides that of France as a synonyme of punctilious exactitude. 

The means of offence being thus secured, the next step was to remove thepolitical difficulties which stood in the way of Louis' schemes; that is, to dissolve Sir W. Temple's diplomatic masterpiece, the triple alliance. The effeminate Charles II was bought over by a large sum of money and thepresent of a pretty French mistress. Sweden also received a subsidy, andher schemes of aggrandizement on continental Germany were encouraged. Meanwhile the illustrious man who ruled Holland showed that kind ofweakness which good men often do in the presence of the unscrupulous andwicked. John de Witt could not be convinced of the reality of Louis'nefarious designs. France had ever been Holland's best friend, and he couldnot believe that the policy of Henry IV, of Richelieu and Mazarin, wouldbe suddenly reversed by the young King of France. He tried negotiations inwhich he was amused by Louis so long as it suited the latter's purpose. Atlast, when the King's preparations were complete, he threw off the mask, and insultingly told the Dutch that it was not for hucksters like them, andusurpers of authority not theirs, to meddle with such high matters. 

Then commenced one of the brightest pages in the history of nationalheroism. At first the Dutch were overwhelmed; town after town capitulatedwithout a blow. It seemed as if the United Provinces were going to besubdued, as Franche-Comté had been five years before. But Louis XIV hadbeen too much intoxicated by that pride which goes before a fall to retainany clearness of head, if indeed he ever had any, in military matters. Thegreat Condé, with his keen eye for attack, at once suggested one of thosetiger-springs for which he was unequalled among commanders. Seeing thedismay of the Dutch, he advised a rapid dash with six thousand horse onAmsterdam. It is nearly certain, if this advice had been followed, that thelittle commonwealth, so precious to Europe, would have been extinguished;and that that scheme, born of heroic despair, of transferring to Batavia, "under new stars and amid a strange vegetation, " the treasure of freedomand valor ruined in its old home by the Sardanapalus of Versailles, mighthave been put in execution. But it was not to be. 

Vigilant as Louis had been in preparation, he now seemed to be as carelessor incompetent in execution. Not only he neglected the advice of his bestgeneral, and wasted time, but he did his best to drive his adversariesto despair and the resistance which comes of despair. They were told byproclamation that "the towns which should try to resist the forces of hismajesty by opening the dikes or by any other means would be punished withthe utmost rigor; and when the frost should have opened roads in alldirections, his majesty would give no sort of quarter to the inhabitants ofthe said towns, but would give orders that their goods should be plunderedand their houses burned. "

The Dutch envoys, headed by De Groot, son of the illustrious Grotius, cameto the King's camp to know on what terms he would make peace. They wererefused audience by the theatrical warrior, and told not to return exceptarmed with full powers to make any concessions he might dictate. Then the"hucksters" of Amsterdam resolved on a deed of daring which is one of themost exalted among "the high traditions of the world. " They opened thesluices and submerged the whole country under water. Still, their positionwas almost desperate, as the winter frosts were nearly certain to restore afirm foothold to the invader. 

They came again suing for peace, offering Maestricht, the Rhine fortresses, the whole of Brabant, the whole of Dutch Flanders, and an indemnity of tenmillions. This was proffering more than Henry IV, Richelieu, or Mazarin hadever hoped for. These terms were refused, and the refusal carried withit practically the rejection of Belgium, which could not fail to be soonabsorbed when thus surrounded by French possessions. But Louis met theseoffers with the spirit of an Attila. He insisted on the concession ofSouthern Gueldres and the island of Bommel, twenty-four millions ofindemnity, the endowment of the Catholic religion, and an extraordinaryannual embassy charged to present his majesty with a gold medal, whichshould set forth how the Dutch owed to him the conservation of theirliberties. Such vindictive cruelty makes the mind run forward and dwellwith a glow of satisfied justice on the bitter days of retaliation andrevenge which in a future, still thirty years off, will humble the proudand pitiless oppressor in the dust; when he shall be a suppliant, anda suppliant in vain, at the feet of the haughty victors of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde. 

But Louis' mad career of triumph was gradually being brought to a close. He had before him not only the waste of waters, but the iron will andunconquerable tenacity of the young Prince of Orange, "who needed neitherhope to made him dare nor success to make him persevere. " Gradually, thethreatened neighbors of France gathered together and against her King. Charles II was forced to recede from the French alliance by his Parliamentin 1674. The military massacre went on, indeed, for some years longer inGermany and the Netherlands; but the Dutch Republic was saved, and peaceratified by the treaty of Nimwegen. 

After the conclusion of the Dutch War the reign of Louis XIV enters on aperiod of manifest decline. The cost of the war had been tremendous. In1677 the expenditure had been one hundred ten millions, and Colbert had tomeet this with a net revenue of eighty-one millions. The trade and commerceof the country had also suffered much during the war. With bitter grief thegreat minister saw himself compelled to reverse the beneficent policy ofhis earlier days, to add to the tax on salt, to increase the ever-crushingburden of the _taille_, to create new offices--hereditary employments inthe government--to the extent of three hundred millions, augmenting thealready monstrous army of superfluous officials, and, finally, simply toborrow money at high interest. The new exactions had produced widespreadmisery in the provinces before the war came to an end. In 1675 the Governorof Dauphiné had written to Colbert, saying that commerce had entirelyceased in his district, and that the larger part of the people had livedduring the winter on bread made from acorns and roots, and that at the timeof his writing they were seen to be eating the grass of the fields and thebark of trees. The long-continued anguish produced at last despair andrebellion. 

In Bordeaux great excesses were committed by the mob, which were punishedwith severity. Six thousand soldiers were quartered in the town, and wereguilty of such disorders that the best families emigrated, and trade wasruined for a long period. But Brittany witnessed still worse evils. Therealso riots and disturbances had been produced by the excessive pressure ofthe imposts. An army of five thousand men was poured into the province, andinflicted such terror on the population that the wretched peasants, at themere sight of the soldiers, threw themselves on their knees in an attitudeof supplication and exclaimed, "_Mea culpa_. " The lively Madame de Sévignégives us some interesting details concerning these events in the intervalswhen court scandal ran low and the brave doings of Madame de Montespansuffered a temporary interruption. "Would you like, " says thetender-hearted lady to her daughter, "would you like to have news ofRennes? There are still five thousand soldiers here, as more have comefrom Nantes. A tax of one hundred thousand crowns has been laid upon thecitizens, and if the money is not forthcoming in twenty-four hours the taxwill be doubled and levied by the soldiers. All the inhabitants of a largestreet have already been driven out and banished, and no one may receivethem under pain of death; so that all these poor wretches, old men, womenrecently delivered, and children, were seen wandering in tears as they leftthe town, not knowing whither to go or where to sleep or what to eat. Theday before yesterday one of the leaders of the riot was broken alive onthe wheel. Sixty citizens have been seized, and to-morrow the hanging willbegin. " In other letters she writes that the tenth man had been broken onthe wheel, and she thinks he will be the last, and that by dint of hangingit will soon be left off. 

Such was the emaciated France which Louis the Great picked systematicallyto the bone for the next thirty-five years. He had long ceased to be guidedby the patriotic wisdom of the great Colbert. His evil genius now was thehaughty and reckless Louvois, who carefully abstained from imitating thenoble and daring remonstrances against excessive expenditure which Colbertaddressed to his master, and through which he lost his influence at court. Still, with a self-abnegation really heroic, Colbert begged, urged, supplicated the King to reduce his outlay. He represented the misery ofthe people. "All letters that come from the provinces, whether from theintendants, the receivers-general, and even the bishops, speak of it, " hewrote to the King. He insisted on a reduction of the taille by five or sixmillions; and surely it was time, when its collection gave rise to suchscenes as have just been described. It was in vain. The King shut his eyesto mercy and reason. His gigantic war expenditure, when peace came, wasonly partially reduced. For, indeed, he was still at war, but with natureand self-created difficulties of his own making. 

He was building Versailles: transplanting to its arid sands whole grovesof full-grown trees from the depths of distant forests, and erecting thecostly and fantastic marvel of Marli to afford a supply of water. Louis'buildings cost, first and last, a sum which would be represented by abouttwenty million pounds. The amount squandered on pensions was also verygreat. The great Colbert's days were drawing to a close, and he was verysad. It is related that a friend on one occasion surprised him looking outof a window in his château of Sceau, lost in thought and apparently gazingon the well-tilled fields of his own manor. When he came out of his reveriehis friend asked him his thoughts. "As I look, " he said, "on these fertilefields, I cannot help remembering what I have seen elsewhere. What a richcountry is France! If the King's enemies would let him enjoy peace it wouldbe possible to procure the people that relief and comfort which the greatHenry promised them. I could wish that my projects had a happy issue, thatabundance reigned in the kingdom, that everyone were content in it, andthat without employment or dignities, far from the court and business, Isaw the grass grow in my home farm. "

The faithful, indefatigable worker was breaking down, losing strength, losing heart, but still struggling on manfully to the last. It was noticedthat he sat down to his work with a sorrowful, despondent look, and not, as had been his wont, rubbing his hands with the prospect of toil, andexulting in his almost superhuman capacity for labor. The ingratitude ofthe King, whom he had served only too well, gave him the final blow. Louis, with truculent insolence, reproached him with the "frightful expenses" ofVersailles. As if they were Colbert's fault. Colbert, who had always urgedthe completion of the Louvre and the suppression of Versailles. 

At last the foregone giant lay down to die. A tardy touch of feelinginduced Louis to write him a letter. He would not read it. "I will hear nomore about the King, " he said; "let him at least allow me to die inpeace. My business now is with the King of kings. If, " he continued, unconsciously, we may be sure, plagiarizing Wolsey, "if I had done for Godwhat I have done for that man, my salvation would be secure ten times over;and now I know not what will become of me. "

Surely a tender and touching evidence of sweetness in the strong manwho had been so readily accused of harshness by grasping courtiers. Theignorant ingratitude of the people was even perhaps more melancholy thanthe wilful ingratitude of the King. The great Colbert had to be buried bynight, lest his remains should be insulted by the mob. He, whose heart hadbled for the people's sore anguish, was rashly supposed to be the cause ofthat anguish. It was a sad conclusion to a great life. But he would haveseen still sadder days if he had lived. 

The health of the luxurious, self-indulgent Louis sensibly declined afterhe had passed his fortieth year. In spite of his robust appearance he hadnever been really strong. His loose, lymphatic constitution required muchsupport and management. But he habitually over-ate himself. He was indeed agross and greedy glutton. "I have often seen the King, " says the Duchessof Orleans, "eat four platefuls of various soups, a whole pheasant, apartridge, a large dish of salad, stewed mutton with garlic, two goodslices of ham, a plate of pastry, and then fruit and sweetmeats. " A mostunwholesome habit of body was the result. 

An abscess formed in his upper jaw, and caused a perforation of the palate, which obliged him to be very careful in drinking, as the liquid was apt topass through the aperture and come out by the nostrils. He felt weak anddepressed, and began to think seriously about "making his salvation. "His courtly priests and confessors had never inculcated any duties buttwo--that of chastity and that of religious intolerance--and he had beenvery remiss in both. He now resolved to make hasty reparation. The amplecharms of the haughty Montespan fascinated him no more. He tried a newmistress, but she did not turn out well. Madame de Fontanges was young andexquisitely pretty, but a giddy, presuming fool. She moreover died shortly. He was more than ever disposed to make his salvation--that is, to renouncethe sins of the flesh, and to persecute his God-fearing subjects, theProtestants. 

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, one of the greatest crimes andfollies which history records, was too colossal a misdeed for the guiltof its perpetration to be charged upon one man, however wicked or howeverpowerful he may have been. In this case, as in so many others, Louis wasthe exponent of conditions, the visible representative of circumstanceswhich he had done nothing to create. Just as he was the strongest kingFrance ever had, without having contributed himself to the predominance ofthe monarchy, so, in the blind and cruel policy of intolerance which led tothe Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he was the delegate and instrumentof forces which existed independently of him. A willing instrument, nodoubt; a representative of sinister forces; a chooser of the evil part whenmere inaction would have been equivalent to a choice of the good. Still, itis due to historic accuracy to point out that, had he not been seconded bythe existing condition of France, he would not have been able to effect theevil he ultimately brought about. 

Louis' reign continued thirty years after the Revocation of the Edict ofNantes, years crowded with events, particularly for the military historian, but over the details of which we shall not linger on this occasion. Thebrilliant reign becomes unbearably wearisome in its final period. Themonotonous repetition of the same faults and the same crimes--profligateextravagance, revolting cruelty, and tottering incapacity--is as fatiguingas it is uninstructive. Louis became a mere mummy embalmed in etiquette, the puppet of his women and shavelings. The misery in the provinces grewapace, but there was no disturbance: France was too prostrate even togroan. 

In 1712 the expenditure amounted to two hundred forty millions, and therevenue to one hundred thirteen millions; but from this no less thanseventy-six millions had to be deducted for various liabilities thegovernment had incurred, leaving only a net income of thirty-sevenmillions--that is to say, the outlay was more than six times the income. 

The armies were neither paid nor fed, the officers received "food-tickets"(_billets de subsistance_), which they got cashed at a discount of 80 percent. The government had anticipated by ten years its revenues from thetowns. Still, this pale corpse of France must needs be bled anew to gratifythe inexorable Jesuits, who had again made themselves complete masters ofLouis XIV's mind. He had lost his confessor, Père la Chaise (who died in1709), and had replaced him by the hideous Letellier, a blind and fiercefanatic, with a horrible squint and a countenance fit for the gallows. Hewould have frightened anyone, says Saint-Simon, who met him at the cornerof a wood. This repulsive personage revived the persecution of theProtestants into a fiercer heat than ever, and obtained from the moribundKing the edict of March 8, 1715, considered by competent judges the clearmasterpiece of clerical injustice and cruelty. Five months later Louis XIVdied, forsaken by his intriguing wife, his beloved bastard (the Due deMaine), and his dreaded priest. 

The French monarchy never recovered from the strain to which it had beensubjected during the long and exhausting reign of Louis XIV. Whether itcould have recovered in the hands of a great statesman summoned in time isa curious question. Could Frederick the Great have saved it had he been_par impossible_ Louis XIV's successor? We can hardly doubt that he wouldhave adjourned, if not have averted, the great catastrophe of 1789. Butit is one of the inseparable accidents of such a despotism as France hadfallen under, that nothing but consummate genius can save it from ruin;and the accession of genius to the throne in such circumstances is aphysiological impossibility. 

The house of Bourbon had become as effete as the house of Valois in thesixteenth century; as effete as the Merovingians and Carlovingians hadbecome in a previous age; but the strong chain of hereditary right bound upthe fortunes of a great empire with the feeble brain and bestial instinctsof a Louis XV. This was the result of concentrating all the active force ofthe state in one predestined irremovable human being. This was the logicaland necessary outcome of the labors of Philip Augustus, Philip the Fair, ofLouis XI, of Henry IV, and Richelieu. They had reared the monarchy likea solitary obelisk in the midst of a desert; but it had to stand or fallalone; no one was there to help it, as no one was there to pull it down. This consideration enables us to pass into a higher and more reposing orderof reflection, to leave the sterile impeachment of individual incapacity, and rise to the broader question, and ask why and how that incapacity wasendowed with such fatal potency for evil. As it has been well remarked, theloss of a battle may lead to the loss of a state; but then, what are thedeeper reasons which explain why the loss of a battle should lead to theloss of a state? It is not enough to say that Louis XIV was an improvidentand passionate ruler, that Louis XV was a dreary and revolting voluptuary. The problem is rather this: Why were improvidence, passion, and debaucheryin two men able to bring down in utter ruin one of the greatest monarchiesthe world has ever seen? In other words, what was the cause of theconsummate failure, the unexampled collapse, of the French monarchy?

No personal insufficiency of individual rulers will explain it; and, besides, the French monarchy repeatedly disposed of the services ofadmirable rulers. History has recorded few more able kings than Louis leGros, Philip Augustus, Philip le Bel, Louis XI, and Henry IV; few ablerministers than Sully, Richelieu, Colbert, and Turgot. Yet the efforts ofall these distinguished men resulted in leading the nation straight intothe most astounding catastrophe in human annals. Whatever view we take ofthe Revolution, whether we regard it as a blessing or as a curse, we mustneeds admit it was a reaction of the most violent kind--a reaction contraryto the preceding action. 

The old monarchy can only claim to have produced the Revolution in thesense of having provoked it; as intemperance has been known to producesobriety, and extravagance parsimony. If the _ancien régime_ led in theresult to an abrupt transition to the modern era, it was only because ithad rendered the old era so utterly execrable to mankind that escape in anydirection seemed a relief, were it over a precipice. 

%NEW YORK TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH%

A. D. 1664

JOHN R. BRODHEAD

For half a century the Dutch colony in New York, then called NewNetherlands, had developed under various administrations, when Britishconquest brought it under another dominion. This transfer of the governmentaffected the whole future of the colony and of the great State into whichit grew, although the original Dutch influence has never disappeared fromits character and history. 

Under Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Governor (1647-1664), the colonymade great progress. He conciliated the Indians, agreed upon a boundaryline with the English colonists at Hartford, Connecticut, and tookpossession of the colony of New Sweden, in Delaware. 

Meanwhile the English colonists in different parts of North America werecarrying on illicit trade with the Dutch at New Amsterdam (New York city). The English government, already jealous of the growing commerce of Holland, was irritated by the loss of revenue, and resolved in 1663 upon theconquest of New Netherlands. Brodhead, the historian of New York, recountsthe steps of this conquest in a manner which brings the rival powers andtheir agents distinctly before us. 

England now determined boldly to rob Holland of her American province. KingCharles II accordingly sealed a patent granting to the Duke of York andAlbany a large territory in America, comprehending Long Island andthe islands in its neighborhood--his title to which Lord Stirlinghad released--and all the lands and rivers from the west side of theConnecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay. This sweeping grantincluded the whole of New Netherlands and a part of the territory ofConnecticut, which, two years before, Charles had confirmed to Winthrop andhis associates. 

The Duke of York lost no time in giving effect to his patent. As lord highadmiral he directed the fleet. Four ships, the Guinea, of thirty-six guns;the Elias, of thirty; the Martin, of sixteen; and the William and Nicholas, of ten, were detached for service against New Netherlands, and about fourhundred fifty regular soldiers, with their officers, were embarked. Thecommand of the expedition was intrusted to Colonel Richard Nicolls, afaithful Royalist, who had served under Turenne with James, and had beenmade one of the gentlemen of his bedchamber. Nicolls was also appointed tobe the Duke's deputy-governor, after the Dutch possessions should have beenreduced. 

With Nicolls were associated Sir Robert Carr, Colonel George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, as royal commissioners to visit the several coloniesin New England. These commissioners were furnished with detailedinstructions; and the New England governments were required by royalletters to "join and assist them vigorously" in reducing the Dutch tosubjection. A month after the departure of the squadron the Duke of Yorkconveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret all the territory betweenthe Hudson and Delaware rivers, from Cape May north to 41° 40' latitude, and thence to the Hudson, in 41° latitude, "hereafter to be called by thename or names of Nova Caesarea or New Jersey. "

Intelligence from Boston that an English expedition against New Netherlandshad sailed from Portsmouth was soon communicated to Stuyvesant by CaptainThomas Willett; and the burgomasters and _schepens_ of New Amsterdam weresummoned to assist the council with their advice. The capital was orderedto be put in a state of defence, guards to be maintained, and _schippers_to be warned. As there was very little powder at Fort Amsterdam a supplywas demanded from New Amstel, and a loan of five or six thousand guilderswas asked from Rensselaerswyck. The ships about to sail for Curaçao werestopped; agents were sent to purchase provisions at New Haven; and as theenemy was expected to approach through Long Island Sound, spies were sentto obtain intelligence at West Chester and Milford. 

But at the moment when no precaution should have been relaxed, a despatchfrom the West India directors, who appear to have been misled by advicesfrom London, announced that no danger need be apprehended from the Englishexpedition, as it was sent out by the King only to settle the affairs ofhis colonies and establish episcopacy, which would rather benefit thecompany's interests in New Netherlands. Willett now retracting his previousstatements, a perilous confidence returned. The Curaçao ships were allowedto sail; and Stuyvesant, yielded to the solicitation of his council, wentup the river to look after affairs at Fort Orange. 

The English squadron had been ordered to assemble at Gardiner's Island. But, parting company in a fog, the Guinea, with Nicolls and Cartwright onboard, made Cape Cod, and went on to Boston, while the other ships put inat Piscataway. The commissioners immediately demanded the assistance ofMassachusetts, but the people of the Bay, who feared, perhaps, that theKing's success in reducing the Dutch would enable him the better to putdown his enemies in New England, were full of excuses. Connecticut, however, showed sufficient alacrity; and Winthrop was desired to meet thesquadron at the west end of Long Island, whither it would sail with thefirst fair wind. 

When the truth of Willett's intelligence became confirmed, the council sentan express to recall Stuyvesant from Fort Orange. Hurrying back to thecapital, the anxious director endeavored to redeem the time which had beenlost. The municipal authorities ordered one-third of inhabitants, withoutexception, to labor every third day at the fortifications; organized apermanent guard; forbade the brewers to malt any grain; and called on theprovincial government for artillery and ammunition. Six pieces, besidesthe fourteen previously allotted, and a thousand pounds of powder wereaccordingly granted to the city. The colonists around Fort Orange, pleadingtheir own danger from the savages, could afford no help; but the soldiersof Esopus were ordered to come down, after leaving a small garrison atRonduit. 

In the mean time the English squadron had anchored just below the Narrows, in Nyack Bay, between New Utrecht and Coney Island. The mouth of the riverwas shut up; communication between Long Island and Manhattan, Bergen andAchter Cul, interrupted; several yachts on their way to the South Rivercaptured; and the blockhouse on the opposite shore of Staten Island seized. Stuyvesant now despatched Counsellor de Decker, Burgomaster Van der Grist, and the two domines Megapolensis with a letter to the English commandersinquiring why they had come, and why they continued at Nyack withoutgiving notice. The next morning, which was Saturday, Nicolls sent ColonelCartwright, Captain Needham, Captain Groves, and Mr. Thomas Delavall up toFort Amsterdam with a summons for the surrender of "the town situate onthe island and commonly known by the name of Manhatoes, with all the fortsthereunto belonging. "

This summons was accompanied by a proclamation declaring that all who wouldsubmit to his majesty's government should be protected "in his majesty'slaws and justice, " and peaceably enjoy their property. Stuyvesantimmediately called together the council and the burgomasters, but would notallow the terms offered by Nicolls to be communicated to the people, lestthey might insist on capitulating. In a short time several of the burghersand city officers assembled at the Stadt-Huys. It was determined to preventthe enemy from surprising the town; but, as opinion was generally againstprotracted resistance, a copy of the English communication was asked fromthe director. On the following Monday the burgomasters explained to ameeting of the citizens the terms offered by Nicolls. But this would notsuffice; a copy of the paper itself must be exhibited. Stuyvesant then wentin person to the meeting. "Such a course, " said he, "would be disapprovedof in the Fatherland--it would discourage the people. " All his efforts, however, were in vain; and the director, protesting that he should not beheld answerable for the "calamitous consequences, " was obliged to yield tothe popular will. 

Nicolls now addressed a letter to Winthrop, who with other commissionersfrom New England had joined the squadron, authorizing him to assureStuyvesant that, if Manhattan should be delivered up to the King, "anypeople from the Netherlands may freely come and plant there or thereabouts;and such vessels of their own country may freely come thither, and any ofthem may as freely return home in vessels of their own country. " Visitingthe city under a flag of truce Winthrop delivered this to Stuyvesantoutside the fort and urged him to surrender. The director declined; and, returning to the fort, he opened Nicolls' letter before the council and theburgomasters, who desired that it should be communicated, as "all whichregarded the public welfare ought to be made public. " Against thisStuyvesant earnestly remonstrated, and, finding that the burgomasterscontinued firm, in a fit of passion he "tore the letter in pieces. " Thecitizens, suddenly ceasing their work at the palisades, hurried to theStadt-Huys, and sent three of their numbers to the fort to demand theletter. 

In vain the director hastened to pacify the burghers and urge them to go onwith the fortifications. "Complaints and curses" were uttered on all sidesagainst the company's misgovernment; resistance was declared to be idle;"The letter! the letter!" was the general cry. To avoid a mutiny Stuyvesantyielded, and a copy, made out from the collected fragments, was handed tothe burgomasters. In answer, however, to Nicolls' summons he submitted along justification of the Dutch title; yet while protesting against anybreach of the peace between the King and the States-General, "for thehinderance and prevention of all differences and the spilling of innocentblood, not only in these parts, but also in Europe, " he offered to treat. "Long Island is gone and lost;" the capital "cannot hold out long, " was thelast despatch to the "Lord Majors" of New Netherlands, which its directorsent off that night "in silence through Hell Gate. "

Observing Stuyvesant's reluctance to surrender, Nicolls directed CaptainHyde, who commanded the squadron, to reduce the fort. Two of the shipsaccordingly landed their troops just below Breuckelen (Brooklyn), wherevolunteers from New England and the Long Island villages had alreadyencamped. The other two, coming up with full sail, passed in front of FortAmsterdam and anchored between it and Nutten Island. Standing on one ofthe angles of the fortress--an artilleryman with a lighted match at hisside--the director watched their approach. At this moment the two dominesMegapolensis, imploring him not to begin hostilities, led Stuyvesant fromthe rampart, who then, with a hundred of the garrison, went into the cityto resist the landing of the English. Hoping on against hope, the directornow sent Counsellor de Decker, Secretary Van Ruyven, Burgomaster Steenwyck, and "Schepen" Cousseau with a letter to Nicolls stating that, as hefelt bound "to stand the storm, " he desired if possible to arrange onaccommodation. But the English commander merely declared, "To-morrow I willspeak with you at Manhattan. "

"Friends, " was the answer, "will be welcome if they come in a friendlymanner. "

"I shall come with ships and soldiers, " replied Nicolls; "raise the whiteflag of peace at the fort, and then something may be considered. "

When this imperious message became known, men, women, and children flockedto the director, beseeching him to submit. His only answer was, "I wouldrather be carried out dead. " The next day the city authorities, theclergymen, and the officers of the burgher guard, assembling at theStadt-Huys, at the suggestion of Domine Megapolensis adopted a remonstranceto the director, exhibiting the hopeless situation of New Amsterdam, on allsides "encompassed and hemmed in by enemies, " and protesting against anyfurther opposition to the will of God. Besides the _schout_, burgomasters, and schepens, the remonstrance was signed by Wilmerdonck and eighty-five ofthe principal inhabitants, among whom was Stuyvesant's own son, Balthazar. 

At last the director was obliged to yield. Although there were now fifteenhundred souls in New Amsterdam, there were not more than two hundred fiftymen able to bear arms, besides the one hundred fifty regular soldiers. Thepeople had at length refused to be called out, and the regular troops werealready heard talking of "where booty is to be found, and where the youngwomen live who wear gold chains. " The city, entirely open along bothrivers, was shut on the northern side by a breastwork and palisades, which, though sufficient to keep out the savages, afforded no defence againsta military siege. There were scarcely six hundred pounds of serviceablepowder in store. 

A council of war had reported Fort Amsterdam untenable for though itmounted twenty-four guns, its single wall of earth not more than ten feethigh and four thick, was almost touches by the private dwellings clusteredaround, and was commanded, within a pistol-shot, by hills on the north, over which ran the "Heereweg" or Broadway. 

Upon the faith of Nicolls' promise to deliver back the city and fort "incase the difference of the limits of this province be agreed upon betwixthis majesty of England and the high and mighty States-General, " Stuyvesantnow commissioned Counsellor John de Decker, Captain Nicholas Varlett, Dr. Samuel Megapolensis, Burgomaster Cornelius Steenwyck, old Burgomaster OloffStevenson van Cortlandt, and old Schepen Jacques Cousseau to agree uponarticles with the English commander or his representatives. Nicolls, onhis part, appointed Sir Robert Carr and Colonel George Cartwright, JohnWinthrop, and Samuel Willys, of Connecticut, and Thomas Clarke and JohnPynchon, of Massachusetts. "The reason why those of Boston and Connecticutwere joined, " afterward explained the royal commander, "was because thosetwo colonies should hold themselves the more engaged with us if the Dutchhad been overconfident of their strength. "

At eight o'clock the next morning, which was Saturday, the Commissionerson both sides met at Stuyvesant's "bouwery" and arranged the terms ofcapitulation. The only difference which arose was respecting the Dutchsoldiers, whom the English refused to convey back to Holland. The articlesof capitulation promised the Dutch security in their property, customs ofinheritance, liberty of conscience and church discipline. The municipalofficers of Manhattan were to continue for the present unchanged, and thetown was to be allowed to choose deputies, with "free voices in all publicaffairs. " Owners of property in Fort Orange might, if they pleased, "slightthe fortifications there, " and enjoy their houses "as people do where thereis no fort. "

For six months there was to be free intercourse with Holland. Publicrecords were to be respected. The articles, consented to by Nicolls, wereto be ratified by Stuyvesant the next Monday morning at eight o'clock, andwithin two hours afterward, the "fort and town called New Amsterdam, uponthe Isle of Manhatoes, " were to be delivered up, and the military officersand soldiers were to "march out with their arms, drums beating, and colorsflying, and lighted matches. "

On the following Monday morning at eight o'clock Stuyvesant, at the head ofthe garrison, marched out of Fort Amsterdam with all the honors of war, andled his soldiers down the Beaver Lane to the water-side, whence they wereembarked for Holland. An English corporal's guard at the same time tookpossession of the fort; and Nicolls and Carr, with their two companies, about a hundred seventy strong, entered the city, while Cartwright tookpossession of the gates and the Stadt-Huys. The New England and Long Islandvolunteers, however, were prudently kept at the Breuckelen ferry, as thecitizens dreaded most being plundered by them. The English flag was hoistedon Fort Amsterdam, the name of which was immediately changed to "FortJames. " Nicolls was now proclaimed by the burgomasters deputy-governor forthe Duke of York, in compliment to whom he directed that the city of NewAmsterdam should thenceforth be known as "New York. "

To Nicolls' European eye the Dutch metropolis, with its earthen fortenclosing a windmill and high flag-staff, a prison and a governor's house, and a double-roofed church, above which loomed a square tower, its gallowsand whipping-post at the river's side, and its rows of houses which huggedthe citadel, presented but a mean appearance. Yet before long he describedit to the Duke as "the best of all his majesty's towns in America, " andassured his royal highness that, with proper management, "within five yearsthe staple of America will be drawn hither, of which the brethren of Bostonare very sensible. "

The Dutch frontier posts were thought of next. Colonel Cartwright, withCaptains Thomas Willett, John Manning, Thomas Breedon, and Daniel Brodhead, were sent to Fort Orange, as soon as possible, with a letter from Nicollsrequiring La Montagne and the magistrates and inhabitants to aid inprosecuting his majesty's interest against all who should oppose apeaceable surrender. At the same time Van Rensselaer was desired to bringdown his patent and papers to the new governor and likewise to observeCartwright's directions. 

Counsellor de Decker, however, travelling up to Fort George ahead of theEnglish commissioners, endeavored, without avail, to excite the inhabitantsto opposition; and his conduct being judged contrary to the spirit of thecapitulation which he had signed, he was soon afterward ordered out ofNicolls' government. The garrison quietly surrendered, and the name of FortOrange was changed to that of "Fort Albany, " after the second title of theDuke of York. A treaty was immediately signed between Cartwright andthe sachems of the Iroquois, who were promised the same advantages "asheretofore they had from the Dutch"; and the alliance which was thusrenewed continued unbroken until the beginning of the American Revolution. 

It only remained to reduce the South River; whither Sir Robert Carr wassent with the Guinea, the William and Nicholas, and "all the soldiers whichare not in the fort. " To the Dutch he was instructed to promise all theirprivileges, "only that they change their masters. " To the Swedes he was to"remonstrate their happy return under a monarchical government. " To LordBaltimore's officers in Maryland he was to say that, their pretended rightsbeing a doubtful case, "possession would be kept until his majesty isinformed and satisfied otherwise. "

A tedious voyage brought the expedition before New Amstel. The burghers andplanters, "after almost three days' parley, " agreed to Carr's demands, and Ffob Oothout with five others signed articles of capitulation whichpromised large privileges. But the Governor and soldiery refusing theEnglish propositions, the fort was stormed and plundered, three of theDutch being killed and ten wounded. In violation of his promises, Carr nowexhibited the most disgraceful rapacity; appropriated farms to himself, hisbrother, and Captains Hyde and Morely, stripped bare the inhabitants, andsent the Dutch soldiers to be sold as slaves in Virginia. To complete thework, a boat was despatched to the city's colony at the Horekill, which wasseized and plundered of all its effects, and the marauding party even took"what belonged to the Quacking Society of Plockhoy, to a very naile. "

The reduction of New Netherlands was now accomplished. All that couldbe further done was to change its name; and, to glorify one of the mostbigoted princes in English history, the royal province was ordered to becalled "New York. " Ignorant of James' grant of New Jersey to Berkeleyand Carteret, Nicolls gave to the region west of the Hudson the name of"Albania, " and to Long Island that of "Yorkshire, " so as to comprehendall the titles of the Duke of York. The flag of England was at lengthtriumphantly displayed, where, for half a century, that of Holland hadrightfully waved; and from Virginia to Canada, the King of Great Britainwas acknowledged as sovereign. 

Viewed in all its aspects, the event which gave to the whole of thatcountry a unity in allegiance, and to which a misgoverned peoplecomplacently submitted, was as inevitable as it was momentous. But whatevermay have been its ultimate consequences, this treacherous and violentseizure of the territory and possessions of an unsuspecting ally was noless a breach of private justice than of public faith. 

It may, indeed, be affirmed that, among all the acts of selfish perfidywhich royal ingratitude conceived and executed, there have been few morecharacteristic and none more base. 

%GREAT PLAGUE IN LONDON%

A. D. 1665

DANIEL DEFOE

None of the great visitations of disease that have afflicted Europe withinhistoric times has wholly spared England. But from the time of the "BlackDeath" (1349) the country experienced no such suffering from any epidemicas that which fell upon London in 1665. That year the "Great Plague" issaid to have destroyed the lives of nearly one hundred thousand people inEngland's capital. The plague had previously cropped up there every fewyears, from lack of proper sanitation. At the time of this outbreak thewater-supply of the city was notoriously impure. In 1665 the heat wasuncommonly severe. Pepys said that June 7th of that year was the hottestday that he had ever known. 

The plague of 1665 is said, however, to have been brought in merchandisedirectly from Holland, where it had been smouldering for several years. Its ravages in London have often been described, and Defoe found in thecalamity a subject for a special story on history. Probably he was not morethan six years old when the plague appeared; but he assumes throughout thepose of a respectable and religious householder of the period. All his ownrecollections, all the legends of the time, and the parish records aregrouped in masterly fashion to form a single picture. The account has beendescribed as a "masterpiece of verisimilitude. "

In the first place a blazing star or comet appeared for several monthsbefore the plague, as there did the year after, a little before the greatfire; the old women and the weak-minded portion of the other sex, whom Icould almost call old women too, remarked--especially afterward, though nottill both those judgments were over--that those two comets passed directlyover the city, and that so very near the houses that it was plain theyimported something peculiar to the city alone; that the comet before thepestilence was of a faint, dull, languid color, and its motion very heavy, solemn, and slow; but that the comet before the fire was bright andsparkling, or, as others said, flaming, and its motion swift and furious;and that, accordingly, one foretold a heavy judgment, slow, but severe, terrible, and frightful, as the plague was; but the other foretolda stroke, sudden, swift, and fiery, like the conflagration. Nay, soparticular some people were that, as they looked upon that comet precedingthe fire, they fancied that they not only saw it pass swiftly and fiercely, and could perceive the motion with the eye, but they even heard it; that itmade a rushing, mighty noise, fierce and terrible, though at a distance andbut just perceivable. 

I saw both these stars, and I must confess, had so much of the commonnotion of such things in my head that I was apt to look upon them as theforerunners and warnings of God's judgments; and especially, when after theplague had followed the first, I yet saw another of the like kind, I couldnot but say, God had not yet sufficiently scourged the city. 

But I could not at the same time carry these things to the height thatothers did, knowing, too, that natural causes are assigned by theastronomers for such things; and that their motions, and even theirevolutions, are calculated, or pretended to be calculated; so that theycannot be so perfectly called the forerunners or foretellers, much less theprocurers of such events as pestilence, war, fire, and the like. 

But let my thoughts, and the thoughts of the philosophers, be or have beenwhat they will, these things had a more than ordinary influence upon theminds of the common people, and they had, almost universally, melancholyapprehensions of some dreadful calamity and judgment coming upon the city;and this principally from the sight of this comet, and the little alarmthat was given in December by two people dying in St. Giles. 

The apprehensions of the people were likewise strangely increased by theerror of the times; in which, I think the people, from what principlesI cannot imagine, were more addicted to prophecies, and astrologicalconjurations, dreams, and old wives' tales, than ever they were before orsince. Whether this unhappy temper was originally raised by the follies ofsome people who got money by it--that is to say, by printing predictionsand prognostications--I know not; but certain it is books frightened themterribly; such as _Lilly's Almanack, Gadbury's Allogical Predictions, Poor Robin's Almanack_, and the like; also several pretended religiousbooks--one entitled _Come out of her, my people, lest you be partakerof her plagues_; another, called _Fair Warning_; another, _Britain'sRemembrancer_; and many such, all or most part of which foretold directlyor covertly the ruin of the city: nay, some were so enthusiastically boldas to run about the streets with their oral predictions, pretending theywere sent to preach to the city; and one in particular, who like Jonahto Nineveh, cried in the streets, "Yet forty days, and London shall bedestroyed. " I will not be positive whether he said "yet forty days" or "yeta few days. "

Another ran about naked, except a pair of drawers about his waist, cryingday and night. As a man that Josephus mentions, who cried, "Woe toJerusalem!" a little before the destruction of that city, so this poornaked creature cried, "O the great and the dreadful God!" and said no more, but repeated these words continually, with a voice and countenance full ofhorror, a swift pace; and nobody could ever find him to stop or rest ortake any sustenance, at least that ever I could hear of. I met this poorcreature several times in the streets, and would have spoken to him, but hewould not enter into conversation with me, or anyone else, but held on hisdismal cries continually. These things terrified the people to the lastdegree; and especially when two or three times, as I have mentionedalready, they found one or two in the bills dead of the plague at St. Giles. 

The justices of peace for Middlesex, by direction of the secretaryof state, had begun to shut up houses in the parishes of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, St. Martin's, St. Clement Danes, etc. , and it was withgood success; for in several streets where the plague broke out, afterstrictly guarding the houses that were infected, and taking care to burythose that died immediately after they were known to be dead, the plagueceased in those streets. It was also observed that the plague decreasedsooner in those parishes, after they had been visited in detail, than itdid in the parishes of Bishopsgate, Shoreditch, Aldgate, Whitechapel, Stepney, and others; the early care taken in that manner being a greatcheck to it. 

This shutting up of houses was a method first taken, as I understand, inthe plague which happened in 1603, on the accession of King James I to thecrown; and the power of shutting people up in their own houses was grantedby an act of Parliament entitled "An act for the charitable relief andordering of persons infected with the plague. " On which act of Parliamentthe lord mayor and aldermen of the city of London founded the order theymade at this time, viz. , June, 1665; when the numbers infected within thecity were but few, the last bill for the ninety-two parishes being butfour. By these means, when there died about one thousand a week in thewhole, the number in the city was but twenty-eight; and the city was morehealthy in proportion than any other place all the time of the infection. 

These orders of my lord mayor were published, as I have said, toward theend of June. They came into operation from July ist, and were as follows:

 "_Orders conceived and published by the lord mayor and aldermen of the city of London, concerning the infection of the plague_, 1665. 

"Whereas, in the reign of our late sovereign, King James, of happy memory, an act was made for the charitable relief and ordering of persons infectedwith the plague; whereby authority was given to justices of the peace, mayors, bailiffs, and other head officers, to appoint within their severallimits, examiners, searchers, watchmen, surgeons, and nurse-keepers, andburiers, for the persons and places infected, and to minister unto themoaths for the performance of their offices. And the same statute did alsoauthorize the giving of other directions, as unto them for the presentnecessity should seem good in their discretions. It is now upon specialconsideration thought very expedient for preventing and avoiding ofinfection of sickness (if it shall so please Almighty God) that theseofficers be appointed, and these orders hereafter duly observed. "

Then follow the orders giving these officers instructions in detail andprescribing the extent and limits of their several duties. Next, "_Ordersconcerning infected houses and persons sick of the plague. _" These hadreference to the "notice to be given of the sickness, " "sequestration ofthe sick, " "airing the stuff, " "shutting up of the house, " "burial ofthe dead, " "forbidding infected stuff to be sold, and of persons leavinginfected houses, " "marking of infected houses, " and "regulating hackneycoaches that have been used to convey infected persons. "

Lastly there followed "_Orders for cleansing and keeping the streets andhouses sweet_" and "_Orders concerning loose persons and idle assemblies_"such as "beggars, " "plays, " "feasts, " and "tippling-houses. "

 "(Signed) SIR JOHN LAWRENCE, _Lord Mayor_. SIR GEORGE WATERMAN, SIR CHARLES DOE, _Sheriffs_. "

I need not say that these orders extended only to such places as werewithin the lord mayor's jurisdiction; so it is requisite to observe thatthe justices of the peace, within those parishes, and those places calledthe hamlets and out-parts, took the same method: as I remember, the ordersfor shutting up of houses did not take place so soon on our side, because, as I said before, the plague did not reach the eastern parts of the town, at least not begin to be very violent, till the beginning of August. 

Now, indeed, it was coming on amain; for the burials that same week were inthe next adjoining parishes thus:

 The next week To the prodigiously 1st of increased, as Aug. Thus

 St. Leonard's, Shoreditch . . . 64 84 110 St. Botolph, Bishopsgate . . . . 65 105 116 St. Giles, Cripplegate. . . . . . . 213 421 554 --- --- --- 342 610 780

The shutting up of houses was at first considered a very cruel andunchristian thing, and the poor people so confined made bitterlamentations; complaints were also daily brought to my lord mayor, ofhouses causelessly--and some maliciously--shut up. I cannot say, but, uponinquiry, many that complained so loudly were found in a condition to becontinued; and others again, inspection being made upon the sick person, onhis being content to be carried to the pesthouse, were released. 

Indeed, many people perished in these miserable confinements, which itis reasonable to believe would not have been distempered if they had hadliberty, though the plague was in the house; at which the people wereat first very clamorous and uneasy, and several acts of violence werecommitted on the men who were set to watch the houses so shut up; alsoseveral people broke out by force, in many places, as I shall observe byand by; still it was a public good that justified the private mischief;and there was no obtaining the least mitigation by any application tomagistrates. This put the people upon all manner of stratagems, in order, if possible, to get out; and it would fill a little volume to set down thearts used by the people of such houses to shut the eyes of the watchmen whowere employed, to deceive them, and to escape or break out from them. A fewincidents on this head may prove not uninteresting. 

As I went along Houndsditch one morning, about eight o'clock, there was agreat noise; it is true, indeed, there was not much crowd, because peoplewere not very free to gather or to stay long together; but the outcry wasloud enough to prompt my curiosity, and I called to one that looked out ofa window, and asked what was the matter. 

A watchman, it seems, had been employed to keep his post at the door of ahouse which was infected, or said to be infected, and was shut up; he hadbeen there all night for two nights together, as he told his story, and theday watchman had been there one day, and had now come to relieve him; allthis while no noise had been heard in the house, no light had been seen;they called for nothing, sent him no errands, which was the chief businessof the watchman; neither had they given him any disturbance, as he said, from the Monday afternoon, when he heard great crying and screaming in thehouse, which, as he supposed, was occasioned by some of the family dyingjust at that time. It seems the night before, the dead-cart, as it wascalled, had been stopped there, and a servant-maid had been brought downto the door dead, and the buriers or bearers, as they were called, put herinto the cart, wrapped only in a green rug, and carried her away. 

The watchman had knocked at the door, it seems, when he heard that noiseand crying, as above, and nobody answered a great while; but at last onelooked out, and said, with an angry, quick tone, "What do ye want, that yemake such a knocking?" He answered: "I am the watchman! how do you do?what is the matter?" The person answered: "What is that to you? Stop thedead-cart. " This, it seems, was about one o'clock; soon after, as thefellow said, he stopped the dead-cart, and then knocked again, but nobodyanswered: he continued knocking, and the bellman called out several times, "Bring out your dead!" but nobody answered, till the man that drove thecart, being called to other houses, would stay no longer, and drove away. 

The watchman knew not what to make of all this, so he let them alonetill the day watchman came to relieve him, giving him an account of theparticulars. They knocked at the door a great while, but nobody answered;and they observed that the window or casement at which the person hadlooked out continued open, being up two pair of stairs. Upon this the twomen, to satisfy their curiosity, got a long ladder, and one of them wentup to the window and looked into the room, where he saw a woman lying deadupon the floor in a dismal manner, having no clothes on her but her shift. Although he called aloud, and knocked hard on the floor with his longstaff, yet nobody stirred or answered; neither could he hear any noise inthe house. 

Upon this he came down again and acquainted his fellow, who went up also, and, finding the case as above, they resolved either to acquaint the lordmayor or some other magistrate with it. The magistrate, it seems, uponthe information of the two men, ordered the house to be broken open, aconstable and other persons being appointed to be present, that nothingmight be plundered; and accordingly it was so done, when nobody was foundin the house but that young woman, who, having been infected, and pastrecovery, the rest had left her to die by herself. Everyone was gone, having found some way to delude the watchman and to get open the door orget out at some back door or over the tops of the houses, so that he knewnothing of it; and as to those cries and shrieks which the watchman hadheard, it was supposed they were the passionate cries of the family atthe bitter parting, which, to be sure, it was to them all, this being thesister to the mistress of the house. 

Many such escapes were made out of infected houses, as particularly whenthe watchman was sent some errand, that is to say, for necessaries, such asfood and physic, to fetch physicians if they would come, or surgeons, ornurses, or to order the dead-cart, and the like. Now, when he went it washis duty to lock up the outer door of the house and take the key away withhim; but to evade this and cheat the watchman, people got two or three keysmade to their locks, or they found means to unscrew the locks, open thedoor, and go out as they pleased. This way of escape being found out, theofficers afterward had orders to padlock up the doors on the outside andplace bolts on them, as they thought fit. 

At another house, as I was informed, in the street near Aldgate, a wholefamily was shut up and locked in because the maidservant was ill: themaster of the house had complained, by his friends, to the next aldermanand to the lord mayor, and had consented to have the maid carried to thepesthouse, but was refused, so the door was marked with a red cross, apadlock on the outside, as above, and a watchman set to keep the dooraccording to public order. 

After the master of the house found there was no remedy, but that he, hiswife, and his children were to be locked up with this poor distemperedservant, he called to the watchman and told him he must go then and fetch anurse for them to attend this poor girl, for that it would be certain deathto them all to oblige them to nurse her; and that if he would not do thisthe maid must perish, either of the distemper, or be starved for want offood, for he was resolved none of his family should go near her, and shelay in the garret, four-story high, where she could not cry out or call toanybody for help. 

The watchman went and fetched a nurse as he was appointed, and brought herto them the same evening; during this interval the master of the house tookthe opportunity of breaking a large hole through his shop into a stallwhere formerly a cobbler had sat, before or under his shop window, but thetenant, as may be supposed, at such a dismal time as that, was dead orremoved, and so he had the key in his own keeping. Having made his wayinto this stall, which he could not have done if the man had been at thedoor--the noise he was obliged to make being such as would have alarmed thewatchman--I say, having made his way into this stall, he sat still till thewatchman returned with the nurse, and all the next day also. But the nightfollowing, having contrived to send the watchman another trifling errand, he conveyed himself and all his family out of the house, and left the nurseand the watchman to bury the poor woman, that is, to throw her into thecart and take care of the house. 

I could give a great many such stories as these which in the long course ofthat dismal year I met with, that is, heard of, and which are very certainto be true or very near the truth; that is to say, true in general, for noman could at such a time learn all the particulars. There was, likewise, violence used with the watchmen, as was reported, in abundance of places;and I believe that, from the beginning of the visitation to the end, notless than eighteen or twenty of them were killed or so severely wounded asto be taken up for dead; which was supposed to have been done by the peoplein the infected houses which were shut up, and where they attempted to comeout and were opposed. 

For example, not far from Coleman Street they blowed up a watchman withgunpowder, and burned the poor fellow dreadfully; and while he made hideouscries, and nobody would venture to come near to help him, the whole familythat were able to stir got out at the windows one story high, two that wereleft sick calling out for help. Care was taken to give the latter nursesto look after them, but the fugitives were not found till after the plagueabated, when they returned; but as nothing could be proved, so nothingcould be done to them. 

It is to be considered, too, that as these were prisons without bars orbolts, which our common prisons are furnished with, so the people letthemselves down out of their windows, even in the face of the watchman, bringing swords or pistols in their hands, and threatening to shoot thepoor wretch if he stirred or called for help. 

In other cases some had gardens and walls or palings between them andtheir neighbors; or yards and back houses; and these, by friendship andentreaties, would get leave to get over those walls or palings, and so goout at their neighbors' doors, or, by giving money to their servants, getthem to let them through in the night; so that, in short, the shutting upof houses was in no wise to be depended upon. Neither did it answer the endat all; serving more to make the people desperate and drive them to violentextremities in their attempts to break out. 

But what was still worse, those that did thus break out spread theinfection by wandering about with the distemper upon them; and many thatdid so were driven to dreadful exigencies and extremities and perished inthe streets or fields or dropped down with the raging violence of the feverupon them. Others wandered into the country and went forward any way astheir desperation guided them, not knowing whither they went or would go, till faint and tired; the houses and villages on the road refusing to admitthem to lodge, whether infected or no, they perished by the roadside. 

On the other hand, when the plague at first seized a family, that is tosay, when any one of the family had gone out and unwarily or otherwisecaught the distemper and brought it home, it was certainly known by thefamily before it was known to the officers who were appointed to examineinto the circumstances of all sick persons when they heard of their beingsick. 

I remember--and while I am writing this story I think I hear the veryshrieks--a certain lady had an only daughter, a young maiden about nineteenyears old and who was possessed of a very considerable fortune. The youngwoman, her mother, and the maid had been out for some purpose, for thehouse was not shut up; but about two hours after they came home the younglady complained she was not well; in a quarter of an hour more she vomitedand had a violent pain in her head. "Pray God, " says her mother, in aterrible fright, "my child has not the distemper!" The pain in her headincreasing, her mother ordered the bed to be warmed, and resolved toput her to bed, and prepared to give her things to sweat, which was theordinary remedy to be taken when the first apprehensions of the distemperbegan. 

While the bed was being aired, the mother undressed the young woman, and, on looking over her body with a candle, immediately discovered the fataltokens. Her mother, not being able to contain herself, threw down hercandle and screeched out in such a frightful manner that it was enough tobring horror upon the stoutest heart in the world. Overcome by fright, shefirst fainted, then recovered, then ran all over the house, up the stairsand down the stairs, like one distracted. Thus she continued screeching andcrying out for several hours, void of all sense, or at least government ofher senses, and, as I was told, never came thoroughly to herself again. Asto the young maiden, she was dead from that moment; for the gangrene whichoccasions the spots had spread over her whole body, and she died in lessthan two hours: but still the mother continued crying out, not knowinganything more of her child, several hours after she was dead. 

I went all the first part of the time freely about the streets, though notso freely as to run myself into apparent danger, except when they dug thegreat pit in the church-yard of our parish of Aldgate. A terrible pit itwas, and I could not resist the curiosity to go and see it. So far as Icould judge, it was about forty feet in length and about fifteen or sixteenfeet broad, and, at the time I first looked at it, about nine feet deep;but it was said they dug it nearly twenty feet deep afterward, when theycould go no deeper, for the water. 

They had dug several pits in another ground when the distemper began tospread in our parish, and especially when the dead-carts began to go about, which in our parish was not till the beginning of August. Into these pitsthey had put perhaps fifty or sixty bodies each; then they made largerholes, wherein they buried all that the cart brought in a week, which, bythe middle to the end of August, came to from two hundred to four hundreda week. They could not dig them larger, because of the order of themagistrates confining them to leave no bodies within six feet of thesurface. Besides, the water coming on at about seventeen or eighteen feet, they could not well put more in one pit. But now at the beginning ofSeptember, the plague being at its height, and the number of burials in ourparish increasing to more than were ever buried in any parish about Londonof no larger extent, they ordered this dreadful gulf to be dug, for such itwas, rather than a pit. 

They had supposed this pit would have supplied them for a month or morewhen they dug it, and some blamed the churchwardens for suffering such afrightful thing, telling them they were making preparations to bury thewhole parish, and the like; but time made it appear the church-wardensknew the condition of the parish better than they did; for the pit beingfinished September 4th, I think they began to bury in it on the 6th, and bythe 20th, which was just two weeks, they had thrown into it one thousandone hundred fourteen bodies, when they were obliged to fill it up, thebodies being within six feet of the surface. 

It was about September 10th that my curiosity led or rather drove me togo and see this pit again, when there had been about four hundred peopleburied in it; and I was not content to see it in the daytime, as I had donebefore, for then there would have been nothing to see but the loose earth;for all the bodies that were thrown in were immediately covered with earthby those they called the buriers, but I resolved to go in the night and seesome of the bodies thrown in. 

There was a strict order against people coming to those pits, and thatwas only to prevent infection; but after some time that order was morenecessary, for people that were infected and near their end, and deliriousalso, would run to those pits, wrapped in blankets or rags, and throwthemselves in and bury themselves. 

I got admittance into the church-yard by being acquainted with the sexton, who, though he did not refuse me at all, yet earnestly persuaded me not togo, telling me very seriously--for he was a good and sensible man--that itwas indeed their business and duty to run all hazards, and that in so doingthey might hope to be preserved; but that I had no apparent call except myown curiosity, which he said he believed I would not pretend was sufficientto justify my exposing myself to infection. I told him "I had been pressedin my mind to go, and that perhaps it might be an instructing sight thatmight not be without its uses. " "Nay, " says the good man, "if you willventure on that score, i' name of God go in; for depend upon it, 'twill bea sermon to you; it may be the best that you ever heard in your life. It isa speaking sight, " says he, "and has a voice with it, and a loud one, tocall us to repentance;" and with that he opened the door and said, "Go, ifyou will. "

His words had shocked my resolution a little and I stood wavering for agood while; but just at that interval I saw two links come over from theend of the Minories, and heard the bellman, and then appeared a dead-cart, so I could no longer resist my desire, and went in. There was nobody that Icould perceive at first in the church-yard or going into it but the buriersand the fellow that drove the cart or rather led the horse and cart; butwhen they came up to the pit they saw a man going to and fro muffled up ina brown cloak and making motions with his hands under his cloak, as ifhe was in a great agony, and the buriers immediately gathered about him, supposing he was one of those poor delirious or desperate creatures thatused to bury themselves. He said nothing as he walked about, but two orthree times groaned very deeply and loud, and sighed as he would break hisheart. 

When the buriers came up to him they soon found he was neither a personinfected and desperate, as I have observed above, nor a person distemperedin mind, but one oppressed with a dreadful weight of grief, indeed, havinghis wife and several of his children in the cart that had just come in, andhe followed it in an agony and excess of sorrow. He mourned heartily, asit was easy to see, but with a kind of masculine grief that could not giveitself vent in tears, and, calmly desiring the buriers to let him alone, said he would only see the bodies thrown in and go away; so they leftimportuning him. But no sooner was the cart turned round and the bodiesshot into the pit promiscuously, which was a surprise to him, for he atleast expected they would have been decently laid in, though indeed he wasafterward convinced that was impracticable--I say, no sooner did he see thesight but he cried out aloud, unable to contain himself. 

I could not hear what he said, but he went backward and forward two orthree times and fell down in a swoon. The buriers ran to him and took himup, and in a little while he came to himself, and they led him away to thePye tavern, over against the end of Houndsditch, where it seems the man wasknown and where they took care of him. He looked into the pit again ashe went away, but the buriers had covered the bodies so immediately withthrowing in the earth that, though there was light enough, for there werelanterns and candles placed all night round the sides of the pit, yetnothing could be seen. 

This was a mournful scene, indeed, and affected me almost as much as therest, but the other was awful and full of terror. The cart had in itsixteen or seventeen bodies; some were wrapped up in linen sheets, some inrugs, some all but naked or so loose that what covering they had fell fromthem in being shot out of the cart, for coffins were not to be had for theprodigious numbers that fell in such a calamity as his. 

It was reported, by way of scandal upon the buriers, that if any corpse wasdelivered to them decently wrapped in a winding-sheet, the buriers wereso wicked as to strip them in the cart and carry them quite naked to theground; but as I cannot easily credit anything so vile among Christians, and at a time so filled with terrors as that was, I can only relate it andleave it undetermined. 

I was indeed shocked at the whole sight; it almost overwhelmed me, and Iwent away with my heart full of the most afflicting thoughts, such as Icannot describe. Just at my going out at the church-yard and turning upthe street toward my own house I saw another cart with links and a bellmangoing before, coming out of Harrow Alley, in the Butcher Row, on the otherside of the way, and being, as I perceived, very full of dead bodies, itwent directly toward the church; I stood awhile, but I had no desire togo back again to see the same dismal scene over again, so I went directlyhome, where I could not but consider, with thankfulness, the risk I hadrun. 

Here the poor unhappy gentleman's grief came into my head again, and, indeed, I could not but shed tears in reflecting upon it, perhaps more thanhe did himself; but his case lay so heavy upon my mind that I could notconstrain myself from going again to the Pye tavern, resolving to inquirewhat became of him. It was by this time one o'clock in the morning and thepoor gentleman was still there; the truth was the people of the house, knowing him, had kept him there all the night, notwithstanding the dangerof being infected by him, though it appeared the man was perfectly soundhimself. 

It is with regret that I take notice of this tavern: the people were civil, mannerly, and obliging enough, and had till this time kept their house openand their trade going on, though not so very publicly as formerly; but adreadful set of fellows frequented their house, who, in the midst of allthis horror, met there every night, behaved with all the revelling androaring extravagances as are usual for such people to do at other times, and, indeed, to such an offensive degree that the very master and mistressof the house grew first ashamed and then terrified at them. 

They sat generally in a room next the street, and, as they always keptlate hours, so when the dead-cart came across the street end to go intoHoundsditch, which was in view of the tavern windows, they would frequentlyopen the windows as soon as they heard the bell, and look out at them; andas they might often hear sad lamentations of people in the streets or attheir windows as the carts went along, they would make their impudent mocksand jeers at them, especially if they heard the poor people call upon Godto have mercy upon them, as many would do at those times in passing alongthe streets. 

These gentlemen, being something disturbed with the clatter of bringing thepoor gentleman into the house, as above, were first angry and very highwith the master of the house for suffering such a fellow, as they calledhim, to be brought out of the grave into their house; but being answeredthat the man was a neighbor, and that he was sound, but overwhelmed withthe calamity of his family, and the like, they turned their anger intoridiculing the man and his sorrow for his wife and children; taunting himwith want of courage to leap into the great pit and go to heaven, asthey jeeringly expressed it, along with them; adding some profane andblasphemous expressions. 

They were at this vile work when I came back to the house, and as far asI could see, though the man sat still, mute and disconsolate, and theiraffronts could not divert his sorrow, yet he was both grieved and offendedat their words: upon this, I gently reproved them, being well enoughacquainted with their characters, and not unknown in person to two of them. They immediately fell upon me with ill language and oaths: asked me what Idid out of my grave at such a time when so many honester men were carriedinto the church-yard? and why I was not at home saying my prayers till thedead-cart came for me?

I was indeed astonished at the impudence of the men, though not at alldiscomposed at their treatment of me. However, I kept my temper. I toldthem that though I defied them or any man in the world to tax me with anydishonesty, yet I acknowledged that in this terrible judgment of God many abetter than I was swept away and carried to his grave. But to answer theirquestion directly, it was true that I was mercifully preserved by thatgreat God whose name they had blasphemed and taken in vain by cursing andswearing in a dreadful manner; and that I believed I was preserved inparticular, among other ends of his goodness, that I might reprove them fortheir audacious boldness in behaving in such a manner and in such an awfultime as this was; especially for their jeering and mocking at an honestgentleman and a neighbor who they saw was overwhelmed with sorrow for thesufferings with which it had pleased God to afflict his family. 

They received all reproof with the utmost contempt and made the greatestmockery that was possible for them to do at me, giving me all theopprobrious, insolent scoffs that they could think of for preaching tothem, as they called it, which, indeed, grieved me rather than angered me. I went away, however, blessing God in my mind that I had not spared themthough they had insulted me so much. 

They continued this wretched course three or four days after this, continually mocking and jeering at all that showed themselves religious orserious, or that were any way us; and I was informed they flouted in thesame manner at the good people who, notwithstanding the contagion, met atthe church, fasted, and prayed God to remove his hand from them. 

I say, they continued this dreadful course three or four days--I think itwas no more--when one of them, particularly he who asked the poor gentlemanwhat he did out of his grave, was struck with the plague and died in a mostdeplorable manner; and in a word, they were every one of them carried intothe great pit which I have mentioned above, before it was quite filled up, which was not above a fortnight or thereabout. 

%GREAT FIRE IN LONDON%

A. D. 1666

JOHN EVELYN

In the reign of Charles II--the "Merry Monarch, " of whom one of hisministers observed that "he never said a foolish thing and never did a wiseone"--the calamities which happened eclipsed the merriment of his people, if not that of the sovereign himself. 

In 1666 England had not fully recovered from the civil wars of 1642-1651. She was now at war with the allied Dutch and French, and was suffering fromthe terrible effects of the "Great Plague" which ravaged London in 1665. During September 2-5, 1666, occurred a catastrophe of almost equal horror. A fire, which broke out in a baker's house near the bridge, spread onall sides so rapidly that the people were unable to extinguish it untiltwo-thirds of the city had been destroyed. 

Evelyn's account, from his famous _Diary_, is that of an eye-witness whotook a prominent part in dealing with the conflagration, during whichthe inhabitants of London--like those of some of our cities in recenttimes--"were reduced to be spectators of their own ruin. " Besidessuspecting the French and Dutch of having landed and, as Evelyn records, of"firing the town, " people assigned various other possible origins for thedisaster, charging it upon the republicans, the Catholics, etc. It wasobviously due, as Hume thought it worth while to note, to the narrowstreets, the houses built entirely of wood, the dry season, and a strongeast wind. 

"But the fire, " says a later writer, "though destroying so much, was mostbeneficial in thoroughly eradicating the plague. The fever dens in which itcontinually lurked were burned, and the new houses which were erected werefar more healthy and better arranged. "

In the year of our Lord 1666. 2d Sept. This fatal night, about ten, beganthat deplorable fire near Fish Street, in London. 

3. The fire continuing, after dinner I took coach with my wife and son, andwent to the Bankside in Southwark, where we beheld that dismal spectacle, the whole city in dreadful flames near the water-side; all the houses fromthe bridge, all Thames Street, and upward toward Cheapside, down to theThree Cranes, were now consumed. 

The fire having continued all this night--if I may call that nightwhich was as light as day for ten miles round about, after a dreadfulmanner--when conspiring with a fierce eastern wind in a very dry season; Iwent on foot to the same place, and saw the whole south part of the cityburning from Cheapside to the Thames, and all along Cornhill--for itkindled back against the wind as well as forward--Tower Street, FenchurchStreet, Gracechurch Street, and so along to Bainard's castle, and wasnow taking hold of St. Paul's Church, to which the scaffolds contributedexceedingly. The conflagration was so universal, and the people soastonished, that from the beginning, I know not by what despondency orfate, they hardly stirred to quench it; so that there was nothing heardor seen but crying out and lamentation, running about like distractedcreatures, without at all attempting to save even their goods; such astrange consternation there was upon them, so as it burned both in breadthand length, the churches, public halls, exchange, hospitals, monuments, and ornaments, leaping after a prodigious manner from house to house, andstreet to street, at great distances one from the other; for the heat, witha long set of fair and warm weather, had even ignited the air and preparedthe materials to conceive the fire, which devoured, after an incrediblemanner, houses, furniture, and everything. 

Here we saw the Thames covered with goods floating, all the barges andboats laden with what some had time and courage to save, as, on the other, the carts, etc. , carrying out to the fields, which for many miles werestrewed with movables of all sorts, and tents erecting to shelter bothpeople and what goods they could get away. Oh, the miserable and calamitousspectacle! such as haply the world had not seen the like since thefoundation of it, nor be outdone till the universal conflagration. All thesky was of a fiery aspect, like the top of a burning oven, the light seenabove forty miles round about for many nights. 

God grant my eyes may never behold the like, now seeing above ten thousandhouses all in one flame; the noise, and cracking, and thunder of theimpetuous flames, the shrieking of women and children, the hurry of people, the fall of towers, houses, and churches was like a hideous storm, and theair all about so hot and inflamed that at last one was not able to approachit; so that they were forced to stand still and let the flames burn on, which they did for near two miles in length and one in breadth. The cloudsof smoke were dismal, and reached, upon computation, near fifty miles inlength. Thus I left it this afternoon burning, a resemblance of Sodom orthe last day. London was, but is no more!

4. The burning still rages, and it has now gotten as far as the InnerTemple, all Fleet Street, the Old Bailey, Ludgate Hill, Warwick Lane, Newgate, Paul's Chain, Watling Street, now flaming, and most of it reducedto ashes; the stones of St. Paul's flew like granados, the melting leadrunning down the streets in a stream, and the very pavements glowing withfiery redness, so as no horse nor man was able to tread on them, and thedemolition had stopped all the passages, so that no help could be applied. The eastern wind still more impetuously drove the flames forward. Nothingbut the almighty power of God was able to stop them, for vain was the helpof man. 

5. It crossed toward Whitehall; oh, the confusion there was then at thatcourt! It pleased his majesty to command me among the rest to look afterthe quenching of Fetter Lane, and to preserve, if possible, that part ofHolborn, while the rest of the gentlemen took their several posts--for nowthey began to bestir themselves, and not till now, who hitherto had stoodas men intoxicated, with their hands across--and began to consider thatnothing was likely to put a stop, but the blowing up of so many housesmight make a wider gap than any had yet been made by the ordinary methodof pulling them down with engines; this some stout seamen proposed earlyenough to have saved nearly the whole city, but this some tenacious andavaricious men, aldermen, etc. , would not permit, because their houses musthave been of the first. 

It was therefore now commanded to be practised, and my concern beingparticularly for the hospital of St. Bartholomew, near Smithfield, where Ihad many wounded and sick men, made me the more diligent to promote it, norwas my care for the Savoy less. It now pleased God, by abating the wind, and by the industry of the people, infusing a new spirit into them, and thefury of it began sensibly to abate about noon, so as it came no furtherthan the Temple westward, nor than the entrance of Smithfield north; butcontinued all this day and night so impetuous toward Cripplegate and theTower, as made us all despair. It also broke out again in the Temple, butthe courage of the multitude persisting, and many houses being blown up, such gaps and desolations were soon made, as with the former three-days'consumption, the back fire did not so vehemently urge upon the rest asformerly. There was yet no standing near the burning and glowing ruins bynear a furlong's space. 

The coal and wood wharfs, and magazines of oil, resin, etc. , did infinitemischief, so as the invective which a little before I had dedicated to hismajesty and published, giving warning what might probably be the issue ofsuffering those shops to be in the city, was looked on as a prophecy. 

The poor inhabitants were dispersed about St. George's Fields andMoorfields, as far as Highgate, and several miles in circle, some undertents, some under miserable huts and hovels, many without a rag, or anynecessary utensils, bed, or board; who, from delicateness, riches, and easyaccommodations in stately and well-furnished houses, were now reduced toextremest misery and poverty. 

In this calamitous condition I returned with a sad heart to my house, blessing and adoring the mercy of God to me and mine, who in the midst ofall this ruin was like Lot, in my little Zoar, safe and sound. 

7. I went this morning on foot from Whitehall as far as London bridge, through the late Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, by St. Paul's, Cheapside, Exchange, Bishopsgate, Aldersgate, and out to Moorfields, thence throughCornhill, etc. , with extraordinary difficulty clambering over heaps of yetsmoking rubbish, and frequently mistaking where I was. The ground under myfeet was so hot that it even burned the soles of my shoes. 

In the mean time his majesty got to the Tower by water, to demolish thehouses about the graff, which, being built entirely about it, had theytaken fire, and attacked the White Tower, where the magazine of powder lay, would undoubtedly not only have beaten down and destroyed all the bridge, but sunk and torn the vessels in the river, and rendered the demolitionbeyond all expression for several miles about the country. 

At my return I was infinitely concerned to find that goodly church, St. Paul's, now a sad ruin, and that beautiful portico--or structure comparableto any in Europe, as not long before repaired by the King--now rent inpieces, flakes of vast stones split asunder, and nothing remaining entirebut the inscription in the architrave, showing by whom it was built, whichhad not one letter of it defaced. It was astonishing to see what immensestones the heat had in a manner calcined, so that all the ornaments, columns, friezes, and projectures of massy Portland stone flew off, evento the very roof, where a sheet of lead covering a great space was totallymelted; the ruins of the vaulted roof falling broke into St. Faith's, whichbeing filled with the magazines of books belonging to the stationers, andcarried thither for safety, they were all consumed, burning for a weekfollowing. 

It is also observable that the lead over the altar at the east end wasuntouched, and among the divers monuments the body of one bishop remainedentire. Thus lay in ashes that most venerable church, one of the mostancient pieces of early piety in the Christian world, besides nearone hundred more. The lead, ironwork, bells, plate, etc. , melted; theexquisitely wrought Mercer's Chapel, the sumptuous Exchange, the augustfabric of Christ Church, all the rest of the Companies' Halls, sumptuousbuildings, arches, all in dust; the fountains dried up and ruined, whilethe very waters remained boiling; the _voragoes_ of subterranean cellars, wells, and dungeons, formerly warehouses, still burning in stench and darkclouds of smoke, so that in five or six miles traversing about I did notsee one load of timber consume, nor many stones but what were calcinedwhite as snow. 

The people who now walked about the ruins appeared like men in a dismaldesert, or rather in some great city laid waste by a cruel enemy: to whichwas added the stench that came from some poor creatures' bodies, beds, etc. Sir Thomas Gresham's statue, though fallen from its niche in the RoyalExchange, remained entire, when all those of the kings since the Conquestwere broken to pieces; also the standard in Cornhill, and Queen Elizabeth'seffigies, with some arms on Ludgate, continued with but little detriment, while the vast iron chains of the city streets, hinges, bars, and gates ofprisons, were many of them melted and reduced to cinders by the vehementheat. 

I was not able to pass through any of the narrow streets, but kept thewidest; the ground and air, smoke and fiery vapor, continued so intensethat my hair was almost singed and my feet insufferably surheated. Theby-lanes and narrower streets were quite filled up with rubbish, nor couldone have known where he was but by the ruins of some church or hall thathad some remarkable tower or pinnacle remaining. I then went towardIslington and Highgate, where one might have seen two hundred thousandpeople of all ranks and degrees, dispersed and lying along by their heapsof what they could save from the fire, deploring their loss, and, thoughready to perish for hunger and destitution, yet not asking one penny forrelief, which to me appeared a stranger sight than any I had yet beheld. 

His majesty and council, indeed, took all imaginable care for theirrelief, by proclamation for the country to come in and refresh them withprovisions. In the midst of all this calamity and confusion there was, Iknow not how, an alarm begun that the French and Dutch, with whom we arenow in hostility, were not only landed, but even entering the city. Therewas in truth some days before great suspicion of these two nations joining;and now, that they had been the occasion of firing the town. This reportdid so terrify that on a sudden there was such an uproar and tumult thatthey ran from their goods, and, taking what weapons they could come at, they could not be stopped from falling on some of those nations whom theycasually met, without sense or reason. 

The clamor and peril grew so excessive that it made the whole court amazed, and they did with infinite pains and great difficulty reduce and appeasethe people, sending troops of soldiers and guards to cause them to retireinto the fields again, where they were watched all this night. I left thempretty quiet, and came home sufficiently weary and broken. Their spiritsthus a little calmed, and the affright abated, they now began to repairinto the suburbs about the city, where such as had friends or opportunitygot shelter for the present, to which his majesty's proclamation alsoinvited them. 

%DISCOVERY OF GRAVITATION%

A. D. 1666

SIR DAVID BREWSTER

Many admirers of Sir Isaac Newton have asserted that his was the mostgigantic intellect ever bestowed on man. He discovered the law ofgravitation, and by it explained all the broader phenomena of nature, suchas the movements of the planets, the shape and revolution of the earth, thesuccession of the tides. Copernicus had asserted that the planets moved, Newton demonstrated it mathematically. 

His discoveries in optics were in his own time almost equally famous, while in his later life he shared with Leibnitz the honor of inventingthe infinitesimal calculus, a method which lies at the root of all theintricate marvels of modern mathematical science. 

Newton should not, however, be regarded as an isolated phenomenon, a geniusbut for whom the world would have remained in darkness. His first flashingidea of gravitation deserves perhaps to be called an inspiration. But inall his other labors, experimental as well as mathematical, he was butfollowing the spirit of the times. The love of science was abroad, and itsinfinite curiosity. Each of Newton's discoveries was claimed also by othermen who had been working along similar lines. Of the dispute over thegravitation theory Sir David Brewster, the great authority for the careerof Newton, gives some account. The controversy over the calculus was evenmore bitter and prolonged. 

It were well, however, to disabuse one's mind of the idea that Newton'swork was a finality, that it settled anything. As to why the law ofgravitation exists, why bodies tend to come together, the philosopher hadlittle suggestion to offer, and the present generation knows no more thanhe. Before Copernicus and Newton men looked only with their eyes, andaccepted the apparent movements of sun and stars as real. Now, going onestep deeper, we look with our brains and see their real movements whichunderlie appearances. Newton supplied us with the law and rate of themovement--but not its cause. It is toward that cause, that great "Why?"that science has ever since been dimly groping. 

In the year 1666, when the plague had driven Newton from Cambridge, he wassitting alone in the garden at Woolsthrope, and reflecting on the nature ofgravity, that remarkable power which causes all bodies to descend towardthe centre of the earth. As this power is not found to suffer any sensiblediminution at the greatest distance from the earth's centre to which we canreach--being as powerful at the tops of the highest mountains as at thebottom of the deepest mines--he conceived it highly probable that it mustextend much further than was usually supposed. No sooner had this happyconjecture occurred to his mind than he considered what would be the effectof its extending as far as the moon. That her motion must be influencedby such a power he did not for a moment doubt; and a little reflectionconvinced him that it might be sufficient for retaining that luminary inher orbit round the earth. 

Though the force of gravity suffers no sensible diminution at those smalldistances from the earth's centre at which we can place ourselves, yet hethought it very possible that, at the distance of the moon, it might differmuch in strength from what it is on the earth. In order to form someestimate of the degree of its diminution, he considered that, if the moonbe retained in her orbit by the force of gravity, the primary planets mustalso be carried round the sun by the same power; and by comparing theperiods of the different planets with their distances from the sun he foundthat, if they were retained in their orbits by any power like gravity, itsforce must decrease in the duplicate proportion, or as the squares of theirdistances from the sun. In drawing this conclusion, he supposed the planetsto move in orbits perfectly circular, and having the sun in their centre. Having thus obtained the law of the force by which the planets were drawnto the sun, his next object was to ascertain if such a force emanating fromthe earth, and directed to the moon, was sufficient, when diminished in theduplicate ratio of the distance, to retain her in her orbit. 

In performing this calculation it was necessary to compare the spacethrough which heavy bodies fall in a second at a given distance from thecentre of the earth, viz. , at its surface, with the space through which themoon, as it were, falls to the earth in a second of time while revolvingin a circular orbit. Being at a distance from books when he made thiscomputation, he adopted the common estimate of the earth's diameter thenin use among geographers and navigators, and supposed that each degree oflatitude contained sixty English miles. 

In this way he found that the force which retains the moon in her orbit, as deduced from the force which occasions the fall of heavy bodies to theearth's surface, was one-sixth greater than that which is actuallyobserved in her circular orbit. This difference threw a doubt upon all hisspeculations; but, unwilling to abandon what seemed to be otherwise soplausible, he endeavored to account for the difference of the two forcesby supposing that some other cause must have been united with the force ofgravity in producing so great velocity of the moon in her circular orbit. As this new cause, however, was beyond the reach of observation, hediscontinued all further inquiries into the subject, and concealed from hisfriends the speculations in which he had been employed. 

After his return to Cambridge in 1666 his attention was occupied withoptical discoveries; but he had no sooner brought them to a close than hismind reverted to the great subject of the planetary motions. Upon the deathof Oldenburg in August, 1678, Dr. Hooke was appointed secretary to theRoyal Society; and as this learned body had requested the opinion of Newtonabout a system of physical astronomy, he addressed a letter to Dr. Hookeon November 28, 1679. In this letter he proposed a direct experiment forverifying the motion of the earth, viz. , by observing whether or not bodiesthat fall from a considerable height descend in a vertical direction; forif the earth were at rest the body would describe exactly a vertical line;whereas if it revolved round its axis, the falling body must deviate fromthe vertical line toward the east. 

The Royal Society attached great value to the idea thus casually suggested, and Dr. Hooke was appointed to put it to the test of experiment. Beingthus led to consider the subject more attentively, he wrote to Newton thatwherever the direction of gravity was oblique to the axis on which theearth revolved, that is, in every part of the earth except the equator, falling bodies should approach to the equator, and the deviation from thevertical, in place of being exactly to the east, as Newton maintained, should be to the southeast of the point from which the body began to move. 

Newton acknowledged that this conclusion was correct in theory, and Dr. Hooke is said to have given an experimental demonstration of it before theRoyal Society in December, 1679. Newton had erroneously concluded that thepath of the falling body would be a spiral; but Dr. Hooke, on the sameoccasion on which he made the preceding experiment, read a paper to thesociety in which he proved that the path of the body would be an eccentricellipse _in vacuo_, and an ellipti-spiral if the body moved in a resistingmedium. 

This correction of Newton's error, and the discovery that a projectilewould move in an elliptical orbit when under the influence of a forcevarying in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance, led Newton, ashe himself informs us in his letter to Halley, to discover "the theoremby which he afterward examined the ellipsis, " and to demonstrate thecelebrated proposition that a planet acted upon by an attractive forcevarying inversely as the squares of the distances, will describe anelliptical orbit in one of whose _foci_ the attractive force resides. 

But though Newton had thus discovered the true cause of all the celestialmotions, he did not yet possess any evidence that such a force actuallyresided in the sun and planets. The failure of his former attempt toidentify the law of falling bodies at the earth's surface with that whichguided the moon in her orbit, threw a doubt over all his speculations, andprevented him from giving any account of them to the public. 

An accident, however, of a very interesting nature induced him to resumehis former inquiries, and enabled him to bring them to a close. In June, 1682, when he was attending a meeting of the Royal Society of London, themeasurement of a degree of the meridian, executed by M. Picard in 1679, became the subject of conversation. Newton took a memorandum of the resultobtained by the French astronomer, and having deduced from it the diameterof the earth, he immediately resumed his calculation of 1665, and began torepeat it with these new data. In the progress of the calculation he sawthat the result which he had formerly expected was likely to be produced, and he was thrown into such a state of nervous irritability that he wasunable to carry on the calculation. In this state of mind he intrusted itto one of his friends, and he had the high satisfaction of finding hisformer views amply realized. The force of gravity which regulated the fallof bodies at the earth's surface, when diminished as the square of themoon's distance from the earth, was found to be almost exactly equal to thecentrifugal force of the moon as deduced from her observed distance andvelocity. 

The influence of such a result upon such a mind may be more easilyconceived than described. The whole material universe was spread out beforehim; the sun with all his attending planets; the planets with all theirsatellites; the comets wheeling in every direction in their eccentricorbits; and the systems of the fixed stars stretching to the remotestlimits of space. All the varied and complicated movements of the heavens, in short, must have been at once presented to his mind as the necessaryresult of that law which he had established in reference to the earth andthe moon. 

After extending this law to the other bodies of the system, he composed aseries of propositions on the motion of the primary planets about the sun, which were sent to London about the end of 1683, and were soon afterwardcommunicated to the Royal Society. 

About this period other philosophers had been occupied with the samesubject. Sir Christopher Wren had many years before endeavored to explainthe planetary motions "by the composition of a descent toward the sun, andan impressed motion; but he at length gave it over, not finding the meansof doing it. " In January, 1683-1684, Dr. Halley had concluded from Kepler'slaw of the periods and distances, that the centripetal force decreased inthe reciprocal proportion of the squares of the distances, and having oneday met Sir Christopher Wren and Dr. Hooke, the latter affirmed that he haddemonstrated upon that principle all the laws of the celestial motions. Dr. Halley confessed that his attempts were unsuccessful, and Sir Christopher, in order to encourage the inquiry, offered to present a book of fortyshillings value to either of the two philosophers who should, in the spaceof two months, bring him a convincing demonstration of it. Hooke persistedin the declaration that he possessed the method, but avowed it to be hisintention to conceal it for time. He promised, however, to show it to SirChristopher; but there is every reason to believe that this promise wasnever fulfilled. 

In August, 1684, Dr. Halley went to Cambridge for the express purpose ofconsulting Newton on this interesting subject. Newton assured him that hehad brought this demonstration to perfection, and promised him a copy ofit. This copy was received in November by the doctor, who made a secondvisit to Cambridge, in order to induce its author to have it inserted inthe register book of the society. On December 10th Dr. Halley announcedto the society that he had seen at Cambridge Newton's treatise _De MotuCorporum_, which he had promised to send to the society to be entered upontheir register, and Dr. Halley was desired to unite with Mr. Paget, masterof the mathematical school in Christ's Hospital, in reminding Newton of hispromise, "for securing the invention to himself till such time as he can beat leisure to publish it. "

On February 25th Mr. Aston, the secretary, communicated a letter fromNewton in which he expressed his willingness "to enter in the registerhis notions about motion, and his intentions to fit them suddenly for thepress. " The progress of his work was, however, interrupted by a visit offive or six weeks which he made in Lincolnshire; but he proceeded with suchdiligence on his return that he was able to transmit the manuscript toLondon before the end of April. This manuscript, entitled _PhilosophicNaturalis Principia Mathematics_ and dedicated to the society, waspresented by Dr. Vincent on April 28, 1686, when Sir John Hoskins, thevice-president and the particular friend of Dr. Hooke, was in the chair. 

Dr. Vincent passed a just encomium on the novelty and dignity of thesubject; and another member added that "Mr. Newton had carried the thingso far that there was no more to be added. " To these remarks thevice-president replied that the method "was so much the more to be prizedas it was both invented and perfected at the same time. " Dr. Hooke tookoffence at these remarks, and blamed Sir John for not having mentioned"what he had discovered to him"; but the vice-president did not seem torecollect any such communication, and the consequence of this discussionwas that "these two, who till then were the most inseparable cronies, havesince scarcely seen one another, and are utterly fallen out. " After thebreaking up of the meeting, the society adjourned to the coffee house, where Dr. Hooke stated that he not only had made the same discovery, buthad given the first hint of it to Newton. 

An account of these proceedings was communicated to Newton through twodifferent channels. In a letter dated May 22d Dr. Halley wrote to him"that Mr. Hooke has some pretensions upon the invention of the rule of thedecrease of gravity being reciprocally as the squares of the distancesfrom the centre. He says you had the notion from him, though he owns thedemonstration of the curves generated thereby to be wholly your own. Howmuch of this is so you know best, as likewise what you have to do in thismatter; only Mr. Hooke seems to expect you would make some mention of himin the preface, which it is possible you may see reason to prefix. "

This communication from Dr. Halley induced the author, on June 20th, to address a long letter to him, in which he gives a minute and ablerefutation of Hooke's claims; but before this letter was despatched anothercorrespondent, who had received his information from one of the membersthat were present, informed Newton "that Hooke made a great stir, pretending that he had all from him, and desiring they would see thathe had justice done him. " This fresh charge seems to have ruffled thetranquillity of Newton; and he accordingly added an angry and satiricalpostscript, in which he treats Hooke with little ceremony, and goes so faras to conjecture that Hooke might have acquired his knowledge of the lawfrom a letter of his own to Huygens, directed to Oldenburg, and datedJanuary 14, 1672-1673. "My letter to Hugenius was directed to Mr. Oldenburg, who used to keep the originals. His papers came into Mr. Hooke'spossession. Mr. Hooke, knowing my hand, might have the curiosity to lookinto that letter, and there take the notion of comparing the forces of theplanets arising from their circular motion; and so what he wrote to meafterward about the rate of gravity might be nothing but the fruit of myown garden. "

In replying to this letter Dr. Halley assured him that Hooke's "manner ofclaiming the discovery had been represented to him in worse colors thanit ought, and that he neither made public application to the society forjustice nor pretended that you had all from him. " The effect of thisassurance was to make Newton regret that he had written the angrypostscript to his letter; and in replying to Halley on July 14, 1686, henot only expresses his regret, but recounts the different new ideas whichhe had acquired from Hooke's correspondence, and suggests it as the bestmethod "of compromising the present dispute" to add a _scholium_ in whichWren, Hooke, and Halley are acknowledged to have independently deduced thelaw of gravity from the second law of Kepler. 

