the paternal government of the Guelphs. The flame of independence spread to Holland, and kindled even the cold bosoms of the Dutch. Insurrections broke out in the principal towns, the hereditary claims of the house of Orange were rapturously acknowledged, and when the stadtholder arrived from England, he found the Hollanders eager, not only to acknowledge his former power, but to extend it by conferring on him the title of royalty.

While the allies were thus triumphant in Germany, Wellington was now gloriously occupied in the liberation of Spain. Early in the spring, he concentrated his forces near Ciudad Rodrigo, and by a series of able movements, compelled the French not only to abandon their positions on the Douro, but to retire beyond the Ebro. Marshal Jourdan, who exercised the real authority, for Joseph was king only in name, resolved to make one vigorous effort for the maintenance of the French power, and chose a strong position near Vittoria, as the theatre of a decisive engagement. The allied army advanced with an eagerness that insured success; the heights that protected the hostile lines were successively stormed, and at length the French were forced to retreat in such disorder, that they abandoned their artillery, baggage, and military chest. In the east of Spain the allies were less successful; Sir John Murray, on the approach of Marshal Suchet, abandoned the siege of Tarragona with unnecessary precipitation; but the arrival of Lord William Bentinck prevented the enemy from profiting by this partial success.

When the news of the battle of Vittoria reached Napoleon, he sent Marshal Soult from Germany to take the command of the army in Spain, where Pampeluna and St. Sebastian had been invested by Wellington, now raised to the dignity of marquis. Soult's operations were vigorous, but unsuccessful; his forces were unable to make any impression on the British lines, and so severe was their repulse, that they fled to their own frontiers. St. Sebastian was soon after taken by storm, but not without a very severe loss to the conquerors, and the British now prepared to invade France.

The allies crossed the Bidassoa, and advanced slowly but steadily toward Bayonne : Soult showed great courage and talent in his arrangements, but his efforts were foiled by the superior valor of the British soldiers, and two regiments of Dutch and Germans quitting his lines, went over to the camp of his allies. Spain was now free, but the efforts of the enlightened portion of the cortes to secure its future happiness, by the establishment of a constitutional government, were frustrated by the interested opposition of the clergy, and the ignorant bigotry of the people.

The war between Great Britain and the United States continued to be maintained with the obstinacy that characterizes the quarrels between "foes who once were friends;" but it was not productive of any important event. The Americans were unsuccessful in their repeated invasions of Canada, but they established their naval superiority on the lakes, while the honor of the British flag was nobly maintained in the engagement between the frigates Chesapeake and Shannon.

The memorable year 1814 opened with the invasion of France; the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian armies forced an entrance through the

eastern frontiers, while Wellington was making an alarming progress on the western side. Never, in the hours of his greatest success, did Napoleon display more promptitude and ability; but he had beaten his encies into the art of conquering, and even partial success was injurious, because it inspired hopes which prevented him from embracing the proffered opportunities of negotiation. Several furious but indeci sive battles were fought; the allied armies had moved at too great a distance from each other, and it was not until they had suffered severely for their error, that they learned the necessity of a combined plan of operations. But in other quarters the success of the allies was more decided; Bernadotte completed the liberation of the north of Germany, and not only intimidated the Danish court into an abandonment of the French alliance, but enforced its consent to the transfer of Norway; thence he marched to the Netherlands, where the allies had made considerable progress, though General Graham had been baffled, with much loss, in an attempt to surprise Bergen-op-Zoom.

But Napoleon was much more alarmed by the progress of Wellington in the southwest of France. The English general having driven the French from their posts, crossed the Adour, and invested the citadel of Bayonne. As he advanced, the old partisans of the Bourbons began to revive, the exiled family was proclaimed, and the white flag hoisted at Bordeaux. More mortifying was the defection of Murat ; eager to secure his crown, the king of Naples entered into a secret treaty with Austria, and lent his aid in the expulsion of the French from Italy.

But in the meantime the fate of France was decided; Napoleon moved his main army eastward, hoping to intimidate the allies into a retreat, by threatening their communications. Blucher and Prince Schwartzenberg immediately decided on marching to Paris, and having defeated the forces of Marmont and Mortier, who guarded the road, soon came in sight of that metropolis. The outworks that defended Paris were stormed, and the intimidated citizens hastened to secure their persons and property by a capitulation. The allied sovereigns, Frederic and Alexander, made a triumphant entry into the city (March 31), and were hailed as liberators by the fickle populace.

