READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

A HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE : A.D. 1453-1900

CHAPTER LXX.

THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848

THE new French Government proceeded to consolidate itself. Louis Blanc was appointed “Minister of Progress,” as a pledge for the furtherance of the “organization of labour.” The Luxembourg, abandoned by the Peers, received a new senate in a committee of labourers and mechanics, who there discussed their interests and demands. At their head was Albert, a workman in a blouse, who had obtained a place in the Government next to Louis Blanc. The scheme adopted was to open large national workshops, where all who applied might find employment and wages. Thus the State was converted into a manufacturing firm, to whose service, as the pay was good, and the superintendence not over strict, flocked all the lazy, skulking mechanics of Paris and its neighbourhood. They soon numbered 80,000, to be maintained at the public expense, to the ruin of private tradesmen. Thus the Revolution of 1848 was not like that of 1830, merely political, but social also, like the first Revolution, but based on such absurd, though less inhuman principles, that the speedy fall of the new system was inevitable.

The Provisional Government was recognized throughout France. Marshal Bugeaud acknowledged its authority, and was followed by the whole army. The Duc d’Aumale, who commanded in Algiers, surrendered his post to General Changarnier, and proceeded to England with his brother the Duc de Joinville, who had hitherto commanded the French fleet. The Provisional Government superseded Changamier by Cavaignac, the brother of an influential republican. The priests also submitted, for the Church was not threatened with persecution. After the interval of a fortnight the prefect of police drove out the crowd which had taken possession of the Tuileries, and that palace was converted into an hospital for old and infirm labourers. The same dangerous elements were, however, afloat as in the first Revolution, and if they did not gain the ascendency it was because the higher and middle classes, instructed by experience, actively opposed them. The inscriptions of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, struck the eye on every side; the titles of Monsieur and Madame again gave place to those of Citoyen and Citoyenne; the Goddess of Liberty with her red cap appeared at every public festival, and trees of liberty were planted in all the public places. Low journals were published under the names of La Guillotine, La Carmagnole, etc., which adopted all the slang of sans-culottisme, and exhorted to plunder and murder in the style of Marat. The ultra-democrats Cabat, Blanqui, and Raspail formed a sort of triumvirate, and incited the Communist clubs to proceed to extremities. They attempted to put down Lamartine and the more moderate party, and to establish a Red Republic under Ledru Rollin. But the citizens and National Guards were on the alert. A mob having been collected, April 16th, to petition for an alteration in the relations between master and servant, 100,000 National Guards assembled to preserve the peace, and shouted, A bas Cabat! à bas le communisme! From this day the extreme party was defeated.

The National Assembly met at Paris, May 4th. The majority of it were men of moderate opinions, some even desired a reaction; yet when Dupont de l’Eure, in the name of the Provisional Government, resigned its power into their hands, a Republic was voted by acclamation, and an Executive Com­mission was appointed to conduct the public business till the new Constitution should be established. The members of the Commission were Lamartine, Arago, Garnier Pages, Marie, and Ledru Rollin; and Louis Blanc, Albert, and the Socialists were excluded. A mob of Socialists and Communists broke into the Assembly, May 15th, and endeavoured to enforce a government in conformity with their views, but the attempt failed. This party was entirely overawed by the force displayed at a grand review held on May 21st; after which, Barbes, Albert, and Hubert were indicted and sentenced to transportation, and Blanqui to seven years’ imprisonment. Louis Blanc was also indicted, but escaped by flight.

When the news of the Revolution arrived in England, Prince Napoleon, who had in May, 1846, succeeded in escaping to that country from his prison at Ham, immediately set off for Paris; but returned, in compliance with the wishes of the Provisional Government. On the 8th of June he was elected a representative for Paris, and he was also returned in the departments of Charente and Yonne. Two of his cousins, Napoleon, son of Jerome, and Peter, son of Lucien, sat in the Assembly. These movements of the Bonaparte family excited the apprehension of Lamartine, who attempted to obtain with regard to Louis Napoleon the enforcement of the old decree for the banishment of the Emperor Napoleon’s posterity. Louis Napoleon, thinking that his opportunity was not yet arrived, thanked the electors who had returned him, and declared himself ready to discharge any duties which the people might intrust to him, but for the present he remained in London.

An attempt of the Government to dismiss part of the work­men from the ateliers nationaux produced one of the fiercest battles Paris had yet seen. These workmen, who now numbered near 100,000, and were regularly drilled, threw up barricades more artificially constructed than any that had yet been made, and defended them with desperation. The battle began on the 23rd of June, and lasted four days; but the insurgents were at length subdued by the superior force of the troops of the line and the National Guards. Many of the latter had come up from the provincial towns to aid in the suppression of Socialism. Some thousands of persons fell in this sanguinary affray, among them the venerable Monseigneur Affre, Archbishop of Paris, while exhorting the rioters to peace. General Cavaignac, who had been appointed Dictator during the struggle, now laid down his office, but was appointed chief of the Executive Commission with the title of President of the Council.

The fear which Socialism had inspired had produced among the more educated classes a reaction in favour of monarchy. The national workshops were now suppressed, as well as all clubs and the revolutionary press. Even Lamartine and Cavaignac lost their popularity, and persons like Thiers began to appear, and to give a different direction to affairs. Cavaig­nac, however, who now directed the Government of France, had little personal ambition; he aimed at preserving peace both abroad and at home, and avoiding the extremes either of Socialism or despotism. Besides the Republicans and Socialists three parties were in the field—the Legitimists, or adherents of Charles X’s dynasty, the Orleanists, and the Bonapartists. Louis Napoleon had remained quietly in London till he was again elected a representative for Paris, as well as for four departments—the Moselle, Yonne, Lower Charente, and Corsica. He now returned to France, and after making a short speech in the Assembly, September 26th, took no further part in the debates. Meanwhile the new Constitution was prepared—a Republic, headed by a President elected every four years, but almost entirely dependent on the National Assembly. For the Presidency became candidates Louis Napoleon, Cavaignac, Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, and Raspail, the representative of the Socialists. In his address to the electors, Louis Napoleon promised order at home, peace abroad, a reduction of taxes, and a ministry chosen from the best and most able men of all parties. But the educated classes of Frenchmen entertained at this time a contempt for his abilities, and his pretensions were ridiculed by the newspapers. The peasantry and the common soldiers were his chief supporters. Thiers, however, and other intriguers of Louis Philippe’s time, advocated his claims; but only in the expectation that he would display his incapacity, and serve as a stepping-stone to the restoration of the Orleans dynasty, while others supported him from envy and jealousy of Cavaignac. The election took place December 10th, when Napoleon obtained five and a half million votes, while Cavaignac, who stood next, had only about one and a half million, and the other candidates but very small numbers. Napoleon was installed in the office which he had thus triumphantly won, December 20th, and took up his resid­ence in the Elysée. He appointed Odillon Barrot Minister of Justice, Drouyn de Lhuys to the Foreign Office, Malleville to the Home Office, General Rulhiere to the War Department, De Tracy to the Navy, and Passy to the administration of the finances. To Marshal Bugeaud was intrusted the command of the army, and to Changarnier that of the National Guard; while Jerome Bonaparte, ex-king of Westphalia, was made Governor of the Invalides.