At the meeting of April 28th, at which the manuscript of the _Principia_was presented to the Royal Society, it was agreed that the printing ofit should be referred to the council: that a letter of thanks should bewritten to its author; and at a meeting of the council on May 19th it wasresolved that the manuscript should be printed at the society's expense, and that Dr. Halley should superintend it while going through the press. These resolutions were communicated by Dr. Halley in a letter dated May22d; and in Newton's reply on June 20th, already mentioned, he makes thefollowing observations:

"The proof you sent me I like very well. I designed the whole to consistof three books; the second was finished last summer, being short, and onlywants transcribing and drawing the cuts fairly. Some new propositions Ihave since thought on which I can as well let alone. The third wants thetheory of comets. In autumn last I spent two months in calculation to nopurpose, for want of a good method, which made me afterward return to thefirst book and enlarge it with diverse propositions, some relating tocomets, others to other things found out last winter. The third I nowdesign to suppress. Philosophy is such an impertinently litigious lady thata man had as good be engaged in lawsuits as have to do with her. I found itso formerly, and now I can no sooner come near her again but she gives mewarning. The first two books, without the third, will not so well bear thetitle of _Philosophies Naturalis Principia Mathematica_; and therefore Ihad altered it to this: _de Moti Corporum, Libri duo_. But after secondthoughts I retain the former title. 'Twill help the sale of the book, whichI ought not to diminish now 'tis yours. "

In replying to this letter on June 29th Dr. Halley regrets that ourauthor's tranquillity should have been thus disturbed by envious rivals, and implores him in the name of the society not to suppress the third book. "I must again beg you, " says he, "not to let your resentments run so highas to deprive us of your third book, wherein your applications of yourmathematical doctrine to the theory of comets, and several curiousexperiments which, as I guess by what you write ought to compose it, will undoubtedly render it acceptable to those who will call themselvesphilosophers without mathematics, which are much the greater number. "

To these solicitations Newton seems to have readily yielded. His secondbook was sent to the society, and presented on March 2, 1687. The thirdbook was also transmitted, and presented on April 6th, and the whole workwas completed and published in the month of May, 1687. 

Such is the brief account of the publication of a work which is memorablenot only in the annals of one science or of one country, but which willform an epoch in the history of the world, and will ever be regarded as thebrightest page in the records of human reason. We shall endeavor to conveyto the reader some idea of its contents, and of the brilliant discoverieswhich it disseminated over Europe. 

The _Principia_ consists of three books. The first and second, which occupythree-fourths of the work, are entitled _On the Motion of Bodies_, and thethird bears the title _On the System of the World_. The two first bookscontain the mathematical principles of philosophy, namely, the laws andconditions of motions and forces; and they are illustrated with severalphilosophical _scholia_ which treat of some of the most general andbest-established points in philosophy, such as the density and resistanceof bodies, spaces void of matter, and the motion of sound and light. The object of the third book is to deduce from these principles theconstitution of the system of the world; and this book has been drawn up inas popular a style as possible, in order that it may be generally read. 

The great discovery which characterizes the _Principia_ is that of theprinciple of universal gravitation, as deduced from the motion of the moon, and from the three great facts or laws discovered by Kepler. This principleis: _That every particle of matter is attracted by or gravitates to everyother particle of matter, with a force inversely proportional to thesquares of their distances_. From the first law of Kepler, namely, theproportionality of the areas to the times of their revolution, Newtoninferred that the force which kept the planet in its orbit was alwaysdirected to the sun; and from the second law of Kepler, that every planetmoves in an ellipse with the sun in one of its foci, he drew the still moregeneral inference that the force by which the planet moves round that focusvaries inversely as the square of its distance from the focus. As this lawwas true in the motion of satellites round their primary planets Newtondeduced the equality of gravity in all the heavenly bodies toward the sun, upon the supposition that they are equally distant from its centre; andin the case of terrestrial bodies he succeeded in verifying this truth bynumerous and accurate experiments. 

By taking a more general view of the subject Newton demonstrated that aconic section was the only curve in which a body could move when actedupon by a force varying inversely as the square of the distance; and heestablished the conditions depending on the velocity and the primitiveposition of the body, which were requisite to make it describe a circular, an elliptical, a parabolic, or a hyberbolic orbit. 

Notwithstanding the generality and importance of these results, it stillremained to be determined whether the forces resided in the centres ofthe planets or belonged to each individual particle of which they werecomposed. Newton removed this uncertainty by demonstrating that if aspherical body acts upon a distant body with a force varying as thedistance of this body from the centre of the sphere, the same effectwill be produced as if each of its particles acted upon the distant bodyaccording to the same law. And hence it follows that the spheres, whetherthey are of uniform density or consist of concentric layers, with densitiesvarying according to any law whatever, will act upon each other in the samemanner as if their force resided in their centres alone. 

But as the bodies of the solar system are very nearly spherical they willall act upon one another, and upon bodies placed on their surfaces, as ifthey were so many centres of attraction; and therefore we obtain the law ofgravity which subsists between spherical bodies, namely, that one spherewill act upon another with a force directly proportional to the quantity ofmatter, and inversely as the square of the distance between the centresof the spheres. From the equality of action and reaction, to which noexception can be found, Newton concluded that the sun gravitated to theplanets, and the planets to their satellites; and the earth itself tothe stone which falls upon its surface, and, consequently, that the twomutually gravitating bodies approached to one another with velocitiesinversely proportional to their quantities of matter. 

Having established this universal law, Newton was enabled not only todetermine the weight which the same body would have at the surface of thesun and the planets, but even to calculate the quantity of matter in thesun, and in all the planets that had satellites, and even to determine thedensity or specific gravity of the matter of which they were composed. Inthis way he found that the weight of the same body would be twenty-threetimes greater at the surface of the sun than at the surface of the earth, and that the density of the earth was four times greater than that of thesun, the planets increasing in density as they receded from the centre ofthe system. 

If the peculiar genius of Newton has been displayed in his investigationof the law of universal gravitation, it shines with no less lustre in thepatience and sagacity with which he traced the consequences of this fertileprinciple. The discovery of the spheroidal form of Jupiter by Cassini hadprobably directed the attention of Newton to the determination of itscause, and consequently to the investigation of the true figure of theearth. The next subject to which Newton applied the principle of gravitywas the tides of the ocean. 

The philosophers of all ages had recognized the connection between thephenomena of the tides and the position of the moon. The College of Jesuitsat Coimbra, and subsequently Antonio de Dominis and Kepler, distinctlyreferred the tides to the attraction of the waters of the earth by themoon; but so imperfect was the explanation which was thus given of thephenomena that Galileo ridiculed the idea of lunar attraction, andsubstituted for it a fallacious explanation of his own. That the moon isthe principal cause of the tides is obvious from the well-known fact thatit is high water at any given place about the time when she is in themeridian of that place; and that the sun performs a secondary part in theirproduction may be proved from the circumstance that the highest tides takeplace when the sun, the moon, and the earth are in the same straight line;that is, when the force of the sun conspires with that of the moon; andthat the lowest tides take place when the lines drawn from the sun and moonto the earth are at right angles to each other; that is, when the force ofthe sun acts in opposition to that of the moon. 

By comparing the spring and neap tides Newton found that the force withwhich the moon acted upon the waters of the earth was to that with whichthe sun acted upon them as 4. 48 to 1; that the force of the moon produceda tide of 8. 63 feet; that of the sun, one of 1. 93 feet; and both of themcombined, one of 10-1/2 French feet, a result which in the open sea doesnot deviate much from observation. Having thus ascertained the force of themoon on the waters of our globe, he found that the quantity of matter inthe moon was to that in the earth as 1 to 40, and the density of the moonto that of the earth as 11 to 9. 

The motions of the moon, so much within the reach of our own observation, presented a fine field for the application of the theory of universalgravitation. The irregularities exhibited in the lunar motions had beenknown in the time of Hipparchus and Ptolemy. Tycho had discovered the greatinequality, called the "variation, " amounting to 37', and depending on thealternate acceleration and retardation of the moon in every quarter ofa revolution, and he had also ascertained the existence of the annualequation. Of these two inequalities Newton gave a most satisfactoryexplanation. 

Although there could be little doubt that the comets were retained in theirorbits by the same laws which regulated the motions of the planets, yetit was difficult to put this opinion to the test of observation. Thevisibility of comets only in a small part of their orbits rendered itdifficult to ascertain their distance and periodic times; and as theirperiods were probably of great length, it was impossible to correctapproximate results by repeated observations. Newton, however, removed thisdifficulty by showing how to determine the orbit of a comet, namely, the form and position of the orbit, and the periodic time, by threeobservations. By applying this method to the comet of 1680 he calculatedthe elements of its orbit, and, from the agreement of the computed placeswith those which were observed, he justly inferred that the motions ofcomets were regulated by the same laws as those of the planetary bodies. This result was one of great importance; for as the comets enter our systemin every possible direction, and at all angles with the ecliptic, and asa great part of their orbits extends far beyond the limits of the solarsystem, it demonstrated the existence of gravity in spaces far removedbeyond the planet, and proved that the law of the inverse ratio of thesquares of the distance was true in every possible direction, and at veryremote distances from the centre of our system. 

Such is a brief view of the leading discoveries which the _Principia_ firstannounced to the world. The grandeur of the subjects of which it treats, the beautiful simplicity of the system which it unfolds, the clear andconcise reasoning by which that system is explained, and the irresistibleevidence by which it is supported might have insured it the warmestadmiration of contemporary mathematicians and the most welcome reception inall the schools of philosophy throughout Europe. This, however, is not theway in which great truths are generally received. Though the astronomicaldiscoveries of Newton were not assailed by the class of ignorant pretenderswho attacked his optical writings, yet they were everywhere resisted by theerrors and prejudices which had taken a deep hold even of the strongestminds. 

The philosophy of Descartes was predominant throughout Europe. Appealing tothe imagination, and not to the reason, of mankind it was quickly receivedinto popular favor, and the same causes which facilitated its introduction, extended its influence and completed its dominion over the human mind. Inexplaining all the movements of the heavenly bodies by a system of vorticesin a fluid medium diffused through the universe Descartes had seized uponan analogy of the most alluring and deceitful kind. Those who had seenheavy bodies revolving in the eddies of a whirlpool or in the gyrationsof a vessel of water thrown into a circular motion had no difficulty inconceiving how the planets might revolve round the sun by an analogousmovement. The mind instantly grasped at an explanation of so palpable acharacter and which required for its development neither the exerciseof patient thought nor the aid of mathematical skill. The talent andperspicuity with which the Cartesian system was expounded, and the show bywhich it was sustained, contributed powerfully to its adoption, whileit derived a still higher sanction from the excellent character and theunaffected piety of its author. 

Thus intrenched, as the Cartesian system was, in the strongholds of thehuman mind, and fortified by its most obstinate prejudices, it was not tobe wondered at that the pure and sublime doctrines of the _Principia_, weredistrustfully received and perseveringly resisted. The uninstructed mindcould not readily admit the idea that the great masses of the planets weresuspended in empty space and retained in their orbits by an invisibleinfluence residing in the sun; and even those philosophers who had beenaccustomed to the rigor of true scientific research, and who possessedsufficient mathematical skill for the examination of the Newtoniandoctrines, viewed them at first as reviving the occult qualities of theancient physics, and resisted their introduction with a pertinacity whichit is not easy to explain. 

Prejudiced, no doubt, in favor of his own metaphysical views, Leibnitzhimself misapprehended the principles of the Newtonian philosophy, andendeavored to demonstrate the truths in the _Principia_ by the applicationof different principles. Huygens, who above all other men was qualifiedto appreciate the new philosophy, rejected the doctrine of gravitation asexisting between the individual particles of matter and received it onlyas an attribute of the planetary masses. John Bernouilli, one of the firstmathematicians of his age, opposed the philosophy of Newton. Mairan, in theearly part of his life, was a strenuous defender of the system of vortices. Cassini and Maraldi were quite ignorant of the _Principia_, and occupiedthemselves with the most absurd methods of calculating the orbits ofcomets long after the Newtonian method had been established on the mostimpregnable foundation; and even Fontenelle, a man of liberal views andextensive information, continued, throughout the whole of his life, tomaintain the doctrines of Descartes. 

The chevalier Louville of Paris had adopted the Newtonian philosophybefore 1720; Gravesande had introduced it into the Dutch universities at asomewhat earlier period; and Maupertuis, in consequence of a visit whichhe paid to England in 1728, became a zealous defender of it; butnotwithstanding these and some other examples that might be quoted, we mustadmit the truth of the remark of Voltaire, that though Newton survived thepublication of the _Principia_ more than forty years, yet at the time ofhis death he had not above twenty followers out of England. 

%MORGAN, THE BUCCANEER, SACKS PANAMA%

A. D. 1671

JOHANN W. VON ARCHENHOLZ

In the seventeenth century appeared "a class of rovers wholly distinct fromany of their predecessors in the annals of the world, differing as widelyin their plans, organizations, and exploits as in the principles thatgoverned their actions. " These adventurers were a piratical gang calledbuccaneers, or sometimes, as in the following narrative, freebooters, whobecame noted for their exploits in the West Indies and on South Americancoasts. 

The nucleus of this association of pirates is traced to bands ofsmugglers--English, French, and Dutch--who carried on a secret trade withthe island of Santo Domingo. Later they settled there and on other islands, and after a while began to prey upon Spanish commerce. In 1630 they madetheir chief head-quarters on the island of Tortuga; in 1655 they aided inthe English conquest of Jamaica, and ten years later settled the Bahamas. All these islands became centres of their activities. 

Most renowned among the leaders of the buccaneers was Sir Henry Morgan, aWelshman, who died in Jamaica in 1688. For years he carried stolen richesto England, and Charles II rewarded him with knighthood. Having pillagedparts of Cuba, he took and ransomed Puerto Bello, in Colombia (1668), andMaracaibo, in Venezuela (1669). In 1670 Morgan gathered a fleet of nearlyforty vessels, and a force of over two thousand men, for the greatest ofthe exploits of the buccaneers, the capture and plunder of the wealthy cityof Panama. 

By the end of the century the buccaneers had become dispersed amongcontending European armies, and little more was heard of them. 

Morgan's plan of capturing Panama was apparently attended with innumerabledifficulties. The chief obstacle was the position of that city on thePacific coast at such a great distance from the Caribbean Sea; and not anindividual on board the fleet was acquainted with the road that led tothe goal. To remedy this inconvenience, Morgan determined, in the firstinstance, to go to the island of St. Catharine, where the Spaniardsconfined their criminals, and thence to supply himself with guides. 

The passage was rapid. Morgan landed in that island one thousand men, who, by threatening to put to death everyone that hesitated for a moment tosurrender, so terrified the Spaniards that they speedily capitulated. Itwas stipulated that, to save at least the honor of the garrison, thereshould be a sham fight. In consequence of this, a very sharp fire ensued, from the forts on one side, and on the other from the ships; but on bothsides the cannons discharged only powder. Further, to give a seriousappearance to this military comedy, the governor suffered himself to betaken, while attempting to pass from Fort Jerome to another fort. At thebeginning the crafty Morgan did not rely too implicitly on this feint; andto provide for every event, he secretly ordered his soldiers to loadtheir fusees with bullets, but to discharge them in the air, unless theyperceived some treachery on the part of the Spaniards. But his enemiesadhered most faithfully to their capitulation; and this mock engagement, inwhich neither party was sparing of powder, was followed for some time withall the circumstances which could give it the semblance of reality. Tenforts surrendered, one after another, after sustaining a kind of siege orassault; and this series of successes did not cost the life of a singleman, nor even a scratch, on the part either of the victors or of theconquered. 

All the inhabitants of the island were shut up in the great fort of SantaTeresa, which was built on a steep rock; and the conquerors, who had nottaken any sustenance for twenty-four hours, declared a most serious waragainst the horned cattle and game of the district. 

In the isle of St. Constantine Morgan found four hundred fifty-ninepersons of both sexes; one hundred ninety of whom were soldiers, forty-twocriminals, eighty-five children, and sixty-six negroes. There were tenforts, containing sixty-eight cannons, which were so defended in otherrespects by nature that very small garrisons were deemed amply sufficientto protect them. Besides an immense quantity of fusees and grenades--whichwere at that time much used--upward of three hundred quintals of gunpowderwere found in the arsenal. The whole of this ammunition was carried onboard the pirate's ships; the cannon, which could be of no service to them, were spiked; their carriages were burned, and all the forts demolishedexcepting one, which the freebooters themselves garrisoned. Morganselected three of the criminals to serve him as guides to Panama. These heafterward, on his return to Jamaica, set at liberty, even giving them ashare in the booty. 

The plan, conceived by this intrepid chieftain, inspired all his companionsin arms with genuine enthusiasm; it had a character of grandeur andaudacity that inflamed their courage; how capable they were of executing itthe subsequent pages will demonstrate. 

Panama, which stood on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, in the ninth degreeof northern latitude, was at that time one of the greatest, as well as mostopulent cities in America. It contained two thousand large houses, thegreater number of which were very fine piles of building, and five thousandsmaller dwellings, each mostly three stories in height. Of these, a prettyconsiderable number were erected of stone, all the rest of cedar-wood, veryelegantly constructed and magnificently furnished. That city was defendedby a rampart and was surrounded with walls. It was the emporium for thesilver of Mexico and the gold of Peru, whence those valuable metals werebrought on the backs of mules--two thousand of which animals were kept forthis purpose only--across the isthmus toward the northern coast of thePacific. A great commerce was also carried on at Panama in negroes; whichtrade was at that time almost exclusively confined to the English, Dutch, French, and Danes. With this branch of commerce the Italians wereintimately acquainted. They gave lessons in it to all the rest of Europe;and, as two things were necessary, in which the Genoese were by no meansdeficient--money and address--they were chiefly occupied in the slavetrade, and supplied the provinces of Peru and Chile with negroes. 

At the period now referred to, the President of Panama was the principalintendant or overseer of the civil department, and captain-general of allthe troops in the viceroyalty of Peru. He had in his dependency PuertoBello and Nata, two cities inhabited by the Spaniards, together with thetowns of Cruces, Panama, Capira, and Veragua. The city of Panama had also abishop, who was a suffragan of the Archbishop of Lima. 

The merchants lived in great opulence; and their churches were decoratedwith uncommon magnificence. The cathedral was erected in the Italianstyle, surmounted with a large cupola, and enriched with gold and silverornaments; as also were the eight convents which this city comprised. Ata small distance from its walls there were some small islands, alikeembellished by art and by nature, where the richest inhabitants had theircountry houses; from which circumstance they were called the "gardens ofPanama. " In short, everything concurred to render this place important andagreeable. Here several of the European nations had palaces for carrying ontheir commerce; and among these were the Genoese, who were held in greatcredit, and who had vast warehouses for receiving the articles of theirimmense trade, as also a most magnificent edifice. The principal houseswere filled with beautiful paintings and the masterpieces of the arts, which had here been accumulated--more from an intense desire of beingsurrounded with all the splendor of luxury--since they possessed the meansof procuring it--than from a refined taste. Their superabundance of goldand silver had been employed in obtaining these splendid superfluities, which were of no value but to gratify the vanity of their possessors. 

Such was Panama in 1670, when the freebooters selected it as the objectof their bold attempt, and as the victim of their extravagancies, andimmortalized their name by reducing it to a heap of ruins. 

In the execution of this design, which stupefied the New World, theydisplayed equal prudence and cruelty. Previous to the adoption of any othermeasure, it was necessary that the pirates should get possession of FortSt. Laurent, which was situated on the banks of the river Chagres. Withthis view, Morgan detached four ships, with four hundred men, under thecommand of the intrepid Brodely, who had happily succeeded in victuallingthe fleet, and who was intimately acquainted with the country. Morgancontinued at the island of St. Catharine with the rest of his forces. 

His plan was to dissemble his vast projects against Panama as long as itwas possible, and to cause the pillage of Fort St. Laurent to be regardedas a common expedition to which he would confine himself. Brodelydischarged his commission with equal courage and success. That castlewas situated on a lofty mountain, at the mouth of the river, and wasinaccessible on almost every side. The first attempts were fruitless; andthe freebooters, who advanced openly, without any other arms than theirfusees and sabres, at first lost many of their comrades; for the Spaniardsnot only made use of all their artillery and musketry against them, butwere also seconded by the Indians that were with them in the fort and whosearrows were far more fatal than the bullets. 

The assailants saw their companions-in-arms fall by their side withoutbeing able to avenge them. The danger of their present situation andthe nature of their arms seemed to render the enterprise altogetherimpracticable. Their courage began to waver, their ranks were thrown intodisorder, and they already thought of retiring, when the provocations ofthe Spaniards inspired them with new vigor. "You heretic dogs, " cried theyin a triumphant tone; "you cursed English, possessed by the devil! Ah, youwill go to Panama, will you? No, no; that you shall not; you shall all bitethe dust here, and all your comrades shall share the same fate. "

From these insulting speeches the pirates learned that the design of theirexpedition was discovered; and from that moment they determined to carrythe fort or die to a man upon the spot. They immediately commenced theassault in defiance of the shower of arrows that were discharged againstthem, and undismayed by the loss of their commander, both of whose legs hadbeen carried away by a cannon-ball. One of the pirates, in whose shoulderan arrow was deeply fixed, tore it out himself, exclaiming: "Patience, comrades, an idea strikes me; all the Spaniards are lost!" He tore somecotton out of his pocket, with which he covered his ramrod, set the cottonon fire, and shot this burning material, in lieu of bullets, at the housesof the fort, which were covered with light wood and the leaves of palmtrees. His companions collected together the arrows which were strewedaround them upon the ground, and employed them in a similar manner. Theeffect of this novel mode of attack was most rapid; many of the housescaught fire; a powder-wagon blew up. The besieged, being thus diverted fromtheir means of defence, thought only of stopping the progress of the fire. Night came on; under cover of the darkness the freebooters attempted alsoto set on fire the palisades, which were made of a kind of wood that waseasily kindled. In this attempt likewise they were crowned with success. The soil, which the palisades supported, fell down for want of support, and filled up the ditch. The Spaniards nevertheless continued to defendthemselves with much courage, being animated by the example of theircommander, who fought till the very moment he received a mortal blow. Thegarrison had, throughout, the use of their cannon, which kept up a mostviolent fire; but the enemy had already made too much progress to bedisconcerted with it; they persevered in their attack, until they at lengthbecame masters of the fort. 

A great number of Spaniards, finding themselves deprived of all resource, precipitated themselves from the top of the walls into the river, thatthey might not fall alive into the hands of the freebooters, who made onlytwenty-four prisoners, and ten of these were wounded men, who had concealedthemselves among the dead, in the hope of escaping their ferociousconquerors. These twenty-four men were all that remained of three hundredforty who had composed the garrison, which had shortly before beenreënforced, for the President of Panama, having been apprised fromCarthagena of the real object of the pirates' expedition, came to encamp, with thirty-six hundred men, in the vicinity of the threatened city. Thisinformation was confirmed to the freebooters after the capture of the fort. At the same time they learned that among this body of troops there werefour hundred horsemen, six hundred Indians, and two hundred mulat-toes; thelast of whom, being very expert in hunting bulls, were intended, in case ofnecessity, to send two thousand of those animals among the freebooters. 

It is scarcely credible that Brodely continued to command, notwithstandingthe severity of his wounds; but he would not, by retiring, compromise theadvantages which he had so dearly purchased; for out of four hundred menwho had composed his little army, one hundred sixty had been killed, eightywounded; and of these eighty, sixty were altogether out of the battle. 

The bodies of the French and English were interred; but those of theSpaniards were thrown down from the top of the fort and remained in a heapat the foot of its walls. Brodely found much ammunition and abundance ofprovisions, with which he was the more satisfied, as he knew that the grandfleet was greatly in want of both those articles. He caused the fort to berebuilt, as far as was practicable, in order that he might defend himselfthere in case the Spaniards should make a speedy attempt to retake it. Inthis situation he waited for Morgan, who in a short time appeared with hisfleet. 

As the pirates approached, they beheld the English flag flying on the fort, and abandoned themselves to the most tumultuous joy and excessive drinking, without dreaming of the dangers occurring at the mouth of the riverChagres, beneath whose waters there was a sunken rock. The coasting pilotsof those latitudes came to their assistance, but their intoxication andtheir impatience would not permit them to attend to the latter. Thisnegligence was attended with most fatal consequences and cost them fourships, one of which was the admiral's vessel. The crews, however, togetherwith their ladings, were saved. This loss greatly affected Morgan, whowas wholly intent upon his vast designs, but who, nevertheless, made hisentrance into St. Laurent, where he left a garrison of five hundred men. Healso detached from his body of troops one hundred fifty men for the purposeof seizing several Spanish vessels that were in the river. 

The remainder of his forces Morgan directed to follow himself. They carriedbut a small supply of provisions, not only that his march might not beimpeded, but also because the means of conveyance were very limited. Besides, he was apprehensive lest he should expose to famine the garrisonhe had left in the fort, which did not abound with provisions, and was cutoff on every side from receiving supplies; and it was likewise necessarythat he should leave sufficient for the support of all the prisoners andslaves, whose number amounted very nearly to one thousand. 

After all these steps had been taken, Morgan briefly addressed hiscomrades, whom he exhorted to arm themselves with courage calculated tosubdue every obstacle, that they might return to Jamaica with an increaseof glory, and riches sufficient to supply all their wants for the rest oftheir lives. At length, on January 18th, he commenced his march towardPanama, with a chosen body of freebooters, who were thirteen hundredstrong. 

The greatest part of their journey was performed by water, following thecourse of the river. Five vessels were laden with the artillery; and thetroops were placed in a very narrow compass on board thirty-two boats. Onereason why they had brought only a small quantity of provisions was becausethey hoped to meet with a supply on their route; but on the very day oftheir arrival at Rio de los Bravos the expectations of the pirates werefrustrated. At the place where they landed they literally found nothing:the terror which they everywhere inspired had preceded them; the Spaniardshad betaken themselves to flight, and had carried with them all theircattle and even the very last article of their movables. They had cut thegrain and pulse without waiting for their maturity, the roots of which wereeven torn out of the ground: the houses and stables were empty. 

The first day of their voyage was spent in abstinence, tobacco affordingthem the only gratification that was not refused them. The second day wasnot more prosperous. In addition to the various impediments by which theirpassage was obstructed, want of rain had rendered the waters of the riververy shallow, and a great number of trees had fallen into it, presentingalmost insurmountable obstacles. On their arrival at the Cruz de JuanGallego, they had no other alternative left but to abandon their boats andpursue their route by land; otherwise, they must have resigned themselvesto the confusion necessarily consequent on retracing their steps. 

Animated, however, by their chieftains, they determined to try theadventure. On the third day their way led them to a forest, where there wasno beaten path, and the soil of which was marshy. But it was indispensablynecessary that they should leave this wretched passage, in order that theymight reach--with incredible difficulties, indeed--the town of Cedro Bueno. For all these excessive fatigues they found no indemnification whatever;there were no provisions, not even a single head of game. 

These luckless adventurers at length saw themselves surrounded by all thehorrors of famine. Many of them were reduced to devour the leaves of trees;the majority were altogether destitute of sustenance. In this state ofsevere privations, and with very light clothing, they passed the nightslying on the shore, benumbed with cold, incapable of enjoying, even in thesmallest degree, the solace of sleep, and expecting with anxiety the returnof day. Their courage was supported only with the hope of meetingsome bodies of Spaniards, or some groups of fugitive inhabitants, andconsequently of finding provisions, with an abundance of which the latternever failed to supply themselves when they abandoned their dwellings. Further, the pirates were obliged to continue their route at a smalldistance only from the river, as they had contrived to drag their canoesalong with them, and, whenever the water was of sufficient depth, partof the men embarked on board them, while the remainder prosecuted theirjourney by land. They were preceded a few hundred paces by an advancedguard of thirty men under the direction of a guide who was intimatelyacquainted with the country; and the strictest silence was observed, inorder that they might discover the ambuscades of the Spaniards, and, if itwere possible, make some of them prisoners. 

On the fourth day the freebooters reached Torna Cavellos, a kind offortified place which also had been evacuated, the Spaniards having carriedaway with them everything that was portable and consumed the rest by fire. Their design was to leave the pirates neither movables nor utensils; infact, this was the only resource left them by which they could reduce thoseformidable guests to such a state of privation as to compel them to retire. The only things which had not been burned or carried off were some largesacks of hides, which were to these freebooters objects of avidity, andwhich had almost occasioned a bloody dispute. Previously to devouring them, it was necessary to cut them into pieces with all possible equity. Thusdivided, the leather was cut into small bits, these were scraped andviolently beaten between two stones. It was then soaked in water, in orderto become soft, after which it was roasted; nor, thus prepared, could ithave been swallowed if they had not taken most copious draughts of water. 

After this repast the freebooters resumed their route, and arrived atTorna-Munni, where also they found an abandoned fortress. On the fifth daythey reached Barbacoas; but still no place presented to their view eitherman, animal, or any kind of provisions whatever. Here likewise theSpaniards had taken the precaution of carrying away or destroyingeverything that could serve for food. Fortunately, however, they discoveredin the hollow of a rock two sacks of flour, some fruit, and two largevessels filled with wine. This discovery would have transported with joy aless numerous troop; but, to so many famished men it presented only veryfeeble resource. Morgan, who did not suffer less from hunger than the rest, generously appropriated none of it to his own use, but caused this scantysupply to be distributed among those who were just ready to faint. Many, indeed, were almost dying. These were conveyed on board the boats, thecharge of which was committed to them; while those who had hitherto had thecare of the vessels, were reunited to the body that was travelling by land. Their march was very slow, both on account of the extreme weakness of thesemen, even after the very moderate refreshment they had just taken, as wellas from the roughness and difficulties of the way; and during the fifth daythe pirates had no other sustenance but the leaves of trees and the grassof the meadows. 

On the following day the freebooters made still less progress; want of foodhad totally exhausted them, and they were frequently obliged to rest. Atlength they reached a plantation, where they found a vast quantity of maizein a granary that had just been abandoned. What a discovery was this to menwhose appetites were sharpened by such long protractions! A great many ofthem devoured the grains in a raw state; the rest covered their shareswith the leaves of the banana-tree, and thus cooked or roasted the maize. Reinvigorated by this food, they pursued their route; and, on the same day, they discovered a troop of Indians on the other side of the river, butthose savages betook themselves to flight, so that it was impossible toreach them. The cruel freebooters fired on them and killed some of them;the rest escaped, exclaiming: "Come, you English dogs, come into themeadow; we will there wait for you. "

To this challenge the pirates were little tempted to answer. Their supplyof maize was exhausted; and they were further obliged to lie down in theopen air without eating anything. Hitherto, in the midst of privations themost severely painful, as well as of the most difficult labors, they hadevinced an inexhaustible patience, but at length violent murmurs arose. Morgan and his rash enterprise became the object of their execrations: agreat number of the freebooters were desirous of returning; but the rest, although discontented, declared that they would rather perish than notterminate an expedition so far advanced and which had cost them so muchtrouble. 

On the following day they crossed the river and directed their march towarda place which they took for a town or, at all events, for a village, where, to their great satisfaction, they thought they perceived at a distance thesmoke issuing from several chimneys. "There, at last, " said they, "we shallsurely find both men and provisions. " Their expectations were completelyfrustrated; not a single individual appeared throughout the place. Theyfound no other articles of sustenance but a leather sack full of bread, together with a few cats and dogs, which were instantly killed anddevoured. The place where they had now arrived was the town of Cruces, atwhich were usually landed those commodities which were conveyed up theriver Chagres, in order to be carried by land to Panama, which was eightFrench leagues distant. Here were some fine warehouses built of stone, andlikewise some stables belonging to the King of Spain, which, at the momentof the pirates' arrival, were the only buildings that remained untouched, all the inhabitants having betaken themselves to flight after they had settheir houses on fire. 

Every corner of these royal buildings was ransacked by the freebooters, whoat length discovered seventeen large vessels full of Peruvian wine, whichwere immediately emptied. Scarcely, however, had they drunk this liquor, which was to recruit their exhausted strength, than they all fell ill. At first they thought the wine was poisoned; they were overwhelmed withconsternation, and were fully persuaded that their last hour was come. Their terrors were unfounded; as their sudden indisposition was easilyaccounted for by the nature of the unwholesome food they had so recentlytaken, by the extreme diminution of their strength, and the avidity withwhich they had swallowed the wine; in fact, they found themselves muchbetter on the following day. 

As Morgan had been reduced to the necessity of removing, at this place, toa distance from all his ships, he was obliged to land all his men, not evenexcepting those who were most exhausted by weakness. The shallops alone, with sixty men, were sent to the spot where his vessels and largest shipshad been left. A single shallop only was reserved to carry news, ifoccasion offered, to the flotilla. Morgan prohibited every man fromgoing alone to any distance; and even required that they should not makeexcursions in troops amounting to less than a hundred men. Famine, however, compelled the freebooters to infringe this prohibition. Six of them wentout to some distance in quest of food; the event justified the foresight oftheir chieftain. They were attacked by a large body of Spaniards, and couldnot without very great difficulty regain the village: they had also themortification to see one of their comrades taken prisoner. 

Morgan now determined to prosecute his march. After reviewing hiscompanions-in-arms he found that they amounted to eleven hundred men. As heforesaw that they were apprehensive lest their lost comrade should betraythe secret of their enterprise and the state of their forces, Morgan madethem believe that he had not been taken; that he had only lost his way inthe woods, but had now returned to the main body. 

The freebooters were on the eighth day of their painful journey, andnothing but the hope of speedily terminating their labors could supportthem much longer, for they had now ascertained that they were on the way toPanama. An advanced guard of two hundred men was therefore formed, whichwas to watch the movements of the enemy. They marched onward for a wholeday without perceiving any living object whatever, when suddenly a showerof three or four thousand arrows was discharged upon them from the top ofa rock. For some minutes they were struck with astonishment; no enemypresented himself to their view. They beheld around them, at their feet, above their heads, nothing but steep rocks, trees, and abysses; and, without striking a single blow, they reckoned twenty of their comradeskilled or wounded. This unexpected attack not being continued, they pursuedtheir march across a forest, where, in a hollow way, they fell upon alarge body of Indians who opposed their progress with much valor. In thisengagement the freebooters were victorious, though they lost eight killedand ten wounded. 

They made every possible effort to catch some of the fugitives, but thesefled away with the velocity of stags across the rocks, with all theturnings and windings of which they were intimately acquainted. Not asingle man fell into their hands; the Indian chieftain was wounded;and, notwithstanding he lay on the ground, he continued to fightmost obstinately until he received a mortal blow. He wore a crown ofparty-colored feathers. His death made a great impression on the Indiansand was the principal cause of their defeat. The ground on which they hadattacked the pirates was so favorable that one hundred men would have beenfully sufficient to have destroyed the whole troop of freebooters. Thelatter availed themselves of the inconceivable negligence of the Spaniardsin not taking more effectual measures for the defence of such an importantpass. They exerted all possible diligence to make their way out of thislabyrinth of rocks, where a second attack of a similar kind would have beenattended with consequences of the most fatal tendency to them, and to getinto an open and level country. 

On the ninth day they found themselves in a plain or spacious meadow, entirely divested of trees, so that nothing could shelter them against theardor of the solar rays. It rained, however, most copiously at themoment of their arrival; and this circumstance added yet more to theirdifficulties. In a short time they were wetted to their skins. In case of asudden attack their arms and ammunition would have afforded them but littleassistance; while the Spaniards would be able most effectively to use theirspears, which could not be damaged by the rain. 

No human means could remedy this inconvenience. The pirates had only toabandon themselves to their fate. Morgan most ardently desired thatsome prisoner might fall into his hands, from whose confessions, eithervoluntary or involuntary, he might obtain some information by which todirect his march. With this intention, fifty men were detached in differentdirections, with a promised reward of three hundred piasters, out of thesociety's stock, to the man who should bring in either a Spaniard or anIndian, exclusive of the share of booty to which he should be entitled. 

About noon they ascended a steep hill, from whose summit they began todiscover the Pacific. At this sight, which announced the speedy terminationof their miseries, they were transported with joy. From the top of thiseminence they also perceived six ships departing from Panama, and sailingtoward the islands of Taroga and Tarogiela, which were situated in thevicinity of that city. Panama itself for the present escaped theirobservation; but how was their satisfaction increased on beholding, in avalley, a vast number of bulls, cows, horses, and particularly of asses, which were under the care of some Spaniards, who betook themselves toflight the moment they saw the formidable pirates approaching? To thelatter no _rencontre_ could be more desirable. They were ready to faintwith famine and fatigue; the sustenance which they immediately devouredwould contribute to give them that strength which every moment would becomeso necessary to them, and it is altogether inconceivable how the Spaniardscould abandon such a prey to their famished enemies. This want of foresightcan only be accounted for by the panic with which the Spaniards wereseized. 

The spot which had just been deserted was occupied for some hours by thefreebooters; they stood in great need of rest, and were in much greaterwant of provisions. They rushed therefore on the animals that had been leftbehind, of which they killed a great number, and devoured their half-rawflesh with such avidity that the blood streamed in torrents from their lipsover the whole of their bodies. What could not be consumed on the spot theycarried away with them, for Morgan, apprehensive of an attack by the flowerof the Spaniards' troops, allowed them only a small space of time forrepose. They resumed their march, but the uncertainty in which they had solong been involved was not yet at an end. 

Notwithstanding all that chieftain's experience, his spies could notsucceed in taking a single prisoner--a circumstance, which seems almostincredible in a populous country--and after nine days' march Morgan wasdeprived of every hint that was so essentially necessary to him. Further, the freebooters were utterly ignorant how near they were to Panama, when, from the summit of a hill, they discovered the towers of that city. Theycould not refrain from shouting for joy. The air reëchoed with the sound oftrumpets and cymbals; they threw up their caps in the air, vociferating, "Victory! victory!" In this place they halted and pitched their camp, withthe firm determination of attacking Panama on the following day. 

At this time the Spaniards were in the utmost confusion. The firstdefensive step which they deemed it advisable to take was to despatchfifty horsemen for the purpose of reconnoitring the enemy. The detachmentapproached the camp within musket-shot and offered some insults to thefreebooters, but speedily returned toward the city, exclaiming, "_Perros, nos veromos!_" ("You dogs, we will see you again!") Shortly after a seconddetachment of two hundred men appeared, who occupied every pass, in orderthat, after the victory--which they considered as infallible--not onesingle pirate might escape. The freebooters, however, beheld with theutmost concern the measures which were adopted in order to block them up, and, previously to every other consideration, turned their attention towardtheir abundant supply of provision. As they were prohibited from kindlingany fire, they devoured the meat they had brought with them _entirely ina raw state_. They could not conceive how the Spaniards could carry theirneglect or their fancied security to such a length as not to disturb thatrepose of which they stood so greatly in need; nor how they could allowthem the necessary leisure for recruiting their exhausted strength and thusbecome the more fit for battle. They availed themselves of this oversightand were perfectly at ease; after they had glutted themselves with animalfood they lay down upon the grass and slept quietly. Throughout the nightthe Spaniards made their artillery roar without intermission, in order todisplay their vigilance. 

On the ensuing day, which was the tenth of their march, January 27, 1671, the pirates advanced at a very early hour, with their military music, andtook the road leading to Panama. By the advice, however, of one of theirguides, they quitted the main road and went out of the way across a thickwood through which there was no footpath. For this the Spaniards wereunprepared, having confined themselves to the erection of batteries andconstruction of redoubts on the highway. They soon perceived the inutilityof this measure and were obliged to relinquish their guns in order tooppose their enemies on the contrary side; but not being able to take theircannons away from their batteries, they were, consequently, incapacitatedfrom making use of one part of their defensive means. 

After two hours' march the freebooters discovered the hostile army, whichwas a very fine one, well equipped, and was advancing in battle array. Thesoldiers were clad in party-colored silk stuffs, and the horsemen wereseated upon their mettlesome steeds as if they were going to a bull-fight. The President in person took the command of this body of troops, whichwas of considerable importance, both for the country and likewise for theforces supported there by Spain. He marched against the pirates with fourregiments of the line consisting of infantry, besides twenty-fourhundred foot-soldiers of another description, four hundred horsemen, andtwenty-four hundred wild bulls under the conduct of several hundred Indiansand negroes. 

This army, which extended over the whole plain, was discovered by thepirates from the summit of a small eminence, and presented to them a mostimposing appearance, insomuch that they were struck with a kind of terror. They now began to feel some anxiety as to the event of an engagement withforces so greatly superior to them in point of numbers, but they were soonconvinced that they must actually conquer or die, and encouraged each otherto fight till the very last drop of their blood was shed; a determinationthis, which, on the part of these intrepid men, was by no means a vainresolution. 

They divided themselves into three bodies, placed two hundred of their bestmarksmen in the front, and marched boldly against the Spaniards, whowere drawn up in order of battle on a very spacious plain. The Governorimmediately ordered the cavalry to charge the enemy, and the wild bulls tobe at the same time let loose upon them. But the ground was unfavorable forthis purpose; the horsemen encountered nothing but marshes, behind whichwere posted the two hundred marksmen, who kept up such a continual andwell-directed fire that horses and men fell in heaps beneath their shotsbefore it was possible to effect a retreat. Fifty horsemen only escapedthis formidable discharge of musketry. 

The bulls, on whose services they had calculated so highly, it becameimpracticable to drive among the pirates. Hence such a confusion arose asto completely reverse the whole plan of the battle. The freebooters, inconsequence, attacked the Spanish infantry with so much the greater vigor. They successively knelt on the ground, fired, and rose up again. Whilethose who were on one knee directed their fire against the hostile army, which began to waver; the pirates, who continued standing, rapidly chargedtheir fire-arms. Every man, on this occasion, evinced a dexterity andpresence of mind which decided the fate of the battle. Almost every shotwas fatal. The Spaniards, nevertheless, continued to defend themselves withmuch valor, which proved of little service against an exasperated enemywhose courage, inflamed by despair, derived additional strength from theirsuccesses. At length the Spaniards had recourse to their last expedient:the wild cattle were let loose upon the rear of the freebooters. 

The buccaneers were in their element: by their shouts they intimidated thebulls, at the same time waving party-colored flags before them; fired onthe animals and laid them all upon the ground, without exception. Theengagement lasted two hours; and notwithstanding the Spaniards were sogreatly superior, both in numbers and in arms, it terminated entirelyin favor of the freebooters. The Spaniards lost the chief part of theircavalry, on which they had built their expectations of victory; theremainder returned to the charge repeatedly, but their efforts only tendedto render their defeat the more complete. A very few horsemen only escaped, together with some few of the infantry who threw down their arms tofacilitate the rapidity of their flight. Six hundred Spaniards lay dead onthe field of battle; besides these, they sustained a very considerable lossin such as were wounded and taken prisoner. 

Among the latter were some Franciscans who had exposed themselves to thegreatest dangers in order that they might animate the combatants and affordthe last consolations of religion to the dying. They were conducted intoMorgan's presence, who instantly pronounced sentence of death upon them. In vain did these hapless priests implore that pity which they might haveexpected from a less ferocious enemy. They were all killed by pistol-shots. Many Spaniards who were apprehensive lest they should be overtaken in theirflight had concealed themselves in the flags and rushes along the banksof the river. They were mostly discovered and hacked to pieces by themerciless pirates. 

The freebooters' task, however, was by no means completed. They had yet totake Panama, a large and populous city, which was defended by forts andbatteries, and into which the Governor had retired, together with thefugitives. The conquest of this place was the more difficult, as thepirates had dearly purchased their victory, and their remaining forces werein no respect adequate to encounter the difficulties attending such anenterprise. It was, however, determined to make an attempt. Morgan had justprocured from a wounded captive Spanish officer the necessary information;but he had not a moment to lose. It would not do to allow the Spaniardstime to adopt new measures of defence; the city was therefore assaulted onthe same day, in defiance of a formidable artillery which wrought greathavoc among the freebooters; and at the end of three hours they were inpossession of Panama. 

The capture of that city was followed by a general pillage. Morgan, whodreaded the consequence of excessive intoxication--especially after his menhad suffered such a long abstinence--prohibited them from drinking anywine under the severest penalties. He foresaw that such a prohibition wouldinfallibly be infringed, unless it were sanctioned by an argument farmore powerful than the fear of punishment. He therefore caused it to beannounced that he had received information that the Spaniards had poisonedall their wine. This dexterous falsehood produced the desired effect, andfor the first time the freebooters were temperate. 

The majority of the inhabitants of Panama had betaken themselves to flight. They had embarked their women, their riches, all their movables that wereof any value and small in bulk, and had sent this valuable cargo tothe island of Taroga. The men were dispersed over the country, but insufficiently great numbers to appear formidable to the pirates, whoseforces were much diminished, and who could not expect any assistance fromabroad. They therefore continued constantly together, and for their greatersecurity, most of them encamped without the walls. 

We have now reached the time when Morgan committed a barbarous andincomprehensible action, concerning which his comrades--some of whom werehis historians--have given only a very ambiguous explanation. 

Notwithstanding that all the precious articles had been carried away fromPanama, there still remained--as in every great European trading city--avast number of shops, warehouses, and magazines filled with every kind ofmerchandise. Besides a very great quantity of wrought and manufacturedarticles, the productions of luxury and industry, that city containedimmense stores of flour, wine, and spices; vast magazines of that metalwhich is justly deemed the most valuable of all because it is the mostuseful: extensive buildings, in which were accumulated prodigious stores ofiron tools and implements, anvils and ploughs which had been received fromEurope and were destined to revive the Spanish colonies. Some judgment maybe formed respecting the value of the last-mentioned articles only when itis considered that a quintal (one hundredweight) of iron was sold at Panamafor thirty-two piasters (about thirty-three dollars). 

All these multifarious articles, so essentially necessary for furnishingcolonists with the means of subsistence, were, it should seem, of no valuein the estimation of the ferocious Morgan because he could not carry themaway; although, by preserving them, he might have made use of them bydemanding a specific ransom for them. Circumstances might also enable himto derive some further advantages from them, but, in fact, whatever wasdistant or uncertain presented no attraction to this barbarian, who waseager to enjoy, but more ardent to destroy. 

He was struck by one consideration only. All these bulky productions ofart and industry were for the moment of no use to the freebooters. Of whatimportance to him was the ruin of many thousand innocent families? Heconsulted only the ferocity of his character, and without communicating hisdesign to any individual he secretly caused the city to be set on firein several places. In a few hours it was almost entirely consumed. TheSpaniards that had remained in Panama--as well as the pirates themselves, who were at first ignorant whence the conflagration proceeded--ran togetherand united their efforts in order to extinguish the flames. They broughtwater, and pulled down houses, with a view to prevent the further progressof that destructive element. All their exertions were fruitless. A violentwind was blowing, and, in addition to this circumstance, the principal partof the buildings in that city were constructed of wood. Its finest houses, together with their valuable furniture, among which was the magnificentpalace belonging to the Genoese, the churches, convents, courthouse, shops, hospitals, pious foundations, warehouses loaded with sacks of flour, nearlytwo hundred other warehouses filled with merchandise--all were reduced toashes! The fire also consumed a great number of animals, horses, mules, andmany slaves who had concealed themselves and who were burned alive. A veryfew houses only escaped the fire, which continued burning upward of fourweeks. Amid the havoc produced in every quarter by the conflagration, thefreebooters did not neglect to pillage as much as they possibly could, bywhich means they collected a considerable booty. 

Morgan seemed ashamed of his atrocious act; he carefully concealed that hehad ever executed it, and gave out that the Spaniards themselves had settheir city on fire. 

%STRUGGLE OF THE DUTCH AGAINST FRANCE AND ENGLAND%

A. D. 1672

C. M. DAVIES

Seldom has any people held out so heroically against overwhelming numbersas did the Dutch in 1672. Of the various wars during the reign of LouisXIV, that which he carried on against Holland was one of the mostimportant. By its settlement, at the Peace of Nimwegen (1678-1679), thelong hostilities between France and Holland and their allies were broughtto a close, and Holland was once more saved from threatened destruction. 

Louis, having invaded the Spanish Netherlands, had reluctantly consented tothe Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), by which he retained a small part ofthe Low Countries. By insisting on this treaty Holland gave deep offenceto the French monarch, who in 1672 began a war of revenge against theNetherlands, where his schemes of large acquisition had been thwarted. Hisfirst attempt was to isolate Holland, and having purchased the King ofSweden, he bribed Charles II of England, uncle of William of Orange, toenter into a secret treaty against the Netherlands. 

The principal events of the war are narrated by Davies, who shows how theold spirit of the Dutch returned to them in this supreme hour of new perilto their liberties. 

The Dutch, though, in defence of their religion and liberties, they hadbeaten the first soldiers in the world, were never essentially a militarynation; and in 1672 a long interval of peace, and devotion to the pursuitsof commerce, had rendered them quite unfit for warlike enterprises. Thearmy was entirely disorganized; the officers, appointed by the magistratesof the towns on the score of relationship or party adherence, withoutthe slightest regard to their efficiency, were suffered, without fear ofpunishment, to keep the numbers of their regiments incomplete, in orderthat they might appropriate the pay of the vacancies; while the men, independent and undisciplined, were allowed to spend their time in thepursuit of some gainful trade or peaceful occupation, instead of practisingmilitary exercises. The disputes concerning the appointment of acaptain-general had impeded any fresh levies, the recruits refusing to takethe oath to the States except in conjunction with the Prince of Orange, andhad induced many of the best and most experienced officers to take servicein the French army; the fortifications of the towns were in a dilapidatedcondition, and no measures had been adopted for the security of thefrontier. 

Such was the state to which party spirit had reduced a nation filled withbrave, intelligent, and virtuous inhabitants, and governed by statesmen asable and wise as the world ever saw, when the two most powerful sovereignsof Europe declared war against her. The manifests were both issued on thesame day. That of the King of England is strongly marked by the duplicitywhich was the distinguishing characteristic both of himself and of hiscourt as then constituted. From the style of the document one might be ledto suppose that he was forced into the war with extreme reluctance andregret, and only in consequence of the impossibility of obtaining redressby any other means for the deep injuries he had sustained. He declaredthat, so far back as the year 1664, his Parliament had complained of thewrongs and oppressions exercised by the Dutch on his subjects in the EastIndies, and for which they had refused to make reparation by amicablemeans. 

They had openly refused him the honor of the flag, one of the most ancientprerogatives of his crown; had sought to invite the King of France tohostilities against him; and had insulted his person and dignity by theabusive pictures and medals exposed in all their towns. This expression wasunderstood to allude to a medal complained of three years before, and toa portrait of Cornelius de Witt, in the perspective of which was arepresentation of the burning of Chatham. Cornelius de Witt being anex-burgomaster of Dordrecht, the council of that town had, with anatural pride, caused this picture to be painted and hung up in thecouncil-chamber. The extreme sensitiveness manifested by Charles on thispoint appeared to the States rather superfluous in a monarch whose ownkingdom teemed with the most offensive truths relative to himself and hisgovernment. 

As if determined that the mode of commencing hostilities should be aslawless and unjust as the war itself, the court of England, several daysbefore the declaration was issued, had commanded Sir Robert Holmes toattack the Dutch Smyrna fleet on its return. While cruising near the Isleof Wight, Holmes met the admiral, Sprague, by whom he was informed of thenear approach of the vessels; but, anxious to secure to himself the wholeof the booty, estimated at near a million and a half of guilders, hesuffered Sprague to sail away in ignorance of his instructions, and leavinghim with no more than nine frigates and three yachts. His covetousness, happily, proved the salvation of the fleet. After a short encounter of twodays' duration, Holmes was forced to retire, having captured no more thanthree or four of the more inconsiderable ships, while the remainder gainedtheir harbors in safety. 

The King of France appeared, by the tenor of his declaration of war, toimagine that his power and dignity entitled him to set at naught alike thenatural rights of mankind and the law of nations; it resembled, indeed, rather the threat of a predatory incursion on the part of a barbarian chiefthan the justification of the taking up of arms by a civilized government. Without adducing a single cause of complaint, he satisfied himself withdeclaring that the conduct of the States had been such as it was notconsistent with his glory to endure any longer. 

If anything, indeed, could justify the arrogant tone assumed by Louis, thecircumstances in which he found himself would have done so. An army of onehundred twenty thousand, able and well-equipped troops, commanded by Condéand Turenne, and numbering in its ranks volunteers of the noblest familiesin France eager to distinguish themselves under the eye of their sovereign;funds lavishly supplied by the able minister of finance, Colbert; with vastmagazines of ammunition and every other necessary collected, and winterquarters secured in the neighboring and friendly territories of Cologne andMuenster, seemed means almost absurdly disproportioned in magnitude to theend to be attained. At the same time he was but too well informed of thedefenceless condition of the enemy. Jan de Witt and the States conceivedthat his first attempt would be upon Maestricht, the possession of which hewas known to have long coveted, and that the difficulties of its conquestwould be sufficient to deter from further enterprise a monarch of whosemilitary prowess no very high idea was entertained, and who was supposed tobe far more enamoured of the pomp and circumstance of war than of its toilsand dangers. They accordingly fortified and provided Maestricht withthe utmost care, leaving the frontier towns on the Rhine in an utterlyinefficient state of defence. Aware of this fact, Louis commenced hisoperations on the side of Cleves, and, separating his army into fourdivisions, laid siege simultaneously to as many places. He himself summonedthe town of Rhynberg, the Duke of Orleans sat down before Orsay, Condé wascommanded to reduce Wesel, and Turenne, Burick. All surrendered within aweek. To give an account of the capture of the towns which followed, wouldbe but to heap example upon example of cowardice or treachery, or--as theyare generally found together--both. 

Nothing less than entire unanimity and the most undaunted resolution couldhave enabled the Dutch to resist the overwhelming force employed againstthem; whereas, the miserable effect of the internal dissensions of therepublic had been to destroy for the time all mutual confidence. In someplaces the garrisons, despising their incapable commanders, refused to act;or the governors, mistrustful of their undisciplined troops, lost all hopeof prolonging a defence; in others, the detestation entertained by themagistrates toward the Orange party was so great that, preferring to submitto France rather than to a native stadtholder, they hastened to deliver uptheir towns to the invader; on the other hand, the friends of the houseof Orange looked not without some complacency on the misfortunes whichthreatened the state, and which they hoped would reduce it to the necessityof raising the Prince to the dignities of his family; while in those placeswhere the Catholics were numerous, the populace, under the guidance of thepriests, forced both garrisons and governments to open their gates to thesovereign whom they hailed as the restorer of their religion. With scarcelya show of opposition, therefore, Louis advanced to the Rhine. 

The drought of the summer was so excessive that this river had becomefordable in three places, which, being pointed out to the French by somepeasants of Guelderland, the King determined on attempting the passagebetween Schenkenschans and Arnhem, near the Tollhuys, a village and towerabout two miles distant from the separation of the branch of the rivercalled the Wahal. The Prince of Orange, who was stationed with abouttwenty-two thousand men at Arnhem, and along the banks of the Yssel, instead of concentrating his forces to oppose the passage of the enemy, contented himself with detaching De Montbas to guard the Betuwe, and tothrow succors if requisite into Nimwegen. But this general, deeming thetroops placed under his command insufficient for the purpose required, abandoned his post. He was arrested and sent to Utrecht, but afterwardallowed to escape. Immediately on the retreat of Montbas the Princedespatched General Wurtz, but still with a vastly inadequate force, tooccupy the post at the Tollhuys. The French cuirassiers, led on by theCounts de Guiche and Revel, first waded into the ford under the fire ofthe artillery from the tower, which, however, as there were no more thanseventeen men stationed in it, was not very formidable. They were followedby a number of volunteers, and in a short time the whole of the cavalrypassed over with trifling loss. The Dutch troops, discouraged as well bythe unexpectedness of the attempt as by their own inferiority in number, were driven back after a short skirmish. A bridge was then thrown acrossthe river for the infantry, and thus this famous passage was accomplishedwith comparative ease and safety. 

As the position of the Prince of Orange on the Yssel, which in consequenceof the drought was fordable throughout nearly the whole of its course, wasnow no longer tenable, he retired to Utrecht, abandoning Arnhem to theenemy, who soon after received the submission of Nimwegen and the whole ofGuelderland, Thiel, and the Bommel. In order to put Utrecht into a state ofdefence, the Prince considered it necessary to burn down all the suburbs;a measure which, when he proposed to the States of the Province, he foundthem reluctant to comply with. He therefore immediately quitted that city, and with the whole of his forces made a further retreat into Holland. Thusleft wholly unprotected, the States of Utrecht conceived that the onlyresource which remained to them was to mollify the conqueror by a speedysubmission; and accordingly, while Louis was yet at Doesburg, they sentdeputies to tender to him the keys of the city and the submission of thewhole province. The King shortly after entered Utrecht in triumph. 

While the good-fortune, rather than the arms, of Louis subdued Guelderlandand Utrecht, his allies, the Bishops of Cologne and Muenster, found no morevigorous resistance in Overyssel. Oldenzeel, Entschede, and other smalltowns yielded at once to their summons; Deventer, though well garrisonedand amply provided, was surrendered at once by the municipal government, who, by their exhortations and example, induced that of Zwol to adopt alike disgraceful course of conduct. The easily acquired spoil was dividedamong the captors; the King of France, who had furnished a subsidy oftroops, placed garrisons in Campen and Elburg; the Archbishop of Cologneretained Deventer; Groll and Breevoort being allotted to the Bishop ofMuenster, while Zwol was held in common. The troops of these warlikeprelates exercised everywhere unbounded license and cruelties. Numbersof unhappy families were driven from their homes, and, taking refuge inHolland, added to the consternation which prevailed there. 

This province was now in imminent danger. No barrier remained, as itappeared, to oppose the progress of the enemy; the army of the Prince haddwindled to about thirteen thousand men; two of the frontier towns, Woerdenand Oudewater, had solicited safeguards from the invaders; and Naarden wassurprised by the Count of Rochefort. Had he marched on at once to Muyden hemight have occupied that town also, a post of immense importance fromits situation, as ships going to Amsterdam must come within reach of itscannon; and by means of a sluice there, the surrounding country may atany time be inundated. It had been left destitute of a garrison; but, theFrench commander remaining two or three days inactive at Naarden, time wasafforded to John Maurice of Nassau to enter Muyden with a strong body oftroops, and the chance thus lost was gone forever. 

Amazed at the rapid advances of the invader, and dispirited by the symptomsof daily increasing aversion which the great body of the people manifestedto his government, the courage of Jan de Witt at this crisis so entirelyforsook him that he took upon himself the disgrace of being the first topropose to the States of Holland that they should implore mercy from theconqueror. The resolution was immediately adopted, and by them proposed tothe States-General, where it was passed with the dissentient voice onlyof Zealand, who was of opinion that they should treat simultaneously withEngland, from whence that province had to apprehend the principal danger. Adeputation was accordingly sent to Louis, at Keppel, near Doesburg, headedby De Groot, and commissioned to inquire upon what terms his majesty wasinclined to grant peace to the republic. They were answered by Louvois, that the King was not disposed to restore any of the conquests he had madeor to enter into any negotiation unless the deputies were furnished withfull powers and instructions as to what the States intended to offer. Returning to The Hague, De Groot made his report to the States of Holland, and, representing the desperate condition of their affairs, recommendedthat Louis should be gratified with Maestricht and all the other towns ofthe generality; and that a sum should be offered him to defray the expensesof the war, provided the King would leave them in possession of theirliberty and sovereignty. Leyden, Haarlem, and most of the other townsfollowed the example of the nobles in receiving these pusillanimouscounsels with approbation. 

Amsterdam, however, proved that the spirit of the "Gueux" was not yetutterly extinct in Holland. Prevailing with four towns of North Holland tofollow their example, the Council of Amsterdam refused to send deputies todebate upon the question of granting full powers to the ambassadors, andmade vigorous preparations for the defence of their city. They repairedthe fortifications, and strengthened them with considerable outworks, themagistrates themselves being the first to sacrifice their magnificentcountry houses in the suburbs for this purpose; they assigned to each ofthe regiments of burgher guards, who were ten thousand in number, a portionof the city to watch; took into their pay as soldiers all those inhabitantswhom the cessation of trade would throw out of employment; stationedoutlyers in the Y, Amstel, Zuyder Zee, and Pampus, and, cutting the dikes, laid the country to a great distance round under water. They likewisepassed a resolution that, though all the rest of Holland should make termswith the conqueror, they would sustain the siege single-handed till somefriendly power should afford them assistance. 

The causes which combined to expose the United Provinces to these terribledisasters by land had, happily, no influence on their affairs by sea. Thefleet, commanded by De Ruyter, an officer surpassed by none of any ageor nation in ability and courage, and of devoted fidelity to the presentgovernment, had been increased to ninety-one ships and frigates of war, fifty-four fire-ships, and twenty-three yachts. That of the allies, commanded by the Duke of York, comprised after the junction of the Frenchsquadron under the Count d'Etrées, one hundred forty-nine ships-of-war, besides the smaller vessels. Sailing in quest of the enemy, De Ruyterdiscovered them lying in Solebay, evidently unprepared for his approach. Onthis occasion was felt the disadvantage of intrusting an officer with thechief command without at the same time giving him sufficient authority toinsure its beneficial exercise. In consequence of the presence on board ofCornelius de Witt, the deputy of the States, De Ruyter, instead of orderingan immediate attack, was obliged to call a council of war, and thus gavethe English time to arrange themselves in order of battle, which they didwith astonishing celerity. 

The Dutch advanced in three squadrons, nearly in a line with each other;the Admiral Bankert on the left to the attack of the French; Van Gend onthe right, with the purpose of engaging the blue squadron commanded byMontague, Earl of Sandwich; while De Ruyter in the middle directed hiscourse toward the red flag of the English, and, pointing with his finger tothe Duke of York's vessel, said to his pilot, "There is our man. " The pilotinstantly steered the ship right down upon that of the Duke, and a terrificbroadside was returned with equal fury. After two hours' incessant firing, the English admiral retreated, his ship being so damaged that he wasobliged to transfer his flag on board the London. At the same time Braakel, a captain who had signalized himself in the burning of Chatham, with avessel of sixty-two guns, attacked the Royal James, of one hundred fourguns, the ship of the Earl of Sandwich, which he boarded and fired. Montague, refusing to surrender, was drowned in the attempt to escape in aboat. On the other hand, Van Gend, the admiral of the squadron engaged withthe Earl's, was killed in the beginning of the action. The contest wasmaintained with the daring and steady valor characteristic of both nations, from seven in the morning until nightfall. The French had receivedinstructions to keep aloof from the fight, and allow the two fleets todestroy each other; and these they took care to carry out to the full. Thus, the only assistance they afforded to the English was to preventthe Dutch squadron engaged in watching their movements from acting, anadvantage more than counterbalanced by the discouragement their behavioroccasioned among their allies. 

Though both parties claimed the victory, it undoubtedly inclined in favorof the Dutch, who sustained a loss somewhat inferior to that of theirantagonists, and had the satisfaction, moreover, of preventing a descentupon Zealand by the combined fleets, which was to have been the immediateconsequence of a defeat. This was, however, attempted about a month after, when the disasters attending the arms of the States by land, having inducedthem to diminish the number of their ships, De Ruyter received commands toremain in the ports and avoid an engagement. The whole of the English fleetappeared in the Texel provided with small craft for the purpose of landing. But, by a singular coincidence, it happened that, on the very day fixed forthe attempt, the water continued, from some unknown cause, so low as torender it impossible for the vessels to approach the shore, and to impressthe people with the idea that the ebb of the tide lasted for the space oftwelve hours. Immediately after, a violent storm arose, which drove theenemy entirely away from the coasts. 

The internal condition of the United Provinces was at this time such as toincite the combined monarchs, no less than their own successes, to treatthem with insolence and oppression. They beheld the inhabitants, instead ofuniting with one generous sentiment of patriotism in a firm and strenuousdefence of their fatherland, torn by dissensions, and turning against eachother the rage which should have been directed against their enemies. Thedivisions in every province and town were daily becoming wider and moreembittered. Though both parties had merited an equal share of blame for thepresent miscarriages, the people imputed them exclusively to the governmentof Jan de Witt and his adherents; who, they said, had betrayed and sold thecountry to France; and this accusation to which their late pusillanimouscounsels gave but too strong a color of plausibility, the heads of theOrange party, though well aware of its untruth, diligently sustained andpropagated. The ministers of the Church, always influential and always onthe alert, made the pulpits resound with declamations against the treacheryand incapacity of the present government as the cause of all the evilsunder which they groaned; and emphatically pointed to the elevation of thePrince of Orange to the dignities of his ancestors as the sole remedy nowleft them. To this measure De Witt and his brother were now regarded as theonly obstacles; and, so perverted had the state of public feeling becomethat the most atrocious crimes began to be looked upon as meritoriousactions, provided only they tended to the desired object of removing theseobnoxious ministers. 

On one occasion, Jan de Witt, having been employed at the Chamber of theStates to a late hour of the night, was returning home attended by a singleservant, according to his custom, when he was attacked by four assassins. He defended himself for a considerable time, till having received somesevere wounds he fell, and his assailants decamped, leaving him for dead. One only, James van der Graaf, was arrested; the other three took refuge inthe camp, where, though the States of Holland earnestly enjoined the Princeof Orange and the other generals to use diligent means for their discovery, they remained unmolested till the danger was passed. Van der Graaf wastried and condemned to death. The pensionary was strongly solicited byhis friends to gratify the people by interceding for the pardon of thecriminals; but he resolutely refused to adopt any such mode of gainingpopularity. Impunity, he said, would but increase the number and boldnessof such miscreants; nor would he attempt to appease the causeless hatred ofthe people against him by an act which he considered would tend to endangerthe life of every member of the Government. The determination, howeverjust, was imprudent. The criminal, an account of whose last moments waspublished by the minister who attended him, was regarded by the populace asa victim to the vengeance of Jan de Witt, and a martyr to the good of hiscountry. On the same day a similar attempt was made on the life of hisbrother, Cornelius de Witt, at Dordrecht, by a like number of assassins, who endeavored to force their way into his house, but were prevented by theinterference of a detachment of the burgher guard. 

Cornelius had already, on his return from the fleet in consequence ofimpaired health, been greeted with the spectacle of his picture, which hadgiven such umbrage to the King of England, cut into strips and stuck aboutthe town, with the head hanging upon the gallows. These symptoms of tumultrapidly increased in violence. A mob assembling, with loud cries of"_Oranje boven! de Witten onder_!" ("Long live the Prince of Orange! downwith the De Witts!") surrounded the houses of the members of the council, whom they forced to send for the Prince, and to pass an act, repealing the"Perpetual Edict, " declaring him stadtholder, and releasing him from theoath he had taken not to accept that office while he was captain-general. Having been signed by all the other members of the council, this act wascarried to the house of Cornelius de Witt, who was confined to his bedby sickness, the populace at the same time surrounding the house andthreatening him with death in case of refusal. He long resisted, observingthat he had too many balls falling around him lately to fear death, whichhe would rather suffer than sign that paper; but the prayers and tears ofhis wife and her threats, that if he delayed compliance she would throwherself and her children among the infuriated populace, in the end overcamehis resolution. He added to his signature the letters V. C. _(vi coactus_), but the people, informed by a minister of their purport, obliged him toerase them. 

Similar commotions broke out at Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leyden, Amsterdam, andin other towns, both of Holland and Zealand, where the populace constrainedthe magistrates by menace and violence to the repeal of the edict. Reluctant to have such a measure forced upon them by tumult and sedition, the States of Holland and Zealand now unanimously passed an act revokingthe Perpetual Edict, and conferring on the Prince of Orange the dignity ofstadtholder, captain, and admiral-general of these provinces. 

Soon afterward Cornelius de Witt was thrown into prison and put to thetorture on a false charge of planning the assassination of the Prince ofOrange. Jan de Witt visited his brother in his agony, and a mob, burstinginto the jail, seized upon both brothers as traitors and murdered them withhorrid brutality. 

From this time the authority of William became almost uncontrolled in theUnited Provinces. Most of the leaders of the Louvestein party, eitherconvinced of the necessity of his elevation to power in the presentemergency or unwilling to encounter the vexation of a fruitless opposition, acquiesced in the present state of things; many were afterward employed byhim, and distinguished themselves by fidelity and zeal in his service. Theconstant coöperation and participation in his views also of the pensionary, Fagel, gave him an advantage which none of his predecessors had everenjoyed; the influence of the pensionaries of Holland having hitherto beenalways opposed, and forming a counterpoise, to that of the stadtholder. 

Unquestionably the Dutch, while thus parting with their liberties, reapedin some degree the benefits usually attendant on such a sacrifice, inthe increased firmness and activity of a government conducted by a soleresponsible head. At the time of the embassy of Peter de Groot to solicitpeace from the King of France, the Prince had so far partaken of thegeneral dejection as to ask permission of the States to nominate a deputyto treat of his particular interests; but no sooner was he createdstadtholder than he began to adopt bolder and more spirited resolutionsfor the safety of a country to which he felt himself attached by new andstronger ties. Being invited by the Assembly of the States to give hisopinion on the terms offered by the allied monarchs, he declared that theiracceptance would entail upon them certain ruin, and that the very listeningto such was pernicious in the highest degree to affairs, as tending todisunite and dispirit the people. 

He encouraged them to hope for speedy assistance from his allies; pointedout the resources which yet existed for the support of the war; andpersuaded them rather to resolve, if they were driven to extremity, toembark on board their vessels and found a new nation in the East Indies, than accept the conditions. At the same time he spurned with indignationthe flattering proposals made him both by the Kings of France and England;for--so singularly are men appointed to work out their own destiny--thesemonarchs now vied with each other, and were in fact principallyinstrumental, in exalting the power and dignity of a prince who ere longwas to hurl the brother of the one from the throne of his ancestors, andprepare for the other an old age of vexation and disgrace, if not to laythe first foundation of the ruin of his kingdom in the next century. 

Louis, upon the appointment of the Prince to the office of stadtholder, wasliberal in offers of honor and advantages to his person and family, andamong the rest was one which he considered could scarcely fail of itseffect; that, namely, of making him sovereign of the provinces under theprotection of France and England. William, however, was found whollyimmovable on this point, declaring that he would rather retire to hislands in Germany, and spend his life in hunting, than sell his country andliberty to France. Nor were the dispiriting representations made by theEnglish ambassadors, that Holland was utterly lost unless he consented tothe terms proposed, at all more influential; "I have thought of a means, "he replied, "to avoid beholding the ruin of my country--to die in the lastditch. "

Neither, indeed, was the state of the country, though sufficientlydeplorable, such as to leave him no choice but to become the vassal of herhaughty enemies. The progress of the invader in Holland was effectuallyarrested by the state of defence into which that province had been put. Imitating the noble example set them by Amsterdam, the other towns readilyopened the sluices of the Lek, Meuse, Yssel, and Vecht, inundating by thatmeans the whole of the intervening tracts of land. 

The Dutch army was stationed at the five principal posts of the provinces;Prince Maurice John being placed at Muyden and Weesp; Field MarshalWurtz at Gorcum; the Count of Horn at the Goejanverwellen Sluys;another detachment occupied Woerden; and the Prince himself took up hishead-quarters at Bodergrave and Nieuwerburg. 

At length, finding his army increased by the addition of subsidies fromSpain to twenty-four thousand men, William determined to infuse new vigorinto the public mind by the commencement of offensive hostilities. Hefirst formed the design of surprising Naarden and Woerden, both of whichattempts, however, proved unsuccessful. He then marched toward Maestricht, captured and demolished the fort of Valckenburg, by which that town wasstraitened, and, with the view of diverting the force of the enemyby carrying the war into his own territory, advanced to the siege ofCharleroi. But the middle of winter having already arrived before hecommenced the enterprise, he was soon after compelled, by the severityof the weather, to abandon it and retire to Holland, which, during hisabsence, had, from the same cause, been exposed to imminent danger. 

The Duke of Luxemburg, who had been left in command of the forces inUtrecht on the departure of the King of France, for Paris, finding that theice with which the land-water was covered, was sufficiently strong to bearthe passage of cavalry, marched with a strong body of troops to Zwammerdam, and thence to Bodergrave, both of which were abandoned. The purpose of theFrench commander was to advance directly upon The Hague, and to force theStates to acknowledge the sovereignty of the King of France; a measurewhich would, he conceived, involve the immediate submission of the wholeof the provinces. But, happily, his project was defeated by a sudden thaw, which obliged him to return to Utrecht; and had it not been that the fortof Nieuwerburg, situated on the dike, which afforded the only passagethither, was deserted by the commander, _Pain-et-Vin_, his retreat musthave been cut off, and his army exposed to almost certain destruction. Before his departure, Luxemburg revenged himself on the luckless villageshe had captured, which he pillaged and burned to the ground. [1] Pain-et-Vinwas afterward tried for breach of duty and executed. 

[Footnote 1: The accounts given by the Dutch historians of the revoltingoutrages and barbarities exercised by the invaders on this expedition arestrenuously denied by the writers on the French side; their conduct inUtrecht, however, which we shall have occasion hereafter to notice, affordsbut too ample evidence that there was some truth in the accusations. On theother hand, that the Dutch authors are guilty of exaggeration may be easilybelieved, since one of them gravely puts into the mouth of the Duke ofLuxemburg the following address to his soldiers: "Go, my children, plunder, murder, destroy, and if it be possible to commit yet greater cruelties, benot negligent therein, that I may see I am not deceived in my choice of theflower of the king's troops. "]

Though it might well have been feared that the failure of all theenterprises of the Prince of Orange would have renewed the discontentslately prevalent in the United Provinces, such an effect was in no degreeproduced. The very boldness of the designs, it seemed, had been the causeof their ill-success, and argued a zeal and activity for the public goodwhich inspired unbounded confidence in his future measures. The appearanceof renovated vigor in the United Provinces, moreover, encouragedsurrounding states to make some demonstrations in their favor. They hadwished to see them humbled, but not destroyed. The Emperor and princes ofGermany, in especial, contemplated with dread the prospect of exchangingthe neighborhood of the inoffensive and industrious people, who rarelyappeared to them in any other light than as the dispensers of abundance, wealth, and luxury, for that of an ambitious and unscrupulous monarch, whose glory was in destruction, and from whose encroachments theirboundaries would be for not one moment safe. 

Though deeply imbued with these sentiments, the Elector of Brandenburg hadhitherto been deterred from lending them any assistance, lest, should theybe forced to make a peace with the King of France, the whole power andvengeance of that monarch might be directed against himself. He now inducedthe Emperor Leopold to enter into an alliance with him, by virtue of whichhe levied a force of twenty-four thousand men, to be joined with an equalnumber furnished by himself, for the purpose of opposing the advances ofLouis. Though the secret treaty which the Emperor had made with France, binding himself not to afford aid to any member of the Triple Alliance, and of which the Elector was in ignorance, limited the employment of theimperial army strictly to the protection of the empire, and consequentlyprevented it from marching at once to the support of the provinces, itsmovement was of considerable advantage to their affairs, in calling offTurenne from Bois-le-Duc, to which he had laid siege, to the defence of theplaces on the Rhine. The Bishops of Muenster and Cologne, also, whom thebrave defence of the garrison of Groningen had forced to raise the siege, were under the necessity of abandoning both that province and Guelderland, and hastening to the protection of their own territories. 

Among the benefits which the Dutch anticipated with the utmost confidenceas the consequence of the elevation of the Prince of Orange to his paternaldignities was the appeasing the hostility of his uncle, the King ofEngland. In this, however, they were wholly deceived. On the meeting ofParliament in this year, the chancellor, Shaftesbury, addressed the twoHouses in a strain of hostile feeling to the Dutch nation, more bitter thanthe court as yet ventured to express. He represented that, "besides thepersonal indignities in the way of pictures, medals, and other publicaffronts which the King received from the States, they came at last tosuch a height of insolence as to deny him the honor of the flag, though anundoubted jewel of the crown, and disputed the King's title to it in allthe courts of Europe, making great offers to the French King if he wouldstand by them in this particular. 

"But both kings, knowing their own interest, resolved to join against them, who were the common enemies of all monarchies, but especially the English, their only competitor in commerce and naval power, and the chief obstacleto their attainment of the dominion they aimed at, a dominion as universalas that of Rome; and so intoxicated were they with that vast ambition thatunder all their present distress and danger they haughtily rejected everyoverture for a treaty or a cessation of arms; that the war was a just andnecessary measure, advised by the Parliament itself from the convictionthat, at any rate, _Delenda est Carthago_--such a government'must bedestroyed; and that therefore the King may well say it was their war; whichhad never been begun, but that the States refused him satisfaction becausethey believed him to be in so great want of money that they must sit downunder any affronts. "

But the Parliament, always disinclined to the war, had now begun to view itwith absolute aversion; and though moved, by the King's representationsof the embarrassed condition he should be reduced to if the supply wererefused, to yield a subsidy of seventy thousand pounds a month for eighteenmonths, they forced him to pay a high price for their complaisance byextorting his consent to the "Test Act. " By the operation of this act, theDuke of York, the inveterate enemy of the Dutch, and Sir Thomas Clifford, the minister who had the most zealously pushed forward the business of thewar, were forced to resign their offices. With the funds granted him byParliament, Charles was enabled to complete the equipment of a fleet, which, when joined to a squadron of French ships under D'Estrées, numberedone hundred fifty sail. 

The Prince of Orange had wisely continued De Ruyter in the command ofthe fleet as lieutenant-admiral of the provinces, with almost unlimitedinstructions, and suffered himself to be wholly guided by him in navalaffairs, interfering only so far as to reinstate Tromp in the officeof admiral under the College of Amsterdam, and to effect a perfectreconciliation between him and De Ruyter--a matter which the placable andmagnanimous temper of the latter rendered of easy accomplishment. Havingfailed in a scheme of blocking up the Thames by means of sinking vessels inthe bed of that river, De Ruyter stationed himself at Schooneveldt, withthe purpose of protecting the coast of Zealand against a meditated descentof the enemy. While at anchor he descried the hostile fleet approaching;but a calm, succeeded by rough weather, prevented them for some days fromcoming to an engagement. 

The Dutch were considerably inferior in strength to the allies, the numberof their vessels being no more than fifty-two men-of-war and twelvefrigates, of which, moreover, the equipages were, owing to the scarcity ofseamen, by no means complete. But this deficiency was more than compensatedby the spirit and conduct of their great commander. "The weaker our fleetis, " observed De Ruyter, in answer to some remark made to him on thesubject, "the more confidently I expect a victory, not from our ownstrength, but from the arm of the Almighty. " Under a favorable breeze, theFrench and English ships bore down upon their unequal antagonists, in thefull expectation that they would avoid the encounter, by retiring behindthe sand-banks of Flushing. The Dutch, however, firmly awaited the shock, commenced by the squadron of French ships, which on this occasion hadbeen placed in the van to avoid the imputation cast upon them in the lastbattle. They engaged with that of Tromp, whose impetuous firing compelledthe French admiral to retire for a time; but quickly rallying, he returnedto the charge with such vigor that Tromp was obliged to remove his flag onfour different vessels successively. 

De Ruyter, meanwhile, had engaged the red squadron, commanded by PrinceRupert, which after a sharp contest he threw into some disorder, andsucceeded in cutting off a considerable number of ships from the remainder. Instead, however, of pursuing his advantage, De Ruyter, becoming aware ofthe danger of his rival, who was now entirely surrounded by the enemy, hastened to his rescue. On seeing him approach, Tromp exclaimed: "Comrades, here is our grandsire [a pet name given to De Ruyter among the sailors]coming to help us; so long as I live I will never forsake him!" Thegenerous aid was no less effectual than well timed, since the enemy, astonished at his unexpected appearance, fell back. "I am pleased to see, "he said, "that our enemies still fear the Seven Provinces, " the name of thevessel which carried his flag. The fight was continued with unremittingobstinacy till darkness separated the combatants, when the Dutch found thatthey had gained about three miles upon their antagonists. 

That the issue of such a contest should be doubtful was in itselfequivalent to a victory on the side of the Dutch; a victory of which theyreaped all the advantages, as well as the glory, since, besides deliveringtheir coasts from the intended invasion, their loss was so inconsiderablethat within a week the fleet was able to put to sea in its original numbersand strength. Another engagement, fought with less of energy and resolutionon the side of the English than usually distinguished them, terminated intheir retreat toward the Thames, which, De Ruyter conceiving to be a feintto draw the Dutch fleet off their coasts, he declined the pursuit. Themovement, however, had its origin in a far different cause. The Englishsailors fully participated in the feelings entertained by the great body ofthe nation, who viewed the aggrandizement of their ally with jealousy, andthe undeserved misfortunes of their enemy with pity, and considered everyadvantage gained over the Dutch as a step toward the completion of thesinister designs they suspected their own sovereign of harboring againsttheir religion and liberties. They accordingly made no concealment of theirreluctance to fight longer in such a quarrel. 

It was now become evident to the Government that the only mode ofreconciling the people in any degree to the present state of things was theexecution of some brilliant achievement which should flatter their nationalvanity and kindle their ambition or lead to the acquisition of spoilsufficiently considerable to afford some sensible assistance in supportingthe war. A descent on Holland was therefore resolved on, or, if that werefound impracticable, it was proposed to intercept the Indian fleet, whosearrival was hourly expected. With this view a formidable fleet of onehundred fifty sail made its appearance in the Texel, and was met by DeRuyter about five miles from the village of the Helder. The Dutch, thoughfar inferior in number, having only seventy-five vessels, convincedthat this struggle was to be the most desperate and the last, preparedthemselves for it as men who had everything at stake. After a short butinspiring harangue, De Ruyter gave the signal for attack. As if with apresentiment that long years would elapse before they should again trythe strength of each other's arm, the English and Dutch seemed mutuallydetermined to leave upon the minds of their foes an ineffaceable impressionof their skill and prowess. 

All the resources which ability could suggest or valor execute were nowemployed. Each admiral engaged with the antagonist against whom it hadbefore been his fortune to contend. De Ruyter attached himself to thesquadron of Prince Rupert; Tromp attacked Sprague, who commanded the blueflag; while Bankert was opposed to the French; the latter, however, aftera short skirmish on the part of Rear Admiral Martel, who was unacquaintedwith the secret orders given to the commander, D'Estrées, dropped off to adistance; nor could all the signals made by Prince Rupert induce them totake any further share in the fight. Bankert, therefore, joined De Ruyter, who was engaged in a terrific contest with the squadron of Prince Rupert. The firing was kept up for several hours without cessation; the dischargesfrom the cannon of the Dutch vessels being, it was said, as rapid as thoseof musketry, and in proportion of three to one to those of the enemy. Tromp, whose actions always reflected more honor on his courage thanconduct, separated himself, as was his custom, from the remainder of thefleet, and pressed forward into the midst of the enemy. 

He had sustained a continued cannonading from the vessel of Sprague forupward of three hours, without a single one of his crew being wounded, whenDe Ruyter, who had forced Prince Rupert to retire, came to his assistance. The Prince, on the other side, joined Admiral Sprague, and the fight wasrenewed with increased ardor. The vessel of Tromp was so damaged that hewas obliged to remove his flag on board of another; Sprague was reduced toa similar necessity of quitting his ship, the Royal Prince, for the St. George, which, ere long, was so much disabled that he was obliged toproceed to a third; but the boat in which he was passing being struck by acannon-ball, sank, and himself and several others were drowned. Toward theclose of evening one English man-of-war was on fire, and two foundered. Nota single ship-of-war was lost on the side of the Dutch, but both fleetswere so much damaged as to be unable to renew the engagement on the nextmorning. Each side, as usual, returned thanks for the victory, towhich, however, the English failed to establish their claim, neither byaccomplishing the projected invasion or intercepting the East India fleet, the whole of which, except one vessel, reached the ports in safety. 

In the more distant quarters of the world the war was carried on withvarious success. The French captured the ports of Trincomalee, in Ceylon, and St. Thomas, on the coast of Coromandel--which were, however, recoveredin the next year--and made an unsuccessful attempt on Curajao. The Englishpossessed themselves of the island of Tobago and seized four merchantmenreturning from India. But, on the other hand, the States' admiral, Evertson, made himself master of New York, and, attacking the Newfoundlandships, took or destroyed no less than sixty-five, and returned to Hollandladen with booty. 

The King of France, meanwhile, well satisfied to have secured at so easya rate a powerful diversion of the forces of Holland, and the mutualenfeebling of the two most formidable maritime powers of Europe, caredlittle how the affairs of his ally prospered, so that he had been enabledto pursue the career of his conquests on land. Marching in person at thehead of his troops he laid siege to Maestricht, a town famous for itsgallant defence against the Duke of Parma in 1579, but which now, notwithstanding several brisk and murderous sallies, capitulated in lessthan a month. With this achievement the campaign of Louis ended. Theprogress of his arms, and the development of his schemes of ambition hadnow raised him up a phalanx of enemies, such as not even his presumptioncould venture to despise. He had planned and executed his conquests in fullreliance on the cooperation or neutrality of the neighboring powers, andfound himself in no condition to retain them in defiance of their actualhostility. He had, from the first, been strongly advised by Condé andTurenne to destroy the fortifications of the less important towns, retaining so many only of the larger as to insure the subjection of theprovinces. He had, however, deemed it more consonant to his "glory" tofollow the advice of Louvois in preserving all his conquests entire, and had thus been obliged to disperse a large portion of his army intogarrisons, leaving the remainder, thinned, moreover, by sickness anddesertion, wholly insufficient to make head against the increasing numberof his opponents. He therefore came to the mortifying resolution ofabandoning the United Provinces, the possession of which he had anticipatedwith so much pride. 

