held, but Frederick William IV., king
of Prussia, refused to accept the title of hereditary emperor
which was offered him. Austria and Prussia came into opposition;
two rival congresses were sitting at the same time in 1850; and
war between the two states was only averted by the interference
of Russia. Czar Nicholas, then virtually dictator of Europe,
ordered Prussia's troops back, and the Convention of Olmutz, in
November, seemed to put a final end to Prussia's hopes of German
hegemony.

All the local despotisms of Italy collapsed before the breath
of revolution; but the country then found itself face to face
with Austria. Charles Albert of Sardinia had the courage to head
the revolt; but was defeated, and abdicated in favor of his son
Victor Emmanuel. Venice was taken after a severe siege by the
Austrians; and King Bomba managed to repossess himself of Naples,
after a terrible massacre. Sicily was subdued. In the Papal States,
Pio Nono was deposed; but after a time a reaction set in, the
provisional government under Mazzini was overthrown, and the
French occupied Rome and recalled the Pope.

The question as to the Danish or German ownership of the duchies
of Schleswig-Holstein had already been agitated, and they became
acute at this time; but the spirit of the new revolution had no
direct bearing upon the matter. By the end of the first half
of the nineteenth century, Europe was outwardly quiet once more.

And what part had Holland taken in these proceedings? A very
small one. The phlegmatic Dutchmen found themselves fairly well
off, and were nowise tempted to embark in troubles for sentiment's
sake. The constitution given them in 1814 was revised, with the
consent of the king, and the changes, which involved various
political reforms, went into effect on April 17, 1848. William
II. died just eleven months afterward, and was succeeded by his
son William III., at that time a man of two-and-thirty. He favored
the reforms granted by his father, and showed himself to be in
harmony with such sober ideas of progress as belonged to the
nation over which he ruled. His aim in all things was peace, and
the development of the resources of the country; he understood his
people, and they placed confidence in him, and Holland steadily
grew in wealth and comfort. In 1853, after the establishment by
the papacy of Catholic bishoprics had been allowed, there was
a period of some excitement; for Roman Catholicism had found a
stern