Class Book Copyright N^. COPmiGHT DEPOSIT. I fntpfB irliDnl I3istnn|. NARRATIVE GENERAL COURSE OF HISTORY THE EARLIEST PERIODS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. PEEPARED W^T^ QUESTIONS FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH 150 MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS. N E W ,, Y R K : PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, PEARL STREET, FRANKLIN SQUARE, 1856. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one tliousand eiglit hundred and fifty-six, by HARPER & BROTHERS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. TO THE TEACHER. This work is intended as a complete text-book of general liis- tory for the use of schools. It does not consist, as is often the case with books of this class, of a condensed summary of names, dates, and detached chronological events, but presents, in a sim- ple and connected narrative, a general view of the great leading- events that have occurred in the history of the world, beginning at the earliest periods, and coming down through the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, Roman, and British empires, to the organization of the American Republic, and the establishment of the American Constitution. It is intended for Americans, and the narrative con- sequently follows the line which leads to, and is most directly con- nected with, the events of our own history. The work is fully il- lustrated with maps and engravings, and is prepared with questions on a new and very convenient plan for the use of teachers. In using the work, the teacher is requested to call the special attention of the class to the following directions in respect to the mode of studying the book before they commence it. Directions to the Pupil in studying the Booh 1. The pupil must observe that, though there is a question at the head of each paragraph, still the paragraph is not itself a mere an- swer to the question. It is a general statement which contains the answer. In other words, the book is not a catechism of his- tory, but a connected narrative, written without regard to the ques- tions. These, having been afterward introduced, are placed at the heads of the paragraphs instead of at the foot of the page, solely for the convenience of the teacher. In studying the lessons, there- fore, you must not be satisfied with merely searching in each par- agraph for a few words or phrases which will serve as an answer to the question placed at the head of it, but you must study at- tentively the statements made in its paragraph in connection with what precedes it, so as to peruse the whole as part of a connected iv INTRODUCTION. Story, and make yourself fully acquainted with all that it contains. To this end, read the paragraph twice in a very careful manner, thinking while you read, not of the question, but of the facts which the paragraph states, and of their connection with the main thread of the story. In other words, while you are reading the paragraph, dismiss the questions entirely from your mind, and think only of the general course of the narrative. After you have thus become completely master of the sense of the paragraph, then read the questions, and from your own knowledge of the subject, as obtain- ed from the perusal of the paragraph, frame an answer to them yourself in your own language. By this means you will receive into your mind, and fix there, a, clear idea of the course of events described in the narrative. You will make the knowledge imparted by the book your own, and you will have it at command in the form in which you will require it for the purposes of reading and conversation in future life ; where- as, if, as is very often practiced, you only look over the paragraph for the purpose of marking with a pencil certain w^ords or phrases to be repeated by rote at the recitation as an answer to the ques- tion, you do not study history at all ; you merely learn to repeat mechanically a set form of words. 2. At the recitation, give your answers to the questions asked you fluently, in a narrative form, and in your own language. Such a work as this, studied and recited in the proper way, will be of great service to you in increasing your command of language, and thus improving your power of expressing yourself in conversation. This, indeed, is one of the great advantages of such a study. 3. Find every place mentioned in the work upon the map, and keep the relative situations of these places in mind as you go on with the narrative. This will greatly assist you in understanding the story, and in giving to the transactions described, in your con- ceptions of them, the effect of reality. Jacob Abbott. CONTENTS. PARTI. ANCIENT HISTORY. „.