GERMANY

The shock of the French Revolution of 1848, like that of the previous one, vibrated through Europe. The Germans were among the first to feel its influence.

The Imperial throne of Austria was now occupied by Ferdinand I. Francis, the last of the Romano-German and the first of the Austrian Emperors, after an eventful reign which had commenced almost contemporaneously with the first French Republic, died March 2nd, 1835. His son and successor would have been still less fitted for such eventful times. Ferdinand was the personification of good nature, but weak both in body and mind, without any knowledge of business, and led by his Minister, Prince Metternich. The death of the English King William IV in 1837 had also vacated the crown of Hanover, and severed it from its connection with Great Britain. Victoria, our late gracious Sovereign, who then ascended the throne of England on the death of her uncle, was disqualified by her sex, according to the laws of Hanover, from succeeding to that crown, which consequently devolved to her uncle Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. One of the first acts of the new King’s reign was to abolish the Constitution which had been established in 1833, and to restore that of 1819. But this coup d'état was attended with no more serious result than the resignation of seven Gottingen professors.

King Frederick William III of Prussia died June 7th, 1840. Of this King it may be said, that as few Sovereigns of modern times have experienced greater misfortunes and humiliations, so few or none more richly deserved them by the vacillation and timidity of his counsels, his want of all political principle, and his treachery towards his neighbours and allies. His son and successor Frederick William IV began his reign with some liberal measures, which, however, soon appeared to be the effects of weakness rather than of wisdom and benevolence. Prussia had been promised a Representative Constitution in 1815, but nothing had yet been done. Frederick William IV summoned to Berlin a sort of Diet or Parliament, not, however, in the spirit of this promise, but merely composed of the provincial assemblies united together. The King opened this mock assembly April 11th with a fine sentimental speech, in which he observed that he would never allow a sheet of paper —that is, a Charter—to stand like a second Providence between him and the country! He complained of the spirit of inn­vation and infidelity that was abroad, and with that union of religion with despotism affected by the two most powerful of the Northern Courts, explained, “I and my house will serve the Lord.” The Chamber, in their address, claimed, but in vain, the promised Representative Constitution.

A trifling insurrection having occurred in Poland in 1846, Prussia and Russia agreed that the Republic of Cracow should be incorporated with Austria; which accordingly took place in November, in spite of the opposition of Lord Palmerston, the English Minister.

In Hungary, after the death of the Archduke Stephen, the Palatine, his son Joseph was elected to that high office. In 1847 the Emperor Ferdinand himself proceeded into Hungary, to be crowned with the holy crown of St. Stephen as King Ferdinand V. Instead of the usual Latin oration, he spoke on this occasion in the Hungarian tongue; a circumstance which increased the hopes of the Magyars of forcing, with their own language, their desires also of independence on the Slav­onians, Germans, and Wallachians living in Hungary. Kossuth now distinguished himself as the most eloquent speaker and most influential member of the Opposition. The States of Bohemia also exerted themselves for the freedom of the press and the right of self-taxation; and even in Austria itself projects of reform were agitated.

It was about 1846 that complications began to arise concerning the Danish boundary. The old King, Frederick VI, had died in 1839. He was succeeded by his great nephew, Christian VIII, then fifty-four years of age, whose only son, Frederick, did not promise to leave any posterity. In the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, females were excluded from succeeding to the Sovereignty, though, as we have seen, such was not the case in Denmark. Frederick’s aunt, Charlotte, sister of Christian VIII, was therefore next heir to the throne of that Kingdom, in the event of Frederick’s death. Charlotte was the mother of Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse, who had married in 1844 the Grand Duchess Alexandra, daughter of the Emperor Nicholas; and hence the Imperial family of Russia had obtained a near interest in the Danish succession. On the other hand, Duke Christian, of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, as the nearest male agnate of the Danish Royal family, began to entertain hopes of succeeding in Schleswig and Holstein, and did everything that lay in his power to support the German party in those Duchies. But in 1846 King Christian VIII, in the interests of Russian policy, issued letters patent extending the Danish law of female succession to the whole of his dominions, thus annihilating with the stroke of a pen all the hopes of the German party in Schleswig and Holstein.

The Germans now began an agitation on this subject, in which they confounded the totally distinct rights of Schleswig and Holstein. The latter Duchy having an entirely German population, and being a member of the German Confederation, its affairs came properly under the consideration of the German Diet. With Schleswig the case was entirely different. That Duchy was ceded to Canute, King of Denmark and Eng­land, by the Emperor Conrad II, in 1030, when the boundary of the Eyder was re-established as the natural one of Denmark; while Holstein did not come under the dominion of the Danish Crown till 1460, in the reign of Christian I, Count of Oldenburg, who had claims on the female side. The German Bund had no right to interfere with the internal affairs of Schleswig. At most, as an international, not a national question, it had a right to demand that the claims of the German agnates to the succession should be respected. About half of the inhabitants of Schleswig, however, spoke Low German, and this portion of the population desired that the union of the two Duchies should be maintained, and that both should, if possible, be incorporated with the German Bund. This sufficed to produce in Germany an agitation in their favour, especially as the question opened up the prospect of territorial aggrandizement, and the acquisition of ports on the North Sea. The rights of the two Duchies were confounded, and the enthusiasm of the Germans was excited by articles in newspapers, and by the popular song Schleswig-Holstein meer-umschlungen. Meetings were held in Holstein, and the German Diet promised that the rights of the Bund and the succession of the legal agnates should be asserted, A meeting in Holstein, was dispersed by the Danish military; but the peace was not further disturbed, and matters remained in this posture till the death of Christian VIII, January 20th, 1848. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick VII, and a few weeks after, the French Revolution broke out.

The Schleswig-Holstein question. The Baden Resolutions.

