duct pursued by his ministers. In the month of November, the death of Earl Spencer removed Lord Althorp, the chancellor of the exchequer, to the house of lords, and rendered some new modifications necessary. The king took advantage of the opportunity to dismiss the ministers, an express was sent to summon Sir Robert Peel from the continent, to assume the office of premier; and the duke of Wellington, who had administered the government in the interim, was appointed foreign secretary. Parliament was immediately dissolved, and the three kingdoms were agitated by a violent explosion of party spirit. A titheaffray in Ireland, which ended with the loss of life, supplied the opponents of the ministry with a pretext for rousing the passions of the peasantry in that country, and of this they availed themselves so effectually, that the ministerial candidates were defeated in almost every election.

While the country was anxiously waiting the result of the struggle between the rival political parties, both houses of parliament were burned to the ground. This event at first excited some alarm, but it was soon allayed, for the cause of the fire was clearly proved to be accidental. When parliament met, Sir Robert Peel's cabinet was found to be in a minority in the house of commons. The premier, however, persevered in spite of hostile majorities, until he was defeated on the question of the Irish church, when he and his colleagues resigned. The Melbourne cabinet was restored, with the remarkable exception of Lord Brougham, whose place as chancellor was supplied by Lord Cottenham.

On the death of his brother, Don Carlos, after a vain attempt to assert his claims, was driven from Spain into Portugal, and so closely pursued that he was forced to take refuge on board an English ship-of-war. He came to London, where several abortive efforts were made to induce him to abandon his pretensions. But in the meantime his partisans in the Biscayan provinces had organized a formidable revolt, under a brave leader, Zumalacarregui, and a priest named Merino. Don Carlos secretly quitted London, passed through France in disguise, and appeared at the head of the insurgents. A quadrupartite treaty was concluded between Spain, Portugal, France, and England, for supporting the rights of the infant queen. It was agreed that France should guard the frontiers, to prevent the Carlists from receiving any aid by land; that England should watch the northern coasts; and that Portugal should aid the queen of Spain with a body of auxiliary troops if

necessary.

Notwithstanding these arrangements, the Carlists were generally successful, and, at length, the court of Madrid applied to England for direct assistance. This was refused; but permission was given to raise an auxiliary legion of ten thousand men in the United Kingdom, the command of which was intrusted to Colonel Evans. But the effect produced by this force was far inferior to what had been expected; in the dilapidated state of the Spanish finances, it was found difficult to supply the legion with pay, provisions, and the munitions of war. A revolution at Madrid, which rendered the form of government very democratic, alienated the king of the French from the cause of the Spanish queen, and the war lingered, without any prospect of restored

tranquillity. At the end of its second year of service, the British legion was disbanded, and the Spanish government and its auxiliary force parted with feelings of mutual dissatisfaction.

After the departure of the legion, the Carlists, weary of the war, entered into negotiations with the queen regent, and returned to their allegiance. Carlos was again compelled to become an exile; but defeat could not break his spirit, and he continued to declare himself the rightful heir to the Spanish crown, though rejected by the people, and disavowed by the other sovereigns of Europe. Spain, however, was too disorganized for tranquillity to be easily restored; the queen regent endeavored, with more good will than ability, to reconcile contending factions; but her efforts proved unavailing, and, wearied of her situation, she resigned the regency in the summer of 1840.

The people of England generally felt little interest in the affairs of Spain; public attention was principally directed to the state of Ireland and Canada. The great Irish questions discussed in parliament were, the reform of the corporations on the same plan that had been adopted in the reform of the English and Scotch corporations; the regulation of tithes, and the establishment of a provision for the poor; but the different views taken by the majorities in the houses of commons and lords, prevented the conclusion of any final arrangements. In Canada, the descendants of the old French settlers, for the most part bigoted and ignorant, viewed with great dissatisfaction the superiority to which the English settlers had attained, in consequence of their knowledge, spirit, and enterprise; they attributed this pre-eminence to the partiality of the government, and, instigated by designing demagogues, clamored for constitutional changes, little short of a recognition of their independence. Their demands were refused, and the deluded Canadians were persuaded to hazard a revolt. After a brief struggle, the insurgents were reduced, and since the termination of the revolt, Upper and Lower Canada have been united into one province by an act of the British legisla.

ture.