^^ CHAPTER PAGE I. DISTEIETTTION OF THE HUMAN RACE , 13 II. NINEVEH AND THE ASSYRIANS 23 ill. BABYLON 36 IV. KUINS OP NINEVEH AND BABYLON 48 V. FOUNDATION OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE 59 VI. THE STATES OF GREECE 67 VII. DARIUS AND THE FIRST INVASION OF GREECE 72 VIII. XERXES AND THE SECOND IN^TASION OF GREECE 78 IX. ALEXANDER THE GREAT 87 X. THE FOUNDATION OP ROME 95 XI. ROME UNDER THE CONSULS 104: XII. PYRRHUS, KING OF EPIRUS 109 XIII. THE CARTHAGINIANS AND HANNIBAL 119 XIV. POMPEY AND CiESAR 128 XV. EGYPT 139 XVI. FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 151 XVII. ANCIENT CHRONOLOGY 155 PART II. ENGLISH HISTORY. I. THE ANCIENT BRITONS 168 II. THE ROMAN INVASION 172 III. THE ANGLO-SAXONS 179 rV'. THE DANES • 1^0 V. KING ALFRED THE GREAT 19^ VI. THE NORMAN CONQUEST 210 VII. RICHARD THE CRUSADER • 220 VIII. KING JOHN 230 IX. KING RICHARD THE THIRD 240 X. HENRY THE EIGHTH .i^lD THE EErOR:M ATION 25<^ vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER ''•^*^' .^.. ^ ., JILIZABETH 2G 1 XII. OVERTHROW OF THE MONARCHY 270 XIII. THE RE STORATION 279 XIV. THE REVOLUTION 289 XV. THE ENGLISH ARISTOCRACY 299 PART III. AMERICAN HISTORY. I. THE ABORIGINES 309 IL COLUMBUS 318 III. SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA 331 IV. SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK 340 V. SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 347 VI. THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT 358 VII. THE AMERICAN CONGRESS 371 VIII. COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR 375 IX. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 385 X. PROGRESS OF THE AVAR 393 XI. EXPEDITION OF BURGOYNE , , ; 405 XII. THE FRENCH ALLIANCE 414 XIII. THE TREASON OF BENEDICT ARNOLD 419 XIV. THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS 432 XV. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FEDERAL UNION , 442 ENGRAVINGS. PAGE If, LIFE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS 10 GREENLANDER AND SEAL 1/ ESQUIMAUX TROPICAL SAVAGES ^" INDUSTRIAL ARTS " SITUATION OF NINEVEH " SEMIRAMIS IN THE WOOD ^ SEMIRAIVIIS ON THE WALL ' THE BRIBE ' ^ KING HEZEKIAH SHOWING HIS TREASURES 4o THE HANGING GARDENS ^ _ 47 CYRUS ENTERING BABYLON MOUNDS ^^ ARCHER — SPEARMAN — SLINGER '^ WRITING DOWN THE NIBIBER OP THE SLAIN " 5o ADVANCING TO THE ATTACK 54 THE COMPOUND HORSEMAN bo CROSSING A RIVER 5b WAR CHARIOT HEAD-DRESS OP A HORSE ^ DISCOVERIES g-^ THE herdsman's INFANT CmUS'S HUNTING g^ EXPEDITIONS OP CYRUS ^g STATE S OF GREEC E _ VIEW OF ATHENS ^. <4 PH^DYMA AND S3IERDIS CROSSING THE HELLESPONT MARCH OF XERXES THE PERSIAN EMBASSADORS AT SPARTA MARCH OF ALEXANDER „. MARCH THROUGH THE PASS OF SUSA MAP OF LATIUM 82 84 Vlll ENGRAVINGS. PAGE THE TWINS 98 THE BRACELETS 102 ROMAN MILITARY ROAD 105 PLEBEIANS 106 EMPIRE OP PTRRHUS HQ PTRRHUS VIEWING THE ROMAN ENCAJJIPMENT 115 DISPLAY OF THE ARMOR 11(J DEATH OF PYRRHUS Ug situation of carthage , 221 crossing the alps 226 scipio burning the carthaginian fleet 128 Cesar's invasion of Britain 230 132 13(5 138 EXCITEMENT IN ROME ASSASSINATION OF POMPEY THE TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION ; THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT ji^ THE SPHINX ,., 141 THE STATUES OF MEMNON ...^ CLEOPATRA'S STRATAGEM ,,^ , 14b CLEOPATRA S ENTERTAINIVIENT j.p ROOM IN CLEOPATRA'S PALACE , „' BURNING OF ROME ,'^., lo'o RIOTS IN ROME RUINS OF ROME ^ 256 FORMS OF THE WAR CHARIOT AND THE ARMOR OF THE ANCIENT BRITONs'" 165 COAST OF ENGLAND AT DOVER HUTS OF ANCIENT BRITONS ^^ A DRUID IN HIS ROBES DRUIDICAL RUIN 171 COMBAT ON THE BEACH 1 74 THE WALL OF SEVERUS 1 70 ANGLO-SAXON CHIEFTAIN THE CORACLES RUINS OF THE MONASTERY OF lONA ' ^^^ THE SEA-KINGS ^^^ lO] ARMS AND COSTUME OF THE DANES ALFRED READING TO HIS STEPMOTHER ......". ^^^ ALFRED LETTING THE CAKES BURN .,,' "^^ HASTINGS IN THE CHURCH "^^ SITUATION OF NORMANDY !"....!!.. ' ^^^ THE NEWS OF EDWARD's I.-..',TII ^^^ HASTINGS 214 DEATH OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR ^^^ 220 ENGRAVINGS. IX PAGE DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS 222 VIEW OF THE RAMPARTS OF ACRE 226 SAVE ME ! SAVE ME ! 235 VIEW OF RUNNY MEAD 237 KING JOHN 238 DEATH OF KING JOHN 239 YOUNG EDWARD 242 THE TOWER OF LONDON 243 RICHARD AT THE COUNCIL 245 MURDER OF THE PRINCES 248 THE QUEEN-MOTHER MOURNING FOR HER CHILDREN 249 KING HENRY THE EIGHTH 252 TRIAL OF QUEEN CATHARINE 255 THE BAPTISM OF ELIZABETH 259 ELIZABETH'S PROGRESS TO LONDON 263 PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 267 PROCE SS OF COINING 271 PURITANS PULLING DO\\T!J A CROSS IN LONDON 273 BIBLE CHAINED IN A CHURCH 274 STRAFFORD ON HIS WAY TO EXECUTION 277 VIEW OF WORCE STER 282 KING CHARLES AT BOSCOBEL 285 LANDING OP CHARLES THE SECOND AT DOVER 286 VIEW OF EXETER 29 1 WILLIAM OF ORANGE IN HIS CARRIAGE AT THE HAGUE 294 LANDING OF WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE 297 JOHN Churchill's present 304 english iron- works 305 wigwams 311 interior op a wigwam 312 indian warriors 313 the ambush 316 indian carousals 317 portrait of columbu s 320 queen isabella 325 the caravel 326 LAKDING of COLUMBUS 330 ONE OF Raleigh's ships 334 PORTRAIT OF SMITH 335 POCAHONTAS 339 BEGINNING OF SHIP-BUILDING IN NEW YORK 342 NEGOTIATING WITH THE INDIANS 344 NEW YORK IN 1664 346 X EXGIIAVINGS. PAGE MAP OF PLYMOUTH BAY 354 LANDING OF THK AVALLOONS 35(5 FRAGMENT OF THE PLYMOUTH ROCK 357 THE PLYMOUTH ROCK 357 THE governor's HOUSE 3^0 COLONIAL TROOPS ON A MARCH. THE TROOPS SURPRISED THE POST-MASTER-GENERAL THE BOSTON MASSACRE 361 362 364 369 THROWING THE TEA OVERBOARD 3jq INDEPENDENCE HALL njA MONUMENT ON BUNKER HILL 33^ WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT CAMBRIDGE 332 VIEAV OF BOSTON FROM DORCHESTER HEIGHTS 333 ADAMS, SHERM.4N, LIVINGSTON, JEFFERSON, FR.