Beacon Lights of History, Volume 09 | Page 2

men
THE GREEK REVOLUTION.

Universal weariness of war on the fall of Napoleon Peace broken by the
revolt of the Spanish colonies Agitation of political ideas Causes of the
Greek Revolution Apathy of the Great Powers State of Greece on the
outbreak of the revolution Character of the Greeks Ypsilanti His
successes Atrocities of the Turks Universal rising of the Greeks Siege
of Tripolitza Reverses of the Greeks Prince Mavrokordatos Ali Pasha
The massacres at Chios Admiral Miaulis Marco Bozzaris Chourchid
Pasha Deliverance of the Mona Greeks take Napoli di Romania Great
losses of the Greeks Renewed efforts of the Sultan Dissensions of the
Greek leaders Arrival of Lord Byron Interest kindled for the Greek
cause in England London loans Siege and fall of Missolonghi
Interference of Great Powers Ibraham Pasha Battle of Navarino Greek
independence Capo d'Istrias Otho, King of Greece Results of the Greek
Revolution
LOUIS PHILIPPE.
THE CITIZEN KING. Elevation of Louis Philippe His character
Lafayette Lafitte Casimir Périer Disordered state of France Suppression
of disorders Consolidation of royal power Marshal Soult Fortification
of Paris Siege of Antwerp Public improvements First ministry of Thiers
First ministry of Count Molé Abd-el-Kader Storming of Constantine
Railway mania Death of Talleyrand Villemain Russian and Turkish
wars Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi Lamartine Second administration of
Thiers Removal of Napoleon's remains Guizot, Prime Minister Guizot
as historian Conquest of Algeria Death of the Due d'Orléans The
Spanish marriages Progress of corruption General discontents
Dethronement of Louis Philippe His inglorious flight
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME IX.
Napoleon Insists that Pope Pius VII. Shall Crown Him After the
painting by Jean Paul Laurens.
Louis XVI. _After the painting by P. Duménil, Gallery of Versailles_.

Murder of Marat by Charlotte Corday _After the painting by J.
Weerts_.
Edmund Burke _After the painting by J. Barry, Dublin National
Gallery_.
Napoleon After the painting by Paul Delaroche.
"1807," Napoleon at Friedland _After the painting by E. Meissonier_.
Napoleon Informs Empress Josephine of His Intention to Divorce Her
After the painting by Eleuterio Pagliano.
George IV. of England _After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence,
Rome_.
The Congress of Vienna After the drawing by Jean Baptiste Isabey.
Daniel O'Connell _After the painting by Doyle, National Gallery,
Dublin_.
Marco Bozzaris _After the painting by J.L. Gerome_.

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.
MIRABEAU.
A.D. 1749-1791.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
Three events of pre-eminent importance have occurred in our modern
times; these are the Protestant Reformation, the American War of
Independence, and the French Revolution.
The most complicated and varied of these great movements is the
French Revolution, on which thousands of volumes have been written,
so that it is impossible even to classify the leading events and the

ever-changing features of that rapid and exciting movement. The first
act of that great drama was the attempt of reformers and patriots to
destroy feudalism,--with its privileges and distinctions and
injustices,--by unscrupulous and wild legislation, and to give a new
constitution to the State.
The best representative of this movement was Mirabeau, and I
accordingly select him as the subject of this lecture. I cannot describe
the violence and anarchy which succeeded the Reign of Terror, ending
in a Directory, and the usurpation of Napoleon. The subject is so vast
that I must confine myself to a single point, in which, however, I would
unfold the principles of the reformers and the logical results to which
their principles led.
The remote causes of the French Revolution I have already glanced at,
in a previous lecture. The most obvious of these, doubtless, was the
misgovernment which began with Louis XIV. and continued so
disgracefully under Louis XV.; which destroyed all reverence for the
throne, even loyalty itself, the chief support of the monarchy. The next
most powerful influence that created revolution was feudalism, which
ground down the people by unequal laws, and irritated them by the
haughtiness, insolence, and heartlessness of the aristocracy, and thus
destroyed all respect for them, ending in bitter animosities. Closely
connected with these two gigantic evils was the excessive taxation,
which oppressed the nation and made it discontented and rebellious.
The fourth most prominent cause of agitation was the writings of
infidel philosophers and economists, whose unsound and sophistical
theories held out fallacious hopes, and undermined those sentiments by
which all governments and institutions are preserved. These will be
incidentally presented, as thereby we shall be able to trace the career of
the remarkable man who controlled the National Assembly, and who
applied the torch to the edifice whose horrid and fearful fires he would
afterwards have suppressed. It is easy to destroy; it is difficult to
reconstruct. Nor is there any human force which can arrest a national
conflagration when once it is kindled: only on its ashes can a new
structure arise, and this only after long and laborious efforts and