This auspicious dawn of better fortunes to the provinces was followed bythe long and ardently desired peace with England. The circumstances of thelast battle, in which, as the English declared, "themselves, and the Dutchhad been made the gladiators for the French spectators, " had more thanever disgusted that nation with the alliance of an ambitious and selfishmonarch, who, they perceived, was but gratifying his own rapacity at theexpense of their blood and treasure. Spain had threatened a rupture withEngland unless she would consent to a reasonable peace; and even Swedenherself had declared, during the conferences at Cologne, that she should beconstrained to adopt a similar course if the King of France persisted inextending his conquests. Should a war with these nations occur, the Englishsaw themselves deprived of the valuable commerce they carried on in theirports, to be transferred, most probably, to the United Provinces; inaddition to which consideration, their navigation had already sustainedexcessive injury from the privateering of the Zealanders, who had captured, it is said, no less than twenty-seven hundred English merchant-ships. These, and various other causes, had provoked the Parliament to useexpressions of the highest indignation at the measures of the court, and toa peremptory refusal of further supplies for the war unless the Dutch, bytheir obstinacy in rejecting terms of peace, should render its continuanceunavoidable. 

Aware of this disposition, the States had addressed a letter to the King, which, with sufficient adroitness, they had contrived should arriveprecisely at the meeting of Parliament, offering the King restitutionof all the places they had gained during the war, and satisfaction withrespect to the flag, or "any other matter they had not already orderedaccording to his wishes. " This communication, received with feelings ofextreme irritation by the court, had all the effect intended on the Houseof Commons. It was in vain that the King complained of the personal insultsoffered him by the Dutch; in vain that the chancellor expatiated on theirobstinacy, arrogance, and enmity to the English; and that the court partyremonstrated against the imprudence of exposing England defenceless tothe power of her haughty enemy. The Parliament persisted in refusing thesolicited supply; voted the standing army a grievance; bitterly complainedof the French alliance, and resolved that his majesty should be advised toproceed in a treaty with the States-General, in order to a speedy peace. 

A few days sufficed to accomplish a treaty; the Dutch obviating theprincipal difficulty by yielding the honor of the flag in the most amplemanner. They now agreed that all their ships should lower their topsailsand strike the flag upon meeting one or more English vessels bearing theroyal standard, within the compass of the four seas, from Cape Finisterreto Staaten in Norway, and engaged to pay the King two million guilders forthe expenses of the war. 

Shortly after, the Bishops of Muenster and Cologne, alarmed at theprobability of being abandoned by the French to the anger of the Emperor, who had threatened them with the ban of the empire, consented to a treatywith the United Provinces, in virtue of which they restored all the placesthey had conquered. 

%DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI%

LA SALLE NAMES LOUISIANA

A. D. 1673-1682

FRANÇOIS XAVIER GARNEAU[1]

[Footnote 1: Translated by Andrew Bell. ]

During the early colonization of New France, in the era of Count Frontenac, a remarkable spirit of adventure and discovery manifested itself in Canadaamong both clerics and laymen. This enterprise, in seeking to open up andcolonize the country, indeed, showed itself under each successive governor, from the first settlement of Québec, in 1608, down to the fall, in 1759, ofthe renowned capital on the St. Lawrence. In the entailed arduous labor, full as it was of hazard and peril, the pathfinders of empire in the NewWorld, besides laymen, were largely the Jesuit missionaries. 

This spirit of adventure specially began to show itself in the colony atthe period when M. Talon became intendant, when the government of NewFrance, at the time of Louis XIV's minister, Colbert, became vesteddirectly in the French crown. Through Talon's instrumentality the colonyrevived, and by his large-minded policy its commerce, which had fallen intothe hands of a company of monopolists, was in time set free from many ofits restrictions. 

Before Talon quitted the country, he took steps to extend the dominion ofFrance in the New World toward Hudson's Bay, and westward, in the directionof the Great Lakes. In 1671 he despatched a royal commissioner to SaultSte. Marie, at the foot of Lake Superior, to assemble the Indians of theregion and induce them to place themselves under the protection, and aidthe commerce, of the French King. 

While thus engaged, the commissioner heard of the Mississippi River fromthe Indians; and Talon intrusted the task of tracking its waters to FatherMarquette and to M. Joliet, a merchant of Québec. With infinite toil thesetwo adventurous spirits reached the great river they were in search of, andexplored it as far south as the Arkansas. Here unfriendly Indian tribescompelled them to return, without being permitted to trace the mightystream to its outlet. This, however, is supposed to have been accomplished, in 1682, by Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, a daring young Frenchman, who descended the Mississippi, it is currently believed, to the Gulf ofMexico, naming the whole region Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV. 

Whether La Salle actually explored the great river to its mouth is, amonghistorians, still a moot point. It is supposed that early in his adventureshe retraced his steps and returned to Canada, where, as well as in France, he had numerous detractors, among whom was De la Barre, the then Governorof New France. It is known that he was soon again in Québec, to meet hisenemies, which he did successfully, after which he proceeded to France. Here he was royally received by the King, and, as a proof of the monarch'sconfidence in him, La Salle was intrusted with the command of a colonizingexpedition which was sent to Louisiana by sea. 

This expedition never reached its destination, for differences with thecommander of the vessels (Beaujeu) interfered with the direction of theexpedition. The mouths of the Mississippi, it seems, were passed, andthe ships reached the coast of Texas. Disaster now dogged the leader'sfootsteps, for Beaujeu ran one of the ships on the rocks, and then desertedwith another. La Salle and some of his more trusty followers were left totheir fate, which was a cruel one, for disease broke out in the ranks, andfamine and savage foes made havoc among the survivors. His colony beingreduced to forty persons, La Salle set out overland with sixteen men forCanada to procure recruits. On the way his companions mutinied, putLa Salle to death, and but a handful of the party reached Canada, theremainder perishing in the wilderness. 

Were we to express in the briefest of terms the motives which induced theleading European races of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who cameto the Americas, we should say that the Spaniards went thither in quest ofgold, the English for the sake of enjoying civil and religious freedom, theFrench in view of propagating the Gospel among the aborigines. Accordingly, we find, from the beginning, in the annals of New France, religiousinterests overlying all others. The members of the Society of Jesus, becoming discredited among the nations of Europe for their subserviency topower--usually exalting the rights of kings, but at all timesinculcating submission, both by kings and their subjects, to the Romanpontiffs--individual Jesuits, we say, whatever may have been their demeritsas members of the confraternity in Europe or in South America, did much toredeem these by their apostolic labors in the wilderness of the northerncontinent; cheerfully encountering, as they did, every form of suffering, braving the cruelest tortures, and even welcoming death as the expectedseal of their martyrdom for the cause of Christ and for the advancement ofcivilization among barbarous nations. 

From Québec as a centre-point the missionary lines of the Jesuit fathersradiated in all directions through every region inhabited by our savages, from the Laurentian Valley to the Hudson's Bay territory, along thegreat-lake countries, and down the valley of the Mississippi. Scantilyequipped, as it seemed to the worldly eye, with a breviary around the neckand a crucifix in hand, the missionary set forth, and became a pioneerfor the most adventurous secular explorers of the desert. To such ourforefathers owed their best earliest knowledge of vast regions, to whosesavage inhabitants they imparted the glad tidings of the Gospel, andsmoothed the way for native alliances with their compatriots of the laity, of the greatest after-import to the colony. 

Such devotedness, at once heroic and humble, could not but confound worldlyphilosophy, while it has gained for the members of the order the admirationof many Protestants. Thus we have the candid testimony of Bancroft, theable historian of the English plantations in this continent, that "Theannals of missionary labors are inseparably connected with the origin ofall the establishments of French America. Not a cape was doubled nor astream discovered that a Jesuit did not show the way. "

On the other hand, there were instances where secular explorers, seekingto illustrate their names by great discoveries or to enrich themselves bytraffic, opened a way for the after-labors of the missionary. The mostcelebrated of such were Champlain, Nicolet, Perrot, Joliet, La Salle, andLa Verendrye. 

In regions south of the St. Lawrence, Père Druillettes was the firstEuropean who passed overland from that river to the eastern Atlanticseaboard, ascending the Chaudifere and descending the Kennebec in 1646. Hedid good service to the colony by preserving for it the amity of that bravenation, the only one which the Iroquois were slow to attack. 

In another direction, the traffickers and missionaries, constantly movingonward toward the sources of the St. Lawrence, had reached the upperextremity of Lake Huron. Pères Brébeuf, Daniel, Lalemant, Jogues, andRaimbault founded in the regions around its waters the Christianizedsettlements (_villages_) of St. Joseph, St. Michel, St. Ignace, and Ste. Marie. The last-named, seated at the point where Lake Huron communicateswith Lake Erie, was long the central point of the northwestern missions. 

In 1639 Jean Nicholet, following the course of a river flowing out of LakeMichigan at Green Bay, was led within three days' navigation of "theGreat Water, " such was the distinctive name the aborigines gave to theMississippi. In 1671 the relics of the Huron tribes, tired of wanderingfrom forest to forest, settled down in Michilimackinac, at the end of LakeSuperior, under the care of Père Marquette, who thus became the earliestfounder of a European settlement in Michigan. The natives of the vicinitywere of the Algonquin race; but the French called them _Sauteurs_, fromtheir being near to Sault Ste. Marie. 

Between the years 1635 and 1647 communication with the region was littleattempted, the hostile feeling of the Iroquois making the navigation ofLake Ontario perilous to adventurers, and obliging them to pass to andfrom the western mission field by the valley of the Ottawa. The Neuters'territory, visited by Champlain, and the southern lakeboard of Erie beyondBuffalo, were as yet almost unknown. 

The new impulse which had been given to Canada by Colbert and Talon beganto bear fruit. Commerce revived, immigration increased, and the aborigines, dominated by the genius of civilization, feared and respected everywherethe power of France. Perrot, a famous explorer, was the first European whoreached the end of Lake Michigan and the Miâmis country, where deputiesfrom all the native tribes of the regions irrigated by the head watersof the Mississippi, the sources of the Red River and the St. Lawrence, responded to his call to meet him at the Sault Ste. Marie, From onediscovery to another, as so many successive stages in a journey, the Frenchattained a certainty that "the Great Water" did exist, and they could, inadvance, trace its probable course. It appeared certain, from the recentsearch made for it in northerly and eastern directions, that its waters, sovoluminous as the natives asserted, must at last find their sea-vent eitherin the Bay of Mexico or in the Pacific Ocean. Talon, who took a stronginterest in the subject, during his intendancy recommended Captain Poulet, a skilful mariner of Dieppe, to verify the passage from sea to sea, throughthe Straits of Magellan. 

He induced M. De Frontenac to send M. Joliet into the region where thegreat stream, yet unseen, must take its rise; and follow its course, iffound, till its waters reached the sea. The person thus employed on amission which interested everyone at the time was a man of talent, educatedin the Jesuits' College of Québec, probably in view of entering the Church, but who had gone into the peltry trade. He had travelled much in thecountries around Lake Superior and gained great experience of the natives, especially those of the Ottawa tribes. M. Joliet and Père Marquette set outtogether in the year 1673. The latter, who had lived among the PotowatamiIndians as a missionary, and gained their affections, was forewarned bythem of the perils, they alleged, which would beset his steps in so daringan enterprise, admonishing him and his companion that the people of thefarther countries would allow no stranger to pass through them; thattravellers were always pillaged at the least; that the great river swarmedwith monsters who devoured men, [1] and that the climate was so hot thathuman flesh could not endure it. 

[Footnote 1: There was some foundation for this report, as alligatorsabounded, at that time, in the lower waters of the river. ]

Having progressed to the farthest horde, over the Fox River, where PèreAllouez was known, and the extremest point yet touched by any European, the adventurers found the people of the divers tribes living together inharmony; viz. , the Kikapoos, Mascoutins, and Miâmis. They accorded thestrangers a kind reception and furnished guides to direct the party, whichwas composed of nine persons in all--Joliet, Marquette, with five otherwhites, and two natives. On June 10th they set out, bearing two lightcanoes on their shoulders for crossing the narrow portage which separatesthe Fox River from that of Wisconsin, where the latter, after following asoutherly, takes a western, course. Here their Indian guides left them, fearing to go farther. 

Arrived at the Lower Wisconsin they embarked and glided down the stream, which led the travellers through a solitude; they remarking that the levelsaround them presented an unbroken expanse of luxuriant herbage or forestsof lofty trees. Their progress was slow, for it was not till the tenth daythat they attained the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi. But thegoal was surely, if tardily, attained. They were now floating on the bosomof the "Father of Waters, " a fact they at once felt assured of, and fairlycommitted themselves to the course of the doubled current. This eventconstituted an epoch in American annals. 

"The two canoes, " says Bancroft, "with sails outspread under a new sky, sped their way, impelled by favoring breezes, along the surface of the calmand majestic ocean tributary. At one time the French adventurers glidedalong sand-banks, the resting-places of innumerable aquatic birds; atothers they passed around wooded islands in midflood; and otherwhiles, again, their course lay through the vast plains of Illinois and Iowa, covered with magnificent woods or dotted with clumps of bush scatteredabout limitless prairie lands. "

It was not till the voyagers had descended sixty leagues of the greatstream that they discovered any signs of the presence of man; but atlength, observing on the right bank of the river a foot-track, theyfollowed it for six miles, and arrived at a horde _(bourgade), _ situated ona river called by the natives Moingona, an appellation afterward corruptedinto "Rivière des Moines. " Seeing no one, the visitors hollowed lustily, and four old men answered the call, bearing in hand the calumet of peace. "We are Illinois, " said the Indians: "you are our fellow-men; we bid youwelcome. " They had never before seen any whites, but had heard mentionof the French, and long wished to form an alliance with them against theIroquois, whose hostile excursions extended even to their country. Theywere glad to hear from Joliet that the colonists had lately chastised thosewhom no others could vanquish, and feasted the visitors, to manifest theirgratitude as well as respect. The chief of the tribe, with some hundreds ofhis warriors, escorted the party to their canoes; and, as a mark of partingesteem, he presented a calumet, ornamented with feathers of various colors;a safe-conduct this, held inviolable among the aborigines. 

The voyagers, again on their way, were forewarned of the confluence of theMissouri with the main stream, by the noise of its discharging waters. Forty leagues lower, they reached the influx of the Ohio, in the territoryof the Chouanows. By degrees the region they traversed changed its aspect. Instead of vast prairies, the voyagers only saw thick forests around them, inhabited by savages whose language was to them unknown. In quitting thesouthern line of the Ohio, they left the Algonquin family of aboriginesbehind, and had come upon a region of nomads, the Chickasaw nation beinghere denizens of the forest. The Dacotas, or Sioux, frequented the riverainlands, in the southern region watered by the great flood. Thus interpreterswere needed by the natives, who wished to parley from either bank of theMississippi, each speaking one of two mother-tongues, both distinct fromthose of the Hurons and Algonquins, much of the latter being familiar toJoliet and others of the party. 

Continuing their descent, the confluence of the Arkansas with theMississippi was attained. The voyagers were now under the thirty-thirdparallel of north latitude, at a point of the river-course reported to havebeen previously reached, from the opposite direction, by the celebratedSpanish mariner De Soto. Here the Illinois chief's present stood the partyin good stead, for on exhibiting his ornate calumet they were treated withprofuse kindness. Bread, made of maize, was offered by the chief of thehorde located at the mouth of the Arkansas River. Hatchet-heads of steel, in use by the natives, gave intimation that they traded with Europeans, andthat the Spanish settlements on the Bay of Mexico were probably not faroff. The waxing summer heats, too, gave natural corroboration to the sameinferences. The party had now, in fact, attained to a region without awinter, unless as such be reckoned that part of its year known as "therainy season. "

It now became expedient to call a halt, for the stored provisions werebeginning to fail, and chance supplies could not be depended upon in sucha wilderness as the bold adventurers had already traversed; and they werestill more uncertain as to what treatment they might receive from savagepopulations if they proceeded farther. One thing was made plain to theirperceptions: the Mississippi afforded no passage to the East Indian seas. They rightly concluded, also, that it found its sea outlet in the Bayof Mexico, not the Pacific Ocean. They had therefore now done enough toentitle them to the grateful thanks of their compatriots, and for thenames of their two leaders to take a permanent place in the annals ofgeographical discovery. 

The task of ascending the great river must have been arduous, and thereturn voyage protracted. Arrived at the point where it is joined by theIllinois, they left it for that stream, which, ascending for a part of itslower course, Père Marquette elected to remain with the natives of tribeslocated near to its banks; while M. Joliet, with the rest of the party, passed overland to Chicago. Thence he proceeded to Québec, and reported hisproceedings to the Governor, M. Talon at that time being in France. Thisduty he had to perform orally, having lost all his papers when shooting therapids of the St. Lawrence, above Montreal. He afterward drew up a writtenreport, with a tracing of his route, from memory. 

The encouragement the intendant procured for the enterprise fairly entitleshim to share its glory with those who so ably carried it out; for we cannotattach too much honor to the memory of statesmen who turn to account theiropportunities of patronizing useful adventure. M. Joliet received inproperty the island of Anticosti as a reward for his Western discoveriesand for an exploratory voyage he made to Hudson's Bay. He was alsonominated hydrographer-royal, and got enfeoffed in a seigniory nearMontreal. Expecting to reap great advantage from Anticosti as a fishing andfur-trading station, he built a fort thereon; but after living some time onthe island with his family, he was obliged to abandon it. His patronymicwas adopted as the name of a mountain situated near the Rivère des Plaines, a tributary of the Illinois; and Joliet is also the appellation, given inhis honor, of a town near Chicago. 

Père Marquette proceeded to Green Bay by Lake Michigan, in 1673; buthe returned soon afterward and resumed his missionary labors among theIllinois Indians. Being then at war with the Miâmis, they came to himasking for gunpowder. "I have come among you, " said the apostolic priest, "not to aid you to destroy your enemies' bodies, but to help you to saveyour own souls. Gunpowder I cannot give you, but my prayers you can havefor your conversion to that religion which gives glory to God in thehighest and on earth peace to all men. " Upon one occasion he preachedbefore two thousand warriors of their nation, besides the women andchildren present. His bodily powers, however, were now wellnigh exhausted. He decided to return to Mackinac; but while coasting the lower shores ofLake Michigan, feeling that his supreme hour was nigh, he caused the peoplein his canoe to set him ashore. Having obtained for him the shelter ofa hut formed of branches, he there died the death of the righteous. Hiscompanions interred his remains near the river which yet bears his name, and set up a crucifix to mark the spot. Thus ended, amid the solitudesof the Western wilderness, the valuable existence of one whose name, toolittle known to his own age, will be remembered when hundreds of thosewhich, however loudly sounded in the present, shall have passed into utteroblivion. [1]

[Footnote 1: Guérin observes that, according to some authorities, LaSalle, some time between the years 1669 and 1671, descended theMississippi, as far as the Arkansas, by the river Ohio. There can be nodoubt that the story is a mere figment. ]

The news of the discovery of the Mississippi made a great sensationin Canada, and eclipsed for a time the interest attaching to otherexplorations of the age, which were becoming more and more rife every year. Every speculative mind was set to work, as was usual on such occasions, to calculate the material advantages which might result, first to thecolonists, and next to their mother-country, from access being obtained toa second gigantic waterway through the territories of New France; serving, as it virtually might in times to come, as a complement, or completingmoiety for the former, enabling the colonists to have the command of twoseas. Still, as the Gulf of Mexico had not been reached by the adventurersupon the present occasion, some persons had their doubts about the realcourse of the lower flood. There was therefore still in store credit forthose who should succeed in clearing up whatever uncertainty there might beabout a matter so important. 

"New France, " says Raynal, "had among its people a Norman named RobertCavalier de la Salle, a man inspired with the double passion of amassing alarge fortune and gaining an illustrious name. This person had acquired, under the training of the Jesuits, among whom his youth waspassed, activity, enthusiasm, firmness of character, andhigh-heartedness--qualities which that celebrated confraternity knew sowell to discern and cultivate in promising natures committed to their care. Their most audacious and enterprising pupil, La Salle, was especiallyimpatient to seize every occasion that chance presented for distinguishinghimself, and ready to create such opportunities if none occurred. " He hadbeen resident some years in Canada when Joliet returned from his expeditionto the Mississippi. The effect of so promising a discovery, upon such amind as La Salle's, was of the most awakening kind. Joliet's report of whathe experienced, and his shrewd conjectures as to what he did not see butwhich doubtless existed, well meditated upon by his fellow-genius, inspiredthe latter to form a vast design of exploration and traffic conjoined, inrealizing which he determined to hazard both his fortunes and reputation. 

Cavalier Sieur de la Salle was born in Rouen, and the son of respectableparents. While yet a young man he came to Canada full of a project he hadconceived of seeking a road to Japan and China by a northern or westernpassage, but did not bring with him the pecuniary means needful even tomake the attempt. He set about making friends for himself in the colony, and succeeded in finding favor with the Count de Frontenac, who discernedin him qualities somewhat akin to his own. With the aid of M. De Courcellesand Talon he opened a factory for the fur traffic at Lachine, nearMontreal, a name which (_China_) he gave to the place in allusion to theoriental goal toward which his hopes tended as an explorer. 

In the way of trade he visited Lakes Ontario and Erie. While the Canadianswere yet excited about the discovery of the Mississippi, he impartedhis aspirations regarding it to the Governor-general. He said that, byascending, instead of descending, that great stream, a means might befound for reaching the Pacific Ocean; but that the outlay attending theenterprise could only be defrayed by combining with it an extended trafficwith the nations of the West; that he would gladly make the attempt himselfif a trading-post were erected for his use at the foot of Lake Ontario, asa basis for his operations, with an exclusive license to traffic in theWestern countries. The Governor gave him the command of Fort Frontenac, tobegin with. Obtaining, also, his recommendations to the Court, La Sallesailed for France in 1675, and gained all he wanted from the Marquis deSeignelai, son and successor of the great Colbert as minister of marine. The King bestowed on La Salle the seigniory of Cataraqui (Kingston) andennobled him. This seigniory included Fort Frontenac, of which he was madethe proprietor, as well as of Lake Ontario; conditioned, however, that hewas to reconstruct the fort in stone. His majesty also invested him withall needful credentials for beginning and continuing his discoveries. 

La Salle, on his return to Canada, actively set about aggrandizing hisnew possession. Several colonists and some of the natives repaired tothe locality, and settled under protection of his fort. He built in itsvicinity three decked vessels--the first ever seen upon Lake Ontario. In1677 he visited France again, in quest of aid to carry out his plans. Colbert and Seignelai got him a royal commission as recognized explorer ofNorthwest America, with permission to erect fortified posts therein at hisdiscretion. He found a potent protector, also, in the Prince de Conti. 

La Salle, full of hope, sailed from La Rochelle in summer, 1678, withthirty seamen and artisans, his vessel freighted with equipments forhis lake craft, and merchandise for barter with the aborigines. A braveofficer, Chevalier de Tonti, went with him, proposing to share hisfortunes. Arrived at Cataraqui, his energy put all his workpeople inactivity. On November 18th he set sail from Fort Frontenac in one of hisbarks, loaded with goods and materials for constructing a second fort and abrigantine at Niagara. When he reached the head of Lake Ontario, his vesselexcited the admiration of the savages; while the Falls of Niagara no lessraised the wonder of the French. Neither had before seen the former sogreat a triumph of human art; nor the latter, so overpowering a spectacleof nature. 

La Salle set about founding his proposed stronghold at Niagara; but thenatives, as soon as the defensive works began to take shape, demurred totheir being continued. Not caring to dispute the matter with them, he gavehis erections the form of a palisaded storehouse merely. During winterfollowing, he laid the keel of a vessel on the stocks, at a place some sixmiles above the Falls. His activity redoubled as his operations progressed. He sent on his friend Tonti with the famous Récollet, Père Hennepin, toseek out several men whom he had despatched as forerunners, in autumnpreceding, to open up a traffic he intended to carry on with the aboriginesof the West. In person he visited the Iroquois and several other nations, with whom he wished to form trading relations. He has the honor of foundingthe town of Niagara. The vessel he there built he called the Griffin, because, said he, "the griffin has right of mastery over the ravens": anallusion, as was said, to his hope of overcoming all his ill-willers, whowere numerous. [1] Be this as it may, the Griffin was launched in midsummer, 1679, under a salute of cannon, with a chanting of _Te Deum_ and shoutsfrom the colonists; the natives present setting up yells of wonder, hailingthe French as so many _Otkou_ (or "men of a contriving mind"). 

[Footnote 1: Some authors say that he named his vessel the Griffin in honorof the Frontenacs, the supporters in whose family coat-of-arms were twoGriffins. Where all is so uncertain in an important matter, a thirdsuggestion may be as near the mark as the first two. As the Norse or Normansea-kings bore the raven for a standard, perhaps La Salle adopted theraven's master-symbol, in right of a hoped-for sovereignty over theAmerican lakes. ]

On August 7th the Griffin, equipped with seven guns and loaded with smallarms and goods, entered Lake Erie; when La Salle started for Detroit, whichhe reached in safety after a few days' sail. He gave to the expansion ofthe channel between Lakes Erie and Huron the name of Lake Ste. Claire, traversing which, on August 23d he entered Lake Huron. Five days later hereached Michilimackinac, after having encountered a violent storm, such asare not unfrequent in that locality. The aborigines of the country werenot less moved than those of Niagara had been, at the appearance of theGriffin; an apparition rendered terrible as well as puzzling when the soundof her cannon boomed along the lake and reverberated from its shores. 

On attaining to the chapel of the Ottawa tribe, at the mission station, helanded and attended mass. Continuing his voyage, some time in September hereached the Baie des Puants, on the western lake board of Michigan, wherehe cast anchor. So far the first ship navigation of the great Canadianlakes had been a triumph; but the end was not yet, and it proved to bedisastrous, for La Salle, hearing that his creditors had in his absenceconfiscated his possessions, despatched the Griffin, loaded with peltry, toNiagara, probably in view of redeeming them; but his vessel and goods weretotally lost on the way. 

Meanwhile he started, with a trading-party of thirty men of differentcallings, bearing arms and merchandise. Passing to St. Joseph's, at thelower end of Lake Michigan, whither he had ordered that the Griffin shouldproceed on her proposed second voyage from Niagara, he laid the foundationsof a fort on the crest of a steep height, washed on two sides by the riverof the Miâmis, and defended on another side by a deep ravine. He setbuoys at the entrance of the stream for the direction of the crew ofthe anxiously expected vessel, upon whose safety depended in part thecontinuation of his enterprises; sending on some skilful hands toMichilimackinac to pilot her on the lake. The vessel not appearing, andwinter being near, he set out for the country of the Illinois Indians, leaving a few men in charge of the fort, and taking with him themissionaries Gabriel, Hennepin, and Zenobe, also some private men; Tonti, who was likewise of the party, having rejoined his principal, but withoutthe men he was sent to seek, as he could not find them. 

The expedition, thus constituted, arrived toward the close of December at adeserted native village situated near the source of the Illinois River, in the canton which still bears La Salle's name. Without stopping herehe descended that stream as far as Lake Peoria--called by Hennepin, "Pimiteoui"--on the margin of which he found encamped a numerous body ofthe Illinois. These Indians, though naturally gentle, yet turned unfriendlyregards at first on the party, but, soon recovering from surprise at theappearance of the French, treated them with great hospitality; one of theirattentions to the supposed wants of the visitors being to rub their weariedlegs with bear's-grease and buffalo fat. These friendly people were glad tolearn that La Salle meant to form establishments in their country. Like theHuron savages of Champlain's time, the Illinois, harassed as they were bythe Iroquois, trusted that the French would protect them in future. Thevisitors remarked that the Illinois formed the sides of their huts withmats of flat reeds, lined and sewed together. All those the party saw weretall, robust in body, and dexterous with the bow. But the nation has beenstigmatized by some early reporters as cowardly, lazy, debauched, andwithout respect for their chiefs. 

La Salle's people, hearing no mention of his ship all this while, beganfirst to murmur, and then to leave him: six of them deserted in one night. In other respects events occurred ominous of evil for the termination ofthe enterprise. To occupy the attention of his companions, and preventthem from brooding on apprehended ills, as well as to guard them againsta surprise by any hostile natives, he set them on erecting a fort upon aneminence, at a place four days' journey distant from Lake Peoria; which, when finished, he named Breakheart (_Crèvecoeur_), in allusion to themental sufferings he then endured. To put an end to an intolerable stateof suspense, in his own case he resolved to set out on foot for Frontenac, four hundred or five hundred leagues distant--hoping there to obtain goodnews about the Griffin; also in order to obtain equipments for a new bark, then in course of construction at Crèvecoeur, in which he meant to embarkupon his return thither, intending to descend the Mississippi to itsembouchure. He charged Père Hennepin to trace the downward course of theIllinois to its junction with the Mississippi, then to ascend the former ashigh as possible and examine the territories through which its upper watersflow. After making Tonti captain of the fort in his absence, he set out, March 2, 1680, armed with a musket, and accompanied by three or four whitesand one Indian. [1]

[Footnote 1: Charlevoix, by following the relation attributed to Tonti, hasfallen into some obvious errors respecting La Salle's expedition tothe Illinois River. Hennepin, an ocular witness, is assuredly the bestauthority, corroborated, as his narration is, by the relation and lettersof Père Zenobe Mambrè. ]

Père Hennepin, who left two days before, descended the Illinois to theMississippi, made several excursions in the region around their confluence;then ascended the latter to a point beyond the Sault St. Antony, where hewas detained for some months by Sioux Indians, who only let him go on hispromise to return to them next year. One of the chiefs traced on a scrap ofpaper the route he desired to follow; and this rude but correct chart, saysHennepin, "served us truly as a compass. " By following the Wisconsin, whichfalls into the Mississippi, and Fox River, when running in the oppositedirection, he reached Lake Michigan mission station, passing through, intermediately, vast and interesting countries. Such was the famousexpedition of Hennepin; who, on his return, was not a little surprised tofind a company of fur-traders near the Wisconsin River, led by one De Luth, who had probably preceded him in visiting that remote region. 

While Hennepin was exploring the upper valley of the Mississippi, LaSalle's interests were getting from bad to worse at Crèvecoeur. But, forrightly understanding the events which at last obliged him to abandon thatpost, it is necessary to explain the state of his affairs in Canada, and toadvert to the jealousies which other traffickers cherished regarding hismonopolizing projects in the western regions of the continent. He came tothe colony, as we have seen, a fortuneless adventurer--highly recommended, indeed; while the special protection he obtained from the Governor, with the titular and more solid favors he obtained at court, made him acompetitor to all other commercialists, whom it was impossible to contendwith directly. Underhand means of opposition, therefore--and these notalways the fairest--were put in play to damage his interests and, ifpossible, effect his ruin. 

For instance, feuds were stirred up against him among the savage tribes, and inducements held out to his own people to desert him. They even inducedthe Iroquois and the Miâmis to take up arms against the Illinois, hisallies. Besides this hostility to him within New France, he had to face theopposition of the Anglo-American colonists, who resisted the realizationof his projects, for nationally selfish reasons. Thus they encouraged theIroquois to attack La Salle's Indian allied connections of the MississippiValley; a measure which greatly increased the difficulties of a positionalready almost untenable. In a word, the odds against him became too great;and he was constrained to retire from the high game he wished to play out, which, indeed, was certainly to the disadvantage of individuals, if tendingto enhance the importance of the colony as a possession of France. 

La Salle's ever-trusty lieutenant, the Chevalier de Tonti, meanwhile didall he could, at Crèvecoeur, to engage the Illinois to stand firm to theirengagements with his principal. Having learned that the Miâmis intended tojoin the Iroquois in opposition to them, he hastened to teach the use offire-arms to those who remained faithful, to put the latter on a footingof equality with these two nations, who were now furnished with the likeimplements of war. He also showed them how to fortify their hordes withpalisades. But while in the act of erecting Fort Louis, near the sourcesof the river Illinois, most of the garrison at Crèvecoeur mutinied anddeserted, after pillaging the stores of provision and ammunition there laidup. 

At this crisis of La Salle's affairs (1680) armed bands of the Iroquoissuddenly appeared in the Illinois territory and produced a panic among itstimid inhabitants. Tonti, acting with spirit and decision as their ally, now intervened, and enforced upon the Iroquois a truce for the Illinois;but the former, on ascertaining the paucity of his means, recommencedhostilities. Attacking the fort, they murdered Père Gabriel, disinterredthe dead, and wasted the cultivated land of the French residents. TheIllinois dispersed in all directions, leaving the latter isolated amongtheir enemies. Tonti, who had at last but five men under his orders, alsofled the country. 

While the Chevalier, in his passage from Crèvecoeur, was descending thenorth side of Lake Michigan, La Salle was moving along its southern sidewith a reënforcement of men, and rigging for the bark he left in course ofconstruction at the above-named post, where, having arrived, he had themortification to find it devastated and deserted. He made no attemptto refound it, but passed the rest of the year in excursions over theneighboring territories, in which he visited a great number of tribes;among them the Outagamis and Miâmis, whom he persuaded to renounce analliance they had formed with the Iroquois. Soon afterward he returned toMontreal, taking Frontenac on his way. Although his pecuniary losses hadbeen great, he was still able to compound with his creditors, to whom heconceded his own sole rights of trade in the Western countries, they inreturn advancing moneys to enable him to prosecute his future explorations. 

Having got all things ready for the crowning expedition he had longmeditated, he set out with Tonti, Père Mambré, also some French and nativefollowers, and directed his course toward the Mississippi, which river hereached February 6, 1682. The mildness of the climate in that latitude, andthe beauties of the country, which increased as he proceeded, seemed togive new life to his hopes of finally obtaining profit and glory. [1]In descending the majestic stream, he recognized the Arkansas and otherriverain tribes visited by Marquette; he traversed the territories of manyother native nations, including the Chickasaws, the Taensas, the Chactas, and the Natchez--the last of these rendered so celebrated, in times nearour own, by the genius of Chateaubriand. 

[Footnote 1: "A vessel loaded with merchandise belonging to La Salle, valued at 22, 000 livres, had just been lost in the Gulf of St. Lawrence;several canoes, also loaded with his goods, were lost in the rapids of thesame river. On learning these new misfortunes [in addition to others, ofhis enemies' procuring], he said it seemed to him that all Canada had risenup against his enterprises, with the single individual exception of theGovernor-general. He asserted that the subordinates, whom he had broughtfrom France, had been tempted to quit his service by rival traders, andthat they had gone to the New Netherlands with the goods he had intrustedto their care; and as for the Canadians in his hire, his enemies had foundmeans to detach them, also, from his interests. "--Yet, "under the pressureof all his misfortunes, " says a missionary, "I have never remarked theleast change in him; no ill news seemed to disturb his usual equanimity:they seemed rather to spur him on to fresh efforts to retrieve hisfortunes, and to make greater discoveries than he had yet effected. "]

Halting often in his descent to note the outlets of the many streamstributary to the all-absorbing Mississippi, among others the Missouri andthe Ohio--at the embouchure of the latter erecting a fort--he did not reachthe ocean mouths of the "Father of Waters" till April 5th, that brightestday of his eventful life. With elated heart, he took formal possession ofthe country--eminently in the name of the reigning sovereign of France; ashe gave to it, at the same time, the distinctive appellation of Louisiana. Thus was completed the discovery and exploration of the Mississippi, fromthe Sault St. Antony to the sea; a line more than six hundred leagues inlength. 

%KING PHILIP'S WAR%

A. D. 1675

RICHARD HILDRETH

This was the most extensive and most important of the Indian wars ofthe early European settlers in North America. It led to the practicalextermination of the red men in New England. 

Various policies toward the natives were pursued by different colonists indifferent parts of the country. In New England the first white settlersfound themselves in contact with several powerful tribes, chief among whichwere the Mohegans, the Narragansetts, and the Pequots. 

Some attempt was made to convert and civilize these savages, but it was notlong before the English colonists were at war with the Pequots, the mostdreaded of the tribes in southern New England. This contest(1636-1638) wasmainly carried on for the colonists by the settlers of Connecticut. Itresulted in the almost complete extermination of the Pequot tribe. 

After the union of the New England colonies (1643), formed principally forcommon defence against the natives, there was no considerable conflictbetween whites and Indians until the outbreak of King Philip's War, heredescribed by Hildreth. 

Except in the destruction of the Pequots, the native tribes of New Englandhad as yet undergone no very material diminution. The Pokanokets orWampanoags, though somewhat curtailed in their limits, still occupied theeastern shore of Narragansett Bay. The Narragansetts still possessed thewestern shore. There were several scattered tribes in various parts ofConnecticut; though, with the exception of some small reservations, theyhad already ceded all their lands. Uncas, the Mohegan chief, was now an oldman. The Pawtucket or Pennacook confederacy continued to occupy thefalls of the Merrimac and the heads of the Piscataqua. Their old sachem, Passaconaway, regarded the colonists with awe and veneration. In theinterior of Massachusetts and along the Connecticut were several other lessnoted tribes. The Indians of Maine and the region eastward possessed theirancient haunts undisturbed; but their intercourse was principally with theFrench, to whom, since the late peace with France, Acadia had been againyielded up. The New England Indians were occasionally annoyed by warparties of Mohawks; but, by the intervention of Massachusetts, a peace hadrecently been concluded. 

Efforts for the conversion and civilization of the Indians were stillcontinued by Eliot and his coadjutors, supported by the funds of theEnglish society. In Massachusetts there were fourteen feeble villages ofthese praying Indians, and a few more in Plymouth colony. The whole numberin New England was about thirty-six hundred, but of these near one-halfinhabited the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. 

A strict hand was held by Massachusetts over the Narragansetts and othersubject tribes, contracting their limits by repeated cessions, not alwaysentirely voluntary. The Wampanoags, within the jurisdiction of Plymouth, experienced similar treatment. By successive sales of parts of theirterritory, they were now shut up, as it were, in the necks or peninsulasformed by the northern and eastern branches of Narragansett Bay, the sameterritory now constituting the continental eastern portion of Rhode Island. Though always at peace with the colonists, the Wampanoags had not alwaysescaped suspicion. The increase of the settlements around them, and theprogressive curtailment of their limits, aroused their jealousy. They weregalled, also, by the feudal superiority, similar to that of Massachusettsover her dependent tribes, claimed by Plymouth on the strength of certainalleged former submissions. None felt this assumption more keenly thanPometacom, head chief of the Wampanoags, better known among the colonistsas King Philip of Mount Hope, nephew and successor of that Massasoit, whohad welcomed the Pilgrims to Plymouth. Suspected of hostile designs, hehad been compelled to deliver up his fire-arms and to enter into certainstipulations. These stipulations he was accused of not fulfilling; andnothing but the interposition of the Massachusetts magistrates, to whomPhilip appealed, prevented Plymouth from making war upon him. He wassentenced instead to pay a heavy fine and to acknowledge the unconditionalsupremacy of that colony. 

A praying Indian, who had been educated at Cambridge and employed as ateacher, upon some misdemeanor had fled to Philip, who took him intoservice as a sort of secretary. Being persuaded to return again to hisformer employment, this Indian accused Philip anew of being engaged ina secret hostile plot. In accordance with Indian ideas, the treacherousinformer was waylaid and killed. Three of Philip's men, suspected of havingkilled him, were arrested by the Plymouth authorities, and, in accordancewith English ideas, were tried for murder by a jury half English, halfIndians, convicted upon very slender evidence, and hanged. Philipretaliated by plundering the houses nearest Mount Hope. Presently heattacked Swanzey, and killed several of the inhabitants. Plymouth tookmeasures for raising a military force. The neighboring colonies were sentto for assistance. Thus, by the impulse of suspicion on the one side andpassion on the other, New England became suddenly engaged in a war verydisastrous to the colonists and utterly ruinous to the native tribes. Thelust of gain, in spite of all laws to prevent it, had partially furnishedthe Indians with fire-arms, and they were now far more formidable enemiesthan they had been in the days of the Pequots. Of this the colonists hardlyseem to have thought. Now, as then, confident of their superiority, andcomparing themselves to the Lord's chosen people driving the heathen out ofthe land, they rushed eagerly into the contest, without a single effort atthe preservation of peace. Indeed, their pretensions hardly admitted of it. Philip was denounced as a rebel in arms against his lawful superiors, withwhom it would be folly and weakness to treat on any terms short of absolutesubmission. 

A body of volunteers, horse and foot, raised in Massachusetts, marchedunder Major Savage, four days after the attack on Swanzey, to join thePlymouth forces. After one or two slight skirmishes, they penetrated to theWampanoag villages at Mount Hope, but found them empty and deserted. Philipand his warriors, conscious of their inferiority, had abandoned theirhomes. If the Narragansetts, on the opposite side of the bay, did notopenly join the Wampanoags, they would, at least, be likely to affordshelter to their women and children. The troops were therefore ordered intothe Narragansett country, accompanied by commissioners to demand assurancesof peaceful intentions, and a promise to deliver up all fugitive enemies ofthe colonists--pledges which the Narragansetts felt themselves constrainedto give. 

Arrived at Taunton on their return from the Narragansett country, news camethat Philip and his warriors had been discovered by Church, of Plymouthcolony, collected in a great swamp at Pocasset, now Tiverton, the southerndistrict of the Wampanoag country, whence small parties sallied forth toburn and plunder the neighboring settlements. After a march of eighteenmiles, having reached the designated spot, the soldiers found there ahundred wigwams lately built, but empty and deserted, the Indians havingretired deep into the swamp. The colonists followed; but the ground wassoft; the thicket was difficult to penetrate; the companies were soonthrown into disorder. Each man fired at every bush he saw shake, thinkingan Indian might lay concealed behind it, and several were thus wounded bytheir own friends. When night came on, the assailants retired with the lossof sixteen men. 

The swamp continued to be watched and guarded, but Philip broke through, not without some loss, and escaped into the country of the Nipmucks, in theinterior of Massachusetts. That tribe had already commenced hostilities byattacking Mendon. They waylaid and killed Captain Hutchinson, a son of thefamous Mrs. Hutchinson, and sixteen out of a party of twenty sent fromBoston to Brookfield to parley with them. Attacking Brookfield itself, theyburned it, except one fortified house. The inhabitants were saved by MajorWillard, who, on information of their danger, came with a troop of horsefrom Lancaster, thirty miles through the woods, to their rescue. A body oftroops presently arrived from the eastward, and were stationed for sometime at Brookfield. 

The colonists now found that by driving Philip to extremity they had rouseda host of unexpected enemies. The River Indians, anticipating an intendedattack upon them, joined the assailants. Deerfield and Northfield, thenorthernmost towns on the Connecticut River, settled within a few yearspast, were attacked, and several of the inhabitants killed and wounded. Captain Beers, sent from Hadley to their relief with a convoy ofprovisions, was surprised near Northfield and slain, with twenty of hismen. Northfield was abandoned, and burned by the Indians. 

"The English at first, " says Gookin, "thought easily to chastise theinsolent doings and murderous practice of the heathen; but it was foundanother manner of thing than was expected; for our men could see no enemyto shoot at, but yet felt their bullets out of the thick bushes where theylay in ambush. The English wanted not courage or resolution, but could notdiscover nor find an enemy to fight with, yet were galled by the enemy. " Inthe arts of ambush and surprise, with which the Indians were so familiar, the colonists were without practice. It is to the want of this experience, purchased at a very dear rate in the course of the war, that we mustascribe the numerous surprises and defeats from which the colonistssuffered at its commencement. 

Driven to the necessity of defensive warfare, those in command on the riverdetermined to establish a magazine and garrison at Hadley. Captain Lathrop, who had been despatched from the eastward to the assistance of the rivertowns, was sent with eighty men, the flower of the youth of Essex county, to guard the wagons intended to convey to Hadley three thousand bushels ofunthreshed wheat, the produce of the fertile Deerfield meadows. Just beforearriving at Deerfield, near a small stream still known as Bloody Brook, under the shadow of the abrupt conical Sugar Loaf, the southern terminationof the Deerfield Mountain, Lathrop fell into an ambush, and, after a braveresistance, perished there with all his company. Captain Moseley, stationedat Deerfield, marched to his assistance, but arrived too late to help him. Deerfield was abandoned, and burned by the Indians. Springfield, about thesame time, was set on fire, but was partially saved by the arrival, withtroops from Connecticut, of Major Treat, successor to the lately deceasedMason in the chief command of the Connecticut forces. An attack on Hatfieldwas vigorously repelled by the garrison. 

Meanwhile, hostilities were spreading; the Indians on the Merrimac began toattack the towns in their vicinity; and the whole of Massachusetts was soonin the utmost alarm. Except in the immediate neighborhood of Boston, thecountry still remained an immense forest, dotted by a few openings. Thefrontier settlements could not be defended against a foe familiar withlocalities, scattered in small parties, skilful in concealment, andwatching with patience for some unguarded or favorable moment. Thosesettlements were mostly broken up, and the inhabitants, retiring towardBoston, spread everywhere dread and intense hatred of "the bloody heathen. "

Even the praying Indians and the small dependent and tributary tribesbecame objects of suspicion and terror. They had been employed at first asscouts and auxiliaries, and to good advantage; but some few, less confirmedin the faith, having deserted to the enemy, the whole body of them weredenounced as traitors. Eliot the apostle, and Gookin, superintendent ofthe subject Indians, exposed themselves to insults, and even to danger, by their efforts to stem this headlong fury, to which several of themagistrates opposed but a feeble resistance. Troops were sent to break upthe praying villages at Mendon, Grafton, and others in that quarter. The Natick Indians, "those poor despised sheep of Christ, " as Gookinaffectionately calls them, were hurried off to Deer Island, in Bostonharbor, where they suffered excessively from a severe winter. A part of thepraying Indians of Plymouth colony were confined, in like manner, on theislands in Plymouth harbor. 

Not content with realities sufficiently frightful, superstition, as usual, added bugbears of her own. Indian bows were seen in the sky, and scalps inthe moon. The northern lights became an object of terror. Phantom horsemencareered among the clouds or were heard to gallop invisible through theair. The howling of wolves was turned into a terrible omen. The war wasregarded as a special judgment in punishment of prevailing sins. Amongthese sins the General Court of Massachusetts, after consultation withthe elders, enumerated: Neglect in the training of the children of churchmembers; pride, in men's wearing long and curled hair; excess in apparel;naked breasts and arms, and superfluous ribbons; the toleration of Quakers;hurry to leave meeting before blessing asked; profane cursing and swearing;tippling-houses; want of respect for parents; idleness; extortion inshopkeepers and mechanics; and the riding from town to town of unmarriedmen and women, under pretence of attending lectures--"a sinful custom, tending to lewdness. "

Penalties were denounced against all these offences; and the persecution ofthe Quakers was again renewed. A Quaker woman had recently frightened theOld South congregation in Boston by entering that meeting-house clothed insackcloth, with ashes on her head, her feet bare, and her face blackened, intending to personify the small-pox, with which she threatened the colony, in punishment for its sins. 

About the time of the first collision with Philip, the Tarenteens, orEastern Indians, had attacked the settlements in Maine and New Hampshire, plundering and burning the houses, and massacring such of the inhabitantsas fell into their hands. This sudden diffusion of hostilities and vigor ofattack from opposite quarters made the colonists believe that Philip hadlong been plotting and had gradually matured an extensive conspiracy, intowhich most of the tribes had deliberately entered for the extermination ofthe whites. This belief infuriated the colonists and suggested some veryquestionable proceedings. 

It seems, however, to have originated, like the war itself, from meresuspicions. The same griefs pressed upon all the tribes; and the struggleonce commenced, the awe which the colonists inspired thrown off, thegreater part were ready to join in the contest. But there is no evidenceof any deliberate concert; nor, in fact, were the Indians united. Had theybeen so, the war would have been far more serious. The Connecticut tribesproved faithful, and that colony remained untouched. Uncas and Ninigretcontinued friendly; even the Narragansetts, in spite of so many formerprovocations, had not yet taken up arms. But they were strongly suspectedof intention to do so, and were accused by Uncas of giving, notwithstandingtheir recent assurances, aid and shelter to the hostile tribes. 

An attempt had lately been made to revive the union of the New Englandcolonies. At a meeting of commissioners, those from Plymouth presented anarrative of the origin and progress of the present hostilities. Upon thestrength of this narrative the war was pronounced "just and necessary, " anda resolution was passed to carry it on at the joint expense, and to raisefor that purpose a thousand men, one-half to be mounted dragoons. If theNarragansetts were not crushed during the winter, it was feared they mightbreak out openly hostile in the spring; and at a subsequent meeting athousand men were ordered to be levied to coöperate in an expeditionspecially against them. 

The winter was unfavorable to the Indians; the leafless woods no longerconcealed their lurking attacks. The frozen surface of the swamps made theIndian fastnesses accessible to the colonists. The forces destined againstthe Narragansetts--six companies from Massachusetts, under Major Appleton;two from Plymouth, under Major Bradford; and five from Connecticut, underMajor Treat--were placed under the command of Josiah Winslow, Governor ofPlymouth since Prince's death--son of that Edward Winslow so conspicuous inthe earlier history of the colony. The Massachusetts and Plymouth forcesmarched to Petasquamscot, on the west shore of Narragansett Bay, where theymade some forty prisoners. 

Being joined by the troops from Connecticut, and guided by an Indiandeserter, after a march of fifteen miles through a deep snow theyapproached a swamp in what is now the town of South Kingston, one of theancient strongholds of the Narragansetts. Driving the Indian scouts beforethem, and penetrating the swamp, the colonial soldiers soon came in sightof the Indian fort, built on a rising ground in the morass, a sort ofisland of two or three acres, fortified by a palisade and surrounded by aclose hedge a rod thick. There was but one entrance, quite narrow, defendedby a tree thrown across it, with a block-house of logs in front and otheron the flank. 

It was the "Lord's day, " but that did not hinder the attack. As thecaptains advanced at the heads of their companies the Indians opened agalling fire, under which many fell. But the assailants pressed on andforced the entrance. A desperate struggle ensued. The colonists were oncedriven back, but they rallied and returned to the charge, and, after atwo-hours' fight, became masters of the fort. Fire was put to the wigwams, near six hundred in number, and all the horrors of the Pequot massacre wererenewed. The corn and other winter stores of the Indians were consumed, andnot a few of the old men, women, and children perished in the flames. Inthis bloody contest, long remembered as the "Swamp Fight, " the colonialloss was terribly severe. Six captains, with two hundred thirty men, werekilled or wounded; and at night, in the midst of a snow-storm, with afifteen-miles' march before them, the colonial soldiers abandoned the fort, of which the Indians resumed possession. But their wigwams were burned;their provisions destroyed; they had no supplies for the winter; their losswas irreparable. Of those who survived the fight many perished of hunger. 

Even as a question of policy this attack on the Narragansetts was morethan doubtful. The starving and infuriated warriors, scattered throughthe woods, revenged themselves by attacks on the frontier settlements. Lancaster was burned, and forty of the inhabitants killed or taken; amongthe rest, Mrs. Rolandson, wife of the minister, the narrative of whosecaptivity is still preserved. Groton, Chelmsford, and other towns in thatvicinity were repeatedly attacked. Medfield, twenty miles from Boston, wasfuriously assaulted, and, though defended by three hundred men, half thehouses were burned. Weymouth, within eighteen miles of Boston, was attackeda few days after. These were the nearest approaches which the Indians madeto that capital. 

For a time the neighborhood of the Narragansett country was abandoned. TheRhode Island towns, though they had no part in undertaking the war, yetsuffered the consequences of it. Warwick was burned and Providence waspartially destroyed. Most of the inhabitants sought refuge in the islands;but the aged Roger Williams accepted a commission as captain for thedefence of the town he had founded. Walter Clarke was presently chosengovernor in Coddington's place, the times not suiting a Quaker chiefmagistrate. 

The whole colony of Plymouth was overrun. Houses were burned in almostevery town, but the inhabitants, for the most part, saved themselves intheir garrisons, a shelter with which all the towns now found it necessaryto be provided. Captain Pierce, with fifty men and some friendly Indians, while endeavoring to cover the Plymouth towns, fell into an ambush andwas cut off. That same day, Marlborough was set on fire; two days after, Rehoboth was burned. The Indians seemed to be everywhere. CaptainWadsworth, marching to the relief of Sudbury, fell into an ambush andperished with fifty men. The alarm and terror of the colonists reachedagain a great height. But affairs were about to take a turn. The resourcesof the Indians were exhausted; they were now making their last efforts. 

A body of Connecticut volunteers, under Captain Denison, and of Mohegan andother friendly Indians, Pequots and Niantics, swept the entire country ofthe Narragansetts, who suffered, as spring advanced, the last extremitiesof famine. Canochet, the chief sachem, said to have been a son ofMiantonomoh, but probably his nephew, had ventured to his old hauntsto procure seed corn with which to plant the rich intervals on theConnecticut, abandoned by the colonists. Taken prisoner, he conductedhimself with all that haughty firmness esteemed by the Indians as theheight of magnanimity. Being offered his life on condition of bringingabout a peace he scorned the proposal. His tribe would perish to the lastman rather than become servants to the English. When ordered to prepare fordeath he replied: "I like it well; I shall die before my heart is soft or Ishall have spoken anything unworthy of myself. " Two Indians were appointedto shoot him, and his head was cut off and sent to Hartford. 

The colonists had suffered severely. Men, women, and children had perishedby the bullets of the Indians or fled naked through the wintry woods by thelight of their blazing houses, leaving their goods and cattle a spoil tothe assailants. Several settlements had been destroyed and many more hadbeen abandoned; but the oldest and wealthiest remained untouched. TheIndians, on the other hand, had neither provisions nor ammunition. While attempting to plant corn and catch fish at Montague Falls, on theConnecticut River, they were attacked with great slaughter by the garrisonof the lower towns, led by Captain Turner, a Boston Baptist, and at firstrefused a commission on that account, but, as danger increased, pressed toaccept it. 

Yet this enterprise was not without its drawbacks. As the troops returned, Captain Turner fell into an ambush and was slain with thirty-eight men. Hadley was attacked on a lecture-day, while the people were at meeting;but the Indians were repulsed by the bravery of Goffe, one of the fugitiveregicides, long concealed in that town. Seeing this venerable unknown mancome to their rescue, and then suddenly disappear, the inhabitants took himfor an angel. 

Major Church, at the head of a body of two hundred volunteers, English andIndians, energetically hunted down the hostile bands in Plymouth colony. The interior tribes about Mount Wachusett were invaded and subdued by aforce of six hundred men, raised for that purpose. Many fled to the northto find refuge in Canada--guides and leaders, in after-years, of thoseFrench and Indian war parties by which the frontiers of New England were soterribly harassed. Just a year after the fast at the commencement of thewar, a thanksgiving was observed for success in it. 

No longer sheltered by the River Indians, who now began to make theirpeace, and even attacked by bands of the Mohawks, Philip returned to hisown country, about Mount Hope, where he was still faithfully supported byhis female confederate and relative, Witamo, squaw-sachem of Pocasset. Punham, also, the Shawomet vassal of Massachusetts, still zealously carriedon the war, but was presently killed. Philip was watched and followed byChurch, who surprised his camp, killed upward of a hundred of his people, and took prisoners his wife and boy. 

The disposal of this child was a subject of much deliberation. Several ofthe elders were urgent for putting him to death. It was finally resolved tosend him to Bermuda, to be sold into slavery--a fate to which many other ofthe Indian captives were subjected. Witamo shared the disasters of Philip. Most of her people were killed or taken. She herself was drowned whilecrossing a river in her flight, but her body was recovered, and the head, cut off, was stuck upon a pole at Taunton, amid the jeers and scoffs of thecolonial soldiers, and the tears and lamentations of the Indian prisoners. 

Philip still lurked in the swamps, but was now reduced to extremity. Againattacked by Church, he was killed by one of his own people, a deserter tothe colonists. His dead body was beheaded and quartered, the sentence ofthe English law upon traitors. One of his hands was given to the Indian whohad shot him, and on the day appointed for a public thanksgiving his headwas carried in triumph to Plymouth. 

The popular rage against the Indians was excessive. Death or slavery wasthe penalty for all known or suspected to have been concerned in sheddingEnglish blood. Merely having been present at the Swamp Fight was adjudgedby the authorities of Rhode Island sufficient foundation for sentence ofdeath, and that, too, notwithstanding they had intimated an opinion thatthe origin of the war would not bear examination. The other captiveswho fell into the hands of the colonists were distributed among them asten-year servants. Roger Williams received a boy for his share. Many chiefswere executed at Boston and Plymouth on the charge of rebellion; amongothers, Captain Tom, chief of the Christian Indians at Natick, andTispiquin, a noted warrior, reputed to be invulnerable, who had surrenderedto Church on an implied promise of safety. 

A large body of Indians, assembled at Dover to treat of peace, weretreacherously made prisoners by Major Waldron, who commanded there. Sometwo hundred of these Indians, claimed as fugitives from Massachusetts, weresent by water to Boston, where some were hanged and the rest shipped off tobe sold as slaves. Some fishermen of Marblehead having been killed bythe Indians at the eastward, the women of that town, as they came out ofmeeting on a Sunday, fell upon two Indian prisoners who had just beenbrought in, and murdered them on the spot. 

The same ferocious spirit of revenge which governed the contemporaneousconduct of Berkeley in Virginia toward those concerned in Bacon's rebellionswayed the authorities of New England in their treatment of the conqueredIndians. By the end of the year the contest was over in the South, upwardof two thousand Indians having been killed or taken. But some time elapsedbefore a peace could be arranged with the Eastern tribes, whose haunts itwas not so easy to reach. 

In this short war of hardly a year's duration the Wampanoags andNarragansetts had suffered the fate of the Pequots. The Niantics alone, under the guidance of their aged sachem Ninigret, had escaped destruction. Philip's country was annexed to Plymouth, though sixty years afterward, under a royal order in council, it was transferred to Rhode Island. TheNarragansett territory remained as before, under the name of King'sProvince, a bone of contention between Connecticut, Rhode Island, theMarquis of Hamilton, and the Atherton claimants. The Niantics stillretained their ancient seats along the southern shores of Narragansett Bay. Most of the surviving Narragansetts, the Nipmucks, and the River Indians, abandoned their country and migrated to the north and west. Such asremained, along with the Mohegans and other subject tribes, became morethan ever abject and subservient. 

The work of conversion was now again renewed, and, after such overwhelmingproofs of Christian superiority, with somewhat greater success. A secondedition of the Indian Old Testament, which seems to have been more indemand than the New, was presently published, revised by Eliot, with theassistance of John Cotton, son of the "Great Cotton, " and minister ofPlymouth. But not an individual exists in our day by whom it can beunderstood. The fragments of the subject tribes, broken in spirit, lostthe savage freedom and rude virtues of their fathers without acquiringthe laborious industry of the whites. Lands were assigned them in variousplaces, which they were prohibited by law from alienating. But this veryprovision, though humanely intended, operated to perpetuate their indolenceand incapacity. Some sought a more congenial occupation in the whalefishery, which presently began to be carried on from the islands ofNantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Many perished by enlisting in the militaryexpeditions undertaken in future years against Acadia and the West Indies. The Indians intermarried with the blacks, and thus confirmed theirdegradation by associating themselves with another oppressed andunfortunate race. Gradually they dwindled away. A few hundred sailors andpetty farmers, of mixed blood, as much African as Indian, are now the solesurviving representatives of the aboriginal possessors of Southern NewEngland. 

On the side of the colonists the contest had also been very disastrous. Twelve or thirteen towns had been entirely ruined and many others partiallydestroyed. Six hundred houses had been burned, near a tenth part of all inNew England. Twelve captains, and more than six hundred men in the prime oflife, had fallen in battle. There was hardly a family not in mourning. Thepecuniary losses and expenses of the war were estimated at near a millionof dollars. 

%GROWTH OF PRUSSIA UNDER THE GREATELECTOR%

HIS VICTORY AT FEHRBELLIN

A. D. 1675

THOMAS CARLYLE

It was the good-fortune of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, whois known in history as the "Great Elector, " to lay a firm foundation forPrussian monarchy. Under his father, George William, the Tenth Elector, Brandenburg had lost much of its former importance. When Frederick Williamcame into his inheritance in 1640 he found a weak and disunited state, little more than a group of provinces, with foreign territories lyingbetween them, and governed by differing laws. 

The great problem before the Elector was how to become actual ruler of hisill-joined possessions, and his first aim was to weld them together, thathe might make himself absolute monarch. By forming an army of mercenarieshe established his authority. His whole life was occupied with warlikeaffairs. He remained neutral during the last stages of the Thirty Years'War, but was always prepared for action. He freed Prussia from Polishcontrol and drove the Swedes from Brandenburg. 

This last was his most famous success. It was won by his victory over theSwedes under Wrangel, at Fehrbellin. Carlyle's characteristic narrative andcommentary on this and other triumphs of the Great Elector place him beforethe reader as one of the chief personages of the Hohenzollern race and aleading actor in European history. 

Brandenburg had sunk very low under the Tenth Elector, in the unutterabletroubles of the times, but it was gloriously raised up again by his SonFriedrich Wilhelm, who succeeded in 1640. This is he whom they call the"Great Elector" ("_Grosse Kurfuerst_"), of whom there is much writing andcelebrating in Prussian Books. As for the epithet, it is not uncommon amongpetty German populations, and many times does not mean too much: thus Maxof Bavaria, with his Jesuit Lambkins and Hyacinths, is by Bavarians called"Maximilian the Great. " Friedrich Wilhelm, both by his intrinsic qualitiesand the success he met with, deserves it better than most. His success, ifwe look where he started and where he ended, was beyond that of any otherman in his day. He found Brandenburg annihilated, and he left Brandenburgsound and flourishing--a great country, or already on the way towardgreatness: undoubtedly a most rapid, clear-eyed, active man. There was astroke in him swift as lightning, well aimed mostly, and of a respectableweight withal, which shattered asunder a whole world of impediments for himby assiduous repetition of it for fifty years. 

There hardly ever came to sovereign power a young man of twenty undermore distressing, hopeless-looking circumstances. Political significanceBrandenburg had none--a mere Protestant appendage dragged about by a PapistKaiser. His Father's Prime Minister was in the interest of his enemies;not Brandenburg's servant, but Austria's. The very Commandants of hisFortresses, Commandant of Spandau more especially, refused to obeyFriedrich Wilhelm on his accession--"were bound to obey the Kaiser in thefirst place. " He had to proceed softly as well as swiftly, with the mostdelicate hand, to get him of Spandau by the collar, and put him under lockand key, as a warning to others. 

For twenty years past Brandenburg had been scoured by hostile armies, which, especially the Kaiser's part of which, committed outrages new inhuman history. In a year or two hence Brandenburg became again the theatreof business. Austrian Gallas, advancing thither again (1644) with intent"to shut up Tortenson and his Swedes in Jutland, " where they had beenchastising old Christian IV, now meddlesome again for the last time, andnever a good neighbor to Sweden, Gallas could by no means do what heintended; on the contrary, he had to run from Tortenson what feet coulddo, was hunted, he and his _Merode_-Bruder (beautiful inventors of the"Marauding" Art), "till they pretty much all died (_crepirten_), " saysKohler. No great loss to society, the death of these Artists, but we canfancy what their life, and especially what the process of their dying, mayhave cost poor Brandenburg again. 

Friedrich Wilhelm's aim, in this as in other emergencies, was sun-clearto himself, but for most part dim to everybody else. He had to walk verywarily, Sweden on one hand of him, suspicious Kaiser on the other; he hadto wear semblances, to be ready with evasive words and advance noiselesslyby many circuits. More delicate operation could not be imagined; butadvance he did, advance and arrive. With extraordinary talent, diligence, and felicity, the young man wound himself out of this first fatal position;got those foreign Armies pushed out of his country, and kept them out. Hisfirst concern had been to find some vestige of revenue, to put that upona clear footing, and by loans or otherwise to scrape a little ready moneytogether, on the strength of which a small body of soldiers could becollected about him, and drilled into real ability to fight and obey. This as a basis; on this followed all manner of things, freedom fromSwedish-Austrian invasions as the first thing. 

He was himself, as appeared by and by, a fighter of the first qualitywhen it came to that, but never was willing to fight if he could help it;preferred rather to shift, manoeuvre, and negotiate, which he did in a mostvigilant, adroit, and masterly manner. But by degrees he had grown to have, and could maintain it, an Army of twenty-four thousand men, among the besttroops then in being. With or without his will, he was in all the greatWars of his time--the time of Louis XIV--who kindled Europe four timesover, thrice in our Kurfuerst's day. The Kurfuerst's Dominions, a long, straggling country, reaching from Memel to Wesel, could hardly keep outof the way of any war that might rise. He made himself available, neveragainst the good cause of Protestantism and German Freedom, yet always inthe place and way where his own best advantage was to be had. Louis XIVhad often much need of him; still oftener, and more pressingly, had KaiserLeopold, the little Gentleman "in scarlet stockings, with a red featherin his hat, " whom Mr. Savage used to see majestically walking about, withAustrian lip that said nothing at all. His twenty-four thousand excellentfighting-men, thrown in at the right time, were often a thing that couldturn the balance in great questions. They required to be allowed for ata high rate, which he well knew how to adjust himself for exacting andsecuring always. 

When the Peace of Westphalia (1648) concluded that Thirty-Years'Conflagration, and swept the ashes of it into order again, FriedrichWilhelm's right to Pommern was admitted by everybody, and well insisted onby himself; but right had to yield to reason of state, and he could not getit. The Swedes insisted on their expenses; the Swedes held Pommern, had allalong held it--in pawn, they said, for their expenses. Nothing for it butto give the Swedes the better half of Pommern--_Fore_-Pommern so they callit, ("Swedish Pomernia" thenceforth), which lies next the Sea; this, withsome Towns and cuttings over and above, was Sweden's share. FriedrichWilhelm had to put up with _Hinder_-Pommern, docked furthermore of the Townof Stettin, and of other valuable cuttings, in favor of Sweden, much toFriedrich Wilhelm's grief and just anger, could he have helped it. 

They gave him Three secularized Bishoprics, Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Mindenwith other small remnants, for compensation, and he had to be content withthese for the present. But he never gave up the idea of Pommern. Much ofthe effort of his life was spent upon recovering Fore-Pommern; thrice eagerupon that, whenever lawful opportunity offered. To no purpose, then; henever could recover Swedish Pommern; only his late descendants, and that byslowish degrees, could recover it all. Readers remember that Burgermeisterof Stettin, with the helmet and sword flung into the grave and picked outagain, and can judge whether Brandenburg got its good luck quite by lyingin bed. 

Once, and once only, he had a voluntary purpose toward War, and it remaineda purpose only. Soon after the Peace of Westphalia, old Pfalz-Neuburg, thesame who got the slap on the face, went into tyrannous proceedings againstthe Protestant part of his subjects in Juelic-Cleve, who called toFriedrich Wilhelm for help. Friedrich Wilhelm, a zealous Protestant, maderemonstrances, retaliations; ere long the thought struck him, "Suppose, backed by the Dutch, we threw out this fantastic old gentleman, hisPapistries, and pretended claims and self, clear out of it?" This wasFriedrich Wilhelm's thought, and he suddenly marched troops into theTerritory with that view. But Europe was in alarm; the Dutch grew faint. Friedrich Wilhelm saw it would not do. He had a conference with oldPfalz-Neuburg: "Young gentleman, we remember how your Grandfather madefree with us and our august countenance! Nevertheless, we--" In fine, the"statistics of Treaties" was increased by One, and there the matter restedtill calmer times. 

In 1666 an effective Partition of these litigated Territories wasaccomplished; Prussia to have the Duchy of Cleve-Proper, the Counties ofMark and Ravensberg, with other Patches and Pertinents; Neuburg, what wasthe better share, to have Juelich Duchy and Berg Duchy. Furthermore, ifeither of the Lines failed, in no sort was a collateral to be admitted; butBrandenburg was to inherit Neuburg, or Neuburg Brandenburg, as the casemight be. A clear Bargain this at last, and in the times that had come itproved executable so far; but if the reader fancies the Lawsuit was at lastout in this way, he will be a simple reader. In the days of our littleFritz, [1] the Line of Pfalz-Neuburg was evidently ending; but thatBrandenburg, and not a collateral, should succeed it, there lay the quarrelopen still, as if it had never been shut, and we shall hear enough aboutit. 

[Footnote 1: Frederick the Great]

Friedrich Wilhelm's first actual appearance in War, Polish-Swedish War(1655-1660), was involuntary in the highest degree; forced upon him for thesake of his Preussen, which bade fair to be lost or ruined without blame ofhis or its. Nevertheless, here too he made his benefit of the affair. Thebig King of Sweden had a standing quarrel, with his big cousin of Poland, which broke out into hot War; little Preussen lay between them, andwas like to be crushed in the collision. Swedish King was Karl Gustav, Christina's Cousin, Charles XII's Grandfather: a great and mighty man, lionof the North in his time; Polish King was one John Casimir; chivalrousenough, and with clouds of forward Polish chivalry about him, glitteringwith barbaric gold. Friedrich III, Danish King for the first time being, healso was much involved in the thing. Fain would Friedrich Wilhelm have keptout of it, but he could not. Karl Gustav as good as forced him to join; hejoined; fought along with Karl Gustav an illustrious Battle, "Battle ofWarsaw, " three days long (July 28-30, 1656), on the skirts of Warsaw;crowds "looking from the upper windows" there; Polish chivalry, broken atlast, going like chaff upon the winds, and John Casimir nearly ruined. 

Shortly after which, Friedrich Wilhelm, who had shone much in the Battle, changed sides. An inconsistent, treacherous man? Perhaps not, O reader;perhaps a man advancing "in circuits, " the only way he has; spirally, facenow to east, now to west, with his own reasonable private aim sun-clear tohimself all the while. 

John Casimir agreed to give up the "Homage of Preussen" for this service; agrand prize for Friedrich Wilhelm. What the Teutsch Ritters strove for invain, and lost their existence in striving for, the shifty Kurfuerst hasnow got: Ducal Prussia, which is also called East Prussia, is now a freesovereignty, and will become as "Royal" as the other Polish part, orperhaps even more so, in the course of time--Karl Gustav, in a high frameof mind, informs the Kurfuerst that he has him on his books, and will paythe debt one day. 

A dangerous debtor in such matters, this Karl Gustav. In these same months, busy with the Danish part of the Controversy, he was doing a feat of warwhich set all Europe in astonishment. In January, 1658, Karl Gustav marcheshis Army, horse, foot, and artillery, to the extent of Twenty thousand, across the Baltic ice, and takes an island without shipping--Island ofFuenen, across the Little Belt--three miles of ice, and a part of the sea_open_, which has to be crossed on planks; nay, forward from Fuenen, whenonce there, he achieves ten whole miles more of ice, and takes Zealanditself, to the wonder of all mankind: an imperious, stern-browed, swift-striking man, who had dreamed of a new Goth Empire: the meanHypocrites and Fribbles of the South to be coerced again by noble Norsevalor, and taught a new lesson; has been known to lay his hand on hissword while apprising an Embassador (Dutch High Mightiness) what his royalintentions were: "not the sale or purchase of groceries, observe you, Sir!My aims go higher. " Charles XII's Grandfather, and somewhat the same typeof man. 

But Karl died short while after; left his big, wide-raging NorthernControversy to collapse in what way it could. Sweden and the fightingparties made their "Peace of Oliva" (Abbey of Oliva, near Dantzig, May 1, 1660), and this of Preussen was ratified, in all form, among other points. No Homage more; nothing now above Ducal Prussia but the Heavens, and greattimes coming for it. This was one of the successfulest strokes of businessever done by Friedrich Wilhelm, who had been forced, by sheer compulsion, to embark in that big game. "Royal Prussia, " the Western _Polish_Prussia--this too, as all Newspapers know, has in our times gone the sameroad as the other, which probably after all, it may have had in Nature, some tendency to do? Cut away, for reasons, by the Polish sword, in thatBattle of Tannenberg, long since, and then, also for reasons, cut backagain: that is the fact, not unexampled in human History. 

Old Johann Casimir, not long after that Peace of Oliva, getting tired ofhis unruly Polish chivalry and their ways, abdicated, retired to Paris, and "lived much with Ninon de l'Enclos and her circle" for the rest of hislife. He used to complain of his Polish chivalry that there was no solidityin them, nothing but outside glitter, with tumult and anarchic noise; fatalwant of one essential talent, the talent of Obeying; and has been heard toprophesy that a glorious Republic, persisting in such courses, would arriveat results which would surprise it. 

Onward from this time Friedrich Wilhelm figures in the world, public menwatching his procedure, Kings anxious to secure him, Dutch Printsellerssticking up his Portraits for a hero-worshipping Public. Fighting hero, had the Public known it, was not his essential character, though he hadto fight a great deal. He was essentially an Industrial man; great inorganizing, regulating, in constraining chaotic heaps to become cosmic forhim. He drains bogs, settles colonies in the waste places of his Dominions, cuts canals; unweariedly encourages trade and work. The Friedrich-Wilhelm'sCanal, which still carries tonnage from the Oder to the Spree, is amonument of his zeal in this way; creditable, with the means he had. Tothe poor French Protestants in the Edict-of-Nantes Affair, he was like anempress Benefit of Heaven: one Helper appointed, to whom the help itselfwas profitable. He munificently welcomed them to Brandenburg; showed reallya noble piety and human self-pity, as well as judgment; nor did Brandenburgand he want their reward. Some twenty thousand nimble French souls, evidently of the best French quality, found a home there; made "waste sandsabout Berlin into pot-herb gardens"; and in the spiritual Brandenburg, too, did something of horticulture, which is still noticeable. 

Certainly this Elector was one of the shiftiest of men; not an unjust maneither; a pious, God-fearing man rather, stanch to his Protestantism andhis Bible; not unjust by any means, nor, on the other hand, by any meansthin-skinned in his interpretings of justice: Fairplay to myself always, oroccasionally even the Height of Fairplay. On the whole, by constant energy, vigilance, adroit activity, by an ever-ready insight and audacity to seizethe passing fact by its right handle, he fought his way well in the world;left Brandenburg a flourishing and greatly increased Country, and his ownname famous enough. 

A thickset, stalwart figure, with brisk eyes, and high, strong, irregularly-Roman nose. Good bronze Statue of him, by Schlueter, once afamed man, still rides on the _Lange-Bruecke_ (Long Bridge) at Berlin; andhis Portrait, in huge frizzled Louis-Quatorze wig, is frequently met within German Galleries. Collectors of Dutch Prints, too, know him; here agallant, eagle-featured little gentleman, brisk in the smiles of youth, with plumes, with truncheon, caprioling on his war-charger, view of tentsin the distance; there a sedate, ponderous wrinkly old man, eyes slightlypuckered (eyes _busier_ than mouth), a face well plowed by Time, and notfound unfruitful; one of the largest, most laborious potent faces (in anocean of circumambient periwig) to be met with in that Century. There aremany Histories about him, too, but they are not comfortable to read. Healso has wanted a sacred Poet, and found only a bewildering Dryasdust. 

His two grand Feats that dwell in the Prussian memory are perhaps noneof his greatest, but were of a kind to strike the imagination. They bothrelate to what was the central problem of his life--the recovery of Pommernfrom the Swedes. Exploit First is the famed Battle of Fehrbellin (Ferry ofBelleen), fought on June 18, 1675. Fehrbellin is an inconsiderable Townstill standing in those peaty regions, some five-and-thirty miles northwestof Berlin, and had for ages plied its poor Ferry over the oily-looking, brown sluggish stream called Rhin, or Rhein in those parts, without theleast notice from mankind till this fell out. It is a place of pilgrimageto patriotic Prussians ever since Friedrich Wilhelm's exploit there. Thematter went thus:

Friedrich Wilhelm was fighting, far south in Alsace, on Kaiser Leopold'sside, in the Louis XIV War--that second one, which ended in the Treaty ofNimwegen. Doing his best there, when the Swedes, egged on by Louis XIV, made war upon him; crossed the Pomeranian marshes, troop after troop, andinvaded his Brandenburg Territory with a force which at length amounted tosixteen thousand men. No help for the moment; Friedrich Wilhelm could notbe spared from his post. The Swedes, who had at first professed well, gradually went into plunder, roving, harrying at their own will; and amelancholy time they made of it for Friedrich Wilhelm and his People. Luckyif temporary harm were all the ill they were likely to do; lucky if----He stood steady, however; in his solid manner finishing the thing in handfirst, since that was feasible. He then even retired into winter-quartersto rest his men, and seemed to have left the Swedish sixteen thousandautocrats of the situation, who accordingly went storming about at a greatrate. 

Not so, however; very far, indeed, from so. Having rested his men forcertain months, Friedrich Wilhelm silently, in the first days of June, 1675, gets them under march again; marches his Cavalry and he as firstinstalment, with best speed from Schweinfurt, which is on the River Mayn, to Magdeburg, a distance of two hundred miles. At Magdeburg, where he reststhree days, waiting for the first handful of Foot and a field-piece or two, he learns that the Swedes are in three parties wide asunder, the middleparty of them within forty miles of him. Probably stronger, even thismiddle one, than his small body (of "Six thousand Horse, Twelve hundredFoot, and three guns")--stronger, but capable, perhaps, of being surprised, of being cut in pieces before the others can come up? Rathenau is thenearest skirt of this middle party: thither goes the Kurfuerst, softly, swiftly, in the June night (June 16-17, 1675); gets into Rathenau by briskstratagem; tumbles out the Swedish Horse regiment there, drives it backtoward Fehrbellin. 

He himself follows hard; swift riding enough in the summer night throughthose damp Havel lands, in the old Hohenzollern fashion; and, indeed, oldFreisack Castle, as it chances--Freisack, scene of Dietrich von Quitzow and_Lazy Peg_ long since--is close by. Follows hard, we say; strikes in uponthis midmost party (nearly twice his number, but Infantry for most part);and after fierce fight, done with good talent on both sides, cuts it intoutter ruin, as proposed; thereby he has left the Swedish Army as a merehead and tail without body; has entirely demolished the Swedish Army. Samefeat intrinsically as that done by Cromwell on Hamilton and the Scots in1648. It was, so to speak, the last visit Sweden paid to Brandenburg, orthe last of any consequence, and ended the domination of the Swedes inthose quarters--a thing justly to be forever remembered by Brandenburg; ona smallish modern scale, the Bannockburn, Sempach, Marathon of Brandenburg. 

Exploit Second was four years later--in some sort a corollary to this, anda winding up of the Swedish business. The Swedes, in further prosecution oftheir Louis XIV speculation, had invaded Preussen this time, and were doingsad havoc there. It was in the dead of winter--Christmas, 1678--more thanfour hundred miles off; and the Swedes, to say nothing of their own havoc, were in a case to take Koenigsberg, and ruin Prussia altogether, if notprevented. Friedrich Wilhelm starts from Berlin, with the opening Year, onhis long march; the Horse-troops first, Foot to follow at their swiftest;he himself (his Wife, his ever-true "Louisa, " accompanying, as her wontwas) travels toward the end, at the rate of "sixty miles a day. " He gets instill in time; finds Koenigsberg unscathed; nay, it is even said the Swedesare extensively falling sick, having after a long famine found infinite"pigs near Insterburg, " in those remote regions, and indulged in the freshpork overmuch. 

I will not describe the subsequent manoeuvres, which would interest nobody;enough if I say that on January 16, 1679, it had become of the highestmoment for Friedrich Wilhelm to get from Carwe (Village near Elbing), onthe shore of the _Frische Haf_, where he was, through Koenigsberg, toGilge on the _Curische Haf_, where the Swedes are, in a minimum of time. Distance, as the crow flies, is about a hundred miles; road, which skirtsthe two _Hafs_ (wide shallow _Washes_, as we should name them), is of roughquality and naturally circuitous. It is ringing frost to-day, and for daysback. Friedrich Wilhelm hastily gathers all the sledges, all the horses ofthe district; mounts Four thousand men in sledges; starts with speed oflight, in that fashion; scours along all day, and after the intervening bitof land, again along, awakening the ice-bound silences. Gloomy _FrischeHaf_, wrapped in its Winter cloud-coverlids, with its wastes of tumbledsand, its poor frost-bound fishing-hamlets, pine hillocks--desolate-looking, stern as Greenland, or more so, says Busching, who travelledthere in winter-time--hears unexpected human voices, and huge grinding andtrampling; the Four thousand, in long fleet of sledges, scouring across itin that manner. All day they rush along--out of the rimy hazes of morninginto the olive-colored clouds of evening again--with huge, loud-grindingrumble, and do arrive in time at Gilge. A notable streak of things, shooting across those frozen solitudes in the New Year, 1679; little shortof Karl Gustav's feat, which we heard of in the other or Danish end of theBaltic, twenty years ago, when he took islands without ships. 

This Second Exploit--suggested or not by that prior one of Karl Gustav onthe ice--is still a thing to be remembered by Hohenzollerns and Prussians. The Swedes were beaten here on Friedrich Wilhelm's rapid arrival; weredriven into disastrous, rapid retreat Northward, which they executed inhunger and cold, fighting continually, like Northern bears, under the grimsky, Friedrich Wilhelm sticking to their skirts, holding by their tail, like an angry bear-ward with steel whip in his hand; a thing which, on thesmall scale, reminds one of Napoleon's experiences. Not till Napoleon'shuge fighting-flight, a Hundred and thirty-four years after, did I read ofsuch a transaction in those parts. The Swedish invasion of Preussen hasgone utterly to ruin. 

And this, then, is the end of Sweden, and its bad neighborhood on theseshores, where it has tyrannously sat on our skirts so long? SwedishPommern; the Elector already had: last year, coming toward it ever sincethe Exploit of Fehrbellin, he had invaded Swedish Pommern; had besiegedand taken Stettin, nay Stralsund too, where Wallenstein had failed;cleared Pommern altogether of its Swedish guests, who had tried next inPreussen, with what luck we see. Of Swedish Pommern the Elector might nowsay, "Surely it is mine; again mine, as it long was; well won a secondtime, since the first would not do. " But no; Louis XIV proved a gentlemanto his Swedes. Louis, now that the Peace of Nimwegen had come, and onlythe Elector of Brandenburg was still in harness, said steadily, thoughanxious enough to keep well with the Elector, "They are my allies, theseSwedes; it was on my bidding they invaded you: can I leave them in such apass? It must not be. " So Pommern had to be given back: a miss which wasinfinitely grievous to Friedrich Wilhelm. The most victorious Electorcannot hit always, were his right never so good. 

Another miss which he had to put up with, in spite of his rights and hisgood services, was that of the Silesian Duchies. The Heritage-Fraternitywith Liegnitz had at length, in 1675, come to fruit. The last Dukeof Liegnitz was dead: Duchies of Liegnitz, of Brieg, Wohlau, areBrandenburg's, if there were right done; but Kaiser Leopold in the scarletstockings will not hear of Heritage-Fraternity. "Nonsense!" answers KaiserLeopold: "a thing suppressed at once, ages ago by Imperial power; flat_zero_ of a thing at this time; and you, I again bid you, return me yourPapers upon it. " This latter act of duty Friedrich Wilhelm would not do, but continued insisting: "Jagerndorf, at least, O Kaiser of the world, "said he, "Jagerndorf, there is no color for your keeping that!" To whichthe Kaiser again answers, "Nonsense!" and even falls upon astonishingschemes about it, as we shall see, but gives nothing. Ducal Preussenis sovereign, Cleve is at peace, Hinter-Pommern ours; this Elector hasconquered much, but Silesia, and Vor-Pommern, and some other things he willhave to do without. Louis XIV, it is thought, once offered to get him madeKing, but that he declined for the present. 

His married and domestic life is very fine and human, especially with thatOranien-Nassau Princess, who was his first Wife (1646-1667) Princess Louisaof Nassau-Orange, Aunt to our own Dutch William, King William III, in timecoming: an excellent, wise Princess, from whom came the Orange Heritages, which afterward proved difficult to settle. Orange was at last exchangedfor the small Principality of Neufchatel in Switzerland, which is Prussia'sever since. "Oranienburg (_Orange-Burg)_" a Royal Country-house, stillstanding, some Twenty miles northward from Berlin, was this Louisa's place:she had trimmed it up into a little jewel of the Dutch type--pot-herbgardens, training-schools for girls, and the like--a favorite abode of herswhen she was at liberty for recreation. But her life was busy and earnest;she was helpmate, not in name only, to an ever-busy man. They were marriedyoung, a marriage of love withal. Young Friedrich Wilhelm's courtship, wedding in Holland; the honest trustful walk and conversation of the twoSovereign Spouses, their journeyings together, their mutual hopes, fears, and manifold vicissitudes, till Death, with stern beauty, shut it in: allis human, true, and wholesome in it; interesting to look upon, and rareamong sovereign persons. 

