OUTLINES ENGLISH History BV AMELIA B EDWARDS REVISED AMERICAN, EDITION DA E16 BOSTON LIAM WARE & CQ. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Cfjnju -J. . V-iajnjrigJtt l}o. Shelf &%k UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. OUTLINES OF English History FROM THE Honp Conquest to the ppegent Time WITH Observations on the Progress of Art, Science and Civilization, and Questions adapted to each Paragraph FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS BY AMELIA B. EDWARDS AMERICAN EDITION, CORRECTED AND BROUGHT DOWN TO 1870 Afi -2718! BOSTON ~«<***s WILLIAM WARE & CO 1886 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by Hicklino, Swan, and Brewer, In the Clerk'fl Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Copyright, 1886. By William Ware &Co. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON EI.nrTUOTVPF.T> AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. In republishing the very excellent summary of English history recently published in Great Britain by Miss Edwards, very many important changes and improvements have been made, in order to render it adapted for study to the youth of our own country. All those points and events in which the histories of the two countries are closely connected have been materially enlarged, and in many cases first introduced in the American edition. Without these the work would be radically deficient as a text book for Amer- ican schools. Without claiming for it any higher merits than those of a concise and faithful hand- book of English history, the American publishers present this volume to the consideration of all in- terested in the education of youth, believing that it will be found to supply a great want, and one that has been long and sensibly felt. It is believed that the Index of subjects and persons, prepared by Mr. W. O. Fletcher, of Rock- land, Me., will be of much use, and meet the ap- proval of all teachers. (3) CONTENTS. Chap. P AGE Index 5 !• — England before the Conquest 9 " England undeii the Romans, from b. c. 55 to a. d. 449 10 " England under the Saxons, a. d. 449 to a. d. 827 12 " England under the Anglo-Saxons, a. d. 827 to 1013 15 " England under the Danes, a.d. 10 13 to 104 1. 21 " England under the Saxons, a. d. 1041 to 1066 22 II. — The Norman Monarchs 25 III. — The House of Plantagenet 31 IV. — The Houses of Lancaster and York. . . 39 V. — The House of Tudor -10 VI. — The House of Stuart 59 VII. — The House of Stuart, (continued.) ... 68 VIII. — United Houses of Stuart and Nassau. . . 74 IX. — The House of Brunswick 77 X. — The House of BRUNSWICK, (continued.) . . 93 (4) INDEX a. Pago Abolition of slavery 95 Addison and others 76 Admiral Parker 97 Agincourt 41 Agricola, Julius 11 Aix-la-Chapelle 81 Alfred the Great 10, 17 Anselm, Archbishop of Can- terbury 27 Annexation of Ireland and Scotland 32 Annual election in London . 3'$ Anglesea Island 11 Anna Boleyn 48 Annihilation of Turkish fleet . 94 Arthur, King 13 Art of printing 43 Arrest of Parliament .... 03 Augustin, the monk 14 Augustine age 76 B. Bacon, Lord 54 Bastile 86 Barebone's Parliament (note). 65 Balaklava 100 Bannockburn 35 Bible 19, 50 Bible, King James's edition . 60 Black Prince 36 Black death 37 Blenheim 75 Boliugbroke 78 Bodleian Library 56 Boadicea 11 Britons 9 Buildings of bricks 60 Burning of London by Danes 15 Burnet, Bishop 75 Byron, Lord 94 c. Cape of Good Hope 48 Canute 21 Cabots 47 Catholic emancipation .... 95 Pag« Cabal , .- 97 Caesar, Julius . , 10 Caxton, William , 44 Caractacus, the Defender . . 10 Canterbury 14 Card if Castle 28 Castle of Chalus &3 Castle of Rouen 34 Cannon in England 40 Cavaliers 63 Cecil, Lord 59 Charles 1 61 Charles II 68 Charles Edward 80 Chartism 96 Chimneys (note) 27 Chaucer, Geoffrey 38 Cinque Ports (note) 33 Circulation of blood 60 Clothing and bedding .... 41 Claudius 10 Clive 82 Coaches in England ..... 53 Commonwealth 64 Corn laws 97 Code of Laws, Kent 14 Conquest of Danes 15 Commons' Parliament .... 34 Coal used in England .... 34 Contest between Edward, Wil- liam, and Henry 44 Columbus (note) 47 Cranmer 52 CreRsy, battle 36 Crimea 100 Cromwell, Oliver .... 64, 66 Cromwell, Richard 66 Crusaders 27 Crystal Palace 97 Culloden 81 Curfew 26 D. Danegelt 21 Dauphin of France 42 Decimal arithmetic 55 Declaration of Rights in Amer- ica 83 De Spenser, Hugh 36 Dettiugen, battle 80 5 INDEX. Dissolving Parliament . . . (55 Distillation 34 Doomsday Hook 20 Drake, Sir Frauds 55 Dry den. John 75 Dunstan 20 Duke of Normandy 23 Duke Robert 28 Duke of Gloucester 38 Duke of Marlborough .... 75 Duke of Monmouth . . . .70,71 Dutch fleet in Thames .... 70 Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester 42 E. Earl of Lancaster 35 Earl of Leicester 35 Earl of Surrey 49 Earl of Oxford 78 Earl of Mortimer 78 East India Company 56 Edward the Elder 18 Edred 20 Edwy 20 Edgar 20 Edmund 1 19 Edmund, the Ironside .... 21 Edward II., the Martyr ... 21 Edward the Confessor .... 22 Edward 1 34 Edward II 35 Edward III 30 Edward IV 43 Edward V 44 Edward VI 51 Edyhill, battle 64 Egbert 14, 15 El^iva, Princess 20 Ellrida 21 Elizabeth Grey 44 EU.nl.orough, Lord 97 Electric telegraph 98 Elizabeth, Queen 53 Enfield rifle 100 Establishment of Danes in England 16 Ethelwolf 13 Ethelbald 15 Ethelbert 10 Ethelred 1 16 Ethelred II 21 Eton's and King's Colleges . i.i Financial crisis 94 First land tax 21 First standing army 33 Forest laws 26 Fontainebleau iO French revolution 86 G. Gascon 35 George 1 77 George 1 1 79 George I II 8i George IV 93 Gibraltar 75 Glass in England 32 Godfrey, Sir Edmondsbury . 70 Gold coinage 34 Goodwin Sands 28 Grapes in England 52 Great slaughter in London . 11 Great wall 11 Greece and Turkey 94 Grey, Lady Jane 51, 52 Gunpowder 35 Gunpowder plot (note) ... 59 Gwalior 107 H. Hastings, King 17 Hastings, battle 23 Harold I. 22 Harold II 25 Hardicanute 22 Harfleur, battle 41 Hampden, John 62 Habeas Corpus 70 Harvey, Dr. . 60 Henry 1 28 Henry 1 1 31 Henry III 34 Henry IV 39 Henry V 41 Henry VI 42 Henry VII 45,40 Henry VIII 48 Henry l.'s son 28 Heptarchy 18 Hengist 13 High interest 36 House of Commons 43 Invasion of England by French 87 Famine in Ireland 03 Industrial Exhibition . . '.»7, JOS Feudal system (note) .... 20 lukermaun, battle 101 Fire in London CO, 09 .Improvements . 20, 45,50, 51,52. 53 INDEX. J. Jack Cade 43 James i 59 James II 71 James of Scotland 40 Jeffreys, Judge 72 Jews In Parliament 108 John, King- 33 Joan of Arc ......... 42 King Henry whipped (note) . 32 Knives 55 Knight Templars .... 29, 36 L. Laud, Archbishop 63 Leopold 33 Legal circuits 32 Lighting streets 41 Liberty of conscience .... 72 London Bridge 32 London Company 60 Locke, John 75 Loyola 50 Logarithms 60 Long Parliament 65 Lucknow 107 m:. Marston Moor 64 Matilda 29 Mary I. (Bloody) 52 Mary Queen of Scots (note) . 53 Margaret of Anjou 42 Mariner's compass 35 Magna Charta 33 Milton, John 66 Miss Nightingale 101 Mortimer, Roger (note) ... 36 Moscow, burning of 89 Murderers of Richard III. . . 44 :sr. Napier 60 Naval powers 17 Naval force 41 Naseby, battle 64 Napoleon 1 80,88,96 Newtou, Sir Isaac 75 Nelson 80 Nicholas 98 Nile, battle 86 Nore 8<*> Nonconformists 69 O. Oath of office 26 Oates, Titus 70 O'Connell 93 Oil-paintings 37 Oldcastle, Sir John 41 Ornaments for wear (note) . . 18 Oxford University 17 IP. Paper used 35 Paper made 55 Peter the Hermit (note) ... 27 Peter's pence 15 Petition of Rights 61 Persecution, 49, 52, 78 Piers Gaveston 35 Pin-money 51 Plague in London .... 40, 69 Plymouth Company 60 Poictiers 36 Popish plot 70 Potatoes 55 Pope, Alexander 76 Prince Arthur 34 Prince of Wales (first) . . . . 35 Progress of arts 45 Protestant clergymen marry- ing 52 Protectorate 66 Pretender 78 Puritans 60 Raleigh (note) 56 Ramillies, battle 75 Rebellion of Scots 78 Rebellion of Scots and Welsh 40 Reformation 49 Reform of Parliament .... 95 Regicides 64 Reign of terror 52,72 Rents in money 29 Restoration 68 Revolution in Canada .... 96 Richard the Lion-hearted . . 32 Richard II 37 Richard III 44 River Boyne 74 Robin Hood (note) 26 Robert Bruce 35 Robert III. of Scotland ... 40 Royal Exchange 56 Roundheads 63 Rugby School 56 Russell, Lord 70 Hye House Plot 70 Ryswick 75 INDEX. S. Saxons and Germans .... 13 8:1x011 people (note) 19 Savoy 37 Santre, Rev. Sir Henry ... 40 Salio law 96 Scotland conquered 32 Seven bishops 72 Sedgemore 71 Sebastopol 100 Sepoy war 100 Shaftesbury, Lord 70 Shakspcare 54 Ship-building 17,41 Ship-money 61 Shrewsbury, battle (note) . . 40 Silk hangings (note) 18 Simnel, Lambert 47 Sidney, Algernon 70 Sinking of lauds 28 Sinope 99 South Sea Bubble 78 Spithead 80 Spenser, Edmund 54 Spanish armada 53 Stratford 62 St. Helena 90 St. Peter's 14 St. Paul's 14 St. Albans, battle 42 Starch 63 Star Chamber 4S Stephen 29 Sugar in England 30 Surrender of Russians .... 101 Submarine cable 107 Swift 70 Sweyn 21 Tea 55 Thomas a Becket 31 Three-groat tax 37 Tobacco 55 Tillotson, Archbishop .... 75 Trial by jury 17 Trade with Russia 52 Trouble with America . ... 83 Treaty witli Europeans ... 87 Treaty with Russia 101 Tudor, House 4ij TJ. University of Dublin 30 Union of England and Scot- land 7£ Union of England and Ire- land 87 Utrecht 7€ V. Van Eyck 37 Varna 99 Victoria 96 Wakefield Green, battle ... 42 Warbeck 47 War, King William's (note), 74 War, Queen Anne's 76 War, Austrian Succession, (note) 80 War with Spain 79,82 War with Denmark 87 War with United States ... 90 War with East Indies and China 96,105 War of the Roses 42 War with Russia 98 War with Persia 106 War with Holland 09 Watches 55 Waterloo, battle 90 Wall of Severus 12 Wales conquered 32, 35 Wat Tyler 37 Weights and measures .... 29 Weaving cloth 37 Weapons under Saxons (note) 19 Wellington bO,M Westminster Abbey 23 What Rome did for Eugland . 12 Wile of George IV 93 Winchester 14 William the Conqueror ... 25 William II William of Wykeham .... 38 William III 74 William IV 95 Wickliffe 38 Worsteds 29 Woolsey IS, 49 Wolfe, General 81 Wouderful year 98 Y. York and Lancaster 3C OUTLINES ENGLISH HISTORY CHAPTER I. ENGLAND BEFORE THE CONQUEST. I. In the ancient times, nearly two thousand years ago, before our Saviour was born on earth, and when Rome was a republic, England was a desolate waste of land, covered with swamps and forests. It was inhabited by a savage people, who dressed in the rough skins of beasts, and stained their bodies with colored earths and the juices of plants. They lived in huts rudely constructed of wicker and mud, which were erected in little clusters here and there over the country. These clusters were called towns, and they were generally situated upon small clearings in tracts of woody land, and were surrounded by a trench, and a low wall made of mud and the trunks of trees, which served for defence in time of war. II. These barbarians went by the name of Britons. They were divided into as many as thirty or forty tribes, each com- manded by its own king ; and these tribes were constantly at war with each other. They made swords of copper mixed with tin, and light shields, short, pointed daggers, and spears, 10 OUTLINES OF with which weapons they always fought. They were very fond of horses, of which they made great use in battle, with their war chariots and cars, for which they have ever been celebrated in history. III. The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the Religion of the Druids. Most of its ceremonies were kept secret by the priests, who were called Druids ; but it is certain that they sacrificed human beings, even burning them alive, in immense wicker cages. They met together in dark woods, which they called sacred groves, and there instructed in their mysterious arts young men who came to them as pu- pils. They built great temples and altars of huge stones, open to the sky, some of which are yet remaining. UNDER THE ROMANS FROM B. C. 55 TO A. D. 449. IV. Such was the condition of the ancient Britons fifty- five years before the birth of our Saviour, when the Romans, under their great general, Julius Caesar, were masters of all the rest of the known world. Caesar had then just conquered Gaul, and tempted by the rich pearls and tin mines, for which the island was famous, he came over with his ships and sol- diers, and made the first conquest of Britain. He soon, how- ever, accepted proposals of peace, and went away ; but the next spring he returned with a large army from Italy, and laid waste the country in every direction. He again made peace, and went away, with all his remaining ships and men. V. There was then peace in Britain for nearly a hundred years, when the Emperor Claudius came and conquered it over again, (A. D. 43.) It was during the reign of this em- peror that Caractacus, a patriot Briton, made the first at- tempt to free his country from the Roman yoke. After a conflict of nine years, he was taken prisoner and carried to Rome ; but his noble manner, and dignified endurance of distress, so touched the Roman people, who thronged tb" ENGLISH HISTORY. 11 rtreets to see him, that he was released and restored to ireedora. VI. Still the Britons would not yield. They rose on every possible occasion, and died by thousands sword in hand. In the reign of Nero, (A. D. 61,) Suetonius Paulinus landed on the Island of Anglesea, (then called Mona,) and destroyed the sacred groves and altars of the Druids, and burned them in their own wicker cages. This, together with the cruel treatment offered to Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, once more roused the Britons to rebellion. They laid the Roman pos- sessions waste ; they drove the Romans out of London, then a little town but a trading place, and hanged, burned, cruci- fied., and slew by the sword seventy thousand of them in a few days ; but in the course of the same year the Britons were again defeated with immense loss. VII. Still the spirit of the Britons was not broken. As soon as Suetonius left the country, they fell upon his troops, and retook the Island of Anglesea. Some years afterwards, (A. D. 78,) Julius Agricola took possession of the country, established the Roman power in Britain, founded the arts of peace, and made the people happy and civilized. He also de- livered them from the fierce incursions of the Picts and Scots, and helped them to erect a great wall of separation, or line of forts, from the Clyde to the Forth. 1 This ram- part, however, proved ineffectual against the savage inroads of the northern tribes, and a second was constructed by Hadrian, between the Solway and the Tyne. The Emperor Severus, however, in leading an army against the northern barbarians, (A. D. 207,) found these earthen walls, affected by the rains and frosts of nearly a century, in a state 1 The line of forts which Agricola raised, from the Clyde to the Forth, was strengthened, sixty years after, by a turf rampart, known as the wall of Antoninus, which extended thirty-six miles. The wall of Hadrian was a mighty rampart, extending from the Solway t» the Tyne. Severus perfected the wall of Hadrian. Knight. 12 OUTLINES OF of decay, and resolved to erect one of stone, 1 which is known in history as the Wall of Severus. VIII. The Romans remained masters of Britain for nearly four centuries ; but in the reign of Honorius, when the Roman power all over the world was fast declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at home, they were compelled to withdraw their forces to defend themselves against the Goths, A. D. 410. In the course of this time, however, the Romans had done much to improve the condi- tion of the Britons. They had made great military roads, built forts, taught them how to dress and arm themselves much better than they had ever known how to do before, and had refined the whole British way of living. But above all, they had introduced the Christian religion, 2 and taught the people the great lesson, that, to be good in the sight of God, they must love their neighbors as themselves, and do unto others as they would be done by. UNDER THE. SAXONS, A. D. 449 TO A. D. 827. IX. No sooner had the Romans left Britain than the 1 The Wall of Severus was about eight feet thick and twelve feet high to the base of the battlements. To the wall were added, at unequal distances, a number of stations or towns, eighty-one castles, and three hundred and thirty turrets. At the outside of the wall, to the north, was dug a ditch about thirty-six feet wide and twelve to fifteen feet deep. Severus's works run nearly parallel with the other two, the greatest distance between them being less than a mile, and the least about twenty yards. As long as the Roman power lasted, this barrier was constantly garrisoned by armed men. The stations were so near to each other that, if a fire was lighted on any one of the bulwarks, it was seen at the next, and so repeated from bul- wark to bulwark, all along the line, in a very short time. 2 The commencement of the religious history of Britain is involved in much obscurity. That the Christian religion was introduced early will be seen by Tcrtullian. who. in his work against the Jews, written A. D. 209, says that "even those places in Britain hitherto inaccessible to the Roman arms have been subdued by the gospel of Christ." Some writers maintain that St. Paul visited Britain, and they ground their assumption upon tlio fact that several of the most active years of his life are not accounted fur in the Acts of tho Apostles; and they think, therefore, that some part of this interval must have been employed among the Britons. ENGLISH HISTORY. 13 marauding Scots poured in upon the defenceless Britons, who, not knowing what better to do, in their distress applied for assistance to the Saxons, a people of North Germany. The Saxons accordingly came across the Channel, between six and seven thousand of them, under the command of two brothers, named Hengist and Horsa, (A. D. 449.) They speedily routed the Scots, but rewarded themselves for their trouble by taking possession of the country. They were fol- lowed by other German tribes ; the Saxon tongue became the national language ; and the native Britons fled to Wales, Cornwall, and the coast of France. X. After the death of Hengist, (A. D. 488,) the Saxons poured in upon Britain faster than ever, and it was in oppos- ing these tribes that the famous Arthur, king of Britain, won his great renown. 1 He succeeded in securing to his people forty years of peace ; but valor alone was of no avail. The natives, in time, were all overpowered or expelled, and the land was divided into seven small kingdoms, each governed by a Saxon tyrant. This period is known as the period of the Saxon Heptarchy. The following was the order of dis- tribution : — XI. The kingdom of Cantia, or Kent, comprised the fer- tile county of Kent, and was founded by Hengist, (A. D. 457.) The kingdom of South Saxony comprised the counties of Sussex and Surrey, and was founded by Ella, (A. D. 490.) The kingdom of West Saxony, or Wessex, comprised the counties of Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, and Devonshire, and was founded by Cerdic, (A. D. 519.) The kingdom of East Saxony comprised the counties of Essex, Middlesex, and a part of Hertfordshire, and was founded by Ercemvin, (A. D. 527.) The kingdom of Northumbria comprised the counties of 1 The history of this renowned prince is regarded by many as a fiction ; but Lord Bacon says of him that •' in his acts thero is enough of truth to make him famous, besides that which is fabulous." He is said to have de- feated the Saxons in twelve different engagements. 14 OUTLINES OF Northumberland, Cumberland. Westmoreland, Durham, York- shire, Lancaster, and a portion of Scotland. It was founded by Ida, (A. D. 547.) The kingdom of East Anglia comprised the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, and was founded by Uffa, (A. D. 575.) The kingdom of Mercia comprised all the midland coun- ties, namely : Cheshire, Stafford, Derby, "Warwick, Worces- ter, Shropshire, Hereford, Gloucester, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Huntingdon, Northampton, Rutland, Leicester, Not- tingham, Lincoln, and a part of Hertfordshire. It was founded by Cridda, (A. D. 585.) XH. As it may readily be supposed, these seven kings of Britain did not at all times reign in perfect friendship with each other, but, on the contrary, distracted the country with perpetual quarrellings and warfare. Despite even these draw- backs, the nation, however, began to experience the blessings of industry. Property received the protection of law, and no part of the island was without an acknowledged ruler. Most of the people were still idolaters and heathens, worshipping the false gods of ancient Rome. In the year 597, a good monk* named Augustin, came over from Italy, with forty of his breth- ren, and converted the two powerful kings of Kent and North- umberland, in due time. A great church was then built at Canterbury, (A. D. 604 ;) Sebert, king of Essex, became a proselyte ; the Temple of Apollo, at Westminster, was pulled down and a church dedicated to St. Peter was erected where the Abbey is now standing ; the Temple of Diana was de- stroyed, and the original cathedral of St. Paul raised on its site. The King of Kent promulgated a code of laws, before 616. Soon after this the whole of Britain embraced Christi- anity, and the seven kingdoms were united into one by the conquests of Egbert of Wesscx, receiving the collective name of England, which it has ever since retained. Winchester was at this time considered to be the capital of the country. ENGLISH HISTORY. 15 UNDER THE ANGLO-SAXONS. A. D. 827 TO 1013. Egbert. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 827, DIED 837. XIII. Scarcely had peace and unity been established in the kingdom, when a horde of savage warriors, called Danes, 1 who dwelt upon the shores of the Baltic Sea, landed on the coasts, but were routed on the coast of Devon, and forced to fly back to their ships for safety, only to return again about once in every year. After a prosperous reign, troubled only by these invaders, Egbert died, (A. D. 836,) and was buried at Winchester. Ethelwolf. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 836. DIED 857. XIV. Egbert was succeeded by Ethelwolf, his eldest son. The Danes now made themselves the terror of England, and though frequently repulsed, continued to plunder the coun- try, and occasionally to carry off the inhabitants for slaves. In the year 851 they sailed up the Thames with three hundred and fifty ships, and burned the cities of London, Rochester, and Canterbury. At length the people were roused to action, and the Danes were defeated, and induced for a while to sus- pend their attacks. The king then undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, (A. D. 855,) where he was honorably received, and tarried nearly a year. On his return through France, forgetting that he was an old man, he married Judith, the fair and youth- ful daughter of King Charles the Bald, and caused her to be crowned as queen. He first granted tithes to the clergy, and instituted an annual tribute to the pope, called Peter's Pence. Ethelwolf died A. D. 857, and was buried at Steyning, in Sussex. Ethelbald. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 857. DEED 860. XV. Ethelwolf left four sons, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, Ethel- The people of Denmark and Norway. 16 OUTLINES OP red, and Alfred. lie was succeeded by ETHELBALD, whose reign was brief, unimportant, and vicious. Ethelbert. began to reign a. d. 860. died 866. XVI. Ethelbald was succeeded by his brother Ethelbert, who reigned only six years, during which time the Danes ex- acted tribute from the English, laid waste the whole county of Kent, and pillaged the city of Winchester, and established themselves permanently on the Isle of Thanet. Ethelbert died A. D. 866. Ethelred. began to reign a. d. 866. ddzd 871. XVII. Ethelbert was followed by Ethelred, a brave sol- dier, whose reign was one long scene of valiant warfare with the Danes. It is said that in one year he fought no less than nine pitched battles with the enemies of his country. In all these he was assisted by his young brother, Prince Alfred, after- wards illustrious as King Alfred the Great. Pr; ice Alfred was called Secundarius to Ethelred. In this rci j the in- vaders penetrated into Mercia, and took up t'leir winter quarters at Nottingham, whither the king instantly marched to dislodge them. A great battle ensued, in which Ethelred was killed, leaving to Alfred the inheritance of it kingdom which had declined into an almost hopeless condition of weak- ness and distress. Alfred the Great. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 871. DIED 901. XVTIL Alfred the Great was just twenty- ?ars of age when he ascended the throne of England, and for the first eight years of his reign was engaged in an unintprrupted and disastrous warfare with the Danes. They, in fact, at one time made themselves entire masters of the kingdom, so that ENGLISH HISTORY. 17 Alfred was obliged to assume many humble disguises, and hide himself in the woods, and in the cottages Of his peasant subjects. 1 In Somersetshire, however, he found friends and assistance, built a strong fort, assembled an army, and once more took the field against the Danes. Assuming the dis- guise of a wandering harper, he then penetrated to the enemy's camp, judged of the most favorable manner of attack, brought his soldiers unexpectedly upon them, and achieved a brilliant victory. Many years of peace ensued, during which this brave and good king applied himself to the improvement of his country and the happiness of his people. XIX. Alfred now framed a code of laws, some of which exist to the present day ; divided England into counties and hundreds; established the first regular militia; encouraged the arts and sciences ; and instructed the English in the art of navigation and ship building. He was the first monarch who made England a naval power; and to state that he was the most accomplished man of his day, that he was the hero of fifty-six battles, that he established the system of trial by jury, and founded the University of Oxford, is but to relate a portion of his glory. After twelve years of peace, the Danes again invaded the coasts. They came under the command of Hastings, their sea king, with a fleet of three hundred and thirty-one ships, and landed on the coast of Kent, making Appledore their head quarters. A protracted struggle ensued, at the conclusion of which they were again defeated. The wife and family of Hastings were taken captives; but Alfred, with his general moderation, restored them to the Danish chief, on condition that he and 1 In one of these disguises King Alfred was left alone one day, by a peasant's wife, to watch some cakes which she put to bake upon the hearth. But being at work upon his bow and arrows, with which he hoped to punish the Danes when a brighter time should come, and thinking of his poor, unhappy subjects, his noble mind forgot the cakes, and they were burned. What said the peasant's wife in a rage, when she came back, and little thinking that she was scalding the kin?? "You will he ready enough to eat them by and by, and yet you cannot watel- them, idle dog ! " 2 18 OUTLINES OF all his followers should leave the country. To these terms they readily acceded; but some few lingered till the year 897. Alfred died A. D. 901, at Farringdon, in Berkshire. He was buried at Winchester, and has left behind him the most honorable reputation for learning, courage, wisdom, and gen- erosity, of any English sovereign. 1 Edward the Elder. began to reign a. d. 901. died 925. XX. Edward the Elder, second son to King Alfred the Great, succeeded to the crown. His reign was troubled by the pretensions of his cousin Ethelwald, who disputed Ed- ward's claim, and fell at last on the field of battle. Towards the end of this king's reign he invaded Wales, and added to the endowments of the Cambridge University. He gradually extended liis power over the whole of England, and so the seven kingdoms were firmly united in one. 2 He died A. D. 925, leaving a numerous family. 1 Under Alfred, all the best points of the English-Saxon character wero first encouraged, and in him first shown. It has been the greatest charac- ter among the nations of the earth. Wherever the descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, or otherwise made their way, even to the remotest regions of the world, they have been patient, persevering, never to be broken in spirit, never to be turned aside from enterprises on which they have resolved. In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the whole- world over; in the desert, in the forest, on the sea; scorched l>\ a burning Slin, or frozen by ice that never molts, — the Saxon blood remains un changed. Wheresoever that race goes, there law, and industry, and safety for life and property, and all the great results of steady perseverance, are certain to arise. 2 When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxmi king, the Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred ami fifty years. Great changes had taken place in its customs during that time. The Saxons were still greedy eaters and great drinkers, and their leasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind ; but many new comforts, and even elegances, had become known, and were fast increasing. Hangings for the walls of rooms, where, in these modern days, paper is used, are known to havo been sometimes made of silk, ornamented with birds and english history. 