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[Illustration: The Berlin Conference.]




GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN


_A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of_

THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 200 OF THE MOST PROMINENT PERSONAGES IN HISTORY


VOL. IV.




Copyright, 1894, BY SELMAR HESS

edited by Charles F. Horne

[Illustration: Publisher's arm.]

New-York: Selmar Hess Publisher


Copyright, 1894, by SELMAR HESS.




CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV.


  SUBJECT                         AUTHOR                          PAGE

  JOHN ADAMS,                 _Edwin Williams_,                    251
  Letter from Adams to a friend
    on the "Destiny of America,"                                   252
  LOUIS AGASSIZ,              _Asa Gray_,                          350
  PRINCE VON BISMARCK,        _Prince Outisky_,                    385
  SIMON BOLIVAR,              _Hon. John P. St. John_,             306
  EDMUND BURKE,               _Dr. Heinrich Geffcken_,             226
  JEAN FRANCOIS CHAMPOLLION,  _Georg Ebers_,                       311
  GROVER CLEVELAND,           _Clarence Cook_,                     403
  GEORGES CUVIER,             _John Stoughton, D.D._,              287
  CHARLES DARWIN,             _Arch. Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S._,       355
  BENJAMIN DISRAELI,          _Harriet Prescott Spofford_,         370
  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,                                               231
  LEON GAMBETTA,                                                   363
  WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE,    _Justin McCarthy_,                   377
  HORACE GREELEY,             _Noah Brooks_,                       345
  ALEXANDER HAMILTON,                                              265
  PATRICK HENRY,              _General Bradley T. Johnson_,        236
  ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT,     _Louis Agassiz_,                     292
  ANDREW JACKSON,             _Thomas Wentworth Higginson_,        317
  THOMAS JEFFERSON,           _Hon. John B. Henderson_,            256
  ABRAHAM LINCOLN,            _Terence Vincent Powderly_,          338
  WILLIAM MCKINLEY,           _Rossiter Johnson_,                  398
  MARIA THERESA,              _Anna C. Brackett_,                  221
  COUNT DE MIRABEAU,          _Charles S. Hathaway_,               273
  ISAAC NEWTON,               _John Stoughton, D.D._,              211
  DANIEL O'CONNELL,           _Justin McCarthy_,                   300
  CHARLES STEWART PARNELL,    _Thomas Davidson_,                   395
  JEAN HENRI PESTALOZZI,      _Harriet Martineau_,                 282
  PETER THE GREAT,                                                 215
  MAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE,                                          278
  WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD,       _Hon. Charles E. Fitch_,             332
  LOUIS ADOLPHE THIERS,                                            360
  GEORGE WASHINGTON,                                               242
  _Letter from Washington to his adopted
    daughter on the subject of "Love,"_                            250
  DANIEL WEBSTER,             _Rev. Dr. Tweedy_,                   326
  _Letter from Webster to his friend
    Brigham on the "Choice of a Profession,"_                      331
  WILLIAM III. OF ENGLAND,                                         205




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME IV.


PHOTOGRAVURES


  ILLUSTRATION                           ARTIST               TO FACE PAGE

  THE BERLIN CONFERENCE,                 _Anton von Werner_  _Frontispiece_
  THE THIRD ESTATE TAKES REFUGE IN THE
    TENNIS COURT,                        _Etienne Lucien Melingue_ 276
  PESTALOZZI, THE CHILDREN'S FRIEND,     _Konrad Grob_             286
  THE ENROLLMENT OF VOLUNTEERS, 1870,    _Alfred Paul de
                                           Richemont_              368
  BISMARCK BEFORE PARIS,                 _Ludwig Braun_            390




WOOD-ENGRAVINGS AND TYPOGRAVURES


  COUNCIL OF WAR AFTER THE LANDING OF WILLIAM OF
    ORANGE,                              _H. G. Glindoni_          208
  NEWTON ANALYZING THE RAY OF LIGHT,     _Loudan_                  212
  THE LIFE OF PETER THE GREAT SAVED AT
    THE FOOT OF THE ALTAR,               _Steuben_                 216
  BURKE, JOHNSON, AND THEIR FRIENDS,     _James E. Doyle_          228
  THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS TO
    WASHINGTON,                          _Armand Dumaresq_         246
  ROBESPIERRE'S ARREST,                  _Francois Flameng_        280
  A. LINCOLN,                                                      340
  HAWARDEN CASTLE, THE HOME OF
    GLADSTONE,                           _G. Montbard_             378
  GLADSTONE'S FIRST HOME RULE BILL,                                382
  PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE AT
    VERSAILLES,                          _Anton von Werner_        386
  PARNELL TESTIFYING AGAINST THE
    "TIMES,"                             _Walter Wilson_           396
  PRESIDENT MCKINLEY TAKING THE OATH OF
    OFFICE,                              _A. de Thulstrup_         402
  THE CEREMONY AT GROVER CLEVELAND'S
    MARRIAGE,                            _A. de Thulstrup_         406




