Beacon Lights of History, Volume 09: European Statesmen

Part 1

LORD'S LECTURES

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME IX

EUROPEAN STATESMEN.

BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.,

AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC.

CONTENTS.

MIRABEAU.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

First act of the Revolution Remote causes Louis XVI Derangement of finances Assembly of notables Mirabeau; his writings and extraordinary eloquence Assembly of States-General Usurpation of the Third Estate Mirabeau's ascendency Paralysis of government General disturbances; fall of the Bastille Extraordinary reforms by the National Assembly Mirabeau's conservatism Talleyrand, and confiscation of Church property Death of Mirabeau; his characteristics Revolutionary violence; the clubs The Jacobin orators The King arrested The King tried, condemned, and executed The Reign of Terror Robespierre, Marat, Danton Reaction The Directory Napoleon What the Revolution accomplished What might have been done without it Carlyle True principles of reform The guide of nations

EDMUND BURKE.

POLITICAL MORALITY.

Early life and education of Burke Studies law Essay on "The Sublime and Beautiful" First political step Enters Parliament Debates on American difficulties Burke opposes the government His remarkable eloquence and wisdom Resignation of the ministry Burke appointed Paymaster of the Forces Leader of his party in the House of Commons Debates on India Impeachment of Warren Hastings Defence of the Irish Catholics Speeches in reference to the French Revolution Denounces the radical reformers of France His one-sided but extraordinary eloquence His "Reflections on the French Revolution" Mistake in opposing the Revolution with bayonets His lofty character The legacy of Burke to his nation

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

Unanimity of mankind respecting the genius of Napoleon General opinion of his character The greatness of his services Napoleon at Toulon His whiff of grapeshot His defence of the Directory Appointed to the army of Italy His rapid and brilliant victories Delivers France Campaign in Egypt Renewed disasters during his absence Made First Consul His beneficent rule as First Consul Internal improvements Restoration of law Vast popularity of Napoleon His ambitious designs Made Emperor Coalition against him Renewed war Victories of Napoleon Peace of Tilsit Despair of Europe Napoleon dazzled by his own greatness Blunders Invasion of Spain and Russia Conflagration of Moscow and retreat of Napoleon The nations arm and attack him Humiliation of Napoleon Elba and St. Helena William the Silent, Washington, and Napoleon Lessons of Napoleon's fall Napoleonic ideas Imperialism hostile to civilization

PRINCE METTERNICH.

CONSERVATISM.

Europe in the Napoleonic Era Birth and family of Metternich University Life Metternich in England Marriage of Metternich Ambassador at Dresden Ambassador at Berlin Austrian aristocracy Metternich at Paris Metternich on Napoleon Metternich, Chancellor and Prime Minister Designs of Napoleon Napoleon marries Marie Louise Hostility of Metternich Frederick William III Coalition of Great Powers Congress of Vienna Subdivision of Napoleon conquests Holy Alliance Burdens of Metternich His political aims His hatred of liberty Assassination of von Kotzebue Insurrection of Naples Insurrection of Piedmont Spanish Revolution Death of Emperor Francis Tyranny of Metternich His character His services

CHATEAUBRIAND.

THE RESTORATION AND FALL OF THE BOURBONS.

Restoration of the Bourbons Louis XVIII Peculiarities of his reign Talleyrand His brilliant career Chateaubriand Génie du Christianisme Reaction against Republicanism Difficulties and embarrassments of the king Chateaubriand at Vienna His conservatism Minister of Foreign Affairs His eloquence Spanish war Septennial Bill Fall of Chateaubriand His latter days Death of Louis XVIII His character Accession of Charles X His tyrannical government Villèle Laws against the press Unpopularity of the king His political blindness Popular tumults Deposition of Charles X Rise of great men The salons of great ladies Kings and queens of society Their prodigious influence

GEORGE IV.

TORYISM.

Condition of England in 1815 The aristocracy The House of Commons The clergy The courts of law The middle classes The working classes Ministry of Lord Liverpool Lord Castlereagh George Canning Mr. Perceval Regency of the Prince of Wales His scandalous private life Caroline of Brunswick Death of George III Canning, Prime Minister His great services His death His character Popular agitations Catholic association Great political leaders O'Connell Duke of Wellington Catholic emancipation Latter days of George IV His death Brilliant constellation of great men

THE GREEK REVOLUTION.

Universal weariness of war on the fall of Napoleon Peace broken by the revolt of the Spanish colonies Agitation of political ideas Causes of the Greek Revolution Apathy of the Great Powers State of Greece on the outbreak of the revolution Character of the Greeks Ypsilanti His successes Atrocities of the Turks Universal rising of the Greeks Siege of Tripolitza Reverses of the Greeks Prince Mavrokordatos Ali Pasha The massacres at Chios Admiral Miaulis Marco Bozzaris Chourchid Pasha Deliverance of the Mona Greeks take Napoli di Romania Great losses of the Greeks Renewed efforts of the Sultan Dissensions of the Greek leaders Arrival of Lord Byron Interest kindled for the Greek cause in England London loans Siege and fall of Missolonghi Interference of Great Powers Ibraham Pasha Battle of Navarino Greek independence Capo d'Istrias Otho, King of Greece Results of the Greek Revolution

LOUIS PHILIPPE.

