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made some endeavors to get the better of foreign influence, and recover his lost authority, all his efforts were vain. Nothing could exceed the anarchy and confusion that prevailed, encouraged and fomented both by Russia and France, to further their private ends. The king is supposed to have fallen a sacrifice to these disturbances, dying wholly dispirited in the year 1771.

He was succeeded by his eldest son Gustavus III., twenty-five years old at the time of his accession; a Swede by birth, and an active and spirited prince, who was bent upon recovering what his predecessors had too tamely surrendered of their rights and prerogatives; in which, being supported by France, he had the good fortune to succeed. Having found means to conciliate the army, and to reconcile the people to an attack upon the aristocrats, who were betraying the interests of the country, he established a new constitution, 1772, with such good management and address, that the public tranquillity was scarcely for a moment disturbed. This new arrangement threw great power into the hands of the king, by leaving him the option of convening and dissolving the states, with the entire disposal of the army, navy, and all public appointments, civil, military, and ecclesiastical. Some alterations were made in 1789, but nothing could reconcile the party whom he had superseded; at least it is probable that this was the occasion of the catastrophe which terminated the life of the unfortunate monarch. Towards the commencement of the French Revolution, in the year 1792, when he was preparing to assist Louis XVI. (an unpopular undertaking), he was assassinated at a masquerade by a person encouraged, if not directly employed, by the discontented party of

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of Bonaparte, than Gustavus IV., but he was little able to give effect to his wishes; his judgment being weak, and his forces inadequate to contend with the French, especially after the latter, by the Treaty of Tilsit, had found means to detach and conciliate the emperor Alexander. After this disastrous treaty, Gustavus became not only the object of French resentment, but of Russian rapacity. He was peremptorily forbidden to admit the English into his ports, and Finland was quickly wrested from him. The Danes also attacked him. In this dilemma, England would have assisted him if she could have trusted him, but, in truth, his rashness and incapacity were become too apparent to justify any such confidence. A revolution was almost necessary, nor was it long before a conspiracy was formed, which, in the year 1809, succeeded so far as to induce him to abdicate. His uncle, the Duke of Sudermania, being appointed Protector, and very soon afterwards King, by the title of Charles XIII., the states carried their resentment against Gustavus IV. so far as to exclude his posterity also from the throne.

Charles XIII. submitted to new restrictions on the kingly authority, and having no issue, left it to the nation to nominate an heir to the crown. Their first choice fell upon the prince of Augustenburg, a Danish subject, but his death happening soon afterwards, not without suspicion of foul play, Bernadotte, one of Bonaparte's generals, was in a very extraordinary manner nominated in his room by the king, and approved by the states. As crown prince of Sweden, tempted by the offer of Norway, he joined the confederacy against Napoleon in 1813, and was present at the battle of Leipsic. On the death of Charles XIII., 1818, he succeeded to the crown, having, by the Treaty of Vienna, 1815, obtained Norway, and the island of Guadaloupe. He died in 1844, and was succeeded by his son Oscar, as Charles XIV. The internal history of Sweden has for some years had the good fortune to be uneventful. It is impossible, however, that recent European transactions can have failed deeply to stir the public mind, and to create great anxiety in the government. Before the eyes of Sweden a French and English force destroyed the farthest outwork of that system of fortresses with which Russia armed her acquisitions from Sweden, probably as a base of farther aggressions; and on the position taken by

that power it may depend whether it shall recover a portion of its lost provinces and strength, or remain a small and feeble power under the dictation of Russia.

The history of DENMARK during the eighteenth century, and the beginning of the nineteenth, is uninteresting, in a political point of view. Incapable of taking any leading or conspicuous part in the affairs of Europe, all that we know concerning her relates rather to other countries, as Russia, Sweden, Prussia, France, and England; in whose friendships and hostilities she has been compelled, by circumstances, to take a part, little advantageous, if not entirely detrimental, to her own interests.

Seven kings have occupied the throne since the close of the seventeenth century, but it will be necessary to say very little of any of them. Frederick IV., who came to the crown in 1699, died in 1730; and was succeeded by Christian VI., a monarch who paid great attention to the welfare of his subjects, in lightening the taxes, and encouraging trade and manufactures. He reigned sixteen years, and was succeeded by his son Frederick V., in the year 1746. Frederick trod in the footsteps of his father, by promoting knowledge, encouraging the manufactures, and extending the commerce of his country.