WILLIAM III. OF ENGLAND

(1650-1702)

[Illustration: William III. [TN]]


William, Prince of Orange, the third king of England of that name, born
November 14, 1650, was the posthumous son of William II., Prince of
Orange, and Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I. of England. The fortunes
of his childhood did not promise that greatness which he attained. His
father had been thought to entertain designs hostile to the liberties of
the United Provinces, and the suspicions of the father produced distrust
of the son. When Cromwell dictated terms of peace to the Dutch in 1654,
one of the articles insisted on the perpetual exclusion of the Prince of
Orange from all the great offices formerly held by his family; and this
sentence of exclusion was confirmed, so far as Holland was concerned,
thirteen years after, by the enactment of the Perpetual Edict, by which
the office of Stadtholder of Holland was forever abolished. The
restoration of the Stuarts, however, was so far favorable to the
interests of the House of Orange, as to induce the princess-royal to
petition, on her son's behalf, that he might be invested with the
offices and dignities possessed by his ancestors. The provinces of
Zealand, Friesland, and Guelderland warmly espoused her cause: even the
States of Holland engaged to watch over his education, "that he might be
rendered capable of filling the posts held by his forefathers." They
formally adopted him as "a child of the state," and surrounded him with
such persons as were thought likely to educate him in a manner suited to
his station in a free government.

A storm broke upon Holland just as William was ripening into manhood;
and discord at home threatened to aggravate the misfortunes of the
country. The House of Orange had again become popular; and a loud cry
was raised for the instant abolition of the Perpetual Edict, and for
installing the young prince in all the offices enjoyed by his ancestors.
The Republican party, headed by the De Witts, prevented this; but they
were forced to yield to his being chosen captain-general and
high-admiral. Many persons hoped that William's military rank and
prospects would incline his uncle Charles II. to make common cause with
the friends of liberty and independence; but the English monarch was the
pensioner of the French king, and France and England jointly declared
war against the States, April 7, 1672. The Dutch made large
preparations; but new troops could not suddenly acquire discipline and
experience. The enemy meditated, and had nearly effected, the entire
conquest of the country; the populace became desperate; a total change
of government was demanded; the De Witts were brutally massacred, and
William was invested with the full powers of stadtholder. His fitness
for this high office was soon demonstrated by the vigor and the wisdom
of his measures. Maestricht was strongly garrisoned; the prince of
Orange, with a large army, advanced to the banks of the Issel; the Dutch
fleet cruised off the mouth of the Thames, to prevent the naval forces
of England and France from joining. The following year, 1763, Louis XIV.
took Maestricht; while the Prince of Orange, not having forces
sufficient to oppose the French army, employed himself in retaking other
towns from the enemy. New alliances were formed; and the prince's
masterly conduct not only stopped the progress of the French, but forced
them to evacuate the province of Utrecht. In 1674 the English Parliament
compelled Charles II. to make peace with Holland. The Dutch signed
separate treaties with the Bishop of Munster and the Elector of Cologne.
The gallantry of the prince had so endeared him to the States of
Holland, that the offices of stadtholder and captain-general were
declared hereditary in his male descendants. Meanwhile he continued to
display both courage and conduct in various military operations against
the French. The battle of Seneffe was desperately fought. After sunset,
the conflict was continued by the light of the moon; and darkness,
rather than the exhaustion of the combatants, put an end to the contest,
and left the victory undecided. The veteran Prince of Conde gave a
candid and generous testimonial to the merit of his young antagonist:
"The Prince of Orange," said he, "has in every point acted like an old
captain, except in venturing his life too much like a young soldier."

In 1675 the sovereignty of Guelderland and of the county of Zutphen was
offered to William, with the title of duke, which was asserted to have
been formerly vested in his family. Those who entertained a bad opinion
of him, and attributed whatever looked like greatness in his character
to ambition rather than patriotism, insinuated that he was himself the
main-spring of this manifest intrigue. He had at least prudence enough
to deliberate on the offer, and to submit it to the judgment of the
States of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht. They viewed with jealousy the
aristocratic dignity, and he wisely refused it. This forbearance was
rewarded by the province of Utrecht, which adopted the precedent of
Holland, in voting the stadtholdership hereditary in the heirs-male of
his body.