When Napoleon heard that the Austrians had effected a junction with the Prussians, he hasted back to defend his capital, but before he reached Fontainebleau the capitulation had been signed, and a provisional government installed, without any regard to his authority. On the 2d of April he was formally deposed; and on the 6th of the same month, Louis XVIII. was invited to ascend the throne of his ancestors. A constitutional charter was framed for the protection of the French people, and Napoleon was promised the sovereignty of the island of Elba, and a pension. Before intelligence of these events was received in the south, a sanguinary battle had been fought between the armies of Soult and Wellington at Toulouse, which ended in the complete discomfiture of the former; but the British general sincerely lamented a triumph which had been purchased by a useless expenditure of human life.

On the 3d of May, Louis XVIII. returned from his tedious exile, and landed at Calais. The preliminaries of a general peace were sign

ed at Paris; and it was arranged that the details and the adjustment of the claims of the different European princes should be referred to a future convocation at Vienna.

SECTION V.-History of Europe from the dethronement of Napoleon to the Conclusion of the Treaty of Vienna.

BEFORE his final overthrow, Napoleon liberated the captive Ferdinand, well aware that Spain would have little reason to rejoice in the restoration of such a sovereign. No sooner had he obtained his freedom than he annulled all the proceedings of the cortes, re-established the old despotism with all its abuses, and even revived the horrors of the inquisition. Several of those who had most strenuously resisted the French invasion were punished by imprisonment or exile, their attachment to constitutional freedom being deemed to outweigh their former services. The allies could not be blamed for the perfidy and tyranny of Ferdinand, but they incurred just censure by aiding in the forcible annexation of Norway to Sweden, against the earnest remonstrances of the inhabitants, and they displayed little policy in uniting Belgium to Holland, for the countries were opposed to each other in their religious creeds and commercial interests.

The American war was protracted more in a spirit of revenge than sound policy; a sanguinary but indecisive struggle took place in Canada; an English armament captured Washington, the capital of the United States, and destroyed the public buildings; but similar attacks. on Baltimore and New Orleans were repulsed with great loss. Peace was at length concluded at Ghent, and we may confidently hope that hostilities will never again be renewed between two nations so closely united by the ties of language, religion, and blood. Before this war was terminated, the emperor Alexander, and Frederic, king of Prussia, accompanied by their most distinguished marshals and statesmen, personally visited England, and were received with great enthusiasm. But the convulsion produced in the commercial world by the sudden transition from war to peace, was necessarily followed by numerous bankruptcies and great distress, which threw a shade of gloom over the general joy.

The conduct of Louis XVIII. immediately after his accession to the throne, was calculated to win popularity; but the establishment of a censorship over the press, his anxiety to restore the power and influence of the clergy, and to remunerate the loyal emigrants who had shared the calamities of his exile, gave general offence, and revived the courage of the friends of Napoleon. A secret conspiracy was formed for restoring the emperor, and he, dreading that the allied powers, whose plenipotentiaries were assembled at Vienna, would remove him from Elba to a place of greater security, resolved to make a bold effort for the recovery of his throne. Accompanied only by eleven hundred men, he landed at Frejus (March 1, 1815), and advanced into the interior of the country. At first he received little encouragement; but being joined by the garrison of Grenoble, and supported by secret promises of aid from other divisions of the army, he proceeded to Lyons, where he held his court. Louis made a spirited appeal to the loyalty of the

French nation; but Marshal Ney having set the example of defection all the soldiery declared in favor of the emperor; and Louis, compelled to abandon his kingdom, sought safety in Ghent.

Though the allied powers had shown a great want of vigilance and caution in not preventing, as they easily might have done, the escape of Napoleon, they were not for a moment undetermined in resolving on the course of action rendered necessary by that event. A proclamation was issued by the congress of Vienna, denouncing him as the common enemy of Europe, and excluding him from the pale of civil and social relations. A treaty was concluded, by which each of the four powers, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and England, engaged to maintain an army of 150,000 men until they had rendered Napoleon incapable of disturbing the tranquillity of Europe; and the Prussians and the English at once began to assemble their forces on the northern frontiers of France

