Part 22

In China, after the ratification of the Nanking treaty, the five treaty ports were opened to all foreigners on the same footing as to Englishmen. Long before this, the Russians had already established themselves in certain parts of China. The smouldering resentment against the white men found vent in the truculent doings of the anti-foreign society of the "Green Water Lily" in Hoonan. Now trouble broke out in the Punjab. Jankoji Bao Sindia had died in February, and his widow, a girl of twelve, now ruled over the Sikhs. She outwitted her native Minister, who was supported by the British. Lord Ellenborough hastened to interfere. He ordered the British army to advance to Gwalior, under Sir Hugh Gough, in December. All Sindia made common cause against the foreigner. The Sikh warriors tried to oppose the British advance in two simultaneous battles at Maharajpore and Punniar, fought on the twenty-ninth day of December. Both engagements resulted in their defeat. The Queen and her Ministers submitted to England's terms. They were deposed. The Sikh army was reduced to 6,000 men.

1844

Tyler's scheme for the annexation of Texas to the North American Union was uppermost in American affairs from the outset of this year. After the retirement of Daniel Webster from the State Department, active efforts toward that end were begun. The Mexican Government, learning of this movement, notified the United States that annexation would be regarded as a cause for war. Texas first asked for American interference, and, failing in this, came to an agreement with Great Britain. In return for England's action in securing the recognition of independence by Mexico, Texas pledged itself not to be annexed to any other country. This agreement was approved in Mexico. The Texan debt was largely owed in England, and it was the policy of Lord Aberdeen, accordingly, to encourage her independence. In February, a note by Lord Aberdeen was transmitted to the American Government, stating that Great Britain desired to see slavery abolished in Texas, as elsewhere, but disclaimed any intention unduly to force that point. This statement in itself whetted the desire of the Southern States of the Union to incorporate Texas among the slave-holding States. Calhoun, who as early as 1836 had demanded the annexation of Texas on behalf of the interests of Southern slavery, was invited to join Tyler's Cabinet as Secretary of State. The office had been rendered vacant by the calamitous explosion of a new monster gun on the U.S.S. "Princeton," killing Secretary of State Upshar and Secretary Gilmer of the Navy in the immediate vicinity of President Tyler. Calhoun entered office on March 6, and on April 12 the Texan treaty of annexation was signed. On April 18, Calhoun answered Lord Aberdeen's note, declaring that "the British avowal made it the imperious duty of the Federal Government to conclude in self-defence a treaty of annexation with Texas." As to this transaction, Von Holst, Calhoun's biographer, has said: "It may not be correct to apply, without modification, the code of private ethics to politics; but, however flexible political morality may be, a lie is a lie, and Calhoun knew there was not a particle of truth in these assertions." The annexation treaty was held back in the American Senate until the Democratic Convention of 1844 had declared for the reannexation of Texas. In the hope that this would secure ratification the treaty was submitted in June, but the Senate once more rejected it by 35 to 16 votes. Undismayed by this, President Tyler within three days sent another message to the House of Representatives asking for reconsideration of the subject, but the matter went over until after the Presidential campaign in the autumn. Henry Clay's vacillating stand throughout this controversy proved fatal to his Presidential aspirations.

During this same year, the Indians surrendered the regions adjoining Lake Superior, which were promptly settled by white men. Iron was then discovered at Marquette and copper at Kewenaw Point. At Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Mormons had just erected a temple, their revival of patriarchal polygamy excited the wrath of the people. Riots broke out June 27. The Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, and his brother, who had been lodged in jail, were killed. Brigham Young thenceforth became the leader of the Mormons.

By means of a Congressional grant of $30,000, Samuel B.F. Morse constructed his first telegraph line over the forty miles between Baltimore and Washington. The first message, "What hath God wrought?" is still preserved by the Connecticut Historical Society. Before this Alfred Vail had perfected his telegraph code of alphabetical signs, with his dry point reading register and relay key. Now Ezra Cornell contributed his invention of an inverted cup of glass for insulating live wires. Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford, Connecticut, first employed nitrous oxide gas, popularly known as laughing gas, in extracting one of his own teeth.

