Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century

James Richard Joy

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• Publié par: opsae
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 42
• Langue: English

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of the Nineteenth Century by James Richard Joy
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Title: Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth CenturyAuthor: James Richard Joy
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Edition: 10
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK, TEN ENGLISHMEN OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY ***
This eBook was produced by Ryan Ramseyer.TEN ENGLISHMEN OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
By James Richard Joy
1902
To
My Daughter
Helen
With Her Father's Love
PREFACEThe object of this work is to set forth with as much
clearness as possible the more important facts in
the history of England in the nineteenth century.
We have chosen to do this through the medium of
biography, in the belief that the lives of a few
representative men would present better
opportunities for interesting and effective treatment
than an historical narrative, which must have been
encumbered by a mass of detail not capable of
effective disposition within the limited space at our
command. An introductory chapter serves to give a
general view of the course of events and to show
the relations of the men and movements which are
afterward presented in more detail.
With but one exception our "Ten Englishmen" are
men in public life, political or military. Artists,
authors, preachers, and scholars were purposely
left out of the account, because they are to receive
prominence in other parts of the course for which
this volume was written. The exception was made
in the case of George Stephenson, because the
revolution in transportation, due to his
improvement of the locomotive engine, has had
such a powerful influence upon the industrial
development of the nation.
In bringing these great personages before the
reader our intention has been quite as much
historical as biographical. Each name is linked with
some conspicuous problem in statesmanship, and
the endeavor has been to set forth the work as well
as the workman. It is hoped that the library notes
appended to each chapter will be of assistance tothe earnest student, in supplementing the meager
outlines of this volume with the abundance of
personal detail and wealth of dramatic incident
which give life and action to history.
The appendix should not be overlooked. Its
selections from authentic speeches, letters,
dispatches, and other writings bring the reader into
touch with the men who made England great.
One word more. Our "Ten" are not necessarily
"THE Ten." They are the men whose lives lay in
line with the writer's plan. If they serve to
accentuate the leading features of the history we
are not disposed to argue with those who would
present other candidates for the honor of inclusion
in the list.
James Richard Joy
Plainfield, N.J., June 4, 1902.
INTRODUCTIONENGLAND IN THE
NINETEENTH
CENTURY
The opening of the nineteenth century found
England in the midst of a great foreign war, which
for almost a generation absorbed the thought and
energy of the nation, and postponed for the time
the vital questions of economic and political reform
which clamored for settlement.
THE STRUGGLE WITH NAPOLEON
The war began in 1793, when the French nation,
having overturned its ancient throne, and
revolutionized its social and political institutions, set
out on a democratic crusade for "Liberty, Equality,
and Fraternity," which involved it in a conflict with
the governments of Europe. William Pitt, who had
been Prime Minister of George III. since 1783, hadtwice banded the European states against the
French republican armies; but while the English
fleets remained masters of the seas, the
enthusiasm of the French soldiers, and the genius
of their young generals, had thus far proved too
strong for the mercenary battalions of despotism.
In the closing month of the year 1800, Pitt's
"Second Coalition" had been shattered by the
defeat of the Allies at Hohenlinden. The Peace of
Amiens which shortly ensued (March, 1802, to
May, 1803) was but a delusion. England greeted it
with joy and hope, but soon discovered its
unreality. From the renewal of hostilities, in May,
1803, until the final triumph of the allies, in 1815,
the war resolved itself into a struggle between
Napoleon and England. This young Corsican
lieutenant had raised himself by sheer force of
genius and unscrupulous ambition to absolute
power. His scheme for the subjugation of Europe
beat down every obstacle except the steady and
unbending opposition of England. Pitt, who had
withdrawn from the government because of the
stupid King's refusal to honor his Minister's pledges
of equal rights to the Irish Catholics, was recalled
by the universal voice ot the nation to organize the
resistance. Napoleon had assembled immense
armaments upon the Channel coast of France for a
descent on England, and had created a vast flotilla
to transport the force to Kent. Great Britain
trembled with excited apprehension. Three
hundred thousand volunteers offered their services
to the government. But, as often in the past,
Britain's best defense was her wooden walls, and
the sagacity, seamanship, and valor of her sailors,who out- manoeuvered the combined fleets of
France and Spain, crushed their power at Trafalgar
(October, 1805), and secured the Channel against
the invader. Pitt's gold had called into existence a
third coalition (England, Russia. Austria, and
Sweden), only to see Napoleon hurl it to the
ground on the field of Austerlitz (December, 1805).
England's isolation seemed as complete as the
Emperor's victory. Russia, Austria, and Prussia
made humiliating peace with the victor, who carved
his conquests into new states and kingdoms. Pitt,
who, at the news of Austerlitz, had pointed to the
map of Europe with the words "Roll up that map,
there will be no use for it these ten years," survived
the calamity scarcely a month.
Unable to meet, as yet, the English troops in battle
on the land as he had met and defeated those of
the Continent, and unequal to England on the
seas, Napoleon devised a more insidious plan of
campaign. Believing that a "nation of shop-
keepers" might be attacked through its trade, he
issued from the Prussian capital, in 1806, the
famous Berlin Decree, which was the first note of
that "Continental System," which was intended to
close the ports of Europe to British goods. The
British government met this boycott by its "Orders
in Council," which placed a blockade upon French
ports, and authorized the capture of neutral
vessels endeavoring to trade with them. This
inconclusive commercial warfare lasted several
years, but was far from being successful in its
object of ruining England. Indeed, it is said that the
most stringent enforcement of the "Decrees" and"Orders" did not prevent the Napoleonic armies
from wearing uniforms of English cloth and carrying
English steel in their scabbards.
England first began to make head against the
French conqueror when that far-sighted minister
George Canning sent Sir Arthur Wellesley to
Portugal to take command of the British forces in
the Peninsula. Wellesley had recently returned
from India, where he had achieved a brilliant
reputation for thoroughness of organization,
precision of manoeuver, and unvarying success,
qualities which at that time were lamentably rare
among British generals. In Portugal first, and later
in Spain, the sterling qualities of the new
commander steadily gained ground for England,
driving out the French marshals, and carrying this
Peninsular War to a triumphant conclusion by the
invasion of France (1814). Created Duke of
Wellington for his successes in the Peninsula,
Wellesley held command of the allied forces on the
Belgian frontier when, on the 18th of June, 1815,
they met and routed the French at Waterloo. That
day made Napoleon an exile, and "the Iron Duke"
the idol of the English lands in which he continued
to be the most conspicuous personage for nearly
half a century.
THE RESETTLEMENT OF EUROPE
Waterloo brought England into new relati