Beacon Lights of History, Volume 10

A free download from http://www.dertz.in


Beacon Lights of History,
Volume 10

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Beacon Lights of History, Volume X,
by John Lord
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Beacon Lights of History, Volume X
Author: John Lord
Release Date: January 8, 2004 [eBook #10641]
Language: English
Character set encoding: iso-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEACON
LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME X***
E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

LORD'S LECTURES
BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME X
EUROPEAN LEADERS.
BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.,
AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN
EUROPE," ETC., ETC.

CONTENTS
WILLIAM IV.
ENGLISH REFORMS.
Social evils in England on the accession of William IV. Political
agitations. Premiership of Lord Grey. Aristocratic character of the
reformers. Lord John Russell. The Reform Bill. Its final passage. Henry
Brougham. Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister. Troubles in Ireland.
O'Connell. Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister. His short administration.
Succeeded by Lord Melbourne. Abolition of West India slavery.
Thomas Babington Macaulay. Popular reforms. Trades unions. Reform
of municipal corporations. Death of William IV. Penny postage.
Second ministry of Sir Robert Peel. The Duke of Wellington.
Agitations for repeal of the Corn Laws.
SIR ROBERT PEEL.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Birth and education of Sir Robert Peel. His conservative views. His
High Church principle. Enters the Cabinet of Lord Liverpool. Catholic
Emancipation. Resigns the representation of Oxford. Member of
Tamworth. Opposes the Reform Bill. Prime Minister in 1841. Financial

genius. His sliding scale. O'Connell's death. The Factory Question.
Renewed charter of the Bank of England. Financial measure. Maynooth
Grant. Agitation for Free Trade. Anti-Corn Association. Cobden and
Bright. Free Trade leagues. Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Peel
converted to Free Trade. Disraeli leader of the Protectionists. His
virulent assaults on Peel. Abolition of the Corn Laws. Irish Coercion
Bill. Fall of the Peel Ministry. Peel's great speech. Chartist movement.
Its collapse. Death of Sir Robert Peel. Character of Sir Robert Peel.
CAVOUR.
UNITED ITALY.
The Roman Catholic Church. The temporal power. General desire of
Italians for liberty. Popular leaders. The Carbonari. Charles Albert.
Joseph Mazzini. Young Italy. Varied fortunes of Mazzini. Marquis
d'Azeglio. His aspirations and labors. Battle of Novara. King Victor
Emmanuel II. Count Cavour. His early days. Prime Minister. His
prodigious labors. His policy and aims. His diplomacy. Alliance with
Louis Napoleon. Garibaldi. His wanderings and adventures. Daniele
Manin. Takes part in the freedom of Italy. Garibaldi in Caprera. Peace
of Villa-Franca. Liberation of Naples and Sicily. Flight of Francis II. of
Naples. Battle of Volturno. Annexation of Naples to Sardinia. Victor
Emmanuel, King of Italy. Venetian provinces annexed to Italy.
Withdrawal of French troops from Italy. All Italy united under Victor
Emmanuel.
CZAR NICHOLAS.
THE CRIMEAN WAR.
Origin of the Russians. Extension of Russian conquests. Conquests of
Catherine I. Conquests of Alexander I. Conquests of Nicholas. Treaty
of Adrianople. Ambition and aims of Nicholas. His character. Prince
Mentchikof. Lord Stratford. Causes of the Crimean War. England and
France in alliance with Turkey. Occupation by Russia of the Danubian
provinces. War declared. Lord Palmerston. Lord Aberdeen. Lord
Raglan. Marshal Saint-Arnaud. English and French at Varna. Invasion

of the Crimea. Battle of Alma. Colonel Todleben. Siege of Sebastopol.
Battle of Balaklava. "The Light Brigade". "The Heavy Brigade". Battle
of Inkerman. Horrors of the siege. General disasters. Florence
Nightingale. Sardinia joins the allies. Assault of Sebastopol. Death of
Lord Raglan. Treaty of Paris. Indecisive results of the war. The Eastern
Question.
LOUIS NAPOLEON.
THE SECOND EMPIRE.
Fortunes and adventures of Louis Napoleon. The political agitations of
1848. Louis Napoleon, President of the French Republic. His Ministers.
The Coup d'État. Usurpation of Louis Napoleon. His tools. His enemies.
Hostility of the leading statesmen of France. Character of Louis
Napoleon. The Crimean War. Alliance of France and England. Lord
Palmerston. Stability of the Empire. Prosperity of France. Public Works.
Splendid successes of Napoleon III. War with Austria. Peace of
Villa-Franca. Improvements of Paris. Haussmann. Mexican War.
Archduke Maxmilian. Humiliations and shifts of Louis Napoleon. War
with Germany. Indecision and incapacity of Louis Napoleon. Battle of
Worth. Marshal Bazaine. Gravelotte. Battle of Sedan. Fall of Napoleon
III. Calamities of France.
PRINCE BISMARCK.
THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
Humiliation of Prussia. Her great deliverers. Baron von Stein. His
financial genius. His intense hatred of Napoleon. His great reforms.
Disgrace of Stein. Prince Hardenberg. Baron von Humboldt.
Scharnhorst. New military organization. Frederick William III. German
Confederation, Diet of Frankfort. Reaction of liberal sentiments.
Influence of Metternich. Frederick William IV. Rise of Bismarck. Early
days. Politician. His