Not but that he had his troubles with his womankind. Even with this hisfirst Wife, whom he loved truly, and who truly loved him, there werescenes--the Lady having a judgment of her own about everything that passed, and the man being choleric withal. Sometimes, I have heard, "he would dashhis hat at her feet, " saying symbolically, "Govern you, then, Madam! Notthe Kurfuerst Hat; a Coif is my wear, it seems!" Yet her judgment was good, and he liked to have it on the weightiest things, though her powers ofsilence might halt now and then. He has been known, on occasions, torun from his Privy Council to her apartment, while a complex matter wasdebating, to ask her opinion, hers, too, before it was decided. ExcellentLouisa, Princess full of beautiful piety, good sense, and affection--atouch of the Nassau-Heroic in her. At the moment of her death, it is said, when speech had fled, he felt from her hand which lay in his, three slight, slight pressures: "Farewell!" thrice mutely spoken in that manner, not easyto forget in this world. 

His second Wife, Dorothea, who planted the Lindens in Berlin, and did otherhusbandries, fell far short of Louisa in many things, but not in tendencyto advise, to remonstrate, and plaintively reflect on the finished andunalterable. Dreadfully thrifty lady, moreover; did much in dairy produce, farming of town-rates, provision-taxes, not to speak again of that Tavernshe was thought to have in Berlin, and to draw custom to it in an obliquemanner! "Ah! I have not my Louisa now; to whom now shall I run for adviceor help?" would the poor Kurfuerst at times exclaim. 

He had some trouble, considerable trouble, now and then, with mutinousspirits in Preussen; men standing on antique Prussian franchises andparchments, refusing to see that the same were now antiquated incompatible, nor to say impossible, as the new Sovereign alleged, and carryingthemselves very stiffly at times. But the Hohenzollerns had been usedto such things; a Hohenzollern like this one would evidently take hismeasures, soft but strong, and even stronger to the needful pitch, withmutinous spirits. One Buergermeister of Koenigsberg, after much strokingon the back, was at length seized in open Hall by Electoral writ, soldiershaving first gently barricaded the principal streets, and brought cannon tobear upon them. This Buergermeister, seized in such brief way, lay prisonerfor life, refusing to ask his liberty, though it was thought he might havehad it on asking. 

Another gentleman, a Baron von Kalkstein, of old Teutsch-Ritter kin, ofvery high ways, in the Provincial Estates _(Staende)_ and elsewhere, gotinto lofty, almost solitary, opposition, and at length, into mutiny proper, against the new "Non-Polish" Sovereign, and flatly refused to do homage athis accession--refused, Kalkstein did, for his share; fled to Warsaw; andvery fiercely, in a loud manner, carried out his mutinies in the Diets andCourt Conclaves there, his plea being, or plea for the time, "Poland is ourliege lord" (which it was not always), "and we cannot be transferred toyou except by our consent asked and given, " which, too, had been a littleneglected on the former occasion of transfer; so that the Great Electorknew not what to do with Kalkstein, and at length (as the case waspressing) had him kidnapped by his Embassador at Warsaw; had him "rolled ina carpet" there, and carried swiftly in the Embassador's coach, in theform of luggage, over the frontier, into his native Province, there to bejudged, and, in the end (since nothing else would serve him), to have thesentence executed, and his head cut off; for the case was pressing. Thesethings, especially this of Kalkstein, with a boisterous Polish Diet andparliamentary eloquence in the rear of him, gave rise to criticisms, andrequired management on the part of the Great Elector. 

Of all his ancestors, our little Fritz, when he grew big, admired thisone--a man made like himself in many points. He seems really to have lovedand honored this one. In the year 1750 there had been a new Cathedral gotfinished at Berlin; the ancestral bones had to be shifted over from thevaults of the old one--the burying-place ever since Joachim II, thatJoachim who drew his sword on Alba. King Friedrich, with some attendants, witnessed the operation, January, 1750. When the Great Kurfuerst's coffincame, he bade them open it; gazed in silence on the features for some time, which were perfectly recognizable; laid his hand on the hand long dead, andsaid, "_Messieurs, celui ci a fait de grandes choses_!" ("This one did agrand work"). 

%WILLIAM PENN RECEIVES THE GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA%

FOUNDING OF PHILADELPHIA

A. D. 1681

GEORGE E. ELLIS

Although European settlers had occupied portions of the present State ofPennsylvania for fifty years before William Penn arrived in that territory, the real foundation of the great commonwealth named after him is justlydated from his time. 

Penn was an English "Friend, " or Quaker, and was descended from a long lineof sailors. He was born in London in 1644, his father being AdmiralSir William Penn of the English navy. The son was educated at OxfordUniversity, and became a preacher of the Society of Friends. This callingbrought him into collision with the authorities. He was several timesarrested, and for a while was imprisoned in the Tower for "urging the causeof freedom with importunity. "

Through the influence of his family and the growing weight of his owncharacter, he escaped the heavier penalties inflicted upon some of hiscoreligionists, and, by the shrewdness and tact which he united withspiritual fervor, he rapidly advanced in public position. 

In 1675 Penn became part proprietor of West New Jersey, where a colony ofEnglish Friends was settled. Five years later, through his influence atcourt and the aid of wealthy persons, he was enabled to purchase a largetract in East New Jersey, where he designed to establish a similar colonyon a larger plan. But this project was soon superseded by a much greaterone, of which the execution is here related. 

The interest of William Penn having been engaged for some time in thecolonization of an American province, and the idea having become familiarto his mind of establishing there a Christian home as a refuge for Friends, and the scene for a fair trial of their principles, he availed himself ofmany favorable circumstances to become a proprietary himself. In variousnegotiations concerning New Jersey he had had a conspicuous share, and theinformation which his inquiring mind gathered from the adventures in theNew World gave him all the knowledge which was requisite for his furtherproceedings. Though he had personal enemies in high places, and the projectwhich he designed crossed the interests of the Duke of York[1] and of LordBaltimore, yet his court influence was extensive, and he knew how to useit. 

[Footnote 1: Afterward James II. He was proprietor of New York, and LordBaltimore of Maryland. ]

The favor of Charles II and of his brother the Duke of York had been soughtby Penn's dying father for his son, and freely promised. But William Pennhad a claim more substantial than a royal promise of those days. Thecrown was indebted to the estate of Admiral Penn for services, loans, andinterest, to the amount of sixteen thousand pounds. The exchequer, underthe convenient management of Shaftesbury, would not meet the claim. Penn, who was engaged in settling the estate of his father, petitioned the King, in June, 1680, for a grant of land in America as a payment for all thesedebts. 

The request was laid before the privy council, and then before thecommittee of trade and plantations. Penn's success must have been owingto great interest made on his behalf; for both the Duke of York, by hisattorney, and Lord Baltimore opposed him. As proprietors of territorybounding on the tract which he asked for, and as having been alreadyannoyed by the conflict of charters granted in the New World, they werenaturally unfairly biassed. The application made to the King succeededafter much debate. The provisions in the charter of Lord Baltimore wereadopted by Penn with slight alterations. Sir William Jones objected to oneof the provisions, which allowed a freedom from taxation, and the Bishop ofLondon, as the ecclesiastical supervisor of plantations, proposed anotherprovision, to prevent too great liberty in religious matters. Chief JusticeNorth having reduced the patent to a satisfactory form, to guard the King'sprerogative and the powers of Parliament, it was signed by writ of privyseal at Westminster, March 4, 1681. It made Penn the owner of about fortythousand square miles of territory. 

This charter is given at length by Proud and other writers. The preamblestates that the design of William Penn was to enlarge the British empireand to civilize and convert the savages. The first section avers that hispetition was granted on account of the good purposes of the son and themerits and services of the father. The bounds of the territory are thusdefined: "All that tract or part of land, in America, with the islandstherein contained, as the same is bounded on the east by Delaware River, from twelve miles distance northward of New Castle town, unto thethree-and-fortieth degree of northern latitude, if the said river dothextend so far northward; but if the said river shall not extend so farnorthward, then, by the said river, so far as it doth extend; and fromthe head of the said river, the eastern bounds are to be determined by ameridian line to be drawn from the head of the said river, unto the saidforty-third degree. The said land to extend westward five degrees inlongitude to be computed from the said eastern bounds; and the said landsto be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three-and-fortiethdegree of northern latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn at twelvemiles' distance from New Castle, northward and westward, unto the beginningof the fortieth degree of northern latitude; and then by a straight linewestward to the limits of longitude above mentioned. "

Though these boundaries appear to be given with definiteness and precision, a controversy, notwithstanding, arose at once between Penn and LordBaltimore, which outlasted the lives of both of them, and, being continuedby their representatives, was not in fact closed until the RevolutionaryWar. 

The charter vested the perpetual proprietaryship of this territory inWilliam Penn and his heirs, on the fealty of the annual payment of twobeaver-skins; it authorized him to make and execute laws not repugnantto those of England, to appoint judges, to receive those who wished totransport themselves, _to establish a military force_, to constitutemunicipalities, and to carry on a free commerce. It required that an agentof the proprietor should reside in or near London, and provided for therights of the Church of England. The charter also disclaimed all taxation, except through the proprietor, the governor, the assembly, or Parliament, and covenanted that if any question of arms or conditions should ariseit should be decided in favor of the proprietor. By a declaration tothe inhabitants and planters of Pennsylvania, dated April 2d, the Kingconfirmed the charter, to ratify it for all who might intend to emigrateunder it, and to require compliance from all whom it concerned. 

By a letter from Penn to his friend Robert Turner, written upon the day onwhich the charter was signed, we learn that the proprietor designed to callhis territory "New Wales"; but the under-secretary, a Welshman, opposed it. Penn then suggested "Sylvania, " as applicable to the forest region; but thesecretary, acting under instructions, prefixed "Penn" to this title. Themodest and humble Quaker offered the official twenty guineas as a bribeto leave off his name. Failing again, he went to the King and stated hisobjection; but the King said he would take the naming upon himself, andinsisted upon it as doing honor to the old admiral. 

Penn now resigned the charge of West New Jersey, and devoted himself to thepreliminary tasks which should make his province available to himself andothers. He sent over, in May, his cousin and secretary, Colonel WilliamMarkham, then only twenty-one years old, to make such arrangements forhis own coming as might be necessary. This gentleman, who acted as Penn'sdeputy, carried over from him a letter, dated London, April 8, 1681, addressed "For the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania; to be read by my Deputy. "This was a courteous announcement of his proprietaryship and intentionsto the Dutch, Swedes, and English, who, to the number, probably, of aboutthree thousand, were then living within his patent. 

Penn's object being to obtain adventurers and settlers at once, hepublished _Some Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, in America, latelygranted, under the Great Seal of England, to William Penn_. This wasaccompanied by a copy of the charter and a statement of the terms on whichthe land was to be sold, with judicious advice addressed to those who weredisposed to transport themselves, warning them against mere fancy dreams, or the desertion of friends, and encouraging them by all reasonableexpectations of success. 

The terms of sale were, for a hundred acres of land, forty shillingspurchase money, and one shilling as an annual quit-rent. This latterstipulation, made in perfect fairness, not unreasonable in itself, andratified by all who of their own accord acceded to it, was, as we shallsee, an immediate cause of disaffection, and has ever since been thebasis of a calumny against the honored and most estimable founder ofPennsylvania. 

Under date of July 11, 1681, Penn published _Certain Conditions orConcessions to be agreed upon by William Penn, Proprietary and Governorof the Province of Pennsylvania, and those who may become Adventurers andPurchasers in the same Province_. These conditions relate to dividing, planting, and building upon the land, saving mulberry-and oak-trees, anddealing with the Indians. These documents were circulated, and impartedsufficient knowledge of the country and its produce, so that purchasers atonce appeared, and Penn went to Bristol to organize there a company called"The Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania, " who purchased twentythousand acres of land, and prepared to establish various trades in theprovince. 

Yet further to mature his plans, and to begin with a fair understandingamong all who might be concerned in the enterprise, Penn drew up andsubmitted a sketch of the frame of government, providing for alterations, with a preamble for liberty of conscience. On the basis of contracts andagreements thus made and mutually ratified, three passenger ships, two fromLondon and one from Bristol, sailed for Pennsylvania in September, 1681. One of them made an expeditious passage; another was frozen up in theDelaware; and the third, driven to the West Indies, was long delayed. Theytook over some of the ornamental work of a house for the proprietor. 

The Governor also sent over three commissioners, whose instructions welearn from the original document addressed to them by Penn, dated September30, 1681. These commissioners were William Crispin, John Bezar, andNathaniel Allen. Their duty was that of "settling the colony. " Penn refersthem to his cousin Markham, "now on the spot. " He instructs them to takegood care of the people; to guard them from extortionate prices forcommodities from the earlier inhabitants; to select a site by the river, and there to lay out a town; to have his letter to the Indians read to themin their own tongue; to make them presents from him--adding, "Be grave;they love not to be smiled upon"--and to enter into a league of amity withthem. Penn also instructs the commissioners to select a site for his ownoccupancy, and closes with some good advice in behalf of order and virtue. 

These commissioners probably did not sail until the latter part of October, as they took with them the letter to the Indians, to which Penn refers. This letter, bearing the date October 18, 1681, is a beautiful expressionof feeling on the part of the proprietor. He does not address the Indiansas heathen, but as his brethren, the children of the one Father. Heannounces to them his accession, as far as a royal title could legitimateit, to a government in their country; he distinguishes between himself andthose who had ill treated the Indians, and pledges his love and service. 

About this time William Penn was elected a fellow of the Royal Society inLondon, probably by nomination of his friend, Dr. John Wallis, one of itsfounders, and with the hope that his connection with the New World wouldenable him to advance its objects. 

With a caution, which the experience of former purchases renderedessential, Penn obtained of the Duke of York a release of all his claimswithin the patent. His royal highness executed a quitclaim to WilliamPenn and his heirs on August 21, 1682. The Duke had executed, in March, a ratification of his two former grants of East Jersey. But a certainfatality seemed to attend upon these transfers of ducal possessions. Aftervarious conflicts and controversies long continued, we may add, though byanticipation, that the proprietaryship of both the Jerseys was abandoned, and they were surrendered to the crown under Queen Anne, in April, 1702. 

Penn also obtained of the Duke of York another tract of land adjoining hispatent. This region, afterward called the "Territories, " and the three"Lower Counties, " now Delaware, had been successively held by the Swedesand Dutch, and by the English at New York. The Duke confirmed it to WilliamPenn, by two deeds, dated August 24, 1682. 

The last care on the mind of William Penn, before his embarkation, was toprepare proper counsel and instruction for his wife and children. This hedid in the form of a letter written at Worminghurst, August 4, 1682. Heknew not that he should ever see them again, and his heart poured forth tothem the most touching utterances of affection. But it was not the heartalone which indited the epistle. It expressed the wisest counsels ofprudence and discretion. All the important letters written by Penn containa singular union of spiritual and worldly wisdom. Indeed, he thought thesetwo ingredients to be but one element. He urged economy, filial love, purity, and industry, as well as piety, upon his children. He favored, though he did not insist upon, their receiving his religious views. We mayexpress a passing regret that he who could give such advice to his childrenshould not have had the joy to leave behind him anyone who could meet thenot inordinate wish of his heart. 

In the mean while his deputy, Markham, acting by his instructions, wasproviding him a new home by purchasing for him, of the Indians, a pieceof land, the deed of which is dated July 15th, and endorsed with aconfirmation, August 1st, and by commencing upon it the erection which wasafterward known as Pennsbury Manor. 

All his arrangements being completed, William Penn, at the age ofthirty-eight, well, strong, and hopeful of the best results, embarkedfor his colony, on board the ship Welcome, of three hundred tons, RobertGreenaway master, on the last of August, 1682. While in the Downs he wrotea _Farewell Letter to Friends, the Unfaithful and Inquiring_, in his nativeland, dated August 30th, and probably many private letters. He had aboutone hundred fellow-passengers, mostly Friends from his own neighborhood inSussex. The vessel sailed about September 1st, and almost immediately thesmall-pox, that desolating scourge of the passenger-ships of those days, appeared among the passengers, and thirty fell victims to it. The trialsof that voyage, told to illustrate the Christian spirit which submissivelyencountered them, were long repeated from father to son and from mother todaughter. 

In about six weeks the ship entered the Delaware River. The old inhabitantsalong the shores, which had been settled by the whites for about half acentury, received Penn with equal respect and joy. He arrived at New Castleon October 27th. The day was not commemorated by annual observances untilthe year 1824, when a meeting for that purpose was held at an inn, inLaetitia court, where Penn had resided. While the ship and its company wentup the river, the proprietor, on the next day, called the inhabitants, who were principally Dutch and Swedes, to the court-house, where, afteraddressing them, he assumed and received the formal possession of thecountry. He renewed the commissions of the old magistrates, who urged himto unite the Territories to his government. 

After a visit of ceremony to the authorities at New York and Long Island, with a passing token to his friends in New Jersey, Penn went to Upland tohold the first Assembly, which opened on December 4th. Nicholas Moore, anEnglish lawyer, and president of the Free Society of Traders, was madespeaker. After three days' peaceful debate, the Assembly ratified, withmodifications, the laws made in England, with about a score of new ones ofa local, moral, or religious character, in which not only the drinking ofhealths, but the talking of scandal, was forbidden. By suggestion of hisfriend and fellow-voyager, Pearson, who came from Chester, in England, Pennsubstituted that name for Upland. By an act of union, passed on December7th, the three Lower Counties, or the Territories, were joined in thegovernment, and the foreigners were naturalized at their own request. 

On his arrival Penn had sent two messengers to Charles Calvert, LordBaltimore, to propose a meeting and conference with him about theirboundaries. On December 19th they met at West River with courtesy andkindness; but after three days they concluded to wait for the morepropitious weather of the coming year. Penn, on his way back, attended areligious meeting at a private house, and afterward an official meeting atChoptank, on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, and reached Chester againby December 29th, where much business engaged him. About twenty-three shipshad arrived by the close of the year; none of them met with disaster, and all had fair passages. The new-comers found a comparatively easysustenance. Provisions were obtained at a cheap rate of the Indians and ofthe older settlers. But great hardships were endured by some, and specialprovidences are commemorated. Many found their first shelter in cavesscooped out in the steep bank of the river. When these caves were desertedby their first occupants, the poor or the vicious made them a refuge; andone of the earliest signs both of prosperity and of corruption, in thecolony, is disclosed in the mention that these rude coverts of the firstdevoted emigrants soon became tippling-houses and nuisances in the misuseof the depraved. 

There has been much discussion of late years concerning the far-famedTreaty of Penn with the Indians. A circumstance, which has all the interestboth of fact and of poetry, was confirmed by such unbroken testimony oftradition that history seemed to have innumerable records of it in thehearts and memories of each generation. But as there appears no documentor parchment of such _criteria_ as to satisfy all inquiries, historicalscepticism has ventured upon the absurd length of calling in questionthe fact of the treaty. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, withcommendable zeal, has bestowed much labor upon the questions connected withthe treaty, and the results which have been attained can scarcely fail tosatisfy a candid inquirer. All claim to a peculiar distinction for WilliamPenn, on account of the singularity of his just proceedings in this matteris candidly waived, because the Swedes, the Dutch, and the English hadpreviously dealt thus justly with the natives. It is in comparison withPizarro and Cortes that the colonists of all other nations in Americaappear to an advantage; but the fame of William Penn stands, and ever willstand, preeminent for unexceptionable justice and peace in his relationswith the natives. 

Penn had several meetings for conference and treaties with the Indians, besides those which he held for the purchase of lands. But unbroken andreverently cherished tradition, beyond all possibility of contradiction, has designated one great treaty held under a large elm-tree, at Shackamaxon(now Kensington), a treaty which Voltaire justly characterizes as "neversworn to, and never broken. " In Penn's _Letter to the Free Society ofTraders, _ dated August 16, 1683, he refers to his conferences with theIndians. Two deeds, conveying land to him, are on record, both of whichbear an earlier date than this letter; namely, June 23d and July 14th ofthe same year. He had designed to make a purchase in May; but having beencalled off to a conference with Lord Baltimore, he postponed the businesstill June. The "Great Treaty" was doubtless unconnected with the purchaseof land, and was simply a treaty of amity and friendship, in confirmationof one previously held, by Penn's direction, by Markham, on the same spot;that being a place which the Indians were wont to use for this purpose. Itis probable that the treaty was held on the last of November, 1682; thatthe Delawares, the Mingos, and other Susquehanna tribes formed a largeassembly on the occasion; that written minutes of the conference were made, and were in possession of Governor Gordon, who states nine conditions asbelonging to them in 1728, but are now lost; and that the substance of thetreaty is given in Penn's _Letter to the Free Traders_. These resultsare satisfactory, and are sufficiently corroborated by known facts anddocuments. The Great Treaty, being distinct from a land purchase, issignificantly distinguished in history and tradition. 

The inventions of romance and imagination could scarcely gather round thisengaging incident attractions surpassing in its own simple and impressiveinterest. Doubtless Clarkson has given a fair representation of it, if wemerely disconnect from his account the statement that the Indians werearmed, and all that confounds the treaty of friendship with the purchaseof lands. Penn wore a sky-blue sash of silk around his waist, as the mostsimple badge. The pledges there given were to hold their sanctity "whilethe creeks and rivers run, and while the sun, moon, and stars endure. "

While the whites preserved in written records the memory of such covenants, the Indians had their methods for perpetuating in safe channels theirown relations. They cherished in grateful regard, they repeated to theirchildren and to the whites, the terms of the Great Treaty. The Delawarescalled William Penn _Miquon_, in their own language, though they seem tohave adopted the name given him by the Iroquois, _Onas_; both which termssignify a quill or pen. Benjamin West's picture of the treaty is tooimaginative for a historical piece. He makes Penn of a figure and aspectwhich would become twice the years that had passed over his head. Theelm-tree was spared in the war of the American Revolution, when therewas distress for firewood, the British officer, Simcoe, having placed asentinel beneath it for protection. It was prostrated by the wind on thenight of Saturday, March 3, 1810. It was of gigantic size, and the circlesaround its heart indicated an age of nearly three centuries. A piece ofit was sent to the Penn mansion at Stoke Poges, in England, where it isproperly commemorated. A marble monument, with suitable inscriptions, was"placed by the Penn Society, A. D. 1827, to mark the site of the Great ElmTree. " Long may it stand!

Penn then made a visit to his manor of Pennsbury, up the Delaware. UnderMarkham's care, the grounds had been arranged, and a stately edifice ofbrick was in process of completion. The place had many natural beauties, and is said to have been arranged and decorated in consistency both withthe office and the simple manners of the proprietor. There was a hallof audience for Indian embassies within, and luxurious gardens without. Hospitality had here a wide range, and Penn evidently designed it for apermanent abode. 

With the help of his surveyor, Thomas Holme, he laid out the plan of hisnow beautiful city, and gave it its name of Christian signification, thatbrotherly love might pervade its dwellings. He purchased the land, wherethe city stands, of the Swedes who already occupied it, and who purchasedit of the Indians, though it would seem that a subsequent purchase was madeof the natives of the same site with adjacent territory some time afterwardby Thomas Holme, acting as president of the council, while Penn was inEngland. The Schuylkill and the Delaware rivers gave to the site eminentattractions. The plan was very simple, the streets running north and southbeing designated by numbers, those running east and west by the names oftrees. Provision was made for large squares to be left open, and for commonwater privileges. The building was commenced at once, and was carried onwith great zeal and continued success. 

%LAST TURKISH INVASION OF EUROPE%

SOBIESKI SAVES VIENNA

A. D. 1683

SUTHERLAND MENZIES

After the defeat of the Turks at Lepanto, in 1571, the Ottoman power inEurope slowly declined. But under the Sultan Mahomet IV the old Moslemambition for European conquest reawoke, as if for a final effort. And suchit proved to be. By the disaster before Vienna, in which John Sobieski, King of Poland, once more saved Europe from their incursions, the Turkswere driven back within their own confines, where they have since, for themost part, remained, making many wars, but no successful inroads, uponEuropean powers. 

In 1682 the Hungarian magnates, who were resisting the oppression andpersecution of their people by the Austrian Government, called upon theTurks for assistance. Listening to the proposals of Tekeli, the Hungarianleader, who had secured the aid of Louis XIV of France, Mahomet IV decidedto break the truce he had made with Austria in 1665. In vain the EmperorLeopold I sent an embassy to Constantinople to dissuade the Sultan from hispurpose. 

Early in the spring of 1683 Sultan Mahomet marched forth from his capitalwith a large army, which at Belgrad he transferred to the command of theGrand Vizier Kara Mustapha. Tekeli formed a junction with the Turks atEssek. In vain did Ibrahim, the experienced Pacha of Buda, endeavor topersuade Kara Mustapha first of all to subdue the surrounding country, andto postpone until the following year the attack upon Vienna; his advice wasscornfully rejected, and, indeed, the audacity of the Grand Vizier seemedjustified by the scant resistance he had met with. He talked of renewingthe conquests of Solyman: he assembled, it is said, seven hundred thousandmen, one hundred thousand horses, and one thousand two hundred guns--anarmy more powerful than any the Turks had set on foot since the capture ofConstantinople. All of which may be reduced to one hundred fifty thousandbarbarian troops without discipline, the last conquering army which thedegenerate race of the Osmanlis produced wherewith to invade Hungary. 

Hostilities commenced in March, 1683; for the Turks, who had not beenaccustomed to enter upon a campaign before the summer season, had beguntheir march that year before the end of winter. Some prompt and easysuccesses exalted the ambition of Kara Mustapha; and in spite of thecontrary advice of Tekeli, Ibrahim Pacha, and several other personages, he determined to besiege Vienna. He accordingly advanced direct upon thatcapital and encamped under its walls on July 14th. It was just at themoment that Louis XIV had captured Strasburg, and at which his armyappeared ready to cross the Rhine: all Europe was in alarm, believing thatan agreement existed between France and the Porte for the conquest anddismemberment of Germany. But it was not so. The Turks, without givingFrance any previous warning, had of themselves made their invasion ofHungary; Louis XIV was delighted at their success, but neverthelessdisposed, if it went too far, to check them, in order to play the part ofsaviour of Christendom. 

It was fortunate for the Emperor Leopold that he had upon the frontiers ofPoland an ally of indomitable courage in King John Sobieski, and that hefound the German princes loyal and prompt on this occasion, contrary totheir custom, in sending him succor. Moreover, in Duke Charles of Lorrainehe met with a skilful general to lead his army. Consternation and confusionprevailed, however, in Vienna, while the Emperor with his court fled toLinz. Many of the inhabitants followed him; but the rest, when thefirst moments of terror had passed, prepared for the defence, and thedilatoriness of the Turks, who amused themselves with pillaging theenvirons and neighboring _châteaux_, allowed the Duke of Lorraine to throwtwelve thousand men as a garrison into the city; then, as he was unablewith his slender force to bar the approach of the Turkish army, he keptaloof and waited for the King of Poland. 

Leopold solicited succor on all sides, and the Pope made an appeal to thepiety of the King of France. Louis XIV, on the contrary, was intriguingthroughout Europe in order that the Christian princes should not quit theirattitude of repose, and he only offered to the Diet of Ratisbon the aidof his arms on condition that it should recognize the recent usurpationsdecreed by the famous Chambers of Reunion, [1] and that it should elect hisson king of the Romans. He reckoned, if it should accept his offers, todetermine the Turks to retreat and to effect a peace which, by bringingthe imperial crown into his house, would have been the death-stroke forAustria. All these combinations miscarried through the devotedness of thePoles. 

[Footnote 1: The Chambers of Reunion were special courts established inFrance by Louis XIV (1680). These courts declared for the annexation toFrance of various territories along the eastern frontier. --ED. ]

When Leopold supplicated Sobieski to come to his aid, Louis XIV tried todivert him from it; he reassured him upon the projects of the Turks bya letter of the Sultan, he made him see his real enemies in Austria, Brandenburg, and that power of the North, which the Dutch gazettes hadbegun to call "His Russian Majesty"; he reminded him, in fine, that thehouse of Austria, saved by the French on the day of St. Gothard, hadtestified its gratitude to them by allowing the victors to die of hungerand by envenoming their difference with the Porte. But it was all useless;hatred of the infidels prevailed, and the Polish squadrons hurried to thedeliverance of Vienna. 

Count Rudiger de Starhemberg was made commandant of the city, and showedhimself alike bold and energetic in everything that could contribute to itsdefence. The Turkish camp encircled Vienna and its suburbs, spreading overthe country all round to the distance of six leagues. Two days afterward, Kara Mustapha opened the trenches, and his artillery battered the wallsin order to make a breach. Great efforts, moreover, were made in diggingmines, with the design of blowing up bastions or portions of the wall, sothat the city might be carried by assault, wherein the Turks hoped to findan immense booty. But the besieged made an obstinate defence, and repairedduring the night the damage done on the previous day. During sixty daysforty mines and ten counter-mines were exploded; the Turks deliveredeighteen assaults, the besieged made twenty-four sorties. Each inch ofground was only obtained by dint of a hard and long struggle, in which anequal stubbornness both in attack and defence was exhibited. 

The hottest fighting took place at the "Label" bastion, around which therewas not a foot of ground that had not been steeped in the blood of friendor foe. However, by degrees the Turks gained a few paces; at the end ofAugust they were lodged in the ditches of the city; and on September 4ththey sprung a mine under the "Bourg" bastion; one-half of the city wasshaken thereby, and a breach was rent in the bastion wide enough for anassault to be delivered, but the enemy was repulsed. Next day the Turksattacked it with renewed courage, but the valor of the besieged baffledthe assailants. On September 10th another mine was sprung under the samebastion, and the breach was so wide that a battalion might have enteredit abreast. The danger was extreme, for the garrison was exhaustedby fighting, sickness, and incessant labor. The Count de Starhembergdespatched courier after courier to the Duke of Lorraine for succor: "Thereis not a moment to be lost, Monseigneur, " he wrote, "not a moment;" andVienna, exhausted, saw not yet her liberators arrive. At length, on the14th, when the whole city was in a stupor in the immediate expectation ofan attack, a movement was observed in the enemy's camp which announced thatsuccor was at hand. At five o'clock in the afternoon the Christian army wasdescried surmounting the Hill of Kahlen, and it made its presence known bya salvo of artillery. John Sobieski had arrived at the head of a valiantarmy. The Electors of Saxony and of Bavaria with many princes, dukes, and margraves of Germany had brought with them fresh troops. Charles ofLorraine might then dare to march against the Moslems, although he had yetonly forty-six thousand men. 

The army of Sobieski reached Klosterenburg, Koenigstetten, St. André, the Valley of Hagen and Kirling, where it effected its junction with theAustrians and the Saxons who had arrived there in passing by Hoeflin. OnSunday, September 15th, in the earliest rays of a fine autumnal day, theholy priest Marco d'Aviano celebrated mass in the chapel of Kahlenberg, andthe King of Poland served him during the sacrifice. Afterward, Sobieskimade his son kneel down and dubbed him a knight in remembrance of the greatoccasion on which he was going to be present; then, turning toward hisofficers, he reminded them of the victory of Choczim, adding that thetriumph they were about to achieve under the walls of Vienna would not onlysave a city, but Christendom. Next morning the Christian army descended theHill of Kahlen in order of battle. A salvo of five cannon-shot gave thesignal for the fight. Sobieski commanded the right wing, the Duke ofLorraine the left, under whose orders served Prince Eugene of Savoy, thenaged nineteen. The Elector of Bavaria was in the centre. The village ofNaussdorf, situated upon the Danube, was attacked by the Saxon andimperial troops which formed the left wing, and carried after an obstinateresistance. Toward noon the King of Poland, having descended into theplain with the right wing, at the head of his Polish cavalry, attacked theinnumerable squadrons of Turkish horse. Flinging himself upon the enemy'scentre with all the fury of a hurricane, he spread confusion in theirranks; but his courage carried him too far; he was surrounded and was onthe point of being overwhelmed by numbers. Then, shouting for aid, theGerman cavalry, which had followed him, charged the enemy at full gallop, delivered the King, and soon put the Turks to flight on all sides. Theright wing had decided the victory; by seven o'clock in the evening thedeliverance of Vienna was achieved. The bodies of more than ten thousandinfidels strewed the field of battle. 

But all those combats were mere preludes to the great battle which mustdecide the fortune of the war. For the Turkish camp, with its thousands oftents, could still be seen spreading around as far as the eye couldreach, and its artillery continued to play upon the city. The victoriouscommander-in-chief was holding a council of war to decide whether to givebattle again on that same day, or wait till the morrow to give his troopsan interval of rest, when a messenger came with the announcement that theenemy appeared to be in full flight; and it proved to be the fact. A panichad seized the Turks, who fled in disorder, abandoning their camp andbaggage; and soon even those who were attacking the city were seen in fullflight with the rest of the army. 

The booty found in the Turkish camp was immense: three hundred pieces ofheavy artillery, five thousand tents, that of the Grand Vizier with all themilitary chests and the chancery. The treasures amounted to fifteen millioncrowns; the tent of the Vizier alone yielded four hundred thousand crowns. Two millions also were found in the military chest; arms studded withprecious stones, the equipments of Kara Mustapha, fell into the hands ofthe victors. In their flight the Mussulmans threw away arms, baggage, andbanners, with the exception of the holy standard of the Prophet, which, nevertheless, the imperials pretended to have seized. The King of Polandreceived for his share four million florins; and in a letter to hiswife--the sole delight of his soul, his dear and well-beloved Mariette--hespeaks of that booty and of the happiness of having delivered Vienna. "Allthe enemy's camp, " he wrote, "with the whole of his artillery and all hisenormous riches, have fallen into our hands. We are driving before us ahost of camels, mules, and Turkish prisoners. "

Count Starhemberg received the King of Poland in the magnificent tentof the Grand Vizier and greeted him as a deliverer. Next day Sobieski, accompanied by the Elector of Bavaria and the different commanders, traversed the city on horseback, preceded by a great banner of cloth ofgold and two tall gilded staves bearing the horse-tails which had beenplanted in front of the Grand Vizier's tent, as a symbol of supremecommand. In the Loretto chapel of the Augustins the hero threw himself uponhis face before the altar and chanted the _Te Deum_. Vienna was delivered;the flood of Ottomans, that had beaten against its walls one hundredfifty-four years previously, had returned more furiously, more menacingstill, against that dignified protectress of European civilization, butthis time it had been repelled never to return. 

Thus vanished the insane hopes of the Grand Vizier. If Demetrius Cantemirmay be believed, Kara Mustapha had desired to capture Vienna to appropriateit to himself and found in the West an empire of which he would have beenthe sovereign. "That subject, " says the historian, "who only held his powerfrom the Sultan, despised in his heart the Sultan himself; and as he foundhimself at the head of all the disciplined troops of the empire, he lookedupon his master as a shadow denuded of strength and substance, who, beingvery inferior in courage to him, could never oppose to him an army likethat which was under his command. For all that concerned the Emperor ofGermany, he appeared still less to be feared: being a prince bare anddespoiled so soon as he should have lost Vienna. It was thus that KaraMustapha reasoned within himself. 

"Already he casts his eyes over the treasures which he has in hispossession; with the money of the Sultan he has also brought his own; allthat of the German princes is going to be his; for he believes that it isamassed in the city he is besieging. If he needs support, he reckons uponthe different governors of Hungary as devoted to his interests; these arehis creatures, whom he has put into their posts during the seven years ofhis vizierate; not one of those functionaries dare offer an obstacle to theelevation of his benefactor. Ibrahim Pacha, Beylerbey of Buda, keeps him insuspense by reason of the influence that his fame gives him over the armyand over Hungary; he must be won over before all else, as well as the chiefofficers of the janizaries and the spahis. Ibrahim shall be made King ofHungary. The different provinces comprised in that kingdom shall be dividedinto _timars_ for appanage of the spahis, and all the rest of the soldieryshall have establishments in the towns, as so many new colonies; to themshall be assigned the lands of the old inhabitants, who will be driven outor reduced to slavery. He reserves for himself the title of Sultan, his share shall be all Germany as far as the frontiers of France, withTransylvania and Poland, which he intends to render subject or at leastmake tributary the year following. " Such are the projects that Cantemirattributes to Kara Mustapha; the intervention of Sobieski caused thesechimerical plans quickly to vanish. 

The Emperor Leopold, who returned to Vienna on September 16th, instead ofexpressing his thanks and gratitude to the commanders who had rescued hiscapital, received them with the haughty and repulsive coldness prescribedby the etiquette of the imperial court. Sobieski nevertheless continuedhis services by pursuing the retreating Turks. Awakened from his dream ofself-exaltation, the Grand Vizier retook the road toward Turkey, directinghis steps to the Raab, where he rallied the remnants of his army. Thence hemarched toward Buda, and attacked by the way the Styrian town of Lilenfeld;he was repulsed by the prelate Matthias Kalweis, and avenged himself forthat fresh check by devastating Lower Styria. He crossed the Danube by abridge of boats at Parkany; but the Poles vigorously disputed the passagewith him, and he again lost more than eight thousand men taken or slain bythe Christians. Shortly after, the fortress of Gran opened its gates toKara Mustapha. The Grand Vizier barbarously put to death the officers whohad signed the capitulation; he threw upon his generals the responsibilityof his reverses, and thought to stifle in blood the murmurs of hisaccusers. The army marched in disorder as though struck with a panicterror. Kara Mustapha wished that a Jew whom he despatched to Belgradshould be escorted by a troop of horsemen. "I have no need of an escort, "replied the Jew: "I have only to wear my cap in the German fashion, and nota Turk will touch me. "

The enemies of the Grand Vizier, however, conspired to effect his ruin atConstantinople; and the results of the campaign justified the predictionsof the party of peace. Mahomet IV, enraged at these disasters, sent hisgrand chamberlain to Belgrad with orders to bring back the head of theVizier (1683): it was, in fact, brought to the Sultan in a silver dish. 

%MONMOUTH'S REBELLION%

A. D. 1685

GILBERT BURNET

James II was scarcely seated on the English throne in 1685 when seriousdisturbances began in his realm. The King had inherited the peculiar traitsof the Stuarts. His first purpose was to overcome the Parliamentary powerand make himself absolute ruler. He was likewise a Roman Catholic, and oneof his objects was the suppression of English Protestantism. 

During the first days of his reign the Protestant peasants in the west ofEngland rose in revolt. They supported the claims of James Fitzroy, Dukeof Monmouth, to the throne. Monmouth was the (reputed) illegitimate son ofCharles II and Lucy Walters. With other exiled malcontents, English andScotch, he had taken refuge in Holland. One of those exiled was the Earl ofArgyle, whose father had figured prominently on the side of the ScottishPresbyterians against Charles I. 

Owing to national jealousy, the English and Scotch in Holland could not actin unison, but all were determined to strike against James. Two expeditionswere planned--one under Argyle, who expected to find forces awaiting him inScotland; the other under Monmouth, whose adherents were to join him in thewest of England. 

Argyle's attempt miscarried through disagreement among the leaders, and theEarl was taken and beheaded, June 30, 1685. What befell the enterprise ofMonmouth is told by Bishop Burnet, a contemporary historian. Monmouth wasexecuted July 15, 1685, and in the trials known as the "Bloody Assizes, "presided over by the brutal George Jeffreys, some three hundred of theDuke's followers were condemned to death, and more than a thousandotherwise punished. 

As soon as Lord Argyle sailed for Scotland, Monmouth set about his designwith as much haste as possible. Arms were brought and a ship was freightedfor Bilbao in Spain. He pawned all his jewels, but these could not raisemuch, and no money was sent to him out of England. So he was hurried intoan ill-designed invasion. The whole company consisted but of eighty-twopersons. They were all faithful to one another. But some spies whomShelton, the new envoy, set on work, sent him the notice of a suspectedship sailing out of Amsterdam with arms. 

Shelton neither understood the laws of Holland nor advised with those whodid; otherwise he would have carried with him an order from the admiraltyof Holland, that sat at The Hague, to be made use of as the occasion shouldrequire. When he came to Amsterdam, and applied himself to the magistratesthere, desiring them to stop and search the ship that he named, they foundthe ship was already sailed out of their port and their jurisdiction wentno further. So he was forced to send to the admiralty at The Hague. Butthose on board, hearing what he was come for, made all possible haste. And, the wind favoring them, they got out of the Texel before the order desiredcould be brought from The Hague. After a prosperous course, the Duke landedat Lyme in Dorsetshire (June 11, 1685); and he with his small company cameashore with some order, but with too much daylight, which discovered howfew they were. 

The alarm was brought hot to London, where, upon the general report andbelief of the thing, an act of attainder passed both Houses in one day;some small opposition being made by the Earl of Anglesey, because theevidence did not seem clear enough for so severe a sentence, which wasgrounded on the notoriety of the thing. The sum of five thousand pounds wasset on his head. And with that the session of Parliament ended; which wasno small happiness to the nation, such a body of men being dismissedwith doing so little hurt. The Duke of Monmouth's manifesto was long andill-penned--full of much black and dull malice. 

It charged the King with the burning of London, the popish plot, Godfrey'smurder, and the Earl of Essex's death; and to crown all, it was pretendedthat the late King was poisoned by his orders: it was set forth that theKing's religion made him incapable of the crown; that three subsequenthouses of commons had voted his exclusion: the taking away of the oldcharters, and all the hard things done in the last reign, were laid to hischarge: the elections of the present parliament were also set forth veryodiously, with great indecency of style; the nation was also appealed to, when met in a free parliament, to judge of the Duke's own pretensions;[1]and all sort of liberty, both in temporals and spirituals, was promised topersons of all persuasions. 

[Footnote 1: He asserted that his mother had been the lawful wife of hisfather. --ED. ]

Upon the Duke of Monmouth's landing, many of the country people came in tojoin him, but very few of the gentry. He had quickly men enough abouthim to use all his arms. The Duke of Albemarle, as lord lieutenant ofDevonshire, was sent down to raise the militia, and with them to make headagainst him. But their ill-affection appeared very evident; many deserted, and all were cold in the service. The Duke of Monmouth had the wholecountry open to him for almost a fortnight, during which time he was verydiligent in training and animating his men. His own behavior was sogentle and obliging that he was master of all their hearts as much aswas possible. But he quickly found what it was to be at the head ofundisciplined men, that knew nothing of war, and that were not to be usedwith rigor. Soon after their landing, Lord Grey was sent out with a smallparty. He saw a few of the militia, and he ran for it; but his men stood, and the militia ran from them. Lord Grey brought a false alarm, that wassoon found to be so, for the men whom their leader had abandoned came backin good order. The Duke of Monmouth was struck with this when he found thatthe person on whom he depended most, and for whom he designed the commandof the horse, had already made himself infamous by his cowardice. Heintended to join Fletcher with him in that command. But an unhappy accidentmade it not convenient to keep him longer about him. He sent him out onanother party, and he, not being yet furnished with a horse, took the horseof one who had brought in a great body of men from Taunton. He was not inthe way, so Fletcher not seeing him to ask his leave, thought that allthings were to be in common among them that could advance the service. 

After Fletcher had ridden about as he was ordered, as he returned, theowner of the horse he rode on--who was a rough and ill-bred man--reproachedhim in very injurious terms for taking out his horse without his leave. Fletcher bore this longer than could have been expected from one of hisimpetuous temper. But the other persisted in giving him foul language, andoffered a switch or a cudgel, upon which he discharged his pistol at himand shot him dead. He went and gave the Duke of Monmouth an account ofthis, who saw it was impossible to keep him longer about him withoutdisgusting and losing the country people who were coming in a body todemand justice. So he advised him to go aboard the ship and to sail on toSpain whither she was bound. By this means he was preserved for that time. 

Ferguson ran among the people with all the fury of an enraged man thataffected to pass for an enthusiast, though all his performances that waywere forced and dry. The Duke of Monmouth's great error was that he did notin the first heat venture on some hardy action and then march either toExeter or Bristol; where as he would have found much wealth, so he wouldhave gained some reputation by it. But he lingered in exercising his menand stayed too long in the neighborhood of Lyme. 

By this means the King had time both to bring troops out of Scotland, after Argyle was taken, and to send to Holland for the English and Scotchregiments that were in the service of the states; which the Prince sentover very readily and offered his own person, and a greater force, ifit were necessary. The King received this with great expressions ofacknowledgment and kindness. It was very visible that he was muchdistracted in his thoughts, and that, what appearance of courage soever hemight put on, he was inwardly full of apprehensions and fears. He dare notaccept of the offer of assistance that the French made him; for by that hewould have lost the hearts of the English nation, and he had no mind to beso much obliged to the Prince of Orange or to let him into his counsels oraffairs. Prince George committed a great error in not asking the command ofthe army; for the command, how much soever he might have been bound to thecounsels of others, would have given him some lustre; whereas his stayingat home in such times of danger brought him under much neglect. 

The King could not choose worse than he did when he gave the command tothe Earl of Feversham, who was a Frenchman by birth--and nephew to M. DeTurenne. Both his brothers changing religion--though he continued stilla Protestant--made that his religion was not much trusted to. He was anhonest, brave, and good-natured man, but weak to a degree not easy to beconceived. And he conducted matters so ill that every step he made was liketo prove fatal to the King's service. He had no parties abroad. He got nointelligence, and was almost surprised and like to be defeated, when heseemed to be under no apprehension, but was abed without any care or order. So that if the Duke of Monmouth had got but a very small number of goodsoldiers about him, the King's affairs would have fallen into greatdisorder. 

The Duke of Monmouth had almost surprised Lord Feversham and all about himwhile they were abed. He got in between two bodies, into which the army laydivided. He now saw his error in lingering so long. He began to want bread, and to be so straitened that there was a necessity of pushing for a speedydecision. He was so misled in his march that he lost an hour's time, andwhen he came near the army there was an inconsiderable ditch, in thepassing which he lost so much more time that the officers had leisure torise and be dressed, now they had the alarm. And they put themselves inorder. Yet the Duke of Monmouth's foot stood longer and fought better thancould have been expected; especially, when the small body of horse theyhad, ran upon the first charge, the blame of which was cast on Lord Grey. 

The foot being thus forsaken and galled by the cannon, did run at last. About a thousand of them were killed on the spot, and fifteen hundred weretaken prisoners. Their numbers, when fullest, were between five and sixthousand. 

The Duke of Monmouth left the field[1] too soon for a man of courage whohad such high pretensions; for a few days before he had suffered himself tobe called king, which did him no service, even among those that followedhim. He rode toward Dorsetshire; and when his horse could carry him nofurther he changed clothes with a shepherd and went as far as his legscould carry him, being accompanied only by a German whom he had broughtover with him. At last, when he could go no farther, they lay down in afield where there was hay and straw, with which they covered themselves, so that they hoped to lie there unseen till night. Parties went out on allhands to take prisoners. The shepherd was found by Lord Lumley in the Dukeof Monmouth's clothes. So this put them on his track, and having some dogswith them, they followed the scent, and came to the place where the Germanwas first discovered. And he immediately pointed to the place where theDuke of Monmouth lay. So he was taken in a very indecent dress and posture. 

[Footnote 1: This engagement took place at Ledgemoor, Somerset, July 6, 1685. --ED. ]

His body was quite sunk with fatigue, and his mind was now so low that hebegged his life in a manner that agreed ill with the courage of the formerparts of it. He called for pen, ink, and paper, and wrote to the Earl ofFeversham, and both to the Queen and the Queen dowager, to intercede withthe King for his life. The King's temper, as well as his interest, made itso impossible to hope for that, that it showed a great meanness in himto ask it in such terms as he used in his letters. He was carried up toWhitehall, where the King examined him in person, which was thought veryindecent, since he was resolved not to pardon him. [1] He made new andunbecoming submissions, and insinuated a readiness to change his religion;for, he said, the King knew what his first education was in religion. Therewere no discoveries to be got from him; for the attempt was too rash to bewell concerted, or to be so deep laid that many were involved in the guiltof it. He was examined on Monday, and orders were given for his executionon Wednesday. 

[Footnote 1: The Duke of Monmouth pressed extremely that the King would seehim, whence the King concluded he had something to say to him that hewould tell to nobody else; but when he found it ended in nothing but lowersubmission than he either expected or desired, he told him plainly he hadput it out of his power to pardon him by having proclaimed himself king. Thus may the most innocent actions of a man's life be sometimes turned tohis disadvantage. --ED. ]

Turner and Ken, the Bishops of Ely and of Bath and Wells, were orderedto wait on him. But he called for Dr. Tennison. The bishops studied toconvince him of the sin of rebellion. He answered, he was sorry for theblood that was shed in it, but he did not seem to repent of the design. Yethe confessed that his father had often told him that there was no truth inthe reports of his having married his mother. This he set under his hand, probably for his children's sake, who were then prisoners in the Tower, that so they might not be ill-used on his account. He showed a greatneglect of his duchess. And her resentments for his course of life withLady Wentworth wrought so much on her that she seemed not to have any ofthat tenderness left that became her sex and his present circumstances, forwhen he desired to speak privately with her she would have witnesses tohear all that passed, to justify herself, and to preserve her family. They parted very coldly. He only recommended to her the rearing of theirchildren in the Protestant religion. 

The bishops continued still to press on him a deep sense of the sin ofrebellion; at which he grew so uneasy that he desired them to speak to himof other matters. They next charged him with the sin of living with LadyWentworth, as he had done. In that he justified himself; he had married hisduchess too young to give a true consent; he said that lady was a piousworthy woman, and that he had never lived so well, in all respects, assince his engagements with her. All the pains they took to convince him ofthe unlawfulness of that course of life had no effect. They did certainlyvery well in discharging their consciences and speaking so plainly to him. But they did very ill to talk so much of this matter and to make it sopublic, as they did, for divines ought not to repeat what they say to dyingpenitents no more than what the penitents say to them. By this means theDuke of Monmouth had little satisfaction in them and they had as little inhim. 

He was much better pleased with Dr. Tennison, who did very plainly speak tohim with relation to his public actings and to his course of life; but hedid it in a softer and less peremptory manner. And having said all that hethought proper, he left those points, in which he saw he could not convincehim, to his own conscience, and turned to other things fit to be laidbefore a dying man. The Duke begged one day more of life with such repeatedearnestness that as the King was much blamed for denying so small a favor, so it gave occasion to others to believe that he had some hope fromastrologers that if he outlived that day he might have a better fate. Aslong as he fancied there was any hope, he was too much unsettled in hismind to be capable of anything. 

But when he saw all was to no purpose and that he must die he complained alittle that his death was hurried on so fast. But all on a sudden he cameinto a composure of mind that surprised those that saw it. There was noaffectation in it. His whole behavior was easy and calm, not without adecent cheerfulness. He prayed God to forgive all his sins, unknown as wellas known. He seemed confident of the mercies of God, and that he was goingto be happy with him. And he went to the place of execution on Tower Hillwith an air of undisturbed courage that was grave and composed. He saidlittle there, only that he was sorry for the blood that was shed, but hehad ever meant well to the nation. When he saw the axe he touched it andsaid it was not sharp enough. He gave the hangman but half the reward heintended, and said if he cut off his head cleverly, and not so butcherly ashe did the Lord Russel's, his man would give him the rest. 

The executioner was in great disorder, trembling all over; so he gave himtwo or three strokes without being able to finish the matter and then flungthe axe out of his hand. But the sheriff forced him to take it up; and atthree or four more strokes he severed his head from his body and both werepresently buried in the chapel of the Tower. Thus lived and died thisunfortunate young man. He had several good qualities in him, and some thatwere as bad. He was soft and gentle even to excess and too easy to thosewho had credit with him. He was both sincere and good-natured, andunderstood war well. But he was too much given to pleasure and tofavorites. 

%REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES%

A. D. 1685

BON LOUIS HENRI MARTIN

It was one of the glories of Henry of Navarre to end the religious wars ofFrance by publishing the Edict of Nantes (1598), which placed Catholics andProtestants on a practically equal footing as subjects. By the revocationof that edict, in 1685, Louis XIV opened the way for fresh persecution ofthe Huguenots. Of the hundreds of thousands whom the King and his agentsthen caused to flee the country and seek civil and religious liberty inother lands, many crossed the sea and settled in the colonies of NorthAmerica, especially in South Carolina. 

By revoking the Edict of Nantes Louis XIV arrayed against himself all theProtestant countries of Europe. By seizures of territory he also offendedCatholic states. In 1686 the League of Augsburg combined the greater partof Europe for resisting his encroachments. 

This period of the "Huguenots of the Dispersion" was marked by complicatedstrifes in politics, religion, and philosophy. It was one of the mostreactionary epochs in French history. No writer has better depicted thetime, with the severities, atrocities, and effects of the revocation of thegreat edict, than Martin, the celebrated historian of his country. 

For many years the government of Louis XIV had been acting toward theReformation as toward a victim entangled in a noose which is drawn tighterand tighter till it strangles its prey. In 1683 the oppressed had finallylost patience, and their partial attempts at resistance, disavowed by themost distinguished of their brethren, had been stifled in blood. Afterthe truce of Ratisbon, declarations and decrees hostile to Protestantismsucceeded each other with frightful rapidity; nothing else was seen in theofficial gazette. Protestant ministers were prohibited from officiatinglonger than three years in the same church (August, 1684); Protestantindividuals were forbidden to give asylum to their sick coreligionists; thesick who were not treated at home were required to go to the hospitals, where they were put in the hands of churchmen. A beautiful and touchingrequest, written by Pastor Claude, was in vain presented to the Kingin January, 1685. Each day beheld some Protestant church closed forcontraventions either imaginary or fraudulently fabricated by persecutors. It was enough that the child of a "convert" or a bastard (all bastards werereputed Catholic) should enter a Protestant church for the exercise ofworship, to be interdicted there. 

If this state of things had continued long, not a single Protestant churchwould have been left. The Protestant academy or university of Saumur, which had formed so many eminent theologians and orators, was closed; theministers were subjected to the villein tax for their real estate (January, 1685). The quinquennial assembly of the clergy, held in May, presented tothe King a multitude of new demands against the heretics; among others, forthe establishment of penalties against the "converts" who did not fulfiltheir duties as Catholics. The penalty of death, which had been decreedagainst emigrants, was commuted into perpetual confinement in the galleys, by the request of the clergy. The first penalty had been little more thana threat; the second, which confounded with the vilest miscreants, unfortunates guilty of having desired to flee from persecution, was to beapplied in the sternest reality! It was extended to Protestants living inFrance who should authorize their children to marry foreigners. It wasinterdicted to Reformers to follow the occupation of printer or bookseller. It was forbidden to confer on them degrees in arts, law, or medicine. Protestant orphans could have only Catholic guardians. Half of the goodsof emigrants was promised to informers. It was forbidden to Reformers topreach or write against Catholicism (July, August, 1685). 

A multitude of Protestant churches had been demolished, and the inhabitantsof places where worship had been suppressed were prohibited from goingto churches in places where it was still permitted. Grave difficultiesresulted with respect to the principal acts of civil life, which, amongProtestants as among Catholics, owed their authenticity only to theintervention of ministers of religion. A decree in council of September 15, 1685, enacted that, in places deprived of the exercise of worship, a pastorchosen by the intendant of the generality should celebrate, in the presenceof relatives only, the marriages of Reformers; that their bans should bepublished to the congregations, and the registries of their marriagesentered on the rolls of the local court. Similar decrees had been issuedconcerning baptisms and burials. Hitherto Protestantism had been struckright and left with all kinds of weapons, without any very definite method:these decrees seemed to indicate a definite plan; that is, the suppressionof external worship, with a certain tolerance, at least provisionally, forconscience, and a kind of civil state separately constituted for obstinateProtestants. 

This plan had, in fact, been debated in council. "The King, " wrote Madamede Maintenon, August 13, 1684, "has it in mind to work for the _entire_conversion of heretics; he has frequent conferences for this purpose withM. Le Tellier and M. De Chateauneuf (the secretary of state charged withthe affairs of the so-called Reformed religion), in which they wish topersuade me to take part. M. De Chateauneuf has proposed means that areunsuitable. Things must not be hastened. _It is necessary to convert, notto persecute_. M. De Louvois prefers mild measures which do not accord withhis nature and his eagerness to see things ended. "

The means proposed by Chateauneuf was apparently the immediate revocationof the Edict of Nantes, which was judged premature. As to the "mildness" ofLouvois, it was soon seen in operation. Louvois pretended to be moderate, lest the King, through scruples of humanity, should hesitate to confer onhim the management of the affair. He had his plan ready: it was to recur tothe "salutary constraint" already tried in 1681 by the instrumentalityof soldiers to the Dragonade. Colbert was no longer at hand to interposeobstacles to this. 

Louvois had persuaded the King that in the moral situation of Protestantcommunities it would be enough "to show them the troops, " to compel them toabjure. The troops had been "shown, " therefore, to the Reformers of Béarn;the intendant of that province, Foucault, had come to Paris to concert withthe minister the management of the enterprise; Louvois could not have founda fitter instrument than this pitiless and indefatigable man, who had thesoul of an inquisitor under the garb of a pliant courtier. On his returnfrom Paris, Foucault, seconded by the Parliament of Pau and the clergy, began by the demolition, on account of "contraventions, " of fifteen out oftwenty Protestant churches that remained in Béarn, and the "conversion" ofeleven hundred persons in two months (February-April, 1685). He then calledfor the assistance of the army to complete the work, promising "to keep atight rein over the soldiers, so that they should do no violence. " Thiswas for the purpose of allaying the scruples of the King. The troops weretherefore concentrated in the cities and villages filled with Reformers;the five remaining Protestant churches shared the fate of the rest, andthe pastors were banished, some to a distance of six leagues from theirdemolished churches, others beyond the jurisdiction of the Parliament ofPau. 

Terror flew before the soldiers; as soon as the scarlet uniforms and thehigh caps of the dragoons were descried, corporations, whole cities, senttheir submission to the intendant. An almost universal panic chilled allhearts. The mass of Reformers signed or verbally accepted a confession ofthe Catholic faith, suffered themselves to be led to the church, bowedtheir heads to the benediction of the bishop or the missionary, and cannonand bonfires celebrated the "happy reconciliation. " Protestants who hadhoped to find a refuge in liberty of conscience without external worshipsaw this hope vanish. Foucault paid no attention to the decrees in councilthat regulated the baptisms, marriages, and burials of Protestants, because, he said in a despatch to the minister, "in the present dispositionto general and speedy conversion, this would expose those who waver, andharden the obstinate. " The council issued a new order confirmatory of thepreceding ones, and specially for Béarn. Foucault, according to hisown words, "did not judge proper to execute it. " This insolence wentunpunished. Success justified everything. Before the end of August thetwenty-two thousand Protestants of Béarn were "converted, " save a fewhundred. Foucault, in his _Memoirs_, in which he exhibits his triumphs withcynicism, does not, however, avow all the means. Although he confesses that"the distribution of money drew many souls to the Church, " he does notsay how he kept his promise of preventing the "soldiers from doing anyviolence. " He does not recount the brutalities, the devastations, thetortures resorted to against the refractory, the outrages to women, norhow these soldiers took turns from hour to hour to hinder their hosts fromsleeping during entire weeks till these unfortunates, stupefied, delirious, signed an abjuration. 

The King saw only the result. The resolution was taken to send everywherethese "booted missionaries" who had succeeded so well in Béarn. Louvoissent, on the part of the King, July 31st, a command to the Marquis deBoufflers, their general, to lead them into Guienne, and "to quarter themall on the Reformers"; "observing to endeavor to diminish the number ofReformers in such a manner that in each community the Catholics shall betwice or three times more numerous than they; so that when, in due time, his majesty shall wish no longer to permit the exercise of this religion inhis kingdom, he may no longer have to apprehend that the small number thatshall remain can undertake anything. " The troops were to be withdrawn asfast as this object should be obtained in each place, without undertakingto convert all at once. The ministers should be driven out of the country, and by no means should they be retained by force; the pastors absent, theflocks could more easily be brought to reason. The soldiers were to commit"no other disorders than to levy (daily) twenty sous for each horseman ordragoon, and ten sous for each foot-soldier. " Excesses were to be severelypunished. Louvois, in another letter, warned the general not to yield toall the suggestions of the ecclesiastics, nor even of the intendants. Theydid not calculate on being able to proceed so rapidly as in Béarn. 

These instructions show precisely, not what was done, but what the Kingwished should be done. The subalterns, sure of immunity in case of success, acted more in accordance with the spirit of Louvois than according to thewords dictated by Louis. The King, when by chance he heard that his ordershad been transcended, rarely chastised the transgressor, lest it might be"said to the Reformers that his majesty disapproves of whatsoever has beendone to convert them. " Louis XIV, therefore, cannot repudiate, beforehistory, his share of this terrible responsibility. 

The result exceeded the hopes of the King and of Louvois. Guienne yieldedas easily as Béarn. The Church of Montauban, the head-quarters of theReformation in this region, was "reunited" in great majority, after severaldays of military vexations; Bergerac held out a little longer; then allcollective resistance ceased. The cities and villages, for ten or twelveleagues around, sent to the military leaders their promises of abjuration. In three weeks there were sixty thousand conversions in the district ofBordeaux or Lower Guienne, twenty thousand in that of Montauban or UpperGuienne. According to the reports of Boufflers, Louvois, September 7th, reckoned that before the end of the month there would not remain in LowerGuienne ten thousand Reformers out of the one hundred fifty thousand foundthere August 15th. "There is not a courier, " wrote Madame de Maintenon, September 26th, "that does not bring the King great causes of joy; to wit, news of conversions by thousands. " The only resistance that they deigned tonotice here and there was that of certain provincial gentlemen, of simpleand rigid habits, less disposed than the court nobility to sacrifice theirfaith to interest and vanity. 

Guienne subjected, the army of Béarn was marched, a part into Limousin, Saintonge, and Poitou, a part into Languedoc. Poitou, already "dragooned"in 1681 by the intendant Marillac, had just been so well labored with byMarillac's successor, Lamoignon de Basville, aided by some troops, thatFoucault, sent from Béarn into Poitou, found nothing more to glean. TheKing even caused Louvois to recommend that they should not undertake toconvert all the Reformers at once, lest the rich and powerful families, whohad in their hands the commerce of those regions, should avail themselvesof the proximity of the sea to take flight (September 8th). Basville, agreat administrator, but harshly inflexible, was sent from Poitou intoLower Languedoc, in the first part of September, in order to coöperatethere with the Duke de Noailles, governor of the province. The intendant ofLower Languedoc, D'Aguesseau, although he had zealously coöperated in allthe restrictive measures of the Reformed worship, had asked for his recallas soon as he had seen that the King was determined on the employment ofmilitary force; convinced that this determination would not be less fatalto religion than to the country, he retired, broken-hearted, his spirittroubled for the future. 

The conversion of Languedoc seemed a great undertaking. The mass ofProtestants, nearly all concentrated in Lower Languedoc, and in themountainous regions adjoining, was estimated at more than two hundred fortythousand souls; these people, more ardent, more constant than the mobileand sceptical Gascons, did not seem capable of so easily abandoningtheir belief. The result, however, was the same as elsewhere. Nîmes andMontpellier followed the example of Montauban. The quartering of a hundredsoldiers in their houses quickly reduced the notables of Nîmes; in thisdiocese alone, the principal centre of Protestantism, sixty thousand soulsabjured in three days. Several of the leading ministers did the same. FromNîmes the Duc de Noailles led the troops into the mountains. Cévennes andGevaudan submitted to invasion like the rest, as the armed mission advancedfrom valley to valley. These cantons were still under the terror of thesanguinary repressions of 1683, and had been disarmed, as far as it waspossible, as well as all Lower Languedoc. Noailles, in the earlier part ofOctober, wrote to Louvois that he would answer "upon his head" that, beforethe end of November, the province would contain no more Huguenots. If weare to believe his letters, prepared for the eyes of the King, everythingmust have taken place "with all possible wisdom and discipline"; but theChancellor d'Aguesseau, in the "life" of his father, the intendant, teachesus what we are to think of it. "The manner in which this miracle waswrought, " he says, "the singular facts that were recounted to us day byday, would have sufficed to pierce a heart less religious than that of myfather!" Noailles himself, in a confidential letter, announced to Louvoisthat he would ere long send "some capable men to answer about any matterswhich he desired to know, and about which he could not write. " There wasa half tacit understanding established between the minister, the militarychiefs, and the intendants. The King, in their opinion, desired the endwithout sufficiently desiring the means. 

Dauphiny, Limousin, La Rochelle, that holy Zion of the Huguenots, allyielded at the same time. Louis was intoxicated. It had sufficed for himto say a word, to lay his hand upon the hilt of his sword, to make thosefierce Huguenots, who had formerly worn out so many armies, and had forcedso many kings to capitulate before their rebellions, fall at his feet andthe feet of the Church. Who would henceforth dare to doubt his divinemission and his infallible genius!

Not that Louis, nor especially those that surrounded him, preciselybelieved that terror produced the effects of _grace_, or that theseinnumerable conversions were sincere; but they saw in this the extinctionof all strong conviction among the heretics, the moral exhaustion of anexpiring sect. "The children at least will be Catholics, if the fathersare hypocrites, " wrote Madame de Maintenon. At present it was necessary tocomplete the work and to prevent dangerous relapses in these subjugatedmultitudes. It was necessary to put to flight as quickly as possible the"false pastors" who might again lead their old flocks astray, and to makethe law conform to the fact, by solemnly revoking the concessions formerlywrung by powerful and armed heresy from the feebleness of the ruling power. Louis had long preserved some scruples about the violation of engagementsentered into by his grandfather Henry IV; but his last doubts had beenset at rest, several months since, by a "special council of conscience, "composed of two theologians and two jurisconsults, who had decided that hemight and should revoke the Edict of Nantes. The names of the men who tookupon themselves the consequences of such a decision have remained unknown:doubtless the confessor La Chaise was one of the theologians; who was theother? The Archbishop of Paris, Harlai, was not, perhaps, in sufficientesteem, on account of his habits. The great name of the Bishop of Meauxnaturally presents itself to the mind; but neither the correspondence ofBossuet nor the documents relating to his life throw any light on thissubject, and we know not whether a direct and material responsibility mustbe added to the moral responsibility with which the maxims of Bossuet andthe spirit of his works burden his memory. 

After the "council of conscience, " the council of the King was convenedfor a definitive deliberation in the earlier part of October. Some of theministers, apparently the two Colberts, Seignelai, and Croissi, insinuatedthat it would be better not to be precipitate. The Dauphin, a young princeof twenty-four, who resembled, in his undefined character, his grandfathermore than his father, and who was destined to remain always as it were lostin the splendid halo of Louis the Great, attempted an intervention thatdeserves to rescue his name from oblivion. "He represented, from ananonymous memorial that had been addressed to him the evening before, thatit was, perhaps, to be apprehended that the Huguenots might take up arms;""that in case they did not dare to do this, a great number would leave thekingdom, which would injure commerce and agriculture, and thereby evenweaken the state. " The King replied that he had foreseen all and providedfor all, that nothing in the world would be more painful to him than toshed a drop of the blood of his subjects, but that he had armies and goodgenerals whom he would employ, in case of necessity, against rebels whodesired their own destruction. As to the argument of interest, he judgedit little worthy of consideration, compared with the advantages of anundertaking that would restore to religion its splendor, to the state itstranquillity, and to authority all its rights. The suppression of the Edictof Nantes was resolved upon without further opposition. 

Father la Chaise and Louvois, according to their ecclesiastical andmilitary correspondence, had promised that it should not even cost the dropof blood of which the King spoke. The aged Chancellor le Tellier, alreadya prey to the malady that was to bring him to his grave, drew up withtrembling hand the fatal declaration, which the King signed October 17th. 

Louis professed in this preamble to do nothing but continue the piousdesigns of his grandfather and his father for the reunion of their subjectsto the Church. He spoke of the "perpetual and irrevocable" edict of HenryIV as a temporary regulation. "Our cares, " he said, "since the truce thatwe facilitated for this purpose, have had the effect that we proposed toourselves, since the better and the greater part of our subjects of theso-called Reformed religion have embraced the Catholic; and inasmuch as byreason of this the execution of the Edict of Nantes" "remains useless, wehave judged that we could not do better, in order wholly to efface thememory of evils that this false religion had caused in our kingdom, thanentirely to revoke the said Edict of Nantes and all that has been donesince in favor of the said religion. "

The order followed to demolish unceasingly all the churches of the saidreligion situated in the kingdom. It was forbidden to assemble for theexercise of the said religion, in any place, private house or tenement, under penalty of confiscation of body and goods. All ministers of the saidreligion who would not be converted were enjoined to leave the kingdom in afortnight, and divers favors were granted to those who should be converted. Private schools for instruction of children in the said religion wereinterdicted. Children who should be born to those of the said religionshould for the future be baptized by the parish curates, under penalty of afine of five hundred livres, and still more, if there were occasion, tobe paid by the parents, and the children should then be brought up in theCatholic religion. A delay of four months was granted to fugitive Reformersto leave the kingdom and recover possession of their property; this delaypassed, the property should remain confiscated. It was forbidden anew toReformers to leave the kingdom, under penalty of the galleys for men, and confiscation of body and goods for women. The declarations againstbacksliders were confirmed. 

A last article, probably obtained by the representations of the Colberts, declared that the Reformers, "till it should please God to enlighten themlike others, should be permitted to dwell in the kingdom, in strict loyaltyto the King, to continue there their commerce and enjoy their goods, without being molested or hindered under pretext of the said religion. "

The Edict of Revocation was sent in haste to the governors and intendants, without waiting for it to be registered, which took place in the Parliamentof Paris, October 22d. The intendants were instructed not to allow theministers who should abandon the country to dispose of their real estate, or to take with them their children above seven years of age: a monstrousdismemberment of the family wrought by an arbitrary will that recognizedneither natural nor civil rights! The King recommended a milder coursetoward noblemen, merchants, and manufacturers; he did not desire thatobstinacy should be shown "in compelling them to be converted immediatelywithout exception" "by any considerable violence. "

The tone of the ministerial instructions changed quickly on the receptionof despatches announcing the effect of the edict in the provinces. Thiseffect teaches us more in regard to the situation of the dragooned peoplethan could the most sinister narratives. The edict which proscribed theReformed worship, which interdicted the perpetuation of the Protestantreligion by tearing from it infants at their birth, was received as a boonby Protestants who remained faithful to their belief. They saw, in thelast article of the edict, the end of persecution, and, proud of havingweathered the storm, they claimed the tolerance that the King promisedthem, and the removal of their executioners. The new converts, who, persuaded that the King desired to force all his subjects to professhis religion, had yielded through surprise, fear, want of constancy insuffering, or through a worthier motive, the desire of saving theirfamilies from the license of the soldiers, manifested their regret andtheir remorse, and were no longer willing to go to mass. 

All the leaders of the dragonades, the Noailles, the Foucaults, theBasvilles, the Marillacs, complained bitterly of a measure that was uselessto them as to the demolition of Protestant churches and the prohibition ofworship, and very injurious as to the progress of conversions. They hadcounted on rooting out the worship by converting all the believers. Therevocation of the Edict of Nantes sinned, therefore, in their eyes byexcess of moderation! Louvois hastened to reassure them in this respect, and authorized them to act as if the last article of the edict did notexist. "His majesty, " he said, "desires that the extremest rigors of thelaw should be felt by those who will not make themselves of his religion, and those who shall have the foolish glory of wishing to remain thelast must be pushed to the last extremity. " "Let the soldiers, " he saidelsewhere, "be allowed to live very licentiously!" (November, 1685). 

The King, however, did not mean it thus, and claimed that persecutionshould be conducted with method and gravity. But men do not stop atpleasure in evil: one abyss draws on another. The way had been opened tobrutal and cynical passions, to the spirit of denunciation, to low andmean fanaticism; the infamies with which the subaltern agents pollutedthemselves recoiled upon the chiefs who did not repress them, and on thisproud government that did not blush to add to the odium of persecution theshame of faithlessness! The chiefs of the dragonades judged it necessary torestrain the bad converts by making example of the obstinate; hence arosean inundation of horrors in which we see, as Saint Simon says, "theorthodox imitating against heretics the acts of pagan tyrants againstconfessors and martyrs. " Everything, in fact, was allowed the soldiersbut rape and murder; and even this restriction was not always respected;besides, many of the unfortunate died or were maimed for life inconsequence of the treatment to which they had been subjected; and theobscene tortures inflicted on women differed little from the last outrage, but in a perversity more refined. 

All the diabolic inventions of the highwaymen of the Middle Ages to extortgold from their captives were renewed here and there to secure conversions:the feet of the victims were scorched, they were strappadoed, suspended bythe feet; young mothers were tied to the bedposts, while their infants atthe breast were writhing with hunger before their eyes. "From torture toabjuration, and from this to communion, there was often not twenty-fourhours' distance, and their executioners were their guides and witnesses. Nearly all the bishops lent themselves to this sudden and impiouspractice. " Among the Reformed whom nothing could shake, those whoencouraged others to resistance by the influence of their character orsocial position were sent to the Bastille or other state prisons; some wereentombed in subterranean dungeons--in those dark pits, stifling or deadlycold, invented by feudal barbarism. The remains of animals in a state ofputrefaction were sometimes thrown in after them, to redouble the horror!The hospital of Valence and the tower of Constance at Aigues-Mortes havepreserved, in Protestant martyrology, a frightful renown. The women usuallyshowing themselves more steadfast than the men, the most obstinate wereshut up in convents; infamous acts took place there; yet they were rare. Itmust be said to the honor of the sex, often too facile to the suggestionsof fanaticism, that the nuns showed much more humanity and true religionthan the priests and monks. Astonished to see Huguenot women so differentfrom the idea they had formed of them, they almost became the protectors ofvictims that had been given them to torment. 

The abduction of children put the final seal to the persecution. The Edictof Revocation had only declared that children subsequently born should bebrought up in the Catholic religion. An edict of January, 1686, prescribedthat children from five to sixteen years of age should be taken from theirheretical relatives and put in the hands of Catholic relatives, or, if theyhad none, of Catholics designated by the judges! The crimes that we havejust indicated might, in strictness, be attributed to the passions ofsubaltern agents; but this mighty outrage against the family and naturemust be charged to the Government alone. 

With the revocation, the dragonade was extended, two places partiallyexcepted, over all France. When the great harvest had been sufficientlygathered in the South and West, the reapers were sent elsewhere. Thebattalions of converters marched from province to province till theyreached the northern frontier, carrying everywhere the same terror. Metz, where the Protestants were numerous, was particularly the theatre ofabominable excesses. Paris and Alsace were alone, to a certain extent, preserved. Louvois did not dare to show such spectacles to the society ofVersailles and Paris; the King would not have endured it. The people ofParis demolished the Protestant church of Charenton, an object of theirancient animosity; the ruling power weighed heavily upon the eight or ninethousand Huguenots who remained in the capital, and constrained two-thirdsof them, by intimidation, to a feigned conversion; but there were nostriking acts of violence, except perhaps the banishment of thirty eldersof the consistory to different parts of the kingdom, and the soldiers didnot make their appearance. The lieutenant of police, La Reinie, took careto reassure the leading merchants, and the last article of the Edict ofRevocation was very nearly observed in Paris and its environs. As toLutheran Alsace, it had nothing in common with the system of the Edictof Nantes and the French Calvinists: the Treaty of Westphalia, thecapitulation of Strasburg, all the acts that bound it to France, guaranteedto it a separate religious state. An attempt was indeed made to encroachupon Lutheranism by every means of influence and by a system of pettyannoyances; but direct attacks were limited to a suppression of publicworship in places where the population was two-thirds Catholic. Thepolitical events that soon disturbed Europe compelled the French Governmentto be circumspect toward the people of this recently conquered frontier. 

The converters indemnified themselves at the expense of another frontierpopulation, that was not dependent on France. The Vaudois, the firstoffspring of the Reformation, had always kept possession of the highAlpine valleys, on the confines of Piedmont and Dauphiny, in spite of thepersecutions that they had repeatedly endured from the governments ofFrance and Piedmont. The Piedmontese Vaudois had their Edict of Nantes;that is, liberty of worship in the three valleys of St. Martin, La Luzerne, and La Perouse. When the dragonade invaded Dauphiny, the Vaudois aboutBriançon and Pignerol took refuge in crowds with their brethren in thevalleys subject to Piedmont. The French Government was unwilling to sufferthem to remain in this asylum. The Duke Victor Amadeus II enjoined therefugees to quit his territory (November 4th). The order was imperfectlyexecuted, and Louis XIV demanded more. The Duke, by an edict of February 1, 1686, prohibited the exercise of heretical worship, and ordered theschools to be closed under penalty of death. The _barbes_ (ministers), schoolmasters, and French refugees were to leave the states of the Duke ina fortnight, under the same penalty. The Vaudois responded by taking uparms, without reflecting on the immense force of their oppressors. Thethree valleys were assailed at the same time by French and Piedmontesetroops. The French were commanded by the governor of Casale, Catinat, a manof noble heart, an elevated and philosophic mind, who deplored his fatalmission, and attempted to negotiate with the insurgents, but Catinat couldneither persuade to submission these men resolved to perish rather thanrenounce their faith, nor restrain the fury of his soldiers exasperated bythe vigor of the resistance. The valleys of St. Martin and La Perouse werecaptured, and the victors committed frightful barbarities. Meanwhilethe Piedmontese, after having induced the mountaineers, who guarded theentrance of the valley of La Luzerne, to lay down their arms, by falsepromises, slaughtered three thousand women, children, and old men atthe Pré de la Tour! The remotest recesses of the Alps were searched; amultitude of unfortunates were exterminated singly: more than ten thousandwere dragged as prisoners to the fortresses of Piedmont, where most of themdied of want. A handful of the bravest succeeding in maintaining themselvesamong the rocks, where they could not be captured, and, protected by theintervention of Protestant powers, and especially of the Swiss, finallyobtained liberty to emigrate, both for themselves and their coreligionists. 

There has often been seen in history much greater bloodshed than thatcaused by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, scenes of destructionplanned more directly and on a vaster scale by governments, and sometimesthe same contrast between an advanced state of civilization and acts ofbarbarity; but no spectacle wounds moral sense and humanity to the samedegree as this persecution carried on coldly and according to abstractideas, without the excuse of struggle and danger, without the ardent feverof battle and revolution. The very virtues of the persecutors are herebut an additional monstrosity: doubtless, there is also seen, at a laterperiod, among the authors of another reign of terror, this same contrastthat astounds and troubles the conscience of posterity; but they, at least, staked each day their own lives against the lives of their adversaries, and, with their lives, the very existence of the country involved in theircause!

A million and a half of Frenchmen were in terror and despair; yet songs ofvictory resounded around Louis the Great. The aged Le Tellier lifted toheaven the hand that had just signed the Revocation, and parodied, on theoccasion of an edict that recalls the times of Decius and Diocletian, the canticle by which Simeon hailed the birth of the Redeemer. He dieda fanatic, after having lived a cold and astute politician (October 31, 1685); he died, and the most eloquent voices of the Gallican Church brokeforth in triumphal hymns, as over the tomb of a victorious hero! "Let uspublish this miracle of our days, " exclaimed Bossuet, in that funeraloration of Le Tellier, wherein he nevertheless exhibited apprehensions ofnew combats and of a sombre future for the Church; "let us pour forth ourhearts in praise of the piety of Louis; let us lift our acclamations toheaven, and let us say to this new Constantine, to this new Theodosius, tothis new Marcianus, to this new Charlemagne: 'You have strengthened thefaith, you have exterminated the heretics; this is the meritorious work ofyour reign, its peculiar characteristic. Through you heresy is no more: Godalone could have wrought this wonder. '" The gentle Fléchier himself echoedBossuet, with the whole corps of the clergy with the great mass of thepeople. Paris and Versailles, that did not witness the horror of thedetails, that saw only the general prestige and the victory of unity, weredeaf to the doleful reports that came from the provinces, and applauded the"new Constantine. "

"This is the grandest and finest thing that ever was conceived andaccomplished, " wrote Madame de Sévigné. All the corporations, courts ofjustice, academies, universities, municipal bodies, vied with each other inevery species of laudatory allusion; medals represented the King crownedby Religion "for having brought back to the Church two millions ofCalvinists"; the number of victims was swollen in order to swell the gloryof the persecutor. Statues were erected to the "destroyer of heresy. " Thisconcert of felicitations was prolonged for years; the influence of example, the habit of admiring, wrung eulogies even from minds that, it would seem, ought to have remained strangers to this fascination; every writer thoughthe must pay his tribute; even La Bruyere, that sagacious observer andexcellent writer, whose acute and profound studies of manners appeared in1687; and La Fontaine himself, the poet of free-thought and of universalfreedom of action. 

The Government redoubled its rigor. The penalty of death was decreedagainst ministers reëntering the kingdom without permission, and thegalleys against whomsoever should give them asylum; penalty of deathagainst whomsoever should take part in a meeting (July 1, 1686). And thispenalty was not simply a dead letter! Whenever the soldiers succeeded insurprising Protestants assembled for prayer in any solitary place, theyfirst announced their presence by a volley; those who escaped the bulletand the sword were sent to the gallows or the galleys. Measures almost assevere were employed to arrest emigration. Seamen were forbidden to aid theReformers to escape under penalty of a fine for the first offence, and ofcorporal punishment for a second offence (November 5, 1685). They wentfurther: ere long, whoever aided the flight of emigrants became liable tothe galleys for life, like emigrants themselves (May 7, 1686). Armed barkscruised along all the coasts; all the passes of the frontier were guarded;the peasants everywhere had orders to rush upon the fugitives. Some of theemigrants perished in attempting to force an exit; a host of otherswas brought back manacled; they dared not place them all under thegalley-master's lash; they feared the effects of their despair and of theirnumbers, if they should mass them in the royal galleys; they crowded theprisons with those who were unwilling to purchase pardon by abjuration. Themisfortunes of the first emigrants served to render their coreligionists, not more timid, but more adroit; a multitude of pilgrims, of mendicantsdragging their children after them, of nomadic artisans of both sexesand of all trades, incessantly took their way toward all the frontiers;innumerable disguises thus protected the "flight of Israel out of Egypt. "Reformers selected the darkest winter nights to embark, in frail openboats, on the Atlantic or stormy Channel; the waves were seen to cast uponthe shores of England families long tossed by tempests and dying with coldand hunger. 

By degrees, the guards stationed along the shores and the frontiers weretouched or seduced, and became saviors and guides to fugitives whom theywere set to arrest. Then perpetual confinement in the galleys was no longersufficient against the accomplices of the _desertes_; for the galleys anedict substituted death; death, which fell not upon those guilty of thepretended crime of desertion, was promised to their abettors (October12, 1687). Some were given up to capital punishment; many, nevertheless, continued their perilous assistance to emigrants, and few betrayed them. Those Reformers whom the authority wished most to retain in the kingdom, the noblemen, the rich citizens, manufacturers, and merchants, were thosewho escaped easiest, being best able to pay for the interested compassionof the guards. It is said that the fugitives carried out of France sixtymillions in five years. However this may be, the loss of men was much moreto be regretted than the loss of money. The vital energy of France didnot cease for many years to ooze away through this ever-open ulcer ofemigration. 

It is difficult to estimate, even approximately, the number of Protestantswho abandoned their country, become to them a barbarous mother. Vaubanestimated it at a hundred thousand, from 1684 to 1691. Benoit, theCalvinist historian of the Edict of Nantes, who published his book in 1695, estimates it at two hundred thousand; the illustrious refugee Basnagespeaks vaguely of three or four hundred thousand. Others give figures muchmore exaggerated, while the Duke of Burgundy, in the memoir that we havecited above, reduces the emigration to less than sixty-eight thousandsouls in the course of twenty years; but the truly inconceivable illusionspreserved by this young prince, concerning the moral and political resultsof the Revocation, do not allow us to put confidence in his testimony;he was deceived, took pleasure in being deceived, and closed his ear towhomsoever desired to undeceive him. The amount from two hundred thousandto two hundred fifty thousand, from the Revocation to the commencementof the following century, that is, to the revolt of Cévennes, seems mostprobable. But it is not so much by the quantity as by the quality ofthe emigrants that the real loss of France must be measured. France wasincomparably more weakened than if two hundred thousand citizens had beentaken at hazard from the Catholic mass of the nation. The Protestants werevery superior, on the average, if not to the Catholic middle class of Parisand the principal centres of French civilization, at least to the mass ofthe people, and the emigrants were the best of the Protestants. A multitudeof useful men, among them many superior men, left a frightful void inFrance, and went to swell the forces of Protestant nations. France declinedboth by what she lost and what her rivals gained. Before 1689 nine thousandsailors, the best in the kingdom, as Vauban says, twelve thousand soldiers, six hundred officers, had gone to foreign countries. 