\JfKLIN 391 JEFFERSON READING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 392 WASHINGTON BEFORE HE WAS APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND 397 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT TAPPAN 393 WASHINGTON'S TENT 099 THE CAMP-CHEST .^.^ WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE ''^^^^''^'.. 403 BATTLE OF TRENTON .r.i BURGOYNE AND THE INDIAN CHIEFS 4Q7 BURGOYNE's encampment on THE HUDSON !!."..!"! 413 FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT. 4.I7 BENEDICT ARNOLD ^2^ VIEW IN THE HIGHLANDS *' ^gO ROBINSONS HOUSE .^O MAJOR ANDRE .„, 424 MAP OF THE SCENE OF ARNOLD'S TREASON 425 smith's HOUSE .^ LORD CORNWALLIS ,00 REMAINS OF THE INTRENCHMENTS AT YORKTOWN 434 SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS 44q MOUNT VERNON .-^ 449 PART I. ANCIENT HISTORY, THE STORY OF HISTORY. PART I. ANCIENT HISTORY. CHAPTER I. DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. What k the cause of the different climates of the eartKs sur- ' The various portions of the earth differ very much from each other in respect to the manner in which the sun shmes upon them, both in his daily and in his annual course, and very great diiferences are thus produced in the climates of the several regions and in the course of their seasons, and in all the productions of the soil, both plants and animals. Describe the tropical regions. In some parts of the earth, for example, the days and nights are always equal, the weather is always warm, and flowers and fruits bloom and ripen all the year round. The reason of this is, that these regions, being the central part of the earth, turn every day, as the great globe revolves, directly toward the sun. They are called the tropical regions.* . The earth turns round every day before the sun very much as an ^PP'f - ^-P™^" ed by a twisted string to roast, turns before the fire. The middle parts of the apple half way between the stem and the blossom, which are turned directly toward the fire as it goes round, correspond with the equatorial or tropical regions of the ^^^h. Only, of course, the earth is immensely large, and the sun is at such an -°™;j ''';7;^ that the beams of it shine very gently on the earth, even on the parts that come rectly opposite to its rays. 14 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN liACE. Describe the Polar regions. In other places, there are regions where the sun does not shine for six months at a time, and then, when the jDeriod for his shining comes, he never rises high in the heavens so as to shine warm and full upon the ground, but moves round and round the sky just above the horizon. Of course, for half the year in these regions it is winter and night, and during the other half, though they call it summer, the sun shines with very faint and feeble rays. In consequence of this, scarcely any plants grow upon the land, and the sea is covered at all times, both in summer and winter, with immense floating fields and mountains of ice. These are the Polar regions. The northern Polar regions are called the Arctic, regions. The southern Polar regions have been very little ex- plored. They are called the Antarctic regions. Describe the temperate i^egions. Then, besides these two extremes, there are the temperate re- gions, which lie between them. We ourselves live in the temper- ate regions. Here, for half of the year, the sun rises high in the heavens, and his beams are warm. During this period the grass grows, the flowers bloom, the fruits ripen, and tlie land is ricli with waving fields of corn and grain. Then comes the winter, when the sun declines, and all vegetation ceases, and the ground IS bound up with frost or covered with snow. How has Nature adapted man to these different regions ? Of course, regions so different from each other as these must not only produce altogether different kinds of plants and animals, but very different kinds of men, we might suppose, would be re- quired to inhabit them. Nature has accordingly provided a great variety of races of men to occupy the several portions of the earth, the people of each race being adapted, both in their bodily consti- tutions and in the capacities of their minds, for