In England, Faraday published his first "Experimental Researches in Electricity." The anonymous publication of "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," containing the first enunciation of Darwin's doctrine of the origin of species by evolution, was followed by a storm of controversy. Another subject for controversy was furnished by the invention of the new tonic system in music (Do re mi fa). Kingsley brought out his "Village Sermons," while Max Müller came into prominence by his new edition and translation of "Hitopadesa," a collection of old Hindu fables. The necrology of the year in England includes John Dalton, the physicist, and Sir Francis Burdett, the parliamentarian and popular leader, who did so much for liberty of speech and of the press. John Dalton, a strangely original genius, and perhaps the greatest theoretical chemist of his generation, first came into prominence by showing that water existed in air as an independent gas. The wonderful theory of atoms, on which the whole gigantic structure of modern chemistry rests, was the logical outgrowth of the original conception of this country-bred, self-taught Quaker.

A feature of the year was the sensational trial of Daniel O'Connell and his associates on charges of sedition in Ireland. On May 30, O'Connell was sentenced to imprisonment for one year and fined £2,000. After Lord Heytesbury's advent as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland the judgment of the Irish Court of Queen's Bench against O'Connell was reversed and O'Connell and his associates were liberated. Baring's bill for a renewal of the Bank of England's charter was passed with a handsome government majority. The new Royal Exchange was opened by the Queen in October. Another measure which was speedily passed through Parliament, owing to the slight importance attached to it, was Gladstone's bill requiring the railroads of England to provide proper accommodations and to run cheap trains daily. The government was authorized, with the approval of Parliament, to undertake the gradual purchase of all existing railways before the year 1866. At this same time there were but fourteen miles of railroad in all British America. Minor events of importance to Englishmen were the foundation of the Young Men's Christian Association by certain drygoods clerks of London, and the demolition of the notorious Fleet Prison, made immortal by the novels of Dickens.

The discovery of gold in South Australia drew hordes of immigrants to that colony. Others were attracted to America by the discovery of diamonds in Brazil. In the West Indies, the successful rising against President Boyer of Hayti resulted in the foundation of the Black Republic of Santo Domingo. President Rivière, at the head of 20,000 negroes from Hayti, was defeated and had to abandon his attempt to subdue the Dominicans. Guerrier superseded him as President of Hayti. The warlike spirit of these negroes spread to the neighboring island of Cuba. Various armed risings of the blacks in the province of Santiago and elsewhere were sternly put down by the Spaniards and their white descendants in Cuba.

A bloodless revolution in Greece resulted in the dismissal of King Otto's Bavarian Ministry and the King's acceptance of a Constitution, which left the King almost as absolute as before. Yet his government was weak and slipshod. The wretched fiscal system and heavy taxation of the old Turkish régime were retained, while ill-managed innovations from Bavaria, such as military conscription, drove large numbers to brigandage. As an American traveller remarked at the time: "The whole Greek Government is one enormous job."

The long-smouldering discontent of the common people in Italy and Sicily, fomented by the secret agitation of such men as Mazzini and Garibaldi, found premature vent in a popular insurrection in Calabria. The revolt was ruthlessly put down. The patriotic leaders, Attilio and Emilio Bandiero, with eighteen others, were shot for their part in the affair.

On March 8, Bernadotte, latterly known as King Charles XIV. of Sweden, died in his eighty-first year. During the last years of his reign he received many signs of love and appreciation from his adopted people, notably on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coronation. Shortly before his death this self-made king asserted with good reason: "No one living has made a career like mine."