The most skilful chiefs and agents of contemporaneous industry went inmultitudes to settle in foreign lands. Industrial capacities, less strikingthan literary capacities, inflicted losses on France still more felt andless reparable. France was rich enough in literary glory to lose muchwithout being impoverished; such was not the case with respect to industry;France was to descend in a few years, almost in a few months, from thateconomical supremacy which had been conquered for her by long efforts of aprotective administration; populous cities beheld the branches of commercethat constituted their prosperity rapidly sinking, by the disappearance ofthe principal industrial families, and these branches taking root on theother side of the frontiers. Thus fell, never to rise again, the Normanhat trade--already suffering on account of regulations that fettered theCanadian fur trade. Other branches, in great number, did not disappearentirely, but witnessed the rise of a formidable competition in foreignlands, where they had hitherto remained unknown; these were so many outletsclosed, so many markets lost for our exportation, lately so flourishing. A suburb of London (Spitalfields) was peopled with our workmen in silk, emigrated from Lyons and Touraine, which lost three-fourths of their looms;the manufacture of French silk was also established in Holland, withpaper-making, cloth manufacture, etc. Many branches of industry weretransplanted to Brandenburg, and twenty thousand Frenchmen carried the mostrefined arts of civilization to the coarse population thinly scatteredamong the sands and firs of that sombre region. French refugees paid forthe hospitality of the Elector Frederick by laying the foundation of thehigh destinies of Berlin, which on their arrival was still but a small cityof twelve or fifteen thousand souls, and which, thenceforth, took a startwhich nothing was to arrest. Like the Hebrews after the fall of Jerusalem, the Huguenot exiles scattered themselves over the entire world: some wentto Ireland, carrying the cultivation of flax and hemp; others, led by anephew of Duquesne, founded a small colony at the Cape of Good Hope. 

France was impoverished, not only in Frenchmen who exiled themselves, but in those, much more numerous, who remained in spite of themselves, discouraged, ruined, whether they openly resisted persecution or sufferedsome external observances of Catholicism to be wrung from them, all havingneither energy in work nor security in life; it was really the activityof more than a million of men that France lost, and of the million thatproduced most. 

The great enterprise, the miracle of the reign, therefore miscarried; thenew temple that Louis had pretended to erect to unity fell to ruin asit rose from the ground, and left only an open chasm in place of itsfoundation. Everything that had been undertaken by the governing power ofFrance for a century in the direction of national, civil, and territorialunity had gloriously succeeded; as soon as the governing power left thislegitimate field of unity to invade the domain of conscience and of humanindividuality, it raised before itself insurmountable obstacles; itconcerned itself in contests wherein it was equally fatal to conquer orbe conquered, and gave the first blow to the greatness of France. What acontrast between the pretensions of Louis that he could neither be mistakennor deceived, that he saw everything, that he accomplished everything, andthe illusions with which he was surrounded in regard to the facility ofsuccess and the means employed! The nothingness of absolute power, and ofgovernment by one alone, was thus revealed under the reign of the "GreatKing!"

%THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION%

FLIGHT OF JAMES II

A. D. 1688

GILBERT BURNET

H. D. TRAILL

With the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England not onlydid the Stuart line come to an end, but the Protestant religion was finallyestablished in the kingdom. By the Declaration of Right, upon which theirtitle rested, it was decreed that after the death of William and Mary noperson holding the Roman Catholic faith should ever be king or queen ofEngland. Assumption of the throne by a Roman Catholic should release thepeople from their allegiance. 

William III (William of Orange) was a nephew of James II. He had greatlydistinguished himself as leader of the Dutch against the invasions of LouisXIV, when the English people, tired of the tyranny of James II, and alsofearing that he might be succeeded by a Catholic, decided to choose aProtestant for their sovereign. William was married (1677) to Mary, eldestchild of James II. Could they have been sure that she would succeed herfather, the English people would gladly have had Mary for their sole ruler, though European interests demanded the elevation to larger power ofthe Prince of Orange as the great antagonist of Louis XIV. William wasaccordingly invited to take possession of the English throne conjointlywith Mary. The Prince of Orange landed at Torbay, November 5, 1688. 

This revolution, one of the least violent in all history, is best describedby Bishop Burnet, who accompanied William of Orange from Holland toEngland, and in 1689 was made Bishop of Salisbury. He is not less eminentas the historian of his time than as a theologian and prelate of theEnglish Church. 

Having made his preparations for sailing, William was annoyed by manydelays occasioned by the hesitation of his subordinates. Traill's accountof the convention which William summoned for settlement of the crown, givesin a wholly modern way the particulars of the formal accession of Williamand Mary. 

GILBERT BURNET

All this while the men-of-war were still riding at sea, it being acontinued storm for some weeks. The Prince[1] sent out several advice-boatswith orders to them to come in. But they could not come up to them. OnOctober 27th there was for six hours together a most dreadful storm; sothat there were few among us that did not conclude that the best part ofthe fleet, and by consequence that the whole design, were lost. Many thathave passed for heroes yet showed then the agonies of fear in their looksand whole deportment. The Prince still retained his usual calmness, andthe same tranquillity of spirit that I had observed in him in his happiestdays. On the 28th it calmed a little, and our fleet came all in, to ourgreat joy. The rudder of one third-rate was broken; and that was all thehurt that the storm had done. At last the much-longed-for east wind came. And so hard a thing it was to set so vast a body in motion that two days ofthis wind were lost before all could be quite ready. 

[Footnote 1: William of Orange. ]

On November 1 (O. S. ), we sailed out with the evening tide, but made littleway that night, that so our fleet might come out and move in order. Wetried next day till noon if it were possible to sail northward, but thewind was so strong and full in the east that we could not move that way. About noon the signal was given to steer westward. This wind not onlydiverted us from that unhappy course, but it kept the English fleet in theriver; so that it was not possible for them to come out, though they werecome down as far as to the Gunfleet. By this means we had the sea open tous, with a fair wind and a safe navigation. On the 3d we passed betweenDover and Calais, and before night came in sight of the Isle of Wight. Thenext day, being the day in which the Prince was both born and married, hefancied if he could land that day it would look auspicious to the army andanimate the soldiers. But we all, who considered that the day following, being gunpowder-treason day, our landing that day might have a good effecton the minds of the English nation, were better pleased to see that wecould land no sooner. 

Torbay was thought the best place for our great fleet to lie in, and it wasresolved to land the army where it could be best done near it; reckoningthat being at such a distance from London we could provide ourselves withhorses, and put everything in order before the King could march his armytoward us, and that we should lie some time at Exeter for the refreshing ofour men. I was in the ship, with the Prince's other domestics, that wentin the van of the whole fleet. At noon on the 4th, Russel came on board uswith the best of all the English pilots that they had brought over. He gavehim the steering of the ship, and ordered him to be sure to sail so thatnext morning we should be short of Dartmouth; for it was intended that someof the ships should land there, and that the rest should sail into Torbay. The pilot thought he could not be mistaken in measuring our course, andbelieved that he certainly kept within orders, till the morning showed uswe were past Torbay and Dartmouth. The wind, though it had abated muchof its first violence, was yet still full in the east; so now it seemednecessary for us to sail on to Plymouth, which must have engaged us in along and tedious campaign in winter through a very ill country. 

Nor were we sure to be received at Plymouth. The Earl of Bath, who wasgovernor, had sent by Russel a promise to the Prince to come and join him;yet it was not likely that he would be so forward as to receive us at ourfirst coming. The delays he made afterward, pretending that he was managingthe garrison, whereas he was indeed staying till he saw how the matter waslikely to be decided, showed us how fatal it had proved, if we had beenforced to sail on to Plymouth. But while Russel was in no small disorder, after he saw the pilot's error (upon which he bade me go to my prayers, forall was lost), and as he was ordering the boat to be cleared to go aboardthe Prince, on a sudden, to all our wonder, it calmed a little. And thenthe wind turned into the south, and a soft and happy gale of wind carriedin the whole fleet in four hours' time into Torbay. Immediately as manylanded as conveniently could. As soon as the Prince and Marshal Schomberggot to shore, they were furnished with such horses as the village ofBroxholme could afford, and rode up to view the grounds, which they foundas convenient as could be imagined for the foot in that season. It was nota cold night; otherwise the soldiers, who had been kept warm aboard, mighthave suffered much by it. 

As soon as I landed, I made what haste I could to the place where thePrince was; who took me heartily by the hand, and asked me if I wouldnot now believe in predestination. I told him I would never forget thatprovidence of God which had appeared so signally on this occasion. [1] Hewas cheerfuller than ordinary. Yet he returned soon to his usual gravity. The Prince sent for all the fishermen of the place and asked them which wasthe properest place for landing his horse, which all apprehended would be atedious business and might hold some days. But next morning he was showeda place, a quarter of a mile below the village, where the ships could bebrought very near the land, against a good shore, and the horses wouldnot be put to swim above twenty yards. This proved to be so happy for ourlanding, though we came to it by mere accident, that if we had ordered thewhole island round to be sounded we could not have found a properer placefor it. There was a dead calm all that morning; and in three hours' timeall our horse were landed, with as much baggage as was necessary tillwe got to Exeter. The artillery and heavy baggage were left aboard, andordered to Topsham, the seaport to Exeter. All that belonged to us was sosoon and so happily landed that by the next day at noon we were in fullmarch, and marched four miles that night. We had from thence twenty milesto Exeter, and we resolved to make haste thither. 

[Footnote 1: Light is thrown on this passage by the following curiousaccount given in M'Cormick's _Life of Carstares_: "Mr. Carstares set outalong with his highness in quality of his domestic chaplain, and wentaboard of his own ship. It is well known that, upon their first setting outfrom the coast of Holland, the fleet was in imminent danger by a violenttempest, which obliged them to put back for a few days. Upon that occasion, the vessel which carried the Prince and his retinue narrowly escapedshipwreck, a circumstance which some who were around his person weredisposed to interpret into a bad omen of their success. Among these, Dr. Burnet happening to observe that it seemed predestined that they should notset foot on English ground, the Prince said nothing; but, upon steppingashore at Torbay, in the hearing of Mr. Carstares, he turned about to Dr. Burnet, and asked him what he thought of the doctrine of predestinationnow?" Cunningham, according to the translation of the Latin MS. Of his_History of England_, says that "Dr. Burnet, who understood but littleof military affairs, asked the Prince of Orange which way he intended tomarch, and when? and desired to be employed by him in whatever servicehe should think fit. The Prince only asked what he now thought ofpredestination? and advised, if he had a mind to be busy, to consult thecanons. " The Bishop omits mentioning the proximate cause of the Prince'squestion, and says nothing about his declining the offer of his services, which indeed it is not likely that he did, at least so uncivilly. ]

But as we were now happily landed, and marching, we saw new andunthought-of characters of a favorable providence of God watching over us. We had no sooner got thus disengaged from our fleet than a new and greatstorm blew from the west; from which our fleet, being covered by the land, could receive no prejudice; but the King's fleet had got out as the windcalmed, and in pursuit of us was come as far as the Isle of Wight, whenthis contrary wind turned upon them. They tried what they could to pursueus; but they were so shattered by some days of this storm that they wereforced to go into Portsmouth, and were no more fit for service that year. This was a greater happiness than we were then aware of: for Lord Dartmouthassured me some time after, that, whatever stories we had heard andbelieved, either of officers or seamen, he was confident they would allhave fought very heartily. But now, by the immediate hand of Heaven, wewere masters of the sea without a blow. I never found a disposition tosuperstition in my temper: I was rather inclined to be philosophical uponall occasions; yet I must confess that this strange ordering of the windsand seasons just to change as our affairs required it, could not but makea deep impression on me as well as on all that observed it. Those famousverses of Claudian seemed to be more applicable to the Prince than to himthey were made on:

 "Heaven's favorite, for whom the skies do fight, And all the winds conspire to guide thee right!"

The Prince made haste to Exeter, where he stayed ten days, both forrefreshing his troops and for giving the country time to show itsaffection. Both the clergy and magistrates of Exeter were very fearful andvery backward. The Bishop and the dean ran away. And the clergy stood off, though they were sent for and very gently spoken to by the Prince. Thetruth was, the doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance had beencarried so far and preached so much that clergymen either could not allon the sudden get out of that entanglement into which they had by longthinking and speaking all one way involved themselves, or they were ashamedto make so quick a turn. Yet care was taken to protect them and theirhouses everywhere, so that no sort of violence or rudeness was offered toany of them. The Prince gave me full authority to do this, and I took soparticular a care of it that we heard of no complaints. The army was keptunder such an exact discipline that everything was paid for where itwas demanded, though the soldiers were contented with such moderateentertainment that the people generally asked but little for what they dideat. We stayed a week at Exeter before any of the gentlemen of the countryabout came in to the Prince. Every day some persons of condition came fromother parts. The first were Lord Colchester, Mr. Wharton, the eldest sonsof the Earl of Rivers, and Lord Wharton, Mr. Russel, Lord Russel's brother, and the Earl of Abingdon. 

The King came down to Salisbury, and sent his troops twenty miles farther. Of these, three regiments of horse and dragoons were drawn on by theirofficers, Lord Cornbury and Colonel Langston, on design to come over to thePrince. Advice was sent to the Prince of this. But because these officerswere not sure of their subalterns, the Prince ordered a body of his men toadvance and assist them in case any resistance was made. They were withintwenty miles of Exeter, and within two miles of the body that the Princehad sent to join them, when a whisper ran about among them that they werebetrayed. Lord Cornbury had not the presence of mind that so critical athing required. So they fell in confusion, and many rode back. Yet oneregiment came over in a body, and with them about a hundred of the othertwo. 

This gave us great courage, and showed us that we had not been deceived inwhat was told us of the inclinations of the King's army. Yet, on the otherhand, those who studied to support the King's spirit by flatteries, toldhim that in this he saw that he might trust his army, since those whointended to carry over those regiments were forced to manage it with somuch artifice, and dared not discover their design either to officers orsoldiers, and that as soon as they perceived it the greater part of themhad turned back. The King wanted support; for his spirits sunk extremely. His blood was in such fermentation that he was bleeding much at the nose, which returned oft upon him every day. He sent many spies over to us. Theyall took his money, and came and joined themselves to the Prince, none ofthem returning to him. So that he had no intelligence brought him of whatthe Prince was doing but what common reports brought him, which magnifiedour numbers and made him think we were coming near him while we were stillat Exeter. He heard that the city of London was very unquiet. 

News was brought him that the Earls of Devonshire and Danby, and LordLumley, were drawing great bodies together, and that both York andNewcastle had declared for the Prince. Lord Delamere had raised a regimentin Cheshire. And the body of the nation did everywhere discover theirinclinations for the Prince so evidently that the King saw he had nothingto trust to but his army. And the ill-disposition among them was soapparent that he reckoned he could not depend on them. So that he lostboth heart and head at once. But that which gave him the last and mostconfounding stroke was that Lord Churchill and the Duke of Grafton left himand came and joined the Prince at Axminster, twenty miles on that side ofExeter. 

After this he could not know on whom he could depend. The Duke of Graftonwas one of King Charles' sons by the Duchess of Cleveland. He had beensome time at sea, and was a gallant but rough man. He had more spirit thananyone of that spurious race. He made answer to the King, about this time, that was much talked of. The King took notice of somewhat in his behaviorthat looked factious, and he said he was sure he could not pretend to actupon principles of conscience; for he had been so ill-bred that, as he knewlittle of religion, so he regarded it less. But he answered the King that, though he had little conscience, yet he was of a party that had conscience. Soon after that, Prince George, the Duke of Ormond, and Lord Drumlanerick, the Duke of Queensbury's eldest son, left him and came over to the Prince, and joined him when he was come as far as the Earl of Bristol's house atSherburn. 

When the news came to London the Princess was so struck with theapprehensions of the King's displeasure, and of the ill-effects that itmight have, that she said to Lady Churchill that she could not bear thethoughts of it, and would leap out of window rather than venture on it. TheBishop of London was then lodged very secretly in Suffolk Street. So LadyChurchill, who knew where he was, went to him and concerted with him themethod of the Princess' withdrawing from the court. The Princess wentsooner to bed than ordinary. And about midnight she went down a back stairsfrom her closet, attended only by Lady Churchill, [1] in such haste thatthey carried nothing with them. They were waited for by the Bishop ofLondon, who carried them to the Earl of Dorset's, whose lady furnished themwith everything, And so they went northward as far as Northampton, wherethat Earl attended on them with all respect, and quickly brought a body ofhorse to serve for a guard to the Princess. And in a little while a smallarmy was formed about her, who chose to be commanded by the Bishop ofLondon, of which he too easily accepted, and was by that exposed to muchcensure. 

[Footnote 1: And Mrs. Berkeley, afterward Lady Fitzharding. The back stairswere made a little before for that purpose. The Princess pretended she wasout of order, upon some expostulations that had passed between her and theQueen, in a visit she received from her that night, therefore said shewould not be disturbed till she rang her bell. Next morning, when herservants had waited two hours longer than her usual time of rising, theywere afraid something was the matter with her, and finding the bed open, and her highness gone, they ran screaming to my father's lodgings, whichwere the next to hers, and told my mother the Princess was murdered by thepriests; thence they went to the Queen, and old Mistress Buss asked her ina very rude manner what she had done with her mistress. The Queen answeredher very gravely, she supposed their mistress was where she liked to be, but did assure them she knew nothing of her, but did not doubt they wouldhear of her again very soon. Which gave them little satisfaction, uponwhich there was a rumor all over Whitehall that the Queen had made awaywith the Princess. --_Dartmouth. _]

These things put the King in an inexpressible confusion. He saw himself nowforsaken not only by those whom he had trusted and favored most, but evenby his own children. And the army was in such distraction that there wasnot any one body that seemed entirely united and firm to him. A foolishballad was made at that time treating the papists, and chiefly the Irish, in a very ridiculous manner, which had a burden, said to be Irish words, _lero, lero, lilibulero_, that made an impression on the army that cannotbe well imagined by those who saw it not. The whole army, and at last allpeople both in city and country, were singing it perpetually. And perhapsnever had so slight a thing so great an effect. 

But now strange counsels were suggested to the King and Queen. The priestsand all the violent papists saw a treaty was now opened. They knew thatthey must be the sacrifice. The whole design of popery must be given up, without any hope of being able in an age to think of bringing it on again. Severe laws would be made against them. And all those who intended tostick to the King, and to preserve him, would go into those laws with aparticular zeal; so that they and their hopes must be now given up andsacrificed forever. They infused all this into the Queen. They said shewould certainly be impeached, and witnesses would be set up against her andher son; the King's mother had been impeached in the Long Parliament; andshe was to look for nothing but violence. So the Queen took up a suddenresolution of going to France with the child. The midwife, together withall who were assisting at the birth, were also carried over, or so disposedof that it could never be learned what became of them afterward. 

The Queen prevailed with the King not only to consent to this, but topromise to go quickly after her. He was only to stay a day or two afterher, in hope that the shadow of authority that was still left in him mightkeep things so quiet that she might have an undisturbed passage. So shewent to Portsmouth. And thence, in a man-of-war, she went over to France, the King resolving to follow her in disguise. Care was also taken to sendall the priests away. The King stayed long enough to get the Prince'sanswer. And when he had read it he said he did not expect so good terms. Heordered the lord chancellor to come to him next morning. But he had calledsecretly for the great seal. And the next morning, being December 10th, about three in the morning he went away in disguise with Sir Edward Hales, whose servant he seemed to be. They passed the river, and flung the greatseal into it; which was some months after found by a fisherman nearFoxhall. The King went down to a miserable fisher-boat that Hales hadprovided for carrying them over to France. 

Thus a great king, who had yet a good army and a strong fleet, did chooserather to abandon all than either to expose himself to any danger with thatpart of the army that was still firm to him or to stay and see the issue ofa parliament. Some put this mean and unaccountable resolution on a want ofcourage. Others thought it was the effect of an ill-conscience, and of someblack thing under which he could not now support himself. And they whocensured it the most moderately said that it showed that his priests hadmore regard for themselves than for him; and that he considered theirinterests more than his own; and that he chose rather to wander abroad withthem and to try what he could do by a French force to subdue his peoplethan to stay at home and be shut up within the bounds of law, and bebrought under an incapacity of doing more mischief; which they saw wasnecessary to quiet those fears and jealousies for which his bad governmenthad given so much occasion. It seemed very unaccountable, since he wasresolved to go, that he did not choose rather to go in one of his yachts orfrigates than to expose himself in so dangerous and ignominious a manner. It was not possible to put a good construction on any part of thedishonorable scene which he then acted. 

With this his reign ended: for this was a plain deserting of his people andexposing the nation to the pillage of an army which he had ordered the Earlof Feversham to disband. And the doing this without paying them was lettingso many armed men loose upon the nation; who might have done much mischiefif the execution of those orders that he left behind him had not beenstopped. I shall continue the recital of all that passed in this_interregnum_, till the throne, which he now left empty, was filled. 

He was not got far, when some fishermen of Feversham, who were watchingfor such priests and other delinquents as they fancied were making theirescape, came up to him. And they, knowing Sir Edward Hales, took both theKing and him, and brought them to Feversham. The King told them who hewas. [1] And that flying about brought a vast crowd together to look on thisastonishing instance of the uncertainty of all worldly greatness, when hewho had ruled three kingdoms and might have been the arbiter of all Europewas now in such mean hands, and so low an equipage. The people of the townwere extremely disordered with this unlooked-for accident; and, though fora while they kept him as a prisoner, yet they quickly changed that intoas much respect as they could possibly pay him. Here was an accident thatseemed of no great consequence. Yet all the strugglings which that partyhave made ever since that time to this day, which from him were calledafterward the Jacobites, did rise out of this; for if he had got clearaway, by all that could be judged, he would not have had a party left; allwould have agreed that here was a desertion, and that therefore the nationwas free and at liberty to secure itself. But that following upon this gavethem a color to say that he was forced away and driven out. Till now hescarce had a party but among the papists. But from this incident a partygrew up that has been long very active for his interests. 

[Footnote 1: And desired they would send to Eastwell for the Earl ofWinchelsea; which Sir Basil Dixwell put a stop to by telling him surelythey were good enough to take care of him. Which occasioned the King'ssaying he found there was more civility among the common people than somegentlemen, when he was returned to Whitehall. --_Dartmouth_. ]

As soon as it was known at London that the King was gone, the 'prenticesand the rabble, who had been a little quieted when they saw a treatyon foot between the King and the Prince, now broke out again upon allsuspected houses, where they believed there were either priests orpapists. They made great havoc of many places, not sparing the houses ofambassadors. But none was killed, no houses burned, nor were any robberiescommitted. Never was so much fury seen under so much management. Jeffreysfinding the King was gone, saw what reason he had to look to himself, and, apprehending that he was now exposed to the rage of the people whom he hadprovoked with so particular a brutality, he had disguised himself tomake his escape. But he fell into the hands of some who knew him. He wasinsulted by them with as much scorn and rudeness as they could invent. And, after many hours tossing him about, he was carried to the lord mayor, whomthey charged to commit him to the Tower, which Lord Lucas had then seized, and in it had declared for the Prince. The lord mayor was so struck withthe terror of this rude populace, and with the disgrace of a man who hadmade all people tremble before him, that he fell into fits upon it, ofwhich he died soon after. 

Upon the news of the King's desertion, it was proposed that the Princeshould go on with all possible haste to London. But that was not advisable. For the King's army lay so scattered through the road all the way to Londonthat it was not fit for him to advance faster than his troops marchedbefore him; otherwise, any resolute officer might have seized or killedhim. Though, if it had not been for that danger a great deal of mischiefthat followed would have been prevented by his speedy advance; for nowbegan that turn to which all the difficulties that did afterward disorderour affairs may be justly imputed. Two gentlemen of Kent came to Windsorthe morning after the Prince came thither. They were addressed to me; andthey told me of the accident at Feversham, and desired to know the Prince'spleasure upon it. I was affected with this dismal reverse of the fortuneof a great prince more than I think fit to express. I went immediately toBenthink and wakened him, and got him to go to the Prince and let himknow what had happened, that some order might be presently given for thesecurity of the King's person, and for taking him out of the hands of arude multitude who said they would obey no orders but such as came from thePrince. 

The Prince ordered Zuylestein to go immediately to Feversham, and to seethe King safe and at full liberty to go whithersoever he pleased. But assoon as the news of the King's being at Feversham came to London, all theindignation that people had formerly conceived against him was turned topity and compassion. The privy council met upon it. Some moved that heshould be sent for. Others said he was king, and might send for his guardsand coaches as he pleased, but it became not them to send for him. It wasleft to his general, the Earl of Feversham, to do what he thought best. Sohe went for him with his coaches and guards. And, as he came back throughthe city, he was welcomed with expressions of joy by great numbers; soslight and unstable a thing is a multitude, and so soon altered. At hiscoming to Whitehall, he had a great court about him. Even the papists creptout of their lurking-holes, and appeared at court with much assurance. The King himself began to take heart. And both at Feversham, and now atWhitehall, he talked in his ordinary high strain, justifying all that hehad done; only he spoke a little doubtfully of the business of MagdalenCollege. But when he came to reflect on the state of his affairs, he saw itwas so soon broken that nothing was now left to deliberate upon. So hesent the Earl of Feversham to Windsor without demanding any passport, andordered him to desire the Prince to come to St. James' to consult with himof the best way for settling the nation. 

When the news of what had passed at London came to Windsor, the Princethought the privy council had not used him well, who after they had sent tohim to take the government upon him, had made this step without consultinghim. Now the scene was altered and new counsels were to be taken. ThePrince heard the opinions, not only of those who had come along with him, but of such of the nobility as were now come to him, among whom the Marquisof Halifax was one. All agreed that it was not convenient that the Kingshould stay at Whitehall. Neither the King, nor the Prince, nor the city, could have been safe if they had been both near one another. Tumults wouldprobably have arisen out of it. The guards and the officious flatterers ofthe two courts would have been unquiet neighbors. It was thought necessaryto stick to the point of the King's deserting his people, and not togive up that by entering upon any treaty with him. And since the Earl ofFeversham, who had commanded the army against the Prince, was come withouta passport he was for some days put in arrest. 

It was a tender point now to dispose of the King's person. Some proposedrougher methods: the keeping him a prisoner, at least till the nation wassettled, and till Ireland was secured. It was thought his being kept incustody would be such a tie on all his party as would oblige them to submitand be quiet. Ireland was in great danger. And his restraint might obligethe Earl of Tyrconnel to deliver up the government, and to disarm thepapists, which would preserve that kingdom and the Protestants in it. But, because it might raise too much compassion and perhaps some disorder if theKing should be kept in restraint within the kingdom, therefore the sendinghim to Breda was proposed. The Earl of Clarendon pressed this vehemently onaccount of the Irish Protestants, as the King himself told me, for thosethat gave their opinions in this matter did it secretly and in confidenceto the Prince. The Prince said he could not deny but that this might begood and wise advice, but it was that to which he could not hearken; hewas so far satisfied with the grounds of this expedition that he could actagainst the King in a fair and open war; but for his person, now that hehad him in his power, he could not put such a hardship on him as to makehim a prisoner; and he knew the Princess' temper so well that he was sureshe would never bear it: nor did he know what disputes it might raise, orwhat effect it might have upon the Parliament that was to be called; he wasfirmly resolved never to suffer anything to be done against his person; hesaw it was necessary to send him out of London, and he would order a guardto attend upon him who should only defend and protect his person, but notrestrain him in any sort. 

A resolution was taken of sending the Lords Halifax, Shrewsbury, andDelamere to London, who were first to order the English guards that wereabout the court to be drawn off and sent to quarters out of town, and whenthat was done the Count of Solms with the Dutch guards was to come and takeall the posts about the court. This was obeyed without any resistance ordisorder, but not without much murmuring. It was midnight before all wassettled. And then these lords sent to the Earl of Middleton to desire himto let the King know that they had a message to deliver to him from thePrince. He went in to the King, and sent them word from him that they mightcome with it immediately. They came and found him abed. They told him thenecessity of affairs required that the Prince should come presently toLondon; and he thought it would conduce to the safety of the King's personand the quiet of the town that he should retire to some house out of town, and they proposed Ham. 

The King seemed much dejected, and asked if it must be done immediately. They told him he might take his rest first, and they added that he shouldbe attended by a guard who should only guard his person, but should givehim no sort of disturbance. Having said this, they withdrew. The Earl ofMiddleton came quickly after them and asked them if it would not do as wellif the King should go to Rochester; for since the Prince was not pleasedwith his coming up from Kent it might be perhaps acceptable to him if heshould go thither again. It was very visible that this was proposed inorder to a second escape. 

They promised to send word immediately to the Prince of Orange, who laythat night at Sion, within eight miles of London. He very readily consentedto it. And the King went next day to Rochester, having ordered all thatwhich is called the moving wardrobe to be sent before him, the Count ofSolms ordering everything to be done as the King desired. A guard went withhim that left him at full liberty, and paid him rather more respect thanhis own guards had done of late. Most of that body, as it happened, werepapists. So when he went to mass they went in and assisted very reverently. And when they were asked how they could serve in an expedition that wasintended to destroy their own religion, one of them answered, his soulwas God's, but his sword was the Prince of Orange's. The King was so muchdelighted with this answer that he repeated it to all that came about him. On the same day the Prince came to St. James'. It happened to be a veryrainy day. And yet great numbers came to see him. But, after they had stoodlong in the wet, he disappointed them; for he, who loved neither showsnor shoutings, went through the park. And even this trifle helped to setpeople's spirits on edge. 

The revolution was thus brought about with the universal applause of thewhole nation; only these last steps began to raise a fermentation. It wassaid, here was an unnatural thing to waken the King out of his sleep, inhis own palace, and to order him to go out of it when he was ready tosubmit to everything. Some said he was now a prisoner, and remembered thesaying of King Charles I, that the prisons and the graves of princes laynot far distant from one another; the person of the King was now struck at, as well as his government, and this specious undertaking would now appearto be only a disguised and designed usurpation. These things began to workon great numbers. And the posting of the Dutch guards where the Englishguards had been, gave a general disgust to the whole English army. Theyindeed hated the Dutch besides, on account of the good order and strictdiscipline they were kept under; which made them to be as much beloved bythe nation as they were hated by the soldiery. The nation had never knownsuch an inoffensive march of an army. And the peace and order of thesuburbs, and the freedom of markets in and about London, were so carefullymaintained that in no time fewer disorders had been committed than wereheard of this winter. 

None of the papists or Jacobites was insulted in any sort. The Prince hadordered me, as we came along, to take care of the papists and to securethem from all violence. When he came to London he renewed these orders, which I executed with so much zeal and care that I saw all the complaintsthat were brought me fully redressed. When we came to London I procuredpassports for all that desired to go beyond the sea. Two of the popishbishops were put in Newgate. I went thither in the Prince's name. I toldthem the Prince would not take upon him yet to give any orders aboutprisoners; as soon as he did that, they should feel the effects of it. Butin the mean while I ordered them to be well used, and to be taken care of, and that their friends might be admitted to come to them; so truly did Ipursue the principle of moderation even toward those from whom nothing ofthat sort was to be expected. 

Now that the Prince was come, all the bodies about the town came to welcomehim. The bishops came the next day. Only the Archbishop of Canterbury, though he had once agreed to it, yet would not come. The clergy of Londoncame next. The city, and a great many other bodies, came likewise, andexpressed a great deal of joy for the deliverance wrought for them by thePrince's means. Old Sergeant Maynard came with the men of the law. He wasthen near ninety, and yet he said the liveliest thing that was heard of onthat occasion. The Prince took notice of his great age, and said that hehad outlived all the men of the law of his time; he answered he had likedto have outlived the law itself if his highness had not come over. 

The first thing to be done after the compliments were over was to considerhow the nation was to be settled. The lawyers were generally of opinionthat the Prince ought to declare himself king, as Henry VII had done. This, they said, would put an end to all disputes, which might otherwise growvery perplexing and tedious; and they said he might call a Parliament whichwould be a legal assembly if summoned by the king in fact, though his titlewas not yet recognized. This was plainly contrary to his declaration, bywhich the settlement of the nation was referred to a parliament; such astep would make all that the Prince had hitherto done pass for an aspiringambition only to raise himself; and it would disgust those who had beenhitherto the best affected to his designs, and make them less concerned inthe quarrel if, instead of staying till the nation should offer him thecrown, he would assume it as a conquest. 

These reasons determined the Prince against that proposition. He called allthe peers and the members of the three last parliaments that were in town, together with some of the citizens of London. When these met it was toldthem that, in the present distraction, the Prince desired their adviceabout the best methods of settling the nation. It was agreed in both theseHouses, such as they were, to make an address to the Prince, desiringhim to take the administration of the Government into his hands in the_interim_. The next proposition passed not so unanimously; for, it beingmoved that the Prince should be likewise desired to write missive lettersto the same effect, and for the same persons to whom writs were issued outfor calling a parliament, that so there might be an assembly of men in theform of a parliament, though without writs under the great seal, such asthat was that had called home King Charles II. 

To this the Earl of Nottingham objected that such a convention of thestates could be no legal assembly unless summoned by the King's writ. Therefore he moved that an address might be made to the King to order thewrits to be issued. Few were of his mind. The matter was carried the otherway, and orders were given for those letters to be sent round the nation. 

The King continued a week at Rochester. And both he himself and everybodyelse saw that he was at full liberty, and that the guard about him put himunder no sort of restraint. Many that were zealous for his interests wentto him and pressed him to stay and to see the issue of things: a partywould appear for him; good terms would be got for him; and things would bebrought to a reasonable agreement. He was much distracted between his owninclinations and the importunities of his friends. The Queen, hearing whathad happened, writ a most vehement letter to him, pressing his coming over, remembering him of his promise, which she charged on him in a very earnestif not in an imperious strain. This letter was intercepted. I had anaccount of it from one that read it. The Prince ordered it to be conveyedto the King, and that determined him. So he gave secret orders to prepare avessel for him, and drew a paper, which he left on his table, reproachingthe nation for their forsaking him. He declared that though he was going toseek for foreign aid to restore him to his throne, yet he would not makeuse of it to overthrow either the religion established or the laws ofthe land. And so he left Rochester very secretly on the last day of thismemorable year and got safe over to France. 

H. D. TRAILL

The convention for filling the vacant throne met on January 22d, whenHalifax was chosen president in the Lords; Powle speaker of the Commons. Aletter from William, read in both Houses, informed their members that hehad endeavored to the best of his power to discharge the trust reposed inhim, and that it now rested with the convention to lay the foundation of afirm security for their religion, laws, and liberties. The Prince then wenton to refer to the dangerous condition of the Protestants in Ireland, andthe present state of things abroad, which obliged him to tell them thatnext to the danger of unreasonable divisions among themselves, nothingcould be so fatal as too great a delay in their consultations. And hefurther intimated that as England was already bound by treaty to help theDutch in such exigencies as, deprived of the troops which he had broughtover, and threatened with war by Louis XIV, they might easily be reducedto, so he felt confident that the cheerful concurrence of the Dutch inpreserving this kingdom would meet with all the returns of friendship fromProtestants and Englishmen whenever their own condition should requireassistance. 

To this the two Houses replied with an address thanking the Prince for hisgreat care in the administration of the affairs of the kingdom to thistime, and formally continuing to him the same commission, recommending tohis particular care the present state of Ireland. William's answer to thisaddress was characteristic both of his temperament and his preoccupation. "My lords and gentlemen, " he said, "I am glad that what I have done hathpleased you; and since you desire me to continue the administrationof affairs, I am willing to accept it. I must recommend to you theconsideration of affairs abroad which makes it fit for you to expedite yourbusiness, not only for making a settlement at home on a good foundation, but for the safety of Europe. "

On the 28th the Commons resolved themselves into a committee of the wholeHouse, and Richard Hampden, son of the great John, was voted into thechair. The honor of having been the first to speak the word which was oneverybody's lips belongs to Gilbert Dolben, son of a late archbishop ofYork, who "made a long speech tending to prove that the King's desertinghis kingdom without appointing any person to administer the governmentamounted in reason and judgment of law to a demise. " Sir Robert Howard, oneof the members for Castle Rising, went a step further, and asserted thatthe throne was vacant. The extreme Tories made a vain effort to procurean adjournment, but the combination against them of Whigs and their ownmoderates was too strong for them, and after a long and stormy debatethe House resolved "That King James II, having endeavored to subvert theconstitution by breaking the original contract between the King and people, and by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons having violated thefundamental laws and withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, has abdicatedthe government, and that the throne is thereby vacant. "

This resolution was at once sent up to the Lords. Before, however, theycould proceed to consider it, another message arrived from the Commons tothe effect that they had just voted it inconsistent with the safety andwelfare of this Protestant nation to be governed by a popish king. 

To this resolution the Peers assented with a readiness which showed inadvance that James had no party in the Upper House, and that the utmostlength to which the Tories in that body were prepared to go was to supportthe proposal of a regency. The first resolution of the Commons was then putaside in order that this proposal might be discussed. It was ArchbishopSancroft's plan, who, however, did not make his appearance to advocate it, and in his absence it was supported by Rochester and Nottingham, whileHalifax and Danby led the opposition to it. After a day's debate it waslost by the narrow majority of two, forty-nine peers declaring in its favorand fifty-one against it. 

The Lords then went into committee on the Commons' resolution, and at onceproceeded, as was natural enough, to dispute the clause in its preamblewhich referred to the original contract between the King and the people. NoTory, of course, could really have subscribed to the doctrine implied inthese words; but it was doubtless as hard in those days as in these tointerest an assembly of English politicians in affirmations of abstractpolitical principle, and some Tories probably thought it not worth whileto multiply causes of dissent with the Lower House by attacking a purelyacademic recital of their resolution. Anyhow, the numbers of the minorityslightly fell off, only forty-six Peers objecting to the phrase, whilefifty-three voted that it should stand. The word "deserted" was thensubstituted without a division for the word "abdicated, " and, the hourbeing late, the Lords adjourned. 

The real battle, of course, was now at hand, and to anyone who assentsto the foregoing criticisms it will be evident that it was far less of aconflict on a point of constitutional principle, and far more of a strugglebetween the parties of two distinct--one cannot call them rival--claimantsto the throne than high-flying Whig writers are accustomed to representit. It would, of course, be too much to say that the Whigs insisted ondeclaring the vacancy of the throne, _only_ because they wished to placeWilliam on it, and that the Tories contended for a demise of the crown, _only_ because they wished an English princess to succeed to the thronerather than a Dutch prince. Still, it is pretty certain that, but for thisconflict of preferences, the two political parties, who had made so littledifficulty of agreeing in the declaration that James had ceased to reign, would never have found it so hard to concur in its almost necessarysequence that the throne was vacant. 

The debate on the last clause of the resolution began, and it soon becameapparent that the Whigs were outnumbered. The forty-nine peers who hadsupported the proposal of a regency--which implied that the royal title wasstill in James--were bound, of course, to oppose the proposition that thethrone was vacant; and they were reënforced by several peers who held thatthat title had already devolved upon Mary. An attempt to compromise thedispute by omitting the words pronouncing the throne vacant, and insertingwords which merely proclaimed the Prince and Princess of Orange king andqueen, was rejected by fifty-two votes to forty-seven; and the originalclause was then put, and negatived by fifty-five votes to forty-one. 

Thus amended by the substitution of "deserted" for "abdicated, " andthe omission of the words "and that the throne is thereby vacant, " theresolution was sent back to the Commons, who instantly and without adivision disagreed with the amendments. The situation was now becomingcritical. The prospect of a deadlock between the two branches of theconvention threw London into a ferment; crowds assembled in Palace Yard;petitions were presented in that tumultuous fashion which convertssupplication into menace. To their common credit, however, both partiesunited in resistance to these attempts at popular coercion; and Williamhimself interposed to enjoin a stricter police of the capital. On Monday, February 4th, the Lords resolved to insist on their amendments; on thefollowing day the Commons reaffirmed their disagreement with them by twohundred eighty-two votes to one hundred fifty-one. A free conferencebetween the two Houses was then arranged, and met on the following day. 

But the dispute, like many another in our political history, had meanwhilebeen settled out of court. Between the date of the peers' vote and theconference Mary had communicated to Danby her high displeasure at theconduct of those who were setting up her claims in opposition to thoseof her husband; and William, who had previously maintained an unbrokensilence, now made, unsolicited, a declaration of a most important and, indeed, of a conclusive kind. If the convention, he said, chose to adoptthe plan of a regency, he had nothing to say against it, only they mustlook out for some other person to fill the office, for he himself would notconsent to do so. As to the alternative proposal of putting Mary on thethrone and allowing him to reign by her courtesy, "No man, " he said, "canesteem a woman more than I do the Princess; but I am so made that I cannotthink of holding anything by apron strings; nor can I think it reasonableto have any share in the government unless it be put in my own person, andthat for the term of my life. If you think fit to settle it otherwise Iwill not oppose you, but will go back to Holland, and meddle no more inyour affairs. "

These few sentences of plain-speaking swept away the clouds of intrigue andpedantry as by a wholesome gust of wind. Both political parties at onceperceived that there was but one possible issue from the situation. Theconference was duly held, and the constitutional question was, with greatdisplay of now unnecessary learning, solemnly debated; but the managersfor the two Houses met only to register a foregone conclusion. The word"abdicated" was restored; the vacancy of the throne was voted by sixty-twovotes to forty-seven; and it was immediately proposed and carried without adivision that the Prince and Princess of Orange should be declared king andqueen of England. 

It now only remained to give formal effect to this resolution, and in sodoing to settle the conditions whereon the crown, which the conventionhad now distinctly recognized itself as conferring upon the Prince andPrincess, should be conferred. A committee appointed by the Commons toconsider what safeguards should be taken against the aggressions of futuresovereigns had made a report in which they recommended not only a solemnenunciation of ancient constitutional principles, but the enactment ofnew laws. The Commons, however, having regard to the importance of promptaction, judiciously resolved on carrying out only the first part of theprogramme. They determined to preface the tender of the crown to Williamand Mary by a recital of the royal encroachments of the past reigns, anda formal assertion of the constitutional principles against which suchencroachments had offended. This document, drafted by a committee of whichthe celebrated Somers, then a scarcely known young advocate, was thechairman, was the famous "Declaration of Right. " The grievances which itrecapitulated in its earlier portion were as follows:

(1) The royal pretension to dispense with and suspend laws without consentof Parliament; (2) the punishment of subjects, as in the "Seven Bishops'"case, for petitioning the crown; (3) the establishment of the illegalcourt of high commission for ecclesiastical affairs; (4) the levy of taxeswithout the consent of Parliament; (5) the maintenance of a standingarmy in time of peace without the same consent; (6) the disarmament ofProtestants while papists were both armed and employed contrary to law; (7)the violation of the freedom of election; (8) the prosecution in the king'sbench of suits only cognizable in Parliament; (9) the return of partial andcorrupt juries; (10) the requisition of excessive bail; (11) the impositionof excessive fines; (12) the infliction of illegal and cruel punishments;(13) the grants of the estates of accused persons before conviction. 

Then after solemnly reaffirming the popular rights from which these abusesof the prerogative derogated, the declaration goes on to recite that, having an "entire confidence" William would "preserve them from theviolation of the rights which they have here asserted, the Three Estatesdo resolve that William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, be and bedeclared king and queen: to hold the crown and royal dignity, to them thesaid Prince and Princess during their lives and the life of the survivorof them; and the sole and full exercise of the royal power be only in andexercised by the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the said Prince andPrincess during their lives, and, after their deceases, the said crown androyal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to the heirs of the bodyof the said Princess; and, for default of such issue, to the Princess Anneof Denmark and the heirs of her body; and, for the default of such issue, to the issue of the said Prince of Orange. " Then followed an alterationrequired by the scrupulous conscience of Nottingham in the terms of theoath of allegiance. 

On February 12th Mary arrived from Holland. On the following day, in theBanqueting House at Whitehall, the Prince and Princess of Orange werewaited on by both Houses of convention in a body. The declaration was readby the clerk of the crown; the sovereignty solemnly tendered to themby Halifax, in the name of the Estates; and on the same day they wereproclaimed king and queen in the usual places in the cities of London andWestminster. 

%PETER THE GREAT MODERNIZES RUSSIA%

SUPPRESSION OF THE STRELTSI

A. D. 1689

ALFRED RAMBAUD

It is the glory of Peter the Great to have changed the character of hiscountry and elevated its position among European nations. By opening Russiato the influence of Western civilization he prepared the way for the adventof that vast empire as one of the world's great powers. 

Peter I Alexeievitch was born in Moscow June 9 (N. S. ), 1672. After a jointreign with his half-brother Ivan (1682-1696), he ruled alone until hisdeath, February 8 (N. S. ), 1725. He is distinguished among princes as aruler who temporarily laid aside the character of royalty "in order tolearn the art of governing better. " By his travels under a common name andin a menial disguise, he acquired fruits of observation which proved ofgreater practical advantage in his career than comes to sovereigns fromtraining in the knowledge of the schools. His restless and inquiring spiritwas never subdued by the burdens of state, and his matured powers provedequal to the demands laid upon him by the great formative work which he wascalled to accomplish for his people. 

The character and early career of this extraordinary man are here set forthby Rambaud in a masterly sketch, showing the first achievements which laidthe foundation of Peter's constructive policies. 

Alexis Mikhailovitch, Czar of Russia, had by his first wife, MariaMiloslavski, two sons, Feodor and Ivan, and six daughters; by his secondwife, Natalia Narychkine, one son (who became Peter I) and two daughters. As he was twice married, and the kinsmen of each wife had, according tocustom, surrounded the throne, there existed two factions in the palace, which were brought face to face by his death and that of his eldest son, Feodor. The Miloslavskis had on their side the claim of seniority, thenumber of royal children left by Maria, and, above all, the fact that Ivanwas the elder of the two surviving sons; but unluckily for them, Ivan wasnotoriously imbecile both in body and mind. 

On the side of the Narychkines was the interest excited by the precociousintelligence of Peter, and the position of legal head of all the royalfamily, which, according to Russian law, gave to Natalia Narychkine hertitle of czarina dowager. Both factions had for some time taken theirmeasures and recruited their partisans. Who should succeed Feodor? Wasit to be the son of the Miloslavski, or the son of the Narychkine? TheMiloslavskis were first defeated on legal grounds. Taking the incapacity ofIvan into consideration, the boyars and the Patriarch Joachim proclaimedthe young Peter, then nine years old, Czar. The Narychkines triumphed:Natalia became czarina regent, recalled from exile her foster-father, Matveef, and surrounded herself by her brothers and uncles. 

The Miloslavskis' only means of revenge lay in revolt, but they werewithout a head; for it was impossible for Ivan to take the lead. The eldestof his six sisters was thirty-two years of age, the youngest nineteen;the most energetic of them was Sophia, who was twenty-five. These sixprincesses saw themselves condemned to the dreary destiny of the Russian_czarevni_, and were forced to renounce all hopes of marriage, with noprospects but to grow old in the seclusion of the _terem_, subjected by lawto the authority of a step-mother. All their youth had to look forwardto was the cloister. They, however, only breathed in action; and thoughimperial etiquette and Byzantine manners, prejudices, and traditionsforbade them to appear in public, even Byzantine traditions offered themmodels to follow. Had not Pulcheria, daughter of an emperor, reigned atConstantinople in the name of her brother, the incapable Theodosius? Hadshe not contracted a nominal marriage with the brave Marcian, who was hersword against the barbarians?

Here was the ideal that Sophia could propose to herself; to be a_czardievitsa_, a "woman-emperor. " To emancipate herself from the rigorouslaws of the terem, to force the "twenty-seven locks" of the song, to raisethe _fata_ that covered her face, to appear in public and meet the looks ofmen, needed energy, cunning, and patience that could wait and be contentto proceed by successive efforts. Sophia's first step was to appear atFeodor's funeral, though it was not the custom for any but the widow andthe heir to be present. There her litter encountered that of NataliaNarychkine, and her presence forced the Czarina-mother to retreat. Shesurrounded herself with a court of educated men, who publicly praisedher, encouraged and excited her to action. Simeon Polotski and SilvesterMedviedef wrote verses in her honor, recalled to her the example ofPulcheria and Olga, compared her to the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth of England, and even to Semiramis; we might think we were listening to Voltaireaddressing Catharine II. They played on her name Sophia (wisdom), anddeclared she had been endowed with the quality as well as the title. Polotski dedicated to her the _Crown of Faith_, and Medviedef his _Gifts ofthe Holy Spirit_. 

The terem offered the strangest contrasts. There acted they the _MaladeImaginaire_, and the audience was composed of the heterogeneous assemblyof popes, monks, nuns, and old pensioners that formed the courts of theancient czarinas. In this shifting crowd there were some usefulinstruments of intrigue. The old pensioners, while telling their rosaries, served as emissaries between the palace and the town, carried messages andpresents to the turbulent _streltsi_[1] and arranged matters between theczarian ladies and the soldiers. Sinister rumors were skilfullydisseminated through Moscow: Feodor, the eldest son of Alexis, had died, the victim of conspirators; the same lot was doubtless reserved for Ivan. What was to become of the poor czarevni, of the blood of kings? At last itwas publicly announced that a brother of Natalia Narychkine had seized thecrown and seated himself on the throne, and that Ivan had been strangled. Love and pity for the son of Alexis, and the indignation excited by thenews of the usurpation, immediately caused the people of Moscow to revolt, and the ringleaders cleverly directed the movement. The tocsin soundedfrom four hundred churches of the "holy city"; the regiments of thestreltsi took up arms and marched, followed by an immense crowd, to theKremlin, with drums beating, matches lighted, and dragging cannon behindthem. Natalia Narychkine had only to show herself on the "Red Staircase, "accompanied by her son Peter, and Ivan who was reported dead. Their mereappearance sufficed to contradict all the calumnies. The streltsihesitated, seeing they had been deceived. A clever harangue of Matveef, who had formerly commanded them, and the exhortations of the patriarch, shook them further. The revolt was almost appeased; the Miloslavskis hadmissed their aim, for they had not yet succeeded in putting to death thepeople of whom they were jealous. 

[Footnote 1: The streltsi were an ancient Muscovite guard composed ofcitizens rendering hereditary military service in the different cities andfortified posts. At this time many of them were ripe for revolt. ]

Suddenly Prince Michael Dolgorouki, chief of the _prikaz_ of the streltsi, began to insult the rioters in the most violent language. This ill-timedharangue awoke their fury; they seized Dolgorouki, and flung him from thetop of the Red Staircase onto their pikes. They stabbed Matveef, under theeyes of the Czarina; then they sacked the palace, murdering all who fellinto their hands. Athanasius Narychkine, a brother of Natalia, was thrownfrom a window onto the points of their lances. The following day the_emeute_ recommenced; they tore from the arms of the Czarina her fatherCyril and her brother Ivan; the latter was tortured and sent into amonastery. Historians show us Sophia interceded for the victims on herknees, but an understanding between the rebels and the Czarevna did exist;the streltsi obeyed orders. 

The following days were consecrated to the purifying of the palace and theadministration, and the seventh day of the revolt they sent theircommandant, the prince-boyar, Khovanski, to declare that they would havetwo czars--Ivan at the head, and Peter as coadjutor; and if this wererefused, they would again rebel. The boyars of the _douma_ deliberated onthis proposal, and the greater number of the boyars were opposed to it. InRussia the absolute power had never been shared, but the orators of theterem cited many examples both from sacred and profane history: Pharaohand Joseph, Arcadius and Honorius, Basil II and Constantine VIII; and thebest of all the arguments were the pikes of the streltsi (1682). 

Sophia had triumphed: she reigned in the name of her two brothers, Ivanand Peter. She made a point of showing herself in public, at processions, solemn services, and dedications of churches. At the Ouspienski Sobor, while her brothers occupied the place of the czar, she filled that of theczarina; only _she_ raised the curtains and boldly allowed herself to beincensed by the patriarch. When the _raskolniks_ challenged the heads ofthe orthodox church to discussion, she wished to preside and hold themeeting in the open air, at the Lobnoe Miesto on the Red Place. There was, however, so much opposition that she was forced to call the assembly inthe Palace of Facets, and sat behind the throne of her two brothers, present though invisible. The double-seated throne used on those occasionsis still preserved at Moscow; there is an opening in the back, hidden by aveil of silk, and behind this sat Sophia. This singular piece of furnitureis the symbol of a government previously unknown to Russia, composed oftwo visible czars and one invisible sovereign. 

The streltsi, however, felt their prejudices against female sovereigntyawaken. They shrank from the contempt heaped by the Czarevna upon theancient manners. Sophia had already become in their eyes a "scandalousperson" (_pozornoe litzo_). Another cause of misunderstanding was thesupport she gave to the state church, as reformed by Nicon, while thestreltsi and the greater part of the people held to the "old faith. " Shehad arrested certain "old believers, " who at the discussion in the Palaceof Facets had challenged the patriarchs and orthodox prelates, and she hadcaused the ringleader to be executed. Khovanski, chief of the streltsi, whether from sympathy with the _raskol_ or whether he wished to please hissubordinates, affected to share their discontent. The court no longer feltitself safe at Moscow. Sophia took refuge with the Czarina and the twoyoung princes in the fortified monastery of Troitsa, and summoned aroundher the gentlemen-at-arms. Khovanski was invited to attend, was arrestedon the way, and put to death with his son. The streltsi attempted a newrising, but, with the usual fickleness of a popular militia, suddenlypassed from the extreme of insolence to the extreme of humility. Theymarched to Troitsa, this time in the guise of suppliants, with cords roundtheir necks, carrying axes and blocks for the death they expected. Thepatriarch consented to intercede for them, and Sophia contented herselfwith the sacrifice of the ringleaders. 

Sophia, having got rid of her accomplices, governed by aid of her twofavorites--Chaklovity, the new commandant of the streltsi, whom she haddrawn from obscurity, and who was completely devoted to her, and PrinceVasili Galitsyne. Galitsyne has become the hero of a historic school whichopposes his genius to that of Peter the Great, in the same way as in FranceHenry, Duke of Guise, has been exalted at the expense of Henry IV. He wasthe special favorite, the intimate friend, of Sophia, the director ofher foreign policy, and her right hand in military affairs. Sophia andGalitsyne labored to organize a holy league between Russia, Poland, Venice, and Austria against the Turks and Tartars. They also tried to gainthe countenance of the Catholic powers of the West; and in 1687 JacobDolgorouki and Jacob Mychetski disembarked at Dunkirk as envoys to thecourt of Louis XIV. They were not received very favorably: the King ofFrance was not at all inclined to make war against the Turks; he was, onthe other hand, the ally of Mahomet IV, who was about to besiege Viennawhile Louis blockaded Luxemburg. The whole plan of the campaign was, however, thrown out by the intervention of Russia and John Sobieski infavor of Austria. The Russian ambassadors received orders to reëmbark atHavre, without going farther south. 

The government of the Czarevna still persisted in its warlike projects. Inreturn for an active cooperation against the Ottomans, Poland had consentedto ratify the conditions of the Treaty of Androussovo, and to sign aperpetual peace (1686). A hundred thousand Muscovites, under the commandof Prince Galitsyne, and fifty thousand Little Russian Cossacks, under theorders of the hetman Samoilovitch, marched against the Crimea (1687). Thearmy suffered greatly in the southern steppes, as the Tartars had fired thegrassy plains. Galitsyne was forced to return without having encounteredthe enemy. Samoilovitch was accused of treason, deprived of his command, and sent to Siberia; and Mazeppa, who owed to Samoilovitch his appointmentas secretary-at-war, and whose denunciations had chiefly contributed to hisdownfall, was appointed his successor. 

In the spring of 1689 the Muscovite and Ukranian armies, commanded byGalitsyne and Mazeppa, again set out for the Crimea. The second expeditionwas hardly more fortunate than the first: they got as far as Perekop, andwere then obliged to retreat without even having taken the fortress. Thisdouble defeat did not hinder Sophia from preparing for her favorite atriumphal entry into Moscow. In vain Peter forbade her to leave the palace;she braved his displeasure and headed the procession, accompanied by theclergy and the images and followed by the army of the Crimea, admittedthe generals to kiss her hand and distributed glasses of brandy amongthe officers. Peter left Moscow in anger, and retired to the village ofPreobrajenskoe. The foreign policy of the Czarevna was marked by anotherdisplay of weakness. By the Treaty of Nertchinsk she restored to theChinese empire the fertile regions of the Amur, which had been conqueredby a handful of Cossacks, and razed the fortress of Albazine, where thoseadventurers had braved all the forces of the East. On all sides Russiaseemed to retreat before the barbarians. 

Meanwhile Peter was growing. His precocious faculties, his quickintelligence, and his strong will awakened alike the hopes of his partisansand the fears of his enemies. As a child he only loved drums, swords, and muskets. He learned history by means of colored prints brought fromGermany. Zotof, his master, whom he afterward made "the archpope of fools, "taught him to read. Among the heroes held up to him as examples we are notsurprised to find Ivan the Terrible, whose character and position offer somuch analogy to his own. "When the Czarevitch was tired of reading, " saysM. Zabieline, "Zotof took the book from his hand and, to amuse him, wouldhimself read the great deeds of his father, Alexis Mikhailovitch, and thoseof the Czar, Ivan Vasilievitch, their campaigns, their distant expeditions, their battles and sieges: how they endured fatigues and privations betterthan any common soldier; what benefits they had conferred on the empire, and how they extended the frontiers of Russia. "

Peter also learned Latin, German, and Dutch. He read much and widely, andlearned a great deal, though without method. Like Ivan the Terrible, he wasa self-taught man. He afterward complained of not having been instructedaccording to rule. This was perhaps a good thing. His education, likethat of Ivan IV, was neglected, but at least he was not subjected to theenervating influence of the terem--he was not cast in that dull mould whichturned out so many idiots in the royal family. He "roamed at large, andwandered in the streets with his comrades. " The streets of Moscow at thatperiod were, according to M. Zabieline, the worst school of profligacy anddebauchery that can be imagined; but they were, on the whole, less bad forPeter than the palace. He met there something besides mere jesters: heencountered new elements which had as yet no place in the terem, butcontained the germ of the regeneration of Russia. He came across Russianswho, if unscrupulous, were also unprejudiced, and who could aid him in hisbold reform of the ancient society. He there became acquainted with Swiss, English, and German adventurers--with Lefort, with Gordon, and withTimmermann, who initiated him into European civilization. 

His court was composed of Leo Narychkine, of Boris Galitsyne, who hadundertaken never to flatter him; of Andrew Matveef, who had marked tastefor everything European; and of Dolgorouki, at whose house he first saw anastrolabe. He played at soldiers with his young friends and his grooms, andformed them into the "battalion of playmates, " who manoeuvred after theEuropean fashion, and became the kernel of the future regular army. Helearned the elements of geometry and fortification, and constructed smallcitadels, which he took or defended with his young warriors in those fiercebattles which sometimes counted their wounded or dead, and in which theCzar of Russia was not always spared. An English boat stranded on the shoreof Yaousa caused him to send for Franz Timmermann, who taught him to managea sailing-boat, even with a contrary wind. He who formerly, like a trueboyar of Moscow, had such a horror of the water that he could not make uphis mind to cross a bridge, became a determined sailor: he guided his boatfirst on the Yaousa, then on the lake of Pereiaslavl. Brandt, the Dutchman, built him a whole flotilla; and already, in spite of the terrors of hismother, Natalia, Peter dreamed of the sea. 

"The child is amusing himself, " the courtiers of Sophia affected toobserve; but these amusements disquieted her. Each day added to the yearsof Peter seemed to bring her nearer to the cloister. In vain she proudlycalled herself "autocrat"; she saw her stepmother, her rival, lifting upher head. Galitsyne confined himself to regretting that they had not knownbetter how to profit by the revolution of 1682, but Chaklovity, who knewhe must fall with his mistress, said aloud, "It would be wiser to put theCzarina to death than to be put to death by her. " Sophia could only saveherself by seizing the throne--but who would help her to take it?The streltsi? But the result of their last rising had chilled themconsiderably. Sophia herself, while trying to bind this formidable force, had broken it, and the streltsi had not forgotten their chiefs beheaded atTroitsa. Now what did the emissaries of Sophia propose to them? Again toattack the palace; to put Leo Narychkine and other partisans of Peter todeath; to arrest his mother, and to expel the patriarch. They trustedthat Peter and Natalia would perish in the tumult. The streltsi remainedindifferent when Sophia, affecting to think her life threatened, fled tothe Dievitchi monastery, and sent them letters of entreaty. "If thy daysare in peril, " tranquilly replied the streltsi, "there must be an inquiry. "Chaklovity could hardly collect four hundred of them at the Kremlin. 

The struggle began between Moscow and Preobrajenskoe, the village with theprophetical name (the "Transfiguration" or "Regeneration"). Two streltsiwarned Peter of the plots of his sister, and for the second time he soughtan asylum at Troitsa. It was then seen who was the true czar; all menhastened to range themselves around him: his mother, his armed squires, the"battalion of playmates, " the foreign officers, and even the streltsi ofthe regiment of Soukharef. The patriarch also took the side of the Czar, and brought him moral support, as the foreign soldiers had brought himmaterial force. The partisans of Sophia were cold and irresolute; thestreltsi themselves demanded that her favorite Chaklovity should besurrendered to the Czar. She had to implore the mediation of the patriarch. Chaklovity was first put to the torture and made to confess his plotagainst the Czar, and then decapitated. Medviedef was at first onlycondemned to the knout and banishment for heresy, but he acknowledged hehad intended to take the place of the patriarch and to marry Sophia; he wasdishonored by being imprisoned with two sorcerers, condemned to be burnedalive in a cage, and was afterward beheaded. Galitsyne was deprived ofhis property, and exiled to Poustozersk. Sophia remained in the DievitchiMonastyr, subjected to a hard captivity. Though Ivan continued to reignconjointly with his brother, yet Peter, who was then only seventeen, governed alone, surrounded by his mother, the Narychkines, and theDolgoroukis (1689). Sophia had freed herself from the seclusion of theterem, as Peter had emancipated himself from the seclusion of the palaceto roam the streets and navigate rivers. Both had behaved scandalously, according to the ideas of the time--the one haranguing soldiers, presidingover councils, walking with her veil raised; the other using the axe likea carpenter, rowing like a Cossack, brawling with foreign adventurers, andfighting with his grooms in mimic battles. But to the one her emancipationwas only a means of obtaining power; to the other the emancipation ofRussia, like the emancipation of himself, was the end. He wished the nationto shake off the old trammels from which he had freed himself. Sophiaremained a Byzantine, Peter aspired to be a European. In the conflictbetween the Czarevna and the Czar, progress was not on the side of theDievitchi Monastyr. 

The first use the Czar made of his liberty was to hasten to Archangel. There, deaf to the advice and prayers of his mother, who was astounded atthis unexpected taste for salt water, he gazed on that sea which no czarhad ever looked on. He ate with the merchants and the officers of foreignnavies; he breathed the air which had come from the West. He establisheda dockyard, built boats, dared the angry waves of this unknown ocean, and almost perished in a storm, which did not prevent the "skipper PeterAlexeievitch" from again putting to sea, and bringing the Dutch vesselsback to the Holy Cape. Unhappily, the White Sea, by which, since the timeof Ivan IV, the English had entered Russia, is frost-bound in winter. In order to open permanent communications with the West, with civilizedcountries, it was necessary for Peter to establish himself on the Baltic orthe Black Sea. Now the first belonged to the Swedes, and the second to theTurks, as the Caspian did to the Persians. Who was first to be attacked?The treaties concluded with Poland and Austria, as well as policy andreligion, urged the Czar against the Turks, and Constantinople has alwaysbeen the point of attraction for orthodox Russia. 

Peter shared the sentiments of his people, and had the enthusiasm of acrusader against the infidel. Notwithstanding his ardent wish to travel inthe West, he took the resolution not to appear in foreign lands till hecould appear as a victor. Twice had Galitsyne failed against the Crimea;Peter determined to attack the barbarians by the Don, and besiege Azov. Thearmy was commanded by three generals, Golovine, Gordon, and Lefort, whowere to act with the "bombardier of the Preobrajenski regiment, PeterAlexeievitch. " This regiment, as well as three others which had sprung fromthe "amusements" of Preobrajenskoe--the Semenovski, the Botousitski, andthe regiment of Lefort--were the heart of the expedition. It failed becausethe Czar had no fleet with which to invest Azov by sea, because the newarmy and its chiefs wanted experience, and because Jansen, the Germanengineer, ill-treated by Peter, passed over to the enemy. After twoassaults the siege was raised. This check appeared the more grave becausethe Czar himself was with the army, because the first attempt to turn fromthe "amusements" of Preobrajenskoe to serious warfare had failed, andbecause this failure would furnish arms against innovations, againstthe Germans and the heretics, against the new tactics. It might evencompromise, in the eyes of the people, the work of regeneration (1695). 

Although Peter had followed the example of Galitsyne, and entered Moscow intriumph, he felt he needed revenge. He sent for good officers from foreigncountries. Artillerymen arrived from Holland and Austria, engineers fromPrussia, and Admiral Lima from Venice. Peter hurried on the creation of afleet with feverish impatience. He built of green wood twenty-two galleys, a hundred rafts, and seventeen hundred boats or barks. All the small portsof the Don were metamorphosed into dock-yards; twenty-six thousand workmenwere assembled there from all parts of the empire. It was like the campof Boulogne. No misfortune--neither the desertion of the laborers, theburnings of the dock-yards, nor even his own illness--could lessen hisactivity. Peter was able to write that, "following the advice God gave toAdam, he earned his bread by the sweat of his brow. " At last the "marinecaravan, " the Russian armada, descended the Don. From the slopes of Azov hewrote to his sister Natalia[1]: "In obedience to thy counsels, I do not goto meet the shells and balls; it is they who approach me, but tolerablycourteously. "

[Footnote 1: His mother died in 1694, his brother Ivan in 1696. ]

Azov was blockaded by sea and land, and a breach was opened by theengineers. Preparations were being made for a general assault, when theplace capitulated. The joy in Russia was great, and the streltsi's jealousyof the success of foreign tactics gave place to their enthusiasm asChristians for this victory over Islamism, which recalled those of Kazanand Astrakhan. The effect produced on Europe was considerable. At Warsawthe people shouted, "Long live the Czar!" The army entered Moscow undertriumphal arches, on which were represented Hercules trampling a pacha andtwo Turks under foot, and Mars throwing to the earth a _mirza_ and twoTartars. Admiral Lefort and Schein the generalissimo took part in the_cortège_, seated on magnificent sledges; while Peter, promoted to the rankof captain, followed on foot. Jansen, destined to the gibbet, marched amongthe prisoners (1696). 

Peter wished to profit by this great success to found the naval powerof Russia. By the decision of the _douma_ three thousand families wereestablished at Azov, besides four hundred Kalmucks, and a garrison ofMoscow streltsi. The patriarch, the prelates, and the monasteries taxedthemselves for the construction of one vessel to every eight thousandserfs. The nobles, the officials, and the merchants were seized with thefever of this holy war, and brought their contributions toward the infantnavy. It was proposed to unite the Don and the Volga by means of a canal. A new appeal was made to the artisans and sailors of Europe. Fifty youngnobles of the court were sent to Venice, England, and the Low Countriesto learn seamanship and shipbuilding. But it was necessary that the Czarhimself should be able to judge of the science of his subjects; he mustcounteract Russian indolence and prejudice by the force of a great example;and Peter, after having begun his career in the navy at the rank of"skipper, " and in the army at that of bombardier, was to become a carpenterof Saardam. He allowed himself, as a reward for his success at Azov, themuch-longed-for journey to the West. 

In 1697 Admiral Lefort and Generals Golovine and Vosnitsyne preparedto depart for the countries of the West, under the title of "the greatambassadors of the Czar. " Their suite was composed of two hundred seventypersons--young nobles, soldiers, interpreters, merchants, jesters, andbuffoons. In the cortège was a young man who went by the name of PeterMikhailof. This _incognito_ would render the position of the Czar easier, whether in his own personal studies or in delicate negotiations. On thejourney to Riga Peter allowed himself to be insulted by the governor, butlaid up the recollection for future use. At Koenigsburg the Prussian, Colonel Sternfeld, delivered to "M. Peter Mikhailof" "a formal brevet ofmaster of artillery. " The great ambassadors and their travellingcompanion were cordially received by the courts of Courland, Hanover, andBrandenburg. 

Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, afterward Queen of Prussia, has left us somecurious notes about the Czar, then twenty-seven years of age. He astonishedher by the vivacity of his mind and the promptitude and point of hisanswers, not less than by the grossness of his manners, his bad habitsat table, his wild timidity, like that of a badly brought-up child, hisgrimaces, and a frightful twitching which at times convulsed his wholeface. Peter had then a beautiful brown skin, with great piercing eyes, buthis features already bore traces of toil and debauchery. "He must havevery good and very bad points, " said the young Electress; and in this herepresented contemporary Russia. "If he had received a better education, "adds the Princess, "he would have been an accomplished man. " The suite ofthe Czar were not less surprising than their master; the Muscovites dancedwith the court ladies, and took the stiffening of their corsets for theirbones. "The bones of these Germans are devilish hard!" said the Czar. 

Leaving the great embassy on the road Peter travelled quickly and reachedSaardam. The very day of his arrival he took a lodging at a blacksmith's, procured himself a complete costume like those worn by Dutch workmen, andbegan to wield the axe. He bargained for a boat, bought it, and drank thetraditional pint of beer with its owner. He visited cutleries, ropewalks, and other manufactories, and everywhere tried his hand at the work: in apaper manufactory he made some paper. However, in spite of the tradition, he only remained eight days at Saardam. At Amsterdam his eccentricitieswere no less astonishing. He neither took any rest himself nor allowedothers to do so; he exhausted all his _ciceroni_, always repeating, "I mustsee it. " He inspected the most celebrated anatomical collections; engagedartists, workmen, officers, and engineers; and bought models of ships andcollections of naval laws and treaties. He entered familiarly the houses ofprivate individuals, gained the good-will of the Dutch by his _bonhomie_, penetrated into the recesses of the shops and stalls, and remained lost inadmiration over a dentist. 

But, amid all these distractions, he never lost sight of his aim. "Welabor, " he wrote to the patriarch Adrian, "in order thoroughly to masterthe art of the sea; so that, having once learned it, we may return toRussia and conquer the enemies of Christ, and free by his grace theChristians who are oppressed. This is what I shall long for to my lastbreath. " He was vexed at making so little progress in shipbuilding, but inHolland everyone had to learn by personal experience. A naval captain toldhim that in England instruction was based on principles, and these he couldlearn in four months; so Peter crossed the sea, and spent three months inLondon and the neighboring towns. There he took into his service goldsmithsand gold-beaters, architects and bombardiers. He then returned to Holland, and, his ship being attacked by a violent tempest, he reassured those whotrembled for his safety by the remark, "Did you ever hear of a czar ofRussia who was drowned in the North Sea?"

Though much occupied with his technical studies, he had not neglectedpolicy; he had conversed with William III, but did not visit France in thistour, for "Louis XIV, " says St. Simon, "had procured the postponement ofhis visit"; the fact being that his alliance with the Emperor and his warswith the Turks were looked on with disfavor at Versailles. He went toVienna to study the military art, and dissuaded Leopold from making peacewith the Sultan. Peter wished to conquer Kertch in order to secure theStraits of Ienikale. He was preparing to go to Venice, when vexatiousintelligence reached him from Moscow. 

The first reforms of Peter, his first attempts against the nationalprejudices and customs, had raised him up a crowd of enemies. Old Russiadid not allow herself quietly to be set aside by the bold innovator. Therewas in the interior a sullen and resolute resistance, which sometimes gavebirth to bloody scenes. The revolt of the streltsi, the insurrection ofAstrakhan, the rebellion of the Cossacks, and later the trial of his sonand first wife are only episodes of the great struggle. Already the priestswere teaching that Antichrist was born. Now it had been prophesied thatAntichrist should be born of an adulteress, and Peter was the son of the_second_ wife of Alexis, therefore his mother Natalia was the "falsevirgin, " the adulterous woman of the prophecies. The increasingly heavytaxes that weighed on the people were another sign that the time had come. Others, disgusted by the taste shown by the Czar for German clothes andforeign languages and adventures, affirmed that he was not the son ofAlexis, but of Lefort the Genevan, or that his father was a German surgeon. They were scandalized to see the Czar, like another Gregory Otrepief, expose himself to blows in his military "amusements. " The lower orders wereindignant at the abolition of the long beards and national costume, andthe _raskolniks_[1] at the authorization of "the sacrilegious smell oftobacco. "

[Footnote 1: Dissenters from the orthodox church of Russia (GreekChurch). --ED. ]

The journey to the west completed the general dissatisfaction. Had anyoneever before seen a czar of Moscow quit Holy Russia to wander in thekingdoms of foreigners? Who knew what adventures might befall him among the_niemtsi_ and the _bousourmanes_? for the Russian people hardly knew how todistinguish between the Turks and the Germans, and were wholly ignorant ofFrance and England. Under an unknown sky, at the extremity of the world, onthe shores of the "ocean sea, " what dangers might he not encounter? Thena singular legend was invented about the travels of the Czar. It was saidthat he went to Stockholm disguised as a merchant, and that the Queen hadrecognized him and had tried in vain to capture him. According to anotherversion, she had plunged him in a dungeon, and delivered him over to hisenemies, who wished to put him in a cask lined with nails and throw himinto the sea. He had only been saved by a streletz who had taken his place. Some asserted that Peter was still kept there; and in 1705 the streltsi andraskolniks of Astrakhan still gave out that it was a false czar who hadcome back to Moscow--the true czar was a prisoner at Stockholm, attached toa stake. 

In the midst of this universal disturbance, caused by the absence of Peter, there were certain symptoms peculiarly disquieting. The Muscovite armygrew more and more hostile to the new order of things. In 1694 Peter haddiscovered a fresh conspiracy, having for its object the deliverance ofSophia; and at the very moment of his departure from Russia he had to putdown a plot of streltsi and Cossacks headed by Colonel Tsykler. Those ofthe streltsi who had been sent to form the garrison of Azov pined for theirwives, their children, and the trades they had left in Moscow. When in theabsence of the Czar they were sent from Azov to the frontiers of Poland, they again began to murmur. "What a fate is ours! It is the boyars who doall the mischief; for three years they have kept us from our homes. "

Two hundred deserted and returned to Moscow; but the douma, fearing theirpresence in the already troubled capital, expelled them by force. Theybrought back to their regiments a letter of Sophia. "You suffer, " shewrote; "later it will become worse. March on Moscow. What is it you waitfor? There is no news of the Czar. " It was repeated through the army thatthe Czar had died in foreign lands, and that the boyars wished to put hisson Alexis to death. It was necessary to march on Moscow and exterminatethe nobles. 

The military sedition was complicated by the religious fanaticism of theraskolniks and the demagogic passions of the popular army. Four regimentsrevolted and deserted. Generals Schein and Gordon, with their regulartroops, hastened after them, came up with them on the banks of the Iskra, and tried to persuade them to return to their duty. The streltsi repliedby a petition setting forth all their grievances: "Many of them had diedduring the expedition to Azov, suggested by Lefort, a German, a heretic;they had endured fatiguing marches over burning plains, their only foodbeing bad meat; their strength had been exhausted by severe tasks, and theyhad been banished to distant garrisons. Moscow was now a prey to all sortsof horrors. Foreigners had introduced the custom of shaving the beard andsmoking tobacco. It was said that these niemtsi meant to seize the town. Onthis rumor, the streltsi had arrived, and also because Romodanovski wishedto disperse and put them to the sword without anyone knowing why. " A fewcannon-shots were sufficient to scatter the rebels. A large number werearrested; torture, the gibbet, and the dungeon awaited the captives. 

When Peter hastened home from Vienna he decided that his generals and hisdouma had been too lenient. He had old grievances against the streltsi;they had been the army of Sophia, in opposition to the army of the Czar;he remembered the invasion of the Kremlin, the massacre of his mother'sfamily, her terrors in Troitsa, and the conspiracies which all but delayedhis journey to the west. At the very time that he was travelling in Europefor the benefit of his people, these incorrigible mutineers had forced himto renounce his dearest projects and had stopped him on the road to Venice. He resolved to take advantage of the opportunity by crushing his enemies_en masse_, and by making the Old Russia feel the weight of a terror thatwould recall the days of Ivan IV. The long beards had been the standard ofrevolt--they should fall. On August 26th he ordered all the gentlemen ofhis court to shave themselves, and himself applied the razor to his greatlords. The same day the Red Place was covered with gibbets. The patriarchAdrian tried in vain to appease the anger of the Czar by presenting to himthe wonder-working image of the Mother of God. "Why hast thou brought outthe holy icon?" exclaimed the Czar. "Retire and restore it to its place. Know that I venerate God and his Mother as much as thyself, but know alsothat it is my duty to protect the people and punish the rebels. "

On October 30th there arrived at the Red Place the first instalment of twohundred thirty prisoners: they came in carts, with lighted torches in theirhands, nearly all already broken by torture, and followed by their wivesand children, who ran behind chanting a funeral wail. Their sentence wasread, and they were slain, the Czar ordering several officers to help theexecutioner. John George Korb, the Austrian agent, who as an eye-witnesshas left us an authentic account of the executions, heard that five rebelheads had been sent into the dust by blows from an axe wielded by thenoblest hand in Russia. The terrible carpenter of Saardam worked andobliged his boyars to work at this horrible employment. Seven other dayswere employed in this way; a thousand victims were put to death. Some werebroken on the wheel, and others died by various modes of torture. Theremoval of the corpses was forbidden: for five months Moscow had before itseyes the spectacle of the dead bodies hanging from the battlements of theKremlin and the other ramparts; and for five months the streltsi suspendedto the bars of Sophia's prison presented her the petition by which theyhad entreated her to reign. Two of her confidants were buried alive; sheherself, with Eudoxia Lapoukhine, Peter's wife, who had been repudiated forher obstinate attachment to the ancient customs, had their heads shavedand were confined in monasteries. After the revolt of the inhabitants ofAstrakhan, who put their waywode to death, the old militia was completelyabolished, and the way left clear for the formation of new troops. 

%TYRANNY OF ANDROS IN NEW ENGLAND%

THE "BLOODLESS REVOLUTION"

A. D. 1689

CHARLES W. ELLIOT

When the spirit of the English Revolution of 1688 crossed the Atlanticand stirred the New England colonists to throw off the Stuart tyrannyrepresented by Andros, a long step was taken in the development of earlyAmerican self-government. The Charter Oak tradition, whether or notresting on actual occurrences, correctly typifies the temper of thatself-government as it has ever manifested itself in the crises of patrioticdevelopment in this country. And the ending of theocratic government, as here recorded of Massachusetts, foreshadowed the further growth ofdemocracy in America. 

Sir William Andros, an Englishman, was colonial governor of New York from1674 to 1681, and of New England, including New York, from 1686 to 1689. His rule "was on the model dear to the heart of his royal master--a harshdespotism, but neither strong nor wise; it was wretched misgovernment andstupid, blundering oppression. " What poor success Andros had in his attemptto force such a rule upon people of the English race who had alreadyaccustomed themselves to a large measure of independence andself-government Elliott's account briefly but fully shows. 

While colonies are poor they are neglected by the parent state; when theyare able to pay taxes then she is quite ready to "govern them"; she iswilling to appoint various dependents to important offices, and to allowthe colonies to pay liberal salaries; she likes also to tax them to theamount of the surplus production which is transferred to the managersin the mother-country. Surprising as this is, it is what many call"government, " and is common everywhere. England has been no exception tothis, and her practice in New England was of this character till, in theyear 1776, the back of the people was so galled that it threw its riderwith violence. 

At various times attempts had been made to destroy the Massachusettscharter. At the restoration of Charles II, in 1660, the enemies of thePuritans roused themselves. All who scented the breath of liberty in thoseWestern gales--all who had been disappointed of fond hopes in thoseinfant states--all who had felt in New England, too, the iron hand ofecclesiastical tyranny, who chafed in the religious manacles which there, as everywhere else, were imposed upon the minority--all united againstthem; and in 1664 commissioners were sent over with extraordinary powers. The colony withstood them to the best of its ability; but at last, in 1676, a _quo warranto_ was issued, and judgment was obtained in England againstthe Massachusetts charter. 

In 1683 the quo warranto was brought over by Edward Randolph, who had beenappointed collector of the port of Boston in 1681, but had not been allowedto act. He was the "messenger of death" to the hopes of the colony. Thedeputies refused to appear in England and plead, and judgment was enteredup against them at last, in 1685, and the charter was abrogated. Charlesdied, and the bitter and bigoted James II came to the throne in 1684. Thecolonists then had rumors that Colonel Kirke, the fiercest hater of theNonconformists in England, was coming over as governor, which filled themwith dread. The colony now seemed to be at the mercy of the churchmen, or, worse than that, of the papists, for such was James. Mr. Rawson, secretaryof the colony, about this time wrote, "Our condition is awful. "

Mr. Joseph Dudley was appointed governor and acted for a short time, butwas succeeded by Sir Edmund Andros, who arrived December 19, 1686, with acommission from James II, to take upon himself the absolute governmentof all New England. Andros was supposed to be a bigoted papist, and hecertainly carried matters with a high hand; the poisoned chalice ofreligious despotism, which these Pilgrims had commended to the lips ofRoger Williams, the Browns, Mrs. Hutchinson, Gorton, Clarke, and theQuakers, was now offered to their own lips, and the draught was bitter. 

First, the press was muzzled; then marriage was no longer free. Theminister Moody (1684) was imprisoned six months in New Hampshire forrefusing to administer the communion to Cranfield and others, accordingto the manner and form set forth in the _Book of Common Prayer_. TheCongregational ministers were as mere laymen, and danger menaced publicworship and the meeting-houses. But this last extremity was saved them bythe necessity which James was under of securing the triumph of _his_ churchin Protestant England, the first step toward which was the proclamationof religious toleration. This, of course, secured the colonists, and thepilgrims were saved that fearful misery of being driven out from theirown cherished altars. Andros carried things with as high a hand inMassachusetts as his master did in England; absolute subjection they bothinsisted on. Besides the denial of political and religious rights, thepractice of arbitrary taxation was asserted by Andros, and all titles tolands were questioned; in the brutal phrase of the time, it was declaredthat "the calf died in the cow's belly"; that is, having no rights as astate, they had none as individuals; so fees, fines, and expendituresimpoverished the people and enriched the officials. All seemed lost inMassachusetts. 

Andros went down to Hartford, in Connecticut, with his suite, and withsixty troops took possession of the government there and demanded thecharter. Through the day (October 31, 1687) the authorities remonstratedand postponed. When they met Andros again in the evening the peoplecollected, much excited. There seemed no relief. Their palladium, theircharter, was demanded, and before them stood Andros, with soldiers anddrawn swords, to compel his demand. There was then no hope, and the rollof parchment--the charter, with the great royal seal upon it--was broughtforth and laid upon the table, in the midst of the excited people. Suddenly, without warning, all lights were extinguished! There weredarkness and silence, followed by wonder, movement, and confusion. Whatmeant this very unparliamentary conduct, or was it a gust of wind which hadstartled all? Lights were soon obtained, and then--

"Where is the charter?" was the question that went round the assembly. 

"What means this?" cried Andros, in anger. 

But no man knew where the charter had disappeared to; neither threats norpersuasion brought it to light. What could Andros do? Clearly nothing, forthe authorities had done all that could be asked; they had produced thecharter in the presence of Andros, and now it had disappeared from hispresence. He had come upon a fool's errand, and some sharp Yankee (CaptainWadsworth) had outwitted him. Where was the charter? Safely hidden in theheart of the great oak, at Hartford, on the grounds of Samuel Wyllys. Thereit remained beyond the reach of tyranny. 

The tree known as the "Charter Oak" stood for over a century and a halffrom that day. The Indians had always prayed that the tree might be spared;they have our thanks. 

Andros wrote on the last page of their records, _Finis_, anddisappeared--but that was not the end of Connecticut. 

It was a dark time for liberty in New England, and a dark day for libertyin Old England; for there James II and his unscrupulous ministers werecorruptly, grossly, and illegally trampling down the rights of manhood. Andros was doing it in New England, and he found in Dudley, Stoughton, Clark, and others, sons of New England, ready feet. In 1688 Randolphwrites, "We are as arbitrary as the great Turk"; which seems to have beentrue. The hearts of the best men in both countries sank within them, andthey cried in their discouragement, "O Lord! how long!"

Thus matters stood when, during the spring of 1688-1689, faint rumors ofthe landing of William, Prince of Orange, in England, came from Virginia. Could this be true? It brought Andros up to Boston (April), where he gaveorders to have the soldiers ready against surprise. 

Liberty is the most ardent wish of a brave and noble people, and is toooften betrayed by confidence in cultivated and designing and timid men. Liberty was the wish of the people of New England; and for the want ofbrave men then and since then they suffered. 

When, on April 4th, John Winslow brought from Virginia the rumor of theEnglish Revolution and the landing of the Prince of Orange, it went throughtheir blood like the electric current, and thrilled from the city along thebyways into every home. Men got on their horses and rode onward to the nexthouse to carry the tidings that the popish King was down and William wasup, and that there was hope; through town and country the questions wereeagerly asked: "Shall we get our old charter? Shall we regain our rights?""What is there for us to do?" cried the people. 

Andros put out a proclamation that all persons should be in readiness toresist the forces of the Prince of Orange should they come. But the oldmagistrates and leaders silently prayed for his success; the people, lesscautious and more determined, said to one another: "Let us do something. Why not act?" and this went from mouth to mouth till their hatred ofAndros, and the remembrance to his dastardly oppressions, blazed into aconsuming fire. 

