A revolution naturally followed.  Otho was compelled to abandon absolute power in order to preserve his crown, and in March 1844 he swore obedience to a constitution prepared by the National Assembly, which put an end to the government of alien rulers under which the Greeks had lived for two thousand years.  The destinies of the race were now in the hands of the citizens of liberated Greece.  But the attempt was unsuccessful.  The corruption of the government and the contracted views of King Otho rendered the period from the adoption of the constitution to his expulsion in 1862 a period of national stagnation.  In October 1862 revolt broke out, and on the 23rd a provisional government at Athens issued a proclamation declaring, in his absence, that the reign of King Otho was at an end.

When Otho and his queen returned in a frigate to the Piraeus they were not allowed to land.  Otho appealed to the representatives of the powers, who refused to support him against the nation, and he and his queen took refuge on board H.M.S.  Scylla, and left Greece for ever.

The National Assembly held in Athens drew up a new constitution, laying the foundations of free municipal institutions, and leaving the nation to elect their sovereign.  Then followed the abortive, though almost unanimous, election as king of Prince Alfred of England.  Afterwards the British Government offered the crown to the second son of Prince Christian of Holstein-Gluecksburg.  On March 30, 1863, he was unanimously elected King of Greece, and the British forces left Corfu on June 2, 1864.

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J.L.  MOTLEY

The Rise of the Dutch Republic

John Lothrop Motley, historian and diplomatist, was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, now part of Boston, on April 15, 1814.  After graduating at Harvard University, he proceeded to Europe, where he studied at the universities of Berlin and Goettingen.  At the latter he became intimate with Bismarck, and their friendly relations continued throughout life.  In 1846 Motley began to collect materials for a history of Holland, and in 1851 he went to Europe to pursue his investigations.  The result of his labours was “The Rise of the Dutch Republic—­a History,” published in 1856.  The work was received with enthusiasm in Europe and America.  Its distinguishing character is its graphic narrative and warm sympathy; and Froude said of it that it is “as complete as industry and genius can make it, and a book which will take its place among the finest stories in this or any language.”  In 1861 Motley was appointed American Minister to Austria, where he remained until 1867; and in 1869 General Grant sent him to represent the United States in England.  Motley died on May 29, 1877, at the Dorsetshire house of his daughter, near Dorchester.

I.—­Woe to the Heretic