This event not only inflamed the Schleswig-Holstein question, but also, as we have said, set all Germany in combustion. In the smaller States it displayed itself in a desire for German unity, while in the Austrian dominions it produced an insurrection of the Hungarians, Slavs, and Italians. Revolutionary symptoms first appeared on the banks of the Rhine. At Mannheim the people assembled and demanded a German Parliament, the freedom of the press, and the arming of the people. Similar disturbances took place at Karlsruhe. A day or two after Welker further demanded, in the Chamber of the States of Baden, that the Bund should abrogate all its unpopular resolutions, that the military should take an oath to the Constitution, that persons of all religious denominations should be placed on a footing of perfect political equality, that Ministers should be made responsible, that all feudal burdens still remaining should be abolished, that taxation should be more equally distributed, that labour should be protected, and lastly, that the Ministry should be purified. These resolutions became the programme of the Revolutionists throughout Germany. The peasants from the surrounding country had flocked in crowds to Karlsruhe, and in the following night the hotel of the Foreign Minister was burnt down. The Grand Duke of Baden now promised everything demanded. Similar movements took place in Darmstadt and Nassau. In the Electorate of Hesse, a “Commission of the People” was established at Hanau, which threatened to depose the Elector if he did not grant all their demands within three days. On the 10th of March everything was conceded. Similar concessions were made in Oldenburg, Brunswick, and other of the smaller States. The Governments of the larger middle States, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, alone opposed any resistance to the people, till Austria and Prussia were likewise observed to be in confusion. Commotions also arose in Switzerland, where Radicalism was now triumphant. The seven Catholic Cantons, Lucerne, Schwytz, Uri, Unterwalden, Zug, Freiburg, and the Valais, had in 1846 united against the attacks of the others, and formed what was called the Sonderbund; but this league was soon overthrown by the Swiss Radicals under Dufour. In 1848 Free Bands were organized in Switzerland to aid the es­tablishment of a Republic in Germany. Applications were also made to the French Government for aid in that project, which, however, was refused.

The leaders of the Opposition in various German Chambers held a meeting at Heidelberg, March 8th, and published a proclamation to the German people, promising them a national representation, and inviting them to attend a grand assembly, or as they called it, Vor-parlament, in which a representative system was to be prepared. The smaller German Sovereigns met the movement by making the leaders of the Constitutionalists their Ministers, or by appointing them to the Diet. Austria and Prussia concerted together a reform of the Confederation, and published a declaration, March 10th, that a Congress of Princes would assemble at Dresden on the 15th, to take the proposed reform in hand. But the Congress was prevented by Austria herself becoming absorbed in the revolutionary vortex.

The whole strength of that vast but ill-compacted Empire seemed to collapse in a single day. When the news of the French Revolution arrived in Hungary, Kossuth carried in the Diet at Pesth an address to the Emperor, March 3rd, demanding “a National Government, purged from all foreign influence.” Addresses for reform were also got up in Vienna itself, in some of which the dismissal of Metternich was demanded. Kossuth had agents in the Austrian capital, who read to the Viennese his address to the Hungarian Diet. After a slight attempt to put down the people by force, that method was abandoned, and the Archduke Louis, the Emperor’s uncle, advised him to yield to their demands. Prince Metternich now quitted Vienna for London, and the Emperor granted freedom of the press, a national guard, and a Liberal Constitution for the whole Empire. A national guard was immediately formed, and kept the mob in order. Kossuth made a sort of triumphal entry into Vienna by torch-light, March 15th, at the head of a numerous Hungarian deputation, which, accompanied by several thousand armed men, with banners and music, proceeded to the Burg to deliver the Hungarian address to the Emperor.

Riots also occurred in several parts of Prussia, as Breslau, Riots in Konigsberg, Erfurt. At Berlin, meetings were held in the Thiergarten, at which addresses to the King were prepared. The Prussian Government at first resorted to military force to disperse these assemblies, and some blood was shed. But at the news of what was passing in Vienna, the King announced, March 17th, freedom of the press, the assembly of a Landstag, or Diet, for April 2nd, the conversion of the German Staatenbund (Confederation of States) into a Bundesstaat (Confeder­ated State), and the incorporation of East and West Prussia and Posen in the Bund. But the people further required the formation of a burgher-guard, the withdrawal of the military from the town, and the dismissal of the Ministry. These demands were carried to the palace by a great multitude, when the King appeared on the balcony and promised that everything should be conceded. In consequence, however, of some misunderstanding, an affray with the military suddenly began, barricades were thrown up, and a riot ensued which lasted all night, in which upwards of 200 persons lost their lives. Henry von Arnim, who had been Prussian Ambassador at Paris during the Revolution, and was now made Foreign Minister, advised the King to put himself at the head of the people. William, Prince of Prussia, the King’s brother, fled from Berlin, and the people wrote on his palace, “ National property.”

Part of the Prussian Ministry had resolved on an attempt to place Frederick William IV at the head of the new German nationality, and that Sovereign lent himself to the project with the same feeble mixture of covetousness and irresolution which his father had displayed with regard to the filching of Hannover. On the 21st March the army assumed the German cockade in addition to the Prussian; the King rode through the streets decorated with the three German colours, preceded by the students carrying a banner of the Empire with the double eagle. In proclamations addressed “To my people,” and “To the German nation,” it was declared “that Prussia rises into Germany,” and that “the Princes and States of Germany shall deliberate in common, as an Assembly of German States, as to the regeneration and reconstruction of Germany.” The King rejected, indeed, the titles of “Emperor” and of “King of the Germans,” which had been given him in one of these proclamations. But he yielded entirely to the demands for internal reform. The bodies of those who had fallen, March 18th, were conducted to the grave in a solemn procession, which the King beheld from his balcony; and Sydow, the preacher, pronounced a funeral oration over them. On the same day the King granted all the demands of the Baden scheme. Riots broke out at the same time in other parts of Prussia, and especially the Rhenish Provinces; to pacify which, Camphausen, of Cologne, was appointed head of the Ministry.

The proceedings at Berlin on the 21st of March produced a bad impression in Germany. Frederick William’s attempt at usurpation was received with the unconcealed scorn of all parties at Vienna, Munich, and Stuttgart. But his con­cessions to his people, as well as the revolution at Vienna, prevented the Saxon, Hanoverian, and Bavarian Governments from any longer opposing the demands of their subjects. The King of Hanover granted the Baden scheme of reform. The King of Saxony, on the news of Metternich’s dismissal, immediately appointed a Liberal Ministry. In Bavaria, the old King, Louis, abdicated in favour of his son, Maximilian II., March 20th. At Munich, in addition to the other revolutionary elements which prevailed throughout Germany, the King had made himself unpopular by an intrigue with an opera-dancer.

