n the end, he prevailed over Capodistrias sufficiently to
overcome Alexander's scruples against harsh measures in Naples. It was
determined to invite King Ferdinand to meet the sovereigns at Leibach, in
Austria, and to address a summons to the Neapolitans commanding them to
abandon their constitution, under threat of immediate invasion. Accordingly
a note was issued from Troppau to all the courts of Europe, embodying the
doctrine of federative intervention, as applied to Naples.

[Sidenote: King Ferdinand's duplicity]

As soon as King Ferdinand received the summons he prepared to leave Naples.
The populace became aroused, and angry crowds surrounded the palace.
Ferdinand was not allowed to leave Naples until he had once more sworn on
his honor to maintain the constitution borrowed from Spain. The King took
this oath as readily as he did the other. Then he journeyed northward. Half
way, at Leghorn, he sent letters to each of the five principal sovereigns
of Europe declaring his last declaration just as null and void as his
previous perjuries. His double-dealing was rather too much even for the
Holy Alliance. As Gentz, the secretary of the Congress, expressed himself
in private: "The conduct of this wretched sovereign, since the beginning of
his troubles, has been nothing but a tissue of weaknesses and lies. Happily
they will remain secret. No Cabinet will care to draw them from the
graveyard of its archives. Till then there is not much harm done."

[Sidenote: Benjamin West]

Benjamin West, the celebrated American-English artist, died at London in
his eighty-second year. At the opening of the Eighteenth Century, West was
in the forefront of the agitation that grew out of his contested succession
to Sir Joshua Reynolds as president of the Royal Academy. Wearied with
these quarrels he visited Paris, where he studied the newly pillaged
masterpieces at the Louvre. He resigned from the Royal Academy, but was
almost unanimously re-elected. It was then that he painted his famous
"Christ Healing the Sick." His later works failed to attain the success of
his earlier historical paintings. When West died, his reputation had
declined appreciably, still a public funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral was
accorded to him, a unique honor for an American.

1821

[Sidenote: Congress of Leibach]

[Sidenote: Naples under duress]

The Congress of Leibach met in January. It was attended by the
representatives of Russia, Austria, Prus