10 Athelstan. began to reign a. d. 925. died 941. XXL King Athelstan had not been many years estab- lished on his father's throne when a great league was formed against him by the Danes, Scots, and other nations. They were, however, completely defeated, and five of the kings, his enemies, were slain, (A. D. 938.) This monarch caused the Bible to be translated into the Saxon tongue, and presented a copy to every church throughout the kingdom. He also gave encouragement to commerce by decreeing that every merchant who had taken three voyages should be entitled to the rank of a thane, or nobleman. Athelstan died at Glouces- ter, A. D. 941, and was buried at Malmesbury, Wilts. Edmund I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 941. DIED 946. XXLT. Athelstan was followed by his brother Edmund, a youth of eighteen years of age, whose first act was to subdue the Danes gathered together under the command of Anlass. He was stabbed by a wicked robber named Leolf, (A. D. 946,) and was succeeded by his brother Edred, flowers in needlework. Tables and chairs were curiously carved in differ- ent woods ; were sometimes decorated with gold or silver ; sometimes even made of those precious metals. Knives and spoons were used at table ; golden ornaments were worn — with silk and cloth, and golden tissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, brass and bone. Thcro were varieties of drinking horns, bedsteads, musical instruments. A harp was passed round, at a feast, like the drinking bowl, from guest to guest ; and each one usually sang or played when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutly made, and among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly blows, and was long remembered. The Saxons themselves were a handsome people. The men were proud of their long, fair hair, parted on the forehead, their ample beards, their fresh complexions, and clear eyes; and the beauty of the Saxon women filled all England with a new delight and grace. 20 outlines of Edred. began to reign a. d. 946. died 955. XXITT. This king rebuilt Glastonbury Abbey, and was en- tirely ruled by the abbot, named Dunstan. Dunstan was, in fact, the virtual king of England. Edred died A. D. 955, and was buried at Winchester. Edwy. began to reign a. d. 955. died 959. XXIV. The profligate and careless Edwy received the crown of his uncle, and offended the prejudices of his clergy by marrying the Princess Elgiva, a lady of great beauty, but of near relationship to himself*. Dunstan, who had hitherto been absolute in the kingdom, succeeded in uniting the priesthood against this marriage. Edwy was compelled to divorce his wife, and she was murdered with barbarous cru- elty by her enemies. Edwy died of grief, (A. D. 959,) being threatened by sedition in all parts of his dominions, and over- borne by the influence and hatred of Dunstan, the abbot Edgar, began to reign a. d. 959. died 975. XXV. Edgar, sumamed the Peaceable, next ascended the throne. He was elected, and consequently governed, by the monks ; built many monasteries ; and increased the navy to three hundred and sixty ships. During this reign the tribute payable by the Welsh people was forgiven them on condition of their producing every year three hundred wolves' heads. In four years they exterminated every wolf from the mountains and forest lands of Wales. This king was so arro- gant of his conquests, that he caused his barge to be rowed by eight princes along the River Dee. He died after a reign of sixteen years, (A. D. 975.) ENGLISH IIISTORY. 21 Edward II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 975. DIED 978. XXVI. This unfortunate young monarch, commonly called the Martyr, whose reign had promised to be happy and ju- dicious, was stabbed, (A. D. 978,) by order of his step-mother, Elfrida, while drinking a cup of wine at the gate of Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire. He was succeeded by his half-brother, Ethelred, the son of Elfrida, after a brief kingship of little more than three years. Ethelred II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 978. DIED 1016. XXVII. In this reign the Danes once more flocked to the coasts, and Ethelred was weak enough to buy them off with a money tribute, called Danegelt, which was levied by a tax of one shilling on every hide of land throughout the country, and is the first land tax upon record in our history. Soon this, even, ceased to satisfy them, and the king formed a cow- ardly plan to massacre all the Danes in the kingdom, instead of meeting them in fair battle. This disgraceful slaughter took place on the 13th of November, A. D. 1002, and was revenged by a great invasion of the enemy. They sailed from Denmark under the command of Sweyn, their king, who, after a protracted struggle of eleven years, put Ethelred to flight, and ascended the English throne, (A. D. 1013.) UNDER i^T DANES. A. D. 1013 TO 1041. Sweyn . . . began to reign 1013 ... ddzd 1014. Canute ... " " 1017 .. . " 1035. XXVHI. Sweyn died suddenly in little more than a month after he was proclaimed King of England. The Danes declared Canute, his son, king ; but Ethelred returned and attempted to reign. A war immediately ensued, which lasted two years, when Ethelred died. The English people then declared Edmund, surnamed Ironside, son of Ethelred II., 2* 12 OUTLINES OF king ; but ho and Canute made peace by dividing the kingdom bet ween them. Before Edmund had reigned for one year over his portion, he was murdered at Oxford, and Canute, who was at that time (A. D. 1017) the most powerful monarch in Eu- rope, became sole king. 1 Having not only conquered England, but the countries of Norway and Sweden, he called himself King of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. He ban- ished the children of Ethelred, but married Emma, their mother, and died (A. D. 1035) at Shaftesbury. Harold, began to reign a. 1). 1035. died 1039. XXIX. Harold, surnamed Harefoot, from the swiftness with which he ran, was the son of Canute by his first wife. He reigned only four years, and died at Oxford, A. 1). 1039. Hardicanute. began to reign a. d. 1039. died 1042. XXX. Harold was succeeded by his weak and wicked half-brother, Hardicanute. He died from intemperance, after a short reign of two years, (A. D. 1042,) and was the last representative of the Danish line. UNDER THE SAXONS. A. D. 1041 TO 1066. Edward the Confessor. began to reign a. d. 1042. died 1066. XXXI. A Saxon, known as Edward ttie Confessor, 1 The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day disgusted witli his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused his chair to 1"' set on the sea shore, and feigned to command the tide, as it came up, not to wet the edge of his robe, for the land was his : how the tide came up. of course, without, regarding him; and how he then turned to his Batterers, and re- buked them, saying, what was the might <>f any earthly king to the might of the Creator, who could say unto the sea, " Thus far shalt thou go, and to farther"* ENGLISH HISTORY. 2o was next chosen. This monarch was famous for his piety, and married Editha, daughter to Earl Godwin. Having been educated abroad, in the court of Normandy, Edward the Confessor retained but little affection for the customs, or even for the natives, of his own country. He evinced a marked preference throughout his reign for all French laws and habits, and by this line of conduct gave considerable cause for jealousy to his people. He repealed the tax called Dane- gelt, and was the first king who touched for that disease known as the king's evil. During this reign William, Duke of Normandy, came over to visit England, and Edward, it is said, then promised to him the reversion of the English crown. Edward the Confessor rebuilt Westminster Abbey, and at his death, on January 5, 1066, was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic church. Harold II. BEGAN TO REIGN AND DIED A. D. 1066. XXXII. Harold, son of Earl Godwin, was then elected king by the council of the states, but was destined to find a powerful opponent in Duke William of Normandy. This warlike and ambitious prince of France claimed the crown ; and gathering around his standard all the recruits he could muster, landed, with sixty thousand men, upon the coast of Sussex, and defeated the English in a great battle, (October 14, 1066,) rendered still more disastrous by the death of Harold, and famous to all as the battle of Hastings. Thus ended the Saxon period, which had subsisted with va- rious fortune in England for upwards of six hundred years. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER I. I. What was the ancient con- the state of the country at this ditinn of Britain ? By whom was early period ? it inhabited ? III. What was the religion of II. By what name were the the Britons ? What is said of people called ? For what were the Druids ? ♦hey distinguished ? What was 1 " lr o Who was the first con- 24 OUTLINES OF queror of Britain ? When did Julius CsBSai laud ? V. Who was the second con- queror, and when did he arrive ? Who was Caractacus ? VI. What injuries roused the Britons to a second rebellion ? What was the result of this rebellion ? VII. Who established the Ro- man power in Britain ? What good service did Agricola do the Britons, and what great work of defence did he build for them ? Where, and when, and by whom was the second wall constructed ? When and by whom was the third wall con- structed ? V1IL For how long did the Romans remain masters of Eng- land ? Why did they withdraw their forces ? How had they improved the condition of the country ? IX. What caused the Britons to apply to the Saxons for aid ? When did the Saxons come over, and who were their leaders ? How did the Saxons reward themselves for beating the Scots ? What became of the native Britons ? X. Who was King Arthur, and for what is he famous ? What term of peace did he secure for his people ? Into how many kingdoms was Eng- land afterwards divided ? By what name is this period known in history ? XI. Relate the order of dis- tribution among the seven Saxon kings. XII. Did the kings reign in peace together ? What was the state of the country at this time? Who was Augus- tin, and what did he effect in England ? What churches were built, and what temples were pulled down ? What is said about a code of laws ? When were the people con- verted to Christianity, and by whom ? Who united the seven kingdoms into one ? By what name was it then called ? XIII. What was the conduct of the Danes at this time ? When did Egbert die ? XIV. By whom was Egbert succeeded ? Relate the chief acts of Ethelwolf. Relate the events of 851 . What pilgrimage did he make ? When did Ethel- wolf die ? XV. By whom was Ethelwolf succeeded ? XVI. By whom was Ethel- bald succeeded ? Relate the encroachments of the Danes. When did Ethelbert die, and by whom was he succeeded ? XVII. What was the charac- ter of Ethelred ? How many battles did he tight in one year ? What was the manner of Ethel- red's death ? XVIII. At what age did Al- fred the Great begin his reign, and in what year ? Relate the events of the first eight years of his reign. XIX. How did Alfred em- ploy the years of peace that followed ? Of how many bat- tles was he the hero ? What system of trial did he intro- duce, and what great abode of learning did he found ? Who was Hastings, and in what way did Alfred treat the captive family ? When did he die, and what reputation has he left ? XX. Who was the successor of Alfred ? Relate the events of Edward's reign. XXI. What great league was formed against Athelstan, and how did it terminate ? What great work did he cause to be translated ? When did Athel- stan die ? XXII. By whom was Ath.-l- stan succeeded, and what was ENGLISH HISTORY. 25 the first act of the new king ? When did Edmund die, and by whose hand ? XXIII. By whom was Ed- mund I. succeeded? What ab- bey was rebuilt by Edred, and by whom was the king ruled ? When did he die ? XXIV. What was the char- acter of Edwy, and in what way did he offend the clergy ? What became of Elgiva, and when did the king die ? XXV. By what class of men was Edgar the Peaceable gov- erned ? Relate his principal deeds. When did he die ? XXVI. By whom was Edgar succeeded, and how was he murdered ? XXVII. What king next as- cended the throne ? What was the Danegeltf When did the cowardly massacre of the Danes take place ? How was it re- venged ? XXVIII. For how long did Swcyn reign in England, and by whom was he succeeded ? Who was Edmund Ironside, and what was his fate i Name the titles of Canute. Whom did he marry, and when did he die ? XXIX. Who was Harold I. ? How long did he reign, and when did he die ? XXX. By whom was Harold succeeded ? From what cause and in what year did Hardi- canute die ? XXXI. Of what nation was Edward the Confessor ? To whom did he promise the crown of England ? When did he die, and what honors did he receive after death ? XXXII. Whose son was Har- old ? Who disputed Harold's right to the crown ? Of whom did William's army consist ? When was the battle of Has- tings fought ? For how long had the Saxons ruled in Eng- land ? CHAPTER II THE NORMAN MONARCHS. Began to reign. Died. William I. a. d. 1066 1087. William II. " 1087 1100. Henry I. " 1100 1135. Stephen (House of Blois.) Began to reign. Died. 1135 1154. William I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1066. DIED 1087. I. William I., known as the Conqueror, was as politic as he was ambitious. Being wisely determined not to irritate those whom he had conquered, he forbore to seize upon the crown as upon mere booty, but went through the form of asking the sanction of the English themselves — a sanction 26 OUTLINES OF which was not long withheld by the clergy and nobility, and for which he testified his gratitude by entering into a solemn engagement to protect the rights and liberties of his new subjects. These oaths are still taken by every English mon- arch on the day of coronation. JLL At first he governed impartially enough ; but, some- how, became greatly changed after the lapse of a few years, and did such deeds as left him the reputation of a ruthless tyrant. He seized the rich estates of Saxon landholders, 1 and gave them away to his Norman followers ; had a great sur- vey made of all the land in England, which was entered as the property of its new comers, on a roll called Doomsday Book ; obliged the people to put out their fires at a certain hour every night, on the ringing of a bell called the curfew ; formed the New Forest for his boar and deer hunting, by depopulating a tract of country about thirty miles in circuit, demolishing thirty-six parish churches, together with the houses of its inhabitants ; instituted the forest laws, which deprived the people of their ancient right of hunting and killing game throughout the kingdom, making it a greater crime to take the life of an animal than that of a man ; made the feudal system 2 far more oppressive than dming the reign of the Saxon kings ; and even strove to make the 1 Many of the Saxon landholders would not submit to the rule of the Normans, and took shelter in the forests which then covered a great part of the country, and subsisted by robbery; and as their children were bred up in the same wretched mode of life, England was long infested by such free- booters. The famous Robin Hood was one of these outlaws. 2 The feudal system was first brought into England by the Saxons. This system was a custom of giving land for services, and the person who held the land was the vassal of bini who granted it, and was bound to perform certain services for him. The nobles and bishops were the vassals of the king; the common people were the vassals of the nobles and bishops. The services required by the king of the crown vassals, as they wen- called, was to bring him soldiers and money, whenever he was going t « » war. Thus the armies were raised in the feudal times, every baron bringing his train of armed vassals into the field; for the ] pie were all bound to arm them- selves as soldiers, and follow their lord whenever they were c om m and ed to do so; and they were obliged to contribute money also, to mako up the sum wanted by their lord fur the king, ENGLISH HISTORY. 27 French language the language of the country, by causing it to be adopted in the service of the church and in the courts of justice. Hence arose the mixed vocabulary of the Eng- lish language, which to this day consists as much of Norman as of Saxon words. William the Conqueror died A. 1). 1087, bequeathing England in his will to William, Normandy to Robert, and five thousand pounds to Henry. 1 William II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1087. DIED 1100. HE. William Rufus, so named from the red color of his hair, succeeded his father. He inherited the ambition and talents of his father, and was like him avaricious, tyrannical, and cruel. His reign was constantly disturbed by insurrec- tions, and by quarrels with the ecclesiastics, particularly with Anseim, the archbishop of Canterbury. He at one time in- vaded Normandy, the dukedom of his elder brother Robert, as some of his subjects had declared in favor of Robert for king, but returned without a battle, a treaty of peace having been concluded between them. IV. During his reign commenced those extraordinary wars, carried on by all the chivalry of Europe, against the Saracen possessors of Jerusalem, known by the name of the Crusades. 2 The first crusade went out in the year 1096, 1 Notwithstanding the tyranny of the Normans, their conquest produced good as well as evil. They were a more civilized people than the Saxons, and better acquainted with many arts, especially those of agriculture and architecture. Even chimneys were not introduced into England until after the conquest. 2 It had long been the custom of Europe for people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were called pilgrimages, to visit the tomb of our Saviour. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks, and the Turks hating Christianity, theso pilgrims were often insulted and ill used. At length a monk called Peter the Hermit began to preach throughout Europe that it was the duty of all Christian warriors to deliver Jerusalem from the hands of the Turks. An excitement, such as the world had never known before, was created. Thou- sands and thousands of men, of all ranks and conditions, departed for Jeru- salem, to make war against the Turks. The war is called ia history th» first crusade. ZO OUTLINES OF and with it, amongst other sovereign princes, "Robert, Duke of Normandy, who mortgaged his rich provinces to William Rufus for five years, that he might have sufficient money for the enterprise. For nearly five years William trampled Normandy under foot. He was accidentally shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel, A. D. 1100, while hunting deer in the New Forest. This monarch erected Westminster Hall for his banqueting chamber. It was then the largest room in Eu- roj>e, and was built upon the site of the present structure. In the year 1100, four thousand acres of land, which had been the property of Earl Godwin, father to Harold II., and were by him bequeathed to the monks of Canterbury, were suddenly overflowed by the sea. The site where they once extended lies opposite the city of Deal, and is known to sailors as one of the most dangerous upon the coast line. They are called the Goodwin Sands. Henry I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1100. DIED 1135. V. Henry, youngest brother to William Rufus, now has- tened up to AVinchester ; secured the royal treasure ; mar- ried Matilda, a descendant of the ancient Saxon line ; removed the unpopular restrictions of ^he curfew ; and had succeeded in obtaining the throne and the favor of the people, before Duke Robert (the rightful heir) could come over to dispute the succession. He then made war upon Robert; invaded Normandy ; possessed himself of that entire duchy ; took the duke prisoner, and confined him in Cardiff Castle for the remainder of his life, a period of eight and twenty years. VI. King Henry I. had one son, who, with a hundred and forty young men of the noblest families in England, was drowned off the coast of Harfleur, (A. D. 1120,) on Ins re- tun/ from Normandy, where he had been receiving the hom- age of the French barons. The death of this prince was a great blow to the king, who is said never to have smiled after- wards. During this reign, a body of military monks, called ENGLISH HISTORY. 29 the Knights Templars, established themselves in England; the first English park was laid out at Woodstock ; rents were made payable in money, having previously been payable in cattle, corn, Sec. ; the coinage was corrected ; a standard fixed for the regulation of weights and measures ; and the length of the English yard taken from the measurement of the king's arm. Woollen stuffs were also introduced at this time from the Low Countries, and a colony of Flemings settled at Worsted, near Norwich, for manufacturing purposes. Henry I. died (A. D. 1135) in the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving one daughter, named Matilda, wife to the em- peror of Germany. It is said that King Henry died from eating too largely of a dish of lampreys. Stephen, (Earl of Blois.) BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1135. DIED 1154. VII. Stephen, Earl of Blois, and nephew to King Henry, hastened over from Normandy, and was received as king by the lower orders of the people, although Matilda, by right of birth, should have reigned in England. He had more diffi- culty with the clergy, but gained even their votes at last ; seized the royal treasure ; and, to obtain favor with the pop- ulace, restored the laws made by Edward the Confessor. VIII. Matilda did not long delay her claim, and, shortly after these events, landed with a brave little retinue of one hundred and forty knights, took Arundel Castle, gathered together a considerable number of recruits, gained a battle over Stephen, (A. D. 1141,) and was crowned Queen of Eng- land at Winchester Cathedral. She was not liked, however, by either the people or the nobility. Stephen was again recognized as king, and Matilda deposed. She contrived to escape, and brought up her son, named Henry, as a future rival to the usurper. IX. When Prince Henry had reached his sixteenth year, he showed such courage and talent that he received the hon- or of knighthood, (A. D. 1149,) and undertook an invasion 3 30 OUTLINES OF of England. Stephen was by this time worn out with the struggles of many years, and, to prevent further bloodshed and misery, agreed that the youth should be associated with him in the government, and succeed to the crown upon his decease. A great fire devastated London during this reign, (A. D. 1136,) and all the city from Aldgate to St. Paul's was laid in ruins. Sugar was first introduced about this period, and the Tower first constituted a royal residence. Stephen was a just and moderate monarch, and at his death, in the year 1154, the kingdom passed quietly into the hands of the house of Plantagenet. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER II. I. What proceedings were taken by William to obtain the crown ? In what way did he testify his gratitude ? In what way is that ceremony perpet- uated ? II. What alteration took place in the character of Wil- liam I. ? What wrongs did he inflict upon the English ? Whence arose the mixed char- acter of our language ? III. In what year did Wil- liam the Conqueror die, and by whom was he succeeded ? What is said of his character ? Of his reign? What invasion was un- dertaken by William Rufus ? IV. What extraordinary wars were begun during this reign ? When did the first crusade go out ? In what manner did the king become possessed of Nor- mandy ? What was the manner of his death ? When did he die ? V. Who succeeded Rums? What steps did Henry take to secure the crown ? Who was the rightful heir ? What was the result of the war between Henry and Robert ? For how long was the Duke of Normandy imprisoned ? VI. What dreadful accident occurred to King Henry's only son ? How old was the king when he died ? What family did he leave to lament his loss ? What is alleged as the cause of King Henry's death ? Who were the Knights Templars ? Relate the improvements effect- ed during this reign. When did Henry die ? VII. Who was Stephen, and in what way did he oppose the claims of Matilda ? By whom was he most favorably received ? What steps did he take to secure the favor of the populace ? VIII. With what forces did Matilda land, and what success had she ? In what year was she crowned ? Did she long con- tinue to reign ? With what ob- ject did she educate her son ? IX. What was the character of Prince Henry ? When did he undertake to invade Eng- land ? Into what a gree ment did the kirn^ enter ? What crreat calamity befell the city of Lon- don during this reign ? What useful condiment was first intro- duced, and to what purpose was the Tower at this time devoted ? When did Stephen die, and what ensued ? ENGLISH HISTORY. 31 CHAPTER III. THE HOUSE OF PLANT AGENET. Began to reign. Died. Hknrt II. A. D. 1154 . . . 11*9 Richard I. " 1189 . . . 1199 John " 1199... 1216 IlKMiY III. « 1216 . . . 1272 Began to reign. Died. Edward I. a. d. 1272 . . . 1307 Edward II. " 13<)7 . . "1327 BDWAED HI. " 1327 . . . 1377 lllCHARD II. " 1377 . . . 13'J'J Henry II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1154. DIED 1189. I. Henry II. was the most powerful monarch of his time. He subdued Ireland and Wales, and ruled over a larger por- tion of French territory than the King of France himself. During his reign, the arrogance and ambition of the clergy exceeded all bounds. They raised immense sums by taxes and the sale of pardons, and England began at last to get impoverished by the demands of Rome. This the king re- solved manfully to oppose. In order to do so the more effectually, he elevated Thomas a Becket, his chancellor, -to the priesthood, and even made him Archbishop of Canter- bury, thinking by these means to secure a valuable rival to the Pope of Rome; but herein he was greatly mistaken. A Becket was a man of inferior birth and brilliant talents, who loved power and splendor better than any thing in the world ; and no sooner was he invested with these new digni- ties than he went over to the side of the clergy, supported them in all then ^ ""asures, and offered a more determined resistance to King Heiny's will than any one had yet done. II. A great dissension ensued, during which the king and the archbishop mutually defied each other. A Becket ex- communicated several of the bishops ; threatened even to excommunicate the king; fled over to the continent, and, being at length pardoned, was permitted to return to his dio- cese, after years of negotiation. Here he again behaved with such open insolence, that Henry, being then in Normandy, 32 OUTLINES OF was one day tempted to utter a rash wish for his death , whereupon four knights crossed over to England for the pur- pose, and murdered the defenceless old man (A. D. 1170) before the altar of Canterbury Cathedral. III. King Henry was greatly shocked, and even did pub- lic penance l at the tomb of A Becket; but from this time his life became very unhappy. Frequent wars disturbed the kingdom, and, being appealed to by one of the native Irish princes for assistance against a neighboring chieftain, Henry invaded and subdued Ireland, (A. D. 1172;) annexed that country to the English crown, and governed there by means of a viceroy ; thus acting over again the part taken by the Saxons, when first summoned over to England by the native Britons. Henry also conquered in Wales, and obtained the first ascendency over Scotland. During this reign, London bridge was rebuilt in stone ; England was divided into six legal circuits, (A. D. 1 176 ;) charters were granted to many towns ; and the windows of private dwelling houses were made of glass. Henry's sons were rebellious, and the eldest died ; so that on the decease of the king, in the year 1 1 89, he was succeeded by his second son, Richard, known in his- tory and romance as Richard the Lion-hearted. Richard I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1189. DIED 1199. IV. King Richard I. was a very brave soldier, and spent his whole reign in warfare on the continent, and in crusades to the Holy Land. He can scarcely be called an English king at all, for he could not speak one word of Saxon, and, although he was king for ten years, passed only eight months in England. Returning from the East, he fell into the power 1 Having approached within three miles of Canterbury, he dismounted, walking barefoot over the Hiuty road, which in some places he marked with blood, to the consecrated spot; spent there, in fasting and prayer, a day and night; and even presented his bare shoulders to be scourged by th« monks with a knotted cord. ENGLISH HISTORY. 33 of Leopold, Duke of Austria, by whom he was detained in prison till ransomed by his faithful subjects. Richard fell while besieging the Castle of Chalus, near Limoges, in France, and was succeeded in 1199 by his brother John. John. began to reign a. d. 1199. died 1216. V. John was one of the worst and meanest kings that ever reigned in England. His name has come down to pos-. terity as a type of baseness, cowardice, and treachery. Out- raged by his oppressions, and emboldened by his weaknesses, the barons compelled this monarch to sign that signal ratifi- cation of English liberties and rights which is famous in the annals of England as the " Magna Charta," or Great Char- ter. 1 This event took place in 1215, at Runnymede, near Windsor. The Cinque Ports 2 during this reign were en- dowed with additional privileges ; the first standing army was levied in England ; and the establishment of an annual election for the lord mayor and sheriffs of the city of London instituted. King John was deprived of his French provinces, 1 By this charter, he pledged himself to maintain the church in its rights; to relieve the barons of oppressive obligations to the crown ; to respect tlio liberties of London, and all other cities and boroughs; to protect foreign merchants, who came to England; to imprison no man without :i fair trial : and to sell, delay, or deny justice to no one. From this time, the feudal system began to decline; the free citizens became more independent ; and the lower orders were gradually released from bondage, and became a free people. 