The Vor-parlament (preliminary Parliament) was opened in the Paul’s Church at Frankfurt, March 31st. It consisted, for the most part, of Opposition members from the Chambers of the middling and smaller German States, but many nonde­script persons were admitted. There were but few Prussian members, and Austria was represented only by Wiesner, a Jew writer. Hacker, Struve, and other violent democrats, aimed at a German Republic, or, at all events, the estab­lishment of a German Parliament, from which Princes were to be excluded. But as these Princes were at the head of large standing armies, it is difficult to see how this project was to be accomplished. The cowardice, boasting, drunkenness, and other vices of the German democrats, made them contemptible from the beginning; and, though they succeeded in creating a great deal of disorder, they never had a chance of success. In all their skirmishes with the regular troops they were invariably defeated.

The effects of the movement manifested themselves in Schleswig and Holstein by a demand for union, with a separate Constitution, and the admission of Schleswig into the German Bund. A Provisional Government for the two Duchies was appointed, March 24th, with the Duke of Augustenburg, Count Reventlow, and Beseler at the head. Frederick William IV assured the Duke of Augustenburg by letter that he would protect his title, and that he approved the union of Schleswig with Holstein. The Prussian army had been offended by their dismissal from Berlin; a war with Denmark might obliterate the feeling, as well as restore the King’s popularity. The Diet at Frankfurt adopted the Prussian view, authorized Prussia to interfere in the Danish question, and admitted into their Assembly a Deputy from Schleswig-Holstein. The Prussian and Hanoverian troops of the Bund defeated the Danes in several battles; and on May 18th, General Wrangel entered Jutland, and enforced a contribution of three million dollars. He contemplated holding that province as a material guarantee for the compliance of the Danes with the German demands; but on May 26th he received an order of recall, and the progress of the campaign was arrested, owing, it is thought, to Russian influence.

SWEDEN

In Sweden, the tranquillity which had prevailed ever since the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne of France, was not now disturbed. The Crown Prince, Charles John (Bernadotte), had succeeded to the Swedish Throne, with the title of Charles XIV, on the death of Charles XIII in 1818; and in conjunction with the Four Estates, had ruled with wisdom and moderation. Charles XIV died in 1844, and was suc­ceeded by his son Oscar. During the Dano-German conflict Oscar offered his mediation, and on its rejection by the Germans, promised the Danes his aid. The pretensions of the Germans to Schleswig were also condemned by the Norwe­gians. As Prussia, which suffered from the Danish blockade, did not seem inclined to follow up her victories, the Ministry of the Confederation resolved, July 1st, to raise an army and to carry out the German pretensions without her aid. The contingents of Wurtemberg and Baden began their march for the North at the beginning of August, but on the 7th of that month the Archduke John, who had now been elected Reichsverweser, or Vicar of the new German Confederation, gave the King of Prussia full powers to negotiate an armistice with the Danes. Prussia had accepted Swedish mediation, and Conferences were going on, which resulted, August 26th, in the armistice of Malmo. The King of Denmark consented that during this armistice, which was to last for seven months, Schleswig and Holstein should have a common Government; half to be appointed by himself, and the other half by the King of Prussia, on behalf of the Bund.

The revolution at Vienna naturally set all Italy in a flame, and led to very important developments.

ITALY

In 1838 the Emperor Ferdinand had caused himself to be crowned, at Milan, King of Lombardy and Venice, and in the same year the French had evacuated Ancona. The dominion of Austria seemed to be sufficiently stable in Northern Italy, so long as peace with France was preserved, to assure the tranquillity, or the servitude, of the other Italian States. But under the surface glowed a volcano of faction. Mazzini had founded a secret league called La giovane Italia, or “Young Italy,” the object of which was to emancipate Italy from the yoke of foreigners. In 1840, when the affairs of the East threatened a breach between France and the Northern Powers, the Italians began to stir; and partial attempts at insur­rection were subsequently made in 1843 and 1846. The death of Pope Gregory XVI in June, 1846, seemed to open brighter prospects to the patriots of Italy. The Conclave chose for his successor Cardinal Mastai Ferretti, who assumed the title of Pius IX. The new Pope began his reign with some liberal measures, which made him very popular in Italy. He granted amnesties, deposed all unpopular magistrates, allowed a greater liberty of the press. It was an opinion entertained by many, that the unity and independence of Italy could be achieved only by means of the Pope; and it was hoped that Pius IX might be induced to head the league of “Young Italy”: but there was an afterthought that the tool should be thrown aside when it had answered the purpose. The club called Circolo Romano took up this idea, pretended a great affection for the Pope, and cheered him when he appeared in public. Pio Nono consented to a sort of Parliament, and to the formation of a guardia civica, or burgher­guard. He even entertained the idea of an Italian Zollverein, or customs-union, as a prelude to political unity. Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was also induced by some popular demonstrations to authorize a burgher-guard, and certain political reforms. Austria, however, warned the Pope as to his proceedings. That Power garrisoned the citadel of Ferrara, agreeably to the Treaties of 1815; but she now proceeded to occupy the whole town; an act against which Pius was per­suaded to protest, and even to make preparations for war.

Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, also announced about this time some liberal measures. In November, 1847, he concluded a customs-union with Rome and Tuscany, and in February, 1848, he granted a new Constitution to his subjects. On the North he cultivated the friendship of the Swiss. The South of Italy had been disturbed before the French Revolution. An insurrection had broken out at Palermo, January 12th, 1848, and on the 29th in Naples, when King Ferdinand II granted a Constitution. The principles of Mazzini also pervaded Austrian Italy. The Austrian Government affected mildness, but it is difficult to reconcile men to a foreign yoke. A crusade was got up against tobacco, the sale of which was an Austrian monopoly, by a renunciation of smoking; and at the beginning of 1848 all intercourse with Austrian officers was broken off. At this time the apathetic Archduke Rainer was Viceroy in the Austrian dominions in Italy, while Marshal Radetzki, then eighty-two years of age, held the military command. Radetzki, who foresaw the coming storm, in vain besought his Government for reinforcements, and that Milan, Verona, and other places should be strengthened. The Archduke left Milan for Vienna, March 17th, and on the evening of the same day the insurrection in that capital was publicly known at Milan. Next morning Casati, the Podesta, the Archbishop of Milan, and Count Borromeo, the chief of the Lombard nobles, who had long been initiated in the con­spiracy, displayed the three-coloured flag, and demanded from Count O’Donnel, who conducted the Government in the absence of the Archduke, that he should assent to all the demands of the Lombard people, as had been done in Vienna. O’Donnel hesitated, the Podestà apprehended him, and the people threw up barricades. A street fight ensued, which lasted four days; during which the troops suffered so severely that Radetzki withdrew them, except at the gates and in the citadel. His force consisted of only 20,000 men; Charles Albert of Sardinia was approaching with his whole army; and Radetzki, feeling that he was not strong enough to hold the insurgent town, evacuated it on the night of March 22nd.