He had nearly been embroiled with Russia during the six months' reign of the unfortunate Peter III., who, the moment he became emperor, resolved to revenge on the court of Denmark the injuries which had been committed on his ancestors of the House of Holstein Gottorp. In these attempts he was to be assisted by the king of Prussia. The king of Denmark prepared to resist the attacks with which he was threatened, but the deposition and death of the emperor fortunately relieved him from all apprehensions, and he was able to compromise matters with Catherine II., by a treaty that was not to take effect till the grand duke Paul came of age. By this convention, the empress ceded to Denmark, in the name of her son, the duchy of Sleswick, and so much of Holstein as appertained to the Gottorp branch of that family, in exchange for the provinces of Oldenburg and Dalmenhorst.

Frederick V. died in 1766, and was succeeded by his son Christian VII., who in 1768 married the princess Caroline Matilda of England, sister to King George III. The principal event in this reign was

one which involved the unhappy queen in inextricable difficulties, and probably hastened her death; but which seems still to be enveloped in considerable mystery. A German physician of the court (Struensee), who had risen from rather a low station in life to be first minister, having rendered himself extremely obnoxious by extensive reforms in all the public offices of state, civil and military-reforms which, had they succeeded, might have done him. great credit as a statesman, was accused of intriguing with the young queen, and by the violence of his enemies, headed and encouraged by Juliana Maria, the queen dowager, and her son Prince Frederick, was brought most ignominiously to the scaffold. The unfortunate Queen Caroline, whose life was probably saved only by the spirited interposition of the British minister, quitted Denmark after the execution of Struensee and.his coadjutor Brandt, and having retired to Zell, in Germany, painfully separated from her children, there ended her days, May 10, 1775, in the twenty-fourth year of her age.

During the latter part of his life, Christian VII., whose understanding had always been weak, fell into a state of mental derangement, and the government was carried on by the queen dowager and Prince Frederick, as co-regents, with the aid of Barnstoff, an able and patriotic minister. In 1773, the cession of Ducal Holstein to Denmark by Russia took place, according to the treaty above spoken of. This was a very important acquisition, as giving her the command of the whole Cimbrian peninsula, and enabling her, by forming a canal from Kiel to connect the Baltic with the German Ocean. In the Continental wars of 1788, 1793, Denmark remained neuter, but by joining the armed neutrality, in 1800, she excited the suspicions and resentment of Great Britain, and being supposed to favor not only Russia but France, became involved in a contest, which was attended with losses and vexations the most melancholy and deplorable.

Christian VII. died in 1788, and was succeeded by his son Frederick VI., who had, a few years before, on entering the seventeenth year of his age, been admitted to his proper share in the government, having with singular moderation and prudence succeeded in taking the administration of affairs out of the hands of the queen dowager and her party. Denmark appears to have suffered greatly from the peculiarity of her situation during

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the struggles arising out of the French Revolution, being continually forced into alliances contrary to her own interests, and made at last to contribute more largely than almost any other state to the establishment of peace. The cession of Norway to Sweden, which had been held out by the Allies as a boon to the latter power, to induce her to join the last confederacy against France, was a severe loss to Denmark, and very ill requitted by the transfer of Pomerania and the Isle of Rugen, which were all that she received in exchange.

After the Treaty of Vienna, the Holsteiners, Germans in their habits, language, and national feelings, showed a strong distaste to the Danish government. On the death of King Frederick in 1838, the strong patriotic feelings which made his successor Christian VIII. popular in Denmark, had the opposite effect in Holstein and Sleswick. In 1842, projects were formally discussed in Sleswick for a severance from Denmark. Christian died on the 20th of January, 1848, and his son Frederick VII. had not been many weeks on the throne when the revolutionary storm of 1848 swept by. The German portion of the Danish dominions revolted, and received assistance from the German National Assembly. The Prussian general, Wrangel, was sent with an army into the duchies, and after driving the Danes from Sleswick he marched into Jutland.

A fierce contest followed. It ended in the bloody battle of Idsted, fought on the 23d of July, 1849, in which the Prussian general, Willisen, was defeated with great slaughter by the Danes under General Krogh. England interposed to terminate a war which threatened serious consequences to the peace of Europe, but the position of Prussia towards the other German powers prompted her to abandon the cause of the principalities, and acknowledge them as part of Denmark. The failure of a successor to the duchies in the direct line on the death of Frederick VII., 1863, ended, after numerous disputes, in the annexation of both by Prussia in 1867.