Great embarrassment was produced in the commercial world by the failure of the American banks, which rendered many leading merchants and traders unable to fulfil their engagements. The crisis was sensibly felt in England, where it greatly checked the speculations in railroads, which perhaps were beginning to be carried to a perilous extent; the manufacturing districts suffered most severely, but the pressure gradually abated, and trade began to flow in its accustomed channels. Parties were so nicely balanced in the British parliament, that no measure of importance could be arranged; a further gloom was thrown over the discussions by the increasing illness of the king, and the certainty that its termination must be fatal. William IV. died on the morning of the 20th of June, 1837, sincerely regretted by every class of his subjects. During the seven years that he swayed the sceptre, England enjoyed tranquillity both at home and abroad; it was the only reign in British history in which there was no execution for high treason, and no foreign war.

CHAPTER XII.

HISTORY OF COLONIZATION.

In order to avoid frequent interruptions in the course of the narrative, it has been deemed advisable to reserve the account of the principal European colonies for the close of the volume, and thus to bring before the reader one of the most remarkable features in modern history. The discovery of a new world gave an extraordinary impulse to emigration, and produced one of the most striking series of events in the annals of mankind. The subject naturally divides itself into two great partsthe European colonies in the western, and those in the eastern world; and to the former we shall first direct our attention.

SECTION I.-The Establishment of the Spaniards in Mexico.

IMMEDIATELY after the discovery of America, the first Spanish colony was established in Hispaniola, better known by the more modern name of St. Domingo. The queen Isabella had given strict orders to protect the Indians, and had issued a proclamation prohibiting the Spaniards from compelling them to work. The natives, who considered exemption from toil as supreme felicity, resisted every attempt to induce them to labor for hire, and so many Spaniards fell victims to the diseases peculiar to the climate, that hands were wanting to work the mines or till the soil. A system of compulsory labor was therefore adopted almost by necessity, and it was soon extended, until the Indians were reduced to hopeless slavery. The mines of Hispaniola, when first discovered, were exceedingly productive, and the riches acquired by the early adventurers attracted fresh crowds of greedy but enterprising settlers to its shores. The hardships to which the Indians were subjected, rapidly decreased their numbers, and in the same proportion diminished the profits of the adventurers. It was therefore resolved to seek new settlements; the island of Puerto Rico was annexed to the Spanish dominions, and its unfortunate inhabitants were subjected to the same cruel tyranny as the natives of Hispaniola. The island of Cuba was next conquered; though it is seven hundred miles in length, and was then densely populated, such was the unwarlike character of the inhabitants, that three hundred Spaniards were sufficient for its total subjugation.

More important conquests were opened by the intrepidity of Balboa, who had founded a small settlement on the isthmus of Darien.

At length the Spaniards began to prepare an expedition for establishing their empire on the American continent. An armament was organ

ized in Cuba, and the command intrusted to Fernando Cortez, a commander possessing great skill and bravery, but avaricious and cruel even beyond the general average of his countrymen at that period. On the 2d of April, 1519, this bold adventurer entered the harbor of St. Juan de Uloa, on the coast of Yucatan. By means of a female captive, he was enabled to open communications with the natives; and they, instead of opposing the entrance of these fatal guests into their country, assisted them in all their operations with an alacrity of which they too soon had reason to repent. The Mexicans had attained a pretty high degree of civilization; they had a regular government, a system of law, and an established priesthood; they recorded events by a species of picture-writing, not so perfect as the Egyptian system of hieroglyphics, but which, nevertheless, admitted more minuteness and particularity than is generally imagined; their architectural structures were remarkable for their strength and beauty; they had advanced so far in science as to construct a pretty accurate calendar; and they possessed considerable skill, not only in the useful, but also in the ornamental arts of life. Cortez saw that such a nation must be treated differently from the rude savages in the islands; he therefore concealed his real intentions, and merely demanded to be introduced to the sovereign of the country, the emperor Montezuma.