the situation in which they dwell, though they are all, as the Scriptures inform us, descended from one common origin. DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 15 What kind of animals inhabit the Polar regions f In the Polar regions, where the sun is gone entirely for half the year, and shines very faintly and feebly for the other half, no plants except mosses, and lichens, and a few stunted shrubs can ever grow ; but then the shores of the seas, and the fields and islands of ice, and all the lakes and bays, are thronged with animals. The sea is full of whales, seals, walruses, and other monsters, that are IN Till': Ar.CTUI EKGIONS. kept warm in the winter by the thick coats of blubber or fat which envelop them, while on the land, and over the fields of ice, white bears, wolverines, foxes, and other fierce beasts of prey are con- stantly prowling. These land animals are kept warm by their y^n Then, in the summer, immense flocks of ducks, and geese, and gulls, and other wild-fowl throng the lakes, and rivers, and bays, and swamps that lie along these shores, to make their nests and rear their young. Before the long winter night sets in, however, the birds fly away across the continent thousands of miles, taking with them the young birds that they have reared. These birds are kept warm by ih^xx feathers. What qualities in men are required for these regions ? To live and to thrive in such regions as these, men must be of a very hardy constitution, so as to be able to bear cold without in- jury. They must be fitted, too, to subsist almost entirely on flesh t 16 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. GllEEMLANliKU A and other animal food, since scarcely any vegetables grow in siicli _ .^^ a clime. They must j^-- :^^ J^^W^!L^_jM^^r^^,^^i^^ ^^^^ be endued with pow- ^ ^^^^^ ers and capacities of p : . mind high enoup'h to C / enable them to hunt I wild beasts, to catch and kill whales and seals, and to build . such huts as they need, and yet not so hio-has to make them o discontented or rest- less with their mo- notonous* and solitary country, and with the half-torpid life that they must lead during the long dark and dismal night of their winter. Describe the modes of life of the Polar tribes. These are, in fact, the characteristics of the various races of men that are found dwelling on the Polar shores. They can live alto- gether on the coarsest flesh. They can endure the greatest ex- tremes of cold. They build huts of the drift-wood that is brought down by the rivers, and is then washed by the sea upon their shores. They cover their huts with earth three or four feet thick to keep them warm, leaving an opening for a door in front large enough to creep in and out. When they have no drift-wood, they build their huts of blocks of snow, arching them over at the to]) like an oven or a dome. They light and warm their huts suffi- ciently for their purpose by means of big lamps fed by whale oil. They set traps for animals on land ; they take fish in the lakes and at the rapids in the river with nets and hooks, and they kill seals and whales with harpoons and spears. They can travel on foot * That which is in every part alike — without variety. DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 17 over the snow with snow-shoes which the women make for them, while some of the natives train dogs, and others reindeer, to draw them in sledges over the ice and snow. These people sometimes ESQUIMAUX. endure suffering, it is true, as all men must, but generally they are contented and happy in the condition in which God has placed them, so well are they adapted to it. They could not easily be persuaded to change their country or their modes of life for those of any other people. What is known of the history of these tribes f There are a great many separate races and nations of these Arc- tic men, nearly all of \\hom have probably lived where they do now, and as they do now, for hundreds and hundreds of years. Their history, if it could be known, would consist only of accounts of the wars which they have waged w^ith each other, and of the seasons of famine and distress which they have sometimes endured. But their history is not known, nor would the rest of mankind feel any special interest in it if it could be discovered. What is the state of things in the tropical regions f In tropical regions, the state of the case is entirely changed. Here the days and nights are nearly equal all the year, and the B 18 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN EACE. sun ascends every day into the mid-heavens, and shines down di- rectly upon the land with his most powerful rays. There is no winter. Frost and snow are unknown. There is, indeed, no spring, nor autumn, but summer reigns supreme throughout the year. What forms of animal and vegetable life j^revail in the trop- ical regions f Of course, in a region like this, plants