Charles Albert had received no injury from Austria; but the opportunity was too tempting to be lost. He declared war, took possession of Milan, and pursued the retreating Radetzki; who, after reducing to ashes the little town of Melegnano which had obstructed his retreat, and withdrawing the garrisons from several places, took up a strong position between the Mincio and the Adige, in the triangle formed by the fortresses of Mantua, Peschiera and Verona; where he awaited reinforcements from Germany. The Austrian garrisons in Brescia, Cremona, Como, Padua, Treviso, Udine, surrendered. Venice was lost through the cowardice of the commandant. A capitulation was entered into with the insurgent people, the Austrians left the city, and the advocate Manin placed himself at the head of the restored Republic.

Charles Albert, though called the Spada d’Italia, or sword of Italy, and though his forces far outnumbered those of Radetzki, did not venture on a battle. He hoped that his connection with the revolutionists at Vienna would obtain for him the gift of Italy, which all parties agreed must be wrested from Austria, though they differed as to what was to be done with it. Radetzki could expect no aid from Vienna, where the Government was in a state of dissolution. Count Kolowrat, the hope of the Liberals, had succeeded to Metternich’s place, but could not allay the storm. The Archduke Louis resigned the conduct of affairs to the Archduke Francis Charles, who ruled with as weak a hand, and Kolowrat was succeeded by Count Ficquelmont. Kossuth, in order to wrest Hungary from Austria, endeavoured to perpetuate the disturbances at Vienna. The Emperor Ferdinand had promised the Hun­garians many reforms, and even permitted a national ministry independent of that at Vienna, of which Count Batthyani was the head, while Kossuth administered the finances. Kossuth demanded for Hungary the Baden scheme of reform, which would give the aristocracy their last blow. He also required the incorporation of Transylvania with Hungary, a national Hungarian bank and the exclusion of Austrian paper money; also, that Hungarian troops should not serve the Emperor out of the Austrian dominions. The Diet at Pesth, overawed by the aspect of affairs, in its last sitting, April 11th, at which the Emperor Ferdinand was present, gave all these demands the force of law.

The Bohemians also demanded a new Constitution and reforms very similar to those required by the Hungarians. Professor Palacky, the historian of Bohemia, was the soul of the Tschech party, as Kossuth was of the Magyar movement in Hungary. Palacky was invited by the Vor-parlament to take his seat among them ; but he declared that he was a Tschech, and would not meddle with German affairs. The Bohemians invited Ferdinand to Prague, as the riots still continued at Vienna; but he took refuge in preference at Innsbruck among his faithful Tyrolese. The suppression of a riot at Prague, by Prince Windischgriitz, in June, was the first reactionary triumph of the Imperial arms. Nor did Charles Albert, in spite of his numerical superiority, make much progress in Lombardy. Garibaldi, who was born at Nice, July 4th, 1807, and after some exploits in South America returned to Europe in 1848, had raised about 8,000 volunteers; but the King of Sardinia, dreading the triumph of the Mazzinists and Republicans, did not encourage the arming of the people. He sent 2,000 men to assist and secure Venice, but that city preferred to remain a Republic. As at one time the Austrian Government seemed disposed to surrender, Charles Albert refused to join a league of the Italian States proposed by the Pope.

After the revolution at Paris the movements already in progress in Central and Southern Italy broke into a perfect storm. Pius IX in some degree allayed it at Rome by announcing a new Constitution for that city, including a temporal ministry and a chamber of deputies (March 15th). But at the news of the revolution at Vienna the Romans were seized with a sort of fury. All flew to arms; the Palazzo di Venezia was stormed, and the Austrian double eagle torn down. The Pope despatched his troops under Durando, with a considerable body of volunteers under Colonel Ferrari, to his northern frontier, for the avowed purpose of defence; but Durando led them over the Po to join Charles Albert, when Pius, in alarm, asserted in an allocution, April 29th, that he had given his troops no such orders. Such, however, was the spirit inspired by the democratic movement in Austria, that the Pope’s consent was extorted to make common cause with Charles Albert, but on condition that the latter Sovereign should join the Italian league, which, as we have said, he declined. The same spirit prevailed in Tuscany as at Rome, and hence also a small army of 7,000 men was despatched. In Modena the Duke was driven from his dominions.

Before the French Revolution broke out the King of Naples had already granted a Constitution to his subjects, February 10th, 1848, while in the preceding January Sicily had separated from that country and declared its independence. Lord Minto, who had been sent into Italy in a semi-official capacity by the British Government, endeavoured in vain to reconcile the Sicilians and the King. The Jesuits were now driven from Naples; the Austrian arms at the Embassy were torn down; and, as the King could give him no satisfaction, Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, the Austrian Ambassador, took his departure. Ferdinand II was at length compelled to sanction a fresh democratic Constitution, April 3rd, when Troja, the historian, became his Prime Minister. War was now declared against Austria, and General Pepe sent to the North with 13,000 men; but from jealousy of Charles Albert they were directed not to cross the Po. When the Neapolitan Chambers met, May 14th, they were not contented with the new Constitution, and a fresh insurrection broke out which threatened to overturn the throne. Barricades were thrown up, and a sanguinary conflict ensued between the Swiss guards and the populace, which ended in the entire discomfiture of the insurgents. Ferdinand, after causing the people to be disarmed, withdrew the concessions which he had made in April, but retained the Constitution of February. Prince Cariati was now appointed Minister. Pepe was recalled, and directed to proceed to Sicily to restore order, but preferred to go to Venice with such of his troops as were inclined to follow him. The Swiss Tagsatzung, or Diet, ordered the regiments which had fought for the King at Naples to be disbanded, as having acted contrary to the honour and interest of Switzerland. But these regiments refused to quit the King’s service.