2 The Cinque Ports, so called by way of eminence, are five havens that He towards France, which are vigilantly preserved against invasion. Wil- liam the Conqueror first appointed a warden of the Cinque Ports: but King John first granted them their privileges, upon condition that they should provide eighty ships at their own charges, for forty days, as often as the king should have occasion in the wars; he being then straitened for a navy to recover Normandy. The Five Ports are Hastings, Roraney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich. The privileges granted to them were very great. Each of them were to send two barons to represent them in Parliament; they were exempted from subsidies and other aids; their heirs were to be free from personal wardship; and many other privileges. a* 34 OUTLINES OF in consequence of the cruelty with which he treated the cliil- dren of his elder brother Geoffrey. Prince Arthur, his young nephew, and heir to the crown, was murdered by his com- mand at the Castle of ltouen, A. D. 1202 ; and Arthur's .sister, the Princess Eleanor, called the Damsel of Brittany, was imprisoned in Bristol Castle, where she died A. ]). 1211. King John reigned for seventeen years, and died universally detested. Henry III. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1216. DIED 1272. VI. King Henry III. was but nine years of age when he received the crown, and for many years the kingdom was governed by Ins guardians. He was of a weak and irresolute character, and during his reign tried to abolish Magna Cliarta. All London, and the chief landholders and inhabitants of the county towns, rose in defence of their liberties, and the king, with his son, was defeated and imprisoned, and forced once more to confirm the safety of his people. The assembling of tbe nobles and burgesses of England at this juncture (A. D. 12.58,) is considered to be the first outline of the Commons' Parliament. Coal began to be used for firing hi this reign ; a license was granted to the people of Newcastle for the working of their mines. Gold coinage, also, was in- troduced, and the art of distillation derived from the Moors. After a feeble reign of fifty-six years, King Henry IH. died, in the year 1272, and was succeeded by Edward, lus eldest con. Edward I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1272. DIED 1307. Vfl. Edward I., a clear-headed, resolute, and military monarch, grasped the sceptre with a hand of iron. He added further privileges to Magna Charta, 1 granted the freedoms of i Edward added an important clause to Hie Magna Charta, to secure the people from the imposition of any tax without the consent of Parliament. Ever since his reign, there hiw been a regular succession of Parliaments, ENGLISH IIISTOItY. 35 the Cinque Ports, created his son first Prince of Wales, after having subdued that country, and, in honor of the useful laws which he enacted, obtained the name of the English Justinian. Gunpowder was invented during the reign of this king by the celebrated Koger Bacon; paper was brought from the East by the crusaders ; wine was sold as a cordial by the apothecaries ; and the mariner's compass was invented by one Gioja, of Naples Westminster Abbey, the rebuilding of which had been completed by Henry III. (1245), received additions, and great advances were made in literature, social science, and general civilization. Edward I. died A. D. 1307. Edward II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1307. DIED 1327. VIII. Edward II., son of Edward L, ascended the throne (n 1307. Of a character and disposition the very reverse of his father's, the young king lost the confidence and re- spect of his people, suffered his nobles to gain undue power, and was wholly governed by foreign favorites. In the year 1314, Edward invaded Scotland; and on June 24th, the fa- mous battle of Bannockbum took place, in which Robert Bruce, with only 30,000 Scots, signally defeated the royal army, consisting of 100,000 men. King Edward narrowly escaped with life ; 50,000 English were lulled or taken pris- oners, and the name of the northern hero was crowned with undying glory. In 1322, a rebellion, headed by the Earl of Lancaster, was crushed at Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, and that nobleman was punished with death. Not long after this event, the powerful barons coalesced against the favorites, and the weak monarch whom they governed. They executed first Piers Gaveston, the Gascon, and then Hugh de Spenser and his son, all of whom had richly deserved the accumulated hatred and scorn of both nobles and people. Edward then withdrew into Wales, pursued by the Earl of Leicester. Even his wife, a princess of France, took up arms against him, and conducted the rebellion of the barons. This pusil- 36 OUTLINES OF lanimous king was compelled at length to abdicate the throne, and yield himself prisoner, when he was confined in Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, and horribly put to death, (A. D. 1327.)' During the reign of Edward II. , the House of Commons first began to annex petitions to their bills ; the society of Knights Templars was suppressed, after having at- tained the highest influence in Europe; the University of Dublin was founded ; and the interest of money rose to the usurious rate of forty-five per cent. Edward III. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1327, DIED 1377. IX. King Edward III. succeeded Ins unhappy father in the year 1327. 2 A more powerful monarch England never acknowledged. He subdued Scotland, invaded France, and, without any reason save ambition and the love of fighting, claimed the crown of that country for himself. It was upon this occasion that the famous battle of Creasy was fought, (A. D. 1346,) when Edward's son, known in history as the Black Prince, 3 won immortal fame by his intrepidity and coolness — a fame which he more than doubled some few years after, at the great battle of Poictiers, (A. D. 1356.) During this reign London contained at one time two captive kings — John of France and David of Scotland. The latter remained prisoner in England for eleven years ; and the for- mer, failing in his endeavor to raise the sum stipulated for 1 Isabella, his queen, had fixed her affections upon Roger Mortimer, a youthful barony and they conspired together to compel Edward to resign his crown to his son. The king was put to death by order of Mortimer. ^ When Edward was proclaimed king, he was but fourteen years of age, and a regency consisting of twelve men was appointed " to have the rule and government" of the country; yet Mortimer and Isabella had the chief control. When Edward assumed the government, however. Mortimer was hanged upon a gibbet, by order of Parliament, and Isabella was imprisoned for life. 3 lie was called the Black Prince from the color or covering of his armor. ENGLISH HISTORY. 37 his ransom, surrendered himself to a life of honorable cap- tivity at the court of his conqueror, and died at the old palace of the Savoy, in the Strand, which at that time was studded with parks and country seats, and formed no part of the city of London. During this reign, a fearful pestilence, known as the black death, raged throughout Europe, and is estimated to have cost more life than all the wars of King Edward III. Wind- sor Castle now fell into disuse as a fortress, and was reserved exclusively for the residence of royalty ; the art of paint- ing in oils was perfected by Van Eyck ; cloth weaving was introduced from Flanders ; and the Lords and Commons for the first time occupied separate chambers at Westminster. In 1376 the Black Prince died, leaving one child to the care of the old king, who followed his valiant son to the grave before a year was over. Richard II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1377. DIED 1399. X. Richard II. , son of the Black Prince, and the last representative of the House of Plantagenet, was only eleven years of age when the kingdom of England devolved to him by right of birth, (A. D. 1377.) He was indolent, prodigal, and perfidious. The conquests and expeditions of his father and grandfather had added to the glory, but diminished the wealth, of the nation ; and during the long minority winch unavoida- bly foDowed his accession, the nobles, as usual, were rebel- lious, and the people discontented. A tax of three groats (or three fourpenny pieces) being unjustly levied on every person in the kingdom, male and female, above the age of fifteen years, (A. D. 1381,) the people rose in open rebellion, head- ed by Wat Tyler, whom they chose for their leader. This rebellion was suppressed by the young king, at that time only sixteen years of age, who immediately granted to them the concessions which they demanded. These, however, he 38 OUTLINES OF afterwards revoked, and proved himself to be a more fickle and treble sovereign than even Edward II. In the year 1398, the Duke of Gloucester, upon suspicion of treason, was imprisoned at Calais, and there murdered ; which act of oppression gave great offence to the Parliament and people. This being the case, Richard found none to de- fend or pity him, when his cousin, Henry of Lancaster, whom he had previously banished, returned suddenly from exile, as- sembled an army of sixty thousand men, seized upon the su- preme authority, and after compelling Richard to sign his abdication, confined that unfortunate sovereign in Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire, and there had him basely murdered, thus terminating the lordly and brilliant line of Plantagenet kings. Richard II. in 1397 repaired Westminster Hall, and lived more royally than any of his predecessors. His household consisted of no less than ten thousand persons, and in matters of fashion he set the most luxurious and costly example. The old English poet Geoffrey Chaucer flourished during this reign ; William of Wykeham, distinguished for his learn- ing and piety, and famous as the founder of Winchester School, and New College, Oxford, lived ; and John WiclifTe, the herald of the great reformation, expired A. D. 1385, in liis rectory at Lutterworth, Leicester. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER III. I. Name the possessions of der what circumstances, did the Henry II. Of what errors were king subdue Ireland? Name the clergy guilty during this the other conquests of Henry II. rei-m ? Who was Thomas a Relate the* remarkable improve- Becket, and to what rank was ments effected during this reign. he elevated ? What were his domestic sor- II. Relate the circumstances rows ? When did he die, and of the quarrel between the king by wboni was lie succeeded ? and the archbishop. What was IV. What was the character the manner of his death ? In of Richard L? Was he a what year was he murdered ? thorough Englishman ? What III. What testimony Of grief disaster befell him in Austria ? did Henry show for A Bceket's By whom was he succeeded, and death ? In what year, and un- in what year ? ENGLISH HISTORY. 39 V. Describe the character and disposition of John. What was the great event of this reign ? In what year was Magna Charta signed ? How did John lose his French provinces ? For how long did John reign? VI. By whom was King John succeeded, and in what year? What was the age of Henry III. when he received the crown ? In what way did he infringe the liberties of the people? How did they show their resentment ? In what year did the nobles and burgesses meet ? What great body politic was outlined at this time ? How long did Henry reign, and by whom was he suc- ceeded ? VII. What privileges did Ed- ward I. grant to his people ? Who was the first Prince of Wales ? What name did King Edward obtain ? What re- markable inventions took place during his reign ? VIII. When did Edward II. ascend the throne ? What was the character of this king ? In what way was he opposed by his wife ? What was his end ? IX. Who succeeded Edward IT., and in what year ? What were the warlike enterprises of Edward III. ? What famous battles were fought in this reign, when did they" take place, and who was the hero of both? What two kings were at one time captives in London ? Where did J ohn of France die ? Kelate the chief events of this reign. When did the Black Prince die, and how soon after did the king his father follow him to the grave ? X. How old was Richard II. when he ascended the throne ? What was his character ? What was the state of the kingdom, and why did the peo- ple rebel ? Who suppressed the rebellion ? What sort of a mon- arch was Richard II. ? What was the fate of the Duke of Gloucester ? Who deposed the king ? Where was he impris- oned, and in what way did he die ? In what year did these events happen ? What great men flourished during this reign ? CHAPTER IV. THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK. Henry IV. Henry V. Henry VI. Began to reign. Died. 1.3! 1413 1422 1413. 1422. ? Edward IV. Edward V. Richard III. Began to reign. Pietf. 1461 . . . 1483. 1483 . . . 1483. 14S3 . . . 1485. Henry IV. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1399. DIED 1413. I. Henry IV., surnamed Bolingbroke from the place of his birth, had no legal right to the English crown. He was a 40 OUTLINES OF usurper, 1 and the career of a usurper is not frequently happy, That of Henry IV. was peculiarly wretched, imbittered by the desertion of his friends, troubled by the animosities of his barons, disturbed by conspiracies, and endangered by open rebellions of the Scots and the Welsh. 2 He was also grieved by the excesses of the Prince of Wales, who, though brave and generous-hearted enough, gave himself up to every kind of dissipation and self-indulgence, and was even sent, on one oc- casion, to prison by Judge Gascoigne, for contempt of court. 3 Henry IV. attached himself zealously to the established religion, and having constituted himself the champion of the church, became also the persecutor of Wicliffe's adherents. The Hev. Sir William Sautre, Rector of St. Oswyth, London, fell a victim to the king's mistaken bigotry, (A. D. 1401,) and was the first person burned in England for his religious opinions. The order of the Bath was instituted during this reign, and cannon were first used in England at the siege of Berwick, (A. I). 1405.) In the year 1407, thirty thousand persons died of the plague ; and in the course of the same year, James, son of Robert III., King of Scotland, was seized off Flamborough Head, whilst on his way to France, and notwithstanding that there was peace between the Scots and English at that time, was detained prisoner in England and not released till the sum of £40,000 was paid over for his ransom, in the year 1423. Henry IV. died at West- 1 Edmund Mortimer was the true heir to the crown, being descended from Lionel, the third son of Edward III., whereas Henry was the eon of John of Gaunt, the fourth son of Edward III. Hence began the contests between tlie houses of York and Lancaster. 2 The Scots under Douglas, and the Welsh under Owen Qlendower, took part with the rebels. They were, however, defeated at the battle of Shrewsbury, A. D. 1403, and their leader, Percy, (Hotspur,) who, provoked by the supposed neglect of the king, bad taken arms against him, was killed. 3 When the king was told that the prince was committed to prison, he exclaimed. '• Happy is U* king who has a magistrate endowed with courage Id execute th<- laws upon such an offender; still more happy in haying a k a willing to submit to such chastisement." ENGLISH HISTORY. 41 minster in 14K3, after a reign of fourteen years, and a turbu- lent life of forty-six. Henry V. BEGAN TO EEIGN A. D. 1413. DIED 1422. II. King Henry ■ V. had no sooner succeeded to the throne, than, much to the surprise of all the nation, he re- formed Ins life, and showed himself a temperate, just, and wise sovereign. The great event of his reign was the con- quest of France, when he won the celebrated battles of Har- ileur and Agincourt, (A. D. 14 lo,) and was recognized heir to Charles VI. He then married the Princess Catharine of France, the nobles swore obedience to him, and it was con- cluded by treaty that upon the death of Charles the two kingdoms were to be united in the English crown. In the month of May, 1422, Henry, with his queen and his infant son, visited France, entered Paris in all the pomp of a royal prog- ress, and dazzled the Parisians with the wealth, power, and triumph of their future sovereigns. Henry V. carried on that persecution of the "VVicliffites which his father began, and treated them with inexcusable severity. Sir John Old- castle, Lord Cobham, was burned in St. Giles's Fields for his leaning towards the Protestant faith, and was the first among the English nobility who suffered the extreme penalty of the law for his religious opinions. Linen shirts and under-clothing were at the time esteemed great luxuries, and a flock bed, with a chaff bolster, was a refinement of comfort known only to the wealthiest From the reign of Henry V. may also be dated the custom of lighting the streets of London at night, since it was at his command that every citizen was compelled to hang a lantern on his door during the winter months. From the same period may also be dated the first establish- ment of a permanent naval force ; and one ship, built at Bayonne expressly for the king, was esteemed quite a marvel of size and strength, because it measured one hundred and 4 42 OUTLINES OF eighty-six feet in length. Just at the most brilliant epoch in his career, died Henry V., in 1422, at the early age of thirty-four. Henry VI. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1422. PERIOD OF DEATH UNCERTAIN. III. Henry VI., son to the late king, was only nine months old at the death of his father ; whereupon the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester were made protectors during the regal minority, the former for France and the latter for Eng- land. In this reign, Charles VII. , the Dauphin of France, be- ing supported by the French people, attempted to recover his kingdom. A village girl, from a remote part of Lorraine, fancied herself divinely inspired, placed herself at the head of the French army, and by dint of undaunted courage and patriotism, won victory after victory, and crowned the French king at the city of Rheims, (A. D. 1429.) Being taken pris- oner after this by the English, they were cowardly enough to burn her at the stake. This girl is known in history as Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. IV. Thus by degrees the French wrested back their coun- try from the English, and in a few years Calais alone re- mained a dependency of the state. In the midst of these losses, the troubles of a disputed succession again threatened the safety of the young and feeble sovereign, (A. D. 1450,) and the house of York, represented by Duke Richard, fo- mented insurrections among the people. In the battles of St. Albans and Northampton, the Lancastrians were defeated, and Henry was taken prisoner ; but Queen Margaret 1 hav- ing raised a large army, gained the battle of "Wakefield Green, (A. D. 1460,) and the Duke of York was defeated and slain. V. At this period the Earl of Warwick (called the " King- 1 Henry VI. married Margaret of Anjon. a woman of keen penetration, undaunted spirit, and great beauty. She fought twelve jiitJied battles in her husband's cause. ENGLISH HISTORY. 43 maker ") took up the cause of young Edward, son to the late Duke of York, imprisoned Henry in the Tower of Lon- don, and fixed Edward upon the throne, under the title of King Edward IV. 1 Still the civil wars continued unabated. The Yorkists bore a white rose for their emblem, and the Lancastrians fought under the ensign of a red one. Hence these contests are generally styled the " Wars of the Roses." The date of Henry's death is uncertain ; but it is said that the king's brother, Richard of Gloucester, murdered him in his chamber at the Tower. VI. In this reign the right of voting at elections for knights of the shire was limited to freeholders possessed of estates to the annual value of forty shillings. Seats in the Commons were not, however, much sought by the middle classes of the fifteenth century. The functions of the Com- mons consisted chiefly in the imposition of taxes, and even the Lords of that period evinced little interest or assiduity in the discharge of their parliamentary duties. Both houses enjoyed entire liberty of speech. Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge, were founded about A. D. 1440. The art of printing from movable types was invented about this time. In 1450 the first Lord Mayor's Show took place, and the same year was signalized by the famous insurrection in Kent, headed by one Jack Cade, who, under the assumed name of Mortimer, asserted a fictitious right to the English throne, but was defeated and killed. Edward IV. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1461. DIED 1483. VII. King Edward IV. was a very handsome, but a very capricious and tyrannical sovereign. He married Lady Eliza- 1 The houses of York and Lancaster were both descended from Edward III., that of York from his third son, and that of Lancaster from his fourth: tlm rightful title was, therefore, on the side of the former. 44 OUTLINES OF beth Grey, (laughter to Sir Kichard Woodvillc, and widow of Sir John Grey. This is the first instance, since the Conquest, of an English king being married to a subject. The circum- stance gave great offence to the Earl of Warwick, who re- belled in consequence. By his exertions Edward was deposed, and Henry, after having been a prisoner six years in the Tower, was released, and again proclaimed king ; but at the battle of Barnet (A. D. 1471) Edward prevailed and Warwick was slain. Edward died (A. D. 14K3) just as he was preparing for a war with France, and left his infant sons, Edward V. and Richard, Duke of York, to the guardianship of his wily and ambitious brother, Richard, Duke of Glouces- ter. This prince, seeing but these children between himself and the sceptre, had them conveyed to the Tower, and there murdered. He was acknowledged king in 1483, six months after the death of his brother, Edward IV. VIII. During the reign of Edward IV., the first printing press was set up in England, by William Gaston, (A. D. 1471,) and polite literature was encouraged among the English. Richard III. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1483. DIED 1485. IX. Richard III., during a short reign of two years, committed such atrocious deeds as have left him the blackest reputation of any sovereign upon the records of English his- tory. Not only did he murder his young nephews, but he put to death his brother, the Duke of Clarence, the generous Lord Hastings, the unfortunate Jane Shore, and his own friend and ally the Duke of Buckingham. The Earl of Richmond, a wise and brave nobleman, related to the house of Lancaster by the marriage of his father, Edmund Tudor, to Margaret, the great granddaughter of John of Gaunt, asserted his claim to the crown of England, (A. D. 1485,) assembled a small army of about two thousand persons, which became speedily augmented to three times that miiir ENGLISH HISTORY. 45 her, came over from Normandy, landed on the Welsh coast, and drew up his forces near Bosworth Field. On the 22d of August, 14S.3, he was met by King Richard, who fell in the tliickest of the fight, and Richmond received the crown upon the battle field, in the presence of his army, which sa- luted him as King Henry VII. Thus ended the civil wars which had convulsed England for more than forty years, and the royalty of the houses of Lancaster and York. During the reign of these two families, (a period of nearly one hundred years,) art, civilization, and science had made very considerable progress. Music was much cultivated, es- pecially by the clergy ; painting met with the most earnest encouragement, and was employed in the universal decoration of the churches ; books, though still very expensive, became purchasable by others than the most wealthy, in consequence of the invention of printing ; many of the most esteemed colleges and public schools date then- foundation from this period ; the language became more refined, and received something like a standard in the works of Gower, Chaucer, and others; and the style of architecture, raised on the crumbling ruins of the feudal castles, rose into a stately and beautiful order of ornamental building known as the perpen- dicular Gothic. The civil wars of this period, however, op- erated fatally upon the efforts of agricultural science. Many prosperous and pleasant dwellings throughout England were laid waste, and within twelve miles' range of Warwick alone, sixty villages are stated to have been entirely destroyed. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER IV. I. What caused the sorrows duct on succeeding to the of King Henry IV ? What throne? What was the great was the conduct of the Prince event of this reign ? When of Wales? What sect did were the battles of Harfleur and Henry IV. persecute, and who Agincourt fought ? To whom was the first aristocratic victim ? was Henry V. married ? When What customs were introduced did he die, and at what age ? in this reign ? When did the III. How old was Henry VI. 'ting die, and at what au;e ? at the time of his father's death ? II. What was the king's con- What loss did England sustain 4* 46 OUTLINES OF during this reign ? Relate the history of Joan of Arc. IV. What part of the French territory alone remained at- tached to the English crown ? Wluit new troubles threatened the safety of the young king ? What was the fate of the Duke of York ? When was the bat- tle of Wakefield Green fought ? V. Who was the Earl of Warwick, and what measures did he take against Henry VI. ? What were the emblems of the two parties ? What was the manner of King Henry's death ? VI. Relate the condition of the Houses of Lords and Com- mons at this time. What schools were founded, and what improvements introduced ? Who was Jack Cade? VII. What was the character of King Edward IV. ? Whom did he marry, and what became of the Earl of Warwick ? When did he die? What became of his two infant sons ? When was the Duke of Gloucester ac- knowledged king ? VIII. What signal even! happened in this reign ? IX. For how long did Rich- ard III. reign, and what reputa- tion has he left behind him ? Who were the victims of his cruelty and ambition ? What was the lineage of the Earl of Richmond ? What was the size of his army, and from what country did he come over to claim the crown ? In what year did he land, and where draw up his forces ? What was the re- sult of the battle of Bosworth I When was it fought ? How long had the civil wars raged in Eng- land ? X. Relate the improvements which had now taken place in the arts, sciences, architecture, and civilization of England. What was the effect of the civil wars on agriculture ? CHAPTER V. THE HOUSE OF TUDOR. Began to reign . Died. Henry VII. a. d. 1485 . . . 1509. Henry VIII. " 1509 ... 1547. Edward VI. " 1547 . . . 1553. Mary Elizabeth Began to reign. Pied. A. D. 1553 . . . 1658. " 1558 . . . 1003. Henry VII. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1485. DIED 1509. I. Henry VII. was the first representative of the noble house of Tudor. 1 His reign was signalized by the appearance of two remarkable impostors, namely, Lambert Simnel and 1 Henry VII. was the son of Margaret, great trranddaiighter of John of Gaunt, and of Edmund Tn-lor. Tic married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward I\ .. and iu tliis way the houses of York and Lancaster were united. ENGLISH HISTORY. 47 Perkin Warbeck. Lambert Simnel was the son of a baker, and (being trained purposely for the character) was placed at the head of an insurrection at Nottingham, and proclaimed to be the son of the late Duke of Clarence, and heir to the throne. A sanguinary battle took place (A. D. 1487) between the rebels and the king's army, in which the former were dis- persed, and the pretender taken prisoner. He was pardoned by Henry, and afterwards filled the situation of scullion in the royal kitchen. Perkin Warbeck's appearance and educa- tion were more favorable to deception. He was reported to be the little Duke of York who was murdered with his brother in the Tower. King James IV. of Scotland became one of his supporters ; his standard was joined by many of the highest noblemen in the kingdom ; he assumed the title of Richard IH. of England, and even obtained the hand of the Lady Gordon in marriage. He was, however, taken prisoner, (A. D. 1499,) thrown into the Tower, and executed publicly. II. Notwithstanding these rebellions, Henry VTI. was a prudent, wise, and merciful sovereign. He tried to reform abuses in the church, extended the privileges of the peo- ple, promoted trade and commerce with other nations, and rendered Englishmen powerful and happy. During his reign, Columbus, under the patronage of Isabella, Queen of Spain, made the discovery of America, (A. D. 1492.) John and Sebastian Cabot also discovered Newfoundland in 1497, and afterwards a considerable portion of North America. 1 1 During the reign of Henry VII., and the half century preceding it, th« great movement of the age was in maritime discovery. Columbus offered his services to Portugal, but they were rejected; he then made applicaf n, through his brother Bartholomew, to Henry VII., of England, for aid; hut, Bartholomew was so long upon his journey, that he did not return to Spain until Columbus had returned from his first voyage, (A. D. 1493., Henry VTI.. eager to pre fit by the discovery which Columbus had made. authorized John Cabot, a Venetian, then belonging to Bristol, and his son Sebastian, to Btarl an expedition at their own expen.se. in order to do what they could for themselves, and, at the same time, to set up the banners of 48 OUUTLINES OF Sebastian Cabot published the first map of the world which included both hemispheres. Yasco di Gama, a Portuguese, first doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and made the passage to India by sea in 1497. ' Maps and sea charts were now brought to England ; shillings were coined ; the yeomen of the guard were appointed for the safety and honor of the king's person ; the arbitrary court of law known as the Star Chamber,* was first established ; and Henry VII.'s chapel was built at Westminster Abbey — a work considered to be the most perfect specimen of Tudor architecture now extant. Henry VH. died in 1509, having lived fifty-two years, and reigned twenty-three. He was succeeded by his son Henry VHI. Henry VIII. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1509. DIED 1547. III. Henry VIII., young, affable, handsome, and popular, ascended the English throne at eighteen years of age. Dur- ing the first year of his reign, he married with Catharine of Arragon, and threatened an invasion of France, which, ho\v> ever, came to nothing. Soon after this, he became the firm friend of Thomas Wolsey, then dean of Lincoln, a man of great ambition and talent, who had risen from the middlft rank of life, and who was afterwards promoted to the high dignity of a cardinalship. When the king had been married eighteen years, he fell in love with Anna Boleyn, one of the maids of honor attending upon the queen. In order to effect a marriage with her, he divorced Queen Catharine in 1532, who died of grief shortly after, and he even defied Pope the English monarch, as his vassals and deputies. The discovery made hy the Cabots was the foundation of the claim of the English to that] eions in North America. 1 Previous to this time, the merchandise of India was conveyed to Eu- rope by way of the Red Sea, thence over laud lo the Mediterranean. 2 The Star Chamber was an arbitrary court of law, in which the kincr us,-,l U) attend in person as judge. It was called the Star Chamber from the name of the room iu which the court held its sittings. ENGLISH HISTORY. 4 ( J Clement VII. for refusing to sanction his proceedings. This step led to the REFORMATION. 1 IV. Having declared open opposition to the church of Borne, Henry proceeded to make the most cruel enactments against Papists ; to demolish the monasteries and convents scattered by hundreds throughout his dominions ; to turn the religious communities abroad into the world ; and to pour into his own treasuries the wealth which had been accumu- lating in the clerical coffers for a thousand years. Dreadful persecutions ensued; men were hanged, burned, and be- headed, for not believing as he desired ; and brave old Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher were executed (A. D. 1535) for denying his royal supremacy. Even Cardinal Wolsey was degraded, and arrested for high treason, but died before an}- further steps could be taken against him, having ex- claimed, in the pangs of remorse, " Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have given me over in my gray hairs." V. -Henry's next step was to behead Anna Boleyn, and marry the Lady Jane Seymour, (A. D. 1536,) who died in giving birth to a son. He then entered into an alliance with the Princess Ann of Cleves, to whom, however, he took an intense aversion ; and, having put her aside, married Cath- arine Howard, niece to the Duke of Norfolk. This lady he beheaded in 1542, and then gave his hand, for the last time, to Lady Catharine Parr, widow of the late Lord Latimer. This wife alone contrived to retain the tyrant's affection, and, not being either divorced or beheaded, had the happiness to survive him. VI. The last victims to the caprices of this cruel monarch were the Duke of Norfolk, and his son, the Earl of Surrey, a young man who excelled in all the accomplishments of a 1 Before Henry had arrived at the age of thirty, he had written a book against Luther, the reformer, which pleased the pope so much that lie con- ferred on him the title of « Defender of the Faith," a title which his succes- sors have ever since retained. 50 OUTLINES OF scholar, a soldier, and a courtier, and who ranks among the early English poets. Both were accused of high treason. Surrey's head fell upon Tower Hill, (A. D. 1547;) but the life of his father was providentially saved by the death of the king, which happened on the evening of the day before that appointed for his execution. No king ever violated the rights of Englishmen, or the fundamental liberties specified in Magna Charta, more fla- grantly than King Henry VHI. Upon life he placed no value, and for law he entertained no reverence. He even ex- acted a bill from his slavish Parliament by which the written edict of the sovereign was elevated to the level of a legal statute — a measure which rendered the crown absolutely despotic, and vested in the hands of the king the honor, safety, and wealth of the entire nation. During this reign, many important discoveries were made, literature much ad- vanced, and considerable progress effected in general knowl- edge. St. Paul's school was founded in 1510; the College of Physicians established in 1518; Whitehall and St. James's Palace were built; Mexico was conquered by Cortez, and Peru by Pizarro; Wolsey commenced building Hampton Court Palace, and Christchurch, Oxford ; ship building was improved, and the navy extended ; the corporation of the Trinity House was instituted ; the office of secretary of state was created by government; the society of Jesuits was founded by Ignatius Loyola, (A. D. 1540 ;) Wales was for the first time represented in Parliament ; classical literature was extensively cultivated among the higher classes of both sexes ; and Erasmus, a teamed native of Holland, was elected professor of Greek at the University of Oxford, and contrib- uted much by his presence and attainments towards the ad- vancement of education in England. The College of Physi- cians was founded, and medicine and surgery made extraordi- nary advances. The whole of the Bible was translated into English in 1539 the church Prayer Book and the Articles of Religion were arranged by Bishop Cranmer, in 1540; cher- ENGLISH HISTORY. 51 lies, hops, apricots, pippins, and various other kinds of fruit and vegetables were first cultivated in England ; cotton thread was invented; leaden conduits, for the conveyance of water, were substituted for the wooden ones which had previously been in use; pins were introduced from France by Queen Catharine Howard, and were then a very expensive luxury. Before this time, ribbons, loopholes, laces with tags, hooks and eyes, and skewers of brass, silver, and gold, had been used alike by men and women. The term " pin money," as applied to the income allowed by husband to wife, is dated back to this period, and refers to the heavy expenses incurred by the purchase of this extravagant article of attire. Much of the interchange of the country was transacted at fares and markets ; and provisions were so cheap, that beef and mutton were purchased at the rate of one halfpenny per pound. The value of precious metals, however, was very low, and a pound, at the time of the conquest, would buy twelve times as much as at the present day. Edward VI. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1547. DIED 1553. VII. King Edward VI., son of Henry VIII. by Jane Seymour, ascended the throne in 1547, being then nine years of age. The Duke of Somerset was appointed pro- tector till the king should attain his majority. He was, how- ever, supplanted and executed by the bold and ambitious Duke of Northumberland, who persuaded Edward to transfer the succession to his cousin Lady Jane Grey, instead of suf- fering it to devolve, as it should, upon his eldest sister, Mary. Lady Jane Grey was the wife of Northumberland's son, Lord Guildford Dudley. Shortly after this decision, the king's health declined ; and when he died of consumption in 1553, in the sixteenth year of his age, there were not wanting tongues among the people to attribute his loss to the machi- nations of the protector. He was amiable, highly accoin- plished, and dearly loved by his subjects. 52 OUTLINES OF No religious persecution was suffered during his reign, and a law was passed by which Protestant clergymen were per- mitted to marry. The book of Psalms was also translated into verse, by Sternhold and Hopkins ; the book of Homi- lies was compiled by Cranmer and liidley ; and a new code of Articles was drawn up, to the number of forty-two, from which the Thirty-nine Articles of the established church now in use were afterwards compiled. Christ's Hospital and St Thomas's Hospital were founded, as well as many other charitable institutions, grammar schools, alms houses, &C, throughout all parts of the kingdom. Grapes were brought over from France, and cultivated in England for the first time; crowns, half crowns, and sixpences were introduced into the currency ; and a dreadful plague, called the sweating sickness, which had hitherto been prevalent from time to time, became totally extinct. Trade with Russia was for the first time opened during the reign of King Edward VL Mary I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1553. DIED 1558. VIH. Mary I., eldest daughter of King Henry Vin. by Catharine of Arragon, next received the crown, after a brief contest of only ten days with Lady Jane Grey and her sup- porters. She inaugurated her cruel reign with the death of the unfortunate young pair, Dudley and Lady Jane Grey. Her next step was to marry Philip H. of Spain, A. D. 1554, who cared little for her affection, and left her, as soon as pos- sible, for his native country. IX. The most tremendous and fearful persecutions were now directed against the reformers. The Bishops of London, Worcester, and Gloucester, and even Archbishop Cranmer, were condemned to the flames ; and it is computed that dur- ing this reign of terror, which lasted between four and five years, no less than two hundred and seventy-seven human Wings were frightfully sacrificed. Mary died in lo<38, uni- versally abhorred. ENGLISH HISTORY. 53 Coaches were introduced in this reign, before which time ladies used to be carried in Utters, or rode on pillions behind their mounted squires. Flax and hemp were first cultivated, the use of starch was discovered, and the manufacture of drinking glasses began to be encouraged in England. Elizabeth. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1558. DIED 1603. X. Elizabeth, a Protestant princess, and daughter of King Henry VIII. and Queen Anna Boleyn, succeeded to the throne. Had she relieved the whole nation from captivity and chains, the delirium of joy with which all classes hailed the accession of Queen Elizabeth could scarcely have been greater. The first act sanctioned by her authority was the formal restoration of the Protestant religion ; and in a single session of Parliament the articles of faith were established, freedom of thought secured, the acts of her sister abolished, and Protestantism forever constituted the religion of England. XI. In the year 1587, Elizabeth tarnished the glory of her reign by signing the death warrant of Mary Queen of Scots, who had fallen into her power, and was imprisoned for many years in Fotheringay Castle. 1 The obloquy of this deed was effaced shortly after from the minds of the people by the glorious defeat of the " Invincible Armada" sent out against England by Philip II. of Spain, under the command of the Duke de Medina Sidonia. This fleet consisted of one hundred and thirty-six ships, with nearly nine thousand mariners and twenty-two thousand sold;ers. The whole number of the queen's ships, large and small, was one hundred and ninety- 1 Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was the daughter of Mary of Guise, Queen Regent of Scotland, and granddaughter of Henry VII., and was the next heir to Elizabeth to the throne of England. She was educated in France as a Catholic, and married when quite young to the dauphin, who afterwards became Francis II., King of France. They then assumed the title of King and Queen of England. On the death of Franeio. Mary, at the age of eighteen years, returned to Scotland, to reign for that country as queen. At this time the reformed 5 54 OUTLINES OP seven, containing nearly sixteen thousand sailors, or fighting men, commanded by Admirals Howard, Drake, Hawkins and Frohisher, (A. D. 1588.) Just as the Channel was covered by the hostile sail, a tremendous storm came on. The Spanish fleet got into disorder. The English navy rushed upon them, and poured in their batteries from every side. Two great three deckers were taken, and twelve smaller ones ; flight, destruc- tion, or submission alone was left to the rest, and of all that mighty armament commissioned to subdue Old England, only a miserable remnant escaped to carry back the tidings of defeat, XII. The career of this famous queen presents other glories, very different, but equally splendid. During her reign the poets Spenser and Raleigh wrote and flourished ; Lord Bacon, the philosopher and historian, lived ; and Shak- speare, the immortal poet and dramatist, whose works are the glory of English literature, wrote some of his finest plays, surviving the queen by thirteen years. XIII. The act of supremacy, passed at the commence- ment of Elizabeth's reign, was the greatest mistake of this sovereign's career. Devised for the purpose of crushing the Roman Catholic influence, this act compelled all clergymen, and persons holding office under the crown, to take an oath religion, under John Knox, had made great progress in Scotland, and the people were therefore greatly opposed to Mary. She married for her second husband her cousin Henry Stuart, (Lord Darnley,) but soon grew tired of him. Mary gave birth to a son, who afterwards became James VI. of Scot- land and James I. of England. In less than two years Darnley was mur- dered, and Mary soon after married the Earl of Bothwell, who was suspected of being the murderer. Such guilty unions seldom prosper; they had lived together but a few weeks, when tbe nobles rose against both her and her husband for the pro- tection of the young prince. Bothwell fled abroad, and soon died, while Mary was taken a prisoner, and confined in the Castle of Lochleven. She was compelled to resign the crown to her infant son. who was proclaimed James VI.. and the Earl of Murray was appointed regent. In less than a year Mary escaped from lu r prison, and fled to England, to ask the assistance of Elizabeth ; but she did not obtain it. After being kept a prisoner in Fotheringay Castle for more than eighteen years, sho was accused of being an accessory to a conspiracy against Elizabeth, tried, •ondemned, and beheaded, in the forty-fifth year of her age. ENGLISH HISTORY. 55 abjuring not only the temporal, but even the spiritual author- ity of every foreign prince or prelate, and acknowledging the sovereign as the head of the church, with rights derived from God. This act was followed by the act of conformity, which prohibited all persons from attending the ministrations of any clergyman not belonging to the established church. The lamentable consequences may be readily imagined : hundreds suffered death, imprisonment, and persecution, in this and following reigns, through the operation of these arbitrary statutes. XIV. The naval power of England, which had been gradually extending ever since the time of Henry V., con- tinued still to be the chief care and ambition of the gov- ernment. Noble and scientific men pressed eagerly forward to join in expeditions for the discovery of unknown countries. Sir Francis Drake made a three years' voyage round the world, and was the first Englishman who accomplished the circumnavigation of the globe. He brought potatoes from North America, and planted them in Lancashire. Tobacco was first brought to this country by Sir John Hawkins, (A. D. 1565.) Tea was introduced by the Dutch. Pocket watches were brought over from Nuremberg, in Germany. Silk stockings were worn for the first time by the queen, cloth hose having previously been in use. The art of paper making from linen rags was 'begun at Dartford, by Sir John Speilman, a German, (A. D. 1590.) Telescopes were invented by one Jansen, a spectacle maker at Middleburgh, in Holland. Decimal arithmetic was discovered by Simon Stevin, a scholar of Bruges. The Italian method of book- keeping was taught in England by James Peele, whose book on the subject is yet extant. Knives were first made in England A. D. 1563, and were the earliest branch of domestic cutlery, being manufactured by one Matthews, of Fleet Bridge, Lon- don. The age of Elizabeth was distinguished for its intel- lectual freedom, and may pre-eminently claim the distinction of having called up a great native literature. In 1556, the C6 OUTLINES OF Royal Exchange was built by Sir Thomas Grcsham. In 1590, Westminster School was founded by the queen; and Rugby School was founded by L. Sheriffs. Mercantile transactions were now carried on upon a more liberal and extensive scale; the whale and cod fisheries were estab- lished ; Birmingham and Sheffield became the centre of hardware manufactures, and Manchester of cotton and stocking weaving ; theatrical representations became the popular amusements of the people; art was encouraged by the nobility, and Shakspeare and Spenser wrote their immortal poetry. In the fifth year of Elizabeth's reign, the poor laws were enacted, and the population of London averaged one hundred and sixty thousand souls. The Bodleian Library was formed at this time, the East India Company organized, and attempts were made to colonize North America. 1 XV. In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died, much beloved by the English people, and to this day revered as the restorer of peace, the patroness of learning, the protectress of religious liberty, and the upholder of the great English name through all the kingdoms of Europe. With her terminated the house of Tudor. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER V. I. What remarkable impos- reign ? Name the other discov- tures signalized this reign? cries of great navigators. What Relate the story of Lambert signal improvements and inven- Simnel. Relate the story of tions took place at this time ? Pcrkin Warbeck. What building is considered the II. What was the character most perfect specimen of its of Henry VII. ? In what way order now extant ? When did did he contribute to the happi- he die, and at what age ? By ness of his people ? What great whom was he succeeded ? discovery was made during his III. What was the character * During the reigns of Henry YTTT.. Edward VI. and Mary, England bad i„.,.n si. much distracted by internal dissensions, thai no efforts were made to avail themselves by colonisation of the discoveries made in North America by CaiXM, S««n "ft®* tbe accession of Elisabeth, however, public attention ENGLISn HISTORY. 57 of Henry VTTT. at eighteen years of age i What events took place in the first rear of his reign ? Who was Thomas Wolsev ? What Led to the royal divorce? What great religious movement did this circumstance lead to ? IV. What were the enact- ments of Henry VIII. regarding Papists ? What was the nature of the church persecutions ? What great men were degraded and punished in consequence ? V. What was Henry's next matrimonial step ? Name his third, fourth, fifth, and sixth wives. Why was the last the most fortunate ? VI. Who were the last vic- tims of King Henry's caprices ? What was the fate of Surrey, and what was his reputation ? How was the life of the Duke of Norfolk spared ? In what way did Henry VIII. render his power despotic ? What great buildings were erected at this time, and what important, ad- vances made in literature and general knowledge; What fruits were introduced, and what im- provements effected in the me- tropolis ? Relate the history of pins. VII. In what year did Ed- ward VI. succeed to the crown, and what was his age ? "Who was appointed protector, and what was his fate ? To what act was the king influenced by the Duke of Northumberland ? Who was Lady Jane Grey ? When did the king's health first begin to decline, and what was the popular opinion respecting the manner of his death ? When did Edward VI. die, and at what age ? What important law was passed respecting Protestant clergymen ? What religious works were compiled ? What benevolent institutions were founded ? What branch of trade was opened abroad ? VIII. For how long did Lady ■was directed to this subject ; and early in 1579 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a brotber-in-law of Sir Walter Raleigh, having obtained a patent, made two unsuccessful voyages, in the last of which his vessel was shipwrecked, and all on board perished. Not discouraged by the unfortunate issue of the enterprises of Gilbert, Raleigh obtained a new patent from Elizabeth, (A. D. 1584,) and despatched two small vessels to the American coast, under tbe command of Amidas and Barlow. On their return to England they gave so splendid a description of the beauty and fertility of the country, that Elizabeth bestowed upon it the name of Virginia, as a memorial that tho discovery had beeu made under a virgin queen. The report brought back by them induced Sir Walter, in 1585, to attempt to form a settlement at Roanoke Island. Tins colony was reduced to great distress, and in 1586 returned with Sir Francis Drake to England. The following year, however, another colony was sent out, consisting of one hundred and fifty adventurers; but they were neglected in respect to sup- plies, and when, at length, a vessel was sent to inquire into their state, not a wstige of them remained. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold made a voyage to New England, and visited Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the Elizabeth Islands. Upon one of tho latter he attempted to form a settlement, but without success. 0* 58 OUTLINES OP Jane Grey contest the crown, and what was her fate and that of her hushand ? Who was Mary I. ? With whom did she marry ? IX. Relate the persecutions levelled at the Protestants in this reign. How many souls perished by fire ? When did Mary die, and how was she liked by the people ? Relate the social improvements effected during this reign ? X. What reception did Eliza- beth meet with ? What was the first act of her reign ? XI. What was the end of Mary, Queen of Scots, and when was she executed ? What great victory effaced the memory of this deed ? What was the com- parative sea strength of Spain and England ? What was the result of the expedition ? XII. What great men flour- ished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ? What valuable in- strument was invented ? What influential company received its charter ? How many years did Shakespeare survive Queen Eliz- abeth ? XIII. For what purpose was the act of supremacy devised, and of what nature was it ? Relate the results of its opera- tion. XIV. What progress was made by England as a naval power, and in what way did men of education evince their eager- ness to advance knowledge ? Who was the first Englishman that circumnavigated the globe ? What vegetables were intro- duced in this reign, and by whom ? Who fir.-t carried to- bacco to England ? Relate the inventions which took place at this time with regard to dress, paper, telescopes, and watches ? Who invented decimal arith- metic ? When were knives first made in England ? What is said aoout intellectual free- dom ? What great public in- stitutions were founded in this reign ? What great fisheries were established? What par- ticular branches of commerce were connected with Birming- ham, Sheffield, and Manchester? When were the first poor laws enacted ? What great library was formed at this time, and what powerful trading com- pany organized ? What colony was first inhabited during this reign ? XV. In what year did this great queen die ? In what way did she contribute to the pros- perity of her kingdom ? What great royal house terminated at her death ? ENGLISH HISTORY. 59 CHAPTER VI. THE HOUSE OF STUART. Began to reign. Died. James I. . ; a. d. 1603 a. d. 1625. Charles L 1625 1649. James I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1603. DIED 1625. I. King James I. was the son of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, and, when the sceptre of Elizabeth descended to his hands, was reigning at Holyrood, under the title of King James VI. of Scotland. At the very commencement of his reign, a conspiracy which has never been sufficiently cleared up was set on foot by the Lords Grey and Cobham, and Sir Walter Raleigh. The two former were pardoned; but Raleigh, the chivalrous poet, was executed in 1618, after many years of confinement. II. Two years after the accession of James I., (A. D. 1605,) discovery was made of the famous Gunpowder Plot, 1 a con- spiracy which terrified the whole nation, was designed to reestablish the Roman Catholic religion, and would, if suc- cessful, have proved the destruction of the King, Lords, and Commons of the realm. Many of the traitors associated in the enterprise were publicly executed ; some died sword in hand ; and some received the royal pardon. Lord Cecil, the minister of Queen Elizabeth, filled the same office under James up to the period of his death, in 1 The Gunpowder Plot was projected by Robert Catesby. His object Mas to blow up the King, Lords, and Commons with a mine of gunpowder, when they should be assembled at the opening of Parliament. Gathering around him a desperate band of conspirators, they hired a cellar directly under the House of Lords, put thirty-six barrels of gunpowder in it, and covered them over with coals and fagots. Just on the eve of its accomplislmn • 1 1 r, the plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes, one of the conspirators, was taken with the matches for firing the magazine in his pocket. 60 OUTLINES OP 1612; but from that time the king and his Parliament were constantly at variance. He would fain have extended his royal prerogative to a point little short of despotism, and they were equally resolute to uphold their privileges and power. In 1614, Parliament withheld the supplies, because James delayed to redress the grievances of which they com- plained ; and thus commenced the difficulties which proved so fatal to Charles I. In this reign (for the purpose of raising money) the king created the title of baronet, and sold it for the sum of £1000. Horse races were established at Newmarket. The circulation of the blood was discovered by Dr. Harvey, A. D. 1619. The broad silk manufacture was introduced. Copper half pence and farthings were coined for the first time. Logarithms were introduced by Napier, A. D. 1614. Buildings were built of brick ; the authorized translation of the Bible, as at present in use, was produced under the care of forty-seven divines ; the London New River Company was projected by Sir Hugh Middleton ; Homer was translated by Chapman ; and the Charterhouse School was founded by Mr. T. Sutton, who purchased the vast premises from the Duke of Norfolk, A. D. 1611. During this reign, were commenced the settlements of Virginia and New England. The king granted (A. D. 1606) a patent of Virginia to two companies, the London and the Plymouth. Under the auspices of the former, the settlement of Virginia was commenced, (A. D. 1607,) which was the first permanent English settlement in the United States. In 1620, a settlement was commenced at Plymouth, in Massa- chusetts, by a band of English Puritans. This sect first made their appearance during the reign of Mary. They were strenuous advocates of civil and religious liberty, and met with great persecution, which induced them to seek refuge in America. III. King James married the Princess Ann of Denmark, by whom he had four children. Two alone survived him, ENGLISH HISTORY. Gl namely, Charles, Prince of Wales, and Elizabeth, married to Frederic- V., elector palatine of Bavaria, an unfortunate prince, whose dominions were confiscated by the emperor Ferdinand II., and whose posterity afterwards succeeded to the English sovereignty. James I. died in 1625, at the age of fifty-nine. Charles I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1625. DIED 1649. IV. Charles I. commenced his reign with great ap- parent advantages of person, education, and position. He found the treasury of the country, however, in an impov- erished condition; and, being refused sufficient supplies by the Parliament, laid a heavy and unpopular tax upon the people, with the proceeds of which he fitted out a fleet for the invasion of Spain. This measure created great dis- content ; but instead of being warned by the murmurs of the nation. Charles was unjust and impolitic enough to persevere, and from 1629 to 1640 never called any Parliament, but raised money by means of an obsolete statute called the levy of ship money. It may be as well here to explain the nature of that tax. V. Three years after the king's accession, (A. D. 1628,) the Commons, in return for five subsidies, had induced him to sign that second great charter of English liberties known as the Petition of Right ; by which he bound himself to raise no taxes without the consent of Parliament. It was therefore in direct violation of his own treaty, that in 1629 royal writs were issued to th*e city of London, and to the towns along the coast, exacting a tribute of money for the purpose of equipping ships of war for the defence of the country. At first this step, though productive of much ill feeling between the king and the people, was yet tolerated, and had some excuse of precedent ; but Charles shortly ven- tured on a stretch of prerogative that no other sovereign, however arbitrary, had ever dared to contemplate. He sent 62 OUTLINES OF writs of ship monty to the inland counties, where no ship had ever been seen, and continued to raise money for the defence of his kingdom, at a time when he was at peace with all the world. VI. The first resistance was offered by John Hampden, a gentleman of Buckinghamshire. He refused to pay the rate levied upon his estate, and brought the matter to trial, (A. D. 1636,) with the patriotic resolution of supporting the liberties of the people. The result, which it was hoped would affix some limit to the power of the sovereign, was anxiously awaited by the nation; but Hampden lost his cause, and Charles grew more exacting than ever. Many ceremonies of Roman Catholic worship were now introduced into the church ; Episcopacy was forced upon the Scots, who rebelled in consequence ; more rates and levies were wrung from the public purse, and the king raised an army, and marched to the north, (A. D. 1640,) where, instead of defeating the Presbyterians, he ended a feeble campaign by a treaty of peace. VH. During the month of April, in this year, (1640,) Charles found himself compelled once more to assemble a Parliament ; and this time Hampden took his seat in the House of Commons as member for Buckinghamshire, and leader of the opposition party. This Parliament the king angrily dissolved, because it was bent upon redressing the public grievances. He threw some of the members of the House of Commons into prison, exacted ship money more rigorously than ever, and even prosecuted the corporation of London for their unwillingness lo enforce the levies. VIII. Again a Parliament was called, (Nov. 1640.) and again the opposition, more powerful than ever, with Hamp- den, Pym, Hollis, and others, at the head of the party, stood up to force the king to something like justice and repa- ration. By this famous tribunal, great and salutary reforms were vigorously carried «ut. Strafford, who had been created earl, lord lieutenant of Ireland, and president of the council ENGLISH HISTORY. 