(see p. 825), became king of France, granting a constitution, known as the Charter. French people had become so weary of war and despotism, that they welcomed the promise of peace and constitutional liberty. 17. Position of England. 1814.-The position of England was now exceedingly strong. Not only had her wealth, acquired by her manufactures, enabled her to supply the continental governments with vast sums of money, without which it would have been impossible for them to carry on the struggle, but her own army in Spain had powerfully contributed to the success of the allies, by keeping no less than 300,000 French soldiers away from the decisive conflict in Germany and the north-east of France. That she was able to accomplish this had been, to a great extent, owing to her supremacy at sea. Wellington's troops were well supplied, because vessels from all parts of the globe could arrive safely in the Peninsula with provisions for them, whilst the French had to rely on stores conveyed with difficulty across hostile territory. England's mastery over the sea enabled her to make good her claims to the retention of most of the colonies which she had acquired during the war, though she abandoned Java and the Spice Islands to the Dutch, and some of the West India Islands to the French. This time, however, there was no talk of abandoning the Cape of Good Hope, which was an admirable naval station on the way to India and the East. 18. War with America. 1812-1814.-Too much power is never good for man or nation, and just as Napoleon provoked enemies by his Continental System, so did England provoke enemies by her Orders in Council (see p. 860). The United States as a neutral nation was aggrieved by the action of the British Government in stopping American vessels from trading with the Continent, unless they first put into British ports, and also by the search exercised on board them by British cruisers, and by the dragging out of deserters who had forsaken the British for American service. In 1812, indeed, the Orders in Council were repealed, but it was then too late to avert war, which had already been declared by the United States. The American navy was composed of very few ships but these were larger and better armed than British ships, nominally of the same class. British captains were so certain that they could take whatever they tried to take, that they laid their ships alongside of American vessels much more powerful than their own. The result was that one British ship after another was captured. The tide was turned by Captain Broke of the 'Shannon,' who courteously invited the captain of the American 1812-1815 WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES 873 frigate the 'Chesapeake' to come out to fight in the open sea. This time the two vessels were on an equality, and Broke, boarding the 'Chesapeake,' took her after an action lasting no more than fifteen minutes. The operations on land made no real impression on the vast American continent. There was much fighting on the Canadian frontier, and in 1814 a large number of the soldiers from the late Peninsular army- an army which, according to Wellington, could go anywhere and do anything-were sent out to America. Washington was taken, and the capitol and other public buildings destroyed-contrary to the usual practice of civilised warfare--in revenge for similar burnings on a smaller scale by the Americans in Canada. The Americans were merely stung to more vigorous resistance, and the British troops were compelled to retreat. A British flotilla on Lake Champlain was overpowered. An attack on New Orleans was baffled. On December 14, 1814, a peace was signed at Ghent, putting an end to this unhappy war. 19. The Congress of Vienna. 1814-1815.—It was a hard matter to settle anew the boundaries of European states after the disturbances caused by French annexations. In 1814 a Congress met at Vienna to decide such questions. So far as its decisions were influenced by any principle at all, they rested on the ground that a strong barrier must be set up against a renewal of French aggression. Not only was the frontier of France driven back almost to that which had existed in 1792, but the old territories of the Dutch Republic and the Austrian Netherlands were united under the Prince of Orange as king of the Netherlands. Large districts on the Rhine, henceforth to be known as Rhenish Prussia, were united to Prussia. The King of Sardinia not only received back Savoy and Nice, but acquired the strip of land which had once been under the Genoese Republic. In all else there was a scramble for territory, in which the great Powers were of course the most successful. The Tzar got Poland, though it was kept separate as a constitutional kingdom from the rest of Russia. Prussia got half of Saxony, in addi. tion to her new territory on the Rhine. Austria got Lombardy and Venetia. Italy was again divided into separate states, and was thus really placed under the power of Austria; whilst the German aspirations after nationality were only nominally satisfied. There was to be a German Confederation, and deputies of the rulers of the states composing it were to meet at Frankfort; but the powers of this Confederation were extremely restricted, and Austria and 3 L III. Prussia were too jealous of one another to allow it to work harmoniously to any good end. 20. The Hundred Days. 1815. -In France, the restored Bourbon monarchy soon gave deep offence, by favouring the nobles and clergy, and by showing hostility to the ideas which had become prominent under the Republic and the Empire. Before long Louis XVIII. became widely unpopular. Napoleon watched the movement with pleasure, and, escaping from Elba, landed on the coast of France. The soldiers sent to capture him went over to his side, and on March 21 he reached Paris and was again Emperor of the French. The short reign which followed is known as 'The Hundred Days.' He offered to the allies to remain at peace, but they refused to listen to him, believing that he only wanted to prepare for war, and that the longer they waited the more difficult it would be to suppress him. All four Powers, therefore, England, Prussia, Austria and Russia, prepared for a fresh struggle, but Austria and Russia were far off, and an English army under Wellington and a Prussian army under Blucher were in the Netherlands before the other two allied armies were ready. The English occupied the right and the Prussians the left of a long line in front of Brussels. 