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 Blücher 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 followed 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 80s. 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 agricul turists. 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 1816-1817 DISTRESS AND DISTURBANCE 877 slaves, and they themselves, if they got work at all, had to labour for exceedingly long hours for exceedingly small wages. When, as in 1816, large numbers failed to get any work whatever, the starving multitude threw all the blame on the employers. 4. The Radicals. 1816-1817.-Towards the end of 1816 riots broke out in many places, which were only put down by soldiers. In many places the rioters directed their violence against machinery, to the existence of which they attributed their misery. Some men of better education laid all the blame upon the existing political system which placed power entirely in the hands of the rich, and called for complete and 'radical' reform, sometimes asking that it should be effected by violence. These men were, in consequence, styled 'Radicals,' and were looked upon as inspired-as indeed they were-with the ideas of the French Revolutionists. In December, 1816, there was in London a riot, known as the 'Spafields riot,' which was, however, repressed without difficulty. In the beginning of 1817 a number of secret committees were formed, and the most extensive changes demanded. 1817-1818. 5. Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. The Government was frightened. Its leading members were Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, Lord Castlereagh, the Foreign Secretary, and Lord Sidmouth, the Home Secretary, who had been formerly Prime Minister as Mr. Addington (see p. 843). They had all been engaged in combating the French Revolutionary ideas, and, when they saw these ideas making head in England, they could not think of any way to deal with them other than forcible repression. They had sufficient influence to carry through Parliament Bills for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act till the following year, and for the prevention of seditious meetings, the penalty of death being imposed on those who being engaged in such a meeting refused to disperse. The Government ignored the part which physical distress played in promoting disturbances. In Manchester, indeed, the dissatisfied workmen contented themselves with the simple expedient of marching in a body on foot to present a petition to the Regent, and as each petitioner took with him a blanket to keep himself warm, the expedition has been known as the March of the Blanketeers.' The Blanketeers were, however, stopped on the way, and never even approached the Regent, There was a talk afterwards of a rising in arms, but such designs, whatever they may really have been, were frustrated by the arrest of the ringleaders. Only in Nottinghamshire did they actually |