63 of the north, was impeached, with Archbishop Laud, impris- oned, and executed. The servile judges and officers of the crown were punished, and the king deprived of arbitrary and feudal powers. In fact, it was open war between Charles and his people. IX. As if blindly led on to his ruin, Charles now com- mitted an act for winch history can furnish no parallel, and posterity no excuse. Enraged against the opposition, and misled by the lenity with which some of the members were disposed to treat his measures, he went in person to the House of Commons, (Jan. 1642,) attended, as far as the door, by two hundred halberdiers and armed courtiers, there to arrest and seize Lord Kimbolton, Hampden, Hollis, Pym, and two other members, whom he had previously impeached through his attorney general. Any thing so unprecedented as the arrest of members engaged in the exercise of their parliamentary duties had never been known ; and though the attempt failed, and the members were absent, this act of tyr- anny led to extremes which few then could have anticipated. X. Hampden and his friends secreted themselves in the city. The Parliament recalled them, and they returned to their seats in triumph, accompanied by immense crowds of spectators and military, and saluted with salvos of artillery. The residt was civil war. Charles fled to the north, after having sent the queen and Prince of "Wales to a place of safety. The nation became divided into two factions, distin- guished as Cavaliers and Roundheads, and both parties pre- pared for the great struggle. The clergy, the universities the landed gentry, and a majority of the nobles sided with the king. The Roundheads comprised the middle classes of England, the merchants, shopkeepers, yeomanry, dissenters, parliamentarians, and a formidable minority of the peerage. XL Not to dwell too long upon this period of our sum- man-, we will briefly detail the chief events of that deplora- ble conflict, which lasted for the space of three years, and caused the effusion of so much English blood. The royal 64 OUTLINES OF standard was first erected at Nottingham, August 25, 1642, and the first engagement, known as the battle of Edgehill, was (ought on the 23d of the October following, when both sides claimed the victory. From this time, no great event (unless an unimportant advantage gained by Charles at St rat- ton) took place till the death of Hampden, at Chalgrave Field, June 24, 1643. In 1644, the Roundheads, under Sir Thomas Fairfax, signally defeated the royalists under Prince Rupert, at the famous battle of Marston Moor ; and on June 14, 1645, was fought the decisive battle of Xaseby, in Northamptonshire, when the king's army sustained a total defeat. Fifty thousand of his soldiers were taken prisoners, baggage and cannon were left upon the field, and Charles lied to Scotland. By his northern subjects, upon whose pro- tection he had thrown himself, he was basely sold over to the English for the sum of £400,000. XII. From this moment, the king's doom was scaled. He was first imprisoned at Hampton Court, then in Caris- brook Castle, then in Hurst Castle, Hampshire, finally in Windsor Castle, whence he was brought to London, to go through the mockery of a trial at St. James's. By the high court of justice he was sentenced to death, and publicly be- neaded in front of Whitehall Palace, on the 30th Jan., 1649. " A great shudder ran through the crowd that saw the deed, then a shriek, and then all immediately dispersed." Charles was at that time forty-eight years of age, and had reigned nearly four and twenty years. THE COMMONWEALTH. XIH. That extraordinary epoch in English history, known as the period of the Commonwealth, ensued. Oliver Crom- well, who had distinguished himself as a general in the late wars, received the command of the Puritan army in Ireland, (A. D. 1G49,) and there defeated the royalists with great slaughter. Having reduced that country to submission, he was next despatched to Scotland, where the Parliament had espoused the cause of the Stuarts, and proclaimed Prince ENGLISH HISTORY. 65 Charles their king. Here the stern Roundhead was every where invincible; the Scotch deserted the royal standard. When he arrived at Worcester, a great battle was fought on the 3d of September, 16.31; and the king was forced to make his escape to the coast of France. XIV. In this manner the authority of the Parliament became established throughout the British dominions. The American settlements, 1 which had declared for the king, were subdued ; Ireland and Scotland silenced ; Jersey, Guernsey, Scilly, and the Isle of Man, brought easily under subjection; and an immense empire, rich in fleets and armies, in crown lands and ecclesiastical treasures, was governed by an assem- blage of some sixty or seventy men, who had taken upon themselves to alter the legislature of the state, and to behead a great king, and who, in their present position, found them- selves holding the foremost place among the sovereign powers of Europe. XV. Oliver Cromwell, having entire possession of the affection and confidence of the army, and being regarded with suspicion and anxiety by the Long Parliament, resolved upon what was, perhaps, the boldest step of his Hie. He went with three hundred soldiers to the House of Commons, (A. D. 16o3,) turned out the members, dissolved the assembly, or- dered the door to be locked, and put the key in his pocket. The next Parliament was called, and consisted entirely of ignorant fanatics. 2 These men resigned office, (] )ec. 1 2, 16-33,) and vested the entire administrative power in Cromwell, with the title of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of Eng- land. Thus the oppressions of royalty were exchanged for a despotic military government. 1 In Virginia, the colonists adhered to the cause of the royalists. This brought upon them the vengeance of the Parliament, and in 1652 a fleet was despatched to reduce them to submission. 2 One of the members was called, according to the taste of the age, Praise God Barebone, a leather dealer, and from him the Parliament was f;t!l<"! Baretxme's Parliament. 8 66 oil LINKS OF Oliver Cromwell, protector of england from a. d. 1653 to 1658. XVI. The Protectorate was inaugurated by a succes- sion of brilliant victories, and the recognition of the English power in all the courts of Europe. The Dutch were brought to sue for peace, (A. D. 1654,) and made to pay an indemni- fication of £85,000. Favorable terms subsisted between Cromwell and Mazarin, and Dunkirk became a dependency of the state. The years 1655 and 1656 saw the great vic- tories of the English fleets, under Admiral Blake, at Algiers, Cadiz, and the Canary Islands; and in 1655, Admirals Penn and Venables made the conquest of Jamaica. XVII. Despite all tins prosperity, the Protector's position was far from being safe or happy. He was feared and dis- trusted on all sides, threatened by numberless conspiracies, and a prey to perpetual anxiety. A tertian ague carried him off at last, (Sept. 3, 1658,) in the fifty-ninth year of his age, and in the ninth of his usurpation. He appointed his son llichard his successor ; but the army, discontented with so young and irresolute a leader, compelled him to sign his ab- dication, and the officers restored the Long Parliament, which Cromwell had forcibly dissolved. XVIII. This Parliament, however, having offended the army, was again dismissed, and General Monk, marching from Scotland with eight thousand veterans, (Jan. 1660.) compelled the London forces to disperse. A new Parlia- ment was then assembled, and the restoration of royalty, in the person of the exiled Charles, was proposed and received with universal delight both by the Commons and the people. So ended the period of the Commonwealth. Among the eminent persons who flourished during the Protectorate of Cromwell, was John Milton, the grcate-t e] ie poet that England has ever produced. He held the situation of Latin secretary under Cromw r ell, and was permitted to re- tain the emoluments of his office after he had become blind. ENGLISH HISTORY. 67 After the restoration, he was deprived of his office ; and it •was amid all the distress arising from blindness, age, and pov- erty, that Paradise Lost, the most sublime poem which adorns any language, was written. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER VI. I. To whom did the crown descend on the death of Eliza- beth ? What conspiracy threat- ened the commencement of James's reign, and who were the parties concerned in it ? What was the fate of Sir W. Raleigh ? II. What was the nature of the gunpowder plot, and in what year was it discovered ? What occasioned the disagreements between James and his Parlia- ment ? When were the supplies withheld ? For what purpose was the title of baronet created ? What great discovery was made by Dr. Harvey ? Relate the in- ventions and improvements of this reign. By whom was the New River Company projected ? Who was Mr. T. Sutton, and what charity did he found ? III. Whom did the king mar- ry, and what family had he ? In what year did he die, and at what age ? IV. How did Charles I. com- mence his reign ? What means did he take to tit out a fleet for the invasion of Spain ? How did he raise money without the aid of Parliament, and for how long ? V . When did Charles sign the petition of right, and what terms did he therein agree to ? When did he issue the writs for ship money, and upon what pre- tence ? To what unwarrantable degree did he extend this exac- tion ? VI. Who offered the first re- sistance ? What was the result of Hampden's efforts ? By what acts of oppression did Charles follow up his success ? VII. When did Charles again call a Parliament ? How did he treat that body ? In what way did he insult the corporation of London ? VIII. In what month of the same year did he again call a Parliament, and who were the leading members of the opposi- tion ? What great reforms did the Parliament effect ? IX. What extraordinary piece of illegal tyranny did Charles next resort to, and when did he carry it into effect ? X. Where did Hampden and his friends take refuge ? In what manner did they return to Par- liament ? What became of the king and royal family ? Into what well-known factions was the nation divided ? Of whom did the Cavaliers consist ? What classes constituted the Round- heads ? XI. Where and when was the royal standard first erected? When was the battle of Edge- hill fought ? Where did Hamp- den fall ? Relate the event and date of the battle of Marston Moor. When was the battle of Nascby fought, and with what result ? What was the conduct of the Scotch upon this occa- sion ? XII. At what, places was the king successively imprisoned ? By what court was he sentenced ? 08 OUTLINES OF Relate the circumstances and date of his execution. What was his age ? How long had he reigned ? XIII. What period ensued ? Who was Oliver Cromwell, and when was he sent to Ireland ? Why was lie next sent to Scot- land" ? What was the result of the battle of Worcester ? XIV. In what countries was the authority of the Parliament every where established ? What was the character and power of the Parliament ? XV. What bold step did Cromwell take ? Of whom did the next Parliament consist ? When was Cromwell raised to the supreme power in the state ? XVI. Under what auspices did the Protectorate commence ? In what year were the Dutch subdued? What terms sub- sisted between Prance and Eng- land? What were the great victories of Admiral Blake, and when did they take place ? What were the conquests of Penn and Venables ? XVII. Was the Protector happy ? When did he die, and from what cause ? Whom did he appoint to succeed him ? What steps were taken by the army ? XVIII. What became of' the Parliament ? What was the course taken by General Monk ? In what way ended the period of the Commonwealth ? What distinguished poet lived in the time of Cromwell ? CHAPTER VII. THE HOUSE OF STUART, (continued.) Charles II. James II. . Began to reign. . a. d. 1660. . « 1G85. . . Died, 1685. Dethroned, 1088. Charles II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. I). 1660. DIED 1685. I. King Charles II. came to the throne amid the univer- sal rejoicings of a nation anxious to welcome the restoration of royalty. Commencing his reign with clemency and mod- eration, he passed an act of universal pardon, (excepting onl- ine regicide judges and more furious republicans.) chose his first council indifferently from both loyalists and Presbyte- rians, and proclaimed entire liberty of opinion among his people. The body of Cromwell, however, was dug up, hung in chains at Tyburn, and buried under the gallows; but was afterwards removed secretly, anil re-interred, as some assert, in the centre of Red Lion Square. ENGLISH HISTORY. G ( J II. It was supposed, from this promising beginning, that Charles would be found an easy monarch, and that nothing affecting the religion or liberty of the nation need be feared at his hands. In this the public was disappointed. Having first of all disbanded the fine army of the Commonwealth, the king began to follow his father's evil example by forcing Episcopacy upon the Nonconformists. This step raised an outcry of discontent throughout the kingdom ; and in one day, about two thousand Presbyterian ministers gave up their ben- efices because they would not embrace a new faith ; and now the church of England began to persecute its former perse- cutors. III. He next declared war with Holland, (A. D. 1665,) and sent out an English fleet under the command of his brother, James, Duke of York. The ship of Admiral Op- dam, the Dutch commander, was blown up, and the victory of the English complete. IV. In the years 1665 and 1666, London became the scene of two fearful calamities, exceeding in horror any that were ever known to befall one city within so short a period. A mortal plague spread among all classes, and carried off in six months more than 100,000 human beings. They were buried in great pits dug about the neighborhood of Moorfields and Tothill Fields, and every night the dead carts traversed the melancholy streets, in which the unaccustomed grass greAV rankly, and no other traffic now was known. Scarcely had this sickness begun to decline, when a fire, unexampled in Europe since the destruction of Rome under Nero, " laid in ruins the whole city, from the Tower to the Temple, and from the river to the purlieus of Smithfield." This conflagration destroyed four hundred streets, and thirteen thousand two hundred dwelling houses, beside eighty-nine churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Koyal Exchange, the Custom House, Guildhall, and many other important public buildings. It lasted without intermission for four days, and was only stopped at last by the blowing up of houses. -6* 70 OUTLINES OF V. Taking advantage of this period of the national weak- ness and distress, the Dutch fleet, under command of Admi- ral De Ruyter, sailed up the Thames, (A. D. 1667,) and burned the ships of war which lay at Chatham. This was the first, and happily the last time that the roar of foreign guns was heard to echo through the streets of London. A dis- graceful peace was shortly afterwards concluded. VI. The great imposition known as the Popish Plot took place in 1678. A discreditable character, one Titus Oates, constructed a hideous fiction, which he found the nation only too ready to believe. He gave out that the Papists were preparing for the destruction of London by fire, the assassi- nation of the king, and the betrayal of the country into the hands of the French. Just at this juncture, the mysterious murder of Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey, a Protestant magis- trate, lent all the coloring of truth to his assertions. Many innocent persons were in consequence arrested and executed, and among others the aged and illustrious Earl of Stafford fell a victim to calumny, and was beheaded on Tower Hill, December 29, 1680. VII. In the year 1679 was passed the habeas corpus act. This act, next in importance to Magna Charta, is qne of the bulwarks of individual safety. So long as the statute remains in force, no subject of England can be detained in prison, except where such detention is shown to be justified by law. VIII. The Lords Shaftesbury and Russell, in conjunction with the Duke of Monmouth, the Earl of Essex, Algernon Sidney, and others, were discovered (A. D. 1680) to be the authors of a treasonable conspiracy, having for its object the death of the king. This was the famous Rye House Plot, so called from the conspirators' place of meeting. Length- ened trials ensued. Monmouth escaped ; Russell, the most popular man of his day, was executed in Lincoln's Inn Fields, July 21, 1683 ; the Earl of Essex was found with his throat cut in his cell at the Tower; Shaftesbury absconded to Hol- land ; and Sidney suffered the extreme penalty of the law, December 7, 1683. ENGLISH HISTORY. 71 IX. The king was at this time, (A. D. 1685,) as absolute a sovereign as any in Europe ; but his power was destined not to be of long duration. Towards the beginning of February, 1685, he was attacked by what seemed to be a fit of apo- plexy, and soon after expired without a struggle. Before dying, he received the sacraments of the Romish church — an act which proved that although he had always passed for a Protestant king, he cherished another religion in his heart. Charles was fifty-nine years old at the time of his death, and had reigned twenty-five years. His character has been thus briefly summed up by a modern historian : " Charles was the falsest, meanest, merriest of mankind." 1 James II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1685. DETHRONED 1689. X. James II., brother to the late king, had distinguished himself as a naval commander, but was unpopular with the general public on account of his gloomy temper and the ill favor in which his religion was held. He had been brought up to the Roman Catholic persuasion, and his first acts were to go openly to mass, to sanction the erection of Jesuit col- leges, and to establish Roman Catholic bishops. These tilings much displeased the nation ; and so, when the Duke of Monmouth (an illegitimate son of the late king) came over to England, set up his standard in Dorsetshire, and claimed the crown, thousands flocked to his aid, and he found Inmself, in a very few days, at the head of a considerable army. He was defeated at Sedgemore, a village near Bridgcwater, and being hotly pursued, was found concealed in a field, hidden among branches of fern, and utterly worn out with hunger 1 During this reign the English colonists in North America were greatly increased in numbers ; but they did not escape persecution even in Ameri- ca. Several of the governors appointed by the crown had distinguished themselves by their oppressive measures; and in 1GS3 Charles issued a writ withdrawing tho several charters. This led to serious difficaltie.s in the colonies. 72 OUTLINES OF and fatigue. Despite his supplications for mercy, James was inexorable, and the unhappy young man was executed, July 15, 1685. XL The most savage persecutions followed. Twenty prisoners were hung upon the field of battle ; but to the in- famous memory of Judge Jeffreys (the most bloodthirsty of legal murderers) belong the chief horrors of what has been called the English reign of terror. Hundreds of victims, old and young, were sacrificed for having been implicated in the rebellion ; and in Scotland people were hanged and drowned for refusing to repeat the Creed. The English fleet mutinied because James had ordered mass to be read on board the vessels, and the Bishop of London was suspended from office. XII. The king next issued a proclamation of entire liberty of conscience to his subjects — a proceeding which, although it bore a fair appearance, was known to be solely put forward for the favoring of Roman Catholicism. Seven bishops of the church of England undertook to deliver a remonstrance to the king, especially concerning that clause of his proclama- tion in which he desired that it should be read in all the churches upon the conclusion of divine service. For this courageous resistance, the bishops were arrested and thrown into the Tower, (June 29, 1688 ;) but, being acquitted upon their trial, were regarded as the saviours of the Protestant religion, and were met every where by rejoicing thousands. XLU. It was while affairs were in this position that the eyes of all men were turned for deliverance to William, Prince of Orange, who had married Mar}-, the eldest daugh- ter of James. This wise and politic prince, being invited over by the clergy and the people, left Holland with a fleet of five hundred vessels and an army of fourteen thousand men, and landed at Torbay on the 5th of November, 1688. Here he was joined by the nobility, clergy, and military; even by Lord Churchill, who owed every thing to the bounty of the king; and by Prince George of Denmark and his wife, the Princess Anne, second daughter to James. ENGLISH HISTORY. 73 XIV. In this manner the crown changed hands without the striking of a blow. James was confined at Rochester, but was permitted to escape to France, where he afterwards died; and the Prince and Princess of Orange were proclaimed joint king and queen of England on the 13th February, 1689. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER VII. I. "With what measures did Charles commence his reign ? What indignities were ottered to the body of Cromwell ? II. By what unpopular meas- ure did Charles lose the good opinion of the people ? How were his commands received by the Presbyterian ministers ? III. In what year was war declared with Holland, and how ended the first engagement ? IV. What calamity befell London in 1665? When did the great fire take place ? How long did it last, and what was the extent of the destruction ? V. In what way did the Dutch take advantage of the distress, and in what year ? YI. When was the Popish Plot set on foot, and by whom ? Relate the purport of Oatcs's statements. When was the Earl of Stafford beheaded ? VII. In what year was the habeas corpus act passed ? What is the purport of the act ? VIII. What illustrious gen- tlemen were concerned in the Rye House Plot? What were their respective fates ? IX. What was the power of the king at this time ? When did he die ? What was the cause of his death ? What sac- raments did he receive ? What was his age ? How long had he reigned? What was his character ? X. By whom was Charles succeeded ? With what acts did James commence his reign ? How was the insurrection of Monmouth received by the peo- ple ? How did his rebellion terminate, and what was his end ? XI. How did the king's army treat the prisoners ? What in- famous judge was appointed to try the rebels ? What were the cruel results ? What took place in the English fleet, and what bishop was suspended from office ? XII. What was the real ten- dency of the king's order re- specting liberty of conscience ? Who protested against it ? How was this remonstrance received ? What was the event of the trial ? XIII. To whom did the peo- ple look for assistance ? With what anny and how many ships did Prince William leave Hol- land? When and where did he land ? By whom was his stan- dard joined ? XIV. Did the crown change hands easily ? What became of James ? When were the new sovereigns proclaimed ? 74 OUTLINES OF CHAPTER VIII. UNITED HOUSES OF STUART AND NASSAU. Began to reign. Died. King William IIL a. d. 1689 1702. Queen Mart II . ■ 1089 1694. Queen Anne, " 1702 1714. William III. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1689. DIED 1702. I. William III., throughout his reign in England, (for Queen Mary had little to do with affairs of state, and died before her husband,) was troubled with treachery at home and warfare abroad. A great war with France continued nearly the whole time ; ' and not only his crown, but his life, was sev- eral times attempted by the emissaries of the exiled James. The latter went over to Ireland in the spring of 1689, raised an army of forty thousand men, and besieged Londonderry. Failing in his attempt to reduce that city, he was forced to retreat with a loss of nine thousand men, and being met on the banks of the River Boyne (June 30, 1690) by King Wil- liam and his army, was signally defeated. II. The late king was not yet discouraged by these failures, but fought a last battle at Aughrim, and was forced to re- treat to Limerick. Here, finding all chance of victory gone, his adherents capitulated, and above fourteen thousand of them followed him to France. HI. William of Orange was a great general, and the bra- vest of soldiers. War was his element, and in raising sums 1 This war between England and France extended to their colonial pos- sessions in America, known in American history as King William's War. In the commencement of this war the French ami Indians perpetrated tlit* most horrid barbarities upon the settlements in the northern colonies. In Dover, New Hampshire, a garrison was surprised, and many of the inmates wore murdered or carried into captivity. Schenectady, New York, was burned, and most of the inhabitants inhumanly massacred. ENGLISH HISTORY. 75 for the prosecution of his military plans, he plunged the government into that great national debt which it has never since been able to discharge. Peace was, however, concluded at Ryswick, after eight years of bloodshed, (September 22, 1697 ;) and on the 8th of March, 1702, England lost this remarkable and celebrated sovereign. He was just fifty-two years of age, and was succeeded by his wife's sister, the sec- ond daughter of King James. Among the distinguished persons who lived during this reign were Dryden, Sir Isaac Newton, John Locke, Archbishop Tillotson, and Bishop Burnet. Anne. began to reign a. d. 1702. died 1714. IV. Anne now reigned in England, and her reign is the history of constant but brilliant warfare. The court of Ver- sailles had acknowledged Charles Edward, the son of James II., as Prince of Wales. Queen Anne felt this to be both a political and personal insult, and declared for war. Lord Churchill, now Duke of Marlborough, received the command of the English army, as well as that of the Dutch, who sided with England. The Germans joined the alliance ; the Neth- erlands were speedily cleared of the invader ; several towns were taken by siege ; and the first of a series of splendid victories was fought at Blenheim, August 2, 1704. In this year, also, the fortress of Gibraltar was taken by Sir G. Rooke, and has remained in possession of England ever since. V. The next great victory which brought glory to Marl- borough was the famous battle of Ramillies, (May 23, 1706;) and in the autumn of the same year were finally united the kingdoms of England and Scotland. Though these two countries had since the accession of James I. acknowledged but one sovereign, they had enjoyed separate laws and sepa- rate Parliaments ; now both were represented at Westmin- ster, and the union was ratified as it still exists. 76 OUTLINES OF VI. The year 1708 was signalized by the victory of Ou- denarde, gained by the Duke of Marlborough ; which was followed, in 1709, by the equally brilliant battle of Malpla- quet. Shortly after this, by a system of court intrigues the particulars of which would detain us too long in this place, the Duke of Marlborough and his wife (to whom the queen had been greatly attached) fell into disgrace. The great general was dismissed from his command, and a treaty of peace was entered upon at the celebrated conference of Utrecht. By this instrument, signed in April, 1713, Eng- land's glory and interest were secured. To her jurisdiction France resigned Hudson's Bay, Nova Scotia, and Newfound- land. 1 Spain relinquished Gibraltar and Minorca ; and the fortifications of Dunkirk, which might have proved dangerous to her trade in time of war, were demolished. The rest of Europe was dealt by with equal fairness. VII. Soon after this event the health of Queen Anne de- clined, and on the 31st of July, 1714, she died, at the age of forty-nine. She had reigned for twelve years, was much be- loved by the people, and went by the glorious and enviable title of " the good Queen Anne." During her reign Addi- son, Steele, Pope, Bolingbroke, Gay, Swift, Prior, and other famous wits and poets, whose works are considered to be the national classics, lived and wrote. This epoch is styled the Augustan age of English literature. 1 This war is known in American history as " Queen Anne's War." Be- fore the commencement of hostilities New York had concluded a treaty of neutrality between the Five Nations aud the French governor in Canada ; the whole weight of the war. therefore, fell upon New England. In 1701 the citizens despatched an armament against Port Royal, in Nova Scotia ; and having taken possession of the place, they ealled it Annapolis, in honor of Queen Anne. During the war the New England colonies Buffered greatly from the incursions of the French and Indians from Canada; but after the treaty of Utrecht was known in America, the Indians sued for peace. After this the colonies enjoyed comparative (juiet aud prosperity for nearly thirty years. ENGLISH HISTORY. 