21. The Waterloo Campaign.-On June 15 Napoleon crossed the frontier. His plan was to beat the Prussians first, and then, driving them off towards Germany, to turn upon the English and to overwhelm them with superior numbers. On the 16th, whilst he sent Ney to keep in check the English at Quatre Bras, he defeated the Prussians at Ligny, and detached Grouchy to follow them up, so as to keep them from coming to the help of Wellington. On the 18th he attacked Wellington himself at Waterloo. Wellington, knowing that the Prussians intended, in spite of Grouchy's pursuit, to come to his help, and that his own numbers were inferior to those of Napoleon, had to hold out against all attacks during the early part of the day, without attempting to deliver any in return. He was well served by the tenacity of his mixed army, in which British soldiers fought side by side with Netherlanders, Hanoverians and Brunswickers. The farm of Hougoumont in advance of Wellington's right centre was heroically defended. In vain the French columns charged upon the British squares, and the French artillery slaughtered the men as they stood. In vain, too, the French cavalry dashed against them. As the men dropped their comrades closed their ranks, fighting on with sadly diminished numbers. At last a black line was seen on the horizon, and that black line was the Prussian army. Napoleon taken in flank by the Prussians made one last 1815 WATERLOO 875 desperate charge on the English squares. Then Wellington gave the order to advance. The French army, crushed between two forces, dissolved into a flying mob. 22. The Second Restoration of Louis XVIII.-The allies fo!lowed hard upon the beaten enemy and entered Paris in triumph. Napoleon took refuge in the 'Bellerophon,' an English ship of war. By the decision of the four great Powers he was removed to St. Helena, where he was guarded by the English till his death in 1821. Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of France, and Europe at last enjoyed the peace which it had longed for. The French territory was restricted to the limits of 1792. A heavy fine was also imposed upon France, troops belonging to each of the four Powers being left in occupation of French fortresses till the money was paid. Death of George III. and Accession of George IV. Jan. 29, 1820 1. The Corn-Law and the Abolition of the Property Tax. 1815-1816. When the war came to an end there was a general expectation in England that peace and plenty would flourish together. Contrary to expectation, the first years of peace were marked by deep agricultural and manufacturing distress. In 1815 Parliament, at that time almost entirely filled with landowners, passed a corn-law forbidding the importation of foreign corn, unless the price of wheat reached 8os. a quarter. The law was, however, inoperative, because the price of wheat, instead of reaching 80s., fell steadily. The cessation of expenditure upon war had thrown large numbers of men out of employment, and there was, consequently, less money spent in the purchase of food. The fall in the price of corn injured landowners the more because it had been excessively high in the last years of the war, and they had consequently spent money in reclaiming from the waste a great extent of land just good enough to produce sufficient corn to pay expenses when corn was very dear, but not good enough to produce sufficient corn to pay expenses when corn was cheap. In 1816 a bad harvest came, which added to the losses of the agriculturists. In such a time of distress the burden of the war-taxes was sorely felt, and in 1816 the House of Commons insisted on the abolition of the income-tax (see p. 840), which had been imposed by Pitt only for the duration of the war, and the Government was obliged, much against its will, to abandon it. 2. Manufacturing Distress. 1816.—In 1816 a bad harvest sent up the price of corn, but did not improve the condition of agriculturists, as they had but little corn to sell. The return of high prices for food seriously affected the condition of the artisans in the manufactories, who were at this time suffering from other causes as well. In the war-time England had had almost a monopoly on the Continent for its wares, because few men cared to build factories for the production of wares, when they might at any time be burnt or destroyed by a hostile army. This danger was now at an end, and as foreign nations began to increase their own produce, the demand for English goods diminished. The want of employment for labour which had diminished the demand at home for food also diminished the demand at home for manufactures. In 1816, accordingly, there was widely spread manufacturing distress in England. Bankruptcies were frequent, and thousands of workmen lost their employment. 3. The Factory-System. 1815-1816.-There was no public system of education for the poor, and the artisans had no means of learning what were the real causes of their misery. The factorysystem, which had grown up since the introduction of improved machinery, had spread discontent amongst the workers. Manufacturers, anxious only to make money, were careless of the lives and health of their workers, and there was no law intervening to secure more humane action. London parishes often sent off waggonloads of pauper children to the cotton mills in Yorkshire and Lancashire in order that they might be relieved of the expense of maintaining them, and the unfortunate children were frequently compelled to work, even at the age of six, fifteen or sixteen hours a day. Grown-up men and women found much of their work taken from them by the labour of the children, who were practically |