"On April 18, 1689, " wrote an onlooker, "I knew not anything of what wasintended until it was begun, yet being at the north end of the town, whereI saw boys running along the streets with clubs in their hands encouragingone another to fight, I began to mistrust what was intended, and hastingtoward the Town Dock I soon saw men running for their arms; but before Igot to the Red Lion I was told that Captain George and the master of thefrigate were seized and secured in Mr. Colman's house at the North End; andwhen I came to the Town Dock I understood that Bullivant and some otherswere laid hold of, and then immediately the drums began to beat, and thepeople hastened and ran, some with and some for arms, " etc. 

So it was begun, no one knew by whom; but men remembered yet their oldliberties and were ready to risk something to regain them; they remembered, too, their present tyrants and longed to punish them. But in all this, menof property took no part--they are always timid. It was the "mob" thatacted. 

Governor Andros was at the fort with some soldiers, and sent for theclergymen to come to him, who declined. The people and train-bands ralliedtogether at the Town House, where old Governor Bradstreet and some otherprincipal men met to consult as to what should be done. The King's frigatein the harbor ran up her flags, and the lieutenant swore he would diebefore she should be taken, and he opened her ports and ran out her guns;but Captain George (prisoner in Boston) sent him word not to fire a shot, for the people would tear him in pieces if he did. In the afternoon thesoldiers and people marched to the fort, took possession of a battery, turned its guns upon the fort and demanded its surrender. They did not waitfor its surrender, but stormed in through the portholes, and Captain JohnNelson, a Boston merchant, cried out to Andros, "I demand your surrender. "Andros was surprised at the anger of an outraged people, and knew not whatto do, but at last gave up the fort, and was lodged prisoner in Mr. Usher'shouse. 

The next day he was forced to give up the castle in the harbor, and theguns of the battery from the shore were brought to bear upon the frigate. But the captain prayed that she might not be forced to surrender, becauseall the officers and crew would lose their wages; so she was dismantledfor present security. All through the day people came pouring in from thecountry, well armed and hot with rage against Andros and his confederates;and the cooler men trembled lest some unnecessary violence might be done;so Captain Fisher, of Dedham, led Andros by the collar of the coat back tothe fort for safety. 

On the 20th Bradstreet and other leading men met, and formed a kind ofprovisional council. They carefully abstained from resuming their oldcharter, partly from fear and partly from doubt, and called upon thetowns to send up deputies. When these met, on May 22, 1689, forty out offifty-four were for "resuming, " but a majority of the council opposedit, and time was spent in disputes; but at last the old Governor andmagistrates accepted the control of affairs, though they would not consentto resume the charter. Thus the moment for action passed, and the colonylost that chance for reestablishing its old rights. 

Rhode Island and Connecticut resumed their charters, which had neverbeen legally vacated. Mr. Threat was obliged to take again the office ofgovernor of Connecticut, when the amazing reports of the revolution andseizure of the Governor in Massachusetts reached them. They issued loyaladdresses to William and Mary, in which they said: "Great was that day whenthe Lord who sitteth upon the floods did divide his and your adversarieslike the waters of Jordan, and did begin to magnify you like Joshua, by thedeliverance of the English dominions from popery and slavery. "

Andros escaped, but was apprehended at Rhode Island, and sent back toBoston, and in February, 1689, with Dudley and some others, he was sentaway to England. 

Increase Mather, the agent of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with the aid offriends in England, endeavored to gain the restoration of the old charterfrom King William, but was unsuccessful; a new one was granted (1691), which contained many of the old privileges; but the King would not grantthem the power of appointing their own governor; that power was reserved;and appeals from the colony courts to England were allowed. The Governorand the King both had a veto upon all colonial legislation. By it allreligions except the Roman Catholic were declared free, and Plymouth wasannexed to Massachusetts. 

Thus two important elements of a free government were lost toMassachusetts; and powers which had been exercised over fifty years were, for nigh a hundred years, taken away. In Connecticut and Rhode Island theycontinued to elect their own rulers and to exercise all the powers ofgovernment. The new charter was brought over by Sir William Phipps, the newgovernor appointed by the King, who arrived on May 14, 1692. 

Thus ended the rule of the theocracy in Massachusetts, and from this timeforward the ministers and church-members possessed no more power than therest of the people. 

%MASSACRE OF LACHINE%

A. D. 1689

FRANÇOIS XAVIER GARNEAU

Just after Count Frontenac's first administration of Canada (1672-1682), when the colony of New France was under the rule of De la Barre and hissuccessor, the Marquis de Denonville, Montreal and its immediate vicinitysuffered from the most terrible and bloody of all the Indian massacresof the colonial days. The hatred of the Five Nations for the French, stimulated by the British colonists of New York, under its governor, Colonel Dongan, was due to French forays on the Seneca tribes, and tothe capture and forwarding to the royal galleys in France of many of thebetrayed Iroquois chiefs. At this period the English on the seaboard beganto extend their trade into the interior of the continent and to divertcommerce from the St. Lawrence to the Hudson. This gave rise to keenrivalries between the two European races, and led the English to take sideswith the Iroquois in their enmity to the French. The latter, at GovernorDenonville's instigation, sought to settle accounts summarily with theIroquois, believing that the tribes of the Five Nations could never beconciliated, and that it was well to extirpate them at once. Soon theGovernor put his fell purpose into effect. With a force of two thousandmen, in a fleet of canoes, he entered the Seneca country by the GeneseeRiver, and for ten days ravaged the Iroquois homes and put many of themcruelly to death. Returning by the Niagara River he erected and garrisoneda fort at its mouth and then withdrew to Québec. A terrible revenge wastaken on the French colonists for these infamous acts, as the followingarticle by M. Garneau shows. 

The situation of the colonists of New France during the critical era ofM. Denonville's administration was certainly anything but enviable. Theyliterally "dwelt in the midst of alarms, " yet their steady courage infacing perils, and their endurance of privations when unavoidable, wereworthy of admiration. A lively idea of what they had to resist or tosuffer may be found by reading the more particular parts of the Governor'sdespatches to Paris. For instance, in one of these he wrote in reference tothe raids of the Iroquois: "The savages are just so many animals of prey, scattered through a vast forest, whence they are ever ready to issue, toraven and kill in the adjoining countries. After their ravages, to goin pursuit of them is a constant but almost bootless task. They have nosettled place whither they can be traced with any certainty; they must bewatched everywhere, and long waited for, with fire-arms ready primed. Manyof their lurking-places could be reached only by blood-hounds or by othersavages as our trackers, but those in our service are few, and the nativeallies we have are seldom trustworthy; they fear the enemy more thanthey love us, and they dread, on their own selfish account, to drive theIroquois to extremity. It has been resolved, in the present strait, toerect a fort in every seigniory, as a place of shelter for helpless peopleand live-stock, at times when the open country is overrun with ravagers. As matters now stand, the arable grounds lie wide apart, and are so begirtwith bush that every thicket around serves as a point for attack by asavage foe; insomuch that an army, broken up into scattered posts, would beneedful to protect the cultivators of our cleared lands. "[1]

[Footnote 1: Letter to M. Seignelai, August 10, 1688. ]

Nevertheless, at one time hopes were entertained that more peacefultimes were coming. In effect, negotiations with the Five Nations wererecommenced; and the winter of 1687-1688 was passed in goings to and frobetween the colonial authorities and the leaders of the Iroquois, with whomseveral conferences were holden. A correspondence, too, was maintained bythe Governor with Colonel Dongan at New York; the latter intimating in oneof his letters that he had formed a league of all the Iroquois tribes, and put arms in their hands, to enable them to defend British colonialterritory against all comers. 

The Iroquois confederation itself sent a deputation to Canada, whichwas escorted as far as Lake St. François by twelve hundred warriors--asignificant demonstration enough. The envoys, after having put forwardtheir pretensions with much stateliness and yet more address, said that, nevertheless, their people did not mean to press for all the advantagesthey had the right and the power to demand. They intimated that theywere perfectly aware of the comparative weakness of the colony; that theIroquois could at any time burn the houses of the inhabitants, pillagetheir stores, waste their crops, and afterward easily raze the forts. TheGovernor-general, in reply to these--not quite unfounded--boastings andarrogant assumptions, said that Colonel Dongan claimed the Iroquois asEnglish subjects, and admonished the deputies that, if such were the case, then they must act according to his orders, which would necessarily bepacific, France and England not now being at war; whereupon the deputiesresponded, as others had done before, that the confederation formed anindependent power; that it had always resisted French as well as Englishsupremacy over its subjects; and that the coalesced Iroquois would beneutral, or friends or else enemies to one or both, at discretion; "for wehave never been conquered by either of you, " they said; adding that, asthey held their country immediately from God, they acknowledge no othermaster. 

It did not appear, however, that there was a perfect accordance among theenvoys on all points, for the deputies from Onnontaguez, the Onneyouths, and Goyogouins agreed to a truce on conditions proposed by M. Denonville;namely, that all the native allies of the French should be comprehendedin the treaty. They undertook that deputies [others than some of thosepresent?] should be sent from the Agniers and Tsonnouthouan cantons, whowere then to take part in concluding a treaty; that all hostilities shouldcease on every side, and that the French should be allowed to revictual, undisturbed, the fort of Cataracoui. The truce having been agreed to onthose bases, five of the Iroquois remained (one for each canton), ashostages for its terms being observed faithfully. Notwithstanding thisprecaution, several roving bands of Iroquois, not advertised, possibly, ofwhat was pending, continued to kill our people, burn their dwellings, andslaughter live-stock in different parts of the colony; for example, atSt. François, at Sorel, at Contrecoeur, and at St. Ours. These outrages, however, it must be owned, did not long continue, and roving corps ofsavages, either singly or by concert, drew off from the invaded country andallowed its harassed people a short breathing-time at least. 

The native allies of the French, on the other hand, respected the trucelittle more than the Iroquois. The Abenaquis invaded the Agniers canton, and even penetrated to the English settlements, scalping several persons. The Iroquois of the Sault and of La Montagne did the like; but the Huronsof Michilimackinac, supposed to be those most averse to the war, did allthey could, and most successfully, too, to prevent a peace being signed. 

While the negotiations were in progress, the "Machiavel of the wilderness, "as Raynal designates a Huron chief, bearing the native name of Kondiarak, but better known as Le Rat in the colonial annals, arrived at Frontenac(Kingston), with a chosen band of his tribe, and became a means ofcomplicating yet more the difficulties of the crisis. He was the mostenterprising, brave, and best-informed chief in all North America; and, assuch, was one courted by the Governor in hopes of his becoming a valuableauxiliary to the French, although at first one of their most formidableenemies. He now came prepared to battle in their favor, and eager tosignalize himself in the service of his new masters. The time, however, aswe may well suppose, was not opportune, and he was informed that a treatywith the Iroquois being far advanced, and their deputies on the way toMontreal to conclude it, he would give umbrage to the Governor-general ofCanada should he persevere in the hostilities he had been already carryingon. 

The Rat was taken aback on hearing this to him unwelcome news, but tookcare to hide his surprise and uttered no complaint. Yet was he mortallyoffended that the French should have gone so far in the matter without theconcert of their native allies, and he at once resolved to punish them, in his own case, for such a marked slight. He set out secretly with hisbraves, laid an ambuscade near Famine Cove for the approaching deputationof Iroquois, murdered several and made the others his prisoners. Havingdone so, he secretly gloried in the act, afterward saying that he had"killed the peace. " Yet in dealing with the captives he put another and adeceptive face on the matter; for, on courteously questioning them as tothe object of their journey, being told that they were peaceful envoys, heaffected great wonder, seeing that it was Denonville himself who had senthim on purpose to waylay them!

To give seeming corroboration to his astounding assertions, he set thesurvivors at liberty, retaining one only to replace one of his men whowas killed by the Iroquois in resisting the Hurons' attack. Leaving thedeputies to follow what course they thought fit, he hastened with his mento Michilimackinac, where he presented his prisoner to M. Durantaye, who, not as yet officially informed, perhaps, that a truce existed with theIroquois, consigned him to death, though he gave Durantaye assurance of whohe really was; but when the victim appealed to the Rat for confirmation ofhis being an accredited envoy, that unscrupulous personage told him he mustbe out of his mind to imagine such a thing! This human sacrifice offeredup, the Rat called upon an aged Iroquois, then and long previously a Huroncaptive, to return to his compatriots and inform them from him that whilethe French were making a show of peace-seeking, they were, underhand, killing and making prisoners of their native antagonists. 

This artifice, a manifestation of the diabolic nature of its author, hadtoo much of the success intended by it, for, although the Governor managedto disculpate himself in the eyes of the more candid-minded Iroquoisleaders, yet there were great numbers of the people who could not bedisabused, as is usual in such cases, even among civilized races. Nevertheless the enlightened few, who really were tired of the war, agreedto send a second deputation to Canada; but when it was about to set out, aspecial messenger arrived, sent by Andros, successor of Dongan, enjoiningthe chiefs of the Iroquois confederation not to treat with the Frenchwithout the participation of his master, and announcing at the same timethat the King of Great Britain had taken the Iroquois nations under hisprotection. Concurrently with this step, Andros wrote to Denonville thatthe Iroquois territory was a dependency holden of the British, and that hewould not permit its people to treat upon those conditions already proposedby Dongan. 

This transaction took place in 1688; but before that year concluded, Andros' "royal master" was himself superseded, and living an exile inFrance. [1] Whether instructions sent from England previously warrantedthe polity pursued by Andros or not, his injunctions had the effect ofinstantly stopping the negotiations with the Iroquois, and prompting themto recommence their vengeful hostilities. War between France and Britainbeing proclaimed next year, the American colonists of the latter adoptedthe Iroquois as their especial allies, in the ensuing contests with thepeople of New France. 

[Footnote 1: In 1688 Andros was appointed Governor of New York and NewEngland. The appointment of this tyrant, and the annexation of thecolony to the neighboring ones, were measures particularly odious to thepeople. --ED. ]

Andros, meanwhile, who adopted the policy of his predecessor so far asregarded the aborigines if in no other respect, not only fomented thedeadly enmity of the Iroquois for the Canadians, but tried to detach theAbenaquis from their alliance with the French, but without effect in theircase; for this people honored the countrymen of the missionaries who hadmade the Gospel known to them, and their nation became a living barrierto New France on that side, which no force sent from New England couldsurmount; insomuch that the Abenaquis, some time afterward, having crossedthe borders of the English possessions, and harassed the remoter colonists, the latter were fain to apply to the Iroquois to enable them to hold theirown. 

The declaration of Andros, and the armings of the Iroquois, now let looseon many parts of Canada, gave rise to a project as politic, perhaps, as itwas daring, and such as communities when in extremity have adopted withgood effect; namely, to divert invasion by directly attacking the enemies'neighboring territories. The Chevalier de Callières, with whom the ideaoriginated, after having suggested to Denonville a plan for making aconquest of the province of New York, set out for France, to bring it underthe consideration of the home government, believing that it was the onlymeans left to save Canada to the mother-country. 

It was high time, indeed, that the destinies of Canada were confided toother directors than the late and present ones, left as the colony hadbeen, since the departure of M. De Frontenac, in the hands of superannuatedor incapable chiefs. Any longer persistency in the policy of its two mostrecent governors might have irreparably compromised the future existenceof the colony. But worse evils were in store for the latter days of theDenonville administration; a period which, take it altogether, was one ofthe most calamitous which our forefathers passed through. 

At the time we have now reached in this history an unexpected as well asunwonted calm pervaded the country, yet the Governor had been positivelyinformed that a desolating inroad by the collective Iroquois had beenarranged, and that its advent was imminent; but as no precursive signs ofit appeared anywhere to the general eyes, it was hoped that the storm, saidto be ready to burst, might yet be evaded. None being able to account forthe seeming inaction of the Iroquois, the Governor applied to the Jesuitsfor their opinion on the subject. The latter expressed their belief thatthose who had brought intelligence of the evil intention of theconfederacy had been misinformed as to facts, or else exaggerated sinisterprobabilities. The prevailing calm was therefore dangerous as well asdeceitful, for it tended to slacken preparations which ought to have beenmade to lessen the apprehensions of coming events which threw no shadowbefore. 

The winter and the spring of the year 1688-1689 had been passed in anunusually tranquil manner, and the summer was pretty well advanced when thestorm, long pent up, suddenly fell on the beautiful island of Montreal, thegarden of Canada. During the night of August 5th, amid a storm of hail andrain, fourteen hundred Iroquois traversed Lake St. Louis, and disembarkedsilently on the upper strand of that island. Before daybreak next morningthe invaders had taken their station at Lachine in platoons around everyconsiderable house within a radius of several leagues. The inmates wereburied in sleep--soon to be the dreamless sleep that knows no waking, fortoo many of them. 

The Iroquois wait only for the signal from their leaders to fall on. It isgiven. In short space the doors and the windows of the dwellings aredriven in; the sleepers dragged from their beds; men, women, children allstruggling in the hands of their butchers. Such houses as the savagescannot force their way into, they fire; and as the flames reach the personsof those within, intolerable pain drives them forth to meet death beyondthe threshold, from beings who know no pity. The more fiendish murdererseven forced parents to throw their children into the flames. Two hundredpersons were burned alive; others died under prolonged tortures. Many werereserved to perish similarly, at a future time. The fair island upon whichthe sun shone brightly erewhile, was lighted up by fires of woe; houses, plantations, and crops were reduced to ashes, while the ground reeked withblood up to a line a short league apart from Montreal city. The ravagerscrossed to the opposite shore, the desolation behind them being complete, and forthwith the parish of Le Chenaie was wasted by fire and many of itspeople massacred. 

The colonists for many leagues around the devoted region seem to have beenactually paralyzed by the brain-blow thus dealt their compatriots by therelentless savages, as no one seems to have moved a step to arrest theircourse; for they were left in undisturbed possession of the countryduring several weeks. On hearing of the invasion, Denonville lost hisself-possession altogether. When numbers of the colonists, recovering fromtheir stupor, came up armed desiring to be led against the murderers oftheir countrymen, he sent them back or forbade them to stir! Severalopportunities presented themselves for disposing of parties of thebarbarians, when reckless from drink after their orgies, or when rovingabout in scattered parties feeble in number; but the Governor-general'spositive orders to refrain from attacking them withheld the uplifted handfrom striking. 

In face of a prohibition so authoritative, the soldiers and the inhabitantsalike could only look on and wait till the savages should find itconvenient to retire. Some small skirmishing, indeed, there was at a fewdistant points between the people and their invaders. Thus a party of men, partly French and partly natives, led by Larobeyre, an ex-lieutenant, onthe way to reënforce Fort Roland, where Chevalier de Vaudreuil commanded, were set upon and all killed or dispersed. More than half of the prisonerstaken were burned by their conquerors. Larobeyre, being wounded and notable to fire, was led captive by the Iroquois to their country, and roastedat a slow fire in presence of the assembled tribe of his captors. Meantimethe resistance to the barbarians being little or none in the regions theyoverran, they slew most of the inhabitants they met in their passage; whiletheir course was marked, wherever they went, by lines of flame. 

Their bands moved rapidly from one devoted tract to another; yet whereverthey had to face concerted resistance--which in some cases, at least, put afitting obstacle in the way of their intended ravagings--they turned asideand sought an easier prey elsewhere. In brief, during ten entire weeks ormore, did they wreak their wrath, almost unchecked, upon the fairest regionof Canada, and did not retire thence till about mid-October. 

The Governor-General having sent a party of observation to assure himselfof the enemy having decamped, this detachment observed a canoe on the Lakeof the Two Mountains, bearing twenty-two of the retiring Iroquois. TheCanadians, who were of about the same number, embarked in two boats and, nearing the savages, coolly received their fire; but in returning thedischarge, each singled out his man, when eighteen of the Iroquois were atonce laid low. 

However difficult it may have been to put the people of a partially clearedcountry, surrounded with forests, on their guard against such an irruptionas the foregoing, it is difficult to account for their total unpreparednesswithout imputing serious blame to Denonville and his subalterns in office. That he exercised no proper influence, in the first place, was evident, andthe small use he made of the means he had at his disposal when the crisisarrived was really something to marvel at. He was plainly unequal to theoccasion, and his incapacity in every particular made it quite impossiblefor his presence, as chief of the colony, to be endured any longer. Thereis little doubt that had he not been soon recalled by royal order, thecolonists themselves would have set him aside. The latter season of hisinglorious administration took the lugubrious name "the Year of theMassacre. "[1]

[Footnote 1: The Five Nations, being at war with the French, made a suddendescent on Montreal, burned and sacked the town, killed one hundred of theinhabitants, carrying away a number of prisoners whom they burned alive, and then returned to their own country with the loss of only a few of theirnumber. Had the English followed up the success of their allies, all Canadamight have been easily conquered. --ED. ]

The man appointed through a happy inspiration to supersede M. De Denonvillehad now reached the Lower Canadian waters. He was no other than the Countde Frontenac. It appears that the King, willing to cover, with a handsomepretext, the recall of Denonville, in a letter dated May 31st, advertisedhim that, war having been rekindled in Europe, his military talents wouldbe of the greatest use in home service. By this time De Frontenac wascalled to give counsel regarding the projects of the Chevalier deCallières, and assist in preparing the way for their realization ifconsidered feasible. Meanwhile he undertook to resume his duties asgovernor-general of New France; but a series of events delayed his arrivalin Canada till the autumn of 1689. 

He landed at Québec on October 18th, at 8 P. M. , accompanied by DeCallières, amid the heartiest demonstrations of popular welcome. The publicfunctionaries and armed citizens in waiting, with torch-bearers, escortedhim through the city, which was spontaneously illuminated, to his quarters. His return was hailed by all, but by none more than the Jesuits, who had, in fact for years before, labored to obtain his recall. The nobles, themerchants, the business class, gave him so hearty a reception as toconvince him that real talent such as his must in the end rise superiorto all the conjoined efforts of faction, public prejudices, and the evilpassions of inferior minds. 

War was declared against Britain in the month of June. M. De Frontenac, on resuming the reins of government, had to contend both against theAnglo-American colonies and the Five Nations. His energy and skill, however, overcame all obstacles; the war was most glorious for theCanadians, so few in number compared with their adversaries; and far fromsuccumbing to their enemies, they carried the war into the adversaries'camp and struck at the heart of their most remote possessions. 

%SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY AND BATTLE OF THE BOYNE%

A. D. 1689-1690

TOBIAS G. SMOLLETT

Londonderry, capital of the county of the same name in Ireland, is a cityof historic celebrity by reason of the successful defence there made(April-August, 1689) by the Irish Protestants against the besieging forcesof James II. The battle of the Boyne (July 1, 1690) is of less importancein a military sense than for the reason that it virtually ended the warwhich James II carried into Ireland in his unsuccessful attempt to regainhis throne from William and Mary. On account of this result, and still moreby reason of the hereditary antagonisms which have so long survived it, this battle still retains a peculiar fame in history. 

In Ireland, where the Roman Catholics were numerous, there was strongopposition to the government of William and Mary. The fugitive James II hadsupporters who controlled the Irish army. Some resistance was made by theEnglish and Scotch colonists in Ireland, but little head was made againstthe Catholic party, which supported James, until William entered thecountry with his forces. 

In the following narrative Smollett speaks of an "intended massacre" of theProtestants at Londonderry. The people of that city were of Anglo-Saxonblood. Although belonging to various Protestant churches, they were unitedin their hostility to the Irish and to the Catholic faith. They werealarmed at the close of 1688 by rumors of a plan for their own extirpationby the papists. News of the approach of the Earl of Antrim with a regiment, under orders from the Lord Deputy, filled the city with consternation. Whatfollowed there is graphically told in the words of the historian. A betteraccount of a military action than that which Smollett gives of the Battleof the Boyne it would be hard to find. 

On the first alarm of an intended massacre, the Protestants of Londonderryhad shut their gates against the regiment commanded by the Earl of Antrim, and resolved to defend themselves against the Lord Deputy; they transmittedthis resolution to the Government of England, together with an account ofthe danger they incurred by such a vigorous measure, and implored immediateassistance; they were accordingly supplied with some arms and ammunition, but did not receive any considerable reënforcement till the middle ofApril, when two regiments arrived at Loughfoyl under the command ofCunningham and Richards. 

By this time King James had taken Coleraine, invested Kilmore, and wasalmost in sight of Londonderry. George Walker, rector of Donaghmore, whohad raised a regiment for the defence of the Protestants, conveyed thisintelligence to Lundy, the governor; this officer directed him to joinColonel Crafton, and take post at the Longcausey, which he maintaineda whole night against the advanced guard of the enemy, until, beingoverpowered by numbers, he retreated to Londonderry and exhorted thegovernor to take the field, as the army of King James was not yetcompletely formed. Lundy assembling a council of war, at which Cunninghamand Richards assisted, they agreed that as the place was not tenable, it would be imprudent to land the two regiments; and that the principalofficers should withdraw themselves from Londonderry, the inhabitants ofwhich would obtain the more favorable capitulation in consequence of theirretreat; an officer was immediately despatched to King James with proposalsof a negotiation; and Lieutenant-general Hamilton agreed that the armyshould halt at the distance of four miles from the town. 

Notwithstanding this preliminary, James advanced at the head of his troops, but met with such a warm reception from the besieged that he was fain toretire to St. John's Town in some disorder. The inhabitants and soldiers ingarrison at Londonderry were so incensed at the members of the council ofwar who had resolved to abandon the place that they threatened immediatevengeance. Cunningham and Richards retired to their ships, and Lundy lockedhimself in his chamber. In vain did Walker and Major Baker exhort himto maintain his government; such was his cowardice or treachery that heabsolutely refused to be concerned in the defence of the place, and he wassuffered to escape in disguise, with a load of matches on his back; but hewas afterward apprehended in Scotland, from whence he was sent to London toanswer for his perfidy or misconduct. 

After his retreat the townsmen chose Mr. Walker and Major Baker for theirgovernors with joint authority; but this office they would not undertakeuntil it had been offered to Colonel Cunningham, as the officer next incommand to Lundy; he rejected the proposal, and with Richards returned toEngland, where they were immediately cashiered. The two new governors, thusabandoned to their fate, began to prepare for a vigorous defence: indeedtheir courage seems to have transcended the bounds of discretion, for theplace was very ill-fortified; their cannon, which did not exceed twentypieces, were wretchedly mounted; they had not one engineer to direct theiroperations; they had a very small number of horse; the garrison consistedof people unacquainted with military discipline; they were destitute ofprovisions; they were besieged by a king, in person, at the head of aformidable army, directed by good officers, and supplied with all thenecessary implements for a siege or battle. 

The town was invested on April 20th; the batteries were soon opened, andseveral attacks were made with great impetuosity, but the besiegerswere always repulsed with considerable loss; the townsmen gained diversadvantages in repeated sallies, and would have held their enemies in theutmost contempt had they not been afflicted with a contagious distemper, as well as reduced to extremity by want of provisions; they were eventantalized in their distress, for they had the mortification to see someships, which had arrived with supplies from England, prevented from sailingup the river by the batteries the enemy had raised on both sides, and aboom with which they had blocked up the channel. 

At length a reënforcement arrived in the Lough, under the command ofGeneral Kirke, who had deserted his master, and been employed in theservice of King William. He found means to convey intelligence to Walkerthat he had troops and provisions on board for their relief, but found itimpracticable to sail up the river. He promised, however, that he wouldland a body of forces at the Inch, and endeavor to make a diversion intheir favor, when joined by the troops at Inniskillen, which amounted tofive thousand men, including two thousand cavalry. He said he expected sixthousand men from England, where they were embarked before he set sail; heexhorted them to persevere in their courage and loyalty, and assured themthat he would come to their relief at all hazards. The assurances enabledthem to bear their miseries a little longer, though their numbers dailydiminished. Major Baker dying, his place was filled by Colonel Michelburn, who now acted as colleague to Mr. Walker. 

King James having returned to Dublin to be present at the Parliament, thecommand of his army devolved to the French general, Rosene, [1] who wasexasperated by such an obstinate opposition by a handful of half-starvedmilitia. He threatened to raze the town to its foundations and destroy theinhabitants without distinction of age or sex unless they would immediatelysubmit themselves to their lawful sovereign. The governors treated hismenaces with contempt, and published an order that no person, on pain ofdeath, should talk of surrendering. They had now consumed the last remainsof their provisions, and supported life by eating the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, rats, mice, and tallow, starch, and salted hides; and eventhis loathsome food began to fail. Rosene, finding them deaf to all hisproposals, threatened to wreak his vengeance on all the Protestants of thatcounty and drive them under the walls of Londonderry, where they should besuffered to perish by famine. The Bishop of Meath being informed of thisdesign, complained to King James of the barbarous intention, entreating hismajesty to prevent its being put into execution; that Prince assuredhim that he had already ordered Rosene to desist from such proceedings;nevertheless, the Frenchman executed his threats with the utmost rigor. 

[Footnote 1: James was assisted in his attempt by a small body of Frenchtroops, England having entered the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV. --ED. ]

Parties of dragoons were detached on this cruel service. After havingstripped all the Protestants for thirty miles round, they drove theseunhappy people before them like cattle, without even sparing the enfeebledold men, nurses with infants at their breasts, and tender children. Aboutfour thousand of these miserable objects were driven under the walls ofLondonderry. This expedient, far from answering the purpose of Rosene, produced a quite contrary effect. The besieged were so exasperated at thisact of inhumanity that they resolved to perish rather than submit to such abarbarian. They erected a gibbet in sight of the enemy, and sent a messageto the French general importing that they would hang all the prisoners theyhad taken during the siege unless the Protestants whom they had drivenunder the walls should be immediately dismissed. This threat produced anegotiation, in consequence of which the Protestants were released afterthey had been detained three days without tasting food. Some hundredsdied of famine or fatigue; and those who lived to return to their ownhabitations found them plundered and sacked by the papists, so that thegreater number perished for want, or were murdered by straggling parties ofthe enemy. Yet these very people had for the most part obtained protectionfrom King James, to which no respect was paid by his general. 

The garrison of Londonderry was now reduced from seven thousand to fivethousand seven hundred men, and these were driven to such extremity ofdistress that they began to talk of killing the popish inhabitants andfeeding on their bodies. Kirke, who had hitherto lain inactive, orderedtwo ships laden with provisions to sail up the river, under convoy of theDartmouth (frigate); one of these, called the Mountjoy, broke the enemy'sboom, and all the three--after having sustained a very hot fire from bothsides of the river--arrived in safety at the town, to the inexpressible joyof the inhabitants. 

The army of James was so dispirited by the success of this enterprise thatthey abandoned the siege in the night, and retired with precipitation, after having lost about nine thousand men before the place. Kirke no soonertook possession of the town than Walker was prevailed upon to embark forEngland, with an address of thanks from the inhabitants to their majestiesfor the seasonable relief they had received. 

King James trusted so much to the disputes in the English Parliament thathe did not believe his son-in-law would be able to quit that kingdom, andWilliam had been six days in Ireland before he received intimation of hisarrival. This was no sooner known than he left Dublin under the guardof the militia, commanded by Luttrel, and, with a reënforcement of sixthousand infantry which he had lately received from France, joined therest of his forces, which now almost equalled William's army in number, exclusive of about fifteen thousand men who remained in differentgarrisons. He occupied a very advantageous post on the bank of the Boyne, and, contrary to the advice of his general officers, resolved to standbattle. They proposed to strengthen their garrisons, and retire to theShannon, to wait the effect of the operations at sea. 

Louis had promised to equip a powerful armament against the English fleet, and send over a great number of small frigates to destroy William'stransports, as soon as their convoy should be returned to England; theexecution of this scheme was not at all difficult, and must have provedfatal to the English army, for their stores and ammunition were still onboard; the ships sailed along the coast as the troops advanced in theirmarch; and there was not one secure harbor into which they could retire onany emergency. James, however, was bent on hazarding an engagement, andexpressed uncommon confidence and alacrity. Besides the river, which wasdeep, his front was secured by a morass and a rising ground; so that theEnglish army could not attack him without manifest disadvantage. 

King William marched up to the opposite bank of the river, and as hereconnoitred their situation was exposed to the fire of some field-pieces, which the enemy purposely planted against his person. They killed a man andtwo horses close by him, and the second bullet rebounding from the earth, grazed on his right shoulder, so as to carry off part of his clothes andskin and produce a considerable contusion. This accident, which he borewithout the least emotion, created some confusion among his attendants, which, the enemy perceiving, concluded he was killed, and shouted aloud intoken of their joy; the whole camp resounded with acclamation, and severalsquadrons of their horse were drawn down toward the river as if theyintended to pass it immediately and attack the English army. The report wasinstantly communicated from place to place until it reached Dublin; fromthence it was conveyed to Paris, where, contrary to the custom of theFrench court, the people were encouraged to celebrate the event withbonfires and illuminations. 

William rode along the line to show himself to the army after this narrowescape. At night he called a council of war, and declared his resolution toattack the enemy in the morning. Schomberg[1] at first opposed his design, but, finding the King determined, he advised that a strong detachment ofhorse and foot should that night pass the Boyne at Slane bridge and takepost between the enemy and the pass at Duleck, that the action might be themore decisive; this counsel being rejected, the King determined that earlyin the morning Lieutenant-general Douglas with the right wing of theinfantry, and young Schomberg with the horse, should pass at Slane bridge, while the main body of the foot should force their passage at Old bridge, and the left at certain fords between the enemy's camp and Drogheda. TheDuke, perceiving that his advice was not relished by the Dutch generals, retired to his tent, where, the order of battle being brought to him, hereceived it with an air of discontent, saying it was the first that hadever been sent to him in that manner. The proper dispositions being made, William rode quite through the army by torchlight, and then retired to histent after having given orders to his soldiers to distinguish themselvesfrom the enemy by wearing green boughs in their hats during the action. 

[Footnote 1: The Duke of Schomberg, who commanded for William, hadaccompanied him to England in 1688. The Duke is further spoken of below. "Young Schomberg" was his son. --ED. ]

At six o'clock in the morning, General Douglas, with young Schomberg, theEarl of Portland, and Auverquerque, marched to Slane bridge, and passed theriver with very little opposition. When they reached the farther bank theyperceived the enemy drawn up in two lines, to a considerable number ofhorse and foot, with a morass in their front, so that Douglas was obligedto wait for reinforcements. This being arrived, the infantry was led on tothe charge through the morass, while Count Schomberg rode round it with hiscavalry, to attack the enemy in flank. The Irish, instead of waiting theassault, faced about, and retreated toward Duleck with some precipitation;yet not so fast but that Schomberg fell in among their rear, and didconsiderable execution. King James, however, soon reënforced his leftwing from the centre; and the Count was in his turn obliged to send forassistance. 

At this juncture King William's main body, consisting of the Dutch guards, the French regiments, [1] and some battalions of English, passed the river, which was waist-high, under a general discharge of artillery. King Jameshad imprudently removed his cannon from the other side; but he had posted astrong body of musketeers along the bank, behind hedges, houses, and someworks raised for the occasion; these poured in a close fire on the Englishtroops before they reached the shore; but it produced very little effect. Then the Irish gave way, and some battalions landed without furtheropposition; yet before they could form, they were charged with greatimpetuosity by a squadron of the enemy's horse, and a considerable body oftheir cavalry and foot, commanded by General Hamilton, advanced from behindsome little hillocks to attack those that were landed as well as to preventthe rest from reaching the shore; his infantry turned their backs and fledimmediately; but the horse charged with incredible fury, both on the bankand in the river, so as to put the unformed regiments in confusion. 

[Footnote 1: French Protestants or Huguenots. --ED. ]

Then the Duke of Schomberg passed the river in person, put himself at thehead of the French Protestants, and pointing to the enemy, "Gentlemen, "said he, "those are your persecutors. " With these words he advanced to theattack, where he himself sustained a violent onset from a party of theIrish horse, which had broken through one of the regiments and were now ontheir return. They were mistaken for English, and allowed to gallop upto the Duke, who received two severe wounds in the head; but the Frenchtroops, now sensible of their mistake, rashly threw in their fire on theIrish while they were engaged with the Duke, and, instead of saving, shothim dead on the spot. 

The death of this general had wellnigh proved fatal to the English army, which was immediately involved in tumult and disorder; while the infantryof King James rallied and returned to their posts with a face ofresolution. They were just ready to fall on the centre when King William, having passed with the left wing, composed of the Danish, Dutch, andInniskillen horse, advanced to attack them on the right: they were struckwith such a panic at his appearance that they made a sudden halt, and thenfacing about retreated to the village of Dunmore. There they made such avigorous stand that the Dutch and Danish horse, though headed by the Kingin person, recoiled; even the Inniskillens gave way, and the whole wingwould have been routed had not a detachment of dragoons, belonging to theregiment of Cunningham and Levison, dismounted and lined the hedges on eachside of the ditch through which the fugitives were driven; there they didsuch execution on the pursuers as soon checked their ardor. The horse, which were broken, had now time to rally, and, returning to the charge, drove the enemy before them in their turn. 

In this action General Hamilton, who had been the life and soul of theIrish during the whole engagement, was wounded and taken, an incident whichdiscouraged them to such a degree that they made no further efforts toretrieve the advantage they had lost. He was immediately brought tothe King, who asked him if he thought the Irish would make any furtherresistance, and he replied, "On my honor I believe they will, for theyhave still a good body of horse entire. " William, eying him with a look ofdisdain, repeated, "Your honor, your honor!" but took no other notice ofhis having acted contrary to his engagement, when he was permitted to go toIreland on promise of persuading Tyrconnel to submit to the new government. The Irish now abandoned the field with precipitation; but the French andSwiss troops, that acted as their auxiliaries under De Lauzun, retreatedin good order, after having maintained the battle for some time withintrepidity and perseverance. 

As King William did not think proper to pursue the enemy, the carnage wasnot great; the Irish lost a thousand five hundred men and the Englishabout one-third of that number; though the victory was dearly purchased, considering the death of the gallant Duke of Schomberg, who fell, in theeighty-second year of his age, after having rivalled the best generals ofthat time in military reputation. He was the descendant of a noble family, in the Palatinate, and his mother was an Englishwoman, daughter of LordDudley. Being obliged to leave his country on account of the troublesby which it was agitated, he commenced a soldier of fortune, and servedsuccessively in the armies of Holland, England, France, Portugal, andBrandenburg; he attained to the dignity of mareschal in France, grandee inPortugal, generalissimo in Prussia, and duke in England. He professed theProtestant religion; was courteous and humble in his deportment; cool, penetrating, resolute, and sagacious, nor was his probity inferior to hiscourage. 

This battle also proved fatal to the barve Caillemote, who had followedthe Duke's fortunes, and commanded one of the Protestant regiments. Afterhaving received a mortal wound, he was carried back through the river byfour soldiers, and, though almost in the agonies of death, he, with acheerful countenance, encouraged those who were crossing to do their duty, exclaiming, "_A la gloire, mes enfants, à la gloire!_" ("To glory, my lads, to glory!")

The third remarkable person who lost his life on this occasion was Walker, the clergyman, who had so valiantly defended Londonderry against the wholearmy of King James; he had been very graciously received by King William, who gratified him with a reward of five thousand pounds and a promise offurther favor; but, his military genius still predominating, he attendedhis royal patron in this battle, and, being shot, died in a few minutes. 

The persons of distinction who fell on the other side were the Lords Donganand Carlingford; Sir Neile O'Neile and the Marquis of Hocquincourt. James, himself, stood aloof during the action on the hill of Dunmore, surroundedwith some squadrons of horse, and seeing victory declare against himretired to Dublin without having made the least effort to reassemble hisbroken forces. Had he possessed either spirit or conduct his army mighthave been rallied and reënforced from his garrisons, so as to be in acondition to keep the field and even to act on the offensive; for his losswas inconsiderable, and the victor did not attempt to molest his troopsin their retreat, an omission which has been charged to him as a flagrantinstance of misconduct. Indeed, through the whole of this engagementWilliam's personal courage was much more conspicuous than his militaryskill. 

%SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS%

A. D. 1692

RICHARD HILDRETH

Among the people of Massachusetts during the century which saw the Pilgrimsseek religious liberty there, a delusion broke out which not only spreadhorror through the community and caused suffering and disgrace even inthe most respectable families, but has baffled all later attempts atexplanation. The witchcraft madness, as manifested there and elsewherein the world, has remained alike the puzzle of history and the riddle ofpsychology. 

Historically, witchcraft is classed with other occult phenomena orpractices connected with supposed supernatural influences. The famoustrials and executions for witchcraft which took place in and near Salem, Massachusetts, toward the end of the seventeenth century, owed theirspecial prominence to their peculiar localization and environment. Otherwise they might have been regarded as nothing more than incidents of aonce general course in criminal procedure. Thousands in Europe had alreadysuffered similar condemnation, and the last recorded execution forwitchcraft in Great Britain did not occur till 1722. Even so late as 1805 awoman was imprisoned for this "crime" in Scotland. 

Hildreth's account skilfully condenses the essential matters relating tothis strange episode in Massachusetts history. 

 * * * * *

The practice of magic, sorcery, and spells, in the reality of which allignorant communities have believed, had long been a criminal offence inEngland. A statute of the thirty-third year of Henry VIII made them capitalfelonies. Another statute of the first year of James I, more specific inits terms, subjected to the same penalty all persons "invoking any evilspirit, or consulting, covenanting with, entertaining, employing, feeding, or rewarding any evil spirit, or taking up dead bodies from their graves tobe used in any witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment, or killing orotherwise hurting any person by such infernal arts. "

That second Solomon, before whom the illustrious Bacon bowed with so muchreverence, was himself a firm believer in witchcraft. He professed, indeed, to be an adept in the art of detecting witches, an art which became thesubject of several learned treatises, one of them from James' own royalpen. During the Commonwealth England had abounded with professionalwitch-detectors, who travelled from county to county, and occasioned thedeath of many unfortunate persons. The "Fundamentals" of Massachusettscontained a capital law against witchcraft, fortified by that expressdeclaration of Scripture, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. "

Yet, among other evidences of departure from ancient landmarks, and ofthe propagation even to New England of a spirit of doubt, were growingsuspicions as to the reality of that everyday supernaturalism which formedso prominent a feature of the Puritan theology. The zeal of Increase Matheragainst this rising incredulity had engaged him, while the old charter wasstill in existence, to publish a book of _Remarkable Providences_, in whichwere enumerated, among other things, all the supposed cases of witchcraftwhich had hitherto occurred in New England, with arguments to prove theirreality. 

What at that time had given the matter additional interest was the case ofa bewitched or haunted house at Newbury. An intelligent neighbor, who hadsuggested that a mischievous grandson of the occupant might perhaps be atthe bottom of the mystery, was himself accused of witchcraft and narrowlyescaped. A witch, however, the credulous townspeople were resolved to find, and they presently fixed upon the wife of the occupant as the culprit. Seventeen persons testified to mishaps experienced in the course oftheir lives, which they charitably chose to ascribe to the ill-will anddiabolical practices of this unfortunate old woman. On this evidence shewas found guilty by the jury; but the magistrates, more enlightened, declined to order her execution. The deputies thereupon raised a loudcomplaint at this delay of justice. But the firmness of GovernorBradstreet, supported as he was by the moderate party, and the abrogationof the charter which speedily followed, saved the woman's life. 

This same struggle of opinion existed also in the mother-country, wherethe rising sect of "freethinkers" began to deny and deride all diabolicalagencies. Nor was this view confined to professed freethinkers. Thelatitudinarian party in the Church, a rapidly growing body, leanedperceptibly the same way. The "serious ministers, " on the other hand, ledby Richard Baxter, their acknowledged head, defended with zeal the realityof witchcraft and the personality and agency of the devil, to deny whichthey denounced as little short of atheism. They supported their opinionsby the authority of Sir Matthew Hale, lord chief justice of England, as distinguished for piety as for knowledge of the law, under whoseinstructions two alleged witches, at whose trials he had presided shortlyafter the Restoration, had been found guilty and executed. The accountsof those trials, published in England on occasion of this controversy andrepublished at Boston, had tended to confirm the popular belief. The doubtsby which Mather had been alarmed were yet confined to a few thinking men. Read with a forward and zealous faith, these stories did not fail to make adeep impression on the popular imagination. 

While Andros was still governor, shortly after Increase Mather's departurefor England, four young children, members of a pious family in Boston, theeldest a girl of thirteen, the youngest a boy not five, had begun to behavein a singular manner, barking like dogs, purring like cats, seeming tobecome deaf, blind, or dumb, having their limbs strangely distorted, complaining that they were pinched, pricked, pulled, or cut--acting out, infact, the effects of witchcraft, according to the current notions of itand the descriptions in the books above referred to. The terrifiedfather called in Dr. Oakes, a zealous leader of the ultra-theocraticparty--presently sent to England as joint agent with Mather--who gavehis opinion that the children were bewitched. The oldest girl had latelyreceived a bitter scolding from an old Irish indented servant, whosedaughter she had accused of theft. 

This same old woman, from indications no doubt given by the children, was soon fixed upon as being the witch. The four ministers of Boston andanother from Charlestown having kept a day of fasting and prayer at thetroubled house, the youngest child was relieved. But the others, morepersevering and more artful, continuing as before, the old woman waspresently arrested and charged with bewitching them. She had for a longtime been reputed a witch, and she even seems to have flattered herselfthat she was one. Indeed, her answers were so "senseless" that themagistrates referred it to the doctors to say if she were not "crazed inher intellects. " On their report of her sanity, the old woman was tried, found guilty, and executed. 

Though Increase Mather was absent on this interesting occasion, he had azealous representative in his son, Cotton Mather, by the mother's sidegrandson of the "Great Cotton, " a young minister of twenty-five, a prodigyof learning, eloquence, and piety, recently settled as colleague with hisfather over Boston North Church. Cotton Mather had an extraordinary memory, stuffed with all sorts of learning. His application was equal to that of aGerman professor. His lively imagination, trained in the school of Puritantheology, and nourished on the traditionary legends of New England, ofwhich he was a voracious and indiscriminate collector, was still furtherstimulated by fasts, vigils, prayers, and meditations almost equal tothose of any Catholic saint. Of a temperament ambitious and active, he wasinflamed with a great desire of "doing good. " Fully conscious of all hisgifts, and not a little vain of them, like the Jesuit missionaries inCanada, his contemporaries, he believed himself to be often, during hisdevotional exercises, in direct and personal communication with the Deity. 

In every piece of good-fortune he saw a special answer to his prayers; inevery mortification or calamity, the special personal malice of the deviland his agents. Yet both himself and his father were occasionally troubledwith "temptations to atheism, " doubts which they did not hesitate toascribe to diabolical influence. The secret consciousness of these doubtsof their own was perhaps one source of their great impatience at the doubtsof others. 

Cotton Mather had taken a very active part in the late case of witchcraft;and, that he might study the operations of diabolical agency at hisleisure, and thus be furnished with evidence and arguments to establishits reality, he took the eldest of the bewitched children home to his ownhouse. His eagerness to believe invited imposture. His excessive vanity andstrong prejudices made him easy game. Adroit and artful beyond her years, the girl fooled him to the top of his bent. His ready pen was soonfurnished with materials for "a story all made up of wonders, " which, withsome other matters of the same sort, and a sermon preached on the occasion, he presently published, under the title of _Memorable Providences relatingto Witchcrafts and Possessions_, with a preface in which he warned all"Sadducees" that he should regard their doubts for the future as a personalinsult. 

Cotton Mather was not the only dupe. "The old heresy of the sensualSadducees, denying the being of angels either good or evil, " says therecommendatory preface to this book, signed by the other four ministers ofBoston, "died not with them, nor will it, whilst men, abandoning both faithand reason, count it their wisdom to credit nothing but what they see orfeel. How much this fond opinion hath gotten ground in this debauched ageis awfully observable; and what a dangerous stroke it gives to settle menin atheism is not hard to discern. God is therefore pleased, besides thewitness borne to this truth in Sacred Writ, to suffer devils sometimes todo such things in the world as shall stop the mouths of gainsayers, andextort a confession from them. "

They add their testimony to the truth of Mather's statements, which theycommend as furnishing "clear information" that there is "both a God and adevil, and witchcraft. " The book was presently republished in London, witha preface by Baxter, who pronounced the girl's case so "convincing" that"he must be a very obdurate Sadducee who would not believe it. "

Mather's sermon, prefixed to this narrative, is a curious specimen offanatical declamation. "Witchcraft, " he exclaims, "is a renouncing of God, and the advancement of a filthy devil into the throne of the Most High. Witchcraft is a renouncing of Christ, and preferring the communion of aloathsome, lying devil before all the salvation of the Lord Redeemer. Witchcraft is a siding with hell against heaven and earth, and therefore awitch is not to be endured in either of them. 'Tis a capital crime, and isto be prosecuted as a species of devilism that would not only deprive Godand Christ of all his honor, but also plunder man of all his comfort. Nothing too vile can be said of, nothing too hard can be done to, such ahorrible iniquity as witchcraft is!"

Such declamations from such a source, giving voice and authority to thepopular superstition, prepared the way for the tragedy that followed. The suggestion, however, that Cotton Mather, for purposes of his own, deliberately got up this witchcraft delusion, and forced it upon a doubtfuland hesitating people, is utterly absurd. And so is another suggestion, astriking exhibition of partisan extravagance, that because the case of thefour Boston children happened during the government of Andros, thereforethe responsibility of that affair rests on him, and not on the people ofMassachusetts. The Irish woman was tried under a Massachusetts law, andconvicted by a Massachusetts jury; and, had Andros interfered to save herlife, to the other charges against him would doubtless have been added thatof friendship for witches. 

Cotton Mather seems to have acted, in a degree, the part of a demagogue. Yet he is not to be classed with those tricky and dishonest men, so commonin our times, who play upon popular prejudices which they do not share, inthe expectation of being elevated to honors and office. Mather's position, convictions, and temperament alike called him to serve on this occasion asthe organ, exponent, and stimulator of the popular faith. 

The bewitched girl, as she ceased to be an object of popular attention, seems to have returned to her former behavior. But the seed had been sownon fruitful ground. After an interval of nearly four years, three younggirls in the family of Parris, minister of Salem village, now Danvers, began to exhibit similar pranks. As in the Boston case, a physicianpronounced them bewitched, and Tituba, an old Indian woman, the servant ofParris, who undertook, by some vulgar rites, to discover the witch, wasrewarded by the girls with the accusation of being herself the cause oftheir sufferings. The neighboring ministers assembled at the house ofParris for fasting and prayer. The village fasted; and presently a generalfast was ordered throughout the colony. The "bewitched children, " thusrendered objects of universal sympathy and attention, did not long wantimitators. Several other girls and two or three women of the neighborhoodbegan to be afflicted in the same way, as did also John, the Indian husbandof Tituba, warned, it would seem, by the fate of his wife. 

Parris took a very active part in discovering the witches; so did Noyes, minister of Salem, described as "a learned, a charitable, and a good man. "A town committee was soon formed for the detection of the witches. Twoof the magistrates, resident at Salem, entered with great zeal intothe matter. The accusations, confined at first to Tituba and two otherfriendless women, one crazed, the other bedrid, presently included twofemale members of Parris' church, in which, as in so many other churches, there had been some sharp dissensions. The next Sunday after thisaccusation Parris preached from the verse, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one is a devil?" At the announcement of this text the sister of one ofthe accused women rose and left the meeting-house. She, too, was accusedimmediately after, and the same fate soon overtook all who showed the leastdisposition to resist the prevailing delusion. 

The matter had now assumed so much importance that the Deputy-governor--forthe provisional government was still in operation--proceeded toSalem village, with five other magistrates, and held a court in themeeting-house. A great crowd was present. Parris acted at once as clerkand accuser, producing the witnesses, and taking down the testimony. Theaccused were held with their arms extended and hands open, lest by theleast motion of their fingers they might inflict torments on their victims, who sometimes affected to be struck dumb, and at others to be knocked downby the mere glance of an eye. They were haunted, they said, by the spectresof the accused, who tendered them a book, and solicited them to subscribe aleague with the devil; and when they refused, would bite, pinch, scratch, choke, burn, twist, prick, pull, and otherwise torment them. At the meresight of the accused brought into court, "the afflicted" would seem to beseized with a fit of these torments, from which, however, they experiencedinstant relief when the accused were compelled to touch them--infallibleproof to the minds of the gaping assembly that these apparent sufferingswere real and the accusations true. The theory was that the touch conveyedback into the witch the malignant humors shot forth from her eyes; andlearned references were even made to Descartes, of whose new philosophysome rumors had reached New England, in support of this theory. 

In the examinations at Salem village meeting-house some very extraordinaryscenes occurred. "Look there!" cried one of the afflicted; "there is GoodyProcter on the beam!" This Goody Procter's husband, notwithstanding theaccusation against her, still took her side, and had attended her to thecourt; in consequence of which act of fidelity some of "the afflicted"began now to cry out that he too was a wizard. At the exclamation abovecited, "many, if not all, the bewitched had grievous fits. "

Question by the Court: "Ann Putnam, who hurts you?"

Answer: "Goodman Procter, and his wife, too. "

Then some of the afflicted cry out, "There is Procter going to take up Mrs. Pope's feet!" and "immediately her feet are taken up. "

Question by the Court: "What do you say, Goodman Procter, to these things?"

Answer: "I know not: I am innocent. "

Abigail Williams, another of the afflicted, cries out, "There is GoodmanProcter going to Mrs. Pope!" and "immediately said Pope falls into a fit. "

A magistrate to Procter: "You see the devil will deceive you; thechildren, " so all the afflicted were called, "could see what you were goingto do before the woman was hurt. I would advise you to repentance, for yousee the devil is bringing you out. "

Abigail Williams cries out again, "There is Goodman Procter going to hurtGoody Bibber!" and "immediately Goody Bibber falls into a fit. " AbigailWilliams and Ann Putnam both "made offer to strike at Elizabeth Procter;but when Abigail's hand came near, it opened, whereas it was made up intoa fist before, and came down exceedingly lightly as it drew near to saidProcter, and at length, with open and extended fingers, touched Procter'shood very lightly; and immediately Abigail cries out, 'My fingers, myfingers, my fingers burn!' and Ann Putnam takes on most grievously of herhead, and sinks down. "

Such was the evidence upon which people were believed to be witches, andcommitted to prison to be tried for their lives! Yet, let us not hurry toomuch to triumph over the past. In these days of animal magnetism, have wenot ourselves seen imposture as gross, and even in respectable quartersa headlong credulity just as precipitate? We must consider also that thejudgments of our ancestors were disturbed, not only by wonder, but by fear. 

Encouraged by the ready belief of the magistrates and the public, "theafflicted" went on enlarging the circle of their accusations, whichpresently seemed to derive fresh corroboration from the confessions of someof the accused. Tituba had been flogged into a confession; others yieldedto a pressure more stringent than blows. Weak women, astonished at thecharges and contortions of their accusers, assured that they were witchesbeyond all doubt, and urged to confess as the only possible chance fortheir lives, were easily prevailed upon to repeat any tales put into theirmouths: their journeys through the air on broomsticks to attend witchsacraments--a sort of travesty on the Christian ordinance--at which thedevil appeared in the shape of a "small black man"; their signing thedevil's book, renouncing their former baptism, and being baptized anewby the devil, who "dipped" them in "Wenham Pond, " after the Anabaptistfashion. 

Called upon to tell who were present at these sacraments, the confessingwitches wound up with new accusations; and by the time Phipps arrived inthe colony, near a hundred persons were already in prison. The mischief wasnot limited to Salem. An idea had been taken up that the bewitched couldexplain the causes of sickness; and one of them, carried to Andover forthat purpose, had accused many persons of witchcraft, and thrown the wholevillage into the greatest commotion. Some persons also had been accused inBoston and other towns. 

It was one of Governor Phipps' first official acts to order all theprisoners into irons. This restraint upon their motions might impede them, it was hoped, in tormenting the afflicted. Without waiting for the meetingof the General Court, to whom that authority properly belonged, Phippshastened, by advice of his counsel, to organize a special court for thetrial of the witches. Stoughton, the Lieutenant-governor, was appointedpresident; but his cold and hard temper, his theological education, and unyielding bigotry were ill qualifications for such an office. Hisassociates, six in number, were chiefly Boston men, possessing a highreputation for wisdom and piety, among them Richards, the late agent, Wait Winthrop, brother of Fitz-John Winthrop, and grandson of the formerGovernor, and Samuel Sewell, the two latter subsequently, in turn, chief-justices of the province. 

The new court, thus organized, proceeded to Salem, and commenced operationsby the trial of an old woman who had long enjoyed the reputation of being awitch. Besides "spectral evidence, " that is, the tales of the afflicted, ajury of women, appointed to make an examination, found upon her a wart orexcrescence, adjudged to be "a devil's teat. " A number of old stories werealso raked up of dead hens and foundered cattle and carts upset, ascribedby the neighbors to her incantations. On this evidence she was brought inguilty, and hanged a few days after, when the court took an adjournment tothe end of the month. 

The first General Court under the new charter met meanwhile, and IncreaseMather, who had returned in company with Phipps, gave an account of hisagency. From a House not well pleased with the loss of the old charter heobtained a reluctant vote of thanks, but he received no compensation forfour years' expenses, which had pressed very heavily upon his narrowincome. After passing a temporary act for continuing in force all the oldlaws, among others the capital law against witchcraft, an adjournment washad, without any objection or even reference, so far as appears, to thespecial court for the trial of the witches, which surely would have raiseda great outcry had it been established for any unpopular purpose. 

According to a favorite practice of the old Government, now put in usefor the last time, Phipps requested the advice of the elders as to theproceedings against the witches. The reply, drawn up by the hand of CottonMather, acknowledges with thankfulness "the success which the merciful Godhas given to the sedulous and assiduous endeavors of our honorable rulersto defeat the abominable witchcrafts which have been committed in thecountry, humbly praying that the discovery of those mysterious andmischievous wickednesses may be perfected. " It advises, however, "criticaland exquisite caution" in relying too much on "the devil's authority, " thatis, on spectral evidence, or "apparent changes wrought in the afflictedby the presence of the accused"; neither of which, in the opinion of theministers, could be trusted as infallible proof. Yet it was almost entirelyon this sort of evidence that all the subsequent convictions were had. Stoughton, unfortunately, had espoused the opinion--certainly a plausibleone--that it was impossible for the devil to assume the appearance of aninnocent man, or for persons not witches to be spectrally seen at witches'meetings; and some of the confessing witches were prompt to flatter thechief justice's vanity by confirming a doctrine so apt for their purposes. 

At the second session of the special court five women were tried andconvicted. The others were easily disposed of; but in the case of RebeccaNurse, one of Parris' church-members, a woman hitherto of unimpeachablecharacter, the jury at first gave a verdict of acquittal. At theannouncement of this verdict "the afflicted" raised a great clamor. The"honored Court" called the jury's attention to an exclamation of theprisoner during the trial, expressive of surprise at seeing among thewitnesses two of her late fellow-prisoners: "Why do these testify againstme? They used to come among us!" These two witnesses had turned confessors, and these words were construed by the court as confirming their testimonyof having met the prisoner at witches' meetings. The unhappy woman, partially deaf, listened to this colloquy in silence. Thus pressed by theCourt, and hearing no reply from the prisoner, the jury changed theirverdict and pronounced her guilty. The explanations subsequently offered inher behalf were disregarded. The Governor, indeed, granted a reprieve, butthe Salem committee procured its recall, and the unhappy woman, taken inchains to the meeting-house, was solemnly excommunicated, and presentlyhanged with the others. 

At the third session of the court six prisoners were tried and convicted, all of whom were presently hanged except Elizabeth Procter, whose pregnancywas pleaded in delay. Her true and faithful husband, in spite of a letterto the Boston ministers, denouncing the falsehood of the witnesses, complaining that confessions had been extorted by torture, and begging fora trial at Boston or before other judges, was found guilty, and sufferedwith the rest. Another of this unfortunate company was John Willard, employed as an officer to arrest the accused, but whose imprudentexpression of some doubts on the subject had caused him to be accused also. He had fled, but was pursued and taken, and was now tried and executed. Hisbehavior, and that of Procter, at the place of execution, made, however, adeep impression on many minds. 

A still more remarkable case was that of George Burroughs, a minister whomthe incursions of the Eastern Indians had lately driven from Saco back toSalem village, where he had formerly preached, and where he now found amonghis former parishioners enemies more implacable even than the Indians. Itwas the misfortune of Burroughs to have many enemies, in part, perhaps, by his own fault. Encouragement was thus found to accuse him. Some ofthe witnesses had seen him at witches' meetings; others had seen theapparitions of his dead wives, which accused him of cruelty. Thesewitnesses, with great symptoms of horror and alarm, even pretended to seethese dead wives again appearing to them in open court. Though small ofsize, Burroughs was remarkably strong, instances of which were givenin proof that the devil helped him. Stoughton treated him with cruelinsolence, and did his best to confuse and confound him. 

What insured his condemnation was a paper he handed to the jury, an extractfrom some author, denying the possibility of witchcraft. Burroughs' speechfrom the gallows affected many, especially the fluent fervency of hisprayers, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, which no witch, it was thought, could repeat correctly. Several, indeed, had been already detected by someslight error or mispronunciation in attempting it. The impression, however, which Burroughs might have produced was neutralized by Cotton Mather, whoappeared on horseback among the crowd, and took occasion to remind thepeople that Burroughs, though a preacher, was no "ordained" minister, andthat the devil would sometimes assume even the garb of an angel of light. 

At a fourth session of the court six women were tried and found guilty. Atanother session shortly after, eight women and one man were convicted, allof whom received sentence of death. An old man of eighty, who refused toplead, was pressed to death--a barbarous infliction prescribed by thecommon law for such cases. 

Ever since the trials began, it had been evident that confession was theonly avenue to safety. Several of those now found guilty confessed and werereprieved; but Samuel Woodwell, having retracted his confession, along withseven others who persisted in their innocence, was sent to execution. "Theafflicted" numbered by this time about fifty; fifty-five had confessedthemselves witches and turned accusers; twenty persons had already suffereddeath; eight more were under sentence; the jails were full of prisoners, and new accusations were added every day. Such was the state of things whenthe court adjourned to the first Monday in November. 

Cotton Mather employed this interval in preparing his _Wonders of theInvisible World_, containing an exulting account of the late trials, givingfull credit to the statements of the afflicted and the confessors, and vaunting the good effects of the late executions in "the strangedeliverance of some that had lain for many years in a most sad condition, under they knew not what evil hand. "

While the witch trials were going on, the Governor had hastened toPemaquid, and in accordance with instructions brought with him fromEngland, though at an expense to the province which caused loud complaints, had built there a strong stone fort. Colonel Church had been employed, in the mean time, with four hundred men, in scouring the shores of thePenobscot and the banks of the Kennebec. 

Notwithstanding some slight cautions about trusting too much to spectralevidence, Mather's book, which professed to be published at the specialrequest of the Governor, was evidently intended to stimulate to furtherproceedings. But, before its publication, the reign of terror had alreadyreached such a height as to commence working its own cure. The accusers, grown bold with success, had begun to implicate persons whose character andcondition had seemed to place them beyond the possibility of assault. Even"the generation of the children of God" were in danger. One of the Andoverministers had been implicated; but two of the confessing witches came tohis rescue by declaring that they had surreptitiously carried his shape toa witches' meeting, in order to create a belief that he was there. Hale, minister of Beverly, had been very active against the witches; but when hisown wife was charged, he began to hesitate. A son of Governor Bradstreet, a magistrate of Andover, having refused to issue any more warrants, washimself accused, and his brother soon after, on the charge of bewitching adog. Both were obliged to fly for their lives. Several prisoners, by thefavor of friends, escaped to Rhode Island, but, finding themselvesin danger there, fled to New York, where Governor Fletcher gave themprotection. Their property was seized as forfeited by their flight. LadyPhipps, applied to in her husband's absence on behalf of an unfortunateprisoner, issued a warrant to the jailer in her own name, and had thus, rather irregularly, procured his discharge. Some of the accusers, it issaid, began to throw out insinuations even against her. 

The extraordinary proceedings on the commitments and trials; thedetermination of the magistrates to overlook the most obvious falsehoodsand contradictions on the part of the afflicted and the confessors, underpretence that the devil took away their memories and imposed upon theirbrain, while yet reliance was placed on their testimony to convict theaccused; the partiality exhibited in omitting to take any notice of certainaccusations; the violent means employed to obtain confessions, amountingsometimes to positive torture; the total disregard of retractions madevoluntarily, and even at the hazard of life--all these circumstances hadimpressed the attention of the more rational part of the community; and, inthis crisis of danger and alarm, the meeting of the General Court was mostanxiously awaited. 

When that body assembled, a remonstrance came in from Andover against thecondemnation of persons of good fame on the testimony of children andothers "under diabolical influences. " What action was taken on thisremonstrance does not appear. The court was chiefly occupied in the passageof a number of acts, embodying some of the chief points of the old civiland criminal laws of the colony. The capital punishment of witchcraft wasspecially provided for in the very terms of the English act of Parliament. Heresy and blasphemy were also continued as capital offences. By theorganization of the Superior Court under the charter, the specialcommission for the trial of witches was superseded. But of this SuperiorCourt Stoughton was appointed chief justice, and three of his fourcolleagues had sat with him in the special court. 

There is no evidence that these judges had undergone any change of opinion;but when the new court proceeded to hold a special term at Salem for thecontinuation of the witch trials a decided alteration in public feelingbecame apparent. Six women of Andover renounced their confessions, and sentin a memorial to that effect. Of fifty-six indictments laid before thegrand jury, only twenty-six were returned true bills. Of the persons tried, three only were found guilty. Several others were acquitted, the firstinstances of the sort since the trials began. 

The court then proceeded to Charlestown, where many were in prison on thesame charge. The case of a woman who for twenty or thirty years had beenreputed a witch, was selected for trial. Many witnesses testified againsther; but the spectral evidence had fallen into total discredit, and was notused. Though as strong a case was made out as any at Salem, the woman wasacquitted, with her daughter, granddaughter, and several others. Newspresently came of a reprieve for those under sentence of death at Salem, atwhich Stoughton was so enraged that he left the bench, exclaiming, "Who itis that obstructs the course of justice I know not; the Lord be merciful tothe country!" nor did he again take his seat during that term. 

At the first session of the Superior Court at Boston the grand jury, thoughsent out to reconsider the matter, refused to find a bill even against aconfessing witch. 

The idea was already prevalent that some great mistakes had been committedat Salem. The reality of witchcraft was still insisted upon as zealously asever, but the impression was strong that the devil had used "the afflicted"as his instruments to occasion the shedding of innocent blood. On behalfof the ministers, Increase Mather came out with his _Cases of Conscienceconcerning Witchcraft_, in which, while he argued with great learning thatspectral evidence was not infallible, and that the devil might assume theshape of an innocent man, he yet strenuously maintained as sufficient proofconfession, or "the speaking such words or the doing such things as nonebut such as have familiarity with the devil ever did or can do. " As to suchas falsely confessed themselves witches, and were hanged in consequence, Mather thought that was no more than they deserved. 

King William's veto on the witchcraft act prevented any further trials;and presently, by Phipps' order, all the prisoners were discharged. To asimilar veto Massachusetts owes it that heresy and blasphemy ceased toappear as capital crimes on her statute-book. 

The Mathers gave still further proof of faith unshaken by discovering anafflicted damsel in Boston, whom they visited and prayed with, and of whosecase Cotton Mather wrote an account circulated in manuscript. This damsel, however, had the discretion to accuse nobody, the spectres that beset herbeing all veiled. Reason and common-sense at last found an advocate inRobert Calef, a citizen of Boston, sneered at by Cotton Mather as "a weaverwho pretended to be a merchant. " And afterward, when he grew more angry, as"a coal sent from hell" to blacken his character--a man, however, of soundintelligence and courageous spirit. Calef wrote an account, also handedabout in manuscript, of what had been said and done during a visitationof the Mathers to this afflicted damsel, an exposure of her impostureand their credulity, which so nettled Cotton Mather that he commenced aprosecution for slander against Calef, which, however, he soon saw reasonto drop. 

Calef then addressed a series of letters to Mather and the other Bostonministers, in which he denied and ridiculed the reality of any suchcompacts with the devil as were commonly believed in under the name ofwitchcraft. The witchcraft spoken of in the Bible meant no more, hemaintained, than "hatred or opposition to the word and worship of God, andseeking to seduce therefrom by some sign"--a definition which he had foundin some English writer on the subject, and which he fortified by diverstexts. 

It was, perhaps, to furnish materials for a reply to Calef that a circularfrom Harvard College, signed by Increase Mather as president, and by allthe neighboring ministers as fellows, invited reports of "apparitions, possessions, enchantments, and all extraordinary things, wherein theexistence and agency of the invisible world is more sensibly demonstrated, "to be used "as some fit assembly of ministers might direct. " But the"invisible world" was fast ceasing to be visible, and Cotton Mather lamentsthat in ten years scarce five returns were received to this circular. 

Yet the idea of some supernatural visitation at Salem was but very slowlyrelinquished, being still persisted in even by those penitent actors in thescene who confessed and lamented their own delusion and blood-guiltiness. Such were Sewell, one of the judges; Noyes, one of the most activeprosecutors; and several of the jurymen who had sat on the trials. Thewitnesses upon whose testimony so many innocent persons had suffered werenever called to any account. When Calef's letters were presently publishedin London, together with his account of the supposed witchcraft, the bookwas burned in the college yard at Cambridge by order of Increase Mather. The members of the Boston North Church came out also with a pamphlet indefence of their pastors. Hale, minister of Beverly, in his _Modest Inquiryinto the Nature of Witchcraft_, and Cotton Mather, in his _Magnalia_, though they admit there had been "a going too far" in the affair at Salem, are yet still as strenuous as ever for the reality of witchcraft. 

Nor were they without support from abroad. Dr. Watts, then one of the chiefleaders of the English Dissenters, wrote to Cotton Mather, "I am persuadedthere was much agency of the devil in those affairs, and perhaps therewere some real witches, too. " Twenty years elapsed before the heirs of thevictims, and those who had been obliged to fly for their lives, obtainedsome partial indemnity for their pecuniary losses. Stoughton and CottonMather, though they never expressed the least regret or contrition fortheir part in the affair, still maintained their places in the publicestimation. Just as the trials were concluded, Stoughton, though he heldthe King's commission as lieutenant-governor, was chosen a counsellor--amark of confidence which the theocratic majority did not choose to extendto several of the moderate party named in the original appointment--andto this post he was annually reëlected as long as he lived; while Moody, because he had favored the escape of some of the accused, found itnecessary to resign his pastorship of the First Church of Boston, and toreturn again to Portsmouth. 

Yet we need less wonder at the pertinacity with which this delusion wasadhered to, when we find Addison arguing for the reality of witchcraft atthe same time that he refuses to believe in any modern instance of it; andeven Blackstone, half a century after, gravely declaring that "to deny thepossibility, nay, actual existence of witchcraft and sorcery, is at onceflatly to contradict the revealed word of God in various passages both ofthe Old and New Testament. "

%ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND%

A. D. 1694

JOHN FRANCIS

Not only did the establishment of the Bank of England meet the demands ofpublic exigency at the time; it also created an institution which wasto become vitally important in the expanding life of the nation. Thiscustodian of the public money and manager of the public debt of GreatBritain is now the largest bank in the world. The only other financialinstitution that could show an equal record of long stability was the Bankof Amsterdam, which existed from 1609 to 1814. 

The national debt of England began in 1693, when William III, in order tocarry on the war against France, resorted to a system of loans. This debt, however, was not intended to be permanent; but when the Bank of England wasestablished, the contracting of a permanent debt began. Its advantagesand disadvantages to England have been discussed by many theorists andfinancial authorities. But of the extraordinary service rendered to GreatBritain by the far-seeing Scotchman, William Paterson, originator of theplan of the Bank of England, there is no question, although, as Francisshows, the project at first met with opposition from many quarters. 

The important position assumed by England, toward the middle of theseventeenth century, renders the absence of a national bank somewhatsurprising. Under the sagacious government of Cromwell the nation hadincreased in commercial and political greatness; and although severalprojects were issued for banks, one of which was to have branches in everyimportant town throughout the country, yet, a necessity for their formationnot being absolutely felt, the proposals were dismissed. During theProtectorate, however, Parliament, taking into consideration the rate ofinterest, which was higher in England than abroad, and that the trade wasthereby rendered comparatively disadvantageous to the English merchant, reduced the legal rate from 8 to 6 per cent. , and this measure, although ithad been carried by the Parliament of Cromwell, almost every act of whichproved odious in the eyes of the Stuarts, was nevertheless confirmed bythe legislature of Charles II. In 1546 the payment of interest had beenrendered legal, and fixed at 10 per cent. In 1624 the rate had been reducedto 8 per cent. ; and with the advance of commercial prosperity it had beenfound advisable to lower it still further. 

There were many reasons for the establishment of a national bank. It wasnecessary for the sake of a secure paper currency. It was required for thesupport of the national credit. It was desirable as a method of reducingthe rate of interest paid by the state; a rate so high that, according toAnderson, men were induced to take their money out of trade, for the sakeof securing it; an operation "big with mischief. " The truth is that thetimes required it. The theorist may prove to demonstration the perfectionof his theory; the speculator may show the certainty of its success: butunless it be a necessity called for by the onward progress of society, itmust eventually fall to the ground. 

That the want of such an establishment was felt is certain. But while suchfirms as Childs--the books of whom go back to the year 1620, and refer toprior documents; Hoares, dating from 1680; and Snows, from 1685--were ableto assist the public demand, although at the exorbitant interest of theperiod, it does not occasion so much surprise that the attempt made to meetthe increasing requirements of trade proved insufficient. In 1678, sixteenyears previous to the foundation of the Bank of England, "proposals for alarge model of a bank" were published; and, in 1683 a "national bank ofcredit" was brought forward. In a rare pamphlet entitled _Bank Credit; orthe usefullness and security of The Bank of Credit, examined in a dialoguebetween a Country Gentleman and a London Merchant_, this idea is warmlydefended. It was, however, simply to have one of credit, nor was itproposed to form a bank of deposit; although, by the following remark ofthe "Country Gentleman, " it is evident that such an establishment on asecure scale was desirable. He says:

"Could they not without damage to themselves have secured the runningcash of the nobility, gentry, merchants, and the traders of the city andkingdom, from all hazard, which would have been a great benefit to allconcerned, who know not where to deposit their cash securely?"

After much trouble this bank of credit was established at Devonshire House, in Bishopsgate Street; its object, as we have related, being principallyto advance money to tradesmen and manufacturers on the security of goods. Three-fourths of the value was lent on these, and bills for their amountgiven to the depositor. In order to render them current, an appointednumber of persons in each trade was formed into a society to regulatecommercial concerns. Any individual possessed of such bills might thereforeobtain from this company goods or merchandise with as much ease as if heoffered current coin. 

The bank of credit does not appear to have flourished. The machinery wastoo complicated, and the risk of depreciation and the value of manufacturestoo great. It was next to impossible for such a company to exist after theBank of England came with its low discount and free accommodations. 

The wild spirit of speculation--that spirit which at various periods hascreated fearful crises in the commercial world--commenced in 1694. Thefever which from time to time has flushed the mind of the moneyed man, andgiven a fierce excitement to the almost penniless adventurer, was then andin the following year in full operation. The great South Sea scheme in 1720is ordinarily considered the earliest display of this reckless spirit. But a quarter of a century before, equal ingenuity and equal villany wereexercised. Obscure men, whose sole capital was their enormous impudence, invented similar schemes, promised similar advantages, and used similararts to entice the capitalists, which were employed with so much success ata later period. 

The want of a great banking association was sure to be made a pretext. Two"land banks, " and a "London bank" to be managed by the magistrates, withseveral other proposals, were therefore put promisingly forward. One ofthese was for another "bank of credit"; and a pamphlet published in 1694, under the title of _England's Glory_, will give some idea of its nature:

"If a person desires money to be returned at Coventry or York he pays itat the office in London, and receives a bill of credit after their formwritten upon marble paper, indenturewise, or on other as may be contrivedto prevent counterfeiting. " It was also proposed that the Government shouldshare the profits; but neither of the projects was carried out. 

The people neglected their calling. The legitimate desire of money grewinto a fierce and fatal spirit of avarice. The arts so common at a laterday were had recourse to. Project begat project, copper was to be turnedinto brass. Fortunes were to be realized by lotteries. The sea was to yieldthe treasures it had engulfed. Pearl-fisheries were to pay impossiblepercentages. "Lottery on lottery, " says a writer of the day, "engine onengine, multiplied wonderfully. If any person got considerably by a happyand useful invention, others followed in spite of the patent, and publishedprinted proposals, filling the daily newspapers therewith, thus going on tojostle one another, and abuse the credulity of the people. "

Amid the many delusive and impracticable schemes were two importantprojects which have conferred great benefits on the English people. Thefirst of these was the New River Company, the conception of Sir HughMiddleton; the second was the corporation of the Bank of England. Natureand the great nations of antiquity suggested the former; the force andpressure of the times demanded the latter. It is from such demands that ourchief institutions arise. By precept we may be taught their propriety; byexample we may see their advantages. But until the necessity is personallyfelt they are sure to be neglected; and men wonder at their want ofprescience and upbraid their shortsightedness when, with a sudden andsometimes startling success, the proposal they have slighted arises throughthe energy of another. 

William Paterson, one of those men whose capacity is measured by failure orsuccess, was the originator of the new bank; and it is perhaps unfortunatefor his fame that no biography exists of this remarkable person. Asthe projector of the present Bank of Scotland, as the very soul of thecelebrated Darien Company, and as the founder of the Bank of England, hedeserves notice. A speculator as well as an adventurous man, he proved hisbelief in the practicability of the Darien scheme by accompanying thatunfortunate expedition; and the formation of the Bank of England was theobject of his desires and the subject of his thoughts for a long timeprevious to its establishment. 

From that political change which had been so justly termed the "greatrevolution, " to the establishment of the Bank of England, the newGovernment had been in constant difficulties; and the ministerial mode ofprocuring money was degrading to a great people. The duties in support ofthe war waged for liberty and Protestantism were required before theywere levied. The city corporation was usually applied to for an advance;interest which varied probably according to the necessity of the borrowerrather than to the real value of cash, was paid for the accommodation. Theofficers of the city went round in their turn to the separate wards, andborrowed in smaller amounts the money they had advanced to the state. Interest and premiums were thus often paid to the extent of 25 and even 30per cent. , in proportion to the exigency of the case, and the trader foundhis pocket filled at the expense of the public. Mr. Paterson gives agraphic description:

"The erection of this famous bank not only relieved the ministerialmanagers from their frequent processions into the city, for borrowing ofmoney on the best and nearest public securities, at 10 or 12 per cent. Perannum, but likewise gave life and currency to double or treble the valueof its capital in other branches of the public credit, and so, under God, became the principal means of the success of the campaign in 1695; as, particularly, in reducing the important fortress of Namur, the firstmaterial step toward the peace concluded in 1679. "

To remedy this evil the Bank of England was projected; and after muchlabor, William Paterson, aided by Mr. Michael Godfrey, procured fromGovernment a consideration of the proposal. The King was abroad when thescheme was laid before the council, but the Queen occupied his place. Hereconsiderable opposition occurred. Paterson found it more difficult toprocure consent than he anticipated, and all those who feared an invasionof their interests united to stop its progress. The goldsmith foresaw thedestruction of his monopoly, and he opposed it from self-interest. The Toryforesaw an easier mode of gaining money for the government he abhorred, with a firmer hold on the people for the monarch he despised, and hisantagonism bore all the energy of political partisanship. 

The usurer foresaw the destruction of his oppressive extortion, and heresisted it with the vigor of his craft. The rich man foresaw his profitsdiminished on government contracts, and he vehemently and virtuouslyopposed it on all public principles. Loud therefore were the outcries andgreat the exertions of all parties when the bill was first introducedto the House of Commons. But outcries are vain and exertions futile inopposition to a dominant and powerful party. A majority had been securedfor the measure; and they who opposed its progress covered their defeatwith vehement denunciations and vague prophecies. The prophets are intheir graves, and their predictions only survive in the history of thatestablishment the downfall of which they proclaimed. 

"The scheme of a national bank, " says Smollett, "had been recommended tothe ministry for the credit and security of the Government and the increaseof trade and circulation. William Paterson was author of that which wascarried into execution. When it was properly digested in the cabinet, anda majority in Parliament secured, it was introduced into the House ofCommons. The supporters said it would rescue the nation out of the handsof extortioners; lower interest; raise the value of land; revive publiccredit; extend circulation; improve commerce; facilitate the annualsupplies; and connect the people more closely with Government. The projectwas violently opposed by a strong party, who affirmed that it would becomea monopoly, and engross the whole of the kingdom; that it might be employedto the worst purposes of arbitrary power; that it would weaken commerceby tempting people to withdraw their money from trade; that brokers andjobbers would prey on their fellow-creatures; encourage fraud and gambling;and corrupt the morals of the nation. "

Previous governments had raised money with comparative ease because theywere legitimate. That of William was felt to be precarious. It was fearedby the money-lender that a similar convulsion to the one which had bornehim so easily to the throne of a great nation might waft him back to theshores of that Holland he so dearly loved. Thus the very circumstanceswhich made supplies necessary also made them scarce. 

In addition to these things his person was unpopular. His phlegmatic Dutchhabits contrasted unfavorably with those of the graceful Stuarts, whose evil qualities were forgotten in the remembrance of their showycharacteristics. Neither his Dutch followers nor his Dutch manners wereregarded with favor; and had it not been for his eminently kingly capacity, these things would have proved as dangerous to the throne as they tended tomake the sovereign unpopular. In a pamphlet published a few years after theestablishment of the new corporation is the following vivid picture of thismonarch's government:

"In spite of the most glorious Prince and most vigilant General the worldhas ever seen, yet the enemy gained upon us every year; the funds wererun down, the credit jobbed away in Change Alley, the King and his troopsdevoured by mechanics, and sold to usury, tallies lay bundled up like Bathfagots in the hands of brokers and stock-jobbers; the Parliament gavetaxes, levied funds, but the loans were at the mercy of those men (thejobbers); and they showed their mercy, indeed, by devouring the King andthe army, the Parliament, and indeed the whole nation; bringing their greatPrince sometimes to that exigence through inexpressible extortions thatwere put upon him, that he has even gone into the fields without hisequipage, nay even without his army; the regiments have been unclothed whenthe King had been in the field, and the willing, brave English spirits, eager to honor their country, and follow such a King, have marched evento battle without either stockings or shoes, while his servants havebeen every day working in Exchange Alley to get his men money of thestock-jobbers, even after all the horrible demands of discount havebeen allowed; and at last, scarce 50 per cent. Of the money granted byParliament has come into the hands of the Exchequer, and that late, toolate for service, and by driblets, till the King has been tired with thedelay. "

This is a strange picture; beating even Mr. Paterson's account of the"processions in the city, " and adds another convincing proof of thenecessity which then existed for some establishment, capable of advancingmoney at a reasonable rate, on the security of Parliamentary grants. 

The scheme proposed by William Paterson was too important not to meet withmany enemies, and it appears from a pamphlet by Mr. Godfrey, the firstdeputy-governor, that "some pretended to dislike the bank only for fear itshould disappoint their majesties of the supplies proposed to be raised. "That "all the several companies of oppressors are strangely alarmed, andexclaim at the bank, and seemed to have joined in a confederacy againstit. " That "extortion, usury, and oppression were never so attacked as theyare likely to be by the bank. " That "others pretend the bank will join withthe prince to make him absolute. That the concern have too good a bargainand that it would be prejudicial to trade. " In Bishop Burners _History ofHis Own Times_ we read an additional evidence of its necessity:

"It was visible that all the enemies of the Government set themselvesagainst it with such a vehemence of zeal that this alone convinced allpeople that they saw the strength that our affairs would receive from it. I heard the Dutch often reckon the great advantage they had had from theirbanks, and they concluded that as long as England remained jealous of herGovernment, a bank could never be settled among us, nor gain credit amongus to support itself, and upon that they judged that the superiority intrade must still be on their side. "

All these varied interests were vainly exerted to prevent the bill fromreceiving the royal sanction; and the Bank of England, founded on the sameprinciples which guarded the banks of Venice and Genoa, was incorporatedby royal charter, dated July 27, 1694. From Mr. Gilbart's _History andPrinciples of Banking_ we present the following brief analysis of thisimportant act:

"The Act of Parliament by which the Bank was established is entitled 'AnAct for granting to their majesties several duties upon tonnage of shipsand vessels, and upon beer, ale, and other liquors, for securing certainrecompenses and advantages in the said Act mentioned to such persons asshall voluntarily advance the sum of fifteen hundred thousand pounds towardcarrying on the war with France. ' After a variety of enactments relative tothe duties upon tonnage of ships and vessels, and upon beer, ale, and otherliquors, the Act authorizes the raising of 1, 200, 000 pounds by voluntarysubscription, the subscribers to be formed into a corporation and be styled'The Governor and Company of the Bank of England. '

"The sum of 300, 000 pounds was also to be raised by subscription, and thecontributors to receive instead annuities for one, two, or three lives. Toward the 1, 200, 000 pounds no one person was to subscribe more than 10, 000pounds before the first day of July, next ensuing, nor at any time morethan 20, 000 pounds. The Corporation were to lend their whole capital to theGovernment, for which they were to receive interest at the rate of 8 percent. Per annum, and 4000 pounds per annum for management; being 100, 000pounds per annum on the whole. The Corporation were not allowed to borrowor owe more than the amount of their capital, and if they did so theindividual members became liable to the creditors in proportion to theamount of their stock. The Corporation were not to trade in any 'goods, wares, or merchandise whatever, but they were allowed to deal in billsof Exchange, gold or silver bullion, and to sell any goods, wares, ormerchandise upon which they had advanced money, and which had not beenredeemed within three months after the time agreed upon. ' The whole of thesubscription was filled in a few days; 25 per cent. Paid down; and, as wehave seen, a charter was issued on July 27, 1694, of which the followingare the most important points:

"That the management and government of the corporation be admitted to thegovernor, deputy-governor, and twenty-four directors, who shall be electedbetween March 25th and April 25th of each year, from among the members ofthe company, duly qualified. 