The reign of Bernadotte produced a new line of eminent scientists and was the golden age of Swedish literature. Berzelius remolded the science of chemistry and founded theoretical chemistry. Elias Fries devised a new system of botany. Sven Nilsson, a distinguished zoologist, also became the founder of a new science, comparative archeology. Schlyter brought out a complete collection of the old Scandinavian laws, a work of equal importance to philology and jurisprudence. Ling invented the Swedish system of gymnastics and founded the Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm, where his Swedish massage or movement cure was further developed. Geijer, as a philosopher, was a follower of Hoeijer, while as a historian he attained foremost rank in Sweden. As a poet and composer, Geijer also attained noteworthy success. Professor of History at Upsala, he was accused of atheism, but acquitted. His political career was equally remarkable. Geijer was a firm supporter of the government until fifty-seven years of age, when he joined the opposition. Swedish writers were divided in factions as opposed to each other as political parties. The old Gustavian school, of which Leopold remained the last representative, was attacked by the "New School," which was inspired by German Romanticism. Of this so-called "phosphoristic" school Atterbom was the leader. Stagnelius, the young poet, who died early, belonged to the same group. The New School was in turn opposed by the Gothic Society or Scandinavian School, among whom were Ling and Geijer. Franzen and Wallin devoted themselves to religious poetry. The most famous of all modern Swedish poets was Esaias Tegnér, whose "Frithiof's Saga" achieved an international reputation. Politically, he was conspicuous for his inveterate hostility to the "Holy Alliance" and its reactionary spirit in state, church and literature.

Bernadotte's son, Oscar I., was forty-five years old when he ascended the throne. Like his father, he was a patron of the fine arts. Upon his accession several important reforms were at once enacted by the new Riksdag. It was decided that this assembly should meet every third instead of every fifth year; the liberty of the press was extended, and equal rights were accorded to women in certain matters of inheritance and of marriage. This last reform aroused so much criticism that a powerful opposition was organized in the Riksdag, under the leadership of Hartmansdorff and Bishop Wingan.

Albert Bertal Thorvaldsen, the great Danish sculptor, died suddenly on March 25, at Copenhagen. Thorvaldsen was the son of an Icelandic sailor, who incidentally earned a living by carving wooden figure-heads for ships. The boy was born at sea, in 1770, while his mother was making a voyage to Copenhagen. At the age of twenty-four, young Thorvaldsen, who had attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Copenhagen, won the grand prize, which enabled him to pursue his studies at Rome. His first work was the model of a colossal statue of Jason, a marble execution of which was ordered by Thomas Hope, the English banker. For this work Thorvaldsen asked six hundred sequins. Hope offered him eight hundred. Yet Thorvaldsen did not fulfil his contract with Hope until fourteen years had passed. At the house of Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt, in Rome, Thorvaldsen met Count von Moltke, who commissioned him to execute two statues of Bacchus and Ariadne. About the same time he made his famous "Cupid and Psyche" for the Countess von Ronzov. The fame of these statues and others was such that the Academy of Copenhagen bestowed upon the young sculptor another prize of four hundred crowns.

In the spring of 1805 Thorvaldsen made his first important bass-relief, "The Abduction of Brisëis," which still remains one of the most celebrated of the sculptor's works. Orders now began to come in from all over the world. Marquis Torlogna commissioned Thorvaldsen to make companion pieces to Canova's famous group "Hercules and Lycas" in the Palazzo Brazzino, while a government representative of the United States offered to pay five thousand crowns apiece for colossal statues of a Liberty and a Victory to be erected in the city of Washington. These and other works Thorvaldsen was prevented from executing by his unfortunate entanglement with Signora d'Uhden, whose fits of jealousy imbittered his life. About this time the sculptor formed life-long friendships with his German fellow-sculptor, Rauch, and with Prince Louis of Bavaria, who commissioned him to execute an Adonis for the Munich Museum, and to restore the Ægean marbles lately acquired by that prince. Napoleon's visit to Rome in 1811 resulted in a characteristic order. The Emperor left to Thorvaldsen the choice of the subject, but gave him only three months' time wherein to finish his models. The sculptor accordingly executed his colossal frieze presenting the "Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon." It remains one of the largest and most ambitious of Thorvaldsen's works. It was intended for the Temple of Glory, now the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, and the price stipulated by Napoleon was 320,000 francs. Before Thorvaldsen could execute the frieze in marble, Napoleon suffered his reverses and was exiled to Elba. The Bourbon Government in France refused to take the monument. A replica in marble now adorns the Palace of Christianborg in Denmark. No less abortive was Thorvaldsen's undertaking of a great monument intended to commemorate the re-establishment of Poland. The monument was ordered in 1812, after Napoleon's entry into Warsaw. By the time the work was finished Poland was no more. To the year 1815 belong Thorvaldsen's famous bass-reliefs "The Workshop of Vulcan," "Achilles and Priam," and the two well-known medallions, "Morning" and "Night," which were reproduced a thousand-fold throughout Europe. They were conceived, it is said, during a sleepless night, and were modelled in one day.