thrive luxuriantly. Flow- ers bloom and fruits ripen in perpetual and ceaseless succession, furnishing to man and beast an abundance of food without labor or care. Trees grow in the forests to an enormous magnitude, dense underwood springs up among them, and vines and creepers twist and twine about their stems, and hang in festoons from their branches, and bind them all together in an intricate, impenetrable maze. In these entangled thickets lions, tigers, and hyenas roam and prowl in search of prey, and apes, monkeys, and parrots, and thousands of other birds of gaudy plumage, chatter, and sing, and play among the branches through all the year. What are the characteristics of the men that inhabit the trojp- ical regions f The circumstances being thus so entirely different in the trop- ical regions from those of the Arctic or frigid zone, the men fitted to dwell in them are different too. Their color is black, that they can better resist the heat of the sun. Their constitutions are such that, while they can not endure cold, they enjoy heat, and thrive in it. They love the sun. In temper of mind they are quiet and gentle. What are their wants in respect to food and clothing ? As the season in their country is always warm, and as fruits grow abundantly without tilling of the ground, these people have very little to do to procure themselves food and clothing. Very sHghtly-built huts are sufficient, too, to form their lodgings, as they only need dwellings to shelter them from the rain. Thus they DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 19 al savage-s live almost like the animals that inhabit the forests around them, eating what comes most readily to hand, and spending the rest of the time in luxurious repose. They need no high intellectual powers, no capacities for enduring hardship or hunger, and no spirit of industry or ambition, and they are consequently not endued with them. Describe the Bushmen, Some of these tropical nations occupy a very humble position indeed in the scale of humanity. There is a race called Bush- men, who live in the southern part of Africa, whose life is almost wholly animal. They build no houses, but sleep under the trees, or in holes which they burrow in the ground. They live on roots, nuts, and insects, and are as wild as the chimpanzees or orang- outangs, which they much resemble. What are the princijjal tropical countries ? The tropical portions of the earth that are inhabited by races like these are the central parts of Africa and South America, the islands of the Pacific Ocean that are near the equator, and a por- tion of New Holland. 20 DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN KACE. In what res2)ect does the conditioJi of the Polar and trojpical nations agree? These tropical savages differ very widely from the wild men that dwell about the poles in all their mental and bodily powers and qualities, and in their modes of life. In one respect, however, they agree with them, namely, in this, that their past history has ueven been written, and it can now, therefore, never be known ; nor, indeed, would mankind in general be expected to take much interest in the history of such wild and savage tribes, even if it could be known. Describe the condition of things in the tem^yerate regions. We now come to the temperate portions of the earth. Here the course of the seasons, and the action of the sun on vegetable hfe, are such as to require the exercise of far higher and more in- tellectual qualities in man than are necessary either in the tropics or at the poles, because here man must till the ground during half of the year, and lay up stores of food produced by this tillage for the other half. Of course, he must be able to devise agricultural implements, and to make inclosures to defend his fields from wild Ijcasts, and to tame animals to do his work, and to buikl bams and granaries for his stores of food, and houses to protect his fam- ily from the cold of winter. To meet these exigencies of their condition, the races that have lived in the temperate regions have been endued Avith higher and more intellectual natures than those that have been before described, and the powers that they have been endued with have been greatly improved by the cultivation and the exercise of them. What are the characteristics of the 7Xices that inhabit the tem- perate regions ? The consequence has been, that these races have formed them- selves into extensive and powerful nations, and made innumerable discoveries and improvements in the arts of life. They have es- tablished systematic governments, and enrolled immense armies, DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 21 and organized vast combinations of various kinds, to accomplisli objects beyond the powers of individual men. Tliey have dug deep mines down through the most soHd rocks, and extended them under the beds of rivers, and even beneath