"That no dividend shall at any time be made by the said governor andcompany save only out of the interest, profit, or produce arising out ofthe said capital, stock, or fund, or by such dealing as is allowed by actof Parliament. 

"They must be natural-born subjects of England, or naturalized subjects;they shall have in their own name and for their own use, severally, viz. , the governor at least 4000 pounds, the deputy-governor 3000 pounds, andeach director 2000 pounds of the capital stock of the said corporation. 

"That thirteen or more of the said governors or directors (of which thegovernor or deputy-governor shall be always one) shall constitute a courtof directors for the management of the affairs of the company, and for theappointment of all agents and servants which may be necessary, paying themsuch salaries as they may consider reasonable. 

"Every elector must have, in his own name and for his own use, 500 poundsor more capital stock, and can only give one vote; he must, if required byany member present, take the oath of stock, or the declaration of stock ifit be one of those people called Quakers. 

"Four general courts to be held in every year in the months of September, December, April, and July. A general court may be summoned at any time, upon the requisition of nine proprietors duly qualified as electors. 

"The majority of electors in general courts have the power to make andconstitute by-laws and ordinances for the government of the corporation, provided that such by-laws and ordinances be not repugnant to the laws ofthe kingdom, and be confirmed and approved according to the statutes insuch case made and provided. "

When the payment was completed it was handed into the exchequer, and thebank procured from other quarters the funds which it required. It employedthe same means which the bankers had done at the Exchange, with thisdifference, that the latter traded with personal property, while the banktraded with the deposits of their customers. It was from the circulationof a capital so formed that the bank derived its profits. It is evident, however, from the pamphlet of the first deputy-governor, that at thisperiod they allowed interest to their depositors; and another writer, D'Avenant, makes it a subject of complaint: "It would be for the generalgood of trade if the bank were restrained from allowing interest forrunning cash; for the ease of having 3 and 4 per cent. Without trouble mustbe a continual bar to industry. "

First in Mercers' Hall, where they remained but a few months, and afterwardin Grocers' Hall, since razed for the erection of a more stately structure, the Bank of England conducted its operations. Here, in one room, withalmost primitive simplicity were gathered all who performed the duties ofthe establishment. "I looked into the great hall where the bank is kept, "says the graceful essayist of the day, "and was not a little pleased to seethe directors, secretaries, and clerks, with all the other members of thatwealthy Corporation, ranged in their several stations according to theparts they hold in that just and regular economy. " The secretaries andclerks altogether numbered but fifty-four, while their united salaries didnot exceed four thousand three hundred fifty pounds. But the picture isa pleasant one, and though so much unlike present usages it is doubtfulwhether our forefathers did not derive more benefit from intimateassociation with and kindly feelings toward their inferiors than theirdescendants receive from the broad line of demarcation adopted at thepresent day. 

The effect of the new corporation was almost immediately experienced. OnAugust 8th, in the year of its establishment, the rate of discount onforeign bills was 6 per cent. ; although this was the highest legalinterest, yet much higher rates had been previously demanded. The name ofWilliam Paterson was not long upon the list of directors. The bank wasestablished in 1694, and for that year only was its founder among thosewho managed its proceedings. The facts which led to his departure from thehonorable post of director are difficult to collect; but it is not at allimprobable that the character of Paterson was too speculative for thosewith whom he was joined in companionship. Sir John Dalrymple remarks, "The persons to whom he applied made use of his ideas, took the honor tothemselves, were civil to him awhile, and neglected him afterward. " Anotherwriter says, "The friendless Scot was intrigued out of his post and out ofthe honors he had earned. " These assertions must be received with caution;accusations against a great body are easily made; and it is rarelyconsistent with the dignity of the latter to reply; they are received astruths either because people are too idle to examine or because there is noopportunity of investigating them. 

%COLONIZATION OF LOUISIANA%

A. D. 1699

CHARLES E. T. GAYARRÉ

It was not only as the beginning of what was to become an important Stateof the American Union, but also as a nucleus of occupation which led toan immense acquisition of territory by the United States, that the firstsettlement in Louisiana proved an event of great significance. Nothing inAmerican history is of greater moment than the adding of the LouisianaPurchase (1803) to the United States domain. And the acquisition of thatvast region, extending from New Orléans to British America, and westwardfrom the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, had historic connection withthe French settlement of 1699. 

As early as 1630 the territory afterward known as Louisiana was mostlyembraced in the Carolina grant by Charles I to Sir Robert Heath. It wastaken into possession for the French King by La Salle in 1682, and namedLouisiana in honor of Louis XIV. In 1698 Louis undertook to colonize theregion of the lower Mississippi, and sent out an expedition under Pierre leMoyne, Sieur d'Iberville, a naval commander, who had served in the Frenchwars of Canada, and aided in establishing French colonies in North America. 

With two hundred colonists Iberville sailed (September 24, 1698) for themouth of the Mississippi. Among his companions were his brothers, Sauvolleand Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. The latter was longgovernor of Louisiana, and founded New Orleans. Of their arrival andsubsequent operations in the lower Mississippi region, Gayarré, theLouisiana historian, gives a glowing and picturesque account. 

On February 27, 1699, Iberville and Bienville reached the Mississippi. Whenthey approached its mouth they were struck with the gloomy magnificence ofthe sight. As far as the eye could reach, nothing was to be seen but reedswhich rose five or six feet above the waters in which they bathed theirroots. They waved mournfully under the blast of the sharp wind of thenorth, shivering in its icy grasp, as it tumbled, rolled, and gambolled onthe pliant surface. Multitudes of birds of strange appearance, with theirelongated shapes so lean that they looked like metamorphosed ghosts, clothed in plumage, screamed in the air, as if they were scared of oneanother. There was something agonizing in their shrieks that was in harmonywith the desolation of the place. On every side of the vessel, monsters ofthe deep and huge alligators heaved themselves up heavily from their nativeor favorite element, and, floating lazily on the turbid waters, seemed togaze at the intruders. 

Down the river, and rumbling over its bed, there came a sort of low, distant thunder. Was it the voice of the hoary Sire of Rivers, raised inanger at the prospect of his gigantic volume of waters being suddenlyabsorbed by one mightier than he? In their progress it was with greatdifficulty that the travellers could keep their bark free from thoseenormous rafts of trees which the Mississippi seemed to toss about in madfrolic. A poet would have thought that the great river, when departing fromthe altitude of its birthplace, and as it rushed down to the sea throughthree thousand miles, had, in anticipation of a contest which threatenedthe continuation of its existence, flung its broad arms right and leftacross the continent, and, uprooting all its forests, had hoarded themin its bed as missiles to hurl at the head of its mighty rival when theyshould meet and struggle for supremacy. 

When night began to cast a darker hue on a landscape on which theimagination of Dante would have gloated there issued from that chaos ofreeds such uncouth and unnatural sounds as would have saddened the gayestand appalled the most intrepid. Could this be the far-famed Mississippi, or was it not rather old Avernus? It was hideous indeed--but hideousnessrefined into sublimity, filling the soul with a sentiment of grandeur. Nothing daunted, the adventurers kept steadily on their course. Theyknew that through those dismal portals they were to arrive at the mostmagnificent country in the world; they knew that awful screen concealedloveliness itself. It was a coquettish freak of nature, when dealing withEuropean curiosity, as it came eagerly bounding to the Atlantic wave, toherald it through an avenue so sombre as to cause the wonders of thegreat valley of the Mississippi to burst with tenfold more force uponthe bewildered gaze of those who, by the endurance of so many perils andfatigues, were to merit admittance into its Eden. 

It was a relief for the adventurers when, after having toiled up the riverfor ten days, they at last arrived at the village of the Bayagoulas. Therethey found a letter of Tonty[1] to La Salle, dated in 1685. The letter, orrather that "speaking bark" as the Indians called it, had been preservedwith great reverence. Tonty, having been informed that La Salle wascoming with a fleet from France to settle a colony on the banks of theMississippi, had not hesitated to set off from the northern lakes, withtwenty Canadians and thirty Indians, and to come down to the Balize to meethis friend, who had failed to make out the mouth of the Mississippi, andhad been landed by Beaujeu on the shores of Texas. After having waitedfor some time, and ignorant of what had happened, Tonty, with the sameindifference to fatigues and dangers of an appalling nature, retraced hisway back, leaving a letter to La Salle to inform him of his disappointment. Is there not something extremely romantic in the characters of the men ofthat epoch? Here is Tonty undertaking, with the most heroic unconcern, ajourney of nearly three thousand miles, through such difficulties as it iseasy for us to imagine, and leaving a letter to La Salle, as a proof ofhis visit, in the same way that one would, in these degenerate days ofeffeminacy, leave a card at a neighbor's house. 

[Footnote 1: Henry de Tonty was an Italian explorer who accompanied LaSalle in his descent of the Mississippi (1681-1682). --ED. ]

The French extended their explorations up to the mouth of the Red River. Asthey proceeded through that virgin country, with what interest they musthave examined every object that met their eyes, and listened to thetraditions concerning De Soto, [2] and the more recent stories of theIndians on La Salle and the iron-handed Tonty! A coat of mail which waspresented as having belonged to the Spaniards, and vestiges of theirencampment on the Red River, confirmed the French in the belief that therewas much of truth in the recitals of the Indians. 

[Footnote 2: De Soto explored this region in 1541. --ED. ]

On their return from the mouth of the Red River the two brothers separatedwhen they arrived at Bayou Manchac. Bienville was ordered to go down theriver to the French fleet, to give information of what they had seen andheard. Iberville went through Bayou Manchac to those lakes which are knownunder the names of Pontchartrain and Maurepas. Louisiana had been namedfrom a king: was it not in keeping that those lakes should be called afterministers?

From the Bay of St. Louis, Iberville returned to his fleet, where, afterconsultation, he determined to make a settlement at the Bay of Biloxi. On the east side, at the mouth of the bay, as it were, there is a slightswelling of the shore, about four acres square, sloping gently to the woodsin the background, and on the bay. Thus this position was fortified bynature, and the French skilfully availed themselves of these advantages. The weakest point, which was on the side of the forest, they strengthenedwith more care than the rest, by connecting with a strong intrenchment thetwo ravines, which ran to the bay in a parallel line to each other. Thefort was constructed with four bastions, and was armed with twelve piecesof artillery. When standing on one of the bastions which faced the bay, thespectator enjoyed a beautiful prospect. On the right, the bay could beseen running into the land for miles, and on the left stood Deer Island, concealing almost entirely the broad expanses of water which lay beyond. Itwas visible only at the two extreme points of the island, which both, atthat distance, appeared to be within a close proximity of the mainland. No better description can be given than to say that the bay looked like afunnel to which the island was the lid, not fitting closely, however, butleaving apertures for egress and ingress. The snugness of the locality hadtempted the French, and had induced them to choose it as the most favorablespot, at the time, for colonization. Sauvolle was put in command of thefort, and Bienville, the youngest of the three brothers, was appointed hislieutenant. 

A few huts having been erected round the fort, the settlers began to clearthe land, in order to bring it into cultivation. Iberville having furnishedthem with all the necessary provisions, utensils, and other supplies, prepared to sail for France. How deeply affecting must have been theparting scene! How many casualties might prevent those who remained in thisunknown region from ever seeing again those who, through the perils of sucha long voyage, had to return to their home! What crowding emotions musthave filled up the breast of Sauvolle, Bienville, and their handful ofcompanions, when they beheld the sails of Iberville's fleet fading in thedistance, like transient clouds! Well may it be supposed that it seemed tothem as if their very souls had been carried away, and that they felt amomentary sinking of the heart when they found themselves abandoned, andnecessarily left to their own resources, scanty as they were, on a patchof land between the ocean on one side and on the other a wilderness, whichfancy peopled with every sort of terrors. The sense of their lonelinessfell upon them like the gloom of night, darkening their hopes and fillingtheir hearts with dismal apprehensions. 

But as the country had been ordered to be explored, Sauvolle availedhimself of that circumstance to refresh the minds of his men by theexcitement of an expedition into the interior of the continent. Hetherefore hastened to despatch most of them with Bienville, who, with achief of the Bayagoulas for his guide, went to visit the Colapissas. Theyinhabited the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and their domainsembraced the sites now occupied by Lewisburg, Mandeville, andFontainebleau. That tribe numbered three hundred warriors, who, in theirdistant hunting-excursions, had been engaged in frequent skirmishes withsome of the British colonists in South Carolina. When the French landed, they were informed that, two days previous, the village of the Colapissashad been attacked by a party of two hundred Chickasaws, headed by twoEnglishmen. These were the first tidings which the French had of their oldrivals, and which proved to be the harbinger of the incessant strugglewhich was to continue for more than a century between the two races, and toterminate by the permanent occupation of Louisiana by the Anglo-Saxon. 

Bienville returned to the fort to convey this important information toSauvolle. After having rested there for several days, he went to the Bay ofPascagoulas, and ascended the river which bears that name, and the banksof which were tenanted by a branch of the Biloxis, and by the Moelobites. Encouraged by the friendly reception which he met everywhere, he venturedfarther, and paid a visit to the Mobilians, who entertained him with greathospitality. Bienville found them much reduced from what they had been, andlistened with eagerness to the many tales of their former power, which hadbeen rapidly declining since the crushing blow they had received from DeSoto. 

When Iberville ascended the Mississippi the first time, he had remarkedBayou Plaquemines and Bayou Chetimachas. The one he called after the fruitof certain trees which appeared to have exclusive possession of its banks, and the other after the name of the Indians who dwelt in the vicinity. Hehad ordered them to be explored, and the indefatigable Bienville, on hisreturn from Mobile, obeyed the instructions left to his brother, and madean accurate survey of these two bayous. When he was coming down the river, at the distance of about eighteen miles below the site where New Orleansnow stands, he met an English vessel of sixteen guns, under the command ofCaptain Bar. The English captain informed the French that he was examiningthe banks of the river, with the intention of selecting a spot for thefoundation of a colony. Bienville told him that Louisiana was a dependencyof Canada; that the French had already made several establishments on theMississippi; and he appealed, in confirmation of his assertions, to theirown presence in the river, in such small boats, which evidently provedthe existence of some settlement close at hand. The Englishman believedBienville, and sailed back. Where this occurrence took place the rivermakes a considerable bend, and it was from the circumstance which I haverelated that the spot received the appellation of the "English Turn"--aname which it has retained to the present day. It was not far from thatplace, the atmosphere of which appears to be fraught with some malignantspell hostile to the sons of Albion, that the English, who were outwittedby Bienville in 1699, met with a signal defeat in battle from the Americansin 1815. The diplomacy of Bienville and the military genius of Jacksonproved to them equally fatal when they aimed at the possession ofLouisiana. 

Since the exploring expedition of La Salle down the Mississippi, Canadianhunters, whose habits and intrepidity Fenimore Cooper has so graphicallydescribed in the character of Leather-Stocking, used to extend their rovingexcursions to the banks of that river; and those holy missionaries of theChurch, who, as the pioneers of religion, have filled the New World withtheir sufferings, and whose incredible deeds in the service of God affordso many materials for the most interesting of books, had come in advanceof the pickaxe of the settler, and had domiciliated themselves among thetribes who lived near the waters of the Mississippi. One of them, FatherMontigny, was residing with the Tensas, within the territory of the presentparish of Tensas, in the State of Louisiana, and another, Father Davion, was the pastor of the Yazoos, in the present State of Mississippi. 

Such were the two visitors who in 1699 appeared before Sauvolle, at thefort of Biloxi, to relieve the monotony of his cheerless existence, and toencourage him in his colonizing enterprise. Their visit, however, was notof long duration, and they soon returned to discharge the duties of theirsacred mission. 

Iberville had been gone for several months, and the year was drawing toa close without any tidings of him. A deeper gloom had settled over thelittle colony at Biloxi, when, on December 7th, some signal-guns were heardat sea, and the grateful sound came booming over the waters, spreading joyin every breast. There was not one who was not almost oppressed with theintensity of his feelings. At last, friends were coming, bringing relief tothe body and to the soul! Every colonist hastily abandoned his occupationof the moment and ran to the shore. The soldier himself, in the eagernessof expectation, left his post of duty, and rushed to the parapet whichoverlooked the bay. Presently several vessels hove in sight, bearing thewhite flag of France, and, approaching as near as the shallowness of thebeach permitted, folded their pinions, like water-fowl seeking repose onthe crest of the billows. 

It was Iberville returning with the news that, on his representations, Sauvolle had been appointed by the King governor of Louisiana; Bienville, lieutenant-governor; and Boisbriant, commander of the fort at Biloxi, withthe grade of major. Iberville, having been informed by Bienville ofthe attempt of the English to make a settlement on the banks of theMississippi, and of the manner in which it had been foiled, resolved totake precautionary measures against the repetition of any similar attempt. Without loss of time he departed with Bienville, on January 16, 1700, andrunning up the river, he constructed a small fort, on the first solidground which he met, and which is said to have been at a distance offifty-four miles from its mouth. 

When so engaged, the two brothers one day saw a canoe rapidly sweeping downthe river and approaching the spot where they stood. It was occupied byeight men, six of whom were rowers, the seventh was the steersman, and theeighth, from his appearance, was evidently of a superior order to that ofhis companions, and the commander of the party. Well may it be imaginedwhat greeting the stranger received, when leaping on shore he made himselfknown as the Chevalier de Tonty, who had again heard of the establishmentof a colony in Louisiana, and who, for the second time, had come to seeif there was any truth in the report. With what emotion did Iberville andBienville fold in their arms the faithful companion and friend of La Salle, of whom they had heard so many wonderful tales from the Indians, to whom hewas so well known under the name of "Iron Hand"! With what admiration theylooked at his person, and with what increasing interest they listened tohis long recitals of what he had done and had seen on that broad continent, the threshold of which they had hardly passed!

After having rested three days at the fort, the indefatigable Tontyreascended the Mississippi, with Iberville and Bienville, and finallyparted with them at Natchez. Iberville was so much pleased with that partof the bank of the river where now exists the city of Natchez that hemarked it down as a most eligible spot for a town, of which he drew theplan, and which he called Rosalie, after the maiden name of the CountessPontchartrain, the wife of the chancellor. He then returned to the newfort he was erecting on the Mississippi, and Bienville went to explore thecountry of the Yatasses, of the Natchitoches, and of the Ouachitas. What romance can be more agreeable to the imagination than to accompanyIberville and Bienville in their wild explorations, and to compare thestate of the country in their time with what it is in our days?

When the French were at Natchez they were struck with horror at anoccurrence, too clearly demonstrating the fierceness of disposition of thattribe which was destined in after years to become celebrated in the historyof Louisiana. One of their temples having been set on fire by lightning, ahideous spectacle presented itself to the Europeans. The tumultuous rush ofthe Indians; the infernal howlings and lamentations of the men, women, and children; the unearthly vociferations of the priests, their fantasticdances and ceremonies around the burning edifice; the demoniac fury withwhich mothers rushed to the fatal spot, and, with the piercing cries andgesticulations of maniacs, flung their new-born babes into the flamesto pacify their irritated deity--the increasing anger of theheavens--blackening with the impending storm, the lurid flashes oflightning darting as it were in mutual enmity from the clashing clouds--thelow, distant growling of the coming tempest--the long column of smoke andfire shooting upward from the funeral pyre, and looking like one of thegigantic torches of Pandemonium--the war of the elements combined withthe worst effects of frenzied superstition of man--the suddenness andstrangeness of the awful scene--all the circumstances produced such animpression upon the French as to deprive them for a moment of the powersof volition and action. Rooted to the ground, they stood aghast withastonishment and indignation at the appalling scene. Was it a dream--a wilddelirium of the mind? But no--the monstrous reality of the vision was buttoo apparent; and they threw themselves among the Indians, supplicatingthem to cease their horrible sacrifice to their gods, and joining threatsto their supplications. Owing to this intervention, and perhaps because asufficient number of victims had been offered, the priests gave the signalof retreat, and the Indians slowly withdrew from the accursed spot. Suchwas the aspect under which the Natchez showed themselves, for the firsttime, to their visitors: it was ominous presage for the future. 

After these explorations Iberville departed again for France, to solicitadditional assistance from the government, and left Bienville in commandof the new fort on the Mississippi. It was very hard for the two brothers, Sauvolle and Bienville, to be thus separated, when they stood so much inneed of each other's countenance, to breast the difficulties that sprungup around them with a luxuriance which they seemed to borrow from thevegetation of the country. The distance between the Mississippi and Biloxiwas not so easily overcome in those days as in ours, and the means whichthe two brothers had of communing together were very scanty and uncertain. 

Sauvolle died August 22, 1701, and Louisiana remained under the solecharge of Bienville, who, though very young, was fully equal to meet thatemergency, by the maturity of his mind and by his other qualifications. Hehad hardly consigned his brother to the tomb when Iberville returned withtwo ships of the line and a brig laden with troops and provisions. 

According to Iberville's orders, and in conformity with the King'sinstructions, Bienville left Boisbriant, his cousin, with twenty men, atthe old fort of Biloxi, and transported the principal seat of the colonyto the western side of the river Mobile, not far from the spot where nowstands the city of Mobile. Near the mouth of that river there is an island, which the French had called Massacre Island from the great quantity ofhuman bones which they found bleaching on its shores. It was evident thatthere some awful tragedy had been acted; but Tradition, when interrogated, laid her choppy finger upon her skinny lips, and answered not. 

This uncertainty, giving a free scope to the imagination, shrouded theplace with a higher degree of horror and with a deeper hue of fantasticalgloom. It looked like the favorite ballroom of the witches of hell. Thewind sighed so mournfully through the shrivelled-up pines, those vampireheads seemed incessantly to bow to some invisible and grisly visitors: thefootsteps of the stranger emitted such an awful and supernatural sound, when trampling on the skulls which strewed his path, that it was impossiblefor the coldest imagination not to labor under some crude and ill-definedapprehension. Verily, the weird sisters could not have chosen a fitterabode. Nevertheless, the French, supported by their mercurial temperament, were not deterred from forming an establishment on that sepulchral island, which, they thought, afforded some facilities for their transatlanticcommunications. 

In 1703 war had broken out between Great Britain, France, and Spain; andIberville, a distinguished officer of the French navy, was engaged inexpeditions that kept him away from the colony. It did not cease, however, to occupy his thoughts, and had become clothed, in his eye, with a sortof family interest. Louisiana was thus left, for some time, to her scantyresources; but, weak as she was, she gave early proofs of that generousspirit which has ever since animated her; and on the towns of Pensacola andSt. Augustine, then in possession of the Spaniards, being threatened withan invasion by the English of South Carolina, she sent to her neighborswhat help she could in men, ammunition, and supplies of all sorts. It wasthe more meritorious as it was the _obolus_ of the poor!

The year 1703 slowly rolled by and gave way to 1704. Still, nothing washeard from the parent country. There seemed to be an impassable barrierbetween the old and the new continent. The milk which flowed from themotherly breast of France could no longer reach the parched lips of hernew-born infant; and famine began to pinch the colonists, who scatteredthemselves all along the coast, to live by fishing. They were reduced tothe veriest extremity of misery, and despair had settled in every bosom, in spite of the encouragements of Bienville, who displayed the most manlyfortitude amid all the trials to which he was subjected, when suddenly avessel made its appearance. The colonists rushed to the shore with wildanxiety, but their exultation was greatly diminished when, on the nearerapproach of the moving speck, they recognized the Spanish instead of theFrench flag. It was relief, however, coming to them, and proffered by afriendly hand. It was a return made by the governor of Pensacola for thekindness he had experienced the year previous. Thus the debt of gratitudewas paid: it was a practical lesson. Where the seeds of charity are cast, there springs the harvest in time of need. 

Good things, like evils, do not come singly, and this succor was but theherald of another one, still more effectual, in the shape of a ship fromFrance. Iberville had not been able to redeem his pledge to the poorcolonists, but he had sent his brother Chateaugué in his place, at theimminent risk of being captured by the English, who occupied, at that time, most of the avenues of the Gulf of Mexico. He was not the man to spareeither himself or his family in cases of emergency, and his heroic soulwas inured to such sacrifices. Grateful the colonists were for this act ofdevotedness, and they resumed the occupation of their tenements which theyhad abandoned in search of food. The aspect of things was suddenly changed;abundance and hope reappeared in the land, whose population was increasedby the arrival of seventeen persons, who came, under the guidance ofChateaugué, with the intention of making a permanent settlement, and who, in evidence of their determination, had provided themselves with all theimplements of husbandry. We, who daily see hundreds flocking to our shores, and who look at the occurrence with as much unconcern as at the passingcloud, can hardly conceive the excitement produced by the arrival of theseseventeen emigrants among men who, for nearly two years, had been cut offfrom communication with the rest of the civilized world. A denizen of themoon, dropping on this planet, would not be stared at and interrogated withmore eager curiosity. 

This excitement had hardly subsided when it was revived by the appearanceof another ship, and it became intense when the inhabitants saw aprocession of twenty females, with veiled faces, proceeding arm in arm, andtwo by two, to the house of the Governor, who received them in state andprovided them with suitable lodgings. What did it mean? Innumerable werethe gossipings of the day, and part of the coming night itself was spentin endless commentaries and conjectures. But the next morning, which wasSunday, the mystery was cleared by the officiating priest reading fromthe pulpit, after mass, and for the general information, the followingcommunication from the minister to Bienville: "His majesty sends twentygirls to be married to the Canadians and to the other inhabitants ofMobile, in order to consolidate the colony. All these girls are industriousand have received a pious and virtuous education. Beneficial results to thecolony are expected from their teaching their useful attainments to theIndian females. In order that none should be sent except those of knownvirtue and of unspotted reputation, his majesty did intrust the Bishop ofQuébec with the mission of taking these girls from such establishments as, from their very nature and character, would put them at once above allsuspicions of corruption. You will take care to settle them in life as wellas may be in your power, and to marry them to such men as are capable ofproviding them with a commodious home. "

This was a very considerate recommendation, and very kind it was, indeed, from the great Louis XIV, one of the proudest monarchs that ever lived, todescend from his Olympian seat of majesty to the level of such details andto such minute instructions for ministering to the personal comforts of hisremote Louisianan subjects. Many were the gibes and high was the glee onthat occasion; pointed were the jokes aimed at young Bienville on hisbeing thus transformed into a matrimonial agent and _pater familiae_. Theintentions of the King, however, were faithfully executed, and more thanone rough but honest Canadian boatman of the St. Lawrence and of theMississippi closed his adventurous and erratic career and became a domesticand useful member of that little commonwealth, under the watchful influenceof the dark-eyed maid of the Loire or of the Seine. Infinite are the chordsof the lyre which delights the romantic muse; and these incidents, smalland humble as they are, appear to me to be imbued with an indescribablecharm, which appeals to her imagination. 

%PRUSSIA PROCLAIMED A KINGDOM%

A. D. 1701

LEOPOLD VON RANKE

Few historical developments are more distinctly traceable or of greaterimportance than that of the margravate of Brandenburg into the kingdom ofPrussia, the principal state of the present German empire. As far back asthe tenth century the name Preussen (Prussia) was applied to a region lyingeast of Brandenburg, which in that century became a German margravate. Atthat time the inhabitants of Prussia were still heathens. In the thirteenthcentury they were converted to Christianity, having first been conquered bythe Teutonic Knights in "a series of remorseless wars" continued for almostfifty years. German colonization followed the conquest. 

In 1466 nearly the whole of Prussia was wrested from the TeutonicKnights and annexed to the Polish crown. Soon after the beginning of theReformation the Teutonic Knights embraced Protestantism and the orderbecame secularized. In 1525 the Knights formally surrendered to KingSigismund of Poland, their late grand master was created duke of Prussia, and this, with other former possessions of the order, was held by him as avassal of the Polish crown. This relation continued until 1618, when theduchy of Prussia was united with Brandenburg, which had become a Germanelectorate. 

During the Thirty Years' War the enlarged electorate took little part inaffairs, but suffered much from the ravages of the conflict. Under theelectorate of George William, who died in 1640, Brandenburg became almost adesert, and in this impoverished condition was left to his son, FrederickWilliam, the "Great Elector, " who restored it to prosperity andstrengthened its somewhat insecure sovereignty over the duchy of Prussia. The Great Elector died in 1688, and was succeeded by his son, FrederickIII of Brandenburg. This Elector, through the series of events narrated byRanke, became the founder of the Prussian monarchy, and is known in historyas Frederick I. He founded the Academy of Sciences in Berlin and theUniversity of Halle. 

 * * * * *

Frederick I, the next heir and successor to the "Great Elector, " though farinferior to his father in native energy of character, cannot be accused ofhaving flinched from the task imposed on him. Above all, the warlike fameof the Brandenburg troops suffered no diminution under his reign. His armytook a very prominent and active part in the most important events of thatperiod. 

Prince William of Orange might, perhaps, have hesitated whether to try theadventure which made him king of England, had not the Dutch troops, whichhe was forced to withdraw from the Netherlands for his expedition, beenreplaced by some from Brandenburg. The fact has indeed been disputed, buton closer investigation its truth has been established, beyond doubt, thatmany other Brandenburg soldiers in his service and that of his republicfollowed him to England, where they contributed essentially to his success. 

In the war which now broke out upon the Rhine the young Elector, Frederick, took the field himself, inflamed by religious enthusiasm, patriotism, andpersonal ambition. On one occasion, at the siege of Bonn, when he wasanxious about the result, he stepped aside to the window and prayed toGod that he might suffer no disgrace in this his first enterprise. He wassuccessful in his attack upon Bonn, and cleared the whole lower Rhineof the hostile troops; he at the same time gained a high reputation forpersonal courage. 

Long after, at the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, thepresence of the Elector contributed in a great measure to the speedytermination of the first important siege--that of Kaiserswerth, a pointfrom which the French threatened at once both Holland and Westphalia. 

But it was not only when led by the Elector that his troops distinguishedthemselves by their courage; they fought most bravely at the battle ofHochstadt. Prince Eugene, under whose command they stood, could scarce findwords strong enough to praise the "undaunted steadfastness" with which theyfirst withstood the shock of the enemy's attack, and then helped to breakthrough his tremendous fire. Two years later, at Turin, they helped tosettle the affairs of Italy in the same manner as they had already done inthose of Germany; headed by Prince Leopold of Anhalt, they climbed over theenemy's intrenchments, under the full fire of his artillery, shouting theold Brandenburg war-cry of "_Gah to_" ("Go on"). The warlike enterprise ofBrandenburg never spread over a wider field than under Frederick I. Thenit was that they first met the Turks in terrible battles; they showedthemselves in the South of France at the siege of Toulon; in their camp theProtestant service was performed for the first time in the territories ofthe pope, and the inhabitants of the surrounding country came to look onand displayed a certain satisfaction at the sight. But the Netherlandswere always the scene of their greatest achievements and at that time anexcellent school for their further progress in the art of war; there theymight at once study sieges under the Dutch commanders, Vauban and Cochorn, and campaigns under Marlborough, one of the greatest generals of all times. 

Throughout all the years of his reign Frederick steadily adhered to theGreat Alliance which his father had helped to form so long as that alliancecontinued to subsist; and, indeed, the interest which he took in theaffairs of Europe at large was in the end of great advantage to himself andto his house. That very alliance was the original cause of his gaining acrown--the foundation of the Prussian monarchy. It will not be denied, evenby those who think most meanly of the externals of rank and title, that theattainment of a higher step in the European hierarchy, as it then stood, was an object worth striving for. 

The Western principalities and republics still formed a great corporation, at the head of which was the German Emperor. Even the crown of France hadto submit to manifold and wearisome negotiations in order to obtain thepredicate of "majesty, " which until then had belonged exclusively to theEmperor. The other sovereigns then laid claim to the same dignity as thatenjoyed by the King of France, and the Venetian republic to an equal rankwith those, on the score of the kingdoms which she once possessed; and, accordingly, the electoral ambassadors to Vienna had to stand bareheadedwhile the Venetian covered his head. The electors and reigning dukes werebut ill-pleased with such precedence, and in their turn laid claim to thedesignation of "serenissimus, " and the title of "brother, " for themselves, and the style of "excellency" for their ambassadors. But even the mostpowerful among the electors found it difficult to advance a single stepin this matter, because whatever privileges were conceded to them wereimmediately claimed by all the rest, many of whom were mere barons of theempire. It is evident that Brandenburg was interested in being freed atonce from these negotiations, which only served to impede and embarrass allreally important business. There exists the distinct assertion of a highlyplaced official man that the royal title had been promised to theElector, Frederick William: his son now centred his whole ambition in itsattainment. 

Frederick, while elector, was one of the most popular princes that everreigned in Brandenburg. His contemporaries praise him for his avoidance ofall dissipation, and his life entirely devoted to duty; while his subjectswere still asleep, say they, the Prince was already busied with theiraffairs, for he rose very early. A poet of the time makes Phosphoruscomplain that he is ever anticipated by the King of Prussia. His mannerswere gracious, familiar, sincere, and deliberate. His conversationindicated "righteous and princely thoughts. " Those essays, written byhim, which we have read, exhibit a sagacious and careful treatment of thesubjects under consideration. He shared in a very great degree the tasteof his times for outward show and splendor; but in him it took a directionwhich led to something far higher than mere ostentation. The works ofsculpture and architecture produced under his reign are monuments of a pureand severe taste; the capital of Prussia has seen none more beautiful. Hecomplacently indulged in the contemplation of the greatness founded by hisfather, the possession of a territory four times as large as that of anyother elector, and the power of bringing into the field an army whichplaced him on a level with kings. Now, however, he desired that thisequality should be publicly recognized, especially as he had no lack oftreasure and revenue wherewith to maintain the splendor and dignity of aroyal crown. In the mind of the father, this ambition was combined withschemes of conquest; in the son it was merely a desire for personal anddynastic aggrandizement. It is certain that the origin of such a stateas the kingdom of Prussia can be attributed to no other cause than to soremarkable a succession of so many glorious princes. Frederick was resolvedto appear among them distinguished by some important service rendered tohis house. "Frederick I, " said he, "gained the electoral dignity for ourhouse, and I, as Frederick III, would fain give it royal rank, according tothe old saying that 'the third time makes perfect. "

It was in the year 1693 that he first began seriously to act upon theproject of obtaining a royal crown. He had just led some troops to Crossenwhich were to serve the Emperor against the Turks; but the imperialministers neither arrived in due time to receive them, nor, when at lengththey made their appearance, did they bring with them the grants of certainprivileges and expectancies which Frederick had looked for. In disgust atbeing treated with neglect at the very moment in which he was rendering theEmperor a very essential service, he went to Carlsbad, where he was joinedby his ambassador to Vienna, who had been commissioned by the imperialministers to apologize for the omissions of which they had been guilty. In concert with his ambassador, and his prime minister, Dankelmann, thebrother of the former, Frederick resolved to make public the wish whichhe had hitherto entertained in secret, or only now and then let drop intoconversation; the ambassador accordingly received instruction to present aformal memorial. 

At that time, however, nothing could be done. The Count of Ottingen, whowas hostile to the Protestant princes, was once more in favor at the courtof Vienna; the peril from without had ceased to be pressing, and coalitionhad begun gradually to dissolve; the only result of the negotiation was avague and general promise. 

The Elector did not, however, give up his idea. The elevation of the Saxonhouse to the throne of Poland, the prospect enjoyed by his near kindred ofHanover of succeeding to that of England, and perhaps the very difficultiesand opposition which he encountered, tended to sharpen his appetite for aroyal crown. The misunderstandings which arose among the great Europeanpowers out of the approaching vacancy of the throne of Spain soon affordedhim an excellent opportunity of renewing his demands. The court of Viennawas not to be moved by past, but by future, services. 

It would be unnecessary to enter into the details of the negotiation onthis subject; it suffices to say that the Prince devoted his whole energyto it, and never lost sight of any advantage afforded by his position. Suggestions of the most exaggerated kind were made to him; for instance, that he should lay his claims before the Pope, who possessed the power ofgranting the royal dignity in a far higher degree than the Emperor; while, on the other hand, some of the more zealous Protestants among his ministerswere anxious to avoid even that degree of approach toward the Catholicelement implied in a closer alliance with the Emperor, and desired thatthe Elector's elevation in rank should be made to depend upon some new andimportant acquisition of territory, such, for example, as that of PolishPrussia, which then seemed neither difficult nor improbable. Frederick, however, persisted in the opinion that he was entitled to the royal dignitymerely on acccount of his sovereign dukedom of Prussia, and that therecognition of the Emperor was the most important step in the affair. Hewas convinced that, when the Emperor had once got possession of the Spanishinheritance, or concluded a treaty upon the subject, nothing more was to behoped from him; but that now, while the Elector of Brandenburg was able torender him as effectual assistance as any power in Europe, some advantagemight be wrung from him in return. 

Influenced by these considerations, he resolved to lay proposals before theEmperor, which acquired uncommon significance from the circumstances underwhich they were made. At that very time, in March, 1700, England, Holland, and France had just concluded a treaty for the division of the Spanishmonarchy, in which the right of inheritance of Austria was utterlydisregarded, in order to preserve the European balance of power. Spainand the Indies were, indeed, to fall to the share of the young ArchdukeCharles, but he was to be deprived of Naples, Sicily, and Milan; and shouldthe Archduke ever become Emperor of Germany, Spain and the Indies were tobe given up to another prince, whose claims were far inferior to his. Thistreaty was received with disgust and indignation at Vienna, where theassistance of Heaven was solemnly implored, and its interference in theaffair fully expected. 

At this juncture Brandenburg offered to make common cause with the Emperor, not alone against France, but even against England and Holland, withwhom it was otherwise closely allied. The only recompense was to be theconcession of royal rank to the Elector. 

The principal opposition to this offer arose out of the difference ofconfessions. It is also quite true that the Emperor's confessor, PaterWolf, to whom the Elector wrote with his own hand, helped to overrule it, and took part in the negotiations. But the determining cause was, withoutdoubt, the political state of affairs. A concession which involved no losscould not surely be thought too high a price to pay for the help of themost warlike of the German powers on so important an occasion. In the monthof July, 1700, at the great conference, the imperial ministers came to theresolution that the wishes of the Elector should be complied with; and assoon as the conditions could be determined, involving the closest allianceboth for the war and for the affairs of the empire, the treaty was signedon November 16, 1700. On the side of Brandenburg the utmost care was takennot to admit a word which might imply anything further than the assent andconcurrence of the Emperor. The Elector affected to derive from his ownpower alone the right of assuming the royal crown. He would, nevertheless, have encountered much ulnpleasant oppositions in other quarters but for theconcurrences which, very opportunely for him, now took place in France andSpain. 

The last Spanish sovereign of the line of Hapsburg had died in the meantime; and on opening his will it was found to be entirely in favor of theKing of France, whose grandson was appointed heir to the whole Spanishmonarchy. Hereupon Louis XIV broke the treaty of partition which hadrecently been made under his own influence, and determined to seize thegreater advantage, and to accept the inheritance. This naturally roused allthe antipathies entertained by other nations against France, and Englandand Holland went over to the side of Austria. The opposition which thesetwo powers had offered to the erection of a new throne was now silenced, and they beheld a common interest in the elevation of the house ofBrandenburg. 

Frederick had, moreover, already come to an understanding with the King ofPoland, though not with the Republic; so that, thus supported, and withthe consent of all his old allies, he could now celebrate the splendidcoronation for which his heart had so long panted. 

We will not describe here the ceremonial of January 18, 1701; to our tasteit seems overcharged when we read the account of it. But there is a certaingrandeur in the idea of the sovereign's grasping the crown with his ownhand; and the performance of the ceremony of anointing after, insteadof before, the crowning, by two priests promoted to bishoprics for theoccasion, was a protest against the dependence of the temporal on thespiritual power, such as perhaps never was made at any other coronationeither before or since. The spiritual element showed itself in the onlyattitude of authority left to it in Protestant states: that of teachingand exhortation. The provost of Berlin demonstrated, from the examples ofChrist and of David, that the government of kings must be carried on tothe glory of God and the good of their people. He lays down as the firstprinciple that all rulers should bear in mind, they have come into theworld for the sake of their subjects, and not their subjects for the sakeof them. Finally, he exhorts all his hearers to pray to God that he willdeeply impress this conviction upon the hearts of all sovereign princes. 

The institution of the order of the Black Eagle, which immediately precededthe coronation, was likewise symbolical of the duties of royalty. The words"_Suum cuique_, " on the insignia of the order, according to Lamberty, whosuggested them, contain the definition of a good government, under whichall men alike, good as well as bad, are rewarded according to their severaldeserts. The laurel and the lightning denote reward and punishment. Theconception at least is truly royal. Leibnitz, who was at that time closelyconnected with the court, and who busied himself very much with thisaffair, justly observes that nothing is complete without a name, and that, although the Elector did already possess every royal attribute, he becametruly a king only by being called so. 

Although the new dignity rested only on the possession of Prussia, all theother provinces were included in the rank and title; those belonging to theGerman empire were thus in a manner chosen out from among the other Germanstates, and united into a new whole, though, at the same time, care wastaken in other respects to keep up the ancient connection with the empire. Thus we see that the elevation of the Elector to a royal title was animportant, nay, even a necessary, impulse to the progress of Prussia, whichwe cannot even in thought separate from the whole combination of events. 

The name of Prussia now became inseparable from an idea of military powerand glory, which was increased by splendid feats of arms, such as thosewhich we have already enumerated. 

%FOUNDING OF ST. PETERSBURG%

A. D. 1703

K. WALISZEWSKI[1]

[Footnote 1: Translated from the Russian by Lady Mary Loyd. ]

So radical and so vigorous were the changes made by Peter the Great inRussia that they roused the opposition of almost the entire nation. Moscow, the ancient capital, was the chief seat of this protesting conservatism;and Peter, resolved to teach his opponents how determined he was in hiscourse and how helpless they were against his absolute power, formed thetremendous project of building a wholly new capital, one where no voicecould be raised against him, where no traditions should environ him. Hechose an icy desert plain looking out toward the waters which led to thatWestern Europe which he meant to imitate, if not to conquer. 

No other man--one is almost tempted to say, no sane man--would haveventured to erect a capital city in such an impossible place and on thevery frontier of his dominions. That Peter not only dared, but succeeded, though at an almost immeasurable cost, makes the creation of the greatmetropolis, St. Petersburg, one of the most remarkable events of history. 

It was the chances of the great northern war that led Peter to St. Petersburg. When he first threw down the gauntlet to Sweden he turned hiseyes on Livonia--on Narva and Riga. But Livonia was so well defended thathe was driven northward, toward Ingria. He moved thither grudgingly, sending, in the first instance, Apraxin, who turned the easily conqueredprovince into a desert. It was not for some time, and gropingly, as itwere, that the young sovereign began to see his way, and finally turnedhis attention and his longings to the mouth of the Neva. In former yearsGustavus Adolphus had realized the strategical importance of a positionwhich his successor, Charles XII, did not deem worthy of consideration, and had himself studied all its approaches. Peter not only took it to bevaluable from the military and commercial point of view: he also found itmost attractive, and would fain have never left it. He was more at homethere than anywhere else, and the historical legends, according to whichit was true Russian ground, filled him with emotion. No one knows whatinspired this fondness on his part. It may have been the vague resemblanceof the marshy flats to the lowlands of Holland; it may have been thestirring of some ancestral instinct. According to a legend, accepted byNestor, it was by the mouth of the Neva that the earliest Norman conquerorsof the country passed on their journeys across the Varegian Sea--_their ownsea_--and so to Rome. 

Peter would seem to have desired to take up the thread of that tradition, nine centuries old; and the story of his own foundation of the town hasbecome legendary and epic. One popular description represents him assnatching a halberd from one of his soldiers, cutting two strips of turf, and laying them crosswise with the words "Here there shall be a town!"Foundation-stones were evidently lacking, and sods had to take theirplace. Then, dropping the halberd, he seized a spade, and began the firstembankment. At that moment an eagle appeared, hovering over the Czar'shead. It was struck by a shot from a musket. Peter took the wounded bird, set it on his wrist, and departed in a boat to inspect the neighborhood. This occurred on May 16, 1703. 

History adds that the Swedish prisoners employed on the work died inthousands. The most indispensable tools were lacking. There were nowheelbarrows, and the earth was carried in the corners of men's clothing. A wooden fort was first built on the island bearing the Finnish name ofIanni-Saari (Hare Island). This was the future citadel of St. Peter and St. Paul. Then came a wooden church, and the modest cottage which was to bePeter's first palace. Near these, the following year, there rose a Lutheranchurch, ultimately removed to the left bank of the river, into theLiteinaia quarter, and also a tavern, the famous inn of the Four Frigates, which did duty as a town hall for a long time before it became a place ofdiplomatic meeting. Then the cluster of modest buildings was augmented bythe erection of a bazaar. The Czar's collaborators gathered round him, incottages much like his own, and the existence of St. Petersburg became anaccomplished fact. 

But, up to the time of the battle of Poltava, Peter never thought of makingSt. Petersburg his capital. It was enough for him to feel he had afortress and a port. He was not sufficiently sure of his mastery over theneighboring countries, not certain enough of being able to retain hisconquest, to desire to make it the centre of his government and his ownpermanent residence. This idea was not definitely accepted till after hisgreat victory. His final decision has been bitterly criticised, especiallyby foreign historians; it has been severely judged and remorselesslycondemned. Before expressing any opinion of my own on the subject, I shouldlike to sum up the considerations which have been put forward to supportthis unfavorable verdict. 

The great victory, we are told, diminished the strategic importance of St. Petersburg, and almost entirely extinguished its value as a port; whileits erection into the capital city of the empire was never anything butmadness. Peter, being now the indisputable master of the Baltic shores, hadnothing to fear from any Swedish attack in the Gulf of Finland. Before anyattempt in that direction, the Swedes were certain to try to recover Narvaor Riga. If in later years they turned their eyes to St. Petersburg, itwas only because that town had acquired undue and unmerited politicalimportance. It was easy of attack and difficult to defend. There was nopossibility of concentrating any large number of troops there, for thewhole country, forty leagues round, was a barren desert. In 1788 CatharineII complained that her capital was too near the Swedish frontier, and toomuch exposed to sudden movements, such as that which Gustavus III verynearly succeeded in carrying out. Here we have the military side of thequestion. 

From the commercial point of view St. Petersburg, we are assured, didcommand a valuable system of river communication; but that commanded byRiga was far superior. The Livonian, Esthonian, and Courland ports of Riga, Libau, and Revel, all at an equal distance from St. Petersburg and Moscow, and far less removed from the great German commercial centres, enjoyeda superior climate, and were, subsequent to the conquest of theabove-mentioned provinces, the natural points of contact between Russia andthe West. An eloquent proof of this fact may be observed nowadays in theconstant increase of their commerce, and the corresponding decrease of thatof St. Petersburg, which has been artificially developed and fostered. 

Besides this, the port of St. Petersburg, during the lifetime of itsfounder, never was anything but a mere project. Peter's ships were movedfrom Kronslot to Kronstadt. Between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt the Nevawas not, in those days, more than eight feet deep, and Manstein tells usthat all ships built at Petersburg had to be dragged, by means of machinesfitted with cables, to Kronstadt, where they received their guns. Oncethese had been taken on board, the vessels could not get upstream again. The port of Kronstadt was closed by ice for six months out of the twelve, and lay in such a position that no sailing-ship could leave it unless thewind blew from the east. There was so little salt in its waters that theship timbers rotted in a very short time, and, besides, there were no oaksin the surrounding forests, and all such timber had to be brought fromKasan. Peter was so well aware of all these drawbacks that he sought andfound a more convenient spot for his shipbuilding yards at Rogerwick, in Esthonia, four leagues from Revel. But here he found difficulty inprotecting the anchorage from the effects of hurricanes and from theinsults of his enemies. He hoped to insure this by means of two piers, built on wooden caissons filled with stones. He thinned the forests ofLivonia and Esthonia to construct it, and finally, the winds and the waveshaving carried everything away twice over, the work was utterly abandoned. 

On the other hand, and from the very outset, the commercial activity of St. Petersburg was hampered by the fact that it was the Czar's capital. Thepresence of the court made living dear, and the consequent expense of laborwas a heavy drawback to the export trade, which, by its nature, calledfor a good deal of manual exertion. According to a Dutch resident of thatperiod, a wooden cottage, very inferior to that inhabited by a peasant inthe Low Countries, cost from eight hundred to one thousand florins a yearat St. Petersburg. A shopkeeper at Archangel could live comfortably on aquarter of that sum. The cost of transport, which amounted to between nineand ten copecks a pood (36. 07 pounds), between Moscow and Archangel, fiveto six between Yaroslaff and Archangel, and three or four between Vologdaand Archangel, came to eighteen, twenty, and thirty copecks a pood in thecase of merchandise sent from any of these places to St. Petersburg. Thisaccounts for the opposition of the foreign merchants at Archangel to therequest that they should remove to St. Petersburg. Peter settled the matterin characteristic fashion, by forbidding any trade in hemp, flax, leather, or corn to pass through Archangel. This rule, though somewhat slackened, in1714, at the request of the States-General of Holland, remained in forceduring the great Czar's reign. In 1718 hemp and some other articles ofcommerce were allowed free entrance into the port of Archangel, but only oncondition that two-thirds of all exports should be sent to St. Petersburg. This puts the case from the maritime and commercial point of view. 

As a capital city, St. Petersburg, we are told again, was ill-placed on thebanks of the Neva, not only for the reasons already given, but for others, geographical, ethnical, and climatic, which exist even in the present day, and which make its selection an outrage on common-sense. Was it not, weare asked, a most extraordinary whim which induced a Russian to found thecapital of his Slavonic empire among the Finns, against the Swedes--tocentralize the administration of a huge extent of country in its remotestcorner--to retire from Poland and Germany on the plea of drawing nearer toEurope, and to force everyone about him, officials, court, and diplomaticcorps, to inhabit one of the most inhospitable spots, under one of theleast clement skies, he could possibly have discovered? The whole place wasa marsh--the Finnish word neva means "mud"; the sole inhabitants of theneighboring forests were packs of wolves. In 1714, during a winter night, two sentries, posted before the cannon-foundry, were devoured. Evennowadays, the traveller, once outside the town, plunges into a desert. Faraway in every direction the great plain stretches; not a steeple, not atree, not a head of cattle, not a sign of life, whether human or animal. There is no pasturage, no possibility of cultivation--fruit, vegetables, and even corn, are all brought from a distance. The ground is in a sort ofintermediate condition between the sea and _terra firma_. 

Up to Catharine's reign inundations were chronic in their occurrence. On September 11, 1706, Peter drew from his pocket the measure he alwayscarried about him, and convinced himself that there were twenty-one inchesof water above the floors of his cottage. In all directions he saw men, women, and children clinging to the wreckage of buildings, which wasbeing carried down the river. He described his impressions in a letter toMenshikoff, dated from "Paradise, " and declared it was "extremely amusing. "It may be doubted whether he found many persons to share his delight. Communications with the town, now rendered easy by railways, were in thosedays not only difficult, but dangerous. Campredon, when he went from Moscowto St. Petersburg, in April, 1723, spent twelve hundred rubles. He lostpart of his luggage, eight of his horses were drowned, and after havingtravelled for four weeks he reached his destination, very ill. Peterhimself, who arrived before the French diplomat, had been obliged to ridepart of the way, and to swim his horse across the rivers!

But in spite of all these considerations, the importance of which I am farfrom denying, I am inclined to think Peter's choice a wise one. Nobody canwonder that the idea of retaining Moscow as his capital was most repugnantto him. The existence of his work in those hostile surroundings--in a placewhich to this day has remained obstinately reactionary--could never havebeen anything but precarious and uncertain. It must, after his death atleast, if not during his life, have been at the mercy of those popularinsurrections before which the sovereign power, as established in theKremlin, had already so frequently bowed. When Peter carried Muscovy out ofher former existence, and beyond her ancient frontiers, he was logicallyforced to treat the seat of his government in the same manner. His newundertaking resembled, both in aspect and character, a marching andfighting formation, directed toward the west. The leader's place, and thatof his chief residence, was naturally indicated at the head of his column. This once granted, and the principle of the translation of the capital tothe western extremity of the Czar's newly acquired possessions admitted, the advantages offered by Ingria would appear to me to outweigh all thedrawbacks previously referred to. 

The province was, at that period, virgin soil sparsely inhabited by aFinnish population possessing neither cohesion nor historical consistency, and, consequently, docile and easily assimilated. Everywhere else--allalong the Baltic coast, in Esthonia, in Carelia, and in Courland--thoughthe Swedes might be driven out, the Germans still remained firmly settled;the neighborhood of their native country and of the springs of Teutonicculture enduing them with an invincible power of resistance. Riga inthe present day, after nearly two centuries of Russian government, is athoroughly German town. In St. Petersburg, Russia, as a country, becameEuropean and cosmopolitan, but the city itself is essentially Russian, andthe Finnish element in its neighborhood counts for nothing. 

In this matter, though Peter may not have clearly felt and thought it out, he was actuated by the mighty and unerring instinct of his genius. I amwilling to admit that here, as in everything else, there was a certainamount of whim, and perhaps some childish desire to ape Amsterdam. I willeven go further, and acknowledge that the manner in which he carried outhis plan was anything but reasonable. Two hundred thousand laborers, we aretold, died during the construction of the new city, and the Russian noblesruined themselves to build palaces which soon fell out of occupation. Butan abyss was opened between the past the reformer had doomed and the futureon which he had set his heart, and the national life, thus violently forcedinto a new channel, was stamped, superficially at first, but more and moredeeply by degrees, with the Western and European character he desired toimpart. 

Moscow, down to the present day, has preserved a religious, almost amonastic air; at every street corner chapels attract the passers-by, andthe local population, even at its busiest, crosses itself and bends as itpasses before the sacred pictures which rouse its devotion at every turn. St. Petersburg, from the very earliest days, presented a different andquite a secular appearance. At Moscow no public performance of profanemusic was permitted. At St. Petersburg the Czar's German musicians playedevery day on the balcony of his tavern. Toward the middle of the eighteenthcentury the new city boasted a French theatre and an Italian opera, andSchloezer noted that divine service was performed in fourteen languages!Modern Russia, governed, educated to a certain extent, intellectuallyspeaking emancipated, and relatively liberal, could not have come intoexistence nor grown in stature elsewhere. 

And to conclude: Peter was able to effect this singular change withoutdoing too great violence to the historical traditions of his country. Fromthe earliest days of Russian history, the capital had been removed fromplace to place--from Novgorod to Kiev, from Kiev to Vladimir, from Vladimirto Moscow. This phenomenon was the consequence of the immense area of thenational territory, and the want of consistency in the elements of thenational life. From the beginning to the end of an evolution which lastedcenturies the centre of gravity of the disjointed, scattered, and floatingforces of ancient Russia perpetually changed its place. Thus the creationof St. Petersburg was nothing but the working out of a problem in dynamics. The struggle with Sweden, the conquest of the Baltic provinces, and theyet more important conquest of a position in the European world naturallyturned the whole current of the national energies and life in thatdirection. Peter desired to perpetuate this course. I am inclined to thinkhe acted wisely. 

%BATTLE OF BLENHEIM%

CURBING OF LOUIS XIV

A. D. 1704

SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY

Among the decisive battles of the world, that of Blenheim is regarded byhistorians as one of the most far-reaching in results. "The decisive blowstruck at Blenheim, " says Alison, "resounded through every part of Europe. It at once destroyed the vast fabric of power which it had taken Louis XIVso long to construct. " And Creasy himself elsewhere declares: "Had it notbeen for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect ofFrench conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of theRomans in durability. "

It was the first great battle in the War of the Spanish Succession(1701-1714), which was carried on mainly in Italy, the Netherlands, andGermany. This war followed closely upon the War of the Palatinate, whichended with the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697. To this peace Louis XIV ofFrance--the most powerful monarch in Europe, who, in spite of his brutalconduct of the war, had really been a loser by it--gave his consent. Amongthe concessions made by him was his recognition--much against his owninterest--of William III as the rightful King of England. 

Louis gave his consent to the Treaty of Ryswick partly because of hisinterest in the question of the Spanish succession. Charles II ofSpain--last of the Hapsburg line in that country--was childless, and therewere three claimants for the throne; namely, Philip of Anjou, grandson ofLouis XIV; the Electoral Prince of Bavaria; and Charles, son of LeopoldI of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The real stake was the"balance of power" in Europe. At last, after much wrangling and intrigueamong the courts, Charles II bequeathed his throne to the Bavarian Prince, whose death, in 1699, left Europe still divided over the succession. 

Finally, Louis XIV completely won Charles II to his side, and Philip ofAnjou was named in Charles' will as his heir. Louis accepted for Philip, who was crowned at Madrid, in 1701, as Philip V, and Europe was stirred towrath by the greed of the already too powerful French King. Turning nowupon England, Louis, in violation of the Treaty of Ryswick, declared theson of the exiled James II rightful king of that country. The result ofLouis' acts was the Grand Alliance of The Hague against France, formedbetween England, Holland, Prussia, the Holy Roman Empire, Portugal, andSavoy. 

On the side of the allies in the war that followed, the great generalswere the English Duke of Marlborough, Prince Eugene of Savoy, and Hensius, Pensioner of Holland. France had lost her best generals by death, and Louiswas compelled to rely upon inferior men as leaders of his army. War wasformally declared against France by the allies May 4, 1702. The earlyoperations were carried on in Flanders, in Germany--on the Upper Rhine--andin Northern Italy. 

Marlborough headed the allied troops in Flanders during the first twoyears of the war, and took some towns from the enemy, but nothing decisiveoccurred. Nor did any actions of importance take place during this periodbetween the rival armies in Italy. But in the centre of that line fromnorth to south, from the mouth of the Schelde to the mouth of the Po, alongwhich the war was carried on, the generals of Louis XIV acquired advantagesin 1703 which threatened one chief member of the Grand Alliance with utterdestruction. 

France had obtained the important assistance of Bavaria as her confederatein the war. The Elector of this powerful German state made himself masterof the strong fortress of Ulm, and opened a communication with the Frencharmies on the Upper Rhine. By this junction the troops of Louis wereenabled to assail the Emperor in the very heart of Germany. In the autumnof 1703 the combined armies of the Elector and French King completelydefeated the Imperialists in Bavaria; and in the following winter theymade themselves masters of the important cities of Augsburg and Passau. Meanwhile the French army of the Upper Rhine and Moselle had beaten theallied armies opposed to them, and taken Treves and Landau. At the sametime the discontents in Hungary with Austria again broke out into openinsurrection, so as to distract the attention and complete the terror ofthe Emperor and his council at Vienna. 

Louis XIV ordered the next campaign to be commenced by his troops on ascale of grandeur and with a boldness of enterprise such as even Napoleon'smilitary schemes have seldom equalled. On the extreme left of the line ofthe war, in the Netherlands, the French armies were to act only on thedefensive. The fortresses in the hands of the French there were so many and30 strong that no serious impression seemed likely to be made by the allieson the French frontier in that quarter during one campaign, and that onecampaign was to give France such triumphs elsewhere as would, it was hoped, determine the war. Large detachments were therefore to be made from theFrench force in Flanders, and they were to be led by Marshal Villeroy tothe Moselle and Upper Rhine. 

The French army already in the neighborhood of those rivers was to marchunder Marshal Tallard through the Black Forest, and join the Elector ofBavaria, and the French troops that were already with the Elector underMarshal Marsin. Meanwhile the French army of Italy was to advance throughthe Tyrol into Austria, and the whole forces were to combine between theDanube and the Inn. A strong body of troops was to be despatched intoHungary, to assist and organize the insurgents in that kingdom; and theFrench grand army of the Danube was then in collected and irresistiblemight to march upon Vienna and dictate terms of peace to the Emperor. Highmilitary genius was shown in the formation of this plan, but it was met andbaffled by a genius higher still. 

Marlborough had watched with the deepest anxiety the progress of the Frencharms on the Rhine and in Bavaria, and he saw the futility of carrying on awar of posts and sieges in Flanders, while death-blows to the empire werebeing dealt on the Danube. He resolved, therefore, to let the war inFlanders languish for a year, while he moved with all the disposable forcesthat he could collect to the central scenes of decisive operations. Such amarch was in itself difficult; but Marlborough had, in the first instance, to overcome the still greater difficulty of obtaining the consent andcheerful cooperation of the allies, especially of the Dutch, whose frontierit was proposed thus to deprive of the larger part of the force which hadhitherto been its protection. 

Fortunately, among the many slothful, the many foolish, the many timid, and the not few treacherous rulers, statesmen, and generals of differentnations with whom he had to deal, there were two men, eminent both inability and integrity, who entered fully into Marlborough's projects andwho, from the stations which they occupied, were enabled materially toforward them. One of these was the Dutch statesman Heinsius, who had beenthe cordial supporter of King William, and who now, with equal zeal andgood faith, supported Marlborough in the councils of the allies; the otherwas the celebrated general, Prince Eugene, whom the Austrian cabinet hadrecalled from the Italian frontier to take the command of one of theEmperor's armies in Germany. To these two great men, and a few more, Marlborough communicated his plan freely and unreservedly; but to thegeneral councils of his allies he only disclosed part of his daring scheme. 

He proposed to the Dutch that he should march from Flanders to theUpper Rhine and Moselle with the British troops and part of the foreignauxiliaries, and commence vigorous operations against the French armies inthat quarter, while General Auverquerque, with the Dutch and the remainderof the auxiliaries, maintained a defensive war in the Netherlands. Havingwith difficulty obtained the consent of the Dutch to this portion of hisproject, he exercised the same diplomatic zeal, with the same success, inurging the King of Prussia and other princes of the empire to increasethe number of the troops which they supplied, and to post them in placesconvenient for his own intended movements. 

Marlborough commenced his celebrated march on May 10th. The army whichhe was to lead had been assembled by his brother, General Churchill, at Bedburg, not far from Maestricht, on the Meuse; it included sixteenthousand English troops, and consisted of fifty-one battalions of foot, andninety-two squadrons of horse. Marlborough was to collect and join with himon his march the troops of Prussia, Luneburg, and Hesse, quartered on theRhine, and eleven Dutch battalions that were stationed at Rothweil. He hadonly marched a single day when the series of interruptions, complaints, andrequisitions from the other leaders of the allies began, to which he seemedsubjected throughout his enterprise, and which would have caused itsfailure in the hands of anyone not gifted with the firmness and theexquisite temper of Marlborough. 

One specimen of these annoyances and of Marlborough's mode of dealing withthem may suffice. On his encamping at Kupen on the 20th, he received anexpress from Auverquerque pressing him to halt, because Villeroy, whocommanded the French army in Flanders, had quitted the lines which he hadbeen occupying, and crossed the Meuse at Namur with thirty-six battalionsand forty-five squadrons, and was threatening the town of Huy. At the sametime Marlborough received letters from the Margrave of Baden and CountWratislaw, who commanded the Imperialist forces at Stollhoffen, near theleft bank of the Rhine, stating that Tallard had made a movement, as ifintending to cross the Rhine, and urging him to hasten his march toward thelines of Stollhoffen. Marlborough was not diverted by these applicationsfrom the prosecution of his grand design. 

Conscious that the army of Villeroy would be too much reduced to undertakeoffensive operations, by the detachments which had already been made towardthe Rhine, and those which must follow his own march, he halted only aday to quiet the alarms of Auverquerque. To satisfy also the Margrave, heordered the troops of Hompesch and Buelow to draw toward Philippsburg, though with private injunctions not to proceed beyond a certain distance. He even exacted a promise to the same effect from Count Wratislaw, who atthis juncture arrived at the camp to attend him during the whole campaign. 

Marlborough reached the Rhine at Coblenz, where he crossed that river, andthen marched along its left bank to Broubach and Mainz. His march, though rapid, was admirably conducted, so as to save the troops from allunnecessary fatigue; ample supplies of provisions were ready, and the mostperfect discipline was maintained. By degrees Marlborough obtained morereinforcements from the Dutch and the other confederates, and he also wasleft more at liberty by them to follow his own course. Indeed, beforeeven a blow was struck, his enterprise had paralyzed the enemy and hadmaterially relieved Austria from the pressure of the war. Villeroy, withhis detachments from the French Flemish army, was completely bewilderedby Marlborough's movements, and, unable to divine where it was that theEnglish general meant to strike his blow, wasted away the early part of thesummer between Flanders and the Moselle without effecting anything. [1]

[Footnote 1: "Marshal Villeroy, " says Voltaire, "who had wished to followMarlborough on his first marches, suddenly lost sight of him altogether, and only learned where he really was on hearing of his victory atDonawert. "]

Marshal Tallard, who commanded forty-five thousand French at Strasburg, andwho had been destined by Louis to march early in the year into Bavaria, thought that Marlborough's march along the Rhine was preliminary to anattack upon Alsace; and the marshal therefore kept his forty-five thousandmen back in order to protect France in that quarter. Marlborough skilfullyencouraged his apprehensions by causing a bridge to be constructed acrossthe Rhine at Philippsburg, and by making the Landgrave of Hesse advance hisartillery at Mannheim, as if for a siege of Landau. 

Meanwhile the Elector of Bavaria and Marshal Marsin, suspecting thatMarlborough's design might be what it really proved to be, forbore to pressupon the Austrians opposed to them or to send troops into Hungary; and theykept back so as to secure their communications with France. Thus, whenMarlborough, at the beginning of June, left the Rhine and marched for theDanube, the numerous hostile armies were uncombined and unable to checkhim. 

"With such skill and science, " says Coxe, "had this enterprise beenconcerted that at the very moment when it assumed a specific direction theenemy was no longer enabled to render it abortive. As the march was now tobe bent toward the Danube, notice was given for the Prussians, Palatines, and Hessians, who were stationed on the Rhine, to order their march so asto join the main body in its progress. At the same time directions weresent to accelerate the advance of the Danish auxiliaries, who were marchingfrom the Netherlands. "

Crossing the river Neckar, Marlborough marched in a southeastern directionto Mundelshene, where he had his first personal interview with PrinceEugene, who was destined to be his colleague on so many glorious fields. Thence, through a difficult and dangerous country, Marlborough continuedhis march against the Bavarians, whom he encountered on July 2d on theheights of the Schullenberg, near Donauwoerth. Marlborough stormed theirintrenched camp, crossed the Danube, took several strong places in Bavaria, and made himself completely master of the Elector's dominions except thefortified cities of Munich and Augsburg. But the Elector's army, thoughdefeated at Donauwoerth, was still numerous and strong; and at last MarshalTallard, when thoroughly apprised of the real nature of Marlborough'smovements, crossed the Rhine; and being suffered, through the supineness ofthe German general at Stollhoffen, to march without loss through the BlackForest, he united his powerful army at Biberach, near Augsburg, withthat of the Elector and the French troops under Marshal Marsin, who hadpreviously been cooperating with the Bavarians. 

On the other hand, Marlborough recrossed the Danube, and on August 11thunited his army with the Imperialist forces under Prince Eugene. Thecombined armies occupied a position near Hoechstaedt, [1] a little higher upthe left bank of the Danube than Donauwoerth, the scene of Marlborough'srecent victory, and almost exactly on the ground where Marshal Villars andthe Elector had defeated an Austrian army in the preceding year. The Frenchmarshals and the Elector were now in position a little further to the east, between Blenheim and Lützingen, and with the little stream of the Nebelbetween them and the troops of Marlborough and Eugene. The Gallo-Bavarianarmy consisted of about sixty thousand men, and they had sixty-one piecesof artillery. The army of the allies was about fifty-six thousand strong, with fifty-two guns. 

[Footnote 1: The Battle of Blenheim is called by the Germans and the Frenchthe battle of Hoechstaedt. --ED. ]

Although the French army of Italy had been unable to penetrate intoAustria, and although the masterly strategy of Marlborough had hithertowarded off the destruction with which the cause of the allies seemedmenaced at the beginning of the campaign, the peril was still most serious. It was absolutely necessary for Marlborough to attack the enemy beforeVilleroy should be roused into action. There was nothing to stop thatgeneral and his army from marching into Franconia, whence the allies drewtheir principal supplies; and besides thus distressing them, he might, bymarching on and joining his army to those of Tallard and the Elector, forma mass which would overwhelm the force under Marlborough and Eugene. Onthe other hand, the chances of a battle seemed perilous, and the fatalconsequences of a defeat were certain. The disadvantage of the allies inpoint of number was not very great, but still it was not to be disregarded;and the advantage which the enemy seemed to have in the composition oftheir troops was striking. 

Tallard and Marsin had forty-five thousand Frenchmen under them, allveterans and all trained to act together; the Elector's own troops alsowere good soldiers. Marlborough, like Wellington at Waterloo, headed anarmy of which the larger proportion consisted, not of English, but of menof many different nations and many different languages. He was also obligedto be the assailant in the action, and thus to expose his troops tocomparatively heavy loss at the commencement of the battle, while the enemywould fight under the protection of the villages and lines which they wereactively engaged in strengthening. The consequences of a defeat of theconfederated army must have broken up the Grand Alliance, and realizedthe proudest hopes of the French King. Alison, in his admirable militaryhistory of the Duke of Marlborough, has truly stated the effects whichwould have taken place if France had been successful in the war; and whenthe position of the confederates at the time when Blenheim was fought isremembered--when we recollect the exhaustion of Austria, the menacinginsurrection of Hungary, the feuds and jealousies of the German princes, the strength and activity of the Jacobite party in England, and theimbecility of nearly all the Dutch statesmen of the time, and the weaknessof Holland if deprived of her allies--we may adopt his words in speculatingon what would have ensued if France had been victorious in the battle, and "if a power, animated by the ambition, guided by the fanaticism, anddirected by the ability of that of Louis XIV, had gained the ascendency inEurope. 

"Beyond all question, a universal despotic dominion would have beenestablished over the bodies, a cruel spiritual thraldom over the minds, ofmen. France and Spain, united under Bourbon princes and in a close familyalliance--the empire of Charlemagne with that of Charles V--the powerwhich revoked the Edict of Nantes and perpetrated the massacre of St. Bartholomew, with that which banished the Moriscoes and establishedthe Inquisition, would have proved irresistible, and, beyond example, destructive to the best interests of mankind. 

"The Protestants might have been driven, like the pagan heathens of old bythe son of Pépin, beyond the Elbe; the Stuart race, and with them Romishascendency, might have been reestablished in England; the fire lighted byLatimer and Ridley might have been extinguished in blood; and the energybreathed by religious freedom into the Anglo-Saxon race might have expired. The destinies of the world would have been changed. Europe, instead of avariety of independent states, whose mutual hostility kept alive courage, while their national rivalry stimulated talent, would have sunk into theslumber attendant on universal dominion. The colonial empire of Englandwould have withered away and perished, as that of Spain has done in thegrasp of the Inquisition. The Anglo-Saxon race would have been arrestedin its mission to overspread the earth and subdue it. The centralizeddespotism of the Roman Empire would have been renewed on ContinentalEurope; the chains of Romish tyranny, and with them the general infidelityof France before the Revolution, would have extinguished or pervertedthought in the British Islands. "

Marlborough's words at the council of war, when a battle was resolved on, are remarkable, and they deserve recording. We know them on the authorityof his chaplain, Mr. (afterward Bishop) Hare, who accompanied himthroughout the campaign, and in whose journal the biographers ofMarlborough have found many of their best materials. Marlborough's words tothe officers who remonstrated with him on the seeming temerity of attackingthe enemy in their position were: "I know the danger, yet a battle isabsolutely necessary, and I rely on the bravery and discipline of thetroops, which will make amends for our disadvantages. " In the eveningorders were issued for a general engagement, and were received by the armywith an alacrity which justified his confidence. 

The French and Bavarians were posted behind the little stream called theNebel, which runs almost from north to south into the Danube immediately infront of the village of Blenheim. The Nebel flows along a little valley, and the French occupied the rising ground to the west of it. The villageof Blenheim was the extreme right of their position, and the village ofLuetzingen, about three miles north of Blenheim, formed their left. BeyondLuetzingen are the rugged high grounds of the Godd Berg and Eich Berg, on the skirts of which some detachments were posted, so as to secure theGallo-Bavarian position from being turned on the left flank. The Danubesecured their right flank; and it was only in front that they could beattacked. The villages of Blenheim and Luetzingen had been stronglypalisaded and intrenched; Marshal Tallard, who held the chief command, tookhis station at Blenheim; the Elector and Marshal Marsin commanded on theleft. 

Tallard garrisoned Blenheim with twenty-six battalions of French infantryand twelve squadrons of French cavalry. Marsin and the Elector hadtwenty-two battalions of infantry and thirty-six squadrons of cavalry infront of the village of Luetzingen. The centre was occupied by fourteenbattalions of infantry, including the celebrated Irish brigade. These wereposted in the little hamlet of Oberglau, which lies somewhat nearerto Luetzingen than to Blenheim. Eighty squadrons of cavalry and sevenbattalions of foot were ranged between Oberglau and Blenheim. Thus theFrench position was very strong at each extremity, but was comparativelyweak in the centre. Tallard seems to have relied on the swampy state ofthe part of the valley that reaches from below Oberglau to Blenheim forpreventing any serious attack on this part of his line. 

The army of the allies was formed into two great divisions, the largestbeing commanded by the Duke in person, and being destined to act againstTallard, while Prince Eugene led the other division, which consistedchiefly of cavalry, and was intended to oppose the enemy under Marsin andthe Elector. As they approached the enemy, Marlborough's troops formed theleft and the centre, while Eugene's formed the right of the entire army. Early in the morning of August 13th the allies left their own camp andmarched toward the enemy. A thick haze covered the ground, and it was notuntil the allied right and centre had advanced nearly within cannon-shotof the enemy that Tallard was aware of their approach. He made hispreparations with what haste he could, and about eight o'clock a heavy fireof artillery was opened from the French right on the advancing left wing ofthe British. Marlborough ordered up some of his batteries to reply toit, and while the columns that were to form the allied left and centredeployed, and took up their proper stations in the line, a warm cannonadewas kept up by the guns on both sides. 

The ground which Eugene's columns Jiad to traverse was peculiarlydifficult, especially for the passage of the artillery, and it was nearlymid-day before he could get his troops into line opposite to Luetzingen. During this interval Marlborough ordered divine service to be performed bythe chaplains at the head of each regiment, and then rode along thelines, and found both officers and men in the highest spirits and waitingimpatiently for the signal for the attack. At length an aide-de-campgalloped up from the right with the welcome news that Eugene was ready. Marlborough instantly sent Lord Cutts, with a strong brigade of infantry toassault the village of Blenheim, while he himself led the main body downthe eastward slope of the valley of the Nebel, and prepared to effect thepassage of the stream. 

The assault on Blenheim, though bravely made, was repulsed with severeloss, and Marlborough, finding how strongly that village was garrisoned, desisted from any further attempts to carry it, and bent all his energiesto breaking the enemy's line between Blenheim and Oberglau. Some temporarybridges had been prepared, and planks and fascines had been collected; andby the aid of these, and a little stone bridge which crossed the Nebelnear a hamlet called Unterglau, that lay in the centre of the valley, Marlborough succeeded in getting several squadrons across the Nebel, thoughit was divided into several branches, and the ground between them was soft, and, in places, little better than a mere marsh. 

But the French artillery was not idle. The cannon-balls plunged incessantlyamong the advancing squadrons of the allies, and bodies of French cavalryrode frequently down from the western ridge, to charge them before they hadtime to form on the firm ground. It was only by supporting his men by freshtroops, and by bringing up infantry, who checked the advance of the enemy'shorse by their steady fire, that Marlborough was able to save his army inthis quarter from a repulse, which, succeeding the failure of the attackupon Blenheim, would probably have been fatal to the allies. By degrees, his cavalry struggled over the bloodstained streams; the infantry werealso now brought across, so as to keep in check the French troops who heldBlenheim, and who, when no longer assailed in front, had begun to attackthe allies on their left with considerable effect. 

Marlborough had thus at length succeeded in drawing up the whole left wingof his army beyond the Nebel, and was about to press forward with it, whenhe was called away to another part of the field by a disaster thathad befallen his centre. The Prince of Holstein Beck had, with elevenHanoverian battalions, passed the Nebel opposite to Oberglau, when he wascharged and utterly routed by the Irish brigade which held that village. The Irish drove the Hanoverians back with heavy slaughter, broke completelythrough the line of the allies, and nearly achieved a success as brilliantas that which the same brigade afterward gained at Fontenoy. 

But at Blenheim their ardor in pursuit led them too far. Marlborough cameup in person, and dashed in upon the exposed flank of the brigade with somesquadrons of British cavalry. The Irish reeled back, and as they strove toregain the height of Oberglau their column was raked through and through bythe fire of three battalions of the allies, which Marlborough had summonedup from the reserve. Marlborough having reestablished the order andcommunications of the allies in this quarter, now, as he returned to hisown left wing, sent to learn how his colleague fared against Marsin and theElector, and to inform Eugene of his own success. 

Eugene had hitherto not been equally fortunate. He had made three attackson the enemy opposed to him, and had been thrice driven back. It was onlyby his own desperate personal exertions, and the remarkable steadiness ofthe regiments of Prussian infantry, which were under him, that he was ableto save his wing from being totally defeated. But it was on the southernpart of the battle-field, on the ground which Marlborough had won beyondthe Nebel with such difficulty, that the crisis of the battle was to bedecided. 

Like Hannibal, Marlborough relied principally on his cavalry for achievinghis decisive successes, and it was by his cavalry that Blenheim, thegreatest of his victories, was won. The battle had lasted till five in theafternoon. Marlborough had now eight thousand horsemen drawn up in twolines, and in the most perfect order for a general attack on the enemy'sline along the space between Blenheim and Oberglau. The infantry was drawnup in battalions in their rear, so as to support them if repulsed, andto keep in check the large masses of the French that still occupied thevillage of Blenheim. Tallard now interlaced his squadrons of cavalry withbattalions of infantry, and Marlborough, by a corresponding movement, brought several regiments of infantry and some pieces of artillery to hisfront line at intervals between the bodies of horse. 

A little after five Marlborough commenced the decisive movement, and theallied cavalry, strengthened and supported by foot and guns, advancedslowly from the lower ground near the Nebel up the slope to where theFrench cavalry, ten thousand strong, awaited them. On riding over thesummit of the acclivity, the allies were received with so hot a fire fromthe French artillery and small arms that at first the cavalry recoiled, butwithout abandoning the high ground. The guns and the infantry which theyhad brought with them maintained the contest with spirit and effect. TheFrench fire seemed to slacken. Marlborough instantly ordered a charge alongthe line. The allied cavalry galloped forward at the enemy's squadrons, andthe hearts of the French horsemen failed them. Discharging their carbinesat an idle distance, they wheeled round and spurred from the field, leavingthe nine infantry battalions of their comrades to be ridden down by thetorrent of the allied cavalry. 

The battle was now won. Tallard and Marsin, severed from each other, thought only of retreat. Tallard drew up the squadrons of horse that he hadleft, in a line extended toward Blenheim, and sent orders to the infantryin that village to leave it and join him without delay. But long ere hisorders could be obeyed the conquering squadrons of Marlborough had wheeledto the left and thundered down on the feeble array of the French marshal. Part of the force which Tallard had drawn up for this last effort wasdriven into the Danube; part fled with their general to the village ofSonderheim, where they were soon surrounded by the victorious allies andcompelled to surrender. Meanwhile Eugene had renewed his attack upon theGallo-Bavarian left, and Marsin, finding his colleague utterly routed, andhis own right flank uncovered, prepared to retreat. He and the Electorsucceeded in withdrawing a considerable part of their troops in tolerableorder to Dillingen; but the krge body of French who garrisoned Blenheimwere left exposed to certain destruction. 

Marlborough speedily occupied all the outlets from the village withhis victorious troops, and then, collecting his artillery round it, hecommenced a cannonade that speedily would have destroyed Blenheim itselfand all who were in it. After several gallant but unsuccessful attempts tocut their way through the allies, the French in Blenheim were at lengthcompelled to surrender at discretion; and twenty-four battalions and twelvesquadrons, with all their officers, laid down their arms and became thecaptives of Marlborough. 

"Such, " says Voltaire, "was the celebrated battle which the French calledthe battle of Hoechstaedt, the Germans Blindheim, and the English Blenheim. The conquerors had about five thousand killed and eight thousand wounded, the greater part being on the side of Prince Eugene. The French army wasalmost entirely destroyed: of sixty thousand men, so long victorious, there never reassembled more than twenty thousand effective. About twelvethousand killed, fourteen thousand prisoners, all the cannon, a prodigiousnumber of colors and standards, all the tents and equipages, the general ofthe army, and one thousand two hundred officers of mark in the power of theconqueror, signalized that day!"

Ulm, Landau, Treves, and Traerbach surrendered to the allies before theclose of the year. Bavaria submitted to the Emperor, and the Hungarianslaid down their arms. Germany was completely delivered from France, and themilitary ascendency of the arms of the allies was completely established. Throughout the rest of the war Louis fought only in defence. Blenheim haddissipated forever his once proud visions of almost universal conquest. 

%UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND%

A. D. 1707

JOHN HILL BURTON

Although not one of the longest, the reign of Queen Anne was one of themost glorious, in English history. Not only was it signalized by thevictorious deeds of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession, butalso by the union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland, one of theprincipal events in British annals. 

Before the union England and Scotland had no political partnership savethat derived through the person of the sovereign by inheritance of bothcrowns. From the completion of the union in 1707 both countries have beennot only under one royal head, but also represented in a single Parliament. At the beginning of Anne's reign the attitude of Scotland toward Englandwas hostile, old antagonisms surviving in memory to intensify freshirritations. Although William III, predecessor of Anne, had urged a unionof the kingdoms, all negotiations to that end had failed. In 1703, andagain in 1704, the Scottish Parliament had passed an act of securitydeclaring in favor of the abrogation of the union of the crowns which hadexisted for a century. The English Parliament resorted to retaliatorymeasures. 

By this time, however, the wiser statesmen in both countries saw that openhostilities could be averted only by a complete political union of the twokingdoms, and they used all their influence to bring it about. How thisgreat historic reconciliation was accomplished, Burton, the eminentScottish historian and jurist, shows with equal learning and impartiality. 

The English statute, responding by precautions and threats to the Scots Actof Security, contained clauses for furthering an incorporating union as theonly conclusive settlement of accumulating difficulties. It provided thatcommissioners for England appointed by the Queen under the great seal shallhave power "to treat and consult" with commissioners for the same purpose"authorized by authority of the Parliament of Scotland. " The statute of theParliament of Scotland completing the adjustment, with the short title "Actfor a treaty with England, " authorizes such persons "as shall be nominatedand appointed by her majesty under the great seal of this kingdom" to treatand consult with "the commissioners for England. "

The next great step was the appointment of the two commissions, thirty-oneon either side. On the English were the two archbishops; for Scotland therewas no clerical element. It was noticed that for England all the membersnot official were from the peerage, while in Scotland there seemed to be adesire to represent the peerage, the landed commoners, and the burgessesor city interest, in just proportions. At an early stage in the dailybusiness, the English brought up a proposition about the reception of whichthey had considerable apprehension: that there should be "the same customs, excise, and all other taxes" throughout the United Kingdom--virtually aresolution that Scotland should be taxed on the English scale. This waseasily passed by means of a solvent--due, no doubt, to the financialgenius of Godolphin--that, on an accounting and proof of local or personalhardships arising from the adoption of uniformity, compensation in moneyshould be made from the English treasury. But a more critical point wasreached when, on April 24th, the chancellor of Scotland brought forward, among certain preliminary articles, one "that there be free communication, and intercourse of trade and navigation, between the two kingdoms andplantations thereunto belonging, under such regulations as in the progressof this treaty shall be found most for the advantage of both kingdoms. "This was frankly accepted on the part of England, and faithfully adjustedin detail. It was felt to be a mighty sacrifice made to exercise indefinitebut formidable calamities in another shape. 

At this point in the progress of the union all interest resting on theexcitements of political victory and defeat, or the chances of a bitterwar, came to an end. There were a few small incidents in Scotland; butEngland was placidly indifferent. She had cheerfully paid a heavy stake asloser in the great game, and it would trouble her no more. The statesmenof the two countries knew that the union must pass unless the Jacobites ofScotland were joined by an invading French army; and that was not a likelycasualty while Marlborough was hovering on the frontiers of France. Therewas a touch of the native haughtiness in this placid indifference ofEngland. No doubt it helped in clearing the way to the great conclusion;but for many years after the fusing of the two nations into one, disturbingevents showed that it had been better had the English known something aboutthe national institutions and the temper of the people who had now a rightto call themselves their fellow-countrymen. 