The Indian caziques were unwilling to admit strangers possessed of (such formidable weapons as muskets and artillery into the interior of their country; and Montezuma, who was of a weak and cowardly disposition, was still more reluctant to receive a visit from strangers, of whose prowess he had received an exaggerated description. He therefore resolved to temporize, and sent ambassadors to Cortez with rich presents, declining the proposed interview. But these magnificent gifts served only to increase the rapacity of the Spaniards. Cortez resolved to temporize; he changed his camp into a permanent settlement, which subsequently grew into the city of Vera Cruz, and patiently watched from his intrenchments the course of events.) He had not long continued in this position, when he received an embassy from the Zempoallans, a tribe which had been long discontented with the government of Montezuma. He immediately entered into a close alliance with these disaffected subjects, and sent an embassy to Spain to procure a ratification of his powers, and set fire to his fleet, in order that his companions, deprived of all hope of escape, should look for safety only in victory. Hav ing completed his preparations, he marched through an unknown country to subdue a mighty empire, with a force amounting to five hundred foot, fifteen horsemen, and six pieces of artillery. His first hostile encounter was with the Tlascalans, the most warlike race in Mexico; their country was a republic, under the protection of the empire, and they fought with the, fury of men animated by a love of freedom. But nothing could resist the superiority which their firearms gave the Spaniards; the Tlascalans, after several defeats, yielded themselves as vassals to the crown of Spain, and engaged to assist Cortez in all his future operations. Aided by six thousand of these new allies, he advanced to Cholula, a town of great importance, where, by Montezuma's order, he was received with open professions of friendship, while plans were secretly devised for his destruction. Cortez discovered the

plot, and punished it by the massacre of six thousand of the citizens; the rest were so terrified, that, at the command of the Spaniard, they returned to their usual occupations, and treated with the utmost respect the men whose hands were stained with the blood of their countrymen. As a picture of national prosperity long since extinct, we shall here insert the description given by Cortez in his despatches to the Spanish monarch of the ancient city of Tlascala, which still exists, though much decayed: "This city is so extensive, so well worthy of admiration, that although I omit much that I could say of it, I feel assured that the little shall say will be scarcely credited, since it is larger than Granada, and much stronger, and contains as many fine houses and a much larger population than that city did at the time of its capture; and it is much better supplied with the products of the earth, such as corn, and with fowls and game, fish from the rivers, various kinds of vegetables, and other excellent articles of food. There is in this city a market, in which every day thirty thousand people are engaged in buying and selling, besides many other merchants who are scattered about the city. The market contains a great variety of articles both of food and clothing, and all kinds of shoes for the feet; jewels of gold and silver, and precious stones, and ornaments of feathers, all as well arranged as they can possibly be found in any public squares or markets in the world. There is much earthenware of every style and a good quality, equal to the best of Spanish manufacture. Wood, coal, edible and medicinal plants, are sold in great quantities. There are houses where they wash and shave the heads as barbers, and also for baths. Finally, there is found among them a well-regulated police; the people are rational and well disposed, and altogether greatly superior to the most civilized African nation."

From Cholula, Cortez advanced toward the city of Mexico, and had almost reached its gates before the feeble Montezuma had determined whether he should receive him as a friend or as an enemy. After some hesitation, Montezuma went forth to meet Cortez, with all the magnificence of barbarous parade, and granted the Spaniards a lodging in the capital.

But notwithstanding his apparent triumph, the situation of Cortez was one of extraordinary danger and perplexity. He was in a city surrounded by a lake, the bridges and causeways of which might easily be broken; and his little band, thus cut off from all communication with its allies, must then have fallen victims to superior numbers. To avert this danger, he adopted the bold resolution of seizing Montezuma as a hostage for his safety, and he actually brought him a prisoner to the Spanish quarters. Under pretence of gratifying the monarch's curiosity to see the structure of European vessels, the Spaniards built two brig antines, and launched them on the lake, thus securing to themselves the means of retreat in case of any reverse of fortune.

The ostensible pretext for this act of violence was that a cazique, named Qualpopoca, had slain several Spaniards in the city of Nautecal or Almeira. The account which Cortez gives of the transaction is too singular to be omitted, especially as his despatches are utterly unknown in this country. It will be seen that he never gives Montezuma, or as he writes his name, Muteczuma the title of king or emperor, but speaks