The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1895-07-20

rope. Napoleon had the land; and the sea
was E~ngland's. In the Spanish peninsula,
the English and French armies advanced
or receded by strategic movements. In
that country, Genera! Wellesley had strug-
gicd hard to uphold the fortunes of Ferdi-
nand VII. In 1909 the allies had suffered
great hardships and reverses. Wellesley
had to get himself behind the line of the
Torres Vedras, only a short distance from
Lisbon; there he lay at bay.
The reign Of King Joseph was estab-
lishcd in the greater part of Spain. At one
time the British arm hardly reached out
forty miles from Lisbon. On July 27th
and 2Sth, Wellington (for he was now Lord
Wellington) won the bloody battle of Ia
lavera. Soult was not able to withstand
him; but Napoleon sent more than 350, 00O
men across the Pyrenecs, and the British
with their allies We're OBLIGED to find safety
again behind the Torres ~Scdras Massena
with his six hundred guns could not dis
lodge or drive his enemy further. He could
not tempt Wellington into the field. Dur
ing the whole year 1910 the nearest an.
proach to "a battle was that of Busaco,
where on the 9th Of September the French
suffered an unimportant reverse. Not un.
TIL the 9th of May, 1911, were the British
able in the open field to capture Almcida;
not until the 10Th of January, 1912, did
Ciudad Rodrigo yield to Wellington. On
the 9th of April he captured BadaioZ.
Twice already Joseph Bonapartc had been
driven from the throne; and twice had he
been replaced by the Emperor. His third
flight from his p%recarious Kingdom did
occur till 1913, when he left Cadiz
never to return. Napoleon with his new
empress sat for a while in Paris. There
were other domestic troubles besides his
own. He had obliged King Louis of Hol.
land to marry Hortense Bcauharnais. In
this case there was ugnan on both
sides. Louis wanted "a schoolmate of his
sister Caroline, and Hortense, horrible
dictu, loved not Louis bit Napoleon! So
aid a scandal which has not yet died out
of the world. The king and the queen
were never at one. Napoleon wished Louis
to govern the Dutch for him; and Hor.
tense supported this theory. Louis showed
signs of practical sense, and would rule the
Low Countries for their own advantage.
Holland was closely allied in interest with
England; for commerce was the resource
of both.
In 1908 Louis was urged by Napoleon tc
suppress the British sympathies of his sub.
jects, cut off intercourse with England,
and build a navy for France. Just after
Wagram there was q stormy interview be.
tween the brothers at Paris. The EmDer.
or, not trusting Louis, sent French troops
to occupy Amsterdam. Matters went tc
such a pitch that on the LIST of ,July. 1910
o was obliged to abdicate. The En-.
peror's threat to annex Holland to France
was carried out: and the ex-kinp retired
into Austria.
Napolcon's system of ruling bv slbordi
nate kings did not work well. In such ;
system there were more wills than one
and there must be but One. The On,
more and more declared himself. The ah
sorption of Holland was followed in De
cenlber of 1910, with the annexation of tb,
Hanse towns and the whole northern coas,
of Germany. If, on New Years Day. 1911
the status in quo could have been acknowl
edged-as it was ready to be Inv all tb,
Powers except Great Britain-thc drcan
of Charlemagne III. for n Furonpan E,nnir,
might be regarded as fulfilled.
From the Pyrenees to the Baltic anf
eastward to the limits of tho Continon,
there was nominal peace. lint on all se.,
the war leets and merchant-shins of Enc
land tcrrorized and temptcd the nations
The need of Europe for the rodncts o
Great Britain was an argument that tan
talized all harbors from Riga to Seyasto
pol. Europe was hungry for goods, anf
the Continental blockade forbade it. II
1901 the anti French party in st. Pc
tcrsburg was reinforced by the commercial
classes demanding intercourse with Enc
land. The Czar. though he had rotifei
the treaty of Schonbrunn, looked wifi
ever-increasing jealousy on the ~uuapneasof
ambition of his friend B~onaparto, He saw
tho Duchy of Warsaw growing on his bor
ders. He saw Oldcnburg. n fef of the Ro
manoffs, annexed to the French Empire
He saw the wellnigh successful attemnt {,
construct a Northern Confederation ont o.
Warsaw, Denmark and Sweden. He saw
p;vt,,, ,,t;,,,