the sea, to procure metals and coal. They have constructed roads, and invented wheel vehicles to run upon them, some by the power of animals, tud others by the power of steam ; and ships and steamers for the sea, in order to convey the pro- ductions of one coun- tiy to another for the purpose of exchange. They have built vast cities to place the public and general stores of these productions in. They have investigated the laws of nature, and by their science and art have learned to surmount the greatest physical obstacles, and to perform the most astonish- ing exploits ; and, finally, by means of various arts of writing which they have invented, they have kept, for many centuries, regular records of their history. What are the principal nations that have been formed from these races f There are a great many distinct races of men that have thus formed civilized nations in the temperate regions of the earth. The principal of them are the Chinese, the Japanese, the Tartars, the Hindoos, the Persians, the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Egyp- tians, the Romans, the Russians, the Germans, the French, the Spaniards, the Moors, the British, the IMexicans, the Central INDUSTRIAL ARTS. 22 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN KACE. Americans, and, lastly, ourselves — the Americans. All these have preserved records, more or less complete and authentic, of the events of their history. How far is the history of these 7iatiom of interest to us f Of these various nations, however, there are very few whose history is of any special interest or of any practical value to us. That in which we are chiefly concerned is simply the line of our own history, traced back through the nations that preceded us, and from which we descended, to ancient times. What course do we take in tracing hack the line of our oivn history f In going back to retrace this line, we follow, for two hundred years, the history of our own country. The people that settled this country two hundred years ago came from England. Of course, when we arrive at the origin of this nation, we proceed to the line of English History, which we follow back for about sixteen hundred years, to the point of its connecting with the Eoman em- pire near the time of Christ. We here enter the field of what is called Ancient History, and we follow the line back through the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians, till the rec- ord loses itself in the legends and traditions of the remotest an- tiquity. Thus the course of history which is of practical interest and value to us divides itself into three periods. What are the three general branches of the subject f 1. Ancient History, extending from the earliest records to the decline and fall of the Roman empire. 2. English History, extending from the commencement of the first origin of the British government to the colonization of Amer- ica. 3. American History, extending from the first colonization of this country to the present time. What digressions will he required f In following this course, however, we shall not absolutely be NINEVEH AND THE ASSYEIANS. 23 confined to the history of the nations that come directly in the line, but sliall be led to frequent digressions among nations inci- dentally and collaterally connected with them. CHAPTER II. NINEVEH AND THE ASSYRIANS. W/iat territory was first sought for settlement by the earliest inhabitants of Asia ? When the people were scattered abroad on the earth at the original dispersion of mankind, as described in the Scriptures, they would naturally, at first, seek out the most fertile regions, and those most easily tilled, to live in, and in these regions they would, of course, most rapidly increase and multiply. Accordingly, the first glimpses that we obtain of the history of the human race in those remote ages relate to several nations which seemed to spring up at a very early period, and nearly at the same time, on the borders of certain great rivers of that portion of the world which, as it happened, flowed through regions of extraordinary natural fertility. What were the principal natio7is tlmt were thus formed? The principal nations that thus early organized themselves in these great river districts were these, namely, the Assyrians in the country of the Tigris, the Babylonians in that of the Euphrates, and the Egyptians in the valley of the Nile. In addition to these there was another very important nation, the PhcBuicians, whose country was near the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. What was the situation of these countries f The situation of these ancient nations in respect to each other you will see by the following map. The first named of them, the Assyrians, as appears by the map, occupied the country wa- tered by the Tigris, and their capital was Nineveh. 24 NINEVEH AND THE ASSYEIANS. -K^W^^ '"^^^ ^ I ^__^j CaloT^j^ ■h TFA