The Story of Mankind [152]
the independence of Greece because it was the first
successful attack upon the bulwark of reaction which the Congress
of Vienna had erected to ``maintain the stability of Europe.''
That mighty fortress of suppression still held out and
Metternich continued to be in command. But the end was
near.
In France the Bourbons had established an almost unbearable
rule of police officials who were trying to undo the work
of the French revolution, with an absolute disregard of the
regulations and laws of civilised warfare. When Louis
XVIII died in the year 1824, the people had enjoyed nine
years of ``peace'' which had proved even more unhappy than
the ten years of war of the Empire. Louis was succeeded by
his brother, Charles X.
Louis had belonged to that famous Bourbon family which,
although it never learned anything, never forgot anything.
The recollection of that morning in the town of Hamm, when
news had reached him of the decapitation of his brother,
remained a constant warning of what might happen to those
kings who did not read the signs of the times aright. Charles,
on the other hand, who had managed to run up private debts of
fifty million francs before he was twenty years of age, knew
nothing, remembered nothing and firmly intended to learn
nothing. As soon as he had succeeded his brother, he established
a government ``by priests, through priests and for
priests,'' and while the Duke of Wellington, who made this remark,
cannot be called a violent liberal, Charles ruled in such
a way that he disgusted even that trusted friend of law and
order. When he tried to suppress the newspapers which dared
to criticise his government, and dismissed the Parliament because
it supported the Press, his days were numbered.
On the night of the 27th of July of the year 1830, a revolution
took place in Paris. On the 30th of the same month, the
king fled to the coast and set sail for England. In this way
the ``famous farce of fifteen years'' came to an end and the
Bourbons were at last removed from the throne of France.
They were too hopelessly incompetent. France then might
have returned to a Republican form of government, but such
a step would not have been tolerated by Metternich.
The situation was dangerous enough. The spark of rebellion
had leaped beyond the French frontier and had set fire to
another powder house filled with national grievances. The new
kingdom of the Netherlands had not been a success. The Belgian
and the Dutch people had nothing in common and their
king, William of Orange (the descendant of an uncle of William
the Silent), while a hard worker and a good business man,
was too much lacking in tact and pliability to keep the peace
among his uncongenial subjects. Besides, the horde of priests
which had descended upon France, had at once found its way
into Belgium and whatever Protestant William tried to do was
howled down by large crowds of excited citizens as a fresh attempt
upon the ``freedom of the Catholic church.'' On the 25th
of August there was a popular outbreak against the Dutch
authorities in Brussels. Two months later, the Belgians
declared themselves independent and elected Leopold of Coburg,
the uncle of Queen Victoria of England, to the throne.
That was an excellent solution of the difficulty. The two
countries, which never ought to have been united, parted their
ways and thereafter lived in peace and harmony and behaved
like decent neighbours.
News in those days when there were only a few short railroads,
travelled slowly, but when the success of the French
and the Belgian revolutionists became known in Poland there
was an immediate clash between the Poles and their Russian
rulers which led to a year of terrible warfare and ended with a
complete victory for the Russians who ``established order along
the banks of the Vistula'' in the well-known Russian fashion
Nicholas the first, who had succeeded
successful attack upon the bulwark of reaction which the Congress
of Vienna had erected to ``maintain the stability of Europe.''
That mighty fortress of suppression still held out and
Metternich continued to be in command. But the end was
near.
In France the Bourbons had established an almost unbearable
rule of police officials who were trying to undo the work
of the French revolution, with an absolute disregard of the
regulations and laws of civilised warfare. When Louis
XVIII died in the year 1824, the people had enjoyed nine
years of ``peace'' which had proved even more unhappy than
the ten years of war of the Empire. Louis was succeeded by
his brother, Charles X.
Louis had belonged to that famous Bourbon family which,
although it never learned anything, never forgot anything.
The recollection of that morning in the town of Hamm, when
news had reached him of the decapitation of his brother,
remained a constant warning of what might happen to those
kings who did not read the signs of the times aright. Charles,
on the other hand, who had managed to run up private debts of
fifty million francs before he was twenty years of age, knew
nothing, remembered nothing and firmly intended to learn
nothing. As soon as he had succeeded his brother, he established
a government ``by priests, through priests and for
priests,'' and while the Duke of Wellington, who made this remark,
cannot be called a violent liberal, Charles ruled in such
a way that he disgusted even that trusted friend of law and
order. When he tried to suppress the newspapers which dared
to criticise his government, and dismissed the Parliament because
it supported the Press, his days were numbered.
On the night of the 27th of July of the year 1830, a revolution
took place in Paris. On the 30th of the same month, the
king fled to the coast and set sail for England. In this way
the ``famous farce of fifteen years'' came to an end and the
Bourbons were at last removed from the throne of France.
They were too hopelessly incompetent. France then might
have returned to a Republican form of government, but such
a step would not have been tolerated by Metternich.
The situation was dangerous enough. The spark of rebellion
had leaped beyond the French frontier and had set fire to
another powder house filled with national grievances. The new
kingdom of the Netherlands had not been a success. The Belgian
and the Dutch people had nothing in common and their
king, William of Orange (the descendant of an uncle of William
the Silent), while a hard worker and a good business man,
was too much lacking in tact and pliability to keep the peace
among his uncongenial subjects. Besides, the horde of priests
which had descended upon France, had at once found its way
into Belgium and whatever Protestant William tried to do was
howled down by large crowds of excited citizens as a fresh attempt
upon the ``freedom of the Catholic church.'' On the 25th
of August there was a popular outbreak against the Dutch
authorities in Brussels. Two months later, the Belgians
declared themselves independent and elected Leopold of Coburg,
the uncle of Queen Victoria of England, to the throne.
That was an excellent solution of the difficulty. The two
countries, which never ought to have been united, parted their
ways and thereafter lived in peace and harmony and behaved
like decent neighbours.
News in those days when there were only a few short railroads,
travelled slowly, but when the success of the French
and the Belgian revolutionists became known in Poland there
was an immediate clash between the Poles and their Russian
rulers which led to a year of terrible warfare and ended with a
complete victory for the Russians who ``established order along
the banks of the Vistula'' in the well-known Russian fashion
Nicholas the first, who had succeeded