It was expected that Scotland would be quietly absorbed intoEngland--absorptions much more difficult in the first aspect were incontinuous progress in Asia and America. The Englishman had greatdifficulty in reconciling himself to political and social conditions nothis own, and his pride prompted him to demand that, if he left England, anypart of the world honored by his presence should make an England for hisreception. When expecting this on the other side of the border, he forgotthat the Scot had too much of his own independence and obstinacy. True, theScot, among the sweet uses of adversity, had imbibed more of the vagrant, and could adapt himself more easily to the usages and temper of othernations. But on the question of yielding up his own national usages andprejudices in his own country he was as obstinate as his mighty partner. 

There was stills world of business to be transacted in details of theunattractive kind that belong to accountants' reports. These may be objectsof vital and intense interest--as in the realizing of the assets inbankruptcies, where persons immediately interested in frantic excitementhunt out the array of small figures--two, three, four, or five--that tellsthem whether they are safe or ruined. But the interest is not of a kind tohold its intensity through after generations. On some items of the presentaccounting, however, there was, in the principle adopted, a fund ofpersonal and political interest. The heavy debts of England had to beconsidered--and here, as in all pecuniary arrangements, England wasfreehanded. The Scots made an effort to retain their African Company, butthey fortunately offered the alternative of purchasing the stock from theholders. On the alternative of retention the English commissioners wereresolute in refusal and resistance, but they were ready to entertain theother; and they accepted it in a literal shape. To have bought the stock atits market value would have been a farce, after the ruin that had overcomethe company. But if it could not be even said that England had ruinedthe company, the sacrifice had been made in the prevalence of Englishinterests, and while there was yet a hold on England it should be kept. There was no difficulty in coming to a settlement satisfactory to theScots, and willingly offered by the English. It was substantially paymentof the loss on each share, as calculated from an examination of thecompany's books. 

The adjustment of the several pecuniary claims thus created in favor ofScotland was simply the collective summation of the losses incurred by allthe stockholders; and when the summation was completed the total was passedinto a capital sum, called the "Equivalent. " This sum total of the variousitems, with all their fractions, making up a fractional sum less than fourhundred thousand pounds, might be otherwise described as a capital stockheld by the shareholders of the old company trading to Africa and theIndies, each to the extent of his loss. Odious suspicions were, down tothe present generation, propagated about an item or group of items in theEquivalent. A sum amounting to twenty thousand five hundred forty poundsseventeen shillings sevenpence had been made over by the English treasury, to be paid to influential Scotsmen as the price of their votes or influencein favor of England. 

Fortunately this affair was closely investigated by the celebratedcommittee of inquiry that brought on Marlborough's dismissal and Walpole'simprisonment. It was found that the Scots treasury had been drained; andthe crisis of the union was not a suitable time either for levying moneyor for leaving debts--the salaries of public offices especially--unpaid. England, therefore, lent money to clear away this difficulty. Thetransaction was irregular, and had not passed through the proper treasuryforms. It was ascertained, however, that the money so lent had been repaid. In discussions of the affair, before those concerned were fully clearedof the odium of bribery, taunting remarks had been made on the oddity andsordid specialties of the items of payment. Thus the allowance to the LordBanff was, in sterling money, eleven pounds two shillings. It would havehad a richer sound, and perhaps resolved itself into round numbers, inScots money; but as it is, there is no more to be said against it thanthat, as a debt in some way due to the Lord Banff, the exact Englishbook-keeper had entered it down to its fraction. 

There remained a few matters of adjustment of uniformities between the twocountries for the advantage of both--such as a fixed standard for ratingmoney in account. The Scots grumbled, rather than complained, about theEnglish standard being always made the rule, and no reciprocity beingoffered. But the Scots were left considerable facilities for the use oftheir own customs for home purposes in pecuniary matters, and in weightsand measures. If, for the general convenience of commerce and taxation, any uniformity was necessary, and the practice of the greater nation was asuitable standard for the other, it was the smaller sacrifice, and to bothparties the easier arrangement, that those who were only an eighth part ofthe inhabitants of the island should yield to the overwhelming majority. 

It was in keeping with the wisdom and tolerance prevailing throughout onthe English side of the treaty that it should be first discussed in theParliament of Scotland. If this was felt as a courtesy to Scotland it wasan expediency for England. All opposition would be in Scotland, and it waswell to know it at once, that disputes might be cleared off and a simpleaffirmative or negative presented to the Parliament of Scotland. 

The Parliament of England has ever restrained vague oratory by a rule thatthere must always be a question of yes or no, fitted for a division as thetext of a debate. In Scotland on this occasion, as on many others, therewas at first a discussion of the general question; and when this, alongwith other sources of information, had given the servants of the Crownsome assurance of the fate of the measure, there was a separate debateand division on the first article, understood on all hands to be a finaldecision. The debate was decorated by a work of oratorical art long admiredin Scotland, and indeed worthy of admiration anywhere for its brilliancyand power. It was a great philippic--taking that term in its usualacceptation--as expressing a vehement torrent of bitter epigram anddenunciatory climax. 

The speech of John Hamilton, Lord Belhaven, "On the subject-matter of aunion betwixt the two kingdoms of England and Scotland, " was so amplydispersed in its day that if a collector of pamphlets on the union buysthem in volumes he will generally find this speech in each volume. It is, no doubt, an effort of genius; but what will confer more interest on thefollowing specimens selected from it is that it was an attempt to rouse thenation to action at this perilous and momentous crisis, and succeeded onlyin drawing attention and admiration as a fine specimen of rhetorical art:

"I think I see the present peers of Scotland, whose noble ancestorsconquered provinces, overran countries, reduced and subjected towns andfortified places, exacted tribute through the greater part of England, nowwalking in the court of requests like so many English attorneys, layingaside their walking-swords when in company with the English peers, lesttheir self-defence should be found murder. 

"I think I see the royal state of boroughs walking their desolate streets, hanging down their heads under disappointments, wormed out of all thebranches of their old trade, uncertain what hand to turn to, necessitateto become 'prentices to their unkind neighbors, and yet after all findingtheir trade so fortified by companies and secured by prescriptions thatthey despair of any success therein. But above all, my lord, I think I seeour ancient mother, Caledonia, like Caesar, sitting in the midst of oursenate, ruefully looking round her, covering herself with her royalgarment, attending the fatal blow, and breathing out her last with a _'ettu quoque mi fili, '_"

The great remedy for all is an end of rancorous feuds and hatreds dividingScotland; and this calls from him a glowing picture of the land that byunion and industry has made itself too powerful to be a safe partner forhumiliated Scotland:

"They are not under the afflicting hand of Providence as we are; theircircumstances are great and glorious; their treaties are prudently managedboth at home and abroad; their generals brave and valorous; their armiessuccessful and victorious; their trophies and laurels memorable andsurprising; their enemies subdued and routed. Their royal navy is theterror of Europe; their trade and commerce extended through the universe, encircling the whole world, and rendering their own capital city theemporium for the whole inhabitants of the earth. "

The speech was for the country, not for the House. The great points abouttrade and virtual independence had been conceded by England, and a unionwas looked to rather as a refuge and a gain than as oppression and plunder. It has even been said that there was some inclination to receive the speechwith irony; and Defoe, who seems to have been present on the occasion, gives this account of what followed:

"Mr. Seton, who made the first speech, stood up to answer the LordBelhaven; but as he had already spoken, the order of the House--viz. , 'thatthe same member could not speak twice in the same cause'--was urged againsthis speaking, and the Earl of Marchmont standing up at the same time, thelord chancellor gave place to him, who indeed made a short return to solong a speech, and which answer occasioned some laughter in the House. TheEarl of Marchmont's speech was to this purpose, viz. : He had heard a longspeech, and a very terrible one; but he was of opinion it required a shortanswer, which he gave in these terms: 'Behold he dreamed, but, lo! whenhe awoke, he found it was a dream. ' This answer, some said, was assatisfactory to the members, who understood the design of that speech as ifit had been answered vision by vision. "

In the debates on the union, some Scots statesmen found a tactic, infinitely valuable to them in the united Parliament, of voting in a group. They were called the "New party, " and nicknamed the "_Squadrone volante_. "In the correspondence already referred to, it was good news at St. Stephen's when it was announced that the New party had adopted the union. On the critical division the numbers stood one hundred eighteen for thearticle and eighty-three against it. The remainder of the clauses passedwithout division, a ready acceptance being given to amendments, that werevirtually improvements, in giving effect to the spirit of details in thetreaty; as where it was adjusted that, for trading purposes, vessels boughtabroad for trade from the Scots harbors should be counted equivalent tovessels of Scottish build. 

There was a considerable noisy excitement through the country, theJacobites ever striving to rouse the people in the great towns to riotand sedition, and, when they found that impossible, spreading exaggeratedaccounts of the effects of their efforts. A mob was raised in Edinburgh, but it was appeased without the loss of life and with no other casualtysave the frightening of the provost's wife. There were some eccentricmovements among the Cameronians, rendered all the more grotesque by theJacobites taking the leadership in them; and some of the more vehementclergy betook themselves to their own special weapons in the holding of aday of humiliation and prayer. 

Ere the whole came to a conclusion, a point was yielded to the PresbyterianChurch of Scotland. It was passed as a separate act before the Act of Unionwas passed--the separate act stipulating its repetition in any act adoptingthe Treaty of Union. It provided for the preservation of the discipline, worship, and ecclesiastical government of the establishment. It was furtherprovided that every sovereign of the United Kingdom, on accession to thethrone, should make oath in terms of this act. Hence it happens that thisoath is taken immediately on the accession, the other oaths, includingthat for the protection of the Church of England, being postponed till theceremony of the coronation. On October 16, 1706, there came a vote on thepassing of the "Act ratifying and approving the Treaty of Union. " This wascarried in the Scots Parliament by one hundred ten to sixty-nine. 

It was the determination of the Queen's ministers for England to carry thetreaty as it came from Scotland, word for word; and they employed all theirstrength to do so. It was the policy of the English government and theirsupporters in the matter of the union, to avoid a Parliamentary debate uponit clause by clause at St. Stephen's. 

To this end there was an endeavor to give it, as much as in the peculiarconditions could be given, the character of a treaty between twoindependent powers, each acting through its executive, that executiveacknowledging the full power of Parliament to examine, criticise, andvirtually judge the act done as a whole, but not admitting Parliamentaryinterference with the progress of the details. If there were anillogicality in the essence of a treaty where the executive--the Queen--wasthe common sovereign of both realms, the difficulty could be discarded asa pedantry, in a constitutional community where the sovereign acts throughresponsible advisers. Some slight touches of apprehension were felt inEngland when it was seen that the Scots Estates were not only voting theseparate articles, but in some measure remodelling them. 

The Estates were taking the privilege naturally claimed by the weaker partyto a bargain in protecting themselves while it was yet time. When all wasadjusted, England, as the vast majority, could correct whatever had beendone amiss in the preliminary adjustment of her interests, but poorScotland would be entirely helpless. There was another reason fortolerating the alterations, in their being directed to the safety andcompleteness of the legal institutions left in the hands of Scotlanduntouched, as matters of entire indifference to England; still it weakenedthe hands of those who desired to evade a Parliamentary discussion on theseveral articles in England that this had been permitted in Scotland, andhad become effective in the shape of amendments. John Johnston, who hadbeen for some time secretary of state for Scotland--a son of the celebratedcovenanting hero Archibald Johnston of Warriston--was then in Londoncarefully looking at the signs of the times. He wrote to Scotland, saying:"You may, I think, depend on it that the alterations you have hithertomade will not break the union; but if you go on altering, it's like youralterations will be altered here, which will make a new session with younecessary, and in that case no man knows what may happen. " All is well asyet (January 4th), and if there be no more serious alterations the Englishministers will be able to give effect to their resolution "to pass theunion here without making any alterations at all. "

By what had been usually called a message from the throne, the attention ofParliament was directed to the treaty as it had come from Scotland, but thematter being of supreme importance the Queen was her own messenger. Fromthe Commons she had to ask for a supply to meet the equivalent. To bothHouses she said: "You have now an opportunity before you of putting thelast hand to a happy union of the two kingdoms, which I hope will be alasting blessing to the whole island, a great addition to its wealth andpower, and a firm security to the Protestant religion. The advantages thatwill accrue to us all from a union are so apparent that I will add no more, but that I shall look upon it as a particular happiness if this greatwork, which has been so often attempted without success, can be brought toperfection in my reign. "

The opportunity was taken to imitate the Scots in a separate preliminaryact "for securing the Church of England as by law established. " There was adesultory discussion in both Houses, with a result showing the overwhelmingstrength of the supporters of the union. In the House of Lords there weresome divisions, and among these the largest number of votes mustered bythe opposition was twenty-three, bringing out a majority of forty-seven byseventy votes for the ministry. The conclusion of the discussion was a voteof approval by each House. 

The opposition, however, did not adopt their defeat. They were preparing tofight the battle over again, clause by clause, when a bill was brought into convert the Articles of Union into an act of Parliament. The EnglishHouse of Commons has always been supremely tolerant to troublesome andeven mischievous members, so long as they adhere to the forms of theHouse--forms to be zealously guarded, since they were framed for avertinghasty legislation and the possible domination of an intolerant majority. Itwas determined, however, that the impracticals and impedimenters should nothave their swing on this occasion, when the descent of a French army togather to its centre the Jacobitism still lingering in the country darkenedthe political horizon. Both Houses had a full opportunity for discussingthe merits of every word in the treaty, and the risk of national ruin wasnot to be encountered because they had not expended all their loquacity, having expected another opportunity. 

The tactic for evading the danger was credited to the ingenuity of SirSimon Harcourt, the attorney-general. The two acts of ecclesiasticalsecurity and the articles of the treaty were all recited in the preamble ofthe bill under the command of the mighty "Whereas, " the enacting partof the act was dropped into a single sentence, shorter than statutorysentences usually are. The opposition might throw out the measure, andthe ministry with it, if they had strength to do so; but there had beensufficient discussion on the clauses, and there should be no more. In thedescriptive words of Burnet: "This put those in great difficulties who hadresolved to object to several articles, and to insist on demanding severalalterations in them, for they could not come at any debate about them; theycould not object to the recital, it being mere matter of fact; and they hadnot strength enough to oppose the general enacting clause; nor was it easyto come at particulars and offer provisos relating to them. The matterwas carried on with such zeal that it passed through the House of Commonsbefore those who intended to oppose it had recovered out of the surpriseunder which the form it was drawn in had put them. "

There was thus but one question, that the bill do pass, and the oppositionhad not reaped encouragement to resist so great an issue. The Lords had, intheir usual manner of dignified repose, managed to discuss the clauses, butit was rather a conversation, to see that all was in right order, and thatno accident had happened to a measure of so vital moment, than a debate. 

On March 6, 1707, the Queen came to the House of Lords, and in a gracefulspeech gave the royal assent to the act. 

%DOWNFALL OF CHARLES XII AT POLTAVA%

TRIUMPH OF RUSSIA

A. D. 1709

K. WALISZEWSKI[1]

[Footnote 1: Translated from the Russian by Lady Mary Loyd. ]

The battle of Poltava was selected by Sir Edward Creasy as one of thefifteen great decisive contests which have altered the fate of nations. Hisable narrative of the battle has been superseded in scholars' eyes by themore modern work of the great Russian authority, Waliszewski; but theimportance of the event remains. It reversed the positions of Sweden andRussia in European politics, and placed Russia among the great countries ofthe modern world; Sweden among the little ones. 

Before 1709 Sweden still held the rank to which Gustavus Adolphus hadraised her in the Thirty Years' War. Her prestige had been a little dimmedby the victories of the "Great Elector" of Prussia; but her ally Louis XIVhad saved her from any considerable diminution of the extensive territorieswhich she held on the mainland to the south and east of the Baltic Sea. About 1700 the young and gallant warrior, Charles XII, the "Madman of theNorth, " reasserted her prowess, made her once more the dictator of NorthernEurope, one of the five great powers of the world. 

Meanwhile Peter the Great was progressing but slowly with histransformation of Russia. His people had little confidence in him; hisarmies were half-barbaric hordes. When he ventured into war against SwedenEurope conceived but one possible result: these undisciplined barbarianswould be annihilated. At first the expected occurred. Again and again largeRussian armies were defeated by small bodies of Swedes; but with splendidtenacity Peter persisted in the face of revolt at home and defeat abroad. "The Swedes shall teach us to beat them" was his famous saying, and atPoltava he achieved his aim. From that time forward Russia's antagonism toher leader disappeared. His people followed him eagerly along the path topower. 

It would appear that it was not till Peter's visit to Vienna, in 1698, thathe conceived the idea of attacking Sweden. Up till that time his warlikeimpulse had rather been directed southward, and the Turk had been the soleobject of his enmity. But at Vienna he perceived that the Emperor, whosehelp he had counted on, had failed him, and forthwith the mobile mind ofthe young Czar turned to the right-about. A war he must have of some kind, it little mattered where, to give work to his young army. The warlikeinstincts and the greed of his predecessors, tempted sometimes by the BlackSea, sometimes by the Baltic and the border provinces of Poland, had, indeed, always swung and turned back and forward between the south and thenorth. These alternate impulses, natural enough in a nation so full ofyouth and strength, have, since those days, been most unnecessarilyidealized, erected into a doctrine, and dignified as a work of unification. It must be acknowledged that every nation has at one time or the otherthus claimed the right to resume the national patrimony at the expenseof neighboring peoples, and Peter, by some lucky fate, remained in thisrespect within certain bounds of justice, of logic, and of truth. Absorbedand almost exhausted, as he soon became, by the desperate effort demandedby his war in the North, he forgot or imperilled much that the conqueringambition of his predecessors had left him in the South and West. He clungto the territory already acquired on the Polish side, retired from theTurkish border, and claimed what he had most right, relatively speaking, toclaim in the matter of resumption, on his northwestern frontier. 

On that frontier the coast country between the mouth of the Narva, orNarova, and that of the Siestra, watered by the Voksa, the Neva, theIgora, and the Louga, was really an integral part of the original Russianpatrimony. It was one of the five districts (_piatiny_) of the Novgorodterritory, and was still full of towns bearing Slavonic names, such asKorela, Ojeshek, Ladoga, Koporie, Iamy, and Ivangrod. It was not till 1616that the Czar Michael Feodorovitch, during his struggle with GustavusAdolphus, finally abandoned the seacoast for the sake of keeping his holdon Novgorod. But so strong was the hope of recovering the lost territory, in the hearts of his descendants, that, after the failure of an attempt onLivonia, in Alexis' reign, a boyar named Ordin-Nashtchokin set to work tobuild a number of warships at Kokenhausen, on the Dvina, which vessels wereintended for the conquest of Riga. Peter had an impression, confused it maybe, but yet powerful, of these historic traditions. This is proved by thedirection in which he caused his armies to march after he had thrown downthe gauntlet to Sweden. He strayed off the path, swayed, as he often was, by sudden impulses, but he always came back to the traditional aim of hisforefathers--access to the sea, a Baltic port, "a window open upon Europe. "

His interview with Augustus II at Rawa definitely settled his waveringmind. The _pacta conventa_, signed by the King of Poland when he ascendedhis throne, bound him to claim from the King of Sweden the territorieswhich had formerly belonged to the republic of Poland. For this end thehelp of Denmark could be reckoned on. The Treaty of Roeskilde (1658), whichhad been forced on Frederick III, weighed heavily on his successors, andthe eager glances fixed by the neighboring states on Holstein, after thedeath of Christian Albert, in 1694, threatened to end in quarrel. Therewere fair hopes, too, of the help of Brandenburg. When Sweden made alliancewith Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon, that country abandoned its historicposition in Germany to Prussia. But Sweden still kept some footing, and waslooked on as a rival. 

Further, Augustus had a personal charm for Peter sufficient in itself toprove how much simplicity, inexperience, and boyish thoughtlessness stillexisted in that half-polished mind. The Polish Sovereign, tall, strong, and handsome, an adept in all physical exercises, a great hunter, a harddrinker, and an indefatigable admirer of the fair sex, in whose persondebauch of every kind took royal proportions, delighted the Czar andsomewhat overawed him. He was more than inclined to think him a genius, andwas quite ready to bind up his fortunes with his friend's. At the end offour days of uninterrupted feasting, they had agreed on the division of thespoils of Sweden, and had made a preliminary exchange of arms and clothing. The Czar appeared at Moscow a few weeks later wearing the King of Poland'swaistcoat and belted with his sword. 

In the beginning of 1700 Augustus and Frederick of Denmark attacked Sweden;but Peter, though bound by treaty to follow their example, neither movednor stirred. Frederick was beaten, his very capital was threatened. So muchthe worse for him! Augustus seized on Dunamunde, but utterly failed beforeRiga. All the better for the Russians; Riga was left for them! Anotherenvoy came hurrying to Moscow. The Czar listened coolly to his reproaches, and replied that he would act as soon as news from Constantinople permittedit. Negotiations there were proceeding satisfactorily, and he hoped shortlyto fulfil his promise, and to attack the Swedes in the neighborhood ofPskof. This was a point on which the allies had laid great stress, andPeter had studiously avoided contradicting them. It was quite understoodbetween them that the Czar was not to lay a finger on Livonia. At last onAugust 8, 1700, a courier arrived with the longed-for dispatch. Peace withTurkey was signed at last, and that very day the Russian troops receivedtheir marching orders. But they were not sent toward Pskof. They marched onNarva, in the very heart of the Livonian country. 

The army destined to lay siege to Narva consisted of three divisions ofnovel formation, under the orders of three generals--Golovin, Weyde, andRepnin--with 10, 500 Cossacks, and some irregular troops--63, 520 men in all. Repnin's division, numbering 10, 834 men, and the Little Russian Cossacks, stopped on the way, so that the actual force at disposal was reduced toabout 40, 000 men. But Charles XII, the new King of Sweden, could not bringmore than 5300 infantry and 3130 cavalry to the relief of the town. And, being obliged, when he neared Wesemburg, to throw himself in flyingcolumn across a country which was already completely devastated, and, consequently, to carry all his supplies with him, his troops arrived inpresence of an enemy five times as numerous as themselves, worn out, andcompletely exhausted by a succession of forced marches. 

Peter never dreamed that he would find the King of Sweden in Livonia. Hebelieved his hands were more than full enough elsewhere with the King ofDenmark; he was quite unaware that the Peace of Travendal, which had beensigned on the very day of the departure of the Russian troops, had beenalready forced upon his ally. He started off gayly at the head of hisbombardier company, full of expectation of an easy victory. When hearrived before the town, on September 23d, he was astounded to find anypreparations for serious defence. A regular siege had to be undertaken, andwhen, after a month of preparations, the Russian batteries at last openedfire, they made no impression whatever. The artillery was bad, and yet morebadly served. A second month passed, during which Peter waited and hopedfor some piece of luck, either for an offer to capitulate or for thearrival of Repnin's force. What did happen was that on the night ofNovember 17th news came that within twenty-four hours the King of Swedenwould be at Narva. That very night Peter fled from his camp, leaving thecommand to the Prince de Croy. 

None of the arguments brought forward by the sovereign and his apologistsin justification of this step appears to me to hold water. The necessitypleaded for an interview with the Duke of Poland, the Czar's desire tohasten on Repnin's march, are mere pitiful excuses. Langen and Hallart, thegenerals sent by Augustus to observe the military operations in Livonia, gravely reported that the Czar had been obliged to go to Moscow to receivea Turkish envoy--who was not expected for four months! The Emperor's envoy, Pleyer, is nearer the mark when he says the sovereign obeyed the entreatiesof his advisers, who considered the danger too great for him to bepermitted to remain. And Hallart himself, speaking of these samecounsellors, whether ministers or generals, does not hesitate to declare, in his rough soldierly language, that "they have about as much courage asa frog has hair on his belly. " The Russian army, disconcerted by theunexpected resistance of the Swedes, ill-prepared for resistance, ill-commanded, ill-lodged, and ill-fed, was already demoralized to the lastextent. The arrival of Charles caused a panic, and from that panic Peter, the most impressionable of men, was the first to suffer. 

The startling rapidity with which Charles had rid himself of the weakest ofhis three adversaries, under the very walls of Copenhagen, would have beenless astonishing to Peter if the young sovereign had better realized theconditions under which he and his allies had begun a struggle in which, atfirst sight, their superiority appeared so disproportionate. King Frederickhad reckoned without the powers which had guaranteed the recent Treaty ofAltona, by which the safety of Holstein was insured; without the Hanoveriantroops, and those of Luneburg, which at once brought succor to Toeningen;without the Anglo-Dutch fleet, which forced his to seek shelter under thewalls of Copenhagen, and thus permitted the King of Sweden to crossthe Sound unmolested, and land quietly in Zealand; and finally, hereckoned--and for this he may well be excused--without that which wassoon to fill all Europe with terror and amazement: the lucky star and themilitary genius of Charles XII. 

This monarch, born in 1682, who had slain bears when he was sixteen, and ateighteen was a finished soldier, greedy for glory and battle and blood, wasthe last representative of that race of men who, between the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries, held all Central Europe in their iron grip; fiercewarriors who steeped Germany and Italy in fire and blood, fought their wayfrom town to town, and hamlet to hamlet; giving no truce and showing nomercy; who lived for war and by war; grew old and died in harness in a veryatmosphere of carnage, with bodies riddled with wounds, with hands stainedwith abominable crimes, but with spirits calm and unflinching to the last. Standing on the threshold of the new period he was the superb and colossalincarnation of that former one, which, happily for mankind, was todisappear in his person. 

Count Guiscard, who as envoy from the King of France accompanied him on hisfirst campaign, describes him thus: "The King of Sweden is of tall stature;taller than myself by almost a head; he is very handsome, he has fine eyesand a good complexion, his face is long, his speech a little thick. Hewears a small wig tied behind in a bag, a plain stock, without cravat, avery tight jerkin of plain cloth, with sleeves as narrow as our waistcoatsleeves, a narrow belt above his jerkin, with a sword of extraordinarylength and thickness, and almost perfectly flat-soled shoes--a very strangestyle of dress for a prince of his age. "

In order to reach Narva with his eight thousand men, Charles, afterhaving crossed a tract of desert country, was obliged, at a place calledPyhaioggi, to cross a narrow valley divided by a stream, which, if it hadbeen fortified, must have stopped him short. The idea occurred to Gordon, but Peter would not listen to him, and it was not till the very last momentthat he sent Sheremetief, who found the Swedes just debouching into thevalley, received several volleys of grape-shot and retired in disorder. The mad venture had succeeded. But Charles' farther advance involved theplaying of a risky game. His men were worn out, his horses had not been fedfor two whole days. Still he went on; he reached Narva, formed his Swedesinto several attacking columns, led one himself, and favored by a suddenhurricane which drove showers of blinding snow into his adversaries' faces, threw himself into their camp and mastered the place in half an hour. Theonly resistance he met was offered by the two regiments of the guard. Allthe rest fled or surrendered. A few Russians were drowned in the Narva. "Ifthe river had been frozen, " said Charles discontentedly, "I do not knowthat we should have contrived to kill a single man. "

It was a total breakdown; the army had disappeared, and the artillery. Thevery sovereign was gone, and with him the country's honor. That had sunkout of sight amid the scornful laughter with which Europe hailed thisundignified defeat. The Czar was in full flight. All Peter's plans ofconquest, his dreams of European expansion and of navigating the northernseas, his hopes of glory, his faith in his civilizing mission, had utterlyfaded. And he himself had collapsed upon their heaped-up ruins. Onwardhe fled, feeling the Swedish soldiers on his heels. He wept, he sued forpeace, vowing he would treat at once and submit to any sacrifice; he sentimploring appeals to the States-General of Holland, to England and to theEmperor, praying for mediation. 

But swiftly he recovered possession of his faculties. Then, raising hishead--through the golden haze with which his insufficient education, theinfatuation inherent to his semi-oriental origin, and his inexperience, hadfilled his eyes, through the rent of that mighty catastrophe and that cruellesson--he saw and touched the truth at last! He realized what he must sethimself to do if he was to become that which he fain would be. There mustbe no more playing at soldiers and sailors; no more of that farce of powerand glory, in which, till now, he had been the chief actor; no more aimlessadventure, undertaken in utter scorn of time and place. He must toil nowin downright earnest; he must go forward, step by step; measure each day'seffort, calculate each morrow's task, let each fruit ripen ere he essayedto pluck it; learn patience and dogged perseverance. He did it all. Hefound means within him and about him to carry out his task. The strong, long-enduring, long-suffering race of which he came endowed him with thenecessary qualities, and gave him its own inexhaustible and never-changingdevotion and self-sacrifice. 

Ten armies may be destroyed, he will bring up ten others to replace them, no matter what the price. His people will follow him and die beside him tothe last man, to the last morsel of bread snatched from its starvingjaws. A month hence, the fugitive from Narva will belong to a vanished, forgotten, almost improbable past; the future victor of Poltava will havetaken his place. 

Of the Russian army, as it had originally taken the field, abouttwenty-three thousand men remained--a certain number of troops--the cavalryunder Sheremetief's command, and Repnin's division. The Czar ordered freshlevies. He melted the church-bells into cannon. In vain the clergy raisedthe cry of sacrilege; he never faltered for a moment. He went hither andthither giving orders and active help; rating some, encouraging others, inspiring everyone with some of his own energy--that energy which hismisfortune had spurred and strengthened. Yet, Byzantine as he was bynature, he could not resist the temptation to endeavor to mislead publicopinion. Matvieief was given orders to draw up his own special descriptionof the battle of Narva and its consequences, for the benefit of thereaders of the _Gazette de Hollande_ and of the memoranda which he himselfaddressed to the States-General. 

The Swedes, according to this account, had been surrounded by a superiorforce within the Russian camp, and had there been forced to capitulate;after which event, certain Russian officers, who had desired to pay theirrespects to the King of Sweden, had been treacherously seized byhis orders. Europe only laughed, but in later years this pretendedcapitulation, and the supposed Swedish violation of it, were to servePeter as a pretext for violating others, to which he himself had willinglyconsented. At Vienna, too, Count Kaunitz listened with a smile while PrinceGalitzin explained that the Czar "needed no victories to prove his militaryglory. " Yet, when the vice-chancellor inquired what conditions the Czarhoped to obtain from his victorious adversary, the Russian diplomat calmlyclaimed the greater part of Livonia, with Narva, Ivangrod, Kolyvan, Koporie, and Derpt--and future events were to prove that he had not askedtoo much. 

Before long this boldness began to reap its own reward. To begin with, Charles XII made no immediate attempt to pursue his advantage on Russiansoil; Peter had the joy of seeing him plunge into the depths of the Polishplains. The King of Sweden's decision, which, we are told, did not tallywith his generals' opinion, has been severely criticised. Guiscard thoughtit perfectly justifiable, so long as the King had not rid himself ofAugustus, by means of the peace which this Prince appeared more thanwilling to negotiate, through the mediation of Guiscard himself. But Charles turned a deaf ear to the French diplomat's prayers andremonstrances. He feared, declared Guiscard, "he might run short ofenemies, " and as he could not advance on Russia and leave the Saxons andPoles in his rear, he desired--and here doubtless he was right--first ofall to insure his line of communication, and of possible retreat. Thus, byhis own deed, he strengthened and cemented an alliance which had alreadybeen shaken by common defeat. 

Augustus, repulsed by the Swedish King, threw himself into Peter's arms, and in February, 1701, the common destinies of the Czar and the King ofPoland were once more bound together. A fresh treaty was signed at theCastle of Birze, close to Dunaburg. 

The year 1701 was a hard one for Peter. The junction between the army, which he had contrived after some fashion to put on a war footing, andthe Saxon troops of Augustus, only resulted in the complete defeat of theallied forces under the walls of Riga, on July 3d. In the month of Junethe Moscow Kremlin caught fire; the state offices (_prikaz_) with theirarchives, the provision-stores, and palaces, were all devoured by theflames. The bells fell from the tower of Ivan the Great, and the heaviest, which weighed over a hundred tons, was broken in the fall. But in midwinterSheremetief contrived to surprise Schlippenbach with a superior force, anddefeated him at Erestfer, December 29th. 

Peter's delight, and his wild manifestations of triumph, may easily beimagined. He did not content himself with exhibiting the few Swedishprisoners who had fallen into his hands at Moscow, in a sort of imitationRoman triumph; his practical mind incited him to make use of them inanother way, and Cornelius von Bruyn, who had lived long enough in thecountry to be thoroughly acquainted with its customs, calmly reports thatthe price of war captives, which had originally been three or four florinsa head, rose as high as twenty and thirty florins. Even foreigners nowventured to purchase them, and entered into competition in the open market. 

On July 18, 1702, Sheremetief won a fresh victory overSchlippenbach--30, 000 Russians defeated 8000 Swedes. According to Peter'sofficial account of the battle, 5000 of his enemies were left dead on thefield, while Sheremetief lost only 400 men. This report made Europe smile, but the Livonians found it no laughing matter. Volmar and Marienburg fellinto the hands of the victor, who ravaged the country in the most frightfulfashion. The Russians had not as yet learned any other form of warfare, and, as we may suppose, the idea that he might ever possess theseterritories had not yet occurred to Peter. His mind, indeed, was absorbedelsewhere. His old fancies and whims were strong upon him, and he leftApraxin to rage on the banks of the Neva, in Ingria, on the very spot wherehis future capital was to stand, while he himself gave all his time andstrength to the building of a few wretched ships at Archangel. It was nottill September, when the ice had driven him out of the northern port, thathe returned to the west and took up his former course. He reached the Lakeof Ladoga, sent for Sheremetief, and the end he was to pursue for many along year seems at last to have taken firm root in his hitherto unstablemind. He laid siege to Noteburg, where he found a garrison of only fourhundred fifty men, and on December 11, 1702, he rechristened the littlefortress he had captured, by a new and symbolic name, "Schluesselburg" (Keyof the Sea). 

Next came the capture of Nienschantz, at the very mouth of the Neva, inApril, 1703, a personal success for the captain of Bombardiers, PeterMikhailoff, who there brought his batteries into play. A month later theartilleryman had become a sailor, and had won Russia's first naval victory. Two regiments of the guard manned thirty boats, surrounded two smallSwedish vessels, which, in their ignorance of the capture of Nienschantz, had ventured close to the town, took possession of them, and murdered theircrews. The victor's letters to his friends are full of the wildest and mostchildish delight, and there was, we must admit, some reason for this joy. He had reconquered the historic estuary, through which, in the ninthcentury, the first Varegs had passed southward, toward Grecian skies. Onthe 16th of the following May wooden houses began to rise on one of theneighboring islets. These houses were to multiply, to grow into palaces, and finally to be known as St. Petersburg. 

Peter's conquests and newly founded cities disturbed Charles XII butlittle. "Let him build towns; there will be all the more for us to take!"Peter and his army had so far, where Charles was concerned, had to do onlywith small detachments of troops, scattered apart and thus foredoomed todestruction. The Russians took advantage of this fact to pursue theirsuccesses, strengthening and intrenching themselves both in Ingria andLivonia. In July, 1704, Peter was present at the taking of Derpt. In Augusthe had his revenge for his disaster at Narva, and carried the town aftera murderous assault. Already in November, 1703, a longed-for guest hadappeared in the mouth of the Neva, a foreign trading-vessel laden withbrandy and salt. Menshikoff, the Governor of _Piterburg_, entertained thecaptain at a banquet, and presented him with five hundred florins forhimself, and thirty crowns for each of his sailors. 

Meanwhile Charles XII tarried in Poland, where Augustus' affairs were goingfrom bad to worse. A diet convened at Warsaw in February, 1704, proclaimedhis downfall. After the disappearance of James Sobieski, whose candidaturewas put a stop to by an ambuscade, into which the dethroned King lured theson of the deliverer of Vienna, Charles, who was all-powerful, put forwardthat of Stanislaus Lesczynski. Though he gave little thought just then toRussia and to the Russian sovereign, the Czar was beginning to be alarmedas to the consequences which the Swedish King's position in Poland and inSaxony might entail on himself. Charles was sure to end by retracinghis steps, and an encounter between Sheremetief and Loewenhaupt, atHemauerthorf in Courland (July 15, 1705), clearly proved that the Russianarmy, unless in the case of disproportionate numerical superiority over theenemy, was not yet capable of resisting well-commanded Swedish troops. Onthis occasion Sheremetief lost all his infantry and was himself severelywounded. 

What then was Peter to do? He must work on, increase his resources, and addto his experience. If Sheremetief and his likes proved unequal to theirtask, he must find foreign generals and instructors, technical and other;he must keep patience, he must avoid all perilous encounters, he mustnegotiate, and try to obtain peace, even at the price of parting with someof the territory he had conquered. The years between 1705 and 1707 werebusy ones for him. 

A treaty of peace among his enemies took him by surprise and found himquite unprepared. He soon made good his mistakes, took a swift decision, and adopted the course which was infallibly to bring him final victory. Heevacuated Poland, retired backward, and, pushing forward the preparationswhich Charles' long stay in Saxony had permitted him to carry on with greatactivity, he resolved that the battle should be fought on his ground, andat his chosen time. He took fresh patience, he resolved to wait, to wearout his adversary, to draw back steadily and leave nothing but a voidbehind him. Thus he would force the enemy to advance across the desertplains he had deliberately devastated, and run the terrible risk, which hadalways driven back the ancient foes of his country, whether Turks, Tartars, or Poles--a winter sojourn in the heart of Russia. This was to be the finalround of the great fight. The Czar, as he expressed it, was to set tenRussians against every Swede, and time and space and cold and hunger wereto be his backers. 

Charles, the most taciturn general who ever lived, never revealed thesecret inspiration which drove him to play his adversary's game, bymarching afresh on Grodno. During 1707 he seemed to give the law to Europe, from his camp in Saxony. France, which had been vanquished at Blenheimand Ramillies, turned a pleading glance toward him, and the leader of thevictorious allies, Marlborough himself, solicited his help. 

Charles may have had an idea of making Grodno his base for a spring attackon the Czar's new conquests in the North. This supposition would seem tohave been the one accepted by Peter, if we may judge by the ordersgiven, just at this time, to insure the safety of Livonia and Ingria, bycompleting their devastation; and these very orders may have induced theKing of Sweden to abandon his original design, in favor of another, thewisdom of which is still contested by experts, but which, it cannot bedenied, was of noble proportions. Charles, too, had found an ally to setagainst those natural ones with which Russia had furnished the Czar, and hehad found him within the borders of the Czar's country. The name of thisally was Mazeppa. 

The stormy career of the famous hetman, so dramatic, both from the historicand domestic point of view--from that adventure with the _pan_ Falbowski, so naively related by Pasek, down to the romance with Matrena Kotchoubey, which colored the last and tragic incidents of his existence--is so wellknown that I will not narrate it here, even in the concisest form. LittleRussia was then passing through a painful crisis--the consequence ofShmielnicki's efforts at emancipation, which had been warped and pervertedby Russian intervention. The Polish lords, who formerly oppressed thecountry, had been replaced by the Cossacks, who not only ground down thenative population, but railed at and quarrelled with their own chief. Thehetmans and the irregular troops were at open war, the first strivingto increase their authority and make their power hereditary, the othersdefending their ancient democratic constitution. 

The Swedish war increased Mazeppa's difficulties. He found himself takenat a disadvantage between the claims of the Czar, who would fain have hisCossacks on every battle-field in Poland, Russia, and Livonia, and theresistance of the Cossacks themselves, who desired to remain in their owncountry. Being himself of noble Polish birth, brought up by the Jesuits, having served King John Casimir of Poland, and sworn allegiance to theSultan, he saw no reason for sacrificing his interests, much less his life, for Peter's benefit. The approach of Charles XII made him fear he might, like his predecessor Nalevaiko, be deserted by his own followers, and givenup to the Poles. 

The appearance of Charles on the Russian frontier forced him to a definiteresolution, and, in the spring of 1708, his emissaries appeared atRadoshkovitse, southeast of Grodno, where Charles had established hishead-quarters. The King of Sweden's idea, at that decisive moment, wouldseem to have been to take advantage of the hetman's friendly inclination, to find his way into the heart of Russia, using the rich Southern Provincesas his base, to stir up, with Mazeppa's help, the Don Cossacks, theAstrakhan Tartars, and, it may have been, the Turks themselves, and thusattack the Muscovite power in the rear. Then Peter would have been forcedback upon his last intrenchments, at Moscow or elsewhere, while GeneralLuebecker, who was in Finland with fourteen thousand men, fell on Ingriaand on St. Petersburg, and Leszcynski's Polish partisans, with GeneralKrassow's Swedes, held Poland. 

It was a mighty plan, indeed, but at the very outset it was sharplychecked. Mazeppa insisted on certain conditions, and these conditionsCharles thought too heavy. The hetman agreed that Poland should take theUkraine and White Russia, and that the Swedes should have the fortresses ofMglin, Starodoub, and Novgorod-Sievierski, but he himself insisted on beingapportioned Polotsk, Vitebsk, and the whole of Courland, to be held infief. Thus the negotiations were delayed. Meanwhile Charles, perceivingthat he was not strong enough to make a forward movement, made up his mindto send for Loewenhaupt, who was in Livonia, and who was to bring himsixteen thousand men and various stores. But the Swedish hero had notreckoned fairly with distance and with time. Many precious days, the bestof the season, fled by before his orders could be obeyed. And, for thefirst time, he showed signs of uncertainty and irresolution which wereall too quickly communicated to those under his command. Loewenhaupt grewslower than usual. Luebecker slackened his activity, and Mazeppa began toplay his double game again: prudently preparing his Cossacks to revolt, in the name of the ancient customs, national privileges, and church laws, which Peter's reforms had infringed; fortifying his own residence atBatourin, and accumulating immense stores there, but still continuing topay court to the Czar, wearing the German dress, flattering the sovereign'sdespotic taste by suggesting plans which would have annihilated the lastvestiges of local independence, and accepting gifts sent him by Menshikoff. 

And so the summer passed away. A winter campaign became inevitable, and theabyss which Peter's unerring eye had scanned began to gape. 

It was not till June that Charles XII left Radoshkovitse, and marchedeastward to Borisov, where he crossed the Berezina. Menshikoff andSheremetief made an attempt to stop him, on July 3d, as he was crossing asmall river called the Bibitch, near Holovtchin. A night manoeuvre, anda wild bayonet charge, led by the King himself, carried him once more tovictory. The town of Mohilef opened its gates to the Swedes, but thereCharles was forced to stay, and lose more time yet waiting for Loewenhaupt. He marched again, early in August, in a southerly direction, and hissoldiers soon found themselves in the grip of one of Peter's allies. Theywere driven to support themselves by gathering ears of corn, which theyground between two stones. Sickness began to thin their ranks. Their threedoctors, so the fierce troopers said, were "brandy, garlic, and death"!Loewenhaupt had reached Shklof, and was separated from the invading army bytwo streams, the Soja and the Dnieper, between which Peter had taken uphis position. The Swedish general, after having successfully passed theDnieper, was met at Liesna, on October 9th, by a force three times as largeas his own, and Peter was able, on the following day, to report a completevictory to his friends: "8500 men dead on the field, without mentioningthose the Kalmucks have hunted into the forest, and 700 prisoners!"According to this reckoning, Loewenhaupt, who could not have brought morethan 11, 000 troops into action, should have been left without a man; as amatter of fact, he reached Charles with 6700, after a flank march which allmilitary experts consider a marvel. But, not being able to find a bridgeacross the Soja, he was forced to abandon his artillery and all hisbaggage, and he led his starving troops into a famine-stricken camp. 

There was bad news, too, from Ingria, where Luebecker had also beendefeated, losing all his baggage and three thousand first-class troops. Charles grew so disconcerted that he is reported to have confessed toGyllenkrook, his quartermaster-general, that he was all at sea, and nolonger had any definite plan. On October 22d he reached Mokoshin on theDesna, on the borders of the Ukraine, where he had expected to meetMazeppa. But the old leader broke his appointment. He still desired totemporize and was loath to take any decisive resolution. He was driven totake one at last, by the Cossacks about him, who were alarmed at the ideaof the Russians following the Swedes into the Ukraine. It would be farbetter, so they thought, to join the latter against the former. One ofthese Cossacks, Voinarovski, who had been sent by the hetman to Menshikoff, had returned with most terrifying news. He had overheard the Germanofficers on the favorite's staff, speaking of Mazeppa and his followers, say: "God pity those poor wretches; to-morrow they will all be in chains!"Mazeppa, when he heard this report, "raged like a whirlwind, " hurried toBatourin to give the alarm, and then crossed the Desna and joined theSwedish army. 

It was too late. The popular sentiment, on which both he and Charleshad reckoned to promote an insurrectionary movement, confused by thetergiversations and the ambiguous actions of the hetman, had quite goneastray and lost all consistency. All Mazeppa could reckon upon was a bodyof two thousand faithful troops; not enough even to defend Batourin, whichMenshikoff snatched from him a few days later--thus depriving the Swedisharmy of its last chance of revictualling. When the fortresses of Starodouband Novgorod-Sievierski closed their gates against him, the whole of theUkraine slipped from the grasp of the turncoat chief and his new allies. His effigy was first hung and then dragged through the streets of Glouhofin Peter's presence; another hetman, Skoropadski, was appointed in hisplace, and then came winter--a cruel winter, during which the very birdsdied of cold. 

By the beginning of 1709 Charles' effective strength had dwindled to nearlytwenty thousand men. The Russians did not dare to attack him as yet, butthey gathered round him in an ever-narrowing circle. They carried hisadvanced posts, they cut his lines of communication. The King of Sweden, toget himself mere elbow-room, was driven to begin his campaign in the monthof January. He lost one thousand men and forty-eight officers in taking thepaltry town of Wespjik (January 6th). By this time the game, in Mazeppa'sview, was already lost, and he made an attempt to turn his coat again;offering to betray Charles into Peter's hands if Peter would restore himhis office. The bargain was struck, but a letter from the old traitor, addressed to Leszcynski, chanced to fall into the Czar's hands, and madehim draw back, in the conviction that Mazeppa was utterly unreliable. 

In March, the near approach of the Swedish army, then advancing on Poltava, induced the Zaporoje Cossacks to join it. But the movement was a verypartial one, and Peter soon put it down, by means of a series of militaryexecutions, mercilessly carried out by Menshikoff, and of variousmanifestoes against the foreign heretics, "who deny the doctrines of thetrue religion, and spit on the picture of the Blessed Virgin. " The captureof Poltava thus became the last hope of Charles and his army. If they couldnot seize the town, they must all die of hunger. 

The fortifications of the place were weak, but the besieging army wassorely changed from that which had fought under the walls of Narva. It hadspent too long a time in fat quarters, in Saxony and Poland, to be fitto endure this terrible campaign. Like the Russian army at Narva, itwas sapped by demoralization before it was called on to do any seriousfighting. Even among the Swedish staff, and in the King's intimate circle, all confidence in his genius and his lucky star had disappeared. 

His best generals, Rehnskold and Gyllenkrook, his chancellor Piper, andMazeppa himself were against any prolongation of the siege, which promisedto be a long one. "If God were to send down one of his angels, " he said, "to induce me to follow your advice, I would not listen to him!" Anineradicable illusion, the fruit of the too easy victories of his earlycareer, prompted him to undervalue the forces opposed to him. He knew, and would acknowledge, nothing of that new Russia, the mighty upstandingcolossus, which Peter had at last succeeded in raising up in his path. According to some authorities, Mazeppa, in his desire to replace Batourinby Poltava, as his own personal appanage, encouraged him in this fatalresolution. But it may well have been that retreat had already becomeimpossible. 

It was long before Peter made up his mind to intervene; he was stilldistrustful of himself, desperately eager to increase his own resources, and with them his chances of victory. On his enemy's side, everythingcontributed to this result. By the end of June all the Swedish ammunitionwas exhausted, the invaders could use none of their artillery and hardlyany of their fire-arms, and were reduced to fighting with cold steel. Onthe very eve of the decisive struggle, they were left without a leader. During a reconnaissance on the banks of the Vorskla, which ran betweenthe hostile armies, Charles, always rash and apt to expose himselfunnecessarily, was struck by a bullet. "It is only in the foot, " he said, smiling, and continued his examination of the ground. But, when he returnedto camp he fainted, and Peter, reckoning on the moral effect of theaccident, at once resolved to cross the river. A report, as a matterof fact, ran through the Swedish camp that the King, convinced of thehopelessness of the situation, had deliberately sought death. 

Yet ten more days passed by, in the expectation of an attack which theRussians did not dare to make. It was Charles who took action at last, informing his generals, on June 26th (July 7th) that he would give battleon the following morning. He himself was still in a very sufferingcondition, and made over the command to Rehnskold, a valiant soldier buta doubtful leader, for he did not possess the army's confidence, and, according to Lundblad, "hid his lack of knowledge and strategical powersunder gloomy looks and a fierce expression. " After the event, as was socommonly the case with vanquished generals, he was accused of treachery. 

The truth would seem to be that Charles' obstinate reserve, and habit ofnever confiding his plans and military arrangements to any third person, had ended by gradually depriving his lieutenants of all power ofindependent action. In his presence they were bereft of speech and almostof ideas. All Rehnskold did was to rage and swear at everyone. Peter, meanwhile, neglected nothing likely to insure success. He even went so faras to dress the Novgorod regiment--one of his best--in the coarse cloth_(siermiaga)_ generally reserved for newly joined recruits, in the hope ofthus deceiving the enemy. This stratagem, however, completely failed. Inthe very beginning of the battle, Rehnskold fell on the regiment, and cutit to pieces. 

The Russian centre was confided to Sheremetief, the right wing to GeneralRonne, the left to Menshikoff. Bruce commanded the artillery, and the Czar, as usual, retired modestly to the head of a single regiment. But this was amere disguise; in real fact, he was everywhere, going hither and thither, in the forefront of the battle, and lavishing effort in every direction. Abullet passed through his hat, another is said to have struck him fullon the breast. It was miraculously stopped by a golden cross, set withprecious stones, given by the monks on Mount Athos to the Czar Feodor, andwhich his successor habitually wore. This cross, which certainly bears themark of some projectile, is still preserved in the Ouspienski monastery, atMoscow. 

The heroism and sovereign contempt of death betrayed by Charles were worthyof himself. Unable to sit a horse, he caused himself to be carried on alitter, which, when it was shattered by bullets, was replaced by anothermade of crossed lances. But he was nothing but a living standard, useless, though sublime. The once mighty military leader had utterly disappeared. The battle was but a wild conflict, in which the glorious remnants of oneof the most splendid armies that had ever been brought together; unable touse its arms, leaderless, hopeless of victory, and soon overwhelmed andcrushed by superior numbers, struggled for a space, with the sole objectof remaining faithful to its king. At the end of two hours Charles himselfleft the field of battle. He had been lifted onto the back of an old horsewhich his father had formerly ridden, and which was called _Brandklepper_("Run to the Fire"), because he was always saddled when a fire broke out inthe city. 

This charger followed the vanquished hero into Turkey, was taken by theTurks at Bender, sent back to the King, taken again at Stralsund in 1715, returned to its owner once more, and died in 1718--the same year as hismaster--at the age of forty-two. Poniatowski, the father of the futureKing of Poland, who was following the campaign as a volunteer--Charles hadrefused to take any Polish troops with him on account of their want ofdiscipline--rallied one of Colonel Horn's squadrons to escort the King, andreceived seventeen bullets through his leather kaftan while covering theroyal retreat. Field Marshal Rehnskold, Piper the chancellor, with all hissubordinates, over one hundred fifty officers, and two thousand soldiersfell into the victor's hands. 

The Russians' joy was so extreme that they forgot to pursue the retreatingenemy. Their first impulse was to sit down and banquet. Peter invited themore important prisoners to his own table, and toasted the health of his"masters in the art of war. " The Swedes, who still numbered thirteenthousand men, had time to pause for a moment in their own camp, whereCharles summoned Loewenhaupt, and, for the first time in his life, washeard to ask for advice--"What was to be done?" The general counselled himto burn all wagons, mount his infantry soldiers on the draught-horses andbeat a retreat toward the Dnieper. On June 30th the Russians came up withthe Swedish army at Perevolotchna, on the banks of the river, and, thesoldiers refusing to fight again, Loewenhaupt capitulated; but the Kinghad time to cross to the other side. Two boats lashed together carried hiscarriage, a few officers, and the war-chests which he had filled in Saxony. Mazeppa contrived to find a boat for himself, and loaded it with twobarrels of gold. 

At Kiev, whither Peter proceeded from Poltava, a solemn thanksgiving wasoffered up in the church of St. Sophia, and a Little Russia monk, FeofanProkopovitch, celebrated the recent victory in a fine flight of eloquence:"When our neighbors hear of what has happened, they will say it wasnot into a foreign country that the Swedish army and the Swedish powerventured, but rather into some mighty sea! They have fallen in anddisappeared, even as lead is swallowed up in water!"

The Sweden of Gustavus Adolphus had indeed disappeared. Charles XII was erelong to be a mere knight-errant at Bender. The Cossack independence, too, was a thing of the past. Its last and all too untrustworthy representativewas to die in Turkey before many months were out--of despair, according toRussian testimony--of poison voluntarily swallowed, according to Swedishhistorians. The poison story has a touch of likelihood about it, for Petercertainly proposed to exchange Mazeppa's person for that of the chancellorPiper. The cause of the Leszcynski, too, was dead. It was to be putforward again by France, but for the benefit of France alone; and with theLeszcynski cause, Poland itself had passed away and lay a lifeless corpseon which the vultures were soon to settle. 

Out of all these ruins rose the Russian power, its northern hegemony, andits new European position, which henceforth were daily to increase andreach immense, immoderate proportions. Europe played a special part in thefestivities which graced the return of the victors to Moscow, a few monthslater. European ideas, traditions, and forms appeared in the triumphalprocession, and served as trappings for the trophies of victory. Peter, playing the part of Hercules, and conquering a Swedish Juno, in a _cortège_in which Mars figured, attended by furies and by fauns, was a fit symbol ofthe alliance of Russia with the Graeco-Latin civilization of the West. OldMuscovy--Eastern and Asiatic--was numbered with the dead. 

%CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL[1]%

FRANCE SURRENDERS NOVA SCOTIA TO ENGLAND

A. D. 1710

DUNCAN CAMPBELL

[Footnote 1: From Duncan Campbell's _History of Canada_. ]

Each time that England and France quarrelled in Europe their coloniesbecame engaged in strife. In 1690, when William III fought Louis XIV theable Governor of Canada, Frontenac, despatched his Indian allies to ravageNew England, while with rare military skill he defended himself and hisprovince. He could not, however, prevent the capture of Port Royal (nowAnnapolis) in Nova Scotia. This great fortress, the pride of Louis XIV, wasattacked by the New England colonists under Sir William Phips, the Governorof Massachusetts, and was captured by a most dashing attack. When Englandand France made peace, Port Royal was restored to the French, much to thedissatisfaction of the English colonists, who saw clearly that as soon asanother war arose they would have to make the assault again. 

During the era of Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) French and Indian forays andincursions were frequent on the borders of Acadia and New England. Britain, meanwhile, was desirous of limiting the growth of France in the New World, and, with the provocation that had been given the New England colonies bythe murderous raids of the French and Abenaquis Indians on her towns andborder settlements, the English colonists retaliated by attempting, in 1704and 1707, to recapture Acadia. They finally succeeded in 1710 underGeneral Nicholson. The story of this expedition will be found appendedin Campbell's narrative, as well as the account given of the disastrousfailure of Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker's formidable expedition in 1711 upthe St. Lawrence with the design of assaulting Québec. On the capture bythe New England colonies of Port Royal, and the expulsion of its Frenchgarrison, the place became an English fortress and was renamed AnnapolisRoyal, in honor of Queen Anne. 

In perusing the history of Nova Scotia, the reader is struck with thefrequency with which the country, or, in other words, the forts, passedfrom the French to the English, and _vice versa_. As a rule, permanentretention was not contemplated. Hence we find that when Port Royal wastaken by Phips, he departed without leaving a solitary man to defend it. A few days after the expedition had left, the Chevalier de Villebon, thenewly appointed French Governor, arrived, and if accompanied by the means, had a favorable opportunity of putting it once more in a state of defenceand retaining it as a French stronghold. But Phips was not far off, and hetherefore deemed it prudent, considering the small force at his disposal, to retire to the river St. John, where he remained for some years, destroying New England vessels and organizing schemes for the consolidationof French authority in the province. 

In the mean time Villebon showed his temper toward the New Englanders bybuilding a chapel on the disputed territory, and driving their fishermenfrom the coast of Nova Scotia. Villebon was succeeded by Brouillan, in1700, and not only was an enemy to the fishermen, but actually affordedprotection to pirates who preyed on the trade of Massachusetts, whichinspired a degree of hostility in New England that, on the accession ofQueen Anne, in 1702, the declaration of war which followed was hailed inthat colony with demonstrations of joy. 

The New Englanders had a long catalogue of grievances unredressed, hostileattacks unrevenged, and were more determined than ever to put forth theirstrength for the expulsion of the French from the province. In 1704 apreliminary expedition was despatched by them to the coast of Nova Scotia, consisting of a ship of forty-two and another of thirty-two guns, a numberof transports and whale-boats, on board of which were upward of fivehundred men, under the command of Colonel Church, whose instructions wereto destroy settlements, and where dams existed to deluge the cultivatedground and make as many prisoners as possible. One detachment visitedMinas, and spread desolation and ruin in that fertile region, through whichBrouillan passed on his way to Annapolis, representing the people as livinglike true republicans, not acknowledging royal or judicial authority, andable to spare eight hundred hogsheads of wheat yearly for exportation, andas being supplied with abundance of cattle. 

Another detachment went to Port Royal, which they deemed it prudent not toattack. Brouillan having died in 1706, M. Subercase was appointed governor. In the spring of 1707 another expedition was sent from New England toattack Port Royal. It consisted of twenty-three transports and the provincegalley, convoyed by a man-of-war of fifty guns, on which were embarked tworegiments of militia, under Colonels Wainwright and Hilton. The expeditionarrived at the entrance to Port Royal on June 6th. A landing was sooneffected; but Subercase's dispositions for resistance were so able that theEnglish found it impossible to make any impression on the defences, and, after losing eighty men, the troops were reembarked and proceeded to CascoBay, from which place the commanders communicated with the Governor ofNew England and waited orders. The failure of the expedition caused greatindignation in New England, and the Governor immediately resolved tostrengthen the army with a hundred recruits and to order a second attack. Accordingly the expedition again sailed for Port Royal, when Subercase wasin a far more formidable position than formerly. After a siege of fifteendays, in which the English officers displayed unaccountable cowardice, theships retired, having lost sixteen men, while the French had only three menkilled and wounded. 

Subercase immediately proceeded to strengthen his position in anticipationof a third attack. A bomb-proof powder magazine was accordinglyconstructed, capable of containing sixty thousand pounds of powder, and thefort was otherwise improved. This Governor, who had formed a high estimateof the climate, soil, and general resources of the province, was one of theablest appointed under French rule. He made urgent appeals to the Frenchgovernment to colonize the country on a large scale, pointing out theadvantages that would follow; but all his suggestions were disregarded, andhe had the mortification, notwithstanding his zeal and personal sacrificesin the service of his country, to receive less encouragement and supportfrom the home government than any of his predecessors. 

In the year 1710 great preparations were made for the conquest of Canadaand Nova Scotia. The New York House of Assembly sent a petition to QueenAnne, praying for such assistance as would expel the French entirely fromthe country. Colonel Vetch is said to have inspired this application, andto have submitted to the British government a plan of attack. Promises ofliberal support are said to have been made, which, however, the governmentwas tardy in affording. 

The command of the New England forces was intrusted to Francis Nicholson, who was appointed Governor of New England, under Sir Edmund Andros, in1688, being Governor of New York in 1689, and in the following yearLieutenant-Governor of Virginia. In 1692 he was transferred tothe government of Maryland, and in 1698 sent back to Virginia asGovernor-in-Chief, at which time he held the rank of colonel in the army. Nicholson was an earnest advocate of a confederation of the British NorthAmerican provinces for purposes of defence, to which the people of Virginiawere popularly opposed. 

Nicholson sailed from Boston on September 18, 1710, with a fleet of aboutthirty-six vessels, including five transports from England, conveyinga considerable force, composed of troops supplied by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, which arrived at Port Royalon September 24th. Subercase was not in a condition to resist so formidablea force; hence we find him writing to the French minister that the garrisonis dispirited, and praying for assistance in men and money. The strait towhich he was reduced is indicated by the following passage: "I have hadmeans, " he says, "by my industry to borrow wherewith to subsist thegarrison for these two years. I have paid what I could by selling all mymovables. I will give even to my last shirt, but I fear that all my painswill prove useless if we are not succored during the month of March orearly in April, supposing the enemy should let us rest this winter. "

But it was far from the intention of the enemy to let them rest; for threedays after the despatch of the communication in which the passage quotedoccurred, Nicholson sent a summons to the Governor requiring the immediatedelivery of the fort, and in the event of non-compliance, expressing hisresolution to reduce it by force of her majesty's arms. No reply havingbeen sent to the summons, Nicholson prepared to land his troops, to whichSubercase offered no resistance, as he could not trust the garrison beyondthe walls of the fort on account of the discontent induced by the universalconviction of their inability to oppose the English, who mustered to thenumber of upward of three thousand, exclusive of seamen, to which force theGovernor could not oppose more than three hundred fighting men. In the meantime the garrison became disorganized and many desertions took place, whenthe Governor, yielding to necessity, opened a communication with Nicholsonwith the view to capitulation. 

The articles were, in the circumstances, highly favorable to the garrison. They provided that the soldiers should march out with their arms andbaggage, drums beating and colors flying; that they should be conveyed toRochelle, and that the inhabitants within three miles of Port Royal shouldbe permitted to remain on their lands, with their corn, cattle, andfurniture, for two years, if so disposed, on their taking the oath ofallegiance to the Queen of Great Britain. The destitute condition ofthe garrison was manifested by their tattered garments and absence ofprovisions necessary to sustain them even for a few days. In conformitywith the terms of the capitulation four hundred eighty men in all weretransported to Rochelle, in France. A garrison, consisting of two hundredmarines and two hundred fifty New England volunteers, was left in PortRoyal, under Colonel Vetch, as governor--General Nicholson returning toBoston with the fleet. 

The English, sensible of the disastrous consequences resulting from thepolicy hitherto adopted of abandoning Port Royal after having takenrepeated possession of it, had now resolved to retain it permanently. TheAcadians were alarmed at the indications of permanent occupancy which theywitnessed, and evinced a degree of hostility which caused the Governor toadopt such measures as were calculated to convince them that they must actin virtue of their temporary allegiance to the British crown, as becamefaithful subjects. The restraints imposed were galling to the French, and they despatched a messenger with a letter to the Governor of Canada, referring to their general misery under British rule, and praying to befurnished with the means of leaving a country where they could not enjoyabsolute freedom, but the letter contained no specific charges. 

In the hope of regaining the fort, and impressed with the importance in themean time of intensifying Indian hostility to English rule, the CanadianGovernor sent messengers to the French missionaries to exert theirinfluence in that direction. The consequence was that parties sent out tocut wood were attacked, and that travelling beyond the fort was rendereddangerous. Eighty men sent from the garrison on that service were attackedby the Indians, who killed about thirty of the party, taking the restprisoners. Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, had made preparations toassist in the recapture of the fort, but intelligence of a strong forcebeing in preparation to attack Canada prevented the accomplishment of hispurpose. 

General Nicholson, on leaving Port Royal, went to England, for the purposeof inducing the Government to adopt measures for the thorough conquest ofCanada, preparations for that end being in progress in New England. Hisappeal was cordially responded to, and a fleet of twelve line-of-battleships, with storeships and transports, and having eight regiments and atrain of artillery on board, the whole commanded by Admiral Walker, leftEngland on April 28, 1711, arriving in Boston, June 25th. If his formidableforce, which consisted of sixty-eight vessels in all, having about sixthousand fighting-men on board, left Boston on July 30th, arriving atGaspé, August 18th, where wood and water were taken in. They sailed thenceon the 20th. 

The pilots seem to have been incompetent, for on August 23d the ships gotinto difficulties in a fog, losing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near EggIsland, eight transports and eight hundred eighty-four men. At a council ofwar it was determined to abandon the enterprise, and intelligence of theresolution was sent to General Nicholson, who had left Albany with anarmy for the purpose of attacking Montreal, and who consequently had themortification of being obliged to return immediately. On September 4th thefleet arrived at Spanish Bay and anchored in front of Lloyd's Cove. It isquestionable if the noble harbor of Sydney has ever since presented solively a spectacle as on this occasion. 

Admiral Walker was instructed if he succeeded in taking Québec, to attackPlacentia, in Newfoundland, but at a council of war it was declaredimpracticable to make any attempt against that place, while from thecondition of the stronghold it could have been easily taken. On his returnWalker was the laughing-stock of the nation. Literary squibs and pamphletswere showered upon him, and his attempts at a vindication of his conductonly rendered him the more ridiculous. He stood in the estimation of thenation in precisely the same position as Sir John Cope, the commander ofthe force sent to attack Prince Charles Edward Stuart on his march from thenorth of Scotland, in 1745, to Edinburgh, who, after having held a councilof war, resolved to march in the opposite direction from that in which theenemy was to be found, and whose consummate folly or cowardice in doing sois a standing national joke. 

The severe contests in which France and Britain were almost continuallyengaged required occasional breathing-time. Hence, notwithstanding theseries of brilliant victories gained by Marlborough, the war had becomeunpopular, and the governmental policy had to be assimilated to thenational will. France was equally desirous of peace, and no greatdifficulty was experienced in coming to terms. In the preparation ofprevious treaties, France had succeeded in making the cession to her ofany portion of North American territory wrested from her a fundamentalcondition of agreement. Great Britain had hitherto shown a degree ofpliability, in yielding to the desire of her great opponent, in thismatter, which seems unaccountable, and certainly incompatible with Britishinterests; but the representations of the New Englanders as to the impolicyof such procedure were so urgent and unanswerable that the Government hadresolved that the period of vacillation was past, and that the exercise offirmness in the permanent retention of Nova Scotia was necessary. Hence, inthe celebrated Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, it was provided that all NovaScotia or Acadia should be yielded and made over to the Queen of GreatBritain and to her crown forever, together with Newfoundland, Franceretaining possession of Cape Breton. 

General Nicholson, having been appointed governor of Nova Scotia in 1714, as well as commander-in-chief, Queen Anne addressed a graceful letter tohim, dated June 23, 1713, in which, after alluding to her "good brother, "the French King, having released from imprisonment on board his galleyssuch of his subjects as were detained there professing the Protestantreligion, she desired to show her appreciation of his majesty's compliancewith her wishes by ordering that all Frenchmen in Nova Scotia andNewfoundland who should desire to remain should be permitted to retaintheir property and enjoy all the privileges of British subjects; and ifthey chose to remove elsewhere, they were at liberty to dispose of theirproperty by sale ere they departed. 

Meanwhile the Acadians, as well as the inhabitants of Newfoundland, werepressed by the French Governor of Louisburg, M. De Costabelle, to remove toCape Breton, which the great body of the latter did. The Acadians, however, could not appreciate the advantages to be gained in removing from thefertile meadows of the Annapolis Valley to a soil which, however excellent, required much labor to render it fit for cultivation. It appears that theysent a deputation to examine the island and report as to its adaptabilityfor agricultural purposes, for one of their missionaries, addressing M. De Costabelle, the Governor, says that from the visits made they weresatisfied there were no lands in Cape Breton suitable for the immediatemaintenance of their families, since there were not meadows sufficient tonourish their cattle, from which they derived their principal support. He at the same time represents the Indians--who had been also desired toremove--as being of opinion that living as they did by the chase, theisland was quite insufficient for that purpose, as well as from its narrowlimits, equally unfitted for the exercise of their natural freedom. 

But while declining to leave Nova Scotia, the Acadians expressed a firmdetermination to continue loyal to the King of France, affirming that theywould never take the oath of allegiance to the crown of England, to theprejudice of what they owed to their King, their country, and theirreligion, and intimating their resolution, in the event of any attempt tomake them swerve from their fidelity to France, or to interfere with theexercise of their religion, to leave the country and betake themselves toCape Breton, then called the Ile Royale. And they there remained until1755, at which time the English and New England colonists finally droveforth and dispersed them with hateful cruelty. 

%CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THISVOLUME%

A. D. 1661-1715

JOHN RUDD, LL. D. 

Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numeralsfollowing give volume and page. 

Separate chronologies or the various nations, and of the careers of famouspersons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page referencesshowing where the several events are fully treated. 

A. D. 

%1661%. Execution of the Marquis of Argyle. Burning of the _League andCovenant_ by the hangman, in all parts of England. 

Episcopacy restored in Scotland. 

In France Louis XIV assumes personal rule; Colbert begins his ministry. See"Louis XIV ESTABLISHES ABSOLUTE MONARCHY, " xii, i. 

%1662%. Sale of Dunkirk to the French by Charles II. Passage of a new Actof Uniformity; ejectment of nonconformist ministers from their livings, inEngland. 

A charter given the Connecticut and New Haven colonies. 

%1663%. Hungary overrun by the Turks under Koprili. 

Foundation of the French Academy of Inscriptions. 

The Carolinas granted by charter to Clarendon and others. 

%1664%. Passage of the Conventicle Act in England, directed againstnonconformists or dissenters. 

Victory of the united forces of Germany, France, and Italy, underMontecucoli, general of Leopold I, at St. Gotthard, Hungary. 

Charles II grants the territory between the Connecticut and James rivers tohis brother, James, Duke of York; New Amsterdam occupied and New Netherlandtaken by the English; New York is the name given to both province and city. James sells a portion of his domain, to which the title of "New Caesarea"was first given, afterward changed to New Jersey. See "NEW YORK TAKEN BYTHE ENGLISH, " xii, 19. 

East and West India companies formed in France; colonies planted inCayenne, Martinique, Guadelupe, Ste. Lucia, and Canada. 

1665. Continued persecution of dissenters in England by the passage of theFive-mile Act. 

War between England and Holland. 

Newton invents his methods of fluxions. 

Completion of the union of the Connecticut and New Haven colonies. 

Death of Philip IV; his son, Charles II, ascends the throne of Spain. 

"GREAT PLAGUE IN LONDON. " See xii, 29. 

1666. Great naval victory of the English over the Dutch, in the Downs. 

Resort to arms by the Scotch Covenanters; they are defeated. 

"DISCOVERY OF GRAVITATION. " See xii, 51. 

War against England declared by France. 

Foundation of the Académie des Sciences, Paris. 

Burning of London. See "GREAT FIRE IN LONDON, " xii, 45. 

William Penn joins the Society of Friends. 

1667. Opening of the first fire-insurance office in London. Ravages up theMedway and Thames, England, by the Dutch, during negotiations for peace. 

Treaty of Breda; peace between England, Holland, France, Denmark. Publication of Milton's _Paradise Lost_. 

1668. Triple alliance against France formed by England, Holland, andSweden. 

Recognition by Spain of the independence of Portugal. Foundation of themission of Sault Ste. Marie, by Father Marquette. Introduction of the artof dyeing into England by Brewer, who fled from Flanders before the Frenchinvaders. 

1669. John Locke draws up a constitution for the government of theCarolinas. 

Candia surrenders to the Turks. 

Expedition of La Salle from the St. Lawrence to the West. 

Discovery of phosphorus by Brandt. 

1670. A secret treaty (Dover) between Charles II of England and Louis XIVof France; Charles basely sells his allies, the Dutch, and engages himselfto become a Catholic. 

Incorporation of the Hudson Bay Company. 

1671. Leopold attempts the subjugation of the liberties of Hungary; hisdrastic methods include the execution of Frangepan, Nadasdy, and Zrinyi. 

Attempt of Colonel Blood to steal the English crown and regalia from theTower; the King pardons and pensions him. 

"MORGAN, THE BUCCANEER, SACKS PANAMA. " See xii, 66. 

Building of Greenwich Observatory. 

1672. William III, Prince of Orange, has supreme power conferred on himby the Dutch. The De Witts massacred. See "STRUGGLE OF THE DUTCH AGAINSTFRANCE AND ENGLAND, " xii, 86. 

1673. Passage in England of the Test Act, excluding dissenters and papistsfrom all offices of government. 

Battle of Khotin; defeat of the Turks by John Sobieski. 

"DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. " See xii, 108. 

Occupation of New York and New Jersey by the Dutch. 

Joliet and Marquette make discoveries on the upper Mississippi. 

1674. Peace between England and Holland; the former regains New Netherland. 

Occupation of Pondicherry by the French. 

John Sobieski elected to the Polish throne. 

1675. "KING PHILIP'S WAR. " See xii, 125. 

Battle of Fehrbellin; the Swedes, having invaded Brandenburg, are defeatedby Frederick William. See "GROWTH OF PRUSSIA UNDER THE GREAT ELECTOR, " xii, 138. 

Beginning of the building of St. Paul's, London, by Sir Christopher Wren. 

Leeuwenhoek discovers animalculae in various waters. 

1676. Rebellion of Bacon in Virginia. 

Defeat of the Dutch admiral, De Ruyter, by the French, under Duquesne, offthe Sicilian coast. 

Building of Versailles. 

1677. William of Orange defeated by the French at Casel. Freiburg capturedby the French. 

Mary, daughter of the Duke of York (James II), marries William of Orange. 

1678. Invention of the Popish Plot by Titus Oates. 

Peace of Nimeguen between France, Spain, and Holland. 

First war between Russia and Turkey. 

Struggle of the Hungarians, under Tokolyi, against Austria. 

1679. Persecution of the Covenanters in Scotland; they take up arms but aredefeated by Monmouth, at Bothwell Bridge. Murder of the primate, Sharp. 

Passage in England of the Habeas Corpus Act. 

La Salle builds the Griffon on Niagara River. 

Peace of Nimeguen between France and the German Emperor. 

1680. Beginning of the captivity of the Man with the Iron Mask. (Dateuncertain. )

Execution of Viscount Strafford for alleged participation in the PopishPlot. 

Alsace incorporated with French territory. 

The Whig and Tory parties first so named in England. 

1681. Strasburg seized by Louis XIV. 

A patent by the crown granted to William Penn. See "WILLIAM PENN RECEIVESTHE GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA, " xii, 153. 

Renewed persecution of Protestants in France. 

First museum of natural history in London. 

1682. Attempt of Louis XIV to seize the Duchy of Luxemburg. 

Bossuet, in behalf of the French clergy, draws up a declaration which setsforth the liberties of the Gallican Church. 

Colonizing of Pennsylvania by William Penn; he founds Philadelphia; also, with other Friends, purchases East Jersey. 

Expedition of La Salle to the mouth of the Mississippi. See "DISCOVERY OFTHE MISSISSIPPI, " xii, 108. 

Death of Czar Feodor III; his sister, Sophia, regent in the name of herbrothers Ivan V, of weak intellect, and Peter I (Peter the Great). 

%1683%. A penny-post first established in London, by a private individual. Execution in England of Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney, for participationin the Rye House Plot. 

Siege of Vienna by the Turks. See "LAST TURKISH INVASION OF EUROPE, " xii, 164. 

Attack on the Spanish Netherlands by Louis XIV. 

%1684%. Forfeiture of the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company. 

Formation of the Holy League by Venice, Poland, Emperor Leopold I, and PopeInnocent XI against the Turks. 

Genoa bombarded by the French. Louis XIV forcibly occupies Luxemburg. 

An embassy sent from the King of Siam to France. 

Publication by Leibnitz of his invention of the differential calculus. (SeeNewton, 1665. )

%1685%. Death of Charles II; his brother, James II, ascends the Englishthrone. Insurrection of Argyle and Monmouth; they are both executed. Jeffries' Bloody Assizes. See "MONMOUTH'S REBELLION, " xii, 172. 

Pillage of the coast of Peru by the buccaneers. 

"REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES. " See xii, 180. 

A demand made for the surrender of Connecticut's charter; it is hidden inCharter Oak. 

Bradford's printing-press arrives in Pennsylvania. See "ORIGIN AND PROGRESSOF PRINTING, " viii, i. 

%1686%. Attempt of James II to restore Romanism in the British domains; acamp established by him at Hounslow Heath. Revival of the Court of HighCommission. 

League of Augsburg formed by William of Orange, by which the principalcontinental states unite to resist French encroachments. 

A bloody crusade waged by Louis XIV, and Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, against the Waldenses of Piedmont. 

Recovery of Buda by the Austrians from the Turks. 

Appointment of Sir Edmund Andros as Governor over the consolidated NewEngland colonies. 

%1687%. Refusal of the University of Cambridge to admit Francis, aBenedictine monk, recommended by James II. 

Leopold I compels the Hungarian Diet to make the kingdom hereditary in theHapsburg family. 

Battle of Mohacs; defeat of the Turks by the Duke of Lorraine. 

Capture of Athens by the Venetians. 

Appointment of Tyrconnel, a Roman Catholic, as Lord Deputy of Ireland. 

Publication of Newton's _Principia_. 

Assumption of power by Peter the Great, in Russia. 

1688. Louis XIV declares war against Holland: he makes war on Germany. 

Capture of Philippsburg by the French. 

Battle of Enniskillen in Ireland. 

Landing in England of William of Orange, on invitation of the malcontentsin that country. See "THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION, " xii, 200. 

New York and New Jersey united with New England under Governor-General SirEdmund Andros. 

1689. William and Mary, she being daughter of the ex-king, are proclaimedKing and Queen of England. Passage of the Bill of Rights. 

James II lands in Ireland; he unsuccessfully besieges Londonderry: battleof Newtown Butler, defeat of the Irish Catholics. 

Great Britain joins the League of Augsburg. 

Overthrow of Andros in New England. See "TYRANNY OF ANDROS IN NEW ENGLAND, "xii, 241. 

At the instance of Louvois, his war minister, Louis XIV lays waste thePalatinate. 

Battle of Killiecrankie, Scotland; defeat of the government forces by theHighlanders; Claverhouse, their leader, slain. 

"MASSACRE OF LACHINE, CANADA. " See xii, 248. 

"PETER THE GREAT MODERNIZES RUSSIA. " See xii, 223. 

1690. Battle of the Boyne. See "SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY, " xii, 258. 

Presbyterianism reestablished in Scotland. 

Defence of Canada by Frontenac. 

James II leaves Ireland and returns to France. 

Destruction of Schenectady by the French and Indians. 

Conquest of Acadia and unsuccessful attempt on Québec by the English. 

John Locke publishes his _Essay Concerning the Human Understanding_. 

1691. Overthrow of the Jacobites in Scotland. 

Battle of Salankeman; victory of Louis of Baden over the Turks. 

Execution in New York of Jacob Leisler. 

1692. Union of the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts. 

Beginning of the witchcraft mania in New England. See "SALEM WITCHCRAFTTRIALS, " xii, 268. 

The duchies of Hanover and Brunswick become an electorate; Ernest Augustuselector. 

Battle of La Hogue; the attempted French invasion of England defeated bythe victory of the English and Dutch fleets. 

Massacre, at Glencoe, of the MacDonalds. 

1693. Defeat of the English fleet, off Cape St. Vincent, by Tourville, admiral of the French fleet. 

Distress in France from famine and the expense of the war with England. 

Founding of the College of William and Mary, Virginia. 

Bradford's printing-press removed from Pennsylvania to New York. See"ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING, " viii, i. 

1694. Attacks on the coast of France by the English. 

Death of Queen Mary, consort of William. Cessation of the censorship of thepress in England. 

"ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND. " See xii, 286. 

Peter the Great of Russia employs Brant, a Dutch shipwright, to build avessel at Archangel. 

1695. Peace arranged between France and Savoy. 

Azov captured from the Turks by Peter the Great. 

1696. On the death of John Sobieski the Polish crown is purchased byFrederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony. 

1697. Barcelona captured by the French. 

Peace of Ryswick between France, Holland, England, and Spain. 

Election of Francis I as King of Poland. 

Battle of Zenta; crushing defeat of the Turks by Leopold I. 

1698. Foundation of Calcutta by the English. 

A Scotch colony established on the Isthmus of Darien: abandoned in 1700. 

Peter the Great recalled from England by a revolt of the Strelitz guards;he subdues and disbands them. 

Society for Propagating Christianity formed in London. 

Partition of Spain arranged between England, France, and the Netherlands. 

1699. Iberville settles a French colony in Louisiana. See "COLONIZATION OFLOUISIANA, " xii, 297. 

Reduction of the Turkish territories in Europe, by nearly one-half, arranged by the Peace of Carlowitz, between Turkey, Austria, Venice, andPoland. 

Peter the Great introduces the computation of time in Russia by theChristian era, but adheres to the old style, which still obtains in thatcountry. 

1700. Russia, Poland, and Denmark make joint war against Sweden. The armyof Peter the Great overwhelmed at Narva, by Charles XII of Sweden. 

Foundation of the future Yale College, Connecticut. 

1701. Frederick III of Brandenburg crowns himself King of Prussia. See"PRUSSIA PROCLAIMED A KINGDOM, " xii, 310. 

Passage of the Act of Settlement in England; the Hanoverian successionfounded. 

Beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession. 

Charles XII defeats the Poles and Saxons. 

1702. Death of William III; Queen Anne succeeds to the throne of England. 

Command of the army of the States-General given to Marlborough, the Englishgeneral. 

Battle of Vigo; naval victory of the English and Dutch over the Spaniardsand French. 

Beginning of Queen Anne's War in America. 

Foundation of a French settlement on the Mobile River, Alabama. 

Charles XII occupies Warsaw; he defeats Augustus II at Klissow; Cracowentered by him. 

1703. Methuen Treaty between England and Portugal, for facilitatingcommerce between those countries. 

Peter the Great lays the foundation of St. Petersburg. See "FOUNDING OF ST. PETERSBURG, " xii, 319. 

Defeat of Augustus II by Charles XII at Pultusk. 

1704. English conquest of Gibraltar from Spain. "BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. " Seexii, 327. 

At Boston is published the first newspaper in the American colonies ofEngland. See "ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING, " viii, i. 

Sack, burning, and massacre of the inhabitants of Deerfield, Massachusetts, by French and Indians. 

Charles XII completes the subjugation of Poland. 

1705. Failure of the French and Spaniards in an attempt to recaptureGibraltar. 

Invasion of Spain by the English under the Earl of Peterborough; capture ofBarcelona. 

1706. Battle of Ramillies; Marlborough defeats the French under Villeroi. 

Unsuccessful attempt of the French and Spaniards on Barcelona. Birth ofBenjamin Franklin. 

1707. Sanction of the Union of England and Scotland by the ScotchParliament. See "UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, " xii, 341. 

Charles XII subjugates Saxony; he dictates the Peace of Altranstaedt. 

1708. Russia invaded by Charles XII. 

Battle of Oudenarde; victory of Marlborough and Prince Eugene over theDukes of Burgundy and Venddme. 

1709. Annihilation of the army of Charles XII at Poltava See "DOWNFALL OFCHARLES XII, " xii, 352. 

Invasion of Sweden by the Danes. Recovery of Poland by Augustus II. 

1710. Expulsion of the Danes from Sweden by Stenbock. Request of the IrishParliament for union with that of Great Britain. "CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL, CANADA. " See xii, 373. 

1711. After further successes in Flanders, Marlborough is removed fromcommand; the Whig ministry falls in England. 

Under Walker, the English and New England forces make an unsuccessfulattempt on Canada. 

Having taken up arms for Charles XII, the Turks nearly achieve the ruinof Peter the Great, whose army is hemmed in near the Pruth River; peacearranged, the Turks recovering Azov and other towns. 

%1712%. Peace conference at Utrecht. 

Newspapers come under the operation of the Stamp Act, in England; so manydiscontinue publication that it is called the "Fall of the Leaf. "

Second Toggenburg War between the Reformed and Catholic cantons ofSwitzerland. 

%1713%. Peace of Utrecht ending the War of the Spanish Succession. GreatBritain acquires Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Gibraltar, Minorca, Hudson Bay, and the Isle of St. Kitts; with the title of king the Duke of Savoy isceded Sicily by Spain, and by France, Savoy and Nice with certain fortifiedplaces; the King of Prussia exchanges the principality of Orange andChâlons for Spanish Gelderland, Neuchâtel, and Valengin; Spain cedes toAustria, Naples, Milan, Spanish Tuscany, and sovereignty over the SpanishNetherlands; the harbor and fortifications of Dunkirk to be destroyed. 

Charles I issues the Pragmatic Sanction securing succession to the femaleline in default of male issue. 

%1714%. Establishment of the Clarendon Press at Oxford, from the profits ofClarendon's _History of the Rebellion_. 

Death of Anne and accession in England of George (I), Elector of Hanover. 

Capture of Barcelona by the French and Spanish forces; the citizensdeprived of their liberties. 

Fahrenheit invents his thermometer. 

%1715%. Jacobite rebellion in Britain in behalf of the Pretender. 

Death of Louis XIV; he is succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis XV; theDuke of Orléans regent. 

A Barrier Treaty made between Austria, England, and Holland; it gave theDutch a right to garrison certain places in the Austrian Netherlands.