77 QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER VIII. I. Was the reign of Wil- liam peaceful and prosperous ? Whither did James repair ? What army did he assemble, and what town besiege ? When was the battle of the Boyne fought, and with what suc- cess ? II. When did James fight his last battle ? What took place at Limerick ? III. What was the cause of the national debt ? When and where was peace concluded ? When did William die ? What was his age, and by whom was he succeeded ? IV. Why did Queen Anne declare war with France ? Who became allies with the English, and who was appointed com- mander-in-chief ? What success had Marlborough in the Nether- lands, and when did he win his first great victory ? What other important acquisition was made in this year ? V. What was the next victo- ry gained by Marlborough ? What great legal event took place in the autumn of 1706 ? What had been the points of separation between England and Scotland ? In what way were they removed ? VI. What were the two great victories of 1708 and 1709 ? How did it happen that Marl- borough lost his command ? Where was the peace conference held ? What glorious conces- sions were made by France and Spain to the arms of England ? VII. When did Queen Anne die ? What was her age ? By what popular name was she known ? What celebrated liter- ary characters lived during the reign ? By what name is the age distinguished ? CHAPTER IX. THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. Began to reign. George I a. d. 1714. . George II " 1727. . George III " 1760. . Died. 1727. 1760. 1820. George I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1714. DIED 1727. I. George I. of Brunswick, Elector of Hanover, and di- rect descendant of James I., succeeded to the " good Queen Anne." He was fifty-four years of age when he received the crown, and was preceded by a character for sagacity, experi- 7 78 OUTLINES OK ence, and industry, which led the nation to expect a happy and peaceable reign. However, he soon showed that he could be vindictive towards those of the nobility who had been unfavorable to his succession. The Duke of Ormond, Lord Bolingbroke, and the Earls of Oxford and Mortimer, were impeached of high treason, and Matthew Prior, the poet, was taken into custody. The Duke of Ormond and Bolingbroke, having fled to the continent, were degraded from their rank ; their names and arms were razed from the list of peers, and their estates confiscated. Lord Oxford was set at liberty. II. Rebellion now broke out in Scotland, (A. D. 1715,) and the son of James II., known as the Pretender, was there supported by the interest of the Earl of Mar, and by arms, ammunition, and soldiers from France. Insurrections were also started in various parts of the western counties, but were promptly quelled by Generals Carpenter, Wills, and Pepper. Many noblemen and gentlemen of rank and substance took part in these disastrous risings ; the prisons of London were crowded with unhappy captives ; the Lords Derwentwater, and Kenmure, on the 24th of February, were executed ; five persons of inferior rank were hanged at Tyburn, two-find- twenty at Preston and Manchester, and about a thousand were transported. The king would hear of no mercy. III. Perhaps the most extraordinary event in the reign of this sovereign was the great South Sea bubble. We will en- deavor to explain the nature of the speculation as briefly as possible. During the reign of William III., the government was obliged to borrow money (for war purposes) from differ- ent companies of merchants, and among the rest, from the South Sea traders. For this particular debt the government was paying an annual interest of £500,000. In 1720, one Blunt, a scrivener, came to the ministry in the name of this company, and proposed to them that the South Sea Company should become sole creditor to the state by the purchase ENGLISH HISTORY. 7 ( .> of the debts qt' all the other companies. Having bought up these, the company offered to accept an interest of five per cent, for the first six years, and a reduced interest of four per cent, ever after, till the Parliament found itself in a position to pay it off altogether. But the company was not rich enough to make this gigantic purchase from its existent funds, and they proceeded to raise money by opening a sub- scription for trading in the South Seas, by which traffic they persuaded the public that great fortunes were to be made. Thus deluded, the purchasers of South Sea stock poured in by thousands, and the government creditors sold then gov- ernment stock for that of the South Sea Company. It was even advanced that the government was about to exchange Gibraltar for a portion of Peru ; than which any thing more chimerical can hardly be conceived. The bubble exploded, the directors' estates, to the value of £2,014,000 were seized in 1721, and many thousand families were overwhelmed with ruin. rV. The king, who had not been over to inspect his Hano- verian dominions for some time, resolved to pay them a visit in the month of June, 1727. He embarked for Holland ac- cordingly ; but while travelling in his carriage from Deldem where he had passed the night, was taken suddenly ill, and expired at Osnaburgh the next morning, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and the thirteenth of his reign. George II. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1727. DIED 1760. V. George II. succeeded to his father when forty-four years of age, and his son, being summoned over from Hano- ver, took his rank as Prince of Wales. A misunderstanding with Spain occurred early in this reign. In consequence of the discovery of some illicit trading vessels commanded by Englishmen, the Spanish guardships seized indiscriminately upon innocent and guilty, and subjected the captains of mer- chant vessels to considerable annoyance. Admiral Vernon was 80 OUTL1NKS OP therefore sent out with a fleet of six ships to attack the Spanish settlements in America, (A. I). 1739.) Here he was uniformly victorious. Having taken Porto Bello, he bom- barded Carthagena, and took Fort Chagre, while Commodore Anson attacked the city of Paita, on the coast of Peru, cap- tured a valuable Spanish galleon, and returned home laden with booty. VI. The death of Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, in 17 10, afforded the French an opportunity to interfere with the succession of that empire. Setting aside the hereditary claims of the emperor's daughter, Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, they caused the Elector of Bavaria to be raised to the imperial throne, whilst the King of Prussia grasped the provinces of Silesia. At this juncture England came forward to assist the cause of justice, and her example being followed by Holland, Sardinia, and Russia, the elector was obliged to fly, and Ma- ria Theresa reigned in her father's kingdom. VII. The French declared for war, 1 (A. D. 1743,) and being met on the banks of the Mayne by the English army under command of the king in person, were signally de- feated by a force numbering twenty thousand less than their own. Tins was the famous battle of Dettingen. Mean- while Prince Charles Edward, son to the Pretender, and grandson to James II., made a bold stroke for the English 1 This war is known in European history as " the War of the Austrian Succession." In American history it is commonly called "King George's War." The most important event in America was the seizure and capture of Louisburg, on the Island of Cape Breton. After the peace of Utrecht, the French had strongly fortified this place at an immense expense, and the conquest of it was deemed by the colonies of the highest importance. An expedition was undertaken without the knowledge of the English govern- ment. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode [stand raised their respective quota of troops; New York furnished artillery, and Pennsylvania provisions. The troops numbered four thousand, and the naval force consisted of twelve ships. This force was joined by an English fleet, under the command of Commodore Warren, and Louisburg capitulated on the 16th of June, A. D. 1745. By this conquest, security was given to the colonies in their fisheries. Nova Scotia was preserved, and the trade and fisheries of France were nearly ruined. ENGLISn HISTORY. 81 crown. He landed in Scotland with a few desperate adventur- ers, seven officers, and arms for only two thousand men, gained an unimportant victory over Sir John Cope at Preston Pans, and took possession of Dunkeld, Perth, Dundee, and Edinburgh. He then reduced Carlisle, and advanced into England ; but not finding himself supported there, he retreated northward, followed by the English army and the Duke of Cumberland. Upon the plain of Cullodcn the cause of the Stuarts was for- ever lost. A great battle was fought on the 16th April, 1746. The loss of the English scarcely exceeded 200 men, while 2500 Scots were left on the field. Charles Edward sought safety in flight, escaped through countless dangers, and died at Rome in 1788. VIII. Warfare abroad and rebellion at home induced Eng- land to regard with favor a negotiation proposed between the belligerent powers in the year 1748. At Aix-la-Chapelle a treaty was thereupon concluded, by which all nations were pacified, and peace prevailed in Europe. Not so, however, in North America. For more than a half century the several colonies had been engaged for most of the time in a costly and sanguinary struggle with the French and Indians, in which they became involved by reason of their connection with England. Whenever England declared war against France, her American colonies were called upon to sustain themselves in their contests with the French colonists, who were settled in Canada, and their Indian allies ; but in 1755 hostilities commenced in America, which ultimately extended throughout Europe. A series of encroachments had long been made by France on the English colonies, who now prepared to resist them. Expeditions against the several French forts and set- tlements were fitted out with various successes ; but in 1759 a grand and decisive victory was obtained by General Wolfe, in Canada, which led to the surrender of Quebec, and soon, after (A. D. 1763) to the total cession of all Canada. Gen- eral Wolfe was killed upon the field of battle, IX. But the glory of the great British name was still 7* 82 OUTLINES OF further increased by the splendid successes of Clive in t\^» East Indies. Terribly revenging the death of 123 Englii h subjects in a narrow prison called the Black Hole, this gallant soldier attacked and took Calcutta, January, 17o7, afterwards winning a second splendid victory at Plassey, by which was acquired the province of Bengal, a district exceeding in size the whole extent of Great Britain, and in wealth, fertility, and natural advantages, all the provinces of the East. X. King George II., in the midst of his glories and successes, died quite suddenly, from a rupture of the right ventricle of the heart, (October 25, 1760,) being then in the seventy-seventh year of his age, and the thirty-third of his reign. In consequence of the death of Frederic, Prince of Wales, some nine years previously, the king was succeeded by his grandson, under the title of George III. George III. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1760. DIED 1820. XI. George III. ascended the throne of England at a period when her arms abroad and the progress of her wealth and civilization at home had rendered the position of the monarch one of- the most enviable and illustrious in the whole world. The first remarkable event in this reign was the declaration of war between England and Spain, in 1762. Altogether this was one of the most glorious wars ever earned on in any age by any people. In the course of seven years were won twelve great battles by land and sea. Twenty-five islands, nine fortified cities, and forty forts and castles were taken ; a hundred ships of war were captured ; and more than twelve millions sterling were acquired as plunder. France and Spain at length became anxious to terminate a Avar which had been so disastrous to them, and a general treaty of peace was concluded at Paris on the 10th of February, 1763. XII. Soon after the peace of Paris, serious troubles arose ENGLISH HISTORY. 83 between England and her North American colonies. Eng- land had incurred an immense debt by the late war with France, and Parliament determined that, as the war had been waged chiefly on account of the colonies, the colonies should bear their share of the expense. They accordingly resorted to means of taxation. In 1765 the stamp act was passed. By this act, all business papers and certificates, as well as newspapers, required a stamp, similar to that already used in Great Britain. The passage of this act roused the colonies to resistance, and a colonial Congress was called, which met on the 7th of October, 1765. They published a " Declaration of Rights and Liberties " ■ on the 19th of the same month, 1 With the exception of a few lines in the preamble, here follows in full the Declaration of Rights and Liberties. The members of this Congress esteem it our indispensable duty to make the following declaration of our humble opinion respecting the most essen- tial rights and liberties of the colonists, and of the grievances under which tbey labor by reason of several late acts of Parliament. I. That his majesty's subjects in these colonies owe the same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that august body, the Parliament of Great Britain. II. That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain. III. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally or by their representatives. IV. That the people of these colonies are not, and, from their local circumstances, cannot be represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain. V. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies are per- sons chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by their respective legislatures. VI. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts of the people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution for the people of Great Britain to grant to his majesty the property of the colonists. VII. That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in tbese colonies. VIII. That the late act of Parliament entitled " An Act for granting and 84 OUTLINES OF in which they denied the right of Parliament to impose taxes upon the colonies without their own consent, given person- ally or by their representatives. XIII. In 1766 the stamp act was repealed ; but in the following year an act was passed by Parliament imposing a duty upon tea and other imports into the colonies. The pas- sage of this act led to still more determined resistance on the part of the colonies, and the tea sent from England was thrown overboard by an enraged populace in Boston, and either destroyed or sent back in other places. XIV. To enforce the commercial rule of England, her fleet upon the American coast was turned into a revenue squad- ron, and a standing army was sent out to enforce obedience. Still the colonies would not yield, and war was inevitable. applying certain stamp duties and other duties in the British colonies and plantations in America," &c, by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the juris- diction of the Courts of Admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a mani- fest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists. IX. That the duties imposed by several late acts of Parliament, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, will be extremely burden- some and grievous, and, from the scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely impracticable. X. That aa the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately centre in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very largely to all supplies granted there to the crown. XI. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of Parliament on the trade of these colonies will render them unable to purchase the manu- factures of Great Britain. XII. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these colonies depend on the full and free enjoyments of their rights and liberties, and an intercourse with Great Britain mutually affectionate and advantageous. XIII. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies to petition the king or either House of Parliament. Lastly. That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies to the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, to endeavor In ■ loyal and dutiful address to his majesty, and humble applications to both Houses of Parliament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, < if all clauses of any other acts of Parlia- ment whereby the jurisdiction of the admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other late acts for the restriction of American commerce. ENGLISH HISTORY. 85 On the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, a force of eight hundred English troops was sent from Boston to Concord to seize some military stores. A battle ensued at Lexington, in which the English lost, during their retreat, 273 soldiers, and the Americans lost less than 100. The battle of Bun- ker's Hill followed on the 17th of June, 1775, in which the Americans were compelled to retreat for want of ammu- nition, after a valiant resistance, in which the advance of the enemy was twice repelled. The Americans lost 450 men in killed and wounded, and the English more than twice that number. The news of this battle spread through the colonies, exciting the most determined resistance ; and on the 4th of July, 1776, the Continental Congress assembled at Phila- delphia declared the colonies to be "free and independent states." XV. General Washington was appointed commander-in- chief of the American forces, raised and to be raised, and the war in America was prosecuted with great vigor. In 1778 France formed a treaty with America, and in 1779 Spain acknowledged her independence. Thus war was provoked by these two powers, and in 1781 a third enemy was found in the Dutch. During this latter year England was carrying on at one time, by sea and land, four great contests ; namely, with America, France, Spain, and Hol- land. In America, a few towns only on the seaboard had been taken, but the interior was untenable, if not uncon- querable. Thousands of troops, hundreds of vessels, millions of treasure had all been lost, and still the Americans w r ould not yield. The war was virtually ended, however, in the month of October, 1781, by the surrender of York- town by Lord Cornwallis to General Washington ; and in 1783 a treaty of peace was made, acknowledging the inde- pendence of the "United States of America." Peace was also made with France and Spain, and in 1784 with Holland, and also between the East India Company and the Rajah of Mysore. 86 OUTLINES OF N XVI. A terrible revolution took place in France in the memorable year 1789, which, although it did not directly affect the interests of the British throne, was destined ulti- mately to extend an unparalleled influence over the destinies of Europe. The populace rose, destroyed the Bastile, de- posed and imprisoned King Louis XVI., and declared France a republic. After many excesses, during which the European powers stood by as inactive spectators, the French Jacobins guillotined the king, queen, and certain members of the royal family, A. D. 1793 ; whereupon a great confederacy was established between England, Spain, Holland, and the em- pires of Germany and Russia, to restore the crown of France. Valenciennes was taken ; Toulon was taken and lost again ; many French settlements in the West Indies were captured, (A. D. 1794 ;) the Island of Corsica was sub- dued ; and the Cape of Good Hope, and Trincomalee, in Ceylon, were added to the possessions of Great Britain. XVII. And now the most extraordinary man of modern history, the greatest conqueror of any age since Julius Ca?sar, the finest soldier that ever won French laurels, began to dis- tinguish himself against the Austrians, (A. D. 179.3,) and to pave the way for the magnificent reputation which, as Napo- leon the Great, he afterwards acquired. Before Ins arms the states of Germany were forced to sue for peace, and the English viceroy was compelled to evacuate Corsica. The year 1797 saw the mutinies of Spithead and the Nore, the disgrace of which was, however, compensated by the splendid victories of Cape St. Vincent and Camperdown, won by Ad- mirals Sir John Jervis and Duncan. These brave command- ers were each rewarded with a peerage. XVHI. The highly-merited fame of these two great victo- ries was. nevertheless, eclipsed by that of the battle of the Nile, (A. D. 1798,) in which Nelson asserted his place as the first naval commander of that day ; cut through the centre of the French fleet ; dispersed, captured, and d es tr o yed thir- teen of the enemy's ships ; and was recompensed with the ENGLISH HISTORY, 87 title of Baron Nelson of tho Nile, and a pension of £3000 per annum. In the mean time, Napoleon Bonaparte was rapidly taking the lead in all the most important affairs of the French Republic. To him Mas intrusted the command of a powerful army in Egypt ; hut finding the English so victorious upon the Nile, he hastened hack to Paris, and was created first consul in 1799. In the beginning of 1800 he crossed the Alps at the head of his army, and by the brilliant victory of Marengo (14th June) annihilated, for the time, the Austrian power in Italy. XIX. The union of Great Britain with Ireland was fixed by an act of Parliament, passed on the 21st of April, 1800, to commence from the first day of the new century, (Janu- ary 1, 1801.) The Imperial Parliament of the United King- dom Mas summoned to meet on the 22d of the same month. This measure met with much opposition from the Irish. XX. In this year, (A. D. 1801,) Napoleon succeeded in fomenting a war between England and Denmark, and a pow- erful fleet, under Lord Nelson and Sir II. Parker, was accordingly despatched to the bombardment of Copenhagen. The Danes had made formidable preparations, and fought valiantly during a strife of four hours, when, having lost all their ships of the line and their floating batteries, they were compelled to capitulate. Shortly after this, the French were routed in Egypt by Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Major General Hutchinson, where the battles of Aboukir and Alexan- dria were won, in the former of which the brave Abercrombie met his death wound. XXI. While Great Britain was thus extending her tri- umphs abroad, (A. D. 1802,) she was threatened by Napoleon with an invasion at home. For this purpose he had prepared a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats, and other vessels, for the conveyance of his troops. Alarmed by these movements on the part of the enemy, the government assembled a squadron, under Lord Nelson, for the defence of the coast. The invasion was never attempted ; a treaty was entered 88 OUTLINES OP ujxhi by the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch powers-, and on the 27th of March, 1802, the definite treaty of peace ■was signed. This interval was destined not to be of long duration, and war was again proclaimed, May 18, 1802. XXII. Not content with the title of first consul, Na}x> leon constituted himself Emperor of France in the year 1804, and was crowned King of Italy in 1805. In conse- quence of these proceedings, an alliance was now formed between England, Russia, Austria, and Sweden. But Napo- leon was victorious at Austerlitz, where he signally defeated the Austrian forces, and Russia was compelled to retreat. Fortunately, the share borne by England was sufficiently victorious to counterbalance these disasters. October 21, 1805, was fought the famous battle of Trafalgar, in which Lord Nelson defeated the united fleets of France and Spain, and expired just as the conquest was assured. The following year (1806) records the death of the two most famous statesmen of that epoch — namely, William Pitt and Charles James Fox. XXIII. Napoleon was now the greatest monarch of Eu- rope. Emperor of France, King of Italy, Protector of Bavaria and Wirtemberg, he dominated over every other government excepting those of England and Spain. Two of his brothers filled the thrones of Holland and Naples; Denmark was in his service ; Prussia at his mercy ; Russia had just concluded a peace which was entirely to his advan- tage ; and Austria enjoyed but the shadow of a power which was really vested in his hands. Had he then been prudent, all might have been well ; but he resolved to seize upon Spain likewise, and from this attempt may the begin- ning of his ruin be dated. XXTV. Having taken Ferdinand of Spain prisoner by an ingenious stratagem, (A. D. 1808,) he carried that mon- arch and his son into France, and proclaimed his brother Joseph King of Spain. A general insurrection immediately broke out in all parts of Spain ; aid was implored from ENGLISH HISTORY. 89 England ; the peasantry formed themselves into guerilla par- ties, annoying and surprising the French at every opportu- nity, cutting off their supplies, shooting their stragglers, and skirmishing with then- outposts; except where the army was actually present, the power of Napoleon was set at nought ; and, to crown all, an army of ten thousand men was sent out, commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, better known at the present time by the title of Duke of Wellington. Thus commenced the famous Peninsular war, and the first engage- ment is known as the decisive battle of Vimiera, August 21, 1808. XXV. The next event of importance was the victory of Talavera, (July 28, 1809,) in acknowledgment of which Sir Arthur Wellesley received the title of Viscount Wellington. Not so fortunate was the memorable and ill-fated expedition to Walcheren, in which nearly fifty thousand fine soldiers fell inglorious victims to the unhealthy climate of Zealand, and the disgraceful inefficiency of those placed in command In the following year, (1810,) Lord Wellington completely drove the French troops from Portugal. At this period, a succes- sion of splendid victories, too numerous to admit of notice in so brief a recapitulation as the present, every where attended the career of Wellington. XXVI. England and Russia now coalesced against France, (A. D. 1812,) and the emperor resolved upon an invasion of Russia, collected an army of six hundred thousand men, forced his way to Borodino, — where, after a sanguinary battle of three successive days, the Russians were defeated, — and pushed on immediately for Moscow. The Russians, knowing no other means by which to deprive the French of winter quarters and provisions, actually set fire to their ancient and beautiful capital, so that, on their arrival, the conquerors found nothing but desolation and flames. Thus disappointed of resources, they began a hasty retreat to France, having to traverse an enemy's country amid all the horrors of a north- ern winter, and being utterly destitute of all provision, except 8 i)0 OUTLINES OF such as they could find amid the deserted villages along their route. During this frightful journey, they were perpetually harassed by living hodies of Cossacks, were starved, frozen, and left to die by the wayside. No less than three hundred thousand splendid soldiers thus perished miserably. Seeing the emperor's present weakness, all the European powers now combined to crush their common enemy. One by one, his conquests were wrested from him, and March 31, 1814, the allied armies entered Paris. On the 4th of April fol- lowing, Napoleon signed his abdication at Fontainebleau, and Louis XVIII. was recalled to the throne of his ancestors. XXVII. Some unfortunate disputes between the govern- ment of Great Britain and the United States led to a decla- ration of war by the United States, June 19, A. I). 1812. The Americans unsuccessfully invaded Canada ; but at sea their frigates obtained many signal triumphs over British ves- sels. The war was, however, of short duration, and peace was concluded between the two nations in 1814. The same year, while the ambassadors were assembled at Vienna to adjust the claims of Europe, the world was struck with surprise, ter- ror, and admiration, by the report that Napoleon had escaped from his exile at Elba, and, having landed in France, was once again at the head of his beloved army. Again he ascended the imperial throne ; again the allied sovereigns assembled their forces ; and again they met, for the last time, upon the field of Waterloo, near Brussels. Here, on the 18th of June, was fought the ever-memorable battle of Waterloo, in which the French army was irrevocably routed, and fled from the field in the utmost confusion. All was now over with Napoleon. He surrendered himself to the mercy of England ; but in- stead of being received as a fallen hero, he was sent a pris- oner to the far and lonely Island of St. Helena, where, after lingering through a few melancholy years, he died on the 5th of May, 1821. The expenses of England during the prosecution of this war are said to have exceeded seventy millions. XXVIH. The year 1820 proved fatal to the Duke of ENGLISH HISTORY. ( J1 Kent, father to Queen Victoria; and in less than a week after the death of this prince, England lost, in George III., one of her most respected sovereigns. This venerable monarch expired on the 29th January, 1820, in the eighty-second year of his age, and the sixtieth of his reign, which is the longest and most remarkable in the annals of English history. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER IX. I. By whom was Queen Anne succeeded ? How old was George I., and what character preceded him ? What noblemen experienced his resentment ? How were Ormond and Boling- broke punished ? II. What proceedings were now taken by the Pretender, and by whom was he supported ? What generals quelled the in- surrections ? What became of the various insurgents ? III. Describe the nature and origin of that speculation called he South Sea bubble. How did he South Sea Company raise monev from public credulity ? When the bubble burst, what was found to be the value of the directors' estates ? IV. Relate the manner of the king's death. V. By whom was George I. succeeded ? What was the na- ture of the misunderstanding with Spain ? In what year w Admiral Vernon sent out ? What successes were achieved by him and Commodore Anson ? VI. On what occasion did the French interfere with the Aus- trian succession ? What injus- tice did they commit towards Maria Theresa? What coun- tries joined with England to as- sist the cause of justice, and what was the result ? VII. In what year did the French declare war ? What great battle took place on the banks of the Mayne ? What was Prince Charles Edward about in the mean time ? What cities did he seize in Scotland ? By whom was he pursued ? When was the battle of Cullo- den fought ? What was the re- sult ? What was the fate of the young Pretender ? VIII. In what year was con- cluded the peace of Aix-la-Cha- pelle ? In what colonies did the French and English continue at war ? What were the English conquests abroad, and when did General Wolfe fall ? IX. What terrible revenge was taken by Clive in the East Indies ? What were his con- quests there ? X. When did George II. die, and by whom was he succeeded ? XL What was the first re- markable event in this reign ? What were the successes of as seven years ? When was the stamp act imposed on the American coloiues, and how was it received ? XII. What led to the war be- tween England and America ? When \% as the stamp act passed ? When did the colonial Congress assemble ? What important measure did they adopt ? XIII. What act followed the repeal of the stamp act ? What was donu with the tea imported from England? What great 92 OUTLINES OF wars did England carry on in consequence? What was the virtual ending of the American war : XIV. What measures were taken by England to enforce obedience ? When was the first battle fought ? What battle soon followed? When did the American Congress proclaim their independence ? XV. Who was appointed commander-in-chief of the American army ? When did France declare in favor of America ? When did Spain ac- knowledge their independence ? What treaties of peace were made in the year 1783? In 1784? XVI. What dreadful event occurred in France. in 1789? What were the proceedings of the French revolutionists, and into what confederacy did the European powers enter in 1793 ? XVII. What extraordinary man now began to make his name known in Europe ? What were his successes ? What fa- mous mutinies occurred in 1797, and what splendid victories at sea ? XVIII. In what year did Nel- son win the battle of the Nile ? Relate the circumstances of the engagement. How was the gal- lant admiral rewarded ? What were the proceedings of Napo- leon at this juncture ? In what year was he created first consul ? When did he cross the Alps, and what threat victory followed ? XIX. Relate the particulars of the Union. XX. In what year was Co- penhagen bombarded, and with what success ? By whom were the French defeated in Egypt, and what general there met his death ? XXI. In what year did Napo- leon project an invasion of Eng- land ? What steps were taken to prevent it ? When was peace concluded, and how long did it last? XXII. What royal titles were next assumed by Napoleon, and in what great battle did he de- feat the Austrians ? When was the battle of Trafalgar fought ? What was the fate of Nelson ? What statesmen died in the year 1806 ? XXIII. What was the posi- tion of Napoleon at this time ? From what point may his ruin be dated ? XXIV. What steps did he take to put his brother on the throne of Spain ? With what resistance did he meet ? Name the first battle of the great Pen- insular war. XXV. For what victory was Wellesley promoted ? What were the losses at Walcheren ? In what year did Wellington drive the French from Por- tugal ? XXVI. Relate the particu- lars of Napoleon's expedition to Russia in 1812. How many men did he take out, and how many perished in the retreat ? What powers now combined to crush the emperor, and what snecess had they ? XXVII. In what year did Napoleon escape from Elba ? When was fought the battle of Waterloo, and with what result ? What was the end of Napo- leon ? XXVIII. When did the Duke of Kent die ? What rela- tion was lie to Queen Victoria ? When did George III. die, and at what age ? How long had he reigned ? ENGLISH HISTORY. 93 CHAPTER X. THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK, (continued.) Began to reign. Died. George IV a. d. 132Q A.B. 1880. William IV « 1k:jo 1837. Victoria I " 1837 reigning. George IV. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1820. DIED 1830. I. George IV., fourth sovereign of the House of Bruns- wick, succeeded to the throne. As prince regent, during the last ten years of his father's life, when mental and bodily infirmity had rendered that aged monarch incapable of gov- erning, George IV. had virtually been king of England long oefore he wore the crown. He was a man of polished and fascinating manners, but heartless as Charles I., and profligate as Charles II. The first act of his reign was to exclude his wife's name ' from the liturgy of the church, and to seek a divorce by means of accusations against her, which, even though they might be only too true, should never have met the public ear. She came over to England, where her cause was espoused by the populace, and took up her residence at Hammersmith. Although the ministers declined to proceed for a bill of divorce, it was decided by law that she could not claim the honors of coronation, to which, as queen consort, she enjoyed a prescriptive, but not a judicial right. Being, however, ill advised by her supporters, she presented herself at the doors of Westminster Abbey, July 19, 1821, just as the ceremony was about to commence. Her demand for admission was refused, and after a lengthened and undignified altercation, she retired, only to die within a few days, of shame, mortification, and a broken heart. II. In the year 1822, disease, famine, and rebellion spread through Ireland. O'Connell made himself conspic- 1 Caroline of Brunswick. . 8* 94 OUTLINES OF uous among the disaffected ; the cry for Catholic emancipa- tion rose alike from all quarters, from Brow Head in Cork to Fair Head in Antrim ; and a grant of £300,000 was sent over from England to the relief of the distressed peasantry. IH. The prevailing liberality of opinion having extended to the shores of Greece, that oppressed nation now made a desperate effort to throw off the yoke of Turkey. In the year 1824, Lord Byron, accompanied by several Englishmen of talent and position, went over to their assistance ; but the noble poet was not destined to witness the success of the great enterprise which he had embraced. He died at Mis- solonghi, on the 19th April, 1824. The following year was remarkable for a great panic in the money market, and for the failure of many banking houses, joint stock companies, &c. By engaging in such ill-judged speculations, many thou- sands were ruined, and the national misery that ensued was without a parallel since the bursting of the South Sea bubble. IV. The struggle between Greece and Turkey had now, by its long continuance, attracted the attention of Europe, and determined the leading powers to interfere for the protection and liberation of the former. The combined fleets of Eng- land, France, and Russia sailed, accordingly, into the port of Navarino, October 20, 1827 ; blew up, captured, and almost annihilated the Turkish navy, under Ibrahim Pacha ; and con- firmed the independence of the nation which they came to deliver. V. It became daily more and more evident that Ireland would never be otherwise than disaffected and unsettled, so long as the law excluded Iloman Catholics from the just privileges of the king's subjects. At this period, to believe in transubstantiation and the infallibility of the pope, was to be excluded from Parliament, to be denied the possession of arms, to be ineligible for all corporate offices, such as that of mayor, sheriff, Xrc. ; and, in short, to be subject to such a host of indignities as even, at this brief distance of time, we reel almost difficult of belief. In the month of February ENGLISH HISTORY. 95 1829, this important question was brought before the House of Commons, and, in the month of April, was carried by a large majority in the House of Lords, when it became a law, known as the Roman Catholic emancipation act. All sub- jects of Great Britain were henceforth equals throughout the country. VI. In the early part of 1830, the king's health began to decline, and, after a lingering illness of some months, he expired at Windsor on the 20th of June. William IV. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1830. DIED 1837. VH. King William IV., late Duke of Clarence, and brother to George IV., now succeeded to the crown. The year 1832 is famous for the great reform of Parliament, car- ried by the king and the Commons against the strenuous opposition of the Lords. Thereby Parliament was put upon a basis of security, in accordance with the public wish ; many evils were swept away, and a valuable power of further re- form was vested in the nation. The franchise was removed from barely-populated to thickly-inhabited towns, and bri- bery at elections was made punishable. VIII. The year 1834 was signalized by the act by which slavery was abolished throughout the colonies. The sum of £20,000,000 sterling was granted by Parliament for compen- sation to the masters of the liberated slaves ; and on August 1, 1834, no less than 770,280 became free men — a number equal to one third of the population of London. IX. In 1837 the health of William IV. was observed to fail rapidly, and on the 20th of June he died, much regretted, after a brief and prosperous reign, during which he had aided to advance the liberties of his people, and succeeded in at- taching to his memory the respect of posterity. 96 OUTLINES OF Victoria I. BEGAN TO REIGN A. D. 1837. X. In the nineteenth year of her age, when England was at peace with the world, when the legislative meas- ures of the preceding reigns had ceased to provoke hos- tilities, and already begun to manifest their beneficial results, Queen Victoria I. ascended the throne, and her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, immediately departed to take pos- session of the kingdom of Hanover, now severed from the British empire by the operation of the Salic law, which ex- cludes females from the crown. Lower Canada was at this time in a state of actual revolt ; but the rebels, being de- feated, fled to the United States, (Jan., 1838,) and the British Parliament united the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, thereby restoring tranquillity and abolishing party spirit. In this year the queen's coronation took place ; the great Affghanistan war commenced in the East Indian terri- tories, and war with China was declared. XL A society called Chartism was formed in the year 1839, chiefly among the working classes, for the furtherance of a scheme of universal suffrage, which they imagined was to redress all their grievances, and which they proceeded to enforce by assembling in different parts of the country, with guns, pikes, and other weapons. On the 4th of Novem- ber of this year they met, to the number of ten thousand, and, headed by one Frost, made an attack upon Newport, but were defeated and put to flight by a detachment of the forty-fifth regiment, stationed in that town. Three of the leaders were seized and condemned to death ; but the sen- tence was subsequently commuted to transportation for life. Li the early part of the following year, (1840,) her majesty was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. An expedition sent out to China reduced that country to submis- sion. Canton was occupied by English forces, and the em- peror was compelled to pay six millions of dollars for the expenses of the war, before the city was restored to him. ENGLISH HISTORY. 97 XII. In the mean time, the Anglo-Indian army achieved some success at Candahar and Cabul, but, in the year 1842, met with serious reverses. An insurrection broke out at Ca- bul, the British envoy was assassinated, their army almost cut to pieces, and the melancholy remnant obliged to retreat before the enemy. Lord Ellenborough was then sent out as Governor General ; two armies were despatched against the Affghan forces ; the fortifications of Cabul were destroyed, the Affghans conquered, and the national honor retrieved. China having broken faith with England, a small fleet, com- manded by Admiral Parker, won a series of brilliant victo- ries, took seven of their great commercial cities, exacted a compensatory tribute of 21,000,000 dollars, and took perma- nent possession of the valuable Island of Hong Kong. XIII. In the year 1844 began a brief but sanguinary war- fare between the government and the Sikh tribes of India. Five great battles were fought, many thousands of lives were sacrificed, and the victories were purchased by sad losses. Peace was concluded with the Sikhs in February, 1846. Just one year previously (1845) the com laws were repealed, and the people received the blessing of cheap bread. XIV. It need scarcely be said that the year 1851 is fa- mous for the peace of all nations, and for the opening of the Industrial Exhibition called the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park. This superb building consisted entirely of glass and iron, cov- ered nineteen acres of ground, contained one million square feet of flooring, and was erected at a cost of £79,800. The roof alone comprised seventeen acres of glass, and more than four thousand tons of iron were used in the structure. Here were assembled the wealth, ingenuity, and industry of the world, from the rude implements of warfare wielded by the native of the Pacific Islands to the thrice refined luxuries of European civilization. Here might be seen at one time travellers from the most opposite hemispheres, who, with the people of England, were alike employed in the study of the useful and the beautiful. Towards the close of the year the 98 OUTLINES OP materials of this building were sold for £70,000 to the new Crystal Palace Company, by whom the present gigantic exhi- bition was erected at Sydenham, in Surrey. It is designed as a place of permanent recreation for the citizens of Lon- don, and not only far exceeds the former palace in size and beauty, but is surrounded by gardens and promenades, and contains the finest fountains in England. In this year, also, the communication by means of electric telegraph was per- fected between England and France. XV. On the 14th September, 1852, died suddenly, at Wal- mer Castle, Arthur, Duke of Wellington, the great general who never was defeated in a battle, and whose memory is forever famous as the conqueror of Napoleon. He was buried with great pomp in St. Paul's Cathedral, November 18, 1852. XVI. The year 1854 is among the most memorable which we have had to record since the conquest of England by the Romans. For nearly twenty years England had been at peace with Europe. The heroes of the Peninsula belonged to a fast-ebbing generation, and such as yet survived were old men, decorated by honorable medals. Com had been reaped upon the field of Waterloo ; Napoleon and Wellington wort' both gone, and their ashes rested in Paris and in London. All was long past, and " on earth peace and good will towards men " seemed to have become an abiding blessing. But in the midst of tranquillity came injustice and strife. The Emperor Nicholas of Russia, whose territories are equal in size to all the rest of Europe put together, claimed power over two thirds of the population of Turkey, under the pre- text that all Greeks were of the same religion as himself, and that therefore all Greeks born in the sultan's domin- ions should acknowledge him as their protector and the head of their church. In the mean time he seized on Moldavia and Wallachia as hostages for the sultan's consent — two provinces which, together, comprise a larger extent of coun- try than England and Wales, and which contain about one million four hundred and fifty thousand souls. To this de- ENGLISH HISTORY. 99 mand the sultan sent a spirited defiance, and after three or four brilliant actions, Omar Pacha, the Turkish general, suc- ceeded in driving the Russians back from Wallachia and Mol- davia. England and France now thought it time to inter- fere, and being roused to just indignation by the affair of Sinope, in which five thousand Turks, resolved to dispute the aggressions of Nicholas, were massacred by a Russian fleet, war was declared towards the end of March, 1854. England and France allied their fleets and armies in the cause, and from England to Malta, from Malta to Gallipoli, the English sent ships and soldiers to the relief of the Ottoman empire. XVLL The first blow of the late war was struck in the Black Sea, March 22, 1854. Admirals Dundas and Hame- lin approached Odessa, a great commercial port of the Eux- ine, and upon the refusal of the governor to give up all ships lying in the harbor, a vigorous bombardment from both fleets ensued. After a time two powder magazines exploded, the fortifications were destroyed, thirteen ships laden with munitions of war were captured, and the allies drew off in triumph, with a loss of only five men. XVLTI. The armies now encamped at Varna and in the unhealthy valleys adjacent, where the cholera broke out and committed fearful ravages among the brave men. The English army alone lost between seven hundred and eight hundred. In the mean time the Russian forces had laid siege to Silistria, a garrison manned by eight thousand Turks, and situated on the south bank of the Danube. For more than two months the soldiers of the Emperor Nicholas lay behind their earthworks in front of this fortress, mining, cannonading, and assaulting the defenders, and still were constantly repulsed. At length, on the 28th June, a last and grand assault was led up by Prince Paskiewitch, Count Orloff, and General Gortschakoff. The Turks triumphantly repulsed them. Orloff was killed ; the other leaders seriously wound- ed ; the troops fled in confusion across the river, and the 100 OUTLINES OF siege was raised. More than thirty thousand Russians per- ished in this enterprise. XIX. The allies next determined on an invasion of the Crimea, a peninsula which was the very stronghold of the Russian power in the Black Sea, and defended by the strong- est and most richly stored arsenal in the world. On the 7th September, 1854, the great fleet, nearly four hundred vessels, set sail from Varna, and on the 14th instant the army was landed about eight miles from Eupatoria. On the 20th the allies attacked the enemy, then drawn up in great strength among their batteries and entrenchments along the steep banks of the little River Alma. The Russians num- bered fifty-four thousand men, the allies about fifty thousand. The French commenced the attack, and being followed up by the English, drove the Russians from their admirable po- sition, pursued them down the hill, and after a contest of only three hours, achieved one of the noblest victories in the annals of Britain's wars. The allies lost six hundred and nine men, and twenty-six hundred and ninety-nine were wounded. The Russian loss was stated to be seventeen hundred and sixty-two killed and twenty-seven hundred and twenty wounded ; but it is likely that their disasters were more serious still. On the 23d the allies marched southwards, and on Monday the 25th arrived before the fishing port of Balaklava, which, after a faint show of resistance, surrendered unconditionally. The brave little garrison were sent as pris- oners to Constantinople, and the army took up its quarters in the deserted lanes and hovels of the town. XX. From this time the engineers and soldiers were actively employed in making intrenchments and earthworks before Sebastopol. Here they mounted guns, and every day crept nearer and nearer the forts of the enemy. Continual efforts to harass the working parties in the trenches, to sur- prise them in their lines at night, to pour out suddenly by day, and to bombard them fiercely from their innumerable forts, were made by the Russians, and still the allies kept building ENGLISH HISTORY. 101 up their batteries, till they got near enough to fire upon them in their turn. On the 17th October the guns of the allied army opened on Scbas'opol, and the siege began. XXI. The Russians, who had several times made their appearance as if to offer battle, and as frequently retreated, at length came out in great force, (October 25, 1854,) and drove the Turks, like sheep, from their batteries round the valley of Balaklava. The English were immediately apprised of this imminent danger ; the Highlanders repulsed the mount- ed Russians with astonishing coohiess and skill ; the English dragoons met theirs at full gallop, and after a desperate hand- to-hand conflict, put them utterly to flight ; the English light brigade, by a fatal mistake of the order given, was cut to pieces while performing incredible feats of valor, and amid glo- ry, and carnage, and defeat, — which could scarcely be called defeat when so bravely contested, — this battle of Balaklava ended. The Russians had gained the advantage. They had dismantled the forts, nearly destroyed their light cavalry, and gained the main road from Balaklava to Sebastopol. The allies had lost ten officers, and one hundred and forty- seven men. Still the name of Balaklava is as glorious as that of many victories. XXII. It was about this time that Miss Nightingale, the heroine of the war, set sail from England, accompanied by a body of nurses, for the humane object of attending to the suffering soldiers. Immense assistance of clothes, wine, and other necessaries was sent out by the Times' fund, and a considerable improvement in the hospital, laundry, and med- ical departments followed. XXIII. The morning of the 5th of November was gray and drizzly, when the Russians attacked the position of the besiegers near the bridge of the Tchernaya at Inkermann. Crossing the bridge unseen, they advanced in enormous bodies upon the advanced pickets, which were forced slowly to retreat. The firing aroused the other divisions of the army from sleep ; but before they could arrive, the Russians 9 102 OUTLINES OF had once seized, once been expelled, and once more forced the works, pursuing the brave soldiers towards their camp. By this time the generals had reached the scene ; the Guards, the infantry regiments, and the sixty thousand Russians were soon fighting desperately in innumerable groups, as if twenty battles were going on at once ; for long hours the frightful contest lasted, and the English heroes were gradually giving ground to the foe, when the French, who had been drawn off to the defence of Balaklava, came up at full speed. Eng- lish and French together charged upon the enemy, and at the point of the bayonet, drove them down the hill. The French batteries opened an irresistible fire on the retreat- ing masses, and the battle of Inkermann, after a strug- gle of twelve hours, was won. Eight thousand English and six thousand French had defeated fifty thousand Russians, with a loss of four hundred and sixty-two killed and nine- teen hundred and fifty-two wounded. XXIV. On the 2d March, 1855, died Nicholas, Emperor of all the Russias. This great event made no change, how- ever, in the affairs of the war, which his son and successor pledged himself to continue. About this time an electric telegraph was established at the Crimea, as well as a railway for the conveyance of stores, &c, from Balaklava to the camp. Reinforcements, too, were forwarded to the seat of war, and before May had arrived, the sickness had disap- peared, the men were well provided with necessaries, and not less than one hundred and fifty thousand of the best soldiers in the world were again bombarding Sebastopol. XXV. On the 18th of June, after many varying sorties and assaults, the French and English generals determined on an attack of the Malakhoff and Redan towers — an enterprise which disastrously failed, and ended with a loss of more than five hundred killed and two thousand wounded. On the 28th inst., Lord Raglan, after some days of illness, died, universally regretted throughout the army, and was succeed- ed in Ins command by General Simpson. ENGLISH HISTORY. 103 XXVI. The English works approached nearer every day to the walls of Sebastopol. Fifteen thousand well-disci- piined soldiers from the little kingdom of Sardinia arrived to the assistance of the allies, under the command of Gen- eral de la Marmora, and were encamped with the English cavalry in the valley of the Tchernaya. Here, on the 16th of August, they were attacked by the enemy in great force ; large bodies of men crossed the river, and, fancying they were to have an easy conquest, advanced up the hill to the French centre. Down came the French, literally hurling them back by the force of their charge. Hundreds of the enemy were crushed, rolled into the water, and put to flight ; and. as they rushed confusedly back across the river, the Sardinian batteries mowed, them down like grass. In this decisive battle the Russians left three thousand dead on the field, and four hundred were taken prisoners. XXVII. On Wednesday, September 5, the final bom- bardment of Sebastopol began. The first day's work was tremendous, and many fires were observed within the walls both on Thursday and Friday. Towards the afternoon of the latter a Russian powder magazine blew up, which must have done the besiegers appalling service. Thus it went on, and a thousand a day were killed or disabled by the balls and shells of the besiegers. No garrison could long withstand so deadly an attack. On Saturday, the 8th, the allied armies combined in a gigantic assault, which at the very commence- ment was signalized by the gallantry with which the French troops took the Malakhoff bastion, and planted the tricolor in view of Sebastopol. The English now attacked the Re- dan, but were repulsed ; and the Little Redan withstood the attack of the French. The French likewise attacked the cen- tral bastion, but were defeated and forced to retreat. General Pelissier was now established in the Malakhoff; and Prince GortschakofF, aware that this success insured the capture of the town, resolved to leave it. That night, favored by the darkness, he withdrew his troops across the river in fine order, 104 OUTLINES OF by means of a bridge of rafts ; the inhabitants of the town were removed in boats and steamers ; the retreat was guarded by General Schepeleff, who prevented the French from advanc- ing into the town ; and then, as the last of the Russians withdrew, the bridge was destroyed and the buildings of Sebas- topol set on fire, in order that notliing might be left to the conquerors save such ruin, and flame, and desolation as met Napoleon and his army in the streets of Moscow. One by one, forts, batteries, and sailing vessels in the harbor blew up with loud explosions, or sent forth vivid flames. Next morn- ing the victors entered the town. Churches and palaces, all blackened and ruined, stood around, and were visited with eager curiosity. A few days later, and the allied armies oc- cupied Sebastopol, after a siege of nearly twelve months, after four bombardments and three great battles, after a loss of nearly twenty-seven hundred in the last attack, and a total loss on all sides, — English, French, and Russian, — both within and without the walls of Sebastopol, of something like one hundred thousand men. XXVIII. On the 10th of November, 1855, General Simpson resigned the command of the British army in the Crimea, and was succeeded by Sir William Codrington. On the 17th of October, the allied fleet captured the forts at Kinburn, at the mouth of the Dnieper, having a garrison of 1400 men under General Kokonovitch. Kara, in Armenia, an important stronghold defended by 28,000 Turkish soldiers, having been completely blockaded from the middle of July by the Russian General Muraviefi* with 35,000 men, surrendered on the 29th of November, under the pressure of famine. In the preceding Sep- tember, a desperate attack on this place, by the Russians, was bravely repulsed, the assailants leaving 5000 dead on the field. The loss of the Turks was about 1000 dead and wounded. In December, Austria sent proposals of peace, which had been sanctioned by the allies, to St. Petersburg. These proposals were accepted by the Em- ENGLISH HISTORY. 105 peror of Russia as a basis of negotiations, and on the 26th of February, 1856, plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers assembled at Paris in conference. A treaty of peace was signed on the 30th of March, by which the ter- ritorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire was guaranteed, the Black Sea opened to the commerce of every nation, and the freedom of the navigation of the Danube secured. XXIX. On the 8th of October, 1856, the Chinese au- thorities at Canton seized the crew of a small trading vessel, owned and manned by Chinese, but under the pro- tection of the British flag, which seizure led to hostil- ities. France immediately took sides with Great Britain, and on the 29th of December, 1857, the city of Canton was captured by the French and English forces. The allied squadron then advanced up the Pei-ho River to the city of Tien-tsin, at which place a treaty of peace was signed on the 26th of June, 1858. In June, 1859, the French and English forces accompanying the French and English ambassadors who had been appointed to obtain the ratification of the treaty with China, were obstructed in their passage up the Pei-ho, on their way to Pekin, and on attempting to proceed by force, they were repulsed with the loss of several hundred men. An expedition was im- mediately fitted out by France and England to avenge this insult. The first engagement of importance was the capture of the Taku forts, containing about four hundred guns, at the mouth of the Pei-ho, on the 21st of August, 1860, after a determined resistance by the Chinese. The allied forces then occupied Tien-tsin, and advanced upon Pekin, which was surrendered on the 12th of October, under the fear of bombardment. The summer palace of the emperor, which contained all the luxuries that Chinese art and wealth could furnish, was plundered and totally destroyed. On the 24th of October, 1860, peace was con- cluded, and the Chinese were compelled to pay a large indemnity to France and England, to tolerate Christianity 106 OUTLINES OF in the empire, and to concede important commercial priv- ileges. A war with Persia also began in 1856, by a quarrel with the English minister at Teheran, and terminated March 4, 1857, alter repeated victories of the English troops in the south of Persia, under the command of Generals Outram and Havelock. A new treaty was also obtained in 1858 from the Tycoon (Emperor) of Japan, by which several of its jealously-closed ports were thrown open to English commerce. XXX. The year 1857 was sadly distinguished by the mutiny of the native army of Bengal. At this time, the Bengal army consisted of nearly 120,000 native or Sepoy troops, and about 22,000 European troops. A new kind of rifle, called the Enfield rifle, was introduced, at the beginning of the year, for the use of the army, and the cartridges to be used with the rifles were made up with greased paper. A report spread among the Sepoys that the paper was greased with a mixture of cow and pork fat, a composition which would, as the cartridges in loading had to be torn with the teeth, cause them to lose caste ; for the Hindoo regards the cow with religious ven- eration, and the Mohammedan looks upon the hog with abhorrence. Other causes undoubtedly aided to bring about this revolt. During the first four months of the year, ill-feeling and insubordination were manifested by single regiments at different stations, and on the 10th of May a formidable rising took place at Meerut, thirty-eight miles north-east of Delhi. The mutineers, after murdering many European officers, together with women and chil- dren, marched to Delhi, where they were joined by the native regiments there, and the massacre of the European residents began. Men, women, and children were bru- tally cut to pieces. Similar shocking massacres were committed at Cawnpore and at other places. Soon a great army of rebels flocked from all quarters to Delhi, the ancient capital of the Mogul emperors. ImmediateJy ENGLISH HISTORY. 