The campaign of 1675 passed without any memorable event in the Low
Countries. In the following year hopes of peace were held out from the
meeting of a congress at Nimeguen; but the articles of peace were to be
determined rather by the events of the campaign than by the
deliberations of the negotiators. The French took Conde and several
other places; the Prince of Orange, bent on retaliation, sat down before
Maestricht, the siege of which he urged impetuously; but the masterly
movements of the enemy, and a scarcity of forage, frustrated his plans.
Aire had already been taken; the Duke of Orleans had made himself master
of Bouchain; Marshal Schomberg, to whom Louis had intrusted his army on
retiring to Versailles, was on the advance; and it was found expedient
to raise the siege of Maestricht. It was now predicted that the war in
Flanders would be unfortunate in its issue; but the Prince of Orange,
influenced by the mixed motives of honor, ambition, and animosity, kept
the Dutch Republic steady to the cause of its allies, and refused to
negotiate a separate peace with France. In October, 1677, he came to
England, and was graciously received by the king, his uncle. His
marriage with Mary, eldest daughter of the Duke of York, was the object
of his visit. That event gave general satisfaction at the time; the
consequences which arose from it were unsuspected by the most
far-sighted. At first the king was disinclined to the match, then
neutral; and at last favorable, in the hope of engaging William to fall
in with his designs, and listen to the separate proposals of the French
monarch. The prince, on his part, was pleased with the prospect, because
he expected that the King of England would, at length, find himself
obliged to declare against Louis, and because he imagined that the
English nation would be more strongly engaged in his interest, and would
adopt his views with respect to the war. In this he was disappointed,
though the Parliament was determined on forcing the king to renounce his
alliance with Louis. But the States had gained no advantage commensurate
with the expense and danger of the contest in which they were engaged,
and were inclined to conclude a separate treaty. Mutual discontent among
the allies led to the dissolution of the confederacy, and a peace
advantageous to France was concluded at Nimeguen in 1678; but causes of
animosity still subsisted. The Prince of Orange, independent of
political enmity, had now personal grounds of complaint against Louis,
who deeply resented the zeal with which William had espoused the
liberties of Europe and resisted his aggressions. He could neither bend
so haughty a spirit to concessions, nor warp his integrity even by the
suggestions of his dominant passion, ambition. But it was in the power
of the French monarch to punish this obstinacy, and by oppressing the
inhabitants of the principality of Orange, to take a mean revenge on an
innocent people for the imputed offences of their sovereign. In addition
to other injuries, when the Duchy of Luxembourg was invaded by the
French troops, the commanding officer had orders to expose to sale all
the lands, furniture, and effects of the Prince of Orange, although they
had been conferred on him by a formal decree of the States of the
country. Whether to preserve the appearance of justice, or merely as an
insult, Louis summoned the Prince to appear before his Privy Council in
1682, by the title of _Messire Guillaume Comte de Nassau_, living at The
Hague in Holland. In the emergency occasioned by the probability of the
Dutch frontier being attacked in 1683, the Prince of Orange exerted all
his influence to procure an augmentation of the troops of the republic;
but he had the mortification to experience an obstinate resistance in
several of the States, especially in that of Holland, headed by the city
of Amsterdam. His coolness and steadiness, qualities invaluable in a
statesman, at length prevailed, and he was enabled to carry his measures
with a high hand.

The accession of James II. to the throne of Great Britain, in 1685, was
hailed as an opportunity for drawing closer both the personal friendship
and the political alliance between the stadtholder of the one country
and the king of the other; but a totally different result took place.
The headstrong violence of James brought about a coalition of parties to
resist him; and many of the English nobility and gentry concurred in an
application to the Prince of Orange for assistance. At this crisis,
William acted with such circumspection as befitted his calculating
character. The nation was looking forward to the prince and princess as
its only resource against tyranny, civil and ecclesiastical. Were the
presumptive heir to concur in the offensive measures, he must partake
with the king of the popular hatred. Even the continental alliances,
which William was setting his whole soul to establish and improve, would
become objects of suspicion to the English, and Parliament might refuse
to furnish the necessary funds. Thus by one course he might risk the
loss of a succession which was awaiting him; by an opposite conduct, he
might profit by the king's indiscretion, and even forestall the time
when the throne was to be his in the course of nature. The birth of a
son and heir, in June, 1688, seemed to turn