Meanwhile in the North of Italy, Marshal Radetzki, having been reinforced by Count Nugent with 13,000 men, repulsed an attack made by Charles Albert at St. Lucia, May 6th. On the 29th he defeated with great loss Laugier’s Tuscan division at Curtatone; but was, in turn, defeated the following day by Charles Albert at Goito. The Emperor Ferdinand, who was at Innsbruck, now directed Radetzki to conclude an armistice, but the Marshal ventured to disobey these orders, and wrote to his master not to despond. Peschiera surrendered to the Piedmontese, May 30th. On the other hand, Radetzki took Vicenza, June 11th. The capture of Rivoli by Charles Albert, which lies on the road from Verona into South Tyrol, was of less importance than it might seem, as Radetzki’s communication with Vienna was secured more to the east. Towards the end of July the Piedmontese were defeated in several engage­ments, and the Austrians, having been largely reinforced, began to advance. Charles Albert now solicited a truce, which was refused. The British Government had attempted to mediate in favour of Charles Albert, and Lord Abercrombie, the English Ambassador at Turin, proceeded to the Austrian camp to negotiate; but Radetzki would hear of nothing till he should have arrived at Milan. The Piedmontese retreated, or rather fled, to that town, without venturing to defend Cremona, and were defeated in a battle before the gates of the Lombard capital, August 5th, which was re-entered by Radetzki on the following day. On the 9th he signed an armistice, by which he secured Charles Albert’s frontiers. That Sovereign, on his side, surrendered Peschiera, and withdrew his troops from Venice. He had been proclaimed King in that city, July 4th, but at the news of his misfortunes the people turned, and Manin again proclaimed the Republic. Garibaldi, after delivering a last battle against the Austrians, fled into Switzerland. Thus all Lombardy was again subdued; Radetzki proceeded to invest Venice on the land side, and began the laborious siege of that city.

GERMANY

Meanwhile the German National Assembly assembled at Frankfurt to establish a “German Constitution” without any interference on the part of the Princes, chose Henry von Gagern for their President, May 18th. The majority were for restoring an Emperor, while only a minority desired a Republic. On the motion of Von Gagern, the Archduke John, as we have before intimated, was elected Reichsverweser, or Imperial Vicar, June 29th, being thus constituted, as it were, a Prae-Emperor, as the Vor-parlament had been a Prae-Parliament. The Archduke John entered Frankfurt in state, July 11th; on the following day the Diet of the Confederation closed its session, and handed over its power to the Imperial Vicar. Of all the German Sovereigns, the King of Hanover alone protested against these proceedings.

The Constituent Assembly for Prussia was also opened at Berlin, May 22nd, but like the Frankfurt Parliament, did nothing but talk. The expedition against Denmark had been undertaken to divert the people’s attention from their own affairs. The Frankfurt mob, however, did not acquiesce in the proceedings of the Parliament. A serious riot took place, August 18th, which was eventually put down by the military; but two members of the Parliament, Prince Lichnowski and General Auerswald, were killed. Riots and democratic demonstrations broke out at this time in many parts of Germany, but were suppressed without much difficulty. After the failure of the attempted insurrection at Frankfurt some of the boldest democratic leaders vanished to other places. Robert Blum, Frobel, and others betook themselves to Vienna, to fan the embers of sedition in that capital. A “Central Committee of Democratic Germany” published, October 3rd, a violent proclamation, repudiating and abusing the Frankfurt Parliament, protesting against its existence, and summoning a “General Democratic Congress,” to meet at Berlin on the 26th. The assembly actually met; but in the interval the courage of the talkers had oozed out, and the congress made but a sorry figure.

The hopes of the German democrats were fixed upon Vienna, where alone the people had obtained the mastery, and were supported by Kossuth with the whole strength of Hungary. The higher and richer class had quitted Vienna in the summer. A Committee of Safety and the Aula, or university, ruled side by side with the Ministry and Diet. The Austrian Constituent National Assembly, which had been opened by the Archduke John, July 22nd, shortly before he went to Frankfurt, had no influence at all with the people. The insurgent Viennese were directed by Kossuth. That leader had carried in the Hungarian Diet the levy of 200,000 Honveds, or national troops, and the issue of forty-two million gulden in paper money. But the aspect of affairs began gradually to change. The Emperor Ferdinand returned to Vienna after Radetzki’s success, August 12th, and the Ministry began to take some bolder steps. In order to appease the people work had been provided for them by the Government; but the wages were now reduced, and though the labourers revolted, they were put down by the municipal guard. The Government dissolved the Committee of Safety August 24th, which ventured not to resist. The Servians and Croats had taken up arms against the Hungarians in Ferdinand’s cause; though Kossuth pretended to fight against them, as rebels, in the Emperor’s name. At the beginning of September Kossuth sent a deputation of 150 Hungarian gentlemen to Vienna to invite the Emperor to Pesth, and to request him to order back the Hungarian regiments from Italy to defend their country. Ferdinand, of course, declined these proposals.

The Archduke Stephen having laid down the office of Hun­garian Palatine and returned to Vienna, the Emperor appointed Count Lemberg Governor of Hungary. But a party of Kossuth’s scythe men murdered him on the bridge of Pesth, September 28th. No terms of course could any longer be kept. Kossuth relied for support on a revolt which had long been preparing at Vienna, and which broke out October 6th. The Minister Latour was seized and murdered. The mob broke into the chamber of the National Assembly and caused an address to be drawn up to the Emperor, in which he was required to recall all the measures which had been taken against Hungary and all the powers which had been given to Radetzki. The Government arsenal and that in the city were stormed and plundered. Next day Ferdinand fled from Schonbrunn to Olmütz, where he found a defence in the loyalty of the people and the neighbourhood of Windischgratz and his army. That general proceeded with 30,000 men from Bohemia to Vienna to form the siege of that city; in which he was assisted by Jellachich, the Croat leader, with 35,000 men, and Auersperg with 15,000. These forces completely surrounded Vienna, which, after a week’s siege, was taken by assault, October 31st. Some of the captured leaders of the insurrection were shot, among them Robert Blum. A revolution now ensued at Court. Prince Felix Schwarzenberg became Prime Minister, November 24th, and on December 2nd, 1848, the Emperor Ferdinand I. abdicated in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph. The motive assigned for this step was, that a younger Sovereign was required to carry out the necessary reforms in the State.