The NETHERLANDS, including the Dutch and Belgian states, have experienced but one event of great importance since the Treaty of Vienna. The Dutch and the Belgians were severed by language, national feeling, and especially by religion, since the Belgians were still zealous adherents of the Church of Rome. Many jealousies had been occasioned by

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these elements of discord, and soon after the French Revolution of 1830, some disputes with the press helping the discontent of the Belgians, riots broke out in the streets of Brussels. Several "sympathizers" passed over from France, and by their aid, what seemed mere turbulence taking a national and political turn, men of influence joined the movement. A deputation was sent to the Hague to represent the state of Brussels to the king, and to demand the correction of certain abuses. answers returned by his majesty were favorable, and the Prince of Orange and Prince Frederick set out for Belgium with power to settle the terms of a new convention. But they were attended by a formidable body of troops. This alarmed and irritated the people, and the Prince of Orange was obliged to enter Brussels without a guard. He proceeded to the palace, and forthwith commenced a conference with the chiefs of the party thus in arms against his father's government. The demand was then made of an entire and final separation of Belgium from Holland; but the promise was given of a loyal adherence, should the two countries be rendered independent of each other, to the reigning dynasty.

With this proposition the prince returned to the Hague. It was entertained by the king, who of fered to submit it to the states-general. This was done; but Belgium, in the meantime, remained in the most frightful condition; and many of those who had engaged in revolution began to repent of the part which they had taken. It was now, however, too late for either side to turn back, and after some further negotiation, Prince Frederick marched He entered the city on the 23d of September, and against Brussels at the head of a numerous army. the conflict was carried on for four days, the people having commenced their resistance with apparently scarcely any means of defence, but finally triumphing against all the efforts of a regular and wellaccoutred army. At a conference of the great powers, Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, at London, it was agreed to acknowledge the independence of Belgium. The Duke of Nemours, the son of Louis Philippe, was selected as king, but there were strong political reasons against his acceptance; and the crown was conferred on Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the widower of the Princess Charlotte, who was inaugurated at Brussels on July

21, 1831. The government of the Hague, however, did not abandon its claims without a struggle, and the fortifications of Antwerp were defended by General Chassé against French and Belgian troops until the winter of 1832. In that year, Leopold married the Princess Louise, daughter of Louis Philippe, king of the French, who died in October,

1850, by whom he had issue the crown prince Leopold, duke of Brabant, and one other son and daughter. He conducted himself with prudence, firmness, and moderation, with constant regard to the principles of the Belgian constitution. He died December, 1865, and was succeeded by his son Leopold II.

WLLASTRATIEKANTILA

Minor Southern States of Europe

HE southern states of Europe underwent such extraordinary revolutions during the preponderance of the French under Bonaparte, that what happened to them during the eighteenth century, previously to these surprising events, seems comparatively of very little consequence; of the changes and disturbances to which they were subject through the interference of the French we have already treated.

SWITZERLAND, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, was involved in disputes between the Protestants and Catholics, which were attended with very unpleasant circumstances. These differences, however, were brought to an end by a convention in 1717, which established an equality of religious rights. Things remained very quiet in most of the cantons from this time to the French Revolution, with the exception of the towns of Geneva and Berne, and a few other places, where a disposition was manifested to limit and restrain the aristocratical governments, which only ied, at that time, to such judicious reforms as were sufficient to appease the ardor of the people. These disputes, however, may be held to have contributed to the evils which befel the country afterwards. Though the states endeavored to preserve their neutrality during the progress of the French Revolution, it was not possible, while revolutionary principles were afloat, to keep the country so free from internal disputes and

commotions, or so united as to deter the French from interfering. Geneva had already been cajoled out of her independence; but the first decisive occasion afforded to the French of taking an active part in the affairs of Switzerland, arose out of the disputes in 1798, relative to the Pays de Vaud; the gentry and citizens of which, not thinking themselves sufficiently favored by the rulers of Berne and Fribourg, began to be clamorous for a change. The peasantry of Basle also, instigated by an emissary of the French Directory, demanded a new constitution. These disputes opened the way for the introduction of French troops, first under the orders of the Directory, and afterwards under Bonaparte, as has been shown under the articles on France; and from that period to the conclusion of the war in 1815, Switzerland can scarcely be said to have known a year of repose.

Subsequently to the Treaty of Vienna this small cluster of republics, though often threatened by their powerful neighbors, remained untouched. They had many internal disputes, which, in 1847, broke into a fierce war between the Protestant and the Roman Catholic cantons, the former suppressing the monasteries, the latter throwing themselves into the hands of the Jesuits.

The Roman Catho

lics formed a separate confederation, called the Sunderbund, and threatened a dissolution of the federal government; but in December, 1847, they submitted to a confederate army, and the scenes which

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