Despite the urgent requests of his countrymen, Thorvaldsen would not be weaned from Rome. About this time Thorvaldsen produced his famous "Dancing Girl," "Love Victorious," "Ganymede and the Eagle," and "A Young Shepherd with his Dog." It was then, too, that he modelled the portrait of Lord Byron which served for the monument subsequently erected to that poet in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

At last, after thirty-three years of absence from home, Thorvaldsen resolved to return to Denmark. On the way he stopped at Luzerne in Switzerland, and there executed the famous Lion of Luzerne, carved into the solid rock of the Alps. When he modelled this monument, Thorvaldsen had never seen a live lion. From Luzerne, Thorvaldsen proceeded straight to Copenhagen. He was received like a royal sovereign. At Copenhagen the artist began his great series of sculptural embellishments for the Cathedral. As completed, they comprised almost all his works on religious subjects, among them the colossal "Christ and the Twelve Apostles," the grand frieze of "Christ on the Road to Calvary," "The Baptism of Christ," "The Preachings of St. John the Baptist," "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem," and "The Lord's Supper." From Copenhagen Thorvaldsen went to Warsaw, where he executed a bust of Emperor Alexander, and an equestrian statue of Prince Poniatovski. This monument did not reach Warsaw until 1829. It was never put up. What became of it is still a matter of conjecture.

As a sculptor, Thorvaldsen's name will always be linked with that of his great rival and contemporary, Canova. Both sculptors are equally remarkable for the way they returned to the classic traditions of Hellenic sculpture. It can be said of them that they bridged the chasm of nearly two thousand years that had elapsed between antiquity and modern times. It was reserved to their successors to introduce a modern note in sculpture. Like Canova, Thorvaldsen exerted great influence on almost all the sculptors who came to Rome in his day. Thus Rauch declared himself indebted to him for the purity of his style. From his school in turn issued Riechel of Dresden, Drake, Wolff and Blauser of Cologne. Among the friends of Thorvaldsen, who profited by his councils, were Dannecker, Schadow and Schwanthaler. At Rome, Tenerini, Louis Bienaimé, Pierre Galli and Emile Wolff proved themselves apt pupils of the Danish master, while, at Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen's influence was kept alive by Bisson.

In France two other great personages of Napoleonic days passed away with Joseph Bonaparte, the great Napoleon's brother and quondam king of Naples and Spain, and Jacques Lafitte, Napoleon's banker, to whose honor were intrusted the millions left behind by Napoleon, when he fled from Paris. More lamented than their death, perhaps, was that of Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the great French naturalist. Born in 1772, he first came into prominence as the curator of the wild animals in the Jardin des Plantes. Here he formed his life-long friendship with Cuvier. General Bonaparte took him along on the expedition to Egypt, where Saint-Hilaire helped found the Institute of Cairo. In 1807 he was admitted into the French Institute, and two years later was appointed Professor of Zoology and Comparative Physiology in the Faculty of Sciences. This chair he retained until his death. Starting as a pure zoologist, Saint-Hilaire became the founder of the science of philosophical anatomy. This new doctrine was fully expounded in his "Philosophie Anatomique" (1818-1822). Other important works of Saint-Hilaire were "Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères," collaborated with Cuvier (1819-1837); "Principes de la Philosophie Zoologique" (1830), and "Etudes Progressives d'un Naturaliste." During this same year Comte published his "Discours sur l'Esprit Positive." Père Lacordaire brought out his "Funeral Orations," while Charles Lenormais, with others, published the great French work on "Ceramographic Monuments." Practical effect to the teachings of Saint-Simon, Fourier and Louis Blanc was given by the establishment of the so-called Crèches, or infant asylums for the temporary care of children of working mothers. The greatest literary success of the year was that of Alexandre Dumas's serial novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo."