The suppression of the insurrection at Vienna produced a reaction at Berlin. On November 4th the King empowered Count Brandenburg, an illegitimate son of Frederick William II, to form a new Ministry. On the 8th the so-called Constituent Assembly was ordered to transfer itself to the town of Brandenburg, and on the 10th General Wrangel entered Berlin with a numerous force, without encountering any resistance. At the news of these proceedings riots ensued in various parts of Germany, which were not, however, attended with any important results. The Constituent Assembly was opened at Brandenburg November 27th; but in consequence of their tumultuous debates the King dissolved them, December 5th, and granted a Constitution by his own grace and favour. The legislature was to consist of two chambers, and writs were issued for elections in the ensuing February.

In Austria, the first care of the new Emperor was the reduction of Hungary. That commission was intrusted to Prince Windischgratz, who began the campaign in the middle of December. Kossuth ruled nearly the whole of Hungary, as President of a Committee of National Defence. The Hungarian Diet did not recognize the abdication of Ferdinand, but still called him King of Hungary, and represented Francis Joseph to the troops as a usurper. The Hungarian army was commanded by Gorgey, while General Bern led the insurgents in Transylvania. As the Austrians advanced the Hungarians retreated, with the view of drawing them into the interior of the country during the bad season. Kossuth abandoned Pesth on the approach of Windischgratz, carrying with him the crown of St. Stephen, and the Austrians entered Buda and Pesth without opposition, January 5th, 1849. Windischgratz defeated the Hungarians under Dembinski at Kapolna, February 28th; while, on the other hand, General Bern gained several advantages over the Imperialists in Transylvania.

HUNGARY

The state of affairs in Hungary, and the circumstance of Radetzki being still engaged in the siege of Venice, encouraged the King of Sardinia to resume the war against Austria at the termination of the armistice, March 12th, 1849. Thus Austria would have to deal at once with the revolted Hungarians and Italians, and it was considered that the disturbances in Germany would lend a moral support to the movement. Charles Albert’s army amounted to between 80,000 and 90,000 men, while that of Radetzki was not more than 60,000 or 70,000. But the best Piedmontese generals were adverse to the war, and the chief commands were, therefore, intrusted to Poles. Radetzki defeated Chrzanowski at Mortara, March 21st, and on the 23rd inflicted on him a still more terrible defeat at Novara. Never was overthrow more speedy or more complete. On the 24th of March Charles Albert resigned his crown in despair, and fled to Oporto, where he died a few months after. His son and successor, Victor Emanuel II, immediately be­sought Radetzki for a truce, which that general granted on very moderate terms. On the 28th of March Radetzki again entered Milan. Brescia, which had revolted, and persisted in defending itself, was captured by Count Haynau, a natural son of the Elector of Hesse; who, from the barbarous cruelty which he exercised on the inhabitants, obtained the name of the “Hyaena of Brescia.” A definitive peace was concluded between Austria and Sardinia, August 6th, by which everything was replaced on the ancient footing. The Sardinians had to pay seventy-five million francs for the costs of the war.

The Hungarian insurgents under Gorgey were more suc­cessful. The Austrians were defeated in several battles, Komorn was taken, and Vienna itself was threatened. Austria now accepted the aid of Russia. This step on the part of the Emperor Nicholas was not altogether disinterested. Many Poles took part in the Hungarian war, and he apprehended lest the success of the rebels in that country should lead to a revolution in Poland. It had been decided by the new Austrian Government that Hungary should be deprived of its former Constitution, its separate Diet, and nationality. Kos­suth retorted by causing the Diet assembled at Debreczin to depose the House of Habsburg-Lorraine from the throne of Hungary, and to establish a Provisional Republic. Windischgratz was superseded in the command of the Austrian army by Baron Welden; who, however, was compelled to retreat, and Gorgey took Buda by storm, May 21st. But in the middle of June Prince Paskiewitsch entered Hungary at several points, with a Russian army of 130,000 men and 500 guns. The Austrian army had also been reinforced, and the command again transferred to Haynau. The Hungarian army was estimated at 200,000 men, but was not equal to the combined armies of Austria and Russia.

We cannot enter into the details of the Hungarian war, which ended with the complete reduction of the Hungarians in the autumn of 1849. Thus Austria preserved that Kingdom, but through foreign aid, and consequently with some sacrifice of independence. The division of the Hungarian army under Dembinski, with which was Kossuth, having been annihilated by Haynau, Kossuth, having first resigned his power into the hands of Gorgey, betook himself to the protection of that general, August 11th. Gorgey, who was no republican, loved him not; and Kossuth, instead of fulfilling his promise to give up the Hungarian crown and jewels, fled with them to General Bern in Transylvania. On the 12th of August Gorgey surrendered by capitulation with his whole army of 23,000 men to the Russian General Rudiger. Bern, having only 6,000 men, both he and Kossuth now fled into Turkey, where they found protection, in spite of the Russian and Austrian demands for their extradition. Kossuth, and several other fugitives, afterwards proceeded to England. The Hungarian divisions now surrendered one after another. Gorgey obtained, through Russian mediation, permission to reside at Gratz; but Haynau took a cruel revenge on other leaders of the revolution. He condemned Batthyani to the gallows, and went half mad with rage on learning that the unfortunate count had been shot at Buda. He caused Prince Wroniski and two others to be hanged at Pesth, and the Generals Becsey, Aulich, Leiningen, with several more, at Arad; some, by way of favour, he only ordered to be shot. The Emperor was obliged to recall him. This man was after­wards imprudent enough to come to England ; when the treat­ment which he received at the hands of some of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins’, the brewers, men, was well deserved.

