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CHAPTER XXVIII

From the Return of Bonaparte from Elba, to the general Peace.

IN March, 1815, whilst the plenipotentiaries and the allied sovereigns were occupied at the Congress of Vienna in laying the foundation of a permanent peace, the astounding news arrived that Napoleon had left Elba, and landed in France, with about 1,150 followers. Such was the encouragement he received, that when, on the 19th he reached Fontainbleau, he was at the head of 15,000 veterans, with the certainty that numerous corps were advancing on every side to join his standard. Preparations were made to arrest his progress; but on his march he was powerfully reinforced, and he reached Paris unmolested. Louis had previously quitted the capital, and now sought an asylum in the Netherlands. The allied sovereigns in the meantime issued a manifesto, in which it was declared, that Napoleon Bonaparte, by violating the convention in virtue of which he had been settled at Elba, had forfeited every claim to protection, and he was solemnly pronounced an outlaw.

In answer to this manifesto Napoleon published a declaration, asserting that he was recalled to the throne by the unanimous wish of the French people. Large armies were assembled with all possible expedition; and Bonaparte, with extraordinary celerity, opened the short but ever memorable campaign, by attacking the advanced posts of the Prussians on the 15th of June. On that and the following day considerable success attended his arms; but on the field of Waterloo (June 18) the genius of Wellington and the steady valor of the British troops gave a death-blow to his hopes, and once more rescued Europe from its degrading thraldom. Having witnessed the irretrievable ruin of his army, he fled with the greatest precipitation from the field of battle; while the residue of his discomfited troops were pursued by the Prussians under Blucher. The combined armies now rapidly advanced towards Paris: and Bonaparte, finding that his reign was at an end, fled to the sea-coast in the hope of making his escape to America. In this, however, he was foiled by the vigilance of the British cruisers; and he at length surrendered to Captain Maitland, of the Bellerophon, who, at his request, brought him to the British shores, though he was not permitted to land. After some discussion it was resolved that he should be imprisoned for life in the island of St. Helena, whether, accompanied by a small train of attendants, he was forthwith sent. Louis XVIII. was a second time restored to his throne. An act of amnesty was passed; from which a few of Napoleon's most strenuous supporters were excluded; whilst Ney and Labedoyère were shot.

By the terms of the treaty entered into between France and the allied powers, it was agreed that sixteen of the frontier fortresses of France should be garrisoned by the allies for five years, and that 15,000 allied troops, under the duke of Wellington, should be maintained in that kingdom for the same space of time. The following arrangements were also concluded at the congress of Vienna; Prussia was enriched by the annexation of a portion of Saxony, and recovered Lusatia; Russia received a large part of Poland; the Venetian territory was given to Austria; Genoa was assigned to the king of Sardinia; the Papal dominions were restored; while the United Provinces and the Netherlands were formed into a kingdom for the prince of Orange. England restored to the Dutch some of the colonies she had taken from them, and various minor changes also took place. A confederation was then entered into by the sovereign states of Germany for mutual defence and the prevention of internal war. And, to crown the whole, the emperors of Russia and Austria, with the king of Prussia, bound themselves by a solemn compact, called the Holy Alliance; the professed object of which was to preserve the peace of Europe, and to maintain the principles of Christianity in their respective dominions.

Greece, which had been a province of the Turkish empire since the beginning of the sixteenth century, gained its independence in the insurrection of 1821-29, and by the Protocal of London of February 3, 1830, was declared a kingdom, under the protection of Great Britain, France and Russia. The crown was offered to and accepted by prince Otto of Bavaria, who ascended the throne January 25, 1833, being under the age of eighteen. He was expelled from the kingdom after a reign of twentynine years, when Georgios I., son of the present King of Denmark, ascended the Greek throne.

After more than a year of bad health, Napoleon died in his island prison, May 5, 1851, and was buried with military honors. In 1844, his remains were removed to France, and deposited in the tomb of the Invalides.

Dom Pedro, eldest son of king Joâo VI. of Portugal, was declared " Perpetual Defender" of Brazil in a national Congress assembled at Rio de Janeiro, May 13, 1822. He proclaimed the independence of the country on September 7 of the same year, and was chosen "Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender" on October 12 following. In 1831, he resigned in favor of his only son, Dom Pedro II., who reigned until 1889 when Brazil was declared a republic.

For many years the question of Catholic Emancipation was agitated in Ireland, and in 1824 it assumed organized shape in the form of the Catholic Associations. The Duke of Wellington was for a long time reluctant to admit the Roman Catholic claims, but he was at last brought to the conviction that the security of the empire would be imperiled by further resisting them. A measure was introduced by Peel in the House of Commons, March 5, 1829, and after passing both houses received the royal assent on the 13th. Catholics were admitted to both houses of parliament and to most of the offices from which they had previously been excluded. Most of the restrictions that were retained have since been removed.

Charles X. of France, having succeeded to the throne on the death of Louis XVIII. September 16, 1824, began his reign by seeking to restore as much as possible of the old French monarchy. Popular discontent rapidly increased; and the king, having put an end to the freedom of the press, and dissolved the chamber twice in quick succession, the capital took to arms, the guards refused to act, and the king was compelled to flee to England. Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, was chosen king of the French.

The union established between the northern and southern provinces of the Netherlands by the Congress of 1815, was dissolved by the Belgian revolution of 1830, and their political relations were not readjusted until the signing of the Treaty of London, April 19, 1839, which constituted Belgium an independent kingdom, the neutrality of which was guaranteed by Austria, Russia, Great Britain and Prussia. Prince Leopold, of Saxe-Colong was elected king of the Belgians by a National Congress.

In 1832, the first British Reform bill was passed, by which an extensive change was made in the system of parliamentary representation. Parliamentary reform had for many years before been a topic of popular agitation. As far back as 1782, Pitt had introduced a measure for reform, and similar motions were made and defeated in 1783 and 1785. The horrors inspired by the excesses of the French Revolution caused a reaction and repression for a time of all liberal tendencies; but it was not until after the close of the French war that the desire for reform again manifested itself. Mercantile disasters added to the popular discontent which was fermented by the revolutions, (1830,) in France and Belgium; and an adjustment of the inequalities of the representative system was looked forward to as panacea for all the evils from which the country suffered. Meetings were held all over the country, and reform was everywhere advocated. Wellington's ministry resigned November 16, 1830, and the liberal ministry of Earl Grey succeeded it.

On the Ist of March, 1831, Lord Russel proposed his first scheme of reform which failed to pass. Parliament was dissolved, and the new Parliament passed the bill June 7, 1832. So sweeping was the change effected, that many advocates of reform were apprehensive lest the balance of the Constitution should be disturbed by the preponderance of the Democratic element; but the determination of the masses was such that the conservative influences of the country were powerless to stay or modify the measure. Yet no sooner was the contest at an end than a reaction followed, falsifying equally the hopes of the supporters of the bill and the fears of its opponents. Another reform bill was passed in 1867, and similar ones for Ireland and Scotland in 1868.