The foreign affairs of France throughout this year were conducted by Guizot. As a result of the military occupation of Algiers, war with Morocco broke out in May. The Prince de Joinville bombarded and captured the fortified town of Mogador. Marshal Buguead won a signal victory over the Moors on the banks of Isly. After the defeat of the rebellious subjects of the Sultan of Morocco, this potentate, Abder Rahman, made common cause with the French against Abd-el-Kader. A French treaty with China was negotiated by Guizot in October. In regard to the vexed problem of Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands an understanding was reached with the other Powers. Amends were made to England for the French indignities to the British Consul at Tahiti, while the independence of Hawaii was guaranteed by a joint declaration of France, Great Britain and the United States. Toward the close of the year the uncertainties of government in Spain were once more made manifest by a military insurrection, headed by General Zurbano.

1845

At the beginning of the year, in America, came a literary sensation of unwonted brilliancy. In the New York "Evening Mirror," January 29, Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem "The Raven" was reprinted from the advance sheets of "The American Whig Review," in which the name of the author was masked under the pseudonym of "Quarles." The poem was copied all over America and soon reached England. Baudelaire translated it into French. As Poe's biographer, Woodberry, has said: "No great poem ever established itself so immediately, so widely and so imperishably in men's minds." A literary tradition has it that Poe only received ten dollars for this masterpiece, and had to wait a year and more for his money.

War between the United States of North America and Mexico was now seen to be inevitable. On January 25, a joint resolution for the annexation of Texas passed through the American House of Representatives by a vote of 120 to 98, and through the Senate by 27 over 25 votes. On March 1, President Tyler signed the bill. The tactics by which Texas was annexed were similar to those by which the Missouri Compromise had been forced through Congress in 1820, and the nullification compromise in 1833. It meant a distinct gain for the pro-slavery party in the United States, and was denounced as such by the abolitionists of the North. Both in Mexico and in the United States active preparations were now made for war. American ships were still welcomed in the ports of Mexico, the more so since many of them brought needed munitions of war. In the United States strenuous efforts were made to settle all pending differences with other countries. In February, Great Britain had already accepted the forty-ninth parallel as a boundary line agreeable to the governments of both countries, and soon the Oregon boundary dispute was likewise settled by treaty. Caleb Cushing's treaty with China was ratified by the Senate. Florida was admitted into the Union on March 3, the day before Tyler ceased to be President. James K. Polk succeeded him as the eleventh President. He had represented Tennessee in the House for fourteen years, serving twice as Speaker. Having declined the re-election to Congress, he was chosen Governor of his State. His nomination to the Presidency had been brought about by accident. Immediately after his inauguration, Polk appointed James Buchanan as his Secretary of State. Polk in his inaugural address suggested a settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute with England on the line of 54° 40'. The Democratic platform of 1844 had declared: "Fifty-four-forty, or fight." In other words, both Great Britain and the United States claimed the country on the Columbia River. When Calhoun proposed a line of boundary along the forty-ninth degree of latitude, the British Ministry made a counter proposition, accepting the line to the summit and thence along the Columbia River to the Pacific. Despite much talk of war, Calhoun's successor in the end accepted the British proposition of a boundary along the line of forty degrees, continuing to the ocean.