Austria, after quelling the Lombard and Hungarian insurrections, was at leisure to attend to the affairs of Central Italy. In Rome, since the spring of 1848, the Pope had been compelled to accept the temporal and liberal ministry of Mamiani. After the success of the Austrians in Upper Italy Pio Nono ventured again to assert his pontifical authority. His principal adviser was Count Rossi, the French Ambassador, though an Italian by birth. Rossi subsequently became the Pope’s Prime Minister, and endeavoured to restore things to their ancient footing; but he was assassinated, November 15th, when about to enter the newly-opened National Assembly. Upon this, the people, aided by the papal troops, as well as by the civic guard, stormed Pius in the Quirinal, murdered his private secretary, Cardinal Palma, and extorted the dismissal of the Swiss guards and the appointment of a popular ministry. The Pope, with the aid of Count Spaur, the Bavarian Ambassador, succeeded in escaping from the Quirinal, disguised as one of the count’s livery servants, and betook him­self to Gaeta, whither he was followed by his ministers. The Roman Parliament having in vain required him to return, at length proceeded to establish a Provisional Government, or Junta of State, consisting of the triumvirate, Counts Corsini, Camerata, and Galetti (December 19th). The Pope protested against all their acts as illegal. At this time, Garibaldi, who had taken service under the Roman Republic, entered Rome at the head of a large body of volunteers. In Tuscany, also, the Grand Duke was compelled to accept a democratic ministry, which aimed at establishing a Republic. Insurrections took place at Leghorn and Genoa in December. On February 5th, 1849, was opened at Rome a general Italian Con­stituent Assembly, with the view of establishing Italian unity under a republican form of government. In this Assembly Mazzini played the chief part, and after him, Prince Charles of Canino, a son of Lucien Bonaparte. But at the time of the Pope’s flight Prince Louis Napoleon, afterwards the French President, had expressed his sympathy for the Church, and repudiated the proceedings of his cousin ; and General Cavaignac promised Pius that he would assist him. The Constituent Assembly began by deposing the Pope as a temporal prince, and proclaiming the Roman Republic, February 8th. The executive power of the new Republic was placed in the hands of the triumvirate, Mazzini, Armellini, and Saffi, who decreed the confiscation of all Church property. In Florence also, the Grand Duke fled, Guerazzi proclaimed a Republic, and was named Dictator.

After the overthrow of Charles Albert, however, a reaction commenced. The Austrians began to enter Central Italy; France and Spain also despatched troops to the Pope’s aid; whilst Victor Emanuel, the new King of Sardinia, sent an army to reduce the Republicans of Genoa. At Florence, a counter-revolution broke out, and Guerazzi was compelled to fly.

The French at Rome.

In June, Parma, Bologna, and Ancona, were successively occupied by the Austrians, who, however, at Rome, were anticipated by the French. A division of 6,000 French troops under General Oudinot landed at Cività Vecchia, April 25th, and a few days later, a few thousand Spaniards landed at Terracina. The King of Naples also advanced against Rome. That the new French Republic should begin its career with coercing its fellow Republicans at Rome, showed how vast was the difference between the Revolution of 1848 and that of 1792. Oudinot found a reception he had little anticipated. He experienced a signal defeat before the walls of Rome from Garibaldi’s volunteers, April 30th; upon which the King of Naples withdrew his troops. Oudinot now procured a truce in order to reinforce himself, while Lesseps, the French Ambassador, endeavoured to cajole the Romans. When these purposes were answered Lesseps was disavowed, and, in spite of Garibaldi’s heroic defence, Oudinot captured Rome, July 3rd. Garibaldi succeeded in escaping, and embarked near S. Marinello for Genoa. Mazzini also escaped. He had previously been obliged to lay down his power in favour of a new triumvirate, consisting of Salicetti, Mariani, and Calandretti; who concluded the capitulation with the French. The Spaniards did not venture to approach Rome. General Oudinot, after his entrance, established a government in the name of the Pope, and thus de facto put an end to the Roman Republic. Pius himself, however, not relishing the protection of French bayonets, remained at Gaeta; nor would he consent to make such concessions as the French Government desired, in order to avert the unpopularity of the expedition among the liberal party in France. The Grand Duke of Tuscany returned to his capital July 29th. Venice, which had endured a siege since the summer of 1848, was not reduced by the Austrians till August 22nd, 1849, partly by bombardment, partly through the effects of famine. The Austrians were computed to have lost 20,000 men during the siege, principally by marsh fever. Manin, and forty of the most compromised of the Venetian Republicans, were permitted to withdraw.

Although Naples had been reduced, Sicily continued in a state of rebellion. In July, 1848, the Sicilians, at the suggestion, it is said, of Lord Minto, chose Duke Ferdinand of Genoa, brother of Victor Emanuel, for their King; but that Prince declined to accept the proffered crown. Prince Filangieri, with a Neapolitan army, landed at Messina, and captured that town after a sanguinary struggle, September 7th. In the spring of 1849 Filangieri reduced Catania and Syracuse, and on April 23rd he entered Palermo, thus putting an end to the rebellion.

Germany.

We must now revert to the affairs of Germany, where the German Parliament had by a small majority elected the King of Prussia hereditary Emperor, March 28th, 1849; a dignity, however, which, after a month’s hesitation, Frederick William IV. declined to accept. His timidity again overcame him. He was afraid of some of the other German Princes, though twenty-nine of them approved the offer; and he also wanted resolution to wield the supreme power at a period of such disturbance. Thus vanished the hopes of the German patriots. After this step on the part of the Parliament Austria withdrew her representatives. The debates at Frankfurt were accompanied with disturbances in many parts of Germany. Riots first broke out at Dresden, May 3rd, where the King of Saxony had dismissed the Radical Chamber and established a strong ministry. At first the people had the mastery. The Royal Family fled in the night to Konigstein, and a Provisional Government was constituted under the triumvirate, Tschirner, Heubner, and Todt. By the aid of Prussian and other troops the rebellion, however, was put down, May 9th. An attempted insurrection at Leipsic also failed. Berlin was not again disturbed, but riots, attended with loss of life, occurred in many of the smaller towns. On May 14th Frederick William IV. directed all Prussian subjects to quit the Frankfurt Parliament, and a similar order was issued a few days after by the King of Saxony. That assembly was also reduced, by the voluntary desertion of other members, to little more than 100 persons; who, deeming themselves no longer secure in Frankfurt, transferred their sittings to Stuttgart early in June. Here they deposed the Imperial Vicar, and appointed a new Regency, consisting of five members. But, as they began to call the people to arms, they were dispersed by the Würtemberg Government. The insurgents, under Mierolowski, held out for some time in the Palatinate and Baden; but towards the end of June the Prussians compelled them to disperse and take refuge in Switzerland. The Swiss Confederate Council, however, by a decree of July 16th, directed the ringleaders to quit that country.

In the spring of 1849 the war had again broken out in Schleswig-Holstein. Denmark was dissatisfied with the arrangement by which, after the armistice of Malmo, the Duchies had been conjointly administered under the presidency of Count Reventlow; nor were England and Russia willing that Schleswig should be taken from the Danish King. Denmark denounced the armistice, April 26th. The campaign commenced with the loss, by the Danes, of two of their best ships at Eckenforde; while on land they were shortly after defeated at Kolding by General Bonin and the army of the Bund. Bonin, however, was in turn defeated by the Danes under General Rye at Fredericia, July 6th. England and Russia now interfered, and dictated a fresh armistice of six months on the basis of the separation of Schleswig and Holstein, July 10th.