assumed charge early in 1824, sent an
expedition against them under Sir Archibald Campbell. The resistance of the
Burmese was despicable. The British soldiers nowhere found foes worthy of
their steel. In May, the British expedition, having marched straight to
Burma, occupied the capital Rangoon, which was found deserted and denuded
of all supplies. Ill fed and far from succor, the British had to spend a
rainy season there. Taking advantage of their precarious position, Bundula
returned late in the year with an army of 60,000 men. The Englishmen were
besieged. In December they made a successful sortie and stormed the
Burmese stockades. Bundula with the remains of his army was driven up the
banks of the river Irawaddy. They made a stand at Donabew, some forty miles
from Rangoon, where they held the British in check.

[Sidenote: German letters]

The rest of the world throughout this year lay in profound peace. In
Germany the rulers of the various principalities were allowed to continue
their reigns undisturbed. Only in Brunswick the assumption of the
government by Charles Frederick William met with the disapproval of the
German Diet. Although pronounced incapable of reigning, he succeeded none
the less in clinging to his throne. A more important event for the
enlightened element in Germany was the appearance of the first of Leopold
von Ranke's great histories of the Romance and Teutonic peoples. In the
realm of poetry a stir was created by the publication of Rueckert's and
Boerne's lyrics, and Heinrich Heine's "Alamansor" and "Ratcliffe."

[Sidenote: French literature]

[Sidenote: Clericals in the ascendant]

[Sidenote: Chateaubriand dismissed]

[Sidenote: Death of Louis XVIII.]

In France, Lamartine brought out his "Death of Socrates," and Louis Thiers
published the first instalments of his great "History of the French
Revolution." Simultaneously there appeared Francois Mignet's "History of
the French Revolution." While these historians were expounding the lessons
of this great regeneration of France, the Royalists in the Chambers did
their best to undo its work. After the ejection of Manuel from the
Chambers, and the Ministers' consequent appeal to the country, the
elections were so manipulated by the government that only nineteen Liberal
members were returned to the Chambers. Immediate advantage was taken of
this to favor the Clericals and returned Emigrees, and to change the laws
so as to elect a new House every