By the aid of the Whig Senators a treaty on this basis was approved by the Senate. With this question out of the way, the brunt of preparing for war now fell upon the new administration. Troops were massed within striking distance, and General Taylor was put in command of the American army. He proceeded to St. Joseph's Island, and from there crossed over to Corpus Christi on the mainland, near the mouth of the Neuces. At this point more troops were concentrated to remain in winter quarters until the opening of hostilities. On June 8, Andrew Jackson died at "The Hermitage" in Tennessee. He had lived there quietly ever since his retirement from the Presidency. One of his last acts was to write a public letter to President Polk, wherein he urged him to prompt action in the Oregon boundary matter so as to be ready for decisive measures in Texas.

The frustration of the British attempt to keep slavery out of Texas was offset in other directions. A convention was concluded between Ecuador and Great Britain to suppress slave trading in that region. In Cuba, likewise, General Concha took measures for the total suppression of the slave trade. A law was passed making the trade a criminal offence in the Spanish West Indies. The government of Spain after much reluctance recognized the independence of Venezuela. Affairs in Spain had taken a new turn. On January 21, General Zurbano was betrayed into the hands of his enemies and was shot. The Cortes adopted a reactionary constitution.

In France, a Liberal majority in the Chambers, after a prolonged struggle, brought about the expulsion of the Jesuits. In the midst of this movement, Cavaignac, the great opposition journalist, expired. The French war in Algeria by this time had degenerated into mere guerilla fighting. The chief event of the year brought execration upon the arms of France. A tribe of Kabyles had taken refuge in the caves of Dahra. Unable to dislodge them from there, General Pelissier gave orders to smoke them out. Some five hundred of the tribesmen, among them women, children and aged people, were suffocated.

Colonial extension in other parts of the world was carried on in like aggressive manner. Thus a joint expedition of France and Great Britain made an attack on Tamatave in Madagascar, but failed of success. Another joint expedition of the two powers forced the Republic of Argentine to concede free navigation of the La Plata River. From China concessions were wrested by which Christian missionaries were to be admitted to all of the five treaty ports. As a consequence of these concessions a virulent hatred of the foreigners sprang up among the common people of China. In South Africa, Governor-General Maitland of Cape Colony earned the everlasting hatred of the Boers by sending out an armed expedition to assist the black warriors of Griqualand against the Boers. In India, affairs at Lahore had reached a crisis. There the boy Maharajah, with his regent mother and her favorite sirdar, Lal Singh, were at the mercy of their Sikh soldiery. To save themselves they determined to launch their army upon the British.

British enterprise found a vent in other ways beyond colonial conquests. In the spring of this year Sir John Franklin sailed out once more with the "Erebus" and "Terror," in quest of the Northwest Passage. The last message from him was received in July. News also reached England that he had entered Lancaster Sound, but it was long after that before anything was heard concerning him. Since then more than thirty Arctic expeditions have searched in vain for the body of Franklin. About the same time that Franklin sailed on this expedition, a great fire in Quebec destroyed 1,650 houses, rendering 12,000 people homeless. Just one month later, on June 29, a second fire destroyed 1,365 houses. Two-thirds of the city was laid in ashes. Another serious calamity was the Irish famine of this year, caused by the failure of the potato crop. The distress thus occasioned increased the agitation against the corn laws. As during the preceding year, great mass meetings were held in Birmingham and Manchester. Sir Robert Peel, early in the year, had showed his new leanings toward free trade, by the introduction of a bill for the abolition of import duties on no less than four hundred and thirty articles. The government's discrimination in favor of the duties on sugar provoked a long debate in Parliament. Gladstone continued to support his old colleagues in the government, while Cobden and Bright led the opposition on the floor of the House. By the time Parliament was prorogued in August, the Ministry had won a complete victory. The spread of the famine during the summer, when almost all harvests failed, reacted powerfully upon the government. A strong public letter from the pen of Lord Russell brought the precarious position of the government home to the Cabinet. Sir Robert Peel admitted the necessity of an absolute repeal of the corn laws. Rather than confess such a complete change of position, Peel's Cabinet resigned. Lord Russell was summoned to form a new Cabinet.