Napoleon, disappointed in his hope of procuring the acquiescence of the allied powers in his usurpation, prepared boldly to meet the danger by which he was menaced. He gratified the vanity of the Parisians by the splendid ceremonial of proclaiming a new constitution in the Champ de Mars, and at the same time he made the most vigorous exertions to recruit his armies and supply his military stores. In a shor time, far shorter than had been anticipated, his troops were ready for action, and instead of waiting for the attack of his enemies, he resolved to become the aggressor. The first brunt of the war fell on the Prussians, who were driven from their advanced posts. Blucher immediately concentrated his forces at Ligny; while the duke of Wellington, with the British and subsidiary troops, occupied a parallel position at Quatre Bras. The main body of the French attacked the Prussian lines, and, after a sanguinary battle, compelled Blucher to abandon Ligny (June 16); but his retreat was effected in good order, and in a very few hours his troops were ready to renew the fight. In the meantime the British had defeated the enemy at Quatre Bras, but the retreat of the Prussians rendered a corresponding movement necessary on their part; and Wellington led his army to the memorable position of Waterloo.

Flushed by his recent victory over the Prussians, Napoleon, on the morning of the 18th of June, appeared in front of the English position, and commenced an attack, in full assurance of success. His first effort was directed against Hougoumont, a post which protected the English right; but after a murderous conflict, the French were baffled, and the place maintained. The emperor's next effort was to turn the left wing so as to intercept the communication with the Prussians, but this still more signally failed; Sir Thomas Picton's division, though with the loss of their brave commander, repulsed the French infantry, while the Scotch Greys, aided by a corps of dragoons, routed the French cavalry, particularly the cuirassiers, who fondly deemed themselves invincible

A third great effort was made against the centre, and at first some advantages were gained. The French seized the farm of La Haye Sainte, which covered the position, and poured masses of cavalry and infantry on the British lines. But Wellington, forming his troops in hollow squares, maintained a steady resistance, and the efforts of the baffled assailants gradually relaxed. At this moment the Prussian troops began to appear on the right flank of the French, and to take a

share in the engagement. Napoleon now mustered his guard for one decisive engagement, but did not, as was expected, place himself at their head. The imperial guard advanced under a perfect storm of artillery and musketry from the British lines, which had been gradually advanced after the defeat of the former attacks. They attempted to deploy, under this formidable fire, but their lines were shaken, and they began to fall into confusion. Wellington seized the decisive moment to charge; the effect was instantaneous, not a single French soldier remained to cross a bayonet; and as the British pressed forward, the retreat was soon a perfect rout. As the English were too much fatigued to pursue the fugitives, that duty devolved upon the Prussians, and they executed it with the vigor of men who felt that they had the wrongs of their country to avenge. Out of the entire French army not more than forty thousand men could again be imbodied.

Napoleon continued his melancholy flight to Paris, where he soon found that his reign was at an end. He abdicated he crown in favor of his son, but while his resignation was received, the acknowledgment of Napoleon II. was evaded. He lingered so long in the hope of some favorable change, that his opportunities of escape were cut off, and he was forced to seek refuge on board a British man-of-war. After some discussion respecting his destination, it was resolved that he should be imprisoned for life, in the island of St. Helena; and to this rock, in the Atlantic ocean, he was sent, with a small train of attendants.

Murat's fate was still more calamitous; no sooner had he heard of Napoleon's landing in France, than he renounced his alliance with Austria, and endeavored to unite all the Italians in a league against that power. His efforts completely failed; his forces were routed at Ferrara, the cowardly Neapolitans could not be induced to make any effective resistance, and finally he fled disguised from his kingdom. His restless ambition induced him, with only thirty followers, to make an effort to recover his dominions; he landed on the Calabrian coast, but he was made a prisoner, and shot by sentence of a court-martial.

After the victory at Waterloo, the Prussians and the British advanced toward Paris, without encountering any serious opposition. The two legislative chambers were reluctant to restore the king, at least unconditionally, but their appeal to the nation was disregarded, and on the nearer approach of the allies, a convention was concluded by which Louis was restored. A few of Napoleon's most strenuous supporters were excluded from the act of amnesty; Ney and Labedoyère were shot, but Lavalette escaped by the aid of his wife and some British officers.

The future peace of Europe now depended on the congress of Vienna, but the decrees of this body were guided more by the convenience of sovereigns, than the wishes of nations. The ancient republics of Venice and Genoa were abolished; the territories of the former were given to Austria, while the latter were assigned to the king of Sardinia; Poland was annexed to the territories of Russia, and the Prussian dominions enlarged at the expense of Saxony. When these arrangements were completed, the sovereigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, entered into a solemn compact called the Holy Alliance; the professed object of the treaty was to preserve the peace of Europe, on the prin