107 the flames of insurrection leaped from post to post throughout the length and breadth of Bengal, and by the end of December seventy-six regiments of Sepoys had mutinied, and twenty-seven had been disarmed or dis- banded. The first movements of the English were against Delhi, the focus of insurrection, which was stormed on the 14th of September, 1857, after a siege of three months, conducted successively by Generals Barnard, Reed, and Wilson. The heroic defence of the Res- idency at Lucknow is known wherever the English lan- guage is read. In this stronghold a small garrison, encumbered with helpless women and children, kept at bay, for nearly three months, the swarming thousands of ferocious rebels who thirsted for their blood. A small relieving force, under the gallant Generals Havelock and Outram, forced its way into the Residency on the 25th of September, 1857, and on the 17th of November, Sir Colin Campbell, the commander-in-chief, after heroic fighting, reached the garrison with sufficient force to ena- ble it to remove in safety. Meanwhile reinforcements were pouring into Calcutta. From the' 1st of July to the end of September, more than 30,000 troops had left Eng- land for the East. On December 6, Sir Colin Campbell defeated the Nena Sahib with 25,000 rebels at Cawnpore, and after severe fighting he gradually conquered Lucknow in Mareh, 1858. The last desperate stand of the mutiny was made at Gwalior, which was taken by Sir Hugh Rose, June 20, and in the course of the spring and summer of 1859, the whole population was disarmed. One important result of this mutiny has been the transfer of the govern- ment of India from the East India Company to the crown. In 1877 Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. XXXI. In 1856 it was determined to carry a cable across the Atlantic, between Ireland and America. In 1857, the enormous wire having been prepared, the British ship Agamemnon and the American ship Niagara started from Valentia, on the Irish coast, to lay it along the bed of 108 OUTLINES OF the Atlantic; but after 300 miles had been laid the wire broke, and the ships returned to England. Again, in 1858, the same ships started and were successful in carrying the wire to America. Messages of congratulation passed be- tween the Queen of England and the President of the United States. But soon, even with the most powerful batteries, the signals became weaker, and finally ceased. For a few years the attempt was not renewed; but in 18G5 the Great Eastern, an immense steamship, started with a cable of improved construction ; but this also parted, after being laid almost 1200 miles. In 1866 another attempt was made, which proved a complete success. On the return voyage, the end of the cable lost in 1865, was picked up and spliced, by which means another line was laid across the Atlantic. Since that time cables have been laid across the Persian Gulf, which, with the lines between England, Denmark, Suez, and the Red Sea, have brought America, England, and India within a short distance of each other, so far as com- munication is concerned. XXXII. In 1858 Jews were admitted to Parliament. On the 28th December, 1859, died Baron Thomas Babing- ton Macaulay, the brilliant historian and essayist. On the 9th of July, 1860, the Prince of Wales left England on a visit to the British North American Provinces and the United States. He was received with great enthusiasm in the various large cities which he visited. He returned to England in November of the same year. In 1861 the popu- lation of the United Kingdom was more than twenty-nine million persons. On the 1st of May, 1862, another great and successful international exhibition was opened at Lon- don. The building erected for this purpose was of brick, glass, and iron; considerably larger and of a more perma- nent character than the famous Crystal Palace of 1851. XXXIII. Various domestic events in the Royal Family must now be chronicled. The first of them is the marriage of the Queen's eldest daughter, the Princess Royal, to Fred- erick William, Crown Prince of Prussia, in 185S. The next event is a very sad one. On the 14th of December, 1861, to ENGLISH HISTORY. 109 the inexpressible grief of the British nation, died Albert, Prince Consort, the beloved husband of Queen Victoria. His Royal Highness was ill for only a few days. He had so endeared himself to the English people by his kindly dis- position and his many virtues, that his death was universally felt as a severe national loss. Many statues have been erected to his memory. The Princess Alice Maud Mary, the Queen's second daughter, was married to Prince Louis of Hesse Darmstadt in 1862. Another event of national importance was the marriage of the Prince of Wales in 1863, to the Princess Alexandra, daughter of the King of Denmark. The bride was everywhere welcomed with great rejoicings. This union has been blessed by the birth of several children. The third daughter of the Queen has married Prince Chris- tian of Schleswick Holstein. XXXIV. In 1859, there were rumors of a French invasion of England in consequence of alleged encouragement to con- spirators and assassins, who plotted against the life of the emperor. Accordingly the War Office issued a notice sanc- tioning the formation of various corps of volunteers, under the provisions of an Act passed in the reign of George III. The movement spread rapidly. "Defence, not defiance," was its motto. It received encouragement in high quarters, and quickly became a national institution. The Queen and Prince Albert held a grand review of volunteers in Hyde Park, and soon after in Scotland. The force finally num- bered nearly 200,000 men. The success in raising such an army of citizen soldiers, with the zeal and spirit of the men, and the small cost to the country, was regarded with a sat- isfaction which can hardly be overstated. There seems, however, to have been little danger of an invasion. Emperor Napoleon III. evidently wished the continuance of friendly relations with England. Accordingly, he received at the Tuileries Mr. Cobden, the great freetrader, who was sent to him as Plenipotentiary, to negotiate a commercial treaty between the two countries. A great many articles, which until then had been subject to export and import duties, were now to be exchanged, free, between France and Great 110 OUTLINES OF Britain. This treaty has naturally had the effect of cheap- ening French articles in England, and English articles in France ; and of largely extending the commercial relations of the two countries. XXXV. In 1861 a great civil war broke out in the United States of America, chiefly on account of the existence of slavery in the Southern States. It lasted until 1805, when it was brought to a close by the surrender of General Lee, the greatest of the Southern leaders. The North triumphed completely. This war caused much anxiety and distress in England. Lancashire suffered greatly ; for the chief indus- try of the province was connected with the cotton manufac- ture ; and for nearly four years the supply of cotton from the Southern States was almost entirely suspended, in con- sequence of the stringent blockade of their ports by the ironclads of the North. Thus many thousands of people, employed in the manufactories, were thrown out of work and reduced to destitution. Great and munificent exertions were made for the relief of the operatives, whose sufferings were felt to be due to national causes. Relief committees were organized, and immense sums of money collected. The conduct of the operatives was in general very good ; they bore their trials with exemplary patience, and were intelligent enough to understand that it was requisite the Government should, at all hazards, keep aloof from the strife. Great, however, was the rejoicing when, the war being at length over, the first crop of cotton Mas landed at Liverpool, and the "cotton famine" was at an end. XXXVI. In 1865 there occurred a formidable revolt of the negroes in Jamaica. George William Gordon, a colored member of the House of Assembly, appears to have been the chief instigator, and there is no doubt that it was the intention of the insurgents to massacre the whole white population. Governor Eyre, a gentleman already distin- guished as an Australian explorer, acted with groat prompti- tude and decision in the crisis, and is thought by many to have saved the colony by his determined measures. But undue severity and even cruelty was exercised by some sub- ENGLISH HISTORY. Ill ordinate officers placed in temporary command. Women were cruelly flogged, and in certain instances men were flogged before being hanged — an inhumanity nothing can justify. Complaints were also made that Gordon was taken out of legal custody, tried by court-martial, and hanged on insufficient evidence. A commission of inquiry was accord- ingly sent out to Jamaica; Governor Eyre was deprived of his office, and some time after his return to England was indicted by an association called the Jamaica Committee, for alleged crimes and misdemeanors in Jamaica. But the general feeling of the country was with him, as a public ser- vant who had done his duty, and was suffering persecution. Though the Jamaica Committee succeeded in getting him committed for trial, he was in the end acquitted by a British jury; and the decision gave almost universal satisfaction. Another important event of the year 18G5, was the death of the venerable Prime Minister of England, Yiscount Pal- merston, at the age of eighty-one. This veteran statesman had served his country in Parliament for a period of fifty- nine years, having entered the House in 1806. As Minister for Foreign Affairs he had made himself famous for uphold- ing the honor of England abroad, and maintaining the rights of British citizens all over the world. He was twice Prime Minister of England ; and no man was more generally and deservedly popular. XXXVII. For many years there had been a growing impression in the minds of the English people that a new Reform Bill was necessary, to alter the representation of the people. It was obvious that in some boroughs the mem- ber was elected not by the voice of the people, but at the dictation of a great landed proprietor, who was the master of the "pocket borough," and nominated whom he would to represent it in Parliament. Some small and unimportant towns, also, returned two members to Parliament, while great manufacturing towns and large districts of the me- tropolis had no representative at all. It was felt also that many persons who ought to possess the franchise, or right of voting, were excluded from that privilege by existing 112 OUTLINES OP regulations ; and thus, as the clamor for Reform increased, these three points — namely, extinction of pocket boroughs, redistribution of seats, and extension of the franchise — came prominently forward. Foregoing Ministries had at various times brought in Reform Bills: more than one had been proposed by Lord John (afterwards Earl) Russell, one by Disraeli in 1859, and another in 1860 ; but all these pro- posals were rejected. Mr. Gladstone at length, in 1866, brought forward a measure which it was supposed would be accepted; but this too was thrown out, almost at the last moment; whereupon the Government resigned. The Con- servatives, under the leadership of Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli, then came into power, and under much pressure from the Opposition proposed a Bill of their own. After much discussion, the new Reform Bill passed through both Houses, and received the Royal Assent in August, 1867. It made greater changes in the representation and gave greater privileges to the people than had been contem- plated in the Bill introduced by Mr. Gladstone and thrown out by the Conservative opposition. XXXVIII. The Abyssinian war will long be remem- bered as an expedition carried out with great energy in the face of considerable difficulties. It arose out of the following circumstances. Theodore, King of Abyssinia, a violent and passionate but a naturally intelligent man, who ruled the half-savage tribes under his dominion with a despotic sway, for some years detained various British and German subjects as prisoners. King Theodore several times promised to give up his prisoners, and each time broke his word. At last his conduct became so outrageous, that it was determined to send a regular army to Abyssinia, and rescue the captives by force. An expedition was despatched from Bombay to Abyssinia, under the command of Sir Robert Napier. In spite of the tremendous difficulties of advancing in a barren and precipitous country, the troops made their way into the interior, to the astonishment of Theodore, who had consid- ered himself quite safe from invasion. To the last he be- lieved himself able to vanquish the English; but after being ENGLISH HISTORY. 113 defeated in a battle, he offered to give up the prisoners. Sir Robert Napier declared that the King must put himself into the hands of the British as a prisoner, promising him pro- tection and good treatment. Hereupon he sent back the prisoners, but refused to surrender himself. On the next day, April 13, 18G8, Magdala, Theodore's fortress, was stormed. The King was either killed at the head of his troops, or committed suicide in his despair. Magdala was razed to the ground, and the expedition, having fulfilled its mission, at once departed from Abyssinia. The thanks of Parliament were voted to the officers and troops engaged in this enterprise, and Sir Robert Napier was raised to the peerage as Lord Napier of Magdala. This war, though short and seemingly insignificant, cost the country an im- mense sum of money. It was, however, considered neces- sary to show to eastern nations that British subjects could not be ill-treated and kept in captivity without exposing the offenders to the vengeance of Great Britain. XXXIX. At this period an organization in Ireland, called Fenians, became a source of much anxiety and perplexity in England. That there were real and legitimate causes of dis- content in Ireland, has been allowed by all parties. The measure carried by Mr. Gladstone's government "for the better regulation of the holding of land in Ireland," wa§ an admission that such causes existed. It did not, however, produce the "pacification of Ireland." Neither did the Fenians succeed to the extent of their wishes, whatever may have been their influence in producing recent events. XL. After the retirement of the Earl of Derby, the great leader of the Conservative party, Mr. Disraeli, became Prime Minister for a time; but being defeated in the House of Commons on several questions of great importance, he and his colleagues resigned their offices at the end of 1868, and Mr. Gladstone, the great Liberal leader, became Premier. Lord Derby died in 1869, universally regretted, and respected alike by his own party and by his political opponents. His career had been a very distinguished one. He had three times been Prime Minister, had been installed Chancellor of 114 OUTLINES OF Oxford University, and during the long period in which he served his country in Parliament, introduced several very useful measures. At the time of the cotton famine in Lan- cashire, he not only subscribed munificently to the relief fund, but labored strenuously to induce others to follow his example. At one meeting at which he presided, £70,000 was subscribed. XLI. Among the most arduous of the undertakings to which Mr. Gladstone devoted himself, on becoming Prime Minister, was the Disestablishment of the Irish Church. Great discontent had been excited in Ireland by the fact that, while the great majority of the inhabitants were llo- man Catholics, the English Church held supremacy, and received a great income, drawn in part from the necessitous classes, who were not Protestants. The proposal to alter this state of things by disestablishing the English Church in Ireland, met with a storm of opposition, which at one time threatened to put an end to the Gladstone Ministry. But at length, the opponents to the measure being conciliated by judicious concessions, the measure became law. Ample compensation was made to those whose interests were affected by the bill, and it was felt that one of the great causes of Irish discontent was removed. XLII. A not less important step for the pacification of Ireland was the measure carried by Mr. Gladstone's Govern- ment for the better regulation of the holding of land in Ireland. It was felt to be a grievance that, while in England and Scotland the tenant is protected by law in the enjoyment of any improvements he has made on his farm, in Ireland he could be turned out at a very short notice, and thus be made to lose the fruit of his labor. To regulate the length of leases equitably for both landlord and tenant, and to procure compensation for the tenant for the improvements he has made in his farm, were the chief objects of this great measure. ENGLISH HISTORY. 115 XLIII. During the period embraced in this chapter im- portant changes have been made in many of the British Colonies. To the Province of Canada (under which title Upper and Lower Canada had been united, in 1840) were added in 1867, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, forming one Dominion under the name of Canada. The Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were restored under the names of Ontario and Quebec. A constitution was given them, and the government is carried on in the Queen's name by a Governor-General and two Houses of Parliament. Since then, an outlying district has been formed into a new province, under the name of Manitoba. British Columbia and Prince Edward Island have been added to the Dominion of Canada. Great changes have also taken place in the Australian Colonies, in the Fiji Islands, and in South Africa. XLIV. Among the eminent men whose death the nation has had to deplore during the last ten years may be enumer- ated, besides those already mentioned, the Earl of Elgin, statesman and Governor-General of India; Lord Herbert of Lea, famous as Sidney Herbert, a patriotic, benevolent, and able statesman; Lord Brougham, the veteran Chancellor, who died at the age of ninety years; Dickens and Thacke- ray, celebrated authors; Clarkson Stanfield and Daniel Mac- lise, painters; Dean Milman and Canon Dale, clergymen. QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER X. I. For how long had George known character made himself IV. held the reins of power conspicuous ? What sum was before he ascended the throne ? granted for the relief of the What was the first act of his Irish ? reign ? By whom was the III. In what year did Greece queen's cause favored ? On endeavor to throw otf the Turk- what occasion did she go to ish yoke ? What great poet Westminster Abbey, and what went to their assistance, and followed? what was his fate ? What panic II. What disaster happened took place in the following year ? in Ireland in 1822 ? What well- IV. At what determination 116 OUTLINES OF did the European powers arrive, and who were the allies ? When was the battle of Navarino fought, and with what result? v. What were the penalties to which Roman Catholics were subject at this time ? When was the Roman Catholic eman- cipation act passed ? VI. When did George IV. die ? Who succeeded him ? VII. For what great measure is the year 1832 famous ? What was the nature of the reform ? VIII. In what year was slav- ery abolished ? What sum was paid to the slave owners, and how many men were set free ? IX. When did William IV. die? X. What was the age of Queen Victoria when she suc- ceeded to the throne, and in what condition was the British empire ? Why did the Duke of Cumberland become King of Hanover ? What was the state of Canada, and what measures were taken by Parliament to tranquillize that colony ? What ceremony took place in the year 1838, and what great wars were entered upon ? XL What was Chartism, and what excesses did the Chartists commit? In what year did the queen marry ? What was the result of the war in China ? XII. How did the Indian war progress in the meantime ? How did Lord Ellen borough retrieve the national honor? Relate the events in China. XIII. In what year did the Sikh war begin ? How many battles were fought with these tribes, and with what success ? When was peace concluded? When were the corn laws re- pealed ? XIV. For what event is 1851 celebrated ? Repeat the statis- tics of the ( lystal Palace. What became of the materials ? What great vehicle of commu- nication was this year estab- lished between England and France ? XV. When did the Duke of Wellington die ? When and where was he buried ? XVI. For how long had Eng- land now been at peace with Europe ? What claims of the Emperor Nicholas provoked the late war ? What provinces did he seize ? What was the con- duct of the sultan ? By what massacre were England and France roused to indignation ? When was war declared, and what followed ? XVII. When was the first blow struck ? Describe the af- fair of Odessa. XVIII. Where did the ar- mies encamp ? How many died of cholera in the English army ? Where is Silistria? How long did the Russians besiege it ? How did the siege terminate, and what were the numbers on each side ? XIX. What place did the allies invade, and when did they arrive there ? When did the battle of the Alma take place ? What were the numbers on each side ? Relate the order of the battle. What were the 1 the allies and Russians ? To what place did the array next proceed ? XX. What preparations were now made before Sebastopol ? When did the siege begin ? XXI. When was the battle of Balaklava fought? What was the result ? What were the English losses ? XXII. What noble lady now left England, and by whom was she accompanied ? * What as- ENGLISH HISTORY. 117 sistancc was sent out through the Times' subscription ? XXIII. On what clay was the battle of Inkermann fought? How did the Russians advance ? What was the appearance of the battle ? How were the Eng- lish relieved ? What was the end of the contest ? How long had it lasted, and what were the numbers on each side ? XXIV. When did the Em- peror Nicholas die ? What effect had his death upon the war ? What useful works were estab- lished at the Crimea ? What was the strength and state of the armies at this time ? XXV. Relate the events of the 18th of June. When did Lord Raglan die ? Who suc- ceeded him in the command ? XXVI. How many men were sent from Sardinia ? When did the battle of the Tchernaya take place ? How did it end ? How many Russians were killed and taken ? XXVII. When did the final bombardment begin ? How many were killed daily by the missiles of the allies in Sebas- topol ? When was this great attack made ? What army took the Malakhoff? What success had the English ? What French general was established in the Malakhoff? What was the course pursued by the Russian commander ? By whom was the retreat guarded, and in what state did the Russians "leave Sebastopol ? How long had the siege occupied ? How many bombardments and battles had there been ? How many were lost in the last attack ? How many had fallen altogether, both within and without the walls, during this siege ? XXVIII. Who succeeded General Simpson in command of the British army in the Cri- mea ? What forts were captured by the allied fleet ? Where is Kinburn? What stronghold was conquered by the Russians ? What country acted as medi- ator ? Where and when was the peace conference held ? When was the treaty signed ? What were the principal terms of the treaty ? XXIX. What was the cause of the war with China? Who aided the English ? What city was first captured from the Chi- nese ? When and at what city was a treaty of peace signed ? Where is Tien-tsin ? What occasioned a continuation of hostilities ? What did the French and English then do ? Where was the first important engagement ? What was the result ? When did Pekin sur- render ? What about the em- peror's summer palace ? When was peace concluded, and on what terms ? What is said con- cerning the war with Persia ? What treaty was made in 1858 with the Tycoon of Japan ? XXX. For what was the year 1857 distinguished ? What'was the number of the Sepoy and of the European troops at this time ? What was the cause of the mutiny ? Where did the first formidable rising take place ? What then happened ? What was the extent of the mutiny ? What were the first move- ments of the English ? When and by whom was Delhi taken ? What is said about the de- fence of the Residency at Luck- now ? Who was the com- mander-in-chief at this time ? How many troops were sent from England between the 1st of July and the end of Septem- ber ? Who was defeated at Cawnpore ? Where was the last 118 OUTLINES OF stand made ? What result of this mutiny i9 mentioned ? When was Queen Victoria made Empress of India ? XXXI. In what year was the laying of an ocean cable to America first attempted ? In what two ships was the cable carried out ? What length of cable was laid at the first at- tempt ? Give the circumstances of the second attempt. When was the endeavor renewed, and in what year was it finally suc- cessful ? Mention some other important cables that have been since laid. XXXII. When were Jews admitted to Parliament ? When did Macaulay die ? When did the Prince of Wales visit the British North American Prov- inces and the United States ? What is said about him ? What was the population of the United Kingdom in 1861 ? What is said about the international exhibition ? XXXIII. When, and to whom, was the Princess Royal married ? Give the dates of the Prince Consort's death, of the marriage of the Princess Alice, and of the Prince of Wales. XXXIV. In what year were there rumors of a French inva- sion ? What notice Avas issued by the War Office ? What was the motto of the Volunteers ? How large a force did they num- ber ? Does there seem to have been danger of an invasion ? When and by whom was a com- mercial treaty negotiated ? What have been its effects ? XXXV. When did the Amer- ican Civil War begin ? How had it an effect in producing distress in Lancashire ? What steps were taken to alleviate the distress of the Lancashire oper- atives ? How did the operatives behave under these trying cir- cumstances ? XXXVI. Give the date of the outbreak in Jamaica. Who is considered as its chief insti- gator ? What was the supposed design of the black population ? For what was Governor Eyre censured ? What steps were taken against him bv the Ja- maica Committee, and what was the result ? In what year did Lord Palmerston die ? What was his age ? In what year had he first entered Parliament ? What qualities of a statesman did he possess ? What espe- cially endeared him to the peo- ple ?' XXXVII. What great ques- tion was taken up directly after Lord Palmerston s death ? In what way was the representation of the people considered defec- tive ? What is meant by the term "pocket" boroughs? In what years, and by whom, had former Reform Bills been intro- duced since 1832 ? In what year did Mr. Gladstone introduce his bill ? What course did he take when the bill was thrown out ? What two statesmen were at the head of the Government that succeeded ? By whom was a new bill introduced ? At what date did it receive the Royal Assent ? What changes did* it effect ? XXXVIII. State the cause of the Abyssinian war. Whence did the expedition sail, and to whom was the command in- trusted ? Give the date of the capture of Magdala. What was the fate of King Theodore ? How was the commander of the expedition rewarded ? What was the cost of the war ? What result was attained beyond the liberation of the captives ? XXXIX. What organization ENGLISH HISTORY. 119 caused some anxiety in Eng- land at this time ? Were there any real causes for discontent? Did the measure for the better regulation of the holding of land pacify Ireland ? XL. Who became Prime Minister on the retirement of Lord Derby ? What induced his resignation ? When did the resignation take place ? Who then became Prime Minister ? When did Lord Derby die ? How often had Lord Derby been Prime Minister ? What" other claims has he to the remem- brance of the nation ? XLI. Why was the disestab- lishment of the Irish Church considered necessary ? Who introduced the measure for this purpose ? What was done: for those whese interests were af- fected by the bill ? XLIL What were the griev- ances connected with the tenure of land in Ireland ? What did the new act aim at effecting for the tenant ? 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