THE CITIZEN KING. Elevation of Louis Philippe His character Lafayette Lafitte Casimir Périer Disordered state of France Suppression of disorders Consolidation of royal power Marshal Soult Fortification of Paris Siege of Antwerp Public improvements First ministry of Thiers First ministry of Count Molé Abd-el-Kader Storming of Constantine Railway mania Death of Talleyrand Villemain Russian and Turkish wars Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi Lamartine Second administration of Thiers Removal of Napoleon's remains Guizot, Prime Minister Guizot as historian Conquest of Algeria Death of the Due d'Orléans The Spanish marriages Progress of corruption General discontents Dethronement of Louis Philippe His inglorious flight

Part 2

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME IX.

Napoleon Insists that Pope Pius VII. Shall Crown Him After the painting by Jean Paul Laurens.

Louis XVI. After the painting by P. Duménil, Gallery of Versailles.

Murder of Marat by Charlotte Corday After the painting by J. Weerts.

Edmund Burke After the painting by J. Barry, Dublin National Gallery.

Napoleon After the painting by Paul Delaroche.

"1807," Napoleon at Friedland After the painting by E. Meissonier.

Napoleon Informs Empress Josephine of His Intention to Divorce Her After the painting by Eleuterio Pagliano.

George IV. of England After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence, Rome.

The Congress of Vienna After the drawing by Jean Baptiste Isabey.

Daniel O'Connell After the painting by Doyle, National Gallery, Dublin.

Marco Bozzaris After the painting by J.L. Gerome.

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.

MIRABEAU.

A.D. 1749-1791.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

Three events of pre-eminent importance have occurred in our modern times; these are the Protestant Reformation, the American War of Independence, and the French Revolution.

The most complicated and varied of these great movements is the French Revolution, on which thousands of volumes have been written, so that it is impossible even to classify the leading events and the ever-changing features of that rapid and exciting movement. The first act of that great drama was the attempt of reformers and patriots to destroy feudalism,--with its privileges and distinctions and injustices,--by unscrupulous and wild legislation, and to give a new constitution to the State.

The best representative of this movement was Mirabeau, and I accordingly select him as the subject of this lecture. I cannot describe the violence and anarchy which succeeded the Reign of Terror, ending in a Directory, and the usurpation of Napoleon. The subject is so vast that I must confine myself to a single point, in which, however, I would unfold the principles of the reformers and the logical results to which their principles led.

The remote causes of the French Revolution I have already glanced at, in a previous lecture. The most obvious of these, doubtless, was the misgovernment which began with Louis XIV. and continued so disgracefully under Louis XV.; which destroyed all reverence for the throne, even loyalty itself, the chief support of the monarchy. The next most powerful influence that created revolution was feudalism, which ground down the people by unequal laws, and irritated them by the haughtiness, insolence, and heartlessness of the aristocracy, and thus destroyed all respect for them, ending in bitter animosities. Closely connected with these two gigantic evils was the excessive taxation, which oppressed the nation and made it discontented and rebellious. The fourth most prominent cause of agitation was the writings of infidel philosophers and economists, whose unsound and sophistical theories held out fallacious hopes, and undermined those sentiments by which all governments and institutions are preserved. These will be incidentally presented, as thereby we shall be able to trace the career of the remarkable man who controlled the National Assembly, and who applied the torch to the edifice whose horrid and fearful fires he would afterwards have suppressed. It is easy to destroy; it is difficult to reconstruct. Nor is there any human force which can arrest a national conflagration when once it is kindled: only on its ashes can a new structure arise, and this only after long and laborious efforts and humiliating disappointments.

It might have been possible for the Government to contend successfully with the various elements of discontent among the people, intoxicated with those abstract theories of rights which Rousseau had so eloquently defended, if it had possessed a strong head and the sinews of war. But Louis XVI., a modest, timid, temperate, moral young man of twenty-three, by the death of his father and elder brothers had succeeded to the throne of his dissolute grandfather at just the wrong time. He was a gentleman, but no ruler. He had no personal power, and the powers of his kingdom had been dissipated by his reckless predecessors. Not only was the army demoralized, and inclined to fraternize with the people, but there was no money to pay the troops or provide for the ordinary expenses of the Court. There was an alarming annual deficit, and the finances were utterly disordered. Successive ministers had exhausted all ordinary resources and the most ingenious forms of taxation. They made promises, and resorted to every kind of expediency, which had only a temporary effect. The primal evils remained. The national treasury was empty. Calonne and Necker pursued each a different policy, and with the same results. The extravagance of the one and the economy of the other were alike fatal. Nobody would make sacrifices in a great national exigency. The nobles and the clergy adhered tenaciously to their privileges, and the Court would curtail none of its unnecessary expenses. Things went on from bad to worse, and the financiers were filled with alarm. National bankruptcy stared everybody in the face.

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