348 ESPARTERO, BALDOMERO. 



EUROPE. 



agencies underground, their advantage over 

 the overhead telegraph wires strung on posts 

 is obvious. The substance used as an insula- 

 tor is a novel one to practically apply to this 

 purpose, although its remarkable properties as 

 a non-conductor are well known. This is 

 paraffine-oil. The wires are wrapped in cotton 

 and bound together to the number of fifty or 

 more in a tight cover of netting, and then in- 

 closed in a pipe. After the pipe is laid in the 

 ground, it is filled with the oil. Elevated res- 

 ervoirs connected with the pipe keep it con- 

 stantly full of the oil under pressure. Short 

 lines insulated in this manner have been in 

 successful operation for a couple of years ; one 

 of them is laid under the Schuylkill River in 

 thirty-five feet of water. Such a line of under- 

 ground telegraph will probably soon be work- 

 ing between Philadelphia and New York. 



ESPARTERO, Don BALDOMERO, Duke of 

 Vitoria, a Spanish general and statesman, 

 born October 27, 1793, died January 9, 1879. 

 He was the son of a poor wheelwright, and, 

 being of a weakly constitution, prepared for 

 the priesthood. In 1809 he entered the army 

 to take part in the war against France, and 

 soon rose to the rank of lieutenant. After 

 the retreat of the French in 1814 he joined the 

 expedition of General Morillo to the South 

 American colonies, which at that time were 

 carrying on their war of independence. Dur- 

 ing the ten years in which he remained there 

 he found many opportunities to distinguish 

 himself, and rose rapidly in rank. In 1824 he 

 was sent to Spain by the Viceroy to report on 

 the state of affairs, and after his return was 

 captured and imprisoned for a whole year by 

 the enemy. In 1832 he openly declared him- 

 self in favor of the succession of the daughter 

 of Ferdinand VII., and when after the death 

 of the King the civil war broke out, he was 

 appointed Commandant - General of Biscay. 

 In 1836 he was appointed to the chief com- 

 mand of the Army of the North, Viceroy of 

 Navarre, and Captain-General of the Basque 

 Provinces. When in 1837 Don Carlos ap- 

 peared before Madrid, he saved the capital, 

 drove the enemy beyond the Ebro, completely 

 defeated them in the battle of Luchana (for 

 which he was created Count of Luchana), and 

 relieved Bilbao. In 1838 he completely de- 

 feated the Carlist General Negri at Burgos. 

 In 1839, by making good use of the dissen- 

 sions existing among the Carlists, he carried 

 on negotiations with the Carlist General Ma- 

 roto, who finally capitulated at Bergara. Af- 

 ter this Don Carlos was compelled to retire to 

 France. As a reward for his services, Espar- 

 tero was raised to the rank of marshal, and 

 was created Duke of Vitoria and a grandee of 

 the first class. In 1840 the Cortes passed a 

 law restricting the municipal charters. Es- 

 partero advised Queen Christina not to sanc- 

 tion the law ; but she refused to listen to his 

 advice, and he placed himself at the head of 

 the movement against it, which finally com- 



pelled Christina to resign and go to France. 

 In 1841 he was elected Regent of Spain, and 

 as such conducted the Government with great 

 energy. He opposed the demands of the 

 Church, subdued the Republicans who at- 

 tempted to create disturbances in Valencia 

 and other towns, prevented the abduction of 

 the young Queen, defeated the attempts to 

 bring about an insurrection in the army made 

 by the Generals Diego Leon and Manuel Con- 

 cha, and kept in entire subjection the Basque 

 Provinces. He now began to turn toward 

 England, and, refusing to dismiss his favorite, 

 the Secretary Linage, was accused of favoring 

 a commercial treaty with England which was 

 unfavorable to Spain. In a very short time 

 the opposition to him culminated in open re- 

 bellion, which soon spread over Andalusia, 

 Aragon, Catalonia, and Galicia. On June 13, 

 1843, a junta formed in Barcelona deposed 

 him, and declared Queen Isabella of age. Af- 

 ter Narvaez had taken Madrid on July 22d, he 

 escaped to Cadiz, whence he went to England. 

 While he was received in England with the 

 honors of a regent, he was deprived in Spain 

 of all his honors and titles. After passing 

 five years in England, a decree of Queen Isa- 

 bella restored to him all his titles, and he re- 

 turned to Spain, but for a long time kept him- 

 self aloof from political life. In 1854 he to- 

 gether with O'Donnell was the leader of the 

 insurrection, and Queen Isabella, in order to 

 save her throne, placed him at the head of the 

 new Ministry, in which O'Donnell became 

 Minister of War. His first act was to banish 

 Queen Christina for the second time. But the 

 union of parties as represented in his Cabinet 

 could not endure, and he was forced by the 

 intrigues of O'Donnell to resign on July 14, 

 1856. After this he retired completely from 

 public life, but his influence did not cease with 

 his retirement. In 1869, long after he had 

 taken any part at all in public affairs, a propo- 

 sition was made in the Cortes to elect him 

 King; and even Alfonso XII., upon his acces- 

 sion to the throne, considered it necessary 

 to go to Logrofio in order to secure Espartero's 

 good will. 



EUROPE. The area of Europe is estimated 

 at 3,824,240 square miles. Leaving out of ac- 

 count the area of the European dependencies, 

 as well as that of the German-coast waters of 

 the Baltic and North Seas, the Lake of Con- 

 stance, and the Sea of Azov, the European 

 states occupy the following relative position in 

 point of area : 



COUNTRIES. 



Square milea. 



1. Russia 1,983,784 



2. Austro-Hungary , 



8. Germany 



4. Franco 



5. Spain 



6. Sweden 



7. Finland 



8. Norway 



9. Great Britain and Ireland. 



10. Italy 



11. Turkey 



12. Boumania 



241,085 

 208,431 

 204,092 

 193,229 

 170,919 

 144,228 

 122,860 

 121,608 

 114.415 

 105,913 

 49,263 



